rational Creatures may be elected Rom. 8.30 Rom. 11.7 5. If fore-sight of mens Works be the cause of their Election then man hath whereof to glory He is then the cause of his own Salvation Election is the Original of all a spring that runneth under ground for a time first bubleth up and discovers it self in effectual Calling so glideth along in a life of Faith Holiness and at last emptieth it self in the Ocean of Peace and Joy and Happiness So that if man be the Cause of his Election then he may thank himself for his Salvation John is no more beholden to God than Judas for 't is the improvement of the freedom of his Will which brings him to Heaven God did as much for Judas say they as for John But how contrary is this to the word of Truth Rom. 4.2 But if Abraham were justified by Works he had whereof to glory The Scripture speaks in another Dialect By Grace ye are saved through Faith not of Works lest any man should boast Eph. 2.4 5. The Knife with which Adam cut his own Throat and wherewith he murther'd his Posterity was Pride He would hold of himself and not of God The wise and gracious God in the way he hath taken for our Recovery is pleased to lay this Knife as far as may be out of our way lest we be ruin'd by it a second time Though this Pride the Popish Doctrine of Merits and fore-sight of good Works maintains but God tells us Man is nothing and God all in all that no flesh might glory in his presence 1 Cor. 1.27 28 29. 6. The Holy Ghost gives us the true ground or motive of Election far differing from this of the Papists and that is the Will and Pleasure Having predestinated us according to the good Pleasure of his Will Ephes 1.5 Being predestinated according to the purpose of him vers 11. Rom. 9.18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth Matth. 11.26 Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath saved us and called us with a holy Calling not according to our work but according to his own Purpose and Grace which was given us in Christ before the world begun Again the Particle For enim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is counted causal Piscat in Loc. not that always it noteth the Cause but sometimes a Reason or Argument whether taken from the Cause or Effect Matth. 1.18 Matth. 15.14 2 Tim. 2.7 Besides this is sufficient for parity of reason or the resemblance that as some go by the way of good Works to Heaven so others by the way of evil Works to Hell Good Works are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ceu causa salutis sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respectu fidei finis ejus vitae aeternae Glass not the cause of reigning but the way to the Kingdom Once more Let the Papists shew the same proportion between a few imperfect defective good Works which men are enabled to do by the help of God and the unconceivable eternal Joys and Glory of Heaven that is between the evil works of men and the endless pains of Hell and then let them plead their merits They may if they please observe that the Saints themselves are so far from pleading their Merits or boasting their deserts that they hardly remember that they ever did those Works which Christ proclaims to their praise and rewards through his own blood with a Kingdom Lord when saw we thee hungry or thirsty c. O what a vast difference is there between an upright humble Christian who acknowledgeth himself less than the least of all Gods mercies and a proud Papist that dares say Coelum gratis non accipiam CHAP. XVI Why Christ will try men at the Great Day by acts of Charity THe second question to be discussed before I proceed to the Doctrine is why Christ tryeth men at that day by the neglect or performance of Charity and not of some other Duty as hearing praying watching c. Or by their Patience Humility Temperance or Heavenly-mindedness c. To this I answer These Works of Charity are by a Synechdoche put for new Obedience and all the good works of a Christians life Though Christ mention those as the test of men at that day yet he doth not hereby exclude others The Scripture abundantly proveth that other Graces and Duties shall be rewarded at that day 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Matth. 10.18 Heb. 6.10 c. and that men shall be condemned for other sins beside the neglect of Charity The want of the Wedding-Garment Matth. 22.12 13. Unprofitableness in the improvement of Talents Matth. 25.30 We have a Bed-Roll of other sins condemning 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Rev. 21.8 Indeed every sin any sin that men have lived in and loved who have died impenitent will be found damnable at that day It cannot rationally be supposed that the performance or neglect of those outward acts of Charity should be the general test I mean of all for how then shall those that die in their Infancy and Childhood or such as are extreamly poor be tried who are rendred wholly uncapable of feeding the Hungry or cloathing the Naked Neither do I judge it shall be the sole test for it 's possible for a man in these outward acts to be bountiful to men who hath no regard or fear of God in him The Apostle supposeth a man may give all his Goods to the poor and yet be void of true love to the poor 1 Cor. 13.3 It 's unquestionable that the Worship of the blessed God is much more excellent than our kindness to the Children of men as Calvin well observeth on the Text yet Christ who knoweth the hearts of all men and from what principles they act will mention the Saints acts of Charity at that day and reward them accordingly and will mention the Sinners omission of Charity at that day and condemn him for it 1. Because acts of Charity are more obvious and apparent to the World Though the Christian usually is close therein and will not let his left hand know what his right hand doth yet Charity like Musk will discover it self The Objects thereof will publish their Benefactors and he himself thinks it needful sometimes to be open and publick in his liberality though not for self-ostentation yet for others imitation Luther tells us That Christ will try men this way because the World shall justifie his Sentence both of reward and punishment If a man be charitable all his Neighbours take notice of it yea commonly love him for it the vilest of them will commend him though by his holy Conversation he condemns them I suppose this is the good man of whom the Apostle speaks when he tells us That for such a one a man will even dare to die Rom. 5. Therefore when Christ shall acknowledge the Charity of his people and then reward them with himself
