glory to save a world. As little offences done to his little ones, so little sins allowed by them, are as millstones about the neck. If they allow it in themselves, yet heaven and earth shall pass away and fall to nothing, ere he allow it in them. God will not, and therefore his children dare not indulge themselves in little sins. They therefore fear, because he whom they serve is a jealous God.

The other ground of Christians' abhorrence of evil is their own ingenuousness. This fear is from love, and is most properly the fear of children. Children may fear because God is jealous, and so do slaves; but only children because God is good. Children fear because they love; slaves fear, although they hate. Children fear to be unworthy; slaves, only to be unhappy and miserable. There is nothing more contrary to an ingenuous nature, than to abuse goodness `and kindness; to abuse goodness hath as black an aspect with such a nature, as to provoke wrath. They "shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." Hosea 3:5. But how can goodness be the object of fear? We fear evil, and not good. The meaning is, they shall fear to wrong or abuse goodness. They shall fear to wrong the Lord, because he is good, "in the latter days." These latter days that this promise refers to, shall be days of more grace; wherein there shall be not only a more clear revelation of the goodness of God—they shall know the Lord and his goodness-but a more plentiful communication and diffusion of the goodness of God: they shall love the Lord and his goodness. They shall both see

themselves more obliged by goodness, and shall feel themselves more seasoned with goodness. Religion doth not make morose, but more generous, free, and ingenuous. There is nothing more abhorrent to an ingenuous spirit, than to be base and unworthy. Abuse of goodness is an unworthiness, which an ingenuous nature abhors as death to be guilty of; it is its destruction, it is disingenuousness. The abuse of the goodness of God is great unthankfulness; and unthankfulness is great disingenuousness.

Call me unthankful, and you call me all that is bad. Call me any thing else but unthankful. Indeed, were I all thanks, I should still be unthankful; I should still be behindhand with the goodness of the Lord: my debt is greater than I can pay, yea, greater than I can acknowledge; but shall I return evil for good? If I cannot pay, should I deny my debt? He that is unthankful, whatever God requires of him, says wickedly, This is more than I owe to thee; God, I owe thee nothing, I care not for thee. Oh, this is dreadful to a gracious heart.

If this be in sin-for all sin is unthankfulness-if this be sin, if this be the signification of all my neglects of God and my duty to him, then the Lord forbid, whatever I suffer, that I should yield to sin. How shall I do this wickedness? How shall I neglect this duty, and sin against God? God or my own soul in the face, should I be so unworthy? For thy sake, Lord, let me not sin against thee; thou art good, thou art kind, thou art gracious, thou art holy; O let me not be a devil: what heart,

How shall I look my

where a devil is not, but such goodness will charm it into love? Shall I sin ? Shall I sin? Shall I rebel? For thy sake, Lord, I will not do it; I will not for my own sake; for where then shall I appear? In sinning against God, I sin against my own soul; I dare not for my life; sin and death, sin and hell are linked together; but were it not so, might I sin and escape, sin and not die, yet for thy sake, Lord, I will not do it. Thou art good, good in thyself, good to me: thou art my God, thou art my Father; love, care, tenderness, compassion, kindness, is all that is in thy heart towards me: what I am, what I have, what I hope for, that I breathe, that I live, all is thy goodness, thy bounty to me. O let me not rise up against the womb that bare me, and the paps that gave me suck. I would not to my child, to my servant, to my friend— but O, let me never to my Father, to my God-return "evil for good, and hatred for his good-will." not this evil which I fear, ever come upon me; put thy fear into my heart, O Lord, that I may not sin against thee.

Let

CHAPTER XII.

AN OBEDIENT HEART.

"I WILL put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes; and ye shall keep my judgEzek. 36:27. Obedience is of

ments and do them." the heart or of the life. takes for both.

In this scripture, God under

Those two

I. For THE OBEDIENCE OF THE HEART, he undertakes in the former words, I will put my Spirit in your heart. Where Satan dwells, he rules; and where the Spirit of the Lord dwells, there God rules. The Spirit in the heart is the law of the heart. promises, "I will put my Spirit in your hearts," and "I will write my law in your hearts," signify the same thing. The law in the heart, is the will of man melted into the will of God. The law of God may be in the mouth, and the heart a rebel; its reception into the heart denotes the heart's subjection to it. This obedience of the heart includes,

The opening of the heart to the word. What wilt thou have me to do, Lord? That is the voice of an obedient heart. Speak, Lord, command, Lord; what wilt thou? And when he speaks, whatever it be, the word is embraced and accepted by the heart. "Let my counsel be acceptable to thee." Dan. 4:27. The acceptance of the word in the heart is signified by its

hearkening to it. To hearken is more than to hear; though they sometimes denote the same thing, yet ordinarily, hearing is of the ear, hearkening of the heart. "My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me." Psalm 81:11. They heard what the Lord spoke, but they would not hearken; that is, as it is there interpreted, they would none of the Lord. They rejected the word of the Lord which he spoke unto them. When the word is suffered to come in with authority, to rule in the soul— when the heart gives up itself unto it, then it is accepted; there is its hearkening to it.

This obedience likewise includes the resolution of the heart for the work of the Lord. "I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments." Psalm 119:106. I have vowed, and I will perform; I have covenanted, and I am determined to keep thy statutes. "The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not do;" that is the rebellious heart: "Whatsoever the Lord shall speak, we will do ;" that is the obedient heart.

Where the heart is thus resolved to obey, this is that obedience which shall be accepted unto salvation. Where this resolution is, as there is opportunity there will be practice; and where there is not opportunity, in God's account this obedient heart will be accepted. This is praying, this is hearing, this is giving and feeding and clothing and visiting; this is walking circumspectly, working righteousness, showing mercy, exercising faith and patience and repent