Soul can lie at his Foot and take the Law from his Mouth then will his Precepts be exceeding precious A Command that lies only on the Back is heavy ungrateful and the uneasie Soul waits but a fair opportunity to shake it off and the Flesh will never let it want such an opportunity but when it has got hold upon and firm footing in the Heart it meets with a Principle there suited to it The new Heart makes new Obedience pleasant Ezek. xxxvi 26 27. A new heart also will I give you and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them 3. A clear Experience of present strength to Obey with a firm belief of a future Reward will render Obedience pleasant There is not only present Strength felt and a future Reward expected but a prelibation of that future Reward too which contributes to this delight Psal. xix 11. In keeping of them there is great reward But when the holy Soul can live walk act in the hope of that eternal Salvation whereof Christ is the Author to all that obey him Heb. v. 9. When the Eye of Faith has got Moses his Perspective-Glass to behold him that is Invisiblâ—… and clearly see the Recompence of Reward this alleviates the Burdens counter-ballances the Inconveniencies overcomes the Difficulties which attend a close walking with God A future Reward produces a present Comfort the reward of Eternity influences the present time for Faith and Hope though they deal with what is absent distant future yet Administer present Joy present Strength because the Connexion between upright universal Obedience and the glory of that other World is close strong and inviolable Such are then the Precepts of the Gospel so excellent so glorious in themselves and to all who in a Consciencious course of holy Walking have proved and approved them and yet so shamefully have they been sullied violated and trodden under foot that the Question Recoils upon us at every turn How shall we vindicate them What must we do to restore them to their own inherent Glory In answer to which I will lay down these few and plain but necessary Directions 1. Direction Let the Universality of your Obedience convince the World that you make a Conscience of Obeying you will never satisfie others nor your selves nor the searcher of Hearts to Obey in any unless you Obey in All. He that will pick out one Duty where and when it may consist with the Interest of the Flesh and wave others because they will not comport with that Interest will never stop the Mouths of Men nor silence the Clamours of his own Conscience when it shall accuse him of partiality in God's Law Mal. ii 9. The Lawgiver has stampt the same Impressions of his Authority the same Characters of Holiness upon them all and he that can allow himself professedly and deliberately to break one is prepared to break them all when the Temptation shall press hard upon his Corrupt Heart Jam. ii 11. He that said do not commit Adultery said also do not kill This was the ground of the Psalmist's lifting up his Face with Confidence Psal. cxix 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments The Scribes and Pharisees were a sad instance of this Hypocrisie They would strain at a Gnat and yet could swallow a Camel They would be thought severe in Tything Mint Anise and Cumin and yet could neglect Mercy and Judgment those great and weighty matters of the Law Matth. xxiii 23. If we look upon them in Ceremonials the most straight-â—…aced and tâ—…nder Conscienced men in the whole World but when you view them in their Morals the most loose and dissolute nothing would choak them there John xviii 28. They would not go into the judgment hall lest they should be defiled but that they might keep the Passover And yet they were not so nice and squeamish but they could shed Innoâ—â—nt Blood and imbrue their Hands in that of the Messiah They would not touch a dead Body for a World yet scrupled not to murder a Man They would not eat with unwashen hands but had no regard to cleanse their Consciences The Apostle expostulates with the Judaizers Rom. ii 20. Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledge Thou that makest thy boast of the Law through breaking of the Law dishonourest thou God For the name of God is blasphemâ—…d among the Gentiles through you In a Word Nothing will buoy up the Repute of a drowning Religion till the Professors of it shall make it appear That they not only Obey the Precepts of the Gospel but that they carry a raâ—â—cated Principle in their Hearts that will not suffer them to disobey which Principle though it falls short of what God in strictness may expect yet must it come up to what he in Mercy will accept And this was the ground of the Apostles Considence Heb. xiii 18. Pray for us For we trust we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly 2. Direct Make it appear that you can and dare obey against all