Part 15
For a man to hope he is in Christ, and in a pardoned state, a at last find himself deceived, and that all the sins of his nature, hec and practice, lie upon him : to hope for admission into heaven, wh he is turned out of this world by death, and find the door shut agaii him ; to cry with those poor disappointed wretches. Mat. xxv. ' " Lord, Lord, open to us ;" and receive such an unexpected reti from Christ as they did, " Depai't from me, I know you not :"" Lo; how intolerable is such a defeat of hope as this ! O ! who can thi of it without horror !
The things about which your expectations are frustrated in t world, are small things; you may be happy in the want of thci but the frustration of your hopes from the world to come, is in thir of infinite weight. These disappointments are but for a little whil but this will be for ever. O therefore be provoked, even by thi things to a diligent and seasonable prevention of a far greater misei
Since these things cannot be secured, labour to secure those thin that may. O that you were but as full of thoughts, cares and fe£ for heaven as you are for the world ! you have spent many thousa thoughts about these things to no purpose. All your thoughts abc them are come to nothing; but had they been spent for your sou to what a comfortable account would they now have turnec
406 THE seaman's return.
Inference 4. Then as you would not have the works t your hands blasted, beware of those sins that provoke upon them. Think not that injustice, oppression, decei should ever profit you. God hath cursed all the ways c cannot prosper in them. Above all, beware of atheism s God will not own them that disown him, and sHght hi doubt j^our profanation of the Lord's day, by drunken and worldly employments, is not the least cause of the ments and losses that have befallen you : the first day of the first-fruits of the Jews' harvests^ should sanctify th And let none pretend that multiplicity of business them time and disposition for sabbathwork. If you 1 attend the Lord's service, he can quickly give you a wri make you keep more resting days from your labours willing to do. The Lord would not excuse the Israeli their busiest seasons, the times of earing and harvest, building of the tabernacle ; but all must give way tc And I am sure the promise of blessing and success is conscientious observation of it: Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. "
away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleas " holy day ; and call the sabbath a Delight, the holy " Honourable ; and shalt honour him, not doing thi *• nor finding thine own pleasures, nor speaking thine " Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord :" Thei pence to the soul. " And he shall cause thee to ride o " of the earth :" There is a reward to the body. Go( fitable to all things.
THE SEAMAN s RETURN-
SERMON vi.
Deut. xxxiii. 19.
They shall call the people unto the mountain, there th sacrifices of righteousness : For they shall suck qf'tl
THE SEAMA>i's RETCRX. ^ blessing them, so doth Moses from his people ; only with this ( ference, Closes as God's mouth proijounced, but the great God heaven and earth alone could confer tlie blessing. Moses bles them authoritatively, but could not bless them potestatively, as Ch did. Now these words contain the blessing of the tribe of Zebul which was the tribe of seamen. And in them we shall consi these two parts, viz.
1. Their privilege. 2. Their duty.
First, Their privilege, " That they should suck of the abundai " of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sand." To suck abundance of the sea is a * metonymical expression, signifying as m i as to be enriched and stored with the wares and merchandise impc ed bvsea to them. Geographers attribute to the sea, anus and bosoi and tlie scripture breasts. The sea, hke an indulgent mother, c braces those that live upon it in her bosom, and vvith full flowi breasts uourisheth them, and feeds them as a mother doth the inf that sucks and depends for its livelihood upon her breasts.
And these breasts do not only afford those that hang upon them i necessaries of Ufe, bread, raiment, &c. but the riches, ornaments, a delights of life also. " The treasures hid in the sand,"" + as gold, ral, ambergrease, and such hke precious and rich treasures whicl yields. This was the blessing and privilege of the tribe of Zebuh whose cities and villages were commodiously situated upon the s shore for merchandise and traffic : as you may see Josh. xis. 11,
Secondly, Their duty to which these mercies and privileges obli^ them : " They shall call the people to the mountain, there tl
shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.'' By the mountain, we : here to understand the temple, which Moses, by the spirit of prophe foresaw to be upon mount Sion, and mount Moriali; which two wi as the shoulders that supported it, ver. 12. Here was the worship God ; the sacrifices were here offered up to him. And hither > bulun, in the sense of God's mercies to them, should call the peop i. e. say some, their own people, their families and neighbours ; or others, the strangers that were among them for traffic ; saying,
Isa. ii. 3. " Come, let us go up to the house of the Lord, to t
mountain of the God of Jacob." And here they shall offer i sacrifices of righteousness. By which we are to understand th thank-offerings for the mercies they had received of the Lord. T Jews had not only expiatory sacrifices to procure the pardon of si committed, but eucharistical sacrifices, or thank-offerings, to test
408 THE seaman's return.
" that the calves of our hps, the sacrifice of praise," ar of them, Heb. xiii, 15,
So then the sum of all this is, that when they retur: or had received the blessings thereof from the hand ( should repair to the place of his worship, and there acki praise the God of their mercies. So that the whole \ plained, casts itself into this docrinal observation.
Doct. TImt it is the special duty of seamen^ when them to their habitations in peace, thankfully to and bless his name, for all the preservations and have received from his hand.
These are mercies indeed which are obtained from Gc and returned to him again by praise. When we have mercies, God expects his praises : After the Psalmist ha hazards and fears of seamen upon the stormy ocean, and of God in bringing them to their desired haven, Psal presently calls upon them for this duty, ver. 31. "O ths
" praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonder " the children of men !"
O that men would ! why, how is it imaginable they He hath the heart of a beast, not of a man, that would say the heart of a beast ? Give me that word again. Tl of gratitude, even in beasts, to their benefactors. " Thi
" his owner, and the ass his master's crib," Isa. i. 3. Now the method into which I will cast the discourse
First, To open the nature of the duty, and to shew is to praise God for his mercies.
Secondly, To give you the grounds and reasons of tl God expects it, and you ought to give it to him. Am
Thirdly, To apply it in the several uses it is improv ^ 1. The nature of the duty needs opening; for few und^ it IS. Alas ! it is another manner of thing than a custon cold God be thanked. Now, if we search' into the nature we shall find that whoever undertakes this angelic worl
First, Be a heedful observer of the mercies he receiv fundamental to the duty. Where no observations of n been made, no praises for them can be returned. Go honoured by his unobserved mercies. When David hac providences of God to the several degrees and orders o various administrations, and called upon them distinctiv t
THE seaman's KETURN*. 4 looked at the next cause. Thus it is with many, they think i upon their own mercies : others can observe them, but they cann^ they can quickly observe what troubles befal them, but take li notice of their own mercies. Such men can never be thankful.
