diforder in their course, but it was in obedience to a And thus they caft us a fair

particular will of God.

copy of doing the will of God on earth.

2. By the angels of heaven. Thefe glorious fpirits, attendants of the great King, are obedient to the nod of their Maker, and fall in with every the least intimation of his will, Pfal. ciii. 21. They do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Though they excel in ftrength, they entertain not the leaft thought of difputing his orders, ver. 20. They never put in an exception against the meaneft piece of service that God puts in their hands, but are well content to minifter unto worm man, Heb. i. ult. Are they not all miniftering Spirits, fent forth to minifter for them who fhall be heirs of falvation? They never ufe any fhifts or offputs in the doing of his will; but when he speaks the word, it is done by them; the orders are readily and chearfully complied with. Thus they alfo caft us a fair copy of doing the will of God, a copy of rational obedience. The faints in heaven do his will alfo after the fame manner, Rev. vii. 5. having got a full anfwer of this petition as to themselves,

III. I fhall now fhew what is the import of this petition; both with refpect to the will of God's command, and his will of providence,

FIRST, I am to fhew the import of this petition with reference to the will of God's command. It imports fomething confeffed, profeffed, and defired. First, Something confeffed. The children of God coming to him with this petition, confefs, that,

1. The will of God is not done on earth as it is in heaven. There is no queftion but that all men on earth are obliged to do it with the fame perfection as thofe in heaven do it, Matth. v. ult. Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. But alas! it is not done. God has given men on earth his commands, and notified his will to them; but it is not complied with. Though the higher world abides to this

day in obedience to its Maker, yet the frame of the lower rational world is quite marred and unhinged. Though above there is a perfect calm, yet below a moft unnatural rebellion is raifed and contiued, fo that it is a region of diforder and confufion.

if, Moft men make their own will and not God's their law, and the rule of their actions, Rom. viii. 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not fubject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. All unregenerate men have thaken off the yoke of fubjection to God, and instead of serving God, ferve diverse lufts and pleafures, Tit. iii. 3. If at any time they fall in with what is materially the will of God, they do it not because it is God's will, but because it is their own, and ferves their own ends, as the Pharifees did in their almfgiving and prayers, &c. Matth. vi. 1.

2dly, The beft men carry the yoke of fubjection to the will of God very unevenly, Gal. v. 17. Though they are fincere, they are far from being perfect in doing the will of God. Their own will carries them afide in many things: though they fincerely defign the fhore for Immanuel's land, they keep not a ftraight course. The wind of temptations, and their own unruly paffions, oft-times blows them aside, so that they are in hazard of fplitting on the rocks.

2. There is in all men naturally an utter indifpofition and unfitnefs for the will of God's command. There was a fweet harmony betwixt the will of God and the powers of man's foul at firft, Eccl. vii. 29. but that is gone. Sin has broken the concord, and marred the harmony, fo that there is a fad jarring betwixt the two now. They are indifpofed,

ift, For knowing it, for difcerning what the will of God is, 1 Cor. ii. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them; because they are fpiritually difcerned. Sin has raifed a mift, to that the travellers cannot know the way, but are apt to chufe by paths of deftruction inftead of the King's high-way;

to call evil good, and good evil; to put bitter for fweet, and fweet for bitter.

2dly, For doing it, Pfal. xiv. 3. There is none that doth good, no not one. They are bunglers at that work, at beft. They have loft the holy art of going by that rule. They have no fkill of fteering their course to the shore of Immanuel's land. Man naturally is under a threefold indifpofition to it.

ted.

(1.) An inability to know or do the will of God. He has no head for it, 1 Cor. ii. 14. just above quo. Like Samfon we have loft our two eyes in that point. The gospel is a doctrine of myfteries, that requires a faving illumination to unfteritand it, Eph. i. Even the law itfelf in its fpirituality is not difcerned without a new light from the Lord, Rom. vii. 9. And we have no hands for it neither, John xv. 5. 2 Cor. iii. 5. It is above our natural reach.

17.