ever and this farthest utmost endless departure of the Creature from God who is the only Life and Heaven of him will be a Death and Hell with a witness God will be God at that Day in the account of the worst of men though he be their laughing-stock and sinning-stock at this day Though these ungodly ones sit aloft here in the Courts of men and who but they Yet the Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment Psal 1.5 At the Great Day when they shall be judged 1. They shall be ashamed they shall not stand i. e. not hold up their heads with joy but hang down their heads with shame Dan. 12. Some shall arise to shame and confusion of face 2. The Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment i. e. they shall not be justified When they shall be tried for their Lives and Deaths for their endless unchangeable states they shall be cast and condemned When all Adams Posterity shall make their personal appearance before the God of the Spirits of all Flesh to receive their eternal doom and when the Judge of Quick and Dead cloathed with his Majestick Robes of Glory accompanied with an illustrious train of Angels shall sit down on the Judgment Seat he shall pronounce a Sentence of Condemnation on all ungodly Ones If thou Lord shouldst mark Iniquity O Lord who should stand Psal 130.3 i. e. If thou Lord should observe exactly the best mans heart and life and accordingly deal with him not one man could be justified Who shall stand i. e. righteous at thy Bar. 3. The Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment i. e. they shall not conquer when they shall be impleaded and accused by the Devil and the Law at that day An Army foil'd is said not to stand before their Enemies And again An Army beaten is said to fall before their Adversaries Dan. 11.25 And the Conquerors are said to stand Ephes 6.13 The Devil will bring his large Bills of Indictments into the Court against the Ungodly for he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 5.8 A Court-Adversary and the Law will second the Devil and joyn with him in his Accusations the Sinners Conscience will joyn with both and assent to the truth of their Indictments The Ungodly will have no Advocate to plead for him Christ that sometimes offer'd him that kindness will now plead against him and so he must needs fall and be conquer'd by his Enemies CHAP. XXX Sinners Conviction at the Day of Judgment The purity of Christs Religion above all others Sixth Use of Information 6. IF Christ will say to them on the left hand Depart from me For I was Hungry and ye gave me no meat Or if Christ will condemn men for sins of Omission at the Great Dy It informs us That Christ will be rational in his most severe proceedings even to the Conviction of the Sinners own Conscience I draw this from the Coherence of the verses Christ first pronounceth the Sentence vers 41. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire And then vers 42. he gives the reason For I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. which though at first they seem to question yet at last they are muzled and put to silence Jude tells us of solemn Condemnation and solemn Conviction of these ungodly Ones as the chief businesse of that Day Behold he cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment on all and to convince all that are ungodly amongst them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him Jude 14 15. Execution by an Hysteron Proteron is put before Conviction yet one great work of that Great Day is to convince these ungodly Ones and the severity of the Process is against the Ungodly This Conviction implyeth 1. A reflection of Conscience upon all their past and former sins Conscience as a Glass shall represent to the Sinner all his lusts which he hath loved above his Soul and Saviour in all their ugly features and loathsome colours The Books at that day will be opened Rev. 20.12 i. e. The Book of Gods Remembrance Mal. 3. and the Book of Conscience Sins are not gone as soon as done God records them in his Book of Remembrance and Conscience will review them all in that Day of Vengeance Though it could not be heard by the Sinner in this World for the noise of his carnal delights and cry of his worldly delights yet when it sets his sins in order before his eyes in their monstrous frightful shapes it will thunder in his Ears as Reuben to his Brethren Did not I tell you of this and say Do not sin and thou wouldst not hear therefore all this Wrath and Fury and Flames and Darkness and Chains are come upon thee 2. This Conviction implyeth a silencing the Sinner that he will have nothing to say either against God or for himself A man that is convinced hath his mouth stop'd When the Spirit convinceth the World of sin the World hath not a word to say against the Sin and Guilt which the Law chargeth on it Every mouth is stoped and all the World is guilty before God How often is the poor Creature self-convinced and self-condemned here but soon after the sick qualms go off his stomach and he is revived with the Cordials of sinful shifts and excuses wherewith he deludes himself and presumes he may also deceive God but at the Great Day as his Convictions will be more killing so they will be more lasting The man will be dumb and speechless when Christ shall say Why didst thou deny to relieve my Servants in their wants Why didst thou slight my Blood neglect my Worship grieve my Spirit and omit to obey my positive Laws Matth. 22.3 4 5. The very Heathen who shall be imprison'd in the dark dungeon of Hell for imprisoning the Truth and holding it in unrighteousness will not have a motion in their Breasts of accusing God for false Imprisonment How certainly then and how fully will the Consciences of Christians who lived under the Gospel justifie God when he shall condemn them for not believing and not repenting upon the Messages he sent to them of pardon and life 7. If Christ will condemn men at the Great Day for sins of Omission It may inform us of the excellency of the Christian Religion above all other Religions The excellency of any Religion consisteth in the purity of its Precepts and strictness of its Commands now no Religion is so holy in its Commands and so exact in its Laws as the Christian Religion Moral Duties are advanced by it to their highest perfection and moral Vices are debased by it to their lowest degradation The Commandment of the Lord is pure Psal 19. Thy Word is very pure Christ will condemn men to Hell at the last Day for Omissions as well as Commissions for neglect of known Duties as well as
hew to purpose Hos 6.5 God heweth them by his Prophets and slays them by the word of his mouth It cuts to the heart Act. 4.54 Act. 5.33 And hath dreadful effects on them Isa 6.9 10. And he said go and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not see ye indeed but perceive not Make the hearts of this people fat and make their Ears heavy and shut their Eyes lest they see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and understand with their Hearts and convert and be healed And this hewing them down is also by death The Ax of death fells the Tree for the fire of Hell The rotten Tree or the barren Tree is not good for fruit therefore for the fire He is hewn down and cast into the fire Abscission is the way to perdition to eternal burning This is the Catastrophe of the barren Trees Tragedy 3. The certainty of it Both Christ and the Baptist speak of the punishment in the present Tense not the Future Is hewn down and cast into the fire not shall be hewn down c. The fruitless person shall as certainly be in Hell as if he were there already therefore promises and threatnings though future are delivered to us as present As to us a Son is born Isa 9.6 Isa 21.9 Babylon is fallen 4. The universality of the Persons Every Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit Every man what ever his Profession may be or his Hopes are or his Priviledges have been if he bring not forth good fruit he is hewn