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Show W61 ,,., ll'eo~~ t:hrifli""'' degrees ne'Ccll'ary to a tfrong t~tmi{t of gract, For fuppofe a '4'iltbrg mintlin•Sonlto perform every duty, to refill every fin; yet he cannot without. proportionable degree of k~owkdg prod~ce this habit into aCl,in particulars;he cannot morufie that lu[t whtch he knows nor to be tinful, nor do that duty which he underllands to ,be a Duty: fo that necelfarily he that is r»ta~ infa;.b, that is in knowledg of the Do8rhtt ofR<Iigicn, is a .tender grape • . 2. Secondly, The Chriflian that ts ..,,.~ '" 'ludgment, IS but a tender grapt: I ta~e both the.fe to be comprehended under the • term of Rum. 1 4· r. Him that u r»ealt 111 [allh, r.c.,ve y ou. There is a great deal of difference betwixt WtJ~n•fi.i• k,.nowledg, ( underflanding by that ignorance ) and weaknefs lll ]Hdgment. Judg. rnent is an ability in us to difcern of thingt that differ. The Apollle gives us a good defcription of a judicious Chriflian, He b. 5. 14. Ont tb•t hath bit fen{u txmifed In diflern both good and tviJ, I think the Apoflk expreffeth both ihefe in that one Verfe, R om. 2. 18. And ltnoR>eft hit i»iO, and approvtft tht tbiHgt that are mort txcrOent,hting inflrn{led out of the Law, ( fo we tranflate it.) The Apofile I take it is there fpeakiog of Jews knowing, and Jnd icious enough but carried away with their bruiti{h and corrupt affections, and over-rui<d by their Jmfitive appttite. In the Greek it is &:t.l ,_,J~xHt .. ~ 84Mi<« ~ ;..,J.<.ZHt .-J J'1c~l,., .. ,.. which may be rranflated thus : Thou triefi or difcernefi the things that differ. Many Chritlians have been as the Apollle faith, there UTW· 'X.'J.<"'t 0.. Tv riJI.II, catechifed out of the Law, inflruct~d in the things ot God; but either through a natural weaknefs,or through want of due exercife, they cannot make up a juft judgment of things that differ, whether truth, or faljhood,in reference to Propo• fitions : or good or b•d, in reference to practice and action. And indeed there can be no other reafon given ( but the interefls of lulls and paflions, which is uncharitably fuppofed of all :) why Chri.iians of equal degrees ofknowledg do not tiJink,,{ptak,., and do the (amt thingt relating to God; now thefe Chriflians are tenJtr gr~ptl. As nothing more contributes to make a man in the World famous in any Scknce, in any profeffion, in any courfe of life, than judgment : So nothing more contributes to make a falid Chrillian than Judgment. And as a man may be a comely man, and a well-proportioned mao, yet want llrength in his limbs and nerves : So a Chrilliao may have abundance ofknowledg,and yet want a due and folid judgment, which is the very fin¢ws and ftrength. ofa Chrifiiaa. • 3• The Who are ll'eak Chriflia11t• . 3· Thirdly, The more a Chrifiian is und.er the obedience of hts fonfitiv~ appetite, the weaker he is. T he Senfitive appettte, is that ~y whtch we de~refenfible tbingt; Earthly things. You may take H lhorter or platnhcr, rhus : The Self.pleafing Chri~ia1J, the man that cannot deny himfelf, as to the things of this ijfe,asto his own_p~ffion.s or affections, that ir a weak,. Chrij/ian. The Reafon ofthts ts plam, Our Lord makes it the gre~t duty of bit Dijcipler, to deny themfelvet. Now that man which cannot deny himfelf iu the pleajurer or proji11 of this life, or in the ufe of his own paffi- ,.ons where ~ecar.not ufe them without !inning again(\ Gcd if he have any thtng of a Chrillian in him,( which he cQnnot have'wirh- EzcclJ. r6.p. out an habit of this Self-denial,) yet he is a weak Chrillian, and fo much the ~eake_r, as he more failcth in particular ads. Thus a weak Chnlltan .IS o~e, w.ho through a too great prevailing of the bo~y of death tn ~nn, ts not able either to perform the duty wh~ch he oweth to God, or to refill, and avoid thofe temptations whtch he ought ~o rl'fifl ; yet not making this their trade and bufincfs, but lltrrtng both unto the one and againfl the other Thcfe Chriflians though they may be grapu, they are bu~ tende; grapes. . 4·. Latlly, That Chrillian that cannot fubmit the dictates of hts own mnate· reafo,t to divine R evelat ion both as to matterr of faith and pral1ict, is but a weak._ Cbrif/i<~n, ~ Tender grape. We are n~t. no~ dtfcourfing of the llrength of a man as a man, not of an abthty e11her ~f body , or of mind, bur of a ftrmgtb of faith ; the frrength of a Chrijitan M aCbriftia~,which lies in his ability to tmjt a Dzvz.nt R•vel•tion,to fu bmit himfelf to the will of God revealing what ts to be by him believed,or dpne.Wehave all of usfomefragm< nts ~f.the Im~ge of God, fome Innate principles ofReafon, but as to fp1mual thtng~ we are much blinded in our Ultderftandings an~ are too too apt, In llead of taking it for granted That the' Wtll of God is the highell Reafon; and thertfore tl~t it is the moll reafo~ab!~ thing In the. World, that we ihould fqlly agree to what God. tn hts Wor~ hath revealed, whether our principles of Reafon .wtll conclude tt or no, to meafure propofitions of faith by the hne of our own Reafan, and to judg of the truth or fa Ifhood. of t.het_n from our natur~l principles of Reafon. Now ir.de~ d Ill thts l1ttle of a Chri/lzan ts feen, it being the proper work of ~au~ to tea~h the Soul to alfent unto propofitions upon the auhor «y ofh1m that revealeth them : an.d fuppofing t,hat every pro- Odd pofi1ion |
