are called to the fellowship of his sufferings Phil. 3.10 and a conformity to his death as well as to the likeness of his resurrection As there are some Commands to direct our obedience so there are other Commands to try the truth of our obedience Gen. 22.1 2. Such was that to Abraham to offer up his only Son and therefore we are not to think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us but to rejoice in as much as we are partakers of Christs sufferings 1 Pet. 4.12 13. Then we bear the Yoke of Christ becomingly when the excellency of the Pearl of price makes us willing to sell all to make the purchase when we prefer Christ and his Cross before all worldly injoyments as Moses did esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Heb. 11.26 Fourthly The Yoke of Christ extends to the manner of our obedience as well as to the matter For it is not enough that the thing we do be good materially unless it be so formally A man may do the same thing that is commanded and yet it may be so far from obedience that he may sin in the performance The matter may be good and yet the circumstance may turn all to sin Four things must concur to make an action truly good and an act of obedience The Principle the Rule the Manner and the End 1. There must be a right Principle there can be nothing well done without it though there may be much performance yet there can be no obedience There may be much doing but little duty For actions can rise no higher than the Principles that produce them Many do duties from self-love carnal fear c. here the Principle spoils the performance the corruption of the Principle corrupts the action The Apostle hints the true Principle of all obedience in 1 Tim. 1.5 Charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned 2. There must be a right Rule for how can a man go right without a sure guide The reason of all that false Worship that is practised in the world is making use of false rules he that hews by a crooked line can never make straight work There are many false rules set up by men of ignorant and corrupt minds such as these Custom and Example of others this is very unlike to be a right rule because the way to Hell is most beaten The most are found in the broad way that leads to destruction Mat. 7.13 If this be a right rule a Popish Idolater a Mahemutan a Heathen hath as good a rule of Worship as we Some set up their good meaning for a rule but a very false one The Apostle Paul had this rule to guide him in his highest enmities to Christ I verily thought with my self I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth Acts 26.9 The greatest persecution and opposition that can be made against Jesus Christ and his Disciples and Followers may be guided by this rule The time comes and truly it seems to be now come that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service John 16.2 Maximinian the Persâ—cutor thought the blood of Christians to be the most pleasing Sacrifice to his Gods * Christianorum sangineum Diis gratissimam esse victimam Tertul. O sancta simplicitas said John Huss when being to be burned he saw a plain Country-fellow busier than the rest in fetching Faggots Some set up their lusts for a rule as most men set up their lusts for a rule of life so some men set up their lusts for a rule of Worship For what else is the meaning of that in Jerem. 50.38 It is a land of graven images and they are mad upon their idols What is this madness but only a vehemency of inordinate affection which carries men head-long after a thing without rule or reason It is the rage of lust and such was this madness here they are mad upon their Idols An idolatrous Worship makes a mad world where-ever it is set up Lust take it as an act for so I now consider it is nothing else but a vehement desire And it is either good or evil as the object is for there is the lusting of Grace Gal. 5.17 as well as of the flesh But it is mostly in Scripture taken in a bad sense for those inordinate desires that transgress the Laws of reason and the rule of the Word And these lusts are divers * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 3.3 There are fleshly lusts 1 Pet. 2.11 which lead to the satisfaction of brutish appetite And worldly lusts Tit. 2.12 so called because stirred up by wordly objects And there are also spiritual lusts which are conversant about spiritual things Hence false Worship is called Whoring Hos 9.1 Thou hast gone a whoring from thy God Jer. 3.2 Thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms Hos 2.2 And it is called Adultery Jer. 13.27 I have seen thy adulteries because there is as much sinful lust in false Worship as in carnal Adulteries and Whoredoms How foul must that mans path be whose lust is his rule and guide Walking after their own ungodly lusts Jude v. 18. The true Disciple of Christ hath a better rule he is not guided by his lust but by the will of Christ And as many as walk according to this rule peace shall be upon them and mercy Gal. 6.16 Some set up the Laws and inventions of men for a rule but this cannot be a right rule because the Author is fallible Humane Laws may serve the ends of Civil Society and converse with man but are not suited to establish a Communion with God He will not be beholden to mans wisdom to direct his Worship †Deus non ex nostro arbitratu vult à nobis coli sed ex suo praescripto he counts it a vain service when mens posts are set by his posts Ezek. 43.8 and their Laws mingled with his Precepts In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Mat. 15.9 Heathens shall rise up in judgment against such Christians God saith Socrates will be worshipped with that kind of Worship only which himself hath commanded * Deus non superstitione coli vult sed pietate Cicero These therefore are all false rules and however men may please themselves in squaring their lives by them yet they are but so many by-ways to lead us off from our own happiness No man can truly obey God that walks by a wrong rule in what he performs and therefore all false worship condemns those who practise it of deceit and hypocrisie They pretend to make the will of God the rule of their worship and yet set up a rule of their own And he cannot be upright in the way who walks by a crooked rule 3. The manner must be right It is not enough that it be bonum
A Religion devised by Mahomet b With the assistance of Sergius a Nestorian Monk and some other Jews and Hereticks that Impostor and made up for the most part of foolish Precepts and as ridiculous rewards c To the observers of his Laws he promises a Paradise furnished with pleasant rivers fruitful trees silken carpets beautiful women choice musick good chear rich wines c. designed chiefly to gratifie the flesh Compare it with the Popish Religion and how much more pure is it than that both in Doctrine Worship and Discipline Their Doctrine is impure It is in many things contrary to the Scriptures as about Venial sins Merits of Works Supererogation forbidding to Marry their seven Sacraments Purgatory c. And in some things it is contrary to reason and sense as in that ridiculous Doctrine of Transubstantiation Their Worship is impure witness their Prayers to Saints and Angels their Image-worship their making their publick Prayers in a Language the people understand not their Masses their denying the Cup in the Lords Supper to the people Their Discipline is impure for whereas the Church is to be governed by Christ his Laws only they have contrived a Discipline of their own and make their Canons and Constitutions to take place of the appointments of Jesus Christ thus the man of sin sits as God in the temple of God 1 Thess 4.4 O what a corrupt filthy Religion is that of Rome an intolerable Yoke and therefore our Forefathers did righteously cast it off and never let us their children any more put it on Secondly This Yoke of Christ is a spiritual Yoke it reacheth the soul as