Human nature in its fourfold state ... In several practical discourses

Now upon this, I would, for your conviction, propose to your consciences a few queries, (1.) How stand your hearts affected to the infinite purity and holiness of God? Conscience will give an answer to this, which the tongue will not speak out, If ye be not partakers of his holiness, ye cannot be reconciled to it. The Pagans finding they could not be like God in holiness, made their gods like themselves in filthiness: and thereby discovered what sort of a god the natural man would have. God is holy; can an unholy creature love his unspotted holiness? Nay, it is the righteous only that can give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, Psal. lxxxvii. 12. God is light; can creatures of darkness rejoice therein? Nay, every one that doth evil hateth the light, John iii. 29. For, what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor. •i. 14. (2.) How stand your hearts affected to the justice of God? There is not a man, who is wedded to his lusts, as all the unregenerate are, but would be-content, with the blood of his body, to blot that letter out of the name of God, Can the male factor love his condemning judge? Or an unjustified sinner, a just God? No, he cannot, Luke vii. 47. To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Hence seeing men cannot get the doctrine of his Justice blotted out of the Bible; yet it is such an eye-sore to them, that they strive to blot it out of their minds. And they ruin themselves by presuming on his mercy; while they are not careful to get a righteousness, wherein they may stand before his Justice; but say in their heart, The Lord will not do good; neither will he do evil, Zeph. i. 12. (3.) How stand ye affected to the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God? Men naturally would rather have a blind idol, than an all-seeing God; and therefore do what they can, as Adam did, to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. They no more love an all-seeing, every-where-present God, than the thief loves to have the judge witness to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes, God would be voted out of the world, and closed up in heaven: For the language of the carnal heart is, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsake as the earth, Ezek. viii. 12 (4) How stand ye affected to the Truth and Veracity of God? There are but few in the world that can heartily subscribe to that sentence of the apostle,