Hopkins - HP BR75 .H65 1710

Firft Commandment. 67 ----------------~~- Slcondty, Conformity unto his Example. A~d ~hi_s o~r Saviour urgcth, Matth. S· 45 , That ye may be the children of your fathe~ wh.ch H_ m heaven, f~r he maketh his fun ·to rift on the evil and on the good 1 and fendeth ram Ofl the Juft. 4nd the 1111JUft· Thirdly, A comfortable Hope and ExpeCtation of hiS Eternal Reward, Lu/i.e 6. 35· JA1;e your enemies, and d4 good, andyour reward Jhall be great. This is the way to exalt Morality to be truly Divine; S:nd to make wh<itfoever we do towards Men, to be an acceptable Service unto God. By this means we inte~ reft Him in all the Afrs of our.Charity, our Juftice, and Temperance; and we; may be affured, that what we thus do for His fake, !hall in the end be rewarded by his Bounty. I , ... ' Seventhly, Another Rule is this, That the Commands of the firft Table, fo far forth as £hey are purely Moral, fuperfede our Obedience to the Commands of the fecond Table, when they are not both confiftent. As ~or i~france, We are in the fecond Table .required to obey ou~ Parents, .and to mamtam and preferve our o~n Lives: yet 1f we are brought mto fuch crrcumftances as that we muft necelfanly difobey either God or t~em, either proftitut~ our Souls to Guilt, or our Lives to Execution, in fuch a cafe mtr Saviour bath infrruC!ed us, Luke 14. 26. ![any man come unto me, and hate not hiJ father, tp'ld mothlr, and wife, d.Tfd children, . yed, and his own Life alfo, he cannot be my difciple. Indeed, a pofitive hatred of tQcfe is unnatural and impious; but the hatred which our Saviour here intends, is comparative, i.e. a loving them lefs than Chrift, than Religion and Piety. And if the Commands of the one, or the Concerns of the other are at any time to be violated, or neglected, it muft only be when we are fure that they are incompatible with a good Confcience, and trlie Godlinefs. Again, in the E~hth place, Whereas in the lirft Table there is orte Command~ partly Moral and NatUral, partly Pofitive and Inftituted, and that is our Obfervation of the Sabbath; we may obferve that our Obligation to the Duties of the fecond Table, doth oftcntimes fi1perfede our Obedience unto that .Command of the firft Table. It frequently happef!.S, that Works of Neceffity and Mercy, will not permit us to be imployed in Works of Piety, nor to fanB:ific the Sabbath after fuch a manner, asclfe we ought: For the Lord requireth Mercy rather than Sacrifice, M [ea 6. 6. And this our Saviour alledgeth, Matth. 9· 13. In which fenfe it holds true, That tht fabb~tth was m~tdt for man, not man for tbt fabbath, Mark 2. 27. Whatfoever therefore is a Work Of Neceffity, or a Work ofCharity and Mercy, and that not only towards Man, but even towards brute Beafts thell)felvcs, may lawfully be done on the S.1bbath-day, without bringing upon us the guilt of Prophanation ; for that which is purely Moral in the fecond Table, doth in a fort derogate from what is but pofitivc and infl:ituted in the firft. A Ninth Rule is this, Whatfoever is forbidden in any Corrimand, both all the figns ~nd fymptoms of it, and likewife all. t~~ effects and confequents of it, ~r:_e forbidden m the fame. Thus under the Prohibltlon of Idolatry falls the Proh1b1tion of the feafting in the Idol-Temples, and eatinp Meats facrificed to them, as being too evident a fign and re{{tra of our Commumon with them. Sq in the fame Command wherein ~ride is fOr~idden, ~wJ:ich is chiefly the. fir.ft and fecond, for a proud Man fets up hnnfelf for his God, IS his own Idol, and IS IllS own Idolater,) in the fame are forbidden all the figns and effects of Pride, as a lofty Look, and a mincing Gate an affi:C\ed Behaviour, and vain fantaftique Apparel; againft which the Prophet la;gely declaims, Ifaiah 3· the 16. to the end; becaufe although Pride dothnot formally cone fift in thefe things, yet they are figns and etreas of Pride, and contrary unto that Modefty and Decency which God requires. l. VI!. vni; IX, The Tenth and !aft Rule is this, The Connexion between the Commands is !o clofe x. ~nd ~ntimlte, and they are fo link'~ together, that whofoever breakcth one of them 1s gu1\ty of all: Now that Bond whtch runs thorough them, and knits them thus together, is the Authority and Sovereignty of God injoyning their Obfervance • fo t~at whofoevcr fails in his due Obedience ~o any one, doth virtually and interpr~ta .. tively tranfgrefs them all. Thus we find It exprefly affirm'd, 'J•mesi. Io. Wh•foever, . fh•U

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