Part 5
3. Lastly, When such a soul is helped to go back to the same God with new petitions in faith and hope of hearing; 2 Sam 12:20, "Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped." This argues a faith of the promise of all things working together for good, Rom. 8:28, a leaving a latitude of dispensation to sovereignty, well becoming a submissive and resigned petitioner.
Thirdly, The desire of a prayer may be heard and granted, and yet it may be long ere it be answered. That is to say, all prayers not answered to our sense and feeling, are not lost; they may stand granted in heaven, and yet it may be many a day ere the answer of them come to us. A prayer may be granted, and yet the mercy prayed for be still withheld, so that the petitioner may be obliged to send new petitions day by day for it still.
I shall first confirm this, and then shew why it may be so ordered.
First, To confirm the truth of this, consider,
1. Scripture instances. Abraham prayed for an heir, it was granted, Gen. 15:3, 4, yet it was more than thirteen years before that prayer was answered, in the birth of Isaac., Gen. 17:25. So the Israelites in
Egypt, Exod. 2:23, 24; and Daniel, chap. 9:23. Such instances are recorded for our learning.
2. There is a difference betwixt the granting of a petition, and the intimation of that grant to us; betwixt Heaven's order for our getting of the mercy, and the execution of it. The one is the hearing and grant of prayer, the other is the answer; and though these sometimes may come both in one instant, as Matth. 15:28, "Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt; and her daughter was made whole from that very hour;" yet often they are at a great distance of time, as in Abraham's case.
3. The hearing and granting of prayer is an object of faith, the answer of prayer an object of sense and feeling, 1 John 5:14, 15; Matth. 15:28. A prayer made through the assistance of the Spirit, according to the will of God, and offered to God through Christ, is heard and granted in that instant wherein it is made; and this is what we are to believe, on the ground of the faithfulness of God in the promise, before we get the answer to our sense and feeling; for "faith is the substance of things not seen, and we walk by faith not by sight;" and therefore this is the ordinary way to put the grant and answer at some distance of time, though not always, Isa. 65:24.
Secondly, I shall shew why the answers of prayers heard and granted, are kept up for a time, and may be for a long time.
1. To keep the petitioners hanging on about the throne of grace; Prov, 15:8, "The prayer of the upright is his delight." The Lord by this means gives them many errands to the throne, so that they must always be going back again, and renewing their suits. So fathers make their little children follow them, and hang about them, and speak to them as they can; and no father has such delight in the company and converse of his children, as God has in his, Cant. 2:14.
2. For the trial of their graces; Jam. 1:12, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." This life is the time of trial, and God's withholding for a time the answers of granted prayers, is a piece of trial that will go in through and out through the child of God. It tries their sincerity and earnestness for an answer, Job 27:10; with Luke 18:7; their patience and disposition to wait on God, Hab. 2:3; their hope in God, Psalm 147:11; and 42:5; especially it tries their faith in the word of promise, and that is a trial of great estimation in the sight of God; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and houour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Every new act of faith in the word, is more valuable than all the famed exploits of carnal, selfish men; especially when faith keeps hold of the promise like a rope in the water, while providence is bringing one wave after another over the man's head, Psalm 56:10. So Matth. 15:21–28.
3. Till they be prepared and fitted for receiving the answer; Psalm 10:17, "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble; thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear." Mercies we need, but we are not at all times meet to receive them. God gives his left-hand gifts to strangers, in the way of common providence, whether they be prepared for them or not; and hence many are ruined getting much laid to their hand before they have the grace or wisdom to manage it, for God's honour and their own good. But his right-hand gifts to his children, in the way of the covenant, though they be ready for them, yet he will keep them back till they be made ready and prepared for them too. So he is at pains to humble them, and work them for that thing. Saul was brought to the kingdom easily, but David not so.
4. Lastly, Till the best time come, for their getting it, when it may come to them with the greatest advantage; Eccl. 3:14, "I know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God doth it, that men should fear
before him." There is much in the timing of a favour; the same thing may be worth double to a man at one time, beyond what it will be at another. And be sure, if God is keeping back the answer of a granted prayer, he is only reserving till the best time of bestowing it; John 11:14, 15, and 2:4.
QUEST. How may a Christian know his prayer is heard and granted, while yet it is not answered?
ANSW. 1. If ye have prayed in faith, no doubt your petition is heard and granted, though it should not be answered for ever so long after; Matth. 21:22, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." God refuses not, nor rejects any prayer for things agreeable to his will, made in faith of the promise, through the assistance of the Spirit, and offered to him through his Son. And ye ought to believe, that such prayers are granted, but that God for holy wise ends delays the answer.
2. If ye are strengthened to hang on about the Lord's hand for the answer, hoping and waiting for the Lord; Psalm 138:3. It is a certain truth, which ye may build upon; Gal. 6:9, "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." This is the very character of an elect believer, on his trials for glory; Luke 18:7, "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bean long with them?" Granted prayer brings something in hand, namely, grace to wait on; Psalm 27 ult., "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait I say on the Lord." Compare ver. 13, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
3. Lastly, It is a good sign when ye are encouraged to wait for the desired answer, by the Lord's answering you in other things that fall out in the meantime of the delay. For the Lord lays these to your hand to support your faith and hope in point of the delayed answer. How was David's faith of the promise of the kingdom kept up, so many years during Saul's reign? Why, David in that time had many
experiences of answers of prayer, and fulfilling of promises in other things, as Psalm 34:6, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him; and saved him out of all his troubles."
FOURTHLY, Prayers accepted and granted, shall certainly be answered to the believer's sense and feeling at length. The answer may be delayed, but it cannot be forgotten nor miscarried. Such prayers will surely be turned into praise at long-run; and faith will bring in sense and feeling, when it is tried a while.
I shall first confirm the truth of this, and then shew when they shall be so answered to their sense and feeling.
