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W. L. WALLACE.
True RELIGION delineated^
o R5
EXPERIMENTAL RELIGION,
As diftinguifhed from FORMALITY on the one Hand, and ENTHUSIASM on the other, fefc in a Scriptural and Rational Light.
In Two D I S BOURSES.
In which fome of the principal Errors both of the ARMINIANS and ANTINOMIANS are confuted, the Foundation and Superftruftureof 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 the Eftabliftiment, Comfort and Quickening of the People of GOD, in thefe Evil Times.
By Jofeph Bellamy^ A. M.
Minifter of the Gofpel at Retblem in Ccnnefticut.
With a Preface by the Rev. Mr. EDWARDS,
Ifai. xxx. 2 1 . And thine Earsjhall hear a Word behind thee, faying, is the Way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right Hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Matth. vii. 13, 14. Enter y» in at the f rait Gate ; for wide is the Gatef and broad is the Way that leadeth to Definition, and many there he which go in thereat : "Becaufe Jlrait is the Gate, and narrow if the which leadeth unto &fet and few there he that fnd it.
BOSTON:
6*984 *?4 Sdd ty Si KNEE L A N P, yi Q«ecn-S?«rti x 7 S
PREFACE.
Being of GOD is reckoned the firft, greateft and moft funda mental of all Things that are the Objeds of Knowledge or Belief. And next to that muft be reckon' d the Nature 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 fiingle Perfon ; each one.having to do with God as his fupreme Judge, who will fix his eternal
A 2 State,
C a 3
State, according as he finds him to be wit& 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 Defed: ei ther of fufficient Difcerning or Care, has been the cljief Thing that has obfcured, obftrudcd and brought to a Stand all remarkable Revi vals of Religion, which have been fince the Beginning of the Reformation ; the very chief Reafon why the moft hopeful and pro- mifing Beginnings have never come to any more than Beginnings ; being nipt in the Bud, and foon followed with a great Increafe 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 of preceding Times ; I can't but think, that if the Events which have appear'd from Age to Age, (hould be carefully exa mined and confldered, it would appear that it has been thus in all Ages •of the Chriftian Church from the Beginning.
They
[ Hi ]
They therefore who bring any Addition of Light to this great Subjed, The Nature of true Religion, and its -Diftinttion from all Counterfeits, fhould be accepted as doing the greateft poflible 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 iprung up in an obfcure Part of the World, to pretend to add any Thing on this Subjeft, to the Informations we have long; iince received from their Fa-
o
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 poffefied of all that Light, in Things of this Nature, that ever God intends to give it ; nor that all Satan s Lurk ing-Places have already been found out. And muft we let that grand Adverfary alone in his Devices, to enfiiare & 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 fatalEffefts of his hitherto unobferved Snares ; for Fear we fhall be guilty of Vanity orWant of Modefty, in attempting to difcern any
Thing
Thing that was not fully obferved by our Betters in former Times ? And that, what ever peculiar Opportunities God gives us, by fpecial Diipenfations of his Providence, to fee fome Things that were over-look'dby them ?
!The remarkable Things that have come to pafs in late Times, refpeding 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 diftinguifhing Nature and Marks of genuine Religion more clearly and diftin&ly fet forth than has been ufual ; fb that the Difference between that and every Thing that is fpurious may be more plainly and furely difcern'd, and fafely determined.
As Enquiries of this Nature are very im portant and neceflary in Themfelves, fo they are what the prefent State of Religion in NEW-ENGLAND, and other Parts of the Britijh Dominions , do in a peculiar Manner render neceffary at this Seafon ; and alfo do give peculiar Opportunity for Difcoveries be yond
yoftd what has been for a long Time. Satan transforming himfelf into an Angel of Light, has fhewn himfelf in many of his Artifices more plainly than ordinary ; and given us Opportunity to fee more clearly and exactly 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 Affectation to appear in the World as an Author, nor any Before 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
as being fatisfied of them from a careful Con- iideration of important Fa6ts (which he has had great Opportunity to obferve) and very clear Experience in his own Soul ; but the mqft diligent Search of the holy Scriptures, and flridt Examination of the Nature of Things ; and that his Determinations con cerning the Nature of genuine Religion, here exhibited to the World, have not been fettled and publifhed by him without long Consideration, and maturely weighing all Objections 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 converging freely and friendly with Gentle men in the Armmlan Scheme, having alfo had much Acquaintance, and frequent long Converfation with many of the People called Separatifts, their Preachers and others.
And I cannot but exprefs my flncere Wifhes, that what is here written by this reverend and pious Author, may be taken Notice of, read without Prejudice, and tho roughly considered : As I verily believe, from my own Perufal, it will be found a
Difcourfe whereia the proper Eflence and
diftiu-
diftinguiftiing Nature of faving Religion is deduced from the firSl Principles of the Ora cles of God, in a Manner tending to a great Increafe of Light in this infinitely impor tant Subject ; discovering Truth, and at the fame Time (hewing the Grounds of it ; or Shewing what Things are true, and alfb why they are true ; manifefting the mutual De- pendance of the various Parts of the true Scheme of Religion, and alfb the Founda tion of the Whole ; Things being reduced to their firft Principles in Such a Manner, that the Connection and Reafon of Things, as well as their Agreement with the Word of God, may be eafily Seen ; and the true Source of the dangerous Errors concerning the Terms of God's Favour and Qualifica tions for Heaven, which are prevailing at this Day, is plainly discovered ; Shewing their Falfhood at the very Foundation, and their Inconfiftence with the very firft Principles of the Religion of the Bible,
Such a Difcourfe as this is very feafbnable 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 not laboured for fuch Ornaments of Stile and
a a Lan-
Language as might beft fuit the Guft of Men of polite Literature ; yet the Matter or Sub- ftance 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, Auguft ^ 1750.
JONATHAN EDWARDS.
The A u T H o R'S
PREFACE.
•E are defigned, by GOD our Maker-, for an end- lefs Exiftence. In this prefent Life we jufl enter upon Being^ and are in a State introducing to a never-ending Duration in another World, where we are to be for ever unfpeakably happy, or mife- rable, according to our prefent Conduct. This is defigned for a State of Probation -, and that, for a State of Rewards and Punifhments. We are now upon Trial, and God's Eye is upon ) us every Moment ; and that Pifture of our Selves, which we , exhibit in our Conduft, the whole of it taken together, will ( give our proper Character, and determine our State for ever. \ "This being defigned for a State of Trial, God now means to try us, that our Conduct under all the Trials of Life, may dif cover 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 Intend, in the Difpenfations of bis Providence, to fuit Things to a State of Eafe and Enjoyment, which is what this Life is not defigned for ; but to a State of Trial. lie puts Men into trying Circunflances of fet Purpofe, and as it were, contrives Methods to try them. One great End he has in View, is, that jbe may prove them, and fyiow what is in their Hearts.
a a 2
ii The Author's PREFACE.
He did not lead the Children of Ifrael direffly from Egypt to Canaan, but fir ft thro" the Red Sea, and then out into a Wildernefs^ where, there was neither Water ^ nor Bread nor F*efo ; and made them wander there forty Tears^ that he might try them, and prove them, and know what was in their Hearts. Dcut. 8.2. So when the Chriilian Religion was introduced into the World^ it was not in fuch a Way as Men would have chofen^ but in a Manner fuited to a State of Trial. The SON OF GOD did not come in outward Glory , but in the Form of a Servant ; not to rtign 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 Se6t was every where fpoken againfl^nndpsrfecuted : and many were the Stum bling-blocks of the Times. And thefe Things were to try the Temper of Mankind. — And when Chriftian Churches were eretted by the indefatigable Labours of St. Paul and others^ that God might thoroughly try every Heart, he not onlyfuffered the wicked World to rife in Arms againft them^ but alfo lit Satan loofa to transform himfelf into an Angel of Light, tf ;;J, as it were, to infpire, and fend forth his Minifters, trans formed into the Apoftles of Chrift> to vent heretical Dottrines, and foment Strife and Divijion. In the mean while, the fe cure find wicked World looked on, pleafed, no doubt, to fee their Debates and Divifions, and glad they could have fuch a Handle againft Chriftianity, & fo good a Plea to juftify their Infidelity. 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 affeffed and aft •, when not only the World was in Arms againft them, lut many 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 affeffed towards the Truths of the Gofpel, and the true Miniflers of Chrift, and towards their temporal Inter eft \ while the Truths of the Gof- pel were denied or pervert ed^ and the true Minifters of Chrift defpifed & jtigmatifed, by Hereticks^ and their temporal Inter eft expofed to the Rage of a wicked mercikfs l¥ rid. And he loved to try Hypocrites^ to fee whether they would not renounce the Truth they pretended fo highly ts value, and become difaffefted
towards
The Author's PREFACE. iii
towards the Mini ft ers of Chrift they feemed fo dearly to love, and followfalfe Teachers, or fall off fo the World.
It is reafonable and fit, and a Thing becoming and beauti ful^ that Beings in a State of Probation /hould be 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 ifs Impor tance^ lies open to his View \ and Time appears as a Point, and all it's Concerns as Things comparatively of no Worth. If the Wicked are in Profperity, and the Righteous in Adverjity, or all Things come alike to all, God is well-pleafed ; becaufe Things of Time are of fo little Importance, and becauft fuch an Adminiftration of Things is fuited to a State of Trial. There will be Time enough hereafter, for the Righteous to be rewarded^ and the Wicked punijhed. In this View of Things, we may, in a Meafure, under ft and the darkeft, and account for the moft myfterious, Difpenfations of divine Providence, and difccrn the Wifdom of the divine Government.
It has doubtlefs appeared as a Thing ftrange and dark to many pious Perfons, and occafioned not a little Perplexity of Mind) to obferve what has come to pafs in New EnglancL/fo the Tear 1740. That there floould be fo general an Out-pour- { ing °f the Spirit '-, fo many Hundreds and Thoufands awa kened all over the Country ', and fuch an almoft univerfal exter nal Reformation, and fo many receive the Word with Joy ; and yet, after all, Things come to be as they now are: fo many fallen away to carnal Security, and fo many turned Enthufiafts and Hereticks, and the Country fo generally fettled in their Prejudices againft experimental Religion and the Doftrines of the Gofpel, and a Flood of Arminianifm and, Immorality ', ready to deluge the Land. But as ftrange and dark as it may have feemed, yet doubtlefs if any of us had lived with the Ifraelites in the Wildernefs, or in the three fir ft Ages after Chrift, or in the Time of the Reformation from Popery, the Difpenfations 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
iv The Author's PREFACE.
Day, however ftrange it may feem to us, no other wife than our Saviour foretold it commonly /would under the Gofpel-Dif- fenfation, 'at haft 'till Satan is bound, that he may deceive the Nations no more. The Sower goes forth to fow, and fome Seed falls by /fo Way-Side, & fome on (tony, & fome on thorny ,«;&£ fome on good Ground •, and while he is f owing good Seed, an Enemy in the Night, the Devil unobferved, yjwjTares : Now when the Sun is up, i. e. when new Times come en, and Trials approach, the main of the Seed is loft -, not only what fell by the Way-Side, but alfo what fell on the ftony and thorny Ground. And when the good Ground is about to bring 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 Dejign to prove the Children of Men, and know what is in their Hearts.
TheToungPeoplealmoft all ^wrNew-England profejfed,they would for ever renounce youthful Vanities, andfeek the Lord. " Well", God, in the Courfe of bis Providence, as it were, fays, " I will try you." Seeming Converts exprejfed great Love to Chrift, his Truths, and Minifiers, and Ways •, " Well? fays God, " 1 will try you." Multitudes, being Enemies td 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 cc will be affeffied, and what you will fay, and whether you " will be as glad when the Caufe of my SON is betrayed by cc 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 compajffionate Senfe of the Exercifes, which godly Perfons, efpecially among common People, might be under in thefe evil Days, while fome are fallen away, and others are clapping their Hands and rejoycing with all their Hearts tofeeZion laid wafte ; while Arminians are glojffing 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
Candour -, find while Enthufiafts are going about as Men in- fpired and immediately fent by the Almighty , fret-ending to ex traordinary Sanftily, and bold in it that they are fo holy in them/elves, and fo entirely on the Lord's Side, that all godly People mufti and can't but, fee as they do, and fall in with 4hem,unlefs they are become blind,dead and carnal, and got back into the World ; A compajffionate Senfe, 1 fay, ef the Exercifes of Mind, which pious Perfons among common People might have, in Juch a trying Situation of Things, was the firft Motive, which excited me to enter upon this Work, which I now offer to the Publick. And to make divine Truths plain to fuch, and toftrip 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 felfto the loweftCapad- ties, not meaning to write a Book for the Learned and Polite, but for common People, and efpecially for thofe that are godly among them.
To thefe therefore, that they may read what I have writ ten with the greater Profit, I will offer thefe two Directions.
