of it Nay I will go farther yet That there are no other Promises made in Scripture of Direction or Assistance or Security from Mistake to any Church but the same are made in as full and express Terms to every good Man that sincerely desires to know the Truth and to practise it Is it promis'd to the Church or to the Pastors of it I will be with you always And hath not our Saviour promised the same to every one that is obedient to his word John 14. 23. If a Man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him And does not the Apostle apply the same Promise to every good Christian Heb. 13. 5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee For where is the difference between these Expressions I will be with you and I will make my abode with him I will be with you always and I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Is it promised to the Church that the Spirit shall lead her into all Truth and is not the same Promise made to every good Man John 14. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him that is God will reveal his Will to those that love him and keep his Commandments Hath God promised to build his Church upon a Rock And doth not our Saviour use the same Metaphor concerning every Man that doth the Will of God Mat. 7. 24. Whosoever heareth these Sayings of mine and doth them is like a Wise Man that built his House upon a Rock So that if to be built upon a Rock signifies Infallibility it belongs to every good Man who sincerely practiseth what he knows as much as to any Church When Men are enabled by God to work Miracles for the confirmation of the Doctrines which they deliver there is great Reason to believe that they are Infallibly assisted in the delivery of those Doctrines But without this 't is the vainest thing in the World for any Person or Church to pretend to it because they offer no Evidence â—it to satisfie any Man that they are so assisted And I do not hear that the Pope among all his Priviledges does pretend to the Power of Miracles Secondly From hence likewise we may infer the great Reason of Error and Infidelity in the World If any Man be an Infidel it is not the fault of his Understanding but of his Will it is not because there is not sufficient Evidence that the Christian Religion is from God but because Mens Interests and Lusts make them partial and incompetent Judges of Matters of Religion The Evidence of the Christian Religion is such as recommends it to every Man's Reason and Conscience so that as St. Paul argues if the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If Men did but stand indifferent for the entertainment of Truth and were not swayed by the interest of any Lust or Passion I am confident that no Man that hath the Gospel fairly proposed to him would continue an Infidel If Men did but truly live up to the Principles of Natural Religion they would easily be convinc'd that the Christian Religion which is so suitable thereto is from God Thirdly and Lastly What hath been said is a great Argument and Encouragement to Obedience and Holiness of Life Do we desire not to be mistaken about the Mind of God Let us heartily endeavour to do his Will If we would not be seduced by the Error of the Wicked let us take heed of their Vicious Practices The best way certainly to preserve a right Judgment in Matters of Religion is to take great care of a good Life God's Goodness is such that he will not suffer any Man's Judgment to be betrayed into a Damnable Error without some Vice and Fault of his Will The Principles of Natural Religion are born with us and imprinted upon our Minds so that no Man can be ignorant of them nor need to be mistaken about them and as for those Revelations which God hath made of himself to the World he hath been pleased to accompany them with so much Evidence that an honest and sincere Mind may easily discern them from Error and Imposture So our Saviour hath assured us That if any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God On the other hand if we see any oppose the clear Truth or to depart from it and to embrace gross Errors and Delusions we may almost certainly conclude that there is some Worldly Interest or Lust at the bottom of it So our Saviour has likewise told us that the Reason why Men love Darkness rather than Light is because their Deeds are Evil and every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved I will Conclude this whole Discourse with St. Peter's Exhortation the 2 d of Pet. 3. 17 18. Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these Things before beware lest ye also being led away with the Error of the Wicked fall from your own stedfastness But grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ To him be Glory both now and for ever Amen A SERMON ON LUKE XII 15. And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth AMong all the irregular Appetites of Men there is none that is more common and unreasonable and of a more Universal bad Influence upon the Hearts and Lives of Men than this of Covetousness and therefore in speaking of this Vice I shall strike at the Root of a great many others even of Apostacy from God's Truth and Religion of which Covetousness and the Love of this present World is one of the most common Causes So that if I can contribute any thing to the Cure of this great Distemper of Mens Minds I shall in so doing remove that which is the Cause and Occasion of a great part of the Evils and Mischiefs which are in the World And to this end I have pitched upon these Words of our Blessed Saviour to his Hearers And he said unto them Take heed and beware of Covetousness for a Man's Life consisteth not in the abundance of the Things which he possesseth In Which Words are these Threâ— Things Observable First The Manner of the Caution which our Saviour here gives Take heed and beware he doubles it to shew the great Need and Concernment of it Secondly The Matter of the Caution or the Vice which our
