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
for the perpetration of gross Enormities 1. If we consider the Religion of the Heathen we shall find that it is vastly inferior in purity to the Christian Religion Among the Gentiles who lived without the Gospel it can scarce be said there was any Religion at all for their Gods were Stocks and Stones and Trees and Fire and Water and Beasts and dead Men nay their Precepts were so far from purity that they commended and commanded impurity As among the ancient Babylonians in the Worship of Venus the Women prostituted themselves to all Strangers nay the very Gods of the Heathen did according to their own fictitious Writers patronize all their Impieties even by their own Patterns Jupiter the chief forsooth of their Gods who hath his Name from being an helping Father commits Incest with his own Sister Juno and his Daughter Minerva Sodomy with Ganymedes ravisheth Europa banisheth his Father Saturn out of his Kingdom Venus was a Whore Mercury a Thief Bacchus a Drunkard c. But to leave these and speak to them that were more sober in their Understandings and not so vain in their Imaginations who had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work of the Law written in their hearts Rom. 2.14 and improved it to more purpose than others yet these pleased themselves with a little outward civility without any inward or outward practical godliness Their chief devotion consisted in abstaining from gross sins which might expose them to the shame of men and the doing some external acts of Piety as sacrificing and mumbling over a few Prayers that were little significant O how vastly doth the Christian Religion excel this This Religion of the Heathen doth rather hide sin then heal it It doth not root the love of sin out of the heart only restrain it in the life But the Christian Religion doth forbid sin in the Affections as well as in the Conversation it doth abscindere as well as abscondere cure sin as well as cover it In the best Heathen the fire of their Lusts was only raked up and cover'd with ashes from the eyes of the World But now in the Christian it is quenched at least in part and shall by degrees be wholly quenched The Christian Religion doth not only forbid all Sins or outward Commissions but also all Lusts and inward Inclinations I beseech you brethren to abstain as Pilgrims and Strangers from all fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 And a religions Christian doth not only forbear gross Commissions but also abhor secret sinful motions I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love Psal 119. Those among the Heathen who were the wisest made nothing of neglecting to give God their love and fear and trust their highest Honour and superlative Esteem and exactest Obedience which are the chief of Religion They allowed Revenge in case of suffering Injury and some of their greatest Law-givers ordained Theft to be unpunishable if it could be done cleanly and cleaverly so as not to be found out They put away their Wives upon any small distast and took others during their pleasure only Their whole Religion hath not one Prohibition against inward Corruptions nor one Precept for inward heart Duties and therefore must of necessity come short of the Christian Religion for Purity 2. If we consider the Turkish Religion what a bundle of fooleries is Mahomets Alcoran and what a dunghil of filthiness is the Religion of his Followers They allow a man as many Wives as he can maintain and encourage men to murder with a promise of a Poetical carnal Paradise to all that shall die in the Wars against the Christians They obey the Lusts of their Tyrant in all things even to the murder of their Soveraigns nearest Relations or chiefest Ministers of State against the very light and law of Nature They do not so much as profess to mind those heart Prohibitions and Precepts without which all external Holiness is but as a rotten Carkass noisome and unsavoury to Gods Nostrils and without any loveliness or life in his Eyes Nay the Popish Religion so far as it differs from the true Christian Religion is impure They have sins that are Venial allow publickly of Uncleanness The Pope hath a Revenue out of the Stews they dispense with Sodomy incest any Sin for money They place all their Holiness in some external Mortifications which God never required at their hands But what doth the Christian Religion do It reacheth the Heart and teacheth the Soul The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19. 1. It directs the whole Man and gives Laws to all the powers of the Soul and parts of the Body It directs us about our Bodies and outward Conversation It commands to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice to God Rom. 12.1 and the members of our Bodies as Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness It binds the Eyes Ears Tongue Hands Feet all the members to their good behaviour It allows not any part to be abused to prophaneness Job 31.1 Psal 119. Psal 37.30 31. Psal 34.13 14. Rom. 6.13 14 15 16 17. It directs us about our Souls The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Psal 19.7 It changeth the nature of the Soul and opens the eye of it and turns it from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 It directeth the mind to learn the Knowledge of God as the richest Treasure and choicest Portion and only Happiness of the Creature 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Fathers It directs the Will to choose this God for its suitable and satisfying and everlasting felicity Psal 73.25 It limits the Affections as to their Objects and their motion towards those Objects It forbids inordinate desires after or delight in sublumary Vanities and commands moderation in our love to all created Comforts Let your moderation be known to all men The time is short let them that have Wives be as though they had none c. 1 Cor. 7.29 It enjoyns our love in the greatest degree to be placed on the worthiest Object Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and all thy Soul and all thy Strength Matth. 