Two Treatises, Treatise 2 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Walking with God what it is, Opened in Nine Particulars.
BUt now, The way of the ſoul in this walk with God: When the ſoul is thus brought to God, and by this means enabled to walk with him, Then what's the way of the ſoul in walking thus with God?
Walking with God cauſes the ſoul to eye God.
In the firſt place, Now the ſoul being come thus to God, in all the waies of God it ey's God, and ſets God before it. Enoch walked with God: that is, Enoch in the waies of his life ſet God before him, and did eye God in his waies; Firſt beholding the infinite beauty there is in God. Secondly, God being the fountain of al good to the ſoul. Thirdly, the ſoul apprehending God infinitly worthy of all honor. Theſe three things cauſes the eye to be upon God continually: The Lord hath infinit excellency and beauty in him. The Lord is the fountain of all good to me: The Lord is infinitly worthy of all honor and ſervice; and a ſoul walking with God eyes God thus continually. In the 26. Pſal. 3. For thy loving kindneſs is before mine eyes, and I have walked in thy truth: Oh Lord! I ſee thee aimable, lovely, and gracious, and the fountain of all good, and Lord, I have walked in thy truth, ſetting God before me; ſo in Pſal. 16. 8. I have ſet the Lord alwaies before me that I might not fall. A ſoul that walks with God ſcarce ey's any thing but God, when it enjoyes the creature yet the eye is upon God; as the little child walking with the father looks up to the father; every ſoul that walks with God hath his eye upon him, for there's no ſuch lovely drawing object to the ſoul as God himſelf is; whereas wicked men they do not find God to be ſuch a lovely object, ſees no ſuch excellency in him, and therfore they rather turn their eyes away from him, they look another way, Pſal. 86. 14. They do not ſet God before them; men that walk according to the luſts of their own hearts in their wicked ſinful waies, the Lord is not in all their thoughts, as in the 10. Pſalm. That's the firſt thing in the way of the ſouls walking with God, he eyes God, and ſees God before him.
Walking with God cauſeth a man to carry himſelf as in Gods Preſence.
Secondly, The ſoul behaves its ſelf as in Gods Preſence. I ſee my ſelf in Gods preſence, and my eye is upon God, Oh let me then look to my ſelf, that the carriage of my ſoul be as beſeems one who is in the preſence of ſo holy, ſo great, ſo glorious and bleſſed a God as the Lord is, in the 2 Cor. 2. 17. As of God in the ſight of God ſpeak we in Chriſt, ſaith the Apoſtle; when we come to do any thing, we do it as of God, in the ſight of God, knowing that we are allwayes before God. Auguſtine, ſpeaking concerning Noah's walking with God, he hath this expreſſion, Noah walked with God, that is, he had God alwaies preſent before his eyes, walking ſo holily, and ſo reverenced God: This is to walk in the fear of God, when the ſoul upon the apprehention of Gods preſence ſhall labor to compoſe its ſelf as beſeeming the preſence before whom it is, and this indeed is the walk that you ſhall find the Saints of God in all day long, would you know where to find a Saint? you may know his walk, you ſhall all the day long find him walking in the fear of the Lord, Preverbs 23. 17. ſaith the text there, Let not thy heart envy ſinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. He doth not ſay, do thou fear the Lord all the day long, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long, Oh the walk of a Chriſtian ſhould be ſo from morning to night, to walk in the fear of the Lord; and nothing in this world ſhould put him out of this walk, no temptations ſhould call him out of it, but in the fear of the Lord all the day long: This is the walk of a Chriſtian, when he labors to behave himſelf as beſeems the preſence of God.
Walking with God is, when we make Gods Will the Rule of our will.
