thee This is the fittest posture to pray in and God is ready to hear such in their Souls distress that cry unto him for his help David puts both together Psal 6. 8 9. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping the Lord hath heard my supplication It is good to come unto God in such a case and make an argument of it as he did Isa 38. 14. Oh Lord I am oppressed undertake for me 3. Let the Children of God nourish this spirit in them A Spirit of mourning and of supplication is the proper Evangelical Spirit it is therefore one of the properties that belong to them whom Christ hath pronounced blessed Mat. 5. 4. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Nor is it only proper in our first returning to God but you will have occasion to use it as long as you live while you carry about with you a body of death you will never be without occasion for bitter mourning and lamentation you will see reason to go softly all your days and as long as Sin stirs in you and leads you into Captivity you will need the pity and help of God the vertue and efficacy of the fountain to derive fresh supplies of pardon and healing to you and therefore prayer is a duty that you cannot do without and no prayer is acceptable to God but what proceeds from such a spirit 4. Be we here directed what to pray for and endeavour to promote in others We ought to seek and use means for the Salvation of Sinners and peculiarly for those to whom we are tied by the bonds of near relation and if ever they be saved they must repair to this fountain for it and if they so do and succeed it must be with mourning and supplication Let us then use means to bring them to this by shewing them their need and shewing them where their help is and how it is alone to be obtained and let us bring them to God and ask for them this grace and if we see them brought into distress and made to enquire how they may find redress let us nourish this in them and not go about to suppress or stifle it 5. This calls all those on whom God hath poured such a Spirit to Thankfulness to him for it Hath God given us truly to mourn and pray by reason of Sin he hath done us an unconceivable kindness there is no greater token of his Everlasting Love it saith that he hath been laying a foundation for eternal life in us these tears and these cries have solid consolation in them they are his gift and he gave them to us that so he might bring us to himself and put us into the way of blessedness Let this then be one thing for which we praise him and let this nourish and strengthen such a frame in us to consider that eternal joy is secured to it for we are assured in Psal 126. 5 6. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him FINIS Rather than this Page should stand Empty the Reader may be gratified with the last Clause of Dr. Thomas Goodwin's Exposition of the Revelation which is as followeth AND for the JEWS Call which is conjunct with this Killing Rising of the Witnesses As it depends not upon ordinary Means to effect it so there are like to be no Preparations at all unto it until it comes as there are not for Things extraordinary but a Nation shall bring forth in a Day as the Prophet speaks And so in the very Year before it there will be no more outward Appearrances or Probabilities of it than there are now or than there have been many hundred Years since And therefore our Faith need not be put off from this by the seeing as yet no Stirrings or Motions at all unto it or towards it And the Truth is both the Killing and Rising of the Witnesses and also the Calling of the JEWS may fall out sooner than we are aware of Evangelical Perfection OR How far the Gospel requires Believers to Aspire after being compleatly Perfect As it was Delivered on a Lecture at Boston on June 10th 1694. By Samuel Willard Teacher of a Church in Boston MATH V. 48. Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect IN this Chapter with the two following an account is given of the substance or heads of a Sermon which Christ preached to his Disciples in the audience of a multitude soon after he had called them The matters contained in this fifth Chapter may be reduced to three heads 1. He points the way to true Blessedness by describing the subjects of it in several distinguishing Characters of them and declaring wherein theâ— appear to be really happy Verse 3. to 13 2. He lays open the Office and Duty oâ— such as would approve themselves to be faithful and edifying Ministers of the Gospel to Verse 17. 