Chapter IV
Another motive to obedience deduced from God s great love in giving his Son
to die for us. That he requires nothing in requital of so inestimable a gift, but that we should love, obey, and serve him. Other considerations of God s
love urged, as motives to obedience ; that he delights in loving us, and there
fore it should be our delight to love and obey him. The eternity and immu
tability of his love, urged as motives to faithful and constant obedience.
The greatness and immenseness of God s love in electing us was such, that he designed to shew it by a gift answerable : and that was the gift of
his Son to death, to be a propitiation for our sins ; and for this let us return again to that scripture in 1 John iv. 10 ;
* Herein is love, not that we loved God, but God loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And then it follows, Beloved, if God so loved us , &c., he
puts a so upon it, as leaving it to the Holy Ghost to heighten this so by him unutterable. Our Saviour had done the like : John iii. 16, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son a gift so great, that he hath nothing now left he values : He that spared not his Son, how
shall he not with him give us all things ? Rom. viii. 32. Now then consider, man, what doth this God, that designed to give so great a gift merely to commend his love, require of thee again ? What ! Thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, thy first-born in requital of his first-born ? He twice renounceth all or any of these, both in Ps. 1. and Micah vi. "What is
it the Lord asks of thee (says Moses also, Deut. x. 12) ? It is all a dimi nutive : alas ! as good as nothing to him. It is but thy love, thy service, which when thou hast returned to him to the utmost thou art able, fall down on thy knees, and say, thou art an unprofitable servant. All of it is that which he hath no need of, of which he might say as of sacrifice, If I had need thereof, would I ask thee ? It is that God who asks thy ser
vice, who might command it, and it is a favour that he gives thee leave to love and serve him. And it is but that love and service, which the worth and excellency of this God, if known by thee (though his love to thee were as yet unknown), would draw it from thee, and move thee to fear him that
is so great, ver. 17, to love him that is so good and loving, ver. 15, 16, and to serve him, namely, in outward obedience, by walking in his ways, who commands all he doth command for thy good, ver. 14, and so thou
servest, providest for thyself most in serving him. And as for that which he desires thee to part with for him, what is it but what is merely an hin drance to this love and service of him according to his greatness and excel
lency ? and to part with it is for thine own good
: Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts, and be no more stiff-necked, Deut. x. 16. It
is an inference from what he had said before. Now what is that foreskin that makes thee thus stiff-necked ? It is inordinate self-love. Self-love
is the sum of the law of sin, as love to God is the sum of the laws of God. The laws of sin tell thee, thou shalt not fear God, nor worship him ; thou shalt take his name in vain, thou shalt kill, steal, or commit adultery, &c. And if there be any other commandment of sin, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, engrafted so deep in all men s hearts,^ Thou shalt love thy self above all things whatsoever. But the law of God commands love to God, and obedience to him springing thence, and requiring the whole soul and strength (as Christ speaks) to love God above one s self, as by the pro-
CHAP. IV.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 247
portion Christ sets is evident, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, therefore God above thyself. Hence this self called flesh, which opposeth true love to God, is enmity with God and his law, Horn, viii., and must be therefore cut off and cast away, ere we can love him and be subject to
his law, as the apostle there speaks. And to this purpose the same Moses,
preaching the gospel in another place, speaks, Deut. xxx. 6, The Lord
will circumcise thy heart, to love thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul. What is it that this great God, that hath out of his love given a gift so great, and so dear to him, requires of thee ? Not any part of what is
truly and substantially love unto thyself; he permits the whole of it in substance still to remain, and requires only the superfluity of it. The Hebrew word used for the foreskin, which is to be cut off, signifies a super
fluity, as that part of the skin which the Jews in circumcision did cut off
is. And therefore Ainsworth emphatically translates it so here, and usually elsewhere, circumcise the superfluous foreskin ; and by the choice of that
superfluous skin to be the subject of circumcision, was fitly signified how
little and small a matter it is that God requires of self-denial in us. What doth the Lord require of thee ? Not to cut off self entirely, but only the
inordinacy, the excrescency ; and so some have understood that of James
i. 21, Lay aside all superfluity of naughtiness. God requires no more than that thou shouldst part with what will hinder thy loving him above
thyself; and the word in its signification suiteth this also, for it signifies a
stoppage that hindereth, and so is to be cut off, as that which letteth thee
in thy loving and obeying him. And upon the whole to conclude, consider
that in Deut. x. 12, 13, it is expressed, that it is for thy good that thou art to serve the Lord with all thy soul, to keep the commandments which he commands thee for thy good. These words, for thy good, are added to this thy loving and serving him ; and so to bring this further home to the thing in hand, herein thy love and obedience unto God doth but fitly and meetly answer as an imitation of that his love in election, and
the contrivements of it, as was observed. For as God in that his loving us had eminently and above all a respect to his own glory, Eph. i. 6, to
the praise of the glory of his grace, yet so as he did withal take in such
conspicuous affections of love to our persons, that he is said to have
delighted to love us, and to love us most in this, that he makes himself, and his love and glory, our happiness and highest end, and accordingly so
contrived his designs therein, as to hold forth both these, decreeing all for our good, as well as his own glory ; thus in the like proportion and subor
dination, in imitation of this love of his, he allows us to love ourselves in
loving him, and to that end hath given all his commands for our good, as out of Moses was observed ; yet so as to set him up above ourselves, and make his glory, and the praise of it, our chiefest and greatest good. And thus Moses concludes that 10th chapter of Deuteronomy, verse 21, He
is thy praise, and he is thy God.
Let us proceed on to whatever other singularities or rarities are to be found in this love, and shew how we should answer them all in love and
obedience, and that all and each should become the highest and most
inflaming motives to us. Concerning all which let me premise this general consideration once for all, that by the same reason that the apostle urgeth this circumstance in God s love, viz., the priority of it, that God loved us
first, as a motive to obedience to his commands, 1 John iv. 19-21, and
as Moses urged the peculiarity of this love, Deut. x., by the same reason may and should any other consideration that commends it move us.
