elsewhere expresly makes it the Condition of our Eternal Salvation Heb. 5. 9. Christ is there said to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him thereby implying that none shall be saved by Christ but those that obey the Gospel Heb. 12. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Rom. 2. 7 8 9. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will give Eternal Life but to them who are contentious and obey not the Truth that is the Gospel but obey Unrighteousness Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of man that doth Evil. I cannot well imagine what can reasonably be answered to such plain Texts but I will tell you what is commonly answered namely That God gives the Condition which he requires and therefore though these Promises run in a Conditional Form yet in truth they are absolute because he that makes a Promise to another upon a Condition which he will also perform doth in effect make an absolute Promise As if a Man promised another such an Estate upon Condition he pay such a Summ for it and does promise withal to furnish him with that Summ this in effect amounts to an absolute Promise of the Estate And this is very well argued if the Case were thus But God hath no where promised to work the Condition in us without the concurrence of our own Endeavours God may and oftentimes doth prevent Men by his Grace but he hath no where promised to give his Holy Spirit but to them that ask it of him And he hath no where promised to continue his grace and assistance to us unless we will use our sincere Endeavours nay in case we do not he hath threatned to take away his grace and assistance from us And if this be so then the Promises of the Gospel do not only seem to be Conditional but are really so And it is a wonder that any Man should doubt of this who considers how frequently in the New Testament the Gospel is represented to us under the notion of a Covenant since a Covenant in the very nature of it doth imply a mutual Obligation between the Parties that enter into it But if the Gospel contain only Blessings which are promised on God's part without any thing required to be done and performed on our part in order to the obtaining of those Blessings then the Gospel is nothing else but a Promise or Deed of Gift making over certain Benefits and Blessings to us but can in no propriety of Language in the World be called a Covenant But if there be some things required on our part in order to our being made partakers of the Promises which God hath made to us as the Scripture every where tells us there is then the Promises are plainly Conditional To instance in the Promise of Forgiveness of Sins Repent that your Sins may be blotted out that is upon this Condition that ye Repent of your Sins they shall be forgiven and not otherwise Can there be any plainer Condition in the World than is in those Words of our Saviour If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your Heaâ—enly Father will also forgive your Trespasses but if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your Trespasses This is so far from being any prejudice to the freeness of Gods grace who is infinitely gracious in offering such great Blessings to us upon any Condition that we can perform yet it were one of the absurdest things in the World to imagine that God should grant to Men forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life let them behave themselves as they Will. Fourthly The last thing I proposed for the explaining of this Doctrine of the Promises of God was to consider when Men may be said to have a right to these Promises so as to be able upon good grounds to apply them to themselves And the Answer to this is very plain and easie namely when they find the Conditions of these Promises in themselves and not till then When a Man hath truly repented of his Sins so as to forsake them and lead a new Life and when he does from his heart forgive those that have offended him and hath laid down all animosity against them and thoughts of Revenge then hath he a right to the Promise of Pardon and Forgiveness and may apply to himself in particular what the Scripture saith in general that God will blot out all his Transgressions and remember his Iniquities no more When a Man doth constantly and earnestly implore the assistance of God's Holy Spirit and is ready to yield to the motions of it and does faithfully make use of that strength and assistance which God affords him then he may expect the continuance of his grace and further degrees of it When a Man makes it the constant and sinsincere endeavour of his Life to please God and to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the Lord blameless and is effectually taught by the grace of God to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godlily in this present World then he may with comfort and joy wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ then he may with confidence depend upon God in sure and certain hope of that Eternal Life which God that cannot lie hath promised When he can say with St. Paul I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith then he may likewise triumph as he did henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righâ—eous Judge shall give me in that day Upon these terms and in these Cases Men may upon good grounds apply to themselves