well as the senses There is an intra as well as an extra an internal power binding the heart as well as an external that aweth the outward man The Laws of men have no spiritual power they govern the outward man but can't reach to the heart and conscience A man may love sin meditate mischief think treason and yet liable to no humane Law without overt-acts But Christ's Law reaches the inwards it is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart It binds the soul to its behaviour Heb. 4.12 as well as the senses so that a man may be a transgressor of the Law though he refrains all open wickedness For the Law is spiritual Rom. 7.14 and therefore requires not only outward obedience in word and deed but inward in mind and heart Thirdly It is a strict and absolute Yoke it lays the soul under an absolute subjection allows of nothing to be done but what is according to the will of God what God doth either command or warrant nor doth it abate ought of what God would have performed Though the Grace of the Gospel passes by many sins Rom. 5.16 the free gift is of many offences to justification yet the Precepts of the Gospel allow of no sin Though the young Man kept many commands yet because he failed in one thing one thing thou lackest all was nothing â—â—â—k 10.21 The Covenant of Works did not require a more strict obedience when it was for life than the Law of Christ doth It leaves the Creature no liberty for the least sin It is a yoke of absolute subjection without conditions or reserves and when we give up our selves to the government of the Divine will it is to a subjection that is absolute we are to have no other God Exod. 20.3 he is to be Lord alone If you have a servant and bid him do this or that it may be he will tell you it is not my work it was none of my bargain I am content to serve in the Chamber but not in the Kitchin or to be your Steward but not to serve in the Stable But the yoke of Christ admits of none of these conditions for the Law is indivisible You may number the commands but you may not divide them for they are but the various significations of the same Divine will The Precepts of the Gospel are not to be taken disjunctim but completive not singly but all together and so they make one intire Law of Righteousness And therefore he that wilfully slights any one command of Christ breaks the yoke he violates totam legem Jam. 2.1 though not totum legis the whole Law though not every command As he that breaks one link breaks the whole chain Or as he that breaks a mans arm wrongs the whole man though he doth not break every limb Fourthly It is an extensive Yoke It comprehends the whole of mans obedience It prescribes every duty we have no need to run to humane inventions to direct our obedience both the credenda and the agenda whatever is to be believed and done in order to life eternal is prescribed in the Word Thy commandment is exceeding broad Psal 119.96 Will you see in a few things where the latitude of it lies First It reaches from Heaven to Earth It directs our carriage and behaviour to God and man and teaches us to keep a conscience void of offence towards both The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to live righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2.11 12. Holiness to God is not enough without Righteousness to man nor righteousness to man without holiness to God that obedience doth not answer the end of the command that is not extended to both some will make conscience of the first Table and not of the second and some are second Table Christians but not first Some are strict in their devotions but very unrighteous in their dealings They will not bow to an Idol nor allow of the inventions of men in the worship of God but yet make no conscience of breaking the commands of God that are given to govern their dealings with men they will not neglect an Ordinance nor swear an Oath but yet will lie and deceive be uncharitable and cruel forgetting that command of God to deal justly and love mercy Mic. 6.8 As if that Law of loving thy neighbour as thy self were abrogated to let in a liberty for self to compass its own ends upon all without regard to any On the other hand some are very just and equal in their dealings with men but very neglectful and regardless of God they will not bow down to a Harlot but yet will bow down to an Idol They will not defile their bodies with fornication and uncleanness and yet in love to an unclean worship drink daily of the wine of Babylons fornication Rev. 17.2 they will not wrong their neighbour of a farthing and yet stick not to rob God of all that trust love Isai 30.10 fear and worship that is due to him they will not lye nor deceive among men and yet love a lying and deceitful Religion This is the fashion of the world to be in with one duty and out with another Some labour to keep conscience void of offence to man but
is the tye of God upon the Soul till a man comes under the power of the Precept he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not without Law but under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9.21 CHAP. VI. Holds forth the Reasons of the Doctrine 2. WHY it is the concernment of every one to take up the Yoke of Christ in his Youth Reas 1. Because of the Call of God He doth not call us to bow to his Yoke to submit to his Authority to obey his Commands only but to do it betimes as he states our duty what we shall do so he times it when it must be done And therefore it is as much a sin to let slip the time as to neglect the thing Not to do what God commands is a sin and not to do it when God commands it is another sin If God says To day go work to day in my vineyard Mat. 21.28 To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3.15 Why then to put it off till the morrow is a sin and so the adding of one days neglect to another is the adding of sin to sin For it is a repeated slight to the Call of God Now to shew you the force of this reason do but consider who it is that calls and what the Call is First Who it is that calls it is God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost 1. It is God the Father he that made thee and gave thee thy being And this one would think should be obligation enough to duty He that gave thee thy being calls for thy obedience especially considering he made thee for this end other Creatures were made to serve thee but there was no end of thy being but to serve God and therefore thou hadst another make tnan other Creatures He stamped a greater excellency upon man than upon the rest of the Creatures Every Creature bears some impression of God but no Creature on earth but only Man bears the likeness of God In other Creatures there are vestigia Dei but in man only there is imago Dei there you may see his footsteps but here only his image Other Creatures are formed of earth but Man is partly earth and partly Heaven the dust of the earth is married to the breath of God And why such an excellent being but to fit him for the end to which God designed him viz. Duty and Service And is it not reason that God who gave thee thy being should have thy obedience That he who gave thee a reasonable Soul should have a reasonable service Creation is an obligation to service Hence that of Solomon Eccles 12.1 Remember thy Creator He that was not made by himself should not live to himself He that can't cease from depending on God as a Principle he ought not to cease from intending God as an end that he may be the object of our obedience as well as the Author of our being 2. It is God the Son the Lord thy Redeemer First It is he that took up flesh came into thy Nature was made Man became thy Surety bore the Curse due to thy sins shed his Blood laid down his life to ransom thy Soul rose again for thy Justification is gone to Heaven upon thy Errand It is this Christ that calls thee to take up his Yoke and is it not reason that we should