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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36771	The true nature of the divine law, and of disobediance thereunto in nine discourses, tending to shew in the one, a loveliness, in the other, a deformity : by way of a dialogue between Theophilus and Eubulus / by Samuel Du-gard ...	Dugard, Samuel, 1645?-1697.	1687 (1687)	Wing D2461; ESTC R14254	205,684	344

Theoph. You rightly say what the word Law imports as spoken by our Psalmist God's Will being written at that time no further than as it made up the Jewish Oeconomy As it hath been manifested since it hath relation to Men in a far wider sense wheresoever planted upon the Face of the Earth Yea even those Laws of Moses which are retained in the Evangelical Dispensation cease to bind as they were given by Moses and are Obligatory now from another Lawgiver Jesus Christ But yet still they are to be acknowledged God's Laws and we may even now use these words O how I love thy Law Therefore Eubulus I desire you will shew me these things 1. What the Inducements were to this so great Love in David and other holy Men of old to the Divine Laws 2. What the Inducements are which we Christians have to love them Eubul I see Theophilus the greater share of Discourse must lie upon me but you will have it so and to my power I will obey you As to the Inducements which David and other holy Men of old had to love the Divine Laws they seem to me to arise partly from its pleasing God to give those Laws and partly from the Excellency of the Laws themselves In relation to the former I must confess that the Nature of Men seemeth necessarily to require that Laws should be given unto them For it would have been highly irrational on Mens part not to acknowledge Him as their Lord who gave them a Being and it would be a very great Dishonour unto God should we think that They whom he had made a little lower than the Angels should be left unregarded and lawless But yet when Men had fallen from their Obedience and had in great measure sullied that Law which was imprest on their Natures it was certainly a very great Favour that God in stead of throwing upon them deserved Punishments should chuse a Numerous People to be his Peculiar and should himself repair that Law thus obliterated within by writing it in Tables that it might be discern'd by the Eye Consider Theophilus the Greatness of Him who gives this Law how he needs not the Services of any Creature and also the Ingratitude of Man how he disobeyed the most righteous Law in Paradise where all the Love and Observance which possibly he could shew would not have been too much Consider this I say and the Law if it carry but any favour along with it may certainly for the sake of Him who gave it be justly esteemed and loved Neither is the Time wherein it pleased God to give these Laws unworthy of our Notice So much was the Welfare of Mankind esteemed to depend upon the Writing of Laws that many Nations in after Ages contended for the Dignity of being the first Authors thereof And Greece especially among the Priviledges which she boasts to have held forth to the rest of the World reckons this as one of the the chief But the Honour of having the first Written Laws belongs to the Hebrews alone in comparison of whom as Josephus against Apion proveth the Grecian Legislators were but of yesterday and this Honour is much heightned by God's owning the immediate Relation of a King unto them while he wrote these Laws Now the Benefit of Laws and the Glory of having These given so early and by such an Hand being well understood and rightly valued by our Psalmist who himself was a Ruler and a King might well engage his Love to them Theoph. I acknowledge the Inducement from God's thus giving the Law to be a very fair one Pray Eubulus go on to the other you mentioned viz. The Excellency of the Laws themselves Eubulus Take it in that pious King 's own words Psal 19. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul The Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the Simple The Statuts of the Lord are righteous rejoycing the Heart The Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the Eyes The Fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether More to be desired are they than Gold yea than much fine Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey-Comb Moreover by them is thy Servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward Theoph. This is a very high Character indeed of those Laws if there be as I doubt not but there is Truth in the whole Eubul There is Truth in every tittle And this will appear if we shall look upon the Laws which require Duties to Him who is the Lawgiver or to Those from one to another or to Themselves whom these Laws are given unto Pray tell me Theophilus what would you in Right Reason and according to a perfect Harmony of Things have the Duties towards a Prince and Lawgiver to be Theoph. I would desire they should be Fear Love and Gratitude and these