Secondly, The thankful man must not onlv observe what mercies liath, and from whom they come; but must particularly consider th in their natures, degrees, seasons, and manner of conveyance; ther much of God's glory, and our comfort lost for want of this. " ^
works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that h
" pleasure therein,"" Psal. cxi. 2. And indeed, there is no empl ment in all the world, that yields more pleasure to a gracious s< than the anatomizing of providence doth. How sweet is it to serve the mutual respects, coincidences, and introductive occasion our mercies ; every minute circumstance hath its weight and v£ here. He hath little pleasure in his meat, that swallows it wl without chewing.
Thirdly, The thankful person must duly estimate and value mercies. It is impossible that man can be thankful for mercies httle esteems. Israel could not praise God for that angels food v which he fed them, whilst they despised it in saying. There is notl but this manna.
And surely it shews the great corruption of our nature, that tl things which should raise the value of mercies with us, cause us more to slight them : yet thus it falls out. The commonness, or Ic continuance of mercies with us, which should endear them the m and every day increase our obligation to God, causes them to » but cheap and small things. And therefore doth God so o: threaten them, yea, and remove them, that their worth and ex lency may thereby be acknowledged.
Fourtldy, The thankful person must faithfully record his men else God cannot have his due praise for them. " Bless the Lord
" my soul, and forget not all his benefits,'' Psal. ciii. 2. Forgo mercies bear no fruit : a bad memory in this case, makes a bai heart and life.
I confess the mercies of God are such a multitude, that a mem of brass cannot retain them. " I ^ill come before thee in the n
" titude of thy mercies,"" saith David, Psal. v. 7. They are ca " showers of blessings, Ezek. xxxiv. 26. And as impossible distinctly to recount all our mercies, as to number the drops of: that fall in a shower. Nevertheless, it hath been the pious care endeavour of the people of God, to preserve and j>erpetuate his r
410 THE SEAMAX's EETUJlK".
her, Beer-lahai-roi, the well of him that liveth and Ic me, Gen. xvi. 13, 14.
They have stamped the mercies upon the days in wh ceived them. Thus the Jews called those days in which G their deliverance, Purim, after the name Pur^ signifying man had cast for their lives ; Esther ix. 26. Yea, they their mercies upon their children, 1 Sam. i. 20. Th souls have striven to recognize their mercies, that God lose the praise, nor themselves the comfort of them.
F'lfllilij, The thankful person must be suitably affec mercies he receives. It is not a spccidative, but an uffectio brance that becomes us : then God hath his glory, when his mercies melts our hearts into holy joy, love, and Thus David sits down before the Lord like a man asto goodness to him ; 2 Sam. vii. 20. " And what can Davi^
for thou Lord knowest thy servant." The mercies ( made the saints hearts leap for joy within them : I
" Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work
will I triumph in the works of thy hands." Mercies cies, deliverances are not deliverances to us, if we that are not glad of them.
Sixthly, The thankful person must order his converss to the engagements that his mercies have put him undei have said all, it is the life of the tliankful, that is the thankfulness. Obedience and service are the only res tions of gratitude. " He that offereth praise glorifieth
him that ordereth his conversation aright, will 1 shew " of God," Psal. 1. 23. Set down this for an everl; That God was never praised and honoured by an ab God took it ill from Hezekiah, " That he rendered r
cording to the benefit done unto him," 2 Chron. xx that is truly thankful will say as David, Ps. cxvi. 12.
" I render to the Loi'd for all his benefits .?" We then with his mercies when we employ them to right en thankfully take our own share of comfort from them, re with thanksgiving, as from the hand of a father. Mi tells of a young man, who, lying upeni his sick-bed, wa ing for meat ; but as soon as it was brought him, h trembled dreadfully at the sight of it, and so continued ken away ; and befoi"e his death acknowledged God's j in his health he ordinarily received his meat witiiout t
THE SIAMAN S RETURK. 4 feeding the hungry, especially such as are godly. This is a due ii provement of your estates ; thus you may make to yourselves frien of the mammon of unrighteousness. Ah, how httle do we consid what praise, what glory we may occasion this way, from others, the name of God ! It is storied of* Dionysius the Syracusian trjrm that when he saw what heaps of gold and silver his son hoarded i in his closet, he asked him what he meant to let it lie there, and ri to make friends with it, to get the kingdom after his death .? O s
(said he) thou hast not a spirit capable of a kingdom. Thus hono the Lord with your substance ; look upon all you have as yo Master's talents, for which you must give an account : and to i: and employ them for God, that you may give up your account wi joy ; and then you will shew yourselves thankful indeed. Th vou see what is included in real thankfulness. O, it is another mati than we take it to be.
2. Next I promised to give you the grounds and reasons of tl duty ; why you are obliged after the reception of mercies to sue! thankful return of praises. And, among many, I will only sin< out these three, and briefly open them.
Firsts God requires and expects it. It is so special and pecu! a part of his glory, as he will never part with it. As great landloi oblige their tenants to a homage and service, when they make o\ their estates to them, and reserve a quit-rent to themselves, whi they value at a high rate ; so God, when he bestows deliverances mercies upon us, still reserves an acknowledgment to himself: a this is dear to him, he will not endure to be defrauded of it ; mu less that it be given to another. You find this reservation of pra expressly made by him in Psal. 1. 15. " Call upon me in the day
trouble, I will cleliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." AV'hc you have the request, the grant, and the reservation in the graj q. d. When I have granted thee thy desire, see thou do not defra me of my glory. There be three things in every mercy, the mati of it, the comfort of it, and the glory of it. The two first God mal over freely to us, he gives the mercies themselves, he allows us suck out all the lawful pleasure and delight that is in them ; but t third he reser\'es to himself, and will never part with it to any oth If an Hezekiali himself render not to God due acknowledfrments well as God loves him, there shall be great wrath upon him a Judah for the default, 2 Chron. xxxii. 26.
You are under manifold engagements to render it the Lord.
412 THE SEAMAN^S KETURN.
man a more odious character among men, than to say grateful man.
(2.) The examples of the very heathens will condem praised their gods, which yet were no gods, when the^ deliverance, Judges xvi. 24. Shall idols, dung-hill l their sacrifices and praises, whilst the true God is fon
Nay, (S.) Many of you have formally and expressly souls to it, by solemn vows and promises in the day of and yet will you deal perfidiously with God ? Will yt vows which your lips have uttered ? Certainly you c your souls, from the guilt of perfidiousness against G( give him not the glory due to his name.
3. Lastly^ Your ingratitude is the ready way to depr mercies you have, and to with-hold from you the mere have in your future distresses and wants. He that is mercies received, provokes God to remove them. 11 with ungrateful Israel, Hosea ii. 5, 8, 9. " She did nc
" she did not with consideration and thanks duly " that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil. Therefore " and take away my corn in the time thereof, and m^ " season thereof; and will recover my wool and my they suffered their mercies to lapse into the Lord's hanc ment of their duties. If you are weaiy of your mercie to be rid of them, you cannot take a more effectual c forget from Avhom you had them, and with-hold h them.
