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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.
C And
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
C 3
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
C 4
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 what a Con
dition he is in, and be fenfible of what he deferves ; and
when he comes to underftand that his Soul is forfeited, and
that it is right that Juftice ftiould take Place, and that God
is at Liberty to do as he pleafes : Surely this muft beHeart-
rending, Soul-diftrefiing to a poor, finful, guilty, Hell-de-
ferving Creature.
And if God will not repeal the Law, but ftill infift upon
it, that it is holy and juft ; no wonder the Sinner is made
to own it too, before ever he is pardoned. For it would be
unbecoming the fupreme Lord of the Univerfe, to grant a
Pardon to a guilty Rebel, that is too high-hearted to own,
that the Law by which he (lands condemned, is holy and
juft. — O how right it is, that the Sinner mould come
down, and fee and know and own for ever, that he is juftly
condemned, and as fuch apply himfelf to the Sovereign
Grace of God thro' JefusChrift for a Pardon ! And O how
fovereign and free and divine,is thatGrace,that pardons and
faves the poor, finful, guilty, Hell-deferving Wretch thro*
Jefus Chrift ! (Rom. 3. 19, 27. ) — And thus as God the
Father honours the Law, by refufing to repeal it -, and God
the Son, by anfwering it's Demands •, fo does God the Holy
Ghoft, by making the poor Sinner, fee and feel and own,
that it is holy and juft, before ever he internally reveals the
Mercy of God thro5 Jefus Chrift unto him. So that the
Law is honoured, and Sin is irribittered, and the Sinner hum
bled, and Grace glorified, all at once. — As in the external
Revelation God has made in his Word, the Law is before
the Gofpel ; fo it is in internal Influences andOperations of
the holySpirit upon theElect ; and that for the fameReafon,
tiattheLaw might be a School-Mafter^ tobringMen toCbrift.
To conclude, from all that has been faid, we may learn
what to think of the Religion and of theHopes of thefe two
Sorts of Men. — ( i. ) The legal Hypocrite : who fuppofing,
that the good old Law is repealed and laid afide, and that a
new Law> only requiring^w Qbediencey is eftablilhed in
its
7 6 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
its Room •, hence meerly from Self-love, and for Self-ends,
fets about Duty and endeavours to be fincere •> and here
on this Foundation builds all his Hopes of Acceptance
in the Sight of God. For fmce the Law is not repealed,
but {lands in full Force ; therefore the Religion of fuch, is
not that 'Thing which God requires or will accept ; and their
new Law is a Wbhn^ and their Hopes are all built on the
Sand. Their whole Scheme refults from a total Ignorance
of God, and his Law, and the prefent State of Mankind •,
and is entirely built on Falfehood. — ( 2. ) The Evangelical
Hypocrite : All whofe Faith & Joy originally refult from a
fuppofed Difcovery, of the Love of God, or Love of Chrift,
or that his Sins are pardoned. This Difcovery is the Foun
dation of hisFaith, and hisFaith is theFoundation of his Joy
and of all his Religion. And yet the Thing difcovered is
a Lie. For, as has been proved, everyone until he is a
Believer, until he has acted Faith, is not pardoned, but con
demned •, is not beloved of God, but under his Wrath ; and
therefore to have Pardon of Sin and the Love of God dif
covered before the firft act of Faith, and to have fuch a Dif
covery lay the Foundation for the firft act of Faith, and a
Foundation for all Religion, is to be impofed upon with a
Lie, and to have a grofs Falfehood lie at the Foundation
of their Faith, their Religion and of all their Hopes. — The
/*§•<&/ Hypocrite may be convinced by fuchScriptures as thefe,
Luk. 1 8. 9 — 13. Rom. 3. 20 — 31. andCbap. 4. f. 5. Which
prove that a Man cannot find Acceptance with God by his
own Righteoufnefs. —And the evangelical Hypocrite may
be convinced by fuch Scriptures as thefe, Job. 3. 18, 36.
AR. 3. 19. Which prove that a Sinner is not pardoned
till after Faith. — A true Sight and Senfe of the Law, would
effectually convince the one, and the other, that all their
Hopes are built on wrong Apprehenfions of Things •, and
that all their Religion is Counterfeit ^ and that they are yet
in the Gall of Bitternefs and Bonds of Iniquity : And the
one would no longer venture his Soul on his own Righteouf-
nefsy nor the other on his Difcovery. The Law's infifting
upon perfect, finlefs Obedience, would convince the one,
that his own Righteoufnefs might not be depended upon :
.and the Law's curling every Unbeliever, would convince
the
and dijlinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 7 7
the other, that hisDifcovery was falfe. And the Law's re
quiring us to loveGod primarily for his own Beauty, would
convince both of their gracelefs Eftates, in as much as the
Religion of both primarily takes its Rife from Self- love. —
It is from the want of a realizing Sight and Senfe of the
Nature and Extent of the Law, and that out of Chrift we
are expofed to all the Curfes thereof, that a fmful, guilty
World are fo infenfible of their gracelefs, and their wretched
and miferable Condition, and fo apt to flatter themfelves
that they are rich, and increafed in Goods,and fland in Need
of Nothing. Rom. 7. 8,9. Without the Law Sin was dead. —
I was alive without the Law once.
Thus we fee that the Obligation which we were under, to
love God with all our Hearts, refusing from the infinite Ex
cellency of the divine Nature, antecedent to all felfifh Confi-
derations, is infinitely^ eternally and unchangeably binding.
And thus we fee a Variety of important Confequences
neceflarily following therefrom. And I have infifted the
longer upon the Nature of thisObligation, not only becaufe
it is the firft and greateft ; but becaufe it has a mighty In
fluence into all our additional Obligations.- — For,
5. and laftly. It is from the infinite Excellency of the divine
Nature^ that all our additional Obligations originally derive
their Strength^ their Energy ', their binding Power. The infi
nite Excellency of the divine Nature fo entirely lays the
Foundation of it's being our Duty to iove God with all our
Hearts,that were it not for this,it would ceafe to be ourDuty,
notwithftanding all other Confiderations. If he were not
by Nature GOD, it would not be fit, that we fhould love
and worfhip him as GOD, upon any Account whatfoever.
He could have no fuch Right to us •, or Authority over us,
as to make it our Duty •, nor could he render it our
Duty by ihewing of us any Kindnefs whatfoever. Yea, if
he were not by Nature GOD, it would be wrong for us to
pay him divine Adoration. It would be Idolatry. It would
be a worfhiping of one as God, who by Nature is not God.
And by the fame Argument which the Orthodox have been
wont to ufe againft the Brians, who deny the Divinity of
Chrift ; If he be not a divinePerfon^he ought not to have divine
Worjhip paid him ; I fay, by the fame Argument, if God
were
78 True Religion delineated Dis. L
were not by Nature GOD, it could not upon any Account
be Right and our Duty, to love and worfhip him as God.
It is his being by Nature God, his being what he is, and
his infinite Excellency in being fuch, which therefore lays
the original Foundation of all our Obligations, and which
gives Life and Energy to all. And accordingly we may
obferve, that the original Ground and Reafon upon which
God, as Governour of the World, acts, in making a Law
that we mould love him with all our Hearts, is, becaufe he
is the Lord. As is evident from the Tenor of the Law it
felf. Thoujhalt love the LORD &c. i. e. Becaufe he is the
LORD, &c. Yea, it is upon this Ground originally that
God takes it upon him to give all his Laws to us ; for this
is the conftant Style, Thus and thus Jh all ye do, FOR I AM
THE LORD.
Thofe therefore, who are influenced to love and worfhip
God, not at all becaufe he is God, but altogether from other
Confiderations ; not at all from a Senfe of his infinite Ex
cellency, but altogether on other Accounts \ are fo far from
being truly religious, that they are indeed guilty of great
Wickednefs in all they do. For altho5 they pretend to love
and worfhipGod, yet it is not at all becaufe he is God : tho*
they pretend to pay divine Adoration to him, yet it is not
at all becaufe he is a divine Being. So that when they pre
tend to pay divine Worfhip and Adoration to God, it is
meerly from fome felfifh Confideration, from Self-love and
for Self-ends ; there is no true Regard to God, but all cen
ters in Self. So that Self indeed is their Idol, and the only
God they ferve. And their pretending to love and worfhip
God is mere Mockery. — When they pretend to love and
worfhip God, it is not at all becaufe he is God, not at all
from a Senfe of his divine Glory -, but only to appeafe his
Ans;er and obtain his Favour, or becaufe they confider him
as their Friend and Benefactor. And now to come to* God
and pretend to worfhip him as if he was God, and yet not
to do it at all becaufe he is God, but for mean & mercenary
and felfifh Ends, is a very complicated Wickednefs : and
to trynk to pleafe God in this Way, and get into Favour by
this Means,difcovers fuch Ignorance and Contempt of God,
and a Frame of Heart fo full of fecret Blafphemy, fpiritual
Idolatry,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 79
Idolatry, Pride, and Hypocrify, as cannot eafily beexprefT-
ed. — They practically deny his Divinity : yet pretend to
pay him divine Worfhip. — They pretend to ferve God :
yet really intend only to ferve themfelves. — They make as
if they loved God : But only love themfelves. — Yet fo into
lerably mean are their Thoughts of God, that they expect
to pleafe him by all this. — To make the beft of it, all that
Religion is mere Hypocrify, which does not primarily take
its Rife from a Senfe of the infinite Excellency of the di
vine Nature.
Thus then we fee what is thefrft and chief Motive of a
genuine Love to God. — He is a Being of infinite Under-
ftanding,&: of almighty Power, infinite in WifdomjHolinefs,
Juftice, Goodnef, and Truth •, and fo a Being of infinite
Glory and Excellency \ and fo infinitely amiable, and infi
nitely worthy to be loved with all our Hearts. — And this
Obligation is binding originally in itfelf, antecedent to a
Confideration of any other Motive whatfoever : and it is
infinitely, eternally and unchangeably binding, and gives
Life and Energy and Strength to all other Obligations. —
And hence if we do love God with all our Hearts, we do
but our Duty and deferve noThanks : But we are infinitely
to blame for the lead Defect, and can never do any Thing
to atone for it, but deferve everlafting Damnation. And it
will always be our Duty thus to love God, and the leail De
fect will be always thus blame- worthy, let our Circumflan-
ces as to Happinefs or Mifery be what they will. All our
Hearts will be always due to God, and we mall always
ftand bound to pay this Debt, whether we have any Heart
for it or no. And God will always appear fuch an infinite
Enemy to the leaft Defect, as in his Law he has declared
himfelf to be ; nor is there any Hopes of our finding Acr
ceptance in his Sight,unlefs it be by aUnion to and Intereft
inHim,who has anfwered all theDemands of theLaw in the
Room of thofe who believe in Him. And allPretence of
Love to God which does not take its Rife from this Foun
dation, is but meer Hypocrify. All thefe Confequence$
fo necefiarily follow, from a Suppofition of the infinite Ex
cellency & Amiablenefs of the divine Nature, and fo evi-
dently,as that if God be but feen aright; a Senfe of his infinite
Beauty
8 o True Religion delineated D I s . I.
Beauty will immediately aflure the Heart,that thefe Things
are fo. A Senfe of his infinite Glory will make us fee and
feel that we are under infinite Obligations to love him
with all ourHearts, and that we could deferve noThank^s for
doing fo, but that the leaft Detect is infinitely Wrong, &c.
A Senfe of the infiniteGlory of God will effectually eftablifh
the Heart in thefe Things againft all the fubtle Arguments
and fair Pretences of Hereticks. A Senfe of the infinite
Glory of God immediately imparted to the Soul by the
Spirit of God, whereby the Heart is thus divinely eftablifh-
ed in the Belief of the Truth, is therefore that Unffion from
the holy One, which all the Saints have, whereby they arc
effectually fecured from being finally led away by falfe
Teachers. At leail that Unttion confiils partly in this.
i Job. 2. 20. — 27. — And at the fame Time, that thePeo-
ple of God are thus eftablifhed in theBelief of thefe Truths,
relating to Law and Duty, from a Senfe of the infinite Glo
ry ofGod -y I fay, at the fameTime this Senfe of the infinite
Glory of God, begets a Difpofition in the Heart to conform
to this Law and do this Duty. And thus it is that God
writes his Law in our Hearts and puts it in our inwardParts,
when he intends to become our God and to make us his Peo
ple. ( Heb. 8. 10, n.) And hence it begins to be the Na
ture of the People of God, to love him with all theirHearts.
And their Views and their Temper and every Thing elfe
being thus entirely new, hence they are called new Creatures.
Old Things are paft away, and all Things are become new. —
But now this Senfe of the infinite Glory of God, which thus
lays the very loweft Foundation of true Religion, is intirely
left out of all falfe Religions. And by this, true Religion
ftands diftinguiihed, as fomething fpecifically different from
all the falfe Religions in the World. And hence we may
obferve,that it is fpokenof inSchpture,as fomething peculiar
to true Saints,that they feeGod, and knowGod.Joh. 8.19,55.
Te neither know me, nor my Father. Joh. 14. 19 The fVprld
feeth me no more, but ye fee me. i Joh. 3. 6. Whomever fin-
neth, hath not feen him, neither known him. i Joh. 2.3.
Hereby we do know, that we know him, if we keep his Com
mandments, i Joh. 4. 7,8. Every one that loveth, knowethGod.
He that loueth not, knoweth not God. — And the unregene-
rate
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 8 1
rate not knowing God, not having a Senfe of his infinite
Glory to lay the Foundation of their Love and of their
Religion -, hence all theirLove and all theirReligion entirely
take their Rife from mere felfifh Considerations, and nothing
but Self-love lies at Bottom. And hence it is natural for
unregenerate Men to think they deferve fomething for their
Duties, and as natural to be infenfible of the infinite Evil of
their Sins. And fo 'tis their Nature, to magnify and be
proud of their own Goodnefs, and to extenuate and be un-
humbled for theirBadnefs. And from hence refults our native
Averlion to Faith and Repentance, and Contrariety to the
Gofpd-Way of Salvation. And now NEW Gcfpels, new Sorts
of Faith and Repentance are coined, new Notions of Religi
on contrived, to fuit the depraved Temper and Vitiated
Taite of unhumbled, impenitent Sinners, who are concern
ed to fecure their own Intereft, but care not what becomes
of God's Honour. Hence Errors take their Rife, and pro-
fefilng Chriflians are divided into Parties, and one runs this
Way, and another that, and all hope to get to Heaven at
laft. — And now at length after fo great a variety of Infer
ences and Remarks, and fo large a Confideration of the firft
and chief Motive of a genuine Love to God i I proceed,
2. To take a fhort View of the additional Obligations
which we tie under, to love God with all our Hearts. / AM
THE LORD, ( this lays the firft Foundation, and leads the
Way, when from Mount Sinai, the Almighty proclaims
his Law, but then he immediately goes on to add,) fH3T
GOD, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt and out of
the Houfe of Bondage. Exod. 20. — God has fuch a Right
to us, and fuch an Authority over us, and has done fo many
Things for us, and promifed fo many Things to us, that
our additional Obligations to be the Lord's, to love him and
Jive to him, are exceeding great.
Particularly,
^ Nothing is more reafonable than that we fliould be en
tirely dedicated to that God, whofe we be, originally, and by
an entire, underived and unalienable Right. Efpecially con-
fidering what he is in himfelf, and that he is Lord of all
Things, and by Nature God moft high. — Indeed, if our
Creator was not by Nature the moft high God, then he could
G not
82 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
not be the fupreme Lord of all Things -9 for there would be
one above him ^ and fo we fhould not be his, entirely and
abfolutely ^ for he himfelf and we his Creatures, would be
long originally to another, even to him that by Nature
would be the moft high God ^ and him we ought to love
and worihip. But our Creator himfelf, being abfo
lutely the firft, and abfoiutely fupreme, Self-exiftent and
independent, the fole Author and Lord of all Things, as
well as infinitely glorious in himfelf,hisRight to us is origi
nal, undenved and moft abfolute and entire. And therefore
it is infinitely fit and fuitable, that we mould be, in the con-
ftant Frame and Difpofition of our Hearts, abfolutely, en-
titely and wholly the Lord's, and that we mould for ever
exert all our Powers, to the very utmoft, to promote his
Honour and Intereft. And it is infinitely unreafonable that -
we fhould ever fet up ourfelves, and be attached to any In- ,
tereft of our own, feparate from his. And inafmuch as
he is infinitely better than we be, ( Yea all the Nations of
the Earth^ are lefs than nothing before him,} and has fuch an
entire Right unto us, his Intereft therefore fhould be re
garded as more valuable than our own, yea, infinitely more.
For if our own Intereft appears as valuable to us, as his j
we fet our felves upon a level with him, and claim as great
a Right to our felves, as he has ; and if his Intereft does
not appear as being of infinitely greater Value to us, than
our own, we do not efteem him as being infinitely better,
than we be ourfeives, and his Right to us infinitely greater,
than our own Right to our felves is. — It is therefore infi
nitely reafonable, fmce God is what he is, and has fuch a
Right to us as he has, that we fhould be conftantly from-
the very bottom of our Hearts wholly his, and every Mo
ment live wholly to him> and always have his Intereft Jie_
moft near cur Hearts, as being of infinitely more Worth
Value and Importance than our own. AsMofes, who in a
Meafure was made Partaker of this divine Nature, in the
Anguiih of his Heart cries, when God tells him he will cut
off7/h2£/,and make of him a great Nation, " Lord,let my
" Name be blotted out of thy Book^ let it t>e forgotten from
" among the living, and be never heard of again in the
*_' World that .ever I was. inBeing : But what will become of
and diftinguifoed from allCcunterfeits. #3
" thy great Name /" God's Honour and Intereft was .dear
to him •, but he, comparatively, cared not for his own, at
all. Exod. 32. Num. 14.
But this our Obligation to be entirely the Lord's, is flill
infinitely increafed, if we confider the Authority of the .1U-
preme Governcur of the World, which, by his exprefs Law^
has enjoined this upon us. It is net only infinitely fit in
its own Nature, that we fhould love God with all our
Hearts, confidering what he is in himfeif, and that " we
fhould be entirely tor him, in the Temper of our Minds,
ccnfidering what an entire Right he has to us as his Crea
tures, who have received all we have from him, and are ab-
folutely dependent on him for all we want •, but God has,
by Law, as Governour of the World, enjoined this upon us
as our Duty, and that with all his Authority. And now
confidering what he is in himfeif, and the natural Right he
has to all Things, and how entirely we are his, and abfo-
lutely under his Government, his AUTHORITY is infi
nitely binding. — Efpecially confidering, how infinitely en-
"gagea, he appears to be, to fee that hisLaw be exaffly obeyed,
in promifmg eternal Life on the one Hand, and threatning
eternal Damnation on the other. This his infinite Engaged-
nefs, lays us under infinite Bonds, to be and do, exaftly what
he requires.
But full, our Obligation to love him with all our Hearts,
and be wholly the Lord's, is yet infinitely more increafed,
if we ccnfider what Ways the Lord has taken with us in this
apoflate World, fince our Rebellion againil him, fmce we
have loil all Eileem of him, turned Enemies to him, caft
off his Authority,and praftically bid Defiance to his Power
and Juftice. — For inftead of immediately dooming all this
lower World to blacknefs of Darknefs for ever, he has fent
his Son, his only begotten Son, from Heaven, to bring us
theNews of Pardon andpeace,and by his ownDeath to open
a Way for our Return unto him, and to call and invite us
to return. — And now with a liberal Hand he {brews com
mon Mercies all round the World, among evil, unthankful,
guilty, Heli-deferving Pvebels, and fills the Hearts of all
with Food and Gladnefs ; and fends forth his MefTengers
to proclaim it to the Ends of the Earth, that it is his \?v ill,
G 2 ' that
84 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
that all his rebellious Creatures lay down their Weapons of
Rebellion, acknowledge the Law by which they {land con
demned, to be holy, juft and good, and look to him thro*
Jefus Chrift for Pardon as a free Girt, and thro' Jefus Chrift
return unto him, and give up themfelves to him entirely, to
love him and live to him, and delight in him for ever.
And while the World in general make light of all this,
and go to their Farms, and to their Merchandize, and many
are enraged and cry out againil the Meflengers of Peace,
and ftone fome and kill others; (Matt. 22.) that now he
fhould of his own fovereign good rieafuie, according to his
eternal Purpofe, feize here and there one, by his All-con
quering Grace, and ftop them in their Career to Hell, and
make them fee and feel their Sin and Guilt, and own the
Sentence juft by which they ftand condemned, and bring
them as upon their Knees to look to free Grace thro* Jefus
Chrift for a Pardon, and thro' Jefus Chrift to give up them
felves for ever to him : that now he fhould receive them to
Favour, and put them among his Children, and become
their Father, and their God, in an everlafting Covenant, and
undertake to teach and lead, to quicken and ftrengthen, to
correct and comfort, and fo to hun.be and purify and fane-
tify, a.-.d fit them for his heavenly Kingdom ; and while
they are in this World, to give them all Things that are beft
for them, and make all Things work together for their
Good, and finally bring them unto, r.nd poffefs them of
eternal Glory and Blelledficfs in the full Enjoyment of him>
felf for ever : — For a God of infinite Greatmfs and Glory,
to deal juft fo, with juft fuck Creatures, is the rnoft amaz
ing and aftonilhing Grace -, and lays infinite Bonds upon Be
lievers to love the Lord their God wiih all their Hearts,
and to live to him for ever ; and has the greateft Tendency
to animate them fo to do. And thus by thefe brief
Hints we have a general View of the additional Motives of
a true and genuine Love to God.
As God's bringing up the Children of Ifrael out of Egypt,
leading them thro' the Wildernefs, driving out the Heathen
from before them, and giving them that good Land which
flowed with Milk and Honey, and covenanting to be their
God, is ufed fo frequently, by Mofes and the Prophets*
throughout
and diftmgmjhed from all Counterfeits. 8 5
throughout all the old Teftament, as a Motive to engage
them to Cleave to theLord,and to him only and entirely and
for ever : So God's fending his Son into the World, to fave
his People from their Sins, their fpiritual Bondage, together
with ail tiie fpiritual and everlafting Blefflngs ot the Cove
nant of Grace, are continually ufed in the new Teftament,
as Arguments to engage Believers not to live to themfelves,
but to him that died for them. Only here let thefe
Things be remembred,
(i.) That a Sight and Senfe of the -'ninite Greatnefs and
Glory of GOD, from whom ail Good comes, and a Senfe of
their own infinite Meannefs and Unworthinefs, makes all
the Mercies they receive infinitely the more endearing and
engaging. For the Mercies themf elves now appear unfpeaka*
bly \hzgreater, in that they come fromfucb a God and fa
fucb Creatures \ and the infinite Goednefs of God fhines the
brighter in every Mercy, and the Freencfs of his Grace is the
more confpicuous, on account of which he is infinitely
amiable. The infinite Greatnefs and Glory of God in gene
ral raviihes the Heart, the infinite moral Beauty of the di
vine Goodnefs and Grace in particular raviihes the Heart,
and now th&t fetch a God fhould fhewy#o& Kindneffes to fucb
a Creature is very affeding. WTzo am /, 0 Lord God ? Ani
what is my Houfe, that thou baft brought me hitherto ? Says
holy David — And is this the Manner of Men, 0 Lord God ! —
ISofurely. — Wherefore thcu art great > 0 Lord God: For
there is none like tbee, neither is there any God beftdes thee*
2 Sam. 7. 18 — 22. God is lovel for the KindnefTes be-
ftowed ; but he is more loved for the infinite Beauty of that
<jcodnefs which is difplayed in the beftowment of them,
and ior his being altogether fuch a one as he is. So the
Queen of Sbeba efteemed Solomon for the KindnefTes he
fhewed her, but primarily and much more for his own per-
fonal Excellencies, And his perfonal Excellencies made
her efteem his Favours to her of much greater Worth.—
That a glorious and ever-bleffed GOD fhould treat Sinners fp,
is infinitely endearing, — — Now thefe Senfations which a
true Believer has, and his Love to God arifing therefrom,
muft be vaftly different from every Thing which natural
G 3 Mcu
86 "True Religion delimited Dis; I.
Men experience, who know not God, and have no higher
Principle in them than Self-love.
(2.) Let it alfo be remembred, that God defigns, by all
his Dealings and KindnefTes to his People, to bring them
nearer to bimfaf in this World, and to the everfafting Enjoy
ment of himfelf in the World to come. He means for the
prefent to humble them, and wean them from the World, to
make them more fpiritually-minded and heavenly- minded,
to bring them to be more acquainted with God and more
entirely to take up their Reft and Contentment in Him ;
and therefore all Things are calculated by his infinite Wif-
dcm and Goodnefs to attain this End. And this caufes all
the wife and kind DHHrigs of God, outwardly in his Provi
dence and inwardly by his Spirit, and that both by Way of
Correction as well as by Way of Confolation, to appear in
a very affecting andXengaging Light to true Believers. —
While 'they fee what God is in himfelf, and his infinite
Beauty in being fuch •, while they fee ho\v infinitely fiiffi-
cient he- is to be all Things to them, and to do all Things
for them, and the Blefiednefs of living wholly Upon him
andrtRiilingv\vho]ly in 'him •, while they fee God calculat
ing all Things to" bring them to him, and actually find all
Things working thts Way -, their Obligations to love him
and live to him appear infinitely binding, arid -their Hearts
•are mightily engaged and animated. This View of
Things make ail their Afflictions appear as gre^t Mercies ;
bfcaufe they are fo wifely calculated to bring them near to
•Cbd.—P/tf/. 1-19. 71. This View of Things adds an infinite
"Value" to all the KmdneiTes of Gbd? over arid above what
they arc worth merely in themfelves, becaufe they are all
vilely calculated to bring them near to God. This is
'the Kernel of all that -tender-Mercy and Loving-Kiridnefs
;Ch they lee in Ml their Afflictions \ and in all their Com-
Ifo'rte'. -fM. 12. ro;ii. Rom. 8. 28.— To be brought near
to God, is w6rth more than all the World ; there is no Pojr-
tion like God, no Comfort like that -which is to be taken
in. him : He is the godly Man's ALL. Pfal. 73. 25. Whom
have I jit -Heaven but tbts ? And there is nothing on Earth 1
defire -fa/ides tbee.> '• 't- And now ' that fuch a God fhould
tdfefucb Methods, vtitii jujt furl a Creature, to bring him
to
, and diftinguifhed from, all Counterfeits. 8 7
to the PofTefnon of fucb a Good? is the moft amazing Good-
^efs«and the moft aftonifhing Grace.— Now here is a Senfe
of the Excellency of the divine Nature in general, and a
•Senie of the moral Beauty of the divine Goodnefs in parti
cular, and* of the, unfpeakable Mercy GQ& fhews to them,
tohich Mercy, is infinitely magnified in their Account, from
the Value they have for God, as the Portion of their Souls,
from all -which, their Love to God takes its Rife : Where
by their- Love appears to be exceeding different from any
Thing which natural Men experience, who neither know
God, nor relifh Communion with him, but are contrary to
Him in all Things : And only from Self-love are glad of
the good Things they receive fr^p^God, which good
Things they live upon and make a Crod of: Whether they
be worldly good Things, or great Light and Comfort and
Joy of a religious Nature.
(3.) Let it alfo be remembred, that all God's Gifts to
his People are fo many Talents beftowed upon them ulti
mately to be improved for God^ whereby they are put under
Advantages to glorify God and do Good in the World. And
the more they have of worldly Subftance,of natural Powers,
of acquired Accomplifhments, and of the gracious Influences
of the holy Spirit, &c. the greater are their Advantages to
a<5t for God, to promote his Honour and Intereft, and to do
Good. Now in Proportion as they love God, in
the fame Proportion is his Honour and Intereft, and the
Good and Welfare of his Creatures and Subjects, dear unto
them. — The Intereft and Honour of God lies nearer to the
Hearts of his People, than their Parents, or Conforts, or
Children, or Houies and Lands, yea, than their own Lives*
(Luk. 14. 26.) — To be under Advantages therefore to pro
mote his Honour and Intereft, muft, in their Account, be
efteemed an ineftimable Priviledge. Hence they love
God for all Things they receive from Him, becaufe by all
they are put under fuch Advantages to live to him and
ferve him, feeking his Intereft and Honour and Glory. A
remarkable Inftance of which we have in Ezra^ that hearty
Friend to God, and to his Honour and Intereft. See Ezr. 7,
Jr. 27, 28. compared with the reft of the Chapter. — Now
herein again their Love to God for his Benefits is evidently
G 4 different;
8 8 True Religion delineated D I s . I.
different from any Thing which natural Men experience,
who have no higher Principle than Self-love, aad are en
tirely actuated by it.
And as the Love of the Saint and of the Hypocrite thus
greatly differ in their Nature fo do they alfo diiier as great
ly in their Fruits and Effefts. Ezra loved God greatly for
hisKindneffes to him,becaufe thereby he was put under Ad
vantages to do fo much for God's Glory and for the Good
of his People. And now fee how active he is for God,,
and how he exerts himfelf to do Good, and to reform every
Thing that was amifs among the Jews •, from the eighth
Chapter and on. While the hypocritical Jews, who, no
doubt, were alfo gij^tly affected with the Mercy of God in
their Deliverance worn their long Captivity, were fo far
from being active for God, that they, not caring for his
Honour or his Laws, committed great A.bominations.
Ezr. 9. i. So the Children of Ifrael at the Red-Sea feemed
to be full of Love to God, as well as Mofes ; but as they
had different Sorts of Love, fo their Carnage did as greatly
differ afterwards, for the Courfe of forty Years. And no
wonder,for the hypocritical Ifraelites only loved themfelves,
and cared only for their own Intereft •, but Mofes lo\ ed
God, and cared above all Things for his Honour.
Thus we fee, not only what additional Obligations Belie
vers are under to love God with all their Hearts, but alfo
how, and in what Manner, they influence and excite them
fo to do. And what I have offered effectually obviates
the common Plea of Formaiifts and all Self-feekers, That
all the Saints in Scripture are reprefented as loving God for his
Benefits •, whence they argue, that they are right, and
their Religion genuine, which refults merely from Self-love,
and the fear of Hell and hope of Heaven, or from a conn-
dent Perfwafion that their Sins are pardoned.— For it is
evident, that true Saints do not love God for his Benefits,
nor eye. their own Happinefs, in the fame Manner that fuch
Men do, but in a Manner altogether different. Saints
know the Gqd they love, and love him primarily for what
he is in himfelf, and becaufe he is juft what he is : But
Hypocrites know not God, nor love him, but are in all
Things contrary to hip, and are only pleafed with the
falfe
a nd dijtinguijbed from ah Counterfeits. 89
falfe Image of God they have framed in their Fancies,
merely becaufe they think that he loves them, and has done,
and will do, great Things for them. — Saints are affected
with the divine Goodnefs it felf for the moral Beauty there
is in it : But Hypocrites are affeded only with the Fruits
aad Effects of divine Goodnefs to them, as tending to make
them happy. — Saints love God for his Benefits, under a
real Senfe of their infiniteUnworthinefs of the leaft of them :
Bat fo it is not with the Hypocrites. — Saints love God for
all the Streams cf divine Goodnefs, becaufe they are de-
figned and actually do lead them up to God the Fountain,
who is the Portion of their Souls : But Hypocrites live up
on the Streams, difrelifhing the Fompain. — Saints love
God dearly for all his Gifts, becaufe by them they are put
under fuch Advantages to live to God, to promote his
Intereft and Honour, and to do good itf the World : But
Hypocrites are confined within the narrow Circle Self.
Saints Love to God animates them to live to God, and to
exert themfelves to promote his Honour and Intereft, and
to do all the Good they can : but the Hypocrite after all
his pretended Love to God, cares not what becomes of his
Intereft and Honour, if it may but go well with him, his
Friends and Party.— So that while true Saints love God
for his Benefits, they aft in a gracious Manner, conformable
to the Law of God, and to the Reafon and Nature of
Things •, whereas all the Love of the moft refined Hypo
crite is merely the workings of a natural Self-love, in a
Manner diredly contrary to the Law of God, and to the
Reafon and Nature of Things -, and is nothing but mere
Mockery. Pfal. 78. 34,35, 36, 37. Zecb.j.&G.
Thus we have gone thro' the two fa&general Heads, and
fee what is implied in Love to God> and from what Motives
we ought to love him. And from the whole we may learn
fo much of the Nature of true Religion, as that with much
Evidence and Certainty we may conclude,
FIRST, Tbat all tbat feeming Love to God is Counterfeit*
ivbifb arifes meerly from Men's Corruptions being gratified.
As when ambitious Men are by God's Providence raifed
to high Degrees of Honour, and worldly Men are profper-
cd in all which they put their Hands unto j and herefrom
the
90 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
the one and the other rejoyce and blefs God, and feem
to love him, and verily think they are fincere,™ This is all
Hypocrify. For in truth they only love their Corruptions,
and are glad they, are gratified, And accordingly inftead
of improving all their Riches and Honour for God, to ad
vance his Intereft and Honour in the World, they improve
-all only for themfelves, to promote their own Ends •, and
care not what becomes -of God's- Honour and Intereft -and
Kingdom •, and commonly fuch Men fhew themfelves the
greateft Enemies to the Caufe of God and to the Religion
of Chrift. And fhould God \>\&- touch all they* -have, they
would curfe him to his Face.
SECONDLY, WHnnay be equally certain, that all that
feeming Love to God is Counterfeit^ that arifes merely from a
Legal, Self-righteous Spirit. As when a Man, only becaufe
he is afraid of Hell and has a Mind to be faved, fets him-
felf to repent and reform and do Duties, and tries to love
God and aim at his Glory, to the Intent that he may make
fome Amends for paft Sins and recommend himfelf to the
divine Favour, and fo to efcape Hell and obtain Heaven.—
And when he has grown fo good, as to have raifed Hopes
of attaining his End, he is ravimed at the Thoughts, and
rejoyces, and blefles the Lord, and loves him. — It is plain,
all this is Hypocrify. For the Man in truth only loves
himfelf, and is concerned merely for his own Intereft ; but
does not care at all for God, his Glory or Honour. For if
there were no Heaven nor Hell, fuch would ferve God no
more. Children: will work for tl^eir Parents without being
hired, becaufe they love them -, but Hirelings will not
ftrike a Stroke, if thdre is no Money to' be got •, becaufe
they care for nothing but their own Intereft. Hence this
Sort of Hypocrites are wont to fay, that if they once be
lieved that God had made no Promifes to the beft they can
do, they would never do more. — And farther, 'tis plainly
all Hypocrify, for if their Confciences but fall afleep, fo
that they are troubled no more with the Thoughts of
another World, they will leave off their Duties, let down
their Watch, break all their Refolutions, and be as bad as
ever : and hence their Dodrine of falling from Grace pro
bably took its Rife, And their Hypocrify is ftill more
evident,
and diftingmfoed from all Counterfeits. 9!
evident, in that they are commonly fo much concerned to
find out what the lead Meafure of favirig Grace is, and fo
ftrenuous in pleading for great Abatements in the Law.
For from hence it is plain, that all they are after is only to
get juft Grace enough to carry them to Heaven \ as a lazy
Hireling that is for doing but only juft Work enough to
pafs for aOay's Work,that he may\get his Wages atNight,
which is all he want-s.
THIRDLY, We may be a4 certain, That all that feeming-
Love 'is Counterfeit, which arifes merely from- a ftreng-Ccnfi-
dence which a Man has, that his Sins are pardoned^ 'and that
C'hrifl loves him, and will fave him. As when a Man is
tinder great Terrors, and has fearful AppMtenfions "of Hell
and Damnation, and is ready even to give up hirmelf for
loft ; but fuddenly great Light breaks into hts Mind, he
fees Chrift with his Arms open and nulling, and -it -may be
his Blood running, and hears him as it were 'fa/, Be of
good Chear^ thy Sins are forgiven theey — I have loved thee with
an ever Lift ing Love^ — Come thou-bfcfftd of my Father ^ inherit
the Kingdom ;— And now he is certain that- his Sins are
pardoned, and that Heaven is -his, and;he- is'eVen ravifh't
with Joy, and calls upon all to prai-fe the Lord.— For all
this proceeds merely from Self-love, and there- is- no Love to
God in it. For all this Love arifss from his falfe Confidence,
and not from any true knowledge of -God. And com
monly fuch turn out as the Israelites did, who fang Gvd*s
Praife at the Red-Sea^ when Pharaoh and his ^Hofts were
Browned, and they delivered, and -their 'Hopes -of getting
to Canaan highly raifed ; but they fsonforgat hi? Works^ and
rebelled againft him, and their Careafes fell ^n the Wilder-
nefs. They loved themf elves ^ and therefore • they rejoyced
?lt their wonderful Deliverance; and they loved themfelves,
and therefore they murmured three Days after, when they
came to the bitterWaters. Their Joys and theirMurmurings
proceeded from the very fame Principle, under different
Circumilances •, but the Love of God was ;not in them.
And juft this is the Cafe here. — And this is commonly the
Event, that the Fears of Hell being now over, their Joys
gradually abate, and they grow more and more fecure, till
•after a while they return: to Folly, as the Dog^tb his Vomit,
and
92 True Religion delineated Dis. L
as the Sow that was waflied to her wallowing in the
Mire : and fo are as bad and fometimes worfe than ever.
(2 Pet. 2. 20, 2 1, 22.) — And now they plead, that the beft
are dead fometimes, and that David and Peter had their
Falls, and fo keep their Confciences as quiet as they can :
and thus they live along whole Months and Years together.
FOURTHLY, and laftly, We may alfo be certain, That all
that faming Love to God, which arifes merely from the grati
fication of fpiritual Pride, is Counterfeit. As when Men
dream Dreams, fee Vifions, and hear Voices, and have Inv
preflions and Revelations, whereby they are fet up in their
own Efteem, and in the Opinion of others, for fome of the
moft peculiar Favourites of Heaven, and very beft Men in
all the World ; and hence they rejoyce and blefs God and
mightily love him. But in Truth they are only ravilh't
with Self-conceit, and feel blefledly to think themfelves
fome of the beft Men in the World, and to think they
fliall fhortly fit at the right Hand of Chrift in Heaven
among the Apoftles and Martyrs, while their Perfecutors
and Haters will be burning in Hell. But they neither know
God nor love him ; and for the moft Part, by heretical
Do&rines, or wicked Lives, or both, are a fcandal to Reli
gion.— Thefe are fo far from being truly religious, that
they are tbe very 'Tares which the Devil fows. Matt, 13. 39.
In each of thefe Sorts of Love there are thefe three De-
fedh or Faults. ( I .) They have no true Knowledge of GOD.
And fo (2.) They only love themfelves. And (3.) Their
feeming Love to God arifes from a Miftake. - The
ambitious and worldly Man thinks himfelf very happy,
becaufe he rifes in Honour andEftate. — TheLegalift thinks,
that God loves him and will fave him for his Duties. — The
next firmly believes, that his Sins are pardoned. — And the
laft, that God looks upon him one of the beft Men in the
World. But all are wofully miftaken : and when at the
Day of Judgment they come to fee their Miftake, their
l-ove to God will vanilh away, and they turn everlafting
Haters and Blafphemers of the moft High.— And Another
Defect in thefe & all other Sorts of counterfeit Love, is,that
they none of them will ever make Men truly obedient. For
when Men'* feeming Love to God is nothing but Self-love
in
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 9 3
in another Shape, all their feeming Obedience will in reality
be nothing but Self-feeking. They may pretend to be the
Servants or God, but will only mean ultimately to ferve
themfelves.
SECTION III.
Concerning the^ Meafure of Love to God re
quired in the divine Law,
1 proceed now to the next Thing propofed, which was,
III. To ihew, what is that Meafure of Love to God, which
the Law requires of all Mankind.- — - And our bleffed Savi
our clears up this Point in the moft plain and familiar
Language. Thou Jhall love the Lord tby God, with all thy
Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Mind ; and it
is added in Mark 12. 30. With all thy Strength, i.e. in
other Worlds, we ought to Icve God in a Meafure exactly
proportionable to the Largenefs of our natural Powers and
Faculties. Which to do, is all that Perfection which God
ever required of any of his Creatures. *
When the Law requires us to love God with all our
Hearts, it either means, to the utmoft extent of our natural
Capacity,
* The Law runs thus, Thou fiah Jove the Lord thy God with ALL thy
Heart, &c. and thy Neighbour AS thy f elf . God is to have the highefl
Degree of Love we are capable of ; but a much Jefs Degree is due to
to our felves and Neighbours. So that according to the Tenor of
the Law, our Love to God is to be greater and more fervent, than our
Love to our felves. And therefore the Law does fuppofe that God
is worthy of our fupreme Love for what he is in himfelf, antecedent
to any ielfifh Confideration, from a Sight and Senfe of which Worthi-
nefs our Love to God is primarily to take its Rife. For in the Na
ture of Things, it would be impoffible for us, from Self-love, to love
God more than oarfelves. — Or thus,the Law requires us to love God
more than ourfelves ; but in the Nature of Things it is impoffible that
' merely from Self-love we mould love God more than our felves :
therefore the Law fuppofes that there is fomething in God to excite
our Love antecedent to any felfifn Confideration, and that our Love
to him is not to proceed meerly from Self-love. For otaerwife the
-' Law requires us to do that which in its own Nature is abfolutely im-
poiTbie, - — .And this by the. Way, may ferve ilili/aitlier to coufina
the Truth of what has been before- faid.
94 Irue Religion delineated Dis. L
Capacity, cr elfe only to the utmoft extern of our mcml
Capacity. /. e. only fo much as we are incline d\o>. And then
the Icis we are inclined to love God, the lefs JLove is requir
ed ; and fo it we have no Heart, no Inciinacion to love
him,then no Love at all is required. And according t.o this
Rule, the carnal Mind w-hickis Enmity againft God, is not
in Duty bound to be fubjecl; to the Law, neither indeed can
be. And where there is, no Law, there is no Tranfgrefllon.
Where there is no Duty, required, there can be no Sin com
mitted. And fo the vileft of Mortals are the freed from
Sin, and the lead to blame ; which is the grofleft Abfur-
dity. -When therefore the Law requires us to love God
with/7// our Hearts, it has no Reference to our moral Incli
nation, but only to our natural Capacity. And indeed no
thing can be more unreaibnable, than to fuppofe, that the
Law only requires us to love God, fo far as we have a Heart
and Difpofition to do fo •, for this would leave us entirely
at Liberty, to do otherwife, if we were fo inclined, and in
effect it would make the Law fay, If you feel inclined to love
God-, more or lefs, fo far 'it is your Duty, but farther you are
not bound) but are at your Liberty, i. e. the Law is not bind
ing, any farther than you are inclined to obey it. i. e. in
reality it is no Law, but every Man is left to do as he
pleafes, — The whole Heart therefore does the Law mean
to require, let our Temper, Inclination, or Difpofition be
what it will.
God the great Author of all Things has been pleafed to
create intelligent Beings of different Sizes, fome of a higher
Rank, and fome of a lower, fome of greater Capacities and
fbme of lefs. Some are Angels, and fome are-Mem And
among the Angels fome are of larger natural Powers, and
fome of {mailer. So it is among the good Angels, and fo it
Is among, the evil Angels. There are Angels and Arch
angels, that is, Beings of various natural Powers and Capa
cities, among the good and bad. And fo it is among Men,
among good and bad, there is a very great Variety, fome
have larger Souls than others.
Intelligent Beings are capable of a Degree of Knowledge
and Love exactly proportionable to their natural Powers.
Angels are capable pit a Degree of Knowledge and Love
greater
and diftmguijhed-from all Counterfeits g 5
greater than Men : And one Man of -a grcaterDegree than
another. As they are ofdifferentSizes, of larger and fmaller
natural Powers, ib their Capacities to know and love are
forne greater, and fome Jefs. So it is among good and bad.
All that PerfeSwn^ which God requires of any of his
Creatures, is a Meafure of Knowledge and Love bearing an
exa'ft Proportion to their natural Abilities. Since God has v
n^nifefted what he is, in his Works, and Ways, and fmce he
is infinitely glorious in being what he is, and has an origi- <
nal and entire Right to his intelligent Creatures •, therefore
he requires all Angels and Men to attend diligently to the
Difcoveries which he has made of himfelf, and learn what
he is, and behold his Glory, and love him with all their
Hearts. This is the Extent of what God requires of the
higheft Angel in Heaven, and this is exactly what he re
quires of all the Children of Men upon Earth.
...The Law requires no more than this of Mankind under
a Notion that their natural Powers are leflened by the Fall.
Whether we are Beings of as large natural Powers as we
fhould have been", had we never apoftatized from God, or
no, yet this is plain, we are no where in Scripture blamed
for having no larger natural Powers, nor is any more ever
required than all the Heart and all the Soul and all theMind
and all the Strength. This is evident thro* the whole Bible.
And the Law requires no lefs of Mankind under a No
tion that they are turned Enemies to God and have no
Heart or Inclination to love him. Be it fo, that Mankind
are ever fo averfe to attend to thofe Manifeftations, which
God has made of himfelf, and ever fo averfe to take in
right Notions of God, and ever fo far from a Difpofiticn to
account him infinitely glorious in being what he is, and
from an Inclination to love him with ail their Hearts -, yet
the divine Law makes no Allowances, no Abatements, but
infills upon the fame, the very fame it ever did. Thouftialt
love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart.
Indeed, fome do dream, that the Law is very much
abated. — But what faith the Scriptures as to this Point ?
Does the Word of God teach us that there is any Abate
ment made ? Where do we read of it ? Where is it plainly
aifcrted, or in what Texts is it implied ? Truly I know
nothing
g6 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
nothing like it in all Bible, nor what Text of Scripture
this Notion can be built upor. — And befides, if the Law is
abated, when was it abated ? — Was it abated immediately
upon ifdam9* Fall ? Surely no. For, above two Thoufand
Years after from Mount Sinai God declared, that he re
quired finiefs Perfection, and threatned a Curfe againft the
Man that fhould fail in the leaft Point. Exod. 20. Deut.ij.
26. — Vv'as it abated upon Chrift's ccmir;g into the World ?
Surely no. For he in the ftrongeft Terms taught his Dif-
ciples that it was in full Force, and that it was their Duty
to be perfectly holy, and that in defigned Oppofition to
the Doctrine ot the Pbarifees, who in 'effect held that the
Law was abated. Matt. 5. 17 — 48. Wras it abated
after Chrift's Death and Refurrecticn ? Surely no. For St.
Paul always taught that the Chriftian Scheme of Religion,
which he preached, did not make void, but rather eftablifh
the Law. Rom. 3.31. and St. James infilled upon it, that
it muft not be broke in any one Point. Jam. 2. 10. — When
was it abated therefore ? Why, fays Chrift, Till Heaven and
Earth Jball pafs away, one Jot or Tittle cf the Law Jhall in
no wife fail. Mat. 5. 18. — — And befides, if the Law is
abated, in what Particular, is it abated ? And hew great
are the Abatements ? — Are there any Abatements made in
our Duty to God ? Surely no •, for we are {till required to
love him with all our Hearts, and more than this never was
demanded.— Or are any Abatements made in our Duty to
our fellow- Men ? Surely no. For we are ftill required to
love our Neighbour as our felves, and more than this never
was enjoined. — Or is there any Abatement made in the in
ternal Part of our Duty ? Surely no. For the whole Heart
is fti 11 required, and more than this never was infifted up
on. — Or finally, is there any Abatement made in the exter
nal Part of our Duty ? Surely no. For we are ftill required
to be holy in all Manner of Converfation, as he that has called
us is Holy. ( i Pet. i. 15. ) And more than this was never
required. So that from the whole, we have as much Reafon
to think, that the Law requires finlefi Perfection new, as
that ever it did. Yea, this Pcint cannot be plainer than it
is •, for the Law, in fact, is the very fame it was from the
Beginning, Word for Word, without the leaft Alteration.
fbou
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 9 7
love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart , &c.
And thy Neighbour as thy f elf . So that if it ever did require
fmlefs Pefedtiorf, it docs now.
The higheft Pitch of Holinefs, the Saints in Heaven will
ever arrive to, will only be to love God with all their
Hearts \ and exactly the very fame is required of every
Man upon Earth. And it was becaufe St. Paul underftood
the Law in this Senfe, that he had always fuch a mean and
low Opinion of all his Attainments : for while he compared
what he was, with what he ought to be, he plainly faw how
the Cafe flood : And therefore he fays, *fbe Law is fpiri-
tual, but I am carnal, fold under Sin. 0 wretched Man that
I am ! Rom. 7. 14, 24.
So that upon the whole, this feems to be the true State
of the Cafe : As there are various Capacities among all in
telligent Creatures in general, fo there are among Men in
particular, Souls of various Sizes, fome of larger natural
Capacities, and fome of fmaller. But Souls of different
Capacities, are capable of different Degrees of Love. A
Degree of Love exactly equal to the natural Capacity of
the Soul, is Perfection : And this is what the Law requires,
nor more, nor lefs : all the Heart, all the Soul, all the Mind,
all the Strength. The Saints and Angels in Heaven do
love God thus, and hence they are perfect in Holinefs ;
and fo far as we fall ihort of this, we are fmful. This is
the exact Rule of Duty.
And now, this Law is holy,juft, and good. The Thing
required is in its own Nature right and fit and fuitable.
God is worthy to be loved with our whole Hearts, and
this is juft what is required. 'Tis right we fhould have a
Degree of Love to our felves, and 'tis right we fhould love
our Neighbours as our f elves, but it is fit we fhould love
God with all our Hearts. Confidering what he is, and what
we be, it is in its own Nature infinitely fit and right •, and
not to do fo, infinitely unfit and wrong. — Indeed, God is
worthy of an infinitely greater Degree of Love than we or
any of his Creatures are capable of. He only is capable of
a compleat View of his own infinite Glory, and of a full
Senfe of his own infinite Beauty, and of a Love perfectly
adequate to his own Lovelinefs, And he does not require
H or
98 7 rue Religion delineated Dis. I.
or expect any of his Creatures to love him, to that Degree
he loves himfelf. Only as he loves himfelf with all his
Heart, fo he requires and expects that the^ love him with
all their Hearts. And there being the fame Reafon for
one as for the other, the Law is therefore in its own Nature
perfectly right and jufl and equal. — Indeed, had God re
quired the moft exalted of his intelligent Creatures to have
loved him in the fame Degree that he himfelf does, then the
Thing required would in its own Nature have been abfo-
lutely impoffible, and what he could have no Reafon to
expect. Or if he had required the meaneft of his intelligent
Creatures to have loved him in the fame Degree that Ga
briel does, it would have been a Thing naturally impoflible.
But now he only requires every one to love him with all
their Hearts, this is right, perfectly right, juft and equal.
Lefs than this could not, in Juftice, have been required of
each one ; in Juftice, I mean, to the Deity, who ought to
have his Due from each one, and whofe proper Right, the
Governour of the World, ought to aflert and maintain.
Thus we fee the Law is exactly upon a Level with our
natural Capacities •, it only requires us to love God with all
our Hearts : and thus we fee, that the Law is therefore
perfectly reafonable, juft and equal. Deiit. 10. 12. And
now, Ifrael, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but
to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his Ways, and to love
Him, and to ferve the Lord thy God with ALL thy Heart*
and with ALL thy Soul ?
Herice, as to a natural Capacity, all Mankind are capa
ble of a perfect Conformity to this Law. For the Law
requires of no Man any more than to love God with all
bis Heart. The finning Angels have the fame natural
Capacities now as they had before they fell •, they have the
fame Faculties, called the Under/landing and Will ; they are
Hill the fame Beings as to their natural Powers. Once
they loved God with all their Hearts •, and now they
hate him with all their Hearts. Once they had a great
Degree of Love ; now they have . as great a Degree
of Hatred. So that they have the fame natural Capacities
now as ever. Their 'Temper indeed is different ; but their
Capacity is the fame. And therefore as to a natural Capa
city*
and diftingiiiffied from all Counterfeits. 99
, they are as capable of a perfect Conformity to the Law
of their Creator as ever they were. So Adam, after his Fall,
had the fame Soul that he had before, as to its natural Ca
pacities^ tho' of a very different Temper. And therefore
in that Refpect, was as capable of a perfect Conformity to
this Law, as ever. — And it's plainly theCafe, that all Man
kind, as to their natural Capacities, are capable of a perfect
Conformity to the Law, from this^ that wherr Sinners are
converted they have no new natural Faculties, tho' they
have a iwv Temper. And when they come to love God
with ail their Hearts in Heaven, frill they will have the
fame Hearts, as to their natural Faculties, and may in this
Refpect be juftly looked upon as the very Tame Beings.
In this Senfe, Paul was the fame Man when he hated and
perfecuted Chrift, as when he loved him and died for him :
and that fame Heart that was once fo full of Malice, is now
as full of Love : So that, a$ to his natural Capacities, he
was as capable of a perfect Conformity to this Law, when
he was a Perfecutor, as he is now in Heaven. When
therefore Men cry out againft the holy Law of God, which
requires us only to love him with all our Hearts^ and fay,
«c It is not juft for God to require more than we can do,
ic and then threaten to damn us for not doing," they
ought to flay a while and confider what they fay, and tell
what they mean by their CAN DO ; for it is plain, that;
the Law is exactly upon a Level with our natural Capaci
ties, and that in this Refpect we we fully capable of a per
fect Conformity thereto. And it will be impoflible for us
to excufe our felves by an Inability arifmg from any other
Quarter \ as will prefently appear. For to return,
From what has been faid we may learn, that there can
be nothing to render it, in any Meafure, a hard and difficult
Thing, to love God with all our Hearts, but our being
deftitute of a right Temper of Mind, and having a Temper
that is wrong : and that therefore we are perfectly inexcufa-
bk^ and altogether and wholly to blame ^ that we do not.
OBJ. But I do not knowGod -9 how therefore can Hove him ?
ANS. Were you of a right Temper, it would be your
Nature^ above all Things, to attend to thofe Difcoveries,
which he has made of himfelf, in his Works and in his
H 2 Word;
ioo True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Word ; you would fearch for the Knowledge of him as
Men fearch for Silver, and as they dig for hid Treafure :
And were you of a right 'Temper , it would be natural^ to
take in that very Reprefentation which God has made
of himfelf. — And now was it but your Nature, to attend,
with all your Heart, to the Difcoveries which God has
made of himfelf ± and your Nature,to take in right Notions
of him, it would be impoflible, but that you ihould know
what God is : becaufe he has afted out all his Perfections
fo much to the Life, and exhibited fuch an exaft Image of
himfelf. The Works of Creation and Redemption, and all
his Condud as moral Governour of the World, mew juft
what a kind of Being he is. He has difcovered his infinite
Underftanding and almighty Power, and he has fhewn the
Temper of his Heart, and all in fo plain a Manner, that
were it your Nature to attend and confider and take in
right Notions, it is quite impoffible, but that you lliould
know and fee plainly what God is.
OBJ. But if I have right Notions of what God is, yet 1
cannot fee his Glory and Beauty , in being fuch •, how therefor*
can I love him ?
ANS. Were you of a rightTemperjt would be your Nature
to account him infinitely glorious in being what he is. As
it is the Nature of an ambitious Man to fee a Glory in
Applaufe, and of a worldly Man to fee a Glory in the
Things of the World : So it would be your Nature, to fee
a Glory in God. For what fuits our Hearts, naturally ap
pears excellent in our Eyes. (Job. 8. 42, 47.)
OBJ. But I feel that I cannot love him •, how therefore am
I wholly to Blame ?
ANS. The Fault is in him, or in you. Either he is not
lovely, or elfe you are of a very bad Temper : but he is
Infinitely lovely ; and therefore it is only owing to the bad
Temper of your Heart, and to your being deftitute of a
right Temper, that you cannot love him -, and you there
fore are wholly to Blame. Indeed you could not but love
him, were you not a very fordid Wretch.
OBJ. But to love. God,or to have any Difpojition to love him,
is a Thing SUPERNATURAL, clean beyond the Powers of
Nature improved to the utmofl : hew can I therefore be wholly
to Blame ? ANS.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits, i o r
ANS. It is a Thing fupernatwal, you fay -, i. e. in other
Words, you have no Heart to it, nor the leaft Inclination
that Way, nor is there any Thing in your Temper to work
upon by Motives to bring you to it : and now becaufe you
are fo very bad a Creature, therefore you are not at all to
Blame. This is your Argument. But can you think that
there is any Force in it ? What ! Are moral Agents, the
lefs to blame, the worfe they grow ? And are God's Laws
no longer binding, than while his Subjects are difpofed to
obey them ?
OBJ. But after all I ' muft needs reply, as Nicodenjus in
another Cafe, How can thefe Things be ?
ANS. Why did not the Jews love their Prophets, and
love Chrift and his Apoftles ? What was it owing to ?
And where did the Blame lie ? They were acquainted with
them, heard them talk and preach, and faw their Conduct,
and could not but plainly perceive their Temper, and know
what Sort of a Difpofition they were of, and what Sort of
Men they were. And yet they did not like them, but they
hated them, they belied them, flandered and reproached
them, and put them to Death. And now what was the
Matter ? What was the Caufe of all this ? — Were not
their Prophets, and Chrift and his Apoftles indeed lovely
and worthy of their hearty Efteem ? Did not all that they
faid and did, manifeft them to be fo ? Why then did they
not love them ? Was it not wholly owing to their not
having a right Temper of Mind, and to their being of fo
bad a Difpofition ? And were they not wholly toBlame ? —
They might fay of Chrift, That they could fee no Form nor
Comelinefs in him,wherefore they/hould dejire him : And where
no Beauty is feen, it is impoflible there fhould be any Love.
But why did not he appear moft amiable in their Eyes ?
And why were their Hearts not ravifh'd with his Beauty ?
His Difciples loved him, and Martha and Mary and Laza
rus loved him, and why did not the Scribes and Pharifees
love him as much ? Why, becaufe his Perfon and Doc
trines did not fuit them, and were not agreeable to the
Temper of their Hearts. The bad Temper of their Hearts
made him appear odious in their Eyes, and was the Caufe
of all their Ill-will towards him. And now, were they
H 3
IO2 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
to blame for this bad Temper, and for all this their bad
Peelings, and bad Carriage towards Chrift thence arifmg ?
Yes,furely, if ever any Men were to blame for any Thing. —
And now if God the Father had been in the fame Circum-
ftances asGod the Son was then in, he would not have been
loved a Jot more or treated any Whit better than he was.
Indeed it was that Image and Refemblance of the infinitely
glorious and blefled God, which was to be feen in their
Prophets, in Chrift and his Apoftles, which was the very
Thing they hated them for. Therefore Chrift fays,
He that bateth me^ hatetb my Father alfo. — But now have
they both feen and hated* both me and my Father. ( Joh. 15.
23, 24.) And Chrift attributes it entirely to their want of
a. right Temper, and to the bad Difpofition of their Hearts,
that they did not love him & love hisDoclrines. If God were
ycur Father •, you would love me. ( Joh. 8. 42. ) He that is of
God (of aGod-likeTemper) hear eth God's Words : ye therefore
hear them not., becaufe ye are not of God. ( $. 47. ) In Truth,
the Bottom of all your Enmity is, that you are of your Fa
ther the Devil, i. e. of juft fuch a Temper as he. ( $. 44. )
And now, what think you, when Chrift comes in flaming
Fire, to take Vengeance on an ungodly World, will he
blame the Scribes and Pharifees for not loving him with
all their Hearts, or no ? Or will he excufe the Matter, and
fay on their Behalf, They could fee no Form norComelinefs in
me^ I appeared very odious to them^ they could not love me,
they could not but hate me, and no Man is to blame for not
doing more than he CAN?
From the whole it is plain, that Mankind are to blame,
wholly to blame, and perfectly inexcufable, for their not
having right Apprehenlions of God, and for their not hav
ing a Senfe of his Glory in being what he is, and for their
not loving him with all their Hearts •, becaufe all is owing
meerly to their want of a right Temper, and to the bad
Difpofition of their Hearts.
Indeed, if we were altogether of fuch a Temper, Frame
andDifpoihion of Heart as we ought to be, it would be al
together as eafy and natural to loveGod with all ourHearts,
as it is for the moft dutifulChild to love a tender and valu
able Parent, For God is really infinitely amiable 5 and were
we
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 103
weoffucha Temper, he would appear fo in our Eyes ;
and did he appear Ib in ourEyes,we could not but love him
with all ourHearts,& delight in him with all ourSouls j and
it would be moft eafy & natural fo to do, For noMan ever
found anyDifficultyin loving that which appears very amia
ble in hisEyes. For the Proof of which I appeal to theExpe-
rience of allManl&nd. — And now, why does notGod appear
infinitely amiable inourEyes ? Is it becaufe he has not clearly
revealed what he z'j, in his Works and in hisWord ? Surely
no. For the Revelation is plain enough. Is it becaufe he
is not infinitely amiable in being what he is ? Surely no.
For all Heaven are ravifhed with his infinite Beauty. What
is it then that makes us blind to the infinite Excellency of
the divine Nature ? Why, it can be owing to nothing,but
to a bad Temper of Mind in us, and to our not being of
fuch a Difpofition as we ought to be. For I appeal to the
Experience of all Mankind, whether thofe Perfons and
Things, which fuit the Temper of their Hearts, do not
naturally appear amiable in their Eyes. — And certainly if
God does not fuit the Temper of our Hearts, it is not
owing to any Fault in him, but the Fault muft be wholly
in our felves. If the Temper and Difpofition of God (/. e,
his moral Perfections, ) be not agreeable to our Temper
and Difpofition, moft certainly our Temper and Difpofition
is very wrong. If God were your Father ', ye would love me :
but ye are of your Father the Devil, therefore you hate me.
(Joh. 8. 42, 44,) /. e. " If you were of a Temper like God,
ye would love me, but being of a contrary Temper, hence
you hate me. If you were of a right Temper, I fhould
appear amiable unto you •, and it is wholly owing to your
bad Temper, that I appear other wife. If ye were Abraham* s
Children* ye would do the Works of Abraham" ( tf. 39. )
OBJ. But be it foy yet I cannot help being of fuch a 'Temper
as I am of ^ how therefore am I wholly to Blame ?
ANS. You have as much Power to help being of fuch
a Temper, as the Scribes and Pharifees had j but Chrift
judged them to be wholly to Blame, and altogether inex-
cufable. They could not like Chrift or his Doctrine j Xe
CJNNO? bear my Word, fays Chrift. ( f. 43. ) but their
CANNOT* their Inability was noExcufe to them in Chrift's
H 4 Account ,
104 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Account : Becaufe all their Inability, he plainly faw, arofe
from their bad Temper, and their want of a good Difpofi-
tion. And altho' they had no more Power to help being
of fach a Temper than you have, yet he judged them
wholly to blame, and altogether inexcufable. (Job. 8. 33 —
47. Job. 15. 22 — 25.) And now we know, that bis Judg
ment is according to 'Truth. But in order to help you
to fee into the Reafon of the Thing, I defire you ferioufly
and impartially to confider,
i . That Sinners are free and voluntary in tbeir bad Temper*
A wicked World have difcovered a very ftrong Difpofition
to hate God, even from the Beginning. And the Jewijh
Nation, God's own peculiar People, of whom, if of any,
we might hope for better Things, were fo averfe to God
and his Ways, that they hated and murdered the Meflen-
gers which he fent to reclaim them, and at laft even mur
dered God's own Son. — And now, whence was all this ?
Why, from the exceeding bad and wicked Temper of their
Hearts, fbey have bated me without a Caufe. Joh. 15. 25. —
But did any Body force them to be of fach a bad Temper ?
Surely no •, they were hearty in it. Were they of fuch
a bad Temper againft tbeir Wills ? Surely no -, Their Wills,
their Hearts were in it. Yea, they loved their bad Temper,
and loved to gratify it •, and hence were mightily pleafed
with their falfe Prophets, becaufe they always prophefied
in their Favour, and fuited and gratified their Difpofiticn.
And they bated whatfoever was difagreaUe to their bad
Temper, and tended to crofs it -, and hence were they fo
enraged at the preaching and the Perfons of their Prophets,
of Chrift and his Apoftles. So that they were manifeftly
voluntary and hearty in their bad Temper. We have loved
Strangers and after them we WILL go. Jer. 2.25. But as
'for the Word which thou baft fpoken unto us in the Name of
the Lord, we WILL NOT hearken unto tbee. Jer. 44. 16.
And the Lord God of their Fathers fent to them by his Mcffen-
gers,rifmg up betimes, and fending -9 becaufe he had Compaffwn
en his People, and on his Dwelling-Place : but they me eked
the Mejfengers of God, and defpifed bis Words, and mifufcd his
Prophets, &c. 2 Cron. 36. 15, 16.— — And fo all wicked
Mem are as voluntary in their bad Temper as they were.
The
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 105
The Temper of the Mind is nothing but the habitual Incli
nation of the Heart. But an involuntary Inclination of the
Heart is a Contradiction. And the ftronger any Inclination
is,the more full and free the Heart andSoul is intheThmg.
Hence the bad Temper or the habitual bad Inclination of
the Devil is at the fartheft Diftance from any Compulfion ;
he is moil perfectly free and hearty in it. And all finful
Creatures being thus voluntary, free and hearty in the bad
Temper of theirMinds -, or in other Words, the bad Tem
per of the Mind being nothing but the habitual Inclination
of the Heart , hence all muft be to Blame in a Degree equal
to the Strength of their bad Inclination. — In a Word, if
we were continually forced to be of fuch a bad Temper,
entirely againft our Wills, then we fhould not be to Blame ;
for it would not be at all the Temper of our Hearts : but fo
long as our bad Temper is nothing elfe but the habitual
Frame, Difpofition and Inclination of our OWN HEARTS,
without any Manner of Compulfion, we are perfectly
withoutExcufe, and that whether we can help being of fuch
a Temper, or no. For,
2. If a finful Creature's not being able to help his being of
a bad Temper ', does in the leafl free him fromBlame ; then the
more vile and finful any Creature grows ^ the lefs toBlame will
he be : Becaufe the more vile and finful anyCreature grows,
the lefs able is he to help his being of fo bad a Frame of
Heart. — Thus, if a Man feels a bad Spirit towards one of
.his Neighbour's creeping into his Heart,perhaps if he im
mediately refifts it, he may be able eafily to overcome and
fupprefs it ; but if he gives Way to it, and fuffers it to
take ftrong hold of his Heart •, if he cherifhes it until it
grows up into a fettled Enmity, and keeps it in his Heart
for twenty Years, feeking all Opportunities to gratify it,by
backbiting, defaming, &c. it will now, perhaps, be clean
out of his Power to get rid of it, and effectually root it
out of hisHeart. It will at leaft be a very difHcultThing.—
Now the Man is talked to, and blamed for backbiting and
defaming his Neighbour, Time after Time, and is urged
to love his Neighbour . as himfelf, but he fays, he cannot
love him. — But why can't you ? For otherMen love him. —
Why he appears in my Eyes the fnoft odious and hateful Man in
the
lo6 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
the World. Yes, but that is owing to your own bad
Temper. — Well^ but I can't help my Temper ', and therefore
I am not to Blame. Now, it is plain in this Cafe, how
weak the Man's PJea is •, and even common Senfe will
teach all Mankind to judge him the more vile and blame
worthy, by how much the more his Grudge is fettled and
rooted. And yet the more fettled and rooted it is, the
more unable is he to get rid of it. And jufb fo it is here.
Suppofe a Creature loved God with all his Heart, but after
a while begins to feel his Love abate, and an Averfion to
God fecretly creeping into his Soul •, now perhaps he might
eafily fupprefs arid overcome it. But if he gives Way to
it, until he lofes all Senfe of God's Glory, and fettles into
a State of Enmity againft him, it may be quite impofTible
ever to recover himfelf. And yet he is not the lefs, but
the more vile, and fo the more blame- worthy. If then
we are fo averfe to God, that we cannot love him -9 and if
our bad Temper is fo ftrong, fo fettled and rooted, that we
cannot get rid of it ; this is fo far from being Matter of
Excufe for us, that it renders us fo much the more vile,
guilty and Hell-deferving. For to fuppofe that our Ina
bility in this Cafe extenuates our Fault, our Inability which
increafes in Proportion to our Badnefs, is to fuppofe that
the worfe any Sinner grows, the lefs to Blame he is. Than
which, nothing can be more abfurd.
OBJ. But I was brought into this State by Adam's Fall.
ANS. Let it be by Adam's Fall, or how it will ; yet
if you are an Enemy to the infinitely glorious God your
Maker, and that voluntarily •, you are infinitely to Blame,
and without Excufe. For nothing can make it right for a
Creature to be a voluntary Enemy to his glorious Creator,
or pofiibly cxcufe fuch a Crime. It is in its own Nature
infinitely Wrong ; there is nothing therefore to be faid ; '
you ftand guilty before God. — It is in vain to make this,
or any other Pleas, fo long as we are, what we are not by
Compulfion, but voluntarily. And it is in vain to pretend
that we are not voluntary in our Corruptions, when they
are nothing elfe, but the free, fpontaneous Inclinations of
our own Hearts. Since this is the Cafe, every Mouth will
be flopped^ and all the World beceme guilty before God? fooner
or later. Thus
and dtftmguifoed from all Counterfeits. 107
Thus we fee, that as to a natural Capacity all Mankind
are capable of a perfed Conformity to God's Law, which re
quires us only to love God with all our Hearts \ and that
all our Inability arifes mcerly from the bad Temper of cur
Hearts, and our want of a good Difpofition j and that
therefore we are wholly to blame and altogether inexcufable.
Our Impotency, in one Word, is not natural^ but moral^
and therefore inftead of extenuating^ does magnify and in-
hance our Fault. The more unable to love God we are, the
more be we to Blame. Even as it was with the Jews, the
greater Contrariety there was in their Hearts, to their Pro
phets, to Chrift and his Apoftles, the more vile and blame
worthy were they. * And in this Light do the Scriptures
conftantly view the Cafe, There is not one Tittle in the
Old Teftament or in the New, in the Law or in the Gof-
pcl, that gives the leaft Intimation of any Deficiency in our
natural Faculties. The Law requires no more than ALL
our Hearts, and never blames us for not having larger na
tural Capacities. The Gofpel aims to recover us to love
God ONLY with ALL our Hearts, but makes no Provi-
iion for our having any new natural Capacity. As to our
natural
* OBJ. But fays a fecure Sinner, Surely there is fto Contrariety in myHeart
to God, I never hated God in my Life, I always lo<ued him.
ANS. The Scribes and Pharifees verily thought that they loved God, and
that if they had lived in the Days of their Fathers, they would not
have put the Prophets to Death. They were altogether infenfible
of the perfect Contrariety of their Hearts to the divine Nature. And
whence was it ? Why, they had wrong Notions of the divine Being,
and they loved that falfe Image which they had framed in their own
Fancies. And fo they had wrong Notions of the Prophets which
their Fathers hated and murdered, and hence imagined that they
mould have loved them. But they faw a little what a Temper and
Difpofition Chrift was of, and him they hated with a perfeft Hatred.
So there are Multitudes of fecure Sinners and felf-dcceived Hypocrites,
who verily think they love God, neverthelefs as foon as ever they open
their Eyes in Eternity, and fee juft what God is, their Love will
vanilh, and their Enmity break out and exert it felf to Perfection. So
that the Reafon Sinners fee not their Contrariety to the divine Na
ture, is their not feeing what God is. Itmuftbefo. For a
finful Nature and an holy Nature are diametrically oppofite. So muck
as there is of a fmfulDifpofition in theHeart,fo much of Contrariety is
there to the divine Nature. If therefore we are not fenfible of this
Contrariety, it can be owing to nothing but our Ignorance of God, or
1 not believing him to be what he really is, Rtm. 7, 8, 9.
io8 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
natural Capacities, all is well. It is in our Temper, in the
Frame and Difpofition of our Hearts, that the Seat of all
our Sinfulnefs lies. Ezek. 12. 2. Son of 'Man, tbou dwdlejt
in the midft of a rebellious Houfe, which have Eyes to fee, and
fee not) they have Ears to hear^ and hear not : for they are
a REBELLIOUS Houfe. This is the Bottom of the Bufi-
nefs. We have Eyes to fee, and Ears to hear, and his
Glory mines all around us, in the Heavens and in the
Earth, in his Word and in his Ways ; and his Name is
proclaimed in our Ears •, and there is nothing hinders our
feeing and hearing, but that we are rebellious Creatures.
Our Contrariety to God makes us blind to the Beauty of
the divine Nature, and deaf to all his Commands, Counfels,
Calls and Invitations. We might know God, if we had a
Heart to know him •, and love God, if we had a Heart
to love him. It is nothing but our bad Temper and
being deftitute of a right Difpofition. that makes us fpiri-
tually blind and fpiritually dead. If this Heart of Stone
was but away, and a Heart of Flejh was but in us, all
would be well. We mould be able enough to fee and hear
and underftand and know divine Things •, and fhould be
ravifhed with their Beauty •, and it would be mod natural
and eafy to love God with all our Hearts.
And hence it is mod evident,that the fupremeGovernour
of the World has not the leaft Ground or Reafon to abate
his Law, or to reverfe the Threatning ; nor have a rebelli
ous World the leaft Ground or Reafon to charge God with
Cruelty, and fay, " It is not juft, that he fhould require
" more than we can do^ and threaten to damn us for not
" doing." For, from what has been faid, it is manifeft
that the Law is holy^juft and good. And that there is no
thing in the Way of our perfect Conformity to it, but our
own Wickednefs, in which we are free and hearty and
voluntary ; and for which, therefore, in ftridt Juftice, we
deferve eternal Damnation. The Law is already exactly
upon a Level with our natural Capacities, and it need not
therefore be brought any lower. And there is no greater
Punifhment threatened than our-Sin deferves, there is therc-^
fore no Reafon the Threatning mould be reverfed. As to*
the Law, all is well, and there is no need of aay Alteration.
And
and diftmguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 109
And there is nothing amifs, but in our felves. It is impu-
dentWickednefs therefore to fly in theFace ofGod and of his
holyLaw,and charge him with Injuflice & Cruelty ; becaufe,
forfooth, we hate him fo bad, that we cannot find it in our
Hearts to love him •, and are fo high-hearted and flout,
that we muft not be blamed. No, we are too good to be
blamed in the Cafe, and all the Blame therefore muft be
call upon God and his holy Law. — Yea, we are come
to that, in this rebellious World, that if God fends to us
the News of Pardon and Peace thro5 Jefus Chrift, and in
vites us to return unto him and be reconciled, we are come
to that, I fay, as to take it as an high Affront at the Hands
of the Almighty. " He pretends to offer us Mercy," (fay
God-hating, God-provoking Sinners,) " but he only mocks
ec us. For he offers all upon Conditions, which we can-
" not poflibly perform." — . This is as if they fhould fay,
" We hate him fo much, and are of fo high a Spirit, that
" we cannot find in our Hearts to return, and own the
" Law to be juft,by which we ftand condemned, and look
" to his free Mercy thro' Jefus Chrift for Pardon and eter-
" nal Life •, and therefore if he will offer Pardon and eter-
" nal Life upon no eafier Terms, he does but difiemble
" with us, and mock and deride us in our Mifery."
And fince this is the true State of the Cafe, therefore it is
no wonder, that even infinite Goodnefs it felf, has fixed
upon a Day, when the Lord Jefus fhall be revealed from
Heaven, with his mighty Angels, in flaming Fire, to take
Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the Gofpel of our Lord Jefus Chrift. And then fhall un
godly Sinners be convinced of all their hard Speeches,
which they have ungodlily fpoken againft the Lord. And
then fhall the Righteoufnefs of all God's Ways be made
manifeft before all the World.
To conclude, God, the great Lord of all, has threatned
eternal Damnation againft all thofe, who do not perfectly
keep the Law ; (Gal. 3. 10. ) even altho* they live and die
in the midft of the Heathen World. Rom. i. 18, 19, 20,
( of which more afterwards.) And at the Day of Judgment
he will execute the Threatuing upon all, (thofe only ex-
cepted, that are by Faith interefted in Chrift and irr the
New-
no True Religion delineated Dis. I.
New-Covenant : ) and his fo doing will evidently be jufti-
fiable in the Sight of all Worlds on this Ground, viz.
That they were not under a natural Necejfity of Sinning,
but were altogether 'voluntary in theirDifobcdicnce. Luk. 19.
27. But thofe mine ENEMIES which WOULD NOT that
IJbould reign ever them, bring hither and/lay them before me.
And this^ by the Way, is the very Thing, which ftops
the Mouth of an awakened, convinced, humbled Sinner,
and fettles him down in it, that he deferves to be damned,
notwithftanding all his Doings -, viz. that he is what he is,
not by Compidfion^ or thro' a natural Necefftty, but altoge
ther voluntarily. — There is nothing more difficult in the
whole Work preparatory to Converfion, than to make the
Sinner fee and feel and own, that it is juft, quite juft, alto
gether juft and fair, for God to damn him. He pleads,
that he isforryfor all his Sins^and is willing to for fake them all
for ever^ and is refolved. always to do as well as he can. He
pleads, that he carft help his Heart's being fo bad, that he did
not bring himf elf into that Condition^ but that he was brought
into it by the Fall of Adam, which he could not pojfibly pre
vent y and which he had no Hand in. But when he comes
in a^ clear and realizing Manner to fee and feel the whole
Truth , viz. That he does not care for God, nor defire to,
but is really an Enemy to him in his very Heart ^ and volun
tarily fo, and that all his fair Pretences, and- Promifes,
Prayers, and Tears are but meer Hypocrify, ariiing only
from Self-love, and guilty Fears, and mercenary Hopes, —
NOW the Bufmefs is done. For fays he, // matters
not how I came into this Condition, nor whether I can help
having fo bad a Heart \fmce lam voluntarily^//^ a one
as I am, and really love and choofe to be what I be. Rom. 7.
8, 9. Sin revived and Idled. He feels himfelf withoutEx-
,cufe, and that his Mouth is flopped, and that lie muft be
forced to own the Sentence juft : for he feels that it is not
owing to any Compulfion or natural Necejfity, but that he is
voluntarily and heartily fuch a one as he is. And nowy and
not till now, dees he feel himfelf to be a Sinner, compleatly
fo ; for he, all along before, fancied fome Goodnefs to be
in him, and thought himfelf in fome Meafure excufable.
And now, and not till now, is he prepared to attribute his
Salvation
and dijlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 1 1
Salvation entirely to free and fovereign Grace. All along
before he bad fomething^/^/tfr himfelf^ like ti&Pbarifee.
But with the Publican, he now fees that he lies at Mercy.
Luk, 1 8. 13. This is the very Thing that makes all
Mankind to blame, altogether to blame, for being what
they be, namely, that they are voluntarily fo ; this is the
Reafon they deferve to be damned for being fo, and this
when feen and felt by the awakened Sinner effectually Hops
his Mouth.
And this- alfo is the very Thing that makes Believers fee
thcmfelves wholly to blame for not being perfectly holy*
and lays a Foundation for their mourning for their want of
a perfect Conformity to the Law. They feel their Defects
are not theRdult of a natural Necejfity^ but only of the Re
mains of their old Averfiorr to God, which, fo far as they
are unfanctified, they are voluntary in. * And hence they
cry
* OBJ. " But does not St. Paul fay in Rom. 7. 18. To will, is prefent
" with me ', but bow to perform that which is good, 1 fend not /"'
ANS. 'Tis true, he had a ftrong Difpofition to be perfectly holy, but his
Difpofition was not perfedt. He had a ftrong Difpofition to love
God fupremely, live to him entirely, and delight in him wholly, but
his whole Heart was not perfectly difpofed to do fo. There was a
Spirit of averfion to God and love to Sin remaining in him. /;/ me,
that is, in my Flcfi, dwells no good Thing. And this was the Ground
and Caufe of all his Impotency. So that when he fays, To will is
prefent with me, but how to perform that which is good I fend not, he
means, " To be in a Meafure difpofed to love God fupremely, live
" to him entirely and delight in him wholly, is natural and eafy : but
" how to get my whole Heart into the Difpofition I find not, it is
*' beyond me, thro' the Remains of the Flefh, i. e. of my native
" Contrariety to God and love to Sin." Which remaining Con
trariety to God, and Propenfity to Sm, fo far as he was unfano
tified, he was voluntary in ; but fo far as he was fan&ified, he per-
feftly hated. With my Mind, I my felf ferve the Law of God, but
with my -Flejh the Law of Sin. *uer. 25. And fo the Spirit lufed
Againji the Flejh, und the Flejh ar^inft the Spirit ; and thefe two were
lontrary the one to the other ; and hence he could not do the Thing: that
he would. Gal. 5. 17.
OBJ. " But does not St. Paul fpeak feveral Times in Rom. 7. as if he
" was not properly to blame for his . remaining Corruptions, when he
" fays, // is not I, but Sin that dwelleth in me /"
ANS. He only means, by that Phrafe, to let us know that his remaining
Corruption was not the governing? rinciple in him : according to what
he had faid in Rom, 6. 14. Sin foall not have the Dominion over
you,
112 'True Religion delineated Dis. I.
cry out, 7 am carnal^ fold under Sin? 0 ivr etched Man that 1
am ! Rom. 7. 14, 24. And let themfelvcs down for Beafts
and Fools. Pfal .73. 22.
And finally, this want of a good Temper, and voluntary
and flubborn Averfion to God, and love to themielves, the
World and Sin, is ALL that renders the immediate Influ
ences of the holy Spirit, fo abfolucely neceffary, or indeed
at all needful, to recover and bring them to love God with
all their Hearts. A bare Reprefentation of what God is,
were Men of a right Temper, would raviih their Hearts ;
for his Beauty and Glory is infinite. 'Tis nothing therefore
but theirBadnefs that makes it needful that there Ihould be
Line upon Line , and Precept upon Precept. 'Tis their Aver
fion to God, that makes any Perfwafions at all needful -,
for were they of a right Temper, they would love God
with all their Hearts of their own Accord. And furely
were not Men very bad indeed, there would be no Occafi-
on for his Ambafiadors with fuch Earnejinefs to befeech
them. We pray you) fays the Apoftle, in Cbrift's Stead> be
ye reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5. 20. But now, that all exter
nal Means that can pojffibly be ufed, all Arguments and
Motives and Entreaties, urged in the moft forceable Manner •,
fhould not be able to recover Men to God, no not one^ in
all the World, without the immediate Influences of the
holy Spirit, can furely be attributed to nothing Ihort of
this, that an apoftate World are in very Deed at Enmity
againft God, and their Contrariety to him is mightily fet
tled and rooted in their Hearts : mightily fettled and rooted
indeed, that Paul was nothing, and Apollos nothing, and
all their moft vigorous Efforts nothing •, fo that without
the immediate Influences of the holy Spirit, not one, by
them, altho* the beft Preachers, of mere Men, that ever
lived, could be perfwaded to turn to God. i Cor. 3. 7.
But
you, for ye are not under the Law lut under Grace : But does not at all
defign to infmuate that he did not fee himfelf to blame, yea wholly
to blame, for his remaining Corruption. For tho' he fays fome-
times, It is not 7, but Sin that dwellctb in me, yet at other Times, 7 am
carnal, fold under Sin, *ver. 14. O wretched Man that I am, ver. 24.
Like a broken-hearted Penitent. But he could not have mourned for
his remaining Corruption as being fmful, if he had not felt himfelf to
Blame for it.
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 1 1 3
But that the World, Ihould in Fad, rife in Arms, and put
the MefTengers of Heaven to Death, feems to argue En
mity and Malice, even to Perfection. — It is Men's Badnefs,
that keeps them from taking in right Apprehenfions of
God, and that makes them blind to the Beauty of the
divine Nature, and that makes them hate God, inftead of
loving of him •, but for this, they would love God of their
own Ac cor d> without any more ado. If God were your Fa^
tber,(fays Chrift) ye would love me \ ye are ofyourFather the
Devil, therefore ye hate me. Surely then all the World are
inexcufable and wholly to blame for their continuance in
Sin, and juftly deierve eternal Damnation at the Hands
of God, as was before faid. Nor is it any Excufe, to fay,
" God does not give me fufficient Grace to make me
<f better ;" whenas I might love God, with all my Heart,
of my own Accord, with all the Eafe in the World, if I
were but of a right Temper. ^Yea, fuch is his Glory and
Beauty, that I could not but be ravifhed with it, were I
fuch as I ought to be -, and my needing any fpecial Grace
to make me love God, argues that I am an Enemy to him,
a vile abominable Wretch, not fit to live. And to pretend
to excufe my felf, and fay, " I can't, andGod won't make
" me," is juft as bad as if a rebellious Child fhould go to
his good Father, and fay, " I hate you, and can't love you,
" andGod won't by his almighty Power make me better ;
•c and therefore I be not to Blame." Whenas the Wretch
could not but love his good Father, were it not that he is
fo exceedingly vitiated in his Temper. If our Impo-
tency confifted in and refulted from our want of natural
Capacities, if it was the Bufmefs of the holy Spirit to give
us new natural Faculties, then we might plead our Inabili
ty, and plead God's not giving of us fufficient Power, in
Excufe for our felves. But fmce all our Impotency takes
it's Rife entirely from another Quarter, and all our need of
the Influences of the holy Spirit to bring us to love God
refults from our Badnefs, therefore are we without Excufe,
srftho' God leaves us entirely to our felves. And indeed
nothing can be more abfurd,than to fuppofe theGovernour
of the World obliged to make his Creatures love him, in
fpight of all their Awrfion ; or more wicked, than to lay
I the
114 True Religion delineated Dis. L
the Blame, of their not loving of him, upon him, in Cafe
he does not. Jer. 7. 8, 9, 10,- 16.
OBJ. But if it be granted, that Men's natural Powers are
adequate with the Law of God, and fo they, as to their natural
Capacities, are capable of a perfect Conformity to the Law ;
and if it be granted, that the outward Advantages, which all
have who live under the Gofpel, are fufficient, were Men but
of a rightfemper, to lead them to the trueKnowledge of God-, and
fo, that all fuch are without Excufe : yet if any Part of Man
kind do not enjoy fufficient outward Advantages for the true
Knowledge of God, without which it is impoffible they Jhould
either love or ferve him, how can fuch juftly and fairly be
accounted altogether to blame and wholly inexcufable ? If the
Heathen, who have no other outward Advantages whereby to
gain the true Knowledge of God, than the Works of Creation
and Providence, do* but honeftly improve what they have, /hall
not they be accepted, altho' they fall /hort offinlefs Perfection ?
or is it right and fair, that they Jhould be damned ?
ANS. I fuppofe, that thofe Advantages, which all Man
kind do actually enjoy, would be fufficient to lead them to
a true Knowledge of God, and fo to love and ferve him,
were they of a right Difpofition, and were it not for the
Prejudices that blind and darken their Minds, which arife
from their Enmity to God, and Love to themfelves, the
World and Sin. Rom. i. 20, 28. And I fuppofe, that
God, the wife, and holy, juil and good Governour of the
World, is under no natural Obligation, to ufe any fuper-
natural Means, for the removal of thofe Prejudices ;
(Rom. 9. 15.) efpecially confidering that Men love them,
and are obftinate in them, and will not let them be removed
if they can help it, as is in Fact the Cafe. Rom. i. 18, 28.
Job. 3. 19. And I fuppofe, that fince the Law is holy,
juft and good, that nothing iliort of finlefs Perfection can,
or ought to, pafs with the fupreme Lawgiver and Judge of
the World, as a Condition of Acceptance. Gal. 3. 10.
Rom. 3. 20. And I fuppofe, that God was under no
Obligations to provide a Saviour to bear the Curfe of the
La / and anfwer its Demands for any, fince all are volun
tarily at Enmity againft him and his Law. Rom. 5. 8. —
Upon the whole, I fuppofe, that all Mankind might have
been
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 115
been left in their fallen State, without a Saviour, or any
offers of Pardon and Peace, or any fupernatural Advanta
ges whatsoever ; and that yet their natural Obligations to
love God with all their Hearts, would have by no Means
ceafed ^ and that it would have been perfectly juft and
right with God, to have infli&ed eternal Damnation upon
us, for our not doing fo. Rom. i 18. & 3. 19.- And
befides, I fuppofe, that all the Nations of the Earth might
have had the Gofpel preached to them, and to this Day
enjoyed it, had not the World been in Arms againfl it,
and killed the MefTengers of Peace, who were fent to
carry the glad Tidings of Pardon and Salvation round the
World. Mat. 28. 19. And I fuppofe, that ftill.-in every
Age of the Chriftian Church, there have been Minifters of
Chrift, who would gladly go to the fartheft Parts of the
Earth, to carry the joyful News of a Saviour, were Men
but willing to receive the News, and repent and convert
and return to God: I know, there are fuch in this Age.
From all which, I fuppofe that it is right, fair and juft for
God to execute the Threatning of his Law according to
his declared Defign. Rom. 2. 5, 6. Thus much in
general. But to be more particular :
i . It is plain, that the Heathen, as well as the reft of
Mankind,are under a Law that forbids all Sin and requires
perfect Holinefs. For the Wrath of God is revealed from
Heaven againfl all Ungodliness and Unrighteoufnefs of Men9
let them be Jews or Gentiles. Rom. i. 18. AndlinceGod
is what he is, and they his Creatures, there is the fame
general Ground and Reafon that they fhould love him with
all their Hearts, as that others fhould. And it is plai 1't.
Paul looked upon the Heathen underObligations to glorify
God as God) and be thankful^ Rom. 1.21. Which is the
Sum of what is required in the firft Table of the Law.
And none will pretend that the Heathen are not obliged
to love their Neighbours as themfelves, and do as they
would be done by : Which is the Sum of what the fecond
Table requires. So that it is a plain Cafe, that they
are, by the Law of Nature, obliged to the fame perfect
Holinefs, which is required, in God's written World, of
the reft of Mankind,
I 2 2. It
ri6 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
2. It is plain, St. Paul looked upon them as enjoying
fufficient Means of Knowledge, and fo to be without Ex-
cufe. Rom. i. 18. For the Wrath of God is revealed from
Heaven, againfl all Ungodlinefs and Unrighteoufnefs of Men^
who hold the Truth in Unrighteoufnefs. " Who hold the
" Truth in Unrighteoufnefs, i. e. who, inftead of heartily
" receiving and loving and conforming to the Truth, do
" from Love to their Lufts, hate, and wickedly fupprefs,
" all right Notions of God, of Truth and Duty, ftifling
" their Confciences." — But how do the Gentiles difcover
this Averfion to the Truth,who are under noAdvantages to
know it ? — " I anfwer," fays the Apoftle, '" their Ad-
" vantages are fufficient. For ($. 19.) That which may be
" known of God is manifeft in them. i. e. The Perfections of
" God, which is all that is knowable of God,are difcovered to
" them :" as he adds," For God hathjhewed it unto them" —
But were not the Perfections of God difcovered to them fo
darkly, as not to be fufficiently evident and perceivable ? —
" Surely no," fays he-, " for (/. 20.) The inviftble Things
" of him, from the Creation of the World^ are CLEARLY
*• SEEN, being under flood by the Things that are made, even
" his eternal Power and Godhead ; fo that they are without
" Excufe. i. e. Ever fince the Creation of the World, the
" Perfections of God are clearly to be feen in his Works,
" the Things which he has made manifefting plainly what
" a God he is •, fo that thofe, who fee not his Perfections
" and are not fenfible of his infinite Glory,can't plead their
" want of fufficient outward Advantages, in Excufe for
" their Ignorance and Infenfibility, and therefore the Hea-
** then, who have this Advantage, are without Excufe." * —
And
* If it fhould be oljefied, that St. Paul only means, that 'their Advan
tages were fo great, as to render them inexcufable in their grofs
Idolatry and high-handed Wickednefs ', becaufe they did, or might have
known better than to do fo. It may be eafily answered from
the 1 8th Verfe, that he means to prove that they were altogether in
excufable, not only in their grofs Sins, but alfo in all their Ungodlinefs>
and Unrighteoufnefs, i. e. plainly in all their want of a perfeft Confor
mity to the moral Law, or Law of Nature. For the leaft Degree of
Non-conformity in Heart or Life to the firft Table of the Law, is fo
great a Degree of Ungpdlinefs, and the very leaft Degree of Non-con
formity
and diftingui/hed from all Counterfeits. 117
And ftill farther to clear up the Point, the Apoftle feems
to go on, as it were, to fay, — " Yea, it is evident that
" the prefent Ignorance of the Gentile Nations is affected,
" and Yo inexcufable, not only from the fufficiency of their
" prefent outward Advantages, but alfo from their former
" Mifimprovement of the Advantages which they hereto-
" fore did enjoy. Becaufe ($. 21.) when they knew God^
" i. e. when the Heathen Nations formerly had right
" Notions of God inftilled into them, being inftru&ed in
" the Knowledge of the true God, by Noah and his Sons,
" from whom they defcended, yet then they glorified him
" net as Go^ neither were thankful-, their Instructions had
66 no Influence upon them to make them holy. But they
" became vain in their Imaginations , and their foolijh Heart
" was darkened, i. e. They foon fell off to Idolatry, and
" loft that Knowledge of the true God, in which they had
" been inftrucled and educated. For ($. 28.) They did not
" like to retain God in their Knowledge, i. e. to remember
" thofe Inftruclions, which had been given them, concern-
" ing the Nature and Perfections of God : f But they
I 3 abandoned
formity to the fecond Table of the Law, is fo great a Degree of
Unrighteoufnefs. And St. Paul is exprefs in it, that the Wrath of God
is revealed from Heaven againft ALL Ungodlinefs, &c. And in <ver. 2 1 .
he is full in it that the Heathen are wholly inexcufable for not glori
fying God as God, which is manifeftly all that the Law ever required.—
So that it is plain, he does not defign, merely to prove that they were
inexcufable in their Idolatry and the grofs Wickedmfs of their Lives ;
but alfo that they were inexcufable in, and wholly to Blame for, their
not being perfectly My. For they did, or might have known, that God
deferred to be loved <ivith all theirHeart ', and theirNeighbour, asthetnfefaes,
•f And I may add Concerning the Seed of the Woman, the promifed
Mejfiah, and the Way of Salvation thro" him. For, no doubt,
Noah and his Sons had heard of this Promife, and told it to their
Pofterity ; and if they had handed it down fafe, from Age to Age,
the Heathen World might, throughout all Generations, have been in
a falvable State ; for this Promife contained the Sum and Subftance of
the Gofpel. Methufelah lived two Hundred and forty Years in the
Days of Adam. Noah lived fix Hundred, and his Sons about a
Hundred Years in the Days of Methufelah. And Ifaac \vzsjfyiy Years
old before all Noah's Sons were dead. So that this Promife might
eafily have been handed a long down by Tradition, and doubtlefs
would have been fo, had it been precious in the Eyes of the Children
of Men. And afterwards, farther Light might have been obtained
from Ifrael, God's peculiar People, by the Gentile Nations, had they
really been de firous of it.
ii 8 7 rue Religion delineated Dis. L
"•. abandoned themfelves to Idolatry. ($. 23, 2 $.} For which
" Caufe, (f. 24, 26.) for which Contempt caft on God,
" God gave them up to all Manner of Wickednefs. So that
" the prefent extreme Ignorance, Blindnefs and Wicked-
*c nefs of the Gentile Nations, they have, thro' their Aver-
" fion to God and Love to Sin, brought themfelves into.
" So that it is manifeft, they do not defire the Know-,
*c ledge of God, but evidently hate all right Notions of
<c him ; and fo are, beyond difpute, withoutExcufe. Which
" was the Point to be proved." Thus he proves that they
are without Excufe, becaufe their prefent Advantages for
the Knowledge of God are fufficient •, which Advantages
ever fince the Creation of the World have been common
to all : and becaufe they had once fuperadded Advantages
from parental Inftrudions, which, inftead of well improv
ing, and of carefully handing down from Generation to
Generation, they hated to remember, and fo foon forgot.
And thefe Paffages ought to be of more Weight to de
cide the Cafe,becaufe they are not meerly occafionalStrokes,
but the Apoftle is evidently upon the very fame Point that
I am. For from the 1 8th. Verfe of this firft Chapter ', to the
1 9th. Verfe of the third. He is induftrioufly labouring to
prove, that both Jews and Gentiles are all under Sin, and fo
the whole World guilty before ^od. And his Arguments are
not fetched from Mam's firft Sin, but from comparing
them with the Law of God, whereby he difcovers their
Wickednefs -, all the Blame whereof, he entirely lays up
on them : and becaufe it might have been objected) that
the Heathen World had not fufficient Means of Knowledge ^and
fo were not wholly to blame and inexcufable in their Non-con-
formity to the Law^ He does here defignedly obviate the
Olfjeffionj and prove and declare them to be without any
Excufe from that Quarter. The Apoftle evidently takes it for
granted, that they had fufficient natural Powers to capaci
tate them for the Knowledge of God, and he proves that
their outward Advantages were fufficient, and fo he lays
the whole Blame of their Ignorance, Blindnefs and Wick
ednefs upon themfelves ; and finally fums them up, with
the reft of Mankind, as having their Mouths flopped* and
Jlanding guilty before God. Chapter y 3. 19.
The
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 119
The Truth of the Cafe feems, in a few Words, to lie
here •, that if Adam had never fell, the Works of Creation
and Providence had been the Glafs in which he himfelf,
and all his Pofterity, would have beheld the Glory of the
Lord, from Age to Age •, whereby,^^^ naturally of a right
Temper^ they would have been effectually influenced, to
love him, live to him, delight in him, and praife him
for ever ; or in St. Paul's Words, 'To glorify God as God^and
be thankful. And I fuppofe, that all Mankind, ftill
having the fame natural Powers, and the fame outward
Advantages, are therefore intirely to Blame for, and wholly
inexcufable in, all their Ignorance, Blindnefs, and Wicked-
nefs ; efpecially confidering they perfectly love to be what
they be, and hate to be reclaimed, and fland ready to refift
the Light when offered, and fhut their Eyes againft the
Truth, from whatever Quarter it comes. — The Heavens,
ftill as clearly as ever, do declare the Glory of the I^ord^ and
the Firmament Jheweth his handy work ; Day unto Day ut-
tereth Speech, and Night unto Night Jheweth Knowledge.
