Sermons on Isaiah 11:1-10, Sermon 5
Spiritual Life, and Spiritual Walking. SERMON V.
GAL. 5.25.
If we live in the Spirit, let us alſo walk in the Spirit.
THe Apoſtle, having ſpoken in verſ. 22, 23, 24. of the ſeve…al fruits of the Spirit in the ſoul, wherein he hath planted the life of grace; he inferreth this concluſion, If we live in the Spirit, &c. that is, if we be quickened by the Spirit of God, and raiſed to a new life of grace, let it be ſeen in the courſe and actions of our life, Let us walk by the Spirit: that is, by the guidance and direction of the Spirit, according to the Word of God, which was inſpired into the Prophets and Apoſtles by the Holy Spirit.
In the words, we have, 1. A benefit ſuppoſed, If we live in the Spirit. 2. A duty propoſed, Let us walk in the Spirit.
For clearing the benefit ſuppoſed, we would know, 1. The nature and condition of this life, which we are ſaid here to have by the Spirit; what it is. 2. We would know the neceſſity of this life. 3. The excellent quality of it, in excelling all other kinds of life.
1. As for the nature of this life, it hath three effects or operations, 1. Our Juſtification, whereby our ſins are forgiven, and we are abſolved from the ſentence of damnation, through the perfect obedience and ſatisfaction of our Mediator, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt: as a man ſentenced to death for ſome hainous crime, is called a dead man, even before the execution of the ſentence; and when he is abſolved, he is ſaid to be a living man; ſo by nature, through ſin and guiltineſs, we are children of wrath, and dead in ſins and treſpaſſes, obnoxious to eternal death and damnation; but being juſtified by faith in Jeſus Chriſt, we are ſaid to live in Chriſt, and have the hope to live with him for ever. This life is purchaſed to us by the merit of the death of Chriſt, and is applyed by the Holy Spirit, working faith in us, whereby we are united to Chriſt, and receive, in and through him, remiſſion of ſins, offered to us in the preaching of the Goſpel, and ſ…aled in the holy Sacraments, 1 Cor. 6.11. But ye are waſhed, but ye are ſanctified, but ye are juſtified, in the Name of the Lord Jeſus, and by the Spirit of our God. 2. The act alſo and operation of the life of grace, is our Sanctification, wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, mortifying in us the deeds of the body, Rom. 8.13 If ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body, ye ſhall live, to wit, the life of glory in Heaven; and it is a quickening of us to live here unto righteouſneſs, as a man pincing away in ſickneſs, is ſaid to be a dead man in reſpect of his faſt approaching unto death; and when he is in the way of recovery, he is ſaid to be a living man; becauſe there are pregnant hopes of his better health and life. This life of Sanctification, purchaſed alſo by Chriſt, is applyed and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, through the waſhing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghoſt, Tit. 3.5. 3. There is the life of comfort and ſpiritual chearfulneſs; it's ſaid of old Jacob, Gen. 44.30. His life is bound up in the lad's life: becauſe he was much comforted in his ſon Joſeph. When ſin and judgement is ſet before us, our heart is dead and comfortleſs, like the heart of Nabal, whoſe heart, at the report of David's wrath againſt him, died within him through fear, 1 Sam. 25.37. But when the Spirit of the Lord in our fears and faintings, doth revive us by the ſweet and piercing ſmell of the croſs of Chriſt, received by faith into the ſoul, then we live a comfortable life, and our ſoul rejoyceth in God our Saviour, 2 Cor. 4.11. For we which live, are alwayes delivered unto death for Jeſus ſake, that the life alſo of Jeſus might be made manifeſt in our mortal fleſh, that is, that the life of comfort and inward ſtrength from Chriſt might be manifeſted in our ſufferings, 1 Pet. 1.8. Whom having not ſeen, ye love; in whom, though now ye ſee him not, yet believing, ye rejoyce with joy unſpeakable and full of glory. This life of inward comfort and ſtrength, purchaſed alſo by the merit of the death of Chriſt, is applyed and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, Eph. 3.14, 15, 16. I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, &c. that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be ſtrengthened with might, by his Spirit, in the inner-man. This life, is called our life in Chriſt, Col. 3.3, 4. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Chriſt in God. It is purchaſed by him, hid and preſerved in him and with him, as the life of the branches is preſerved in the root, Joh. 14.19▪ Becauſe I live, ye ſhall live alſo. It is called the life of the Spirit, or by the Spirit, in this place, becauſe by the Holy Spirit, we are united and joyned unto the Lord our Head and Saviour, 1 Cor 6.17. He that is joyned unto the Lord, is one ſpirit: and becauſe we are renewed to a new life by the Holy Spirit, Joh. 3.5. Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It is called the life of faith, Gal. 2.20. becauſe, by faith we receive the life of Juſtification, Sanctification, and of inward comfort from Jeſus Chriſt.
