Chapter VII
What obedience and duty we owe unto God, as we are his friends. We should
be fearful of doing anything to displease him, observe his commands, and do
all from the principles of love and gratitude.
The next thing to be treated of concerneth what in obedience we owe unto him, what correspondencies, what returns, observances, and compli ances are due to him in our walkings with him, upon the account of friend
ship. Now the general consideration I would premise to all that follows
is, that this friendship being contracted between an infinite God, and
creatures subjected perfectly to his sovereign power, he might exact all from us, as simple obedience due from absolute servants and vassals. But he hath been pleased to quit (as it were) that consideration : John xv. 15, Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends ; as if he were content on his part to forget the relation of servants, and take up all from us as from friends, provided he hath the same that as servants we owe to
him, which must needs so sweeten all obedience to him, as not to make
the commandments grievous ; and it also puts the stricter obligation unto
obedience, due as servants, and superadds some strains and dispositions
thereunto, upon the pure account of friendship. So respectful is he of us, that he is content to veil and cover this hard and severe tax, and to take
it up from us under the notion of gratitude and thankfulness. And this
notion will run along, and accompany us through the whole. Now of such
compliances and returns of obedience, there are two branches, which are a known and common trodden place by every tongue and pen.
1st. There is a fearfulness to displease or offend him as our friend.
2dly. All possible care to please and render ourselves friendly and
respectful to him. I must not instance in particular duties, nor be large in anything, only hint such considerations as not the notion only, but the
power of friendship, doth bind us to.
1. There is fearfulness to displease him, as a man is fearful to displease a friend. This is to
* fear the Lord and his goodness, as the prophet speaks. Every sin, by reason of friendship to him, comes under the crime and guilt of falsehood and petit treason. When thou sinnest, then think with thyself that God s Spirit looks back, and says to thee as Absalom to Hushai, 2 Sam. xvi. 17, Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Or as God himself, Deut. xxxii. 6, Do ye thus requite the Lord, ye foolish and unwise ? is
214 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK II.
not he thy father that hath bought thee ? hath he not made and established thee ? If it had been mine enemy, I could have borne it, but it was thou my friend, Ps. Iv. 12, said David of his friend. And says God again of David (who had felt the smart of wounds received in the behalf of his
friends, and therefore every word pierced him), 2 Sam. xii. 7-9, I anointed thee king over Israel, delivered thee from Saul, gave thee thy master s
wives, yea, gave thee the whole house of Israel and Judah to be thy subjects and to reign over ; and if this (which for this world might well content the
largest heart) would not have contented thee, I |,love thee so well, that I would have given thee such and such things. And you know how the sense of this ingratitude brake his heart. Now translate this word for word into the style and language of the New Testament. I have loved thee (may God say), and chosen thee my friend in Christ Jesus afore the world began. I have delivered my Son unto death for thee, and with him. how shall I not give thee all things ? Heaven, and glory, and an everlast
ing kingdom I have prepared for thee, not to tell thee how many sins I have pardoned, when thou first earnest to me, and since ; and wilt thou serve
rne thus ? Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? This grieves God. Against his enemies he hath a relief, he can ease himself: Isa. i. 24, I will ease
myself on mine adversaries ; but on his friends he hath no remedy, no
other, but having seen their ways, to heal them ; for he cannot, must not, ease himself by revenge. Such things as these should move us. Oh, when thou art about to sin next, and hast the cup of pleasure at thy mouth and lips, think with thyself at the instant, that it is the price of thy friend s
blood, and pour it upon the ground : you know I allude to the story and
passage in 1 Chron. xi. 19. Think what was in that cup which he trembled
at. Let this cup pass, cried he. Dost thou begin at any time to sip of
pleasure s cup ? Oh cry out then likewise, Let this cup pass from me ; my Saviour drank all these as turned to gall and vinegar, and shall I make that my pleasure, which was such horror and bitterness to him ! And of
sins, take heed of presumptuous sins, which is a making bold with his
friendship, and the continuance of his love still notwithstanding. These
strike directly at the root, the soul, at the marrow of friendship ; this is a
strain higher than treason. David, a king, might have aggravated Ahitho-
* Thou my friend which he upbraids him with, and lays to his charge his treason
phel s fault, in that he was his prince, his sovereign ; but it was
against friendship. And Ahithophel was therein the type of Judas, whose
sin to this day is branded with the name of treason treason the highest that ever was, that he who eats my bread (says Christ) should betray me. Oh keep me from presumptuous sins ! (saith David, Ps. xix. 19) for they are the next step to the great offence ; so shall I be free from the great transgression, than which nothing is higher, or nearer than the sin of pre suming on God s love. The oppression of good nature in any good and sweet soul we stand in relation unto, is the greatest oppression in the world ; and what oppresseth good nature more than under presumption of
friendship to abuse it ? So also upon the same account take heed of sins that wound the name of God in thee. How doth one cast shame upon all
his friends, when he runs into an enormity
! Noscitur ex socio, &c., they account all his friends and companions such. David s sin is aggravated by
this, that he made the enemies of God to blaspheme ; and nothing puts God more into a strait, how to acquit himself toward you, and save his own
honour, than in such a case either to lose the service you may yet do, or
to dishonour himself by using you any longer therein.
