A clear instance of this is to be seen in Abraham whom God proposed as a pattern of his free and most gracious Election exhibiting unto us under the type and figure of earthly and sensual things the whole and sum of this great mystery for such was the counsel of God that what things really and truly happened unto him the same should shadow out and represent the spiritual blessings which belonged to us As it is written 1 Cor. 10. All these things happened unto them for ensamples or types and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come Abraham being first called believed in God who had called him and promised to make him a Father of many Nations In God I say who calleth those things which be not as tho they were and trusted to the divine election knowing that to be the most acceptable obedience to God when one willingly and diligently complies with his call and without doubting undergoes that saving discipline as proceeding from him who being the Fountain of all Goodness freely bestows himself His Graces and Blessings upon those who believe and obey him so that when he was commanded by him from whom he had received the Promise to leave his Country his Kindred and his Fathers House he obeyed and went out leaving those advantages which those who live after the manner of this world reap from their Country Kindred and Fathers House for the native Country affordeth acquaintance and confidence the Fathers House Wealth and Riches and Kindred Means and Substance to those who lead their lives according to the dictates of Lust and Ambition Abraham therefore departed as the Lord had commanded him leaving his Country Kindred and Fathers House and chose to be a Stranger and Sojourner in a strange Land following the Command of God that called him Now we know that Strangers and Sojourners have no mind means nor confidence to spend their time in delights and pleasures so long as they think of their condition and behave themselves like Strangers and Sojourand propose to themselves that that is not their Country or place of rest but an Inn or place of refreshment which they must shortly leave and go forward unto a place of more commodious habitation So Abraham being called and commanded to go out of his Country into a Land that was to be shewn to him not only believed but obeyed and put it in execution for he really and indeed forsook his Country Kindred and Fathers House and not in word and inclination alone He said not I will do it or I desire to do it and did it not but actually performed what he was commanded and in that manner Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness not that he believed only but that believing he obeyed and went out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance not knowing whither he went Heb. 11. And that by Faith he Sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same Promise According to this precedent whoever is called to the gifts and blessings of the Heavenly Promises believes in and would please him that hath promised desiring to have them made good unto him must not only by Faith Will and Inclination but also in Deed and in good Earnest renounce the Pomp Vanity Corruption Delights Pleasures Ambition and other Vices of this World and perform what he obliged himself to and promised before the blessed Trinity in which he professed his belief in presence of his God-Fathers God-Mothers and Witnesses in his Baptism through the grace and assistance of him that called him to whose service he resigned himself and in whose name he was Baptised that is in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost which grace and assistance will never be wanting to those who from a pure and holy heart implore and beg the same as we have already demonstrated Luke 12. I am come to send fire on the Earth and what will I if it be already kindled Now he promised to renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and what are the works of the Devil and Vanities of the World but Ambition Lust Avarice and the delights and pleasures of the Flesh that is to say the corrupt manners customs of this World which according to the Doctrine of the Apostles breed cherish and encrease sin and wickedness as it is written 1 John 2. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World And again the Apostle S. James saith James 4. Ye Actulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of this World is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the World is the enemy of God Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envie Wherefore we must not only by Faith and in words but in our endeavours acts and deeds renounce all worldly Pleasures Lusts and Ambition for Virtue consists not in words but in deeds And therefore St. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work And St. Peter alluding to Abraham thus admonisheth 1 Pet. 2. Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of Visitation Wherefore that Faith which is commended and praised in Abraham was not an idle and dead but a living Faith quickned by Charity and shewing it self in the practice and exercise of Obedience and so it was imputed to him for Righteousness because he really left his Country Kindred and his Fathers house and obediently went unto the place appointed him thereby setting before us a lively instance of true Obedience Which Moses imitating Heh 11. when he was come to years refused to be called the Child of Pharaohs daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompence of Reward By Faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible In deeds then and not in words alone or an empty and idle boasting of Faith must every one shew himself obedient to God and bring forth the