these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel and so far as any Man is doubtful and uncertain of the performance of the Conditions which the Gospel requires so far he must necessarily question his Right and Title to the Blessings promised And if any Man think this Doctrine too uncomfortable and be willing to reject it upon this account I shall only say this that Men may cheat themselves if they please but most certainly they will never find any true and solid Comfort in any other This is a plain and sensible account of a Mans Confidence and good hopes in the Promises of God but for a Man to apply any Promise to himself before he finds the Condition in himself is not Faith but either Fancy or Presumption And therefore it is a very preposterous course which many take to advise and exhort Men with so much earnestness to apply the Promises of God to themselves and to tell them that they are guilty of great unbelief in not doint it That which is proper to exhort Men to is to â—ndeavour to perform the Condition upon which God hath promised any Blessing to
in well-doing The assurance of enjoying unspeakable and endless Happiness in another World and of escaping extream and eternal Misery is a Consideration of that weight as one would think could not fail of its efficacy upon us to put all temptations to Sin out of countenance and to bear down before us all the difficulties and discouragements in the way of our Duty And if this make no impression upon us if Heaven and Hell be of no weight with us it will be in vain to use any other Arguments which in Comparison of this are but as the very small dust upon the balance For if on the one hand the hopes of perfect Comfort and Joy and Felicity perpetual in duration and vast beyond all imagination such as â—ye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath entred into the heart of Man to conceive And if on the other hand the dread of the terrible wrath of God and of the vengance of Eternal Fire together with the insupportable torments of a guilty Conscience and the perpetual stings of bitter remorse and anguish for the wilful folly of our wicked Lives and the rage of horrible despair of ever getting out of so miserable a State If neither of these Considerations if both of them will not prevail upon us to cease to be evil and to resolve to be good that we may obtain one of these Conditions and may escape the other there is no hope that any words that can be used any Arguments and Considerations that can be offered should work upon us or take place with us He that is not to be tempted by such hopes nor to be terrified by such fears is proof against all the force of perswasion in the World And thus I have done with the two things which I proposed to consider from these words the Nature of these Promises and the Influence they are apt and ought to have upon us to raise us to the perfection of Virtue and Goodness which the Apostle here calls our being Partakers of a Divine Nature All that now remains is to make some useful Reflections upon what hath been discoursed upon these two Heads First of all If we expect the Blessings and Benefits of these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel we must be careful to perform the Conditions which are indispensably required on our parts It is a great mistake and of very pernicious consequence to the Souls of Men to imagine that the Gospel is all Promises on God's part and that our part is only to believe them and to rely upon God for the performance of them and to be very confident that he will make them good tho' we do nothing else but only believe that he will do so That the Christian Religion is only a Declaration of God's good will to us without any expectation of Duty from us this is an Error which one could hardly think could ever enter into any who have the liberty to read the Bible and do attend to what they read and find there The Three great Promises of the Gospel are all very expresly contain'd in our Saviour's first Sermon upon the Mount There we find the Promise of Blessedness often repeated but never absolutely made but upon Certain Conditions and plainly required on our parts As Repentance Humility Righteousness Mercy Peaceableness Meekness Patience Forgiveness of Sins is likewise Promised but only to those that make a Penitent acknowledgment of them and ask Forgiveness for them and are ready to grant that Forgiveness to others which they beg of God for themselves The gift of God's Holy Spirit is likewise there Promised but it is upon Condition of our earnest and importunate Prayer to God The Gospel is every where full of Precepts enjoyning Duty and Obedience on our part as well as of Promises on God's part assuring Blessings to us nay of terrible threatnings also if we disobey the Precepts of the Gospel St. Paul gives us the summ of the Gospel in very few and plain words declaring upon what terms we may expect that Salvation which the Gospel offers to all Men Tit. 2. 