Divine Characters in Two Parts, Part 1 · Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV. The Hoping Hypocrite, Is he that hopeth in God without God.
AS is the mother, ſo is the daughter, Defin.ſaith the Hebrew ProverbaEzek. 16.44. Such as this hypocrites faith is, ſuch is his hope: the one is a reed ſhaken with every winde; the other a bladder filled with winde; which we muſt therefore prick and let out. As faith is the primum vivens, the firſt thing that lives, ſo hope is ultimum moriens, the laſt that dieth in a Chriſtian. If it were not for hope, oft-times the heart would break. While there is life, there is hope; and while there is hope, there is life in a Chriſtian. It therefore concernes every one very neerly, that would enjoy cleane life, as we ſay, to ſee carefully to his hope, that he be not cheated, as this hypocrite is, with an imaginary falſe hope that will periſh, when he hath moſt need to leane upon it, and to be borne up by it.
True it is, that he can no more entitle himſelf to hope, than unto faith; but he that hath the fore-head to lay claime to the one, will have the impudence to challenge a right in the other. Therefore we often read of the hypocrites hope; not that he indeed hath it, but ſtrongly imagineth he hath it. He beleeves ſo with the beſt faith he hath: therefore is that often attributed to him, which he ſo confidently claimeth, that yet neither is, nor can be at all truly found in him. So, we call him the hoping hypocrite, not that he truely hopeth, but only ſeemeth ſo, and would ſo be eſteemed.
A hope he hath, and that (if you beleeve him) is in God; but ſuch, as God never wrought nor owneth. For, true hope is a ſupernatural grace wrought by God in the heart of a true beleever, whereby he waiteth and expecteth the accompliſhment of all the promiſes which by faith he hath beleeved. God who is the God of all grace b1 Pet. 5.10, is particularly ſtiled the God of hope cRom. 15.13, as being the Authour as well as the object of all hope that is true. But how can this hypocrite entitle God to his hope, whom he never knew, but by the hearing of the eare, and whoſe hope is wholly deſtitute of all thoſe properties which are in that hope which God worketh in a beleever, as we ſhall after demonſtrate? True hope is alſo as properly the daughter of faith, as grace is the workmanſhip of God. Charity therefore is ſaid to hope all things, becauſe it beleeveth all things d1 Cor. 13.4. How then can he hope any thing with a ſupernatural hope, that never was owner of ſaving faith?
It is not denyed that faith differs from hope in ſundry things: faith is before hope, and leads it up to the object, hope followeth as faith leadeth; they differ in their objects; faith hath for its object the whole Word of God; hope, only the promiſes (we beleeve the torments of the wicked, but we do not hope them;) the object of faith be things paſt, preſent and to come; but the object of hope is onelyonly ſomething future*Futura ſpaerant quicunque ſperant. Auſtin.; the objects of faith be all things revealed, the object of hope, only good things to come. They differ alſo in their acts, faith aſſenteth to, and applieth the promiſe; hope expects and waits the accompliſhment; faith gives intereſt, hope expects livery and ſeiſin; faith is imployed about reconciliation and holineſſe of life; hope is chiefly taken up about the retired and raviſhing thoughts of glorification, the end and crown of faith; faith in ſome part, takes poſſeſſion of Chriſt here, hope waits for a more full and glorious poſſeſſion and fruition of Chriſt hereafter. But all theſe differences notwithſtanding, there is no parting of theſe two graces; he that will have one muſt have both: he that wants the one, cannot be truly poſſeſſed of the other. I therefore conclude that what ever this hypocrite boaſt of his hope, it is but vaine boaſting; he will one day finde it ſo, when God ſhall unmask him, and give him the juſt recompence of reward, fo all his counterfeiting, which he muſt expect; for, coyners and counterfeiters of the Princes money was never reputed or puniſhed leſſe then high treaſon. And what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his ſoul eJob 27.8? His hope, that is, his boaſting of it, might be an inlet to ſome profit and gain among men; but the taking away of his ſoule ſhews what his hope was at the beſt.
Differ.On the contrary, the true Chriſtian never hopeth in God, but he doth it from God.
God firſt by his Spirit works hope in him, before he preſumeth to hope in God. He hath firſt the habit before the exerciſe: And when he hath that, yet he ſets it not on work without a ground to work upon. He firſt looks on the promiſe by the eye of faith, before his hope dares expect the thing promiſed. Whatſoever God promiſeth, hope waiteth for; ſo that the promiſe is the ground, as well as object of hope. Faith is the plummet, Hope the Anchor, and love the Cable of the Chriſtian ſoul. The Anchor muſt have ground to faſten on, ere it can ſecure the ſhip: and the ground muſt be ſounded by the plummet of faith, ere the anchor be let down. Abraham had firſt a promiſe, of which faith took the depth, and then he ſets the anchor of hope, to faſten on it for the accompliſhment thereof: and ſo, againſt hope he believed in hope fRom. 4.18.
