nor your Children that will serve this turn These things tho' some of them be such as God has appointed yet these alone will not please God there is something else God looks for from a People that would humble themselves aright before Him and meet God in his Worship with acceptation and if you ask what that is He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God q. d. you inquire how you may come before the Lord how you may humble your selves in a right manner so as that the anger of the Lord may be turned away from you and you may escape his impendent judgments You seem to be very desirous to have the Lord still to be your God and that He would continue you to be his People that He would still go on to deliver and to defend you as He has done in times past then know that it is not sacrifices only that God desires but that which in conjunction therewith he does principally and ultimately require is that you do Justly and love Mercy and walk humbly with your God these things are good and acceptable to God and indispensibly incumbent upon you as the Lord has shewed them to be his mind and will concerning you And tho' there are other things that God does require which in their place and time are to be attended to yet nothing comparatively with these as to do justly to love mercy and walk humbly with thy God In which words we have these two general parts 1. A tacit Reprehension that the Prophet gives this People reproving that fleshly confidence they plac'd in the external duties of God's worship and much more in those arbitrary ways of Devotion which were of their own devising 2. A positive Direction that he lays before them how they might come before God in his own instituted Worship with acceptation And in that direction there are three particulars considerable 1. A discovery of a Divine rule which we are to attend to in all our addresses to God and that is the Revelation God has made of his mind and will to us he hath shewed thee oh man 2. A specification of things that are conformable to that rule and to be regarded by us viz. Justice that is to be done Mercy that is to be loved and Humility that is to be express'd in our walking with God The last of which walking humbly with God compriseth the whole of our Covenant Obedience Gen. 17.1 as the two former are eminent instances of it in particular 3. A Rational enforcement of the forementioned duties by arguments one taken from the goodness of the things he hath shewed thee oh man what is good another from the Will and Command of God concerning these things and what doth the Lord require of thee These things are good to do Justly to love Mercy and to walk humbly with God and these are the things that God requires and you must mind and attend unto if you would so appear before God in his Worship as to have the Lord pacified to you and his anger turned away from you The whole of which may be thus summ'd up Doct. That a People who would humble themselves aright before the Lord would have the difference between Him and Them comprimised and would come before the Lord so as to be accepted with Him must not rest in and take up with the external duties of God's Worship but attend unto those things in their practice that are expressive of Real holiness and Obedience to the will of God in what he commands and requires of them Before I proceed to prove and improve this proposition it will be needful to premise this in the first place namely that the answer that the Prophet in the text gives to this Peoples question and the conclusion I have now formed from it does not respect the way of Atonement or making satisfaction to the Justice of God for sin For as to that there is the same insufficiency in the highest acts of Evangelical obedience as there is in the performing the duties of Divine worship The payment of one debt cannot discharge us of another now we stand ingaged to God in a twofold Debt a Debt of punishment that is the consequent of sin whereby we become obnoxious to the Curse of the Law the Wages of sin is death And a Debt of Duty which is our obligation to the Precept of the Law and the payment of the Debt of Duty cannot discharge us from the debt of sin When we do our duty we do but what we ought and the doing what we ought cannot be a compensation for the doing of what we ought not to have done If we come short in our duty that further increase the Debt of sin but tho' we perform our duty that does not lessen the former debt We are debters still to the Justice of God because we have violated his holy Law the Sanction of which was the Soul that sins shall die and are utterly insolvent or uncapable to pay this debt by the most exact and continued obedience that we can yield to the commands of it for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified If therefore the Question be in what way is the justice of God satisfied for sin in what way and upon what account is God reconcil'd to Sinners What is the meritorious and procuring cause of the Grace and favour of God to a Person or People that have provoked his Anger against them by their sins He hath shewed thee Oh Man in his word that it is not any Obedience of thine that thou dost or canst perform unto God but the obedience the sufferings the Righteousness of his own Son our Lord Redeemer that is the onely meritorious procuring cause of God's being reconciled to Sinners He is the Surety of that better Covenant that has paid the debt of sin for us and in our place that was made Sin for us by offering himself to God and did appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself But if the Question be what it is that God requires of man according to the terms of the new Covenant that would have the benefit of Christ's mediation so as to have God actually reconcil'd to him and the Anger of God turned away from him He hath shewed thee Oh man that it is not some slight external devotion An outside fasting or confessing of sin and humbling your self for a day but that in conjunction with a Serious and Hearty performance of these duties you do justly and Love mercy and walk humbly with God Our Prophet does suppose God's acceptance of the atonement for sin made by our Lord Jesus Christ but lets them know that without a Performance of the necessary duties of the Gospel their claim to that atonement would be fruitless and ineffectual As there
