who makes God, or Christ, or holiness, or
wickedness, speculative uncleanness, etc., they having no regard at all to the inward and spiritual part of any command.
Common grace looks only to some particular duties—but saving grace looks to all. Renewing grace comes off to positives as well as negatives; it teaches us to cease to do evil, and it teaches us also to do good. It "teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and also to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." These words contain the sum of a Christian's duty. To live soberly toward ourselves, righteously toward our neighbors, and godly toward God, is true godliness indeed, and the whole duty of man.
There is never a hypocrite in the world that can sincerely appeal to God, and say, "Lord! you know that my heart is subdued to a willingness to perform all known duties; I would willingly do the best I can to observe all your royal laws; Lord! I sincerely desire, and really endeavor to have an eye upon every command of yours, and to live up to every command of yours; and it is the real grief of my heart, and the daily burden of my soul when I violate any of your blessed laws." He who can sincerely thus appeal to God, shall never miscarry in the eternal world.
4. There is never a hypocrite in the world, who makes God, or Christ, or holiness, or his doing or receiving good in his station, relation, or generation—his grand end, his highest end, his ultimate end of living in the world.
Pleasures, profits and prestige, are the hypocrite's trinity, which he adores and serves, and sacrifices himself to. They are all that he aims at in this world. A hypocrite's ends are corrupt and selfish. Self is his highest end; for he who was never truly cast out of himself, can have no higher end than himself. A hypocrite is all for his own glory; he acts for himself, and from himself. That he may have the profit, the credit, the glory, the applause—is the desire of an unsound heart. A hypocrite will seem to be very godly when he can make a gain of godliness; he will seem to be very holy when holiness is the way to outward greatness and happiness; but his religious wickedness will double-damn the hypocrite at last.
Selfish ends are the operative ingredients in all a hypocrite does; self is the chief engine, self is the great wheel which sets all a hypocrite's wheels going. When hypocrites take up religion, it is only to serve their own interests, to bring about their own carnal ends; they serve not the Lord, but their own bellies. They use religion only as a stream to turn about their own mill, and the more neatly to effect their own carnal projects. Simon Magus will needs be baptized, and he is very desirous to have power to give the Holy Spirit to others; but his aim being only to get a name, and to get money, Peter tells him to his face that his heart was not right in the sight of God.
No man can go higher than his principles, and therefore a hypocrite having no higher principles than himself, all he does must needs be terminated in himself. As all the rivers which come from the sea do return back again to the sea from whence they come, so all those duties which arise from a man's self, must needs center in a man's self. A hypocrite always makes himself the end of all his service; but let such hypocrites know, that though their profession be ever so glorious, and their duties ever so abundant, yet their ends being
selfish and carnal, all their pious pretensions and performances are but splendid abominations in the sight of God.
A hypocrite has always a squint eye, and squint-eyed aims and squint-eyed ends in all he does. Balaam spoke very piously, and he multiplied altars and sacrifices; but the thing he had in his eye was the wages of unrighteousness. Jehu destroyed bloody Ahab's house, he executed the vengeance of God upon that wicked family; he readily, resolutely, and effectually destroyed all the worshipers of Baal—but his ends were to secure the kingdom to himself. Ahab and the Ninevites fasted in sackcloth—but it was merely that they might not feel the heavy judgments that they feared would overtake them. The Jews in Babylon fasted and mourned, and mourned and fasted seventy years—but it was more to get off their chains than their sins, it was more to be rid of their captivity than it was to be rid of their iniquity. As the eagle has an eye upon her prey when she flies highest, so these Jews in all their fasting, praying, mourning; they had only an eye to their own ease, deliverance, freedom, etc.; in all their religious duties they were acted from evil principles, and carried on by self-respects; and therefore Daniel denies that in all that seventy years' captivity they had prayed to any purpose. "All this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth," Dan 9:13.
It is the end which dignifies or debases the action, which rectifies it or adulterates it, which sets a crown of honor or a crown of shame upon the head of it. He who commonly, habitually, in all his duties and services, proposes to himself no higher ends than the praises of men, or rewards of men, or the stopping the mouth of natural conscience, or only to avoid a smarting rod, or merely to secure himself from wrath to come—he is a hypocrite. The ends of a man's
actions are always a great discovery either of sincerity or hypocrisy. A hypocrite's ends are always below God; they are always below glorifying of God, exalting of God, walking with God, and enjoying communion with God. A hypocrite, in all he does, still proposes to himself some poor, ignoble, selfish end or other.
But now mark, a sincere Christian, if he prays or hears, or gives or fasts, or repents or obeys, etc., God's glory is the main end of all. The glory of God is his highest end, his ultimate end. A sincere Christian can be content to be trampled upon and vilified, so that God's name is glorified. The bent of such a heart is for God and his glory, nothing but sincerity can carry a soul so high, as in all acts natural, civil and religious, to intend God's glory. A sincere Christian ascribes the praise of all to God; he sets the crown on Christ's head alone; he will set God upon the throne, and make all things else his servants, or his footstool. All must bow the knee to God, or be trodden in the dirt. He will love nothing, he will embrace nothing but what sets God higher, or brings God nearer to his heart. The glory of God is the mark, the target, which the sincere Christian has in his eye. The sincere Christian lives not to himself—but to him who lives forever; he lives not to his own will, or lusts, or greatness, or glory in this world—but he lives to his glory, whose glory is dearer to him than his own life. As bright shining golden vessels do not retain the beams of the sun which they receive—but reflect them back again upon the sun; so the sincere Christian returns and reflects back again upon the Sun of righteousness, the praise and glory of all the gifts, graces, and virtues which he has received from God. The daily language of sincere souls is this: 'Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, Lord—but to your name be all the glory.'
A sincere Christian makes conscience of giving men their dues; how much more, then, does he make conscience of giving God his due.
Now glory is God's due, and God desires nothing more than that we give him the glory due unto his name, as you may see in Psalm 29:1, 2. There are three gives in those two verses: "Give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name." Glory is God's right, and he stands upon his right; and this the sincere Christian knows, and therefore he gives him his right, he gives him the honor and the glory that is due unto his name.
But please do not mistake me: I do not say that such as are really sincere do actually eye the glory of Christ in all their actions. Oh no! That is a happiness desirable on earth—but shall never be attained until we come to heaven. Selfish and base ends and aims will be still ready to creep into the best hearts—but all sincere hearts sigh and groan under them. They complain to God of them, and they cry out for justice, justice upon them; and it is the earnest desires and daily endeavors of their souls to be rid of them; and therefore they shall not be imputed to them, nor keep good things from them.
But take a sincere Christian in his ordinary, usual, and habitual course—and you shall find that his aims and ends in all his actions and undertakings are to glorify God, to exalt God, and to lift up God in the world. If the hypocrite did in good earnest aim at the glory of God in what he does, then the glory of God would swallow up his selfish aims and carnal ends, as Aaron's rod swallowed up the magicians' rods.
He who sets up the glory of God as his chief end, will find that his chief end will by degrees eat out all low and selfish ends. As Pharaoh's lean cows ate up the fat, so the glory of God will eat up all those fat and worldly ends which crowd in upon the soul in pious work. Where the glory of God is kept up as a man's greatest end, there all selfish and base ends will be kept under.