a Divine Nature First We will consider the Promises which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises And because the chief Promises of the Gospel are here intended I shall take occasion from this Text to handle the Doctrine of the Promises which is frequently discours'd of in Divinity but not always so clearly stated And to this purpose it will be proper to take into Consideration these four things 1. What the Promises are which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us Promises 2. Why they are said to be so great and precious exceeding great and precious Promises 3. We will Consider the Tenour of these Promises 4. When Men are said to have a right to them so as they may apply them to themselves These four Heads will comprehend what I have to say upon this Argument 1. What the Promises are which the Apostle here speaks of whereby are given unto us Promises And no doubt the Apostle here intends those great and excellent Promises which Christ hath made to us in the Gospel So that to satisfie our selves in this enquiry we need only to consider what are the Principal Promises of the Gospel Now the great Promises of the Gospel are these three 1. The Promise of the free Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance 2. The Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience 3. The Promise of Eternal Life to Reward it 1. The Promise of the Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance The Gospel hath made full and clear Promises to this Purpose that if we believe the Gospel and will forsake our Sins and amend our wicked Lives all that is past shall be forgiven us and that Christ died for this end to obtain for us Remission of Sins in his Blood The light of Nature upon consideration of the Mercy and goodness of God gave Men good hopes that upon their Repentance God would forgive their sins and turn away his wrath from them But Mankind was doubtful of this and therefore they used expiatory Sacrifices to appease the offended Deity The Jewish Religion allowed of no Expiation but for legal impurities and involuntary transgressions such as proceeded from ignorance and inadvertency but not for Sins of Presumption and such as were committed with an bigh hand If Men sin'd wilfully there was no Sacrifice appointed by the Law for such Sins But the Grace of the Gospel justifies us from the greatest Sins upon our Faith and sincere Repentance So St. Paul tells the Jews Acts 13. 38 39. Be it known â—nto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses There was no general Promise of Pardon nor way of Expiation under the Law perfect Remission of Sins is clearly revealed and ascertain'd to us only by the Gospel 2. Another great Promise of the Gospel is the Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience Our Blessed Saviour hath promised that our Heavenly Father will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him 'T is true indeed there was a peculiar Promise of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles and Christians of the first Ages which is not now to be expected namely an Extraordinary and Miraculous Power whereby they were qualified to publish the Gospel to the World and to give Confirmation to it But now that the Christian Religion is propagated and setled in the World the great End and Use of these Miraculous Gifts is ceased but yet the Spirit of God doth still concur with the Gospel and work upon the Minds of Men to excite and assist them to that which is good And tho' this Operation be very secret so as we cannot give an account of the manner of it yet the effects of it are very sensible and this influence of God's Holy Spirit is common to all Christians in all Ages of the World This Proposition is Universally true and in all Ages and Times If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his It must be acknowledged that the Spirit doth not now work upon Men in that sudden and sensible manner as it did in the first times of Christianity because then Men were strongly possest with the prejudices of other Religions which they had been brought up in and therefore as more outward means of Conviction were then necessary so likewise a more powerful internal Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to Conquer and bear down those prejudices and to subdue them to the Obedience of Faith But now the Principles of Religion and Goodness are more gradually instilled into the Minds of Men by the gentle degrees of Pious Instruction and Education and with these means the Spirit of God concurrs in a more Humane way which is more suited and accommodated to our Reason and offers less violence to the Nature of Men. So that this Promise of God's Holy Spirit is now made good to us as the Necessity and Circumstances of our present State do require God does not use such extraordinary Means for the producing of those Effects which may be accomplish'd in a more ordinary way The assistance of God's Holy Spirit is still necessary to Men to encline and enable them to that which is good but not in that manner and degree that it was necessary at first Because the prejudices against Christianity are not now so great and many of those Advantages which were necessarily wanting at first are now supplied in an ordinary way and therefore it is not reasonable now to expect the same extraordinary operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men which we read of in the first beginnings of Christianity 3. There is likewise the Promise of Eternal Life to Reward and Crown our Obedience And this the Scripture speaks of as the great Promise of the Gospel 1 Job 2. 