dirigit, faith St. Austin *; The Intention makes the Work good, and Faith directs the Intention. This is the fingle Eye mentioned by our Saviour; If thine Eye be fingle, thy whole Body fhall be full of light; If thine Eye be evil, thy whole Body fhall be full of darknefs, Matth. 6. 22, 23. A pure Intention cafts a Spiritual Light and Luftre upon the Body of our good Works; but that being wanting, the whole Body of our Works is dead and dark, like a carcafs void of all Beauty and Excellency. Let thine Eyes look right on, faith the Wifeman Prov. 4. 25. That is, Have a pure Intention to the Will and Glory of God: This is one thing in the Church,, which ravishes the Heart of Chrift; Thou haft ravished my Heart with one of thine Eyes, with one chain of thy Neck, Cant. 4. 9. The first thing which excordiated Chrift, and took away his Heart, was the One, the fingle Eye; and then the Chain of Obedience ravished him alfo: without a pure intention a Man, in his faireft. Actions, fquints and looks awry; by a tacit blafphemy he makes as if there were something more excellent than the Will and Glory of God for him to look unto; and when Man fquints, God looks off, and will have none of his Obedience. Ifrael is an empty Vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself, Hof. 10. 1. Fruit, and yet empty,is a feeming contradiction, but the words reconcile themfelves. He bringeth forth to himfelf, 177, he weighs out his Fruit to himself; he proportions his Religion to himself; all being for himself, God. accepts it not, but efteems it as nothing at all: fuch. Fruit, and meer emptinefs are much one before God. He tells them Levit. 26. 27. That they did walk with him in accidente, at all adventures, when they chanced to light upon him, by the by; and be

פרי

fides their intention, quafi aliud agentes, as if the Ser- Chap. 12. vice of God were a syor, a bufinefs only by the by; but would God accept them, or take it well at their hands! No, he will walk with them too, by chance, at all adventures; his Bleffings thail come upon them, as it were per accidens; his Mind is not towards them, as it is towards those which serve him spiritually: A Man's Life cannot be holy præterintentionally, or by accident: it is a pure Intention which spiritualizes and fanctifies the Life before God. To clear this, it is to be confidered, That the Life must be dedicated to God in a double respect; it must be dedicated to him by a conformity to his Will. And again, It must be dedicated to him by a tendency to his Glory. In both these there must be a pure intention to direct the fame.

The first thing is, There must be a pure Intention in our conformity to the Will of God. "Socinus faith, That there is a Verbum quoddam interius, a kind of internal word in Man; that is, a Reason to difcern between that which is juft, and that which is unjust: Prælect And then he Adds, He that obeys this internal word, Theol. c. 2. obeys God himself, Etiamfi ipfum Deum non effe qui dem aut fciat aut cogitet; although he do not know or think that there be a God. And after concludes, That fuch an Obedience is grateful to God: But as great an Admirer of Holinels as this Heretick would feem to be, it was no less than a prophane Affertion, to fay, That there might be a grateful Obedience without any respect at all had to God, or his Will. Doth not St. Paul condemn in the Athenians the worship of an unknown God? Doth not Chrift charge the Samaritans, that they did worship they knew not what? Yet these are the portenta opinionum,which Fff 2

this

Chap. 12. this Maiter of Reafon vents to the World: But to pafs over this; It is not enough for an holy Life, that the thing done be materially good; but it must be therefore done, because God commands it fo to be; an holy Man follows after Holiness, because this is. the Will of God. Now that the material goodness of a thing is not enough, may appear by these Inftances. Jehu in deftroying the Houfe of Ahab did do that which God commanded him to do; yet God faith, That he will avenge that Blood upon the Houfe of Jehu, Hof.1.4. And why fo? Jehu did that which God commanded, but he did not obey in it; he did it not in compliance with God's command, but in pursuance of his own defign; as it is with the hand of a rusty Dial which stands till (fuppofe) at ten of the Clock, to a Traveller paffing at that hour it seemeth to go right, but it is but by accident; fo was it with Jebu. He feemed to obey in that which hit with his own Will; but he did it not upon the account of God's; for then he would have done other things. But though he destroyed Ahab's House, yet he did not destroy the Calves at Dan and Bethel. For there God's Will did not fall in with his. Another Inftance we have in the acts of Moral Virtue in the Heathen; those acts were materially good, yet they did not in them ferve God, but their own Reason: It's true, right Reason fignifies the very Will of God; but they did them not in compliance with Reason,as fignificative of God's Will; but in compliance with it as a chief part of themselves. This is evident upon a double account; the one is this, That they were animals of Glory. They did what they did, not in an humble fubjection to the Will of God, but in a proud felfglorying way; they arrogated all the praife and

