good such do in the World Such are indeed Benefactors to the World tho' lightly esteem'd But 't is the Duty not only of a Bishop as 't is one Qualification set down Tit. 1.8 but of every Christian as well to be a Lover of good Men. True we ought to love all Men for so much good as is in them and with a Love of Benevolence Bear no Malice to any Man Christ has taught us to love our Enemies And we must love the Persons of the Wicked tho' we are to hate their wicked Practices But we are not to love all Men alike There is a special Love of Complacence owing to good Men. Our delight must be in those that excel in Vertue I question whether Satan was ever at any time more busie than in this Age of ours to divide the Hearts of such But blessed be God his Name be praised that we can see the Enemy's Design cross'd any where That in some places the Primitive Spirit of True Christian Love seems to be reviving Use II. A word of Exhortation O Love-the Good O how ought we to love God who is Goodness it self Love him above all Love him for himself Love other Things and Persons only in God and for him And thus all our love should center and terminate in him Remember the first and great Commandment Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind And all is too little God being infinitely Good and Amiable surely he deserves more Love than our Hearts can hold than all the Powers and Faculties of our Souls ever can express And how ought we to love a good and gracious Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ He is altogether lovely Full of Grace and Truth How can we think of his own Loveliness as being the Brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his Person Heb. 1.3 and how can we think of his wonderful unparallel'd Love to us and not have our Hearts enamour'd of him enflam'd with Love to him again Oh! what wicked Hearts have they that are in love with their vain and sinful Pleasures or are doting on the Worlds Riches or Honours but have not the Love of God in them nor do they love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity in comparison of whom nothing in the World is to be lov'd But is it not good to love God and Jesus Christ And should we not love to love the highest the most perfect Objects of Love to whom our most ardent love were it raised to the highest degree possible were still far from being adaequate And then should we not love the good word of God What servent love doth the Holy Psalmist express to the Word Psa 119. Yea says he v. 140. Thy word is very pure therefore thy Servant loveth it We should be at a sad loss to know what is good were it not for the Word But there the Lord sheweth us what is good Mic. 6.8 Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil Isa 5.20 And such woful Mistakes are Men like to fall into that either have not God's Word or regard it not take not good heed to the word But if God's Testimonies are our Meditation our Delight and the Men of our Counsel if we be not unskilful in the word of Righteousness but have our Senses exercised therein we may thereby discern both good and evil And observe it according to our Love to God's word such will be our hatred of evil and our love to that which is good Psa 119.113 163. Again the Lord's Day that 's a good Day A day which God hath set apart for his special Service and which he is wont to bless above other days unto those that have a care to keep it Holy Oh! love and prize the Christian Sabbath count it a delight Love God's Publick Worship How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts Think how we are priviledg'd above our Brethren in France c. How happy would they think themselves might they enjoy the like Liberty of attending on God's Ordinances and if there were none to interrupt them or to make them afraid And love Family-Worship Keep that up daily Morning and Night Let your Houses be little Churches And if you count God's Service perfect Freedom sure you will also delight in secret Duties where you may have greater Liberty in Prayer Love Holiness and the power of Godliness Alas how many take up with a meer Form of Godliness but do you take heed of resting there Love a Religious Strictness and Exactness in your ordinary Conversation Walk by Rule A Course that Men generally yea too many Professors I fear are very tardy in Love Righteousness Hate all unrighteous Dealing Such as love Violence or Injustice the Lord hateth Psa 11.5 Love the Truth and Peace as Zach. 8.19 Diligite veritatem pacisicam pacem veram quae ad normam verbi divini quod est veritas congruit Tarnovius Indeed Peace without Truth should not be taking with us But so far as will stand with the Interest of Truth we should all be followers of Peace Love Mercy Mic. 6.8 Delight in doing what good you can Be beneficial to as many as you can as you have opportunity Ubicunq homo est ibi beneficio locus est I say no more here but as the Apostle Phil. 4.8 Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good Report if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think on these things Apply your Minds to them set your Hearts on them Which if you do then know for your Encouragement 1. In loving the good you shall be Followers of God which as it is your Duty so it will be your Honour Is it not an honour to be Followers of God 2. 'T is very pleasing to God This is the good and acceptable Will of God And if you love God certainly it is your unfeigned desire to please him whether others be pleased or displeased You will think your selves happy if you can but please him 3. This will prove you truly good Here 's a comfortable evidence of your being in a good Estate if indeed you love the Good 4. And thus you may be assured that the Lord will be good to you He is good and does good to such That your Souls shall lodge in Goodness And how great is his Goodness that he hath laid up for such This is with Mary to chuse the good part 5. And if you love and embrace Goodness who but such as are of a Diabolical Spirit would seek to harm you But suppose any should seek you hurt for loving and following that which is good yet you may be of good Courage The Lord will turn it to good Bonis omnia in bonum 6. And if you are Lovers of that which is good you are in
