Whereas, out of Christ, a man is under the whole law, as an insupportable yoke, as an impossible and yet inexorable rule; as a covenant of righteousness, and condition by which he must be tried, by which he must everlastingly stand or fall before the tribunal of Christ, when he shall come in flaming fire to take vengeance on those, who, though convinced of their insufficiency to observe the law, have yet disobeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, We may hence learn the necessity of diligent attendance on the holy Scriptures, and places where they are explained. There is no abiding in Christ, but by walking as he walked ; there is no walking as he walked, but by knowing how he walked and this is only by the Scriptures, in which he is yet amongst us, walking in the midst of his church crucified" before our eyes, set forth and declared * unto us: "Many other signs Jesus did, which are not written," saith the apostle; " but these are written, that ye might believe; and that believing, ye might have life."y We know not any of Christ's ways or works, but by the word; and therefore they who give no attendance unto that, declare, that they regard not the ways of Christ, nor have any care to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth.

Fourthly, We must from hence be exhorted to take heed of usurping Christ's honour to ourselves, of being our own rule or way. The Lord is a jealous God, and will not suffer any to be a self-mover, or a god unto himself. It is one of God's extremest judgments to give men over to themselves, and leave them to follow their own rules. When he hath first wooed men by his Spirit, and that is resisted; enticed them by his mercies, and they are abused; threatened them with his judgments, and they are misattributed to second causes; cried unto them by his prophets, and they are reviled; sent his own Son to persuade them, and he is trampled on and despised;--when he offers to teach them, and they stop their ears; to lead them, and they pull away their shoulders; to convert them, and they harden their heart; when they set up mounds against the Gospel, as it were to nonplus and pose the mercies of God, that there may be no

1 John ii. 6. y Joh. xx. 30, 31.

t Rev. i. 13.

u Gal. iii. 1.

* 1 Joh. i. 2, 3.

remedy left;-then after all these indignities to the Spirit of grace, this is the judgment with which God useth to revenge the quarrel of his grace and covenant, To leave them to the hardness and impenitency of their own hearts, to be a rule and way unto themselves." My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust, and they walked in their own counsels."a Let us therefore take heed of a will holi

ness.

We are the servants of Christ, and our members are to be the instruments of righteousness; and servants are to be governed by the will of their masters, and members to be guided by the influence of the head, and instruments to be applied to all their services by the superior cause. Every thing which Moses did about the tabernacle, was to be done after the pattern which he had seen in the Mount; and every thing which we do in these spiritual tabernacles, we are to do after the pattern of him who is set before us. The services of Israel, after their revolt from the house of David, when they built altars, and multiplied sacrifices, were as chargeable, as specious, and in human discourse every whit as rational, as those at Jerusalem; yet we find, when they would be wiser than God, and prescribe the way where-⚫ in they meant to worship him, all ended in shame and dishonour: Bethel, which was God's house before, is turned into Bethaven, a house of vanity: "Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples," saith the prophet. One would think that he who builds temples, had God, who was in them to be worshipped, often in his mind; but to remember God otherwise than he hath required, to build many temples, when he had appointed but one temple and one altar for all that people to resort unto, this was by forgetting God's will and word, to forget likewise his service and worship; because to serve him otherwise than he requireth, is not to worship but to rob and mock him. In

Magna Dei ira est, quando peccantibus non irascatur Deus. Hier, epist.. 33. ad Castrat.-Ira est Dei non intelligere delicta, ne sequatur pœnitentia. Cyprian. epist. 3.—Percussi sunt animi cæcitate, ut nec intelligant delicta nec plangant. Indignantis Dei major est hæc ira. Idem de Lapsis. a Psal. lxxxi. 12. Acts xiv. 16. Rom. i. 26. b Heb. viii. 5. c Hos. x. 6, 5. Jer. xlviii. 13. e Non ex arbitrio Deo serviendum, sed ex imperio. Vide Tert. de Jejun. c. 13.-Vide Chrysost. in Rom. hom. 2.August, de Civit. Dei, 1. 1. c. 26, et lib. 5. c. 18.

d Hos. viii. 14.

God's service, it is a greater sin to do that which we are not to do, than not to do that which we are commanded. This is but a sin of omission; but that a sin of sacrilege and high contempt: in this we charge the law, only with difficulty; but in that with folly: in this we discover our weakness to do the will; but in that we declare our impudence and arrogancy to control the wisdom of God in this we acknowledge our own insufficiency; in that we deny the all-sufficiency and plenitude of God's own law. But whatever opinion men have of their own wisdoms and contributions in God's service, yet he esteems them all but as ludicrous things, as games, and plays, and acting of mimical dancings : "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

