and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil Nevertheless we must always be upon our guard and take diligent heed lest securely trusting to past Pardons and the confident expectation of Gods future mercy we never cease to do evil and learn to do good that is not the use but the abuse of divine Clemency and Mercy The Mercy of God is indeed from Generation to Generation but upon those that fear him and I will hear saith the Psalmist Psal 85. what God the Lord will say for he will speak Peace unto the People and to his Saints but let them not return again to Folly Again Isai as saith Isa 30. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you The Lord will wait that he may be gracious saith he not that they who are waited for should heap sin upon sin and return unto the vomit but because he hath promised mercy to them who with their whole heart so turn unto him that they stand in awe and greatly fear any more to offend him otherwise as the same Prophet saith Therefore will the Lord be exalted that he may have Mercy upon you for the Lord is a God of Judgment who denies not his promised Mercy to any that rightly seek it but withall does not for ever delay but in due time inflict the punishments which are appointed to those whose heart is not right and stedfast with him There is no time with God void of Mercy towards those who hinder not their own Mercy Now they do hinder it who after the hardness and impenitence of their heart treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath Isa 66. To this Man will I look saith the Lord even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word But concerning those who are not truly poor of a contrite spirit and tremble at his word he hath pronounc'd this Sentence He that killeth an Ox is as if he flew a Man he that Sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs neck he that Offereth an Oblation as if he Offered Swines Blood he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol 1 Kings 8. they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their abominations They therefore that have committed sin for as Solomon saith there is no Man that sinneth not must constantly keep in the way of Repentance and denying themselves hear and follow him who hath said Not he that beginneth but he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved They must from their whole heart and Soul Renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world as they have promised and vowed in their Baptism otherwise Jer. 8. thus saith the Lord shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return why then is this People of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual back-sliding The Lord calls it a perpetual back-sliding when men in their manners retain and follow that wicked course of life which in word or thought they may have condemned and falsly professing and boasting of their Repentance do not conscientiously perform the duty of it but belying their own hearts deceive themselves and not God nor his Minister to whom they promised a serious amendment of life This the Lord finds fault with by the same Prophet They hold fast deceit they refuse to return I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no Man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done Every one turned to his Course as the Horse rusheth into the Battel The Lord indeed waits that he may have mercy upon us and uses patience not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Come to Repentance saith that Apostle who knew that Repentance was necessary to sinners for appeasing the wrath and obtaining the mercy of God Now the Holy Spirit does plainly tell us that the long-suffering of God is not everlasting tho we believe and confess his Mercy to be infinite Psal 7. God Judgeth the Righteous and God is angry with the Wicked every day if he turn not he will whet his Sword he hath bent his Bow and made it ready he hath also prepared for him the instruments of death He ordaineth his arrows against the Persecutors When God Almighty was about to destroy the old World because of sin he allotted them a certain time to repent in as it is written Gen 6. And the Lord said my Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years At the end of which all Mankind perished in the Flood save only the Family of Noah who in that Age was found Righteous in the sight of God The People of Niniveh being warned by the Prophet that after forty days they should be destroyed delayed not their Repentance until the last day but set about it so soon as they heard the denunciation all that time I say was employed and spent in fasting and prayer for averting the wrath of God imploring divine mercy and amending their sinful lives as it is written Jona 3. And Jonah began to enter into the City a days Journey and he cried and said yet fourty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown So the People of Nineveh believed God and Proclaimed a Fast and put on Sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them for word came unto the King of Nineveh and he arose from his Throne and he laid his Robe from him and covered him with Sackcloth and sate in Ashes and he caused to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the Decree of the King and his Nobles saying let neither Man nor Beast Herd nor Flock tast any thing let them not feed nor drink water But let Man and Beast be covered with Sackcloth and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn every one from their evil way and from the violence that is in their hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not The Men of Nineveh will rise in Judgment against those who having been warned not once but often yet have not turned from their evil ways or who have delayed the duty of a serious Repentance to the last day of their life living in the mean time wickedly and following the Vanities Lusts Ambition Pride and Vices of the World whereas no Man ought or can say that he is allowed to put off the exercise of Repentance to the extremity of life since upon the first call and admonition all Men are commanded to turn and be converted unto the Lord. To day saith the Holy Ghost if you will hear his voice harden