Pfal. 19. i. The natural Perfections of God are clearly to
be feen in all his Works at the firft Glance, and his moral
Perfections would be equally evident, to an intelligent
Creature of a right Temper, at the fecond Thought. And
then his Glory would immediately mine brighter than the
Sun, and every Heart be ravifhed with his infinite Beauty.
But fuch is our Alienation from the Deity in this apoftate
World, and fuch the vitiated Temper of our Minds, that
while Angels fee the divine Glory in all his Works (Rev.
4> n.) Men, fottifti* brutiih Men, tho* they have Eyes
to fee, fee not \ but are blind to the Manifeftations which
God makes of himfelf j becaufe they do not like to have God
in their Knowledge,
And now,
3. As to the Heathens being accept ed^ for honeftly improv
ing their Powers and Advantages •, it is, in the firft Place,mo&
certain from St.Paul's Account, that they were at the very
greateft Diftance from doing fo. — HSutfecondly, if they had
done fo, yea, if they had difcovered fo good a Temper of
Mind, as perfectly to have conformed to the divine Law,
yet it is the very Scope of all the Apoftle's Rcafoning, in
I 4 the
I2O Irue Religion delineated Dis. I.
the three firft Chapters of his Epiftle to theRc<mans> to prove
that by the Deeds of the Law no Flejh, neither Jew nor Gen-
//&,. can bejuftified. And fmce the Law is holy, juft and
good, it is not indeed reafonable, that any Thing fhort of
linlefs Perfection, from firft to laft^ mould pafs with the
righteous Governour of the World, as a Condition of Ac
ceptance. Future Obedience, let it be ever fo perfect, can
do nothing to make Amends for former Neglects : As has
been already proved in another Place. -But that which
of it felf alone is entirely fufficient to fay in this Matter,
is, that it is exprefly declared in Rom. i. 18. *The Wrath
of God is revealed from Heaven againfl all Ungodlinefs (or
every Breach of the firft Table,) and Unrighteoufnefs (or
every Breach of the fecond Table of the Law,) of Men who
hold the Truth in Unrighteoufnefs. Which Words are evi
dently defigned, by the Apoflle, to reprefent the Character
and State of the Heathen World. For he fpends the reft
of the Chapter in enlarging upon this Head, fhewing how
the Heathen held the Truth in Unrighteoufnefs, and were
expofed to the Wrath of God for their Ungodlinefs and Un
righteoufnefs ; and he concludes them all under Sin and guilty,
and loft for ever, unlefs they obtain Juftification by Faith
in Chrift. See Chapter^ 3. 9, 19, 20, 30. Ferfes. And
thus we fee how all Mankind have, not only fufficient na
tural Powers, but alfo fufficient outward Advantages, to
know God and perfectly conform to his Law, even the
Heathen themfelves. And that the very Reafon they do
not, is their want of fuch a Temper as they ought to have,
and their voluntary rootedEnmity toGod,and love toSin. *
And
.* OBJ. But it is impoflille they Jbculd low God with all their Hearts, if
they ha<ve no Hopes of finding Favour in his Sight. For he that cometh
to God muft believe that he is, and that he is a REWARDER of them
that diligently feek him. Heb. 1 1 . 6.
ANSW. Coming to God, in Hib. n. 6, evidently implies, not only a
Conformity to the Law, but alfo a Compliance with theGofpel. i.e.
it implies not only a Difpofition to love God with all our Hearts,
but alfo a trufting in him for the divine Favour and eternal Life
upon Gofpel -Encouragements ; which Gofpel-Encouragements mult
therefore be underftood and believed, or it will indeed be impolfible
fo to truft in him. But I did not fay that the Heathen were under
fufficient outward Advantages [for an evangelical returning to Go'd,
whicji
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 121
And now that they are wholly to blame and entirely inex-
cufable, appears ftill in a clearer Light.
But before I leave this Point, I muft make this Remark,
viz. That if God looks upon the Advantages of the Hea
then fufficient, no Wonder that he fo often fpeaks of the
Advantages of his own profefiing People, as being much
more than barely fufficient •, even altho' they enjoy only the
outward Means of Grace, without the inward Influences of
the Holy Spirit. For if the natural Advantages of the
Heathen are fufficient, furely the fupernatural Advantages
of thofe who enjoy a divine Revelation^rz much more than
fufficient. And if the Advantages of * thofe who enjoy only
a divine Revelation are much more than fufficient, no won
der then that thofe who lived in the Days of Mofes, Ifaiab
and Chrift) are reprefented as veryMonfters of Wickednefs,
for remaining blind, fenfelefs, impenitent, and unholy,fmce
they enjoyed fuch great^and fo many fuper added Advantages.
No wonder therefore,that Mofes every where reprefents the
Children of Ifrael, as fuch a itubborn, perverfe, ftiffnecked,
rebellious People, (particularly fee Deut. 9..) and makes as
if theirBlindnefs,Senfelefnefs and Impenitency was the moft
unaccountable
which is what is intended in. Hel. n. 6. but only for a Compli
ance with the Law of Nature, which is what is intended in Rom.
I. 20, 21.
OBJ. But ftill, is it not, in the Nature of Things, inipoffible they Jbould
love God, if they have no Hopes of finding Favour in his Sight ?
ANSW. Let common Senfe decide the Cafe. A Servant hates his
Mailer (a very good Man) without Caufe, murders his only Son,
fteals a thoufand Pounds of his Money, runs away into a far Country,
fpends feveral Years in riotous Living ; at length he is catch'd, he
is brought Home to his Mafter, who is a Man in Authority, before
him he has his Trial, is condemned, and has no hope of Favour. —
But how does this render it impoffible, in the Nature of Things, that
he mould love his Mafter ? Why can't he love his Mafter now, as
, well as ever he could ? He has the fame original Grounds of Love
he ufed to have. He ufed to love his Mafter : his Mafter is as wor
thy of his Efteem as ever : He has no Caufe to efteem his Mafter
e'r the kfs, becaufe he himfelf has been fuch a Villain, or becaufe
he is doom'd to die for his Crimes ; a Punifhment juftly due. To
diflike his Mafter for thefe Things, would be perfefUy unreafonable.
Surely, were he but of a right Temper, he could not but take all the
Blame to himfelf, and juftify his Mafter, and efteem and love him,
-and be heartily forry for all his Villianies. He can be under no Ina
bility , but what muft arife from a bad Heart. The Application is eafy.
122 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
unaccountable and inexcufable, fince their Eyes had feen,
and their Ears had heard, fuch Things, and their Advanta-
tages had been fo great. Deut. 29. 2, 3,4. And Mofes call
ed unto all Ifrael^and f aid unto them^ Te have feen all that the
Lord did before your Eyes, in theLand 0/Egypt, ^0Pharaoh,
and unto all his Servant s^ and unto all his Land ; (and that he
might fet forth the Greatnefs of the Things which they
had feen, he adds) 'The great Temptations which thine Eyes
have feen, the Signs, and thofe great Mirac!es,(a\\ which have
been enough to melt the Heart of a Stone, and) yet ( as he
goes on to fay, ) the Lord ( by all thefe Things which have
been fo much more than enough, ) hath not given you an
Heart to perceive^ and Eyes to fee? and Ears to hear, unto Ms
Day : All thefe Means have not to this Day attained the
End, and made you fee and feel and know what a God the
Lord is, and bring you to love him and fear him and walk
in all his Ways. Mofes evidently fpeaks of it as a very flrange
Thing, that they fhould be blind, fenfelefs, impenitent and
unholy, after fuch Means and Advantages, as if they were
mofl inexcufable, yea, under a very aggravated Guilt: •,
whereby he plainly takes it for granted, that their Advanta
ges had been much more than fufficient, had it not been for
their Want of a right Temper, and their wicked Obftinacy
and Perverfenefs. And yet hementions none but outward
Means and outward Advantages, and does not give the leafl
Intimation that they had had any inward Afililance from
the holy Spirit. He does not bring any fuch Thing into
the Account, but wholly aggravates their Sin and their
great Inexcufablenefs, from the Confideration of their out
ward Helps. Te have feen all that the Lord did before your
Eyes in the Land of Egypt , &c. — And no wonder he tho't
them fo very inexcufable, fince God looks upon the Hea
then World without Excufe, irr that while the Heavens de
clare the Glory of the Lord, &c. they don't fee with their
Eyes, and perceive with their Hearts, and from a Senfe of
his Glory, only thus difcovered, love him, and live to him.
For if their Advantages are enough, furely the Advantages
of the Israelites were much, very much, more than enough.
And upon the fame Hypothecs, it is no Wonder that
God looked upon the Cafe of the Children of Ifrael as he
did
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 123
did, in the Time of Ifaiab ; who, from the Days of Mofes
even to that Day, had from Age to Age enjoyed fuch out
ward Advantages as they had, and had had fuch outward
Means ufed with them •, and in that Age enjoyed fo great
an outwardPriviledge, as the dailyProphefying and Preach
ing of Ifaiah, Hofea, Amos* and Micah ; who, fome, if not
all, of them prophefied, as it is very probable, forty or fifty
Years together at the fame Time, as we may learn from the
firft Verfe in their feveral Books, which tell us when and
how long they prophefied, compared with the Account we
have of thofe Kings Reigns, in the Books of the Kings, in
whofe Reigns they prophefied. No wonder, I fay, God
fpeaks as he does inlfa. 5. i, — 7. My Beloved hath a Vine
yard in a very fruitful Hill. And he fenced it, and gathered
out the Stones thereof, and planted it with the choiceft Vine, and
built a Tower in the midft of it, and alfo made a Wine-Prefs
therein. — Here is reprefented the natural Powers, and out
ward Advantages of God's People. • And he looked that
it Jhould hr ing forth Grapes, and it brought forth wildGrapes.
And now, O Inhabitants of Jerufalem, and Men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my Vineyard. What could
have been done more to my Vineyard, that I have not done in
it ? Wherefore,when Hooked that it Jhould bring forthGrapes,
brought it forth wild Grapes ? Here all the Blame is
entirely laid on themfelves, and their Condu6l is confidered
as being inexcufably, yea, unaccountably bad. And
now go to -, I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyard -, I
will take away the Hedge thereof, &c. Where nothing
can be plainer than that the Children of Ifrael are repre
fented, as enjoying fufficient Advantages for Fruitfulnefs,
yea, Advantages much more than barely fufficient, and that
their proving as they did, was unfpeakably vile and God-
provoking, and for which they deferved utter Ruin ; and
ibr which indeed God did afterwards, according to his de^
clared Defign, bring utter Ruin upon them. But ail thofe
Advantages were outward \ nor is the inward Affiflance of
the holy Spirit any where brought into the Account, when
ever the Greatnefs of their Advantages is fet forth, on Pur-
pofe to Ihew how aggravated their Wickednefs was : but
this is conftantly the Charge, as in 2 Chron. 36. 15,16,17.
And
124 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
And the Lord God of their Fathers fent unto them by his Mef-
fengers, rifing up betimes and fending •, but they mocked theMef-
fengers ofGod^ and defpifed hisWords^ and mifufed hisProphets,
until the Wrath of God arofe againsJ his People? 'till
there was no Remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the
King of the Chaldees. Not becaufe they did not improve
the inward Affiftances of the holy Spirit, but becaufe they
did not improve their outward Advantages, did not hearken
to God's MeJJengers. — And in this Strain their Confeflions
ran, when God by his Grace had brought them to fee what
they had done. As in Dan. 9. 5, 6. &c. We havejinned^and
committed Iniquity , and have done wickedly, and have rebelled,
even by departing from thy Precept s> and from thy Judgments :
Neither have we HEARKENED UNTO THY SERVANTS THE
PROPHETS, which fpake in thy Name. The not hearkning to
them is mentioned as the great Aggravation : but their not im
proving the inward Afliftance of the Spirit is not brought
into the Account. See Neh. 9. 30. — It is evident, that the
Children of Ifrael, confidered as a Nation, had not fpecial
Grace, or the renewing fanclifying Influences of the holy
Spirit, as one of their Advantages, from Jer. 31, 31,32,33.
Behold the Days come^ faith the Lor d> that I will make a new
Covenant with the Houfe of Ifrael, and with the Houfe of Ju-
dah) not according to the Covenant I made with theirFathers,
in the "Day I took them by the Hand, to bring them out of the
Land of Egypt , (which my ( national ) Covenant they brake,
altho* I was as an Hujband unto them^ faith the Lord. ) But
thisjhall be the Covenant that I will make with the Houfe of
Ifrael, after thofe Days, faith the Lord, I will put my Law in
their inward Parts^ and write it in their Heart s, and will be
their Gody and they jh all be my People. Where the renewing
fanctifying Influences of the Holy Spirit, are mentioned, as
a peculiar Priviledge the Jewijh People, were not entit
led unto as a Nation^ by that national Covenant which God
entered into with them, as fu'ch, at Mount Sinai. Exod. 19.
Deut. 5. and which afterwards, at the End of 40 Years, was
renewed at theBorders ofCanaan. Deut. 29. Nor indeed were
there any inward Influences of the holy Spirit, at all, pro-
mifed in that national Covenant, as acommonPriviledge,to
be by them in common enjoyed. And if they were not en
titled
and diftinguifhedfrom all Counterfeits. 125
tided to thisPriviledge as aNation by their nationalCovenant,
then there is noEvidence that they, as aNation,did enjoy it.
And therefore whenGod fpeaks as if he had done all for that
Nation that could be done, he plainly has Refpeft only to
outward M^tf^which were all that they as aNation enjoy'd:
And,as to them,he evidently had good Ground fo to fay -9 fmce
he haddone fuch greatThings forthem,&fentfuchProphets
among them, and been continually taking all Pains, from
Age to Age, to make them a holy People. Even as we
are ready to fay concerning the People of a particular Pa-
rim, where there is a learned, godly, and fo a plain, fearch-.
ing, powerful, enlightning, faithful Minifter, fuch as Mr.
Sbepard was in his Day, What more could be done for fuch a
People^ that is not done ? And therefore when Stephen
charged the Jews, that they always rejtfted the Hcly Gboft,
as their Fathers had done, ( in Aft. 7. 51. ) he means that
they had always refitted the Holy Ghoft, as fpeaking in
and by their Prophets, as now they did the fame Spirit
that fpake in and by him : as is plain from #.52. and as
is alfo evident from Neb. 9. 30. And befides there is not
the leaft Intimation, that thofe Jews to whom Stephen
fpoke, were under any of the inward Influences of the holy
Spirit, but they feem rather to ad like Creatures
wholly left of God. And this Hint may help us to under-
ftand that Phrafe in Neb. 9. 20. Compared with Num. n.
1 7. So that from the whole, it is evident, that the
Children of Ifrael, as a Nation, were in Ifaiatfs Time
looked upon as enjoying Advantages much more than fuf-
ficient for their being a holy and fruitful People, had they
been of a right Temper and not fo wickedly obftinate and
perverfe in their bad Difpofition , and yet their Advantages
were only outward, and the inward Influences of the holy
Spirit are not taken into the Account. — And well might
their Advantages be thus efteemed upon the forementioned
Hypothecs. Yea, if all Mankind are able, in refpeft
of their natural Capacities to yield perfect Obedience, and
if the Advantages of the very Heathen were fufficient, had
it not been for the want of a right Temper in them and
for their very badDifpofition,it is no. wonderthatGod fpeaks
here concerning his peculiarPeopk, whofe outward Advan
tages
126 True Religion delineated Dis. L
tages were exceeding great, as if he had had very raifed
Expedations of their being a holy People. Wherefore,
when I looked it Jhould bring forth Grapes, brought it forth
wild Grapes ? q.d. " I have done all as to outward Means,
" that could be done, to make you a holyPeople. Enough,
" and more than enough. And I looked and expected
" that you fhould have been fo. And whence is it that
" you be not ? How unaccountable is it ? And how great
" is your Wickednefs ! And how great your Guilt !" For
it is God's Way, in the holy Scriptures, to fpeak to Men,
after the Manner of Men, who are wont to have their Ex
pectations of Fruitfulnefs raifed, when they fow or plant in
a fertile Soil, well manured and cultivated. See Mat. 21.
33, — 41. Juft fo a Mafter is wont to fpeak to his
Servant, who is ftrong and able for Bufmefs, " I looked
" that you fhould have done fuch a Piece of Work,where-
" fore is it not done ? You had Time enough and Strength
"' enough." And that altho' he knew in all Reafon before
Hand, that his Servant would not do it, becaufe of his
lazy, unfaithful Temper. The Defign of fuch Speeches
being to reprefent the great Unreafonablenefs and Inexcufa-
nefs of fuch a Conduct.
And finally, upon the fame Hypothecs, it is no wonder
that JefusChrift reprefents the People of Chorazin andBeth-
faida and Capernaum^ as enjoying Advantages fufficient to
have brought even tyre and Sidon and Sodcm toRepentance,
which in Scripture- Account are fome of the moft wicked
Cities in the World ; and^fo confequently more than barely
fufficient to have brought them to Repentance, who were
by Profeffion the People of God. For they had enjoyed the
Miniftry vtChrift himielf, and feen very many of his migh
ty Works. Mat. ii. 20 — 24. If the Advantages of the
Heathen World are fufficient, well might Chrift, fpeaking
after the Manner of Men, feem to be fo confident that tyre
and Sidon and Sodom would have repented, if they had feen
his mighty Works : And well might he fpeak as if the Peo
ple of Chorazin &c. had enjoyed Advantages more than
barely fufficient, and lay all the Blame of their Impe-
nitency-upon them, yea, and look upon them as under an
aggravated Guilt, and give them fo heavy a Doom. — -And
yet
and diftinguifoed from all Counterfeits. 127
yet nothing can be plainer, than that the Advantages which
they enjoyed were only outward^ for no other are brought
into the Account as Aggravations 6f their Guilt. Wo unto
theejor if the mightyWorks which were done in youficc. — He
does not in the leaft intimate as if they had any inward
Help from the holy Spirit, but only fays he has done migb-
ty Works among them. Yea, in the 25th. Verfe he plainly
declares that they were left deftitute of fpecial Grace.
And thus, while withSt.Pitt»/, we look upon the Advan
tages even of theHeathenWorld,as fufficientto lead them to
the true Knowledge of God and a perfect Conformity to his
Law, but for their Want of a good Temper, and their vo
luntary Averfion to God and Love to Sin ; we eafily fee
whence it is, that the external Advantages of thofe who en
joy the Benefit of a divine Revelation, together with other
outward Means of Grace, are reprefented, as being much
morethan barely fufficient ; & confequently theirGuilt,in re
maining Impenitent &Unholy,as being doubly aggravated.
And before I leave this Point I muft make one Remark
more, namely, that if the Advantages of the HeathenWorld
were fufficient, but for their want of a good Temper, their
voluntary Averfion to God and Love to Sin, to lead them
to the true Knowledge of God, and a perfect Conformity
to his Law, as has been proved •, then God was not under
any natural Obligations to grant to any of Mankind anyfu~
fernatural Advantages , but ftill might juftly have required
finlefs Perfection of all, and threatned eternal Damnation
for the leaft Defect. I fay, God was under no natural Obli
gations , i. e. any Obligations arifing from his Nature and
Perfections : For he might, confiftent with his Holinefs,
Juftice and Goodnefs, have left all Mankind to themfelves,
without any fupernatural Advantages •, fmce their natural
Advantages were fufficient, and they were obflinate in- their
Ignorance, Blindnefs and Wickednefs. Moft certainlyGod
was not bound to have fent his Son, his Spirit, his Word,
his Meffengers, and intreat and befeech thofe, who perfectly
hated him, and hated to hear from him, and were difpofed
to crucify his Son, refift his Spirit, pervert his Word, and
kill his Meffengers, to turn and love him and ferve him ;
but might, even confiftent with infinite Goodnefs it fclf,"
have
128 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
have let them take their Courfe,and go on in the Way they
were fet in, and have damned them all at kill.
All that the great and glorious Governour of the World
requires of Mankind in theLaw of Nature, is, that they love
him with all their Hearts and Souls, and live as Brethren
together in his World, which is infinitely reafonable in it
felf, and which they have fufficient natural Powers to do.
And he has ftretched abroad the Heavens as aCurtain over
their Heads, which declare the Glory of the Lord, and in
the Earth and in all his Wrorks, his Perfections are clearly
to be ieen, fo that all are under fufficient Advantages for
the Knowledge of him -, but Mankind hate God, and fay
unto the Almighty, Depart from us, for we do not defire
the Knowledge of thy Ways : And hence they ftill remain
Ignorant of God, averfe to him, and in love with Sin. And
now, I fay, it is as evident as the Sun at Noon Day, that
God might fairly have damned fuch Creatures, without
ufing any more Means with them. His Law being thus
upon a perfect Level with their natural Powers and natural
Advantages, he was not obliged, as he was the righteous
and good Governour of the World, to grant them any fu-
pernatural Afliftance, either outward, by an external Reve
lation, or inward, by the internal Influences of his holy Spirit.
And therefore it is, that the great Ruler of the World, has
always acted Sovereignly and Arbitrarily in thefe Matters,
beftowing thefe fupernaturalFavours upon whom he pleafes,
as being obliged to none. Thus he has done as to the ex
ternal Revelation. Pfal. 147. 19,20. He Jheweth his Word,
unto Jacob, bis Statutes and his Judgments unto Ifrael : He
hath not dealt fo with any Nation, and as for his Judgments
they have not known them. And thus he has done as to the
internal Influences of his Spirit. Mat. n. 25,26. I thank
thee, 0 Father, Lord of Heaven andEarthJtecaufe thou haft hid
thefe Things from the wife andfrudent, and haft revealed them
unto Babes. Evenfo Father, for fo it feemed good in thy Sight.
And thus God even to this Day, as to both outward and
inward Helps, hath Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and
Compaffwn on whom be will have CompaJJion. He eff equally
fends the Golpel to one Nation and not to another ; and
where the Gofpel is preached, he by his Spirit awakens,
convinces,
an I- ! 'nguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 129
convinces, humbles, converts whom he pleafes, and leaves
the reft.
And thus the Objection, from the Heathen's not having
fufficient outward Advantages, has been anfwered. And
from the Anfwer, I have taken Occafion to make thefe
(I hope) not unprofitable Remarks •, & may now return and
repeat my former AfTertion, with ftill higher Degrees of
AiTurance, viz. that Mankind are altogether to blame for,
and entirely inexcufable in, their Non-conformity to the
holy Law of God, and therefore juftly deferve Damnation ;
and that even the Heathen, as well as others.
Thus have I endeavoured, to (hew what is the exact
Meafure of Love and Obedience that God requires of the
Children of Men, and that all Mankind have fufficient
natural Powers and outward Advantages, and that all their
Biindnefs, Ignorance & Wickednefs are voluntary, chofen
and loved. And I have been the larger upon thefe Things,
in order to clear up the Jufticv of God and his Law, and
the Grace of God in his Gofpel : Both which, have been
fadly mifreprefented, by thofe who have not aright under-
flood or well attended to thefe Things. They have faid,
that it is not juft in God to require finlefs Perfection of
Mankind, or damn any for the want of it. They have faid,
that the Law is abated and brought down to a level with,
(I hardly know what, unlefs I call it,) the vitiated depraved
Temper of an apoftate World, who both hate God and
his holy Law, and want an Act of Toleration and Indul
gence to be pail in Favour of their Corruptions, that, at
Heart, they may remain dead in Sin, and yet, by a Round
of external Duties, be fecured from Damnation at laft.
And fo they have, like the Pharifees of old, (Mat. 5,) de-
ilroyed the Law by their Abatements. And now the Law,
only by which is the Knowledge of Sin, being thus laid
afide, they are ignorant of their finful, guilty, helplefs, un
done Eftate •, and fo are infenfible of their Need of the
fovereign Grace of God thro' Jefus Chrift to lave them,
and fancy they are good-natured enough to turn to God of
their own Accord. And having imbibed fuch Notions of
' Religion, they eafily fee that the better Sort of Heathen
Cfor Subftance the fame Religion with themielves, and
K therefore
130 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
therefore have equalCharity for them. Not being really fen-
fible of theirNeed of Gofpel -Grace for themfelves,they have
lull Charity for the Heathen, who never fo much as heard
of it. But what I have laid is diffident, I think, to clear
the Juftice of God in his Law, and the Grace of God in
the Gofp.el, and iweep away this Refuge of Lies, by which
fo many gladly quiet their Confciences, and wofully deceive
their own Souls. However, of thefe Things we mall ftill
have fbmething more afterwards.
Thus we have gone thro* what was propofed, have con-
fidered what was implied in Love to God, and from what
Motives we are to love him, and what Meafure of Love is
required. And ail that has been faid can't' poffibly be
fum'd up in fewer or plainer Words than thefe, 'Thoujhalt
love tbe Lord thy God with all thy Heart , and with all thy
Soul, with all thy Mind, and with all thy Strength. This is
thcjirft and great Commandment; in Conformity whereunto
the firft and great Part of Religion does confift. And the
Jecond which is like unto it, being the Foundation of the
other half of (this Part of) Religion (now under Confidera-
tion,) is, Thou /halt love thy Neighbour as thy f elf . Which
is what we are, in the next Place, to proceed to a Confi-
deration of.
SECTION IV.
Of Love to our Neighbour.
II. tfkoujhall love thy Neighbour as thy felf. — In which
Words we have, (i.) the Duty required. Thou Jhdt love.
(2.) The original, natural Ground and Reafon ot it inti
mated -, fby Neighbour. WhichName given to our Fellow-
Men, may lead us to confider them, as being what they are
in themfelv&, and as fuftaining fomeKind of Character and
Relation, with Regard to us. (3.) The Rule and Standard
by which our Love to our Neighbour is to be regulated ;
As thy felf. Here therefore we may confider, what is implied
in Love to our Neighbour, from what Motives we are to
love him, and by what Standard our Love is to be regulat
ed, as to its Nature and Meafure.
FIRST,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits* 131
FIRST, Let us confider what is implied in that .Love ta
cur Neighbour*, which, by the Law of God, is required of
us. And in general, it is prefuppofed, or implied, that we
have a right Temper of Mind, an upright, impartial, can
did, benevolent Temper, even toPerfecticn,without the leaft
Tinclure of any Thing to the contrary. For without this
we fhall not, we cannot, view our Neighbours in a true
Light, nor think of them, nor judge of them, nor feel to
wards them, exactly as we ought. A wrong Temper, a
felfiih, partial, uncandid, cenforious, carping, bitter, ftingy*
proud Temper, will unavoidably give a wrong Turn to all
our Thoughts of, and Feeling towards, our Neighbours :
as is manifeft from the Nature of the Thing, and from'uni-
verfal Experience. Solomon obferves, that as a Man think-
etl\ fo is he. And it is as true, that as a Man is, fo he
thinketh. For out of the Heart, the Temper and Difpofi-
tion of the Man, proceed his Thoughts of, and Feelings
towards, both Peribns and Things ; according to our Sa
viour, Mat. 12. 33, 34, 35. An upright, therefore impar
tial, candid, -benevolent Temper, to Perfection, without
the leaft Tincture of any Thing to the contrary, is prefup-
pofed and implied in the Love required •, as being, in the
Nature of Things, abfolutely neceffary thereto. We muft
have a right Temper, and under the Influence thereof, be
perfectly in a Difpofition, to view our Neighbours in a
right Light, and think and judge of them, and be affected
towards them, as we ought, i. e. Vo love them as curfelves.
Particularly,
i. There is a certain Efteem and Value for our Fellow-
Men, which upon fundry Accounts is their Due, that is
implied in this Love. There are valuable Things in Man
kind. Some have one Thing, and fome another. Some
haveGifts, and fome have Grace. Some have five Talents,
and fome two,and fome one. Some are worthy of a greater
Efteem, and fome lefs, conlidered merely as they be in
themfelves. And then fome are by God let in a higher
Station and fome in a lower, fuftaining various Characters
and ftanding in various Relations. As Magiftrates and
Subjects,Minifters and People, Parents and Children, Mai
ters and Servants, &c. And there is a certain Efteem ;•:; J
K 2 Rr..
..
132 True Religion ^delineated Dis. I.
Refpect due to every one in all Stations. Now, with a
difmterefled Impartiality, and with a perfect Candour and
a hearty Good-will, ought we to view the various Excel
lencies of our Neighbours, and confider their various Sta
tions, Characters and Relations, and in our Hearts we
ought to give every one their due Honour,and their proper
Place , being perfectly content,for ourownParts,tobe and
act in our own Sphere, where God has placed us \ and by
ourFellow-Mortals to bs confidered, as being juft what we
are. And indeed, this, for Subflance, is the Duty of every
one in the whole Syftem of intelligent Creatures. As for
God moil high, the Throne is his proper Place, and all
his intelligent Creatures have their proper Places, both
with Refpect to God, and with Refpect to one another,
which Places every one ought to take and to acquiefce in
with all their Hearts. We have an Inftance of this Temper
to a good Degree in David. He was fenfible that Saul was
the Lord's Anointed^r^ that it became him to render Ho
nour to whom Honour is due, and Fear to whom Fear,
and his Heart was tender. Hence Bavif.s Heart fmote him,
becaufe he had cut off SauTs Skirt, i Sam. 24. 5. This Tem
per will naturally difpofe us to feel and conduct right* to
wards our Superiours, Inferiours and Equals ; And fo lay
a iblid Foundation for the Performance of *ill relative Du
ties. The contrary to all this, is a proud & conceited Tem-
jper,attended with a Difpbfition to defpife Superiours, fcorn
Equals, and trample upon Inferiours : A Temper to over
value themfelves & their Friends & Party, and to underva
lue and defpife all others. Such do not confider Perfons
and Things as being what they are, and think and judge
and be affected and act accordingly. Nor do they confider,
or regard the different Stations in which Mea are fet by
God, or the Characters they fuftain by divine Appointment.
They are not governed by the Reafon of Things, ,and a
Senfe of what is right and fit ; but by their own Corrup
tions. This was the Cafe with Korab and his* Company,
when they rofe up againft Mofes and Aaron^ and faid, Te
take top much upon you, feeing all the Congregation are koly\
every one of them , and the Lord is among them. Num. i^- 3-
Pride makes Superiors fcornful in their Temper, and
tyrannical
V
and dijlinguljbedfrwn all Counterfeits. 133
tyrannical in their Government \ and Pride makes Inferi
ors envious in their Temper and ungovernable in their
Lives ; and it makes Equals jealous, unfriendly, contenti
ous : In aWord, it lays a Foundation for the Neglect of aJl
relative Duties, and for a general Difcord and Confufion
among Mankind.
2. We ought not only to confider, efteem and refpect
our fellow-Men, as being what they are, and with a perfect
Impartiality give them their Due, in our very Hearts, ao
cording to what they are, and to the Stations they Hand in,
being perfectly content, for our own Parts, with the Place
which God has allotted to us in the Syftem, and to be and
act in our own proper Sphere, and willing to be confider-
ed by others as being juft what we are : but it is far*
ther implied in the Love required, that we be perfectly be«
nevolent towards them, i. e. That we confider their Welfare
and HappincfS) as to Body and Soul, as to Time and Eter
nity, as being what it really is, and are ( according to the
Meafure of our natural Capacities) thoroughly fenfible of
its Value and Worth, and are difpofed to be affected and
a& accordingly, i. e. To be tender of it, value and pro-
mete it, as being what it is ; to long & labour and pray for
it ; and to rejoyce in their Profperity, and be grieved for
their Adverfity ; and all from a cordial Love, and genuine
good- Will. The contrary to which, is a felfijh Spirit j
whereby we are inclined only to value, and feek, and re
joyce in, our own Welfare -, and not care for our Neigh
bour's, any further than we are influenced by Self-love and
Self-Intereft. Which felfifh Spirit alfo lays a Foundation
forEnvy at ourNeighbour's Profperity, and hard-heartednefs
in the Time of his Adverfity, and inclines us to hurt his
Intereft, to promote our own. To love our Neighbour as
our felves, makes it natural to do as we would be done by ^
but a felfiih Spirit, makes it unnatural. — Malevolence,Malice
and Spight makes it even natural to delight in our Neigh
bour's Mifery. And hence it is that Revenge is fo fweet,
and Backbiting and Detraction fo agreeable, in this fallen^
finful World.
3. I may add, that fo far as our Fellow-Men are proper
Objects of Delight and Complacency y fo far ought we to
K 3 take
134 True Religion delineated Di s . j.
take Delight and Complacency in them. And hence it is
that the godly Man feels fuch a peculiar Love to the Chil
dren of God, for that Image of God which he fees in them.
The Saints are, in his Account, the Excellent of tbc Earth^
in whom is all his Delight. Pfal. 16. 3. The godly Man is
of Chrift's Temper, who laid, Whofoever Jhall do the Will of
my Father 'which is in Hea-ven, the fame is my Br other ^ and
Sifter, and Mother. Mat. 12. 50. But wicked Men are of
Another Tafte •, and theThings, the Tempers and Difpofiti-
*ions in their Neighbours, which to them appear excellent,
and upon the Account of which they delight in them, are
odious in God'sSight. Luk.i6. 15. Fcrthat which is highly
efteemed among ft Men^ is Abomination in the Sight of God.
For it is the Temper of wicked Men, not only to do wick
edly themfelves, but alfo to have Pleafure in others that do
fo too. Rom. 1.32. Thofe who are vain, or unclean, or
intemperate, fuit each other, and take Delight in one ano
ther's Company : while at the fame Time they diilafte and
difrelifh thole Things among Mankind, which are truly
mofl worthy our Delight. In a Word, we ought ib to
efteem others, as to be heartily difpofed to treat them with
all that Refpect which is their Due •, and to have fuch a
tender Regard for their Welfare, as to be perfectly difpofed,
in every Inftance, and in every Refpecl:, to do as we would
be done by ; and to take Notice of all their good Proper
ties, with that entire Friendlinefs and perfect Candor, as
may difpofe us to take all that Delight and Complacency
in them which is fit. In order unto all which,it is requifite,
that we be perfectly free from any Tincture of Pride, Sel-
fifhnefs, &c. and have our Hearts full of Humility, Bene
voknce, Candour and Goodnels.
And now,
SECONDLY. Ihe Motives by which we are to be influenced?
thus to love our Neighbours as our felves, are fuch as
thefe. i. // is right .and fit in it felf. As the Apoflle
exhorting Children to obey their Parents in the Lord, ufes
this Motive, For this is right. Eph.6. i. The Ground and
Reafon of God's requiring of us to love our Neighbours
as our felves, is becaufe it is in its own Nature right that
we fliould > and this ought therefore to move and influence
us
and dijiinguijbed from all Counterfeits. 135
us'to do fb. There is the fame gcneralRtefon. why I fliould
love my Neighbour, as why I fhould love my felf. Lovely
Tnings are as worthy of being loved in him, as in me ;
and therefore by me ought in all Reafon to be loved as
much. There is the fame Reafon why my Neighbour
mould be efteemed as being what he is, and according to
the Station he ilands in, as that I mould. To efteem.my
felf above my Neighbour, merely becaufe I am my felf ,
without any other Reafon, is unfit and wrong, atfirft Sight.
vSo to admire my Children, my Friends, my Party, as if
there were none fuch, merely becaufe they are mine, is un-
reafonable and abfurd. My very woril Enem/ ought, by
me, to be tonlidered and efteemed, as being what he is,
with an Impartiality perfectly difmterefted, as well as my
very beft Friend. Good Properties are not at all the better,
merely for belonging to me, or to my Friends •, or the
worfe, for belonging to my Neighbour, or my Enemy.
But it is right 1 ihould view Things as they be, and be
afFedted towards them accordingly. Indeed, I ought to be
ib far from aDifpofition to efteem my felf above others,and
to be prejudiced in my own Favour (iince I am capable of
a much more full and intimate Acquaintance with my own
Sins and Follies than with the Sins and Follies of others,)
that I ought rather to be habitually difpofed to prefer
others inHonour above my feif. Rom. 12. 10. Phil. 2. 3. —
And fo as to my Neighbour's Welfare and Happinefs*
there is the fame general Reafon why it Ihould be dear to
me, as that my own fhould. His Welfare is worth as much,
in it felf, as mine. It is as worthy therefore, to be valued*
efteemed, fought after and rejoyced in, as mine It is true,
my Welfare is more immediately put under my Care by
God Almighty, and fo it is fit it fhould, by me, be more
efpecially taken Care of. Not that it is of greater Worth,,
for being mine j for it is not : but only becaufe it is more
immediately put under my Care by God Almighty. The
fame may be faid of the Welfare of my Family, &c. But
ftill my Neighbour's Welfare is in it felf as precious and
dear as mine, and he is my Neighbour, he is Fleih and
Blood as well as I, and wants to be happy as well as I, and
is my Brother by Mam -, we are all hut one great Family,
the
136 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
the Offspring of the fame common Parents -, we fhould
therefore all be affected as Brethren towards one another,
love a$ Brethren, and feek each others Welfare moft ten
derly and affectionately, as being fenfible how dear and
precious the Welfare of each other is. This is perfectly
right. And fo we fhould bear one another's Burthens,
mourn with them that mourn, and rejoyce with them that
rej6yce, as being tender-hearted, cordial Friends to every
Body. And this from a real Sight and Senfe, that fuch a
Temper and Conduct is perfectly right and fit in the Na
ture of Things. And whereas there may be feveral
Things in iffy Neighbour truly agreeable, it is evidently
Right I mould delight in thofe good Properties, according
to their real Worth. It is a Duty I owe to my Neighbour
the Pofleflbr, and to God the Giver, of thofe good Gifts.
2. But that I fhould thus love my Neighbour as my felf,
is not only in it's own Nature right, but is alfo enjoined u-p-
cn me by the Law and Authority of God, the fupr erne Gover-
nour of the World. So that from Love to God, and from
a Senfe of his Right to me, and Authority over me, I ought,
out of Obedience to him, to love my Neighbour as my felf,
and always, and in all Refpects, to do, as I would be done
by, And not to^do fo, is not only to injure my Neighbour,
but to rebel againft God, my King and Governour, and fo
becomes an infinite Evil. Hence, it is charged upon Da-
•Did) that by his Conduct refpecting Uriah^ he had defpifed,
the Lord) and defpifed the Commandment of the Lord •, and
this is mentioned as the great Evil of his Sin. 2 Sam. 12*
9, 10. For he had not merely murdered one of his Fellow-
Worms, but rifen up in Rebellion againft the moft high
God : And practically faid, " I care not for God, nor his
Authority, I love my Luft, and will gratify it for all him."
And therefore when David was bro't to true Repentance,
the native Language of his Soul, to God, was, Againft
thee, thee only have I finned, Pfal. 51. 4. 'Tis Rebellion
therefore, 'tis a defpifing the Lord, 'tis an infinite Evil*
not to love ourNeighbours as our felves.
3. We have not only the Authority, but alfo the Exam
ple ofGod^to influence us to this great Duty of Love and Bene
volence* God is Love > he has an infinite Propenfity to do
Good,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 137
Good, and that in Cafes where there is no Motive from
without to excite him -y yea, where there^is every Thing
to the contrary. He loves to make his Sun rile and
Rain fall upon the Evil and Unthankful. He loves to fijl
the Hearts of all with Food and Gladnefs -> and to ftrew
innumerable Bleflings round a guilty, God-hating World.
Yea, out of his great Goodnefs he has given his only Son
to die for Sinners, and offers Grace and Glory and all good
Things thro' him : being ready to pardon and receive to
Favour any poor guilty Wretch, that will repent and re
turn to him thro' Jefus Chrift. And now for us, after all
this, not to love our Fellow-Men, yea, not to love our very
worft Enemies, is ve*y vile. Since God has fo loved us, we
ought furely to love one another, i Joh. 4.11. Since he
has treated us his Enemies fo kindly, we ought now as dear
Children to imitate him, and love our Enemies, and bkfs them
that curfc us, and do Good to them that hate us, and fray for
them which defpitefully ufeus, andperfecute us, Mat. 5. 44,45.
The infinite Beauty in the Goodnefs of the divine Nature,
lays us under infinite Obligations to imitate it, in theTem-
per of our Minds, and in our daily Conduct. And 'tis In
gratitude, 'tis a Shame, 'tis abominable Wickednefs, not to
love our worft Enemies, and forgive the greateft Injuries.
Since the great Governour of the World has treated us
Worms and Rebels as he has, one would think, that after
all this, we fhould never be able to find a Heart to hate or
injure any Mortal. Surely we are under very ftrong Obli
gations to accept that divine Exhortation, in Eph.4/3t,32.
Let all Bitternefs, and Wrath, and Anger, and Clamour, ani
evil Speaking be put away from among you, with all Malice :
and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Chrift'sfake hath forgiven you. And
(Chap. 5. $. i.) Be ye Followers of God as dear Children. —
Befides there are many additional Obligations to Love and
Benevolence, and to peculiar Refped & Kindnefs between
Hufband w&dJVife, Parents andCbiifren, Friend &Fricnd,&c.
arifing from their mutualRelations,&Dependences, & from
fpecialKindneffes already received,or hoped for. And now,
THIRDLY, As' to the Standard, by which cur Love is to
be regulated, viz. Thou {halt love thy Neighbour as thy
138 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
felf. In order righly to underhand it, we mufc, — T. Place
ourfelves, fenfibly, as in the Prcfence of the infinitely great
and glorious God, before whom all the Nations of the
Earth are nothing and lefs than nothing and vanity, and in
the Light of God's Greatnefs and Glory, we muit take a
view of our own Littlenefs and Deformity, and fo learn
how we ought to be affected towards our felves compared
with God. And as we ought to love our felves, fo ought
we to love our Neighbour. And now in general, we
ought to be difpos'd towards God, as being what he
is, and towards our Selves and Neighbours, as being what
we and they be. Particularly, God'sJHfonour in the World
ought to appear infinitely more valuable and precious than
our own, and therefore our own ought to feem as a Thing
of no Worth compared with his, and as fuch, to be freely
parted with when God's Honour calls for it. And as free
fhould we be, to fee the Reputation of our deareit Friends
given up for God's fake. The fame may be faid of our
worldly Intereft and of all our worldly Comforts, \ when
compared with God's Intereft and the Intereft of his Son's
Kingdom in the World, and of the worldly Interefts and
Comforts of our clearer! Friends. All, both ours, and
their's,is comparatively nothing,& ought to appear fo to us.
Yea, our Lives and their Lives, are juft the fame Things,
comparatively, of no Worth, and to be parted with in a
Moment, without the leaft Reluctancy, when God's Ho
nour, or Intereil calls therefor. — 2. In order to a right un~
derftanding of this Standard,we muftalfo obferve, that our
Love to our felves is habitual, unfeigned, fervent, attive and
permanent. So alfo mud be ourLove to ourNeighbours. —
3. A regular Self-love refpects all our Interefts, but efpe-
cially Gurfpiritual and eternal Intereft. So ought our Love
to our Neighbours. — 4. A regular Self-love naturally
prompts us to be concerned for our Welfare tenderly, to
feek it diligently and prudently, to rejoyce in it heartily, and
to be grieved for our Calamities Jincerely. So ought our
Love to our Neighbours to prompt us to feel and conduct
with Regard to their Welfare. — 5. Self-love makes us take
an unfeigned Pleafure in promoting our own Welfare. We
don't think it hard, to do fo much for our feives. The
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 139
fare we take in promoting our Welfare, rewards our Pains.
The fame genuine kind of Love ought we to have to our
Neighbour -, and ib to remember the Words of the Lord
Jefus, how he faid, It is more blejftd to give than to receive.
— 6. We ought never to fpeak of our Neighbour's Sins,
or Weakneffes, or any way expofe him to Shame and Con-
tempt in the World, in any Cafe whatlbever, except fuch
wherein it would be our Duty to be willing our felves to
be fo expofed by him, were we in his Circumftances, and
he in ours. And then we are to do it, with that fenfible
Tendernefs for him, that we could reafonably delire from
him, towards us, in a like Cafe.
Thus then we have briefly confidered the fecond great
Command of the Law, and ice what that meaneth, Thou.
foalt love thy Neighbour as thy felf. To love God with
all our Heart, lays a Foundation, and prepares the Way,
for us to love our Neighbours as our felves. It removes
and takes away thole Things ^lich are contrary to this
Love, fuch as Pride, Selfilhnerc, Worldlinefs, a narrow,
flingy, envious, revengeful Temper. True Love to God
mor tines and kills theie Things at Root. And fecondly^
True Love to God aflimilates us to the divine Nature, and
makes us like God in the Temper of our Minds. But God
isLove. And the more we are like God, the more are our
Hearts therefore framed toLove &Beuevolence. Hetbatdwel-
leth in Love^ divelletb in God^ & God in him. Love to God
iweetens-the Soul, & enlarges ourHearts to love ourFellow-
Men. And thirdly , The more we love God, the more facred is
his Authority with us, and the more glorious, amiable and
animating does his Example appear, and the greater Senle
have we of our Obligations to Gratitude to him ^ all which
tend jointly to influence us to all Love& Goodnefs towards
our Neighbours. So that, he that knows God and loves
him, will be full of Love to Mankind. And therefore be
that lovetb not, knowetb not God^ i Joh. 4. 8. — On the
other Hand, where there is no true Love to God, there is
no true Love to Mankind •, but the Heart is under the Go
vernment of Pride, Seififhnefs, and other Corruptions,
which are contrary to Love. So that a genuine Love to
Mankind is peculiar to the godly, i Job. 4. 7, 8,
And
140 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
And now from what has been faid, we may evidently fee,
thefe following Sorts of Love to our Neighbour, are nei
ther of them the Love required, however nearly they may
ibmetimes feem to refemble it.
1. What is commonly called natural CcmpaJJlon^ is not
the Love here required. For the moil wicked profane
Man may be of a very compaffionate Temper : So may
the proud, the felfifh, the envious, the malicious & fpight-
ful Man : As Experience plainly Ihews. And befides, na-
' tufal Companion does not take its Rife from any Senfe of
the Rectitude and Fitnefs of Things, or any Regard to
the divine Authority, but merely from the animal Conili-
tution : And Men feem to be properly paffive in it. It is
much the fame Thing in the humane, as in the brutal Na
ture. It is therefore a different Thing from the Love here
required.
2. The fame may be faid of \fhat is called Good-Nature.
It arifes merely from animal Conilitution, and is not the
Love here required. Foe fuch a Man is not influenced in
his Love by the Reafon and Nature of Things, or the Au
thority of the great Governour of the World, or from a
Confideration of the infinite Goodnefs of the divine Na
ture, any more than the Beads are, who are fome of them
much better tempered than others. So that this Sort of
Love has nothing of the Nature of Religion in it. And
it is evident that many wicked & ungodly Men have much
of this natural Good-temper, who yet have no Regard to
God or Duty. Yea, a fecret Grudge againft a Neighbour,
reigning in the Heart, may be in the good-natured Man,
confiftent with his Good-nature ; but it is not confiftent
with the Love here required. And therefore they are evi
dently two Things.
3. That Love which is commonly Called natural Affec-
tlon^ is not the Love here required. It is true, that Man
is worfe than the Beafts, who is without natural Affection,
for they evidently are not : but every Man is not a Saint,
becaufe he has natural Affection. And it is true, we owe
a peculiar Love, according to God's Law, to our Relatives ;
but natural Affection is not it. For there are many ungodly
Wretches, who care neither for God nor his Law, who have
as
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 1 4 1
as muck natural Affe&ion as any in the World. Yea, it
is a common Thing for ungodly Parents to make very Idols
of their Children : for them, they go and run and work
and toil, by Night & Day, to the utter neglect of God and
their own Souls. And furely this can't be the very Love
which God requires. And befides, as natural Affection na
turally prompts Parents to love their Children more than
God, and be more concerned for their Welfare than for his
Glory, fo it is commonly a Bar in the Way of their loving
others as they ought. They have nothing to give to the
Poor and Needy, to the Widow and Fatherlefs : they muft
lay up all for they: Children. Yea, many Times they rake
and fcrape, cheat and defraud, and like mere Earth- Worms
bury themfelves in the World \ and all this, for the fake
of their Children. And yet all this Love to their Children
does not prompt them to take Care of their Souls. They
never teach their Children to pray, nor inftruct them to
feek after God. They love their Bodies, but care little for
their Souls. Their Love to the one is beyond all Bounds,
but to the other is little or nothing. 'Tis an irrational
Fondnefs, and not the Love required. Indeed if Parents
loved their Children as they ought to do, their Love would
effectually influence them to take Care of their Souls, and
do all their Duty to them -, which natural Affection evi
dently does not. And therefore it is not that Love, with
which God in his Law requires Parents to love their Chil
dren. Nor indeed does there feem to be any more of the
Nature of true Virtue or real Religion in the natural Af-
feftion of Men, than there is in .the natural Affeftion of
Beafts : both refulting merely from animal Nature and a
natural Self love, without any Regard to the Reafon and
Nature of Things.
4. Nor is that the Love here required, which arifes
merely from a Party-Spirit. Becaufe fuch a one is of their
Party, and on their Side, and loves thofe whom they love,
and will plead, ftand up, and contend for them, and main
tain their Caufe. For fuch a Love is pregnant with Hatred
fcnd Ill-Will to every Body elfe. And nothing will humour
and gratify it more than to fee the oppofite Party hated,
revijed and blackned, And befides, fuch a Love is nothing
but
142 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
but Self-love in another Shape. Te bcrjc heard that it hath
beenfaid, Thou foalt kve thy Neighbour, and bate thine Ene
my : But I fay unto you, Love your Enemies. Mat. 5. 43, 44.
5. ,Nor is that the Love here required,which arifes mere
ly from ethers Love to me. As if a rich Man is kind and
bountiful to poor People all around him, and appears to
love and pity them •, they, tho' almoft ever fo wicked, will
feel a Sort of Love to him. But if this rich Man happens
to be a civil Magiilrate, and is called to fit as a Judge in
their Cafe, and paffes Judgment againlt them for their
Crimes, now their Love dies, and Enmity and Hatred and
Revenge begin to ferment in their Hearts. In this Cafe,
it is not the Man they love, but rather his Kindneffes. And
their feeming Love, is nothing but a certain Operation of
Self-love. And indeed however full of Love Perform
may feem to be to theirNeighbours, if ail arifes merely from
Self-love&v is for Self-endsinothmg is genuine : and that whe
ther Things worldly, or Things religious, occafion their
Love. A poor Man will love and honour thofe that are
rich ; if he hopes to get any Thing by it. A rich Man
may be kind to the Poor, with an Eye to his Credit. An
awakened Sinner will love an awakening Preacher,in hopes
he mall be converted by his Minifhy. A Minifter may
feem to mew a World of Love to the Souls of Sinners,
and all with an Eye to Applaufe. Hypocrites will love a
godlyMinifter, fo long as he thinks well of them, and hap
pens not to detect their hypocrify in his publick Preaching.
Even the Galatians were very full of Love to Paul for a
w^ile, fo long as they thought he loved them, and had
been the Initrument of their Conversion •, yet afterwards
they loft f their Love,and turned his Enemies, for his telling
them the Truth. While others, who loved him traly for
what he. was, were more and more knit unto him, for thofe
very Dodtrines for which the Galatians hated him. If ye
love them 'which love you, what Reward have ye ? Do not
the Publicans the fame ? Mat. 5.46. There is no Virtue nor
Religion in fuch a Kind of Love,and it is evidently not the
Thing required by the divineLaw. And indeed it is aThing
as difficult and as contrary to corrupt Nature, for us genu
inely to love our Neighbours as our felves, as it is to love
God
a nd diftinguifoed from all Counterfeits 143
God with all our Hearts. And there is as little true Love
between Man and Man, as there is between Men and God,
It is tor our Intcreft to love God, and it is for our Intereft
to love our Neighbours, and therefore Men make a: if they
did fo, when really there is nothing genuine and true. And
at the Day of Judgment, when a v/icked World Comes to
God's Bar, and their pail Condud is all brought to Light,
nothing will be more manifeft than that there never was
a Spark of true Love to God or Man in their Hearts, but
that from firft to laft they were acled and governed either
by their animal Constitution,- or elfe merely by Self-love.
6. I may add, nor is that the Love required^ when Men
love others merely bec&nje they are as bady find fo jufi like
themfehes. Nature and Self-Love will prompt the worfh
of Men to do fo. The vain and profligate love fuch as are
as bad as themfelves. And from the fame Principle erro
neous Perfons have a peculiar Regard for one another. And
the Enthufiaft and blazing Hypocrite may from the fame
Principle feem to be full of Love to their own Sort, tho*
full of Malice .againft all others. And they may think that
it is the Image of God which they love in their Brethren r
when indeed it is only the Image of themfelves. Perfons of
a bad ^afte may greatly delight in thofc Things in others,
which are very odious in the Sight of God. But furely this
can't be the Love required. And yet by this very Thing
many a Hypocrite thinks himfelf a true Saint.
Thus we fee what it is to love God with all our
Hearts, and our Neighbours as our felves, and fee thefe two
diflinguifhed from their Counterfeits. And fo we have
gone thro' the two great Commands of the Law, in a Con
formity to which, the very Efience of Religion does much
confift.
And now it is added by our Saviour, Upon thefe two hang
all the Law and the Prophets. The Law and the Pro
phets, i. e. the infpired Writings of the Old-Teftament
confider thefe two Maxims, that we muft love God with all
ourHearts^and our Neighbours as curfelves, as firft and Foun
dation-Principles : and all the various Duties which they
urge, reflecting God and our Fellow-Men,are but fo many
Inferences and Deductions from them,
God
144 *Irue Religion delineated Dis. L
God mufl be loved with all tbe Heart.- And therefore
we muft make him our God and none elfe, according to
the firft Command. Worihip him according to his ap
pointed Inflitutions, agreable to the fecond Command. — With
becoming Reverence & Devotion, according to the third. —
And that in all fuch fet Times as he hath appointed in his
Word, according to the fourth.
Our Neighbour muft be Icved as our f elves. — And there
fore we muft render Honour to whom Honour is due, ac
cording to the fftb Command. And be tender of our
Neighbour's Life, Chaftity, Eftate & good Name, accord
ing to theyfo/^, feventb, eighth and ninth Commands. And
rejoyce in his Welfare and Profperity, according to the
tenth. And in all Things treat him as we could reafonably
defire him to treat us, according to that golden Rule of
JefusChrifl, in Matth. 7. 12.
And as all the Duties we owe to God and Man, are thus
in the Theory ^ but fo many Deductions neceflarily flowing
from thefe two Maxims orjirft Principles \ fo when the Law
of God is written in the Heart of a Sinner by divine Grace,
and put in his inward Parts -9 there will, from thefe two
Principles, naturally flow all Duties to God and his
Neighbour, in his daily Practice : i. e. from a Difpofi-
tion to love God fupremely, live to him ultimately, and
delight in him fuperlatively, he will naturally be inclined
and enabled fmcerely to do all his Will j to make him his
GOD, according to the firft Command, to worfhip him
according to his own Appointments, with becoming Reve
rence, and at all fuitable Times, according to the reft. It
will be his Nature to do all this, his Meat and his Drink,
and fo his greateft Delight. — And fo alfo, from a genuine
Difpofition to love his Neighbour as himfelf, he will be
naturally inclined and enabled, in ^all Things, and at all
Times, lincerely to do as he would be done by. It will be
his Nature to do fo, his Meat and his Drink, and fo his
greateft Delight. Heb. 8. 10. Job. 15, 14. i Job. 2. 3, 4.
Pfal. 19. 10.
So that, as it is irifbeory, fo'alfoit isinPraffice ; thefe two
are like the Seed that virtually contains the whole Plant, or
like the Root from, which the wholeTree grows, with all its
Branches,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 145
Branches and Fruit. And in Proportion as a Man loves
God and his Neighbour with a genuine Love, in the fame
Proportion, will his Inclination and Ability thence arifing
be, to do all thefeDutics. And confequently when hisLove
to God and his Neighbour arrives to Perfcffion, he will be
perfectly inclined and enabled to be perfeft in Holinefs and
Righteoufnefs, and will affualfy, in all Things, perfectly
conform to both Tables of the Law. And it is equally
evident, that until a Man has a genuine Love to God and
his Neighbour in his Heart, he will have neither Inclina
tion nor Ability (in a moral and fpiritual Senfe) to perform
one Act of true Obedience. For as all true Obedience, ac
cording to the Law and Prophets, is to flow from thefe two
Principles \ fo confequently, according to the Law and
Prophets, that is not true Obedience^ which does not. And
therefore when all a Man's Religion, is merely from Self-
love, and for Self-ends, he cannot be faid, ftrictly fpeak-
ing, to do any Duty to God or his Neighbour, or obey or*e
Command •, for he only ferves himfelf^ and that from a fu-
preme Love to himfelf, which the Law and the Prophets
do not require, butftriffly forbid, in that they enjoin the
dire ft contrary.
So that now, in a few Words, we may here fee, 'wherein
true Religion does confift^ as it (lands diftinguifhed from all
thcfalfe Religion in the World. The godly Man, from
feeing God to be juft fuch a One as he is, and from a real
Senfe of his infinite Glory and Amiablenefs in being fuch,
is thereby influenced to love him fupremely, live to him ul
timately, and delight in him fuperlatively : from which in
ward Frame of Heart , he freely runs the Way of God's
Commands, and is in his Element when doing God's Will.
He eats, he drinks, he works, he prays,and does all Things,
with a fingle Eye for God ; who has placed him in this
his World, allotted to him his peculiar Station, and point
ed out before him all the Buiinefs of Life : always looking
to him for all Things, and always giving Thanks
unto his Name, for all his unfpeakable Goodnefs to
a Wretch fo infinitely unworthy. And, with a Spirit:
of difmterefted Impartiality and genuine Benevolence,
-he views his Fellow-Men, gives them their- Pkccs,
L takes
146 *True Religion delineated Dis. I.
takes his own, and loves them as himfeif : Their Welfare
is dear to him ; he is grieved at their Miieries, and rejoyces
at their Mercies, and delights to do all the Good he can, to
every one, in the Place and Station which God has fet him
in. And he finds and feels that this new and divine Tem-
fer is inwrought in his veryNature ; fo that inflead of a for
ced Religion, or a Religion merely by Fits, his very Heart
is habitually bent and inclined to fuch Views and Apprehen-
fions, to fuch an inward Temper, and to fuch an outward
Conduct.
This, this is the Religion of the Bible, the Religion
which the Law and the Prophets, and which Chrift and his
Apoftles too, all join to teach ! The Religion, whichChrift
came into the World to recover Men unto, and to which
the Spirit of God does actually recover every Believer, in a
greater or lefler Degree. Thus thofe who are dead in Sin,
are quickened, Eph. 2.1. Have the Law written in their
Hearts, Heb. 8. 10. Are made new Creatures, all old Things
being done away, and all Things become new, 2 Cor. 5. 17.
And are effectually taught to deny all Vngodlinefs and worldly
Lufts, and to live fob erly, righteoufly and godly in this prefent
World, Tit. 2. 12. And fo ferve God without fear, inHoli-
nefs and Right eoufnefs, all the Days of their Lives, Luk.
*• 74> 75-
And this is fpecifically different, from every Sort of
falfe Religion in the World. For all Kinds of falfe Reli
gion, however different in other Things, yet all agree in
this, to refult merely from a Principle of Self-love, where
by fallen Men, being ignorant of God, are inclined to love
themfelves fupremely, and do all Things for themselves ul
timately. All the idolatrous Religion of the heathen
World, in which fome took much Pains, had its Rife from
this Principle. They had fome Notion of a future State,
of a Heaven and aHell, as well as of temporalRewards and
Punifhments, and fo were moved by Hope and Fear, from
a Principle of Self love, to do fomething to pacify the
Anger of the Gods, and recommend themfelves to the Fa
vour of their Deities. And all the Superftitions of the
feemingly devout Papift, his Pater-nofters, \\\$ Ave worlds,
bit Penances and Pilgrimages, and endlefs Toils, - ftill arifc
from
. and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 147
from the fame Principle. So does all the Religiorr of For-
malifts and legal Hypocrites in the reformed Nations •, 'tis
a flavifh fear of Hell and raercenary hope of Heaven, which,
from a Principle of Self-love, fets all a going. Yea, the
ev;irLgeiicalHypocrite,\vho mightily talks of fupernatural di
vine Light, of the Spirit's Operations, of Converfion, and
a new Nature, ftill alter all, has no higher Principle in him
than Self-love. His Confcience has been greatly enlight-
ned, and his Heart terrified, and his Corruptions ftunned :
and he has, by the Delufions of Satan, obtained a flrong
Confidence of the Love of God and pardon of his Sins ;
fo that inftead of being influenced chiefly by the fear of Hell,
as the legal Hypocrite is, he is ravifhed with Heaven ; but
ftill all is from Self-love, and for Self-ends. And proper
ly and fcripturally fpeaking, he naither knows God, nor
cares at all ior him. And this is the very Cafe with every
gracelefs Man living, of whatever Denomination ; whether
a Heathen or Jew or Chriftian, whether Papift or Proteftant,
whether Church-man, Prefbyterian^ Congregationalift or Sepa-
ra fift9 whether a Pelagian., Arminian^ Calvinift^ Antinomiany
Baptift or Quaker. And this is the Cafe with every grace-
lejs Man living, whatever his Attainments may otherwife be ;
tho' he hath all Knowledge to underftand all Myfteries,and
can fpeak with the Tongues of Men and Angels, and has
Faith to remove Mountains, and Zeal enough to give all
his Goods to feed the Poor, and his Body to be burned ;
yet he has no Charity ^s. is perfectly deftitute of this genuine
Love to God and his Neighbour, and has no higher Prin
ciple in his Heart,from which all his Religion proceeds,but
a fupreme Love to himfelf. For ever fmce our firft Pa-:
rents afpired to be as Gods, it has been the Nature of all
Mankind to love themfelves fupremely, and to be blind to^
the infinite Beauty of the divine Nature •, and it remans
fo to be with all, until renewed by divine Grace. S,o that
I Self-love is the higheft Principle, from which, v;mwnc-
I rate Men do ever ad, or can act.
Here therefore we have true Religion, a Religion fpeci-
fically different from all other Sorts of Religion in the
World, {landing in a clear View. Yea,, and we may tx -
abfoJutely certain, that this is the v^ry Thing which li? &
L 2 be .at
148 Irue Religion delineated Dis. L
been defcribed. For this Conformity to the moral Law, is
throughout all the Bible, by Mofes and the Prophets^ by
Chrift and his Afoftks^ represented to be the very Thing in
which the Eflence of Religion originally confifts. " Blefled
" be the Name of the Lord for ever, who has given us fo
" clear a Revelation of his Will, and fo fure and certain a
«* Guide as his Word." Come here, all you poor exercifed
broken-hearted Saints, that live in this dark benighted
World, where many run to and fro, and where there are a
thoufand different Opinions, and every one confident that
he is right. Come here to the Law and to the Teftimony ;
come here to Chrift himfelf, and learn what the Truth is,
and be fettled, be confirmed, and be eftabliihed for ever.
And remember and pradtife upon thofe Words of Jefus
Chrift, in Joh. 7. 17. If any Man will do his Wtll^ he jhall
know of the Doffrine^ whether it be of God. O, read the
Bible, live Lives of Prayer and Communion with God ;
yea, die to your felves, the World & Sin, and return home
to God thro' Jefus Chrift, and love him and live to him,
and delight in him more and more •, and be more & more
difmterefted and impartial, fincere and fervent, in your
Love to your Neighbours ; do all the Good to every one
that you can. Irr a Word, be the Servants of God, and
grow up into his Image, and your Certainty of divine
Truths will proportionably ftrengthen and increafe. For
the more your Underftanuings are free from that Darknefs
and Prejudice that Sirr has introduced, the clearer will you
view divineTruths, and the greater Senfe will you have of
their inherent divine Glory ; and foyourBeliefoftheirDivi-
4ii ty will be the more unihaken.
Having thus gone thro' with what was propofed, a gene
ral Improvement of the whole, is all that now remains. And
indeed much Ufe may be made of thefe great Truths, which
have been thus explained and proved, for our Inftruftion in
fome of the moft controverted Points in Religion, and to
clear up the Believer's gracious State, and alfo to promote
mr Humiliation and fbankfulnefs and wiverfal Obedience.
SECTION
find diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 1 49
SECTION V.
Right Apprehenfions of the Law, ufefulto clear
upfome of the moft controverted Points in
Religion.
U S E I. Of Inftruftion. We have feen what the Law
of God requires, and the infinite Obligations we are under
perfectly to conform to it ; we have feen wherein a genuine
Conformity to the Law confifts, and how a genuine Con
formity to it differs from all Counterfeits ; and what has
been faid may help us to understand the following Particu
lars.
i . Wherein conjifted the moral Image of God, in which
Adam was created. That Adam was created in the Image
of God, is expreQy affirmed, in Gen.'i. 27. So God created
Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him,.
And from thefe Words we have juft the fame Reafon to
believe that Adam was created in the moral, as that he was
in the natural. Image of God ; becaufe they tell us in
plain Terms, without any Diftinction or Exception (nor is
there any that can be gathered from any other Text )
that he was created in the Image of God ; but the
moral as well as the natural Perfections of God are equally
contained in his Image. As to Apolitical Image of God,
Adam, ftridtly fpeaking, was not created in that , becaufe
as the Scriptures inform us, it was after his Creation that
he was made Lord of this lower World. Gen. 1.28. And it
is, I think, with lefs Propriety, that this is by Divines called
the Image of God ; I do not know that it is any where fo
called in Scripture ; and God, was the fame, he is now,
before he fuftained the Character of fupreme Lord and
Governour of the World. His natural and moral Perfecti
ons comprifed his whole Image before the World was crea
ted. And in this his Image was his Creature Man created.
Not in Pkrt of his Image, for there is no fuch Inti
mation in all the Bible. But in his Image, comprifing hife
moral} as well, and as much, as his natural Perfections,
L 3
True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Now the moral Image of God do~s radically confift in a
^Temper of Mind or Frame of Heart perfectly anfwerable to
the moral Law : the moral Law being as it were a Tranfcript
of the moral Perfections of God. So that from what has been
laid of the Nature of the moral Perfections of God and of
the Nature of the moral Law, we may learn wherein con-
filled that moral Image of Got! in which Adam was created.
He had zperfeff moral Reftitude of Heart, a perfectly right
Temper of Mind •, and fo was perfectly difpofed to love
God with all his Heart, and his Neighbours (if he had had
any) as himfelf : Was perfectly difpofecl to give God his
Place, and take his own •, and confider Gad as being what
he was, and be affected and ad accordingly ; and to con
fider his Fellow-Men (if he had had any) as being what
they were, and feel and act accordingly. And in this
Image of God was he created, as the Scriptures teach us ;
i. e. He was brought into Exiftence with fuch a Temper
connatural to him.
Now here is a new-made Creature in a new World,view-
ing God and wondring at his infinite Glory, looking all
round, aftoninYd at the divine Perfections ihining tbrth
in all his Works. He views the fpacious Heavens, they
declare to him the .Glory of the Lord : Pie fees his Wif-
dom and his Power, he wonders and adores. He looks
round upon all his Works, they clearly difcover to him the
invifibie Things of God, even his eternal Power and God
head, and he ftands amazed. God makes him Lord of
this lower World, appoints to him his daily Employment,
and puts him into a State of Trial, fctting Life and Death
before him ; and he fees the infinite Wifdom,. Holinefs,
Juilice and Goodnefs of God in all, he fails down and wor-
ihips, he exults in God, and, with all his Heart, gives up
himfelf to God with fwceteit Delight. All is genuine, na
tural and free, refulting from the native Temper of his
Heart.
Here he beheld God in his infinite Glory, viewed his
Works, contemplated his Perfections, admired and adored .
him, with a Sweet nefs and Picafure of Soul moil refined !
Here he fa\y God in all the Trees Plants and Herbs in the
a, his happy Sear, \viiile out of Love to God and
Duty
and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 151
Duty he attended his daily Bufmefs, he eat and drank and
bleft his great Benefactor ! He faw that it was infinitely
reafcnable, that he fhould love God with all his Heart, and
obey him in every Thing, if eternal Life had not at all
been promifed : both becaufe God infinitely deferved it at
his Hand, and alfo in doing thereof there was the greateft
Satisfaction and Delight. And he faw that if he, in any
Thing, fhould difobey his fovereign Lord and rightful Go-
verno'ur, it would be right, infinite right, that he fhould be
miferable for ever, even if God had never fo threatned :
becaufe to difobey fucb a God appeared to him an infinite
Evil. He looked upon the Promife of eternal Life, as a
mere free Bounty. He looked upon the Threatening of
Death, as impartial Juftice. And while he confidered
eternal Life under the Notion of a REWARD promifed
to perfect Obedience ffom God his Governour, he faw his
infinite Love to Righteoufnefs therein, as well as his infinite
Bounty. And while he confidered Death under theNotion of
a PUNISHMENT threatened againft Sin, he faw God's
infinite Hatred of Iniquity therein, as well as his impartial
Juftice. And when he faw how God loved Rightepuf-
nefs and hated Iniquity, and beheld his infinite Goodnefs
on the one Hand and impartial Juftice on the other, he
was ravifhed. Now he faw plainly what God was, and
his infinite Glory in being fuch, and loved him with all
his Heart. It was natural to account fuch a God infinitely
amiable,and it was natural to love him with all his Heart.
Allwas genuine and free, rcfulting from the native femper
of his Mind.
Thefe being his Views and Apprehenfions, and this his
Nature ; hence altho' he was under a Covenant of Works,
yet the Hopes of Happinefs and the Fears of Mifery were
not the original andfrft Spring of his Love to God : it was
not originally from Self-love and for Self-ends, but from a
Senfe of the Beauty of the divine Nature ; and fo it
was not forced and hypocritical, but free and genuine : it
did not feel like a Burden, but it was efteemed a Priviledge ;
and inftead of being difpofed to think it MUCH to love
God with all his Heart and obey him in every Thing, he
rather thought it infinitely right and Jit as being God's due,
L 4 and
152 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
and that he deferred no thanks from God, but rather was
under infinite O ligations to give thanks to God for ever,
for fuch an infinite Prwiledge. And thus we fee wherein
that moral Image of God confuted in which Adam was
created.
2. From all which, it is a plain Matter of Faft, that we
are born into the World entirely deftitute of the moral Image
cf God. So certain as that the moral Image of God radi
cally confiils in fuch a Temper, and makes it natural to
have fuch like Views and Difpofitions ; fo certain we are
in Fad born without it. Look into Children, and there is
nothing to be1 feen of thefe Things. And we are all fure
that ftjch a Temper and fuch-like Views and Difpofitions
are not natural to us ; yea, moft Men are fure there is ftill
no fuch Thing in them -9 and very rnany believe there is
no fuch Thing in the World. Ire are in Fact born like
the wild Ajfe's Colt, as fenfelefs of God,and as void and de
ftitute of Grace. We have Nature, bi.t no Grace : a Tafte
for natural Good, but no Relijb for moral, Beauty : an Appe
tite for Happinejs, but no Appetite for Holine'fs. A Heart
ealily affected and governed by felfifh Considerations, but
blind to the rnoralRectitude and Fitnefs of Things. And
fo we have a Heart to love our felves, but no Heart to love
God ; and may be moved to act by felfifh Views, but can't
be influenced by the infinite moral Beauty of the divine
Nature, ^hat which is born of the Flejh, is Flejh : Joh. 3. 6.
And will only mind and relilh. Things which fuit its Na
ture •, Rom. 8. 5. But is blind to fpiritual Things, i Cor.
2.14 - — — True indeed, in Children there are many natu
ral Excellencies, many Things pleafmg and agreeable. They
fometirnes, in a good mood, appear loving and kind, inno
cent and harmkfs, humble and meek •, and fo does a Lamb
or young Puppy. There is nothing but Nature in thefe
Appearances. It's owing to their animal Conftitution,
anil' to their being pleafed and humour'd. It is all from
no higher Principle than Self-love. Crofs them, and they
will prefcntly feel and act bad enough. They have in their
in per and moft early Conduct noRegard to God or Du
ty, or to the Reafon ari4 Nature of Things, but arc moved
and aiiected merely as Things pleafe or difpleafe them,
making
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 153
making their Happinefs their laft End. And indeed, if the
Image of God, Holinefs, or Grace, or whatever we call it,
be really fuch a Thing as has been faid, then nothing of
fuch a Nature, can pofTibly be more plain and evident than
this univerfally is, that Mankind are in Pact born into the
World deilitute, entirely deftitute thereof. Job. n. 12.
And hence, we muft be born again. Joh. 3. 3, 6.
OBJ. But where then was the Propriety of ChriJF s faying
in Matth. 18. 3. Except ye be converted, and become as
little Children, ye mall not enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven ? Is it not here fuppofed, that little Children are
Patterns of Humility and Gocdnefs ?
ANSW. And where was the Propriety of thofe Words in
Tfaiab 53. 7. Where the Prophet fpeaking of Chrift's
Meeknefs and Patience under his Sufferings, he fays, As a
Sheep before her Shearers is dumb,fo he opened not his Mouth ?
Is it not here fuppofed, that Sheep are Patterns of Meeknefs
and Patience ? The Truth is, that thefe Alluiions do not
prove,that eitherSheep or littleChiidren naturally have ajiy
real Humility orMeeknefs, of a gracious Nature, but only'
an Appearance of it. And juft of the fameNature are thofe
Phrafes in Matth. 10. 16. As wife as Serpents, as harmlefs
as Doves. But as thefe Scriptures do not prove, that Sheep
and Serpents, and Doves have Grace, fo neither does that
other Text prove that little Children naturally have it,
3. By comparing our felves with the holy Law of God,
as it has been already explained, we may alfo Ie2rn,that we
are born into the World not only deftitute of a Conformi
ty to it, but are alfo natively diametrically contrary thereto
in the Temper of our Hearts. The Law requires us to love
God fupremely, but the native Bent of our Hearts is to love
our felves fupremely. The Law requires us to live to God
ultimately, but the native Bent of our Hearts is to live to
cur felves ultimately. The Law requires us to delight in
God fuperlatively, but the native Bent of our Hearts is t&
delight in that which is not God, wholly. And finally the
Law requires us to love our Neighbours as our felves, but the
native Bent of our Hearts is to be inordinately felfjh.
Thefe are the earlieft Difpofitions that are difcovered in
our Nature. And altho' I don't think that they are con-
created
154 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
created by God together with the EfTence of our Souls, yet
they feem to be the very firft Propenfities of the new-made
Soul. So that they are in a Senfe connatural ; our whole
Hearts are perfectly and intirely bent thisWay, from their
very firil Motion. Thefe Propenfities perhaps in fome
Senfe may be faid to be contrasted^ in Oppofition to their
being ftrictly and philofophically natural -, becaufe they are
not created by God with the Eflence of the Soul, but refult
from its native Choice, or rather more ftrictly are them-
felves its native Choice. But moft certainly thefe Propen
fities are not contra-fled^ in the Senfe that many viciousHa-
bits be, namely, by long Ufe and Cuftom. In oppofition
to fucb vicious Habits,they may be called connatural. Lit
tle Children do very early bad Things, and contract bad
Difpofitions 5 but thefe Propenfities are evidently antece
dent to every bad Thing infufed or inftilled by evil Exam
ples, or gotten by Practice, or occafioned by Temptations.
And hence it is become cuftomary to call them natural^ and
to fay that it is our very Nature to be fo inclined. And to
fay that thefe Propenfities are natural^ would to common
People be the moft apt Way of exprefling the Thing ;
but it ought to be remembered, that they are not natural
in the fame Senfe as the Faculties of our Souls be : for they
are not the Workmanihip of God, but are our native
Choice, and the voluntary, free, fpontaneous Bent of our
Hearts. And to keep up this Diftin6tioh, I frequently
choofe to ufe the Word native^ inftead of natural.
And now, that thefe Difpofitions are, as it were, thus
born with us, is as evident from Experience as any Thing
of fuch a Kind can be •, for thefe are the earlieft Difpo
fitions that Man's Nature difcovers, and are evidently dif-
covered before little Children are capable of learning them
from others ; yea, 'tis plainly the very native bent of their
Hearts to love themfelves above all, to make their Eafe
Comfort and Happinefs their laft End and their All, and
to feek for all from the Creature ; or in other Words, from
that which is not God. This is plain to every one's Obfer-
vation, nor did I ever hear any one, as I remember, venture
to deny it.
And
and dijllngulfoed from all Counterfeits. 155
And as Children grow up, and their natural Powers en
large, fo thefe Propenfities grow up, and ftrengthen, and
become more aftive, and difcover themfelves plainer \ and
from this Root, this evil Fountain, many bad Things foon
proceed. Cbferve Children thro' all the Days of Child
hood, and this Nature may be eafiiy feen in them, they dif
cover it in all their Conduct in ten thoufand Inftances •, and
there it does and will remain. We may break them of
many bad Tricks which they learn, and bad Habits which
they contract ; but we can't change this their Nature. They
are difpofed to love themfelves fupremeiy, feek their own
Ends ultimately, and delight in that which is not God
wholly : nor can we turn this Bent of their Hearts. We
can after a Sort inftil good Principles into them, learn them
to read and pray -, and after a Sort to honour their Pa
rents, and love their Neighbours ; we can make them civil
and fober and humble and rnodeft and religious in a Sort,
but ftill their eld Nature remains in its full Power. It is
retrained, but not altered at all -, yea, and after all, thefe
their native Difpoiitions have the entire Government of
them. Their whole Hearts are as much bent this Way as
ever. And thefe Propenfities govern them in their inward
Temper, and in all their Conduct. They do all from Self-
love and for Self-Ends, and are feeking Happinefs, not in
God, but in fomething elfe. Thefe Things are plain to
every impartial Obferver, nor can they be denied by any.
Thus we are alljkapen in Iniquity ^and in Sin are we conceived.
And we are Tranfgreffors from the IVomb^andgo aftray as foon
as we are lorn.
And if we leave Children and look into our felves, we
may eafiiy obferve that we are naturally of the fame Tem
per, inclined to love our felves fupremeiy, and do all from
Self-love and for Self-Ends, and feek for Happinefs, not in
God, but in fomething elfe. We can remember when and
how we contracted many other vicious Habits, and feel
fome inward Power to get rid of them ; but thefe Propen
fities we have always had, and they are natural, and our
whole Hearts' are fo in them, that it is not in us fo much
as fincerely to defire to be otherwife. It is true, we may,
in a Sort, defire and try to alter this our Nature, from
Confiderations
156 *lrue Religion delineated Dis. I.
Confederations of Duty, of Heaven and Hell ; but it is all
Hypocrify : for we. ftill aft merely from Self love and for
Self-ends as much as ever. We have naturally no Difpo-
fition to defire to love God, only for Self-ends. All Men
are confcious to themfelves that this is true.
We are naturally entirely under the Government of thefe
Difpofkions, in all ftnngf^A under all Circumftances. — IN
ALL THINGS •, In all our civil and religious Concerns. It
is merely from Self-love and for Self-ends, that natural
Men follow their worldly Bufmefs •, and endeavour to live
peaceably with their Neighbours : and in thefeThings they
are feeking BleiTednefs. And it is merely from Self-love
and for Self-ends they do any Thing in Religion ; either
they mean to be feen of Men, or are moved from a flavilh
Fear of Hell and mercenary Hope of Heaven, or from
fome other felfifh Confideration. And UNDER ALL
CIRCUMSTANCES, we are naturally under the Govern
ment of thefe Difpofitions. In Prosperity •, then, from an
Inclination to love our felves fupremely, feek our own
Happinefs ultimately, and delight in that which is not
God, wholly, it is our Nature to rejoice and be glad. And
from the famelnclination we are difpofed to mourn & mur
mur and be difcontented under Adverjity. At the redSea it was
natural for the Ifraelites to fing Praife : at the bitter Waters
it was as natural to murmur. When we are pleafed, then
we are glad ; when we are crofs'd, then we are fad -, but
naturally we don't care how it goes with God's Interefl in
the World, what becomes of his great Name, or whether
his Honour finks or fwims. No, there is but here and
there a Mofes that cares any Thing about this : but if they
can have their own Wills, and fecure their own Interefts,
they are content. While the Spirit of God lets Sinners
alone and they live fecure and unconcerned, then from the
aforefaid Propenfities they are after the World -, one after
one Thing, and another after another : and altho' they may
keep up a Form of Religion for fafhion fake, yet really they
care nothing about God and Things eternal. When they
come to be awakened to a Concern for their Souls, tho'
they reform their Lives and take very different Courfes •
from what they ufed to do, yet ftill all is frorrt the fame
Principle
and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 157
Principle and for the fame End. They have new* Lives,
but the fame Nature. They don't really care for God or
hisGlory any more than they ufed to do, nor taks any Con
tent in him, but are only after Pardon of Sin and Peace of
Confcience, which according to their prefent Senfations and
Apprehenfions, they think would make them happy. Sin
ners don't really feek for Bleffednefs in God himfelf, but in
fomething they hope to receive from him. And hence when
awakened Sinners come to get falfe Comfort, think they
are pardoned, and fo have Peace •, or think that Chriil
loves them, and that they mail go to Heaven, and fo are
filled with Joy ; as all their Joy refults from Self-love
merely, fo all they rejoyce in, is what they think they
have received, and what they hope yet to receive •, but they
don't really care for God himfelf, (whofe Glory they never
faw,) any more than they ufed to do, nor rejoyce in Him :
and hence (ordinarily) having their Confciences quieted,
they fogn go back to the World again for real Comfort
and BleiTednefs. Or if after falfe Comfort they turn En-
thufiafts, and get to blazing^ and wax hotter and hotter, and
feem to be full of nothing but Love to God and Zeal for
his Glory ; it is Viiions and Dreams, Revelations and Im-
pulfes, a firm Perfwafion they are the peculiar Favourites
of Heaven, and the Applaufe of their Party, which they
live upon and take Comfort in, and by which they are ani
mated ; and all from Self-love and for Self-Ends : but in
Deed and in Truth, they neither know God, nor regard
him nor his Glory,nor live upon him,nor delight in him,any
more than they ufed to do : And thus in all Things, and
under all Circumftances, unregenerate Men are governed
by a Difpofition to love themfclves fupremely, live to them-
felves ultimately, and delight in that which is not God
wholly. And whofoever is well acquainted with Mankind
may eafily fee that this is in Fact the very Cafe, and will
naturally be led to make the fame Obfervation with the A-
poftle Paul) in Phil. 2. 21. All feek their own, and not the
•'Things which are Jefus ChriJFs.
• And now this Difpofition, which is thus evidently natu
ral to all Mankind, is direftly contrary to Gcd's My Law y
is exceedir.gifiwfid) and is the Root cf all Wickednefs* Firft,
*
158 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
it is diametrically opponte to God's holy Law, For this
requires us to love God fuprernely and feek his Glory ulti
mately , in direct Contrariety whereunto, we are naturally
inclined to love our felves fuprernely and live to our felves
ultimately. Again, theLaw requires us to delight in God
fuperlatively and choole him and live upon as the only
Portion of our Souls -, in direct Contrariety whereunto, we
are naturally inclined to place our whole Hearts upon other
Things, and live upon them and take Content in them.
Finally, the Law requires us to love our Neighbour as our
felves and do as we would be done by ^ in direct Contra
riety whereunto,we are naturally inclined to be inordinately
felfiih, and fo not to do as we would be done by. And
thus we are all naturally gone cut of the Way^ and in the
Temper of our own Minds become corrupt ..filthy and unpro
fitable ^and there is none righteous ; no9 not one. Pfal.i4.Rom.
3. 10. — 19. We have loft the Image of God, we have loft
a right Temper of Mind, we have loft a governing Senfe
of the moral Fitnefs of Things, have no Eyes to fee moral
Beauty, or Hearts to tafte and relifh the moral Excellency
of fpiritual and divine Things, i Cor. 2. 14. Hence, in
God v/e can fee no Form nor Comelinefs,nor in him at all
delight 5 yea, 'tis natural for it to feem to us as if there was
no God. P/2z/. 14. i . And now, as tho' in very Deed there
were no God for us to be in Subjection unto, we fet up
for our felves, to make our own Intereft our laft End, and
to feek BleiTednefs, not in God, but in fomething elfe ; and
are naturally inclined, without any Regard to God's Law,
to make our own Wills our only Rule •, and now, having
caft off the Government of God, and forfaken the Foun
tain of living Waters, we go every one his Way, one to his
Farm, another to his Merchandife, dlferving divers Lufts
and Pleasures. — So that it might juftly be wondered at,how
any among Mankind mould ever have it enter into their
Hearts, to imagine that we are not fallen Creatures, uni-
verfally depraved, when it is fo evidently a plain Matter of
Fact. I think, it can be owing to nothing, but Men's Ig
norance of the Law, in it's fpiritual Nature, Purity,Strict-
nefs and Extent, and their not comparing themfelves there
with. And indeed St. Paul tells us that this is the Cafef
Rom,
and diftmgiiijhed from all Counterfeits. 159
Rom. 7.8. For without the Law Sin was dead. For did
Men but rightly apprehend that God is fuch a one as the
Law fpeaks him to be, and that he requires us to be what
really he does, they could not pofTibly but fee their native
Contrariety to God and his holy Law. The Israelites of
old felt their Contrariety to their Prophets, and they hated
them and put them to Death •, and the Pharifees felt their
Contrariety to Chrift and his Apoftles, and hated them and
put them to Death •, for they perceived what their Prophets,
and what Chrift and his Apoftles were driving at : but yet
all the while they imagined they loved God and loved his
Law, becaufe they neither knew God nor underftood his
Law. And even fo it is at this Day. If an Arminian or
Pelagian (for after all their Pretences, they are, by Nature,
juft like the reft of Mankind,) did but verily believe God
juft fuch an One as the godly Man in fact fees him to be,
he would feel as great a Contrariety to him and Enmity a-
gainft him as any Cahinifl ever fuppofed there was in natli*
ral Men. They frame a falfe Image of God in their own
Fancies, to fait the vitiated Tafte of their- corrupt Hearts,
and then cry, We are not Emmies to God •, no, but it is na
tural for us to love him. When all the while, their native
Averfion to God, will not fomuch as fuffer them to believe,
that there is any fuchBeing^ as really he is. But to proceed,
The aforefaid Difpofition and Bent of Heart, which is
thus directly contrary to the Law, is exceeding finf id. For
while we love our felves fupremely and live to our felves
ultimately, we do really in our Hearts and by our Practice
prefer our felves above God, as if we were more excellent
and worthy :. in which we caft infinite Contempt on the
Lord of Glory, in as much as all theNations are in his Sight
but as a Drop of the Bucket and fmall Duft of the Ballance,
and we compared with him are lefs than Nothing and Va
nity. He is of infinite Majefty, Greatnefs, Glory & Excel
lency, and all Heaven adore him in the moft humble Prof-
trations •, and yet we, mean Worms of the Duft, yea vile
Worms of the Duft, that deferve every Moment to be
ipurned to Hell ^ even we efteem and love our felves more
than we do him, and are more concerned for our Intereft
thaji for his Honour •, yea, care not at all for him or his
Honour,
160 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Honour, nor would ever fo much as pretend to, if not ex
cited thereto from the Expectation of Self- advantage : And
that even altho* we receive Life and Breath and all Things
from him, and his Right to us is original, underived, per
fect and entire. Surely this is infinite Wickednefs ! And
befides, in being and doing fo, we affront his facred Au
thority, whereby as Governour of the World he commands
us to love him with all ourHearts. And further, while
we are inclined to take our whole Delight in that which
is not God, to forfake him the Fountain of living Waters,
the Ocean of all Good, and feek Comfort andContent elfe-
where j we hereby prefer the World above God, prefer our
Wives and Children, our Houfes and Lands and Pleafures
above God, or at belt we prefer (an imaginary) Heaven
above God : to do either of which, cafts infinite Contempt
upon the Lord of Glory, the Delight of Angels, the Joy of
the heavenly World. The Pfalmift faid, Whom have I in
Heaven but thee ? and there is nothing onEarth I defire befides
thee. Pfal. 73. 25. And well might he fay fo. But to be
inclined, when we are fecure in Sin and not terrified with
Hell, to love and defire any Thing upon Earth more than
God ; and when under Terrors and fearful Expectations of
Wrath, to defire Pardon, Peace, and (an imaginary) Hea
ven, and any Thing to make us happy, but God himfelf ;
is furely infinitely vile. We do hereby prefer that which
is not God, above God himfelf-, as if it was really of more
Worth ; and fo call infinite Contempt upon the Ocean of
Bleflednefs and Fountain of all Good. And befides in this,
as well as the former Particular, we go directly contrary to
the exprefs Command of the great Governour of the whole
World. Finally, to be difpofed to an inordinate (and fo to
a groundlefs) Self-love, and to be fwallowed up in felfifh
Views and Dejigns, inftead of a tender Love and cordial
Benevolence to all our Fellow-Men, loving them as our
felves, is evidently contrary to all the Reafon and Nature
of Things, and to the exprefs Command of God, which is
infinitely binding •, and fo this alfo is infinitely finful. And
thus thefe our native Propenfities are directly contrary to
the holy Law of Goda and exceeding finful,
But
i and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 161
But here it may be inquired : " If a Difpofition to love
" our ieives fupremely, live to our felves ultimately, and
" to delight in that whuh is not God wholly, be fo exceed-.
^ ing fmlul, whence is it that Men's Conferences do not any
" more accufe and condemn them therefor ?" To which
the Anfwsr is plain and eafy •, for this is evidently owing to
tbeir intolerable mean Thoughts of God. Mai. i. 6, 7, 8. A
Son honouretb his Father ', and a Servant bis Mafter : If then
I be a Father, where is mine Honour ? And if I be a Mafter ;
where is my Fear ? faith the Lord of Hofts unto you, O
Pricfts, that defpife my Name : and ye fay , Wherein have i&e
defpifed thy Name ? Ye offer 'polluted Bread upon mine Altar ;
(and fo ye defpife me :) and (yet) ye fay , Wherein have, we
polluted tbee ? (I anfwer) In that (in doing fo) ye (practical-.
ly)/^? ne tfable of the Lord is contemptible (And fo you
treat me with Contempt.) And yet their Confciences
did not fmite them, and therefore the Lord adds And
if ye offer the Blind for Sacrifice ', is it not Evil ? and if ye offer
the Lame and Sick, is it not Evil ? ('or am I fo mean and
itemptible, that to do fo ought not to be looked upon as
an Affront ? I appeal to the common Senfe of Mankind,)
Offer it now unto thy Governour, will he be pleafed with thee,
or accept thy P erf on ? faith the Lord of Hofts. (And if your
Governour will take it as an Affront, mucji more may I) for
lam a GREAT KING, faith the LORD of Hofts, f. 14.
Here it is plain, that it was their mean and contemptuous
Thoughts of God, which made them think it would do,
to turn him off any how, and with any Thing. And jufb
fo it is in the Cafe before us ; Men's Thoughts of God are
infinitely mean -, He is very contemptible in their Sight :
and hence altho' they love themfelves,their ownHonour and
Intereft, above theLord & hisGlory,and prefer otherThings,
and take more delight in that which is not God, than in
God himfelf ; yet they fay, " Wherein do we defpife the
" Lord, affront his Majefty, or caft Contempt upon him ?
" We pray in fecret and in our Families, we go to Meet-
" ing and to Sacrament, and help to fupport the Gofpel ;
:<4 and is not all this to honour the Lord ? And wherein
" do we defpife him ?"— Juft as if going into your Clofet
twice a Day to quiet your Conference, and faying over the
M old
1 62 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
old Prayer by Rote in your Family, that you have repeated
Morning and Evening ever fince you kept Houfe ; and in
a cuftomary Way going to Meeting and to Sacrament, and
paying your Minifter's Rate, (and it may be not without
grudging -,) juft as if this was a honouring of God ^ when at
Heart you do not love him one Jot, nor care for his Ho •
nour and Intereft at all, nor would do any Thing in Reli
gion but for the Influence of Education and common
Cuftom,or from legalFears and mercenaryHopes,or merely
from fome other felfiih Confideration : yea, juft as if this
was an honouring of God, when all the Time you caft fuch
infinite Contempt upon him in your Heart, as to give your
Heart to another , to that which is not God, to your felf
and to the World ! — Let a Woman treat her Hufband fo,
will he be pleafed with it, and will he accept her Perfon ?
If me does not love her Hufband at all, or delight in his
Perfon, or care for his Intereft ; if me loves another Man,
has a feparate Intereft of her own, and does nothing for her
Hufband but to ferve her own Ends : will he now think
fhe is a good W^ife^ becaufe Morning, Noon and Night, Ihe
prepares his Food, tho' fhe does it carelefly, the Victuals
always cold and poorly drefs'd, hardly fit to eat ; and he
knows it is all from want of Love : And befides,fhe thinks
fhe does a great deal for him, and expects her Pay like a
'hired Maid ! — And fhe fays to herHufband, "Wherein do
*' I defpife you ? Am not I always doing for you ?" And
Ihe does not feel her felf to Blame, becaufe her Hufband
looks fo mean and contemptible in her Eyes : and fhe cares
fo little for him, that any Thing feems good enough for
him : while all the time her whorifh Heart is doating on
her Lovers. — Says her Hufband, " You do not love me,
" but other Men have your Heart, and you are more a
" Wife to them than to me." — But fays fhe, " I can't love
*6 you, and I can't but love others." And now fhe feems to
her felf not to blame. So a wicked World have fuch mean
Thoughts of God, that they cannot love him at all, and
have fuch high Thoughts of themfelves, that they can't
but love themfelves fupremely : they have fuch mean
Thoughts of God, that they can't delight in him at all \
but they fee a Glory in other Things, and fo in them they
can't
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 1 63
can't but delight wholly : And becaufe they are habitually
infenfible of God's infinite Glory, hence they are habitually
infenfible of the exceeding 'Sinfulnefs of thefe native Propen-
fities of their Hearts. So that we fee, that mean, contemp
tuous Thoughts of God are the very Foundation of the
Peace and Quiet and Security of Men in a mere Form of
Religion. If they did but fee who tbe Lord zV, they could
not but judge themfelves and all their Duties to be infinitely
odious in his Sight. PfaL 51. 21, 22. Tbefe Things haft
thou done, and I kept Silence : thou thought eft I was altogether
fuch a cm as tbyfdf: lut I will reprove thee^ and fet them
in order before thine Eyes. Now confider this, ye that forget
God. Men have fuch mean Thoughts of God and fo little
regard him, that they are naturally inclined to forget that;
there is a God, and to feel and act as if there were none.
Hence (PfaL 14.1.) The Fool faith in his Heart , there is no
God. i. e. he is inclined to feel and act as if there was none.
And therefore it is added in the next Words, Corrupt are
they. So the Children of £//, who treated the Worfhip of
God with great Contempt, are faid to defpife the Lord and
kick at his Sacrifice ^ and yet their Confciences did not finite
them : and the Ground of all was tbeir mean contemptuous
Thoughts of God. i Sam. 2. 12,29,30. The Sons ofEAiwere
Sons ef Belial, tbey knew not the Lord. And thus we fee
that our native Difpofition to love our felves fupremely,
live to our felves ultimately, and delight wholly in that:
which is not God, is (whether we are fenfible of it, or no,)
directly contrary to God's holy Laws and exceeding linful.
And I add,
This native Bent of our Hearts is the Root of all Sin,
fthe pojitive Root, I mean, in oppolition to a meer priva
tive Caufe) of all our inward Corruptions & vicious Practi
ces i both of thofe which are contrary to thefrft and to the
fecond Table of the Law, of thofe which more immediately
affront God, and of thofe which more efpecially refpect
our Neighbour.
. From this Root arifes all our evil Carriage towards tie
Lord of Glory. This is the Root of a Spirit of Self-fupremacy ,
whereby we in our Hearts exalt our felves and our Wills
above the Lord and his Will, and refufe to be controuled
M 2 by
1 64 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
by him or be in Subjection unto him. Jehovah aflumes
the Character of moil high God, fupreme Lord and fove-
reign Governour of the whole World, and commands all
the Earth to acknowledge and ojxfy him as fuch ; but we
are all naturally inclined Pharaoh-like to fay, Who is the
Lord) that we Jhould obey him ! we know not the Lord, nor
will we do his Will. And hence Mankind, all the World
over, break God's Law, every Day, before his Face •, as if
they defpifed his Authority in their Hearts. And when
he croffes them in his Providences, they, as thos it was not
his Right to govern the World, quarrel with him ; becaufe
they can't have their own Wills^ and go in their own Ways.
This was always the Way of the Children of Ifrael thofe
Forty Years in the Wildernefs, whofe whole Conduct ex*
cmplifies our Nature to the Life, and in which Glafs we
may behold our Faces, and know what Manner of Perfons
we natively be. Men love themfelves above God and-
don't like his Law, and hence are inclined to fet up their
Wills above and againft his ; and if they can* they will*
have their Wills, and go in their Ways, for all him ; and
if they can't, they will quarrel with him. And hencfe the j
Apoftle fays, The carnal Mind is Enmity againft God, is not j
fubjeft to his Law, neither indeed can be. Rom. 8.7.
And from this Root arifes a Spirit of Self-fufficiency and
Independency \ whereby we are lifted up in our own Hearts,
and hate to be beholden to God ; and having different In-
terefts and Ends from him, naturally think it not fafe, and
fo upon the whole not liking, to truft in him, chufe to truft
In our felves, or any Thing rather than him. We have
a better Thought of cur felves than of God, as knowing
we are difpofed to be true to our own Interefts and Ends,
and therefore had rather truft in our felves than in him -,
and befides, we naturally hate to come upon our Knees to
him for every Thing. Hence, that in Jer. 2. 31. is the
native Language of our Hearts, We are Lords, we will come
no more unto thee. We love to have the Staff in our own
Hands, for then we can do as we will -, and hate to lie at
God's Mercy, for then we muft be at his ControuJ -9 yea,
we had rather truft in any Thing than in God, he being
of all Things moft contrary to us. And hence the Ifrae-
liifa
.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 165
lites in their Diftrefs, would one while make a Covenant
with Affyria^ and then lean upon Egypt •, yea, and rob the
Treafures of the Temple to hire their Aid, rather than be
beholden to God. Yea, they would make them Gods of
Silver and Gold, of Wood and Stone, and then truft in
fuch lying Vanities, rather than in the Lord Jehovah.
