Part 5
soever wants them, is poor and miserable,how rich soever he be in gifts of the mind,or treasures of the earth.
Secondly, Blind ; † i. e. without spiritual illumination, and so neither knowing their disease, nor their remedy ; the ⚫eviloffin, or necessity of Christ.
Thirdly, Naked, ‡ without Christ,and his righteousness. Sin is the soul's shame and nakedness ; Christ's pure and perfect righteousness is its covering or garment; this they wanted, P2
πλωχος deftitutus juftitia, et sanctitate vera, coram Deo. Grotius.
†τυφλος Nec morbam sciens, nec remedium-----Durham in loc. ‡γυμνός Carensjuftitia quæ vest it us eft Cbriftianorum. Pareus.
: 116 The Doctrines prapounded and opened. howrichlyfoever their bodies were adorned. ThesewereLaodiceans ; i. e. ajuft, or righteous people (according to the no- (at i on of that word) whosegarmentswith which they covered themselves, were made of the home-spunthreadof their own righteousness .
Thirdly, The disease of Laodicea is here opened to them in its'aggravation : " Thou saidst I am rich, and increased "with goods, and have needofnothing; butknowestnot,"&c.
To be really graceless and Christless, isa miserable condition *; but to be fo, and yet confidently persuaded of the contrary, is most miserable: to have the very symptoms of deathuponus, and yet tell thosethatpityusweareas well as they, is lamentable indeed ! Othe efficacyofaspiritualdelufion! this was the it disease, gracelesness ; and the aggravation of it, was their senseless ness.
Secondly, We have a proper remedy prescribed, ver. 18. "I counsel thee to buy ofmegoldtried in the fire, that thou " mayestbe rich," &c. In which we have to confider, First, what is prescribed for the cure. Secondly, Where it is to be had. Thirdly, How to be obtained. First,What are the remedies prescribed; andtheyarethree; Gold, white raiment, and eye-salve. First, gold, the cure of poverty, yea, Gold tried in the fire; i. e. gracethathathbeen variously proved already; and the more it is proved, the more its truth willbeconfpicuous. The next is white raiment, the remedy against nakedness. And, lastly, eye-salve, the effectual cure of blindness. Under all these choice metaphors, morechoiceandexcellent things are shadowed, even spiritual graces, real holiness, more precious than gold. Christ's imputedrighteousness, the richest garment in all the wardrobe of heaven ; and spiritual illumination, the most excellent collyrium or eye-falvethat ever was, or can be applied tothementaleyeor understanding of man in this world.
Secondly, Where these precious remedies maybe had; and you find Christ hath the † monopoly of them all ; Buy of me, faith Christ in the text; he is the repository of all graces. Angels, ministers, ordinances cannotfurnishyou with them with out Christ.
Nilmiferiusmiferonon miferantefeipfum, 2. e. None is more to be pitied than a pity able sinner who does not pity himself. * Ηος μονοπλιον εft Chrifti, extra quodnulla eftfatus.
The Doctrines propounded and opened. 117 Thirdly, How they may be obtained from him ; Buy of me. OnthisplaceEstius, and others,build their doctrine of merit; which is to build a superstructure of hay and stubble upon a foundation of gold. The exigenceof the very text itself de. stroys fuchconceits : for what have they that are poor, wretched, miserable, and want all things, to give as a price, or by wayofmerit for those inestimable treasures of grace ? Buying therefore in this place can fignifyor intend no more than the acquisition, compassing, or obtaining these things from Jesus Christ, in the use offuchmeans and methods as he hath appointed: and in the use of them we meritgrace no more than the patient merits of his physician by coming to him, and carefully following his prescriptions in the use of such medicaments as he freely gives him: And that place, Ifa. lv. 1. (from which this phrase seems to be borrowed) fully clears it; He that hath no money, lethimcomeand buy wine and " milk without money, and without price."
From all which, these three observations fairly offer themselves to us.
Doct. 1. That many professors of religion are under very great and dangerous mistakes in their profession. Doct. 2. That true grace is exceeding precious, and greatly enriches the soul that poffefsfeth it. Doct. 3. That only is to be accounted true grace, which is able to endure all those trials appointed, or permitted for the discovery of it. The first doctrine naturally rises out of the scope of the text, which is to awaken and convince unsound professors.
The second, from the use the HolyGhostmakes of the best and choicest thingsinnature, to shadow forth the inestimable worth andpreciousness of grace.
And the third, from that particular, and most significant metaphor ofgoldtried in the fire; by which I here understand areal and solid work of grace, evidencing itself to be so in all theproofsandtrials that are made of it ; for whatsoever is probational of grace, and puts its foundness and sincerity to the test, is that to it which fire is to gold: In this sense it is used in scripture, Psal. Ixvi. ro. " Thou hast tried us as silver is " tried:" And Zech. xiii. 9. " I will bring the third part " through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, " and try them as gold is tried." So that whatsoever it is which examines and tries grace whether it be found and sincere, that is the fire Christ here speaks of; and such grace as abides these trials, isthegoldhere intended.
118 The great and dangerous Mistake offome Professors, CHAP. II.
Wherein the first Doctrine is opened and proved briefly, as a preliminary Discourse to the principal Subject herein designed.
DOCT. I.
That many professors of religion are under very great and dangerous mistakes in their professions, SECT. I.
LL flattery is dangerous ; self-flattery is more dangerous; but self-flattery in the business offalvation, is the most dangerous of all.
To pretend to the good we know we have not, is gross hypocrisy; to persuade ourselves of the good we have not, tho we think we have it, is formal hypocrisy; and this was the case of those self-deceivers in the text.
My design in this discourse is not to shake the well-built hopes of any man, orbegetgroundless jealousies, but to discover the real dangerous flaws in the foundationofmanymens hopes for heaven : Every thing is as its foundation is, and debilefundamentum fall it opus ; that failing, all fails.
There is a twofoldfelf-suspicion or fear in God's own people: The one is a fear of caution, a waking the foul to the use of all the preventive means for avoiding danger ; this is laudable : The other a groundless suspicion of reigning hypocrisy, tending only todespondency ; this is culpable : By the former the soul is guarded against danger ; by the latter it is betrayed into needless trouble, and debarred from peace.
Good men have sometimes more fear than they ought, and wickedmenhave less than they ought: The former dofometimes shut their eyes against the fair evidences of their own graces; the latter shut their eyes against the sad evidences of their fin and misery. This isanevilinboth, but not equally dangerous ; for he that shuts his eyes against his own graces and privileges, loseth but his peace and comfort for a time ; but he that shuts his eyes against the evidences of his fin and misery, loseth his precious soul to all eternity. of this latter fort of self-deceivers the world is full, and these are the men I am concerned withinthispoint.
The great and dangerous Mistake offome Professors. 119 Oh! that some men had less trouble ! and, oh ! that some had more! If the foolish virgins had been less confident, they had certainly been more safe, Matth. xxv. If those glorious professors in Matth. vii. 22. had not shut their eyes against their ownhypocrify, Christ had not shut against them the door of salvation and glory. Ananias and Sapphira ; Hymeneus and Philetus ; Alexander and Demas, with multitudes more of that fort, are the fad instances and proofs of this point. It is said, Prov. xxx. 12. " There is a generation that is pure in " their own eyes,and yet is not washed from their filthiness." Through what false spectacles do the men of that generation lookupontheir own souls ; the men of that generation are multiplied in this generation : Never was any age over-run with a generation of vain, self-cozening, formal professors, as this generation is.
Three things I shall here endeavour to do : 1. To give evidence beyond contradiction to this sad truth, thatamongprofeffors arefoundmany self-deceivers .