salvation who when he would have Men to turn to him with their whole heart and mind and so obtain life he patiently waits for their Repentance and this the holy Scriptures clearly testifie Isa 30. Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you And the Apostle St. Peter saith The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Now that the Conversion and true Repentance of sinners is most acceptable and pleasing to God his own Son shews us in that saving Sermon which he made in the three Parables of the prodigal Son the lost sheep and groat whereby he exhorted all Men that they would endeavour by their conversion to please God and cause joy in the whole Court of Heaven that so they might tast of the wonderful goodness of God who is rich in mercy towards all that call upon him with a pure and single heart and upon whom if they approve themselves by Faith and the practice of true Repentance and Obedience he bestows great mercies and the spirit of sanctification with all his gifts and graces which St. Peter affirms was given to all that obey him and our Saviour promised to be given saying John 14. If ye love me keep my commandments And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive Now in the sence of St. John the world are they who live according to the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh or the pride of life that is who are slaves to lust delights pleasures or ambition for those shall not feel the power and virtue of that holy spirit abiding in them as the Lord himself pronounces Gen. 6. My spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is flesh With Man who is flesh and striveth not to mortifie the deeds of the Flesh as the Apostle saith if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live to wit through the spirit of God given and communicated unto you for so it is written Isa 66. Thus saith the Lord the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest for all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord but to this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Those divine gifts and graces whereby Men upon Earth are changed into other creatures and become almost celestial avoiding the corruption that is in the World through lust and having their conversation in heaven examples and instances of these gifts I say which were very frequent of old are now rare to be found on the Earth because we have neither that strong and lively faith in the Promises of God nor purely and sincerely obey his Precepts neither are we filled with the holy fear of the Lord but by a double and deceitful heart wicked and perverse thoughts and actions we are wanting to our selves and to the grace and goodness of God of God I say who trieth the heart and searcheth the reins and sees us wholly given over to impure thoughts the delights and pleasures of the flesh and to pride and ambition like adulterous Women dealing treacherosly against their lawful husbands which kind of hearts estranged from or divided in their chief love he neither loves nor approves of The mind must be pure and single and fervent in love that aspires to the heavenly marriage of this bridegroom and would have it confirmed and made good to it The wise Son of Sirach advises us to endeavour that as much as we can when he saith Ecclus 1. 2. Distrust not the fear of the Lord and come not unto him with a double heart Wo be to fearful hearts and faint hands and the sinner that goeth two ways And the word of God by the mouth of his holy Prophets does also in many places expresly admonish us heartily to renounce the vanities sins and pollutions of this World and make it our whole care to forsake them Jer. 4. O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodg within thee Whosoever come so provided to seek the Lord shall certainly find him to be loving gracious and bountiful Jer. 29. Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart and I will be found of you saith the Lord whose blessed Son hath also said Mat. 5. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God God is to be seen by the pure in heart saith our Saviour He is to be seen dwelling in them whom he consecrates for a holy Temple to himself as it is written Isa 57. For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Psal 147. He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up then wounds This contrition of heart so acceptable unto God and so much commended in Scripture doth not dwell nor abide with the anxious desire of worldly things and of the pomp and glory of the age which are hateful to the Lord. Nor let any Man perswade himself that he can serve two Masters that is that he can please God and at the same time fulfil the lusts of the flesh pursue the vanities pride and ambition of the World and obey the dictates of carnal wisdom The Apostle St. James declares it to be impossible Jam. 4. Ye adulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the World is the enemy of God Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy And therefore we are earnestly warned by the Apostle St. John that being deluded by vain arguments or any idle and groundless hope and opinion we should not retain the love of this World but wholly reject it if we would approve our selves to God whom we ought to love for our own salvation John 2. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world And the world passeth