And as Face anfwers Face in the Water^ fo does the
Heart of Man to Mz#,Prov. 27. i9.This is our veryNature.
Again,from thefameRootarifes zDifpofitionto depart from
the Lord. For other Things appear more glorious and ex-
i cellent and Soul-fatisfying than God. Wherefore the
Hearts of the Children of Men fecretly loath theLord, and
hanker after other Things, and fo go away from God to
them. Job 21. 12,14. They take the Timbrel and Harp, and
rejoyce at the Sound of the Organ. 'Therefore they fay unto
God^ Depart from us, for we defire not the Knowledge of thy
Ways. Mai. 3. 14, 15. It is -vain to ferveGod: and what
profit is it, that we have kept his Ordinance, and that
we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hofts? —
• We call the Proud happy. Meditation and Prayer are a
i Burden to Men-, they had rather be almoft anywhere
i than in their Clofets ; becaufethey fecretly loath theLord :
; but in other Things they fmdComfort, one in his Farm and
another in his Merchandife, the young Man in his Frolicks
and with his merry Companions, the old Man in his Wife
and Children, and Cattle and Swine, and Houfe & Lands,
the rich Man in his Riches, the ambitious Man in his Ho
nours, the Scholar in his Books, the' Man of Contempla
tion in his nice Speculations : and in any Thing Men can
take more Comfort than in God himfelf. That whichAn-
gels and Saints in Heaven, and Believers on Earth, prize
above all Things, Men have naturally the leaft Account of.
Pfal. 73. 25. Whom have I in Heaven but thee ? and there is
nothing on Earth I defire beftdes thee. Jer. 2. 5, n, 12, 13.
fhus faith the Lord, What Iniquity have your Fathers found
in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after
Vanity, and become vain ? Hath a Nation changed their Gods9
which are yet no Gods ? But my People have changed their
Glory for that* which doth not profit. Be aftonijhed^ O ye
9 at this.— They have forfaken me the Fountain of
M 3
1 66 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
living Waters^ and hewed them out Ciftcrns, broken Gift ems
that can hold no Water.
And from the whole, we may fee there is the greateft
Contrariety between the Nature of God ani the Nature of
the Sinner. And hence God hates Sinners, (Hob. i. 13.)
and Sinners hate him (Rom. 8.7.) and when Sinners come
to die and go into the eternal World,they vf\\\feel then that
they hate him, tho' their Nature then will be juft the fame as it
is now. And they will then know that the greatReafon they
did not feel their Hatred of him in this World, was becaufe
they did not think nor would believe that he wras fuch an One.
And hence we may fee whence it is, that we are fo averfe
to right Apprehenfions of God, and whence it is that our
Infenfibility of his Glory in being what he is, is fo invinci
ble, viz. becaufe he k in his very Nature in fuch perfect
Contrariety to us, and we to him. For to account that
Infinitely glorious in being what it is, which is of a Nature
perfectly contrary to us, is as unnatural as to. account our
felves infinitely hateful in being what we be ; for that ne-
ceflarily implies this. So far therefore as Sinners love them-
felves for being what they be, fo far do they hate God for
being what he is : And fo far as they hate God for being
what he is, fo far their Infenfibility of his infinite Glo
ry in being juft fuch a one is invincible. And now finceMen
naturally perfectly love themfelves for being what they be,
and confequently perfectly hate God for being what he is ;
hence their Minds are naturally perfectly prejudiced againft
the true Knowledge of God, and perfectly averfe to and
?.nfufceptive of a Senfe of his infinite Glory in being jufl
what he is. And hence it is,that neither God's Word nor
Works, nor any thing but his almighty Spirit, can make
Men in their Hearts, both really give into it, that God is
juft fuch a One as he is, and infinitely glorious in being
fuch. The Heavens may declare the Glory of the Lord,
,and make the invifible Things of God clearly to be feen ;
and theScriptures andMinifters may proclaim hisGreatnefs
£ridGlory,&theHonour of hisMajefty ; butSinners in feeing
will not fee, and in hearing will not hear and underiland :
for they do not like to haveGod in theirKnowledgfc. They
hate the Light, and loveDarknefs , tjiey hate to think that
God
and didinguijhed from all Counterfeits 167
God fliould be fuch a One, can fee no Glory in him in
being fuch, fecretly wifh he was another Kind of a Being,
dread to think that he is what he is, and will not, if they
can help it. Job. 3. i^,2O.Rom. i. 2$.Job. 8. 43, 47-That
God ihould love Himfelf more than he does his finful Crea
tures, and value his own Honour and Intereft more than he
does our Happinefs, and look upon it as an infiniteAffront
that we are not exactly of the fame Mind, and judge us
worthy of eternal Damnation therefor, and as high Gover-
nour of the World make fuch a Law and bind us to it to
do fo •, how can this fuit a proud Rebel, that only loves
himfelf and his own Intereft, and cares not for God at all ?
How can a carnal, felfiih Heart delight in fuch a God, and
account him infinitely glorious in being fuch ? How can
he rejoyce to hear that he fits King for ever, and does all
Things according to the Counfel of his own Will, aiming
ultimately at his own Glory ? Or how can he imagine
that fuch a Conduct, fo directly crofs to his Temper, is
infinitelyRight and becoming,glorious and excellent ? The
Temper, the bad Temper of Sinners Hearts is it, that ren
ders their Jnfenfibility of his Glory, in being what he is,
fo invincible. He does not fuit them, he does not look
upon Things as they do, he is not difoofed nor does he act
as they would have him, but all directly contrary : as con
trary as Light and Darknefs, as Sin and Holinefs, as Hea
ven and Hell. Therefore the carnal Mind is Enmity againft
God. But to return,
From this fame Root, this Difpofition to love our felves
fupremely, live to our felves ultimately, and delight in that
which is not God wholly, proceeds all our evil Carriage to
wards our Neighbour. Pride, Selfifhnefs and Worldlinefs,
lay the Foundation for all that cheating, lying, backbiting,
quarrelling, there is among Neighbours ; and for all the
Feuds and bloady Wars there ever have been among all the
Nations of the Earth from the beginning of the WorkL
And Pride, Selfifhnefs and Worldlinefs, together with that
Enmity againft God and true Religion which is naturally
concomitant, lay the Foundation for all thofe bloody Per-
fecutions,whieh have been in the feveral Ages of the World,
Againft the Church aod People of God If Men were not
M 4 proud
1 68 "True Religion delineated Dis. L
proud nor felfifh, they would have no Inclination to injure
their Neighbours in Name or Eftate. If they took their
fupreme Delight in God as the Portion of their Souls, they
would not have any of their little petty Idols to quarrel
and contend about. If they loved their Neighbours as
themfelves, there would never more be any Thing like
Perfecution \ and all Injuries and Abufes would ceafe from
the Earth. — So that, to conclude, as a Difpofition to love
God with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our felves,
is an habitual Conformity to the whole Law, and lays a
folid Foundation for a right Carriage towards God and our
Neighbour in all Things -, fo a Difpofition to love our
felves fupremely, live to our felves ultimately, and delight
in that which is not God wholly, is an habitual Contrariety
to the whole Law, and lays a fad Foundation for all evil
Carriage towards God and our Fellow-Men. And as I
fald, this Difpofition is natural to us, and we are naturally
entirely under the Government of it : And fo the Seed and
Root of all Sin is in us, even in the native Temper of our
Hearts, fbat which is horn of the Flefh, is Flejb.
OBJ. But if Mankind neither Icve Gcd nor their Neigh
bours with a genuine Love, fuch as tbeLaw requires, but natu
rally have, and are entirely under the Government of, a Spirit
of Contrariety to the whole Law -, whence is it that all Men
don't blafpheme God, and do all the Mifchief they can, and in
Practice as well as in Nature, be as bad as Devils ?
ANS. Becaufe of the Reftraints, which God for wife Ends
and Purpofes, is pleafed to lay upon them ; whereby their
Nature is indeed not at all altered, but only in a Meafure
kept from breaking out, as otherwife it would do. And
thefe Restraints, in ordinary, are fuch as arife from thefe
Things. ( i . ) From their animal Conftitution : whereby many
are inclined to be tender-hearted, compaflioaate and kind,
without any Regard to God or Duty, from a Sort of natu
ral Inftincl, much of the fame Nature, to all Appearance,
as is to be found in many in the brutalWorld. — (2.) From
natural Affettion: whereby, partly from animal Nature,
i.nd partly from Self-love, and from being brought up to
gether, Relatives have a certain Fondnefs for one another,
ind fo are difpofed to be kind to one another, and that;
without
I and diftinguifoed from all Counterfeits. 169
without any Regard to God or Duty ; much as it is with
many in the brutal World. — (3.) From z good Education ;
whereby many are influenced to be civil in their Behaviour,
ihonefl in their Dealings, kind to the Poor, and to pray in
-their Families, and join with the Church &c. tho' deftitute
of Grace in theirHearrs. — (4.) From worldly Confederations :
whereby, from Self-love, in order to avoid Punifhment
from Men, or from fear of Difgrace and Reproach, or to
get the Good-will of others, or promote fome worldly In-:
tereft, Men are influenced fometimes to carry themfelves
externally, very well. — (5.) From religious Confederations :
whereby from Self-love, the Fear of Hell, and the Hope of
Heaven, many are influenced to do much in Religion. —
(6.) Want ot fpcculativcKnowlcdge of GOD ; Ignorance of
his Refolution to punilh Sin, and of his Anger againft
them, is alib an Occasion of their not blafpheming his
Name ; as they will do, as ibon as ever they come into
Eternity, and fee howThings really be -, tho' then their Na
ture will be exaclly the fame that now it is. God givesRain
and fruitful Seafons, and rills the Hearts of all with Food
and Gladnefs •, he makes his Sun rife and Rain fall upon
the Evil and Unthankful, and offers Salvation in Cafe they
repent and believe ; whence Men are ready to think that
God loves them, and this reflrains them. Thefe, and fuch
like Things, reftrain Men's Corruptions ; but for which,
|, they would be as bad in this World, as they will be in the
next, when thefe Reftraints come to be taken off.
To what has been faid, may alfo be added, that God
by thefe three Methods, does much to reftrain many.
|(i.) By his Providence : Whereby he many Times brings
remarkable Judgments upon Men for their Sins ; and
remarkably profpers Men, as to the Things of this World,
who are true to their Word and honeft in their Dealings.
And hereby Men are afraid to be and do as bad as other-
wife they would, left ibme Judgment fhouid come upon
them •, and others are influenced to be honeft, and to car
ry themfelves externally well, in hopes of a worldly Blef-
,fing. (2.) By his Word\ his written Word, and his
Word preached : whereby Men are made more fenfible
that there is a Heaven and a Hell ; and fo are the more
reftrained
170 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
reflrained and kept in Awe. — (3.) By bis Spirit : whereby
he does much to make many a Man fenfible of the Evil of
Sin, the Dreadfulnefs of Damnation, and theGlory of Hea
ven, whom he never fanctiries : whereby they are not
only reflrained from viciousPra&ices, but theirCorruptions
alfo are greatly ftunned, and they made zealous Promoters
of Religion. (Heb. 6. 4.) And thus the fupreme Cover-
nour of the World reftrains Men's Corruptions, and main
tains fome Degree of Order among his- rebellious Subjects.
But yet all thefe Reftraints notwjthftanding, there is,
and always has been, abundance of Wickednefs committed
in this apoflate World. They have murthered God's Ser
vants the Prophets, whom the Lord has fent unto them,
rifing early and fending. And they have killed his Son,
and his Apoftles, and med ' the Blood of Thoufands and
Millions of his Saints. So great has been theirAverfion to
God ! And fo great their Cruelty ! And by the many
Wars there have been among the Nations from the Begin
ning, the whole Earth has been filled with Blood. And
by cheating and lying and backbiting and Contention &c.
Hateful and hating one another ', innumerable Injuries have
been done to, and unfpeakable Miferies brought upon,
one another. And as foon as ever Mankind have their
Reftraints taken off at Death, without having any Sin in-
fufed into their Nature, they will appear to be what they
are, they will feel and act like very Devils.
But in the mean while, by Means of thefe Reftraints
many deceive themfelves. Foi><?ur Corruptions, being thus
capable of being reftrained, and, as it were, ftunn'd, and
our Lives of being pretty well regulated to Appearance,
while our Nature remains the fame, and we feeling our
felves able to do confiderable towards this ; hence many
are deceived, and take this to be real Religion, and think
they did, and that others may, convert themfelves, with
but comparatively little Afiiftance from God's Spirit. And
truly fo they might,if this was true Religion,& Converfion
confifted in thus reforming our Lives, and reftraining our
Corruptions. But in Converfion our very Nature muft be
changed, (2 Cor. 5. 17.) the native Bent of our Hearts muft
be turned; (£2^.36.26.) and this we are naturally wholly
averfe
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 171
averfe unto. And hence arifes the abfolute Neceffity of
a fupernatural, irrefiilible Grace, in order to our Conver-
fion. Of which more afterwards.
But to return,
From what has been faid we fee, that we are natively
difpofed to love our felves fupremely, to live to our felves
ultimately/'and delight in that which is not God, wholly :
and that this Difpofition, by which we are naturally entire
ly governed, in all Things and under all Circumftances, is
in direct Contrariety to the holy Law of God, and is ex
ceeding finful, and is the Root*>f all Sin, of all our evil
Carnage towards God and Man, in Heart and Life. So
that, as to have a Difpofition to love God with all our
Hearts, and our Neighbour as our felves, is a radical Con
formity to the whole Law ^ fo this contrary Difpofition is
a radical Contrariety to the whole Law. Well therefore
may the holy Scriptures fpeak of Sinners, as being dead in
Siny and at Enmity againjt Gcd^ and by Nature Children of
Wrath) and reprefent them fo frequently as being Ene
mies to God. (Eph. 2. 1,3. Rom. 8. 7. and 5. 10. 2 Cor.
5. 1 8 — 20.) Since by comparing our felves with the holy
Law of God, we are found to be, in Faff, natively fo, in
the Temper of our Minds. And it will be for ever in vain,
for Mankind to plead not guilty ', fmce the Law of God is
what it it) and we are what we be. For by* the Law by
which is theKnowledge of Sin^ we evidently ftand condemned-
Here it may be $bje&ed) " That we are natively no
cc other wife than God makes its ; and if therefore we are
" natively finfu^ God made us fo ; and by Confequence
" is the Author of Sin." But this Objection has been alrea
dy obviated. For, as has been obferved, God only creates
the naked EHence of our Souls, our natural Faculties, a
Power to think and will and to love and hate ; and this
evil Bent of our Hearts is not of his making^ but is thefponta-
neons Prcpenfity of our own Witts. For we, being born de
void of the divine Image, ignorant of God, and infenfible
of his* infinite Glory, do of our own Accord turn to our
felves and the Things of Time and Senfe, and to any
Thing that fuits a gracelefs Heart, and there all our Affec
tions center 5 from whence we natively become averfe to
God
172 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
God and to all that which is fpiritually Good, and inclined
to all Sin. So that the pqfitive Corruption of our Nature
is not any Thing created by God ; but arifes merely from
a privative Caufe.
Here it will be ohjeffed again, " That it is not confiflent
" with the divine Perfections, to bring Mankind into the
<e World under fuch fad and unhappy Circumftances." —
But who art thou, O Man, that replieft againft God ? Shall
the Thing formed fay unto him that formed it, Why haft thou
formed me thus ? It is blafphemous, to fay, that it is not
confiflent with the divine Perfections to do, what God IN
FACT does. It is a plain Matter of Faff, that we are
born into the World devoid of the divine Image, ignorant
of God, infenfible of his infinite Glory. And it is a plain
Matter of Faff, that in Confequence hereof we are natively
difpofed to love our felves fupremely, live to our felves ul
timately, and delight in that which is not God, wholly.
And it is plain to a Demonftration, that this Temper is in
direct Contrariety to God's holy Law, is exceeding finful,
and is the Root of all Wickednefs. Now, to fay, it is not
confident with the divine Perfections, that Mankind Ihould
be brought into the World, as in FACT they be, is wick
edly to fly in the Face of our almighty Creator, and ex-
prefsly charge him with Unrighteoufnefs -, which, furely
does not become us. If we cannot fee into this Difpenfa-
tion of divine Providence, yet we ought to remember, that
God is holy in all his Ways, and righteous in all his Works,
and that the Judge of all the Earth always does right. I
don't mean, that Things are therefore right, merely becaufe
God does them •, for if they were not right to be done,
antecedently to his doing of them, he would not, he could
not do them. But I mean, that when it is a plain Matter
of Faff that God does fuch a Thing, we may thence con
clude that it is moil certainly right for him to do fo, altho*
we cannot underftand how it is. We ought to remember
that he is infinite in his Underftanding, and at one compre-
henfive View beholds all Things, and fo cannot but know
what is right and what is wrong in all Cafes : and his Judg
ment is unbiased, the Rectitude of his Nature is perfect,
he cannot therefore but do right always,and in all Inftances
govern
and diftinguijbed from all Counterfeits. 173
govern the World in Righteoufnefs. But our Minds are
narrow and contracted, we are but of Yefterday and know
Nothing : and befides,our Judgments are biafled thro' our
mean Thoughts of God and high Thoughts of our felves ;
and hence we may be eafily miftaken. Efpecially in this
Cafe, our Minds are fadly biafled, and it is almoft impofli-
ble for us to confider the Matter with a Spirit of difintereft-
ed Impartiality. And thefe Confiderations ought to check
our riling Thoughts, and make us lie down in the Duft
before the great and righteous and good Governour of the
World, with humble Silence, even altho' we cannot under-
ftand his Ways. And I believe that a humble Difpofition
of Heart would lay an effectual Foundation, for us to come
to be fatisfyed in this Matter : it being our meanThoughts
of God and high Thoughts of our felves, which blinds ovr
our Minds, that we cannot fee •, and difpofesus to quarrel
with our Creator, and find fault with the Ruler and Difpo-
fer of the World. It is true, that the holy Scriptures
co.nfider Mankind as being what they be, and fays but
little about the Way in which they came to be in fuch a
Condition. And there is good Reafon for it ; for it is of
infinitely greater Importance that we fhould know what a
Condition we are in, than how we came into it. And it is
a foolilh Thing for us, and contrary to common Senfe, to
lay the Blame any where but upon our felves, fince we arc
voluntarily fuch as we be, and really love to be what we be,
do not fmcerely defire to be otherwife, but are utterly averfe
to it. But yet the holy Scriptures fay fo much about
the Way of our coming into our prefentCondition, as might
fully fatisfy our Minds, were not our Judgments biafled.
For from them we learn, that Man was made upright, was
created in God's Image^ and by rebelling, againft his Maker
brought a Curfe upon himf elf and all his Race. Gen. i. 27.
• Eccl. 7. 29. Rom. 5. 12—19. There we read, that by one
Man, Sin entered into the World -, that by one Man's Difobe-
dience, many were made Sinners -9 that by the Offence of one,
Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation. Adam was
created in the Image of God, it was connatural to him to
love God with all his Heart, and this would have been our
had he not rebelled againft God ; but now we are
bora
174 True Religion delineated Dis. L
born devoid of the divine Ima4ge,have noHeart for God,are
Tranfgreffors from the Womb, by nature Children of Wrath.
And if any fhould inquire, " But can it be right, that
" Adam's Sin Ihould have any Influence upon us ?"
I Anfwer, It is a plain Cafe, that it a dually has, and
we may depend upon it, that the Judge of all the Earth al
ways does right. And befides, why might not God make
Adam our publick Head and Representative to act in our
Room, as he has lince for our Recovery made his own Son
our publick Head and Reprefentative ? Rom. 5. 12 — 21.
He had as much Right , Power and Authority for one, as for
the other. And was not Adam as likely to remain obedi
ent, as any of us ihould have been, and in fome Reflects
more likely ? His natural Powers were ripe ; he ilood not
only for himfelf, but for all his Race ; a whole World lay
at Stake. And if he had kept the Covenant of his God,
and fecured Happinefs to all his Race, fhould we not for
ever have blefled God, for fo good a Conftitution ? Never
once fhould we have queftioned God's Right and Authority
to make him our publick Head and Reprefentative, or
have thought that it did not become his Wifdom & Good-
nefs tp truft our All in his Hands. And if we fhouid thus
have approved this Conftitution, had Adam never finned •,
why might we not as juftly approve it now, if we would
be but difintereftedly impartial ? It is the fame in it felf
now, that it would have been then, every way as holy, juft
and good. — " Oh but for God to damn a whole World for
" one Sin !„" — But flay ^ — Does not this arife from mean
Thoughts of God, and high Thoughts of your felf ? O,
think who theLord is ! And what it is for a Worm to rife
in Rebellion againfl him ! And how he treated wholeThou-
fands of glorious Angels for their firft Sin ! And then,think
how God drowned the old World, burnt Sodom -, and of the
dreadful Things he intends to do to the Impenitent at the
Day of Judgment ! And learn, and believe, that Sin is an
infinitely greater Evil than we naturally imagine.
But I muft return to my Subject, for it is not my prefent
Bufmefs fo much to fhew, how we came into this Condition,
as plainly to point out what that Condition is, which we are
a finally in. As to this, the whole Scriptures are very plain,
but
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 175
but efpecially the Law, by which is the Knowledge of Sin,
clearly difcovers what our Cafe is, and beyond Difpute
proves, that all are under Sin. And having already, by
comparing our felves with the Law, found out what our
Nature is, I proceed to make fome further Obfervatioris j
in which I defign much greater Brevity.
4. From what has been faid, we may learn,fto the very
bsft religious Performances of all unregenerate Man are^ com*
plexly confidered, finful^ and fo odious in the Sight of God.
They may do many Things materially Good^ but the Prin-
ciple^End and Manner of them are fuch,as that, complexly con-
ftdered, what they do is Sin in the Sight of God. For Sin
is a 'Tranfgrejfion of the Law. But,
(i.) The Law requires all Mankind to do every Duty
out of Love to God and for his Giory : But all unregene
rate Perfons, direftly contrary to Law, do every Duty mere
ly out of Love to themfelves and for Self-Ends : And fo
are guilty o f Rebellion .
(2.) The Law requires all Mankind to do every Duty
out of Love to God and for his Glory : But all unregene
rate Perfons do every Duty merely out of Love to them*
felves and for Self-Ends -, whereby they prefer themfehes and
their Intereft, above God and his Glory : And fo are guilty of
fpiritual Idolatry.
(3.) Trie Law requires all Mankind to do every Duty
from Love to God and for his Glory : But all unregenerate
Perfons do every Duty merely from Self- Love and for
Self-Ends j and yet hypocritically pretend to God, that they
love and obey him : And fo are guilty of mocking God.
(4.) The Law fuppofes that God infinitely defervestobs
loved with all our Hearts and obeyed in every Thing, and.
that our Neighbour deferves to be loved as our felves ; and
that therefore if we fhould yield perfect Obedience in all
Things, yet we Ihould deferve no Thanks : But all unrege
nerate Perfons make MUCH of their Duties, tho' fuchmi-
ferable poor Things : And fo affront God to his very Face.
Upon thefe four Accounts, their very beft Performan
ces are done in a Manner directly contrary to the Law of
God, and fo are fmful, and therefore odious in the Sight of
God. (Prov. 15.8. & 21. 27. Rom. 8. 0. PfaL 88. 36,37.)
As
176 Trqe Religion delineated Bis. L
As is the Trr ,. ^is the Fruit •, as is the Fountain, fo are
the Streams ; A, ^as is the Man, fo are his Doings, in the
Sight of God, w .Mooks at the Heart (Matt. 12. 33,34,
35.^) and judges not according to Appearance, but judges
righteous Judgment : And, with whom, many Things,that
are highly efteemed among Men, are Abomination.
And if their bed religious Performances are thus odious
in the Sight of God, it is certain that they cannot poffibly,
in the Nature of Things, have the leaft Tendency to make
Amends for their pail Sins, or recommend them to the di
vine Favour •, but rather tend to provoke God dill more.
So that it is not cf bim that Wills, nor of kirn that Runs, but
of God that Jhews Mercy. Nor is there the leaft Hope in
the Sinner's Cafe, but what arifes from the fovereign Mer
cy of God ; whereby he can have Mercy on whom he will have
Mercy_^ and have Comfaffion en whom he will haveCompaJfion.
Rom. 9. 15, 1 8.
True, fome being ignorant of theLaw, and of our entire
Contrariety to it, have fancied aGoodnefs in the Sinner's
Duties ; and hence have perfwaded themfelves that there are
Fromifes of fpecialGrace made to them. Not that there
are anyPromifes inScripture, of that Nature ; for theScrip-
ture every where confiders us as being, while unregenerate,
dead in Sin. Eph, 2.1. Enemies to God. Rom. 5. 10. 2 Cor.
5. 17 — 20. Col. i. 21. Yea, Enmity againft him. Rom.
8.. 7. And fo far from any true and acceptableObedience
to God, as that we are not^nor can be fubjed to the Law, and
fo cannot fleafeGod. Rom. 8. 7, 8. And every where repre-
fents fuch, as being under the Wrath of God, the Curfe of the
jL*m>,and a prefent Condemnation, Joh. 3. 18, 36.Rom. 1.18.
Gal. 3. 10. — But the real Ground of their Opinion is, their
Ignorance of the Sinner's finful, guilty Circumftances, and
their fond Conceit that there is fome real Goodnefs in what
the Sinner does. Both which, are owing to their Igno
rance of the Law, * and of the Nature of true Holinefs.
Rom.
* Tis manifeft, that this Notion of the Promifes, of which Pelagius was
the Author, and which was condemned for Herefy above 1 300 Years
a^o, did with him, and does with his Followers,take its Rife originally
from their Ignorance of the Nature and Meaning Of sfce moral Law.
f 6 *! But
.and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 177
Rom. 7. 8, 9. Rom. 10. 3. All will own, that if Sinners
Duties, are fuch as I have reprefented, it is abfurd,and even
inconfillent with the divine Perfections, that Promifes of
ipecial Grace, ihouid be made to them.
'Tis true, they refer to Matt. 25. 29. To him that hatb9
flail be given. But that Text evidently fpeaks of the final
-Rewards which fhall be given to the Godly at the Day of
Judgment •, when all the Unregenerate fh?all,with thejloth-
ful Servant ^ Is caft into outer Darknefs. They quote
alfo Matt. 7, 7. Afk and you Jhall receive^ &c. But the Con
dition of this Promife was never yet performed by an
unregenerate Sinner. For this a/king is meant right ajkingy
for thofe who afk amifs receive nothing. Jam. 4. 3. Right
a/king of Grace, fuppofes right Defires of it ; but the un
regenerate are in the habitual Temper of their Hearts di
rectly contrary to Grace and all fpiritual Good, and en
tirely ib, as has been proved. But to have genuine Defires
after a Thing, and a per/eft Contrariety to it, in the whole
Heart, at the fame Time, is an exprefs Contradiction.
The Reafon that Sinners many Times think that they love
Holinefs, and defire heartily and fincerely to be made holy, is,
that they, being ignorant of the Nature of true Holinefs,
have framed zfalfe Image of it in their own Fancies. Did
they but diftinctly know, the very Thing itfelf* their native
Contrariety to it could no longer be hid. Rom. j. 8,9. So the
Pharifees thought they loved God, and loved his Law ; al-
tho* at the fame Time they perfectly hated the Son of God,
who was the exprefs Image of his Father, and came into
the World to do Honour to his Father's Law. They had
wrong Notions of God and of his Law.
OBJ. But this tends to drive Sinners toDeJpair.
ANSW. Only to defpair of being faved by their own
Righteoufnefs, which they muft be driven to, or they will
never fubmit to be faved by free Grace thro' Jefus Chrift.
Rom. 7. 8,9. and ip. 3. OBJ«
N
But yet Come good Men may have been inadvertently led into this
Error by the Force of Education. I believe Men's Hearts may be
fbmetimes better than theirHeads. But whenafalfe Scheme of ReLU
gion -sfoes perfe&ly fuit a Man's Heart, and exprefs the Temper of his
Mind, then no Doubt he is gracelefs. 2 Job. 9. & Joh. 8. 47. The
above Notta cf Ihe Promifes perfectly fuits a felf-righteous Heart*
178 True Religion delineated Dis. I*
OBJ. But if thefe Things be true, there is not any Motive to
excite a poor Stmer to ?cform,cr pray, or read,or do anything.
ANSW. By which, it is plain, that a Sinner cares not a
Jot for God, aid will net go one Step in Religion,only for
what he can get. And if f~ch a Sinner had ever fo many
Motives, he would only ferve himfelf, but not ferve God
at all. And what Encouragement can God,confiftent with
his Honour, give to fuch a one, fince he merits Hell every
Moment, even by his beft Duties, but only that which St.
Peter gave to Simon Magus ? Act. 8.22. Repent, and pray to
Godjf PERADPENfJRE tbeWi&t^&f tby Heart may
be forgiven thee.
OBJ. But this way of Reafoning will make Sinners leave off
feekmg andftrivixg, and fit down dijcouraged.
ANSW. Not if Sinners are but effectually awakened to
fee how dreadful Damnation is ; for a bare, Who can tell?
will make fuch refolve to run, and fight, and ftrive, and
beg, and pray 'till they die •, and if they periih, to perifh
at God's Foot. And as for others, all their Courage ari-
fes from their not feeing what wretched, miferable, finful,
guilty Creatures they are ; and fo muft be dalh'd to Pieces
fooner or later, in this World or the next, whenever their
Eyes come to be opened. And if God ever in thisWorld
Ihews them what they be, they will thereby perceive what
Danger they are in : And now a mere who can tell ? will
make them alfo refolve to run for eternal Salvation, 'till
their very laft Breath. 'Tis beft that falfeConfidence fhould
be killed, and this Way of Reafoning does not in the leaft
tend to hurt any other. 'Tis beft that Sinners Ihould know
the worft of their Cafe, and this Way of Reafoning does
not tend to make it appear a Jot worfe than it is.
OHJ. But what Good dees it do, for Sinners to be in fuch
earnsft to reform, read, watch, pray, run, fight, ftrive^ as for
for their Lives ; fince all they do is Sin, and God will have Mercy*
only en whom he will have Mercy.
ANSW. (i.) It is lefs Sin to do thefe Things, than not to
do them.
(2.) Sinners never will be in fuch earnefr., only when
God comes to awaken and convince, and Ib to make them
cfic&waliy fonfible of the dreadful State they are in. s and it
• is
and dijlingulfhed from all Counterfeits. 1 79
is not any Difcouragements that can keep them from being
in fuch earned then Jo long as the leafiHope appears in their
Cafe. Other People care but little about eternal Things,
and do but very little in Religion, but what Education,
Cuftom, the Faihion and their worldly Intereft excites them
onto. Moft People think it fo eafy a Thing to be faved,
as that they look upon fuch great Concern and Earneftnefs,
as perfect Frenzy.
(3.) This great Earneftnefs of awakened Sinners makes
them try their Strength to Purpofe ; whereby they come
to be experimentally convinced, that it is not in their
Hearts to love God, be forry for Sin, or do any Thing
that is Good •, whereby the high Conceit they ufed to
have of their Ability and good Nature is brought down,
and they feel and find that they are Enemies to God and
dead in Sin. And hereby a Foundation is laid for them
to fee the Juftice of God in their Damnation, and fo the
Reafonabienefs of God's having Mercy, only on whom he
will have Mercy. And thus the Law, tho' it cannot give
Life, yet is a School-mqfter to bring Men to Cbrift. And thus
the main Good the awakened Sinner gets, by going to this
School-mafter^ is effectually to learn his Need of Chrift,and
ofthe freeGrace ofGod thro' him. ^07^.7,8, p.G^/.g. 2 1 — 24.
This is the great End God has in View, and this End all
the Sinner's earneft Strivings are well calculated to obtain.
5. From what has been faid, we may learn the Nature of
afaving Convtrfion^ and the Manner wherein it is wrought*
Converlion confifts in our being recovered, from our pre-
fent Sinfulnefs, to the moral Image of God : Or which is
the fame Thing, to a real Conformity to the moral Law.
But a Conformity to the moral Law, confifts in a Difpofi-
tion to love God fupremely, live to him ultimately, and
delight in him fuperlatively •, and to love our Neighbour
as our fclves : and a Practice agreable thereto. And there
fore Converfion confifts in our being recovered from what
we are by, Nature,. to fuch a Difpofition and Practice.
And now in order to fuch a glorious Renovation and
Recovery, God by his Spirit fcts home the Law upon the
Sinner's Heart, caufing him to fee and feel, to Purpofe,
juft how he has lived, and what he is, and what he deferves,
N 2 and
1 8 o True Religion delineated D i s . • I.
and how he is in the Hands of a fovereign God, and at his
Difpofal : whereby the Hindrances which were in the Way
of his Converfion,are in a Sort removed. Rom. 7.8, 9. For
without the Law Sin was dead. For I was alive without the
Law once : but when the Commandment camt^ Sinrevived^and
1 died. — And then God who commanded the Light to Jkive
cut of Darknefs^jhines in the Heart , and gives the Light of the
Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jefus Chrifty
2 Cor. 4. 6. And now a Senfe of the Glory of God and
divine Things being thus imparted to the Soul by the Spi
rit of God, and the Sinner being raifed up from fpiritual
Death to fpiritual Life, does return home to God thro*
Jefus Chrift, venturing his Soul and immortal Concerns
upon the free Grace of God, and thro* him gives up himfelf
to God to be his for ever -9 to love him fupremely, live to
him intirely, and delight in him fuperlatively, and for ever
to walk in all hisWays. And hereby at the fameTime the
Man's Heart begins to be habitually framed to love his
Neighbour as himfelf, with a difmterefted Impartiality.
And thus an ^effectual Foundation is laid, for univerfal ex
ternal Obedience, and that from genuine Principles.
And as the divine Life is thus begun, fo it is carried on
in the Soul much after the fame Manner. The Spirit of
God mews the Believer more and more what a poor, finful,
Hell-deferving Wretch he is in himfelf, and fo makes him
more and more fenfible of his abfolute Need of free Grace
thro' Jefus Chrift, to pardon & to fan&ify him. He grows
in a Senfe of thefe Things all his Days ; whereby his Heart
is kept humble, and Chrift and free Grace made more pre
cious. The Spirit of God ihews the Believer more & more
of the infinite Glory and Excellency of God, whereby he is
more and more influenced to love him, live to him, and
delight in him, with all his Heart. And by the whole,
his Heart is framed more and more to love his Neighbour
as himfelf. And thus the Path of the Juft is like a Jhining
Light i that flrines more and more, to theperfeftDay. Prov.4.
18. Only, it muft be obferved, that the Spirit's Operations
after Coriverfion, are attended with two Differences, arifing
from two Caufes. (i.) From the different State of the
Subject wrought upon. The Believer not being under the
Law
and diKinguijhed from all Counterfeits 1 8 1
Law as a Covenant, is not by the Spirit filled with thofe
legal Terrors arifmg from the Fears of Hell, as heretofore
he was. Rom. 8. 15. But only is made fenfible of his re
maining Sinfulnefs,and the Sinfulnefs andDefert of Sin,and
of God's fatherly Difpleafure. And hereby his Heart is
humbled and broken. Indeed hereby he is many Times
filled with unfpeakable Anguifh and Bitternefs of Soul.
His Sins are ever before his Eyes^ and his Bones wax old thr(?
' bis roaring all the Day long. Pfal. 23. 3. and 51. 3. He is
troubled, he is bowed down greatly r, he goes mourning all the
Day long. Pfal. 38. i — 6. But thefe awakening, convinc
ing, humbling, mourning, purifying Times always end in
Peace and Joy and Reft in God j attended with a greater
Degree of Tendernefs of Confcience and holy Watchfulnefs,
and followed with bringing forth more Fruit. Pfal. 97. i r.
and 126. 5, 6. Pfal. 32. 5. and 73. 25 — 28. Joh. 15. 2.
2 Cor. 7. 10, ii. Heb. 12. n. Hof. 2. 6, 7, 14, 15. -
(2.) From the different Nature of the Subject wrought up
on. The Believer not being under the full Power of Sin
and at perfect Enmity againft God, as once he was, hence
does not refift the Spirit with the whole Heart, while he
takes down the Power of Sin, as heretofore he did •, but
has a genuine Difpofition to join in on God's Side, and fay,
" Let me be effectually weaned from the World, and hum-
" bled, and made holy and heavenly, and be brought into
I " an entire Subjection to God in all Things, tho' by Means
" and Methods ever fo crofs to Flefh and Blood. Let me
" be ftript naked of all worldly Comforts, and let Shimez
curfe, and all outward Evils and inward Anguifh of
" Heart come upon me, if nothing eife will do. Here
<c Lord, I be in thy Hands, chaften, correct, do what thou
** wilt with me •, only let Sin die : Sin thine Enemy, the
•c worft Evil, and the greateft Burthen of my Soul." Rom.
7. 24. 2 Cor. 4. 8,9,16. Jam. i. 2. Pfal. 119. 71. Heb. 12.9.
And he is not only thus willing that God mould by anyMe-
thods take down thePower of Sin in hisHeart,but alfo joins
in with theMethods of divine Grace, and by watching and
praying, and by fighting and ftriving, feeks the Death of
every Corruption. And from his thus joining in on God's
Side againft the Flejh, he is faid in Scripture to crucify it.
N 3 Gal
"
1 82 'Trite Religion delineated Dis. I.
Gal. 5. 24. And to wcrk out his own Salvation. Phil.
2. 13.
From what has been faid under this Head, we may fee
that a faving Converfion differs very much from the Con-
verfion of thefe four Sorts of Men. (i.) 'The worldly
Hypocrite. Who makes a ProfefTion of Religion, does many
Things, appears zealous, and pretends to be a good Man,
merely from worldly Confiderations, and to be feen of
Men. Mat. 23.5. (2.) The legal Hypocrite. Whofe
Converfion is nothing elfe, but a leaving off his vicious
Practices, and turning to be flricl and confcientious in ex
ternal Duties, in Hopes thereby to make Amends for his
pafl Sins, and recommend himfelf to God ; and fo efcape
Hell and get to Heaven. Rom. 10. 3. (3.) The evan
gelical Hypocrite. Whofe Converfon was nothing elfe but
this, he was awakened to fee his Sins, and terrified with
Fear of Hell, and humbled in a Meafure, but not thoro'ly,
but great Light broke into his Mind, and now he believes
that Chrift loves him, and has pardoned all his Sins, and
fo is filled with Joy and Zeal, and is become quite another
Man: But flill has no Grace. Mat. 13. 20. Heb. 6. 4.
2 Pet. 2. 20. Thefe ufually either fall away to carnal Se--
curity, or being puft up with Pride turn Enthufiafts.
(4.) f be wild) blazing Enthufiafi. Whofe Converfion all
arifes from imaginary Notions. He has an imaginary Sight
of his Sin, his Heart, the Wrath of God, of Hell and the
Devil, and is terribly diflrefTed : And then he fees Chrift
in a bodily Shape, it may be on the Crofs with his Blood
running, or feated on a Throne of Glory at his Father's
right Hand, he fees a great Light fhining all round him,
hears the Angels fing, fees Vifions, hears Voices, has Reve
lations, and thinks himfelf one of the very bed Saints in the
whole World, tho* in Truth he, by fcandalous Practices,
or heretical Principles, or both, foon appears to be feve.n
Times more a Child of the Devil than he was before.
However, in his own Conceit, he knows infallibly that he
is right, arid all the World can't convince him to the con
trary. Yea he is fit at once to be a Minifter, tho' ignorant
of the firft Principles of Religion •, lie is infpired by God,
and whoever likes him not is aa Enemy to Jcfus Chrift, he
doubts
and dijlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 183
doubts not at all.' Thefe are the Tares the Devil fows, by
Means of whom the Ways of God are evil fpoken of.
Mat. 13, 39. 2 Cor. ii. 14. i 'Tim. i. 7.
Now thefe feveral Sorts of Religion, the true and the
falfe, growing up from thefe feveral Roots, do all receive a
different Nourifhment, according to their different Nature ;
thro' which Nourilhment, they grow and increafe •, and
thro* the want of which they decay, fbe good Man, the
greater Senfe he has of God's infinite Glory, as he has re
vealed himfelf in the Law and in the Gofpel, fo proportio-
nably does his Religion flourim and grow in all it's various
Branches, and mine with a heavenly Luftre. The worldly
Hypocrite lays out himfelf moft in Religion, when there are
the moft to obferve and applaud him. ¥be legal Hypocrite,
when his Confcience is moft terrified, with the Thoughts of
Death •, Judgment & Eternity. And the evangelical Hypo
crite has his Affections raifed, his Love and Joy and Zeal*
in Proportion to his fuppofed Difcoveries of the Love of
Chrift to him in particular, and Senie of the Glories of
(a fancied) Heaven. And finally, the blazing Enthujiaft is
more or left lively in Religion according as he has Dreams,
hears Vo^ts, has ImprefTions and Revelations, and is ap-
pl^uded by his Party. And accordingly thofe different
Sorts of Religion, will grow and thrive the beft, under
fuch different Sorts of Preaching, as fuits their feveral Na
tures : And Men will cry up thofe Minifters moft, \fhofc
Preaching and Conduct agree with their Hearts the beft,
Mic. 4. 5. For aU People will walk, every one in the Name of
bis God. And true Believers will walk in the Name of the
LORD their GOD.—
6, From all that has been faid, we may learn that a Sin
ner is naturally difpofed to refift the Spirit of God, with all
bis Might, when he comes to awaken, convince and humble
him, to take down the Power of Sin in his Heart, and turn
him to God. Converfion confifts in our being recovered
from the linful State we are in by Nature, to a real Con
formity to the divine Law. i. e. in our being recovered
from a Difpofition to love our felves fupremely, live to. our
felves ultimately, and delight in that which is not
Wholly, and a Practice agreeable to this Difpofition-
N 4 ' a
184 Irue Religion delineated Dis. I.
a Difpofition to love God fupremely, live to him ultimate
ly, and delight in him fuperlatively, and to love our Neigh
bours as our felves, and a Practice agreeable thereto, i. e.
In other Words, in our being recovered from one Difpo-
fition,to another directly contrary to it -, even fo contrary,
that the firft muft die, in order to the others Exiflence.
This Difpofhion from which we are to be recovered, is not
any Habit contracted merely by Cuftom, which might
jnore eafily be parted with ; but it is connatural to us, a
Pifpofition rooted as it were in our very Nature, and which
has the full PoiTefTion of our Souls, and the entire Govern
ment of our Hearts : In a Word, a Difpofition, which we
in every Refpect perfectly love, and which we perfectly
hate fhould be ever crofs'd, & which yet muft be (lain or we
never converted. Now if ever a Sinner be recovered from
this Pifpofition, 'tis evident it muft be againft the very
Grain of his Heart : his Heart therefore will make the
ytmoft Refiflancc, it poflibly can.
If we were entirely renewed in an Inftant, without any
f regions Strivings of the Spirit, then indeed there would be
no Room nor Time for Refiftance : but otherwife the
Heart will refill. If there were the leaft Difpofition in our
Hearts, contrary to our natural Difpofition to love pur
felves fupremely, live to our felves ultimately, and delight
In that which is not God wholly, it might join in on God's
Side, be fmcerely defirous that God would flay the Enmity
of our Hearts ; but there is not. The carnal Mind is
wholly Enmity againft God, is riot fubject to his Law, nor
can be ; and fo the whole Heart will make Refiftance. If
the Pii^ofition to which we are recovered in Converfion,
were not fo directly contrary to our natural Difpofition, as
trmt pur natural Difpofition muft be {lain, in order to the
very being of that, the Sinner's Oppofition might not be
fo great ; but when all that is within him is directly crofs-
cd and going to be killed, all that is within him will oppofe
and refift, 'till flain. We are by Nature wholly in tbe Fkjh
and after tbe Flejb ; according to &np/#re-Phrafe, That
Which is born of the Flejb, is Flefo : and by Converiion we
are to become Spirit -9 That which is born of the Spirit, is
Spirit, But tfie Flejb afld the Spirit are in Scripture repre-
fented
and diftinguljhed from all Counterfeits. 185
fented as being contrary the one to the other. Will Flejb
then of it's own Accord become Spirit ? No furely. For
the Flejb luftetb againft the Spirit, i. e. Is wholly averfe to it,
and fet againft it. So that there is no otherWay,but,accord-
ing to £r/p/»r£-Phrafe, the Flejb muft be crucified, with the
Affe&ions & Lufts. But the Fle/h perfectly hates thisDeath,
and therefore will rcfifl with all it's Might. Rom. 8. 7, 8.
Joh. 3. 6. Gal 5.17. Rom. 6. 6.
As the Truth of this Point is thus evident from theRea-
fon and Nature of Things, fo it is farther confirmed from
conftant Experience. For let any Man read the Bible with
Attention, and he may plainly fee, that the very Thing,
which God has always been driving at, in all the external
Means, he has tiled with his profefiing People3in every Age
of the World, has been to recover them to a Conformity to
his hcly Law in Heart and Life. i. e. To recover them from
aJDifpofition to love themfelves fupremeiy, live to them-
felves ultimately, and delight in that which is not God
wholly, and a Praclice agreeable thereunto ; To a Difpoii-
tion to love God fupremeiy, live to him ultimately, and
delight in him fuperlatively, and to love their Neighbours
as themfelves, and to praclife accordingly : For on thefe
two Commands hang all the Law and the Prophets. And
we may alfo plainly fee, that God's profeffing People have
always manifefted the greatcft Averfion to hearken to the
Law and to the Prophets ; and fo to die to themfelves, the
World and Sin ; and thus to give up themfelves to God
to love him, live to him, delight in him, and walk in all
his Ways. God fent all his Servants, the 'Prophets^ to the
Children of Ifrael^ rifmg early and fending ; but they al
ways hated their Words, and fo flopped their Ears, and
refufed to obey : Yea, they fell into a Rage at them, and
in their Rage, they mocked them,they fcourged them, they
bound them, they imprifoned them, they ftoned them, they
fawed them afunder, and made the reft wander about in
Defarts and Mountains, and in Dens and Caves of the
Earth, in Sheep-Skins and Goat-Skins, deftitute, afflided,
tormented. Heb. 11.35 — 38. And when God fent his
well-beloved Son to call a wicked World to return home
unto to him,they faid, Com^let us /W/&;#,Mat.2i.33— 39.
And
1 86 True Religion delineated Dis. L
And when Chrift fent his dpoftles to carry the glad Tidings
of Pardon and Peace to the Ends of the Earth, and call all
Men to repent and be converted, to return and love and
ferve the living God, both Jews and Gentiles confpired to
gether againft them, and killed them •, jufl as the ten Tribes
killed the Meflenger, whom Rehoboam fent unto them, to
call and invite them to return to their former Allegiance.
i Kin. 12. 1 8. Therefore fays our blefTed Saviour to the
Jews who pretended great Love to God & to theLaw, and
mightily to honour theirProphets,J^^ are like whitedSepul-
chres,you appear outwardly righteous, but inwardly are full of
all Hypocrify & Wickedness. Tour Fathers killed theProphets>
whom you pretend to Honour ', but you are full as bad as they
were. Te Serpents, ye Generation of Fipers, &c. Wherefore,
behold^ I fend unto you Prophets and wife Men and Scribes ;
and fome of them ye Jh all kill and crucify, andfome of them ye
Jhall fcourge in your Synagogues , and perfecute them from City
to City. O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the
Prophet s^ and ft ow ft them that are fent unto thee ! How often
would I have gathered thy Children together, even as the Hen
gathereth her Chickens under her Wings, and ye WOULD
NOT! Mat. 23, 27 — 37. From all which, nothing can
be plainer, than that this rebellious God-hating World
always have been fet againft a Return to God, and been dif •
pofed to do all they could, to render all Means ineffectual.
Well might St. Stephen therefore, fay unto the Jews, as he
did, v&Afts, 7. 51. Yeftiff-neckedanduncircumrifedinHeart
and Ears, ye do always re/ft the holy Ghoft : as your Fathers
did,fo do ye : Nor had they any Reafon to be angry with
him therefor.
And as all, who have enjoyed the external Means of
Grace, have thus been difpofed to hate the Light, fhut their
Eyes, flop their Ears and refufe to hear, and been utterly
averfe to a return to God ; fo this is evidently the Cafe with
all whom God has inwardly wrought upon by his Spirit 5
as all know, who have either had any Experience them-
felves, or have candidly obferved the Experience of others.
And indeed it muft be fo •, for the very fame Temper,
which will make Men refift the outward, will alfo difpofe
them to refift the inward Means of Grace. For the holy
Spirit
and diftmguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 187
Spirit teaches and urges the very fame Things, that Mofes
and the Prophets? and Chrift and his Apoftles teach and urge,
and drives at the fame End ; and will therefore of Confe-
quence meet with the fame Oppofition and Refiftance, from
the very fame Quarter. This is the Condemnation, that Light
is come into the World -, and Men love Darknefs rather than
Light^ becaufe their Deeds are Evil. He that doth Evil, hatetb
the Light. Joh. 3. 19,20. That Light which will difcover
Men's evil Deeds, and fhew them their fallen, finful, guilty,
helplcfs undone Condition •, and fo fpoil all their worldly,
carnal Comforts, the' very Idols of their Hearts j and alfo
kill their legal Self-righteous Hopes ; which is all the
awaken'd and concerned Sinner has, to his own Senfe and
Apprehenfion, to depend upon ; that Light which effects
Things, which are fo directly crofs to the inward Temper
of the Sinner's Heart, he will naturally be difpofed to hate,
fhut his Eyes againil,flee from and refill with all hisMight \
and that whether it comes from the external Teachings of
the Word, or internal Teachings of the Spirit. Yea, fo
long as there is the ieaft remainder of Corruption left in
Believers themfelves, it will hate to die, and ftruggle with
all it's Might to keep it's Ground, yea, and to recover it's
former Dominion. Rom. 7. 23. 1 fee another Law in my
Members, warring againft the Law in my Mind^ and bringing
me into Captivity to the Law of Sin, which is in my Members*
Yea,it implies a Contradiction, to fuppofe, Corruption can
in any Cafe be willing to die : for every Temper in our
Hearts naturally loves to be gratified and pleafed, and it is
a Contradiction, to fuppofe, it can at the fame Time be
willing to be crofs'd and killed. Gal. 5. 17.
OBJ. But do not awakened Sinners earneftly defire to repent
of and be humbled for their Sins, and to mortify their Cor
ruptions, and to give up themfelves to God, to love and live to
him ; and do they not earneftly 'pray for the divine Spirit to
affift them fo to do ? How can they then be difpofed at the fame
Time to make fuch mighty Refiftance ?
ANSW. (i.) Awakened Sinners fee themfelves in great
Danger, and they therefore earneltly defire and feek after
Self-Prefervation, and this is plainly owing to Nature, and
not to any Grace or Goodnefs in their Hearts* Pfal, 66. 3*
1 88 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Thro11 the Greatnefs of thy Power thine Enemies fubmit them-
fehes unto thce. i. c. they feign a Submiffion, but they arc
thine Enemies. (2.) That which moves them to defire to
repent, be humbled, &c. is, they hope by thefe Means to
make Amends for their paft Sins, and ingratiate them-
felves into the Favour of God. Rom. 10. 3. i. e. merely
from Self-love, with pure Hypocrify, they would impofe
upon God. For (3.) After all their Pretences, Defires and
Prayers, their Nature and Temper is juft what it ufed to
be : and were they but delivered from the Fears .of Hell,
and left at full Liberty to follow their own Inclinations,
they would live as vicioufly as ever they did. (4.) Yet they
pretend to love God and would fain have him believe them
fincere, and are ready to expect Acceptance for what they
do, and to think it hard if God mould not accept them.
Now if it was the Work of the Spirit of God, to build up
fuch a Sinner in this hypocritical, Self-righteous way, he
might be difpofed, while under his Fears and Terrors, to
concur and fall in with the Spirit's Influence : and all
merely from Self-love and for Self-Ends. But if the Spi
rit of God goes about to bring home the Law in its Strict-
nefs, and fhew fuch a Sinner the very Truth, that he does
not love God nor defire to, that his Defires and Prayers
and Tears are all hypocritical, that he is ftill dead in Sin
and an Enemy to God, that he deferves to be damned as
much as ever he did ; that God is at Liberty, all hisDuties
notwithftanding, to reject him •, that he lies abfolutely at
God's Mercy : Now he will hate the Light, Ihut his Eyes
againft it, quarrel at it, and refift it with, all his Might.
It is exceeding hard for the poor Sinner, when he" begins to
be awakened, to part with a vain Life, and vain* Compa
nions, his carnal Eafe and Comfort, and all viciousCourfes,
to make Reftitution to thofe he has wronged in Name or
Eftate, and give himfelf to Reading, Meditation &Prayer,
and to a ferious mortifying Way of living : he can't bear
the Thoughts, would fain contrive an eafier Way, or elfe
delay for the prefent fo mournful and tedious a Work. But
when, by the dreadful Fears of Hell and eternal Damna
tion, he has been brought, after much Reluctance and
Unwillingncfs, to a forced Confent to all this, hoping
thereby
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 189
thereby to appeafe the divine Wrath and procure the divine
Favour : Now to have all his felt- righteous Hopes dafh'd
and confounded, by a Sight of the Badnefs of his Heart,
by feeing he has no Love to God, no Sorrow for Sin, no
Inclination to be holy, but averfe to God and all that is
Good, and that all his forced Goodnefs has no Virtue
in it, that he is yet under the whole Guilt of all his Sin,
under Condemnation of the Law and the Wrath of
God, dead in Sin, an Enemy to God, abfolutely at
God's Mercy : This, this, I fay, is dreadful indeed, and
far more crofs to the very Grain of the Sinner's Heart than
all he ever met with before. Here therefore there will be
the greatefl Struggle and ftrongeft Rcfiftance, before ever
the Sinner can, by the Spirit of God, be brought clearly to
fee and give into thefe Things. For all thefe Things are
directly crofs to the Sinner's Difpofition to love him-
felf fupremely and live to himfelf ultimately, directly
crofs to a Spirit of Self-fupremacy and Independency.
The Sinner can't bear that God fhould be fo great and fo
fovereign, and himfelf fo vile, fo little, fo abfolutely at
Mercy. 'Tis a killing Thing. When the Commandment
came, Sin revived, and I died. So that it is plain, that
notwithstanding all the awakened Sinner's felfim. Defires
and Prayers, yet in the habitual Temper of his Heart,
he ftands difpofed to refift the Influences of the divine Spi
rit, with all his Might. He is fo far from being willing
to repent of his Sins, that he is utterly unwilling to fee and
own his Sinfulnefs •, fo far from defiring to be humbled,
that he is by no Means willing to fee the Caufe & Reafon
he has to be humbled ; fo far from defiring to be made
fpiritually alive, that he won't fo much as own that he is
fpiritually dead ; fo far from defiring the gracious Influen
ces of the holy Spirit to reconcile him to God, that he won't
own that he is an Enemy to God, but would fain think,
that he heartily defires to love God, and ftands ready to
hate and refift that Light, which would difcover the En
mity of his Heart. He that doth Evil, hateth the Light and
flees from it, left his evil Deeds be difcovered ; and for the fame
Reafon, he that hath an evil Heart, hates the Light and
refifts it, left the Badnefs of his Heart be difcovered.
. "From
190 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
7. From all that has been faid we may learn, that thofe
Influences of the Spirit which will be fufficient, effectually
to awaken, convince and humble the Sinner, and recover
him to God, muft be irrejijiible zn&fuper natural. That the
internal Influences of the Holy Spirit are necefiary to reco
ver Sinners to God, is fo plainly held forth every where in
the Bible, that the Armenians themfelves do not deny it.
But how much, and what Kind of Influences are needful, is
very much difputed. Now^/a much^ and fuck Scrt of In
fluences are beyond difpute, needful^ as will be fuffident
effeftua "ly to anjwer the End^ and without which no Sinner
will ever be converted. This is felf-evident. If Sinners
were fo good natur'd, as to fee and feel and own their Sin-
fulnefs, and the Juftice of the Sentence whereby they ftand
condemned, and die to themfelves, the World and Sin, and
return home to God thro' Jefus Chrift, to love him, live
to him, and delight in him for ever, of their own Accord,
jnerely upon reading the Bible and hearing the Law and
the Gofpel preached, then there would be no Need of any
inward Influences of the Spirit at all. Or if they were fo
good natured, as to be eafily perfwaded to do fo, then fome
Imall Degree of the inward Influences of the Spirit
would do. But if, in thefrft Place, they are altogether
averfe to fee and feel and own their Sin and Guilt, and the
Juftice of their Condemnation according to Law, and en
tirely difpofed to hate and refift the Light, as hath but juft
now been proved, then they muft be brought to it by an
all-conquering irrefiftible Grace, or not at all. And if,in the
fecond Place^ the cleared Sight and greateft Senfe a natural
Man can have of what God is, inftead of making him ap
pear infinitely glorious and amiable, in the Eyes of one
whofe Heart is dead in Sin, and diametrically oppofite to
the divine Nature, will rather irritate Corruption, and
make the native Enmity of the Heart ferment and rage,
and become but the more apparent and fenfible,as has been
heretofore proved, then there muft be ^ fufer natural^ fpiri-
tual and divine Change wrought in the Heart, by the im
mediate Influences of the Spirit of God, whereby it lhall
become natural to look upon God as infinitely glorious and
amiable in being what he is, and fo a Foundation hereby
laid,
and diflmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 191
laid,for us to love him with all' our Hearts,aud fo genuine
ly to repent, return and give up our felves to him, to live
to him, and delight in him for ever •, I fay, if thefe Things
be fo, there muft be fach a Change wrought by the Spirit
of God, or not one Sinner in the World will ever be con
verted to God. And therefore, that there is an abfolutc
Necefiity of fuch Influences of the Spirit of God, in order
to a faving Converfion, is evident to a Demonftration, from
the very Reafon and Nature of Things. God himfelf mult
take away the Heart of Stone and give an Heart of Flefti, and
write bis Law on our Hearts , raife us from the Dead, create
us a-new, open our Eyes, &c. &c. according to the Lan
guage of Scripture. And thefe Things God does do, for
all that are renewed, and therefore they are faid, to be born
of God, to be born of the Spirit , to be fpiritual,to be made Par
takers of the divine Nature, &c. And God is faid to give
Faith) Repentance, and every divine Grace. Ezek. 36. 26.
Heb.S.io. Eph. 2.1 — 10. i Cor. 4. 6. Joh.i. I3.&3.6.
Rom. 8. 6, 9. 2 Pet. i. 4. Aft. 5. 31. Jam. i. 17.
8. From what has been faid we may learn to under/land
the Dottrine of divine Sovereignty in theBeftowment of fpecial
Grace for the Regeneration and Converjion of Sinners. The
Scripture reprefents God as choofmgfome before the Founda
tion of the World) to be holy and to be his Children. Eph. i.
4, 5. And teaches us that whom he did predejlinate, them he
alfo calls i and whom he calls them he alfo juftifas, and whom
hejuftifies them he alfo glorifies. Rom. 8. 30. And plainly
intimates that fuch as are given to Chrift and ordained to
eternal Life, believe, and none other. Joh. 6. 37, 39. Aft. 13.
48. Rom. n. 7. And the Scriptures teach us that God
has Mercy en whom he will have Mercy , and CompaJJion on
whom he will have Compaffion. Rom: 9. 18. And that/0r
the moft Part) he pafles by the rich and great and honour able*
and choofes the meaneft and moft ignoble^ that -no Flejh might
glory in his Prefence. i Cor. i. 26 — 29. He hides the Gofpel
from the wife and prudent, and reveals it toEabes, and that be-
caufe it pleafes him fo to do, and Chrift rejoyces in his fovereign
Pleafure herein, as difplaying his infinite Wifdom. Mat.
n. 25, 26.
And
IO2 True Religion delineated Dis.'L
/: nd now what has been faid may {hew us the infinite
Re lunablenefs of fucli a Procedure, For3God,whoie Eyes
run to :nd fro thro' all the Earth, feeing all Things as being
what they are, plainly beholds and views the State and
\Temper of this apoftate World ; and let Men pretend
what they will, he knows their Hearts, he knows they
do; r :.ove him nor care for him, he fees all their Hypocri-
fy and their inward Contrariety to him arid his Lav/, and
how much they are fettled in their Temper -, fo far from
Repentance, that they will not fo much as fee their Sin,
but Hand to jiiftify themfelves, infenlible of their Guilt and
infenfible of iheir Defert, hating the Light ; he fees they
hate to fee their Sin and Guilt and Defert, and to be hum
bled and lie down at his Foot, and be abfoluteiy beholden
to him ; and that they would make the utmoil Refinance
if he fhould take them in Hand, and go about thoroughly
to convince them by his Spirit howThings really be ; thus
he views his apoftate,rebellious Creatures,& fees how finful,
how dead in Sin, how contrary to all Good, and how irre
claimable they be, and upon the whole how much they
deferve eternal Damnation. In the Days of Eternity he
faw juft how Things would be before Hand, and now in
Time he fees juft how Things actually be. In the Days
of Eternity therefore he faw that there would not be any
Thing in them to move him to have Mercy on any, and
now in Time he finds it to be the Cafe. And yet he was
pleafed then of his meer fovereign Pleafure to determine
not to caft off all, but to fave fonie •, fo new he is pleafed
to put his fovereign Pleafure in Execution ; and he has
Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and Companion on
whom he will have Compaffion, and many Times takes the
meaneft and vileft, that theSovereignty of his Grace might
be the more illuftrious, and the Pride of all Flefh might
be brought low,and theLord alone be exalted. And furely
fuch a Conduct infinitely well becomes the fupreme Gover-
nour of the whole World.
Indeed, if any of Adam's Race were fo well difpofed, as,
of their own Accord, merely upon reading the Bible, hear
ing the Gofpel preached, and enjoying the common Means
of Grace, to believe and repent and to return home to God
thro*
.
and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 193
thro' Jefus Chrift, they might be accepted, pardoned and
feved, nor would there be any Room for or Need of Sove
reign Grace. But God who knows the Hearts of all, fees
that ail the Pretences of Sinners that Way are but mere
Hypocrify, and that at Heart they are his Enemies, and
utterly averfe to a Return. — Or if there was any Virtue to
be found among any of the fallen Race of Adam^ antece
dent to God's Grace, this might move him to have Mercy
I upon one rather than another. But he fees that all are in-
tirely deftitute of Love to him, and intirely at Enmity
j againft him, wholly void of real Goodnefs, and dead in
Sin, and that the only Reafon why fome are not fb out
wardly extravagant and vicious as others, is, becaufe he has
by one Means and another retrained them, and not becaufe
they are really better. — And while God thus beholds all
alike dead in Sin, and in the Temper of their Hearts by
i Nature equally averfe to a Return to him, and views all
as guilty and He 11 -deferring, there is nothing, there can
i be nothing, to move him to determine to fliew Mercy to
I one rather than another, but his own good Pleafure. And
j therefore he has Mercy on whom he will have Mercy •, he
| awakens, convinces, humbles, converts whom he pleafes,
| and leaves the reft to follow their own Inclinations, and take
| their ownCourfe, enduring with much Long-fuffermg the
\ Veffeh of Wrath.
Let it be here noted, that many -of thofc warm Difputes
I about the Doctrine of divine Sovereignty, which have filled
I the Chhftian World, turn very much upon this Point. All
\ are agreed, that whofoever believes, repents and returns to
e God thro' Jefus Chrift, {hall be faved. All will,therefore,
t yield that if Mankind in general were fo good natured, fo
well difpofed, as to return to God thro' Jefus Chrift of their
f own Accord, upon the Calls and Invitations of the Gofpel,
and only by the Influence and Help of thofe Advantages
* which are common, then all might be faved, nor would
Q there be any Need of, or Room for, this fovereign, diftin-
guifhing Grace. But if Mankind have none of this good
: Nature,but are every Way diametrically oppofite thereto ;
if all the Calls of the Gofpel, and common Means and
Methods of Grace, will have no effectual Influence upon
O them
194 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
them *, if nothing but an almighty, all -conquer ing Grace
can flop them in their Courfe of Rebellion, fubdue their
Lufts, and recover them to God ; if this be the Cafe of all
Mankind, then it is plain, that nothing but the meer
MerCy of God, can interpofe and prevent a uniyerfalRuin.
And it is plain that the fovereign Governour of the whole
World is, in the Nature of Things, at moil perfect Liberty
to fhew this Mercy, to none, or to fome few, or to all, juft
as it feems good in his Sight. And fmce from Eternity
he forefaw juft how Things would be* from Eternity he
might determine what to do. So that the great Queftion
is, Whether Mankind are naturally fo entirely averfe to a
true Converfion ? For if they be3 the Reafonablenefs of
the divine Sovereignty muft be admitted in this Cafe : and
if they be not, none will any longer plead for it. And
what the natural Oppofition of Mankind to Converfion is,
may be eafily feen, if we confider what the true Nature of
Converfion is, and compare their Temper herewith.
And what the true Nature of Converfion is, may be eafily
known by confidering the true Nature of the moral Law. —
In a Word, if the Law does only require what the Armi-
mans and Pelagians fuppofe, and Religion be juft fuch a
Thing, 'tis a plain Cafe, that Mankind are not fobad, nor
do they need fuch an irrefiftibleGrace. But if the Law re
quires quite another Sort of Holinefs, and fo true Religion
be quire anotherSort of Thing,even fuch as I have deicribed,
which lies fo diametrically oppofite to the natural Bent and
JBiafs of our whole Souls, 'tis plain, 'tis a clear Cafe, that
Grace muft be irrefiftible, and can proceed from nothing
but meer free Mercy, nor refult from any Thing but the fo
vereign Pleafure of the moft High. So that in fhort, the
whole Difpute is refolved into this Queftion, What does
the Law of God require, and wherein does a genuine Con
formity thereto confift ? But of this more afterwards.
And from what has been faid we may eafily gather a
plain and fhort Anf -ver to ail the mighty Cry about Pro*
mifes^ Promises to the Unconverted^ ij they will do as well as
they can. For 'tis plain, Heaven's Gates ftand v/ide open
to all that believe and repent and return to God thro' JefojS
Cbrift, job. 3, 16* And 'tis plain, the Wrath of God is
revealed
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 195
revealed againft all that do not fo. Job. 3. 36. And 'tis
plain, that there is nothing but the want of a good Tem
per, together with the obitinate Perverfenefs of Sinners,
that hinders theirReturn toGod j. and that therefore ail their
Pretences of being willing to do as well they can, are mere
Hypocrify. They are fo unwilling to return to God, o?
take one Step that Way, that they can be brought back by
nothing fhort of an almighty Power •, and are fo far,there-
fore, from being entitled to the Promifes of the Gofpel*
that they are actually, and that defervedly too, under
Condemnation by the Gofpel, .(Job. 3, i8J and under all
the Curies of the Law, Gal. 3. 10. " Take heed there-
" fore, O Sinner, thou Enemy of God, when you pretend
<c that you delire to repent and do as well as you can, that
" you be not found quieting your felf in a State of E-
" ftrangement from God, hiding your natural Averfion
" to God &: Holinels under fair Pretences. And know it
41 if you do, tho' you may deceive your felf by the Means,
u yet it will appear another Day before all Worlds, and it
u will be known that you were an Enemy to God, and
u would not be reconciled, and did but flatter him with
*c your Lips, and lie uno him with your Tongue, in all
" your feemingly devdut Pretences. You think your
" felf good enough to have an Intereft in the Promifes,,
" but infinite Goodnefs judges you deferve to be numbred
" among the Children of W^rath and Heirs of Hell. Job.,
44 3. 1 8, 36. Your high Conceit of your own Goodnefs is
<4 the Foundation of all your Confidence, and both join to
** keep you fecure in Sin and under Guilt, and infenfible of
*• your need of Chrift & fovereign Grace. £#£.5.31. Rom*
10.3." Did Sinners but fee the Badnefs of their Hearts, they
would be foon convinced that thePromifes are not theirs,but:
theThreatnings ; and would feel & know that they have no
Claims to make, but lie abfolutely at Mercy. Luk. 18.13.
9. And if it is nothing but the mere Grace & fovereign
good Pleafure of God, which moves him to ftop Sinners
in their Career to Hell, and by his irrefiftible and all-
Conquering Grace, and by the fupernatural Influences of
his holy Spirit, fubdue their Stubbornnefs, take down the
Power of Sia in their Hearts, and recover diem to himfelf :
O 2 And
196 True Religion delineated Dis.'L
And if he does this for them when they are at Enmity a-
gainil him, and are his open Enemies by wicked Works,
and fo are altogether deferving his Wrath and Vengeance •,
I fay, if this be the Cafe, there is all Reafon to think, that
be, who thus begins, will carry on the Work to Perfection. —
He knew how bad the Sinner was when he firft took him
in Hand, how he hated to be converted, and how he would
refift, and that his own almighty Arm muft bring Salva
tion j and yet this did not difcourage his firft Undertaking.
And he knew how the Sinner would prove after Conver-
fion, juft how barren and unfruitful, juft how perverfe and
rebellious, and juft how apt to forget God and turn away
from him, and that his own almighty Grace muft always
be working in him to will and to do. Phil. 2. 13. — He
knew all the difcouraging Circumftances before-hand, and
his infinite Goodnefs furmounted them all, and he had
Mercy on the poor Sinner becaufe he would have Mercy
on him, of his meer good Pleafure, from his boundlefs
Grace, aiming at the Glory of his own great Name. Eph.
1.6. — And now this being the Cafe, we have all Reafon
to think, that God will never alter his Hand, or leave un-
finifhed the Work which he has begun. For there always
will be the fame Motive from which he undertook the
Work, to excite him to carry it on, even the infinite Good
nefs of his Nature ; and he will be always under the fame
Advantages, to anfwer theEnd Ke at firft propofed, namely,
the Advancement of theGlory of hisGrace. And he will ne
ver meet with any unforefeenDifficulties orDifcouragements
in his Way. We may therefore be pretty certain, if really
God begins this Work, under fuch Views and fuch Cir-* 1
cumftances, that it is with Defign to carry it on. As Sa
muel reafons in a parallel Cafe, i Sam. 12. 22. For the
Lord will not for fake his People for his great Name9 s fake :
lecaufe it hath pleafed the Lord to make you his People. So
that if the Dodtrine of the Saints Per fever ance were notex-
prefly taught in Scripture, yet on this Ground we might
argue very ftrongly for it. — But that this is a Do&rine
plainly revealed in the Gofpel we may learn, from Mat.
13.23. Job. 4. 14. £5? 10. 4, 5, 27, 28. i Job..3.'6,$.
Heb. 8, 10, tfc.&c.— When St. 'Paul kept under his Body
and
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits 197
and brought it intoSubje&ioiiiLEST he Jhould be aCaft-away,
(i Cor. 9. 27.) He did no otherwife than he was wont to
do in temporal Concerns, in Cafes wherein he was before
hand certain of the Event. So he fent Word to the chief
Captain^ of the Jews lying in wait to kill him, left he Jhould
be murdered by them •, whenas it was revealed to him from
God, but the very Night before, that he fhould live to fee
Rome. Aft. 23.1 2 — :2 1 . So he would not allow the Sailors
to leave the Ship in the midft of the Storm, lift they Jhould
fome of them be drowned for want of their Help •, whenas,
but a little before it was revealed to him from God that not
one of them Ihould be drowned.' Aft. 27. 23 — 31. And
indeed, it was his Duty to do as he did, as much as if he.
had been at the greateft Uncertainties about the Event.
So altho' Paul knew that never any Wing Jhould feparate
him from theLove 0/G0^,(Rom. 8. 3 8.) Yet heufed all pofli-
ble Endeavours to mortify his Corruptions, left be Jhould
be a Caft-away. And indeed, it was his Duty to do fo, as
much as if he had been at the greateft Uncertainties about
the Event. And what was his Duty, was alfo the Duty of
all good Men -, and therefore St. Paul in his Eptjtles is fre
quently exhorting all, to do as he did : and that in a per
fect Confiftency with the Doctrine of the Saints Pcrfeve-
rancC) which he alfo teaches. And as Paul's being certain
of the Event) did not tend to make him carelefs in the
Ufe of proper Means to fave his natural Life, but rather
tended to encourage and animate him, as knowing that he
fhould finally fucoeed •, fo his being certain of the Evenf,
did not tend to make him carelefs, but to animate him,
with refpect to his fpiritual and eternal Life. And as it
was with him, fo it is with all good Men. Ram. 6. 2. For
this is always the Cafe,^that Certainty of Succefs, animates
Men i if the Thing they are about, be what they
love and what their Hearts are engaged in-, but to
die to thernfelves, the World and Sin, and love God>
and live to him, and grow up into perfect Hoiinefs, is what
all Believers love and have their Hearts engaged after ; an
abfolute Certainty, therefore, of Perfeverance has, in the
Nature of Things, the greateft Tendency to animate them
*o the jnoft fprightly ^ftivity. There are none but grace
O iei
198 True Religion delineated Dis.-L
lefs Hypocrites,that takeEncouragement,from theDo&rines
of free Grace, to Carelefnefs and Sin. Rom. 6. i, 2.
10. If this be the Nature of a faving Converfion, if this
be the Nature of true Holinefs, if this be true Religion,
fo contrary to Fiefh and Blood, and all the habitual Propen-
fities of Nature, then fo long as there is ibe haft Corruption
left in the Heart, there w/7/, of Neceffity^ be a continual Con-
flift. Grace will continually feek the Ruin of Sin, thro'
it's Contrariety to it and Hatred of it «, and Sin will ftrivc
to maintain it's Ground, yea and to regain it's former Do
minion. The gracious Nature delights in the Law of God,
and afpires after fmlefs Perfection •, the finful Nature hates
the Law of God, and ftrives to lead the Man captive into
Sin. The gracious Nature is a Difpofition to love God
fupremely, live to him ultimately, and delight in him fu-
perlatively -y and this finful Nature is a Difpofition to lovcv
Self fupremely, live to Self ultimately, and delight in -that
which is not God, wholly : and becaufe thefe two are con
trary the one to the other ', therefore th' Fie fa will luft agaivft
the Spirit^ and the Spirit againft the Flejh. Gal. 5. 17. The
gracious Nature joins in on God's Side againft all Sin •, and
while God works in the Man to will and to do^ he works cut
his own Salvation with Fear and Trembling^ with Caution
and Circumfpedion, with Watchfulnefs and holy Concern -%
labouring to die to himlelf, the World and Sin, and be
wholly the Lord's. Phil. 2. 12, 13. While God is, by his
Spirit, realifmg to his Heart the Being and Perfections of
God, the Exiftence and Importance of divine and eternal
Things, and is fpreading divine Light over his Soul, and
is banifhing felfilh and worldly Views, and is drawing his
Soul to holy and divine Contemplations ; he feels the di
vine Influence, he bleiTes the Lord, he fummons all within
him to Engagednefs, he pants after God. " O that I
4C might know him, that I might fee him in his infinite
" Glory ! (Pfal. 63. i, 2.) O Gody thou art my God* early
*c will I feek thee : my Soul thirfteth for theey myFlefolongeth
" for thee^ in a dry and thirdly Land^ where no Heater is : ¥0
i£ fee thy Power and thy Glory ^fo as I have fccn thee in the
^ Siin&uary. ($. 8.) My Soul followcth hard after thee.
• -TfeL 73. 2P, <} Whom tew I in Heaven -but thee? And
" there
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 199
" there is none upon Earth I defire befides thee. O that I
" could, with my whole Heart, love thee for ever, live to
«• thee for ever, live upon thee for ever, and ne er, never,
" depart from thee ! O that I could think for thee, and
" fpeak for thee, and act for thee j at Home and Abroad*
" by Day and by Night, always live to thee and upon
" thee ! Here, Lord, I give my felf to thee to be for ever
" thine, to love thee and to fear thee, and to walk in all
" thy Ways and to keep all thy Commands -9 and O that
" my Heart might never depart from thee ! But alas,
" alas, to will is frefent with me^ to have a Difpofition to
<* all this, and long for all this, and feek and ftrive for all
" this, is eafy and natural, fcr I delight in the Law of God
" after the inward Man •, but how to perform I find not \
" how to get my whole Heart, fo to fall in, as that there
" (hall not be the lead contrary Temper, this is clean be-
" yond me, for I am Jlill carnal, fold under Sin^have anothet
" Law in my Member s^ have ftill the Remains (oftheFleJh)
" of my native Contrariety to God and Difgofition to dif-
" reliili divine Things •, and fo am apt to forget God, to
" warp off from him, and to have felfim and worldly Views
" and Defigns fecretiy creep into my Mind and fteal away
" my Heart from God, and fo am daily led into Captivity.
*6 O that Sin was entirely dead, that a Difpofition to dif-
" relifh God, to forget him, to go away from him, to live
" without him, and to feek Content in that which is not
" God, was entirely ilain ! O wretched Man that I aw,
"' whojhall deliver me ? Rom. 7. 14 24.
If Grace and Corruption were not fo contrary the one to
the other, fo diametrically oppofite, there might poflibly be
an Accommodation between them, and both quietly dwell
together in the fame Heart : But now they are fet for each
other's Ruin, and feek each other's Deftru&iorf, and like
Fire and Water will never reft, till one or the other be
entirely deftroyed. Gal. 5. 17.
If Grace could be wholly killed, or Corruption wholly
{lain, then the Conflict of Believers might wholly ceafe in
this Life ; but Grace is immortal, like a living Spring tha«
fhall never dry, (Job. 4. 14. ) like a Root that will ever
grow, (Mat. 13. 20—23) and Chrift is always purging 15< -
O 4 JKVCV.S
2OO Inte Religion delineated Dis. I.
lievers,that they may bring forth moreFruit.(Joh. 15. 2.)So
that he that is born of God cannot Sin as others do,( i Joh.%. 9. )
cannot Sin, but againft the Grain of his Heart, the gra
cious Nature continually refitting. (Gal. 5. ij.) So that
it is certain, from the Nature of Things, that David and
Solomon^ neither of them felt, in their worft Frames, as
gracelefs Men do. Grace refilled within, (Gal. 5. 17.)
hating their Proceedings, nor did it ceafe inwardly to ftrug-
gle and torment them, till the one cries out, My Bones wax
eld thro* my roaring all the Day long. Pfal. 52. 3. Forte
Sin was ever before his Eyes. Pfal. 31.3. And the other,
Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit. '•
Eccl. 1.2.
Many Stony-Ground-Hearers^ who were once filled with
Light and Joy, do when theirReligion is all worn out, and
they lie dead and blind and • ftupid whole Months and
Years together, cry, The beft are dead fometimes ; and have
Recourfe to David and Solomon : and many a Hypo
crite, whofe Religion is only by Fits and Pangs, fome
times floated as the Streets be in Summer, by a fudden
Shower, and then in a few Days as dry as ever, deceive
themfelves here •, and many take natural Confcience to be
a Principle of Grace, and the War between that and their
Corruptions to be a gracious Conflict : But as all coun
terfeit Religions are fpecifically different from the true,
as has been already Ihewn, fo by Confequence their Conflicl:
is different from that which Believers have, in it's very
Nature. They fight, from different Principles, and for
different Ends, and about different Things, and in a dif
ferent Manner,juft as theirReligions differ from one another.
ii. If this be theNature of Converfion andHolinefs,and
the Manner wherein they are wrought, and if true Religion
be thus fpecifically different from all Counterfeits,*/^ may
Believers be infallibly certain that they have true Grace. A
Man cannot but perceive his own Thoughts, and know
y/hat Views he has, and be intuitively acquainted with his
cwn Deiigns and Aims ; fo every Man knows it is with
him, as to the Things of this World. Much lefs is it pof-
fble that there fhould be fo great a Change in a Man's
Heart and Life, Thoughts,Affedions and Actions,. -as there
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 201
is made by Converfion, and yet he know nothing about it;
For a Man to be awakened, oat of a State of Security in
Sin, to fee what a finful, guilty, helplefs, loft, undone
Eftate he is in, and yet not to perceive any Thing of it,
evidently implies a Contradiction, and fo is in the Nature
of Things impoflible. For a Man to be brought to fee
God in his infinite Glory, fo as to be difpofed to love him
fupremely, live to him ultimately, and delight in him fu-
perlatively,& yet not to perceive it, i. e. not to be confcious
of his Views and Affections, alfo implies a Contradiction,
and fo is impoflible. For a Man to Jofe his felfifh and
worldlyViews more and more, from Year to Year, and die
to himlelf, the World andSin, and for a Man to live a Life
of Communion with God, perfecting Holinefs in the Fear
of the Lord, and yet not at all to perceive it, is utterly im
poflible. For the Mind of Man is naturally confcious to
it's own Actings. So, from the Nature of Things, it is
evident that Grace is perceptible. Yea, in it's own Nature,
it muil be as perceptible, as Corruption, Love to God as
Love to theWorld,Sorrow for Sin as Sorrow for Affliction,
aiming at God's Glory as aiming at our own Honour and
Intereft. But if true Grace be in it's own Nature percep
tible, and if it be alfo fpecifically different from all Coun
terfeits, it is Self-evident that a good Man may know that
he has trueGracc. I cannot fee why, extraordinary Cafes
excepted, a good Man, who lives a Life of Communion
with and Devotednefs to God, and in the daily Exercife of
every Grace, may not come to know that he has Grace.
Surely he muft be confcious to the Actings of his own
Mind -, for this is natural. And furely he may fee the
Difference between his Religion and all Counterfeits,when
the Difference is fo great & plain. So that if theScriptures
did not exprefly teach us that Affurance is attainable, it is
yet evidently demonftrable from the Nature of Things.
But the Scriptures do plainly teach thisDo6trine,in 2 Pet.
i. 10. i Job. 5. 13. i Job. 2. 3. and 3. 14. &c. &c.—
Befides, ali thofe Promifes, that are made for the Comfort
and Support of God's People in this World, fuppofe that
they may know that they arc the People of God. For
uaiefs a Man knows, that he is a Child of God, he cannot
rationally
2O2 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
rationally take Comfort in thofe Promifes, which are pecu
liar to fuch. PC is true, brazen Hypocrites will do fo, but
they a6t very prefumptupufly. It is Folly & Madnefs for
me to flatter my felf, that God has promifed to do fo and
fo for me, unlefs I knew that I am one to whom the Pro-
mifes belong. For Inftance, it is Folly and Madnefs for
me to believe* that God will make all Things work together
for my Goody according to that Promife in -Rom. 8. 28.
unlefs I know that / love God : For this Promife plainly
refpects fuch, and no other. But there are very many pre
cious Promtfes made to Believers in the Word of God,
which are evidently defigned for theirComfort and Support,
It is certain therefore that God thinks that Believers may
know they are fuch, without which Knowledge, all thefe
Promifes cannot attain this their End.
Befides, to fuppofe that to be a Servant of God and a
Servant of the Devil, to be going the Way to Heaven and
the Way to Hell, to be travelling in the narrow Way and
to be travelling in the broad Way, are fo near alike, as that
even good Men themfelves cannot poflibly know them
afunder, and which Way they are going, is on every Ac
count intolerably abfurd •, nor could the Chriftian World
have poflibly drunk in fuch a Notion but that true Grace
is fo very fkre a Thing.
I may here by the Way juft obferve thefe three Things;
i . That the Way for a Man to know that he has Grace^ is not
to try himfelf by fallible Signs^ but intuitively to look into him-
felf and fee Grace. A Thoufand Signs of Grace will not
prove that a Man has Grace. There is no Sign of Grace
to be depended upon, but Grace it felf: For every Thing,
but Grace, a Hypocrite may have. And what Grace,Ho-
linefs, or true Religion is, I have already endeavoured to
{hew. 2. 'That the Way for a Man to know that he has
Grace, is not to judge himfelf by the Degree and Meafure of
his religious Frames and Affeftions, or the Height of his At
tainments ; but by the fpecial Nature, of them. For as there
is not any one Grace but a Hypocrite may have it's Coun
terfeit, fo Hypocrites may rife as. high in their Religion as
any true Believer does in his. Was Elijah the Prophet
jealous for. the Name and WorlHp gf the true God and
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 203
againft falfe Religion ? So was Jehu. And he appeared as
full of Zeal, and more Couragious, and did greaterExploits.
There was fcarce a more zealous Saint than Elijah* in all
Old-Teftament Times ; but yet Jehu* that Hypocrite, made
a much greater Shew and Noife, feemed to be fuller of
Zeal, and Courage, and actually did greater Exploits, fet-
ting afide the Miracles God wrought by Elijah. ( i Kings 1 8,
and 19. Chap.— 2 Kings 9, and 10. Chap.) And we don't
read of one Saint, in ail the Bible , that failed in a conftant
Way, twice every Week, as the Pharifee did. (Luk. iS.j
And there is not one Saint in all the Bible that ever did,
externally and vifibly, any higher Acts of Self-denial, than
to give all bis Goods to feed the Poor^andbis Body to be burnt,
and yet St. Paul intimates that a Man may do fo and frill
have no Grace in his Heart, i Cor, 13.3. It is no certain
Evidence therefore, that a Man is a good Man, becaufe he
has a great deal of Religion, more than the moll, and full
as much as the beft, yea more than any in all the Country,
yea,or in all the whole World. For mjehus Time, there was
not perhaps for a while one like him, upon the Face of the
whole Earth. A Man therefore cannot know that he is a
good Man, by the Degree of his Religion, but only from
the fpecial Nature of it. And wherein true Religion fpeci-<
fically differs from all Counterfeits, I have already fhewn. —
3. Since Grace is in it's own Nature perceptible^ andfpect-
fically different from all Counterfeits, there is no Need of the
immediate Witnefs of the Spirit , in order to a full Affurance.
If the Spirit of God does but give us a good Degree of
Grace, and enlighten our Minds to underftand the Scrip
tures, and fo to know the Nature of true Grace, we may
then perceive that we have Grace. And the more Grace
we have, the more perceptible will it be, and it's difference
from all Counterfeits will be the more plain. And if a Be-
liever may know, and be certain, that he has Grace, with
out the immediate Witnefs of the Spirit, then fuch a Wit
nefs is altogether needlefs, and would be of no Advantage ;
but God never grants his Spirit to Believers to do Things
needlefs and to no Advantage : and therefore there is no
fuch Thing as the immediate Witnefs of the Spirit in this
Affair. And befides, 'tis plain, the Scriptures every where
dire<ft
2 04 True Religion delineated D i s . I.
direct us to look into our felves, to fee whether we love
God and keep his Commands, to fee whether Chrift in his
holy Nature be formed in us, to fee whether theSpirit as an
enlightener and fan<5lifier dwells in us and influences and
governs us ; but never once directs us to look for the im-
me^iate Witnefs of the Spirit, in order to know whether
we have Grace.
OBJ. But the Text fays exprefly, The Spirit it felf
beareth Witnefs with our Spirit, that we are the Children
of God. Rom. 8. 16.
ANS. But the Text does not in the leaft intimate, that
the Spirit witnefles immediately. The Spirit bears witnefs ;
but how ? The Spirit makes it evident jhtt we are the Chil
dren of God ; but in what Way ? By immediate Revelation !
No, the Scripture no where tells us to look for fuch Reve
lations, or lays down any Marks whereby we may know
which come from God, and which from the Devil. How
then does the Spirit make it evident that we are the Chil
dren of God, and by what Witnefs does he make it appear ?
Not by telling of us that we are Children*-, the Devil may
tell Hypocrites fo -9 but by making of us Children in the very
Temper of our Hearts^ by giving to us much of a Child-like
Frame of Spirit towards God, a Thing the Devil cannot
do, and fo a Thing by which we may certainly know. This
holy, divine, child-like Frame andTemper of Heart, where
by we bear the very Image of our heavenly Father, is God's
Mark) which, more or lefs confpicuoufly, he fets upon all
theLamts of his Flock. This is the Seal of the Spirit. (Eph.
J. 13.) For this is the Earneft of our Inheritance. ( $. 14. )
3Tis eternal Life begun in the Soul. (Job. 17. 3.) This is
called the Witnefs of the Spirit, becaufe it is what the Spirit
'works in our Hearts, and that by which he makes it evident
that we are the Children of God : the Defign of Witneffd
being to make Things evident. And indeed this is the only
diftinguijhing Mark that God puts upon his Children, and
the only Thing wherein they differ from all Hypocrites, and
is the only Evidence the Scripture directs them to look for
and expert, and without which all other Evidences are juft
good for Nothing. Mat. 7. 24—27- Job. *5- 2» J 7^'
2. 3, 4. and 3. 6 — 10.
And
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 205
* And this being theCafe,we may fee how much out of the
Way thofe be, who think and fay,/£rf/ it is aSin for them to
doubttheGoodnefsoftheirStateJecaufe of their Badnefa& becaufe
they can fee no Grace /'» their Hearts. " For, fay they, that
" would be to callGod'sTruth &Faithfulnefs intoQueftion,
" who has by his Spirit immediately allured me of his
" Love and my Salvation •, juft as if the Immutability of
" his Purpofe depended upon my good Frames. No, I
" muft do as Abraham did, who againft Hope^ believed in
" Hofe ; fo thoj 1 fee no Grace in my Heart or Signs of
" any, yet I muft believe my State is good, and that I ihall
" be faved. It is not my Duty to look fo much into my
" own Heart, I Ihall never be the better for that •, but I
" muft look to Chrift, and believe, and never doubt. For
" the Spirit of God did xifuch a Time allure me of Chrift's
" Love to me,and I knew I was not deceived, and itwould
" now be a great Sin in me to doubt, it would be a giving
" the Lie to Chrift and to the holy Spirit."
How fad a Delufion are fuch poor Sinners under, who
dare not believe the holy Scriptures, for fear they Ihall Sin,
which every where allure us, that unlefs we are holy in
Heart and Life,our Faith is vain and we in a State of Con
demnation ; and teach us that we ought to be no more
confident of our good Eftate, than in Proportion as our
Sanctification is evident ! How fad it is that they Ihould
attribute all their Doubts to carnal Reafon or the Devil,
which indeed are but the fecret Dictates of their own Con-
fciences, and are fo agreeable to the Word of God ! What
a dreadful Spirit is this, that thus leads them off from the
Word of God ; and fo blinds their Minds, that they can
not underftand it, nor dare believe it ! Surely it can be no
other than Satan transfer me d into an Angel of Light. *
Alas!
. .
* OBJ. But the Scripture forbids Doubting. Mat. 14 31. O thou of little
Faith, wherefore didft thou doubt ?
ANSW. In that Text Chrift does not blame Peter for doubting his State,
but for doubting he mould be drowned.
OBJ. But Chrift upbraided them with their Unbelief, Mar. 16. 14.
ANSW. He did not blame them for not believing they were in a good
Kflate, but for not believing that he was rifen from the Dead.
EJ. But Airaham is commended, in that againft Hope he believed in
Hope, Rom. 4. 18. ANSW.
2O6 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Alas ! Alas! How dees the God of this World blind
the Minds of them that believe not ! Some firmly believe
that there is no fuch Thing, as a good Man's knowing that
he hasGrace •, and fo they contentedly live along, not know
ing what World they rrre haftening unto, to Heaven or to
Hell ; but they hope their State is good, and hope their Hope
is well grounded, but know not but that their Hope is that of
the Hypocrite. Yea, they are not willing to believe there
is any fuch Thing as knowing for that would make them
fufpecl that they are wrong, and that true Religion is fome-
thing they never had : which if it be the Cafe, yet they
are not willing to know it. They hide themfelves in the
dark!
•
ANSW. But the Thing to be believed, and hoped for,was, that he mould
have a Son, which he had good Grounds to expert : So this is no
thing to the Purpofe.
OBJ. But St. Paul fays, We walk by Faith, and not by Sight, 2 Cor. 5. 7.
ANSW. That is, in all their Conduct they were governed by a realizing
Belief of unfeen Things, and not by Things feen and temporal. zCor.
4. 1 8. It was not Paul's Way to lie dead whole Months and Years
together, nor was, he ever drove to fuch a Strait, as to be forced to
believe himfelf to be in a good Eftate, without fufficient Evidence.
OBJ. But, what is not of Faith, is Sin, Rom. 14. 23. But Doubts arift
from Unbelief.
ANSW. i. If any Man does not believe that it is lawful for him to do
fome particular Act, and yet venture? to do it, he fins, he acts againft
his own Confcience. This is the plain Senfe of the Text. And fo
this Text is nothing to the Purpofe.
2. An Hypocrite's Doubts are wont to arife from Unbelief, i.e. from
his not ftedfaftly believing the immediate Revelations which he had
from the Devil, that his Sins are pardoned. The Devil trys to keep
him quiet, but fometimes his Confcience is a little awakened,and then
he fears and doubts he is deluded ; and now the Devil tries to make
him believe that it is a Sin to doubt. The Devil would fain make
him believe all is well, i. e. beLeve at a venture, without a thoro*
Search and Trial, and without famcient Evidence.
3. It is a Sin for a true Believer to live fo as not to have his Eviden
ces clear ; but it is no Sin for him to be fo honeft and impartial, as to
doubt, when in Fact his Evidences are not clear. It is a Sin to darken
his Evidences ; but it is no Sin to fee that they are darkened. It is a
Sin for a Man, by Rioting and Drunkennefs, to make himfelf fick ;
but it is no Sin to feel that he is fick ; or, if there be Grounds for
it, to do.ibt he fhall die. We may bring Calamities upon our felves
by our Sins, both outward and inward ; and our Calamities may
arife from our Sins ; and y«t W Calamities have not the Nature of
• and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 207
dark ! They fay, There is no Light ! And will not believe
that a good Man may -know that he has faffed from Death
to Life. While others from the very fame Principle, viz;
lecaufe they 1) ate the Light ^ firmly believe that it is a Sin to
doubt 5 and fo will never, dare never, call their State int6
Queftion, and thoro'ly look thro* the Matter. Both arc
equally rotten at Heart, and fo equally hate the Light,
alt ho' they take different Methods to keep from it. And
the Devil does his utmoft, to keep both faft: bound wherfc
they are.
Happy the true Believer, who is made impartial by di
vine Grace ! It is a Recovery to God and Holinefs,that he
is after -, a Confidence that his Sins are pardoned, without
this^ would be but a poor Thing. If he obtains tbis^ he
gets what he wants : and if not, he feels himfelf undone ;
nor can he flatter himfelf that he has obtained it, when he
has not. And this he makes his only Evidence of God's
eternal Love, and of his Title to eternal Glory ; and be
lieves his State to be good, no farther than this goes.
Mat. 7. 21 27.
Thus I have gone thro* the frfl Ufe, the'Ufe of
Inftruttion. And thus we fee how a right underftanding
of the Law^ will fet many of the Important Doctrines of
Religion in a clear and eafy, in a fcriptural and rational*
Light. By the Law we may learn the primitive State of
Man,
Sins, but are rather of the Nature of Punijhments. Tis Sin in Belie
vers which lays the Foundation for Doubts ; 'tis Sin which is the Oc-
cafion of their Doubts ; but their Doubts are not Sins e'er the more
for this. Some feem to fuppofe that every Thing which is occafion-
ed by Sin, is Sin : but there is no Truth in their Suppofition. 'Tis
not a Sin for unconverted People to think themfelves to be unconverted,
and yet that Thought of themfelves is occafioned by Sin : for their
being unconverted is their Sin.
OBJ. But Believers are exhorted to hold faft their Confidence. Heb. 3. 6.
And 'it is faid, ver. 14. For we are made Partakers of Chrift, if we
hold the beginning of our Confidence iiedfaft unto th€ End.
ANSW. That is, their Confidence that Jefus is the Chrift* together with
a true Faith in him, as is nianifeft from the whole Context. Nor is
any Thing more abfurd than to lay, that Me a lhall bn made Partakers
qf Chrift, if tiiey hold faft their Confidence of their good Eftate, which
is what many a Hypocrite does, and that to the very laft, Mat. 7.2*-
Luk. 13. 25, 26, 27.
208 True Religion delineated Dis. L
Man, and how low we are fallen, and to what we mull be
recovered ; and fo by Confequence how averfe we are to a
Recovery, what Grace we need to recover us •, and fo by
Confequence that we mull be faved by fovereign Grace, or
not at all ; whence the Reafonablenefs of the Saints Perfe-
verance appears -, and from the whole, the Nature of the
chriftian Conflict, and the Attainablenefs of AfTurance are
difcovered. And I will conclude this Ufe with two Re
marks.
Remark i . If the Law requires what, I think, I have
.proved it does, and a Conformity to it confifts in what I
have before defcribed •, then all the other Particulars do
neceiTarily & moil inevitably follow : Such was the Image
of God in which Adam was created, and fuch is our natural
Depravity, and fuch are the bed Duties of the Unregene-
rate, and fuch is the Nature of Converfion, and our Aver-
fion to it, &c. So that if my firft Principles are true,
then the whole Scheme is beyond Difpute true alfo. — And
what are my firft Principles ? Why, that to love God with
all our Hearts, and our Neighbours as our felves, is origi
nally the very EfTence of Religion : And that theGrounds
upon which God requires us fo to do, are to be the Mo
tives of our Obedience. He requires us to love him fu-
premely &c. becaufe he is fupremely "glorious and amiable,
and becaufe our additional Obligations to him are what
they are. He requires us to love our Neighbours as our
felves, becaufe they are what they are, and ftand in fuch
Relations to us. With a perfect moral Rectitude of Tem
per, influenced and governed by Truth, by the Reafon
and Fitnefs of Things, he would have us love and glorify
him as GOD, i. e. as being what he is j and love and treat
our Neighbours as being what they are. And is not this
evidently the meaning of the divineLaw ?