Yea, the promiſe is ſo the ground of his hope, that he makes it the only ground. Gods goodneſſe, power and faithfulneſſe, looked at by ſome as grounds of hope, are not ſo to him, without the promiſe: for, what warrant can he have to hope in Gods goodneſſe, faithfulneſſe, or power, but by vertue of the promiſe; and, that promiſe applied by faith? But, when once he hath made ſure the promiſe, then theſe are excellent props and pillars to ſtrengthen his hope, even to rejoycing in hope gRom. 12.12. He therefore faſtens his anchor upon the promiſe, and the things within it, and upon nothing elſe.
He knoweth indeed that faith is the ground of things hoped for hHeb. 11.1; and ſo he makes uſe of it, not as the object on which hope faſteneth, for that is only the promiſe; but, as the inlet to hope to faſten on the promiſe, faith having firſt laid this foundation, that God is faithful God, and his words are true i2 Sam. 7.28, and he hath made the promiſe, which faith believeth, applieth, and reſteth on; and ſo layes a good ground for hope to build expectation of accompliſhment thereupon. Therefore he ſaith, I waite for the Lord, my ſoul doth waite, in his Word do I hope kPſalm 130.5.. His waiting is his hoping; and, Gods Word, that is, his promiſe, is the ground of his hope even in God himſelfe.
Thus, this hypocrite, is as ſhe that undertaking to diſcerne a needle on the top of an houſe, would ſtill ſtand in it that ſhe ſaw the needle, even when by her own confeſſion ſhe could not ſee the houſe; for he profeſſeth to hope in God, yet never came ſo near God as to believe in him, or to know what he is, and what he hath promiſed. The true Chriſtian is as Abrahams ſervant, that when meat was ſet before him, would not eat, until he had told his errand, and had ſome aſſurance of ſpeeding in the thing he went for; ſo the Chriſtian will not feed himſelfe with hope, till he ſee what God hath in ſtore for him, upon which he may faſten. The one hopes in God, in whom he believeth not, the other beleeveth, and therefore hopeth to purpoſe.
This Hypocrite will hope, what he neither doth, nor dares beleeve.
Character 1 We have ſeen in his deſcription, how prepoſterous he is, to hope before he have faith: here we ſhall finde him ſuperſtitiouſly modeſt, in not daring to believe what he profeſſeth to hope for. It is preſumption, ſaith he, to make too ſure of my part in heaven by a certainty of ſaith, faith muſt go no further than generals. Chriſt came to ſave ſinners; of which number I hope to be one, but I dare not abſolutely believe it. I ſhall never deſire more then a certainty of hope, leaving certainty of faith to preſumptuous ones that dare be ſo bold with God. Thus he divideth hope and faith, which like hypocrites twins are never aſunder.
Hereby he declareth plainly what his hope is, when he neither knoweth the Scriptures nor the power of God. For, if faith be the ground of things hoped for, what can he hope for that by faith he believes not? He can look upon rem verbi, the thing promiſed, by hope, before he beholds verbum rei, the Word of promiſe, by faith? Faith looketh on the evidence and aſſurance which is the promiſe, in regard whereof the thing promiſed is preſent to faith, which is the evidence of things not ſeen lHeb. 11.1.. Hope looks on the inheritance and performance, in reſpect whereof the promiſe is expected. And what more abſurd, than that hope ſhould have any certainty at all without faith. any more then an anchor ſhould have any ſtay without ground to faſten upon. Hope is the anchor of the ſoul mHeb. 6.19., and faith muſt go before to ſound the ground or hope cannot do its office. No marvail then if this hypocrites hope be as the houſe of ſpiders nJob 8.13.; for ſuch is his vaine waiting for heaven without faith, who becauſe cannot believe (not finding in himſelf the conditions and effects of faith), will yet pretend to hope to do himſelf a pleaſure; but by no means to believe; becauſe that is too much: as he accounts every thing elſe, which he ſeeth in others and cannot reach himſelf.
On the contrary, the Chriſtians hope is ſubordinate unto faith, Differ.what he dares not believe, he dares not hope.
He looks not upon hope as a natural prop to ſtay up mens hearts that have to do with men, whom he cannot well tell what they be, or what they intend. Sometimes their countenance, words and carriage promiſe faire, but without any poſitive and certaine engagement by word or writing: ſometimes, they are more ſevere and reſerved: and ſometimes when they promiſe, it is but a mans promiſe; and nothing more ſure than this, that men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie, to be laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter than vanity oPſalme 62.9.; therefore here many times, let him be as ſtrict an obſerver of man as he can, and by the judgement of charity judge of him as honourably as he can, yet he knows not well what to believe, to be ſure of it; therefore he dares not be over confident: many things fall out between the cup and the lip; and how many have broken promiſe that yet have been counted very honeſt and juſt of their words? He will therefore not be over confident: only becauſe he ſeeth all things have a promiſing aſpect, he will hope well. And further than this he dares not go. This is humane hope in man; and yet this is all the hypocrite hath in God.