them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness They again who were not without a sense and knowledge of God but would not conform to a steddy and sure rule of Conduct studying rather to follow their own humour than to comply with the simplicity of truth have broached most idle Notions of the excellence of the divine Nature and erroneous and most dangerous Perswasions of the way of imitating the same leading most part of Mankind first into error and a snare and then into utter destruction as it is written Rom. 1. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even the Eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned Professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible Man and to Birds and four-footed Beasts and creeping things Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for evermore The Doctrine therefore of Men that had no conformity to the Faith of God or that fell off from the knowledge of God unto Vanity false and foolish imaginations could neither rightly define nor exhibit and declare the true happiness of Mankind That only Doctrine which the revealed Will of God doth teach is capable through the power and goodness of its author to perform what it hath promised to those who truly and sincerely become its Disciples For the Scripture saith Psal 119. The Proud have digged Pits for me which are not after thy Law All thy Commandments are Righteousness There are many instances which manifestly prove that the Doctine of the word of God hath fulfilled and made good what it promised and foretold to the true Disciples and followers thereof and that it can and daily does perform the same to those who are guided thereby Now this Doctrine hath promised Salvation eternal happiness and the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven in and through the Son of God who was to be sent into the World and the descent of the Holy Ghost into the minds of Believers which as a sure pledge and earnest of the celestial inheritance might by his inspirations teach them the true and saving use of the Heavenly gifts and Graces of this the Disciples of our Lord had experience as the holy Ghost himself bears witness 2 Pet. 1. Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained the like precious Faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord according as his divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the World through lust The Apostle St. Paul treating of the vanity of the Doctrine of the Gentiles and of the truth and benefits of the Christian Discipline says to the same purpose Eph. 4. But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceiful lusts And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Acts 3. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham and in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities Now that state and condition to which the true Disciples and Followers of the Christian Doctrine are by the grace and goodness of God advanced does in honor dignity and amplitude of glory and bliss far exceed all that the natural Man the Wit of Philosophers and the pains and study of mortal Man can conceive define or comprehend without the special favour and assistance of divine grace Isa 64. For eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God For what Man knows the things of a Man save the spirit of Man that is in him even so the things of God knoweth no Man but the spirit of God This state and condition may in some measure indeed be delineated and described which by the help of God in time and place convenient we shall attempt but that will be but a faint emblem and adumbration rather than a true and lively representation of the same for the fulness of this solid and excellent happiness is not to be expressed in the common way of speech nor conceived by the thoughts of men unless of those who by the influence and operation of the Holy Ghost are rendred capable of so great mysteries Eph. 3. For this cause saith the Apostle I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God Now although a Disciple of this Christian Doctrine may not at first comprehend the greatness and excellence of the state to which he is called until by divine favour he hath attained to it nevertheless the dignity and extent of the happiness is not therefore less nor will it by any disappointment be diminished for the mosâ—
A clear instance of this is to be seen in Abraham whom God proposed as a pattern of his free and most gracious Election exhibiting unto us under the type and figure of earthly and sensual things the whole and sum of this great mystery for such was the counsel of God that what things really and truly happened unto him the same should shadow out and represent the spiritual blessings which belonged to us As it is written 1 Cor. 10. All these things happened unto them for ensamples or types and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come Abraham being first called believed in God who had called him and promised to make him a Father of many Nations In God I say who calleth those things which be not as tho they were and trusted to the divine election knowing that to be the most acceptable obedience to God when one willingly and diligently complies with his call and without doubting undergoes that saving discipline as proceeding from him who being the Fountain of all Goodness freely bestows