LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

The Three and Fortieth SERMON. (Book 43)

PART III.

JAMES I. 25.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continu∣eth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

WE began the last day to speak of the Perfection of the Gospel, our Second point in the Character the Apostle here giveth us of it: And the time not then permitting us to handle it throughly, we shall make it the subject also of our present discourse. We told you, that God, who proposed eternity of Happiness as the end of all Man's actions, was ne∣ver deficient or wanting in the administration of those means which might raise him to it. God who built his Church up∣on a Rock, upon the confession of that faith which will lift it up to hea∣ven, made it Militant, and gave it rules and orders, Laws and precepts, by the observation of which it might become triumphant. Take Man in what capacity you please, in the Gospel he may find that which will fill and fit him in every condition. We shewed this at large. Now we will adde something, and then apply all more home to our selves. God, as he made Man after his own image, so made him to be partaker of that happiness vvhich He is. This he called him to, and pointeth out the vvay vvhich leadeth to it: This is the way; walk in it and be blessed. And first he set up a light vvithin him, conveying it in those natural impressions vvhich Tertullian calleth a legal Nature, or a natural Law. By that light vvhich is impossible to be extinguished, every man that hath had some mediocrity of civil education is enabled to discern vvhat is good and just, vvhat evil and unjust. From this light breaketh forth one main beam, vvhich shineth in all mens faces, even that known precept so much commended by Heathens themselves, As ye would that men should doe unto you, even so doe ye unto them. A command so equitable, that the most unjust dare not quarrel it; so evident, that, if it vvere possible to study ignorance, none, could ever attain to that height as to lose the knovv∣ledge of it. Non iniquitas delebit, saith Augustine; Sin it self, though it blur and deface, yet cannot utterly blot it out. And one vvould think those characters vvhich God hath so firmly and deeply imprinted upon

our souls were light enough to carry us on in our way. And we find that by the help of this light alone some Heathens, who never knew Christ, have raised themselves to that pitch and height of natural and moral good∣ness that most Christians seem to stand in the valley below, and look up and gaze upon them with admiration, to see them to have made a fairer progress, and steered a steadier course of virtue, by the leading of this star, then themselves have done by the lustre of the Sun of righteousness. But yet this is not enough. Sublimius quid sapit Christianus; The Chri∣stian, how faintly soever he goeth forward, yet looketh higher then the natural man could possibly sore upon the wings of natural endowments. He that draweth out his actions by the line and level of Nature onely is not yet a Christian. Natura est prima omnium disciplina, saith Tertullian; Nature is our first School mistress: But God added to this his written Law, and in the last dayes spoke by his Son, and revealed his will perfectly and fully in the Gospel. Instrumentum literaturae adjecit, siquis velit de eo inquirere; He hath drawn an instrument, and to Nature and Moses ad∣ded his Gospel; in which whosoever will enquire may most fully learn his will. Here we are taught that fundamental lesson, to Believe; Which the Father calleth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a voluntary sub∣mission of the soul, the obedience of the will, and applying it to every precept. Here we have those Divine precepts of Sanctity and Holiness, the faithful commentaries of God's will; which, though they present nothing to our understanding to which the wisest Philosophers would not have subscribed, yet forbad some things vvhich vvere not absolutely unlavvful by the Lavv of Nature; even those acts in vvhich though to a natural eye there appeared no irregularity, yet Reason it self vvould soon conclude it vvere better not to do then to do them. For many lessons there be vvhich by the vvit of man had never been collected, had not Christ, the true Lawgiver, gathered them to our hands. What is said fabulously of some grounds in Italy, that they bear an Olive, and under that Olive a Vine, and under that Vine Corn, and under that Corn omne olerum genus, all kind of profitable herbs, and that without any hin∣derance of each other, is most true of the doctrine of the Gospel: There is in it such a real and profitable fertility, that it beareth and yieldeth all, the fatness of the Olive, the sweetness of the Vine, the strength of Corn, something for every temper, something that will prove food for every stomach. The will of God declared by Christ is all these, and more. And in the Gospel it is proposed and laid open to the eye in its full proportion. That doctrine which leadeth to happiness is plain and obvious. Who knoweth not what it is to Believe in Christ, and to Deny ungodliness and worldly lusts? Who understand∣eth not our Saviour's Sermon on the mount? If there be any more doctrines then we find in the Gospel, then certainly they are of the number of those quae salvâ fide ignorari possunt, which will not endan∣ger us if we know them not. And did we practise what is easie to know, we should not thus be troubled to know what to practise. It is not any defect in the rule, any obscurity in the Gospel, but the neglect of piety and religion, and that integrity of life which should distinguish Christians from all the world, that hath brought in that deluge of controversies which hath well-near covered and over∣whelmed the face of the Church. What hath the business of the world been for these many hundred years but to establish a supreme Judge of the will of God in his chair of Infallibity? And now having been driven upon so many apparent inconveniences and absurdities, they begin to demand at our hands a Catalogue of Fundamentals.

