Case you would do And Secondly So absolutely depend and rely upon the alone Merits of Jesus Christ for your Justification and Salvation as if you never had performed an Act of Obedience in all your Life This is the right Gospel-frame of Obedience so to work as if you were only to be saved by your own Merits and withal so to rest on the Merits of Christ as if you had never wrought any thing It is a difficult thing to give to each of these its Due in our Practice When we Work we are too apt to neglect Christ and when we rely on Christ we are too apt to neglect Working But that Christian hath got the right skill and art of Obedience that can mingle these two together that can with one Hand work the Works of God and yet at the same time with the other Hand lay fast hold on the Merits of Jesus Christ Let this Antinomian Principle be for ever rooted out of the Minds of Men that our working is derogatory to Christs Work Never more think Christ hath done all your Work for you for that is unbecoming the free Spirit of the Gospel but labour for that Salvation that he hath purchased and merited Could ever such senseless Objections prevail with those Men who ever seriously read that Scripture in Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purify to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Were this place seriously ponder'd over by Men they would be ashamed to Object any longer that our Duties and Works are derogatory to the purchase of Christ for he gave himself for this end that he might purchase such a People that might be zealous of good Works But truly when Sloth and Ignorance meet together if you tell Men what Powers their Natures have to work and how necessary Obedience is to Salvation that thereby we might excite and quicken their Hearts to Obedience they with the Sluggard fold their Arms in their Bosom doing nothing telling us these Doctrins are Arminianism and flat Popery whereas in Deed and in Truth they are as far distant from either of them as Light is from Darkness it is their Ignorance and Sloth only that makes them think so But deceive not your selves this Doctrin is such that whether it take hold on your Judgments and Understandings now I know not but this I know assuredly it shall take hold of your Consciences either here or hereafter and then it will not suffice you to make this Excuse either that you had no Power to do any thing or that Christ hath already done all Things for you And so much for the Second Objection Object 3 Thirdly Others may Object That this Duty of working out of our Salvation is inconsistent with and prejudicial to the freeness of Gods Grace by which alone we are saved If God save them only that work for Salvation how then doth he save them freely and that by Grace we are saved Answ 1 First In general I answer That Salvation upon our Working and Obedience is free Salvation and that for four Reasons 1. Working for Salvation is our Duty and so not meritorious First Because all our working is a natural Duty that we owe to God as Creatures to their Creator Had God required the same Things of us that now he doth and never propounded a Reward to incourage us he had been just and we had been as absolutely and as indispensably obliged to obey as now we are We have not so great a Right to Salvation as God hath to our Obedience God can challenge our Service and Obedience from us because of our natural Bond and Obligation as well as from that voluntary Covenant where into we have entred with God to be Obedient but we can only plead for Salvation because God hath made a Promise that he will save those that Obey Whether God had made that Promise or not yet he might have required the same Obedience from us that now he doth because we owe it to him naturally by our Creation And is it not now free Grace and Mercy that when God might have required Obedience without a Reward that yet he will bestow Salvation according to that Obedience See what our Saviour saith in Luke 17. Luke 17.9 10. Doth the Master thank the Servant because he did the things that he was commanded to do I trow not So even ye likewise when you have done all those things that are commanded you say we are unprofitable Servants for when we have done all we have but done that which was our Duty to do Yea and our Duty it was to do it though God had never made a Promise to reward what we have done We are unprofitable Servants and deserve not so much as Thanks Doth the Master thank the Servant because he did the things that were commanded I trow not And if we do not merit Thanks when we have done our utmost how then can we merit Salvation 2. Our Obedience is imperfect in this Life Secondly Our Obedience is imperfect in this Life it is full of cracks and flaws And if to accept and reward the most perfect Obedience with Salvation be an Act of Mercy and free Grace as it is because it is our Duty if there were no Salvation promised how much more is free Grace magnified and glorified in accepting and rewarding a weak and imperfect Obedience with that Salvation which the most perfect Obedience cannot deserve For when we have done all we have done but that which was our Duty to do and if we could say so doth the Master thank the Servant No But alas in many things we offend all Now to reward that with eternal Salvation that deserves eternal Damnation to reward that Work with Life that deserves to be rewarded with Death what is this but the effect of rich and glorious Grace What is this but to bestow Heaven not according to Merit but rather according to our Demerit 3. There is no comparison between Salvation and our Obedience Thirdly Because there is no comparison betwixt Salvation and our Obediences and therefore free Grace shines forth still It is free Grace though we do obey We obey as Creatures God rewards as a God our Obedience is Temporal but our Reward is Eternal our Obedience is mixed with Rebellion but the Reward hath no mixture to take off the fulness and sweetness of it Therefore it is free Grace still to give an infinite Reward to so mean an Obedience betwixt which Obedience and Reward there is no comparison or proportion Fourthly Though we are commanded to obey 4. Grace whereby we obey is the Gift of God yet that Grace whereby we do obey is the Gift of God It is he that works in us this Obedience which he rewards with Salvation And must not this then be wholly of free Grace To save upon an Obedience wrought in us by God himself it is to save