And then, for future mercies and deliverances, you ha to expect any more from God, whom you have thus former favours. He that gives no thanks for one mere ground to expect another. It was a sad word whicl upon this very provocation, Judg. x. 11, 12, 13. when £ befel Israel by the Ammonites, and they cried to the L he tells them that he had many times delivered them frc mies : '•' Yet (saith he) have you forsaken me and f^irvd
" Wherefore I will dehver you no more ; go and cr} " which ye have chosen, and let them deliver you in " your tribulation." Q. d. With what face can you for new mercies and deliverances, when yourselves kn mer mercies have been abused ! Think ye that I am \ mercies to cast them away upon such unthankful wretch pect no more mercies from me, " I will deliver you no i A,, m..
THE seaman's RETURy. 4
Use 1. It is your unquestionable duty to return praises upon eve receipt of mercies ? Then, in the first place, bear your shanie a just reproof for your manifest unthankfulness. You dare not de but you have received many signal and eminent mercies from 1 hands of God. If you should deny that, I need go no farther prove you prodigiously ungrateful. But it is too manifest to bei nied : you have found' God a very present help in trouble : his m cy hath often rescued you out of the jaws of death. Some of y have been in dangers in the deeps ; in deaths oft : you have been j to your wit's end ; all visible hope and help failed. You mi< have said with the Psalmist, Psal. cxiii. 4. '• I looked upon my ri< " hand, and there was none ; and upon the left, but refuge faile You have seen your companions intombed before your eyes in the se and concluded in your own thoughts your turn was next. You he been in danger by barbarous enemies that have chased you upon 1 sea to make you a prey : yea, it may be you have been a prey them, and never thought to have seen the land of your nativi your houses, wives, and children, any more. You have languish under dangerous diseases, and that remote from friends and necessi accommodations ; you have lost your estates, and been reduced low ebb, and never thought to have seen a day of prosperity any mo yet hath the Lord deUvered you out of all your troubles. He hi provided unexpected means of preservation, when the proud wat were ready to go over your souls. And though others went do before your eves, you were marked out for deliverance, God spi to the raging waves, saving. Touch not this man, I will not deH him up, though I have done so by others. "When cruel enem chased you, he delivered you, causing the darkness of the night interpose seasonably betwixt you and them ; as the dark side of cloud shadowed Israel from the Egyptians that pursued them, Ex xiv. 20. sometimes giving vou a favourable gale, which blew me: and deliverance to you : sometimes by strengthenmg you to rei their furious attacks, and delivering you from their rage : or if he iivered you into their hands, yet there he preserved you, enabl: you to endure their severities, or causing the enemy to treat } well ; and finding out a way which you knew not, to bring you last out of the house of bondage.
He pitied you under your dangerous diseases ; and though cessary accommodations and means might be wanting, he was y( physician, and healed you ; he recovered you immediately with( means, or blessed weak and small means to vour good. When \ iU THE seaman's ftETURW.
And now, reader, suffer me to account and expostulj thy consscience ; what hath the fruit of all these mercies And how hast thou carried it since those days, towar thy mercies? Hast thou indeed been melted by the sei kmdness, into love, thankfulness, and new obedience i favours engaged thee to more strictness in thy duties, watchfulness against sin ? Hast thou said, with that go IX. 13, 14. "And now my God, seeing thou hast pur " than rame iniquities deserve, and hast given me sucl " as these, should I again break thy commandments ? surely mercy and goodness shall follow thee all the life. The Lord then reckons all these mercies well b will never repent that he hath done thee good.
But I fear this is not thy case. Sure I am, there are you that have quickly forgotten the God that delivered that have abused him to his face, by ascribing his mercies chance, and fortune : not once owning him as your del some that have made his mercies weapons of sin, to wou al, wasting your estates by prodigality, which were gi^ your families, and God's poor ; yea, abusing them to and luxury. And is this the thanks you return him ? ' all my good works (saith Christ to the Jews) do you st say I, for which of all God's kindnesses to you, doyouthi and abuse him ? O let shame cover your faces this day I fold down this leaf, and get thee to thy knees, and say, 1 to whom this reproof is sent. I have abused the God of I have turned his grace into wantonness. Smite with E thy thigh, and say, What have I done 9 Mourn heartily kindness to thy best friend, « The God that hath done i
thy life long, and deserves other returns from thee tl Use 2. Lastljj, It calls upon you all to be thankful f( cies. Chrysostom once wished for a voice like thunder, might hear him. O that I could so call you to this dui of you might effectually hear God's call in this exhorta
Will you own the hand that delivers you, that feeds, heals you ? Will you resolve to hve the life of praise, ai the Lord according to the benefits you have received ? ' deed walk humbly, and thankfully, under all your deliv( successes, and glorify God by that wherewith he hath co refreshed you ? If there be any saving knowledge of Go tual sense of his love in your souls, methinks I should
THE seaman"'s keturn. 4 but ill-deserving creatures ; not only without our merits, but agar our merits. And what though there be a concurrence of your ab ties, head-work and hand-work in the procurement of some of y{ mercies, yet still those mercies are the pure effects of free-grace : all those endeavours of yours had signified nothing to their procu ment, without God's blessing; yea, and that wisdom and indus which you have used, were themselves the free gifts of God. y know there are thousands in the world as industrious and wise as y and such as never provoked God by such sins as you have ; who are denied the mercies you enjoy. O how should this endear yoi
God !
Argument 2. How seasonably your mei'cles have been bestov upon you in the very point of extremity and danger ! God hath purpose suffered it to grow to an extremity, that thereby he mij commend his mercy to you with greater advantage. " In the moi
" of the Lerd it hath been seen,'" Gen. xxii. 14. without this G saw his mercies would have been slighted, and low prized by yc But God hath watched the opportunity of bestowing his goodr upon you, for no other end but to magnify his mercies in y< eyes, and make the deeper and more lasting impressions upon y< hearts. Shall such mercies, which at first were so amazing g overwhelming to you, at the reception whereof you were like n that dreamed, as the Psalmist speaks. Psalm cxxvi. 1. so soon gr stale and common ? God forbid !
Argument 3. How special and distinguishing have some of y( mercies been .'* God hath not dealt with every one as he hath w you. Are not some that went out with you found wanting at y( return : They are among the dead, it may be among the damn and you among the living, yet enjoying the capacity and the me; of salvation. God hath prospered your voyage, and returned } with success ; you have sucked the abundance of the sea, and treasures hid in the sand, as the text speaks ; but others may sav
Naomi, Ruth i. 21. " I went out full, and am come back empty." went out full of hopes, and am come back with sad disappointmei And is not this a stron^ tie to thankssrlvinff ?