J5
(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 underfland the Law and the Gofpel, and to pry into the Myfteries, and difcern the Beauties, of the divine Government. By much the greatesJ Part of what I have written,bejides Jhewing what GOD is, conjifts in but fo many Proportions deduced from the divine Perfections. Begin here therefore, and learn what GOD is, and then what the moral Law is -, and this will help you to underftand what our Ruin is, and what the Way of our Recovery by free Grace thro" JESUS CHRIST. The Bible is defignedfor rational Creatures, and has God for it *s Author -3 and you may therefore depend upon it, that it contains a Scheme perfectly rational, divined glorious. And the Pleafure of divine Knowledge will a thoufandTimes more than recompence all your Reading, Study andPains : Only content not your f elves witb a general fuperficial Knowledge, but enter thoroughly inlo^hings. (2.) Pradife, as well as read. The End of Reading *nd Knowledge is Praftice. And holy Praftice will help
you
vi The Author's PREFACE.
you to underfta nd wbat you read. Love GOD with all your Heart, and your Neighbour as your felf -, and you catft but under ft and me i while in the firft Difcourfe I Jhew what is implied in tbefe two great Commands. And pr attic e Repen tance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrift ; and thefecond Difcourfe, which treats of the Nature cf the Gofpel and a genuine Compliance therewith, will natu rally become plain and eafy. And while you daily ftudy di vine 'Truths in your Heads, and digeft them well in your Hearts, and praftife them in your Lives, your Knowledge and Holinefs will increafe, and God's Word &? Providence be better underftood, your perplexing Difficulties will be more folved, and you be eftablijhed,ftrengthned and comforted, in your Way Heaven-ward-, and your Light Jhining before Men, they will fee your good Works, and your Father which is in Heaven will be glorified. All which are the hearty Defire and Prayer
•f
Your Servant in JESUSCHRIST,
BETHLEM, April 25th. 1750.
Jofeph Bellamy.
Religion delineated.
DISCOURSE I.
Shewing the Nature of the Divine LAW, and wherein confifts a real Conformity to it.
MATTH. xxii, 37, 38, 39, 40.
Jefus faid unto him^hcu /halt love the Lord thy God with all thy Hcart^ and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Mind. This is the firft and great Commandment. And the fecond is like unto //, 'Thou jhalt love thy Neighbour as thy felf. On thefe two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
The INTRODUCTION.
Religion confifts in a Conformity to the ^Illllf^l Law of God, and in a Compliance with the T$fc$p Gofpel of Chrift. The Religion of innocent Man confided only in a Conformity to the Law •, theLaw 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 2nd Power of Sin ; he needed a Redeemer and a Sandlifier :
B and
2 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
and in the Gofpel a Redeemer and a Sanftifier are provided, and a. Way for our obtaining pardoning Mercy and fanctify- ing Grace is opened ; a Compliance, with which, does now therefore become Part of the Religion of a fallen Creature. Now if we can but rightly underftand the Law, and rightly underftand the Gcfpel^ we may eafily fee wherein a Confor mity to the one, and a Compliance with the other, does con- fiil -, and fo what true Religion is. — For the prefent, let us take the Law under Confideration. And \t will be proper to inquire into thefe following Particulars.— A- 1 . WhatDuty does God require of us in his Law ? — 2. From what Mo tives muft that Duty be done ? — 3. What is^ that precife Meafure of Duty which God requires in his Law ? - And a fhort, but very clear and plain Anfwer to all thefe Queftions we have before us in our Text ; which is the Words of our blefTed Saviour, and in which he does upon Defign declare what the Sum andSubftance of the Law is. — He had a Queftion put to him in thefe Words •, " Mailer, which is the great Commandment in theLaw ?" To which he anfwers — " Thou fhalt love the Lord thy God with all thyHeart &c. this is the firft. — The fecondisKkeuntoit &c." The ten Commandments are fum'd up in thefe two, and every Duty enjoined in the Law, and inculcated in the Pro phets, are but fo many Deductions from thefe two, in which all are radically contained. A thoro underftanding of thefe two will therefore give us anlnfight into all. - Let us now therefore begin with taking the firft of thefe into particular Confideration. -- Tboujhalt love 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. Bccaufe he is the Lord our God. - 3 . The Mea fure of Duty required. With all thy Heart &c.
In difcourfmg upon thefe Words, I will therefore endea vour to
I. What is implied in Love to God.
, From what Motives we are required to love Him. IIL What is that Meafure of Love which is required.
SECTION
and diftmguifoed from all Counterfeits. 3
SECTION I. Shewing what is implied in Love to GOD.
I. I am to fhew what 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 fliine 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 become 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. 1 8. & 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 all the World to love and adore him. And the fame Grounds and Reafons which move him thus to love Himfelf, 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 \ and fo we cannot but love him.
This true Knowledge of God fuppofes, that in a Mea fure, we fee God to be juft fuch a One as he is •, and, in a Meafure,have a Senfe of his infinite Glory &: Beauty in 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 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
in our own Fancy.* And if we have not a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being what he is, it is impoffibie 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 tradiction. 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 Object being always neceffarily im plied in Love to it. Where no Beauty or Amiablenefs is feen, there can be no Love. Love cannot be forced. Forced Love is no Love. If we are obliged to try to force our felves to love anyBody, it is a Sign they are very odious in our Eyes, or at lealt that we fee no Beauty nor Amiable nefs in them, no Form or Comelinefs, wherefore we fhould defire or delight in them. (Cant,$. 7.) In all Cafes, fo far as we fee Beauty, fo far we love, and no farther.
Moil certainly, that Knowledge of God which is neceflary to lay a Foundation of a genuine Love to him, implies not only right Apprehenfions of what He is^ but alfo a Senfe of his Glory and Beauty in being fuch \ for fuch a Knowledge of God as confifts 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 ledge 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 this Principle,#«*/£*«j,3Wj, and Mahometans, may be faved as well as Cbriftians. And upon this Principle, the Heathen Nations need not much trouble themfelves to know which is the right 'God among all the Gods that are worihipped in the World, for, it js no Matter which God they think is the true, if their Lives are but good. - But— why has God revealed him- fclf in his Word, if right Apprehenfions of God be a Matter of fuch
Jridiffercncy
and diftlnguijhed 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 whol ly to the contrary. Rom .8.7. The carnal Mind is Enmity againft God. When Natures are in perfect Contrariety, (the J one (infill, and the other holy,) the more they are known to each other, the more is mutual Hatred ftirred up, and their entire Averfion to each other becomes more 'fenfible. 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.
L 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 doftrinai Points^ and be fo Jirenuous as to fay, " If an Angel from Heaven mould preach any other Gof- pel, LET HIM BE ACCURSED," if right Apprehensions of God, and right Principles of Religion be a Matter of 'fiich Indifferency !— - 'Tis ftrange that fuch a Notion mould be ever once mentioned by any that pretend to be Chriftians, fmce it is fubverfive of the whole Chriflian Religion : making Cbrjjlianity no fafer a Way to Heaven than Paga- mfm. Yea, fuch a Principle naturally tends to make all thofe who imbibe it, leave Love to God, and Faith in G6;v/?,out of their Religion, and quiet themfelves with a meer empty Form of external Duties, Or in other Words, it tends to make them leave the Law and the Go/pel out of their Religion, and quiet themfelves with mer£ Heathen Morality, For a Man cannot attain to Love to God and Faith in Ckriji, without right Apprehenfions of God and Chrijl. Or in other Words, a Man cannot attain to a real Conformity to the Law, and to a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel, unlefs his Principles refpecling the Law and Gofpel are right : But a Man may attain to a good Life, exter- xa/fy, let his Apprehenfions of God and Chrift, of Law and Gcffel, and all his Principles of Religion, be what they wilL Let him be a Hea then, or Jew, a Mahometan, or Chnitian j yea, if a Man be aa Atheift, he may live a good Life externally ; for any Man has fuffi- cient Power to do every external Duty ; 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 Nnv-Englend, there are Multitudes who care little or nothing what Doarines Men believe, if they are but full of FLAMING ZEAL. Juft as if it were no Matter what a Kind of Saviour we frame an Idea of, if we do but love him ; nor what we are zealous about, if we are but FLAMING HOT,
6 True 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 and great Senfe of God \ but it only makes them fee and feel their native Enmity, which before lay hid. A Sight and 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, arid fo what their Danger is : It makes the Commandment come, and fo Sin revives, 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 fect 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 fecret Hypocrify there has been in all their Pretences of Love, is discovered : 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 greateft Averfion. For the more they know of God, the more their native Enmity is ftirred 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 Perfection, and he blaf- phemes like a very Devil : And that altho perhaps he died full of feeming Love and Joy. As the Galatians,vfho 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 fee very clearly what Godis,will thereby only have all the Enmity of their Hearts ftirred to Perfection. — From all which it is exceeding mani- feft that the cleared Speculative Knowledge 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 Gpd which 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 j and Beauty in being fuch •, which Senfe in Scripture-Lan guage is called feeing and knowing, i Joh. 3. 6. Wbofoever Jtnneth, bath not feen kirn, neither known him. iii Joh. ver. 1 1 . He that doth Evil hath not feen God. i Joh. 2. 4. He that faith, I know him, and keepeth not his Commandment sjs aLiar, and the Truth is not in him. Becaufe wicked Men have no Senfe 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. 20. 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, ftriclly 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 Beauty oRthe moft high God, begets in us high and exalted Thoughts of him* and makes us admire, won der
* I grant, that if all our Enmity againft 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 will 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 God to our Souls will effectually change us. — And thus a Man may be under great Terrors from a Senfe of the Wrath of God, and may fee the JEnmity of his Heart in this Senfe : and may afterwards have, as he thinks, great Manifeftation s of the Love of God, and be filled with Love and Joy : and after all, never truly fee the Plague of hi* own Heart, nor have his Nature renewed. And a Man's having experienced fuch a falfe Converfion, naturally leads him to frame wrong Notions of Religion, and blinds his Mind againft the TnrJk Many of the Antimmipn Principles take Rife from this Quarter.
8 True .Religion delineated Dis. I.
der and adore. Hence, the heavenly Hofts fall down before the Throne, and under a Senfe of his ineffable Glory, con tinually cry, Hcly, holy^ boly Lord God Almighty^ the whole Earth is full of thy Glory. And Saints here below, while they behold as in a Glafs the Glory of the Lord, are raviihed ; they efleem, they admire, they v/onder 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 Is1 ame alone is excellent, and thy Glory is exalted above the Heavens."
This high Efteem of God, difpofes and inclines theHeart to acquiefce, yea, to exult, in all the high Prerogatives God afTumes to himfelf.
God from a Confcioufnefs 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 Majefly, the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory ; and he fets up himfelf as the mod high God, fupreme Lord and fovereign Governour of the whole World, and bids all Worlds adore him, and be in a moft perfect Subjection to him, and that with all theirHearts •, 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 God. I am the Lord, that is my Name, and my " Glory will I not give to another. And thus and thus mall cc ye do, for I am the Lord. And curfed be every one that " continues not in all Things written in the Book of the <c 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 mod high God thus to do. And when we fee his infinite Dignity, Greatnefs,Glory andExcdlency, and begin rightly to efteem him ; then his Conduct in all this will begin to appear infi nitely right and fit, and fo infinitely beautiful and ravilhing,
and
and diflinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 9
and worthy to be rejoyced and exulted in. Pfal. 91. i. The] Lordreigneth^ let the Earth rejoycs : Let the Multitude of the ( IJles be glad thereof.
And a Sight and Senfe of the fupreme, infinite Glory and Excellency of the divine Nature, will not only make us glad that he is GOD and KING and GOVERNOUR ; but alfo exceeding glad that we live under his Government,and are to be his Subjects' and Servants, andtobeathisDifpofe. — It will fhew us the Grounds and Reafons of his Law, how infinitely right and fit it is that we fhould love him with all our Hearts, and obey him in every Thing : How infinitely unfit and wrong the leaft Sin is : And how juft the threat- ned Punifhment. 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 fmail Duft 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 Subjection, and abfolutely at his Difpofe. In a Word, we fhall be glad to fee him take all that Honour to himfeif 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. 5,6. / have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear : But now mine Eye feeth thee. therefore I abhor my f elf and repent in Duft and AJhes. Ifa. 2. 1 1. The lofty Looks of Man Jhall be humbled^ and the Haughtinefs of Man Jhall be brought down, and the Lord alone Jhall be exalted. — And that all this is implied 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 Diflike, and proves that there is fecret Rebellionin 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
Jo True Religion delineated Dis. I.
he appears very excellent in our Eyes, and we highly efteem him, it is natural now heartily to wifh him well -9 we are concerned for his Intereft, 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 Irftereil in the World. When God is feen in his infinite Dignity, Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency, as the moil high God, fupremeLord,and fovereignGovernourof the whole World ; and a Senfe of his infinite Worthinefs is hereby raifed in our Hearts •, this enkindles a holy Benevolence, the native Language whereof is, Let God be glorified, Pfal. 96. 7, 8. And be tbou exalted, O God, above theHeavens : Let thy Glory be above all the Earth, Pfal. 57. 5, 1 1.
This holyDifpofition fometimes exprefTes it felf in earneft Longings that God would glorify himfelf, and honour his great Name \ and bring ail the World into an entire Sub jection to him. And hence this is the native^Language of true Love, Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, thy 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 rore, and thefulnefs thereof, let the Field be joyful, and all that is therein : Thenjhall the frees of theWood rejoyce, before the Lord ; for he cometh,for he cometh to judge the Earth, he fi all judge the World with Righteoufnefs, 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 moil certainly to bring Reproach and Diihonour upon his great Name,it occafions the greateil Anguiih & Diftrefs. Thus lays God toMofes, <c This is a ftiff-necked People, let me *c alone that I may deilroy them in a Moment, and I will « make of thee a great Nation." But fays Mofes, " What " will become of thy great Name ? What will the Egypfc " tfwfay? And what will theNations all round about fay ?" And he mourns and wreilles, crys and prays, begs and
pleads,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 1
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 j it can't comfort me, " to tell me, of making of me a great Nation : Pray let " 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." Well,fays God, "I will hear thee. " But as truly as I live, I will never put up thefe Affronts; " but the whole World ihall know what a holy and " Sin-hating God I am, and be filled with my Glory : For " the Carcaies of all thofe, who have treated me thus,fhall " fall in the Wildernefs ; and here they Ihall wander 'till " forty Years are accomplifti'd, and then I will do fo and " fo to their Children, and fo fecure the Honour of my " Power, Truth and Faithful nefs." 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 diftrefling to a true Lover of God, to fee God's Name and Works and Ways fall into Reproach and Contempt ; and as on the ci ther Hand there is no greater Joy then to fee God glorify himfelf -, (Exod. i$.) Hence, this World, even on thisAc- 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 theyfhali fee all Things turned to the Advancement of the Glory of 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 exprelfes it felf in earner! 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 moft folemn Adoration. Yea, and that Sun, Moon, Stars •, Earth, Air, Sea ; Birds, Beafts, Fifhes ; Mountains and Hills, and all Things Ihould in their Way, difplay the divine Perfections, end praife the Name of the Lord, becaufe his Name alone
is
12 True Religion delineated Dis. L
is excellent and his Glory is exalted above the Heavens. And hence the pious Pfalmift fo often breathes this divine Language. Pfal. 103. 20, 21, 22. Blefs the Lord, ye his Angels ) that excel in Strength, that do his Commandments -, bearkning unto the Voice of hisP^ord. Blefs ye thcLcrd, all ye his Hofts, ye Ministers of his that do his Pleafure. Blefs the Lord all his Works, in all Places of his Dominion : Blefs the Lord, O my Soul. Pfal. 148. i, — 13. Praife ye the Lord. Praife ye the Lord from the Heavens : Praife him in the Heights. Praife him, all ye his Angels : Praife him, all his Hotts. Praife him, Sun and Moon, &c. Let them fraife the Name of the Lord •, for his Name alone is excellent, &c. See alfo the 95, 96, 97, & 98th Pfalms, &c. &c.
