frequent experiences of his goodness and yet has greater things in reserve to bestow what is it that he requires of thee as a grateful return for all these benefits but that thou do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God consider then who it is that requires these things of you and how reasonable and equitable is it that we should answer His requirements in the most punctual manner Especially if we add 3. The last consideration that the Lord who hath required these things hath shewed and made known the same has promulg'd and declared his will very plainly and expressly in these things to the understanding and capacity of all persons He hath shewed thee Oh man what is good and what the Lord doth require of thee He requires nothing of thee but what He has shewed thee These things are common to man as man and therefore requir'd of every man He has spoke them to thy ear he has made them visible to thy Eye they are such things as do approve themselves to thy Rational Faculties These are not Mysteries but plain discoveries of the mind and will of God He has set thy duty in a clear light which whosoever attends unto may attain to the understanding of it He hath shewed thee Oh man Partly by the Light of Nature that some of these things at least as to do justly and to Love mercy are pleasing and acceptable to him He has ingrav'd them upon thy very Heart so that reflecting upon the Original principles of thy Nature and by conversing with thy self asking thy Conscience questions and harkning to the Answers and dictates of it this thou mayst know and understand that to do justly is good and injustice is evil to love mercy is pleasing to God and the contrary to it as displeasing to him Did the Heathens of old and do they still at this day know it and art thou a stranger to it Read what is said of them Rom. 2.14 15. the Gentiles which have not the written Law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the Law are a law unto themselves which shews the work of the Law written in their hearts But principally He hath shewed it thee by the light of his Word that contains a more explicite and full Revelation of man's duty All the lines of it are there drawn at length all the particulars of it clearly stated If thou goest to the Law and to the Testimony thou may'st have a sufficient direction how to act in all thy concerns how to order thy steps in every path what it is God requires of thee every day in every place and in every condition what thy duty towards God and what thy duty towards man is And what cause have we to adore the goodness of God that has furnish'd us with such a clear light to direct us in our walking with him that we have not only a Law light but a Gospel-light that shines so brightly Jesus Christ is come a light into the World He hath reveal'd God unto us He is the way the truth and the life that both by his Preaching and by his Example has opened the mind of God to us and He that followeth Him shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life And because God hath shewed it unto thee thou art inexcusable oh man who livest in the neglect or contempt of these requirements of His. Thou canst not plead ignorance or say when thou dost an unjust action that thou didst not know better or be unmerciful and say thou didst not know it to be a fault or be proud and disobedient against God and ask what evil there is in 't oh take heed that thou dost not sin against Light and Knowledge for to him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is sin sin with an aggravation that will be attended with a sorer punishment on them that are guilty of it even to be beaten with many stripes So much for the confirmation of the Doctrine that which follows is The APPLICATION 1. This Doctrine yields at all times a useful but on this day a very seasonable caution to us to take heed that we rest not in mere outward duties of Worship as if that were all that God required and as it is to be feared many persons do to the deceiving of themselves They are very exact very frequent and very punctual in these things but guilty of a woful neglect of the moral duties of Religion and so are but partial and consequently unsincere in their obedience Let us take heed that we deceive not our selves in the same way If we halve it with God in the matter of our duty He will cut us short in the matter of his mercy What if such a Religion should obtain a temporal reward 't is insufficient to evidence a real interest in the saving love of God There is no doubt but God has requir'd these things of us All the true methods means and ways of Worship are of God's appointment Praying and Hearing and Fasting are his Ordinances but he never intended that we should rest in these and go no further To do this and no more to attend unto these and neglect other things is a Badge of loathsom Hypocrisie in the sight of God and branded in Scripture as the guise of an unsound Heart Hypocrites and unsound Professors know they must do something in Religion Something they would do to appease God when He is Angry something to continue His favour when Providence is easie and comfortable to them something to keep up a Credit and Reputation with others for Religion and something to quiet the importunities of their own Conscience but then they resolve to do as little as they can and because a slight and heedless performance of the Worship of God is the easiest part of Religion and most consistent with their unmortified lusts they pitch upon this course 'T is indeed much easier to confess a hundred sins than to forsake one 't is easier to spend a whole day in publick Worship than to deny the enticement of a Lust or to withstand a Temptation when it opportunely presents because the one is only the labour of the body the other requires the exercise of the Soul the one may be a weariness to the Flesh but the other is cross and opposite to the beloved interests of it and carnal Hearts may make shift to brook the one tho' they cannot bear the other A little outward Pennance and Mortification of the body they can undergo but a true Repentance of sin that consists in deserting the practice and mortifying the principle of sin is utterly distasteful to them Oh then as we would acquit our selves of the charge and guilt of Hypocrisie let us take heed of resting in the outward duties of Worship Tho' your Eyes be lifted up to Heaven if your affections be fix'd upon Earthly objects tho you bow