(2.) To assign the true causes and reasons why it is so. And, (3.) Improve it in those practical inferences the point affords. T
SECT. II. HAT there are multitudes of such self-deceivers among professors, will appear, 1. First, By this, that there are every where to be found more professors than converts ; unregenerate professors, whose religion is but the effect of education. Christianity, by the favour of an early providence, was the first comer, it first bespoke them for itself; these are Christians of an human creation, rather born, than new-born, believers. Now all these arefelf-deceived, and hafting to damnation, under the efficacy of a strong delusion; " for if amanthinkhimself to be some- "thingwhenhe his nothing, hedeceiveth himself," faith the apostle, Gal. vi . 3. Surely our birth-privilege,withoutthenewbirth, is nothing, yea, worse than nothing, as to our last and great account : That which stands for a great sum in our arithmetic, it is nothing, it is but a cypher you see in God's, " Except am an be born again (fays the lips of truth) he cannot " see the kingdom of God," John iii. 3 .
Poor self-deceivers, ponder those words of Christ ; you have hitherto thought your civil education, your dead and heartless duties, enough to denominate you Christians before
120 The great and dangerous MistakeofSomeProfeffors: God; but, go now, and learn what that scripture meaneth; and be affuredyou must experienceanothermannerofconverfion, or else it is impossible for you to escape eternal damnation.
2. Secondly, It is too manifest by this, that manyprofeffors are only acquainted with the externals of religion ; and all their duties are no more but a compliance of the outward man with the commands of God: This is the superficial religion which deceives and betrays multitudes into eternal misery.
True religion seats itself in the inward man, and acts effec tuallyupon the vital powers,killing finintheheart, and purging its designs and delights from carnality and selfishness ; en gagingthe heart for God; and setting it as a bow in its full bent for him, in the approaches we make to him. But how little are many professors acquainted with these things ?
Alas! if this beallwehave to stand upon, how dangerous a station is it ? What is external conformity, but an artificial imitation of that which only lives in the souls of good inen? Thus was Jehudeceived; he did many acts of external obedience to God's command, " but Jehu took no heed to walk in " the ways of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart,"
2Kings x. 31. And this was his overthrow. This also was the ruin of those formalists, Ezek. xxxiii. 31. they came and fat before the Lord as his people : The word was to them as a lovely song ; mightily charmed with the modulation of the prophet's voice, and his lively gestures ; but all the while their hearts went after their covetousness And what abundanceoffuch pharisaical, superficial religion is everywhere to be found ?
3. Thirdly, It appears by this,thateverytrialmadebysufferingsupon professors,blows away multitudes, like dry leaves in Autumn, by a stormy wind; many fall from their own stedfastness in thakingtimes; prosperity multiplies vain professors, and adversitypurges the church of them; " Then shall " many be offended," Matth. xxiv. 10.
This the scripture everywhere marks as a symptom ofhype crisy; Psalm lxxviii. 8. "A generation that set not their "hearts aright, and whose spirit was not stedfaft with God."
1 John ii. 19. "Buttheywentout, thattheymightbe made " manifest, that they were not of us." Matth. xiii. 21. " For " when tribulation orperfecutionarifeth because of the word, " by and by he is offended." But should one have told them in the days of their first profession,that alltheirzeal and labour in religionwouldhave ended in this, it is liketheywouldhave
Evidences of self-deceit in Matters of Religion. 121 replied as Hazaeltothe man of God, 2 Kings viii. 13. " But "what, isthyservantadog, thatheshoulddothis great thing?"
Quantum mutatus ab illo ? Ohow unlike is their dark and dirty evening to their glorious and hopeful morning! These professors have more of the moonthanofthefun,little light,less heat,butmanychanges : Theydecievemany, yea, they deceive themselves,but cannot deceive God. During the calm,what a flourish do they make? And with what gallantry do they fail ! By and by you may hearhorrendas tempestates, and soon after you may feeflenda naufragia, a dreadful shipwreck after a furious storm ; and no wonder, for they wanted that ιδιον περιγμον, that ballast and establishment in themselves that 1Pet. iii. 17. would have kept them tight and stable.
4. Fourthly, It is too apparent by this, that many professors secretly indulge and shelter beloved lusts underthewings of their profession: This, like a worm at the root, will wither and kill them at last, how fragrant soever they may feemto be for a season. Gideon had seventy sons, and one bastard; but that one bastard was the death of all his seventy sons.
Somemen have many excellent gifts, and perform multitudes of duties; butone secret sin indulged and allowed, will destroy them all at last. He that is partial as to the mortification of his fins, is undoubtedly hypocritical in his profession. IfDavid's evidence was good for his integrity, surely fuchprofessors will never clear themselves ofhypocrify. " I was also " upright before him, and kept myself from mine iniquity," faith he, Psalm xviii. 23. This is the right eye, andrighthand which every sincere Christian must pluck out, and cut off, Matth. v. 29, 30.
Which is a metaphor from chirurgeons, whose manner it is,whenthewhole is indangerbyany part, to cut it off, ne parsfincera trahatur ; left all perish.
Their suppressing some lusts, raiseth their confidence ; the indulging of one, razeth the foundation of their hopes ; and thus they deceive themselves.
5. Fifthly, This also manifests the self-deceits of many professors, that the secret duties of religion, or at least the secret intercourse of the soul with God in them, is a secret hid from the knowledge and experience ofmanyprofeffors.
To attend the ordinances of God in the seasons of them, they know ; to pray in their families at the statedhoursthereVOL. VII.
az Evidences of Self-deceit in Matters of Religion . of, they know; but to retire from all the world into their closets, and there to pour out their hearts before the Lord, they know not.
To feel somewhat within,paining them like an empty hungry stomach, until they have eaten that hidden manna, that bread in secret ; Imeanrefreshedtheirfouls with real communion with the Lord there ; this is a mystery locked up from the acquaintance of many that call themselves Christians ; and yet this is made a characteristical note ofa sincere Christian by Christ himself, in Matth. vi. 6.
O reader ! if thy heart were right with God, and thou didst not cheat thyself with a vain profession, thou wouldst have frequent business with God, which thou wouldst be loath thy dearest friend, or the wife of thy bosom should be privy to : Non eft religio ubi omnia patent ; religion doth not lay all open to the eyes of men. Observed duties maintain our credit, but secret duties maintain our life. It was the saying of an heathen about his secret correfpondency with his friends, what need the world be acquainted with it ? Thou and I are theatre ' enough to each other.' There are inclosed pleasures in religion,which none but renewed soulsdofeelingly understand.
6. Lastly, How many more profess religion in these days, thanever made religion their business ! Philosophy tells us, there is a το εργον and a παρέργον, amain business ; and aby-business ; the fame is found in religion also.
There are that give themselves to the Lord," 2 Cor. viii. 5. whose conversation, or trade, is in heaven, Phil. iii. 18. the end or scope of whose life is Christ, Heb. xiii. 7, 8. who give religion the precedency both in time and affection, Psalm v. 3. Rom. xii. 11. who are constant and indefatigable in the work of the Lord , 1 Cor. xv. 58 .
And there are also that take upreligior rather for oftentationthan for an occupation, who nevermindtheduties of religion, butwhentheyhavenothing else to do; and when their outwardman is engaged in the duties of it, yet their heart is not in it ; they hear, they pray, ή δε ψυχη εξω, as Chyryfoftome
but their souls, their thoughts, and minds are abroad. It is not their business to have fellowship with God in duties, to get their lusts mortified, their hearts tried, their souls conformed to the image of God in holiness .
They pray as if they prayed not, and hear as if they heard not; and if they feel no power in ordinances, noquickening in duties, it is no disappointment at all to them; for theie
Causes of Self-deceit. 123 were not their designs in drawing nigh to God in these appointments.
And thus you see what numbers of professors deceive them.. selves. A SECT . III. ND if we seriouslyenquireinto the grounds and causes of this self-deceit among professors,we shall find these four things conspiring to delude and cheat them in the great concern of their salvation .