First, To confirm this, consider,
1. The interest the Mediator has in the matter, which secures and puts it beyond doubt. It is upon his merit that the prayer is accepted, on his intercession that it is granted; so that he is nearly concerned in the obtaining of the answer; and then he is the great Steward in heaven, into whose hands the whole fulness of covenant-benefits for sinners' supply is put. How then can it fail, when the mercy petitioned for is lodged in the hand of our Intercessor?
2. The faithfulness of God in his word; Psalm 89:8, "O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?" This stands as a rock immoveable in all the changes that befall his people. His word must be accomplished, and his promise fulfilled, whatever stand in the way of it. Heaven and earth shall rather be removed than it fail, or fall a minute behind the set time of its bringing forth; Hab. 2:3, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
3. The love and pity God has to his children that cry to him "His ears are open to their cry; Psalm 34:15. He forgets it not; Psalm 9:12. As he is their God, so he will be "a God to them," as the expression is; 1
Chron. 17:24, namely, to do the part of a God to them; that is, to hear and answer their prayers.
4. Lastly, Such prayers are the product of his own Spirit in them; Rom. 8:26. And be sure, the mouths that he opens, he will fill; the holy appetite and desires that he creates in them, he will satisfy.
Secondly, I shall shew when they shall be answered to their sense and feeling. There are two periods in general, wherein God gives answers of prayers accepted and granted. Answers of prayer are given,
1. In time, during the petitioner's life in this world; Psalm 58 ult., "Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth." Believers in this life have communion with God, and do get answers of prayer, as provision allowed them of their Father, for their journey through the wilderness. But one may wait a long time of his life for an answer of some prayers, and ere he go off be made to say, "Lord, now lettest then thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation;" Luke 2:29, 30.
Of the seasons of life for answers of prayer, we may say in the general, there are four seasons thereof.
(1.) A time of the Lord's return to a church and people from whom he had hid his face; Psalm 102:16, 17, "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." The children may cry long to their Father, ere he let on he notices them, when he is angry with their mother; but when he is pleased with her, they get speedy answers from him; Dan. 9:1, 2, 23. Times of reformation, and outpouring of the Spirit on a land, are times of answers of prayer to particular persons; which should move us to carry along the public case, with our private cases, as David did; Psalm 51:18, 19, "Do good
in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem;" &c.
(2.) A time of greatest extremity, when matters are carried to the utmost point of hopelessness; Deut. 32:36, "For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants; when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left." When God's people are brought to that, they can do no more, then is the special season of God's doing for them; Isa. 41:17, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." When the child was laid by for dead, the well was discovered. When the knife was at Isaac's throat, the answer comes from heaven, "Stay thine hand." A sentence of death is often passed on all probable means, the thing is put as it were in the grave, and the stone sealed; and then comes the resurrection of it; 2 Cor. 1:8–10. Psalm 126:1, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream."
(3.) A time of the petitioner's deepest humiliation, when he is beat down from all his heights, and brought as low as the dust of the Lord's feet, as in Job's case; chap. 42:6, 7, &c., and the woman of Canaan's; Matth. 15:27, 28. It is the Lord's way with his children to lay them very low, before he raise them up; to empty them soundly of themselves, before he fill them. They must be made to see their own utter unworthiness, that God is no debtor to them, be wholly resigned to the divine pleasure, and become as a weaned child. And that may cost much hewing; but it is the way they are prepared for mercy; Psalm 10:17.
(4.) Lastly, A time wherein the mercy may come most seasonably for God's honour and their comfort, Gal. 6:9, "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not," The husbandman expects to reap his crop in the harvest, for that is the most proper season. Our God is the best judge of time for this or that purpose, and he does all in judgment, Deut. 32:4. So that the petitioner shall be fully satisfied as to the
delay of the answer, and the whole steps of providence in the matter, and be made to sing as Rev. 15:3, saying "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
2. In eternity, when the believing petitioner is got into another world, then will be a season of answers of prayer, Mal. 3:17, 18, "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." I do not say, they will pray in another world, but prayers poured out in this world will be answered in another world, partly after death, and fully and completely at the resurrection. For consider,
(1.) There are accepted and granted prayers that are never answered on this side of time; yet they cannot miss to be answered, Psalm 9:18, "For the needy shall not alway be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever." Therefore they are answered in eternity. Such is that prayer of all the children of God, Rom. 7:24, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The complete victory over all their enemies, and being set beyond their reach, which is delayed till the resurrection, 1 Cor. 15:26, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death."
(2.) There are prayers that are answered here in part, but are not fully answered till the petitioner comes into another world. The prayers for the coming of Christ's kingdom are begun to be answered now, but they will not be fully answered till the last day. Petitions for deliverance from temptation, the power of lusts and corruptions, are answered so as an earnest is given, but the full answer is till then in reserve, Rom. 16:20, "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."
(3.) Lastly, All the accepted prayers of those that wait for the Lord, whether for their souls or their bodies, will be at once answered in heaven fully; there the promises will be told out to them for ever in full tale. There are many prayers for deliverance from temptations, trials, and troubles, which God sees not meet to answer now; but they will be all answered at once then, Rev. 21:4, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall so no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."
Therefore, let none think that all the prayers are lost that are not answered during this life; for prayers here made in faith, may be delayed as to their answer, till the petitioner come home to his Father's house; and there will be a second crop there of prayers here answered.
QUEST. When an answer of prayer comes, how shall it be known to be an answer of accepted and granted prayer, and not come in the way of common providence?
ANSW. 1. Mercies that come so make the soul more holy, tender, and watchful, whereas others prove snares and fuel to men's lusts, Psalm 6:8, "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping." Common providence filled the rich man's barns, then said he, "Soul take thine ease."
2. They enlarge the soul in thankfulness to God, Psalm 116:1, 12, "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice, and my supplications. What shall I render unto the Lord, for all his benefits towards me?" And they make it to rejoice more in the Giver, than in the gifts, 1 Sam. 2:1, "My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." The signature of God's good will that is upon the mercy, makes it of a great bulk, though it may be a small thing in itself, Gen. 33:10, "I have seen thy face, said Jacob to Esau, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me." Thus coming from God in the way of the covenant, it leads back to God; but others not so.