temptations oppositions and discouragements An unsound Man will walk smoothly on in smooth Ways but rugged Paths and a stiff Gale in his Face make him return Thus many will walk a Mile or two with Christ but when Persecution 〈◊〉 bâ—…cause of the Word they have always a reserve in their Bosoms and an evil Heart is an easie Casuist to dispense with Obedience upon slender Penance That Man who is under a Law in his own Conscience subject to the Authority of God that owns no Dispensation from Obedience nor Indulgence to sin is the Man that will Adorn the Precepts They that can shift their Sails as the Wind veres and use all the Points of the Compass to make their Point and whether the Gale blows from Hell or Heaven can serve themselves of it will never Credit his Religion The Providences of God are many and various the Precepts are uniform they vary not the wise God makes use of the former to Prove us in the latter Thus he led Israel through the wilderness Deut. viii 3. To prove them to know whether they would keep his Commandments or no. They had bread to the full to prove them whether they would Obey in Plenty Again they are reduced to Straits to try whether they would follow him in want The Proofs will lie here whether we can be content with Winter as well as Summer Work whether we will follow God in foul Weather as well as fair 3. Direction Let us be much in the Exercise of those Graces the Practice of those Duties which Men understand sincere Intentions good Meanings uprightness of Heart the acting of your Faith upon God come not within their Cognizance till you can shew and demonstrate your Faith by your Works Let your Faith justifie your Persons before God but till your Works shall
greater which was said of our own Mr. Perkins Primus Theologiam è coelis in Terras deduxit He was the first who amongst us reduced Doctrine to Application Speculation to Practice However that be most certain it is that every Truth Doctrine Proposition in the Gospel aims at the subduing of Sin in the Heart and of the Heart to God to make us better rather than wiser The design of the Scripture is not to Amuse and Puzzle us but to Reform and Sanctifie us not to Confound our Heads but to Conform our Hearts and Reform our Lives to the holiness of its Principles not to make us lose our Wits but to save our Souls But the truth of this will most clearly appear in some few instances 1. The Doctrine of God's Electing some out of the Mass of mankind from all eternity unto eternal Life is a Doctrine which swallows up our Reasons and we are lost in the depth of it here indeed Faith will swim but naked Reason unassisted by Revelation will certainly sink and drown in that vast Abyss for who is he that standing upon the Shoar of that unfathomable Gulph will not cry out with Apostle Rom. xi 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out And yet when this sublime Doctrine shall produce its effects in the calling home of Souls to God it comes cloathed with visible Grace and approves it self to our experience and terminates in practical godliness Eph. i. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in love As the Sun whose glory we cannot safely behold nor gaze upon in his meridian Lustre without endangering our Eyes yet we can comfortably view by Reflection So that Doctrine which would strike us blind in its direct and immediate Prospect Administers a sweet and sensible Consolation when it comes to take hold upon the Heart in effectual Calling Those curious Speculations which Men have spun out of their own Brains and woven into subtle Webs as the Spider her Nets out of her own Bowels are but Elaborate Nothings refin'd triffles we may know them and be never the better be ignorant of them and never the worse Only Gospel-Doctrines have this singular excellency that they bear hard upon the Corruption of the Heart to Mortifie it upon Pride to abase it and press vigorously upon the Conscience to purifie and pacifie it They are therefore styled in 1 Tim. vi 3. Wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wholesome in themselves and healing to the Soul such as being taken down into the Heart purge out the Corruption of depraved Nature and in a word it 's a Doctrine whose every line is drawn by the straight Rule of Holiness and centers in that one point of Godliness 2. The Doctrine of Redemption is another great instance of this Truth what more amazing than that God should send and give his Son and that the Son should give and offer up himself to Redeem lost self-lost Sinners to Redeem them by Price paid to God out of the hand of Justice to Redeem them by Power out of the hand of the Devil This would lead us back to the Covenant of Redemption between the eternal Father and the eternal Son when the Counsel of Peace was between them both Zech. vi 13. But here we may lose our selves