Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

We shall find our hearts most averse to the observation of those Laws which are Eternal and Essential to Righteousness; such, that he could not but command, as he is a Righteous Governor; in the observation of which, we come nearest to him and express his Image more clearly: As those Laws for an inward and spiritual Worship, a supreme Affection to him. God in regard of his Righteousness and Holiness of his Nature, and the Excellency of his Being, could not command the contrary ⟨p. 63⟩to these: But this part of his Will our hearts most swell against, our corruption doth most snarl at; whereas those Laws which are only positive and have no intrinsic Righteousness in them, but depend purely upon the Will of the Law-giver, and may be changed at his pleasure, (which the other, that have an intrinsic Righteousness in them, cannot) we better comply with, than that part of his Will that doth express more the Righteousness of his Nature;^* such as the Ceremonial part of Worship, and the Ceremonial Law among the Jews: We are more willing to observe Order in some outward attendances and glavering devotions, than discard secret affections to evil, crucify inward lusts and delightful thoughts: A hanging down the head like a bulrush is not difficult, but the breaking the heart like a Potters vessel to shreds and dust, (a sacrifice God delights in, whereby the excellency of God and the vileness of the Creature is owned) goes against the grain: To cut off an outward branch is not so hard, as to hack at the root. What God most loathes, as most contrary to his Will, we most love: No sin did God so severely hate, and no sin were the Jews more inclined unto, than that of Idolatry. The Heathen had not changed their God, as the Jews had changed their glory, Jer. 2.11. And all men are naturally tainted with this sin, which is so contrary to the holy and excellent nature of God: By how much the more defect there is of purity in our respects to God, by so much the more respect there is to some Idol within or without us, to humour, custom and interest, &c.

We shall find our hearts most averse to the observation of those Laws which are Eternal and Essential to Righteousness; such, that he could not but command, as he is a Righteous Governour; in the observation of which, we come nearest to him and express his Image more clearly: As those Laws for an inward and spiritual Worship, a supreme Affection to him. God in regard of his Righteousness and Holiness of his Nature, and the Excellency of his Being, could not command the contrary