CHAP. VII.] IN THE HEAKT AND LIFE. 215
2. The second branch of obedience is (as you know), keeping his com mandments: Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you, says
Christ, John xv. 14. Thus also says Jonathan to David his friend: 1 Sam.
* Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. Yea, friend
xx. 4,
ship will turn that sovereign word of commands into that more easy style,
whatsoever will please him, Isa. Ivi. 4. And yet yours to command is
stylus amicitice, the style of friendship. A man can requite a friend but two
ways, either by profiting him, or by pleasing him. Now profit God we cannot : What is it to him that thou art righteous ? (says Job). Christ himself could not profit God ; witness that speech spoken of him,
* My good ness extends not to thee, Ps. xvi. But yet please him he did in all things, John viii. 39.
(1.) Let us study with ourselves what in our way, and in his will con
cerning us, will most please him, and let us make it the pleasure of our
souls to do it. Let us think with ourselves, as David did: Ps. Ixix. 31, This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Let us do what is done by us out of a free spirit, and not only or barely as commanded. Let us think, that of Paul s looks fully this way
1 Cor. ix. 16, 17, Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:
for necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the
* For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward : but
! ver. 17,
gospel
if unwillingly, a dispensation is committed to me. The plain result of which
place is this, 1, that to do the best work for God that can be done in this
world, is to preach the gospel ; therefore, by way of supposition, he heightens and greatens it, Though I preach the gospel, than which the angels them
selves have not a better work committed to them ; yea, 2, if I outwardly do this work (says he) with all the pains and diligence that flesh and blood can perform it with, even to the utmost of the dispensation and commis
sion enjoined me, as ver. 17 implies ; yet, 3, to do this, having this only in my eye, that I am commanded by God to do it, is not enough. That
* for
this was his scope is clearly acknowledged out of these his words,
necessity is laid upon me. This necessity was not of any outward restraint ; no man could have compelled him, no more than they could Demas, who
left his preaching, embraced the present world, and fell a merchandising,
taking the advantage of growing rich at Thessalonica, 2 Tim. iv. 10. It was not for maintenance and livelihood, for it was that he was speaking of, that he refused it for preaching. Yea, the necessity he in these words
intends, is severed from that other necessity of being damned if he did it
not, for so it is emphatically expressed by our translators. Yea (tanquam
aliquid amplius), Woe is me if I preach not the gospel. He adds it as some further thing, so that the single necessity of the command was at first
considered by him ; which therefore, ver. 17, he thus expresseth, A dis
pensation is committed to me. But to have preached the gospel out of such a necessity only, had not been matter of glory or acceptation with God ;
yea, to have preached it upon these or such grounds only, had been to
preach it cixuv, unwillingly the unwillingness being to be interpreted by what he opposeth to it, namely, willingness out of choice, heartily and
freely to choose the work out of love to God chiefly, and the souls of men. As one well observes, unwilling is not invitus, but jussus ;* and our trans
lators have shot that bolt too far to translate it against my will. So then,
to conclude this, to do a thing merely upon the necessity of the obligation of the command, though of God, and only because such a dispensation is
* Grotius.
OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK II.
committed and laid upon one, although in itself the greatest service in the world, is not with God acceptable alone, in the terms which we stand in with him, which are of friendship and not of mere servants. And there
fore, over and above, there must be a freeness and willingness, out of ingenuity to God, which is to do it for him as to a friend ; which that Paul might manifest, he did preach the gospel freely, to which yet others
(he says) were not obliged, but it had been his profession so to do. And in doing this out of this principle, and in this manner, the work had a glory, that is, a grace, an acceptableness in it, which else it would have lost. Peter thus expresseth it: 1 Pet. ii. 19, 20, that it is thankworthy, and that from God, rovro
%<%/ cra^a zf, which in the same verse he also terms glory ; what glory is it ? He speaks it upon the like occasion of doing noble, free, and heroical acts of obedience unto God. To be patient and
quiet, to be buffeted for what is truly faulty, this is good (says he) ; but this comes merely under the notion of justice, and duty, and command, and so what glory is in it ? But if, when you do well and suffer for it, ye take
it patiently, this is thankworthy before God. The style and language imports that such actions God takes not only well, as a master that com mands things as a duty, but also as a friend doth from the hands of a friend ;
not only with an acknowledgment, Well done, good and faithful servant, but with thanks, which we use not to give to servants, but to friends, as having done us free courtesies. So that, although there are not works of supererogation (as in respect of what God doth and may command : Luke xvii. 19, Doth he thank that servant, because he did those things that
were^ commanded him? I trow not, says Christ), yet there is such a per forming of things commanded for the manner of it, as is over and above the force of the command, even out of freeness and ingenuity as friends. And there are some such noble and heroical acts of obedience, as carry in their very appearance a principle above that of service, which respect the
necessity of the command, that God thanks them for them, as a man doth his friend for a matter of courtesy ; and they come to have a glory, a special
grace in them, which simple obedience hath not. And they also have thanks, which not the intercourse of servant and master, but between friend and friend requires, and which chiefly respect the freeness and nobleness of the mind we do it with. Now that Christ should use the same word that Peter doth, yj*.y^ thanks ; and that Peter should say, that to such and such actions thanks, and those thanks from God, were due or suit able ; and that Christ should, on the contrary, say, Will that master thank his servant ? I know not how otherwise to reconcile than thus, that when we shall lift up our obedience out of the crowd and common rank of services (which God might stand upon, since he, as lord and master, could so command, and we must be forced to say, We are unprofitable servants, when we have done, as having done nothing but what was commanded us), and shall perform it to God upon terms and grounds of gratitude and thank fulness, yea, as friends, then God condescends also to accept it as it is given, not as duty only, but as free, and gives thanks for it : so gracious is he if we be thus noble. And all these places shew, that otherwise (suppose we be saved) yet we lose that glory, splendour, and lustre which might be found in our obedience, if we thus performed it.
(2.) We should study and search outworks so excellent for the manner of performance, or seek a heart so noble, as should render such common actions extraordinary. God hath studied how to commend and set out his kindness (witness the death of his Son), and prevent us with his loving-
CHAP. VII.] IN THE HEAKT AND LIFE. 217
kindness, as the psalmist speaks. And we should (if possible) study out some
free-born acts of obedience, and prevent him with them. Thus David,
unspoken to by God, out of his vast desires to glorify him, thinks of building a temple for him ; and, says God, I never spake a word of it, 2 Sam. vii. 7.
Yet because what was in God s heart rose up so nobly in David s (it was
an ingenuous thought occasioned it, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the
: Tell him
ark of God dwells in curtains, ver. 2), God took this kindly
(says God to Nathan), I will build him an house for it, ver. 11. In ser
vices we do let us study to put an emphasis of love upon them, as Paul, who (when he might have done otherwise) preached the gospel for nothing.
(3.) I shall mention some special seasons (instead of other particulars) which
thou mayest take the advantage of, to render a quick and diligent obedience
exceeding acceptable to him as a friend, and thanksworthy as from a friend,
iraoa roD 0soD, even by God himself.
[1.] One season is, when after great falls you are anew reconciled to
him, and he hath pardoned you great sins. You know what vows David made after his falls, Ps. li. 18 : he vowed to convert others, to celebrate his
praise, and to offer the choicest of sacrifices, a broken heart. This made
Peter bestir himself, but upon two words spoken by Christ after his fall, Lovest thou me ? Politic friendship bids you take heed of a reconciled
friend that hath been treacherous, and done you a mischief; but God delights
in such to choose. He therefore chose forth his entirest friends (and he knew
what he did in doing it) out of the sons of men that had offended him,
rather than make new ones, for he knew they would love him. better. A
friend that is in his radical disposition of a good and ingenuous nature, and hath wronged you, such a one when reconciled, and you have pardoned
him, is the best and fastest friend in the world. And God will in the end
be sure to make those good-natured, and true-hearted to him, whom he
* Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, in
: Ps. xxxii. 1,
pardons
: Hast thou
whose heart is no guile. He couples these two for ever together
sinned, and hath God pardoned and loved thee freely ? This is a new
conversion to thee, a redintegration of a new love between you; love much, and obey much, as Mary and Peter did.