11 12 13 14. The grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purisie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works And then he adds These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority Intimating that tho' Men were very averse to this Doctrine it ought to be inculcated with great Authority and Earnestness and those who opposed and despised it to be severely rebuked And with great Reason because the contrary Doctrine does most effectually undermine and defeat the whole Design of the Christian Religion Secondly From hence we learn that if the Promises of the Gospel have not this effect upon us to make us Partakers of a Divine Nature it is our own fault and because we are wanting to our selves God is always ready to do his part if we do not fail in ours There is a Divine Power and Efficacy goes along with the Gospel to make way for the entertainment of it in the hearts of Men where they put no bar and obstacle to it But if Men will resist the Motions of God's Blessed Spirit and quench the light of it and obstinately hold out against the force of Truth God will withdraw his Grace and Holy Spirit from them The Gospel would raise us to the perfection of all virtue and goodness and the Promises of it are admirably fitted to relieve the infirmities and weakness of Humane Nature and to renew us after the Image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness to take us off from Sin and Vice and to allure us to Goodness and to assist and encourage us in the practice of it But if we will not comply with the gracious Design of God in the Gospel and suffer these Promises to have their due influence and efficacy upon us we wilfully deprive our selves of all the Blessings and Benefits of it we reject the Counsel of God against our selves and receive the Grace of God in vain and and by rejecting and despising his Promises we provoke him to execute his Threatnings upon us Thirdly and Lastly If the Promises of the Christian Religion are apt in their own Nature to work this great effect upon us to make us like to God and to bring us to so near a resemblance of the Divine Perfections to make us Good and Just and Merciful and Patient and Holy in all manner of Conversation to purge us from our Iniquities and to make us a Peculiar and Excellent People zealous of good works I say if this be the proper tendency of the Gospel and the Promises of it how doth this
us and when Men find the Condition in themselves they will without any great perswasion take Comfort from the Promise and apply it to themselves but till they discern the Condition in themselves it is impossible for a Man that understands himself to apply the Promise to himself for till the Condition be performed he hath no more right to the Promise than if such a Promise had never been made And 't is so far from being a Sin in such a Man to doubt of the benefit of such a Promise that it is his Duty to do so and no Man that understands himself and the Promises of God can possibly do otherwise Therefore 't is a vain and groundless trouble which perplexeth many People that they cannot apply the Promises of God to themselves whereas the true ground of their trouble should be this that they have not been careful to perform the Condition of those Promises which they would apply to themselves the other is an endless trouble let them but look to the Condition and the Promise will apply it self I speak all this on purpose to free Men from those perplexities wherewith many have entangled themselves by false apprehensions of the Promises of God either as if they were not made to us upon certain Conditions to be performed by us or as if any Man could comfortably apply them to himself before he hath performed those Conditions upon which God hath made such Promises For if Men will believe that which is not true or expect things upon such terms as they are not to be had they may trouble themselves Eternally and all the World cannot help it I have now done with the First thing I propounded to speak to namely the Promises which are here spoken of The Second thing viz. what Influence these Promises ought to have upon us that by them we may be made Partakers of a Divine Nature I shall reserve to another Opportunity The Second SERMON ON 2 PETER I. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature I Made entrance into these words the last Day in the handling whereof I proposed to do these two things First To consider the Promises here spoken of Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises Secondly The Influence which these Promises ought to have upon us that by these ye might be partakers of a Divine Nature The first of these I have done with and proceed now to the Second viz. The Influence which these Promises ought to have upon us Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of a Divine Nature Not that we can partake of the Essence and Nature of God as some have blasphemously affirmed pretending in their canting and senseless Language to be Godded with God and Christed with Christ In this sense it is impossible for us to partake of the Divine Nature for this would be for Men to become Gods and to be advanced to the State and Perfection of the Deity But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth frequently in Scripture signifie a temper and disposition and to be partakers of a Divine Nature is to be of a Divine Temper and Disposition to have our Corrupt Natures rectified and purged from all sinful Lusts and irregular Passions and from all Vicious and Corrupt Affections and therefore it follows in the Text having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust and besides this giving all diligence add to your Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly-kindness and to Brotherly-kindness Charity So that we are made partakers of a Divine Nature as the Apostle here explains it these two ways by cleansing our selves from the Lusts of the Flesh which the Apostle here calls the corruption or defilement which is in the World through Lust and by a diligent endeavour after all Christian Graces and Virtues Faith and Temperance and Patience a sincere love of the Brethren and an Universal Charity and good-will towards all Men. And that this is the proper influence and efficacy of the great Promises of the Gospel upon the hearts and lives of Men the Apostle St. Paul fully declares to us 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having thâ—refore these Promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit that is from the lusts of the Flesh and of uncleanness and from all evil and corrupt affections of the Mind such as Wrath Envy Malice Hatred Strife Revenge Cruelty Pride and the like perfecting holiness in the fear of God that is continually aspiring still more and more after further degrees of Holiness and Virtue and goodness which are the great Perfections of the Divine Nature And thus by a constant and sincere endeavour to cleanse our selves from all impurity of Flesh and Spirit and by practising all the Virtues of a good Life we shall by degrees raise and advance our selves to a Godlike temper and disposition imitating in all our Actions the Goodness and Mercy and Patience and Truth and Faithfulness of God and all those other Perfections of the Divine Nature which are comprehended undâ—r the term of Holiness This is that which the Apostle here calls partaking of a Divine Nature or as our Blessed Saviour expresseth it to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect This the Gospel designs to raise us to and one of the great Instruments whereby this is effected are those exceeding great and precious Promises which I have insisted upon And they are capable of effecting it these two ways First By way of internal Efficacy and Assistance and Secondly By way of external Motive and Argument Both these ways some or other of these Promises have a mighty influence upon us if we be not wanting to our selves to raise us to a Godlike temper and disposition that is to the greatest perfection of Virtue and Goodness which we are capable of in this Life First By way of internal Efficacy and Assistance And this influence the Promise of God's Holy Spirit and of the gracious help and assistance thereof hath upon the Minds of Men inclining them to that which is good and enabling them to do it For the Holy Spirit is promised to us in consideration and commiseration of that impotency and weakness which we have contracted in that degenerate and depraved Condition into which Mankind is sunk to help us who are without strength to recover our selves out of that evil and miserable state into which by wilful transgression we are fallen to quicken us who are dead in Trespasses and Sins as the Scripture expresseth the Condition of unregenerate Persons to raise â—s to a new Life and to cherish this Principle of Spiritual Life which is commonly weak at first and to carry it through alldiscouragements and oppositions to
excite us continually to our Duty and to enable us to the most difficult parts of Obedience such as are most contrary to our natural inclinations and against the grain of flesh and blood to bear down the strength of Sin and Temptation and in all our Conflicts with the World and the Flesh the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness to make us victorious over them and in a word to be a Principle within us more mighty and powerful than the Lusts and Inclinations of our evil Hearts than the most obstinate and inveterate habits of Sin and Vice and than all the Temptations and Terrors of sense So that if we will make use of this assistance and lay hold of this strength which God affords us in the Gospel and as the Apostle expresseth it be workers together with God we need not despair of Victory and Success for our strength will continually encrease and the force and violence of our Lusts will be abated God will give us more grace and we shall walk from strength to strength and our path will be as Solomon says of the way of the Righteous as the light which shines more and more unto the perfect day For the Holy Spirit of God conducts and manageth this great work of our Sanctification and Salvation from first to last by opening our Hearts to let in the light of Divine Truth upon our Minds by representing to us with advantage such Arguments and Considerations as are apt to perswade us to embrace it and yield to it by secret and gentle reprehensions softning our hard hearts and bâ—nding our stiff and stubborn Wills to a compliance with the Will of God and our Duty And this is that great Work which the Scripture calls our Regeneration and Sanctification the turning us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God a new Creation and a Resurrection from the Death of Sin to the Life of Holiness And then by leading and directing us in the ways of Holiness and Obedience by quickning our Devotion and stirring up in us Holy Desires and Dispositions of Soul rendring us fit to draw near to God in Prayer with a due sense of our own wants and unworthiness