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Itrue Religion delineated:,
o R,
Experimental Religion,
As diflinguilhed from Formality on the one Hand, and Enthusiasm on the other, fet in a Scriptural and Rational Light.
In Two DISCOURSE S,
In which fome of the principal Errors both of the Arminians and Antinomi ans are confuted, the Foundation and Superftruflureof their different Schemes demolifhed, and the Truth as it is in JESUS, explained and proved.
The whole adapted to the weakeft Capacities, and defigned for th^ Ellablilhment, Comfort and Quickening of the People of GOD. in thefc Evil Times.
By Jofeph Bellamy^ A. M.
Minifter of the Gofpel at Bethkm in Conne£licut.
With a Preface by the Rev. Mr, Edwards.
Ifai. XXX. 21. And thine "Ears Jhall hear aWordhehin^ thee, faying, this is the Way, nualk ye in it, n^hen ye turn to the right Hand, and nvhen ye turn to the left.
Matth, vii. 13, 14. Enter ye in at the fir ait Gate ; for ivide is the Gate, and broad is the Way that leadeth to Dejlrufliony and many there he njohich go in thereat : Becaufe firait is the Gate, and narroruj is the Waj^ nnhich leadeth unto Life, and few there he that find it.
BOSTON: Printed and So^ld b/ $, K n £ e i a n d, in Queen-Street, i 7 S ^'
PREFACE.
|5||c#HE Being of GOD Is reckon'dthe firft, greateft and moft funda- mental of all Things that are the ##### Objeds of Knowledge or Beliet And next to that muft be rcckon'd theNature of that Religion, which God requires of us, and muft be found in us, in order to our en- joying the Benefits of God's Favour : Or ra- ther this may be efteemed of like Importance with the other ; for it in like Manner concerns us to know how we may honour and pleafe God , and be accepted of Him, as it concerns us to know that he has a Being. This is a Point of infinite Confequence to every fingle Perfon ; each one having to do with God as his fupreme Judge, who will fix his eternal
A 2 State,
State, according as he finds him to be with or without true Religion." And this is alfo a Point that vaftly concerns the publick In- terefts of the Church of God.
It is very apparent, that the Want of thoro' Diftindion in this Matter, thro' the Defect ei- ther of fufficient Difcerning or Care, has been the chief Thing that has obfcured, obftrudcd and brought to a Stand all remarkable Revi- vals of Religion, which have been lince the Beginning of the Reformation ; the very chief Reafon why the moil: hopeful and pro- mising Beginnings have never come to any more than Beginnings ; being nipt in the Bud, and foon followed with a great Increafc of Stupidity, corrupt Principles, a profane and atheiftical Spirit, and the Triumph of the open Enemies of Religion. And from hence, and from what has been fo evident fromTime to Time in thefe latter Ages of the Church, and from the fmall Acquaintance I have with the Hiftory qf preceding Times ; I can't but think, that if the Events which have appear'd from Age to Age, fhould be carefully exa- mined and confidered, it would appear that it has been thus in all Ages of the Chriftian Church from the Beginning.
They
C iii ]
They therefore who bring any Addition of Light to this great Subjed, T^he Nature^ of true Religmi^ a?2d its DiJiinSlmi from all Count effeits^ lliould be accepted as doing the greateft poffible Service to the Church of God. And Attempts to this End ought not to be defpifed and difcouraged, under a No- tion that it is but Vanity and Arrogance . in fuch as are lately fprung up in an obfcure Part of the World, to pretend to add any Thing on this Subjedt, to the Informations we have long fince received from their Fa- thers, who have lived in former Times, in New-England, and more noted Coun- tries. We cannot fuppofe, that the Church of God is already poffefTed of all that Light, in Things of this Nature, that ever God intends to give it ; nor that all Sata?ts Lurk- ing-Places have already, been found out; And muft we let that grand Adverfary alone in his Devices, to enfnare & ruin the Souls of Men, and confound the Intereft of Religion amongft us ; without attempting to know any Thing further of his Wiles, than others have told us ; tho' we fee every Day the moft fatalEffeds of his hitherto unobferved Snares ; for Fear we fhall be guilty of Vanity or Want of Modefty, in attempting to difcern any
Thing
[ iv ]
Thing that was not fully obferved by our Betters in former Times ? And that, what- ever pecuhar Opportunities God gives us, by Ipecial Dilpenfations of his Providence, to fee fome Things that were over-look'd by them ?
The remarkable Things that have come to pafs in late Times, refpedting the State of Re- ligion, I think, will give every wife Obferver great Reafon to determine that the Counter- feits of the Grace of God's Spirit, are many more than have been generally taken Notice of heretofore ; and that therefore we ftand in great* Need of having the certain and diftinguifliing Nature and Marks of genuine Religion more clearly and diftindly fet forth than has been ufual ; fo that the Difference between that and every Thing that is fpurious may be more plainly and iurely difcern'd, and fafely determined.
As Enquiries of this Nature are very im- portant and neceffary in Themfelves, fo they are what the prefent State of Religion in New-England, and other Parts of the Britip^ Domimo77s^ do in a peculiar Manner render neccffary at this Seafon ; and alfo do give peculiar Opportunity for Difcoveries be- yond
[ V ]
yond what has been for a long Time. Satan transforming himfelf into an Angel of Light, has fhewn him/elf in many of his Artifices more plainly than ordinary ; and given iis Opportunity to fee more clearly and exadlly the Difference between his Operations, and the faving Operations and Fruits of the Spirit of Chrift : And we fhould be much to Blame, if we did not improve fuch an Ad- vantage.
The Author of the enfuing Treatife has not been negligent of thefe Opportunities. He has not been an unwary or undifcerning Obferver of Events that have occur'd, thefe ten Years paft. From the intimate Acquain- tance with him, which I have been favoured with for many Years, I have abundant Rea- fon to be fatisfied that what has governed him in this Publication, is no Vanity of Mind, no Affedlation to appear in the World as an Author, nor any Defire of Applaufe ; but a hearty Concern for the Glory of GOD, and the Kingdom and Intereft of his Lord and Mafter Jesus Christ ; And, that as to the main Things he here infifts on, as belonging to the diftinguifhing Nature and Effence of true Religion, he declares them, not only
as
[ vi ]
as being fatisfied of them from a careful Con- fideration of important Fads (which he has had great Opportunity to obferve) and very clear Experience in his own Soul ; but the moft diligent Search of the holy Scriptures, and ftricS Examination ot the Nature of Things ; and that his Determinations con- cerning the Nature of genuine ReHgion, here exhibited to the World, have not been fettled and publiflied by him without long Conlideration, and maturely w^eighing all Objedlions which could be thought of, tak- ing all Opportunities to hear what could be faid by all Sorts of Perfons againft the Prin- ciples here laid down, from Time to Time converling freely and friendly with Gentle- men in the Anfiintan Scheme, having alfo had much Acquaintance, and frequent long Converfation with many of the People called Separatijfs^ their Preachers and others.
And I cannot but exprefs my fincere Wifhes, that what is here written by this reverend and pious Author, may be taken Notice of, read without Prejudice, and tho- roughly confidered : As I v^erily believe, from my own Perufal, it will be found a Difcourfc w^herein the proper Effence and
C vii ]
diftinguifhing Nature of faving Religicii is deduced from the firfl: Principles of the Ora- cles of God, in a Manner tending to a orreat Increafe of Light in this infinitely impor- tant Subjed: ; difcovering Truth, and at the fame Time fhewing the Grounds of it j or fhewing what Things are true, and alfo why they are true ; manifefting the mutual De- pendance of the various Parts of the true Scheme of Religion, and alfo the Founda-^ tion of the Whole ; Things being reduced to their firfl Principles in fuch a Manner, that the Conneaiion and Reafon of Things, as well as their Agreement with the Word of God, may be eafily feen ; and the true Source of the dangerous Errors concerning the Terms of God's Favour and Qualifica- tions for Heaven, which are prevaiHng at this Day, is plainly difcovered ; fhewing their Falfhood at the very Foundation, and their Inconfiflence with the very firfl Principles of the Religion of the Bible.
Such a Difcourfe as this is very feafonable at this Day, And altho' the Author (as he declares) has aim'd efpecially at the Benefit of Perfons of vulgar Capacity ; and fo has ftot laboured for fuch Ornaments of Stile and
a a Lan-
C viii 3
Language as might beft fuit the Gufl; of Men of polite Literature ; yet the Matter or Sub- fiance that is to be found in this Difcourfe, is what, I truft, will be very entertaining and profitable to every ferious and impartial Rea- der, whether learned or unlearned.
Northampton, Auguji ^, 1750.
Jonathan Edwards.
w
}cifyn^;0e^¥ "^/'i/ ^^pt'A.j y^<,
The Author's
PREFACE
%%^^^E are deftgned^ by GOD our Maker ^ for an end-
^#€*^*# le[s Exiftence. In this frefent Life we juft tnter
^%^^$^ upo^ Beings and are in a State introducing to a
#^C*## ^ever-ending Duration in another Worlds where
we are to he for ever unfpeakably happy ^ or mife-
rahky according to our prefent Conduct. This is dejignedfor
a State of Probation ; and that^ for a State of Rewards and
Punifliments. We are now upon Trials and God^s Eye is upon
us every Moment ♦, and that Pi5fure of our Selves^ which we
exhibit in our Condu^, the whole of it taken together^ will
give our proper Chara5ler^ and determine our State for ever.
"This being defigned for a State of "Trials God now means to
try us, that our Condu5l under all the Trials of Life, may
difcover what we be, and ripen us for the Day of Judgment ;
when God will judge every Man according to his Works, and
render to every one according to his Doings. He does not
htend, in the Difpenfations of his Providence, to fuit Things tr>
« State of Eafe and Enjoyment, which is what this Life is
not defigned for ; hut to a State of Trial. He puts Men into
trying Circwrif^ances of fet Purpofe, and as it were, contrives
Methods to try them. One great End he has in View, is, that
he may prove tkmy and biow what is in their Hearts.
a a 2
lie
ii The Author's PREFACE.
He did not lead the Children of Ifrael direcfly from Egypt /^Canaan, but fir fi thro' the Red Sea, and then out into a JVildemefs^ where there was neither Water ^ nor Bread nor Flefh \ and made them wander there forty Tears^ that he might try them, and prove them, and know what was in their Hearts. Deut. 8.2. So when the Chriftian Religion was introduced into the Worlds it zvas not in fuch a Way as Men would have chofen^ but in a Manner fui ted to a State of Trial. "The Son of God did not coyne in outward Glory ^ but in the Form of a Servant ; not to reign as an earthly Prince^ but to die upon the Crofs : and his Apoftles made but a mean Ap- pearance in the Eyes of the World : and that Seel was every where fpoken againft^andperfecuted : and many were the Stum- bling-blocks of the limes. And thefe 'Things were to try the Temper of Mankind. — And when Chriflian Churches were ere^led by the indefatigable Labours of St. Paul afid others, that God might thoroughly try every Hearty he not only fuffered the wicked Wcrld to rife in Ams againft them, but alfo let Satan loofe, to transform himfelf into an Angel of Light, and, as it were, to infpire, and fend forth his Minifiers, trans- formed into the Apoftles of Chrift, to vent heretical Do^rines^ and foment Strife and Divifion. In the mean while, the fe cure and wicked IVorld looked on, pleafed, no doubt, to fee their Debates and Divi/ions, and glad they could have fuch a Handle againft, Chriftianity, 13 fo good a Flea to juftify their InfJelity. And God delighted to have Things under Circum-
ftances fo perfectly well adapted to a State of Trial.
He loved to try the Apoftles, to fee how they would be affecled and a5t •, when not only the World was in Arms againft them, but rriany of their own Converts turned to be their Enemies too, by the Influence of falfe Teachers. He loved to try private Chriftians, to fee how their Hearts would be affecled towards the Truths of the. Gofpel., and the true Minifters of Chrift, afid towards their tsinpcral Inter eft ; while the Truths of the Gof- pel were denied or perverted, and the true Minifters of Chrift dtfptfcd & ftigmatifcdy by Hereticks, and their temporal Inter eft expofed to the Rage of a wicked mercilefs World. And he loved ta try Hypocrites, to fee whether they would not renounce the Truth they pretended fo highly to value, a}fd become difaffe^ed
towards
The Author's PREFACE. iu
toiJihnds the Minifters of Ch'ift they feemed fo dearly to love^ and follow falfe fearbers, or fall off to the JVorld.
It is reafonable and fit^ and a Thing becoming and heauti^ fuly that Beings in a State of Frohation fhould he tried : and God looks upon theprefent outward Eafe and Comfort even of his own People^ as a Matter of no Importance^ compared with Things fpiritual and eternal. Eternity^ with all it^s Impor- tance^ lies open to his View ; and Time appears as a Pointy and all it's Concerns as Things comparatively of no Worth, If the Wicked are in Profperity^ and the Righteous in Adverftty.^ or all Things come alike to all^ God is well-pleafed , hecaufe Things of Time are of fo little Importance^ and hecaufe fuch an Adminifiration of Things is fuited to a State of TriaU There will he Time enough hereafter^ for the Righteous to he rewarded^ ayid the Wicked punifhed. In this View of Things^ we may., in a Meafure., underftand the darkeft., and account for the mofi myfteriousy Difpenfatic7ts of divine' Providence^ and difcern the Wifdom of the divine Government,
It has douhtlefs appeared as a Thing firange and dark to many pious Perfons^ and occaftoned not a little Perplexity of Mind., to ohferve what has come to pafs in New-Englandy^;?<;^ the Tear 1740. That there fhould he fo general an Out-pour- ing of the Spirit., fo many Hundreds and Thoufands awa- kened all over the Country ^ and fuch an almofi univerfal exter- nal Reformation., and fo many receive the Word with Joy ; and yet,, after all., Things come to he as they now are : fo many fallen away to carnal Security., and fo many turned Enthufiafls and Hereticks., and the Country fo generally fettled in their Prejudices againft experimental Religion and the T)c5frines of the Gofpel^ and a Flood of Arminianifm and Immorality., ready to deluge the Land. But as firange and dark as it may hanje feemed^ yet douhtlefs if any of us had lived with the Ifraelites in the Witdernefs, or in the three firft Ages after Chrift^ or in the Time of the Reformation from> Popery, the Bifpenfations of divine Providence would upon the whole have appeared much more myfterious than they do now. And yet thofe were Times when God was doing glorious Things for his Church, — And indeed^ it has happened in our
Bey,
iv The Author's PREFACE.
"Day^ however ftrange it may feem to us, no otherwife *tha» our Saviour foretold it commonly would under the Gofpel-JDif- penfatioHy at kaft ^till Satan is hound, that he may deceive the Nations no more. 'The So^tx goes forth to fow, andfome Seed falls by /^^ Way-Side, ^ fame on ftony, IS fome on thorny,^;^^ [ome on good Ground ; and while he is f owing good Seed, an Enemy in the Night, the Devil unobferved, fowsTzrts : Now when the Sun is up, i. e. when ' new Times come on, and Trials approach, the main of the Seed is lojl -, not only what fell by the Way-Side, but alfo what fell on the flony and thorny Ground. And when the good Ground is about ■ to hring forth Fruit, the Tares begin to appear too. Mat. 13. Thus it has always been, — This is a State of Trial, and God has permitted fo many fad and awful Things to happen in Times of Reformation, with Defign to prove the Children of Men, and know what is in their Hearts,
The Toung People almofi all overl>^ tv^ -Enghnd pr of ejfed,they would for ever renounce youthful Vanities, andfeek the Lord. *' Well", God, in the Courfe of hisProvidence, as it were, fays, " I will try you. ''^ Seeming Converts exprejfed great Love to Chrift, his Truths, and Minifers, and Ways -, " Well,'* fays God, "-^ 1 will try you." Multitudes, being Enemies to all true Religion, longed to fee the whole Reformation fall into Difgrace, and Things return to their own Channel \ and they fought for Objections and Stumbling-Blocks : " Well," fays God, " Tou may have them, and I will try and fee how you '' will be affeuied, and what you will fay, and whether you " will be as glad when the Caufe of my SON is betrayed by " the Mif carriages of thofe that profefs to be his Friends, as *' the Jews of old were, when my SON himfelf was betrayed " into their Hands by Judas." Thus God means to try every one.
A compaffionate Senfe of the Exercifes, which godly Perfons^ efpecially among common People, anight be under in thefe evil hays, while fome are fallen away, and others are clapping their Hands andrejoycing with all their Hearts to fee Zion laid wafle •, while Arminians are glofftng their Scheme, and ap- pealing to Reafon and common Senfe, as tho* their Principles were near or quite felf -evident to all Men of Thought and
Candour ;
The Author's PREFACE. -v
Candcur -, and while Enthufiafts are going about as Men in- fpired and immediately fent by the Almighty^ prete riding to ex- traordinary SanSliiy^ and bold in it that they are Jo holy in themfelves^ and fo entirely on the Lord's Side^ that all godly People muft^ and can't but^ fee as they do^ and fall in with them^unlefs they are become blind^dead and carnal^ and got back into the World -, A compaffionate Senfe^ ^ f^h of the Exercifes of Mind, which pious Perfons among common People might have, in Juch a trying Situation of Wings, was the firfi Motive, which excited me to enter upon this Work, which I now offer to the Public k. And to make divine Truths plain to fuch, and to Jirip Error naked before their Eyes, that they might be eftablifhed and comforted and quickned in their Way Heaven-ward, was the End I had in View. And accordingly I have laboured very much to adapt my f elf to the loweiiCapaci- ties, not meaning to write a Book for the Learned and Polite, hut for common People, and efpecially for thofe that are godly among tkem.
io thefe therefore, that they may read what I have writ- ten with the greater Profit, I will offer thefe two Dire^liom.
(i.) Labour after determinate Ideas of God, and aSenfe of his infinite Glory. This will fpread a Light over all the 'Duties and Doctrines of Religion, and help you to underfiand the Law and the Gofpel, and to pry into the Myfieries, and difcern the Beauties, of the divine Government, By much the greateii Part of what I havewritten,befides fhewingwhat GOD is, conjijis in but fo many Propojitions deduced from the divine Perfe^ions. Begin here therefore, and learn what GOD is, and then what the moral Law is •, and this will help you to underfiand what our Ruin is, and what the Way of our Recovery by free Grace thro* Jesus Christ. The Bible is dejignedfor rational Creatures, and has God for it^s Author ; and you may therefore depend upon it^ that it contains a Scheme perfectly rat tonal, divine ^glorious. And the Pleafure of divine Knowledge will a thoufandTimes more than recompence all your Reading, Study andPains : Only content not your f elves with a general fuperficial Knowledge, but enter thoroughly iyitoThings^
(2.) Pradlife, as well as read. The End of Reading and Knowledge ii Pra^ice, And holy Pra^ice will help
you
vi The Author's PREFACE.
you to underftand "xhat you read. Love GOD with all your Heart, mid your Neighbour as your felt -, and you can't hut underftand me^ whils in the firji Bifcourfc I Jhew what is implied in thefe two great Commands. Andpratlife Repen- tance towards God a7id Faith towards our Lord Jelus Chrift ; and thefecond Bifccurfe^ which treats of the Nature of the Gofpel and a geyiuine Compliance thcrcuoith., uill natu- rally become plain and eafy. And ivhile you daily ftudy di- vine Truths in your Heads., and digefi thcm> well in your Hearts., and pra5iije them in your hives., your Knowledge and Holiness will increafe^ and God's Word & Providence be better finderftood., your perplexing Difficulties will be more folved^ and you he eftablijhed^jlrengthned and c confer ted., in your Way Heaven-ward \ and your Light Jhiniitg before Men., they will fee your good Works, and your Father which is in Heaven will be glorified. J/ 1 which are the h tarty Beftre and Prayer
Your Servant in Jesus Christ,
Bethlem, April 25th. 1750.
Jofeph Bellamy,
^rue Religion delineated.
DISCOURSE I.
Shewing the Nature of the Divine Law, and wherein confifts a real Conformity to it.
MATTH. xxii. 37, 3 S, 39, 40.
Jefas /aid unto him^ nou fialt love the Lord thy God with all thy Hearty and with all thy Soul^ and with all thy Mind, nis is the firft and great Commandment. And the fecond is like unto it., Thou jh alt love thy Neighbour as thy [elf , On thefe two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
The Introduction.
^lllll^mRUE Religion confifts in a Conformity to the ' ^lil^llfw Law oi God, and in a Compliance with the ^11 Xm^ Gofpel of Chrift. The Religion of innocent fl^#^m Man confifted only in a Conformity to the l^#^Sll^ I-aw; the Law of Nature, with the Addi- tion of one pofitive Precept : he had no need of Gofpel- Grace. But when Man loft his Innocency and became guilty and depraved, when he fell under the Wrath of God and Power of Sin ; he needed a Pvedeemer and a Sanctifier :
B and
2 True Religion delineated Dis. L
and in the Gofpel a Redeemer and a SandliRer are provided, and a Way for our obtaining pardoning Mercy and fandify- ing Grace is opened •, a Compliance, with which, does now therefore become Part of the ReHgion of a fallen Creature. Now if we can but rightly underftand the Law^ and rightly underftand the Gofpel^ we may eafily fee wherein a Confor- mity to the one,and a Compliance with the other, does con- lift : and fo what true Religion is. — For the prefent, let us take the Laiv under Confideration. And it will be proper to inquire into thefe following Particulars. — i . WhatDuty does God require of us in his Law ? — 2. From what Mo- tives mail that Duty be done ? — 3. What-4s that precife
Meafure of Duty which God requires in his Law .''
And a fhort, but very clear and plain Anfwer to all thefe Queflions we have before us in our Text ; which is the Words of our blefled Saviour, and in which he does upon Delign declare what the Sum andSubflance of the Law is. — He had a Queflion put to him in thefe Words -, " Mailer, which is the great Commandment in theLaw ?" To which he anfwers — " Thou ihalt love the Lord thy God with all thyHeart &c. this is the firfl. — The fecondisiikeuntoit &c." The ten Commandm^ents are fum'd up in thefe two, and every Duty enjoined in the Law, and inculcated in the Pro- phets, are but fo many Dedudlions from thefe two, in which all are radically contained. A thoro underftanding of thefe
two will therefore give us aninfight into all. Let us now
therefore begin w^th taking xhtjirft of thefe into particular
Confideration. 'Then JJj alt Icve the Lord thy God with all
thy Heart &c. Here is — i. The Duty required, viz.
Love to God. — 2. The Grounds & Reafons of the Duty in- timated. Becaufe he is the Lord our God. 3 . The Mea- fure of Duty required. JVith all thy Heart &c.
In difcourfing upon thefe Words, I will therefore endea- vour to ihew,
I. What is implied in Love to God.
II. From what Motives we are required to love Him.
III. What is tliat Meafure of Love which is required.
Section
and dtjlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3
S E CT I Ot? I.
Shewing what is implied in Love to GOD.
