and rivers of oil, and the first-born of their body, for the sin of their soul" but "to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God; to do away the treasures of wickedness, the scant measure, the bag of deceitful weights, violence, lies, circumvention, the statutes of Omri, or the counsels of the house of Ahab;"— durus sermo,' this is intolerable; they will rather venture smiting and desolation, than be held to so severe terms. The young man will come to Christ, yea, run to him, and kneel, and desire instruction touching the way to eternal life, and walk with much care in observation of the commandments: but if he must part with all,' and, instead of great possessions, take up a cross and follow Christ,' and fare as he fared;-' durus sermo,' this is indeed a hard saying: he that came running,' went away grieving' and displeased; and upon this one point doth he and Christ part. Herod will hear John gladly, and do many things, and observe and reverence him as a just and holy man; but, in the case of Herodias, he must be excused; upon this issue, doth he and salvation shake hands. This is the difference between hypocritical and sincere conversion; that goes far, and parts with much, and proceeds to almost but when it comes to the very turning point, and ultimate act of regeneration, he then plays the part of an "unwise son, and stays in the place of the breaking forth of children ',"-as a foolish merchant, who, in a rich bargain of a thousand pounds, breaks upon a difference of twenty shillings-but the other is contented to part with all, to suffer the loss of all, to carry on the treaty to a full and final conclusion, to have all the armour of the strong man taken from him, that Christ may divide the spoils; to do the hardest duties if they be commanded 1.

SECT. 20. Thirdly, The searching, convincing, and penetrating quality which is in the Word, is a great matter of offence unto wicked men, when it cuts them to the heart,' as Stephen's sermon did his hearers. Light is of a discovering and manifesting property; and for that reason is

b Mic. vi. 6, 16. d Mark x. 17, 22. xi. 22. Psalm cxix. 128. sed ita lex scripta est. 12. sect. 2. Gen. xxii. 3.

c Vid. Basil. Homil. in Ditescentes,-statim ab initio. e Mark vi. 20, 27. t Hos. xiii. 13. g Luke h Fides famem non timet. Hier.-Perquam durum, Ulpian. P. Qui et à quibus manumissi liberi non fiunt.

"hated by every one that doth evil'." For though the pleasure of sin unto a wicked man be sweet, yet there is bitterness in the root and bottom of it; he who loves to enjoy the pleasure, cannot endure to hear of the guilt.

Now the work of the Word is to take men in their own heart; to make manifest to a man the secrets of his own heart"; to pierce, like arrows, the heart of God's enemies °; to divide asunder the soul and spirits, the joints and marrow, and to be a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart P. This act of discovery cannot but exceedingly gall the spirits of wicked men: it is like the voice of God unto Adam in Paradise," Adam, where art thou?" or like the voice of Ahijah to the wife of Jeroboam, "I am sent unto thee with heavy tidings."

Fourthly, The plainness and simplicity of the gospel, is likewise matter of offence to these men'; and that partly upon the preceding reason; for the more plain the Word is, the more immediate access it hath unto the conscience, and operation upon it. So much as is merely human elegancy, fineness of wit, and delicacy of expression, doth oftentimes stop at fancy, and take that up, as the body of Asahel caused the passers-by to stand still and gaze. And wicked men can be contented to admit the Word any whither, so they can keep it out of their conscience, which is the only proper subject of it'. When I hear men magnify quaint and polite discourses in the ministry of the Word, and speak against sermons that are plain and wholesome; I look upon it, not so much as an act of pride, (though the wisdom of the flesh is very apt to scorn the simplicity of the gospel,) but indeed is an act of fear and cowardice; because where all other external trimmings and dresses are wanting to tickle the fancy, there the Word hath the more downright and sad operation upon the conscience, and must consequently the more startle and terrify.

SECT. 21. Fifthly, The great difficulty, and indeed impossibility of obeying it in the strictness and rigour of it, is another ground of scandal, that God in his Word should command men

to do that which indeed cannot be done. This was matter of " astonishment to the disciples themselves, when our Saviour told them, that it was "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." This was the cavil of the disputant in the apostle, against the counsels of God, "Why doth he yet find fault?" if he harden whom he will, why doth he complain of our hardness, which it is impossible for us to prevent, because none can resist his willy? Now to this scandal we answer, First, That the law of God was not originally2, nor is it intrinsecally, or in the nature of the thing impossible, but accidentally, and by reason of natural corruption which is enmity against it. A burden may be very portable in itself, which he who is a cripple, is not able to bear the defect is not in the law, but in us .-Secondly, That of this impossibility there may be made a most excellent use; that, being convinced of impotency in ourselves, we may have recourse to the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ, to pardon all our violations upon it -Thirdly, Being regenerated and endued with the Spirit of Christ, the law becomes evangelically possible unto us again; yea, not only possible, but sweet and easy; though impossible to the purpose of justification and legal covenant, which requireth perfection of obedience under pain of the curse in which sense it is a yoke which cannot be borne ; a commandment which cannot be endured ";-yet possible to

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u Folio-Edition, p. 606. Mark x. 25. y Rom. ix. 1. z Censores divinitatis, dicentes 'Sic non debuit Deus, et sic magis debuit,' consultiores sibimet videntur Deo : Tert. in Marcion. 1. 2. C. 2. a Rom. viii. 3. b Non fuit impossibile, quando præceptum est; sed stultitia peccantis impossibile sibi fecit. Gul. Paris. de vitiis et peccat. cap. 10.-Neque enim suo vitio non implebatur Lex, sed vitio prudentiæ carnis. Aug. de spir. et lit. cap. 19. c Gal. iii. 21, 24.