than any Foreign Enemy could be For our manifold Sins and Provocations without a more General Reformation than is yet to be seen amongst us the Lord the Lord God of Hosts may be provok'd to become our Enemy And where are we then What will become of us if we have him our Enemy As it follows Amos 9.5 The Lord God of Hosts is he that toucheth the Land and it shall melt and all that dwell therein shall mourn c. See Nehem. 1.5 6. I must tell you if you do not hate Sin if you are not Enemies to Sin you can be no true Friends to England But I may dwell no longer on this and must hast over the second Proposition which follows II. We are as expresly charg'd and commanded to love that which is good As 't is not enough to leave off and shun evil practices but we must hate the Evil So 't is not enough to do good actions but we must love the Good Quest 1. What are we to understand by Good here Answ Not any false or Phantastick Good Not what is only good in shew and appearance or in a Sinners deluded fancy Not the Covetous Worldlings good Not the Sensualists good No need of a Command to love Earthly Riches or Carnal Pleasures which Carnal Hearts are too much in love with But need enough of a Caution or Prohibition against setting our Hearts on these Which indeed we meet with again and again in Gods Holy Word But the Good we are required to love stands in opposition to the Evil we must hate Therefore look as whatsoever the Law forbids we are to hate as Evil So whatsoever He requires we are to love as Good Whatsoever is right and good in Gods Eyes should be so in ours He that is Wisdom it self and Goodness it self cannot deceive or misinform us concerning what is Good Indeed he is the prime good to be first and principally loved For that he is Summe Bonus summum Bonum superlatively most transcendently good the chiefest good He is Essentially Originally Infinitely Immutably Good He is Goodness it self And here is the Root of the Matter To lay a right Foundation we must see that we begin at the love of God begin at the love of God in Christ in whom he hath discover'd and made himself known as infinitely amiable And then we must love other things according as they are conform to his perfect Holy Nature and so far as is agreeable to his Good and Righteous will Quest 2. What is it to love the Good Answ In short loving the Good is the complacency of the Soul in that which is good whereby the Soul embraceth and cleaves to that which is good is knit to it as one with it and would by no means be parted from it but still follows that which is good and has a care to hold it fast Here you have a brief Account of the Affection together with its proper Effects Now what could be more reasonable and equitable than this Precept Love the good 1. Great reason for it from the very Nature of the thing Indeed these Precepts in the Text are such common Principles as all who would not out-face the very light of Nature must necessarily yield their Assent unto All that would shew themselves Men must grant that there is no place at all for Hatred if it should not be turn'd against that which is evil so no place to be found for love if not to be set on that which is good As indeed contrariorum contraria est ratio There is as good reason for our loving the one as for our hating the other Nothing more congruous to Reason than to love that which is good Omnis Appetitus fertur in Bonum And tho' the Sensitive Appetite looks at a lower kind of good yet surely the Will the Rational Appetite should look higher Does not every Man's reason tell him that of two sorts of good the better should be prefer'd the greater good should be chosen And certainly where the sensitive Appetite that should be under the Conduct and Regimen of Reason beareth sway will not be rul'd it shews such Men so far brutified and without the right use of Reason And if that which is truly really good should attract our Wills and Affections before a meer seeming good then should not naked Vertue be preferr'd and chosen before Vice in its richest Robes Tho' Vertue had no dowry here yet were she not to be embraced rather than any vicious course notwithstanding it promised one Kingdoms upon Earth with the glory of them Surely Goodness is the proper Object of Love the formal Reason of it the Loadstone of it And they that love not Goodness shew themselves monstrously deprav'd 2. Without loving that which is good 't is certain we cannot be good We may do things good in themselves but if not from a love to Goodness but only for some by ends out of Sinister Respects our Hearts may be stark nought They that are truly good have a sincere love to Goodness They love it propter se for its goodness sake That which is good is very grateful pleasing and suitable to a good Heart 3. There is no good we do that 's pleasing unto God if it be not from a love to that which is good Without this we act not from a right Principle nor to a right end Which things the Lord looks chiefly at more than at the bare outward Action 4. Without a love to that which is good we cannot follow that which is good as we ought to do 3 Epistle of the Apostle John v. 11. neither are we like to cleave to that which is good a Duty requir'd Rom. 12.9 nor shall we hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 without cleaving to it in Affection we are not like to keep close to it in our Practice Satan that grand Adversary with wicked Men his Agents will do all they can to discourage and draw us off from that which is good and to allure and draw us on to that which is evil 'T is the property of wicked Men that they would have all as had as themselves and the property of Satan that he would have all as miserable as himself and being void of all Goodness but as full of Wickedness as he can hold hence he envies us having not any spark of goodness or any inclination towards it 5. It is unquestionably our Duty to hate evil as we heard before And it is by the Love of Goodness that we come to hate evil When we hate evil we hate it as being opposite and contrary to the good which the Lord hath requir'd taught us to love hath inclin'd our Hearts to Love Now what Use are we to make of this Tho' I must be very brief Use I. Hence we may infer That there is a special Love due to those that are good A special love due to them even for the good that is in them and the