Which in effect is no more, then to ask us what the will of Christ is; as if we were yet to learn. We might well reply to them as the Lacedae∣monians once did to the Thebans calling upon them either to give them Battel or to confess and yield themselves the weaker; Whether are the better souldiers, let the world judge, and our many victories speak: but they would be wiser then to fight at their summons, or come out into battel when they did think it fittest. Upon the same reason, we are not bound to an∣swer every impertinent challenge which these Roman champions send, or go out in quest after our Faith, which is manifested to all men. For this were indeed, with Saul, to seek asses, but not with the same event, in our way to find a Kingdome. In the mean time let them take the pains to seek them themselves; unless they will rest contented with this resolution, That whatsoever is fundamental and necessary is plain and evident in the Scripture. He who commandeth us to doe his will, did never mean to hide it from us, or shew it us in the dark. Nobis curiositate non est opus post Jesum Christum; Having this rule of Jesus Christ, we need not be further curious; nor make enquiry after his will, since we have the Gospel, which is his Will and Testament, and his perfect Law. To interline the Scripture with Glosses, to coin what Traditions they please, and make them as current as that Word which is purer then re∣fined gold, is for those who cannot endure that Glass which sheweth them their deformity, or would have it like the Magician's glass, to shew them nothing but what they desire to see. These would deal with the Scripture as Caligula boasted he would with the Civil Law of Rome, quite abolish it, nè quid jurisperiti respondere possint praeter eum, That no Civil Lawyer might be able to speak but what he would have him, and, so there might be no other Law but his will. But I must detein you no longer upon this. Traditions, we told you, such as the Church of Rome pretendeth, are but deceitful ware, brought in to put off worse, and make the grossest errour fair and saleable. And the inward word of the Libertine is the echo of his own lust and concupiscence. Every man may hear it; for every man may speak it to himself. This man may hear it, and another man may heare it. And I may admit of one as well as the other, since there is as good evidence for the one as for the other, nothing but their bare word.

We must now draw a third inference: And it is this; That if the doctrine of the Gospel be a perfect Law, and so delivered to us, then are we bound to square our actions by it, and make them answerable to it in every part, uti illa respicit, continuò respicere, as he giveth charge in the Comedy, to look as that looketh, to move as that directeth, to make this Law our compass to direct us in our way, to fit and proportion our obedience to it, that it may take in the whole circle of all those virtues which speak us to be Christians, as S Paul speaketh, Whatsoever things are true,* 1.1 whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, if there be any virtue, any praise, all these come within the compass of our o∣bedience, which must be perfect as the Law it self is perfect. Nor need we startle at the name of Perfection. For it is not such a Perfection as is in God. Never could such a Law be laid upon Man, who is but dust and ashes, subject to many infirmities; as subject to erre as to think, to tread awry as to move. Nor such a Perfection as is in the Angels, quibus immortalitas sine ullo malorum periculo & metu constat, whose happiness is removed from all danger or fear of change, as Lactantius speaketh, For which though we have no plain evidence in Scripture, yet even from thence we may gather reason enough to