was something that God required of Christ when He substituted himself in our Room to answer for our sins which was his dying for us so there is something that God Requires of us if we would have the benefit of the death of Christ The Gospel does not make void but establish the Law in its preceptive power Christ's dying for sin and our doing the will of God do very well consist For to this end He dyed and rose and revived that he might be the Lord both of the Dead and Living That as he dyed for sin so we should die to sin and have communion with him in his rising by our walking in newness of Life That which God required of Christ was obedience in a way of merit that which God requires of us is obedience in a way of duty Our obligation to obedience is not dissolved but inforced and heightn'd by the mediatory Obedience of our Lord Jesus To. do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God ever were and ever will be incumbent on the Reasonable creature and are those things that the Lord requires of them that would Seek him with acceptation and success This premis'd I now proceed to confirm the truth of the Proposition and the proof of it will depend upon shewing these two things 1. The insufficiency that there is in a bare performance of the duties of Religious Worship separate from the duties of justice mercy and humble walking with God to procure the favour of God to a People 2. The necessity that there is of such a People's attending to the practice of those things that are expressive of real holiness and Obedience to God in conjunction with the duties of God s worship in order to that end And first let us consider the insufficiency that there is in a bare performance of the duties of Religions worship separate from the duties of justice mercy and humble walking with God to procure the favour of God to a People to comprimise the difference between God and them to pacifie his Anger and to avert his judgments And because this People in the text talk'd so much of their burnt-Offerings their Calves and their Rams I shall to make this branch of the demonstration more plain and convincing present you with the judgment of God in his word concerning these things whilst this way of worship was in use and shew you of how little account with God these Sacrifices were when separated from the duties of justice mercy and humble Obedience The Ancient Sacrifices are to be considered two ways 1. as they were typical Representation of that real Sacrifice which our Lord Jesus Christ offered to God to make reconciliation for the sins of his offered to when through the enternal Spirit he offer'd himself to God Much of the Gospel as it was Reveal'd in that time was wrap'd up in those Sacrifices They did all refer to and prefigure him that was to come For whereas the holy and righteous Law of God had threatned Sin with Death it could not be reasonably supposed that the blood of Bulls and of goats should take away sin And therefor the Heathens to supply that defect having some natural or rather traditional knowledge of the necessiry of sacrifices to make Atonement for sin did conclude that nothing less than the Life of a Man offered in Sacrifice was sufficient to appease God But indeed this man is no other than the man Christ Jesus the Psalmist is brought in speaking to his Father to this purpose Heb. 10.5 When he cometh into the world he saith acrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me Or secondly they are to be considered as acts of Homage and Worship performed by that People to God and in which they generally rested in a neglect of the weightier matters or the Law And however they though to please God thereby we 〈…〉 testimonies in their own Scriptures which shew how highly God was displeased with them whilst they took up with these in the neglect of Judgment Mercy and Humble walking with God And I 'll begin with that Reproof the Prophet gave King Saul who bore himself much upon this business of sacrificing in the omission of a direct command of God wherein his obedience was concerned 1 Sam. 15.22 Samuel said Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams It do's appear by the preceding part of this history that God had sent Samuel to Saul with a command to destroy the Amalekites and that with a total destruction Man and Woman Infant and suckling Ox and Sheep Camel and Ass Saul applies himself to this work but did it negligently and in part only Agag the King he spares supposing it might be for his honour to make him a Prisoner of War to lead him in triumph Also the best of the Sheep and of the Oxen and of the Fattlings and of the Lambs he saves and his pretence for that was that these Fat Beasts would do well to serve God's Altar 't was not fit to slay them any where else What hath the Lord as great delight in sacrifices as in obedience This was the command of God that all of Amalek should be destroyed what meaneth then the bleeting of the Sheep and the Lowing of the Oxen which I hear Oh says he they are for sacrifices to Worship God with No the Prophet tells him God will accept of no such Worship as is besides his command and is founded in a contempt of that To obey is better pleases God more than Sacrifice Better thou hadst throughly obeyed the command of God tho' there had not been a Ram left in the Universe to be offer'd in Sacrifice My second proof for this I take from the 50th Psalm at the seventh verse we find the Lord addressing himself to that people thus Hear oh my People and I will speak oh Israel and I will testifie against thee God had something to speak to them and something to tesitifie against them That which he had to say to them is at ver 8. I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings continually before me It seems they were so punctual in their Sacrifices they would not rob God of a Lamb nor fail him of an hour their burnt offerings were continually before him So that he would not tax them for any remissness or deficiency that way But tho' He would not reprove them for their Sacrifices he would reprove them for their sins and that to purpose asking them what they had to do to declare his statutes or take his Covenant in their Mouth seeing they hated instruction and cast his words behind them Come says God you load my Altar with your sacrifices but at the same time you make me to serve with your sins You are