Thirdly, The ſoul may be ſaid to walk with God, When the way of it is the ſame way that God himſelf goes, the ſoul doth that that God doth: What's the way of God, but the way of holineſs and righteouſneſs? when the ſoul makes the Will of God to be the rule of it, I will not be acted by my own will, I will not be acted by any thing but by the Will of God: what is it that God wills? I will the ſame thing, then the ſoul walks that way God walks, when it doth ſute its ſelf with God, ſets the Lord as an example before it, as the Scripture ſaith, Be ye holy as your Heavenly Father is holy; I ſee the holy and the righteous waies of God, and I labor as a deer child to follow him, and to go in the very ſame ſteps that God doth, how doth God carry buſineſſes? I will labor to carry things ſo as God doth, that my life ſhall hold forth a reſemblance of God himſelf; this is to walk with God, to do as God doth, to imitate God; that's a third thing in a ſouls walking with God.
Walking with God is, when a Soul hath the ſame Ends that God hath.
The Fourth is this, Not only to do the ſame thing, to make the will of God to be the rule of it, But to have the ſame ends that God hath: What's the end that God hath in all his waies? Surely it is, that his bleſſed Name may be magnified, that his glory may be ſet forth; I'le drive on the ſame deſign, that ſhall be the great deſign of my life, it's that that my ſoul ſhall aim at as the higheſt end of all things, and all things ſhall be ſubordinate to this end even, The glory and honor of God, it's that that God aims at, and therefore that which I'le aim at, thus the ſoul goes along with God; as now, A man may be ſaid to go along with another man when they do both drive on the ſame deſigns: Oh! this is a bleſſed thing indeed. We ſhall ſpeak to that hereafter: but the very opening what it is ſhews much of the excellency of it; and I beſeech you as you go along, examine your own hearts, ſee whether by the very mentioning of theſe things you be not ſtrangers to God; examine by the workings of God in bringing your ſouls to walk with him, or otherwiſe by the way of the ſoul, in eying God, in behaving its ſelf as in the preſence of God, in making the Will of God to be its rule, and in driving on the deſign that God doth.
Walking with God, is the obſerving the adminiſtrations of God and ſuting the ſoul to them.
Fifthly, It is the obſerving of the ſeveral adminiſtrations of God, and the ſuting of the ſoule to the ſeveral adminiſtrations of God in the world: I open that thus, God ſometimes ſeems to work in one way, ſometimes in another way; now the ſoul that walks with God obſerves which are the ſeveral waies and adminiſtrations of God in the world, and let me (ſaith the ſoul) labor to ſute my heart with them: that's thus, ſometimes the Lord is in a way of judgments, in the world, heavie and dreadful afflictions: yea, ſometimes againſt his own Saints, and People: then let me ſute my heart according to this, Oh Lord! we will wait upon thee in the waies of thy judgments, ſaith the Church in Iſa. Are we under Gods way of judgments, in a way of afflictions? Lord, we will ſute our ſelves to honor thee there according to that way, we will labor to exerciſe thoſe graces that are ſutable to theſe adminiſtrations of thine. And Lord, art thou in a way of mercy? we will ſute our ſelves accordingly, and labor to draw forth and exerciſe our graces that are ſutable to thoſe waies of thine. And art thou in a way of affliction in my family, or in a way of mercy? Lord, I will labor to exerciſe thoſe graces that are ſutable to thoſe waies of thine. This is to walk with God. As when we walk with a man, if he turn this way, then I ſet my ſelf to go with him, and if he turns another way, then I ſute my ſelf to go with him that way, ſo though the waies of God be never ſo variōus, yet the ſoul that walks with God is ſutable to thoſe waies of God; Oh this is a great Art, a great Myſtery to ſute a mans ſelf to theſe ſeveral adminiſtrations of God in the world. You ſhall have ſome that if God go in a way of mercy, Oh there they can bleſs, & praiſe God, and they think that this is to walk with God; but if God turns his back upon thee and takes away thy choiſeſtearthly comfort (it may be) thy deereſt yoke-fellow & ſo comes in a way of affictions, how canſt thou ſute with Gods waies then? When God was in a way of mercy, then my exerciſe was in joy, and thankſgiving, and ſpeaking good of his Name; but now the Lord is in a way of afflictions, now I exerciſe faith on God, now I exerciſe patience, now I exerciſe Chriſtian wiſdom, to know what good I can get out of this hand of God, that what courſes ſoever God takes, yet ſtill a Chriſtian hath ſeveral graces to exerciſe in ſeveral conditions, and that not only while God is in a ſmooth path the ſoul can exerciſe Joy, and Thankſgiving, & ſpeaking good of his Name: But let God go into a rugged path of very great afflictions, yet the ſoul doth ſute it's ſelf unto God according to his ſeveral adminiſtrations; this is to walk with God.
