Holy Dedication Both Personal and Domestic, Part 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. 5. Directions, ſhewing in what manner Perſonal Dedication muſt be managed.
HAving thus fully urg'd the duty upon you, Ʋſe 4 (both in the general and alſo in the ſeveral branches of it,) my next work, is to give you ſome Directions about it; and I will here,
1. Shew you, after what manner you are to dedicate your ſelves to God:
2. What you are to do, in order to the practice of it.
As to the firſt, I will lay before you a few Directions.
1. Let your Dedication be entire; (or) dedicate your ſelves entirely to the Lord; for 'tis not ſincere, if it be not entire: Many think they dedicate themſelves to God, when they do but deceive themſelves, becauſe they do not do this entirely. I ſhall only inſtance in two Heads, unto which, that (which I am upon) doth mainly refer; and they are Donation and Subjection.
1. There is Donation, the giving of a mans ſelf to God; this is a main thing in Perſonal Dedication; now ſee that you do this entirely; that you give whole ſelf to God, without all baſe reſerves: God will have all or nothing: Reſervations in this caſe are very dangerous: You know what befel Ananias and Sapphira upon their reſerves, in keeping back part of the price of the land, Acts 5.3, 4, 5, &c. when you pretend to give your ſelves to God, take heed of keeping back any thing from him; the life of your ſouls will be endanger'd by it. The*Deut. 33.10. Levit. 4.11, 12 Levit. 7.32. & 1 8, 9. Differentiam Hoſtiarum & Holocauſtorum in Levitico pleniùs diſcimus: Holocauſta ſunt, quae ſuper Altare integra concremantur. Victimae & Hoſtiae, quarum pars offertur Altari, pars ſacer dotibus traditur. Hieron. in c. 56. Pſaiae. Vid. Gualtperium in Marc. 12.33. de Holocauſtis. burnt-offering was to be offered up wholly; Head, and Body, and Legs, and Entrals, all were to be burnt on the Altar: (therefore it was called foreign) and in this, it differed from the peace-offering and thank-offering, where part was Gods, and part the Prieſts, and part the offerers. We muſt be as the burnt-offering, all without us, within us, all that we are, or have, muſt be dedicated to God; nothing muſt be kept for our ſelves, (but only in ſubordination to God:) The Apoſtle (in that Scripture ſo often cited) bids us, to preſent our ſelves a living ſacrifice: Now (as Grotius obſerves) this foreign, the general word (ſacrifice) per excellentiam dicitur de Holocauſto: (ſo 'tis often taken:) ſo that we muſt not only offer up our ſelves to God, but we muſt offer our ſelves as an Holocauſt: And this is that which I am driving at; our giving of our ſelves to God muſt be entire. As for example; we are made up of body and ſpirit, both are Gods, and both muſt be given to him, 1 Cor. 6.20. We have an heart, that muſt be given too; that God in ſpecial calls for, Prov. 23.26. My ſon, give me thy *My God, what is a Heart, That thou ſhouldſt it ſo eye and woo, &c. Herb. Poem. p. 54.Heart: All we give is nothing without this; God values not your eſtates, your external ſervices, if you withhold your heart from him; where's your love to God, if you do not give him the heart? As Dalilah ſaid to her Husband; Judg. 16.15. How canſt thou ſay, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Ah, and God will have the whole heart too: He loves a broken heart, but not a divided heart: 'Tis ſaid of Joſiah, He turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his ſoul, 2 Kings 23.25. O if you dedicate your ſelves to God, let him have all the heart and all the ſoul: The heart is the ſeat of the affections; to give the heart, and all the heart to God, it is, to let all the affections in their greateſt fervour run out after him: How doth the Creature pleaſe God, when his love, delight, joy, deſire, fear, are principally placed upon himſelf: Again, you have parts, gifts, abilities, intereſts, eſtates, give all to God. He gives to you, that you may give to him; whatever gifts or endowments you have, you had them from God, let them be imployed for God: May be you are men of intereſt, O that you would improve it for God; or you have full eſtates, honour God with your ſubſtance; you ſhall not loſe by it, So ſhall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy preſſes ſhall burſt out with new wine, Prov. 3.9, 10. you have them for this end; God doth not give men riches, that they may ſpend and gratifie their luſts, that they may live high, wear rich apparel, build magnificent Houſes; but that they may do good, and ſerve and honour the Donor with all they have. Give back your eſtates to God; that is, reſign them up to his will; imploy them in his ſervice, improve them for his glory, be ready to part with them for his ſake: O, that where God hath given theſe things, he would alſo give an heart, thus to return them to himſelf. I beſeech you conſider what you have, within, without, and let God have it all: This is to be entire in your giving, and ſo conſequently in your Dedication. In the Covenant of Grace, God intirely gives himſelf and his All to us, in our Dedication we muſt do the ſame to him; as upon that I can ſay, Deus meus & omnia, God is mine, and ſo all is mine; ſo upon this I muſt ſay, Ego fuus & omnia, I am bis, and all that I have is His.
