few have a Natural Generosity or Christian Mercy and Means to express and exercise it The Necessities of others do not affect Men with so quick a sense as the parting with their Money to relieve them As the Balsam Tree does not drop its healing Liquor till the Bark is Cut. Sometimes the great number of Suiters is a pretence to excuse from the exercise of Bounty None of these can be Conceived of God There is nothing more Divine in the Deity and becoming his Nature than his Inclination to do good As the Mother with equal Pleasure nourishes the Child with her Milk as the Child draws it For the breast is uneasie till emptied God much more rejoices in doing Good than we in receiving it We are also assur'd of obtaining Spiritual Blessings by the Intercession of the Mediator The dignity of his Person who is higher than the Heavens the Son of his Love the Merits of his Obedience and Sufferings assure us of his Power with God He takes us by the hand and brings as to the Father perfumes and presents our Requests to obtain a favourable Reception When we are under impressions of Fear that God will deny our Prayers for Spiritual Blessings 't is as if there were no Love in the Mediator nor prevalency in his Mediation Besides the Spirit of Holiness is plenteously Conveyed under the Dispensation of the Gospel The gift of the Spirit in the richest degrees was reserved as an Honour to Christ in his Ascension 'T is said The Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified The Blood of Christ was liberally shed that the Spirit might be liberally poured forth But the bestowing of the Spirit was at the Triumphant Ascension of Christ. Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive and received gifts for men that is from the Father as the Reward of his Victory that he might dispense them to Men. The Principal Gift is the Holy Ghost comprehensive of all good things The Promise is perform'd under the Gospel I will pour forth of my Spirit the Spirit of grace and supplication upon all flesh There were some Sprinklings of it under the Law and confin'd to a separate Nation but now showers are poured down upon all Nations to purifie them and make them fruitful in Good Works The Apostle declares the admirable Efficacy of the Gospel The Law of the Spirit of Life has freed me from the Law of Sin and Death The Spirit of the Fiery Law so call'd with respect to its Original and Operations convinc'd of Sin and constrain'd Conscience to inflict tormenting impressions on the Soul the Presages of Future Judgment but afforded no Spiritual Grace to obey it Therefore 't is said to be weak and unprofitable But the Gospel conveys Supernatural Strength to obtain Supernatural Happiness 'T is foretold concerning the state of the Church in the times of the Gospel He that is feeble among them shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them Add farther the Holy Spirit directs our desires and God knows the mind of the Spirit who makes intercession for us according to the will of God Christ is our Advocate in Heaven and the Spirit in our Hearts by inflaming our Affections and exciting in us filial Trust in the Divine Mercy They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength If we are impotent in resisting Temptations and in doing the Will of God when Divine Assistance is ready upon our desires to confirm us our Impotence is voluntary and does not excuse us from Consequent Sin but is an antecedent Sin The sharpest Reproof we read from our Saviour to his Disciples was for their guilty Impotence Jesus answer'd and said O faithless and perverse generation How long shall I be with you How long shall I suffer you He had given them Power to heal Diseases and expel Evil Spirits but they had not used the means of Prayer and Fasting that was requisite for the exercise of that Power How justly do we deserve that stinging Reproach who notwithstanding the Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit do not by continual fervent Prayer apply our selves to God to partake of a rich abundance of Grace from the Holy Spirit I shall only add that as Prayer is a means to obtain more Grace by impatration so by the exercise of Grace in Prayer 't is increas'd Frequent Prayer has a cleansing Vertue in that as those who often come into the King's Presence to speak to him are careful to be in decent Habits that they may not be disparag'd in his sight so those who draw near to God will cleanse themselves from Sin that they may be prepar'd to appear before his Holy Majesty Humility Faith Reverence Love Zeal Resignation to the Divine Will Compassion to the Afflicted and other excellent Graces are exercised in Prayer as the sphere of their activity and as acquir'd Habits so infused are improved by exercise Frequent shooting not only makes persons more skilful in directing the Arrow to the Mark but more able to draw a stronger Bow None are more holy in Conversation than those that give themselves to Prayer Our Saviour prayed himself into Heaven and a Divine Lustre appear'd in his Countenance By our drawing near to God the beauty of Holiness will be impress'd upon us and brighten our Conversations Briefly according to the raised operations of Grace in Prayer we shall obtain more excellent degrees of it from Heaven for in bestowing the first Grace God is a pure Giver but in dispensing new degrees of Grace he is a Rewarder according to the Promise To him that hath shall be given 3. Frequent and attentive Hearing and Reading the Word and serious Meditation of it is a means appointed by the Divine Wisdom and Goodness for our growth in Grace The conception and propagation the sustaining and increasing the Spiritual Life is by the Word of Truth 'T is therefore compar'd to those things that are the productive and preserving Causes of the Natural Life 'T is the incorruptible Seed and Food to beget and nourish the Spiritual Life 'T is Milk for Babes Wine for the faint and strong Meat to confirm those of maturer Age. There is an objective Vertue in it whereby 't is apt and sufficient to regenerate us and to increase the vigour and activity of the new Life The Apostle calls it The Power of God to our Salvation The word of Grace is able to build us up to an inheritance among them that are sanctified 'T is a kind of Miracle in Nature that a Sience of a good Tree grafted into a sowre Stock draws the vital Moisture from the Root and converts it for the producing generous and pleasant Fruit The ingrafted Word being a Divine Doctrine over-rules the Carnal Nature and makes the Mind Will Affections and Actions holy and heavenly answerable to its quality The Commands of
his impendent Suffering exprest a great perplexity Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say The fearful expectation of the just and heavy punishment due for our Sins perplex'd his Holy and Humane Nature he address'd a Request to God Father save me from this hour but it was with a Revocation but for this cause came I to this hour it was subordinate to his main desire Father glorifie thy Name When he was seized by his bloody Enemies and Peter struck with his Sword one of them he repress'd his rash Zeal with that Consideration The Cup which my Father has given shall I not drink of it He regarded his Soveraign Will in giving it and with Submission drank of the dregs of it How instructive is this to us to take the hottest and bitterest Potion that God our Father and Physician prepares for us 2. Prayer is an Effectual Means to obtain an increase of Spiritual Blessings 'T is the Law of Heaven that Blessings are to be obtain'd by Prayer for this is most Honourable to God and Beneficial to us 'T is the Supreme Act of Religious Worship discover'd by the Light of Nature to the Heathens Prayer is the Homage due to his Eternal Greatness the most glorious acknowledgement of his All-sufficiency that he is Able and Willing to relieve our Poverty from his immense Treasures notwithstanding our unworthiness for we are less than the least of his mercies and deserve the severe inflictions of his Justice 'T is the setting our Seal to his Truth that he is a God hearing Prayer 'T is very beneficial to us for it engages us to receive his Benefits with Adoration and Thankfulness and prepares us to receive new Favours and by our obtaining Blessings in this way we have a more