3. Lastly, They come seasonably, the heart being in some measure prepared for the receipt. Psalm 10:17, when the soul is moulded in a submissive disposition. Exercised souls will be afraid of a mercy coming too soon.
Fifthly, God answers prayer, either by giving the very thing itself asked, or the equivalent of it. As a man may pay his bond, either in money, or money worth. So there are two ways of God's fulfilling his promises, and answering his people's prayers.
1. Sometimes God answers prayer by giving the very thing desired. So he answered Hannah's prayer for a child, and Solomon's prayer for wisdom. And what comes that way will bear much bulk in the eyes of a gracious soul, because of the good will of God that is stamped on it, whereby it is distinguished from what comes in the common road.
And what comes that way, readily comes with a good incast to it, especially if the petitioner has been kept long hanging on for it. Such an incast got Solomon, 2 Chron. 1:12, "Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had, that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like." They that wait long for their answer, ordinarily get as it were both the stock and interest together. So Abraham and Sarah waited long for the promised seed, even till they were come to extreme old age; and then they got it with a renewing of their age.
2. Sometimes by giving, though not the thing itself, yet the equivalent of it, that which is as good; as one may pay his bond, by giving, though not money, yet what is as good as money. Thus though God did not give David the child's life, yet he gave him a Solomon, a mercy as good and better. Paul, though he got not free of the temptation at his asking, yet he got grace sufficient to bear him up under it, 2 Cor. 12:9.
And God's as-good that he gives his people, will readily be found better, all things considered. That is best which is best for God's honour and our good, and God knows better than we what is most suitable to these purposes. It would have been more easy for Paul, to have been freed from the messenger of Satan; but it was more for God's honour and his spiritual good, to be helped to fight that messenger and overcome.
Learn then, that your prayers may be answered, though ye get not the very thing ye ask. Though God answer you not in kind, if he answer you in kindness, you have no reason to say your prayer is not heard. If he take not off your burden, yet if he gives you support, he hears you, Psalm 138:3. There are two ways how God gives his people as good.
(1.) Sometimes he gives them as good in the same kind: though he gives them not the same temporal mercy they would have had, he gives them another of the same kind as good as it. Though he gave not David the life of the child he asked, he gave him a Solomon. So God reserves to himself the choosing.
(2.) Sometimes he gives them as good in another kind; as not giving them such a temporal mercy, he gives them a spiritual mercy and enjoyment in the room of it; and surely there is no loss there.
QUESTION, How may one know that God answers his prayer, by giving him the as-good.
ANSWER 1. When that which is given answers or serves the purpose as well as the thing desired would have done. David desired the child's life as a token of God's reconciliation with him; but Solomon's birth answered the same purpose, 2 Sam. 12:24, 25. So there was no loss as to the main thing in view.
2. When the heart is brought to rest contented with what is given in the room of what was desired. So Moses was sufficed with a sight of the land from Pisgah, instead of entering into it. When the thing
given takes the heart off what is withheld, it is a sign it comes as an answer of prayer by the way of an as-good.
3. When a person is to his own conviction a gainer by the choice God makes for him. Thus the Lord sometimes answers his people's prayers in trouble for deliverance, by giving them manifestations of his love and mercy, which they would not have gotten if the trouble had been removed, Lam. 3:57, "Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not."
Sixthly, God's answer of prayer sometimes agrees with the expression used in prayer, though not with the preconceived design and desire of the petitioner. There is a special help of the Spirit allowed God's people in prayer, beyond what they have otherwise, Rom. 8:26. Hence going to God on such a particular errand, they are sometimes carried so to express their desire, that the answer agrees exactly to the expression used in the petition, though the petition as expressed doth swerve somewhat from what they intended.
It will therefore be profitable on the receiving an answer of prayer, to compare it with the expression in which the petition was made; and the harmony betwixt them being observed, will set the matter of the answer in a clear light.
Lastly, One mercy may be the answer of the prayers of many.Whether it be a public mercy to a society, or a private mercy to a particular person, it may be given in answer to the prayers of many, and many may take the comfort of that answer. As when the prayers of a congregation are heard, or a mercy is given which many have privately prayed for, though the answer is one, it may belong to many.
QUESTION, How may one know that in such a case there has been any regard had to his prayer for the mercy?
ANSWER 1. If thy heart did join in prayer for the mercy, with others, thy affections being touched with earnest desire of the mercy, thy
soul lifted up to depend on the merit and intercession of Christ for the granting it, thou needest not doubt but it is an answer to thy prayer as well as to others, Matth. 18:19, "I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
2. If thou findest thy heart enlarged in thankfulness to God for the mercy when it is obtained, that is another evidence that it is an answer to thy prayer as well as others, 2 Cor. 4:15, "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God." Many a prayer had been put up for the coming of the Messiah; Simeon when he saw him is transported with thankfulness of heart, as having obtained his desire, Luke 2:29.
I shall now shut up this subject with some practical improvement.
USE I. of information. Hence see,
1. How much we poor sinners stand indebted to free grace providing a Saviour for us. We could have had no access with our prayers to an absolute God; justice would have barred our acceptance. So fallen angels have no access to God allowed them; for Christ took not on their nature. But great is our privilege in this point; 1 John 2:1, "For if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2. The heinousness of the sin of neglecting prayer. A price is put in men's hands to get wisdom, but they have no heart to it. The door of mercy and grace stands open, but they will not come to it; God sits on a throne of grace, ready to answer petitions; but they have none to put in his hand.
3. The impiety and profaneness that is in abusing of prayer, making a scorn of it in ordinary conversation, as "God pity you, help you, bless us, save us," &c. How lamentable is it, that the name of God, and the ordinance of prayer, should be thus prostituted to the lusts of men at
every trifle! The day will come, when God's pity, help, &c., which ye make so light of now, will appear more valuable than ten thousand worlds, and ye shall not have them, if ye repent not of that contempt which ye now treat them with.
