Ans. As for the grace held forth by this 'preparation of the gospel,' &c., I find great variety in the apprehensions of the learmed, and, indeed, variety rather than contrariety. I shall, therefore, spare the mentioning of them, (many of which you may find collected by the Reverend Doctor Gouge upon the place, with his thoughts upon them,) and crave the boldness to lay down (with due respect to others) the apprehensions I have had thereon ; which I conceive will rather confirm than thwart their sense. Now what this pre- paration is, will best appear by considering the part it is designed for ; and that is the foot, the only member in the body to be shod ; and the piece of armour it is compared to, and that is the soldier's shoe, which, if right, is to be of the strongest make, being not so much intended for finery as defence ; and that so necessary, that for want of it alone, the soldier, in some cases, is disabled for service ; as when he is called to march far on hard ways, and those, may be, strewed with sharp stones; how long will he go, if not shod, witliout wounding or foundering ? or if the way be good, but the weather bad, and his feet not fenced from the wet and cold, they are not so far from the head, but the cold got in them may strike up to that ; yea, bring a disease on the whole body, which will keep him on his bed when he should be in the field ; as many almost are surfeited as slain in armies. Now what the foot is to the body, that the will is to the soul. The foot carries the whole body, and the will the soul ; yea, the whole man, body and soul also. Voluntas est locomotiva facultas ; we go whither our will sends us. And what the shoe is to the foot, that prepara- tion, or if you please a readiness and alaci'ity, is to the will. The man whose feet are well shod fears no road, but goes thi-ough thick and thin ; foul or fair, stones or straws, all are alike to him that is well shod ; while the bare-footed man, or slenderly shod, shrinks when he feels the wet, and shrieks when he lights on a sharp stone. Thus, when the will and heart of a man are prompt, and ready to do any work, tiie man is as it were shod and armed against all trouble and difficulty which he is to go over in the doing of it. They say the Irish tread so light on the ground, that they will run over some bogs, wherein any other almost would stick or sink. A prepared, ready heart I am sure will do this in a spiritual sense ; none can walk, where he can run ; he makes nothing of afflictions, yea, persecutions, but goes singing over them. David never so merry as in the cave, Psa. Ivii. ; and how came he so ? ' My heart is prepared, my heart is prepared, (saith he,) I will sing and give praise.' If David's heart had not been shod with this preparation, he would not have liked the way so well he was in ; you would have had him sing to another tune, and heard him quarrel with his destiny, or fall out with his profession, that had put him to so much trouble, and driven him from the pleasures of a prince's court, to hide himself imdergroimd in a cave from those that hunted for his precious life. He would have spent his breath rather in pitying and bemoaning himself, than in praising of God. An unprepared heart, that is not well satisfied with its work or condition, hangs back ; and though it may be brought to submit to it with much ado, yet it is but as a foundered horse on a stony way, who goes in pain every step, and would oft be turning out of the path if bit and whip did not keep him in.
Qi/est. 2. But why is it called the 'preparation of the gos2)el of peace?' Answ. Because the gospel of peace is the great instrument by which God works the will and heart of man into this readiness and preparation to do or suffer what he calls to. It is the business we are set about, when preaching the gospel, to make a ' willing people,' Psa. ex. 'To make ready a people prepared for the Lord,' Luke i. As a captain is sent to beat up his drum in a city, to call in a company that will voluntarily list themselves to follow the prince's wars, and be in a readiness to take the field, and march at an hour's warning ; thus the gospel comes to call over the hearts of men to the foot of God, to stand ready for his service, whatever it costs them : now this it doth as it is a 'gospel of peace.' It brings the joyful tidings of peace concluded betwixt God and man by the blood of Jesus; and this is so welcome to the trembling conscience of poor sinners, who before melted away their sorrowful days in a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation from the Lord
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