down and cast into the fire The Doctrine being thus proved by Scripture I shall proceed to the Explication of it in several particulars 1. I shall speak to the nature of them and shew what sins of Omission are 2. To the danger of them 3. To the Reasons why they are so damnable CHAP. XIX The nature of sins of Omission in general First COncerning the first i. e. the nature of them I shall speak to one more generally and two more particularly 1. By the several distinctions of these Sins 2. By their agreement with and difference from sins of Omission 1. More generally a sin of Omission is a neglect of some Duty commanded us in the Word of God In every Command there is a Precept and a Prohibition A Precept enjoyning and a Prohibition forbidding A Precept enjoyning some Duty and a Prohibition forbidding the contrary The neglect of doing what the Precept enjoyns is a sin of Omission and the doing what the Precept forbids is a sin of commission The truth is in every Commission there is an Omission as in every deadly Disease somewhat of a Feavor For in every Commission as in Drunkenness or Oppression or Uncleanness there is a neglect or omission of the Duty commanded as Temperance Charity and Chastity But those we most properly call sins of Omission which are extrinsicate from sins of Commission as not praying not reading the Word not believing not feeding the hungry c. But to speak strictly there is no sin but sins of Omission for all sin consists in privation of due rectitude or deficiency and coming short of the rule Though the Commands are generally deliver'd by way of negation partly because of the proneness of men to commit those sins that are forbidden and God would by his Negative command curb and keep them in Thou shalt not c. thou shalt not c. partly because Negative Commands bind more strongly than the Affirmative The Affirmative obligant semper but not ad semper but the Negative bind semper ad semper as the School-men speak The Affirmative bind us always i. e. there is no time wherein it can be said that they are of no force but not to all times I am always bound to pray but I am not bound to pray at all times I am bound always to speak truth but I am not bound to speak all truth at all times But Negative Commands bind always and at all times as Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit Adultery These bind every moment of a mans life I mean every moment of his life these sins are to be forborn they are at no time lawful Though I say the Commands are deliver'd Negative for the most part viz. eight of them yet we must understand that all the Negative Commands of God include their Affirmative as Thou shalt have no other gods before me this includes thou shalt have me for thy God thou shalt know me love me fear me trust me and worship me as thy God And when God saith Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image c. this includes thou shalt Worship me according to my Will revealed in my Word When God saith Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain this includes thou shalt use reverently all my Names Titles Attributes Ordinances Word and Works VVhen God saith Thou shalt not kill this includes thou shalt use all lawful means for the preservation of thine own and thy Neighbours life When God saith Thou shalt not commit Adultery this includes thou shalt by all just ways maintain thine own and thy Neighbours Chastity in thought word and deed When God saith Thou shalt not steal this includes thou shalt be true faithful and just in all thy Contracts and Dealings with others restore what is ill gotten be diligent in thy Calling and endeavour the furtherance of thy own and thy Neighbours estate by all just ways When God saith Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour this includes thou shalt to thy power promote truth in thy self and others maintain thine own and thy Neighbours good Name When God saith Thou shalt not covet c. this includes thou shall be fully satisfied with thine own Condition and desire and delight in thy Neighbours prosperity Thus the Negative Commands of God include their Affirmative so that to depart from the evil forbidden is not to keep these Laws unless also we practise the Duties commanded The neglect of any of them is a sin of Omission CHAP. XX. Three distinctions about sins of Omission 2. I Shall speak more particularly and explain these sins 1. By these distinctions 2. By their agreement with and difference from sins of Commission First These sins of Omission are to be distinguished in regard of substance manner or measure 1. When a duty is omitted in regard of the matter of it as when men pray not give not to the Poor hear not the VVord c. these omit the substance of the Duty Of such as those God complains There is none that looketh after God Rom. 3.11 And again They will will not hear the Law of the Lord Isa 30.9 And he that turneth away his Ears from the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard Prov. 21.13 These are most deeply guilty before God They shew their utter contempt of him and openly manifest it to others when they omit
and negative must be written out by the Magistrate that we might observe it and it was also written in a Book by Moses and put into the Ark as a witness against the Israelites if they should not observe it Deut. 31.24 25 26. Joshua succeeds Moses in his Charge over the Jews and in his Commands to them both affirmatively and negatively Joshua 23.7 Samuel follows after and speaks the same Language Serve the Lord with all your heart fear him and serve him in truth And turn ye not aside for then ye should go after vain things which cannot profit or deliver for they are vain 1 Sam. 12.20 21 24. David doth the like Depart from evil and do good Psal 34.14 Solomon writes after his Fathers Copy in the very qualifications of those whom he intreats Mercy for If they sin and afterwards bethink themselves and turn i. e. from their sins and return unto thee with all the Heart and with all the Soul then hear thou from Heaven from thy Dwelling-place 2 Chron. 6.36 to 40. Isaiah calls on men not only to forsake their evil ways and evil thoughts but also to return unto the Lord Isa 55.7 Jeremiah crieth to his people Not to oppress the Stranger the Fatherless and the Widows and also throughly to execute Judgment between a man and his Neighbour Jer. 7.5 6. So Ezekiel and the rest of the Prophets Ezek. 18.21 Our Saviour in his Exposition of the Law doth forbid what is Evil and command what is Good Matth. 5.43 44. So Matth. 7. per tot The Apostle St. Paul commands Not to be conformed to the World there is the Prohibition but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind proving what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God there is the Precept Rom. 12.1 2. Again Put off the works of Darkness put on the armour of Light Put off the old man which is corrupt according to his deceitful lusts And put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Ephes 4.23 24. Lye not one to another but speak the truth The Apostle St. James tells us Religion consisteth in Negatives and Positives also James 1.21 22 26 27. So St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.14 15. 