An Expojition upon the to exe~ute his Sover~ign Will_and Pl~afure: Who is like unto thee 0 Lord, glorion.:; in Holmefs, fearful m thy Pra1fes, dmng Wonders, and thereforcwhov..-ould not fca1 thee, 0 King ofNations, and tremble and be aftonifh'd when once thou art angry ? Wilt thou then, 0 vile and wretched Sinner, defpi(e the Authority and Majcfty of the great God, before whom all the , Powers of Heaven and Earth lye proftratc? Dareft t'hou infringe his Laws, and violate his Commands, who is fo great and terrible a God, that he can deftroy thee by the very breath of his Noll::rils? By the breath of his mftrils they are con fumed, Job 4• 9· Yea, he can look thee to death: They perifu at the rebuke of t hy countenance, Pfal· So. r6. Art thou ahle to contend with this God? Art thou a fit match for the Almighty? Can thy l1eart endure, or thy hantls be fl:rong, in the day when the Lord fha\1 deal with thee, and come to re. compence Vengeance tipon thee for all thy Tranfgreffions? Who among you can dwell with the devouring Fire? Who among you can dwell with everhfting Burn· ings? · Certainty, did we but frequently thus over ..awe our hearts with the ferious con· fideration of the dread Majefty and fupfeme Authority of the great God, we fuould not dare fo prefumptuouny to provoke him, as we do. Fear is a moft excellent Prefervative from Sin; and a ftron g Fence that God hath fct about his Law, to .keep us from breJking thofe Bounds which he hath prefcribed us. And therefore the , wife Man give~ us this Advice, Ecclrf. 12. 13. Fur God and keep his OJJnmt'.ndments. And the Pfalmlft, Pfal. 4· 4· Stand in awe and Sin nor. , .i; Secondly, As the Authority of God is fet forth to move us to Obedi ence by working upon our Fear; [o his Benefits and Mercies are declared to win us to it from a Principle ofLoveand Gratitude: The Lord thy God, who hath brou_fht thee out of the l11nd of Egypt, out o( the hou{c of bondaue. And indeed this, though 1t bc ,a foft, yet is a mort powerful and effeC!ual Argument: Hath God filrrounded thee with Blcnings, and loaded thee every day with l1is Benefits? haft thou rece ived thy Life, thy Being from him, and fo many Comforts in which thou takefr delight, and he allows theefo to do? hafl: thou been delivered by his watchful Providence from many Deaths and Dangers, refl:ored from Sicknefs, or prcferved in Health; doth he feed thee at his TJble, and cl oath thee out of his Wardrobe;. nay, what is infinitely more, hath he given thee his only Son, :md his Son given thee his Life and moft precious Blood; hath he fent thee his Gofpel, and in it the exceeding great and precious Promifes of etcrml Glory, a Glory which Hope dnrft not behold enough to cxpctl:, nor is Inngination lar~e enough to conceive; hnh he fent thee his Spirit to feal and ratifie J!l thcfe Promifcs to thee j hath he crown'd thy Head with many rich Bleffings here, and will he crown it With Joy and Blelfednefs hereafter;. and canft thou, 0 Soul, be fo nnkindanddifingennous as .to deny any t~ing to that .God,whohath den ied nothing to thee? Canfl: thou refufe hun the"only thmg he requires of thee, the onlv Teftimony which thou canft give, that thou haft any fenfe of his FaYour; and efi>ecially conlidering he req1dres it only that he may reward it with farther Blenings? Canft thou wrong that God who hath been fo k~nd a.nd gracious unto thee, and is continually doing thee good? Canft thou de~ptfe h1s Precepts, who hath regarded thy Prayers? \Vi!t not thou he:a him fpeakmg unto thee, who hath often heard thee ·when thou haft cryed unto him, and hath helped and faVed thee? Certainly, the Ingenuity of Humane Natur~ forbids it., the Love of God co~ftraineth otherwi~e, efpecia!ly, fince he hath reqmred Obedtence from us as the ev1dence and expren1on of our Love to him, 'John 14· 2 I. He that ~ath mx Commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And in the Second Ep1ft!e of St. 'John, ver. 6. This is love, thar we walk after his OJmmandmenrs. And that which is a moft cogent Motive, thine own Intercft and eternal Concernments engage thee to it: For, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the L!Jrd thy God, tmd to love him, and to kttp hi:r CJmmandmmrf, which I command thee this day for thy good, Dent. 10. 12, 13. God tmght have required from us the very fame Obedience which now he doth, without promifing us any Reward for it; for we owe him all that we can poffibly do, as he is the Author of our Beings; and every Power and Faculty of our Souls ought to be imployed for him who gave them unto us. But when the great God hath been fo far pleafed to condefcend from his Prerogative, as to command us nothing but what bath already brought us very great Advantages, and will for the future bring us fur greater, when his hands fhall be as full of Bleffings, as his mouth is of Commands; when he enjoyns
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