But the true Chriſtian hath to do with a God that liveth for ever; and changeth notpMal. 3.6., nor is there in his nature ſo much as the least variableneſſe or ſhadow of turning qJames 1.17. He knoweth whom he hath beleeved, and his hope is of a more ſublime and divine extract, and given him immediately by the God of conſolation r2 Theſ. 2.16.; therefore here keeps to the nature and rules of this hope, which is as inſeparable from faith as heat from fire. If he rejoyce under hope, it is becauſe he hath acceſſe by faith sRom. 5.2.; and never dares to expect performance by hope, till he firſt give glory to God in believing the promiſe. And then againſt all diſcouragements of humane hope, he believeth, in divine hope tRom. 4.18; he believeth ſo as to be in hope and aſſurance of the performance*Credidit in ſpe gratiae contraſpem naturae, Auſtin.. He knows that the God of hope muſt not only give him ſome joy and peace, but fill him with all joy and peace in believing, ere he can abound in hope uRom. 15.13. And that hope ſo built and bottom'd will never make aſhamed wRom. 5.5.
Thus, this hypocrite pretending modeſty betrayes his ignorance and infidelity both at once; his ignorance of the true nature of hope to which he pretendeth; and his infidelity, in not believing God upon his Word; the true Chriſtian declares his true modeſty and faith too in not daring to own any hope towards God, but that which ſprings out of faith; the one playes with the word hope, without the thing; the other improves the thing to the utmoſt, becauſe he hath both word and thing in him.
Character 2 This hypocrites hope is carnal.
It ſavours more of the dunghil, not only for the pedigree and extract, but for the uſe and exerciſe of it. For, how ever this hypocrite will ſometimes ſeeme very eager after the things above, as David longed much after ſome of the waters of Bethlehem; yet, as David would not drink it, but poured it out upon the ground x2 Sam. 23.16., when brought unto him, ſo this hypocrite is not inwardly ſo haſty or thirſty after the things of heaven, when God even thruſteth them into his boſome, and ſtretcheth out his hand all the day long, to perſwade and draw him to accept thereof; he will rather poure out this water of life upon the ground, yRom. 10.21or cast it behinde him; and, when Chriſt again and again, yea, very often would have gathered him in for himſelf, as an hen her chickens under her wing, he would not come at himzMat. 23.37: But he runs yapping or chirping after any meat thrown by any other hand before him, or rather lieth ſcraping in a dunghil, till the Kite make him his prey.
So that, if you mark him ſtrictly, you ſhall ſee him for one wiſh for true grace, to put out ten for a large eſtate, peace and freedome from trouble in the world, for towardly children, and good portions for them; for honour, preferment; his hopes runne moſt naturally and ſtrongly this way. O that I could once get ſuch or ſuch a thing done! then were I made for ever (perhaps, undone for ever:) but as for heaven, and for giving you an account of his hopes that way, and of the reaſon of that hope which he vaunts to be very high in him: you ſhall ſeldome or never hear him that way inclined, unleſſe when he is caſually asked the queſtion: and then commonly he gives ſuch an anſwer as tends more to commend himſelfe, than to give glory to God, unleſſe from the teeth outward: rather to ſave his credt, than to comfort his ſoule from any ſolid ground of conſolation laid up in him.
Differ.On the Contrary, the true Chriſtians hope is heavenly.
He labours not ſo much ſtrengthen his hope touching the things of this life, as to get aſſurance of better, that is, of heavenly and everlaſting conſolations and of good hope through grace. He neglecteth not the meaneſt promiſe for the meaneſt b eſſing of this life, no more then he reſteth in the greateſt. He looks higher, he never reſteth ſatisfied, till he get the hope laid up for him in heaven aCol. 1.5., and hope for it with full aſſurance unto the end bHeb. 6.11.. His hope is as the needle truly toucht with the load-ſtone, that never ſtands ſtill, till it directly point to the North-pole; it never reſteth and fixeth on any thing below heaven. Yea, heaven it ſelf is too little to ſatiſfie his hope, unleſſe God himſelf may be had and enjoyed too, Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth that I deſire beſide thee cPſalm 73.25:. Here his hope is in his element: here would he dwell, till he enjoy his hopes.
Thus, this hyp…crite pretending for heaven, lays out all his hopes upon earth, as the Mariner that roweth one way, and looketh another; the true Chriſtian ſetteth his hope in God, and affections on things above, and not on things below dCol. 3.2.; the one hath his eye towards heaven, and his heart in the dung-hill; the hope of the other is as the woman clothed with the Sunne, having the Moon under her feet eRev. 12.1..
Character 3 This hypocrites hope is Popiſh hope.
This hath been in part made out before*Charact. 1.. But that is not all nor the worſt; for he that dares not be aſſured of God by an aſſurance of faith, dares hope in himſelf, as believing there is cauſe. He beleeves he hath good works enow to warrant his hope in God; yea he believes it to be no better than preſumption to hope without merit. Thus with the Phariſee, he delights to tell God a ſtory of his own good works. But he thinks to ſalve all with this, that he placeth no confidence in works done by ſtrength of nature, or before regeneration and juſtification, but ſuch as the fruits of the grace of God in his heart. And did the Phariſee do leſſe? He begins his ſtory with God, I thank thee I am not as other men fLuke 18.11.. He attributes to God and his grace, his being better than others: ſo that a Phariſee, a Papiſt, and this hypocrite all agree in this one concluſion that their hope muſt be grounded in part at leaſt upon their upon their own works and merits, or they offend in hoping; which offers an high affront to the free grace of God, as if his grace without concurrence of mans merit were not ground ſufficient to hope in God, notwithſtanding all his promiſes in Chriſt.