1. First, The natural deceitfulness of the heart, than which nothing is more treacherous, and false, Jer. xvii. 9. "The " heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" *
קצ בלהילבט
Supplantativum cor,praeomnibus ; the heart is the greatest fupplanter, the most crafty and subtle cheat of all, that deceives us, as Jacobdid his brother (to whose name this textalludes). It defeats us of our heavenly heritage, as Jacob supplantedhim in his earthly one, while we are gone a hunting after earthly trifles. And wherein its deceitfulness principally appears, you may fee by the solemn caveat of the apostle, James i. 22. wherein he warns us to beware, that in hearing the word we deceive not ourselves by false reasonings ; for fo παραλογιζομενοι εαυτές imports, and may be strictly rendered, falsereasoningthemselves, namely,bymakingfalse syllogifms ; whereby they misconclude about their spiritual and eternal estateandcondition, and befoolthemselves.
The time will come when a man's own heart will be found to have the chief hand in his ruin ; and what Apollodorus did but fancy his heart said to him, some mens hearts will tell them in earnest, when they come to the place of misery and torment ; εχω σοι τουτων αιτία, I have been the cause of all this, I have betrayed thee into all these torments : it was my laziness, my credulity, my averseness to the ways of strict godliness, mortification and self-denial which have for ever undone thee : when thou fatest under the convincing truths of the gospel, it was I that whispered those atheistical furmises into thine ear, persuading thee that all thou heardst was but the intemperate heat of an hot-brained zealot ; when the judgments of God were denounced, and the misery thou now feelest forewarned and threatened, it was I that wisperedwhat the tongue of another once spake out,Tunc credam, cum illuc venero : I will be Jieve it when I come thither. • Surely this is a great truth which was observed by thewif 2 Ar,Mont,
124 Causes of Self-deceit. est of men, " He that trufsteth in his own heart, is a fool," Prov. xxviii. 26. And thousands of such fools are to be found among professors.
2. Secondly, Satan is a chief conspirator in this treacherous design ; we are not ignorant (faith the apostle) of his devices 3 νοηματα, his fophistry and flights, 2Cor. ii. 11. his επομδειας, trains and methods of temptation,which are thoroughly studied, and artificially moulded and ordered; even such systems as tutors and professors of arts and Sciences have, and read over to their auditors ; as * one judiciously observes, to be the import of that text, Erh . vi. 11. Nor is it to be wondered at, con idering his vast knowledge, deep malice, and long experience. in this art of cheating, together with the great corruption and proneness of the hearts of men to close with his de. vices, and believe his impostures, that so vast a number of fouls are taken " captive by him at his will," 2 Tim. ii. 26. It is the god of this world that blinds the minds of them that believe not, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. "The god of this world," (so called by a Mimesis) who leads a world of poor deluded wretches to destruction, having first blinded their minds, that is deluded, and with his hellish art practised upon their under- standing, that το ηγεμονικον, leading and directive faculty,which is to the foul what eyes are to the body.
I remember Basil brings in Satan thus insulting Christ : I have them ! I have them ! for all thy blood and miracles, thy wooings and beseechings, thy knockings and strivings, I have cozened thee of them at the very gates of heaven : for all their illuminations, and tasting of the powers of the world to come, I have shipwrackt them in the very mouth of the ha ven.
3. Thirdly, The common works found in unregenerate fouls deceive many, who cannotdiftinguishthem from the special works of the Spirit in God's elect: see that starthng scipture, Heb. vi. 4. where you find, among the common operations of the Spirit upon apoftates,that illumination,which gives perfpicuity to their minds in discerning spiritual truths, and that frequently with more distinctness and depth of judgment thanfome gracious fouls attain unto; besides, it is the matteroutof which many rare and excellent gifts are formed in admirable variety, which are singularly useful to others, as they are exercised in expounding the scriptures,defending
*Dr. Goodwin'sChild of light.
Causes of Self-deceit. 125 the truths of Christ by solid arguments, preaching, praying, c. and make the subject of them renowned and honouredin the church of God, whilst,meantime, they are dazzled with their own splendor, and fatally ruined by them.
There you find also tasting as well as enlightening : fo that they seem to abound not only in knowledge, but in sense also ; i.e. insomekind of experience of what they know; for experience is the bringing of things to the test of spiritual sense. They do taste or experience the good that comes by the promises of the word, and discoveries of heaven and glory, though they feel notexperimentally the transforming efficacy of these things,upontheirown fouls.
Now, that illumination furnishing them with excellent gifts (as before was noted),enabling them to affent to gospel-truths, which the scripture calls faith, Acts viii. 12. and working in them conviction of fin, I Sam. xv. 24. reformation of life, 2 Pet. ii. 20. and touching their affections also with tranfientjoy in the discovery of those truths. And this taste, which comes so near to the experience, which the sanctified foul enjoys,seems to put their condition beyond all controversy, and lay a foundation for their ill built confidence; nothing is more apt to beget and nourish such a confidence than the meltings and workings of our affections about spiritual things ; for, as a † grave divine hath well observed, such am an seems to have all that is required ofa Christian, and to have attained the very end of all knowledge, which is operation and influence upon the affections. When they shall findheatin their affections, as well as light in their minds, how apt are they to say (as these self-deceivers in the text did) they are rich, and have need " of nothing." Now of all the false signs of grace, by which mencozen themselves,none are so dangerous and destructive tofouls, as those that come nearest true ones : never doth Satan more effectually and securely manage his cheats, than when he is transformed into an angel of light.
Among this fort of self-deceivers, how many gifted men, and,among that fort, some employed in the office of the ministry will be found, whose daily employment being about spiritual things, studying,preaching,praying, &c. do conclude themselves fanctifiedperfons,because they are conversant about sacred employments,as if the subject must be, because the object is, sacred. Oh! that such would seriously ponder these
+Mr. A. Burgess.
126 Causes of Self-deceit. two scriptures, Matth. vii. 22. " Many will say unto me in " that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied inthyname? " and in thy name have cast out devils ? and inthynamedone " many wonderful things ?" And 1 Cor. ix. 27.-" left that " by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself " should be a cast-away."
4. Lastly, To add no more, this strengthens self-deceit exceedingly in many, viz. Their observations of, and comparing themselves with others. Thus the Pharisees (those gross
" trusted in themselves that they were righte- " ous, and despised others," Luke xviii. 9. Their low rating of others, gave them that high rate and value of themselves. And thus the proverb is made good, Regnat lufcus inter cæcos; he that hath but one eye, is a'king among the blind.
Thus the false apostles cheated and befooled themselves, 2Cor. x. 12. "But they measuringthemselvesbythemselves, " and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wife." God hath not made one man a measure or standard to another man, but his word is the common beam or scale to try all men.
men are as sharp-sighted to note other mens evil as their own excellencies ; to eye the miscarriages of others with derision, and their own performances with admiration.
They bless themselves whentheybehold the profane in their impieties, Luke xviii. 11. "God,I thank thee, that I am not as " other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this " publican ;" q. d. O what a saint am I in comparison of these miscreants ! the Pharisee'sreligionyou see runs alluponnots; a negative holiness is enough to him ; andthemeasurehe takes of it is by comparison of himself with others more externally vilethanhimself. A Christian may say with praise and humility, " I am not as some men are; but tho' he knows nothing " by himself, yet is he not thereby justified," I Cor. iv. 4. He neither rakes together the enormities of the vilest, or the infirmities of the holiest, to justify and applaud himself as these self-deceivers do. And these are the causes and occasions of that general deception, under which so great a part of the profeffingworld bow down and perish.
SECT. IV, Nthe last place I shall improve this point variously, ac-
3. I cording to the importance and usefulness of it, with as much brevity and closeness of application as I can. And,
Afolemn Warning to all Professors. 127 Use 1. Shall be for caution to professors: before I tell you what use you should make of it, I must tell you what use you maynotmake of it.
