The truly blessed man

Untractableness under the means, belongs to the Character of wicked men. Those whom before he compared to the horse and mule, here he calls the wicked. This Doctrine is not so to be understood, as if every act of contumacy, did declare a man to be really wicked; i. e. Unregenerate. There have been such unhappy instances in the particular carriage of those that have the root of the matter in them, through the prevalency of the ⟨p. 496⟩Law in their members. That then we may rightly take up this truth, observe these Conclusions.

UNtractableness under the means, belongs to the Character of wicked men. Those whom before he compared to the horse and mule, here he calls the wicked. This Doctrine is not so to be understood, as if every act of contumacy, did declare a man to be really wicked; i. e. Unregenerate. There have been such unhappy instances in the particular carriage of those that have the root of the matter in them, through the prevalency of the ⟨p. 496⟩Law in their members. That then we may rightly take up this truth, observe these Conclusions.

1. That all disobedience to Gods Commands proceeds from the corruption in mans nature. This is the proper fountain to which it is to be referred: and this will be evident, from the consideration of these things.

1. That man was made at first for the Service of God. I do not say that it was the end of Gods intention that all men should actually serve him, fo• then they should certainly have so done; for that end of his is never frustrated: but it was mans end unto which he was appointed by the revealed will of God. God intended that it should be mans duty to serve him, and that this should be his way to happiness, and his coming short of it, his misery and accordingly made him capable of this service gave him a Rule for his direction in it, and laid him under the strongest obligations of conformity to this Rule.