death, and the grace of his Spirit may subdue the power of sin, and cleanse and strengthen our consciences against the commands of it, and temptations unto it.

Thirdly, For continued ren ovation, that as, in sanctification begun, we have power against all kinds of sin,-so, by the continual supplies of the Holy Spirit, we may have further power against all degrees and remainders of sin. That Christ would pursue our sin unto death, as our sin did him; and not give over mortifying it, till his blood be revenged of it to the uttermost, and our souls delivered from it to the uttermost.

SECT. 13. I shall conclude the first part of the petition with a short word of exhortation unto this Honourable Assembly. Those things which God worketh in us, and bestoweth upon us by his grace, he also requireth of us by his command. Sometimes he promiseth to turn us; sometimes he commandeth us to turn to him; sometimes he biddeth us put away sin; and sometimes he promiseth to take it away from us: in the one, showing us what is our duty, and in the other, where is our help. And as this latter consideration calleth upon our faith to pray, so the former upon our obedience to work. I shall therefore, Right Honourable, humbly offer a double exhortation unto all of you :

First, That every one of you would seriously endeavour to take away all iniquity from his own person. And unto this there lieth upon you a double obligation; one with relation to the safety of your souls; for whatever other honour, wealth, wisdom, learning, interest a man hath besides, if sin have the predominancy, they are but Satan's magazine, and that man his servant to employ them against God that gave them and the more mercies any man hath been trusted withal, the heavier judgement will be poured out upon the breach of that trust. Better be a wooden vessel to hold wine, than a silver vessel to hold excrements: better be a beggar with the treasure of God's grace, than a prince with the load of a man's own sins.

Ezek. xxxvi. 26. Jer. xxi. 8.

Ezek. xviii. 31. Isai. i. 16. Heb. viii. 12.

* Lex jubet, gratia juvat. Aug. ep. 95. et ep. 144. et l. 3. contr. 2. ep. Pelag. c. 7. -Petamus ut det, quod ut habeamus jubet. In Exod. Quæst. 55. de Bono Viduitatis, c. 17.

But there is a further tie upon you, with relation unto the success of that honourable employment, whereunto you are called. "Ita nati estis, ut bona malaque vestra ad Rempublicam pertineant." God will be sanctified in all those that draw near unto him, as well in civil as in sacred administrations. It is very hard for a person in whom sin rules, to be constantly faithful to any public and honourable service; for grace only establisheth the heart. Ahithophel, a man of great wisdom, falls from David: Joab, a man of great valour, falls from Solomon. And admit he be faithful, yet the sin of his heart sends out a prohibition to the wisdom of his head, and the labour of his hand. He that will be a fit vessel for his Master's use, must first of all purge himself"; as we first cleanse a vessel, before we use it. When Joshua was to negotiate a public reformation, and to administer a public service, his 'filthy garment' must be taken from him, and he must be clothed with change of raiment *. Let every one of you make his public service one argument more than he had before, for his necessary reformation, and let the piety of your lives bear witness to the integrity of your honourable undertakings.

SECT. 14. Secondly, As you must take away sin from yourselves, so make it your principal work to take away iniquity out of the land;' liberty, property, privileges, are sacred and precious things, not to be in the least manner betrayed: yea, in some sense we may look upon them, as the Jews upon their Masorah, tanquam legis et pietatis sepem; as a fence and mound unto religion herself. Arbitrary government would quickly be tampering in sacred things, because corruption in the church is marvellously subservient and advantageous to corruption in the state. But the most orient pearl of this kingdom, is our religion; and the bitterest enemies unto that, are our sins. These are the snuffs that dim our candlestick, and threaten the removal of it; these are the leaven that defile our passovers, and urge God to pass away and depart from us; these the obstructions between his sacred Majesty and you, and between both, and the happiness of the kingdom. Think seriously what ways may be most effectual to purge out this

Heb. xiii. 9. y R. Akiba in Pirke Aboth.

2 Tim. ii. 21.

* Zach.

Tacit. Annal. .4. ii. 4, 7.

leaven out of the land. The principal sacrificing knife which kills and mortifies sin, is the Word of God, and the knowledge of it. It would have been a great unhappiness to the commonwealth of learning, if Caligula had (as he endeavoured) deprived the world of the writings of Homer, Virgil, and Livy. But O! what an Egyptian calamity is it, to have, in this sunshine of the gospel, thousands of persons and families (as I doubt not but, upon enquiry, it would appear) without the Writings of the prophets and apostles! A Christian soldier without his sword, a Christian builder without his rule and square, a Christian calling without the instru ments and balances of the sanctuary belonging to it. O! therefore that every parish had an endowment fit for a learned, laborious, and worthy pastor,-and pastors worthy of such endowments,-that provision were made, that every family might have a Bible in it, and (if by law it might possibly be procured) the exercises of religion therewithal: this would be the surest magazine to secure the happiness of a kingdom: That all reproachful titles, which the Devil useth as scarecrows and whifflers to keep back company from pressing in upon Christ's kingdom, were, by law, proscribed: that scandalous sins were, by the awfulness and severity of discipline, more blasted and brought to shame that the Lord's house were more frequented, and his day more sanctified, and his ordinances more reverenced; and his ministers, which teach the good knowledge of the Lord, more encouraged than ever heretofore :-in one word, that all the several fountains of the commonwealth were settled in a sound and flourishing constitution: that, in every place, we might see piety the elm to every other vine, the supporter to every other profession; learning adorned with piety, and law administered with piety, and counsels managed with piety. and trade regulated with piety, and the plough followed with piety that when ministers fight against sin, with the sword of God's Word, ye who are the nobles and gentry of the land, would second them, and frown upon it too; a frown of yours may sometimes do as much service to Christ as a sermon of ours. And he cannot but take it very unkindly from you, if ye will not bestow your countenance on him, who