4. The folly of those who are in no concern for the hearing of their prayers. Surely, they forsake their own mercy. Ye would have little satisfaction in your meat, if it did not feed you; in your clothes, if they did not keep you warm. What satisfaction then can ye have in your praying, if ye cannot find it is heard?
5. Lastly, This shews why serious souls do so much value prayer, and betake themselves thereto in all their straits. Slight it who will, it will not be slighted by those who have experience of the Lord's hearing their prayers, Micah 7:7, "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." Daniel was such a man; and he would rather venture on the den of lions, than forego his praying to God. The neglect of it, is a sign of unacquaintedness with that.
USE II. Of direction and comfort to the people of God, in all the trials and troubles they meet with in the world. Here is your course ye should take, go to God with your case, whatever it be, and make your prayer to him about it, Phil. 4:6, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Here is your comfort, God is the hearer of prayer, Isa. 45:19, "I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain." There are four things I would suggest to you here for your direction and comfort.
1. God has made the way to heaven lie through many tribulations, that his children might have the more errands to his throne of grace. That this is the path-road to the kingdom of God, is clear from scripture testimony, Acts 14:22, "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God; John 16 ult, "In the world ye shall have tribulation;" and the experience of Christ the Head, and the
saints in all ages. That this is the design of it, appears also from the word, Hos. 5 ult. "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face; in their affliction they will seek me early." Prosperity seldom fails to issue in forgetting of God, Deut. 32:15. Adversity causes to feel a need of his help, Zeph. 3:12. So God keeps the thorn of affliction at the breast of his people, to keep them waking, and sends the cross to invite them to the throne of grace.
2. The way to heaven in that respect never alters, though the external circumstances of the church in the world do alter. Sometimes there is persecution in the church, sometimes peace; but in the most peaceable time of the church, God's people shall go through the world to the kingdom through much tribulation. The seed of the serpent will vent their enmity one way or other against the people of God, though they have not law on their side to bear them out in persecuting them. God will have his people tried, and caused to suffer in their bodies, goods, liberty, and life, if not by the hands of persecutors, yet by his own hand one way or other. For that is a perpetual rule, Matth. 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Luke 14:26, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." So there is no change, but only as to the means and instruments of trial.
3. Whatever be your trial, whether it be in temporal or spiritual things, ye are welcome to the throne of grace with it, Phil. 4:6, forecited. Whether it come on you immediately from the hand of God, or men, ye may carry it to God by prayer, and pour out your heart before him as a prayer-hearing God, in confidence that he can help you, and will do it in due time.
4. The more trials and afflictions God's people meet with, the more experience readily they will be found to have of God's hearing prayer; Rom. 5:3, 4, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also,
knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience; and experience, hope." Of all the patriarchs Jacob had the most trials, and accordingly was richest in experiences. The more battles the Christian soldier is engaged in, the more is he enriched with spoil. The Israelites had not sung that triumphant song recorded Exod. 15, had they not been in that great strait at the Red Sea.
USE last, of exhortation. Then,
1. Improve your privilege of access to God through Christ in prayer. Since God has cast open the gates of mercy, come enter in by them; since he is saying to you, "What is thy petition and it shall be granted thee?" slight not the golden season of petitioning. Consider,
(1.) Your need is great. Whatever ye have or want in temporals, surely ye need a resting place for your conscience and for your heart; you need something to make you happy in time and eternity.
(2.) The whole creation cannot answer your needs. There is an emptiness in every creature, that it cannot be a resting place to you, Isa. 55:2. The soul is of such a make, that no less than an infinite good can satisfy it. Only God in Christ can make you happy.
(3.) He offers to supply all your needs; Psalm 81:10, "I am the Lord thy God; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Ask in faith, and ye shall receive.
(4.) Lastly, This door of access will not always stand open; Matth. 25:10, 11, 12, "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not." Now is the accepted time.
2. Be concerned for God's hearing of your prayers; look after them and see what speed they come. There are two things wherein this concern should appear.
(1.) In making your addresses to the throne of grace, being careful so to manage that, as ye may be accepted. They who are rash in their approaches to God, and careless how their petitions are formed and presented, cannot be duly concerned for a hearing of them. Labour, therefore, so to pray, as your prayers may be heard and accepted.
(2.) In depending and waiting on after prayer for an answer; Psalm 5:3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Do not drop your suits, but insist for an answer, depending for it on the promise of God in his word.
Thus far of God's hearing of prayer. I shall shut up this with a word to another doctrine for the use of the whole.
DOCTRINE. Such is the glory of God as the hearer of prayer in Christ, that it will make all flesh that discerns it come unto him.
Here I shall shew,
I. What is that glory of God as the hearer of prayer in Christ, that is so attractive.
II. How this glory of God in Christ is discerned by a sinner.
III. What that coming unto God is, that is the effect of discerning that glory.
IV. Lastly, Deduce an inference or two.
I. I am to shew what is that glory of God as the hearer of prayer in Christ, that is so attractive. It is twofold.
1. The glory of his all-sufficiency; Gen. 17:1, "I am God all-sufficient." He is not only all-sufficient for himself, but for his creatures; if he were not so, he could not be the hearer of prayer. But sinners in the darkness of their natural state discern it not; they cannot
comprehend what way he can be so, and therefore they traverse the round of the creation, seeking in the creature that sufficiency; till the light of the glory of God's all-sufficiency shine into their hearts in Christ. Then it shines unto them with a threefold ray of glory.
(1.) An absolute suitableness to their case, which must needs be very glorious in their eyes, since that is what they were always seeking, but could never find before, according to that; Isa. 55:2, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Therefore with the wise merchant they "sell all to buy the one pearl," Matth. 13:45, 46. The heart of man is an empty, hungry thing, going among the creatures seeking a match for itself, in which it may rest; but there they cannot find it; but discovering it in a God in Christ, they are attracted with the glory of that sight.