I. I am to fhew ijohat is implied in Love to GOD.
And
I . A true Knowledge of God is implied. For this lays the Foundation for Love. A fpiritual Sight of God, and a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty, begets Love. When He that commanded the Light to fhine out of Darknefs, fhines in our Hearts, and gives us the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God ; and when we with open Face behold as in a Glafs the Glory of the Lord, then we are changed into the fame Image : The Temper and Frame of our Hearts becom.e like God's : (To fpeak after the Manner of Men) we begin to feel towards God, in a Meafure as he does towards himfelf ; i. e. to love him with all our Hearts. 2 Cor. 3. 18. ^ 4. 6. For now we begin to perceive the Grounds and Reafons of that infinite Efleem he has of Himfelf, and infinite Complacency in Himfelf, and why he commands ail the World to love and adore him. And the fame Grounds and Reafons which move him thus to love Flimfelf, and command all the World to do fo too, do enkindle the divine Flame in our Hearts. When we fee God, in a Meafure, fuch as he fees Himfelf to be, and have a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being what he is, in a Meafure, as he Himfelf has, then we begin to love him with the fame Kind of Love, and from the fame Motives, as he Himfelf does : only in an infinitely inferiour Degree, This Sight and Senfe of God, difcovers the Grounds of Love? to him : We fee why he requires us to love him, and why we ought to love him, how right and fit it is j and fo wc Cannot but love him.
This true Knowledge of God fuppofes, that in a Mea- ^ire, we fee God to be juft fuch a One as he is j and, in a Meafure,have a Senfe of his infinite Glory & Beautyin being fuch. For if our Apprehenfions of God are not right, it is not God we love, but only a falfe Image of him framed
B 2 in
4, 7rue Religion delineated Dis. \.
m our own Fancy.* And if we have not a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being what he is, it is impofTible we ihould genuinely love and efteem him for being fuch. To love God for being what he is, and yet not to have any Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being fuch, implies a Con- tradidlion. For it fuppofes, we have a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty when we have not : a Senfe of the Beauty and Amiablenefs of any Obiecl being always neceiTarily im- plied in Love to it. Where no Beauty or Amiablenefs is feen, there can be no Love. Love cannot be forced. Forced I^ove is no Love. If we are obliged to try to force our felves to love anyBody, it is a Sign tliey are very odious in our Eyes, or at leall that we fee no Beauty nor Amiable- nefs in them, no Form or Comelinefs, wherefore we fhould defire or delight in them. {Cant.S. 7.) In all Cafes, fo far as we fee Beauty, fo far we love, and no farther.
Moft certainly, that Knowledge of God which is necefTary to lay a Foundation of a genuine Love to him, implies not only right Apprehenfions of ^ivbat He is^ but alio a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being fuch -, for fuch a Knowledge of God as confifbs meerly in Speculation^ let it rife ever fo high, and be ever fo clear, will never move us to love Him. Mere Speculation^ where there is no Senfe of Beauty^ will no fooner fill the Heart with Love, than a Looking-Glafs will be filled with Love by the Image of a beautiful Counte- nance, which looks into it. And a mere fpeculative Know- kdge of God, will not, cannot, beget a Senfe of his Beauty
in
. * How falfe and dangerous therefore is that Principle, " That it is no Matter what Men's Principles be, if their Lives be but good." — Juft as if that external Conformity to the Law, might be called a good Life, which does not proceed from a genuine Love to God in the
Heart : or juft as if a Man might have a genuine Love to God
in his Heart, without having right Apprehenfions of Him ! or juft
as if a Man might have right Apprehenfions of God, let his Appre- henfions be what they will ! Upon t\ns'?v\nQ\'^\c,Heathcns,Jc'ws, and Maho?nctans, may be faved as well as ChnJHans. And upon this Principle, the Heathen Nations need not much trouble themfelves to know w^ch is the right God among all the Gods that are worfhipped in the World, for it is no Matter nxhich God they think is the true,
if their Lives are but good. But — why has God revealed him-
fclf m his Word, if right Apprehenfions of God be a Matter of fuch
Indifferency
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 5
in being what he is, whenas there is naturally no Difpofition in our Hearts to account Him glorious in being fuch, but wholly to the contrary. Rom, 8 . 7, The carnal Mind isEnmity againji God. When Natures are in perfedt Contrariety, (thC' one finful, and the other holy,) tlie more they are known to each other, the more is mutual Hatred ftirred up, and their entire Averiion to each other becomes more ferifible. The more they know of one another, the greater is their Diflike, and the plainer do they feel it. • Doubtlefs the fallen An- gels have a great Degree of fpeculative Knowledge, they have a very clear Sight and great Senfe of what God is : but the more they know of God, the more they hate him,
i. e,
Indifterency in Religion? — And why did. St. Paul take fuch Pains to convert the heathen Nations to Chriftianity, and fo much fill up his Epiftles to them afterwards with doSlrinal Points ^ and ho fo Jirenuous as to fay, " If an Angel from Heaven fhould preach any other Gof- pel, LET HIM BE ACCURSED/' if right Apprehenfions of God, and right Principles of Religion be a Matter of fuch IndifFerency ! — 'Tis ftrange that fuch a Notion fhould be ever once mentioned by any that pretend to be Chrijiians, fmce it is fubverfive of the whole Chrifliaa Religion : making Chrijlianity no fafer a Way to Heaven than Paga- nifm. Yea, fuch a Principle naturally tends to m.ake all thofe who imbibe it, leave Lo-ve to God, and Faith in Chrijly out of their Religion, and quiet themfelves with a meer empty Form of e;rternal Duties. Or in other Words, it tends to make them leave the La^j and the Go/pel out ,of their Religion, and quiet themfelves with jnerf Heathen Morality, For a Man cannot attain to Lo'ue to God 7md.Frith in Chriji, without right Apprehevfions Xif God and Chriji. Or in other Words, a Man cannot attain to a real Conform.ity to the Law, and to a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel, unlefs his Principles refpeding the Law and Gofpel are right : But a Man may attain to a ^ood Life, exter- nally^ let his Apprehenfions of God and Chriji ^ of La'vj and Gofpel, and all his Principles of Religion, be what they will. Let him be a Hea- . then, or Jew, a M^ometan, or Chriftian ; yea, if a Man be an Atheift, he may livi'i good Life externally ; for any Man has fuffi- cient Power to do every external Dut}^ ; and 'tis many times much for Men's Honour and worldly Intereft to appear righteous outwardly before Men. Matth. 23. 28. N. B. What is here faid, may with a little Alteration, be as well applied to fome other Sorts of Men. So the Moravians fay " They care not what Men's Principles be, if they do but love the Saviour." So in Ne<vj'Englandy there are Multit-udes who care little or nothing what jDoftrines Men believe, if they are but full of FLAMING ZEAL. Juft as if it were no Matter- what a Kind of Sa'viour we frame an Idea of, if we do but love him ; nor what we are zealous about, if we are but FLAMING HOT.
6 T*rue Religion delineated Dis, I.
i. e. their Hatred and Averfion is ftirred up the more, and they feel it plainer. So awakened Sinners, when under deep and thoro Conviction, have comparatively a very clear Sight &nd great Senfe of God ; but it only makes them lee and feel their native Enmity, which before lay hid. A Sight und Senfe of what God is, makes them fee and feel what his Law is, and fo what their Duty is, and fo what their Sinfulnefs is, and fo what their Danger is : It makes the Commandment come^ and {o Sin revrjes, and they die. Rom. 7. 7, 8, 9. The clearer Sight and the greater Senfe they have of what God is, the more plainly do they perceive that per- feft Contrariety there is between his Nature and their's. Their Averfion to God becomes difcernible. They begin to fee what Enemies they be to him : And fo the fecrct Hypocrify there has been in all their Pretences of Love, is difcovered : And fo their high Conceit of their Goodnefs, and all their Hopes of finding Favour in the Sight of God upon the Account of it, ceafe, die away, and come to no- thing. Sin revived, and I died. The greater Sight & Senfe they have of what God is, the plainer do they feel that they have no Love to him ; but the greatefl Averfion. For the more they know of God, the more their native Enmity is ilirred up. So again, as foon as ever an unregenerate Sin- ner enters into the World of Spirits, where he has a much clearer Sight and greater Senfe of what God is ; immedi- ately his native Enmity works to Perfe6ti6n, and he blaf- phemes like a very Devil : And that altho perhaps he died full of feeming Love and Joy. As the Galatians^vAio once loved Paul, fo as that they could even have plucked out their Eyes and given him *, yet when afterwards they came to know more clearly what Kind of a Man he was, then they turned hisEnemies. And fo finally, all the Wicked at the Day of Judgment, when they fhall fte very clearly what Godis,will thereby only have ail the Enmity of their Hearts ftirred to Pcrfedtion. — From all which it is exceeding mani- feft that the cleared fpeculative Knov/ledge of God, is fo far from bringing an unholy Heart to love God, that it will only ftir up the more Averfion. And therefore that Know- ledge .of God whict lays the Foundation for Love, muft
imply
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 7
imply not only right Apprehenfions of what God is, but alfo a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being fuch. *
Wicked Men and Devils may know what God is, but none but holy Beings have any Senfe of his infinite Glory and Beauty in being fuch ; which Senfe in Scripture-Lan- guage is called y^^/?/^ and knowing, i Joh. ^.6. JVhofoever ftnnethy hath not feen him, neither known him. iii Joh.ver. 1 1 ,, He that doth Ezil hath not feen God. i Joh. 2. 4. He that faith .^ I know him., and keepeth noi his Commandments yis aLiar^ and the Truth is not in him. Becaufe wicked Men have no 5enfe of his Glory and Beauty, therefore they are faid not to know God. For all Knowledge without this is vain, it is but the Form of Knowledge. Rom. 2. lo. It will never in-, kindle divine Love. And in Scripture Sinners are faid to be blind., becaufe after all their Light and Knowledge, they have no Senfe of God's Glory in being what he is, and fo have no Heart to love him. And hence alfo they are faid to be dead. They know nothing of the ineffable Glory of the divine Nature, and the Love of God is not in them. Joh. 5. 42. and 8. 19,55.
2. Another Thing implied in Love to God is Efteem. Efteem, ftridly fpeaking, is that high & exalted Thought of, and Value for, any thing ; which arifes from a Sight and Senfe of its own intrinfick Worth, Excellency and Beauty. So a Senfe of the infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory, Excel- lency and Beautyy^f the mod: high God, begets in us high and exalted Thoughts of him> and makes us admire, won- der
* I grant, that If all our Enmity againU God arifes merely from our con- ceiving him to be our Enemy, then a Manifeftation of his Love to our Souls will caufe our Enmity to ceafe, and bring us to love him ; nor v/ill there be any need of a Senfe of the moral Excellency of his Nature to produce it ; and fo there will be no Need of the fanftifying Influences of the holy Spirit. A Manifeftation of the Love of Go4 to our Souls will effedlually change us. - — And thus a Man may be under great Terrors from a Senfe of the Wrath of God, and may fee the Enmity of his Heart in this Senfe : and may afterwards have, as he thinks, great Manifeftations of the Love of God, and be filled- with Love and Joy : and after all, never truly fee the Plague o^ his ewn Heart, nor have his Nature renewed. And a Man's ha\ lug experienced fuch a falfe Converfion, naturally leads him tofraiji^^- wrong Notions of Religion, and blinds his Mind againft th? 'ii\iik. Many of the Mtimmian Principles tal;c Rife from tfis Quaru-;.
8 True Religion deli72eated Dis. I.
der and adore. Hence,the heavenly Hods fall down before the Throne, and under a Senfe of his ineffable Glory, con- tinually cry, /-A/y, holy^ holy Lord Gcd Almighty^ the ivhole Earth is full of thy Glory, And Saints here below, while they behold as in a Glafs the Glory of the Lord, are ravifhed j they efteem, they admire, they wonder and adore -, and under fome feebler Senfe of the ineffable Glory of the divine Nature, they begin to feel as they do in Hea-- ven, and to fpeak their Language, and fay, " Who is a God like unto thee ! Thy Name alone is excellent, and thy Glory is exalted above the Heavens.'*
This high Efteem of God, difpofes and inclines theKeart to acquiefce, yea, to exult, in all the high Prerogatives Gcd afllimes to himfelf.
God from a Confcloufnefs of his own infinite Excel- lency, his entire Right to and abfolute Authority over all Things, is difpofed to take State to himfelf, and Honour and Majefty, the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory ; and he fcts up himfelf as the mofh high God, fupreme Lord and fovereign Governour of the whole World, and bids all Worlds adore him, and be in a moft perfe£l Subjection to him, and that with all theirHearrs i and efteems the Wretch, who does not account this his higheft Happinefs, worthy of eternal Damnation. God thinks it infinitely becomes him to fet up himfelf for a GOD, & to command all the World to adore him, upon Pain of eternal Damnation. He thinks himfelf fit to govern the World, and that the Throne is his proper Place, and that all Love, Honour andObedience are his Due. '- I am the Lord, (fays he,) and befides me there *^ is no Gcd. 1 am the Lord, that is my Name, and my *' Glory will I not give to another. And thus and thus fhall " ye do, for I am the Lord. And curfed be every one that " continues not in all Things written in the Book of the *' Law to do them." Now it would be infinitely wicked for the higheft Angel in Heaven to afTume any of this Ho- nour to himfelf ; but it infinitely becomes the moft high God thus to do. And when we fee his infinite Dignity, GreatnefsjGlory andExcellency, and begin rightly to efteem him ; then his Condudl in all this will begin to appea.r infi- nitely right and fit, and fo infinitely beautiful and ravifhing,
aad
and dijlingtiijhed fro7n all Counterfeits. 9
and worthy to be rejoyced and exulted in. Pfal. <)i, i.'The Lordrdgneth, let the Earth rejoyce : Let the Multitude of the IJles he glad thereof.
And a Sight and Senfe of the fuprcme, infinite Glory and Excellency ot the divine Nature, v/ill not only make us glad that he is GOD and KING andGOVERNOURibut alfo exceeding glad that we live under his Government,and nreto be his Subjeds and Servants, andtobe athisDiipofe.— It will Ihew us the Grounds and Reafons of his Law, how infinitely right and fit it is that we fiiould love him with all our Hearts, and obey him in eveiy Thing : How infinitely unfit and wrong the leaft Sin is : And how juft the threat- ned Punifiiment. And at the fame Time it will help us to fee, that all the Nations of the Earth are as a Drop of the Bucket, or fmall Dull: of the Ballance, before him -, and that we our felves are nothing and lefs than nothing in his Sight. So that a right Sight and Senfe of the fupreme, in- finite Glory of God^ will make us efteem him, fo as to be glad that he is on the Throne, and we at his Footftool ^ that he is King, and we his Subjects •, that he rules and reigns, and that we are abfolutely in Subjedion, and abfolutely at his Difpofe. In a Word, we Ihall be glad to fee him take all that Honour to himfelf which he does, and fhall be hear- tily reconciled to his Government, and cordially willing to take our own proper Places , and hereby a Foundation will begin to be laid in our Hearts for allThings to come to rights, Job 42 . S:>^. I have heard of thee by. the hearing of the Ear : But now mine Eye feeth thee. Wherefore I abhor my f elf and repent in Bufi and Afhes, Ifa. 2. 11. ne lofty Looks of Man fhall be humbled,, and the Haughtinefs of Man fhall be brought down,, and the Lord alone fhall be exalted, — And that all this is imphed in a genuine Love to God, not only the Reafon of the Thing and the plain Tenour of Scripture manifeft, but it is even felf-evident ^ for if we do not fo efteem God as to be thus glad to have him take hisPlace and we ours^ it argues fecret Difiike, and proves that there is fecret Rebellion in our Hearts. Thus therefore muft we efteem the gloriousGod, or be reputed Rebels in his Sight.
3 . Another Thing implied in Love to God may be call'd Benevolence. When we arc acquainted with any Perfon,and
he
lo True Religion delineated Dis. I.
he appears very excelleat in our Eyes, andwc highly elleem him, it is natural now heartily to wifh him well •, we are concerned for his Intcreft, we are glad to fee it go well with him, and forry to fee it go ill with him •, and ready at all Times chearfully to do what we can to promote hisWelfare. Thus Jonathan felt towards David. And thus Love to God will make us feel towards him, his Honour and Intereft in the World. When God is feen in his infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency, as the moft high God, fupremeLord,and fovereignGovernourof the whole World ; and a Senfe of his infinite W^orthinefs is hereby railed in our Hearts ; this enkindles a holy Benevolence, the native Language whereof is, Let God be glorifiedy Pfal. 96. 7, 8. And be thou exalted, O God, above theHeavens : Let thy Glory beMhove all the Earth, Pfal. p^y, 5, n.
This holyDifpofition fometimes exprefTes it felf in earneft Longings that God would glorify himfelf, and honour his great Name \ and bring all the World into an entire Sub- jedion to him. And hence this is the native Language of true Love, Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, tloy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Mat. 6. 9, 10. — And hence, when God is about to bring to pafs great and glorious Things to the Honour of his great Name, it caufes great Joy andRejoycing. Pfal. 96. II, 12, 13. Let the Heavens rejoyce, and let the Earth be glad : Let the Sea rcre, and thefulnefs thereof, let the Field be joyful, and all that is therein : ^henfhall the 'Trees of iheWood rejoyce, before the Lord \ for he cometh,for he ccmeth to judge the Earth, he fJjall judge the IVorld with Right eoufnefs, and the People with his Truth.
And hence again, when God feems to be about to do, or permit, any Thing, which, as it feems to us, tends moft certainly to bring Reproach and Diflionour upon his great Name,it occafions the greateft Anguiih & Diftrefs. Thus lays God to Mofes^ " This is aftiff-aecked People, let me ** alone that I may deftroy them in a Moment, and I will " make of thee a great Nation." But fays Mofcs, " What " will become of thy great Name ? What will the Egypti^-^ ** ansizy} And whatwilltheNations all round about fay?"
Aii4 he mourns and wreftles, crys and prays, begs and
pleads,
and difli7tguijhed from all Counterfeits, i x
pleads, as if his Heart would break. And fays he, " If I " may not be heard, but this Difhonour and Reproach ^' muft come upon thy great Name ; it can't comfort me, '' to tell me, of making of me a great Nation : Pray \tt " me rather die and be forgotten for ever, and let not my " Name be numbered among the living, but let it be blot- " ted out of thy Book." V/ell,fays God, "I will hear thee. *' But as truly as I live, I will never put up thefe Affronts; " but the whole World Hiall know what a holy and " Sin-hating God I am, and be filled v/ith my Glory : For " the Carcafes of all thofe, who have treated me thus,fhall " fall in the Wildernefs ^ and here they fhall wander 'till '* forty Years are accomplifh'd, and then I v/ill do fo and " fo to their Children, and fo fecure the Honour of my " Power, Truth and Faithfulnefs." And now Mofes is content to live in the Wildernefs, and do and fuffer and un- dergo any Thing, if God will but take Care of his great Name. Exod. 32. Numb. 14. — And as it is diftreffing to a true Lover of God, to fee God's Name and Works and Ways fall into Reproach and Contempt •, and as on the o- ther Hand there is no greater Joy then to fee God glorify himfelf ; (Exod. 15. J Hence, this World, even on this Ac- count, may be fitly called a Vale of "Tears to the People of God, becaufe here they are always feeing Reproach and Contempt caft upon God, his Name, his Works and his Ways. And hence, at the Day of Judgment, all thefeTears fhall be wiped away from their Eyes, becaufe then they fhall ifee all Things turned to the Advancement of the Glory o\ his great Name, throughout the endlefs Ages of Eternity. Rev. 19. I, 2,3,4, 5.
Again, this divine Benevolence or wifhing that God may be glorified, fometimes exprefles it felf in earnefl Longings that all Worlds might join together to blefs and praife the Name of the Lord : And it appears infinitely fit & right, and fo infinitely beautiful and ravifhing, that the whole in- telligent Creation fhould for ever join in the mofl folemn Adoration. Yea, and that Sun, Moon, Stars ; Earth, Air, Sea ; Birds, Beafls, Fifties •, Mountains and Hills, and all Things fhould in theirWay, difplay the divine Perfedtions, and praife the Name of the Lord, becaufe his Name alone
is
12 True Religion delineated Dis, I.
is excellent and his Glory is exalted above the Heavens. And hence the pious Pfalmiji fo often breathes this divine Language. Pfal. 103. 20, 21, 22. Blefs the Lord^ ye his Angels^ that excel in Strength^ that do his Commayidments •, hearbiing unto the Voice of hisWord, Blefs ye thcLord^ all ye his Hojls^ ye Miniifers of his that do his Pleaftire, Blefs the Lord all his PForks^ in all Places of his Dominion : Blefs the Lord^ 0 my Soul, Pfal. 148. i, — -13. Praife ye the Lord. Praife ye the Lord from the Heavens : Praife him in the Heights. Praife hifn^ all ye his Angels : Praife him, all his HoJifs. Praife him. Sun and Moon, &c. Let thetn praife the Name of the Lord \ for his Name alone is excellent, &c. See alfo the 95, 96, 97, & 98th Pfalms, &c. &c.
Lajlly, From this divine Benevolence, arifes a free and genuine Difpofition to dedicate,conlecrate, devote and give up our felves entirely to the Lord tor ever ; to walk in all his Ways, and keep all his Commands, feeking his Glory. For if we defire that God may be glorified, we fhall natu- rally be difpofed to feek his Glory. A Sight and Senfe of the infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency of God, the great Creator, Preferver and Governour of the World, who has an entire Right unto, and an abfolute Au- thority over all Things, makes it appear infinitely fit that all Things fhould be for him, and him alone ; and that we fhould be intirely for him, and wholly devoted to him •, and that it is infinitely wrong to live to ourfeives, and make our own Intereft our laft End. The fame Views which make the Godly earneftly long to have God glorify himfelf^ and to have all the World join to give him Glory, thoroughly eno-a^e them for their Parts to live to God. After David had called upon all others to blefs the Lord, he concludes with, Blefs the Lord, 0 my Soul. And this is the Language of Heaven, Rev. 4. 1 1 . Thou art worthy, O Lord, to re- ceive Glory, and Honour, and Power : For thou haft created all Things, and for thy Pleafure they are., and were created. And it was thtwMaxim in the Apoftles Days, Whether they eat or drank, or whatever they did, all muft be done to the Glory of God, i Cor. 10. 31. And it was their Way, not to live to themfclves, but to the Lord -, ( 2 Cor. 5. 15. ) Yea, Whether they livedo to live to theLord , or whether they diedy
t9
and diftingtiijked from all Counterfeits. 1 3
to die to the Lord. Rom. 14.7,8. This was what they com- mended. Fhil. 2. 20, 21. And this was what they enjoined, as that, in which the very Spirit of true ReHgion confifted. Eph, 6. 5, 6, 7. I Cor. 6, 20. Rom. 12. i. & 7. 4.