move us to believe it. But a Perfection answerable to Man's condition a Perfection which may consist both with Sin and Errour; into which Man may sometimes either through inadvertency or frailty fall, and yet be perfect. Be perfect as God; That is impossible. For ille quod est, semper est; & sicut est, ita est; what he is, he alwayes is; and as he is, so he is. His Perfection is his Essence, as incomprehensible as himself. Be perfect as Angels; No: We are at best a little lower then they; and our Perfection will have some savour of that flesh and bloud which we carry about with us. And here the Law is given to men, and so requireth a Perfection of which Man is capable; not a Legal, but an Evangelical Perfection. For the Legal Perfection included all manner of impeccan∣cy, and shut out all imperfection, all infirmity, all inadvertency. Do this, and live. If thou do it not, thou shalt die. Do exactly; Avoid pre∣cisely. This was the language of the Law, and therefore it did not ju∣stifie a sinner; for even morally it was impossible. But the Evangelical Perfection is proportioned to every man's strength; and so, various and different, according to the several qualifications of men, who be∣gin well, make good progress in the wayes of piety, and at last are perfect. One man as yet laboureth and struggleth under a temptati∣on; another man is scarce moved with it; and both may be perfect in their kind. And though Perfection be not equal in all, yet that rest∣less and Sabbathless desire of proceeding further must be common to them and the same; a desire to gain more strength, to stir up that grace of God which is in them, to be nearer heaven and God every day; a de∣sire to improve the approbation of that which is good into a love of it, the dislike of that which is evil into an hatred of it; a desire to tread that Serpent under my foot which I begin to be afraid of; every day to use a violence upon our selves, by one Text of Scripture humbling our Pride, by another cooling our Lust, by a third controlling our Wrath, and so by degrees mortifying our affections, spoiling our selves of all our ani∣mosities, of all those grudgings and oppositions which may stand be∣tween us and that state of Perfection which our mind is so wholly fixed upon. And even this desire of proficiency, if it be true and serious, and not faint and imaginary, may go under the name of Perfection, be∣cause it tendeth to it. So there is the Perfection of a beginner; for he is a perfect beginner: and the Perfection of a proficient; for he is a per∣fect proficicent: And there is a higher degree of Perfection, of those who are so spiritualized, so familiar with the Law of Christ, that they run the wayes of his commandments. But there is none so perfect but he may be perfecter yet, none so high but he may exalt himself yet fur∣ther in the grace and favour of God: And even the beginner, who seemeth to follow Christ yet a far off, by that serious and earnest de∣sire he hath to come nearer may be brought so near unto him as to be his member. For there be babes in Christ, and there be strong men: And Christ looketh favourably even upon those babes, and will take them into his arms, and embrace them. For his mercy is a gar∣ment large enough to cover all, to reach even from the top to the last round and step of that ladder which being reared on earth reach∣eth up to heaven, and to carry on those who first set foot in the wayes of life, with a desire to ascend higher. For all these are with∣in, within the pale of his Church. Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and they who love and make a lie, who have no relish of heaven, no savour of Christ's ointment, no desire of those things which are above, no taste of the powers of the world to come. For where this desire is not, where it is not serious, Christ is quite departed out of those