2. Secondly, There is ſubjection; in reference to this, your dedication muſt be entire: According to the entireneſs of a mans ſubjection, ſo is the entireneſs of his dedication; the entireneſs of the former, lies in the univerſality of obedience to the whole will of God; when the heart is brought obedientially to cloſe with every command of the word, then its ſubjection is entire and full. Thus then you muſt dedicate your ſelves, be willing to live in an univerſal ſubjection to Gods will: As there muſt be no reſerves in giving, ſo there muſt be no reſerves or partiality in doing: Give all and do all, then the dedication is right and genuine. This is (in the phraſe of the Apoſtle,) foreign, to fulfil obedience, 2 Cor. 10.6. to *Vajemalle Achari. Perfecit poſt me: Verſ. Syriaca.fulfil after God, (ſo 'tis in the Original,) ('tis ſpoken of Caleb,) Numb. 14.24. to be compleat in all the will of God, Col. 4.12. to be righteous in all the commandments of God, (as 'tis ſaid of Zechary and Elizabeth,) Luke 1.6. O let it be thus with you; whoever thou art, that profeſſeſt thy ſelf to be a Chriſtian, and that thou haſt dedicated thy ſelf to God, look to the extent of thy obedience, that it be adequate and commenſurate to the whole will of God: where the heart is ſincere, it will be thus; as lines that are ſtreight, put them together, they will all along be contiguous; ſo where the heart is right, it ſuits and joyns with the whole law, when you bring it thereunto. Davids ſincerity lay in this; 'twas a very high character that God gave of him, when he ſtiled him, A man after his own heart: now what was this grounded upon? upon his integrity in his obedience: Acts 13.22. A man after my own heart, which ſhall fulfil all my will. He that is for a full compliance with Gods will, he's juſt ſuch a perſon as God deſires, he hits exactly with his heart. O ſirs, that you would come up to this; be not partial in your obedience, that's to be as a cake bak'd on one-ſide: Ephraims partiality is ſet forth by that alluſion, Hoſ. 7.8. Let me aſſure you, where your obedience is partial, your dedication is but hypocritical. Many go very far, they do much, and they ſeem to come very near the matter, and yet they fall ſhort,Mr. Vines upon Numb. 14.24. becauſe here they are defective. There's a great difference betwixt obeying in part, and being partial in obedience: The firſt is from the imperfection of the ſtate, the other is from the hypocriſie of the heart: He that obeys in part, would do more, and is troubled that he doth no more: he that is partial in obedience, thinks he doth enough, and if he ſhould do more he would do too much: The beſt of Saints obey but in part, but 'tis your inſincere profeſſors that are partial in their obedience. Take heed of this I beſeech you: do not pick and chuſe, to keep one command, and to break another, but carry an equal reſpect to all, then you ſhall not be aſhamed: Pſal. 119.6. Then ſhall I not be aſhamed, when I have reſpect to all thy Commandments.