bear the Yoke for him that bore the Cross and the Curse for us Is it not reason that if we have the good of his Sufferings he should have the glory of our service Secondly It is he that with the Father hath stablished this as the great Condition of Salvation bearing the Yoke so that it is the standing Law of Heaven Whoever will be saved must take up Christs Yoke This is the way to blessedness and there is no other bear the Yoke of Christ and be blessed cast that off and Christ will cast you off submit and be saved reject it and Christ will reject you This is the unalterable condition of Salvation and there is no other Things are so setled in the eternal Compact between Father and Son about the case of man that the Blood of Christ it self cannot stead us nor the mercy of God infinite as it is benefit us Per legem per crucem per lucem per concilium per afflatum auxilium See Pareus in Revel 3.20 without this condition be performed by us And therefore it is that Christ is so importunate in this Duty that he calls and knocks so many ways by the Law by the Cross by Gospel-light by the operation of the Spirit Thirdly It is he that made this his great end in redeeming us to restore us to obedience as well as to favour and to render us capable of that service and duty which hath Glory and Blessedness annexed to it Therefore his Blood is said to purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9 14. And this is made a reason of his bearing our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin might live to righteousnss 1 Pet. 2.24 And who did he redeem was it not young ones as well as others Did he not shed as much blood and pay as great a price for them as others Fourthly It is he that hath purchased unto himself a fulness of Grace to be given forth for the inablement of thee for the susception of this Yoke and the performing all the Duties belonging thereto so that there shall be nothing wanting if there be but a willing mind The Lord Christ knows thy case and the impotency contracted by sin that thou canst not bear his Yoke without his strength and influences of his Grace and therefore he calls thee to partake of his fulness that thou mayst be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might The wise God permitted the loss of mans self-fulness that he might never more be any thing in himself but might glorifie the Redeemer by an intire constant dependance upon him in fetching all from him as an indigent Creature Mans first miscarriage was in a desire of self-sufficiency and he hath been poor and naked from that very day He would have a stock in his own hands and he hath been a begger ever since It was pride at the first that overthrew him and ever since God hath left sin in him to humble him He would have a happiness in himself and therefore he shall have no happiness but by being outed of himself He would live as an independent Being and therefore to cure this God brings him to an absolute dependance for all things he shall have nothing but what he hath by faith and expectation that he may thereby see what a beggerly indigent Creature he is and so glorifie the fulness of Christ And it is the mercy of Christ that he hath a sufficiency of Grace for
all that see their need and trust to his supplies And therefore it is all the reason in the world we should obey his Call and take up his Yoke who injoyns no obedience but what he gives strength and power to perform Fifthly It is he into whose hand the Judgment of the World is committed he is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead Acts 10.42 And this is what you all profess to believe you say in your Creed that he is ascended into heaven and from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead and it is so for the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son John 5.22 He it is who disposes of all persons to their eternal condition the power of life and death salvation and damnation is in his hand He is the Husbandman who appoints the reapers to gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but to gather the wheat into his barn Mat. 13.30 He is the Bridegroom who takes the wise Virgins in with him to the marriage but excludes the foolish Mat. 25.10 Mat. 25.14 He is the man who travelling into a far Country delivered his goods to his servants to one five talents v. 15. to another two to another one v. 19. and after a long time comes againe and reckons with them blessing and rewarding the diligence of the faithful v. 21. v. 31. and dooming the unprofitable servant into utter darkness And is there not great reason then why every one should take up his Yoke especially considering that it is made up of those Laws that are the rules both of his Government and of his Judgment as he rules by them so he will pass Sentence by them the same Laws that are now given by Christ for a rule of life shall then be the rule of Judgment Our Lord Christ tells you so John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the words that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day If you will not submit to his word to guide you you must submit to it to try you you may decline his Precepts but you cannot decline his Sentence You will not obey him when he says Mat. 16.24 Follow me but you cannot resist him when he says Depart from me It is most rational therefore you should submit to his Precepts Mat. 7.23 or ye can't escape his wrath Psal 2.12 3. God the Holy Spirit he calls for thy obedience and for an early submission to the Yoke of Christ and therefore it is that he begins his work in the Soul betimes I know not nor is it for me to say how early but certainly it is very early There are none of you of any competent age but the Spirit of the Lord hath been dealing with you to bring you under the Yoke of Christ * Among such as are religiously educated there is scarce a child of ten years old but the holy Spirit hath been at work in his heart Increase Mather in his Book about Conversion pag. 134. The Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 and the Call of the Gospel is accompanied with a work of the Spirit where the Gospel calls outwardly the Spirit calls inwardly and this is the highest way of Gods calling There is no work of God beyond the striving of the Spirit in the heart and doubtless the Spirit strives less or more with all under the word He cannot be said to strive with all in the same manner nor in all with equal power and efficacy for then all would as well be brought under Christs Yoke as those that are But that he strives with all in one degree or other is evident For whence is it that many are under such frequent and strong convictions and that they are made to see sin and feel the burden of it convinced of their undone condition under it convinced of the necessity and equity of obedience and a holy life it is from the striving of the Spirit And whence is it that many are brought to take up the Yoke of Christ formally and feignedly that have no work of sound conversion wrought in their hearts So did the stony ground hearer he hears the word Mat. 13.20 and receives it and what is the receiving it but conforming to it So did Simon Magus Acts 8.13 he believed and was baptized and so came under the Yoke of Christ And whence is this but from the power of the Spirit put forth to convince of sin and of the equity of the ways of Christ This doth it Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves to thee Psal 66.