that which we know by the Light of God's Creation which is weakned by Man's Sin and * his Apostacy from God but it doth also do its own proper work and teach a Man to return to his own place to acknowledge God depend upon him and be subservient to him * It teaches him to empty his Mind of all Presumption Pride Arrogance and Self-assuming So that a Man is fit to receive the Grace of Pardon and Forgiveness of Sin together with all Divine Influence Concurrence and Assistance But since I have laid so mighty a weight and so great a stress upon this Acknowledgment in the Text I must needs here prevent an Objection which may be raised and it is this Some may object and say you have no Divine Authority for these words for tho' they are in the Bible they are but here related I confess I have no more Authority from these words being spoken by these Persons of whom they are related than if they were clean the contrary to what they are For I do find concerning our Lord and Saviour that some Persons of like Disposition say that he did do his Miracles by Belzebub the Prince of Devils and if we lay the stress upon the Sayers we must as well credit them as these Therefore I will grant you that I have no Authority for ought I have said from these words materially consider'd or as related and put down here Neither do I lay any weight or stress on the Sense of these Reporters for I will grant that it might be hap-hazard what these Men said for as much as they did not speak out of any purpose or intention or out of any settled Principle and such Men have upon the like occasion given a clean contrary Report Now I will give you a profitable Observation from hence Take care how you quote Scripture for that is Scripture for which you have Divine Authority not that which is barely related in the Text. For you have the Speeches of the Devil and the Advice of the worst or Men related in Scripture Scripture is only consider'd in the truth of Matter of Fact and that these things were done but it doth not follow from hence that they are materially Good No Man must pretend to do as Ehud did because his Action is recorded in Scripture No Man must pretend to borrowing without Intention of paying as the Israelites did for if they had not extraordinary warrant they were * to be condemn'd in their Practice So for us to curse our Enemies as we read in the Psalms the Prophet did not knowing in what Spirit it was done * it is not warrantable for us to do the like from thence Neither must we hate any because the Jews were to hate and to destroy the Seven Nations which they interpreted a Commission to hate all Mankind but themselves Therefore in like case we cannot certainly prove that any thing in the Book of Job is certainly Divine that was spoken by Job's Friends because God himself declares that they had not spoken that which was right concerning him as his Servant Job had done Therefore if you will have Divine Authority see what is said and think it not enough that it is barely related in the Book Neither is it enough to pretend to a single Text nor the Practice or Perswasion of any Man whatsoever nor to any thing accidentally spoken that can amount either to Matter of Faith or Divine Institution it must be express Scripture it must be Scripture in conjunction with Scripture For Scripture as a Rule of Faith is not one Scripture but all And therefore tho' I have taken advantage from these words yet all along I have laid such certain and such infallible Grounds tending to give Satisfaction in the Matters of Reason and Faith as the several Points are capable of And now I proceed to a fourth Argument which is this The Suitableness of Natural Truth to Man in the State of his Creation And the Suitableness of Reveal'd Truth to Man in his lapsed and fallen Condition in order to his Restitution and Recovery And first for the Suitableness of that which we call Natural Religion Natural Religion was the very Temper and Complexion of Man's Soul in the Moment of his Creation It was his natural Temper and the very Disposition of his Mind It was as con-natural to his Soul as Health to any Man's Body So that Man forc'd himself offered Violence to himself and his Principles went against his very make and Constitution when he departed from God And consented to Iniquity It is the same thing in Moral Agents to observe and comply with the Dictates of Reason as it is with inferior Creatures to act according to the Sense and Impetus of their Natures It is the same thing with the World of intelligent and voluntary Agents to do that which right Reason doth demand and require as it is in Sensitives to follow the Guidance of their Sences or in Vegetatives to act according to their Natures It is as natural for a Man in respect of the Principles of God's Creation in him to live in Regard Reverence and Observance of Deity to govern himself according to the Rule of Sobriety and Temperance to