Argument. 4. Did not your mercies find you under great guilt.-' "Y know what your own transgressions against the Lord were, and such was the strength of mercy, that it brake through all your gr provocations, and made its way to you through a multitude iniquities. It came triumphing over all your great unworthine and is not such mercy worthy to be admired, and recorded for evi
41 G THE SK amah's llETURN.
ginning of mercies, and you shall see yet greater thino
God hath more mercies yet behind, and those of a hig more excellent nature than these temporal mercies ar now delivered from the dangers of the sea, and have t .perils : O but what is this to deliverance from wrath to have been preserved from, or delivered out of Turkish what is that to a deliverance from the curse of the law, of your lusts, and the power of Satan ? Happy souls, if ances do in any measure prove introductive to the gre
THE CONCLUSION.
Thus I have, as the Lord hath enabled me, endeavoi and improve proper subjectsforyourraeditation in every ( befalsyou. I cannot carry these truths one degree farl Lord only that can make them effectual to your souls, earnest request to you, masters, that have the over-sig give an account for your companies, that you will not c consider these things yourselves, but that you will at fit !
cially upon the Lord's day, read and inculcate them uj vants and company ; and that, as those who must giv Will not this be a better expence of that precious and h than to spend it in sleeping in your cabin;?, or drinkii houses ? All that sin of theirs which you may prevent, ar comes your own sin. And have you not personal sir ready, but you must draw the guilt of their sins upon beseech you, and it is my last request, that you will faitl that you and your companies may serve the Lord.
SAINT INDEED: OR,
THE GREAT WORK OF A CHRISTIAN,
OPENED AND PRESSED.
From Prov. iv. 23.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
To my dearly beloved and longed for, the Flock of Jesus Christ
Dartmouth, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made me an Ove seer : Sound Judgment, true Zeal, and unstained Purity, a heartily wished. My dear Friends, jL HERE are three sad sights with which our eyes should coni nually affect our hearts : The^r^^, is to behold in every place many profane and dissolute ones, who bear the very image of S tan : the face of whose conversation plainly discovers what they ar and whither they are going, Philip, iii. 18, 19. These look like ther selves, the children of wrath. The second is to see so many cursed h^ pocrites artificially disguising themselves, and with marvellous de: terity acting the parts of saints, so that even a judicious eye mi sometimes mistake the similar zcarliings of the Spirit on them, f his saving' workings on others : To hear such a person conferrin, praying, bewailing his corruptions, and talking of his experiences would easily persuade a man to believe that he hath the heart, i well as the face of a sincere Christian : For,
Sic ocidos, sic ille mamis, sic oraferebat. So the people of God do speak, so they pray, and even so th( open their conditions : These look hke saints, but are none. Tl third is to see so many real saints, in whom the spirit of truth is, wl yet, through the impetuous workings of their corruptions, and ne, lectmofof the watcll nvpr tVlpir llpnrtc Ar\ nftpn fall \r\\r\ cnr-h <sPJ»nfl
418 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
For the second, I would both weep and tremble, co they (so abiding) must be damned doubly, Matth. xj
And for the third no less than any of the rest, be they themselves may, and shall be saved, yet their e: fast the bonds of death upon both the former, M S Sam. xii. 13, 14.
Alas ! that ever they should shed the blood of oth whom Christ shed his own blood ! That ever they sh to others who have found Christ so kind to them ! I ki not do it directly and intentionally, but so it proves oo eventually. Suffer me here to digress a little, and ex these prejudiced and hardened souls, I will presently again. O why do you mischieve your own souls by o amples ? Because they stumble and break their shins and break your necks? I desire all such as harden 1 these things, and take up a good opinion of their ov condition, would soberly consider, and answer these tl
Query 1. Doth religion any way countenance or pati ful practices of its professors ? Or doth it not rather in severely condemn them ? It is the glory of the Chris that it is pure and undefiled, Jam. i. 27. No doctrine xix. 8. Nor doth any make more provision for an ho 11, 12. Indeed there is a case wherein we may charge tices of men upon their principles, but that is when t naturally flow from, and necessarily follow their princ example, if I see a Papist sin boldly, I may charge it i ciples, for they set pardons to sale, and so make way If I see an Arminian slight the grace of God, and pre himself, I may cry shame upon his principles, which di it : But can I do so where such practices are condemned against by their own avowed principles, who commit t
Q2ie7'i/ 2. Is it not a most irrational thing to let f because of the scandalous ways of some, whilst, in th you wholly slight and over-look the holy and heavenly of many others? Are all that profess godliness loose a their lives ? No, some are an ornament to their profes glory of Christ : And why must the innocent be cor the guilty ? Why the eleven for one Judas ?
Query 3. If you condemn religion because of the scr of some that profess it, must you not then cast oft' all i world, and turn down-riffht atheists? Surelv this is tli
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY 4 move those fatal stumbling-blocks at which the bUnd world strik and falls into eternal perdition.
Now there are two wavs by which this may be effected : Firsts 1 convincing the consciences of professors of their miscarriages, ai the evil aggravations of them. Secondly, By medicating the Ilea and cleansing the fountain whence they proceed. In the Jl^ of these, a worthy and eminent servant of Christ hath lately laboured, holding a clear gospel-glass before the See Go^p faces of professors, which truly represents their spots glass, and blemishes : If he that reads it will consider, apply, and practise, it shall doubtless turn to his salvation ; but if it turn no good account to him that reads it, I know it shall turn to a t( timony for him that wrote it. The second is a principal design this small treatise, the subject whereof is exceedingly weighty, ai of daily use to the people of God, though the manner of handling be attended Mith many defects and weaknesses : every one cannot excellent, who yet may be useful.
I will exercise your patience no longer than whilst I tell you, 1. Why I publish it to the view of the world. 2. Why I direct it particularly to you. First, For the publication of it, take this sincere and brief accoui That as I was led to this subject by a special providence, so to the pu lication of it by a kind of necessity. The providence at first leadii me to it, was this, a dear and choice friend of my intimate acquaii ance being under much inward trouble, upon the account of soi special heart-disorder, opened the case to me, and earnestly request some rules and helps in that particular ; whilst I was bending r thoughts to that special case, divers other cases of like importan
(some of which were dependent upon that consideration) occurr to my thoughts, and this scripture, which I have insisted upon, pi sented itself, as a fit foundation for the whole discourse ; « hich beii lengthened out to what you see, divers friends requested me to tra scribe for their use, divers of the cases here handled, and some otht begged me to publish the whole, to which I was in a manner nece sitated, to save the pains of subscribing, which to me is a very ttdioi and tiresome work: and just as I had almost finished the copv, i opportunity (and that somewhat strangely) offered to make it pub!