But that I may be more particular in this Head, let me ſay two things to you, (and I pray that God will make them effectual:) Cheriſh no ſin, Baulk no duty; Do nothing, (I mean, willingly, allowedly, deſignedly,) that God forbids. Do every thing (to the utmoſt of your ſtrength) that God enjoyns.
1. Let no ſin be cheriſhed by you, 2 Tim. 2.19. Let every one that nameth the name of Chriſt, depart from iniquity: The indefinite is equipollent to the univerſal; he that names the name of Chriſt, and ſays, he hath dedicated himſelf to Chriſt, he muſt not allow himſelf in any one ſin, he muſt depart from all iniquity. The word is full of prohibitions againſt every ſin, and of commands, to part with every ſin; (but I need not quote them in ſo known a thing:) O if you would indeed dedicate your ſelves, mortifie every corruption, put away every ſin, let not one Agag live, not one Dalilah or Herodias lie in your boſoms; eſpecially let the right eye be pulled out, and the right hand be cut off;Matth. 5 29. the Delictum dilectum, (as Aug. calls it,) let that go. Thou haſt not given thy ſelf to God, ſo long as thou haſt a Peccatum in deliciis, entertained and cheriſhed by thee. O what ſubtile inſinuations, and pleadings are there in our hearts for ſin, pray anſwer them with abhorrence and deteſtation. Their great plea is the ſmalneſs of the ſin; Gen. 19 20.they ſay, as Lot of Zoar, Is it not a little one? O beloved, do not hearken to your naughty hearts; can any ſin be little, that is the violation of an holy Law, and committed againſt a great God? Though it be but petty Treaſon, will you make nothing of it? will not little ſins leave much guilt, and ſo do you much miſchief? Many little ſums make the account ſwell to a great ſum; little ſands make the great mountains; and little drops make the great Ocean. Do not little ſins make way for great ſins? Si curare parva negligimus, inſenſibiliter ſeducti, audenter etiam major a perpetramur. Gregor. Mor. l. 10. c. 14.He that allows himſelf in a little ſin, will not long ſtay there; he'l go on to greater ſins. If the little Thief get into the houſe, the great ones will not be out long. Little ſippings end in drunkenneſs, (if they be often reiterated) as well as full draughts: the cloud that is very ſmall at the firſt, in a little time over-ſpreads the whole Heaven. The*See Dr. Taylor of Repent. p. 127. leſs the ſin, the higher the contempt, for this ſhews, that the ſoul can break with God, for a very trifle: O do not ſtand mincing of the matter, if it be a ſin, have nothing to do with it.
