62 'KWpayment)of ire Zibítte 2títtibutc , Chap. W. created Perfections, it being a conformity to the molt L.rv glorious Attribute of the Deity, loth not allure him; For,Vnufquifque utafeCius efl ita judicat; Manunder- flands according to his Affections. The renewed Mind can only fee the e/fential and intimate Beauty of Ho- liners. Now in fainMan the clearnefs of the difcerning power is loft. As the natural Eye till 'tis purged from vicious qualities, can't look on things that are bright and fublime, and if it hath been long in darknefs, it Puffers by the molt pleating Objeét the light : fo the internal eye of the Mind, that it may fee the lively lure of Holinefs, it muít be cleanfed from the filthi- nefs of carnal Affeítions, and having been fo long under thick darknefs it muff be ftrengthned, before it can fuftain the brightnefs of things fpiritual. Till it be prepar'd, it can feenothing amiable and deferable in the Imageof God. 2. The Reward of Holinefs hath no attractive power on the carnal Will; becaufe 'tis Future, and Spiritual. r. 'Tis Future, and therefore the conceptions of it are very dark and ïmperfe& : The Soul is funkdown into the Senfes, and they are fhort-fighted and can't look beyond what is prefent to the next life. And as the Images ofthings areweaken'd and confus'dpropor- tionably to their diftance, andamakea fainter impref- lion upon the Faculty; fo the reprefentation ofHeaven and Bleffednefs as a Happinefs to come hereafter, and therefore remote, Both but coldly affe& the Will. A prefent vanity, in the judgment of the carnal Soul, outweighs the molt glorious futurity. 'Till there be Qum ¡Hi air. taken frombefore its eyes the (inTertullian's language) Pofitwm at"- thick curtain of the vtfible World, it cannot dtfcern nitaris, aulæi vice oppanra the difference between them, nor value the reward for eft. Arlog. - its excellency andduration. 2. 'Tis
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=