So that from first to last, I have been carried beyond my first inte tions in this thing.
Objection. If any say. The world is even cloyed with books, ai therefore though tihe discourse be necessary, yet the publication
420 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORT.
vour to undermine the power of godliness ; and some t nourish the root, and tend to clear and confirm, to pre ply the great truths of the gospel, that they may be bi to live and feed on : Now, though I could wish that tl handled the pen of the scribe, had better employed tl pains, than to obtrude such useless discourses upon the ^ books of the latter rank, I say, that when husba»dmei too much corn, let Christians complain of too many si
2. And if you be so highly conceited of your own ] ability, that such books are needless to you ; if you le they will do you no hurt, and other poor hungry soul of them, and bless God for what you despise and leav
Objection. If it be said that several of the cases here h not your condition, I answer,
Solution 1. That which is not your condition may condition. If you be placed in an easy, full and pro; and so have no need of the helps here offered to suppoi under pinching wants, others are forced to live by fj day's provision : If you be dandled upon the knee o some of your brethren ai*e under its feet : If you have and tranquillity of spirit, and so need not the counsels 1 ward off those desperate conclusions that poor afflicted si to draw upon themselves at such a time ; yet it may season to them, and they may say as David to Abigail,
" thou of the Lord, and blessed be thy advice/'
2. That may be your condition shortly, which is r dition at present : say not thy mountain stands stron never be moved : there are changes in the right-hand
High ; and then those truths which are little more e; hedge-fruits, will be as apples of gold in pictures of si] xxxiii. 10, 11, the prophet there teaches the Jews (wl in their own houses) how to defend their religion in ] what they should say to the Chaldeans there, and t verse is written in Chaldee. So much for the reasons cation. Next, for the dedication of it to you, I was in( by the consideration, %
1. Of the relation I have to you above all the people I look upon my gifts as yours, my time as yours, and al am entrusted with, as yours: it is not with you as a whose husband is dead, and so is freed from the law of the relation still continues, and so do all the mutual d
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
sian, are always open to philosophers, but my very breast is o]
to thee.' 1 cannot say with him, my doors are open for the 1 access of friends, being by a sad providence shut against mvs( but this I can say, my very breast is still open to you ; you are dear to me as ever.
3. Another inducement (and indeed the main) was the perpeti usefulness and necessity of these truths for you, which you will hi continual need of : And I know few of you have such happy mer ries to retain, and I cannot be always mth you to inculcate th things, but litera scripta manet. I was willing to leave this with \ as a legacy, as a testimony of sincere love for, and care over yc this may counsel and direct you when I cannot : 1 may be rendei useless to you by a civil or natural death ; but this will out-live r and O that it may serve your souls when I am silent in the dust
To hasten now to a conclusion, I have only these three requests vou, which I earnestly beseech you not to deny me ; yea, I char vou, as ever you hope to appear with comfort before the gn Shepherd, do not dare to slight these requests.
1. Above all other studies in the world, study your own heart waste notaminute more of your precioustime about frivolous and s? less controversies. It is rejwrted even of Bellarmine (how truly I e axmnenoX.)* Quod a stud'ns scholastkce theologice avertereturfere na seabiindus, qiioniam succo carebant Uquidce pietatis, i. e. he turn with loathing from the study of school-divinity, because it wanted t sweet juice of piety ; I had rather it should be said of you, as one sa of f Swinkfeldius, " He wanted a regular head, but not an hone heart," than that you should have regular heads, and irregular hear ]My dearflock, I have, according to the grace given me, laboured in tl course of my ministry among you, to feed you with the heart-streno-t ening bread of practical doctrine ; and I do assue you, it is far be ter vou should have tlie sweet and saving impressions of gospel-trutl feelingly and powerfullv conveyed to your hearts, than onlv to u derstand them by a bare ratiocination, or dry syllogistical inferenc Leave trifling studies to such as have time King on their hands, au know not how to emplov it : remember you are at the door of ete nity, and have other work to do ; those hours you spend upon hear work in your closets, are the golden spots of all your time, and wi have the sweetest influence upon your last hour. Never forget thes sermons I preached to you upon that subject, from 2 Kings xx. 2, i Heartwork is weightv, and difficult work; an error there may cos you your souls : I may say of it as Augustine speaks of the doctrin
422 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
S. My next request is, That you will carefully look versations, and be accurate in all your ways, hold fortl life : be sure by the strictness and holiness of your lives, selves in the very consciences of your enemies. Remem lives must be produced in the great day to judge the vi. 2. O then, what manner of persons ought you to many eyes over you ; the omniscient eye of God that !
and reins, Rev. ii. 23. the vigilant eye of Satan, Jo envious eyes of enemies, that curiously observe you, ' quick and observant eye of conscience, which none of escape, Rom. ix. 1.
O then be precise and accurate in all manner of i keep up the power of godliness in your closets and fam you will not let it fall in your more public employmi verses in the world : I have often told you, that it is the gospel, that it makes the best parents and children, ters and servants, the best husbands and wives in the
My third and last request is, that you may pray for can say, and I am sure some of you have acknowledgec at first among you, as the return and answer of your pr; deed so it should be, see Luke x. 2. I am persuadet been carried on in my work by your prayers ; it is sweel see Eph. vi. 18, 19And I hope by your prayers tc farther benefit, even that which is mentioned, Heb Philem. ver. 22. And truly it is but equal you shoulc I have often prayed for you : let the pulpit, family, a ness for me ; and God forbid I should sin against the L to pray for you.
Yea, friends, your own interest may persuade to i cies you obtain for me, redound to your own advantagi serve me, it is for your use and service : the more gift minister hath, the better for them that shall wait on the more God gives in to me, the more I shall be able you. I will detain you no longer, but to entreat you small testification of my great love, and have recourse t as the exigencies of your condition shall require: read it and obediently; judge it not by the dress and style, but and savour of what you read. It is a good rule of B gendis Ubris, non quccramus scientiam sed saporem, i.
books, regard not so much the science as the savour, prove the savour of life unto life to you, and all those ii
SAINT INDEED, &c.
Prov. iv. 23.
Keep thy heart with aU diligence,^r out of it are the issues of'i
X HE heart of man is his worst part before it be regenerate, i the best afterwards : it is the seat of principles, and the fountair actions. The eye of God is, and the eye of the Christian oughl be, principally fixed upon it.