Clear and Comfortable Sense of his Love that gives the sweetest Tincture and Relish to them 'T is true Prayer is not requir'd to inform God or to incline him to be Gracious and sometimes from his exuberant Goodness he prevents our desires but we cannot regularly expect his Blessings without the Sense of our Wants and Prayer to supply them Now all Blessings are originally from God but some are immediately from him As the Sun inlightens the World by its presence in the Day and the Moon and Stars inlighten it in the Night by Light borrowed from the Sun St. James tells us Every good and perfect gift descends from above from the Father of Lights All Blessings in the order of Nature the Qualities of the Body Beauty Strength Health or the Endowments of the Mind Knowledge Wit Eloquence are his Gifts all Temporary Talents Riches Power Dignity are from him by the mediation of second Causes but there are more precious and perfect Gifts that come from him immediately as the Father of Lights Sanctifying Graces and Spiritual Comforts by the Illumination and Infusion of the Holy Spirit The first sort of Blessings we are not to pray for absolutely for they may be pernicious by our abuse of them to our Souls and are often bestowed upon Reprobate Sinners But the other kind saving Graces deserve our most ardent desires As the hart pants after the water-brooks our Souls should seek after the Favour of God and Sanctifying Grace the infallible Testimony and effect of it We must pray for them unsatisfiedly not content with any thing else nor without excellent degrees of them David breaks out his ardent desires O that my wayes were directed according to thy Statutes O that my Soul may be baptiz'd with the Holy Ghost as with Fire to purifie and refine me from all my dross that as Gold taken from a vein of Earth receives such a lustre from the Fire as if it were the sole product of Fire so my renovation by the Spirit may be so intire that all Carnality may be abolish'd Our Prayers should be for our perseverance in well-doing Perseverance is a most free Gift of God a new Grace superadded to what we have received without it we shall forsake God every Hour God promises to give the sanctifying Spirit as a permanent Principle of Holiness in his People to cause them to walk in his Statutes and declares for this I will be enquired of by the house of Israel We must imitate Jacob who wrestled with the Angel and would not let him go till he had blest him This is an Emblem of fervent Prayer wherein we strive with the strength and sinews of our Souls and as it were offer violence to the King of Heaven to bestow Spiritual Blessings upon us Carnal Men are intemperate greedy and passionate in their desires of Temporal Blessings tho' Reason Religion and Experience of their Vanity should regulate them They are impatient and insatiable and will bear no denial nor delay but with regret and reluctancy But how remiss and cold are their desires for spiritual and eternal Blessings they invite a denial Their Prayers are defective in the Principle they do not understand the value and their want of them Divine Grace the gift of God's saving Mercy the dear purchase of the Sufferings of Christ the precious fruit of his Holy Spirit are of little price in their esteem Our Saviour tells the Samaritan Woman If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that asks thee Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water We are encouraged to be earnest and resolved Suppliants for the Graces of God's Spirit because we are assur'd he is most willing to bestow them Our Saviour sometimes encourages us from the resemblance of a Father who cannot so unnaturalize himself and devest his tender Affections as to renounce his own off-spring to deny a Child necessary Food for his subsistence Will he give him a stone for bread or a serpent for a fish If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask it Sometimes he excites us to pray and not to faint from the Parable of an incompassionate Stranger a Judge that was overcome by importunity to afford relief to one in distress God delights to hear and answer those Prayers that are for his best Blessings When Solomon prayed for Wisdom to Rule his People God was so pleas'd that he gave him Wisdom in an Eminent Degree and as an accession Riches and Honour If we imitate Solomon in his Prayer we shall have his Acceptance St. James directs us If any man wants wisdom let him ask it of God who gives liberally and upbraids no man the Wisdom to manage Afflictions that may be for his Glory and our Spiritual Advantage He gives Liberally which either respects the Affection of the Giver or the Measure of the Gift or the repeated Acts of Giving and upbraids not neither with their unworthiness nor the frequency of their Addresses Liberality among men is a costly Vertue and but
Carnal Men abuse the freeness of Grace to looseness and security and the power of Grace to negligence and laziness Our dependance on God inferrs the use of means to save our Souls Our Saviour commands us to watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation To watch without Prayer is to presume upon our own Strength To pray without Watching is to presume upon the Grace of God The Lord's Prayer is the Rule of our Duty and Desires We are ingag'd by every Petition to co-operate and concur with Divine Grace to obtain what we pray for Naaman presum'd he should be immediately cleansed from his Leprosie by the Prayer of Elisha but he was commanded to go and wash himself in Jordan seven times for his Purification A stream preserves its christal clearness by continual running if its course be stop'd it will stagnate and putrifie The purity of the Soul is preserv'd by the constant exercise of habitual Grace In short we must be jealous of our selves to prevent our being surpriz'd by Sin and continually address to the Throne of Grace for the obtaining Grace and Mercy in time of need and by Faith apply the blood of sprinkling that has a cleansing Efficacy The Death of Christ meritoriously procures the Spirit of Life and Renovation and is the strongest ingagement upon Christians to mortifie those Sins that were the cause of his Agonies and Sufferings 2. The parts of the Duty are to be considered The cleansing us from the Defilements of Flesh and Spirit and the perfecting Holiness 1. The cleansing must be universal as the pollution is We are directed to cleanse our hands and purifie our hearts that we may draw near to God with acceptance 'T is observable that in a general sense all Sins are the works of the Flesh what ever is not divine and spiritual is carnal in the language of Scripture For since the separation of Men from God by the rebellious Sin of Adam the Soul is sunk into a state of Carnality seeking for satisfaction in lower things The two jarring opposite Principles are Flesh and Spirit lusting against one another 'T is as carnal to desire vain Glory or to set the Heart on Riches as to love sensual Pleasures For our Esteem and Love are intirely due to God for his high Perfections and 't is a disparagement to set them on the Creatures as if he did not deserve them in their most excellent degrees Whatever things are below the native worth of the Soul and unworthy of its noblest operations and are contrary to its blessed end defile and vilifie it A more precious Metal mix'd with a baser as Silver with Tin is corrupted and loses of its purity and value But in a contracted sense Sins are distinguish'd some are attributed to the Spirit and some to the Flesh. The Spirit is always the principal agent and sometimes the sole agent in the commission of Sin and the sole subject of it Of this sort are Pride Infidelity Envy Malice c. There are other Sins wherein the Body conspires and concurs in the outward acts They are specified by the Apostle and distinguish'd according to the immediate springs from whence they flow the desiring and the angry Appetites The works of the Flesh are manifest Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like The cleansing from carnal foul Lusts is like the washing one that is fallen into the mire which is a mixture of the two lowest Elements heavy Earth and slippery Water that defile by the touching them The more spiritual Lusts are like the stormy Winds and smoky Fire in which the two higher