22.37 And so our fear Fear him that can cast Body and Soul into Hell I say unto you fear him It keeps all the unruly passions within their proper banks and bounds and preserves the superior and inferior faculties in their proper places Now what Religion either of Moralists or Mahometans doth do 2. As it directs about the whole man so it directs as to every part and passage of this mans Conversation We need never be at a loss for a Rule or at a stand what to do if we will but use diligence to know and understand the revealed Will of God The Christian Religion directs us in our Callings whether Magistrates Ministers Tradesmen Souldiers Luk. 3. It directs us in our Relations as Husbands Wives Parents Children Masters
scorned and mocked for their purity and preciseness in the presence of Christ in the Arms and embraces of Christ in a state of full Happiness and perfect Satisfaction while they themselves are shut out and denied entrance Luk. 13.25 28. The fire of Hell will give them light enough to see as well as heat enough to feel themselves infinitely miserable 5. It will greatly add to their torment and anguish to consider that they were sometime near the enjoyment of this blissful presence of Christ Pardon and Peace and Love and Life and the endless fruition of the blessed Jesus were tendered to them were nigh them were at the very door of their hearts They were solemnly commanded lovingly invited severely threatned sweetly allured and pathetically perswaded to accept of Christ and Grace yea and Heaven and Happiness and eternal Life yea and their hearts began to relent and to close with the intreaties of the Gospel They were almost perswaded to be Christians indeed There was but a little a very little between them and Christ The bargain was driven so far that Christ was got into their consciences they bore witness for him and warn'd them if they loved their Lives their Souls to accept of him while he would accept of them yea Christ was got into their Judgments they gave their Verdict on his side as one infinitely more amiable and elegible than the World or Flesh nay he had possibly got into their Affections they delighted to hear of his great Love to poor Sinners and of the great things he purchased for them with his own blood and yet though they were so near they came short and like Ephraim play'd the part of unwise Sons and stay'd in the place of the breaking forth of Children O how like a Dagger will it pierce the heart of them that live under the Gospel and neglect the great Salvation offer'd to them when they come to be banished the presence of Christ and to see others who made Religion their business on Earth bathing their Souls in Rivers of Pleasures drawing water with joy out of the Well of Salvation eating of the Tree of Life that groweth in the midst of Paradise and hous'd in the Arms of their dearest Saviour and shall reflect and consider with themselves all those Joys and Pleasures all those Dainties and Delicacies all those Robes and Riches and Glories and Felicities which they enjoy in the presence of Christ might have been mine they were freely and frequently and affectionately offered to me I had the refusal of them nay I had a good mind to them I was not far from the Kingdom of Heaven There was but a little between me and them they were at the very door of my heart and stood knocking there for admission and desired only hearty acceptance but like a Fool I dallied with them and defer'd them as if hereafter had been time enough and so have lost them for ever 6. It will much augment their anguish and misery to consider who it is that passeth so severe a doom upon them This dreadful Sentence is pronounced by Love and Grace and Goodness it self He that sometimes call'd them to him so sweetly so affectionately now casts them from him so sharply so furiously He who sometimes cry'd to them Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and wept over them O that thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things of thy peace He that formerly invited intreated besought them to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5.20 and shew'd them his heart-blood the price of their Pardon and Life and stretch'd out his Arms to imbrace their returning Souls will now in wrath and rage and flames and fury bid them be gone from him and his Curse go along with them And if Love prove their Enemy surely Wrath will not be their Friend And if Mercy be thus against them surely Justice will not be for them Ah how sorely will it gall the Sinner to consider This dreadful doom is denounced against me not by an Enemy or one that hated me but by a Friend and Father by one that loved me and took my nature on him and suffered therein the Laws Curse to render me capable of escaping these Torments which I now suffer and partaking of those Pleasures which yonder blessed Souls enjoy CHAP. VII Containing the folly of Sinners and the vast difference between them and the Godly at the Great day 3. IT informeth us that every wicked man is out of his wits surely the man is mad who exchangeth his Soul and Saviour and God and all for a little worldly profit or fleshly pleasure yea that parts with true and durable Riches for shadowy and fading Treasure that loseth heavenly and eternal Joys for earthly and transitory Pleasures No