1 Pet. 2.11 12. St. Joh. 3.9 10. Jude vers 21 22 23. Thus we see through the whole Bible the Mind of God by his Messengers to be Positive as well as Negative and this Mind of his he hath ordained to be the rule of our Hearts and Lives and what shall we answer when we shall be called to an account for our Disobedience To what purpose is a Rule if it be not followed and to what end is the Penalty denounced against the Ungodly if it be not executed This is the Voice of the Law of God and therefore Reader either thou must betake thy self to practical godliness or else disown the Scriptures for thy rule and square Thy Duty must at least in thy desires and endeavours carry some proportion to thy standard and rule or else thy Religion is a meer cypher and signifieth nothing So far as the best come short of the Law they sin 1 Joh. 5.3 Sin is a transgression of the Law And that because the Law is given to him as a rule of Life God hath therefore qualified it with the porperties of a Rule 1. A Rule must be perfect and not defective not redundant The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19.7 2. A Rule must be plain not dark All her ways are plain to him that understandeth 3. A Rule must be published and known otherwise it 's a snare to intrap men God hath proclaimed his Law The Command is not hidden from thee nor far off Deut. 30.11 It 's not in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall go up for us thither and fetch it thence that we may hear it and do it Nor beyond the Seas But the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart 12 13 14 verses that thou mayst do them 4. A Rule is that by which men shall be judged so is this Law Joh. 12. 48. The Word that I have spoken the same shall judge you at the last day 2. The Mercies of God to thee are positive as well as privative and why should not thy Duty be suitable to the Divine Bounty God is not only a Shield to defend thee from evil in thy Body in thy Soul in thy Person in thy Relations in thine Out-goings and in thine Incomings by Night and by Day at all times and in all places but he is also a Sun to refresh thee with good with temporal good Food Raiment Friends Relations Sleep Liberty Wealth esteem in the World c. With spiritual good with Sabbaths Scriptures Sacraments seasons of Grace with the tenders of Pardon and Peace and Adoption and eternal Salvation upon excellent and equitable terms And what reason can we give why our Obedience should not bear a proportion to his Beneficence He is a Sun and a Shield and gives Grace and Glory and with-holdeth no good things from them that walk uprightly Psal 84. Shall God with-hold no good thing from thee and canst thou find in thy heart to deny the doing of any good thing for him Is his Bounty of so large an extent as to comprehend protection from all Evil and the fruition of all good and must thy Duty be so narrow and scanty as if he did not deserve so much as he requireth Is it honest to receive or buy in by one Measure and to return and sell out by another Divers Weights and divers Measures both of them are abomination to the Lord. A Weight and a Weight a Measure and a Measure one to buy with that 's large another to sell with that is less I only allude to it It 's abominable for thee to receive of God by the largest measure and to return to him by the least Reader if thou art born of God and guilty of these partial temporary Omissions consider it seriously let ingenuity plead for God When he first wrought upon thy Soul he did not only translate thee out of the Kingdom of Darkness but also bring thee into the Kingdom of his dear Son He did not only turn thee from Satan but also cause thee to return to himself He brought thee out of a state of Wrath and brought thee into a state of Love and Favour 1 Pet. 2.9 He redeemed thee from those Enemies which had carried thee Captive Sin Satan Death Hell Rom. 6.11 Ephes 2.3 4. Heb. 2. 2 Tim. 1.9 10. 1 Thess 1. ult But this is not all he hath also brought thee into the glorious liberty of the Children of God 1 Joh. 12. 1 Joh. 3.1 He hath delivered thee from this present evil World that its affrightments its allurements that all its power and policy shall not be able to destroy thee but this is not all he hath made thee an Heir of a better
but also against thy new spiritual Life It 's hard we say for a man to thwart or cross nature Naturam expellas furca c. and wilt thou take such pains to disobey thy Gods Precepts The Devils Servants do his Will but it is with their own whole Wills according to their own inclinations they do not cross themselves to please him But thou canst not neglect the Will of God but it must be in part against thine own will and against thine own inclinations and wilt thou displease thy self to displease God and walk contrary to thy self that thou mayst walk contrary to God This is the part and guise of the most spiteful envious and malicious Enemies and I am sure it 's impossible for thee if a Believer to be such an enemy to God God did purposely endue thee with a new Spirit that thou mightest live to his praise Isa 43.21 This people have I formed for my self and new made and moulded them they shall shew forth my praise Now how is the praise of God spread in the World but by good Works Matth. 5.16 Let your light so shine before others that they seeing your good works may glorifie your heavenly Father so Joh. 15.8 Again it would be marvailous if thou shouldst not follow thy own natural propensity and inclinations For a dead man to lie still and not stir nor perform any actions of life is nothing strange none expecteth any other but for a living man one that hath a principle of life to do so would be accounted little less than miraculous For a man dead in Sins and Trespasses that hath no Spirit of Grace to enliven his poor Soul to lie still in his idleness and slothfulness and carnal security and to neglect the performance of the Duties of a spiritual Life is no wonder but is it not a wonder for one that is quickened in Christ Ephes 2.5 created unto good works fitted and formed for them Eph. 2.10 that hath Jesus Christ living in him Gal. 2.20 and a principle of holiness inclining and inabling him hereunto should omit those actions that are proper to life I beseech thee Friend do not displease thy self and cross thy very Nature to disobey thy God surely he is worthy of more dutiful behaviour from thee 12. The Reward will answer the Work and the profit of positive Holiness will answer all thy pains I confess Obedience to the affirmative part of the Command to pray and hear and give to the Poor c. with those qualifications and in that manner which God commandeth is much harder than to the Negative and to do good is much more difficult than not to do evil but thy labour shall not be in vain I have told thee already all the reward of a meer negative Holiness is a cooler Hell but I must tell thee now that the reward of positive Holiness will be a glorious and blessed and endless state of happiness in Heaven A negative Holiness shall not have so much as a full negative Happiness it shall not abolish only abate the Torments of Hell and the reason is because such Holiness is counterfeit and hypocritical But positive Holiness shall have both a full negative and positive Happiness God will do him good that is good and doth good Psal 125.4 And if God