First, Do not make this use of it; to conclude from what hathbeenfaid, that all professors are but a pack of hypocrites, and that there is no truth nor integrity in any man : this is both intolerable arrogance, to ascend the throne of God ; and unparelleled uncharitableness, to judge the hearts of allmen.
Somemenare as apt to conclude others to be hypocrites, by measuring their hearts by their own, as others are to conclude themselves faints, by comparing their own excellencies with othermens corruptions: but, blessed be God! there is some grain among the heap ofchaff, some true diamonds among the counterfeit stones : the devil hath not the whole piece ; a remnant, according to election, belongs really to the Lord .
Secondly, Do not make this use of it, that assurance must needs be impossible,because so many professors are found to be self-deceivers .
That assurance is one of the great difficulties in religion, isa great truth ; but that it is therefore unattainable in this world, is very false. Popish doctrine indeed makes itimpoflible; but that doctrine is practicallyconfuted in the comfortable experience ofmanyfouls: all are commanded to strive for it, 2 Pet. i. 10. " Givealldiligence to make your calling and " election sure :" and some have the happiness to obtain it, 2Tim. i. 12. " For I know whom I have believed ; and I am " perfuadedthat he is able to keep that which I have commit- " tedunto him against that day."
Let the fimilarworks upon hypocrites resemble as much as they will the favingworks of the Spirit upon believers ; yet God doth always, and the faints do sometimes plainly discern the difference .
Thirdly, Do not make this use of it, to conceal or hide the truths or graces of God, or refuse to profess, or confess them beforemen, because manyprofeffors deceive themselves and others also, by a vain profession: Because another professeth whathehath not, must you therefore hide or deny what you have? It is true, thepoffeffionofgrace and truth in your own souls, is thatwhichsavesyou ; but the profeffionand confeffionofit, is that which honours God,and edifies ; yea, sometimes is the instrument to save others ; it is your comfort that you feel it, it is others comfort toknowthatyou do so. Oftentation is your fin, but a serious and humble profession is your duty, Rom. x. 9.
-128 Afolemn Warning to all Professors.
SECT. V.
Aving shewedyou in the former section what use
Use2.Having you ought not to make of this doctrine, I will next shew you what use you ought to make of it; and surely you cannot improve this point to a better purpose than from it to take warning, and look toy ourselves, that you be not of that numberwhodeceive themselves in their profession. If this be fo, suffer me closely to press that great apoftolical caution, 1 Cor. x. 12. " Let him that thinks he stands, take heed left " he fall." O professors ! look carefully to your foundation ; be not high-minded, but fear. You have, it maybe, done and suffered many things in and for religion ; you have excellent gifts and sweet comforts ; a warm zeal for God, and high confidence of your integrity: All this maybe right (for ought I, or, it may be, you know;) but yet it is possible it may be false also: You have sometimes judgedyourselves, and pronounced yourselves upright ; but remember your final sentence is not yet pronounced by your Judge. And what if God weigh you over again in his more equal balance, and should fay, Mene Tekel, thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting: What a confounded man wilt thou be under such a sentence ! Quaefplendent in confpectu hominis, for dent in conspectu Judicis : Things that are highly esteemed of men, are an abomination in the fight of God; he seeth not as man feeth. ( Thyheartmay be false, and thou not know it ; yea, it may be false, and thou strongly confidentofits integrity. ' The saints may approve thee, and God condemn thee; Rev. iii . 1. " Thou hast a name that thou livest, but thou art " dead." Men may say, there is at rue Nathaniel ; and God may fay, there is a self cozening Pharifee.
Reader, thou hast heard of Judas and Demas ; of Ananias and Sapphira; of Hymeneus and Philetus; oncerenownedand famous professors, and thou hastheardwhat they proved at last.
Take heed their case be not thine own; do they not all, as it were, with one mouth cry to thee, O professor! if thou wiltnotcomewhere we are, do notcozen thyself as we did: if thou expecteft a better place and lot, be sure thou getafincerer heart : Had we been more self-suspicious, we had been more safe.
I would not scare you with needless jealoufies,but I would fain prevent fatal mistakes. Do not you find your hearts deceitful in many things ? Do not you shuffle over secretdu-
Afolemn Warning to all Professors. 129 ties ? Do not you censure the fame evils in others, which you scarce reprove in yourselves ? Are there not many by-ends in duties? Do not you find you are far less affected with a great deal of service and honourdone to God by others, than with a littlebyyourselves ?
Is it not hard to look upon other men's excellencies without envy, or upon your own without pride?
And are you not troubled with a busy devil, as well as with abadheart ? Hath not he that circuits the whole world, observed you ? Hath he not studied your constitution sins, and found out that fin which most easily besets you ? Hath he less malice against your souls than others ? Surely you are in the very thicket of temptations; thousands of snares are round about you. Ohow difficultly are the righteous saved ! How hard to be upright ! How few even of the professing world win heaven at last !
Otherefore search your hearts, professors, and let this caution go down to your very reins ; " Let him that think she " stands, take heed left he fall."
Away with rash uncharitable censures of others, and be more just and severe in censuring yourselves. Away with dry and unprofitable controverfies, and spend your thoughts upon this great question, Am I found, or am I rotten at heart ? Am I a new creature, or the old creature still in a new creature's dress and habit? Beg the Lord that you be not deceived in that great point (your integrity) whatever you may be mistaken in. Pray that you be not given up to an heedless, careless, and vain spirit, and then have religious duties for a rattle, to still and quiet your consciences.
Surely that ground work can never be laid too sure, upon which fo great a stress as thy soul and eternity must depend. It will not repent thee, I dare promise, when thou comest to die, that thou hast employed thy time and strength to this end: Whilst others are panting after the dust of the earth, and saying, Who will shew us any good ? be thou panting after the assurance of the love of God, and crying, Who will thew me howtomake my calling and election sure? Odeceive not yourselves with names and notions ! Think not, because you are for a stricter way of worthip, or because you associate with, and are accordingly denominated, one of the more reformed professors, that therefore you are safe enough : Alas ! how small an interest have titles, modes, and denominations in religion ? Suppose a curious artist take a
VOL. VII. R
Afolemn Warning to all Professors. lump of lead and refine it, and cast it into the mould, whence it comes forth shining, and bearing some noble figure, suppose of an eagle ; yet it is but a leaden cagle. Suppose the figure of am an, and that in the most exact lineaments and proportions ; yet still it is but a leaden man : Nay, let it bear the figure of an angel, it is butaleaden angel : For the base and ignoble matter is the same it was, though the figure be not. Even so, take an unregenerate carnal man, let his life be re formed, and his tongue refined, and call him a zealous Conformist, or a strict Non-conformist ; call him a Presbyterian, an Independent, or what you will ; he is all the while but a carnal Conformist, or Non-conformist; anunregenerate Presbyterian, a carnal Independent ; for the nature is still the fame, though the stamp and figure his professiongiveshimbe not the fame.
Omy friends ! believe it, fine names and brave words are of little value with God: God will no more spare you for these, than Samuel did A gag for hisdelicateornaments, and spruce appearance : Either make sure the root of the matter, or the leaves of a vain profession will not long cover you.
To be deceived by another is bad enough; but to deceive ourselves, is a thousand times worse..
To deceive ourselves in truths of the superstructure, is bad; and they that do so, shall suffer loss, 1 Cor. iii. 12. But to deceive ourselves in the foundation, is a desperate deceit, and shipwrecks all our hopes and happiness at once.
If any man lose his money by a cheat, it troubles him; but to lose his soul by a cheat, will confound him. If am an lose an eye, an ear, a hand, a foot, yet omnia Deus dedit duplicia, as Chryfoftome speaks;Godhathgiventhese members double, fo that there is another left ; animam vero unam: But the soul isone, and only one; and if that be damned, you have not another to be saved.