All rational Creatures, a6ling as fuch, are always influ- enced by Motives in their whole Conduct. — Hiofe Things are always the moil powerful Motives, which appear to us mofl: worthy of our Choice. — The principal Motive to an Action, is always the ultimate End of the Adlion. Hence, if God, his Honour and Interefl, appear to us as the fu- pream Good, and moil worthy of our Choice, then God, his Honour and Interefl, will be the principal Motive and ultimate End of all we do. If we love God fupreamily, we fhall live to him ultimately. If we love him with all our Elearts, we fliall fcrve him with all otir Souls. — Juft as on the other Hand, if we love our felvcs above all, then Self- Love will abfolutely govern us in all Things. If Self-In- tereft be the principal Motive,then Self-Interefl: will be the lafb End, in our v/hole Condud:. — Thus then we fee, that if GOD be highefh in Efteem, then God'^s Interefl will be the principal Motive and the lad End of the whole Condu6l of rational Creatures : And if SELF be highefl in Efleem, then Self-Intereft will be the principalMotive and lail End. And hence we may obferve, that where Self-Buerefl govGvns Men, they are confidered in Scripture, as ferving themfehes. (Hof. 1 0.1. Zee. 7. c,.,6.) And v^hevt Gcd's Interefl governs^ they are confidered as ferving the Lord. 2 Cor. 5. 15. Gal. I. 10. Eph. 6. 5, 6, 7. compared with Tit. 2. 9, 10. To love God lb as to ferve him., is vv^hat the Law requires ; To love Self fo as to ferve Self., is Rebellion againil theMajeily of Heaven. And the fame infinite Obligations w^hich we are under to love God above our felves ; even the fame infinite Obligations are we under, to live to God ultimately, and not to our felves. And therefore it is as great a Sin to live to our felves ultimately ; as it is to love our felves fupremcly.
4. and lailly. Delight in God, is alfo implied in Love to him. By Delight we commonly mean,thatPleafure, Sweet- nefs and Satisfaction, which v/e take in any l^hing that is very dear to us. When a Man appears very excellent to us, and we efteem him, and wifn him all Good •, wc alfo at
the
14 Irue Religion delineated Dis. I.
the fame Time, feel a Delight in him, and a Swectnefs in his Company and Converfation. We long to fee him when abfent ; we rejoyce in his Prefence ; the Enjoyment of him tends to make us happy. So when a holy Soul beholds God in the infinite moral Excellency and Beauty of hisNa- ture, and loves him fupreamly, and is devoted to him en- tirely, nov/ alfo he delights in him fuperlatively. His De- light and Complacency is as great as his Eflcem, and arifes from a Senfe of the fame moral Excellency and Beauty. — From this Delight in God arife Longiii^'i after further Ac- quaintance with him, and greaterNearnefs to him. Job 23.3, O that I knewwhere I ruightfindhim^ that I might come even to his Seat ! — Longings after Communion with him. Pfah 63. I, 2. O God, thou art my God, early ivill Ifeek thee : My Soul thirfteth for thee, 7ny Flefrj loweth for thee in a dry and thirfiy Land, where no Water is : '1 c fee thy Power and thy Glory, fo as Ihavefeen thee in the San6iuary. /. 8. My Soul followeth hard after thee. — A holy Rejoycing in God. Hab. 3. 17, 18. Altho the Figtree fhall not Blcffom, neither fhall Fruit he in the Vine : l^he Labour of the Olive fJoall fail, and the Field fhall yield no Meat, the Flock fhall be cut off from the Fold, and there fhall be no Herd in the Stall : 2a I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the Rock of my Salvation. — Finally, from this Delight in God arifes a holy Difpofiticn to renounce all other Things, and live wholly upon him, and take up everlailing Content in him, alid in him alone. Pfal. 73. 25,26. Whom have I in Heaven but thee ? and there is none uponEarth Idefire befides thee. MyFlefo a?id my Heart faileth, but God is the Strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever. — The vain Man takes Content in vain Company -, the worldly Man takes Content in Riches \ the ambitious Man in Honour and Applaufe -, the Philofopher in Philo- fophical Speculations -, the legal Hypocrite in his Round of Duties ; the evangelical Hypocrite in his Experiences, his Difcoveries, his Joys, his Raptures, and confident Expeda- tion of Heaven : but the true Lover of God takes his Con- tent in God himfelf Pfal. 4. 6, 7. jj.nd thus we fee what is implied in Love to God.
And
and dijlinguijhed fro7n all Counterfeits. 1 5
And now that this is a right Reprcfentation of the Nature of that Love, which is required in the firfl and great Com- mandn^ent of the Law upon which chiefly all the Law and theProphets hang,is manifeIl,not only from theReafon of the Thing, & from what has been already faid-, but alfo from this, that fuch a Love to God as this,%j a fure & firm Foundation for all holy Obedience, That Love to God is of ih^ right Kind whichwill effeduallyinfluenceustokeephisCommands. Joh. 15- H- I Job, 2. 3, 4, 5. But it is evident from the Na- ture of Things, that fuch a Love as this will efF€6tually in- fluence us to do fo. As Self-love naturally caufes us to fet up Self and feek Self-Interefl : So this Love to God will naturally influence us to fet up God and feek his Interefl. As delight in the World naturally makes us feek after the Enjoyment of the World, fo this delight in God will natu^ rally influence us to feek after the Enjoyment of God. And while we love God primarily for being what he is, we cannot but for the fame Reafon, love his Law, which is a Tranfcript of his Nature, and love to conform to it.. If w© loved him only from Self-love, from the fear of Hell, or from the hopes of Heaven -, we might at the fam.e time hate his Law : but if vv'e love him for being what he is, we can- not but love to be like him : which is what his Law re- quires. To fuppofe that a Man loves God fupremely for what he is ^ and yet don't love to be like him ; is an evi- dent Contradidion. It is to fuppofe a Thing fupremely loved ; and yet at the fame time not loved at all. So that to a Demonfl:ration, this is the very Kind of Love which the Lord our God requires of us. So Saints in Heaven love God perfedly, and fo the good Man on Earth begins in a weak and feeble Manner to love God : for there is but one Kind of Love required in the Law ; and fo but one Kind of Love which is of the right Sort : for no Kind of Love can be of the right Sort, but that very Kind of Love v/hich the Law requires. There is therefore no difference between their Love in Heaven, and our's here upon Earth, but only iH Degree. ^
Sl<:
TlO^f
1 6 "True Religmi delineated Dis. L
S E C T I O N IL
Shewing from "what Motives true Love to GOD takes its Rife.
IL I now proceed to fnew more particularly, from 'what Motives we are rec^uired thus to love God. Indeed I have done this in Part already. For I have been oWiged all along, in iliewing what is innplied in Love to God, to keep mvEye upon the firfb and chief Ground & Reafon of Love, name- ly what God is in himfelf. But there are other Conhdera- tions, which increafe our Obligations to love him and live to him •, which ought therefore to come into the Account. And I defign here to take a general View of ail the Rea- fons and Motives which ought to influence us to love the Lord our God \ all which are implied in thofe Words, The Lord thy Gcd. Thm JJjalt love the Lord thy God voith all thy Heart, i. e. becaufe he is THE LORD and OUR GOD.
I. The firft and chief Motive w^hich is to influence us to love God with all ourHearts, is His infinite Dignity i^ Great- mfs, Glcry ayid Excellency : Or in one Word, His infinite Amiahlencjs. We are to love him. with all our Hearts, be- caufe he is THE LORD, becaufe he is what he is, and juft fuch a Being as he is. On this Account primarily,and antecedent to all other Conflderations,he is infinitely amiable; and therefore on this Account primarily and antecedent to all other Confiderations, ought he to appear infinitely amia- ble in our Eyes. This is the firft & chief Reafon & Ground upon which his Law is founded, I AM TPIE LORD : {Exod. 20. 2. Levit. 19.) This therefore ought to be the firft and chief Motive to influence us to obey. The principal Reafon which moves him to require us to love him, ought to be the principal Motive of our Love. If tire fundamen- tal Reafon of his requiring us to love him with all our Hearts, is, becaufe he is what he is \ and yet the Bottom of our Love be fomething elfe •, then our Love is not what his Lav/ requires, but aThing of quite another Nature. Yea if the Foundation of our Love to God, is not becaufe he is what he is, in Truth we love him not at all. If I feel a Sort of Refpcd to one of my Neighbours who is very kind to
rae,
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 7
mc, and either do not know what a Sort of Man he is, or it 1 do, yet do not like him ; it is plain, it is his KindnefTes I love, and not his Perfon ♦, and all my feeming Love to him, is nothing but Self-Love in another Shape. And let him ceafe being kind to me, and my Love will ceafe. Let him crofs me, and I ihall hate him. Fut forth thineHand now^ and touch all that he hath^ and he will curfe thee Id thy Face (]cki i.ii.) as the Devil faid concerning Job, And indeed fo he would, had not his Love to God taken its rife from another Motive, than God's Kindnefles to him. But why need I multiply Words ? For it feems even felf-evi- dent, that God's Lovelinefs ought to be the firfl and chief Thing for which we love him.
Now, God is infinitely lovely, becaufe he is what he is. Or in otherWordsjhisinfiniteDignity &Greatnefs,Gloryahd Excellency, are the Refult of his natural and moral Per- fections. So that -it is a clear Sight & realizing Senfe of his natural & moral Perfe6lions,astheyare revealed in hisWorks and in his Word, that makes him appear to a holy Soul as a Being of infiniteDignity& Greatnefs,Glory and Excellency. Thus the Queen of Sheba^ feeing and converfing with 6"^?^- mon^ and viewing his Works, under a Senfe of the large and ' noble Endowments of his Mind, was even ravifhed ; and Cried out. The one Half was not told me I And thus the holy and divinely enlightned Soul, upon feeing God, reading his Word, and meditating on his wonderful Works ; under a Senfe of his divine and incomprehenfible Perfedtions, is ra- vifhed with his infinite Dignity, Majefty, Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency j and loves, admires, and adores ; and fays, JVho is a God like unto thee !
His natural Perfections are,
(i.) His infinite Under/landing ; whereby he knows himfelf, and all Things foffible •, and beholds all Things paft, prefent and to come, at one All-comprehenfive View. So that from Everlafting to Everlalling, his Knowledge can neither increafe nor diminifh, or his Views of Things fufFer the leaft Variation •, being always abfolutely compleat, and confequently necelTarily always the fame.
(2.) His Almighty Power \ whereby he is able, with infi- nite Eafe, to do any Thing that he pleafes.
C And
iS- True Religion delineated Dis. I.
And his moral Perfedlions are,
(i.) His infinite Wifdom \ whereby he is able, and is in- clined, to contrive and order all Things in all Worlds for the beft Ends, and after the beft Manner.
(2.) 1l\\s perfe5i Holinefs \ whereby he is inclined, infi- nitely to love Right, and hate Wrong : Or according to Scripture-Phrafe, to love Righteoufnefs and hate Iniquity.
(3.) His impartial Jufiice ', whereby he is unchangeably inclined, to render to every one according to his Deferts.
(4.) His infinite Goodnefs •, whereby he can find in his Heart to bellow the greateftFavours upon his Creatures, if he pleafes •, and is inclined to bellow all that is beft -, all Things confidered.
(5.) His Truth and Faithfulnefs •, whereby he is inclined to fulfil all his Will, according to his Word : So that there is an everlafting Harmony between his Will, his Word, and his Performance.
And his Being, and all his natural and moral Perfedions, and his Glory and Bleflednefs, which refults from them, he has in himfelf,and of himfelf, underived •, and is necelTarily infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in all ; and fo abfolutely In- dependent, Self-fufficient and All-fufficient. " This is the God, whom we do love 1 " This is the God, whom we adore ! " In him we truft, to him we live ^ " He is our All, for evermore."
Now there are three Ways by which thefe his Perfections are difcovered to the Children of Men : By hisWorks,by his Word, and by his Spirit. By the two firft, we fee him to be what he is : By the laft, we behold his infinite Glory in being fuch. The two firft, produce a fpeculativeKnow- ledge : The laft, a Senfe of moral Beauty.
Firft^ He difcovers thefe his Perfe6lions by his Works, i. e. by his creating^ preservings and governing the World •, and by his redeeming^ fan5fifying and faving his People,
I . By his creating the World. He it is, who has ftretched abroad the Heavens as a Curtain, and fpread them out as a Tent to dwell in : who has created the Sun, Moon & Stars •, and appointed them their Courfes : who has hung theEarth upon nothing : who has fixed the Mountains, and bounded
and
mtd dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1^
the Seas, and formed every living Creature. All the hea- venly Hofts he hath made, and created all the Nations that dwell upon the Earth : and the Birds of the Air, and the Beads of the Field, and the Fifhes of the Sea, and every creeping Thing, are the Works of his Hands : and the meaneft of his Works are full of unfearchable Wonders, far furpafTing our Undarftanding. ^o that the invifible "Things ofGod^ from the Creation of the Worlds are clearly feen^ being underftood by the Things that are made^ even his eternal Poiver and Godhead. As St. P^?// obferves, in Rom, i. 20.
2. By his preferring th eWorld, His Eyes run to and fra thro'out all the World, beholding every Thing. HisEyesare upon all his Works, fo that even theSparrows are not forgotten by him, and the very Hairs of our Heads are all numbred. And he holds all Things in being •, and the opening of his Hand fills the Defires of every living Creature : even the whole Family of Heaven and Earth live upon his Goodnefs^ and are maintained by his Bounty. In a Word, his infinite Underflanding fees all, his infinite Power upholds all, his infinite W^ifdom takes care of all, and his infinite Goodnefs provides for all •, and that every Moment. So that the in- vifible Things of God are difcovered in preferving, as well as in creating the World. And hence when the picusP/^/- mifi meditates on the Works of Creation and Prefervation, he fees God in them,and views his Perfedions,and is touch'd at Heart with a Senfe of his Glory, and is filled with high and exalted, and with admiring and adoring Thoughts of God. So Pfal. 19. I. The Heavens declare the Glory of the Lord^^c. And PfaLg^. i. 0 come let usftng unto the Lor d^ &c. — But v/hy ? — ii, 3. For the Lord is a great Gody and a great King,, above allGods. — But how does this appear ? Why,i;^r. 4,5. i)^ his Hand are the deep Places of the Earth ; theStrength of the Hills is his alfo. The Sea is his,, and he made it : and his Hands formed the dry Land,, f. 6. 0 therefore come let us worfhip and bow down^ let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, — And again in Pfal, 96. i. Oftngunto the Lord a new Song : Sing unto the Lord,, all the Earth. — But why ? — }^.4. For the Lord is great,, and greatly to bepraifed : He is to be feared above all Gods. — But wherein does this appear ? ilh-Why — -f'. 5. All the Gods of the Nations are Idols : but the . C 2 LORD
20 T^rue Religion dilineated Dis. I.
L0RlD7nr:detheHeav ens. "Andionctmoxt'mV^A, 1 04. i ,2,&c. Blefs the Lcrdy 0 my Soul. — But why ? — Thou art very great y thcu art cloathed with Honour and Majefty. — But how does this appear ? — Why ? — Thou haft Jlr etched out theUeavens as a Curtain, And /.5. And laid the Foundations of the Earthy that it cannot be removed for ever. And f.ij.Ad wait upon thee^ that thou may ft give them their Meat in dueSeafon. >' .2 8. That thou giveft them^ they gather \ thou openeft thy Hand., they are filled with Good. And throughout the whole Pfalm he is meditating on the Creation & Frefervation of the World; and viewing the divine Perfedlions therein difcovered, and admiring the divine Glory, and wondering and adoring : And finally concludes with, Blefs the Lord., 0 my Soul : Praife ye the Lord, But,
3. His Perfections are ftill much more eminently difplayedy in that moral Government^ which he maintains over the intel- ligent Part of the Creation : efpecially his moral Perfe^icns. In the Works of Nature his natural Perfedions are to be feen : But in his moral Government of the World, he ads out his Heart, and fhews the Temper of his Mind. In- deed all the Perfedlions of God are to be feen in the Work of Creation : If we view Angels and M'en,and con- fider what they were, as they came firfl out of his Hands ; holy and pure. But ftill God's Condud: towards them un- der the Character of their King and Governour, more evi- dently difcovers the very Temper of his Heart. As the Tree is known by the Fruit ; lb God's moral Perfedions may be known by his moral Government of the World. The whole World was created for a Stage., on which a va- riety of Scenes were to be opened ; in and by all which, God defigned to exhibit a m^oft exad Image of himfelf. For as God loves himfelf infinitely, for being what he is ^ fo he takes infinite Delight, in ading forth and exprefiing all his Heart. He loves to fee his Nature & Image fhine in all his Works, and to behold the whole World filled with his Glory. And he perfedly loves to ha e all his Condud (the whole of it taken together) an exa5t Refem- blance of himfelf ; and infinitely abhors in his publick Condud, in the leaft to counter-ad the Temper of his Heart j fo as by his publick Condud, to feem to be, what
indeed
and dtjlingutjhed from all Counterfeits. 2 1
indeed he is not. So that, in his moral Government of the World we may fee his inward Difpofition,& difcer n the true nature of his moral Perfedions. And indeed all his Per- fedions are herein difcovered. Particularly,
(i.) His infinite Under/landing. High on his Throne in Heaven he fits, and all his vafl Dominions lie open to his View. His All-feeing Eye views all his Courts above5and fees under the whole Heavens, looks thro the Earth, and pierces all the dark Caverns of Hell. So that his Acquain- tance with all Worlds and all Things is abfolutely perfed and compleat. He can behold all the folemn Worlliip of Heaven, and the inmoll Thoughts of all that great Afiembly j he can behold all the Sin, Mifery and Confufion that over- spread the whole Earth, and the inmoft Temper of every Mortal •, and look thro Hell and fee all the Rebellion and Blafphemy and cunning Devices of thofe infernal Fiends* : And all this at one All-Comprehending View. And thus, as high Governour of the whole World, he continually be- holds all Things •, whereby a Foundation is laid, for the Exercife of all his other Perfedions in his Government over all. See the Omnifcience of God elegantly defcribed ia Pfal. 139. I, — 12. And being perfedly acquainted y/ith himfelf, as well as with all his Creatures ; hence, he can- not but fee what a Condud from him towards them, will, all Things confidered, be moft right and fit ^d amiable^ and mofi: becoming, fuch an One, as he is -, and alfo, what a Condud from them to him, is his Due ; and their Duty. By his infinite Underftanding he is perfedly acquainted with Right and Wrong, with what is fit and v/hat unfit : And by the moral Reditude of his Nature, he infinitely loves the one and hates the other, and is difpofed to condud accordingly ^ of which more prefently. Pfal. 147. i. Praife ye the Lor d^ for it is good to ftng Praifes unto our God \ for it ispkafant^ and Praife is comely, — But why ? — f ^. Great is our Lord and of great Power ^ his Understanding is INFINITE. — But wherein does that appear ^ — Why, /. 4. He telleth the Number of the Stars : He calleth them ALL by their Names, Now if the infinite Underftanding of God may be feen in this one Particular -, much jnor^, in the re- gulv ordering and difpofing of all Things, throughout tht
2 2 True Religion delineated Dis. 1.
whole Uriivcrfe : And that, not only in the natural^ but alfo, in the moral World.
(2.) His iyifinite Power, is diplaycd in the Government of the World. For he does according to his Pleafure in the Armies of Heaven, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth : fo that none can flay his Hand, or hinder the Ex- ecution of his Defigns. — Have Rebellions broke out in any Part of his Dominions ? He has manifeftly had the Re- bels intirely in his Hands ; they have lain abfoiutely at his Mercy ; and he has dealt with them according to his fove- reign Pleafure ; and none has been able to make any Re- fiilance -, nor has there been any to deliver them out of his Hands. — When Rebellion broke out in Heaven, he crufn'd the Rebels in a Moment : They fell beneath the Weight of his Hand ; they felt his Power, they defpaired, they funk to Hell. And there he referves them in Chains, nor can they ftir from their dark Abode, but by his fpecial Permiffion. — And when Rebellion broke out upon Earth, the Rebels were equally in his Hands, and at his Mercy : unable to make any Refiftance : altho' he was pleafed, in his infinite Wifdom, to take another Method with them. But he has fince difcovcred his Power, in treading down his implacable Enemies, under Foot, many a time. He de- ftroyed the old World, burned Sodom^ drowned Pharaoh and his Hofrs, and turned Nebuchadnezzar into a Beaft. If his Enemies have exalted themfelves, yet he has been above them, brought them down •, and difcovered to all theWorld,that they are in his Hands, and withoutStrength, at his Difpofal. Or if he has fuffered them to go on and profper, and exalt themfelves greatly, yet ilill he has been above them, and has accomplifhed his Defigns by them, and at iafl has brought them down. Haughty Nebuchad- nezzar when he had broken the Nations to Pieces, as it he had been the Hammer of the whole Earth, now tho't him- i<.'S fome-hody. And Alexander the Great, when conquer- ing the World, afpired to be thought the Son of Jupiter. But the moft high God, the Great and Almighty Gover-* nour of the World, always had fuch Scourges of Mankind only as a Rod in his Hand, with which he has executed Judgment upon a wicked V/orld. Howbeit they meant not
fo
and dtjlingtitjhed from all Counterfeits, 2 3
foy neither did their Hearts think fo. But it was in their Hearts to gratify their Ambition, Avarice and Revenge. However, he was above them •, and alway-s fuch have been in his Hands as the Ax is in the Hands of him that heweth therewith^ or as the Saw is in the Hands cf him that Jhaketh it J or as the Rod is in the Hand of him that lifteth it up. And when he has done with the Rod, he always breaks it and burns it. See Ifai. 10. 5 — 19.
And as this great King has difcovered his Almighty Power by crufhing RebeUions in his Kingdom, and fubdu- ing Rebels •, fo he has alfo, in proteding his Friends, and working Deliverance for his People. He made a Path for his People thro the Sea j he led them thro' the Wilder- nefs. He gave them Water to drink out of the Rock •, and fed them with Angels Food. In the Day time he led them by a Cloud j and all the Night with the Light of Fire. He brought them to the promifed Land, and drove out the Heathen before them : and in all their Diftrefles, when- ever they cried unto him, he delivered them. And as the fupreme Governour of the World, did thus in the Days of old difcover his Almighty Power in governing among his intelligent Creatures ^ fo he is ftill in various Ways and Manners, in his Providential Difpenfatlons, evidently dif- covering that he can do all Things. And his People fes it, and believe it •, and admire, &adore. Read Pfal.io^.