On the contrary, the true Chriſtians hope is a deſpairing hope.Differ.
Not in the ſenſe of the hypocrite who deſpaireth of God unleſſe he finde ſomewhat in himſelf to eek out his hope; but in Davids ſenſe, I will not truſt in my bowe, neither ſhall my ſword ſave me gPſalme 44.6.. He deſpaires of any thing of his own, that he may hope only in God, as he had before expreſſed himſelfe, through thee will we puſh down our enemies; through thy Name will we tread them under that riſe up againſt us hVerſe 5.. In the ſame inſtant wherein he begins to hope for heaven, he utterly deſpaires of all meanes and merits of his own to bring him thither, and cordially joyneth with the people of God in that juſt confeſſion; We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteouſneſſes are as filthy rags, we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities; like the wind, have taken us away iEſay 64.6.; and therefore he wholly relieth upon the free grace, and undeſerved mercy of God in Chriſt, as that ſelf-condemned Jeſuite*Bellarm. Tutius eſt &c., after all his wranglings and forced concludings againſt it, is even compelled to conclude this to be the ſafeſt way.
Thus, this hypocrite is a proud man that tranſgreſſeth by the wine kHab. 2.5.of pride, which the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth lRev. 17.5., hath carouſed to him, and put to his noſe to make him drunk alſo mHab. 2.15.. He will not ſo much as hope for heaven, unleſſe he may, in part at leaſt, earne it at his fingers ends: the true Chriſtian when he looks upon himſelfe, is as the Publican, ſmiting upon (if not his breaſt, yet) his heart, and ſaying, God be merciful unto me a ſinner nLuke 18.13.; and when he looks upon God, he ſaith, In God we boaſt all the day long oPſalme 44.8.; the one will not truſt in God without ſome hope of himſelf, the other cannot hope in God, until he deſpaire of himſelf.
This hypocrites hope is a lazy loytering hope. Character 4
He faine would have heaven, and hopes for it; but he makes no haſt towards it, or to make ſure of it. Counterfeit hope is in ſhew very modeſt, becauſe in truth but a counterfeit, and knows well that ſhe ſhall come ſhort of what ſhe hopes for, and therefore no haſt, to be made aſhamed. Shame will come faſt enough upon her, although ſhe make no haſte towards it. Few people after ſentence, make haſte to the whipping poſt, or galllows. This hypocrite knows his hope muſt periſh, therefore he will hold it up, and himſelfe in it; ſo long as he can. Hence he will tell you, he is not ſo haſty to be gone out of the world, as ſome pretend to be; he can ſtay for heaven, till his work be done on earth. And, if God will let him live to Methuſalems age, before he take him out of the world, he ſhall be very well contented: not becauſe he can hope for any great content here, but becauſe he hath leſſe hope of any when departed hence.
And, as for thoſe things which ſtrike terrour to the wicked, and are as daggers to his heart, death and judgement: he is ſo far from hoping for either of thoſe dayes, that he heartily wiſheth they may never come, and trembles to hear and think that they will come, as not only Faelix an Heathen, not yet admitted within the pales of the Church, did at the very mention of the judgment to come pActs 24.25.; but even the ſinners in Zion are afraid; and among them none like the hypocrite, who is nothing but trembling all over, to conſider how ill he ſhall be able to dwell with devouring fire, and everlaſting burnings qEſay 33.14. Thus, the hope of the hypocrite is not ſo earneſt or haſty, it can very well ſtay; and the longer the better.
On the Contrary,Differ. the hope of a Chriſtian is earneſt for the thing hoped for.
When once he is in hope of the thing believed, his hope makes him earneſt for the poſſeſſion of it. Hence Paul calls his hope his earneſt expectation. Yea, the expectation that is in all creatures to be delivered from the vanity and bondage of corruption to which they are ſubject by mans ſinne, until the diſſolution of the world,rPhil 1.20. is called a groaning and travailing in paines sRom. 8.22, even as a woman in travaile longs to be delivered, and thinks even the ſhorteſt time long, till ſhe be over that work. There is nothing that looks like hope, but it is very earneſt, much more then is true hope earnest, not in ſhew only, but in deed. He ſaith as David, my ſoul waiteth for the Lord, more then they that watch for the morning; and leſt men ſhould think he had watched ſo long that he ſpake this between ſleeping and waking, not well knowing what he ſaid (no more then Peter, on Mount Tabor) he repeats it againe, I ſay, more then they that watch for the morning tPſalm 130.6.. Look how a poor watchman, that hath ſate up and been abroad in a cold night (whiles others hath been taking their reſt and ſleep in their warme beds) doth watch for the firſt break of day, that he be diſcharged and take ſome reſt alſo; ſo earneſt is a Chriſtian after God, when once he truly hopeth in him. Neither is true hope dulled or diſcouraged, but rather whetted and made more earneſt, by delayes. As Gregory the Great hath well obſerved. Cuncta deſideria dilatione creſcunt; ſi non, deſideria non fuerunt. All deſires are increaſed by delay: if not, they were never true deſires: wiſhes they may be, hope they are not.
