aside the natural Right which He has over him as his Creature and to transact with him as free and Master of himself But this is all infinite condescension Secondly it seems unsuitable to the infinite Goodness of God to bereave Man of the Life and Happiness he has once conferr'd upon him unless he forfeits it by some Demerit The Gifts and calling of God are without Repentance nor can I think how Death which has so much Evil in it could have enter'd the World if Sin had not enter'd it first In this Sense unsinning Obedience gives a kind of right to the Continuance of those good things which are at first the meer Effects of Divine Grace and Bounty Lastly a Covenant of Works being once establish'd 't is plain that as Sin forfeits Life so Obedience must give a right to it and as the Penitent could not be restored but by an Act of Grace so he that commits no Sin would need no Pardon But then Life it self and an Ability to work Righteousness must be owing to Grace antecedent to the Covenant and so such a one would have whereof to boast comparatively with respect to others who fell but not before God The Sum of all is Man has nothing to render to God but what he has received from him and therefore can offer him nothing but his own Which is no very good Foundation for Merit But suppose him absolute Master of himself Suppose him holding all things independent of God Can the Service of a few Days merit Immortality and Glory Angelical Perfection and a Crown He must be made up of Vanity and Presumption that dares affirm this 3. God stands in no need of our Service and 't is our own not his Interest we promote by it The Foundation of Merit amongst Men is Impotence and Want the Prince wants the Service and Tribute of the Subject the Subject the Protection of the Prince the Rich needs the Ministry and the Labour of the Poor the Poor Support and Maintenance from the Rich. And it is thus in Imaginary as well as Real Wants The Luxury and Pleasure of one must be provided for and supported by the Care and Vigilance of others and the Pomp and the Pride of one part of the World cannot subsist but on the Servitude of the other In these Cases therefore mutual Wants create mutual Rights and mutual Merit But this is not the Case between God and Man God is not subject to any Wants or Necessities Nor is his Glory or Happiness capable of Diminution or Increase He is a Monarch that needs no Tribute to Support his Grandeur nor any Strength or Power besides his own to guard his Throne If we revolt or rebel we cannot injure Him if we be loyal and obedient we cannot profit Him He has all Fulness all Perfection in himself He is an Almighty and All-sufficient God But on the quite contrary though God have no Wants we have many and though his Majesty and Felicity be subject to no Vicissitude we are subject to many Our Service to God therefore is our own Interest and our Obedience is design'd to procure our own Advantage we need we daily need his Support and Protection we depend entirely on His Favour and Patronage in him we live and move and have our Being and from Him as from an inexhaustible Fountain we derive all the Streams of Good by which we are refreshed and improved To know and love Him is our Wisdom to depend upon Him our Happiness and Security to serve and worship Him our Perfection and Liberty to enjoy Him will be our Heaven and those Glimpses of his Presence which we are vouchsafed thorough the Spirit in this Life are the Pledges and Foretaste of it This is the constant Voice of Scripture Every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh from the Father of Lights Jam. 1.17 If I were hungry I would not tell thee for the World is mine and the Fulness thereof Will I eat the Flesh of Bulls or drink the Blood of Goats Offer unto God Thanksgiving and pay thy Vows unto the most high and call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.12 13. c. If thou be Righteous what givest thou unto him thy Wickedness may hurt a Man c. Job 35.7 8. SECT III. Of the Impediments of Perfection THough I have been all along carrying on the Design of this Section that is the Removing the Obstacles of Perfection yet I easily foresaw there might be some which would not be reduc'd within the Compass of the foregoing Heads For these therefore I reserv'd this Place These are Five 1. Too easie and loose a Notion of Religion 2. An Opinion that Perfection is not attainable 3. That Religion is an Enemy to Pleasure 4. The Love of the World in a higher Degree at least than will consist with Perfection 5. The Infirmity of the Flesh § 1. Some seem to have entertain'd such a Notion of Religion as if Moderation here were as necessary as any where else They look upon Zeal as as an Excess of Righteousness and can be well enough content to want Degrees of Glory if they can but save their Souls To which End they can see no Necessity of Perfection Now I would beseech such seriously to lay to Heart that Salvation and Damnation are Things of no common Importance and therefore it highly concerns them not to be mistaken in the Notion they form to themselves of