2-18 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
Therefore consider that God, in choosing thee, not only loved thee, but
delighted to love thee. It was not barely an act of will that he would choose some, he cared not whom, as being indifferent about it ; but it was an act of love, and not of love only, but of good pleasure, Eph. i., and of
delight too, as you heard, Deut. x. How should the consideration of this sweeten obedience to thee, not only to do his will, but to do it willingly ? This love should make not only the commandment not grievous, 1 John v., but a delight. It is hard to find an instance of this in the hearts of the
ordinary sons of men ; only in Christ our head we may find and have the
great example. How ready and willing did the fore-mentioned considera tion make him to do God s will in all things, to fulfil all righteousness, and to make this work his meat and drink ! I have a baptism to be baptized with, says he, and how do I long till it is accomplished. And what was one spring and motive hereunto ? It was even the consideration that God had chosen him and delighted in him, which made him his servant and obedient : Isa. xlii. 1, My servant whom I uphold, my elect in whom my soul delighteth. And therefore he took courage and resolution to go through with the work he was chosen to. Thus it follows,
* He shall not
fail, nor be discouraged, ver. 4. The sense and apprehension which Christ had, that God had written his name as the head, at the top of his book of life, and that his name was also engraven deeply on his heart, made him speak thus in Heb. x. 7,
* Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, God. But if you consult the place this is taken out of, there is more of the disposition of his spirit added: Ps. xl., I delight to do thy will, God. And in both places this it was that moved him, In the volume of thy book, thus
it is written of me. God had predestinated him as a man before all
worlds, 1 Peter i. 20 ; God had delighted in him, as thus decreed, before his works of old, Prov. viii. 30. And now that his time came to shew his love to God, and work for him, this infinitely quickened him ; and there
fore, having run his race and despatched his work, he says, John xvii. 4, 1 have glorified thee on earth : I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do. And it follows, ver. 5, And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was ; which is interpreted by that verse 24, The glory thou hast given me (and so ordainedst it) before the world was : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. You may easily discern by the connection of the 4th and 5th verses, interpreted by the 23d, what had set him on work, and what he had in his eye, in despatching all his work on earth so willingly, so eagerly
: it was God s everlasting love, that had designed to him so great a glory, which therefore as soon as now his work was done, he utters as that the thoughts of which, and of his having been eternally ordained unto it, out of so great a love, had set him a-work. Now, then, hath God rejoiced over thee from everlasting, in his intentions to do thee good, with his whole heart and his whole soul (as Jeremiah
speaks) ? How should this consideration draw out, suck out thy whole heart from thee, to love and serve the Lord with all thy heart and with all thy soul ! Was his whole soul thus delighted to love thee ? Deut. x. 12, 15. Was it a pure act of good pleasure in him ? Oh how shouldst thou strive, Col. i. 10, to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in
every good work.
5. Consider that this love hath been from everlasting, Jer. xxxi. 3. This antiquity of it, that it is of so long continuance, of so long a stand-
CHAP. IV.] IN THE HEAET AND LIFE. 249
ing, should have its distinct influence also upon thee. This is therefore
inserted, Eph. i. 3, who hath chosen us before the foundation of the
world, to be holy before him in love. Paul minds the Thessalonians of it
also, to move them to holiness : 2 Thes. ii. 13, God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. From the beginning, that is, from everlasting
< The Word of life, that was from the beginning. This con
1 John i. 1,
sideration hath much in it to move us.
(1.) When one hath had his eyes and his heart long upon a thing which
he desires to see accomplished, how greedy of it, how delighted in it is he, when he sees it begun to be accomplished
! As Christ sitting in heaven, and expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, when he sees any new
degree of it accomplished, how doth it rejoice him ! If God hath so long
since, even from eternity, designed out holiness for his children, he expects
earnestly to have holy obedience and service from them.
(2.) Consider, that as this hath been in his eye so long, so how little a
time it is since thou wert holy, or begannest to look towards it. His eyes and heart were toward thee before the foundation of the world ; and it hath
been half thy time perhaps before thou begannest to look after him or his
ways, or to set thyself to be holy before him. And when thou didst begin
after so long time, thou didst find thyself enwrapt in the designs of
eternal love upon thee, that ordained thee to this very thing before the
world was. Oh how should this quicken thee to hasten thy work, and to make speed, as one born out of time ! God loved and chose thee from the
beginning, 2 Thes. ii., and had no other thoughts nor stirrings of affections
but of love and kindness to thee ; but thou from thy beginning hast had
no other but thoughts of provocation and enmity against him, for thy
thoughts had been only evil from thy infancy, Gen. vi. 5. As therefore when David would move God not to cut him off in the midst of his days, what says he ? Ps. cii. 24, 25, I said, my God, take me not away in
: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old
the midst of my days
hast thou laid the foundations of the earth. This speech of David I turn
into an exhortation unto thee. His love hath been to thee before he laid
the foundations of the earth, and throughout all generations ; thy being and existence was but as this morning unto him, and it was the midst of
thy days ere thou brokest off thy iniquities by repentance. Thy time of
love is short, and thou hast already shortened it ; Oh now fall to work
and ply thee, and make, if possible, the rest of thy life an whole life to
him. Peter had a touch of it, 1 Peter iv. 3, yet without upbraiding ; for
our God is so good, as he upbraideth no man that turns to him from his
former sins. Well, what says Peter ? The time past of our life may
suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. He says no more,
yet it is enough to quicken us ; yea, it is the scope of the apostle to do it. The consideration of this, with the other of God s love, he sets together on purpose to press this exhortation, that those that have believed should
^ third verse : We
maintain good works. He fetcheth his rise from the
ourselves were sometimes (too long a time) foolish, disobedient, serving
divers lusts ; and yet God loved us all that while. So ver. 4, When
the love of God appeared, that had been hidden, &c. You therefore that
served nothing but sin before, should be the more diligent now in serving
God, &c.
6. Consider that this love of God hath been constant to thee and
unchangeable, ever since and all along from the beginning, the same,
250 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
2 Thes. ii. 13, and so continues to the end, John xiii. 1. Yea, it is such as nothing can separate from it : Bom. viii. 38, 39, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. And this should move to constancy and continuance in well doing always, in which we should suffer nothing to interrupt us, nothing to separate us from it. The apostle (in that 2 Thes. ii., from verse 13 to the end, and chap. iii. 5) improves this consideration of the everlastingness, unchangeableness of God s love (for this place speaks at once to both) to move them to stability in every good word and work, and to cleave fast to all the doctrines and commandments both by faith and obedience. He had spoken before how^God would give up the reprobate number of professors of
Christianity to antichristian doctrine and unrighteousness (in plain words), * that they might be damned. But (says he, ver. 13) We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the^ Spirit, and belief of the truth ; both these two being necessary to salvation. 1st, It is necessary to believe the truth as it is in Jesus; 2dly, to be sanctified and made holy men by it, and God from the beginning hath chosen you to be saved through both. Therefore, says he, vers. 15-17, Stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even^our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting con solation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. It is therefore "an exhortation, seconded with a prayer for their establishment in faith and holiness, ver. 16, 17, manifestly founded upon and deduced from what he had spoken, ver. 13, now alleged, God hath from the beginning chosen you. In verse 16, he makes use of it as a prayer,
< God, even our Father, who hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation, establish you in every good word and work.
_ The sum of which is, that God hath out of love chosen us from the beginning or everlasting, and thereby hath given us consolation ever
lasting ; the object of it being his unchangeable love, his love which hath been from everlasting, and will be to everlasting. Consolation is put chiefly for the object matter, that might and doth afford everlasting conso
lation, as the doctrine of faith is called faith. And thus it is rather to be taken, because his petition thereupon in the 17th verse is, Comfort your hearts, namely, with this which is so comfortable a ground of everlasting comfort; as also because he adds in the 16th verse, And good hope through grace. He might well say so, for the matter and ground of con solation is founded on the pillars of eternity, on that unchangeable love of God of which he speaks, whose love and gifts are without repentance. Now the things he suitably exhorts to and prays for, as that which is and should be the fruit and operation of that love in our hearts, are two. The first is, ver. 15, to stand fast against all opposition made against the truth delivered, as soldiers that keep their ground. The second exhortation is, to lay hold, sure hold, and hold fast with strength, xgarefre ; therefore the Syriac adds/ortiter, ^as Judas bade them hold Christ : Mat. xxiv. 40, Whom I shall kiss, hold him fast. Be you as stable, fast, and irnmoveable in your faith and obedience, as God is in his love, who hath loved you from the beginning, from everlasting. God hath held you fast, and none can, or shall -pull you out of his hands ; do you hold as fast to his commands.