Yea, hope is ſo earneſt, that it is earneſt by grace, for that which is to nature moſt terrible. What more terrible than death? yet the Chriſtian deſireth to depart and to be with Chriſt uPhil. 1.23.; he hath in him foreign, a luſting, a longing after it. What ſo dreadful, as the laſt day? yet even the Chriſtian (who in many things ſinneth every day) can no ſooner hear a meſſage from Chriſt, ſurely, I come quickly: but the Chriſtian catcheth it as haſtily as ever Benhadads ſervants did the word of Ahab, to ſave their maſters life, and takes him at his word, Amen, Even ſo come Lord Jeſus wRev. 22.20.. Not that ſuch a day can be without terrour, even to a Paul x2 Cor. 5.11, in regard of the expectation of nature: but yet it is otherwiſe to grace, and to this grace of hope; for this makes them, who have received the firſt fruits of the Spirit, foreign, to groane (or ſigh even with tears) waiting for the Adoption, to wit, the Redemption of their bodies yRom. 8.23.; and ſtill to be looking for, and hastening to the coming of the day of God z2 Pet. 3.12..
Thus, this hypocrite pretending hope of heaven, makes no more haſte out of the world, than Lot out of Sodom aGen. 19.16: the true Chriſtian hearing of Chriſts coming, is as the Spirit and the Bride, that ſaith come bRev. 22.17.. The one talks much of heaven, but likes well to ſtay upon earth; the other is ſo full of his hope, that he looks upon his body as fetters, and on the world as his faile.
Character 5 This hypocrites hope in ſome things is very impatient.
He is not ſo patient and well contented, to ſtay for heaven and the day of judgement, but he is on the other ſide as eager, earneſt, and impatient after the enjoying of his hopes on earth. Here he muſt be ſerv'd preſently, or God ſhall hear of him, and the world ſhall ring of him. If he do but hold up his finger to heaven, he thinks God muſt attend him preſently, and that he ſhould be with him at a whiſtle. But, if he not only pray, but faſt too, and God do not preſently anſwer and gratifie him, although it be but in ſome ſinful requeſt to enable him to commit more wickedneſſe, he preſently arraignes God, at the hypocrites own barre, Wherefore have we fasted, ſaith he, and thou ſeeſt not? wherefore have we afflicted our ſouls, and thou takeſt no knowledge cEſay 58.3.?
If any evils befall him, or others, and he hath waited ſome time for their removal, but ſees them continued: he flees out into a rage, yea breaks out into blaſphemy, this evil is of the Lord, what ſhould I wait for the Lord any longer d2 King. 6.33.. He thinks he may juſtifie any impatiency and malapert carriage towards God, if God make him wait but an houre beyond the time that this hypocrite ſets him. If God croſſe him in his hopes of outward things: then, hope and waite who will: for his part he will take another courſe: he hath not the patience to tarry the Lords leiſure: he will not longer follow providence; but either lead it, or leave it.
Differ.On the contrary, the hope of a Chriſtian is a patient hope.
He can be as earneſt as another for heavenly things truly hoped for; but he can with all wait the Lords leaſure for any things of this life. Therefore as hope is an expectation, ſo it is a waiting too; for if we hope for that we ſee not, we do with patience wait for it eRom. 8.25. Hence the Chriſtian when he hopeth, ſaith, I wait for the Lord, my ſoul doth wait, in his Word do I hope fPſalm 130.5.; then he hopeth in the Lord, when he waiteth patiently for him g…ſalme 37.7.. True hope makes a Chriſtian patient till God ſatisfie his hopes; therfore patience is called the patience of hope h1 Theſ. 1.3., as being no leſſe requiſite to hope then water to blood in the veins. For he findeth that things hoped for are not viſible, unleſs to faith: hope that is ſeen as preſent to the eye, is no hope; for what a man ſeeth, iRom. 8.24why doth he yet hope for? He alſo conſidereth that the chiefeſt things hoped for, are furtheſt off. It will or may be a long time before he be in full poſſeſſion of heaven, and of God in glory. He muſt go to heaven through the grave, where his fleſh alſo muſt reſt in hope kPſalme 16.9., and there it muſt ſtay and rot, and diſſolve to duſt, ere it be raiſed and poſſeſſed of its hope. Yea, there is one thing more that will exerciſe patience to purpoſe, and that is, the flouts and ſcoffs of hopeleſſe wretches in the world, that mock and perſecute him as Iſhmael did Iſaac lGal 4.29, and as the wretched Jewes did Chriſt upon the croſſemMat. 27.43, for his very hope. Thus Paul found it to befal him and his fellows. Therefore we ſuffer reproach, becauſe we trust in the living God n1 Tim. 4.10.. In all which reſpects the Chriſtian is well aware that he hath need of patience (and accordingly armes himſelf with it), that when he hath done the will of God, he may receive the promiſe oHeb. 10.36.
