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TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED;
OR,
Experimental Religion,
AS DISTINGUISHED FROM FORMALITY ON THE ONE HAND, AND ENTHUSIASM ON THE OTHER,
SET IN A SCRIPTURAL AND RATIONAL LIGHT.
3nttoo Discourses:
IN WHICH
SCME OF THE PRINCIPAL ERRORS BOTH OF THE ARMINTANS AND AN* TINOMIANS ARE CONFUTED....THE FOUNDATION AND SUPER- STRUCTURE OF THEIR DIFFERENT SCHEMES DE- MOLISHED.... AND THE TRUTH, AS IT IS IN JESUS, EXPLAINED AND PROVED.
The whole adapted to the weakest capacities, and designed for
the establishment, comfort, and quickening
of the people of God.
BY JOSEPH BELLAMY, D. D.
LATE OF BETHLEM, CONNECTICUT.
WITH A PREFACE BY THE REV. MR. EDWARDS.
Isaiah xxx. 21.... And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Matthew vii. 13, 14. ...Enter ye in at the strait gate ; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there he which go in thereat : Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the <uay which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
BOSTON, PRINTED. ..1750. MORftlS-TOWN, RE-PRINTED BY HENRY P.RUSSELL.
1804.
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
W E are designed, by GOD our maker, for an endless existence. In this present life we just enter upon being, and are in a state introduc- tory to a never-ending duration in another world, where we are to be for- ever unspeakably happy, or miserable, according to our present conduct. This is designed for a state of probation ; and that, for a state of regards and punishments. We are now upon trial, and God's eye is upon us eve- ry moment ; and that picture of ourselves, which we exhibit in our con- duct, the whole of it taken together, will give our proper character, and determine our state forever. This being designed for a state of trial, God now means to try us, that our conduct, under all the trials of life, may discover what we are, 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 dispensations of "his providence, to suit things to a state of ease and enjoyment, which is what this life is not designed for ; but to a state of trial : He puts men into trying circumstances of set purpose, and, as it were, contrives meth- ods to try them. One great end he has in view, is, that he may prove them, and know what is in their hearts.
He did not lead the children of Israel directly from Egypt to Canaan, but first through the Red Sea, and then out into a wilderness, where there was neither water, nor bread, nor flesh ; and made them wander there forty years, that lie might try them, and prove them, and knc%v what was in their hearts.... Dcut. viii. 2. So, when the christian religion was introduced in- to the world, it was not in such a way as men would have chosen, but in a manner suited to a state of trial. The Son of God did not come in outward glory, but in the form of a servant — not to reign as an earthly prince, but to die upon the cross : And his apostles made but a mean ap- pearance in the eyes of the world; and that sect was every where spoken against, and persecuted ; and many were the stumbling-blocks of the times: And these things were to try the temper of mankind. And when christian churches were erected by the indefatigable labors of St. Paul and others, that God might thoroughly try every heart, he not only suf- fered the wicked world to rise in arms against them, but also let Satan loose, to transform himself into an Angel of Light, and, as it were, to in- spire, and send forth his minister*, transformed into the apostles of Christ,
V1U THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE*
to vent heretical doctrines, and foment strife and division. In the mean while, the secure and wicked world looked on, pleased, no doubt, to see their debates and divisions, and glad they could have such a handle against Christianity, and 50 good a pita to justify their infidelity : And God de- lighted to have things under circumstances so perfectly well adapted to a state of trial. He loved to try the apostles, to see how they would be af- fected and act ; when not only the world was in arms against them, but many of their own converts turned to be their enemies too, by the influ- ence of false teachers. He loved to try private christians, to see how their hearts would he affected towards the truths of the gospel, and the true ministers of Christ, and towards their temporal interest, while the truths of the gospel were denied or perverted, and the true ministers of Christ despised and stigmatized by heretics, and their temporal interest exposed to the rage of a wicked, merciless world : And he loved to try hyp- ocrites, to see whether they would not renounce the truth they pretended so highly to value, and become disaffected towards the ministers of Christ they seemed so dearly to love, and fddow false teachers, or fall off to the world.
It is reasonable and fit, and a thing becoming and beautiful, that beings in a state of probation should be tried ; and God looks upon the present outward ease and comfort even of his own people, as a matter of no im- portance, compared with things spiritual and eternal. Eternity, with all its importance, lies open to his view ; and time appears as a point, and all its concerns as things comparatively of no worth. If the wicked are in prospei-ity, and the righteous in adversity, or all things come alike to all, God is well pleased, because things of time are of so little impor- tance, and because such an administration of things is suited to a state of trial- There will be time enough hereafter for the righteous to be rewarded, and the wicked, punished. In this view of things, we may, in a measure, un- derstand the darkest, and account for the most mysterious, dispensations of divine providence, and discern the wisdom of the divine government.
It has doubtless appeared as a thing strange and dark to many pious persons, and occasioned not a little perplexity of mind, to observe what has come to pass in New-England since the year 1740. ...That there should be so general an out-pouring of the spirit — so many hundreds and thou- sands awakened all over the country, and such an almost universal exter- nal reformation, and so many receive the word with joy; and yet, after all, things come to be as they now are : so many fallen away to carnal security, and so many turned enthusiasts and heretics, and the country so generally settled in their prejudices against experimental religion and the doctrines of the gospel, and a flood of Arminianism and immorality, ready to deluge the land : but, as strange and dark as it may have seemed, yet doubtless if any of us had lived with the Israelites in the. wilderness, •r in the three first ages af'.cr Christ, or in the time of the reformation
THE AUTHORS PREFACE. IX
from Popery, the dispensations of Divine Providence would, upon the whole, have appeared much more mysterious than they do now. And yet those were times when God was doing glorious things for his Church. — And indeed, it has happened in our day, however strange it may seem to us, no otherwise than our Savior foretold it commonly would under the gospel dispensation, at least till Satan is bound, that he may deceive the nations no more. The same? goes forth to sow, and some seed falls by the way-side, and some on stony, and some on thorny, and some on good ground ; and while he is sowing good seed, an enemy in the night, the devil, unobserved, sows tares : Now when the sun is up, i, e. when new times come on, and trials approach, the main of the seed is lost ; not only what fell by the way-side, but also what fell on the stony and thorny ground. And when the good ground is about to bring forth fruit, the tares begin to appear too... .Mat. xiii. Thus it has always been. — This is a state of trial, and God has permitted so many sad and awful things to happen in times of reformation, with design to prove the children of men, and know what is in their hearts.
The young people almost all over New-England professed they would for ever renounce youthful vanities, and seek the Lord. " Well," God, in the course of his Providence, as itNwere, says, " I will try you." Seeming converts expressed great love to Christ, his truths, and ministers, and ways ; " Well," says God, " I will try you." Multitudes, being enemies to all true religion, longed to see the whole reformation fall into disgrace, and things return to their own channel ; and they sought for objections and stumbling-blocks : " Well," says God, " You may have " them, and I will try and see how you will be affected, and what you " will say, and whether you will be as glad when the cause of my Son " is betrayed by the miscarriages of those that profess to be his friends, " as the yews of old were, when my Son himself was betrayed into their hands by yudas." Thus God means to try every one.
A compassionate sense of the exercises, which godly persons, especial- ly among common people, might be under, in these evil days, while some are fallen away, and others are clapping their hands and rejoicing with all their hearts to see Zion laid waste ; while Arminians are glossing their scheme, and appealing to reason and common sense, as though their principles were near or quite self-evident to all men of thought and can- dor ; and while enthusiasts are going about as men inspired and immedi- ately sent by the Almighty, pretending to extraordinary sanctity, and bold in it that they are so holy in themselves, and so entirely on the Lord's side, that all godly people must, and cannot but see as they do, and fall in with them, unless they are become blind, dead and carnal, and gotten back into the world ; a compassionate sense, I say, of the exercises of mind, which pious persons among common people might have, in_ such a
B
X THE AUTHORS PREFACE,
trying situation of tuings, was the first mCtive which excited me to enter upon this work, which I now offer to the public : And to make-divine truths plain to such, and to strip error naked before their eyes, that they might be established, and comforted, and quickened in their way heaven- ward, was the end I had in view : and, accordingly, I have labored very much to adapt myself to the lowest capacities, not meaning to write a book for the learned and polite, but for common people, and especially for those who are godly among them.
To these, therefore, that they may read what I have written with the greater proiit, I will offer these two directions :
1. Labor ofier determinate ideas of God, and a sense of bis infinite glory. This will spread a light over all the duties and doctrines of reli- gion, and help yon to understand the law and the gospel, and to pry into the mysteries, and discern the beauties, of the divine government. By much the greatest part of what I have written, besides shewing what God is, consists in but so many propositions -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 understand what our ruin is, and what the way of our recovery by free grace through Jesus Christ. The Bible is designed for rational creatures, and has God for its author ; and you may therefore depend upon it, that it contains a scheme perfectly rational, divine and glorious ; and the pleasure of divine knowledge will a thousand times more than recompence all your reading, study and pains : only content not yourselves with a general superficial knowledge, but enter thoroughly into things.
2. Practice, as well as read. The end of reading and knowledge is practice : and holy practice will help you to understand what ycu read. Love God with all your heart,, and your neighbor as yourself ; and you cannot but understand me, while, in the first Discourse, I shew what is implied in these two great commands : and practice repentance towards Ged, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ; and the second Discourse, which treats of the nature of the gospel, and a genuine compliance there- with, will naturally become plain and easy : and while you daily study divine truths in your heads, and digest them well in your hearts, and practice them in your lives, your knowledge and holiness will increase, and God's word and providence be better understood, your perplexing difficulties will be more solved, and you be established, strengthened and comforted, in your way heaven-ward ; and your light shining before men, they will see your good works, and your Father which is in Heaven will be glorified. — All which are the hearty desire and prayer of
Your Servant in Jesus Christ,
JOSEPH BELLAMY,
Mrihlem, April 25, 1756.
€me i&eltgtmi Delineated.
discourse I.
3HEWING THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE LAW, AND WHEREIN CONSISTS A REAL CONFORMITY TO IT.
MAT. XXII. 37,38,39,40.
Jestitaaid ttnto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; and •with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.. ..This is the first and great com-
mandine/it And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love jky neighbor as
thyself. ...On ibzse two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
THE INTRODUCTION.
Ti
RUE religion consists in a conformity to the law of God, and in a compliance with the gospel of Christ. The re- ligion of innocent man consisted only in a conformity to the law — the law of nature, with the addition of one positive pre- cept : he had no need of gospel-grace. But when man lost his innocency, and became guilty and depraved — when he fell under the wrath of God and power of sin, he needed a redeem- er and a sanctifier ; and in the gospel a redeemer and a sanc- tifier are provided, and a way for our obtaining pardoning mer- cy and sanctifying 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 understand the law, and rightly understand the gospel, we may easily see wherein a conformity to the one, and a compliance with the other, does consist ; and so what trite religion is.
For the present, let us take the laxv under consideration. — ■ And it will be proper to enquire into these following particu-
2 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
lars : — 1 . What duty does God require of us in his law ?— 2. From what motives must that duty be done ? — 3. What is that precise measure of duty which God requires in his law ? And a short, but very clear and plain answer to all these questions we have before us in our text ; which is the words of our blessed" Savior, and in which he does upon design declare what the sum and substance of the law is. He had a question put to him in these words : " Master, which is the great commandment in the lav/ ?" To which he answers — u Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c. ; this is the first : The second is like unto it, &c." The ten commandments are summed up in these two ; and every duty enjoined in the law, and incul- cated in the prophets, is but a deduction from these two, in which all are radically contained. A thorough under- standing of these two will therefore give us an insight into all. Let us now, therefore, begin with taking the frst of these into particular consideration. — Thou shalt love the Lord thy Godivith all thy heart, &c....Here is — 1. The duty required, viz. love to God. — 2. The grounds and reasons of the duty in- timated.... Because he is the Lord our God. — 3. The measure of duty required. ...With all thy heart, he.
In discoursing upon these words, I will therefore endeavor to shew,
I. What is implied in love to God.
II. From what motives we are required to love him.
III. What is the measure of love which is required.
SECTION I. SHEWING WHAT IS IMPLIED IN LOVE TO GOD.
I. I am to shew xv hat is implied in love to God. And
1 . A true knoxvledgc of God is implied; for this lays the foun- dation of love. A spiritual sight of God, and a sense of his glory and beauty, begets love. When he that commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines 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 glass, the glory of the
DISTINGUISHED TROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 3
Lord, then we arc changed into the same image : the temper and frame of our hearts become like God's : (to speak after the manner of men) we begin to feel towards God, in a meas- ure, as he does towards himself ; i. c. to love him with all our hearts.. ..II Cor. iii. 18. & iv. 6. For now we begin to perceive the grounds and reasons of that infinite esteem he has of him- self, and infinite complacency in himself, and why he commands all the world to love and adore him : And the stone grounds and reasons which move him thus to love himself, and command all the world to do so too, do enkindle the divine flame in our hearts. When we see God, in a measure, such as he sees himself to be, and have a sense of his glory and beauty in being what he is, in a measure, as he himself has, then we begin to love him with the same kind of love, and from the same motives, as he himself does ; only in an infinitely inferior degree. This sight and Sjense of God discovers the grounds of love to him : We see why he requires us to love him, and why we ought to love him — how right and fit it is ; and so we cannot but love him.
This true knowledge of God supposes, that, in a measure, we see God to be just such a one as he is ; and, in a measure, have a sense of his infinite glory and beauty in being such. For if our apprehensions of God are not right, it is not God we love, but only a false image of him framed in our own fancy.* And if we have not a sense of his glory and beauty
* How false and dangerous, therefore, is that principle, " That it is no matter what men's principles are, if their lives be but good." — Just 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 just as if a man might have a genuine love to God in his heart, without having right apprehensions of him !... or just as if a man might have right appre- hensions of God, let his apprehensions be what they will ! Upon this principle, Heathens, Jews, and Mahometans, may be saved as well as Christians. And, upon this principle, the heathen nations need not much trouble themselves to know which is the right God among all the gods that are worshipped in the world; for it is no matter which God they think is the true, if their lives are but good. — But why has God revealed him- self in his word, if right apprehensions of God be a matter of such indif- ference in religion ? and why did St. Paul take such pains to convert the heathen nations to Christianity, and so much fill up his epistles to them afterwards with doctrinal points, and be so strenuous as to say, " If an an- gel from heaven should preach any other gospel, let him be accur- sed," if right apprehensions of God, and right principles of religion be a
4 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
in being what he is, it is impossible we should truly love. and esteem him for being such. To love God for being what he is, and yet not to have any sense of his glory and beauty in> being such, implies a contradiction ; for it supposes we have a sense of his glory and beauty when we have not : a sense of the beauty and amiableness of any object being always neces- sarily implied in love to it. Where no beauty or amiableness is seen there can be no love. Love cannot be forced. Forced love is no love. If we are obliged to try to force ourselves to love any body, it is a sign they are very odious in our eyes, or at least that we see no beauty or amiableness in them, no form or comeliness, wherefore we should desire or delight in them.. ..Cant. viii. 7. In all cases, so far as we see beauty, so far we love, and no farther.
Most certainly that knowledge of God which is necessary to lay a foundation of genuine love to him, implies not only- right apprehensions of what he is, but also a sense of his glory and beauty in being such ; for such a knowledge of God as consists merely in speculation, let it rise ever so high, and b©
matter of such indifference ? — It is strange that such a notion should be ever once mentioned by any that pretend to be Christians, since it is sub- versive of the whole Christian religion : making Christianity no safer a way to heaven than Paganism. : Yea, such a principle naturally tends to make all those who imbibe it leave love to God and faith in Christ out of their religion, and quiet themselves with a mere empty form of external duties : Or, in other words, it tends to make them leave the law and the gospel out of their religion, and quiet themselves with mere heathen morality ; for a man cannot attain to love to God and faith in Christ, without right appre- hensions of God and Christ : Or, in other words, a man cannot attain to a real conformity to the law, and to a genuine compliance with the gospel, unless his principles respecting the law and gospel are right : but a man may attain to a good life, exterhally, let his apprehensions of God and Christ, of laiv and gospel, and all his principles of religion, be what they will. Let him be a heathen, or Jew, a Mahometan, or Christian ; yea, if a man be an Atheist, he may live a good life externally ; for any man has sufficient power to do every external duty ; and it is many times much to men's honor and worldly interest to appear righteous outvoardly before -men. ...Mat. xxiii. 28.
-.V. B. What is here said, may, with a little alteration, be as well appli- ed to some other sorts of men. So the Moravians sav " They care not what men's principles are, if they do but love the Savior."- So, in Nevj- England, there are multitudes who care little or nothing what doctrines men believe, if they are but full of flaming zeal. Just as if it were no matter what kind of Savior we frame an idea of if we do but love him ; jicr what wc are zealous about, if we are but flaming u«t.
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERrEITS. 5
ever so clear, will never move us to love him. Mere specula- tion, where there is no sense of beauty, will no sooner fill the heart with love, than a looking-glass will be filled with love by the image of a beautiful countenance, which looks into it : and a mere speculative knowledge of God, will not, cannot, beget a sense of his beauty in being what he is, when there is naturally no disposition in our hearts to account him glorious in being such, but wholly to the contrary. Rom. viii. 7.... The carnal mind is en- mity against God. When natures are in perfect contrariety, (the one sinful, and the other holy,) the more they are known to each other, the more is mutual hatred stirred up, and their entire aversion to each other becomes more sensible. The more they know of one another, the greater is their dislike, and the plainer do they feel it. — Doubdess the fallen angels have a great degree of speculative knowledge ; they have a very clear eight and great sense of what God is : but die more they know of God, the more they hate him : i. e. their hatred and aver- sion is stirred up the more, and they feel it plainer. So, awa- kened sinners, when under deep and thorough conviction, have comparatively a very clear sight and great sense of God ; but it only makes them see and feel their native enmity, which be- fore lay hid. A sight and sense of what God is, makes them see and feel what his law is, and so what their duty is, and so what their sinfulness is, and so what their danger is : It makes the commandment come, and so sin revives, andtheij die. ...Rom. vii. 7, 8, 9. The clearer sight and the greater sense they have of what God is, the more plainly do they perceive that perfect contrariety between his nature and their's : their aversion to God becomes discernible : they begin to see what enemies they are to him : and so the secret hypocrisy there has been in all their pretences of love, is discovered — and so their high con- ceit of their goodness, and all their hopes of finding favor in the sight of God upon the account of it, cease, die away, and come to nothing. Sin revived, and I died. The greater sight and sense they have of what God is, the plainer do they feel that they have no love to him ; but the greatest aversion : for die
6 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
more they know of God, the more their native enmity is stirred up. So, again, as soon as ever an unregenerate sinner enters into die world of spirits, where he has a much clearer sight and greater sense of what God is, immediately his native en- mity works to perfection, and he blasphemes like a very devil : and that although perhaps he died full of seeming love and joy. As the Galatians, who once loved Paul, so as that they could even have plucked out their eyes and given them to him ; yet, when afterwards they came to know more clearly what kind of man he was, then thev turned his enemies : And so, finally, all the wicked, at the day of Judgment, when they shall see verv clear- ly what God is, will thereby only have all the enmity of their hearts stirred to perfection. — From all which it is exceedingly manifest that the clearest speculative knowledge of God, is so far from bringing an unholy heart to love God, that it will only stir up the more aversion ; and therefore that knowledge of God which lays the foundation of love, must imply not only right apprehensions of what God is, but also a sense of his glo- ry and beauty in being such.*
Wicked men and devils may know what God is, but none but holy beings have any sense of his infinite glory and beauty in being such; which sense, in scripture-language, is called seeing and knowing. I. John hi. 6. Whosoever sinneth,hath not seen him, neither known him. III. John, ver. 11. He that doth evil hath not seen God. I. John ii. 4. He that saith, I knotv him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
* I grant, that if all our enmity against God arise merely from our conceiving him to be our enemy, then a manifestation of his love to our souls will cause our enmity to cease, and bring us to love him ; nor will there be any need of a sense of the moral excellency of his nature to pro- duce it ; and so there will be no need of the sanctifying influences of the holy spirit. A manifestation of the love of God to our souls will effectu- ally change us. ...and thus a man may be under great terrors from a sense oftli'. wrath of God, and may see the enmity of his herrt in this sense; and may afterwards have, as he thinks, great manifest ions of the love of God, and be filled with love and joy ; and after all, never truly seethe plague of his own heart, nor have his nature renewed : and a man's having experienced such a false conversion, nauirally leads him to frajne wrong notions of religion, and blinds his mind against the truth. Many of the Antitwmlan principles take rise from this quarter.