commanded as all the positive institutions of worship are good but they have an intrinsical goodness and commend themselves to us from their very nature they are such things as flow from the nature of God as well as bear a conformity to the Will of God So that it is impossible they should be otherwise than good or that what is contrary to them should be so Injustice unmercifulness and disobedience to God cannot be good they are Evil and altogether Evil and will be so for ever Deut. 30.15 see I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil Holiness is good and sin is evil and it is impossible that either of them should be other than what they are Sin cannot become Good holiness cannot become evil the difference betwixt holiness and sin is as great as betwixt good and evil that except good could become evil and evil good the nature of good and evil be alter'd and confounded it is impossible that Holiness thould be any otherwise than good and sin any other thing than the worst and the purest evil These things are also Good for us so that we cannot more directly seek and promote our own good and happiness than in the practising of them Is that good that is amiable and lovely what so lovely as ho liness That is the glory of the Divine Being and the likeness of God in Man Is that good that is pleasant and delightful the sweetest pleasures are to be found in the ways of God None injoy such peace and tranquility in their mind are so free from fears and offences as those who have the strictest regard to God's commands Or is that good that is profitable we are assur'd that godliness is profitable to all things having a Promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come Oh how good is it to walk with God! to awake with God and to be in the fear of the Lord all the day Whereas many say Who will shew us good Would they seek it in the way of God's commands they would assuredly find it And these things are good for others too how advantagious and beneficial to the World are Justice and Mercy how much do they conduce to the good order of it how sweet are the influences that they diffuse amongst all persons who is not the better for them The godly are refreshed with them they adorn the Gospel and commend Religion to others as a real substantial thing that is worthy their consideration and choice The Religion that lies only in forms and discourse is an airy unaffecting thing and gets no ground in the World but that that is operative and powerful commends it self to the Consciences of Men these things are good for the bodies and good for the Souls of others and that is one Reason of the strict charge that is laid upon the Ministers of the Gospel to be frequent in the urging and pressing of them Tit. 2.8 These things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men And this is further inforc'd by 2. A consideration of the will of God as being that which the Lord requires of us 'T is His will concerning and his command to us who is the Lord who has an unquestionable right in us and a supream power over us and whose will is a binding law as well as a sufficient Reason to us so that it is no arbitrary or indifferent matter whether we will obey or no but he that requires you to perform the duties of his solemn Worship and in Obedience to whose command you ingage in them does likewise require you to do justly to love mercy to walk humbly with your God And as his willing of these things to be duties incumbent on Man is that that is highly consentaneous and agreeable to his own glory that the reasonable creature should be just and merciful as he is and be always mindful of that infinite distance that there is between him and it and the highest deference that upon that account is due to him so the regular subordination that there ought to be in our Wills to His the relation we stand in to Him as the Lord and the intire subjection we owe to Him in that Relation lays us under the strictest obligation to observe and obey all his requirements Consider then The Lord that is thy supream Ruler and Governour He in whose hands is the disposal of all things who doth according to his will in the Army of Heaven and among the inhabitants of the Earth He that is the one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy who has the power of Life and Death and whose power reacheth to the Soul as well as the body can save or destroy both in Hell He whom the Angels obey and are His Ministers hearkning to the voice of his word He whose Law at first impress'd upon them the inanimate creatures do every day fulfil This Soveraign Lord who is King throughout the World requires that you should be Just and Merciful and Humble Every act of disobedience to his command is a high contempt of his Authority 'T is the character of the wicked to say Who is Lord over us and again Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice Oh let us take heed of becoming guilty either in mind or practice of so great an impiety Moreover The Lord that is thy Redeemer that has bought thee with the inestimable price of his own blood that laid down his Life to deliver thee from Sin and Death and Hell was willing to empty himself of his glory for a time to be poor and mean to be despised and persecuted and suffer the accursed death of the Cross for your sake rather than you should dye He would dye in your place rather than you should become a sacrifice He was willing to be made one Himself that out of Obedience to the Will of God and from the greatness of his love to the Children of Men travelled with the greatest sorrows drunk off the bitterest cup and underwent the Curse for you He also requires the most exact obedience at your hand And ye are not your own but ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are God's Yea The Lord that is thy bountifull Benefactor that does thee good continually that loads thee with his benefits every day that prevents thee with mercy that supplies thee with good that delivers thee in thy straits succours thee in thy temptation hears thy prayers and is so ready to appear for thy help The Lord in whom them dost Live and Move and hast thy Being that is a Sun and a Shield will give Grace and Glory and with-hold no good thing that has given thee so many tasts of his Love such
