A65285:2611
A Body of Practical Divinity
A body of practical divinity consisting of above one hundred seventy six sermons on the lesser catechism composed by the reverend assembly of divines at Westminster : with a supplement of some sermons on several texts of Scripture / by Thomas Watson ...
London: printed for Thomas Parkurst, 1692
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Answ. Tho Man hath lost his Power of Obeying, God hath not lost his Right of Commanding. If a Master entrusts a Servant with Money to lay out, and the Servant spends it dissolutely, may not the Master justly demand this Money? God gave us a Power to keep the Moral Law; we by tampering with Sin lost it: But may not God still call for perfect Obedience? Or in case of Default, justly punish us?
Quest. 2. But why doth God suffer such an Impotency to lie upon Man, that he cannot perfectly keep the Law?
Answ. The Lord doth it (1.) To humble us. Man is a self-exalting Creature, and if he hath but any thing of Worth, he is ready to be puffed up: But when he comes to see his [Greek or Hebrew], his Deficiencies and Failings, and how far short he comes of the Holiness and Perfection God's Law requires; this is a means to pull down his Plumes of Pride, and lay them in the Dust. He weeps over his Impotency, he blusheth for his Leprous Spots; he saith as Job, I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes. (2.) God lets this Impotency and Infirmness lie upon us, that we may have recourse to Christ to obtain Pardon for our Defects, and to sprinkle our best Duties with his Blood. When a Man sees himself indebted, he owes perfect Obedience to the Law, but he hath nothing to pay: This makes him fly to Christ to be his Friend, and answer all the Demands and Challenges of the Law, and set him free in the Court of Justice.
Answ. The Lord doth it (1.) To humble us. Man is a self-exalting Creature, and if he hath but any thing of Worth, he is ready to be puffed up: But when he comes to see his 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, his Deficiencies and Failings, and how far short he comes of the Holiness and Perfection God's Law requires; this is a means to pull down his Plumes of Pride, and lay them in the Dust. He weeps over his Impotency, he blusheth for his Leprous Spots; he saith as Iob, I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes. (2.) God lets this Impotency and Infirmness lie upon us, that we may have recourse to Christ to obtain Pardon for our Defects, and to sprinkle our best Duties with his Blood. When a Man sees himself indebted, he owes perfect Obedience to the Law, but he hath nothing to pay: This makes him fly to Christ to be his Friend, and answer all the Demands and Challenges of the Law, and set him free in the Court of Justice.