3. He asserts the great usefulness of the Moral Law under the Gospel assuring us that his design was not to Abolish but Establish it and thereupon proceeds to Vindicate the true sense of it from the corrupt and false glosses of the Jewish Doctors to the end of the Chapter In which he insists upon severaâ— Articles which had been more especially depraved by them and the words of our Text are an Exhortation which he draws from the whole foregoing discourse though I know there are some who needlesly restrain it to the next foregoing duty of expressing our cordial love to our enemies in opposition to the Doctrine of the Scribes who taught that we should love our neighbour and hate our enemy I know the words are expressed in the Future tense Ye shall be perfect but yet they are noâ— to bâ— understood Promissorily as some do interpret them but Preceptively as an injunctâ—on laid upon us And we have several like instances in this Chapter yea it is frequenâ— in all languages to use the Future for the Imperative You shall do thus or so intending require or command you so to do In the words besides thâ— Illation therefore which refers to the foregoing discourse there â—e two parts 1. A duty enjoyned Be ye perfect The â—bject of this command are Christs Disciples â—rse 1. The thing required is perfection which what it is will be afterward considerâ— 2. The Pattern which is set before us to â—llow in our essayes after this perfection â—â— your Father which is in heaven is perfect So â—at here the Divine perfection is proposed to â—â— for our imitation and an argument is used â—o urge it from the consideration of that relaâ—ion which he bears to us he is our Father in â—eaven and Children are apt to take after â—heir Parents Hence that 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy â—â— all manner of conversation because it is
Covenant of Grace We do now stand upon other terms with God through Christ in the New Covenant whereof we are partakers by faith in him But still the Precepts of the Moral Law abide on us as our Duty there never was any repeal of the Command nor indeed can they ever cease to be a Rule to man for the guiding of him in the right ordering of his Conversation inasmuch as they are every way suited to the nature of man considered as being made on purpose for the actual glorifying of God so that if we would actually glorify him as men we must do it in compliance with these precepts All that is contained in this rule is reduced to those two heads Mat. 22. 37 39. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self And this can never cease to be our duty so long as we are men nothing can discharge us from the obligation of loving God and our neighbour inasmuch as the Relation we bear to both cannot cease and the duty is inseparable from such a Relation It is also certain that all of these Duties are reinforced in the Gospel or under the dispensation of the Kingdom of Grace and may be all of them found on record in the preceptive part of the New-Testament required of Christians as they would walk worthy of the vocation with which they are called and are therefore called New Commands because they are there reinforced with arguments fetcht from the consideration of the Grace of God appearing to us we have this summarily commended to us in Tit. 2. 11 12. The Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Under which three heads are comprized all those duties which are required in and by the Moral Law 8. That all the Commands of the New-Covenant which are purely Evangelical are inclusively Comprehended in this Rule It is to be observed that there are some Duties introduced by the New Covenant and are enjoyned on all such unto whom it is promulgated which were not Duties incumbent on man whiles he continued in a state of Integrity such as Faith in Jesus Christ Repentance unto life and the several things that are contained in these as they point to us the way for fallen man to recover Gods favour and obtain eternal Salvation and indeed these Duties were inconsistent with that state Man had not forfeited himself to the Law and so needed not a Redeemer he stood in his uprightness and was defiled with no sin and had no occasion for Repentance These Duties therefore were not immediately comprized in the law of nature nor was man in Innocency able by the improvement of his reason to gather that there were any such Duties hypotheâ—ically belonging to his Rule Nor is it to be supposed that when God at first indented with man in the Covenant of Works and warned him a-against disobedience by shewing him the threatning that he made any discovery to him of an hope that in case of his miscarriage he might be saved or that he foretold a way of his recovery in case he ruined himself by trespassing against the command and bringing of himself under the threatning doubtless he reserved this for the Opening of the Covenant of Grace and till he so made it known man could not possibly so much as guess at such a thing However there is thus much contained in the Moral Law and the light of nature clearly discovered to man at first viz. that the rightful authority and supremacy that God hath over all men claims a liberty for him at any time to enjoyn man in any thing and make it his duty by vertue of his command to do it if it be within the power which he at first endowed him withal and consequently that he ows Obedience to God in whatsoever he shall at any time declare to be his will hereupon Positive Commands oblige men by the light of nature as well as Natural duties supposing there be a Revelation of them made to them We find therefore that God at first exerted this authority over our first Parents when he put them into the Garden by an arbitrary exempting the Tree of Knowledge from their eating of it under pain of death nor did they dispute but acknowledge his Soveraignty over them in that regard though afterwards the adversary used it as a snare to draw them into Sin And how many such positive Precepts did God give to Israel of which he renders 〈◊〉 other reason but this I am the Lord Hence there fore when God once reveals to fallen men that it is his will that they should repent and believe in order to their being made partakers in Pardon and Salvation it becomes their bounden duty by vertue of that Command that they so do and not only will they miss of Salvation if they neglect to comply with these terms on which it is offered but they will thereby Sin against God and so aggravate their Guilt and in this respect the Gospel may well be called the Law of Christ Hence we are told Acts 17. 