devil, whether he hath more than an Infinite Good to offer you; and whether he can outbid the Lord for your affection?

And now for the time that is before you, how cheerfully should you address yourselves unto his service! and how delightfully should you follow it on from day to day! What manner of persons should the servants of this God be, that are called to nothing but what is good! How good a Master! how good a work! and how good company, encouragements and helps! and how good an end! All is good, because it is the Infinite Good, that we serve and seek. And shall we be loitering, unprofitable servants!

5. Moreover, this Infinite Goodness should be the matter of our daily praises. He that cannot cheerfully magnify this attribute of God, so suitable to the nature of the will, is surely a stranger to the praises of the Lord. The goodness of God should be a daily feast to a gracious soul, and should continually feed our cheerful praises, as the spring or cistern fills the pipes. I know no sweeter work on earth, nay, I am sure there is no sweeter, than for faithful sanctified souls, rejoicingly to magnify the goodness of the Lord, and join together in his cheerful praises. O Christians, if you would taste the joys of saints, and live like the redeemed of the Lord indeed, be much in the exercise of this heavenly work, and with holy David, make it your employment, and say "O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee!" (Psal. xxxi. 19.) "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord!" (Psal. xxxiii. 5.) What then are the heavens? "Thy congregation hath dwelt therein thou O Lord hast prepared thy goodness for the poor." "O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! for he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." (Psal. cvii. 8, 9.) "The goodness of God endureth continually.” (Psal. lii. 1.) Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." (Psal. lxxiii. 1.) "O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him." (Psal. xxxiv. 8.) "The Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, his truth endureth from generation to generation." (Psal. c. 5.) "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Psal. cxlv. 9.) "O praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing

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praises to his name, for it is pleasant." (Psal. cxxxv. 3.) Call him as David," My Goodness, and my Fortress, my High Tower, and my Deliverer, and my Shield, and he in whom I trust." (Psal. cxliv. 2.) "Let men therefore speak of the glorious honour of his Majesty and of his wondrous works: let them abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness, and sing of his righteousness."(Psal. cxlv. 5.7.) If there be a thought that is truly sweet to the soul, it is the thought of the Infinite Goodness of the Lord. If there be a pleasant word for man to speak, it is the mention of the Infinite Goodness of the Lord. And if there be a pleasant hour for man on earth to spend, and a delightful work for man to do, it is to meditate on, and with the saints to praise the Infinite Goodness of the Lord. What was the glory that God shewed unto Moses, and the taste of heaven that he gave him upon earth, but this, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy?" (Exod. xxxiii. 19.) And his proclaimed name was, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." (Exod. xxxiv. 6.) These were the holy praises that Solomon did consecrate the temple with, Arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in Goodness." (2 Chron. vi. 41; see Isa. lxiii.) O Christians, if you would have joy indeed, let this be your employment! Draw near to God, and have no low undervaluing thoughts of his Infinite Goodness; for, "How great is his goodness and how great is his beauty?" (Zech. ix. 17.) Why is it that Divine consolations are so strange to us, but because Divine Goodness is so lightly thought upon! As those that think little of God at all, have little of God upon their hearts; so they that think but little of his goodness in particular, have little love, or joy, or praise."

6. Moreover, the Goodness of God, must possess us with desire to be conformed to his goodness in our measure. The holy perfection of his will, must make us desire to have our wills conformed to the will of God; we are not called to imitate him in his works of power, nor so much in the paths of his omniscience, as we are in his goodness, which, as

manifested in his work and word, is the pattern and standard of moral goodness in the sons of men. The impress of his goodness within us, is the chief part of his image on us; and the fruits of it in our lives is their holiness and virtue. As he is good and doth good;" (Psal. cxix. 68;) so it must be our greatest care to be as good, and do as much good as possibly we can. Any thing within us that is sinful and contrary to the goodness of God, should be to our souls as griping poison to our bodies, which nature is excited to strive against with all its strength, and can have no safety or rest till it be cast out. And for doing good, it must be the very study and trade of our lives. As worldlings study and labour for the world, and the pleasing of their flesh; so must the Christian study and labour to improve his Master's talents to his use, and to do as much good as he is able, and to please the Lord. "The desire of the righteous (as such) is only good." (Prov. xi. 23.) "To depart from evil and do good," is the care of the just. (Psal. xxxiv. 14.) We must" please our neighbours for good to their edification." (Rom. xv. 2.) "While we have time we must do good to all men (as we are able) but especially to them of the household of faith." (Gal. vi. 10.) Not only to them that "do good to us," but to "our enemies." (Luke vi. 33-34; Matt. v. 44.) This is it we must "not forget;" (Heb. xiii. 16;) and which by ministers we must be "put in mind of ;” (1 Tim. vi. 18;) which all that "love life and would inherit the blessing" must devote themselves to. (1 Peter iii. 10—12.) In this we must be "like our heavenly Father," and approve ourselves his children. (Matt. v. 45, 46.)

