Trtle Tbankfulnefs botv d!fcemed. DIRECT. XIV. Let Thankfulnefs to God thy [reator , 1\§deemer and ~generater, be the rvery Gr.Dir. '4· temperament of thy foul, and fait/fully exprejfed by tlry To1lgue and Life. ~;.~:~~:.:r .. §· 1 . THough our 1bankfulncjj is no benefit to God, yet he is pleafed with it, as that which is fuitable ro our condltlon and lheweth the mgcnmty and honefiy of the Heart. An un– th:mkful perfon is but a devourer of mercies, and a grave to ~ury them in, and one that bath not the wit and honefiy to know and acknowledge the hand that g•veth them : But the 1h,nk.Jullooketh above himfelf and retmnerh all, as he is able, to him from whom they flow. §. 2 • 1ru~ 'Jhank[ulne{s to God is dilccrned from Counter[rit , by thefe qualifications : 1· True 1hankful;rcfi having a. juft cfiimate of merc1es comparauvely, preferreth Jpiritual and everlafting mercies, before tho{e that are meerl_y corporal and tranfitory• .~~t carnal 'ThanbJulnifs chiefly valueth carnal Merciu, though notionally_ 1~ may _con~efs .chat the fpzrztual are rhe greater. 2 • True <{/ 1 ankJulnefi inclinerh the foul to a fp1~1tual reJoyc~ng 1~ God, an~ t? a defire after more of his fpirirual mercies ; But c.Jrnal thaJtkfulmfi IS only a dehghr m the proipenty of the Adh, or the delufion and carnal fecurity of the mind, inclining men to carnal empty mirth, and to a ddire of more [uch fldhly pleafure, plenty or content: As a Beafi that is full fed will skip, and play, and !hew that he is pleafed with his fiate : or if he have eak, he would not be molefied. 3. 1rue tha,.P,_– fulmfi kindleth in the heart a love to the Giver above the Gifr, or at. leafi a Love to God above our Carnal pro{pfrity and plea{Urc, and bringeth the heart fiilt nearer unto God,. b~ all his m.ercies. But carnal thankfulnefs doth fpring fromCarnal filflove, or love of flrjhly prolpenty ; and IS moved by it, and is fub[ervient to it, and Loveth God and 1hankph him but {0 tar as he gratirierh or fatisfierh the flc!h. A child-like 1hanffulnejj maketh us love our father more than his gift, and delire to be with him, in his arms; Bur a Dogdoth love you and. is thankful to you, but for feeding him; He loveth you in [Nbordination to his appetite and his bones. 4· Tnte Tb.Jnkfulnefr inclinerh us to obey and pleafe him that obliged! us by his benetits. But car>ul tbanVulnejj puts God offw'th the hypo– critical complemental thanks of the lips, and fpends the mercy in the pleafingof the Aefh, and makes it bu~ rhe fewell of lufi and fin. 5· 1rue thanlzfulnrfi to God is neceff.nily tranfcendent, as his 11\fr– cies are tran!Ccndent : The Caving of our fouls from Hdl, and promif:"Jg us eternal life, befides the giving us our very beings and all that we have, do oblige us to be tot.slly and abfoluttly hH, that is fo traNfcendent a Bemfa[/or to us, and caufeth the than~ful perfon to devot and rtfign bimfelf, and all that he hath to God, to anfwcr fo great an obligation: But camal th:mkfitlmfi falls fhort of this abfolut! and total dedicalion, and fiilllea.veth the finner in the power of.fe/f-love, dwoting himfelf ( really) to hirnfclf, and ufing all that he is, or hath, to the pleajing of hiS f/ejhly mind, and giving God only the tythes or leavings of the fle!h, or [o much as it can fpare, !ell he !hould flop the fireams of his benignity, and bereave the fle{h of its profp:::rity and contents-. §. 3· :Qirtaions for 1hanlifulntfs to God our Benefa[Jor. Direct. J, Vmlerjiund well bowgreat this duty i1, in tbe 11ature of the thing, but efieciaUy how the Direct. I• very defign and tenour of the Gu[pel, and the way of our falvation by a Redeemer, bejpeab,ph it a1 the very complexion of the fOul, and of every duty. · A creature that is wholly his Creators, and is preferved every momen~ by him, and daily fed and maimained by his boumy, and is put imo a capacity of life eternal, mull needs be obliged to uncetTanr Gratitude. And Vnthankfulneji ·among men is ju!Hy taken for an unnatural monfirous vice; which forfeircth the benefits of friendfb.ip and fociety, 2 1'im. 3· 2· The tmtbaJtkful are numbred with the unholy, &c. as parr of the monfiers which lhould come in the lajt timu, (and which we have lived to fee, exactly anfwering that large defcription of them ) : But the Dejign of God in the work of Redemption, is purpofely laid for the raifing of the hightO1banUulnrfs in man : and the Covenant of Grace c9ntainerh fitch abundant wondereus Mercies, as might compcll the fouls of men to Gratitude, or leave them utterly without excufe. It is a great truth, and much to be con£idered ; that Gratitude i~ that geniral duty of the G.fpel, ~ which contaimth and animateth all the refi, as being Effentia.l to aiJ that is properly Evangelical. A L•w as a L.nv rcquireth Obedience as thegeneral duty: and this Obedience is ro be exerci[ed and found in every part:cul.J,. dttty which it requireth; And theCovenant with the Jews was called, The Law, · becau[c the Regulating p.·trt was rnoit eminent: and fo obedience was the thing that was eminently re– quired by the Law (though their meafure of mercy obliged them a Ho to tbankfulnefs): But the Gofpel or NewCo-:Jcn.111t IS mofi rminently a hijlory ofMercy, and a tender and promi.fi of the mofi un~ matclublc benefits, that ever were htard of by the ~ars ot man: [o tba[ rhe Glfi of Mo·cy is the predo~ rninant or eminent part in the Gofpcl or New Covenant; and though Oill God be our Governour and Gr.1titudl! is to the NewCovenant a!£0 hath its Precepts, and is a Law, yet that is in a f(irt but the [~tb{crvien: ~art: the P.ornifc~ An~ what obedience is to a Law, that 1hanltfulnef! is to a Bmefit ; even the formal anfwering of irs much. what_ obhgatidrt: fo that though we are 'alled to as exact obedience as ever, yet it is now only a Thank: Obcbd1 e~~e 1 ~ z J].dltot CJ...;J.\1•
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