coasts. For Christ did not build his Church as Plato formed his Com∣monwealth, who made such Laws as no man could keep; but he fitted his Laws to every man, and requireth no more of any then what every one by the strength which he will give may exactly accomplish. It is a precept of a high nature, and which fl••sh and bloud may well shrink at, be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.* 1.2 This is a hard and iron speech, and he must have the stomach of an Ostrich that can digest it. Therefore the Church of Rome hath sauced it, to make it easie of digestion; and hath made it not a peremptory Precept, but a Counsel or Advice, left it to our free choice whether we will keep it or no. To neglect and pass it by, will hazard aureolam, non auream, (it is their own distinction) not the crown of life, but some brooch or top, some degree of happiness there. And this is a great errour, either to adde to or to take off from that burthen which it hath pleased Christ our Lawgiver to lay upon us. Seem this precept never so harsh, this bur∣then never so heavy, yet if we consult with that patience and strength wherewith it hath pleased Christ to endue us by his blessed Spirit, we shall be able to bear it without any abatement or diminution. For we may deal with it as Protagoras did with his burthen of sticks, dispose of it in so good order and method as to bear it with ease, and have no reason to complain of its weight. It is not so hard as we at first suppose. And that we may gather from the illative particle Therefore; Which hath reference to the verses going before, and enjoyneth a Love above the love of Publicans, whose love was negotiatio, a bargaining, a trafficking love, vvho payed love for love, loved none but those who loved them; and so raiseth our Love to the love of our heavenly Father as to the most perfect rule, and then draweth it down to compass and bless even the worst enemies we have. And so this Perfection here doth not signifie an exact performance of all the commandments, but the observation of this one, The Love of our neighbour; and that not in respect of the manner of observing it but the act it self, That we love not onely our friends, but our enemies. And this indeed is a glorious act, worthy the Gospel of Christ. For to love them that love us is but a kind of neces∣sary and easie gratitude, the first beginings and rudiments of Piety, the dawning of Charity: But when we have attained to this, to love them that love us not, that hate us, that persecute us, then our Charity kin∣dled from the the Love of our Father shineth forth in perfection of beau∣ty. He that can doe this hath fulfilled the Law. For he that can love him that hateth him, will love God that loveth him, will love him when he frowneth on him, when he afflicteth him, when, as Job speaketh, he killeth him. For indeed he cannot doe one, but he must doe both. But then for the manner of that love, there he must needs come short of the patern. Dust and ashes cannot move with equal motion in this sphere of Charity with the God of Love. That we may love our enemies is possible; but that we love them with the same extension or intension of love as God loveth them, is beyond our belief and conceit, and so impossible to be reached by the best endeavours we have. God may give us strength, but he cannot give us his arme. He may make us wise and strong and good, but not as good and wise and strong as himself. What cruelty is our Mercy to his? What weakness in our Power to his Almightiness; Hovv ignorant is our Knovvledge to his light; If vve speak of Wis∣dom, he alone is vvise; if of Povver, he onely can doe what he will in heaven and in earth. If vve speak of Mercy, his Mercy reacheth over all his works. Man is a finite, mortal creature; and all his goodness

and wisdom and mercy are as mortal and changeable as himself? and if it do measure out his span, and hold out to the end of it, yet it will retain a tast and relish of the cask and vessel, of flesh and mortality and corruption.

But yet the Law is perfect, and required a perfect man, & cum Dei adjutorio in nostrâ potestate consistit, saith Augustine often, and it is in our power with the help of God's grace to be perfect.* 1.3 God doth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, stablish us;* 1.4 he doth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, confirm us, he doth work in us to will and to do, by giving us the sight of his glory, and by his Spirit exciting and strengthening us. He doeth it that giveth sufficient helps and advan∣tages to do it: The whole honour of every effect is due and returneth to the first Cause. By this help we may be perfect, as perfect as the pre∣script of the Gospel and the new covenant of Grace requireth. For 1. God requireth nothing that is above our strength: And certainly we can do what we can do; we can do what by him we are enabled to do. I can do all things, saith S. Paul, through Christ that strengtheneth me. We may love him with all our mind, with all our heart, with all our strength. And this is all. 2. God hath promised to circumcise the heart of his people,* 1.5 that they should thus love him. And his promises are Yea and Amen, even in temporal blessings, much more in spiritual. And if we fail, yet his promise is true; and we have lied against our own souls. He gave us strength enough, and we have betrayed it to our lusts and the vanities of the world, have fallen with our staff in our hand, failed in the midst of all advantages, and suffered our selves to be beaten down in our full strength, when there were more with us then against us. 3. Last of all, he hath born witness from heaven, and hath registred the names of those in his book who have walked before him with a perfect heart; asa 1.6 Asa,b 1.7 David,c 1.8 Josiah. And this under the Old Covenant. Much more then may we attain to it under the New, which was brought in to this end to make every thing perfect. For there can be no reason gi∣ven why Christ, who is the Son, should not make more perfect men then Moses, who was but a Servant; why the Gospel should not make as good Saints as the Law. Divines usually distinguish between Perfection of parts and Perfection of degrees. The first, they say, must be brought in∣to act by cleaving not to one alone, but to every commandment of God, and casting down every imagination, beating down every tentation, that may stand between them and it: The second is but in wish. But in truth there is no reason why they should thus quite shut out that Perfe∣ction of degrees. For though in the highest degree it cannot be; (it being the nature of Love, Not to consist within any terms; To have no Non ultrà in this world; To think not of what is done already, but what is further to be done, or, in the Apostle's phrase, To forget that which is behind; and to reach forth to those things which are before, and never to be at rest but on the holy hill?) Yet there is no reason why we may not admit of a Perfection of degrees even in this life, that is, that Perfection may be intended to as high a degree as the assistance of God's grace and the breath of the Spirit, if we hinder not, will raise it. For every stream will rise as high as its spring. And this is alwayes joyned with a firm purpose of pressing further, of proficiency and being better every day, of growing in grace, of pas∣sing from virtue to virtue, from perfection to perfection, according as we have more grace, more strength, more light; which will in∣crease with our work, and raise it self with our endeavours. For to him that hath it shall be given; and he that walketh in the light shall have more irradiations and illuminations. To this Perfection we