honour

Contr. Full 1.4.c.3.

honour to themselves; in all they did but facrifice Chap. 12. to the pride of their own Reason. The other is this, They did not only follow right Reason in their Moral Vertues, but corrupt Reason in their Idolatries: The Apostle faith, Their foolish Heart was darkned, Rom. 1. 21. Here they followed Reafon as a part of their corrupt felf; which thofe, who follow it as fignificative of God's Will, cannot be fuppofed to do: Right Reafon, which imports God's Will, was against their Idolatries; yet they continued in them. Hence it appears, that in their Moral Vertues they did not ferve God, but their own Reafon. Hence St. Auftin contends, that their Vertues were not true Vertues. They might be just, sober, merciful; but they did all infidelitèr, without refpect to the Will and Glory of God; Malè bonum fa- Cam. fol. cit, qui infidelitèr facit. Hence, as Camero obferves, 356. Lucretia hated Immodefty, and Cato Perfidioufnefs; not out of love to God, but because those things. were incongruous to Reason. Another Inftance: we have in Carnal Profeffors under the Gofpel; they hear, read, pray, give Alms; but they do not do thefe fpiritually,in compliance with the Will of God; the Duties are high, but the aims in them are low and carnal: Vaft is the difference between an Holy and a Carnal Man: An Holy Man is holy even in Natural and Civil Actions; the Kingdom of Heaven is by a pure Intention brought down into his Trade: Nay, into his very Meat and Drink. His deeds are by a Prerogative wrought in God: when he toils as a Servant in fervile Employment, yet he serves the Lord Chrift; all is fpiritualized by a pure Intention. But on the other hand, a Carnal Man is carnal even in spiritual Actions. There is indeed the Opus ope

ratum;

Chap. 12.

ratum; the Flesh, the outward body of a Duty; but there is no Soul or Spirit in it. No pure Intention to carry it up to the Will and Glory of God, to which it is confecrated. Thus we fee, that it is not enough for an holy Life that the thing done be materially good: No; it must be done in compliance to the Divine Will: I will keep the Commandments of my God, faith David, Pfal. 119.115. He would keep them, not upon any by-account, but because they were God's, to whofe Will he dedicated himself. Lo, I come to do thy Will, O God, faith our Saviour, Hebr. 10.7. And again, I seek not my own Will, but the Will of the Father, which hath sent me, Joh.5.30. Here we have the great Pattern of Holiness; his Will was devoted and fwallowed up in God's: all that he did and fuffered was in conformity to the Divine Will. We must not dream of any true Holiness, till we do what good we do, out of compliance with the Divine Will; as in matters of Faith we must believe, quià Deus dixit; fo in matters of Practice we must obey, quià Deus voluit: His Command must fway and caft the Balance in Heart and Life; the Nature of holy Obedience is this, to do what God willeth, intuitu voluntatis, because he willeth it: And hence an holy Man doth not pick and chufe among the commands of God, but carry a refpect to all of them.

The next thing is this: There must be a pure Intention to direct our good Actions to the Glory of God: feing God is Alpha, he must be Omega; feeing he is the Supream good, he must be the Ultimate end of all things. Nothing can be more rational than this, That a Creature fhould be referred to its Creator; that a finite good fhould run and do homage

to