25. This is the promise which he hath promised us even Eternal Life And upon this account the new Covenant of the Gospel is preferred before the old Covenant of the Law because it is establish'd upon better Promises All the Special and Particular Promises of the Law were of Temporal good things and these were the great Encouragements that were given to Obedience under that imimperfect Dispensation but now Godliness hath not only the Promise of the Life that now is but of that which is to come as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 4. 8. The Gospel hath clearly revealed to us a happy State of Immortality after this Life of which Men had but very obscure and doubtful apprehensions So the same Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 1. 10. That it is now made manifest by the appearance of our Saviour Jâ—sus Christ who hath abâ—lisbed Death and hath brought Life and Immortality
to light through the Gospel Holy Men had good hopes of it before but they had no sure distinct apprehensions of it no such full assurance concerning it no such clear and express Promises of it as the Gospel hath given us Thus you see what those great Promises are which the Gospel hath given us namely the Promise of the Free Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance the Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience and the Promise of Eternal Life and Happiness to Reward it These are the three Eminent Promises of the Gospel and in all probability those which the Apostle here calls great and precious Promises which brings me to the Second Thing which I propounded to Consider namely why they are said to be exceeding great and precious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest and the most valuable Promises And to satisfie us that they are such the very Consideration of the Bâ—essings and Benefits that they carry in them will be sufficient If we Consider the Condition that Mankind was in when God was pleased to make these gracious Declarations to us we shall see great Reason to set a high value upon every one of these Promises Mankind was extreamly degenerated all Flesh had corrupted its ways and the whole World was guilty before God and liable to all that Misery which the Sinner had reason to apprehend from the incensed Justice of the Almighty We had forfeited that Happiness to which our Immortal Nature was designed and which made our Condition more sad we were without strength to recover our selves out of it by our Repentance for what was past if God would have accepted of it and by our Future Obedience Now the Promises of the Gospel offer Relief to us in all these Respects and thereby obviate all the difficulties and disâ—ouragements which Mankind lay under The gracious Promise of Pardon frees us from guilt and sâ—cures us from the terrible wrath of God which our guilty Consciences did so much dread and without this Promise Mankind would have been under the greatest doubts and discouragements For when Men are afraid their Sins are greater than will be forgiven them they are apt to fall into Despair and Despair is an effectual bar to Repentance for when Men think their Condition is desperate they care not what they do And the Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist and enable us to do our Duty does fully answer all the Discouragements and Objections from our own weakness and the power of temptation We may do all things through Christ strengthning us and how weak soever we are of our selves we are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might If God be for us who or what can stand against us The Devil is a very powerful Enemy and much too strong for Flesh and Blood to Encounter in its own strength but there is another Principle in the World which is Mightier and more Powerful than he the Holy Spirit of God who is always ready to help when we do not repulse and refuse his assistance Greâ—ter is he that is in you than he that is in the World says the Apostle 1 Joh. 4. 4. The Spirit of God dwellâ— in all those who are willing to admit him and is ever ready to assist those who comply with his blessed Motions and do vigorously put forth their own endeavours And then the Promise of Eternal Life that answers all the difficulties of our Obedâ—ence and sets us above any thing that the World can threaten us withal for our Constancy to God and his Trâ—th A Wise Man will be content to suffer any thing or to quit any thing upon terms of far greater advantage And what greater Consideration can be offered to encourage our Constancy and Obedience than an Eternity of Happiness So that the Apostle had Reason to call these exceeding great and valuable Promises so valuable that if any one of them had been wanting our Redemption and Recovery had either been absolutely impossible or extreamly difficult I proceed to the Third thing I propounded which was to consider the Tenour of these