Sèrm,CXLVIII.. tiic fame withMorat /irtues. 3r5 Goodnefs, and Rig1teasfnefs, andTruth, are of an eternal ands immutable Nature, and ofperpetual and ihdifpenfableObligation. The notions of good and evil, of juft and unjuft, of truth and fidelity, and of falfhood and perfidioufnefs in our' words and adions, I fay, thefe notions are born with us, and imprinted in our Natures, and fo fix'd and deterrnin'd in the very frame of our minds and under- ftandings, that as they need not be explain'd, fo they can never be chang'd and. altered. The difference ofgood and evil is naturally known, and the notions of Righteoùfnefi, and Goodnefs, and Truth, are fix'd antecedently toany divine reve- lation, which fuppofeth the nature of them tobe known, and therefore doth not go about to define and explain them to us ; and fuppofeth likewife the obligation of them, being branches of the Law of Nature, and 'effential parts of that Reli- gion which is Dorn with us, and written upon our hearts, and makes u8 a laze to our felves. And therefore the Chriftian Religion doth only declare thefe Duties more plainly, and prefs them more earnefily upon us, and enforce the obligation of them by more powerful Arguments and Confiderations, grounded upon clearer difcoveries of the grace and mercy of God to mankind, and of the rewards and punifhmentsofanother World: but thefe Duties are in their nature ftill the fame, and the Chriftian Religion is fo far from releafing us from theobligation ofthem, thatit bath verymuch heighten'd it, andbound them the fader upon us; I pats on to the ThirdObfervation from thefewords, nafnely, That Moralvirtues are the graces and fruits-of theSpirit. For the three particulars here mentioned by theApoftle are no other, but the chief heads and inftances of moral Duties, goodnefs, and righteoufnef, and truth. What are thefe but moral Virtues? And yet it is cer- tain, that- they are alfo Chriftian Graces, been-de they are here exprefly faid to be the fruits of the Spirit. And they are called Moral Virtues, becaufe they are fuch Duties as are not enjoined by any pofitive Law, (which is not obligatory from the nature and rea- fon of the thing commanded, but meetly from thecommand ;) but are of natural and eternal obligation, and filch as we had been bound to theobfervance ofthem; from the immutable goodnefs and reafon of them, tho' God had never made any external revelation of his Will concerning them. Tho' it cannot be denied, but that bythe means of external revelation, we have a more clear and certain know- ledge of them, andmore powerful motives to the pra&ice of them So that Grace and Virtue are but twonames that fignifie the fame thing. Virtue fignifies the ab- folute nature and goodnefs of thefe things: Grace denotes the Caufe and Principle by which thefe Kirtues are wrought and produced, and are preferved and increa- fed in tit, namely, by the free gift of God's. Holy Spirit to us ; for which reafon; thefe Graces and Virtues ofgoodnefs; and righteoufnefs, and truth, which are here mentioned in theText, are faid to be the fruits of the Spirit. I. come now to the Fourth and 141 Obfervation from the Text, namely, that fince theft very things ivhich are calledMoral Virtues, are in their nature the very fame with the graces andfruits ofthe Spirit, therefore they are by no means tobe flighted, as low and mean attainments in Religion, but to be looked 'upon and efteetnedás a main and fubftantial part of Ghriflianity. They are called the fruits ofthe Spirit; that is, the natural and genuine effelt of that divine power and influence upon the hearts and lives of Men, which accompanies the ChriftianReligions; or the happy effeEts of the Chrillian Religion wrought in Men, by the immediate operation and affi- ftance of the Holy Spirit of God, which is conferred upon all Chriftians in their Baptifm, and does continually dwell and refide in them, if by wilful Sins they do. not grieve hint; and drive him away, and provoke him to withdraw himfelf from them. I do not fay that theft Virtues are all Religion, and all that is neceffary to make a Man a compleat Chriftian, and good Man. For there mutt be knowledge to direr$ us in our Duty ; there mutt be faith or a hearty affent to the revelation of the Gofpel, (efpccially concerning the forgivenefs of our fins, and ofour juftifi- S f 2 catipn
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=