Heart truly endeavouring to obey the Voice of God " in his Word, and truly forrowful for his defects and failings in that Obedience: thus the Heart of David, ແ 1 Kings 15.3. of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20. 3. were perfect "Hearts; the Obedience injoined by David to Solomon, 1 Chron. 28. 9. Serve him with a perfect, Heart, and willing Mind and this perfection of Obedience give unto thy fervants, that thy will may be done on Earth as it 66 is in Heaven, fincerely and fingly.

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2. Which is a confequent of the former, Angelical Obedience is an Univerfal Obedience: there is not any Command of God, not the meaneft, but they perform it, Pfalm. 103.20. Bless the Lord ye his Angels that excel in ftrength, that do his Commandments, hearkning unto the voice of his word. For the fame Principle of perfect Love of God, moves them to a willing Obedience to every Command, as well as any; and they find as much beauty in their Obedience unto the Command of God, when fent out to Minister for the poor Members of the Son of God, Heb. 1. 14. as when fent upon an Employment, for the matter, more glorious. "And, O Lord, Let thy Will "be thus done on Earth as it is in Heaven: let me have cr refpect to all thy Commandments; and let no fin be fo સુંદ much mine, fo dear,fo natural, so suitable to my Nature ઠંડ or Condition, but that I may forfake it at thy Command, and keep my self from my Tranfgreffion, since it "is the fame God that equally Commands and Forbids

in all, and the fame Love to God which is or should "be the Principle and Ground of all my Obedience, James 2. 10. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all. A heart that can "obferve fome Commands, and yet difpenfe with it felf "in the violation of others, obeys not for love of God, "but of himself.

3. Angelical Obedience is a Willing and Cheerful Obedience, Which ftill runs upon the former reafon: the Principle of their Obedience is perfect Love of God; and Love is an active Affection, as ftrong as Death; fo that they are glad of any Opportunity to return the Expref

fions of that Love in a moft hearty and willing Obedi ence. Chrift, fpeaking of the Angels, faith, They al ways behold the Face of my Father; they Watch and are attentive, and with Cheerfulness expect every Com. mand of God. "And thus alfo let thy Will be done on "Earth as it is in Heaven, that we may Willingly and "Cheerfully perform thy Will; glad that we thy poor "creatures have any opportunity to do any fervice c to thee, though thou needeft it not; and thankful "that thou art pleafed to accept of the Obedience of 66 thy Creature.

4. Confequently, An Angelical Obedience is Speedy, Swift, Ready. They difpute not the reafon of the Command, nor delay the performance of it: Like the Centurion's Servants, he faith to one, Go, and he goeth: Luke 7. 8. "And, Lord, as thus thy Will is done in "Heaven, fo let it be done on Earth: when thou com"mandeft things that our flesh and blood have much ado 66 to digeft, would fain be reasoning against, or at least angry in the obfervance, give us this grace not to con"fer with flesh and blood, Gal. 1. 16. but refolvedly "and speedily to obey thy Will. When Abraham was called to leave his own Country, he obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither he went, Heb. 11. 8. when commanded to facrifice his Son, he rose early in the Morning, and goes about this hard Employ; Gen. 12. 3. Lingrings and Reasonings upon the Commands of God, as they carry in them a want of Duty, fo they always bring with them much disadvantage, either wholly intercepting our Obedience, or mingling with it much unwil lingness and averseness to it.

5. A Heavenly, Angelical Obedience, though it be full of Perfection, yet it is full of Humility. They know that they owe an infinite Obedience to him from whom they receive their Being; and that their Obedience to God is but the payment of that Debt they owe to him, and cannot make him a Debtor to them: They know that infinite diftance between the infinite God and themfelves, though glorious yet finite Creatures; and there

fore

Ifore they do not only pay their Obedience, as a juft Tribute to God, without arrogance of Merit; but they do it with all the Reverence and Acknowledgment that is. imaginable. Both these we find in the Adoration of the 24 Elders, Rev. 4. 10, 11. they fall down before him, and caft their Crowns before the Throne, faying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour and Power. The diftance between God and Man is infinite; and though the Angels are nearer unto God in perfection of Nature than Men, yet ftill the diftance between them is infinite: here is the odds, the Angels fee their distance and fee more of the Perfection of God; and the more they fee of him, the more they Adore and Reverence him, and the Humbler they are in their Services, becaufe they fee the greatness of their distance. And if Ange lical Obedience, that is fo perfect, fhall be mingled with fo much Reverence, with fo much Humility, fhould our fervices, that are fo imperfect, be allayed?" O Lord, "Let thy Will be thus alfo done in Earth as it is in "Heaven: Give us a fenfe of thy infinite Glory and Ma"jefty, of that infinite diftance between Thee and Thy Creature; that with all Reverence to Thy Majefty, and all Lowliness in our felves, we may appear before Thee "in all we do for Thee: Give us a fenfe of that infinite "Debt of Obedience that we owe unto Thee for our Being, that product of an infinite Power, and an in"finite Motion; for our well-beings, our reftitution in "Chrift, without whom our very Being would have been our burden; Give us a fenfe of the great imperfecti