himself His Graces and Blessings upon those who believe and obey him so that when he was commanded by him from whom he had received the Promise to leave his Country his Kindred and his Fathers House he obeyed and went out leaving those advantages which those who live after the manner of this world reap from their Country Kindred and Fathers House for the native Country affordeth acquaintance and confidence the Fathers House Wealth and Riches and Kindred Means and Substance to those who lead their lives according to the dictates of Lust and Ambition Abraham therefore departed as the Lord had commanded him leaving his Country Kindred and Fathers House and chose to be a Stranger and Sojourner in a strange Land following the Command of God that called him Now we know that Strangers and Sojourners have no mind means nor confidence to spend their time in delights and pleasures so long as they think of their condition and behave themselves like Strangers and Sojourand propose to themselves that that is not their Country or place of rest but an Inn or place of refreshment which they must shortly leave and go forward unto a place of more commodious habitation So Abraham being called and commanded to go out of his Country into a Land that was to be shewn to him not only believed but obeyed and put it in execution for he really and indeed forsook his Country Kindred and Fathers House and not in word and inclination alone He said not I will do it or I desire to do it and did it not but actually performed what he was commanded and in that manner Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness not that he believed only but that believing he obeyed and went out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance not knowing whither he went Heb. 11. And that by Faith he Sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same Promise According to this precedent whoever is called to the gifts and blessings of the Heavenly Promises believes in and would please him that hath promised desiring to have them made good unto him must not only by Faith Will and Inclination but also in Deed and in good Earnest renounce the Pomp Vanity Corruption Delights Pleasures Ambition and other Vices of this World and perform what he obliged himself to and promised before the blessed Trinity in which he professed his belief in presence of his God-Fathers God-Mothers and Witnesses in his Baptism through the grace and assistance of him that called him to whose service he resigned himself and in whose name he was Baptised that is in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost which grace and assistance will never be wanting to those who from a pure and holy heart implore and beg the same as we have already demonstrated Luke 12. I am come to send fire on the Earth and what will I if it be already kindled Now he promised to renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and what are the works of the Devil and Vanities of the World but Ambition Lust Avarice and the delights and pleasures of the Flesh that is to say the corrupt manners customs of this World which according to the Doctrine of the Apostles breed cherish and encrease sin and wickedness as it is written 1 John 2. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World And again the Apostle S. James saith James 4. Ye Actulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of this World is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the World is the enemy of God Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envie Wherefore we must not only by Faith and in words but in our endeavours acts and deeds renounce all worldly Pleasures Lusts and Ambition for Virtue consists not in words but in deeds And therefore St. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work And St. Peter alluding to Abraham thus admonisheth 1 Pet. 2. Dearly beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of Visitation Wherefore that Faith which is commended and praised in Abraham was not an idle and dead but a living Faith quickned by Charity and shewing it self in the practice and exercise of Obedience and so it was imputed to him for Righteousness because he really left his Country Kindred and his Fathers house and obediently went unto the place appointed him thereby setting before us a lively instance of true Obedience Which Moses imitating Heh 11. when he was come to years refused to be called the Child of Pharaohs daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompence of Reward By Faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible In deeds then and not in words alone or an empty and idle boasting of Faith must every one shew himself obedient to God and bring forth the
condemn us not then have we confidence towards God And whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight St. John expressly affirms that we shall obtain what we ask of God in order to our Salvation who will give his good spirit to those that seek him if our heart condemn us not which he saith may be proved by this if we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight Our Lord and Master commands the same John 14. If ye love me keep my commandments And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive seein the Lust and Pride the Pomp and Vanity with all the other Vices of this World are an abomination to him 2 Tim. 2. But if a Man purge himself from these he shall be a Vessel unto Honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work The sum then of all that hath been said in short is this whoever with a pure and holy heart believes the promises of God to his own salvation let him sincerely renounce the