2. Let no duty be baulked: To do all that God commands, and therefore becauſe God commands it, this is a moſt certain evidence of a gracious heart. And ſhall it be ſo with you? O the time is haſtening, when one good evidence of ſincerity, will be more to you, than all your Writings, Deeds, Evidences for your worldly poſſeſſions: you cannot have a better than this, to conform to the whole will of God, in doing all that he requires; and therefore labour after it. Saul did ſomething, but he did not all that was commanded, and that loſt him his Kingdom. How many loſe Heaven by their being partial in the law of God: As for duties that are eaſie and ſafe, they can ſubmit to them, but as to thoſe, that have much of difficulty and danger in them, here they ſhrink, and beg Gods excuſe: As you love your ſouls, take heed of this; let the duty be never ſo painful, let fleſh and blood never ſo much oppoſe it, be it never ſo contrary to your carnal intereſts and inclinations, doth it expoſe you to never ſo many hazards, loſſes, croſſes in the world, yet if it hath Gods stamp and impreſs upon it, yield obedience to it: O this is dedication indeed! Suppoſe it ſhould be the offering up of an only ſon, ſuppoſe it ſhould be pray and die, or own a reproached, ſcorned, perſecuted Chriſt, or taking up the croſs of Chriſt, and forſaking all for him; I ſay, ſuppoſe it ſhould be this or that, will you ſay, Lord, let it be what it will, I will do it, (according to my ſtrength.) this is to be a Chriſtian. O conſider, there's the ſame authority for all duties, that God who enjoyns the one, enjoyns the other alſo: There is ſuch a connexion betwixt them, that if you leave out one, you leave out all; *He that cuſtomarily, &c. breaks any one Commandment, ventures to violate that Authority, which by one and the ſame ordination, made the whole Law equally binding, and by conſequence is habitually, and in praeparatione Animi, a tranſgreſſ…r of the whole Law. Reyn. Life of Chriſt. p. 507.one allowed omiſſion or commiſſion is a violation of the whole law; ſo you have it expreſly, Jam. 2.10, 11. 'Tis a good ſpeech of*De Provid. L. 3. Salvian, Non eſt juſta cauſatio cur praeferantur aliqua, ubi facienda ſunt omnia; There can be no juſt reaſon, of preferring ſome duties before others, when all is to be done: And again, Quando ſervus ex Domini ſui juſſis ea facit tantummodo quae velit, jam non Dominicam implet voluntatem, ſed ſuam; When the ſervant picks and chuſes, in his maſters commands, and only doth what he himſelf hath a mind to, he doth not do his maſters will, but his own. Many ſuch conſiderations might be alledged, but I muſt contract; O fulfil after God; let the duty be what it will, 'tis good; the aſſiſtance of God ſhall make it eaſie, and the recompence of God, ſhall make it gainful. This is the firſt thing, your dedication muſt be entire, and I have ſhewn, wherein the entireneſs of it conſiſts.
2. Secondly, Let your dedication be conſtant and perpetual, (or) let it be for conſtancy and perpetuity. As it muſt be entire without reſerves, ſo it muſt be conſtant, (or for conſtancy) without limitation of time. This is further requiſite to the truth and reality of Perſonal Dedication; *Perpetua ac ſolida ſunt, quae vera ſunt, ſimulata non perſeverant. Ambroſ. Officior. l. 2. c. 22.what is true is laſting, what is feigned is not ſo: Paint ſoon waſhes off, but the colour that is natural abides, and is permanent. 'Tis perſeverance and conſtancy, which makes the difference betwixt profeſſor and profeſſor; and ſo betwixt Dedication and Dedication. Do you deſire to dedicate your ſelves to the bleſſed God, and to do this to purpoſe? Then do it for for ever; let it be, for all the days of your life, (Luke 1.75.) Thus David did, Pſal. 119.112. I have enclined mine heart to perform thy ſtatutes alway even unto the end. And (verſe 117.) I will have reſpect unto thy ſtatutes continually. O bleſſed David! not ſo much becauſe a King, as becauſe a ſincere ſelf-dedicating Saint.