but the Simple pass on and are punished They are rash and confident in their Undertakings and so they pass on and are punished Fear makes a Christian circumspect and considerative with himself how he may keep from Miscarriages in the performance of his great Work If God call me to such a Duty how shall I perform it If to bear such a Cross and Affliction how shall I glorifie him under it If to conflict with such Temptations how shall I resist and overcome them Yea how shall I do to break through all Difficulties Duties and Oppositions that I who am but a weak and feeble Christian may meet withal and how shall I do to bear up And thus pondring what may be his Duty and forecasting what Duties God may call him unto he is inabled to do what is his Duty at present and what also may by Providence hereafter become his Duty Nothing overtakes such a Man unexpected nor doth any thing surprize him unprovided for it And thus a careful Fear enables him in the performance of his great Work Secondly A Fear of Humility and holy Reverence of God induceth much to the working out of our Salvation and that in three Particulars First It much helps us in our great Work to fear God as our Lord and Master that sees and overlooks all our Works observing both what we do and how we do it also That Servant must be desperately bold that will dare to be idle or slight and perfunctory in his Work while his Masters Eye is upon him Why Christians should consider Gods Eye is always upon them in Praying in Hearing and in every Duty that they perform yea in every Action of their whole Lives And if the Eye of a Master that is but a Fellow Creature nay but a Fellow Servant can have such awe and influence upon his Servant as to make him careful how he works and what he works and to make him diligent in his Work Should not much more the consideration of Gods Eye being upon us who stands at an infinitee distance from us cause a holy Fear and Diligence in us in doing what our Lord and Master commands us Secondly Fear God also as him from whom you have all your Power and Ability to work Fear him lest at any time through any neglect or miscarriage of yours he should be provoked to suspend his Influence and withdraw his Grace from you and to leave you to your own Weakness and Impotency upon whose influence all your Obedience doth depend This is the Apostles Argument in the Text Work with Fear for God works in you both to Will and to Do. Holy diligence in Obedience cannot be more strongly enforced on an ingenious Spirit than by considering all that Strength and Ability that we have to work is received from God and therefore should be improved for God lest for our Sloth he deprives us of that we make no use of Thirdly In working fear God also as he that will be the Judge and Rewarder of your Works for ever You perform them unto him who is to pass Sentence upon them and upon you for them and will you then dare to do them slothfully and negligently God will try every Mans Work with Fire and will call every Action to a severe and strict account every Mans Work shall be seen through and through and then it shall be known who hath wrought the Works of God and who hath fulfilled the Will of Satan and the final Doom and irreversible Sentence shall then be pronounced according to Mens Works God will Rom. 2.7 8 9. says the Apostle render unto every Man according to his Works to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Immortality to them he will render Eternal Life but to them that are contentious and obey not the Truth but obey Vnrighteousness he will render unto them Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul that doth Evil. Now would you but thus fear God as an upright and impartial Judge that will render unto every one according to his Works How would this prevail with you so to work that at last you might be found of God in well doing and receive the blessed Reward and Sentence of the diligent and faithful Servant To enter into your Master's joy Fourthly and Lastly If you would work for Salvation successfully then work speedily without delay and constantly without cessation First Work speedily without delay Delays in all Affairs are dangerous but in Soul Affairs usually they are damnable For First The longer you procrastinate and delay the greater and more difficult will your Work be at last Corruption will be grown more tuff ill Humours will be grown more stubborn your Heart will be more hardned your Affections being more habituated will be more firmly engag'd to Sin the Devil will plead right to you by Prescription and it is hard keeping an Enemy out that hath had long Possession Secondly Consider what a desperate Folly it is to put off your Work till to Morrow you are not sure that you shall live to see another Day And oh what Hazards do those Men run whose hopes of Heaven depend upon no better a bottom than their hopes of Life and whose eternal Salvation is subject to as many Casualties and Accidents as their present Beings in this World are subject to Mans Breath is in his Nostrils and yet how do Men suffer their Souls and their everlasting Happiness to depend upon nothing surer than their Breath that Breath that every moment goes forth from them and they know not whether ever it shall return to them again But suppose your Life and Days should continue and you should reach unto that time whereof you have boasted and promised to mind the concernments of your Souls eternal Happiness in yet consider Thirdly The Grace of God is not at your disposal for then either First The outward Call may cease or it may grow more faint and low you may not be so daily importun'd and solicited for Heaven as now you are Ordinances and Opportunities may cease or you for your contempt may be given over to a contempt and neglect of them Secondly The inward Dictates of your own Consciences and the motions of the holy Spirit may cease Conscience may be brib'd to a silence and the holy Ghost may be commissionated to depart after this present opportunity and never more may you have its Breathings and Movings upon your Hearts if you do not now listen to them Thirdly If inward Motions do continue are you sure after this moments refusal that you shall obtain that Grace from God that may make you willing to close with those Motions Leave not therefore the eternal Salvation of your precious and immortal Souls at such Hazards and Delays Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation to day therefore if you will hear his voice even while it is called to day harden not your Hearts for this