pomps and vanities of this World and the sinful Lusts and Desires of the Flesh and make good his profession of Repentance by a true and earnest forsaking of all sin and vice and a following after Righteousness and obedience to the commands of God with a zealous and constant care Of this care we shall speak hereafter having first laid down for a certain truth which we cannot inculcate too often that the holy spirit cannot dwell in a heart polluted with the sinful lusts pleasures and other corruptions of the flesh the spirit I say of sanctification by which who are acted are the Sons of God For this is the express sentence of God Almighty himself which hath been alledged already and ought often to be cited Gen. My spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh that is to say so long as Man is flesh and obeys the will and lusts of the flesh he shall not be partaker of my spirit And this sentence was pronounced by God at that time when the Sons of God coming in unto the Daughters of Men perverted all the rules of Piety and Virtue and turned Righteousness into Iniquity Now they who believed the Promises of God made unto Adam the common Parent of Mankind and being endowed with that Faith exercised themselves in the practice of Piety are in holy Scripture called the Sons of God for amongst them was preserved the knowledg of the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind by the holy Seed of the Woman and they being animated with the Faith and Hope of this promised Salvation shunned all worldly ambition and corruption leading a life neither magnificent nor splendid nor attended with the glory and delights which Men admire but low modest and mean living in the forry habitations of cottages tents caves and dens and were satisfied with sober poverty in imitation of their common Parents Adam and Eve whom God having cloathed them with coats made of Beasts skins commanded to live contented willing that they who by their own fault had forfeited the sovereignty of the World should live like strangers and sojourners in it This example the Sons of God followed But on the other hand the Sons of Men who either believed not the divine Promises or lived in pomp and splendor gave themselves over to delights and pleasures courted glory and worldly greatness and built to themselves stately Houses Towns and Castles being not a little incited to that course of life by the humour and counsel of Women by whose blandishments and conversation the Sons of God also being first allured and then wholly overcome they took to themselves wives of all which they chose That is to say when the Sons of God perceived the delights and pleasures the pomp and splendor that was amongst Men which might tempt humane frailty to prefer them before the rigours of an austere frugality but especially being enticed by the sight of Women among whom Vanity and Luxury both in diet and apparel was most conspicuous they forsook the hardships of an austere life continence and poverty that they might embrace riches wealth pleasures and luxury and making Marriages with the Daughters of Men they overturned Piety and perverted the antient discipline of primitive virtue and integrity Whereupon that divine Sentence was pronounced My spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is flesh because of the Sons of God they not only became like unto the Sons of Men but begat a race much more corrupt than themselves more licentious in their lives indulging themselves in all sorts of vice and voluptuousness and prone to all kind of injustice barbarity and cruelty Gen. 6. These are the Giants which were in the Earth in those days and also after that when the Sons of God came in unto the Daughters of Men and they bare children unto them the same became mighty Men which were of old Men of Renown And God saw that the wickedness of Man was great in the Earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually And it repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth So much did the licentious wickedness of the dissolute life of Men offend God that holy Oracles assure us it repented him that he had made Man on the Earth and that he resolved to destroy all Mankind these only excepted who continued in the discipline and duty of the Sons of God tho they were but very few in number as it is written But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord because he was a Just Man being not only endowed with that Faith of the Sons of God but through the exercise of true Repentance and Obedience to the commandments of God accepted also of the Lord as one who having spent so many years in building of an Ark and by frequent Sermons forewarning the Men of that age of the imminent wrath of God endeavoured to perswade them to Repentance and amendment of life for which he got the title and name of a Preacher of Righteousness Now this practice of Repentance which as we have said is necessary to all the Disciples and followers of Christ must be accompanied with an endeavour of amendment of life and of following after Righteousness and Honesty which for illustration sake we shall call by the name of Obedience and define Obedience Obedience to be an ordering and framing of all the actions of our life according to the counsel and will of God And this is performed by the knowledg and diligent practice of the commands of God For it is not enough to know the precepts and institutions of our Christian discipline or to talk of and commend them in quaint and