undertake to do good to a person he will do it to good purpose Mans doing good which is his positive Holiness is little yea nothing to God My goodness extendeth not to thee saith David Psal 16.3 But Gods doing good which is his positive Bounty is effectual yea all in all with man therefore when he would speak in few words the great kindness he had in store for his people he only tells them Jer. 32.40 I will not turn away from them to do them good And vers 41. I will rejoyce over them to do them good Nay though negative godliness obtains only at present some respect from men and hereafter fewer stripes from Hells Jaylor positive Holiness hath a far greater and another manner of reward both here and hereafter In the doing of thy Commands there is great reward Psal 19. In the forbearing thy Prohibitions there is some reward but in the doing thy Commands there is great reward Positive Holiness hath meat in its mouth affirmative Obedience is its own recompence It brings that calmness and serenity of mind that nothing else can do Negative Holiness may do somewhat towards a negative quietness i. e. a freedom from those dreadful horrors and terrors which sometimes seize those who commit gross unnatural sins but positive Piety brings positive Peace Great peace have they which love thy Law Psal 119. 165. and nothing shall offend them They are not only freed from those gripes of Conscience with which many others are afflicted but they have that spiritual joy and heart-comfort which the World is a stranger to Gal. 6.16 Faith which is not the least part of this holiness fills the Soul with joy yea with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Rom. 15. 1 Pet. 1.8 I may appeal to the experience of a Christian whether ever he find more comfort than when he hath done his God faithful Service and whether ever their hearts are more heavy than when they have been negligent of their Duty David and the Israelites were almost transported their hearts leaped for joy that they had offered so willingly and liberally towards the building of the Temple then the people rejoyced for that they offered willingly because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord and David the King also rejoyced with great joy and the wine of their joy was so strong that he was forced to give it vent Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the Congregation and said Blessed be thou Lord God of Israel our Father for ever and ever c. 2 Chron. 29.9 10 11 12 c. But mark God is so tender of this man that mindeth his Duty that he will suffer no wind no ill wind to blow upon him Great peace have they which love thy Law and nothing shall offend them None must knock at their door to disturb them of their rest All the Creatures must be kind to them for his sake they must have nothing done to them which may be offensive Yet this is not all the profit of Holiness here though I shall pass to the next much less in the other World As I said before a positive Holiness shall have a positive Heaven The Christians avoiding what is evil through the blood of Christ shall be recompenced with a freedom from Hell and the Christians doing what is good through the same meritorious cause shall be rewarded with the fruition of Heaven The two Servants that had not hid their Talents in a Napkin as the negative Christian doth but traded according to his trust and improved his stock faithfully in doing good as he had opportunity is commended by his Master for a good and faithful Servant
blindness of their hearts A blind man may well miss his way and a blind Mind can never do his work Whatever the World talks of their honesty and goodness notwithstanding their ignorance Without knowledge the mind is not good Prov. 19.2 They presume to excuse their dark Heads with their good Hearts but these two are inconsistent A dark Cellar is not fuller of Vermine nor a dark hole of dust than a dark Heart is of filthiness Hos 4.1 2. They who want the knowledge of God are under the dominion of the Devil He is the Ruler of the darkness of this World Ephes 6. And I am sure the unclean Spirit never bears sway in a clean Heart nor this evil Spirit in a good Heart No as the Eagle he first pecks out the eyes of his prey and then devours it How easily is a blind Soul conquer'd and kill'd by the enemies of his Salvation What Error will not an ignorant Creature swallow down he is like water ready to take the impression and form of what Vessel you please to pour him into Matth. 22.29 Our Saviour tells the Sadduces That they erred not knowing the Scriptures And the Apostles told the Corinthians who doubted at least about the Resurrection as the Sadduces denied it Some have not the knowledge of God 1 Cor. 15.32 What crime will not an ignorant man commit Knowledge to the Mind is as Light to the World which discovers our way and thereby prevents our wandrings but it 's no wonder at all for men in the night and darkness of ignorance to go astray or to stumble and fall If a man walk in the night he stumbleth because he seeth not the light of this World Joh. 11.9 Why do we think Sin is called a work of darkness truly not only because it 's from the Devil the Prince of Darkness and he that doth evil loveth darkness hates the light and it 's the way to blackness of darkness but also because it 's conceived in the Womb of a dark Heart The Prince of Darkness may beget what Monsters he pleaseth on such Persons 2 Tim. 3.3 Ignorant women were laden with divers lusts No soil fuller of such weeds than that which is not manured with knowledge St. Paul's ignorance was the ground of his wasting the Church at such a cruel rate I was a Blasphemer a Persecutor injurious but I did it ignorantly 1 Tim. 1.13 That Monster Sin which the Sun hid his head as ashamed to behold the Murther of our Lord Jesus Christ had ignorance for its Mother Acts 3.15 Ye killed the Prince of Life vers 17. And now Brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers So the Apostle Paul Had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory Now if ignorance be the cause of such grieveous Commissions it must much more be the cause of Omission for in all these Commissions there are great Omissions but I shall shew particularly that Ignorance is one cause of sins of Omission We are bound to love God and that with all our Hearts and with all our Souls and with all our Strength Matth. 