The Right Way OF Seeking God A SERMON Preach'd at Great Yarmouth On the 11th of May 1692. Being the Day of the Monthly Fast By James Hannott Minister of the Gospel there 1 Cor. Xv. 10. Yet not I but the Grace of God LONDON Printed by Tho. Snowden for Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market-place 1692. To my worthy Friends Inhabitants of the Town of Great Yarmouth who frequent that Religious Assembly I relate unto Beloved in our Lord THE Design of the following Sermon is to give the true Notion tho not a perfect Description of a Religious Fast The frequent Return of these Days I have fear'd should occasion our degenerating into a Formal and meet Customary Observance of the Externals of them To prevent this and more fully to explicate and press the Duty of a East-day my thoughts were exercis'd upon this Subject And when the Discourse had serv'd you in this it was laid up among its fellows it being no part of my intention in either the Composing or Preaching of it that it should be more publick And there it had still continued if the joynt Request of several of you had not oblig'd me to deliver it into your hands I question not but it was a holy zeal for the Divine Truths insisted on your regard to the practice of Righteousness your love of Mercy and desire to walk humbly with God from whence your importunity did proceed accompany'd with a hope that the same things might be promoted in others which is so good an End that if it may in any measure be attained I shall have no cause to Repent of my compliance with you in it The Lord grant it may be so to whose blessing for that purpose I now commit it And for you my Heart's desire and Prayer is that ye may stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless I am Your Obliged and Affectionate Servant in the Gospel J. H. Yarmouth June 16. 1692. The right way of seeking God Micah VI. 8. He hath shewed thee oh man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God THese words are the Prophet's answer to a sollicitous question that the Jews did propound unto him To understand the design and pertinency of the Answer 't will be needful we reflect upon the Question and also the occasion of it The Lord had a controversie with his People and said that he would plead with Israel And that that He charges them with was their Ingratitude and unthankfulness to Him for his many favours and benefits bestowed upon them Two of which as more signal He does particularly recount his delivering them from the Tyranny of Pharaoh in Egypt and his defending them from the Inchantments of Balaam in Moab And having such evidence to produce in his Cause He might well challenge them as He does ver 3. oh my People what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee q. d. what have I commanded you that you should count my service a Burden or wherein can you fault my conduct and providence towards you have I been unmindful of you or wanting to do you good if I have come forth and plead it and testifie against me But on the contrary does not the whole of my proceedings with you testifie for me Witness what I did for you in Egypt and what I did for you in the Wilderness you had to this day been a Captive People if I had not redeem'd you had not I defended you the Devil and his Agents had prevail'd to scatter and break you in pieces Remember oh my People these things my ancient loving kindness to your Fathers whose Mercies you inherit and have you any cause then to complain of my service can you mend your selves by changing your Lord oh house of Israel are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal This charge was so home and demonstrative that they had nothing to reply were convicted in their Conscience and justifie God they are made sensible that they had complain'd of Him without cause that they had falsely accus'd his Providence and by their unthankful and undutiful carriage towards God had highly provok'd his Anger against them and now that that they are most sollicitous about is how they may have the Lord pacify'd and reconcil'd to them Hereupon they move the Prophet with this Question Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God The Lord as if they had said we see is Angry with us as indeed he has just cause to be and we are afraid that his Judgments should break forth upon us as we have deser'vd they should oh What shall we do to avert them How shall we make our appearance before this high God or what shall we say unto him or who shall direct us what to do that we may get the Lord to be at peace with us My Text contains an Answer to this question only before the Prophet comes to that He represents this People as suggesting some methods to themselves which they thought might serve to attone the anger of God and to procure his favour towards them They inquire whether a punctual observance of the outward Institutions of God's Worship might not avail to that end and proffer to address themselves to him with burnt Offerings and Calves of a year old as the Law requir'd And if more than the ordinary Sacrifices were necessary in their Case they 'll spare no cost but profess they were willing to do more than indeed it was either possible or lawful for them to do Thousands of Rams they are ready to offer would ten thousand Rivers of Oil suffice could so many be procur'd they would pour them all out before Him and whereas nothing could be dearer to them than their Children and amongst them the first born yet if God would accept of the death of a Child they were willing to cause it to pass through the fire Provided that they might retain their sins their injustice unmercifulness and proud disobedience to the commands of God they will be as bountiful expensive and laborious in the externals of Worship as God would have them to be They will load his Altar with their Sacrifices provided they may still go on to load God with their sins they will devote all their substance to the Temple if they may be excus'd the dedicating themselves to God as a living and holy Sacrifice which is the true reasonable service They will pour out thousands of sighs and prayers to God Fast as often as He will confess sin as much as He would have them so that after they have confess'd it they may be allowed to return to the practice of it No no the Prophet tells them it is not your offerings your Rams your Rivers