CHAP. IY.J IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 251
The word signifies also studiously and carefully to observe, Mark vii. 3, 4, and so it relates to commands given for practice and obedience, and imports withal constancy therein. And by the way, as for their direction to know what was truth to hold, and duties and ordinances to be observed by them, what to stick to when in those times antichristian dreamers should come
to draw them away from the truth with all deceivableness of unrighteous
ness, he refers to what they had been taught, either by word or by epistle, so leaving nothing to
j revelation immediate as their rule. Now they had then the apostle s teaching by word of mouth; we wanting that, are left to
stick to what is written as sufficient for us, and as having nothing else to have recourse ;to, and therefore we must not leave the Scripture, or admit
any other during all the time that antichrist is to deceive the world (for this is the only direction that is given for the whole of those times), and we are sure antichrist is not yet out of the world. Now this standing fast
in the doctrines, and holding fast the observation of these traditions given them, he further interprets to be constancy in well-doing
: chap. iii. 4,
* And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that you both do and
will do the things which we command you ; that is, will be constant and immutable in your obedience, which still in the enforcement of it hath a
correspondency with, an aspect upon, and an inference from, that love of God from the beginning. This is in
. his exhortation. Then, 2dly, in his
prayer, by which he further insinuates their duty, this inference may yet a
little further also appear ; for he grounds his petition upon those acts of God s eternal love : God, even our Father, that loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your
hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. And chap. iii. 3, he interprets this establishing to be keeping them from evil : But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you and keep you from evil ; and he adds in ver. 4, And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you ; that is, will be
constant, immoveable, uninterrupted in the doing of them. You both do and will do as God hath loved you and will love you evermore ; so then, to be stable in every good word and work is to keep themselves from evil, both for the present and for time to come for ever. This becomes those who profess to hope that God hath chosen them from the beginning, that God hath loved them with everlasting love, and thereby given them matter
of such everlasting consolation. And look what arguments Paul in prayer useth unto God to grant this to them, which are thus suited to the matter
of his petition, as you may discern ; the same may be turned upon us as motives to move us thereunto ; for what we would move God with in
prayer, God expects should move us in practice. Now it is the eternity,
stability, and the immutability of that love, which he useth as a motive, to
stablish them in every good word and work.
The very same exhortation to constancy, diligence, and unchangeableness in well-doing, if I mistake not, the apostle in like manner foundeth upon the
immutability of God s counsels towards the heirs of salvation, expressed in his promises to them, out of the coherence of Heb. vi. 11-13, 17, 18
verses compared, We desire (says he, ver. 11), that is, exhort, that
every one of you do shew forth the same diligence, which out of love they had formerly and at first shewn, ver. 10, to the full assurance of hope to
the end. He provokes them to diligence with constancy, that they be not
slothful, but laborious, ver. 10, in every good work, and followers of them
who, through faith and patience, or constancy in well-doing, joined with
OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
patient suffering for it, inherit the promises. And what promises are they he lays before them, and what is more eminently held forth in the pro mise ? As he had exhorted them to diligence and constancy without slackening, so suitably he lays before them that in the promise which answereth thereto as on God s part, citing the great promise made to Abraham the father, in the name and for the behalf of all the heirs of promise : ver. 13, For when God made promise to Abraham, who after he had patiently endured, obtained the promise, ver. 15. And in the promise the apostle, to quicken them hereto, singleth out (with an eminent observation) the faithfulness and immutability of God s counsel, which is the point in hand, and unfoldeth in the tenor of the promise the oath annexed to it, Wherein, says he,
< God willing more abundantly to shew to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath, ver. 17. As God therefore cleaves to us in his love without separation, we should in obedience cleave to him therein
< with full purpose of heart, Acts xi. 23. As God hath stuck to us, and would suffer none to divert his love, we should inviolably stick to his commands, as David did : Ps. cxix. 31, I have stuck unto thy testimonies. And as nothing shall or can separate us from the love of God in Christ, as on his part ; and as none of all those millions of heroes far excelling us, that have been in all generations, so took his heart as to alter his purpose of love towards us, or to allure him from us ; so neither let anything ever separate us throughout our course from pursuing after communion with that love in keeping his commands. Let not wife, children, honours, riches, pleasures, temptations on the left hand or right hand, or whatsoever can fall out or present itself unto us, ever separate us from the love and service of God. He that for sakes not these, being wooed by so great a love (as hath been described), he is not worthy of him and his love, nor of the least beam of it. An heart inflamed with this love will do or suffer anything. I make a great observa tion of this in the instance of Paul, when Christ had brought him first upon his knees, and had humbled him, having struck him off his horse. Lord, said Paul then, what wilt thou have me do ? But when afterwards this love of God had fired his heart, then what was it he was not content to do and suffer ? And when (in this Rom. viii.) the tide and full sea came in and overflowed his heart, insomuch as he cries out, Who shall separate me from the love of God in Christ ? then it was that he was willing to have been himself separated from Christ, accursed from Christ, as Christ was from God on the cross, for the glory of God in the conversion of his brethren. Now nothing but this love could have raised up his heart thus high.
I shall conclude this part of this discourse with what Paul concludeth his in the 2d and 3d chapters of the 2d Thessalonians. He had exhorted them to constancy, praying for stability in every good word and work, laid before them the eternal love of God to move them, and also put the Lord in mind of it to move him to grant it to them, and had expressed his confidence herein : chap. iii. 4, And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that you both do and will do the things that we command you. But how should we attain this ? might they say, and what is the best, the readiest way of all other to arrive thereunto ? He immediately adds, And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God ! So prays he, and in praying thus for them suggests the most effectual way to attain to this obedience. By the coherence before mentioned, I understand it of the love of God towards them, that love spoken of chap. ii. 16. And this is that single,
CHAP. IV.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 253
and only, and all-sufficient direction Paul gives them unto all obedience,
viz., to have their hearts guided into that love, and the comprehension of
the heights and depths of it, as elsewhere he prays for the Ephesians. And
this is to be obtained no way but by prayer to the Lord to lead them into
this. When you hear any duty pressed, you presently call for directions ; and those are usually as difficult to practise and attain as the things or
graces they are prescribed for. Paul here prescribes but one, but it is a
. The Lord or person he prays unto is the Holy Ghost, manifestly distinguished from God, namely, the Father and Jesus Christ. The love of God the
sovereign one, and withal the only way to attain it, viz., prayer.