Elements are contain'd Pride swells the Mind and causes violent agitations in the Thoughts Anger darkens and fires it The Lusts of the Flesh are tenacious by the force of the Imagination when conversant upon Objects presented by the Senses but the Lusts of the Spirit are form'd and wrought in its own forge without the concurrence of the sensual Faculties The Lusts of the desiring Appetite Intemperance and Uncleanness are so polluting that the consciousness of such Crimes will cover the guilty with confusion Of all the debasing titles whereby the Devil is characteriz'd in Scripture none is more vilifying than that of the unclean Spirit This is attributed to him from the general nature of Sin But there is such a notorious turpitude in Lusts grosly carnal that they defile and defame the Sinner in a special manner not only as a Rebel against God but the servant of Corruption The Understanding is the leading supreme Faculty Sense that rules in Beasts should serve in Man Now what does more vilifie him than to be dissolv'd in filthy Pleasures to be drown'd in a sea of Wine than a Life sensual and dissolute drawn out in a continual connexion of dreggy delights Gaming succeeds Feasting the Ball follows the Comedy the Impurities of the Night the Intemperance of the Day Sensual Lusts degrade Men from the nobility of their Nature the dignity of their Condition as if they were all Flesh and had not a spirit of Heavenly original to regulate and restrain their lower Appetites within the limits of Purity and Honour The slaves of Sense are like the beasts that perish He that is a Beast by Choice is incomparably more vile than a Beast by Nature It would infect the Air to speak and pollute the Paper to write their secret Abominations wherein they lye and languish and 't is natural for Men to dye in those Sins wherein they live they seal their own Damnation by Impenitence How difficult the purging of these passions is Experience makes evident The radicated habits of Uncleanness and Intemperance are rarely cur'd 'T is the vain boast of the Roman Philosopher Nobis ad nostrum arbitrium nasci licet but we must first die to our selves before we can be born of our selves the forsaking a sinful Course is necessary antecedently to the ordering the Conversation according to the Rules of Vertue How few instances are there of persons recovered from the practice and bondage of those Lusts by the wise Counsels of Philosophers 'T is in vain to represent to them that sensual Lusts are prolifick of many Evils that Intemperance is pregnant with the Seeds of many Diseases it prepares matter that is inflamable into Fevers 't is attended with the Gout Stone Cholick Dropsie c. which are incomparably more tormenting than the pernicious pleasures of taste are delightful Represent to them the foul progeny of Lasciviousness rottenness in the Body wasting the Estate Infamy to sacrifice what is most valuable for the sake of a vile Woman the wisest Considerations are lost upon them they are too weak a Bridle to check their brutish Lusts. But are not these Lusts easily subdued in Christians who have the advantage of clearer Light stronger Motives and more liberal assistance of Grace to rescue
Majesty I have laid the Foundations thereof on the centre of the Earth and raised its Towers to the Heavens This Pride is attended with relyance and confidence in their own direction to contrive and ability to accomplish their designs and with assuming the glory of all their success intirely to themselves The proud manage their affairs independently upon the Providence of God who is the Author of all our Faculties and the efficacy of them and totally neglect the two essential parts of Natural Religion Prayer and Praise or very slightly perform the external part without those inward Affections that are the Spirit and Life of them 'T was the wise Prayer of Agar Give me not Riches lest I be full and deny thee God strictly cautions his People against this dangerous Sin Beware thou forget not the Lord and say in thy Heart my power and the might of my Hand hath gotten me this Wealth Remember 't is he that gives the power to get Riches And 't is equally dangerous lest Men should attribute Victories or Prosperity in any kind to their own Counsel and Resolution their Prudence and Power without humble and thankful observing and acknowledging the Divine Providence the fountain and original of all our Blessings 2. Whatever the kinds of Sin be when committed against knowledge with design and deliberation they proceed from Insolence and Obstinacy The Israelites are charged with this aggravation in their sinning They dealt proudly and harden'd their necks and harken'd not to the Commandments and refused to obey Proud Sinners are introduced boasting Our Tongues are our own who is Lord over us They will endure no restraints but are lawless and loose as if they were above fear and danger 'T is true there are few so prodigiously wicked as to speak thus but Mens Actions have a language as declarative as their Words And sinning presumptuously with a high hand is constructively a denyal and despising of the Dominion and Power of the Law-giver as if he had no right to command nor strength to vindicate the Honour of his despised Deity In the last Judgment the Punishment of rebellious Sinners will be according to the Glory of God's Majesty and the extent of his Power that was contemned and vilified by them 3. When Divine Judgments are sent to correct the dissolute disorders of the World and Sinners should with tenderness and trembling hear the Voice of the Rod and who has appointed it yet they proceed in their Wickedness as if God were not always Present to see their Sins nor Pure to hate them nor Righteous to exact a severe Judgment for them nor Powerful to inflict it this argues intolerable Pride and Obstinacy God and Sinners are very unequal Enemies The effects of his Displeasure should be received with obsequiousness not with obduration Therefore the Apostle puts that confounding Question Do you provoke the Lord to jealousie are you stronger than he Can you encounter with offended Omnipotence To despise his Anger is as provoking as to despise his Love 'T is astonishing that Dust and Ashes should rise to such an incorrigible heighth of Pride as to fly in the Face of God Who ever hardned himself against him and prospered All that are careless of God's design to reform them by Afflictions that seek for relief in diverting Business or Pleasures provoke God to more severe inflictions of his Anger But those surly proud Natures that are exasperated by Sufferings and wrestle with the strongest Storms are in combination with the stubborn Spirits of Hell and shall have their portion with them Lastly When Men have a vain presumption of the goodness of their spiritual state of the degrees of their Goodness and their stability in Goodness not sensible of their continual want of renewed supplies from Heaven they are guilty of spiritual Pride Of this there are two Instances in Scripture the one in the Church of lukewarm Laodicea the other in the Pharisee mentioned by our Saviour The first said I am rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked The Pharisee to raise the esteem of his own Goodness stands upon comparison with others whose Vices may be a foil to his seeming Graces He said I am not as other Men are Extortioners Adulterers or even as this Publican 'T is true he superficially thanks God but the air of Pride transpires through his Devotion by valuing himself above others worse than himself as if his own Vertues were the productive cause of his distinguishing Goodness If Humility be not mix'd in the exercise of every Grace 't is of no value in God's esteem The humble unjust Publican was rather justified than the proud Pharisee This spiritual Pride is very observable in the superstitious who measuring Divine Things with Humane from that mixture of imaginations introduce carnal Rites into the Worship of God and value themselves upon their opinionative Goodness They mistake the swelling of a Dropsie for substantial growth and presume themselves to be more holy than others for their proud singularity Superstition is like Ivy that twines about the Tree and is its seeming ornament but drains its vital Sap and under its verdant Leaves covers a Carcass