(3.) Again, His infinite JVifdom^ is difcovered in an end- lefs Variety of Inftances, in all his Government throughout all his Dominions -, in his managing all Things to the Glory of his Majefty, to the Good of his loyal Subjects, and to the Confufion of his Foes. There has never any Thing happened in all his Dominions, and never will j but has been and fhall be, made entirely fubfervient to his Honour and Glory. Even the Contempt call upon him by his rebellious Subjeds, he turns to his greater Glory. As in the Cafe of Pharaoh^who fet up himfelf againft God, and faid, fFho is the Lord that Ifhouldobey him ? I know not theLordy nor will I let Ifrael go. And he exalted himfelf and dealt proudly & haughtily •, and hardened his Heart, and was refolve4 he would not regard God, nor be bowed nor <jpi>quered by him ; for he defpifed him in bis Heart. But
C 4 %m
24 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
the more he carried himfelf, as if there were no God -, the more were the Being & Perfeftions of God made manifeft. For the more h: hardened his Heart, the more ftout and flubboi-n he was, the more God honoured himfelf m fub- duing him. Yea, God in his infinite Wifdom fuffered him {o be as high and haughty, as ftout and ftubborn as he pleafed •, he took off all Reftraints from him, permitted the Magicians to imitate the Miracles diMofes^ fo that Fha^ roah in feeing might not fee, nor be convinced : and he ordered that the Plagues Ihould lad but for a fhort Sea- fon, that Pharoah might have Refpite ^ and thus it was that God hardned his Heart. And God in his infinite Wifdom did ail this with a View to his own Glory. As he tells Pharoah by. the Hand of Mofes. — " Such and fuch Plagues I defign to bring upon you, and to do fo, and fo, with you." And indeed for this Caufe have I raifed thee up ^ for tofJjsw in thee ^ my Poisjer^ and that my Name may be declared^ throiighcut all the Earthy Exod. 9. 16. And ac- cordingly God was illuflriouQy honoured at lad upon Pha-^ roah^ and upon all his Hoft, at the Red-fea. And the Egyptians^ and all the neighbouring Nations, were made to know that he was the Lord : and his Name became dreadful among the Heathen. And we find that in three or four Hundred Years after, the Philijlines had not for^ gotten it. For v/hen the Ark in the Days oiEli, was car^ hed into the Camp of Ifrael *, tht Philijlines were fore afraid ;. and faid, " God is come into the Camp ; Wo unto us. " Who fnall deliver us out of the Hands of thefe mighty " Gods ? Thefe are the Gods that fmote the Egyptians^ " with all the Plagues in the Wildernefs &c." j Sam. 4.
So God wifely ordered and over-ruled all Things, that befell the Children of Ifrael in the Wildernefs, to accom- plilh the Ends he had in View. His Defigns were to get himfeif a great Name, and fill the whole Earth with hi$ Glory {Num. 14. 21.) and to try and humble his People, and make them know, that it was not for their Righteouf- ncfs,that he brought them into theLand oi Canaan {Deut.oi.) And every Thing that came to pafs, for thofe forty Years, was admirably calculated to attain thefe Ends. The News of Pharaoh's Overthrow, of God's coming down upon
Mount
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 25
Mount Simiy and abiding there for fo long a Time, with fuch awful Majefty •, and of the Pillar of Cloud by Day, and of Fire by Night ; of the Mama, of the Water flow- ing out of a Rock and following them, of their Murmur- ings and Infurredlions, and God's Judgments upon them ; I fay, the News of thefe, and of other Things of this Na- ture, that happened to them for thofe forty Years, flew all the World over, and filled all the Nations of the Earth with the greateft Afl:onilhment •, and made them think there was no God, like the Godcflfrael. {Nurah. 1 4. 1 3, 14, 1 5.) By all thefe Things \ and by God's bringing his People at lafl: to the PoflTefilon of the Land of Canaan, according to his Promife •, there was exhibited a Specimen of God's infinite Knowledge, Power, Wifdom, Holinefs, Juftice, Goodnefs & Truth : and that before the Eyes of all the Nations. And fo the whole Earth was filled with his Glory : i. e. v/ith the clear Manifefliations of thofe Per- fe6t:ions in which his Glory confifl:s. And thus his great
End was obtained. And in the mean time, all the
Wandrings, and Trials, and Sins and Sorrows of the Chil- dren of Ifrael, together with all the wonderful Works which their Eyes beheld, and wherein God difcovered himfelf, for thofe forty Years ; had a natural Tendency to try them, to humble them, and break their Hearts, and make them know, that not for their Righteoufnefs, nor for the Uprightnefs of their Hearts, did God at lafl: fliew them that great Mercy : and to convince them of the ex- ceeding great Obligations they were under to love^and fear, and ferve the Lord for ever. And fo the other great End which God had in View was accompliflied. Deut, 8, 65? 9,
and 10. Cha'p, And now, all thefe Things were by God
wifely done •, and in this his Condudl, his infinite Wifdom is
to be feen.* And thus it is in all God's Difpenfations,
thro*
* If God had {o ordered, that Ahraham had been born in the Land of Canaan^ and his Pofterity bad multiplied greatly,and the other Nations gradually by SicknefTes and Wars had wafted away and come to no- thing, until there were none but the Pofterity of Abraham left, and they had filled the Land ; God's Hand then would not have been fcen : none of thefe excellent Ends attained : all would have been
rcfolvcd
26 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
thro'out all his Dominions, with Regard to the whole Univerfe in general, and to every intelligent Creature in partictilar. His Works are all done in Wifdom \ and fo his infinite Wifdom is difcovered in all. And hence God appears infinitely glorious in the Eyes of his People. Deut. 32.3,4 Tfal. 104.24.(5^ 105. I 45. iCor.1.24. — 31.
(4.) Again, His infinite Purity and Holincfs^ is alfo dif- tovered in his Government of the World : in all that he has done, to eftablifh Rights and difcountenance Wrongs thro'out all his Dominions. His creating Angels & Men in his own Image, with his Law written on their Hearts, manifefted his Difpofition, and fhewed what hewaspleafed ^ith : But his publick Condudt as moral Governour of the World, has more evidently difcovered, the very Temper of his Heart ; and fhewn how he loves Right and hates Wron^^ to an infinite Degree. Governours among Men difcover much of their Difpofition,and fhcw what they love and what they hate, by their Laws : and they fhew how fervent their Love & Hatred is, by all the Methods they take to enforce them : And fo does the great Governour of the World. By his Laws, by his Promifes & Threat- nings j by his paft Condud, and declared Defigns for the future, he manifefts how he loves moral Good and hates moral Evil.
By his infinite Underftanding, he is perfeftly acquainted with Himfelf, and with all his intelligent Creatures : and fo perfe6tly knows what a Condud in him towards them is right, fit & beautiful, and fuch as becomes fuch a One as he is. And alfo, perfectly knows what a Condudl in his Creatures towards him, and towards each other, is fit and amiable, and fo their Duty. He fees what is right, and
infinitely
refolved into natural Caufes.- — Therefore God contrived where^^^r^- bam fhould be born ; how he fhould leave hrs own Country ; have a Promife of the Land of Canaan ; and how his Seed fhould come to be in Egypty come to be in great Bondage and Diftrefs j how he would fend, and how he would deliver them, and how they fhould carry themfelvcs, and what fhould happen ; and how every Thing fhoiUd turn out at lafl : He laid the whole Plan, with a View to thofc excellent Ends his Eye was upon. It was wifely contrived : and when it came to be afted over, his infinite Wifdom was difcovered.
and dijiinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 2 7
infinitely loves it, becaufe it is right. He fees what is wrong, and infinitely hates it, becaufe it is wrong. And in his whole Conduct as Governour of the World, he ap- pears to be juft what he is at Heart •, an infinite Friend to Right, and an infinite Enemy to Wrong.
He takes State^ fets up Himfelf as a GOD, bids all the World adore him, love and obey him, with all their Hearts •, and that upon Pain of eternal Damnation, in Cafe of the leafl Defed : and promifes eternal Life and Glory, in Cafe of perfedt Obedience. This is the Language of his Law, Thou /halt love the Lord thy God with all thy Hearty and thy Neighbour as thy felf. Do this and live. Difobey and die. — And now all that infinite Efteem for himfelf, and infinite Regard for his own Honour, which he herein does mani- feft, does not refult from a proud or a felfifh Spirit : for there is no fuchThing in his Nature. Nor does he threaten Damnation for Sin,becaufe it hurts him -, or promife eternal Life to Obedience, becaufe it does him any good : For he is infinitely above us, and abfolutely independent 'on us, and cannot receive Advantage,orDifadvantage from us. Job 22. 2,3. and 3S'^^7' -^^^ ^^ refults from the infinite Holinefs of his Nature. — He loves and honours himfelf as he does j be- caufe, fince he is what he is, it is right and fit he fhould. He bids the World adore, love & obey him with all their Hearts, becaufe confidering what he is, and what they be, it is infinitely fit and right. He commands us to love our Neighbour as our felves, becaufe this alfo in the Nature of Things is right. And while he promifes eternal Life to the obedient, and threatens eternal Damnation to the dif- obedient, he Ihews how infinitely he loves Righteoufnefs, and hates Iniquity. His promifing eternal Life and Glory to perfed; Obedience, does indeed manifeft the infinite Goodnefs & Bountifulnefs of his N ature : but then his pro- mifing all under the Notion of a Reward., difcovers this Temper of his Heart, his infinite love to Right.
As to all his pofitive Injundions, they are evidently dc^ figned to promote a Conformity to the moral Law. And as to the moral Law, it is originally founded upon the very Reafon and Nature of Things. TheDuties required there- in, are required originally becayfc they are right in them-
ielves*
2 8 True Religion deli7:eated Dis. L
felves. And the Sins forbidden, are forbidden originally, becaufe they are unfit and wrong in themfelves. The in- trinfick fitnefs of the Thing- required, and the intrinfick unfitnefs of the Things forbidden, was the original Ground, Reafon & Foundation of his Law. Thus he bids all the World love him "v^ith all their Hearts •, becaufe he is the Lord their God : and love one another as Brethren,becaufc they are all Children of the fame common Father, having the fame Nature. He requires this fupreme Love to him- felf, and this mutual Love among his Subjedls, becaufe it is right that fo it fhould be •, and becaufe he perfeftly loves that the Thing that is right fhould be done ; and not from any Advantage that can poflibly accrue unto him from the Behaviour of his Creatures. And he forbids the contrary, becaufe it is wrong, and therefore infinitely hateful in his Sight, & not becaufe it could beanyDifadvantage to him. — All the Glory & BlefTednefs which he beftows upon theAn- gels in Heaven under the Notion of a Reward to their 0- bedience^ is not becaufe their Obedience does him any Good -, for it does not : nor becaufe they deferve any Thing from his Hands •, for they do not : {Rom.Ji.2§,^6.) but merely becaufe it is right, that they ihould in all Things obey him. This is what he loves, and what he delights to ho- nour. And all the infinite, eternal Glories of Heaven can but jufl ferve as a fuflicientTeftimony of his Approbation.— So on the other Hand, it was not in a PafTion, or from fuddden ralh Revenge, (which many Times influences fin- ful Men to cruel & barbarous Deeds,) that he turned thofe that finned down into Hell j and for their iiift Offence doomed them to everlafling Wo, without the leaflHope. For there is no fuch Thing in his Nature. As he is not capable of being injured as we be, fo neither is he capable of fuch Anger as we feel. No : the Thing they did, was in itfelf infinitely wrong, and that was the true & only Caufe of his infinite Difpleafure •, which infinite Difplea- fur€, he meant to declare and make known, in the Sight of all Worlds, throughout the endlefs Ages of Eternity, by rend'ring to them according to their Deferts. For he loves to appear as great an Enemy to Sin, in his Conduct, ^s he is in his Heart, He loves to a6l out his Heart, and
exhibit
and difiingutped fro7n all Counterfeits. 2 9
exhibit a true Image of himfelf. — His infinite Love to Righteoufnefs and hatred of Iniquity, is alfo difplayed in his promifing eternal Life & Bleffednefs to Adam and to all his Racci a whole World of Beings, as a Reward to the Obedience of Adam •, by him conilituted publick Head and Reprefentative ^ on the one Hand :" and threatning eternal Deftrudion to him and all his Race, a whole World of Beings, in Cafe of the leail Tranfgreflion ; on the other Hand. — But his infinite love to Righteoufnefs, and hatred of Iniquity, is manifefted in the greateft Perfedion, in the Death of Jefus Chrift, his only begotten Son. — But of this more afterwards. — In a Word, all theBleffings which he has granted to the godly in this World \ as Rewards of their Vertue ^ to Ahel^ Enochs ?ind^Noab \ to Lot^ to Abra- ham^ Ifaac and Jacob &c : and all the Judgments which he has executed upon the Wicked, his turning Adam out of Paradife, drowning the old World, burning Sodom^ &c. together with all the Evils which befell the Children of Ifrael^ in the Wildernefs, in the Time of the Judges,in the Reigns of their Kings ^ and their long Captivity in Baby- lon &c. have all been publick ^ejtimonies that the righteous
Lord loveth Righteoufnefs, and hateth Iniquity. And
in Heaven and in Hell, he defigns to difplay to all Eter- nity, in the moft glorious and dreadful Manner, how infi- nitely he loves Righteoufnefs and hates Iniquity.
Now when true Believers, who are divinely enlightned, meditate on and view the Laws, the Condudl, and the de- clared Defigns, of the great Governour of the World ; they love, admire and adore -, and fay. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Hoils, the whole World is full of thy Glory. This divine Difpofition, to love Righteoufnefs and hate Iniquity, which the great Governour of the World thus difcovers in all his Government, appears infinitely beauti- ful and glorious, excellent and amiable, in their Eyes : Whence they are ready to hy^lVho is like unto thee^ 0 Lordy among the Gods ? Who is like unto thee F Glorious in Holinefs, As they in Exod, 15. 11. "^ (5.) His
* If we fhould fuppofe (as fomc do) that'there is nothing right or n.vrong
* antecedent to a Confideration of the po/itiw Will and Z^w of God, the great Governour of the World \ And that Right ^lA Wrong refult
originally
30 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
f5.) His impartial Juftice^ is alfo difcovered in his moral Government of the World. He appears in his publick Condudt, as One infinitely engaged to give to ev ry one their Due : and as One ablbluteiy governed by a Spirit of the moft perfediy difintereficd Impartiality. — He appears as One infinitely engaged to maintain the Rights at the God-head, and to fecure that Glory to the divine Being that is his proper Due •, and that by the Law which he has eftablilhed, in Heaven and on Earth, binding all to love, worfnip and obey him, as GOD, upon Pain of eternal Damnation. And fo again, he appears as One infinitely
ensased
•o~o"
originally from his fonjereign Will and ahfolute Authority entirely ; then thefe manifeft Abfiirditie«^ would unavoidably follow,
1 . That the moral FerfeBions of God are ernpty Names, ivithout any Signijication at all. For if there be no intrinfick moral fitnefs and un- £tnefs in Things,no Right nor Wrong, then there is no fuch Thing as moral Beauty or moral Deformity ; and fo no Foundation in the Na- ture of Things for any moral Propenftty ; i. e. there is nothing for God to love or hate, confidered as a moral Agent. There can be no Inclination or Difpofition in him to love Right and hate Wrong, if there be no fuch Thing as Right or Wrong. So that the only Idea we could frame of God, would be that of an Almighty defpotic So- vereign, who makes his own Will his only Rule, without any Re- gard to right or wrong, good or evil, jufl orunjuft. An Idea of the infinitely glorious and ever-bleiled God, evidently as contrary ta Truth, as can be devifed.
2 . T^hat in the Nature of Things there is no more Reafon to lot'e and ohey Gody than there is to hate cjjd difobey him : There being in the Nature of Things no right nor wrong. Juft as if God was not infi- ritely worthy of our higheft Efteem and moft perfeft Obedience .' And juft as if in the Nature of Things there was no Reafon why we Ihould love and obey Him, but merely becaufe he is the greateft and ftrongeft, and fays we muf ! Than which nothing can be more evidently abfurd. But if thefe Things be fo, then it will follow,
3. That there is no Reafon <^vhy he Jhould require his Creatures to lo^e and obey him, or forbid the contrary : or ivhy he fhould re^ward the one, cr punijh the other : There being in the Nature of Things no Right nor Wrong. And fo the Foundation of God's Law and Government is overturned, and all Religion torn up by the Roots. And nothing IS left but arbitrary Tyranny and fervile Subjedlion. All exprefly contrary to G^«. 18. 25. Heh. i. 9. Eph. 6. i. Rom. 12. i. Re<v. 4. II. Rom. 7. 12. Rom. 2. 4, 5,6. Re^. 19. I — 6. Ez.ck. 18.25.
Or again, if we fhould fuppofe (as others do) that there is no- thing right or ^':rong, antecedent to a Confideration of the general Good of the whole Syftem of intelligent created Beings ; And that
Right
and dijltnguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 1
engaged to fecnre all his Suhjeds here upon Earth in a quiet and peaceable Poflefrion every one ot their own pro- per Rights. And that by ftriclly enjoining every one to love his Neighbour as himfelf, and always do as he would be done by, and that upon Pain of eternal Damnation. (Gal. ^.10, Deut. 27. 26.) — And he appears as One go* verned by a Spirit of the moil perfe6lly difinterefted Im- partiality, in that he fpared not the Angels that finned,
who
Right and Wrong refult originally and entirely from the natural Ten- dency of Things to promote, or hinder the general Good of the whole : Then alfothefe manifeft Abfurdities will unavoidably follow,
1. That the moral? erf edions of God entirely confift in^ or refult from a ► Difpofition to lo've his Creatures fupremely, and feek their Hajpinefs as
his only End. Juft as if it became the mod High, to make a God of hjs Creatures ; and Himfelf their Servant! Exprefly contrary to Rom, II. 36. Numb. 14. Ren;. 4. II.
2. That God lo^^es Vertue and renvards it, merely becaufe it tends to make his Creatures happy : and hates Vice and pifnif^es it, merdy becaufe it tends to make his Creatures miferahle. Juft as if he had no Regard to the Rights of the God-head, nor cared how much Contempt was caft upon the glorious Majefty of Heaven ! Exprefiy contrary to Exod. 32. Numb. 14. 1 ^am. 2. 29, 30. 2 Sam, 12. 10, 14. Pfal, 51. 4.
3. That he requires us to love and obey him, merely becaufe it tends to make us happy, and forbids the contrary merely becaife it tends to make us miferable. Juft as if he had no Senfe of the infinite Glory and Ex- cellency of his Nature, and our infinite Obligations to love and obey him thence arifmg f And juft as if he thought it no Crime inus,to treat him with the greateft Contempt ! And juft as if nothing could raife his Refentment but merely the Injury done to our felves ! Exprefly contrary to iVi^z^^. 14. 2 Sam. 12. 10, 14. &c.
4. That <voe are under no Obligations to lo<ve God, but merely bcaufe it tends to make us happy ; and that it is noCrime to hate,and blafpheme God, but merely becaufe it tends to make us miferable. But if fo, then the Mifery which naturally refults from hating and blafpheming God, is exaftly equal to the Crime : And therefore no pofitive infli£led Pu- hifhment is deferved in this World, or in that which is to come. And therefore all the Punifhments, which God does infli£l upon Sin- ners in this World, and for ever in Hell, are intirely undeferved. And fo his Law and Government, inftead of being holy juft and good, are infinitely unreafonable, tyrannical and cruel. — To fay, that God punifhes fome of his finful Creatures, merely to keep others ini Awe, whenas they do not in the leaft deferve any Punilhment, is to fuppofe the great Govemour of the World to do Evil that Good
. may come, and yet at the fame Time to take the moft direfl Courfe to render himfelf odious throughout all his Dominions. It is impofli-
ble
32 True Religicft delt7ieated Dis. I.
who were fome of the nobleft of all his Creatures : and in that he is determined not to fpare impenitent Sinners at the Day of Judgment, tho* they cry ever fo earneftly for Mercy : But above all, in that he fpared not his only be- gotten Son, when he fliood in the Room of Smners. — If ever any poor guilty Wretch, round theWorld,feels tempt- ed to think that God is cruel for damning Sinners, and does not do as he would be done by, if he was in their Cafe, and they in his : Let him come away to the Crofs of Chrifl,and fee God's ov/n Son,his fecond Self, there nailed up, naked, bleeding,groaning,dying, in the greatefl poflible Contempt,Ignominy & Shame,betore ten Thoufand infult- ing, blood- thii-fty Spedatcrs. And let him know that this Jefus is GOD : A Perfon of infinitely greater Dignity ' andWorth, than all Creatures in Heaven & Earth put to- gether ; and infiniiely dear to the great Governour of the World, even juft as dear as his own Self, and upon whom he would not lay thefe Sufferings any fooner than upon himfelf : I fay, let him (land and look and gaze, and learn, that God does exactly as he would be done by, when he damns Sinners to all Eternity, were he in their
Cafe,
ble to account for the Puniihinents which God has inflided upon Sinners in this World, and defigns to inflift upon them for ever in Hell, without fuppofing that there is an infinite Evil in Sin, over and above what refults from its natural tendency to make us mi- ferable : and that therefore we are under infinite Obligations to love and obey God antecedent to any Confideration of it's tendency to make us happy.
From all which it is evident to Demonftration, that Right and Wrong, do neither refult from the mere Will and Law of God, nor from any tendency of Things to promote or hinder the Happinefs of God's Creatures. It remains therefore, that there is an intrinfic moral Fitnefs and Unfitnefs abfolutely in Things themfelves : As that we fhould love the infinitely glorious God, is in the Nature of Things infinitely fit and right ; and to hate and blafpheme him, is in the Nature of Things infinitely unfit and wrong : And that an- tecedent to any Confideration of Advantage or Difadvantage, Reward or Punifhment, or even of the Will or Law of God. And hence it is, that God infinitely loves Right & hates Wrong, and appears fo infinitely engaged to reward the one, and punifh the other. And hence hit Law and Government are holy, juft and good. They are glorious ; and in and by them the infinite Glory of the divine Nature Ihine* fo^:^,. Ifai, 6. 3. /6a/. 4. 8. Rgv. 19. 1—6.
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 3
Cafe, and they in his ( if I may fo fay, when fpeaking of the moft high God) fince that for his own Son, a Perfon of infinite Dignity, to fuffer all thefe Things, is equi- valent to the eternal Torments of finite Creatures. — Indeed, it was not becaufe he was not a Being of infinite Goodnefs, that he treated his own Son fo \ nor is it becaufe he has no Regard to his Creatures Happinefs, that he defigns to damn the finally Impenitent : but it is merely becaufe Sin is an infinite Evil, and according to flri(5t Juftice worthy of an infinite Punilhment : it is right and fit that he fhould do as he does, and therefore his Condu6t will for ever appear infinitely glorious and beauti^ ful in the Eyes of all holy Beings. Pfal. 96. 11, 12. 13. Let the Heavens rejoyce^ and let tJoe Earth he glad : Let the Sea rore and thefulnefs thereof. Let the Field he joyful^ and all that is therein : Then Jhall all the 'Trees of the Wood re- Joyce. Before the Lord j for he comeih^ for he cometh^ to judge the Earth : He flmll judge the World ivith Right ecuf- nefs^ and the People with his Truth, See alfo Rev. jq.
I,' 6.
