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CHAP. III.

The abfolute neceffity of Confideration, in order to a ferious Life. God's frequent Commands to that purpose. Our Reason and the power of Confideration we are furnish'd, or endu'd with, prov'd to be given us for this end. Without it, Men have caufe to fufpect, that their Reformation is counterfeit.

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Hat we have faid hitherto, is not a thing indifferent, left to our liberty and difcretion to mind or neglect it, as we shall fee occafion. It is not in the nature of meat of fer'd to Idols, not in the nature of a Holy-day, which Men may neglect, or make confcience of, as they fee it expedient, for the edifying of their Brethren. It is not in the nature of civil actions, of buying or felling, of fitting or rifing, of staying in a Place or travelling, which are things left to our will and pleasure, and may be used, or fuperfeded, according as we fee convenient, or inconvenient. If labouring af ter a better Life, if endeavouring to get a share in the incorruptible Crown of Glory, if attempts to compass the eternal felicity of our Souls, if ftudying how we may be admitted into the Quire of Angels, and enjoy the Society of the First-born which are written in Heaven,

if contriving how we may arrive to that fulness of joy God hath both reveal'd and promis'd, be indifpenfibly neceffary, this Confideration must be fo too. If Self-preservation be not a thing indifferent, Confideration cannot poffibly be fo. For the great Object of this Confideration is, how we may preferve our felves from being undone for ever; how we may guard our Souls from everlasting perdition; how we may avoid the fecond death; and how we may make our happiness lasting and durable proof against the Gates of Hell, and the affaults of that roaring Lion, who walks about, feeking whom he may devour.

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God, that commands all the powers of Light and Darkness, and hath the fame power over us, that the Potter hath over his Veffel, and hath made us capable of being governed by Moral Laws, and hath created us on purpose to be ready at his beck, and may force us into obedience by Plagues and Thunders, if we are loth to be courted by smiles and favours; God who owes no man any thing, who gives Life to all, who hath made all things for his Glory, who is in all places, and All in all, who can be present by Vengeance, where he is not present by Grace, who can be felt, but cannot be feen, who holds all things, fills all things, furrounds all things, excels all things, fuftains all things, and afar off fees all the dangers we are fubject to, and knows what Armies of Enemies lye in ambush, and watch our Fall; it's he that peremptorily comF 2 mands

mands this Confideration. A Sovereign Prince expects to be obey'd, and he that dares refufe, or flight his reasonable command, is juftly lookt upon as a Stranger to Loyal Principles: And well may God, who is All-wife, and can do nothing that's unreasonable, expect fubmiffion to a Precept fo great, fo good, fo advantageous both to Soul and Body, as will appear in the Sequel. Confider your ways, is a Law which God (to thew he is in good earneft) inculcates twice in the fame Prophecy, Hagg. 1.5, 7. And for that the dream is doubled, it is because the thing is eftablifhed by God, faid Jofeph to Pharaoh, Gen. 41. 32. The fame we may fay of repeated Exhortations. And indeed when the famous Mofes bids the People, under this charge and care, to keep the Statutes and the Commandments which God had gracioufly vouchfafed them, that it might go well with them, and with their Children after them; the great Preparative he requires for this Religious frame, is Confideration, Dent. 4. 39, 40. as if without this, all attempts of obedience were vain, and all endeavours to ferve God in fpirit and truth, were no more but water fpilt upon the ground. As if without this the Thunders of Mount Sinai, the Voice of God, the Love wherewith he loved them, the Tenderness he fhew'd them, the Signs, the Wonders, the mighty Hand, the ftretched-out Arm, the great Terrour God brought upon the Nations round about them, would be no motives to feriousness. It was

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upon the fame account that St Paul, as quickfighted as the other, peremptorily tells the Ro mans, that they would never practically approve that good, and acceptable, and perfect Will of God, without they were transform'd by the renewing of their mind, i. e. made a new improvement of their minds by Confideration. For Confideration re-builds the House that's fallen to the ground, makes the mind new, removes old prejudices against á ferious life, and transforms the judgment into other thoughts and conceptions, carries away the rubbish which oppreffed the Soul, and leaves it not till it becomes a new Creature, Rom. 12. 2. What can St Peter, 1 Pet. 1. 13 mean, when he preffes the Christians of thofe days, to gird up the loins of their minds, but this great duty we dif course of? Confideration, as it is a convocation of our thoughts, so it tyes and unites those thoughts to the great object, the one thing neceffary, and, as it were, girds the Soul, that it may keep within the rules of the Word of God, and may not run out into ftrange defires, or inordinate affections, but be more expedite and nimble in her Travels in the Land of Promise.

The truth is, from the mind, as from Aaron's Head, the precious Ointment runs down to the Skirts of our Garments. From that Mountain of Zion defcends this Dew of Hermon, for there the Lord commands the Bleffing, even Life for evermore. From that holy Hill roll down all thofe Drops of Gold, that enrich the immortal F 3

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Soul, and from that Store-house comes all the plenty that makes rational Creatures happy. This is the great Wheel, which fets the leffer Orbs a going, and if it be once impregnated with Principles of goodness and seriousness, and thefe enlarg'd and fpread by Confideration, the will and the affections will foon be perfuaded to follow that Star, till it brings them to Bethlehem, the House of Mercy. In our Civil Affairs, it's the mind muft first be fully perfuaded either of the neceffity, or conveniency, or danger, or advantage of things, before any wife refolution can be taken; and we may juftly conclude, that in Spiritual Concerns, men begin at the wrong end, if they do not feafon their minds with fuch reflections, as may make a deep impreffion on the will and affections. For that thefe may refolve to follow God, and may be ravifh'd with his love, and apply themselves to his ways, and may hate every falfe Path, and deteft their former exorbitances and deviations, we must neceffarily fuppofe there must be some Spring to feed them, which Spring can be nothing elfe but Confideration. And as in fin, it's the mind that first represents the unlawful pleafure of it to the Sinner, and this inflames his affections: This imbibes the subtle Poyson, and fpreads it through the groffer parts, and fecretly conveys it to all the Vital Spirits, till the whole Head doth ake, and the whole Heart grows fick. So in its Antidote, or Cure, it's the mind that must be chafed with Arguments, which may

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