Thus, this hypocrite diſcovereth his hope to be counterfeit in expecting heavenly things by this, that there he can be content to ſtay long enough; while in the mean time he is ſo impatient in earthly things hoped for, that he will not tarry the Lords time and leiſure to receive them; the true Chriſtian declares his hope to be right in that it can both hope and quietly wait for the ſalvation of the Lord pLam. 3.26, till the Lords time come; and that although it tarry, yet he waits for it, till at the end it ſpeaks qHab. 2.3; the one is as Saul that will not tarry till Samuel comes, although Samuel delayeth not a day ſet for his comingr1 Sam, 13.9, the other,sVerſe 10. is as the husbandman that waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it tJames 5.7..
The hypocrites hope is a dull melancholick hope. Character 6
He talks of hope, but ſo ſadly and dully as if his heart were fuller of ſadneſſe and fear, than of hope; his hope in God breeds no cheerfulneſſe in him: he is like David under a cloud, the act of of whoſe hope is intermitted; his ſoul is cast down and diſquieted within him uPſalme 42.5., not becauſe he hoped, but becauſe at preſent he did not hope in God, which David calls upon his ſoul to do. But it was never ſo with David, when he actually exerciſed his hope: for, even then, when he hoped not, he could tell his ſoule, that if ſhe would but hope in God, he ſhould ſoon turne his mourning into joy: hope in God, for I ſhall yet praiſe him who is the health of my countenance and my God wPſalm 43.5.; and this he could not apprehend, but he muſt needs praiſe him with joyful lips xPſalm 63.5. But the hypocrite is all amort and lumpiſh at heart, even when he talks moſt of his hopes. Even in laughter his heart is ſorrowful, and the end of his mirth is heavineſſe yProv. 14.13, becauſe his hope muſt periſhzJob 8.13.
He may ſometimes force a mirth upon himſelf, and be therby merry at heart too for a while. But he is never the merrier for his hope; his mirth is from ſome other cauſe, either wealth flows in upon him, he hath had the better of his adverſary, he ſwims in pleaſure, or he is naturally cheerful, but the joy of the wicked is but ſhort, and the rejoycing of the hypocrite is but for a moment aProv. 4.13.. God will unmask him, and turn his inſide outward, wherein every man may read written upon his heart, lamentations, and mourning, and woe bEzek. 2.10. as upon Ezekiels rowl..
On the contrary, the Chriſtians hope is a merry hope.
Not merry, like Nabals when he was drunkc1 Sam. 35.36, but as the people,Differ. feaſted by Sololomon at the Dedication of the Altar, who were glad and merry in heart for the goodneſſe of the Lordd2 Chro. 7.10.. He rejoyceth in hope eRom. 12.12; ſometimes joy in beleeving goes before and makes way for hopefRom. 15.13, As David, when he ſpeaks of his hope, he makes joy the prologue, my heart is glad, my tongue rejoyceth, and then addes, My fleſh alſo ſhall rest in hope gPſalme 16.9.. Here joy is the inlet to hope. But hope is never without true joy as the reſult of it, becauſe hope expects, and makes ſure of the chiefeſt object of the greateſt joy.
Sometimes hope deferred proves the fainting of the heart, making the heart ſick hProv. 13.12; but this is humane, not true ſupernatural hope, the hope of the hypocrite, not of the Chriſtian; for he can wait when the hypocrite will not, and is ſure, that early or late, in Gods good time, the deſire, that is, the thing hoped for, cometh to him, and ſhall be to him as a tree of life. And albeit the object of hope be ſome good not yet enjoyed, while the object of joy is preſent good in poſſeſſion, yet the Chriſtian looks at two things at once in his hope, the one is, the aſſurance of the thing promiſed and by faith believed, and this cauſeth expectation and waiting; the other is the excellency of the thing aſſured, and this cauſeth joy; for if glory be promiſed, and hoped for, he will rejoyce under the hope of the glory of God iRom. 5.3. And to ſpeak properly and truly, there is no joy but in hope (except joy in believing) for what joy can any man take in the things of this life, if he ſeriouſly conſider that he hath no hope of a better? If in this life only we have hope, even, in Chriſt himſelf, we are of all men moſt miſerable k1 Cor. 15.19. Can a man rejoyce, when he indeed conſidereth that he lieth under the greateſt miſery? It is only for a fool to go laughing to the ſtocks; and for a beaſt to go leaping and skipping to the ſhambles lProv. 7.22..
Thus, as Caine had his countenance caſt down, notwithſtanding his ſacrificemGen. 4.5; ſo this hypocrite hath a ſad heart in the midſt of all his moſt glorious pretences to very high hopes:nGen. 17.17 the true Chriſtian is as Abraham, laughing for joy at the news of a Sonne, when he had given ſo much glory to God oRom. 4.18, &c, as to believe and hope it, how improbable and impoſſible ſoever the performance of that promiſe was to fleſh and blood; in the ordinary courſe of nature: the one derogates more from God by his dumpiſh ſadneſſe, then he gives him honor by his hope; the other honoureth God both in his hope that is true, and in his joy that is full.