live in Love and to carry himself well in God's Family this I say is as natural for him as for a Beast to be guided by his Sences or for the Sun to give light How far therefore are we degenerated and fallen below the State in which God created us since it is so rare a thing for us to comply with the Reason of Things Nothing is more certainly true than that all Vice is unnatural and contrary to the Nature of Man All that we call Sin that which is nought and contrary to the Reason of Things is destructive of Human Nature And a Man forceth himself when he doth it So that to comply with those Principles of natural Light and Knowledge which God did implant in us in the Moment of our Creation and exactly to be obedient to the Ducture of Reason is con-natural to Man in respect of the State of God's Creation And it may be as well expected from an intelligent Agent to observe God and to live righteously and soberly as from any sensitive Agent to follow its Appetite Humility Patience Meekness and such like Vertues they do favour Nature whereas Passion Pride and Envy do waste and destroy Nature Nature's Desires are all moderate and limited But Lust is violent and exorbitant Nature is content with a very few things But if a Man give way to inordinate Desires then there is no Satisfaction to be obtain'd Lust is not a thing that will be satisfied by adding and adding But he that would be satisfied must abate and moderate his Desires and undue Affections It is certain that all Natural Truth all that is founded in Reason and that derives from the Principles of God's Creation that all of these do agree with Man's
World been troubl'd about the Circumstance of Time and several other Things about this Sacrament And all without Foundation But there is no warrant for this from the Institution And Charity hath been wanting when Men have gone about to make out Scripture further than what hath been plainly declar'd So that I resolve with my self that GOD * having invested Man with Intelectual Nature and given him that high Priviledge and Prerogative of Reason and Understanding doth expect that he should act according to those Principles And where HE doth not constitute and appoint limit and determine that there He doth refer himself to the rational Determination of that first Principle the Principle of his Creation So that whatsoever is done throughout the Life of Man that there is Reason for it is warranted by God Provided still that a Man doth not vary from any particular and express Institution of God in Scripture And if this were understood we should have the very Foundation of Differences in the Church of God taken away It is but a vain Pretence of Zeal for GOD and doing him Service for US to limit appoint constitute and determine beyond what HE himself hath done 'T is a good Notion universally Let us be as FREE under God as we can and resolve with St. Paul Not to be brought under the Power of any Thing So far as God doth declare we must follow his Direction But it is best for us where he doth not limit and determine to follow the Reason of our own Minds in the free Use of our Liberty God doth so far acknowledge his own Workmanship as to refer himself to the Principles of Creation in Man so far forth as he doth not limit and determine For do but with Reason and you do well There is no Superstition in using Things not commanded of God But in using them as necessary Pieces of Religion they are Superstition and offensive to God I say * there is no Superstition in using Things not commanded by God even in the Worship of God if they be Comely and such as Reason doth allow of But there is Superstition in assuming to our selves Authority to use them as necessary Peices of Religion and as sanctified by Divine Institution when they are not of God's Appointment You see now that in Matters of Weight wherein the Honour of God and the Safety of Mens Souls are concerned Scripture is punctual clear full and particular That our Faith may be better directed and we our selves preserved against Cheats and Impostures But * as to other Matters they are left to Christian Prudence Discretion and Fidelity And God's Love and Goodness appears to us exceedingly in Both these Cases * Both that He is clear full and particular where 't is for our Advantage and Security And also that He doth not unnecessarily resolve or determine us where the Things themselves do not require it In the Former because if we should mistake there it would be to our Loss and great Disadvantage because of the Importance of the Matter whether it relate either to Matter of Faith or Practice In the Latter where the Matter is not so necessary in it self nor our Obligation to the Thing it self nor any intrinsick Value in it here it is God's Goodness to us that he will not limit and determine For it is hazardous to a Man in Minute Things to be obliged in Point of Conscience If the Thing be good in it self