First, That God in the covenant of grace hath promised to furnish and enable his children for a holy life: "I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." Ezek. xxxvi. 27. This is a way that God hath by himself. The mother can take her child by the hand to lead it, but not put strength into his feeble joints to make him go. The prince can give his captains a commission to fight, but not courage to fight. There is a power goes with the promise; hence it is they are called "exceeding great and precious promises," because given for this very end, that by these we might "be made partakers of the divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 3. and therefore we are not only pressed to holiness from the command, but especially from the promise: “having therefore these promises (he means to help and encourage us), let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. vii. i. O it is good travelling in his company that promiseth to pay our charges all the way; good working for him that promiseth "to work all our work for us." Phil. ii. 12, 13.

Secondly, God hath laid up in Christ a rich and full treasure of grace to supply thy wants continually: "it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." 1 Col. xix. Fulness, all ́fulness, all fulness dwelling; not the fulness of a land-flood up and down, not the fulness of a vessel, to serve his own turn only, but of a fountain that lends its streams to others without straitening or lessening its own store. Indeed it is a fulness purposely ministerial, as the sun hath not its light for itself, but for the lower world, because it is the great ininister and servant to hold forth light to the world. Thus Christ is the sun of righteousness, diffusing his grace into the bosoms of his people. "Grace," is said to be "poured into his lips," to let us know he hath it, not to keep to himself, but to impart: "that of his fulness we may receive grace for grace."

Thirdly, Every child of God hath not only a right to this fulness in Christ, but an inward principle, which is faith, whereby he is by the instinct of the new creature taught to suck and draw grace from Christ, as the child doth nourishment in the womb, by the navel-string, from

the mother; and therefore, poor soul, if thou wouldest be more holy, believe more, suck more from Christ. Holy David, Psalm cxvi. affected with the thoughts of God's gracious providence, in delivering him out of his deeper distress, takes up, as the best messenger he could send his thanks to Heaven by, a strong resolution for a holy life, ver. 9. "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living;" he would spend his days now in God's service; but, lest we should think he was rash and self-confident, he adds, verse 10. "I believed, therefore have I spoken." First, he acted his faith on God for strength, and then he promiseth what he will do. Indeed the Christian is a very beggarly creature considered in himself, he is not ashamed to confess it, what he promiseth to expend in an holy duty is upon the credit of his Saviour's purse, who he humbly believes will bear him out in it with assisting grace.

SECT. X.

Tenthly, Fortify thyself against those discouragements by which Satan, if possible, will divert thee from thy purpose, and make thee lay aside this breast-plate of righteousness and holiness as cumbersome, yea prejudicial to thy carnal interests. Now the better to arm thee against his assaults of this kind, I shall instance two or three great objections, whereby he scares many from this holy walking, and also lend a little help to wrest these wea pons out of thy enemy's hand, by preparing an answer to them against he comes.

CHAP. XII.

WHEREIN THE FIRST POLICY OR STRATAGEM OF SATAN IS DEFEATED, WHICH HE USETH TO MAKE THE CHRISTIAN THROW AWAY HIS BREAST-PLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AS THAT WHICH HINDers the pLEASURE OF HIS LIFE.

ASSAULT 1. First, Satan labours to picture a holy righteous life with such an austere sour face, that the

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creature may be out of love with it. O, saith he, if mean to be thus precise and holy, then bid adieu to all joy; you at once deprive yourselves of all those pleasures which others pass their days so merrily in the embraces of, that are not so straight-laced in their consciences.

How true a charge this is, that Satan lays upon the ways of holiness, we shall now see: and truly he that desires to see the true face of holiness in its native hue and colour, should do well not to trust Satan, or his own carnal heart, to draw its picture. I shall deal with this objection, first, by way of concession. There are some pleasures, if they may be so called, that are inconsistent with the power of holiness; whoever will take up a purpose to live righteously, he must shake hands with them, and they are of two sorts.

SECT. I.