Walking with God, is, To have a Holy Dependance upon God. Opened in Four Particulars.
Sixthly, Walking with God, it is, To have a holy dependance upon God in all his waies. For one to live in a holy dependance upon God for theſe Four things.
Firſt, In a holy dependance upon God for Direction; Firſt. For DirectionOh lead me in the way of thy truth. When a Chriſtian looks up to God and depends upon him in the conſtant courſe of his life, depends upon him for direction, Oh Lord! teach me thy way, Lord, lead me in the way of everlaſting life, Lord, ſend forth thy light and thy truth to guide me; Thou ſhalt be my guide even unto death, when the ſoul dare not go one ſtep further, then it ſees God going before it, and therefore it ſaith, Lord, lead me, guide me: I beſeech you examine as you go along, can you ſay, that in the courſe of your lives this you find; That you walk in a holy dependance upon God for guidance and direction in every ſtep? whatſoever you meddle with, yet your walk is thus in a holy dependance upon God for direction in your bufineſs, and according as the buſineſs is, of leſſe or greater conſcequence the heart works more after God for guidance and direction for that buſineſs. But now, the men of the world they are afraid that God ſhould lead them into hard paths, into ttoubleſom waies, and therefore they are ſhy of Gods Guidance; this is the way of wicked hearts, (I ſay) they are ſhy of the guidance and direction of God; but a gracious heart ſaith, let God lead me, and let the way be what it will. The wicked are guided by their own thoughts, by their own counſels, by the examples of other men, what's moſt ſutable to their own ends, but the way of the Saints is this, Lord, guide me.
Secondly, Their holy dependance upon God it is for protection to protect them in what they do. Lord, I am in the way that Secondly. For Protectionthou haſt guided me into, I may meet with much trouble and affliction, but Lord do thou protect me, do thou defend me in this way of thine. As the child walking with the father, if he hears any noiſe that doth ſcare him, he looks up to the father, and depends upon his father to be protected: So when a child of God ſhall in all his waies walk in a holy dependance upon God for protection, this is to walk with God.
Thirdly, The ſoul depends upon God for aſſiſtance in any thing that it undertakes. Lord, this is the work that thou Thirdly. For Aſſiſtance.calleſt me to, Oh let me have ſtrength from thy ſelf in this work, I can do nothing without thee Lord, and let me have aſſiſtance from thee. Whereas the wicked they make fleſh their arm, and therefore there's a curſe pronounc'd againſt them, in Jer. 17. 5. verſe, they are ſtrangers to any ſuch work as this, of dependance upon God for aſſiſtance! Now and then at a ſpurt, they will ſay, that God muſt help them and they can do nothing without God: I but to have a holy, gracious frame of ſpirit to walk in a holy dependance upon God for aſſiſtance in every buſineſſe, this is far from the wicked and ungodly.
Fourthly, The ſoul walks in a holy dependance upon God for Fourthly. For a bleſſing upon all it doth.a bleſſing upon all it doth. Walk before me and be upright, I am thine exceeding great reward. As if God ſhould ſay to Abraham, Walk in dependance upon me, I am thy reward, though thou haſt little encouragment in the world, yet look up to me for thy reward: ſo when the ſoul turneth from men, and the world, and minds not ſo much what encouragement it hath from the world, but looks up to God, Lord, I depend upon thee for a bleſſing, and how ever things ſeem to go, yet Lord, I look up to thee for the bringing all to a good iſſue; here's now a ſoul walking with God.
Walking with God makes a man free and ready in the waies of God.