shewn upon Grounds every way good There being nothing more comely than that Subjects should be with-held from offending by Fear moved to all Obedience by Love and excited to Acknowledgments of Benefits and Protection by Gratitude More than These I mention not because to These all others I suppose may be reduced and are in effect no other than Expressions of them Eubul All these you shall find to be according to your Wish Your first Duty of Fear is in Deut. 6.13 as also in sundry places more Thou shalt Fear the Lord thy God and serve Him and swear by his Name Their Fear is to be such as not to scare them from him but they are to approach unto him and to do him Service And for the deciding of Controversies and establishing of Truth they are to use his Name solemnly in an Oath And a right good Ground there is for such a Fear from the Power and Justice of God such as can and will inflict Punishments on them when they wilfully transgress and this to the utmost of their Deserts The Destruction of the Old World for its Impiety The Overwhelming of the Egyptians in the Red Sea The Earths opening her Mouth and swallowing up Corah Dathan and Abiram and numerous other Instances of the like Nature were hereof Testimonies sufficient So that this Law of Fearing God as a Prince and Lawgiver manifests itself to be built on a sure and lasting Foundation Your second Duty of Love is commanded Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength It is not to be a faint and an unconstant Love but one that is strong and will not fail For the Loving of God with all the Heart and Soul and Strength doth not only import the greatest vigour of Love but the greatest duration of it also It must not be towards him Now and anon quite off him but the greatest Length it must have as well as the greatest Heighth And the strong Inducements to this Duty were well known

Men and also the ill Inferences which these Men are apt to make from them we say Theophilus 1. That those Sins though great they were were yet rather single Acts than Habits of Sin. They were not approved of nor contrived for every day of their Lives nor did they last for Years Now single Acts are rightly esteemed not to carry so much Pollution as Habits do Because an Habit is acquired by Actions often repeated and so includeth the Defilements of many single Acts put together If it shall be said that the single Acts of some heinous Sins may possibly carry a stain with them as great as some Habits of lesser Sins and that the Sins of David and Peter were gravioris Notae of a deeper Dye it cannot yet but be granted that a single Act of a grievous Sin is less polluting than the Habit of the same Sin. But then Secondly Those Sins though very great they were had Repentance following them 〈◊〉 was truly great Look we upon David and we shall find him grieving in earnest and heartily affected with his Misdeeds Psal 38.2 Thine Arrows stick fast in me and thine Hand presseth me sore There is no soundness in my Flesh by reason of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my Bones because of my Sin. For mine Iniquities are gone over mine Head as an heavy Burden they are too heavy for me I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the Disquietness of mine Heart And in Psal 51. which Psalm he made as the Title hath it when Nathan the Prophet came unto him after he had gone in to Bathsheba he mourns thus Wash me throughly from mine Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin For I acknowledge mine Iniquity and my Sin is ever before me Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness O Lord Thou desirest not Sacrifice else would I give it The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise I have the more largely spoken David's words that you may thereby see how great his Grief was how earnest his Prayers for pardon and how deep an Anxiety had seized him lest God's Favour should for ever have been with-held from him Nor was St. Peter's Sin without a remarkable Repentance It is said Matth. 26.75 Peter remembred the words of Jesus who said unto him Before the Cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice And he went out and WEPT BITTERLY It was not a light grief and a Tear or two that were quickly dryed up but a Bitter Weeping which words certainly do denote a very great and deep Sorrow Now those that think so well of their own Sins from the thoughts of David's and Peter's Sins being so much greater than theirs are they as ready to consider these good Mens Repentance Do they grieve for their own as these did for theirs Is the Burden of them heavy Are they earnest in the begging pardon for them If not the greatness of some good Mens Sins in Holy Scripture will be a mean Argument for the concluding their own not to be the Deformities of wicked Men. I may truly say that the great Sins of David and Peter if considered with their Repentance are much less than those Sins which in themselves are not so great without Repentance And so there is small reason for