Laftly, From this divine Benevolence, arifes a free and genuine Difpofition to dedicate,coniecrate, devote and give up our felves entirely to the Lord for 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 f hall 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 Goyernour 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 mould 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 ourfelves, 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 engage 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. n. T'bou art worthy, 0 Lord, to re ceive Glory, and Honour, and Power : For thou baft created all things, and for thy Pleafure they are, and were created. And it was their Maxim in the Apoftles Days, Whether they sat 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 t& live to themfelves, but to the Lord -, ( 2 Cor. 5. 15,) Yea, Whether they lived, to live to the Lord ; or whether they died,
t$
and. diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 13
to die to the Lord. Rom. 14.7,8. "This was v/hat they com mended. Phil. 2. 20, 21. And this was what they enjoined, as that, in which the very Spirit of true Religion confifted. Eph. 6. 5, 6, 7. i Cor. 6, 20. Rom. 12. i. & 7. 4.
All rational Creatures, acting as fuch, are always influ enced by Motives in their whole Conduct. — Thofe Things are always the moil powerful Motives, which -appear to us jnoft worthy of our Choice. — The principal Motive to an Action, is always the ultimate End of the Action. Hence, if God, his Honour and Intereit, appear to us as the fu- pream Good, and moil worthy of our Choice; then God, his Honour and Intereft, will be the principal Motive and ultimate End of all we do. If we love God fupreamly, we fhall live to him ultimately. If we love him with all our Hearts, we fhall ferve him with all ofir Souls. — Juft as on the other Hand, if we love our felves above all, then Self- Love will abfolutely govern us in all Things. If Self-In- terefl be the principal Motive,then Self-Interefl will be the lail End, in our whole Conduct. — Thus then we fee, that if GOD be higheft in Efteem, then Gofs Intereft will be the principal Motive and the laft End of the whole Conduct 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 -Inter eft governs Men, they are confidered in Scripture, as ferving themf elves. (Hof. i o.i. Zee. 7. 5,6.) And where God's Intereft 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 fo as to ferve kirn, is what the Law requires ; To love Self fo as to ferve Self, is Rebellion againil theMajeily of Fleaven. And the fame infinite Obligations which 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 fupremely.
4. and lailly. Delight in God, is alfo implied in Love to him. By Delight we commonly meanjthatPleaiure, Sweet- nefs and Satisfaction, which we take in any Thing that is very dear to us. When a- Man appears very excellent to us, and we efteem him, and wifh him all Good •, we alfo at
the
14 True Religion delineated Dis. L
the fame Time, feel a Delight in him, and a Sweetnefs 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 lupreamly, and is devoted to him en tirely, now alfo he delights in him fuperlatively. His De light and Complacency is as great as his Efleem, and arifes from a Senfe of the fame moral Excellency and Beauty. — From this Delight in God arile Longings after further Ac quaintance with him, and greaterNearnefs to him. Job 23.3. O that I knew where I might find him , that I might come even to his Seat ! — Longings after Communion with him. Pfal. 63. i, 2. O God, thou art my God, early will Ifeek thee : My Soul thirfteth for thee, my Flejh longeth for thee in a dry and thirfty Land, where no Water is : 'To fee thy Power and thy Glory, fo as Ihavefcen thee in the Santtuary. /. 8. My Soul f allow eth hard after thee. — A holy Rejoycing in God. Hab. 3. 17, 1 8. Altkb the Figtree Jhall not Blcjfom, neither Jhall Fruit be in the Vine : The Labour of the Olive foall fail, and the Field Jhall yield no Meat, the Flock ftjall be cut off from the Fold, and there Jhall be no Herd in the Stall : Tet I wilt rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the Rock of my Salvation. — Finally, from this Delight in God arifes a holy Difpofition to renounce all other Things, and live wholly upon him, and take up everlafting Content in him, and in him alone. Pfal. 73. 25,26. Whom have I in Heaven but thee ? and there is none ufonlLarth Idejire befides thee. MyFleJh and my He art 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 Expecta tion of Heaven : but the true Lover of God takes his Con tent in God himfelf. Pfal. 4. 6, 7. And thus we fee what is implied in Love to God.
And
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 5
And now that this is a right Reprefentation of the Nature of that Love, which is required in the firfl and great Com mandment of the Law upon which chiefly all the Law and theProphets hang,is manifeft,not only from theReafon of the Thing, & from what has been already (aid-, but alfo from this, that fuch a Love to God as this Jays a fure & firm Foundation for all holy Obedience. That Love to God is of the right Kind which will effectually influence us to keep hisCommands. Job. 15. 14. i Job. 2. 3, 4, 5. But it is evident from the Na ture of Things, that fuch a Love as this will effectually in fluence us to do fo. As Self-love naturally caufes us to fet up Self and feek Self-Intereft : So this Love to God will naturally influence us to fet up God and feek his Intereft. 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 we loved him only from Self-love, from the fear of Hell, or from the hopes of Heaven -, we might at the fame time hate his Law : but if we 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 Contradiction. It is to fuppofe a Thing fupremely loved ; and yet at the fame time not loved at all. So that to a Demonftration, this is the very Kind of Love which the Lord our God requires of us. So Saints in Heaven love God perfeftly, 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 which the Law requires. There is therefore no difference between their Love in Heaven, and our's here upon Earth, but only
ia Degree.
SECTION
1 6 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
SECTION II.
Shewing from what Motives true Love, to GOD takes its Rife.
II. I now proceed to fhew more particularly, from what Motives we are required thus to love God. Indeed I have done this in Part already. For I have been obliged all along, in fhewing what is implied in Love to God, to keep myEye upon the firil and chief Ground & Reafon of Love, name ly what God is in himfelf. But there are other Confidera- 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 all 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. Thou /halt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, i. e. becaufe he is THE LORD and OUR GOD. *
i . The firft and chief Motive which is to influence us to love God with all ourHearts, is His infinite Dignity £f? Great- vefs, Glory and Excellency : Or in one Word, His infinite Amiablenefs. 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 Confiderations,he is infinitely amiable j 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 THE 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 the 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 i then our Love is not what his Law 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 Refpeft to one of my Neighbours who is very kind to
me,
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 7
me, and either do not know what a Sort of Man he is, or if I do, yet do not like him ; it is plain, it is his Kindnefles 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. Put forth thineHand now, and touch all that he hath^ and he will curfe thee to thy Face (Job i. n.) 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 firft and chief Thing for which we love him.
Now, God is infinitely lovely, becaufe he is what he is. Or in other Words,hisinfiniteDignity &Greatnefs,Glory and Excellency, are the Refult of his natural and moral Per fections. So that it is a clear Sight & realizing Senfe of his natural & moral Perfections, as they are 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 Solo 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 ! 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 incornprehenfible Perfections, is ra vifhed with his infinite Dignity, Majefty, Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency •, and loves, admires, and adores -, and fays, Who is a God like unto thee !
His natural Perfections are,
(i.) His infinite Under/landing ; whereby he knows himfelf, and all Things poffille •, and beholds all Things paft, prefent and to come, at one All-comprehenfive View. So that from Everlafting to Everlafting, his Knowledge can neither increafe nor diminifh, or his Views of Things fuffer the leaft Variation ; being always abfolutely compleat, and confequently neceflarily always the fame.
(2.) His Almighty Power •, whereby he is able, with infi nite Eafe, to do any Thing that he pleafes.
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1 8 True Religion delineated Dis. L
And his moral Perfections 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 belt Manner.
(2.) His perfefl 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 Juflice ; 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 beftow the greateftFavours upon his Creatures, if he pleafes j and is inclined to beftow all that is beft ; all Things confidered.
(5.) His Truth and Faithfulnefs ; , whe'reby 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 Perfections, and his Glory and BlefTednefs, which refults from them, he has in himfelf,and of himfelf, underived j and is neceflarily infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in all ; and fo abfolutely In dependent, Self-fufficient and All-fufficient. " This is the God, whom we do love ! " 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.
Pirft^ He difcovers thefe his Perfections by Us Works. i. e. by his creating^ preferring^ and governing the World ; and by his redeeming, fanftifying and faving bis 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
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 9
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 Fifties 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 furpafiing our Undarftanding. So that the invisible Things cfGod^ from the Creation of the World, are clearly feen, being underftood by the ^Things that are made^ even his eternal. Power and Godhead. As St. Paul obferves, in Rom. i. 20.
.2. By his preferring theWorld. His Eyes run to and fro thro'out all the World, beholding everyThing. 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 Underftanding fees all, his infinite Power upholds all, his infinite Wifdom 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 prefer ving, as well as in creating the World. And hence when the piousPfal- tnift meditates on the Works of Creation and Prefervation, he fees God in them, and views his Perfections, 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 fee. And Pfal. 9 5.1. O come let usfing unto the Lord, &c. — But why ? — /. 3. For the Lord is a great God, find a great King^ above allGods. — But how does this appear ? Why,^r. 4,5. In 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, $. 6. O therefore come let usworjhip and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.— And again in Pfal. 96. i. Ofmgunto 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 tc be feared above all Gods. — But wherein does this appear ? — Why— jfr. 5. M the Gods of the Nations are Idols : but tie
C 2 LORD
2O True Religion dilineated Dis. L
LORLmadetheHeavens. -And once more inPfal. 1 04. i , 2 ,&c. Blefs the Lord., O mySouL — But why ? — T'bou ar t very great y thou art cloathed with Honour and Majefty. — But how does this appear ? — Why ? — 'Thou haftftretched out theHeavens as a Curtain. And ^.5. And laid the Foundations of theEarth, that it cannot be removed for ever. And ^.27. Ail wait upon thee+ that thou mayftgive them their Me at in dueSeafon. /.28.^ *?bat thou givefl 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 Perfections therein difcovered, and admiring the divine Glory, and wondering and adoring : And finally concludes with, Blefs the Lord^ O my Soul : Pra'fi ye the Lord. But,
3. His Perfections are fill much more eminently difplayed^ in thai moral Government , which he maintains over the intel ligent Part of the Creation : especially his moral Perfections. In the Works of Nature his natural Perfections 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 Perfections of God are to be feen in the Work of Creation : If we view Angels and Men,and con- fider what they were, as they came firft out of his Hands ; holy and pure. But ftill God's Conduct 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 -9 ib God's moral Perfections 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 moft exact Image of himfelf. For as God loves himfelf infinitely, for being what he is 5 fo he takes infinite Delight, in acting forth and exprefling 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 perfectly loves to have all his Condud (the whole of it taken together) an exaff Refem- blance of himfelf ; and infinitely abhors in his publick Conduct, in the leaft to counter-act the Temper of his Heart j fo as by his publick Conduft, to feem to be, what
indeed
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 2 *
indeed he is not. So that, in his moral Governm ent of the World we may fee his inward Difpofition,& difcer n the true nature of his moral Perfections. 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 vaft Dominions lie open to his View. His All-feeing Eye views all his Courts above,and 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 perfect and compleat. He can behold all the folemn Worlhip of Heaven, and the inmoft Thoughts of all that great Afiemblys he can behold all the Sin, Mifery and Confufion that over- fpread 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 Perfections in his Government over all. See the Omnifcience of God elegantly defcribed in Pfal. 139. i, — ,12. And being perfectly acquainted with himfelf, as well as with all his Creatures ; hence, he can not but fee what a Conduct from him towards them, will, all Things considered, be mod right and fit and amiable, and moft becoming, fuch an One, as he is •, and alfo, what a Conduct from them to him, is his Due •, and their Duty. By his infinite Underftanding he is perfectly acquainted with Right and Wrong, with what is fit and what unfit : And by the moral Rectitude of his Nature, he infinitely loves the one and hates the other, and is difpofed to conduct accordingly, of which more prefently. Pfal. 147. i. Praife ye the Lor d9 for it is good to fing Praifes unto our God ; for it ispleafant, and Praife is comely. — But why ? — ^5. Great is our Lord and of great Power ', HIS UNDERSTANDING is INFINITE. — But wherein does that appear ? — Why, jt. 4. He telleth the Number of the Stars : He calk th them ALL by their Names. Now if the infinite Underftanding of God may be feen in this one Particular ; much more, in the re gular ordering and difpofing of ah1 Things, throughout: the
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22 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
whole Univerfe : And that, not only in the natural^ but alfo, in the moral World.