7. From the perfect Infinite Goodness of God, we must learn to judge of good and evil, in all the creatures. To this must all be reduced as the standard, and by this must they be tried. It is a most wretched absurdity of sensual men, to try the will, or word, or ways of God, by themselves, and by their own interests or wills; and to judge all to be evil in God that is against them. And yet, alas, how common is this case! Every man is naturally loath to be miserable : suffering he abhors: and therefore that which causeth his suffering he calleth evil. And so when he hath deserved it himself by his sin, he thinks that the law is evil for threatening it, and that God himself is evil for inflicting it, so that Infinite Goodness must be tried and judged by the vicious

creature, and the rule and standard must be reduced to the crooked line of human actions or dispositions; and if God will please the worldling, the sensualist, the proud, the negligent, who should please him, then he shall be good, and he shall be God; if not, say these judges, he shall be evil, and unmerciful, and no God. They will not believe that he is good that punisheth them. And thus if the thief or murderer had the choice of kings and judges, you may know what persons he would choose; no one should be a judge, or accounted a good man, that would condemn and hang him.

But I beseech you consider, what is fit to be the rule and standard, if not perfection of Goodness itself. Do you think that the will of ignorant, fleshly, sinful man, is fitter to be the rule of goodness, than the will of God? We are sure that God is not deceived, and sure that there is no iniquity with him; but we know that all men are liable to deceit, and have private interests, and corrupted minds, and wills that have some vicious inclinations. O what blasphemy is in the heart of that man, that will sooner condemn the holy will and law of God, than his own will, or the wills of any men, be they never só seemingly wise or great! The will of God is revealed in his laws, concerning the necessity of a holy life; and the will of foolish wicked men is by their scornful speeches and sinful lives revealed to be against it. And which of these do you follow; which is it that prescribeth you the better course; the will of God that is infinitely good, or the will of man that is miserably evil? If thou know any better than God, follow him before God. But if none be greater and more powerful than he, if none be wiser or of more knowledge, it is as sure that none is better. Much less are those ignorant wicked men, that despise the Scripture and a holy life, and would persuade you that they can tell you of a better way. Let me speak it to the terror of the ungodly soul, that by the deceits or scorns of any sort of men, is drawn away from Christ and holiness; it shall stand on record against thee until judgment, and it shall stick everlastingly as a dagger in thy heart, that thou didst prefer the reason and the will of man, yea perhaps of a sottish drunkard or a worldling, before the word or will of God. And though thy tongue durst not speak it, thy life did speak it, that thou thoughtest the word and

will of man to be better than the word and will of God: Yea more, that thou tookest the way of the devil to be better than God's ways, who is infinitely good for surely thou choosest that which thou takest to best for thee. And therefore if that man deserve damnation that sets up a man, or a horse, or an image, and saith, This is greater and wiser than God, and therefore this shall be my God,' then dost thou deserve the same damnation, that settest up the words and will of man, even of wicked men, and sayest by thy practice, These are better than God, and his word, or will, and therefore I will choose or follow them.' For God is full as jealous of the honour of his goodness, as of his power or wisdom.

Well, Christians, let flesh and blood say what it will, and let the world say what they will, judge that best that is most agreeable to the will of God; for good and evil must be measured by this will. That event is best which he determineth of, and that action is best which he commandeth. And all is naught, and will prove so in the end, that is against this will of God, what policy or good soever may be pretended for it.

8. And if the will of God be infinitely good, we must all labour both to understand it, and perform it. Many say, "Who will shew us any good?" (Psal. iv. 6.) Would you not know what is best, that you may choose and seek it? As the inordinate desire of knowing natural good and evil did cause our misery, so the holy rectified desires of knowing spiritual good, must recover us: Search the Scriptures then, and study and inquire; for it more concerns you to know the will of God, than to know the will of your princes or benefactors, or know of any treasures of the world. The riches of grace are given to us, by God's making known the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. (Ephes. i. 7. 9.) And our desire to know the good will of God, must be that we may do it; for this must we pray, "That we may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we may walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work;" (Col. i. 9, 10;) that we may "be made perfect in every good work to do his will, and have that wrought in us which is pleasing in his sight;" (Heb. xiii. 21;) that we may not only know his will