The Right Way OF Seeking God A SERMON Preach'd at Great Yarmouth On the 11th of May 1692. Being the Day of the Monthly Fast By James Hannott Minister of the Gospel there 1 Cor. Xv. 10. Yet not I but the Grace of God LONDON Printed by Tho. Snowden for Edward Giles Bookseller in Norwich near the Market-place 1692. To my worthy Friends Inhabitants of the Town of Great Yarmouth who frequent that Religious Assembly I relate unto Beloved in our Lord THE Design of the following Sermon is to give the true Notion tho not a perfect Description of a Religious Fast The frequent Return of these Days I have fear'd should occasion our degenerating into a Formal and meet Customary Observance of the Externals of them To prevent this and more fully to explicate and press the Duty of a East-day my thoughts were exercis'd upon this Subject And when the Discourse had serv'd you in this it was laid up among its fellows it being no part of my intention in either the Composing or Preaching of it that it should be more publick And there it had still continued if the joynt Request of several of you had not oblig'd me to deliver it into your hands I question not but it was a holy zeal for the Divine Truths insisted on your regard to the practice of Righteousness your love of Mercy and desire to walk humbly with God from whence your importunity did proceed accompany'd with a hope that the same things might be promoted in others which is so good an End that if it may in any measure be attained I shall have no cause to Repent of my compliance with you in it The Lord grant it may be so to whose blessing for that purpose I now commit it And for you my Heart's desire and Prayer is that ye may stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless I am Your Obliged and Affectionate Servant in the Gospel J. H. Yarmouth June 16. 1692. The right way of seeking God Micah VI. 8. He hath shewed thee oh man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God THese words are the Prophet's answer to a sollicitous question that the Jews did propound unto him To understand the design and pertinency of the Answer 't will be needful we reflect upon the Question and also the occasion of it The Lord had a controversie with his People and said that he would plead with Israel And that that He charges them with was their Ingratitude and unthankfulness to Him for his many favours and benefits bestowed upon them Two of which as more signal He does particularly recount his delivering them from the Tyranny of Pharaoh in Egypt and his defending them from the Inchantments of Balaam in Moab And having such evidence to produce in his Cause He might well challenge them as He does ver 3. oh my People what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee q. d. what have I commanded you that you should count my service a Burden or wherein can you fault my conduct and providence towards you have I been unmindful of you or wanting to do you good if I have come forth and plead it and testifie against me But on the contrary does not the whole of my proceedings with you testifie for me Witness what I did for you in Egypt and what I did for you in the Wilderness you had to this day been a Captive People if I had not redeem'd you had not I defended you the Devil and his Agents had prevail'd to scatter and break you in pieces Remember oh my People these things my ancient loving kindness to your Fathers whose Mercies you inherit and have you any cause then to complain of my service can you mend your selves by changing your Lord oh house of Israel are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal This charge was so home and demonstrative that they had nothing to reply were convicted in their Conscience and justifie God they are made sensible that they had complain'd of Him without cause that they had falsely accus'd his Providence and by their unthankful and undutiful carriage towards God had highly provok'd his Anger against them and now that that they are most sollicitous about is how they may have the Lord pacify'd and reconcil'd to them Hereupon they move the Prophet with this Question Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God The Lord as if they had said we see is Angry with us as indeed he has just cause to be and we are afraid that his Judgments should break forth upon us as we have deser'vd they should oh What shall we do to avert them How shall we make our appearance before this high God or what shall we say unto him or who shall direct us what to do that we may get the Lord to be at peace with us My Text contains an Answer to this question only before the Prophet comes to that He represents this People as suggesting some methods to themselves which they thought might serve to attone the anger of God and to procure his favour towards them They inquire whether a punctual observance of the outward Institutions of God's Worship might not avail to that end and proffer to address themselves to him with burnt Offerings and Calves of a year old as the Law requir'd And if more than the ordinary Sacrifices were necessary in their Case they 'll spare no cost but profess they were willing to do more than indeed it was either possible or lawful for them to do Thousands of Rams they are ready to offer would ten thousand Rivers of Oil suffice could so many be procur'd they would pour them all out before Him and whereas nothing could be dearer to them than their Children and amongst them the first born yet if God would accept of the death of a Child they were willing to cause it to pass through the fire Provided that they might retain their sins their injustice unmercifulness and proud disobedience to the commands of God they will be as bountiful expensive and laborious in the externals of Worship as God would have them to be They will load his Altar with their Sacrifices provided they may still go on to load God with their sins they will devote all their substance to the Temple if they may be excus'd the dedicating themselves to God as a living and holy Sacrifice which is the true reasonable service They will pour out thousands of sighs and prayers to God Fast as often as He will confess sin as much as He would have them so that after they have confess'd it they may be allowed to return to the practice of it No no the Prophet tells them it is not your offerings your Rams your Rivers