(2.) His infinite Power , is diplayed 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 absolutely at his Mercy ; and he has dealt with them according to his fove- reign Pleafure •, and none has been able to make any Re~ fiftance •, nor has there been any to deliver them out of his Hands. — When Rebellion broke out in Heaven, he crufh'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 PermifTion. — And when Rebellion broke out upon Earth,, the Rebels were equally in his Hands, and at his Mercy ; tmable to make any Refiftance : altho5 he was pleafed, in his infinite Wifdom, to take another Method with them: But he has fmce difcovered his Power, in treading down his implacable Enemies, under Foot, many a time. He de- ftroyed the old World, burned Sodorn^ drowned Pharaoh and his Hofts, 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 the World, 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 ftill he has been above them, and has accomplimed his Defigns by them, and at laft has brought them down. Haughty Nebuchad nezzar when he had broken the Nations to Pieces, as if he had been the Hammer of the whole Earth, now tho't him- fe\f fome-body. Arid 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 nor 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 World. Howbeit they meant not
fo
and dijlmguljhed from all Counterfeits. 2 3
fo, 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 always fuch have been in his Hands as the Ax is in the Hands of him that hewetb therewith, or as the Saw is in the Hands of him that Jhaketb it -, 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 crushing Rebellions in his Kingdom, and fubdu- ing Rebels ; fo he has alib, in protecting his Friends, and working Deliverance for his People. He made a Path for his People thro the Sea ; 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 ; aad 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 DiftrefTes, 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 Difpenfations, evidently dif- coyering that he can do all Things. And his People fee it, and believe it ; and admire, &adore. Read Pfal. 1 05,
(3.) Again, His infinite Wifdom, 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 -, but has been and mall be, made entirely fubfervient to his Honour and Glory. Even the Contempt caft upon him by his rebellious Subjects, he turns to his greater Glory* As in the Cafe of Pbaraok,v/ho fet up himfelf againft God, #nd faid, Who is the Lord that IJhould obey him ? I know not the Lord, nor will I let Ifrael go. And he exalted himfelf and dealt proudly & haughtily ; and hardened his Heart, and was refolved he would not regard God, nor be bowed nor conquered by him : for he defpifed him in his Heart. But
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24 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
the more he carried himfelf, as if there were no God ; the more were the Being & Perfections of God made manifeft. For the more he hardened his Heart, the more ftout and ftubborn he was, the more God honoured himfelf ir\ fub- duing him. Yea, God in his infinite Wifdom fuffered him to 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 ofMofes, fo that Pha raoh in feeing might not fee, nor be convinced : and he ordered that the Plagues mould 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 all this with a View to his own Glory. As he tells Pharaoh 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 tojhew in tbee, my Power, and that my Name may be declared^ throughout all the Earth ', Exod. 9. 16. And ac cordingly God was illuftriouily honoured at laft 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 Philiftines had not for gotten it. For when the Ark in the Days of £//, was car ried into the Camp of Ifrael •, thePbiliftines were fore afraid ; and faid, "God is come into the Camp j Wo unto us. " Who fhall deliver us out of the Hands of thefe mighty *c Gods ? Thefe are the Gods that fmote the Egyptians, " with all the Plagues in the Wildernefs &c." i Sam. 4.
So God wifely ordered and over-ruled all Things, that befell the Children of Ifrael in the Wildernefs, to accom- plifh the Ends he had in View. His Defigns were to get himfelf a great Name, and fill the whole Earth with his Glory (Num. 14. 21.) and to try and humble his People, and make them know, that it was not for their Righteouf- nefs,that he brought them into theLand of 'Canaan (Deut.g.) And every Thing that came to pafs, for thofe forty Years, was admirably calculated to attain thefe Ends. The News ?f Pharaoh's Overthrow, of God's coming down upon
Mount
and difttnguijhed from all Counterfeits. 2 5
Mount Sinai, 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 Manna, of the Water flow ing out of a Rock and following them, of their Murmur- ings and Infurre&ions, and God's Judgments upon them ; I fay, the News of thefe3 and of other Things of this Na ture, that happened to them for thofe forjy Years ; flew all the World over, and filled all the Nations of the Earth with the greateft Aftonifhment •, and made them think there was no God, \\kethtGodofIfrael. (Numb. 14. 1 3,14, 1 5.) By all thefe Things •, and by God's bringing his People at lafl to the PofTeffion 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. with the clear Manifeftations of thofe Per fections in which his Glory confifts. And thus his great
End was obtained. And in t»he 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 laft mew 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 accomplifhed. Deut. 8. fcf 9,
and 10. Chap. -And now, all thefe Things were by God
wifely done ; and in this his Conduct^his infinite Wifdom ii
to be feen.* And thus it is in all God's Difpenfations,
thro*
<4
* If God had fo ordered, that Abraham had been born in the Land of Canaan, and his Pofterity had multiplied greatly,and the other Nationi gradually by Sicknefles 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 ieen : none of thefe excellent Ends attained : all would have been
refolved
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 particular. 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 Pfal. 104.24.^5? 105. i 45. iC0r.i.'24 — 31.
(4.) Again, His infinite Purity and Holinefs, is alfo dif covered in his Government of the World : in all that he has done, to eftablifh Right ^ and difcountenance Wrong^ thro'out all his Dominions. His creating Angels & Men in his own Image, with his Law written on their Hearts, manifefted his Difpofition, and mewed what he was pleafed with : But his publick Conduct as moral Governour of the World, has more evidently difcovered, the very Temper of his Heart -, and fhewn how he loves Right and hates Wrong^ to an infinite Degree. Governours among Men difcover much of their Difpofition,and fhew 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 -, by his paft Conduct, and declared Defigns for the future, he manifefts how he loves moral Good and hates moral Evil.
By his infinite Underflanding, he is perfectly acquainted: with Himfelf, and with all his intelligent Creatures : and fo perfectly knows what a Conduct in him towards them is right, fit & beautiful, andfucb as becomes fuch a One as he is. And alfo, perfectly knows what a Conduct in his Creatures towards him, and towards each other, is fit and amiable, and fo their Duty, He fees what is right, and
infinitely
xefolved into natural Caufes. — - Therefore God contrived where^m- bam ftiould be born ; how he fhould leave his own Country ; have a Promife of the Land of Canaan ; and how his Seed fhould come to ke in Egypt, come to be in great Bondage and Djilrefs ; how he would fend, and how he would deliver them, and how they mould carry themfelves, and what ffcould happen ; and how every Thing ihould turn out at laft : He laid the whole Plan, with a View tothofe (excellent Ends his Eye was upon. It was wifely contrived : and when it came to be afted over, his infinite Wifdom was difcowed,
and diftinguljhed 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 leaft Defect : and promifes eternal Life and Glory, in Cafe of perfect Obedience. This is the Language of his Law, Thoujhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart , and thy Neighbour as thy felf. Do this and live. Difobey and die. — And now all that infinite Eileem for himfelf, and infinite Regard for his own Honour, which he herein does mani- feft, does not refult from a proud or a, felfiih 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 2 2 . 2,3. and 35.6,7. But it refults from the infiniteHolinefs of his Nature. — He loves and honours himfelf as he does ; be caufe, fmce 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 fhews how infinitely he loves Righteoufnefs, and hates Iniquity. His promifing eternal Life and Glory to perfect Obedience, does indeed manifeft the infinite Goodnefs & Bountifulnefs of his Nature : 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 Injunctions, they are evidently d<s 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- *n, are required originally becaufe they are right in them--
felves.
28 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
felves. And the Sins forbidden, are forbidden originally, becaufe they are unfit and wrong ii themfelves. The in- trinfiek 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 with 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 Subjects, becaufe it is right that fo it mould be •, and becaufe he perfectly 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 & Bleflednefs which he beftows upon theAn- gels in Heaven under the Notion of a Reward to their O- 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.i 1.35,30.) 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 juft ferve as a fufficientTeftimony of his Approbation.— So on the other Hand, it was not in a Paflion, or from fuddden rafh Revenge, (which many Times influences fin- ful Men to cruel & barbarous Deeds,) that he turned thofe that finned down into Hell -, and for their firft Offence doomed them to everlafting Wo, without the leaft Hope. 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- fure, 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 Condudr., as he is in his Heart, He loves to aft .out his Heart, and
exhibit
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 2 9
exhibit a true Image of himfelf. — His infinite Love to Righteoufnefs and hatred of Iniquity, is alfo difplayed in his promifmg eternal Life & Bleffecinefs to Adam and to all his Race, a whole World of Beings, as a Reward to the Obedience of Adam •, by him conitituted publick Head and Reprefentative •, on the one Hand : and threatning eternal Deftruction to him and all his Race, a whole World of Beings, in Cafe of the leaft Tranfgreilion ; on the other Hand. — But his infinite love to Righteoufnefs, and hatred of Iniquity, is marrifefted in the greateft Perfection, 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 Abel, Enoch ^ andNoab -9 to Lot9 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 Ifraely in the Wildernefs, in the Time of the Judges,in the Reigns of their Kings ; and their long Captivity in Baby- Ion &c. have all been publick leftimonies 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 Conduct, and the de clared Defigns, of the great Governour of the World ; they love, admire and adore j and fay, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hofts, 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 fay,JF&<? is like unto tbee, O Lord, among the Gods ? Wbo is Me unto tbee? Glorious in Holinefs. -As they in Exod. 15, 11. * (5.) His
If we fhould fuppofe (as fome do) thafthere is nothing right or wrong antecedent to a Confideration of the fofittve Will and Law of God, the greac Governour of the World ; And that %/^/and Wrong refult
originally
30 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
(5.) His impartial Juftice.> is alfo difcovered in his moral Government of the World. He appears in his publick Conduct, as One infinitely engaged to give to every one their Due : and as One abfolutely governed by a Spirit of the moft perfectly difintereited Impartiality. — He appears as One infinitely engaged to maintain the Rights of 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 eilablilhed, in Heaven and on Earth, binding all to love, worfhip and obey him, as GOD, upon Pain of eternal Damnation. And fo again, he appears as One infinitely
engaged
originally from his fwereign Will and alfoktte Authority entirely ; then thefe manifeft Abfurdities would unavoidably follow,
I . That the moral Perfections of God are empty Names* without any Signification at all. For if there be no intririfick moral fitnefs and un- fitnefs 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 Propenfity ; 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 TKing as Pvight 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, juft orunjuft. An Idea of the infinitely glorious and ever-bieffed God, evidently as contrary to Truth, as can be devifed.
2. That in the Nature of Things there is no more Re.afon to love and obey God, than there is to hate and difobey him : There being in the Nature of Things no right nor wrong. Juft as if God was not infi nitely worthy of our higheft Efteem and moft perfect Obedience ! And juft as if in the Nature of Things there was no Reafon why we fhould love and obey Him, but merely becaufe he is the greateft and ftrongeft, and fays we muft ! Than which nothing can be more evidently abfurd, But if thefe Things be fo, then it will follow,
3. That there is no Reafon why he Jhouid require his Creatures to love and obey him^ or forbid the contrary : or why he Jhould reward the one, or puni/b 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 forvile Subje&ion. All exprefly contrary to Gen. 18. 25. Heb. I. 9. Eph. 6. i. Rom. 12. i. Rev. 4. II. Rom. 7. 12. Rom. 2. 4, 5,6. Rev. 19. I- — 6. Ezek. 18.25.
Or again, if we mould fuppofe (as others do) that there is no thing right or wrong, antecedent to a Confideration of the general Good of the whole Syftem of intelligent created Beings -, And that
Right
and diftingulfbed from all Counterfeits. 3 1
engaged to fecure all his Subjects here upon Earth in a quiet and peaceable PoflefTion every one of their own pro per Rights. And that by ftri&ly 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 3. 10. Deut. 27. 26.) — • And he appears as One go verned by a Spirit of the mod perfe&ly difmterefled 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 alfo thefe manifefl Abfurdities will unavoidably follow,
1. That the moral Perfections of God entirely confeft in, or refult from a Difpofaion to lo<ve his Creatures fupremely, and feek their Hafpinefs as his only End, Juft as if it became the moft High, to make a God of his Creatures ; and Himfelf their Servant ! Exprefly contrary to Rom. II. 36. Numb. 14. Rev. 4. II.
2. That God loves Vertue and rewards it, merely becaufe it tends to make his Creatures happy : and hates Vice and puni/hes it, merely becaufe it tends to make his Creatures miferable. 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 ! Exprefly contrary to Exod. 32. Numb. 14. i Sam. 2. 29, 30. 2 Sam. 12. IO, 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 becaufe 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 arifing ! Andjuft as if he thought it no Crime inus,to treat him with the greateft Contempt ! Andjuft as if nothing could raife his Refentment but merely the Injury done to our felves ! Exprefly contrary to Numb. 14. 2 Sam. 12. '10, 14. &c.