Promises that is whether God have made them absolutely to us without requiring any thing to be done on our part oâ— upon certain Terms and Conditions to be performed by us That God may if he please make an Absolute Promise of any Blessing or Benefit to us there is no doubt and that God's grace does prevent many and is beforehand with them is as little to be doubted the Spirit of God goes along with the Gospel moving and inclining Men to yield Obedience to it many times before any inclination and disposition thereto on their parts But as to this Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit the great question is not about the first motion of it but the continuance of this assistance and the encrease of it and this I think may safely be affirmed is promised only Conditionally as also the Pardon of Sin and Eternal Life And concerning each of these the Matter may quickly be decided by plain Texts of Scripture Concerning the Promise of the grace and assistance of God's Holy Spirit the Scripture takes notice of two Conditions First that we beg it earnestly of God And this our Saviour expresseth by asking seeking and knocking which signifies the importunity of our Requests Our Heavenly Father will give his Holy Spirit to them that thus ask it And then Secondly That we improve and make use of the grace which God affords us To him that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he seems to have That is as appears plainly from the scope of the Parable to him that useth that grace and those advantages which God affords him more shall be given but from him that makes no use of them and therefore is as if he had them not shall be taken away that which he but seems to have because he makes no use of it Concerning the Pardon of Sins The Scripture plainly suspends that upon the general Condition of Repentance and the change of our Lives Repent that your Sins may be forgiven you And upon the Condition of our forgiving others If ye forgive Men their Trespasses then will your Heavenly Father also forgive you but if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses says our Saviour Mat. 6. 14 15. And then the Promise of Eternal Life is every where in Scripture suspended upon the Condition of Faith and Repentance and Perseverance in well doing He that believes says our Saviour shall be saved which indeed implies the whole Condition of the Gospel He that Believes that is he that effectually assents to the Doctrine of Christ and is so perswaded of the truth of it as to live according to it shall be saved But if Obedience were not included in the Scripture Notion of Faith yet the Scripture
us and when Men find the Condition in themselves they will without any great perswasion take Comfort from the Promise and apply it to themselves but till they discern the Condition in themselves it is impossible for a Man that understands himself to apply the Promise to himself for till the Condition be performed he hath no more right to the Promise than if such a Promise had never been made And 't is so far from being a Sin in such a Man to doubt of the benefit of such a Promise that it is his Duty to do so and no Man that understands himself and the Promises of God can possibly do otherwise Therefore 't is a vain and groundless trouble which perplexeth many People that they cannot apply the Promises of God to themselves whereas the true ground of their trouble should be this that they have not been careful to perform the Condition of those Promises which they would apply to themselves the other is an endless trouble let them but look to the Condition and the Promise will apply it self I speak all this on purpose to free Men from those perplexities wherewith many have entangled themselves by false apprehensions of the Promises of God either as if they were not made to us upon certain Conditions to be performed by us or as if any Man could comfortably apply them to himself before he hath performed those Conditions upon which God hath made such Promises For if Men will believe that which is not true or expect things upon such terms as they are not to be had they may trouble themselves Eternally and all the World cannot help it I have now done with the First thing I propounded to speak to namely the Promises which are here spoken of The Second thing viz. what Influence these Promises ought to have upon us that by them we may be made Partakers of a Divine Nature I shall reserve to another Opportunity The Second SERMON ON 2 PETER I. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature I Made entrance into these words the last Day in the handling whereof I proposed to do these two things First To consider the Promises here spoken of Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises Secondly The Influence which these Promises ought to have upon us that by these ye might be partakers of a Divine Nature The first of these I have done with and proceed now to the Second viz. The Influence which these Promises ought to have upon us Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye might be partakers of a Divine Nature Not that we can partake of the Essence and Nature of God as some have blasphemously affirmed pretending in their canting and senseless Language to be Godded with God and Christed with Christ In this sense it is impossible for us to partake of the Divine Nature for this would be for Men to become Gods and to be advanced to the State and Perfection of the Deity But