30. Now God commandeth all men every where to repent i. e. Now when the Gospel is promulgated and 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 9 This being a perfect Rule requires every sort of personal perfection in us Our perfection must needs consist in our conformity to the Rule of it and if so we cannot be entirely perfect unless our conformity be as large as the duties which are required by it and that not only in all the parts of it by answering to every precept in it and having a respect to all the Commandments of God but also in the degrees of our compliance with it which must consist in such an Holiness as hath not the least mixture of the contrary in it that doth not only do the thing but doth it with that accuracy that there be nothing wanting in the matter of it with that diligence that we never fail either in omission or commission with that intenseness of love that hath no mixture of reluctancy or backwardness with that singleness of heart that hath no allay or mixture of any sinister aimes or ends and with that constancy that we hold on without wavering to the end which though none of the Children of God ever did or shall in this life attain unto yet it is the perfection which we are called to aspire after and not to rest in any thing short of it but to be in an earnest pursuit of it as long as we abide here and till we reach it in the Kingdom of Glory And that this is required of us will appear if we consider 1. That every thing short of this Perfection is
great mercies And for this reason the sense of these defects attending them makes them oftentimes to tremble at the thoughts of Gods displeasure Psal 119. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy Judgments 8. It is their duty dayly to Pray for Forgiveness Prayer is One part of Natural Worship and it is not appointed for a Complement but as a necessary duty for the upholding of Communion between God and men it being the way in which we are to seek and obtain the good we need and give him the due acknowledgments of it In the petitionary part of it then we are to ask him only for such things as we want And the apprehension of our want and his ability to succcour us is the motive of our so seeking to him Now there is such a Petition which Christ hath directed his Disciples and such as can call God their Father to present dayly to him Math. 6. 12. Forgive us our debts i. e. Our Sins And there is ever implied in such a petition a confession of our debts else we cannot in earnest ask the forgiveness of them We then daily want forgiveness not only a further confirmation of the pardon we received in our Justification but new forgiveness and there is none so holy in this life as to be discharged from the obligation of making this petition in prayer And yet there are many of Gods Children that are kept from precipitating themselves into atrocious sins nor do any truly gracious ones make a dayly trade of it This therefore plainly intimates that the very remaining imperfection which makes them in their whole lives to fall behind in regard of that absolute perfection which consists in a compleat conformiâ—y to the Rule hath that in it which needs forgiveness to be applied to it by the free Grace of God It therefore hath sinfulness in it otherwise it could noâ— stand in need of a pardon and whatsoâ—ever in us stands in need of that tells â—â— that we ought to labour indefatigably tâ— get it taken away as a thing which is evil and bitter 9. One great design that God aims at in his Ordinances and Providences which he dispenseth to his people is to purge away these imperfections to lead them on towards Perfection The Gospel Ordinances which Christ hath appointed to be dispensed to his people were not only designed for the bringing about the Conversion of Sinners though that also is purposed in them we are therefore said to be begotten by the word of truth Jam. 1. 18. And Paul was sent to open mens eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Acts 26. 18. But God also aimed at the Edification of Saints by them They are therefore Christ's Ascension Gifts which he hath bestowed on his Church to help them forward to a sinless perfection till when they are not to cease Eph. 4. 10 c. There are also the many Afflictive Providences which God seeth meet to exercise his own Children withal in this world and among other purposes which he intends to bring about hereby we are told that this is one great thing that he aims at by them Isa 27. 