First, All such pleasures as are in themselves sinful, godliness will allow no such in thy embraces. And art thou not greatly hurt, dost think, to be denied that which would be thy bane to drink? would any think the father cruel that should charge his child not to dare so much as taste of any ratsbane? Truly I hope you that have past under the renewing work of the Spirit can call sin by another name than pleasure. I am sure saints in former times have not counted themselves tied up, but saved from such pleasures. The bondage lies in serving them, and the liberty in being saved from them. Tit. iii. 2. The Apostle bemoans the time when himself and other saints were foolish, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures; and he reckons it among the prime benefits they received by the grace of the Gospel, to be delivered from that vassalage, ver. 5. "But according to his mercy he saved us, (how? not by pardoning them only, but) by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." However the devil makes poor creatures expect pleasure in sin, and promiseth them great matters of this kind, yet he goes against his conscience, and his own present sense also; he doth

not find sin so pleasant a morsel to his own taste that he should need to commend it upon this account to others. Sin's pleasure is like the pleasure which a place in the West-Indies affords those that dwell in it; there grows in it most rare luscious fruit, but these dainties are so sauced with the intolerably scorching heat of the sun by day, and the multitude of a sort of creatures stinging them by night, that they can neither well eat by day, nor sleep by night to digest their sweet-meats; which made the Spaniards call the place, "comforts in Hell;" and truly what are the pleasures of sin, but such comforts in Hell? There is some carnal pleasure they have, which delights a rank sensual palate; but they are served in with the fiery wrath of God, and stinging of a guilty restless conscience; and the fears of the one, with the anguish of the other, are able sure to melt and waste away that little joy and pleasure they bring to the sense.

Secondly, There are pleasures which are not in their own nature sinful: such are creature-comforts and delights; the sin lies as to these, not in the using, but in the abusing of them, which is done two ways.

First, When a due measure is not kept in the use of them; he cannot live holily and righteously in this present world, that lives not soberly also. Godliness will allow thee to taste of these pleasures as sauce, but not feed on them as meat. The rich men's charge, James v. 5. runs thus, "ye have lived in pleasure on earth;" they lived in pleasures as if they had lived for them, and could not live without them; when once this wine of creature-contents fumes up to the brain, intoxicates the man's judgment, that he begins to dote of them, and cannot think of parting with them to enjoy better, but cries loathe to depart; as those Jews in Babylon who, beginning to thrive in that soil, were very willing to stay there, and lay their bones in Babylon, for all Jerusalem, which they were called to return unto; then truly they are pernicious to the power of holiness. Though a master doth not grudge his servant his meat and drink, yet he will not like it, if when he is to go abroad, his servant be laid up drunk, and disabled from waiting on him by his intemperance; and a drunken man is as fit

to attend on his master, and do his business for him, as a Christian overcharged with the pleasures of the creature is to serve his God in any duty of godliness.

Secondly, They are sinful when not rightly timed; fruit eat out of its season is nought. We read of "a time to embrace, and a time to forbear;" Eccles. iii. 5. there are some seasons that the power of holiness calls off, and will not allow what is lawful at another time. As first, on the Lord's day, now all carnal creature-pleasures are out of season. God calls us then to higher delights, he expects we should lay the other aside, and not put our palates out of taste with those lower pleasures, that we may the better relish his heavenly dainties: "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking thy own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isaiah lviii. 13. Mark, we can neither taste the sweetness of communion with God, nor pay the honour due to God in sanctifying his day, except we deny ourselves in our carnal delights. If a king should at some certain times of the year invite some of his poor subjects to sit and feast with him at his own royal table, they should exceedingly dishonour their prince, and wrong themselves, to bring their ordinary mean fare with them to court. Do glorified saints in Heaven call for any of their carnal delights, or miss them, while they are taken up in Heaven praising God, and feeding on the joys that flow from the full-eyed vision of God? And doth not God make account he gives you to enjoy Heaven in a figure, when he admits you to the service of his holy day? Secondly, in days of solemn fasting and prayer, we are then to afflict our souls, and creature pleasures will fit that work no better than a silver lace would do a mourning suit. Thirdly, in times of public calamity in the church abroad, especially at home, and this a gracious heart cannot but count reasonable that he should deny himself, or at least tie up himself to a very short allowance in his creature-delights, when Christ in his church lies bleeding; sympathy is a