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 7
in him. Because wicked men have no sense of his glory and beauty, there love they ave said not to know God : Fov all knowledge without this is vain ; it is but the form of knowledge ....Rom. ii. 20. It will nevev enkindle divine love. And, in scripture, sinners are said to be blind, because, after all their light and knowledge, they have no sense of God's glory in be- ing what he is, and so have no heart to love him. And hence also they are said to be dead. They know nothing of the in- effable glory of the divine nature, and the love of God is not in them.. ..yo/m v. 42. andviii. 19, 55.
2. Another thing implied in love to God is esteem. Esteem, strictly speaking, is that high and exalted thought of, and value for, any thing, which arises from a sight and sense of its own intrinsic wovth, excellency and beauty. So, a sense of the infi- nite dignity, greatness, glory, excellency and beauty of the most high God, begets in us high and exalted thoughts of him, and makes us admire, wonder and adore. Hence, the heaven- ly hosts fall down before the throne, and, under a sense of his ineffable glory, continually ay, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al- mighty, the xvhole earth isfidl of thy glory. And Saints here below, while they behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are ravished j they esteem, they admire, they wonder and adore ; and, under some feebler sense of the ineffable glory of die divine nature, they begin to feel as they do in heaven, and to speak their language, and say, " Who is a God like unto thee ! thy name alone is excellent, and thy glory is exalted above the heavens."
This high esteem of God disposes and inclines the heart to acquiesce, yea, to exult, in all the high prerogatives God as- sumes to himself.
God, from a consciousness of his own infinite excellency, his entire right to and absolute authority over all things, is dispos- ed to take state to himself, and honor and majesty, the king- dom, the power and the glory ; and he sets up himself as the most high God, supreme Lord and sovereign Governor of the
whole world, and bids all worlds adore him, and be in a most
C
8 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
perfect subjection to him, and that with all their hearts ; and esteems the wretch, who does not account this his highest hap- piness, worthy of eternal damnation. God thinks it infinitely becomes him to set up himself for a God, and to command all the world to adore him, upon pain of eternal damnation. He thinks himself fit to govern the world, and that the throne is his proper place, and that all love, honor and obedience are his due. " I am the Lord, (says he) and besides 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 shall ye do, for I am the ■" Lord. And cursed be every one that continues not in all u things written in the book of the law to do them." Now it would be infinitely wicked for the highest angel in Heaven to assume any of this honor to himself ; but it infinitely becomes the most high God thus to do. And when we see his infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, and begin rightly to esteem him, then his conduct, in all this, will begin to appear infinitely right and fit, and so infinitely beautiful and ravishing, and worthy to be rejoiced and exulted in. Psalm xci. l....The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice : let the multitude of the inks be glad thereof.
And a sight and sense of the supreme, infinite glory and ex- cellency of the divine nature, will not only make us glad that he is God, and King, and Governor ; but also exceedingly glad that we live under his government, and are to be his subjects and servants, and to be at his disposal.... It will shew us the grounds and reasons of his law... how infinitely right and fit it is that we should love him with all our heaits, and obey him in every thing ; how infinitely unfit and wrong the least sin is, and how just the threatened punishment : and, at the same time, it will help us to see that all the nations of the earth are as a drop of the bucket, or small dust of the balance, before him ; and that we ourselves are nothing and less than nothing in his sight. So that a right sight and sense of the supreme, infinite glory of God, will make us esteem him, so as to be glad that he is on the throne, and we at his footstool.. ..that he is king, and we his
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTER* LITS. 9
subjects.. .that he rules and reigns, and that wc are absolutely in subjection, and absolutely at his disposal* In a word, we shall be glad to see him take all that honor to himself which he does, and shall be heartily 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 all things to come to rights. Job xlii. 5, 6.... I have heard of thee by the hear- ing of the ear: but nexv mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I ab- hor nnjscf and repent in dust and ashes. Isa. ii. 11. ..The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be brought down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted. ...And that all this is implied in a genuine love to God, not only the rea- son of the thing and the plain tenor of scripture manifest, but it is even self-evident ; for if we do not so esteem God as to be thus glad to have him take his place, and we ours, it argues secret dislike, and proves that there is secret rebellion in our hearts : Thus, therefore, must we esteem the glorious God, or be reputed rebels in his sight.
3. Another thing implied in love to God may be called be- nevolence. When we are acquainted with any person, and he appears very excellent in our eyes, and we highly esteem him, it is natural now heartily to wish him well ; we are concerned for his interest ; we are glad to see it go well with him, and sorry to see it go ill with him ; and ready at all times chearlul- ly to do what we can to promote his welfare. Thus Jonathan felt towards David : and thus love to God will make us feel to- wards him, his honor and interest in the world. When God is seen in his infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, as the most high God, supreme Lord and sovereign governor of the whole world, and a sense of his infinite worthiness is hereby raised in our hearts, this enkindles a holy benevolence, the natural language of which is, Let God be glorified. ...Psalm xcvi. 7, 8. And be thou exalted, 0 God, above the heavens : let thy glory be above all the earth. ...Psalm ivii. 5, 11.
This holy disposition sometimes expresses itself in earnest longings that God would glorify himself, and honor his great
10 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
name ; and bring all the world into an entire subjection to him. And hence this is the natural language of true love.... Our father which art in Heaven, hattoxved be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven....WlzX. vi. 9, 10. And hence, when God is about to bring to pass great and glo- rious things to the honor of his great name, it causes great joy and rejoicing. Psalm xcvi. 11, 12, 13.. ..Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad : let the sea roar and the fulness there- of: let the field be joyful, and all that is therein : then shall the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord ; for he cometh,for he cometh to judge the earth : he shall judge the xvorld with right- eousness, and the people with his truth.
And hence again, when God seems to be about to do, or per- mit, any thing, which, as it seems to us, tends most certainly to bring reproach and dishonor upon his great name, it occasions the greatest anguish and distress. Thus says God to Moses, " This is a stiff-necked people, let me alone that I may destroy " them in a moment, and I will make of thee a great nation." But says Moses, " What will become of thy great name ? " What will the Egyptians say ? And what will the nations all " round about say ?" And he mourns and wrestles, cries and prays, begs and pleads, as if his heart would break : and says he, " If I may not be heard, but this dishonor and reproach u must come upon thy great name, it cannot comfort me to tell " me of making of me a great nation : pray let me rather die " and be forgotten forever, and let net my name be numbered "among the living ; but let it be. blotted out of thy book." Well, says God, " I will hear thee. But, as truly as I live, I " will never put up these affronts ; but the whole world shall " know what a holy and sin-hating God I am, and be filled " with my glory : for the carcases of all those who have treat- " ed me thus shall fall in the wilderness ; and here they shall " wander till forty .years are accomplished, and then I will do " so and so to their children, and so secure the honor of my " power, truth and faithfulness." And now Moses is content to live in the wilderness, and do, and suffer, and undergo any
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 11
thing, if God will but take care of his great name. Exod. xxxii. Numb. xiv....And as it is distressing to a true lover of God, to see God's name, and works, and ways fall into reproach and contempt ; and as, on the other hand, there is no greater joy than to see God glorify himself (Exod. xv.J ; hence, this world, even on this account, may be fitly called a vale of tears to the people of God, because here they are always seeing reproach and contempt cast upon God, his name, his works and his ways : And hence, at the day of judgment, all these tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, because then they shall see all things turned to the advancement of the glory of his great name, throughout the endless ages of eternity.. ..Rev. xix. 1,2, 3,4, 5. Again, this divine benevolence, or wishing that God may be glorified, sometimes expresses itself in earnest longings that ail worlds might join together to bless and praise the name of the Lord ; and it appears infinitely fit and right, and so infi- nitely beautiful and ravishing, that the whole intelligent creation should forever join in the most solemn adoration : yea, and that sun, moon, stars.. ..earth, air, sea.. ..birds, beasts, fishes.... mountains and hills, and all things, should, in their way, dis- plav the divine perfections, and praise the name of the Lord, because his name alone is excellent, and his glory is exalted above the heavens. And hence the pious Psalmist so often breathes this divine language : Psalm ciii. 20, 21, 22.. ..Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength — that do his com- vuindments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. ... Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.... Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion : Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. Psalm cxlviii, 1 — 13. ...Praise ye the Lord.. ..Praise ye the Lord from the heavens : praise him in the heights,. ..Praise him, all ye his angels : praise him, all his hosts.. ..Praise him, sun and moon, &c. — Let them praise the name of the Lord ; for his name alone is excellent, &c. See al- so the 95, 96, 97, & 98th Psalms, &c. &c.
Lastly, from this divine benevolence arises a free and genu- ine disposition to consecrate and give up ourselves entirely to
12 TRUE, RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
the Lord forever — to walk in all his ways, and keep all his com- mands, seeking his glory : For if we desire that God may be glorified, we shall naturally be disposed to seek his glorv. A sight and sense of the infinite dignity, greatness, glory and ex- cellency of God, the great creator, preserver and governor of the world, who has an entire right unto, and an absolute author- ity over all things, makes it appear infinitely fit that all things should be for him, and him alone ; and that we should be en* tirely for him, and wholly devoted to him ; and that it is infi- nitely wrong to live to ourselves, and make our own interest our last end. The same views which make the godly earnest- ly long to have God glorify himself, 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 bless the Lord, he concludes with, Bless the Lord, 0 my sold : And this is the language of heaven — Rev. iv. 11.... Thou art -worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and poiver : For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, andxuere crea- ted. And it was their maxim in the Apostles' days, Whether they ate or drank, or whatever they did, all must be done to the glory of God.. ..I Cor. x. 31. And it was their way, not to live to themselves, but to the Lord.. ..II Cor. v. 15 : Yea, Whether they lived, to live to the Lord; or xvhether they died, to die to the Lord.. ..Rom. xiv. 7, 8. This was what they commended..- Phil. ii. 20, 21. And this was what they enjoined, as that, in which the very spirit of true religion consisted.. ..Eph. vi. 5, 6r
7 I Cor. vi. 20. — Rom. xii. 1. &vii. 4.
All rational creatures, acting as such, are always influenced by motives in their whole conduct. Those things are always the most powerful motives, which appear to us most worthy of our choice. The principal motive to an action, is always the ultimate end of the action : Hence, if God, his honor and inte- rest, appear to us as the supreme good, and most worthy of our choice, then God, his honor, and interest, will be the principal motive and ultimate end of all we do. If we love God su- preme!)', we shall live to him ultimately ; if we love him with
DISTINGUISHED PROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 1 .»
all our hearts, we shall serve him with all our souls : Just as, on the other hand, if we love ourselves above all, then self-love will absolutely govern us in all things ; if self-interest be the principal motive, then self-interest will be the last end, in our whole conduct : Thus, then, we see, that if God be highest in esteem, then God's Interest will be the principal motive and the last end of the whole conduct of rational creatures ; and 'ifsetf be the highest in esteem, then self-interest will be the principal motive and last end : And hence we may observe, that where \ self-interest governs men, they are considered in scripture as serving themselves. ...Hos. x. 1. — Zee. vii. 5, 6. And where God's interest governs, they are considered as serving the Lord ....II Cor. v. 15. — Gal. i. 10. — Eph. vi. 5,6,7. compared with Tit. ii. 9, 10. To love God so as to serve him, is what the law requires ; — to love self so as to serve self is rebellion against the majesty of heaven : And the same infinite obliga- tions which we are under to love God above ourselves ; even the same infinite obligations are we under to live to God ulti- mately, and not to ourselves : And therefore it is as great a sin to live to ourselves ultimately, as it is to love ourselves supremelv. 4. and lastly. Delight in God, is also implied in love to him. By delight we commonly mean that pleasure, sweetness and satisfaction, which we take in any thing that is very dear to us. When a man appears very excellent to us, and we esteem him, and wish him all good, we also, at the same time, feel a delight in him, and a sweetness in his company and conversation ; we long to see him when absent ; we rejoice in his presence ; the. enjoyment of him tends to make us happy : So, when a holy soul beholds God in the infinite moral excellencv and beauty of his nature, and loves him supremely, and is devoted to him en- tirely, now also he delights in him superlativelv. His delight and complacency is as great as his esteem, and arises from a sense of the same moral excellency and beauty. From ibis de- light in God arise longings after further acquaintance with him, and greater nearness to him. Job xxiii. 3...0 that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat ! — Longings
14 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
after communion with him. Psalm Ixiii. 1, 2....0 God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my sold thirsteth for thee : my flesh longethfor tliee In a dry and thirsty land, where 110 water is.... To see thy poxver and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Verse 8.. ..My soul followeth hard after thee. A holy rejoicing in God. Hab. iii. 17, l8....Although the fig- tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the la- bor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield 'no meat ; the jlock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. ...Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Finally, from this delight in God arises a ho- ly disposition to renounce all other things, and live wholly up- on him, and take up everlasting content in him, and in him alone. Psalm lxxiii. 25, 26....Who?n have Jin heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.... My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. The vain man takes content in vain com- pany ; the worldly man takes content in riches ; the ambitious man in honor and applause ; the philosopher in philosophical speculations ; the legal hvpocrite in his round of duties ; the evangelical hypocrite in his experiences, his discoveries, his jqys, his raptures, and confident expectation of heaven : But the true lover of God takes his content in God himself. Psalm iv. 6, 7. And thus we see what is implied in love to God.
And now, that this is a right representation of the nature of that love which is required in the first and great commandment of the law. upon which chiefly all the law and the prophet^, hang, is manifest, not only from the reason of the thing, and from what has been already said, but also from this, that such a love to God as this lays a sure and firm foundation for all ho- ly obedience. That love to God is of the right kind, which will effectually influence us to keep his commands. John xv. 14. I. John ii. 3, 4, 5. But it is evident, from the nature of things, that such a love as this will effectually influence us to do so. As self-love naturally causes us to set up self and seek self-inter- est, so this love to God will naturally influence us to set up God
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 15
and seek his interest. As delight in the world naturally makes us seek after the enjoyment of the world, so this delight in God will naturally influence us to seek after the enjoyment of God : And while we love God primarily for being what he is, we cannot but, for the same reason, love his law, which is a trans- cript 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 same time, hate his law : but if we love him for being what he is, we cannot but love to be like him ; which is what his law requires. To suppose that a man loves God supremely for what he is, and yet does not love to belike him, is an evident contradiction. Itisto suppose a thing supreme- ly loved ; and yet, at the same time, not loved at all : So that, to a demonstration, this is the very kind of love which the Lord our God requires of us. So, saints in heaven love God perfectly, andso 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 so 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 ours here upon earth, but only in degree.
SECTION II.
SHEWING FROM WHAT MOTIVES TRUE LOVE TO GOD TAKES
ITS RISE.
II. I now proceed to shew more particularly from what mo- tives we are required thus to love God. Indeed, I have done this in part already ; for I have been obliged all along, in shew- ing what is implied in love to God, to keep my eye upon the first and chief ground and reason of love, namely, what God is in himself. But diere are other considerations which increase our obligations to love him and live to him ; which ought, there- fore, to come into the account : And I design here to take a general view of all the reasons and motives which ought to in- fluence us to love the Lord our God ; all which are implied in
D
16 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
%
those words, Tlie Lord thy God. Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, i. e. because he is the Lord and our God. 1. The first and chief motive which is to influence us to love God with all our hearts, is his infinite dignity and greatness, glo- ry and excellency ; or, in one word, his infinite amiableness. — We are to love him with all our hearts, because he is the Lord — because he is what he is, and just such a Being as he is. — On this account, primarily, and antecedent to all other considera- tions, he is infinitely amiable ; and, therefore, on this account, primarily, and antecedent to all other considerations, ought he to appear infinitely amiable in our eyes. This is the first and chief reason and ground upon which his law is founded, I am the \.ob.t>....( Excd. xx. 2. — Lev. xix.J This, therefore, ought to be the first and chief motive to influence us to obey. The principal reason which moves him to require us to love him, ought to be the principal motive of our love. If the fundamen- tal reason of his requiring us to love him with all our hearts, is because he is what he is, and yet the bottom of our love be some- thing else, then our love is not what his law requires, but a thing of quite another nature : Yea, if the foundation of our love to God is not because he is what he is, in truth, we love him not at all. If I feel a sort of respect to one of my neighbors, who is very kind to me, and either do not know what sort of man he is, or, if I do, yet do not like him, it is plain, it is his kind- nesses I love, and not his person ; and all my seeming love to him is nothing but self-love in another shape : And let him cease being kind to me, and my love will cease : Let him cross me, and I shall hate him. Put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face, (Job i. 11), said the devil concerning Job ; and, indeed, Job would have done so, had not his love to God taken its rise from another motive than God's kindnesses to him. But why need I multiply words ? For it seems even self-evident that God's loveliness ought to l;e the first and chief thing for which we love him.
Now, God is infinitely lovely, because he is what he is ; or, in other words, his infinite dignity and greatness, glory and ex-
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 17
cellency, are the result of his natural and moral perfections : So that it is a clear sight and realizing sense of his natural and moral perfections, as they are revealed in his works and in his word, that make him appear, to a holy soul, as a Being of in- finite dignity and greatness, glory and excellency. Thus, the Queen of Sheba, seeing and conversing with Solomon, and view- ing his works, under a sense of the large and noble endow- ments of his mind, was even ravished ; and cried out, The one half was not told me ! And thus the holy and divinely enlight- ened soul, upon seeing God, reading his word, and meditating on his wonderful works, under a sense of his divine and in- comprehensible perfections, is ravished with his infinite dignity, majesty, greatness, glory and excellency ; and loves, admires, and adores ; and says, Who is a God like unto thee I
His natural perfections are,
(1.) His infinite understanding, whereby he knows himself, and all things possible, and beholds all things past, present and to come, at one all-comprehensive view. So that, from ever- lasting to everlasting, his knowledge can neither increase nor diminish, or his views of things suffer the least variation ; being always absolutely complete, and consequently necessarily al- ways the same.
