Recommended from Phil. 2. I 2, I 3· 6u of God. Ask therefore the Children of God, who are the only fufficient Judges in this Matter, and they will tell you with one Confcnt, that they know no DeJiaht on Earth comparable to thatDcli~ht that is to he found in Obedience. Indeed j{"' you are only taken with a foft, luxu ~ ious, walhy Ple~fure, this is not to be found in the ways of Holinefs; but if a fevere Delight can afie(\: you, a Delight that llull not effeminate but innoble you; i f you defire a mafc~line, r.ational, vigorous Ple~fure and Delight, you need not feek any further for It than In the ways of 0bedtence. Now there arc two 'Thin( I that make this working for Salvation to be fO pleafant; 7'wo thing~ the fnitab\enefs of this Work w the Agent or Wor.ker, and th.e vi!ible Succefs and r;:,;Ja~;~: Progrcfs of the Work it fclf: And both thefe make the working out of Salvation vnian exceeding pleafant and deli?·htfnl to the People of God. pleafant. (1 .) F1rff, Jt is a Work tL;ited to their Natures, and that makes it pleaflnt. As S:dr.zblt~ Jefus Chrift had in a phyfical Senfc, fo every true Chrifl:ian hath in a moral Senfc upaflhc two Natures in one Perfon : There is the divine Nature or the Nature of God, ~~-a~ w and there is the humane, corrupt Nature, the Nature of finful Man, and each of •be gent~ thefe have Inclinations fuited unto them; there ·is the carnal part, and that is too apt to be feduced and drawn away with the Pleafures of Sin, that arc Objects proportioned to the carnal part: But then there is alfo a. divine, and if J may fo call it, a fupcrnatural Nature, imprinted by Regeneration, that only doth relifh h eavenly and fpiritual Things: So that it is not more natural to a godly Man by reafon of the Propenfions of the old Nature to fin againft God, than it is natural to him, by rcafon of the Propenfions of the new Nature, to obey and ferve God. Now when Nature aC\s fuitably to its own fway and pondu&, this mnft needs caufe two Things: Firft, FaciLity and En/inefs : Secondly, Ddight and Complncency~ Streams flows from the Fountain with eafe, becaufe they take but their natural Courfe. So the Works of Obedience flow eafily from that Fountain Principle of G• ace that is broken up in the Hearts of the Children of God, becaufe they flow naturally from them; and therefore becaufe Nature makes things eafie, that ealinefs \vill make them pleafant and delightfuL It is true indeed when they work, there is an oppofi tion and reluCtancy from their other contrary Nature; for as they aa fi• itably to the one, fo they a{t quite contrary to the other Nature:· BUt doth not the g racious and new Nature as Itrongly wreftle againft and oppofc the Workings and Eruptions of the old Nature, as the old doth the Workings of the new? Yes, it doth; and therefore you that arc truly Regenerate, never fin becaufc of the eafincfs of it, becaufe of its fuitablenefs, becaufe clfe you muft o.tfer violence to your Nawrc if you refift a Temptation. Do you not offer vio· le n~e to your Nature if you clofe with that Temptation? You arc not all of one ])i ecc, if I may fo fpeak, if you arc Regenerate. And what ? Mufr the corrupt l)art only be indulged and gratified, and muft the renewed part be always oppofed? \Vhy fhould not Grace, fince \,!: is as much, nay, more your felf than ·S in is, why fhoul d not that have the (amc fcope and liberty to a:Ct: freely as Sin cloth? Truly thefe Things arc Riddles to wicked Men, and they arc unfit Judges i n this Cafe; they wonder what we mean when we fpeak ofEafinefs and D~light in ways of Obedience, which they never found to be otherwife than the mort bur~ the nfome Thing in the World. And truly it is no wonder, for they have no Pri nciple fuited to thefc Things, they are made up only of the old Nature, that is as C9tltrary and repugnant to them as Darkncfs is to Light. But if once God renew and fanaifie them, then they will confefs as we dor that the Works of God have more eafinefs in them than the generality of the World do imagine; a nd therefore St. P.tul tells, That he delighted m the Law af God after the inward Man. Rom. 1 , Bm why after the inward Man? But becaufe though his cornJpt part was con- 2.~. trary thereunto, yet his renewed part, which he calls his inward Mat~, was fuiccd to the Duties of the Law of God, and carried him out as natura-lly to Obc- ?tcnce as the Spark ~ies upward. And he_nce !sit th~t the Children of ~od delight w the ways of Obcd tence, becaufe they fmt with their new Nature that Js implarited in rh-cm. (2..) Secondly, Another thing that makes working for Salvation fo delightful, ~rogrrf~ is, Thnt -vifiblt Succejs that the Children of God gain, and that vijibte progre{s that they 111 war~mg ~nake in thi&. Work. .N~thing doth ufually c~ufc greater Delig~t in Work th~n to {~;/;!r:; fee fome nddance m It~ and that we arc ltke at length to bnng it to fome Jfi"ue. ; 1 pft:Jfml~ Hhhhh 2 So
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=