Thus carnal Ceremonies seem to adorn Religion but really dispirit and weaken its efficacy Pharisaical Pride is fomented by a zealous observance of things uncommanded in Religion neither pleasing to God nor profitable to Men. On the contrary some Visionaries pretend to such a sublimity of Grace and eminent Sanctity that they are above the use of Divine Ordinances They pretend to live in immediate Communion with God as the Angels and dazled with specious Spiritualities they neglect Prayer hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament the means of growing in Grace as if they were arrived at Perfection This is the effect of spiritual Pride and Delusion For the mortifying this vicious Disposition consider that Pride is in a high degree injurious and provoking to God An ordinary Malefactor breaks the King's Laws but a Rebel strikes at his Person and Crown The first and great Commandment is to honour God with the highest Esteem and Love with the most humble Adoration consequently the greatest Sin is the despising his Majesty and obscuring his Glory There is no Sin more clearly opposite to Reason and Religion For the most essential duty and character of an understanding Creature is dependance and observance of God as the first cause and last end of all things receiving with thankfulness his Benefits and referring them all to his Glory Pride contradicts natural Justice by intercepâ—ing the grateful affectionate ascent of the Soul to God in celebrating his Greatness and Goodness A proud Man constructively puts himself out of the number of God's Creatures and deserves to be excluded from his tender Providence The Jealousie of God his most severe and sensible Attribute is kindled for this revolture of the
in his dying Hour A sincere Life is attended with a happy Death and that is attended with a more happy Life God is the Rewarder of Moral Vertues with Temporal Blessings but he is the Eternal Reward of Godly Sincerity This is the first Notion of perfect Holiness in the present state 2. There is an Integral Perfection of Holiness that is an entire conjugation of all those Sanctifying Graces of which the Image of God Consists The New Creature in its forming is not like the effects of Art but the living productions of Nature A Sculptor in making a Statue of Marble finishes the Head when the other part is but rude stone But all the parts of a Child in the Womb are gradually form'd together till the Body is complete The Holy Spirit in renewing a Man infuses a universal habit of Holiness that is Comprehensive of all the variety of Graces to be Exercis'd in the Life of a Christian. As the Corrupt Nature stil'd the Old Man is complete in its Earthly Members all the Lusts of the Flesh both of the desiring and angry Appetite and disposes without the corrective of Restraining Grace the Natural Man to yield to all Temptations he will be Fierce with the Contentious Licentious with the Dissolute Intemperate with the Drunkard Lascivious with the Impure Impious with the Scorners of Religion Thus the Divine Nature stil'd the New Man is complete in all Spiritual Graces and inclines and enables the Sanctified to do every good Work The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance Although they are distinguisht in their Activity and particular Objects yet they always are joyn'd in the same Subject and Concentre in God who is Immutably Holy and One. They are mixt in their Exercise without Confusion As in a Chorus the variety of Voices is Harmonious and Conspiring Spiritual Graces according to the degrees of their Perfection such is the degree of their Union Every real Saint is conform'd to Christ of whom he receives grace for grace There are Spiritual Gifts of Arbitrary Dispensation the word of Wisdom the word of Knowledge the gifts of Healing the works of Miracles are separately given But when the Spirit prepares a Soul for his Habitation he purifies it from Sin and adorns it with every Grace if there be a defect of any Grace the opposite Sin in its power remains in the Soul and makes it impossible for the Holy Spirit to dwell there 'T is to be observed that when a Promise is made to any particular Grace in Scripture that Grace is to be considered in union with other Graces Our Saviour tells us Whoever believes shall be saved And St. Paul inspired by the Spirit of our Saviour saith That Faith separate from Charity is of no avail for Salvation Though I have all Faith so that I could remove mountains and have not Charity I am nothing A Faith that does not work by Love and is not productive of Obedience is of no saving efficacy St. James puts the Question What doth it profit my Brethren though a Man says he hath Faith and hath not Works Can Faith save him 'T is evident it does not For nothing asserts or denies more strongly than a Question He that does not by Faith in the Son of God live a holy Life must dye for ever St. John assures us That we are in a state of favour with God if we love the Brethren We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren But the sincerity of our Love to the Children of God is proved by our Love to God and keeping his Commandments and is inseparable from it Where-ever Salvation is promised to a particular Duty it must be understood in a collective sense We read Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved But a prevailing Prayer must proceed from a holy Person that keeps the Commands of God and does those things that are pleasing in his sight The Prayer must be mix'd with Faith and Fervency The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man avails much The connexion of saving Graces cannot be broken St. Peter excites us to give all diligence to add to our Faith in the Mysteries of Godliness Vertue an active power to render it lively and operative otherwise Faith is a mere speculative dead assent To Vertue Knowledge Prudence to direct its exercise in the seasons wherein and the manner how our Duties are to be performed To Knowledge Temperance to regulate our Appetites and Enjoyments in the use of things pleasing to the Senses To Temperance Patience to endure the Evils to which we are exposed in this lower state which is equally if not more necessary and excellent For Humane Nature is more affected and tempted by sharp Pains and Grief than delighted with Pleasure Without the exercise of these Graces our Religion will be by fits and flashes with interrupting intervals To Patience Godliness that is a respect to the Commands of God as our Rule and his Glory as our End that is distinguish'd from mere Morality that proceeds only from Humane Reason and respects the civil Happiness To Godliness Brotherly-kindness A sincere Love to all of the same Heavenly Extraction in whom the Image of God shines And to Brotherly-kindness Charity That extends to all the partakers of our common Nature All Spiritual Graces take their residence together in the Soul not one singly enters and keeps entire possession Our Saviour tells the young Man who had lived so regularly that he was lovely in his Eyes If thou wilt be perfect go and sell all and give to the Poor and come follow me He wanted Charity and Self-denyal to make his Obedience entire 3. There is a comparative Perfection This in Scripture is Intellectual or Moral 1. Intellectual Perfection The Apostle excites the Hebrews Wherefore leaving the Doctrine of the beginning of Christ let us go on to Perfection To more eminent degrees in the Knowledge of the Gospel both of the supernatural Doctrines of the Gospel or the Duties contained in it Of the first the Apostle is to be understood We speak Wisdom among those that are perfect That is declare Divine Mysteries to those who are prepared to receive them The Light of Nature declares the Being of God and his Essential Perfections Wisdom Power and Goodness shining in his Works but not his Counsels in order to our Salvation No Man hath seen God at any time The only begotten which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him There are some notices of Good and Evil of Vertue and Vice by the instructive Light of Reason but not sufficient to inform us of our full Duty The discovery of the purity and perfection of the Moral Law is from God The Gospel like a clear and equal Glass that discovers the beauties and blemishes of the Face makes known to us what defiles and
