The Dead Saint Speaking to Saints and Sinners Living, Treatise 5 · Character 4 – Motive 5
4. Character.
A ſincere Obedience is a filial Obedience, it is the Obedience of a ſon, not of a ſlave; it is voluntary, evangelical, free, willing Obedience; not a legal, ſervile, and forced Obedience.
It is ſet down as the Character in Pſal. 110.3. Thy people are a willing people, devoted to his laws and ſervice; they are willing to hear, Speak Lord, for thy Sevant heareth; they are willing to do; Lord, what wilt thou have mee to do? Hence thoſe breathings and aſpirations of ſoul. Oh! that my wayes, &c. There is no task too hard, no imploiment too great. They are willing to ſuffer too, to go through good reports, and bad reports, through a Sea, and through a Wilderneſs, through the hotteſt ſervices, and ſtrongeſt oppoſitions for Chriſt; it is a chearful Obedience, hee delights in the Law of God. As it was ſaid of Chriſt, ſo it may bee ſaid of him in ſome meaſure. It was meat and drink to him to do his Fathers will; duties they are medicines to unſound ſpirits, but meat to him. Hence David ſets down this for a Character of a godly man, Pſal. 1.2. His delight is in the Law of God, and Paul ſpeaks of himſelf, that his delight was in the Law of God, as concerning the inner man. And David hath it up and down, Pſal. 119. Lord, how I love thy Law! eccho like, in Pſal. 40.8. I delight to do thy will, thy Law is in my heart. There was a Principle within him agreeable to the Precept without him. As the eye delights in ſeeing, the ear in hearing, ſo the heart in obeying. Actions of nature, you know they are actions of delight. So of the new nature. But this muſt bee underſtood, when the Principle within, which ſhould yeeld Obedience, is not diſturbed, for as it is in nature, though it bee a natural act, and full of delight for the eye to ſee; yet if the eye bee offended or hurt, it will breed a tediouſneſs in the eye to do its natural act, and that in which formerly it did take ſo much delight. So here, though to obey and walk in Gods wayes, bee acts moſt ſutable to the new nature, yet if the ſpiritual Principles within bee wounded and hurt, it may breed ſome kinde of weariſomeneſs and unwillingneſs in the ſoul to obey for the time, which may befal the deareſt of Gods Children in diverſe caſes, in theſe 7.
1. They may bee damped with carnal affections.
2. They may bee tyred with the difficulty of the work.
3. They may bee pulled back with the prevails of corruption.
4. They may drive heavily under ſome vexing and laſt…ng temptation.
5. In caſe of the ſpirits withdrawment of himſelf, which is either probational or penal.
6. Or in the caſe of neglects of duty and communion with God.
7. In caſe of ſome dangerous relapſe into former ſins.
Any of which, may breed a kinde of wearineſs and unwillingneſs upon the ſoul; yet at that time there is ſome willingneſs of the ſpirit, when there is a reluctance of the fleſh. And the ſoul will do its former works, though not with ſo much chearfulneſs as formerly, yet with as much Obedience, and ſerves God when hee hides himſelf.
And thus much ſhall now ſerve for this uſe of Tryal.
Wee will adde another uſe, and conclude.
Uſe of Exhortation. Which hath four Branches.
1. Branch.1. Get a ſincere heart.
Otherwiſe all you do is worth nothing: I ſpeak unto you, who do abound moſt in duties, in performances; you, who pray, who hear. Oh! do you labour to get a ſincere heart in the midſt of your performances? When you do any publick work, look to your hearts, beware of baſe ends, baſe aims, leaſt they creep in, and poiſon all your works. Beware of a double eye, an eye towards God, and an eye toward your ſelves, when in oppoſition. Let it bee ſaid of all you, who put your hand to any publick works in theſe publick times, as it was ſaid of a Royal Commander, that in all his actions hee placed oſtentation behinde, and conſcience before him, and ſought not the reward of a good deed from fame, but thought the deed it ſelf done a ſufficient reward. Oh ſo do you! And when you have to do with more private duties, look to your hearts, let your tongue and heart anſwer one another; beware leaſt your heart give your tongue the lye, in ſpeaking that your heart doth not deſire. I have ſhewed, this may bee done. Do you go labour, that your heart may go with your tongue, your affections may go hand in hand with all your expreſſions? Nay, rather let your expreſſions bee but as ſo many breathings from the like affections within, ſo many ſtreams iſſuing from a fountain and ſpring of affections within. My Brethren, this is the great thing I would preſs upon you. The power of his Word, and light of his Truth hath brought you I ſuppoſe to a form. I hope few are among you, but will ſeem to carry the outward face of Religion. Few but will pray, will hear, will do duty. Many favour Religion, who have no ſavour of it. It is my deſire to exhort you who do much, that you would not loſe what you do, do much; and yet periſh at laſt. I tell thee, if thou couldeſt heap up mountains of prayers, if weep a Sea of tears, if thou couldeſt macerate thy ſelf with faſting, and humbling thy ſelf, as many thouſand years as the World hath ſtood minutes, from the Creation, yet without ſincerity, all this is nothing. What the Apoſtle ſaith of charity, I may ſay of ſincerity; if I ſpeak with the tongues, &c. Wee read there ſhall many come to Chriſt at the laſt day, and ſay, have not wee preached? have not wee prayed, and propheſied? faſted? &c? They thought they had great wrong done them, why ſhould not Chriſt ſave them as well as any others? why not accept of their works as well as of others? and meaner than theſe too. Why here was the ground and reaſon, there was a want of ſincerity, they had but ſerved themſelves in ſerving him, and therefore hee doth not own them. Oh! then let mee exhort you all, who are much in duties, labour to get ſincerity to accompany all. You hear, you pray, &c. get ſincere hearts in hearing, in praying, &c. The rather,