man can love sin but he hates himself nor part with his Duty but he parts with his Felicity And surely such a man who hates himself and forsakes his Happiness is a mad man Well might the Holy Ghost speak the Prodigal out of his wits when he was out of his way and wandring from his Father's house How mad was he to forsake Bread for Husks all the world is but Husks dry coorse empty Fare to the Dainties of the Gospel Bread in a Fathers house for Husks among Swine yea and plenty of Bread enough and to spare for a few Husks that could not fill their Bellies If one Soul be more worth than a whole World surely one Saviour one God is more worth than a thousand Souls than a million of Worlds How mad then is he that parts with this Soul this Saviour this God for a little a very little of this World yea for this little of the World for a very little time If all the delights of the Flesh and all the Pleasures of Sin and all the profits of the World cannot ballance the partial enjoyment of God in his Ordinances for one hour How unable will they be to compensate the loss of full Communion with God for ever O how infinitely doth Christ out-weigh what ever the flesh or world can offer in exchange for him 4. It informeth how contrary the portion of the Godly and the Wicked is at the day of Judgment At this day they fare often alike they fall under the same favourable and frowning Providences they have the same Comforts and the same Crosses If any difference for the better 't is usually on the Sinners side The vilest men are exalted and the proud prosper But at that day there will be a difference indeed for the better on the Saints side That day will be terrible to the Wicked a day of wrath a day of the perdition of ungodly men Rom. 2.4 2 Pet. 3.7 To the Godly a day of Redemption a time of refreshing a day of Light and Gladness and a good day Luk. 21.28 Act. 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the time of refreshment shall come from
the wicked Neighbours of these men will confess the truth thereof and their Consciences will force them to consent thereto Again there is hardly a Muck-worm whose Motto is To have and to hold to heap and to hoard up who will as soon part with his blood as any thing considerable to the poor but all his Neighbours good and bad observe him speak of him and generally condemn him for his earthly-mindedness So that when Christ at the Great Day shall accuse him they will be forced to attest the truth of that Accusation and when Christ at that day shall condemn him they cannot but agree to the Sentence Psal 52.6 7. The Righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness 2. Because these acts of Charity are signes of Faith and Love to which Graces Heaven is promised James 1.12 James 2.5 Joh. 3.16 17 ult Christ who knoweth the Heart understandeth â—â—om what inward root our outward â—ruit springeth and therefore Faith and Love which are the Fountain of true Charity James 2.15 16 17. being inward and secret he mentions what is more open and known as a sign and testimony of that faith in him and love to him which are invisible and unknown to the World Faith is a Grace seated in the heart With the heart man believeth unto righteousness where by heart I suppose is understood the Vnderstanding and Will for Faith in habitu is in each and in exercitio an act of both And the heart is called an hidden man 1 Pet. 3. But it discovers it self to the Believer by love For when once the Soul applieth Christ for Pardon and Life and begins to hope for those great and good things which Christ hath purchased for him and promised to him this Faith kindleth an holy flame of Love in the affections to Christ and hereby the Soul understands that he is a true Believer beloved of God for our Love is but the reverberation of God's Love back again to himself 1 Joh. 4.19 And then Faith discovers it self to others by these fruits and effects of love to God i. e. feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked St. Paul tells us That Faith works by love as its Tool or Instrument Gal. 5.6 Love to God produceth love to his Saints and love to the Saints will draw out the hand and heart and purse to relieve them in their wants 1 Joh. 3.17 Love is costly and expensive thinks nothing too much or too good for it s Beloved Mary's Box of Oyntment is very precious but not too precious for her Lord. Life is worth all the World yet laid down for a Christian at the command of Love 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us 3. Because practical godliness of which Charity is a part will be that by which men shall be tried at the Great Day our Lord Jesus doth hereby declare That it is not the Profession but the practice of Religion that will be enquired into by the Judge of quick and dead It is not saying Be thou fed and be thou cloathed without giving wherewith to be fed and cloathed But it is feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked that shall be rewarded Good words may please our selves but good works only please God and profit our own Souls Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven It 's the doing not the talking Christian that hath the promise of Heaven Matth. 