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentientur in te Arias Mont. virtus nolentium nulla est The word which we render submit signifies in the Hebrew to lye Your Margent reads it feigned obedience and to feign obedience when the heart is not right with God is a lye And whence is it that many are wearied out of their lusts and brought to a free and willing submission to Christ and his Yoke but from the irresistible power of the Spirit Acts 7.51 And whence is it that many do resist the Spirit of Grace How could he be resisted if he did not put forth his power and strive with the sinner Resistance is a forcible opposition made by one against another in his onsets and attempts So that it is most evident that the Spirit of the Lord strives with all to bring them under the Yoke of Christ at one time or other Now I pray do but consider what reason there is for your compliance with the Spirit herein First Consider what his work and design is It is to prepare the way of the Lord into the heart to break the Yoke of sin to destroy that confederacy with corruption which will be the ruine of thy Soul and so to captivate the heart to the obedience of Christ Whatever means he uses this is the end he pursues If he wound us if he break us if he empty and out us of our selves it is but to bring us to a more ready and free subjection to the Laws of Christ Wounds of Conscience are painful things and spiritual troubles are grievous troubles the burden of sin is a heavy burden but so long as these things are under the management of the Spirit as instrumental to a ready obedience to the Lord Christ there is all the reason in the world why you should undergo them Secondly Let it be considered how uncertain his striving is you don't know how long or how little while it will last He begins betimes but you know not how soon he may have done If you refuse his calls and repulse him when he knocks you have no promise he will knock again To be sure the more you resist him the sooner you quench him and where he is once utterly
of an ingaged Providence 3. Is that profitable which brings its own reward with it This Religion doth In keeping thy commandments there is great reward Psal 19.11 The Prophet seems here not to intend the future recompence of reward which the obedient shall receive at last in Heaven for that is a reward for keeping his commandments though it is a reward not of merit but of grace but this is a reward in keeping his commandments The full harvest will be hereafter but yet the Christian hath a present reaping time for God meets them that rejoyce and work righteousness that remember him in his ways Isai 64.5 Our Lord Christ tells Peter Mark 10.30 31. That whoever hath left house or relations or lands for his sake and the Gospel's shall receive an hundred fold now in this life So that there is a reward in obedience as well as for it As beaten Spices recompense the pains by their grateful smell so the practice of Religion causes a sweet reflection upon the Soul and is thereby its own recompence Therefore David elsewhere speaks of what he had as a reward of obedience as well as what he hoped for Psal 119.56 This I had because I kept thy precepts This I had but he doth not tell you what but that may easily be guessed at by the dealings of God with him He had peace of Conscience he had the quicknings of God he had increase of grace he had frequent communion with God he had joy in the Holy Ghost he had many great experiences many deliverances and salvations and all this was the fruit of his obedience This I had because I kept thy precepts to be sure it was some great Boon because he mentions it so gratefully as a reward of mercy for his close walking with God So that the obedient Christian hath not all in hope there is much in hand he possesses much though he expects more For godliness hath both the promise of this life and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 4. Is that profitable which fills the Soul with such joy as nothing else can This Religion doth It reconciles the Soul to God stamps it with his image lays it in with Divine principles whereby he is inabled to take the testimonies of God for his heritage for ever which become the rejoycing of his heart Psal 119.111 The Promises believed do not only create a joy in the Soul filled with peace and joy in believing Rom. 15.13 but the Precepts obeyed minister joy also The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.8 So that the good mans joy arises from a double spring Faith secures his interest in the promise and so he rejoyces in hope of the glory of God Rom. 5.2 Holiness subjects him to the precept and so he rejoyces in his conformity to the will of God I rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies more than in all riches Psal 119.14 This is a joy appropriated to the Children of God none partake of this oyl of gladness but they who have the oyl of grace in their vessels Disobedient sinners are strangers to this joy Prov. 14.10 Theirs is a joy arising either out of perishing comforts the joy of corn and wine and oyl Psal 4.7 or which is worse out of sinful acts and objects Who rejoyce to do evil Prov. 2.14 Now this is a poor weak unfruitful joy it wets the mouth but cannot warm the heart In the midst of laughter the heart is sorrowful Prov. 14.13 It is rather revelling than rejoycing and therefore the Wise-man calls it mad mirth I have said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it Eccles 2.2 What satisfaction doth it afford what profit doth it bring with it Will it ease the smart of affliction will it remove the fears and doubts of Conscience will it bear us up against reproaches will it help us against the fear of death and judgment If not then what doth it it emasculates the spirits discomposes the judgment displaces reason feeds the senses and starves the Soul and the end of that mirth is heaviness Prov. 14.13 So that carnal joy is but a cold armful as one saith of a bad wife * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Sophocl in Antig. Like Adonijah's feast 1 Kings 1.9 49. that began in mirth but ended in fear 2 Sam. 13.26 82. or like Amnon's entertainment at Absolom's sheep-shearing who met with death at the banquet Solomon compares it to the crackling of thorns under a pot Eccles 7.6 where there is much noise but little fire much light but little heat and soon extinct As Comets make a great blaze but when their exhaled matter is spent they end in a pestilent vapor Such is the sinners joy soon lighted and soon wasted when his candle is put out as it quickly will be it leaves a stink behind Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn Luke 6.25 The sinner purchases his joy with guilt and shame possesses it with an accusing vexing Conscience and at last it is extinguished if not in present terrors yet to be sure in eternal torments But the joy of obedience and holy walking is another thing it is a spiritual and heavenly joy wrought by a spiritual power drawn out by spiritual arguments fixed upon a spiritual object and serves to spiritual ends and uses to give check to worldly lusts to extinguish sensual appetite and abate the relish of carnal pleasures to support under losses wants reproaches to fence against the quarrels of Conscience to arm us against the fear of death and damnation In all these things the joy of the Lord is the good mans strength Nehem. 8.10 and therefore it is called strong consolation Heb. 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prevailing consolation It is prevalent against all opposition both from corruption within and temptation without It gives relief against all fears doubts and troubles either it prevents them or prevents the mischief of them by supporting the Soul under them This is such a good that as no good can match it so no evil can over-match it A heart full of grace and a conscience full of comfort makes a man sit either for doing or suffering it makes him insuperable under durances and unsatisfiable in duties for that hereby every cross becomes tolerable and light and every command delectable and sweet 5. Is that profitable that at once serves our temporal our spiritual and our eternal interest and advantage This Religion doth First It serves our temporal interest Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 In the Christians Charter the World is put in as well as Heaven and things present as well as things to come 1 Cor. 3.21 22. It is said of Wisdom that is Christ Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3.16 And what doth Christ do with
