20 The Excellency of Abraham's Faith and Obedience. V cil. I. Ifour Faith were butas,thong and vigordus as his was, the Ef eds ofit would be as great and confpicuous. Were we verily perfwaded, that all the Precepts of our Religion are the exprefs Laws of God, and that all the Pröinifes and 'j'hreat- nings of the Gofpel will one Day be 'verified and made good ; What mtannner of Perfons flaould we be in all holy converfation andgodlinefr? Hew would the lively thoughts of another World, raife us above the Vanities of this prefent Life ; and fet us out of the reach of the molt powerful Temptations that this World can affault us withall; and make us to do all things with regard to Eternity, and to that foletnn and dreadful Account whichwe mutt one Day make tó G64 theIllidge of all ? It is nothing but the want ofa firm and fteady beliefof thefe things that nakes our Devotion fo dead and heartlefs, and our Refolutions of doing better fo weak and inconftant. This it is that makes us fo eafie á' Prey to every Temptation; and the Things of this World to look fo much bigger than they are, the Enjoy- ments of it more tempting, and the Evils of it spore. terrible than in truth' they are; and in all Difputes betwixt out Confcience and our Intereft, this makes us hold die Ballance: fo unequally, and to Pitt our Foot upon ,the lighter Scale, that it may feeni to weigh down the other: In a word, in proportion to the ftrength or weaknefs of ourFaith, our Obe.- dience to God will be more or lefs confront, uniform, andperfel ; becaufe Faith is the great Source and Spring of all the Virtues of a good Life. Fifthly, We have great reafon to fubmit to the ordinary Strokes ofGod's Pro- vidence uponour Selves, or near Relations, or any Thing that is dear to us. 'Mott of thele are eafie, compared with Abraham's Cafe it requires a prodigious ftrength of Faith to Perform fo miraculous an ad of Obedience Sixthly, and dally, We are utterly inexcufable, if we difobey the eafie Precepts of the Gofpel. The yoke ofClari/l is eafie, and his burden light, ih compatifonof God's former Difpenfations. This was a grievous Commandment which God gave to Abraham, to facrifice his only Son :. It was a hard faying indeed ;. and which of us could have been able to hear it ?, But if God think fit to call us to the more difficult Duties of Self -denial, and fuffering for his Truth and Righteoufnefs fake, we mutt after the Exampleof' faith- ful Abraham, not think much to deny, or part withany thing for him, no pot Life it felt. But even this which is the hardeft part of Religion, is eafier than what God put upon Abraham. For it doth not offer near the violence to nature, to lay downour Life in a good Caufe, as it would do to put a Child to death with our own hands. Betides the Con- fideration of the extraordinaryComfort and Support, and the glorious Rewards that are exprefly promifed to our Obedience and Self-denial in fuch a Cafe; encourage- ment enough to make a very difficult Duty eafie. And whilff I am perfwading you and my felf to Refolution and Conftancy in our Holy Religion, notwithftanding all hazardsand ltardfhips that may attend it, I have a juts Senfe of the frailty of humane Nature, and ofhumane Refolution,: But withal, a molt firm perfwafion of the goodnefs of God, that he will not fufer thofe who fincerely love him and his Truth, to be temptedabove what they are able. I will add but one Confideration more, to thew the differencebetwixt Abraham's Cafe and ours. God commanded him to du the hardeft thing in the World, to facrifice his only Son; but he bath given us an eafie Commandment; and that he might effedually oblige us to our Duty, he bath done that for us which he re- quiredAbraham to do for him ; He bath not fearedhis own Son, his only Son; but bath given him up to death fir us all : And hereby we know that he loveth us, that he bath given his Sonfor us. What God required ofAbraham, he did not intend should be executed ; but one great deign of it was to be a Type and Figure of that immenfe love and kindnefs which he intended to all Mankind, in the Sacrifice of his Son, as a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World. And
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