writâ—en be ye Holy for I am Holy Here is not an â—quality intended but a similitude together with such a measure as the Creature is capable â—f attaining unto for the greatest perfections â—f the most excellent Creatures are imperfeâ—â—ions compared with God Nor are all the Divine Perfections here intended there are â—hose that are by Divines called Incommunicable â—hich we are to admire but not to aspire afâ—er and there are those which are said to be Communicable Namely such whereof there may be an Image oâ—â—dark representation iâ— us and these aâ—â—here aimed at These perfections consist in that Holiness and Righteousness whiâ—â— are required in the Moral Law uâ—â— to which we are enabled by the Sanctificatioâ— of the Spirit the Graces whereof in us arâ— called the Image of God by which we imitate him in his Holiness and Righteousness That the Duty here required is Evangelical therein appears because Christ enjoynâ—th â—â— on his Disciples and such as can call God then Father by vertue of the Adoption which wâ— are told cometh in upon believing Gal. 3. 26 For we are the Children of God through faith iâ— Jesus Christ The only matter of difficulty before us is to know what is the perfection intended by Christ in this precept and which he requiretâ— and expecteth that all those who approvâ— themselves to be his Disciples should be alwayâ— aspiring after And that which makes it thâ— more difficult is because the word is variously used in the Scriptures and differently applieâ— by Expositors to this Text. The word signifyeth that which hath attained its end and because when a thing hath so done it haâ—â— reached its perfection according to its capacity it is Metonymically used for it and so one thaâ— is adult or grown up to his full Stature is said to be a perfect man Eph. 4. 13. And theâ— whose Grace is arrived to its fulness in Glory are called Just men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Divines distinguish perfection into Legal and Evangelical which is a true distinction if taken in a sound sense but is warâ—â— to be understood They tell us also that there is a perfection of parts which is called Integrality and so an infant is a perfect man because he hath all the parts which belong to that Speciâ—â— and of Degrees when these parts are compleated and come to the just measure which nature aspired unto They speak also of a Relative or Comparative perfection when though a thing be in it self defective yet when it is compared with another of its own kind it doth very much exceed or go beyond it and that which is Absolute which is when it is improved to its utmost capacity they observe that perfection is sometimes used for Sincerity in opposition to Hypocrisy when a man not only professeth Godliness but is the man he pretends to be such an one is sound or perfect whereas the other is unsound and so imperfect Now all these distinctions have their foundation in the word of God nor without distinguishing can we be able to reconcile those Texts which assert the present perfection of the people of God even in this life with those that do deny any here to be perfect which would else be contradictions whereas we are assured that the spirit of God doth not contradict himself in his word Now though it be â—â—sily granted on all hands that Christ â—quires Sincerity or an Upright Heart of â—s yea and Integrity too or a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be expressed to all his Commands and he will accept of such sincerity and integrity at the hands of his people in these duties which they perform in faith seeking for their acceptance in Christ in which respect I suppose Evangelical Obedienâ—â— doth mainly differ from that which is Legaâ— and God is pleased with it when he rejects the other yet how far absolute perfection is comprized in the precept here given by Christ is a matter of doubt and debate among many There are and those not a few who with greatest confidence do assert that God doth not expect or require of his people under the Gospel Covenant that perfection in their Obedience to him which he did under the Covenant of Works but hath abated of the strictness of the Command and if we do our best there is no more required of us Which assertion though I believe that many who use it do mean well and intend nothing else in it than is acknowledged by all the Orthodox yet it is a very unsafe assertion in the letter of it and is one foundation on which the Papists do build their Doctrines of mens merits and works of supererogation yea and many Protestants do also introduce that absurd and dangerous notion of making our Obedience to be of the matter of our Justification because being upon a New Covenant account we do fulfil the Obedience that is in it required of us and so by that Covenant it bespeaks our Justification Loose Professors also are hurt by this opinion they think they are sincere and because of this indulgence are too negligent in their duty and fail in that true Repentance which they ought every day to be in the renewed exercises of It may then be of present use