for it is a communion with him in his own nature which is holiness Now thus every good man walks with God and hath a daily communion with him so far as holiness is in exercise How often may we hear the Children of God complaining of the want of communion with God! this arises from a mistake of the thing They judge of fellowship by sensible fruitions and of communion by comfort So much as God gives out of the comfort of his presence and the light of his face so much communion they partake of And where this is not injoyed there all communion is denied Whereas communion with God may be maintained and yet present comfort may be left out Though they cannot walk by the light of his countenance yet they may walk by the light of his counsels So did Job Chap. 23.8 9 10 11 12. Behold I go forward but he is not there backward but I cannot perceive him on the left hand where he doth work but I can't behold him he hides himself on the right hand that I cannot see him But he knows the way that I take my foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips Here you may see Job walking with God when at the same time he cannot find him He walketh by the light of his will revealed when he can't walk by the light of his face discovered and so hath a communion with him in his counsels though not in the light of his countenance And this makes the Yoke of obedience pleasant it is a walking with God you have hereby communion with him in his Holiness when you want the comforts of his presence and this makes your way sweet though God doth not shine upon your path This I take to be the meaning of that of David Psal 112.4 Vnto the upright there ariseth light in darkness Holiness yields a sweetness and comfort when it may be the light of Gods face yields none 2. Godliness is attended with the pleasure of a witnessing Conscience He that follows its guidance shall never want its witness God leads man by a twofold guide the Word and Conscience the Word without and Conscience within the Word is a light to us and Conscience is a light in us the Word directs the Conscience and Conscience directs the conversation And he that follows the guidance of Conscience as it is guided by the Word shall never want a witness to the goodness of his state and heart He that opposes and violences Conscience shall find it witnessing against him but he that is guided by it shall have it a witness for him As the Spirit of God is first a Counseller and then a Comforter so Conscience is first a guide and then a witness And what greater pleasure than the witness of a mans Conscience to the goodness of his conversation As a condemning Conscience is the greatest torment as being a degree of Hell so a witnessing Conscience is the greatest comfort as being a first-fruits of the joy of Heaven Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world 2 Cor. 1.12 A witnessing Conscience brings with it an unspeakable sweetness and comfort As for instance First What is it that satisfies a man when nothing else can it is the witness of his Conscience A good man is satisfied from himself Prov. 14.14 Secondly What is it that gives confidence and boldness towards God it is a witnessing Conscience 1 John 3.21 If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have boldness so the word is rendred in Heb. 10.19 Having brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus A good man hath a threefold boldness and confidence from a witnessing Conscience 1. A boldness in Prayer Let us come boldly to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 There are three things which together cause this boldness First The Throne God is upon to whom we make our requests viz. a Throne of Grace and Mercy Let us come boldly to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 Secondly The advantage we have by Jesus Christ at the right hand of God Who ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.15 Thirdly The help of the Spirit whereby we are inabled to call him Father and who makes intercession in us Rom. 8.15 26. 2. Boldness and confidence in the midst of all dangers He shall not be afraid of evil tidings Psal 112.7 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet will I fear no evil Psal 23.4 The righteous is bold as a lion Prov. 28.1 3. Boldness and confidence in the day of Judgment 1 John 4.17 That we may have boldness in the day of judgment And how sweet must this be to dye and go to the Bar of God confidently assured of the goodness of our case Thirdly What is that which comforts and supports a man when all else it may be witness against him It is a witnessing Conscience Sometimes men may witness against him and falsly charge him as in Jobs case yet then Conscience supports him in the testimony whereof he can appeal to God as in Chap. 10.7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked Sometimes God seems to witness against him Thou writest bitter things against me Job 10.17 Job 13.26 Yet then to the upright there arises light in darkness Psal 112.4 Sometimes Satan witnesseth against a man accuses him of hypocrisie and unsoundness of heart in the ways of God as he did Job of serving God for by-by-ends Job 1.9 10. yet then Conscience supports him as it did good Hezekiah in the testimony whereof he appeals to God Remember Lord Isai 38.3 how I have walked before thee with an upright heart Fourthly What is that which fills the Soul with peace and joy when troubles and distresses are upon us it is the witness of Conscience This made Paul and Silas sing in the Stocks This made the Martyrs triumph in the midst of the flames As sorrowful yet always rejoycing 2 Cor. 6.10 O what a sweet thing is a witnessing Conscience it fills a man with the richest and the most lasting peace 1. With the richest peace and therefore it is called the Peace of God Phil. 4.7 The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus That this is the peace of Conscience is evident in that it is said to keep the heart and mind And it is called the Peace of God First Because of the greatness and excellency of it according to that Hebraism whereby things great and excellent are intitled to God Psal 36.6 As the mountains of God the Cedars of God Psal 80.10 the increase of God Col. 2.19 c. Secondly Because he gives it When
many times the sinner out-lives all his joys and delights they tarry not till he dies from them but they die from him sometimes pining diseases sometimes continued crosses sometimes a worm in the conscience extinguish these joys and they are never kindled more But if none of these do to be sure death doth for when that once comes then farewel the pleasures of sin for ever Hell is too hot a Climate for wanton delights to live in sin shall be so far from affording delight there that the remembrance of it shall greaten their torment And therefore if the pleasures of sin do not die from us yet we are sure to die from them as Pope Adrian said to his Soul when expiring Quae nunc abibis in loca Nec ut soles dabis jocos Thou art now going where there is no pleasure to be found But now the pleasure of godliness is durable pleasure it is not transient and fading It is not water from a fading brook but from a river whose springs fail not Therefore the Holy Ghost had no sooner said Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 but he presently adds in the next verse For with thee is the fountain of life A fountain is always running and yet is never exhausted The river of pleasures which godliness affords is fed from a fountain that is overflowing and ever flowing Fourteenthly The pleasures of sin have a sad end There is a sting in the tail of them they are like the wine Solomon speaks of that though it looketh pleasantly in the cup yet at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder Prov. 23.31 32. The stollen waters of sin how sweet soever they seem to be in the mouth will be gall and wormwood in the belly even bitterness in the latter end So says Zophar Job 20. 