nearness of an Evil and the apprehensions of it the stronger is the Fear In the turning of Sinners the impressions of it are different Stronger degrees are requisite to rouse the obdurate and to make them fly from the Wrath to come The Jaylor surprised with Terrors cryes out Sirs what shall I do to be saved 'T is said The Lord open'd the heart of Lydia as with an oyl'd Key but an Earthquake was necessary to open the Jaylors Till there is felt something more tormenting than carnal sweets are pleasing Men will not mortifie their Lusts. One will not suffer a part of his Body to be cut off unless an incureable Gangrene threatens speedy Death The World is present and sensible and continually diverts men from the consideration of their Souls unless Eternal things are by a strong application impress'd on their Minds Till urged by the Terrors of Everlasting Death they will reject the offers of Everlasting Life While Carnal Men are in Prosperity they hate Instruction to prevent Sin and despise Reproof to correct Sin they slight the fearful report of Thunder and do no more tremble at the Torments of Hell threaten'd in the Word of God than at Squibs and Crackers the sport of Boys But in sharp Afflictions and the approaches of Death when Conscience draws near to God's Tribunal it becomes bold and resumes the Government and calls them to an account for all their Rebellions and forces them to Confess what they would fain Conceal their fears of Eternal Judgment 2. Holy Fear preserves and increases Religion This may be consider'd as it includes Reverence of God with Circumspection and Caution The Fear of Reverence is an inseparable Affection and Character of a Saint Hear the prayers of thy servants who desire to fear thy name The desires include the sincerity of this Grace in opposition to Hypocrisie and pretences for they are the unfeigned Issues of the Soul and the freeness of the Affection in opposition to Violence and Constraint The Name of God implies his Excellent Attributes the proper Motives of Holy Fear His Majesty is ador'd by the Angels in their humble posture before his high Throne His Purity wherein God does so excel and we are so defective excites the most awful respects of him Who would not fear thee for thou art holy Holy and reverend is his name His Goodness to a Holy ingenuous Soul is a motive of fear they shall fear the Lord and his goodness If Fear declines and slumbers there is present danger of losing the purest sweetness of Love and Joy that proceed from intercourse and Communion with God His Omniscience and the recompences of his Justice and Power keeps the Soul Cautious lest we should offend him What Stupidity what fury to provoke so dreadful an Adversary who can dispatch a Sinner to the Grave and Hell in a Moment Some object that 't is unsuitable to the gracious dispensation of the Gospel for the Children of God to reflect upon his Terrible Attributes But are they wiser than God who uses this Discipline as Medicinal either to prevent Sin or to correct them into their Duty Are they more Evangelical than our Saviour who counsell'd his Disciples I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that can kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into hell I say unto you fear him Are they more Spiritual than St. Paul who from the Consideration of our being accountable for all things done in the Body before the inlightned Tribunal of Christ infers Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men This Influenc'd him to a zealous discharge of his Duty It may seem very difficult to reconcile the exercise of holy Fear with Faith and the Sanctified Affections of Love Hope and Joy But it will appear they are very consistent 1. Fear is the product of Faith and assurance of God's Favour is preserved by the Fear of his Displeasure Fear is not contrary to Faith but to Presumption Be not high-minded but fear A jealousie of our selves lest we should provoke God is joyn'd with a more entire and pure Trust in his Grace and Mercy 2. The Love and Fear of God have a mutual Causality on each other The Love of God excites Thoughts of his continual Presence and Perfections that cause an awful esteem of him by which Love is maintain'd Desires proceed from Love and 't is express'd in the forecited place thy Servants who desire to fear thy Name The fear of the Lord is their Treasure not their Torment for their fear to Offend him is from their pure Love to Please him Indeed servile Fear that is meerly from the consideration of his Anger and Power is consistent with the Love of Sin and inconsistent with the Love of God 't is a judicial and violent impression on Conscience that Carnal Men would sain deface that they might freely enjoy their desir'd Objects and 't is by Fits for God sometimes thunders in the Conscience as well as in the Air. But filial Fear is the Habitual Constitution of a Saint he is voluntary and active to preserve it in continual Exercise 3. The Fear of God and Hope are joyn'd in Scripture and in the Hearts of Believers The Lord delights in those that fear him and hope in his mercy Fear and Hope contemper each other Fear without Hope is slavish and Hope without Fear is secure As the growth of things in Nature Flowers and Fruits is from the heat of the Days and the cold moisture of the Nights so growth in Grace is by the warm encouragements of Hope and the chilling influence of Fear A regular Hope in the Promises is joyn'd with an humble Fear and Subjection to his Commands 4. Holy Fear is mixed with Joy Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Carnal Joy and Carnal Fear and Sorrow are contrary Extremes that proceed from contrary Causes A prosperous State in this World and the Satisfaction of the Sensual Desires is the root from whence carnal Joy springs and is nourisht and the being deprived of Temporal good things disabled by Sickness to enjoy them or the prospect of some imminent Disaster are the cause of Fear and Guilt But the exercise of Spiritual Joy and Holy Fear are consistent at the same time for the serious reflection on the Divine Attributes excite both those Affections We read that when Mary Magdalen with the other Mary came to the Sepulchre of Christ at the bright appearance of an Angel that declar'd his Resurrection they went away with fear and great joy Sinful Affections are opposite to Grace but Gracious Affections are inseparable The fear of offending God is a preservative of our Joy in him as a Hedge of Thorns is a Fence to a Garden of Roses In the Kingdom of Love and Joy the Reverent Fear of God is in
its Exaltation 2. There is a Fear of Caution that is always joyn'd with the other and excites us to walk circumspectly and exactly that we may be always approved and accepted of God The fear of the Lord is clean effectively This will prevent secret Sins which are only known to God Thou shalt not curse the deaf nor lay a stumbling-block before the blind but fear the Lord. Fear is an Internal Guardian that keeps the Heart pure of which God is the inspector and judge It will not suffer us to Sin freely in Thought nor foully in Act. When Fear draws the Lines of our Duty our Steps will be Regular Fear keeps us close to God by the perswasion of his All-seeing Eye and is oppos'd to the forgetfulness of God the cause of all the Errors of our Lives Holy Fear will make us to perform our Duty in those degrees that are commanded to please God 'T is the Principle of Perseverance thus God assures his People I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall never depart from me The Causes of back-sliding are Allurements and Terrors pleasant Temptations sometimes so strongly insinuate into the Affections that Love calls in Fear to its Assistance to repel them for strong Fear and Delight are inconsistent If Terrors are objected to drive us from our Duty the greater Fear will over-rule the less the Fear of God will expel the fearfulness of Man For the most flaming Anger of Men is more tolerable than a spark of his Displeasure From hence 't is evident that the Fear of God is the Fountain of heroick Courage and fortifies the Spirit that the threatenings of Men cannot supplant our constancy If our residence were perpetual in this World it were a point of Wisdom to secure the Favour of Men but since we must shortly dye as surely