Remark 2. If the Law, as a Rule of Life, be fo abated
and altered, as that now it cnly requires us merely from a
Principle of Self-love and for Self-Ends fmcerely to endea
vour to love God and keep his Ccmmands, and aim at
his Glory : and if the Law, as a Covenant,be difannulled,
and fuch an Obedience be fubftituted in the Room of
Perf ection, as a Condition of eternal Life, or as a Condition
of
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 209
of our Intereft in Chrift *, then the contrary to all that I
have laid down is moil true and certain. For let the pri
mitive State of Man be what it . would, 'tis plain, we
are not entirely deftitute of a Conformity to this new Law,
much lefs diametrically oppofite to it in the natural Tem
per of our Minds, nor are our beft Duties, while unrege-
nerate, Sin ; 'tis plain, Converfion is another and a muck
eafier Thing, and that we are not fo intirely averfe to it,
and do not need irrefiilible Grace, nor lie at God's fove-
reign Mercy, &c. All thefe Things, and many more
fuch like, are plain, if the good old Law is thus altered and
abated, and thus difannulled, if the new Law requires no
more, and this be the Condition of eternal Life, or of an
Intereft in Chrift. — So that if any are difpofed to difbe-
lieve what have been laid down as Coniequences, and to
build up another Fabrick, it they will be confident with
themfelves, they can lay no other Foundation than this,
viz. $0 deftrcy the Law •, which I have before proved to be
as impoflible as to deftroy the Nature of God ; becaufc the
moral Law necefTarily reliilts from the divine Perfections,
and our Obligations to conform to it are infinite, eternal
and unchangeable, as the Nature and Perfections of God
himfelf.
And therefore, I think, we may conclude with the
greatcft Certainty, that this Foundation, viz. that theLaw
is thus abated and altered,' is but Sand ; and that the Fa-
brick built upon it will not ftand. If the Law had requir
ed us to love our felves fupremely, and live to our felves ul
timately, and to have endeavoured to love God and our
Neighbours only to anfwer our own Ends •, then this Sort
of Religion would have been right. Did l-fay9rigb( ? No,
it would not be right, being unalterably contrary to the
very Reafon and Nature of Things \ nor could fuch a Law
have been poflibly made by a God who lovesRighteoufnefs,
and hates Iniquity. — But if this was right ^ if this was Re
ligion, 'tis plain, Mankind have the Roct of the Matter in
them ; for they arc all naturally inclined to love themfelves
fupremely,and live to themfelves ultimately ; and fo would
not need to be born again^ to have a new Nature \ the eld Na
ture would be fuiHcient j they would only need to be ccn-
P vinced
2io *True Religion delineated Dis. L
vinced that it is for their Intereft to endeavour to love God
•and do their Duty, and merely Self-love would make them
religious, in order to anfwer their own Ends. But if the
Law never has been thus abated and altered, then this Re
ligion is really no Religion at all, nothing but mere Hypo-
crify, and of a Nature diametrically oppofite to true Holi-
nefs. Only let it be clearly determined, What the Nature
cf the moral Law is, and there will be a final End put to a
hundred Controverfies.
Here is a Man, he reforms his Life a little, and joins
with the Church, he prays in his Family, and fometimes in
his Clofet,and for the moft Part, it may be, he is honeft in
his Dealings, and civil and fober in his Behaviour ; and
this is his Converlion, this is his Religion. And now
he pleads, that Converfion is a gradual Thing, becaufe his
was fuch •, and that a Man cannot know when he was con
verted, becaufe that is the Cafe with him ; that there is no
Need of irrefiftible Grace, becaufe he knows that it is a
pretty eafy Thing to convert as he has done •, and he hates
the Do&rine of divine Sovereignty, becaufe he never felt
any Need of a fovereign Grace to fave him ; and he holds
falling from Grace, becaufe his Religion is as eafily loft as
got. — But does he know that he has any Grgce, after all ?
No, no, that is a Thing (fays he) none can know. He be
lieves, the holy Spirit affifts him ; but he is not fenfible of
his Influences or of any Help from him, any more than if
he had none. He believes, he loves God and is a true
Saint at Heart ; but he does not feel any more Love to
God, or Grace in hisHeart,tharr as if there was none there -y
and the Reafon is, becaufe there is none. But being fe-
cure in Sin, and it being for his worldly Intereft to make a
Profeflion of Religion, he now fets up for a good Man.
For without the Law Sin is dead, and ib he is alive without
the Law. R^om. 7. 8,9. And now thofe Doctrines and
that Preaching, which is calculated to detect his Hypocrify
and awaken him out of his Security, he hates and cries
out againft. And if any feern to experience any Thing
further in Religion than he has, for that very Reafon, he
condemns it all for Delufion. But he pretends mightily to
plead up for Morality and good Works, tho' in Truth he
is
. and diftmguifoed from all Counterfeits. 211
is an Enemy to all real Holinefs. This is the Courfe of
many, but fome are more iincere and ftrict and confcien-
tious in their Way.
But let Men be ever fo iincere, ftricl: and confcientious
in their Religion, if all reiults merely from Self-love, the
flavifh Fears of Hell, and mercenary Hopes of Heaven ;
there is not in all their Religion, the leaft real genuine
Conformity to the moral Law. It is all but an hypocri
tical, feigned Shew of Love and Obedience. It is not the
Thing which the Law requires, but fomething of a quite
different Nature : unlefs we lay aiide God's old and ever-
lafting Law, and invent a new, abated, altered Law, which
fhall declare that to be right, which in the Nature of Things
is unalterably wrong : and by fuch a Law, fuch a Religion
will pafs for genuine. But it is fad, when we are drove to
invent a new Law^ to vindicate our Religion and our Hopes
of Heaven -, fince at the Day of Judgment we fhali find
the old Law to be in full Force.
I am feniible, that old Objection will always be riling :
" But it is not juft that God Ihould require of us more
" than we can do, ^nd then threaten to damn us for not
" doing of it." Juft as if God may not require us to love
him with all our Hearts, merely becaufe we are not fuited
with him : And juft as if we were not to Blame for being
of fuch a bad Temper and Difpofition, merely becaufe we
are thoro'ly fettled in it and have noHeart to be otherwife :
Juft as if the worfe any one is, the lefs he is to Blame ; .
than which nothing can be more abfurd. Truly, I cannot
but think, that by this, we are fo far from being excufed,
that even merely for this, we deferve eternal Damnation.
For what can be much worfe, than be fo thoro'ly fettled
and fixed in fuch a badTemper of Mind ? But notwith-
flanding all that I have offered to clear this Point heretofore,
I will add, that if it is not juft for God to require any more
of us than we can do ; i. e. any more than we have, not
only a natural, but a moral Power to perform •, then thefe
Things will neceflarily follow :
i . That there was net the leaft Need of Ckrifis dyirg for
us as cur Redeemer. For, did we need him to make any
Atonement or Satisfaction for our Sins ? Surely no. fcr
P 2 God
212 True Religion delineated D I s . I *
God could not juftly require of us more Satisfaction for our
Sins, than we were able to make \ for that would be to
require more than we can do. — Did we need him to pur-
ehafe the divine Favour and eternal Life for us ? Surely
no. For God could not juftly require any more of us as
a Condition of his Favour and eternal Life, than we our
felves were able to do. — Did we need him to purchafe an
Abatement of the Law ? Surely no. For God could not
in his Law juftly require of us more than we could do ^
and we did not need to have the Law brought down low
er than this. — Well therefore might St. Paul tell the Gala-
tions, that if Rightecufnefs came by the Law, then Chrift is
dead in vain. Gal. 2. 21. For if our doing as well as we
can, in the Senfe before explained, is all that Righteoufnefs
that God can juftly require », this alone moft certainly
would be every Way fufficient for our Salvation -y nor did
we need a Saviour any more than the Angels in Heaven ;
for we have juft as much Power to do as well as we can, as
they have to do as well as they can. To fay the contrary,
is a Contradiction in exprefs Terms.
2. Nor was there the haft Need theft the hcly Spirit Jhould
le fent into the World, to grant any inward Affiftance^ to ena
ble us to do cur Duty ; for we had a full and perfect Power
to do all our Duty, without any fuch AfUftance •, for God
could not juftly require of us, any more than we could do ;
and every one is able to do what he can^ without any Afiif-
tance.
So that if thisPrinciplebe tru^thatGod cannot juftly require
cf us any more than we can do,it is plain we neither needed a
Redeemer nor .zSanffifar •, So thatall the infinitePains which
God has taken for our Redemption and Salvation, has been
unnecefTary and fruitlefs. To do as well as we could, was
all that would have been needful ; and this is ftill as much
required as ever. So that we are juft where we fhould have
been, if nothing had ever been done for us. So that this
Notion entirely undermines and fubverts the whole Chriftian
Religion^ in fuppofing that all the extraordinary and, won-
deriui. Provifion therein made for the Salvation of Sinners
was needlefs. For if all was needlefs, then the whole is
perfectly incredible -9 for it is incredible to fuppofe that
God
and dijlinguijhed from all Connterfeits. 213
God would do fo much and fucb great Things, when there
was no Need of it. So that this Notion leads directly to
Infidelity. Yea, if this Principle be true, we may be cer
tain that the Gofpel is full of Deceit j for the Gofpel every
where fuppofes Sinners to have been in a belflefs, undone
Eftate, and that they might juftly have been left fo, and
perilhed for ever. And it every where reprefents it as
owing entirely to the free Grace and infinitely great Good-
nefs of God, that he fent his Son into the World to be a
Saviour, and the holy Spirit to be a Sanclifier *, all which,
upon this Principle, is notoriously falfe. For we were not
in a belflejs, undone Condition •, being able, of our felves,
to do all that God could juftly require of us, in order to
eternal Life. Nor did we need to be beholden to God for
his Grace and Goodnefs, his Son or his Spirit -, being able,
of our felves, to do all that which he could juftly require
at our Hands. Yea, upon this Principle, the Gofpel of
fers the high eft Affront to human Nature, in that it fuppofes
us to be fuch vile, helplefs, undone, guilty Wretches, when,
indeed, and inTruth, we be not. And therefore fo long as
Men really believe thisNotion,they cannot pofTibly but hate
the Doctrines of the Gofpel, and oppofe them. And fo,
in Fact, it has always been.
To conclude, therefore, fince it is fo evident from the
Law, and fo evident from the Gofpel, that we are fmful,
guilty, helplefs, undone Creatures ; had not we better give
into it, and come down, and lie in the Duft, before the
Lord, who knows what we be, whether we will own it or
no ? Had we not better own his Law to be holy, juft and
good, and acknowledge that we lie at his fovereignMercy,
and be willing to be beholden to free Grace thro' Jefus
Chrift for our Salvation ; fince we muft do fo, or never be
faved ? What will it profit us to fly in his Face, and fay,
// is not juft for him to require more than we can do, and-
then damn us for not doing ? When all that he requires, is
only that we love God with all our Hearts, and our Neigh-
bcur as our felves -, which, in the Nature of Things is infi
nitely reafonable : and when all our Impotency strifes only
from our Badnefs,and fo, inftead of extenuating our Fault*
only dif^pvers how bad we be. Surely fince all
214. True Religion delineated Dis. I.
ftand guilty before God, really guilty, and are fo accounted
by him -, we all had belt flop our Mouths, and own the
Sentence juft, by which we Hand condemned ; while it is
a Time of Mercy : for who can tell butGod may pity us ?
There is but one Way now left to evade the Force of
what has been faid. To a ftrict Demonftration, the .Law
is not, and cannot be abated : there is now no Way there
fore but tb deny that there ever was fuch a Law. But then,
if Gcd be what I fuppofe him to be, to a Demonftration
the Law muft be fuch too. There is no Way therefore, but
to deny that there is any fuch GOD ! Well, but if God be
not what I fuppofe ; what is he ? Why, we may fee the
whole Scheme, by the following Objection, in a few Words.
OBJ. God is a Being of infinite Under/landing and almighty
Power i perfectly difpcfed to feek the Good and Happmefs of his
Creatures, as his LAST END. He loves Virtue and rewards
it) merely becaufe it tends to make them happy. He hates Vice
and punijhes it, merely becaufe it tends to make them miferable.
All he has in View, in his Commands and Prohibitions, in his
Prc'mifes and 'fhreatnings, is the Good, and nothing but merely
the Good) of hisCrealures, Tea,he efteemtfhings to be virtuous,
merely becaufe they tend to make us happy, and vicious merely
becaufe they- tend to make us miferable. And now there
fore, if we look upon things as be does, and prof ecute the fame
End \ if we love and praEtifeVirtue with ajincere View to our
own Happinefs, as our LAST END ; we do all that God
would have us do. And how can we, if we weigh Things, but
moft heartily andjincerely love fo good a God, fo kind a Fa
ther, who fo dearly loves us, and fo tenderly feeks cur Good ?
ANS. True, if God were veriiyfucb a one, the moft wick
ed Man in the World could not but love him. Self-love
would make it natural. Even Publicans love thofe, who
love them ; and arc good to thofe, who are kind to them,,
Mat. 5. Did Men firmly believe God to be fuch a one,
they could not indeed ppffibly be at Enmity againft him.
ScU-love would not admit of it. Men would not need any
cc to make them love God : Nature would make them
love him. They could not but love him, fo long as they
loved tliemfelves. And now" if God indeed be fuch a one,
I readily own, there is noTruth in my whole Scheme -, but,
from
and diftinguifaed from all Counterfeits. 215
from firft to laft, it is all a Miftake. For it is altogether
built upon a Suppofhion, that there is a God, of a Temper
effentially different.
But then I would Query, if God be fuch a one, if he aims
only at his Creature's Happinefs, why does he ever inflict
Mifery upon them ? If he means only to make them hap
py, why does he ever make them miferable ? Why did he
drown the old World^ burn Sodom, and why does he damn
Sinners to all Eternky ?
It cannot be, becaufe Juftice requires it. For, upon this
Scheme, Juftice does not require it. For upon this Scheme
Sin does, in ftrict Juftice, deferve no Punifhment at all.
A Crime deferves no Punifhment, any farther than it is
blame-worthy. A Crime is blame-worthy, no farther than
we are under Obligations to do otherwife. According to
their Scheme, all our Obligations to be virtuous refult
merely from its Tendency to make us happy. Upon their
Scheme therefore, a Sinner is to blame for his Sins, merely
becaufe Sin is crofs to his own Happinefs,and tends to make
him miferable. There is no other Evil in Sin but this. This
is the only Reafon why God hates it, is fet againfl it, and
difpofed to punifh it. This is the only Reafon why he
would have them avoid it. And this is the only Reafon
they arc to Blame for it. No Man is blame-worthy for
Sin, any farther than he was under Obligations to the con-
trary. All our Obligations to Virtue, according to them,
arife from its natural Tendency to make us happy. And
therefore all the Evil of Sin muft arife from it's natural
Tendency to make us miferable. This Mifery, therefore,
is exadly equal to the Evil of Sin. For all the Evil of Sin
arifes from it, or rather confifts in it. This Mifery is all
the Evil of Sin ; and this Mifery is therefore all that ren
ders Sin blame-worthy. /. e. I am to blame for taking a
Courfe that tends to make me miferable. And why ? Mere
ly becaufe it tends to make me miferable. For that Rea
fon, and for no other. Therefore I am fo much to Blame,
and no more for what I do, than according to the Degree
of it's Tendency to make me miferable. This Mifery there
fore, which naturally refults from what I do, is equal to
&y Blam* Aad is therefore the wwft, and all that I deferve,
P
216 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
For no Crime deferves to be punifhcd,any farther than it is
blame- worthy. * And from the whole, to a Demonftration,
it follows, that upon their Scheme, Sin deferves no inflided
Pain or Mifery, by Way of Funilhment •, over and above
the Pain or Mifery which refults necerTarily from its own
Nature. And now if Sin does not deferve any fuch Punifh-
ment, th^n Juftice does not require the Governour of the
World to inflict any fuch, upon any of his Creatures, tho'
ever fo fmlul. For Juftice does not fequire him to inflidt
a Puniihment that is not at all deferved. Yea, rather it
feems Cruelty fo to do. If therefore Juftice did not require
it,why didGod drown the oldWorld and burn.W0#2,and why
does he damn Sinners to all Eternity ?
Certa.njy, He did not aim at their Good, when he drown
ed the old World and burnt Sodom. And certainly, he can
not aim at Sinners Good in their eternal Damnation. There
are fome Calamities in this Life, which God might be fup-
pofed to fend upon his Creatures for their Good •, and in
deed, all Things confidered, they are well adapted to do
them Good ; yea, and are all mad£ to work together for
Good to them that love God, and may be numbred among
their Mercies. But what fhall we fay, when God drowns
a whole World, burns up feveral Cities, and damns to all
Eternity Millions of his Creatures : Yea, and all for no
thing, when they deferved no 111 at his Hands, not the
leaft!
* OBJ. " But are we not, according to their Scheme, under Obligations
" refulting from the Authority and Command of God ?"
Atfsw. We are, according to their Scheme, under no Obligations to re
gard the Authority and Command of God at all ; only, and merely,
and purely, becaufe it is for our Intereft fo to do. As themfelves ac
knowledge.
OBJ. * But are we not, according to them obliged, to have regard to our
Neighbours Welfare ?"
Ays. Only, merely, purely becaufe it is for our own Intereft to do fo.
For according to them, all our Obligations to praftife any Virtue, arife
originally only from it's being for our own Intereft. The Language
of fuch a Practice plajnly is, that there is not one Being in the whoje
Syflem worth regarding but my felf ; / am, and befides me, there is no
vtker ! I will regard none, but juft to anfwer my own Ends : And fo
really and ftriftly, regard none, but my felf. This is a Religion that
\viil fuit Nature ; and in this Scnfe may juftly be called natural Rf I i-
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 217
leaft ! Where is his Juflice now / Yea, Where is his Good-
nefs ! Or what does he mean ! What does he intend !
Certainly, He cannot intend to deal fo feverely with fome
of his poor Creatures, who never deferved any 111 at his
Hands, merely for the Good of others, to fright and warn
and deter them from Vice. For this would be to do Evil,
that Good might come : Yea, this would be the Way rather
that Good might never come. For how could any of his
Creatures or Subjects, heartily love him or like his Con-
duel, while they behold Millions of their Fellow-Creatures
fuffering, for nothing at all, fuch infinite Pains, under his
Hands ! Where is his Juftice ? would they all cry : And
where is his Goodnefs ? They "would hate him, and flee
from him, and dread a Government fo infinitely tyrannical.
Indeed, to inflict a proper Punifhment, in Cafe of juft
Defert, is a good Thing, tends to maintain Government,
and make Men afraid of Sin, and {land in Awe of the
great. Lawgiver and Judge of the World. Yea, 'tis a
beautiful Conduct, and tends to make God appear amiable
in the Eyes of all holy Beings. Rev. 19. i, — 6. But to
afflict and torment poor Creatures, who do not at all de-
ferve it, and that for ever, cannot poiTibly anfwer any
good End •, but, of Neceflity, muft promote a Thoufand
bad ones, when all the Time the true State of the Cafe is
publickly known and underftood throughout all God's
Dominions. It is juft as if a Father, who has tenChildren,
fhould hang up five every Monday-Morning, and whip
them almoft to Death, for nothing in the World, but to
make the reft love him, and be good and obedient Chil
dren. And would they love him e'er the more for this ?
Yea, they could not JDUt hate fo cruel aTyrant. Now, there
fore, if their Scheme be true, why did God drown the old
World) and burn Sodom ? And why does he damn Sinners
to all Eternity ?
Yea, if Sin deferves no inflicted Punifhment, as upon
their Scheme it does not •> why does God ever once inflict
the leaft,the very leaft Punifhment for it, in all hisDomini-
ons ? And that, which tho* not in its own Nature more
unaccountable, yet is more furprizing ; why has God, all
along, from the beginning of the World, been inflicting
fuch
2l8 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
foch a dreadful Train of Punifhments for Sin ? Why did
God turn the Angels out of Heaven for their firft Sin, and
doom them to an eternal Hell ? when they did not at all
deferve it. Why did God threaten Adam with Death in
Cafe of Difobedience ? Why is Death faid to be the Wa
ges of Sin ? Why did God caufe the Earth to open and
fwallow up Korah and his Company ? Why did God caufe
the Carcafes of fix Hundred Thoufand to fail in the Wil-
dernefs ? Why did God ftrike Uzza dead ? And why a
Thoufand more Things, which have happened in the Sight
of the World ? Surely,it can't be for our Good, to be ftruck
dead and fent to Hell. And furely, it can't be for the
Good of any in all God's Wt>rld, that mall fee or ever hear
of it : when, all the while it is publickly known, that
we deferve no 111 at God's Hands. No, not the leaft.
And now after all, to torment us in Hell for ever, for
nothing in the World, where the Firejball never be quenched^
and the Worm jhall never* die *, yea, and to appoint a Day
of Judgment, under a Pretence of doing nothing but ftricl:
Juftice ; and to fummon all Worlds together, to fee and
hear, to the End that his Impartiality and Juitice might
appear to all : When, all the while, he knows, and all the
World knows, that his poor Creatures deferve no 111 at his
Hands : No, not the leaft ! What can he mean ?
Yea, and that which is a great deal worfe than all, that I
even fhudder to think of it •, he not only makes a La\r, to
punifh Sinners eternally in Hell, when there was noGroundg
for it, and puts it in Execution upon his poor Creatures
who do not deferve it : But, having one only Son, of
equal Glory with himfelf, he delivers him to Death, in the
Room and Stead of Sinners ^ pretending that Sin was fo
bad a Thing, that without the /bedding of^Blood there could
be no Remiffion, and therefore his own Son muft die, to the
End he might be juft, while hejuftified the Sinner that Jhould
believe in him : While, all the Time, if their Scheme is true,
he knew, and all the World will know, fooner or later, that
Sin never deferved the leaft Punimment at his Hands !
To conclude, therefore, If God be what they fuppofe,
I grant, the Scheme I have laid down is not right, And it
is equally evident, that the gfrlc ,is not right; neither. For
the
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 219
the Law and the Gofpel* the old Teftament and the
where fuppofe, and take it for granted, that Sin is an in
finite Evil, deferves the Wrath and Curfe of God, all the
Miferies of this Life, and Death it felf, and the Pains of
Hell for ever. The Law threatens all this. According to
the Gofpel* Chrift has died to redeem us from all this, as
what we juftly deferve. The Bible therefore, in a Word,
fuppofes we deferve it all ; but their Scheme fuppofes we do
not. The God that made the Bible* has no Doubt of it ;
he made his Law upon this Ground, and upon this Foot
he gave his Son to die, has appointed a Day of Judgment,
and prepared a Place of Torment, a Lake of Fire and Brim-
flone : But their God is of quite another Mind, can fee no
fuch infinite Evil in Sin •, yea, no Evil at all in it, but what
refults from it's Tendency to make us miferable. Their God
therefore, is not the God of Ifrael* rior the God that made the
Bible ; and therefore is no God* is nothing but an Image
framed in their own Fancy, fuited to their own Hearts.
Befides,their Idea of God is contrary,not only thus to the
general Tenour of Scripture, but alfo to many plain and
exprels Declarations, (i.) 'Tis manifeft,that God does not
make the Happinefs of his Creatures his loft End* from
Exod. 9. 1 6. Num. 14. 13 — 21. Lev. 10. 3. Pfal. 106.
8. Ezik. 20. throughout. Ezek. 36. 21,22,23. and 38. 23.
and 39. 6, 7, 13, 21, 22. Rom. 9. 22, 23. Rom. n. 36.
Rev. 4.1 1. — (2.) 'Tis manifeft, that God does not require
his Creatures to love and obey him merely becaufe it tends
to make them happy fo to do, from Exod. 20. 2. Lev. 19.
2. Pfal. 29. 2. and 96. 4, 8. and 148. 13. i Cor. 6. 20.
'(3.) 'Tis manifeft, that God does not threaten and punifh
Sin merely becaufe it tends to make his Creatures miferable,
from i Sam. 2. 29, 30. 2 Sam. 12. 7 — 14. Pfal. 51. 4.
Mai. i. 6, 7, 8, 14.
But to conclude. — Htow fad and dreadful a Thing will it
be, for poor Sinners, when they come to die, and enter into
the World of Spirits, there to find that the God they once
loved and trufted in, was nothing but an Image framed in
their own Fancy ! They hated the God of Ifrael > and hated
his Law* and therefore would not believe that God or his
Law were indeed what they were. They were refolved to
have
22O True Religion delineated Dis. I.
have a God and a Law more to their Minds. How dread
ful will their Difappointment be ! How dreadful their
furprife ! They would never own they were Enemies to
God 5 now they fee their Enmity was fo great, as to make
them refolutely, notwithftanding the plaineft Evidence,
even to deny him to be what he was. And how
righteous will the Ways of the Lord appear to be, in that
hegavefuch over to ftrong Delufions to believe a Lie,
who did not love, and would not believe, the Truth \ but
had Pleafure inUnrighteoufnefs ? % Thef. 2.10,11, 12. So
the Gentile Nations not liking to retain God in their Know*
ledge, were given over to reprobate Minds, and left, every
Nation, to make fuch a God^ as belt pleafcd themfelves,
Rom. i. — •. — But it is Time to proceed to ithe nextUfe.
S E -c T i o N VI.
Rules of Trial,
USE II. Which may be of Examination, What has
been faid may ferve to clear up to real Saints their gracious
State, and may afford Matter of Conviction to others.
And here I would take the humble Jkliever in his Ele
ment, that is, in his Clofet, where he retires from theNoife
and Bufmefs of the World, where he Ipves to be alone, tp
rea .1 the Bible, to meditate on the Perfections of God, and
think of his Works and Ways, where he mourns and prays
and loves God and gives up himfelf to him.—^ In a ferious
Hour of fweet Retirement, when you are moft your felf, and
your Thoughts moil about you, I would enquire, What are
your Views ? And what is the inward 'Temper of your Mind ?
And hew do you live ? And what is it that habitually influen?
cesyou in your daily Conduft ?
Do you know God ? Do you lee him to be fuch a one
as he really is ? Even fuch a one as the Scriptures reprefent
him to be ? And do you account him- infinitely glorious
and amiable in being fuch a one ? And do you begin to
love him with all your Heart ? Do you efteem him fo, as
to exult in his Supremacy and abfolute Sovereignty ?
And fo will his Glory an4 value his Honour and Intereft,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 221
as to give up your felf to live to him ? And fo delight in
him, as to choofe him for your prefent and everlaftingPor-
tion ? True, your remaining Biindnefs and Ignorance is
very great : but do you not feel it, and groan under it as
your Burden^and hate your felf for it as yourSin, lamenting
the Sottifhnefs of your Heart, that you mould be fofenfe-
lefs and brutifh, after fo many outward Advantages and in
ward Helps, and amidft fuch clear Manifeftations made of
God and of his infinite Glory in his Word and in all his
Works and Ways -, and feel that you are wholly to Blame
for the Stupidity and Unteachablenefs of your Heart,ready
to fay with him of old, So foolijb am I and ignorant^ I am as
a BeasJ before thee ? Pfal. 73. 22. Your Difefteem of God,
andUnconcernednefs about hisHonour and Intereft,is great,
and you have Hill a Difpofition to hate to live upon God
only, without any Thing elfe to takeComfort in, as thePor-
tion of your Soul •, and fo you are inclined .to forget God,
to forfake him, to depart and go away and fall inLove with
fomething elfe, and feek another reiting Place, and fome-
thing elfe to take Comfort in : But do you not feel this
your remaining Want of Conformity to God's Law, and
native Contrariety to it ? And do you not hate it, and hate
your felf for it ? Do you not groan under it, and lament it,
and watch and pray and fight againft it, feeling the infinite
Sinfulnefs of it ? Saying, T'he Law is bcly9 juft and good ;
hit I am carnal fold under Sin : — 0 wretched Man that I am !
Rom. 7. 14, 24.
And what are the Grounds of your Love to God, and
from whatMotives is it that you are influenced to love him?
Does God indeed appear infinitely great,glorious, and ami
able in being what he is ? And do you love him becaufe he
is juft fuch a one ? Do you love to meditate his incompre-
henfibly glorious Perfections, and wonder and adore ? Are
you glad; that he knows allThings, and can do everyThing?
Are the various Manifeftations of divine Wifdom, in the
moral Government of the World, glorious in your Eyes ?
Does it fuit your Heart, that God governs the World as he
does ? Do you love,that thePride of allFlefh mould bebro't
low, and the Lord alone be exalted ? Are you glad, that
God lovcsRighteoufnefs and hates Iniquity as he does ; and
do
222 True Religion delineated Dis. L
do you heartily approve the Stri&nefs of his Law in the
Matter of your Duty, and the Severity thereof againft the
leaftSin ? And are you fweetly it-nfible of the infiniteGood-
nefs of God, and of his Truth and Faithfulneis ? And does
God appear infinitely Glorious becaufe he is ju'ft what he is ?
And is this the primary Foundation of your Love ? In a
Word, do you fee him as the great Creator, Preferver and
Governour of the World, as the Redeemer, Sanctifier and
Saviour of hisPeople, as he has thus revealed himfelf by his
Word and in his Works, and do you love him for being
what he is ? And do you alfo feel the powerful Influence of
thofe fuperadded Obligations you are under to love him ?
In other Cafes, when we love any Thing, we know why we
love it : So alfo do Believers know why they love theLord
their God.
And does it not appear to you infinitely reasonable, that
you fhould love God with all your Heart, that you fhould
be wholly his, and wholly for him, and make him your All,
while you behold his infinite Glory, his compleat Alfuffi-
ciency, his original, entire Right to you, and abfolute Au
thority over you ? And does not his Law in requiring you
to do fo, appear to be infinitely right, perfectly holy, juft
and good, worthy to Hand in full Force for ever, unabated
and unaltered ? And do you not fee, that the lead Want of
Conformity to this Law, or Tranfgreflion of it, is infinitely
Vile, and that a perfect Conformity thereto deferves no
Thanks : And do you not feel your felf wholly to Blame
for your not being altogether fuch as the Law requires ?
Hypocrites are generally very ignorant of the Law, in it's
true Meaning and Strictnefs ; and fo are ignorant of their
Want of Conformity unto it, and of their inward Contrari
ety to it. Rom. 7. 8,9. For otherwife all Hypocrites would
know certainly that they have no Grace. But yet Hypo
crites, at leaft many of them, know fomething about the
Law and their Want of Conformity to it, and fomething a-
bout their inward Contrariety to it ; and hence may com
plain of the Blindnefs of their Minds,°the Deadnefs of their
Hearts, and of their Pride and Worldlinefs : But no Hy
pocrite is heartily fenfiblethat the Law is holy,juft, & good
in requiring Perfection j and that he himfelf is entirely to
Blame
and dijlinguifoed from all Counterfeits. 223
Blame for not being perfectly holy, and that the Fault is
wholly his. Some will fay, " I defire to love God, and to
" aim at hisGlory, and do myDuty : but no Man is, or can
" be perfect : And God does net require more of us than
" we can do." And fo they think themfelves excufable,and
are not fenfible that it is infinitely vile in them not to love
God with all their Hearts. Others will fay, " I can do
" Nothing of my ielf : it is Chrift that muft do all. I defire
" to love God •, but I can't. It is the Spirit that muft
" fill my Heart with Love, and God is the fovereign Dif-
" penfer of his Grace ; fo that if I am dead and dull and
" fenlelefs and ftupid, I can't help it." And fo they alfo
think themfelves excufable,. and are not fenfible that it is
infinitely vile in them not to love God with all theirHeart?. —
But now, how Hands the Cafe with you ? Have you any
fecret Way of excufing your felf ? Or do you fee that the
Law is holy juft and good, and that you only are to Blame,
wholly to Blame, and altogether without Excufe ; yea, and
exceeding Vile, for all your Blindnefs and Deadnefs,and for
every Thing wherein you are not j nil what theLaw requires
you to be ? 'Tis this which makes Believers fenfible of
their Defert of Damnation, all their Lives long, and loath
and abhor themfelves before the Lord. And 'tis this which
caufes them more and more to fee their Need of Chrift and
free Grace, and admire and prize the glorious Gofpel. O
wretched Man that 1 am ! Who jhall deliver me ? — I thank
God thro9 Jefus Chrift our Lord. Rom. 7. 24, 25.
And do you begin to be of a Difpofition really to love
your Neighbour as y cur Self? Be your Affedions under
the Government of a Spirit of difmterefted Impartiality, fo
that you are difpofed to value your felf only for thofe Pro
perties in you that are good and excellent, and only in Pro
portion to their Worth and Excellency ; and by this Rule
to efteem your Neighbours, your Friends, and your Foes,
and all Men ? And do you hate a contrary Difpofition in
you ? And is your Heart full of Love and Kindnefs and
Benevolence, wifhing well to all, feeking the Good ofall,
-and even grieved when your Enemies are in Adverfity ?
And to conclude, Does Love toGodandtoyourNeigh-
bour govern you in your Thoughts, AfFedions- and Actions,,
and
224 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
and daily influence you to live to God, and do Good in the
World •, fo that now you are not your own, but given up
to God to do his Will, feeking his Glory ? — A holy Lite
does as naturally proceed from a holy Heart, as a Stream
does from a living Fountain.
Once you was Darknefs : But are you now Light in the
Lord ? Once,as to right fpiritual Views of God,yourNeigh-
bour, or your felf, of thisWorld or the next, you had none •,
you was blind, your Underilanding was darkened ; and fo
your Apprehenfions were wrong, and you loved your
wrong Apprehenfions, & took Pleafure in Error, Falfhood
and Sin, and hated the Light, hated Truth and Duty :
once you was wholly devoid of the divine Image,and defti-
tute of all Good •, yea, and you was wholly averle to God,
and full of all Evil. And did you ever fee and feel this to
be your State ? and have you by divine Grace been reco
vered out of it ? — Have you been effectually taught, that
your Light was Darknefs, and your Knowledge Ignorance,
and been made fenfible of theBlindnefs of yourMind ? And
have you learnt, that all your feeming Goodnefs wasCoun-
terfeit ? and that in you did dwell no good Thing ? Yea,
that your feeming Goodnefs was real Wicked nefs, in
that your Heart was in perfect Contrariety to God and his
Law ? Has divine Light Ihined in your Heart, and your
native Darknefs, as well as contracted Blindnefs, been dif-
pelled from your Soul j fo that now your Views of God, of
your Neighbour and your Self, of this World and the next,
are right, and your Apprehenfions according to Truth,
and has the Truth made you free ? Do you now look
upon God, in fomeMeafure according to the Capacity of a
Creature, as he does upon himfelf, when he takes upon him
the Character of moft high GOD, fupreme LORD, and
fovereign GOVERNOUR of the whole World, and fays,
/ am tlce Lord, that is my Name^ and befides me then is no
ether Gcd ? And do you fee it is infinitely fit that all
the World Ihould love, worfhip and adore him ? Do you
now look upon your Neighbours, in fome Meafure as God
does, when he commands you to love them as your felf;
and fo fee that it is perfectly right that you fhouid"? And
do you look upon your felf and every Thing in .thisWorld,
in
and 'diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 225
in fome Meafure as God does, when he commands you to
deny your felf, and fcrfake all Things for his Sake ; and
fee that it is moft fit and reafonable to die to your felf and
to this World, and give up your felf to God, to love him
and live to him, and delight in him for ever ? And do you
underftand, that the Things which are feen are temporal,
and that the Things which are unfeen are eternal ?
And do all poffible Troubles in the Ways of God, in fome
Meafure, appear only as light Afflictions, which ar€ but
for a Moment, and not worthy to be compared with the
Glory that fhaJl be revealed ? Do you thus know the
Truth, and has the Truth made you free from your old
Servitude •, arid are you effectually influenced and govern
ed by thefe Views and Apprehenfions, and this Senfe of
Things, to bring forth Fruit to God, an hundred-fold, or
fixty-lbld,or at leaft thirty-fold ? For divineKnowledge is
efficacious, and the holy and divine Effects and Fruits are
always equal to the Degree of Knowledge •, (i Job. 3. 6.)
And every Branch which bringetb not forth Fruit, is cut off
and caft into theFire. Are you thus born again,and become
a new Creature, and learnt to live a new and divine Life ?
And is it not now moft manifeft to you, that all this is
fo far from having been the Product of Nature, that all that
is in Nature, every natural Propenfity of the Heart, has
irorn firft to laft been utterly againft the Change, and made
a conftant and mighty Refiftance ? And do you not plainly
perceive, that, from nrft to laft, the Work has been begun
and carried on by God himfelf ?
And does it not appear to you, as the moft aftoniming
Goodnefs in God, and owing to nothing but his fovereign
free Grace, that you have tKus been called out of Darknefs
intomarvellous'Light, turned from thePower of Sin & Satan
to ferve the living God ? And do you not plainly fee, there
is nothing but the fame infinite Goodnefs and free Grace
to move God to carry on and compleat this Work in your
Heart, and that fo, if ever you get to Heaven, the whole of
your Salvation, from firft to laft, will be abfolutely and
entirely to be attributed to free Grace ? And have you
not hence learnt to live upon free Grace thro' Jefus Chrift
for all Things ?
And
226 7 rue Religion delineated Dis. I.
And do you not perccive,that he,who has begun* does ac
tually carry on the Work of Grace iny ourHearts ? And that
all the external Difpenfaticns of Providence and internal
Influences of the Spirit concur in their Operation, to hum
ble you and wean you from the World and imbitter Sin,
to bring you nearer to God and to love him arid to live to
him and to live upon him, and to make you more ferious,
morefpiritually-minded and heavenly- minded, more watch
ful and prayerful, and more loving and kind and tender
hearted and obliging to all Mankind, both Friends and
Foes ; and to make you daily attend upon the Duties of
your particular Calling, and upon all the common Bufmefs
of Life, as a Servant of God, in Singlenefs of Heart, doing
Service to the Lord ?
And aitho' you was once dead in Sin and wholly without
Strength, yet do you not now feel that you are Spiritually
alive, and fo put into a Capacity for a fpiritual Activity,
and that you are engaged to be active for God ? Not that
your Sufficiency is of your fe/f9 as once you thought it was :
For you are net fufficient of your felf, as of your felf\ but your
Sufficiency is of God. Yet do you not find that thro* Chrift
Jirengthning of you, you can dot all things ? And do you -not
from the Heart hate the Way of lazy, dead-hearted Hy
pocrites, who fit ftill and careleily cry, " We can do no-
" thing, 'tis' Chriil that muft do all," and under a Notion
of not doing any Thing in their own Strength, gratify their
Lazinefs, and do nothing at alll ! AccurfedLazinefs ! Ac-
curfed Hypocrify ! Do you not feel, I fay, that you are
put into a Capacity for fpiritual Activity ? And are you
not engaged to be active for Qod ? For you are bis Work-
wan/hip, created in Chrijljefus unto goodWcrks,\h.i& you might
walk in them. While the Spirit of God is taking down
the Power of Sin in your Heart, and flaying your Cor
ruptions ; are you not alfo crucifying the Fkjh with the Af-
ftttions and Lufts ? While God is working in you to will
find to do, are you not working cut your Salvation with fear
find trembling, with filial Fear and holy Concern ? While
the Spirit of God gives you Might in the inner Man, do ndt
you put on the whole Armour of God, and fight with Flejh and
Blood, with Principalities and Powers ? This is the Way of
Believers.
and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits 227
Believers. And the Spirit does not come upon them by
Fits, as it did upon Balaam ; but dwells in them and abides
in them for ever -9 to purify them from all Iniquity , and make
them a peculiar People^ zealous cf good Works.
Finally, Do you not experience that your Religion is
fomething real and perceptible, and fee that it is fpecifically
different from any Thing that poffibly can arile merely
from a Principle of Self-love ? You perceive your Views
of God, and Senfe of his Greatnefs, Glory and Beauty ;
and you perceive your Senfe of the World's Emptinefs,and
of your own natural Vilenefs and Wretchednefs ; and your
Love to God, your Weanednefs from the World, and your
Mourning for Sin are perceptible. And is it not eafy to
perceive why you love God, are weaned from the World,
and mourn for Sin \ namely, becaufe God is infinitely
lovely, the World empty and worthlefs, and Sin the greateil
Evil ? And while thefe Views and Affections effectually
influence you to all holy living, their Genuineness is made
ftill more evident and plain. And, from the whole, you
arife to a rational and fcriptural Knowledge of your gra*
cious State.
From what has been faid upon this Subject, a great Va
riety of other Queftions might be put to the Believer •, but
the whole has been treated fo plainly and practically, that
I need add no more. And if gracelefs Perfons, had it in
their Hearts to be honeft and impartial, they might eafily
know, that they are Strangers to real Religion. But if
they have not the Thing itfelf, they will either work up
fomething like it, or elfe deny that there is any fuchThing :
for be that doth Evil^hateth the Light $ and fodoes he who
has a rotten Heart. And hence fome cry, " The beft have
" their Failings" ; and they watch and catch at the Fail
ings of fuch as are accounted godly, and dwell upon them,
and magnify them j and fo quiet their Confciences, and go
©n in their Sins. Others cry, " The beft are dead fome-
times" •, and fo maintain their Hopes, altho* they lie dead,
whole Months and Years together, and live in Sin, and
never come to found Repentance. Others cry, " You
will difcourage weak Chriftians ; " meaning themfelves.
Juft as if there were a Sort of Chriftians that cannot bear
O 2 the
228 True Religion delineated D i s . I.
the Light, nor fland a fcriptural Trial. What will they
do, when they come before the awful Bar of the Heart-
fearching God ! Others cry, " But every Chriftian docs
not experience alike ;" and fo tho' they are deftitute of the
very EiTence ancj Life of Religion, yet they hope all is well.
And many are confident that thefeThings are not fo, " for,
fay they. If thefeThings are true, who then lhall be faved ? "
I anfwer, Strati is the Gate, and narrow is the Way that
leads to Life ; and few there be that find, it : but wide is the
Gate, and broad is the Way that leads to Destruction, and
many go in thereat. Mat. 7. 13, 14. And mark what fol
lows in the next Verfe, ^. 15. Beware of falfe Prophets,
which come to you in Sheeps-cloathing, but inwardly are ra
vening Wolves. $. 1 6. Te Jball know them by their Fruits. —
By what Fruits ? Why, this is the conftant Character of
falfeProphets throughout the Bible, that they cry, Peace and
Safety, and heal the Wound of poor Sinners flightily, and daub
with untempered Mortar, i. e. They make Religion to be
an eafier Thing than it is, more agreeable to corrupt Na
ture ; and fo encourage Sinners to reft in fomething ihort
of true Grace. So the Pharifees did, notwithftanding all
their pretended Strictnefs •, and fo the Arminians do, not
withftanding all their feeming Zeal /or good Works , and
fo the Antinomians do, notwithftanding all their Pretences
to extraordinary Light and Joy and Zeal and Purity and
Holinefs. And this is the common Character of all falfe
Prophets and felfe Teachers and Hereticks, that, being
Enemies to true Religion, they cut out a falfe Scheme in
their Heads, to fuit their own Hearts •, and fo, however
greatly they may differ in many Things, yet herein all
agree, to make Religion an eafier Thing than the Bible
does, and to make the Gate wider and the Way broader
than Chrift and his Apoftles -, and by this Mark the diffe
rence between them and the true Prophets may always be
certainly known. And therefore Chrift having juft faid,
Straff is theGate and narrow the Way &c. immediately adds,
Beware of falfe Prophets, by their Fruits ye Jh all know thetn 5
for they all invent fome eafier Way to Heaven, tho' it may
be in'Sheepscloathing, i. e. under a Shew of great Striftncfs.
And this their Invention being falfe, they are thus denomi
nated
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 229
Prophets. And thus what has been faid concern
ing the Nature of true Religion, may ferve to clear up the
Believer's gracious State \ and may afford Matter of Con
viction to others.
SECTION VIL
We have great Reafon to be humble^andthank-
^ and live intirely devoted to GOD.
USE III. Of Humiliation. What has been faid may be
improved by Sinners and Saints to promote their Humilia
tion : For by the Law is the Knowledge of Sin ; and a
Sight and Senfe of our Sinfulnefs, tends to abafe us before
the Lord.
In this Glafs of the Law, Sinners may fee what they be in
Heart and Life, and by this Rule they may learn how God
looks upon them. There is a Knowledge of our felves, of
our Hearts and Lives, that is natural to us. Men, by their
Power of Self- reflection, have a Sort of an Acquaintance
with themfeives : they know their prefent Views and De-
figns, their prefent Inclinations and Way of Living ; and
remember, more or lefs, how they have lived in Years paft.
But Men are naturally very ignorant of the Nature of God
and of his holy Law •, and fo are very ignorant of them
feives in a moral Senfe, are very infenfible how God looks
upon them, and what their Hearts & Li es be, compared
with God and his holy Law. Natural Confcience has fome
Notions about Right and Wrong, and fo does fome thing to
wards accuiing and condemning Men, efpecially for their
grofler Sins •, but rfatural Confcience is for the mod Part fo
blind and fo much afleep, and in moft Men has been fo
much abufed and brow-beat and kept under, that it lets
Men pretty much alone. Men hold the Truth in Unrigh-
teoufnefs, according to the Apoftle's Phrafe, and keep their
Confciences in Chains ; and fo are in a great Meafure with
out the Law •, and hence Sin is dead : for where there is noLawy
there is no fran/greffion : and when Men know not the Law
in it's true Meaning and Extent, they are infenfible how
they
230 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
they fwerve from it, and how contrary they be to it, and
how fmful Sin is : But when the Commandment comes ^ Sin
revives.
Think of this therefore, O Sinner, that the infinitely
glorious God, your Creator, Preferver and Governour, de-
ferves to be loved and lived to and delighted in with all
your Heart ; and that this is what he requires at your
Hands ; and know it, he hates your hypocritical Shews and
Pretences, fo long as that in Heart, he fees, you are an
Enemy to him. You may pretend, that you can't help
your Hearts being fo bad ; but God knows, you love your
Corruptions, and hate to have them (lain, and love to have
them gratified. You love to be proud, and hence you
love to be applauded : and the Praife of Men is fweet,and
of greater Price with you than the Praife of God ; you will
do more to pleafc the World, than to pleafe God ; yea, will
difpleafe God, to keep in with a wicked World, who hate
God ; and God knows it. You love to love the World ;
and hence love to lay worldly Schemes, and are fecretly
raviihed with worldly Hopes when Things are likely to go
well, and account no Pains too great in worldly Purfuits ;
but you hate to pray in fecret, have no Heart for God, can
take no Delight in him : and God knows it. And will
you now pretend, for your Excufe, that you can't help
your Heart's being fo bad •, whenas it is you your felf that
are fo bad, and love to be fo bad, and hate to ceafe to be
what you are. If God has by his Spirit awakened your
Confcience a little and terrified you with the Fears of Hell
and Wrath, it may be, your Corruptions are fomewhat
ftunned, and Honour and worldly Gains dp not appear ib
tempting, and you are ready to fay, that: you would willing*-
ly part with your Reputation and every Thing you have in
the World, for an Intereft in Chrift and the divine Favour ;
and now you think you are fmcere : But God knows, it's
all Hypocrify ; for he fees, you do not care for Him, but
are only afraid of Damnation. And God knows, that if
once you fhould get a falfe Confidence of Pardon and the
divine Favour, you would fbon return to Folly, as the Dog
to his Vomit, and fet out after the World as eagerly as
ever ; or elfe vent your Corruptions in fpiritual Pride, and
ih
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 231
irr ranting Enthufiaftick Wild-fire and Party felfifh Zeal,
as Thousands have done, who once felt juft as you do now.
God therefore does not mind your Pretences, nor believe
your Promifes, for he knows what you arc. You may de
ceive your felf, but can't deceive him. He knows, your
Corruptions arc dunned, but not mortified ; and that your
Nature is juft what it was, and you, as really, an Enemy
to God as ever. And it may be, you may fee it yet, when
you come to find out how God looks upon you, and upon
your Prayers and Tears and Promifes -, -for it's commonly
the Cafe with Sinners, when they perceive that God is not
pleafed with their devout Pretences, and does not defign to
fave them for their hypocritical Duties, by the fecret work
ings of their Hearts to difcover that they care only for
themfelves, and are real Enemies to God and his Law.
Love to God, O Sinner, is not begotten by the Fears of
Hell, nor by the Hopes of Heaven. If you do not love
God for what he is in himfelf, you do not love him at all ;
but only flatter him with your Lips and lie unto him with
your Tongue. But it may be manifeft to you, that you do
not love him for what he is in himfelf -, becaufe you do not
love his Law which bears his Image. You do not like
the Law as a Rule for you to live by, for it is too Uriel: for
you. And you do not approve of the Law as a Rule for
God to judge you by, for you think it hard for God to
damn Men lor the leaft Sin. Know it, therefore, O Sin
ner, that there is not any Good in you, or any Goodnefs
in your Duties ; but you are in a State of Rebellion, an
Enemy co God and to his holy Law : and come down
and lie in the Duft before the Lord, and own the Sentence
juft by which you Hand condemned, and be quiet at his
F n •, and if ever he faves you, for ever attribute it wholly
tr ~e andfovereign Grace. — When the Commandment camey
£- ; revived* and I died.
And fuch a one was you, O Believer ; and in fome
ICjafure you are fuch a one ftill ; and in fome Refpecls
you, Sins are a great deal more aggravated. Oh never for-
§:er he Days, and Weeks, and Months, and Years you
have formerly fpent in Sin ! Once I was a Perfecutor^ and
a Blaffbemer> and Injurious^ fays St, Paul ; and his Heart
W
232 True Religion delineated Drs, I.
bleeds afrefli, and he fets himfelf down for the chief of Sin*,
ners. i fim. i. 13, 15.
But what be you now, after all the Grace of God, after
all the kind Methods Heaven has taken to reclaim you,
and what are your Attainments, if you compare your Self
and Attainments with the holy Law of God in it's ipiritual
Nature and divine Striclnefs ? Do you feel fuch a Heart
towards the great and glorious Governour of the whole
World, as becomes you ? Think, what a God he is, and
how Angels and Saints on high love him. Think of his
Majefty and Greatnefs &: Glory & Excellency, and how he
is the Fear & Delight &Joy of all Heaven. Think of his
original and entire Right to you, and abfolute Authority
over you. Think of the Vileneis of your Apoftacy, and
of the Depth of your Ruin. Think of redeeming Love.
Think of converting Grace. Think of the many Means
God has ured with you in his Providence & by his Spirit.
Think of all his Loving-kindnefTes and tender Mercies. — •
And, think, what a Bead be you before the Lord ! Lie
down in the Duft, and cry and mourn and weep, and let
your Heart break ! Oh,your want of Love to God,of Zeal
for his Glory, of Delight in his Perfections, and of Grati
tude for all his Kindnefs ! Alas, how you difeileem the
God that Angels love, and comparatively defpife the GOD
that all Heaven adores \ Alas, how careiefs you be about
his Honour and Intereft, and how ina6tive in his Service !
Alas, how you difrelifh the Fountain of all Goodnefs and
the Ocean of all Bleflednefs, and hanker after otherTmngs,
and go away from God to feek Reft elfewhere, and thereby
caft infinite Contempt upon the Delight of Heaven and the
Joy of Angels, the ever-blefTed & alfufficient Goa 1 Think
of the peculiar Obligations, God has laid you under by all
the fecretWays Of his Providence & Grace with you, & of
all the infmitePains he has taken with you to make you hum
ble, weaned from theWorld,devoted to God,)oving,kind,ten-
der-hearted,friendly & obliging to all Mankind,and univer-
fally holy ; and fee and fay, Was everWretch fo vile ! Did
ever Wretch treat fuch a God, in fuch a Manner,under fuch
Circumftances ! Oh, hov/ far, how infinitely far you are,
from
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 233
from being what you ought to be ! This made St. Paul
account himfelf lets than the leafl of all Saints, and forget the
things that are behind : his Attainments dwindled away,
as it were to nothing, when he compared himfelf with
God's holy Law, and thought what he ought to be, and
whatObligations he was under •, and he did therefore, as it
were fet down all that he had hitherto attained for nothing,
and feel and a<J as if he was but juft now beginning to live
to God. Rom. 7. 14. The Law is fpiritual, but I am car
nal, fold under Sin. Ver. 24. O wretched Man that I am!
Phil. 3. 13,14. I forget the Things which are behind ', I reach
forth towards .thofe firings which are before, I prefs towards
the Mark. And, O Believer, go you, and do likewife.
Befides, remember, that it is no Thanks to you that you
are not to this Day fecure in Sin : Yea, that you are not
one of the vileft and profaneft Creatures in the World.
Your Nature was bad enough ; the Seeds of every Sin were
in your Heart •, but for retraining or fanctifying Grace you
might have been as bad as any in Sodom. And what was
it moved God to awaken you, and flop you in your Ca
reer in Sin, and turn you to God ? Was it for your Righ-
teoufnefs ? Oh, be afhamed and confounded forever ! For
his own Sake he has done it, when you was a ftubborn,
fliff-necked, rebellious Creature. And truly, what has
been your Carriage towards the Lord, compared with the
exacl: Rule of Duty, the holy Law of God, fince the Day
you have known him ? O remember Maffah and Tabe-
rah and Kibroth-hataavah, and how you have been rebelli
ous againft the Lord, ever fince he has taken you in Hand
to fubdue you to himfelf. (Read Dent. 9. and fee how
much yourTemper has been like theirs.) And this notwith-
flanding all the Signs and Wonders God has wrought be
fore your Eyes : I mean, notwithftanding all the fweet and
awful Methods God has taken with you, to make you
know him and love him and fear him and live to him.
There are Thoufands and Thoufands that God never took
any fuch fpecial Pains with. Their Sins are not like yours.
Come down therefore, fit in the Duft, mourn and weep,
and loath and abhor your felf, as long as. you Jive -, and af-
cribe
234 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
cribe all Praife to God, thro' whofe Grace alone it is, that
you be what you be.
Let me here addrefs you in the Words of the famous Mr.
Hooker. " That thou mayeft for ever,each Day that pafTeth
" over thy Head, remember it to the Lord, and leave it
" upon Record in thine own Connfcience ; fay, Hadft
" thou (blefTed Lord) given me the Defires of my Heart,
" and left me to my own Will, it is certain I had been. in
" Hell long before this Day, when in the Days of my Folly
" and Times of my Ignorance, when out of the defperate
" Wretchednefs of my rebellious Difpofition, I was run-
" ning Riot in the Ways of Wickedneis,^7^ 1 faid to the
" Seer s^ fee not^ and to the Prophets^ frophefy not^ to Chrif-
" tians, to Acquaintance, to Governours, admonifh not,
" couniel not, reprove not, flop me not in the purfuit of
" Sin. The Time was, I took hold of Deceit and refufed to
<c return ; nay, refolved in the fecret Purpofe of my Heart,
" / would none of thee ; I would not have that Word of
" thine reveal or remove my Corruptions -, I would none
" of thy Grace that might humble me and purge me, none
" of that Mercy of thine that might pardon me, none of
" that Redemption of thine that might favc me. Hadft
" thou then taken me at my Word, and given me what I
" wiihed, and fealed my Deftruction, faying, Be thou for
' ever filthy, for ever ftubborn, and for ever miferable •,
4 thou wouldeft neither be holy nor happy, thou malt
" have thy Will, Sin with Devils and take thy Portion
" with Devils j Lord, it had been juft with thee, and I
' juftly miferable. But to bear with' all my Bafenefs, to
" put up all thofe Wrongs and Provocations, to ftrive
" with me for my Good, when I took up Arms againft
c thee, and ftrove againft my own Good -, nay, when I re-
" lifted Mercy •, and then to take away thatRefiftance,and
" to caufe me to take Mercy, and make it mine, when I
" ufed all the Skill I could to hinder my own Salvation :
' Oh ! The Height5the Depth,the Length, theBreadth of
K this Mercy ! When we feel our Hearts to be puffed
c up with the vain Apprehenfton of our own Worth, Parts
* or Performances, what we are, and what we do ; look
!c we back to our firft Beginnings and judge aright of our
" own
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 235
" own Wretchednefs and Nothingnefs, yea, worfe than
" Nothing, in that we not only wanted all Good, but we
" had it within us to oppofe allGood \ and that will caufe
*' us to fit down in Silence abafed for ever. When empty
u Bladders are grown unto too great Bulk and Bignefs, to
" prick them is the readieft Way to lefTen them ; when
<e our empty and vain Minds fwell with high Thoughts,
"' and high overweening Conceit of our own Worth, learn
" we to flab and pierce our Hearts with the righteous
*c Judgment of our own natural Viienels, which will (or
" at leafl may) let out that frothy Haughtinefs that lifts
" us up beyond our Meafure : Tell thy Heart, and com-
" mune with thy Confcience, and fay, It is not my good
" Nature, that I am not roaring ajnongft the Wretches of
" the World in the Road and broad Way of Ruin and
*c Deftruction, that I am not wallowing in all Manner of
" Sin with the worft of Men. It is not my good Nature ;
" no thank to any Thing that I have, that I am not upon
" the Chain with Malefactors, or in a Dungeon with
" Witches •, for whatever Hell hath, it is in this Heart of
4C mine naturally, a Cain here, a Judas here, nay a Devil
" here. The Time was ( O that with an abafed Heart I
tc may ever think of that Time ) I never looked after the
ic fpiritual Good of my Soul, or whether I had a Soul or
" no ^ what would become of me and it, was the lead of
" my Care, the furtheft End of my Thoughts •, nay, loth
was I to hear of, or know thefe Things ; when they
were revealed, unwilling to receive them, or give Way
to them when they were offered : how did I ftop mine
c Ears, {hut mine Eyes, and harden my Heart ? What
*c Ways, Means, and Devices did I ufe and invent, to fhut
out the Light of Truth, to ftop the Pafiage and Power
of the Word, that it might not convince me, that it
" might not reform me, might not recall me from my
*• evil Ways ? How often have I fecretly wiihed, that ei-
" thcr the Word were taken out of the Place, or I from it,
" that it might not trouble me in my fmful Diftempers,
" and when I had leaft Good I had moft Eafe, and took
** the greateft Content, Oh that fuch a Wretch Ihould
; " thus
it
<c
236 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
" thus live, and yet live ! To be thus fmful ! O that. I
" might be for ever abafed for it.* "
Thus the Law, as a Rule of Life, may be improved to
thcHumiliation of the People of God, in that it may ferve to
keep frefh in their Minds, their native univerfal Depravity,
their former Wickednefs, and to difcover their remaining
Sinfulnefs. And I may here obferve, that it is Believers
peculiar Acquaintance with the Law in it's true Meaning,
Stri&nefs and Purity, that is the Occafion of their pecu
liar Acquaintance with their own Hearts. And while the
Law daily mews them what they be, it learns them more
and more their Need of a Redeemer and Sandifier, and
daily puts them upon going to God thro' Jefus Chrift for
pardoning Mercy and fan6tifyingGrace. The Law makes
Way for the Gofpel ; and a Senfe of Sin, Weaknefs and
Unworthinefs makes Chrift and Gofpel-Grace precious,and
ilirs up a Man to Repentance, Faith & Prayer. Deluded
therefore, are thofe poor Souls that fay, " We muft not
" look into our Hearts, nor labour after a Senfe of our
" Sins and Sinfulnefs ; for that is legal, and tends to. Dif-
<c couragement : but we muft look only to Chrift and free
Ct Grace, and believe and rejoycevand a Senfe of the Love
" of Chrift will humble us." Juft as if the great Bufinefs
of Chrift was, to keep Men from a Sight and Senfe of
their Sins •, and juft as if a Man could be truly humbled,
without feeing what he is, compared with God and his
holy Law. But poor Souls, they feel a legal, difcoura-
ged Frame always, when they have any Sight and Senfe of
their Sinfulnefs, and it damps their Faith (and if they were
but thorc'ly fenfible of their Sinfulnefs, it would kill their
Faith) and joy -, and therefore they conclude,it is not a good
Way to look into their Hearts, no Good can be got by it.
But when they don't mind their Hearts, but look fteadily
to Chrift and free Grace, (a fancied Chrift!) firfnly believing
that all he has done and fuffered is for them, and realiz
ing the Matter to themfelves, now they feel fweetly and
joyfully j and therefore conclude, that this is the Way, the
only Way, to get Good for their Souls : And hence grow
mighty Enemies to the Law, to Self-Examination, to Senfe
of
'f Mr.Heottr's Application of Redemption, Vol. I, Pag. 97>— !T100'
and diftiriguijhed from ail Counterfeits. 237
of Sin, &c. This is the Door, by which if any Man enters
in, he will foon become an Antinomian and an Enthiifiaft.
But to proceed.
USE IV. Of Tbankfulnefs. While the Law (hews us
what v/e be, it does at the fame Time make us fenfxble what
we deferve •, while it difcovers to us our Sinfulnefs, it makes
usfeelourUnworthinefs of anyGood,and Defert of all Evil :
and while we feel our Unworthinefs and ill Deferts, our
Afflictions appear far lefs than we deferve, and our Mercies
appear more in Number than the Sands, and the Kindnefs
and Bounty of our God appears exceeding great, and we
wonder at his Goodnefs and blefs his holy Name. And thus
the Law is of Ufeto promote Thankfulnefs.
God the great Governour of the World, in Teftimony of
his high Difpleafure againtl Mankind for their Apoftacy
from him, has fpread Miferies and Calamities all round the
Earth : from the King upon the Throne, to the Beggar on
the Dunghil, there is not one, bat has a greater or lefier
Share in the Troubles of Life ; and many have their Days
filled up with Sorrows. And now Murmurings arife all
round this guilty World,and the general Cry is, " No Body
" meets with fuch Troubles as I do, I am very hardly dealt
with." But theLaw teaches us,that God is holy inall thefe
his Ways, and righteous in all thefe his Works ; and that
we are all punifhed far lefs than we deferve ; and fo bur
Complaints are filenced, and ourHearts quieted into a hum
ble SubmifTion, and it appears infinitely fit, a rebellious
World mould be full of Wo, that we might learn that it is
an evil and bitter Thing to foriake the Lord.
But at the fame Time, God the great Lord of all, out
of his boundlefs Goodnefs thro' Jcfus Chrift, reprievesMan-
kind from the tbreatned Ruin, ftrews common Mercies with
a liberal Hand all round the Earth, fends Rain and fruit
ful Seafons, and fills the Hearts of all, more or Ids, with
Food and Gladnefs •, and to fome he grants his fpecial
Grace, makes them his Children, and intides them to eter
nal Life. And thus fa is the Saviour of all Men, but efpe-
cially of tbofe that believe, i Tim. 4. 10. Yet this GoodneTs
of God is but little taken Notice of in the World. But the
Law, while it difcovers what we be, and how unworthy and
' .Hell-
238 "True Religion delineated Dis. I.
Hell -deferring we are, makes us fenfible of the Freenefs
and Riches of God's Grace in thefe his Kindneiies. For
while we feel that Hell is cur proper Due, everyThing that
lenders our Cafe better than that of the Damned, we mall
accept as a choice Mercy ,and as an Effect of freeGrace -, and
fo inllead of being always in a murmuring and repining
Difpofition, we mail be always wondering at theGoodnefs,
admiring at the Kindnefs of the Lord j faying with good
Jacob^ We are net worthy of the k aft of fill the Mercies, and
of all the Truth, which thcu haft Jhewed unto thy Servants.
Gen. 32. 10. And with the Jewijh Church, 0 give Thanks
unto the Lord, for he is Good, for his Mercy endurethfor ever.
Ffal. 136. And we mall always find, that the more fenfi
ble we be of our Unworthinefs and ill Defert, the more
Caufe we mall fee for Thankfulnefs, let our outward Cir-
cumftances in this Life be what they will.
But,
USE V. In the laft Place, Let all that has been laid be
improved by Way of Exhortation, to excite and engage the
people of God, more and more to renounce themfelves, theWorld
and Sin, and give up themfelves to God, to love him and live
to him and delight in him with all their Hearts for ever.
You have feen what Grounds you have to do fo, arifing
from God's infinite Greatnefs, Glory and Excellency ; and
you have been viewing your fuperadded Obligations : And
is the Lord fuch a God, and is he your God and Redeemer,
O how ftrongly are you bound to keep all his Command
ments ! And what is it, O Believer, that the Lord thy God
requireth of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk
in all his Ways, and to love him, and to ferve the Lord thy
God with all thy Heart and with all thySoul ? And is there
not in keeping his Commands a great Reward ? Did you
ever Tafte fuch Sweetnefs, as in a Life of Devotednels to
God ! And have not your Wandrings from him coft you
many a bitter and mournful Hour ? O, how happy would
you be, if once you could come to it, to have done with
every Thing elfe and to be wholly the Lord's ! Serioufly
confider thefe Things •>
i. That you can come to it, to have done with every Thing
elfe, and be wholly the Lord's, at leafl in a V aft ly greater De
gree
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 239
gree,than ever yet you have. SeeP£/7. 3. 13, 14. You aftually
already have God working in you to will and to do, Phil. 2 . 1 3 .
He has always been, as it were, labouring to humble you,
and wean you from the World, and bring you nearer to
himfeif, to love him, live to him, and delight in him, ever
lince the Day you fir ft came to know him, by the outward
Difpenfations of his Providence, and by the inward Striv
ings of his Spirit. He has always been purging you, that
you might bring forth mere Fruit. Job. 15.2. Yea, this was
the very Defign of Chrift's corning into the World, that he
might deliver you out of the Hands of all your Enemies^ and
bring you to ferveGod, without Fear, in Holinefs and Right e-
ovfnefS) all the Days of your Life. Ltik. i. 74. And that he
'might redeem you from all Iniquity ', and purify you to himfeif \
that you might be peculiarly his i and zealous of good Works ^
Tit.2. 14. And for this End, God has already taken, as it
were, infinite Pains with you, and this is what he is conti
nually urging you unto, and he declares that he is readier
to give you his holy Spirit, than earthly Parents are to give
Bread to their Children, and invites and encourages arid
commands you to ajk. Matt. 7. 7. &c. And will you not
now therefore arife and put on the whole Armour of God,
and make your ftrongeft Efforts to recover from Sin to
God ?
God the great King of Heaven and Earth commands
you to do fo •, Jefus the kind Mediator invites you to do
fo •, and the holy Spirit the Sanctifier is ready to help you.
Arife therefore, and be of good Courage, for the Lord is
with you. Did you ever iiir up your felf to feek after God
in vain, or fet about a Life of greater Serioufnefs, Watch-
fulnefs and Prayer, and find no Advantage by it ? Or have
you not always faid in the Conclufion, that // is good for me
to draw near to God •, (PfaL 73. 28.) And condemned and
hated your felf for your former Slackncfs, and been ready co
refolve from your inmoft Soul, that you would call upon the
Lord as long as you live ? PfaL i j6. 2.
And Let me put it to your Conference, do not you be
lieve, that -if now you would gird up the Loyns of your
Mind, and quit your felf like a Man, and be ftrong, that
thro* Chrijl ftrengthning of you, you may do all Things ? And
ftiall
240 True Religion delineated Dis. I.
(hall Carelefnefs or Stupidity, fliall Lazinefs & Sloth, (hall
the Allurements or the Difcouragemcnts ot the World or
the Devil, now after all, hinder you ? What ! When you
have been redeemed, net with Silver and Gcld^ lut with tie
precious Blood of the Son of God> when your Priibn-Door is
flung open, and ycur Chains knocked off, and you called
and invited to come out into the glorious Liberty of tbeCbii-
dren of God, and when God is actually {hiving with you
already, and Hands ready to afford you farther Help, what
now be hindered ! What ! And be hindered byCareiefnefs,
Unwatchiulriefs, &~c ! What, fnall the Saviour groan in
the Garden, and die en the Crofs, and yet you lie deeping
here ! What, aileep ! What, content without God in the
World ! What, when the wholeArmy of Prophets, A poitles
and Martyrs have failed and prayed all their Days, and
waded thro' a Sea of Blood at laft ! Me thinks, you had
better abandon every mortal Delight, lay cfide every height
and the Sin that more eafily befets you, and mourn and weep,
and watch and pray, and fight and ftrive, as long as you
live, than act fo far beneath the Dignity and Character of a
Chriftian.
It is but a few in the World, that truly know God and the
Way of Accefs to him thro* Jeius Chrift, and are in a
(fpiritualj Capacity to live a Life of Devotednefs to God
and Communion with him : moil Men are dead in Sin.
But you hath he quickened, and you are his Workmanfhify
created in Chrift Jejus unto good Works \ and it is God's De-
fign you Ihould walk in them : you that were without
Chrift and without God in the World, afar off, are now
brought nigh -, and you are no more Strangers and Fo
reigners^ but Fellow -Citizens with the Saints and of the
Houjhold of God : for this Caufe I therefore befeech you,
walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith you are called. See
this Argument enlarged upon in the 2d, 3d & 4th Chapters
of the Epiftle to the Epbejians, and your Duties ftill more
particularly delineated in the 5th & 6th:
2. Confider, T'bat as your Cafe is circumflanced^ it is at-
folutely impojfible for you ever to find any ether reft ing Place
butGcd> or ever take any fatifying Comfort of your Lifejut in
a Way of Devotednefs to God & Communion with him, The
Cafe
* arid dijlmguijkedfrom all Counterfeits. 241
Cafe is not' with you, O Believer, as it is with other Men.
Ton only have I kncit n of all theFamilies of the Earth •, therefore
will I punijh you for ally our Iniquities^ faidGod to his ancient
People. Mic. 3. 2. But the otherNations of theEarth might
worfhip Idols and ferve \Vood and Stone, and go on and
profper, without being called to a prefent Account. And fo
it is as to particularPerfons. Baftards, who have no Parents
to own them and bring them up, may, as for any Reftraints
from parental Authonty,do what they will. They that don'c
belong to God's Family, may live from Home as long as
they pleafe, and becaufc they have no Intereft in hisHoufe,
may, in Refpect of divine Permiffion, go and live where
they pleafe, may continue to lie out from God : But whom
the 'Lord icveth, he chaftneth ; and fcourgeth every Son whom
be receivefh. Heb. 12. 6. Hypocrites may lofe their Religi
on, and lie dead whole Months and Years together, and re
turn with the Dog to his Vomit, and take as much Com
fort in the World and their Lufts as ever : But it is im-
poflible that you mould : You can never get your Confci-
ence afleep as other Men's are, or your Heart content to lie
out from God, or wring your felf out of your Father's
Hand, or get out of the Reach of his Rod.
Solomon once feem'd refolved to find another refting Place
for his Heart befides God, and fomething elfe to takeCom-
fort in, and he was under the beft outward Advantages to
make a thoro' Trial, that ever Man was -, but he never did,
and never could : But was always like a Bone out of Joint,
or like the Needle of a Compafs turned afide from its be-
JovedStar. Vanity of Vanities, fays thePreacher, all isVanity
and Vexation of Spirit. And poor D#wW,how was he pain
ed with Anguifh of Spirit, for theSin whereby he provoked
the Lord ? Pfal. 32. 3, &c. While I kept Silence ( i. e. be
fore Nathan came, who brought me to an openConfefllon,
fee j#. 5.) my Bones waxed old\ thro9 my roaring all the Day
long. For Day and Night thy Hand was heavy upon me ;
My Moifture is turned into the Drought cf Summer. And
never did a Believer depart from God to feek another reft
ing Place, or go away from the Fountain of living Waters,
to get fomething elfe to take Comfort in ; but God hedged
up bis Way with Tbwns, and made a Wall that he could net
R find
242 TCrue Religion delineated Dis. I.
fnd his Path : So that altho' he followed after bis Lovers,
he never overtook them, and tho* he fought them, be never
found them : But at laft has been conftrained to fay, 1 will
go and return to my firft Hufband *, for then was it better with
me than now. Hof. 2. 6, 7. His Backjlidings have reproved
£;>/,and his Wickednefs has corrected £/#z,and made him know,
to the breaking of hisHeart, that it is an evil and bitter^l king
to for fake the Lord. Jer. 2. 19. For as God thus dealt with
the Jewifh Church of old, fo he does 'with every Believer ;
for all God's Dealings with them were for Enfamples : And
they are written for our Admonition, upon whom the Ends 6f
the World are come, i Cor 10. 1 1 .
And this now being the Cafe, O Believer, and you hav
ing always by your own Experience found it fq, will you
notwithftanding forfake the Lord ? What Fault, What Ini
quity do you find in God, that you fhould forfake him ? Has
he been a Wilder nefs unto you, or a Land of Darknefs ? Or
has he not been your Father, ever fince the Day he took
you by the Hand to lead you, even ever iince the Day you
firft knew him ? Or be you weary of Lightfome, of fweet
and happy Days, and impatient to plunge your felf into
Darknefs, Diftrefs and Anguifh ? May you not expecl,
if you forfake him and go away from him, to feek another
refting Place, and fomething elle to take Comfort in as your
Portion, that he will ftrip you naked as in the Day that you
was born, and make you deiblate, and a Terror to your felf,
and that his Anger will fmoke againil you, and his Hand
lie heavy upon you ? And then will you mourn like theDove
in the Valley^ and be troubled, and go bowed down greatly, and
rore by Reafon of the Difquietnefs of your Heart, and wifh a
Thoufand and Thoufand Times that you had never for-
fakenthe Lord. Read Pfal. 38. Jer. 2d and 3d Chaffers.
and Hof. 2. Will you not therefore bid Adieu to all other
Lords and Lovers, and cleave unto the Lord with all your
Heart for ever ? for this is your Wifdom, and this is your
Life, W hich brings me to add,
3. Confider, If you will have done with every Thing elfe,
and give up your felf to the Lord, to love him and live to
him and be wholly his, then God will be your God fenfibly,and
you vM, infyirittial Refpefts, be one of the happieft Cnatuns
in
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 243
in this World \ a hundred Times happier than you could
pofftbly be in the Ways of Sin •, you foal! have an Hundred
Fold in thisfrefent World, beftdes eternal Life in the World to
come. If any Man love me> fays Chriil, and keep my Com
mandments J will love him and manifeft my f elf unto him: And
/ and wy Father will come and make our Abode 'with him. Joh.
14. 2 1, 23. He that dwelieth in the fecret Place of the wojt
High, jh all abide under the Shadow of the Almighty. Pfal. 91.1.
And God will be your Dwelling-Place for ever. Pfal. 90. i.
While the Nations dafh themfelves in Pieces, and all the
World is in Confufion, and while you pafs thro* the Fire
and thro' the Water, God will be with you •, and he will
always beyourLight,Life5l?eace,Joy,Glory &BlefTednefs, in
this uncione,dreadful World ; & yourHeart will be firm and
fixed like Mount Zion, that cannot be rtmovedjut abideth for
ever \ & nothing fhall tverfeparate you from theLove ofGod^
neither 'Things frefent, nor things to ccme, nor Heigth, nor
Depth, nor Life^ nor Death^ nor any ether Thing. AndGod
will certainly give you every Thing in this World that is
bcft for you and moft for his Glory,and you will not defire
any more •, and all the evil Things, you may pafs thro',
will fenfibly work together for your Good. Matt. 6. 33.
Rom> 8. 28, — 39. Pfal. 73. 25, 26.
And thus, you have, by Experience, always found, that
God has dealt with you. I appeal, O Believer, to your
own Confcience, that thus it has always been, whenever you
have fenfibly from the Heart renounced all other Things,
and given up your felf to the Lord, to love him and to live
to him and to take Content in him, God has fenfibly been
a God and Father and Portion unto you, and has given you
all Things, which (every Thing confidered) you could de-
fire, and fenfibly made all Things work together for your
Good •, whence you have been many a Time ready to fay,
*fbat not a Word of all his Promifes has ever fallen to the
Ground. And you have actually enjoyed a hundred Times
pnoreComfort in the Service of God, in Devotednefs toGod
and Communion with him, than could have been had in
the Service of Sin. And will you not now therefore be
intirely and for ever the Lord's ? O how happy you might
be ! And what bieiled Days you might enjoy !
R 2 4. And
244 True Religion delineated Dis. I,
§ 4. And that which can't but touch a filial Heart, con-
fider, That if you will thus be wholly theLord's,to love him
and live to him and delight in him and to do his Will,
Cod will be glorified thereby -, it will be to his Honour in the
World. Joh. 15.8. Herein is my Father glorified^ that ye bear
muchFruit. — But ye are a chofenGeneratton^a royal Priefthoocl,
a holy Nation^ a peculiar People •, that ye Jhould Jhew forth
the Praifes of him ^ who hath called you out of Darknefs into
his marvellous Light, i Pet. 2. 9. God has but a few Friends
in the World. Many that pretend to be his Friends, are a
great difhonour to him and difgrace to Religion. By their
Means his Name is blafphemed, and his Ways are evilly
fpoken of. And in general, his Honour is every where
trodden down in the Duft. And can you Hand by uncon
cerned ? Yea, can you look on without your Heart bleeding
within you ? O therefore, be ferious, be humble, be meek,
holy and heavenly, be Peace-makers and merciful, be kind
and tender-heartedjcondefcending and obliging, and abound
in every good Work ; for you are the Salt of the Earthy
and the Light of the World : O therefore live fo, as that your
Father ^which is in Heaven^may be glorified. Mat. 5.13 — 16.
To conclude, Will you not now therefore determine,from
this Day forward, to be wholly the Lord's, and from this
Day begin to live to God in better earned than ever ? God
is ready to help you. You will, as to prefent Comfort, be
undone, if you do not live to God ; and Peace and Glory
and Blefiednefs is before you, if you do •, and God, even
your God, will be glorified. And if you are now ready, by
the Grace of God, to hearken unto this Advice, then take
thefe two Dire&ions.
I. Lay afide every Weight , and the Sins which more eajily
lefet you. Heb. 12. i. In a ferious and fweet Hour, when
you get alone and mourn and pray and give up your felf to
God, and think and refolve you will now be for ever the
Lord's, you are wont, uponSelf-Examination and a Review
of paft Times, to fee and fay, " This, that, and the other
*c Thing, has been the finful Occafion, Time after Time,
" of my lofmg a ferious gracious Frame of Heart, and by
<c fuch and fuch finful Means I have gradually loft a Senle
f* of divine and eternalThings, and fo have wandered from
« God
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 245
" God, and laid a Foundation for Darknefs and Sorrow,
-" O my Carelefnefs ! O that I had prayed more in fecret \
" O that I had fpent precious Time better, 6? c. &?<r." Thefe
now are the Weights, and thefe the Sins, which ealily befet
you, and thefe you muft lay afide for ever, if you defign
to be the Lord's indeed, and to make a Bufinefs of Religion
to Purpofe. But perhaps you will fay, " My worldly Bu-
" finefs, my necefTary Cares, . and the common Duties of
" Life, are fometimes the very Things, and thefe I ought
" not to lay afide, and what fhall 1 do in this Cafe ?"
I anfwer. That at another Time, the necefraryCares,Bufmefs
and Duties of Life, you find to be no Hindrances at all ;
even at fuch Times when you do all out of Love to God
and for God,with Singlenefs of Heart. If you will there
fore but always go about the common Duties of Life in
fuch a Manner, they will never be any Clog to you. What
you have therefore to do in the Cafe, is not to lay afide that
which is your Duty, but to lay afide your wrong Ends and
Aims. And thus you muft lay afide every Weight. — But,
2. If you defign to be religious in good earneft, then be
careful to ufe all proper Means ^ and do every proper Thing,
that has a Tendency to promote your fpiritual Life. Every
proper Thing I fay, to guard againit. thofe anti-fcriptural
Methods which Enthufiafts are wont to take, and by
which, above allThings, their falfeAffedions are promoted,
but which have a direct Tendency to kill the divine Life.
In a ferious Hour of fweet Retirement, and in happy Days
when you are neareft to Gj^l, and enjoy moil Communion
with him, and have your *nfes moil: accurate to difcern
between Good and Evil, you are wont to fee and fay,
" O how bleffed I might be, if I did always keep in this
" narrow Way, which now lies open plain before me ; if I
" were always ferious, watchful, prayerful, always reading,
" or meditadng,andiooking to God,and keeping myHeart,
" and improving every precious Moment of my Time wHe-
" \y for God," QV. Well,well, O Believer,this is the Way,
walk in it ; and youjhall be like a Tree planted by ibeRivers
of Water ^ that bringeth forth his Fruit in his Seafon^ whoft
Leaf never wither s9 and whatfoever you do /hall prcfpct
And after a few more Days and Weeks and Months aiui
R 3 ifc.!*
246 True Religion delineated Dis. L
Years fpent in Prayer and Faith and Holinefs, in this
your Pilgrimage-State, you fhall come and fit down with
Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God, and
dwell for ever with the Lord. Amen.
Now the God of Peace, tbat brought again from the Dead
eur Lord Jefus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, thro* the
Blood of the everlafting Covenant, make you perfeft in tvery
..good Work, to do his Will, working in you that which is welt
pleaftng in his Sight, thro' Jefus Chrift : to whom be glory
for ever and ever. AMEN.
True
"*
True Religion delineated.
DISCOURSE II.
Shewing the Nature of the GOSPEL, and of
a genuine Compliance with it.
JOH. IIL 1 6.
jR?r GOD fo loved the World, that he gave
his only begotten Son9 that whofoever be-
Ueveth in him, jhould not perijh, but have,
ever la/ting Life. .
The INTRODUCTION.
JHE grand Queftion before us,is, What is true
Religion ? And this is the general Anfwer,
// confifts in a real Conformity to the La<w^ and
in a genuine Compliance with theGofpel. What
is implied in a real Conformity to the Law,
has been already (hewn in the former Dif-
courfe ; and we come now to confider wherein a genuine
Compliance with the Go/pel does confift. From our Savi
our's Mouth we had before a brief Summary of the Law ;
and now from our Saviour's Mouth we have a brief Sum
mary of the Gofpel, in thefe comprehenfive Words, God fo
kwd the World) &c,
R 4
248 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Nicodmus came to him for Inftru&ion, believing him to
be a Teacher lent from God. Our Saviour begins imme
diately to inculcate upon him, the NecelTity of Regenera
tion and Faith. We are Sinners, are naturally dead in Sin \
and therefore muft be born again, be recovered to the di
vine Image in the Temper of our Minds, and fo be made
fpiritually alive. We are guilty, we need pardoningMercy
at tht Hands of the great Governour of the World ; but
he will grant it only thro* the Mediator he has appointed :
in him therefore muft we believe, x>n hisMerits and Media
tion muft we depend. Nicodemus could hardly under-
ftand the Doctrine of the new Birth -> and our Saviour inti
mates that the Myfteries of our Redemption by the Blood
of Chrift, were like to be ftill more difficult to him. We
can eafily. underftand worldly Things, for they are agreeable
to the Temper of our Minds, and fuit the Guft and Relifh
of our Hearts : but we are blind to Things fpiritual and
divine, are flow of Heart to underftand them, they not
fuiting the Temper and Relifh of our Hearts, and we be
ing in a Difpofition to difrelifh Things of fuch a Nature.
Therefore our Saviour obferves to Nicodemus, ver. 19. <This
is the Condemnation, that Light is come into the World^ but
Men love Darknefs rather than Light ^ becaufe their Deeds arc
Evil. We are in a State of Rebellion, at Enmity againft
God, and under his Wrath ; and yet ready thro' our Dark
nefs to flatter our felves that all is well .-, and fo are fecure
and atEafe : Light is come into theWorld,difcovering our
Difeafe and our Remedy, but we love our Difeafe, & loath
the Remedy ; and therefore hate the Light and will not
come to it. And thus our Saviour iozctesNicedemus where
in true Religion confifts, and points out the Averfion of
Mankind unto it. Nor is there any Thing that will difco-
ver our Averfion fo plainly, as to fet true Religion in it's
own IJght ; for when we fee clearly what it is, we may
perceive how we ftand affected towards tit : but otherwise
we may be eafily miftaken -s may imagine that we love true
Religion, when indeed we only love the falie Image we
have framed in our own Fancy. — Regeneration and Faith,
theie two great EfTentials, wherein alf. Religion radically
are. tiie Things. our Saviour "intulcates upon his
new
and diftin%uijhed from all Counterfeits. 249
new Difciple. Chrift loved to lay the Foundation well.
He was not fond of Converts, unlefs their Converfion was
found. And indeed, all our Religion is good for nothing,
if our Nature be not renewed •, and all our Communion
with God is but Fancy, if we are Strangers to Chrift •, for
he is the Way, the 'Truth and the Life, and no Man comes
to the Father but by him. But to proceed to the Words
of the Text, God fo lo-jed the World, &c.
GOD — i.e. God the Father, the firft Perfon in the ever-
bleffed Trinity, who fuftains the Dignity and Majefty of
God-head, and is eminently Lord of Heaven and Earth^
(Mat. ii. 25.) and prime Agent in the Works of Creation
and Providence, in governing the World, in redeeming,
fanctifying and faving of Sinners. Rom. 1 1 . 36. — That there
are three Perfons in the God-head, the Father, the Son,and
theHoly Ghofl, and that thefe Three are one God,theScrip-
tures do abundantly teach. (Mat. 28. 19. 2 Cor. 13. 13.
1 Job- 5- 7-) And this Doctrine we mud believe, or we
cannot underftand the Gofpel. -Plow they are l&ree&xA
how they are One, is not revealed, nor is it necefTary for
us to know : but that there are three Perfons in the God
head and yet but one God, we muft believe \ and what
Characters they fuftain, and what Parts they act in the
Affair of our Salvation, we muft underftand. — The
Gofpel reprefents God the Father^ as fovereign Lord of
Heaven and Earth, as righteous Governour of the World,
as giving Laws to his Creatures, as revealing his Wrath a-
gainft all Tranfgrefiions : He is reprefented as being in
jured and offended by our Sins, and concerned to maintain
the Honour of his Majefty, of his Law and Government
and facred Authority : He is reprefented as having Defigns
of Mercy towards a.fmful, guilty, ruined World ; and as
contriving and propofmg a Method of Recovery : He is
reprefented as one feated on a Throne of Grace, reconcila
ble thro' Jefus Chrift, and feeking to reconcile the World
to himfelf by Chrift, ordering Pardon and Peace to be pro
claimed thro' a guilty World to any and all who will return
to him in the Way prefcribed. — The Gofpd reprefents God
the Son, as being conftituted Mediator by his Father,that in
and by him he might open a Way to accomplifh his Des
fign-
250 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Itgns of Mercy towards a guilty World, confident with the
Honour of his Majefty, of his Holinefsand Juftice, of his
Law and Government. His Father appointed him to the
Office, and he freely undertook it. His Father fent him
into this World to enter upon the difficult Work, and he
willingly came. He was made Flejh, and dwelt among us.
Here he lived, and here he died, in the Capacity of a Me
diator. He arofe, he afcended into Heaven, and fits now
at his Father's right Hand, God-Man Mediator, exalted
to the higheft Honour, made Lord of all Things, and
Judge of the World. And now we are to have Accefs to
God by him, as our Mediator, high Prieft, IntercefTor and
Advocate, who has made compleat Atonement for %is in
the Days of his Abafemcnt, and has now fufficient Intereft
in the Court of Heaven. The Gofpel reprefents God
the Holy Ghofti as being fent of the Father as prime Agent,
and by the Son as Mediator, in the Character of an En-
lightner & Sanctifter: in order to bring Sinners effectually
to fee and be ferifible of their Sin, Guilt, and Ruin, to be
lieve the Gofpel, to truft in Chriil, and to return home to
God thro' him. And it is his Office to dwell in Believers,
to teach and lead them, to fanctify, quicken,ftrengthen and
comfort them,& to keep them thro' Faith untoSalvation. —
The Father is God by Nature, and God by Office : the
Son is God by Nature,and Mediator by Office. The Spirit
is God by Nature, and San&ifler by Office. The Father,
as Governour, Lawgiver, Judge and Avenger,has allPower
in Heaven and Earth, in and of himfelf. Matth. n. 25,
The Son, as Mediator, derives all his Authority from the
Father. Matth. 1 1. 27. The Holy Spirit acts as being fent
by them both, by the Father as fupreme Governour dealing
with a finful, guilty World thro' a Mediator -, by the Son as
Mediator negociating a Reconciliation betweenGod &Man.
Joh. 14. 1 6. — The Father maintains the Honour of the
God-head, and of his Government, and difplays his Grace,
while he ordains that Sin mall be punifhed, the Sinner
frumbled, and brought back to God, and into a Subjection
to his Will, anfl in that Way be pardoned & finally faved.
Sin is punifhecfin the Son as Mediator, Handing in the
Room of the Qyilty. Afld the Sinner is. humbled, bro't
back
and dtftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 251
back to God, and into a Subje&ion to his Will, by the
J3.oly Spirit *, and in this Way is pardoned and faved. And
thus the Son aad the Spirit honour the Father as fupreme
Governour, and all join in the fame Defign to difcounte-
nance Sin, humble the Sinner, and glorify Grace. Thus
far briefly of the Do&rine of the Trinity. Right Ap-
prehenfions of God help us to underftand the Law,
and right Apprehenfions of the Trinity will help us to un
derftand the Gofpel. Not how they are three Perfons and
yet but one God, the Manner of which is not needful to be
known ; but the Offices and Characters they fuftain, and
the different Parts they- ad in the great Affair of faving
Sinners. — God (fays the Text) fo loved the World^ that he
gave his only begotten Son •, that whofoever believeth in him*
Ihould not perijh) but have everlajiing Life, i." e. God the Fa
ther, the great Governour of the World, whom we had
offended by Sin—
So LOVED the Wortd i, e. with a Love of Bene
volence. Efteem us he could not \ for we were worthlefs
and vile : To delight in us, it was impofftble ; for we were
altogether odious and abominable. But to have a Good
will towards us, or a Will to do us Good, this he might
have, altho* we were finful and guilty : Not indeed from
any Motive in us ; for if we were viewed, and our Temper
and Circumilances confidered, there was not to be feen
one Motive to, Pity, no, not the leaft ; but every Motive
to Indignation and Wrath. However, from Motives with
in himfelf, he might will to do us Good, notwithftanding
our Sin and Guilt. The felf-moving Goodnefs of his Na
ture did excite him, from the good Pleafure of his Will, to
the Praife of the Glory of his Grace, to defign Mercy to
wards a finful, guilty, ruined World. — God fo loved theJ¥orld.
The WORLD - — i. e. all Mankind, all thePoilerity
of Adam. For what follows, is evidently true, of every In
dividual : That he gave his only begotten Son^ that whofoever
believes in him^Jhould notperifh^ but have tverlafting Life,
SO loved i. e. fo inconceivably, fo unfpeakably.
That he GAVE his only begotten Son — i. e. of his
mere, pure Goodnefs conftituted him .to be a Mediator, ap
pointed- hinrto be a Redeemer and Saviour, to make Atone
ment
252 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
ment for Sin and purchafe divine Favours, and fo to open
a Way for Sinners to return to God with Safety, and for
God to fhew Mercy to them with Honour. God fo loved
the World, i. e. all the Race of Adam* that he gave his only
begotten Son, immediately upon theApoftacy of Mankind;
for then was this Seed of the Woman promifed, (Gen. 3. 15.)
that all, being by Nature Children of Wrath, might be pre
vented by divine Goodnefs. God faw all involved in Sin
and Guilt and Ruin, by Adanfs firft Sin : And fo he pro
vided a Saviour for all -, that who fo ever believes in kim^flwuld
not perijh, but have ever lofting Life.
Should not PEfilSH. He viewed all Mankind as
finful and guilty, loft, undone and periming, /'. e. expofed
to the Wrath of God and Curfe of the Law, to all, the Mi-
feries of this Life, to Death it felf, and to the Pains of Hell
for ever. And he gave his only begotten Son to be a Sa
viour,
That whofoever BELIEF E*TH in him, i. e. that
ventures upon his Atonement, his Worth and Merits, his
Mediation and Interceflion, for divine Acceptance •, fo as
to be thence emboldened to return Home to God, upon
the Invitation of the Gofpel. That all fuch Jhould not
periih, But
Have EVERLASTING LIFE i. e. the everlaft-
ing Indwelling of the holy Spirit as a Sanftifier and Com
forter, to be a never-failing Spring of a new, a fpiritual and
divine Life ; everlafting Union and Communion with
Chrift, and the everlafting Favour and Enjoyment of God
thro' him.
Thus we have in thefe Words a brief View of the glori
ous Gofpel of the blefTed God. And from them we may
learn, (i.) That God, the great Governourof the World,
confidered Mankind, as being in zferifbirig Condition, /. e.
finful, guilty, juftly condemned, helplefs and undone. (2.)
That it was merely from Motives within himfelf^ that he has
done, what he has, for their Recovery out of this State.
(3.) That he has conftituted his Son a Mediator, Redeemer
and Saviour, that thro' him Sinners might be faved. (4-)
That he has appointed Faith in Chriify to be the Condition
of Salvation.—- —-Here therefgre I will endeavour to fhew,
I. Upon
and diftinguijh edfrom allCounterfeits. 2 5 3
I. Upon what Grounds it was, that God, the great Go-
vernour of the World, did confider Mankind, as being in a
perijhing Condition, /. e. finful, guilty, juftly condemned,
helpleis and undone.
II. What were the Motives^ which excited him to do,
what he has done, for their Recovery.
III. What Neceffity there was of a Mediator zndRedeemer,
and how the Way to Life has been opened by him whom
God has provided.
IV. What is the true Nature of faving Faith in Him.
And Ib by the Whole, to explain the Nature of theGofpel,
and of a genuine Compliance therewith. — And in the laft
Place,
V. Will confider the Promife of everlafting Life to thofe
who believe.
SECTION I.
Shewing the Reafbns why God does in the
Gofpel confider Mankind as being in a
perifhing Condition.
I. I am to mew upon what Grounds it was, that
the great Governour of the World^ did confider Mankind as
being in a perifhing Condition^ i. e. (infill, guilty, juftly con
demned, helplefs and undone, - That he did confider
Mankind as being in a perifhing Condition, is evident, be-
caufe he gave his only begotten Son, that they might not
ferijh who fhould believe in him. If we were not in a
perifhing Condition, his giving his Son to fave us from
Perdition had been needlefs : and his pretending greatLove
and Kindnefs in doing fo, had been to affront us •, to make
as if we were undone Creatures, when we were not •, and
as if we were much beholden to him for his Goodnefs,
when we could have done well enough without it. And
the more he pretends of his great Love and Kindnefs, the
greater muft the Affront be. So that, however we look
upon our felves, 'tis certain that God, who fees ail Things
as being what -they are> - did actually look upon .us, as in a
perilhing
254 7 rue Religion delineated Dis. II.
perifhing, loft, undone Condition. — And if he confidcrcd
us as being in iuch a Condition, it mult have been becaufe
he looked upon us as finful, guilty, juftly condemned and
altogether helplefs ; for otherwife we \vere not in a perifh-
ing Condition. If we could have helped our felves a little,
we fhould not have needed one to fave us, but only to
help us to fave our felves :, but our Salvation in Scripture
is always attributed wholly to God ; and God every where
takes all the Glory to himfelf, as tho' in very Deed he had
deferved it all. (Eph. i. 3 — 6. and 2. i — 9.) So that it is
certain, God did look uponMankind as being in a perilhing
Condition, finful, guilty, juftly condemned, and altogether
helplefs : and confidering us in fuch a Condition, he enter
ed upon his Defigns of Mercy and Grace •, and therefore
he every where magnifies his Love, and looks upon us as
infinitely beholden to him, and under infinite Obligations
to afcribe to him all the Glory and Praife, even quite all.
*fbat no Flejh Jhould glory in his Pre fence. But be that
glorieth) let him glory in the Lord, i Cor. i. 29, 31.
It is of great Importance therefore, that we come to look
upon our felves as being in fuch a perifhing Condition too -9
for otherwife it is impoffible we fhould ever be in a Difpo-
fition thankfully to accept Gofpel-Grace, as it is offered
unto us. We mall rather be offended, as thinking the
Gofpel cafts Reproach upon human Nature,in fuppofing us
to be in fuchaforlornCondition,as toftandinaperilhingNeed
of having fo much done for us. As the Jews of old fcorned
it, when Chrift told them, If they would become his Difciples,
they Jhould knew the Truth, and the Truth Jhould make them
free. They took it as an Affront, and were ready to fay,
" What ! Juft as if we were in Bondage ! Indeed no. We
" were never in Bondage to any Man. We have Abraham
<c to our Father, and God is our Father j but thou haft a
M Devil." Joh. 8. 31 — 48. They would not underftand
him,they were all in a Rage. And fo it is like to be with us,
withRegard to the Methods, which God has taken with us
in the Gofpel, unlefs we look upon our felves as he does,
fo wretched and miferable, fo poor, blind and naked, fo
helplefs, loft and undone. It is the want of this Self- Ac
quaintance, together with $ fond Notion of our being in a
much
and diflinguifoed from all Counterfeits 255
much better Cafe than we be, that raifes fuch a mighty
Cry againft the Do&rines of Grace, thro' a proud, impeni
tent, guilty World,
And fince God does thus look upon us to be in fuch a
perifhing Condition, and upon this Suppofition enters on
his Defigns of Mercy and Grace, here now therefore does
the Queflion recur, Upon what Grounds is it, that he
conjiders us as being in fuch a perijhing Condition ? •
Grounds he muft have, and good Grounds too, or he would
never thus look upon us. If we may rightly underfland
what they be, perhaps we may come to look upon our
felves as he does ; and then the Grace of the Gofpel will
begin to appear to us, in the fame Light it does to him.
TheGrounds then, are as follows.
i . God the great Governour of the World, does in the
Gofpel confider Mankind as being guilty of Adam's firft Sin9
and on that Account to be in a perifhing Condition. In
Adam all died) ( i Cor. .15. 22.) But Death is the Wages of
Sin: (Rom. 6. 23.) Therefore in Adam all finned. For by
one Mem Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin ; and Jo
Death paffed upon all Men, for that all have Jinned. i. e. fin
ned in Adam. (Rom, 5. 12. ) for (f. 19. ) By one Man9 s
Dij obedience many were made Sinners. And accordingly by the
Offence of one, Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation.