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ons of all our best performances, that need no lefs a "Sacrifice than the Blood and Interceffion of Chrift to "wash them from that guilt that would damn us, if we "had nothing else to anfwer for: Give us a fenfe of Thy "Great Condefcenfion to Thy weak and finful Creatures, that are pleased to deliver unto us the knowledge of Thy Will; and when we by Nature are unable to conceive it, or to believe it, doft give us Light to under"ftand it, and Faith to affent unto it, that Thy Law is Holy, Juft and Good; and when for all these con

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"victions of Thy Truth, our hearts, the feats of Rebellion c do oppofe it in the Love and Practice of it, Thou art pleafed to fend down a powerful working of Thy Spi"rit to chafe out of us thofe oppofitions of our corrupt"ed Nature, and to make us willing in the day of Thy power, and to ftrive with and fubdue our hearts to any measure of the Love of thy Will; and when not"withstanding all this, our poor and lean performances "are mingled with much of our own deadness, contrary motions, and pollutions; yet Thou art pleased to fprinkle our Obedience with his perfect Righteousness; "to forgive the defects, to cover the imperfections, to "rectifie the deformities of all our Obedience; to pardon what is ours, our fins and defects, and to accept

and reward what is Thine own, as if it were ours, when "Thou workeft all our works in us, and yet rewardeft us, as if we had wrought them.

And as in the diftinct confiderations of the Will, of the Counfels and Commands of God, we are to defire that his Will may be done on Earth as it is Heaven; fo in the conjunct confideration of both thefe Wills. There is not an Action or Event in the World, but it falls out by the determinate Counfel and Fore-appointment of God; and yet to the production of these Events we find a mixture of Actions that exprefly thwart the Command of God. The greatest Event, and of the greateft concernment that the World ever knew, or fhall know, was the Death of Jefus Chrift; and though he was thus delivered by the determinate Counfel and Foreknowledge of God, yet the fews took, and by wicked hands, Crucified and flew him, Acts 2. 33. The Counsel of God was a moft Wife and Merciful Counsel; the action of the Jews that fulfilled this Counfel, was a most cruel and unjuft action; yet the injuftice of the inftrument did no way affect the Counfel of God, nor the Counsel of God no way juftifie the action of the Jews; witnefs that heavy Curfe that upon their own imprecation lies upon the actors and their pofterity unto this day, his Blood be upon us, and upon our

Children, Matth. 27. 25. The man fins most willingly, and though the Wife God intermingle occurences that make the finful actions of men inftrumental to his Counfels, yet their Guilt is no lefs, and no less their own, by being fubfervient to his Counfel. God hath given thee a word of Command, he bath fhewed thee, O man what is good; and what doth the Lord require at thy bands? Micah 6. 8. Thou needeft not, nor mayeft feek out for a Rule of thy Actions in the Secret Counsel of God, nor endeavour to justifie thy Actions, because in order to the fulfilling of thofe Counfels, but keep to that Rule which he hath given, To the Law, and to the Teftimony, Deut.29.29. The fecret things belong unto the Lord our God, but thofe things that are revealed, belong to us and to our children for ever..

"Therefore, O Lord, teach me to wait upon the "Will of thy Counfels, and to be inftrumental in them; "that I may nevertheless ever obey the Will of thy "Command; that while I act thy Will as a Creature, "I may never neglect is as a Man or a Chriftian. Thy

Wisdom, it is true, can bring about thy Counfels by "the finful actions of men; and as thou turneft the "Hearts of Men as Rivers of Waters, fo thou turneft the "finful motions of the Heart, as a skilful Workman can "turn the ftreams of water, fo that whilft it moves na"turally, it fhall bring about Ends that are of a higher "conftitution: But furely if thou canft make those works "of disobedience ferve thy Providence, much more. "canft thou ufe fuch actions to the fulfilling of thy "Counfels that are fuitable to thy Commands; there"fore as the Will of thy Counfels is done in Heaven "by the Angels and bleffed Spirits, in fuch a way as is, "fuitable to thy Commands; fo let thy Will be done

on Earth, that while we ferve thy Providence, we "may neverthelefs obey thy Will; and whiles we "clofely obferve what thou requireft, that we may "Contentedly, Patiently, Cheerfully and Thankfully "fubmit unto, and receive what thou in thy most Wife "Counfel difpenfeft,

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