who has had fo long an experience of the beauty, and of the pleafure of it? Good habits, when they are grown up to perfection and maturity, feem to me as natural as 'tis poffible evil ones fhould be: and if fo, 'tis no lefs difficult to extirpate the one than the other. And I think I have the fcripture on my fide in this opinion: Does the prophet Jeremy demand, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may you that are accustomed to do evil, learn to do well, Jer. xiii. 23. St. John on the other hand does affirm, whofoever is born of God, doth not commit fin; for his feed remaineth in him; and he cannot fin, because he is born of God, 1 John iii. 9. Whofoever abideth in him, finneth not, v. 6. Thefe are the grounds of affurance with respect of the time to come. As to perfonal and peremptory predeftination to life and glory, 'tis at least a controverted point, and therefore unfit to be laid as the foundation of affurance. But fuppofe it were granted, I fee not which way it can affect our prefent enquiry, fince the wifeft amongst those who stickle for it, advife all to govern themselves by the general promifes and threats of the gofpel; to look upon the fruits of righteousness as the only folid proof of a fate of grace; and if they be under the dominion of any fin, not to prefume upon perfonal election, but to

look

look upon themfelves as in a state of damnation, till they be recovered out of it by repentance. Thus far all fides agree; and this I think is abundantly enough; for here we have room enough for joy and peace, and for caution too; room enough for confidence, and for watchfulness too: the Romanifts indeed, will not allow us to be certain of falvation, certitudine fidei cui non poteft fubeffe falfum, with fuch a certainty as that with which we entertain an article of faith, in which there is no room for error; i. e. we are not so fure that we are in the favour of God, as we are, or may be, that there is a God: We are not fo fure, that we have a title to the merits of Chrift, as we are, or may be, that Jefus is the Chrift. Now if this af sertion be confined to that affurance which regards the time to come, as it generally is; and do not deny affurance in general, but only certain degrees or measures of it ; then there is nothing very abfurd or intolerable in it. For a lefs affurance than that which this doctrine excludes, will be fufficient to fecure the pleasure and tranquillity of the perfect man. But if this affertion be defigned against that assurance which regards our prefent ftate; then I think it is not found, nor agreeable, either to reafon, fcripture, or experience. For first, the queftion being about a matter

of

:

of fact, 'tis in vain to argue that cannot be, which does appear manifeftly to have been and certainly they who rejoiced in Chrift with joy unfpeakable, and full of glory, were as fully perfwaded, that they were in a state of grace and falvation, as they were that Jefus was rifen from the dead. Secondly, 'tis one thing to balance the ftrength and degrees of affurance; another to balance the reafons of it. For it is very poffible that affurance may be ftronger, where the reafon of it may not be fo clear and evident as where the assu rance is lefs. Thus for example; the evidence of fenfe feems to moft learned men to be ftronger than that of faith: and yet through the affiftance of the fpirit, a man may embrace a truth that depends upon revelation, with as much confidence and certainty as one depending upon fenfe. And fo it may be in the cafe of affurance: the Spirit of God may by its concurrence raife our affurance as high as he pleases; although the reafon on which it be built, fhould not be divine and infallible, but merely moral, and fubject at leaft to a poffibility of error. But thirdly, why fhould not the certainty I have concerning my prefent ftate, be as divine and infallible, as that I have concerning an article of faith? if the premises be infallible, why fhould not the conclufion? he that believes

and

and repents is in a state of grace, is a divine and infallible propofition: and why may not this other, I believe and repent, be equally infallible, though not equally divine? what faith and repentance is, is revealed; and therefore there is no room for my being here mistaken: befides, I am affifted and guided in the trial of myself by the Spirit of God. So that the truth of this propofition, I believe and repent, depends partly upon the evidence of fenfe; and I may be as fure of it, as of what I do or leave undone: partly upon the evidence of inward fenfation, or my consciousness of my own thoughts; and I may be as fure of it as I can be of what I love or hate, rejoice or grieve for: and laftly, it depends upon the evidence of the Spirit of God, which affifts me in the examination of myself according to thofe characters of faith and repentance, which he hath himfelf revealed. And when I conclude from the two former propofitions, that I am in a state of grace, he confirms and ratifies my inference. And now, let any one tell me, what kind of certainty that is, that can be greater than this? I have taken this pains to fet the doctrine of affurance in a clear light, because it is the great fpring of the perfect man's comfort and pleasure, and fource of his ftrength and joy. And this puts me in mind of that

other

other fruit of Perfection, which in the beginning of this chapter I promised to infift on, which is,

Its fubferviency to our happiness in this life.

That happiness increafes in proportion with Perfection, cannot be denied, unless we will at the fame time deny the happiness of a man, to exceed that of an infant, or the happiness of an angel that of man. Now this truth being of a very great importance, and ferving fingly inftead of a thousand motives to Perfection, I will confider it impartially, and as closely as I can. Happiness and pleasure, are generally thought to be only two words for the fame thing: nor is this very remote from truth; for let but pleasure be folid and lafting, and I cannot fee what more is wanting to make man happy. The beft way therefore to determine how much Perfection contributes to our happiness, is to examine how much it contributes to our pleasure.

If, with the Epicurean, we think indolence our fupreme happiness, and define pleasure by the abfence of pain; then I am fure the perfect man will have the best claim to it. He furely is freeft from the miftakes and errors, from the paffions and

follies,