2. This life of grace, is abſolutely neceſſar as a midſt and neceſſar antecedent unto eternal life. 1. As the natural life is a neceſſar foundation of natural actings and operations; dead Trees grow not, dead Animals walk not, dead men diſcourſe not; ſo the life of the Spirit in us, is the foundation of all our ſpiritual and ſupernatural actings: without this life, men are dead in ſin, and cannot grow in grace; without it, men are dead, and cannot walk in the wayes of Gods commandments; without it, men are dead, and cannot underſtand nor perceive the things of God in a ſaving way for the ſalvation of their ſouls, 1 Cor. 2.14. 2. The neceſſity of the life of grace wrought in us by the Spirit, appeareth in this, becauſe without it, there is no coming to the life of glory, Joh▪ 3.5. This life of grace, is the infancy of the life of glory; and as one cannot grow up to the perfect ſtature of a man, unleſs he hath been firſt an infant, ſo a man cannot be a perfect man in glory, except firſt he be an infant in the ſtate of grace: as one cannot be put into actual poſſeſſion of an inheritance, till he firſt be born into the world; ſo no man can be put into the poſſeſſion of the heavenly inheritance, until firſt he be born over-again by the holy Spirit, the author of the life of grace, and the preparer and preſerver of us for the life of glory. This life, in, or through, the Spirit, is abſolute neceſſar, even for all men who would come to the life of glory: for it is ſaid indefinitly, Joh. 3.5. Except a man be born of water and of the ſpirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God: Though he were never ſo nobly deſcended of earthly progenitors, yet if he live not in the Spirit, it may be ſaid of him, as of Judas, It had been good for him he had never been born. 3. It is neceſſar for our comfort, to aſſure us we are united to Chriſt, and that neither life nor death ſhall ſeparat us from him: as life in the branch, is an evidence of its ingrafture and union with the Tree, So our partaking of the life of the Spirit, is a comfortable evidence, that Chriſt is in us by the indwelling of his Spirit, and we are in him by faith and love, 1 Joh. 4.13. Hereby know we, that we dwell in him, and he in us, becauſe he hath given us of his Spirit.