O therefore be restless till it be, and tillyouknow it be, out of eternal danger !
SECT. VI.
Use 3. IN conclusion : If fo many professors of religion be cheated in their profession, let all that are well fatisfiedand assured of their integrity, bless the Lord whilst they live for that mercy. O it is a mercy that nounfanctified foul can have : yea, and it is a mercy that many gracious fouls cannot obtain, though they seek it with tears, and would part with all the pleasant things they have in the world to enjoy it.
The invaluable Worth of saving Grace
This is that mercy that gives fouls the highest pleasure this world is acquainted with, or the state of this mortality can bear; for let the well-assured soul but consider what it is assured of, Christ, with the purchases of his blood. O what is this ! " I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine," Cant. ii. 16.
What a vital, ravishing, over-powering efficacy is in that voice of faith! let it but look back a few years, and compare what it was with what it is now ; it was afar off, it is nowmadenigh, Eph. ii. 12, 13. It was not beloved, butisnowbeloved, Rom. ix. 25, 26. It had not obtained mercy, but now hath obtained mercy, I Pet. ii. 10. Or let the assured foul look forward, and compare what it now is, and hath, with what it shortly shall be made, and put in possession of : Beloved, (faith the a- " postle) now are we the sons of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be: But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall fee him as he is," I John iii. 2.
let the affuredsoulbut steep its thoughts,by meditation, in these subjects, and it will be impossible to keep him from the most agreeable transports of joy and delight. Owhat alifehaveyou in comparison of other men ? Some have two hells, one present, another coming; you have two heavens, oneinhand, the other in hope. Some of your own - brethren in Christ, that have been, it may be, many years panting after assurance, are still denied it; but God hath indulged fo peculiar a favour to you. Bless ye the Lord, and make his praise glorious.
CHAP. III.
Containing the use and improvement of
DOCT. II.
That true grace is exceeding precious, and greatly enricheth the soul that hath it : It is Christ's gold.
SECT . 1. HE Lord Jesus here chuseth the most pure, precious, resplendent, durable, and valuable thing, inallthetreafuries and magazines of nature, to shadow forth saving grace, which is infinitely more excellent : Certainly that must be the R2
132 The invaluable Worth of Saving Grace. best thing, which the best things in nature can but imperfectly
forth. What was the golden oil emptied through the twogoldenpipes, Zech. iv. 12. but the precious graces of God, flowing through Christ, into all his members : Gold is precious; but one drachm of saving grace is more precious than all the gold of Ophir : " It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall " silver be weighed for a price thereof," Job xxviii. 15. Sure ly gold and silver, sapphires, diamonds, and rubies, are not worth the mentioning, when saving grace is once mentioned. For confider it,
1. First, In its cause and fountain from whence it flows, and you shall find it to be the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22. who, upon that account, is called the Spirit of grace, Heb. x. 29.
It derives its original from the Most High ; it is spirit born of Spirit John iii. 6 All the rules of morality, all human dili gence and industry can never produce one gracious habit or act alone ; 2 Cor. iii. 5. " Not that we are fufficientof ourselves,"
of grace, when we lay, it is the fruit and birth of the Spirit ; for fo are common gifts also. There are several emanations from this fun, divers streams from this fountain ; but of all his operations and productions, this of saving grace is the most noble and excellent. Gifts are from the Spirit as well as grace, but grace is more excellent than the best gifts, 1 Cor. xii 31. " Covet earneflly the best gifts, and yet thew I unto you a more excel- " lent way." Hence you read in Phil.i. 10. "Of things that " are excellent," or as the original, τα διαφεροντα, might be rendered, things that differ, namely, in respect of excellency, not as good and evil, but as less good and more good differ. Gifts have their value and precioufness, but the best gifts differ as much from grace, as brats from gold, though both be generated by the influence of the same sun. Gifts (as one faith) are dead graces but graces are living gifts; it is the most excellent production of the highest and molt excellent cause.
2. Secondly, Confider it in its nature, and you will find it divine, 2 Pet. i. 4. " Partakers of the divine nature," viz. in our fanctification ; not that it gives us the properties of the divine nature, they are incommunicable; but the similitude and resemblance of it is stamped upon our souls, in the work of grace. " Thenewman is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him," Col. iii. 10. The schoolmen, and some of the fathers, place this image or resemblance of God,
The invaluable Worth of Saving Grace. 133 in the natural faculties of the soul, viz. the understanding, memory, and will ; which is an umbrage of a trinity in unity; but it rather consists in the renovation of the faculties by grace ; for in this we bear the divine image upon our souls, and that image or resemblance of God in holiness is the beauty and honourof our souls.
It is their beauty : " How fair, and how pleasant art thou, " O love, for delights !" faith Christ of his people, Cant. vii.
6. Natural beauty consists in the symmetry and comely proportion of parts each with the other; spiritual beauty in the harmony or agreeableness of our souls to God: and as it is our chiefest beauty, so certainly it is our highest honour ; for it gives us access unto God, who is the fountain of honour and glory; and this makes the righteous more excellent than his neighbour ; let his neighbour be what he will, though the blood of nobles run in his veins, the righteous is more excel. lent than he, except saving grace be also diffused into his soul.
3. Thirdly, Consider it in its recipient subject, and you will find its value still to increase ; for the precious oil of favinggrace is never poured into any other than an elect vessel.
Hence faith, one branch of fanctification, is, with respect to its subject, stiled The faith of God's elect, Tit. i. 1. Whosoever -finds true grace in his soul, may(during the evidence thereof) from it strongly conclude his election, looking backward, and his salvation, looking forward, Rom. viii. 30. It marks and seals the person in whom it is, for glory, " God hath set apart " him that is godly for himself," Psal. iv. 3 .
4. Fourthly, View the precious worth of grace in its excellent effects and inquences upon the soul in which it inheres.
(1.) Itadorns with incomparable ornaments, which are of great price in the fight of God, 1 Pet. iii. 4. Yea, it reflects such beams of glory in the soul where its feat is, that Christ himself, the author, is also the admirer of it ; Cant. iv. 9. " Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse ! thou " haft ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one of " the chains of thy neck !" and as one overcome with its excelling beauty, he faith, " Turn away thine eyes from me, for " they have overcome me," Cant. vi . 5.
(2.) lt. elevates and enobles a man's spirit beyond all other principles in man; it sets the heart and affections upon heaven, and takes them up with the glory of the invisible world, Phil . iii. 20. "But our conversation is in heaven, from whence we " look for the Saviour " Whilst others are trading for corn and wine, for theep and oxen, for feathers and trifles, thegraciou
134 The invaluable Worth of Javing Grace.
" foul is trading with Godforpardonand peace, for righteousness and life, for glory and immortality : Truly our fellow- " ship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," John i. 3.
(3.) It doth notonlyraise the spiritbyconverfing with God, and things above, but transforms the soul, by that converse, into the likeness of those heavenly objects it converseth with ; " It changes them into the same image," 2 Cor. iii. 18. So that though thesanctifiedman still remains the who he was, yet not the what he was before; the very temper of his spirit is altered.
(4.) It doth not only transform the soul in which it is, but preserves the subject in which it is: it is a singular preservative from fin; so that though finbe in them still, and works in them still, yet itcannotprevail in them still to fulfil the lusts of it, as it was wont to do, Gal.v 17. Sin conceives, but cannot bring forth fruit unto death; this gives a miscarrying womb.
(5.) It doth not only preserve it from fin,but grace establisheth the soul, in whom it is, far beyond any other arguments without, or any other principles within am an. " It is a good " thing that the heart be established with grace." Heb . xiii, g.
This is that which the apostle calls our own ftedfastness, or that ballast we have within ourselves ; which keeps us right and stable. O the excellency of grace !