(2.) His almighty power, whereby he is able, with infinite ease, to do any thing that he pleases.
And his moral perfections are,
(1 .) His infinite wisdom, whereby he is able, and is inclined to contrive and order all things, in all worlds, for the best ends and after the best manner.
(2.) His perfect holiness, whereby he is inclined infinitely to love right, and hate wrong : Or, according to scripture-phrase, to love righteousness and hate iniquity.
(3.) His impartial justice, whereby he is unchangeably in- clined to render to everyone according to his deserts.
(4.) His infinite goodness, whereby he can find in his heart to bestow the greatest favors upon his creatures, if he pleases ; and is inclined to bestow all that is best, all things considered.
18 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
(5.) His truth and faithfulness, whereby he is inclined to fulfil all his will, according to his word: So that there is an ever- lasting harmony between his will, his word, and his performance.
And his being, and all his natural and moral perfections, and his glory and blessedness, which result from them, he has in himself, and of himself, underived ; and is necessarily infi- nite, eternal, unchangeable, in all ; and so, absolutely indepen- dent, sell-sufficient and all-sufficient.
" This is the God, whom we do love ! " This is the God, whom we adore ! " In him we trust. ...to him we live ; " He is our all, for evermore. Now there are three ways by which the perfections of God are discovered to the children of men : By his works, by his word, and by his spirit. By the two first, we see him to be what he is ; — by the last, we beholdhis infinite glory in beingsuch : — The two first produce a speculative knowledge ; thelast,asenseofmoralbeauty.
First. These perfections of God are discovered by his works, i. e. by his creating, preserving, and governing the world; and by his redeeming, sanctifying, and saving his people.
1. By his creating the world. He it is, who has stretched abroad the heavens as a curtain, and spread them out as a tent to dwell in. ...who has created the sun, moon and stars, and appointed them their courses.. ..who has hung the earth upon nothing.. ..who has fixed the mountains, and bounded the seas, and formed every living creature. All the heavenly hosts he hath made, and created all the nations that dwell upon the earth : and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea, and every creeping thing, are the works of his hands : and the meanest of his works are full of unsearchable wonders, far surpassing our understanding : So that the invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead : As St. Paul observes, in Rom. i. 20.
2. By his preserving the world. His eyes run to and fro throughout all the world, beholding every thing. His eyes are
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 19
upon all his works ; so that even the sparrows are not forgotten bv him, and the very hairs of our head are all numbered : And he holds all things in being ; and the opening of his hand fills the desires of every living creature : even the whole family of heaven and earth live upon his goodness, and are maintained by his bounty : In a word, his infinite understanding sees all.. ..his infinite power upholds all. ...his infinite wisdom takes care of all, and his infinite goodness provides for all — and that every moment ; so that the invisible things cf God are discovered in preserving as well as in creating the world : And hence, when the pious Psalmist meditates on the works of creation and pres- ervation, he sees God in them, and views his perfections, and is touched at heart with a sense of his glory ; and is filled with high and exalted, and with admiring and adoring thoughts of God. So, Psalm xix. I. ...The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, &c. And Psalm xcv. 1....0 come let us sing unto the Lord, &c. — But why ? — Verse 3. ..For the Lord is a great God, and a great King, above all gods. — But how does this appear ? Why, (ver. 4, 5.) In his hand are the deep places of the earth ; the strength of the hills is his also : The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land : Ver. 6...0, therefore, come let us worship and boxv down ; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. And again, in Psal. xcvi. 1....0 sing unto the Lord a new song : sing unto the Lord, all the earth. — But why ? — Ver. 4.. .For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised : He is to be feared above all gods. — But wherein does this appear ? — Why, (ver. 5.) All the gods of the nations are idols ; but the Lord made the heavens. And once more, in Psal. civ. 1, 2, he... .Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. — But why ?.... Thou art very great : thou art clothed with honor and majesty. — But how does this appear ? — Why, Thou hast stretched out the heavens as a curtain. And ver. 5. ...And laid the foundations of the earth, that it cannot be removed for ever. And ver. 27. ...All wait upon thee, that thou may est give them their meat in due season. Ver. 28.. . . That thou givest them, they gather : thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good.— And throughout the whole Psalmhe is meditating
20 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
on the creation and preservation of the world ; and viewing the divine perfections therein discovered, and admiring the divine glory, and wondering and adoring ; and finally concludes with, Bless the Lord, 0 my soul : Praise ye the Lord. But
3. His perfections are still much more eminently displayed in that moral government -which he maintains over the intelligent part of the creation ; especially his moral perfections. In the works of nature his natural perfections are to be seen : but, in his moral government of the world, he acts out his heart, and shews the temper of his mind : Indeed, all the perfections of God are to be seen in the work of creation, if we view angels and men, and consider what they were, as they came first out of his hands — holy and pure : But still God's conduct towards them, under the character of their King and Governor, more ev- idently discovers the very temper of his heart. As the tree is known by the fruit, so 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 variety of scenes were to be open- ed ; in and by all which, God designed to exhibit a most exact image of himself : For, as God loves himself infinitely for be- ing what he is, so he takes infinite delight in acting forth and ex- pressing all his heart. He loves to see his nature and image shine in all his wTorks, and to behold the whole world filled with his glory ; and he perfectly loves to have his conduct, the whole of it taken together, an exact resemblance of himself ; and in- finitely abhors, in his public conduct, in the least to counteract the temper of his heart ; so as, by his public conduct, to seem to be what indeed he is not : So that, in his moral government of the world, we may see his inward disposition, and discern the time nature of his moral perfections : And indeed all his perfections are herein discovered ; particularly,
(1 .) His infinite understanding. High on his throne in heav- en he sits, and all his vast dominions lie open to his view: His all-seeing eye views all his courts above, and sees under the whole heavens, looks through the earth, and pierces all the dark caverns of hell ; so that his acquaintance with all worlds and all
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 21
things is absolutely perfect and complete : He can behold all the solemn worship of heaven, and the inmost thoughts of all that great assembly : he can behold all the sin, misery and con- fusion that overspread the whole earth, and the inmost temper of every mortal ; and look through hell, and see all the rebellion, and blasphemy, and cunning devices of those infernal fiends ; — and all this at one all-comprehending view: And thus, as high Gov- ernor of the whole world, he continually beholds all things ; whereby a foundation is laid for the exercise of all his other per- fections in his government over all. See the omniscience of God elegantly described in Psal. cxxxix. 1 — 12. And being perfectly acquainted with himself, as well as with all his crea- tures, he cannot but see what conduct from him towards them, will, all things considered, be most right, and fit, and amiable, and most becoming such au one as he is ; and also what conduct from them to him is his due ; and their duty. By his infinite understanding, 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 disposed to conduct accordingly ; — of which more pres- ently. Psal. cxlvii. 1.... Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God ; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. — But why ? — Ver. 5. ..Great is our Lord and of great poxver ; his understanding is infinite. — But wherein does that ap- pear ? — Why, (ver. 4.) He teileth the number of the stars ; he calleth them all by their names. Now, if the infinite under- standing of God may be seen in this one particular, much more is it in the regular ordering and disposing of all things, through- out the whole universe ; and that, not only in the natural, but also in the moral world.
(2) His infinite power is displayed in the government of the world : For he does according to his pleasure in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; so that none can stay his hand, or hinder the execution ofhis designs. Have rebellions broken out in any part of his dominions ? — he lias manifestly had the rebels entirely in his hands : They have lain
22 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
absolutely at his mercy ; and he has dealt with them according to his sovereign pleasure ; and none has been able to make any resistance ; nor has there been any to deliver them out of his hands. When rebellion broke out in heaven, he crushed the rebels in a moment : They fell beneath the weight of his hand ...they felt his power.. ..they despaired... they sunk to hell ; and there he reserves them in chains ; nor can they stir from their dark abode, but by his special permission. And when rebel- lion broke out upon earth, the rebels were equally in his hands, and at his mercy, unable to make any resistance ; although he was pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to take another method with them : But he has since discovered his power, in treading down his implacable enemies, under foot, many a time : He destroyed the old world, burned Sodom, drowned Pharaoh and his hosts, and turned Nebuchadnezzar into a beast. If his en- emies have exalted themselves, yet he has been above them — brought them down ; and discovered to all the world that they are in his hands, and without strength, at his disposal : Or if he has suffered them to go on and prosper, and exalt themselves greatly, yet still he has been above them, and has accomplished his designs by them, and at last has brought them down. — Haughty Nebuchadnezzar, when he had broken the nations to pieces, as if he had been the hammer of the whole earth, now thought himself somebody ; and Alexander the Great, when con- quering the world, aspired to be thought the son of Jupiter : But the most high God, the great and almighty Governor of the world, always had such scourges of mankind only as a rod in his hand, with which he has executed judgment upon a wicked world. Howbeit, they meant not so, neither did their hearts think so : But it was in their hearts to gratify their ambition, avarice, and revenge. However, he was above them ; and always such have been, in his hands, as the ax is in the hands of him that hewcth therewith, or as the saw is in the hands of him that shaketh it ; or as the rod is in the hand of him that lifteth it tip. And when he has done with the rod, he always breaks it and burns it : See Isaiah x. 5 — 19.
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 2S
And as this great King has discovered his almighty power, by crashing rebellions in his kingdom, and subduing rebels, so he has, also, in protecting his friends, and working deliverance for his people : He made a path for his people through the sea ; he led them through the wilderness : 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, and all the night with the light of fire : He brought them to the promised land, and drove out the heathen before them ; and, in all their distresses, whenever they cried unto him, he delivered them : And as the supreme Governor of the world, in the days of old, did thus discover his almighty power in governing among his intelligent creatures, so he is still, in various ways and manners, in his providential dispensations, evidently discovering that he can do all things : And his people see it and believe it ; and admire and adore : — Read Psal. cv.
(3.) Again, His infinite wisdom is discovered in an endless variety of instances — in all his government throughout all his dominions — in his managing all things to the glory of his Ma- jesty....to the good of his loyal subjects, and to the confusion of his foes. There has never any thing happened in all his do- minions, and never will, but has been, and shall be made entire- ly subservient to his honor and glory : Even the contempt cast upon him by his rebellious subjects, he turns to his greater glo- ry ; as in the case of Pharaoh, who set up himself against God, and said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey him f I knoxo not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. And he exalted himself, and dealt proudly and haughtily ; and hardened his heart, and was resolved he would not regard God, nor be bowed nor conquer- ed by him ; for he despised him in his heart : But the more he carried himself, as if there were no God, the more were the be- ing and perfections of God made manifest ; for the more he hardened his heart — the more stout and stubborn he was, the more God honored himself in subduing him : Yea, God, in his infinite wisdom, suffered him to be as high and haughty-r-as
stout and stubborn as he pleased ; he took off all restraints from
E
24 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
him — permitted the magicians to imitate the miracles of Mo- ses, so that Pharaoh, in seeing, might not see, nor be convinced ; and he ordered that the plagues should last but for a short sea- son, that Pharaoh might have respite; and thus it was that God hardened his heart : And God, in his infinite wisdom, did all this with a view to his own glory ; as he tells Pharaoh by the hand of Moses — " Such and such plagues I design to bring up- on you, and to do so, and so, with you." And, indeed, for this cause have I raised thee rip, for to shezu in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth... Exod. ix. 16 : And, accordingly, God was illustriously honored, at last, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, at the Red Sea ; and the Egyptians, and all the neighboring 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 Philistines had not forgotten it ; for, when the ark, in the days of Eli, was carried into the camp of Israel, the Philis- tines were sore afraid, and said, u God is come into the camp : Woe unto us : Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods ? These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness," Sec. ..I Sara. iv.
So God wisely ordered and over-ruled all things, that befel the children of Israel in the wilderness, to accomplish the ends he had in view : His designs were to get himself a great name, and fill the whole earth with his glory (Num. xiv. 21.) ; and to try and humble his people, and make them know, that it was not for their righteousness that he brought them into the land of Canaan, (JDeut. ix.) And every thing that came to pass, for those forty years, was admirably calculated to attain these ends. The news of Pharaoli'% overthrow — of God's coming down upon Mount Sinai, in the presence of all Israel, and abiding there so long a time, with such awful majesty ; and of the pil- lar of cloud by day, and of fire by night — of the manna — of the water flowing out of a rock, and following them — of their mur- murings and insurrections, and God's judgments upon them ; — I say, the news of these, and other things of this nature, that
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 25
happened to them for those forty years, flew all the world over, and filled all the nations of the earth with the greatest astonish- ment ; and made them think there was no God like the God of Israel.. .(Numb, xiv. 13, 14, 15.) By all these things, and by God's bringing his people, at last, to the possession of the land of Canaan, according to his promise, there was exhibited a spe- cimen of God's infinite knowledge, power, wisdom,holiness, jus- tice, goodness and truth ; and that before the eyes of all the na- tions : And so the whole earth was filled with his glory > i. e. with the clear manifestations of those perfections in which his glory consists. And thus his great end was obtained : And, in the mean time, all the wanderings, and trials, and sins, and sorrows of the children of Israel, together with all the wonder- ful works which their eyes beheld, and wherein God discover- ed himself for those forty years, had a natural tendency to try them, to humble them, and break their hearts ; and make them know, that, not for their righteousness, nor for the uprightness of their hearts, did Gcd, at last, shew them that great mercy : and to convince them of the exceeding great obligations thcy were under to love, and fear, and serve the Lord forever. And so, the other great end which God had in view was accomplish- ed... .Deut*v'n\. ix. & x. chap. — And now, all these things were by God wisely done ; and in this his conduct, his infinite wisdom is to be seen.* — And thus it is in all God's dispensations, throughout all his dominions, with regard to the whole universe in general, and to every intelligent creature in particular. His
* If God had so ordered that Abraham had been bqrn in the land cf Canaan, and his posterity had multiplied greatly, and the other nations, gradually, by sicknesses and wars, had wasted away and come to nothing, until there were none but the posterity of Abraham left, and they had rilled the land, God's hand then would not have been seen — none of these excellent ends attained.... ail would have been resolved into natural causes. Therefore Gcd contrived where Abraham should be born — how he should leave his own country — have a promise of the land cf Canaan ; and h< w his seed should come to be in Egypt — come to be in great bondage and dis- tress ; how he would send, and how he would deliver them, and how th< j should carry themselves, and what should happen ; and how every thing should turn out at last : he laid the whole plan, with a view to those ex- cellent ends his eye was upon. It was wisely contrived, and, when it came to be acted over, his infinite wisdom was discovered.
26 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
works are all done in wisdom ; and so his infinite wisdom is discovered in all : And hence God appears infinitely glorious in the eyes of his people.... Deut. xxxii. 3, 4. — Psal. civ. 24, 8c cv. 1,45. — I Cor. i. 24, 31.
(4.) Again, His infinite purity and holiness is also discover- ed in his government of the world — in all that he has done to establish right, and discountenance wrong, throughout all his do- minions. His creating angels and men in his own image, with his law written on their hearts, manifested his disposition, and showed what he was pleased with : But his public conduct, as moral Governor of the world, has more evidently discovered the very temper of his heart ; and shewn how he loves right and hates wrong, to an infinite degree. Governors, among men, discover much of their disposition, and show what they love and what they hate, by their laws ; and they show how fervent their love and hatred is, by all the methods they take to enforce them ; and so does the great Governor of the world : By his laws — by his promises and threatenings — by his past conduct, and declared designs for the future, he manifests how he loves moral good and hates moral evil.
By his infinite understanding, he is perfectly acquainted with himself, and with all his intelligent creatures ; and so perfectly knows what conduct in him towards them is right, fit and ami- able, and such as becomes such a one as he is ; and also, perfectly knows what conduct in his creatures towards him, and towards each other, is fit and amiable, and so their duty. He sees what is right, and infinitely loves it, because it is right: He sees what is wrong, and infinitely hates it, because it is wrong ; and, in his whole conduct, as Governor of the world, he appears to be just what he is at heart — an infinite friend to right, and an infinite enemy to wrong.
He takes state. ...sets up himself 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 case of the least defect ; and promises eternal life and glory, in case of perfect obedience. This is the language of his law, Thou shall love the Lord thy
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God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself: Do this, and live ; disobey, and die. And now all that infinite esteem for himself, and infinite regard for his own honor, which he here- in manifests, does not result from a proud or a selfish spirit ; for there is no such thing in his nature : Nor does he threaten dam- nation for sin, because it hurts him ; or promise eternal life to obedience, because it does him any good : for he is infinitely- above us, and absolutely independent of us, and cannot receive advantage or disadvantge from \\%....Job xxii. 2, 3. and xxxv. 6, 7. But it results from the infinite holiness of his nature. He loves and honors himself as he does, because, since he is what he is, it is right and fit he should : He bids the world adore love and obey him with all their hearts, because, considering what he is, and what they are, it is infinitely fit and right : He commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, because this al- so, in the nature of things, is right : And while he promises eternal life to the obedient, and threatens eternal damnation to the disobedient, he shows how infinitely he loves righteousness and hates iniquity. His promising eternal life and glory to perfect obedience, does indeed manifest the infinite goodness and bountifulness of his nature ; but then his promising a/sun- der the notion of a rexvard, discovers this temper of his heart ....his infinite love to right.
As to all his positive injunctions, they are evidently designed to promote a conformity to die moral law. And as to the mor- al law, it is originally founded upon the very reason and nature of things. The duties required therein are required, original- ly, because they are right in themselves : And the sins forbid- den, are forbidden, originally, because they are unfit and wrong in themselves. The intrinsic fitness of the things required, and the intrinsic unfitness of the things forbidden, was the original ground, reason and foundation of his law. Thus, he bids all the world love him with all their hearts, because he is the Lord their God ; and love one another as brethren, because they arc all children of the same common father, having the same nature. He requires this supreme love to himself, and this mutual love
£3 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
among his subjects, because it is right that so it should be ; and because he perfectly loves that the thing that is right should be done. ...and not from any advantage that can possibly accrue unto him from the behavior of his creatures. And he forbids the contrary, because it is wrong, and therefore infinitely hateful in his sight.... and not because it could be any disadvantage to him. — All the glory and blessedness which he bestows upon the angels in heaven, under the notion of a reward to their obedience ■, is not because their obedience does him any good ; for it does not : nor because they deserve any thing from his hands ; for they do not : (Rom. xi. 35, 36.J but merely because it is right that they should, in all things, obey him : This is what he loves, and what he delights to honor : And all the infinite, eternal glories of heaven can but just serve as a sufficient testimony of his approbation. — So, on the other hand, it was not in a passion, or from sudden, rash revenge, (which many times influences sinful men to cruel and barbarous deeds), that he turned those that sinned down to hell ; and, for their first offence, doomed them to everlasting woe, without the least hope ; for there is no such thing in his nature. As he is not capable of being injured, as we are, so neither is he capable of such anger as we feel. No : the thing they did was in itself infinitely wrong, and that was the true and only cause of his infinite displeasure ; which infinite displeasure he meant to declare and make known in the sight of all worlds, throughout the endless ages of eternity, by rendering to them according to their deserts : For he loves to appear as great an enemy to sin, in his conduct, as he is in his heart. He loves to act out his heart, and exhibit a true image of himself. His infinite love of righteousness and hatred of in- iquity, is also displayed in his promising eternal life and bless- edness to Adam and to all his race, a whole world of beings, as a reward to the obedience of Adam — by him constituted public head and representative, on the one hand ; and threatening eter- nal destruction to him and ail his race, a whole world of beings, in case of the least transgression, on the other hand. But his infinite love to righteousness, and hatred of iniquity, is manifest-
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 29
cd in the greatest perfection, in the death of Jesus Christ, his on- ly begotten son : But of this more afterwards. — In a word, all the blessings which he has granted to the godly in this world, as rewards of their virtue... .to Abel, Enoch, and Noah... .to Lot.... to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,hc. and all the judgments which he has executed upon the wicked. ...his turning Adatnout of par- adise....drowning the old woi-ld.... burning Sodom, &c. together with all the evils which befel the children of Israel, in the wil- derness— in the time of the judges — in the reigns of their kings ....and their long captivity in Babylon, &c. have all been public testimonies that the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity. — And, in heaven and in hell, he designs to dis- play, to all eternity, in the most glorious and dreadful manner, how infinitely he loves righteousness and hates iniquity.
Now when true believers, who are divinely enlightened, med- itate on and view the laws, the conduct, and the declared designs of the great Governor of the world, they love, admire and adore, and say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, the zuhole world is fidl of thy glory. This divine disposition, to love righteous- ness and hate iniquity, which the great Governor of the world thus discovers in all his government, appears infinitely beautiful and glorious, excellent, and amiable in their eyes : Whence they are ready to say, Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, &c....As they do in Exod. xv. 11.*
* If we should suppose (as some do), that there is nothing right or wrong antecedent to a consideration of the positive will and law of God, the great governor of the world ; and that light and wrong result, originally, from his sovereign will and absolute authority entirely, then these absurdities would unavoidably follow :
1. That the moral perfections of God are empty navies, without any signifi- cation at all. For if there be no intrinsic moral fitness and unfitness in things, no right nor wrong, then there is no such thing as moral beauty or -moral deformity ,■ and so, no foundation, in the nature of things, for any moral propensity ; i. e. there is nothing fur God to love or hate, considered as a moral agent. There can be no inclination or disposition in himtolove right and hate wrong, if there be no such thing as right or wrong. So that the only idea wc could frame of God, would be that ( f an almighty, des- potic sovereign, who makes his own will his only rule, without any regard to rightor wrong, good or evil, just or unjust. ...an idea of the infinitely glorious and ever-blessed God, evidently as contrary to truth as can be devised.
2. That,
30 TR.UE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
• (5.) His impartial justice is also discovered in his moral gov- ernment of the world. He appears, in his public conduct, as one infinitely engaged to give to every one his due, and as one absolutely governed by a spirit of the most perfectly disinterest- ed impartiality : He appears as one infinitely engaged to main- tain the rights of the Godhead, and to secure that glory to the divine Being that is his proper due ; and that by the law which he has established, in heaven and en earth, binding all to love, worship and obey him, as God, upon pain of eternal damnation : And so, again, he appears as one infinitely engaged to secure all his subjects here upon earth in a quiet and peaceable posses- sion of their own proper rights ; and that by strictly enjoin-
2. That, in the nature of things, there is no more reason to lave and obey God, than there is to hate and disobey him .- there being', in the nature of things, no right nor wrong. Just as if God was not infinitely worthy of our highest esteem and most perfect obedience ! and just as if, in the nature of things, there was no reason why we should love and obey him, butmerely because he is the greatest and strongest, and says we must ! than which nothing can be more evidently absurd. But if these things are so, then it will follow,
3. That there is no reason why he should require his creatures to love and obey him, or forbid the contrary ; or <why he should reward the one, or punish the other : there being, in the nature of things, no right nor wrong : and so 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 servile
subjection all expressly contrary to Gen. xviii. 25 — Hcb. i. 9 — JEph. vi. 1
— Rom- :-ii. I — Rev.iv.ll — Rom. vii. 12 — Rom.il. 4, 5, 6 — Rev. xix. 1, 6 — Ezek. xviii. 25.
Or again, if we should suppose (as others do), that there is nothing right or wrong, antecedent to a consideration of the general good of the whole system of intelligent created beings ; and that right and wrong result, ori- ginally and entirely, from the natural tendency of things to promote, or hinder the general good of the whole : then, also, these manifest absurdities will unavoidably follow :
1. Thai the moral perfections of God entirely consist in, or result from a dis- position to love his creatures supremely, and seek their happiness as his only end .- just as if it became the most high to make a Gcd of his creatures, and himself their servant ! expressly contrary to Rom. xi. 35 — Numb, xiv — Rev. iv. 11.
2. That Go:! love: virtue and rewards it, merely because it tends to make his creatures happy ; and hates vice and punishes it, merely because it tends to make his creatures miserable : just as if he had no regard to the rights of the Godhead, nor cared how much contempt was cast upon the glorious ma- jesty of Heaven ! expressly contrary to Exod. xxxii. — Numb. xiv. — I Sam. ii. 29, 30—11 Sam. xii. 10, 14— Psalm li. 4.
3. That he requires us to love and obey him, merely because it tends to make us happy, andforbids the contrary merely because it tends to make us miserable : just as if he had no sense of the infinite glory and excellency of his nature, and our infinite obligations to love and obey him thence arising ! and just »s if lie thought it nc crime in us, to treat him with the greatest contempt !
a:. J
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ing every one to love his neighbor as himself, and always do as he would be done by, and that upon pain of eternal damna- tion. ...Gal. iii. 10 — Deut. xxvii. 26. And he appears as one governed by a spirit of the most perfectly disinterested impar- tiality, in that he spared not the angels that sinned, who were some of the noblest of all his creatures ; and in that he is deter- mined not to spare impenitent sinners at the day of judgment, though they cry ever so earnestly for mercy ; but, above all, in that he spared not his only begotten Son, when he stood in the room of sinners. If ever any poor, guilty wretch, round the world, feels tempted to think that God is cruel for damning sin- ners, and does not do as he would be done by, if he was in their cate,and they in hls,lethim come away to the cross of Christ, and
and just as if nothing could raise his resentment but merely the injury done to ourselves ! expressly contrary to Numb. xiv. — II Sam. xii. 10, 14, &.c.
4. That ire are under no obligations to love God, but merely because it tends to matt: us happy ; and that it is no crime to hate and blaspheme God, but ■merely because it tends to make us miserable. But if so, then the misery which naturally results from hating and blaspheming God, is exactly equal to the crime ; and therefore no positive inflicted punishment is deserved in this world, or in that which is to come. And, therefore, all the punish- ments which God inflicts upon sinners in this world, and forever in Hell, are entirely undeserved : and so his law and government, instead of being holy, just and good, are infinitely unreasonable, tyrannical and cruel. — To say, that God punishes some of his sinful creatures, merely to keep others in awe, whenas they do not, in the least, deserve any punishment, is to suppose the great Governor of the world to do evil, that good may come ; and yet, at the same time, to take the most direct course to render himself odious throughout all his dominions. It is impossible to account for the punish- ments which God has inflicted upon sinners in this world, and designs to inflict upon them forever in hell, without supposing that there is an infinite evil in sin, over and above what results from its natural tendency to make us miserable : and that, therein re, we are under infinite obligations to love and obey God, antecedent to any consideration of its tendency to make us happy.
From all which, it is evident, to demonstration, that right and wrong do neither result from the mere will and law of God, nor from any tend- ency of things to promote or hinder the happiness of God's creatures. It remains, therefore, that there is an intrinsic moral fitness and unfitness, absolutely in things themselves : as thatwc shouldlove the infinitely glorious God, is, in the nature of things, infinitely fit and right ; and to hate and blaspheme him, is, in the nature of things, infinitely unfit and wrong : and that, antecedent to any consideration cf advantage or disadvantage, reward or ; ■-.-, or even of the will or law of God. And hence i:
is, that God infinitely loves right, and hates v, rpng, and appears so infinite- ly engaged to reward the one, and punish the other. And hence, his law and .;.-.• rnment are holy, just and good..--they are glorious ; and in and bv them the infinite glory of the divine nature shines forth.. ..i*a. \i. J. -~Me*. iv. 8— Rev. xix. 1— 6.
t
32 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
see God's own Son, his second self, there nailed up, naked, bleeding, groaning, dying, in the greatest possible contempt, ig- nominy and shame, before ten thousand insulting, blood-thirsty spectators ; and let him know that this Jesus is God — a person of infinitely greater dignity and worth than all creatures in heav- en and earth put together, and infinitely dear to the great Gov- ernor of the world, even just as dear as his own self, and upon whom he would not lay these sufferings any sooner than upon himself; — I say, let him stand, 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 case, and they in his (if I may so say, when speaking of the most high God), since that for his own Son, a person of infinite dignity, to suffer all these tilings, is equivalent to the eternal torments of finite creatures : Indeed, it was not because he was not a Being of infinite good- ness, that he treated his own Son so ; nor is it because he has no regard to his creatures' happiness, that he designs to damn the finally impenitent ; but it is merely because sin is an infinite evil, and, according to strict justice, worthy of an infinite pun- ishment : It is right and fit that he should do as he does, and therefore his conduct will forever appear infinitely glorious and beautiful in the eyes of all holy beings. Psalm xcvi. 11, 12, 13 ....Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad : Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein : Then shall all the trees of the xvood rejoice before the Lord : For he cometh, for hecometh to judge the earth : He shall judge the world xvith righteousness, and the people with his truth. See also Rev. xix. 1 — 6.
(6.) His infinite goodness is also discovered in his government of the world ; for all the laws of this great and good Governor are suited in their own nature to advance all his subjects to the highest perfection they are capable of. His law teaches us to view all things just as they are, and to have our will and affec- tions entirely governed by the truth — by the very reason and na- ture of things : And so to be according to the measure of such finite creatures, in our w ills and in the temper oi our minds, after
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the image of the blessed and glorious God, which is the highest dignity and perfection we are possibly capable of. When God commands us to be holy as he is holy, he enjoins that as our duty which at the same time is our highest possible privilege. He bids us be like the angels, and begin our heaven upon earth ; yea, even to participate of a glory and blessedness of the same nature with that which he himself enjoys : To behold his glo- ry....to be ravished with his beauty.. ..to esteem him supremely, live to him entirely, and delight in him superlatively, and to be- come like him in our views of things, and in the temper of our minds, is our highest dignity, glory, and excellency, and our highest blessedness : And, besides, his laws are still further cal- culated to promote the welfare of his subjects, in that they are suited to establish universal love, peace and harmony, through- out all his dominions. Love thy neighbor as thyself, is one of the fundamental laws of his kingdom : And were his authority duly regarded, and his laws obeyed, love, and peace and harmo- ny, with all their happy and blessed effects, would reign through all the earth, as they do in heaven ; and paradise would not be confined to Eden, nor to heaven, but be all over the world.
And the wrath of this good Governor is only revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, which are the ru- in and debasement of our nature, and the d^ ^truction of our peace and happiness. He threatens damn? ion to his subjects, to keep them from destroying themselves, as well as to deter them from affronting his Majesty. All the dreadful threaten- ings of his law result not only from his holiness and justice, but also from the infinite goodness of his nature ; in that hereby his subjects are mercifully forwarned of the evil and bitter conse- quences of sin, to the end they may avoid it. He is a perfect enemy to hatred and revenge — to cruelty and injustice : He cannot bear to see the widow or fatherless oppressed, or the poor despised, or the miserable insulted, or any evil thing done among his subjects : And therefore this good Governor has threatened tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath, against every soul that doth evil ; and, with all his authority,
34 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
has commanded his subjects, through all this world, upon pain of eternal damnation, to do as they would be done by.
And then, still further to engage his subjects to that in which their greatest glory and blessedness consists, he, in his law, promises eternal life to the obedient : wherein the infinite boun- tifulness of his nature, as well as his unspeakable concern for his creatures' welfare is discovered.
And if we survey his conduct towards mankind, from the be- ginning, we may, in ten thousand instances, see the infinite good- ness of his nature displayed. If we consider what his ways have been towards an apostate world — how he has given his Son to be a Redeemer, and his spirit to be a sanctifier — how he has sent all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending ; and that notwithstanding he knew beforehand what treatment he would meet with from a guilty, ungrateful, God-hating world — how they would murder his Son, resist his spirit, and kill his messengers : if we consider how patient, and forbearing, and long-suifering he has been towards obstinate sinners — how loth to give them over ; swearing by himself that he delights not in. their death, but rather that they turn and live ; even while they have contemned and affronted him in the vilest manner : and if we consider his distinguishing favors towards his elect, and the marvellous things which he has wrought for his church and peo- ple ; — I say, if we consider these things, and, at the same time, look round the world and behold the innumerable common fa- vors strewed abroad among guilty, hell-deserving rebels, we must be forced to own, that he is good to all, and that his ten- der mercies are over all his works.
His goodness, indeed, is evidently as unbounded as his power. There is no act of kindness, which his omnipotency is able to do, but that there is goodness enough in his heart to prompt him to do it, if, all things considered, it is best to be done : His propensi- ty to do good is fully equal to his ability. All the treasures and good things of this lower world are his, and he gives all to the children of men ; and we should have enjoyed all, without the least sorrow intermixed, had not our sin and apostacy made
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 33
it necessary for him to give some testimony of his displeasure: and yet, even the calamities of life are well adapted, in our pres- ent state, to do us good. All the treasures and glories of heav- en are his, and he offers all to a guilty world, and actually gives all to such as are willing to accept of all, through the mediator, in the way prescribed — 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 ? Behold, he has a heart to do it.. ..is as ready to give his holv spirit to them that ask, as parents are to give bread to their children ! And, finally, can he, in any sense, give himself to his creatures ? Behold, he is willing to do so.. ..to be their God, and father, and portion, and be ail things to them, and do all things for them, if they will but accept of him through Jesus Christ ! So that, as I said, his propensity to do good is fully equal to his ability : And there is no doubt but that he does show all those kindnesses to his intelligent creatures, which, all things considered, are best should be shown. And his understanding is infinite, whereby he is able to determine exactly what is best in the whole. Thy mercy, 0 Lord, is in the heavens ; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds : Hoxo excellent is thy loving kindness, 0 God I Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadoxv of thy wings, ...Psalm xxxvi. 5, 7.
And such is the goodness of his nature, and so much good- ness has he in his heart, that he needs no motive to excite him to do good ; i. e. nothing from without : Thus, unmoved and un- excited by any thing from without himself, of his own mere goodness, 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 existing but himself, and so nothing to move him but his own good pleasure : Yea, such is the goodness of his nature, that he not only needs no motive from without to excite him to do good, but even then, when there are all things to the contrary — even every thing in his creatures to render them ill-deserving, and to discourage and hinder his shewing merq ,
36 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
and to provoke him to wrath — even then, when discourage- ments are infinitely great, and provocations are innumerable ; yea, when there is nothing in his creature but what is of the na- ture of a provocation — even, in such a case, he can show mer- cy ; yea, the greatest of mercies. He can give his son to die for such, and his holy spirit to sanctify them, and himself at last to be their God and father, and everlasting portion : Such is the in- comparable goodness of his nature. Who is a God like unto thee ! &c....71fic. vii. 18, 19. — But then he is at liberty, in such cases, and may act according to his own discretion, and have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and have compassion on whom he will have compassion ; and, truly, it is infinitely fit he should. To act sovereignly, in such cases, is infinitely becom- ing ; and, indeed, it is fit he should dispense all his favors ac- cording to his sovereign pleasure : It is fit he should do what he will with his own. He knows best how to exercise his own goodness, and it is perfectly fit that he should be at liberty, and act according to his own discretion. ...according to the counsel of his own will. And because it is infinitely fit, therefore he ac- tually does so.... Eph. i. 11. He passed by the angels that sin- ned, and pitied sinful men ; he passed by the rest of the world, and chose the seed of Abraham ; he suffers thousands of sin- ners to go on in their sins and perish, and, in the mean time, seizes here and there one by his all-conquering grace, and effec- tually saves them ; and all according to his sovereign pleasure, because it seems good in his sight so to do. And the reason why he acts sovereignly, is because, in the nature of things, it is fit he should ; therefore, his sovereignty is a holy and a glorious sovereignty. Hence, when Moses desired to see his glory, he discovered this unto him.. ..Exod. xxxiii. 12. And because our Savior saw how fit and becoming it was for God to act as a sovereign, in bestowing his favors, therefore he saw a glory in his sovereignty, and so rejoiced in it.... Mat. xi. 25,26. And sovereign grace is glorious grace in the eyes of every one who views things aright, and has a right frame of heart. Consid- ering that all God has is his ow/z....that he knows infinitely the
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 37
best what to dozvith what he has.. ..that there can be no motive from without to excite him to act, it is infinitely fit he should be left to himself, to act according to his own discretion ; and it is infinite impudence for a worm of the dust to intermeddle or go about to direct the almighty and infinitely wise God ; and it is infinite wickedness to dislike his conduct, and find fault with his dispensations.
Indeed, if there was nothing of greater worth and importance than the happiness of his creatures and subjects, and so nothing that he ought to have a greater regard to and concern for, then it is not to be supposed that any of his creatures and subjects would be finally miserable. The infinitely good Governor of the world has a great regard to the happiness of his subjects : their welfare is veiy dear to him, and their misery, in itself, or for its own sake, very undesirable in his sight ; yet he has so much greater regard to something else, that, in some instances, he actually does suffer sinners to go on in their sins and perish forever : yea, he will inflict the eternal torments of hell upon them. The goodness of God is a holy, wise and rational good- ness, and not an unreasonable fondness : He will never do a wrong thing, to oblige any of his creatures : no, he had rather the whole world should be damned ; yea, that even his own Son should die : Nor will he ever communicate good to any one, when, all things considered, it is not best and wisest. When he first designed to create the world, and first laid out his whole scheme of government, as it was easy for him to have determin- ed, that neither angels nor men should ever sin, and that misery should never be heard of in all his dominions, so he could ea- sily have prevented both sin and misery. Why did he not ? — Surely, not for want of goodness in his nature ; for that is infi- nite : — not from any thing like cruelty ; for there is no such thing in him : — not for want of a suitable regard to the happiness of his creatures ; for that he always has : But it was because, in his infinite wisdom,he did not think it best in the whole. It was not because he had not sufficient power to preserve angels and men all holy and happy ; for it is certain he had : — it was not be-
3S TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
cause preventing grace would have been inconsistent with their being free agents j for it would not : — it was not because he did not thoroughly consider and weigh the thing with all its conse- quences ; {or it is certain he did : But, upon the whole, all things considered, he judged it best to permit the angels to sin and man to fall ; and so let misery enter into his dominions. It did not come to pass accidentally and unawares, and contrary to what God had ever thought of or intended ; because it is cer- tain that he knew all things from the beginning ; and it is certain that, in an affair of such a nature, and of such consequence, he could not stand by as an idle, unconcerned spectator, that cares not which way things go. There is no doubt, therefore, but that, all things considered, he thought it best to permit things to come to pass just as they did : And, if he thought it best, it was best ; for his understanding is infinite — his wisdom unerring, and so he can never be mistaken. But why was it best? What could he have in view preferable to the happiness of his crea- tures ? And if their happiness was to him above all things most dear, how could he bear the thoughts of their ever, any of them, being miserable ? — Why, it is certain he thought it best ; and therefore it is certain he had a view to something else besides merely the happiness of his creatures — to something of greater importance, and more worthy to bear a governing sway in his mind, by which it became him to be above all things influenced, in laying out and contriving how things should proceed and be disposed in the world he designed to create.
But what was that thing which was of greater worth and im- portance, and so more worthy to bear a governing sway in his mind, and to which he had the greatest regard, making all oth- er things give way to this ? What was his grand end'm creating and governing the world ? Why, look. ...what end he is at last like to obtain, when the whole scheme is finished, and the day of judgment past, and heaven and hell filled with all their pro- per inhabitants : And what will be the final result? What will he get by all ? Why, in all, he will exert and display every one of his p' flections to the life, and so, by all, will exhibit a most
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 39
perfect and exact image of himself. And now, as he is infinite- ly glorious in being what he is, therefore that scheme of conduct which is perfectly suited to exhibit the most lively and exact image of him, must be infinitely glorious too : And, therefore, this is the greatest and best thing he can aim at in all his works ; and this, therefore, ought to be his last end. Now, it is evi- dent that the fall of the angels and of man, together with all those things which have and will come to pass in consequence thereof, and occasioned thereby, from the beginning of the wcrld to the day of judgment, and throughout eternity, will serve to give a much more lively and perfect representation of God, than could possibly have been exhibited, had there never been any sin or misery. The holiness and justice — the goodness, mercv, and grace of God shine much more brightly : They have been displayed with an astonishing lustre and glory in the death of Christ, and will be displayed forever in heaven and in hell, as they could not have been, had not sin and misery ever been per- mitted to enter into God's world : Indeed, if, in the nature of things, it had been wrong for God to have permitted any of his creatures to sin, and then to punish them for it — if God had been bound in duty, or in goodness, to keep them from sin, or to save them when they had sinned, then the case had been oth- erwise : But since, in the nature of things, it was fit he should be at liberty, and act according to his own discretion ; and since the end he had in view was so noble and godlike, his conduct in this affair was infinitely right, fit and becoming, and so infi- nitely glorious. Certainly God thought it was so, or he would not have done as he did ; and therefore, if we view things as God did, and have a temper and frame of heart like unto his, we shall think so too : And, as I said before, it is horrid pride and impudence for us to pretend to know better than die infinite- ly wise God, and infinite wickedness for us to pretend to find fault with his conduct.. ..Rom. ix. 19 — 23.* Thus, if he had
* Qi»j....But surely it could not be consistent with the divine goodness, from all eternity, to decree the everlas.ir.g misery of his creatures.
' A N S .
G
40 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
aimed merely at the happiness of his creatures, he could easily have so ordered that Pharaoh should willingly have let Israel go, and he could have led Israel in less than forty days to the promised land, and put them into an immediate possession: but there was something else which he had a greater regard to ; and therefore Pharaoh's heart is hardened, and all his won- ders are wrought in the land of Egypt. The tribes of Israel march to the borders of the Red-Sea. ...the sea parts. ...Israel goes through, but the Egyptians are drowned. And now Is- rael is tempted and tried, and they sin and rebel, and so are doomed to wander forty years in the wilderness, and to have their carcases fall there. And why was all this ? Why, because his design was to display all his perfections, and fill the whole earth with his glory... Exod. ix. 16 — Numb-, xiv. 21. And now, because it is the most noble thing that God can have in view, to act forth all his perfections to the life, and so exhibit the most exact representation of himself in his works ; therefore, it is in- finitely fit he should make this his last end, and all other things subservient ; and his conduct in so doing is infinitely beauti- ful and glorious. Thus we see how the goodness of God is dis- played in his government of the world, and see that it is an un- bounded, rich, free goodness ; and that all the exercises of it are sovereign, and under the direction of his infinite wisdom : so that God is infinitely glorious on the account of this perfec- tion of his nature. ... Exod. xxxiii. 19. & xxxiv. 5,6, 7. — Rom. x^—Eph. i. 1—12.
(7) His unchangeable truth and faithfulness are also discov-
■ ered in his government of the world ; and that in the fulfilment
of his promises, and the execution of his threatenings. Did he
Ans....GocL has in fact permitted sin to enter into the world — does in fact permit many to die in their sins — will in fact punish them forever ; and all consistent with the infinite goodness of his nature, as every one must acknowledge. And since it is consistent with his goodness to do as he does, it was consistent with his goodness, to determine with himself he- forehand to do so .-...What God, from eternity, decreed to do, that God, in time, will do : therefore, if all God's conduct he holy, just and good, so also are all his decrees- ,• unless we can suppose it to be wrong for the infi- nitely wise God, from all eternity, to determine upon a conduct in all res- pects right : than which nothing can be more absurd.
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promise to be Abraham's God ? So he was. Did he promise to give the land of Canaan to his seed for an inheritance ? So he did. Did he promise to send his Son into the world, and to set him up a kingdom upon earth ? Even so he has done : And he is in like manner true and faithful to all his promises, which he has made to his people. And did he threaten to drown the. old world. ...to make Israel wander forty years in the wilder- ness....to deliver them into the hands of their enemies, at what time soever they should forsake him, and go and serve other gods, and, finaliv, to send them captives into Babylon for sev- enty years ? Even so he has done. God's word may always be depended upon ; for what he designs, that he says ; and what he says, that he will do. And this is another of the glorious perfections of his nature.
Thus all the perfections of God are discovered in his gov- ernment of the world. By his conduct we may see what he is, and learn the very temper of his heart. And now, I might go through his other works. ...his redeeming, justifying, sanctify- ing sinners, and bringing them to eternal glory at last,and shew how his glorious perfections shine forth in them. But I have already hinted at some of these things, and shall have occasion afterwards to view the divine perfections shining forth in these works of God, when I come to consider the nature of the gos.- pel. Sufficient has been said to answer my present purpose ; and, therefore, for brevity's sake, I will proceed no further here. Thus, then, we see how the perfections of God are manifested in his xvorks.
Secondly.. The same representation is -made of God in his word : For these great works of God. ...his creating, preserv- ing and governing the world. ...his redeeming, sanctifying and saving 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 writing. Therein he has told us what he has done, and what he intends to do ; and so has delineated his glorious perfections in the plainest manner. In his ~voj\\ God has rcvealeu fumse/fto the children of men.., .ha-; manifest-
42 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
ed and shewn what he is. But how ? Why, by declaring and holding forth his works, as that in which he has exhibited the image of himself. Thus, the scriptures begin with an account of God's creating the world, and goes on throughout all the Old Testament, informing how he preserves and governs it ; And, then, in the New Testament, we are informed more particularly how he redeems, justifies, sanctifies, and saves sinners. And now, as the actions of a man discover the temper and disposi- tion of his heart, and shew what he is, so the works of God, from first to last, all taken together, hold forth an exact repre- sentation of himself. If we will begin with God's creating the world, and survey all his conduct in the light of scripture. ...his conduct towards man before the fall, and after the fall.. ..his con- duct towards Abel and Cain, Enoch and Noah, and all the old world. ...his conduct towards Lot and Sodom — towards Abra- ham, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph — towards the children of Is- rael, in Egypt, at the Red-Sea, in the wilderness, at Sinai, at Massah, at Taberah, &c....and in the times of Joshua, of their Judges, of their Kings, &c. and then come into the New Testament, and survey his conduct with relation to the redemp- tion and salvation of sinners, and then look forward to the great judgment-day, and see his whole scheme finished.... see the re- sult, the conclusion and end of all ; look up to heaven and take a view of that world, and look down to hell and survey the state of things there ; from the whole we may see what God is : for, in the whole, God exerts his nature, and, by the whole, God de- signs to exhibit an exact representation of himself. And, then, are our apprehensions of God right, and according to truth, when we take in that very representation which he has made of himself: And now to account him infinitely glorious in being what he is, and to love him with all our hearts, because he is what he is, is the very thing which the law of God requires.
And, indeed, so plain is that representation which God has made of himself, by his works and in his word ; and he is really so infinitely glorious in being what he is, that were not mankind, through their exceeding great depravity, entirely void of a right
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 43
taste and relish for true beauty, they could not but be even rav- ished with the divine Being. They would naturally feel as they do in heaven, and naturally speak their language, Holy, holy, h h>, is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory ! ....Isai. vi. 3. But such is the vile temper of sinful, apostate creatures, that they are not only blind to the moral excellency of the divine nature, but are even in a stated, habitual contrari- ety to God in the frame of their hearts... . Rom. viii. 7. And hence, the manifestation which God has made of himself, can find no place in their hearts. ...John viii. 37. They cannot attend to things of such a nature, (verse 43.J because so disa- greeable to their taste ; for (verse 47.J He that is of God, hear- eth God^s word ; ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God. It is hard to bring unregenerate men so much as to have right notions of what God is, because he is a Being in his nature so contrary and disagreeable to them. They do not like to retain God in their knowledge. ...Rom. i. 28. Men had rather that God was another kind of Being, different from what he really is, and more like themselves — one that would suit their temper, and serve their interest : and, therefore, they frame such an one in their own fancy, and then fall down and worship the false image which they have set up. From hence it is, that all those false notions of God have taken their rise, which have always filled the world. But were men brought to have right notions of what God is, and to take in that very representation which he has made of himself, by his works and in his word ; yet they would be so far from accounting him infinitely glorious in being what he is, that they would see no form or comeliness in him wherefore they should desire him : but would feel the like malignant spirit towards him as the Jews did towards their pro- phets, and towards Christ and his apostles, only in a worse de- gree. The same temper which caused the exercise of such en- mity towards their prophets, and towards Christ and his apos- tles, would have caused as great or greater towards God him- self, had they but had right notions of him. And the clearer apprehension a sinner has of God, the more will his enmity ex-
4-i TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
ert itself ; because a sinful nature and a holy nature are dia- metrically opposite to each other : And, therefore, the clearest external revelation of God cannot bring sinners to love him. — All the world will see just what kind of Being he is at the day of judgment, and that in a very plain and clear manner : But yet they whose nature it is to hate him for being what he is, will hate him still ; yea, hate him more than ever : And, therefore, besides the external revelation which God has made of himself, by his works and in his word, there is an absolute necessity that he should internally reveal himself in his glory to the heart of a sinner, in order to beget divine love there : Which brings me to add,
Thirdly. God reveals his infinite glory in being what he is in the hearts of sinners, by his holy spirit.. ..Mat. xi. 25, 27. By his works and in his word he has revealed what he is, and that in a manner sufficiently plain — even so 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 attend to that revelation which God has made of himself, we could not but have right apprehensions of him ; and if we had a good taste for true beauty, we could not but be rav- ished with his glory : but we are naturally disinclined to right apprehensions of God, and are entirely destitute of a true taste for moral beauty : And hence we may learn what kind of in- ward illumination we stand in need of from the spirit of God. We do not need the holy spirit to reveal any new truths concern- ing God, not already revealed ; for the external revelation which he has made of himself, is sufficiently full: — we do not need to have the holy spirit immediately reveal all these truths con- cerning God over again to us, by waj' of objective revelation, or immediate inspiration ; because the external revelation already made is sufficiently plain : We only need (1) to be effectually awakened, to attend to those manifestations which he has made of himself in his works and word, that we may see what he is : And (2) to have a spiritual taste imparted to us, by the imme- diate influence of the Holy Ghost, that we may have a sense of
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 45
his infinite glory in being such : For these two will lay an effec- tual foundation in our hearts for that love which the law re- quires. By the common inflences of the spirit, we may be awa- kened to a realizing sight and sense oixvhat God is ; and, by the special and sanctifying influences of the spirit, we may receive a sense of his infinite glory in being such : And also the sense of his glory will naturally cause us to see more clearly what God is : for a sense of the moral excellency of the divine natui'e fixes our thoughts on God ; and the more our thoughts are fixed, the more distinctly we see what he is : And while we see him to be what he is, and see his infinite glory in being such, hereby a di- vine love is naturally enkindled in our hearts. And thus, He that commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines in our hearts, and gives us thcTight of the knowledge of the glory of God : And so rve all, with open face, behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image... II Cor. iii. 1 8. and iy. 6. A sight of the moral excellency of the di- vine nature makes God appear infinitely glorious in every res- pect. Those things in God, which before appeared exceeding dreadful, now appear unspeakably glorious : His sovereignty ap- pears glorious, because now we see he is fit to be a sovereign, and that it is fit and right he should do what he will with his own : His justice appears glorious, because now we see the in- finite evil of sin ; and a consideration of his infinite understand- ing and almighty power enhances his glory : And while we view what he is, and see his greatness and glory, and consider his original, entire, underived right to all things, we begin to see why he assumes the character of most high God, supreme Lord, and sovereign Governor of the whole world ; and we resign the throne to him, and take our places, and become his willing sub- jects ; and our hearts are framed to love him, and fear him, and trust in him through Jesus Christ ; and we give up ourselves to him, to walk in all his ways and keep all his commands, seek- ing his glory : And thus a sight and sense of the infinite digni- ty, greatness, glory and excellency of the most high God, lays the first foundation for a divine love. God's being what he is,
46 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
is the primary reason that he requires us to love him with all our hearts ; and it is the first motive of a genuine love.
I might now pass on to consider the additional obligations we are under to love God ; but that it may be profitable to stop a while, and a little consider the nature and properties of thisjirst and greatest and most fundamental obligation ; and take a view of some important consequences necessarily following therefrom. And here,
1. This obligation is binding antecedently to any considera- tion of advantage or disadvantage — of rewards or punishments ; and even prior to any consideration of the positive will and law ef God himself,
2. It is infinitely binding.
3. It is eternally binding.
4. It is unchangeably binding.
5. It is that from which all other obligations originally derive their binding nature.
1 . This obligation which we are under, to love God with all our hearts, resulting from the infinite excellency of the divine nature, is binding antecedently to any consideration of advantage or disadvantage — of rewards or punishments, or even ofthepos- itive will and law of 'God himself To love God with all our hearts naturally tends to make us happy ; and the contrary to make us miserable ; and there are glorious rewards promised on the one hand, and dreadful punishments threatened on the other ; and God, as Governor of the world, has, with all his au- thority, by his law, expressly required us to love him with all our hearts, and forbidden the contrary ; and all these things are binding ; but yet the infinite excellency of the divine nature lays us under bonds prior to any consideration of these things : So that if our interest did not at all lie at stake, and if there had never been any express law in the case, yet it would be right, and our indispensable duty, to love God with all our hearts. — His being infinitely lovely in himself, makes it our duty to love him ; for he is, in himself, worthy of our highest esteem : He- deserves it ; it is, in the nature of things, his due ; and that an-
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 47
tecedcnt to any selfish consideration, or any express law in the case. To suppose the contrary, is to deny the infinite amiable* ness of the divine nature, and to take away the very foundation of the law itself, and the very reason of all rewards and punish- ments : For if our supreme love is not due to God, then he is not infinitely lovely ; and if he does not deserve to be loved with all our hearts, why does he require it ? And if, in the na- ture of things, it is not right and fit that we should love him, and, the contrary, unfit and wrong, what grounds are there for rewards or punishments ? So that it is evident, the infinite ex- cellency of the divine nature binds us, and makes it our duty, antecedent to any consideration of advantage or disadvantage, rewards or punishments, or even of the positive will and law of God, to love God with all our hearts ; and therefore our love must primarily take its rise from a sense of this infinite excel- lency of the divine nature, as has been before observed ; and that seeming love, which arises merely from selfish considerations, from the fear of punishment or hope of reward, or because the law requires it, and so it is a duty and must be done, is not gen- uine ; but is a selfish, a mercenary, and a forced thing. Plow evidently, therefore, do those discover their hypocrisy, who are wont to talk after the following manner :-—" If I am elected, I *' shall be saved, let me do what I will ; and if I am not elect- ti ed, I shall be damned, let me do what I can : and therefore it uis no matter how I live." And again after this sort....u If X " knew certainly that God had made no promises to the duties "of the unregenerate, as some pretend, I would never do any " more in religion." Surely, they had as good say that they have no regard at all to the infinite excellency of the divine na- ture, but are entirely influenced by selfish and mercenary mo- tives in all they do : They do not seem to understand that they are under infinite obligations to love God with all their hearts, and obey him in every thing, resulting from God's being what he is, and that antecedent to all selfish considerations ; — such, know not God.... I. John^ iii. 6.
H
48 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
2. This obligation, resulting from the intrinsic excellency and amiableness of the divine nature, is infinitely binding; be- cause this excellency and amiableness is in itself infinite. Our obligation arises from his desert ; but he infinitely deserves our love, because he is infinitely lovely. When anv person is love- ly and honorable, reason teaches us that we ought to love and honor him, and that it is wrong to dislike and despise him : And the more lovely and honorable, the greater is our obligation to love and honor him ; and the more aggravatedly vile is it to treat him with contempt. Since, therefore, God is a Being of infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, hence we are under an infinite obligation to love him with all our hearts ; and it is infinitely wrong not to do so : Since he is infinitely worthy to be honored and obeyed by us, therefore we are under an in- finite obligation to honor and obey him ; and that with all our heart and soul, and mind and strength. Hence,
[1.] Perfect love and perfect obedience deserve no thanks at his hands. If we perfectly love him, even with all our hearts, and give up ourselves entirely and forever to him, to do his will and seek his glory, and so cordially delight in him as to take up our full and everlasting contentment in him ; yet, in all this, we do but our duty, and we do no more than what we are un- der an infinite obligation to do ; and, therefore, we deserve no thanks.... Luke xvii. 9, 10. — Yea, we do nothing but that in which consists our highest perfection, glory, and blessedness ; and, therefore, instead of deserving thanks, we ought to ac- count it an exceeding great privilege that we may thus love the Lord, live to him, and live upon h\m....Psalm xix. 10.
When, therefore, eternal life was promised in the first cove- nant as the reward of perfect 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 say, Worthy art thou, 0 Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and praioc forever. And they deserve no thanks lor their doing so, for they bat own the very truth.
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 49
When, therefore, sinful men, poor, hell-deserving creatures, think it much that they should love and serve God so well, and take so great pains in religion ; and are ready to think that God and man ought highly to value them for their so doing, and are always telling God and man how mighty good they are ; as he, Luke xviii. 11, 12. ...God, I thank thee, lam not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican ; — no, far from this, I am one of the best men in all the world — / fast txvice In the xveek....L give tythes of all that I possess. This appeared to him such a mighty thing, that he thought it quite worth while to tell God himself of it. Now, I say, when this is men's temper, it is a sign they neither know God, nor love him ; for, if they did, they could not set so high a price upon their duties, since he is so infinitely deserving : The plain truth is, such have intolerable meandioughts of God, and intolerable high thoughts of themselves — they are brim-full of spiritual pride and self-righteousness ; and such are exceedingly hateful in the sight of God. They implicitly say that God is not infi- nitely glorious, and infinitely worthy of all love and honor — he does not deserve it.. .it is not his due ; but rather he is behold- en to his creatures for it, and ought to render them many thanks for their love and service. The language of their hearts is, God has so little loveliness that it is much to love him : Like a bad mother-in-law, who thinks it nothing to toil for her own children, because she loves them ; but grudges ever)' step she takes for the rest, and thinks every little a great deal, because she cares not for them : So, such men think it nothing to rise early and sit up late, to get the world. ...to get riches, honor and pleasure ; for they love themselves : but think it much to take the tenth part of the pains in religion ; because they love not God. Their whole frame of mind casts infinite contempt upon the glorious majesty of heaven, to whom all honor is in- finitely due, and in whose service all the hosts of heaven ac- count themselves perfectly blessed : They feel as if they de- served to be paid for all.
50 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AN1
True, there are glorious rewards promised in the law and in the gospel : But why ? and upon what grounds ? A man may be said to be rewarded in three different senses. (1.) When he receives xvhat he strictly deserves, as an hireling re- ceives his xvages at night. But, in this sense, the angels in heav- en are not capable of a reward : for, in strict justice, they de- serve nothing,... Luke xvii. 9, 10 — Rom. xi. 35. They are no hirelings, for God has a natural, original, underived right to them, as much as he has to the sun, moon and stars ; and these, therefore, deserve to be paid for their shining, as much as the angels do for their working. Besides, if the angels do love God, it is no more than he infinitely deserves. And far- ther, the services of angels do not profit God, and so lay him tinder no obligations, any more than the birds profit the rising sun by their morning-songs, and so lay the sun under obliga- tions to shine all day. Job xxii. 2, 2>....Cana man be profitable unto God, as he that is xvise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous ? or is it gain to him, that thoumakest thy xvays perfect ? Andyety even in this gross sense, self-righteous persons feel, at, heart, as if they deserved a reward for their good duties ; though per- haps they are not willing to own it. Hence, they are so apt to think it would be very hard, unjust and cruel, if God should damn them for their past sins, notwithstanding all their good duties Isa. lviii. 3... .Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? But, (2.) A man may be said to be rewarded, when, although, in strict justice, he deserves nothing ; yet he re- ceives great favors at the hands of God, in testimony of the divine approbation of his person and services : And thus, the angels in heaven, though they deserve nothing, yet have eternal life bestowed upon them, as a reward to their perfect obedience, in testimony of the divine approbation. God rewards them, not because they do him any good, nor because they deserve any tiling at his hands ; but because he infinitely loves righteousness, and to appear as an infinite friend to this, in his public conduct, as moral Governor of the world. The most that can be said
DISTINGUISHED FROtfl ALL COUNTERFEITS. 51
cf the holiest angel in heaven, is, that he is fit to be approved in the sight of God, because he is perfectly such as God re- quires him to be. And now, because God loves to put honor uoon virtue, and to exercise the infinite bountifulness of his nature, therefore he gives them the reward of eternal life. And thus God promises us eternal life, upon condition of per- fect obedience, in the first covenant : as if God had said, u If ** you will love mc with all your heart, and obey me in every V thing, as you are bound in duty to do ; then, although you will 44 deserve nothing, yet, as becomes a holy and good God.. ..a 44 kind and bountiful Governor, I will make you everlastingly 41 blessed in the enjoyment of myself ; and that in testimony 44 of my approbation of your perfect and steady fidelity." And so, by covenant and promise, this reward would have been due, had the condition been performed. Hence, that in Rom. iv. 4 ....Noxv to him that xvorketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but o/'debt. And now here self-righteous persons are wont to come in with their works, and insist upon their right, and plead the reason of things, as well as the promise. " If we do 44 (say thev) as well as we can, which is all that God does or 44 can in justice require of us, surely he will accept of us — it 44 would be cruel to cast us off— his goodness and faithfulness are " engaged fc/r us :" Just as if they had now made full amends for all their past sins, by their repentance and reformation ; and grown to be as good as angels, by taking some little pains in religion ! For the best angel in heaven does not pretend to any other tide to blessedness than this ; namelv, that he has done as well as he can, and that this is all that God has required, and although he is an unprofitable servant, yet he depends upon the promise, the goodness and faithfulness of his bountiful Creator. Indeed, self-righteous persons may pretend to expect all for Christ's sake ; and say, that what they do, only entitles them to an interest in him ; but it is all mere pretence j for still they think that God is bound to give them an interest in Christ and eternal life, if they do as xvett as they can ; and would think God dealt very hardly with them, if he did not : So that their
52 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
real dependance, at bottom, is upon their own goodness, their own worth or worthiness, to make amends for past sins, and recommend them to God, and entitle them to all things ; the infinite absurdity of which will be evident presently. Again, (3.) A man may be said to be rewarded, when he neither do- serves any thing, nor is it fitting that his person and conduct, considered merely as they are in themselves, should be approv- ed ; but ought to be condemned, according to reason, and ac- coi'ding to God's righteous law, they being so sinfully defec- tive ; nevertheless, such a man may be said to be rewarded, when, merely on the account of his interest in the righteousness and -worthiness of Christ, his person and performances are accepted, and peculiar favors shewn him. And in this way are believers accepted, according to the covenant of grace, and entitled to the reward of eternal life : Phil. iii. 8, 9 — Eph. i. 6 — I Pet. ii. 5. Now, those who look for a reward in this way, will be so far from thinking it much, which they have done for God, that thev will forever set all down for nothing, and worse than nothing,* their best duties being so sinfully defective ; and judge themselves worthy of hell every davt, and evftrtl moment : And all their dependance will be on Christ's worthiness, and the free grace of God through him : Luke xviii. 13 — Rom. iii. 24. And all that is said in the New Testament about God's rewarding the believer's good works, being viewed in this light, gives not the least countenance to a self-righteous spirit, but
* Worse than nothing.... Hots.. I do not mean, that an imperfect, and very defective conformity to the law is worse, and more odious in God's sight, than no conformity at all ; but only, that there is more odiousness than umiablencss in such defeccive services : and that, therefore, we are, in the sight of God, on their account, more proper objects of hatred and punish- ment, than of love and reward, if considered merely as in ourselves, with- out any respect to our relation to Christ : so that, in point of recommend- ing; ourselves to God, we do, by our best duties, thus considered, rather dis- commend ourselves in his sight. ...and, in this sense, they are worse than nothing : they are even so far from paying our constant dues, that, in the sight of God, they constantly run us into debt. We are infinitely to blame in our best frames and best du ties, and have not any thing in them, which tends, in God's si^ht, in the lea ;t de free, to counterbalance our blame. — But if any are desirous to see this point folly explained and proved, and all objections answered, I refer them to Mr. Edwards's excellent discourse on justification by faith alone.
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militates directly against it : And, indeed, if we were as per- fect as the angels in heaven, it appears, from what has been said, that we should deserve no thanks. It is impudent, there- fore, and wicked — it is contemptuous — and, in a sort, blasphe- mous, and most God-provoking, for a proud, conceited Pharisee, to feel as he does in his self-righteous frames. — And God might expostulate with such an one in this man- ner : " What, is there so little lovelines in me ? And is it so *' great, so hard, so self-denying, to love me, that you think it " such a mighty thing ! and expect now, that ail past sins shall "be forgiven, and my favor secured, for this good frame ! yea, " and that I shall give you heaven into the bargain ? What, are "your obligations to me so small, that I must be so much be- ''holden to you for your love ? What, did you never hear that I " was the Lord ! and that it was I that stretched abroad the heav- " ens ! and that you are my clay, whom I formed and fashion- "ed for myself? — Begone, thou impudent wretch, to hell, thy "proper place : thou art a despiser of mv glorious majesty, "and your frame of spirit savors of blasphemy : Know it, I am " not so mean as you imagine, nor at all beholden to you for "your love." And this is one reason that the sacrifice of the wicked is such an abomination to the Lord ; not only when they pray with a view to recommend themselves to their fellow-men, but also when, in doing their best, they only design to ingratiate themselves with God. Prov. xxi. 27.. ..The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination (even his very best) : hozv much more when he bringeth it -with a -wicked 7nind ? The infinite great- ness, glory and excellency of God, and the infinite obligation thence resulting which we are under to love him with all our hearts, and obey him in every thing, renders a self-righteous spirit unspeakably odious, and infinitely provoking in the eyes of a holy God. But this will appear still plainer under the next particular. To proceed, therefuie,
[2.] If we are under an infinite obligation to love God su- premely, live to him ultimately, and take everlasting delight in him, because of his infinite glory and excellex , , then the
54 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
disposition to disesteem him. ...to be indifferent about his inter- est and honor, or to disrelish communion with him ; or the least disposition to love ourselves more than God, and be more con- cerned, about our interest and honor than about his, and to be pleased and delighted in the things of the world, more than in him, must, consequently, be infinitely sinful,* as is self-evident.
When, therefore, die great Governor of the world threatens eternal damnation for the least sin, (as in Gal. hi. 10.) he does the thing that is perfectly right ; for an infinite evil deserves an infinite punishment.
Hence, also, it is no wonder that the holiest saint on earth mourns so bitterly, and loaths and abhors himself so exceeding- ly for the remaining corruptions of his heart ; for, if the least dis- position to depart from God ami disrelish communion with him, and to be careless about his honor and interest, is infinitely sin- ful, then the best men that ever lived have infinite reason al- ways to lie as in the dust, and have their hearts broken. AU though it be so with them, that all which the world calls good and great, appears as dross to them ; and it is nothing to them to part with friends and estate, honor and ease, and all, for Christ ; and although they have actually suffered the loss of all tilings, and do count them but dung, not worth mourning about, ■or repining after ; yet, notwithstanding all these attainments, attended with the fullest assurance of eternal glory in the world to come, they have infinite reason to do as they do..,.to dislike themselves.. ..to hate themselves, and lie down in the dust all in tears, because still there is such a remaining disposition in their hearts to disesteem the Lord of glory... .to neglect his interest, and depart from him ; and because they are so far from being what they ought to be, notwithstanding the obligations lying up-
* The least sin may be an infinite evil, because of the infinite obligation we arc under to do otherwise, and yet all sins not be equally heinous : for there is as great a difference among infinites, as among unites ; I mean, among thingi, that are infinite only in one respect : For instance, to be for over in hell is an infinite evil, in respect of ihe duration ; but yet the damned are not all equally miserable. Somemay bean-hundred times as miserable as others, in degree ; although the misery of j.ll is equal in point of duration.
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on them are infinite. Oh ! this is infinitely vile and abomina- ble, and they have reason indeed, therefore, always to loathe and abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes j yea, they are infinitely to blame for not being more humble and penitent. — A sight and sense of these things made Job lie down in the dust and mourn so bitterly for his impatience under his past afflic- tions, though he had been the most patient man in the world....
fob xlii. 5, 6. This made the psalmist call himself a beast
Psalm lxxiii. 22. And hence, Paul called himself the chief of sinners, and cried out, I am carnal, sold under sin ; 0 xvr etched man that Jam ! And hated to commend himself when the Co- rinthians drove him to it, and seemed to blush at every sentence, and, in a sort, recalled his words — lam not a whit behind the
very chief of the apostles, yet J am nothing / labored more
abundantly than they all, yet not I. Such a sight of things kills a sell-righteous spirit at root, in the most exalted saint ; for he has nothing (all things considered) to make a righteousness of, but, in strict justice, merits eternal damnation every hour, and does nothing to make the least amends.
For, if perfect obedience merits no thanks, as was before ob- served ; and if the least sin is an infinite evil, and deserves an infinite punishment, as we have now seen, then a whole eterni- ty of perfect obedience would do just nothing towards making the least amends for the smallest sin ; much less will the best services of the highest saint on earth : And, consequently, when Paul came to die, he deserved to be damned (considered mere- ly as in himself), as much as when he was a bloody persecutor, breathing out threatenings and slaughter ; yea, and a great deal more too : for all his diligence and zeal in the service of Christ did just nothing towards making the least amends for what was past ; and his daily short-comings and sinful defects run him daily infinitely more and more into debt, which he did nothing to counterbalance : And hence, Paul accounts himself to be nothing (II Cor. xii. 11.), as well he might ; and all his attain- ments to be, in a sense, not worth remembering {Phil. ii>. 13.) and looks upon himself the chief of sinners (I Tim, i. 15.), and
56 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
less than the least of all saints (Eph. iii. 8.), and durst venture his soul upon nothingbut mere free grace through Jesus Christ.... Phil. iii. g, 9. And thus it is with every believer, even the most holy, although he daily sees what a God he has sinned against — how he has sinned against him, and docs, from a gra- cious respect to God, mourn for sin, for all sin, as the greatest evil, and sincerely turns from all to the Lord, and gives up him- self to God, to love him and live to him forever ; yet he feels that all this makes no amends at ail for his sins, but that he real- ly deserves to be damned for them as much as ever ; yea, he feels that he is infinitely blame-worthy for not being more hum- ble and penitent and self-abhorring, and that his desert of damnation is infinitely increasing continually : And hence, he looks upon the grace that saves him as absolutely and divinely free, and infinitely great ; and always derives all his hopes of happiness from the free grace of God through Jesus Christ. — And this is what the apostle means when he speaks of his living by the faith of the son of GoaL..Gal. ii. 20.... of his rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and having no confidence in the flesh. ...Y\\\\. iii. 3. And this was the cause of his so earnestly longing to be found not in himself, but mC'hrlst....7iot having on his own righteous- ness, but the righteousness which is of 'Goa I by faith. ...Phil. iii. 8, 9. How directly contrary to all this is the temper of the blind, con- ceited Pharisee, as expressed by Maimonidcs, the Jew, who was professedly -one of that sect ? u Every man," says he, " hath u his sins, and every man his merits : and he that hath more "merits than sins, is a just man ; but he that hath more sins " than merits, is a wicked man." And this is the way of such men — they put their sins, as it were, into one scale, and their good duties into the other ; and when they fancy their goodness outweighs their badness, then they look upon themselves in the favor of God. But to return,
From what has been said, we may learn, that the more sensi- ble any man is of the infinite glory and excellency of God, and of his infinite obligations thence resulting to love God with all his heart, and obey him in every thing, the clearer will he see
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 57
that perfect obedience deserves no thanks, and that the least sin is an infinite evil and deserves an infinite punishment ; and so he will renounce his own righteousness, die to himself, and come down to nothing, more and more ; and so will be propor- tionably more and more sensible of his absolute need of Christ and free grace : And hence, the more holy a man grows, the more humble will he be. And, on the contrary,. the more insert* sible a man is of God's infinite glory and excellency, and of his obligations thence resulting, the more will he value his duties, and the less evil will he see in sin, and the less sensible will he be of his ill desert, and of his need of Christ and free grace. — And hence, a self-righteous, impenitent, Christ-despising spir- it reigns in all who knoiv not. God : And thus we see some of the consequences necessarily following from that infinite obligation to love God with all our hearts which we are under, resulting from the infinite glory and excellency of the divine nature. — But to pass on,.
3. This obligation we are under to love God with all our hearts,. arising from his infinite glory and excellency, is, in the nature of things, eternally binding. God, his being, perfection;, and glory will be eternal : God will always be infinitely amia- ble— always as amiable as he is now ; and there will be always, therefore, the same reason that he should be loved, for being what he is ; even the very same reason that there is now : This obligation is therefore perpetually binding amidst all the chan- ges of this life. Whether we are sick or well, in prosperity or in adversity ; whether we are raised to honor with David, or live in affluence with Solomon ; or whether we are in prison with Joseph, or on the dung-hill with Job, or wandering- about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented, w ith those mentioned in the eleventh to. the Hebrews, still this obligation upon us to love God, is invariably the same : For God is always infinitely amiable in himself; yea, and always will be so, whether we are in the earth, or in heaven, or in hell : And therefore it always is, and always will be, our indispensible duty to love him with all our hearts, let what will beco.ne of us,
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and let our circumstances, as to happiness and misery, be what they may.
Did our obligations to love God arise merely from a consid- eration of something else besides the eternal excellency of the di- vine nature — from something which might altogether cease in time, then might it possibly, some time or other, cease to be our duty to love God with all our hearts : But assuredly it can never cease, until God ceases to be what he is. The infinite ob- ligation hence arising will be eternally binding : Indeed, if all our obligations to love God did arise merely from selfish con- siderations, then, in hell, where these selfish considerations will cease, it would cease to be a duty to love God. If I were obli- ged to love God, only because he loves me — is kind to me, and designs to make me happy, then, when he ceases to love me, to be kind to me, and to intend my happiness, all my obliga- tions to him would cease ; and it would be no sin not to love him : But now, since our obligations to love God arise original- ly from his being what he is in himself, antecedent to all selfish considerations ; therefore it will forever remain our duty to love him, let our circumstances, as to happiness or misery, be what they will : And not to love him with all our hearts, will forever be infinitely wrong. Hence the guilt of the fallen an- gels has been increasing ever since their first apostacy ; and the guilt of all the damned will be increasing to all eternity ; and no doubt their punishment will increase in the same propor- tion. How inconceivably and infinitely dreadful, therefore, will be their case, who are thus continually sinking deeper and deeper in that bottomless pit of woe and misery ! And indeed, if this be the case, hell may well be compared, as ife is in scrip- ture, to a bottomless pit.,.. .Rev. ix. 1. & xx. 1.
4* This obligation which we are under to love God with all our hearts, resulting from the infinite excellency of the divine nature, is also unchangeably binding. As unchangeable as the divine nature is — as unalterable as the divine beauty is, even so unchangeable, so unalterable, in the very nature of things, is this our infinite obligation to love him supremely, live to him
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ultimately, and delight in him superlatively. As God is infi- nitely lovely in himself, and unchangeably so, so it is self-evi- dent we are under an infinite 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 so, unalterably unfit and wrong. Our sinking down into ever so bad a temper, and getting to be ever so remote from a disposition to love him, can no more free us from the obligation, than it can cause him to cease being ami- able. He must cease to be amiable, before our obligation thence arising can possibly cease to be binding. If there be no alteration in his infinite beauty, there can possibly be no al- teration in the infinite obligation thence arising. While God remains what he is, and while our natural powers and faculties are maintained in being, it must continue our duty to love God with all our hearts, and it cannot but be our duty. In the na- ture of things it is right ; and the obligation is just as incapable of any alteration, as is the equality between twice two and four. The fallen angels are of so bad a temper, that the very thoughts of God will, doubtless, sooner than any thing, stir up all their hatred : But God deserves to be perfectly loved by them, as much as he did before their apostacv. There is a great altera- tion in the temper of their minds ; but not the least shadow of change in the divine beauty. Their having contracted so bad and wicked a temper, cannot surely make it right and lawful for them to indulge it, and continue in it. Their impious re- volt surely cannot free them from the authority and government of Almighty God. He deserves their homage and subjection, as much us ever he did : The original ground of all still re- mains ; he is still the Lord. The same may be said of fallen man — it is impossible that our bad temper should free us from our obligation to love God with all our hearts. It is still, in the nature of things, as wrrong, 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 apostates. It must
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be so, unless our being of so bad and wicked a temper makes it right for us to continue of such a temper, and we not at all blame-worthy for acting agreeably thereto ; that is, unless our being so very bad and wicked, makes us not at all to blame for our badness and wickedness : And so, according to this rule, the viler any creature grows, and the more averse to God and to all good, the less he is to blame ; which is one of the gros«- sest absurdities in the world. Therefore,
(1.) The divine law xvhich requires us to love God with all cur hearts, considered as a rule of duty, is, in the nature of things, unalterable, and absolutely incapable of any abatement, more or less. The thing required, is, in the nature of things, our duty, antecedent to any consideration of an express law in the case — as that children ought to honor their parents, and neighbors do as they would be done by, are things in themselves right, and duties antecedent to any consideration of an express law in the case.... Eph. vi. 1. These 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, so right, that they cannot but be our duty ; and to dishonor our parents, and cheat, and defraud, and injure our neighbor, cannot but be wrong : So, to love God with all our hearts is originally right and lit, and our duty ; and would have been so, had there ne- ver have been any positive, express law in the case.
Now the grand reason why God, the great Governor of the world, ever made a law requiring us to love him with all our hearts, was because it was thus, in its own nature, so infinitely fit : And now to suppose that he would repeal, or alter, or abate this law, when the grounds and reasons of his first making of it re- main as forceable as ever — when the thing required is as right and fit as ever — and when it becomes him, as Governor of the world, still to require it as much as ever ; — I say, to suppose such a thing, casts the highest reproach upon all .'his glorious perfections : It casts the highest reflection upon his infinite ho- liness, whereby he is infinitely inclined to love right and hate wrong ; for it supposes him to release his creatures from doing
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right, and to allow them to do wrong.. ..a little at least : It casts the highest reflection upon his impartial justice, whereby he is infinitely inclined to give ever}' one his due ; for it supposes him to release his creatures from giving unto God the glory which is his due, and to allow them to keep back part at least : It casts the highest reflection upon his stability and truth ; for it suppo- ses him to alter his law when there is no reason for it : yea, it reflects even upon his goodness itself ; for it is so far from be- ing a benefit to his creatures to have this excellent law altered, which is so completely suited to the perfection and happiness of their nature, that it would be one of the greatest and sorest calamities which could happen. Like the altering all the good laws and rules in a family, merely to humor and gratify a re- bellious child, who will not be governed. Such a child should be made to conform to the wholesome laws of the family, and not the laws be abated and brought down to a level with his bad temper and perverse humor : And, finally, it casts the highest reflection upon the infinite -wisdom of the great Governor of the world ; for it supposes him to go counter to his own honor and ■to the good of his creatures, to counteract all his perfections, .and contradict the reason and nature of things ; and that mere- ly in condescension unto, and in compliance with the sinful,cor- rupt taste and inclinations of an apostate, rebellious, God-ha- ting world.
And now, how could the great Governor of the world clear and vindicate the honor of his great name, in making any abate- ments in this law, which requires us to love him with all our hearts ? Would he say that he had before required more love than ~was his due ? Surely, nothing can be much more blasphemous than to suppose this. Would he say that he does not deserve so much as he did ? Still it is equally blasphemous to suppose this. Would he say that Jess than is his due is all that is his due ? But this would be to contradict himself in express terms. Or would he openly profess to quit his right and freely allow his creatures to despise him a little, and sin sometimes, in conde- scension unto and compliance with the corrupt inclinations of
£2 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AXD
their sinful hearts ? But this, in the nature of tilings, would be infinitely wrong and dishonorable. Upon what grounds, then, could the supreme Governor of the world go about to make abatements in a law so holy, just and good, that only requires us to love him with all our hearts, which, in the nature of things, is so infinitely right and suitable ? Or upon what grounds can we possibly desire any abatements to be made, unless we even profess that we do not like the law.. ..that we are averse to lov- ing God with all our hearts. ...that it is a very tedious, self-de- nying thing to us, and what we can by no means freely come in- to ; and so, upon this footing, desire some abatements ! Or, which is the same thing, honestly own " that we love sin so M dearly that God must tolerate us in it, or we cannot approve "of his government."
But, indeed, God can as easily cease to be, as go about to li- cense and tolerate the least sin ; and he had rather Heaven and earth should pass away, than that the least jot or tittle of his law should fail... Ishxt. v. 18.
How can any body, therefore, once imagine that Christ came down from heaven and died, to purchase this abatement of the law of God, and procure this lawless liberty for his rebellious subjects ? What ! did he desert his Father's interest and honor, and the honor of his law and government, and spill his precious blood, that he might persuade the great Governor of the world to slacken the reins of government, and give out this impious li- cense to iniquity ? — Surely to suppose this, is to make Christ a friend to sin, and an enemy to God.
What, then, do they mean, who, in their prayers, presume to thank God for the gracious abatements which he has made in his law ? And what do ministers mean by telling their people, from the pulpit, that the law is abated, and that sincere obedience is all that is now required of us ? — Indeed, if poor secure sin- ners are made to believe that this was the great business Christ came into the world upon, no wonder if their impious hearts are pleased, and if they seem to love Christ, and prize the gos» pel, and give thanks to God for this great goodness and conde-
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scension ; for hereby they are delivered from that strictness in religion which they hate, and a wide door is opened for them to sin 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 serve. And now it's good times, and they bless themselves. But, alas ! They feed upon the wind : A deceived heart hath turned them aside.
But, by the way, to what purpose was it for Christ to die to purchase this abatement ? What need was there of it ? Or what good could it do ? For, if the law really required too 7nuch, the Governor of the world was obliged, in justice, to make some abatements : And so, the death of Christ in the case was per- fectly needless. And if the law required but just enough, the Governor of the world could not, in justice, make any abate- ments : And so Christ must have died in vain, and totally lost his end.
But, indeed, Christ never came into the world upon this de- sign ; as he expressly declares, in Mat. v. 17, 18. ...Think not that I come to destroy the laxv or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto xyou, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no zuise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. And this is the very thing he con- demns the Pharisees for, through all this chapter, that thev, in effect, taught this doctrine, that the law was abated : that they taught, that although the law did forbid some external and more gross acts of sin, yet it did not the first stirring of corrup- tion at heart, and some lesser iniquities : For instance, that " they must not commit murder ; but that it was no harm to be ** angry without cause, and speak reproachfully, and keep a se^. ** cret grudge at heart.... (verse 21 — 26.) That they must not *' commit adultery ; but that it was no harm to have secret las- u civious thoughts.... (verse 27 — 30.) That thev must not be " guilty otpeijury ; but that there was no harm in little petty " oaths in common conversation.... (verse 33 — 37.) That they u must not hate their friends ; but there was no harm in hating
64 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
" their enemies ;" {verse 43 — 4T.) These, and such like al- lowances, they taught, were made in the law ; and so, that such things were not sinful. But our Savior condemns their doc- trine, as false and damning ; 'and insists upon it, that the law is not abated, and never shall be ; but says, it still requires us to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. ...(verse 48.) and declares, that if our righteousness exceedelhnotthe righteousness oflhe scribes and Pharisees, (who wrere so much for abating the law) we shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven.. .(verse 20.) so far was our blessed Savior from any design to abate the ho- ly law of God, or lessen our obligations to a perfect conformity to it : And indeed, if Christ had died, and should die a thou- sand times, to purchase an abatement of the law, (if it be law- ful to make such a supposition) it would be to no purpose ; for it cannot be abated, unless God ceases to be what he is : For so long as God is infinitely lovely, we shall necessarily be under an infinite obligation to love him with all our heart, and with all our strength ; and it will necessarily be infinitely wrong not to do so. The .truth is, that God's sending his Son into the world to die for the redemption of sinners, instead of freeing us from our original natural obligations to keep the law, binds us more strongly so to do ; as we shall afterwards see. Psalm cxix. 160. ...Thy xvord is true from the beginning : And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever : (Ver. 128.) I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. (Ver. 144.) The righteousness of thy testimonies is ev- erlasting. (Ver. 152.) Thou has founded them forever . And therefore (ver. 160,) Every one of them tvill endure forever ; as if the Psalmist had said, " The thing required in thy law " is, in its own nature, right, everlastingly right ; and, there- " fore, as Governor of the world, thou hast by law forever set- " tied and established it as duty — by a law never to be altered, " but to endure forever : And forever, therefore, will it en- " dure."
Ob j. But is it fair and just for God to require more of his creatures than they can do ?
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Ans. What are we come to, in this apostate world, that we cannot see it to be just and fair, in the great Governor of heav- en and earth, the infinitely glorious God, to require us, as his creatures, so much as to love hiri% with all our hearts ? What ! Is this too much ? Is this more than he deserves from vis ? Or does the truth lie here. ...that we hate him so, that we cannot find it in our hearts to love him ; and therefore cry, " He must M not insist upon it ; or, if he does, he deals unjustly, and is " very hard with us V* But is not this the very thing those citi- zens did, who hated their Prince, and sent after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us .^....Luke xix. 14. These hints may serve as an answer for the present : But of this more hereafter.
But while some are pleading, that Christ died to purchase an abatement of the law, others carry the point still further, and say that Christ died entirely to disannul it ; and that now it wholly ceases to be a rule of life to believers : whenas one great and declared design of Christ's coming into the world was to recover his people to a conformity thereto ; (Tit. ii. 11, 12, 13.) Oh how men love their corruptions, and hate God and his holy law, and long to have it cashiered and removed out of the world, that so they may live as they list, and yet escape die reproaches of their consciences here, and eternal punish- ment hereafter ! But God sitteth King forever, and will assert the rights of his crown, and maintain the honor of his majesty, and the glory of his great name, and vindicate his injured law ; although it be in the eternal damnation of millions of his re- bellious subjects: Luke xix. 27..~But those mine cncmies,xvhich would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. And here, by the way, we may see what an aversion men have to right thoughts of God and divine things ; and may be convinced of the absolute necessity of a superna- tural, all-conquering light, to remove these prejudices, and make men see and believe the truth, and love, and cordially em- brace it. (John viii. 4,7 — I Cor. ii. 14.) A holy God does not appear infinitely glorious and amiable to an unholy heart; and
66 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
sinners, not seeing the grounds of loving God with all their hearts, do not see the reason of the law ; they do not see how holy, just, and good the law is, and the carnal mind being enmity against God, is, at the same time, enmity against the laxv, which is a transcript of the divine nature. ...(Rom. viii. 7.) And hence, sinners do not love to believe either God or his law to be what they really are : And this temper makes them blind to what the scripture says, and leads them to frame a false image of God, and entertain false notions of his law, that they may have a God and a laxv both to their own minds.
And now, as are men's notions of the laxv, such are their notions of religion ; the essence of which principally consists in a conformity to the law.
Hence, here is one ; he pleads for great abatements in the law, and he contents himself with the mere form of religion. He is not unjust, nor an extortioner, nor an adulterer; but much better than some of his neighbors : He prays in his fam- ily, goes to public worship, and attends the Sacrament, and thinks himself a very good man ; like him in Luke xviii. 9, 10, &c. But as for the doctrines relating to our natural depravity, regeneration, conversion, faith, communion with Godrandallthe inside of religion, he understands nothing about them ; they seem as strange as it did to Nicodemus to hear Christ discourse about the nexv birth.. ..folmin. And all the talk about the in- ward influences of the holy spirit, in awakening, convincing, humbling, and converting a sinner, and in enlightening, teach- ing, quickening, comforting, and sanctifying a believer, is quite unintelligible ; for these things do not come into his notions of religion. According to his opinion, the law is brought down so low, that it is an easy thing to become a good man : The change is but small, and there is scarce any need of the spirit's help ; much less any room for the exercise of sovereign grace ; for he is so good-natured, that he can become good of his own free will, (i. e. according to his notions of goodness,) and do that which shall effectually entitle him to the promises : And thus he has the staff in his own hand. And now here is a
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charming religion, perfectly suited to the taste of an apostate world ; for it is calculated to quiet the conscience, while the heart lies out estranged from God,anddead in sin... Rom.vn. 8,9. Especially, so much of jt as is for^ieir credit, and apparently serves their worldly interest, will pretty readily and heartily be fallen in with j and the best have their failings. ...no man is per- feet..,. and I endeavor to be sincere. ...and the best have their
doubts assurance is not to be attained, and such-like pleas,
help to keep their consciences secure. And now,0 how they love those ministers, that cry, peace, peace .' but hate those that would search things to the bottom, and sound an alarm to se- cure sinners, and deluded hypocrites. The same temper that makes them hate God and his law, makes them hate his min- isters too : And they are for another kind of God, and for another kind of law — another kind of religion, and another kind of ministers, that they may have all to their mind. And, when all is done, they are confident they are now in the right, because they are suited : They love to have it so, and there- fore firmly believe it is so.
Hence, again, here is another, who has been mightily terri- fied, and in great distress, under a sense of the wrath of God and the dreadfulness of damnation ; but, in the distressing hour, he has had it revealed to him (by the spirit of God, he thinks) that his sins are forgiven ; and now he is sure of heaven, and is ravished at the dioughts of eternal glory : he holds it a great sin to doubt ; and all his religion consists in faith and joy, i. e. in believing that his sins are forgiven, and rejoicing in his bles- sed and happy and safe estate, and in the expectation of future glory : But as for a real conformity to the Itttv, it makes up no part of his religion. He understands rightly nothing what the law requires.. ..he is neither sensible of his duty to God, or to his fellow-men ; yea, he hates to hear anv thing about law or du- ty : It is all legal, he cries, and tends to kill religion, andtoxvound weak christians, and grieve and drive away the spirit of grace ; and no preaching suits his taste, but what consists in telling over and commending such experiences as his, and in setting forth
68 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
the love of God and Christ to such, and calling upon such to believe and rejoice, and never doubt their state again : And, in general, those things which tend to strengthen his confidence and increase his joy, he esteem* right and good ; and all things of a contrary tendency he esteems wrong and bad. This seems to be his only criterion of right and wrong, and the only rule he makes use of in drawing up a judgment ; but as for the law, it is of no use with him. There is doubtless many a man that feels and acts and lives as if the law was abated, who yet will not plead for that doctrine : So, doubtless, there is many a man that feels and acts and lives as if the law wholly ceased to be a rule of life, who yet will not venture to say so. The force of education, and their worldly interest and credit keep men ma- ny times from shewing what they are by an open profession : however, secretly this temper reigns within them ; yea, some- times it breaks out into open light, in their visible conduct. — But, as strange as it may seem, there are multitudes that not on- ly have the root of these things in their hearts, but really believe them and openly profess and plead for them. Hence it is, on the one hand, that the Arminian, Neonomian, and Pclagiam er- rors have taken their rise, and the Antinomian on the other. — Wrong notions of God lie at the bottom j and then wrong no- tions of the law ; and then wrong notions of religion in general : and all originally proceed and grow up out of the wrong tem- per of men's minds ; for all unregenerate men would fain have a God, and a law, and a religion to suit the temper of their hearts. Micah iv. 5. ...For all people xvill xvalk every one in the name of his God.
In the mean time, the truly godly man, who sees that the ob- ligation which he is under, to love God with all his heart, re- sulting from the excellency of the divine nature, is unchangea- ble, and that the law which requires this is unalterable, in- stead of going about to contrive a religion that may suit the na- tural temper of his heart, is convinced that the temper of his heart is the very thing that must be changed : He is convinced of his infinite obligation to be altogether such as the law requires
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him to be, and that he is infinitely blameable for the least defect. Hence, those words, The law is holy, just, and good. ...the law is spiritual ; hut I am carnal, sold under sin : 0 wretched man that I am I do exactly express the thoughts of the most exalted saint on earth ; yea, even of the great Saint Paul himself.. ..Rom. viL 12, 14, 24. Indeed, had St. Paul thought that the law was wholly disannulled, or much abated, he might then have ima- gined that he was so good as to be quite free from sin, or pret- ty near being so, and been ready to speak the language of the Pharisee — God, I thank thee, 1 am not as other men. But now, notwithstanding all his high and wonderful attainments, yet, when he considered what the laxv was which he was under, and how very far he was from being exactly what that required, the native language of his humble heart is, lam carnal, sold under sin ! 0 wretched man that lam .'* And now the Apostle, from a sense of his infinite obligations to be what the law requires, and of his great distance from this, forgets the things which are behind ; and he runs.. ..he wrestles....he fights. ...he strives. ..he keeps under his body. ...he lays aside every weight ; in short, he appears like a man in a perfect agony ; so great was his sense of duty, and so much had he to do : And, at the same time, from a sense of his impotency and of his unworlhiness....of his need of the redeemer and the sanctifier, it is his maxim to pray al- xvays, and to ask all things in the name of Christ. Now, in his example we have the temper which prevails more or less in ev- ery godly man exactly painted : And thus we have had pictured, in miniature, three different sorts of religion, arising from three different notions of the law. The picture is begun ; and, in the sequel, I purpose to paint all three as near to the life as I can, that we may see what they are, and wherein they differ ; which
* Some have thought that St. Paul had arrived so nigh to perfection, that he could not speak these words of himself. Their mistake seems to arise from their wrong notions of the law, to which St. Paul compared himself, and according to which he drew up his judgment. And from the tame source it seems to he, that they can think those words, (ver. 22,) applicable to the unregenerate . . .1 delight in the law of God after the inward man. V> he n, in truth, the unregenerate are, in their temper, diametrically opposite to the lam... .Bom. viii. 7-
70 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
is right, and which is wrong But so much for the first infer- ence, that the few, as a rule of duty, cannot be repealed or abated. And now to proceed,
2. From what has been said, it is evident that the law, in its tkrcatenings of eternal damnation for the least sin, is equally in~ capable of any repeal or abatement : for if our obligation to love God with all our hearts and obey him in every thing, resulting from the divine perfections, is infinite, eternal, and unchangea- ble ; and if, therefore, the least sin necessarily be infinitely evil, and deserving of an infinite punishment, and unalterably so, then the law, considered as threatening eternal damnation for the least sin, is, in its own nature, unalterably holy and just ; and conse- quently it cannot be repealed, consistently with the holiness, jus- tice, and honor of the great Governor of the world. If the Gov- ernor ol the world had, in a mere arbitrary manner, made a law that sin should be puniched with eternal damnation, then he might, in a mere arbitrary manner ,have repealed it : but since, in the nature of things, justice called for it, that such a law should be made, therefore, so long as the grounds and reasons of the law remain, the law cannot, injustice, be repealed.
