CXLII. truth do not depend upon the will of GOD, but there S ER M. are fuch things, fuch notions antecedently to any act of the divine will. And this does no way prejudice the liberty of GOD; for this is the highest perfection, to be neceffarily good, and juft, and true; and a liberty or poffibility to be otherwise is impotency and imperfection. For liberty. no where speaks perfection, but where the things and actions about which it is converfant are indifferent; in all other things it is the highest perfection not to be free and indifferent, but immutable and fixed, and neceffarily bound up by the eternal laws of goodness, and juice, and truth, fo that it fhall not be poffible to fwerve from them; and this is the perfection of the divine nature, which we call his holiness. 2. If holiness be the chief excellency and perfection of the divine nature, this fhews us what account we are to make of fin, and wickednefs, and vice. We may judge of every privation by the habit, for they bear an exact proportion one to another. Light and darkness are oppofed, as habit and privation; if light be pleasant and comfortable, then darkness is difmal and horrid. And fo holiness and fin are oppofed if holinefs be the highest perfection of any nature, then fin is the grand imperfection, and the loweft debasement of any being; because it is the most oppofite to that, and at the furtheft diftance from that which is the first excellency and perfection. This should rectify our judgment and efteem of things and perfons. We admire and efteem riches, and power, and greatnefs; and we fcorn and contemn poverty, and weakness, and meannefs; yea, grace and holinefs, if it be in the company of thefe. We are apt to reverence and value the great, and the rich, and the mighty of this world, though they be wicked, P 2 CXLII. SERM, wicked, and to defpife the poor man's wifdom and holinefs; but we make a falfe judgment of things and perfons. There is nothing that can be a foundation of refpect, that ought to command our reverence and esteem, but real worth, and excellency, and perfection; and according to the degrees of this, we ought to beftow our refpect, and raise our esteem. What St. James faith of refpect of perfons, I may apply in this cafe, James ii. 4. "Are ye not then "partial your felves, and become judges of evil thoughts" We are extremely partial; we make a falfe judgment, and reafon ill concerning things, when we admire gilded vices, and wickedness exalted to high places; I mean, ungodly rich men, and ungodly great men; for wicked men are properly ungodly, unlike to God, and when we contemn poor, and mean, and afflicted holiness and piety. Were but our eyes open, and our judgment clear and unprejudiced, we should see a beauty and refplendency in goodness; even when it is under the greatest difadvantage, when it is clothed with rags, and fits upon a dunghill, it would fhine through all these mists, and we fhould fee a native light and beauty in it, through the darkness of a poor and low condition : and we fhould fee wickednefs to be a moft vile and abject thing, when it appears in all it's gallantry and bravery; we should look upon the poor righteous man, as "more excellent than his neighbour;" and the profane gallant, as the "off-fcouring of the "earth." We fhould value a man that "does justice, and loves mercy, and fpeaks the truth to "his neighbour;" we fhould efteem any one more upon the account of any one of these fimple qualities, than we fhould another man deftitute of thefe, upon the account of an hundred titles of houour, and tea CXLII. ten thousand acres of land. A wicked, unholy SER M.: man, he is a vile perfon, who deferves to be contemned; and an holy man, he is the right honourable; Pfal. xv. 4. "In whofe eyes a vile person is " contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the "LORD." The vile perfon is opposed to him that fears the LORD. He that is bold to affront GOD, and fin against him, is the bafe and ignoble perfon. GOD himself, who is poffeffed of all excellency and perfection, and therefore knows beft how to judge of these, he tells us, how we fhould value our felves and others, Jer. ix. 23, 24. "Let not the wife "man glory in his wifdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth, glory "in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, "that I am the LORD which exercife loving-kind nefs, judgment, and righteousness in the earth "for in these things I delight, faith the LORD." To know these divine qualities and perfections, fignifies here, to understand them so as to imitate them. I do not speak this, to bring down the value of any that are advanced in this world, or to leffen the respect which is due to them; I would have nothing undervalued but wickednefs and vice and I would have thofe who have store of worldly advantages to recommend them, to add religion to their riches, and holinefs to their honour, that they may be current for their intrinfick value, rather than for the image and picture of worth which the world hath ftamped upon them. 3. If holinefs be the chief excellency and perfection of the divine nature, then what an abfurd and unreasonable thing is it, to fcorn and defpife holinefs, to mock and deride men under this very title! CXLII. SERM. The world is much blinded, that they do not fee the great evil of fin, and the beauty and excellency of holinefs but that men fhould be fo infatuated, as to change the nature of things, and to mistake things of fo vaft difference, as fin, and holiness; to "call "good evil, and evil good," that fin, which is the vileft thing in the world, fhould be esteemed and cherished, accounted a piece of gallantry, and reckoned amongst the excellencies and accomplishments of human nature; and holiness, which is fo great a perfection, fhould be a name of hatred and difgrace, to be contemned and perfecuted; that that which is the glory of heaven, and the most radiant perfection of the divine nature, fhould be matter of scorn and contempt; as the apoftle fpeaks in another cafe, behold! ye defpifers, and wonder, and pe"rifh." Do ye think the holy and just God will put up these affronts and indignities? Ye do not only defpife men, but ye despise GOD alfo. You cannot contemn that which God accounts his glory, without reviling the divine nature, and offering defpite to Goo himself. The malice reacheth heaven, and is levelled against GOD, whenever ye flight holinefs. 4. If GOD be a holy GOD, and hath fuch a repugnancy in his nature to fin, then this is matter of terror to wicked men. The holy GOD cannot but hate fin, and be an enemy to wickedness: and the hatred of God is terrible. We dread the hatred of a great man; because where hatred is backed with power, the effects of it are terrible. But the hatred of the almighty and eternal GoD, is much more dreadful; because the effects of it are greater, and more lafting, than of the hatred of a weak mortal man. We know the utmoft they can do; "they can but kill the bo CXLII. dy; after that, they have no more than they can S ERM. "do:" they cannot hurt our fouls; they cannot, follow us beyond the grave, and pursue us into another world but the effects of God's hatred and difpleasure are mighty and lafting, they extend themfelves to all eternity: for who knoweth the power of his anger? Who can tell the utmost of what omnipotent juftice can do to finners?" It is a dreadful thing "to fall into the hands of the living GOD;" because he that lives for ever, can punifh for ever. We are miferable, if GOD do not love us. Those words, my foul fhall have no pleasure in him,” signify great mifery, and exprefs a dreadful curfe: but it is, a more pofitive expreffion of mifery, for God to: hate us; that fignifies ruin and deftruction to the, utmoft; Pfal. v. 4. "Thou art not a God that "hath pleasure in wickednefs, neither fhall evil "dwell with thee." This is a uslais, and expreffeth lefs than is intended. God is far from being of an indifferent negative temper towards fin and wicked. néss; therefore the pfalmift adds, " thou hatest all "the workers of iniquity ;" and then, in the next verfe, to fhew what is the effect of Goo's hatred, thou shalt destroy them that fpeak leafing." Therefore, finner, fear and tremble at the thoughts of GoD's holiness. 5. Imitate the holinefs of GOD: this is the inference here in the text, "be ye holy, for I am holy." Holiness in one word, contains all the imitable perfections of GOD and when it is faid, "be ye holy;" it is as much as if he had faid, be ye good, and patient, and merciful, and true, and faithful; for I am fo. Therefore religion is called "the knowledge "of the holy One," Prov. ix. 10. and chap. xxx. 3. And our imitation of GOD is expreffed by our P 4 "putting |