(6.) His infinite Goodnefs^ is alfo difcovered in his Go* vernment of the World. For all the Laws of this great and good Governour are fuited in their own Nature to advance all his Subjeds to the higheil Perfcdion they are capable of. His Law teaches us to view all Things jufl as they be, and to have our Will & Affedlions entirely go- verned by the Truth, by the very Reafon and Nature of Things. And fo to be according to the Meafure of fuch finite Creatures, in our Wills and in the Temper of our Minds, after the Image of the blefifed and glorious God, which is the highefl Dignity and Perfedlion, we are pofTi- bly capable of. When God commands us to be holy as he is holy, he enjoins that as our Duty, which at the feme Time is our higheil poflible Priviledge. He bids us be like the Angels, and begin our Heaven upon Earth •, yea; even to participate of a Glory & Blefiiednefs, of the fi me Nature with that, which he himfelf enjoys. To behold his Glory, to be ravifhed w^ith his Beauty, to eileem him fuprcmcly,live to him entirely5& delight in him fuperlative- ly,and to become like him in ourViews of Things,& in the
D Temper
34 7*rm Religion delineated Dis. L
Temper of our Minds, is our highefl Dignity, Glory and
Excellency, and our highefl Bleffednefs. And befides,
his Laws are ilill further calculated to promote the Wel- fare of his Subjedh, in that they are fuited to eftablifh a univerfal Love, Peace & Harmony, throughout all his Dominions. Love thy Neighbour as thy felf^ is one of the fundamental Laws of his Kingdom. And were his Au- thority duly regarded, and his Laws obeyed. Love and Peace and Harmony, with all their happy and blefled Effeds, would reign thro all the Earth, as they do in Heaven : And Paradif^ would not be confined to Eden^ nor to Heaven, but be all over the World.
And the Wrath of this good Governour is only revealed againft all Ungodlinefs & U irightcoufnefs of Men, which are the Ruin and Debafement ot our Nature, and the De- ftrudion of our Peace and Happinefs. He threatens Damnation to his Subjedts, to keep them from deftroying themfelves, as well as to deter them from affronting his Majefty. All the dreadful Threatnings of his Law refult not only from his Holinefs and Juftice, but alfo even from the infinite Goodnefs of his Nature : in that hereby his Subjedls are mercifully fore-warned of the evil and bitter
Confequences of Sin, to the End they may avoid it.
He is a perfedt Enemy to Hatred & Revenge, to Cruelty and Injuftice. He can't bear to fee the Widow or Father- lefs opprefs'd, or the Poor defpifed, or the Miferable in- fulted, or any evil Thing done among his Subjeds. And therefore this good Governour has threatned Tribulation and Anguifh, Indignation & Wrath, againft every Soul that doth Evil ; and with all his Authority has command- ed his Subjeds thro all this World, upon Pain of eternal Damnation, to do as they would be done by.
And then flill further to engage his Subjedls to that, in which their greateft Gloiy and Bleffednefs confifts^ he in his Law promifes eternal Life to the obedient. Wherein the infinite Bountifulnefs of his Nature, as well as his un- Ipeakable Concern for his Creatures Welfare, is difcovered.
And if we furvey his Condud towards Mankind from the Beginning, we may in ten Thoufand Inilances, fee the infinite Goodnefs of his Nature difplay'd. If we confider
what
and dijiinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 5
what his Ways have been towards an apoftate World, how he has given his Son to be a Redeemer, and his Spirit to be a Sanctifier, how he has fent all his Servants the Pro*
Ehets, rifmg early and fending •, and that notwithflanding e knew before-hand what Treatment he fhould meet with from a guilty, uagrateful, God-hating World, how they would murder his Son, refift his Spirit, and kill hisMefien* gers : if we confider how patient and forbearing and long* fufFering he has been towards obftinate Sinners, how loth to give them over, fwearing by himfelf that he delights not in their Death, but rather that they turn and live 5 even while they have contemned and affronted him in the vileil_ Manner : and if we confider his dillinguiihing Favours to- wards his Eled, and the marvellous 1 hings which he has wrought for his Church and People *, I fay, if we confider thefe Things, and at the fame Time, look round the World and behold the innumerable common Favours ftrewed abroad among guilty, Hell-deferving Rebels, we muft be forced to own, that he is good to all, and that his tender Mercies are over all his Works. And the great Governour of the World evidently appears to be a Being of infinite Goodnefs.
His Goodnefs is as unbounded as his Power. There is noA6l of Kindnefs, which his Omnipotency is able to do, but that there is Goodnefs enough in his Heart, to prompt him to do it, if all Things confidered, it be belt to be done. His Propenfity to do Good is fully equal to his Abihty. All the Treafures and good Things of this lower World are his, and he gives all to the Children of Men, and we fhould have enjoyed all without the leaft Sor. ow intermixed, had not our Sin & Apoftacy made it necelTary for him to give fomc Teflimony of his Difpleafure : and yet even the Calamities of Life are well adapted in our prefent State to do us Good. — All theTreafures & Glories of Heaven are his, and he offers all to a guilty World, ajid a6tually gives all to fuch as are willing to accept of all, thro' the Mediator, in the Way prefcr.bed. — And what can he give more ? Can he give his only begotten Son to die for Sinners ? Behold he has a Heart to do it ! Can he give his holy Spirit to recover poor Siiiners to God ? Be-
D 2 hold
36 ^rue Religion delineated Dis. I.
hold he has a Heart to do it ! is as ready to give his holy Spirit to them that afk, as Parents be to give Bread to their Children ! And finally, can he in any Senfe give Himfelf to his Creatures ? Behold he is willing to do fo, to be their God and Father and Portion, and be all Things to them, and do all Things for them, if they will but accept of him thro Jefus Chrift ! So that, as I faid, his Propenfity to do Good is fully equal to his Ability. And there is no doubt, but that he does Ihew all thofe KindnefTes to his intelligent Creatures, which, all Things confidered, arc beft fhould be fhewn. And his Underftanding is infinite, "whereby he is able to determine exadlly what is beft in the whole, ny Mercy ^ 0 Lord, is in the Heavens ; and thy Faith- fulnefs reacheth unto the Clouds, How excelleyit is thy loving Kindnefs, 0 God I 'Therefore the Children of Men put their ^rujl under the Shadow of thy Wings, Pfal. '^6, 5, 7.
And fuch is the Goodnefs of his Nature, and fo much Goodnefs has he in his Heart, that he needs no Motive to excite him to do Good : ;". e. Nothing from without. Thus unmoved & unexcited by any Thing from without himfelf, of his own mereGoodnefs, he did, in the Days of Eternity, determine to do all that Good, which ever will by him be done, to all Eternity, when there was nothing exifting but himfelf, and fo nothing to move him but his own good Pleafure. — Yea, fuch is the Goodnefs of his Nature, that he not only needs no Motive from without to excite him to doGood •, but even then,when there are allThings to the contrary, even everyThing in his Creatures to render them ill-deferving, and to difcourage and hinder his Ihewing Mercy, and to provoke him to Wrath •, even then, when Difcouragements are infinitely great, and Provocations are innumerable -, yea, when there is nothing in his Creature but what is of the Nature of a Provocation : even, in fuch a Cafe, he can fliew Mercy •, yea, the greateft of Mercies. _ He can give his Son to die for fuch, and his holy Spirit to fandify them, and himfelf at laft to be their God &Father and everlafting Portion. Such is the incomparable Good- nefs of his Nature. PFho is a God like unto V^'^c ! &-c. Mc. 7. 18,19. — ^^^ ^^^" ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ Liberty, in fuch Cafes,' and may a<ft according to his own Difcretion, and have
Mercy
and diftinguljhedfrom all Counterfeits. 3 7
Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and have Compafllon on whom he will have Compafllon. And truly it is infi- nitely fit he Ihould. To ad fovereignly, in fuch Cafes, is infinitely becoming. — And indeed, it is fit he (hould dif- penfe all his Favours according to his fovereign Pkafure. It is fit he fhould do what he will with his own. He knows beft how to exercife his own Goodnefs, and it is perfedly fit that he fhould be at Liberty, and ad according to his own Difcretion, according to the Counfel of his ownWill. And becaufe it is infinitely fit, therefore he adually does fo, Eph, I . II. He pafled by the Angels that finned, and pitied finful Men ; he pafled by the refl: of the ^orld, and chofe the Seed of Abraham \ he fuff^ers Thoufands of Sinners to go on in their Sins and perifli, and in the mean Time, feizes here 'and there one, by his All-conquering Grace, and effedtually laves them : and all according to his fovereign Pleafure, becaufe it feems good in his Sight fo to do. And the Reafon why he a^ts fovereignly, is be- caufe in the Nature of Things it is fit he fliould. There- fore his Sovereignty is a holy, & fo a glorious Sovereignty. Hence when Mofes defired to fee his Glory ^ he dilcovered /^/V unto him, Exod. ^^. 12. And becaufe our Saviour faw how fit and becoming it was for God to ad as a So- vereign in bellowing his Favours, therefore he faw a Glory in his Sovereignty, and fo rejoyced in it. Mat. 11. 25, 26. And fovereign Grace is glorious Grace in the Eyes of every one, who views Things aright, and have right Frames of Heart. — Confidering that all God has is his own^ that he knows infinitely the beft what to do with what he has^ that there can be no Motive from without to excite him to adt, it is infinitely fit he fliould be left to himfelf, to ad according to his own Difcretion ; and it is infinite Impu- dence for a Worm of the Duft to intermeddle, or go about to dired the almighty and infinitely wife God. And it is infinite Wickednefs to diflike his Condud, and find Fault with his Difpenfations.
Indeed, if there was nodiing of greater Worth and Im- portance than the Happinefs of his Creatures & Subjedb, and fo nothmg that hp ought to have a greater Regard to and Concern for, then it is not to befuppofed that any of
D 3 ^^
3^ True Religion delineated Drs. L
his Creatures and Subje6ts would be finally miferable.—- The infinitely good Governour of the World has a great Regard to the Happinefs of his Subje<5ls, their Welfare is very dear to him, and their Mifery, in it felf, or for it*s own Sake, very undefireable in his Sight -, yet he has fo much greater Regard to fomething elfe, that in fomc In- fiances he actually does fufFer Sinners to go on in their Sins and perilh for ever ; yea, and he will inflid the eternal Torments of Hell upon them. — The Goodnefs of God is a holy, wife and rational Goodnefs, and not an unreafo- nable Fondnefs. He will never do a wrongThing, to ob- lige ihy of his Creatures : No, he had rather the whole World Ihould be damned ; yea, that even his own Son fhould die. Nor will he ever communicate Good to any one, when all Things confidered, it is not beft & wifeft. W^hen he firft defigned to create the World, and firft laid out his whole Scheme of Governm.ent, as it was eafy for him to have determined, that neither Angels nor Men fhould ever fin, and that Mifery fhould never be heard of in all his Dominions ; fo he could eafily have prevented both Sin & Mifery. Why didn't he ? Surely, not for want of Goodnefs in his Nature -, for that is infinite : Not from any Thing like Cruelty ; for there is no fuch Thing in him : Not tor want of a fuitable Regard to the Happi- nefs of his Creatures ; for that he always has : But it was, becaufe in his infinite Wifdom he did not think it beft in the whole. It was not becaufe he had not fufficient Power to preferve Angels & Men all holy and happy ; for it is certain he had. It was not becaufe preventing Grace would have been inconfiftent with their being free Agents ; for it would not. It was not becaufe he did not thoroughly confider & weigh the Thing with all its Confequences j for it is certain he did. But upon the whole, all Things con- fidered, he judg'd it beft, to permit the Angels to fin and Man to fall ; and fo let Mifery enter into his Dominions. It did not come to pafs accidentally & unawares, and con- trary to what God had ever thought of, or intended •, be- caufe it is certain, that he knew all Things from the Be- ginnmg : and it is certain, that in an Affair of fuch a Nat^ore and of fuch Confcquc^cc, he could not ftand by as
an
and dijiinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 39
an idle, unconcerned Spedlator, that cares not which Way Things go. There is no doubt therefore, but that all Things confidcred, he thought it beft to permit Things to come to pafs juft as they did. And if he thought it bell, it was beft ; for his Underftanding is infinite ; his Wif-
dom unerring, and fo he can never be miftaken. But
why was it beft ? What could he have in View, preferable to the Happincfs of his Creatures ? And if their Happi- nefs was to him above all Things moft dear j how could he bear the Thoughts of their ever (any of them) being miferable .? — Why, — it is certain he thought it beft, and therefore it is certain he had a View to fomeihing elfe be* fides merely the Happinefs of his Creatures, to fomcthing of greater Importance, and more worthy to bear a govern* ing Sway in his Mind, by which it became him to be above all Things influenced, in laying out & contriving, how Things ihould proceed and be difpofed in the World he defigned to create. — But what was that Thing, which was of greater Worth &: Importance, and fo more worthy to bear a governing Sway in his Mind, and to which he had the greateft Regard, making all other Things give Way to this ? What was his grand End in creating & governing the World ? Why, look — what End he is at laft like to obtain, when the whole Scheme is finiflied, and the Day of Judgment paft, & Heaven & Hell filled with all their proper Inhabitants. And what will be the final Refult ? What will he get by all ? — Why, in all he will exert and difplay every one of his Perfedions to the Life, and fo by all will exhibit a moft perfed and exadt Image of himfelf. And now, as he is infinitely glorious in being what he is, therefore that Scheme of Conduct which is perfedlly fuited, to exhibit the moft lively and exadt Image of him, muft be infinitely glorious too. And therefore this is the greateft and beft Thing he can aim at in all his Works : and this therefore ought to be his laft End, Now it is evident, that the Fall of the Angels and of Man, to- gether with all thofe Things which have and will come to pafs in Confequence thereof, and occafioned thereby, from the beginning of the World to the Day of Judgment, and throughout Eternity, will ferve to give a ^uch more lively
P 4 and
4© ^ruc Religion delineated Dis, L
and perfefb Rcprefentation of God, than could pofllbly have been exhibited, had there never been any Sin or Mifery. The Hclinefs and Jullice, the Goodnefs, Mercy and Grace of God lliirie much more bright. They have been v;ith an aflonifliing Luflre and Glory, difplayed in the Death of Chrift, and will be difplayed forever in Heaven and in Flell, as they could not have been, had not Sin and Mifery ever been permitted to enter into
God's World. Indeed, if in the Nature of Things, it
had been v/rong for God to have permitted any of his Creatures to fin, and then to punilli them for it \ if God had been bound in Duty, or in Goodnefs, to keep them from Sin, or to fave them when they had finned ; then the Cafe had been otherwife. But fince, in the Nature of Things, it was fit he fhould be at Liberty, and ad accord- ing to his own Difcretion ; and fince the End he had in View, was fo noble and God-like •, therefore his Condu6l in thisAffair was infinitely right, fit and becoming, and fo infinitely glorious. Certainly, God thought it was fo, or he would not have done as he did. And therefore if we view Things as God did, and have a Temper & Frame of Heart like unto his, we ihall think fo too, And, as I faid before, it is horrid Pride & Impudence for us to pre- tend to know better than the infinitely wife God, and infi- nite Wickednefs for us to pretend to find Fault with his Condud. Rom. 9. 19 — 23. * Thus, if he had aimed merely ^t the llappinefs of his Creatures, he could eafily
have
* Object. But furely it could not be confiHent with the diviceGood- nefs, from all Eternity, to .decree the everlafling Mifery of his Crea- tures.
Answ. God has in Fa£l permitted Sin to enter into the World, does in Fa6l penult many to die in their Sins, will in Fa6l punifh them for eVer ,♦ and all confiftent with the infinite Goodnefs of his Nature, as every one muft acknowledge. And fmce it is confiftent with his Goodnefs to do as he does,, it wa«? confident with his Goodnefs to dc- tenrjve with himfelf before-hand to do fo : — What God, /rom Eter^ iiity, decreed to do ; that God, in Tim, will do : therefore if all .(jod\? Condua be holy, jull, and good, fo alfo are all his Decrees, Urilef> we can fuppofe it to be nvrong, for the infinitely wife GoA, from all Eternity, to .determine upon a ConduSl in all Refpefls n^/f'/ : ^^Ti which nothing fan be more abfird.
and dtfitnguijhed from all Counterfeits. 4 1
have fo ordered, that Pharaoh Ihould willingly have let Ifrael go, and he could have led Ifrael in lefs than forty- Days to the pronnifed Land, and put them in an imme- diate PoiTefllon. But there was fomething elfc which he had a greater Regard to : And there! ore Pharaohh Heart is hardened, and all his Wonders are wrought ih the Land of E^ypt. The Tribes of Ifrael march to the Borders of the Red-Sea^ the Sea parts, Ifrael goes thro', but the Egypti- ans are drowned. And now Ifrael is tempted & tried, and they fin and rebel, and fo are doomed to wander forty Years in the Wilderncfs, and to have their Carcafes fall there. And why was all this ? Why — becaufe his De- fign was to difplay all his Perfedions, and fill the whole Earth with his Glory. Exod.^.iG. Numb. i4.,2i. And now, becaufe it is the moft noble Thing that God can have in View, to a6t forth all his Perfediions to the Life, and fo exhibit the m.oft exa6l Reprefentation of himfelf in his Works ; therefore it is infinitely fit he fhouid make this his lail End, and all other Things fubfervient -, and his Condudt in fo doing is infinitely beautiful & glorigus. — ^ Thus we fee how the Goodnefs of God is difplayed in his Governnient of the World ; & fee that it is an unbounded, rich, free Goodnefs •, and that all the Exercifes of it are fovereign, and under the Diredion of his infinite Wifdom : fo that God is infinitely glorious on the Account of this Perfedlon of his Nature. Exod. 33. 19. ^ 34- 5» ^j 7*
Rom. 9. Eph. I. I 12.
(7.) His unchangeable 'Truth and Faithfulnefs^ is alfo dif- covered in his Government of the World •, and that in the Fulfilment of his Promifes, and the Execution of his Threatnings. Did he promife to be Abrahamh God ? So he was. Did he promife to give the Land of Canaan to his Seed for an Inheritance ? So he did. Did he promife to fend his Son into the World, and to fet him up a King- dom upon Earth ? Even fo he has done. And he is in like Manner true and faithful to all his Promifes, which he has made to his People. — And did he threaten to drown the old World, to make Ifrael wander forty Years in the Wildernefs, to deliver them into the Hands of their Ene- mies, at what Time foever they fhouid forfake him, and
go
43 True Religion delineated Dis, I.
go and ferve other Gods, and finally to fend them Cap- tives into Babylon for feventy Years ? Even fo he has done. God's Word may always be depended upon : for what he defigns, that he fays •, and what he fays, that he will do. And this \s another of the glorious Perfedions of his Nature.
Thus all the Perfections of God are difcovered in his Government of the World. By his ConduB we may fee
what he /V, and learn the very Temper of his Heart.
And now, I might go thro' his other Works, His redeem- ing, juftifying, fandifying Sinners, and bringing them to eternal Glory at laft, and fhew how his glorious Perfefti- ons fhine forth in them. But I have already hinted at fome of thefe Things, and fhall have Occafion afterwards to view the divine Perfections fhining forth in thefe Works of God, when I come to confider the Nature of the Gofpel. Suf- ficient has been faid to anfwer my prefent Purpofe ; and therefore forBrevity's Sake, I will proceed no further here. — Thus then we fee, how the Perfedions of God are mani- fcfted in his Works,
Secondly. T^he fame Reprefentation is made of God in his Word. For thefe great Works of God, his creating, preferving & governing the World, his redeeming, fandi- fying and faving of Sinners, are the Subjed-Matter of all the Bible. God in his Works ads out his Perfedions, and in his Word lays thp whole before our Eyes in Wri- ting. Therein he has told us what he has done, and what he intends to do j and fo has delineated his glorious Per- fedions in the plaineft Manner. — In his Word^ God has revealed himfelf to the Children of Men, has manifefted and Ihewn what he is. But how ? Why, by declaring and holding forth his Works, as that, in which he has exhi- bited the Image of himfelf. Thus, the Scriptures begin with an Account of God's creating the World, and goes on throughout all the old Teftament informing, how he preferves & governs it. And then in the New-Teftament we are informed more particularly how he rcdeems,juftifies, fendifies,and faves Sinners. And now, as theAdions of a Man difcover the Temper & Difpofition of his Heart, and Ihew what he is : fo the Works of God from firft to
laft,
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 43
laft, all taken together, hold forth an exadl Reprefenta- tion of himfelf. If we will begin with God's creating the World, and furvey all his Condud in the Light of Scrip- ture •, his Condud towards Man before the Fail, and alter the Fall, his Condud towards Abel and Cain^ Enoch and Noah^ and all the oldWorld, his Condudl towards Lot and Sodomy towards Abraham^ Ifaac and Jacobs and Jofeph^ to- wards the Children of Ifrael^ in Egypt^ at the Red-Sea^ in the iVildernefsy at Sinaiy at Majfahy at Taberah, &:c. and in the Times of Jojhmy of their Judges, of their Kings,&c. And then come into the New Teftament, and furvey his Condud with Relation to the Redemption & Salvation of Sinners, and then look forward to the great Judgment- Day, and fee his whole Scheme finilhed, fee the Refult, the Conclufion and End of all ; look up to Heaven and take a View of that World, and look down to Hell and furvey the State of Things there •, from the whole we may fee WHAT God is : for in the whole, God exerts his Nature, and by the whole God defigns to exhibit an ex- ad Reprefentation of Himfelf. And then are our Appre- henfions of God right and according to 'Tnithy when wc take in that very Reprefentation which he has made of himfelf. And now to account him infinitely glorious in being what he is, and to love him with all our //i?<^r/j,becaufe he is what he is,is the veryThing which the Law of God requires. And indeed, fo plain is that Reprefentation which God has made of himfelf by his Works and in his Word ; and he is really fo infinitely glorious in being what he is, that were not Mankind, thro their exceeding great Depravity, intircly void of a right ^afie and Relifh for true Beauty^ they could not but be even ravifhed with the divineBeing. They would naturally feel as they do in Heaven, and na- turally fpeak their Language, Holy^ holy^ holy^ is the Lord 0f Hofis V the whole Earth is full of his Glory ! ( IfaL 6. 3.) But fuch is the vile Temper of finful apoftate Crea- tures, that they are not only blind to the moral Excellency of the divine Nature, but are even in a Hated, habitual Contrariety to God in the Frame of their Hearts. (Rom. 8. 7.) And hence, the Manifeftation which God has made of Himfelf,canfindnoPlac€ in theirHearts.O*.8.37.)They
can-
True Religion delineated Dis. I.
cannot attend to Things of fuch a Nature {ver. 43.) becaufe fo difagreable to their Tafte. For {yer. 47 J He that is of God^ heareth God's Words : ye therefore hear them not^ becaufe ye are not of God. 'Tis hard, to bring unregenerate Men fo much as to have right Notions of what God is, becaufe he is a Being in his Nature fo contrary & difagreable to them. They do not like to retain God in their Knowledge, {Rom, I. 28.) Men had rather that God was another Kind of a Being, different from what he really is, and more like themfelves, one that would fuit their Temper, and ferve their Intereft ♦, and therefore they frame fuch a one in their own Fancy, and then fall down and worfhip the falfe Image which they have fet up. From hence it is, that all thofe falfe Notions of God have taken their Rife, which have always filled the World. — But were Men brought to have right Notions of what God is, and to take in that very Reprefentation, which he has made of Himfelf, by his Works and in his Word ; yet they would be fo far from accounting him infinitely glorious in being what he is, that they would fee no Form or Comelinefs in him wherefore they fhould deftre him : But would feel the like malignant Spirit towards him, as the Jews did to- wards their Prophets, and towards Chrift and hisApoftles ; only in a worfe Degree. The fame Temper which caufed the Exercife of fuch Enmity towards their Prophets, and towards Chrift and hisApoftles, would have caufed as great or greater towards God himfelf, had they but had right Notions of him. And the clearer Apprehenfion- a Sinner has of God, the more will his Enmity exert itfelf ; becaufe a finful Nature and a holy Nature are diametri- cally oppofite to each other. And therefore the cleareft external Revelation of God cannot bring Sinners to love him. All the World will fee juft what a Kind of a Being he is at the Day of Judgment, and that in a very plain and clear manner : But yet they whofe Nature it is to hate him for being what he is, will hate him ftill ; yea, hate him more than ever. And therefore, befides the external Revelation which God has made of himfelf by his Works and in his Word, there is an abfolute Neceflity that he Ihould internally reveal hiipfelf in his Glory to the Heart
of
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 45
of a Sinner, in order to beget divine Love there. Which brings me to add.