away and the lusts thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever From all which divine sentences we may conclude that they who have not carefully avoided the corruption and pollution of life and manners and have not laboured to shun those things that are to be shunned will with all their actions works and oblations be displeasing and so enemies to the pure and holy spirit of God Divine wisdom it self asserts this and therefore advises us not to lose the fruit of our good works through our own fault and negligence Prov. 15. The Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord Eccles 34. He that sacrificeth a thing wrongfully gotten his Offering is ridiculous and the gifts of unjust Men are not accepted The most high is not pleased with the Offerings of the wicked neither is be pacified for sin by the multitude of sacrifices The Prophet expostulates the same thing with those who by their perverse actions and deeds both publick and private polluted the sacrifices which they frequented Bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my soul hateth they are a trouble unto me I am weary to bear them And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when ye make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek Judgment relieve the oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord tho your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land but if ye refuse and rebell ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it This divine expostulation is made up both of promises and threatenings to those who either doe or will not obey wherefore by the same spirit the author of this expostulation we are invited and stirred up by strong and often repeated reasons to seek to God for mercy and the accomplishment of his promises Isay 55. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Seeing therefore it hath been made out unto us by many clear and manifest testimonies and Texts of both the Old and New Testament that these three heads to wit the fear of the Lord Repentance and brotherly Charity as the pure fountains and sources of all pious actions accompanied with Faith are most acceptable to God and through his gracious favour very instrumental not only to make us escape the wrath and indignation of God but also find grace and mercy in time of need and are so necessary to salvation that without them we cannot please God nor obtain the accomplishment of his promises concerning our immortal state and the celestial inheritance purchased to us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And seeing by the Covenant of Grace all Believers are assured that through the diligent study and practice of these three points every one may attain their share of that Promise and Obligation which God himself hath graciously and freely proposed to us for our salvation I thought it my duty being moved with Christian zeal and fervent Charity to admonish and exhort all my fellow Christians not only by what we have hitherto alledged but by all the oracles sentences precepts admonitions and exhortations uttered by the holy spirit and laid up in the Treasury of sacred Record that they would carefully set about the duties of Piety and diligently prosecute the same in the constant practice of these three principal Points the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity For no Man putting his hand to the Plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God but he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved Now that these things may be religiously and rightly performed we must put off all the carnal affections and lusts that war against the Soul these I say which resist divine grace and retard and keep back the effects of that love whereby Joh. 3. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 2 Tim. 2. If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work And being enriched with the blessings of divine Grace he shall even in this life being to tast and see that the Lord is good to those that love and fear him That we may therefore briefly summ up all that hath been said of this rule of Christian Piety which hath been confirmed by the word of God delivered in the oracles of the Prophets and asserted in the sentences of the Apostles and all Holy Writ we affirm that these three heads of Religion are not only of principal use but even absolutely necessary to all ranks and conditions of Christians for obtaining the salvation of their souls and the inheritance and possession of the Kingdom of Heaven and that this is a rule common to all Men who would live according to the Doctrine Precepts and Instructions of our Lord. Now these Heads which we have often mentioned are the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity or Brotherly love which all of us who profess the Doctrine of the Christian Religion must not only know but also carefully practise through the assistance of the divine grace which as we have already shew'd will be denied to none that rightly seek it as our Lord and Master himself does plainly assure us Luke 11. I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened If a Son shall ask bread of any of you that is a Father will he give him a stone or if he ask a Fish will he for a Fish give him a Serpent or if he shall ask an Egg will he offer him a Scorpion 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 him We also testifie and from the reading The Use and Practice of this Rule and observation of the holy Scriptures do affirm and declare that the corruption depravation and malignity of life and manners which is to be found amongst