the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth frequently in Scripture signifie a temper and disposition and to be partakers of a Divine Nature is to be of a Divine Temper and Disposition to have our Corrupt Natures rectified and purged from all sinful Lusts and irregular Passions and from all Vicious and Corrupt Affections and therefore it follows in the Text having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust and besides this giving all diligence add to your Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly-kindness and to Brotherly-kindness Charity So that we are made partakers of a Divine Nature as the Apostle here explains it these two ways by cleansing our selves from the Lusts of the Flesh which the Apostle here calls the corruption or defilement which is in the World through Lust and by a diligent endeavour after all Christian Graces and Virtues Faith and Temperance and Patience a sincere love of the Brethren and an Universal Charity and good-will towards all Men. And that this is the proper influence and efficacy of the great Promises of the Gospel upon the hearts and lives of Men the Apostle St. Paul fully declares to us 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having thâ—refore these Promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit that is from the lusts of the Flesh and of uncleanness and from all evil and corrupt affections of the Mind such as Wrath Envy Malice Hatred Strife Revenge Cruelty Pride and the like perfecting holiness in the fear of God that is continually aspiring still more and more after further degrees of Holiness and Virtue and goodness which are the great Perfections of the Divine Nature And thus by a constant and sincere endeavour to cleanse our selves from all impurity of Flesh and Spirit and by practising all the Virtues of a good Life we shall by degrees raise and advance our selves to a Godlike temper and disposition imitating in all our Actions the Goodness and Mercy and Patience and Truth and Faithfulness of God and all those other Perfections of the Divine Nature which are comprehended undâ—r the term of Holiness This is that which the Apostle here calls partaking of a Divine Nature or as our Blessed Saviour expresseth it to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect This the Gospel designs to raise us to and one of the great Instruments whereby this is effected are those exceeding great and precious Promises which I have insisted upon And they are capable of effecting it these two ways First By way of internal Efficacy and Assistance and Secondly By way of external Motive and Argument Both these ways some or other of these Promises have a mighty influence upon us if we be not wanting to our selves to raise us to a Godlike temper and disposition that is to the greatest perfection of Virtue and Goodness which we are capable of in this Life First By way of internal Efficacy and Assistance And this influence the Promise of God's Holy Spirit and of the gracious help and assistance thereof hath upon the Minds of Men inclining them to that which is good and enabling them to do it For the Holy Spirit is promised to us in consideration and commiseration of that impotency and weakness which we have contracted in that degenerate and depraved Condition into which Mankind is sunk to help us who are without strength to recover our selves out of that evil and miserable state into which by wilful transgression we are fallen to quicken us who are dead in Trespasses and Sins as the Scripture expresseth the Condition of unregenerate Persons to raise â—s to a new Life and to cherish this Principle of Spiritual Life which is commonly weak at first and to carry it through alldiscouragements and oppositions to
excite us continually to our Duty and to enable us to the most difficult parts of Obedience such as are most contrary to our natural inclinations and against the grain of flesh and blood to bear down the strength of Sin and Temptation and in all our Conflicts with the World and the Flesh the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness to make us victorious over them and in a word to be a Principle within us more mighty and powerful than the Lusts and Inclinations of our evil Hearts than the most obstinate and inveterate habits of Sin and Vice and than all the Temptations and Terrors of sense So that if we will make use of this assistance and lay hold of this strength which God affords us in the Gospel and as the Apostle expresseth it be workers together with God we need not despair of Victory and Success for our strength will continually encrease and the force and violence of our Lusts will be abated God will give us more grace and we shall walk from strength to strength and our path will be as Solomon says of the way of the Righteous as the light which shines more and more unto the perfect day For the Holy Spirit of God conducts and manageth this great work of our Sanctification and Salvation from first to last by opening our Hearts to let in the light of Divine Truth upon our Minds by representing to us with advantage such Arguments and Considerations as are apt to perswade us to embrace it and yield to it by secret and gentle reprehensions softning our hard hearts and bâ—nding our stiff and stubborn Wills to a compliance with the Will of God and our Duty And this is that great Work which the Scripture calls our Regeneration and Sanctification the turning us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God a new