7. It 's the practical not the verbal Christian that hath a right to Heaven through the precious blood of Christ and the gracious promise of God Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the City It is the real not the nominal Christian that is prepared for heaven None are fit to do the will of God in heaven but those who have been accustomed to do the Will of God on Earth There is a making meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 A young man by the School is made meet for the University and a Christian by practical Holiness is fitted for eternal Happiness Our Redeemer would hereby declare That all shews and shadows of Godliness all gaudy Professions and curious flourishes of Religion if void of good Works though as Gloworms they shine somewhat in the dark night of this World yet in the long day of eternity they will all vanish and disappear God will not then examine who hath been the greatest Talker of his Will but the greatest Walker in his Way nor who hath been the best Speaker but who hath been the best Doer For whoso looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty and continueth therein he being not a forgetful Hearer but a doer of the Work this man shall be blessed in his deed Jam. 1.25 Hearing the Word without doing the Work it commands brings no blessing The life and substance of Religion consists in practising what is good and not in praising what is good It consists in Scripture-Duties not in Scripture Phrases 4. Because Christ would hereby publish to the World the great respect he hath for Charity therefore he tells us He will take special notice of his Saints Charity at that day Charity whether in relieving the Oppressed or comforting the Sorrowful or counselling the Doubtful or supporting the Feeble or feeding the Hungry or visiting the Sick or cloathing the Naked is highly esteemed of Christ To what Duty hath he annexed more or larger Promises Matth. 5.7 Psal 18.25 Eccles 11.1 2. Psal 41.1 Psal 112.1 Isa 58.12 He speaks of it as if very much of Religion did consist in it and almost all of it Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is to visit the Fatherless and the Afflicted James 1. ult He slights our most severe Duties those which are most irksome to the flesh if this be wanting Psal 58.7 8 9 10. He limits his own Mercy to the merciful 2 Sam. 22.25 James 2.13 He is himself a merciful High Priest Heb. 5. He had compassion on the ignorant and those that were out of the way Heb. 5.2 On those that had nothing to eat Matth. 15.32 On those that were scattered as sheep without a Shepheard Matth. 9.36 Therefore he cannot but value exceedingly and love tenderly those that are like him That which lieth so near his heart must needs be enquired after as much if not more than any thing else And there is scarce any thing that speaks our respect of persons or things more than our enquiry after them Joseph loved his Father Jacob dearly I suppose far above all his Kindred and therefore he first enquires after him â—…s your
vitia quam cum virtute Rather seemingly free from Vice than really filled with Virtue Or at best as was reported of Cato That he was homo virtuti simillimus A man that looked like a virtuous person How many civil men presume their persons holy because they are not so filthy as those who rake in Ditches and Kennels and defile themselves daily with scandalous Abominations and they presume their states to be good and themselves in the way to Heaven because they are no Drunkards no Swearers no Adulterers no Theeves no Murderers when for all this they shall be cast to Hell because they are no Believers no Penitents no obedient Subjects to the King of Saints Because they know not God and obey not the Gospel 2 Thess 1.7 8. Such men are farther distant from good than from evil Ceasing from evil is not enough it 's but one step Heaven-ward doing of good must accompany it or it will be of small moment I confess when I behold a civil man who is harmless in his Carriage unblamable in regard of scandal in his publick Conversation and courteous in his Behaviour to all I cannot but respect him and am ready to wish as Athanasius that all the World of Atheists and prophane Wretches would turn Hypocrites that all scandalous Sinners would turn Civilians and come so far towards Holiness but yet I must say that this is scarce half way to Christianity He is not half a Saint who is but a negative Saint The forbearance of gross Corruptions is the easiest and least part of Religion and therefore will not speak any man in a state of Salvation The Tree that is barren and without good fruit is for the fire as well as the Tree that brings forth evil fruit For men to think to excuse themselves that they do no hurt wrong neither Man Woman or Child and are not as the Pharisee said as the Publicans who generally were Oppressors is but a vain foolish thing The idle Servant might have said Lord I did no harm with my Talent I did not lay it out in Rioting and Drunkenness or any way to thy dishonour I only hid it and did not improve it Matth. 25. yet this was enough to condemn him Can we call ground good ground for bearing no weeds if it never bring forth good Corn Or do we count that Servant a good Servant who doth not wrong his Master in his Estate by purloining or wasting it if he live idle all day and neglect the business his Master appoints him Believe it Reader thou mayst not be morally evil to the abomination of men and yet not spiritually good to the acceptation of God He keeps no Law of God who minds only the negative part of it A life free from enormity is too often accompanied with an heart full of iniquity And that this negative Holiness is insufficient will appear if we consider 1. That the Holy Ghost characterizeth a godly man both negatively and positively The Scripture tells us That a true Christan minds both parts of the Law its commanding part as well as its forbidding part When the Holy Ghost speaks of Davids goodness he tells us That he served the Wills of God in his Generation not only his forbidding-will but also his commanding-will Act. 13.36 When Job is commended as a godly man he is said to eschew evil there was his negative Holiness and to fear God there