4. That <vut 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 inflicted Pu- nifhment is deferred in this World, or in that which is to come. And therefore all the Punilhments, which God does inflicT: 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 fmful Creatures, merely to keep others in Awe, whenas they do not in the leaft deferve any Puni foment, is to fuppofe the great Goyernour of the World to do Evil that Good may come, and yet at the fame Time to take the moft direft Courfe to render himfelf odious throughout all his Dominions, It is impofli-
b!e
32 'True Religion delineated Dis. L
who were feme 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 ib earneilly for Mercy : But above all, in that he fpared not his only be gotten Son, when he flood in the Room of Sinners. — If ever any poor guilty Wretch, round theWorld,feels tempt ed to think that God is cruel for dcmnmgSinners,arid 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 Chrift,and fee God's own Son,his fecond Self, there nailed up, naked, bleeding,groaning,dying, in the greateft pofTiblc Contempt,Ignominy &: Shame,before ten Thcufand iniult- ing, blood-thirfty Spectators. 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 infinitely 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 fland 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 Punifhments which God has inflicled upon Sinners in this World, and defigns to inflict upon them for ever in Hell, without fuppofmg 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 mould 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 orPunifhment, 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 puniih the other. And hence his Law and Government are holy, juft and good. They are glorious; and in and by them the infinite Glory of the divine Nature mines for$i. }fai. 6. 3. &«?. 4. 8, Rw. 19. i—6.
and dijlmguifned from all Counterfeits. 3 3
Cafe, and they in his ( if I may Jo fay, when fpeaking of the moil high God) fmce that for his own Son, a Per ion 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 ftrict Juftice worthy of an infinite Punifhment : it is right and fit that he iliould do as he does, and therefore his Conduct will for ever appear infinitely glorious and beauti ful in the Eyes of all holy Beings. Pfal. 96. n, 12, 13. Let the Heavens rejoyce, and let the Earth be glad : Let the Sea rore and the fuinefs thereof. Let the Field be joyful, and all that is therein : Then Jh&ll all the Tress of the Wood re- jcyce. Before the Lord ; for he cometh, for he cometh, to judge the Earth : He /hall judge tie World with Righteouf- nefs^ and the People with his Truth. See alfo Rev. 19.
(6.) His infinite Goodnefs^ is alfo difcove-red 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 Subjects to the higheft Perfection they are capable of. His Law teaches us to view all Things juft as they be, and to have our Will & Affedions entirely go- •verned by the Truth, by the very Reafcn 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 blefTed and glorious God, which is the higheft Dignity and Perfection, we are pofli- bly capable of. Wlien God commands us to be holy as he is holy, he enjoins that as our Duty, which at the lame Time is our higheft poflible Priviledge. He bids us be like the Angels, and begin our Heaven upon Earth ; yea, even to participate of a Glory & Bleffednefs, cf the f; me Nature with that, which he himfelf enjoys. To behold his Glory, to be ravifhed with his Beauty, to efteem him fupremely,live to him entirely,& delight in him fuperlative- !y,and to become like him in ourViews cf Things,& in the
D Temper
34 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Temper of our Minds, is our higheft Dignity, Glory and
Excellency, and our higheft Bleflednefs. And befides,
his Laws are ftill further calculated to promote the Wel fare of his Subjects, in that they are fuited to eflablifh 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 bleffed feffects, would reign thro all the Earth, as they do in Heaven : And Paradife 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 & Unrighteoufnefsof Men, which are the Ruin and Debafement of our Nature, and the De- ftrudion of our Peace and Happinefs. He threatens Damnation to his Subjects, 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 Subjects are mercifully fore-warned of the evil and bitter
Confequences of Sin, to the End they may avoid it.
He is a perfect 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- fuited, or any evil Thing done among his Subjects. And therefore this good Governour has threatned Tribulation and Anguiih, Indignation & Wrath, againft every Soul that doth Evil ; and with all his Authority has command ed his Subjects thro all this World, upon Pain of eternal Damnation, to do as they would be done by.
And then ftill further to engage his Subjects to that, in which their greateft Glory and Bleflednefs confifts, he in his Law promifes eternal Life to the obedient. Wherein the infinite Bountifulnefs of his Nature, as well as his un- Ipeakabie Concern for his Creatures Welfare, is difcovered.
And if we furvey his Conduct towards Mankind from the Beginning, we may in ten Thoufand Inftances, fee the infinite GoodJuefs of his Nature difplay'd. If we confider
what
and diftinguifiedfrom 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 Sanclifier, how he has fent all his Servants the Pro phets, riling early and fending •, and that notwithilanding he knew before-hand what Treatment he fhould meet with from a guilty, ungrateful, God-hating WorlcJ, how they would murder his Son, refift his Spirit, and kill hisMefTen- gei s : 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; even while they have contemned and affronted him in the vikft Manner : and if we confider his diftinguifhing Favours to wards his Elect, and the marvellous Things 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 flrewed 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 Gdvernour of the World evidently appears to be a Being of infinite Goodnefs.
His Goodnefs is as unbounded as his Power. There is noAcr 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 beft to be done. His Propenfity to do Good is fully equal to his Ability. All the Treafures and good Things of this lower World are his, and he gives ail to the Children of Men, and we mould have enjoyed all without the leaft Sorrow intermixed, had not our Sin & Apoftacy made it neceflary for him to give feme Teftimony of his Difpleafure : and yet even the Calamities of Life are well adapted incur prefent State to do us Good. — All theTreafures & Glories of Heaven are his, and he offers all to a guilty World* and actually gives all to fuch as are willing to accept of all, thro' the Mediator, in the Way prefcnbed. — 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 Sinners to God ? Be-
D 2 hold-
36 True 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 fhew all thofe Kindneiles to his intelligent Creatures, which, all Things confidered, are bell fhould be (hewn. And his Underftanding is infinite, whereby he is able to determine exactly what is bell in the whole. Thy Mercy ^ 0 Lord, is in theHeavens \ and thy Faith- fulnefs reacheth unto the Clouds. How excellent is thy loving Kindnefsy O God ! Therefore the Children of Men put their fTruft under the Shadow of thy Wings. Pfal. 36. 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 : i. 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 cxiftiijg 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 diicourage 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 fhew Mercy ; yea, the greateft of Mercies. He can give his Son to die for fuch, and his holy Spirit to fanctify them, and himfelf at laft to be their God &Father and everlaiting Portion. Such is the incomparable Good nefs of his Nature. V/ho is a God like unto -Thee ! &c. Me. 7. 18,19. — But then he is at his Liberty, in fuch Cafes, and may act according to his own Difcretion, and have
Mercy
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 3 7
Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and have. Companion on whom he will have Compaflion. And truly it is infi nitely fit he ihoukL To act fovereignly, in fuch Cafes, is infinitely becoming. — And indeed, it is fit he fhould dif- penfe all his Favours according to his fovereign Pleafure. It is fit he Ihould do what he will with his own. He knows beft how to exercife his own Goodnefs, and it is perfectly fit that he Ihould be at Liberty, and act according to his own Difcretion, according to the Counfel of his ownWill. And becaufe it is infinitely fit, therefore he actually does fo, Eph. i. ii. He pafied by the Angels that finned, and pitied finful Men •, he paffed by the reft of the World, and chofe the Seed of Abraham ; he fuffers Thoufands of Sinners to go on in their Sins and perifh, and in the mean Time, feizes here and there one, by his All-conquering Grace, and effectually faves them : and all according to his fovereign Pleafure, becaufe it feems good in his Sight fo to do. And the Reafon why he acts fovereignly, is be caufe in the Nature of Things it is fit he fhould. There fore his Sovereignty is a holy, & fo a glorious Sovereignty. Hence when Mofes defired to fee his Glory ^ he difcovered this unto him, Excd. 33. 12. And becaufe our Saviour faw how fit and becoming it was for God to act as a So vereign in beftowing his Favours, therefore he faw a Glory in his Sovereignty, and fo rejoyced in it. Mat. n. 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 act, it is infinitely fit he fhould be left to himfelf, to act according to his own Difcretion ; and it is infinite Impu dence for a Worm of the Duft to intermeddle, or go about to direct the almighty and infinitely wife God. And it is infinite Wickednefs to diflike his Conduct, and find Fault with his Difpenfations.
Indeed, if there was nothing of greater Worth and Im portance than the Happinefs of his Creatures & Subjects, and fo nothing that he ought to have a greater Regard to and Concern for, then it is not to be fuppofcd that any of
D his
38 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
his Creatures and Subjects would be finally miferablc. — The infinitely good Governour of the World has a great Regard to the Happinefs of his Subjects, 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 Ib rnuch greater Regard to fomething eiie, that in fome In- ftances he actually does fuffer Sinners to go on in their Sins and perifh for ever •, yea, and he will inflict 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 any ot 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 befb & wifeiL When he firft defigned to create the World, and rlrft laid out his whole Scheme of Government, as it was eafy for him to have determined, that neither Angeis nor Men ihould 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 for want of a fuitable Regard to the Happi nefs of his Creatures j 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 prefervc 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 becaufc he did not thoroughly confider & weigh the Thing with all its Confequences i for it is certain he did. But upon the whole, all Things con fidered, hejudg'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 ginning : and it is certain, that in an Affair of fuch a Waturc and of fuch Confequejice* he could not ftand by as
an
and diflmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 9
an idle, unconcerned Spectator, that cares not which Way Things go. There is no doubt therefore, but that all Things confidered, he thought it beft to permit Things to come to pafs juft as they did. And if he thought it beft, 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 Happinefs of his Creatures ? And if their Happi- nefs was to him above all Things moft dear •, 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 fomething elfe be* fides merely the Happinefs of his Creatures, to fomething 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 fhould 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 finimed, 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 Perfections to the Life, and fo by all will exhibit a moft perfect and exact Image of himfelf. And now, as he is infinitely glorious in being what he is, therefore that Scheme of Conduct which is perfectly fuited, to exhibit the moft lively and exact 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 much more lively
D 4 and
4-O True Religion delineated Dis. I.
and perfe<5b Reprefentation of God, than could poffibly have been exhibited, had there never been any Sin or Mifery. The Holinefs and Juftice, the Goodnefs, Mercy and Grace of God fhine much more bright. They have been with an aftonifhing Luftre and Glory, difplayed in the Death of Chrift, and will be difplayed torever in Heaven and in Hell, as they could not have been, had not Sin and Mifery ever been permitted to enter into
God's World. Indeed, iisin the Nature of Things, it
had been wrong for God to have permitted any of his Creatures to fin, and then to punilh 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 fmce, in the Nature of Things, it was fit he ftfould be at Liberty, and act accord ing to his own Difcretion ; and fmce the End he had in View, was ib noble and God-like •, therefore his Conduct in thisAffair was infinitely right, fit and becoming, and fo infinitely glorious. Certainly, God thought it v/as ib, 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 fhall think fo too. And, as I faid before, it is horrid Pride & Impudence for us to pre tend to know better than the infinitely v/ife God, and infi nite Wickednefs for us to pretend to find Fault with his Conduct. Rom. 9. 19 — 23. * Thus, if he had aimed merely at the Happinefs of his Creatures, he could eafily
have
* OBJECT. But furely it could not be confident with the divineGood- nefs, from all Eternity, to decree the cverlafting Mifery of his Crea- turec.
ANSW. God ha? in Faft permitted S:n to enter into the World, doesiii Kift permit many to die in their Sins, will in Faft punifn 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, if was confiftent with his Goodnefs to de termine withiiimfclf before-hand to do fo :— What God, from Eter nity, decreed to do ; that God, in Time, will do : therefore if all God's Ccndufl be holy, juft, and good, fb alfo are all his Decrees Unleis we can fuppcfe it to be wrong, for the infinitely wife God, Eternity, to determine upon a Condutf in all Refpedls nr^fc : taan which norhing can be nore abfurd.
a nd diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 4 1
have- fo ordered, that Pharaoh fhould willingly have let Ifrael go, and he could have led Ifrael in lefs than forty Days to the promifed Land, and put them in an imme diate Polleflion. But there was fomething elfe which he had a greater Regard to : And therefore P bar abb's Heart is hardened, and all his Wonders are wrought in the Land of Egypt. The Tribes of Ifrael march to the Borders of the Red-Sta, 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- lign was to difplay all his Perfections, and fill the whole Earth with his Glory. Exod.y;i$. Numb. 14*11. And now, becaufe it is the moft noble Thing that God can have in View, to a6l forth all his Perfections to the Life, and fo exhibit the moft exaft Reprefentation of himfelf in his Works j therefore it is infinitely fit he Ihould make this his laft End, and all other Things fubfervient ; and his Conduct in fo doing is infinitely beautiful & glorious. — Thus we fee how the Goodnefs of God is difplayed in his Government of the World ; & fee that it is an unbounded, rich, free Goodnefs ; and that all the Exercifes of it are ibvereign, and under the Direction of his infinite Wifdom : fo that God is infinitely glorious on the Account of this Perfection of his Nature. Exod. 33. 19. fc? 34. 5, 6, 7.
Rom. 9. Epb. i. i 12.
(7.) His unchangeable 'Truth and Faithfulnefs, is alfo dif- cpvered 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 Abraham's 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 Ihould forfake him, and
42 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 is another of the glorious Perfections of his Nature.
Thus all the Perfections of God are difcovered in his Government of the World. By his Conduft we may fee
what he is, and learn the very Temper of his Heart.
And now, I might go thro' his other Works, His redeem ing, juftifying, fanftifying Sinners, and bringing them to eternal Glory at laft, and mew how his glorious Perfecti ons mine forth in them. But I have already hinted at fome of thefe Things, and mall have Occafion afterwards to view the divine Perfe6tions mining 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 Perle&ions of God are mani- fefted in his Works.