And hence all are by Nature Children of Wrath. (E.^}\. 2. 3.)
OBJ. But how can we be guilty of Adam's fir ft Sin ? It
was he committed it, and not we ; and that without our Con
fent, and a long tfime before we were born.
ANS. Adam, by divine Appointment, flood and acted as
our publick Head. He flood a Reprefentative in theRoom
of all his Poflerity ; and accordingly acted not only for
himfelf, but for them. His fuftaining this Character ren
dered him a Type of Chrifl, thefecond Adam, who has bid
down his Life in the Room andSteai of Sinners. And his
being fpoken of in Scripture as a Type of Chrifl with Ref-
pect to this Character of a publick Head, proves that he did
actually fuflain fuch a Character. (Rom.- 5. 14.) And there
fore as by the Obedience of Chrifl y many are mack Righte
ous •, fo by the Difobedience of Adam, many are made Sin
ners. (y% 19.) i. e. by the Imputation of Chrift's Obedience
Believers
256 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Believers become legally righteous *, righteous in the Sight
of God by Vertue of an eitablifhed Conftitution \ and fo
have the Reward of eternal Life : So by the Imputation of
Adam's firft Sin, his Poilerity by ordinary Generation, be
came legally Sinners, Sinners in the Sight of God by Ver
tue of an eitablifhed Conftitution, and fo are expofed to the
Punifhment of eternal Death, the proper Wages of Sin.
Now it is true, we did not PERSONALLY rife in Rebellion a-
gainft God in that firft Tranfgreffion, but he who did do it
was our Reprefentative. We are Members of the Commu
nity he a6ted for, and God confiders us as fuch -, and there
fore looks upon us as being legally guilty, and liable to be
dealt with accordingly : And fo on this Account in a pe-
riihing Condition. But perhaps fome will (till be ready to
fay, '" And where is thejuftice of all this ?" Methinks the
following Confiderations, if we will he difmtereftedly inv
partial, may fet the Matter in a fatisfying Light.
( i.) That the original Conftitution made with Adam, as. to
bimfelf perfonally confider ed, was holy,juft and good.
(2.) That if all his Pofterity had been put under the fame
'Conftitution, one by one ', from Age to Age, as they came intoBe-
ing, to aft for themjehes, it had alfo been holy,juft and good.
(3.) That it was, in the Nature of the Thing, in all Ref-
fefts, as well for our Inter eft, that Adam Jkould be made our
fublickHead &? Reprefentative, to aft not only for hiwfelf, but
for all his Pofterity, as that we Jhould each ft and and aft for
himfelf fingly ; and in fome Reffefts better.
(4.) That in fuch a Cafe, God, asfufreme Lord and fove-
reign Governour of the whole JVorld, had full Power and right-
ful Authority to conftitute Adam our common Head and pub-
lick Reprefentative^ to aft in our Behalf. Let us there
fore diftindly confider thefe Particulars.
(i.) It is to be noted, the original Conftitution made
with Adam, (Gen. 2. 17.) as to himfelf ferfonally conftdered^
was holy, juft and good, as will appear if we confider the
Circumftances he was under, antecedent to thatConftitution
or Covenant. For,
In tkejirft Place, Antecedent to that Covenant-Tranfac-
tion, he was under infinite Obligations from the Reafon
and Nature of Things, to lore God with all his Heart and
obey
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 257
obey him in every Thing. From the infinite Excellence and
Beauty of the divine Nature, and from God's original, en
tire Right to him, as his Creature, and abfolute Authorky
over him, as his .'Subject, did his infinite Obligation fo to
do, neceflarily arife. It was jit, it was infinitely fit and
right, that he ihould look upon the infinitely glorious God
his Maker and Governour, as being what he >vas, and as
havinp; fuch a Right to him and Authority over him as he
had, arri that he fhouid be affefted and aR accordingly, an
tecedent to the Confideration of any Covenant-Tranfaction.
And no Doubt, this was actually the Cafe with him, be
fore that Covenant was made •, tor he was created in the
Image of God, (Gen. i. 27.) And fo his Heart was full of
a Senfe of his Glory, and of admiring and adoringTho'ts :
He ft- It that he was not his own, but the Lord's •, and he
loved him and was entirely devoted to him, in the Temper
of his Mind, cpnfcious of -the infinite Obligations he was
under thereto. And farther, 'tis certain that God was
the fole Lord and Owner of this lower World, and all
Things in it •, and that Adam had no Right to any Thing
but by a divine Grant. And 'tis certain, it was fit that
Adam fhouid be put into a State of ^rial^ and that God
had Authority to do it.
And now fince he was naturally under fuch infinite Ob
ligations to love and obey God his Maker, God the fu-
preme Lord and fovereign Governour of all Things ; fince
he had no Right to any of the Trees of the Garden, but by
the free Grant of God •, and fince it was fit he fhouid be
put into a State of Trial, and God had Authority to do it :
Since thefe Things were fo, it is evident, that Conftitutioa
was HOLY, In the Day thou eateft thereof, thoujloalt furely
die. God had a Right to make fuch a Law ; for Adam
was his, and all the Trees in the Garden were his, and he
was by Nature GOD, SUPREME LORD AND SOVE
REIGN GOVERNOUR of the whole World, and it was
fitting he fhouid act as fuch : And it was infinitely fit thac
Adam mould have a facred Regard to his Authority in all
Things, becaufe he was fuch •, and that his eternal Welfare
fhouid lie at Stake, and be fufpended upon his good Beha
viour.— — And no Doubt Adam^ viewed Things thus, and
S was
258 True Religion delineated Di s . II.
was thoro*iy fenfible that God had a Right to prohibit that
Tree upon Fain of Death, and that he was under infinite
Obligations to have a moft facred Regard to hit Will in
that Matter. Thus that Conftitution was Holy.
And if we confider, in the next Place ^ that, as has been
obferved, Adam was under infinite Obligations to love God
his Maker with all his Heart, and obey him in everyThing,
refulting from the very Reafon and Nature of Things, it
will appear that the "Threatmngwas jufi ; and no more than
what he muft have expe&ed, had he fallen into any Sin
whatfoever, antecedent to any Constitution at all. — Adam^
in £ State of pure Nature^ i, e. prior to any Covenant-Tranf-
flftion.) was under infinite Obligations to perfect Love and
perfect Obedience \ the leaft Defect therefore muft have
been infinitely finful -9 and fo by Confequence muft have
deferved an infinite Punifhment. And it was meet that
God the Governour of the World fhould punifh Sin accord
ing to it's realDcfert : in the Nature of Things it was meet,
antecedent to any exprefs Declaration of his Defign to do
fo, And Adam knew all this. He knew what Obligations
he was under to God, to love him with all his Heart and
obey him in every Thing \ and by Confequence, he was
confcjous to himielf that the leaft Defect would be an infi
nite Evil, and fo would deferve an infinite Punifhment ;
and he knew that it was the Nature of God to render to
every one according to their Deferts : he was certain there
fore, from the Reafon and Nature of Things, antecedent
to that Threatning, that the leaft Sin would expofe him to
an infinite Punifhment.- From this View of the Cafe,
it is plain, that that 'Threatning wasjuft^nd Adam did rnoft
perfectly approve of it as fuch. It was no more than
k was reafonable for Adam to expect, and meet for God to
inflict, for any Tranfgreffion of the Law of Nature. And
it was againft the Law of Nature, for Adam to eat the for*
bidden Fruit, when once God had faid, he fhould not. It
was a practical denying of God's Supremacy, and cafting
off his Authority, and an actually fetting up of his Will
ftgainft the Lord's, If any Sin therefore deferted an infi
nite Punifhmem, finely; that did,
Remark,
and dijlinguijhed from all Counter felts. 259
Remark. And here by the Way, from this View of the
Cafe, we may gain a certain Knowledge of what God meant.
byfThouJhalt furely die •, or as it is in theOriginal, In dying
thou Jhalt die ; and may be certain htiwAdam underftood it.
— He did not mean, that Adam fhould be annihilated ; for
fuch a Punifh merit was not equal to theCrime. He might
without Injuftice have annihilated Adamy had he remained
innocent ; for he that gives Being of his mere good Plea-
fure, may of his mere good Pleafure take it away again.
Nor could Adam have brought God into Debt by a thou-
fand Years perfect Obedience -, for he owed himfelf and
all he could do, to God his Maker. Rom. 1 1. 35. God
meant to punifh Adam according to his Deferts ; but Anni
hilation would not have been fuch a Punimment : And
therefore it is certain that this was not what God meant.
Adam knew that Sin was an infinite Evil, and fo defer ved
an infinite Punimment, and that it was meet it fhould be
punifhed according to it's Deferts, and that it was the Na
ture of God to do fo •, but Annihilation was not fuch a Pu
nimment, and Adam could not but know it : And there-
tore Adam could not underftand Death in this Senfe.
God meant to punifh Adam according to his Deferts. And
what did he deferve ? Why, an infinite Puniftiment,
i. e. to have all Good taken away, and all Kinds of Evil
come upon him for ever. Well, what Good had Adam in
Poffeflion ! Why, he had a natural Life, refulting from the
Union of hisSoul and Body, with all theDelights andSweet-
nefles thereof : And he had zjpiritual Life, refwlting from
the gracious Influences of the holy Spirit, and confuting
in the Image of God and Senfe of his Love, with all theDe
lights andSweetnefTes thereof: And he was formed forlm-
mortality, and fo was in a Capacity of eternal Life and
BlefTetlnefs in glorifying God and enjoying of him. Here
therefore he was capable of a natural^ zfpiritual and anf-
ternal Death •, to have Soul and Body rent afunder for ever,
to be forfaken by the Spirit of God and given up to the
Power of Sin and Satan for ever, and to have God Al
mighty become his everlafting Enemy. All this he
deferved •, and therefore God meant all this. All this he
knew he fhould deferve 5 and therefore he could not but
S 2
260 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
underhand the Threatning to comprehend all this.
Befides,that which makes it ftill more certain, that this was
the Meaning of that firfl Thi earning, is, thatGod hasfmce
very exprefly threatned eternal Death as the Wages of the
leaftSin. Rom i. 18. Gal. 3. 10. Matt. 25. 46. ( And the
Word DEATH it felf is plainly ufed to fignify eternal
•Death and Mifery. Rcm. 6. 23. Rom. 8. 13, ) So that either
now he means to punifh Sin more than it defer ves, or he
intended then to punifh Sin lefs than it deferved, or elfe
eternalDeath was what he always meant, by threatningD^?/£
as the Wages of Sin. If he means to punifh-Sin now more
than he did then, it is too much now, or not enough then ;
both which are equally contrary to the Reafon and Nature
of Things, and equally inconfiftent with the impartial Juf-
tice of the divine Nature, which always inclines him to
render to every one according to their Defer ts, nor more,
nor lefs : And therefore eternal Death was intended in that
firft Threatning. But this by the Way.
And, Laftlyi as that Conilitution was holy and juft, fo
alfo it was Good. Becaufe it put Adam ( perfonally confi-
dered) under better Circumilances than he was before. For
while in a State of pure Nature, perfect Obedience could
not have given him any Title to eternal Life •, but, as was
faid before, God might have annihilated him at Pleafure,
after a Hundred, or a Thoufand, or ten Thoufand Years,
without any Injuftice to him. (Job 22. z.Rc'm.ii. 35.) But
now under this Conilitution he had an AiTurance ot eternal
Life upon perfect Obedience. For inafmuch as God threat
ned Death inCafe he fhould fin, it is evidently implied that
he fhould have lived for ever in Cafe he had been obedient.
So that there was infinite Goodnefs manifefted to Adam
( perfonally confidered ) in this Conflitution, eternal Life
being thus promifed of mere unmerited Bounty. And be-
fides, after a While his State of Trial would have been at
an End, and he confirmed in an immutable State of Holi-
nefs and Happinefs •, of which Confirmation the Tree of
Life feems to have been defigned as a facramental Sign.Gen..
3. 22. Rev. 2. 7. and 22. 14. Whereas had he remained
in a State of pure Nature, he muft have been everlaftingly
in a Stftte of Probation, had it : pleafed his Maker to have
continued
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 261
continued him in: Being. So that, upon the Whole, it is
plain, this Cqnftitution, as to Adam perfonally confidered,
was holy^ juft za&good. And wdam had great Reafon, with
all his .Heart to give Thanks to God his Maker, for his
Goodnefs andCondefcenfion, that he would be fo kind and
(loop fo low, as to enter into fuch a Covenant with aWorm
of the Duit : And no Doubt, he did fo with the fincereft
Gratitude. We proceed therefore to confider,
(2.) That if all his Pofterity had been put under this fame
Conftitution, one by one^ from Age to Age, as they came into
Being) toaftfingly for themf elves ^ it had alfo, as to them^havt
been HOLT, JUST and GOOD. As it was better for Adam
than a State of pure Nature, fo it would have been for the
fame Reafon better for us. We (had we remained in a State
of pure Nature, i.e. without any Confutation at all) fhould
have been each one of us under the fame infinite Obligation
to perfect Obedience to the Law of Nature, and equally
expofcd to the fame infinite Punifhment for the leaft Sin, as
he was, and as much without a Title to Life upon perfect
Obedience, and as liable to be everlaftirigly in a State of
Probation. And therefore fuch a Conftitution would have
been as great a Favour to us, as it was to him -, and we
equally under Obligations to Gratitude and Thankfulnefs
to God therefor. But,
(3.) // was as well for our Inter eft, in the Nature of the
Thing, in all Refpefts, that Adam Jhould be made a publick
Head and Representative Jo aft not only for bimfelfjut for all
his Pofterity^ as if we had been put to attfingly for our f elves \
and infome Refpefts better. For, Adam was,in the Nature of
the Thing, in all Refpects, as likely to (land, as any of us
fhould have been, and in fome Refpects more likely. For
he had as good natural Powers, as much of the Image of
God, and as great a Senfe of his Obligations, as any of us
fhould have had •, and had in all Refpects as many Motives
to Watchfulnefs ; and in fome Refpects more, — in that not
/only his own everlafting Welfare lay at Stake, but alfo the
everlafting Welfare of all his Pofterity too. Befides, he
had juft received the Law from God's own Mouth, and he
was in a State of perfect Manhood when his- Trial beg<m.
So that upon tjie whole, in the Nature of the Thing, it
S 3 was
2 62 "True Religion defalcated Dis. II.
was more likely he fhould ftand,than that any of us ihould -,
and therefore it was more for our Intereft,that he mould aft
for us,than we for ourfelves. — But if we had been put to ad
fingly for our felves under fuch a Conftitution, it had been
much better than to be left in a State of pure Nature, and
fo we mould have had great Caufe of Thankfulnefs to God
for his Condefcenfion and Goodnefs ; but to have Adam
appointed to aft for us, was in the Nature of the Thing,
flill more to our Advantage ; on the Account of which, we
have therefore ftillgreaterCaufe of Thankfulnefs to the good
Governour of the World. It is infinite Wickednefs there
fore, to fly in the Face of Almighty God, and charge him
with Unrighteoufnefs, for appointing Adam our Head and
Reprefentative. We ought rather to fay, " The Conftitu-
" tion was holy, juft and good, yea, very good ; but to
" us belongs Shame and Confufion of Face, for that we
" have finned."
OBJ. But God knew how it would turn out^ he knew Adam
•would fall and undo himfelf and all his Race.
ANSW. When God called Abraham ', and chofc him and
his Seed for his peculiar People, to give them diftinguifh-
ing Advantages and Privileges, and that profefTediy un
der the Notion of great Kindnefs and unfpeakable Good
nefs ; yet at the fame Time he knew how they would turn
out, how they would be a itiff-necked People, and would
kill his Prophets, his Son and Apoilles, and fo be caft off
from being his People. He knew all this before-hand^ yet
that altered not the Nature of the Thing at all ; did not
dirninifh his Goodnefs, nor leflcn his Grace. And the
Jwvijh Nation at this Day haveReafon to fay, £C TheLord's
Ways have been Ways of Goodnefs, and bleficd be his
" Name •, but to us belongs Shame and Confufion oiFace,
" for that we have finned."
OBJ. Yesy but God decreed that Adam Jhould fall.
ANSW. He did not decree that Adam Ihould fall, any
more than he did, that the Seed of Abraham mould turn
put iuch a {tiff-necked, rebellious Race. He decreed to
permit both to do as they did •, but this neither lefiens his
O'oodjiefs, nor their Sin : for God is not obliged to put
^ures under fuch Circumilances as chat they mall
never
and diftinguljhed from all. Counterfeits. 263
never be tempted nor tried ; and when they are tried, he is
not obliged to keep them from falling : it is enough, that
they have fufficient Power to ftand if they will ; which
was the Cafe with Adam. — Befides, God had wife Ends in
permiting Adam to fall ; for he defigned to take Occafion
therefrom to difplay all his glorious Perfections in the moft
illuftrious Manner* So that we may fay of it (and fliould,
if we loved God above our felves) as Jofeph does of his
Brethren's felling him, Te meant it for Evil, but the Lord
meant it for Good : So here, Satan meant it for Evil, but
God meant it for Good -9 even to bring much Glory to his
greatName. Therefore be ftill,and adore his holy Sovereign
ty. And at the fame time acknowledge, that the Conftituti-
on, in its pwnNature, was holy, juft and good, — Yea, very
good.-*— Thefe Thing,s being, confidered, I proceed to add,
(4.) tfbat in f neb a Cafe, God, as fupreme Lord andfove-
reign Governour of the whole World, had full Power and
rightful Authority to conftitute Adam our common Head and
publick Reprefentative, to aft in our Behalf, For, as the Cafe
flood, there could be no reafonable Objection againft it,
. Adam was not held up to hard Terms. The Threatnmg
in Cafe of Difobedience was ftrictly juft. The Conftitution
in it's own Nature was vaftly for the Interefl of Adam and
of all his Race. Adam was already eonftituted the natural
Head of all Mankind ; for God bleffed him, faying^ Be fruit*
ful and multiply and replenijh the Earth. Gen. i. 28. All
his Race, had they then exifted, would, if they had been
wife for themfelves, readily have confented to fuch a Con
ftitution, as being well adapted to the general Good, ( So
Men are wont to do, when their Eftates lie at Stake, or their
Lives ; if they think that an Attorney is likely to manage
the Cafe for them better than they can for themfelves, they
will choofe him, and venture the Cafe with him, rather
than with themfelves.) So that the only Queftion is, whe
ther God had, in fo unexceptionable a Cafe, full Power
and rightful Authority to- conftitute Adam a publickHead,
to ftand as a moral Reprefentative for all his Race and act
in their Behalf, ib that they fhould ftand and fait with
him ?• Or in other Words, ( for it all comes to the fame
Thing) whether in any Cafe whatfoever,God has full Powa
S 4
264 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
and rightful Authority to appoint one to Hand and act
in the Room of another, ib as to lay a Foundation for the
Conduct of the one to be fo imputed to the other, as that
both mail ftand and fall together ? And fo it is as much of
a Queftion, whether God had Power and Authority to
conftitute the fecond Adam a publick -Head, as the frfi ?
if God had not full Power and rightful Authority, to ap
point the firft Adam to be our publick Head and moral
Reprefentative, to ftand and act in our Behalf, fo as to lay
a Foundation for his Conduct to be fo imputed to us, as
that we mould ftand and fall with him : ^bm he had not
full Power and rightful Authority, to appoint the feccndAdam
to be a publick Head and moral Reprefentative, to ftand
and act in the Room of a guilty World, fo as to lay a Foun
dation for his Righteoumefs to be fo imputed to them that
believe in him, as that they ihould be juftifled and faved
thro' it. For if God has not Power to conftitute one to
ftand and acl in the Room of another, in any Cafe whatfo-
ever ; and if on this Foot, we fay he had not Power to ap
point thefrft Adam^ 'tis plain that on the fame Foot, he
had no Power to appoint fat fecond. I fuppofe it will be
readily granted, that if God has Power, in any Cafe
whatfoever, to conftitute one to ftand and acl: in the
Room of another, in the Manner aforefaid ; then he had in
thefe two Inftances of Adam and Cbrift* which are doubt-
lefs, on ail Accounts, in themfelves, moft unexceptionable.
But if God, in no Cafe whatfoever, has Power to appoint
one thus to ftand and act in the Room of another, then
both thefe Conftitutions are effectually undermined and
render'd null and void. We can neither be guilty c£ Adam's
iirft Sin, fo as juftly to be expo fed to Condemnation and
Ruin therefor ; nor can the Righteoufnefs of Cbrtjt be
fo imputed to us, as to intitle us to Juftification and Life.
One Man's Difobedience cannot conftitutt many to be Sin
ners, nor the Obedience of one conftitute many to be righ
teous. We can neither be ruined by the frft Adam^ nor
redeemed by the fecond. Under the Jewi/b Difpenfation
it was ordained ( Lev. 16.) that Aaron jhould lay both Ins
Hands upon the Head of the live-Goat, and confefs ever him
ail the Iniquities of the ^Children cf ljr#e/> and all their Trdnf-
grejpons
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 265
greflions in all their Sins, putting them upon the 'Head of the
Goat, and fend him away by the Hand of a ft Man into the
Wildernejs. And (fays God) the Goat /hall bear upon him
all their Iniquities, unto a Land not inhabited. We u fed to
to think, this fcape-Goat was defigned by God to typify
Chrift. And the Scripture has taught us in exprefs Lan
guage, that the. Iniquities of us all were laid on hirft, that he
bare our Sins^ that he was made a Cur fe for us, that by his
Obedience many arc wade righteous. (If at. 53. 6. Pet. 2. 24.
Gal. 3. 13. Rom. $. iq.) But if God has not Authority to
conftitute one to ftanrd and ad in the Room of another,
this muft all be void and of none Efted. And thus while
Men are diiputing againft the original COnftitution with
Adam, they unawares undermine this fecond Conftitution,
which is the Foundation of all our Hopes. Eager to avoid
Adam's firft Sin, whereby comes Condemnation -, they.ien- ^
der of none Effed . Chrift's Righteoufnefs, whereby cdmes
J uflification. And if Chrift did not Hand and act as a
publick Perfon, if our Sins were not laid upon hinv if he
did not bare them on the Tree, if he was not made a Curie
for us, and if we are not to be pardoned thro' his Atone
ment and juftiried thro' his Righteoufnefs, then the Gofpel
is all a Fabie, and the whole Scheme of our Salvation there
in revealed is wholly overthrown. What remains therefore
but Deifm and Infidelity ? But in as much as we have full
Evidence to the Truth of the Chriftian Revelation, and
may be allured that it is from God, we may therefore be
confirmed in it, that Jefus Chrift has been by God the great
Governour of the World appointed a publick Perfon, to
Hand and ad, to obey and fuffer in our Room, that thro*
his Obedience and Sufferings we might have Pardon and
eternal Life. And from this Fad we may be allured, that
God has full Power and rightful Authority to conftitute
one to ftand and ad in the Room of another. And if he
has fuch Authority, nothing hinders but that he might
conftitute Adam to be our publick Head, as has been faid.
Befides, if we confider the Nature of the Thing it felf, it
is plain that God had Power to conftitute Adam our pub-
lick Head. For God as moral Governour of the World
and fovereign Lord of all Things has Power to make any
Conftitution
266 True Religion delineated 'Dis. II,
Conftitution whatsoever, vrhich does in it's own Nature
agree to the eternal Fitnefs of Things, or in other. Words,
which is agreeable to his own Perfe&ions. But all will
grant,that Conftitution is agreeable to his own Perfe&ions,
which, in its own Nature is fuited to the Glory of God and
Good of the Creatures. Now this Conftitution with Adam
v/as in its own Nature fuited to the general Good of Man
kind, becaufe the Welfare of Mankind was in the Nature
of the Thing fafer and better fccured upon fuch a Foot,
than if every fingie Child of Adam had been left in a State
of pure Nature without any Conftitution at all, or than if
they had every one been put to act fmgly for himfelf : as
has been before proved. And it was well fuited to the
Glory of God, becaufe in that Conftitution, confidered in
it's own Nature, God eminently appeared to be what he
was. For in it he appeared as the MOST HIGH GOD,
' the SUPREME LORD and SOVEREIGN GOVER-
NOUR of the whole World -, for in it he afted asfevereign
Lcrd of his Creatures, as being by Nature God^ and as hav
ing an abfolute Right to and Authority ever the Works of
his Hands. And when God acts fo, as by his Conduct to
fhew what he is, then are his Doings fuited to his own
Glory ; for nothing is more to his Glory, than to appear to
be what he is. And in as much as the Conftitution it felf
was well fuited to the general Good of Mankind, God did.,
in making of it, act a kind and tender Part towards the
human Race, to the Honour and Glory of his Goodnefs.
And while eternal Life was promifed to perfect Obedience,
and eternal Death threatned toDifobedienee, God's infinite
Love to Vertue and infiniteHatred of Vice were manifefted,
to the Glory of his Holinefs and Juftice. Since then that
Conftitution was thus, in it's own Nature, fuited to our
Good and God's Glory *, there is no doubt but the fove-
icign Lord and Governour of all Things, had full Power
and rightful Authority, fo to appoint : for in fo doing, he,
would ad agreeable to his own Perfections, and the eternal
Fitnefs of Things.
BUT TO CONCLUDE, We may be abundantly
fatisfied, not only from the Nature of the Thing, but alfo
from what God ka$ in Faft done* that that CcmftitutioJi was
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 267
holy, juft and Good, and that he had full Power and right
ful Authority to do as he did, becaufe otherwife he would
never have done fo j he would never have made fuch a
Conftitution. It is plain and evident from Faffsy that
Adam was confidered and dealt with under the Capacity
of a publick Head, and that Death natural^ ffiritual and
eternal were included in the Threatning ; for all his Pofte^
rity are evidently dealt withjuft as if that bad been the Cafe.
They are bomfpiritually dead? as has been proved in the
former Difcourfe. They are evidently liable to natural
Deatb^ as loon as they are born. And if they die and go
into Eternity with their native Temper, they muft necefTa-
rily be miferable, in being what they are, unlike to God and
uncapable of the Enjoyment of him, and contrary to him.
And God muft neceffarily look upon them with evcrlafting
Abhorrence ; for he cannot but abhor Creatures whofe
Tempers are contrary to him. So that here is eternal Death.
And all in Coniequence of Adam\ firft Sin.
Now then, if indeed we are in Faff dealt with juft as we
mould have been, had Adam been our publick Head, there
can furely need no farther Evidence to prove that this was
the Cafe •, for the Judge of all the Earth cannot but do Right :
And therefore he would not deal with us as being guilty
of Adam's firft Sin, were not Adam our Reprefentative.
But had Adam been our Reprefentative, and his firil Sin
imputed to us ; yet then we fhould have been dealt with no
otherwife than now we ; are i. e. On Suppolition of the In-
terpofition of a Mediator, as is now the Cafe. For that we
are now born into the World fubjedl to natural Deat/^none
can deny, and this by Virtue of. Adam's firft Sin : And if
we are really fpiritually dead too, and fo expoicd to eternal
Death^ 'tis juft what might have been expected, had Adam
ftood for us \ and fo there is no more to be faid. And if
God be fuch a Being;, as I fuppofe he is, and the Law fuch,
and the Nature of true Holinefs fuch •, then, as has been
(hewn in the/r/? Difeourfe, there is no doubt we are native
ly fpiritually dead. So that the Force of this Argument
depends upon the Truth of thofe firft Principles, which, I
think, have been futficiently proved. Right Apprehenfions
of the moral Law will at once convince us of our inherent
natural
2 68 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
natural Corruption, and make us feel that we are fallen
Creatures.
REMARK. Perhaps this is the Confideration, which moft
commonly firft leads poor Sinners to fee, that they do a<5tu-
ally lie under the Guilt of Mam's firft Sin ; and that their
Ruin thence took its Rife, viz. their rinding by Experi
ence, when the Spirit of God brings home the Law and
awakens Confcience, that they are by Nature dead in <Tref-
pajfes and Sins : for now no Conclufion can be more natu
ral, than that they are by Nature Children of Wrath. And
this will naturally lead them to enquire, Whence this has
comes to pafs ? and they will prefently find the Scripture
exprefs and plain in it, that by one Man's Difobedience, many
were made Sinners •, and by the Offence of one. Judgment
came upon all to Condemnation : and their own Experience
will give them the moft natural Comment upon the Words,
while they feel themfeives to be by Nature dead in Sin and
expofed to eternal Ruin. But now, <c How could I juftly
" have all this come upon me for Adam's firft Sin ?"' will
naturally be the nextThought. And an awakened Confci
ence will perhaps firft of all reply, " How it is juft & right
" I cannot tell,but I am certain fo it is, that I am byNature
" dead in Sin,& byNature aChild of Wrath. This I fee and
" feel. And the Scripture fays,that by one Mat? s Difobedience
" many were made Sinners •, and that for the Offence of one
" Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation, AndGod's
" Ways muft be righteous, for the Judge of all the Earth
" always does right. And if I do finally perifh, I have
<c nothing to fay -, for I have gone in Adam's Steps, I
<c have been voluntary in. my Rebellion againft God all
" my Life, and am at Heart an Enemy to him ftill, and
" that voluntarily fo." And this may in a Meafure ftlence
fuch a poor Sinner for the prefent. But if ever he comes
to be reconcil'd to the divine Nature, and then impartially
to look into the original Conftitution, he may then fee that
it was in it's own Nature, holy, juft and good, and worthy
of God the great Governour of the World ; and as fuch
fweetly acquiefce in it : faying, c* God's Ways were holy,
" juft and good, and blefTed be his Name •, but to us (to
" allths humm Race.) belongs Shame and (Jonfufion of
" Face
$nd diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 269
*c Face, for that wejhave finned." .But until Men are a-
wakened, at kail to fome Senfe,of their natural Corrup
tion, they are commonly very blind and deaf to all the
Scripture fays about this Matter. It is hard to make Men
believe contrary to their own Experience ; to make them
believe that they/*?// in Adamjn}&& they don't feel that they
are by Nature fallen Creatures. Let the Scripture fpeak
ever fo plain, yet they cannot believe that it means as it fays,
It muft mean, they think, fomething elfe. The beft Me
thod therefore to convince Sinners of theDo6trine of origi
nal (imputed) Sin, and to filence all their Cavils, is to open
the true Meaning of the moral Law, and mew them their
native Depravity. This is the Method which God takes in
the Bible. He fays but little about Adam's firft Sin, but
fays much to fhew us what we; really are, as knowing that
if we are but once convinced of our nativeCorruption, a few
Words are fuffieient to fhew us whence our Ruin originally
took it's Rife.
Thus, God the great Governour of the World, in the
Gofpel-Difpenfation, confidered Mankind as being in a pe-
riihing Condition, iinful, guilty, juflly condemned, help*
lefs and undone ; and one Ground andReafon of his look
ing upon Mankind to be in fuch a Condition, was cur
original Apoftacy from him in our firir. Parents. And
fince that Constitution, whereby Adam was made our com
mon Head and publick Reprefentative, was holy, juft and
good in its own Nature ; and fince God the fupreme Lord
of all Things had full Power and rightful Authority fo to
ordain and appoint •, hence therefore he has fuffieient Rea-
fon to look upon Mankind, on Account of this firft Apof
tacy, as he does.
Therefore at the fame Time he provided a Saviour for
Adamy at the fame Time did he alfo provide a Saviour for
hisPoflerity too •, they being confidered as one with him and
involved in the fame Sin and Guilt and Ruin ; and fo (land
ing in equal Need of Relief. Hence Chrift is called the
Lambjlain from the Foundation of the Word, Then was it
faid, that the Seed of theWoman jhall bruife the Serpent's Head.
To which original Grant purSaviour feerns to ha •, eRefpecl,
when he fays, God fo lovsd thz World ^ that be GAVE his
270 7r#£ Religion delineated Dis. II.
enly begotten Son, &c* Whefea^ had Adam a&ed in the Ca
pacity of a private Perfon* and finned and fallen for him-
felf alone, and his Pofterity not been involved in the fame
Ruin ; Adam might have had a Saviour provided for him :
But his Pofterity would no more have needed one, than the
Angels in Heaven, -or than Adam before his Fall. t
OBJ. But thofe Words, In the Day thou eateft thereof,
thou fhalt furely die, Gen. 2. 17. were evidently fpoken^only
to Adam, nor is there a Word f aid about his 'Pofterity having
any Inter eft or Concern in the Affair.
ANS. So alfo were thofeWords in Gen. 3.19. Duft then
art, and unto Duft /halt thou return, fpoken only to Adam
without the leaft Intimation that his Pofterity were any of
them included in the Sentence. And yet by Vertue of that
Sentence, all his Pofterity are fubjecl: to Death. Rom. 5.12,
13, 14. Do you account for this, and you will at the fame
Time account for that : For the Truth is, that in bothCafes
Adam was confidered not merely as a fingle privatePerfon,
but as a publkk Head and Reprefentative, ftanding in the
Room of all h:s Pofterity. And confidered in thisCapacity,
was he threatned with Death in Cafe he finned ; and conii-
dered in this Capacity, was natural Death denounced upon
him after his Fall. So that in bqth, his Pofterity were e-
qually included. And therefore St.Pau! calls Adam a fype
of Cbrift. Rom. 5. 14. And calls Chrift the fecondAdam.
i Cor. 15.45. Becaufe both thefe, by the Authority of the
great Governour of the World, were conftituted publick
Perfons, to act in the Behalf of Mankind. And all Man
kind were fo included in them, that St. Paul fpeaks as if
there had been but only thefe two Men, Adam and Chrift.
i Cor. 15. 47. The firfi Man is of the Earth, earthy : fhs
fecondManis the Lord from Heaven.
2. God the fupreme Ruler of the World does in the
Gofpel confider Mankind as being in a perifhingCondition,
not only on the Account of their original Apoftacy in
Adam, their common Head and Reprefentative •, but alfo
becaufe they are, what they are, in themfefoes. fi.) Deftitute
of the divine Image. (2.) Contrary to God in the Tem
per of their Hearts. (3.) Utterly averfe to a Reconcilia
tion, (4.) In a Difpofition, if unreftrained, to live in all
opei
~and"&(lmguifhedjrom all Counterfeits 271
open; -Rebellion againft the Majefty of Heaven before his
Face. (5.) A$d yet inieniible of their juft Defert and of
their Need of fovereign Grace \ and ready rather to think
it a cruel Thing, if God iliould damn them.
( i ..) God j "aw Mankind deftitute of bis moral Image. For
being confcious of the holy Temper of his own Heart, of
the holy Fropenfity of his own Nature-, and being confci-
ous to the Temper of their Hearts, to the Propenfity of
their Nature ; at firft View, he'faw what they were. God
looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men^ to fee if
there 'were any that did underftand> thai: did feek God. Every
one of them is gone back^ they are altogether become filthy ;
there is none that doth Gcody no^ not one. Pfai. 53.2. 3.
He faw Mankind deftitute of aConformity to his holyLaw.
The Law requires Mankind to love God iupremeiy, live to
him ultimately, and delight in him fuperlatively, and to
love one another as their own Souls : But he looked down
from Heaven, he beheld, and lo, all the human Race
were entirely devoid ot that Temper. None were in a
Difpofition to account him infinitely glorious in being what
he was. Not one had the leaft Relifh or Tafte for the
Beauty of his moral Perfections. Every Heart empty of
holy Love, and holy Delight, and devoid of any true Spirit
or Principle of Obedience. And all Mankind had loft that
Frame of Spirit towards one another, which they ought to
4(pve. The whole World lay in Ruin.
He knew, his Law was holy, juft and good, and that his
Creature Man was under infinite Obligations to a perfect
Conformity thereto. He faw what Grounds there were for
the Law, and what Reafons for their Obedience. He faw
his o WIT infinite Excellency, and his original, underived,
entire Right to them, and was confcious to his rightful
Authority over them. He judged them inflniteiy to Blame
for their Non-Conformity, and worthy of an infinite Pu-
nilhrnent. Speaking after the Manner of Men, he did, in
the inward Temper of his Heart, perfectly approve of
thofe Words in Gal. 3. 10. as being ftrictly juft, Cur fed is
every cne, that continueth not in all Things written in theBook
of theL&wjo do them. Therefore he looked onMankind
in a perilling Condition. But,
(2.) He
272 True Religion delineated D I s . II ,
(i.) He viewed Mankind not only deftitute of Good, but
full of Evil. Not only void of true Love to God and to
one another, but Enemies to God and living in Malice and
Envy among themfelves. He looked down from Heaven
and viewed a guilty World, and faw their Contrariety to
his Nature and to his Law. Confcious of his own divine
Temper, he faw every contrary Temper in them. What
he efleems, they deipife. What he delights in, they loath.
The End which he profecutes, they oppofe. And they
ef teem and delight in that which is contrary to him, and
profecute Ends and Defigns contrary to his. He, faw their
Views, their Tempers, their Wills, their Ends, Defigns and
Ways, were all contrary to him, and diametrically oppofite
to his Law. He confidered them as his Enemies, and their
Tempers as perfect Enmity and Contrariety to the divine
Nature. Rom. 8. 7.
(3.) And in as much as he thus faw them entirely de
ftitute of Love to him, and diametrically contrary to the
divine Nature in the Temper of their Hearts, He knew they
would have no Inclination to a Reconciliation to God •, but
would be naturally averfe to it. He knew, their Averfion to
a Reconciliation would be as ftrong as their Contrariety to
the divine Nature, from which it took it's Rife. He faw
that if he fhould attempt to reclaim them, he fhould only
meet with Refiftance. That if he fhould fpread the News
of Pardon and Peace thro' a guilty World, and invite them
to return and be reconciled, that they would make light of
it and defpife it. That if he Ihould fend Meifengers after
them, to perfwade them to return and befeech them to be
reconciled, that they would put many of them to Death.
He faw juft what Treatment, the Prophets, and Chrift, and
his Apoftles were like to meet with. He knew not one in
all the World would repent and convert, unlefs brought
thereto by his own almighty Arm, and all-conquering
Grace. Mat. 21. 33 — 39. Rom. 8. 7. i Cor.%. 6. 7.
(4J Yea, fo far from a Difpojition to repent and convert^
tbaj, if left wholly to themfelves unreftrained, no Wickedneft
would be too bad for them. All would act as bad as Cain*
Manajfeh, or Judas ; and the whole human Race be like fb
many
and difiinvtiifhed from all Counterfeits. 273
many incarnate Devils : they having the Seed of all Sin in
their Hearts. Mar. 7.21,22.
(5.) And yet wfenfibh of their Sin and Guilt and juft De-
/•/•/, and that they lie merely at tbe fovereign Mercy of GW,
and that he is at Liberty to jhszv Mercy , or not ', as feems good
in- bis Sight. Yea, ib averfe to the Knowledge of this their
true State, as to be difpofed to hate the Light and fhut
their Eyes againft it, ready to relifl all Methods of Con-
victicfj. Yea, that fome would be even fo perverfe, as
actually to rife in Arms againft his Meffengers, who endea
voured to {hew them their Ruin and the Way of their Re
covery, and put them to Death, as not fit to live : and
yet ib itupid, as to think, that in all they did God good
Service. And tjiat in general, a great Out-cry would be
railed, round a proud and guilty World, againft the Lord,
for fuppofing Mankind to be in fo bad, ib very forlorn an
Eftate. God knew the Pride of Man, that he is exceeding
proud ; and faw how great Offence would be given to a
guilty World, who would by no Means endure to be ib
affronted. Job. 3. 19, 20. 6? 8. 33. 47.
Now, fuch were the Grounds upon which God looked
upon the human Race in a perilling Condition ; fmful,
guilty, juftly condemned, helplefs and undone. And con-
fidering that the original Conftitution with Adam, accord
ing to which he and all his Pofterity were doomed to De-
ftruction, in Cafe he fell, was holy, juft and good •, and
confidering tnat the Law of Nature, which all Mankind are
naturally under, and according to which the leaft Sin ex-
poles to eternal Damnation, is alfo holy, juft and good ;
and confidering our Apoilacy in Adam^ and what we be in
our felves . I fay, confidering all thefe Things, it is moft
certain and evident, that the Judgment of God was ac
cording to Truth, while he efteemed Mankind to be thus
in a perifhing Condition.
That Mankind are actually of fuch a Nature, has been
demonftrated in the former Difcourfe. That God, whole
Underftanding is infinite, and who fees all Things as being
what they really are, muft therefore now fee Mankind to be
fuch, is felf- evident, Andfucb as he now fees them to be,
fucb he from the Beginning knew they would be. It is evi-
T dent
274 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
dent therefore, a prior 'i, that God mult have confidered
Mankind to befucb, when he firft cntred upon hisDefigns
of Grace revealed in the Gofpel. — And if we conilder the
Nature of the Gofpel, and what Methods God has taken
with a finful, guilty World to reclaim and recover them, and
how they have behaved under all ; it will be flill more evi
dent that Mankind are verily in fuch a Cafe. TheLaw,the
Gofpel, and Experience, all join to confirm it.
Had not the Gofpel confidered us, as being entirely de
void of the divine Image, deititute of any fpi ritual good
Thing, blind, dead, gracelefs •, why fhould it fo much urge
the Necefiity of our being born again, made new Creatures,
having our Eyes opened, being raifed from the Dead, being
created a-new to good Works, and having tfye Law written in
cur Hearts, the Heart of Stone took away, and an Heart cf
Flcjh given ? — Had not the Gofpel confidered us, as
being Enemies to God ; why fhould it invite us to be
reconciled ? — Had not the Gofpel confidered us as being
very averfe to a Reconciliation •, why fhould it pray and
befeech us with fo much Earneftnefs and Solemnity to be re
conciled, and ufe fo many Arguments ? — Had not the Gof
pel confidered our Reconciliation, as unattainable by the
moil powerful Arguments, of themfelves ; why fhould it
declare that after all, neither Paul nor ^polios, nor Cephas,
are any Thing, or can do any Thing, unlefs God himfelf
give the Increafe ? — And were we not Enemies to God,and
Rebels, , and inveterate haters of the Light, arid difpoled to
rife in Arms againft it, why fhould Chrift tell his Mini-
ilers, I fend you forth as Sheep among Wolves -, if they have
called the Mafter of the Houfe Beelzebub, no wonder they call
youfo-,youjhallbe hated ofallMenfor my Name's fake-, they that
kill you, will think they do God good Service ? That Generation
tho't as well of themfelves as the prefent Generation now on
Earth does, and were ready to fpeak thefameLanguage, arid
&y, If <we bad lived in the Days of our Fathers, we would not have
killed the Prophets ; but Chrift knew their Hearts. — And
had not Mankind, on thefe Accounts, been confidered,
as in a perifhing Condition ; finful, guilty, juftly con
demned, helplefs and undone, why was there provided fuch
a Redeemer, zndfucb a Sanftijier ? And why was theS;il-
vaiion
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 275
vation of Sinners every where represented, as being fo en
tirely owing to the Grace, the mere Grace, the free aftonim-
ing, wonderful Grace of God from firft to laft ? Surely
from all this, mod certain and evident it is, that God does
in the Gofpel, upon thefe Grounds, confider Mankind, as
being in a perifhing Condition : And upon thefe Grounds
we muft therefore come to confider our ieives fo too, or we
can never be in a Difpofition, humbly and thankfully to
accept the Grace offered, and return home to God in the
Way provided. We mall rather be affronted, that the
Gofpel fuppofes us to be in fo bad a Condition •, or elfe ne
ver fo much as take Matters into ferious Consideration, but
do as thofe invited to the Marriage of the King's Son in
Mat. 22. ^. They made light of //, and went their Ways, one
to his Farm, another to his Merchandise. — I do but juft hint
at thefe Things now, becaufe they have been fo largely in
filled upon heretofore. — And thus we fee upon what
Grounds it is, that the great Governour of the World,does
in the Gofpel, confider Mankind as being in a periihing
Condition.
SECTION II.
Shewing whence God's Defign of MERCV
towards a perifning World originally took
if s RISE.
I proceed now,
II. To mew, What were the Motives ^ which have excited
God to do what he has done ^ for the Recovery of Sinner s> out
of this their perijhing Condition. And
i. It was not becaufe the original Couftitution ^/Y^Adam
our fublick Head and Reprefentative, was too .fevere : It was
not becaufe it would have been hard and cruel^ or in the leaft
inconfiftent with his infinite Goodnefs and tender Mercies •, to
have left all Mankind in that State of total Ruin, they were
brought into by the Fall. For had not that Conflitution
been in it's ownNature holy,juft & good, and fo moft per
fectly agreeable to his own Nature, to his Holinefs, Juibce
and Goodnefs, he would never have made it : For he ne~
ceffarily infinitely abhors, in his publick Conduct, to act
counter to the inward Temper of his Heart. For the very
T 2 Reafon
276 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Reafon that he loves himfelf for being what he is, for the
fame Reafon he loves to act like himfelf and infinitely ab
hors the contrary. And if that Conftitution was holy,
juft and good in it's own Nature originally, it mult remain
fo ftili 5 for Adam* 5 Apoftacy, together with all the dread
ful Confequences thereof, could not alter its Nature. The
Conftitution is perfectly as excellent as i'f Adam had
never fallen •, perfectly as Good as if it had been theMeans
of laying a Foundation for the everlafting Blefiednefs of all
the human Race ; for it is, what it was. It was excel
lently well calculated for the Glory of God and the Wel
fare of Mankind in it's own Nature ; and therefore God
made it, approv'd of it, was well pleafed with it, nor can
he ever alter his Mind about it : for it is in it felt juft the
fame it was at firft And if it was holy, juft and good
in it's own Nature, and if it remains fo ftiil \ if the Ho-
linefs, Juftice and Goodnefs of his Nature prompted him -
at firft to make it, and then to approve of it, and be per
fectly well pleafed with it ; it could not ( 'tis felf-evident )
poffibly have been in the leaft difagreeable to his Holinefs,
Juftice or Goodnefs, to have dealt with all Mankind fince
the Fall according to it. So that, to a Demonftration,
God'sThoughts of Mercy towards a guilty, undone World,
did not in any Meafure take their Rife from any Notion
that Mankind had been hardly dealt with, or that it would
be any Thing like Cruelty and Unmercifulnefs,to damn the
whole World for Adam's firft Sin, according to the Tenour
of the original Conftitution. — Indeed, to fuppofe fuch a
Thing, highly reflects upon that Conftitution, and upon
God for ever making of it. It fuppofes, the Conftitution
was never really holy, juft and good in it's own Nature,
and that God did wrong in making of it. And the
Riches and Glory of Gofpel- Grace are wholly obfcured
for God cannot be confide red as zfqyertign Benefafl&r mew
ing undeferved Mercy to a guilty, Hell-defervin°g World ;
.but rather as repenting for the Injury he has done to Man
kind, and as endeavouring to make amends for it by a
better, ajufter and .kinder Conduct for theTime to come.—
And if this were the Cafe, all his Pretences, his high Pre
tences, to great Love and Gooduefs, to great Kindnefs and
Grace, ;
and diftinguijb edfrom all Counterfeits. 277
Grace, are hypocritical and a mere mocking of us. He
had abiifed and injured us, and is now but relenting and
making Reftitution •, and "blight therefore to have faid fo, and
not pretended he did all from mere Grace, which is to -af
front us, and make as if that Constitution was holy, juft
and good, and we righteoufly condemned and juftly mife-
rable for ever. So that let us view the Cafe in what
Light we will, it is mod evident and certain, that the great
Governour of the World confid,ered Mankind as being
righteoufly condemned and liable to everlaftir-g Deftruc-
tion, confiftent with the infinite Goodnefs of his Nature -y
nor did a Thought of Pity ever enter into his Heart from
the contrary Supposition. Yea, it feems to have been
his very Defign to maintain the Honour of that Conftitu-
tion, while he fhews Mercy to a guilty World, in as much
as he has appointed another publick Perfon, his own dear
Son, to make Atonement for our original Apoftacy, as weli
as our other Sins, that hereby a Way for his Mercy might
be opened. Rom. 5. 18, 19.
2. Nor did God's Defigns of Mercy towards a guilty,
undone World take their Rife from a Suppofition that the
Law of Nature, which all Mankind are naturally under, is
too fevere, in requiring per f eft Obedience and threatning eternal
Damnation for the very leaftDtfefl*; (Rom. i. 18. Gal. 3. 10.)
or from any Suppcfition, that it would have been any Thing
like Cruelty orUnmercifulnefs, to have dealt with all Mankind
according to that Rule.
To explain my felf, I may juft obferve, that the original
Conftitution with Adam, as publick Head, (Gen. 2. 17.)
was a pofttive Appointment. After he was turned out of
the Garden he ceafed to fuftain the Character or Capacity
of a publick Perfon, nor are his Pofterity accountable for
any but his firft Tranfgreflion. But the Law of Nature
refults from the Nature of Things, from God's being what
he is in himfelf and from our being what we are, & he our
Creator and we hisCreatures. And it wastinding in order
of Nature antecedent to any poiitive Conftitution whatfo-
ever : nor is it's binding Nature capable of any DifToludonc
We might have obtained Life,according to theConftitution
made with Adam> had he kept Covenant with God ; an • '.
T fc-ft
278 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
been confirmed in a State of Holinefs and Happinefs ; fo
now we may obtain Life by Jefus Chrift, who has fulfilled
the Law of Nature and made Attonement for all Sin :
But the Law of Nature ftill remains an unalterable Rule of
Righteoufnefs between God and his Creature Man. We
owe perfect Obedience to God, and the leaft Sin deferves
eternal Damnation. And God might always have dealt
with Mankind, fimply according to this Rule. The origi
nal Conftitution with Adam had fome Degree of GRACE
in it. The Conftitution in theGofpel is altogether GRACE.
God might have held all Mankind bound by the Law of
Nature fimply, nor ever have appointed any other Way to
Happinefs, than a perfect andperfcvering Obedience : and
Mankind have been to all Eternity in av peccable State,
liable to S,u and fall into Ruin. Whatlbever Advantages
Mankind have had over and above this, are, and have been,
of mere Grace. According to the Law of Nature we are
under infinite Obligations to perfect Holinefs in the Tem
per of our Hearts, and to perfect Obedience in the whole
Courfe of our Lives, and that not only for a Day or a Year
or a Thoufand Years, but fo lon^ as we continue in Being.
And fo long as we are thus obedient, we (hall be happy ;
but the leaft Defect at any Time whatfoever will let in
everlafling inevitable Ruin upon us. Adam in Innocence
was under the Law of Nature, as well as under that par -
ticular pofitive Conftitution in Gen. 2. 17. So thai any
other Sin, as well as eating the forbidden Fruit, muft have
expofed him to Ruin. But then by that Conftitution he
had this peculia'r Advantage, that if he perfevered, his Time
of Trial fhould fhortly be at an End, and himfelf and ail
his Race confirmed in a State of Holinefs and Happinefs.
An Advantage never to be obtained by any one merely
under the Law of Nature. For in the Nature of Things
it is impoflible, God fhould ever be laid under any Obliga
tions to his Creatures unlefs by Virtue of his own free
Promife, which does not belong to the Law of Nature,
but is an Act of Grace, which he may grant or withhold
as fcems good in his Sight.- When Adam broke Cove
nant with God, and when that politive Conftitution was at
an End ; yet ilill Adam remained under theLaw of Nature,
bound
and diftinguijhed from all Counter felts. 279
bound to perfect Obedience, to love God with all his Heart,
and his Neighbour as himfelf ; yea, under infinite Obliga
tions, and every Defect was infinitely fmful, and ib was
worthy of infinite Funifliment. And as was the Cafe with
him, fo is the Cafe with all his Pofterity. Our Obligations
are infinite, and fo our Non-performance infinitely faulty,
and worthy of an infinite Punifhment. Tho' indeed as the
Cafe now llands, nor Adam, nor any of his Race can ever
obtain Life by the Law of Nature, becaufe we are Sinners,
and fo by the Law of Nature are condemned withoutHope.
Rom. 3. 20. By the Deeds of the Law no Flejh canbe jufti-
fad ; for by the Law is the Knowledge of Sin. And Chap. 4.
tf. 1 5. TheLaw workethWrath. And thus as the Cafe now
ftands, we are under infinite Obligations to perfe6t Obe^
dience,and are liable to an infinite Punifhment for the lead
Defect : and yet, thro' the bad Temper of our Hearts, we
are unable to yield anyObedienoe,and arc in a Diipofition to
be continually treafuring up Wrath again ft theD ay of Wrath.
Now, I fay, the fupreme King of Heaven and' Earth
was not moved to entertain Defigns of M,ercy towards a fm
ful, guilty undone World, from a Sujipofition that the
Law of Nature was too fevere, or that it would have been
any Thing like Unmercifulnefs to have dealt with allMan-
kind according to that Rule. For,
All that this Law requires, is, that fmce GOD is infi
nitely amiable in himfelf,and has fuch an entireRight to us
and abfoluteAuthority over us as his Creatures,we therefore
love him with all our Hearts^ and be entirely devoted to him,
to do his Will and keep his Commands, feeking hisGlory :
and .that, fmce our Neighbours are fuch as we, of the fame
Species and under the fame general Circumftances, we
therefore love ourNeighbour as our f elves : both whichThings
are in their own Nature right and fit and reafonable. So
that the Law is holy. — And all that this Law threatens in
Cafe of any Tranfgreffion, is, that fmce our Obligations
are infinite, and fo the leaft Defect infinitely wrong ;
therefore every fuch Defect fhould be punifhed with
the cverlafting Pains of Hell j and that in exact
Proportion to the feveral Aggravations attending each
Tranfgreffion. Which is alib in it's ownNature right and (\\
T 4 arid
280 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
and reafonable. So that the Law isjuft. — And that per
fect Holinefs which this Law requires, i. e. to love God
with all ourHearts and our Neighbours as our felves, is the
higher! Perfection our Nature is capable of, and altogether
fuited to make us happy. So that theLaw is good. But,
It is not levere, nor any Thing like Unmercifulnefs, to
deal with Mankind according to a Rule, which is, in it's
own Nature, holy, juft and good : but rather, it mud have
been agreable to the Ploiinds, Juftice and Goodnefs of the
great Governour of the World Ib to do. And indeed, were
not this the Cafe, it would have been fit this Law ihould
have been repealed. Mankind did not need to be redeemed
from the Curfe of an unrighteous Law ; for fuch a Law
ought to be laid afide, and it's Curfes never executed. God
would have been bound in Juitice to have abolished an un
righteous Law. There is no Need of Chrift or Gofpel-
Grace in the Cafe. ' And fo all the high Commendations
of the Grace of God in providing a Saviour, as being rich
free and wonderful, are groundlefs •, and cart much Re
proach upon Mankind, as being a guilty Race, righteoufly
condemned, when in Truth it is no fuch Thing.. God
ought to have owned that the Law was wrong, and to have
repealed it, and not to have proceeded as if it was very
good, and Mankind altogether to blame, and worthy of
eternal Damnation. And mightily would this have pleafed
an apoftate, proud and guilty World ; and at the fame
Time caft infinite Reproach upon God and his holy Law,
and flint out all the Grace of the Gofpel.
. God has therefore in the Gofpel, not only fuppofed the
Law to be holy, juft and good, and Mankind righteoufly
condemned ; but has taken all pofiible Care to make it
evident that he does fo, and thereby to fecure the Honour
of his Law, difcountenancc Sin, humble the Sinner, and
cxak and magnify his Grace. Even the whole Scheme of
the Gofpel is wifely calculated to attain thcfe Ends, as we
lhali fee hereafter. So far was God from being moved to
pity Mankind from, a Suppofition that they had in this
pe6i: been too leverely dealt with, and fa Objects of Pity
iiat Scnfe •> that on the contrary he moil perfectly ap-
^ed of the Law as holy, juit and good, and was altoge
ther
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 281
ther in it, that Mankind deferved to be proceeded with ac
cording to it. Yea, fo highly did he approve of his holy:
Law, and fo odious and ill-deferving did Mankind appear
in his Eyes for breaking of it, that their Sin cried aloud
for Vengeance in his Ears. Yea, cried fo loud for Venr
geance, that he judged it neceflfary that his own Son fhould
appear in their Stead and die in their Room, to the End he
might be juft,might ac~t confiftently with the Holinefs and
Juftice of his Nature, while he Ihewed Mercy to them.
Rcm. 3. 9 — --26. — In fuch a Light he viewed Things ; in
fuch a Light mud we therefore view them too, or we can
never truly understand our Need of Chrift & GofpelGrace,
or cordially acquiefce in theGofpel-Way of Salvation : but
rather mall be difpofed to quarrel with the Stri&nefs of the
Law, and think our felves abufed, and imagine that God
deals hardly with us,
3. Nor was the fupreme Being moved to entertain De-
figns of Mercy towards Mankind, from a Suppofttion, that
their Inability to yield perfeft Obedience made them the lefs to
blame, and fo the more proper Qbjefts of Pity on that Account.
For Mankind are not the lefs to blame for their Inability -,
but the more unable they are, the greater is their Blame ;
and fo the more proper Objects are they of the divine
Wrath and Vengeance,
God is a moil excellent and amiable Being. He infi
nitely deferves our higheft Love & Efteem and fupreme
Delight. It is perfectly fit, we fhould be of a Difpofition to
fay, W/hom have we in Heaven but thee ? and there is nothing
on Earth we defer e befides thee. Pfal. 73. 25. Now, not to
love this God with all our Hearts,muft be infinitely wrong ;
and not to love him at all, muft be worfe Hill ; but to be
habitually contrary to him in the Temper of our Hearts,
yea, fo averfe to him as that we CAN'T love him, muft
be in the very higheft Degree vile and fmful. And now
to fay, we CAN'T, by Way of Extenuation, as tho' we were
the lefs to blame for that, is intolerably God-provoking :
whenas our CAN'T arifes only from the bad Temper of our
Hearts, and becaufe we be not what we fhould be -, and not
at all from any Unlovelinefs in the divine Nature, or from
our Want of external Advantages for the Knowledge of
God. Put
2 8 2 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Put the Gafe to thy felf, O Man. Were you as wife as
Solomon, as holy as David^ as humble as Paul, and of as
loving and kind a Temper as John ; and had you a Family
of Children •, and were all the Rules and Orders of your
Koufe, like your felf , and calculated to make all your
Children juft fuch as you be ; and did you perceive that
your Children neither liked you, nor your Ways, nor the
Orders of your Houfe -, they (hew. you much Difrefpect
in their Carriage,difregard your Authority, complain, your
Rules are too itricl, and daily break over all Orders : At
length you call them to an Account, are about to convince
humble and reform them ; they plead,they are not to blame,
at lead not fo much to blame, becauie they CAN'T love
you, they CAN'T like your Ways, they CAN'T but abhor
fuch Rules and Orders ; thole very Properties, onAccount
of which, you are indeed the moil excellent Man in the
World, thefe are the very Things for which they diflike
you, while in the mean Time they can moil heartily love
their Companions in Vice and Debauchery : And now the
Queftion is, Whether their Inability to love you, renders
'em e'er the lefs to blame ? Or, whether it be not very pro
voking in them, to plead in Excufe for themfelves, that
they can't love you ? whenas this their can't arifes from their
voluntary-Contrariety to allGood, andLove to Debauchery ?
and not at all from any Unlovelinefs of your Perfon or
Ways ; or for want of Advantages to be acquainted with
you, and with the Beauty of your Temper and Conduct.
The Application is eafy. Was it any Excufe for the Ill-
will of the malicious Pharifees towards Chrift, that they
could not love him, they could not but hate him ? Did ever
any Man look upon a malicious fpightful Neighbour, and
think him e'er the lefs to blame for his abundant ill Car
riage, for his being fo exceeding ill-natur'd, that it was not
in his Heart to do otherwife ? I appeal to the common
Senfe of all Mankind.
If fuch an Inability can excufe Mankind,then the Devils
upon the fame Foot may be excufed too. And the more
any of God's Subjects hate him, the lefs will they be to
blame. For the more any do really hate God, the lefs
able will they be to love him. The more avcrfe to his
Law,
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 283
Law, the lefs able to keep it. And therefore fmce our
Inability arifes from fuch a Root, the more unable we be
to love God with all our Hearts and yield a perfect Obedi
ence to all his Laws, the more vile, guilty, Hell-deferving
we be, and the more unworthy of Pity. So that this our
moral Inability and Impotency, or rather Obftinacy^ was in
the Nature of Things fo far from extenuating our Guilt
and moving the divine Pity, that it was the ftrongeft Evi
dence of our exceeding Vilenefs, and as it were a mighty
Bar and great Difcouragement in the Way of God's ever
entertaining any Defigns of Mercy towards us. It was like
the great Mountains , fo that nothing but an infinite Good-
nefs could have ever furmounted it. And in this Light
muft we view our felves and our Inability, and become
Self-condemned before God, or we fhall never like it that
God looks upon us as he does, nor ever be able to look
upon his Grace in the Gofpel in the fame Light with him,
nor can we ever heartily approve of and fall in with that
Way of Salvation.
When we areunder fufficicnt outward Ad vantages to come
to know what Kind of Being God is, and yet after all fee no
Beauty in him, nor efteem him ; it muft be either becaufe
we are intolerably bad in ourTemper, or elfe becaufe he is
not truly and indeed a lovely and amiableBeing. When
we fay, we can't love him, under a fond Notion that we are
hereby excufed and are not to blame •, we implicitly fay,
that we are well enough difpofed and are of a good Tem
per, but God is fuch an hateful Being that we cannot love
him. There is nothing in him to be loved. So that to lay,
we CAN'T, under a Notion of extenuating our Guilt, cafts
the higheft Reflection upon God imaginable, and indeed is
big with the blackeft Blafphemy. W"e had as good fay,
" It is not owing to us that we don't loveGod, but to him.
" We would readily love him, if there was any Thing in
" him for us to love : but there is not, and fo we can't ;
" and therefore be not to blame."
To fuppofe therefore that God in the Gofpel confiders
us as being the lefs to Blame for this our Inability, /and
from thence is moved to pity us ; is the very fame Thing
in effect, as to fuppofe that God owns himfelf a hateful,
unlovely
284 True Religion delineated D i s . I .
unlovely Being, and thinks it a great Hardfhip that his
poorCreatures fhould be forced to love him, or be damned ;
and therefore repents that ever he was fo fevere, or ever
made fuch a Law, and is forry tor them, and will do better
by them for Time to come. But how horrid a Thought
is this ! It cafts the higheil Reflection upon God, and upon
his holy Law, and quite deftroys all the Grace of the Gof-
pel. No, no ! God knew well enough how the Cafe flood.
He was confcious to his own infinite Excellency, and to the
infinite Reafonableneis of his Law. He knew the, hellifh
Temper of an apoftate rebellious Race. And verily he
was GOD and not Man, or he would have doomed the
whole World to Deftruction without any Pity or fo much
as one Thought of Mercy. Herein was Love, not that we
loved God \ but that God loved us, and fent bis Son to be
a Propitiation for our Sins, i Joh. 4. 10. While we were
Sinners and Enemies, Rom. 5. 8, 10. and moil flrongly
averfe to a Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5. 20.
4. Nor did his Defigns of Mercy take their Rife/m;;
any Expectation that a rebellions, guilty, peri/bing World would
be fo good, as of their Accord ever heartily thank him for
it. No, he knew well enough how it would be ; that many
would make light of it, and go their Ways, one to his
Farrn, another to his Merchandife •, and that others would
be affronted, and fome fo very angry that they would take
his Meflengers, and flone one, and beat another, and kill
another, and finally would crucify his Son. And he ex
pected that Mankind in general would be difpofed to hate
his Law, and pervert his Gofpel, and refift his Spirit •, and
never one in all the World, repent and convert, and come
and humble himfelf before him, and blefs his holy Name ;
unlefs brought thereto by his own All-conquering Grace.
Mat. 21. 33 — 39. and 22. i 7. Luk. 14. 16 23.
i Cor. 3. 6, 7.
So that, from the whole, it is very plain, God was not
moved to entertain Thoughts of Mercy towards Mankind,
neither under a Notion that they had been in any Refpect
hardly dealt with, nor under a Notion that their Impotency
rendered them in any Meafure excufable, nor under a No
tion that there was any Good in them or to be expe&ed
from
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits . 285
from them : but on the contrary, he looked upon the
original Conflitution with Adam to be holy, jtift and good,
and that upon that Foot all Mankind delerved all Ruin ;
and he loolced upon the Law of Nature alfo holy, juil and
good, and that upon that Foot a wicked World deferved
his everlailing Wrath -, and he looked upon them altoge
ther criminal for their Impotency. In a Word, he looked
upon them voluntary in their Rebellion, and obilinate in
their Enmity, and infinitely unworthy of the leaft Pity *,
yea, fo unworthy of Pity, that to iecure his own Honour,
and to lave himfelf from juft Reproach, while he pitied
them and mewed them Mercy, he thought it needful, that
his own Son Ihould become a Mediator, and bear their Sin
and fuffer for their Guilt, and fo open a Way for the ho
nourable Exercife of his Mercy.
To conclade therefore,
5. It is evident that his Defigns of Mercy took their
Rife merely, absolutely and entirely from himfelf -y from his
cwn infinite Benevolence, from his fcif -moving Goodnefs and
fovereign Grace. GOD fo loved the World
As for us, we lay in the open Field of Perdition, pol
luted, perifhing in our Blood and Guilt : and it was per
fectly right, that the righteous Sentence of the Law fhould
be executed upon us. And God had been for ever glorious
in the everlaiting Ruin of a rebellious World. There was
nothing in our Circumltarices, all Things confidered, of the
Nature of a Motive to Pity. We were too bad to deferve
any Pity or Relief. Yea, fo bad, that the great Cover -
nour of the World could not, without counteracting all
good Rules of Government, ihew anyJVIercy but by the
Interpofition of his own Son, to ftand and die in our Room
and Stead. So that inflead of any motive to Pity, there
was every Thing to the contrary. Our infinite ill Defert
lay as an infinite Bar in the Way. Here now was an
Opportunity for infinite Goodnefs and Self- moving Mercy
to exert it felf, in the moft illuftrious Manner ; in defigning
Mercy, in providing a Mediator, and in opening a Door
for the exercife of much Grace to Mankind in general, and
of fpecial faving Mercy in ten Thoufand Thoufand Inilan-
ces.-- — ~ There was nothing, ab extra, froip- \yithout God
himfelf,
286 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
himfelf, to move and put him on to luch a wonderful and
glorious Enterpriie. The Motion was wholly from him-
iclf, from his Self-moving Goodnefs, from his good Plea-
ilire according to theCounfel of his own Will. Epb. 1.3 — 12.
— No wonder therefore, the Gofpel every where celebrates
die Love and Goodnek, Mercy and Grace of God, as being
rich and free, unparallel'd, unfpeakable, inconceivable, in
finitely great and glorious, as difcovered in this moil won
derful of all God's Works. And to fuppofe that God was
under any Obligations to fhew thefe Favours, would be, to
undermine and overthrow the whole Gofpel •, and turn a
Deed of thefreeft and great eft Grace, into a Work of mere
Juftice. Thus we fee whence God's Thoughts of Mercy,
towards a finful, guilty World, had their Rife.
He had in View a great variety of glorious Defigns, all
infinitely wife, all fuited to difplay the glorious Perfections
of his Nature, and bring everlafting Honours to his great
Name. He defigned to dcflroy the Works of the Devil.
Gen. 3. 15. i Job. 3.8. Satan had induced Mankind to
their Rebellion •, and had perhaps in his Conceit too, made
himfelf ftrong againft the Almighty. Fie firft rebelled
himfelf, and now he had brought others to join with him,
and in this World he intended to rule and reign ; and by
the whole bring much Reproach upon the rightful Lord
of Heaven and Earth. God wrought therefore for his
greatName's fake, that it might not be polluted ; and en-
tred upon Methods to defeat his Defigns, and bring his
Kingdom to nought, and crum the Rebellion, and put him
to open Shame* •, and at length bind him up in his Chains,
that he fhould deceive the Nations of the Earth no more ;
and give all Nations, Languages and Tongues, to Jefus
Chrift, and bring the whole World into Subjection to him.
Rev. 20. i — 4. He defigned to difplay his gloriousGrace,
in bringing Millions of this feduced apoftate Race, from the
Jaws of eternal Deftruction to eternal Glory. Rom. 9. 23.
Epb.2.j. He defigned to put all Mankind in a new State
ot Probation, and to difplay his gloriousGoodnefs,Patience,
Forbearance and Long-furfering in his Dealings with the
obflinate and finally impenitent in this World, and his
glorious Holinelg and Juftice in their everlafting Punifh-
ment
and didinguijhed from all Counterfeits 287
ment in the World to come, in the fame Lake of Fire and
Brimftone, which was prcpar'd for the Devil and his An
gels, with whom they had loincd in their Rebellion againfh
the Majcfty of Heaven. Aft. 14. 17. Rom. 2. 4. &! 9.22.
Mat. 25. 41. In a Word, he defigned to take Occaiion
from the Apoftacy of Mankind, in innumerable Inftances,
in this World, and throughout eternal Ages in the World
to come,- to difplay all his glorious Perfections : And fo
by his whole Conduct, to exhibit a rnoft perfect and exact
Image of himfelf.
Thus we fee, that his Defigns of Mercy, towards a rebel
lious, guilty, undone World, took their Rife, not from any
Motives in us, but altogether from Motives in himfelf,
from the infinite boundlefs Gcodnefs of his Nature and his
fovereign good Pleafure. And in this Light muil we
view the Grace of the Gofpel, and all our Encouragements
to hope in his Mercy thro' Jefus Chrift, muft take their
Rife, not from any Thing in our felves, but only from that
felf-moving Goodnefs and free Grace which he has mani-
fefted thro' JcfusChrift. Rom. 3. 19, 20, 24. Epb. 2. 8.
And thus we fee, that his End, as to the Elect, was to
bring them back from their Apoftacy, their Rebellion and
Wickednefs and Ruin, to God their rightful Lord and
Sovereign, to become his Servants, to love him and live to
him and live upon him, and be bleiTed in him for ever.
And in this Light muft we view the Gofpel. And with
this it's Defign muft we heartily fall in. And being en
couraged by the Grace of the Gofpel, to hope for Accep
tance in the Sight of God thro' Jefus Chrift, we muft
thro'Chrift give up our felves to God,to be hisServants for
ever.L«£. i. 74.75. 2 Cor. 5. 20. Rom. 12. i.T/V.2.n — 14.
From what has been faid, it will be very natural to make
thefe following Remarks.
REM. i . If all God has done in the Gofpel for ourReco -
very from Ruin, be of mere free Grace, then it is Self-
evident thai God was under no Obligations to a fallen, finful,
guilty, rebellious World -, but, as for us, might have, confiftent
with all his Perfections, left us in Ruin, to inherit the Fruit
vf our Doings and the Pumjhment of our Sin. He was under
.no Obligation to provide a Redeemer or a Sanctifier, to
288 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
give the lead Hint of a Pardon, or take any Methods to
recover us 'from the Power of Sin. Fie was under no Ob
ligations to deal any better by us, than would, in the whole,
be no worle than Damnation. By the Conftitution with
Adam, and by the Law of Natuie, this would have been
our proper Due. Every thing therefore, whereby our Cir-
cumftances have been rendered better than the Circumftan-
ces of the Damned, God was under no Obligations unto ,
but all, over and above that, has been of free and fovereign
Grace. God was at Liberty, as to us, not to have done
any of thefe Things for us. Yea, there were on our Part
might) Hindrances to prevent the Mercy of God, and to
put a Bar in the Way of the free and honourable Exercife
of his Grace. Even fuch Hindrances, that nothing could
remove them, but the Blood of Chrift. Hence,
REM. 2. MankinUw&TC) by their Fall, brought into a State
cf Being infinitely worfe than not to be. The Damned inHell
no doubt are in fuch a State, clfe their Punimment would
not be infinite ; as Juflice requires it fhould be. ButMan-
kind by the Fall were brought into a State,for Subftance, *
as bad as that which the Damned are in. For the Damned
undergo nothing in Hell, but what, by the Conftitution
with Adam and the Law of Nature, all Mankind were and
would have been, for Subftance, expofed unto, if mere
Grace had not prevented. And according to what was
but now obferved, God was under no more Obligation,
to grant any Relief to Mankind, in this their fallen, fin-
ful, guilty, undone Condition, than he is now to the
Damned in Hell ; i. e. under no Obligations at all : but
the Way for Mercy to come to them was mightily barred
and blocked up, by the infinite Reafonablenefs of their be
ing punifhed, and their infinite Unworthinefs, in the very
Nature of Things, as the Cafe then flood, of ever being
pitied. So that Mankind were by the Fall brought into
a State of Being, (in Scripture called Condemnation and
Wrath,
* For Su&Jlancej I fay, becaufe it mufl be remjembred that the faperadded
Punifhment infli&ed upon any in Hell, for defpiling the Gofpel, muft
be left out of the Account. For all this, is over and above, what,
by the Conftitution with Adam and theLaw of Nature, Mankind 'Were
or ever would have been
and diftinguijbedfrom all Counterfeits. 289
Rom. 5. 18. Epb. 2. 3.) for Subftance, as bad as
that which the Damned are in •, fo that if the Damned are
in a State of Being, infinitely worfe than not to be, as no
Doubt they are •, then fo alfo were Mankind. And Man
kind being actually brought into fuch a State by the Fall,
is what renders the Grace of the Gofpel, fo inconceivable,
fo unfpeakable in it's Greatnefs, and fo ablblutely free. To
deny, that Mankind by the Fall were brought into fuch a
State, is the fame Thing in Effect as to deny original Sin,
and undermine the glorious Grace of the Gofpel.
• OBJ. But how could God^ confiftent 'with his P erf e£f ions ^
fut us into a State of Being, worfe than not to be ? or how
can we ever thank God for fuch a Being ?
ANS. Our being brought into fo bad an Eftate was
not owing to God, i. e. to any Fault in him, but
merely to our felves, to our Apoftacy from God. It
was our Apoftacy from God, that brought all this upon
us, in Way of righteous Judgment. Rom. 5. 18, 19.
Our being in fo bad a State is no more owing to God, than
theirs is who are now in Hell. They deferve to be inHell,
according to a Law that is holy, juft and good ; and we
deferve to be in fuch a State, according to the Conflitutioa
made with Adam^ which was alfo holy, juft and good : and
therefore the one may be confident with the divine Per
fections, as well as the other. It cannot be difagreeable to
the Holmefs, Juftice, and Goodnefs of the divine Nature,
to deal with Mankind according, to a Conftitution, in it's
own Nature, holy, juft, and good.
Now in as much as God did virtually give Being to all
Mankind, when he Ueffed our firft Parents, and faid, Be
fruitful and multiply -, and in as much as Beingy under the
Circumftances that Man was then put in by God, was very
defireable : we ought therefore to thankGod for our Being 9
confidered in this Light, and juftify God in all the Evil
that is come upon us for our Apoftacy. For the Lord is
righteous, and we are a guilty Race.
Thofe in Hell are in a State of Being, infinitely worfe
than not to be •, and inftead of thanking God for their
Beings, they blafpheme his Name : but ftill there is no juft
Ground for their Conduct. They have no Reafo'n to think
V hard
29° Irue Religion delineated Dis. II.
hard of God for damning them : they have no Reafon to
blame him : they have noReafon to efteem him e'er the lefs
for it : he does what is fit to be done : His Conduct is
amiable ; and he is worthy of being efteerned for doing as
he does -y and all holy Beings will always efteem him for
it. (Rev. 19. i, — 6.) Therefore the Damned ought to af-
cribe all their Evil to themfelves, and juftify God, and fay,
" He gave us Being, and it was a Mercy, and he deferves
" Thanks •, but to us it is owing^that we are now in a State
" infinitely worfe than not to be : God is not to blame for
" that ; nor is he the lefs worthy of Thanks for giving
" us Being, and for all part Advantages which we ever
" enjoyed : for the Law is holy, juft and good, by and
" according to which we fuffer all thefe Things."
So here : Mankind by the Fall, were brought into a
State of Being infinitely worfe than not to be -, and were
they but fo far awake as to be fenfible of it, they would no
doubt all over the Earth murmur and blafpheme the God
of Heaven. But what then ? There would be no juft
Ground for fuch a Conduct We have no Reafon to think
hard of God, to blame him, or to efteem him e'er the lefs.
What he has done, was fit and right } his Conduct was
beautiful •, and he is worthy to be efteemed for it. For that
Conftitution was holy, juft and good, as has been proved.
And therefore a fallen World ought to afcribe to them
felves all their Evil, and to juftify God, and fay, " God
<c gave us Being under a Conftitution holy, juft and good ;
" and it was a Mercy. We fhould have accounted it a
" great Mercy, in cafe Adam had never fallen -, xbut God
" was not to blame for this, nor therefore is he the lefs
<c worthy of Thanks. All that we fufFer, is by and accord-
e ing to a Conftitution in it's own Nature holy, juft and
cc good." Thus Mankind ought to have faid, had God
never provided a Saviour, but left all the World in Ruin.
Afld thys ought they to have juftified God's Conduct:, laid
all the Blame to themfelves, and acknowleged that God de-
ferved Praife from all his Works ; which, as they came
out of his Hands, were all 'very good. Gen. i .. 3 1 .
OBJ. But altho9 we were by the Fall brought into focb a
State cfl^rath and Condemnation, yet now we are-delivered
cut
and diftinguijhed from ail Counterfeits, 291
cut of it by Chrift -, for as in Adam all die, fo in CHIUST
fhall all be made alive.
ANS. Before Men believe in Chrift, they are asjuftly
expofed to divine Vengeance, as if Chrift had never died,
Job. 3. 1 8, 36. And there is nothing to keep off Ven
geance, one Moment, but fovereign Mercy ; which yet
they continually affront and provoke. Rom. 2.4, 5. And
they are fo far from an Inclination to turn to God of their
t)wn Accord, that they are difpofed to refift all the Means
ufed to reclaim them. Job. 3.19. 'Tis true, God is ready
thro' Chrift to receive returning Sinners, and invites all to
return thro' him. Thus God is good and kind to an
apoftate World, and offers us Mercy. God is not to blame
that we are in fo bad a Cafe : our Deftruftion is of our
felves, and the Lord is righteous. — But ftill it is evident,
we arc in a perilhing Condition, ; and fhall certainly perifh
notwithftanding all that we of pur own mere Motion lhall
ever do. If fovereign Grace don't prevent, there is no
hope.
OBJ. But if Mankind are thus by Nature Children of
Wfath^ in a State of Being worfe tban not to be^ and even after
fill that Chrift has done^ are in themfelves thus utterly undone ;
how can Men have a Heart to propagate their Kind ? or ac
count it a Bleffing to have a numerous Pofterity ?
ANS. 'Tis manifeft by their Conduct, by their neglect
ing their Children's Souls, and caring only for their Bodies,
that Parents in general do not propagate with any Con
cern about the fpiritual and eternal Well-being of their
Pofterity. 'Tis probable, in general they are influenced by
the fame Motive that the brutal World be, together with
a Defire to have Children under the Notion of a worldly
Comfort, without fcarce a Thought of what will become of
their Pofterity for Eternity.
As to godly Parents, they have fuch a Spirit of Love to
God and Resignation to his Will, and fuch an Approba
tion of his Difpenfations toward Mankind, and fuch a
liking to his whole Scheme of Government, that they arc
content that God mould govern the World as he does, and
that he fhould have Subjects to govern, and that them
felves and their Pofterity Ihould be under him, and at his
V 2 difpofe
True Religion delineated Dis. II.
difpofe. Nor are they without hopes of Mercy for their
Children, from ibvereign Grace thro' Chrift, while they do-
thro' him devote and give them up to God, and bring
them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord.
And thus they quiet themfelves as to their Souls. And. now
confidering Children merely as to this Life, 'tis certain,
that it is a great Comfort and BlefTmg to Parents, to have,
a promiling Offspring.
As to carnal Men, fmce they are Enemies to God and
to his holy Law, it is no wonder they are at Enmity againfb
his whole Scheme of Conduct as Governour of the World.
Did they underftand how God governs the World, and firm
ly believe it, I doubt not, it would make all their native
Enmity ferment to Perfection. They would wifh them
felves to be from under God's Government, and hate that
he fhould ever have any Thing of theirs to govern. As
foon as ever they enter into the eternal World, and fee how
Things really be, this will no doubt actually be their Cafe. — •
In a Word, if Men heartily like the original Constitution
with Adam^ as being in it's own Nature holy, juft & good,
this Objection will, upon mature Confideration, be lio
Difficulty with them •, and if they do not, 'tis not any
Thing that can be faid, will fatisfy them. But wicked
Men's not liking the Conftitution, does not prove it to be
bad.
OBJ. // carft be thought a BleJJing to have Children, if the
tnoft of them are like finally- to ferifh.
ANS. The moil of Abraham's Posterity, no doubt, for
above thefc threeThoufandYears,have been wicked and have
perilhed -, and God knew before- hand how it would be ;
and yet he promifed fuch a numerous Poflerity under the
Notion of a great BlefTing, Gen. 22. For confidering Chil
dren merely as to this Life, they may be a great Bleffing
and Comfort to Parents, and an Honour to them : but it
is very fitting, our Children fhould be God's Subjects, and
under his Government : nor be they e'er the lefs Blefiings
to us as to this Life, betaufe they muft be accountable to
God in the Life to come. They may be a great Comfort
to us in this Life ; and we are certain, God will do them
no Wrong in the Life to come. All Men's murmuring
Thoughts
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 293
Thoughts about this Matter arife from their not liking
God's Way of governing the World.
REM. 3. fhen do ive begin to make ajuft Ejlimate of the
Grace, the free, rich and glorious Grace of God, the great Go-
vernour of the World, difplayed in the Go/pel, when we confide*
Mankind, by and according to a Conftitution and a Law, both
cf them holy, juft and good, affitally in fuch a ruined State.
Now we may begin a little to fee the natural Import of
thofe Words, God fo loved the World. Such a World was
it, that he loved and pitied. A World in fo bad a State.
A perilhing World, finful, guilty, juftly condemned, alto
gether helplefs and undone. And to have a Door opened
by the Blood of Chriit, for us to be railed from the Depth
of fuchRuin, is wonderfulGrace indeed. — And in thisLight
does the Matter ftand in Scripture- Account. For accord
ing to that, By the Offence of one, Judgment came upon all to
Condemnation, and by the Dif obedience of one, many were made
(or conftitutedj Sinners, by Virtue of the original Confti
tution with Adam. * Rom. 5. 18, 19. And all the World
ft ood guilty before God, by Virtue of their want of Confor
mity unto and Tranfgreffion of the Law of Nature or moral
Law. Rom. 3. 9, — 19. And hence Mankind were confi-
dered as being under Sin, and under the Curfeof the Law,
and under the Wrath of God. Rom. 3. 9. GaL 3. 10. Joh.
3. 1 6. Rom. 1. 1 8. And under this Notion Chrift was ap
pointed, to fave bis People from their Sins, Mat. 1.21. to
deliver them from the Wrath to come, i Thef. i. 10. and to
bring it to pafs that whereas by the Difobedience cf one many
were made Sinners, fo by the Obedience of one many might be
made righteous, Rom. 5. 19. And hence the Gofpel fo
mightily magnifies the Grace of God, his Love and Gocd-
nefs, as being unparallePd, unfpeakable, inconceivable,
paffing Knowlege. God fo loved the World, fays Cbrift.
God commendeth his Love, faith Paul. Herein is Love, fays
John. It has Height and Length, Depth and Breadth. It is
rich Grace -, and the exceeding Riches of Grace. And why :
why is it fo magnified and extolled ? why, for this, among
V 3 other
* Conftituted Sinners, it is in the Original ; for it was 07 Virtue of t!r<
primitive Conjlitution with Adam, that his firft Sin laid all his PcrH
under Sin, Guilt and Ruirj,
294 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
ether Reafons, becaufe all this was done while we did not
love God, while we were Sinners, while we were Ungodly ,
while we were Enemies^ while we were expofed to Wrath^
guilty before God, perifhing^ loft^ without Strength. Thus
God has reprefented it in his Word, his Word which is the
Image of his Mind, and which fhews 133 how he looks
upon Things, and how they really are. See Job. 3. 16,36.
Rom. 5, 6, 7, 8. i Job. 4. 10. Eph. i. 7. and 2. 7, 8.
and 3. 19. Mtf. 18. n. &c.
Never therefore can a Sinner rightly underftand the
Gofpel of Chrift, or fee his Need of the Provifion therein
made,or in any Meafure make a juft Eftimate of the Grace
of God therein difplayed, until he is in fome Meafure con
vinced and made really fenfible, by the Spirit of God, that
he is actually in fuch a finful, guilty, helplefs, undone Con
dition. This therefore is abfofutely neceiTary, in order to
a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel by Faith in Jefus
Chrift. L,uk, 5. 3 1. For the whole need not a Phyjician, but
they that are Jick. * And as this is requifite in order to
the firft Act of Faith •, fo for the fame Reafon muft we all
our Days live under a realifing Senfe of this our finful,
guilty, undone Eftate, by Nature, and in our felves, in
order to live by Faith. And this will make Chrift preci
ous, and the Grace of the Gofpel precious •, and effectually
"awaken us to Gratitude and Thankfulnefs ; for now every
Thing in our Circumftances, wherein we are better of it
the Damned, will be accounted fo great a Mercy, and
Effedt of mere Grace. And fo far as we are from a
clear Sight and realifing Senfe of this our finful, guilty,
\ttidone Eftate -, fo far fhaii we be infenfible of the Preci-
"o^lhefs of Chrift3and the freenefs pf Grace,and the gre^tnefs
V| God's Mercy tqwards us.
r> TIiu?, haying confidered the Grounds upon which the
^rioil high God did look upon Mankind as being in a pe-
rifhing Condition, and the Motives whereby he was excited
io enter upon any Methods for their Recovery •, we pro- .
cecvl nov; more particularly to confider the Ways and Means
:*z Las taken and ufed to bring it about.
SEIJ TICK
and dijlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 295
SECTION IIL
Concerning the Nature and Necejjity of
SATISFACTION for Sin,
I am now,
III. To fhew what NeceJJity there was fir a Mediator ^
and how the Way to Life hasiteen opened by him whom God
has provided. It is plainly fuppofed, that there was a Ne-
ceflity of a Mediator, and of fuch a one too as God has
actually provided, in order to our Salvation •, for otherwife
it had been no Love or Goodnefs in God to have given his
only begotten Son. For there can be no Love or Goodnefs
in his doing that for us which we do not need, and without
which we might have been faved as well. Nor is it to be
fuppofed, that God would give his Son, to die for a guilty
World, without urgent NeceJJity. If fome cheaper & -eafier
Way might have been found out, he would furely have
fpared his beloved Son : he had no Inclination to make
light of his Son's Blood : it was a great Thing for a GOD
to become incarnate, and die ', and there muft therefore
have been fome very urgent Confiderations, to induce the
wife Governour of the World to fuch an Expedient. And
here then thefe Things may be particularly inquired into.
1 . What Neceflity was there of Satisfaction for Sin ?
2. What Satisfaction has there been made ? And where
in does it's Sufficiency confift }
3. How has the Way to Life been opened by the
Means ?
4. What Methods has the great Governour of the World
entered upon,for the actualRecovery of finfulCreatures ?
i . We are to confider what Necejpty there was of Satis-
faftion for Sin. It was needful, or elfe ne Satisfaction would
have been ever required or made. And the Neceflity was
certainly very great and urgent, Or the Father would never
have been willing to have given his S0#,orthe Son to have
undertaken the Work, a Work attended with fo much La
bour and Suffering. But why was it necefTaiy ? This, I
think, will appear, if we deliberately and feriouily weigh
thefe Things,
V 4 fx.) Mat
.296 True Religion delineated Dis, II.
(i.) That God the great &eator, Preferver, and abfoiute
Lord of the whole World, is, not only a Being of infinite Un
der fianding and almighty Power, but alfo a Being infinite and
Michcmgeable in all moral Propenfities : he lovesRigbt and hates
Wrong to an inf*wte.D.egreey and unchangeably : cr in Scrip
ture-Language, he thus loves Right eoufnefs and bates Iniquity.
By his infinite Underftanding, he fees all Things, as being
what they really are. Whatfoever is fit and right, he be
holds as being iuch : and whatfoever is unfit and wrong,
he alfo beholds as being iuch. And as are his Views, fo is
the Temper of his Heart , he infinitely loves that which is
fit and right, and infinitely hates that which is unfit and
'wrong. Or in other Words, he has an infinite Scnie of
the moral Fitnefs & Untitnefs of Things, and an anfwerable
Frame of Heart../.*, infinitely loves the one, and infinite
ly hates the other. From Eternity God has had an All-
comprehenfive View of Things, of every Thing that was
pofiible to be. or that actually would be, and of all theRelati-
ons oneBeing would bear to another, and the Relation that
all. would bear to him, and has feen whatConduct would be
right and fit in him towards them, and in them towards
him and towards one another, and what would be wrong ^
and from Eternity it has been his Nature, infinitely to love
that which is right, and hate that which is wrong. And
this, his Nature has influenced him in all his Conduct, as
moral Governour of the World ; and he has given fo
bright a Reprefentation of it, that this feems to be the firft
and moft natural Idea of God that we can attain. It fhines
thro' all the Scriptures, thro' the Law and the Gofpel, and
thro' his whole Conduct in a thoufand Inflances.
God does not appear to be a Being influenced,a6ted, and
governed by a groundlefs arbitrary Self-Will, having, no
Regard to right Reafon, to the moral Fitnefs andUnfitnefs
of Things : nor does he appear to be a Being governed and
a&ed by a groundieisFondncfs to his Creatures. If a Thing
is not right, he will not do it,, merely becaufe he is above
Contrpui, is the greateft and ilrongeft, and can bear down
all before him. Gen. 18. 25. And if a Thing is wrong, he
will not connive at it, at all* becaufe it was acted by his
Creatures, akho' eve* ib dear to him, and altho' the moft
exalted
and diftinguifhedfrom all Counterfeits. 297
exalted in Dignity., Honour andPriyiledges. For Inftance,
\hzfinning Angels, finning Adamjhz Israelites in the Wilder-
jiefs, his peculiar People. Mofes, for fpeaking unadvifedly
with his Lips, mall not enter into Canaan. David, the
Man after his own Heart, he finned ; and the Sword, fays
God, Jhall not depart from thy Houfe. Yea, he fpared not
his own Son, when he flood in the Room of Sinners. If
he had been governed by any Thing like human Fondnefs,
furely. it would now have appeared. And befidcs, if that
were the Cafe, he could never bear to fee the Damned lie
in the dreadful Torments of Hell to all Eternity. Indeed,
by all he has faid, and by all he has done, he appears to
have an infinite Senfe of the moral Fitnefs and Unfi tnefs of
Things,- and an anfwerable Frame of Heart -, and to be
governed and actuated by this Temper, under the Direc
tion of infinite Wifdom. Hence, as is his Nature, fo is
the Name which he has taken to himfelf, viz. The HOLT
ONE of IfraeL
It is true, he is a Being of infinite Goodnefs & Mercy ;*
yet that is not a fond, but a holy Propenfity, under the Go
vernment of infinite Wifdom : that is, he confiders the
Happinefs and Good of his Creatures, his intelligent Crea
tures, as being what it is. He fees what it is worth, and
of how great Importance it is •, and how much to be de-
fired, in it felf, and compared with other Things : he fees
it to be juft what it really is, and has an anfwerable Difpo-
fition of Heart, i.e. Is cleiirous of theirHappinefs,and averfe
to their Mifery, in an exact Proportion to the real Nature
of the Things in themfelves. It is true, fo great is his
Benevolence, that there is not any Ad of Kindnefs or Grace
fo great, but that he can find in his Heart to do it, yea,
has an infinite Inclination to do it •, if, allThings confider-
ed,in his unerring Wifdom, he judges it fit and beft. And
yet at the fame Time it is as true, fuch is the perfect Rec
titude and fpotlefs Purity of his Nature, that there is not
any Act of Juftice fo tremendous, or any Mifery fo dread
ful, but that he can find in his Heart, his Creatures Hap
pinefs notwithstanding, to do that Act of Juftice, and in
flict thatMifery, if Need fo require •, yea, he has an infinite
Inclination thereto. He regards their Happinefs and Mi
fery
298 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
fery as being what they are, of very great Importance in
themfelves, but or little Importance compared with fome-
thmg elfc. He had rather the whole Syftem of intelligent
Creatures fcould lie in Hell to all Eternity, than do the
very leaft Thing, that is in it felf unfit and wron* Yea
? ut £0Khis °^ Ca?' if wc could p°ffibly
<Ku ' as
he would be done by, when he punilhes Sinners to all
Ltermty. It was m a Sort put to his own Cafe once, when
his Son, who was as himfelf, ftood in the Room of a auihv
World ; and his Hearc did not fail him ; but he appeared
as great an Enemy to Sin then, as ever he did or will do to
all Eternity. His treating his Son as he did in the Garden
and upon the Croft, immediately himfelf and by his In-
Tuments was as bright an Evidence of the Temper of his
ieart,as it he had damned the whole World He appear
ed what he was then, as much as he will at the Day of
judgment. He is infinite in Goodnefs ; yet he is infinitely
averfe to do anyAft ot Kindnefs, at the Expence of Juflice
from mere Fondnefs to his Creatures.
And as his Goodnefs is not Fondnefs, fo his Tuftice is
Cruelty. He infinitely hates that which is unfit and
wrpng) and ,s difpofed to tcftify that his hatred in fome
vifiblepublick Manner, by inflifting fome proportionable
Fummment. Not becaufe Sinners hurt him, and fo make
Him angry and revengeful ; for their Obedience can do him
no good, nor their Difobedience any hurt. Job 35.6,7 Nor
indeed fomuch becaufe they hurt themfelves ; for if they did
wrong in no other Helped:, he would never treat them with
luch Severity. But this is the Truth of the Cafe j the great
Governour of the World has an infinite Senfe of the moral
JMtneis and Unfitnefs of Things, and an anfwerable Frame
feart. And fo he infinitely loves that which is fit, and
rnimands and rewards it ; and infinitely hates the contrary.
Tbids and punilhes it.— Only it muft be remembered,
the Rewards he grants to the good, are of mere Bounty
to them, becaufe they can deferve nothing. Rom. 11.35
But the Punifhments he inflids on the Wicked, arc pure
-ice, becaufe they deferve all. Rom, 6. %3. For altho'
Creatures canno: merir Good at the Hands or God, from
whorq
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 299
whom they receive all, and to whom they owe all •, yet
they can merit Evil. Neverthelefs Rewards and Punifh-
ments are both alike in this Refpedl, viz. that they are
vifible publick Teftimonies born by the Governour of the
World, to the moral Amiablenefs of Virtue, on the one
Hand, and to the moral Hatefulnefs of Vice, on the other.
The one is not the Effed of Fondnefs, nor the other of
Cruelty : but the one refults from the Holinefs and Good*
nefs of the divine Nature, and the other from his Holinefs
and Juftice. By the one, it appears how he loves Virtue,
and how exceeding bountiful he is •, and by the other, how
he hates Sin, and how much he is difpofed to difcounte-
nance it, by treating it as being what it is.
Thus, I fay, in the firft Place, we muft confider God,the
fupreme Governour of the World, as a Being, not only of
infinite Underftanding and almighty Power, but alfo infi
nite and unchangeable in all moral Propenfities : As one
having a perfect Senfe of the moral Fitnefs and Unfitnefs
of Things, and an anfwerable Frame of Heart. Or in Scrip
ture-Language, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty ; the
holy one of Ifrael. TJfc Lord God gracious and merciful^ but
by no Means clearing the guilty. Of -purer Eyes than to behold
Iniquity. Who lovetb Righteoufnefs and hateth Iniquity. Who
render :s to every one according to tbsir Doings •, &c.
Without a right Idea of God the fupremeGovernour of the
World, and a realifmg living Senfe of him on our Hearts,
it is impoflible we fhould rightly underftand the Methods
he has taken to open a Way for his Mercy to come out
after a rebellious guilty World, or truly fee into the
Grounds of his Conduct, the Reafons of his doing as he
has done. If we know God, and have a Tafte for moral
Beauty, wefhall be in a Difpofition to underftand the Gof-
pel ; butotherwiie we fhall not. Job. 7. 17. and 8. 47.
For in the whole of this great Affair of our Redemption, he
has afted altogether like himfelf.
(2.) God is infinitely excellent ^glorious and amiable jn being
what be is. His having fuch a Nature or Temper, and at
the fame Time being of infinite Underftanding and al
mighty Power,renders him infinitely excellent, glorious and
amiable, far beyond the Conceptions of any finite Mind.
Ifai.
300 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Ifai. 6. 3. Holy\ Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, the whole
Earth is full of thy Glory.
Hence, God loves, efleems and delights in himfelf infinitely.
Not indeed from what we call a felfiih Spirit j for could we
fuppofe there was another juft what he is, and himfelf an
Inferior, he would love, efteem and delight in that other,
as entirely as he does now in himfelf. It is his being what
is, that is the Ground of his Self-Love, Efteem & Delight.
Hence again, He loves to eft like himfelf, in all his Con-
duel: as moral Governour of the World, as entirely as he
loves himfelf ; and it is as vnich contrary to his Nature^ to
counteract the Temper cf his Heart , in his pubiick Conduct,
as to ceafe to be what he is. And the plain Reafon is, that
there is the fame Ground for the one as for the other. He
loves himfelf, becaufe he is moft excellent, in being, what
he is : And for the fame Reafon, he loves to act like him
felf, becaufe that is moil excellent too. He cannot be wil
ling to ceafe to be of that Temper or Nature he is of, be
caufe it is moft excellent •, and for the fame Reafon, he
cannot be willing to counteract it, becaufe it is moil excel
lent to act agreeably to it in all Things. He is under Ne-
ceffity to love himfelf ; and he is under the fame Neceflity
to act like himfelf. Gen. 18. 2£. Hence it is a common
*j
Thing for God in great Earneftnefs to fay in his Word, 1
will do fo andfo, and theyfiall KNOW THAT I AM 'THE
LORD. As if he fhould fay, " A guilty rebellious Race
" may think and fay what they will of me, yet I am what
" I am, and I will act like my felf, and all the World mall
" know that I am the Lord, z. e. that I am what I pretend
" to be : They fhall know it by my Conduct, fooner or
« later."