was his positive Holiness Job 1.1 8. The Psalmist describes the happy man by his holiness both ways 1. By way of Negation Blessed is the man that walketh not in the Counsel of the Vngodly i. e. that committeth not wickedness which is the consultation of the Ungodly nor standeth in the way of Sinners i. e. that goeth not on with pleasure in any course of prophaneness nor sitteth in the Seat of the scornful i. e. that hardneth not not his heart against advice and admonition c. 2. By way of Position But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate day and night His affection to the Law and his meditation in it are both positive and without these the man could neither be holy nor happy He might have been able to say I have not walked in the Counsel of the Vngodly nor stood in the way of Sinners not sate in the Seat of the scornful and yet been a wicked and cursed man for Negatives neither speak nor make any man holy It is a positive quality that gives being perfection and denomination to Piety Therefore Jehu is branded for a wicked man notwithstanding all his zeal against Baal because he took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel 1 King 10.29 30 31. Philosophers tell us That motions are imperfect and but in fieri whilst they are passing from the Terminus a quo and are not perfect or in facto esse till the Terminus ad quem be attained Whilst a man is departing from evil he is but an imperfect Christian when he comes to the doing of good which is the end of the former then he is a Christian indeed 2. The Law which is the Rule of Religion is Affirmative as well as Negative Every man is so far perfect in his Calling or in any Art as he agrees with his Rule And every man is so far religious and no farther as he agreeth with the Will of God revealed in his Word which is the Rule of Religion Gal. 6.16 As many as walk according to this Rule peace be to them c. Now this Rule hath Positive as well as Negative Commands Nay all its Negative Commands have as hath been shewn before somewhat positive in them and therefore negative holiness cannot be sufficient He that makes not Conscience of every part of Gods Will makes Conscience of no part of Gods Will. He that denieth ungodliness and worldly lusts because the Law his Rule forbids them will also live righteously soberly and godly because the same Rule commands them Tit. 2.11 12. Indeed all true eschewing of evil doth proceed out of love to good so that he who doth not delight in good and do it cannot eschew evil out of any good Principle Observe the Rule Ephes 4.23 24. And be renewed in the Spirit of your mind And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Isa 1.15 But men love to be compleat in every thing but that which deserves exactness 3. An Heathen may be negatively religious A Cato a Seneca an Aristides may be free from Intemperance Bribery Injustice Uncleanness and all gross sins and can we think that Religion sufficient for us which Heathens may attain to Is there nothing revealed by the Sun-light of Scripture for us to do which they were unable to see by the dim Rush-candle of Nature The Holy Ghost acquaints us with the condition of the Heathen Ephes 2.12 That they were without God without Christ
Servants Ephes 5. Ephes 6. Col. 3. Col. 4. It directs us in all Conditions how to demean our selves in Prosperity to be joyful in Adversity to consider how God hath set the one against the other In Afflictions to be patient and prayerful and more studious of a right improvement of them than of deliverance out of them Under Mercies it directs us to be thankful to God the more chearful in his Service and faithful in the use of our Talents for the honour of our Master It directs us in all our Thoughts Jer. 4.14 Words Psal 39.2 Works Prov. 4.23 24 26. It directs us in all our natural Actions as Eating Drinking Sleeping 1 Cor. 10.31 Tit. 2.12 In our civil Converses Micah 6.8 In our religious Duties how to pray James 5. James 1. How to hear how to receive 1 Cor. 11. 3. It s purity above and beyond all other Religions appears in this That it forbids Evil all Evil nothing but Evil it commands Good whatsoever is Good and nothing but Good Isa 1. Psal 32.14 The Laws of Lycurgus among the Grecians and Numa among the Romans had somewhat of good in them but not all prohibited somewhat that was evil but not all that was evil But the Christian Religion is of a larger extent both in its Precepts and Prohibitions I have seen an end of all Perfections but thy Commandments are exceeding broad Psal 119.96 A man with the eye of his Body may behold an end of many worldly Perfections of many fair Estates great Beauties large Parts hopeful Families but a man with the eye of his Soul for by Faith may see an end of all earthly Perfections He may see the World in a flame and all its Pomp and Pride and Glory and Gallantry and Crowns and Scepters and Riches and Treasures turn'd into ashes he may see the Heavens passing away like a scroll and the Elements melting with fervent heat and the Earth with the things thereon consumed and all its Persections which men doted so much on vanished into smoke and nothing It 's easie to see to the end of all terrene Perfections but its difficult yea impossible to see to the end of Divine Precepts But thy Commandments are exceeding broad Of a vast Latitude beyond our apprehension They are so deep that none can fadom them Psal 36.6 So high that they are established in Heaven Psal 119.48 So long that they endure for ever 2 Pet. 1. And so broad that none can measure them They are not only broad but exceeding broad Higher than Heaven longer than the Earth broader than the Sea The Commands of God reach the inward parts the most secret motions and retired recesses of the Soul They reach all the privy thoughts They pierce even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 They reach to all our Actions to those that seem smallest and of less concernment as well as to those that are greater and of more concernment They reach to the manner nay circumstance of Actions The Divine Law takes notice of all the circumstances of sins as aggravations of sin As 1. From the time of Gods patience towards the Sinner These three years I came seeking fruit Luke 13. 