The sun doth not more naturally shine, nor fire more naturally burn, nor water more naturally flow, than acts of grace and goodness do naturally flow from God. If there be anything besides benefits in the world, the fault is not in God, but in us, who by sin provoke him to do otherwise.

2. The obligation of his promise: so this good cometh in as a reward, according to the law of his grace: he hath engaged himself by his promise to give us all good things: "The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm lxxxiv. 11); “Oh! fear the Lord, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord, shall not want any good thing" (Psalm xxxiv. 9, 10). Therefore it is said, "Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?" (Mic. ii. 7.) The words saying good is a doing good; when it is said, it may be accounted done, because of the certain performance of what is said.

3. The preparation of his people: his servants are capable. God is good, and doth good; modo non pmatur obex, except we tie his hands, and hinder our own mercies. There are certain laws of commerce between God and his creatures; so between God and man: he meeteth us with his blessings in the way of our duty: "Shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plough there with oxen?" (Amos vi. 12.) Some ground is incapable of being ploughed, some are morally incapable of having good done to or for them; but, when the creature is in a capacity, God communicateth his goodness to them, dealeth with men as they deal with him: "With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward" (Psalm xviii. 25, 26): so, "Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts" (Psalm cxxv. 4). God is and will be gracious and bountiful to all those that continue faithful to him, and will never leave any degree of goodness unrewarded: the covenant shall not fail on his part.

USE I.-Let us be persuaded of this truth; it is one of the first things in religion: "He that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. xi. 6). Next unto his being, his bounty; or else our religion will be cold, or none at all. Many conceive amiss of God, and draw an ill picture of him in their minds, as if he were hard to be pleased, always frowning. Did we look upon him as one that is good, and willing to do good, we should have less backwardness to duty and weariness in his service. Satan drew off the hearts of our first parents from God by vain surmises, as if he were severe and envious: "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. iii. 5). This first battery was against the persuasion of God's goodness and kindness to man, which he endeavoureth to discredit; yea, God's people may have the sense of his goodness strangely weakened. David is fain with violence to hold the conclusion which Satan would fain wrest out of his hands: “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart" (Psalm lxxiii. 1): therefore we had need to fortify our hearts, and forearm ourselves with strong consolations and arguments.

1. He doth good to his enemies; and therefore certainly he will much more to his servants. He is good to all: "The Lord is good to all, and his

tender mercies are over all his works" (Psalm cxlv. 9). The Heathens had experience of it: "Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts xiv. 17). And will he be unkind to his servants, to whom he is engaged by promise? It cannot be.

2. Consider Christ's reasoning: "If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matt. vii. 11.) God will not deal worse with his children than men do with theirs. We are natural and sinful parents: if we have any faith, or reason, or sense, we cannot gainsay this conclusion: a father will not be unnatural to his child, the most godless men will love their children, and seek their welfare, and do good unto them: surely our heavenly Father will supply all our necessities, satisfy all our desires: he is more fatherly than all the fathers in the world can be, all the goodness in men is but as a drop in the

ocean.

3. Consider, he never giveth his people any discouragement, or just cause to complain of him: "O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me" (Mic. vi. 3); "Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?" (Jer. ii. 5.) Why?

(1.) His commands are not grievous: "My yoke is easy, and my burthen is light" (Matt. xi. 30); "His commandments are not grievous" (1 John v. 3). He prescribeth and commandeth nothing but for our good: "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day" (Deut. vi. 24). That he may with honour perform and make good all that he hath promised: "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him; and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him" (Gen. xviii. 19). The obstructions removed, and grace flows out freely.

"There hath no temp

(2.) Trials sent by him are not above measure: tation taken you, but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. x. 13); "In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind" (Isa. xxvii. 8). He dealeth with much discretion and moderation; not according to the greatness of his power, or the heinousness of their sin, but observeth our strength what we are able to bear.

(3.) His punishments are not above deservings: "Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve" (Ezra ix. 13); "Know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth" (Job xi. 6).

(4.) He is not hard to be pleased, nor inexorable upon every failing: "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Mal. iii. 17). Many think God watcheth occasions to destroy them, or at least to molest and trouble them. No; he passeth by

many weaknesses, or else what would become of the best of his children? pardoneth many sins, where the heart is sincere: "The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary" (2 Chron. xxx. 18, 19).

4. If he doth not give them the good things of this world, he giveth them better in lieu of them. While they are here in this world, they have those things not only that are good, but make them good, which cannot be said of all the things of this world: they may easily make us worse, but they cannot make us better. He giveth them such things as tend to the enjoyment of the chiefest good, which is himself. As he is a good God, he pardoneth their sins: "Remember not the sins of my youth, &c., for thy goodness' sake, O Lord" (Psalm xxv. 7). That is one of the effects of his goodness to them: he directs them in the way of life: "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will he teach sinners in the way" (Psalm xxv. 8). He beginneth, carrieth on, and completeth their salvation: "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power" (2 Thes. i. 11). Thus he giveth the best things, though he deny some common things, which are no arguments of his special favour; and it is dangerous to have our eyes fastened upon other wants when we have these things, and to repine against God, who hath dealt graciously with us in the higher expressions of his love.

5. The evil things of this world, which are not good in themselves, he turneth to good: "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. viii. 28). He is able to bring light out of darkness, or give light in darkness, or turn darkness into light; to give inward joy and comfort under all calamities, to support and sustain under all heavy pressures, and to deliver out of all distresses.

