Use. See how necessary it is to get the knowledge of what is good ; it ushers in salvation, 1 Tim. ii. 4. Ignorance of God is the cause of all sin, Jer. ix. 3. Igno- rance of God damns, Hos. iv. 6. It is sad to be ignorant in gospel-times; but many. alas ! do not oidy not know God, but thej are not willing to know, Jer. ix. 6., " They refuse to know me, saith the Lord."
II. Doctrine. That we ought not only to know to do good, but to do it. This the apostle implies, " to him that kno\ys to do good, and doth it not ;" he implies, that he who knows to do good should do it ; the end of knowledge is practice. Search from one end of the Bible to the other, and you will find, that it is the practical part of re- ligion is chiefly intended. The crown is not set upon the head of knowledge, but practice. Rev. xxii. 14., " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life."
Use 1. It shews us wherein most Chris- tians are defective in the times of gospel, viz. In the doing part of religion, they know how to do good, but do it not. They know they should abstain from evil and pursue holiness ; but though they know this, yet they do it not.
(1.) They know they should abstain from evil. Thus they know they should not swear. Mat. v. 34., " Swear not at all ;" yet they do it ; they are more free of their oaths than their alms. They know un- cleanness to be a sin ; th«at it wjustes the body, wounds the conscience, blots the name, and damns the soul. Gal. v. 19., yei they will go on in that sin, and for a cup of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath. They know drunkenness to be a sin ; that it doth make them like beasts, takes away their reason, unfits them for happiness, for they cannot think on going reeling to heaven ; they know that God is ])reparing a cup fop the drunkard. Rev. xvi. 19., yet for all that, they will not leave their drunken fits. Men know that rash censuring is a sin, James iv. 1 1., " Speak not evil one of ano- ther, brethren ;" yet they are guilty of this ; they will not swear, but they wili
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Blander, and speak to tlie prejudice of oth- I ers ; they can never make tliem recompense for this : no physician can heal the wounds i of the tongue. Thus they know that cov- etonsness is a sin, yea, the root of all evil ; vet the world enfjrosseth all their time and thoughts ; they thirst after gold more than grace, and lahour more to have a full purse than a good conscience. They know they should not vent their passions, Jam. i. 26., " If any man among you seems to be reli- gious, and bridleth not his tongue, this man's religion is vain." Origen observes of the rich man in the gospel, he had no water to cool his tongue : he had sinned most in his tongue, therefore was punished most in it. How unworthy is it for men to have their eyes and hands lifted up to heaven, and their tongues set on fire from hell ; at one time praying, and another time cursing ? How can such pray in a family, that are possessed with an angry devil ? Thus men know they should abstain from evil, but they do it not.
(2.) They know they should pursue ho- liness, but they do it not. They know they should read the word, sanctify the sabbath, use holy conference, pray in their families, redeem the time, walk circumspectly ; they know to do good, but do it not.
Quest. Whence is it that men know to do good, yet do it not ?
Ans. It is for want of sound conviction. Men are not thoroughly convinced of the necessity of pi-actical godliness ; they think there is a necessity of knowledge, because else there is no salvation ; they will get some notions of Christ, that he is a Saviour, and has satisfied divine justice, and they hope they believe in him. Well then ; we tell them that faith and obedience go toge- ther: then God is merciful, and though they are not so good as they should be, yet free grace will save them. Thus men con- tent themselves with general notions of re- ligion, but are not convinced of the practi- cal part of godliness.
A. 2. Men know to do good, yet do it not, because they arc not awakened out of their spiritual sloth. It is easy to get the knowledge of a truth, to give assent to it, to commend it, to profess it ; but to digest knowledge into practice, is the difhculty.
A. 3. Men know to do good, but do it not, through incredulity ; they are in part atheists. Did they believe that sin, was so bitter, that wrath and hell followed it, would they not leave off their sins? Did they be- lieve that to do the will of God was a pri- \'ilege, — religion was their interest, — that there is joy in the way of godliness, and heaven at the end, — would they not espouse holiness ? But people, though they have some slight transient thoughts of these things, yet they are not brought to the be- lief of them ; therefore though they know to do good, yet they do it not. The reason why there are so few doers of the word, is, because there are so few believers.