4, Ope7'a charitatis et miser icordice : as to relieve the poor, to be good to all, to help others by our counsel or admonition. We are often called upon for these ; thus. Acts ix. 36, Dorcas is said to be ' full of good works and alms-deeds which she did.' So 1 Tim. vi, 18, * Charge them to be rich in good works.' It is not left arbitrary to 3'ou, but laid upon you as part of your charge and duty, a debt we owe to God. Now, if you do not mind this kind of good works, you are unfaithful stewards in the good things committed to your trust. You must not deny God his own when he or any of his have need of it.
5. I think there is another sort of good works Avhich concern our- selves, and that is, sobriety, watchfulness, mortification, self-denial, A man oweth duty to himself : Titus ii. 12, ' Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, Ave should live soberly,' &c. These con- duce to our safety: 1 Peter v. 8, ' Be sober, be vigilant ; for your adver- sary the devil, like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour ;' and belong to our fidelity to Christ : Gal. v. 24, ' They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts thereof.' Therefore take in these also, and call them opera militkc Christiance, the works of our spiritual warfare, by which we guard our- selves from the enemies of our salvation, that our hands be not weakened and enfeebled in God's work, that we may carry it on with- out unevenness and interruption.
Secondly, The requisites to a good work are : —
1. That the person be in a good state : Mat. vii. 17, ' A good tree bringeth forth good fruit.' Married to Christ : Rom. vii. 4, ' Where- fore ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.' A believer: Titus iii. 8, ' Let them which believe in God be careful to maintain good works,' A carnal, unregenerate man may do that which is for the matter good ; but till he be changed in his heart and state, his works are not acceptable to God.
2. The principles of operation must be faith, love, and obedience. Faith, owning God's authority: Ps. cxix. G6, ' Teach me good judg- ment and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandment.' Love, inclining the heart : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth me.' Obedience, swaying the conscience : 1 Thes. iv. 3, ' This is the will of God, your sanctification ;' 1 Tim. i. 5, ' The end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart and good conscience, and faith un- feigned.' There we have the i)edigree of good works ; faith unfeigned begets a good conscience, and that a pure heart, and that love to God, and then all particular duties succeed.
3. A due regard of circumstances, that it may be not only good,
400 THE TWENTIETH SERMON. [EpH. II. 10.
but done well, Luke viii. 15, — with that diligence, reverence, serious- ness, alacrity, which the nature of the work doth require.
4. The end, that it be for God's priory : Phil. i. 11, * Filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus to the praise and glory of God.'
II. How new creatures are obliged to these good works.
1. With respect to God, he hath ordained that ive shoidd loalh in thm. If you rel'er to his decree, he will have his elect people distin- guished from others by the good they do in the world, that they may be known to be followers of a good God, as the children of the devil are by their mischief His eternal decree is made evident to us by our making conscience of good works, and so we ' make our calling and election sure,' 2 Peter i. 10. If you take it for his precept and command, surely we should make conscience of what our father giveth us in charge. He hath appointed us to do so, sent us into the vineyard to work, and shall we say, I will not ? Mat, xxi. 29, 30 ; or loiter and neglect when we have given our consent ? or pretend to go, and never 8et about it ? To a gracious heart the signification of God's will is instead of all reasons : 1 Thes. v. 18, ' In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you ;' 1 Peter ii. 15, ' For this is the will of God, that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.'
2. With respect to Christ, who died to restore us to a capacity and ability to perform these good works : Titus ii. 14, ' Who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works ; ' not only to do them, but do them with alacrity and zeal. As Christ came to raise the comfort of the creature to the highest, so also the duty of the creature to the highest, that his people might be eminent in holiness, justice, good- ness, and truth, above all olliers.