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Laftly, He who does not find religion full of pleasure, who does not glory in God, and rejoice in our Lord Jefus, he who is not filled with an humble affurance of the di vine favour, and a joyful expectation of immortality and glory, does yet want fomething; he is yet defective, with refpect either to the brightness of illumination, the abfolute nefs of liberty, or the ardor of love; he may be a good man, and have gone a great way in his Chriftian race; but there is fomething still behind to compleat and perfect him, fome error or other creates him groundless fcruples; fome incumbrance or impediment or other, whether an infelicity of temper, or the incommodioufnefs of his circumftances, or a little too warm an application towards fomething of the world, retards his vigour, and abates lais affec

tions.

I have now finifhed all that I can think neceffary to form a general idea of religious Perfection: for I have not only given a plain definition or defcription of it, and confirmed and fortified that defcription by reafon and fcripture, and the concurrent fenfe of all fides and parties; but have alfo by various inferences, deduced from the general notion of Perfection, precluded all groundless pretenfions to it, and enabled men to fee how far they are removed and diftant from it, or how near they approach

it. The next thing I am to do, according to the method I have propofed, is, to confider the fruits and advantages of Perfection. A confideration which will furnifh us with many great, and, I hope, effectual incitements or motives to it; and demonftrate its fubferviency to our happinefs.

CHA P. IV.

1. As

A general account of the blessed fruits and advantages of Religious Perfection. Which is reduced to thefe four heads. it advances the honour of the true and living God, and of his Son Jefus, in the world. 2. As it promotes the good of mankind. These two treated of in the chapter of zeal. 3. As it produces in the perfect man a full affurance of eter nal happiness and glory. 4. As it puts him in poffeffion of true happiness in this life. Thefe two laft, affurance, and prefent happiness or pleasure, handled in this chapter. Where the pleasures of the finner and of the perfect Chriftian are. compared.

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F the two former I fhall fay nothing bere; defigning to infift upon them more particularly in the following fection,

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under the head of zeal, where I fhall be obliged by my method to confider the fruit of it; only I cannot here forbear remarking, that Perfection, while it promotes the honour of God and the good of man, does at the fame time promote our own happinefs too; fince it must on this account moft effectually recommend us to the love of the one and the other; Them that honour me, faith God, I will honour, 1 Sam. ii. 30. And our Saviour obferves, that even Publicans and finners love thofe who love them, Matth. v. 46. Accordingly St. Luke tells us of Chrift, Luke ii. 52. That Jefus increafed in wisdom and ftature, and in favour with God and man; and of thofe eminently devout and charitable fouls, Acts ii. that they had favour with all the people; fo refiftless a charm is the beauty and loveliness of perfect charity, even in the most depraved and corrupt times. And what a bleffing now, what a comfort, what a pleasure is it, to be the favourite of God and man!

The third and fourth I will now discourse of, and that the more largely, because as to affurance, it is the foundation of that pleafure, which is the richest ingredient of human happiness in this life. And, as to our prefent happiness, which is the fourth fruit of Perfection, it is the very thing for the fake of which I have engaged in my prefent

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prefent fubject. And therefore it is very fit that I fhould render the tendency of Perfection to procure our prefent happiness very confpicuous. Beginning therefore with affurance, I will affert the poffibility of attaining it in this life; not by embroiling my felf in the brakes of feveral nice and fubtle speculations with which this fubject is over-grown; but by laying down in a practical manner, the grounds on which af furance depends; by which we shall be able at once to difcern the truth of the doctrine of afsurance, and its dependance upon Perfection.

Now affurance may relate to the time prefent, or to come: for the refolution of two queftions, gives the mind a perfect eafe about this matter. The first is, am I affured that I am at prefent in a state of grace? The fecond, am I affured that I fhall continue fo to my life's end? To begin with the first: the anfwer of this enquiry depends on three grounds.

First, A divine revelation, which declares in general, who fhall be faved; namely, they who believe and repent. Nor does any fet doubt, but that repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jefus Chrift, as St. Paul fpeaks, are the indifpenfable conditions of life. "Tis true, the notion of repentance is miferably perverted by fome, and that of faith by others: but what re

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medy is there against the lufts and paffions of men? The fcripture does not only re quire repentance and faith; but it explains and defcribes the nature of both, by fuch confpicuous and infallible characters, that no man can be mistaken in these two points, but his error must be owing to fome criminal prejudices or inclinations that biafs and pervert him. Good men have ever been agreed in thefe matters: and catholick tradition is no-where more incontroulable than here: the general doctrine of all ages hath been, and in this ftill is, that by repentance we are to understand a new nature and new life and by faith, when diftinguished from repentance (as it fometimes is in fcripture) a reliance upon the mercy of God through the merits and interceffion of Jefus, and atonement of his blood. Heaven lies open to all that perform thefe conditions; every page of the gofpel attefts this; this is the fubftance of Chrift's commiffion to his apostles, that they fhould preach repentance and remif fion of fins through his name amongst all nations. And this is one bleffed advantage, which revealed religion has above natural; that it contains an express declaration of the Divine Will, concerning the pardon of all fins whatsoever upon thefe terms. Natural religion indeed teaches us, that God is merciful; but it

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