3. This life in the Spirit, is an excellent life, if ſimply conſidered in it ſelf, 1. In reſpect of that true and pure pleaſure that attends it; the deceitful pleaſures of a ſinful life, are like the ſting of an aſp, caſting a man into a deep ſleep, but when the conſcience is awaked, the heart, through fear, is as Paſhur, Magor-miſſabib, fear round about; the conſcience of a ſinful liver, is like a chiding wife in the boſome, caſting up to the man all the former evil wayes he has walked in, in the dayes of his former life. But the godly and ſpiritual liver, has much inward pleaſure and ſoul-ſatisfaction, Pro. 14.14. The back-ſlider in heart, ſhall be filled with his own wayes: and a good man ſhall be ſatisfied from himſelf. His good conſcience, from the ſenſe of the life of the Spirit within him, is like Abiſhag to David in his old age; it doth cheriſh the inner-man, and warm it with a ſenſe of Gods love, ſhed abroad in the heart by the holy Spirit; it ſweetens common mercies to the man who lives in the Spirit. The primitive believers, from the ſenſe and comfort of the life in the Spirit, did eat their meat with gladeneſs and ſinglneſs of heart, Acts 2.46. Oh, that profane and worldly-minded men, who ſpeak of a holy and ſpiritual life, as a condition ſad and comfortleſs, would become ſpiritual livers in the Spirit, and take a proof of that eſtate of life: I ſay to theſe men, as Philip ſaid to Nathanael, Come and ſee; and after ſight and proof, ye will ſay as the Queen of Sheba did, it was true that was told me; but not the half of that contentment and joy I find by experience, to be in a godly and ſpiritual life, was told me. The life in the Spirit has great and certain gain accompanying it, together with much unſpeakabl contentment, 1 Tim. 6.6. Godlineſs with contentment (that is, which has contentment alwayes attending it) is great gain. 1 Tim. 4.8. Godlineſs is profitable unto all things, having the promiſe of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. It has the promiſe of temporal bleſſings, Pſal. 34.6, 7. Rom. 8.28. and of eternal bleſſings, 1 Cor. 2.9. Eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Theſe who live in the Spirit, do live in great honour and reputation with God; and the greater and wiſer the perſon is, who doth beſtow the honour, it is the greater: but ſo it is, that the great and wiſe God doth eſteem much of men of an holy and ſpiritual life; he calleth them his Treaſure, Pſal. 135.4. his inheritance and portion, Pſal. 35.12. his jewels, Mal. 3.17. The friends of God, 2 Chron. 20.7. The ſons of God, 1 Joh. 3.1.
This life in the Spirit, is excellent, if compared with the natural life: the life of the ſenſe is common to us with the brute beaſts, whereof ſome do excel men in ſome outward ſenſes: the life of reaſon, is common to us with Pagans and Infidels; and many of them in their philoſophy hath excelled us: yea, our living under the outward means of Word and Sacraments, is common to us with many hypocrits and caſtawayes; but this life in the Spirit, is far more excellent than that of ſenſe and reaſon: as a man by reaſon, doth far excel the moſt ſagacious beaſt; ſo doth a man, living in the ſpirit, excel the greateſt Moraliſts, who were, or are, void of the life of grace by the Spirit: natural men partake of the divine gifts, but ſpiritual and godly men are made partakers of the divine nature, by way of aſſimilation, 2· Pet. 1▪ 4. And as for men, living, or rather dieing, and ſtinking above the earth in their vile luſts; a godly and ſpiritual life doth excel that vile and miſerable life, as far as light doth darkneſs, and Heaven doth Hell.
Seing we live the life of grace by the Spirit, we ſhould be very watchful, that we grieve not the Spirit. 1. It is the worſt ſort of unthankfulneſs, to render evil for good; and it is alſo unnatural for children to grieve their parents, that under God are the author of their natural life, How great a ſin then is it, to grieve the holy Spirit the author of thy ſpiritual life? 2. Thou art ſealed by the Spirit, who ſealeth thy eternal redemption to thy faith▪ by the promiſes of the Goſpel, and more clearly by the adminiſtration of the holy Sacraments, as the outward common ſeal, and effectually by the graces of the holy Spirit of ſanctification, as the inward and privy ſeal of thine heavenly inheritance, Epheſ. 1.13. In whom alſo, after that ye believed, ye were ſealed with that holy ſpirit of promiſe. And, how loath are men, and in reaſon ſhould be ſo, to grieve the Kings Secretary, that has paſt their gift gratis through the Seals? 3. The Spirit of God is the comforter; And ſhouldeſt thou grieve him, who many a time has comforted and ſupported thee in the day of thy trouble and grief? If thou grieve the Comforter, to whom wilt thou go in the day of new troubles on thy ſpirit, for comfort and ſtrength?