(2.) A complete fulness for them; Col. 1:19, "For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell." In his all-sufficiency the soul sees the fulness of a Godhead, an infinite boundless fulness, to answer and satisfy the boundless desires of an immortal soul. That is a fountain for the thirsty soul to drink at to the full; a treasure to enrich the soul oppressed with poverty; a salve for all its sores, and a remedy for all its wounds. So it cannot miss to attract.
(3.) An ability to help in all possible incidents, Heb. 7:25, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The arm of the creature is weak in all cases, and quite too short in many cases; but so is not the arm of an all-sufficient God; Isa. 59:1, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." There is nothing too hard for him, there is nothing that Omnipotency can stick at. Who can but draw towards such a one for a Friend?
2. The glory of his free grace and good-will to poor sinners; hence the heavenly host sang; Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men." When the Lord would shew Moses his glory, he proclaimed the name of the Lord before him; Exod. 34:6, 7, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." The glory of all-sufficiency may attract the desire of sinners; but the sinner cannot come to him, while that treasure appears to be locked up from him, a gulf fixed betwixt him and it. But when once an allsufficient God appears in the glory of his free grace in Christ, the treasure appears open to the sinner, there is a bridge for him laid over the gulf; and so he comes freely away to God in Christ. This shines to the coming sinner with a threefold ray of glory.
(1.) Readiness to forgive sin; Psalm 130:4, 7, 8, "But there is forgiveness with thee; that thou mayest be feared. Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." He is gracious to pardon the sins for which he might justly condemn the sinner; he is willing to be reconciled to offenders, and receive them into peace, 2 Cor. 5:19. This is an attractive glory where the conscience is awakened.
(2.) Willingness to give and communicate all that is needful to make the sinner happy; Rev. 21:7, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." He is gracious to give, as well as to forgive; Hos. 14:2; not only to lay by his wrath against the sinner, but to load him with benefits.
(3.) And all this freely, without any view to any worth in the creature, as Isa. 55:1, "He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." No condition, no qualification is required; only the sinner is welcome to take and have, whatever he has been.
II. The next thing is to shew, how this glory of God in Christ is discerned by a sinner.
1. The mean of discerning it is the gospel; 2 Cor. 3 ult., "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord." As by means of light in the air we discern bodily objects, so by the means of the gospel we discern this glory of God, 2 Cor. 4:4. By the law we discern the glory of an absolute God terrifying and confounding to a sinner, but by the gospel the glory of God as in Christ, attracting and refreshing to a sinner. It is as a looking-glass wherein we see the image of things; 2 Cor. 3 ult. It brings before us the lovely image of a God in Christ reconciling the world to himself.
2. The organ or instrument of discerning it is faith, Hab. 2:4. Though there be full light in the air, and the looking-glass presenting the beautiful image of a person, be set before one's face, if the man's eyes be out, he cannot discern it. So the glory of God in Christ is held forth unto men in the gospel; but they are spiritually blind who are unbelievers, they perceive it not; 1 Cor. 2:14, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." But faith sees the glory; John 1:14, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."
3. The author of sinners discerning it is the Spirit, 2 Cor. 3 ult. It is he that illuminates the dark mind, that cures sinners of their natural blindness. He works faith in the soul, brings home the gospel-report to the sinner in particular, demonstrating it to be the word of God, and God's word to him in particular, and so makes the soul embrace it by believing it, Isa. 53:1.
III. The third head is to shew what that coming unto God is, that is the effect of discerning that glory. The sinner discerning the glory of God in Christ as the hearer of prayer,
1. He comes away from all other doors, which before he used to hang about for supply. He despairs at length of coming speed there, Jer. 3:22, 23, "Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings; behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." The light of the glory of God shining into his heart, discovers the emptiness of all the poor shifts the sinner makes to get supply in his natural state of blindness.
(1.) He comes away from the door of the empty creation, where he had long laboured to find a rest; and despairs of finding it there any more. The profits, pleasures, comforts, and conveniences of this world, appear lying vanities that can never give rest to the heart; and they must have another portion; Jer. 16:19, "O Lord, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit."
(2.) From the door of sin, where he expected a satisfaction in the fulfilling of his lusts; and he despairs of ever finding it there, Job 33:27. He finds that puddle-water will not quench his thirst, that the pleasure of it is but short, but the pain and sting of it lasting.
(3.) From out of the world lying in wickedness, 2 Cor. 6:17, as he would escape away from lions' dens and mountains of leopards, Cant. 4:8. He despairs of ever finding his account in the way of the world.
2. He comes away unto God in Christ, for all, and instead of all; Jer. 3:22, "Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God." And he comes unto him,
(1.) As a Saviour, that will save his submissive supplicants, Jer. 3:22, 23. Faith apprehends him as God our Saviour, and so comes to him
and trusts on him for salvation from sin and from wrath, Matth. 1:21, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins."
(2.) As a portion, that will eternally make up impoverished and ruined creatures, Psalm 142:5, and in which the poor petitioner may find what he has so long sought for in vain, in the world and the way of sin.
(3.) As his resort for ever in all his needs, whatever they shall be, Psalm 71:3. The soul coming unto God, comes to him as one that will never go back to another, but will hang on about his door, though he should die at it.
I conclude with an inference or two.
1. Whoso come not unto God in Christ, as a Saviour, &c., are certainly ignorant of him, and see him not in his glory; "For they that know thy name," says the psalmist, "will put their trust in thee," Psalm 9:10.
2. Great and powerful must that glory be, which draws sinners from all other doors unto God. By nature we are backward to come unto God; it must be a very ravishing glory that has such an effect on perverse sinners.
3. Lastly, Be concerned to discern that glory; to discern it by faith, and by experience, in order to your coming to him as your Saviour, portion, and continual resort.
