is the only way whereby God hath revealed his Will; and therefore we are not to rest here, but proceed to the Knowledge of thofe other Things, which God hath by other Means revealed.

6. The way for us to come to know them is by the Scriptures, wherein are fet down thofe feveral Commands of God which he hath given to be the Rule of our Duty.

The Light of
Scripture.

7. Of those, fome were given before Chrift came into the World, fuch as thofe Precepts we find fcattered throughout the Old Teftament, but efpecially contained in the Ten Commandments, and that excellent Book of Deuteronomy; others were given by Chrift, who added much, both to the Law implanted in us by Nature, and that of the Old Teftament; and thofe you will find in the New Teftament, in the feveral Precepts given by him and his Apoftles, but efpecially in that divine Sermon on the Mount, fet down in the 5th, 6th, and 7th Chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel.

8. All these should be feverally fpoke to, but because that would make the Difcourfe very long, and fo lefs fit for the meaner Sort of Men, for whofe Ufe alone it is intended, I choose to proceed in another Manner, by fumming up all thefe together, and fo as plainly as I can to lay down what is now the Duty of every Chriftian.

The three great
Branches of
Man's Duty.

9. This I find briefly contained in the Words of the Apoftle, Tit. ii. 12. That we should live foberly, righteously, and godly in this prefent World; where the Word Jaberly, contains our Duty to our Selves; righte oufly, our Duty to our Neighbour; and godly, our Duty to God. Thefe therefore fhall be the

B 2

Heads

Heads of my Difcourfe, our DUTY to GOD, our SELVES, and our NEIGHBOUR. I begin with that to God, that being the beft Ground-work whereon to build both the other.

10. There are many Parts of our Duty to God. DUTY to GOD; the two chief are thefe: First, To acknowledge him to be God; Secondly, To have no other. Under thefe are contained all thofe Particulars, which make up our whole Duty to God, which shall be thewed in their Order.

Acknowledging him to be God.

11. To acknowledge him to be. God, is to believe him to be an infinite glorious Spirit, that was from Everlasting, without Beginning, and fhall be to Everlafting, without End: That he is our Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, one God, ble fled for ever: That he is fubject to no Alteration, but is unchangeable: That he is no bodily Subftance fuch as our Eyes may behold, but fpiriritual and invifible, whom no Man hath feen or san fee, as the Apoftle tells us, 1 Tim. vi. 16. That he is infinitely great and excellent, beyond all that our Wit or Conceit can imagine: That he hath received his Being from none, and gives Being to all Things.

12. All this we are to believe of him, in regard of his Effence and Being: But befides this, he is fet forth to us in the Scripture by feveral Excellencies, as that he is of infinite Goodness and Mercy, Truth, Juftice, Wisdom, Power, All-fufficiency, Majefty; that he difpofes and governs all Things by his Providence, that he knows all 'Things, and is prefent in all Places; thefe are by Divines called the Attributes of God, and all these we must undoubtedly

I

doubtedly acknowledge, that is, we must firmly believe all these divine Excellencies to be in God, and that in the greatest Degree; and so that they can never cease to be in him, he can never be other than infinitely good, merciful, true, &c.

13. But the acknowledging him for God fignifies yet more than this; it means that we should perform to him all thofe feveral Parts of Duty which belong from a Creature to his God; what those are, I am now to tell you.

14. The firft is FAITH, or Belief:

not only that forementioned of his Ef Faith. fence and Attributes, but of his Word,

the believing most firmly, that all that he faith is perfectly true. This neceffarily arifes from that Attribute, his Truth, it being natural for us to believe whatsoever is faid of any one of whofe Truth we are confident. Now the Holy Scriptures being the Word of God, we are therefore to conclude, that all that is contained in them is most true.

15. The Things contained in them

are of these four Sorts: Firft, Affir- Of his AFmations, fuch are all the Stories of firmations. the Bible, when it is faid, fuch and

fuch Things came fo and fo to pass; Chrift was born of a Virgin, and was laid in a Manger, &c. And fuch are alfo many Points of Doctrine, as that there are three Perfons in the Godhead, that Chrift is the Son of God; and the like. All Things of this Sort thus delivered in Scripture, we are to believe moft true. And not only fo, but because they are all written for our Inftruction, we are to confider them for that Purpose, that is, by them to lay that Foundation of Chriftian Knowledge, on which we may build a Chriftian Life.

B 3

16.

Commands.

16. The Second Sort of things contained in the Scripture, are the Commands, that is, the feveral Things enjoined us by God to perform; these we are to believe to come from him, and to be most just and fit for him to command: But then this Belief muft bring forth Obedience, that what we believe thus fit to be done, be indeed done by us; otherwife Our Belief that they come from him, ferves but to make us more inexcufable.

Threatnings.

17. Thirdly, The Scripture contains Threatnings; many Texts there are which threaten to them that go on in their Sins the Wrath of God, and under that are contained all the Punishments and Miferies of this Life, both Spiritual and Temporal, and everlafting Deftruction in the Life to come. Now we are moft ftedfaftly to believe that these are God's Threats, and that they will certainly be performed to every impenitent Sinner. But then the Ufe we are to make of this Belief, is to keep from those Sins to which this Deftruction is threatned; otherwife our Belief adds to our Guilt, that will wilfully go on in fpite of thofe Threatnings.

Promifes.

18. Fourthly, the Scripture contains Promises, and those both to our Bodies and our Souls; for our Bodies, there are many Promifes that God will provide for them what he fees neceffary; I will name only one, Matt. vi. 33. Seekye firft the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all thefe Things, that is, all outward Neceffaries, fball be added unto you. But here it is to be. obferved, That we must first feek the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, that is, make it our first and greatest Care to ferve and obey him, before this Promife even of temporal

good

good Things belong to us. To the Soul there are many and high Promifes; as, Firft, That of prefent Eafe and Refreshment, which we find, Mat. xi. 29. Take my Yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find Reft unto your Souls: But here it is apparent, that before this Reft belongs to us, we must have taken on us Chrift's Yoke, become his Servants and Difciples. Finally, there are Promises to the Soul even of all the Benefits of Chrift; but yet those only to fuch as perform the Condition required; that is, Pardon of Sins to thofe that repent of them; Increase of Grace to thofe that diligently make use of what they have already, and humbly pray for more; and eternal Salvation to those that continue to their Lives End in hearty Obedience to his Commands.

19. This Belief of the Promifes muft therefore ftir us up to perform the Condition; and till it do fo, we can in no reafon expect any Good by them; and for us to look for the Benefit of them on other Terms, is the fame mad Prefumption that it would be in a Servant to challenge his Mafter to give him a Reward for having done nothing of his Work, to which alone the Reward was promised: You can cafily refolve what Anfwer were to be given to fuch a Servant, and the fame we are to expect from God in this Cafe. Nay, farther, it is fure, God hath given these Promifes to no other End, but to invite us to Holiness of Life; yea, he gave his Son, in whom all his Promises are, as it were, fummed up, for this End. We ufually look fo much at Chrift's coming to fatisfy for us, that we forget this other Part of his Errand. But there is nothing furer, than that the main Purpose of his coming into the World, was to plant good Life among Men.