_.4 Difcour[e concer~wg good, and doth it not , to him it MSin, It is emphatica\ and weighty Sin; and Luke 12. 47· He that knero hU Mafter'; Will, and did it not jiMII, jha!i be bcattn with many ftripes. This they have read, and this deters them from 1eading any fnr'thcr. If they cannot praaice what they know; and if to know and not p · act ice, be only to infl.ame their }aft reckoning, and make their Torments more inrolerable, it is beft for them to muffle up themfelves in a fafe Ignorance. To this I Anfwer, Firfl:, Thou the Word abounds with multitudes of fublime Precepts, and difficult Duties, yet this is no difcou ragcment from the ftudy of it. For confider that this fame Word is not only a Light to dif!.:over what you ought to do, but an Help to inable you to do it. It is the very means that God appointed to overcome your averfenefs, and afiift yonr weakucfS. And if ever this be effected, It mufr in an ord inary way, be by converllng with the Scriptures. That lick Man hath loft his Reafon, as well hls Health1 who fl1ould refufe to take PhyJick, becaufe if it doth not work, it will hut make him the worfc. Why the way to make it work is by taking it. So it is a diftemp.cr'd kind of arguing, againft the \\ford of God, the Phyfick of our Sou. Is, that. it~~. mort~ I an~ deadly i~ it do~h nor work into practice. The way to make 1t work tnto praCtice, Js to take It firfl: mto our kn,owledge; ' tis true, it were a greal difcouragement if the Scripture only fhewed you how much Work you have to dol what Temptations to refift, what Corruptions to mortifie, what Graces t? exercife, what Du~ies to perform, and left all that upon your own Hands. But the Leaves of the B1ble1 are the Leaves of the Tree of Life, as well as of the Tree of Knowledge; they ftrengthen as well as inli ghten , and have not only a Commanding, but an affifl:ing Office. And this the Scripture doth two ways. Firft, It direCts where we may receive Supplies of Ability for the performance of whatfoever ic requires. It leads thee unto Chrift, who is able to furnifh thee with fupernaturaiStrength, for fupernatnral Duties. His Treafury ftands open for all Concerns; and his Almighty Power ftands ingaged to affift tho[e who rely upon it. Be not difcouraged therefore, he that finds us Work, finds us Strength: And the fame Scripture that injoins us Obedience, exhibits God's Promife of beftowing upon us the power of obeying. Thou who workeft all works in us and for us, lfa. ~6. 12. And work out your own Salvation, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do, Phil. 2. 12, 13. Why then !hould we fo complain of hard SJyings and grievous Commandments? Have we not God's Omnipotence obliged by Promife to affift in the fame Words, wherein we are commanded to obey? What faith the Apoftle, I am able to do all things through Chrift ftrengthning me, Phil. 4· I 3· \\Then in reading the Scripture, thou meet eft with difficult and rigorous Duties , the feverity of Mortification, the fclf-crueHy of plucking out right Eyes, and cutting off right Hands; <.ornmend thy fe lf to thefe Promifes of Aid and Ailifl:ance, that the fame Scripture holds forth, and lift up thy Heart in that divine Meditation of St . Auguftine, Lord, give what thou comm.mdejl, and command what thou pleafefl, Whilft thou thus duly dependeft on Cbriffs Strength, and makeft ufe of thy own, ic is as much his Honour and Office to inable thee, as it is thy Duty to perform what he requires. . Secondly, The Scripture as it direCls us to rely on the Strength of Chrift; fo it is a Means thal God bath appointed to quicken and excite our own Strength and Power, to the difcharge of thofe Duties it difcovers. Wherefore are thofe preffing Exhortations, and thofe dreadful Threatnings, every where fo djfperfed up and down in the.Book of God, but that when we are flow and dull and drawfie, the Spirit may by thefe, as by fo many Goads, rowze us, and make us ftart into Duty? Such a fpiritual Sloth hath benumb'd us, that without this qu ickning we ihould not be diligeflt in the Work of the Lord; and therefore Da'Vid prays, Pfal. 1 I 9· 88. ~ickm me; fo /hall I keep the Teftimouie; of thy Mouth; but yet it is alfo the Word It felf that quickens us to the Obedience of the Word, P[~tl. 119. 50. Thy Word hath quickened me. And indeed, if you can come from reading the Word, that fo abounds with Promifes, with Threatnings, with rational Arguments, with pathetick Expofl:ulations, winning Infinuations, importunate lntreaties, heroick Examples propounded to our Jmication, with all the perfwafiveArt and Rhetorick that becometh the Majefl:y of the great God to ufe; if you can read this Word • and ye' find from it no warmth of Affection, no quickening
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