I am admonished daily how to act by the Rectitude of my Temper because the Thing is good in its own Nature and Quality But in the other * Case I have nothing but the Security of my Memory This is a great Point of Divinity that God hath left us in the Christian Religion as Free as we may be without Loss or Prejudice to our selves We being only determin'd to Things of Weight and to such Things wherein if we should fail we should greatly hurt our selves For it is a great Priviledge not to be oblig'd without Necessity not to be under Restraint through the Necessity of the Precept where there is no Necessity in the Matter And this I account one of the great Priviledges that we have by the Gospel And here as the Apostle adviseth Gal. 5 1. we should stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free And that this is a great Priviledge is clear from Acts 15. 10. where the Apostle calls the Ceremonies and Observances commanded under the Law a Yoak which neither They nor their Fathers were able to bear In this Dispensation there was every Thing punctually determined both for Substance and Circumstance So that they had need of very good Memories to bear them all in Mind Whereas it is a great Security for my Observance of God that I have the Security of the Goodness of my Temper as well as my Memory And thus it is in all Matters of Weight and Moment But if it be a positive Command and that of a Thing wholly Arbitrary and which * if God had pleased might have been omited then I have only the Security of my Memory And this is a choice Notion in Divinity But prepossest Minds will not bear it tho' it be never so much for their Ease and Advantage But let him that hath Ears to hear hear I will say it again There is not in Christian Religion any Obligation upon us but it is either one or other of these Two Either First the Reason of the Thing doth require it And then it is necessary in it self as is Observance of God Reverence of Deity and regardful Apprehensions of him Righteousness and Justice between Man and Man fair and equal Consideration Doing as we would be done unto or Sobriety and Temperance Purity and Chastity in the Government of our selves I say either they are such great Things as These Or else Secondly The Things commanded are Medicinal and Supplemental in Case of Guilt and contracted Impotency by Reason of Sin as going to God by Jesus Christ and the Application of the Benefits that are by our blessed Lord and Saviour the Vertue of his Blood for Pardon of Sin and what he hath done engaging in our behalf And we shall see great Cause thankfully to acknowledge God for this great Benefit if we do but consider the Occasion of Adam's Fall who did not fall upon a Transgression of a Moral Point but in Variation from a positive Institution And for ought I or any Body else know if God had not prohibited him the Tree of Life he might as well have eaten of that as of any other Tree in the Garden For She saw that it was lovely to the Eye and fit for Food And therefore she took of the Fruit of that Tree and did eat and gave unto her Husband Here they had only the Security of their Memories and not of any internal Disposition So it is said of Nadab and Abihu that they were struck dead for offering
strange Fire before the Lord. One fire to Reason seemed as good as another to offer Sacrifice with But because there was an Institution to the contrary whether they did it wilfully or carelesly they perished by Fire Also let us remember the Bethshemites who being transported with Joy and Affection looked into the Ark a Thing contrary to God's Appointment to the Hazard of their Lives Likewise Uzza in his Zeal when he found the Ark ready to fall as he thought put to his Hand to keep it up and was slain for his Labour it being contrary to God's Institution When we think of these things seriously we shall find cause him abundance thankfully to acknowledge God's Goodness that we are engaged only where the Nature of the thing doth engage and that we are not made liable and obnoxious to god in things that are not Evil in themselves and hurtful for us It is greatly hazardous for a Finite and Fallible Creature to be limited and confined by Will and Pleasure where there is no Reason that the Mind of Man can discern why he should be restrained For we are mightily for Liberty And unless we be satisfied in the Reason of the thing we have a great Desire to look into that which we are prohibited 'T is hard to be subject to Will * as it is Natural to yield to Reason Therefore it is not a thing that we should affect to come into Bondage or be determined more than God hath determined us Let these things be weighed by those Men who love to multiply Positive Institutions and to determine the Liberty of our Minds in Circumstances and Punctilio's in things * where God hath not limited or determined us For my part I will not part with that Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free