Religion For the Nature of Things will not be altered by their Fancies nor will God be mocked or imposed on If we will deal sincerely with our selves as in this Case it certainly behoves us to do we must frame our Idea of Religion not from the Opinions the Manners or the Fashions of the World but from the Scriptures And we must not interpret these by our own Inclinations but we must judge of the Duties they prescribe by those Descriptions of them by those Properties and Effects which we find there We must weigh the Design and End of Religion which is to promote the Glory of God and the Good of Man and to raise us above the World and the Body and see how our Platform or Model of Religion suits with it And if after we have done this we are not fully satisfied in the true Bounds and Limits which part Vice and Vertue it cannot but be safest for us to err on the right hand We ought always to remember too That the repeated Exhortations in Scripture to Diligence and that the most earnest and indefatigable to Vigilance to Fear and Trembling to Patience to Steadfastness and such-like are utterly inconsistent with an easier lazy gentile Religion That the Life of Jesus is the fairest and fullest Comment on his Doctrine and That we never are to follow the Examples of a corrupt World but of the best Men and the best Ages This this one thing alone will convince
had nothing of internal Purity or solid Righteousness in it So that upon the whole the Jew and Gentile were alike wicked Only the Wickedness of the Jews had this Aggravation in it above that of the Gentiles that they enjoy'd the Oracles of God and the Favour of a peculiar Covenant This being the state of Darkness which lay upon the Face of the Jewish and Gentile World our Lord who was to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his People Israel advanced and established in the World that Doctrine which directly tends to dispel these Errors and rescue Mankind from the Misery that attends them For all that the Gospel contains may be reduced to these three Heads First the Assertion of one only true God with a bright and full Revelation of his Divine Attributes and Perfection Secondly an Account of the Will of God or the Worship he delights in which is a Spiritual one together with suitable Means and Motives in which last is contained a full Declaration of Man's supream Happiness Thirdly the Revelation of one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus through whom we have access with boldness to the Throne of Grace through whom we have obtained from the Father Grace and Pardon and Adoption and through whom Lastly all our Oblations and Performances are acceptable to Him The Design of this glorious Manifestation was to open Mens Eyes to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Living God That they might obtain Remission of Sins and an Inheritance of Glory These then are the truths which Illuminated the Gentile and Jewish World And these are the truths which must Illuminate us at this day These dispel all destructive Errors that lead us to Vice or Misery These point out our supream Felicity and the direct way to it These open and enlarge the Eye of the Soul enable it to distinguish and judge with an unerring Exactness between Good and Evil between Substantial and Superficial Temporal and Eternal Good And I wish from my Soul whatever Light we pretend to at this Day we were well grounded and established in these Truths I doubt notwithstanding our Belief of one God and one Mediator and notwithstanding we are well enough assured that God who is a Spirit must be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and notwithstanding our pretending to believe a Life to come I say I am afraid that notwithstanding these things we do generally err in two main points namely in the Notion we ought to have of Religion and the value we are to set upon the World and the Body For who that reflects upon the Pomp and Pride of Life upon the ease the softness and the luxury of it upon the frothiness and the freedom the vanity and Impertinence to say no worse of Conversation will not conclude that either we have renounced our Religion or form to our selves too complaisant and indulgent a Notion of it For is this the imitation of Jesus Is this to walk as he walked in the World Can this be the Deportment of Men to whom the World and the Body is Crucified Can such a Life as this is flow from those Divine Fountains Faith Love and Hope Who again can reflect upon the Passion we discover for Superiority and Precedence our thirst of Power our ravenous desire of VVealth and not conclude that we have mistaken our main End that we set a wrong value upon things and that whatever we talk of an Eternity we look upon this present World as our portion and most valuable Good For can such a tender concern for such an eager pursuit after temporal things flow from nay consist with purity of Heart and poverty of Spirit the Love of God and a Desire of Heaven Whoever then will be Perfect or Happy must carefully avoid both these Errors He must never think that Religion can