The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to Gc and the greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart ^
God. Here lies the very pinch and stress of religion ; here is t which makes the way to life a narrow way, and the gate to hea a strait gate. Direction and help in this great work are the sc( and sum of this text : wherein we have,
1. An exhortation, " Keep thy heart with all diligence." 2. The reason, or motive enforcing it, " For out of it are the iss « of Ufe.'^
In the exhortation I shall consider,
1. The matter of the duty. 2. The manner of performing it. 1. The mattter of the duty, keep thy heart. Heart is not h taken properly for tliat noble part of the body which philosopl: call the primum vivens, et uliimum moriejis ; the first that li^ and the last that dies ; but by heart, in a metaphor, the script sometimes understands some particular noble faculty of thy soul Rom. i. 21. it is put for the understanding part, their foolish he; i. e. " their foolish understanding was darkened." And Psalm c-^ 11. it is put for the memory, " Thy word have I hid in my hear and 1 John iii. 10. it is put for the conscience, which hath in itb the light of the understanding: and the recognitions of the memo it our heart condemn us, i. e. if your consciences, whose proper fice it is to condemn. But here we are to take it more generally the whole soul, or inner man ; for look what the heart is to body, that the soul is to the man ; and what health is to the he; that holiness is to the soul : Quod sanitas in corpore, id sanctita. corde. The state of the whole bodv deoends uoon the soundr
424 WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEART,
Liyater, on the place, will have the word taken fro garrison, begirt by many enemies without, and in dange trayed by treacherous citizens within, in which danger upon pain of death, are commanded to watch ; and wl pression (Tceep thine heart) seems to put it upon us as on doth not imply a sufficiency or ability in us to do it ; \ to stop the sun in its course, or make the rivers run by our own skill and power to rule and order our heart well be bur own saviours, as our own Tieepers ; and yet Sc properly enough, when he saith Areep thy heart ; becau our's though the power be God's. A natural man hi a gracious man hath some, though not sufficient ; and 1 hath, depends upon the exciting and assisting strengt
Gratia gratiam postulate grace Avithin us is beholden t out us, John XV. 5. " Without me ye can do nothing of the matter of the duty.
2. The manner of performing it is, xcith all diliger, brew is very emphatical, f Cum omni custodia, kee] keeping, q. d. keep, keep; set double guards, your 1 gone else. And this vehemency of expression, with wl is urged, plainly implies how difficult it is to keep you how dangerous to let them ffo.
8. The reason, or motive quickening to this duty, is and weighty : " For out of it are the issues of life." the source and fountain of all vital actions and operation; boni et peccandi origo, saith Jerom ; it is the spring both of good and evil, as the spring in a watch that wheels in motion. The heai't is the treasury, the banc but the shops ; what is in these comes from thence ; t tongue always begin where the heart ends. The hea and the members execute ; Luke vi. 45. " A good mj " good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things *' man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth fortl " for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth sp( then, if the heart err in its work, these must needs theirs ; for heart-errors are like the errors of the tion, which cannot be rectified afterwards : Or like th( and inverting of the stamps and letters in the press, needs cause so many e* rata in all the copies that are pri then, how important a duty is that which is containe( lowing proposition ?
Ill
WHAT IT 15 TO KEEP THE ilKAET.
Doct. That the keeping and right managing of' the heart every condition^ is the great business of a Christian's life. What the philosopher saith of waters, is as properly applies to hearts ; Suis terminis difficile continentur^ it is hard to keep th within bounds : God hath set bounds and limits to them, yet how i quently do they transgress, not only the bounds of grace and religi but even of reason and common honesty ? Hie labor, hoc opus e this is that which affords the Christian matter of labour, fear £ trembling to his dying-day. It is not the cleansing of the hand t! makes the Christian, for many a hypocrite can shew as fair a hs as he ; but the purifying, watching, and right ordering of the hea this is the thing that provokes so many sad complaints, and costs many deep groans and brinish tears. It was the pride of Hezekia heart that made him lie in the dust mourning before the Lord. Chron. xxxii. 26. It was the fear of hypocrisy invading the hei that made David cry, " Let my heart be found in thy statutes thg
" be not ashamed," Psalm cxix. 80. It was the sad experience had of the divisions and distractions of his own heart, in the serv of God, that made him pour out that prayer, Psalm Ixxxvi,
" Unite my heart to fear thy name." The method in which I shall improve the point, sliall be this, First, I shall enquire what the keeping of the heart supposes a imports. *
Seoondly, Assign divers reasons, why Christians must make t the great work and business of their lives.
Thirdly, Point at those special seasons which especially call for t diligence in keeping the heart.
Fourthly, and lastly. Apply the whole in several uses. 1. What the keeping of the heart supposes and imports. To keep the heart, necessarily supposes a previous work of san( fication, which hath set the heart right, by giving it a new spiriti bent and inclination ; for as long as the heart is not set right grace, as to its habitual frame, no duties or means can Iceep it ri^ with God. Self is the poise of the unsanctified heart, which bias and moves it in all its designs and actions ; and as long as it is so is impossible that any external means should keep it with God.
Man, by creation, was of one constant, uniform frame and ten( of spirit, held one straight and even course ; not one thought or culty revelled or disordered ; his mind had a perfect illumination understand and know the will of God, his will a perfect compliai therewith ; his sensitive appetite, and other inferior powers, stc
426 WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEART.
disordered, and all his acts irregular : His illuminated i
IS clouded with ignorance, his complying will full of stubbornness ; his subordinate powers, casting off the government of the superior faculties.
But by regeneration this disordered soul is set arighi tification being the rectifying and due framing, or as phrases it, the renovation of the soul after the image ( IV. 24. m which self dependence is removed by faith ; S6 love of God ; self-will by subjection and obedience i God ; and self-seeking by self-denial. The darkened i
IS again illuminated, Eph. i. 18. the refractory will swe. Psalm ex. 3. the rebellious appetite, or concupiscence g quered, Rom. v. 7. pejtot. And thus the soul which versally depraved is again by grace restored and rectifi
This being pre-supposed, it will not be difficult to api It IS to keep the heart, which is nothing else but the , cuid diligence of such a renewed man, to preserve his son frame to which grace hath reduced it, and daily strive
For though grace hath, in a great measure, rectified given It an habitual and heavenly temper : yet sin often composes it again : so that even a gracious heart is like strument, which, though be it never so exactly tuned, a brings It out of tune again ; yea, hang it aside but a litt need setting again before you can play another lesson oi stands the case with gracious hearts ; if they are in framj yet how dull, dead, and disordered when they come And therefore every duty needs a particular preparation Job XI. 13. " If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch ou " towards him." Well then, to keep the heart is care serve it from sm, which disorders it ; and maintain that gracious frame, which fits it for a life of coinmunioi And this includes these six acts in it :
1. Frequent observation of the frame of the heart, tu examining how the case stands with it, this is one part Carnal and formal persons take no heed to this, the brought to confer with their own hearts ; there are soi women that have lived forty or fifty years in the work scarce had one hour's discourse with their own hearts all It IS a hard thing to bring a man and himself together u account ; but saints know those soliloquies and self-confe of excellent use and advantage. The heathen could sav, o
I I i
■WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE IIEAKT. i
Hozekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, 2 Chron. xx 26. Thus the people were ordered to spread forth their hand; God in prayer, in a sense of the plague of their own hearts, 1 Ki viii. 38. Upon this account many an upright heart hath been 1 low before God : O what an heart have I ? They have in their c fessions pointed at the heart, the pained place ; Lord, here is wound, here is the plague-sore. It is with the heart well kept, a is with the eye, which is a fit emblem of it, if a small dust get i the eye, it will never leave twinkling and watering till it have wej out : So the upright heart cannot be at rest till it have wept oul troubles, and poured out its complaints before the Lord.
