I 14 The Harmony af tbe Divine Attributes ~ what is pre[ent to the next Life. And as the Images of things are weaken'd and confu. ~ fed proportionably to their di!tance, and make a fainter Imprellion upon the Faculty ; fo the Reprefentation of Heaven and BlelTednefs as a Happinefs to come hereafter, and therefore remote, cloth but coldly affett the Will. A prefent Vanity, in the Judgment ofthe carnal Soul, outweighs the mofl: glorious Futurity. Till there be taken fi·om before its ~~:n~1:-L ~~~~ ti~~~d;t~~~;~;:'bc~~~~~·~~~ ~~;~~.~~~~~~~~~~~~a~~ ti~~- ~:~~~c~~~~~· a~dc~~~!t~~ l<ei •,;ic~ OJ'PJrl{.t rfl , Apolog. 2. ' '.I'is Spirittul, and there mult be a Divine Di[pofition of the Soul before it is capa· blc _of 1r. Tbe p11re in Heart c.'tn only fee tbe pare God, Mat. S· 8. The Felicity above is that wluch Eye bath not (cen, nor Ear heard, neither bath it entred into the Heart of Jvlan to conceive, 1 Cor . 2. 9· Now the carnal Man is only affeCted with grofs and corporeal things. T ~le Cert,1inty, lm''!enfity, and Immortality of the Heaven ly Reward d?:.h not prevail with htf!1 to feckaftcr 1t. He hath no Palat for Spiritual.Pieafures, 'ris vuiated by lufcious Vanities, aPd can't rehl11 rational and refined Joys. Ttll the Temper of the Soul be altered, the Jlrcad of Angels is di!tateful to it. Foe the Appetite is according to the Difpofition of the Stomach, 2nd when that is corrupted, it longs for things hurtful, and rejects whol· ;:e,~:C~ t!l~fb~i~~;~( ~d11f~~-:~~e~a~~~~~e~t~~;f~~;1Gl~~~r~p~~~~f,~\~~t~d~~~t& Paradi(' in Heaven it felf. for delight arifes not meedy from the Excellencyof the ObjeEf, but fro':~' the. Proporriou.ablenefs to the Faculty. 1 hough God is an m:fimu Good in hin1fclt~ yet tf he tsyot concctye~ as the Supreme Go?d to Man, he cannot make him happy. Suppofe fome l1tght Convtatons to be in the Mm8., that happinefs confifis in the enjoyment of God, yet this being offer'd upon the terms of quitting all fenfual Lu!ts, the carnal .Man eltccms the condttion impoffible, and therefOre is difcourag'd f10m uling any endeavours to obtain it. For to excite Hope, 'tis not fu fficicot to propofe a Reward that is rea l and excell~nt, but that is attainable. For although Hope l~ath its tendency to a difficult Good, as ItS proper Objefl, ant! the difficulty is fo tar from d!fcouraging, that it quickct)S the Soul, and draws forth all the active Powers, by r~ndrin~ .it greate.r in our c!teem ; yet when the difficulty is exceffive, and confines upon cmroflibcltty, it dejetts the Soul, and inclinc:::s it to de'farr . fhus when the cvndttion of obtaimng fome good '1s necef... fary, but infuterable, it rakes off from all endeavours in order to it. To confider it in a tempor,tl Cafe, will m~ke it more clear. As on~ that labours under a Dropjj,and is vext with an intolerable and mfatiable thirjl, if a PlryJiccanOlould alfure him of Cure upon condtt10n he would abll:ain from drmking, he could not conceive any real hope of being healed, judging it impo!lible to reG !t the importunity of his drought ; he therefOre negleCts the '\1eans, he drinks and dtcs . Thus the corrupt Heart of Ma~, that is under a perpetual thirfl: of carnal Pleafures, ~md is more inflamed by the fatistaaiOn it receives, judges it an in[t~perable cond~ti~n t0 part with them for the acquiring of !::J'piritual Happmefs: And this fenfical and fottiftJ IJefpair caufes a total"negle£\ of the Means. 'Tis thus exprcfi by the J[raelites , ·when God commanded them to return from ~he evil ofrhetr ways in order to the.ir Happinefs, and .rh?~ fai.d, The~e i t. no hope, but w~ wdl walk after our mvn dt,.vrces, and 111e wr/1 every one do the tm~gmatt~n of lm evt ( /Jeart . ( Abjlrnere nequeo. Grot. Jer. 18. 12.) They :verC Slaves to thetr dor;nneering Appetites, anc\ rcfolvcd to malw no n·ial about that they judg'd impoffible. llnefty , In taln Mao there is fomething predominant, wh~ch he values above rhe favour and frwtron of Go~~ and that is the World. As in the Par.~b!e, \V here Happ.inefs is fet fort h under the fatm,har repre(entation .of a Feaft, thofc wh.o were invited to tt, excufe rhemfelves ~y fuch reaf~ns as clearly dlfcover that fome an-nable Luft charm·d them fo ftrongly, that l11 the competrlion 'twas preferr'd befor(! Heaven. One jitith, J ha'Ve bO!Jght a piece of ground, and I mujl needs go fee it; and anoth£T, 1 }JJt'Ve bought a joke of O.wn, and I mujl go to prO'Ue them; and a thtrd, ! ha'Ve married a 11"ife, and c.wnot come, Luke 1 4· 18 The ohjeEfs of their Patf10ns are dtft"erem, but they all pwduce the fame etlc£\, the rcjeftion of Happinefs. The Sum of all is this, 1 hat as Man fell from his Obedience, and loll the Image of God, by fceking Perfection and Satisf.1ftion, that is, Bapp~nef~ in rhe crrawre; [? he can neve~ return ~o his O~edi· encc, and aclmowledg. God as Ius . Supreme Lord, t1ll he chufes lum for hiS Happmefs. And this he can never mttrely do, nil he is born again,. an~ hath a new p~·mciple of Ltfe that may change the complexion of the £oul, and quahfy 1t for thnfe dehghts "hich are (itblime and Sptritmd. . . . . Secondly. Pain Man can never recover the f-avour of God; And tlus IS cv1dent upon a double account. ' · He
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