was something that God required of Christ when He substituted himself in our Room to answer for our sins which was his dying for us so there is something that God Requires of us if we would have the benefit of the death of Christ The Gospel does not make void but establish the Law in its preceptive power Christ's dying for sin and our doing the will of God do very well consist For to this end He dyed and rose and revived that he might be the Lord both of the Dead and Living That as he dyed for sin so we should die to sin and have communion with him in his rising by our walking in newness of Life That which God required of Christ was obedience in a way of merit that which God requires of us is obedience in a way of duty Our obligation to obedience is not dissolved but inforced and heightn'd by the mediatory Obedience of our Lord Jesus To. do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God ever were and ever will be incumbent on the Reasonable creature and are those things that the Lord requires of them that would Seek him with acceptation and success This premis'd I now proceed to confirm the truth of the Proposition and the proof of it will depend upon shewing these two things 1. The insufficiency that there is in a bare performance of the duties of Religious Worship separate from the duties of justice mercy and humble walking with God to procure the favour of God to a People 2. The necessity that there is of such a People's attending to the practice of those things that are expressive of real holiness and Obedience to God in conjunction with the duties of God s worship in order to that end And first let us consider the insufficiency that there is in a bare performance of the duties of Religions worship separate from the duties of justice mercy and humble walking with God to procure the favour of God to a People to comprimise the difference between God and them to pacifie his Anger and to avert his judgments And because this People in the text talk'd so much of their burnt-Offerings their Calves and their Rams I shall to make this branch of the demonstration more plain and convincing present you with the judgment of God in his word concerning these things whilst this way of worship was in use and shew you of how little account with God these Sacrifices were when separated from the duties of justice mercy and humble Obedience The Ancient Sacrifices are to be considered two ways 1. as they were typical Representation of that real Sacrifice which our Lord Jesus Christ offered to God to make reconciliation for the sins of his offered to when through the enternal Spirit he offer'd himself to God Much of the Gospel as it was Reveal'd in that time was wrap'd up in those Sacrifices They did all refer to and prefigure him that was to come For whereas the holy and righteous Law of God had threatned Sin with Death it could not be reasonably supposed that the blood of Bulls and of goats should take away sin And therefor the Heathens to supply that defect having some natural or rather traditional knowledge of the necessiry of sacrifices to make Atonement for sin did conclude that nothing less than the Life of a Man offered in Sacrifice was sufficient to appease God But indeed this man is no other than the man Christ Jesus the Psalmist is brought in speaking to his Father to this purpose Heb. 10.5 When he cometh into the world he saith acrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me Or secondly they are to be considered as acts of Homage and Worship performed by that People to God and in which they generally rested in a neglect of the weightier matters or the Law And however they though to please God thereby we 〈…〉 testimonies in their own Scriptures which shew how highly God was displeased with them whilst they took up with these in the neglect of Judgment Mercy and Humble walking with God And I 'll begin with that Reproof the Prophet gave King Saul who bore himself much upon this business of sacrificing in the omission of a direct command of God wherein his obedience was concerned 1 Sam. 15.22 Samuel said Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams It do's appear by the preceding part of this history that God had sent Samuel to Saul with a command to destroy the Amalekites and that with a total destruction Man and Woman Infant and suckling Ox and Sheep Camel and Ass Saul applies himself to this work but did it negligently and in part only Agag the King he spares supposing it might be for his honour to make him a Prisoner of War to lead him in triumph Also the best of the Sheep and of the Oxen and of the Fattlings and of the Lambs he saves and his pretence for that was that these Fat Beasts would do well to serve God's Altar 't was not fit to slay them any where else What hath the Lord as great delight in sacrifices as in obedience This was the command of God that all of Amalek should be destroyed what meaneth then the bleeting of the Sheep and the Lowing of the Oxen which I hear Oh says he they are for sacrifices to Worship God with No the Prophet tells him God will accept of no such Worship as is besides his command and is founded in a contempt of that To obey is better pleases God more than Sacrifice Better thou hadst throughly obeyed the command of God tho' there had not been a Ram left in the Universe to be offer'd in Sacrifice My second proof for this I take from the 50th Psalm at the seventh verse we find the Lord addressing himself to that people thus Hear oh my People and I will speak oh Israel and I will testifie against thee God had something to speak to them and something to tesitifie against them That which he had to say to them is at ver 8. I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings continually before me It seems they were so punctual in their Sacrifices they would not rob God of a Lamb nor fail him of an hour their burnt offerings were continually before him So that he would not tax them for any remissness or deficiency that way But tho' He would not reprove them for their Sacrifices he would reprove them for their sins and that to purpose asking them what they had to do to declare his statutes or take his Covenant in their Mouth seeing they hated instruction and cast his words behind them Come says God you load my Altar with your sacrifices but at the same time you make me to serve with your sins You are