(3.). God cannot he f aid to att like himfelf ^unlefs he appears^
as great an Enemy to &'», in his pubiick Government of the
World) as he really is at Heart. If his Conduct as moral
Governour of the World, the whole being taken together,
fhould look with a more favourable Afpect towards Sin, or
appear lefs fevere, than really he is \ then it is felf-evident
that his Conduct would not be like himfelf, nor would it
tend to exhibit a true Idea of him to all attentive Spec
tators in all his Dominions. If his Creatures and Subjects,
in
and dtjlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 301
in fuch a Cafe, fhouid judge of his Nature byhis CcnduEl*
they would neceffarily frame wrong Notions of the divine
Being. And he himfelf muft fee and know, that. he did
not act like himfelf ; nor appear in his Conduct to be what
he was in his Heart.
'But God, the iupreme Governour of the World, does at
Heart look upon Sin as an infinite Evil, and his Averfion
and Enmity to it is infinite. He looks upon it> and ( to
fpeak of him after the Manner of Men ) is affected towards
it, as being what it really is. But it is infinitely wrong
and wicked, for us not to love him with all our Heart and
obey him in every Thing : The leaft Sin is an infiniteEvil •,
and fuch he fees it to be, and as fuch does he abhor it.
The infinite Evil of Sin does not confiil in it's lefiening
God's eilential Glory or BleiTednefs ; for they are both in-
dependent on us, and far out of our Reach : nor does it.
coniift merely in it's Tendency to make us miferable. But
in it's own Nature it is infinitely wrong, in as much as we
are under infinite Obligations to perfect Holinefs. Our Ob
ligations to love God with all our Heart, are in Proportion
to hisAmiabiencfs -, .but that is infinite : not to do fo there
fore is infinitely wrong. But, as has been faid, God has
an infiniteSenfe of the moralFitnels and Unfitnefs ofThings,
and an aniwcrabie Frame of Heart, i. e. he infinitely loves
that which is.jightjand infinitely hates that which is wrong.
And therefore he infinitely hates the leaft Sin.
. If therefore he acts like himfelf, he muft in his publick
Government of the World, his whole Conduct being taken
together, appear in the moft evident Manner to be an infi
nite Enemy to the ieait Sin. He muft appear infinitely
fevere againft it •, and never do any Thing, which, all
Things confidered, feemsto look at all with another Af-
peft.
(4.) God tbe fupreme Governour of the World can't be faid
t& appear an infinite Enemy to Sin, and to appear infinitely
f were againft it ^ and that without the leaft Appearance of a
favourable AfpeB towards it, in his Conduct ; unlefs he does
always throughout all his Dominions ^not only in Word threaten^
but in FaSt punifh ity with infinite Seventy •, without the kaft
Mitigation or Abatement > in any one Inflame wbetfoever.
302 True Religion delineated Dis. II,
If he fhould never,in hisGovernment of the World, fay or
do any Thing againftSin,it would icem as ii he was a Friend
to it, or at lead very indifferent about it. If he fhould fay
and not do, threaten to puniih,but never inflict the Punifh-
ment, his Creatures and Subjects might be tempted to fay,
*' He pretends to be a mighty Enemy to Sin, and that
is all." It he fhould generally punifh Sin with infinite
Severity, but not always ; there would at leaft be fome
favourable Afpect towards Sin, in his vifible Conduct. And
his Subjects might be ready to fay, u If he can fuffer Sin
" to go half unpunifhed, why not altogether ? and if alto-
" gether at one Time, why not at another ? And if he
" can abate the threatned Punifhment in fome Degree, in
" fome Inftances ; why not altogether, in all Inftances ?
" If there is no abfoluteNeceflity that Sin fhould be punifn-
" ed, why does he ever punifh it ? But if it be absolutely
" necefTary, why does he ever fuffer it to go unpunifhed r"
It would feem at leail, by fuch a Conduct, as if Sin was
not fo exceeding bad a Thing, but that it might eicape
Punifhment fometimes : and as if God was not fuch an
infinite unchangeable Enemy to it, but that he might be
difpoied to treat it with a little Favour. In a Word, if God
fhould always punifh Sins, not one excepted, and that
throughout all his Dominions, and yet not do it always
with infinite Seventy *, but in fome Inftances, one in a Mil
lion we'll fay, fhould abate a little, and but a very little •,
yet fo much as he abates, be it more or lefs, fo much does
he treat Sin in a favourable Manner, and fo much does he
fall fhort of treating it with due Severity, and fo far does
he appear in his Conduct from being an infinite unchangea
ble Enemy to it. So that it is very evident, that he cannot,
in hisConduct as moral Governour of the World,appear an
infinite unchangeable Enemy to Sin, without the leaft Ap
pearance to the contrary, in any other pofiible Way or
Method* than by always punifhing it ^rith infinite Severity,
without the leaft Abatement, in any one Jnftance, in any
Part of his Dominions, in Time or Eternity. And this
would be to act like himfelf •> and in and by fuch a Conduct,
he would appear to be what he is. But to do otherwife,
would be to counteract his own Nature, and give a falfe
Reprefentation
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 303
Reprefentation of his Heart, by a Conduct unlike him-
felf.
Thus, it is the Nature of God, the great Governor of
the World, in all his Conduct,, to a£t like himfelf : But he
can't be faid to act like himfelf, unlefs he appears as great
an Enejny to Sin and as fevere againft it, as he really is,
without the lead Shadow of the contrary : but his Conduct
cannot appear in this Light, unlefs he does in Fact puni|h
Sin with infinite Severity, thro'out all his Dominions,with-
out the lead Mitigation, in any one Inilance, irr Time or
Eternity : therefore, it is the Nature of God, theGovernour
of the World, to do fo : And therefore, he can no fooner,
nor any eafier, be willing, to let any Sin go unpunifhed,
than he can, to ceafe to be what he is. * For, as was before
proved, it is as impolTible for him to act contrary to his
own Nature, as it is to ceafe to be what he is : and he can
confent to the one, as eafily, as to the other.
Hence, we may learn, this is really a Branch of the Law
of Nature ) ¥hat Sin jhould be p unified : it refults from the
Nature of God, the Governour of the World : it was no
arbitrary Conftitution : it did not refult from the divine
Sovereignty. It would, in the Nature of Things, have
been no Evil,for Adam to have eaten of theTree ofKnowlege^
had not God forbidden it ; herein God exercifed his fove-
reign Authority, as abfolute Lord of all Things : But in
threatning Sin with eternal Death, he acted not as a fove-
reign,but as a righteous Governour : his Nature prompted
him to dp fo ; he could not have done otherwife. As it is
faid in another Cafe, It is impoflible for God to lie \ fo it may
be faid herevlt is impoflible forGod to let Sin go unpunifh
ed. As he .cannot go counter to himfelf in fpeaking, fo
neither in atting. 'Tis as contrary to his Nature, to let Sin
go unpunifhed, as it is to lie j for his Jufiice is as much
himfelf,
• .* God's mild and kind Conduft towards a guilty World at prefent, is
nothing inconfiftent with this ; becaufe Mankind are now dealt with
in and thro' a Mediator, upon whom CM- Sim ha<ve been laid, and
- who has been made, a Curfi for us. In Kim,our Sins have been treated^
. with infinite '.'Severity, without the leaf- Abatement. But for this,
God's Condu&, no doubt,would be very incormr/jnt with his Perfefti-
ons.
304 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
himfelf, as his Truth ; and it is therefore equally impcfli-
ble he fhould act contrary to either.
Hence, thisBranch of the Law of Nature is not capable cf
any Repeal or Abatement. For fmce it necefTarily icfults
from the Nature of God the Governour of the World, it
muft neceffarily remain in Force fo long as Gcd continues
to be what he is. Befides, if Gcd fhould repeal it, he muft
not only counteract his own Nature, but alfo give great
Occafion to all hisSubjects to think, he was once too fevere
againft Sin, and that now he had altered his Mind, and
was become more favourable towards it : Which he can no
more be willing to do, than he can be willing actually to
ceafe to be what he is. For as he loves himfelf perfectly
for being what he is, fo he perfectly loves to act like him
felf, and to appear in his Conduct juft as he is in his Heart.
Therefore our Saviour exprefly aiTerts, That Heaven and
Earth Jhall pafs away, but not one Jot or Tittle of the Law
jhaUfaii. Matt. 5. 18.
( 5 . •) But all this notwithftandivg, yet Gcd did^ of his infinite
Gocdnefs and f over sign Gr ace ^ entertain Defigns of Mercy to
wards a fallen Werli^ a rebellious ^ cbftinate, ftubborn, finful^
guilty^ Hell- deferring Race, under the righteous Condemnation
of the Law^ a Law like himfelf^ holy, juft and good. Particu
larly, he defignedto declare himfelf reconcilable to this fm-
ful,guilty World ; to putMankind into a new State of Pro
bation ; to try and fee if they would repent and return unto
him, and to ufe a Variety of Methods for their Recovery. — I
And to make Way for this, he defigned to reprieve a guilty
World, for a certain Space of Time, from that utter Ruin
he had threatned ; and to grant a Sufficiency of the good
Things of this Life for their Support, while in a State of
Probation : and he alfo purpoled to grant a general Re-
furrection from the Dead, that thofe who (could return to
him and be reconciled, might be moft compleatly happy
in the World to come. And becaufe he knew their
Averfion to a Reconciliation, therefore he defigned to ufe
a Variety of external Means to bring them to it. — And be
caufe he knew that Mankind would be univerfally difpofed
to hate all fuch Means (not liking to have Gcd in theirKnow-
hge) and caft them off and get from under them, therefore
he
and dijlmgulfhedfrom all Counterfeits. 305
he defigned in his fovereign Grace to felect fome Part of
Mankind, (the Jews for Inftance ) with whom, by his ipe-
cial Providence, by the more open or fecret Workings of
his almighty Power, fuchMeans fhould be continued. -
And in the Fulnefs of Time, he purpofed alfo to ufe equal,
yea, greater Means with various Nations of the Gentiles. —
And becaufe he knew that all externalMeans notwithfland-
ing, yet all with one Confent, would refufe to repent and
convert and be reconciled, therefore he defigned by hisPro-
vidence and by the more common Influences of his Spirit,
to take ibme farther Pains with many, and try them.
And becaufe he knew that this would never effedhially per-
fwade them, thro' the great Perverfenefs of Mankind ;
therefore he defigned, by the fpecial Influences of his holy
Spirit, thro1 his almighty Power and all-conquering Grace,
all their Obftinacy notwithstanding, yet to reclaim and re
cover and bring Home to himfelr, a certain Number in this
World ; and here train them up for eternal Glory, and fi
nally bring them thereunto : and all of his fovereignGood-
nefs, and all to the Praife of the Glory of his Grace.
And towards the latter End of that Space of Time,in which
this World was to be reprieved, it was his Purpofe more
eminently to deftroy Satan's Kingdom on Earth and hisln-
fluence among Mankind, and more generally- recover the
guilty Nations from his Thraldom, and fet up his own
Kingdom on Earth, to ftourim in greatGiory andProfperity
a Thoufand Years. Such were hisDefigris, as is evident by
the Event of Things, and from the Revelation he has made
in his Word of what is yet to come to pafs.
(6.) But as the Cafe then flood., it was not fit , that any of
thefe Favours fliculd be granted to a guilty World^ #0, not
any 'Thing, that had fo much as (all Things conjideredj the
Nature of a Mercy ^ without fome fufflcient Salvo to the di^
inne Honour..* Indeed fome Kind of Reprieve,! prefume,
X might
OBJ. But if God could mty confident with his P erf eft ions >Jhew anyMercy to
a guilty IVorld 'without afujficient Salvo to his Honour ; ho<w could he%
confident with his Perfections, provide them a Mediator ? Was not this a
great Mercy ? And ivhat Salvo had he for his Honour in. doing of it ?
. The very doing of this Thing itfelf was to fecure his own Ho
nour.
306 "True Religion delineated Dis. II.
might have been granted to a guilty World, fo as to have
fuffered the human Race to have propagated, and the
whole defigned Number to have been born ; a Reprieve,
all Things confidered, not of the Nature of a Mercy. So
the fallen Angels feem to be under fomeKind of a Reprieve;
for they are referred in Chains , to the Judgment of the great
Day, as condemned Prifoners. 2 Pet. 2. 4. And hence, a
Number of them once cried out, Art thou come to torment
us before th&ime ? Matt. 8. 29. Yet we are not taught in
Scripture to look upon this, as a Mercy to them. But
the Scriptures teachus toconfider our Reprieve, our worldly
Comforts, our Means of Grace, our Space for Repentance,
the Reftraints of Providence and the common Influences of
the Spirit, as Mercies; yea, as great Mercies. Rom. 2. 4.
Ifai. 5. 4. Dcut. 10. 1 8. Aft. 14. 17. Rev. 2. 21. —
All thefe common Favours therefore, as well as fpccial and
faving Mercies, were not proper to be granted to fuch a
guilty, Hell- deferving World, by a holy, fin-hating, fin-
revenging God. This was not to treat Mankind,as it was
fit and meet they fhould be treated. It was contrary to
Law, that any Favour at all fhould without a Salvo to the
divine Honour, be granted them ; for by Law they were
all doomed to Deflruction. And it was contrary to the
divine Nature, to do anyThing in the Cafe, that, allThings
confidered, would have, in the leaft Meafure, a favourable
Afpect towardsSin ; or fo much as in the leaft tend to make
him feem lefs fevere againft it, than if he had damned the
whole World for their Apoftacy and Rebellion.
nour. This was the very End he had nextly in View. Were it not
for this End, a Mediator had not been needful ; but a guilty World
might have been pardoned by an Aft ofabfolute fovereign Grace. — -
Now his taking fuch a glorious Method to fecure his Honour, and the
Honour of his Law and Government and facred Authority, had no
. Tendency to mifrepreient them. He afted in it juft like himfelf.
His infinite Wifdom, Holinefs, Juftice and Goodnefs, are all at once
moft perfectly difplayed in this Conduct of the fupreme Governour
of the World. Particularly, his infinite Hatred of Sin and Difpofi-
tion to punifh it, appeared in the very Aft of appointing his Son to
be a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World. For in this Aft, it was
manifeft,that he did choofe, his own dearSon fliould himfelf bear the
of Sin, ra'her than let it go unpunifhed.
and diftinguijb edfrom all Counterfeits. 307
If God had fet afide his Law, which was the Image of
his Heart, and undertaken and fhewn all thefe Favours to
a guilty World, without any Salvo to his Honour, his vifi-
bie Conduct would have been dire6Uy contrary to the inward
Temper of his Heart ; and by it, he would have counter
acted his Nature, and mifreprefented himfelf, difhonoured
his Law, rendered his Authority weak and contemptible,
and opened a wide Door for the Encouragement of Rebel
lion, throughout all his Dominions ; and in Effect gotten
to himfelf the Character the Devil defigned to give of him
to our firft Parents, when he faid, Te jhall not furely die.
Gen. 3.4. i. e. " God is not fo fevere againft Sin, as he
" pretends to be, and as you think for, nor does he hate it
cc fo much, nor will he do as he fays in the Cafe." It was
therefore infinitely impofTible.
(7.) 1*0 tbe End therefore, that a Way might be opened for
him to put his Defigns of Mercy in Execution, confident with
bimCelf, confiftcnt with the Honour cf his Holinefs 6* Juftice,
Law and Government and facred Authority, fomething muft
be done by him in a publick Manner, as it were in the Sight of
all Worlds, whereby his infinite Hatred of Sin and unchangea
ble Resolution to puni/h it, might be as effectually manifefted
as if he had damned the whole World. MERELY his faying^
that he infinitely hates Sin, and looks upon it worthy of an
infinite Puniihmcnt, would not have manifefted the inward
Temper of his Heart in fuch a Meridian Brightnefs, as if
he had damned the whole World in very Deed. But rather,
his faying one Thing, and doing another directly contrary,
would have been agoing Counter to himfelf •, efpecially,
confidering him as ading in the Capacity of a Govtrnour, to
whom by Office it belongs to put the Law in Execution
and caufe Juftice to take Place. For him, firft to make a
Law threatning eternal Death to the leaft Sin, makes him
appear infinitely juft and holy •, but then to have no Re
gard to that Law in his Conduct, but go right contrary to
it, without any Salvo to his Honour, is quite inconfiftent ;
and directly tends to bring Himfelf,his Law and Authority,
into the greateft Contempt. Something, I fay, therefore
muft be DONE,to make his Hatred of the Sin of Mankind
andDifpofition to punifh it, as manifeft as if he had damned
X 2 the
308 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
the whole World ; to the End, the Honour of hisHolinefs
and Juftice, of his Law and Government and facred Au
thority, might be effectually fecured. To act contrary to
his own Nature, was impofiible ; to have no Regard to
the Honour of his Law and Government,was unreafonable ;
a guilty World had better all have been damned.
Thus from the Perfections of God, and from the Na
ture of the Thing, we fee the Neceflity there was, that Sa-
tisfa&ion mould be made for Sin, in order to open an ho
nourable Way in which divineMercy might come out after
a rebellious, guilty, Hell-deferving World.
To conclude this Head, The Neceflity of Satisfaction
For Sin feems alfo to be held forth in the Scriptures, and to
be implied in God's Conduct in this Affair. In the
Old Teftament, the Neceffity of an Atonement for Sin
was taught in Types and Figures. The Man that finned
was to bring his Offering before theLord,and layhisHands
upon it, and confefs his Sin over it •, and fo, as it were,
transfer his Sin and Guilt to it •, then was it to be (lain
( for Death is the Wages of Sin ) and burnt upon the Altar,
(for the Sinner deferves to be confumed in theFire of God's
Wrath ) and the Blood thereof was to be fprinkled round
about -, (for without /bedding of Blood there is no Remiffion)
nor was there any other Way of obtainingPardon prefcrib-
ed, but this, which naturally taught the Neceffity of Satis-
fadion for Sin, and led the pious Jews to fome general No-
tion of the great Atonement which God would provide,
and to a cordial Reliance thereon for Acceptance in the
Sight of God. Lev. 4. & 16. Heb. 9. But in the New
Teftament, the Nature and Neceffity of Satisfaction forSin,
and the Impoffibility of finding Acceptance withGod,unlefs
thro' the Atonement of Chrift, is taught in Language very
plain and exprefs : particularly in the third Chapter of the
Epiftle to the Romans. St. Paul having proved both Jews
and Greeks to be under Sin, and all the World to be guilty
before God, and that every Mouth muft be flopped, in tliefirft
-zndfecond Chapters and in the Beginning of the third, does,
in the next Place, enter upon, and begin to explain, the Way
of Salvation by free Grace thro' Jefus Chrift : " We can-
<c 90t," fays he, " be juftified by the Deeds .of the Law;
(
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 309
cc ( Chap. 3. 20.) But it muft be freely by Grace thro* the
" Redemption that is inJefusChrift. (^.24.) — But if we are
" not juftified by the Deeds of the Law, by our ownObe-
" dienee,how will God our Judge appear to be righteous ?
" If theLaw condemns us and yet he juftifies us, i. e. if he
" thus proceeds contrary to Law, to clear and approve,
" when that condemns ; how will he appear to be a juft
" and upright Governour and Judge, who loving Righte-
" oufnefs and hating Iniquity, is difpofed always to render
" to every one his Due ? — Why, — there is a Way con-
" trived, wherein the Righteoufnefs of God is manifefted
" in our Juftification without the Law's being obeyed by
** us, a Way unto which the Types of the Law and Pre-
C£ di&ions of the Prophets did all bear Witnefs, a Way in
" which the Righteoufnefs of God is manifefted in and by
" Chrift: (f. 21, 22.) —But how ? — Why, God hath
xe fet him forth to be a Propitiation, to declare his Righteouf-
" nefs for the Remiffwn of Sins that are patt, thro" the For-
*' bearanceofGod •, to declare, I fay, at this Time his Righ-
" teoufnefs : THAT HE MIGHT BE JUS?, and the
" JuRifier of him which believeth in Jefus* The Apoftle
feems evidently to fuppofe, that God could net have been
juft, had he not thus declared his Righteoufnefs •, and that
he a6lually took this Method to declare and manifefl his
Righteoufnefs, to the End he might be juft, might act agreea
ble to his Nature, the original Standard of Juftice, and to
his Law, which is the Tranfcript of his Nature, and the
eftablifhed Rule of Righteoufnefs, between him our Go
vernour, and us his Subjects. He fet forth his Son to be
a Propitiation, for the Remiffwn of Sin, to declare his Righte
oufnefs, that be might be juft, and the Juftifier &c.
BESIDES, The NecefTity of Satisfa&ion for Sin, and that
even by the Death of Chrift, feems to be implied in our
Saviour's Prayer in the Garden, If it be -poffiblc, let this Cup
pafs from me : never thelefs, not as I will, but as thou wilt,
Mat. 26. 39. And again, ^. 42. O my Father, if this Cup
may not pafs away from me, except I drink it, thy Will be done.
As if Chrift had faid, " If it be poffible thy Defigns of
" Mercy might be put into Execution, and poor Sinners
" faved, confiftent with thine Honour, without my drink -
X 3 « m*
3 1 o 7r#£ Religion delineated D i s . II.
cc ing this Cup, O that it might be : but if it is not pofli-
" bie it fhould be fo, I confent." Satisfaction for Sin be
ing neceflary, and there being no eafier Way in which Sa
tisfaction for Sin might be made, and a Door opened for
Mercy to come to a guilty World confiftent with the divine
Honour, feems to have been the very Ground, of the Fa
ther's willing him, and of (Thrift's confenting, to drink that
Cup. And indeed, is it poflible to conceive, why Chrift'
fhould be willing to fuffer what he did, or why his Father
fhould defire it, were it not an Expedient abfolutely ne-
ceffary, and nothing elfe would do, fo that, it muft be, or
not one of the Race of Adam be ever faved, confident with
the divine Honour ? If it was not fo abfolutely neceflary,
if there was fome cheaper and eafier Way that would have
done, why did the Father will this ? or how had Chrift a
fufEcient Call to undertake it ? or indeed what Need was
there for him to undertake ? or what Good would it do ?
If Sin was not in very Deed,, fo bad a Thing, that it could
not be pardoned without fuch a Satisfaction, why was fuch
a Satisfaction infilled upon ? V/hy a greater Satisfaction
than was needful ? Could a holy and v/ife God fet fo light
by the Blood of his dear Son, as to defire it to be fhed with
out the moft urgent Necefiity ? Or why fhould the Gover-
nour of the World make more Adoe than needs, and then
magnify his Love in giving his Son, when Mankind might
have been faved without it ? Did this become the great
Governour of the World ? Or would God have us look
upon his Conduct in fuch a Light ? Surely no. — Verily
therefore, fuch was the Cafe of a rebellious guilty World,
that God looked upon them too bad to be releafed, con
fiftent with the divine Honour, from the threatned De-
ftruction, unlefs fuch a Mediator fhould interpofe,and fuch
a Satisfaction fcr Sin be made -, and therefore Chrift ac-
quiefced in his Will, as bein^ wife, holy, juft and good. —
And this being fuppofed, the Love of God in giving his
.Son appears even fjch as it is reprcfented to be •, unparal-
IH.'d, unfpcakable, inconceivable : fo alfo does the Love of
Chrill in undertaking.: — And thus from th« Perfections of
God, and from the Scriptures, and from God's Conduct
in this Aff.ilr, it appears that a full Satisfa&ion for Sin was
neceflary
and dijlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 311
necefTary, in order to it's being pardoned, or any Favour
fhewn to a guilty World, confiftent with the divine HO-
nour.
And if we, in very Deed, did ftand in fuch Need, fuch
an abfolute perilhing Need of a Mediator, as this comes to ;
if God looked upon Things in fuch a Light ; then muft
we fee this our Need of a Mediator, and look upon Things
in this Light too, and have a Senfe of this great Truth
upon our Hearts : for otherwife we neither truly under-
ftand what a State we are in, nor what Need we have of a
Mediator. And if we do not truly underftand what a
State we are in, nor our Need of the Mediator God has
provided, how can we be in a Difpofition to receive him
as he is offered in the Gofpel, and truly & underftandingly
to rely upon him, his Death and Sufferings, his Worth
and Merits, his Mediation and Jntercefiion, as the Gofpel ,
invites us to do ?
To fee our Need of Chrift to be our Atonement, to fee
our Need of his propitiatory Sacrifice to open the Way for
the Governour of the World to be reconciled to us conlift-
ently with his Honour,is a very different Thing from what
many imagine. Some fancy, they want Chrift to purchale
an Abatement of the Law, and fatisfy for their Imperfecti
ons ; and then they hope to procure the divine Farour by
their owrr Goodnefs. — Some truft in Chrift and the free
Grace of God thro' him,as they think, and yet at the fame
Time look upon God as obliged in Juftice to fave them, if
they do as well as they can. Some, who lay not fo high
a Claim to the divine Favour, yet by their Tears & Prayers
hope to move the Companions of God, and by their fair
Promifes to engage his Favour, and would fecretly think
it hard, if after all, God ihould caft them off; and yet they
pretend to fee their Need of Chrift and to truft in him.
But thefe are all evidently fo far from feeing their Need of
Chrift, that in the Temper and Exercifes of their Hearts,
they implicitly and practically deny any Need of him at all 5
to their own Senfe, they are good enough to be accepted in
the Sight of God upon their own Account. Rom. 10. 3. —
Others, who have had great Awakenings and Convictions,
X 4 aac!
312 • True Religion delineated pis. II.
fee much of their own Badnefs, and do in a Sort renounce
their own Rignteoufnefs, they look to be faved by free
Grace -, but in all the Exercifes of theirHearts, fee noNeed
of a Mediator, and have nothing to do with him : They
fee no Reafon why they may not be pitied and faved by
free Grace, without any Refpect to the Atonement of Chrift.
They don't underftand that they are fo bad, that it would
be a Reproach to the Governour of the World, to fhew
them Mercy otherwife than thro? a Mediator. — Others
again, who talk much of Chrift, and of Faith, and of living
by Faith, and cry down Works, and think thernfelves moft
evangelical •, yet after all, only believe thatChrift died for them
in particular^ and that theyjhall be faved : this is their Faith,
and this their trufting in Chrift •, whereby it is evident,they
never truly faw theirNeed of Chrift, nor have they any Re
fpect to him under the proper Character of a Mediator.
But then do Perfons fee their Need of Chrift, when
from a Senfe of what they be, and of what God is, they are
convinced, that they are too bad to be pardoned and ac
cepted, fo bad that any Thing fhort of Damnation is too
good for them ; fo that it would be inconfiftent with the
divine Perfections and to the Reproach of the great Gover
nour of the World, to fhew them anyFavour, without fome
fufficient Salvo to his Honour. Now they lee their Need
of Chrift and are prepared to exercife Faith in his Blood (to
pfe the Apoftle's Phrafe, Rom. 3. 23. ) and not 'till now.
For Men can't be faid to fee their Need of Chrift and his
Atonement, unlefs they fee that in their Cafe, which ren
ders his Atonement needful -, but it's: being inconfiftent with
the divine Perfections, and to the Dilhonour of God, to
pardon Sin without Satisfaction, was that which made an
Atpnement medful : Therefore Sinners muft fee -their Cafe
ro be fuch "as that it would be incohfifterit: with the divine
Perfections and to theDi [honour of God,to grant themPar-
don without Satisfaction for their Sins y in order to fee their
Need of Chrift and of his Atonement. When they fee their
Cafe to be fuch, then they begin to fee Things as they are,
to -view them in the fame Light that God does, to perceive
j-ipon what Grounds and for what Reafons a Mediator was
fieceflary,
and diftmgmjjhed from all Counterfeits. 3 13
neceflary, and why and upon what Accounts they want
one ; and hereby a Foundation is laid for them underftand-
ingly to have a fiducial Recourfe to that Mediator which
God has provided, that thro' him, confidently With the di
vine Perfections, they may be received to Favour. And fo
from Chrift the Mediator, and from the free Grace of God
thro* him, do they take all their Encouragement to come
to God in hopes of Pardon & Acceptance and eternal Life.
And thus they look to bejuftified by free Grace thro' the Re
demption that is in Jefus Chrift, which is what the Gofpel
intends and propofes. Rom. 3. 24. And from an increafing
Senfe of their Unworthinefs and ill Deferts, they, thro' the
Courfe of their Lives, more and more, grow up into a
Difpofition to live the Life they live in the Flejh by Faith in
the Son of God, always having Refpect to him as their great
.high Prieft, in all their Approaches to the Mercy-Seat^ hav
ing Accefs to God by hhn^ who has ftiled himfelf the Door
of the Sheep, and the Way to the Father, which is the very
Thing theGofpel propofes, & invites & encourages us unto.
Heb.9« 12. By his ownBloodhe entred into the holy Place ^having
obtained eternal Redemption for us. Ver. 24. Into Heaven it
felfr to appear in the Prefence of God for us. Heb. 10. 19 —
2 2 . Having therefore^ Brethren^ boldnefs to enter into the ho-
lieft by the Blood of Jefus, by a new and living Way which he,
bath confe crated for us ; — and having an high Prieft over the
Houfe of God : let us draw near with a true Heart, in full
Affurance of Faith. Rom. 3. 25. For him hath Godfetfortk
to bs a Propitiation for Sin^ to declare his Right eoufnefs^ that
be might bejufl, &c.
And a clear realifmg Senfe of thefe Things on ourHearts,
will lay a Foundation for us to fee, how the Gofpel- Way
of Salvation is calculated to bring much Glory to God,
and abafe Sinners in the very Dull, which is that wherein
the Glory of the Gofpel very much confifts. Rom. 3. 27.
Eph. i. 3 — 12. And we {hall learn to rejoyce to fee God
alone exalted, and freely to take our proper Place, and lie
down in the Duft, abafed before the Lord for ever. And
indeed it is perfectly fit in this Cafe> that the Rebel-Wretch
fliould come down, and be fo far from finding Fault with
the
314 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
the great Governour of the World, and with his holy, jufl
and good Law, that he fhould rejoyce that God has taken
fuch an effectual Method to fecure his own Honour,and the
Honour of his Law. We ought to be glad with all our
Hearts, that the fupreme Governour of the World did put
on State, and ftand for his Honour, and the Honour of his
Law, without the leaft Abatement , and did infift upon
it, that Sin Ihould be puniilied, the Sinner humbled, and
Grace glorified : thefe were Things of the greateft Impor
tance. And we ought to choofe to be faved in fuch a Way.,
to have God honoured, and our felves humbled. And it
is evident, this muft be the Temper of every one that
comes into a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel. Thus
much concerning the Neceffity of Satisfaction for Sin.
But here now fome may be ready to inquire,
Was it not as neceJJ'ary, that the Precepts of the Lawjhould
be obeyed^ as that the Penalty ftculd be fuffered •, to make Way
for the Sinner not only to be -pardoned, but alfo to be received
to a State of Favour and intitled to eternal Life ?
To which I anfwer,
i . It is true, we need not only a Pardon from theHands
of God the fupreme Governour of the World, in whofe
Sight, and againil whom we have finned ; we need, I fay,
not only to be pardoned, delivered from Condemnation,
freed from the Curfe of the Law, faved from Hell ; but
we want fomething further : We want to be renewed to
God's Image, taken into his Family, put among his Chil
dren, and made Partakers of his everlafting Favour and
Love. We need not only to be delivered from all thofe^/'/r,
which are come upon us and which we are expofed unto,
thro' our Apoftacy from God ; but we want to be reftored
to the Enjoyment of all that Good, which we fhould have
had, had we kept the Covenant of our God.
2. It is true alfo, that Mankind,according to theTenour
of the firft Covenant, were not to have been confirmed in
a State of Holinefs and Happinefs, were not to have had
eternal Life, merely upon the Condition of being innocent,
(for fuch was Adam by Creation) but perfect Obedience tjo
every Precept of the divine Law v/as required. Rom. 10.5.
Gal. 3. 10. The Performance of fuch an Obedience, was
that
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 315
that Right eoufnefs, which was by Covenant to intitle him
to Life.
3. Since the Fall, all Mankind,are deftitute of thatRigh-
ttoufnefs, nor can they attain unto it. Rom. 3. 9 20.
4. But our natural Obligations, to love God with all our
Hearts and obey him in every Thing, ftill remain. For
they are in their own Nature Unalterable. They will be
for ever the fame, fo long as God remains what he is and
we are his Creatures. There was the fame Reafon, there
fore, after the Fall, why we fhould love and obey God, as
ever there was. There was the fame Reafon, therefore,
that the Condition of the firft Covenant, fhould be fulfilled,
as ever there was. It was reafonable, originally, or God
would never have infifted upon it. And therefore it is
reafonable now fmce our Apoftacy •, and God has the fame
Grounds to infift upon it as ever : but we cannot perform
it our felves : it was necefTary, therefore, that it fhould be
performed by Chrift our Surety.
But perhaps fome may ftill fay,
When Chrift hadfullyfatisfy'dfor all our Sins, and fo opened
a Way for Believers to be confidered as entirely free from any
Guilt ; why might not the Governour of the World^ now^ of
his fovereign Goodnefs and Bounty r, have beflowed eternal Life,
without any more to do ? What Need was there for Chrift to
fulfil all Righteoufnefs in our Room ?
To which I anfwer,
When Adam was newly created, he was innocent, free
from any Guilt ; and why might not the fupreme Gover-
nour of the World, now, without any more to do, have
beflowed upon him eternal Life and BleiTcdnefs, of his
mere fovereign Goodnefs ? What need was there, that his
everl ailing Welfare fhould be entirely fufpended upon the
uncertain Condition of his good Behaviour ? Had not
God juft feen how it turned out with the Angels that fin
ned ? Did he not know that Adam was liable to Sin and
undoe himfelf too, ? And why would he run any venture
a fecond Time ? Efpecially, fince the Happinefs, not only
of Adam^ but of all his Race, a whole World of Beings,now
lay at Stake ? If he thinks, that if but one Man fhould
gain the whole World, and lofe his own Soul, his Lofs
would
316 True Religion delineated Dis. II. 1
would be infinitely great ; what muft the everlafting Wel
fare of a whole Race be worth in his Account ? And would
infinite Wifdom and infinite Goodnefs venture and hazard
all this needlejly ? Yea, would fuch a Being have done fo,
had there not been Reafons, of infinite Weight, to move
him to it ? fomething of greater Importance, than the eter
nal Welfare of all Mankind ?— — No doubt, there was
fomething, and fomething of very great Importance, that
influenced the infinitely wife and good Governour of the
World to fuch a Conduct. Something, fo very great, as to
render his Conduct in that Affair, perfectly holy and wife,
perfectly beautiful, excellent and glorious. It does not
look like a mere arbitrary Conftitution. It was doubtlefs
ordered fo, becaufe God faw, it was perfectly fit and right
and bed. But why was it fit and right and beft ? •
Whatever the Reafon was, doubtlefs for the fame Reafon,
it was fit and right and beft, that the fecond Adam fliould
perform the fame Condition, fulfil all Righteoufnefs, to
the End that by his Obedience we might be made righte
ous, and fo be intitled to Life in this Way.
It is certain, that eternal Life and Blelfednefs were not to
have been given abfolutely, i. e. without any Condition at
all, under the firft Covenant. Eternal Life was not to
have been granted merely under the Notion of a Gift, from
zfovereign Benefactor ; but alfo under the Notion of a Re
ward, from the Hands of the moral Governour of the World.
PerfedObedience was theCondition. Do and live.'R.om. 10.5.
Difobey and die. Gal. 3. 10. This was eftabliihed by the
Law of the God of Heaven.
Now, the fupreme Governour of the World did this for
fome End, or for no End. Not for no End, for that would
reflect upon his Wifdom. Was it for his own Good, or his
Creature's Good ? Not for his own Good •, for he is Self-
fufficient and Independent. Not for his Creature's Good ;
for it had been better for them, their Intereft fimply con-
fidered, to have had eternal Life and Bleffednefs given ab-
folutely and unconditionally -9 for then, they would have
been at no Uncertainties, not liable to fall into Sin or Mife*
ry, but fecure and fafe forever. It remains, therefore.
that, as moral Governour* of the World, he ha$ an Eye to
tin
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 17
the moral Fitnefs of Things, and fo ordained, becauie in
it felf, in it's own Nature, it was fit and right.
But why was it fit and right ? /'. e. What Grounds and
Reafons were there in the Nature of the Cafe, why the
great Governour of the World fhould fufpend the everlaft-
ing Welfare of his Creature, Man, upon Condition of his
being in moft perfect Subjection to himfelf ? i.e. Why
Ihould he fo much Hand upon his own Honour, as to infift
upon thisHomage,at the hazard of hisCreature's everlafling
Welfare. — i. e. Why did he look upon his own Honour as
a Matter of fo great Importance ? 1 anfwer, that, from
the Rectitude of the divine Nature, he is perfectly impar
tial in all his Conduct. It was not, therefore, from any
Thing like Pride, or a felfifh Spirit, that he flood thus upon
his Honour ; the Homage of a Worm of the Duft could
do him no Good : nor for want of Goodnefs, that he fet fo
light by his Creature's Happinefs : but it was fit he fhould
do as he did •, the Rectitude of his Nature, as it were, ob
liged him to it. For it becomes the Governour of the
World, and it belongs to his Office as fuch, to fee to it,
that every one has his proper Due ; and therefore it con
cerns him, firft and above all Things, to afiert and main
tain the Rights of the GOD-HEAD : and this Honour
was due to God.
He was by Nature God, and Adam was by Nature Man ;
he was the Creator, and Adam was his Creature ; he was
moral Governour of the World, and Adam was his Sub
ject : He was by Right Law-giver, and Adam was a free
Agent capable of and obliged unto perfect Obedience :
He was Judge,to whom it belonged to diflribute Rewards
and Punifhments, and Adam was an accountable Creature,
Now he only confidered himfelf as being what he was, and
his Creature Man as being what he was •, and he was affect
ed and a<5ted accordingly. He confidered what Honour
was due to him from Man j what Obligations Man was
under to give him his Due j that he was capable of doing
it voluntarily ; that it was fit he fhould ; that it became
the Governour of the WTorld to infift upon it -y that if he
did not do it with all his Heart, he could not be ccnfidered
as a Subject fit for the divine Favour, but fit only for di
vine
31 8 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
vine Wrath. He thus viewed Things as they were, and
acled accordingly. What he did therefore was perfectly
right and fit. To have had no Regard to his Honour, but
only to have confulted his Creature's Welfare, would have
been a Conduct like theirs in Rom. 1.21,25. ? "bey glorified
him not as God. — They ivcrfoipped and ferved the Creature
more than the Creator. *
Now, fmce the fecond Adam becomes Surety and (lands
refponfible to the Governour of the World, it was fit he
fhould not only fufFer the Penalty of the broken Law, but
obey it's Precepts too, in order to open a Door for us not
only to be pardoned, but alfo received to Favour and intit-
led to eternal Life. There was the fame Reafon, the fecond
Adam fhould do it, as that the Jirft fhould. The Honour of
God did as much require it. It was as needful in order to
our being confidered as Subjects fit for the divine Favour
and eternal Life. It became the Governour of the World
as much to ftand for his Honour, with one, as with the
other •, and he had as good Reafon to fufpend the everlaft-
ing Welfare of Mankind upon this Condition, now,as ever.
And to have fliewn no Concern for the divine Honour,
altho'God had been openly affronted and defpifed byMan's
Apoftacy, but only to have regarded and confulted the
Wei-
* HowGod's putting Adam into a State of Trial, was confident with his
aiming merely at his Happinefs as his laft Endy I cannot underftand.
Sure I am, it muft have been better, unfpeakably better for Adam^us
Intereft only confidered, to have been immediately c<mfrmed\n aStatc
of perfeclHolinefs & Happinefs,without running fuch an awfulVenture
of eternal Ruin and Deftrudtion. Nor is there anyMan^on Earth, that
would choofe, merely out of Regard to his own Welfare, to be put
into a State of Trial, rather than into a State of confirmed Holinefs
and Happinefs, fuch as the Saints in Heaven are now in. And there
fore I can't but think, that God had a greater Regard to fomething
clfe, than to Adams Happinefs. In this Inftance, it feems plain
from Fafi, that God does not make his Creature's Happinefs, his laft
End. It is in vain to plead, " That Adam could not be a moral Agent,
" unlefs he was a free Agent, nor zfree Agent without being liable
" to Sin." — For the Saints in Heaven are moral Agents & free Agents
too,andyet are not liable to Sin. — And if God's putting hisCreatures
into a State of Trial, is not confiftent with his aiming merely at their
Happinefs as his laft End,then the wholeTenor of God's moralGovern-
ment is not confiftent therewith : for, from nrft to laft, it has been his
Way to put his Creatures into a State of Trial ; even all his Crea
tures who were capable of moral Government.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 319
Welfare of the Rebel under righteous Condemnation, had
been a Conduct evidently unbecoming the greatGovernour
of the World.
But again, we may view the Cafe in another Point of
Light. According to the firft Covenant, eternal Life
andBleflednefs were not to have been granted merely under
the Notion of a Gf/>, from zfovereign Benefactor ; but alfo
under the Notion of a Reward^ from God as moral Gover-
nour of the World : and perfect Obedience was the Condi
tion. Do and live. And while eternal Life and Blef*
fednefs were thus promifed, by Way of Reward to Virtue^
God's infinite Love thereto was hereby teflified ; and the
Temper of his Heart acted out and difplayed. But
God infinitely loves to act like himfelf. — On this Confi-
deration, therefore, it was neceflary, that the fecond Adam
fhould fulfil all Righteoufnefs, in the Room of a guilty,un-
holy World ; to the End, that the Governour of theWorld
might beftow Grace and Glory and all good Things upon
Sinners, as a. Reward to Chrift's Virtue ; and fo hereby
teftify his infinite Love to Virtue. And fo ftill aft like
himfelf. It was God's fovereignPleafure to exercife his
infiniteGoodnefs towards a ruin'dRace, and his &0/yNature
prompted him to choofe this Way ; for he always takes in
finite Delight in mewing Regard and RefpedttoF/r/tf*, in
his moral Government of the World. He tranflated£;/<?f£
and Elijah, faved Noah from the general Deluge, delivered
Lot out of Sodom, promifed Abraham a Pofterity numerous
as the Stars of Heaven, and Pbineas an everlafting Prieft-
hood, and a Thoufand Things more has he done ; and all,
to bear a publick Teftimony of his Love to Virtue. This is
the Thing which the King delights to Honour. The very
Ground of his Love to himfelf, is the Virtue or Holinefs of
his Nature. In this, his divine Beauty and Glory primarily
confifts. Ifai. 6.3. He loves, therefore, to put Honour upon
the Image of himfelf. And in doing fo, he (till refledsHo-
nour upon himfelf, the original Fountain of moral Excellen
cy. And, therefore, according to the firft Covenant and
according to the fecond, it was equally fit, that eternal Life
and BlelTcdnefs fhould be given as a Reward to Virtue, in
Tcftimony of his Regard thereto.
Thus,
3 2 o True Religion delineated D i s . II.
Thus, from the Perfe6Hons of God, and the Reafon and
Nature of Things, the Neceffity of Chrift's obeying the
preceptive Part of the Law, as well as fuffering the Pe
nalty, in order to our being not only pardoned, but receiv
ed to the everlafting Favour of God and intitled to eternal
Life, feems evident.
But from Scripture, the Point may more eafily be con
firmed. For therein we are taught, that he was appointed
by the Governour of the World, not only to make Reconci
liation for Iniquity, but alfoto bring in everlafting Righteouf-
mfs. Dan. 9. 24. And are allured, that he is become theEnd
cf the Law for Righteoufnefs to them that believe. Rom 10.4.
And that by his Obedience many are made Righteous. Rom.
5. 19. But this Work would not have been put upon him,
had it been needlefs •, i. e. if God's Honour and our Salva
tion, could, both, have been fecured without it : for then
it had been in vain : Which to fuppofe, reflects much up
on the divine Wifdom, and quite undermines and nullifies
the Love and Grace and Kindnefs of God herein to us : for
we had been as well without it. With much Evidence,
therefore, may we conclude, that it was neceflary, that the
fecond Adam, Chrift our Surety, fhould 0^,as well as fuffer
in our Room ; in order to open a Door for our Juftifkation
and eternal Life. — And accordingly we may obferve, that
the Favours Ihewn to a fmful, guilty World on Chrift's
Account, are in Scripture promifed under the Notion of a
Reward to Chrift's Virtue. For upon making his Soul an
Offering for £»,which was the higheft Aft of Virtue, it was
promifed that hefliould fee his Seed, prolong hisDays, have the
Pleasure of the Lord proffering ^ in his Hands ; and that he
fhould fee the Travel of his Soul, zndjuftify many. Ifai. 53.
JO, II, 12.
Therefore, in order to a genuine Compliance with the
Gofpel by Faith in Jefus Chrift, we muft fee how far we be
from Righteoufnefs *, that all our feemingRighteoufnefs is as
filthy Rags ; that we have nothing to recommend us toGod ;
that there is nothing in us rendring of us// to be beloved
by him, or meet to receive any Favour at his Hands, but
every Thing to the contrary *, to the End, we may fee our
Need of Chrift : of Chrift, to be made of God unto us, Righ-
teoufnefs.
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. "321
tecufnefs, (i Cor.i^o.J and ourNeceflity of being found in
////;/, having on his Right eoufnefs. ( Phil. 3.9.) For this is
the Defjgn of the Gofpel, to bring us to look to be accepted
with God only in his Beloved \ ( Eph. 1.6. i Pet. 2. 5. )
and to btjuftifiap freely by hisGrace^ thro" tbe Redemption that
is injefus Chrijt , (Rom. 3. 24. ) without the Deeds of the
Law -, (tf. 28.) our felves being confidered, as being in our
feives, UNGODLT. ( Chap. 4. #. 5. )
And under a Senfe, how far we be from Righteoufnefs ;
that we have,after all the Attainments of this Life, noRigh-
teoufnefs fit to be mentioned before God, nothing fit to re
commend us to his Favour, but are flill in our felves infinitely
unworthy of h.;s Love, or the leaft Favour from him ; I
fay, under a deep effectual Senfe of this,we muft live all our
Days ; to the End, we may never venture to come before
God, as the Pbarifee did,emboldened by our ownGoodnefs,
but always as the chief of Sinners, defiring to be found only
in Chrifti not having on our own Righteoufnefs^ but the Rjgh-
t eoufnefs which is of God by Faith •, and fo hereby be influ
enced to live the Life we live in the Flejh, by Faith on theSon
of God , asSt. Paul always did, and as the Gofpel would have
all others do too. i T/;«. 1.15. Phil. 3. 9. Gal. 2. 20. and
3, n.
To conclude. Thus, we fee the Grounds of the Nece£
fity there was, for a Mediator and Redeemer, to make Sa *
tisfaction for Sin, and bring in everlafling Righteoufnefs ;
and fo open an honour ableWzy, forMercy to come out after
a rebellious, guilty World ; and a Way, in which Sinners
may with Safety return to God.
SECTION IV.
Concerning the SUFFICIENCY of Chrifty and
of his Satisfaction and Merits.
I proceed now to confider,
2. What has been done to make Satisfaction for Sin, and to
anfwer the Demands of the preceptive Part of the Law j and
wherein the Sufficiency of the fame conjifts. And
Y In
322 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
In the Firft Place, what has been done, has been already
hinted ; and it may be fummed up in a few Words. It
comprehends all that Chrift has done and fuffered, in his
Life and at hisDeatb. For us he was born •, for us he lived ,
for us he died : He did all on our Account, being thereunto
appointed by his Father. But becaufe his Obedience and
Sufferings were moft eminent and remarkable, when, ac
cording to the Command he had received of his Father,
he laid down his Life for us and offered himfelf a Sacrifice
for our Sins ; and becaufe with a View to this, he became
Flejh, and dwelt among us\ therefore, theScriptures do more
frequently attribute ourRedemption to what was done then.
Hence,we are faid to be redeemed by hisElood. i Pet. 1.18,19.
To be juftified by his Blood. Rom. 5. 9. And all fpiritual
Bleflings are frequently reprefented as theFruits andEffects
of his Death. Gal. 3. 13, 14. The Sacrifices of the Old
Teftament pointed out this, as the great Atonement. And
to this the Penmen of the New Teftament feem in a fpecial
Manner to have their Eyes, as the great Propitiation for
Sin. — Thus the firft Adam was to have yielded a perfect
Obedience to the divine Law in every Thing ; but that
fpecial Prohibition, touching the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil, was in a peculiar Manner to try him, that
it might be feen whether he would be in Subjection toGcd
in every Thing. So in the Garden and upon the Crofs,our
Saviour's Spirit of Obedience was tried and difcovered,and
his Obedience was perfected and his Sufferings compleated :
and fo here, in a more eminent Manner, the Law was ho
noured and Juftice fatisfied ; and fo the Door of Mercy
opened for a finful, guilty World. But
Secondly. As to the Sufficiency of what has been done, to
anfwer theEnds propofed ; Let thefe Things be confidered,
fi.) That the Perfon undertaking, as Mediator andRe-
deemer, was of fufficient Dignity and Worth.
(2.) That he was fufficiently authorized to act in fuch a
Capacity.
(3.) That what he has done is perfectly fuited,in it's own
Nature, to anfwer all the Ends propofed.
(i.) Jefus Chrift the Mediator between Gcd and Man, as
to his Perfon, was FI? for the mediatorial Office and Work.
He
a?^d diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 323
He was of fufficient Dignity and Worth ; being by Nature
GOD, equal with the Father^ the Brightnefs of his Glory, the
exprefs Image of his Per f on. Phil. 2 . Hcb. i . He was GW,
( Jon. i.i.) as well as Man. ( $. 14. ) And therefore his
Blood was confidered and valued, as being the Blood ofGod.
(Act. 20. 28.J And hence it is c ailed precious Blood.(i Pet.
i. 1 8, 190 As to his Perfon, he was equal with God the
Father in Point of Worth andDignity : And it was as much
for him to obey and die in the Room of a guilty World,
as it would have been, for God the Father himfelf. InPoint
of Dignity and Worth, there was none fuperiour to him.
He was upon a Level with God the Father. He was his
Equal and Fellow. Zech. 13. 7. Awake ^ O Sword^ — againft
the Man that is my FELLOH7'. He was as glorious, as
honourable, as lovely. Fie was therefore fit for the Office,
able to anfwer all the Ends of God the Governour of the
World, of his Holinefs and Juftice, Law andGovernment,
and perfectly to fecure the divine Honour, viewed irr every
Point of Light. The inrmiteDignity of his Nature asGod,
made him capable of an Obedience of infinite moralExcel-
lency ^ and capable of making a full Satisfaction for the
infinite Evil ot Sin. He could magnify the Law and make
it honourable, in a more illuftrious Manner, than all
the Angels in Heaven and Men on Earth put together ;
by how much he was more excellent than them all. If the
Son of God obeys and dies, it is enough : God and hisLaw
are for ever fecure. Thus, his being by Nature GOD, ren
dered him of fufficient Dignity for the Office and Work of
a Mediator. Heb. 9. 14.
And this it was alfo, which made him capable of under
taking. As jhe was God? he was under no Obligations, on
his own Account, to obey a Law made for a Creature ; and
he had an abfolute Right to himfelf. Every Perfon, that
is a me re Creature, is under natural Obligations to perfect
Obedience on his own Account ; nor is he his own to dif-
pofe of. But the Sen of God was above a mere Creature,
he was a divine Perfon, and previous to his Undertaking
was under no Obligation to Obedience ; he had an original
Right to himfelf, and was not by Nature under the Law-;
he was, therefore, at his own Difpofal, and at full Liberty
Y 2 to
324 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
to undertake in ourRcom. He had Power to aiTume human
Nature,& be made under theLaw for us3& obey for us,and
fuffer for us •, for he might do what he would with his own.
Job. 10.17,18. — TheSufficiency ofChrifl being thus origi
nally founded in his Divinity ; Hence, this is the firftThing
t he Apoftle to the/&£my.nnrifts upon, in order to explain ,clear
up and confirm theSafety of the Way of Salvation thro' his
Blood.£fc£. i . To clear up & confirm theSafety of the Way of
Salvation thro' the Blood of Chiift, .is evidently the Scope
and Defign of that Epiflle, as is manifeft from the ten firft
Chapters. Particularly fee Chapter 10. jr. 19 — 22. And
in order to (hew the Safety of this Way, he infifls upon the
Excellency of his Perfon, and the Nature of his Office, his
being called, appointed and authorized, and his actually
going thro' the Work of our Redemption : which, toge
ther with fome occafional Exhortations, Digrefllons, &c.
is the Subftance of his Difcourfe, from Chap. i. #. i. to
Chap. 10. $. 23.
Thus, as GOD, he was of infinite Dignity and Worth :
as GOD, he was at Liberty to undertake. He had an
Eftate (if I may fo fpeak) of his own, and could pay the
Debt of another with what was his own, and purchafe for
us an Inheritance. And I may add, that as he was the
Son of God> the fecond Perfon in the Trinity, there was a
Suitablenefs, that he, rather than either of the other Per-
fons, iliould be appointed to this Work. The Father
fuftains the Character of fupreme Lord and Governour,
afferts the Rights of the God-head, maintains the Honour
of his Law and Government. The Son becomes Mediator
between God and Man, to open a Door for God to fhew
Mercy to Man ccnfiftently with his Honour, and for Man
to return to God with Safety. The Holy Spirit is the
Sandtifier, to work in Sinners to will and to do, and reco
ver and bring them to repent and return to God thro' Je-
fus Chrift. Thus the Gofpel teaches us to believe. Eph.
2. 18.
He alfo was made Flejh and dwelt among us, and for our
fakes was mad? under the Law ; to the End, that in our
Nature he might fulfil all Right eoufnefi, and bear tie Curfe.
As he was one wit& the Father^ he was lit to be Letrufted
with
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 325
with his Father's Honour. As he was Immanuel, God with
us, he was fit to be betrufled with our Salvation. As he
was God-Man, he was fit to be Mediator between God and
Man. His Humanity rendered him capable to appear in
the Form of a Servant, and to become obedient unto Death :
and his Divinity rendred his Obedience and Sufferings fuf-
ficient to anfwer the Ends defigned. This is He of whom
the Text fpeaks, Gcd fo loved the World, that he gave his
only begotten Son. He gave him, he appointed him to the
Work, he put him into the Office, he anointed him, and
then he laid on him the Iniquities of us all, and fet him forth
to be a Propitiation. Which brings me to confider,
(2.) That he was fujficiently authorized to be a Mediator
between Gcd and Man -, to take the Place of Sinners, and to
obey and die in the Room of a guilty World. — God the
fupreme Governour of the World had diffident Power and
Authority to appoint the/r/£ Adam to be a Reprefentative
for his Pofterity, to act in their Room : and by the fame
Authority he has appointed his Son, the fecond Adam, to
be a fecond publick Head. Rom. 5. 12 — 19. By divine
Conilitution, the firft Adam was made a publick Perfon ;
and by divine Conilitution, the fecond Adam is made fuch
too. Both receive all their Authority to acl in that Capa
city from the Conftitution of God. — The calling, appoint
ing and authorizing of Chrifl, to take upon him this Office
and Work of a Mediator and high Prieft, is particularly
treated of in the fifth Chapter to the Hebrews. He was
called of God, as was Aaron, ver. 4. He took not this high
Office upon himfelf, but was inverted with it by his Father,
^-.5. He was called of God an high Prieft after the Order of
Melchifedek, tf. 10. His Father propofed the Office and
the Work ; and he willingly undertook. Lo, I come to do
thy Will, O God. Heb. 10. 7. God fo loved the World, that
be GAVE bis only begotten Son, Joh. 3. 16. And hence
Chrift fays, He did not come of himfelf, but was fent of his
Father, Joh. 7. 28, 29. And that he did not come to do his
own Will, but the Will of him that fent him, Joh. 6. 38,
And his Father acknowledges him as fuch by a Voice from
Heaven. Mat. 17.5. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom lam
well pkafed-, hear ye him.
Y 3 Without
326 ^Irtte Religion delineated Dis. II.
Without fuch a divine Conftitution, the Death of Chriil
could have been of no Benefit to Mankind. As, if an in
nocent Man fhould offer to die in the Room of a condem
ned Criminal, and Ihould actually lay down his Life •, yet
it could be of no Benefit to the poor Criminal, unlefs the
civil Government had authorized him fo to do. i. e. unlefs,
by fome act, they had declared, that his Life Ihould be ac
cepted, in the Eye of the Law, inftead of the Criminal's.
The Application is eafy. — • Thus Chrift was called and put
into his mediatoral Office and authorized to the Work, by
God the fupreme Governour of the World. And hence
in Allufion to the Jewifh Cuflom of anointing Men, when
advanced to fome high Office and important Truft ; ( fo
Aaron was anointed Prieft, and David was anointed King : )
in Allufion, I fay, to this, he is called CHRIST? which is
by Interpretation, the ANOINTED. Thus, as to hisPer-
fonal Dignity, he was fufficient to undertake j and thus, was
he authorized to do fo. And
(3.) What he has done is perfectly fuited, in its ownNature,
to anfwer all the Ends prop of id. That is, to fecure theHo-
nourof God, the Honour of his Holinefs, Juftice and
Truth, his Law, Government and facred Authority ; and
fo open a Door for the free and honourable Exercife of his
Mercy and Grace towards a finful, guilty World, and a
Way in which Sinners might return to God with divineAc-
ceptance. God the fupreme Governour of the World knew
upon what Grounds there was Need of a Mediator, what
Ends he had to anfwer, and how they might be anfwered
in the beft Manner, According to the Counfel of his own
Will, in his infinite Wifdom, he laid the very Plan, which
is now revealed to us in the Gofpel. He appointed one
to be aMediator whom he judged fit, put him into theOffice,
and appointed him his Work. All this Work JefusChrift
has done. He has fnijhed the Work, which the Father gave
him to do. Joh. 17. 4. & 19. 30. And fo has bttn faithful
to him that appointed him. Heb. 3.2. So that herefrom we
might be afTured, that what he has dene, is moft perfectly
fuited in it's own Nature to anfwer all the Ends propofed,
altho' it were quite beyond us to underftand bow. — But,by
thelleip of the Word and Spirit of God, we may be able
to
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits 327
to enter a little Way into this wonderful and glorious
Myftery.
It was fit, the jirfl Adam^ as the Reprefentative and pub-
lick Head of Mankind, mould, as a Condition of the ever-
1 ailing Love and Favour of God, have continued in a moft
willing and perfect Subjection to God the Governouf of the
World, valuing his Honour and Glory above all Things.
This was God's Due. This would have fatisfied God's
Holinefs : for Holinefs is fatisfied, when the Thing which
is right and fit is done. Holinefs wants no more \ but is
then content and weil-pleafed. And upon this Condition,
Mankind might have been confidered, as Subjects fit for
the divine Favour -, and might have received the promifed
Reward, to the Honour of the divine Holinefs and Good-
nefs. Now Jefus Chrift the Son of God has, by his
Father's Appointment and Approbation, aflumed our Na
ture, taken Adam's Place, done that which was Adam's
Duty in our Room and Stead, as another pyblick Head,
obeyed the Law God gave his Creature, % Law which he
was not under, but in Confequence of his undertaking to
ftand in our Room and Stead. The Creature fails of pay
ing that Honour to the Governour of the World, which is
his Due from the Creature. A GOD lays afide his Glory,
appears in the Form of a Servant, and becomes Obedient ;
and fo, in the Creature's Stead and Behalf, pays that Ho
nour to the Governour of the World, which was the Crea
ture's Duty. And thus the Governour of the World is
confidered, refpeded, treated and honoured, as being
what he is, by Man, i. e. by their Reprefentative Chrift
Jefus, God-Man- Mediator. And now, hereby God's Right
to the Obedience of his Creatures, and their Unworthinefs
of his Favour upon any other Condition, are publickly
owned and acknowledged : the Debt is owned, and the
Debt is paid by the Son of God ; and fo Holinefs is fatis
fied : for Holinefs is fatisfied, when the Thing that is right
and fit is done. And now this Door being opened, Man-
kincj may thro' Chrift be confidered as Subjects to whom
Goct may Ihew Favour confiftent with his Honour. Y^a^
the divine Holinefs may be honoured, by granting all Fa
vours, as a Reward to thrift's Virtue and Obedience.
Y 4 Again,
328 'True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Again, it was fit, if any intclligentCreature fhou'd at any
Time fwerve at all from the perfect Will of God, that he
Should for ever lofe his Favour, and fall under his everlaft- j
ing Difpleafure, for a Thing fo infinitely Wrong. And in
fuch a Cafe, it was fit the Governour of the World ihould
be infinitely difpleafed, and publickly teftify his infinite
Difpleafure, by a Punifhment adequate thereto,infiid:ed on
the finningCreature. This would fatisfy Juftice : forjuftice
is fatisfied, when the Thing which is wrong, is punifhed
according to it's Defert. Hence, it was fit, when, by a
Conftitution holy, juft and good, Adam was made a public
Head, to reprefent his Race, and a<5l not only for himfelf,
but for all his Pofterity •, it was fit, I fay, that he and all
his Race, for his fir ft Tranfgreffion, ihould lofe the Favour,
and fall under the everlafting Difpleafure, of the Almighty.
It was fit, that God fhould be infinitely difpleafed at fo
abominable a Thing •, and that as Governour of the World
he ihould publickly bear Teftimony againft it, as an infi
nite Evil, by infli&ing the infinite Pumlhment the Law
threatned, i. e. by damning the whole World. This would
have fatisfied Juftice : for Juilice is fatisfied when Juftice
takes Place, when the guilty are treated with that Seventy
they ought to be, when Sin is punifhed, as being, what it
is. Now, Jefus Chrift the Son of God has, by his
Father's Appointment and Approbation, affumed our Na
ture, taken the Place of a guilty World •, and had not only
Adarrfs firft Tranfgreffion, but the Iniquities of us all laid
upon him ; and in our Room and Stead has fuffered the
Wrath of God, the Curfe of the Law, offering up himfelf
a Sacrifice to God for the Sins of Men. And hereby the
infinite Evil of Sin, and the Righteoufnefs of the Law, are
publickly owned and acknowledged, and the deferved
Funifhment voluntarily fubmitted unto by Man, ie. by
their Repreientative. And thus Juftice is fatisfied : For
Juftice is fatisfied, when Juftice takes Place. And Sin is
now treated as being what it is, as much as if God had
damned the whole \Vorld \ and God, as Governour, ap
pears as fevere againft it. And thus the Righteoufnefs of
God is declared and manifefted, by Chrift's being let forth
to be a Propitiation for Sin •, and he may now be juft,
ancl yet juftify him that believes in Jefus. By
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 329
By all thisj the Law is magnified and made honourable.
On the one Hand j were any in all God's Dominions temp
ted to think, that the great Governour of the World had
dealt too feverely with Man, in fufpending his everlafting
Welfare upon the Condition of perfect Obedience ? God
pradtically anfwers,and fays, " I did as well by Mankind,
" as I Ihould defire to have been done by, my felf ; had I
** been in their Cafe, and they in mine. For when my Son,
" who is as my felf, came to ftand in their Stead, I required
" the fame Condition of him." - And what the Father
fays, the Son confirms. He practically owns the Law to
be holy, juft and good, and the Debt to be due, and pays
it moft willingly to the laft Mite, without any Objection.
Which was as if he had faid, "There was all the Reafon in
" the World, that the everlafting Welfare of Mankind
" fhould be fufpended on that Condition ; nor could I
" have defired it to have been other wife, had 1 my felf
" been in their Cafe." - On the other Hand ; were any
tempted to think, that God had been too fevere in threat-
ning everlafting Damnation for Sin ? Here this Point is
alfo cleared up. God the Father practically fays, that he
did, as he would have been done by, had he been in their
Cafe, and they in his. For when his Son, his fecond Self,
comes to ftand in their Place ; he abates nothing, but ap
pears as great air Enemy to Sin, in his Conduct, as if he
had damned the whole World. His Son alfo owns the
Sentence juft. He takes the Cup and drinks it off. Con-
fidering the infinite Dignity of his Perfon, his Sufferings
were equivalent, to the eternal Damnation of fuch Worms
as we.
Thus the -Law is magnified and made honourable ; and
at the fame Time the Honour of God's Government & fa-
cred Authority is fecured. And I may add, fo is alfo the
Honour of his 'Truth : for he has been true to his Threat-
ning, In the Day thou eateft thereof \ thou Jhalt furely die :
For on that very Day the fecond Adam virtually laid down
his Life in the Room and Stead of a guilty World. He
is the Lamb Jlain from the Foundation of the World. — So that
now there is no Room left, for thofe that will view Things
impartially, to have undue Thoughts of the Governour of
the
330 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
the World \ nor any Thing done to expofe his Govern
ment to Reproach, or his Authority to Contempt, ,The
Honour of the divine Government and Authority appears
as facred and tremendous, as if he had damned the whole
World. And altho' Sinners will take Occafion to fin and
be encouraged in their Ways, becaufe Grace abounds ; yet
the Governour of the World has not given the Oc
cafion. In his Conduct, the whole of it confidered,
he appears as fevere againft Sin, as if he had damned
the whole World, without any Mixture of the leaft Mercy.
The infinite Dignity of his Son caufes that thofe Suffer
ings he bore in our Room, are as bright a Difplay of the
divine Hoiinefs and Juftice, as if all the human Race had
for their Sin been caft into the Lake of Fire & Brimflone ;
and the Smoke of their Torments afcended for ever and
ever.
MOREOVER, By all this, a Way is opened for the free
and honourable Exercife of Mercy and Grace towards a
fmful, guilty World. It may be done confiftently with the
Honour of God, of his Hoiinefs sid Juftice, his Law and
Government, his Truth and facred Authority : for the
Honour of all thefe is effectually fecured. — It may be done
to the Honour of divine Grace : for now it appears, that
God did not pity the World under a Notion that they had
been by him feverely and hardly dealt with, nor under a
Notion it would have been too fevere to have proceeded
againft them according to Law. The Law is not made
void, but eftablifhed. No ReHe&ions are caft upon the
divine Government. And Grace appears to be free, taking
its Rife, not from any Thing in us, but merely from felf-
moving Goodnefs and fovereign . Mercy. — This Way of
Salvation is fuited to fet off the Grace of God to Advantage,
and make it appear to be what it is.
Having thus finifhed the Work afligned him ; he arofe
from the Dead, he afcended on high, he entred into the
Holy of Holies, into Heaven it felf, to appear in the Pre-
fence of God for us, as our great high Prieft. Heb. 9. And
here as God-Man Mediator he is exalted to the higheftHo-
nour, has a Name above every Name, fits on the right
Hand of the Majefty on high, having all Power in Heaven
and
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 331
atod Earth committed unto him, and ever lives to make
Interceffion, and is able to fave to the uttermoft all that
corne to God thro' him, — Such is the Virtue of his Righte-
oufnefs and Blood, and fuch is his Honour and Intereil in
the Court of Heaven, and fuch is his Faithfulnefs to all that
believe in him •, that now it is perfectly fafe, to return to
God thro' him, and venture our everlafting ALL upon his
Worth and Merits, Mediation and Interceffion. Heb.4.i6.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace.
Thus we fee ^tfhat Neceffity there was of Satisfaction for
Sin, and that the Demands of the Law fhould be anfwered :
And thus we fee what has been done for thefe Purpofes,
and it's Sufficiency to anfwer all the Ends propofed. The
Mediator was of fufficient Dignity as to his Perfon, he had
fufficient Authority as to his Office, and he has faithfully
done his Work. And now the Honour of God's Holineft
and Juftice, Law and Government and facredAuthority, is
fecured ; and a Way is opened in which he may honoura
bly put his Defigns of Mercy into Execution, and Sinners
lately return unto him. And now, before I proceed to
confider more particularly what a Way is opened, and what
Methods God has entered upon for the Recovery of iinful,
guilty Creatures to himfelf, I mall make a few Remarks
upon what has been faid.
REMARK i. As the Law is a <Tranfcript of the divineNa-
ture^ fo alfo is the G off el. The Law is holy, jufl and good,
and is as it were the Image of the Holinefs, Juftice and
Goodnefs of God -, and fo alfo is the Gofpel. TheLaw in-
fifts upon God's Honour from the Creature, and ordains
that his everlafting Welfare mall be fufpended upon that
Condition ; and the Gofpel fays Amen to it. The Law
infifts upon it, that it is an infinite Evil for the Creature to
fwerve in the leaft from the moft perfect Will of God, and
that it deferves an infinite Punifhment j and the Gofpel
fays Amen to it. TheLaw difcovered alfo the infiniteGood-
nefs of God, in it's being fuited to make the obedient
Creature perfectly happy ; but the Gofpel ftill more abun
dantly difplays the infinite Goodnefs and wonderful free
Grace of God. The Law was holy, juft and good, and
the Image of God's Holinefs, Juftice and Goodnefs ; but
the
33 2 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
the Gofpel is more eminently fo : In it the Holinefs, Juf-
tice a» d Goodnefs of God are painted more to the Life, in
a Manner truly furprizing, and beyond ourComprehenfion •,
yea, to the Amazement of Angels, who defire to look and
pry into this wonderful Contrivance, i Pet. i. 12.
Here in this Glafs the Glory of the Lord is to be beheld.
2 Cor. 3.18. The Glory of God is to be feen in the Face of
Chrift. 2 Cor, 4. 6. What has been by him done in this
Affair diicovers the glorious moral Beauty of the divine
Nature. Much of God is to be feen in the moral Law, it
is his Image •, but more of God is to be feen in the Gofpel,
for herein his Image is exhibited more to the Life, more
clearly and confpicuoufly.
The moral Excellency of the moral Law fufficiently evi
dences, that it is fromGod , it is fo much like God,that it
is evident that it is from God : So the moral Excellency of
the Gofpel fufficiently evidences that it is from God ^ it is
fo much like him, that it is evident that it is from him : It
is his very Image : therefore it is hisOffspring : it is aCopy
of his moral Perfections, and they are the Original. It is
fo much like God, that it is perfectly to his Mind, he is
pleafed with it, he delights to faveSinners in thisWay. And
if ever this Gofpel becomes the Power of God to our Salva
tion, it will make us like unto God, it will transform us in
to his Image, and we fhall be pleafed with this Way of
Salvation, and delight to be faved in fuch a Way -9 a Way
wherein God is honoured, the Sinner humbled, the Law
eflablifhed, Sin difcountcnanced, Boafting excluded, and
Grace glorified.
If any Man has a Tafte for moral Excellency,a Heart to
account God glorious for being what he is -, he cannot but
fee the moral Excellency of the Law, and love it, and con
form to it •, becaufe it is the Image of God: and fo he can
not but fee the moral Excellency of the Gofpel, and believe
it, and love it, and comply with it ; for it is alfo the Image
of God. He that can fee the moral Beauty of theOriginal,
cannot but fee the moral Beauty of the Image drawn to the
Life. He therefore that defpifes theGofpel, and is anEne-
my to the Law -5 even he is at Enmity againft God him-
f$lf. Rom. 8. 7. Ignorance of the Glory of God & Enmity
againft
and diftinguijhed from allCounterfeits. 333
againft him, makes Men ignorant of the Glory of the
Law and of the Gofpel, and Enemies to both. Did? Men
know and love him that begat, they would love that which is
begot ten of him. i Joh. 5. i. He that is of God^hearethGod's
Words \ ye therefore bear them not, because ye are not of God.
Joh. 8. 47.
And therefore a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel
fuppofes, that he, ^:ho commanded the Light to fiine cut of
Darknefs^ /bines in the Heart^ to give the Light of the Know
ledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jefus Cbrift, 2 Cor.
4. 6. And a Sight and Senfe of the moral Excellency of
the Gofpel- Way of Salvation allures the Heart of it's Divi
nity -, and hereby a fupernatural and divine Aflent to the
Truth of the Gofpel is begotten in the Heart. And a Senfe
of the infinite Dignity of the Mediator, and that he was
feat of God, and that he has ftnifhed the Work which was
given him to do, and fo opened and confecrated a new and
living W ay of accefs to God •, together with a Senfe of the
full and free Invitation, to Sinners to return to God in this
Way, given in the Gofpel, and thefreeGrace of God there
in di [covered, and his Readmefs to be reconciled ; a fpiri-
tual Sight and Senfe of thefe Things, I fay, emboldens the
Heart of a humbled Sinner to truft in Chrift, and to re
turn to God thro' him. Hence the Apofle to \\\tHebrewsy
having gone thro' this Subject in a doctrinal Way, in the
Conciufion makes this practical Inference. Having there
fore^ Brethren^ Boldnefs to enter into the Holieft by the Blood
of JefiiSi by a new and living Way which he hath confecrated
for us, thro* the Vail^ that is to fay^ his Flejh •, and having a
high Prieft over the Houfe of God^ let us draw near with a
true Heart and full Affurance of Faith . Heb. i o . 19 — 22.
REM. 2. From what has been faid, we may obferve,that
the Necefilty of Satisfaction for Sin and of the preceptive
Part of the Law being anfwered, takes it's Rife from the
moral Perfections of the divine Nature, and the moral Fit-
nefs of Things ; and therefore a true Idea of God and a
juft Senfe of the moralFitnefs of Things will naturally lead
us to fee the Neceffity of Satisfaction for Sin, &c. and pre-
difpofe us to underftand and believe v/hat is held forth by
divine Revelation to that Purpofe. On the other Hand,
where
334 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
where a true Idea, of the moral Perfections of God and the
moral Fitnefs of Things, is not , but on the contrary, very
wrong Notions of the divine Being and of the true Nature
of Things ^ there will naturally be an Indifpofition and
an Avcrfion to fuch Principles, nor will what the Gofpel
teaches about them be readily underilood or believed. And
doubtlefs it was this which originally led fome to deny the
Neceffity of Satisfaction for Sin, and others to go a Step
farther, to deny thatChrift ever defigned to make any. Joh.
8. 47. He that is of 'God, heareth Gctfs Words \ ye therefore
hear them not^ becaufe ye are not of God.
REM. 3. The Death of Chrift was not defigned at all to
take away the evil N ature of Sin, or it's ill Defert ; for Sin
is unalterably what it is, and cannot be made a lefs Evil :
But the Death of Chrift was rather on the contrary, to ac
knowledge and manifefl the evil Nature and ill Defert of
Sin, to the End that pardoning Mercy might not make it
feem to be a lefs Evil than it really is. So that altho'God
may freely pardon all our Sins and entitle us to eternal Life
for Chrift's Sake , yet, he does look upon us, confidered
merely as in our felves, to be as much to blame as ever,and
to deferve Hell as much as ever -, and therefore we are al
ways to look upon our felves fo too. And hence we ought
always to live under a Senfe of the Freenefs and Riches of
God'sGrace in pardoning ourSins •, & under aSenfe of our
own Vilenefs and ill Defert., in our felves, upon the Ac
count of them, altho' pardon'd. T'hat thou mayft remember
and be confounded, and never of en thy Mouth any more becaufe
of thy Shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thcu
haft done, faith the Lord God. Ezek. 16. 63. But this is
not the Way of Hypocrites : For being once confident
that their Sins are pardoned,, their Shame, Sorrow and
Abafement are foon at an End. And having no Fear of
Hell, they have but little Senfe of Sin. And from the Doc
trine of free Grace, they are emboldened, as it were, to fin
upon free Coft. But thus faith the Lord, When I /hall fay
to the Righteous* that he Jhall furely live: If be truft to his
c<wn Rightecufnefs and commit Iniquity ; all his Rightecufnefs
/hall not be remembered, but jcrkis Iniquity that he hath com
mit ted, he /hall die for it. Ezek. 33, 13.
REM.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 335
REM. 4. Nor was the Death of Chrife defigned to draw
forth the Pity of God towards a guilty World. For God
could find it in his Heart, of his mere Goodnefs, without
any Motive from without, to give his only begotten Son
to die for Sinners. But this was greater Goodnefs, than it
would have been to have faved Mankind by an Act of
ibvereign Grace without any Mediator : it was a more
expenfive Way. As, for an earthly Sovereign to give his
only Son to die for a Traitor, that the Traitor might live,
would be a greater Ac! of Goodnefs, than to pardon the
Traitor, of mere Sovereignty. It was not therefore
becaufe the Goodnefs of the divine Nature needed arty
Motive to draw it forth into Exercife, that Jefus Chriil
obeyed and died in our Room : But it was to anfwer the
Ends of moral- Government, and to fecure the Honour
of the moral Governour ; and fo open a Way for the
honourable Exercife of the divine Goodnefs, which, in its
own Nature, is infinite, free and felf-moving, and wants
no Motive from without to draw it forth into Ac!. And
the fame, no doubt, may be faid of Ghrift's Interceffion in
Heaven. We are therefore, in our approaches to God,
not to look to Chriil to perfuade the Father to pity and
pardon us, as tho' he was not willing to fhew Mercy of
his own Accord : but we are to look to Chrift and go to
God thro' him for all we want, under a Senfe that we are
in our felves too bad to be pitied without fome fufficient
Salvo to the divine Honour, or to have any Mercy (hewn
us. And therefore when we look to be juftified by free
Grace, it muft be only thro' the Redemption that is in Jefus
Chrift •, who has been fet forth to be a Propitiation for Sin,
to declare God's Right coufxefs, that he might be jttft, and the
Jtiftifier of him that believeth in Jefus. Rom, 3.24,25,26.
REM. 5. Some of the peculiar Principles of the Antino-
mians, feem to take their Rife from wrong Notions of the
Nature of Satisfaction for Sin. They feem to have no
right Notions of the moral Perfections of God, and of the
natural Obligations we are under to him, nor any right
Apprehenfions of the Nature and Ends of moral Govern
ment, nor any Ideas of the Grounds, Nature and Ends of
Satisfaction for Sin. (A right Senfe of which Things tends
336 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
powerfully to promote a holy Fear and reverential Awe of
the dread Majefty of Heaven and Earth, a Senfe of the
infinite Evil of Sin, brokennefs of Heart, tendernefs of
Confcience, a humble, holy, watchful, prayerful Temper
and Life, as well as to prepare the Way tor Faith in the
Blood of Chrift.) But they feem to have no right Appre-
henfions of thefe Things. They feem to confider God
merely under the Notion of a Cr editor ^ and us merely under
the Notion of Debtors •, and to fuppofe, when Chrift upon
the Crofs faid, // is finijhed^ he then paid the whole Debt of
theElect,and faw theBook croft, whereby all their Sins were
actually blotted out and forgiven : and now all that re
mains, is for the holy Spirit immediately to reveal it to
one and another, that he is elected, and fo for him Chrift
died, and fo his Sins are all pardoned ; which Revelation
he is firmly to believe, and never again to doubt of : and
this they call Faith. From which it feems they underftand
nothing rightly about God or Chrift, the Law or Gofpel.
For nothing is more evident than that God is in Scripture
confidered as righteous Governour of the World, and we as
Criminals guilty before him ; and the evident Defign of
Chrift's Death was, to be a Propitiation for Sin, to declare
and manifeft God's Righteoufnefs,that he might be juft, and
thejuftifier of him that believeth in Jefus. Rom. 3. 9 — 26.
And the Gofpel knows nothing about a Sinner's being
juftified in any other Way than by Faith^ and by Confe-
quence in order of Nature not till after Faith. The Gofpel
knows nothing about Satisfaction for Sin in their Senfe ;
but every where teaches that the Eleff, as well as others,
are equally under Condemnation and the Wrath of God, yea,
are Children of Wrath while Unbelievers. Job. 3. 18,36.
Efb. 2. 3, A&. 3. 19.
Again, While they confider God merely under the Cha
racter of a Creditor •, and us merely as Debtors, and Chrift as
paying the whole Debt of the Elect •, now becaufe Chrift
obeyed the Law, as well as fuffered it's Penalty, therefore
they feem to think, that Chrift has done all their Duty, fo
as that now they have none to do, nothing to do but firmly
to believe that Chrift has done all. They have nothing to
do with the Law^ no, not fo much as to be their Rule to
live
and diflinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 337
live by •, but are fet at full Liberty from all Obligations to
any Duty whatfoever. — Not underftanding, \h&\. Chrift garce
himfelf, to redeem bis People from all Iniquity ,and purify them
to himjdf, a -peculiar People ^ 'zealous of good Works^ Tit. 2. 14.
And not underftanding,that our natural Obligations to per-
fed: Obedience are not capable of being diflblved. Mat.
5. 17. And not underftanding, that our Obligations to all
holy living, are mightily increafed by the Grace of the
Gofpel. Rem. 12. i. Indeed they feem to underftand no
thing rightly, but to view every thing in a wrong Light.
And inftead of confidering Chrift as a Friend to Holinefs,
as one that loves Right eoufnefs and hates Iniquity y Heb.i. 9.
they make him a Miniftcr of &'#, Gal. 2.17. and turn the
Grace of God into Wantonnefs. Ail their Notions tend
to render their Confciences inienfible of the Evil of Sin, to
cherilh fpi ritual Pride and carnal Security, and to open a
Door to all Ungodlinefs.
SECTION V.
Shewing^ a Door of Mercy is opened by Jefus
Chrift for a guilty WORLD.
I come now to another Thing propofed, viz.
III. To mew more particularly what a W^ay to Life has
keen opened, by what Chrift our Mediator has done & fuffsred.
In general •, from what has been faid, we may fee that
the mighty Bar which lay in the Way of Mercy, is remov
ed by Jefus Chrift : and now a Door is opened, and a Way
provided, wherein the great Governour of the World may,
confiftent with the Honour of his Holinefs and Juftice, his
Law and Government and facred Authority, and to the
Glory of his Grace, put in Execution all his Defigns of
Mercy towards a fmful, guilty, undone World. But to be
more particular,
(i.) A Way is opened^ wherein the great Governour of the
World may^ confiftent with his Honour and to the Glory of his
Grace, par don and receive to Favour and intitle to eternal Life^
all and every one of the human Race^ who Jhall cordiaify fall
in with the Gofpel-Defign^ believe in Chrift , and return home to
God thro' him. Z What
338 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
What Chrift has done is in Fa6t fufficient, to open a Door
for God thro' him to become reconcilable to the whole
World* The Sufferings of Chrift, all Things confidered,
have as much displayed God's hatred of Sin, and as much
fecured the Honour of his Law, as if the whole World
had been damned ; as none will deny, who believe the infi
nite Dignity of his divine Nature. God may now therefore
thro' Jefus Chrift ftand ready to pardon the whole World.
There is nothing in the Way. — And the Obedience of Chrift
has brought as much Honour to God and to his Law, as
the perfect Obedience of Adam and of all his Race would
have done. The Rights of the God- head are as much
afferted and maintained. So that there is nothing in the
Way, but that Mankind may, thro' Chrift, be received in
to full Favour, and intitled to eternal Life. God may
ftand ready to do it, confident with his Honour. What
Chrift has done is every Way fufficient. Mat. 22. 4. All
^Things are How ready.
And God has exprefly declared, that it was the 'Defign
of Chrift's Death, to open this Door of Mercy to all. Joh.
3. 1 6. Godfo loved the WORLD, that he gave his only be
gotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him Jhould not
perijh, but have ever lofting Life. That whofoever of all Man
kind, whether Jew or Greek, Bond or Free, Rich or Poor,
without any Exception, tho' the Chief of Sinners, that be
lieves, Jhould be faved. For this£^,God gave his only be
gotten Son. He fet him forth to be a Propitiation for Sin,
that he might be juft, and the Juftifier of him ( without
any Exception, let him be who he will, ) that believeth in
Jefus. Rom. 3. 25,26.
Hence, the Apoftles received an univerfal Commifilon.
Matt. 28.19. Go, teach ALL NATIONS. Mar. 1 6. 15,16.
Go ye into ALL the World, and fr each theGofpelto EVERT
CREATURE. Accordingly,the Apoftles proclaimed the
News of Pardon and Peace to every one, offered Mercy to
all without Exception, and invited all without Diftin&ion.
He that believeth Jhall be faved : Repent and be Converted,
that your Sins may be blotted out : Were Declarations they
imade to all, in general. To the Jewijh Nation they were
fent to lay, in the Name of the King of Heaven, I have
prepared
and dijimgiiijhed from all Counterfeits. 339
prepared my Dinner : My Oxen and my Failings are killed,and
all Things are ready : Come unto the Marriage. Matt. 22.4.
And as to the Gentile Nations, their Orders ran thus, Go ye
therefore into the High -Ways, and as many as ye find \ bid to the
Marriage. /. 9. To the Jewijh Nation, God had been ufed
to fend his Servants 'the Prophets, in the Days of Old, fay
ing, ^urnye, turn ye, why will ye die ? Ezek. 33. u. Ho,
every one that thirtieth, come. Ifai. 55. i. Incline your Ear ,
and come unto me : Hear, and your Soul/hall live. ^.3. And
now Orders are given, that the whole World be invited to
a Reconciliation to God thro' Chriil. Whofoever will let him
come, and he that cometh /hall in no wife be caft out. Thus,
Chrifl has opened a Door ; and thus, the Great Governour
of the World may, confident with his Honour,be reconcil
ed to any that believe and repent : And thus he actually
Hands ready.
And now all Things being thus ready on God's Side, and
the Offers, Invitations and Calls of the Gofpei being to e-
very one without Exception ; Hence, it is attributed toSin-
ners themfelves, that they perifh at hft, even, to their own
voluntary Conduct. Te will not come to me, that ye might
have Life. Joh. 5. 40. And they are confidered as being
perfe&l^nexcufable. Joh. 15. 22. Now they have no Cloke
for their^in. And all becaufe a Way is opened, in which
they might be delivered from Condemnation, but they will
not comply therewith. Joh. 3. 19. "This is the Condemnation,
that Light is come into the World, and Men loved Dark-
nefs rather than Light, because their Deeds were Evil. And
therefore, in Scripture- Account, they ftand expofed to a
more aggravated Punilhment in the World to come. Matt.
11.20 — 24. Wo unto thee, Chorazin, Wo unto thee, Beth-
faida — &c. And thou Capernaum, which' art exalted unto
Heaven, Jhalt be brought down to Hell : &c. It flail be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon and Sodom in the Day of Judg
ment, than for thefe Cities : Becaufe they repented not.
And now becaufe the Door of Mercy is thus opened to
the whole World by the Blood of Chrift, therefore in Scrip
ture he is called, the Saviour of the WORLD, i Joh. 4. 14.
The Lamb of God, which takes away the Sin of the WORLD,
Joh, 1.29. A Propitiation for the Sins of the WHOLE
Z 2 WORLD,
$40 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
I Joh. 1. 1. ?hat gave himfelfaRanfom for ALL.
i Tim. 2. 6. And t aft td Death for EVERT MAN. Heb. I
2. 9. The plain Senfe of all which Expreffions may, II
think, without any Danger of Miftake, be learnt from Joh, I
3. 1 6. God fo loved the WORLD ^ that he gave his only be-
gotten Son, that WHOSOEVER bclieveth in him, Jhould not
Perijh, biit have everlafting Life. * And indeed, was not the
Door of Mercy opened to all indefinitely, how could God
Jincerely offerMercy to all ? Or heartily invite all ? Qrjuftly
blame thofe who do not accept ? Or righteoufly punilh them
for neglecting fo great Salvation ?
Befides, if Chrift died merely for the Elefl, that is, to
the Intent, that they only upon believing, might, confid
ent with the divine Honour, be received to Favour ; then
God could not, confiftent with his Juftice, fave any befides,
if they mould believe. For without Jhedding of Blood, there
can be no Remiffion^ Heb. 9. 22. If Chrift did not defign
by his Death to open a Door for all to be faved conditio
nally, i. e. upon the Condition of Faith, then there is no
fuch Door opened. The Door is not opened wider than
Chrift defigned it fhould be. There is nothing more pur-
chafed by his Death, than he intended. If this Benefit was
not intended, then it is not procured. If it be not pro
cured, then the Non-Ele6l cannot any of them oe faved,
confiftent with divine Juftice. And by Confequence,if this
fee the Cafe, then (i.) The Non-Eleft have no Right at
alii to take any the lea ft Encouragement, from the Death of
Chrift or the Invitations of the Gofyel, to return to God thro9
Chrift in Hopes of Acceptance. For there are no Grounds
of
* " I am ready to profefs," faysthefamousDo&orTwissE, " and that,
" I fuppofe, as out oftheMouths of all ourDivines,that every one who
*• hears theGofpel, ( withoutDiftinftion between Elect or Reprobate)
" is bound to believe that Chrift died for him, fo far as to procure both
** the Pardon of his Sins and the Salvation of his Soul, in Cafe he
" believes and repents." Again, " As Peter could hot have been faved,
f* unlefs he had believed and repented ; fo Judas might have been
" faved, if he had donefo." Again, " Job. 3. 16. gives a fair Light
" of Expofition to thofe Places where Chrift isfaid to have died for the
" Situ of the World, yea. of the whole World, to wit, in thisMannef that
'* <wbofoe<ver belieijetb in him, Jbould not Perijb, but have werlajling
" Life?1— Dr, Twisss on the Rides of GocTs Low fo the Veflel$ of
Mtrcjt &C,
and dijlmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 4. i
of Encouragement given. Chrift did not die for them in
any Senfe, It is impoflible, their Sins fhould be pardoned,
confiftent with Juftice : as much impoflible as if there had
never been a Saviour, as if Chrift had never died. And fo
there is no Encouragement at all for them. And there ^
fore it would be Prefumption in them to take any. All
which is apparently contrary to the whole Tenor of the
Gofpel, which every where invites all, and gives equal En
couragement to all. Come, for all Things are ready, faid
Chrift to the reprobate Jews, Mat. 22. 4. — And if the
Non-Elect have no Right to take any Encouragement from
the Death of Chrift and the Invitations of the Gofpel, to
return to God thro* him in Hopes of Acceptance, then —
(2.) No Man at ally can rationally take any Encouragement ,
until he knows that he is eletted. Becaufe, until then, he
can't know, that there is any Ground of Encouragement.
It is not rational to take Encouragement, before we fee
fufficient Grounds for it : yea, it is Prefumption to do for
But no Man can fee fufficient Grounds of Encouragement:
to truft in Chrift, and to return to God thro' him,in Hopes
of Acceptance ; unlefs he fees that God may, thro' Chrift,
confiftent with his Plonour, accept and fave him, and is
willing fo to do. If God can, and is actually willing to fave
any that comes ; then there is no Objection. I may come,
and any may come, all Things are ready, there is Bread
enough md to fpare. But if God is reconcilable only to the
Elect ; then I may not come, I dare not come, it would be
Prefumption to come, 'till I know that I am elefted. And
how can I know that P Why, not by any Thing in all the
Bible. While anUnbeliever, 'tis impoflible I fhould know
}t by any Thing in Scripture : It is no where faid in exprefs
Words, that I, by Name, am elected, and there are noRules
of Trial laid down in fuch a Cafe, And how can I there
fore in this Cafe, ever know that I am elected, but by an
immediate Revelation from Heaven ? And how mall I
know, that this Revelation is true ? How fhall I dare to
venture my Soul upon it ? The Gofpel does not teach me
to look for any fuch Revelation, nor give any Marks where
by I may know when it is from God, and when from the
Pcvil, Thus, an invincible Bar is Iai4 in jnyWay tQ I<i:>
342 *True Religion delineated Dis, JI.
I mull know that I am one of theElect, before I can fee any
Encouragement to believe in Chriil : becaufe none but the
Elect have any more Bufmefs to do fo, than the Devils ,
JBut, if lam one of the Elect, yet it is impoflible I mould
know it, 'till afterwards.- — — Befides, all this is contrary
to the whole Tenor of the Gpfpel ; Whofoever will, let him
come ; Who fewer comes, foall in no wife be caft out -y Whofo-
ever believes, Jhall be faved. — And contrary to the Experi
ence of all true Believers, who in their firft Return to God
thro' Chrift, always take all their Encouragement from the
Gofpel, and lay the Weight of their Souls upon the Truth
of that, and venture their eternal All upon thisBottom ; and
riot upon the Truth of any new Revelation. They ven
ture their All upon the Truths already revealed in the
Gofpel, and not upon the Truth of any Proportion not re
vealed there.
So that let us view this Point in what Light we will,
nothing is more clear and certain, than that Chrift died,
tbat WHOSOEVER believetb in him, Jhould not perijh, but
have everlafting Life. And God may now bejuft, and yet
jtijlify any of the Race of Adam,t\ia.t believe in Jefus. And
he itands ready fo to do. And thefc Things being
true, the Servants, upon good Grounds, might, in their
Mailer's Name, tell the obftinate Jews, who did not belong
to the Election of Grace, and who finally rcfufcd to hearken
to the Calls of the Gofpel, Behold, I have prepared my Din*
ver : my Oxen and my Failings are killed^ and all Things are
ready: Come unto the Marriage. Mat. 22. 4. And if they
had come, they would have been heartily welcome : The
Provifion made was fufficient, and the Invitation fincere :
Jefus wept over them, faying, 0 that thou hadft known, in
(his I by Day^ the Things 'which belong to thy Peace ! So that
there was nothing to hinder, had they but been willing.
But it fcems they were other wife difpofed ; and therefore
Jbey made light of if, and went their Ways^ cm to his Farm,
Mother to his Merchandife •, and the Remnant took his Ser-
vants, and entreated them f pit ef idly , and flew them, (^.5, 6.)
And in this Glafs we may fee the very Nature of all Man
kind, and how all would actually do, if not prevented by
divine Grace. — Juftly, therefore* at the Bay of Judgment?
will
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 343
will this be the Condemnation, that Light is come into the
World) but Men loved Darknefs rather than Light. For
certainly, if Mankind are fo perverfely bad, that, notwith-
flanding their natural Obligations to God, and the Unrea-
fonablenefs of their original Apoftacy, they will yet perfift
in their Rebellion ; and after all the glorious Provifion,
and kind Invitations of the Gofpel, will not return to God
thro' Chrift : I fay, certainly, God is not obliged to come
out after them, and by his all-conquering Grace irrefiftibly
reclaim them : but may juftly let every Man take his own
Courfe, and run his own Ruin. And an aggravated Dam
nation will every fuch Perfon deferve in the comingWorld,
for neglecting fo great Salvation, Heb. 2. 2, 3.
And now, if Chrift's Atonement and Merits be thus fuf-
ficient for all, and if God flands ready to be reconciled to
all, and if all are invited to return and come : Hence then,
we may learn, that it is fafe for any of the poor, finful,
guilty, loft, undone Race of Adam to return to God in this
Way. They ihall furely find Acceptance with God. They
may come without Money, and without Frice ; and he that
cometh Jhall in no wife be caff out.
And hence we may fee, upon what Grounds it is, that
the poor, convinced, humbled Sinner is encouraged and
emboldened to venture his All upon Chrift, and return to
God thro' him. 'Tis becaufe any poor, finful, guilty, Hell-
deferving Wretch may come ; any in the World ; the
worft in the World -, the vileft, and moft odious and def-
picable : For fuch he actually takes himfelf to be. And
if he did not fee that there was an open Door for fuch, for
any fuch, for all fuch, he would doubt, and that with good
Reafon too, whether he might fafely come. But when
he underftands and believes the Gofpel- Revelation, and fo
is allured that it is fafe for any, for all, the vileft and the
worft ; now the peculiar Vilenefs and Unworthinefs which
he fees in himfelf, ceafes to be an Objection. He fees it
fafe for any, and therefore for him. And hence takes
Courage, and is emboldened to venture his All, upon the
free Grace of God, thro* Jefus Chrift •* and fo returns in
hopes of Acceptance.— Now, does this poor Sinner
venture upon a fafe Foundation ? Or does he, not ?- — :
Z 4 Hr.
344 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
He takes it for granted, that the fupreme Governour of
the World can, confidently with his Honour, fhew Mercy
to any that come to him thro' Chrift •, and he takes it for
granted, that he (lands ready to do fo,even to the vileft and
worft •, that the Door of Mercy ftands wide open ; and
who fo ever will, may come : And upon thefe Principles, he
takes Encouragement to return to God in hopes of Ac
ceptance : and from a Senfe of his own Wants, and of the
Glory and All-fuffkiency of the divine Nature, of the
BlefTednefs there is in being the Lord's, devoted to him
and living upon him, he does return with all his Heart ;
and to God he gives himfelf, to be for ever his : and if the
Gofpel be true, furely he mufl be fafe. The 'Truth of the
Gofpel is the Foundation of all •, for upon that, and that
only he builds : not upon Works of Righteoufnefs which
he has done, not upon any immediate Revelation of Par
don or the Love of Chrift to him in particular •, but merely
Upon Gofpel-Principles. If they therefore prove true, in
the coming World ; then will he receive the End of his
Faith, the Salvation of his Soul. But to return,
Thus we fee that by the Death of Chrift, there is a wide
Door opened for divine Mercy to exercife and difplay it
felf : the fupreme Governour of the World may, conliftent-
ly with his Honour, now feat himfelf upon a Throne of
Grace, and proclaim the News of Pardon and Peace thro*
a guilty World ; and it is perfectly fafe for any of the guilty
Race of Adam, to return unto him thro* Jefus Chrift.
And now, were Mankind in a Difpofition to be heartily
forry for their Apoftacy from God, and difpofed to efteem
it their indifpenfableDuty and higheft Bleffednefs to return ;
were this the Cafe, the joyful News of a Saviour and of
Pardon and Peace thro' him, would fly thro' the World
like Lightning, and every Heart would be melted with
Love and Sorrow and Gratitude ; and all the Nations of
the Earth would come, and fall down in the Duft before
the Lord, and blefs his holy Name, and devote themfelves
to him for ever, lamenting in the Bitternefs of their Hearts
that ever they did break away from their Subjection tofuch
a God. And were Mankind fenfible of their finful, guiltyv
undone liftatc by LAW, and difpofed to jiiftify the Law
and
anidiftinguijhekfrom all Counterfeits. 345
and condemn themfelves ; and were they fenfible of the
Holinefs and Juftice of the great Governour of the World ;
they would foon fee theirNeed of fuch a Mediator as Chrift
Jeius, and foon fee the wonderful Grace of the Gofpel, and
foon fee the Glory of this Way of Salvation, and fo know
it to be from God, believe it, and fall in with it, and all
the World would repent and convert of their own Accord,
and fo all the World might be faved without any more to
do. But inftead of this, fuch is the Temper of Man
kind, that there is not one in the World, that, of his own
Accord, is difpofed to have any fuch Regard to God, or
Sorrow for his Apoftacy, or Inclination to repent and re
turn •, nor do Men once imagine, that they are in an Eftate
fo wretched and undone, and Hand in fuch a perifhing Need
of Chriil and free Grace -, and therefore they are ready to
make light of the glad Tidings of the Gofpel, and go their
Ways, one to his Farm, another to his Merchandife : nor
is there one of all the human Race difpofed, of his own
Accord, to lay down the "Weapons of his Rebellion, and
return to God by Jefus Chrift. So that all will come to
nothing, and not one be ever brought home to God, unlefs
ibmething farther be done ; unlefs fome Methods, and Me
thods very effectual, be ufed.
But that God fhould come out after fuch an apoftate
Race, who without any Grounds have turned Enemies to
him, and without any Reafon refufe to be reconciled, and
that after all the glorious Provifion and kind Invitations of
the Gofpel •, that God, I fay, fhould come out after fuch,
and reclaim them by his own fovereign and All-conquering
Grace ; might feem to be a going counter to theHolinefs and
Juftice of his Nature, and to tend to expofe his Law and
Government & facred Authority to Contempt ; in as much
as they fo eminently deferve to be confumed by the Fire of
his Wrath. Therefore
(2.) Jefus Chrift did, by his Obedience and Death , open fuch
a Door of Mercy , as that the fupr erne Governour of the World
might ) confidently with his Honour, take what Methods he
f leafed, in order to recover rebellious, guilty, Jlubborn Sinners
to himfelf.
That
346 • *Irue Religion delineated Dis. II.
That he might take what Methods he pleafed, I fay ; for
he knew from the Days of Eternity, how Mankind would
be difpofed to treat him, his Son, and his Grace •, and he
knew from Eternity, what Methods he intended to take to
reclaim them : and thefe are the Methods which he now
fleafes to take -5 and the Methods, yea, the only Methods,
which he actually does take. So that it. is the fame Thing
in Effect to fay, that by what Chrift has done and fuffered,
a Door is opened, for the MOST HIGH, confiftently with
his Honour, to take — i . What Methods he actually
does take. Or — 2. What Methods he fleafes. Or
— 3. What Methods he from Eternity intended. For
all amount to juft one and the fame Thing. For what
pleafed him from Eternity, the fame pleafes him now \
and what pleafes him now, that he actually does. The
infinite Perfection of his Nature does not admit of any
new Apprehenfion, or Alteration of Judgment, By his in-
finiteUnderftanding, he always had, and has, and will have,
a compleat View of all Things paft, prefent, and to come,
at once. And by his infinite Wifdom and the perfect Rec
titude of his Nature, he unchangeably fees and determines
upon that Conduct which is right and fit and bed. For
with him there is no Variablenefs^ nor Shadow of turning.
Jam. i. 17.
Now, that what Chrift has done and fuffered, was fuffi-
cient to open a Way for the honourable Exercife of his fo-
vereign Grace, in recovering Sinners to himfelf, is evident
from what has been heretofore obferved. And .that it was
defigned for this End, and has inFact effectually anfwered it,
is plain fromGod'sConduct in theAffair. For otherwife he
could not, confident with his Honour or theHonour of his
Law, ufe thofe Means to reclaim Sinners which he actually
does. For all thofeMethods of Grace would elfe be contrary
toLAW,which does not allow theSinner to have anyFavour
Ihewn him without a fufficientSecurity to thedivineHonour,
as has been before proved. TheLaw therefore has been'Ta-
tisfied in this Refpect, or thefe Favours could not be fhewn.
For Heaven and Earth mall fooner pafs away, than theLaw
be difregarded in any one Point. It follows therefore, that
not only fpecial and faving Ggrace,but alfo that all the com-
rnon.
and diftmguifoed from all Counterfeits. 347
mon Favours which Mankind in general enjoy, and that all
the Means of Grace which are common to the Elect and
Non-Eled:, are the Effeds of Chrift's Merits : All were
purchafed by him •, none of thefe Things could have been
granted to Mankind, but for him. Chrift has opened the
Door, and an infinite fovereign Goodnefs has ftrewed thefe
common Mercies round the World. All thofe Particulars
wherein Mankind are treated better than the damned in
Hell, are over and above what mere LAW would allow of,
and therefore are the Effects of Chrift'sMents and Gofpel-
Grace. And for this, among other Reafons, Chrift is called
the Saviour of the World. And hence alfo God is faid to be
reconciling the World to himfelf, not imputing their 'TrefpafJ'es
unto them, 2 Cor. 5. 19. Becaufe for the prefent their Pu-
nimment is fufpended, and they are treated in a Way of
Mercy, are invited to Repentance, and have the Offers of
Pardon and Peace and eternal Life made unto them.
Hence, I fay, God is faid not to impute their Sins unto them :
Agreeable with that parallel Place in Pfal. 78. 38. where
God is faid to forgive the Iniquity of his People, becaufe he
deftroyed them not.
Upon the whole then, this feems to be the true State of
the Cafe. God is thro' Chrift ready to be reconciled to all
and every one, that will repent and return unto him thro'
Jefus Chrift. He fends the News of Pardon and Peace
around a guilty World and invites every one to come, fay
ing, He that believeth^ Jhall be faved ; and he that believeth
notifnall be damned. And on this Account it is faid, that
He will have all Men to be faved^ and is not willing that
any Jhould perijh : becaufe he offers Salvation to all, and ufes
Arguments to difTuade them from Perdition. — But in as
much as Mankind will not hearken, but are obftinately fet
in their Way -, therefore he takes State upon himfelf, and
fays, / will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy. And a
fmful, guilty \Yorld are in his Hands, and he may ufe what
Methods of Grace with all that he pleafes : Some, he may
fuffer to take their own Way, and run their own Ruin, if
he pleafes ; and others, he may fubdue and recover to him
felf, by his own all- conquering Grace.
And unto a certain Number, from Eternity, he intended
to
348 True Religion delineated Dis, II.
to fhew this fpecial Mercy. And thefe are faid to be given
to Chrift, Job. 6. 37. And with a fpecial Eye to thefe
Sheep did he lay down his Life, Joh. 10. 15. His Fa
ther intending, and he intending, that they, in Spight of
all Oppofition, fhould be brought to eternal Life at laft.
And hence the Elect do always obtain. Rom. 11.7, compared
with Joh. 6. 37. — And here we may learn how to under-
ftand thofe Places of Scripture, which feem to limitChrift's
Undertaking to a certain Number. Mat. 1.21. Thoujhdt
call hisName Jefus -9 becaufe be flail five HIS PEOPLE from
their Sins. Eph. 5. 23. He is the Head of the CHURCH $
and he is the Saviour of the BODT. Ver. 25. Chrifl loved
the CHURCH, and gave himfelf FOR FT. Aft. 20. 28.
He hath purcbafed HIS CHURCH with his own Blood.
Joh. 10. 15. I lay down my Life for the SHEEP. — * There
were a certain Number, which the Father ar\d the Son from
all Eternity defigned for Veffels of Mercy, to bring to Glory,
Rom. 9. 23. With a View to thefe it was promifed in the
Covenant of Redemption., that Chrift fhould fee of the Travel
of his Soul, Ifai, 53.1 1. And Chrift fays in 1011.6.37,38,39.
AH that theFather giveth me,Jhall come to me •, and him that
cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out. For 1 came down
from Heaven? not to do my own Will •, but the Will of him
that fent me. And this is the Father's Will, which hath fent
me, that of all which he hath given me I Jhould lofe nothing ,
tut Jhould raife it up again at the laft Day. See alfo 'Tit.
2. 14. Rev. 5. 9, 10. Eph, i. 4, 5, 6.
Thus Chrift's Merits are fufficient for all the World, and
the Door of Mercy is opened wide enough for all the
World, and God the fupreme Governour has proclaimed
himfelf reconcilable to all the World, if they will believe
and repent. And if they will not believe and repent, he is
at Liberty to have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy,
and to ihew Compafiion to whom he will mew Companion ;
according to the good Pleafure of his Will, to the Praife of
the Glory of his Grace. He fits SOVEREIGN, and a
rebellious, guilty World are in his Hands, and at his Di£-
pofe, and the Thing that feems good in his Sight, that he
will do. And it is infinitely fit, right, and beft he fhould ;
that the Pride of all Flefli may be brought low, & the Lord
alone be exalted for ever. And
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 349
And as this View of Things feems exactly to harmonize
with the whole Tenor of the Gofpel in general, and to
agree with the various particular Reprefentations of our
Redemption by Chrift ; and to reconcile thofeTexts which
leem to fpeak of a univerfal Redemption^ with thofe which
ieem to fpeak of ^particular Redemption ; fo it will naturally
fuggeft an eafy Anfwtr to any Objections which may be
made againft it.
OBJ. i. If Chrift has fuffcred the Penalty of the Law^not
only for the Eleff, but alfo for the Non-Ele£f ; how can it be
juft, that they themfelves Jhould be made to fitffer it over again
for ever in Hell ?
ANS. Becaufe Chrift did not die with a Defign to releafe
them from their deferved Punifhment, but only upon
Condition of Faith. And fo they have no Right to the
Releafe, but upon that Condition. 'Tis as juft therefore
they mould be punifhed, as if Chrift had never died ;
fmce they continue obftinate to the laft. And 'tis juft too
they mould have an aggravated Damnation, for refufing to
return to God, defpifing the Offers of Mercy, and neglect
ing fo great Salvation. John. 1 6 — 19.
OBJ. 2. If Chrift obeyed the preceptive Part of 'the Law ', not
only for the EletJ^ but alfo for the Non-Eleff ; why are not
all brought to eternal Life9 fince eternal Life is by Law pro-
mifed to perfect Obedience ?
ANS. Becaufe Chrift did not purchafe eternal Life for
them, but upon the Condition of Faith : But they would
not come to Chrift, that they might have Life : and there
fore they juft lyperifh. Job. 3. 1 6 — 19.
OBJ. 3 . But for what Purpofe did Chrift die for thofe^ who
were in Hell a long Time before his Death ?
ANS. And to what Purpofe did he die for thofe, who
were in Heaven a longTime before his Death ? The Truth
is, that when Chrift laid down his Life, a Ranfom for all,
he only accomplifhed what he undertook at the Beginning.
Chrift actually interpofed as Mediator immediately upon
the Fall of Man, and undertook to fecure the divine Ho
nour by obeying and fuffcring in the Room of a guilty
World : and therefore thro' him God did offer Mercy to
Cain
3 50 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
' Cain as well as to Abel, and fliew common Favours to the
"World in general, as well as grant fpecial Grace to the E-
.lect ; and thac before his Death, as well as firice. Surely
none will deny, that all the Favours which Mankind did
enjoy prior to Chrift's Death, were by Virtue of his Under-
- taking to be Mediator, and engaging to fecure the divine
Honour •, for upon any other Foot> the Governour of the
World couid not have granted fuch Favours confiftently
with his Honour.
OBJ. 4. But if Chrift died for all, then he died in vain,
fince all are not faved.
ANS. The next and immediate End of Chrift's Death
.was to anfwer the Ends of moral Government, and fo fecure
the Honour of the moral Governour, and open a Way in
which he might honourably declare himfelf reconcilable to
a guilty World upon their returning thro' Chrift, and ufe
Means to reclaim them ; but this End Chrift did obtain :
and fo did not die in vain. Job. 3. 16. Rom. 3. 24, 25, 26.
And the fupreme Governour of the World will now thro'
Chrift accpmpliih all the Defigns of his Heart, to the ever-
lafting Honour of his great Name.
OBJ. 5. But why would God have a Door opened^ that he
mighty confident with his Honour ', offer to be reconciled to all
that will return to him thro" Chrift ', when he knew that the
Non-Eleft would never return ? And why would he have aDoor
opened that he might ufe Means with them, when he knew^ all
would be in vain, unlefs he himfelf recovered them by his All-
conquering Grace^ which yet he never defigned to do ?
ANS. God defigned to put an apoftate World into a
oew State of Probation. Mankind were in a State of Pro
bation in Adam their pub-lick Head, and we all finned in
him and fell with him in his firft Tranfgreflion. But God
defigned to try the Pofterity of Adam anew, and fee whether
they, would be forry for their Apoftacy, or choofe to conti
nue in their Rebellion. He would tender Mercy, and offer
to be reconciled, and call them to return, and ufeArguments
and Motives, and promife and threaten ; and try and fee
what they would do. He knew,Mankind would be ready
to deny their Apoftacy, and plead that they were not Ene
mies to God, and think themfelves very good natured ;
and
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 351
and would take it exceeding hard not to be believed :
therefore he determined to try them, and fee what they
would do ; and make publick Declaration thro' the World
that finally he would judge every Man according to his
Works, and deal with them according to their Conduct.
And in the mean Time, that his Honour might be fecured,
he appoints his Son to be Mediator ; and fo thro' him pro
claims the News of Pardon and Peace,and enters upon the
ufe of Means. And now, if you afk me, " Why does he
" do all this, when he knows, it will be in vain as to the
) who will never come to Repentance ?"
His knowing that all will in the Event prove
ineffectual to bring them to Repentance, is no Objection
againft his ufmg the Means he does. For God does not
make hisForeknowledge of Events theRule of his Conduct;
but the Reafon & Fitnefs of Things. You may as well
inquire, " Why did God raife up Noah to be a Preacher
" ofRighteoufnefs to the old World for the Space of an
" Hundred and twenty Years, when he knew they would
" never come to Repentance ? And why did he fend all
" his Servants the Prophets to the Children of Ifrael^ ri-
" fmg early and fending, and by them command & call,
" entreat and ex.poftul.ate, promife and threaten, and fay,
" As 1 live* faith the Lord God, I delight not in the Death of
" the Sinner : turn ye^ turn ye^ why will ye die! when: he
" knew, they would never come to Repentance ? And
'* why did he afterwards fend his Son to the fame obftinate
" People, when he knew they would be fo far from hear-
" kening, as that they would rather put him to Death ?"
Now, if you afk me, why the great Governour of the
World ufes fuch Means with the Non-Elect, and mews fo
much Goodnefs, Patience, Forbearance and Long-fuffering,
inftead of fending all immediately to defervedDeftruction ?
/ Anfwer, it is to try them ; and to mew, that he is the
Lord God) graciqus and merciful^ Jlow to Anger and abundant
in Goodnefs. 'Tis fit, Creatures in a State of Probation
fhould be tried, and he loves to act like himfelf ; and he
means in and by his Conduct to do both at once. And
after obitiriate Sinners have long abufed that Goodnefs and
led tbein to Repentance \. and
have
352 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
have after their own bard and impenitent Hearts^ been trea-
furing tip Wrath again ft the Day of Wrath, the Righteouf-
nefs of God's Judgment in their eternal Deftrudion will be
moil manifeit. And what if God was determined not to
reclaimRebels voluntarily fo obftinate, by his All-conquer
ing Grace, but let them take their Courie, feeing they
were fo fet in their Way ? What then ? Was he not at
Liberty ? Was he bound to fave them all by Exertion of
his Almightinefs ? Might he not have Mercy on whom he
would ? And after fuch Long- fuffer ing, might he notjheiv
his Wrath and make his Power known in the eternal De-
ftruftion of thofe who fo juftly deferved it ? God's iaft
End, no Doubt, is to manifeft his Perfections : and in and
by his whole Conduct towards a fallen World, they will
all be moil illuitrioufly difplayed. Rom. n. 36.
OBJ. 6. But conjider ing that theNon-Eleft are, after all, un
der an absolute Impojfibility to believe and repent Convert and be
faved ; and ccnfidsring that all common Mercies and Means of
Grace will only render them the mere inexcufable in the End,
and fo aggravate their Guilt and Damnation : therefore all
Things confidered, what feeming Gocd they enjoy in this World *
is not of the Nature of a MERCT: it would be better for them
to be without it ; Sodom and Gomorrah will be better of it
in the Day of Judgment than Chorazin and Bethfaida : *
and therefore there is no Need tofuppofe, that any Thing which
the Non-Elett enjoy in this World, is the Effeft of Chri/s
Merits, but only of divine Sovereignty.
ANS. What do you mean by being under anabfolute 1m-
pojjibility to believe and repent, convert 6? be faved ? Ufmg
Words without determinate Ideas is one principal Thing
which bewilders the World aboutMatters of Religion. Now
will
* It may be proper juft to hint the grofs Abfurdities implied in this
Objection. — If the Non-Elect were under an abfolute (/. /. not 6nly
a moral, but natural) Impoffibility to turn to God, they would not be
proper Subjeds to ufe any Means with. And if their common Fa
vours and Means of Grace were not of the Nature of Mercies, they
could not aggravate their Guilt. And if it was not their own Fault,
that they did not repent under the Enjoyment of Means, they would
not be to Blame, nor deferve to be pumlhed, for not repenting. —
Men ftumjble into fuchAbfurdities by ufingWords without determinate
Ideas.
a nd diftinguijhed from allCounterfeits. 353
in phinEnglt/k,all Things are ready, and they are invited to
come, and there is nothing in the Way of their being faved ;
but — they be not forry for their Apoftacy from God, nor
will be brought to it by all the Means God ufes with them :
they have not a Mind to return to God, nor will they be
perfwaded by all the moft powerful Arguments that can be
ufed : they are voluntary Enemies to God, and will not be
reconciled, unlefs by an almighty Power and All-conquer
ing Grace, which God is not obliged to give, and they are
infinitely unworthy of, and without which, they might re
turn, were they but of fuch a Temper as they ought to be :
they are under no Inability, but what confifts in and re-
fults from their want of a good Temper of Mind, and their
voluntary Obftinacy : Sin has no Power over Men, but as
they are inclined to it ; and the Inclinations of the Heart
are always voluntary and unforced. Men love to be in
clined as they are •, for otherwife their Inclinations would
be fo far from having any Power over them, that they
would even ceafe to be. — Now certainly the bringing up of
the Children of Ifrael out of Egypt was of the Nature of
a Mercy, and a great Mercy too indeed it was, notwithftand-
ing that thro' their Unbelief and Perverfenefs they never
got to Canaan. The Thing, in itfelf, was as great a Mercy
to the Body of that Generation, as it was to Caleb & Jojhua*
And their bad Temper and bad Conduct, which prevented
their ever coming to the promifed Land, did not alter the
Nature of the Thing at all, nor lerTen their Obligations to
Gratitude to God their mighty Deliverer. And yet, all
Things confidered, it had been better for them to have died
iti their£p^//tf»Bondage,than to havehad their Carcafes fall
in the Wildernefs. in fuch an awful Manner. — And befides,
it is evident,that the Scriptures do look upon the common
Favours and Means of Grace, which the Non-Elect enjoy,
under the Notion of Mercies \ and (which otherwife could
not be) on this very Ground their Guilt is aggravated, and
they rendered inexcufable, and worthy of a more fore Pu-
nifhmcnt in the World to come. Joh.^.i6 — 19. And, 15,
22, 24. Rom. 2. 4, 5. Heb. 2. 2,3. — And if they are of
the Nature of Mercies, then they are the Effects of Chrift's
Merits, as Jias been already proved,
A a And
354 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
And hence by the Way, we may fee the Reafon why the
Love and Goodnefs of God in bringing up the Children of ]
Ifrael out of Egypt, is fo mightily fet forth in the oldTefta-
ment, notwithstanding the Body of that Generation periih-
ed in the Wildernefs : and why the Love and Goodnefs of
God in giving his Son to die for the World, is fo mightily
fet forth in the New-Teftament, notwithftanding Multi
tudes of Mankind perifh for ever : viz. It was the Ifraelites \
ownFault, they perifhed in the Wildernefs, and fo it isSinners
own Fault that they perifh for ever. Job. 3.19. and 5, 40.
And did they feel it at Heart,it would effectually ftop their
Mouths. For this is an undoubted Maxim, that theKind-
nefTes of God to a rebellious perverfe World are not in
themfelves e'er the lefs Mercies, becaufe Mankind abufe
them to their greater Ruin. The KindnefTes are in them
felves the fame, whether we make a good Improvement of
them, or no. They are juft the fame, and fo juft as great,
let our Conduct be what it will. It was a great Mercy to
the Ifraelites to be delivered out of Egypt -, it was a wonder
ful Exprefiion of divine Goodnefs : and hence 'tis faid in
Hot 1 1. i. When Ifrael was a Child, then I LOVED him,
and called my Son out of Egypt. (And a like Exprefiion we
have in Deut. 10. 18. God LOVEfH the Stranger, in giv
ing him Food and Raiment.} And on the fame Ground 'tis
faid in Joh. 3. 16. Godfo LOVED the World &c. becaufe
the Gift of Chrift to die for the World was an infinite Ex-
preffion of divineGoodnefs. And if Mankind do generally
abufe this Goodnefs, as the Ifraelites generally did all God's
Kindneffes to them, yet ftill the Goodnefs itfelf is juft the
fame. A dreadful Thing therefore it is for the Non-Elect,
even as aggravated a Piece of Wickednefs in them as it
would be in any Body elfe, to tread under Foot the Blood
of the Son of God, and make light of all the Offers of
Mercy, and neglect fo great Salvation. And this above
all other Things will be their Condemnation in the coming
World. Joh. 3. 19. Never are the Jews at all excufed, any
where in the New-Teftament, in their flighting the Offers
of Mercy by Chrift, on this Account, that they were not
of the Elect. And indeed the Offers were fincere, and it
was intirely their own Fault that they did not accept, and
they
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 355
they deferved to be treated accordingly : Mat. 22.
OBJ. 7. But ifGodfo loved the World* the WHOLE
WORLD ^ as to give his only begotten Son to die for them, in
the Senfe explained ; why does he not go thro\ and perfect the
Work, andfave the WHOLE WORLD ? according to that
in Rom. 8. 32. He that fpared not his own Son, but deli
vered him up for us all, how ftiall he not with him alfo
freely give us all Things ?
ANS. i. And why did not the King in Matth. 22. who
had made a Marriage for his Son, and fent his Servants to
fay to them that were bidden, / have prepared my Dinner ;
my Oxen and my Fatlings are killed, and all Things are ready :
Come unto theMarriage : Why did nottheKing, I fay, when
they refufed, Compel them to ccme in ? Since he had done
fo much, why did not he go thro', and finim the Work ?
And this is directly to the Point in Hand, becaufe this Pa
rable is defigned to reprefent that full Provifion which is
made for the Salvation of Sinners by the Death of Chrift ;
and it proves that the Objection has no Force in it.
But farther,
2. Take your Bible and read from the 28th Verfe to
the end of that 8th Chapter of Romans, and you will fee
what the Apoftle's Defign is, thro' his whole Difcourfe.
" We know," fays he, " that all Things work together
" for Good to them that love God, to them who are called
" according to his Purpofe. But how do we know it ?
" Why, becaufe God is fully determined to bring them to
" Glory at laft. For whom he did foreknow, he alfo did
" predeftinate ; and whom he did predeftinate, them he
" alfo called, and them he juftified, and them he glorified.
<c And God was fo fully determined to bring them to
" Glory, and fo much engaged in the Thing, that he
" fpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all ;
" i.e. US, who love God and are his electPeople." (For it
is of thefe and thefe only that he here is fpeaking.) " And
" fmce he was fo much engaged as to do this, we may de*<
" pend upon it that he will alfo freely give us all Things ;
" /. e. US, who love God and are his elect People, So
*c that never any Thing mall hinder our being finally
A a 2 «' brought
356 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
'• brought to Glory, or feparate us from the Love of God,
" neither Tribulation, nor Perfecution, nor Diftrefs, nor
" any Thing elfe." So that this is theApoftle'sArgument :
SinceGod was fo much engaged to bring them toGlory who
loved God and were his eledt People, as that he had given
his own Son to die for that. End •, they therefore might have
the ftrongeft AfTurance, that he would do every Thing elfe
which would be needful effectually to bring it about. *
But God never defigned to bring the Non-Elect to Glory,
when he gave his Son to die for the World. He deligned
to declare himfelf reconcilable to them thro* Chrift,to offer
Mercy, to invite them in common with others to return,
and to affure all that he that believeth Jhall be faved, and to
ufe Means with them more or lefs according to his Plea-
fure •, but finally, they being obftinate, he defigned to
leave them to themfelves, to take their own Courfe ; and in
the End to deal with them according to their Deferts. Mat.
23. 37, 38. and 22. i — 7. And this being the Cafe, the
Objection from the Apoftle's Words is evidently groundlefs.
As to the Opinion of the Arminians^ that God equally
defigned Salvation for all Men, purpofmg to offer Salvation
to all, and ufe Means with all, and leave all to their own
Free-Will, and fave thofe and thofe only, who of their own
Accord will become good Men •, as for this Opinion, I fay,
1 think they never learnt it from the Bible : But rather,
they feem to have been led into it, from a. Notion that
Mankind are fo good natured, that all might, and that at
leaft fome actually would, under the Enjoyment of the
common Means of Grace, become good Men, of their own
Accord, /. e. without any fuch Thing as fpecial Grace.
Convince them that this is an Error, and they will foon
give
* If vye leave God's Defign out of the Apoftle's Argument, I cannot
fee that his Reaibning would be conclufive ; any more than a like
Argument would have been conclufive, if we mould fuppofe Mofes
to have ufed it with the Ifraelites at the Side of the red Sea. " Since
" God has now brought you all out of Egypt, and thus divided the
" red Sea before you, and drowned your Enemies ; therefore he will
"now without fail bring you All to the promifed Land." Which Rea-
foning would not have been conclufive ; for the Body of that Gene
ration died in the Wildernefs, and that in a very awful Manner, not-
tt -ithftanding this glorious Deliverance,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 357
give up their Scheme, and acknowledge the Need of fove-
reign Grace, and fee the Reafonablenefs and Truth of the
Doctrine of Election. Or rather, I may fay, con
vince them fir ft of all, what God is, and what the Law is,
aad what the Nature of true Religion is ; that they may
know, what Converfion means, and what it means to be a
good Man : and there will be no Difficulty then to con
vince them of theDepravity of Mankind. For what leads
them to think it fo eafy a Thing to become a good Man,
and that Men may be brought to it merely by the force of
moral Suafion, is, their wrong Idea of the Nature of true
Religion. IF Religion be what they fuppofe, then no
Doubt any Body may eafily become good, for corrupt
Nature can bear with fuch a Religion. But if Religion, or
3 Conformity to God'sLaw, be, what I have endeavoured to
prove it to be in the former Difcourfe, then no Doubt Man
kind are naturally diametrically oppofite thereto in the
Temper of their Minds : even all Mankind, Arminians as
well as others. And all do, or might know it, if they
would ferioufly and honeftly weigh the Matter ; for it is
plain Fact. The Arminians are wont mightily to cry up
Works,and plead for the moral Law, as tho' they were
great Friends to it : but if their Miftakes about the moral
Law might once be re&ified, and they be brought really
and heartily to approve it, as holy^juft and good ; one prin
cipal Source of all their Errors would be dried up : ancf
particularly, their wrong Notions about Election and uni-
verfal Redemption.
" But where was there any Love," Cwill the Objeflor
66 fay,) inGod's giving his Son to die for the Non-Eledt,or
" Sincerity in his offering themMcrcy ; if he never defigned
" to bring them to Glory, but from Eternity intended to
" leave them to perifh in their Sins ?"
And where was there any Love ( / anfwer ) in God's
bringing the Israelites out of Egypt ^ or Sincerity in his offer
ing to bring them to Canaan •, if he never defigned even
tually to bring them there, but from Eternity intended to
leave them to murmur and rebel, and to have their Car-
cafes fall in the Wildernefs ? —The Solution in both Cafes
is the fame, and is plainly this ; as it was theffraelites oyw
A a 3 Fault
3 5 8 True Religion delineated D i s . II.
Fault that they did not come to Canaan at laft, fo it is the
Sinner's own Fault that he finally falls fhort of Glory :
However, the Ifraelites were often in a Rage, and ready to
fay, 'The Lord hath brought us into the Wilderness to kill us
here, and they murmured againft God and againft Mofes,
for which they were ftruck dead byHundreds&Thoufands :
and juft fo Sinners do, and the fame Punifhment do they
deferve. But had the Ifraelites felt at Heart, that it was
their owrr voluntary Wickednefs which was the fole Caufe
of their Ruin, and did Sinners feel it at Heart too, there
would be no murmuring in one Cafe or the other, but every
Mouth would be ftop'd. But I have fpoken to this before.
To Conclude, If this Reprefentation of Things which
I have given, be according to Truth, hence then we may
learn theie two Things, which indeed were what I had
principally in View in dwelling fo long upon this Subject
and labouring to anfwerObjecYions : I fay,we may learn —
I. That any p:>or Sinner, all the World over, who hears the
Gofpel & believes it, has fufficient Grounds of Encourage
ment, from theFreenefs of God's Grace & the Sufficiency of
Chrift aad the univerfal Calls of the Gofpel, to venture his
eternal ALL in this Way of Salvation, and may fafely re
turn to God thro* Chrift in Hopes of Acceptance : And
that without any particular Revelation, that he is elefted or
that Cbrijt died for him in particular. " Any may come,
" the vileft and the word -, and therefore I may come."
And therefore fuch a particular Revelation, is perfectly
needlefs : Nor could it do any Good ; for the Truth of the
Gofpel may be depended upon, but the Truth of fuch a
particular Revelation cannot. — 2. That any poor, fmful,
guilty, broken-hearted Backftider, who groans under the
Burthen of Sin as the greateft Evil, and longs to have the
Power of Sin taken down, and his Corruptions (lain, and
himfelf thoro'ly fubdued to God, may look up to the infi
nite freeGrace of God thro' Jefus Chrift, and pray, " Lord,
" take away this Heart of Stone, and give me a Heart of
" Fleih : Turn me, and I mall be turned : Lord, if thou
; wilt, thou canft make me clean : O create in me a clean
: Heart) and renew in me a right Spirit, and reftore to me
" the Joy of thy Salvation ! To thy fovcreign Grace and
felf-
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 359
" felf-moving Goodnefs I apply my felf thro' JefusChrift :
" God be merciful to me a Sinner." And that whether he
knows himfelf to be a Child of God, or no : and fo whether
he knows that he belongs to theNumber of theEle6t,or not :
Nor does he need any particular Revelation, that Chrift
died for him in particular, or that he is elected, or that he is
beloved of God : Nor would thefe Things do any Good to
clear up his Warrant to come forMercy ; becaufeGod may
thro' Chrift give his holy Spirit to any that afk him : All
that are athirft, are invited to come and take of the Waters
of Life freely. " Any may come, and therefore I may
" come, altho' the vileft Creature in the World." — And
I appeal to all the Generation of God's Children, whether
this has not been their Way of coming toGod thro'Chrift,
ever fince the Day they firft came to know the Lord.
Sure I am, this is the Scripture- Way. God has fent out a
Proclamation thro' a (infill, guilty World, inviting all to
come to him thro' Jefus Chrift for all Things : and given
many Encouragements, by reprefenting how free his Grace
is, how fufficient Chrift is, and how faithful his Promifes,
and that whofoever will, may come, &c. But no where in
all the Bible, has he revealed it, that fuch and fuch in par
ticular by Name among Mankind are elefted, and that for
thefe Individuals Chrift died in particular, by Way of En
couragement to thofe particular Perfons, in order to let
them know that they might fafely truft in Chrift,and come
to God thro' him. — But then muft we be right, when we
underftand the Gofpel and believe it, and upon the 'very En
couragements which God has given, are emboldened to return
in Hopes of Acceptance : And this muft be agreeable to
God's Will : And to this muft the Influences of the true
Spirit tend. But to venture to return and look to God for
Mercy merely upon any other Ground, is anti-fcriptural :
And whatfoeverSpirit influences thereunto,cannot therefore
be from God.
And thus we fee how the Door of Life is opened by
Chrift, our great Mediator and high Prieft. And hence,
Chrift calls himfelf the Door. Joh. 10. 9. lam the Door :
By me if any Man enter *#, he /hall be faved. And hence alfo,
he calls himfelf tbe Way to the Father. Joh. 14. 6. lam
A a 4 tbe
560 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
tbe Way^ the Truth? and the Life : No Man cometh to theFa-
tber but by me. For thro* him (faith theApoftle, Eph.2.i8J
we both have an Accefs by one Spirit unto the Father. And
alfo thro" him God is reconciling the World to himfelf, fending
Ambaffadors %n& befeeching them to be reconciled. 2 Cor. 5.
19, 20. — Which leads me to the next Thing propofed.
SECTION VI.
A View of the METHODS of divineGrace with
Mankind from the Beginning of the World.
4. I am to fhew what Methods the great Governourof the
World has entered upon> in Order to fut in Execution thofe
Dejigns of Mercy , which he had in Fiew^uvhen he contrived to
open this DOOR, infuch a wonderful and glorious Manner ', by
the Interfofition of his own dear Son.
The mod high God is confcious of his own infinite Ex
cellency, his Right to, and his Authority over theChildren
of Men : He fees Mankind as being under infiniteObliga-
tions to love and obey him, and that the leaft Defect is an
infinite Evil : He judges theLaw to be holy, juft and good,
and Mankind wholly to blame for their Non-Conformity
thereto, and worthy to be dealt with according to it. He
knows their Contrariety to him, to his Law, and to his
Gofpel : He fees all thefe Things as they really are. — His
infiniteWifdom fees how it is fit tor fuch a one as he is, now
thro* a Mediator, to condu£t towards fuch a World as this
is : He fees what a Conduct is mod becoming, and, all
Things cpnfidered, mod meet and fuitable : And to this
Conduct, the perfect Re&itude of his Nature prompts and
inclines }iim.— Upon the whole, he necefTarify and freely
determines tq act like himfelf,/>. like an abfoluteSovereign,
infinite in Wifdom,Holinefs, Jufticc, Goodnefs &Truth. —
This was his Deter minatiorr from Eternity, this is his De
termination in Time, and according to this Rule he actu
ally proceeds, in all his Methods with a finful, guilty,obfti-
nate World : Working all Things according to the Counfel of
bis own Will. Eph. i . i i . Sovereignly, and yet wifely;
holily and juftly, a^d yet a$ tbe Lord God gracious and mer
ciful,
and diflinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 361
ciful^Jlow to Anger and abundant in Goodnefs and 'Truth. As
is his Nature, fuch is his Conduct ^ and hence his Conduct
exhibits to us the very Image of his Heart. Thus it is in
the Impetration, and thus it is in the Af plication of our Re
demption, and in all the Methods he takes with a guilty
World in general. And hence, all his Ways are calculated
to exalt God and humble the Sinner, to honour the Law
and difc ountenance Sin, to exclude Boafting and to glorify
Grace, As *we lhall more fully fee in what follows.
(i.) As being the fupreme Lord and fovereign Ruler
of the whole World, he does thro' Jefus Chrifl the great
Mediator, the Lamb fiain from the Foundation of the Worldy
by whom his Honour has been fecured, he does (1 fay )
thro' him grant :, and by an Att of Grace confirm Jo the World
of Mankind^ a general Reprieve from that utter Ruin, which
by Law was threatned, and which an apojlate World were
expofed unto. Total Deftruction was threatned in Cafe of
Difobedience. Gen. 2. 17. In dying thoujhalt die. i.e. Thou
(halt die with a witnefs, thy Ruin fhall be compleat. And
now nothing could be expe&ed but a dreadful Doom, and
to be fealed down under ever lading Defpair. But inftead
of this, the great God dooms the Tempter ', and threatens
utter Ruin to his new-ere6ted Kingdom. Gen. 3. 14, 15.
Becaufe thou haft done this, thou art cur fed — And thy Head
{hall be bruifed. But guilty Man is reprieved from a total
Ruin, and allowed a Space for Repentance. And the
World has now flood, almoft fixThoufand Years, reprieved
by the tender Mercy of God thro* Jefus Chrift.
Indeed, certain Evils were denounced by the Majefty of
Heaven as Handing Monuments of his Difpleafure, always
to attend a guilty Race while in this World. Peculiar
Sorrows were appointed to Women, and hard Labour and
Toil to Men, and Sicknefs and Pain to both, till Death
(hould put an End to their Reprieve and to their Space for
Repentance, jfr. 16 — 19. And when our Day to die
fhail come, we are not to know : we lie at Mercy : and
God acts fovereignly : fo long as he pleafes, fo long fliall
we be reprieved, and no longer. And thas while tender \
Mercy appears in the general Reprieve, the Holinefs and ;
Juftice and Sovereignty of 'God appear In the Manner of
it.
362 7 rue Religion delineated Dis. II,
it. God is exalted, a guilty World lies at his Mercy, they
are in a Senfe continually under his Rod, and every Mo
ment liable to drop into an eternal Hell. They are held
up in his Hand, Hell gapes to receive them, and now he
lets one fall and then another, now this and then that, juft
as it feems good in his Sight. Surely,this is awful ! Surely,
Mankind are in very humblingCircumftances,&: inCircum-
ftances wonderfully calculated to awaken them to repent and
pray to God, if fer adventure theirWickednefs may be forgiven*
When the general Reprieve, gran ted to this lowerWorld,
lhall come to a Period, then will the great Judge of the
World proceed, with all who fhall be found impenitent,
according to Law, without any mixture of Mercy. The
prefentReprieve, granted as a Space for Repentance,is not
of the Law^ but of mere Grace thro" Jefus Chrift. Now Grace
takes Place, & Patience, Forbearance and Long- Suffering
fit on the Throne : but then Law fhall take Place, and
ftrict Juftice reign. The Mediation of Chrift at prefent
fecures the Honour of Law and Juftice, and opens the
Door for Grace -9 but then the Day of Grace will be at
an End. A guilty World fhall no longer be treated in a
Way of Mercy, and favoured on Chrift's Account ; but be
proceeded againft in flaming Fire and terrible Vengeance,
and every one be punifhed according to his Deferts.
How long the Day of God's Patience with a guilty World
is to laft, we know not. A guilty World lies at his Mer
cy, and may be all fummoned to the Bar when he pleafes.
Surely, this is awful and awakening ! But this is the State
in which God means to fhew all Long- Suffering, and to
cxercife and difplay the infinite Patience of his Nature.
And furely, this fhould lead us to Repentance !~ — Thus,
this is one Step in a Way of Mercy, which God in his in
finite Grace thro' Chrift has taken with a guilty World.
And what is the Improvement which Mankind are difpof-
ed to make of it ? Why, becaufe Sentence againft their Evil
Works is not executed fyeedily ; therefore the Heart of the Sons
of Men is fully fet in them to do Evil. Eccl. 8. 1 1 .
(2.) Another Favour granted to Mankind in general by
rue great Govef nour of the World thro' Jefus Chrift, is,
cf the goodnings of this Life for their comfor
table
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits. 363
table Support^ while under this Reprieve and in this new State
of Probation. By Law Mankind for their Apoftacy flood
difmherited of every good Thing, doomed to a compleat
Deftrudtion. Gen. 2. 17. But now thro* a Mediator, they
are dealt with in a Way of Mercy. 'Tis true, in token
of the divine Difpleafure God turned Man out of Paradife,
and curfed the Ground, and fubjefted Man to hard Labour.
Gen. 3. But then at the fame Time, for Chrift's fake, a
general Grant of many good Things is made to a guilty
World. They are allowed to live on God's Earth, breathe
in his Air, fee by the Light of his Sun, to eat of the Herb
of the Field, and to eat Bread in the Sweat of their Face,
to cloath themfelves with the Skins of (lain Beads. Gen. 3.
They are allowed Summer and Winter, Seed-Time and
Harveft, and the Beads of the Field are given, to them.
Gen. S. 22. and 9. i, 2, 3. Yea, it has been God's Way
abundantly to doGood to a guilty World, to fend Rain and
grant fruitful Seafons, and Jill the Hearts of Men with Food
and Gladnefs. Ah. 14. 17. So that confidering we are an
apoftate, guilty World, we may well fay with the Pfalmift,
The Earth is full of the Goodnefs of the Lord: Pfal. 33. 5.
And this notwithstanding all the Calamities which over-
fpread the whole Earth. For we are now to attribute
every Thing in our Circumftances, whereby we are better
of it than the Damned in Hell be, to the mere Mercy and
Goodnefs of God thro' Jefus Chrift. Thus God reprieves
a guilty World,and grants them Food and Raiment,to the
Intent they may have a Space for Repentance. Surely now
'tis vile, infinitely vile, to defpife the Riches of his Goodnefs
and Forbearance and Long -Suffer ing, and not to take it in
and underftand it, that the Goodnefs of God/hould lead us to
Repentance : And it is great Madnefs, after our hard and
impenitent Hearts to go on in our Rebellion^ and treafure up
Wrath againft the Day of Wrath ^ and Revelation of the righ
teous Judgment of God. Rom. 2. 4, 5. And yet, this is the
general Temper, and common Way of the World.
(3. ) Another common Favour granted to Mankind up
on Chrift's Account, is, a general Refurrefition from theDead:
(i Cor. 15. 21.) to the Intent that all, who believe, repent
and return to God thro* Jefus Chrift, may be compleatly
happy
364 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
happy in Soul and Body for ever. It is certain, the Law
threatned Death, but made no Provifion for a Refurre&ion.
And if the Law had been executed and no Mediator pro
vided, we have no Reafon to think there ever would have
been any Refurrection. And I cannot fee why a general
Refurrection may not be confidered under the Notion of a
Mercy in it felf, notwithftanding many by their final Impe-
nitency lay a Foundation for their being raifed up to ever-
lafting Shame and Confufion. I am ready to think, that
to be raifed from the Dead, rriuft furely be of the Nature of
a Mercy, and fo be the Effect of Chrift's Merits ; but the
particular Manner in which theWicked mall be raifed, may
neverthelefs be confidered as a Pumlhment^ . and fo be the
Effect of their Sin and final Impenitency. Chrift's Merit
lays the Foundation for a generalRefurrection, and all that
believe and repent (hall be raifed up toGlory and compleat
Bleffednefs, and al! that die in their Sins lhall be raifed up
to Shame and compleat Mifery.
(4.) There are alfo diverfe other Things granted to
Mankind in general, which feem pretty evidently to be of
the Nature of Mercies, and fo to be owing to the Inter-
pofition and Merits of our glorious Mediator Chrift Jefus,
the only Mediator between God and a fmful, guilty World:
to whole Merits and Mediation, every Thing which Man^
kind enjoy, which is of the Nature of a Mercy, is to be at
tributed. Diverfe Things, I fay, whereby much is done
towards putting fuch an apoftate Race of Beings into a Ca
pacity of comfortably living together in this World, while
they are in their new State of Probation. Divers Things
in our Temper, which feem originally to take their Rife
very much from thatTemperamentof Body and animalCon-
ilitution, which God our Former gives us. There is a na
tural good Humour •, a natural Compajfion, a natural Mo defty,
and natural Affeftions. Thefe Things, in a greater or lefs
Degree, we find to be natural to Men, and to have a very
great Influence to keep under and reftrain theirCorruptions,
and to incline and prompt to many Actions materially
Good, and greatly for the Comfort of human Society and
Benefit of Mankind in general. Thefe Things do evi
dently keep Mankind from Abundance of Wickednefs,
which
and diftmguijhehfrom all Counterfeits. 365
which otherwife they would commit : They have a Heart
for a Thoufand Abominations, but thefe Things reftrain
them. And thefe Things do evidently putMankind on to
a Thoufand Actions materially good, which otherwife they
would never do : They have aHeart bad enough to neglect
them, but thefe Things excite them to do them. — Were,
it not for thefe and otherReftraints, I fee not whyMankind
fliould not be as bad in this World, as they will be in the
next. Wicked Men have noWickednefs infufed into them
at Death •, and therefore they have no other Nature, ho
other Principle of Sin in theirHearts,after they aredead,than
they had before : But as foon as they are dead, they are evi
dently no Doubt as univerfally contrary to God and all that
is Good, as the Devils themfelves. As foon as ever thofe
Things which now reftrain them,are all removed, their true
Temper appears without any Difguife. — 'Tis no Doubt
therefore a greatMercy, for Mankind to be thus reftrained.
They enjoy more Comfort, they commit lefsSin,they merit
lefs Punifhment, they are under better Advantages to live
together, to enjoy the Means of Grace and attend to the
Offers of Mercy by Jefus Chrift. And therefore it feems
that all thefe Things ought to be attributed to the tender
Mercy of God thro' Jefus Chrift, who is the Saviour of all
Men^ but especially of them that believe* i Tim. 4. 10.
Thus, the great God, inftead of executing the Sentence
of the Law in all it's Severity upon a guilty World, does,
thro' the Mediation of Jefus Chrift, grant to Mankind in
general thefe common Favours — They are reprieved from
a total Ruin — have a comfortable Maintenance in this
World allowed them — a general Refurrection is decreed^ —
feveral natural Endowments are granted, to reftrain from
bad Actions and to prompt to Actions materially good.
And hereby theGovernour of the World has laid the Foun
dation, and prepared the Way to go on to ufe the Methods
he defigned, more immediately tending to reclaim and re
cover a fmful, guilty World to hi mfelf ; for now Mankind
are put into a Sort of a Capacity of being treated with in
fuch a Way.
Thefe Things ought deeply to affect Mankind. We lie
under many Calamities, and yet enjoy many Mercies in
this
366 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
this our natural State of Guilt and Condemnation -, all
which ought to be improved to awaken, convince & hum
ble us, and lead us to repent and cry to God for pardoning
Mercy and fanctiiying Grace, and predifpofe us cordially to
receive and embrace that Revelation, which God has made
in his Word, of our Ruin and the Way of our Recovery.
But, thro' the great Blindnefs and Corruption of Man
kind, thefe Things have had a very contrary Effect. Man
kind, rinding themfelves thus reprieved, and thus kindly
treated by God, have many of them hereby been led to
think, they are in pretty good Standing, not by Nature
Children of Wrath ^ and under Condemnation. The Devil
told £t'£,they Jhould not furely die ; fo many are now ready
to think,that the oldLaw,whichthreatned the leaftSin with
Death,is repealed ; & that we are now born into the World
free from any Guilt. And Mankind, finding themfelves
endowed with natural Mo defty, good Humour ', Compajpon &c.
are ready to dream, that they are born into the World
without any fmful Corruption of Nature, but rather as holy
as Adam in Innocency. And hence are very infenfible of
any Need of fuch aRedeemer and Sanctifier as are provided.
And fo they are predifpofedto diflike thatRevelation which
God has made in his Word concerning our Ruin and the
Way of our Recovery. And hence Mankind are flrongly
bent to mifunderftand and mifinterpret and difbelieve the
Law and the Gofpel. And befides, by this Goodnefs and
Forbearance of God, Men are emboldened in Sin, as if it
were not a very great Evil, nor God very much fet againft
it. They begin to think, God is all made up of Mercy,
and that they are in no great Danger. And fo after their
hard and impenitent Hearts^ they go on to treafure up Wrath
againft the Day of Wrath, and Revelation of the righteous
Judgment of God. Thus God and his Goodnefs is abufed
by this vile wicked Race of apoftate, rebellious Creatures.
— And indeed, all this is no more than was expedted. —
Great Reafon therefore was there for him fo effectually to
fecure his own Honour and the Honour of his holy Law,
by the Interpofition of his own dear Son as Mediator. — •
And now, let Mankind be ever fo bad, he can go on with
his Methods of Mercy, to accomplifh all his Defigns of
Grace,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 367
Grace, and all confiftent with the Honour of his Holmefs
and Juftice, Law and Government and facred Authority.
(5.) Mankind being naturally very infenfible of their
finful, guilty, ruined Eftate, and totally ignorant of, and
unable to find out, any Way of obtaining the divine Fa
vour, and wholly averfe in theTemper of their Hearts to a
genuineReturn to God ; therefore God of his infiniteGrace
thro' Jefus Chrift, has, in various Ways and diverfe Man*
ners, according to the good Pleafure of his Will, by im
mediate Revelation from Heaven, fet before Mankind their
Ruin and the Way of their Recovery, offered many Argu
ments, Motives and Encouragements to perfwade them to
return, and denounced terrible Threatnings to deter them
from going on in their Rebellion, and directed them, in the
ufe of certain Means of Grace, to feek for the inward Influ
ences of the holy Spirit,to awaken and convince, to humble
and convert and effectually recover them to God thro' the
great Mediator.
(6.) And, becaufe the moflHigh fees,that thro' the very
bad Temper of Mankind, this external Revelation, altho'
moil excellently adapted thereto, yet,if left to themfelves,
would finally prove altogether ineffectual to recover any
of Mankind •, yea, fo very far from it, that Mankind would
not fo much as rightly underftand or believe it, or ferioufly
take Matters into Confideration, but would mifunderiland
and pervert it, and finally univerfally difbelieve and re
nounce and forget it, and not fuffer it to have any Room in
the World : therefore he has from the Beginning of the
World and does ftill and will to the End of the World, by
the inward Influences of his Spirit and by the outward
Difpenfations of his Providence, carry on, according to his
fovereign Pleafure, the Work of his Grace, accomplifh his
eternal Purpofes of Mercy, recover Sinners to himfelf,
maintain true Religion in the World, preferve his Church,
gather in all the Elect, difplay all his glorious Perfections
in his Dealings with Mankind, and get to himfelf a great
Name in the End : Exhibiting in his whole Conduct from
firft to lafl the moft lively Image of himfelf.
In thefe two laft Particulars, we have a general Account
of thofe Methods, which God does take with a fmful,guilty
Race,
368 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Race, more immediately tending to their Recovery : which
we may fee exemplified, in his Dealings with Mankind,
from the Beginning.
i . In the earlieft Ages of the World, immediately after
the Fall, he began to enter upon thefe Methods of Grace.
He taught our firft Parents their Ruin and the Way of their
Recovery by the promifed Seed •, and inftituted Sacrifices
to typify the great Atonement, which fhould afterwards be
made for the Sins of the World. Gen. 3. And what he
taught our firft Parents, they taught their Children. And
hence Cain and Abel and after-Generations learnt to worfhip
God by Sacrifice. Gen. 4. 3 — 8. Now Adam lived until
Methufelah was two Hundred and forty fix Years old, and
Methufelah lived until Shem was an Hundred Years old, and
Shem lived until the Time of Abraham and Ifaac, yea 'till
Ifaac was fifty Years old j fo that the News of Adam'sFzll,
of the Ruin of Mankind, and of Salvation by the Seed of
theWoman, might eafily have been handed down by Tradi
tion from one to another, and allMankind might have been
fully acquainted with thefe Things. — And befides thefe ex
ternal Teachings and Means of Grace, God granted the
inward Influences of his Spirit, whereby fome were effec
tually recovered to God, of whom were Abel, Enoch and
Noah, who were alfo fignalized by divine Providence.
Gen. 4. 4. & 5. 22. & 6. 9. Compared with Heb. 1 1. 4, — 7.
But while God thus early began to ufe Methods for the
recovery of a finful, guilty World to himfelf, they began
early to fhew their Averfion to God and Unwillingnefs to
return. Cain feems, by the Sacrifice which he offered, quite
infenfible,that he was a fallen Creature, and that he needed
an Atonement for Sin. He brought only of the Fruit of
tile Ground for a Thank-Offering, (like the Pharifee in
Luk. 1 8. Whofe Prayer confifted only in Thankfgiving,
without any Faith or Repentance) but brought none of
the Flock for a Sin-Offering, (Gen. 4.) altho' without Jhed-
ding of Blood there could be no Remijfion. Heb. 9. 22. He
was a formal impenitent Hypocrite, nor would God accept
him ; but Abel found Favour in the Sight of the Lord by
Faith. Hefr. 11.4, And therefore Cain was angry at God,
and enraged at his Brother, and murthered him, and caft
off
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 369
off allReligion, & gave himfelf up to ferve his Lufts. Yea,
he ibribok the vifible Church of God, and departed and
went into the Land of Nod. And thus he, and afterwards
his Pofterity alter him, ]oin to renounce true Religion, and
openly diftinguifh themfelves from God's vifible People on
Earth. Gfn.4-.i6. And it feems Good to the fupreme Go-
vernour of the World, e'en to let them all take their Way,
and act their own Nature.
For a While, true Religion was maintained in the Fami
ly of Seth. Gen. 4. 2 6. And to put Honour upon the
Practice thereof, Enoch was tranflated to Heaven. Gen. 5. 2 4.
But yet, in Procefs of Time, they degenerated, and became
ib much like the Reft of the World, like the Pofterity of
Cain, t'ut they were difpofed to reliili th"ir Company, and
marry their Daughters. Gen. 6. 2. And then prefently the
Contagion fpread,T#£ Wickednefs of Mankind in general was
great upon the Earth ^ ($. 5.) All Flejh' corrupted thehWays,
and the Earth was filled with Violence. ( >fr.i i , 1 2 .) And now
the great Governour of the World raifes up Noah, and
makes him aPreacher of Right eoitfnefs *, and Noah preaches,
and God waits an Hundred and Twenty Years, but Man
kind will not be reformed, and therefore God gives over
that Generation, and drowns the World by a univerfal De
luge. — Firft9 Mankind break thro' all the Reftraints lying
upon them, difcover the very Temper of their Hearts,pub-
lickly mew their Averfion to God, their Difregard of his
Grace, their utter Unwiilingnefs to return, and their per-
verle Propenfity to go on in theirRebellion. — Secondly >God,
thro' the Mediator, ufes Means to reclaim them, and
mews ail Long- fufFe ring, and fo tries them. — 27;zn#y,They,
remaining obftinate, trampling under Foot his Authority,
and defpifing his Goodnefs, he at laft in a moft publick
Manner executes righteous Vengeance upon them. — He
difplays his infinite Goodnefs and Patience, in waiting fo
long and ufmg fo many Means for their Recovery : He
difplays his Sovereignty, in waiting but juft fo long,and in
taking but juft fo much Pains with them ; He difplays his
Holinefs, Juftice and Truth, in bringing that Deftructioi*
upon them at the very Time before threatned : and in the
jhe difplays his infinitcWifdom i his- whole Conduct*
B b being
370 "True Religion delineated Dis. IL
being excellently well calculated, to make all fucceeding
Generations know that he is the LORD, and fuited to main
tain the Honour of his Holinefs, Juftice, Goodnefs and
Truth, of his Law and Government and facred Authority.
And thus we fee what Methods God took with the old
World, together with the Refult of all.
And now,
2. We come to take a brief View of his Ways with
Mankind Jince the Flood, and of their Carnage towards him.
There is no Doubt but that Noah had received by Tradi
tion and well underftood the Fall of Adam> the Ruin of
Mankind, the Way of Recovery by the Seed of the Woman*
the Inftitution, End and Delign of Sacrifices. And there
is no Doubt but that he faithfully inftru&ed his Children,
in what he himfelf knew. And they might have taught
their Children^ and they the Generation following, and fo
all the World might have known the Way of Salvation
thro5 a Mediator. And 'tis certain, that this would have
been the Cafe, had Mankind been in a Difpofition fuffici-
cntly to have prized the Knowledge of thefe Things. But
•when they knew God, by parental Inftruclion, they did not
glorify him as God, neither were they thankful for thefe Ad
vantages which infinite Goodnefs had granted them. Rom.
1.2 1. But became vain in their Imaginations ^and their foolijh
Heart was darkened. And they foon loft the Knowledge of
true Religion, and fell off to Idolatry, and changed theGlory
of the incorruptible God, into an Image made like unto cor
ruptible Man, and to Birds and four-footed Beafts and creep
ing Things, Ver. 23. For they did not like to retain God in
their Knowledge i Ver. 28. And when Mankind, prefently
after the Flood, did thus publickly difcover the Temper
of their Hearts, by renouncing the true God and true Re
ligion, and falling away to Idolatry and Superftition and
all Manner of Wickednefs : I fay, when Mankind, not-
withftanding the late awful Warning they had had by the
unhrerfal Deluge ; did thus quickly fliew themfelves fo in-
tirely difpofed to their finful and rebellious Courfes : For
this Caufe God gave them up. jr. 24, 26, 28. even fuffered
them to take their own Way and run their own Ruin. —
The whole Earth might all have been God's People and his
vifible
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 371
vifible Family, but they would not. They might all have
retained the Knowledge of the true God and of the Way to
Life, but they did not like to ; and God was not obliged to
make them, and therefore he even let them take their own
Courfe : and yet took Care, in after Ages, not to leave
himfelf without Witnefs, but by many wonderful Works
to let all the Nations of the Earth know that be was the
LORD. And if any would repent and return, he made
Provifiorr for their Reception as Profelytes into the Jewijh
Church. And doubtlefs here and there one, from Age to
Age, by the inward Influences of his blefied Spirit, were
brought fo to do ; and the reft were blinded; as is faid in a
parallel Cafe, Rom. u. 7.
And now theKnowIedge of thetrueGod & of true Reli
gion muft prefently have been loft from off the Face of the
whole Earth, and never have been recovered, and Satan
had the moft full PofTeffion of the whole World to the lateft
Pofterity, had not free and fovereign Grace interpofed in a
moft wonderful Manner in this dark and awful Juncture.
But in this very Seafon, God was pleafed of his own mere
Goodnefs and fovereign Pleafure, ftill thro* the appointed
Mediator, by the gracious Influences of his Spirit, and by
immediate Revelations, and by the fpecial Difpenfations of
his Providence, to preferve to himfelf a Seed to ferve him.— •
He called Abram alone, as it were, from the reft of the
World, and blefTed him ; he made farther Revelations to
him touching the promifed Seed, and entred into a Covenant
to be his God and the God of his Children after him.
And now, a new World of Wonders begin to open to our
View, in the divine Difpenfations towards Abraham and. his
Seed. Gen. 12. &c.
Note9 While God was doing thefe Things with Abra~
ham^ the reft of the World grew Wicked apace. And
therefore God thought fit, to give a Specimen* of theTem-
per of his Heart, and let the Nations know that he was the
LORD, by raining Fire and Brimftone out of Heaven upoz
Sodom and Gomorrah, who were remarkably Wicked •, and
at the fame Time delivering righteous Lot. Gen. 19. — -A
Difpenfation fo remarkable, and never the like before heard
of, that no doubt it flew like Lightning all the World over,
B b 2 and
True Religion delineated Dis. IL
and fpread Terror and Surprize thro' the guilty Nations.
Howfoever, for all this* they turned not to the Lord.
Well, Abraham is circumciied with all his Houfhold,
and true Religion is taught and maintained in his Family, \
and Ifaac his Son, and Eleazer his Servant, feem to have ]
been favingly wrought upon by divine Grace. And God 5
blefTes Abraham, and he becomes very great .-, and God j
protects him wherever he goes, to the Honour of his great 1
Name, in the midft of an idolatrous World. Neverthe-
lefs, the World inftead of growing wiier and better by all
this, which doubtlefs was heard of and much wondered at
. among the Nations, they grew worfe and worfe. — Yea,
Wickednefs appears openly in Abraham's Family it felf.
Ifhmael difcovers a bad Spirit ; * He mocks at Ifaac, Gen.
21.9. And he that was born after the Flejh, -perfecuted him
that was born after the Spirit , Gal. 4. 29. So that he was,
in a Sort, excommunicated and call out of God's vifible
Family. And it is not long before true Religion is a Thing
unknown among his numerous Pofterity. And they who
were of the Seed of Abraham according to the Flefh, were
now nurnbred with the Heathen. Thus, after this Sort it
fared with Cain the firft Perfecutor, and thus it fares with
IJhmael, for the warning of all godlels and carnal Profeflbrs.
And yet from Age to Age this fame Temper has appeared,
and yet ftill does appear, altho' perhaps this Sin, from the
beginning of the World to this Day,, has never yet gone
unpunilhed.
Now, it was faid, In Ifaac Jball thy Seed be called. And
with him God renewed the Covenant, and to him thePro-
mifes were repeated, and God bleiied him, and he became
very great ; and he alfo was under a fpecial divine Pro-
teftion: Yet there was a frofane Efau in his Family, who
made fo light of the fpiritual Bleflings of Abraham, as, for
a mere Trifle, to fell his Birth-right. And he afterwards
became a Perfecutor of his Brother Jacob* and his Pofteri
ty foon loft the Knowledge of the true God and of the true
Religion, and degenerated into a State of Heathenifm.
Nor can it be attributed to any Thing but the free and
fovefeign Grace of God^ that Jacob and his Seed did not
do fo top. But fo it was '; for fo it feemed Good in the
Eyes
and diflinguijh&d from^all Counterfeit 3.
Eyes of him, who has Mercy on whom he will have Mercy ^
and whofe Purpofe according to. Eieffion always /bands inde
pendent on Works: Horn. 9. 1 1. I fay, fo it was, thro' the
Power of him, who worketh all things according to the
Counfel of his ownWilljh?& when all the otherNations of the
Earth were fuffered to renounce the true God and the true
Religion, that in Jacob God was known., and his Name 'was.
great in IfraeL — Never was there a Nation, which difco-
vered a ftrongerPropenlity toldoiatry,& allManner of Wick-
ednefs than they. And notwithilanding all the mighty
Reftraints, by God laid upon them, they were almoft per
petually breaking thro' all, and rufhing on like the Horfe
into the Battle. Neither Warnings, nor Threatnings, nor
the Authority of God, nor the Tears of their Prophets, nor
the moft terrible Judgments, were ever able effectually to
reftrain that People and turn them to God. And had not
God always by his fpecial Grace, kept a Remnant for him-
felf, they would have been like Sodom and like toGonwrrab,
Ifai. i. 2 — 9. Rom. u. 2 — 7. y
Now the divine Perfections were moft illuftrioufly dif-
played, in the divine Conduct towards this People, from
Age to Age ; and that not only before theirFaces, but alfo
in the Eyes of all the Nations round about them. Marvel
lous Things were wrought in Egypt ; and Wonders at the
Red Sea, and forty Years in the Wildernefs, which noDoubt
did ring thro* the World, and were enough to have made
all the Earth know that he was the LORD, and, but for
their perverfe Stubbornnefs, to have brought them all to
worlhip him and him only. But all this was fo far from
reclaiming the Heathen Nations, that it hardly tamed the
Ifraelites themfelves. But they rebelled at fiberah^ and at
Maffah^ and at Kibroth-Hattaavah, and were perpetually
provoking the Lord to Wrath. Deut. 9. When he Jlew thew^
then they fought him : And returned and enquired early after
God. Never thelefs, they did flatter him with their Mouth >and
lied unto him with their Tongues. For their Heart was not
right with him, neither were they ftedfaft in his Covenant,
PfaL 78.34—37. And many a Time were they within a
Hair's Breadth of Deftru&ion, and would furely have been
B j? 3 utterly
374 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
utterly deftroyed, but that he wrought for bis great Name's
fake. Exod. 32. Num. 14. Ezek. 20.
So again, in the Days ofjo/kua, he divided Jordan^ and
drove out the Heathen before them^ and gave them their Land
in Poffeffion^ and made the Tribes oflfrael dwell in their fents.
Tet they afterwards tempted and provoked the mott high God%
and kept not his Teftfmonies, but turned back and dealt un
faithfully like their Fathers : they provoked him to Anger
with their high Places > and moved him tojealoujly with their
graven Images. Pfal. 78. 54 — 58. Judg. 2. 6 — 20. And
now for the Space of many Years, God, by raifmg up
Judges and by fending Prophets and executing Judgments,
did labour to reform them ; but all in vain : For they
quickly turned ajide like a deceitful Bow. However in the
mean while, the Goodnefs and Patience of God on the one
Hand, and his Holinefs and Juftice on the other, were
illuftrioufly difplayed by his wonderful Works in the
midft of the Earth, to be founded out among all Nations -3
that all the Earth might know that he was the LORD.
In the Days of David and Solomon^ God wrought for his
great Name's fake, and exalted his People, and made Ifrael
honourable in the Sight of all Nations ; yet were they
not fmcere in his Sight : and when outward Reftraints
were afterwards taken off, they foon difcovered the hidden
Temper of their Hearts, that they did not care for God or
his Worfhip, but liked Dan & Bethel^ as well as theTemple
at Jerufalem. Thus did the ten Tribes j noj: was their trea
cherous Sifter Judah more fmcere. When a good K'ng
reigned,they would pretend to be good ; &: when a badKing
reigned, they ftood ready for Idols. And now God fent
Judgment upon them Time after Time, and fent all his
Servants the Prophets, faying, 0 do not this abominable
Thing which my Soul hateth : but they would not hearken.
The Lord God of their Fathers fent to them by his Mejfengers?
vijing up betimes and fending ; becaufe he had Compaffion on
his People and on his Dwelling-Place : but they mocked the
Meffengers of God> and defpifed his Words^ and mifufea his
Prophet^ until the Wrath of God arofe againfl his People*
fill I here was no Remedy. 'Therefore he 'brought upon them
the fang of the'Chaldee^ and gave ibcm all into his Hand.
?'ChrGn. 36. 1 5, 1 6, 17: However,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits $ ^ e
However, God was tenderly touched :.at the public^,
Reproach and Difhonour, to which his great Name was
expoied in the Eyes of infuking Nations all around, who
doped their Hands ^ and ft amp ed witb their Feet, and rejoyced
with all their Heart, for what was done to the People
called by his Name, glorying that their GOD was no bet
ter than the dumb Idols which they ferved. WhereforeGod
raifed up the Prophet Ezekiel, who clears up God's Con-
dud towards his People, in Chapters i6th and 1 8th and on.
And dooms the neighbouring Nations in the Name of God,
declaring what Judgment fhould come upon them from
the Hand of God for their infuking, whereby they fhould
be made to know that He was the LORD, as in the 25th to
Chap. 3 1 . And now alfo Daniel and his Companions
were by God raifed up, that by them his Name might be
come great in the Eyes of all Nations. And for them he
works fuch Deliverances as to conilrain the haughty Mo-
narchs of the Earth to ifTue out their Decrees thro* all the
World, that none fhould fpeak any Thing amifs againft the
God of Shadrach, Me/hack and Abednego, upon Pain of be-
Jng cut in Pieces, and their Houfes made a Dunghill.
And that in all their Dominions Men fhould fear and tr em-
lie before the God of Daniel. Dan. 3. 29, and 6. 26,
Surely the infinite Wifdom of God appears moft wonder*
fully, in all the aftonifhing Methods which he has taken to
make himfelf known, & to keep up theHonour of his great
Name among fuch a wicked, God-hating Race of Beings !
And now all this while, there was nothing but the in
finite Goodnefs, and free and fovereign Grace of God, TO*'
gether with his Covenant Faithfulnefs, to move him, not
to caft off and utterly reject his People, and let them be
fcattered among the Heathen, and their Name perifh from
off the Earth, It was for his great Name's fake that he
wrought Salvation for them from Time to Time. Ezek. 20,
When there was n$ Motive in them, but every Thing to
the contrary •, then for his own Sake he undertook to write
fris Law in their Hearts and put it in their inward Parts* to
fa their God and make them his People* and to remember their
Iniquities no more againft them^ and to bring them lack tc
their own Land, and plant them and build them up. Ezek,
36. j6^~ 34* B b 4 / Ar4
376 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
And however, by the Babylonijh^ Captivity the Jewi/h
People were pretty thoro'ly cured of their idolatrous Dif-
pofition •, yet alter their Return, and after the godly Men
•of that Generation were dead, they foon began to fliew that
they were as averfe to God and the Life of Religion as
ever. And yet all thefe Things notwithftanding, God is
determined to make one Trial more. He had fent one
Servant after another, and they had been beaten, and fton-
ed, and put to Shame, and fent away empty. Now there
fore he fends his only Son, to fee if they will hear him : and
behold they fay, Come let us kill him. Mat. 21. 33 — 39.
Wherefore at lafb, God determines to caft off that Nation.
ver. 41. And to go and try the Heathen, whom, for a
long Time, he had fuffered to take their own Ways.
And now, to his Apoftles Chrift gives CommifTion, to
go into all the Earth, and preach" the Gofpel to every Crea-
ture^andhe that believethjays he, /ball b&Javed ; and he that
believeth not fb all be damned. And they run, and preach, and
cry, Repent and turn from your dumb Idols to ferve the living
God. And had not they been flopped, they would foori
have carried the News all round the World. But Jews
and Gentiles combine together, and Earth and Hell are in
Arms to defeat theDefign. Neverthelefs, as many as were
ordained to eternal Life believed. And God carried on his
Work thro' a Sea of Blood, and in about three Hundred
Years conquered the Roman Empire.
No fooner is this done, but the Myftery of Iniquity begins
to work, and the Man of. Sin to be revealed. The Devil
and his Servants turn their Coat, and under the Cloak of
Religion and good Order, eftablifh the Kingdom of Satan
in a new Form : For it is the Nature of Mankind to hate
true Religion. And now Antichrift reigns, and fc alters
the holy People^ and wears cut the Saints of the mofl High,
for a ^ime^and Tmes9 and half a Time. In the mean while,
*ihe JFcman. flies into the Jf'lldernefs, the JVitneffes prophefy
in Sackcloth, until at laft the ffitnejfif themfelves are Jlain.
And now Religion is driven even juft out of the World,
and there had been no Hope, but that God awoke as one
<,ut of Sleep , like a mighty Man that Jhouteth by Reafon of
And behpid tfre Spirit of Life from God enters into
*
and diftinguifhed from all Counterfeits. 3 7 7
the two Witneffes^ that is, Luther and Cahin^ and others
their Contemporaries •, and they flood upon their Feet^ and
great Fear fell upon them which faw them. And God pat
them out of their Enemies Reach. And there was a great
Earthquake, and a tenth Part of the City fell. Rev. 9 . And
a glorious Day began to dawn.
But now, it is not long, before many turnHereticks and
Enthufiafts, and the World rifes in Arms, and by Fire and
Sword endeavour to demolifh the Redeemer's Kingdom.
However, God wrought for his great Name's fake, and has
ever fmce been working, and will go on conquering and
to conquer, until all the Nations of the Earth are brought
into Subje6Uon to his Son.
Thus we have taken a brief View of the Methods which
God has taken to recover a fmful, guilty World, to him-
felf : The external Means we have chiefly dwelt upon. Up
on the internal, fomething farther fllall be added prefently.
But let us firft make a few Remarks.
REMARK i. Had not Mankind been wholly to Blame,
they might all of them from the Beginning have enjoyed
the Benefit of divine Revelation. Nothing feel tided them
therefrom, but their own bad Temper and baclConduc"l. —
And had not Mankind been wholly to Blame, they might
all of them have enjoyed the Gofpei, and had it pleached
all over the World to this Day. Nothing has hindered it
but their own perverfe Obflinacy, their hating the Light,
and hating the Truth. — Strange it is therefore, that fome
Men of Learning fhould be fo full of Charity for the Hea
then, who thus hate God, defpife Chrifl, and reject theGof-
pel. *
REM.
? But perhaps fqme will be ready to fay, that there may be many honeft
Perfons among the Heathen, 'who never heard of the Gofpei, and never
rcjefied ity <whp may Jland fair for Heaven.
nfw. There is a Number of fuch honeft Sort of Perfons among Chrif-
tians, but their natural Enmity to God and Chrift and Gofpel-Grace is
found to be as great as others. And fometimes Publicans and Harlots
enter into Heaven before them. — Surely none of them more honeft
than the young Man in the Gofpei, nor ever arrived to greater Attain
ments ; and therefore all of them might do as he did,if under the fame
Circumftances. That natural Kind of Honefty, many -Times is an Oo
cafion
378 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
REM. 2. Mankind have manifcfted the higheft Degree
of Averfion to God arid true Religion from the Beginning of
the World, and that almoft in all pofiible Ways. Hun
dreds, and Thoufands, and Millions, have they in their
Rage put to Death, and that in the moft barbarous arid
cruel Manner. Strange it is therefore, that fo many
Matters of Fad have not to this Day convinced Mankind,
that they are are truly Enemies to God. — • — Strange, that
they can have theFace to make the oldPretence, and fay, If
we had been in the Days of our Fathers^ we would not have
been Partakers with them> in the Blood of the Prophets.
Mat. 23. 30. When all the Time, from Age to Age, they
have been acting over the old Scene.
REM. 3. It has been owing wholly and entirely to the
free Grace and almighty Power of God, that the Church
has been freferved^ and true Religion not driven clean out
of the World : It is one of the greateft Miracles that ever
was wrought.
REM. 4. God has always acted fovereignly in choofing
what Family, Nation or Nations he would preferve true
Religion among ; all being by Nature equally averfe to
God, and equally unworthy : and has always acted y«/?/y
in giving over other Families and Nations for their Sin and
Apoftacy,
REM. 5. The whole Scheme of the divine Conduct has
been moft excellently calculated to difplay all the divine
Perfections to the belt Advantage : And it does exhibit
to us the very Image of his Heart in ftrong and lively
Colours.
But to proceed,
Altho* the external Means of Grace and remarkable Dif-
penfations of Providence perhaps may in a Meafure fome-
times reftrain Mankind, and bring them to a feigned Sub-
million to God and his Laws ; yet fuch is their rooted
Enmity and entire Averfion to God and true Religion, that
not
cafion of Men's being hardened againft Chriftianity ; for they are very
ready to fay, God, I thank thee, I am not as other Men. Like him^in
Luk. 1 8. VoubtYefs thete hcne/l Heatien would do as their Fathers did,
had they the Opportunity. So th£ honrft Jfrtvs did. See #<?#» *3'
28-33.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 379
not one ifill hereby be brought to repent and fincerely turn
to God. Pfal. 78. 34 — 37. £#81. 8 — 12. If at. 5. i — 7.
Nothing fhort of thofe inward Influences of the SPIRIT,
which are Almighty & All-conquering, will effectually at
tain the End. Mat. u. 20 — 27. Eph.i.iy. — And there
fore befides die external Means of Grace ^ God has as it were
taken a World of Pains with one and another of Mankind
by tbe inward Influences of his SPIRIT. — The externalMeans
indeed, which have been ufed, are more open to Obferva-
tion ; and fo alfo is that external Oppofition which Man
kind have made ; but the fame Ends which God has been
purfwing by the external Means, viz. to convince Mankind
of their finful, guilty, ruined State, and bring them to re
turn to God thro* a Mediator ; the fame has he been pur-
fuing, by the inward Influences of his Spirit : and the fame
Oppofition which has openly appeared againft the Means
of Grace, has alfo fecretly wrought mightily in the Hearts
of Men againft the inward Influences of the Spirit. Man
kind are as much inclined to refift the SPIRIT, as they be
the Word of God, and that for the fame Reafon and from
the fame Temper •, becaufe both drive at the fame Thing,
a Thing moft contrary to their Corruptions.
Perhaps there are fome whom God never vouchfafes at
all to drive with by his Spirit, and thefe are ready to think
there is no fuch Thing. Others^ are a little awakened,
and from Self-Love, the Fears of Hell, and the Hopes of
Heaven, they reform their Lives a little, and fet about
fome external Duties, and fo think to make Amends for
their paft Sins, and recommend themfelves to the divine
Favour •, but are as great Enemies as ever to the Power
of Religion : and here God leaves them to perifh. — Others
are carried farther, and become more ftrict and painful,
but ftill from the fame Principles ; and there they are left
to perifh. — Not one takes one Step in earneft, unlefs he is
driven to it ; nor goes one Step farther than he is driven :
and therefore God leaves one here, and another there, as
feems good in his Sight. They do not like to retain God
in their Knowledge^ and therefore he gives them over to a
reprobate. Mind) as thofe fpoken of in Rom. i. 28. --Some
indeed are carried very far by the common Influences of
the
380 True Religion delineated „ Dis. II.
the holy Spirit, they are enlightened^ they tafte of the heavenly
Qift^ and of the Powers of the World to come^ and are made
Partakers of the holy Ghoft \ and yet after all fall awa)\
and periih. Heb. 6. They have a great Senfe of their fmful,
guilty, undone Eftate, of the Wrath of God, and Dread-
fulnefs of Damnation, and are mightily brought down ;
and then have a great Senfe of the Mercy of God, the dy
ing Love of Chrift, ai;d the Glory of Heaven : and they
think they are converted, and they are ravifhed with
the Thought. However, in the End-all is turned to feed
their Pride and their Prefumption, and to harden and em
bolden them in Sin. They are not fo much afraid of Sin
now, ^becaufe they are confident they fhall never go to
Hell. And many Times this Sort of People, thro' the
great fwelling of fpiritual Pride and the immediate Influ
ences of Satan^ come to have ftrange Experiences, and turn
to be flrange Creatures, and broach ftrange Errors, and
feem to be near entirely forfaken by God and Reafon and
Confcience : and yet, (yea, and by the fame Means) get to
be the £<?//>/?Creatures in the World, in their own Account.
— But while the Sinners with whom the holy Spirit ftrives,
do many of them turn out after this Sort •, fome in one
Way, and fome in another •, there are others with whom
God makes thoro' Work •, that is, makes them thoro'ly
underfland and feel their fmful, guilty, helplefs, undone
Eilate, and fee into and believe the Gofpel Way of Sal
vation thro' Jefus Chrift, and return home to God in that
Way. And now they are kept by the Power of God thro*
Faith unto Salvation, i Pet. 1.5. And here God has Mercy
en whom he will have Mercy. — r— And even fp it has
been as to the external Means of Grace from the begin
ning of the World. With fome, God has taken more
Pains and longer •, and with others, lefs Pains and
{hotter : but when all the reft of the World degenerated
to Heathenifm, God took effectual Methods with the
Ifraelites to keep them from doing fo too. — And thus, in
a refembling Manner, he does with all the fpiritual Seed
of Abraham, with his Elect -, whereby in Spight of all Op-
pofition, they are brought to Glory at laft : they are fed
with Manna every Day: the Pillar jf Cloud by Day, and
tf
and diftingidjhedfrom all Counterfeits . 381
of Fire by Night, "is their continual Guide : and the Rock
whieb follows them is Chrift • i. e. They are fed and are
guided, they live and are refrefhed, and are helped to hold
on their Way, by continual Influences from on high, by
conftant Communications of divine Grace. And fo the
Path of the Jutf is like the /hiring Light ^ 'which Jhinss more
find more to the perfect 'Day.
REMARKS. Never is any poor Sinner under the Light
of theGofpel,by God palled by, without ever being awakened
by theHolySpirit,but God fees he is deaf to the Voice of his
Word, and hates to Ije awakened, and loves to go on fe-
cure. — Never is any awakened Sinner forfaken by the Spi
rit of God, and left to take his own Way, and run his own
Ruin, but that firft he refilled and grieved the holy Spirit,
and ftirled Conviction, and rent away, as it were, out of
God's Hands — And never is a poor Sinner favingly bro't
home to God, and trainerf up for Heaven ; but that, from
firft to laft, it was absolutely and entirely owing to the in
finite Goodnefs, free Grace, and almighty Power of God.
And indeed, thus will it appear at the great Day of Judg
ment, that all who perifh are wholly to blame, and all that
are faved will have none to glory in but the Lord. — But I
have elfewhere fo much infifted upon the Nature of the In
fluences of the holy Spirit, that I muft not here enlarge.
Thus the Way to Life is opened by Chrift Jefus, and all
are invited to return and be faved. And thus we fee the
Methods which God takes for the Recovery of a finful,
guilty World. And from all that has been faid we may
draw thefe INFERENCES.
i . It is undoubtedly the Duty of poor Sinners to be
deeply affetted with all thefe wonderful Methods of divine
Grace, and to Strive and Labour with the great eft Painfulnefs
and Diligence to fall in with the Defign of the Gofpel, to be
fenfible of their linful,gui}ty,undone Eftate, and to look to
the free Grace of God thro' Jefus Chrift for Relief, and to
repent and return to God thro' him, Luk. 13. 24. Strive
to enter in at the ftrait Gate. Some are of the Opinion, that
becaufe the beft Sinners can do, while Enemies to God in '
their Hearts, is, as to the -Manner of it, finfui and odious •
in the Eyes of the divine- -Holinefs, that therefore their beft
Way
382 True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Way is to do nothing, but to fit ftill and wait for the Spi
rit. But nothing is more contrary to Scripture or Realbn.
The Scripture fays, Strive to enter : And Reafon teaches,
that when the God of Heaven, the great Governour of the-
World, is thus coming out after guilty Rebels in a Way of
Mercy, it becomes them to be deeply affected thereat, and
to exert all their rational Powers inOppofition to their Sloth
and Corruptions, labouring to lie open to the Means of
Conviction, avoiding every Thing that tends to promote
Security, and to render ineffectual the Methods of divine
Grace, and practifing every Thing that teads to their far
ther Awakening. And O let this be remembred, that it
is Sinners refitting the Methods of Grace, which caufes
God to give them over. Pfal. 81. 1 1, 12,13. But my Peo
ple would not hearken to my Voice : and Ijrael would none of
me. So I gave them up to their own Hearts Luft : and they
walked in their own Coimfeh. O that my People had hearkened
unto me, and Ifrael had walked in my Ways !
2. From what has been faid we may learn, that it is
Madnefs and Folly for poor Sinners to ufe the Means of
Grace under a Notion of doing their whole Duty, and fo
pacify their Conference. The Means of Grace are defigned
in the firft Place to convince Sinners of their finful, guilty,
ruined State -, and for them to forget, totally forget, this
their End, and to go about to attend upon them under a
Notion* of doing that Duty which they owe to God, as
fomething in Lieu of that perfect Obedience which the
Law requires, is quite to lofe the Benefit of the Means of
Grace ; yea, to thwart their very Defign : and tends to
keep Men from Conviction and Converfion, and feal them
down in fpiritual Security. — That which God directs them
to do, to the End their Confciences might be more awa
kened, they do, that their Confciences might be more
quieted. The Means which were appointed to make them
more fenfible of their Need of Chrift and Grace, they ufe
to make themfelves the more infenfible thereof.
3. Sinners are not to ufe the Means of Grace under *
Notion of making Amends for their paft Sins, and recom
mending themfelves to God : Rom. 10. 3. Nor under a
Notion that by their flrongeft Efforts they lhali be ever able
to
and dijlinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 383
to renew their own Nature : Eph. 2.1. Nor under a No-'
tion they can do any Thing at all to prevail with God
to renew them. Rom. 11.35, 36. — But on the contrary, in
the Ufe of the Means of Grace, they are to feek for and
labour after a thorough Conviction, that they can neither
make any Amends for their paft Sins, nor in the leaft re,
commend themfelves to God, that they cannot renew their
own Nature, nor in the leaft move God to mew them this
Mercy : to the intent5that being thus convinced of their ru-
ined,helplefs State, they may be prepared to look to the free
Mercy and fovereign Grace of God thro* Chrift for all
Things : which is the very Thing that the Gofpel aims at.
Rom. 3. 9. — 26. and which the Means of Grace are defign-
ed to promote, & bring them to : and to which the Spirit
of God, by his inward Influences,does in the Ufe of Means,
finally bring all who are faved. Rom. 7. 8,9. Gal. 3. 24.
For Sinners to ufe the Means of Grace under the other
Notions aforefaid, is practically to fay, " We are not fallen,
" finful, guilty, heplefs, undone Creatures, nor do we need
" theRedeemer or the Saniclfier, which God has provided,
" nor do we lie at his Mercy, or intend to be beholden to
" his mere fovereign Grace. If we have finned, we can
" make Amends for it : if we have difpleafed God, we can
" pacify him again. If we are Wicked, we can become
" Good : or if we do as well as we can,and then want any
•" further Help, God is obliged to help us."
If therefore Sinners would take the wifeft Courfe to be
the better for the Ufe of the Means of Grace, they muft
try to fall in with God's Defign, and with the Spirit's In
fluences, and labour to fee and feel their fmful, guilty, con
demned, helplefs, undone Eftate. For this End, they muft
forfake vain Company, leave their Quarelling and Conten
tion, drop their inordinate worlclly Purfuits, and abandon
every Thing which tends to keep them fecure in Sin and
quench the Motions of the Spirit ; and for this End muft
they read, hear, meditate and pray, compare themfelves
with God's holy Law, try to view themfelves in the fame
Light that God does, and pafs the fame Judgment upon
themfelves : that fo they may be in a Way to approve of
the Law, .and to admire the Grace of the Gofpel, to .judge
and
384 Ttrue Religion delineated Dis, II.
and condemn themfelves, and humbly to apply to the free
Grace of God thro' Jefus Chrift for all Things, and thro'
Him to return to God.
Thus we have gone thro* what was propofed under this
third general Head : We have coniidered the Neceffity
there was of Satisfaction for Sin, and of a perfe&Righteouf-
nefs : We have confidered what Satisfaction for Sin has
been made, and what a Righteoufnefs wrought out, and
wherein their Sufficiency confifts : We have confidered
how the Way of Life has been opened by the Means : and
we have confidered what Methods God has actually entered
upon, for the Recovery of loft Sinners to himfelf. — And
thus now upon the whole we fee, upon what Grounds the
great Governour of the World confidered Mankind as be
ing in a perifhing Condition, and whence his Defigns of
Mercy originally took their Rife, and what Neceffity there
was for a Mediator and Redeemer, and how the Way to
Life has been opened by Him whom God has provided :
and fo may now pafs to the next Thing propofed.
SECTION VII.
Shewing the Nature of a genuine COMPLI
ANCE with /^GOSPEL.
IV. To mew the true Nature of a facing Faith in Chrift.
And becaufe by the Whole, I am to explain the Nature of
the Gofpel, and of a genuine Compliance therewith, there
fore I will begin with a more general View of Things, and
afterv/ards proceed to a more diftin£t Survey of Faith in
particular.
NOW, a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel, in gene
ral, confifts in a fpiritual and divine Sight and Senfe of the
great Truths therein prefuppofed and revealed ; and in a
firm Belief of thofe Truths, and an anfwerable Frame of
Heart. As is evident from 2 Cor. 4. 3,4,6. i fbef.2. 13,
Mat. 13.23. Job. $.32.
9Tis divine Light imparted by the Spirit of God to the
Soul, which lays the Foundation of all. Mat. 11.25. Gal.
i, 1 6. 2 Cor, 3, 1 8, This ffiritual and divine Light accor
ding
and diftinguifoed from all Counterfeits. 385
ding to the Language of St. Paul, /bines in the Heart, and
con fills in the Knowledge of GLOR T, 2 Cor. 4. 6. That is,
in a Strife of MORAL BEAUTY, a &#/£ of that Beauty there
is in the MORAL PERFECTIONS of GOD,and in all fpiritual
and divine Things, that HOLY BEAUTY which is peculiar
to Ipiritual and divine and holy Things, of which every
unholy Heart is perfectly infenfible. i Job. i. 3. 6. And
by //, Things are made to appear to us in a Meafure as they
do to God himfelf, and to the Angels & Saints in Heaven.
And fo by //, we are made to change our Minds, and are
brought to be of God's Mind concerning Things. And
fo we are hereby difpofed to underiland, believe, entertain,
and embrace the Gofpel. Job. 8. 47.
GOD the great Governour of the World, who fees all
Things as being what they are, does in the Gofpel confi-
tier Mankind as perijbing^ as fallen, finful, guilty, juftly
condemned, helplefs and undone. He looks upon the
original Conflitution with Adam as holy, juft and good ;
and that by and according to that Conilitution, he might
have damned the whole human Race, confident with his
Goodnefs, and to the Honour of his Holinefs and Juftice :
He looks upon the Law of Nature as holy, juft and good ;
and that by and according to that, he might damn a guilty
World, confident with his Goodnefs, and to the Honour of
his Holinefs and Juftice. Now by this divine Light we are
brought to look upon Things as God does, and to have
an anfwerable Frame of Heart.
Again, GOD the great Governour of the World, who
fees all Things as being what they are, does in the Gofpei
confider a guilty World as lying at his Mercy. He /aw
that he was under no Obligations to pity them in the leaft,
or in the leaft to mitigate their Puniihment : much lefe
under any Obligations to give his only begotten Son, thac
whofoever believes in him, fhould not perifh, but have ever-
lading Life : and dill much lefs under any Obligations,
by his holy Spirit to fubdue and recover fuch obdinate Re
bels, who hate him and his Son, his Law and his Gofpel,
and are perfectly averfe to a Return. He faw a guilty
World lie at his Mercy ; and that he was at Liberty to
have Mercy or not to have Mercy, according to -his. lore-
C c reiga
386 Irue Religion delineated Dis. IL
reign Pleafure ; and that it was fit & becoming his glorious
Majefty to aft as a Sovereign in this Affair. And now by
this divine Light we are brought to look upon Things as
God does, and to have an anfwerable Frame of Heart.
Again, GOD the greatGovernour of the World, who
fees all Things as being what they are, at the fame Time
that he defigns Mercy for a guilty World, does confider a
Mediator as being neceiTary to anfwer the Demands of the
broken Law, and fecure the divine Honour. In fuch a
ferifhing Condition he fees Mankind ; fo guilty, fo juilly
condemned, that it would be inconfiftent with the divine
Perfections, and contrary to all good Rules of Government,
to pardon & fave fuch wickedHell-defervingRebels, without
fbme proper Atonement for their Sin and fuitable Honour
done to his Law. But the Honour of his Holinefs and
Juftice, Law and Government is facred in his Eyes, and of
infinite Importance^ and muft be maintained : better the
whole World be dan\ned than they in the leaft .be fullied.
And now by this dhint Light we are brought to look upon
Things as God does, and to have an anfwerable Frame of
Heart.
Moreover, GOD the great Governour of the World, who
fees all Things as being what they are, views his only be
gotten Son as a meet Perfon for a Mediator, and himfelf
as having fufficient Power to authorize him to the Work.
Of his fovereign Self-moving Goodnefs, he, in his infinite
Wifdom, contrives the whole Scheme, lays the whole Plan,
and puts his Defign in Execution ; the Door of Mercy is
opened, the News of Pardon and Peace is fent thro' a guilty
World, and all are invited to return home to God thro*
Jefus Chrift : and God looks upon this Way of Salvation
as being glorious for God, and fafe for the poor Sinner.
And now by this divine Light we are brought rightly to
xmderftand thefe Things, and look upon them as God does,
and believe them,& to have an anfwerableFrame ofHeart.
Laftly, GOD the great Governour of the World does,
in the Gofpel, confider our return unto him thro' Jefus
Chrift, not only as a Duty to which we are under infinite
Obligations, but alfo as a Priviledge of infinite Value ;..and
m this View of the Cafe, he commands and invites us to re
turn,
and dijtmg'uijhed from all Counterfeits. 387
turn. And now by this divine Light we are brought to look
upon this alib as God does, and to judge it the fitteft and
bappieft Thing in the World to return unto him thro' Jefus
Chriit, and to have an anfwerable Frame of Heart. For,
By this 'Light we come to have a right View of the moil
high GOD, to fee him in a Meafure as the Angels and
Saints in Heaven do, to fee him in his infinite Greatnefs and
Majefly, and in the infinite Glory and Beauty of hisNature.
And hence we are made fenfible that he is infinitely worthy
of the higheft Efteem, Reverence, Love, Delight, and of
univerfal Obedience. And hence we fee that we in parti
cular are under infinite Obligations to love him with all
our Hearts, and obey him in every Thing — and that to do
fo, is the happieft Thing in the World — that not to do fo,
is infinitely wrong — and deferves an infinite Punifhment.
And thus we fee the Grounds of the Law of Nature, the
Reafons from whence it refults, and with all our Hearts
confent to it and approve of it as holy, juft and good. And
this naturally lays the Foundation for us rightly to under
ftand and heartily to approve of the original Conftitution
with Adam. — And while we behold God in his infinite
Glory, and view the Law as holy, juft and good, and fee
our infinite Obligations perfectly to conform unto it : now
our univerfal Depravity and infinite ill Defert appears in a
clear & divineLight. Hence it appears,we lie atMercy,and
that it is fit he fhould haveMercy on whom he will, that it
becomes theMajefty of Heaven to act as aSovereign in this
Affair. And it appears, that there is no Motive in us to
excite his Compaffions ; but infinitely to the contrary : and
hence the Heart is prepared to difcern the Freenefs of di
vine Grace, and to perceive that the Goodnefs of the divine
Nature muft be felf-moving ; and alfo to underftand the
Need there is of a Mediator to fecure the divine Honour :
for Creatures fo bad appear too vile to be relieved, unlefs
Juftice may firft be fatisfied •, 'tis contrary toLaw,and con
trary to Reafon that they fhould. — And while we view
thefe Things, and have a divine Senfe of *them on our
Hearts, we arc hereby prepared to underftand the Way of
Salvation by free Grace thro' Jefus Chrift, as revealed in
the Gofpel. And now a Senfe of the glorious Freenefs of
- C c 2 divine
388 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
divine Grace, the Excellency and Sufficiency of Chrift, and
the readinefs of God to be reconciled to returning Sinners
thro' him, lays the Foundation for Faith and Hope. * —
And ail this while, there is fecretly enkindling in theHeart,
a moil genuine Difpofition to return home to God, to love
him and live to him, arifmg from a Senfe of the ineffable
Glory and Beauty of the divine Nature : for he appears glo
rious in Holinefs, Juftice, Goodnefs and Grace ; and glo
rious in his Sovereignty and in his Majefty, as fupreme
Lord and high Governour of the whole World. — Upon
the whole, with utmofl Solemnity, as being in our felves
infinitely unfit for the divine Favour, we venture our eter
nal All upon Jefus Chrift as M&to0r,relying on hisWorth
and Merits,and trufcing to the mere free Mercy of God thro'
him for Pardon aad Grace and Glory, and hence are en
couraged and emboldened with our whole Hearts to return
home to God thro' him, and give up our felves to God for
ever, to love him and live to him, and live upon him for
ever, lamenting that ever we finned againft him, refolving
to cleave to him with all our Hearts, and never, never to
depart from him. Heb. 4. 16. &? 10. 19 — 22. Eph. 2.18.
Job. 14. 6. Rom. 3. 24, 25, 26. — And thus, by this divine
Ligh^ imparted by the Spirit of God, is the Soul finally
brought to unite to Chrift by Faith, and to return home to
God thro' him. Joh. 6. 44,45. No Man can come to me,
except the Father draw him. — ¥hey Jhall be all taught of God.
Every Man therefore that hath heard and learned of the 'Fa-
* All thefe Things (altho* it takes confiderable Time to exprefs them in
order) may, for Subftance, inftanrly open to View, and the Soul im
mediately acquiefce in the Gofpel Scheme and clofe with Chrift j /#-
flantly, I fay, upon DIVINE LIGHT's being imparted to the Soul.
But the Mind, in that folemn and awful Hour, may efpecially fix only
upon fome Particulars ; and fo a Remembrance of thefe may remain,
while other Particulars, which were then in View, can't afterwards
be recollected. Hence, fome may doubt whether their Jirft Att of
faith was right. The befi: Way, to remove fuch Fears, is to live in
the Exercife of^aith every Day. For when thefe Views, and a conf-
cioufnefs of them, become habitual, our Scruples will ceafe of Ceurfe.
The fpecial Nature of our Faith may be learnt from the after Aft;,
as well as by the/r/? AS ; for the after A8s will be of the fame Na-
jure with the/*/, 1« our jFW.*£ be true or &lfe. j
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 3 8 9
tber, cometh unto me. And from what has been faid con
cerning the Nature of the Gofpel, it is Self-evident, that
herein confifts a genuine Compliance therewith. For all
this is only to fee Things as being what they are, and to be
affected and aft accordingly.
REMARK i. This is peculiar to a genuine Compliance
with the Gofpel, and that whereby it is fpecifically diffe
rent from all Counterfeits, namely, it's being founded in,
and refu king -from, this divine Light ; whereby we are
brought, not merely in Speculation, but in Heart, to look
upon Things as God does. He fees all Things as they are 5
and therefore when any poor Sinner is brought to a right
View of Things, i. e. to fee them as they are, he muft by
Confequence look upon them as God does. Now all others
being blind and ignorant in Scripture Account, hence this
true Sight and Senfe of Things is very peculiar and diftin-
guifhing. And hence we may obferve, that it is mentioned
as being peculiar to the Good-Ground-Hearers, in Mat.
13.25. ^hat they heard the Word and UNDERSTOOD it. And
Chrift intimates that none but his true Difciples KNOW THE
TRUTH. Job. 8. 31, 32. And the Gofpel is again & again
faid to be hid from all others. Mat. 11.25. 2 Cor. 4. 3.
And they only have it REVEALED unto them. Mat. 11.25.
They only have the Vail taken off from their Hearts. 2 Cor.
3.14 — 17. And they only behold with OPEN FACE. Ver. 18.
2. This fpiritual and divine- Light lays the Foundation
For a new Kind of Belief of the Gofpel. A Sight of the
divine Beauty and Glory of the Gofpel Scheme, convinces
and affures the Heart that it is divine, and indeed from
God, and not a cunningly devifed Fable. This is an Evi
dence peculiar to the Regenerate, and of all others it is
unfpeakably the moft fatisfadory. See this largely ex
plained and proved in Mr. Edwards 's Treatife on religious
Affeftions. Page, 182 — 199.
3. Regeneration, Faith, Repentance and Cohver-fion -are
in their own Nature connected together, and fo they are
in this Reprefentation. In Regeneration we receive this di
vine Light, this new fpiritual Senfe of Things. Our-Rfe-,
are opened, and we are brought out of Darknefs into this
Marvellous Light ; rind fo come to have a ridit View of
C c 2 God;
39° True Religion delineated Dis. II.