Ʋſe 1. Therefore grieve not the holy Spirit in whom ye live, 1. By your unruly paſſions; he is the Spirit of love and peace, grieve him not by your envy, and malice one againſt another; it was a grief to Moſes his ſpirit, who was a man, living in the Spirit, to ſee the Hebrews at ſtrife one with another: the holy Spirit, is a Spirit of purity; and vile thoughts and motions in the heart, entertained with delight, grieveth him, as the daughters of Heth did grieve Rebekah; he is a liberal Spirit, as he is called, Pſal. 51.12. and our baſe nigardneſs and unmercifulneſs toward the poor, doth much grieve him. 2. Grieve not the Spirit by ſpeaking or doing againſt the light of your conſcience, which being inſpired by the Word of God, is the counſel of the Spirit; thus did Ananias grieve the Spirit, Act. 5.3, 4. and the Rulers, Act 7.51. 3. We grieve him by our unbelief in new exigents of trouble, notwithſtanding our former experiences of his power and bounty, as the Diſciples grieved our Lord, Mat. 16.8, 9. It is no ſmall grief to thy friend if thou diſtruſt him in a ſmall matter, when thou haſt had experience of his kindneſs in great matters. 4. We would by all means beware of mocking the work of the Spirit in others; it was a great grief to Sarah, that Iſhmael mocked her ſon Iſaac: ſo this mocking of the work of mortification and holineſs, doth greatly grieve the Spirit of God: any Artificer is grieved, to hear the work of his hands to be undervalued and deſpiſed by others; ſo the Spirit of God, is greatly grieved and diſpleaſed to ſee holineſs, which is his own proper work in all who live in the Spirit, to be undervalued and deſpiſed by the men of this preſent world, who mind not the things of the Spirit but of the fleſh. Labour to be ſpiritual, and like to the Spirit by whom we live: we are ſaid to be ſealed by the Spirit, Epheſ. 1.13. and there is an impreſſion of the ſeal upon the wax; ſo if we live by the Spirit, and be ſealed by him, there will be an impreſſion of holine…s and purity in ſome meaſure anſwering to the Spirit, by which we are ſealed: Let us be ſpiritual in our intentions toward the honour of God, with any gift of the Spirit beſtowed upon us; for our Lord ſaith of the Spirit, Joh. 16.14. He ſhall glorifie me, for he ſhall receive of mine, and ſhew it unto you. Let us labour to be ſpiritual and heavenly-minded, often converſing in our hearts with God, Phil. 3.20. Our converſation is in Heaven: like Pilgrims, who being abroad do often mind their own native country; let us be ſpiritual in our delights, for they that are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit, Rom. 8.5. Let our delight be moſt in God and things heavenly, as in ſpiritual benefits, ſpiritual ordinances and ſpiritual duties: let us labour to be ſpiritual and ſincere in the worſhip of God; for the Father ſeeketh ſuch to worſhip him, Joh. 4.23.
Ʋſe 2. The duty propo…ed, walk in the Spirit, that is, walk by the power and grace of the Spirit, according to the light of the Word inſpired and dictated by the Spirit: this Word, in the original, ſignifieth to walk foot for foot after the leading and teaching of the Spirit, by the word foreign, as young children walk after the footſteps of their father in the ſame path, though not with ſteps equal to the father; or as School-boyes learn the A, B, C, and firſt elements (which are called foreign) one letter after another: In like manner we learn precept upon precept, and thereafter do conſtruct and ſet the actions of our life and converſation together aright, according to the rule of the Word of God, ſo that by walking in the Spirit, is meant the courſe of ſanctification, and of new obedience, required by God of us in the covenant of grace, as it was ſaid by God to Abraham, the father of the faithful, Gen. 17.1. Walk before me and be thou upright. God promiſeth in the new covenant of rich and free grace, that he will both give unto his people power to walk in his commandments, and alſo actual aſſiſtance in walking, Ezek. 36.26, 27. A new heart alſo will I give you; and a new ſpirit will I put within you, &c. And I will put my ſpirit within you and cauſe you to walk in my ſtatutes: To this duty we engage our ſelves in the Sacraments of Baptiſm and the Lords Supper, to walk in newneſs of life, Rom. 6.4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptiſm into death, that like as Chriſt was raiſed up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even ſo we alſo ſhould walk in newneſs of life. And in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, we renew our engagement made in Baptiſm.