may ascend higher and higher, adde degree unto degree, be more and more perfect, more strong against tentations, more chearful in our obedience, more delighting our selves in the Law of the Lord. But he that denieth the Perfection to be possible even in this life, instead of easing his soul endangereth it; instead of magnifying the Gospel of Christ, denieth the power of it; and layeth a pillow of security for flesh and bloud to rest on, to sleep out the time in the vineyard even to the last hour, and so to pass to torment in a dream.

Indeed Perfection is so often mentioned in Scripture that men are not unwilling to acknowledge there is such a thing: but then, consulting with flesh and bloud, they have found out an art to make it what they please; As it is too common a thing, when we cannot raise our endea∣vours and fit and proportion them to the rule, to bend and draw down the Law it self, and make it condescend and apply it self to our infir∣mities, and even flatter our most loathsom lusts and affections. Thus we find Perfection confined to Orders and Offices, to Monks and Vota∣ries; nay, wrapped up in a Monk's coul. Men have counted it a kind of Perfection, to be sick and die, and be buried in one. Some have pla∣ced Perfection in a sequestered life: When, though they leave the world and the company of men, they may still carry themselves along with them, and in the greatest silence and retiredness have a tumult, a a very market in their souls. And he that converseth in publick may possess all things, and yet use them as if he used them not; may have a com∣panion, and be alone; may be a great commander, and yet more hum∣ble then his servant; may secretum in plateis facere; make a cell in the streets, and be alone in the midst of an army. Perfection we may call it; but (as one faith) there is no greater argument of Imperfection then this, non posse pati solem & multitudinem, not to be able to walk without offence in the publick wayes, to entertain the common occasions, to meet our enemy and encounter him in all places, to act our parts in com∣mon life upon the common stage, and yet hold fast our uprightness, shine in the midst of a froward generation, and keep our selves unspotted of the world; to be Lambs with Lions, and Kids with Leopards; to live in the coast where Malice breatheth, and yet be meek; where Rebellion is loud, and not forfeit our obedience; where Profaness vaunteth it self, and yet be religious; to be honest in the tents of Kedar, to be Lots in So∣dom, and so to save our selves from a froward generation: Not to be able to do this, is a great imperfection. For Religion can shew it self in any place, in any soil; in any air; in the closet, and in the field; in the house, and in the Temple. This man may have a proud heart in a cottage; another, a low and humble soul in a palace. For every man's thoughts are not as low built as his house, nor do every great man's imaginations towre in the air. In terra omni non generantur omnia, saith the Oratour; We cannot find all creatures in every soil. But a Perfect man is a creature, a plant, which may grow up in any place. Carry a pure heart with thee, and thou art safe in a throng: But if thy heart be polluted, thou art not safe, no not in a grott or cave, or in the most retired solitariness.