Secondly. The fame Representation is made of God in his WORD. For thefe great Works of God, his creating, preferring & governing the World, his redeeming, fancti- tying and faving of Sinners, are the Subject-Matter of all the Bible. God in his Works acts out his Perfections, and in his Word lays the whole before our Eyes in Wri ting. Therein he has told us what he has done, and what he intends to do ; 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 fhewn 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 en throughout all the old Teftament informing, how he preferves & governs it. And then in the New-Teftament we are informed more particularly how he redeems,] uftifies, fanctifies,and faves Sinners. And now, as theActions of a Man difcover the Temper & Difpofition of his Heart, and fhew what he is ; fo'the Works of God from firft to
laft,
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 43
hit, all taken together, hold forth an exact Reprefenta- tion of himfelf. If we will begin with God's creating the World, and furvey all his Conduct in the Light of Scrip ture i his Conduct towards Man before the Fall, and after the Fall, his Conduct towards Abel and Cain? Enoch and Noah* and all the old World, his Conduct towards Lot and Sodom, towards Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob, and Jofeph, to wards the Children of Ifrael, in Egypt, at the Red- Sea, in the V/ildermfs, at Sinai, at Maljah, at 'Taberah, &:c. and in the Times of Jojbua, of their Judges, of their Kings,&;c. And then come into the New Teftament, and iurvey his Conduct with Relation to the Redemption & Salvation of Sinners, and then look forward to the great Judgment- Day, and fee his whole Scheme fmifhed, 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 act Reprefentation of Himfelf. And then are our Appre- hanfions of God right and according to 'Truth, when we 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 Hearts,bzc&ufe 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 himfeif 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, intirely void of a right Tafte and Relijh for true Beauty, they could not but be even ravifhed with the divirieBeing. They would naturally feel as they do in Heaven, and na turally fpeak their Language, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hofts ; the whole Earth is full of his Glory ! ( Ifai. 6. 3.) But fuch is the vile Temper of fmful 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 cf Hlinfeif,canfindnoPlace in theirHearts.(7^.8.37.)They
can-
44 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
cannot attend to Things of fuch a Nature (ver. 43.) becaufe ib difagreable to their Tafte. For (ver. 4.7.) He that is of God, hearetb 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 themielves, 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 dejire him : But would feel the like malignant Spirit towards him, as the Jews did to wards their Prophets, and towards Chrift and hisApoflles ; 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 Apprehenfiom 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 himfelf in his Glpry to the Heart
of
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 4 5
of a Sinner, in order to beget divine Love there. Which brings me to add,
Thirdly, God re-veals his infinite Glory, in being what he is, in the Hearts of Sinners, by his holy SPIRIT. Mat. n. 2^5 — 27. By his Works and in his Word he has re vealed what he is, and that in a Manner fufrkiently plain, even fo plainly, that there is no Need at all of any further objective 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 raviihed with his Glory : but we are naturally diiinclin- cd to right Apprehenfions of God, and are entirely defritute of a trueTaile for moral 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 fuffidently 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 Inipiration •, becaufe the external Reve lation already made is fuffidently plain. — We only need (i.) to be effectually awakened,to attend to thofe Manifeflations which he has made of himfelf in his Works and Word, that we may fee what he is : And (2.) to have zfpiritual Tafte imparted to us, by the immediate Influence of the Holy Ghofb, that we may have a Senfe of his infinite Glory in being fuch : For thefe two will lay an effectual 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 fanctifying 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 diftinctly we fee what he is. And while we fee him to be what he is, and fee his
infinite
46 True Religion delineated Dis I.
infiniteGIory in being fuch9hereby adivineLove is naturally enkindled in our Hearts. And thus,£fe that commanded the Light tojhine out of Dark :«<?/}, jhimsin cur Hearts^ and gives us the Light cf the Knowledge of the Glory of Gcd : And fo we all with open Face^ beheld as in a Glafs, the Glory of the jfa0r49 and are changed into the fame Image. ( 2. Cor. 3.18. and 4. 6.) — A Sight of the moral Excellency of the divine Nature makes God appear infinitely glorious in every Re- fpect. 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 mould do what he will with his own. His Juflice appears glorious, becaufe now we fee the infinite Evil of Sin. And a Con- fideration of his infinite Underflanding and almighty Pow er, enhances his Glory. And while we view 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 aflumes the Character of moil high God, fupreme Lord, and fovercign Goveraour of the whole World j and we reiign the Throne to him, and take our Places, and become his willing Subj eels, 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 ail 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 moft high God, lays the firil Foundation fora 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 firfl 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 flop a while, and a little confider the Nature and Pro perties of this firft and great eft and moft fundamental Obliga tion ; and take a View of fome important Conferences necef- farily following therefrom. And here,
i. This Obligation is binding antecedently to any Corifi- deration of Advantage or Dif advantage^ of Rewards or Pu* nijhments •, and even prior to any Confideration of the poji- tive Will and Law cf God himfdf.
2. It
' and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 47
2. It is infinitely binding.
3 . It is eternally binding.
4. It is unchangeably binding.
5. It is that from which all other Obligations original y 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 Confideration of Advantage or D if advantage^ of Rewards or Puni/hments, or even of the pofitive Will and, Law 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, & dreadtul Punifhments threatned on the other ; andGod^asGoverncur of the World, has with all his Authority by his Law ex- prefly required us to love him with all our Hearts, and for bidden the contrary : and all thefeThings are binding : but 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 indifpenfable Duty, to love God with all our Hearts. His being infinitely lovely inHimfelf, makes it our Duty to love Him. For he is in himfeif worthy of our higheft Efteem ; 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 Punifhments. 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 fhould love Him, and the contrary unfit and wrong, what Grounds are there for Rewards or Punifhments ? 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 Punifhments, or even of the pofitive Will and Law of God, to love God with all
our
48 True Religion delineated Dis. L
our Hearts \ and therefore cur Love muft 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 feliifh Considerations, 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 felfiih, a mercenary, and a forced Thing. How evidently therefore do thole difcover their Hypocrify, who are wont to talk after the following Man ner ? " If I am ele&ed, I fhall be faved, let me do what " I will •, and if I am not elected, I fhall be damned, let " me do what 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 would never do any " more in Religion." Surely they had as good fay, that they have no Regard at all to the infinite 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 aad obey him in every Thing, refulting from God's being what he is, and that antecedent to all feifiihConfiderations.Such know not God. (ijoh^.6) 2 . This Obligation refulting from the intrinfick Excel lency and Amiablenefs of the divine Nature, is infinitely binding : Becaufe this Excellency and Amiablenefs is in it felf infinite. Our Obligation arifes from his Defert ; 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 aggravatedly 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 infiaitely wrong, not to do fo. Since he is infinitely worthy to be honoured and obeyed by us,therefore we are under an infiniteObligationto honour & obey Him : And that with all our Heart & Soul, and Mind and Strength. Hence, [ i •]
and dlflinguifljed from all Counterfeits. 49
[ i ] PC rfeft Love and perfect Obedience deferve no Thanks at h. If. we perrectly love him, even with ail our
Hearts ; and give up our ielves 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- lailing 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 I hanks. (Luk, 17. 9,10.) Yea, we do nothing but that in which confifts our higherr. Perfection, Glory & BlefTed- nefs -, and therefore inftead of deferving If hanks, we ought to account it an exceeding great Priviiedge, that wre may thus love the Lord, live to him, and live upon him. (PfaL 19. 10.)
When therefore eternal Life was promifed in the firft Covenant, as* the Reward of perfedt 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 very Hearts they all join to fay, 'Worthy art thou, 0 Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour •, and Praife for ever. And they deferve no Thanks for their doing fo ; for they but own the very Truth.
"When therefore finful Men, poor Hell-deferving Crea tures, think it MUCH, that they fhould 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 how MIGHTY Good they are -, as he, Luk. 18.11,12. God, I thank thee, I am not as other Men are, Extoriicners,U/i- jufl, Adulterers, or even as this Publican •, — No, far from this, I am one of the beft Men in all the World, — If aft 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 of it: — Now, I fay, when 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 fpiritual Pride & Self-Righ- teoulhefs : and fuch are exceeding hateful in the Sight of God. They implicitly fay, 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 has fo little Lovelinefs^ that it is MUCH to love him. — Like a bad Mother- in-L aw, who thinks it nothing to do all Things for her own Children, becaufe fhe loves them ; but grudges every Step me takes for the reft,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 get Riches, Honour and Pleafure ; for they love themfeives : . 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 Majefly of Heaven, to whom all Honour is infinitely due, and in whofe Service all the Hofls of Heaven account themfeives perfectly blefled : 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.) When he receives what he ftriftly defers es, as an Hireling receives his Wages at Night. But in this Senfe the Angels in Heaven are not capable of a Reward : for in Uriel Juftice they deferve nothing. (Luk. 17. 9,10. Rom. ii. 35.) — They are no Hirelings, for God has a natural original5underived, entire Right to them •, as much as he has to the Sun, Moon and Stars : and thefe therefore deferve to be paid for their ihining, as much as the Angels do for their working. — Befides, 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 rifmg Sun by their Morning-Songs,and fo lay the Sun under Obligations to Ihine all Day. Job 22. 2,3. Can
a
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 5 1
a Man be profitable unto God, as he that is wife may be pro fitable unto himfelf? Is it any Plea fur e to the Almighty <, that thou art Righteous ? or is it Gain to him, that thcu makeft thy Ways per j -eft ? And yet even in this grofs Senfe, Self- righteous Perfons feel at Heart,as if they deferved a Reward for their good Duties •, tho' perhaps they are not willing to own it. Hence they are fo apt to think it would be very hard, unjuil and cruel, if God fhould damn them for their pad Sins, notwithftanding all their good Duties. Ifai. 58.3. therefore have we faffed, fay they, and thcu feefl not ? — But, (2.) A Man may be laid to be rewarded, when, al- tho' in ftrict Juitice he deferves nothing, yet he receives great Favours at the Hands of Gcd in Tejtimony of the divine dp-probation of his Perfon and Services. And thus the An gels in Heaven, tho' they deferve nothing, yet have eter nal Life bellowed upon them, as a Reward to their perfect Obedience, in Teftimony of the divineApprobation. God rewards them, not becaufe they do him any Good, nor be- caufe they deferve 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 moil that can be faid of the holieil Angel in Heaven, is, that he is fit to be approved in the Sight of God, becaufe he is perfectly fuch as God requires him to be. And now, becaufe God loves to put Honour upon Vertue, and to exercife the infinite Bound- fulnefs of his Nature, therefore he gives them the Reward of eternal Life. And thus God promifed us eternal Life> upon Condition of perfect 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 arc bound " in Duty to do ; then, altho' you will deferve nothing, " yet as becomes a holy and good God, a kind &: bound- " ful Governour, I will make you everlaftingly blefledirt " the Enjoyment of myfelf ; and that inTeftimony of my <c Approbation of your perfect and fteadyFidelity." And fo by Covenant and Promife this Reward would have been due, had the Condition been performed. Hence that in Rom. 4. 4. Now to him that worketh, is the Reward not reckoned of Grace, but of DEBT. And now here Self-
E 2 righ*
52 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
righteous Perfons are wont to come in with their Works, and infill upon their Highland plead the Reafon of Things, as well as the Promife. " If we do (fay 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 caft us off : his Goodnefs and Faithfulnefs are •" engaged for us.5* Juft as if they had now made full Amends for all their paft 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 Bleflednefs 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 Creator. Indeed,
Self-righteous Perfons mvyfretind to expect all for Chrifis Sake •, and fay, that what they do, only entitles them 'to an Intereil inhim : But it is all. mere Pretence-, for ftill they think, that God is bound to give them an Intereil in Chriil 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,theirown Worth or Worthinefs,to make Amends for paftSins, and recommend them to God, and entitle them to all Things •, 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 Conduct, confidered merely as they be in tbemf elves, Ihould be approved •, but ought to be con demned, according to Reafon,and according to God's righ teous Law, they being fo finfully defective •, neverthelefs fuch a Man may be faid to be rewarded, when merely on the Account of his Intereil in the Righteoufnefs and Worthinefs 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, and entitled to the Reward of eternal Life. (Phil. 3. 8, 9. Eph. 1.6. i Pet. 2.5. ) Now thofe who look for a Reward in this Way, will be fo far from thinking it MUCH, which they have done for God, that tjiey will for ever fet all down for
Nothing,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 5 3
Nothing &: worfe than Nothing, * their beft Duties being fo fmfullydefe6tivc-, and judge themfelves worthy of Hell eve ry Day, and every Moment : And all their Dependancewill be on (Thrift'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 rewaiding the Believers good Works, being viewed in this Light, gives not the leaft Countenance to a Self-righteous Spirit, but militates directly againft it. — — And indeed, if we were as perfect as the Angels in Heaven, it appears from what has been faid, that we fhould 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 Phurifee^ to feel as he does in his Self-righteous Frames. And God might expoftulate with fuch a one in this Manner -, " WThat, is there fo little Lovelinefs in me ! " And is it fo great, fo hard, fo felf -denying, to love me, " that you think it fuch a mighty Thing ! and expect now, " that all paft Sins mall 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 Cbliga- " tions to me fo fmall, that I muft be fo much beholden to " you for your Love ! What, 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
£3 " Wretch
* Worfe than nothing.' Note. I do not mean, that an imperfect and
very defeftiveConformity to the Law is worfe and more odious inGcd's Sight, than no Conformity at all : but only, that there is more Odcuf- nefs than Amiabknefe in fuch defective Services. And that therefore, we . are, in the Sight of God, on their Account, more proper Objects of Hatred and Punifhment, than of Love and Reward ; if confidered merely as in our felves, without any Refpect to our Relation to Chrift : So that in Point of recommending our felves to God, we do, by our beft Duties,thus confidered,rather difcommend ourfelves in hisSight. And in thisSenfe they are Worfe thanNotbing : They are even fo far from paying our conftant Dues, that, in the Sight of God, they conftantly 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 leaft Degree, to Counterbalance our Blame. — But if any are defirou;-: to fee this Point fully explained and proved, and all Objeclio fwered, I refer them to Mr, Edwardu excellent Difcourfe on tion fy Faith alone*
54 True Religion delineated Dis I.
<c 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- *6 gine,nor at all beholden to you for yourLove.' 'And this is one Reafon that the Sacrifice of the kicked is fuch an Abo mination to the Lord; not only when they pray with a View to recommend themfeives to their Fellow-Men \ but alfo when in doing their beft, they only defign to ingratiate themfelves with God. Prov. 21. 27. The Sacrifice of the Wicked is Abomination(evti\ his very bt&}Howmuck mere when be bringeth it with a wicked Mind ? The infinite Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency of God, and the infinite Obligation thence refulting which we are under to love him with all our Hearts and obey him in every Thing, renders a Self-righ teous Spirit, unfpcakably odious and infinitely provoking in the Eyes of a holy God. But this will appear ftill plainer under the next particular. To proceed therefore,
[2.] 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 leaft Difpofition to difefteem him, to be indifferent about his Intereft and Honour, or to difrelifh Communion with him •, or the leaft Difycfttion to love our felves more than God, and be more concerned about our Intereft and Honour, than about his, and to be pleafed and delighted in the Things of the World, more than in him, muft confe- quently be infinitely Jtnful, * as is felf-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 Punifhment.