2. The place where the sin was committed The Sons of Eli lay with the Women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation 1 Sam. 2.22 3. From the season of committing the Sin Isa 58.3 4. Behold in the day of your Fast ye find pleasure and exact all your labour c. 4. From the Condition of the person that sins He that eats bread with me lifts up his heels against mee Joh. 13.18 A familiar Friend proves a treacherous Enemy So Joh. 3.10 Art thou a Master in Israel and knowest not these things 5. From the means the person enjoys You only have I known therefore you will I punish for your Iniquities Amos 4. Rom. 2.7 6. From the manner of committing the Sin So they spread Absalom a Tent on the top of the house and Absalom went in to his Fathers Concubins in the sight of all Israel 2 Sam. 16.22 Impudency in sin doth highly increase it Were they ashamed when they committed all these Abominations No they were not ashamed But how far are other Religions from observing much more from condemning men for such sinful circumstances CHAP. XXXI The holiest have cause of humiliation 8. IF Christ will condemn men at the Great Day for sins of Omission I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. Then it may inform us That the best have abundant cause of humiliation for the best have in them abundant matter of Condemnation O how many are our Omissions every day every hour and by reason of them we are obnoxious to Hell flames Good Bishop Vsher who for Piety and Learning was honoured through the Christian World though he was early converted and feared the Lord in his Youth though he was eminently industrious in private in his Family in chatechising and instructing and praying often every day with and for them that were committed to his Charge Though he was a constant Preacher and that with Judgment and Affection Though he was singularly famous for his many worthy pieces which he wrote in Latin and English yet after all this diligence and labour when he came to die Usher's Life the last words almost which he was heard to speak were Lord in special forgive my Sins of Omission Sins of Omission will at death lie heavier on our hearts than we think for in life If such a laborious person found cause of bewailing his Omissions surely much more cause have Loyterers as we are Omissions are fruits of Original Corruption as well as Commissions It 's from that dead stock that we are so defective in bringing forth good fruit Paul layeth his Omissions at this door Rom. 7.17 to 23. In my flesh is no good When I would do good evil is present with me c. Now whatsoever is the Child of such a monstrous Parent is loathsome and calls on us for sorrow and self-abhorrency Holy Job did but suspect his Children to be guilty of Omissions of not sanctifying the Name of God in their Hearts according to their Duties at their Feasts and Meetings And he riseth early and offereth Sacrifice according to the number of them all Job 1.4 5. He goeth to God and begs Pardon for them and the blessing of God upon every one of them It may be saith he my Sons have sinned and cursed and not blessed God so Calvin reads it God in their hearts Thus did Job continually Now if Job upon a supposition that his Sons might be guilty of Omissions was so constant in his addresses to God on their behalf by way of humiliation acknowledging their Iniquity and beseeching his Mercy What cause have we on the behalf of our own Souls who know that we often offend God
Great Day These bid open defiance to the Prohibitions Precepts and Penalty of the Law and dare the Law to do its worst Either these must be condemned or all shall be saved But God is of an holier Nature than to dwell with such Sinners They may read their doom written under his own hand and like the Law of the Medes and Persians That cannot be alter'd 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.5 Rom. 8.5 To be carnally minded is death vers 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die 2. Proposition They who are guilty of total external Omissions are in a damnable Condition This is written in broad Letters that he who runs may read it They who pray not are under wrath and the effusions of wrath Jer. 10. ult They who neglect to pay their external Allegiance to the true God and deny him his outward Homage and Acknowledgment shall be denied and disowned by Christ before his Father and before his holy Angels The Holy God doth all along speak of these as Heathens Psal 79.6 and Sinners with a witness Psal 36.1 2 3. and threatneth that Christ shall come in flaming fire to render Vengeance on them 2 Thess 2.7 8 9 10. Those who are guilty of these total Omissions in regard of the matter of the Duties commanded them are ungodly in the highest degree for ungodliness strictly and properly speaks the neglect of our Duties to God and sins against the first Table as unrighteousness the neglect of our Duties to our Neighbour and our Transgressions against the Second Table and so none in the whole Scripture more obnoxious to wrath and ruine Psal 73.12 These are the Ungodly who prosper in the World but mark how soon they perish vers 18. Thou castest them down to destruction and utterly consumest them with terrours 2 Pet. 3.7 Jude vers 4. 