Call by Faith alone unless we also pay Obedience to him that hath called us What Man is he that will say that it is enough for him to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven by Faith that is by believing tho he never attain to the actual fruition and enjoyment of the Kingdom of God Did God do so with the Israelites and the Seed of Abraham that the Promises which they laid hold on by Faith were never made good unto them No for the blessing of God whom they believed and obeyed they obtained the enjoyment and possession of the earthly Promises Of Abraham a great Nation was really made and from one Isaac in whom God would have his Seed to be called there sprang so great a People that Moses confessed Deut. 1. I am not able to bear you my self alone The Lord your God hath multiplied you and behold you are this day as the Stars of Heaven for multitude The Lord God of your Fathers make you a thousand times se many as you are and bless you as he hath promised you The People that were brought out of Egypt who continued in Faith and Holy Obedience did actually obtain and possess the promised Land of Canaan as it is written Josh 1. Arise go over this Jordan thou and all this People unto the Land which I do give to them even to the Children of Israel Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses From the Wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great River the River Euphrates all the Land of the Hittites and unto the great Sea toward the going down of the Sun shall be your Coast God not long after confirmed the truth of all this Josh 24. I have given you a Land for which ye did not labour and Cities which ye built not and ye dwell in them of the Vineyards and Oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat David also believing the promise that he should obtain the Kingdom endured and overcame the hardest of times and dangers and having at length obtained the Kingdom thus did sing Psal 116. I believed therefore have I spoken I was greatly afflicted I said in my hast all Men are liars What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me c. So that all these Ancients not only by Faith laid hold on the earthly Promises but really obtained them through the blessing of God that promised to fulfil them to those who believed and obeyed him And therefore they obeyed the Law-giver not by Faith and in words only but with all care and dutifulness they also practised true Piety and performed the Precepts and Commandments nor did any of those who expected the desired Promises think or say it was enough for him that his fore-fathers Predecessors or Friends had obeyed the Commands and Precepts of God unless he himself did his duty in obeying and fulfilling the Law Abraham himself being called went out David being anointed King and having obtained a Promise of the Kingdom believed did and suffered all those things which we read with admiration So also that we may return to our selves if we desire as we ought to do to be truly and indeed made partakers of the Spiritual Promises if we have a real love for our selves and aspire to everlasting bliss we must not only believe the Promises but likewise in all sincerity practise Piety and perform our several duties in obeying those things that are enjoyned and commanded us Nor must we think it enough that Christ hath fulfilled for us the Law and all Righteousness unless believing in Christ we also submit to that part of the Law which belongs to us to wit the Precepts and Commands of the Decalogue wherein is comprehended the summ of the Will of God and Law of Nature and to whatsoever may be lawfully deduced and inferred from thence and so obey the Law that we may not be called Hearers only or Readers Interpreters or Expounders thereof but rather Doers of the same and become like to those of whom it is written Luke 1. And they were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless Rom. 2. For not the Hearers of the Law are Just before God but the doers of the Law shall be justified Wherefore whosoever being called to the Marriage of the Son desires to approve himself faithfully to him that calleth him He is chiefly to mind that there is nothing hidden from him who searcheth the secrets of the heart and reins and knoweth the thoughts of Men afar off And therefore let him seriously set about the duty of true and unfeigned Repentance and being grieved for all the offences of his ill-spent wicked past life let him with a contrite and humble heart sincerely confess his sins and plead guilty in the presence of God and his Church that iâ— of the lawful Ministers of the Church Piously and Religiously obey the Counsels Admonitions and Instructions that are given him and having received Ecclesiastical Absolution from the sins and wickedness which he hath promised to God and to his Minister as a Witness and Judge upon Earth to forsake let him turn with all his mind and might from that wicked life and filthy conversation from all impure thoughts all Guile Malice and corrupt Manners and then having shaken off and overcome the Temptations of Pride Vanity Covetousness Lust Earthly delights and Pleasures and of whatsoever may and is wont to turn Men from God let him constantly persist in the right way and by diligent and frequent Prayer call upon God and beg his favourable and gracious assistance whose Mercy and provident care over him he will to his experience certainly find if from a pure and holy heart he earnestly craves the same For no less hath been offered and promised to all sinners by him who willeth not nor desireth their death but that rather they may repent and live Jer. 3. Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings Jer. 4. If thou wilt return O Israel saith the Lord return unto me and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight then shalt thou not remove O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee Jer. 29. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart And I will be found of you saith the Lord. And again Joel 2. Turn ye unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious
end the same shall be saved And no Man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God He that hath ears to hear let him hear God deceiveth no Man Let every one take heed then that he deceive not himself nor suffer himself to be deceived by others This is the plain sure and safe way that hath the promise of good success Repentance I mean which every one ought carefully to set about persist in and prosecute to the end This is the way that never deceived any Man but will certainly bring those that walk therein to eternal Salvation at last For it is written Psal 69. Psal 105. Your hearts shall live that seek God Seek the Lord and his strength seek his face ever more He that seeketh his face always in what manner soever he may end this mortal life yet his Son shall live Psal 9. For thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee The death of Lazarus was mean and obscure in the eyes of Men but that of the rich Man conspicuous and his Funeral pompous The rich Man died and was buried however the Soul of the former was received into Abraham's bosom when this Mans Soul was sent down into Hell Wherefore let those who either never set about the work of Repentance aright or put it off to the hour of death or often in their life-time begin it and as often again leave it off let them I say consider what ground they have to do so and what divine promise they can pretend to trust to for it is not in our power to command our time when we would and whether God will grant it to us according to our wishes is much to be doubted As 't is written Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy Statutes for their deceit is falshood No Doctor of the Christian Church for what I know ever taught us to put off and delay Repentance and amendment of life till the last day of living nor promised any happy success to those that did so nay St. Austin doubts of the condition of those delayers of serious Repentance till the hour of death and we have no reason but with St. Austin to doubt of the same Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways Wo will be unto many to whom opportunity and the advantages of amending their lives has been offered and granted whilst they were alive and in health and whilst God waited for them and who still persisting in their wickedness their too late desire of Repentance will through their own fault be unprofitable to them Many instances of wicked Men who die without Repentance happen daily some snatcht away by sudden death others killed some cast away at Sea others slain in Battel or brought to their end by thunder lightning and many other ways who perhaps if their lives had been longer would have seriously set about the work of Repentance but it hath seemed otherwise to the Judgment and Decree of God who seeing he does all that is necessary for reclaiming of sinners is not always wont to superadd more than ought to be expected Mat. 11. Had God done the mighty works in Tyre and Sidon which he did in Chorazin and Bethsaida he knew that they would have repented in Sack-cloth and ashes And if the mighty works which were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom it also upon the word of our Saviour would have remained until this day But seeing the Almighty had done for those places what was enough in his most righteous Judgment he was not willing to add more than was sufficient How many of those who have led a wicked and sinful life and still professed an inclination and desire to die well have either had the death they wished for or a blessed and happy end How every Man shall end his days depends not on himself but on the Counsel and Decree of God as it is written Psal 68. He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death But God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his Trespasses Most terrible also and yet most certain is that Sentence pronounced by divine Oracle Psal 34. Evil shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate But great are the Promises and hopes that the Scripture gives to those who love piety and are of a penitent and obedient heart which we should always have before our eyes The Lord redeemeth the Soul of his Servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Let us then a little consider what these Men do who leaving off to after he had left his The Example of Abraham Country Kindred and Fathers House never returned again into Chaldea or Mesopotamia but travelled and So journed in several places according to the will and appointment of God spending his whole life even to death in the obedience of Gods commands and that he would not die nor be buried any where but there where he had received the Promises nor move a foot from those places wherein he was warned from Heaven to tarry and abide Wherefore the Holy Scripture admonishing those who are the true children of Abraham that is his spiritual Children who is called the Father of many Nations of their duty in imitation of their fathers example saith Isa 51. Hearken to me ye that follow after righteousness ye that seek the Lord look unto the rock whence ye are hewen and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged Look unto Abraham your Father and unto Sarah that bare you for I called him alone and blessed him and encreased him as being a Man who firmly believed and diligently obeyed God that called him Col. 3. So then they which be of the Faith and imitate the example of Abraham are blessed with faithful Abraham Wherefore my dear fellow Christians being furnished with all these precepts and instructions of God the Father and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Master let us in the first place take diligent heed that we sin not For that indeed is best but because all the Sons of Adam are under sin the wisest counsel and most acceptable to God that can be given in the next place is that he who hath sinned would with all his heart and mind turn to God 1 John 2. for we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world If he be sought of us with a contrite and humble heart which the Lord himself declares To this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Wherefore the Apostle St. John admonishes us saying 1 John 3. Beloved if our heart
