Chap.I5. Oftbeepitialparts ofthe Law. Introdu&. 3. Retributionem. According to King David!, aid retribuam? what fhall I render to theLord? what we arc to perform new and trueobedience, not that fccundum e e x.ror fismmum, jsu , but fecundum «rr ,, that which is accepted of in Chrift the neglect or none performance whereof makes a forfeiture of what God bath gi. venor promifed. So that our new obedience is not only to look back as an alt of gratitude for benefits received , but alfo ( and that chiefly ) forward, as a condition to which is annexed by Gods freegrace in theGofpei , the promife of eternal life. Mat. 5. zo. and y. at. Rom. 8. 13. Gal. 5. z1 z Pet. 2. 20., z r. 2 ?elm, 8 CH A P. X V. In the Lawfour thingsfirfi,the work_ro be done.The Decalogue the Pande?toofmoral Laws. The Laws moral known before Mofes , written in Men; hearts proved in particular. In every Law there is evil to be avoided, and good. to be done,both mail concur. St. Pauls three Rules, of pie, jnfte, fobrie. Saint Aug.-his three Rules,firfl contrary tothree Rules ofcorrupt nature, fecondly the manner of doing, requires. firfI To*.,s, fecondly, totum, thirdly, toto tempore. ithardly, the reward. Fourthly the punifhment. The Law. E learned in the general face , w depend Ponly uponGods Providence, and fo we are Pre tof conceive that ofheim are as to a mighty rince andKing, for fo he is Riled in theApocalyps. Rev. r9. 16. W ho as he hatha Reward for us, fo hehath his eriaciy.r his work-houfe, his place ofprobation and trial for us, which Houfe is theWorld, and that being in hiswork-houfewe have our agenda , work to be done.And the Law , as the Rabbins call it, is Thorafh magnafhoth, Doctrina agenda. rum , the things we mutt do are contained in it. And as there befour things in all goodLaws in the World; fo are there in this , which is LexCreatoris Mundi the Law ofthe Worlds Creator. r. Opus. The work prefcribed to be done. This ye (hall do. 2. Modus Themanner how it mutt bedone. Thus ye (hall doit. 3. Premium The Reward for itbeing done. In polaris, in Heaven. 4. Poona. The punifhment for itbeing not done. In Carcere, in Hell. TheMilan Opus. The Altion or Work. The Decalogue is as it were the Pandelts, a Book of all the Offices,Works and Duties which God requireth at Mans hand, and the Lawyers Pandelts are nothing elfe but Comments upon thefe : thefe are thetrue Erhica Chrifliana, Christian moral Duties, tranfcending all other whatfoever. And in this refpelt arethey of the Church of Rome to be commended , who though they teach theirYouth other Arts, yet teach them no other Ethicksthan thefe : Logique and Phyfiques and Metaphyfiques they learn them , but for Ethicks they refer them efpecially , as the reformed Churches have done, to thefe of the Decalogue, which indeed is the true Regula worum, the juft fquare of all our Anions, for they ought not to be (hotter nor longer than this. Oh; But becaufe the Law is faid to be givenby Aloft: , there may :trite a doubt from hence, that feting the Law was not given till above z000 yearsafter the Creation* and that the World was fo tong without a Law , why may not we live without a Lawnow, aswell as they did before Mofes t Ref?. OurAnfweris. That they lived not before Moles, without the Law. They had manyparts of the Law , fome of the CeremonialLaw , by fpecial Revelation from God,and all the moral Law written in their hearts, they had the knowledge ofBeafts, clean, and unclean, of facrificing, of praying or calling upon God : of the younger Childrens fubjedtion to the elder. Abraham had the Law of Circumcifion : he and iacob paid Tiths ; and many other Laws they hadbefore Mofes wrote them. And as Saint Paul faith , The Gentiles ( both before and after) doing by nature the things contained in the Law, theft having not the Law , were a Law unto themfetves: Rom's.14.1 S, what to do ? not what they lifted, but the work ofthe Law, written in their hearts, initead ofTables ofStone. That is,the effeft of the Law , which is equivalent to the Law it felf , which he
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