obligation to do them, whether we confider the authority of God, or our own intereft; and if we neglect them, we have nothing to fay in our own excufe. We know the Jaw, and the advantage of keeping it, and the penalty of breaking it; and if after this we will tranfgrefs, there is no apology to be made for us. They have fomething to plead for themfelves, who can fay, that though they had fome. apprehenfion of fome parts of their duty, and their minds were apt to dictate to them that they ought to do fome things, yet the different apprehenfions of mankind about feveral of these things, and the doubts and uncertainties of their own minds concerning them, made them easy to be carried off from their duty, by the vitious inclinations of their own nature, and the tyranny of cuftom and example, and the pleafant. temptations of flesh and blood. But had they had a clear and undoubted revelation from God, and had: certainly known these things to be his will, this would. have conquered and borne down all objections and temptations to the contrary; or if it had not, would have ftopt their mouths, and taken away all excufe from them. There is fome colour in this plea, that in many cafes they did not know certainly what the will of God was: But for us, who own a clear revelation from God, and profefs to believe it, what can we fay for ourselves, to mitigate the feverity of God towards us, why he fhould not pour forth all his wrath, and execute upon us the fiercenefs of his anger?

pro

3. The neglect of God's will, when we know it, cannot be without a great deal of wilfulness and contempt. If we know it, and do it not, the fault is folely in our wills; and the more wilful any fin is, the more heinously wicked is it. There can hardly be a gater aggravation of a crime, than if it ceed from mere obftinacy and perverfenefs; and if we know it to be. our Lord's will, and do it not, we are guilty of the higheft contempt of the greatest authority in the world. And do we think this to be but a fmall aggravation, to affront the great Sove

reign and judge of the world? not only to break his Faws, but to trample upon them and defpife them, when we know whofe laws they are? Will we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he ? We believe that it is God who faid, Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt net bear falfe witnefs against thy neighbour; thou shalt not hate, or opprefs, or defraud thy brother in any thing; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf and will we notwithstanding venture to break these laws, knowing whofe authority they are ftamped withal? After this contempt of him, what favour can we hope for from him? What can we fay for ourfelves, why any one of those many stripes which are threatened fhould be abated to us? Ignofci aliquatenus ignorantia poteft; contemptus veniam non habet: "Something may be pardoned to ignorance; "but contempt can expect no forgiveness." He that ftrikes his Prince, not knowing him to be fo, hath fomething to fay for himself, that though he did a difloyal act, yet it did not proceed from a difloyal mind: but he that firft acknowledgeth him for lis Prince, and then affronts him, deferves to be profecuted with the utmost severity, because he did it wilfully, and in mere contempt. The knowledge of our duty, and that it is the will of God which we go againft, takes away all poffible excufe from us; for nothing can be faid, why we fhould offend him who hath both authority to command us, and power to deftroy us.

And thus I have, as briefly as I could, reprefent-ed to you the true ground and reafon of the ag gravation of thofe fins which are committed against the clear knowledge of God's will, and our duty; because this knowledge is fo great an advantage to the doing of our duty, fo great an obligation upon us to it, and because the neglect of our Lord's will in this cafe cannot be without great wilfulness, and a downright contempt of his authority.

And fhall I now need to tell you, how much it

concerns

concerns every one of us, to live up to that knowledge which we have of our Lord's will, and to prepare ourselves to do according to it? to be always in a readiness and difpofition to do what we know to be his will, and actually to do it when there is occafion and opportunity? And it concerns us the more, because we, in this age and nation, have fo many advantages above a great part of the world, of coming to the knowledge of our duty. We enjoy the clearest and most perfect revelation which God ever made of his will to mankind, and have the light of divine truth plentifully fhed amongst us, by the free use of the holy fcriptures, which is not a fealed book to us, but lies open to be read, and studied by us. This fpiritual food is rained down like manna round about our tents; and every one may gather fo much as is fufficient: : we are not ftinted, nor have the word of God given out to us in broken pieces, or mixed and adulterated, here a leffon of fcripture, and there a legend; but whole and entire, fincere and incorrupt,

God hath not left us, as he did the Heathen for many ages, to the imperfect and uncertain direction of natural light; nor hath he revealed his will to us, as he did to the Jews, in dark types and fhadows, but hath made a clear difcovery of his mind and will to us. The difpenfation which we are under hath no veil upon it; the darkness is paft, and the true light now Shineth; we are of the day, and of the light, and therefore it may juftly be expected, that we fhould put off the works of darkness, and walk as children of the light. Every degree of knowledge which we have, is an aggravation of the fins committed against it, and, when our Lord comes to pafs fentence upon us, will add to the number of our stripes. Nay, if God fhould inflict no pofitive torment upon finners, yet their own minds would deal most feverely with them upon this account: and nothing will gall their confciences more, than to remember against what light they did offend. For herein lies the very nature and fting of all guilt, to be confcious to ourfelves, that we knew what we ought to have done, and did it not.

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The vices and corruptions which reigned in the world before, will be pardonable, in comparison of ours. The times of that ignorance God winked at; but now be commands all men every where to repent. Mankind had some excufe for their errors before, and God was pleafed in a great meafure to overlook them; but if we continue ftill in our fins, we have no cloak for them. All the degrees of light which we enjoy, are fo many talents committed to us by our Lord, for the improving whereof he will call us to a strict account; for unto whomfoever much is given, of him much shall be required; and to whom he hath committed much, of him he will ask the more. And nothing is more reasonable, than that men fhould account for all the advantages and opportunities they have had of knowing the will of God; and that as their knowledge was increased, fo their forrow and punishment fhould proportionably rife if they fin against it. The ignorance of a great part of the world is defervedly pitied and lamented by us; but the condemnation of none is so sad, as of thofe who, having the knowledge of God's will, neglect to do it. How much better had it been for them not to have known the way of righteoufnefs, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them! If we had been born and brought up in ignorance of the true God and his will, we had had no fin, in comparifon of what now we have: but now that we fee, our fin remains. This will aggravate our condemnation beyond measure, that we had the knowledge of falvation fo clearly revealed to us. Our duty lies plainly before us. We know what we ought to do, and what manner of perfons we ought to be, in all holy converfation and godliness. We believe the coming of our Lord to judgement, and we know not how foon he may be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, not only to take vengeance on them that know net God, but on them that have known him, and yet obey not the gospel of his Son, And if all this will not move us to prepare ourselves to do our Lord's will, we deferve to have our ftripes multiplied. No condemnation can be too heavy for those who of

fend

fend against the clear knowledge of God's will, and their duty.

Let us then be perfuaded to fet upon the practice of what we know; let the light which is in our understandings defcend upon our hearts and lives; let us not dare to continue any longer in the practice of any known fin, nor in the neglect of any thing which we are convinced is our duty; and if our hearts candemn us rot, neither for the neglect of the means of knowledge, nor for rebelling against the light of God's truth fhining in our minds, and glaring upon our confciences, then have we confidence towards God: but if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our arts, and knows all things.

SERMON

CXV.

The fins of men not chargeable upon God, but upon themselves.

JAMES i. 13. 14.

Let no man fay, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own luft, and enticed.

tempteth he any man.

NE

The first fermon on this text.

Ext to the belief of a God, and his providence, there is nothing more fundamentally neceflary than the belief of thefe two principles, That God is not the author of fin; and, That every man's fin lies at his VOL. V.

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