(6 ) To conclude; it is the root of all that precious fruit which we bring forth to God in this world: it is the root of every gracious word in our lips, and of every gracious work in our hands: be the matter of our gracious thoughts never fo Excellent, the matter of our heavenlydifcourses and prayers never so sweet, still grace is the root of the matter, Job xix.
28. O then what a precious thing is grace ! 5. Fifthly, View it in its properties, and you will sooner cover its transcendent excellencies : the richest epithets are no hyperboles here; we seak not beyond the value of it, when we call it supernatural grace, for so it is: it comes down from above, from the Father of lights, Jam. i. 7. Nature can never be improved to that height, how much soever its admirers boast of it: nor do we strain too high, when we call it immortal grace; for fo hath God made it. This is that water which springs up in the sanctified foul unto eternal life, John iv. 14. It will not die when thou diest, but ascend with the soul from which it is inseparable, and be received up with it into glory, Rom. viii. 10. You may outhve your friends; you may out-
Live your estates ; you may outhve your gifts ; but you cannot outhve your graces. : Shall I say it is the most sweetandcomfortablethingthatever the soul was acquainted with in this world, next Jesus Christ, the author and fountain of it. Sure, if sol speak, I have as many witnesses to attest it, as there be gracious fouls in the world : nothing is more comfortable than grace, except Christ ; and yet without grace no foul can feel the comforts of Christ, inthetroublesof life, or in the straits of death. This is a spring of comfort!
6. Sixthly, Consider it in its design and scope; and you will till discern more and more of its precious excellency : for what is the aim and end of God in the infusions and improvements of grace, but to attemper and mould our spirits by it, into a meetnessand fitness for the enjoyment of himself in the world to come ? Col. i. 12. "Giving thanks to the Father, who "hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the " faints in light." Compare this with 2 Cor. v. 5. "Now he "that hath wrought us for the self-fame thing is God." Oblessed design ! how precious must that work be,which is wrought for fo high and glorious a purpose as this is ? No work more excellent, noendmore noble.
7. Seventhly, Consider the means and instruments,both principal and subordinate, employed in this work : many blessed instruments are set on work to be get, conserve, and improve it in our souls; and these all speak the precious worth of it. No wife manwilldigfor abase and worthless metal with golden mattocks. The blood of Christ was shed to procure it, Heb. xiii. 12.
The Spirit of God is sent forth to form and create it; for it is his own workmanship, Ephef. ii. 10. his fruit, Gal. v. 22.
The ordinances and officers of the gospel were at first instituted, and ever since continued in the church, for this work's fake, John xvii 17. and Eph. iv. 12. It is the fruit of Christ's blood ; yea, and it hath cost the sweat and blood of the difpenfersof the gospel too.
Nay, all the works of providence look this way, and aim at this thing, Rom . viii. 28. What is the errand of all God'srods, but to make us partakers of his holiness Heb.xii. 10.
66 8. Eighthly, The high value that the most high God setsupongrace, thews it to be an excellentthing indeed : It is of " great price in his fight, " Pet. iii. 4. no service finds acceptationwith God, but what is performed by grace: None bue fanctifiedvesselsare meet for the master'suse. " The end of the
136 The invaluable Worth of saving Grace. " commandment is charity out of apure heart," 1 Tim. i. f.
The weakest performances of grace find acceptance with hìm, thongh clogged with many sinful weaknesses and infirmities, Heb. xi 31, 32. If God so prize it, well may we : that made the jewel, best understands the value of it.
9. Ninthly, The hypocritical pretences made to it all over the professing world, thew what a most precious and defireable thing it is: If there were not some singular glory in it, why doth every one covet to be reputed gracious ? Nay, the devil himself baits many of his hooks of temptation with a shew of grace; for he knows fin hath no native beauty of its own to entice, and therefore he borrows the paint and pretence of ho linesstocover it but, oh ! what a dilemma will the hypocrite be posed with at last ? And how can he answer it when God
shall demand ?
If grace were evil, why didst thou affect the name and reputation of it ? And if it were good, why didst thou satisfy thyself with the empty name and shadow of it only ?
10. Tenthly, To conclude: the incomparable esteem that all good men have for it, shews it to be a thing of inestimable price.
Grace is the sum of all their prayers, the scope of all their endeavours, the matter of their chief joy, the reward of their afflictions and sufferings; their chiefjoys and sorrows, hopes and fears in this world, are taken up about it. By all which it appears that its price is above rubies; and all the gold and silver in the world are butdung anddross in comparison with it.
:SECT. II.
Containing fix practical inferences from this precious truth. Infer. 1. Is saving grace more precious than gold ? Let them that have it, bless God for it, and not braft. Mens hearts are as apt to puff up and swell with spiritual, as with material gold: It is hard to be an owner of,much of this gold, and not be lifted up with it. To keep down thy heart, and preserve thine eyes from being dazzled with these thy glorious excellencies, it will be needful for thee, Christian, sometimes toconfider, That althoughgracebe one of the most excellent things that ever God created, yet it is but a creature, a dependent thing, 1 Cor. v. 17. Yea, it is not only a creature, but avery imperfect creature yet inthyfoul, labouring under many weaknesses, Phil. iii. 12. and sometimes ready to die, Rev. iii. 2.
Practical Inferences from the preciousness of Grace. 137 Though it candomanythings for you, yet it cannot justify you before God: You cannot make a garment of it to cover your guilt, nor plead the dignity of it at God's bar for your discharge: It is not your inherent, but Christ's imputed righteouiness must do that for you, though in other respects it be very necessary. Nay, remember how excellent soever it be, it is not the native growth and product of your hearts ; all the grace you have is foreign to your natures; and what you have is received, 1 Cor. iv. 7.
And, lastly, remember he that is most proud and conceited of his own graces will be found to be the owner of least grace, and hath most cause to question whether he hath any or no. is the nature of grace to humble, abase, and empty the soul ; and it is the strength of ourcorruptions which thus puffs us up with vain conceits.
Infer. 2. Is saving grace more excellent than gold ? What causethenhave the poorest Christians to be wellfatisfied with their lot? To others God hath given Ishmael's portion, the fatness of the earth; to you Isaac's, thegracesofthecovenant : Their portion is paid in brass, yours in gold. Many of you are poor in the world, but " rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom " which God hath promised," Jam. ii. 5. What is the dust of the earth to the fruits of the Spirit ? You are troubled that you have no more of the world : It may be if you had more gold, youwouldhave less grace. You confider nothowmany are poor and wretched in both worlds, moneyless and Christless too : You do not consider you are near come to that state, in which all your wants will be fully supplied; where you shall not need the treasures of the earth, and have your desires satisfied out of the treasures of grace and glory.
Infer. 3. Is saving grace gold ? yea, infinitely more precious than gold? Then surely declining Christians are great losers, and have cause to be great mourners. The remission of the least degree of grace, is more to be lamented than the loss of the greatest sum of gold.
Though the habits of grace be not lost, yettheacts of grace maybe suspended, 2 Sam. xii. 31. The degrees of grace may be remitted, Rev. iii. 3. The evidences ofgracemaybe clouded, and consequently the comforts of grace maybe suspended, Ifa. 1. 10. and the least of these is such a loss, as all the treasures oftheearthcannot repair. Well therefore may declined ChriVOL . VII. S
138 Practical Inferencesfrom thepreciousness of Gracc.
challenge the first place among all the mourners in the world.
In for. 4. Is grace so invaluably precious ? How precious then ought the ordinances of God to be to our souls, by which grace is first communicated, and afterwards improved in our souls! " The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thou- *" sands of gold and silver," Psal. cxix. 72. and good reason, whilst it imparts and improves that to which gold and silver are butdross and dung.
None but these that value not grace, will ever flight the means, or despise and injure the instruments thereof. It is a fad sign of a graceless world, when these precious things fall undercontemptsand lights .