(2.) An unwillingness to know or do it. As we have neither head nor hand for it, fo we have no heart for it neither, till a day of power change our hearts, Pfal. cx. 3. And hence it is that the truths of God which are practical are neglected, as not defired, Job xxi. 14. And when they force their entryinto the head, they are held prifoners there, that they may not exert their efficacy in the heart, Rom. i. 18. And much more unwilling are we to do it, Hos. iv. 16. Ifrael flideth back, as a backsliding heifer.

(3.) A bias in the will to the wrong fide, a bent and propensity to follow our own will, and the lufts. of our own heart. Pfal. xiv. 1. There is no God, is the language of every man's heart by nature. They would fet up themselves for their own rule and their own end, and contend with their Maker for the fovereignty, that it should be according to their own will with them, and not according to his. Again, it imports,

Secondly, Something profeffed. The children of God coming to their Father with this profeffion, profefs, that,

1. It is the grief of their hearts, that God's will is not done by themfelves or others, as it is done in hea ven, Matth. xxi. 29. Pfal. cxix. 136. A gracious perfon has the law written in his heart. He knows it, and efteems it to be righteous in all things, the doing of it to be both one's duty and intereft, Pfal. cxix. 128. The heart inclines to the doing of it, though corruption and temptation drive him by it, Gal. v. 17. Hence proceeds forrow of heart, that it

is not done.

2. That God, by the power of his grace, is able to reform this, and to frame the fouls of men on earth to the doing his will, as in heaven, Prov. xxi. 1. He can new-frame mens will, give it a new bent of conformity to his own, and fix it too therein, Ezek. xxxvi. 26. So they put their own and others hearts in God's hand, that he may fet them in a way of obedience, Pfal. cxix. 36. It imports also, Thirdly, Something defired. And there are two things here desired of God by all the faints.

1. That he would by his grace remove from themfelves and others all fpiritual blindnefs, and caufe them to know his will, Eph. i. 17. 19. There can be no doing of God's will, without firft knowing what it is, Rom. xiv. ult. For fuppofe one to do what God requires, who yet does not know that he requires it, it is plain that one in fuch a cafe does it, not be caufe it is the will of God, but because it is his own. There is a natural blindnefs in all, and the remains of it are in the regenerate. This hides the will of God from them in many particulars, and fo hinders them from doing it. But the children of God defire to know it in all things.

This defire to know the will of God is a mark of fincerity, if it be attended with thefe two properties.

(1.) If it be univerfal, if the foul really defire to know the whole will of God, Rom. vii. 22. not only fome fhreds of the law, but the whole law, Pfal. cxix. 6. Hypocrites may defire to know fome parts

of God's will, which are moft agrecible to their own ends and inclinations. But happy they whofe fouls are opened to receive the intimations of the divine will in all things.

(2.) If it be practical, if they defire to know his whole will, that they may conform themselves to it, Pfal. ciii. 18. There may be a defire of the knowledge of God's will for fpeculation, to know it for the fake of knowledge, which may be found in the ungodly. But to defire the knowledge of it for the fake of practice, is a mark of fincerity.

Such a defire is a fure mark; because,

[1.] It evidences a heart reconciled to the whole will of God, Heb. viii. 10. The unrenewed heart is never fo reconciled, Rom. viii. 7. And therefore, fince they have no inclination to let in the whole law into their heart, they do what they can to keep it out of their heads, and are willingly ignorant of what they are unwilling to practife, Job xxi. 14.

[2.] It evidences a heart ready to part with every known fin, with any thing whatfoever upon the dif covery of its contrariety to the will of God, Pfal. xix. 12. It is an evidence of an honeft heart to be content to be fearched, Pfal. cxxxix. 23. ; but those who harbour deceit, will be unwilling to let in the dif covering light, Jer. ix. 6.

2. That God by his grace would remove from themselves and others all weakness, indifpofition, and perverfenefs, and cause them to obey and do his will, as it is done in heaven, Pfal. cxix. 35. So this defire extends to,

(1.) The removal of the impediments of dutiful obedience to the will of God. The children of God are fenfible of the obligation lying on all to conform to the will of God in all things; but withal, that there is in them,

[1] A weakness obftructing their obedience, which they would fain have removed, Eph. iii. 16. The weak knees, the feeble hands, fail them when VOL. III. 3 X

they