Father, and the longing after and waiting for the revelation of Christ in his
glory, are here made the subject matter, the journey s end, the sight, the
enjoyment, the object of the Spirit s giving them. And so elsewhere it is made
the proper office of the Holy Ghost, to lead us into all truth, John xvi., to
guide our feet into the ways of peace, and as meetly it is appropriated to him here to direct our hearts into the love of God, and longings after
Christ. For as he it is who is given us of God, to communicate the love
of these other two, who sustain the consideration of objects to be revealed and communicated by him, so, Eom. v., the love of God is said to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, whom he hath given unto
us, as on purpose to that end. So then you have all three persons in this
small verse, and a prayer is made to the Holy Ghost under the title of
Lord, which some deny to be found in the Scripture. The word that is here translated to direct is xareuQvv&i, that is, to guide you by a straight way, or by a right line. It hints this further to me, which hath been in my heart from other considerations, that of all ways and means that tend to work and keep us, the love of God apprehended, and inflaming love in our
hearts to God again (for so I take the love here, both passively and actively, for he leads us into love unto God, by discovering the love of God), is the
direct straightest way of all other ; the shortest cut, as we use to say, for it is
by a straight line. There are other motives and persuasives that have done
victoriously, but this excels them all. As I use to say of that way of living by faith immediately, in comparison of poring upon graces in ourselves, and importing assurance therefrom, that this latter is rather a going about, and fetching a compass with a great deal of difficulty and uncertainty ; but
that other way of faith is as the north-east passage to the Indies, the
shortest and speediest way of comforting and upholding the heart when found out. The love of God shed abroad will contribute more in a moment towards our comfort and peace, than all other considerations in a man s whole life. And therefore pray as Paul did, that the Holy Ghost would
direct your hearts into the love of God. And withal, this prayer informs
us, that our hearts do of themselves seek out other ways to encourage and
uphold them in obedience, and other motives are more suited to the natural
disposition of them, and we are apt to neglect these considerations of God s
love ; therefore it is that he so solemnly prays to the Holy Ghost to
guide and direct them into it, because otherwise they would never find this
way, or light upon it.
And observe lastly, that the subject of this the Spirit s guidance is said here to be the heart, for indeed that is the proper seat and vessel for God
to shed abroad his love into, as, Rom. v., the apostle doth in like manner
express it. It is the heart, and not the understanding (for this love passeth knowledge). And I having upon occasion of handling the greatness of this
love (on Eph. ii. 6), viewed all that I could find in the Scripture to set
254 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
out the greatness of this love by, found little to what might have been
expected, to exaggerate and greaten a subject of that magnitude this is of.
I resolved the reason of it into this, that it is left to the Spirit to make an immediate report of this love by impressions of it, rather than by notions, or rational arguments, or inferences. It is left to him to speak that to the
heart which can be but whispered unto the mind. It is too big for words, and too glorious to be clothed with man s apprehensions, much less expres
sions, and it is fit only to speak itself ; and that may be a reason also, why we find so little of rational inducements drawn from this eternal love to
enforce obedience. I have given you all I could find in the New Testament.
I attribute it to this, that this love spoken by the SpiritHo the heart per suades to it without any more arguments, and will not take in the assistance
of reason, or notions, or inferences to urge the commands of itself, but will
itself do it, and doth it abundantly. It remains that I pray as the apostle
doth, 2 Thes. iii. 5, The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God !
CHAPTEE V.
Motives against sin, because it is Satan s great work and interest, who is Christ s
greatest enemy.
He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from the begin
ning. For this purpose the Son of God ivas manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil. 1 JOHN III. 8.
The subject on which I intend to discourse, is motives to holiness and
against sin, drawn from such arguments as the New Testament affords, such
as arise from the thoughts of Christ and his love, and from the considera
tion of the end and design of his death.
One great end of his death I have already shewn in another discourse,* to be his overcoming Satan thereby, and so redeeming us from the power of him that had the power of death. What motives to holiness the con
sideration hereof will afford is the thing now to be considered, and what use faith may make hereof to strengthen and help the heart against sin. Now the scope of this text is punctual to it. The apostle s scope is to
give an exhortation unto holiness and against sin ; and to this end he sets
forth Christ and Satan as two opposites and antagonists
: Satan, as is denoted
to us, having set up sin as his work ; and Christ is described as the founder
of holiness, and destroyer of Satan s work. These two have drawn after them all the sons of men into two several parties, who are here, and shall be hereafter, distinguished for ever, by the poise and inclination of their
spirits, and course and sway of their lives, as they stood to sin or right eousness, and shall accordingly be judged to belong to either Christ or
Satan. Little children (says the apostle, verse 7), let no man deceive
: he that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. And he that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from the
you
beginning. For this purpose was the Son of God manifest, that he might
destroy the works of the devil, verse 8.
Christ the Son of God is the fountain of holiness and righteousness to
all that hope for, or expect, salvation from him ; verse 3, Every man that
* In the discourse of Christ the Mediator, Vol. III. of his works. [Vol. V. of this
edition. ED.]
CHAP. V.] IN THE HEABT AND LIFE. 255
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. And ver. 5,
* Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. So as (verse
* In him is no sin. And ver. 6,
7), He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Christ requires of all he justifies (although he imputes a righteousness of
his own to them), that they themselves be so truly and really righteous in
their hearts and lives, as rightly from thence to be denominated righteous, as truly as all other denominations are from what qualifications are in a man, from which he acts accordingly. A man is termed a wise man, that hath a principle of wisdom, and acts wisely, though he may have mixtures and strains of folly ; so giving the like allowance to a holy man, he that doth righteousness, makes it his business, work, trade, and study to do so,
is righteous. Let no man deceive you with the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ, as if it discharged you from having a true inherent holiness of your own, such and the same for kind as he had. No ; it
* righteous, even as he is righteous. Now to sharpen the exhortation, and make it yet more pungent, he sets forth withal Satan, Christ s enemy and opposite, and the contrary head, fountain, leader and author of all sin, and opposer of all righteousness, who sinned from the beginning, and was himself the first that brought sin into the creation, perpetrated it himself, and was the cause of it in all others ; and who not only then sinned and diffused it, but he sinneth from the beginning, that is, hath continually made it his trade to sin, and
obligeth you unto it, to be yourselves
to cause others to sin. Though Adam brought it in among men, yet it was but by one act, and of that act Satan was the designer ; but Adam was not the continual cause of sin to others, and is dead long since, and ceased to sin, but Satan sins still from the beginning. He sins not only personally from the beginning, but by provoking and tempting others con
tinually ; for so the devil s sinning from the beginning is here principally to be understood, as he is the causer of men to sin, as at the beginning he did to our first parents, and he thereby makes the sins we commit his works ; for our sins, or the sins in us, as caused by him, are called his work.