15. 3. Proposition Those who perform external Duties and wholly neglect internal or please themselves in total inward Omissions cannot be in a state of Salvation God will not be put off with the Body without the Soul of Religion Indeed external Duties are but the Garments or Cloaths of Religion wherein it appears and whereby it is known to the World the life and power of it consists in internal Performances or those that are the motions and actions of the Understanding and Will and Affections as in the Knowledg of God his Being and Excellency and the kindness he hath for and the love he hath to Mankind in Jesus Christ as also in the choosing him for our richest Treasure and supream Lord and Law-giver and in loving him with all the heart and Soul and strength and desiring his love above all the World and delighting in his Favour as the Souls felicity and seeking to please him rather than to command the Creation A man without these is but the Picture of a Saint he hath somewhat of the resemblance but nothing of the reality of a Christian He hath a form but nothing of the power of godliness 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 to 7. and therefore is in a state of perdition The neglect of believing repenting loving the Lord Jesus Christ are all inward Omissions for these are acts proper and peculiar to the Soul and condemned in Scripture with the most dreadful damnation Mark 16.16 John 3. ult Luke 13.3 1 Cor. 16.22 If a man pray and pray wholly without Faith and without fervency Jam. 1. Jam. 5. this is no way acceptable to God All such prayers are howlings and bablings and of no sweet sound in Gods Ears Hos 7. Isa 1.15 16 17. Whatsoever a man doth either by way of hearing or singing or praying or receiving if there be not that dread of God and love to his Name and Faith in Christ which are the essentials of these Duties all is as nothing 4. Proposition Those who allow themselves in partial Omissions whether external or internal are in no good Condition By partial Omissions I mean at sometimes as for prayer a man it may be prays in his Closet or Family usually but if any worldly business intervene and calls for his company he will as usually attend on that and wholly omit his Closet and Family-Duties for that Morning or Evening Or for a man to pray as some do only at the Evening and not in the Morning as if God were the God of the Night and not of the Day or as some others who will pray only upon the Lords-Day as if God had a right to them then but not all the week after Or when men perform some religious Duties and not others will pray but not read Scripture daily or pray and read the Word but not take notice of those under their Roofs to instruct and admonish and support them as occasion is Or some will perform their Duties which immediately concern God but will not be charitable to the Poor at least not in such a degree and measure as their Estates will bear and as God expects These and such like I understand by partial and external Omissions What is meant by internal partial Omission is next to be consider'd Partial internal Omissions are when men oftentimes though not constantly are negligent in the manner of performing their Duties and though they be formal and superficial and lazy and slothful in the Worship of God yet they take little or no notice thereof Indeed sometimes they find some heat and warmth and this pleaseth them but at other times they are cold and liveless in their Duties and this doth not much displease them They can commonly pray as if they pray'd not and read as if they read not and wait on God without any suitable and considerable affections towards him and not be disturbed at it These sudden heats at one time and colds at another time speak the Body out of order and the Soul not healthy The next thing to be explain'd is what is meant by allowing themselves in partial Omissions and indeed the stress of the Proposition depends on that To allow themselves in these partial Omissions notes these two things To know these partial Omissions to be sins and yet to continue in them without any great disturbance or trouble of Spirit They must know that they are sins otherwise continuance in them will not argue a total want of Grace or the predominant power of sensuality in the Soul I doubt not but in many dark places of this Nation there may be those who live in a total Omission of some Duties as praying with their Families and a strict sanctification of the Sabbath or who yet fear God in truth and make great Conscience of their Conversations These men neglect prayer and devoting the Sabbath wholly to God c. because they do not know them to be their Duties And where a man desires and endeavours to know his Masters Will and lives up to that Light God hath given him he may upon a general repentance expect pardon through the blood of Christ for
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