The duty of new obedience, is called a walking, 1. Becauſe in wa…king, there is a place, from which we walk and turn f…om; ſo in the courſe of new obedience we muſt forſake our former evil wayes, Iſa. 55.7. Let the wicked forſake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. 2. There is the way, wherein men do walk; ſo the man, renewed by the Spirit, doth walk in the way of Gods commandments, Ezek. 20.19. I am the Lord your God; walk in my ſtatutes. 3. A light, according to the which men walk; ſo in ou… Chriſtian walking, the light is the Word of God, Pſal. 119.105▪ Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 4. In walking through a wilderneſs and dangerous places, men have need of a skilful guide, as Hobab was to the people of Iſrael in the wilderneſs: So men renewed, hath need of the holy Spirit to guide and lead them by his ſtrength from one duty to another: Therefore David prayeth ſo often for quickning in the wayes of Gods commandments; for it is not enough, that once we be quickned to a new life, but we have need alſo to be quickned thereafter and ſtirred up to the duties of a new life. Pſal. 119.37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. 5. As in bodily walking, there is an end and place toward which we walk; ſo in our ſpiritual walking, we walk from ſtrength to ſtrength, aiming at perfection and the ſeeing and enjoying of God in mount Sion that is above; 2 Cor. 7.1. Having therefore theſe promiſes, let us cleanſe our ſelves from all filthineſs of the fleſh and ſpirit, perfecting holineſs in the fear of God. Phil. 3.13.14. I count not my ſelf to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting thoſe things which are behind, and reaching forth unto thoſe things which are before, I preſs toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Chriſt Jeſus.
This duty of walking in the wayes of Gods commandments, is required of all, who have the ſpiritual life of grace, If we live in the ſpirit, let us walk in the ſpirit. Although the eſtate of grace, doth free us from the Law, as it was a covenant of works to man in the eſtate of innocency, Rom. 6.14. Ye are not under the law, but under grace; yet we are not fred from it as the fixed and perpetual rule of the duty of thankfulneſs to God, both upon the accompt of our creation and redemption, Rom. 3.31. Do we then make void the law through faith? yea, we eſtabliſh it. The Goſpel addeth a new obligation from the glade tidings of our redemption through the blood of Chriſt, 1 Cor. 6.20. For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorifie God in your body, and in your ſpirit, which are Gods. To this we are called by the Goſpel of grace, Tit. 2.11, 12. 1 Pet. 2.24. Chriſt bare our ſins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to ſin, ſhould live unto righteouſneſs. To this walking in newneſs of life, we are engaged by ſolemn profeſſion in Baptiſm, wherein we are ſaid to put on Chriſt, Gal. 3.27. and theſe who put on Chriſt, ſhould walk in newneſs of life, Rom. 13.14. Put ye on the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and make not proviſion for the fleſh, to fulfill the luſts thereof. And Chriſt giveth ſalvation only to them who labour to obey him, by walking in newneſs of life, Heb. 5.9. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal ſalvation, unto all them that obey him.
There be three evident ſymptoms of natural life, to wit, 1. Appetite toward the means of life, 2. Growth and increaſe of ſtature, And 3. Motion and walking. In like-manner, there are three ſigns of ſpiritual life, 1. Appetite and deſire after the word and means of Salvation, 1 Pet. 2.2. As new born babes, deſire the ſincere milk of the Word. Although the renewed children of God, do not know ſometimes by the reflex act of knowledge and faith, that they live by the Spirit; yet others experienced Chriſtians, do know they live by perceiving their ſpiritual appetite after the means of the life of grace. 2. Growth in Grace and Sanctification, is a ſign of the life ſpiritual, infuſed into them by the Spirit; for the Miniſtry of the Word, is given for the perfecting of the Saints, for the edifying of the body of Chriſt; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the me…ſure of the ſtature of the fulneſs of Chriſt, Eph. 4.11, 12, 13. 3. Moving and walking in newneſs of life, with all reſpect to all the holy Commandments, is a ſign undoubted, that we live in the Spirit; becauſe theſe two are joyned together, Ezek. 36.27. I will put my ſpirit within you, and cauſe you to walk in my ſtatutes. As Lazarus, raiſed from death to life, did come forth from the ſepulchre, wherein he was laid, and walked in the ſight of others; ſo a ſoul quickened by the Spirit, doth riſe from his ſins, wherein he was dead and buried, and walketh before God and men in newneſs of life.