as we live 't is extreme folly by compliance and low respects to Men to lose our interest in God and provoke him with whom we must be either in his favourable and felicitating presence or in his terrible presence for ever The Rage of Man cannot reach beyond the Grave but the Wrath of God extends to Eternity 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Let us therefore be exhorted to pass the time of our sojourning in fear Temptations are frequent and we are frail and are never safe without circumspection The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom the principal part of it Wisdom is not imployed about trivial things but affairs of moment Now what is there of such consequence in the World as the directing the Soul to Eternal Blessedness How to escape the most imminent and destructive Evil and to obtain the most desirable Good Indeed the Passion of Fear when exorbitant and overwhelming causes a wretched neglect of the means of Salvation If a Ship springs a leak and the Waters pour faster into it than the Mariners can pump it out and they see nothing but the Sea ready to swallow them up their Hearts and Hands faint and they give over all labour If Men are desperate they will be disobedient But we can never raise our Fears of God too high if we retain a firm belief of his Mercy that rejoices over Judgment This will not infringe our Liberty but inlarge it for 't is the most ignominious slavery to be under the dominion of Sin and the just apprehensions of its terrible Consequences The Fear of God ingages him to be our Friend and rescues us from all the perplexities to which we are lyable in this open slate Many Sins are committed for the fear of the Anger of Men and presumption of the Mercy of God but 't is often found that a Religious Constancy gains more Friends than Carnal Obsequiousness When a Man's ways please the Lord he will make his enemies to be at peace with him Especially in all acts of Worship this Grace should be in its highest exercise 'T is the Apostle's direction Let us draw near with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire We must solemnly consider the Greatness of God who dwells in Light inaccessible and is a consuming Fire to all that disparage him by slight and careless Addresses Shall not his Excellency make us afraid In Prayer let us draw near to his Throne in the deepest sense of our meanness and unworthiness and tremble at the hearing of his Word This dispositin will make us acceptable in his Eyes The Lord saith The Heaven is my throne and the Earth is my footstool to him will I look who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word And in times of Temptation when pleasing Lusts are imperious and violent then 't is necessary to controul them by the fearful remembrance that for all these things God will bring us to Judgment This will clear the Mind from the eclipses and clouds of the Carnal Passions and keep the Senses under the dominion of the superiour and surer Faculties Blessed is the Man that fears always that is continually vigilant in secret and society who considers that God's Eyes are always upon him in order to Judgment and whose Eyes are always upon God in order to Acceptance CHAP. X. The Promise that God will be our Father a powerful inducement to strive after the Perfection of Holiness The dignity and happiness of the Relation The Pardon of Sin an adoptive freedom in Prayer an interest in the Eternal Inheritance are the Priviledges of God's Children The influence of this Relation to make us entirely holy considered An Inquiry whether we are proceeding to Perfection The vanquishing Sin an indication of the Power of Grace The habitual frame of the Heart and fixed regularity of the Life discovers our progress in Holiness According to our Love to God and things that have the nearest resemblance to him we may judge of our Spirituality The Spiritual Law of God the Spiritual Worship of God the Spiritual Image of God in the Saints are the principal Objects of the Love of the Spiritually-minded To preserve an equal temper of Mind in the changes of the present state discover excellent degrees of Holiness I Am now come to the Third General Head the Motives to inforce the Duty of striving after pure and perfect Holiness the Promises specified in the antecedent Chapter That the Lord Almighty will receive us and we shall be his Sons and Daughters that he will dwell in us his living Temples and walk in us This divine Relation and Communion the consequent of it should keep the state of Perfection always in our design and view and inspire us with unchangable resolutions to endeavour the obtaining it I will consider the Dignity and Happiness of this Relation 1. The Dignity Secular Nobility that is transfused from the Veins of Progenitors into the Veins of their Progeny derives its lustre from Flesh and Blood and the glory of the
Flesh is like the flower of the Grass so despicably mean and fading A Family that is distinguish'd by an illustrious Lineage if not qualified with internal vertuous Dispositions becoming their Extraction is of no value but in the vain fancies of Men But the Relation to God as our Father confers an Honour substantial and durable in comparison whereof all the magnificent Titles in this World are but Shadows and Smoak and Dreams We are in a state of Union with the incarnate Son of God and in that respect dignified above the Angles for their Lord is our Brother We are made partakers of the Life and Likeness of God and Heirs of his Kingdom This Dignity is truly divine and of more value than Soveraignty over the Principalities and Powers of Darkness Our Saviour speaks to his Disciples In this rejoice not that Spirits are subject to you but rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven 2. The Happiness of this Relation will appear in the Priviledges that are consequent and comprehensive of all Blessings 1. The title of a Son has annex'd to it the promise of the Pardon of Sin This is declar'd by God himself I will spare them as a Father spares his Son that serves him There are spots in the best of God's Children 'T is equally impossible there should be absolutely pure Vertues in the state of Grace as unmixed Elements in the state of Nature But our Frailties lamented and striven against rather move his Compassion than severe Displeasure Sins of a heinous Nature presumptuously committed retracted by Repentance are not excepted from his pardoning Mercy Of this there is the most comfortable assurance in David's case For after his complicated Sin when he was melted in Tears of Contrition God sealed his Pardon and sent the notice of it by Nathan the Prophet God was so entirely reconcil'd to him that after his Death he gave this Testimony of him That David did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and turned not from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his Life except in the matter of Uriah He would not name that Sin of so high a Provocation The Pardon of Sin is attended with all the most excellent Blessings the testimonies of his Favour Guilt seals the fountain and stops the current of Mercies it exposes us to the Terrors of the Lord. If Sin be pardon'd Peace of Conscience is a Rain-bow of Tranquility in the storms of outward Evils If Guilt be not abolish'd a Sinner in the most shining Prosperity has fearful darkness within 2. This Relation gives us an adoptive freedom and joyful access to God in Prayer God upon his Throne of Glory or his Throne of Judgment strikes us with Terror but upon the Throne of Grace as our Father invites our Addresses The Apostle incourages us to come with boldness to the Throne of Grace or Grace upon the Throne dispensing Grace and Mercy in time of need We stand in need of Mercy to pardon and Grace to preserve us from Sin of Counsel and Comfort in our various Exigencies and our Heavenly Father is able and ready to grant our Requests 'T is the Law of Heaven that Blessings are to be obtained by Prayer for that is the homage due to God's eternal Greatness 't is the acknowledgment of his All-sufficiency that he can supply all our Wants satisfie our Desires allay our Sorrows subdue our Fears 't is the glorifying his Mercy that inclines him to relieve the miserable and unworthy of his Benefits The whole Trinity affords incouragement to our