22.37 But is it possible to love one whom we are ignorant of Did ever any fear an unknown Evil or desire or delight in an unknown Good Are not the greatest Rarities and richest Jewels of the World that are undiscovered undesired The Apostle saith He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 3. I am sure he that doth not so much as see God with the eye of his Soul his Understanding can never love him We say What the eye sees not the heart grieves not it 's as true what the eye seeth not the heart loves not Who can obey Divine Precepts who is ignorant of them or fear Divine Threatnings who doth not know them or be allured by Divine Promises who is altogether a stranger to them God and Christ and Pardon and Life and Promises Covenant may stand long enough knocking at the door of an Heart fastened with Ignorance before they will find admittance It is our Duty our great Gospel-Duty to believe in Christ Joh. 6. This is his Commandment that ye believe in him whom he hath sent 1 Joh. 3.23 But ignorance hinders this How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.10 Who will trust a meer stranger especially in a matter of weight I had need to know him well whom I trust with my Soul and Salvation with all I am worth for this and the other World A wise man will not venture his Estate much less his Life least of all his Soul with one of whose integrity and faithfulness and ability and responsibleness he hath not good assurance The Psalmists saying is They that know thy Name will trust in thee Psal 9.10 They who know thy Grace Goodness thy Promise and Power and Truth they will trust thee but others will not Paul's hope could not have been so high nor the Wine of his joy so brisk when his Death drew near had it not been for his great acquaintance with him with whom he had ventured his all 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed how willing how ready how able to save me and what I have committed to him he is able to keep for me against that day Knowledg is so requisite to Faith that it 's once again put for Faith Isa 53.10 1 Cor. 2.2 Joh. 17.3 Phil. 3.8 9. but Ignorance is Faiths great hinderance Again Our Duty is to repent even pain of eternal perdition Luke 13.3 Matth. 11.22 23. But ignorance causeth men to omit this as well as the other Where there is a vail upon the Understanding there is ever a caul upon the Heart and Conscience As in the night season we have always the hardest Frosts and the coldest weather Therefore the Holy Ghost tells us when Israel shall repent and turn to the Lord The vail shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3.16 17. While the vail remains they are still turning more and more from God till wrath come upon them to the uttermost but when the Vail shall be taken away that they shall see the evil and mischief and loathsomeness and folly of those ways they have turned to and also for the beauty and amiableness and bounty and kindness of that God they have turned from then they will quickly return unto the Lord. Indeed men may thank their Ignorance for most of their Omissions especially the Heathen and many Christians who live in dark corners of the Land I and many who are as void and empty of Knowledge as the Heathen who live under the Gospel Many of these neglect family-Family-Duties Closet-Prayer a strict Sanctification of the Lords-Day edifying others to their power as opportunity is offer'd them and several others because they do not understand them to be their Duty Reader the cure of this must be for
at all Seasons and in all Conditions thou art to be in the fear of God and watchful over thy self that thou dost nothing to displease him and solicitous how thou mayst do that which is most pleasing to him Thou must love God with all thy heart when he seems most angry with thee and trust in his goodness when he inflicts never so great or so many evils on thee Thy duty is to believe in a crucified Christ and so venture thy Soul on the death of another upon the bare warrant of Scripture thou art required to deny and bemoan and abhor thy self as near and dear as thou art to thy self to mortifie thy earthly members and to cut off thy right hand and pluck out thy right eye Not a Relation not a Condition not an Ordinance not a Providence but calls for Duties suitable Duties to be performed and not one of these Duties but calls for suitable Graces to be exercised Besides ere these Duties can be performed and these Graces exercised many strong and sturdy lusts must be subdued the allurements on one hand of a flattering gaudy giddy skin-deep World as Babies to please Children trampled on and its afrightments as Cloths stuft with straw to scare Birds must be despised I and all the Powers and Policies of Hell combated with and conquered And Friend can all this be done with thy hands in thy Pocket or without pains It 's in vain to think of freedom from Omissions whilst thou liest on the bed of Security Water corrupteth and breeds venemous Creatures whilst it standeth still it is preserved sweet by motion as we experience in running-streams The unused Iron rusteth whilst that which is used groweth daily more bright Neither Nature nor Art will afford us any thing that is good without labour The ground will not yield its fruit unless the Husbandman dung and plow and dress and harrow it Can any Artist make an excellent Clock or Watch or curious Vessel without pains And wilt thou presume of Holiness and Heaven without it The Heavens are ever in motion for the benefit of this lower World and never stand still but by a Miracle The Earth is always labouring to bring forth fruit for our profit and delight and never idle and barren but as cursed of God for mans sin Adam in his estate of Innocency was by God himself taught a Lesson of Industry and commanded to till the ground Our blessed Saviour was not idle but when he undertook the work of mans Redemption went up and down doing good denying himself his sleep A great while before day he was at prayer Mark 1. and he prayed all night He denied himself his Food when he was hungry and disappointed of Food at the Figg-Tree he goeth not to an house to eat but to the Synagogue to preach He denied himself his ease and pleasure and all to follow his business Joh. 9.4 As he said so he did I must work the work of him that sent me whilst it is day And did Christ contend and fight and strive and wrastle night and day before he was crown'd or could enjoy the Joy set before him and dost thou think to have all for nothing Reader to conclude this Head consider Rom. 12.11 Not slothful in business fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Where we have the Duty I am perswading thee to commanded by the Apostle in regard of its great weight extraordinary difficulty or backwardness to it both ways 1. Negatively not slothful in business i. e. you will do nothing at it if ye be sleepy or slothful the business is not such as may be done in a dream As idleness is the burial of our persons so slothfulness is the burial of our actions It 's bad to be slow at our business but much worse to be slothful 2. Affirmatively fervent in Spirit this is the greatest diligence possible Fervency is the heat and height of the Affections and is as contrary to slothfulness as fire to water When the powers and faculties of the Soul are wound up to their highest pitch in the Service of God then a man may be said to be fervent in Spirit The labour of the body is nothing to the labour of the brains and the sweating of the outward man is little to the industry of the inward man He that hath the heart of a man may command his purse and hands and what he hath Fervency of Spirit or intension of Mind about any business will call in his time and wealth and strength and all to its assistance 2. The Duty is urged by an high and weighty reason serving the Lord. It 's the Majesty Excellency Purity and boundless Perfection of the Object which requires such warmth and life and heat and fervency of Spirit in those that adore him Though we may make bold with our fellow-dust and ashes with those that are of the same make and mould with our selves yet the most High he whose Name alone is Excellent the