12 13 14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth though he hide it under his tongue Though he forsake it not but keep it still within his mouth yet his meat in his bowels is turned it is the gall of asps within him O that sinners would consider the end of sin As Abner said to Joab Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end 2 Sam. 2.26 Sensual pleasure goes out like a candle and leaves a stink behind it great damps and sore griefs in the conscience Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep Luke 6.25 In Isai 5.14 it is said Hell hath inlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it That is he that lives in the pleasures of sin his present pleasure shall end in Hell where there is punishment without pity misery without mercy sorrow without succour mischief without measure and torments without end This is all you shall ever get by sin a little pleasure and eternal torment But the pleasure of godliness as it is sweet in the way so it is sweeter in the end Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Christ keeps the best wine till the last The pleasures of godliness that good men injoy in the way are not to be compared to the pleasures that they shall injoy in the end When the pleasures of sin shall end in the wrath of God and eternal misery the pleasures of godliness shall be so far from being extinguished that they shall be perfected * Si quid male feceriâ— voluptas transit dolor manet si quid benefeceris labor transit voluptas manet For holiness brings us into the full fruition of God at last In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 So that we may say of the pleasures of holiness and the pleasures of sin as Solomon says of wisdom and folly Eccles 2.13 Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness So do the pleasures of holiness excel the pleasures of sin And thus you have the pleasure of Christs Yoke made out comparatively viz. by comparing it 1 with the Yoke of the Law 2 with the Yoke of Sin 3 I shall make it out by a collation of instances And I will instance in the most difficult duties of Religion If the most difficult and severe duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them then it must needs be good to come under the Yoke of Christ but the most difficult duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them I will instance in three which I take to be the most difficult Repentance Mortification of Sin Bearing the Cross 1. Repentance This seems to be one of the most difficult and unpleasant duties which the Yoke of Christ lays us under It is an afflicting the Soul Ezra 8.21 And what pleasure can there be in affliction It is a being ashamed and confounded for sin Jer. 22.22 And what pleasure is there in shame and confusion It is a renting and breaking the heart Joel 2.13 Psal 51.17 And what pleasure can a man take to have his heart rent and broken It is an exercising indignation and revenge upon our selves 2 Cor. 7.11 And what pleasure is it for a man to be angry with and take revenge upon himself It seems therefore upon all these accounts to be a very difficult duty and yet notwithstanding it is a duty full of pleasure and sweetness And this will be manifest First If you consider it in its spring and rise The work of repentance if it be right hath for the spring of it the efficacy of the grace of the Gospel upon the Soul melting it down at the foot of God The sweet sense of the goodness and mercy of God in Christ thaws the heart and causes it to melt into tears of godly sorrow for all sin done against such infinite love and tender bowels That thou mayst remember and be confounded because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord Ezek. 16.63 The reconciled face of God shining upon a sinner makes him more ashamed of sin than any argument in the world can do And there cannot but be pleasure in the exercise of this grace when it flows from so sweet a spring Secondly If you consider how great a hand it hath in removing the burden of sin Sin is such a burden as will sink the Soul down to Hell if it be not removed And if any man feel it not to be a burden it is because he is dead in sin but where there is any life the burden is very great Mine iniquities are gone over my head as a burden they are too heavy for me Psal 38.4 Now repentance helps to remove the burden of sin for when the Soul repents God forgives and so the burden is took away The pardon of sin is that which takes away the burden of sin this Job intimates in that his expostulation with God
three heads and speak a little distinctly to each of them that so you may know how to make use of them in the tryal of your state The first is The enlightening the mind The second is The convincing the Conscience The third is The inclining the will 1. There is a saving illumination of the mind There can be no coming to Christ out of the darkness of a natural state till the light of God break in to shew us the way Spiritual things cannot be discerned by natural light The natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned The object is supernatural God in Christ and the mysteries of the Kingdom and therefore cannot be discern'd but by a supernatural light Psal 36.9 In thy light we shall see light By nature we know little of God but nothing of Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 or the mind of Christ till God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness shine into our hearts The first creature that God made in the World was light and the first work of God in the soul is light The will of man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rational appetite it is acted by the guidance of the mind and therefore God deals first with the mind and understanding of man And hence it is that Christ is made a Prophet as well as a King he doth not subdue the will meerly by an unaccountable power but by a saving light And because the mind must first be inlightned in this work therefore Christ first appears in the office of a Prophet not only revealing the will of God as a rule of obedience but inlightening the mind to see the reasonableness of complying with the rule He doth not only bring light unto the soul by the revelation of the word but he brings light into the soul by the communication of his spirit We have received the spirit of God that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God 1 Cor. 2.22 This I call a saving illumination for that light which the Lord works in such as are brought home to Christ is of a saving nature and hath saving effects First It is in its own nature as saving as any Grace in the will or affections for it is a work of the same spirit and wrought for the same end to bow the soul to Christ It is an essential part of that Image of God after which we are renewed Colos 3.10 And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him So that this light differs not only gradually but specifically from the highest light that is in hypocrites and formal professors A hypocrite may have much notional knowledge great measures of light in spiritual things from the common work of the spirit but in the highest degree of it it is not saving for as to saving light so he is in darkness until now Secondly It hath saving operations and effects and that both as to believing and obeying First As to believing They shall all be taught of God and what then John 6.45 every man that hears and learns of the father comes to me This coming to Christ is believing and this believing is the fruit of Gods teaching so that this is a saving operation Secondly As to obedience As it is said of