Gospel-love, heart-purity, and the flourishing of the righteous being the last sermon of the…

First, They are under an obligation to do good. For mans inability to perform a duty rightly, doth not take off the obligation which is upon him to perform it. And though a bad man sins in his manner of doing it, yet his refusing to do it, would be more sinful.

And I would say further, Though he please not God in doing it, yet he displeases God in not doing it: So that indeed, man naturally considered, or in his fallen state, is fallen into a very sad Dilemma. If he neglect to do good, he sins. If he doth good, he spoils it in the doing of it. But notwithstanding all this (I say) I am far from discouraging the worst of men to do good, or to advise any to forbear to do good. No, I would convince all, that their present state is bad; and exhort all to apply themselves to all means whereby themselves may be made better. And that's the third Use which I shall briefly make of this point, and so I shall conclude.

Use 3. Is it so, That those good works that flow from a good Principle are pleasing to God? Why then we see the necessity of Regeneration. Christ saith in 3 John 3. Verily, verily. There's a strong and a double ⟨p. 38⟩asseveration: Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. We are not born with this pure heart, with this good conscience, with this faith unfeigned, which are the requisites to a good work in the Text. We are not born with these: for Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Not one among the sons of men. Job 14. 4. A pure heart, a good conscience, faith unfeigned, are the issues of the new birth. Education cannot make the heart pure; It must be Revelation which makes the heart pure. Good Education it may change the Life and the Conversation. As they say, To study Arts and Philosophy, it takes off the roughness that is in mans nature,