6. He doth give them so much of the good things of the world as is convenient for them: "Oh! fear the Lord, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him" (Psalm xxxiv. 9); "The Lord God is a sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will be withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm lxxxiv. 11). He giveth protection when it is necessary : "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him" (Nah. i. 7); "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him" (Ezra viii. 22). He hath a great inclination to diffuse his benefits.

7. His doing good is chiefly in the world to come : "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour" (John xii. 26). Here he is with them in troubles, there they shall be with him in glory here he can put marks of favour upon them, and distinguish between those that serve him, and those that serve him not: "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Mal. iii. 17); there he will manifest his favour in the face of all the world.

USE II. To persuade you to become the servants of God: you will have a good master, if you be what you profess to be. Every Christian should say as Paul did, God, whose I am, and whom I serve" (Acts xxvii. 23). He is God's, and serveth God.

1. He is God's by creation; for he made him out of nothing: "Know ye that the Lord he is God, it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture" (Psalm e. 3); "All things were created by him, and for him" (Col. i. 16); by redemption: "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. vi. 20); by covenant: "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel" (Isa. xliv. 5); I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine" (Ezek. xvi. 8). And so voluntarily he is God's: wicked men are God's in right, but against their wills; the godly are willingly God's. A man will never be hearty in his obedience and subjection, till he look upon himself as God's. See an instance in the wicked, whose ungodliness and rebellion against God come from looking upon themselves as their own: "Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?" (Psalm xii. 4.) Their time their own, wealth their own, interest their own, bodies their own, souls their own; and therefore think they may employ all these things as they please. On the other side, take an instance of self-denial, why so careful to serve and glorify God: "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. xiv. 8): they have given up themselves to be employed at his command.

2. Him they serve. How do they serve him?

(1.) They must serve God with the spirit as well as the body: "God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son" (Rom. i. 9). So, "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit" (Phil. iii. 3); "Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" (Rom. xii. 11); "That we should serve in newness of spirit" (Rom. vii. 6). When the heart is renewed, disposed, and fitted for his fear and service, there is an honest purpose and endeavour to serve him.

(2.) You must serve him faithfully, devoting yourselves to do his will, and to seek his glory. Your intention, trade, and study, must be to honour God, and please him; that, if it be asked for whom are you at work, for whom speaking or spending your time, whose business are you doing, you may answer, All is for God. If the pleasing of the flesh be their work or scope, they are said to serve their own bellies: "They that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly" (Rom. xvi. 18).

(3.) Cheerfully: having so good a master, let us take pleasure in our work. Here is all good; good master, good work, good wages. Certainly, the more good any man findeth God to be, and the more good he himself hath received, the more good he ought to be; the goodness of God should melt us and awe us. There are two questions every one of you should put to yourselves, What hath God done for you? and what have you done for God? When you thus serve God, you may plead it to God; as David, "O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant" (Psalm cxvi. 16). You may expect relief, and protection, and maintenance: servants have their dole and portion from their masters' hands: "As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God,

until that he have mercy upon us" (Psalm cxxiii. 2). He that doth God's will, shall have his protection and blessing; you have a sanctified interest in all that falleth to your share: "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1 Cor. iii. 22, 23). Lastly, God will now and then visibly put some marks of distinction on them: “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not " (Mal. iii. 18). For a while, their glory may be clouded, they may be hardly dealt with in the world; but God hath his times of presenting all things in their own colours. But the chief time of manifestation is hereafter: when the servants of Christ come to receive their full reward, then they find him to be a good master indeed: "If any man serve me, him will my Father honour" (John xii. 26).

DOCTRINE II.—That the good which God hath done for us, should be thankfully acknowledged. We should not be always craving, always complaining there should be a mixture of thanksgiving: "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (Col. iv. 2): together with the expression of our wants and desires, there must be thanksgiving for favours already received.

1. There is a time for all things; for confessing sin, for begging mercy, for thankful acknowledgments: though, in every address to God, there should be somewhat of all these, yet at certain seasons one is predominant. In a time when God is offended, confession of sin; in a time of great wants and straits, prayer; in a time of great receivings, thanks. The times that pass over us, bring upon us many changes: every change of dispensation must be sanctified by a suitable duty. As no condition is so bad, but a good man can find an occasion of praising God, and trusting in him; so no condition so good, but matter of humbling and self-abasing will arise; yet there are special occasions that require the one or the other: Opus diei in die suo: "Is any among you affiicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms" (James v. 13); "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalm 1. 15).

2. It is a disingenuous spirit, to ask mercy for supplying our wants, or delivering us from troubles; and not acknowledge mercy, when that supply or deliverance is received. Prayer is a work of necessity; but praise, of mere duty. Self-love will put us upon prayer; but the love of God, upon praise and thanksgiving: we pray, because we need God; we praise, because we love God, and have a sense of his goodness to us: "One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice, glorified God" (Luke xvii. 15). Most turn back upon the mercy-seat, do not give glory to God when their turn is served.

3. It is for the glory and honour of God that his servants should speak good of his name. When they are always complaining, they bring an ill report upon the ways of God, like the spies that went to view the promised land; but it is a great invitation to others, when we can tell them how good God hath been to us: "Oh! taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him" (Psalm xxxiv. 8). This doth draw in others to come and take share with us.

4. It is for our profit: the more thankful for mercies, the more they are increased upon us; as vapours return in showers; the sea putteth out of