the two blind men whom Christ cured that as soon as they had received their sight straight way they arose and followed him Matt. 20.34 David says the sun arises and man goes out to his labour till the evening Psal 104.22 23. when the sun of righteousness arises in the heart it is so So that this is a saving operation Now let this be a rule of tryal for young ones have you been prepared for subjection to Christ by a saving illumination do you know any thing of being called out of darkness into his marvelous light 1 Pet 2.9 can you say I was blind John 9.25 but now I see the soul that is savingly inlightened it sees that in sin it never saw before it sees that in Christ it never saw before That soul is far from the Yoke of Christ that was never inlightened with the light of Christ 2. The second thing is the convincing of the conscience Where the soul is brought to take up the Yoke of Christ it is the fruit of through convictions There must be a threefold conviction wrought upon the sinner before ever he will stoop to Christ A conviviction of sin a conviction of righteousness and a conviction of judgment this is through conviction and all conviction short of this leaves the soul short of Christ And therefore when ever the spirit of God comes to convince the soul to conversion he convinces of all these as you see John 16 8. When he is come he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment First He convinces of sin This is the next end of illumination He sets up a light to see sin and then applys the guilt of sin to the Conscience for though a man lies under the infinite guilt of sin and the dreadful wrath of God for it yet till the spirit of God do set this home upon a mans Conscience he never sees his condition nor considers with himself what to do No it is the being pricked at heart that causes this Acts 2.37 When they heard this they were pricked in their heart and what then then they cry out men and brethren what shall we do And therefore the spirit first deals with a man about his sins so he did to the first sinners he opens their eyes to see their nakedness and shame their sin and misery before the seed of the woman is promised Gen. 3.10.15 There is one instance instead of a thousand and that is of Paul I call it so because he tells you that Jesus Christ set him up for a pattern in his dealing with sinners 1 Tim. 1.16 And therefore look how Christ dealt with him to bring him under his Yoke and so he deals with all Now the first great work upon Paul was conviction of sin The Spirit of Christ by the word set sin home upon his Conscience and there the work began This is meant by the coming of the Commandment Rom. 7.9 When the commandment came sin revived and I dyed You may see it more particularly expressed in Acts 9.3 4 5 6. There shined round about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and he said who art thou Lord and the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks And he trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me do Here 's a light and a voice there shined
1.14 Sacrificing was a duty commanded by God but he that corrupted his sacrifices came under a curse as they did that offered the blind and the lame and the sick to God ver 8. When men have not a rule from the word of God for a warrant of their worship that is a blind sacrifice When there is action without affection the lips without the heart that is a lame sacrifice When dutyes are done coldly without life and vigour that is a sick sacrifice and such a sacrificer is a deceiver because he doth not observe the right manner and cursed be the deceiver So Jeremy 48.10 Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully 1 Corinth 11.29 He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself And what the judgment is he tells you in the next verse For this cause many are sick and weak among you and many sleep Many were under soar diseases and many swept away by death for coming to the Lords table in an unworthy manner It is of great concernment therefore to see that your obedience be right for the manner Otherwise we may think we serve God when our very service becomes sin It is excellent counsel of the Apostle Heb. 12.28 Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably That which gives the acceptance is the manner of obedience Now there must be four things to make obedience right for the manner I. It must be a willing obedience duties are to flow from the heart freely like the drops that come from the hony comb without pressing it is a character peculiar to the subjects of Jesus Christ they are a willing people And herein the efficacy of grace is seen in taking away natural reluctancy and opposition and bringing the will into subjection to Christ And therefore it is said to be an effect of the day of his power in the soul Psal 101.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power God is more honoured by the obedience of the will than by all the service of the outward man Humane force may compell this but nothing but grace can rule the other Many obey but it is by constraint not by choice The influence of by ends or forreign motives or the compulsion of a natural conscience or fears of hell and wrath may compell them to do many things as Herod did but they are burthensome and grievous Ever as the will is such is the service and therefore God who in some cases accepts the will for the deed never accepts the deed in any case without the will 2 Cor. 8.12 In the duties of Gods service the will is all in all Thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind 1 Chron. 28.9 II. It must be an universal obedience And that both in respect to the subject and to the object 1. With respect to the subject it must be the obedience of the whole man Jesus Christ hath redeemed both body and soul and regeneration is a work upon the whole man All things are become new 2 Cor. 15.17 and therefore the service of the whole man is required 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Many give God an outward obedience but their hearts are set upon their lusts and many pretend their hearts are good and right with God but their lives are vitious and among the unclean but where the Yoke of Christ is truly taken up the whole man is the Lords 2 With respect to the object The whole will of God as revealed in his word Walk in all the wayes that I have commanded you that it may be well with you Jer. 7.23 There are affirmative precepts and negative commands for suffering as well as doing positive commands and relative greater commands and less None may be neglected It is said of David he fulfilled all Gnds wills 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 13.22 i. e. his will in all his commands He had respect to all his commands Psal 119.6 Zachary and Elizabeth walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless Luke 1.6 and it will be so wherever the heart is right with God For in regeneration the whole law of God is impressed upon the heart so that the soul is equally inclined to all the commands as to one and makes conscience of one as well as another I know in a legal sence no believer on earth can obey universally and fully for in many things we offend all But Evangelically and in the sense of the new covenant every believer keeps all the commands of God that is 1. In love and esteem I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Psal 119.128 Now love is the fulfilling of the law Rom. 13.10 2. In unfeigned desire That which his soul longs after is Col. 4.12 to stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God O that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes Psal 119.5 3. In purpose and resolution I will keep thy statutes Psal 119.8 All people will walk every one in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Micah 4.5 Thus they cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart Acts 11.23 4. In sincerity of indeavour and undertaking He sets no bounds to his obedience that is hypocrisie but forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before He presses toward the mark Phil. 3.13 14. and this according to the tenour of the new covenant is full and perfect obedience III. It must be an upright and sincere obedience Walk before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17.1 in the margent it is be thou sincere or upright So that sincerity and uprightness is new covenant perfection The perfection of grace in heaven is glory but the perfection of grace on earth is sincerity One dram of this in the heart is worth a world It is that which God delights in Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness 1 Chron. 