There is a walking after the fleſh, directly oppoſit to walking in the Spirit, Rom. 8.1. There is now no condemnation to them which are in Chriſt Jeſus, who walk not after the fleſh, but after the ſpirit. We muſt beware of ſuch walking, becauſe the end of it, is eternal deſtruction; for, he that ſoweth to his fleſh, ſhall of the fleſh reap corruption: but he that ſoweth to the ſpirit, or walketh after the ſpirit, ſhall of the ſpirit reap life everlaſting, Gal. 6.8. Such walkers after the fleſh, are profane men, walking preſumptuouſly in the imaginations of their own evil hearts, and yet thinking to get Heaven in end, as if a man walking toward the weſt, ſhould think in end to come to the eaſt: Of this profane and preſumptuous walking, and the ſevere puniſhment of it, we read, Deut. 29.19. This is not to walk in the power of the Spirit of God, but in the ſtrong deluſion of their own deceived ſpirit: ſuch walkers are theſe ſpoken of, 2 Pet. 3.3. There ſhall come in the laſt dayes, ſcoffers, walking after their own luſts. And all ſuch alſo, who walk in a courſe of life, fulfilling the ſinful deſires and luſts of their own hearts. It is true, the godly, though renewed by the Spirit of God, have fleſh and corruption in them, but they walk not aftr the fleſh, as their ordinary guide and counſellour.
The holy Scripture holds forth the manner of our walking in the Spirit, in theſe following qualifications, 1. In walking humbly with God, Micah 6.8. What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do juſtly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? By keeping upon thy ſpirit the impreſſions of his greatneſs and holineſs, this will make thee to walk humbly: this made Iſaiah humble, after he had ſeen a viſible repreſentation of the Majeſty and Holineſs of God, Iſai. 6.5. Then ſaid I, Wo is me, for I am undone, becauſe I am a man of unclean lips, &c. This impreſſion, will make the ſoul obedient to the will of the Lord, as Iſaiah alſo was, Iſa. 6.8. Alſo I heard the voice of the Lord▪ ſaying, Whom ſhall I ſend, and who will go for us? then ſaid I, Here am I, ſend me. This imp…eſſion of the greatneſs and holineſs of God, will make the renewed man to ſhine in his converſation before the world, as Moſes his face did ſhine before the people, after he had converſed with God in the mount. 2. It is a ſpiritual and heavenly-minded walking, having the way and haunt of the heart far above the things of the world, Prov. 15.24. The way of life is above to the wiſe, that he may depart from hell beneath. Such walking keepeth the heart free from the bondage of many temptations and ſnares, wherein the earthly-minded man is taken and detained: as the Eagles, who ſoar in a high way, are not ſo eaſily ſhot and fell'd by the Fowler, as the greedy Cormorants that flutter upon the ſurface of the earth, or the vain Stanchel that hovers in the air and embraceth the wind: In like manner, heavenly-minded men, are not ſo eaſily taken with the baits of the world, as greedy and ambitious men, who mind earthly things. 3. It is a circumſpect walking, Eph. 5.15. Whereof hereafter in Serm. on that place. 4. It is a ſincere and upright walking, Pſal. 84 11. No good thing will the Lord God withhold from them that walk uprightly. It is a walking with a reſpect unto all the Commandments of God, as David walked, Pſal. 119.6. with active endeavours to keep a good conſcience toward God and man, as Paul walked, Act. 24.16. To have a good conſcience, and to be alwayes willing in all things to live honeſtly, as the Apoſtle did, Heb. 13.18. It is a conſtant walking, at leaſt in reſpect of a fixed purpoſe and reſolution, Pſal. 84 7. They go from ſtrength to ſtrength. Phil. 3.12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which alſo I am apprehended of Chriſt Jeſus.