3. It includes earnest supplications and instant prayer for he purifying and rectifying grace, when sin hath defiled and disordf it; so Psahn xix. 12. " Cleanse thou me from secret faults;'' Psalm Ixxxvi. 11. " Unite my heart to fear thy name." Saints h always many such petitions depending before the throne of G grace ; this is the thing which is most pleaded by them with G When they are praying for outward mercies, haply their spirits i be more remiss, but when it comes to the heart-case, then they tend their spirits to the utmost, fill their mouths with argume weep and make supplication : Oh, for a better heart ! Oh for a h to love God more. To hate sin more, to walk more evenly with G
Lord, deny not to me such a heart, whatever thou deny me ; j me an heart to fear thee, love and delight in thee, if I beg my bi in desolate places. It is observed of holy Mr. Bradford, that ^\ he was confessing sin, he would never give over confessing unti had felt some brokenness of heart for that sin ; and when praying any spiritual mercy, would never give over that suit, until he got some relish of that mercj. That is the third thing include keeping the heart.
4. It includes the imposing of strong engagements and bonds i ourselves to walk more accurately with God, and avoid the occas whereby the heart may be induced to sin : Well-composed, advi and deliberate vows, are, in some cases, of excellent use to guard heart against some special sin ; so Job xxxi. 1. " I made a cove
" with mine eyes;" by this means, holy ones have over-awed 1 souls, and preserved themselves from defilement bv some sp heart-cor ru ption s.
5. It includes a constant holv jealousy over our own he? quicksighted self-jealousy is an excellent preserv'ative from sin that will keep his heart must have the eyes of his soul awake
428 WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEART.
State mr'i^ qiicc causa via; ? quive estis in armis. Happy is the man that thus feareth always, Prov. By this fear of the Lord it is that men depart from ev security, and preserve themselves from iniquity ; he th his heart, must feed with fear, rejoice with fear, and pa; time of his sojourning here in fear, and all little enough heart from sin.
6. And, lastly. To add no more, it includes the realizi presence with us, and setting the Lord always before u people of God have found a singular mean to keep thei right, and awe them from sin ; when the eye of our f upon the eye of God''s omniscience, we dare not let out o and affections to vanity: Holy Job durst not suffer his h( to an impure, vain thought ; and what was it that move great a circumspection .'' Why, he tells you. Job xxxi. 4.
not see my ways, and count all my steps .'' Walk befo " God to Abraham) and be thou perfect," Gen. xvii. ! parents use to set their children in the congregation I knowing that else they will be toying and playing ; sc heart of the best man too, were it not for the eye of Go ' In these and such like particulars, do gracious souls care they have of their hearts ; they are as careful to ] breaking loose of their corruptions in times of temptatior are to bind fast the guns, that they break not loose in i careful to preserve the sweetness and comfort they ha\
God in any duty, as one that comes out of an hot bat sweat, is of taking cold, by going forth into the chill ai the work, and of all works in religion it is the most di stant, and important work.
1. It is the hardest work ; lieart-work is hard work ir shuffle over religious duties with a loose and heedless spii no great pains ; but to set thyself before the Lord, and loose and vain thoughts to a constant and serious attem him : this will cost thee something : To attain a facility a ty of language in prayer, and put thy meaning into apt expressions, is easy ; but to get thy heart broken for sin art confessing it ; melted with free grace whilst thou art bl for it ; to be really ashamed and humbled through the sions of God's infinite holiness, and to keep thy heart in not only in, but after duty, will surely cost thee some grog vailing pain of soul : To repress the outward acts of sin
WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEAUT.
as is never done till life be done : this labour and our life end t< ther : It is with a Christian in this business, as it is with seamen 1 have sprung a leak at sea, if they tug not constantly at the pu the water increases upon tliem, and will quickly sink them. It i vain for them to say the work is hard, and we ai'e weary ; there i; time or condition in the life of a Christian, which will suffer an in mission of this work. It is in the keeping watch over our hearts, j was in the keeping up of INIoses' hand, whilst Israel and Amj were fio-hting below, Exod. xvii. 12. No sooner do Moses' ha grow heavy and sink down, but Amalek prevails. You know it David and Peter many a sad day and night for intermitting the wj over their own hearts but a few minutes.
3. It is the most important business of a Christian's life. Wit! this we are but formaUsts in religion ; all our professions, gifts, duties signify nothing: " My son, give me thine heart," Prov, x: 36. GcS is pleased to call that a gift, which is indeed a debt ; will put this honour upon the creature to receive it from him in way of a gift ; but if this be not given him, he regards not whate else you bring to him : There is so much only of worth and valui what we do, as there is of heart in it Concerning the heart, ( seems to say, as Joseph of Benjamin, " If you bring not Benjai
" with you, vou shall not see my face." Among the heathens, w the beast was cut up for sacrifice, the first thing the priest loo upon was the heart, and if that was unsound and naught, the sacri was rejected. God rejects all duties (how glorious soever in ot respects) offered him without a heart. He that performs duty w out a heart, viz. heedlessly, is no more accepted with God than that performs it with a double heart, viz. hypocritically, Isa. Ixvi And til us I have briefly opened the nature of the duty, what is ported in this phrase, " Keep thy heart."
2. Next I shall give you some rational account why Christi should make this the great business of their lives to keep theuhea
The importance and necessity of making this our great and ra business, will manifestly appear in that, 1. The honour of Gc 2. The sinceritv of our profession ; 3. The beauty of our com sation ; 4. The comfort of our souls ; 5. The improvement of < graces ; and, 6. Our stability in the hour of temptation ; all wrapt up in, and dependent on our sincerity and care in the m agement of this work.
