682- SERMON 11. :f:l: 1 1 {;. 140 _ mant!ment of t~e L~r~ is pure, inl.ightning tbe Eyes. The Word is very near,. tl-errfore t)y Servant lO'VeS rt. Tts th~ perfp1~uous Rule ot o?r. I?uty without Blemilh or JmpcrftClwn ? The Commandmen t zs holy, ;ujl andgood. It !OJOIOS nothing but what is abfolutely Go~d, without the ~eaO: Ttnd~re of Evil. Th~ Sum of it is f~t down by the Apofll::, to lrve foberly , rhat IS, to ab!\am from any tlnng t hat may !lam the Excellence of an· under0and1.ng Crea~ure .: To lrve r~g}teou}ly, whtch refpects the State and Situation wherein Gocj has difpofed Men for Ius Glory: lt comprehends all the relpetlive Duties t~ ~ thrrs , to who~ we are unit:d by the Ban~s of Nature, or of Ci,til Society, or of Spmtual Commumon : And te lrve godly, wluch includes all the internal and out· ward Duties we .owe to God, who is the So.veraign of our Spirits, whofe Will muft be the Rule, and Ins Glory the End of our Achons. In fl1ort, The Law is fo forrn'd that prefcinding from the Authority of the Law-I;iver, its Holinefs and Gaodnefs I;ys a~ eternal Obligation on us to obey it. No\v Sm is not only by lmerprctation, a Re· preach to the Wifdom and other Perfe<lwns of God, but direClly and formally a Contranety to his Jnfi~itc Sand:~ty an~ Purity? for it confitls in a not doing what rhe Law 'Rom. 11 . commands, or dorng what lt forb1ds. 'Tts therefore faid, That the Carnal Mind is Enmity againfl G~d: An Active-, imme~ iate a~d irreconcilable Contrariety to his holy Nature and Wtll : From hence there IS a rectprocal Hatred between God and Sinm:rs: Rom. '- God is of purer Eyes than to behuld lni~uity, without-an infinite Oifplicence, the Effects of which will fall upon Sinners; and rho' ' tis an Impiety hardly conceivable, yet the Scripture tells us, that they are H•t<rs of God. 'Tis true, God by the tranfcendent Excellence of his Nan1re is unc~pable of fulfering any Evil, and there are fe~v in the prefent State arrived to fuch .Mahce, .as tO declare open Enmity and War agamfi God. In the Damned this Hat~ed Js expli:a and direCt, the Fever is hc}ghtned to a Frenzy, the ble(fed God is the ObjeCl of thei r Curfes and Eternal AverC1uon : Jf their Rage could extend to him, and their Power were equal to thei r De!ircs, they would dethrone the mo!l High. And the Seeds of this are in the Breaas of Sinners here. As the fearful ExpeCtation of irrefiflible and fiery Vengeance increafes, their AverGtion increafes. They endeavour to raze out the Infcription of God in their Souls, and to ex. tinguifll the Thoughts and Senfi: of their TnfpeClor and Judge. TheywiOl11e were not All•leeing and Almighty, but Blmd and Impotent, uncapable to VLndicate the Honour of his defpifed Deity. The Fool bath fard m lm beart, tbere iJ no God. The Heart is the Fountain of Dcf1res, and AChons mterpret the Thoughts and AffeCl:ions, from whence the Inference is direCt and condufJve, that habitual Smners, wiJo fi.ve witbout Godinthr World, have fecret Def1re~ ; there was no Soveraign Being, to obferve and require an Account of all their Actions. The radical Caufe of this Hatred IS from the Oppofition of the fmlul polluted Wills of Men, to the Holinefs of God; for that Attribute ex. cites his Ju!lice, and POwer, and Wrath, to puniOt Sinners. Therefore the .4-pollic faith, 1bey are Enemies to God in their Minds tlmugb wicked Works. The naked repre· fenting ot this Impiety, that a reafonable Creature fl10uld hate the ble(fed Crearor for his mofl Divine Pcrfet.l:ions, cannot but !lrike with Horror. 0 the Sinfulnefs of Sin! 4 . Sin is the Contempt and Abu{e of his Excellent Goodnefs. This Argument is as va!l as God's innumerable Mercies, whereby he allures and obliges us to Obedience: f lhall refirain my Difcourfe of it, to three things wherein the Divine Goodnef• is very confpicuous,and mofl ungratefully defpifed by Sinners. 1]/. His creating Goodnefs. 'Tis clear, without the leafllhadow· of Doubt, that nothing ea ~ give thetirfr Bein~ tO it a~lf; for ~h i s were to be befo re it was,which is adtrea Comradu:tion; and 'tis evtdent that God 1s the foie Author of our Beings. Our Pareors afforded the grofs matter of our compounded Nature, but the Variety and Union, the !leauty and Ule fulnefs of the feveral Parts, which is fo wonderful, that the Body is com· pofed of as many Miracles as Members,. was the Oeflgn of his Wifdom, and the Work o f his Hands. The lively !~ea and perfect Exemplar of that regular Fabnck, was modell 'd in the Divine Mind. This aflected rhe Pfalmi(l with Admiraticln: I amfearf.•:'IJ Ha!. 13-Q· r4 , and wonderfully made: marveUouf!y a:e thy ~Vo.~ J:J, mtd tbat my Soul knows right.we!l. ~hz;u If, 16 " Eyes didfee my Suhflance , yet_hemg rmperfeEI. and in tby Book all my MemberJ were wrztten, which in contiJiuance were fajlnonrd, whe1t aJ yet tbere 1vaJ none of them. A~d !ob obferve~_, Job •o. '· :,p, {!;l:~i~i~r~~~:t~~r;f:fi[;;~r;~;~:;1;;o~.s/};;. s~~l;c o;a~~I~~~;a~f~~~,;~ ~~d:a~:~~ z;~~tf;;o·~~e~1r~, I~~~~~~ri~~·~~~e~~j~~ tii~~I~gr, ~·~0~~/~~n::~~e~: tal Benefit, upon which all oth~r Favou:s and Benefits are rh: Superfiru~ur~, was the EffeCt from an eternal Caufc, Ius rno!l free Decree, thnt ordmned our Btr~h 10 rhe ffr.- ces of Time. The Fountain was his pure Goodncfs; there was no N~ce!llry d e rcrn~~~
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