Doubtless it came to pass by the awakening of their minds by God to consider things more than their Neighbours did to consider the nature and tendency of morality and immorality and what was like to be the issue of both at last in respect of rewards and punishments in another World And the innate light and reason of their minds would dictate to them that Vice could not possibly tend to their happiness nor Vertue to their infelicity in the next World And this made them before they were Proselytes so far as the light of nature assisted by God did lead them to chuse to do what was most likely to end in happiness and to avoid what was most likely to make them miserable at last This no doubt made them betake themselves to the worship of the true God onely when others of their Neighbours did not and in this to join with the People of Israel though not entirely in the same Institutions of Worship because they were not given them in command as they were to the Jews This difference between them and other of their Country-men did first spring as I say from their taking important things more into consideration than others did And by this they came to be prepared to receive the Gospel so that they fell in with it readily when it was preached unto them sometimes at the first hearing Those Proselytes we read of Acts 13.48 were such as were ordered and disposed in their own minds towards eternal life to wit to look after it and to be thoughtful about it and as many as were so did as we there see believe Such as these Proselytes were those other sheep I doubt not of which our Saviour spake John 10.16 which as he said are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice They were made tractable afore-hand ready to follow the Shepherd when they should hear his voice Such also we may well suppose the good Ground hearers to be who were of good and honest hearts as they are described Luke 8.15 of honest minds not willing to represent things to themselves better than they are nor to put a cheat upon themselves and their own souls by flattering them into a better opinion of themselves and of their good condition Godward than there is cause Like him of whom the Psalmist speaks Who flattereth himself in his own eyes until his iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36.2 They are not of such partial and dishonest minds as to be thoughtful and careful about the outward Man and things of this present World and to be altogether regardless and careless of their souls the better part and of the concerns for Eternity nor treacherously to betray them Thus far to shew how God hath prepared men for the belief of the Gospel onely by making principles and notions of natural religion operative in them by a powerful impression of them upon their minds CHAP. II. How God by adding Revealed Religion to that which is Natural prepared the Jews for the performance of the condition of the Promise IN times under the Law and before the appearance of Christ in the World Almighty God prepared the People of the Jews for the Faith in Christ by adding Revealed Religion to that which is Natural and by making that which was Natural more powerful and operative to such an end by that which was revealed After the Original Law which is implanted in the Nature of all men became much blurred and defaced in the minds of men a fair Copy of it was delivered to that People by God written in two Tables of Stone And this was done as for other ends so for this to wit to awaken in them a greater sense of the guilt of sin and their liableness thereby to the wrath of Almighty God and to condemnation The Law worketh wrath saith S. Paul Rom. 4.15 that is it maketh the Transgressor of it the more punishable and exposeth him the more to wrath For the strength of sin is the Law as the same Apostle saith in another place 1 Cor. 15.56 it is that which armeth those actions against a man which would not have been punishable if there had been no Law against them For where there is no Law there is no transgression as he saith in the former Text. And where there is no transgression there can be no punishment due And by parity of reason where the Law is more obscure and less discernable the transgression of it must be the less punishable and the more manifest and express the Law is by which men are left without all excuse of ignorance touching the evil prohibited the greater and more criminal must the offence needs be as when committed against a Law promulgate and fully known This is that which stops the mouths of men against all excuse and plea of ignorance and lays them naked and open to the penalty of the Law What the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that every mouth might be stopt and all the World found guilty before God or subject to his judgment Rom. 3.19 And as the offence against the Law is aggravated and enhansed by how much the more the Law is known to be expresly against it by so much may the punishment be expected to be increased by that means He that knew his Masters will and yet did it not shall be beaten with many stripes above what he shall suffer whose opportunity of knowing his duty hath been less Now this was the case with the Jews they were under the natural Law before it was promulgated to them as well as all other Nations But that Law of Nature was grown so blurr'd and illegible through the pravity and degeneracy of men that they could hardly discern that to be sin in many cases which was sin by the Law of Nature As for instance I had not known Lust to be sin saith S. Paul unless the Law had said thou shalt not covet They could hardly discern inward concupiscence in this or that particular to be sin unless it brake out into open act But now by the promulgation of the natural Law this came to be known to be sin which indeed was so before but not so certainly known to be so and the like in other cases But when this and other things were by a promulgate Law more clearly known to be sin it was then at their greater peril if they fell into them and consequently they must needs be the more apprehensive of their danger and their fear the greater in case they did S. Paul personating a Jew both before and after the promulgation of the Law saith I once was alive without the Law but when the commandment came then sin revived and I died He did not know himself to be in so ill a case as the Law when it came discovered him to be And therefore he saith again that sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived him and by it slew