Faith in humble Prayer The Mercy of the Father who receives them the Merits of the Son who presents them and the assistance of the Holy Spirit who indites them If we come jealous as Strangers or fearful as Slaves and not with a Filial freedom and relyance we disparage his Love and Power A regular trust of Benignity in the giver and distant from all presumption of Merits in the receiver is very honourable to God and beneficial to us Our Saviour confirms our Hope by a powerful Argument If you that are evil know how to give good gifts to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him The deduction is with convincing force and evidence If the Natural Love of a Father be so deeply planted in his Heart that 't is prodigious if any deny necessary support to their Children can you suspect that God will not supply the wants of his Children An Earthly Parent may be unnatural or unable to relieve a Child but in our Heavenly Father Love and Power are truly infinite The stedfast belief of this is the soveraign Cure of piercing Cares the great Composer of our distracted Passions 'T is the Apostle's Counsel Be in nothing careful but let your requests be made known with thanksgiving and the Peace of God that passes understanding shall keep your hearts There is no Blessing so great no Evil so small but we may pray in Faith to God to bestow the one and remove the other Unvaluable Priviledge He protects them from Dangers relieves them in their Troubles and releases them out of Troubles His Eye is intent upon the Righteous his Ear is open and inclined to hear their cry his Hand is as ready as powerful to deliver them from Death David saith I have set the Lord always before me He is at my right-hand I shall not be moved In all his Combats God appear'd as his second When his Dangers were extream the sorrows of Death incompassed him he dispatches a Prayer to Heaven for speedy relief and God appear'd in Arms for his defence I shall add for our Direction and Comfort that the Love and Providence of God is often as visible to the inlightned Mind in denying some Petitions of his Children as in granting others Sometimes they play for temporal things unbecoming their alliance with God and their interest in his special Favour 'T is recorded of that Wise Theban Epaminondas that when a Friend greatly in his Esteem requested his Favour to release a mean Fellow imprisoned for a Crime he denyed him and afterward released him at the desire of a despicable Person and gave this Reason That was not a Favour in proportion to the Dignity of Pelopidas but suitable to the Quality of the other Petitioner Thus the Children of this World who believe no other Happiness but the enjoyment of temporal things sometimes obtain their Desires but the Children of Light are not heard in their Prayers for them they being unsuitable to their Heavenly Dignity and not the sure signs of God's Favour Sometimes by mistakes they pray for things prejudicial to their Salvation and it would be a severe Judgment if God should bestow them We read of the possess'd Person in the Gospel that the evil Spirit made use of his Tongue to request our Saviour that he would not torment him that is not expel him
Saints that eminently distinguish them from others and these we should especially regard Enoch walked with God His Life was a continual regard of God therefore he was translated into his glorious Presence Abraham's Faith was illustrious in that without reluctancy he address'd himself to offer up his beloved Son a Command so heavy that God would not permit his performing it Moses Self-denial was truly admirable in choosing to live in a solitary naked Desert rather than in the Egyptian Court wherein was the heigth of Pomp and the centre of Pleasure Job's Patience was unparallel'd when encompass'd with the sharpest Affliction Daniel prefer'd a Den of Lyons to Darius's Palace rather than neglect one day his desired Duty of Prayer to God Whom would it not inflame to read the Narrative of the Tryals of the excellent Saints recorded in the 11th to the Hebrews They were persecuted and patient afflicted and resign'd they were victorious over the blandishments of the alluring World and the terrors of the enraged World From those Instances the Apostle exhorts us to run our race with Patience looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our Faith The Knowledge that is in our view from the practice of others will make Obedience more easie and best lead us to practice These excellent Examples should make us blush with Shame and bleed with Grief that notwithstanding there is a more copious communication of Grace by the Gospel than under the Law and a more clear revelation of the glorious Reward we are so many degrees below them Nothing will convince us more of our Negligence than comparative and exemplary Instruction There is an envious Emulation among those that are in Publick Places 't is not so pleasing to see many below them as 't is uneasie and grievous to see any above them This seems to be one of those Plants that in its native Soil is poisonous but transplanted into another Climate and under another Heaven is not only innocent but healthful 'T is a noble Emulation worthy the breast of a Saint to strive to excel others in Holiness 5. Our present Joy and future Glory are improved according as we rise to Perfection here The Life of a Saint may be compar'd to the Labour of the Bees who all the day either fly from their Hives to the Flowers or from the Flowers to their Hives and all their art and exercise is where there is fragrancy or sweetness In divine Worship the Soul ascends to God by holy thoughts and ardent desires and God descends into the Soul by the communication of Grace and Comfort 'T is true the Carnal Man cannot see nor taste the divine delight that a Saint has real Experience of for a lower Nature is incapable of the perceptions and enjoyments of an higher A Plant cannot apprehend the pleasure of Sense nor a Beast the pleasures of Reason and Reason must be prepared and elevated to enjoy the pleasures of Holiness which makes all the charming Contents of this World insipid and nauseous For according to the excellency of the Objects and the capacity and vigour of the Faculties exercised upon them such is the delight that results from their union The holy Soul is a Heaven inlightened with the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness a Paradise planted with immortal Fruits the Graces of the sanctifying Spirit and God walks in it communicating the sense of his Love Are not Life and Light and Liberty productive and preservative of Joy And consequently as the natural Life the more lively and vigorous the more pleasant it is so the spiritual The more we are like God the more we are loved of him and the more clear revelations of his Love are communicated to us The more we are freed from the chains of Sin and bondage of Satan the more joyful and glorious is our Liberty Indeed the Saints are sometimes in darkness but their Sorrows are from their defects in Holiness from their not improving the means of Grace whereby they might rise to Perfection For as when Sadness oppresses us the vital Spirits retire to the Heart and are shut up in their springs that Nature does not perform its operations with delight so when the Holy Spirit the Eternal Comforter is grieved by our quenching his pure Motions he withdraws his comforting Influences and the Soul is left desolate The Experience of all the Saints is a demonstration that Religion the more it fastens us to our Duty and to God by the bands of Love the happier we are and that the state of a renewed Christian is so far from being gloomy and melancholy that 't is the joyful beginning of Heaven By excelling in Holiness our future Glory will be increas'd The life and order of Government consists in the dispensing Rewards and Punishments God will recompence the wicked according to the Rule of Justice and their Desert and the future Happiness of the Saints will be in degrees according to the degrees of their Holiness Not as if there were any Merit in our Works to procure the Eternal Reward which is the Gift of his most free Love but his Love rewards us according to his Promise that they who sow bountifully shall reap bountifully and in proportion as the Graces of the Saints are exercised