Thirdly, God reveals his infinite Glory^ in being what he is, in the Hearts of Sinners^ by his holy Spirit. Mat, ii. 25, — 27. • By his Works and in his Word he has re- vealed what he is, and that in a Manner fufficiently plain, even fo plainly, that there is no Need at all of any further objedtive Revelation : and he is really infinitely glorious in being what he is. Now therefore if we would rightly at- tend to that Revelation which God has made of Himfelf, we could not but have right Apprehenfions of Him ; and if we had a good Tafte for true Beauty, we could not but be ravilhed with his Glory : but we are naturally difinclin- ed to right Apprehenfions of God, and are entirely deflitute of a trueTafte foi^oral Beauty. And hence we may learn what Kind of inward Illumination we ftand in Need of
from the Spirit of God. We do not need the holy
Spirit to reveal any new 'Truths concerning God, not already revealed •, for the external Revelation which he has made
of himfelf, is fufficiently full We do not need to have
the holy Spirit immediately reveal all thefe Truths con- cerning God over again to us, by Way of objective Revela- tion, or immediate Infpiration •, becaufe the external Reve- lation already made \% fufficiently plain. — We only need (i.) to be eiFedually awakened,to attend to thofe Manifeftations which he has made of himfelf in his Works and Word, that we may fee what he is: And (2.) to have 2ifpiritual Tafle imparted to us, by the immediate Influence of the Holy Ghoft, that we may have a Senfe of his infinite Glory in being ftich : For thefe two will lay an eff'edual Foundation in our Hearts for that Love, which the Law requires. — By the common Influences of the Spirit, we may be awakened to a realizing Sight and Senfe of what God is -, and by the fpecial and fandlifying Influences of the Spirit, we may re- ceive a Senfe of his infinite Glory in being fuch. And alfo the Senfe of his Glory will naturally caufe us to fee more clearly what God is : for a Senfe of the moral Excellency of the divine Nature fixes our Thoughts on God, and the more ourThoughts are fixed,the more difl:in6tly we fee what ha is. And while we fee him to be what he is, and fee his
infinite
46 True Religion d.eli?ieated Dis L
infiniteGlory in being fuch,hereby a divine Love is naturally enkindled in our Hearts. And thus,i7<r that commanded the Light tojhine out cf Darknefs^JJjines in cvs Hearts^ a72d gives us the Light of the Knowledge cf the Glory of God : And fo we all with open Face, behold as in a Glafs, the Glory of the Lord^ and are changed into the fame Image, ( 2. Cor, 3. 18. and 4. 6.) — A Sight of the moral Excellency ct the divine Nature makes God appear infiniiely glorious in every Re- fpedl. Thofe Things in God, which before appeared ex- ceeding dreadful, now appear unfpeakably glorious. His Sovereignty appears glorious, becaufe now we fee he is fit to be a Sovereign, and that it is fit and right he ihould do what he will with his own. His Juftice appears glorious, becaufe now we fee the infinite Evil of Sin. And a Con- fideration of his infinite Underftanding and almighty Pow- er, enhances his Glory. And while ^Pview what he is, and fee his Greatnefs and Glory, and confider his original, entire, underived Right to all Things, we begin to fee why he alTumes the Charader of moil high God, fupreme Loi^, and fovereign Governour of the whole World -, and vJ-e refign the Throne to him, and take our Places, and become his wiUingSubjeds, and our Hearts are framed to love him and fear him and truft in him thro' Jefus Chrift, and we give up our felves to him, to walk in all his Ways & keep all his Commands, feeking his Glory. And thus a Sight and Senfe of the infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory and Ex- cellency of the moil high God, lays the firft Foundation for a divineLove. God's being what he is, is the primary Reafon that he requires us to love him with all our Hearts \ and it is the firft Motive of a genuine Love.
I might now pafs on to confider the additional Obligations we are under to love God ; but that it may be profitable to ftop a while, and a little confider the Nature and Pro- perties of this firfi and great eft and moft fundamental Obliga^ tion •, and take a View of feme important Confequences necef- farily following therefrom. And here,
I. This Obligation is binding antecedently to any Confx- deration of Advantage or Bifadvantage, of Rewards or Pu- nifhments -, and even prior to any Confideration of the pfi- tivc Will fnd Law cf God himfelf
2. It
and dijlingutjhed from aU£lounterfeits. 47
2. It is infinitely binding. 5. It is eternally binding.
4. It is unchangeably binding,
5. It is that from which all other Obligations originaV^ derive their binding Nature.
I . This Obligation, which we are under to love God with all our Hearts^ refulting from the infinite Excellency of the divine Nature, is binding antecedently to any Conjideration of Advantage or Difadvantage^ of Rewards or Punijhments^ or even of the pojitive Will and haw of God himfelf — To love God with all our Hearts naturally tends to make us hap* py ; and the contrary, to make us miferable ; and there are glorious Rewards promifed on the oneHand, & dreadful Punilhments threatned on the other •, andGod,asGovernour of the World, has with all his Authority by his Law ex- prefly required uijjf love him with all our Hearts, and for- bidden the contrary : and all thefeThings are binding : buc yet the infinite Excellency of the divine Nature lays us un- der Bonds prior to any Confideration of thefe Things. So that if our Intereft did not at all lie at Stake, and if there had never been any exprefs Law in the Cafe, yet it would be right, and our indilpenfable Duty, to love God with all our Hearts. His being infinitely lovely inHimfelf, makes it our Duty to love Him. For he is in himfelf worthy of our higheft Efleem •, he deferves it ; it is in the Nature of Things his Due : and that antecedent to any felfifh Confi- deration, or any exprefs Law in the Cafe. To fuppofe the contrary, is to deny the infinite Amiablenefs of the divine Nature, and to take away the very Foundation of the Law it felf, and the very Reafon of allRewards and Punilhments. For if our fupreme Love is not due to God, then he is not infinitely lovely ; and if he does not deferve to be loved with all our Hearts, why does he require it ^, And if in the Nature of Things it is not right and fit that we Ihould love Him, and the contrary unfit and wrong, what Grounds are there for Rewards or Punifliments P So that it is evident, the infinite Excellency of the divine Nature binds us, and makes it our Duty, antecedent to any Confideration of Ad- vantage or Difadvantage, Rewards or Punilhments, or even of the pofitive Will and Law of God^, to love God with all
our
48 Tf^tie Religion deli7teated Dis. I.
our Hearts j and therefore our Love mud primarily take its Rife from a Senfe of this infinite Excellency of the divine Nature,as has been before obferved •, and that feemingLove, which arifes meerly from fclfifh Confiderations, from the" Fear of Punifhment or Hope of Reward, or becaufe the Law requires it, and fo 'tis a Duty and muft be done, is not genuine : But is a feliifh," a mercenary, and a forced Thing. How evidently therefore do thofe difcover their Hypqcrify, who are wont to talk after the following Man- ner ? " If I am eleded, I fhall be faved, let me do what •* I will; and if I am not eledied, I fhall be damned, let " me do vv^hat I can : And therefore it is no Matter how *' I live." And again after this Sort " If I knew certain- " ly that God had made no Promifes to the Duties of the " Unregenerate, as fome pretend, I \muld never do any *' more in Religion." Surely they hacSSs good fay, that they have no Regard at all to the mfinite Excellency of the divine Nature, but are intirely influenced by felfifh and mercenary Motives in all they do. They don't feem to underftand that they are under infinite Obligations to love God with all their Hearts and obey him in every Thing, refulting from God's being what he is, and that antecedent to all felfiihConfiderations.Such know not God. {iJoh.'^.G) 2. This Obligation refulting from the intrinfick Excel- lency and Amiablenefs of the divine Nature, is infiyiitely binding : Becaufe this Excellency and Amiablenefs is in it felf infinite. Our Obligation arifes from his Defcrt ; but he infinitely deferves our Love, becaufe he is infinitely lovely. When any Perfon is lovely and honourable, Rea- fon teaches us, that we ought to love and honour Him ; and that it is wrong, to diflike and defpife Him. And the more lovely and honourable, the greater is our Obligation to love and honour him ; and the more aggravatcdly vile is it, to treat him with Contempt. Since therefore God is a Being of infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory and Excel- lency, hence we are under an infinite Obligation to love him with all our Hearts -, and it is infinitely wrong, not to do fo. Since he is infinitely worthy to be honoured and obe^'^ed by us,therefore we are under an infiniteObligationto honour &: obey Him : And that with all our Heart & Soul, and Mind and Strength. Hence, [1 -l
and dijliiigtiipjedfr^om all Cotmterfeits. 49
[ I ] PerfeH: Love and perfc^ Ohcdknce deferve no Thanks at his Hands. If we periedly love him, even with ail our Hearts •, and give up our fc4ves entirely and for ever to him, to do his Will and feek his Glory ; and fo cordi- ally delight in him, as to take up our full and ever- lafting Contentment in him -, yet in all this, we do but our Duty : and we do no more than what we are under an infinite Obligation to do. And therefore we deferve no 1 hanks. {Luk. 1 7. 9,10.) Yea, we do nothing but that in which confills our higheft Perfeclicn, Glory & Blefled- nefs ; and therefore inftead of deferving Thanks, we ought to account it an exceeding great Priviledge, that we may thus love the Lord, live to him, and live upon him. {PfaL .19. 10.)
When therefo^^ternal Life was promifed in the firft Covenant, as thft/lh^ard of perfed Obedience, it was not under the Notion of any Thing being merited-, nor did it ever enter into the Hearts of the Angels in Heaven to imagine, they merited any Thing by all their Love and Service : for from their vtrj Hearts they all join to fay. Worthy art thoti^ O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Praifefor ever. And they deferve no Thanks for their doing fo j for they but own the very Truth.
"When therefore finful Men, poor Hell-deferving Crea- tures, think it much, that they Ihould love and ferve God fo well, and take fo great Pains in Religion ; and are rea- dy to think, that God and Man ought highly to value them for their fo doing, and are always telling God and Man hov/ MIGHTY Good they are; as he, Luk. 18.11,12. God, I thank thee, I ar^^ not as other Men are. Extortioners, Un- jiifi. Adulterers, or even as this Publican ; — No, far from this, I am one of the beil Men in all the World, — Ifafi twice in the Week, I give Tythes of all that I pojfefs - — This appeared to him fuch a mighty Thing,that he thought it quite worth while to tellGodhimfelf ofit: — Now,Ifay,\vhen this is Men's Temper, it is a Sign they neither know God, nor love him : for if they did, they could not fet fo high a Price upon their Duties, fince he is fo infinitely deferv- ing.— The plain Truth is, fuch have intolerable mean
E ' Thoughts
50 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Thoughts of God, and intolerable high Thoughts of them- felves •, they are brim-full of fpirituai Pride & Self-Righ- teoufnefs : and fuch are exceeding hateful in the Sight of God. They implicitly lliy, that God is not infinitely glo- rious, and infinitely worthy of all Love and Honour ; he does not deferve it, it is not his Due •, but rather he is beholden to his Creatures for it, and ought to render them many Thanks for their Love & Service. The Language of theirHearts is, God hasfo little Lovelinefs^ that it is much to love him. — Like a bad Mother-in-Law, who thinks it nothing to do all Things for her own Children, becaufe fhe loves them ; but grudges every Step flie takes for the reil,and thinks every little a great deal, becaufe fhe cares not for them : So fuch Men think it nothing to rife early and fit up late, to get the World, to|£t Riches, Honour and rieafure ; for they love themfeUs : but think it MUCH to take the tenth Part of the Pains in Religion ; becaufe they don't love God. Their whole Frame of Mind cafts infinite Contempt upon the glorious Majefty of Heaven, to whom all Honour is infinitely due, and in whofe Service all the Hofts of Heaven account themfelves perfedly blelfed : for they, vile Wretches ! feel as if they deferved to be paid for all.
True, there are glorious Rewards promifed in the Law and in the Gofpel. But why ? and upon whatGrounds ^ — A Man may be faid to be rewarded in three different Senfes. — (i.) PVhen he receives what he ftri^ly deferves^ as an Hireling receives his Wages at Night. But in this Senfe the Angels in Heaven are not capable of a Reward ; for in ftrid: Juflice they deferve nothing. {Ltik. ly. 9,10. Rom. II. ^c,.) — They are no Hirelings, for God has a natural original,underived, entire Right to them ; as much as he has to the Sun, Moon and Stars : and thefe therefore deferve to be paid for their fhining, as much as the Angels do for their working. — Bcfides, if the Angels do love God, it is no more than he infinitely deferves. — And far- ther, the Services of Angels do not profit God, and fo lay him under no Obligations ; any more than the Birds profit the rifing Sun by their Morning-Songs,and fo lay the Sun under Obligations to fhine all Day. Job 22, 2,3, Can
and diJli7igidpoedfrom all Counterfeits. 5 1
a Man he 'profitable unto Gcd^ as he that i^ wife may he pro- fitable unto himfelf? Is it any Pleafure to the Almighty^ that thou art Righteous ? or is it Gain to him^ that thou makefi thy Ways perfect ? And yet even in this grofs Senfe, Self- righteous Perfons feel at Heart,as if they defcrved a Reward for their good Duties •, tho' perhaps they are not v/illingto own it. Hence they are fo apt to think it would be very hard, unjufl and cruel, if God fhould damn them for their paft Sins, notwithilaiiding all their good Duties. Ifai. s^.'^. Wherefore hwje we fafted^ fay they^ and thou feefi not ? — But, (2.) A Man may be faid to be rev/arded, when, al- tho' in Itrict Juilice he deferves nothing, yet he receives great Favours at the Hands of God in Tejiimony of the divine Approbation of his P erf on and Services. And thus the An- gels in Heaven, 4|^' they deferve nothing, yet have eter- nal Lite beflowed upon them, as a Reward to their perfedl Obedience, in Teilimony of the divineApprobadon. God rewards them, not becaufe they do him any Good, nor be- caufe they defence any Thing at his Hands ; but becaufe he infinitely loves Right eoufnefs^ and to appear as an infi- nite Friend to this^ in his publick Conduct, as moral Go- vernour of the World. The mofb that can be faid of the holieft Angel in Heaven, is, that he is fit to be approved in the Sight of God, becaufe he is perfe6lly fuch as God requires him to be. And now, becaufe God loves to put Honour upon Vertue, and to exercife the infinite Bounti- fulnefs of his Nature, therefore he gives them the Reward of eternal Life. And thus God promifed us eternal Life, upon Condition of perfed Obedience,in the firft Covenant : as if God had faid, " If you will love me with all your " Heart, and obey me in every Thing, as you are bound " in Duty to do ^ then, altho* you will deferve nothing, " yet as becomes a holy and good God, a kind & bounti- " ful Governour, I will make you everlallingly bleffcd in " the Enjoyment of myfelf ; and that inTeftimony of my " Approbation of your perfed and fleadyFidelity." And fo by Covenant and Promife this Reward would have been duey had the Condition been performed. Hence that in Rom. 4. 4. Now to him that worketh^ is the Reward not reckoned of Gr^ce^ but of DEBT. And now here Self-
E 2 righ-
52 T7'ue Religion delineated Dis. I.
righteous Perfons are wont to come in with their Works, and infift upon their Right,and plead the Reafon cf Things, as well as the Promife. " If we do (lay they) as well as *' we can, which is all that God does or can in Juftice re- " quire of us, furely he will accept of us : it would be " cruel, to call us off : his Goodnefs and Faithfulnefs are " engaged for us." Juft as if they had now made full Amends for all their pail Sins by their Repentance and Re- formation \ and grown to be as good as Angels, by taking fome little Pains in Religion ! For the beft Angel in Hea- ven does not pretend to any other Title to BlefTednefs than this •, namely, that he has done as well as he can, and that this is all that God has required, and altho' he is an unpro- fitable Servant, yet he depends upon thePromife,theGood-
nefs and Faithfulnefs of his Bountiful QUator. Indeed,
Self-righteous Perfons m2iy pretend to exped dllfor Chrift's Sake -, and fay, that what they do, only entitles them to an Intereft in him : But it is all mere Pretence \ for flill they think, that God is bound to give them an Intereft in Chrift and eternal Life, if they do as well as they can •, and would think God dealt very hardly with them, if he did not. So that their real Dependance, at Bottom, is upon their own Goodnefs,theirownWorthorWorthinefs,to make Amends for pad Sins, and recommend them to God, and entitle them to all Things j the infinite Abfurdity of which will be evident prefently. Again, ( 3. ) A Man may be faid to be re- warded, when he neither deferves any Thing, nor is it fit- ting that his Perfon and Condud, confidered merely as they be in thcmfelves^ fhould be approved -, but ought to be con- demned, according toReafon,and according to God's righ- teous Law, they being fo finfully defedlive j neverthelefs fuch a Man may be faid to be rewarded, when merely oh the Account of his Interefl in the Righteoufnefs and JVorthinefs of Christ, his Perfon and Performances are accepted, and peculiar Favours fhewn him. And in this Way are Be- lievers accepted, according to the Covenant of Grace, arid entitled to the Reward of eternal. Life. {Fhil. 3. 8, 9. Eph-, 1.6. I P^^.2.5. ) Now thofe who look for a Reward in /to Way, will be fo far from thinking it MUCFI, which they have donf^for God, that they will forever fet alLdo^vrt for
'- ' • Nothing,
and difiingiiljhed from all Cowtterfetts. 53
Nothing Scworfe than Nothing, * their beft Duties being fo Hnfully defective ; and judge the mfelves worthy of Hell eve- ry Day, and every Moment : And all theirDependancewill be on Chrift's Worthinefs, and the free Grace of God thro* Him. {Luk, 18. 13. Rom, 3. 24. ) And all that is faid in the New-Teftament about God's rewarding the Believers good Works, being viewed in this Light, gives not the lead Countenance to a Self-righteous Spirit, but militates
directly againft it. And indeed, if we were as perfed
as the Angels in Heaven, it appears from v/hat has been faid, that we Ihould deferve no Thanks. It is impudent therefore, and wicked, it is contemptuous, and in a Sort blafphemous, and moft God-provoking, for a proud con- ceited Pharifee^ to feel as he does in his Self-righteous Frames. And Ged might expoflulate with fuch a one in this Manner •, " What, is there fo little Loveiinefs in me ! " And is it fo great, fo hard, fo felt-denying, to love me, ** that you think it fuch a mighty Thing ! and exped: now, '' that all pafl Sins fliall be forgiven, and my Favour fe- '' cured, for this good Frame ! Yea, and that I fhall give " you Heaven into the Bargain ! What, are your Obliga- " tions to me fo fmall, that I mufl be fo much beholden to " you for your Love ! Whiat, did you never hear that I " was the LORD! And that it was I that ftretched abroad " the Heavens ! And that you are my Clay, whom I form- ■" ed and fafhioned for my Self ! Be gone, thou impudent
E 3 '' Wretch
* Wcrfe than nothing. Note. I do not mean, that an imperfeft and
very defedliveConformity to the Law is worfe and more odious inGod's Sight, than no Conformity at all : but only, that there is more Odicuf- nefs than Amiablenefs in fuch defeftiye Services. And that there fore, we are, in the Sight of God, on their Account, more proper Objefts of Hatred and Punifhment, than of Love and Reward ; if confidered merely as in our felves, without any Refpe<5tto our Relation to Chrift . So that in Point of recommending our felves to God, we do, by our bed I)uties,thus confidered,rather difcommend curfelves in hisSight. And in thisSenfe they are Worfe thanNothwg : They are even fo far from paying pur conftant Dues, that, in the Sight of God, they conllantly run us into Debt. We are infinitely to blame in our beft Frames and beft Duties, and have not any Thing in them, which tends, in God's Sight, in the kaft Degree, tp Counterbalance our Blame. — But if any are defirous to fee this Poiijt fully explained and proved, and all Objedlions ar^- fwered, I refer them to m. Edivardis excelkot Difcourfe on Jujlijici tion hy Faith akne.
54 True Religion delineated Dis I.
" Wretch, to Hell, thy proper Place : thou art a Defpifer ^' of my glorious Majefty, and your Frame of Spirit favours ** of Blafphemy. Know it, I am not fo mean, as you ima- " gine,nor at all beholden to you for yourLove.' 'And this is one Reafon that the Sacrifice of the Wicked is fuch Z-xiAbo- mination to the Lord •, not only when they pray with a View to recommend themfelves to their Fellow- Men •, but alfo when in doing their bell, they only delign to ingratiate themfelves with God. Prov. 21. 27. ^e Sacrifice of the Wicked isAbormnation[tvtn his very ht\x)How much more ivhen he hringeth it with a wicked Mind F The infinite Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency of God, and the infinite Obligation thence refulting which w^e are under to love him with all our Hearts and obey him in every Thing, renders a Self-righ- teous Spirit, unfpcakably odious and ii^finitely provoking in the Eyes of a holy God. But this will appear Hill plainer under the next particular. To proceed therefore,
[2.J If we are under an infinite Obligation to love God fupremely, live to him ultimately, and take everlaftingDe- light in him, becaufe of his infinite Glory and Excellency, then the leqft Difpcfition to difefleem him, to be indifferent about his Interefl and Honour, or to difreliih Communion with him •, or the leaft Bifpcfiiicn to love cur feives more thdn God, and be more concerned about our Intereil and Honour, than about his, and to be pleafed and delighted in the Things of the World, more than in him, muft ccnfe- quently htinfinitely fi^fuU * as is felt-evident.