a Sueton. in Calig. c. 34. ed. Crus. vol. i. p. 529.

bestowed his blood on you:-that ye would let the strictness of your lives, and the piety of your examples put wickedness out of countenance, and make it appear (as indeed it is) a base and a sordid thing.

If we would thus sadly set ourselves against the sins of the land, no power, no malice, no policies should stand between us and God's mercies. Religion would flourish, and peace would settle, and trade would revive, and the hearts of men would be re-united, and the church be as a city compacted; and this nation would continue to be, as it hath been, like the garden of Eden, a mirror of prosperity and happiness to other people; and God would prevent us, in the second part of our petition, with the blessing of goodness; as soon as ever iniquity were removed, he would do us good, which is the second thing here directed to pray for, "Receive us graciously."

SECT. 15. In the original it is a Пp, " take good," to wit, to bestow upon us; so taking is sometimes used for giving: he "received gifts for men," so in David; he "gave gifts to men," so in the apostles. And it is not improbable, that the prophet here secretly leadeth us to Christ the Mediator, who first receiveth gifts from his Father, and then poureth them forth upon his church ".

The meaning then is, "Lord, when thou hast pardoned, weakened, mortified sin, go on with thy mercy; and, being in Christ graciously reconciled unto us, give further evidence of thy fatherly affection, by bestowing portions upon us. They shall not be cast away upon unthankful persons; 'we will render the calves of our lips;' they shall not be bestowed upon those that need them not, or that know where else to provide themselves. It is true, we have gone to the Assyrian; we have taken our horses instead of our prayers; and gone about to find out good: we have been so foolish as to think that the idols, which have been beholden to our hands for any shape that is in them, could be instead of hands, and of God unto us, to help us in our need: but now we know that men of high degree are but a lie, that horses are but a vanity, that an idol is nothing, and therefore can give

nothing:-that power belongeth unto thee, none else can do it; that mercy belongeth unto thee, none else will do it: therefore since in thee only the fatherless find mercy, be thou pleased to do us good."

We will consider the words, First, Absolutely, as a single prayer by themselves :-Secondly, Relatively, in their connexion, and with respect to the scope of the place.

From the former consideration we observe, that all the good we have, is from God: he only must be sought unto for it: we have none in ourselves; "I know, that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good." We can neither think, nor speak, nor do it".

And missing it in ourselves, it is all in vain to seek for it in things below ourselves.

They can provide for our back and belly;-and yet not that neither without God: the root, out of which the fruits of the earth do grow, is above in Heaven; the genealogy of corn and wine, is resolved into God. But if you go to your lands, or houses, or treasuries for physic for a sick soul, or a guilty conscience, they will all return an 'ignoramus' to that enquiry. Salvation doth not grow in the furrows of the field; neither are there in the earth to be found any mines. or harvests of grace or comfort.

k

In God alone is "the fountain of life :" he that only "is good'," he only "doth good "." When we have wearied ourselves with having recourse to second causes, here at last, like the wandering dove, we must arrive for rest. "Many will say, Who will show us any good? do thou lift up the light of thy countenance upon us". From him alone "comes every good gift":" whether temporal, it is his blessing that maketh the creature able to comfort us P. The woman touched the hem of Christ's garment; but the virtue went not out of the garment, but out of Christ. Or whether spiritual, sanctified faculties, sanctified habits, sanctified motions, glorious relations", in predestination, adoption,

h Gen. vi. 5. k Psalm xxxvi. 9.

Rom. vii. 18. i Hos. ii. 22. n Psalm iv. 6. Luke viii. 44. ⚫ Ephes. ii. 8, 9, 10. i. 5, 6. John i. 12.

• James i. 17.

2 Cor. iii. 5. Matth. xii. 34. Psalm xiv. 3. 1 Matth. xix. 17. m Psalm cxix. 68. P Prov. x. 2. Matth. iv. 4. 1 Tim. iv. 5.

r1 John v. 20. Phil. ii. 13. Jer. xxxii. 39. Rom. v. 5. Col. ii. 11, 12. t 2 Tim. ii. 25. Phil. ii. 13. Ephes.