d Nec latuit præceptorem præcepti pondus hominum excedere vires: sed judicavit utile ex hoc ipso suæ illos insufficientiæ admoneri-Ergo, mandando impossibilia, non prævaricatores homines fecit sed humiles, ut omne os obstruatur et subditus fiat omnis mundus Deo, quia ex operibus legis non justificabitur omnis caro coram illo accipientes quippe mandatum, et sentientes defectum, clamabimus in Coelum, et miserabitur nostri Deus. Bern. Ser. 50. in Cantic. Lex data ut gratia quæreretur, gratia data ut Lex impleretur.-Aug. de spir. et lit. c. 10.-Omnia fiunt caritati facilia: De nat. et grat. cap. 69.—de nat. Christ. cap. 9—de grat. et lib. arb. cap. 15.-Cor lapideum non significat nisi durissimam voluntatem et adversus Deum inflexibilem. Aug. de grat. et lib. arb. cap. 14. e Rom. vii. 2. 1 John v. 2. Matth. xi. 30. f Gal. iii. 10.

h Heb. xii. 20.

g Acts xv. 13.

the purpose of acceptation of our services done in the obedience of it, the spiritual part of them being presented by the intercession, and the carnal defects covered by the righteousness, of Christ, in whom the Father is always well pleased.-Fourthly, If any wicked man presume to harden himself in the practice of sins, under this pretence, that it is impossible for him to avoid them, because God hardeneth 'whom he will;' though the apostolical increpation be answer sufficient, "Who art thou, that repliest against God?" yet he may further know, that he is not only hardened judicially by the sentence of God, but most willingly also by his own stubborn love of sin, and giving himself over unto greediness in sinning; and thereby doth actively bring upon himself those indispositions unto duty; so that the law, being impossible to be performed by him, is indeed no other than he would himself have it to be, as bearing an active enmity and antipathy unto it.

SECT. 22. Sixthly, The mercy and free grace of God in the promises, is unto wicked men an occasion of stumbling while they turn it into lasciviousness, and continue in sin that grace may abound, and venture to make work for the blood of Christ, not being led by the goodness of God unto repentance,' but hardening themselves in impenitency, because God is good. There is not any thing at which wicked men do more ordinarily stumble, than at mercy,-as gluttons surfeit most upon the greatest dainties;--venturing upon this ground to go on in sin, because they cannot outsin mercy; and to put off repentance from day to day, because they are still under the offers of mercy; making mercy not a sanctuary unto which to fly from sin, but a sanctuary to protect and countenance sin; and so, by profane and desperate presumption, turning the very mercy of God into a judgement and savour of death unto themselves"; pretending liberty from sin, that they may continue in it, and abuse God by his own gifts.

Lastly, The threatenings of God set forth in his Word, and executed in his judgements upon wicked men, are great

i Rom. vi. 1. Jude verse iv.

k Rom. ii. 4.

1 Fructum ex eo quis consequi non debet, quod impugnat: Gotofrid.-Nemo fit liber in fraudem fisci : Marcian. P. Qui et à quibus manumissi, 1. 11. Numb. xv. 30.

m Deut. xxix. 19, 20.

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occasions of stumbling unto them, when they are not thereby, with Manasses, humbled under God's mighty hand,-but, with Pharaoh, hardened the more in their stubbornness against him. There is such desperate wickedness in the hearts of some men", that they can even sit down and rest in the resolutions of perishing, resolving to enjoy the pleasures of sin while they may :--"To-morrow we shall die;" therefore, in the mean time, "let us eat and drink °. "This evil is of the Lord; why should we wait for the Lord any longer?"-There are three men in the Scripture that have a special brand or mark of ignominy set upon them, Cain, Dathan, and Ahaz: "The Lord set a mark upon Cain 9;”—“ This is that Dathan," and "This is that Ahaz":" and if we examine the reasons, we shall find that the sin of stubbornness had a special hand in it. Cain's offering was not accepted; upon this he grew wrath and sullen, and stubborn' against God's gentle warning, and slew his brother. Dathan and his companions, sent for by Moses, return a proud and stubborn' answer, "We will not come up." Ahaz greatly distressed by the King of Syria, by the Edomites, by the Philistines, by the Assyrian; and in the midst of all this distress,' stubborn' still, and trespassing more against the Lord. It is one of the saddest symptoms in the world, for a man or a nation not to be humbled under the correcting hand of God; but, like an anvil, to grow harder under blows;—and a most sure argument, that God will not give over, but go on to multiply his judgements still: for he will overcome when he judgeth, and therefore will judge till he overcome. In musical notes, there are but eight degrees; and then the same returns again and philosophers, when they distinguish degrees in qualities, do usually make the eighth degree to be the highest but in the wrath of God against those, who impenitently and stubbornly stand out against his judgements, we shall find no fewer than eight and twenty degrees threatened by God himself, "I will punish seven times more;" and yet seven times more;" and again "seven times more ;" and once more seven times more for

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n Vide quæ de Sardanapalo, Nino, Bacchida, Xanthia, aliis, congessit Athenæus, lib. 8. c. 3. et lib. 12. c. 7.-Contumacia cumulat pœnam, 1. 4. P. de pæri. o 1 Cor. v. 32. p. 607. Numb. xxvi. 9. 2 Chron. xxii. 22.

p 2 Kings vi. 33.

Folio-Edition,

q Gen. iv. 15.

s Levit. xxvi. 18, 21, 24, 28.