Again, some have placed Perfection in Poverty and a voluntary ab∣dication of the things of this world. And yet we see that as Riches may be a snare, so Poverty may be a gulf to swallow us up; and that Riches may be an instrument to work out Perfection, as well as Want. And our skill, though it be as great in one as in the other, yet it is more glorious in the one then in the other; as we look more upon a Diamond that is well cut, then upon a pebble-stone. He is the poor∣est

man that is poor vvhen he is rich. It is said, GO, SELL ALL THAT THOU HAST: I may do this, saith Gregory, and keep it. That we must leave our lands and possessions, and father and mother: I may do this, and yet be Lord of my land, and love my father and mother. We may use our vvealth in this vvorld tanquam tabulâ in fluctibus, saith Augustine, as a plank or board in a shipvvreck, neither fling Riches from us, nor dravv them too near us; neither cast them avvay as burthensom, nor yet em∣brace them as firm and sure; & bene utendo carere, vvant them by well using them. Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom, and the rich man in hell: yet may a poor man follow the rich man into hell, and many a rich man have a room in the same bosom with Lazarus. In nostro arbitrio est vel Lazarum sequi, vel Divitem; It is in our power, in what estate soever we are, to chuse which we will follow, Lazarus, or Dives. All that can be said is this, that they who are not able to manage their wealth, and so have reason to fear it, may do well to cast it away. But they who can be poor in wealth, are the strongest Christians. Both Riches and Poverty are equal in this, that as they may be made occasions to sin, so they may be made also helps to Perfection.

Thirdly, some have placed Perfection in Virginity, which they call making themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven; and have laid an imputati∣on upon the state of Matrimony as most imperfect, as too much savour∣ing of the world and carnality, and no better then what the Manichees called it, honestam concubitûs defensionem, a fair plea and an honest a∣pology for lust. Nusquam, said Martin Luther, Satanas per Papam sic insanit ac in castitate & libidine tractanda; The Devil never seemed to rage more then in those discourses the Papists make of Chastity and Lust. That they may fright men from that which is lawful and honourable, to that which is foul and unwarrantable, thus they number up the inconve∣niences of the married life; The noise of the family, the deceitfulness of ser∣vants, the luxury of the wife, the frowardness of children; as if these incon∣veniences were more dangerous then Sin. Virginity, they say, is an An∣gelical estate. And we are willing it should be so esteemed, but cannot see but Perfection may find a place in Matrimony as well as in Single life, and that the one may people heaven as well as the other. And those inconveniencies and troubles, as they may prove occasions of sin, so may be made materia virtutis, matter out of which we may raise those virtues which shall be pleasing in his eye who did first institute this state in Paradise. Nor do I conceive to what purpose it should be to bring Matrimony and Virginity into the Scales to weigh them together. For what can accrue from hence but this, to de∣fame the one because it may seem some graines lighter then the other? For when they have stretched their wits, and taken pains in comparing them, they must at last meet and agree in this, that Per∣fection may sit them both, and bring as many Husbands and Wives into heaven as Virgins. Virginity, they grant, is not terminus, sed instrumentum perfectionis, not the end in which Perfection is ter∣minated, but the way to bring us to it, an instrument to work it out. And, for ought can be said to the contrary, so may Marriage also be. Bring both to the balance, if you please. By Virginity and an unmarried life I avoid occasions, I hide my self from many dangers, which might otherwise come towards me; I withdraw my self from the many cares and troubles of this life. Et virginitas nihil magìs timet quàm seipsam, Virginity is afraid of nothing but it self, and hath but this one trouble, to defend it self. Operosius est Matri∣monium; But Matrimony wrestleth with more difficulties, and ha∣ving

happily strove through them, and made way to the end, may seem to have made a greater and more glorious conquest. Certainly, to marry a wife, and by my good ensample to keep her an undefiled spouse of Christ; to have children, and by careful education to make them Saints; look upon Christ, and behave my self in my house as he doth in his Church; to make his Marriage of the Church a patern of mine, as mine is a sign and representation of his, will make my way as passable to perfection and eternal life, and set the gates of heaven as open to me, as an unmarried life shall to him who hath bound himself by vow to keep his virgin. Perfection then is not tied and married to a single, but may joyn and go hand in hand with a married life.