any Person from the Failures of these Holy Men to infer his own Spots to be none other than those of Gods Children Thirdly There are more Ends than one for which God hath caused those Sins of his Children to be registred in Sacred Story I cannot say but one End might be that those who in the like manner have grievously fallen may through the Exercise of a like Repentance have hope that they also shall not be refused Thus Rom. 15.4 What things were written afore-time were written for our Learning that we through Comfort of the Scripture might have hope But then a no less End is this viz. That those who now live and those who shall live in the Generations to come may from the Falls of others take the more heed that they fall not also And if they shall fall they may well think that their case is not so good because they have had such warning before and yet have not been prevail'd upon by it for the being more careful And then yet further Another End altogether as great as the other Two why the Sins of good Men have been recorded in Scripture is this to wit The shewing how God hates Sin even in those whom he loves and how he will punish it not only in their Persons while they live but in their Names and Memories when they are dead even to the End of the World. Some other things besides those that have been well pleasing unto God as Mary's Ointment was unto Christ shall wheresoever the Gospel is Preach'd throughout the World be spoken of also for a Memorial To make it known that Sins of a deep Die are in his Children altogether as Odious to his Purity and Holiness as their Pious Actions are acceptable to his Love and Goodness And now who is it that can have favourable Thoughts of Sin when God hath put so many Examples in Holy Writ as Warnings against Sin on purpose that we should have the more care to avoid it Who is it that may flatter himself in his Iniquities who shall rightly consider how God punisheth the Memory of his own Children and setteth a Mark of Disgrace upon them which shall last till Heaven and Earth do pass away He surely very slightly or very partially looks into the Bible who from the Sins of Good Men there can encourage himself in his own Sin and think that its Pollution is small to Him when it hath laid such a Blot upon their Names as must not as cannot be rased out by any Rather let him Hear and Fear and do himself neither in the same nor any other kind so wickedly As knowing that though none need now to Fear that their Misdeeds shall be Registred in Books which shall be of equal Authority with and shall last as long as the Bible for God therein hath wholly declared his will and so Divine Writings are not further to be expected yet the All-powerful and infinitely just Lord hath other ways of punishing them and of manifesting the Pollution of their Sin both to themselves and others to be very great how small soever they at present think it But Fourthly Theophilus we may truly affirm that God will not esteem the Sins of his Children which are in themselves as great as and the same with the Sins of Others to be therefore the less because they are committed by those who are his Children That is if any who are his shall be unjust in their Actions False in these Words Intemperate Unchast or any other ways vitious their Injustice Falseness Intemperance Unchastity and whatever other Crimes they shall commit shall be esteemed as carrying the same

chiefly acceptable from Men unto God For He hath Loved them and his Love should be answer'd with Love again But true Love proceeds by the Persuasive Way and never shews itself aright but when it is Willing and Free and is wrought upon by kind Inducements and endearing Motives which are things that are at the greatest distance from Force Now this persuasive Method God generally takes with Men as being most sutable to their Natures and the proper way to prevail with them for that Obedience which as it ariseth from their Willingness and Love will be pleasing in his Sight He multiplieth his Favours upon them sendeth his Holy Spirit to quicken and excite him by Sacred Allurements and taking Suggestions but never with a mighty force to compel them or at most very rarely and that upon very signal Occasions Yea somtimes he useth the Severer Way partly out of Judgment but yet out of Love too Commissioning-Afflictions to fall upon them if by this means he may prevail with them yet always so as that he leaves room for their Will without which their Obedience would be of no worth with Him and not their Virtue in the least nor any way fit for Rewards This may be one Reason Another why God will not Force them into Obedience we may conceive to be this viz. That if they shall not by these gentle Methods be wrought upon but shall still persist in their Sins He may show his Power and Wisdom in improving into his Service and to his Glory those their Sins by which They in appearance made him to serve Thus did he in the King of Assyria Isai 10. Highly proud this King was and very great and his