and an humble Confidence in the goodness of God that he will grant us those good things that we ask of him in supporting and comforting us in all our Afflictions and Sufferings especially for Truth and Righteousness sake and by Sealing and Confirming to us the Blessed Hopes of Eternal Life Thus the Spirit of God carries on the Work of our Sanctification and makes us Partakers of a Divine Nature by way of inward efficacy and assistance Secondly The Promises of the Gospel are apt likewise to have a mighty influence upon us by way of Motive and Argument to engage and encourage us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God For First A full Pardon and Indemnity for what is past is a mighty encouragement for us to return to our Duty and a forcible Argument to keep us to it for the future For since God who hath been so highly injured and affronted by us is so willing and ready to forgive us as not only to provide and purchase for us the Means of our Pardon by the grievous Sufferings of his dear Son but to offer it so freely and invite us so earnestly to accept of it and to be reconciled to him the Consideration of this ought in all Reason Ingenuity and Gratitude to melt us into Sorrow and Repentance for our Sins and a deep sense of the evil of them and to enflame our hearts with a mighty love to God and our blessed Redeemer who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood And to make us extreamly unwilling nay most firmly resolved never more to offend that merciful and gracious God who is so slow to punish and so forward to forgive and effectually to engage us to a dutiful and constant and cheaâ—ful Obedience to God's holy Laws and Commandments lest by our wilful transgression and violation of them we should run our selves into a deeper guilt and aggravate our Condemnation Now that by the tender Mercies of our God we are made whole we should be infinitely afraid to sin any more lest worse things come to us lest we relapse into a more incurable state and bring a heavier load of guilt and misery upon our selves Secondly The Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit is likewise a very powerful Argument and Encouragement to Holiness and Goodness engaging us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that our Souls and Minds may be a fit Temple for the Holy Ghost which will not dwell in an impure Soul And likewise Encouraging us hereto by this Consideration that we have so unerring a Guide to Counsel and Direct us so Powerful an Assistant to strengthen us with all might in the Inner Man to stand by us in all our Conflicts with Sin and Satan and to make us as the Apostle expresseth it more than Conquerours over all our Spiritual Enemies For tho' we be weak and our Lusts strong our Enemies many and Temptations mighty and violent yet we need not be disheartned so long as we know that God is with us and the Grace of his Holy Spirit sufficient for us against all the strength of Sin and Hell tho' our Duty be hard and our strength small yet we cannot fail of success if we be sure that the Omnipotent grace of God is always ready to second our sincere tho' never so weak Endeavours So that when we see all the Enemies of our Salvation drawn up in array against us we may encourage our selves as the Prophet Elisha did his Servant when he told him that an Host compassed the City with Horses and Chariots and said Alas my Master how shall we do And he answered fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them 2 King 6. 16. Or as Hezekiah Comforted the People when they were afraid of the mighty force of the King of Assyria 2 Chron. 32. 7 8. Be strong and couragious be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria nor for all the multitude that is with him For there be more with us than with him With him is an arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight for us This is the Case of every Christian the force that is against us is finite and limited but the Almighty God is on our side and fights for us and every one of us may say with St. Paul Philip. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me Thirdly The Promise of Eternal Life and Happiness if duly weighed and considered hath a mighty force in it to take us off from the Love and Practice of Sin and to encourage our Obedience and patient continuance
upbraid the degenerate state of the Christian World at this day which does so abound in all kind of Wickedness and Impiety so that we may cry out as he did upon reading the Gospel Profectò aut hoc non est Evangelium aut nos non sumus Evangelici Either this is not the Gospel which we read and the Christian Religion which we profess or we are no Christians We are so far from that pitch of goodness and Virtue which the Christian Religion is apt to raise Men to and which the Apostle here calls the Divine Nature that a great part of us are degenerated into Beasts and Devils wallowing in abominable and filthy Lusts indulging our selves in those Devilish Passions of Malice and Hatred of Strife and Discord of Revenge and Cruelty of Sedition and Disturbance of the Publick Peace to that degree as if the Grace of God had never appeared to us to teach us the contrary And therefore it concerns all those who have the face to call themselves Christians to demean themselves at another rate and for the Honour of their Religion and the Salvation of their own Souls to have their Conversation as becometh the Gospel of Christ and by departing from the Vicious practices of this present Evil World to do what in them lies to prevent the Judgments of God which hang over us or if they cannot do that to save themselves from this untoward Generation A SERMON ON 1 PETER IV. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator THIS Epistle was written by St. Peter who was the Apostle of the Circumcision to the dispersed Jews who were newly Converted to Christianity And the Design of it is to Confirm and Establish them in the Profession of it and to instruct them how they ought to demean themselves towards the Heathen or Gentiles among whom they lived and more particularly to arm and prepare them for those Sufferings and Persecutions which he foretels would shortly overtake them for the Profession of Christianity that when they should happen they might not be surprised and startled at them as if some strange and unexpected thing were come upon them at the 12 v. of this Chapter Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery Tryal which is to try you that is do not wonder and be not asâ—onish'd at it as if some strange thing hapned unto you And then he instructs them more particularly how they ought to behave themselves under those Trâ—als and Sufferings when they should happen not only with Patience which men ought to exercise under all kinds of Sufferings upon what Account and Cause soever but with Joy and Cheerfulness considering the Glorious Example and Reward of them v. 13. but rejoyce in as much as ye are partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his Glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding Joy And at the 14. ver he tells them that besides the Encouragement of so great an Example and so glorious a Reward they should be supported and assisted in a very extraordinary manner by the Spirit of God resting upon them in a glorious manner as a Testimony of the Divine Power and Presence with them v. 14. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you or as it is in the best Copies for the Spirit of Glory and of Power even the Spirit of God resâ—eth upon you that is the Glorious Power of the Divine Spirit is present with you to comfort and bear up your Spirits under these Sufferings But then he cautions them to take great Care that theiâ— Sufferings be for a good Cause and a good Conscience v. 15. But let none of you suffer as a Mâ—â—therer or as a Thief or as an evil-doer that is as an Offender in any kind against Human Laws made to preserve the Peace and good Order of the World or as a busy-body in other mens matters that is as a pragmatical Person that meddles out of his own Sphere to the Disquiet and Disturbance of Human Society For to suffer upon any of these Accounts would be matter of Shame and Trouble but not of Joy and Comfort But if they suffer'd upon Account of the Profession of Christianity this would be no Cause of Shame and Reproach to them but they ought rather to give God Thanks for calling them to suffer in so good a Cause and upon so glorious an Account V. 16. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian if that be his only Crime let him not be ashamed but let him gloriâ—ie Gâ—d on this behalf for the time is come that Judgment must begin at the House of God that is the wise and just Providence of God hath so order'd it at this Time for very good Reasons and Ends that the first Calamities and Sufferings should fall upon Christians the peculiar People and Church of God for their Tryal and a Testimony to the Truth of that Religion which God was now planting in the World And if iâ— first begin at us that is at us Jews who were the ancient People of God and have now embraced and entertained the Revelation of the Gospel what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God that is how much more severely will God deal with the rest of the Jews who have crucified the Son of God and still persist in their Infidelity and Disobedience to the Gospel And if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear that is if good Men be saved with so much Difficulty and must through so many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God what will become of all Ungodly and Impenitent Sinners Where shall they appear How shall they be able to stand in the Judgment of the great Day From the Consideration of all which the Apostle makes this Inference or Conclusion in the last ver of this Chapter Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator Thus you see the Connexion and Dependance of these words upon the Apostle's foregoing Discourse I shall explain the several Expressions in the Text and then handle the main Points contained in them The Expressions to be explained are these What is meant by those that suffer according to the will of God what by committing the keeping of our Souls to God â—s unto a faithful Creator and what by well-doing 1. What is meant by suffering according to the will of God This may be understood of Suffering in a good Cause such as God will approve But this is not so probable because this is mentioned afterwards in the following Expressions of committing the keeping of our Souls to God in well-doing that is in suffering upon a good Account And therefore the plain and