When therefore the great Governour of the World threat- ens eternal Damnation for the leaft Sin, ( as in GaL 3.10.) he does the Thing that is perfectly Right : for an infinite Evil deferves an infinite Punilhment.
Hence alfo, it is no Wonder that the holieft Saint on Earth mourns fo bitterly, andloaths and abhors himfelffo
exceedingly,
* The leaft Sin may be an infinite Evil, becaufe rf the infinite Obligati- on v/c are under to do otherwifc ; and yet all Sins not be equally hei- nous : For there is as great a Difference among Infinites, as among Finites ; I mean, among Things that are infinite only in one Refpe6l. For Inftance, to be for ever in Hell is an infinite Evil, in Refpeft of the Puration ; bat yet the Damned arc not all equally miserable. Some may be an hundred Times as miferable as others, in Degree \ altho* the .Mifery of all is equal in Point of Duraj^ion.
and dijlinguipjed from all Counterfeits. 5 5
exceedingly, for the remaining Corruptions of his Heart. For if the leaft Difpofition to depart from God and difrelifh : Communion with him, and to be carelefs about his Honour- and Intereft, is infinitely finful •, then the beflMen that ever lived, have infinite Reafon alv/ays to lie as in the Duft, and have their Hearts broken. Although it be fo with them, that all which the World calls good and greats appears as Drofs to them •, and it is nothing to them, to part with Friends and Eflate, Honour and Eafe, and all, for Chrift ; and although they have a6lually fuiFered the Lofs of all Things, and do count them but Dung, not worth mourning about, or repining after : Yet notwithllanding all thefe At- tainments, attended with the fulled AfTurance of eternal Glory in the World to come, they have infinite Reafon to do as they do, to diflike themfelves,to hate themfelves,and lie down in the Duft all in Tears •, becaufe ftill there is fuch a remaining Difpofition in their Hearts to difefteem the Lord of Glory, to negle6l hislntereft, and depart from him; and becaufe they are fo far from being what they ought to be, notwithftanding the Obligations lying upon them are
infinite. Oh, this is infinitely vile and abominable, and
they have Reafon indeed therefore always to loath & abhor themfelves, and repent in Duft and Afhes : Yea, they are infinitely to blame tor not being more humble & penitent. — A Sight and Senfe of thefe Things made Job lie down in the Duft, and mourn fo bitterly tor his Impatience under his paft Afflidions, tho' he had been the moft patient Man in the World. ( Job 42. 5, 6. ) This made the Pfalmift call himfelf 2iBeaft. {Pfal. 73, 22.) And hence Paul called himfelf the chief of Sinners -, and cried out, I am carnal^ fold under Sin \ O wretched Man that I am ! And hated to commend himfelf when the Corinthians drove himito it, and feemed to Blufh at every Sentence, and in a Sort recalled
his Words, / am not a whit behind the very chief of the
Apoftles^ yet I am nothing ; I laboured more abundantly thayi they all, yet not /. Such a Sight of Things kills a Self- righteous Spirit at Root, in the moft exalted Saint : for he has nothing (all Things confidered ) to make a Righteouf- nefs of, but in ftridl Juftice merits eternal Damnaticji every Hour, and does nothing to make the leaft Amend...
E 4 For.
56 True Religion delmeated Dis. L
For, if perfed Obedience merits no thanks, as was be- fore obferved \ and it the leaft Sin is an infinite Evil, and deferves an infinitePuniihment, as we have now leen •, then a whole Eternity of perfedlObedience would do jufi: nothing towards making the leaft Amends for the fmalleft Sin ; much lefs will the beftServices of the higheft Saint onEarth. And confequently when Faiil came to die, he deferved to be damned ( confidered merely as mhhnfclf) as much as when he was a bloody x'erfecutor,breathing outThreatnings and Slaughter, yea, and a great deal miore too. For ail his Diligence and Zeal in the Service of Chrift, did jail nothing towards m.aking the leaft Amends for what was paft •, and his daily Short-comings and fmful Defeds run him daily infinitely more & miore into Debt ^ which he did nothing to Counterbalance. And henceP^w/ accounts him- felf to be Nothings (2 Cor. 12. 11.) as well he mjght ; and all his Attainments to be in aSenfe not worth remembring, {Phil. 3. 13. ) and looks upon himfelf the chief of Si?iners^ ( I 'Tim. I. 15. j and lefs than the leaft of till Saints ( Eph. 3, 8.) and durft venture his Soul upon nothing but mere free Grace thro' Jefus Chrift. ( Phil. 3. 8, 9. ) And hence, thus it is with every Believer, even the moil holy f altho' he daily lees what a God he has fmned againil, how he has finned againft him, and does from a gracious Relped: to God mourn for Sin, for all Sin, as the greateft Evil, and fmcerely turns from all to the Lord, and gives up himfelf to God, to love him and live to him for ever \ yet he feels that all this makes no Amends at all for his Sins., but that he really deferves to be damned for them as much as ever : Yea, he feels that he is infinitely blame-worthy for not be • ing miore hum.ble and penitent and felf- abhorring, and that Ilo his Defert of Damnation is infinitely increafing continu- ally. And hence he looks upon the Grace that laves him as abfolutely and divinely free, and infinitely great •, and always derives all his Hopes of Happinels from the free Grace of God thro' Jefus Chrift. And this is what the A- poilie means, when he fpeaks of his living by the Faith of the Son of GocU (Gal. 2. 20.^ of his rejoycing in Chrift Jefusy and having no Confidence in the Flcft:). ( Phil. 3.3.) And this 'if^^ the Caufc of his fo earneftly longing to )x. founds not- in-
himfelf
^ anddijlingtdped from all Counterfeits. 57
himfelf, but in Chrifl ; 7iot having on his own Right eoufnefsy hut the Right ccufnefs which is ofGod by Faith, (Phil. 3. 8,9.)-— How direilly contrary to all this, is theTcmper of the blind conceited Pharifee^ as expreffed by Maimonides^ the Jew^- who was profeffediy one of that Sed ? " Every Man ( fays " he) hath his Sins, and every Man his Merits : And he '* that hath more Merits than Sins, is a juft Man \ but he-. *-' that hath more Sins than Merits, is a wicked Man." And. this is the Way of fuch Men : They put their Sins, as it were, into one Scale, and their good Duties into the other j and when they fancy their Goodnefs out-v. eighs their Bad- nefs,then they look upon themfelves in the Favour otGod. — But to return,
From what has been faid we may learn, that the more fenfthle any Man is of the infinite Glory and Excellency of God, and of his infiniteObligations thence refulting to lov^c God with all his Heart, and obey him in every Thing, the clearer will he fee that' perfed Obedience deferves noThanks, and that the leafl Sin is an infinite Evil and deferves an in- finite Punilhment ♦, and fo he will renounce his own Righ- teoufnefs, die to himfe-lf, and come down to nothing, more and more : And fo will be proportionably m.ore and more fenfible of his abfolute Need of Chrifl & free Grace : And hence the more holy a Man grows, the more humble will
he be. And on the contrary,, the 7nore infenftbk a Man
is of God's infinite Glory and Excellency, and of his Obli- gations thence refulting, the more will he value his Duties, and the lefs Evil will he fee in Sin, and the lefs fenfible will he be of his ill Defert, and of his Need of Chrifl and free Grace. And hence a felf-righteous, impenitent, Chrifl-
defpifing Spirit reigns in all who know not God. And
thus we fee fome of the Confequences necefTarily following from that infiniteObligation to loveGod with all ourHearts, which we are under, refulting from the infinite Glory and- Excellency of the divine Nature. — But to pafs on,
3. This Obligation we are under to loveGod with all our I;Iearts, arifing from his infinite Glory and Excellency,is in,, the Nature of Things eternally binding. God, hisBeingi-. Perfedions, and Glory will be eternal •, God will always . be infinitely amiable 5 always as amiable as he is now. And
there
^9 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
there will be always therefore t\\t fameReafon that he Ihould be loved, for being what he is •, even the very fame Reafon that there is now. This Obligation is therefore perpe- tually binding amidft all the Changes of this Life. Whe- ther we are fick or well, inProfperity or inAdverfity -, whe- ther we are raifed to Honour with David, or live in Afflu- ence with Solomon \ or whether we are in Prifon Wixhjofeph, or on the Dunghill with Joby or v/andring about in Sheep- fkins and Goat-fkins, deftitute, afflided, tormented, with thofe mentioned in the Eleventh to the Hebrews •, flill this Obligation upon us to loveGod is invariably the fame. For God is always infinitely amiable in himfelf •, yea and al- ways will be fo, whether we are in the Earth, or inHeaven, or in Hell. And therefore it always is and always will be our indifpenfable Duty to love him with all our Hearts,let what will become of us , and let our Circumftances, as to Happinefs and Mifery, be what they v/ill.
Did our Obligations to love God,arife merely from aCon- fideration di fomething elfe befides the eternal Excellency of the divine Nature, from fom.ething which might altogether teafe in Time, then might it pofTibly fome Time or other ceafe to be our Duty to love God with all our Hearts : But afluredly it can never <:^^y^, untilGod ceafes to be what he is. The infinite Obligation hence arifmg will be eternally Bind- ing.— Indeed if all our Obligations to love -God did arife merely from fome felfiih Confiderations, then in Hell, where thefe felfiih Confiderations will ceafe, it would ceafe to be a Duty to love God. If I were obliged to love God, only becaufe he loves me, is kind to me,and defigns to make me happy ; then when he ceafes to love me, to be kind to me, andto intend my Happinefs, all my Obligations to him would ceafe •, and it would be no Sin, not to love him . But now, fince our Obligations to love God, arife original- ly from his being what he is in himfelf, antecedent to all felfiih Confiderations •, therefore it will for ever remain our Duty to love him, let our Circumftances, as to Happinefs or Mifery, be what they will : And not to love him with all our Hearts, will for ever be infinitely Wrong. Hence the Guilt of the fallen Angels has been increafing ever fince their firft Apoftacy \ and the Guilt of all the Damjied will
be
and dijliitguijhed fro7n all Counterfeits. 5 g
be increafing to all Eternity : And no Doubt theirPunifh- meat will increafc in the fame Proportion. How incon- ceivably and infinitely dreadful, therefore, will be their Cafe, who are thus continually finking deeper and deeper in that bottomlefs Pit of Wo and Mifery 1 And indeed, if this be the Cafe, Plell may well be compared, as it is in Scrip- ture, to a Bottomlefs Pit. Rev. 9. i. & 20. i.
4. This Obligation which we are under to loveGod with all our Hearts, refulting from the infiniteExcellency of the divine Nature, is 21{q unchangeably binding. As unchange- able as the divine Nature is, as unalterable as the divine Beauty is, even fo unchangeable, fo unalterable, in the very Nature of Things, is this our infinite Obligation, to love him fupremely, live to him ultimately, and delight in him fuperlatively. As God is infinitely lovely in himfelf, and unchangeably fo, fo it is felf-evident we are under an infi- nite and invariable Obligation to love him with all our Hearts. This cannot but be always our Duty. So long as God remains what he is, this will remain cur Duty. It will in the Nature of Things be unalterably right and fit to love him •, and not to do fo, unalterably unfit and
wTong. Our finking down into ever fo bad a Temper,
and getting to be ever fo remote from a Difpofition to love him, can no more free us from the Obligation, than it can caufe him to ceafe being amiable. He muft ceafe to be amiable, before our Obligation thence arifing can poflibly ceafe to be binding. If there be no Alteration in his infi- nite Beauty, there can pofTibly be no Alteration in he infi- nite Obligation thence arifing. While God remains what he is, and while our natural Powers and Faculties are main- tained in Being, it muft continue our Duty to love God with all our Hearts, and it cannot but be our Duty. In the Nature of Things it is right ; and the Obligation is juft as incapable of any Alteration, as is the Equality between twice two and four. — The fallen Angels are of fo bad a Temper, that the very Thoughts of God will, doubtlcfs, fooner than any Thing, ftir up all their Hatred : But God deferves to be perfedly loved by them, as much as he did before their Apoftacy. There is a great Alteration in the Temper of their Minds j but not the leaft Shadow of
Change
6o True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Change in the divine Beauty. Their having contrafled fo bad and wicked a Temper, cannot furely make it right and lawful for them to indulge it, and continue in it. Their impious Revolt furely cannot free them from theAuthority and Government of Almighty God. He deferves their Homage and Subje6i:ion, as much as ever he did. The original Ground of all ftill remains ♦, he is ftill THE LORD. — The fame may be faid of fallen Man. It is im- poflible, that our bad Temper fliould free us from our Ob- ligation to love God with all our Hearts. It is ftill, in the Nature of Things, as wrong, not to love God with all our Hearts, as ever it was, or as it would have been, had we not joined with the fallen Angels, and turned Apoftates. It muft be fo, unlefs our being of fo bad and wicked aTemper makes it right for us to continue of fuch a Temper, and we not at all blame- worthy for afting agreeable thereto •, that is, unlefs our being fo very bad and wicked, makes us not at all to blame for our Badnefs and Wickednefs. And fo according to this Rule, the viler any Creature grows, and the more averfc to God & to allGood, thelefs he is to blame : Which is one of the grolleft Abfurdities in the World. Therefore, ( I .) ^he divine Law which requires us to love God with all our Hearts^ conjidered as a Rule of Duty ^ is in the Nature of things unalterable^ and ahfolutely uncapable of any Abatement^
more or lefs, The Thing required, is, in the Nature of
Things, our Duty, antecedent to any Confideration of an exprefsLaw in the Cafe. As that Children ought to ho- nour their Parents, and Neighbours do as they would be done by, are Things in themfclves Right, and Duties an- tecedent to any Confideration of an exprefsLaw in theCafe. {Eph. 6. I.) 7'hefe Things would have been Duties,if there had never been any Laws made concerning them by God or Man. Yea, they are in their own Nature fo Right,that they cannot but be our Duty, and to difhonour ourParents, and Cheat and Defraud and Injure our Neighbour, can't
but be Wrong. So to love God with all our Hearts
is originally right and lit and our Duty •, and would have been fo, had there never have been any pofitive, exprcfs T aw in the Cafe.
Now
' and dijiinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 6i
Now the grand Reafon why God the great Governour of the World ever made a Law requiring of us to love him with all our Hearts^ was becaufe it was thus in its ownNa- ture fo infinitely fit. And now to fuppofe, that he would repeal, or alter, or abate this Law, when the Grounds and Reafons of his firft making of it remain,as forceable as ever; when the Thing required is as right & fit as ever ♦, & when it becomes him,asGovernourof the World,llill to require i , as muchasever •, Ifay,to fuppofe fuchaThing,cafts the higheft Reproach upon allhisgloriousPerfedlions.—Itcaflsthehigheft Reflexion upon his infinite//<?//«^y}, whereby he is infinitely inclined to love Right and hate Wrong •, for it fuppofes him to releafe hlsCreatures from doing Right,and to allov/ them to do Wrong ^ a little at lead. — It cafts the highefl RefletHon upon his impartial J eijlice, whereby he is infinitely inclined to give every one their Due ; for it fuppofes him to releafe his Creatures from giving unto God the Glory which is his Due, and to allow tiiem to keep back Part at leaft. — It cafts the higheft Refle6bion upon his Stability and Truth : For it fuppofes him to .alter his Law, when there is no Reafon for it. — Yea, it refleds even upon hisGoodnafs it felf : For it is fo far from being a Benefit to his Crea- tures to have this excellent Law altered, which is fo com- pleatly fuited to thePerfedion and Happinefs of their Na- ture, that it would be one of the greateft and foreftCalami- ties which could happen. Like the altering all the good Laws and Rules in a Family, merely to humour and gra- tify a rebellious Child, who will not be governed. Such a Child fliould be made to conform to the wholefome Laws of the Family, and not the Laws be abated and bro't down to a Level with his bad Temper and perverfe Humour. — ' And finally, it cafts the higheft Reflection upon the infinite Wifdom of the great Governour of the World : For it fup- pofes him to go counter to his ownHonour and to theGood of his Creatures, to counterad all his Perfections, and contra- di6t theReafon & Nature ofThings •, & thatmerejyin Con- defcenfionunto,& incompliance with, the finfulcorruptTafte andlnclinations of an apoftare,rcbellious,God-hatingWorJd.
And now, how could the great Governour of the World clear and vindicate the Honour of his c-reat Nam.e,in mak-
62 True Religion delineated Bis, I.
ing any Abatements in this Law, which requires us to love him with all our Hearts ? Would he fay, that he had before required mort Love than was his Due ? Surely, nothing can be much more biafphemous, than to fuppofe this. — Would he fay, that he does net defe-rcefo rauch as he did F Still it is
equally biafphemous, to fuppofe this.— Would he fay,
that iefs than is his Due, is ^iLL that is his Due ? But this
would be to contradict himfelf, in exprefs Terms. Or
would he openly proiefs to quit hisRight and freely allow his Creatures to defpife him a little, and fin fometimes, inCon- defcenfion unto and Compliance with the corrupt Inclina- tions of their finful Hearts } But this, in the Nature of Things, would be infinitely Wrong and Diflionourable. — Upon what Grounds then could the fupreme Governour of theWorld go about to make Abatements in a Law fo holy, juft and good, that only requires us to love him with all our Hearts -, which in the Nature of Things, is fo infinitely right and fuitable ? Or upon what Grounds can we poflibly defire any Abatements to be made, unlefs we e'en profefs, that we do not like the Law, that we are averfe to loving God with all our Hearts, that it is a very tedious, felf-de- nying Thing to us, and what we can by no Means freely come into \ and fo upon this Foot defire fome Abatements ! Or which is the fame Thing -, honeftly own, " that we *' love Sin fo dearly, that God muft tolerate us in it, or *' we cannot approve of his Government."
But indeed, God can as eafily ceafe to be, as go about to licence and tolerate the leaft Sin : And he had rather Hea- ven and Earth Jhould pafs away^ than that the leaft Jot or kittle of his Law floould faiL Mat. 5. i8.
How can any Body therefore once imagine, that Chrift came down from Heaven and died, to purchafe this Abate- ment of the Law of God, and procure this lawlefs Liberty for his rebelliou: Subjeds ! What ! Did he defert his Fa- ther's Intereft and Honour, and the Honour of hisLaw and Government, and fpill his precious Blood, that he might perfwade the great Governour of the World, to flacken the Reins of Government, and give out this impious Li- cence to Iniquity } Surely to fuppofe this, is to make
Chrift a Friend to Sin, and an Enemy to God.
What
and dijiinguifped from all Counterfeits. 63
What then do they mean, who in their Prayers prefume to thank God for the gracious Abatements, which he has made in his Law ? And what do Miniflers mean by telhng their People from the Pulpit, that the Law is abated, and that/;2<:^r^0bedience is ALL that is now required of us? — • Indeed, if poor fecure Sinners are made to believe, that this was the great Bufinefs Chrift came into the World upon, no wonder if their impious Hearts are pleafed, and if they feem to love Chrift, and prize the Gofpel, and giveThanks to God for this great Goodnefs and Condefcenfion -, for hereby they are delivered from that Stri6lnefs in Religion which they hate, and a wide Door is opened for them to fin without Blame : Yea, they have the Comfort to think,that it is no Sin, not to love God with all their Heart, with all their Soul, and with all their Strength. And generally a very little Matter of Religion they think will ferve. And now it's good Times, and they blefs themfelves. But alas ! They feed upon the Wind : A deceived Heart hath turned them afide.
But by the Way, — To what Purpofe was it for Chrift to die to purchafe this Abatement ? What Need was there of it ? Or what Good could it do ? — For if the Law really required too ynuch^ the Governourof the World was obliged in Jufticc to make fome Abatements : And fo the Death of Chrift in the Cafe was perfedly Needlefs. — And if theLaw required but juft enough^ the Governour of the World could not in Juftice make any Abatements : And fo Chrift muft have died in vain^ and totally loft his End.
But indeed Chrift never came into the World upon this Defign : as he exprefly declares in Mat. 5. 1 7, 1 8. Think noty that I am come to defiroy the Law or the Prophets : I am not come to defiroy^ hut to fulfil. For verily I fay unto yoUy 'till Heaven and Earth pajs^ one Jot or one Tittle fhall in no wife pafsfror/i the Law^ 'till all be fulfilled. And this is the very Thing he condemns the Pharifees for thro all this Chapter, that they in Effed taught this Dodrine, that the Law was abated ; that they taught, that although the Law did forbid fome external and more grofs Ads of Sin,yet it did not the iirft ftirring of Corruption atHeart,& fome lefTer Iniquities. For Inftance, that " they muft not commit Murder •, but
that
64 True Religmi delineated Dis. I.
" that it was no Harm to be angry wiihout Caufe, and " fpeak reproachiiilly, and keep a lecret Grudge atHeart. " (;^. 2 1 ; — 26.) That they mult not commit Adultery, but " that it was no Harm to have lecret laicivious 1 houghts. " (i/, 27, — 30.) That they mull not be guilty of Perjury ; *' but that there was no Harm in httj^ pettyOaths incom- " mon Converfation. ( i'. o^o^^ — i^y, ) Ihat they muft not " bate their Friends^ but there was no Harm in hating their " Enemies." (^'.43, — 47.) Thefeandfuch hkeAllowance.^ they taught, were made in the Law •, and fo, that fuch Things were not finRil. But our Saviour condemns their Dodrine, as falfe and damning \ and infills upon it, thar the Law is not abated, and never fhall be •, but fays, it llil! requires us to he perfcof, as our heavenly Father' is perfect, (/.48.) And declares, that if our FHighteoufnefs er.ceedeth not the Right eoi{f:iefs of the Scribes and Pkarifees ( who v:cre fo much for abating the Law, ) we floall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. ( f.io.) So far was our blefiedSaviour from any Defign to abate the holy Law of God, or leffen
our Obligations to a perfed Conformity to it. And
indeed, it Chrill had died, and iliould die aThoufandTimxs, to purchafe an Abatement of the Law, ( if it be lawfiil to make fuch a Suppofition ) it would be to no Purpcfe : For it cannot be abated, unlefs God ceafes to be what he is. For fo long as God is infinitely lovely, vvc fiiall neceffarily be under an infinite Obligation to love him with all ourHearr, and with all our Strength •, and it will neceffarily be infi- nitely Wrong, not to do fo. The Truth is, that God's
lending his Son into the World to die for the Redemption of Sinners, inilcad of freeing us from our original natural Obligations to keep the Law, binds us more ftrongly fo to do ; as we fhall afterwards fee. — Pfal.i 19.160. "Thy Word is true from the Beginning : A^id every one of thy righteous Judgments endurethfor ever., {f. 128.) I efieem all thy Precepts concerning all T^hings to he Right, (f. 144.J The Right eouf- nefs of thy Tejlimonies is everlafliyig. (f. i^i.) Thou hafl founded them for ever. And therefore f y-, 160.) Every one of them, will endure for ever. As if the Pfalmifl had faid, " The Thing required in thy Law is in it's own Nature " Right, everlaftingly Right •, and therefore, as Governciir
" of
and diftinguipjedfro^n all Counterfeits. 6 5
*' of the World, thou haft by Law for ever fettled and efta- . *' bliilied it as Duty, by a Law never to be altered, but to " endure for ever : and for ever therefore will it endure."