subsist without the strength and vigour of our Affections Or that the Bent and Vigour of our Souls can be pointed towards God and yet the Air of our Deportment and Conversation be earthy sensual and vain conformed even to a Pagan Pride and shew of Life Next he must never cherish in himself the love of this World He must never look upon himself other than a Stranger and Pilgrim in it He must never be fond of the Pleasure of it He must never form vain Designs and Projects about it nor look upon the best things in it as ingredients of our Happiness but only as Instruments of Vertue or short Repasts and Refreshments in our Journey And because all our mistakes about the Nature and Perfection of Religion and the Value of Temporal things do generally arise from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that peculiar Sin to which our Constitution betrays us therefore the Knowledge of our selves an intimate Acquaintance with all our natural Propensions and Infirmities is no inconsiderable Part of Illumination For we shall never address our selves heartily to the Cure of a Disease which we know nothing of or to the rectifying any inclination till we are throughly convinced that 't is irregular and dangerous 2. The Second Character of Illuminating Truths is that they are such as feed and nourish corroborate and improve the Mind of Man Now the Properties of Bodily strength are such as these It enables us to Baffle and repel Injuries to bear Toil and Travel to perform difficult Works with speed and ease and finally it prolongs Life to a much further date than weak and crazy Constitutions can arrive at And of all these we find some Resemblances in Spiritual Strength But as much more Perfect and Excellent as the Spirit is above the Body Those Truths then are indeed Illuminating which enable us to vanquish Temptations to endure with Constancy and Patience the Toils and Hardships of our Christian warfare to discharge the Duties of our Station with Zeal and Vigour and which Lastly render us firm steady and immortal And these are the glorious effects which are attributed to the Truths of God Hence is the Gospel called the Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 and hence it is that we read of the Armour of God Ephesians 6.11 The Sword of the Spirit the Shield of Faith the Breast-plate of Righteousness c. to intimate to us the Strength and Vertue of the Word of God and that it brings with it safety and success And hence it is that the Word of God is said to quicken and strengthen that Man is said to live not by Bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God that Righteousness is called Everlasting and that he that doth the Will of God is affirmed to abide for ever To teach us plainly that there is nothing steady and unalterable nothing durable nothing eternal but God Divine Truths and those that are formed and modeled by them There are Truths indeed which are meerly Barren and Vnactive which amuse and suspend the
while enslaved and defiled in their Affections and the very Liberty they boast of in their Conduct and Management of themselves openly springs from their secret Servitude to some vile Passion or other Nor yet can I be so soft and easie as to grant that such Men as these either do or can arrive at the Liberty they pretend to I mean that of Regulating and Governing all their outward Actions by the Rules of Vertue They too often throw off the Disguise which either Hypocrisie or Enmity to Religion makes them put on and prove too plainly to the World that when they lay Restraints on themselves in this or that Sin 't is only to indulge themselves the more freely and securely in others Secondly My next Remark is That it is gross Stupidity or Impudence to deny a Providence and another World when the Belief of both is so indispensably necessary to the well-being of this The Frame and Nature of Man and the necessities of this World require both Without these selfishness must undoubtedly be the predominant Principle This would breed unreasonable Desires and these would fill us with Fears and Jealousies so that a State of Nature would indeed be a State of War and our Enmity against one another would not be extinguished by Civil Society but only concealed and restrained till a fit Occasion for its breaking out should present it self Laws would want that Force Common-wealths that Bond or Cement Conversation that Confidence and our Possessions that security which is necessary to render them Blessings to us § 3. A Third Fruit of Christian Liberty is that Relation which it creates between God and us We are no longer of the World but are separated and sanctified devoted and dedicated to God Thus St. Peter 1 Epist 2.9 Ye are a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People And thus St. Paul Rom. 8.15 16. ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ God is our God we are his People He is our Father and we are his Children we are ingraffed into his Family The Consequence of this is his Dearly Beloved and Only Begotten Son is our Advocate at his right Hand the Propitiation for our Sins and Intercessour for us His Spirit resides with us to comfort and assist us his Angels guard us and minister to us for we are no longer the Object of his Wrath but of his Love and Care How does the Apostle triumph on this Argument Heb. 12.18 19 c. For ye are not come unto the Mount that might be touched and that burned with Fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a Trumpet and the Voice of Words which voice they who heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more For they could not endure that which was commanded and if so much as a Beast touch the Mountain it shall be stoned or thrust thorow with a Dart And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels To the general Assembly and Church of the First Born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediatour of the new Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel And thus again 1 Cor. 3.2 Therefore let no Man glory in Men for all things are yours whether Paul or Apollo or Cephus or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods These are great and glorious things What Dignity and Eminence does this Adoption raise us to what Blessedness flow from Communion and Fellowship with God what can we want or what can we fear when we have so mighty an Interest in the Soveraign of Heaven and Earth when all his Divine Perfections are employed to promote and secure our Happiness Now sure we may rejoyce now we may glory and triumph for certainly all things must work together for our good But as fallen Angels envied the Happiness of New Created Man so do Apostate and Debauched Men envy that of the Godly And one of these will be apt to say hold Sir you run too fast these glorious Priviledges are yet but in the Embrio and all your Happiness is yet but in the Reversion Notwithstanding all these big words you must grant me that you are yet but in a State of Probation that you are to undergo Hardships and Difficulties and to live upon the thin Diet of Hope and Expectation and so I think I might take you down from Heirs of God to Servants at the best Well I will grant that we yet live by Faith and wait for the Hope of Glory Nor will I at present contend about those Pleasures that are but in the bud I will for once quit all that Preference both as to Nobility and Pleasure which Adoption and the full Assurance of Hope gives a Godly Man above a Sinner and I will take the State of a Child of God to be as the Objector would have it I will suppose him to be under Age till he come to another Life and to differ nothing from a Servant whilst he is so though he be Heir of all Yet after all if I can prove that 't is our Duty to serve God it will be no contemptible Fruit no small Commendation of Liberty that it enables us to do our Duty And that it is our Duty to serve God is plain For is it not fit that He who made and still upholds the World should govern it ought we not to pay Obedience to His Laws whose Infinite Perfections and Immence Beneficence invest Him with an absolute and uncontroulable Sovereignty over us whom should we honour with our Soul and Body but Him who is the Author of both to whom should we devote and Sacrifice what we have but to Him from whom we received all whose Praise should we shew forth but His who has called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light whom should we obey and adore but Him who has translated us out of Bondage into Liberty out of the servitude of Satan into the Kingdom of his dear Son having redeemed us by the Blood of his Son from that Wrath to which our Sins had deservedly subjected us But this is not all I shall prove it not only to be our Duty but our Honour and our Happiness to serve God even on the supposition on which the Objection proceeds and which I at present grant 1. 'T is our Honour to
for ever Need I invite and exhort Man to Humility need I guard him against spiritual Pride one would think 't were altogether useless to attempt it Is it possible that the Creature should think himself so independent of his Creator that he should be able to pay him more Service than were due to him Is it possible that Man should set such a rate upon his own Righteousness as to think it capable of deserving the utmost Rewards that an Infinite God can bestow upon him Is it possible in a word that Man poor frail sinful Man Man that can do nothing that is good but by the Assistance of Divine Grace Man deprav'd and corrupted in his Nature and but a very ill husband of Grace is it possible I say that Man should be proud towards God towards that glorious and incomprehensible Being who is the Creator and Lord the Monarch and Patron the God and Father of Heaven and Earth But as absurd as this is universal Experience teaches us that Humility true Humility is a hard Lesson and that very excellent Persons are not out of the Danger of falling into vicious Elations of Mind In order therefore to promote the one and secure us against the other I will propose these two or three Considerations 1. There never was meer Man yet that did not fall short of his Duty 2. Man is the Creature of God