and perhaps not find out God till we relieve our selves by such Scriptures as that Tit. ii 14. He gave himself for us to Redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Not only Redeeming us from Hell but Sin nor only to purchase but to purifie us to himself nor only to deliver us from the future but from this present evil World Gal. i. 4. Not only to rescue us out of the Devils power but out of our own and thus this Doctrine terminates in Godliness in Good Works for so the Apostle concludes his Discourse that he might purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works II. Another Peculiar Glory of the Doctrine of the Gospel is that it never more directly designs the advancement of a Sinner than when it abases him most and lays him lowest it suits indeed the Sinners Misery but always crosses his Lust Empties the Creature when it designs to fill it and humbles the proud Worm that it may exalt it the Gospel breaks first and then binds up Wounds that it may Heal and Condemns that it may Justifie It will make the Sinner plead Guilty before he be absolved It strips him Naked before it cloaths him and makes him know and see and feel himself the most beggarly Wretch in the World before it discovers the unsearchable riches of Christ. In a word it will convince us all that we are the most miserable undone lost things ' ere it Saves us And in this Point the Apostle has fully satisfied us 1 Cor. i. 29. 31. That the Method of the infinitely wise God isâ—…ues in this That no flesh might glory in his presence but he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. In Election God had no respect to Faith Works or the right use of Free-will foreseen that no flesh might glory in his presence the same Method he takes in justifying a Sinner That no flesh might glory in his presence so Rom. iii. 27. Where is boasting then It is excluded By what Law Of Works Nay but by the law of Faith There are two things upon which the haughty Creature would value it self It s own Righteousness it s own Strength and we may add a third it s own Wisdom upon these especially the proud Worm lifts up its Crest on high the gracious God has provided all these in his Covenant that the Sinner shall have Righteousness shall have Strength shall have Wisdom but none of his own but Gods First For Righteousness This is one of the strong Holds wherein the proud Flesh fortifies it self and goes about to establish his own righteousness Rom. x. 3. And this strong Hold God will dismantle and level it with the ground before he builds the House upon the impregnable Rock of his own righteousness i. e. that of Christ. Conviction of Sin and comparing our selves with the Holy Perfect Law of God will thoroughly effect this and then the Sinner stands upon other terms with God and his own Conscience you shall hear this stately proud Creature speaking in another Language when he comes to be distressed about his sin Mich. vi 6. Where-withal shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the most high God What perplexity is here between the necessity of coming and the hazard of coming I must come before the Lord either to be justified or judged I must come before
justifie your Faith before Men you will never be able to justifie your Religion and your Sincerity therein Never tell Men of your Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ unless you shew Repentance from dead Works they will not believe and this was St. Paul's Practice of Piety Acts xxiv 16. Herein do I exercise my self always to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men But because this is that Convincing Point which must if ever recover the Credit of Religion let me be allowed to prescribe some more general Rules for the right and comely ordering of our Conversation § 1. Be very zealous in Gods cause meek and yielding in your own Be content to lie at the Footstool that the honour of God may have the Throne I recommend to you the great Example of our Blessed Saviour he was a Lamb in his own Cause a Lion in his Fathers He that could be Scourged and not open his Mouth could open it in Holy Indignation and Scourge the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple He submitted to be called Beelzebub Impostor and whatever opprobrious Terms a Rancorous Heart could voâ—…it upon him but in the Cause of his God and Father 〈◊〉 could Lighten and Thunder and flash Fire in the Face of the most obdurate Conscience Be ye therefore followers of Christ who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered threatned not but committed himself and his cause to him that judgeth righteously 1 Pet. ii 23. And again Not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but contrariwise blessing knowing that ye are thereunto called that ye should inherit a blessing 1 Pet. iii. 9. § 2. Be strict and severe to