Object. But is it fair andjuft forGod to require more of his Creatures^ than they can do ?
Answer. What are we come to, in this apoftate World, that we can't fee it to be juft and fair, in the great Governour of Heaven and Earth, the infinitely glo- rious God, to require us his Creatures, fo much as to love him, with all our Hearts P What ! Is this too much ? Is this more than he deferves from us ? — Or does the Truth he here, that we hate him fo, that we cannot find in our Hearts to love him •, and therefore cry, " He muft '' not infift upon it, or if he does, he deals unjuftly and is '' very hard with us ?" — But is not this the very Thing thofe Citizens did, who hated their Prince, and fent after him, faying. We ivill not ha^ce this Man to reign ever us ? Luk. 19. 14. — Thefe Hints may ferve as an Anfwer for the prefent : But of this more hereafter.
But. while fome are pleading, that Chrift died to purchafc anAbatement of the hzw^others carry the Point ftill further, and fay that Chrift died entirdy to difannul it \ and fo,that now It wholly ceafcs to be a Rule of Life to Believers. When as one great and declared Defign of Chrift's coming into the World was, to recover his People to a Conformity thereto. ( Tit, 2. 11, 12, 13.) — Oh how Men do love their Corruptions, and hate God and his holy ' Law, and long to have it cailiier'd and removed out of the World, that fo they may live as they lift, and yet efcape the Re • .proaches of their Confciences here, and eternal Punifhment hereafter !^ — But God fitteth King for ever^ and will aftert the Rights of his Crown, and maintain the Honour of his Majefty, and the Glory of his great Name, and vindicate his injured Law ; altho' it be in the eternal Damnation of Millions of his rebellious Subjeds. Luk. 19. 27. But thcfc mine Enemies^ which would not that Ifhould reign over theni^ bring hither,, and flay them before me, — And here by the Way, we may fee what an averfion Men have to right Thoughts of God and divine Things •, and maybe convin- ced of the abfolute Neceflity of a fupernatural ail-conquer-
F ^ iricj
66 V^rue Religion delineated Dis. I.
ing Light, to remove thefe Prejudices, and make Men fee and believe the Truth, and love and cordially embrace it. ( Job. 8. 47, — I Cor, 2.14. ) — A holy God does not ap- pear infinitely glorious and amiable to an unholy Heart : and Sinners not feeing the Grounds of loving God with all their Hearts, hence do not fee the Reafon of the Law ; hen-ce do not fee how holy^juft and good the Law is, and the carnal Mind being Emnity againft God^ is at the fame Time Enmity againil the Law, which is a Tranfcript of the di- vine Nature ( Rem. 8.7.) And hence Sinners do not love to believe eitherGod or his Law to be what they really are. And this Temper makes them blind to what the Scripture fays, and leads them to frame a falfe Image of God, arid entertain falfe Notions of his Law, that they may have a God and a Laiv both to their own Minds.
And now, as are Men's Notions of the Law, fuch are their Notions of Religion •, the Ellence of which principally confifts in a Conformity to the Law.
Hence, here is one, he pleads for great Abatements in the Law, and he contents himfelf with the mere Form ,of Re- ligion. He is not Unjuft, nor an Extortioner, nor an Adul- terer ; but much better than fome of his Neighbours : He prays in his Family, goes to publick Worfhip, and attends the Sacrament, and thinks himfelf a very good Man ; like him inL^^. 18.9, 10, &c. But as for the Doftrines relating to our natural Depravity, Regeneration^ Ccnverjicn, Faith^ Communion with God, and all the infide of Religion, he under- ftands nothing about them •, they feem as flrange as it did to Nicodemus to hear Chrift, difcourfe about the New-Birth. ( Job. 3. ) And ail the Talk about the inward hfinences of the holy Spirit, in awakening, convincing, humbling and converting a Sinner, and in enlightening, teaching, quick- ning, comforting and fandlifying a Believer, is quite unin- telligible : for thefe Things don't come into his Notions of Religion. — According to his Opinion, the Law is brought down fo low, that it is an eafy Thing to become a good Man : the Change is but fmall, and there is fcarce any Need of the Spirit's Help •, much lefs any Room for the Exercife of Sovereign Grace •, for he is fo good-natured, that he can become Good of his own free Will, (i. e. accord- ing
mtd dijlinguijhed from all Cotmt erf eits. 67
iiio; to his Notions of Goodnefs,) and do that which fliall elS'ftually intitle him to the Promifes : And thus he ha$ the Staff in his own Hand. i\nd now here is a charming Religion, perfedly fuited to theTafte of an apoftate World 5 for it's calculated to quiet the Conlcience, while the Heart lies out eflranged from God and dead in Sin. {Rom, 7. 8,9.) Efpecially, fo much of it, as is for their Credit and appa- rently ferves their worldly Intereft, will pretty readily and heartily be fallen in with ♦, and the heft have their Failings^ no Man is perfect ^ and I endeavour to hejincere^ and the heft have their Douhts^ Afturance is not to he attained^ and fuch hke Pleas help to keep their Confciences fecure. And now, O how they love thofe Minifters, that cry, Teace^ Peace f But hate thofe that would fearch Things to the Bottom, and found anAiarm to fecureSinnerSjand deluded Hypocrites. — The farr.cTemper that makes them hate God and his Taw, makes them hate his Minifters too. And they are for another Kind of a God, & for another Kind of a Law, ano- ther Kind of a Religion, and another Kind of Minifters, that they may have all to their Mind. And when all is done, they are confident they are now in the Right, becaufe they are fuited. They love to have it fo ^ and therefore firmly helieve it is fo. .
Hence, again, here is another^ who has been mightily terrified and in great Diflrefs under a Senfe of the Wrath of God and the Dreadfulnefs of Damnation j but in the diflrefTmg Hour he has had it revealed to him (by the Spi- rit of God, bethinks) that his Sins are forgiven ; and now he is Jure of Heaven, and is ravifhed at the Ihoughts of eternal Glory : he holds it a great Sin to dcuht ; and all his Religion confifls in Faith and Joy, i. e. in believing that his Sins are forgiven, and rejoycing in his bleHed and happy and fafe Eflate, and in the Expeflation of future Glory. — But as for a real Conformity to the Lavj^ it makes up no Part of his Religion. He underilands rightly no- thing what the Law requires •, he is neither fenfibie of his Duty to God, or to his Fellow-Men : Yea, he hates to hear any Thing about Law, or Duty, — It is rii Legal, he cries, and tends to kill Religion^ and to wound weak Chriftiar.s, and grieve and drive away the Spirit, cf Grace : and no pie aching
F 2 fu..s
68 True Religmt delineated Dis. I.
fuits his Tafle, but what confifls in telling over and com- mending iuch Experiences as his, and in fetang forth the Love ot God and ChrifV to fuch, and caUing upon fuch to believe, and rejoyce, and never doubt their State again. And iri general thofe Things which tend to ftrengthen his Conlidence and increc!*: his Joy, he efteems right and good •, and all Things of a contrary 1 endency he efteems wix)ng iind bad. This fcems to be his only Criterion otRight and Wrong, and the only Rule he makesUfe of in drawing up a Judgment : But as for the Law^ it is of noUfe with him. — There is doubtiefs many a Man that feels and aCls and lives, as if the Law was abated, who yet will not plead for that Dodlrine. — So doubtiefs there is many a Man that feels and a6ls and lives, as if the Law wholly ceafed to be a Rule of Life, v/ho yet will not venture to fay fo. The Force of Education and their worldly Intereft and Credit keeps Men many Times from fhewing what they be, by an open ProfeiTion. However, fecretly this Temper reigns within them \ yea, fometimes it breaks out into openLight, in their villbie Condaft. — But, as ftrange as it may feem, there are Multitudes that not only have the Root of thefe Things in their Hearts, but really believe them and openly profefs and plead for them. Hence it is on the one Hand, that the Armiman^ Neonoraian^ and Pelagimn Errors have taken their Rife;, and the Avtinomian^ on the other. Wrong Notions of God lie at the Bottom •, and then wrong Noti- ons of the Law •, and then wrong Notions of Religion in general : and all originally proceed and grow up out oi the wrong Temper of Men's Minds. For all unregenerate Men would fain have a Gdd and a Law and a Religion to fuit the Temper of their Hearts. Micah 4. 5. For a.l People will walk every one in the Name of his God.
In the meanTime,the truly godlyMan, who fees that the Obligation., which he is under to love God v/ith all his Heart, refulting from the Excellency of the divine Nature, is un- changeable ; and that the Law^ which requires this, is un- alterable \ inilead of going about to contrive a Religion that may fuit the natural Temper of his Heart, is convinced that the Temper of his Heart is the very Thing that muft be changed. — He is convinced of his infinite Obligation to be
altogether
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 6(^
altogether fuch as the Law requires him to be, and that he is infinitely blameable for the leaft Defed. — Hence, thofc WordSjT'y^e Law is hcly.jufty and g^od^ the Law isfpiritual'i hut I am carnal^ fold u?ider Sin. O wretched Man that I am! do exadly exprefs the Thoughts of the moft exalted Saint on Earth, yea, €ven of the great Saint Paul himfelf, Rom. 7. 12,14/24. — Indeed, had St. Paul thought that the' Law was wholly difannulled, or much abated, he might then have imagined that he was fo good, as to be quite free from Sin, or pretty near being fo, and been ready to fpeak- the Language of the Pharifee •, God^ 1 thank thee^ I am not- as other Men. But now, notwithftanding all his high and wonderful Attainments, yet, when heconfidered what the Law was, which he was under, and how very far he was from being exadly w^hatthat required, the native Language of his humbleHeart is, I am carnal^ [old under Sin I 0 wretch- ed Man that I am ! * — And now the Apoflle, from a Senfe of his infinite Obligations to be what the Law re- quires, and of his greatDiflance from this, forgets the'Things which are behind -, and he runs^ he wrejfles, he fights, he §irives^ he keep under his Body., he lays afide every Weight ; in {hort, he appears like aMan in a perteclAgony : So great
was his Senfe of Duty., and fo much had he to do. ^ And at
the fame Time, from a Senfe of his Impotency and of his Unworthinefs, of his Need of the Redeemer and the Sanc- tifier, it is his Maxim, to pray always., and to afk all Things'
in the Name of Chrift. Now in his Example we have
the Temper, which prevails more or lefs in every godly
Man, exadlly painted. And thus we have had pictured
in Miniature three different Sorts of Relig'on, arifing from three different Notions of the Law. The Pi^ure is begun; and in the fequel, I purpofe to paint all three, as near to the Life as I can ; that we may fee what they be, and wherein
F 3 they
* 0 -^in* have thought, that St. /'<?/^/had arrived fo nigh to Pcrfeaion^hr: . he could not fpeat thefe Words of himfelf. The.r Mid e feems to arife from their wrong Notions of the Lanv, to which St. Paul con) - pared himfelf, and according to which he drew up his Judgment. And, from the fame Source it feems to be, that they can think thofe Wor.d%. fver. 22. applicable jto the Unregenerate. I ^t light in the tafw cf ^Jjd .£ifter the inrjjcrd Man, When in Truth the Unregenerat? are in l:k;:>f Xemper^ diametrically oppofite to the Icm, Rojtn. 8. 7,
70 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
they differ ; which is Right, and which is Wrong.^ But fo much for the firft Inference, that the Lav: as 2. Ride ofLuty^ cannot be repealed or abated. And now to proceed,
2. From what h is been faid it is evident, that the Lazv in its nreatnings of eternalDamnation for the leafi Sin^ is equally iincapabk cf any Repeal or Abatement, — For if our Obliga- tion,to love God with all ourHearts and obey him in every Thing,refulting from the divine Perfedlions, is infinite,eter- nal, and unchangeable ; and if therefore the leafl: Sin necef- farily be infinitelyEvil, and deferving of an infinite Punifh- ment, and unalterably fo •, then theLaw confidered as threat- ning eternal Damnation for the leaft Sin, is in its ov/n Na- ture unalterably holy and juft : And confequently it cannot be repealed, confiftcntly with thellolinefs, Juftice, andHo- nour of the great Governour of the World. If theGover- nour of the World had, in a mere arbitrary Manner^ made a Law, that Sin Ihouldbe puniihed with eternal Damnation; then he might, in 2imere arbitrary Manner^ have repealed it : But fince, in the Nature of Things, Juftice called for //,that fuch a Lav/ fhould be made, therefore fo long as theGrounds and Reafons of the Law remain, the Law canni^t, mjufticey be repealed.
None can deny, but that the great Governour of the World has afluaily made a Law, that Sin Ihall be punifh- cd with eternal Damnation : And none can deny, but that this Law is to be put in Execution, to the full, at and af- ter the great Judgment-Day. But if Juftice had not called for ity furely the infinitely good Governour of the World would never have made fuch a Law ; much lefs would he ever put it in Execution. For to make and execute fuch a Law, in a merely arbitrary fovereign Maimer, when in the. Nature of Things Jvfiice does not call for it, would be infi- nitely cruel and tyrannical, and perfedly inconfiftent with the divine Fetfedions j as is felf-evident. See Gen, 18. 25. '<!iVi^E%ek. 18. 25.
But then, if the great Governour of the World made this Law not arbitrarily^ but becaufe in the Nature of Things juftice called for it -, then fo long as the Rcafon andGround pf the Law remains, the Law it felf cannot in Juftice ever
be
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 7 1
be repealed. If Juftice called for its being made, then it cannot be iin-made confiftently with Juftice, fo long as the
Ground and Reafon of it remains •, as is felf-evident.
But the Reafon of the Law is, in the Nature of Things, unalterable. For the Reafon of the Law was the infinite E'vil of Sifiy whereby it deferved an infinite Punifhment. As Long therefore as Sin remains an infinite Evil, fo long muft the Law ftand unrepealed : But Sin will always be an infi- nite Evil, fo long as we are under infinite Obligations to love God with all our Hearts and obey him in every Thing i which we fhali always be, fo long as God remains infinitely glorious and amiable, and this will be for ever. Therefore this Law can never polTibly, confiftent with divine Juftice^ be repealed.
For any, therefore, to defire to have it repealed, is to turn Enemy to the Holinefs and Juftice and Honour of the fu- preme Ruler of the World, as well as to his Law and Go- vernment : And argues, that they have no Regard to the Reditude and Fitnefs of Things, but only to Self-Intereft : as thofe among Men are real Enemies to the civil Govern- ment, who defire the good and wholefome Laws thereof to be repealed. And it is upon this Ground, that St. Paul concludes carnal Men to be at Enmity againfi GOD, becaufe they are Enemies to his Law. (Rom. 8.7.) For if Men loved God, they would be difpofed to love his Law and Government, which exprefs his Nature.
To fuppofe therefore, that the Son of God came into the World and died, that the Law in its 'Threatnings might be repealed^ is to fuppofe that he alio is turned an Enemy to God, to his Holinefs and Juftice, to his Law & Govern- ment ; and that he is properly gone over to be on the Side of his Father's rebellious Subjeds.
Befides, to what Purpofe would it have been ( on the Hypothelis of thefe Men) for Chrift to have died, that the Law in its Threatnings might be repealed ? What Need was there of it ? or what Good would it have done ? For if in Juftice it, ought to have been repealed, there was no Need of his dying to procure this : Or, if in Juftice it ought not to be repealed, then his dying could not procure it, and fo would do no Good. The righteous Governour
F 4 <^^
72 T^rua Religion delineated Dis I.
of the World would have repealed it of his own Accord, if it had been right and fit fo to do : and if in the Nature of Things it was not right, then not any Thing whatever could perfwade him to do it.
But the Truth is, Chriil came into the World and died to pjifwer all theDemands ofthcLaw •, that fo altho* theSinner be Taved, yet the Law might never be repealed, but be- firmly eftablifhed. For the Governour of Heaven & Earth v/as utterly againft the Law's being repealed, as a Thing in itfelf intinitely unreasonable. And therefore theApoflle fays, Do we make void the Law thro' Faith ? God forbid ! 2'A?, we ejlablijh the Law. (Rom. 3. 31.) And indeed it was notjiing but God's infinite Averfion to repeal the Law, as aThinginir felf infinitely unfit &:v/rong, that v/as theThing which made the Death of Chriil needful. For, if the Law rnight have been repealed, Sinners might have been faved v;ithout any more ado : but if it could not, and mufl not be repealed, then the Demands of it muft be anfwered by fome Means or other, or every Sinner damned. And now Chriil ilep'd in and did this ; and fo lecured the Honour of God's Holinefs & Juftice, Law and Government, and opened a Way for the Sinner's Salvation. And this Ac- count of the Reafon of Chriil's Death the Scriptures plainly give us. Gal. 3. 10, 13, 14. Cur fed is every one that conti- imeth not in all Things written in the Book of the Law to do them, — Chrifi hath redeemed us from the Curfe of the Law^ being made a Curfe for us. — nat the Bleffing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles thro' Jefus Chrifi. For (Heb. 9. 22.) without fJoedding of Blood there is no Remiffon. Therefore [Rom. 3. 25,26.) Chriil was fet forth to be a Propitiation for Sin^ — to declare his Right eoufnefs^ — that he might bejufl^ and the Juftifler of him which belicveth in Jefus. And hence \f. 31.) Do we make void the Law thro* Faith? C^d forbid I Tea., we efiablifh the Law. '^ Yea, theApoflle evidently fets out upon thisHypothefis,* that the Law is not repealed, but (lands in full Force. He lays this down as a Jirfi Principle^ in that argumentative Difcourfe which we have in the three firfl Chapters of his Fpifclcto x\\^. Remans. Chap, i.^ 18. The Wrath of God is } n -ea led frcmHeaven a ?;ciinfi a llUngodlinefs ^U might eoafneft
of
and dijlinguiped from all Cotmterfeits. 7 3
cf Men. And taking this for granted, he goes on to prove, that both Jews and Greeks are all under Sin, and fo the whole JP"orld guilty before God ; to the 19th wr. of the 3d Chap. And hence he argues, that by the Deeds of the Law no Flefh could bejuftified. But now, it the Law was repealed, the whole World was not Guilty before God, nor any on^ in the World : For Sin is not imputed, ivhere there is no Law. ( Rom. 5. is)— -^i"^^ i^" ^"^^ ^^"^ ^^^^^^ repealed, whatNeed was there of fuch a longTrain cf Arguments, to prove, that no Flefh could be iuftitied by the Law ? For it v/ouid have been enough to have faid,that a repealed Law could neither juilify nor condemn any Body. — And why does he ufe fuch Arguments as he does ? For thus he reafons, " TheLaw " requires perfeftObedience as aCondition of Life,& threat- *' ens Tribulation and Wrath againft every Soul of Man " that doth Evil : But Je-zvs and Gentiles have all finned : " Therefore are all guilty & condemned according toLaw ; " and confequently cannot be cleared and juftificd byLaw." For all thisReafoning fuppofes, that the Law is as much in Force as ever it was. And accordingly he goes on to ihew, that the Defign of Chrift's Death was to anfwer the De- mands of the Law, that there m.ight be a Way opened for the Salvation of Sinners, confident with divine Juftice, and at the fame Time the Law not be made void, but eflablifh- ed 'y As was before obferved.
And now this being the Cafe, Hence, we find the Scriptures every where look upon thofe that have not a fpecial Intereft in theRighteoufnefs of Chrift by Faith, as being as much under the Wrath of God andCurfe of theLaw, as if Chrift had never died. J oh. 3.18. He that believeth not is condemned already, f ^6. i'he Wrath cf God abide th upon him. And, Gal 3. 10. As many as are cf theWorks cf theLaw are under theCurfe. And, Rom. i . 1 8. i'he Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven, againft allUngod- linefs andUnrighteoufnefs of Men. who hold the Truth inUn- righteoufnefs. — Thus the Wrath of God is revealed againft theUnbeliever ; yea, abides upon him ; yea, the Law con- demns and curfes him. But if the Law had been repealed by the Death of Chrift, all the World would have been freed from the Curfe. For a repealed Law, can neither
blefs
74 "Frue Religio7z delineated Dis. L
bkfs the rightecfus, nor curfe the wicked; but flands for nothing.
And hence airo,we find thatChriftlefsSinners,when awak- ened by theHolySpirit to fee and feel what a State they are in, are always convinced that they are under the Wrath of God and Curfe of the Law ; and hereby are made to un- derftand their Need of a Saviour. ( Rom. 3.19, 20.) But if the Law had been repealed by the Death of Chrift, this could not be •, for they would then have been under no Wrath, nor Curfe. Nor would any have ever felt a ^irtt of Bondage^ as they do in every Age of theWorld,and as they ufed to do in St. VauV% Day. ( Rem. 8. 15. ) For it is the 'Law only, that works Wrath. Rom. 4. 15.
And hence we fliall find, even all the World fhall find, and Thoufands and Thoufands to their everlafting Sorrow, that when the Day of Judgment comes, the Law fhall be executed with the utmoii: Severity, upon all that know not Gcd^ and obey not the Gofpel of JefusChrifi. (2. 'Theff. i .7, 8.) And God's Juflice in fo doing will fhine bright in the Sight of all Worlds : For he defigns on that Day to reveal the Righteoufnefs of his Judgments. And hence it is called, the Day of the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of Gcd. (Rom. 2. 5. J But if the Law is repealed by the Death of Chrift, and if God has told the World that he has repealed it •, for him now to revive it, & judge & condemn theWorld by it •, would be to caftContempt upon theDeath of Chrift, and deceive his poor Creatures, and unmercifully and un- righteoufly judge and condemn them, by a Law that was repealed, a Law they never were under, and fo ought never to have been judged by. From the whole therefore, it is evident that the Law, that direatens eternal Damnation for the leaft Sin, never has been, nor ever will be repealed.
Well then ( if this be the Cafe ) may Minifters thunder Hell and Damnation againft a fccure, wicked World. And well may poor Sinners tremble under a Senfe of divine Wrath, when their Eyes begin to be opened to fee where they be. For all thofe Comforts that the Formalift gets by thinking the Law is abated or difannulled, and fo his State fafe, are but the Refult of an erroneous Head and a Heart ftcure in Sin. And what has been faid undtr this Particu-r
lap
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 75
lar, will rationally account for all the Agony and Diftrefs of an awakenedSinner. — When God, the greatGovernour of the World, the Revenger of Sin, begins to make the poor Sinner remember his Ways and his Doings which have not been right, and fee what a Creature he is, and what a Con- dition he is in, and be fenfible of what he deferves ; and when he comes to underftand that his Soul is forfeited, and that it is right that Juftice Ihould take Place, and that God is at Liberty to do as he pleafes : Surely this mull beHeart- rending, Soul-diftrefling to a poor, finful, guilty, Hell-de- ferving Creature.
And if God will not repeal the Law, but ftill infift upon it, ihat it is holy and juft ; no wonder the Sinner is made to