faithful Author of this Doctrinâ— will abundantly and to the fulâ— perform what he hath promised tho in the beginning it be unknown to believers seeing hâ— who freely and graciously hath promised standeth not in need oâ— the goodness of others nor iâ— made poorer by conferring hiâ— own but by how much the morâ— he is liberal and bountiful by sâ— much the riches of his goodnesâ— and inexhaustible mercy does encrease Rom. 10. For the samâ— Lord over all is rich unto all thaâ— call upon him Whether then the reward of the Discipline of Christ be fully known to his followers or but darkly shadowed out to them yet it shall not be denied to those who with a pure and holy heart seek after it nor shall it want any thing of that amplitude and fulness which the divine nature of the thing it self and the Majesty Authority and Bounty of him that promises it does require Esa 55. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts For as the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the Earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goeth forth of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it for ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace the Mountains and the Hills shall break forth before you into singing and all the trees of the field she clap their hands Instead of tâ— Thorn shall come up the Fig-treâ— and instead of the Bryar shall comâ— up the Myrtle tree and it she be to the Lord for a name for aâ— everlasting sign that shall not bâ— cut off A clear proof of thâ— appears in Abraham whom God heretofore having selected and separated him from the Doctrinâ— and Manners of the Gentiles proposed as an excellent pattern to be imitated by those who would imbrace and submit to this Discipline how he having received and by firm Faith believed thâ— promise of an earthly inheritance did not instantly know what extent of Land was assured to him referring that to thâ— Almighty who had made the Promise but thought it was enough for him to relie on the promises of the God of the whole Earth who having freely spoken the word was best able and most willing to perform it And no sooner was the Promise made but he trusting it obeyed the command and submitted to the conditions enjoyned him Gen. 12. For the Lord said unto Abraham get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house unto a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy Name great and thou shalâ— be a blessing And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the Earth be blessed So Abraham departed as the Lord had commanded him knowing neither whither he went nor how large the possession was that he was to have which the Apostle observing saith By Faith Abraham when he was call'd to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went wholly trusting to the word of him who could and would perform more than he was able either to ask or think and looking upon it as his duty to obey the Master whose Disciple he was that had promised him large inheritance to be revealed and discovered unto him in due time as the event made appear For Abraham having made a competent progress in the discipline he had embraced being called by God to whose institution he had resigned himself was fully instructed by him not only in the exâ—ent of the Earthly inheritance but of the Heavenly Blessings also which were shadowed and typified thereby as it is written Gen. 13. And the Lord said unto Abraham after that Lot was separated from him lift up now thine eyes and look from the Place where thou art North-ward and South-ward and East-ward and West-ward For all the Land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy Seed for ever And I will make thy Seed as the dust of the Earth so that if a Man can number the dust of the Earth then shall thy Seed also be numbred Arise walk through the Land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee Wherefore seeing no Man can doubt but that what things God hath promised will more fully be accomplished than he who is to receive them can wish for oâ— think it will be the duty of a true Believer and Disciple of Christ to set diligently about the performance of the condition imposed upon him and to leave the blessings and favours which he does expect to the arbitrement of him to whose conduct and doctrine he hath resigned himself even to God Almighty the powerful and rich Father of all Mercies who maketh it to rain upon the Just and the Unjust and who by the mouth of his own Son in whom he hath spoken and made the greatest of promises to us hath promised to give his good spirit to those that seek him For if he most graciously fulfilled what at sundry times and in divers manners he spake and promised unto the Fathers by the Prophets and if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast how can we be denied or disappointed of any thing that hath been promised to us by the Son of his Love the faithful interpreter of his Will and bountiful dispencer of his Grace and Mercies This made a most approved Apostle who by his own and the experience of others was convinced of that truth break out in thankfulness to God Rom. 8. What shall we then say to these things If God be for us who can be against us He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not also with him freely give us all things So that on the part of him that promises no doubt can be made nor any impediment interpose why those things which have been promised should not superabundantly be fulfilled Luke 6. good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom And the truth of this Christian Doctrine for ever stands firm and unshaken Tit. 1. According to the Faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness In hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised before the World began but hath in due times manifested his word Heb. 6. For when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself saying surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee