ii 5o Sincere Obedience neceffary to SERM. of the ffiirit reap lift everlafling *. And he II. only who doth righteoufnef, as St. 'ohn teaches, "`^' not who profeffeth or purpofeth it, is righteous. Let it be further obferved, that if we do the will of God in the fenfe in whidh our Saviour requires it as the condition of entering into the kingdom of heaven, we muff do it uni- verfally. A partial obedience will never pleafe him. To Tingle out fome of his command- ments, which we will obey becaufe they do not interfere with a favourite vice, or felfiíh intereft, whilft we obftinately continue in the violation of others as plainly declared to us, but which Rand in dire oppofition to a prevailing Tuft, this is to rebel againft God. A cafe of this kind we have in the r 5th chap- ter of the a ft Book of Samuel, and the guilt of it is fully reprefented. A commandment was given from God to Saul, which he exe- cuted in part only, boafting of it, however, to Samuel, that he had performed the command- ment of the Lord. But when Samuel chal- lenged him upon his apparent failure, for that he heard the bleating of the fheep and thelowing of the oxen, he palliated the omiffion by feveral excufes, filch as the importunity of the peo- ple, and the pretence of a pious defign to offer Gal. vi. 7, 8. the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=