Creation and a Resurrection from the Death of Sin to the Life of Holiness And then by leading and directing us in the ways of Holiness and Obedience by quickning our Devotion and stirring up in us Holy Desires and Dispositions of Soul rendring us fit to draw near to God in Prayer with a due sense of our own wants and unworthiness and an humble Confidence in the goodness of God that he will grant us those good things that we ask of him in supporting and comforting us in all our Afflictions and Sufferings especially for Truth and Righteousness sake and by Sealing and Confirming to us the Blessed Hopes of Eternal Life Thus the Spirit of God carries on the Work of our Sanctification and makes us Partakers of a Divine Nature by way of inward efficacy and assistance Secondly The Promises of the Gospel are apt likewise to have a mighty influence upon us by way of Motive and Argument to engage and encourage us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God For First A full Pardon and Indemnity for what is past is a mighty encouragement for us to return to our Duty and a forcible Argument to keep us to it for the future For since God who hath been so highly injured and affronted by us is so willing and ready to forgive us as not only to provide and purchase for us the Means of our Pardon by the grievous Sufferings of his dear Son but to offer it so freely and invite us so earnestly to accept of it and to be reconciled to him the Consideration of this ought in all Reason Ingenuity and Gratitude to melt us into Sorrow and Repentance for our Sins and a deep sense of the evil of them and to enflame our hearts with a mighty love to God and our blessed Redeemer who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood And to make us extreamly unwilling nay most firmly resolved never more to offend that merciful and gracious God who is so slow to punish and so forward to forgive and effectually to engage us to a dutiful and constant and cheaâ—ful Obedience to God's holy Laws and Commandments lest by our wilful transgression and violation of them we should run our selves into a deeper guilt and aggravate our Condemnation Now that by the tender Mercies of our God we are made whole we should be infinitely afraid to sin any more lest worse things come to us lest we relapse into a more incurable state and bring a heavier load of guilt and misery upon our selves Secondly The Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit is likewise a very powerful Argument and Encouragement to Holiness and Goodness engaging us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that our Souls and Minds may be a fit Temple for the Holy Ghost which will not dwell in an impure Soul And likewise Encouraging us hereto by this Consideration that we have so unerring a Guide to Counsel and Direct us so Powerful an Assistant to strengthen us with all might in the Inner Man to stand by us in all our Conflicts with Sin and Satan and to make us as the Apostle expresseth it more than Conquerours over all our Spiritual Enemies For tho' we be weak and our Lusts strong our Enemies many and Temptations mighty and violent yet we need not be disheartned so long as we know that God is with us and the Grace of his Holy Spirit sufficient for us against all the strength of Sin and Hell tho' our Duty be hard and our strength small yet we cannot fail of success if we be sure that the Omnipotent grace of God is always ready to second our sincere tho' never so weak Endeavours So that when we see all the Enemies of our Salvation drawn up in array against us we may encourage our selves as the Prophet Elisha did his Servant when he told him that an Host compassed the City with Horses and Chariots and said Alas my Master how shall we do And he answered fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them 2 King 6. 16. Or as Hezekiah Comforted the People when they were afraid of the mighty force of the King of Assyria 2 Chron. 32. 7 8. Be strong and couragious be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria nor for all the multitude that is with him For there be more with us than with him With him is an arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight for us This is the Case of every Christian the force that is against us is finite and limited but the Almighty God is on our side and fights for us and every one of us may say with St. Paul Philip. 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me Thirdly The Promise of Eternal Life and Happiness if duly weighed and considered hath a mighty force in it to take us off from the Love and Practice of Sin and to encourage our Obedience and patient continuance
in well-doing The assurance of enjoying unspeakable and endless Happiness in another World and of escaping extream and eternal Misery is a Consideration of that weight as one would think could not fail of its efficacy upon us to put all temptations to Sin out of countenance and to bear down before us all the difficulties and discouragements in the way of our Duty And if this make no impression upon us if Heaven and Hell be of no weight with us it will be in vain to use any other Arguments which in Comparison of this are but as the very small dust upon the balance For if on the one hand the hopes of perfect Comfort and Joy and Felicity perpetual in duration and vast beyond all imagination such as â—ye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath entred into the heart of Man to conceive And if on the other