Greatness which consisted in large Possessions and Multitudes of Men the Works and Gifts of God both must be employ'd to no other Ends but the bringing under others though by the most unjustifiable Methods of Unrighteousness and Cruelty Well God sees the Designs of this Haughty Man and he will not presently check him The Jews were a Nation that had behaved themselves so ill that God styles them the People of his Wrath. Against these now will God improve the Pride and Cruelty of this Assyrian making Him his Rod to scourge Them O Assyrian the Rod of mine Anger I will send him against an Hypocritical Nation and against the People of my Wrath will I give him a Charge to take the Spoil and to take the Prey and to tread them down like the Mire in the Streets Vers 6. But that you may see this King had no good Design but the quite contrary it is said in the next Verse Howbeit he meaneth not so neither doth his Heart think so but it is in his Heart to cut off Nations not a few And therefore when God hath performed his whole Work upon Mount Sion and Samaria in punishing them thus by the Pride of the King of Assyria then will he also punish the stout Heart of that King and the Glory of his Looks Vers 12. Thus those Actions that are least intended by Men to God's Service will He by his Wisdom engage for his own Service yet so as that they shall remain Sins still in the Actors and shall at the last have the Recompence that is due unto them After the same manner also is it in other Sins In the Covetous God's Gifts must serve their greedy Desires and must be heap'd up for this End chiefly that the Owners may have as little a Dependence upon Providence as may be And could they think their Treasures should ever administer to Free-handedness and Liberality it would be their Trouble Yet these Men's sordid Desires and Actions God in his secret Wisdom somtimes will order to serve after some years in the good Offices of Charity and Pity in that He who by Vsury and unjust Gain encreaseth his Substance shall when he little intendeth so gather it for him that will pity the Poor Innumerable Instances might be given of God's improving the contrary Designs of Men into his Glory I will only say this That the Wisdom of the Almighty is on Earth in nothing more seen than in this I now mention His Service is hardly more frequently carried on by the pious and righteous Actions of good Men than it is by the indirect and crooked Practices of the Disobedient God as it were secretly arresting their ungodly Contrivances and bringing them about without any virtue of theirs or thanks to them somtimes that the Crafty may be taken in their own Craftiness somtimes that the Welfare of Good Men may be the more promoted and in all that it may be known That however Evil Men may endeavour to make Him in his Holy Name and Works serve their wicked Ends He yet Himself is the Great God that Ruleth over all And though many Devices may be in Mens Hearts yet the Counsel of the Lord That shall stand And whosoever considereth This together with the other Reasons before instanced in why God doth neither Cut these Wicked Men generally off nor force them into Obedience will have no cause to say that God acted below the Wisdom of Prudent Governors on Earth That Criminals are encouraged to continue in their Sins and Others to come in and be partakers with them by their Example Theoph. I confess what you have said I cannot but assent unto And do heartily acknowledge that God is Merciful and Wise in his Dealings with the Children of Men. Eubul But though God doth somtimes abstain from punishing their Disobedience and somtimes doth improve it for the effecting of what He himself would have done yet it is not thereupon the less Loathsome in its own Nature and Deform'd It tendeth as far as possible for ever to Dissolve the Community betwixt God as a Lawgiver and Men his Subjects And perchance we hence may not unmeetly discern how agreeably Rebellious Men are requited in being Eternally punished in Hell. Their will would have had their wickedness uncontroul'd and the pleasures thereof extended to an infinite Duration and God must thus for ever have Ministred unto them to the Eternal Overthrow of all that is Sacred They suffer therefore no longer than they would have Sinned And it is not Incongruous that they should for ever bear his Wrath who might they have had their Desire would for ever have made Him to Serve under Them for the maintaining of their Iniquities But Theophilus it is time to conclude Theoph. The coming on of Night tells us it is Yet I cannot Eubulus but make one Wish first viz. That Men would be willing not to be imposed upon by the false appearances of Disobedience for very deceitful Colours it often weareth but would consider the true Nature thereof in its Genuine Vncomeliness and Deformity Eubul It would be well if they would so do For I dare appeal even to wicked Men themselves whether it would not seem grosly ill in their Eyes if those Servants who by duty and many particular