1. Our apostle brings in this of Satan s interest to sin as a distinct, yea, a farther motive to the saints against sin, to be superadded to the former. He had said that sin was a transgression of the law, ver. 4. That con sideration is to move you as creatures and subjects to God, for you are therefore to be such as live under law and obedience ; but that is denied now-a-days to be any obligation, though to John it was. But consider
yourselves as persons redeemed by a righteous Saviour, bearing your sins, who took sins away, ver. 5, and in whom is no sin ; he could else never have taken sin away in us, nor could he have any other end in dying than to take sins away, seeing himself had none. Will not the ingenuity of this move you ? Then (as the apostle John says) consider whose interest and whose cause sin is ; it is the devil s work, and if the law of subjects will not move you, let the law of arms. That sin is the force and strength of the kingdom of Satan, Christ s enemy, is an higher aggravation of it than
[that] it is a transgression of the law. What is but felony in time of peace as a breach of the law, is treason in time of a common engagement ; and to gratify a professed enemy at such a time is as witchcraft and rebellion.
2. As he thus sets forth sin as the devil s proper work, thereby to deter from it, and exhort the more powerfully to constant holiness, so he pronounceth every one that commits sin to be of the devil, and that hereby
25G OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
the children of God and Satan are manifestly distinguished : ver. 10, In
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil ; who
soever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. He instanceth in that one duty, and he turns it both ways, either
to omission or commission ; and the reason he gives is full, for the devil
sins from the beginning, that is, makes a trade, a practice of it. He
interprets it to be meant of a way or a course of sinning, as by the other he
signifies a course of righteousness. Of the devil he saith, he sins (not, hath sinned) from the beginning ; he hath made it his work without
interruption, without ceasing ; therefore whosoever he be that continues in
sin, commits it, makes a trade and practice of it, is of the devil, for he sins
as he doth. As a gentleman may do an ignoble work of a tradesman, but
yet ceaseth not to be noble by it, for he lives upon his lands, and not upon his work, so may a godly man do a piece of a sinner s work, and he doth
it too often ; but he doth not make it a trade, nor live on it (1 John i. 10, and ii. 1, 2) : he lives on higher things, and if he belongs to Christ, Christ
will not suffer him to continue in sin ; for Christ came to dissolve the work,
as the trade, the haunt of the devil in him ; and he would wholly lose his end if he preserved not his own, if he broke not that haunt, that way of
sinning, and the dominion, the rule, the work of Satan in him, and so
defaced that character wherein the children of Satan resemble their father,
in being workers of iniquity, as Christ calls those, Luke xiii. 27, that have
been the greatest pretenders to him. They shall be found to have been
(if you take their whole course) such workers of iniquity ( Epyara/), Luke xiii. 27. And in this sense he that commits sin is here taken, as by the opposite afore, he that doth righteousness is righteous. Where not
one alone act of righteousness, but he that worketh righteousness, that makes it his study, business, and life, is meant : He that lives in sin is
of the devil. He speaks of the differing states of a believer and unbeliever ;
because] Christ was manifested to do this (or to do nothing), namely, to
dissolve the devil s trade and work in us. He hath spoiled the devil s
business, and he will suffer no man (whom he died for), after he is engrafted into him, to be the devil s factor.
3. The apostle holds forth Christ and Satan to be two fountains, the one
of sin, the other of righteousness. All mankind (according as their courses and ways are) fall either to the one or the other, and are either of God or
of the devil. Though men consider it not, they hold of the one or the
other in capite, as of their head ; yea, they are children of one of these. John viii. 44, You are of your father the devil, and his lusts you will do.
Their indoles, genius, disposition, and practices, are the same that his are, and he is their prince, their sovereign, their natural, or rather unnatural,
lord ; and in this the children of God and of the devil are manifest ; even
as here the apostle says, He that commits sin is of the devil, and he that
doth not righteousness is not of God. He knows not Christ, nor ever
truly saw him, or was acquainted with him, ver. 6, for he came to take sin
away, to dissolve the works of the devil, &c. ; and therefore, all you that
profess the name of Christ (says John), look to this, and examine your
selves by it, deceive not yourselves, but walk by this example.
I have thus given you the general scope of the apostle s words ; and the
design of my following discourse is not now to urge that point of the dis
tinction of a regenerate and unregenerate man, by their several courses of
sin and righteousness, but to exhort believers in Christ unto all practices of all sorts of righteousness, and to dehort them from all sin upon all
CHAP. V.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 257
occasions. Now unto this end (which is also John s scope), I shall present unto you, which this scripture is so great a ground for, the great and
dividing interests of these two opposites, Jesus Christ and Satan, in respect of sin and righteousness. The devil sinned from the beginning, and drew men after him, and set up his design ; and Christ was promised from the
beginning, and in the end appeared to break this design of Satan. The
devil had always a faction for him and for sin from the first ; and therefore John instanceth, 1 John iii. 12, in the eldest son of reprobation, Cain : Not as Cain, saith he, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. So that if you profess yourselves to belong to Christ, you are thereby
instantly engaged to set upon the practice and advancement of holiness and
righteousness ; and to oppose and destroy sin, upon this interest and
account, that you are engaged together with Christ, and so his interest in
this became yours. And to put an addition of strength hereto, and to
encourage you the more therein, I shall join to this another scripture, which is the close of Peter s first epistle
: 1 Peter v. 8, Be sober, be
vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. The things which out of this text I have
designed to handle are principally two.
1. That there is a general engagement of all Christians against Satan, as against a common enemy, against whom as such they should all direct, intend, and point their opposition in fighting against sin, and the force of that engagement.
2. I shall propound the encouragements we may take to ourselves in this
great conflict.
1. There is a general engagement of all Christians against Satan as their common enemy.
(1.) The devil is a common adversary (so Peter speaks of him), a mali cious enemy, seeking whom he may devour, making that his chief end and
business, to destroy and devour men s souls, as a lion doth his prey an industrious enemy, walking about, and spying out advantages privately and
particularly against every soul.
(2.) Satan s chief work and business, wherein he shews himself our
adversary, lies in drawing us to sin. This the coherence of the apostle Peter shews, for his exhortation is, Be sober, and watch, which evidently hath respect unto lusts, inordinate affections growing upon a man s spirit, and those are the advantages which Satan seeks ; and by the prevailing thereof it is, that a man is devoured by Satan, and to effect this it is, that he walks up and down to do this his business.
(3.) The saints resistance of Satan herein is a common engagement. He is your adversary (verse 8), and not yours only, but of all the brother hood (as the word is) that are in the world, who suffer and are in danger and jeopardy in this respect from him ; who therefore, as one man, are all engaged against him to resist him. And in fighting against sin, they should
point, and direct, and intend their opposition against Satan also (whom resist, says Peter), and have an aim at him in their resisting of sin, sharpen ing and whetting up their spirits against him.
(4.) The force of this engagement is to be considered.
[1.] For the first, that the devil is our adversary, and a common enemy, I will not insist on it.