depends upon Him and has receiv'd all from him and therefore let him do the utmost he can he does no more than his Duty 3. God stands in no Need of our Service and 't is our own not his Interest we promote by it 1. There never was mere Man yet c. For Proof of this I will not flie to Original Corruption or Sins of Infirmity Alas I need not The Apostle Rom. 1. and 2. lays the Foundation of Justification by Faith in the universal Defection and Depravation of Mankind They are altogether gone out of the way there is none that doth Good no not one And what Sins he there charges the World with the Catalogue he gives us of them will inform us But are we no better than they I answer the Light of the Gospel and the preventing Grace of God has undoubtedly given a great Check to the Progress of Sin in the World but since no Man can be Justified but through Faith in the Blood of Jesus 't is plain that we too must be concluded under Sin And though our Sins may not in the Number or Scandal of them equal theirs yet we ought to remember too that every Sin is the more provoking the more voluntary it is and the greater the Grace is which it resists and despises But what need I compare our Selves with the Jew or Gentile what need I prove by Argument and Authority that no Man ever yet liv'd or will live without Sin I mean Mortal Sin Who ever yet look'd back diligently into his past Life and did not meet with Stains and Deformities enough when I consider what Legions of Sins are rang'd under those two Banners of the Devil the Filthiness of the Flesh and of the Spirit when I call to mind Envy Discontent Murmuring Distrust Pride Covetousness Ambition Wilfulness Contention Forwardness Passion Dissimulation Falshood Flattery and a thousand other Sins and when I reflect upon the Weaknesses and Prepensions of Nature and the almost innumerable Temptations to which we are exposed I must confess I am not at all surprised to think that no Flesh can be Justified in the Sight of God by a Covenant of Works And when ever I find any upon a Death-bed as I do some acquitting themselves from the Guilt of any Deliberate Wickedness I rather admire their Ignorance and Partiality than their Innocence And yet after all a good Man is not to examine himself only concerning the Evil that he has done but also concerning the Good which he has omitted He must enquire how far he has fallen short of that Poverty of Spirit and Purity of Heart which he ought to have come up too and how far he has been wanting in those Duties which a thorough Zeal would have push'd him on too And when he has done this let him be proud if he can 2. Man is the Creature of God depends upon him and has receiv'd all from Him And therefore let him do the utmost he can he does no more than his Duty and strictly speaking cannot merit of him He that will pretend to Merit must be his own Master he must have a Right over his own Actions he must be free to dispose of his Affections and Services as he pleases For if he be antecedently bound if he have no Liberty no Freedom no Right to dispose of himself or any thing he is possessed of 't is plain such a one cannot merit And this is the direct Case between God and Man God is the great Lord the great Proprietor of Heaven and Earth He that gives Alms does but restore a part of what God lent him he that takes patiently the Loss of Goods or Health or Friends does but give back what he had no right to retain he was but Tenant at Will and had no Right to any thing longer than God thought fit to continue it And in all other Instances of Duty the Case will be still plainer If he adore and worship God there is infinite Reason that he should for he depends upon him for his Being and Preservation If he love God never so much God has deserv'd much more than he can pay Him not only the Enjoyments of Life but even Life it self being derived from Him From this Argument it will follow that it is impossible for a Creature to merit of its Creator Angels themselves never could For might it not be said with as much Truth concerning them as concerning Man who made thee to differ or what hast thou which thou didst not receive and if thou hast received it why dost thou boast as if thou hadst not received it 1 Cor. 4.7 And the same may be concluded concerning Adam in Paradise For I demand had he kept the Covenant of God had he done this by Divine Grace or by his own Strength ' If by the Grace of God as Divines generally hold then may we apply the Expression of St. Austin to Adam as well as to any one now under the Dispensation of the Gospel That when God rewards the works of Man he does only crown in him his own Gifts But suppose he had done this by his own natural Strength were not the Endowments of Nature as much the Gifts of God as the Endowments of Grace the one were Natural the other Supernatural Gifts both Gifts still though of a different kind If it be here Objected if this be so how comes St. Paul to affirm to him that worketh is the reward due not of Grace but of Debt Rom. 4.4 I answer First God seems when he enters into Covenant with Man to suspend or lay