[2.] Labour then most, when in view thou art in least dependence on him for outward mercies, and thinkest thy mountain most strong. In
some times of a man s life he is set in an enlarged and free state, so as he
looks over the present horizon of his condition, and sees not one cloud that
anyway threatens rain. He is hedged about (as Job), and sees not whence
a breach should come. At such a time meditate (if ever) to act in a more
extraordinary manner for God s interest and honour. When was it that
David meditated that fore-mentioned high and generous act of testifying his
love in building God an house ? It is prefaced thereunto, 2 Sam. vii. 2,
* that it came to pass, when David sat in his house, and the Lord had
given him rest round about from all his enemies. The coast was clear (as we use to say), and then the king said, ver. 2, He would build God an
house. He took this special season to express his love towards God in, and God took thereupon that special advantage to confirm his house to
him. Hezekiah, on the contrary, whilst Sennacherib lay with his army
before the city, and the ten tribes were carried captive before his face, walked with a perfect heart ; but when his kingdom was settled, and a
lease of his life freely sealed for fifteen years, you know then how he forgat
God, and how God took it at his hand s. Joshua (who was a man God
honoured to bring his people into rest, having that testimony given him,
218 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK II.
that he followed God fully), you see, a long time after (Josh, xxiii. 1) that God had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, how he engaged afresh all the people to serve God, chap, xxiv., and himself espe cially, ver. 15, I and my household will serve the Lord. This was
friendly, and God took it accordingly, and recorded it for ever.
[3.] On the contrary, when God afflicts and crosseth thee in thy desires, and hath denied for the present the request thou hast made, apply thyself most unto him. These, though contrary seasons, are yet times alike of winning upon God by obedience : Eccles. vii. 15, In the day of good, or
prosperity, be in good ; that is, as our critics explain it, be conversant, and exercise thyself wholly in what is good ; and in the day of evil, see to thy ways and consider. Thus he calls for holiness alike in both. That was also true ingenuity which they expressed, Ps. xliv. 17, 18, &c., All this is come upon us ; yet we have not forgotten thee, nor our steps declined from thy ways. Paul glories more in the obedience he did in his infirmities than in all his revelations.
[4.] Though thou hast served him long, and waited, and perhaps he hath done little for thee in comparison of what for others, yet take occasion still to serve him, and that the more diligently, and be far" from thinking much. Amicitia non est revocanda ad calculos, friends are not as partners that keep accounts of their receipts and expenses from each other. God gives mercies, and upbraids not, James i. 5. And we should return obedi ence, and not repine. Paul served God many years, did more than all the
apostles, as himself says, and yet (says he), I forget what is past and behind, Philip, iii., and reach and roam after still what is before. And though many years were past already, yet he thought not much at it, that his condition was not bettered, nor his ways mended : 1 Cor. iv. 11,
* Even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have not certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands:
being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it ; being defamed, we entreat : we are made as the filth of the world, and as the offscouring of
all things unto this day. You see he puts it into the account, that to that hour (ver. 11), to that very day (ver. 13), he and his fellow-apostles (the greatest saints that ever the world had, or was to have) had done such high and so great works of service for God as the world did then, yea, doth to this
day, and shall to the end of the world, owe their salvation and Christian
religion to them ; and yet though they had run out so many years, they were not a whit amended as to their outward condition. They had neither meat to put in their mouths, nor houses of abode to dwell in ; yea, and which still heightens all this, other Christians that were saved as well as they, that had less grace, and done far less service, yea, for whose sakes they had been employed to do all this, were gratified by God with these kind of accommodations. The apostle on purpose sets the instance of such by this other, vers. 8 and 10, Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have
reigned as kings without us; and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. We are fools for Christ s sake, but ye are wise in Christ : we are weak, but ye are strong
: ye are honourable, but we are
despised. Yea, and ver. 9, I think that God hath set forth us apostles last, as it were appointed unto death. You that are scholars know what he alludes to : it is to the Roman spectacles, either those in which men were thrown to beasts, as the last and lowest sort of men, to make sport unto the common sort of people (which is Tertullian s interpretation) ; or rather to those gladiators or sword-players, who came up last, of which
CHAP. VII.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 219
there were two sorts : 1. of such as fenced to shew skill, as now-a-days ;
2. of those that fought but to wounding, and then were fetched off; but
the 3d and last sort was of slaves, or men condemned to die, who were to
fight till they had killed their fellows, or were killed. And thus God had
pre-ordained to his dearest friends and servants, his apostles, whilst they
lived, to run through all these difficulties and wants, and at last to be
killed ; and all this too to make them spectacles to the world, yea, both
worlds, angels, and men, and set them all aghast at them. God had pro vided a greater stage and theatre than that at Borne, and he sets and brings these poor men forth to play their prize for his glory, that he might only
say to them all (as he said to Satan of Job) See you not my servants Paul and Peter ? But what ! doth God deal with his best friends, that do most for him, thus ? Then who will serve him ? That will I, says Paul.