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 we are under to do otherwife j 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 Refpeft. For Inftance, to be for ever in Hell is an infinite Evil, in Refpeft of the Duration ; but yet the Damned 'are not all equally miferable. Some may be an hundred Times as miferable as others, 'in Degree j altho* She Mifcry of ail is equal in Point of Duration,
and diflinguijbed from all Counterfeits. 5 5
exceedingly, for the remaining Corruptions of his Heart. For if the leafl Difpofition to depart from God and difrelifh Communion with him, and to be carelefs about his Honour and Intereft, is infinitely iinful ; then the beftMen that ever lived, have infinite Reafon always 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 great , appears as Drofs to them •, and it is nothing to them, to part with Friends and Eftate, Honour and Eafe, and all, for Chrift -9 and although they have adually fuffered the Lofs of all Things, and do count them but Dung, not worth mourning about, or repining after : Yet notwithftanding all thefe At tainments, attended with the fulleft 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 T'ears •, becaufe ftill there is fuch a remaining Difpofition in their Hearts to difefteem the Lord of Glory, to neglect hislntereft, and depart from hirrij and becaufe they are fo far from being what they ought to be, notwithstanding 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 Allies : Yea, they are infinitely to blame tor not being more humble & penitent. — A Sighfand Senfe of thefe Things made Job lie down in the Duft, and mourn fo bitterly for his Impatience under his paft Afflictions, tho' he had been the moft patient Man in the World. ( Job 42. 5, 6. ) This made the-Pfalmift call himfelf zBeaft. (Pfal. 73. 22.) And hence Paul called himfelf the chief of Sinners ; and cried out, / am carnal, fold tinder Sin \ O wretched Man that I am ! And hated to commend himfelf when the Corinthians drove him to it, and feemed to Blum at every Sentence, and in a Sort recalled
his Words, / am not a whit behind the 'very chief of the
dpoftleS) yet lam nothing ; I laboured more abundantly than they ally yet not L 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 R'.ghrcouf- pefs of, but in ftrict Juftice merits eternal Damno.uo.-j every Hour, and does nothing to make the leaft Air".
E 4 For,
56 True Religion delineated Di s . . I.
For, if perfect Obedience merits no thanks, as was be fore obferved •, and if the lead Sin is an iniinite Evil, and defervcs an i-nfinitePunifhment, as we have now feen -, then a whole Eternity of perteclObedience would do jufc nothin^ towards making the leaft. Amends for the fmalleft Sin ^ much lefs will the beftServices ot the higheft Saint onEarth. And confequently when Paul came to die, he deferved to be damned ( coniidered merely as in himfelf} as much as when he was a bloody Pe.rfecutor,breathingoutThreatnings and Slaughter, yea, and a great deal more too. For all his Diligence and Zeal in the Service of Chrift, did juft nothing towards making the leaft Amends for what was paft -, and his daily Short-comings and fmful Defects run him daily infinitely more & more into Debt •, which he did nothing to Counterbalance. And henccPaul accounts him- felfto be Nothing^ (2 Cor. 12. n. ) as well he might j and all his Attainments to be in aSenfe not worth remembring, (Phil, 3. 13. ) and looks upon himfelf the chief of Sinners^ ( i Fim. i. 15. ) and lefs than the leaft of all 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 molt holy ; altho' lie daily fees what a God he has finned againft, how he has finned againft him, and does from a gracious Refpect to God mourn for Sin, for all Sin, as the greateft Evil, and fincerely 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 more humble and penitent and felf- abhorring, and that ib 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 Happinefs from the free Grace of God thro' Jefus Chrift. And this is what the A- poftle means, when he fpeaks of his living by the Faith of the Son of God,, (Gal. 2, 20.) of his rejoydng in Chrift Jefus , and having no Confidence in the Flejh. ( Phil. 3.3.) And this . was the Caufe of his fo carneftly longing to be found, not in
himfelf
and diftinguified from all Counterfeits. 5 7
himfelf, but in Chrift ; not having on his own Right eoufnefs^ but theRighteoufnefs which is of God by Faith. (Phil. 3. 8 ,9.) — How directly contrary to all this, is theTemper of the blind * conceited Pharifee^ as exprefled by Maimonides* the Jew, i who was profeffedly one of that Sect ? " 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 ; and when they fancy their Goodnefs out-weighs their Bad- nefs,then they look upon themfelves in the Favour ofGod.— But to return,
From what has been faid we may learn, that the more fenfehlc any Man is of the infinite Glory and Excellency of God, and of his infiniteObligations thence refulting to love God with all his Heart, and obey him in every Thing, the . clearer will he fee that perfect Obedience defer ves noThanks, and that the lead Sin is an infinite Evil and deferves an in finite Punifhment •, and fo he will renounce his own Righ- teoufnefs, die to himfelf, and come down to nothing, more and more : And fo will be proportionably more and more fenfible of his abfolute Need of Chrift & free Grace : And hence the more holy a Man grows, the more humble will
he be. And on the contrary, the more infenjible 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 Chrift and free Grace. And hence a felf-righteous, impenitent, Chrift-
defpifmg Spirit reigns in all who know net God. And
thus we fee fome ot 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 Hearts, arifing from his infinite Glory and Excellency,is in the Nature of Things eternally binding. God, his Being, Perfections, and Glory will be eternal ; God will always be infinitely amiable •, always as amiable as he is now. And
there
58 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
there will be always therefore the fameReafon that he fhould 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 iick 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 withjofepb, or on the Dunghill with Job, or wandring about in Sheep- fkins and Goat-fkins, deilkute, affli&ed, tormented, with thofe mentioned in the Eleventh to the Hebrews •, ftill 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 will.
Did our Obligations to love God,arife merely from aCon- fideration of fomething elfe befides the eternal Excellency of the divine Nature, from fomething which might altogether ceafe in Time, then might it poffibly fome Time or other ceafe to be our Duty to love God with all our Hearts : But affuredly it can never ceafe^ untilGod ceafes to be what he is. The infinite Obligation hence arifing will be eternally Bind ing. — Indeed if all our Obligations to love God did arife merely from fome felfifh 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, and to 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 felfifh 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 fallenAngels has been increafmg ever fince their firft Apoftacy -, an4 the Guilt of all the Damned will
be
and diftinguijhed ft *om all Counterfeits. 5 9
be increafmg to all Eternity : And no Doubt theirPunirh+ ment will increafe in the fame Proportion. How incon ceivably and infinitely dreadful, therefore, will be their Cafe, who are thus continually linking deeper and deeper in that bottomkjs Pit of Wo and Mifery ! And indeed, if this be the Cafe, Hell 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 inrimteExcellency of the divine Nature, is allb 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 our Duty. It will in the Nature of Things be unalterably right and fit to love him •, and not to do fo, unalterably unfit and
wrong. 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, ftiere can pofiibly be no Alteration in the 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, doubtlefs, fooner than any Thing, ftir up all their Hatred : But God deferves to be perfectly loved by them, as much as he did before their Apoftacy. There is a great Alteration in the Temper of their Minds 5 but not the leaft Shadow of
Change
60 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Change in the divine Beauty, Their having contra&ed 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 the Authority and Government of Almighty God. He deferves their Homage and Subje&ion, as much as ever he did. The original Ground of all ftill remains ; he is {till THE LORD. — The fame may be faid of fallen Man. . It is im- poflible, that our bad Temper fhould 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 a&ing 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 averfe to God & to allGood,thelefs he is to blame : Which is one of the grofleft Abfurdities in the World.
Therefore,
( i .) The divine Law which requires us to love God with all our Hearts, confidered as a Rule of Duty; is in the Nature of Things unalterable, and abfolutely 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 themfelves Right, and Duties an tecedent to any Confideration of an exprefsLaw in theCafe. (Eph. 6. i.) Thefe 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 dishonour 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 fit and our Duty •, and would have been fo, had there never have been any pofitive, exprefs T-awin the Cafe.
Now
and difiinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 6 1
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- turc fo infinitely fit. And now to fuppofe, that he would 1 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, asGovernour of the World,ftill to require it, as much as ever ; I fay,to fuppofe fuchaThing,cafts the higheft Reproach upon all his gloriousPerfedlions.— It cafes thehigheft Reflection upon his infimteHolinefs, whereby he is infinitely inclined to love Right and hate Wrong ; for it fuppofes him to releafe hisCreatures from doing Right,and to allow them to do Wrong ; a little at leaft. — It calls the higheft Reflection upon his impartial Juftice^ 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 them to keep back Part at leaft. — It cafts the higheft Reflection upon his Stability and Truth : For it fuppofes him to alter his Law, when there is no Reafon for it. — Yea, it reflects even upon \\\$Goodnefs 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 the Perfection and Kappinefs 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 mould 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 Wjjdm of the great Governour of the World : For it fup pofes him to ga counter to his ownHonour and to theGood of his Creatures, to counteract all his Perfections, and contra- .dicttheReafon&; Nature ofThings^ & that merely in Con- defcenfion unto,& inCompliance with, thefmfulcorruptTafte andlnclinations of an apoftate,rebellious,God-hatingWorld. ; And now, how could the great Governour of the World clear and vindicate the Honour of his great Name,in mak
ing
6 2 True Religion delineated Dis. L
ing any Abatements in this Law, which requires us to love him with all our Hearts ? Would he fay, that he had before required mere Lev e than was his Due ? Surely, nothing can be much more blafphemous, than to fuppofe this. — Would lie fay, that he does not defence fo much as he did ? Still it is
equally blafphemous, to fuppofe this. Would he fay,
that lefs than is his Due, is ALL that is his Due ? But this
would be to contradict himfelf, in expreis Terms. Or
would he openly profefs to quit hisRigbt 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 fmful Hearts ? But this, in the Nature of Things, would be infinitely Wrrong and Difhonourable. — Upon what Grounds then could the iupreme Governour of the World go about to make Abatements in a Law fo holy, juit 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 pofllbly 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 -5 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 <c 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 Tittle of his Law Jhould fail. Mat. 5. 18.
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 rebellious Subjects ! 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 diftinguifned from all Counterfeits. 6 3
What then do they mean, who in their Prayers prefumc to thank God for the gracious Abatements, which he has made in his Law ? And what do Minifters mean by telling their People from the Pulpit, that the Law is abated, and that Jimere Obedience is ALL that is now required of us? — Indeed, if poor fecure Sinners are made to believe, that this was the great Bufmefs 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 Strictnefs 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 afede.
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 much, the Governourof the World was obliged in Juftice to make fome Abatements : And fo the Death of Chrift in the Cafe was perfectly 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. fbink noty that I am come to deftroy the Law or the Prophets ; I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil. For verily I fay unto ycu9 'till Heaven and Earth pajs^ one Jot or one kittle Jhall in no wife pafs from the Law., 'till all be fulfilled. And this is the very Thing he condemns the Pharifees for thro all this Chapter, that they in Effect taught this Doctrine, 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 firft ftirring of Corruption atHeart,& fome lefler Iniquities. For Inftance, that " they muft not commit Murder •, but
that
64 True Religion delineated Dis. L
" that it was no Harm to be angry ' without *Caufe,. and " ipeak reproachfully, and keep a lecret Grudge atHeart. " (jfr. 21 j — 26.) That they mult not commit sldttltery, but <c that it was no Harm to have lecret lafcivious Thoughts. " ($. 27, — 30.) That they muit not be guilty of Perjury -, " but that there was no Harm in little pettyOathsincom- " mon Converfation. ( y:. 33, — 37. ) That they mail not: " bate their Friends, but there was no Harm in hating their " Enemies." (^'.43, — 47.) Thefe and fuch like Allowances, they taught, were made in the Law ; and fo, that fach Things were not finful. But our Saviour condemns their Doctrine, as falfe and damning •, and infills upon it, that the Law is not abated, and never (hall be •, but fays, it ftill requires us to be pewfeftj as our heavenly Father is perfetJ. 0^.48.) And declares, that if our Right ecufnefs exceedeth not the Right eoufnefs of the Scribes, and Ph art fees ( who were fo much for abating the Law, ) we faaU never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. (/.2O.) So far was our blefiedSaviour from any Defign to abate the holy Law of God, or leflen
our Obligations to a perfect Conformity to it.- And
indeed, if Chrift had died,and mould die aThoufandTimes, to purchafe an Abatement of the Law, ( if it be lawful to make fuch a Suppoiition) it would be to no Purpofe : For it cannot be abated, unlefs God ceafes to be what he is. For fo long as God is infinitely lovely, we mall - neceffanly be under an infinite Obligation to love him with all ourHeart, and with all our Strength ; and it will neceffarily be infi nitely Wrong, not to do fo. The Truth is, that God's
fending his Son into the World to die for the Redemption of Sinners, inftead of freeing us from our original natural Obligations to keep the Law, binds us more ftrongly fo to do j as wefhall afterwards fee. — Pfal. 119.1 60. 'Thy Word is true from the Beginning : And every one of thy righteous Judgments endurethfor ever. ($. 128.) I efteem all thy Precepts concerning all Things to be Right. ($. 14.4..). The Righteouf- nefs of thyTeftimomes is everlafting. ( tf. 152.) Thou haft founded them for ever. And therefore ( f, 160.) Everyone of them will endure for ever. As if the Pfalmift had faid, " The Thing required in thy Law is in it's own Nature " Right, everlaftingly Right j and thcrefore,as Governour
" of
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 6 5
" of the WTorld, thou haft by Law for ever fettled and efta- " bliihed 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 for God 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 f What ! Is this too muih ? Is this more than he deferves from us ? — Or does the Truth lie 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 <c very hard with us ?" — But is not this the very Thing thofe Citizens did, who hated their Prince, and fent after him, faying, We will not have this Mem to reign over us ? Luk. 19. 14. — Thefe Hints may ferve as an Anfwer fpr the prefent : But of this more hereafter.
