To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
2. BUt because Meditation is a general word, and it is not all Meditation that I hear intend; I shall therefore lay thee down the difference, whereby this Meditation that I am urging thee to, is discerned from all other sorts of Meditation. And the difference is taken from the Act, and from the object of it.
1. From the Act, which I call [The set and solemn acting of all the powers of the soul.]
1. I call it the [Acting of them] for it is▪ Action that we are di∣recting you in now, and not relations or dispositions yet these al∣so are necessarily presupposed: It must be a soul that is qualified for the work, by the supernatural renewing grace of the spirit, which must be able to perform this Heavenly exercise. Its the work of the Living, and not of the dead. Its a work of all others most spiritual and sublime, and therefore not to be well perform∣ed by a heart that's meerly carnal and terrene. Also they must ne∣cessarily have some relation to heaven, before they can familiarly there converse: I suppose them to be the sons of God, when •• perswade them to love him: and to be of the family of God, ye•• the spouse of his Son, when I perswade them to press into his pre∣sence, and to dwell with him: I suppose them to be such as have title to Rest, when I perswade them to rejoyce in the Meditation of Rest. These therefore being all presupposed, are not the duty here intended and required: But it is the bringing of their san∣ctified dispositions into Act, and the delightful reveiwing of thei•• high relations: Habits and Powers are but to enable us to Action To say [I am able to do this, or I am disposed to do it] doth nei••ther please God, nor advantage our selves, except withal we really do it. God doth not regenerate thy soul, that it may be able to know him, and not know him▪ or that it may be able to believe and yet not believe; or that it may be able to love him and yet not love him: But he therefore makes thee able to know to believe, and love, that thou mayest indeed both know, believe and love him. What good doth that power which is not reduced into Act? Therefore I am not now exhorting thee, to be an able Christian, but to be an Active Christian, according to the degree of that ability which thou hast. As thy store of money, or food, o•• rayment, which thou lettest lye by thee and never usest, doth the•• no good, but to please thy fancy, or raise thee to an esteem in the eyes of others; so all thy gifts, and powers, and habits which lye still in thy soul, and are never Acted, do profit or com∣fort thee little or nothing, but in satisfying thy fancy, and raising thee to the repute of an able man, so far as they are discernable to the standers by.
§. 3.