204 S E R M 0 N S upon Serm.XXVIII. I. It mull be fnch a liberty as hecometh a creature who is in fnbjet7ion to Gad. 'Tis not a power to live-as we lift, but a power to live as we ought; to affe& a power to live as we lift, and to be accountable to none, is to revive the arrogancy of Adam," and to Cup up again the poyCon of the old Temptation , ye (hall be as Gods, Gen. 3, 'Twas mans Original Ambition to be at his own difpolè, and Lord of his own A lions, to think and fpeak, and do as he pleafeth, Pfat. 12.4. Our tongues are our own, who is Lord over us? And the Rebellion of the Libertine World is Pet forth by cattiest off the Yokes and Cords of Duty, Pfal. 2. 3. Let us break{ their bands afrinder, and cafl away their cords from us. Meaning there, the Laws of God and Chriti; who are im- patient of any re(traint. But this is a liberty cannot be juttified, for lince man hash principium & finem, A principle upon which he dependeth in his Being and Operations, and an end unto which he is appointed, he muff wholly give up himtèlf to the will of another, and his liberty lyeth in a readinefs to comply with Gods commands, who is his proper Lord, to whom he is to `fubje& himfelf, and to give an account of all his A &ions? So that mans true liberty is Gods Service, Pfa. I i 9. 45. I will walk at liberty, for I leek thy precepts. To will and do things pleating to our Creator, is the only li- berty proper to us: 2. It mull be fecb a liberty as will leave es in a capacity , to purfue our chief good, and tall end. For all creatures are by natural inttin l carried to their lait end ; and the more fettered and restrained from this, the more they are in Bondage ; the lets, the more free : which holdeth good in all creatures ; but principally in the reafonable. Certainly the reafonable nature is dishonoured, and debafed, and under a defe&, as Otis difabled from the fruition of God, or Peeking after it ; we are in Bondage, as we are captiva- ted, and intangled with the love of inferior things, and fo perverted and diverted from the purfuit of true happinefs. The reftraining of our irregular delires, is not Bondage, but the gratifying of them, for that is a fnare to us. Men live in fin with as much de- light, as Fiches in their own Element ; yet they are in bonds nil], as they are detained from God, and turned afide from him 5 our liberty is our power over inferior things and our Bondage is their power over us, I Car. 6. a2. When we love God with all our hearts, and ferve him with all our minds, we are free. Liberty in the root implyeth an inclination to God, as the fupream Obje& of our love. In the firft A&, Ìn a power of chuffing the means, whereby we may injoy him. In the fecond A&, in an exercife of this power, or in an a&ual purfuing the end by thefe means. The ele&ive power, and a governing our A &ions in order to our great end, is our liberty; the Angels that im- mutably and indeclinably adhere to their laft end, are freer than us, who may err from it. Well then, None are fuch llaves as they that cannot ufe the means which should make them happy; but imploy their whole time in feeking after Pleafures, and Honours, and Profits, like diffolute Servants, who being fent by their Matters to a Mart or Fair to buy Commodites, (pend their time and money in fome Inn or Houfe of Entertain- ment by the way, and negle& their Fair or Mart, to which they were Pent to imploy their Money to the belt advantage. So we are inflaved by the way, and negle& our main bufinefs. 3. It mull be filch a liberty as will flit with the dignity of a rational creature, as man is. For that is the liberty of a man, when he a ð with a condecency to the reafon able nature. Man was at firtt made to be happy, his happinefs confined in the Fruition of God, and his fubje&ion to him was no captivity and reftraint , but rather a part of that bleffednefs; but we became bondmen, not only by breaking the Law of God, but by difordering the connitution of our Souls, by fubmitting confcience and reafon to our lufts: fo fuffering the bean to ride the man ; for the rule of the Apottle is of im. mutable equity, Rom. 6. 11. His fervents you are, to whom ye yield your felves to obey, Now man giving up reafon to appetite, becometh a very (lave; as a Country is inthral. led when the baie prevail above the honourable, and Beggars get on horfeback , but the Princes are on foot: fuch a deordination there is, when reafon is put out of Do- minon, and lulls prevail; our Bondage is defcribed by the Apatite, Tit. 3, 3. Serving divers lefts and pleafures. Our Tufts urge us to an eager purfuit of inferior things; res. fon or the leading-part of the Soul reclaimeth, but it bath no force betides our depen- dance upon God; which cannot be (haken off: if fine our Aponacy from him, we have a perfe& undemanding to guide us,the danger would not be fò great; but in this corrupt elate, the mind is blinded by our Pallions and Appetites ; and therefore to be left to the difpofe of our bruitith affe &ions, is the greaten judgment that can be, Pfal. St. e a, So I gave them up to their own hearts lulls, and they walked in their own counjels. This is the
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