But while fome are pleading, that Chrift died to purchafc an Abatement of the 'Law, others carry the Point ftill further, and fay that Chrift died entirely to difannul it \ and fo,thar now it wholly ceafes 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. n, 12, 13. ) — Oh how Men do love their Corruptions, and hate God and his holy Law, and long to have it cafhier'd and removed out of the World, that fo they may live as they lift, and yet efcape the Re preaches of their Confciences here, and eternal Puniihment hereafter ! — But GoDjittetb King for ever, and will after t 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 Subjects. Luk. 19. 27. But thcfi wine Enemies, which would not that IJhould reign over them, bring hither, and Jlay 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
66 True 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 ; hence do not fee how holy,juft and good the Law is, and the carnal Mind being Enmity againft God, is at the fame Time Enmity againft the Law, which is a Tranfcript of the di vine Nature ( Rom. 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, and entertain falfe Notions of his Law, that they may have a God and a Law both to their own Minds.
And now, as are Men's Notions of the Law, fuch are their Notions of Religion ; the Effence 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 Worihip, and attends the Sacrament, and thinks himfelf a very good Man ; like him \&Luk. 18.9, 10, &c. But as for the Dodhines relating to our natural Depravity, Regeneration, Converfion, Faith, Communion with God, and all the inftde of Religion, he under- ftands nothing about them -, they feem as ftrange as it did to Niccdemus to hear Chrift difcourfe about the New-Birtb. ( Joh. 3. ) And all the Talk about the inward Influences of the holy Spirit, in awakening, convincing, humbling and converting a Sinner, and in enlightening, teaching, quick- ning, comforting and fanftifying 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 G$od of his own free Will, (i. e, accord ing
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 67
ing to his Notions of Gcodnefs,) and do that which lhall efil&ually intitle him to the Promifes : And thus he has the Staff in his own Hand. And now here is a charming Religion, perfectly fuited to theTafte of an apoftate World ; for it's calculated to quiet the Confcience, while die Heart lies out eftranged 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 tbe left have their Failings, no Man is perfett, and I endeavour to be fine ere ^ and the beft have their Doubts, AJfurance is not to be attained, and fuch like Pleas help to keep their Confciences fecure. And now, O how they love thofe Minifters, that cry, Peace, Peace / But hate thofe that would fearch Things to the Bottom, and found anAlarm to fecureSinners,and deluded Hypocrites. — The fame I emper that makes them hate God and his Law, 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 believe it is fo.
Hence, again, here is another ', who has been mightily terrified and in great Diftrefs under a Senfe of the Wrath of God *and the Dreadfulnefs of Damnation ; but in the diftrefTmg Hour he has had it revealed to him (by the Spi rit of God, he thinks) that his Sins are forgiven ; and now he is Jure of Heaven, and is ravifhed at the Thoughts of eternal Glory : he holds it a great Sin to doubt ; and all his Religion confifts in Faith and Joy, /. e. in believing that his Sins are forgiven, and rejoycing in his blefled and happy and fafe Eftate, and in the Expectation of future Glory. — But as for a real Conformity to the Law, it makes up no Part of his Religion. He underftands rightly no thing what the Law requires -, he is neither fenfible of his Duty to God, or to his Fellow-Men : Yea, he hates to hear any Thing about Law, or Duty. — It is all Legal, he cries, and tends to kill Religion, and to wound weak Chriftians, and grieve and drive away the Sprit of Grace : and no preaching
F 2 fuits
68 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
fuits his Tafte, but what confifts in telling over and com mending fuch Experiences as his, and in fetting forth the Love of God and Chrift to fuch, and calling upon fuch to believe, and rejoyce, and never doubt their State again. And in general thofe Things which tend to ftrengthen his Confidence and increafe his Joy, he eileems right and good \ and all Things of a contrary Tendency he efleems wrong and bad. This feems to be his only Criterion ofRight 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 doubtlefs many a Man that feels and acts and lives, as if the Law was abated, who yet will not plead for that Doctrine. — So doubtlefs there is many a Man that feels and acts and lives, as if the Law wholly ceafed to be a Rule of Life, who 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 Profeffion. However, fecretly this Temper reigns within them ; yea, fometimes it breaks out into openLight, in their vifible Conduct. — But, as flrange 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 Arminian^ Neonomian, and Pelagiam Errors have taken their Rife, and the Antinomian^ 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 of the wrong Temper of Men's Minds. For all unregenerate Men would fain have a God and a Law and a Religion to fuit the Temper of their Hearts. Micah 4. 5. For all People will walk every one in the Name of his God.
In the meanTime,the truly godly Man, who fees that the Obligation, which he is under to love God with all his Heart, refulting from the Excellency of the divine Nature, is un changeable •, and that the Law* which requires this, is un alterable ; inftead 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 diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 6 9
altogether fuch as the Law requires him to be, and that he is infinitely blameable for the leaft Defecl— Hence, thofe Words,7#<? Law is holy^jufl., and good., the Law isfpiritual \ but I am carnal, fold under Sin. O wretched Man that I am! do exactly expreis the Thoughts of the moil exalted Saint -on Earth, yea, even 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 he confidered what the Law was, which he was under, and how very far he was from being exactly what that required, the native Language of his humbleHeart is, I am carnal^ fold under Sin ! 0 wretch ed Man that I am ! * — And now the Apoftle, from a Senfe of his infinite Obligations to be what the Law re quires, and of his greatDiiiance from this, forgets thelihings which are behind \ and he runs, he wreftles, he fight s^ he ftrives, he keeps under his Body, he lays ajide every Weight ^ in fhort, he appears like aMan in a perfe&Agony : 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 Sane- tifier, it is his Maxim, to fray always , and to afk allThings in the Name of Chrift. - Now in his Example we have the Temper, which prevails more or lefs in every godly Man, exactly, painted. - —And thus we have had pictured in Miniature three different Sorts of Religion, arifmg from three different Notions of the Law. The Picture 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
* Some have thought, that St. JWhad arrived fo nigh to he could not fpeak thefe Words of himfelf. Their Miftake Teems to arife from their wrong Notions of the Law, to which St. Paul com - pared himfelf, and according to which h£ drew up his Judgment. And from the fame Source it feems to be, that they can think thofe Word*. *vcr. 22. applicable to the Unregenerate. I delight in the Law of C . / after the iwward Man, When in Truth the Unregenerate are in cto Temper, diametrically oppofite tp the Law, Row, 8, 7,
True Religion delineated Dis. I.
they differ ; which is Right, and which is Wrong. But fo much for the firft Inference, that the Law as a Rule of Duty , cannot be repealed or abated. And now to proceed,
2. From what has been faid it is evident, that tie Law in its tfhreatnings of eternalDamnation for the haft Sin, is equally uncapabk of any Repeal cr Abatement. — For if our Ooliga- tion,to love God with all ourHearts and obey him in every Thing,refulting from the divine Perfections, is infinite,eter- nal, and unchangeable ; and if therefore the leail Sin necef- farily be infiniteiyEvil, and deferving of an infinite Punim- ment, and unalterably fo •, then theLaw confidered as threat- ning eternal Damnation for the leaft Sin, is in its own Na ture unalterably holy and juft : And confequently it cannot be repealed, ccnfiftently with theHolinefs, 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 fhouldbe punifhed with eternal Damnation; then he might, in a mere arbitrary 'Manner , have repealed it : But fmce, in the Nature of Things, Juftice called for zY,that fuch a Law fhould be made, therefore fp long as theGrounds and Reafpns of the Law remain, the Law canntj;, injq/fricfr be repealed.
None can deny, but that the great Governour of the World lias actually 'made a Law, that Sin lhall be punifh- ed 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 it, furely die 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 Manner ^ -when in the Nature of Things Juftice does not call for ?V, would be infi nitely cruel and tyrannical, and perfectly inconfiftent with the divine Perfections ; as is felf-evident. SeeG^z. 18. 25. and Ezek. iB. 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 Reafon andGround sf the Lav/ remains, the Law it felf cannot in Juftice ever
be
and diftinguljhed from all Counterfeits. 7 1
be repealed. If Juftice called for its being made, then it cannot be tin-made confiflently 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 Evil of Sin, whereby it deferved an infinite Punifhment, As Long therefore as Sin remains an infinite Evil, fb 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; which we fhall always be, fo long as God remains infinitely glorious and amiable, and this will be for ever. Therefore this Law can never pofiibly, confiftent with divine Juftice, be repealed.
For any, therefore, to defireto 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 Rectitude 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 againft 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 fhreatnings might be repealed, is to fuppofe that he alfo is turned an Enemy to God, to his Holinefs and Juftice, to his Law &: Govern ment ; and that he is properly gone over to been the Side of his Father's rebellious Subjects.
Befides, to what Purpofe would it have been ( on the Hypothecs 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 fg would do no Good. The righteoys Governour
F 4 of
72 True 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, Chriftcame into the World and died to anfwer all theDemands of theLaw •, thatfo altho' theSinner be faved, yet the Law might never be repealed, but be firmly eftablifhed/ For the Governour of Heaven & Earth was utterly againft the Law's being repealed, as a Thing in itfelf infinitely unreafonable. And therefore theApoftle fays, Do we make void the Law thro* Faith ? God forbid ! Tea^ we eftablijh the Law. (Rom. 3. 31.) And indeed it was nothing but God's infinite Averfion to repeal the Law, as aThing in itfelf infinitely unfit & wrong, that was theThing which made the Death of Chrift needful. For, if the Law might have been repealed, Sinners might have been faved without any more ado : but if it could not, and muft not be repealed, then the Demands of it muft be anfwered by fome Means or other, or every Sinner damned. And now Chrift ftep'd in and did this j and fo fecured 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 (Thrift's Death the Scriptures plainly give us. Gal. .3. 10, 15, 14. Cur fed is every one that conti- nueth not in all Things written in the Book of the Law to do them. — Chrift hath redeemed us from the Curfe of the Law, being made a Curfe for us. — That the Bleffing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles thro' Jefus Chrift. For (Heb, 9. 22.) without jhedding of Blood there is no Remiffion. Therefore (Rom. 3. 25,26.) Chrift was fet forth to be a Propitiation for Sin, — to declare hisRighteoufncfs^ — that he might be j lift ^ and the Juftifier of him which believeth in Jefus. And hence ($. 31,) Do we make void the Law thro9 Faith? God forbid ! Yra, we eftablijh the Law.
Yea, the Apoftle evidently fets out upon thisHypothefis, that the Law is not repealed, but ftands in full Force. He lays this down as a firft Principle, in that argumentative Difcourfc which we have in the three firft Chapters of his Epiftle to the Romans. Chap. i. j£ 1 8. The Wrath of God /; revealed fromHea^?i againft allUngodlinefs &Unright eoufnefs
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 7 3
of Men. And taking this for granted, he goes on to prove, that both Jews and Greeks are all under Sin, and fo the whole World guilty before God ; to the iqthver. of the 3d Chap. And hence he argues, that by the Deeds of the Law no Flcjh could bejuftified. But now, if the Law was repealed, the whole World was not Guilty before God, nor any one in the World : For Sin is not imputed^ 'where there is no Law. ( Rom. 5. 13 ) — And if the Law was repealed, whatNeed was there of fuch a longTrain of Arguments, to prove, that no Flefh could be juftified by the Law ? For it would have been enough to have faid,that a repealed Law could neither juftify nor condemn any Body. — And why does he ufe fuch Arguments as he does ? For thus he reafons, " TheLaw " requires perfedObedience as aCondition of Life,& threat- " ens Tribulation and Wrath againft every Soul of Man " that doth Evil : But Jews and Gentiles have all finned : " Therefore are all guilty & condemned according toLaw ; " and confequently cannot be cleared and juftified byLaw." For all thisReafoning fuppofes, that the Law is as much in Force as ever it was. And accordingly he goes on to mew, that the Defign of Chrift's Death was to anfwer the De mands of the Law, that there might be a Way opened for the Salvation of Sinners, confident with divine Juilice, and at the fame Time the Law not be made void, but eftablifh- ed 5 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. Job. 3.18. He that believeth not is condemned already. $36. The Wrath cf God abideth upon him. And, Gal. 3. 10. As many as are cfthtWorks of theLaw are under theCurfe. And, Rom. i. 18. The 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 conr 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 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
blefs the righteous, nor curfe the wicked * but ftands for nothing.
And hence alfo,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 Spirit of Bondage^ as they do in every Age of theWorld,and as they ufed to do in St. Paul's Day. ( Rom. 8.15.) For it is the Law only, that works Wrath. Rom. 4. 15.
And hence we mall find, even all the World mall find, and Thoufands and Thoufands to their everlafting Sorrow, that when the Day of Judgment comes, the Law mall be executed with the utmoft Severity, upon all that know not God, andobeynot theGofpelofJefusChrifi. (2. The/. 1.7,8.) And God's Juflice in fo doing will mine 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 God, (Rom. 2. $.) 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 the World by it ; would be to caftCon tempt 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 threatens 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 fecure, 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 fecure in Sin. And what has been faid under this Particu lar
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 7 5
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