On Acceptance With God
ON ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD: THE DOCTRINE OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF MEN'S WORKS EXPLAINED, AND A PRACTICAL REGARD THERETO IN ALL THE DUTIES OF LIFE INCULCATED
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. - 2 COR. 8:12
THE Christians in Judea being in much distress and poverty, there was a contribution through the churches of the Gentiles for them. The communion of saints extends not only to spiritual, but temporal things too; that they be ready to help one another out of their substance. And this communication of worldly things to the supply of the saints, is not confined to those of our own church; but is to be extended to strangers on occasion, at the greatest distance. The gospel came from Judea to the Gentiles; and now money must go from the Gentiles for the relief of those of Judea. Hereby God took a trial of the Gentile churches, their love to, and esteem of, the gospel. Many will pretend to great esteem of the gospel, but they must have it for nothing. Any of their money that is desired for any public use, for the furtherance of the gospel, it is all accounted lost.
This contribution is here recommended to the Corinthians. They readily fell in with the proposal, ver. 11. Now they are desired to perform, each according to his ability.
In the text, an objection of the poorer sort is answered, who might fear that any thing they had to give was so little, that it would not be accepted. In answer thereto, they are told that God regards men's works rather by the quality than the quantity; by the mind it is given with, rather than by the thing given.
1. The case of acceptance is put, "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted." The acceptance here is of a man's work, not of his person; though the former always presupposeth the latter, in the gospel way. And it refers to God, for he only can judge with what mind a thing is done. Now God accepts a man's service, if there be first a willing mind; that is, a readiness and good will to the work of his service. If the heart go before and lead the hand, it is accepted; otherwise it is not.
2. What regard is had in this acceptance of one's work to the quantity of it. (1.) That it be according to one's ability, that it be done to his power. Some are able to do more, and be more useful than others; but if men have a willingness to the work, and do what they are able accordingly, it is accepted through Christ; his that can do but little, as well as his that can do much. But this cuts off the pretences of those who content themselves with lazy wishes, and lay not out themselves to do what they may do. (2.) That want of power to do more, shall not mar the acceptance of what is done according to power with a willing mind, Mark 12:43. The Lord will take the little piece of service off his people's hand, when the heart is right; as well as the great service of those of his that have great abilities. Not but that where the inability is brought on by people's own fault, it is their sin that they do not do more; but that sin shall be forgiven them, and what they do be accepted, "if there be first a willing mind."
The scope and substance of the text may be taken up in the following doctrines.
DOCTRINE I. Works may be done in service to God, that are not accepted of him.
DOCTRINE II. It should be our main concern in our works, that they may be accepted of God.
DOCTRINE III. Where there is a willing mind carrying out a man to do and serve the Lord to his ability, what is so done is accepted of
God.
DOCTRINE IV. Want of power to do more, shall not mar the acceptance of what is done from a willing mind according to one's power. In that case, God will accept of his people's will for the deed.
I shall speak to each of these doctrines in order.
DOCTRINE I. Works may be done in service to God, that are not accepted of him.
In treating this point, I shall,
I. Confirm the doctrine.
II. Assign the reasons thereof.
III. Make some improvement.
1. In order to confirm the doctrine, consider,
1. Oft-times God hides his face from the man and his work too, and people have no communion with God in their services to him; Hos. 5:6, "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him, he hath withdrawn himself from them." When a master will not look on his servant's work, it is an evidence he is not pleased with him, nor it, Isa. 1:15. This may be the case of the godly sometimes, and it is the case of the wicked always. O how many lost services are there this way.
2. Such services may be so far from being accepted, that they are really loathsome to a holy God; Prov. 15:8, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord." He reckons them to be to no purpose, he is full of them, they are vain in his esteem, he cannot endure them, they are a trouble, a burden, and a weariness to him, Isa. 1:11–14. So it is often fulfilled in this case, "That which is highly esteemed amongst men, is abomination in the sight of God," Luke
16:15. The man thinks highly of his own work, and others do so too; but in the mean time God abhors it.
3. God may put such services out of the roll of services to him, and set them down in the roll of sins against him. That is a terrible word, Jer. 7:21, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, put your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh;" i.e., Put your sacrifices that should be all burnt on the altar, to your other sacrifices, and eat all together as common flesh to fill your bellies; q.d., Let your prayers, and your common discourse, your hearing of sermons and your idle tales go together; I esteem the one no more than the other. And that is another dreadful word; Amos 4:4, "Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years;" q.d., Go to your knees now, and take the name of God in vain; go to the church, and put off a little time of a Sabbath day.
4. They may bring a curse and a stroke on men, instead of a blessing and token of God's favour; Hos. 8:13, "They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the Lord accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins." Nadab and Abihu were consumed by a fire that came out from the altar they were serving at; Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead on occasion of selling their land for the service of the church; and men may be smothered with the dung of their sacrifices spread on their faces, Mal. 2:3.
5. Lastly, This may take place while the service stands the man both cost and pains. The Israelites were at cost for spices for the altar, but all was rejected, Jer. 6:20; they were at pains in attending ordinances, and endured a stress in fasting, but all to no purpose, Isa. 58:2, 3. Bodily exercise profiteth little before God, who is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.
II. I am next to render the reasons of the point, That works may be done in service to God, that are not accepted of him. God is no
austere master, but very indulgent to his servants, and will take a very small service kindly off their hands; but men often serve him in a way that is provoking to him, and to his dishonour; and thence are the reasons why their services are not accepted.
1. Sometimes that is offered for service to God, that is forbidden by him, John 16:2, "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service." A blinded conscience gets the leading of a man, and leads him out of the way of God; it dictates what is sin to be duty, and what is duty to be sin; so that the man thinks he is serving God, while he is really serving his own corruptions; and so instead of a "Well done, good and faithful servant," he meets with a "Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness," Isa. 5:20; and "lies down" at length "in sorrow," Isa. 50 ult.