Character 7 The hypocrites hope is a looſe and unclean hope.
His hope hath no cleanſing property in it, it ſuffers him to be as leud, filthy, and ſecure in his leudneſſe as the Atheiſtical Epicure in Maenander, Let us eat and drink for to morrow we ſhall die p1 Cor. 15.32. He talks much of his hopes to go to heaven, but he never provides for it by cleanſing himſelf from that filthineſſe which is in him, and will lie as a barin his way. His hope is at full tide, yet cannot ſpare one tear for ſin, he hath no hand for the poor, nor for any good work. He hath no ſtomack to endure faſting, no knees for praying, no time for humiliation, for waſhing his hands, or for purifying his heart qJames 4.8. He knows God is merciful, and therefore he will take the more liberty in ſinne. If God ſhould, ſaith he, deal with me according to juſtice, then I confeſſe I am gone and undone. But God, he hopes, will be more merciful then ſo, there be thouſands in the ſame caſe, which, God forbid, ſhould go to hell. Wherefore ſerves Chriſt but to keep him and them thence? Many ſuch roaring hopers there are in the world, that talk this out aloud; and if God will accept of him upon theſe termes, well and good; if not, he will runne the hazard. But, this hypocrite is of a more demure and auſtere deportment: he profeſſeth hope with his lips, and doth keep in from open and profeſſed debauchedneſſe; yet in his heart he ſo carries his confidence, that he concludes, he ſhall have peace howſoever: to all ſuch may juſtly be applyed that of the Prophet,rJer. 2.37. The Lord hath rejected your confidences, ye ſhall not proſper in them.
Differ.Contrarily, true hope is a purging hope.
Hope is to the Chriſtian under Chriſt, a refiners fire, and fullers ſope sMal. 3.2, it will ſeparate the droſſe from the gold, it will purge out all that filth, and thoſe ſpots that ordinary water cannot cleanſe. He that hath this hope purgeth himſelf even as God is pure t1 John 3.3. What hope, but that of being made like unto God in a more glorious manner then now we are capable of, when we ſhall in glory ſee him as he is uVerſe 2.? He that hath thoſe promiſes that God will be his Father, and he ſhall be his ſonne, will purge himſelf from all filthineſſe of fleſh and ſpirit, and perfect holineſſe in the feare of God w2 Cor. 7.1. For well he knoweth, that this God requires of all that deſire and expect him to be a Father. Come out from among them, and be ye ſeperate, ſaith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you x2 Cor. 6.17; he therefore mortifieth his earthly members, fornication, &c. upon this very account and hope, that when Chriſt, who is our life, ſhall appeare, then ſhall we appear with him in glory yCol. 3.4, 5. He that is moſt in hope is moſt imployed in mortification and holineſſe of life; his hope is like a careful governour that ſtirreth him up to all duty; upon expectation of a full reward. Becauſe he is aſſured, that though the Gates of heaven stand open to him and for him day and night, yet there ſhall in no wiſe enter into it any thing that defileth, or worketh abomination, or maketh a lie zRev. 21.27..
Thus, as the four Lepers that being put out of the gates of Samaria, fell to the Hoſt of the Syrians a2 King. 7.3, 4, minded their bellies more then their cure; ſo this hypocrite, if he can but compaſſe what he hopes for, let others look out for holineſſe that will; but the true Chriſtian is as the Leper that is firſt healed of his leproſie by Chriſt, before he wil preſſe into the preſence of God to ſhew himſelf to the Priest bMat. 8.4; the one preſſeth into the marriage-feaſt without a wedding garment, and ſo is caſt out with diſgrace and confuſion: the other is as the Lambs wife that makes her ſelf ready for the marriage, by being arrayed in fine linnen clean and white cRev. 19.7, 8, and ſo ſhe is married to the Lord for ever dHoſ. 3.19.
This hypocrites hope is uncertain and doubtful. Character 8
If he be not careleſſe altogether, but looks a little about him, he knows his hope to be of ſo baſe an original, and ſo meere a phantaſme that well may he doubt, not as one of little faith, but as having none at all. Therefore he is alwayes wavering, floating like a wave of the ſea. Now in ſome hope, by and by concluding there is no hope eJer. 2.25.; And becauſe he knows that if it be once taken for granted, that hope gives aſſurance, then he is gone: therefore ſeeing he cannot hope to get aſſurance himſelf, he will do his beſt (or rather his worſt) to drive all others from aſſurance too, that all may fare alike.
Hence, he calls aſſurance of ſalvation an unhappy ſecurity, preſumption and a faithleſſe perſwaſion *Rhem. Annot. in 1 Cor. 7.27,; and ſo it muſt needs be in him that is ſo void of faith.
On the contrary,Differ. the hope of a Chriſtian gives full aſſurance of the thing hoped for.