I ſhall not need to ſpeak much to this, by way of enforcement; do but look into the nature of the act, and into the ſeveral parts of this dedication, and they all call for this perpetuity: You do therein give your ſelves to God; and will you give and take away again? We do not like that in our petty gifts, will God like it? In dedication you make over your ſelves, as a free gift, and that without all power of revocation: men ſometimes give an eſtate, but they reſerve a power of revocation; and therefore they may alter, null, withdraw their gift, as they ſee good: But 'tis not ſo in the creatures giving himſelf to God, for this he doth irrevocably, irreverſibly: If you will dedicate your ſelves, you muſt thus do; give your love, fear, ſervice, obedience to God for ever; and if ſo, then you muſt be conſtant. In dedication, you bind your ſelves to God, to be his; for how long? for for ever. 'Tis not here, as 'tis in the caſe of a Servant, or an Apprentice, who bind themſelves to their maſters for ſuch a term of years, and when they are expired, then they are free from their obligation, and are at their own diſpoſe again; I ſay 'tis not ſo here; but 'tis, as in the conjugal bond 'twixt husband and wife, where the parties enter into a mutual obligation, to bind ſo long as life ſhall laſt. In dedicating your ſelves to the Lord, you enter into an everlaſting obligation to him, to be his, world without end: As it was with the ſervant that was bored, Exod. 21.5, 6. If the ſervant ſhall plainly ſay, I love my maſter, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free: Then his maſter ſhall bring him unto the Judges, &c. and his maſter ſhall bore his ear through with an Aull, and he ſhall ſerve him for ever: So here, O (ſaith the ſelf-dedicating Chriſtian,) I love God, I like his ways, I owe him all my ſervice, I will not go from him, I will ſerve him whilſt I live; and therefore I here dedicate & bind my ſelf to him to make this good; can he now afterwards recede from this, & leave God, when he hath entred into ſuch an eternal obligation? I might alſo ſpeak to the other branches of ſelf-dedication; as the fixedneſs of the reſolution, Alienation for Gods Uſe, Devotedneſs to his glory, they all include and connote ſtability, conſtancy, perpetuity; ſo that without this, there can be no dedication. Oh, if you would do this throughly, you muſt be Gods for ever. There muſt be no conditions, no Ifs and Ands in the matter, your dedication muſt be abſolute; and there muſt be no changings or alterations or withdrawings in the matter, your dedication muſt be permanent and everlaſting.
3. Thirdly, Let it be free, voluntary, ſpontaneous: Do it foreign, not by conſtraint, but willingly, (as the Apoſtle exhorts Elders, with reſpect to the feeding of the flock of God, 1 Pet. 5.2.) Self-dedication muſt not be a thing extorted from you, but it muſt be the matter of your choice: Pſal. 119.30. I have choſen the way of truth. He that offered a burnt ſacrifice, he was to offer it of his own voluntary will, (as 'tis expreſſed, Exod. 1.3.) And indeed in all offerings God ſtood upon this willingneſs, Exod. 25.2. Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye ſhall take my offering: 'Twas the great commendation of the Fathers and Princes of the Tribes of Iſrael, &c. they offered willingly, 1 Chron. 29.6. And 'tis recorded to the honour of Amaſiah, He willingly offered himſelf unto the Lord, 2 Chron. 17.16. Dedication-work is offering-work; God expects, that you ſhould freely, willingly, chearfully offer up your ſelves to him. O be a willing people in the day of Gods power, Pſal. 110.3. Dedicating perſons, they are to be Amminadib, a willing people, *The chariots of my willing people; In the Hebr. Ammi-Nadib, that is my voluntary, free people. The Greek putteth both words in one; make it a proper Name; The Chariots of Aminadab; it rather denoteth the people of Chriſt, which are voluntiers in the, &c. Ainſw. in Cant. 6.12.Cant. 6.12. I ſay, be you ſuch; let your dedication come off freely and readily: you have no reaſon to ſtick at this: 'Tis never well with you, till this be done; you never ſo much conſult your own intereſt, or advance your own good, as when you dedicate your ſelves to God. Are ſinners ſo willing to reſign up themſelves to ſin and Satan, will not you be willing, to reſign up your ſelves to God? 'Tis true, you give away your ſelves in this act; but 'tis to God; can ſelf be better given than to him? Do you do more to God, than what he doth to you? Are you not better in his hands, than in your own? Is this any thing more, than the paying of a debt, and will you not willingly pay your debts? 'Tis true, in this you ſurrender up your ſelves, but 'tis to the will of God; and is not this ſuch an excellent will, that you may thus do, with the greateſt readineſs? What is Gods will, but a draught or copy of his own holineſs? (which is his glory,) What do you do in this, but take the right way, to live as God lives, and ſo (according to your meaſure,) to partake of his glorious excellencies? And ſo I might go on to the reſt; you have the higheſt attractives, the moſt alluring arguments that are imaginable, to draw you to this dedication; O therefore with all alacrity and readineſs, come up to it. Do not do it, becauſe you muſt do it, but becauſe you will do it: Devote your ſelves to God, as the wife devotes her ſelf to the perſon, whom ſhe dearly loves, in relation to whom, ſhe places all her felicity.