to discuss this Case viz. Quest Whether that Personal Perfection which God requires of his people under the Covenant of Grace be the same for kind and degree with that which was required in the Covenant of Works or any thing short of it A. For the more distinct opening and reâ—olving this important Case let these things â—e observed 1. That the question is not concerning Unconâ—erted Ones who are under the outward Dispensaâ—ion of the Gospel but those that are under Grace â— e. those that are truly Converted to God â—ouching the former of these it is to be well â—bserved that notwithstanding the offer they â—ave made to them and standing which they â—ave under the Covenant and Promises exhiâ—ited by the Gospel to men in which life and Salvation is hypothetically promised unto them and invitations are urged upon them to entertain it on the terms proposed yet before such time as they have actually embraced the offered Grace they are truly under the Law as a Covenant of Works and because they are so it demands of them personal perfection both habitual and actual and that on paiâ— of death for we are told in Gal. 3. 10. Aâ— many as are of the works of the Law are undâ—â— the Curse for it is written Cursed is every 〈◊〉 that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Hence as of old God gave the Moral Law a new Sanction on Mount Sinai with thundrings and lightnings and great terrors as we are informed Exod. 19 20 So to make way foâ— the veiled Gospel which was afterwards giveâ— to Moses and by him to Israel in those Ordâ—nances or Ceremonial Institutions which werâ— delivered to him so under the Gospel tâ— those
Covenant of Grace We do now stand upon other terms with God through Christ in the New Covenant whereof we are partakers by faith in him But still the Precepts of the Moral Law abide on us as our Duty there never was any repeal of the Command nor indeed can they ever cease to be a Rule to man for the guiding of him in the right ordering of his Conversation inasmuch as they are every way suited to the nature of man considered as being made on purpose for the actual glorifying of God so that if we would actually glorify him as men we must do it in compliance with these precepts All that is contained in this rule is reduced to those two heads Mat. 22. 37 39. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self And this can never cease to be our duty so long as we are men nothing can discharge us from the obligation of loving God and our neighbour inasmuch as the Relation we bear to both cannot cease and the duty is inseparable from such a Relation It is also certain that all of these Duties are reinforced in the Gospel or under the dispensation of the Kingdom of Grace and may be all of them found on record in the preceptive part of the New-Testament required of Christians as they would walk worthy of the vocation with which they are called and are therefore called New Commands because they are there reinforced with arguments fetcht from the consideration of the Grace of God appearing to us we have this summarily commended to us in Tit. 2. 11 12. The Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Under which three heads are comprized all those duties which are required in and by the Moral Law 8. That all the Commands of the New-Covenant which are purely Evangelical are inclusively Comprehended in this Rule It is to be observed that there are some Duties introduced by the New Covenant and are enjoyned on all such unto whom it is promulgated which were not Duties incumbent on man whiles he continued in a state of Integrity such as Faith in Jesus Christ Repentance unto life and the several things that are contained in these as they point to us the way for fallen man to recover Gods favour and obtain eternal Salvation and indeed these Duties were inconsistent with that state Man had not forfeited himself to the Law and so needed not a Redeemer he stood in his uprightness and was defiled with no sin and had no occasion for Repentance These Duties therefore were not immediately comprized in the law of nature nor was man in Innocency able by the improvement of his reason to gather that there were any such Duties hypotheâ—ically belonging to his Rule Nor is it to be supposed that when God at first indented with man in the Covenant of Works and warned him a-against disobedience by shewing him the threatning that he made any discovery to him of an hope that in case of his miscarriage he might be saved or that he foretold a way of his recovery in case he ruined himself by trespassing against the command and bringing of himself under the threatning doubtless he reserved this for the Opening of the Covenant of Grace and till he so made it known man could not possibly so much as guess at such a thing However there is thus much contained in the Moral Law and the light of nature clearly discovered to man at first viz. that the rightful authority and supremacy that God hath over all men claims a liberty for him at any time to enjoyn man in any thing and make it his duty by vertue of his command to do