than when they first believed that they are perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and every Day growing nearer unto Heaven and Happiness than other And though these Works of theirs are now imperfect yet they shall be shortly finished and consummate in Glory Well then if Pleasure and Delight do affect you here you see is that which is solid and substantial it springs from Success in your Work and from that suitableness that is in your renewed part thereunto also And therefore the more Work the greater Delight you find because the greater progress you make and the more suitable to it your Will becomes Nay your Delight is of the same Nature with that which you shall enjoy in Heaven The Work the Blessed are there imploy'd in is of the same Nature with yours only their suitableness to it is perfect and therefore their Delight and Pleasure is perfect And accordingly the more suitable your Hearts are to your Work the more Delight and Pleasure you will find in it This is that makes Heaven a place of Happiness because there is no Corruption no Body of Sin and Death there to make those Duties that are there required from glorified Saints to be irksom and grievous to them 2. The Reward of working for Salvation Secondly Consider the exceeding greatness of your Reward Doth Job fear God for nought was the Cavil of Satan when God applauded himself that he had such a Servant as Job was upon the Earth The Devil himself thought it no wonder that Job should fear and serve a rewarding God a God whose Hands are as full of Blessings as his Mouth is full of Commands And yet what were these great Something 's that the Devil envies Job for and thinks every one would have done as much as he if they had but as great a Recompence for it It was but Hedging of him about Job 1.10 but blessing of the Works of his Hands and increasing of his Substance as it is in Job 1. Why alas these are poor mean Rewards to what God intends to bestow such Rewards they are as that God still reckons himself in Arrears to his Children till he hath given them something better than he can bestow upon them here upon Earth These Things he casts but as Crumbs unto Dogs when he reserves a far better Portion for his Children And yet Satan thinks Job well paid for his Service in having of these lower Enjoyments in causing the Works of his Hands to prosper Doth Job serve God for nought And therefore if Satan doth not wonder that Job fears and serves God for Temporal Mercies will it not be to the great wonder of Satan himself that you should not fear and serve God that have infinitely better Things promised to you than Temporal Mercies are Do you deserve your Breath in spending of it some few Hours in Prayer Or do you deserve your plentiful Estate by laying out some small part of it for God Why to be able to Think or Speak to enjoy Health and Strength are such Mercies though outward Mercies as can never be recompenced to God although you should think of nothing but of his Glory and speak of nothing but of his Praise although you should impair your Health and waste your Strength and languish away in the performance of holy Duties These tho' they are Obligations to Obedience yet they are not the Reward of Obedience no far higher and more glorious Things are provided promised and shall be conferred upon you if you will but work For there is First your set standing Wages and that is eternal Salvation no less And Secondly besides this there are many incident Vails accrew to God's Servants in their performance of his Service And is not here Reward and Wages enough First 1. Working for Salvation shall be rewarded with Heaven 1 Cor. 2.9 Consider there is that eternal weight of Glory that shall be the Reward of the Saints in Heaven This now is so great that it is impossible for you to conceive It is such as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath it ever enter'd into no nor can it ever enter into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him as the Apostle speaks If St. Paul were now preaching and pressing this very Consideration of the infinite glorious Reward it would possibly be expected that he who suffered a Translation and was admitted as a Spy into the Land of Promise should at his return make some Relation of it and discover something of the Riches and Glory of that Place and would not all flock about him as Men do about Travellers to enquire for a Description of the Country whence they come Who the People and Inhabitants are What are their Manners and Customs What is their Imployment Who is their King and what Subjection they yield unto him Thus inquisitive truly our Curiosity would be And yet when St. Paul purposely relates his Voyage to the other World all that he speaks of it is only this I knew a Man caught up into Paradise who heard things that no Man could nor is it lawful for any Man to utter The Glory of Heaven is such that it can never be fully known till it be fully enjoyed and yet if Heaven were ever made chrystally transparent to you if ever God opened you a Window into it and then opened the Eye of your Faith to look in by that Window think what it was that you there discovered what inaccessible Light what cherishing Love what daunting Majesty what infinite Purity what over-loading Joy what insupportable and sinking Glory what Rays and Sparklings from Crowns and Scepters but more from the Glances and Smiles of God upon the heavenly Host who forever warm and Sun themselves in his Presence And when you have thought all this then think once again that all your Thoughts are but Shadows and Glimmerings that there is Dust and Ashes in the Eye of your Faith that makes all these Discoveries come infinitely short of the Native Glory of these Things and then you may guess and guess somewhat near what Heaven is Nay as God by reason of his infinite Glory is better known to us by Negatives than by Affirmatives by what he is not than by what he is so is Heaven by reason of the greatness of its Glory better known to us by what it is not than by what it is and we may best conceive of it when it is told us There is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve or trouble us nothing that may molest or disquiet us but we shall have the highest and sweetest Delight and Satisfaction that the vast and capacius Soul of Man can either receive or imagine Are you now burthened with Sin and Corruption those Infirmities that tho' they are unavoidable yet they make your Lives a Burthen to you Why the old Man shall never more molest you there that