I deny not but ſome who have true hope may be without aſſurance, as he that is truly living may be without health. But where hope hath her perfect work, it worketh aſſurance, as naturally as life produceth not only motion, but a good ſtate of health that the body may move with more vivacity and activity. As faith begets a plerophory of faith; ſo hope, a full aſſurance of hope to the end fHeb. 6.11. Hence hope is compared to an Anchor, and is called the Anchor of the ſoul, which hath theſe two properties, to be both ſure and ſtedfaſt gverſe 19; now an Anchor muſt take not only true hold, but faſt hold, or it can never ſecure the ſhip. If it take faſt hold the ſhip is ſafe, unleſſe the ground be looſe and uncertaine: but here is no fear of that, becauſe this Anchor enters into that which is within the veile, which is no other then Chriſt himſelf now in heaven, and there appearing in the preſence of God for us.
Yea, ſuch aſſurance doth hope give to a Chriſtian (unleſſe when extraordinarily aſſaulted by ſome violent tentation) that it makes him (having a promiſe believed by faith) to hope, as Abraham, not only for things difficult, but even impoſſible in nature, and contrary to all humane reaſon: as he did for a ſonne long after Sarah was paſt child-bearing. And even the troubled conſcience, when moſt toſſed on the waves of tentation, dares not let go his hold to caſt off all hopes of heaven, when it ſees nothing but hell before him, but reſolves thus, though he ſlay me, yet will I truſt in him hJob 13.15 Seneca., and is of his minde, qui nihil poteſt ſperare deſperet nihil. He that cannot hope at all, let him not deſpaire; for though he hath nothing in himſelf to ground hope upon, yet when he looks upon the promiſe, there is hold enough for his anchor.
Thus, this hypocrite is as the adverſaries of Judah, that when they could not be permitted to build with Gods people, hired Counſellors to hinder the workiEzra 3.4, 5; ſo he ſets Jeſuites and others to plead againſt that aſſurance, which he cannot get: the true Chriſtian is as Zerubbabel, bringing forth the head-ſtone thereof with ſhouting, crying, grace unto it kZech. 4.7.; the one diſgraceth the aſſurance of hope, becauſe not acquainted with it, the other gives her her juſt due, as having experience of it.
Character 9 This hypocrites hope is a preſumptuous hope.
He is ever in extremes, without taking hold on the mean. Either he is all for doubting, or all for preſumption. If he be not for controverſie, to diſpute againſt hope, he is for impudence to abuſe the name of hope while he goes on in wickednes. Either he bears himſelf out upon his hope, even when he knows and confeſſeth that he walloweth in all iniquity without ſo much as ever thinking to do otherwiſe, in hope God will be kinder then he threatens to belLuke 29.29; or at leaſt makes bold at the preſent to go on in ſin, taking day to repent hereafter, preſuming he ſhall live to that day, and have grace at command, to repent, as the fool that having gotten wealth, thinks of nothing but of enlarging his barns, and gives his ſoul her glut of pleaſure for many years, when he had not one day more to livemLuk. 12.18, 19, 20.. Or he builds upon his external formal profeſſion of Religion, and from thence concludes an aſſured hope of ſalvation, when he cannot be ignorant that his heart is like the inſide of the Phariſees pot, filthy throughout, how fair ſoever the outſide be, to whom Chriſt denounceth a woe, & denyeth ſalvationnMat. 23.25.
Differ.On the Contrary, the true Chriſtians hope is humble, and coupled with feare.
He never looks with hope upon the promiſe of entring into Gods reſt, but he fears leſt he ſhould through unbelief, impenitency, or other miſcarriage, even ſeem to come ſhort of it oHeb. 4.1. He will ſo manage his hope, and his hope will ſo qualifie him, that he will be ſo circumſpect and diligent in all his walking, as not only not to fall ſhort of heaven, but not ſo much as give any occaſion to himſelf or others, as to ſeeme come ſhort of it. He will walk exactly, accurately pEph. 5.15, and look diligently leſt he faile of the grace of God qHeb. 12.15; leſt by any careleſneſſe, earthly mindedneſſe, or other luſt he abate or cool, or blunt the edge and activity of any grace of God within him; working out that ſalvation which he thus hoped for, with fear and trembling rPhil. 2.12, not as doubting the iſſue of his diligence, but as fearing, yea, trembling at the very thoughts of giving way to negligence; leſt that happen to him which befel Eſau, who for one morſel of meat ſold his birth-right, and afterwards when he would have inherited the bleſſing, was rejected, though (when it was too late) he ſought it carefully with teares sHeb. 12.16, 17.
Thus, this hypocrite takes that counſel of the Devil, which Chriſt with indignation refuſed, caſting himſelf head-long from the higheſt pinacle of preſumption, hoping for ſome good Angel to ſave him from deſtruction; the true Chriſtian hath learned of his Maſter, not ſo to tempt the Lord his God tMat. 4.7.; the one abuſeth his hope to his irrecoverable ruine, the other improveth it to his everlaſting ſalvation.