[2.] That to draw us to sin, and to preserve ourselves from sin, is the
great interest on both sides : namely, to draw us to sin, and to move us to
yield to loose affections, is the devil s interest ; and to be sober, and to VOL VII. B
258 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
resist him herein, is ours. Heb. xii. 4, You have not yet resisted unto
blood, fighting against sin. To what purpose comes in that addition,
fighting against sin ? It is to shew that the eminent matter of contest, and contention, and scope of a Christian is to fight against sin, which every
true believer hath set up as the principal business of his life in this world. A Christian is sin s antagonist, as the word here rendered fighting against*
is in the original (dvrayww^fywvo/). Well, but how is it connected with
the former speech ? He had minded them, chap, x., how they had
already in their goods and names been prejudiced and spoiled. What was
the bottom cause of it, but fighting against sin, because they would not
deny Christ, or forsake their profession, and so sin against Christ ! On
this account the apostle puts all those their former sufferings. Now (says
the apostle), for this principle and resolution, if you continue in it, as it is
indeed your end and interest, you may be brought to martyrdom, unto
blood, which yet you have not been, as many others have afore you. And
it hath not been resisting authority, or opposition to men, and a contending
with them about a worldly power, or interest; but the world through Satan s instigation comes upon them, to urge them to a compliance with
sinful customs and practices, and they hold fast to their principle, _to fight
against sin (that they would not sin, was the bottom ground of their oppo
sition), and so chose to suffer rather. So then not to sin, to fight against
sin, is at once the interest of all Christians, and the cause of all persecutions, which by sinning they might avoid ; but (as it is in chap, xi.) they chose
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. This is our part and interest ; but then, on the con
trary, the devil s part is to sin, and to draw men to sin is his interest ; yea,
it is the main end and design of that other part of his power, viz., the
bringing persecutions on the saints, for he doth it to draw and tempt them
unto sin ; that is in his eye and design more than to vex them, or to bring an outward misery upon them.
That subject therefore which I shall a little insist on, is the demonstra
tion how much, and how properly and peculiarly, our sinning is both the
work of Satan and also the interest of his kingdom, to set forth both which,
that place, 1 John iii. 8, doth most fully serve of any other scripture.
1. That scripture tells us he hath sinned from the beginning, therein
charging him, as he that was the first that brought it into the creation of
God. He was the first that sinned himself; John viii. 44, he
is^ said to
speak a lie of his own, for none tempted or tempteth him to sin ; and
he is the father of it, as the first inventor of any trade is termed in Gen.
iv. 20, 21. And, moreover, he was the cause of it in all others, and that
in a far different manner than Adam was, or any of mankind have been to
others, as Jeroboam or the like. Adam brought in sin by one act traduced
down to us, but himself is long since dead, and hath ceased to sin ; but the
devil sins from the beginning, and hath made it his trade continually to
sin, and draw others to sin ; and they are the sins in us men, as caused by
him, that are termed his works, for they are those works of the devil,
which Christ came to dissolve and to take away, verse 5. But Christ was
not manifested to take away the devil s sins that are personally in himself,
nor shed a drop of blood to hinder him from sinning ; but his sins and his
works as in us, these Christ came to dissolve, these sins which are his
wicked work in us.
2. Sin is in a peculiar and proper manner termed his work more than
ours, and is owned by him accordingly ; and thus though we are the actors
CHAP. V.] IN THE HEAET AND LIFE. 259
of these sins more immediately, yet it is Satan who loves sin, as it is a work of iniquity. He is the very inventor, and loves the very workmanship of it in us, as Christ loves in a believer the new creature, which in Christ Jesus is created unto good works, Eph. ii. 10. A mechanic that works to get his living, loves not so much the work he makes, as the livelihood that comes by it (as of the makers of Diana s shrines it is said, Acts xix. 24), and so men love sin for the pleasure, that cannot be enjoyed without it ; but there are prmcipal artists (as they are termed), the curious
painters and inventors, who when they have invented a curious piece that
pleases their fancy, love the work itself. Thus doth the devil love sin as his own work ; and as God, having made the world, upholds it, gives virtue to nature, and works hitherto (as Christ says), so sin being the devil s
creature, he preserves it, upholds it, diffuseth it, and so sins from the
beginning in tempting and provoking us. Adam, poor man, when fallen
(by whom it is said that sin entered into the world, Rom. v.), as also our mother Eve, but looked upon all the sins he or she saw any of their sons commit, as evils of which themselves were the cause, and viewed them with a sad and heavy heart, and with this mournful reflection, I have made all this work in the world. But the devil looks with another eye upon all the sins which are done under the sun ; and says as Nebuchadnezzar, This Babel and confusion in the world have I built for the honour of my majesty, in my opposition to God. He looks as God did upon his works, and is
refreshed, for it is merely, purely his own.
3. It being his work, and he the inventor, he hath the monopoly of it, the gains of it, and let him enjoy them, as by the ordinary law all first inventors use to do, and all we men work but under him, though we are also said to seek out many inventions, as Solomon speaks, but so as he hath the chief business and affair in it. Sinners take pains, like the mer chants from far that travel sea and land, that is, go over all things delightful in this world, the delights of the sons of men, and seek to and fro to bring in pleasures from them to themselves, and fall into many snares and tempta tions, that pierce their souls with many sorrows ; but the devil hath the custom out of all, and they bring in but the bullion to this great sovereign s mint. The coinage, the prerogative thereof, is his, and it is his stamp and
superscription the works bear. Sinners, like the poor Israelites, gather straw where they can find it, do burn, 1 Cor. vii. 9, and are inflamed with
lusts, but it is his brick which they make. If you ask how his glory, his kingdom, his greatness is increased by it, I answer,
(1.) The power, the glory of his kingdom lies in sinning ; for sin, as sin, is his interest, and sin (as it opposeth God) set him up at first to build pyramids and trophies for his own glory in dishonouring of God. You are busy like bees flying to and fro to a thousand flowers ; and, poor souls, you aim at honey, but then you return with it unto his hive, where you, and
he, and honey, are all burnt together. Look as Christ s kingdom consists in peace, joy, righteousness (Eom xiv. 17, Heb. vii. 2), so the devil s kingdom consists in sin, and his throne is established by it. Eph. vi. 12, the devils are called rulers of the darkness of this world, and the world
is the bound of his dominion ; but that wherein properly his rule lies, is the darkness, the sin of the world, which he is the ruler of; insomuch as that which is his top interest is sin, and his throne is established by
it, and founded and built upon it, as Christ s sceptre and throne is a
sceptre of righteousness, Heb. i. 8. A sceptre is an ensign of power, and
kings sceptres are made of gold ; but Christ s sceptre is formed of right-
2GO OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
eousness, pure righteousness ; and this is that interest of his kingdom, so
as iniquity is the interest of that of Satan.