Whatever action therefore you go about, do it by rule; enquire out of the Scriptures, whether Christ would have done it or no, at least, whether he allow it or no. It is true, some things are lawful and expedient with us, which were not suitable unto the person of Christ. Marriage is honourable with all other men, but it did not befit his per son who came into the world to spiritual purposes only, to beget sons and daughters unto God, and to be mystically married unto his church. To write books is commendable with men, because like Abel, being dead, they may still speak, and teach those who never saw them: but it would have been derogatory to the person, and unbecoming the office of Christ. For it is his prerogative to be in the midst of the seven candlesticks,-to be present to all his members,

to teach by power, and not by ministry,-to teach by his Spirit, and not by his pen; to teach the hearts of men 1, and not their eyes or ears. He hath no mortality, distance, or absence, to be by such means supplied. It became him to commit these ministerial actions to his servants, and to reserve to himself that great honour of writing his law in the hearts of his people, and making them to be his epistle. But yet I say, as in these things, we must respect his allowance,-so, in others, let us reflect upon his example. When thou art tempted to looseness and immoderate living, ask

f Hooker, l. 2. sect. 6. habet, qui corda docet.

g Exod. xxxii. 6.

h Cathedram in cœlis

thy conscience but this question, Would Christ have drunk unto swinishness, or eaten unto excess? Would he have wasted his precious time at stews, stages, or taverns, or taken delight in sinful and desperate fellowship? Did Christ frequently pray both with his disciples, and alone by himself, and shall I never, either in my family, or in my closet, think upon God? Did Christ open his wounds, and shall not I open my mouth? Was his blood too precious to redeem, and is my breath too good to instruct, his church? Was Christ merciful to his enemies, and shall I be cruel to his members? Again, For the manner of Christ's obedience; Did Christ serve God without all self-ends, merely in obedience, and to glorify him; and shall I make God's worship subordinate to my aims, and his religion serve turns? Shall I do what I do, without any love or joy, merely out of slavish fear, and compulsion of conscience? Thus if we did resolve our services into their true originals, and measure them by the holiness of Christ, and have him ever before our eyes, it would be a great means of living in comfort and spiritual conformity to God's law.

And there are, amongst divers others, two great encouragements thereunto: First, While we follow Christ, we are out of all danger; his angels have us in their arms; we are under the protection of his promises, as every good subject in the king's way is under the king's protection. Peter never denied Christi, nor was assaulted by the servants of the high priest, till he gave over following him. Secondly, The more we follow Christ, the nearer still we come unto him. Because Christ is entered into his rest, he is now at home; he is not now in motion, but he sitteth still at his Father's right hand, and hath no higher, nor no farther to go. And therefore so long as I hasten and press forward in his way, I must needs be the nearer unto him. "Your salvation is nearer," saith the apostle, "than when ye first believed."

But a man will say, How shall I do to follow Christ? I answer in one word, 'Deny thyself',' and thou dost then follow him get out of thine own way, and thou canst not miss of his. The world never rules us, but by our own

i Luke xxii. 54, 55, 56.

k Rom. xiii. 11.

1 Matt. xvi. 24.

lusts: Satan never overcomes us, but by our own wills, and with our own weapons; when he is resisted, he flies. As Hannibal was wont to say, That the only way to fight against Rome, was in Italy;' so the other enemies of our salvation know, that there is no conquering the soul, but in its own way. As soon as any man forsakes his own way, Christ is at hand to lead him into his. He will be wisdom to those that deny their own reason; he will be redemption to those that despise their own merits; he will be sanctification to those that cast off their own lusts; he will be salvation to those that relinquish their own ends; he will be all things to those that are nothing to themselves. Now we have (as I may so speak) two selves: a self of nature, and a self of sin; and both must be denied for Christ. This we must ever cast away as a snare, and that we must be ever ready to lay down as a sacrifice, when he is pleased to set himself in competition with it. And so much for the life

of holiness, which we have in Christ.

Lastly, He that hath the Son, hath the life of glory assured him. For he hath made us sit together with him in heavenly places"; and when he appears, we shall be like him." He shall change our vile bodies, into the similitude of his glorious body. When he comes, we shall meet him, and be ever with him. He is ascended to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God '; and therefore to his kingdom3, and our kingdom: his by personal propriety, and hypostatical union; ours by his purchase and merit, and by our mystical union and fellowship with him. He is gone to prepare a place for us. In earth, he was our surety to answer the penalty of our sins; and in Heaven, he is our advocate, to take seisin and possession of that kingdom for us: our captain and forerunner, and high priest, who hath not only carried our names, but hath broken off the veil of the sanctuary, and given us access into the Holiest of all. And he that hath the Son, hath this life already in three regards: First, 'In pretio,' he hath the price that procured it, esteemed his. It was bought with the precious blood of Christ in

m Jam. iv. 1, 5. 1 Joh. ii. 16, 17. Jam. iv. 7. iii. 2. P Phil. iii. 21. 91 Thes. iv. 17. xxii. 30. 2 Tim. iv. 1. 2 Pet. i. 11. Matt. xix. 14.