1. Motive.
1. Becauſe ſincerity ſets a value and price upon the meaneſt work, it makes the meaneſt action acceptable unto God. Wee read, Cant. 5.1. Chriſt is ſaid to drink of the Milk as well as the Wine, to eat of the Honey, &c. That is, to accept of the meaneſt work and performance; when there is ſincerity to accompany it, Milk, &c. A ſigh, a groan, a tear, a breathing of the ſpirit ſhall finde acceptance where the heart is upright, which I told you cannot bee, if there bee the love and liking of the leaſt ſin. God delights more in the imperfect breathings of a ſincere heart, when there is not ſtrength to bring forth an expreſſion, than hee doth in all the flouriſhes and glorious expreſſions of an unſound heart. Sincerity makes the meaneſt works mighty with God; it puts weight and value to all. A work doth not make up the want of ſincerity, but ſincerity vvill make up the want in a work, as in Aſah, 1 King. 15.14. hee vvill ovvn the vveakeſt duty, if ſincerity bee in it; Hee vvill not refuſe our vvorks, as vvee do gold, not becauſe it vvants goodneſs, but greatneſs; hee vvill not reject them for vvant of grains, if the gold bee good. Hee hath a merciful allovvance for ſuch vvorks, vvhere the heart is ſincere in the doing of them, though the things done bee attended vvith many imperfections. And that's the firſt Motive.
2. Motive.
2. Becauſe ſincerity distinguiſheth all our works from the works of others. The day is comming, vvhen the perſons and vvorks of men ſhall bee diſtinguiſhed one from another. And as you vvould have your perſons diſtinguiſhed from others at the great day, vvhen Chriſt ſhall come to ſeparate the precious and the vile, the Sheep from the Goats, the good from the bad: you vvould then bee glad to have your vvorks diſtinguiſhed, vvhen all the vvorks of men are to bee tryed and burned vvith fire, to ſee whether they will indure tryal, yea or no; you would bee glad then to have ſomething in your works, to diſtinguiſh them from others that are to periſh. Why then, if ever you would have that, labour now to get Sincerity. Sincerity will do this, it will ſet ſuch a ſtamp, ſuch a Character upon them, as no falſe coin, no work of any Hypocrite can have, and therefore labour for it.
3. Motive.
3. Becauſe otherwiſe all thy prayers, thy tears, thy duties, all is loſt, and that is a ſad caſe. If a man had laid out much pains and coſt about a work, hee would bee ſorry to loſe all hee had done for want of a little more. You have done much, it may bee, ſuffered much in the wayes of God, would you not now loſe all your former labours, all your prayers, all your tears, your many ſad hours ſpent in the wayes of godlineſſe, would you not loſe all in concluſion; Oh! labour to get a ſincere heart: if not, you will aſſuredly loſe the things you have wrought, God will never own them. Though the things bee materially good in themſelves, as what better than praying, hearing? &c. yet if the heart bee not ſincere in them, God will never own them. You ſee it in the firſt of Iſaiah: the works were good, and ſuch as God had commanded, ſuch as his ſoul delighted in, yet wanting this ſincerity, all was nothing, &c.
4. Motive.
4. Becauſe ſincerity is the chiefeſt thing God eyes in men, the main thing which God now deſires under the Goſpel. God looks not for a legal perfection from you, in reſpect of legal, actual, univerſal, perſonal Obedience, hee deſires ſincerity, and that under the Goſpel, is perfection.
5. Motive.
5. Sincerity will afford us comfort in the ſaddeſt times, of our ſoul or body, in our ſpiritual and temporal ſorrows, &c. when other things cannot miniſter comfort, when duties and prayers muſt ſtand afar off, and are not able to reach forth any comfort to us, yet ſincerity can. In the greateſt darkneſſe of the ſoul, when the ſoul is compaſſed with thick darkneſs, ſincerity will open a Caſement, and thereby let light into the ſoul, Pſal. 112.4. Unto the upright there ariſeth light in darkneſs, in the darkeſt; whereas Hypocriſy is like painted windows, keeps out light; Sincerity will be like windows of Glaſs, tranſparent, let in light.