And this is one Part of our Liberty I must confess the greatest of all is to free us from the Guilt and Power of our Sins but the next is this to put us out of Danger and free us from the Obligation of Conscience where Reason and the Matter it self doth not oblige us The Moral Part of Religion is indispensably necessary because every piece of * It doth sanctifie by its Presence As * for instance Humility Modesty Righteousness Temperance Reverence of Deity and the like These Things cannot be in any Man's Mind but they make him Holy Whereas the Instrumental Part of Religion doth not sanctifie by Presence For you may pray and hear the Word and receive the Sacrament and be wicked still But every * thing of the Moral Part of Religion doth sanctifie by Presence just as a Remedy or Cordial or Diet doth do a Man good by receiving it * But to speak now * of the great Benefits * that accrue to us by our Saviour's being in our Nature He doth acquire the Right of Redeeming us and makes Satisfaction in that Nature that had trangressed And he doth repair the ruined Nature of Man by dwelling in it and by working Righteousness in it by which means he hath wrought out all Malignity and naughty Habits by contrary Acts the Acts of Sin and Vice by Acts of Vertue and Goodness the Acts of Intemperance by Acts of Sobriety and Temperance Now let us look for the Explication of * this in our selves in our Nativity from above in Mental Transformation and DEIFICATION Do not stumble at the use of the Word For we have Authority for the use of it in Scripture 2 Pet. 1. 4. Being made Partakers of the Divine Nature which is in effect our Deification Also let it appear in our Reconciliation to God to Goodness Righteousness and Truth in our being created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness It was a signal Evidence of a Divine Power in the Disciples of Christ at the first Publication of the Gospel that it wrought so great an Alteration in all those that did receive it The Envious Debauched and Disobedient It made Temperate Sober and Religious Humble and Good-natured It converted the Embracers of it to a Life more suitable to Reason and Nature and all Moral Vertue * We may observe from this that nothing of the Natural State is base or vile Whatsoever hath Foundation in God's Creation or whatsoever the Providence of God calls any Man unto it is not base For our Saviour himself took Flesh and Blood and that is the meaner Part of Humane Nature Whatsoever is Natural hath nothing of Disparagement in it nothing that exposeth a Man to Contempt and Scorn And this may satisfie those that are in the meanest Offices and Employments that there is nothing base that hath place in God's Creation That which is Vile Base and Filthy is unnatural and depends upon unnatural Use and degenerate Practice Also observe here the great Honour put upon Humane Nature when the Son of God came into it when Divine Goodness did take into Consideration the Rise and Advance of Created Nature and to recover and raise It to all possible Perfection He did take to himself a peculiar relation to Humane Nature Then let us take Consolation in this For it cannot be thought that God did so great a thing and of so deep a Consideration as to unite Humane Nature to his own Existence and to set it at his own Right hand to the Admiration of Angels for he saith let all the Angels of God worship him that he did such a thing as this is to beget a Notion or to raise a Talk and make a Wonder in the World and put the Creation into a Gaze and Astonishment God doth nothing for so light an end and especially not his great things such as these which call for Fear and Reverence on our part This we may say is one of the greatest Works * of God This if possible doth transcend the very Creation of God at first for there was nothing * there to resist him but in the Restoration there was Malignity and Sin God did this therefore for the great and unconceivable Good of that Nature that he hath so highly honoured Therefore what Consolation should we have from it what Declaration should we make of it what Thanksgiving for it Having this Knowledge how should we rejoyce in God and be above the World * how should we depress the immoderate Motions of Sense and savour Spiritual things that so we may the better understand this great Mystery by which we are so highly honoured And this is the proper use of this High and Noble Argument Therefore let this be explicated verified and fulfilled in us For this you must understand that Religion is not satisfied in Notions but doth indeed and in reality come to nothing unless it be in us not only Matter of Knowledge and Speculation but doth establish in us a Frame and Temper of Mind and is productive of a holy and vertuous Life Therefore let these things take effect in us in our Spirituality and Heavenly-mindedness in our Conformity to the Divine