God of the Spirits of all Flesh to whom the whole Creation is less than nothing he is not to be made bold with His immense Being and Perfections command the highest and the hottest affections The greatest Prince must not be put off with less than the greatest Present CHAP. XLIV Another cause of Omissions is vain excuses men have that Omissions are little sins with the cure of it 4. A Fourth cause of sins of Omission is a Presumption or false Opinion that men have concerning them and so they think to excuse them 1. That they are little sins and so not much to be minded 2. That the performance of them would be unseasonable at this or that time and so they are put off to another time that never comes 3. That when they are called to the performance of this or that Duty they neglect it with this excuse that it is but one Duty they live in the neglect of or it can be no great matter for once to omit it Reader I shall handle these severally and shew first that these foolish excuses which men please themselves with do cause Omissions and then direct to the cure of each severally 1. The first excuse is that Omissions are small sins and this Opinion is generally rooted in all men Because they do not fly in the face of Conscience disturb the light of Reason trouble the Societies where and debauch the persons amongst whom we live as some sins of Commission do therefore thy fancy for it is but a fancy that they are light and little and no great matter is to be made of them When once a man hath suckt in this poysonous Opinion no wonder if his heart swell and his life swarm with such sins For when his Nature hath a reluctancy against the positive Precepts much more than against the negative and his lazy temper sets him farther off and he believes that they are Peccadilloes and little taken notice of by God yea that a pardon in the High
proceed but defers him to a more convenient season which never came that we hear of Many persons put off in a Morning Closet-Prayer and Family-Duties pretending they shall be better at leisure before Noon and thereby come to neglect them wholly for that part of the day As Saul forbad the Priest to ask Counsel of God for want of leisure 1 Sam. 14.19 Others when Alms are desired of them by fit Objects of Charity will not deny them positively but do it really by deferring it till another season which the poor Creatures never see Thus the Devil destroyeth many Souls by prevailing with them to delay their Faith and Repentance upon pretence hereafter will be time enough and then such and such affairs will be over and then they will be more at leisure to mind them If he can thus gain time of men he doubts not but to make them lose thereby an happy eternity he is pleased well enough to hear men say they must and will repent they must and will believe knowing there are few in Hell who enjoyed the Gospel but sometime or other said as much but as long as it is in the future Tense I will and I will and he can perswade them that they are unseasonable Duties at present he fears nothing as knowing himself sure enough of his prey To take away this cause of Omissions I shall answer this excuse 1. I answer by confessing that it may be that some positive Duties may at some times be unseasonable The best sort of Food is not always in season Solomon tells us There is a time to sow and a time to reap Eccles 3.1 2. All the year is not Seed-time only some part of it And it must be granted that every thing is most beautiful in its season vers 11. then in its season it is most lustrous and lovely most amiable and comely The grace and glory of an Action consisteth much in the right timing of it therefore it is the praise of a good man That he bringeth forth his fruit in due season Psal 1. And it highly advanceth the Wisdom of God that all his Actions are done in the neck in the joynt in the fittest opportunity possible When the fulness of time was come God sent his Son Gal. 4.3 4. He hath out of his goodness allotted time for every Duty Eccles 3.1 There is a time to every purpose and Duty for every part of time so that a man can never say at this time I have nothing to do Nay God hath allowed a season an opportunity for every thing wherein by a concurrence of helps and means it may be done with most ease and advantage Isa 50.4 2. I answer that some positive Duties are never unseasonable To honour our God to work out our Salvation to keep a good Conscience to love and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ are always in season These and such like ought to be concommitant with every part of our time Trust in the Lord at all time Psal 62.8 I will bless thy Name all the day Blessed are they that keep Judgment and do Righteousness at all times Psal 106.3 Therefore it is as some observe that when Solomon mentions a time for several things he mentions no time for doing evil because that must never be done and no time for doing good because that must ever be done That which ought to have no being should have no time to be in That which ought always to be needs not the mention of any particular time to be in 3. I answer that no Duties are unseasonable when more good than hurt is done by the present performance of them To reprove our Neighbour offending is a Duty yet if I knew that my reproving him at this time would make him curse and swear and sin more against God I would defer it till another time but if I thought that I should not have another season to do it in and that present Reproof would only put him into a little pet or passion at present but afterwards probably he would consider it to his advantage I would embrace the present opportunity He that will omit that Duty till all things concur to his mind for the performance of it must never perform it There is hardly a step to be taken in our Journey towards Heaven but there is a block in the way to make us stumble at it or go aside for it That if I will observe the Wind I must not sow at all 4. I answer Take heed that this pretence of the unseasonableness of Duties be not a device of the flesh and a wile of the Devil to cloak and cover thy unwillingness to performance of them It 's easie to find some shift for every sin and truly there is none thou canst live in but Satan and thy own heart together will help thee to sufficient grounds for them Scarce any are gone to Hell without some reason on their side for going thither 5. I answer that we must consult God and his Word for Wisdom to know and faithfulness to perform our Duties in their best seasons The heart of the wise discerneth both time and judgment Eccles 8.5 A good man that looks to God and his Word with a single eye desiring to know what he should do and when he may do it best to the pleasing of God shall be taught and led by the Spirit of God in the way which he should go in The Word of God is perfect and directs thee about the fittest seasons for thy Duties It teacheth thee when to mourn Joel 2.13 14. Isa 22.22 23. when to rejoyce Exod. 15.1 2. Nehem. 8.10 when to pray and when to sing James 5.13 when to reprove and when to be silent Amos 5.13 when to give and when to forbear giving Prov. 3.27 Yet still there will be much need of Christian prudence and it may be helpful to thee to observe some general Rules 1. That a greater good be preferred before a lesser and a more weighty Duty always have the precedency of what is less weighty Though a lesser good and a less weighty Duty must be minded in their time and place yet the greater must have the precedency Matth. 6.33 Publick advantage must not be crouded out and put by for private nor spiritual good give way to temporal Shimei shew'd his folly in minding his wealth more than his life And Mary her wisdom was improving the present time for her Soul when Martha was troubled about other things 2. That generally the present time be laid hold on and the first opportunity for the doing of good Time is bald behind and therefore its good to take it by the fore-lock It 's the Mariners wisdom to take the first good Wind that offers it self for his Voyage and it may be the Merchants policy to take the first Chapman The Apostle saith While ye have time do good to all Gal. 8.10 implying that they will not always have it it is winged and flieth
