our Saviour's for a Precedent for him to walk by, and should give fuch Answers when Justice, according to Law, is demanded of him, he would very ill employ his Power, and could no way answer it to God or Man.

Well; but fince by this Difcourfe it appears that there are fome Actions of our Saviour's that cannot be followed, and fome that must not, or at leaft cannot, with Prudence and Convenience, be followed, the Question is, what Measures we are to take in this Matter? How fhall we know when to imitate our Saviour, and when not ?

III. By way of Answer to this in general, I lay down my third Propofition; and that is this: The great Rule that is to direct us in this Affair, is our Saviour's Precepts and Commands. In what Matter foever our Saviour has laid his Commands upon us, in that we are bound to follow his Steps: But where we have no Law, no Command, as to the particular Matter, there we may, or may not, imitate him, according as the Reason of the Thing directs, or the Parity or Difparity of our Circumftances with thofe of our Saviour doth fall out. The Truth is, the proper End and Design of Examples, is rather to invite and encourage to their Imitation, than to ob

lige. No Man can be directly obliged in Confcience to follow another Man in his Actions, merely because he fees him do them; for then he would be obliged indifcriminately to do whatever that Person did, which, as I have fhewed before, would be intolerable. But we therefore take our felves obliged to follow any Perfon's Example, either because that Perfon hath Authority over us, and hath commanded us to follow him in fuch and fuch Things; or whether he have commanded us or no, we are fenfible that thofe Inftances, wherein we take ourselves obliged to follow him, are really Matters of Duty to us, and bound upon us by fome Law of God. So that, in proper Speaking, it is the Law of God, or of our Saviour, commanding us to do or to forbear fuch and fuch particular Things, which creates our Obligation to follow his Example in thofe Things, and not his Example itfelf: Thus for Inftance; if it had not been our Duty, by Chrift's Command, to pray constantly, to forgive Injuries, to deny ourselves, and to take up the Cross, and the like, his Example in these Matters would not have been of Obligation to us. But now, fince by his Laws all these are Matters of Duty to us, hence it comes to pass that we are indifpenfibly obliged to follow his Example in every one of these Inftances, even to that Degree, that we

cannot

cannot call ourselves Chrift's Difciples if we

do not.

The main Thing therefore that is to be done by us, in order to our taking right Measures about the Imitation of Chrift's Example, is to inform ourselves carefully about all the Points and Branches of our Duty, as they are laid down by our Saviour in his holy Gospel. When once we are rightly inftructed in these, we shall seldom be at a Lofs to know what thofe Things are in the Life of our bleffed Saviour, that we are to charge ourselves with the Imitation of; and what those Things are, that do not fo immediately concern us to put in Practice.

IV. But, Fourthly, tho', as I faid, it is our Saviour's Laws that give Force and Obligatorinefs to his Example, yet this doth not hinder but that we may likewise receive great Benefit and Advantage, and fometimes Directions alfo, from Actions of his, that, in Strictness, we either cannot, or are not bound to imitate. For all these Actions of his, both those that were wholly miraculous, and those that related to, and were purfuant of that publick Office that was committed to him, and thofe also that feemed the most indifferent and arbitrary, and in which he hath given us no Command: I say, all these do mightily help us

to

to make a Judgment what manner of Perfon our Saviour was; what his Spirit, and Temper, and Qualities were. Now cer

tainly in these we are bound always, and without Exception, to imitate him, because he himself hath over and over again commanded us fo to do; tho' we are not bound to do those particular Actions by which that Spirit and Temper, and those Qualities were expreffed. So that take any Action of our Saviour's, that is recorded in the whole Gospel, whether it be fuch a one as we are bound to imitate him in, or fuch a one as we are not bound, yet it will be, fome way or other, of great Ufe to us in the Conduct of our Lives.

I fhall explain my Meaning in two or three Inftances.

When we confider the Nature and Kind of those many wonderful Works that our Saviour wrought for the Confirmation of his Doctrine, and find they were not merely Signs and Prodigies, and fuch fupernatural Operations, as did only tend to amaze and aftonish People (as those were that are faid to have been wrought by Apollonius Tyaneus) and likewife that they did not confift in Judgments, and in executing the Vengeance of God upon Sinners and wicked Men (as did thofe Miracles which Mofes really wrought, when he brought the Children of Ifrael out of the Egyptian Slavery)

but

but they were all of them Miracles of Mercy, Actions of Kindness, and Charity, and Beneficence to Mankind; that though they were primarily intended to fhew that he was a Prophet fent from God, yet they were done in fuch a Way, that ftill fomebody or other had Benefit by them: either fome blind Man was reftored to his Sight, or fome fick Man cured, or fome Lunatick brought to his right Wits, or fome hungry Man fed, or the like. I fay, tho' we cannot propofe to ourselves to imitate our Saviour in thefe miraculous Works of his, yet we may, from the Nature of these Works, be notably inftructed what kind of Spirit our Saviour was of, and what kind of Difpenfation that was that he came to fet on foot in the World. It appears plainly from hence, that our Saviour was a Preacher of Mercy, and a Lover of Mercy; that he came to fave Men, and not to deftroy them; that his Kingdom was to be a Kingdom of Love and Peace; and that he himself was fo far from being wrathful and and vindictive in his Temper (tho' never Man was more provoked than he was) that on the contrary he was beyond all Expreffion kind, and benign, and compaffionate, and long-fuffering, and took the greatest Delight in the World to do Good to all that came in his Way.

Now