Seventhly, One that walks with God, in all his waies of Holineſs and Obedience his heart is free in him, he comes off readily to every good work, he is not hall'd and pull'd to God, but he walks with him. There's a great deal of differenet between one that is dragged after another, (as if you ſhould drag a priſoner that hath no mind to go that way) and another that walks up and down with delight and pleaſure with you: 'Tis not enough to walk with God, for to be in the way that God would have you to be, or to do the things that God would have you to do, except your hearts do come off freely in the waies of obidience, except there be a cheerfulneſs in the waies of obedience, except you chooſe the waies of holineſs as the waies that are moſt ſutable to you, this is the walking with God. In the 119. Pſal. 45. I will walk at liberty, (ſaith David) for I ſeek thy precepts. It's a notable Scripture. The men of the world they think that there is no walking at liberty but for them to ſatisfie their defires to the uttermoſt, to walk after their luſts which is the Scripture phraſe: No but ſaith David, my liberty is this, I ſeek thy precepts. A carnal heart thinks it is the greateſt bondage in the world for to ſeek the precepts of God, and to conform to Gods precepts, that I muſt walk according to rule, that's a bondage: No, I'le walk at liberty, for I ſeek thy precepts. It's an excellent argument of grace in the heart, to account the precepts of God to be the greateſt liberty to the ſoul: When I am in the waies of ſin, I am in the waies of bondage, I am a ſlave to Satan; but when I ſeek thy precepts, I am at liberty. As a man when he is walking up and down in the fields, he is at liberty. So when the ſoul is walking with God it is at liberty, but when the ſoul is walking without God it is in a dungeon, a priſon; but (I ſay) when it walks with God it is at liberty, it comes off freely in all the waies of obedience.
Walking with God conſiſts in Communion with God.
Eighthly, Walking with God conſiſts in the Converſe and Communion that the ſoul hath with him in holy duties: There are the ſpecial walks of the ſoul with God, and of God, with the ſoul in the duties of holy Worſhip. In the 18. of Levit. 4. ſaith the Lord there, Ye ſhall do my Judgments, and keep mine Ordinances, to WALK therein, I am the Lord your God. You muſt Walk in Gods Ordinances, the Ordinances of God they are the Walks of a gracious ſoul, and there the ſoul meets with God, in the 26. of Levit. 11, 12. It's a notable Scripture to ſhew that in Gods Ordinances there the ſoul meets with God. And I will ſet my tabernacle amongſt you, and my ſoul ſhall not abhor you, that is, ſhall delight in you, And I will WALK among you, and will be your God, and ye ſhall be my people. I will ſet my Tabernacle amongſt you: What's that? That is, mine Ordinances, you ſhall enjoy mine Ordinances, you ſhall have the duties of my Worſhip, and I will Walk among you: then God walks among us when we enjoy his Ordinances. So that you ſee in the 18. of Levit. there God ſaith, You ſhall walk in mine Ordinances, the Ordinances are the godly mans walk: then in the 26. of Levit. the Ordinances are Gods walk; ſo that we ſee they walk the ſame way, and there God and a gracious heart meet together. The Churches enjoying Ordinances are the Candleſticks that we reade of in the 1 of Revel. 13. In the midſt of the ſeven golden Candleſticks was one like unto the ſon of man, cloathed with a garment down to the feet, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle: The Lord Jeſus Chriſt is in the midſt of the Candleſticks; that is, in the midſt of the Churches, where there are the Ordinances of God, there he is, and if you would walk with him you muſt find him there; in the 68. Pſal. 24. there likewiſe you may ſee what the way of a gracious heart is in walking with God, They have ſeen thy goings O God, even the going of my God, my King, (where?) in the Sanctuary. If you would walk with another you muſt know where his goings are, obſerve where he uſes to walk, and be going there. They have ſeen thy going O God, even the goings of my God, my King, in the Sanctuary; there's the goings of God, if you would meet with God and walk with him, it muſt be in the Sanctuary, it muſt be in his Ordinances. In the 7. of Cant. 5. verſe, it is ſaid, That the King (ſpeaking of Chriſt) is held in the galleries; now what's that but in the Ordinances? that's as it were the galleries of the great King of Heaven and Earth. And you know Princes and great men, they have their ſumptuous galleries wherein they uſe to walk, and only chief favourites are permitted and ſuffered to be there to walk up and down: The King is HELD in his galleries: that is, when Jeſus Chriſt is in Communion with his Saints in his Ordinances, in the duties of Worſhip: Oh 'tis the moſt pleaſant galleries to walk in that he hath, it's as pleaſant a gallery as he hath in Heaven it's ſelf, Oh! he loves to be there, The King is Held there. Oh! many a ſweet and comfortable turn hath a gracious heart in theſe galleries, that is, in the Ordinances and Duties of Worſhip in walking with Jeſus Chriſt.