some think were so called from their conforming to Herod in their Religion And it 's judged the Melchites who lived in the East were so called from Melech i. e. of the Kings Religion The works of great men are more powerful with the ordinary sort than the the Will and Word of the great God Again the example of the multitude is very forcible Men are carried down with the stream both easily and strongly It is as common to do as the most do in irreligious as in natural actions We think our selves in greatest safety when we are with the most numerous Party To be singular is lookt upon as ridiculous and those who are so are counted proud conceited precisians Men choose rather to be sociable in sin than singular in sanctity and to do as the most do than as the best do The fewness of Christ's Followers was a stumbling-block to his Enemies and an offence to his Friends To cure this Reader consider 1. That no patterns of any men are valid against the Precepts of God The Precepts of God are like himself of certain purity and eternal verity but the patterns of men are like themselves vain and variable Our business is not to look to what men do but to what God speaketh It is highly derogatory to the supream Being to make the examples of men and not his Commands the rule of our lives The examples of Murderers Thieves Drunkards Swearers are of as much force against the good and wholsome Law of a Prince as the irreligious examples of any men are against the holy and righteous Laws of God A Judge would deride the Malefactors Plea that should say It is true I have broke the Kings Laws but have done no more than such an Esquire or Knight or Lord I have but imitated them therein Or that should say I was guilty of such Treasons but I joyn'd with many other Traytors I had good store of company with me And dost thou think Reader the Judge of Quick and Dead when he shall arraign thee for thine unchangeable Estate and demand of thee why thou omittedst the Duties he enjoyn'd thee will accept thy Plea when thou shalt say It is true Lord I did live without Scripture or Prayer in my Family but such and such great men who lived near me did so as well as I I wrot after their Copies and thought it would be well enough to do as they did or when thou shalt say Lord though I neglected thy Worship and Service I followed therein almost all the Town and Parish where I lived and I judged it best to imitate the most Canst thou imagine that such a silly simple excuse will bear any weight Thou wilt not take such a pitiful Plea from any Child or Servant in thy Family If thy Child when reproved by thee for Drunkenness or Thieving or Disobeying thy Commands should excuse himself and say Sir other mens Sons are as bad as I such a Gentleman's Sons are worse the Children of very many meet and joyn with me in all my drinking stealing and debauched courses How ill would such an answer sound in thine ears Or what wouldst thou think if thy Servant instead of doing the work appointed him should run from Ale-house to Ale-house and spend his time in Carding and Dicing and then excuse it to thee that he did as others did there were many beside himself and some of Quality who were examples to him Consider how poor how pitiful how irrational a Plea it is to excuse thy Disobedience to God by thy imitation of irreligious men and do not think that the great God will take that excuse from thee which thou wilt not from a Child or Servant Surely there is a little more difference between the boundless blessed God and thee a poor Worm than there is between thee and any Son or Servant 2. Consider If thou wilt follow others be they great or many in sin thou shalt also follow them in intollerable and eternal Sufferings The ways of such tend to death and their steps take hold of Hell And if thou wilt walk in their ways and tread in their steps thou canst not avoid their end Rev. 18.4 Come out from among her my people and be not partakers of her Sins that ye receive not her Plagues He that catcheth the Plague of another catcheth all the pain and weakness and ill effects of such a Disease Do not think to feed on wicked mens Dainties to live their lazy sensual lives and not to pay their reckoning Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them went a whoring after strange Flesh here they joyn in sinning but are they separated in sufferings truly no Are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude vers 7. If they unite in wickedness they shall be united in woe God will bind them up together as Tares for the fire I know Reader thou wouldst not be willing to dwell for ever with and fare for ever as wicked great men shall Tophet is prepared of old for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30. ult And why then wilt thou do as they do and resemble them now in time It is unavoidable Live as they do here and live as they do for ever Again thou art unquestionably loth to be with and suffer as the most shall to eternity At the great day the World i. e. the far greater part of it shall be condemned 1 Cor. 11.31 When they shall be arraigned for their endless Estates they shall be cast and condemned to the company and curses and torments of the Devils for ever and ever and if thou wouldst not die their Deaths or partake of their unchangeable Conditions why wilt thou live their lives and walk in their wicked ways 3. Consider of all patterns these two The greatest or richest and the multitude are most unfit for thy imitation Because of all men these usually are the worst men and do least imitate Christ For great men how few are there who are good Grace and Greatness are happy and lovely but rare Conjunctions Solomon tells us That Wisdom is good with an Inheritance Eccles 7.11 But where shall we find Wisdom and Wealth Righteousness and Riches together Great and rich men have their Farms and Merchandizing and Honours and Pleasures and other things to look after than their Souls and Salvation How hardly saith our Saviour shall a rich man enter into the Kingdom of Heaven It may well be hard for him who turns the cords of Love and bands of Kindness into fewel to his lusts and weapons of unrighteousness Blessed be God there are some great men who walk religiously but truly they are very few Brethren ye know your calling not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the