None can deny but that the great Governor of the world has actually made a law that sin shall be punished with eternal dam- nation ; and none can deny but that this law is to be put in ex- ecution, to the full, at and after the great judgment-day : But if justice had not called for it, surely the infinitely good Governor of the world would never have made such a law, much less would he ever put it in execution : for, to make and execute such a law, in a merely arbitrary, sovereign manner^ when, in the nature of things, justice does not call for it, would be infinite- ly cruel and tyrannical, and perfectly inconsistent with the di- vine perfections, as is self-evident.. ..See Genesis xviii. 25. and Ezekiel xviii. 25.
But, then, if the great Governor of the world, made this law not arbitrarily, but because, in the nature of things, justice call- ed for it, then, so long as the reason and ground of the law re- main, the law itself cannot, injustice, ever be repealed, if jus-
DISTINGUISHED FROM ALL COUNTERFEITS. 71
tice called for its being made, then it cannot be un-made, con- sistently with justice, so long as the ground and reason of it re- main, as is self-evident. But the reason of the law is, in the nature of things, unalterable : for the reason of the law was the infinite evil of sin, whereby it deserved an infinite punishment. As long, therefore, as sin remains an infinite evil, so long must the law stand unrepealed : but sin will always be an infinite evil, so long as we are under infinite obligations to love God with all our hearts, and obey him in every thing, which we shall always be, so long as God remains infinitely glorious and amiable, and this will be forever ; therefoi-e, this law can never possibly, con- sistently with divine j ustice, be repealed.
For any, therefore, to desire to have it repealed, is to turn enemy to the holiness, and justice, and honor of the supreme Ruler of the world, as well as to his law and government ; and argues that they have no regard to the rectitude and fitness of things, but only to self-interest ; as those among men are real enemies to the civil government who desire the good and whole- some laws thereof to be repealed : And it is upon this ground that St. Paul concludes carnal men to be at enmity against God, because they are enemies to his law.. ..(-£<??». viii. 7.) For if men loved God, they would be disposed to love his law and government, which express his nature.
To suppose, therefore, that the Son of God came into the world and died, that the law, in its threaicnings, might be re- pealed, is to suppose that he also is turned an enemy to God. ..to his holiness and justice. ...to his law and government ; and that he is properly gone over to be on the side of his father's rebel- lious subjects.
Besides, to what purpose would it have been (on the hypoth- esis of these men), for Christ to have died, that the law, in its threatening^, might be repealed ? What need was there of it ? or what good would it have done ? For if, in justice, it ought to have been repealed, there was no need of his dying to procure this ; or if, Injustice, it ought not to be repealed, then his dying could not procure it, and so would do ho good. The righteous
72 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
Governor of the world would have repealed it of his own ac- cord, if it had been right and lit so to do ; and if, in the nature of things, it was not right, then not any thing whatever could persuade him to do it.
But the truth is, Christ came into the world, and died to art' sxver all the demands of the laxu ; that so, although the sinner be saved, yet the law might never be repealed, but be firmly estab- lished : for the Governor of heaven and earth was utterly against the law being repealed, as a thing in itself infinitely un- reasonable : And therefore the Apostle says, Do rue make void the laxu through faith P God forbid! yea, xve establish the law.... Rom. iii. 31. And indeed it was nothing but God's infinite aversion to repeal the law, as a thing in itself infinitely unfit and wrong, that was the thing which made the death of Christ needful : for, if the law might have been repealed, sinners might have been saved without any more ado ; but, if it could not, and must not be repealed, then the demands of it must be an- swered by some means or other, or every sinner damned : And now Christ stepped in and did this -; and so secured the honor of God's holiness and justice, law and government, and open- ed a way for the sinner's salvation. And this account of the reason of Christ's death the scriptures plainly give us : — Gal. ., iii. 10, 13, 14>.... Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the laxu to do them. — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the laxu, being made a curse for us. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ : For (Heb. ix. 22.) xuithout shedding of blood there is no remission: Therefore (Rom. iii. 25,26.) Christ was set forth to be a propitiation for sin.... to declare his righteousness ....that he might be just, and the justifier of him xvhich believeth in Jesus : And hence (ver. 31,) Do xve make void the laxu through faith ? God forbid ! yea, xue establish the laxu.
Yea, the Apostle evidently sets out upon this hypothesis, that the law is not repealed, but stands in full force : He lays this down as a first principle, in that argumentative discourse which we have in the three first chapters of his epistle to the Romans :
i
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Chap. i. ver. 18.... The xvrath of God is revealed from heaven agabist all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And taking this for granted, he goes on to prove, that both Jexvsand Greeks are all under sin, and so the whole xvo rid guilty before God ; to the 19th verse of the 3d chapter : And hence he argues, that by the deeds of the law no flesh could be just if cd. 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 /cm;.. ..Rom. v. 13. And if the law was repealed, what need was there of such a long train of arguments, to prove, that no flesh could be justified by the law ? For it would have been enough to have said, that a repealed law could neither justify nor condemn any body. And why does he use such arguments as he does ? For thus he reasons, " The Taw requires perfect "obedience as a condition of life, and threatens tribulation and " wrath against every soul of man that doth evil : But Jews and " Gentiles have all sinned : therefore are all guilty and condemn- " ed according to law ; and consequently cannot be cleared and "justified by law :" For all this reasoning supposes that the law is as much in force as ever it was : And, accordinglv, he goes on to show, that the design of Christ's death was to an- swer the demands of the law, that there might be a way open- ed for the salvation of sinners, consistent with divine justice, and, at the same time, the law not be made void, but establish- ed ; as we have before observed. — And now this being the case, Hence, we find the scriptures every where look upon those who have not a special interest in the righteousness of Christ, by faith, as being as much under the wrath of God and curse of the law, as if Christ had never died. John iii. 18.. ..He that be- lieveth not is condemned already : Ver. 36....The wrath of God abideth upon him : And, Gal. iii. 10.. ..As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. : And, Rom. i. 18.. ..The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrigideousness of men, xvho hold the truth in unrigklcousness. Thus the wrath of God is revealed against the unbeliever ; yea, abides upon him ; yea, the law condemns and curses him : But
74 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
if the law had been repealed by the death of Christ, all the world would have been freed from the curse : For a repealed law can neither bless the righteous, nor curse the wicked ; but stands for nothing.
And hence, also, we find that Christless sinners, when awa- kened by the holy spirit to see and feel what a state they are in, are always convinced that they are under the wrath of God and curse of the law ; and hereby are made to understand their need of a Savior.... (Rom. iii. 19, 20.) But if the law had been repealed by the death of Christ, this could not be ; for they would then have been under no wrath, nor curse ; nor would any have ever felt a spirit of bondage, as they do in every age of the world, and as they used to do in St. Paul's day. ...{Rom. viii. 15.) For it is the lazu only that works w rath. ...Rom. iv. 15.
And hence we shall find, even all the world shall find, and thousands and thousands to their everlasting sorrow, that when the day of judgment comes, the law shall be executed with the utmost severity upon all that know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ.... (II. Thes. i. 7, 8.) And God's justice,in so doing, will shine bright in the sight of all worlds j for he de- signs, on that day, to reveal the righteousness of his judgments : and hence it is called the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.. ..(Rom. ii. 5.) But if the law is repealed by the death of Christ, and if God has told the world that he has repealed it.. ..for him now to revive it, and judge and condemn the world by it, would be to cast contempt upon the death of Christ, and deceive his poor creatures, and unmercifully and unrighteously judge and condemn them, by a law that was re- pealed....a law they never were under, and so ought never to have been judged by. From the whole, therefore, it is evident, that the law that threatens eternal damnation for the least sin, never has been, and never will be repealed.
Well, then, (if this be the case) may ministers thunder hell and damnation against a secure, wicked world ; and well may poor sinners tremble under a sense of divine wrath, when their eves begin to be opened to see where they are : for all those
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comforts that the formalist gets by thinking the law is abated or disannulled, and so his state safe, are but the result of an er- roneous head, and a heart secure in sin. And what has been said under this particular, will rationally account for all the ag- ony and distress of an awakened sinner. When God, the great Governor 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 see what a creature he is, and what a condition he is in, and be sensible of what he deserves ; and when he comes to understand that his soul is forfeited, and that it is right that justice should take place, and that God is at lib- erty to do as he pleases, surely this must be heart-rending, soul-distressing to a poor, sinful, guilty, hell-deserving creature. And if God will not repeal the law, but still insist upon it, that it is holy and just, no wonder the sinner is made to own it too, before ever he is pardoned : For it would be unbecom- ing the supreme Lord of the universe, to grant a pardon to a guilty rebel, that is too high-hearted to own that the law, by which he stands condemned, is holy and just. O how right it is, that the sinner should come down, and see, and know, and own forever, that he is justly condemned, and, as such, apply himself to the sovereign grace of God, through Jesus Christ, for a pardon ! And O how sovereign, and free, and divine, is that grace that pardons and saves the poor, sinful, guilty, hell- deserving wretch, through Jesus Christ! {Rom. iii. 19,27.) And thus as God the Father honors the law, by refusing to repeal it, and God the Son, by answering its demands — so does God, the Holy Ghost, by making the poor sinner see, and feel, and own, that it is holy and j list, before ever he internally reveals the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, unto him ; so that the law is honored, and sin is embittered, and the sinner humbled, and grace glorified, all at once : As in the external revelation God has made in his word, the law is before the gospel ; so it is in internal influences and operations of the holy spirit upon the elect ; and that for the same reason, that the law might be a school-master, to bring men to Christ.
T6 TRUE RELIGION DELINEATED, AND
To conclude, from all that has been said, we may learn what to think of the religion and of the hopes of these two sorts of men. (1.) The legal hypocrite, who, supposing that the good old law is repealed and laid aside, and that a new law, only re- quiring sincere obedience, is established in its room, merely from self-love, and for self-ends, sets about duty and endeavors to be sincere ; and here on this foundation builds all his hopes of ac- ceptance in the sight of God : for since the law is not repealed, but stands in full force, therefore the religion of such is not that thing which God requires or will accept ; and their nexv law is a whim, and their hopes are all built on the sand : Their whole scheme results from a total ignorance of God, and his law, and the present state of mankind ; and is entirely built on falsehood. (2.) The evangelical hypocrite — ail whose faith &v\<\ joy original- ly result from a supposed discovery of the love of God, or love of Christ, or that his sins are pardoned. This discovery is the foundation of his faith, and his faith is the foundation of his joy and of all his religion : And yet the thing discovered is a lie ; for, as has been proved, every one, until he is a believer, until he has acted faith, is not pardoned, but condemned — is not belov- ed of God, but under his wrath ; and, therefore, to have par- don of sin and the love of God discovered before the first act of faith, and to have such a discovery lay the foundation for the first act of faith, and a foundation for all religion, is to be impo- sed upon with a lie, and to have a gross falsehood lie at the foundation of their faith... .their religion, and of all their hopes. The legal hypocrite may be convinced by such scriptures as these.. ..Luke xviii. 9 — 13... .Rom. iii. 20 — 31. and Chapter iv. ver. 5. ; which prove that a man cannot find acceptance with God by his own righteousness : And the evangelical hypocrite may be convinced by such scriptures as these. ...John iii. 18, 36. Acts iii. 19. ; which prove that a sinner is not pardoned till af- ter faith. A true sight and sense of the law would effectually convince the one, and the other, that all their hopes are built on wrong apprehensions of things, and that all their religion is coun- terfeit ; and that they are yet in the gall of bitterness and bonds
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of iniquity : and the one would no longer venture his soul on his own righteousness, nor the other on his discovery. The law's insisting upon perfect, sinless obedience, would convince the one that his own righteousness might not be depended upon ; and the law's cursing every unbeliever, would convince the other that his discovery was false ; and the law's requiring us to love God primarily for his own beauty, would convince both of their graceless estates, in as much as the religion of both primarily takes its rise from self-love. It is from the want of a realizing sight and sense of the nature and extent of the law, and that out of Christ we are exposed to all the curses thereof, that a sinful, guilty world are so insensible of their graceless, and their wretch- ed and miserable condition, and so apt to natter themselves that thev are rich, and increased in goods, and stand in need of noth- ing. Rom. vii. 8, 9. ...Without the law sin -was dead. I was alive xvithout the law once.
Thus we see that the obligation which we were under to love God with all our hearts, resulting from the infinite excellency of the divine nature, antecedent to all selfish considerations, is z?2- finitely, eternally, and unchangeably binding : And thus we see a variety of important consequences necessarilv following there- from : And I have insisted the longer upon the nature of this obligation, not only because it is the first and greatest,but because it has a mighty influence in all our additional obligations. — For,
5. And lastly. 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 infinite ex- cellency of the divine nature so entirely lays the foundation of its being our duty to love God with all our hearts, that were it not for this, it would cease to be our duty, notwithstanding all oth- er considerations. If he were not, by nature, God, it would not be fit that we should love and worship him as God, upon any account whatsoever : He could have no such right to us, or authority over us, as to make it our dutv ; nor couid he render it our duty, by showing us any kindness whatsoever: Yea, if he were not, by nature, God, it would be wrong for us to pay him
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divine adoration ; it would be idolatry ; it would be worship- ping one 'as Gad, who, by nature, is not God: And by the same argument which the orthodoxhive been wont to use against the Ariam, who deny the divinity of Christ.. ..If he be not a divine person, he ought not to have divine worship paid him ; — I say, by the same argument, if God were not, by nature, God, it could not, upon any account, be our duty to love and worship him as God. It is his being, by nature, God — his being what he is, and his infinite excellency in being such, which therefore lays the original foundation of all our obligations, and which gives life and energy to all : And, accordingly, we may observe, that rthe original ground and reason upon which God, as Gov- ernor of the world, acts, in making a law that we should love him with all oar hearts, is, because he is the Lord ; as is evident from the tenor of the law itself: — Thou shall love ?//eLoRD,&c. i.e. because he is the Lord, &c. Yea, it is upon this ground, origi- nally, that God takes it upon him to give all his laws to us ; for this is the constant style.... Thus and thus shallye do, for I am the Lord.
Those, therefore, who are influenced to love and worship God not at all, because he is God, but altogether from other consid- erations....not at all from a sense of his infinite excellency, but a ': ogether on other accounts, are so far from being truly religious, that they are, indeed, guilty of great wickedness in all they do : for although they pretend to love and worship God, yet it is not at all because he is God ; — though they pretend to pay divine adoration to him, yet it is not at all because he is a divine Be- ing : so that when they pretend to pay divine worship and ado- ration to God, it is merely from some selfish consideration.... from self-love, and for self-ends ; — there is no true regard to God, but all centers in self: so that self, indeed, is their idol, and the only God they serve ; and their pretending to love and worship God is mere mockery. When they pretend to love and worship God, it is not at all because he is God.. ..not at all from a sense of his divine glory, but only to appease his anger and obtain his favor, or because they consider him as their friend
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and benefactor. And now, to come to God and pretend to worship him as if he was God, and yet not to do it at all because he is God, but for mean, and mercenary, and selfish ends, is a very complicated wickedness ; and to think to please God in this way, and get into favor by this means, discovers such igno- rance and contempt of God, and a frame of heart so full of se- cret blasphemy, spiritual idolatry, pride and hypocrisy, as can- not easily be expressed : They practically deny his divinity, yet pretend to pay him divine worship : They pretend to serve God, yet really intend only to serve themselves : They make as if they loved God, but only love themselves : Yet so intol- erably mean are their thoughts of God, that they expect to please him by all this. To make the best of it, all that religion is mere hypocrisy, which does not primarily take its rise from a sense of the infinite excellency of the divine nature.
Thus, then, we see what is the jirst and chief motive of a genuine love to God. He is a Being of infinite understanding, and of almighty power — infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. ...and so a Being of infinite glory and ex- cellency.... and so infinitely amiable, and infinitely worthy to be loved with all our hearts. And this obligation is binding ori- ginally in itself, antecedent to a consideration of any other mo- tive whatsoever : and it is infinitely, eternally, and unchange- ably 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 deserve no thanks ; but we are infinitely to blame for the least defect, and can never do any thing to atone for it, but deserve everlasting damnation. And it will always be our duty thus to love God, and the least defect will be always thus blame-worthy, let our circumstances, as to happiness or misery, be what they will. All our hearts will be always due to God, and we shall always stand bound to pay this debt, whether we have any heart for it or no : and God will always appear such an infinite enemy to the least defect, as in his law he has declared himself to be ; nor is there anv hope of our finding acceptance in his sight, unless it be bv a union
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to, and interest in, him who has answered all the demands of the law, in the room of those who believe in him. And all pretence of love to God, which does not take its rise from this foundation, is but mere hypocrisy. All these consequences so necessarily follow, from a supposition of the infinite excel- lency and amiableness of the divine nature, and so evidently, as that, if God be but seen aright, a sense of his infinite beauty will immediately assure the heart that these things are so. A sense of his infinite glory will make us see and feel that we are under infinite obligations to love him with all our hearts, and that we could deserve no thanks for doing so, but that the least defect is infinitely wrong, &c. A sense of the infinite glory of God will effectually establish the heart in these things against all the subtle arguments and fair pretences of heretics. A sense of the infinite glory of God, immediately imparted to the soul by the spirit of God, whereby the heart is thus divinely established in the belief of the truth, is, therefore, \\\ntiinctionfro7n the holy one, which all the saints have, whereby they are effectually se- cured from being finally led away by false teachers ; at least, that unction consists' partly in this, (I. John ii. 20 — 27,) And at the same time that the people of God are thus established in the belief of these truths, relating to law and duty, from a sense of the infinite glory of God ; I say, at the same time this sense of the infinite glory of God begets a disposition in the heart to conform to this law and do this duty. And thus it is that God writes his laxv in our hearts, and jtaifo it in our inward parts, when he intends to become our God, and to make us his people.... (Heb. viii. 10, 11.) And hence it begins to be the nature o£ the people of God, to love him with ail their hearts ; and their views and their temper, and every thing else being thus entirely nexv, hence they are called new creatures. Old things are passed away, and all things are become new. But now, this sense of the infinite glory of God, which thus lays the very lowest foun- dation of true religion, is entirely left out of all false religions. And by this, true religion stands distinguished, as something specifically different from all the false religions in the world.
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And hence we may observe, that it is spoken of in scripture, as something peculiar to true saints, that they see God and know God. Johnyiii. 19, 55.... Ye neither know me, nor my Father. John xiv. 19.... The world seeth me no more,but ye see me. I. John iii. 6.. ..Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither known him. I. John ii. 3... .Hereby