Infer. 5. Ifgracebesoprecious,how watchful should all graciousperfonsbe in the days of temptation! The design of temptation is to rob you of your treasure: When cut-purses get into the croud, we use to say, Friends, look to your puries. How many brave Christians have we read and heard of, that have rather chosen to part with their lives, than with their graces, who have " resisted unto blood, striving against fin?" Heb. xii. 4.
O, Christians ! you live ina cheating age; many seeming Christians have lost all, and many real Christians have loft much; fomuch, that they are like to fee but little comfort in this world; who are like to go mourning to the grave with that lamentation, Job xxix. 2, 3. " O that it were with me as in times " past !"
Infer. 6. To conclude: Is there such precious worth in favinggrace ? Then blejs God for, and diligently use all means to increase and improve it in your souls. It is gold for precioufness, and for usefulness, and must not be laid up in a napkin: That is a fin condemned by the very scope of that parable, Matth. xxv. 14, 15.
All Christians indeed have not the fame advantages of improvement; but all must improve it according to the advantages they have, in order to an account. Reserved Christians, whe live too abstracted from the society and communion of others, and disperse not their streams abroad to the benefit of others, nor improve the graces of others for their own benefit, are wanting both to their own duty and comfort. See you am an rich in grace, O trade with him if you can, to improve your selves by him ; and the rather, becauseyouknow not how soon death may snatch him from you, and with him all his stock of grace is gone from you too, except what you made your own
Prosperity a Furnace to try our Graces. 139 whilst you conversed with him : But, alas ! alas ! instead of holy, profitable, foul-improving communion, some are fullenly reserved ; some are negligent and lazy; some are litigious and wrangling ; more apt to draw forth the dross, than the gold; I mean the corruptions, than graces of others. And how few there be that drive a profitable trade for increase of grace, is fad toconfider.
And as grace is not improved by communion with men, so I doubt most Christians thrive but little in their communion with God: We are too seldom in our closets, too little upon our knees; and when we are there, we gain but little ; we come not off such gainers by duty as we might. O Christians ! think when you are hearing and praying, I am now trading with heaven for that which is infinitely better than gold. God is rich to all that call upon him : What a treasure may I get this hour, if the fault be not in mine own heart ? And thus of the second observation .
CHAP. IV.
Wherein the third doctrine, being the main subject of this treatise, is opened, and the method of the whole discourse stated.
DOCT . Ι.
That only is to beaccountedtruegrace, which is able to endure all those trials appointed or permitted for the discovery of it. T
SECT Ι .
66 HE most wife God hath seen it fit to set all his people in a state of trial in this world. First, he tries, and then he crowns them ; James i. 12. Blessed is the man that " endureth temptation, wειρασμον, i. e. [probation or trial] ; " for when he is tried, hethall receive the crown of life, " &c.
he is ; whether his graces be true or false, till they be tried and examinedbythose things which are to them as fire is to gold. These self-deceivers in the text thought they had grace; yea, they thought they had been rich in grace ; but it proved no better than dross : And therefore Christ here counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire ; i. e. true grace indeed, which appears to be so upon the various proofs and examinations of its sincerity, which are to be made S2
140 Prosperity a Furnace to try our Graces. in this world, as well as in the great solemn trial it must come to in the world to come.
The scripture speaks of atwofold trial, viz.
Opinions,
Atrial of mens and Graces. 1. First, The opinions and judgments of menaretried as by fire; in which sense we aretounderstandthat place, 1 Cor. iii, 12,13. " Now if anyman build upon this foundation, gold, 66 silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's " work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try eve ry man's work, of what fort it is." "
This text speaks of such persons as hold the foundation of Christianity, but yet superstructed such doctrines and practices, as were no more able to endure the trial, than hay, wood, or stubble, can endure the fire *. Such a person hereby brings himself to danger ; and though the apostle will not deny the possibility, yet he asserts the difficulty of his salvation ; "He " shall be saved, yet so as by fire †; " i, e. as am an is favedby leaping out of his house at midnight, when it is all on fire a bout his ears ; for so that phrase imports, Amos iv. 11. and Jude23. Glad to escape naked, and with the loss of his goods; blessing God he hath his life fora prey : As little regard shall
have to their erroneous notions and unscriptural opinions at last.
2. Secondly, The graces of men are brought to the test, as well as their opinions. Trial will be made of their hearts, as well as their heads ; and upon this trial the everlasting safety and happiness of the person depends. If am an's opinions be fomeof them found hay or stubble, yet so long as he holds the head, and is right in the foundation, he maybe saved; but if am an's supposed graces be found so, all the world cannot save him: There is noway of escape, if he finally deceive himself herein. And of this trial of graces my text speaks : Sincere grace is gold tried by fire.
There is a twofold trial of grace ; active and passive. First, An active trial of it, in which we try it ourselves, 2Cor. xiii . 5. " Examine yourselves ; prove yourselves ;" i. e. measure your hearts, duties and graces,by the rule of the word; * Upon a thorough trial they ranish into smoke. † From which judgment he shall escape just as one does naked, or with his bare life, out of the midst of flames. Chryfoftome.
Prosperity a Furnace to try our Graces. 141 leehowthey answer to that rule : Bring your hearts and the word together by solemn self-examination ; confer with your reins, and commune with your own hearts.
Secondly, A passive trial of it: whether we try it or no, God will try it, he will bring our gold to the touchstone, and to the fire. " Thou, O Lord, knowest me; thou hast seen " me, and tried mine heart towards thee," faith the prophet, Jer.xii. 3.
Sometimes he tries the strength and ability of his servants graces; and thus he tried Abraham, Heb. xi. 17. And fometimeshe tries the foundness and sincerity of our graces ; so the Ephesianangelwas tried, and founddross, Rev. ii. 2. Andfo
Job was tried, and found true gold, Job xxiii. 10. These trials are not made by God for his own information; for he knows what is in man; his eyes pierce his heart and reins; but for our information ; which is the true sense of Deut. viii. 2. " Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God " led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee, "and to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart;" i. e. to make thee know it, by giving thee such experiments and trials of it in those wilderness straits and difficulties.
And these are the trials of grace I am here to speak of, not excluding the active trials made by ourselves; no, no, all these trials made by God upon us, are designed to put us upon the trial of ourselves: When God tries, we should try too.
Now the method into which I shall cast this discourse, shall betoshewyou,
1. First, What those things are which try the sincerity of our graces, as fire tries gold.
2. Secondly, For what ends doth God put the graces of his people upon such trials in this world.
3. Thirdly, That such grace only is sincere as can endure these trials.
4. Fourthly, and lastly, To apply the whole, in the main uses of it.
SECT. II.
2. First, What those things are which try the sincerity of grace, as fire tries gold. Before I enter into particulars, it will be needfulto acquaint you, that the subject before me is full of difficulties. There is need, as one speaks, of much cautious respect to the various fizesanddegrees of growth among Christians, and the viciffi-
142 Prosperity a Furnace to try our Graces. tudesof their inwardcate; else we may darken and perplexthe way, instead of clearing it.
The portraiture of a Christian is such as none can draw to one model, but with respect to the infancy of some, as well as the age and strength of others.
Great heed ought also to be had in the application of marks and signs ; we should first try them, before we try ourselves or others by them. Marks and signs are by some distinguished into exclusive, inclusive, and positive : Exclusive marks serve to shut out bold pretenders, by shewing them how far they come short of a saving work of grace ; and they are commonly taken from some necessary common duty, as hearing, praying, &c. He that doth not these things, cannot have any work of grace in him ; and yet if he do them, he cannot from thence conclude his estate to be gracious : He that so concludes, deceives himself.
marks rather discover the degrees than the truth of grace, and are rather intended for comfort than for conviction : If we find them in ourselves, we do not only find sincerity, but eminencyof grace : They beingtakenfromfome raised degree and eminent acts of grace in confirmed and grown Christians.