* I know whom I trusted ; and I have fought a good fight, and will die in
the quarrel. They thought not much at this, they knew whom they served. And let that consideration at first specified cheer thy spirit in this
case, which surely was it that carried on the apostles themselves. They knew and considered that their radical and original subjection by the law
of creation to God was such, that God might command all this, and exact
it of them as pure servants to him, and give them no wages ; that (as it is
in verse 7 of that chapter) whatever they had they had received ; and
they owed all they could do for him upon that account, as David says
1 Chron. xxix. 16, Of thine own we have given thee. Our Saviour had
laid in this consideration in the hearts of his apostles, whom afterwards he meant thus to use. He spends one parable on purpose to let them know
their native condition as they were creatures, and what subjection they stood in to God as mere and perfect servants, yea, and unprofitable too, when they should have done never so much. He made them know this, that being humbled and prepared hereby, they might see the infinite grace and favour in God towards them, when afterwards he should adopt, own, and admit them to be his friends (John xv. 15, Henceforth I call you not
servants, but friends ), and how upon that account he would accept of all
they should do, the utmost of which they owed, as unprofitable servants. The parable you have, Luke xvii., from "the 7th verse to the llth, But
which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say unto him
by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat ?
and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and
gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink ? Doth he thank that servant because he did the
things that were commanded him ? I trow not. So likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We
are unprofitable servants : we have only done that which was our duty to
do. He lays before them the common condition of servants unto men, and
what was expected from them after the customs of men. A servant that
hath been doing hard and laborious work, as ploughing or keeping cattle
abroad in the fields, in all weathers, winds, and storms, and this all day, when he hath done these long and tedious works, might seem to expect, when he comes home, to have his supper prepared and ready dressed for
him, that he might eat and go to rest after so tedious a travel. No, says
Christ, none deals thus with his servants ; but he must yet stay, though
weary and an-hungry. To this hour, says Paul, we hunger^ and thirst :
nay, have not so much as an house in this world to come to. He must
yet do another work, and dress his Master s supper ; but yet then he might
220 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK II.
expect to sit down or eat at the lower end of the tahle. No ; but after he had dressed it, and served it up, he must stand and wait at table, run hither and thither, see his master eat the meat which himself dressed before his
face, and perfectly stay till he had eaten and drunken, and afterwards he shall eat and drink, so as he must not do one, but all sorts of services. And what when all this is done ? Doth his master thank him ? I trow
not, says Christ. Nay, he teacheth him to say he is an unprofitable ser
vant, and hath but done his duty. How then should this move us ? That God should take us up out of this servile condition, which not our sins, but our creation, hath condemned us to, and constitute us friends to him
self, and profess, if performed with such an heart by us, to own and accept all these our services as acts of friendship, for which he will thank us and reward us in the highest measure. Who would not be content to serve so
great, and withal so good a God, as this ?
I shall go on to mention other genuine properties of right and true friend
ship, in the point of their obedience to him.