(2.) Our sinnings through his temptations are the greatest, if not the
only delight and pleasure he hath. They are as meat and drink to him,
his food and nourishment, and we thereby become caterers and providers
for the devil s banqueting. This is founded on 1 Peter v. 8, for wherefore
is it that Peter gives him here the character of a roaring lion, and compares him thereunto, but to represent him as one that seeks for a prey
! for
roaring is here attributed to him, as to terrify, in respect of the dreadfulness
of the danger, so in relation to his own hungering after a prey ; a soul acting
sin is his prey: Ps. civ. 21, The young lions roar after their prey, and
so the devil doth too ; for it follows in 1 Peter v. 8, that he seeks whom
to devour, and to that end walks up and down, and seeks a prey both by
spying out a Christian s looseness of spirit, and also by eyeing God to have
a commission from him to fall upon him. In Ps. xxviii. 5, a roaring lion
is translated by the Septuagint Xswv TS/VWJ/, the same word which Peter here
useth for devouring.* When a lion is hungry, he roars more terribly ; and
as roaring is from the speediness and impatiency of desire, so the satisfac
tion of that appetite is delight, and devouring the prey is his pleasing
enjoyment ; suitably his pleasure is sin, that is his prey, and when you sin
much, and draw others to sin, you feast the devil with the blood of your own souls. His curse was to eat dust for his food, Gen. iii. 14 ; being banished heaven, he lives on men s lusts, and on things earthly, in which
yet he delights not, for he tastes not meat or drink ; but to tempt others
herewith, and to draw them to sin, this delights him, and is a joy to him. The apostle termeth all our righteousness <rxu/3aXa, dogs -meat ; but sins
are the devil s meat, and therefore he walks to and fro seeking it, as lions
do their food, Ps. civ. 22 ; yea, he calls other devils to feast with him.
Plutarch says, the manner of young lions is, when they have their prey, to
roar to invite other lions to come and eat with them ; so the devil brings seven other devils worse than himself; and as there is joy in heaven if a
sinner be converted, so in hell when a converted sinner falls into sinning.
4. Let us but view what expressions the Scriptures use of men s sinning
against God, and turning aside from him to serve any lust, and we shall
see that they evidently argue that our sinnings are the devil s interest. Thus the apostle, 1 Tim. v. 15; speaking of younger widows marrying a^ain when they had vowed themselves to Christ, as was the practice then,
says, that they had already turned aside after Satan. If we never so little
decline from Christ, return to Satan ; and if we give way to any passion, it
is to give place to the devil, Eph. iv. 27. And what he says of anger,
wrath, &c., he intends also of any other sin or lust. Let him that hath
stolen, steal no more, as giving place to the devil. Thus also when Peter
would exaggerate Ananias s sin, Acts v., he saith not only, Why hast thou
sinned ? but Why hath Satan filled thy heart ? Thus he that commits
sin is of the devil, 1 John iii. 2. He is of his side and party, yea, of the
devil as of a father, John viii. 44. Yea, the measure of men s wickedness, more or less, is expressed by their having fewer or more devils in them.
Mary Magdalene had seven devils, Mark xvi. 9. And the devil is said to
return to an apostate backslider with seven devils worse than himself, to
* There is no allusion to a roaring lion in Ps. xxviii. 5 ; and Peter s word for
devouring, is not wzivuv, but xewiflMT/wy. The reference is probably to Ps. xxii. 13,
where, in the Septuagint version, the expression Xfiwv (Lovo/^svog occurs, identica
with that in Peter. ED.
CHAP. V.] IN THE HEAET AND LIFE. 261
express that his latter days shall be more wicked than his former ; yea, the
* devil, John vi. 70. And as Judas joined with
Scripture calls a sinner
* entered into him, Luke xxii. 3. Yea (consider it, brethren), though a man be a good man
the devil in betraying Christ, the devil is said to have
(as Peter was), yet in any foul act or sin he puts off the Christian, and
turns devil for that time. It was the sharpest word that ever Christ
uttered to a man that was holy, Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art an
offence to me, Mat. xvi. 23. It was the worst word that could be given him, and yet Christ, who is truth, spake it ; and he exceeded not in pas sion above the merit of the thing, for guile was not found in his mouth. And he speaks it with indignation, as of one he abhorred, Get out of my
sight, I cannot endure to look on thee. It doth not signify that Christ
loved him not, but Christ spoke thus, that he might the more pungently and piercingly set on his sin upon him. Thus the incestuous Corinthian,
though a good man, 1 Cor. v. 13, is called rov Kovygbv, that wicked person. The man was good ; he had spirit or grace in him to be saved, ver. 5, yet in the act he was a devil ; for 6 croi/fjgog is the style of the devil in John, and
elsewhere. And therefore it is that excommunication is to be a delivering up to Satan ; and the apostle would have him delivered up to Satan, ver. 5, as a suitable punishment. Thus you say, when you turn an untoward ser vant or child out of doors, Now go to your companions. And thus an excommunicated person is delivered to Satan, as it were in these words, You acted the part of the devil in sinning ; he entered into you, and you cast your lot with him (as Solomon speaks), and therefore let the devil
keep you company a-while, and affright and torment you, that so you may learn what it is to have the devil again. And accordingly at last wicked
* the fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and they and he are tormented together in the same lake of fire and brimstone common to both, because the cause, the
men, as having followed the devil s design, are cast into
engagement, was common to both. All these and many more expres
sions, which might haply be gathered together, evince this, that sin is the
devil s great interest, and that to sin is to maintain the devil s quarrel, to
fight Satan s battles against the Lord, to build up his kingdom, to strengthen his cause, to side and take part with him.
Use 1. If it be so, as I have proved, that sin is the devil s great busi
ness, and the interest of his kingdom, then we may be sure, that in every sin to which we are indulgent, we have dealings with the devil : whilst we
are in this world (as Peter speaks), we are subject to be tempted (as Paul
says, Gal. vi. 1), and therefore let us be sober and watch ; and (as Christ
exhorts, Mat. xxvi. 41), watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Our dear Lord had then taken three of his strongest disciples to assist him
in his temptation, the sorest that ever was : they fell asleep. Well, says
he, you will have your turn ; your time of temptation will come, and you had need watch better for yourselves than you have done for me, or you
will be undone. And in that compendium of prayers our Lord gave us, he
* Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from that evil one (so in the Greek), the head, the author
puts in two petitions much to one purpose
of all evil. That particle aXXa, but, shews its coherence and conjunction with the former petition ; and so the meaning is, that God would not so
give us over to Satan, as that he should devour us, or undo us. He doubles
this petition, and twines it both ways, because temptations to sins are all
our lots ; and therefore we should eye the devil in them, as one with whom we have to do. And though it is true that no man is tempted but of his
262 OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III
own lust (says James, chap, i.), yet there is no lust stirs, but this temper blows it up. He observes which way the stream is inclined to run, and he
applies his winds to blow in accordingly
: there is no great sin but he hath a hand in it, if not by beginning it, yet by promoting it. This you may learn of the same James : From whence come wars ? says he, James iv. 1.
It is true that they arise from our lusts, that war in our members, prone enough to rise up in arms upon every occasion, and from thence is all inor dinate love of the world. And the spirit that is in us lusts after envy fast
enough of itself; but yet there is over and above a devil that acts and inflames all these ; and therefore when he gives counsel against all these, he closeth all with this, ver. 7, Resist the devil, as the great leader of all these
4 If you have bitter envyings and strife in your hearts, this
warring lusts.