I might adde to this, their vow of Blind obedience, which they call the sepulcre in which their Will is buried; and that of Mission, by which they bind themselves to go whithersoever their Superiour commandeth, to do whatsoever he enjoyneth, to run upon the point of the sword, to leap into the Sea, to adventure on those actions which are most absurd, to teach a language which they do not know. All these appear as free∣will offerings; but if we look nearer upon them, they are no better then the sacrifice of fools. Of these indeed we find large elogiums in the wri∣tings of the Ancients, which Posterity hath much enlarged, making that a part of their policy which was their forefathers devotion. For we may imagine those high expressions of theirs were occasional, forced by the times, or rather manners of men, who were worldly and sensual, such as could endure no yoke. And from men of this temper iniquum petebant, ut aequum ferrent, they required more then was necessary to be done that they might do something, that they might know some bounds, and not run into all excess of riot, and commit what disorder they pleased. They extolled Virginity, that men might not wallow in lusts; They declamed against Riches, that men might not love the world; They commended Solitariness, that men might be shie of the company of evil men; and pressed a ready obedience to men, that they might be∣get in them a greater reverence to the commandments of God: For if I must yield to the will of my brother, what then must I do to my Maker; This is the fairest plea can be made for them. But to tie Perfection to this or that state of life, which is enjoyned to all, is to call that common which God hath cleansed, and to appropriate holiness to that kind of life which is many times stained with uncleanness. Most certain it is, Perfection is enjoyned to every Christian: but every man attaineth not to it by the same means. As there are divers mansions in God's house, so there are divers wayes and courses of life by which we pass unto them. Indeed there is but one way to hea∣ven, but one Religion: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, It is but one but it divideth it self, to all estates and conditions of life, to all sexes, to all actions whatsoever. It may be fitted to Riches as well as to Poverty; it will live with Married men as well as with Votaries; it will abide in Cities as well as in a Cell or Monastery. Why should I prescribe Poverty; I may make Riches my way. Why do I en∣joyn Single life; I may make Marriage my way: Why should I not think my self safe but when I am alone; I may be perfect amidst a multitude. Whether in riches or poverty, in marriage or single life, in retiredness or in the city, Religion is still one and the same. And in what estate soever I am, I must be perfect as perfect as the Evan∣gelical Law requireth. In every estate I must deny my self, and take up the cross, and follow Christ. I fear this tying Perfection to parti∣cular states and conditions of men hath made men less careful to press

toward it, as a thing which concerneth them not. For why should a Lay-man be so severe to himself as he that weareth a gown? Why should a Knight be so reserved as a Bishop? It is a language which we have heard. But I conclude this with that which the Wise-man spake on another occasion, Say not thou, Why is this thing better then that? For every thing in its time is seasonable, Poverty or Riches, Marriage or Sin∣gle life, Solitude or Business. And in any of these we may be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.