(4.) Manage all with all simplicity and plain-heartedness towards him, in
all thy walkings, which is the truest and rarest jewel in friendship. A
reserved, cunning politician never makes a good friend, who is an Israelite indeed, ^(as Christ says of Nathanael, John i. 48), in whom is no
^ Our Saviour not only puts a value, but a rarity upon him ; there fore points him out with an "Us, Behold, an Israelite indeed, such as you should not find amongst a million of men. And he entitleth him an Israelite in this respect, because this is that which made Jacob s or Israel s
guile.
commendation, Gen. xxv. 27, that he was a plain man, acrXoDc, of a sincere heart, without false or cunning ends and reaches in his way ; whereas Esau was a cunning hunter, a cunning gamester, as you say, in his. Now, let a man naturally have what guile or cunning he will, real converse and acquaintance with God will put him out of it, with respect to
God himself, whatever God alloweth him to exercise towards enemies that seek advantage. For a man knows he hath to do with a God that cuts up to the marrow, and to the joints, the socket bones and the heart, and all the wheels it turns upon. He wriggles his anatomising knife through them, Heb. iv. 12. David had carried the business of Uriah cunningly, as to men ; but when his heart was set in God s sun, in the light of God, that
light discovered this work to be a deceitful close-spun web of wickedness, a plotted and continued villany, which made him, upon that occasion, cry out, Ps. li. 6, Behold, thou requirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. The inwards of a man are the seat of guile, as well as of truth and plainness ; and upon the dis covery of this his sin to him, he entitleth grace by the name of truth, or
plainness, in the inward parts, and acknowledged such a plain spirit to be the only wise spirit. David thought himself to be very wise, in ridding his hands so handsomely of Uriah, but he must not think to carry it thus, and escape God so ; he now saw it to have been the greatest folly in the world, and that it should teach him wisdom for hereafter : In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. And again you have him at it, Ps. xxxii. 3 ; when he hid his sin and kept silence, he had distinctions to fence with, and endeavoured to distinguish himself out from being a murderer, and day and night lay roaring ; but in the end he confesseth it, and then God pardoned it : ver. 5, I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine
iniquity have I not hid ; I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. And from thence he ever
CHAP. VII.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 221
learnt this lesson, that whom God pardons, and receives to grace and favour with himself, from them he takes out that venomous vein or sting, that runs
through the backbone of guile and deceit towards himself. Therefore, at
the second verse, he couples these two for ever together, Blessed is the man whom thou pardonest, and in whose spirit there is no guile. It is
observable that the apostle makes these two equivalent, to do a thing
heartily, and to do it as to the Lord : Col. iii. 23, Whatsoever ye do, do
it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. And in the words before, he says,
* Not as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. That which I observe out of it is this, that nothing will fix the nature of man, and make it void of ends, but this knowing God, this fear of him, and
conversing with him. If a servant would propound to please his master,
yet his own purpose will not make him constant in what is his duty, both absent as well as present ; it will be an uncertain rule, he will be a weather cock in his actions, observing the wind, and turning uncertainly with it. Now, you walk not plain-heartedly, when you seek out excuses to put off
duties, and are glad of them ; and when you labour to find out distinctions, to make good those sins you are loath to leave ; and when you walk
unevenly in several companies, as Peter did : Gal. ii. 14, He walked not with an even foot ; when, also, you use your wisdom to hold correspond ence with God and the world, as they in Gal. vi. 12 ; when ye have ends of the flesh in all, and yet would make as if ye did much for God, as Jehu did :
* See what zeal I have for the Lord of hosts. To magnify kindnesses, when we design only our own ends, and to make them seem
greater, is guile in friendship. Friends often lay aside some things they would else do, merely to avoid the suspicion of by-ends to their friends. Paul walked in simplicity, or with a spirit without folds or doublings, as
the word signifies, 2 Cor. i. 12.
(5.) Be faithful to him, in whatever is committed to thy trust by him, and
let thy friendship move thee. This is the special epithet of a friend, that he is a faithful friend, Exod. xxxiii. 11. God treateth Moses, at the first
entry into his office, as a friend : The Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. And this obliged and endeared Moses
to that faithfulness he shewed in all and every particular about his house. Compare with this Num. xii. 7, 8, My servant Moses, who is faithful in
all my house, with him will I speak mouth to mouth, that is, face to face, as a man with his friend ; which manifestly refers to what God had before done and said of him, Exod. xxxiii. 11, to which also the margin doth refer
us. There is none of us but God hath betrusted with something
: with
pupils, who are precious ware, and their souls, as well as their outward
state, are committed to their governors ; with riches : Be faithful, then, in
the unrighteous mammon ; with his name : keep it unspotted in thee ; with gifts and talents : improve them to his advantage ; with power
: let it be used and turned for God ; with thy voice in elections : let God dispose of it, and let those that are God s friends, and godly, have it rather than
any other. If God hath entrusted thee with the truth, keep that good
thing committed to thee, as Paul speaks to Timothy ; be faithful unto
death, and he will give thee a crown of life. Let not God be a loser in what is committed to thee, whatever thou mayest be. Thou mayest, in
the management of what is for God, perhaps lose a friend, disgust this or
that person. It is no matter ; be in all things faithful to God, as Jacob was to Laban, and served him fourteen, yea, twenty years, day and night ; and if there were any loss, he bare it, Gen. xxxi. 39, 41.