* it is
spirit is not only earthly and sensual, but the devil is in it,
devilish. Are there divisions and offences in churches ? Rom. xvi. 17, the devil is in them ; so Paul suggests, ver. 20, comforting them, that the God of peace, that loves peace, and is among them, would tread down
Satan, the head, the ringleader of them, shortly. Doth anger arise ? Take
heed, the devil stands at the door watching to enter : Eph. iv. 26, 27, Be
* neither give place to the devil. A lust given way to, opens the door for him to enter and fill the heart ; and what he
angry, and sin not, &c.,
speaks of anger, is true of all those sins he there names afore and after,
viz., lying, stealing, uncleanness, &c. Is a man covetous, and resolved to be rich ? He falls into temptation and into a snare, 1 Tim. vi. 9. Whose snare it is you may easily know by what is joined with it, viz., temptation. It is the snare of the tempter, which in 2 Tim. ii. 26 is called
* the snare of the devil. Thus every lust is, and by it he entered into Ananias s heart and filled it, Acts v. Hath a man an evil tongue ? Though it is bad enough of itself, yet the devil heats it in his forge, inflames the lust of
it, and sharpens the wit to it : James iii. 6, The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity amongst our members ; it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and is set on fire of hell. In like manner, with respect unto uncleanness, this unclean spirit takes all occasions to
tempt us, 1 Cor. vii. 5. The apostle exhorts man and wife not to be a
long time asunder (but upon absolute necessity), lest Satan, says he,
* tempt you for your incontinency ; that is, whereas the most of men have not that gift of continency (which, ver. 7, he says he had), and therefore to avoid fornication and burning, are supposed to marry, ver. 2. Satan
spies out all advantages to stir up that lust ere you are aware, you having that in you which the apostle calls your incontinency, and to provoke you to some unclean act. All lusts else are the devil s snares ; and in a word, in all these cobwebs there inhabit spiders, and every straggling love of inordinate affection that goes out, and is fastened to anything in the world,
is the spider s dancing-rope to go in and out of his house upon.
Use 2. What weight should the serious consideration hereof have upon our
spirits, both to preserve us from sinning, and to humble us for having sinned.
(1.) To preserve us, and to be a motive against sinning. Doth any lust
begin to boil within thee ? Think with thyself, and say, This is Satan s
scout, he is in ambushment not far off, and the devil is now approaching,
for, lo, I feel his darts, his fiery inflaming darts, as Paul calls them. These
darts cast into my heart came out of his forge, I feel them as fire in my bones ; and as in war darts use to be thrown at the first onset, when the enemy is approaching, so are these ; but he will come on with sharper weapons and sorer assaults, and enter into me if I take not heed. Our
CHAP. V.] IN THE HEART AND LIFE. 263
Saviour Christ espied him afar off: Now is the prince
"of this world
a-coming, says he ; so mayest thou, as one army doth another, when their
* He hath
forlorn is approaching. Christ indeed could say with comfort,
; but thou canst not say so, for he hath that in thee will
nothing in me
betray thee to him, and join with him against thee. Think then with thy
self, Now I have to do with the devil ; and now resist, and give not place
to the devil. If thou wert sure thou hadst to do with the devil, thou wouldst
avoid him ; if he took a shape and appeared to thee, thou wouldst not deal
or truck with him ; but know, that when thy lust, thy passion, thy pride
or covetousness is up, he is surely at thy elbow. As therefore the apostle, Heb. xiii. 2, exhorts to works of hospitality, because thereby some
unawares have entertained angels, as Lot and Abraham did; so for certain
thou, by letting in this or that sin, lettest in the devil, and entertainest him,
though thou seest him not. And though thou yieldest but to one act of sin
only (as thou thinkest), yet thou servest the devil, and dost his work, yea, and hast communion with him. The poor prodigal aimed but at husks to
fill his belly, Luke xv. 15, but he could not enjoy them but by joining
himself to the farmer, the devil, whose all the swine and pleasures of sm
in this world are. Oh consider this ! I would not, says the apostle,
1 Cor. x. 20, that you should have communion with devils. All men,
especially Christians, abhor that ; he takes that for granted, and yet it is
in the nature of the thing itself; by yielding to sin, you become companions
with the devils, as they in eating things sacrificed to him did. In eating his
dainties of sinful pleasures he seems to feast you, but really and indeed you
entertain him. In sinning, we have communion with Satan, as in righteous ness we have with God ; only with this difference : in works of righteous ness we have communion with God in a work that is God s (for as Christ
saith, we work the works of God ) ; and then, further, we have communion
with his person by faith eyeing him, and walking in the light of him, and
in so doing he often manifests himself to us ; but though we have not such
sensible communion with the person of Satan as with God by faith, yet
having to do with his works wherein he acts us, we have remotely to do
with his person. For as merchants each with other, we have to do with
his wares, and his commodities, not only for the present, but for hereafter. Now then, in the entrance to any sin, consider upon what is said, that it is
the devil who is thy guide, and wilt thou follow him ? Thou makest thereby a kind of covenant to serve him ere thou art aware of it. All men do it
, say of them that go to cunning wizards, but in such a
implicitly, as we
case thou wilt do it explicitly.
(2.) Hast thou sinned, and therein acted the devil s part? Humble thy
self greatly, and that upon this consideration, that thou hast sided with
Satan, and the devil hath cause to say, thou hast manfully, or rather
devilishly, took my part this day. The apostle James having shewn, that
in yielding to. their lusts they closed with the devil (chap. iv. 1, 2, and 7
compared), exhorts them to renounce Satan, and to draw nigh to God, and
then to be afflicted and mourn. Humble yourselves, says he, in the
sight of the Lord. Would it not break thy heart to hear Christ from
heaven, after such or such a sin or fact, to call thee devil, and to bid thee
get thee behind him, as he did to Peter ? Now Christ hath the same
affection in this respect whilst he is in heaven, and when he was on earth,
not only to turn away his face, and withdraw the light of his countenance
from thee ; but with indignation (for the present) to reject thee, and^cast thee behind his back, and to remove thee as an accursed thing in his sight.
OF GOSPEL HOLINESS [BOOK III.
Christ said thus to Peter, and thou deservest it ; but humble thyself and be not discouraged ; for at another time, when the same Peter had played the devil worse by far, in forswearing his Saviour, and had acted the devil in his colours for the devil is a blasphemer, and the father of lies, and Peter had done both by lying and forswearing Christ yet then Christ turned not his back but his face upon him. Christ looked back, and one look of Christ cast the devil out, as the believer doth experience, that when Christ
appears by faith in the heart, the devil is gone, and Peter went forth and wept bitterly. Be not therefore discouraged, for Christ still loved and prayed for this Peter, and exercised these varieties of dispensations to the same Peter, to shew us that he useth both upon occasion to his children, and we should have the one in our eye to humble us, the other to encourage us. We have an eiierny on earth, Satan, but an advocate in heaven, I John ii. 1.