1. The glor>' of God is much concerned therein; heart-evils very provoking evils to the Lord. The schools do well observe, t
430 WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEART.
he sent the dreadfullest judgment that was ever execu world began : « And the Lord said, I will destroy man *' created from the face of the earth, both man and bt " creeping things and the fowls of heaven, for it repen " I have made man," ver. 7. We find not their murder blasphemies, (though they were defiled with these) pa leged against them ; but ^the evils of their hearts : Yei God was so provoked by, as to give up his peculiar inl: the enemy's hand, was the evil of their hearts, Jer. iv. " rusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that the "saved ; how long shall vain thoughts lodge within i wickedness and vanity of their thoughts God took speci and because of this the Chaldean must come upon them a his thicket, ver. 7. andtear them to pieces. For the very sii It was that God threw down the fallen angels from : keeps them still in everlasting chains to the judgment ( day ; by which expression is not obscurely intimated son nary judgment to which they are reserved, as prisoner most irons laid upon them, may be supposed to be the gr factors : and what was their sin ? Why, only spiritual For they, having no bodily organs, could act nothim against God. Yea, mere heart-evils are so provokino-, t he rejects with indignation all the duties that some me^ p him Isa. Ixvi. 3. " He that killeth an ox is as if he sle^
" that sacrificeth a lamb, is as if he cut off a dog's neck; 1 " eth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood ; he' t " incense, as if he blessed an idol." In what words coul rence of a creature's actions be more fully expressed I God .? Murder and idolatry are not more vile in his ac their sacrifices, though materially such as himself appo what made them so.? The following words inform us, " dehghteth in their abominations."
To conclude, such is the vileness of mere heart-sins, th; tures sometimes intimate the difficulty of pardon for t the case of Simon Magus, Acts viii. 21. his heart was n had vile thoughts of God, and the things of God; the j him "repent and pray, if perhaps the thoughts of his he£
"forgiven him." O then, never slight heart-evils; fc God is highly wronged and provoked; and for this reas Christian make it his work to keep his heart with all dil
2. The sincerity of our profession much depends upon t
WHAT IT IS TO KEEP THE HEAUT.
count of the great service performed by Jehu against the houi
Ahab and Baal, as also of a great temporal reward given bin God for that service, even that his children to the fourth genera should sit upon the throne of Israel. And yet, in these words, <.
is censured for an h}^pocrite ; though God approved and rewa the work, yet he abnorred and rejected the person that did i hypocritical : And wherein lay his hypocrisy ? but in this, tha took no heed to walk in the ways of the Lord with his heart, he did all insincerely, and for self-ends ; and though the wor did was materially good, yet he, not purging his heart from t unworthy self-designs in doing it, was an hypocrite : And Simo whom we spake before, though he appeared such a person, thai apostle could not regularly refuse him ; yet his hypocrisy quickly discovered : And what discovered it but this, that the he professed and associated himself with the saints, yet he w stranger to the mortification of heart sins ? " Thy heart is not i
with God," Acts viii. 21. It is true there is a great differ among Christians themselves, in their diligence and dexterity a heart-work; some are more conversant and successful in it others are ; but he that takes no heed to his heart, that is not < ful to order it aright before God, is but a hypocrite, Ezek. x>
31, 32. " And they come unto thee as the people cometh, an( " before thee (as my people) and they hear thy words, but ; " will not do them ; for with their mouths they shew much love,
" their heart goeth after their covetousness.''' Here were a comj of formal hypocrites, as is evident by that expression (as my peo like them but not of them. And what made them so.? Their side was fair; here were reverend postures, high professions, u seeming joy and delight in ordinances, " Thou art to them j
" lovely song :" yea, but for all that they kept not their hearts God in those duties, their hearts were commanded by their h they went after their covetousness : had they kept their hearts God, all had been well ; but not regarding which way their he went in duty, there lay the score of their hypocrisy.
Objection. If any upright soul should hence infer, that I am hypocrite too, for many times my heart departs from God in di do what I can, yet I cannot hold it close with God.
Solution. To this I answer, The very objection carries in ii own solution. Thou sayest, do what I can, yet I cannot keep heart with God. Soul, if thou dost what thou canst, thou hast blessing of an upright, though God sees good to exercise thee ui
432 "U'llAT It IS TO KEEP THE HEART.
heart to prevent them, Psal. cxix. 11. " Thy word h
mine heart, that I might not sin against thee :" part] deavours to engage our hearts to God, Jer. xxx. 21. s begging preventing grace from God in our onsets upor cxix. 36, 37. it is a good sign where this care goes befc
And, (2.) It is a sweet sign of uprightness to oppose 1 first rise, Psal. cxix. 113. " I hate vain thoughts," *' The spirit lusteth against the flesh.'' And, (3.) Thy after-grief discovers thy upright hea Hezekiah, thou art humbled for the evils of thy heart, reason, from those disorders, to question the integrity < suffer sin to lodge quietly in the heart, to let tliy heai and uncontrolledly wander from God, is a sad and dang tom indeed.
3. The beauty of our conversation arises from the hei and holy order of our spirits ; there is a spiritual lustre in the conversation of saints : " The righteous is more e:
his neighbour,"" they shine as the lights of the world ever lustre and beauty is in their lives, comes from the ( their spirits ; as the candle within puts a lustre upon in which it shines. It is impossible that a disordered ai heart should ever produce well-ordered conversation ; £ the text observes) the issues or streams of life flow out as their fountain, it must needs follow, that such as the life will be: hence 1 Pet. ii. 11, 12. " Abstain from fles " having your conversation honest," * or beautiful, as word imports. So Isa. Iv. 7. " Letvthe wicked forsal
" and the unrighteous man his thoughts.'" His way note of his life, his thoughts the frame of his heart ; and the the way and course of his life flows froyi his thoughts, c of his heart, both or neither will be forsaken : the heart of all actions, these actions are virtually and scminally < our thoughts, these thoughts being once made up into af quickly made up into suitable actions and practices. 1 be wicked, then, as Christ saith. Mat. xv. 19. " Out o
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries," &c. Marl first, wanton, or revengeful thoughts, then unclean or practices.
And if the heart be holv and spiritual, then, as Da from sweet experience, Psal. xlv. 1. " My heart is (indit " matter, I speak of things which (I have made), my 1
SINCERITY AND JOY DEPENDS UPON KEEPIXC OUR HEAET. 4
Put but the heart in frame, and the \ife will quickly discover tl it is so. I think it is not very difficult to discern, by the duties £ converses of Christians, what frames their spirits are under; tak Christian in a good frame, and how serious, heavenly, and profital will his converses and duties be ! what a lovely companion is during the continuance of it ! It would do any one*'s heart good be with him at such a time, Psal. xxxvii. 30, 31. " The mouth