your selves but very charitable towards others Concerning our brethren we have this Rule Rom. xiv 13. Let us not judge one another any more but concerning our selves we have this 1 Cor. xi 31. If we would judg our selves we should not be judged We are incompetent Judges of others because we know not upon what Principles our Brother may proceed we cannot take a just Measure of the Latitude of his Understanding by which he Governs himself there we ought to be sparing in our Censure but thou mayst know what is in thy own Heart and know more by thy self than either all the World knows by thee or thou knowest by all the World This has brought no little scandal upon Religion that the Professors of it have been sharp-sighted Abroad but blind at Home could see a Mote in their Brothers Eye and not the Beam in their own not duely considering that we who exact a few Pence from our Brother need the forgiveness of many Talents from our God Matth. xviii 24. § 3. Let us abridge our selves in the use of things which are in their own nature indifferent He that will go to the utmost length of his Tedder will easily break it It 's difficult to know where the lawful ends and the sinful begins He that will always go as far as he may go shall sometimes go further than he ought to go How much safer to keep an Ell within our limits than to go an Inch beyond Better do less than is lawful than what is sinful It 's an excellent Caution the Apostle prescribes Rom. xiv 16. Let not your good be evil spoken off The Glory of Christ the honour of our Holy Religion teach us to Retrench in what is merely lawful and still let us attend that Rule Rom. xiv 21. It 's good neither to eat flâ—…sh nor drink wine nor any thing whereby thy brâ—…ther stumbleth or is offendâ—…d or is made weak Three things thâ—… are included in this Canon 1. That we lay not a stumbling Block before our Brother to draw him into sin 2. That we provoke not his Passion to speak evil of the good ways of God 3. That we enfeeble not our Brother nor make him weak in his walking with God by an unseasonable use of our Christian Liberty 4. § Let your visible Righteousness towards Men be an inseparable Companion of your invisible righteousness before God With what Arguments will you persuade Men that you are Sincere and Upright in his sight if you cannot convince them that you are so in your Dealings with them So the Apostle Rom. xii 17. Provide things honest in the sight of all men I look upon that Man lost who has lost all regard to the judgment of others and doubly lost who has cast off all respect to the Judgment of his final Judg. § 5. Be Ambitious of a publick Spirit Express the Image of him who is Good and doth Good The Sun does not Monopolize his own Beams to his Disc or Orb but shines upon the Good and Bad. The Air incloseth not it self but lends breath in common to All. The Rain is not imprison'd in the Clouds but sheds fruitfulness on the Field of the Saint and Sinner the Ocean supplies the upper and the lower World with its Waters Let us then pray to be made partakers of the Promise given to Abraham Gen. xii 2. I will bless thee and make thee a Blessing Those little narrow Souls that make themselves their own Center and Circumference that dwell within their own Shell and bless themselves that All is well at home and never look abroad how it fares with the Oppressed Fatherless and Widow the Sick the Hungry and Naked that Consider not the Afflictions of Joseph are great Scandals to a Holy Religion not imitating the blessed Jesus who Act. x. 38. Went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him Such was the Counsel of the Apostle Tit. iii. 8. This is a faithful saying and thâ—…se things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto mâ—…n ver 14. And let curs also lâ—…rn to maintain good works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful § 6. Let the Holiness of the inner Man shine with a convincing Light into all the Actions of the outward Man True Holiness will diffuse it self into and through the external Carriage and Demeanour that a Man shall be forced to say God is there in that Soul of a Truth as the Pride the Wantonness of filthy ones steams and reeks through the Skin into their Apparel their Language their Converses so should so will the Humility the Meekness Modesty Chastity Heavenliness of Holy ones discover it self in their external Behaviour especially in Food and Raiment 1 Tim. ii 9 10. That women adorn themselves with modest apparel the Modesty and Chastity of the Heart will evidence it self in the Modesty and Chastity of Cloathing with shame-fac'dness and sobriety not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array But which becometh women professing godliness with good works For thus saith St. Peter 1 Epist. iii. 4 5. Did the holy women of old time who trusted in