it if it be within the power which he at first endowed him withal and consequently that he ows Obedience to God in whatsoever he shall at any time declare to be his will hereupon Positive Commands oblige men by the light of nature as well as Natural duties supposing there be a Revelation of them made to them We find therefore that God at first exerted this authority over our first Parents when he put them into the Garden by an arbitrary exempting the Tree of Knowledge from their eating of it under pain of death nor did they dispute but acknowledge his Soveraignty over them in that regard though afterwards the adversary used it as a snare to draw them into Sin And how many such positive Precepts did God give to Israel of which he renders 〈◊〉 other reason but this I am the Lord Hence there fore when God once reveals to fallen men that it is his will that they should repent and believe in order to their being made partakers in Pardon and Salvation it becomes their bounden duty by vertue of that Command that they so do and not only will they miss of Salvation if they neglect to comply with these terms on which it is offered but they will thereby Sin against God and so aggravate their Guilt and in this respect the Gospel may well be called the Law of Christ Hence we are told Acts 17. 30. Now God commandeth all men every where to repent i. e. Now when the Gospel is promulgated and 1 Joh. 3. 23. This is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 9 This being a perfect Rule requires every sort of personal perfection in us Our perfection must needs consist in our conformity to the Rule of it and if so we cannot be entirely perfect unless our conformity be as large as the duties which are required by it and that not only in all the parts of it by answering to every precept in it and having a respect to all the Commandments of God but also in the degrees of our compliance with it which must consist in such an Holiness as hath not the least mixture of the contrary in it that doth not only do the thing but doth it with that accuracy that there be nothing wanting in the matter of it with that diligence that we never fail either in omission or commission with that intenseness of love that hath no mixture of reluctancy or backwardness with that singleness of heart that hath no allay or mixture of any sinister aimes or ends and with that constancy that we hold on without wavering to the end which though none of the Children of God ever did or shall in this life attain unto yet it is the perfection which we are called to aspire after and not to rest in any thing short of it but to be in an earnest pursuit of it as long as we abide here and till we reach it in the Kingdom of Glory And that this is required of us will appear if we consider 1. That every thing short of this Perfection is
detestation He that mourns for one sin and can in the mean while hug another in his bosome and dally with it doth not mourn aright for any 6. Hath your sorrow lookt back to the sins of Youth Where God doth indeed give a spirit of mourning he will make a thorough work of it he will lead the Soul into a soaking consideration of all that hath been grievous to his holy spirit he will bring to mind old sins those that had been forgotten before and embitter them to us and the reason is because those sins also must be repented of for which there must be a suitable sorrow Time will not wear off the Guilt of any sin but Christ must cleanse it with his blood and in order thereto we must carry it to him for cleansing and we cannot do so aright but by bemoaning our selves before him for it David therefore in his address to God runs up hither Psal 25 7. Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions 7. Have you in you an habitual frame of spiriâ—â—al mourning Godly sorrow is not a land-flood that is raised by some storm and is dried up again soon after that is over but it is a living spring it is an habitual Grace in the Soul and for that reason it is called a Spirit of Grace Chap. 12. 10. And this appears in a constant promptitude to mourn for sin upon every occasion Every sight of sin stirs up this Godly sorrow When ever you feel any stirrings of Concupiscence within it makes you to cry out Oh wretched man who shall deliver me Rom. 7. 24. If at any time you are over taken with any sin it makes you to groan and bewail your selves and say as he Psal 38. 18. I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin Nay if you see others to sin though they commit it without remorse yet you cannot but mourn for it as he Psal 119. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law And Verse 158. I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word 8. Have you been duly affected in particular with the Affronts which you have offered to Jesus Christ This is specifyed Chap. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and be in bitterness for him as one that is iâ— bitterness for his first born There is nothing more bitter to one that is truly Converted than the ill entertainment that he hath given to a Saviour who came to him and offered himself to be one to him It may be you have led a sober life and cannot charge your selves with the immoralities which others have fallen into but you have lived under the Calls of the Gospel and have been many a time invited and sollicited to come to Christ to take him for a Saviour but you have made light of it neglected him been content without him you have often been inwardly striven with by the motions of the Spirit but you have quenched them and grieved him thereby You have lived in your unbelief and been contented so to do you have had a low esteem of him and of his Salvation you have relied on your own Righteousness and not submitted to his you sought him not would not come to him for life and thus you went on from year to year till he came to awaken and bring you home to himself Now all these things come to mind and they carry an emphatical consideration in them to make you vile in your own eyes and bewail your impenicence If ever you looked to Chrisâ— with an eye of faith it hath been with a mournful eye 2. Have you experienced a spirit of Supplicatiâ— We observed that it is inseparable from â— former and would you be rightly inâ—med about this prove your selves by these â—ings 1. Have you found kindled in you a restless â—esire to be delivered from Sin True prayers â—e the offering up of our real and cordial deâ—es unto God and hence by discovering the â—uth of our desires we may come to know â—hat our Prayers are Now there is none â—at prays aright against sin but he that longs â—satiably to be rid of it There are many 〈◊〉 pray to have those miseries removed which â—ey undergo for sin but this is but Howling â—d not Praying that is a right expressing of â—ur request on this account Hos 14. 2. Take â—ay all iniquity But the heart must go with â—â— which it will never do till we are weary â—â— sin and the presence of it is an heavy burâ—en to us 2. Have you found that this deliverance is no â—here else to be had The right prayer which â—od hears and accepts is the prayer of the â—edy the poor and the destitute Psal 102. 17. Christs Office is to Succour him that hath no â—elper Psal 72. 12. As such therefore he exâ—cts that we come saying as Hos 14. 3. Ashur all not save us c. For in thee the fatherless â—leth mercy And that we may thus pray it requisite that we have a deep sence imprinted on us that this is our condition God makes the Soul to despair of any succour from any other hand he is not only in a pit where therâ— is no water but his eyes fail him Isa 41. 17. He finds himself to be engulphed in the waves oâ— destruction and cryes out as they when jusâ— ready to be swallowed up Math 8. 25. Lord save us we perish 3. Have you been encouraged to go to God Iâ— Prayer for this with hope A spirit of Supplication is a gracious frame that is put into the heart by the spirit of God and there are the Graces that are used in the exerting of it the principal of these is Faith and the first stirring of it is usually in Hope which hope is alwayâ— at work and moveth in the genuine prayers oâ— the people of God This hope hath not always alike strength in it but yet it hath thaâ— degree of it whereby we are enabled to looâ— with some expectation of receiving the good we ask for at the hands of God In youâ— distress by reason of sin you resolved to go to God for help against it and what was it thaâ— drew out this resolution was it not an apprehension that Christ was such a â—ountain foâ— sin and at least a resolve that the thing iâ— not impossible thus therefore he argued Jâ—â— 3 9. Who can tell if God will turn and repent turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not 4. Have you freely confessed your sins in the Aggravations of them Right conâ—ession alwayâ— â—â—ows from a spirit of Prayer God expects it Jer. 3. 13. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God c. David therefore tells us in what way he went for and how he obtained a pardon and the healing of his sins
â— counsel and make choise of his way anâ— therefore it is only by his so doing that he caâ— reach the great end of his being in his miâ—sing of this he becomes Vain for what else â— vanity but the missing or falling short of one end That the man may attain this end it â— requisite that he have a power in him to Servâ— to it and what else is that power but Holiness Created Holiness in man is nothing else buâ— that rectitude in his whole nature and all thâ— powers of it whereby he is enabled enclineâ— to live be to the Glory of God in all things And from the exerting of this principle dâ— proceed all his holy actions Man in his lapseâ— estateis without this principle having lost it by his unhappy fall it must therefore be again restored to him in Sanctification else he cannot Serve God Now mans Well being is consequent upon the former God only is an adequate object for him or a sufficient portion for him to make him blessed he must theâ— enjoy him if ever it be well with him for iâ— this fruition his actual felicity must consist for could he obtain and have the full freedom oâ— using all that is in heaven and earth separatâ— from God he were still miserable the Psalmisâ— could say Psal 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is nothing on earth that I desire with thee and the only way for our enjoying of God is by glorifying in him It is sin that hath made the woful separation which hath procured our infelicity Isa 59. 2. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God And what is sin but a coming short of the glory of God Rom. 3. 23. God therefore hath fully declared that he will bestow this favour upon none but those that honour him 1 Sam. 2. 3â— Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 5. That for this Active personal glorifying of God man must have a Rule It is not enough that he have an inward principle of Sanctification put into him whereby he is disposed unto this Service and empowred for the discharging of it though without it he must needs fall short of his great end but he must also have a directory to shew him his way in which this work is to be done As there must be an heart in us enclining of us to Glorify God else we cannot move one step towards it so there must be a way according to which we are to encline our selves hereunto It is certain that there are those things whereby God is dishonoured in the lives of the Children of men as well as those whereby they do honour him and how should the man be able either to avoid the one or rightly to prosecute the other except he have something to guide his steps and order his Conversation by for this therefore there must be a Rule laid before him hence God tells them Mic. 6 8. He hath shewn thee Oh man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to dâ— justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God the promise therefore is made to such as live conformably to this Rule Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace be on them and mercy and it is the alone prerogative of God not only to require Service of his Creature which it ows to him as he is its supream Lord and Owner but also to prescribe to it how and wherein he will be Served by it He who is our Lord and King is our Law giver too Isa 33. 22. And he must some way or other reveal this to them that are concerned in it how else should they know how to order their conversation aright so as to see his Salvation It is by this Rule that they are to square all their actions they must therefore look upon it and apply it to every step David saith Psal 119. 105. Thy word is a light to my feet and a lamp to my path but this it cannot be except they be acquainted with it so that they must receive it from him in order to their practising of it 1 Thes 4. 1. We exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 6. The Moral Law was at first given to man to be this Rule As there is a Common Government which God exerciseth over the Creation so there is a Special Government by which he leads Intelligent Rational Agents to the end they are appointed to Now this Law was the Rule of Gods special Government with respect to mankind This Law is by some made the same with and by others divers from the law of nature but if we reckon the law of nature to be that which was engraven on the heart of man at the first it may be well reckoned for the same This was every way suited to the nature of man it was fitted for the guiding of such a creature to its last end in all the things in which he was concerned The sanctified understanding in man during his state of integrity not only could read the inscriptions of it on his heart but saw and approved the reasonableness and equity of it yea the convictions of a natural Conscience in fallen man do prove that he cannot withstand the righteousness of it Rom. 2. 14 15. Man was to obey this Law in all things and to be happy in that Obedience Rom. 10. 5. The man that doth these things shall live by thèm see Jam. 1. 25. The threatning indeed was annexed to the Sacrament of that Covenant Gen. 2 17. In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dy but every Article in it or precept of it being ratified by that Seal it so sealed up and confirmed the whole of it unto man and had a reference to every duty that was contained therein This was the same Law which had a new edition of it at Mount Sinai where God published it and registred it on Tables of Stone summed it up in ten Precepts which comprized in them the summe and substance of mans duty and wherein he was bound to Serve and Glorifie God in his whole course reaching both his heart and his life the matter manner end of all he did 7. Though the Sanctions of that Law as a Covenant be removed in respect to believers yet as a Rule it abides for ever Under the Covenant of Grace neither is the promise of bestowing a reward of life upon mens performing of perfect personal Obedience nor the threatning of punishing the least defect in that Obedience with death any longer of force in regard of the Children of God and the reason is because the Law of Works hath ceased to be a Covenant to them upon their accepting the terms of and being admitted into the