your knee before God if your Hearts do Rebel against Him if you acknowledge your transgression but do still retain and practise it if you make many Prayers but don't endeavour to live answerably to 'em if you vow and promise to lead a new life but as soon as you go from this place forget what you have been doing What is all this but a mere mockery And be not deceived God is not mocked This part of the Worship of God that we are now ingaged in is no doubt a very necessary duty incumbent upon us God has commanded it and special providences call us to it Who does not see what need there is of Fasting of Prayer and Humbling our selves before the Lord But Remember this is but one part of what God requires of you The true Fast does not consist in a bare observance of those things that outwardly relate to such a day A man may be very Formal in them forbear all servile work put on meaner apparel attend the publick duties of God's House and outwardly seem to be very submiss and serious therein and yet if this be all God does disown such a Fast from being the day that he has chosen and appointed Isa 58.5 Is it such a Fast that I have chosen A day for a man to afflict his Soul Is it to how down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day unto the Lord No this is not the day that God has chosen And yet this is the only Fast that many keep that is fill'd up with corporal gestures and performances What then is the Fast that God has chosen He himself describes it in the following verses to loose the bands of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free to deal thy bread to the hungry to bring the poor that are cast out to thy house to cover the naked and hide not thy self from thy own flesh i. e. turn not away from relieving thy poor Brother This is the true Fast the Fast that God has chosen to break off from our sins and to do justly and to love mercy And Oh that this may be the Fast that we may keep a day that God may accept and accept us in it we seem to be sensible that the Just and Righteous God has a controversy with this Nation that He is come forth to plead with England We have like the Jews been unthankful for mercies do soon forget our wonderful deliverances and refuse to be reform'd by the various methods God has us'd with us to that end and now we think God is Angry with us and we fly to these duties of Fasting and Prayer and hope these will appease God and is this all that we will do God will upbraid us with such Fasts soon grow weary of them and break in through such Fasts with his judgments upon us He looks for more he requires more and more than this we must do if we would prevail with God and obtain a blessing from Him and that now leads me to the 2d Use I would make of this truth to Exhort and ers uad e you to come up to the full duty of this day in the several branches that grow upon the text to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God which are all of them such things as all that profess the name of our Lord Jesus should labour to be very exact in 1. Do justly Let justice and righteousness regulate your dealings with Men and be expressed in all your concerns with them The best description of of justice that branch of it that is called commutative is that which our Lord and Saviour has ven of it Mat. 7.12 whatsoever things ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them i. e. so deal with others as you would have them to deal with you if they were in your place and you in in theirs No man would have another to deal fraudulently and deceitfully with him to cheat and wrong and oppress him do you to others as you would have them to do to you Be as just in your word as true to your promise as exact in your dealings as you would have others to be This is the thing that is just and that this Justice God does require of you Appears by the reproof the Prophet gives the violaters of it in the words that follow the text Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked and the scant measure that is abominable shall I count them pure with the wicked balances and with the bag of deceitful weights These uneven balances deceitful weights and scant measures that are the Instruments of unrighteousness are hateful to God and tho' for a time they may serve a covetous humour and men may heap up treasures to themselves thereby yet there is a curse that attends such persons and a moth that will consume their riches those treasures of wickedness will not always continue in the house of the wicked To do justly is a thing that most persons know but too few make Conscience of but justice is a thing that must be done 'T is not enough to have the notion of it in our Mind but the practice of it must be in our hand To be just and not to do justly in our particular actions is a contradiction He that doth Righteousness is Righteous And that we may do so let us consider how pleasing and acceptable this is to God Prov. 21.3 to do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than Sacrifice Let us also consider what an Ornament it is to Christianity to do justly is to adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour Tit. 3.10 which does so strictly and frequently injoin the practice of Righteousness betwixt man and man And indeed what does Religion teach you if it does not teach you this piece of morality Further consider how necessary the practice of this Divine Vertue is to fit and qualifie you for converse and communion with God in his Ordinances so that when the Question was put of old Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill 'T is answered He that walketh uprightly and worketh Righteousness and speaketh the truth in his Heart He that back-biteth not with his tongue nor doth evil to his neighbour nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour Psal 15.1 2 3. And if this does not move some of us let such consider that the just God to whom vengeance does belong does very often execute his Righteous Judgments upon notorious and impenitent violaters of Justice 1 Thes 4.6 that no man go beyond and defraud his Brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such You are a trading People that I speak to and have dealings in the World I beseech you to consider