them to appease the displeasure of God and to make some compensation for their offences against him as by punishing themselves for them by severities which they exercised upon their own bodies and sometimes upon their own children I mention these things to shew in what anxiety of mind the very Heathen were by reason of the operation of natural conscience under the sense of their guilt of sin and of their obnoxiousness to God thereby And this sense and these fears as the effect of natural conscience were increased and heightned as it pleased God by his secret operation upon the mind to give weight unto them as we may easily conceive by what befel Cain and Judas in that case when they were so unable as they were to bear the lashings of their own consciences Nor could their Sacrifices give that case to their guilty consciences which they sought for by them unless they could have discerned more of proportion in them to the nature of the Immortal God which made Heaven and Earth than they could with any great confidence fansie there was to make compensation to him for their offences Those Sacrifices which the Jews offered from time to time though by Gods own appointment could never make those for whom they were offer'd perfect as pertaining to the conscience as the Apostle speaks Heb. 10. They could not purge the conscience from those fears and troublesome apprehensions which the sense of the guilt of sin raised in them For which cause they and not onely sinners of the Gentiles were through fear of death all their life time subject unto bondage as not knowing for all those Sacrifices what the event and consequence of death might be unto guilty persons obnoxious to God Heb. 2.15 It is true indeed these impressions of natural Religion are not made by God on all men alike and consequently all are not alike awakened by them though none I presume are without fears and doubts more or less about their future state until they are cured of them by living up to principles of revealed religion or else by a desperate course of sinning have sinned themselves into a kind of reprobate mind and become past feeling And then indeed they may through searedness of conscience come to have little or no feeling of those disquieting effects of the guilt of sin where of I speak But men do not come to this until they have greatly neglected and not attended to this teaching of the Father by impressions of natural Religion not until they have been labouring to put all thoughts about their future state and their liableness to Gods displeasure out of their minds that they might be no more troubled with them But when men will needs deal thus from time to time with God and themselves and bid God himself and all serious thoughts about another World depart from them then indeed God many times withdraws his secret way of working upon their minds by powerful impressions of natural Religion yea and of revealed Religion too in like case and leaves them to fall into that spiritual slumber or sleep St. Paul speaks of Rom. 11.8 By which sleep the inward senses of their souls are bound up as the bodily senses in bodily sleep are so that they no more hear see feel or perceive in a spiritual sense what God says or does to them than a man in a natural sleep does perceive what is spoken or done to him But this is not the case of those whom the Father by his teaching draws to Christ he keeps their conscience waking and makes sin uneasie to them by the fears it raises in their minds of what may be the event of all at last Now such an operation of God upon the mind as I have been speaking of hath certainly a tendency in it to draw men to Christ when sufficiently revealed and to make them willing to receive the Gospel and to become his Disciples And the reason hereof is taken from the suilableness that is between the minds of men so affected and the Gospel Men so prepared by the Fathers teaching are sensible of the troublesom and dangerous condition into which Sin hath brought them And nothing can be more acceptable to such than a discovery and offer of that which will give ease unto their troubled thoughts and doubtful minds and this the Gospel of Christ is exactly fitted and provided to do This Gospel discovers unto them that the guilt of sin as to the penal part is taken away by the Son of God and by his suffering for them This Gospel contains a Proclamation from Heaven publishing and declaring Gods willingness upon the account of his Sons suffering for them to be reconciled to and to pardon all sinners whatsoever that will but cease from their wilful rebellion against him and come under his Sons most gentle and gracious government his easie yoke and light burden Such good news as this was a suitable good to such as were before under doubts and fears whether God would not prove an enemy to them at last who had carried it as enemies to him all along and avenge himself on them for their opposition against him This is a good so suitable to such that nothing could give ease to their minds like it All the things this World affords can no more do it than silver and gold can ease the pain of hunger and thirst when food is denied It is the suitableness of the Gospel and a mind so prepared as I have shewed that draws men to Christ when the Gospel reveals him for such a Saviour as he is This is that which makes the very Messengers which bring the glad tidings of the Gospel acceptable to such for their message sake How beautiful saith St. Paul are thee feet of them which preach the Gospel of Peace and bring glad tidings of good things Rom. 10.15 And how beautiful were his feet in the eyes of the Galatian Gentiles when he first brought the Gospel among them who before were in fear and doubt about their future state and without hope I say how beautiful were his feet upon this account when they received him as an Angel of God yea as Christ Jesus as he himself saith and counted the blessedness so great that as he says they could if it had been possible have plucked out their own eyes and have given them unto him Gal. 4.14 15. The news of such a Saviour as the Gospel declares him to be is to such as are in darkness and anxiety of mind concerning their future state after death like the Day-Star and Rising Sun to such as have been in the uncomfortableness of a gloomy and dark night Hence he is stiled the bright and morning Star the Day-Spring from on high the Sun of Righteousness that does arise with healing in his wings The Angel which first published the Birth of Christ to the Shepherds said Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all People Luke