find Grace and Favour with the Lord to the preventing or removing of judgments and for the continuing and further conferring of His mercies That as it is Jer. 31.23 The Lord bless thee O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness the Blessing of the Lord should be on such a People 1. To begin with the first of these That 't is Gods express charge and command that we hate evil Quest 1. What kind of evil are we to understand here Answ Not meer Natural or Penal evil but Moral or culpable evil We must kiss the Rod accept of the Punishment of our Iniquity Lev. 26.41 but hate those ill manners that are displeasing to the Lord and are wont or likely to bring us under the Rod. Hate Sin which is the evil of evils the greatest evil Quest 2. How are we to hate it Answ There is a twofold hatred 1. An hatred of Aversation Thus we must hate sin as having an Antipathy unto it Hate it so as to shun and avoid it all we can 2. An hatred of Opposition From an enmity to sin not barely shunning it but striving earnestly against it Setting our selves against Sin as real enemies to it both in our selves and in others And surely they that are reconciled to God and at peace with Him they that are Friends to Christ cannot but be Enemies to Sin Now this and the two following Duties are included in the very Law of Nature These are common Principles of Natural Religion But we who have Gods will more clearly revealed to us in his written word shall be left more inexcusable if we conform not to his will herein What can be more plain than that Psal 97.10 Ye that Love the Lord Hate Evil So then none should have a face to say They love God who do not hate Sin in their Hearts And how plain is that Rom. 12.9 Abhor that which is evil Where the word ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is emphatical Abhor it even a Hell it self And great reason for this strict Injunction 1. Forasmuch as God hates Sin 'T is the abominable thing which he hates Nothing in the world so odious to him as Sin May it not be said that Sin in some respects is more odious than the very Devils These as they are Gods Creatures have some Natural good in them whereas there is nothing but evil in Sin And propter quod unum quodque tale est illud est magis tale It is only for Sin that the Devils are such odious Creatures in His pure Eyes Now as God hates Sin ought not we herein to be Followers of God 2. We cannot love the Lord in sincerity if we do not hate Sin Now this is the First and Great Commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart Which is a thing impossible without an hatred of Sin Ye that Love the Lord Hate Evil. Sin is such an Enemy to God so contrary to His most Pure and Holy Nature and to His most Righteous will so opposite to his Interest to his Honour and Glory that if we have the love of God in us we must necessarily hate and abhor Sin for its contrariety to God 3. And certainly 't is a great Duty also incumbent on us to Fear the Lord Thou shalt Fear the Lord thy God and Serve him Fear ye not me saith the Lord If I be a Master where is my Fear But there is no true fear of God without an hatred of Sin Prov. 8.13 The Fear of the Lord is to hate Evil Psal 36.1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before their Eyes 4. And 't is as certain that without an hatred of Sin we shall do no execution on it Now Sin is such a deadly Enemy that here we must Kill or be Kill'd Oh it warreth against our Souls And till we hate it we shall at most but Fence or Skirmish with it not Fight in good earnest against it What is it only to scratch its face to raise its skin This will not indanger its Life at all The surface of a meer outward Reformation is far short of the work of Mortification There is no wounding Sin to the Heart till we hate it Indeed the love of Sin is the very life of it But hatred seeks the destruction of its Enemy And without hating Sin we shall not be for mortifying it And if we are for sparing the Life of Sin our Lives must go for its Life 5. We cannot have the Complacential love of God till we hate Sin There is at least a Secret League with Sin till we come to hate it Never till then that our league with sin is broken And 't is certain that till our League with Sin is broken God and our Souls are not agreed While in League with Sin there 's no Reconciliation no Peace with God See Isa 1.16 18. and ch 59.2 6. Upon the whole this is a Discriminating Note and Mark necessary to distinguish true Converts such as indeed turn from Sin unto God to difference them from the wicked from Hypocrites These may abstain from many Sins but not from a right principle A wicked Man may refrain from the outward act of many Sins either upon some pang and horror of Conscience or upon some Worldly account when he is far from loathing and hating them He has a love to them still But fear of wrath to come or fear of loss shame or other punishment in this world lays a restraint upon him 'T is part of the Description and Character of a wicked Man Psal 36.4 He abhorreth not evil And 't is enough to prove one wicked still A bare abstinence from Sin will not prove one a true Convert but there must also be a real abhorrence of it Use I. That the Lord hath given such express charge to hate evil then is it not manifest that they are here condemned who indeed are direct Antipodes to this Divine Command who stand in Diametrical opposition to it I mean such as hate the good instead of hating evil Alas how many hate the Light because their deeds are evil How many that hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and abhor him that speaketh uprightly As here v. 10. How many that hate Instruction and that hate Reformation even hate both the Name and Thing How many that hate Holiness and hate Gods Saints and Servants for that for which the Holy Psalmist professeth his great delight was in them Psal 16.3 their excelling in Virtue Bear witness Sirs bear witness Are not such notorious Despisers of Gods Command Yea do not such shew themselves haters of God Oh what height of Impiety is this Use II. This should put us upon serious Self-Examination and on a strict Enquiry into our Hearts whether we indeed hate evil And great need of an impartial search here that we be not deceived and mistaken Then 1. Have we an hatred of sin as sin As 't is an