When the ſoul is exerciſed in the Ordinances, it hath converſe with Chriſt, it hearkens what Chriſt ſaith, and Chriſt hearkens what ſuch a ſoul ſaith, I will hearken what he will ſay, and the ſoul knows the voice of Chriſt, 5. Cant. 2. It is the voice of my beloved, ſaith the Spouſe. Oh it knows what the voice of Chriſt is when they walk together in Ordinances: Chriſt ſpeaks to the ſoul, and the ſoul knows his voice, and the ſoul ſpeaks again to Jeſus Chriſt, there is a bleſſed converſe between them, Chriſt lets himſelf into the heart, and the heart opens its ſelf to Chriſt, Oh! the Communion that a gracious heart hath with Jeſus Chriſt in Ordinances it is unſpeakable! Only thoſe that are acquainted with it underſtand what the meaning of converſing with God there means; It is with many even as it was with Adam, that when God came to walk in the garden, we read that he was hid in the buſh: The Ordinances and Duties of Worſhip are as Paradice, as Eden; and God comes many times to walk with us, and would feign have communion and converſe with us, yet Oh! how many times are many of his ſervants hid in the buſh; they have walked looſly, and contracted ſome guiltineſs upon their ſpirits, and ſo the preſence of God is terrible to them, and the more the voice of God, and the preſence of God is in an Ordinance, the more they are afraid becauſe of ſome guiltineſſe: they are intangled in the buſh when as they ſhould be converſing with God, Oh the difference that there is between ſome Chriſtians and others in the exerciſing themſelves in the Duties of Worſhip! There are ſome that when they are worſhiping of God, Oh what ſweet and bleſſed terms have they with God, and Communion between God and their ſouls! and others, though (it may be) they have ſome good in them, yet they are intangled in the bryars of the world, and though God be in the midſt of his Ordinances, yet they have no converſe, no communion with him at all.
Walking with God cauſeth the ſoul to follow God more as be reveals himſelf more.
The Ninth Particular is this: The ſoul that walks with God, as God reveals himſelf unto it ſtill more and more, ſo it follows God more and more, and ſtill ſeeks to glorifie God more and more, that's walking: There is a progreſſe in the waies of godlineſs where there is a walking. The ſoul when firſt it is led by the hand of Jeſus Chriſt to God, and comes and walks with him, Oh 'tis ſweet and comfortable, but ſtill as God reveals himſelf more and more to the ſoul, ſo the ſoul ſtill grows up in godlineſſe more and more, and ſtill is more holy, and more gracious, and honours God more in the Converſation of it than formerly it hath done, it gets neerer and neerer to Heaven every day; this is to walk with God. There's a notable Scripture in the 63. Pſal. 8. David ſaith there, My ſoul follows hard after thee, O Lord, thy right hand upholdeth me. As a poor child that is walking with the father, it may be he is weak, and cannot go ſo faſt as it doth deſire, but the father puts forth his hand and takes hold of him and ſo upholds and ſtrengthens the child, and it follows hard after the father: ſo 'tis here: Oh Lord thy right hand upholds me: If it did not uphold me, I could not walk, but thy right hand upholds me, and then my ſoul follows hard after thee, and ſo increaſes in godlineſs more and more: I will praiſe thee more and more ſaith David in another place ſpeaking of the honor that he diſir'd to give to God in his way, he profeſſ'd he would ſtill ad to the praiſe of God, and praiſe him more and more.
