VeR. 22] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. 357
pleasant : Rom. xv, 13, ' Now the Grod of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost ; ' 1 Peter i. 8, ' Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' Well then, who live the more pleasant lives, they that walk upon the brink of hell every moment, or the heirs of eternal life and happiness, who have a heaven to wait for ?
5. They have easier access to God, or more free communion with him liere than others have ; because there is nothing to hinder, neither on God's part, uor theirs. God hath assured them of audience and welcome, and they have in a great measure overcome their legal bondage, so as they are not shy of God, nor stand aloof from him ; they do not allow themselves in the omission of any known duty, nor in the com- mission of any known sin, and are sincere though not perfect : 1 John iii. 21, 22, 'If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do the things which are pleasing in his sight.' Two things obstruct our ready access to God, our own guiltiness, and God's terror. Our own guiltiness straitens the heart and stops the mouth, and makes us afraid and shy of God ; but they who are renewed and pardoned come out of this state of bondage ; their hearts do not condemn them for living in any known disobedience to God or course of sin, which whosoever doth carrieth his sting and his wound about him, and is subject to tormenting evils and legal fear. On God's part, he is reconciled to such as make conscience of holiness, and they may obtain at his hands whatever in reason and righteousness they ask of him. He hath given them liberty by his new covenant-grant and charter, founded in the blood of Christ ; the covenant is large and gracious, and their claim firm and sure, and therefore they come boldly unto him. But now God's presence, which is the comfort of the faithful, is the burden of the carnal and the guilty, terrible to them that live in sin, and therefore they think they are never better than when they are furthest off from God. Well then, you see to have our fruit to holiness is the pleasure and comfort of our lives, for then we maintain our liberty in prayer, and our confidence towards God ; there is an open door of access to admit us to God, and free and full communion with him.
6. Their work is more easy, because it is not done against the bent of the heart, but it is the course of life which they have chosen : Ps. xl. 8, ' I delight to do thy will, 0 God ; yea, thy law is within my heart;' 1 John v. 3, 'This is the love of God, that we keep his com- mandments, and his commandments are not grievous.' And also for this reason, because it is their usual practice, and that which they are versed in : Prov. x. 29, ' The way of the Lord is strength to the upright' Others, with much ado, bring their hearts to do a little good; but the more we walk in God's ways, the more we may ; one part of godliness helpeth another, and the more we obey God, the more we are fitted to obey him. As in a watch there are many wheels, and the one doth protrude and thrust forward another ; the motion could not be so con- stant and orderly if there were fewer wheels in it ; so there are many duties implied in holiness, and one maketh another easy, and one duty puts forward another, as hearing fits us for prayer, and prayer for
358 SERMONS UPON EOMANS VI. [SeR. XXII.
practice, and frequent and continual practice maketh the whole work go off the more roundly. Or as in the body labour begets an appetite, and when we have an appetite food is more pleasant, and that helpeth digestion, and that strengthens us to labour again ; so the more we exercise ourselves to godliness, one part and degree fits for another : whereas christian duties are difficult and tedious when men deal superficially with God ; because the difficulty ever continueth, the work is not throughly minded. Partly also for this reason, because the more holiness prevaileth, the more the rebelling principle is curbed, and maketh least opposition, and is more weak and ineffectual to tempt and draw us from God : Gal. v. 16, 'Walk after the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh/ If you be sincere and true to God's interest, and cherish the better part, and follow the motions and directions of it, the flesh will languish and die away by degrees. There is yet a fourth reason, God's blessing goeth along with our sincere resolution to walk in his ways ; for as he punisheth sin with sin, so he delighteth to reward grace with grace, and to crown his own work : Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, ' If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; ' Ps. xxvii. 14, ' Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart ; wait, I say, on the Lord.^ The way to pray is to pray, to delight yourselves in God is to delight in him. Pluck up your spirits, take courage, and God will give you courage for every holy action, and reward it with a new supply of grace, whereby strength is renewed ; and the duty sincerely performed, bringeth its grace and hope along with it. Well, a life spent in holiness must needs be a pleasant life ; because the more we mind it, and set about it, still the work is more easy. It is the partial superficial obedience that is difficult, and the hard heart that makes our work hard ; for when men are biassed Avith fleshly lusts, and are not easily nor without much ado persuaded to set about religion in good earnest, they are only acquainted with the toil, but never with the comfort ; conscience is still urging them to do that which they have no heart to do.