The impediments of walking, are, 1. Want of light: for if a man walk in the night, he ſtumbleth, becauſe there is no light in him, Joh. 11.10. Therefore ſaid our bleſſed Lord to the Phariſees, Ye erre, not knowing the Scriptures, Mat. 22.29. Therefore, as we would walk in a right way toward the Kingdom of Heaven, we would labour to underſtand the holy Scriptures, which ſhew us the way of truth and righteouſneſs, and we ſhould daily pray with the holy Prophet, Pſal. 43.3. O ſend out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy Tabernacles. And we ſhould pray with holy David, Pſ. 143.10. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God: thy ſpirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightneſs. 2. Fetters are a great impediment to walking; ſo our unruly and exceſſive paſſions, as the exceſſive fear of creatures, exceſſive deſires of worldly good things, exceſſive joy and delight in worldly pleaſures, are a great impediment to ſpiritual and heavenly walking; as ſervants gazing and fixing their eyes upon ſome Pictures in their way, are ſtayed in their walking and in going about their buſineſs: Againſt this impediment we would pray to God for liberty and enlargement of ſpirit from that bondage to our maſterful affections; and we would turn David's reſolution, (Pſal. 119.32.) into a ſupplication, O Lord, enlarge thou my heart, and then ſhall I run the way of thy Commandments. It ſhould be our daily prayer to the Lord with holy David, Pſal. 119.37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way. 3. A heavy burden is a great impediment to walking▪ ſo when men over-burden their ſpirits with the care of worldly things, they walk not in the way of righteouſneſs; but many times ſtep aſide after the wages of unrighteouſneſs: the love of the world hindered the rich young man to walk after Chriſt, Luk. 18.23. Therefore that we may walk readily and chearfully in the wayes of Gods Commandments, we ſhould caſt all our care upon him, for he careth for us, 1 Pet. 5.7. And we ſhould pray daily, as Pſal. 119.36. Encline my heart unto thy Teſtimonies, and not to covetouſneſs. 4. Fainting is a great impediment to walking. Jonathan fainted in his way, till he taſted of the honey. Great difficulties and diſcouragments in the way of Holineſs and uprightneſs, are like the Sons of Anak, that diſcouraged greatly the people of Iſrael from walking up the hill, that thereafter they might enter into the promiſed Land. Againſt this impediment of fainting in the good and perfect way, from the many troubles and diſcouragements thou meeteſt with therein, recollect thy ſelf, and be encouraged from the Lords faithful promiſe, Iſai. 40.29. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increaſeth ſtrength. In all the bitter mockings thou meeteſt with from profane men, who not only mock thee, but ſpeak evil of thee, becauſe thou wilt not run with them to the ſame exceſs of riot, yet be thou reſolute and ſtedfaſt in thy ſpiritual and Chriſtian walking, as David did, Pſal. 119.51. The proud have had me greatly in deriſion; yet have I not declined from thy Law. Yea, walk the more ſincerely and ſpiritually in converſing with God by prayer, Pſal. 69.12, 13. I was the ſong of the drunkards; but as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. When the child of God has leaſt acceptance or communion with profane men, then is he moſt acceptable to God, and hath moſt of his countenance, which preſerves his ſoul from fainting at their bitter ſcoffings: look often unto Jeſus the Author and Finiſher of our faith, who endured ſuch contradiction of ſinners, leſt we, looking too much to men who wrong us, ſhould faint in our minds, Heb. 12.2, 3. Be encouraged in all thy faintings from the hope of that Crown of Righteouſneſs laid up for all theſe who walk with God, as Enoch did. Walk with God in heavenly meditations; and walk thou before God as Abraham did in faith and obedience: the hope o… that Crown ſtrengthened the heart of Paul againſt fainting, 2 Cor. 4.16, 17. For which cauſe we faint not, but though our outward man periſh, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Therefore ſeing there is an infallible connexion between ſpiritual life by the Spirit, and ſpiritual walking in the ſtrength, and by the direction of the Spirit, according to the Word, as there is a conjunction of the ſtream with the fountain, if we live in the Spirit, let it be manifeſted by our walking in the Spirit; and if the Spirit dwell in us, the Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies, and raiſe them up to follow the Lamb whereever he goeth: To him, with the Father and Holy Spirit, be all praiſe honour and glory, for now and ever. Amen.