Betwixt the two former there is a middle fort of marks, which are called positive marks, and they are such as are always, and only found, in regenerate souls : The hypocrite hath them not; the grown Christian hath them, and that in an eminent degree: The poorest Christian hath them in a lower, but saving degree : Great care must be taken in the application of them. And it is past,doubt, that many weak and injudicious Christians have •been greatly prejudiced by finding the experiences of eminent Christians proposed as rules to measure their sincerity by. Alas ! these no more fit their souls, than Saul's armour did David's body.
and a due carecarriedalongwith us through this discourse, I shall next come to the particulars, and shewyou what those things are which discover the state and tempers of our souls. And though it be true, that there is no condition we are in, no providence that befałs us, but it takes fomeproof, and makes some discovery of our hearts ; yet, to limit this discourse, and fall into particulars as soon as we can, I shall shew what trials are made of our graces in this world, by our prosperity, and our adversity ; by our corruptions, and our duties ; and, lastly, by our sufferings upon the score and account of religion.
Prosperity a Furnace to try our Graces. 143 SECT . III .
First, Prosperity, success, and the increase of outwardenjoyments, are togracewhat fire is to gold. Riches and honours make trial what we are ; and by these things many a false heart hath been detected, as well as the sincerity and eminency of other graces discovered. We may fancy the fire of prosperity to be rather for comfort than trial ; to refresh us rather than to prove us; but you will find prosperity to be a great discovery, and that scarce any thing proves the truth and strength ofmens graces andcorruptions more than that doth : Rara virtus eft humilitas honor at a, faith Bernard; to find humility with honour, is to find a phoenix. Let an obscure person be lifted up to honour, and how steady and well composed soever he was before, it is a thousand to one but his eyes will dazzle, and his headrunroundwhenhe is upon the loftypinacle of praise and honour * ; Prov. xxvii. 21. "As the fining-pot for silver, and " the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise :" Put the bestgoldintothe fining-pot of praise, and it is a great wonder if a great deal of dross do not appear, Ifa. xxxix. 2. the vainglory of good Hezekiah rose like a froth or scum upon the pot, whenheatedby prosperity. It was such afining-pot to Herod, as discovered him to be dross itself, Acts xii. 23. How did that poor worm swell under that trial into the conceit of a god, and was justly destroyedbyworms, because he forgat himself to be one ? We little think what a strange alteration an exalted statewillmake upon our spirits. When the prophet would abatethe vain confidence of Hazael, who would not believe that ever he should be turned intosucha savage beast as the prophet had foretold; he only tells him, " The Lord hath shewed me, " that thou shalt be king over Syria," 2 Kings viii. 13. The meaning is, Do not be too confident Hazael, that thy temper anddispositioncannever alter to that degree ; thou never yet fat ona throne : When men see thecrownuponthyhead,then they will better see the true temper of thy heart.
How humble was Israel in the wilderness, tame and tractable in a lean pasture; but bring them once into Canaan, and the world is strangely altered; then, "we are lords, (say they) we "will come no more unto thee," Jer. ii. 2, 7, 31. Prosperity is a crisis both to grace and corruption. Thence is that caution to Israel, Deut. x. 11, 12. " When thou haft eaten, and art " full, then beware left thou forget the LordthyGod." Then *Magiftratus indicat virum: i. e. Preferment proves a man.
44 Prosperity a great Trial. beware, that is the critical time; surely, thatman must be acknowledged rich, very rich in grace, whose grace suffers nodiminution, or eclipse by his riches; and that man deserves doublehonour, whose pride the honours of this world cannot provoke and inflame.
It was afad truth from the lips of a piousdivine in Germany uponhisdeathbed; being somewhat disconsolate, by reflecting upon the barrenness of bis life, some friends took thence anoccafiontocommend him, and mind him of his painful ministry, and fruitful life among them; but he cried out, Auferte ignem, adhuc enim pale as habeo ; Withdraw the fire, for I have chaffin me; meaning, that he felthisambition like chaff catching fire from the sparkles of their praises. Like unto which was the saying of another, He that praiseth me, wounds me. Buttodefcend into the particular discoveries that prosperity andhonour make of the want of grace in some, and of the weakness of grace in others ; I will shew you what symptoms ofhypocrify appear upon somemenunderthe trial of prosperity, and what sigus of grace appear in others under the fame trial.
SECT. IV.
Prosperity discovers many fad symptoms of a naughty heart; and, among others, these are ordinarily most conspicuous. 1. First, It casts the hearts of some men into a deep oblivion of God, and makes them lay aside all care of duty ; Raro fumant foelicibus arae; the altars of rich men seldom smoke, Deut. xxxii. 13, 14, 15. Jesurun fucked honey out of the rock, eat the fat of lambs, and kidneys of wheat : But what was the effect of this; he kicked, and forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. Instead of lifting up their hearts in an humble thankful acknowledgment of God's bounty, they lifted up the heel in a wanton abuse of his mercy: In the fattest earth we find the most slippery footing. He that is truly gracions may, in prosperity, remit some degrees; but a carnal heart there loseth all that which in a low condition he seemed tofave. Augur's deprecation, as to himself, no doubt, was built upon his frequent observation how it was with others; Prov. xxx. 8, 9. " Lest I be full, and deny " God."
It is said in Eccles. v. 12. " That the abundance of the rich " will not fufferhim to sleep;" and I wish that were the worst injury it did him; but, alas! it will not fufferhim to pray, to
Prosperity a great Trial. 145 meditate, toallowtime and thoughts about his eternalconcernments ; he falls asleep in the lap of prosperity, and forgets that there is a God to be served, or a soul to be saved. O this is a dangerous symptom of a very graceless heart !
2. Secondly, Prosperity meeting with a graceless heart, makes it wholly sensual, and entirely swallows up its thoughts and affections : Earthly things transform andmould their hearts into their own similitude and nature : The whole strength of their souls goes out to those enjoyments. So those graceless, yet prosperous persons are described, Jobxxi. 11, 12, 13. " They " take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the found of the 66 organ: they spend their days in wealth." They take the timbrel, not the Bible. " They rejoice at the found of the " 6 " organ;" not a word of their rejoicing in God. They " fend forth their little ones in the dance :" That is all the catechism they are taught : " They spend their days in wealth ;" their whole time, that precious stock and talent, is wholly laid -out upon these sensitive things : Either the pleasure of it powerfully charms them, or the cares of it wholly engross their minds, that there is no time to spare for God. They live inpleafureupon earth, as it is, Jam. v. 5. just as the fish lives in the water, its proper element : Take him off from these things, and put him upon spiritual, serious, heavenly employments, and he is Piscis inarido; Like a fish upon the dry land.
Now, though prosperity may too much influence and ensnare the minds of good men, and estrange them too much from heavenly things ; yet thus to engross their hearts, and convert themintotheir own similitude and nature, so that these things
the centre of their hearts, the very proper element in which they live, is utterly impossible.
An hypocrite indeed maybebroughtto this, because, though Janus like, he have two faces, yet he really hath but one principle, and that is wholly carnal and earthly: So that it is easy to make all the water to run into one channel, to gather all into one entire stream, in which his heart shall pour out all its -strength to the creature.
But a Christian indeed hath a double principlethatacts him ; though he have a law of sin that moves him one way, yet there is in him alto the law of grace, which thwarts and crosses that principle of corruption : So that as grace cannot do what it would, because of fin; so neither can fin do what it would, because of grace, Gal. v. 17.
The heart of a Christian, in the midst of ensaaring sensitive
VOL. VII. T
146 Prosperity a great Trial. -enjoyments, finds indeedacorrupt principle in it,which would •incline him to fall asleep upon such a soft pillow, and forget God and duty; but it cannot, O no ! it cannot do fo; there is