here their Glory will be in Heaven In this the Goodness of God is admirable he works all in us and rewards his own work His Service is the best for he that commands works and he that obeys reigns If we respect the Glory of God and our own let us endeavour to be compleat in Holiness 'T is true God bestows his Favours as a free Lord and liberal Benefactor variously but he distributes Rewards in the next Life as a Governour according to the inviolate Rule establish'd by his Wisdom in his Word As the quality of the Reward is according to the kind of our Works so the degrees are according to the measure of them To imagine that a Carnal Man may be saved without Holiness is as unreasonable as to think that a Man may be made miserable without Sin It is to attribute an irregular Clemency to him We must distinguish between the desert of the Reward and the order of dispensing it There is no possibility or shadow of Merit for the Grace of Obedience is antecedent to the Grace of the Reward CHAP. XII The effectual means to rise to Perfection in Holiness Unfeigned Faith in our Saviour who is the efficient and exemplary cause of inherent Holiness Prayer a means to obtain an increase of Holiness Frequent and attentive hearing reading and meditation of the Word a means of growth in Grace The Word must be mix'd with Faith and an earnest desire to improve Grace by it It must be laid up in the Mind and Memory It must be sincerely received The Religious Use of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper an excellent means to increase Grace Repentance Faith and Love are improved by it The renewing our
pleasing to him than to be fed by Martha But how many neglect and despise this Duty Some pretend they know enough such if they do not want Instructers want Remembrancers of their Duty Others are infected with Pride and a worse Leprosie than Naaman's of whom we read that when the Prophet sent him a Message that he should go and wash in Jordan seven times and he should be clean he was wroth and said Are not Abana and Pharpar Rivers of Damascus better than the Rivers of Israel May I not wash in them and be clean So there are some who being directed to wash themselves often in the waters of Life the Scriptures of Divine Inspiration are apt to think Are not the Rivers of Greece and Rome the eloquent Discourses of Philosophers better more perfective of their Minds and Actions than the plain Rules of the Word But this proceeds from affected Ignorance and wilful perverseness for not only supernatural Doctrines necessary to be believed are only revealed in the Scripture but the Rules of Moral Duties necessary for practice are clearly and compleatly only laid down in it Besides as every thing in Nature has its Vertue by the appointment of God and works for that end for which it was ordain'd so the preaching of the Gospel was appointed to begin and maintain the Life of the Soul and powerfully works to that end The attendance 〈…〉 has a Blessing annex'd and the neglect exposes to Divine Displeasure He that withdraws his Ear from hearing the Law his Prayer shall be an abomination And let it be seriously ponder'd there is a time coming when only Prayer can relieve them I shall add that the serious reading the Scripture that there may be an impression of the Characters of its Purity on the Soul is a Duty of daily revolution We are commanded that the Word of God should dwell richly in us in all wisdom As the Soul quickens the Body by its residence and directs it in all its motions so the Word should be in the Soul an inward principle of Life to direct and excite and enable it for the performance of every Duty This Advice of the Apostle is comprehensive of all other Precepts and the effectual means of obtaining Perfection Our Reading must be with observation and applying the Word for our Good There is a great difference between sailing on the water for Pleasure and divinâ— in it for Pearls Some read the Scriptures to please their Minds in the History of the Creation and the Wonders of God's powerful Providence and the various Events in the Kingdoms of the World recorded in them But there must be diligent Enquiry for Spiritual Treasures to enrich the Soul How Careless are the most of this Duty There are above Eight Thousand Hours in a Year and how few are employed in Reading the Scriptures that direct us in the Everlasting Way The common pretence is necessary Business but all Excuses are vain against the Command of God Is the working oâ— our Salvation an indifferent idle matter Must the principal Affair of our Life be subordinate to lower Concerns The infinite business of Governing a Kingdom is no exemption to Princes from Reading the Word of God for the Command is to him that sits on the Throne to read the Law of God all the days of 〈…〉 Life that he may fear the Lord and do 〈…〉 Statutes 3. The Word must be sincerely received as 't is sincerely deliver'd The Rule is to lay aside all superfluity of naughtiness and receivâ— the engrafted word that is able to save our Souls There is no food more easily turn'd into Blood thaâ— Milk but if the Stomach be foul 〈◊〉 sowers and corrupts and is hurtful to the Body The Word of Grace if received into a sincere Heart is very nutritive it Confirms and Comforts the Soul but if there be false Principles Carnal Habits Sensual Affections it proves dangerous A Carnal Man will set the Grace of the Gospel against the Precepts and apply the Promises without regarding the Conditions of them and from holy Premisses draw sinful Conclusions Briefly Hearing the Word is not an Arbitrary but an indispensable Duty The Psalmist puts the question He that planted the ear shall not he hear and it may be said with the same Conviction He that gives us the faculty of hearing shall not he be heard But we must not rest in the bare hearing for 't is an introductive preparing Duty in order to practise There may be an increase in Knowledge some Convictions like a flash of Lightening some melting of the Affections like a dash of Rain soon over some Resolution of Obedience but without sincere practise the Man is a Hearer only and deceives himself Every Sermon that he hears will notwithstanding his vain Hopes be an argument against him at the Day of Judgment The Residence of the practical Truths is rather in the Heart than in the Head if they are only in the Head they are kept in unrighteousness yet there is no deceit more Common Men think they are enrich'd with the Ideas and Notions of Divine Truths in their Minds without the habits of Graces in their Hearts Briefly The End and Work of the Evangelical Ministry is the Perfection of the Saints as the Apostle declares We warn every man and teach every man that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus This testimony is given of Epâ—phras a Servant of Christ That he always labour'd fervently in Prayer that the Colossians might be perfect and compleat in all the will of God 3. The Religious Use of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is an excellent Means for the Increase of Grace The state of Grace is represented under the Similitude of a New Man born from Heaven and partaker of a Spiritual Life that Consists in Holiness and Joy This Spiritual Life supposes a Spiritual Nourishment to preserâ—â—e it and a Spiritual Appetite and that a Spiritual Eating and Drinking Our Saviour denominates himself by the Character of Life I am the way the truth and the life he being the Principle and Preserver of the Spiritual Life In the Sacrament he is the Bread of Life there are the Sacred Memorials of his Crucifixion of his Body and Blood which are meat indeed and are drink indeed that afford a more substantial and excellent Nourishment for the Life of the Soul than the perishing Food that supports the Body Our Saviour tells the Jews Your fathers eat Mannâ— in the wilderness and are dead the Bread of Angels could not preserve them from Death but the Bread of God is the Principle of Eternal Life He is pleased to deal familiarly with us suitably to our Composition and Capacity and humbles himself in a Sacramental Union with the Elements that sight may assist Faith This is a positive Institution that derives its Authority and Goodness from the Precept of our Soveraign and Saviour It was his dying Charge to his Disciples to which a special and