2. Sometimes that is offered that is not commanded or required; Matth. 15:9, "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Nothing can be acceptable to God, but what is required by some one or other command of his; "for whatsoever is not of faith, is sin," Rom. 14 ult. See Isa. 1:12. Horrid idolatry is condemned on that very ground, that it was uncommanded service, Jer. 7:31. It is an affront to the sovereignty of God, and his mastership, for men to order his service according to the devices of their own hearts, and not to keep precisely to his orders. Hence are the superstitions of Popery, and the uninstituted ceremonies of the Church of England, which are the product of human device, without any countenance from the word of God.
3. Ofttimes, though the work be commanded of God, yet it is marred in the making. There is something about the person, or the work, that ruins all.
1st, About the person, that mars the acceptance. As,
(1.) He may be in a state of separation from Christ, not united to him by faith, and so not accepted of God, John 15:5. No acceptable work can be done by any man while he is out of Christ; Eph. 2:10. For a man's person must be accepted, before his work can be accepted, since his work being imperfect, cannot procure the acceptance of his person. Now no sinner's person is accepted but in Christ, Eph. 1:6, and we come to be in Christ by faith; therefore faith in Christ must go before acceptable obedience, Heb. 11:6. Faith makes the tree good, ere it can bring forth good fruit, Matth. 7:17. And no fruit of obedience is accepted of God, but what grows on a branch of Christ the true vine. The blasting curse lies on all other. See Gen. 6:9.
(2.) He may be in a state of enmity with God; and as no man will like the services of his enemies, so God will not accept the services of one not reconciled to him; Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Every unbeliever is an enemy to God, Rom. 8:7, for his sin remains unpardoned, and his nature unchanged; and therefore his best works are but splendid sins, himself but a whited sepulchre; and when he speaks and acts fairest, there are seven abominations in his heart. How then can an all-seeing God accept such services?
(3.) He may be an unregenerate man, and so like Simon "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity," Acts 8:23. Whosoever are out of Christ, are unregenerate; for it is by being in him, and so partaking of his Spirit and fulness, that we become new creatures, 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:13. Now how can the corrupt tree bring forth good fruit? or the old nature acceptable obedience? If the fountain be poisoned, can the streams be wholesome? Could one like the best liquor in a vessel wherein there is no pleasure?
(4.) He may be habitually unholy or profane in his life, or as to the body of his conversation; Prov. 28:9, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." So the Lord rejects the sacrifices of the Israelites, Isa. 1:15, 16 The Psalmist tells us, that "the man who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and stand in his holy place," must "have clean hands, and a pure heart,"
Psalm 24:3, 4. The apostle wills to "lift up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;" 1 Tim. 2:8, if we would be accepted. Their conversation must be of a piece, whose works will be accepted; for God will never accept the services of men, that for the most part serve the devil, the world, and their lusts. Many are like the harlot; Prov 7:13, 14, as if they thought their duties would purge away their sins. Nay but their sinful courses otherwise will pollute and render abominable their duties, Hag. 2:11–14.
2dly, About the work, that may mar its acceptance.
(1.) It may be none of the work of the Spirit of Christ in the man, but proceeding from a man's self allenarly. All good works accepted of God are the product of the Holy Spirit in believers, as the sap which the vine-stock communicates to the branches. Therefore to "the works of the flesh;" Gal. 5:19, are opposed "the fruits of the Spirit;" ver. 22. And "all goodness is the fruit of the Spirit;" Eph. 5:9, and a Christian's life is "a walking after the Spirit;" Rom. 8:1, as a borrowed life. And as no common hearth-fire could be accepted at the altar, but only the holy fire that came from heaven; so no work will be offered to the Father for acceptance by the Son, but what is the work of his own Spirit; and no work will be accepted by the Father, but what is offered by the Son as intercessor. See Eph 2:18. See what prayer is accepted, Jam. 5:16. Not the prayer of every one, but of a "righteous man;" not every prayer of a righteous man neither, but "the inwrought" (Gr.) "prayer" of his, viz. that which is inwrought by the Spirit.
(2) It may be no work of love to God, or of a willing mind; but done awkwardly and against the grain; 1 Tim 1:5; some bye-considerations moving the man to serve the Lord; and no liking of him or his service. Forced service can never be accepted, that which people are constrained to. It is the obedience of slaves, not of sons, that natural men do perform; and flows from a spirit of fear, more than a spirit of love; 2 Tim. 1:7. See Isa. 64:5.
(3.) It may be not done in faith, and so cannot be accepted; Heb. 11:6. Acceptable service is done in the faith of the command, having authority on the man's conscience; and in the faith of the promise, the promise of strength to perform, and the faith of the reward of grace, believing the labour shall not be in vain in the Lord, 1 Cor. 15 ult. But instead of that, most of our good works are done without any regard to God's authority, without any dependence on him for strength, and without the true hope of the gratuitous reward of grace won by Christ to be communicated to us.
(4.) It may be done selfishly; men seeking their own profit in them, more than God's honour; seeking to please their own conscience that otherwise will not let them rest, rather than to please God; seeking a name to themselves, rather than to glorify his name; and to save their own souls from hell by them, rather than to testify their thankfulness to the Saviour, who has purchased salvation by his blood. This is to pervert the end of duties, to use them for unhallowed ends; in a word, to serve ourselves, and not God; and therefore no more to be accepted than a servant's working his own instead of his master's work, Hos. 9:4; Zech. 7:6. Yea good things may be done downright to serve a lust, or to satisfy a passion, Matth. 23:14; 2 Sam. 3:9.
(5.) It may be done by chance rather than design; Lev. 26:21; (Heb.) There are who are chance-customers to religion, who fall in with a good work, rather because it falls in their way, than because God lays it in their way; as the Danites, Judg. 18:5. God looks to the heart, and undesigned service to him will be reckoned no serving of him, but serving one's own fancy. This is another thing than one's embracing an opportunity which the Lord puts in his hand; Gal. 6:10, wherein one is glad of an occasion of serving God.