4. Fourthly, Be ſpeedy in your dedication; do not delay or procraſtinate, but fall upon the work preſently: 'Tis the ſubtilty of Satan, to make men to delay a duty, when they cannot deny it: Though there be but few that do actually dedicate themſelves to God, yet bring me a man, who hath any thing to ſay againſt it; the thing is ſo evident, that ſurely none dare deny the excellency, the reaſonableneſs of it, and their obligation to it; but yet they put it off from time to time; they are convinced it muſt be done, and ought to be done; but there's time enough for the doing of it. O (my brethren) take heed of this. Pray anſwer me, will you dedicate your ſelves to God, or not? I muſt have your anſwer, will you dedicate your ſelves to God, or not? We will, (I encourage my ſelf to take that for your anſwer;) then I go on; when will you do this? When ſhall reſolution be put into practice? do you ſay, to morrow, the next week, the next year you'l do it; then your anſwer, as to the main queſtion ſignifies nothing: He that ſays, he will dedicate himſelf to God, but not yet, doth in effect ſay, he will never do it: delays in this caſe are little better than abſolute denials: Gods delays to us, are not denials, but ours to him, are ſo: O delay no longer; you ſay, to morrow, Quamdiu cras. quamdiu cras? quare non modd, quare non hâc horâ finis turpitudinis meae. Aug. Conf. l. 8. c. 12.hereafter, why not now? why not to day? why not preſently? Have you not put off God, and made him wait too long already? Do not delays make the dedication to be more difficult? *Poenitenti veniam ſpoſpondit, ſed vivendi in craſtinum non ſpoſpondit. Id.Are you ſure of to morrow? can you aſſure your ſelves, of the gales of Grace to blow to morrow? O let it be to day, while it is called to day, Heb. 3.13. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of ſalvation, 2 Cor. 6.2. David made haſte and delayed not, Pſal. 119.60. Poſſibly, ſome in the reading of theſe Papers, may reſolve to dedicate themſelves, let ſuch fall upon the duty preſently; 'tis good ſtriking whilſt the Iron is hot: 'tis good to hoiſt up the ſails whilſt the wind ſerves:Ego à multis annis craſtinum non novi. 'Twas a good ſpeech of one, As to matters of duty, for many years he had known no to morrow; (meaning, he always preſently ſet upon duty;) let it be ſo with you as to dedication: Seneca ſpeaks of ſome,Malè vivunt, qui ſemper vivere incipiunt. Senec. who are always beginning to live, theſe he ſays, live ill; ſo there are ſome, who are always beginning to dedicate themſelves, To day they ſay, it ſhall be done to morrow, Caveamus hunc ſcopulum differre. Quot hominum millia vel hanc unam ob cauſam malè finierunt, quia diſtulerunt, minimè differrenda. Quid craſtinum ſaluti tuae deſtinas? Craſtinus dies tuus non eſt: Hodiernus eſt. Hodiè quaeſo, hûc horâ, jam age quod agendum eſt: Gras aut perendie ubi tu eris?and then they put it off to another morrow, and ſo the conviction is ſmothered, and the work is not done. O what you find in your hearts to do, do it ſpeedily, without all further delays or procraſtination. Thus I have directed you as to the manner, how you are to dedicate your ſelves to God; you muſt be entire in your Dedication, without all reſerves; conſtant in your Dedication, without all limitation as to time; free and willing in your Dedication, without conſtraint and backwardneſs; and ſpeedy and preſent in your Dedication, without all delays.