1)ireEtions for a well grounded Faith. 95 DIRECT. VIII. Gr.Dil'.6. IJ.I.smember tbat yotl are .IJ.I.slated to Chrift Mthe Plryjicion of y0ur.Jods, and to the :;~~~'r,;Y7,~11 Holy Ghoft as your SanEtifier : Make .tt therefore your f enot~s ft.udy, to be ~~~~;:; ~~,k. mred by Chrijl:, and cleanjed by Ins Spmt, of all the jinful difeajes and defile~ and h" s,;.;, ,{ I • d l" . JnitSCle!u;fin~ ments o 1 your 1emts an t)les. ., 0 ,,;ry"'g :9· i· THough I did before f~eak of our Believing in the HolyGhoft, and u!ing his help for our acccfs ro God, and converfe wirh him; yet I deferred to fpeak fully of theCleanjingand Mortijjoing part of his work of Sanl1ificutio;t till now ; an_d !hall treat of. it he_re as it is the fo~me with the _Curin7, work of Chrifi, related ro u~ as_the Phyficton of our fouiJ: Jt bcmg part ofour ~".b~ fr8ioJt and Obediwct to him, to be Ruled by h1mm order t~ our cure. An~ what ~ fi1all here wn~e againfi fi 1t in gmtr.tl will be-of a twofold ufe. Thcone_1s to help usagamfi the mward corrupt~~ ons of om hearts and for the outward obedience of our hves, and fo to further the work ofSmCb~ ficadon, and prev~nt our finning. The other is to help us to Rtpenumce and Hf(lni/iation ha– bitual and actual, for the fins which arc in us, and which we have already at any rime com.. mitted. §. 2. TheGmer.tl Dire{]ions for this curing and cleanji11g of the foul from fin, are comained for the moll: part in what js faid alrrady; and many of the particul.u Dire8iom alfo may be fetcht from the fixth Direlii!m before going. I {hall now add but two Gener..~l DirefrioJtJ, and many more Parti– cular ones. l'oOtk, Dired:. I· .I. The twoGeneral Direliions are theft:: I· Know what cormptiont the foul of man i.r na- DirelJ. I• turally defiled witb: And this containcth the knowledge of thoj( [amities that are the [eat of thtfe ·corr~tptio1u, and the knowledge of the corruptions that have tainted and perverted the [tvcr.Jl facultiu. . Direct. 2. 2. Know what fin it, iJt it.r uature or intrinjick.,. evil, as well t11 iu the effel1!· Diretl. 2· 9· 3. 1. The Parts or f.~cultic.r ro be cleanfed and mrcd, are both the Superiottr and Inferiour. 1 .The How the li:~ Vndtdfanding (though not the tid\ in the fin) mull be tirft in the cure: For all that is done Upon the v~r:ll tacul~ Lower faculties rnuft be by tht: Goveruing -power of the wiU: And all that is done upon the will ( ac · {1 "j of the carding to the order of humane nature) muCt be done by the 'Vndcrflanding: But the Vnderftanding ,~~t:.ie ~~~d~ hath its own difeafti which mufi: be known and cured. Its m1Iady i.n general is Ignorance: which is d(f.-afed. not only a privation of a{/Je.Jl IQrow/cdge, but an undijju{rdne{t alfo 'of the rmderjtanding to k._now the truth. A man may be deprived of fome a{fual k._nowledgt 1 hat harh no difeafe in his mind that caufe~ In whlt cafrs .. eth it : as in cafe that either the ohjcl1 be abfent and out of reach, or that there be no {ufficient Revela~ afound ':ln– tionof it, or that the m.ind be taken up whol!y upon fom: oth_cr thing, or in cafe .. a man fbut out rhe :;n~~d~n~o..; thoughts of fuch an obJeCT, or refufe the evtdeuce ( wh1ch lS the act of the rvtU) even as a m1n ran~. & · that is not blind, may yet not fee a particular ohjel1, I. In caft! it be out of his natural reach: 2. Or ifit be night, and he want cxtrinficl(_ light; 3. Or in cafe he be wholly taken up with the obfervation of other things , 4· Or in cafe he wilfully either jhut or turn away his eyes. lt is a very hard queftion to refolve bow far and whtrcin the difeafcs of the Vndetjlanding may be How the called fin? BecauG: the Vnrlrrjlanding is not a Fret, but a Netcf!itated faclllty: And there can be no undedl:m,ling {tn, where there is no Liberty. But to clear this, it rnufi be coniidcrcd, I. That it is not this or thar c:tn. be rhe i faculty rhat is the fuU and prop"· fubjea of fin, but the Man: rhe fulnefs of jilt being made up of fubp~i of fin the vice of both faculties ( underjfanding and uiU) conjunCI:: Its propcrer to fay, Tht man finmd, than, the InttUe{lor JVW fi1mcd, fpeaking exclufively as to the orher. 2. Libuum arbitrium, Fre~ choice is belonging ro the Man,and not to his WiU only; though principally to rhe WiU. 3· Though the Will only be Free in it [elforiginaUy; yet the InttUell is Free by particip.1tim fo far as it is commanded by the WiU, ordependerh on ir for the Exerd(e of irs acts. 4· Accordingly though the Vndcr/bnding primitively and of it fllf, b: not the fubject of morality; of moral Virtue.r, or of morai Vice1 (which are immediately and primarily in the ·will) yet par1icip.1tively its VirtueS' and Vicu are moralized, and become graces or fins, lattd.'lhle and rew.:ud:dJ/c, or vituper.Jble and punifoable, as they arc impcrareby the wiU, or dt.-pend upon ir. Confider then the Acts, and H>biu, and difpofition of the V~rdtrftanding. And you w;ll find, I. Thlt fame aCb:, and the privation of them, are Ne-:eff.;ry, NaturaUJ', OrigiH.2liy, and unal.rerably :, and thefe are nor virtues or finful at all, as having no h/Or.21it)'· As ro know unwillingly as the De– vils do, and to Belitve, when it cannot be refilled, thot~~h they would ; this is no moral Venue at all, but a natural perfeCTion only. So J, To be ignorant O,_r: th~rwhich is no ohjr{J of k._11owledge, or wh,ich is ttatural{y beyond our k._nowledge (as of the Effente··ofGod) is no fin at all: 2· Nor to b~ ig~ norant of that which was never revealed, when no tault -~Jf ours hindrcd the revelation, is no fin. 3· Nor re be without che prefent a~ual knowle~ge or confideration of one point, at that moment when our thoughts are lawfully d1wrted (as m greater fl;ufincrs) or fufpended ( as in 1leep.) 4• But to be ignorant wilfuUy is a fin, participatively in the il ttfUt17, andoriginaUy in the n·iU. 5· And 0 w
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=