be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat making the Ephah small and the Shekel great and falsifying the ballances by deceit That we may buy the poor for Silver and the needy for a pair of Shooes yea and sell the refuse of the wheat The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely I will never forget any of their works Shall not the Land tremble for this and every one mourn that dwelleth therein whosoever are the true disciples and followers of Christ will fear and stand in awe to offend God and to be liable to such threatnings whatever art or profession they follow they 'l manage the same with all faithfulness and care and behave themselves modestly and justly in the business they set about neither wronging their brethren in their work nor exacting too much for their labour nor overvaluing the goods they sell them but proposing to themselves charity and the good of others rather than covetousness and abominating all filthy and forbid gain they will be content with the lawful gettings of their callings and shun and despise the pride of life as a thing altogether inconsistent with the simplicity of their vocation But that we may now descend from the publick society and duties of Mankind to the particular relations of private persons and enter into the houses and families of Christians we are to take notice what the mutual duties of private persons in a family are and how they are to be performed by Christians as in the presence of God who is a Judge and witness of all their actions Christian Women and Wives who desire to order their lives according The duty of Women and Wives to this short but universal rule of Christian Piety must studiously avoid all Pride Arrogance Vain-glorious Boasting Envy Haughtiness Back-biting and evil speaking shewing nothing in their conversation of Voluptuousness Wantonness Lustfulness Idleness or Curiosity and giving no example of Anger Hatred Discord Grudge nor Malice Put on the contrary they are in all things to approve themselves Modest Peaceable lovers of Truth Charity and Simplicity and Dutiful and Obedient to their Husbands and Yokefellows in all things that are lawful and honest For these ornaments and certain proofs of true virtue are always conspicuous in those Christian Women who fear the Lord practise Repentance and live holily in Brotherly-love and Charity with all Men To which they are also enjoyned by the holy Precepts of the spirit of God with assurances of his favour if they perform and of his anger and indignation if they omit and neglect their duty Eph. 5. Wives submit your selves unto your own Husbands as unto the Lord. For the Husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the body Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing Wives who sincerely and heartily study Piety will not mind gorgeous attire rich costly and gaudy apparel which by decking and setting off the body Eclipses the beauty gravity and modesty of the mind but such as being prepared by virtue is an argument of probity and chiefly designed to render them acceptable to God and beloved of their own Husbands For that attire and dress is most commendable and graceful in a Wife which adorns the mind and makes her lovely in the sight of God and her own Husband and venerable to all others that being the ornament which the Holy Ghost prescribes and commends as becoming a Christian Wife 1 Pet. 3. While they the Husbands behold your chast conversation coupled with fear Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel but let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own Husbands And tho God would not have such to be ignorant or negligent of their own duty yet he does not approve that they should be tatlers or disputers or that they should arrogate to themselves wisdom and knowledge nor would he have them to be greedy of many teachers or desirous of much learning but being satisfied with the knowledge of true Piety and Christian Candor and Simplicity that they should busie themselves in the exercise and practice thereof 1 Cor. 14. Let your Women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted to them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home for it is a shame for Women to speak in the Church And again in another place 1 Tim. 2. Let the Women learn in silence with all subjection But I suffer not a Woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the Man but to be in silence For Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the Woman being deceived was in the transgression Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in Faith and Charity and Holiness with Sobriety The same Doctrine The duty of Husbands and Discipline of Christian Piety comprehended under the three aforemention'd Heads the fear of the Lord Repentance and Brotherly-love if it be rightly known and practised will also keep Men in their duty and to the performance of the chast Vows and Promises of Marriage for it enjoyns Husbands to love their Wives and to have the same care of them as of themselves but especially as the most important concern of Marriage to consult and provide for the eternal salvation of the Wife not only by frequent and reiterated admonitions but also by good and wholsom examples and if it be needful by undergoing all kinds of danger and running the risk of life and fortune for accomplishing that end The whole of this duty is by the Holy Ghost summ'd up in this Precept Eph. 5. Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish So ought Men to love their Wives as their own bodies he that loveth his Wife loveth himself For no Man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord the Church for we are Members of his body of his flesh and of his bones For this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and shall be joyned unto his Wife and they two shall be one flesh This is a great mystery but