God, of our Selves, of Chrift, and of the Gofpel Way of
Salvation by free Grace thro' him. — This fpiritual Illumi
nation lays the Foundation for Faith, Repentance and Cpn-
verfion. It difcovers the Grounds of Faith, of Repentance
and Converfion \ and we believe, we repent and convert.
Repentance towards God? and Faith towards cur Lord -Jefus
£#n/?,always go together. ./#?. 20. 21. And theGofpel calls
Sinners to repent and be converted, as well as to believe in
Chrift.y#?. 3. 19. Thofe therefore who feem-to have much
Light and Faith and Joy, but have no Repentance, nor do
turn to God with all their Hearts, are deluded.
4. Spiritual Light and true Faith are always in Propor
tion. A fpiritual Senfe of God, of ourSelves, of Chrift,
and of the Gofpel Way of Salvation by free Grace thro'
him, lays the Foundation for Faith •, and Faith naturally
refults therefrom ; as has be^n obferved, and as is evident
from Job. 6. 45. And therefore from the Nature of the
Cafe, they muft be in equal Degree in the Heart. And
therefore thofe who pretend to live by Faith, when they
are fpiritually blind and dead, do but deceive themfelves.
Nor is what they plead from Ifai. 50 10. at all to the
Purpofe : Who is among you that fear eth the Lord., that
cbeyctb the Voice of his Servant , that walketh in Darknefs and
hath no Light ? Let him truft in the Lord, and flay tipon his
God. Becaufe. i. The Perfons here fpoken of were not
fpiritually blind and dead, but had a fpiritual Senfe of God
and divine Things on their Hearts j for they feared the
Lord and obeyed his Voice ; fo that they lived in the Exer-
cife of Grace, and walked in the Ways of Holinefs,
which without fpiritual Light had been impoflible'. And
• — 2, What they were in the Dark about, was, how or by
\yhat Means the Children of Ijrael fhould ever be brought
out of ihtBabyhnifh Captivity, back again to Zion ; which
they knew God had promifed, but they could fee no Way
wherein it could be brought about. In this Refpect they
walked in Darknefs and could fee no Light, and therefore
they are exhorted to put their Truft in the Lord, whofe
Wifdom, Power and Faithfulneis are infinite. This is
evidently the meaning of the Words, as is manifeft from
the Scope and Teuour of the Prophet's Difcourfe thro' <ill
the
and diflinguiftied from all Counterfeits. 391
die ten preceeding Chapters, which was calculated for the
Support and Comfort of the Godly in the Babylonifh Cap
tivity, by alluring them of a Return. * Nor what isfaid
about Abraham^ that again/I Hepe, he believed in Hope. —
Nor what is faid by St. Paul, We walk by Faith and not by
Sight ) — any Thing to their Purpofe : unlefs they fuppofe,
that Abraham and Paul, and the primitive Chriilians iu
general, were as dead and blind and carnal as themfelves,.
— The Truth is, that this blind Faith is the very fame
Thing, which the Apeftle James calls a dead Faith.
5. Evangelical Humiliation and true Faith are likewife
always in Proportion. Evangelical Humiliation confiils
in a Senfe.of our own Sinfulnefs, Vilenefs, Odioufnefs and
Ill-Defert, and in a Difpofition thence refulting to lie down
ki the Duft full of Self-loathing and Self- abhorrence, abafed
before the Lord, really accounting our felves infinitely too
bad ever to venture to come into the divine Prefencein our
own Names, or to have a Thought of Mercy from God
on the Account of our own Goodnefs. And it is this
which makes us fenfible of our Need of a Mediator, and
makes us defire to be found not in our felves but in Chrift,
not having on our own Righteoufnefs but his. No farther
therefore than thefe Views and this Temper prevails in us,
fhall we truly difcern any Need of Chrift, ,or be heartily
inclined to have any Refpeclt to him as a Mediator between
God and us. There can therefore be no more of true
Faith in Exercife than there is of this true Humility,
"When Men therefore appear righteous in their own Eyes,
;and look upon themfelves as deferving well at the Hands
C c 4 of
* The three firft Verfes of the next Chapter, (Ifai. 51. i, 2, 3.) do, I
think, confirm the above Interpretation of Ifai. 50. 10. Altho' I
Doubt ^not, the Prophet's Difcourfe, thro' the abovefaid ten Chapters,
has a farther Look to the Mejfiafrs Kingdom, and our Redemption
out of atypical Babylon* But let theWords be considered in eitherview,
or only confidered in themfelves abfolutely, 'tis plain, they never were
defigned to comfortSto^-GraWHearers, when theirReligion is all worn
out,& they become deadj>lind & carnal *9 and fo full ofDoubts & Fears :
Nor do they mean to embolden fueh " firmly to believe they are in «
" goodEftate,tho' ever fo much in tbeDark, i e. Tho'tbeyfee noGrace
" in their Hearts, nor Signs of any :" For the Words are directed ?>$
tgthofc who fear ^ the fyrd, and obey tbt Voice oflkis Servant*
392 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
of God on the Account of their own Goodnefs, they can feel
no Need of a Mediator, nor at Heart have any Refpect to
Chrift under that Character. £#£.5.31.-— This condemns
the Faith of the Self-righteous Formalift^ who depends upon
his being confcientious in his Ways, and upon his fmcerely
endeavouring to do as well as he can, to recommend him
to God. And this condemns alfo the Faith of the prcud
Enthujtafti who appears fo Good in his own Eyes, fo far
from a legal Spirit, fo purely Evangelical, fo full of Light
and Knowledge, Humility and Love, Zeal and Devotion,
as that from a Senfe of his own Goodnefs, and how greatly
beloved he is in the Sight of God, he is encouraged, and
elevated, and feels greatly emboldned to come into the
Prefence of God, and draw near, and come even to his
Seat, and ufe Familiarity and Boldnefs with God, as tho*
he was almoft an Equal. Such are fo far from any true
Senfe of their Need of Chrift, as that they rather feel more
fit to be Mediators & IntercefTors in Behalf of others, than
to want one for themfelves. And it is the Way of fuch,
from that great Senfe they have of their own Goodnefs,
to make bold with God, and to make bold with Chrift,
in their Prayers, as if they felt themfelves pretty nigh upon
a Level. — Of all Men in the World, I am ready to think,
that God looks upon thefe the worft, and hates them the
moil. Luk. 18.9 — 14. Ifai. 65. 5. But did they know it;
they would hate him as entirely as he does them.
Hypocrites of all Sorts fail in this Point j they fee no real
Need of Chrift ; they are not fo bad, but that to their own
Senfe and Feeling, they might be pardoned and faved by
the free Mercy of God, without any Mediator. Hence
they do not underftand the Gofpel, 'tis all Foolifhnefs to
them, i Cor. 2. 14.
6. It is a fpirituai Senfe and firm Belief of the Truths
of the Gofpel, which encourages the Heart to truft inChrift.
Job. 6. 45. That the Goodnefs of God is infinite, and
ielf- moving : that Chrift, as Mediator, has fecured the
Honour oi: God the moral Governour of the World, and
opv:;ic;d a Way for the free and honourable Exercife of his
~e ; that thro3 Chrift, God the fupreme Governour of
the World is actually ready to be reconciled, and invites
all,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 393
all, the vileft not excepted, to return to him in this Way.
Thefe Truths, being fpiritually underftood and firmly be
lieved, convince the Heart of the Safety of trailing in
Chrift, and encourage it fo to do. Heb.io.iq. Mat. 22.4.
7. Saving Faith confifts in that entire Trull, Reliance,
or Dependance on Jefus Chrift the great Mediator, his Sa
tisfaction and Merits, Mediation and Interceffion, which
the humbled Sinner has, whereby he is embolden'd to re^
turn home to God in Hopes of Acceptance, and is encou
raged to look to and truft in God thro' him for that com-
pleat Salvation which is offered in the Gofpel. — The op-
pofite tojuflifying Faith, is a felt- righteous Spirit & Tem
per, whereby a Man, from a Conceit of and Reliance upon
his own Goodnefs, is emboldened and encouraged to truft
and hope in the Mercy of God. Heb. 10. 19. 23. Luk.iS.
9 — 1 4. And accordingly, when fuch fee how bad they really
are, their Faith fails, they naturally think that God can't
find in his Heart to mew Mercy to fuch.
8. Faith emboldens the Heart. In a legal Humiliation,
which is antecedent to fpiritual Light, the Sinner is brought
to a Kind of Defpair : . The Things, which ufed to embol
den him, do now entirely fail : Fie finds no Good in him
felf; yea, he feels himfelf dead in Sin ; and upon this, his
Heart dies within him. / was alive without the Law once ;
but when the Commandment came^ Sin revived, and / died^
Rom. 7. 9. And by fpiritual Light, in evangelical Hu
miliation, his undone Eftate in and of himfelf is made ftill
more plain. — But now Faith emboldens the Heart, begets
new Courage, lays the Foundation for a new Kind of Hope,
a Hope fpringing entirely from a new Foundation. Heb.
10. 1 9. Having therefore Brethren, BOLD NESS to enter into the
Holieft^ by the Blood of Jefus. — Let us draw near with a true
Heart infull^jjuranceofFaith. — ByFaiththeHeart is embol
dened — i . ¥0 return home to God in Hopes of Acceptance. A
fpiritual Sight and Senfe of the ineffable Beauty of the di
vine IVature, begets a Difpofition to look upon it the fitteft
and happieft Thing in the World, to love God with all the
Heart, and be entirely devoted to him for ever ; and inkin-
dles an Inclination to return and everlaftingly give up and
confecrate our felves unto him. " But may fuch a Wretch
* as
394 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
as I be the Lord's ? Will he accept me ?" Now the Be
liever, underftanding the Way of Acceptance by Chrift,
and feeing the Safety of it, ventures his All upon this fure
Foundation, and hereby is emboldened to return. Heb.
j i . 6. He that cometh to God mufl believe that he is? and
that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently feek him. i. e.
firft, He mufl fee what God is, behold him in his .Glory,
or he can't in a genuine Manner defire to come to him :
and fecondly, He muft fee that he is ready to be reconciled
unto and to fave thofe, that from a genuine Defire to be his,
do heartily return to hjm thro' the Mediator he has ap
pointed ; or elfe he will not dare to come. But when both
thefe are feen and believed, now the Soul will return and
come, and give up it felf to God, to be the Lord's for
ever. — 2. Faith in Chrift emboldens the Heart to look to
and trufl in the free Grace of God thro' him, for allThings
that juft fuch a poor Creature wants, even for all Things
offered in the Gofpel to poor Sinners. Heb. 4. 16. Let us
therefore come BOLDLY to the Throne of Grace ', that we may
obtain Mercy and find Grace. Pardoning Mercy and fandti-
fying Grace are the two great Benefits of the new Cove
nant : and thefe are the two great Things which an in-?
lightned Soul feels the want of, and for which he is env
boldened to come to God by Jefus Chrift. — r / will be to
them a God, and they Jhdl be to me a People , faith the Lord
in the new Covenant : and this is all my Sahatzan, and all
my Defire ', faith the Believer.
9. The Word FAITH in Scripture is evidently ufed
in various Senfes. Or thus, there are various different
Exercifes of a godly Soul, all which in Scripture are called
FAITH. For I mean here to leave out all thofe Sorts of
Faitb fpoken of in Scripture, which the unregenerate Man
is capable of. — i. It is the Way of godly Men to live
under a fpiritual Senfe of God, his Being and Perfections,
and Government of the World, and the Glory, Reality and
Importance of divine and eternal Things : even under
fuch a living Senfe of thefe Things, as that they are firmly
believed^ and are made to influence them as tho' they were
feen. Hence they are faid to look at Ihings which are un-
feen. 2 Cor. 4, 18. To fee him who is invifible, Heb. 11- 27*
And
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 395
And are faid to walk £jypAiTH. 2 Cor. 5. 7. And this feems
to be the Meaning of the Word FAITH, as it is ufed in
Heb. 1 1 . where we read of what Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abra
ham, Ifaac, Jacob, and Mofes^did by FAITH. Their Faith
was theSubftance of 'Things hoped for, and Evidence of Things
not feen. i. e. It made divine and eternal Things as it were
fubfift in all theirGlory and Importance before their Minds,
and appear as evident as tho'they were feen. $. i . — 2. It is
the Way of godly Men to live under a fpiritual Senfe of
the divineAll-furficiency,whereby they are influenced^nw/y
to believe that God is able to do all Things for them, and be
all to them, v/hich they can poflibly Need in Time and to
Eternity •, by all which, they are influenced to live in a
-W^ay of continual Dependence upon him for all Things.
And this is what, in the Book of Pfalms and elfewhere, is
called trufting in the Lord, waiting and leaning upon the
Lord, making him our Refuge. This Temper is exprefled
in Pfal. 73. 25, 26. Whom have I in Heavsn but thee ? And
there is none upon Earth that I defire befide thee. My Flejh
and my Heart faileth : But God is the Strength of my Heart,
and my Portion for ever. And /. 28. // is -good for me to
draw mar to God : I have put my Truft in the Lord. — 3. It
is the Way of godly Men to live under a fpiritual Senfe of
God as the great GOVERNOUR of the World, to whom it
belongs to maintain the Rights of the God-Head, and the
Honour of the Law -, and under a Senfe of themfelves as
poor Sinners, worthy only of Deftruclion according to Law
and Juftice, and too bad to be pitied or to have any Mercy
fhewn them without fome fufficient Salvo to the divine
Honour -, and under a Senfe of Chrift as a ?V!EDIATOR ap
pointed to be a Propitiation for Sin, to declare God's
Righteoufnefs and fecure the divine Honour, and fo open
a Way whereinGod might be juft and yet juftify theSinner
that believes in Jefus : even under fuch a living Senfe of
thefe Things, as that they are firmly believed -, whereby they
are influenced not to draw nigh to God in their own
Names, emboldened by their own Goodnefs ; but only in
the Name of Chrift, DEPENDING ENTIRELY upon him,
and EMBOLDEN'D ONLY by his Worth and Merits, Media
tion and Intercefiion, to look for Acceptance in the Sight
of
396 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
of God. Hence, becaufe of this Dependance, they are faid
to pray in Chrift' s Name. Joh. 16. 23. To have accefs to
God by him. Eph. 2. 18. To £0w* to God thro' him. Heb.
7.25. ST0 believe in God by him. i Pet. i. 21. And arc
reprefented as being EMBOLDENED by his Worth and
Merits, Mediation and IntercefTion,to approach the Majefty
of Heaven. Heb. 4. 16. and 10. 19. And now this is called
a coming to Chrift. Joh. 7. 37. A receiving him. Joh. 1.12.
A believing in Chrift. Joh. 3. 15, 16. A believing ON
Chrift. Joh. 3. 1 8, 36. A believing in HIS NAME. Joh. 1.12.
And a TRUSTING /'» Chrift. Eph. i. 12, 13. And this is
/to y#7 of Faith by which we are juftified and intitled to
Life, as is evident from Rom. 3. 24, 25, 26. Where it is,
by the Apoftle, called, Faith in Chrift' s Blood. The
Apoftle conficfers God as the righteous Governour of the
World. (Chap. i. 18.) All Mankind as being guilty before
God. (Chap. 3. 9 — 19.) Chrift as being fit forth to be a
Propitiation for Sin. ($. 2$.) ^hat God might be juft and
yet jufiify &c. (y. 26.) And affirms that we zxz juftified
by free Grace thro* the REDEMPTION that is in Jefus Chrift.
(tf. 24.) By Faith without the Deeds of the Law. ($, 28.)
Being considered in our felves as UNGODLY. (Chap. 4. 5.)
And this juftifying Faith he calls Faitb in drift's Blood ;
becaufe it was principally by the Death of Chrift, that the
Ends of moral Government were anfwered, and fo Law
and Juftice fatisfied, and a Way opened for the honourable
Exercife of divine Grace. But altho' the Word Faitb
be thus ufed in Scripture in thefe different Senfes, yet we
are to remember that thefe various Exercifes of a godly
Soul are connected together, and always concommitant
with one another \ yea, and in fome Refpects implied in
each other, and perhaps fometimes all thefe Actings of Soul
are defigned by the Word Faitb -, neverthelefs they are
evidently in their own Nature fo diftinct, as that they may
be conceived of as diftinct Acts of the Soul. And it
may alfo be noted, that the two firft of thefe, viz. a firm
Belief of divine fruths^ and a hearty Reliance on the divine
All-fufficiency^ are Acts of Faith common to Angels as well
as Saints ; but the laft, which immediately refpects
Chrift asMediaft>r5 is peculiar "to penitent, returning Sin
ners.
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 397
ners. The two firft are common to every holy Creature j
for all fuch do, in a firm Belief of divine Truths, live in
an entire Dependance upon God the infinite Fountain of
all Good : But the Lift is peculiar tajtnfid Creatures, who,
becaufe they are finful, need a Mediator to make Way for
the honourable Excrcife of the divine Goodnefs towards
them. Thofe, that never were Sinners, may receive all
Things, from the free Grace and Self-moving Goodnefs of
the divine Nature, without a Mediator. But thofe, that
have been Sinners, perhaps will receive all thro' a Media
tor, to Eternity.
10. A Heart to love God fupremely, live to him ulti
mately, and delight in him fuperlatively,to love ourNeigh-
bours as our felves, to hate every falfe Way ; to be hum
ble, meek, weaned from the World, heavenly- minded ; to
be thankful for Mercies, patient under Afflidions, to love
Enemies, to forgive Injuries ; and in all Things to do as
we would be done by : A Heart for all this, I fay, is al
ways in exact Proportion to the Degree of true Faith. For
the fameViews of our ownWretchednefs, of God, of Chrift,
of the Way of Salvation by free Grace thro1 him, of the
Glory, Reality and Importance of divine & eternal Things,
which lay the Foundation for true Faith, and always ac
company the Exercife of Faith, do at the fame Time lay
the Foundation for this divine Temper. And befides,this
divine Temper is what every true Believer feels to be the
fitteft and happieil Thing in the World, and as fuch longs
for it, and goes to God to have it increafed & flrengthned ;
and being unworthy to go in his own Name, * he goes in
Chrift's
* Unworthy to go In bis own Name. As thus, if in Prayer I offer up this
Petition, " Lord, enable me to love thee with all my Heart :" It im
plies, (i) That I don't love God with all my Heart, notwithftanding
the infinite Obligations I am under to do fo j for which Defeft I am
infinitely to Blame, and deferve an infinite Punifhment, to be inftantly
driven from God's Prefence for ever, and fpurned to Hell as a Crea
ture fit only for Deftruftion. (2.) It implies that all the external Ma-
nifeilations which God has made of himfelf to me in his Works and
Word, and all the external Means he has ufed with me, are not able
to win my Heart wholly to God, fo great is my Sottifhnefs and Aliena
tion from the Deity, and love to the World and Sin. And no>v
furely
398 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Chrift's Name : So that the obtaining more and more of
this divin^ Temper is one main End or his exercifing Faith
in Chrift. And whatfoever he afks the Father in (Thrift's
Name, he receives , God is readier to give his holy Spirit
to fuch a one, than Parents be to give Bread to their Chil
dren. Job. 16.23. Mat. 7. ii. And therefore every true
Believer does obtain the End of his Faith ; and not only
has, but grows in this divine Temper, and is governed by
it, and brings forth Fruit according to it : and thus flews
his Faith by his Works^ according to St. James s Doctrine.
Jam. 2 . And herein true Faith fcands diftinguilhed from
all Counterfeits. Never had a Hypocrite a fpiritual Senfe
of that ineffable Beauty of the divine Nature, which lies at
the Foundation of all the Experiences of the true Saint, and
from whence all true Holinefs originally fprings. The
Formalift may, from legal Fears and mercenary Hopes, be
fo ftric~t and confciencious in his Ways, as to think himfelf
a choice good Man : and the Enthujiaft, from a firm Per-
fwafion of the Pardon of his Sins and the Love of Chrift,
may belb full of Joy and Love, Zeal and Devotion, as to
think himfelf a moft eminent Saint : but there is nothing
of the Nature of true Holinefs in either ; for it is Self and
nothing but Self^ that is the Principle,Center and End of all
their Religion. They do not believe in Chrift, that thro'
him they may return Home to God, and be confecrated to
him forever, and obtain Grace to do all his Will. They
don't know God, or care for him, but are wholly taken up
about their own Intereft. That Moravian Maxim, " That
" Salvation confifts in the Forgivenefs of Sins," exhibits
the true Picture of the Heart of the beft Hypocrite in the
World j
furely fuch a vile Wretch can't have a Thought of any Mercy from
God on the Account of any Goodnefs in me ; yea, rather I am too
bad to be pitied, unlefs there be fome fumcient Salvo to the divine
Honour. How therefore can God give me the greateft of Gifts,
even the fanclifying Influences of his holy Spirit, but thro' the greatMe-
diator, confiftent with his Honour as moral Governour of the World.
Now therefore being thus unworthy to go to God in my own Name,
I go in ChrilTsName; as knowing that thro' him God can exercife
his infinite, felf-moving Goodnefs t6the vileft of Creatures, confiftent
with his Honour : altho' Law and Juftice call for their immediate
JDeftruftion, cornered as jn themfclves,
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 399
World •, while that in 2Cor. 3. 18. is peculiar to theGodly,
We all with of en Face beholding as in a Glafs the Glory of the
Lord) are changed into the fame Image, from Glory to Glory.
1 1 . and laftly, In true Believers there is a Principle of
Faith, which abides and grows and perfeveres to the End,
That fpiritual Senfe of God, of themfelves, of Chrift, and
of the Gofpel-Way of Salvation thro' him, which lays the
Foundation for the nrft Act of Faith, becomes habitual.
They have a fpiritual Underftanding to difcern fpiritual
Things. iCor. 2. 12. They were onceDarknefs, but are now
Light in the Lord : And hence they are called Children of
the Light and of the Day. Eph. 5. 8. i Thef. 5. 5. Spiri
tual Light does not come upon Believers like Flafhes
of Lightning at Midnight, now and then a Flafh,
and thqn as dark as ever again : But their Light is
habitual, like Day Light. And from the firft Dawning of
divine Light at the Hour of Converfion, that Day-break
of Heaven, their Light jhines more and more, Year afterYear,
to the per f eft Day. Prov. 4. 18. The flying Clouds in the
Day Time, altho' they may hide the clear Ihining of the
Sun for a While, yet they don't make it dark as in the
Night ; yea, the thickeft, darker! Clouds are not able to do
it. Believers are never deilituteof a fpiritual Senfe of God
and Chrilt and divine^Things, as other Men be. They are
Children of the Light and of the Day, and not of ti&Night
and of Darknefs. The Spirit of God does not come upon
them by Fits, as it did upon Balaam -y but dwells in them.
Rom. 8.9. And they grow in Grace, and in the Knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift. 2 Pet. 3. 18. If at any
Time they fhould have no more Senfe of divine Things
than the Unregenerate, they would be as much without
Grace : They would not differ from the Stony-Ground-
Hearers, who fell aw ay. — And now their divine Light be
ing thus habitual, groWing and perfevering ; hence their
Faith is fo too. Thro' the Courfe of their Lives, it is their
Way, to grow more and more fenfible of their Sinfulnefs,
the Sinfulnefs of Sin, their Unworthinefs, Ill-defert, Po
verty, and abfolute Need of free Grace and of Jefus Chrift.
And they alfo fee more and more into the Gofpel Way of
Salvation, the Glory and Safety of it, its Suhablenefs to
exalt
400 True Religion delineated Dis* IL
exalt God? magnify the Law, difcountenance Sin, humble
the Sinner, and glorify Grace \ and more and more come
off from all Self-Dependance, to an entire Reliance upon
JefusChrift and the free Grace of God thro' him : Seeking
to be found not in themfelves, but in Chrift ; not as hav
ing on their own Righteoufnefs, but his. Phil. 3. 7, 8, 9.
They more fully approve of the Law ot Nature and of the
originaiConfiitution with/^w»,as being holy, juil & good :
They more fully get into a Way of looking upon thein-
felves as God does ; as being naturally and in themfelves
fallen, fmful, guilty, juflly condemned, helplefs & undone.
They fee more and more of their infiniteObligation to per
fect Holinefs, and of the Reafonablenefs of eternalDamna-
tion being threatned for the leaft Sin, and of the Infuffici-
ency of all their beft Doings to make any Satisfaction for
Sin. The Grace of God as revealed in the Gofpel, appears
more rich and free and wonderful. They feel more and
more of their Need of Chrift, his Worth and Merits, Me
diation: and Interceffion ; and of their utter Unhtnefs to
approach theMajefty of Heaven any o.ther Way but by him.
They feel themfelves more full of Wants, and farther off
from anyWorthinefs to receive, and yet more and more in
to the Temper of humble Beggars, and into a Way of com
ing to God more entirely in Chrifl's Name. — • At firilCon-
verfion fuch aTemper begins, & this Temper grows like the
Muftard-Seed,znd fpreads like the Leaven,znd is like a Well
of livingWater^ which is never dry, but is fpringing up into-
everlatting Life. Mat. 13. 31 — 33. Joh. 4. 14, — And thus
the true Believer abides in CkrisJ, as a living Branch does in
the Vine. Joh. 15. And lives the Life he lives in the Flejh^by
Fqith on the Son of Ged, GaL 2. 20. Being kept by thePower
of God j thro' Faith unto Salvation, i Pet. i. 5.
And this is the .Thing (I may obferve by the Way) which
makes Grace in the Heart more plainly difcernabje, and
it's Difference from all Counterfeits more clearly manifeft,
and which therefore clears up to Believers the fpiritualState
of their Souls, anfwers all Doubts, removes all Difficulties,
and brings them to be fettled and fatisfied as to their good
Eftate. Many fpend their Lives in fearching whether
their Law-work was right, whether their frjt Aft of Faith
was
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 40 1
was right, &c. But there is nothing like growing in Grace,
to put it out of Doubt that we have Grace, and to keep
our Evidences clear. And indeed this is the only Way.
2 Pet. i. 5 — 10.
And thus we fee in general wherein a genuine Compli*
ance with the Gofpel does confift, and particularly what is
the Nature of a faving Faith. And from what has been
faid, we may be able to diftinguiih true Faith from every
Counterfeit. Particularly, from what has been faid, we
may eafily fee the Falfenefs of thefe two Sorts of Faith,
whereby Thoufands are deceived and ruined.
i . The legal Hypocrite's Faith ; who being entirely de
void of the divine Life, and of thofe fpiritual Views of
God, of himfelf, of Chrift, and of the Way of Salvation,
which the true Believer has, is only animated by Self-love,
the Fear of Hell and the Hope of Heaven, to attend upon
the external Duties of Religion, and to try to love God
and be fmcere,in Hopes of Acceptance in the Sight of God,
if he endeavours to do as well as he can. He thinks, God
has promifed to accept fuch, and that it would not be juft
for God to require more of him than he can do. He does
not fee how bad he is, he ^hates to think of lying at the
mere Mercy of God, and can't endure the Dodtrine of di
vine Sovereignty •, he is quite infenflble of his Need of
free Grace and of Jefus Chrift : However,he fays, he trufls
wholly in the Merits of Chrift for eternal Life, and
does not pretend to merit any Thing by all his Doings.
And thus being quieted with the Hopes of Heaven, he
goes on in the Rounds of Duty, a Stranger to real Com
munion with God, and to all the Exercifes of the divine
Life. He does Duties enough juft to keep his Confcience
quiet, and has Faith enough juft to keep him from feeing
that he refts entirely upon his own Righteoufnefs : and by
the Means his Duties and his Faith ferve only to keep him
fecure in Sin, and infenflble of his periming Need of Jefus
Chrift and of converting Grace.
Let me expoftulate theCafe a little with fuch a one. And
Firft, Can a Man fmcerely comply with the Gofpel, when
at the fame Time he does not cordially approve of the
Law as holy, juft and good, feeing the Gofpel in its whole
D d Conftitution
4O2 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Gonftitution is evidently founded upon that Suppofition ?.
You don't like the Law ; you think, it is unjuft. The
Law requires you to love God with all your Heart, ( Mat.
22. 37.) and threatens Damnation for -the leail Sin : (Gal.
3. 10.) But you fay, it is not juft for God to require more
than you can do, and then damn you for not doing. But
now the Gofpel does not mean to make void this Law, but
to eftablifb it. Rom. 3. 31. It would be impoffible there
fore, if you did but rightly underftand the Cafe, that you
ihould like the Gofpel any better than you do the Law. —
Andfecondly, Do you think that God will pardon you, when
at the fame Time you will not acknowledge the Law to
be holy, juft and good, by which you ftand condemned ?
What, pardon you, when you juftify yourfelf, & condemn
his Law ! What,pardon you,when you won't own you need
a Pardon ! Yea, when you ftand to it, it would not be fair to
punifh you ! Yea, when you are ready to fly in the very
Face of the Law and of the Lawgiver, and to cry out,
Injuftice^Injuflicel No, no, proud, ftubborn, guilty Wretch,
you muft come down firft, and lie in the Duft before the
Lord, and approve the Law in the very Bottom of your
Heart, and own theSentence juft, by which you ftand con
demned. Luk. 1 8. 13. Rom. 3. 19. You muft come down
and own the Law to be good, or elfe God muft come down
and own the Law to be bad. Or if God infifts upon it
that the Law is holy, juft and good, and you ftill infift upon
it that it is not ; it is impoffible that God ihould pardon
you, or that there ihould be any Reconciliation. God muft
of Neceffity hate you, becaufe you hate his Law ; and you
will for ever hate God, for making fuch a Law. And
thirdly , How can you pretend all this while,to truft only in
Chrift for Pardon and eternal Life ^ when-as it is plain,
from your own Words, you fee no Need of Chrift ? For
if, as you fay, " God can't juftly require any more of you
" than you can do •" what do you want Chrift for ? You
can do enough your felf. Do you want Chrift to make
Satisfaction for your Short- comings and Imperfections ?
But, according to your Scheme, God can't require any.
more Satisfaction than you can make your felf : for this
would be to require more than you can do, and to damn
you
and diftinguifned from all Counterfeits. 403
you for not doing. Do you want him to purchafe the
Favour of God and eternal Life ? But you can do all that
God can require : for you can do, what you can do, and
that, according to your Schemers all that God can require.
Or do you want Chrift to purchafe an Abatement of the
Law ? But if Chrift had never died, you don't think, that
God could in J uftice require more of you than you can do.
What Need therefore, upon your Scheme, was there of
Chrift ? And did he not die in vain ? For if Righteoufnefs
corns by the Law^ then Chrift is dead in vain. Gal. 2. 21.
3^Tow, can your Faith in Chrift be any more than a mere
I< an jy, when-as it is evident you fee no Need of him ?
And befides, fourthly ^ What Good does yourFaith do you ?
Does it work by Love? Does \\. purify your Heart ? Does
it overcome the World ? Why, nothing lefs. It only ferves
to keep you fecure and quiet in an unrenewed State, and to
make you hope all is well,while you keep on in a Round of
external Duties, Strangers to Gocl and the divine Life. In
a Word, your Duties and your Faith join together to keep
Confcience afleep, and to render you infenfible of your
Need of Chrift and of convertingGrace. ^0^.9.30,3 1,32.
Oh, how fad it is, fo many.Thoufands fhould be deceived
in fo plain a Cafe ! It can furely be attributed to nothing
fhortof this,that Men love Darknefs rather than Light ; they
love to frame fuch a Scheme of Religion in their Heads,
as fuits the Temper of their Hearts. And becaufe their
Scheme fuits them, therefore they firmly believe it to be
divine. But to proceed,
2. From what has been faid, we may eafily fee the
Falfenefs of the evangelical Hypocrite's Faith •, who,althos he
makes a much greater Shew, and is more confident, yet
has not a Jot better Foundation. — He has been greatly
awaken'd perhaps, and terrified, and feemingly brought off
from his own Righteoufnefs and humbled, and then has
received great Light and Comfort, and has had many an
Hour of Joy and Ravifhment. — For thus was the Cafe ;
In the Depth of his Darknefs and Sorrow, Light mined
all around him-, and to his thinking,he fawHeaven opened*
and the Lord fitting upon his Throne, and Chrift at his
right Hand, and heard thofe Words, Corns ye kkjfed of my
D d 2 Father,
404 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Father ', inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the "Foun
dation of the World : Be of good Chear, thy Sins are forgiven :
Fear not, little Flock, 'tis my Father's good Pleafure to give
you the Kingdom. Oh thou affixed, toffed with Temp efts, and \
Kot comforted, behold \ I will lay thy Stones with fair Colours fee. •
— Or, it may be, he faw Chrift on the Crofs, with his {
Blood running from his Side and Hands and Feet. Or,
perhaps he faw a Light in his Chamber. — It may be, he \
had one Scripture, and it may be ten or twenty going,
until he was as full as he could hold, and even ready to
cry, Lord, ft ay thy Hand. As to all thefe Things, there is
an cndlefs Variety. But in the following Particulars there
is a greater Agreement, (i.) They have a Difcovery of
Chrift's Love to them in particular, that he died for them
in particular, that their Sins are pardoned, &c. (2.) The
Effence of their firft Act of Faith confift's in a firm Per-
fuafion, that their Sins are forgiven, that Chrift died for
them in particular, or the like. (3.) All their after-Difco-
veries and after- Acts of Faith are of the fame Nature with
the firft. (4.) This Faith, from a Principle of Self-love,
naturally fills them full of Joy and Love and Zeal, & lays
the Foundation of all their good Frames, and of all their
Religion.(5.)Doubting theGoodnefs of theirState, when they
are dead & carnal,i sin their AccountUnbelief, &agreatSin,
and to be watched & prayed againft,ras aThing of the moft
deftructiveTendency. — Now,fome who have a fewDifcove-
ries,do in a fewMonths lofe all their Religion, and come to
feel & live much like the reft of theWorld. — Others hold
out longer. — Some,after they have lain dead one, two,three,
five ortenYears,juft as it happens,willhave what they call a
new Difcovery, and be as full as ever. — While others con
tinue in their irreligious Courfes.
And here I may obferve, (i.) That the greater Difcove-
ries (as they call them) they have, the more proud & con
ceited they be, and the more do they want to have all the
Town admire them. — (2.) The longer they continue to be
lively, the more do they grow in Pride and Self-Righteouf-
ftefs ; and feeling themfelves to be exceeding good, they
are emboldened to make very free with the Almighty, as
ls PWifluii; Favourites, a?d *e feft tf M^ru
and diftingut/hed from all Counterfeits. 405
I thank thee, I am not as other Men. — (3.) And yet 'tis na^'
tural to efteem themfelves fome of the moft humble Crea
tures in the World. — ("4.) It is impoflible to convince them
of their Error. Becaufe the immediate Witnefs of the
Spirit of God, as they think, afllires them that they are
right : And therefore all that don't look upon Things and
feel juft as they do, are certainly blind and carnal ; and fo
not to be regarded : They are bound to believe God before
Man. Urge Scripture againft them, and they are unmoved 5
becaufe the Spirit does not tell them that it means fo : The
plained Texts are not regarded, if contrary to their Spirit.
Urge Reafon againft them, and demonftrate a Point ever
fo clearly, and they are unmoved •, becaufe that is ail carnal
Reafon. Take much Pains with them, and be ever fo kind
and friendly, and they are the more eftablifhed ; becaufe
they think they are ferfecuied. Or, if they are fometimes
fhocked and almofl convinced, yet they are in a few Days
more fettled than ever, by a new Difcovery and a Multi^
tude of Scriptures,mifapplied by thePrince of Darknefs, af~
furing them that they are right. And now they refolve
never to doubt again, and get invincibly fet in their Way,
(5.) If after a While they lofe all their Religion, and are
dead, and lie dead for whole Months and Years together,
yet ftill they are as confident as ever. " For, fay they,
" David and Solomon and Peter fell, and the beft are dead
" fometimes, and how long a goodMan may lie dead none
" can tell ; God may leave his Children out of Sovereign
ty, and without Chrift we can do Nothing -9 we muft
wait for the Spirit, and not call God's Faithfulnefs into
Queftion becaufe of our Deadnefs, as if his Faithfulnefs
depended upon our good Frames." And fo now having,
as they fuppofe, Chrift to pardon their Sins and fave their
Souls, and fome Luft to content their Hearts, they deep
on fecure and quiet. Or, if they are terrified at any Time
and begin to Doubt, O thou of little Faith^ wherefore doft
thou Doubt ? Or fome fuch Scripture, will quiet and hufh
all to deep again. And thus, and after this Sert, Things
go with them. And now out of fuch rotten Hearts grow
up all the AntinomianJ?amiliftic and Quaker i/h Errors which
have troubled the Chriftian Church, ppr they get their
P d 2 Principle
cc
cc
406 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Principles of Religion, not out of the Bible, but out of their
Experiences : and are careful to cut out a Scheme, in their
Heads, to fuit the Religion of their Hearts : And becaufe
it fuits them, therefore they firmly believe it. And becaufe
their Scheme is not rational^ and cannot bear to be examin
ed by Reafon ; therefore they cry down Reafon, and fay it is
carnal : And they cry down humanLearning ; and the more
ignorant, the more devout. And becaufe their Scheme
is not contained in the Scriptures, therefore they have no
Regard to the plain Meaning of Scripture, but turn all into
Allegories, and what they call \\\tfpiritual Meaning -, and fo
run into a Hundred Whims, fuch as befl fuits with the
Temper of their Hearts.
Now the great Mifery of this Sort of Hypocrites is,that
notwithftanding all their Terrors ; yet they were never
thoro'ly convinced of their fallen, {infill, guilty, undone
Eftate by Nature. And notwithftanding all their Difco-
veries ; yet they are ftill fpiritually blind, and neither know
God, nor Themfelves, nor Chrift, nor the Gofpel-Way of
Salvation by free Grace thro' him. And notwithftanding
all their Confidence and Joy and high religious Frames -,
yet they are as deftitute of Faith, Repentance andHolinefs,
as ever they were. And 'tis a LIE, which the Father of
Lies has made them believe, which lies at the Bottom of all
their Religion, and is the very Foundation of it ail. All
their pureft Joy and Love and Zeal arife from their Faith.
All their Faith confifts in believing thattheirSins are forgiven.
And all the Foundation which their Faith is originally
built upon, is an immediate Revelation : The Truth of which,
they dare not call in Queftion, for fear of giving the Lie to
the HblySpirit, from whom,they fay, they know it came. —
But how could the Spirit of God reveal it to them, that
Chrift loved them, and that their Sins were forgiven, and here
by lay the Foundation for their firft Act of Faith, when-as
iefcrt the frft Aft of Faith, they were aftualk under Con-
famnation, the Wrath of God, and the Curfe of the Law ?
joh, ?. 18,36. Gal. 3. 10. The Thing revealed to them
not true ; and therefore was not from God, but from
peyil,— Now this falfe Revelation laid theFoundation
for theirFaith, and their Faith laid theFoundation for their
J°y>
and diftinguijhed from all Counterfeits. 407
Joy, and for all their Religion.— -A fpiritual Sight and dir
vine Senfe of the great Truths prefuppofed and revealed
in the Gofpel, is the Foundation of the godly Man's Faith
and Holinefs •, but a particular Thing no where revealed
in the Bible is their Foundation : Yea, a Fal/hood that is
directly contrary to what the Scriptures plainly teach. — —
And yet alas, they know they are right ; they are, they fay,
ascertain of it as they be of their own Exiftence. How
great is the Power of Delufion ! How awful is the Cafe of
a poor Creature forfaken of God ! 2 Thef. 2. 10, u, 12.
They received not the Love of the Truth^ that they might be
faved. And for this Caufe God /hall fend them ftrongDelufiony
that they Jhould believe a LIE : That they all might be damned^
who believed not the Truth Jut hadPleafure in Unrighteoufnefs,
But to conclude,
From what has been faid concerning theNature of a true
Faith and a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel, we may
not only fee the Falfenefs of thefe two Sorts of Faith, but
alfo of all other Counterfeits, which are almoft in an endlefs
Variety. For between thefe two Extremes of a legal and
evangelical Hypocrite, there lies a Thoufand Bye-Paths,
In which poor Sinners wander to everlafting Perdition ; in
the mean while bleffing themfelves, that they are neither
Armenians nor Antinomians \ nor deluded as fuch and fuch
be : Altho' they neither know God, nor Themfelves, nor
Chrift, nor the Way of Salvation thro' him ; and really
are as deftitute of Faith, Repentance and Holinefs, as the
moft deluded Creature in the World.
SECTION VIII.
Shewing what is implied in the EVERLASTING
LIFE promifed to Believers, and how Faith
inter efts us in CHRIST.
I am now in the laft Place,
V. To confider the Promife of Everlafting Life, which is
in the Gofpel made to true Believers. God fo loved the
World* that be gave hi$ only begotten Sw9 that wkofievtr
P d 4
408 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
lieveth in him Jhould not PERISH, but have EVERLASTING
LIFE. — In this everlatting Life is implied,
1 . The everlafting Love and Favour of God. Whereas
by the Difobedience of One many were made Sinner s^ and Judg
ment came upon all to Condemnation, by Virtue of the origi
nal Conftitution with Adam. Rom. 5. 18, 19. And whereas
by and according to the Law of Nature the whole World
ft ands Guilty before God. Rom. 3. 19. Now, by Virtue of a
new Conftitution, eftablifhed by the God of Heaven, the
great Governour of the World, called the Gofpel or Cove
nant of Grace, it is appointed and as it were confirmed by
the broad Seal of Heaven, that any, whofoever they be, a-
mong all the guilty Race of Adam, who fall in with this
Gofpel-Propofal, and venture their All upon this newPlan,
this newFoundation, this preciousCorner-Stone JefusChrift,
the great Mediator betweenGod and Man, fhall thence for h
ftand free from that double Condemnation, and be intitled
unto the everlafting Love and Favour of God, the great
Governour of the World. Joh. 3. 18. Rom. 5. i, 2. There
fore being juftified by Faith we have Peace with God, thro' our
Lord Jefus Chrift. By whom alfo we have Accefs by Faith
into this Grace wherein we ftand, and rejoyce in I lope of the
Glory of God.
2. The other Part of this everlafting Life confifts in and
refults from the everlafting Indwelling of the holy Spirit as a
SanRifier. This, which Adam loft by the Fall, is, upon
Qur Union with Chrift the fecond Adam, by Virtue of this
newConftitution, reftored, never to be loft any more. Joh.
7.38. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture faith -, out of
his Belly Jhallflow Rivers of living Heater, $. 39. This ffake
be of the Spirit, which they that believe on himfhould receive.
And therefore the Gift of the Holy Ghoft, is, by theApoftles,
(Aff. 2. 38.) promifed upon the Condition of Faith.* And
therefore
* From the Nature f&juftijfying Faith, it is evident, that Regeneration muft
\)t prior to the/);/? A8 of it ; but altho1 the Sinner be regenera fed by
the gracious Inikiences of the holy Spirit before Faith, yet it is after
Faith and Union with Chrift that the Soul has a Covenant -Right to
the Indwelling of the holy Spirit ; which Covenant -Right lays a Foun
dation for the Indwelling of the holy Spirit to be conjlant and ever-
lifting ; and this laya a foundation for an abiding Principle and proper
and diftmguijhed from all Counterfeits. 409
therefore as God did of old dwell in the Holy of Holies
in the Jewijh Temple, in the Cloud of Glory •, fo now
henceforth does he dwell in the Believer's Heart by his
holy Spirit, as a vital Principle and Spring of divine Life
there. Job. 15. i — 5. And hence Believers are called the
Temple of God. i Cor. 3 . 17. The Spirit of God is faid to
dwell in them. Rom. 8. 9. to lead them. /. 14. to give them
an everlafting Freedom from the Power of Sin. ^.2. So
that Sin flail not baveDominion over them. Rom. 6. 14. And
the Water (fays Chrift) which I will give you, Jball be in you 4
Well of Water fyringing up into everlafting £*/<?. Joh. 4. 14.
It is plain from the whole Tenour of the Gofpel,that the
everlafting Love and Favour of God, together with the ever
lafting Indwelling of the holy Spirit as a Sanffijier, which are
the two great Things which a poor Sinner wants, are the
two great Things promifed in the Covenant of Grace. St.
Paul having explained the Nature of the Gofpel-Way of
Salvation by free Grace thro* Jefus Chrift, and {hewn that
Faith is the only Condition of the new Covenant, in the
four firft Chapters of his Epiftle to the Romans •, proceeds
to mew the Benefits accruing to Believers. And/r/?, they
are juftified, and have Peace with God. Chap. 5. Secondly ',
they are delivered from the Power of Sin. Chap. 6. And
altho' they are in this Life continually in aState of fpiritual
Conflict and Warfare. Chap. 7. Yet they are influenced and
led and governed by theSpirit of God which dwells in them.
Chap. 8° And now all Things lhall work for their Good,
and they fhall be brought to Glory at laft. #. 28 — 39. So
again, fee both thefe fummed up in Heb. 8. 10, n, 12.
For this is the Covenant that I will make with the Houfe of
Ihztl after thofe Days, faith the Lord-, I will put my Laws
into their Mind, and write them in their Hearts : And I will
be to them a God, and they Jh all be to me a People. And they
/hall not teach every Man his Neighbour, and every Man his
Brother, faying, Know the Lord -, for all Jh all know me, from
thekaft to the greateft.— Here is the everlafting Indwelling
of
Habit of Grace. So that altho' Regeneration be before Faith, yet a
confirmed Habit of Grace is after. It refute from our Union witJ
Chrift. Job. 15, i— $. And is in Scripture promifed upon tfcel
dition of Faith. Job, 5, 24. fcf 7. 38.
4 1 o True Religion delineated Di s . II.
of the holy Spirit, together with what refults therefrom. —
tf. 12. For I will be merciful unto their Unrighteoufnefs, and
their Sins and their Iniquities will 1 remember no more. — And
here is the everlafting Love and Favour of God.
And now feeing by this new Conftitution, this Covenant
of Grace, true Believers are thus intitled to the everlafting
Love and Favour of God, and to the everlafting Indwelling
of the holy Spirit as Sanctifier,in the perfe6tEnjpyment of
both which, eternal Life, in Heaven, will confift : Hence
therefore they are faid to have Life, yea, to to have eternal
Life? immediately upon their believing in Chrift. I Joh. 5.
12. He that bath the Son, hath LIFE. Joh. 3. 36. He that
lelieveth on the Son, hath EVERLASTING LIFE. Joh. 5. 24.
Hath EVERLASTING LIFE, and /hall not come into Condem
nation; but is faffed from DEATH unto LIFE. Joh. 17. 3.
fhis z'j LIFE ETEENAL, that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fent. Eternal
Life is begun in them, and Heaven begins to dawn in
their Souls.
And Believers being thus made the Subjects of the ever
lafting Love and Favour of God,. and of the everlafting In
dwelling of the holy Spirit, they are hence called the Chil
dren of God. Joh. i. 12. For God loves them as Children,
and they love him as a Father. And this filial Frame of Spirit,
whereby they are difpofed to reverence, fear, love, truft in
and obey God as a Father, live upon him and live to him
as a Father -, I fay, this filial Frame of Spirit is called the
Spirit of Adoption, in Oppofition to that fervile Frame of
Spirit they ufed to be under the Bondage of, before Faith,
and before they had received the holy Ghoft. Rom. 8. 15.
For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear ;
lut ye have received the Spirit of Adoption* whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
And this filial Frame of Spirit being peculiar to Believers,
that which none but Believers have, and which yet is com-
nion to all Believers ; and this filial Frame of Spirit being
that wherein Believers bear the Image of their heavenly Fa-
tber, each one refembling the Children of a King : For they
view Things according to their Meafure, as God does, and
love what he loves, and make his Interpft their Intereft,
and diftinguijhe&from all Counterfeits. 411
and are taken up with the fame Defigns : I fay, this
Frame of Spirit being fuch a -peculiar and remarkable Thing,-
and that wherein they fo nearly refemble God,& being alfo the'
immediate Produdt of the Indwelling and Influence of the
holy Spirit, therefore in Scripture it is fpoken of as the
diftinguifhing Badge of a true Believer, as a Mark whereby
God's Children & drift's Sheep are to be known. This is.
what is called the Seal of the Spirit ^va Eph. i. 13. And this
Seal is the Witnefs, Evidence and Proof which the holy Spi
rit gives to our Cotofeiences, that we 'are the Children of God.
Rom. 8. 1 6. This filial Frame of Spirit is what fatisfas
and affures the Children of God. They feel the very Tem
per of Children towards God. They feel a Heart to reve
rence & fear, love & honour him as a Father ^ a Heart tor
go to him, 'to truft in him,to be in Subjection to him &obey
him, as aFather. And by this they know they are hisChildren.
Marvellous is the Change, which the poor Sinner pafTes
thro', in that awful Hour of inexpreflible Solemnity, when
he firft comes into the awful Prefence of the dreadMajefty of
Heaven & Earth, thro' Jefus Chrift, the glorious Mediator,
venturing his ALL for ETERNITY upon this fureFoun-
dation. And now fromthisTime forward, he is quite another
Creature, under quite new Circumftances. As when Or
phan Children, left without a Guardian or a Guide, from
running Riot and indulging themfelves in all Extravagan
ces, are taken and brought into the Family of a wife and
good Man, and are made his Children : he inftills new
Principles and a new Temper into them, and puts them
under a new Difcipline, and all Things are new to them.
So, here, from being without God and without Hope in the
World, and from running to eternal Ruin, we are taken
and are brought into God's Family, have a new Temper
given to us, have a new Father, and are under a new Go
vernment. God's fatherly Eye is upon us every Hour,
and he is daily labouring to bring us up to his Hand, to
train us up to his Mind, to make us fuch as he would have
us be. He contrives and takes all Manner of Ways, by
his Spirit, & by his Providence, and by his Word, to make
us more ferious, fpiritual and heavenly, more humble,
weaned from the World and devoted to God. And thus
He
412 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
He purgeth us, that we may bring forth more Fruit. Joh. 1 5.2.
He enlightens, he leads, he teaches, he quickens, he
ftrengthens, he comforts us. Heb. 8. 10, n, 12. Ifai. 4.0.^1.
When we want it, he inftructs us. I Job. 2.27. Jam i. 5.
When we want it, he corrects us. Heb. 12.6. And when
we heed it, he encourages and comforts us. 2 Cor. 12. 9.
When we love him and keep his Commands, he manifefts
himfelf unto us. Job. 14. 21. And when our fpiritual
Enemies are too ftrong for us, and our Heart and our
Strength fails, our Steps are flipping, our Feet juft gone ;
in the diftrefling Juncture he puts underneath his everlaft-
ing Arms, he takes us by the right Hand, he prevents
us by his Grace ; and e'er we are aware, we have gotten
the Victory, and begin to fay, Whom have we in Heaven
but thee ? And there is none on Earth we defire befides thee.
OurFk/h &? our Heart failethJutGodis theStrength of our Heart,
and our Portion for ever : And O, // is good for us to draw
-near to God. Pfal. 73. And if at any Time we forfake him,
he follows after us, and vifits our ^ranfgreffions with the
Rod,, and our Iniquities with Stripes ; but never breaks his
Covenant with us. Pfal. 89. 30 — 34. He hedges up our
Way with Thorns, & brings us to a hearty Return. Hof. 2.
6, 7. And thus we are kept by the Power of God thro' Faith
unto Salvation, i Pet. 1.5. And finally are brought to the
full Vifiorr and perfect Fruition of God to all Eternity.
Rom. 8. 30.
Now Faith in Chrift intitles us to all this, by Virtue of
that divine Conftitution, which we call the Gofpel or Cove
nant of Grace -, by Virtue of that new and living Way of
Salvation, which God the great Governour of the World
has contrived and provided, ratified and confirmed, the
Sum of which is contained in Job. 3. 16. Which Cqnfti-
tution God has been pleafed to confirm by an Oath, to the
Intent we might have ftrong Confolationy who have fled for
Refuge^ to lay hold on the Hope fet before us. He has faid,
He that believeth Jhall be faved, and he has confirmed it by
an Oath) to remove all Doubt, and to give the higheft
pofiible AfTurance. Heb. 6. 17, 18. And now being aflur--
ed that this Way of Salvation may be depended upon,, as
being contrived and confirmed by God himfelf -, hence,
hens
and diftinguijhtd frtim all Counterfeits. 413
here we reft fecure and fafe. — We know that this new
Conflitution muft be from God, becaufe the whole Plan is
altogether divine : It is juft like God : God can't but be
pleaied with it : It is perfectly fuited to exalt God, to
magnify the Law, to diftountenance Sin, to humble the
Sinner and to glorify Grace : and if Sinners are ever
faved, it is infinitely lit that they fhould be faved in fuch a
Way, and in no other. There is fuch an apparent Refem-
blanceof the divineNature & Perfect ions in this wholePlan,
as is fufficient to afllire theHeart that it is from God. None
but God could be the Author of it. 2 Cor. 4. 3,4, 6. —
And being in the firft Place, affured that it is from God :
We have, in the fecond Place, the highefl Afiurance that
God will abide by it and act according to it. For/r/?, we
have his Promife ; and fecondly, we have his Oath : So that
there can be no reafonable Doubt remaining. — And now
upon this Foundation does the true Believer build all his
Hopes and Expectations, here is the Bottom of all. For
if I am allured, that, by divine Grace, I do rightly under-
ftand the Gofpel, and am brought to a genuine Compliance
therewith ; now then I am fafe, if the Gofpel be TRUE,
and if that Way of Salvation may CERTAINLY be de
pended on, if it be no cunningly devifedFable, but a Way of
God's own Contrivance, and which he will CERTAINLY
abide by. A clear, rational, fpiritual Conviction and Aflli-
ranee of this, is the very Anchor of the Soul, fure andftedfaft.
Heb. 6. 19.
If Mankind had remained in a State of fure Nature, i. e.
under no Conftitution at all, under nothing but merely
the Law of Nature, i. e. To have been guided and direded
to their Duty, and to have been rewarded or punifhed by
God, only and merely by and according to the Reafon and
Nature of Things : If this had been the Cafe, then fo long
as every Individual ihould be continued inBeing by God,
and fhould continue to love God with all his Heart, and
obey him in every Thing ; fo long every Individual would
be perfectly happy. But then, God might without Injuftice
let one or all drop into Non-Exiftence, if he pleafed, and
when he pleafed, altho' perfedly holy. Job 2 2. 2. & 35-7-
Or, if he was pleafed to continue one and all in Being for
^ > _ * ~ ever .
414 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
ever \ yet at what Time fcever any Ihould commit the
leaft Sin, that Soul fhould immediately fink down into an
eternal Hell. Rom. 6. 23. A Thoufand Years of perfect
Obedience, by the mere Law of Nature, not intitling to
any Promife for the Time to come. God's giving and
continuing Being to us, and granting us Advantages to
know and love and ferve him, would render us infinitely
indebted to God ; but our knowing, loving and ferving
God could not bring him at all into Debt to us. Rom. 1 1.
35, 36. Our doing fo would naturally render us happy,
fo long as v/e fhould continue to do fo •, but if, at any
Time, we fhould be guilty of the leaft Defeat, all would
be loft, and we undone for ever.
But then, by and according to the Confiitution with
Adam, Things were placed upon another Foot. The eter
nal Welfare of Mankind was fufpended upon anoiherCon-
dition. For according to this Conftitution, if Adam the
publickHead and Reprefentative of Mankind, had remain
ed obedient for fome certain Period of Time, he and all
his Pofterity would, by the free and gracious Promife of
God, have been entitled to everlafting Life : as on the
other Hand, if he finned, all would be expofed to eternal
Death.
But now, FAITH in Chrift intitles us to eternal Life, by
Virtue of a new Conftitution, called the Gofpel or Covenant
of Grace, made and confirmed by the God of Heaven.
The perfect Obedience of Adam., had he flood, would
not have intitled us to eternal Life, notwithftanding he was
our natural Head, if he had not been made our Reprefen
tative by a divine Confiitution : So the perfect Obedience
and Sufferings of Chrift would not have freed us fromCon-
demnation and entitled us to eternal Life, whateverDepen-
dance we might have had upon him •, if by a divine Con
ftitution it had not been appointed and confirmed, that he
that believeth Jhall be faved.
By and according to the Law of Nature, our own perfo-
nal Obedience would have recommended us to the Favour
of God, and laid the Foundation of our Happinefs, fo long
as we fhould have continued in a State of fmlefsPerfection. —
By the frft Covenant, the Conftitution with Adam, his per
fect
and diftinguijhedfrom all Counterfeits.
feet Obedience, thro' his appointed Time of Trial^ would, .
by Virtue of that Constitution or Covenant, have entitled
us to everlafting Life. — By the fecond Covenant., the perfect
Righteoufnefs of Chrift the fecond Adam^ entitles all true
Believers to everlafting Life, by and according to this new
and living Way.
A perfecl: Righteoufnefs was necefiary according to the
Lav/ of Nature. And a perfecl Righteoufnefs is infilled
upon in both Covenants. According to the Law of Na
ture, it was to be performed ferfonally : But according to
both Covenants, it is appointed to be performed by a public
Head. — According to the tirft Covenant, we were to have
been interefted in the Righteoufnefs of our publick Head,
by Virtue of our Union to him as his Poflerity for whom
he was appointed to act. — According to the fecond Co
venant, we are interefted in the Righteoufnefs of Chrift our
public Head, by Virtue of our Union to him by Faith.
Our Faith is that whereby we unite to Chrift. The
Act is a uniting Aft. We difunite, feparate from and re
nounce, that, to which, we before were united and did clofe
with and placed our Hopes upon, viz. our ownRighteouf-
nefs •, and are no more emboldened by that to come into
the Prefence of God : And we unite to Chrift, defiring to
be found,not in our felves,but in him ; not in our ownRigh-
teoufnefs, but in his. Phil. 3. 8, 9. And from him we
take Encouragement to draw nigh to God ; we come in
HIS NAME. Heb. 4. 16. And now, by Virtue of a divine
Conftitution eftablifhed by the Governour of the World,
all, who thus unite to Chrift by Faith, are confidered as be
ing one with him, fo as to have an Intereft in what he has
done and fuffered in theCharacter of a Mediator as a publick
Perfon, fo as upon the Account thereof to be pardoned and
received to Favour, and entitled to eternal Life. Rom. 5.
1 8, 19. Efh. i. 6. Rom. 3. 24, 25.
And now, this Faith, this uniting Act, being the Condi
tion, the only Condition, required on our Part, by the Cove
nant of Grace, we beingjttftijied by Faith without the Deeds
cf the Law -, Hence, Faith is faid to be imputed to us for
Righteoufnefs. Rom. 4. For Righteoufnefs i. e. for that
whereby vtzftand Right according. tQ the Yeaour of the new
Covenant,
4i 6 True Religion delineated Dis. II.
Covenant, i. e. for a full Compliance with the Condition of
the new Covenant. As perfect Obedience was a Compli
ance with the Covenant of Works j fo Faith is a Compli
ance with the Covenant of Grace. Now as perfect Obedi
ence, thro' his whole Time of Trial, would have been im
puted to Adam for Right eoufnefs^ i. e. for 2^ full Compliance
with the Condition of that Covenant : So now Faith is im
puted for Right eoufnefs, i. e. for a/«// Compliance with the
Condition of this Covenant. For St. Paul had but juft
been proving, that we tttjuftijiedby Faith ALONE, without
the Deeds of the Law •, and now this being the ONLY Con
dition required, therefore he fays, // is accounted as a full
Compliance with the new Covenant, /. e. it is imputed for
Righteoufnefs. It being the only Thing required as a Con
dition of Life, by the Covenant of Grace, hence it is looked
upon in the Sight of God acc©rdingly,as being a /^//Com
pliance with that Covenant. — The Covenant of Works in
filled upon perfect Obedience, becaufe Adam was to have
been jiiftified, merely by, and wholly upon the Account of,
his own Virtue and Goodnefs : And theCovenant of Grace
infifts UfOliFaitb alone without theDeeds of the Z,<ra;,becaufe
now we are juftified, merely by, and wholly upon the Ac
count of, thrift's Virtue or Righteoufnefs, without Re
gard to anyGoodnefs in us. But to him that WORKETH NOT,
but believeth on him that juftifieth the UNGODLY, his Faith
is counted for Righteoufnefs. Rom. 4. 5. /. e. for a FULL
Compliance with the new Covenant, without the Deeds of
the Law. For as to a legal Right eoufnefs , Chrift is the End
cf the Law for Righteoufnefs to them that believe. Rom. 10.5.
And in that Senfe,we are not to be found in ourownRigh-
teous, but in his. Phil. 3. 8.
Thus, according to the Law of Nature, every Man
would have been juftified by his own perfonal Righteouf
nefs. And according to the firft Covenant, every Child of
Adam would have been juftified by Adaris Righteoufnefs
as publick Head. And according to the fecond Covenant,
every Believer is to be juftified by Chrift's Righteoufnefs
as another publick Head. The firft of thefe Ways takes
it's Rife from the Reafon and Nature of Things ; but the
feq&nd and third from the pofitivc Appointment of God.
The
and diftinguij'hed from all Counterfeits. 417
The Angels, it feems, were dealt with according to the fir ft
of theie Ways, only their State of Probation, thro' Grace,
not to be perpetual •, for,no Doubt,thofe that ftood, are now
in a confirmed State : but Mankind are dealt with accor
ding to the fecond and third.
The firft of thefe Ways a fallen World pretend fome
liking to, but the other two have given great Offence.
" How is it right we fhould be condemned for Adam's Sin ?
" Or with what Propriety can we be juftified on the Ac-
" count of (Thrift's Righteoufnefs ?" is the Language of
very many. " It is unjuft to condemn me for the Sin of
" another, and abfurd to juftify me for another's Righte
oufnefs," fay they. And as to the firft of thefe Ways,they
would have the Law abated in what it requires, and quite
difannul'd as to it's threatening Death for the leaft Sin.
They would have what they call fincere Obedience admit
ted as a Condition of Life, and Repentance to be accepted
in Cafe of Sin. So that an apoftate World are naturally
equally at Enmity againft the firft, fecond and third, right
ly underftood. For they think it full as unjuft that God
fhould damn us for the leaft Defect of perfed Obedience,
as for Mam's firft Sin. Anfd it is nothing but divineLight
can bring the Heart of a Sinner fincerely to approve of the
Law of Nature, of the Conftitution with Adam^ and of the
Gofpel of Chrift. For (i Cor. 2. 14..) the natural Man
receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God : for they are
Fooli/hnefs unto him -, neither can he know them, becaufe they
are fpirituatty difcerned. He does not difcern the Ground
and Reafon of the Law of Nature, being blind to the infi
nite Beauty of the divine Perfe&ions : and fo is incapaci
tated to have a right View and Senfe of the Nature of the
firft Covenant or the fecond. And being a Stranger and
an Enemy to God, he alfo naturally doubts, whether he
has full Power and rightful Authority to make fuch Con-
ftitutions ; he diflikes theConftitutions ; he queftions God's
Authority to make fuch \ their being fo plainly held forth
in theBible,tempts many to call even theTruth of that into
Queftion ; and fome are driven quite to open Infidelity.
There is a fecret Infidelity in the Hearts of unregeneratc
Men, They do not love that divine Scheme of Truths re-
E e vealed
4i 8 'True Religion delineated Dis. II.
vcaled in the Bible, nor cordially receive it for true. Men
love to cut out a Scheme of Religion in their Heads, to
fuit the Temper of their Hearts. And from this Root
do all the falfe and erroneous Principles, which fill the
Chriftian World, originally take their Rife, z Tbef. 2. 10,
ii, 12. But when he that commanded the Light to fhine
out of Darknefs, mines in the Heart and gives fpi ritual
Light ; then the Reafonablenefs, Beauty and Glory of the
•whole Scheme appear, and the very Refemblance of the
divine Perfections is to be feen in every Branch of it. And
now it is cordially believed. Job. 8. 47. And hereby a
folid Foundation is laid for a real Conformity to the Law,
and a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel -9 in both which
true Religion does confift.
Thus we have gone thro9 what was propofed. And we
fee why God the great Governour of the World did confi-
der Mankind as ferijhingi fallen, fmful, guilty, juftly con
demned, helplefs and undone : and we fee that his Defign
of Mercy originally took it's Rife from the meer felf-mov-
ing Goodnefs of his Nature, and fovereign good Pleafure :
and we fee the Neceffity there was of a Mediator, and how
the Way of Life has been opened by him whom God has
provided : And we fee wherein a genuineCompliance with
the Gofpel does confift, and the Nature of a true Faith in
Chrift : And we fee what is implied in the everlafting 'Life
that is promifed to Believers, and how Faith interefts us in
the Promife, and how that the Covenant is in all Things
well ordered and fure. — And now there is a wide Field
opened for a large Improvement, in many doctrinal and
practical Inferences and Remarks. For,
i. It is very natural to make the fame Obfervations here
with Regard to a genuine Compliance with the Gofpel^ as
were before made with Refpect to a real Conformity to the
Law. For, from what has been faid, we may eafily fee,
wherein confifts thatLife of Faith in Chrift, which true Be
lie vers live -9— That all unregenerateMen are entirely deftitute
of this true Faith in Chrift ; — Yea, diametrically oppofite
thereunto in the Temper of their Minds j — And therefore
can't be brought to it but by the almighty Power and all-
conquering
and diftinguijbed from all Counterfeits. 419
conquering Grace of God ; — That there is nothing in
them to move God to do this for them, but every Thing
to the contrary — That God is at perfect Liberty to have
Mercy on whom he will according to his fovereign Plea-
fure — That it is reafonable to think, that the fame fove
reign good Pleafure, which moves him to be the Author,
will move him to be the Finiftier of our Faith — That true
Faith, being thus fpecifically different from every Counter
feit, may therefore be difcerned and known, &c. But be-
caufe I have already been Larger than at firft I defigned,
therefore I will omit thefe, and all other Remarks which
might be made ; and will conclude,
2. With only this one Obfervation, viz. That if thefe
Things be true, which have been faid concerning the Na
ture of Faith and the Way of Salvation by free Grace thro'
Chrift, and concerning that View of Things which the
trueBeliever has •, then nothing is more plain and evident,
than that the true Believer muft needs feel himfelf to be
under the ftrongeft Obligations poffible, to an entire De-
votednefs to GOD and a Life of univerfal Holinefs. Every
Thing meets, in that View of Things which he has, to
bind his Soul for ever to the Lord. One main Defign of
the Gofpel was to make Men holy ; and it is in it's Na
ture perfectly well adapted to anfwer the End.
For now all the natural Obligations, we are under. to
love God and live to him, are feen in a divineLight •, fuch
as arife from the infinite Excellency of the divine Nature,
God's entire Right to us and Authority over us : And their
binding Nature is exhibited in a more ftriking and aftect-
ing Manner in the Gofpel, than in the Law j the Crofs of
Chrift gives a more lively Reprefentation of the infinite
Evil of Sin, than all the Thunders of Mount Sinai. And
a Sight of our naturalObligations are attended with aSenfe
of all the additional facred Ties, arifmg from the infinite
Goodnefs of God to a guilty ruined World in providing
a Saviour, and from the dying Love of Chrift, and from
the free Gift of converting Grace, and from pardoning
Mercy, and from God's Covenant-Love and Faithfulnefs,
and from the raifed Expe&ations of eternal Glory : All
which muft join to beget a right Senfe of Sin, as being &
E e 2
42 o *True Religion delineated Dis. IL
Thing, in it felf, the moft unfit, unreafonable and wicked,
as well as infinitely difmgenuous and ungrateful to God,
and concur to make it appear as the worft of Evils, the
jnoft to be hated, dreaded, watched and prayed againft.
And a humble Heart, full of Self-Diffidence, and under a
Senfe of the divine All-fufficience, and in a firm Belief of
the Truth of theGofpel, will moft naturally, and as it were
continually, apply it felf, by Faith and Prayer, to God
thro' Chrift, to be kept from all Sin, and to be preferved
to the heavenly Kingdom. So that thofe Views, which the
true Believer has, have the ftrongeft Tendency to univer-
fal Holinefs, and do naturally lay a folid Foundation for it.
And thofeViews are not only maintained in a greater or lefs
Degree from Day to Day, by the gracious Influence of the
holy Spirit, which dwells in them ; but are increafing and
brightening thro' the Courfe of their Lives. So that as the
grand Defign of the Gofpel is to make Men holy, fo it is
perfectly well adapted in it's Nature to anfwer the End.
And therefore be that is born of God^finneth not ; and how
JJjall we that are dead to &'», live any longer therein ? And
fuch like Scriptures, muft, in the Nature of Things, be
found to be true, in the Experience of every real Believer.
Nor can any but gracelefs Hypocrites be emboldened, by
the Doctrines of tree Grace, to fin, as it were upon free
Coft : and a double Vengeance will they pull down upon
their guilty Heads.
Particularly,the wholeFrame & Tenour of theGofpel na
turally tends to excite us to a univerfal Benevolence to Man
kind in Imitation of the infinite Goodnefs of the divine
Nature •, and even to be benevolent & kind to the Evil and
Unthankful, & to thofe in whom there is no Motive to ex
cite our goodwill, but much to the contrary •, and to love
our Enemies, and blefs them that curfe us, and do Good
to them that hate us, and pray for them that defpitefully
ufe us and perfecute us. It is impoflible when we fee the
infinite Beauty of the felf-moving Goodnefs of the divine
Nature as exercifed in the whole Affair of ourRedemption
and Salvation, towards Creatures fo infinitely vile, unwor
thy and ill-deferving, but that we fhould love that glori
ous Gocdne£, and be changed into the fame Image, and
have
and difemguijhed from all Counterfeits. 421
have it become natural to us to love Enemies, and forgive
Injuries, and be like God. A malicious Chriflian^ zfpight-
ful Believer^ is the greateft Contradi&ion, and the moft un
natural Thing.
That which has had no fmall Hand in bringing theDoc-
trines of Grace into Contempt in the World, as tending to
Licentioufnefs, is partly, becaufe they have not been rightly
underftood, and partly thro5 the wicked Lives of gracelefs
Hypocrites, who have made a high Profeffion. What re
mains now therefore but that the People of God, by holy
and exemplary Lives, fhould convince the WorW,thatthefe
are Doftrines according to Godlinefs.
I befeech you therefore by the Mercies of God> that ye pre-
fent your Selves a living Sacrifice^ holy and acceptable to God9
which is your reafonable Service. For you are not your owny
but bought with a Price : And that not of Silver and Gold,
but of the precious Blood of the Son of God ; and therefore
live no more to your Selves , but to him that died for you. And
be ye Followers of God as dear Children. BleJJed be God, for
the unfpeakable Gift of his Son. AMEN.
FINIS.
THE
CONTENTS of the///? Difcourfe.
e Religion conffts in a Confer-
mity to the Law and Compliance
'with the Gofpel. Page I
The Law requires us to Love God
with all our Hearts, and our
Neighbour as our felves. 2
Love to God implies right Appre-
henfions efhimyandaSenfe of his
Amiablenefs. 3
That we efteem him> fo as to exult
in bis Supremacy. 7
So <value his Honour & Intereft> as
to le devoted to him. 9
So delight in him, as to live upon him
as the Portion of our Souls. i z
Lowe to God takes its Rife ori
ginally, from a Senfe of his infinite
Glory and Amiablenefs. 1 6
His infinite Glory rejults from all
his Perfections. 1 7
All his Perfections are manifejled
in his Works. 1 8
And in his Word. 42
A Senfe of his Glory is imparted to
the Soul by the immediate Influence
of the Holy Spirit. 45
The infinite Glory and Amiablenefs
of God lays us under fuck an Obli
gation to love God, as is binding,
antecedently to any felfilh Confe
deration. 46
Infinitely. 48
Eternally. 57
And unchangeably. 59
And from hence all our other Obli
gations to lo<ve and worjbip him as
GODtoriginally derive their bind
ing Nature. 77
'• AJhort View of our additio
nal Obligations to love God. 8 1
H0w they influence a trm Saint. 8 5
True Love diftinguijhed from all
Counterfeits. 89
The Law requires us to love God
with all our Hearts. 93
Making no Allowances becaufe of
our Difmclination. 95
But fence it requires no more than all
the Heart, // is juft & equal. 97
// being upon a Level with our na
tural Capacities. 98
And our Inability topcrfefl Holinefs
arifes only from our Badnefs. 99
Which Badnefs we are voluntary
in. 104
There is no Reafon why the Law
Jhould be abated. i o 8
We are wholly to blame for not
perfectly conforming to it. 1 1 o
Even the Heathen are without
Excufe. 114
Much more inexcufable are thoje
who enjoy the Benefit of divine
Revelation. 1 2 1
GOD is nuder no natural Obligati
ons, to grant fupernatural Ad
vantages to any of the Children of
Men. 127
And may therefore aft fovereignly
in doing fo. 128
• Love to our Neighbour im
plies Efteem. 131
Benevolence. 133
And Delight. ibid.
And is in it's own Nature right and
fit. 134
And enjoined by the Authority of
God. 136
And recommended by the Example
of God, in the Exercifes of his in
jinite Goodnefs towards the Children
of Men. ibid.
And
The CONTENTS.
And ought to be regulated agreably
to a true Self-love. 137
And is always attended with true
Love to God. 139
// is a Thing different from na
tural Compaflion. 140
Frcfi- good Humour. Hid.
From natural Affe&ion. ibid.
From Party-fpirited Love. 141
From any Lowe wbatfaver, that
arifes merely from Self-love.' 142
And from the Lcve 'which Enthuii-
afts and Hereticks have to one
another. 143
• Love to God and our Neighboitr
is a radical Conformity to tie
whole Law. 143
And lays the Foundation for all true
Obedience. 144
And is that whereby true Religion is
dijlinguijhed from all Counter
feits. 145
Which all arife from Self-love. 146
— From the whole <we may learn.
What that Image of GOD was,
in which Adam was created. 1 49
That we are born deftitute thereof.
152
And natively have a 'Temper con
trary thereto. 1 5 3
Which Temper has the intire Go
vernment of us. 156
So that all we do,while unregene-
rate, is Sin. 175
And therefore our beft Doings cant
intitle us to any Promife offpecial
Grace. 1 76
— Ccnverfion confifts in our Recovery
from this Jinful Temper, to the
moral Image of God, by the Infu-
. ences of the Holy Spirit. 179
And becaufe we are naturally in
clined to refill his Influences with
all our Might, 183
Therefore they muft be fuch cs we
can't rejif, or we Jhall never be
recovered. 1 90
Which efeaual Grace is difpenfed
according to GotTs fovereign good
Pleafure, and fows from bis Self-
moving Goodnefs. 191
And ^tis natural to fuppofe, that he
who infucbwife begins this Work,
will carry it on, and fo all true
Saints perfe vere to the End. 1 9 £
That they mujl expecJ fpiritual
Conflicts from remaining Corrup
tion. 198
Yet AfTurance may be obtained. 200
Thefe Confequences are undeniable^
if the Premifes, touching the Na
ture of the Law, are true. 208
But if the Law is abated and al
tered, the whole Scheme is under
mined, ibid.
And fo is the whole Gofpel-Revela-
tion as much. 211
Or, if the Law means fomething
elfe than what is juppcfed^ 2 1 4
But if the Idea, which the Pela
gians and Arminians have of God
and the Law, is right, Sin can de-
firve no PunimmentyVr this World,
or the next. 215
Nor can the Scriptures then be the
Word of GOD. 21 8
Rules of Trial. 220
The Caufe we have to be humble,
--and thankful,— and live intirely
devoted to GOD. 229,237,238.
The Happinefs of fo doing. 242
Various QUEST IONS occafio-
nally confidered in the firft
Difcourfe.
rS it any Matter what Mens Prin-
•*- ciples be, if their Lives are but
good ? Page 4
Will fpeculative Ideas of God be
get a Senfe of his Amiablenefs,
in a Heart that has no Tafte for
moral Beauty ? ibid.
Does all our Enmity againfl GOD
arife merely from our conceiving
him to be our Enemy ? 7
Are all Things right, or wrong,
merely becaufe GOD wills them fo
to be ? 29
Or merely becaufe they do or do not
tend 1 9 make us happy ? 30
— How
The C O N T E N T S.
was it conjjftent with Gcd*s
Goodncfs to permit Sin ? 40
Does per ft El Obedience defcrve any
Thanks at the Hands of God? 49
Jn what Senfe are our good Works
rewardable ? 50
Is Sin an infinite Evil ? and does it
defers e an infimtePunffimexf ? 54
Can future Obedience make the leaft
Amends/^/-//?/? Sins ? 56
Will the Sinfuliefs end Mifery of
the Damned be for ever increaf-
ing. 58
Js the Law abated ? 60,95,21 1
Or wholly repealed ? 65
What Influence have falfe Notions
of the Law on Men's Religion ? 66
What do Antinomians make their
'Rule of Duty ? 67
Are the Threatnings of the Law
in Force ? 70
Can a Man,, merely from Self-love,
love God more than himfclf? 93
Is our Impotency only moral ? 94
Are we to Blame for our fpiritnal
Blindnefs ? 99
Or for our corrupt Nature ? 103
What is if that brings awakened
Sinners to take all the Blame to
themfelves, & juflifyGOD ? 1 1 o
Do true Believers feel themfelves
wholly to Blame for not being per
fectly holy ? in
Does God's witholding the fanfti-
fying Influences of his holy Spirit
leflea cur Blame ? 113
Why does the Scripture, in fome
P laces, fpeak of /^.external Ad-
wantages of God's wjible People, as
^f/rg-jnore than barely fufhcientfcr
their beaming good Men £3 as M
their Power ivas fujpciext, altho*
the fan&ifying Influences of the
Holy Spirit were witbeld from
them ? izi
What is corrupt Nature ? 153
Is it natural, or contracted ? 154
Are the Unregenerate intirely un
der the Government of it ? 156
Wherein does the Sinfulnefs of it
confifi? 157
Why dont Mankind fee the Sin
fulnefs of it ? 1 6 1
Do all adlual Sins proceed from
it? 163
Why are Sinners fo averfe to the
-true Knowledge of God, and fo
blind to his Beauty ? \ 66
What is the Nature of retraining
Grace ? i6S
How came our Nature to be cor
rupted ? 171
What Good does it do for Sinners to
ufe A^Means of Grace ? 1 7 8, 3 8 1 .
What is the fhorteft and eafiefl Me
thod to bring the main Controver-
Jies between Arminians and Cal-
. vinifts to a fnal IJJue ? 193,207
HO^JO is the DocJrine of Perfeve-
rance confident <ujith all the Cau
tions given to Believers to take
heed left they fall ? 1 97
Is it a Sin for Believers ever to
doubt of their good Eftate ? 205
What is . the moft fundamental
Difference between the Arminians
WCalvinifts ? 214
In ivhat Senfe ere wicked Men
ignorant of their 0ov;zHeart$ ? 229
Why does a Sight of the Strifinefs
of the Law difcourage Hypocrites,
and kill their Religion ? 236
Are Believers ever as blind and
dead, and as much without all fpi-
ritual Strength, as Unbelievers ?
241
See alfo Page 181,199,226,399,
408,
The
The CONTENTS of \hzfecond Difcourfe.
Introduction. Page 247
Of the Trinity, and of the
Chara&er each Perfon fuftains in
the Affair of our Salvation. 249
GOD does in the Gofpel confider us
as in a perifhing Condition. 253
Becaxfc of our original Apojlacy in
Adam. 255
Who was conjlituted our publick
Head. 355
Which Conftitution was 'well fuited
to the general Good of Mankind.
261
And God bad Power or Right ts
make it. 263
And becaufe we are apoftate Crea
tures, 271
Enemies to GOD, 272
And averfe to a Reconciliation,
ibid.
As fuch the Gofpel confider s us. 274
GOD was not moved to pro
vide a Saviour for us, under any
Notion that the Confitution with
ADAM was unjuft. 275
Or the Law of Nature too fe-
vere. 277
Or that our Impotency renders us
the lefs to Blame. 281
Or from any Expectation that we
Jhould, of our own free Accord, fo
much as heartily thank him for it.
284
But intirely from his own Self-
moving Goodnefs,yra- andfove-
reign Grace. 285
- - The NeceJJity of Satisfaction
for Sin argued from ^Perfections
of GOD. 295
From Scripture.
And from Fact.
The NeceJ/ity of the Law's
ed.
308
309
being
1 4
— — GOD may now, thro1 Chrift,
conjiftcntly with his own Honour,,
fave any that believe. 337
And ufe what Means he pleafes for
tbeRecovery ofobJlinateSinncrs.^^
A View of the Methods of divine
Grace with Mankind, frcm the
Beginning of the World. 360
- ^genuineCompliance with
the Gofpel. 384
Saving Faith. 388
// refults from divine Light. 389
Which lays a Foundation for a fuper-
natural Belief of the Go/pel, ibid.
Regeneration, Faith, Repentance and
Confer/ion connected together. ibid
Spiritual Light &* /r«?Faith always
in Proportion. 390
Humility and true Faith always in
Proportion. 391
What encourages the Sinner to be
lieve in CHRIST. 392
The Att of Faith defined. 393
Faith in Chrift emboldens the bum
bled Sinner to return to God and
truj} in him. ibid.
The various Aclings of Faith diflin-
guifhed. 394
Faith and Holinefs always in Pro
portion. 397
True Faith habitual, growing, and
perfevering. 399
The Faith of the Legal and of the
Evangelical Hypocrite, defcribed.
401,403
— — The EverlafHng Life pro-
mifedto Believers implies the e<ver-
lafing Love c5" Favour of GOD,
and the everlafting Indwelling of
the Holy Spirit as a SanBifier.
ooeyed. 3 1 i
. The Sufficiency of CHRIST'
Satisfaction and Merit 321
He was fit to be a Mediator be
tween God and Man. 322
Was authorized. 325
And what he has done, is per-
feftly fuited, in its own Nature,
toanfatrallth&ifa propofed.^b
Of the Spirit of Adoption. 410
Of the Seal and Witnefe of the Spi
rit. 41 1
See alfo Page 204
Of the marvellous Change made by
true Converfion. 41 1
How Faith interefs us in CHRIST
and intitles us to Life. 4 1 2
adapted to makeMen holy .420,42 1
F f Various
The CONTENTS.
Various QUESTIONS occafi-
onally confidered in the
fecond Difcourfe.
was implied in the Death
threatnedto Adam ? Pag.2$g
What is the Difference between the
Law of Nature and the firft Co
venant ? 260,277,413
What is it that does moji commonly
convince Men of the Doftrine of
original Sin ? 268
Why is original Sin no oftner fyoken
of in Scripture ? 269
See alfo Page 173
Were ive by the Fall brought into
a State of Being worfe than not
to be? 288
Ought <we to be thankful for our
Beings ? 289
Is it tfBleffing to bavcChildren ? 291
What is the Nature of Satisfaction
for Sin ? 327
Does it render Sin a lefs E<uil,ortakt
away its natural ill-Defert ? 334
Does it move the divineCompalfion ?
335
before Faith, as much
under /^Wrath of GOD as others,
notiuith (landing the Satisfaction of
Chrift. 336
See alfo Page 73
Wherein conjifts ourNeed of CHRIST,
and when is it feen ? 3 1 2,3 1 7
Why 'was Adamp/aced in a State of
Probation ? 315
// a State o/Trobation confident 'with
God's making his Creature's Hap-
pinefs his laf End ? 318
Are all the common Mercies 'which
Mankind enjoy,' the Ejfefts of
CHRIST'S Merits ? 346
In what Senfe did CHRIST die for
all the World? 338
And in whatSenfe only for theEleft ?
348
Is a confirmed Habit of Grace be
fore the firft Aft of Faith, or af
ter ? 408
Does Faith conjift in believing that
my Sins are forgiven ? 404
Ste alfo Page 76,336.
A
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F f 2
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C.
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D.
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F.
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G.
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SUBSRIBERS.
Rev. Mr. John Graham, Southbury.
Mr. John Gray.
Mr. Jonathan Graves, Cold-Spring, Maffacbufetts.
Mr. Elijah Grant, Litcbjield, Connecticut.
Mr. Jofeph Gregory, Pbittipfi, Neiv-Tork, 6 Books.
Mr. Jofhua Greenleaf, Newfrury, Maffacbufetts.
Mr. Timothy Greenleaf.
Mr. Jonathan Gridley, Farmingtown, Connecticut.
H.
t> Ev. Mr. Elias Haven,
Mr. Ebenezer Hanchet, Salifbury, Connecticut,
Gideon Hawley, A. B. Stratfield, 6 Books.
Mr. Ebenezer Hamblin.
Mr. Conftant Havens, Long-JJland, New-Tork.
Mr. James Hains.
Mr. Nathan Hallfey.
Mr. Ifrael Hallfey.
Mr. Daniel Hausford, Canaan, Connecticut.
Mr. Daniel Hausford, jun.
Mr. Jofeph Hawley, Reading, 6 Books.
Mr. James Hamilton, Litcbfield.
Mr. Hugh Hannah, Eetblem.
Mr. James Hannah.
Mr. Jofeph Haven, Framing bam, Maffacbufetts*
Mr. Elkanah Haven, 2 Books.
Mr. Samuel Harris, Newbury.
Jonathan Haftings, M. A. Cambridge.
Mr. Barzilla Hendee, Betbkm> Connecticut.
Mr. Bartholomew Heath.
Noah Hinman, ^L^Woodbury.
Mr. David Hide. — — -
Mr. Benjamin Hitchcock, Bethlcm.
Mrs. Sufannah Hill.
Mr. Ahira Hill.
Mr. Jacob Hill, Cambridge.
Mr. Jonathan Hill.
Rev. Mr. Ivory HoVey, Rocbefter, 12 Books.
Mr. William Homes, Bofton^ ^ Books.
Hezekiah
SUBSCRIBERS.
Hezekiah Hooker, Efq-, Betblem, Connecticut.
Mr. Hezekiah Hooker, jun.
Mr. JefTe Hooker.
Mrs. Abigail Hooker.
Mr. Elifha Howell.
Mr. David Holcomb, Canain.
Mr Ebenezer Houlchet, Salijbury.
Mr. Ifrael Holiey, jun.
Mr. Samuel Hopkins.
Mr. Edward Howell, Long- I/land, New-Fork.
Mr. Arthur Howell.
Mr. Samuel Holliiler, jun. Ccnnefticut.
Ephraim Hubbel, Efq-,
Mr. John Hubbard,
Mr. Samuel Hutchinfon.
Mr. Reuben Hyberd, Betblem.
I.
A/fR. Samuel Jackfon, Litcbfield^ Connecticut.
Mr. Stephen Jagger, Long-IJland,Netw-2~ork.
Mr. Ifaac JefTup.
Mr. Mathew St. John, Conm&icut.
Rev. David Judfon, Newtown.
Mrs. Rachel Judd, Bethlem.
Mr. Ifaac Judfon, Woodburj.
K:.
A/TR. James KafTon, 0Wfcry, Cwntftiwt.
1 Rev. Elifha Kent, Pbitippi, New-Fork, 6 Books.
Capt. Caleb Kenrick, Newton, Ma/acbufetts.
Deacon Jonathan Kelfey, Bctblem,
Mr. John Kernickerbacker.
Mr. Samuel Keeler, Rid&Jield.
'TMr. Benjamin Kellogg^ Canaan.
Mr. Thomas Kidder, Cambridge,
Mr. Joifithan Kingdey,
Mr. Supply Kingfley.
Mr. John ^neeland, Bofton,
Mr, Nathanael Kneeland»
SUBSCRIBERS.
L.
TV/TR. Edward Langdon, jun. Bofton,
Mr. Caleb Lamibn, Cbarleftown.
Mr. Ifaac Lawrence, Canaan, Connecticut.
Rev. Mr. Nathanael Leonard, Plymouth, Majfacbufetts.
Rev. Mr. Jonathan Lee, Salijbury, Connecticut.
Mr. Jofeph Lee.
Mr. William Lee.
Mr. Ebenezer Lewis, Betblem.
Mr. Ebenezer Little, Newbury, Maffacbufetts.
Mr. Simeon Lyman, Salijbury, Connecticut.
Mr. David Lyman, Betblem.
M.
. Jofeph Mann, Bo/ton,
Mr. Jonas Marih, Canaan, Connecticut.
Mr. Samuel Marfhal, Betblem.
Mr. Thomas Marfhal, Bofton, 2 Books.
Mr. Eliakim Merrel, New-Hartford, Connefticut, 3 Books.
Mr. John Mead, Newton^ Ma/acbufetts.
Mr. Edward Merret, jun. Cambridge.
Mr. James Merrit, Betblem, Connecticut.
Mr. John Meigs.
Deacon Samuel Minor, Woodbury^ Connecticut.
Mr. Jofeph Miller.
Mr. Benjamin Milliken, Black-Point,
Mr. David Mitchcl, Cambridge.
Mr. David Mitchcl, jun. Student at Harvard-Cottegc.
Jedidiah Mills, jun. A. B. Stratfeld, Connecticut, isBooks.
Mrs. Either Mitchel, Woodbury.
Mrs. Elizabeth Minor, Betblem.
Mr. Ebenezer Mirrick, Ncw-Tork.
Mr. Samuel Morfe, Cambridge.
Mr. William Morfe.
Samuel Moody, M. A. Newbury.
Mr. John Moulten, Neivbury.
Mr. Jonathan Munger, Betblem, Connecticut.
Mr, Daniel Munger,
G g Capt.
SUBSCRIBERS.
N.
("jApt. Thomas Newcomb, New-Tork.
Mr. Jofeph Northrop, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Mr. Benjamin Northrop, Newtown.
O.
TV/I R. Samuel Orlen, Litchfield, Connecticut.
' Mr. Benjamin Ofbern,
Mr. Cornelius Ofborn, New-York.
Mr. John Owen, Simfbwy> Connecticut, 1 5 Books.
P.
T> Ev. Mr. Jonathan Parfons, Newbury, Maffachufetts, 12
* Mr. Noah Parfons, Northampton^ 6 Books. (Books
Mr. Jofeph Parfons,
Mr. Jehiel Pardee, Connecticut.
Mr. John Pardee,
Mr. John Pardee, jun.
Deacon Jofiah Peck, Danbury, Connecticut. 3 Books.
Mr. Mofes Peek, Bofton.
Mr. Ifaael Peck, Canaan^ Connecticut.
Mr. Michael Perrey, Woodbury*
Mr. Eliflia Perry, Ridgefield.
Mr-. Richard Peet, Bethlem.
Mr. Edward Phelps, Litchfield.
Mr. Eleazer Phillips, Charleftown, Maffac hufetts.
Job Pierfon,.Efq; Long-Jfland, Neiv-Tork. 6 Books.
Mr. David Pierfon.
Mr Jofiah Pierfon.
Mr. Abraham Pierfon.
Mr. James Pierce, Charleftown, Majfachufetts.
Mr. Nathan Pierce> Newbury.
Rev. Mr. John Porter, Bridgewater.
Mr. Elifha Pomroy, Northampton.
Mr. Nathaniel Porter, jun Bethlem , Connecticut,
Rev. Mr. Thomas Prince, Bofton. 6 Books.
William Prefton, Efq-, Woodbury.
Mr. Samuel Prindle, Ccwa&n.> Connecticut*
SUBSCRIBERS.
Deacon Henry Prentice, Cambridge.
Mr. Henry Prentice.
Mr. Jonas Prentice.
Mr. Daniel Prentice.
Mr. Caleb Prentice.
Mr. John Prodet, jun, Bofton.
R.
A/fR- -James Read, Cambridge.
1 Mr. Mofes Reed, Conntfticut.
Ifaac Royal, Efq-, Charleftown.
Rev. Mr. Daniel Rogers, Exeter, New-HampJhire.
Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Roberts, Torrington, 18 Boofo>-
Mr. Stephen Rofliter, Litchfield.
Mr. Samuel Robbins, Connecticut.
Mr. Jabez Rockwell, Ridgefield.
Mr. David Rockwell.
Mr JefTe Roots, Woodbury-
Mr. Daniel Roberts, New-Tor k.
Mr. Jonathan Ruft, Northampton, Maffachufetts.
Mr. Jonathan Ruflell, Connefficut.
Mr. John Ruflell, Long- I/land, New-York.
Mr. John Rumril, Woodbury, ConneRuut.
S,
"D Ev. Mr. Sacket, Bedford^ ConnefticuL^S E.Qoks
Mr. Jofeph Sanford, Litchfield
Mr. Zechariah Sanford, Long-Ifland, New-York.
Reverend Jofeph Sewall, D. D. Bofton.
Rev Mr. John Searl, Sharon^ Connecticut 6 Books.
Mr Benjamin Shelden, Northampton^ Maffacbiifetts.
Mr. Daniel Shearman, Woodbury, Connecticut.
Mr. Samuel Shearman, Philippi, New-York.
Mr. Nathanael Skinner, Connecticut , 6 -Booki
Mr. Ebenezer Skinnner, Jun. Bolton? 6 Books.
Mr. Nathanael Skinner, 2 Books.
Mr Samuel Slater, Bethkm.
Obadiah Smith, Efq^ Long-Ijland^ New-York.
G g 2 Deliver A r. -.
SUBSCRIBERS.
Deliverance Smith, A. B. Connecticut*
Mr. Samuel Smedley, Litchfield>
William Smith, A. B. Long-IJland, New-Fork.
Mr. Daniel Smith, jun.
Mr. Jofeph Smith, Newtown^ Connecticut.
Mr. Thomas Soden, Cambridge.
John Sprague, Efq-, New-York 6 Books.
Mr. Jonathan Sprague, Connecticut.
Mr. Ebenzer Sprague, Connecticut.
Mr. Reuben Spaulding, Canaan.
Mr. William Spencer, Salisbury.
Capt. Jofiah Starr, Danbury.
Mr. Comfort Starr, Danbury, Merchant. 12 Books.
Mr. Daniel Starr, Danbury^ Merchant
Mr. Nathan Starr, Student at Yale-College.
Capt. Elifha Stoddard, Woodbury.
Mr. Elifha Steel, Betblcm.
Mr. Solomon Steel,
Mr. Luke Stebbins, Springfield, Maffachuftfts. 2 Books.
Mr. Ebenezer Stedman, Cambridge.
Capt Caleb Strong, • ' v- Connecticut.
Mr. Jofiah Stoddard, Saltfbury.
Mr Jofiah Strong
Mrs Anne Stone, Bethlem.
Mr Samuel Strong.
Mr. Rowland Swcatland, Connecticut.
Mr John Symmes, Bo/Ion.
T.
J? Ev. Mr Nathanael Taylor, New-Milford, Connecticut.
Mr. Moles Taft, Student at Harvard-College.
Mr Tunis Tappin, New-York
Mr Zebtilun Taylor, Litcbfield^ Connecticut
Capt. Robert Tammage, New-Haven. 6 Books.
Mr. Ezra Terril!, Woodbury.
Mr Rccornpence Thomas, Ridgefield
Mr. Ebenezer Thompfon, Erthkm^ Connecticut.
Mr.
SUBSCRIBERS.
Mr. William Thomas, Marlborougb, Majfachufctts.
Mr. Enoch Titcomb, Jun. Newbury.
Jofiah Topping, A B. Long-IJland, New-Tork.
Henry True, Ar B- Cambridge*
Mr. William Tucker, Connecticut*
Mr. John Twifs, Woodbury,
V.
£O1. L. Vankleeck, New-Tork.
Theodorus Vanwyck, Efq, New.-Tork. 12 Books,
W.
A/f R. Ifaac Watibn, Cambridge.
LY1 Mr. Jacob Watfon.
Mrs. Rofannah Watfon, Betblem^ Connecticut.
Mr. Jofiah Waters, Bofton. ^ Books,
Mr. Benjamin Webfter, Litchfield, Connecticut.
Mr. Jofeph Weeks, Dorcefttr* Ma/acbufetts.
Rev. Mr. Ebenezer White, Danbury^ Connecticut. 7Books.
Rev. Mr. Sylvanus White, Long-IJland, New-Tork.
Capt David Whitney, Canaan, Connecticut*
Deacon Jabez Whitdefey, Bethlem.
Mr. Samuel Whitney, Canaan.
Mr. William Whitney.
Mr. David Whitney, Jun.
Mr. Jofiah Whittleley, Bethlem.
Deacon Samuel Whittemore, Cambridge.
Benjamin White, M. A. Brookline.
Mr. Jonathan White, H^eymouth.
Mr. Elnathan White, Long-IJland, New-Tork.
Mr. Ebenezer White, jun.
TheHon.JofiahWillard^fqi Secretary oftheMaffacbufetts.
Mr. John Willard, Student at Harvard-College.
John Williams, Efq; Sharon, Connecticut. 2 Books.
Mr. William Winter, Bofton.
Mr. Noah Wifwall, Newton, Ma/acbufetts.
Mr. John Woodhull, Lovg-IJland, New-Tork.
Mr, David Woodruff. Mr.
S U
C R IB E R S.
Mr. Charles Woodruff, Litchfeld, Connecticut.
Mr. Jacob Woodruff.
Mr. Benjamin Woodruff.
Mr. Gideon Woodwell, Newbury, Majfachufetts.
Mr. Noah Wright, Northampton.
Mr. Ebenezer Wright, - Connecticut.
Mr. Ebenezer Wyeth, Cambridge.
Mr. John Wyeth.
Y.
T> Ev. Mr.DavidYoungs,L0«£-$W, New-York. 3 Books,
Anthony Yolverton, Efq-, -
N. B. If there Jhould be any of the Names in the foregoing Lift
without their proper Titles , wrong fpelt^ or Places of Abode
not right inferted, we dejire to be excufed.
And, as on a careful revifal of the foregoing Pages we have not
obferved any material Errata^ except a few Literals^
we hope the candid Reader will excufe the fame ; especially
confidering the Author's Diftance from the Prefs^ and fo had
not the Advantage of bis Perufal.
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