earth saith the Wise man Eccles 11.3 for that is the end of their being so filled to supply the necessities of the inhabitants of the earth They indeed do thus by a natural necessity but our Saviour out of his fulness supplies the spiritual wants of men spontaneously Never was the kindest Mother more willing that her full brests should be drawn by her tender Infant than our blessed Saviour is that we should draw and derive from his fulness to the relief and supply of all our spiritual wants to make us good and happy To think or to suspect that our Saviour should with-hold any of that aid from men which he hath received for them and which is necessary to enable them to perform the condition of the promise supposing them capable of it would be highly to dishonour him It is a grievous thing among men to with-hold from the people that which their extream necessity calls for when it is in ones power to relieve them without injury to himself or to his or to the publick He that with-holdeth corn the people shall curse him saith Solomon Prov. 11.26 The reverence which we owe to our blessed Saviour and the assurance we have of his goodness and good will towards men will not suffer us once to think there is in him any thing of like nature And if he himself threatned that unprofitable servant in the Gospel as he did for not using the talent committed to him to the end and purpose for which he received it we may be sure he himself will be very far from not discharging the trust he hath received from his Father 3. We have no reason to fear or to doubt but that that compassion and love towards us and the longing desire our Saviour had after our salvation which made him willing to suffer so much as he hath to obtain a conditional pardon for us and a conditional promise of it doth and will make him willing to assist all those in the performance of that condition who have not or do not make themselves uncapable of it by not using but opposing such preparatory aids as have been afforded them He who hath laid so costly a foundation in his own bloud to make us good and happy cannot as we may well think be wanting to build upon that foundation what is necessary on his part to compleat his design of grace and favour towards us We cannot think he will be willing to lose all the cost he hath already expended towards the procuring of pardon and life for us for want of doing that further for us which he can with far more ease do if we have not made ourselves uncapable of it than what he hath done already Hath our blessed Saviour any thing to give us which is better than himself or more dear to him And if not as doubtless he hath not then we may confidently conclude that that which put him upon giving himself for us will not suffer him to keep back from us that which he can give us without any detriment to himself or disparagement to his wisdom unless we have made our selves uncapable of it As S. Paul saith of God the Father he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things so we may say of God the Son he that spared not himself when we stood in need of a Saviour but gave himself to death for us how shall he not give us that also which though it be less for him to give yet is such which in some sort we stand in as much need of as we did of a Saviour his assistance I mean If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life as the Apostle inferrs Rom. 5.10 If meerly by Christs dying for our sins we were thus far restored to Gods favour as that he was pleased to propose to us free and easie conditions of mercy and pardon much more easie will it be and most agreeable to that former essay of his goodness now he hath gone so far with us to bestow on us also ability to perform those conditions unless we have made our selves uncapable of it since without such assistance all the rest would signifie no more to us than as if Christ had never died for us nor than as if such conditions had never been obtained for us or proposed to us 4. That plenitude of power and sufficiency lodged in our Saviour to answer and to supply all the spiritual wants and necessities of men on whose behalf our Saviour took on him the great office of Mediator will never turn to such an account of glory honour and praise to God the Father of all mercies while it is restrained and kept back onely within himself as it will when communicated and given forth in the effects of it to them for whose benefit he received it nor will it till then neither redound so much to his own honour as God the Father designed it should And if not how can we possibly think there should be any thing of unwillingness in him to afford all those his assistance to perform the condition of the promise who do not refuse to make use of it For as it was the design of our Saviour in all the good he did to men while he was in the World to gain glory thereby unto his Father so it was a great inducement to him to do that good when he knew it would turn to such an account Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son John 14.13 It was matter of great satisfaction to our Saviour when he was upon leaving the World that he could say to his Father I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do John 17.4 he took pleasure in doing that work for that reason because he glorified the Father thereby And we cannot think he is less zealous for the honour of his Father now he is so highly exalted by him than he was in the day of his humiliation and temptation Considering then that our Saviours assisting us to perform the condition of the promise will in several respects bring in a great revenue of glory to God as well as it will of good to men we may be consident that he will rather be grieved for that men are no more forward to make use of his assistance than any way backward to afford it them S. Paul thought it a prevailing argument to obtain a liberal contribution for the relief of fellow-Christians when he could say it would both supply the necessities of the Saints and cause many thanksgivings unto God 2 Cor. 9.12 Now our Saviours assisting men to perform the condition of the promise will not onely make them happy but will also fill their hearts and mouths with