hand the dread of the terrible wrath of God and of the vengance of Eternal Fire together with the insupportable torments of a guilty Conscience and the perpetual stings of bitter remorse and anguish for the wilful folly of our wicked Lives and the rage of horrible despair of ever getting out of so miserable a State If neither of these Considerations if both of them will not prevail upon us to cease to be evil and to resolve to be good that we may obtain one of these Conditions and may escape the other there is no hope that any words that can be used any Arguments and Considerations that can be offered should work upon us or take place with us He that is not to be tempted by such hopes nor to be terrified by such fears is proof against all the force of perswasion in the World And thus I have done with the two things which I proposed to consider from these words the Nature of these Promises and the Influence they are apt and ought to have upon us to raise us to the perfection of Virtue and Goodness which the Apostle here calls our being Partakers of a Divine Nature All that now remains is to make some useful Reflections upon what hath been discoursed upon these two Heads First of all If we expect the Blessings and Benefits of these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel we must be careful to perform the Conditions which are indispensably required on our parts It is a great mistake and of very pernicious consequence to the Souls of Men to imagine that the Gospel is all Promises on God's part and that our part is only to believe them and to rely upon God for the performance of them and to be very confident that he will make them good tho' we do nothing else but only believe that he will do so That the Christian Religion is only a Declaration of God's good will to us without any expectation of Duty from us this is an Error which one could hardly think could ever enter into any who have the liberty to read the Bible and do attend to what they read and find there The Three great Promises of the Gospel are all very expresly contain'd in our Saviour's first Sermon upon the Mount There we find the Promise of Blessedness often repeated but never absolutely made but upon Certain Conditions and plainly required on our parts As Repentance Humility Righteousness Mercy Peaceableness Meekness Patience Forgiveness of Sins is likewise Promised but only to those that make a Penitent acknowledgment of them and ask Forgiveness for them and are ready to grant that Forgiveness to others which they beg of God for themselves The gift of God's Holy Spirit is likewise there Promised but it is upon Condition of our earnest and importunate Prayer to God The Gospel is every where full of Precepts enjoyning Duty and Obedience on our part as well as of Promises on God's part assuring Blessings to us nay of terrible threatnings also if we disobey the Precepts of the Gospel St. Paul gives us the summ of the Gospel in very few and plain words declaring upon what terms we may expect that Salvation which the Gospel offers to all Men Tit. 2. 11 12 13 14. The grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purisie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good works And then he adds These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority Intimating that tho' Men were very averse to this Doctrine it ought to be inculcated with great Authority and Earnestness and those who opposed and despised it to be severely rebuked And with great Reason because the contrary Doctrine does most effectually undermine and defeat the whole Design of the Christian Religion Secondly From hence we learn that if the Promises of the Gospel have not this effect upon us to make us Partakers of a Divine Nature it is our own fault and because we are wanting to our selves God is always ready to do his part if we do not fail in ours There is a Divine Power and Efficacy goes along with the Gospel to make way for the entertainment of it in the hearts of Men where they put no bar and obstacle to it But if Men will resist the Motions of God's Blessed Spirit and quench the light of it and obstinately hold out against the force of Truth God will withdraw his Grace and Holy Spirit from them The Gospel would raise us to the perfection of all virtue and goodness and the Promises of it are admirably fitted to relieve the infirmities and weakness of Humane Nature and to renew us after the Image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness to take us off from Sin and Vice and to allure us to Goodness and to assist and encourage us in the practice of it But if we will not comply with the gracious Design of God in the Gospel and suffer these Promises to have their due influence and efficacy upon us we wilfully deprive our selves of all the Blessings and Benefits of it we reject the Counsel of God against our selves and receive the Grace of God in vain and and by rejecting and despising his Promises we provoke him to execute his Threatnings upon us Thirdly and Lastly If the Promises of the Christian Religion are apt in their own Nature to work this great effect upon us to make us like to God and to bring us to so near a resemblance of the Divine Perfections to make us Good and Just and Merciful and Patient and Holy in all manner of Conversation to purge us from our Iniquities and to make us a Peculiar and Excellent People zealous of good works I say if this be the proper tendency of the Gospel and the Promises of it how doth this