9. By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin On this account the afflictions that the Children of God are visited withal are compared to a farnace and to a reâ—iners fire in which remaining dross is separated from the good metal to make it yet more pure This good effect Job encouraged himself that he should obtain by his afflictions Job 23 10. When he hath tried me I shall comâ— forth as gold And surely that which God useth such courses with us to take away from us must needs be a thing that we should endeavour the removal of Job was a perfect man as to integrity Chap. 1. 1. And yet he needed this trial 10 They must be fully perfected in order to their perfect Glorification Though the body of death attends them through the present life and giveth them no little molestation in it yet it shall be wholly put off with it and they shall no more be pestered with it for ever There shall be perfection of holiness enjoyed by us when we come to perfect glory nor indeed can our glory be perfect without it we are told how Christ will present his Church to himself at last Eph. 5. 27. A glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing None are admitted into the assembly above but Just men made perfect Heb. 12. 22 When we come there we shall sin no more nor have any dregs of pollution abiding in us but be entirely conformed to the Image of God now that which is the perfection which God will bring us to at last is that which we all ought to be aspiring after and restless in purâ—â—it of till we come to obtain it And truly Inchoate Holiness makeâ— us capable only of partaking in Inchoate Blessedness our vessels are not prepared to be filled with glory nor can we have that near Communion with God in Christ which is requisite to give us compleat and uninâ—â—rmixed satisfaction till we are compleatly holy in the highest degree which our natures are able to receive If then God hath appointed us to Salvation and there can be none without this it must needs be our duty not to take up with any thing short of this and consequently it must be that which is promised to us in the Covenant of Grace and we ought to pursue it and endeavour to go from â—â—rength to strength in it till we arrive at the fulness of it which is not to be expected till we get to the Eternal Kingdom USE Be we then Exhorted not to place our hope in God for the sake of any Righteousness of our own when we must confess our best so short of what it ought to be which needs a pardon and therefore cannot command his favour but let the sense of our duty and our defect pâ—t us upon relying on Christ alone and his Righteousness as the mâ—ritorious and material cause of our acquittance from the condemnation of the Law and being made the Owners of a title to eternâ— life Let us look hither for a sure foundatâ—on to build our hope upon to receive the reward of Eternal Glory and not to any thing of our own Let our dependence be here for the acceptance of our poor imperfect duties acknowledging that but for this they could not but be rejected Let us in sense of our own imperfection be ever bewailing of it and go to Christ to have it sprinkled with his blood Let us press hard all our lives after more Holiness prosecuting it with utmost reachings and let every new acquest by Divine help make us the more earnest after further degrees of it and more vigorous in the use of all means to reach them Nor let us tire and give in so long as we are any whit behind those who are now totally freed from sin and in whom Grace is arrived at its full stature in Glory THE END A Brief Account of principal matters contained in the foregoing Treatise DOCTRINE I. THat Jesus Christ is a Fountain of Saving Good page 7. How he came to be such a Fountain p. 13. DOCTRINE II. Jesus Christ is an Opened Fountain in the days of the Gospel p. 22. How this fountain comes to be Opened p. 28. In what peculiar respect it is said to be Opened in the days of the Gospel p. 32. DOCTRINE III. They are the Seed of Christ and the Church of God for whose sake this fountain is Opened p. 44 How the Opening of this Fountain had a peculiar respect to these p. 46. DOCTRINE IV. The great design of Opening this Fountain to Gods people is for sin and uncleanness p. 64. How mans sin and uncleanness gave occasion for this p. 65 Of what use this fouutain is for the taking it away p. 77 Trials of our interest in this fountain p. 95 DOCTRINE V. There will be a more peculiar Opening of Christ as a Fountain of life when the Jews are called p. 106 That there is such a Calling of the Jews yet to come ibid. The glorious state of those times p. 114 DOCTRINE VI. When God hath brought his Chosen to bewail their sins especially the affronts which they have offered to Christ and to pray for his mercy he will then make a gracious discovery of this Fountain to them p. 127 How God produceth a Spirit of mourning and supplication in men in order to his Opening of this Fountain to them p. 130 How to judge of the efficacy of the Gospel p. 140 Rules of Trial to know whether this Fountain hath been savingly Opened to us p. 146 In the Sermon annexed to the former Treatise This great question is discussed viz. Whether that personal perfection which God requires of his people under the Covenant of Grace be the same for kind and degree with that which was required in the Covenant of Works or any thing short of it ERRATA PAge 82. line 17. for parties r. parts p. 137. l. 25. dele and. p. 150. l 24. f. God by r. Godly p. 198. l. 17 add for