Theſe are the principal things wherein walking with God conſiſts.
Now to all theſe take in that conſideration that we have mentioned all along, and that makes it up, That all theſe are in a conſtant courſe of a mans life, This walking with God.
Some other men that know not what it is to walk with God, perhaps they may come and walk a ſtep or two in Gods waies, but they quickly turn out again, and they find them tedious and irkſom to them: But the heart that walks with God doth all this that I have named.
That is, Eyes God in all his waies. Behaves its ſelf as in the preſence of God. Walks in the ſame way God doth. Obſerves Gods deſigns. And ſo likewiſe the reſt, and all this in the conſtant courſe of his life.
It's true, Through the violence of ſome temptation there may chance to be a ſtep aſtray, or there may be perhaps ſome fall in the way; but ſtill the heart is God-ward, and ſtill is towards God, it gets up again, and walks again in the way, it doth not meerly go a ſtep into the way of God as ſome carnal men do; it may be ſomtimes when Gods hand is upon them, or upon the hearing of ſome Sermon, then their hearts are a little touch'd, and they ſeem to be a little froward; but take the conſtant courſe of their lives, and it's in the way of ſin; But the conſtant courſe of the waies of the Saints, are in the waies of God. As now, a Swine may go through a fair meadow, I but that's not the place that it doth ſo much regard, but it would be in the mire and dirt, and there it wallows. So it is with many wicked men, they will come and hear, and pray, and do ſome good duties, this is a Swine in a meadow; but when they come to thoſe waies that may ſatisfie the luſts of the fleſh, there they wallow, that's their proper place, and therefore far from walking with God. A begger will perhaps follow a man a little way ſo long as he hath hopes of getting any thing by him: but if the man goes ſtill away from him, he turns aſide to another way, he will go no further along with him: ſo 'tis with many men, even many profeſſors they would ſeem to follow God perhaps for comfort, and for ſomething that they would have from him; but if they cannot find preſently what they would have from God, then they turn aſide: whereas (I beſeech you obſerve this) the difference between a friends walking with another out of delight of Communion with him, and a begger that only goes along with another man begging for an alms; The man that goes along begging for the alms he doth not regard the company of this man any further than he may have hopes of an alms from him, if he cannot have what he would have, or if he have once what he would have, he turns aſide from the man: But a friend that is walking with his friend, that that ſatiſfies him is, the company of his friend, and the converſe that he hath with him while he is walking, and ſo he goes on in a conſtant way, and walks to the end of the place where his friend is to go, and is ſorry that the walk is ſo ſhort, and ſtill deſires to converſe with his friend: So I ſay, this is the difference for all the world in Profeſſors, there are ſome that have ſome touch of conſcience, and they ſee there is no way for them if they have not mercy from God but they muſt periſh, and perhaps they will be ſeeking of God, and following of God, and crying to God for mercy: but if they have not comfort according as they expect they turn away from him, and ſeek for comfort other waies: But a gracious heart that is indeed turned to God, it doth not only ſeek to God for mercy for its ſelf that it might be delivered from miſery, but it ſees an excellency in God, and finds ſweetneſs in Converſe and Communion with God, and loves the preſence of God, and this is the ground of the conſtancy of his heart in the waies of holineſs, Becauſe it loves ſo much of the preſence of God, and Communion with God, it is for God himſelf that the ſoul is in thoſe waies, and ſuch a one will hold out in the waies of God. Indeed one that meerly ſerves God in a ſervile way, and ſeeks himſelf only in ſeeking of God, ſuch a one (I ſay) will be ready to turn aſide; but where the ſoul walks with God out of a ſence of Communion, Sweetneſs, and Good that there is in Communion with God, ſuch a one goes on in a conſtant way to the end and is not tir'd in the waies of God as others are. You know, If you be walking from place to place, if you have good company with you, you are not weary, you account the journy nothing, why? becauſe you have good company, and eſpecially if you have good diſcourſe all along too; ſo it is with Chriſtians, Oh the waies of God come to be very eaſie to them upon this ground, and ſo they hold out.