For conclusion then; Let this perfect Law of Christ be alwayes be∣fore our eyes, till Christ be fully formed in us, till we be the new crea∣ture, which is made up in holiness and righteousness: Let us press forward in whatsoever state we are placed, with all our strength, to perfection, from degree to degree, from holiness to holiness, till we come ad cul∣men Sionis, to the top of all. Art thou called a Servant? Be obedient to thy Master, with fear and with singleness of heart, as unto Christ. Art thou called a Master? Know that thy Master also is in heaven. Let every man abide in that calling wherein he was called to be a Christian, and in that calling work out Perfection. Place it not on the Tongue, in an out∣ward profession. For the Perfect man is not made up of words and air and sounds. If he be raised up out of the dust, out of filth and corrup∣tion, it must be in the name, that is, in the power, of Christ. There be many good intentions, saith Bernard, (and it, is as true, There be many good professions) in hell. Place it not in the Ear. For we may read of a perfect Heart, but we have not heard of a perfect Ear. If there be such an attribute given to it, it is when it is in conjunction with the Heart. Faith cometh by hearing. It is true, it cometh. The perfect man may pass by through this gate; but he doth not dwell there. Neither place it in thy Phansie. The Perfection which is wrought there is but a thought, but the image of Perfection, the picture of a Saint. And such Images too oft are made and set up there; and they that made them, fall down and worship them. Neither let us place it in a faint and fee∣ble Wish. For, if it were serious, it were a Will; but, being supine and negligent, it is but a Declaration of our mind, a Sentence against our selves, that we approve that which is best, and chuse the contrary; turn the back to heaven, and wish we were there. It was Balaam's wish but it was not his alone, Oh let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. And let us not, interpret Scripture for and against our selves, and when we read, BE YE PERFECT, make it our marginal note, Be ye perfect as far as you are able, as far as your lusts and desires and the business of this world will permit. That is, Be ye imperfect. I will not say, If one of our Angels, (and such Angels there be amongst us,) but If an Angel from heaven bring such a Gloss, let him be Anathema. Neither let us, because we are taught to say, when we have done all that is com∣manded us, that we are unprofitable servants, resolve to be so, unprofitable. For we are taught to say so, that we may be more and more profi∣table. For it is not the scope of that place to shew us the unprofita∣bleness of our Obedience; but rather the contrary: Beacuse when we have made ready, and girded our selves, and served, it shall be said to us also,* 1.9 that we shall afterward eat and drink. Much less doth it discover our weakness and impotency to that which is good, and our propensity to evil. For the Text is plain; We must say this, when we have done all that is commanded us. And if we have done it, we can doe more. Nor is it set up against Vain-glory and Boasting, but against Idleness and careless neglect in preforming that which remaineth of our duty. Because that which remaineth is of

the same nature with that which is done already, as due to the Lord that commandeth it as our first obedience, when you have gone thus far, you have done nothing unless you go further. When you have laboured in the heat of the day, it is nothing, unless you continue till the evening. Something you have done which is commanded: behold, God commandeth more, and you must do it: Continue to the end; and then he will bid you sit down and eat. He that begin∣neth, and leaveth off, and bringeth not his work to an end, he that doeth not all, hath done nothing. Thus let us make forward to Per∣fection, and not faint in the way: Let us not be weary of well-doing, as if we were lame and imperfect; but let us press forward to the end, stand it out against tentations, fight against the principalities and powers of this world, and resist unto bloud: Let us make up our breaches, and strengthen our selves, every day take in some strong hold from the adversary, beat down the flesh and keep it in subjection, that it may be a ready servant to the Spirit; weaken the lust of the eyes, humble our pride of life, and abate the lust of the flesh; be more severe and rigid to our fleshly appetite, and never leave off whilest we carry this body of sin about us. And then, as S. Peter exhorteth, let us give diligence to adde to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness; and let these abound in us more and more, that we be not bar∣ren and unfruitful. And when we have thus begun, and prest for∣ward, though with many slips and failings, (which yet do not cut us from the covenant of grace, nor interrupt our perseverance) and at last finished our course, we shall come unto mount Sion, and to the City of the living God, and to an innumerable company of Angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect; where we, and every thing shall be made perfect; where there is perfect Love, perfect Joy, perfect Hap∣piness for evermore.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Phil. 4.8.
• * 1.2

  Mat. 5.48.
• * 1.3

  Rom. 16.25.
• * 1.4

  1 Cor. 1.8.
• * 1.5

  Deut. 30.
• a 1.6

  2 Chron. 15.17. 1 Kings 15.14.
• b 1.7

  1 Kings 3.6.
• c 1.8

  2 Kings 23.25.
• * 1.9

  Luk 17.8.