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(6.) Deny him nothing, and yet take his denials kindly. Friends that
are critical in friendship, if they think they shall be denied, will not so much
as ask, for it will trouble them. Abraham spared not his son when God
called for him, and he was called the friend of God. God, to endear thy friendship to him, sometimes will seem to stand in need of something thou
hast. When Christ was on earth, he was poor, and good souls ministered unto him. Another time he sends to a poor man for his ass, with this
message, which was a strange one, Luke xix. 31, The Lord hath need of
him, though the cattle on a thousand hills are his. It was but to fulfil a
prophecy ; else we never read he rode, but went afoot many a wearisome
step, from Galilee to Jerusalem, to and fro unto the feasts. God hath business in this world that concerns his glory, needs thy help against the
mighty, needs thy good word in a good cause, and thou perhaps art sluggish, or loath to appear in it. Think nothing thou hast too dear for him, when he calls for it :
* I count not my life dear to me, says Paul, to fulfil my ministration with joy, Acts xx. 24. And take this for a rule to guide thee to know what he calls for from thee. When either thou canst not hold that which thou hast without sinning against him, or when the laying of it down tends to promote his glory, then God calls for it, and deny him
not, he is a special friend. Remark that speech of Christ, He that for sakes not father, mother, &c., for my sake and the gospel s, is not worthy of me, JMat. x. 37, that is, of my friendship ; he is not worthy to be held
in correspondency withal by me.
(7.) Stick close to him in the time of trial. A friend, though he loves at
all times, yet is specially born for a time of adversity, Prov. xvii. 17, as
in a great case of distress it is said of Esther, she came to the kingdom for such a time as that ; it was the greatest thing God had in his eye, when and for which he advanced her. There are special times in our lives
in which God hath ordained to try us, and bring us to offer up our Isaacs, as he required of Abraham. Think with thyself, I was converted, born
again for such a time as this ; shall I fail God now, and bid farewell to his
friendship, when there are such obligations between God and me ? Ah, no !
they are as bills of exchange, and you break all future correspondency if you pay them not.
(8.) Suffer for him, if there be occasion, gladly, and be greedy of such
opportunities when brought upon thee by others. As the wounds of a
friend are faithful, as Solomon says, so for a friend they are honourable ; and Paul calls them Christ s marks and scars. The apostles thought they had a kindness done them when they suffered for him, and the primitive saints loved not their lives to the death, Rev. xii. 11. Do thou stand for him among his enemies, and take his part. This we expect of those that
profess an eminency of friendship ; and in what company soever they be,
if they are silent at such a time, when they hear their friend reviled, they strengthen his enemies in their evil speeches of him. See how Jonathan shewed the part of a friend for David, 1 Sam. xix. 4 ; how he pleads for him to Saul when his life was in danger at every word, for he threw javelins at him. And do thou vindicate God and his ways the rather because thou
shalt have opportunity to do this for him only in this life ; at the latter day he will appear to defend himself, as Jude says. You glorify God amongst his enemies only here. He that confesseth me before men, that is, here,
* him, says Christ, will I acknowledge, namely then, at that day.
(9.) Be afflicted at all things done to his dishonour, as if it were thine own,
nay, more than thou wouldst at thine own. Thus Jonathan did for David :
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1 Sam. xx. 34 it is said, he grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. Friends are like lute strings tuned to each, which will stir and tremble if one of them be struck. Was God displeased at the sins of
the Israelites? It is -added, Num. xi. 10, that Moses was displeased
also. And in another place it is said that he stood weeping in the tent
door, and knew not how to help it, when God was so openly dishonoured
by Zimri leading Cosbi. Paul s spirit was stirred, Acts xvii., when he saw their idolatry. And as thou art to moan on occasion of sorrow, so
to rejoice on occasion of joy. When souls are converted, and the lost sheep and lost groat are found, he calls his friends to rejoice with him, says the
parable, Luke xv. 5, 6. John being a friend of the bridegroom, rejoiced that
* he should decrease, and Christ increase, John iii. 29.