its Original from mans basest part as those materials are meâ—â— which arise out of the potentiality of the matter and truly that honesty deserves not the name of Virtue being not quickened with the command of Reason An exact Constitution may help a man to be mild meek courteous modest shame-faced but these cannot be adopted into the Family of goodness because here as they say in the motion of the Serpent the tayl leads the way to the Head the Body rules and governs the Soul and the mans perfection is from his meanest and worst part Besides the cause of all this seeming-virtue is mutable and mortal Age or Sickness or change of Air or of Condition may alter a mans good nature and then where is his Religion Truly as a Comet it came without giving notice and goeth away without giving warning The Cause being taken away the Effect ceaseth Improved Reason will do more towards Religion than a sound bodily Constitution but yet the Moralists for all their Reason were far enough from being religious Indeed reason rightly improved is a special help a serviceable Hand-Maid to Religion but as they used it or rather abused it it became an Opposite and Enemy to Religion The Mind or Understanding which is the supream faculty of the Soul they set up in defiance of Revelations and with it they out-face Illumination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the natural man animalis homo he that hath no more than a reasonable Soul perceiveth not the things of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2.14 Natural Light will not help a man to see spiritual Objects because there is no proportion between the Faculty and the Object and because it cannot apprehend them therefore it condemneth them as foolish and ridiculous It hath its high thoughts and carnal reasonings and vain imaginations in which strong holds Lust shelters it self against all the Convictions of our own Spirit And as the Moralist deifieth his Understanding in opposition to Faith so he idolizeth the liberty of his Will in opposition to the special Energy and Virtue of the Holy Ghost Liberty saith the Philosopher I have by Nature that is a freedom to choose Good or Evil I have in common with the rest of Mankind but goodness to that liberty or an application of it to the choice of good rather than evil this I have from my self my Reason and I am beholden to my self for it So that as Austin saith if this be true Si nobis potest libera voluntas ex deo est quoad hoc potest esse vel bona vel mala bona vero voluntas ex nobis est melius est id quod a nobis quam quod ab illo est De peccat merit lib. 2. cap. 18. If our Will be free from God it may be good or bad but if it be good from our selves better is that which we have from our selves than that which we have from God In short this moral Votary differs from the natural that the Original of the latters Religion is the Constitution of his Body of the formers is the chief faculty of his Soul but neither of these can make a man religious for where the Vitals are tainted and the inward parts infected it 's in vain to use Plaisters or outward Medicines Indeed here is the great fault of both the former that they take no notice of the depravation of mans nature which alone would convince them of the necessity of a change They who have crazed Principles and crackt Brains cannot see any defects in themselves being prepossest with an Opinion of their own perfection Both the Naturalists and the Moralists are so far from knowing the plague of their own hearts that they count every thing of Nature rather lovely than loathsome And as among the Moors blackness is counted a beauty because it 's common and general and they see no other So with these men the vitiosity of Nature which is the seed of all evil is commended for the spring of Virtue Indeed they are in love with their Disease and instead of Health have this unhappiness that they feel not their own sickness so that neither the one nor the other can be religious or perform those Duties which God requireth Regeneration is absolutely requisite to this He that layeth not that for his Foundation can never build a Temple for God he must needs prove a Bankrupt that is worse than naught when he begun Some tell us that Trees shoot above ground as much and no more than they do under ground I am sure there is no more godliness outwardly in the Life than there is inwardly in the Heart If the fear and love of God be the great spring to set all the wheels a going in the ways of Religion then all is right but till then nothing is right If there be not the Oyl of solid Grace in the Vessel of the Heart to feed Profession in the Lamp and Holiness in the Life both will quickly sail When God intends that his people should walk in his Statutes keep his Judgments and do them what doth he for them to prepare them and enable them thereunto truly this he regenerates them and changeth them and putteth a new principle into them I will give them a new Heart and a new Spirit Ezek. 36.26 I will cast them in the fire of my Word and though they are old tough untoward metal I will melt them and soften them and they shall run into my mould But how can this be Nature will still run into its old temper though it may be a little alter'd in its form yet it will still continue the same in substance and matter No I will put my spirit into them and they shall walk in my Commandments and do them My Spirit shall renew and quite alter their Spirits it shall turn the stream of their Hearts from the World and Flesh unto God and shall be in them a principle of spiritual life and motion srengthening them to walk in my Statutes and to keep my Commandments and do them The natural Spirit would have served to done natural actions The Spirit of the World would have served for a man to have walked according to the course of the World but no less than a new Spirit can serve for a new life and nothing below the Spirit of God can help unto a faithful walking with God Two things Reader I would specially commend to thee without which thou canst never rightly obey any positive Precept and they are to make sure of a change in thy Judgment and thy Heart 1. Make sure of a change in thy Judgment concerning Sin and Obedience By nature thou hast lookt on Sin as Achan on the Wedge of Gold and David on Bathsheba as lovely and desirable thou hast beheld it through the Devils Spectacles and so hast judged it elegible if still thou art of the same mind though