cepts do not oblige antecedently to the command, because we cannot discover any intrinfick goodness in them; yet after the command, they oblige as ftrongly as moral precepts, because they are inftituted by the fame righteous lawgiver.

We fhould not be so vain as to think that nothing is fit to be done by us, which we ourfelves cannot difcern to be fo; but should pay fo much deference to our maker, as to think that he may poffibly know fome things to be proper for us to perform, the fitness and decency whereof we ourselves could not discover. Doubtlefs he hath reasons for commanding whatsoever he hath commanded, tho he may have concealed them from us. Therefore we should never refufe obedience to any of his precepts, because we cannot fee the reafon of them; but when diligent enquiry we are convinced that they are his precepts, fhould without delay apply ourselves to the practice of them, because they are commanded by a being who is neceffarily juft, and cannot poffibly command an unrighteous thing.

upon

If, in the next place, we confider those precepts which enjoin a paffive Q 4 obedi

obedience to God, we fhall find them to be as righteous as those which enjoin an active obedience. It is as reasonable for us to fubmit to thofe evils which he inflicts, as it is to do those things which he commands; for he can no more be unrighteous in the difpenfations of his providence, than he is in his precepts. God is infinitely wife, and juft, and good; and therefore he cannot poffibly do any thing that is unwife, unjuft, or cruel.

Indeed moft men are the authors of their own miferies. Poverty and want are often the effects of idleness and prodigality: fhame and difgrace are often the confequences of fome base and scandalous actions; and bodily pains and difeafes are frequently the effects of luxury and leudness. In these cafes therefore, men are to blame themselves, and not God, who only fuffers natural caufes to produce their natural effects. It would be the height of injuftice to murmur against him on account of evils which we bring upon ourselves.

And as for thofe evils which are inflicted upon us immediately by God himself; it ought to be confidered, that they are the juft demerit of our fins, and therefore it is but reafonable that we fhould quietly

fubmit to them. The provocations which we are daily guilty of against the divine majefty, will for ever vindicate him from injustice in the afflictions wherewith he vifits us. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his fins? Lam. III. 39. We ought rather to admire the goodness of God in fparing us from utter deftruction, than repine at his feverity in punishing us fo much less than our iniquities deferve. Submiffion is most difficult in case of perfecution for righteoufness fake. To fuffer fhame and torment for doing that which is just and good, is hard indeed; and if any condition could juftify a fretful and impatient temper, certainly fuch a condition would; for it hath a tendency to shake our faith in God, and would almoft tempt one to call in queftion the juftice of his adminiftration. At first fight it seems contrary to our natural notions of him, that he fhould permit virtue to be difcouraged and oppreffed, and abandon his own fervants to the rage and fury of wicked and unreafonable men and therefore no wonder if fuch providences as thefe do fometimes create uneafy thoughts in the minds of

the righteous, and tempt them to murmur against him. But upon a nicer furvey of this matter, it will appear that even under fuch trials as these, hard and difficult as they are, there is no juft ground of complaining against God, but it becomes us quietly to fubmit to the difpenfations of his providence. For it ought to be confidered, that even the best of men have, in fome instances or other, offended their creator, and thereby render'd themselves obnoxious to his wrath and vengeance. There is not a just man upon earth who doth good and finneth not: therefore God may, without any injuftice, permit even his own fervants to fall into the hands of wicked men, and be perfecuted by them; for thofe fufferings which may be defigned by their perfecutors as discouragements to them in a religious courfe, may be defigned by God as chaftisements for their iniquities.

But we may carry our thoughts further, and confider thefe afflictive difpenfations not as judicial, but as kind and favourable. God may fuffer his own children to be oppreffed by unrighteous men, only to render their graces the more confpicuous, to make

them

them examples of heroic virtue, and prepare them for a brighter and more glorious crown. These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, will work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Therefore it becomes them not only to bear their fufferings with patience, but even to rejoice and be exceeding glad under them, because great fhall be their reward in heaven, Mat.V.12.

Thus have I confidered thofe precepts which regard our conduct towards God, and endeavoured to prove that they are righteous precepts.

I fhould now proceed to prove the fame concerning thofe precepts which respect our conduct towards our fellow creatures, and those which relate to the government of ourselves; and then from the confideration of the righteousness of all the divine commands, fhould exhort you to follow the pfalmift's example in our text. But I am afraid I have been too long already; and therefore fhall leave what remains to be faid upon this fubject to another time.

Only give me leave to conclude with this obfervation concerning the laws of God in general; that the more you study them, the more you will fee the

I

beauty