(6.) It may be done by the power of custom, rather than of conscience. Custom, fallen into by education, or otherwise, is the spring of many duties done by men; wherein men move, by that, as a clock by the weights; rather than from an inward principle; which
can never be acceptable to the heart-searching God, who requires reasonable service.
(7.) It may be done in a slighting manner, dealing scrimply and grudgingly with God. As when there is no proportion between the work and one's ability, as in the rich men casting in their little piece of brass-money, Mark 12:41; when men offer to God, not the best, but the most worthless they have; so did Cain, Gen. 4:3, 4. Thus men by thinking any thing may serve in the service of God, pour contempt on the holy One, and bring on themselves a curse instead of a blessing; Mal. 1:14.
(8) Lastly, When it is not offered to God for acceptance through Christ. It is God's appointment; Col. 3:17, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." A young pigeon would have been accepted on the altar of Jerusalem, when a bullock would not have been accepted on the altar of Bethel. If the service of men be never so great and costly, if it is offered to God otherwise, and the acceptance of it looked for because of its own worth, it will be rejected, Rev. 7:14. No works savour with God, but as they savour of Christ, 2 Cor. 2:15.
I now proceed to make some short improvement of what has been said,
1. People may do much in the service of God, and yet do nothing to purpose, Eccl. 10:15. A man may go many a weary foot, and yet never come to the place he designed, while he wanders from the right way, 2 John 8. Such wanderers in religion are all unregenerate men, who set about duties; they are busy doing nothing. They do many good things like Herod, and yet they never do one thing acceptably. For their persons are not accepted; and so their works cannot be so.
2. Even among the duties of a godly man, there may be much refuse; many unaccepted duties. A believer's person is always accepted of God, Eph. 1:6, for the state of justification is perpetual. But such may
be the prevalence of faithlessness, selfishness, &c., in some particular works of his, that they may never come to be accepted of God; for sanctification has its ups and downs, being liable to many changes.
3. How little reason is there to boast of our works! There is nothing we can do, can be accepted for its own worth. If it be accepted, the meanness of it is seen, the soul is humbled, and no acceptance of is looked for, but for the sake of Christ. If we be so conceited of our work, as to boast of it; it is an evidence that God accepts it not; hence said our Lord unto the Pharisees, Luke 16:15, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed amongst men, is abomination in the sight of God."
4. What will come of them that do nothing in the service of God at all; but live in the habitual neglect of known duties, are prayerless, slighters of the means of grace, &c.? 1 Pet. 4:18. If they that set off to the heavenly city may miss the way, and never reach it; sure those that sit still, and never move that way, will never see it. Many soothe themselves in the neglect of duties, because some that do them walk so unlike them; but the case of such is very dangerous; for no habitual neglecters of duties can be saved; and it is in vain for men to make the practice of others an excuse for evil doing.
5. Lastly, Take heed how ye perform duties, and satisfy not yourselves with the bare performance, without being solicitous as to the manner, Luke 8:18. Better is one duty so managed as to be accepted than a hundred otherwise; as one piece of gold is more worth than a hundred counters. But this brings me to
DOCTRINE II. It should be our main concern in our works that they may be accepted of God.
In handling this point, I shall
I. Shew what is the acceptance of our works with God.
II. Give the reasons of the doctrine.
III. Make improvement.
I. I shall shew what is the acceptance of our works with God. It lies in these two things.
1. His being pleased with them; Col. 1:10, "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." The accepted work God approves of, and is well pleased with. Though the saints do no works that they are every way pleased with themselves; yet there are some works of theirs that are very pleasing to God. He delights in them, Prov. 15:8. They are sweet to him, as honey to the mouth, Cant. 5:1. They are sweet as music to the ear, and as beauty to the eye, Cant. 2:14.
This pre-supposeth them to be good, and agreeable to his will. For evil cannot be pleasing to him, Psalm 5:4. He who is goodness itself, can never be pleased but with what is good, Heb. 13:16. The unregenerate do nothing good, Psalm 14:2, 3, and so nothing they do is accepted, Heb. 11:6. The saints do some things good, some things evil; the good is accepted, and the refuse is cast away.
2. His taking them off their hand, as service done to him. God testified his acceptance of the sacrifice by fire, Lev. 9 ult. for the fire made them go up in flames towards heaven, Judg. 13:20. See Psalm 20:3, Gen. 4:4, 5. So he received them off their hand. He reckons such a work a piece of service done to him, sets it down as it were in his book, in due time to give it a reward of grace, Lev. 7:18, Mal. 3:16.
Hence is the after-notice God takes of the good works of his people;— in time, as it fared with Moses, who, refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, was afterwards advanced to be king in Jeshurun;—in eternity, as Matth. 25. He will not forget any of them, Heb. 6:10, but a plentiful sowing of them will have a plentiful reaping. So they are the surest riches, 1 Tim. 6:18. Not that the reward is given for their sake, but for Christ's sake; and such is the covenant connection.
QUESTION. How can any of our works be accepted of a holy God, or he be well pleased with them, &c., since there is so much sinfulness attending the best of them?
ANSWER 1. In point of justification they are not, nor cannot be accepted; i. e. our persons cannot be accepted as righteous for our works, since they are not legally perfect, perfect in every point. In the way of the covenant of works, the work was first to be accepted for its own sake, as absolutely perfect; and then the person for the works' sake. So that whosoever seek by their works to be accepted of God, they go back to the covenant of works; and must either bring works every way perfect, or be rejected; and because they cannot do such works, "therefore by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," Gal. 2:16.
2. In point of sanctification the good works of the justified may be accepted; i. e. one's person being accepted, his works may be accepted, being evangelically perfect, though not legally; being perfect in parts, though not in degrees. For in the way of the covenant of grace, the person is first accepted in Christ, and then his work though imperfect. Hence it appears,