29.17 Nay he doth not only delight in uprightness but in the persons and performances of the upright The upright in their way are his delight Prov. 11.20 there you see his respect to their persons and from the person this delight of God passeth to their performances The prayer of the upright is his delight Prov. 15.8 God can take no pleasure in any duty without sincerity because all duties that are not done in sincerity are a lye It is said of those Israelites in Psal 78.34 36 37. When they sought God and returned and inquired early after him that they did but lye to him with their tongues and why Because their hearts were not right with him It is sincerity that commends every duty to God It supplies all other defects denominates a man a Saint under all his failings
can any way stead us to communion with God unless our end be good One end in all duties is to obtain communion with God There is Commerce and Communion Commerce is when one man Trades with another for private advantage and so a man will maintain commerce with a stranger or an enemy But communion supposes love and delight in the object A carnal man may have commerce with God in duties for selfish ends as they that followed Christ for the loaves Joh. 6.26 but a man can have no communion with God in duty unless his ends be right He puts himself seven times farther from God by an unholy end than by a holy action he seemed to draw nigh to him Our ends therefore are to be narrowly looked unto The best action is corrupted by a bad end and our civil and natural actions have a holiness upon them and are tinctured with religion when they are done to a right end Therefore the Apostle counselling servants in their duty to man bids them make the glory of Christ their end Ephes 6.5 Servants be obedient to your masters in singleness of heart as unto Christ And ver 6. Not with eye-service as men pleasers but as the servants of Christ And again ver 7. With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men The great design of the Apostle's counsel is to sublimate and enoble their ends that the meanest act of their servile state may reach to Christ Be obedient as unto Christ And as the servants of Christ and as to the Lord. What ever a man doth whether in civil or spiritual performances if his ends be not right his heart cannot be right There is a twofold end in obedience which commends it to God the one is subordinate to the other as the ultimate The subordinate end is the honour and credit of the gospel the good of our neighbour the edification of the Church and our own salvation That when we have done all we be not cast awayes 1 Cor. 9.27 2 Ep. Joh. 8. losing all that we have wrought but that we receive a full reward Then there is the ultimate end of our obedience and that is the honour and glory of God which is the chief end of all Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 If the stream of every action empty not it self into the sea of Gods glory it runs wast This is the mark of a hypocrite self love is his highest principle and self-seeking is his utmost end But the Christians true character is in this Love to God is the great principle he acts by and the glory of God is the great end he aims at I might here answer a case of conscience Case of Conscience whether a man ought alwayes actually to intend his ultimate end that is whether he ought to have his eye continually upon the glorifying of God in every particular duty which he performs Answ 1 A. 1. Affirmative precepts though they alwayes bind yet they bind not to all times now this being a duty by virtue of an affirmative precept it is alwayes a duty yet not absolutely necessary in every particular act Indeed as the affirmative doth include a negative so it binds ad semper to all times so that we must at no time do any thing against Gods glory that may reflect any dishonour upon him 2. There is need of a distinction for the fuller resolution of this case Aims and intentions with respect to their end are either habitual or actual or virtual 1. Habitual The work of grace in the heart is to change and sublimate our end so that wherever grace is there is an habitual scope and aim at Gods glory as the end of all obedience But this is not sufficient 2. There is an actual aim at the glory of God in each particular performance Now this cannot be the duty of a believer in his present imperfect state for three reasons 1. Because it would leave no place for other duties 2. It is not absolutely necessary in every particular act though it ought to be frequently done yet it is not so necessary in every duty as that it ceases to be an act of obedience if it be not actually done If a man make a voyage to the Indies his aim and design is to be there in such a time and accordingly he sets sail in pursuance of his end Yet his end is not in his eye in every action he doth in steering and guiding the vessel So it is in this case The design of a Christian is the glory of God in all his actions though he may not actually aim at it in every particular performance 3. It is impossible to perform it where there is a constant lusting of the flesh against the spirit as is in every believer Gal. 5.17 and therefore a further work of grace must pass upon the regenerate soul then can be attained in this state to enable it hereto and that is in glorification whereby grace is compleated and freed from all mixtures of flesh and interruption in its acts by temptation Saints in heaven do actually intend the glory of God in every thing they do and no wonder for they see face to face They are held close to God by an immediate and uninterrupted vision Therefore the holy Ghost puts these two sight and service together Revel 22.3 4. His servants shall serve him and they shall see his face They shall serve him so they do here I but there they shall serve him perfectly with purity of intention and compleatness of performance and how so they shall see him immediately and injoy him fully God is never perfectly served till he is fully injoyed 3. There is a virtual aim and intention which is more then habitual And though it is not actual yet the action hath thereby such a tendency as naturally referrs to the glory of God He that in alms-giving actually intends the good and comfort of his poor neighbour doth therein virtually aim at the glory of God When a man by his repentance and mourning for sin actually aims at the obtaining of pardon and forgiveness the tendency of his action is to an end subordinate to the glory of God For it is the glory of God to forgive sin So then I would resolve the case thus To intend the glory of God habitually is not enough for a believer to do To intend it in every particular duty actually is more then a believer can do But to intend it in each duty virtually and as oft as we can actually this is a believers present duty and obedience thus performed shall certainly find acceptation with God And so much for the second direction to such as are under Christs Yoke that they would labour to bear it becomingly which is done when obedience is from right principles and consists in proper performances and all is done in a due manner