Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil, Chapter 3

Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil · Chapter 3

p. 67The Stage-player unmasked: OR, The Signs and Woes of a Wretched Hypocrite.

MAT. xxiv. 51.

— appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites.

IT is a bitter Complaint, which the World has too much given occasion for, Totus Mundus exercet Histrionem; the World is full of Hypocrites; those Dust-heaps may in every corner be met withal. Be sure, there cannot be a full testimony born against the Sins of this Time and Place, if that comprehensive Sin of Hypocrisie, should escape our severest reprehensions; nor can a fuller testimony against that Sin, be any p. 68where found in the whole Book of God, than in the words now read unto us.

Our Blessed Saviour is here discoursing on the dangerous condition wherein the World shall be, just before his coming to the Judgment of it. Altho' there are now revealed those things about the day and hour of our Lords, which even our Lord himself, as he was Man, was not before his Exaltation so exactly acquainted with; yet the most of Mankind will be sleepy and secure, towards this great Evening of the World, and be surprized by the coming of the Lord. Our Lord therefore with several Parables inculcates the Duty of Watchfulness upon us all; and one of those Parables is full of those warnings that Church Officers are peculiarly concerned in.

Just before the coming of our Lord, his Church, and especially that part of his Church which he may choose to give the more special signals of his coming in, shall be oppressed with a Crue of Bigotted Clergy men, who have divers Remarkables in their Character.

'Tis one thing in their Character, That they shall begin to smite their Fellow-servants. If there be a Faithful or Painful Minister, that would labour to promote serious Godliness in the Nation, they ll be sure to persecute him. They'll pretend unto the Power of the Keyes, and by a strange abuse of those Keyes, they will not only shut the Doors of Imployment and Preferment upon any Minister that shall be a Friend unto real H liness, but also they will knock those heavy Church-Keyes about the Head of p. 69every such Reformer. They shall begin to smite,] that is, they shall silence, they shall molest, they shall get one Law after another forged for the Trouble of good Men; and they shall be in a fair way towards hammering of their Keyes into Swords, and rendering it a capital thing to do any service for God; but they shall be wonderfully hindered from carrying the business on so far; they only begin. And it is another thing that herewithal goes to make up them Character, They shall eat and drink with the drinken It seems, a common Drunkard shall find more favour with them, than a pious Christian; they'll censure the most gracious Men alive, that would be found by our Lord Jesus in the punctual and regular observation of those Orders which he has left for his House to be governed with, until he return unto us; but if a Man be a Drunkard, a Swearer, a Gamester, a Whoremaster, then they'll cry, O he is one of us! and by no means must such an one be discouraged.

But, Qui diu toleratur, subito tollitur: Our Context informs us, that God will bring a sudden Revolution upon these unhappy Creatures; and it shall be such a Revolution, as will give them their Portion with the Hypocrites; or, as Luke expresses it, with the unbelievers; that is, it will unchurch them: All their cry was, The Church, the Church, but they shall be now cast out of any Interest in the Church of God. When you see such a Revolution, you may take it for granted, that whatever the end of the World may be, the end of this World is not a thousand years off.

p. 70My Text represents unto us, the punishment of the wickedest Offenders in the Church of God; it is, to have a portion with the Hypocrites. But why, with Hypocrites? 'Tis partly, because that wicked Church-Officers are of all Men the greatest Hypocrites. Our Lord elsewhere elegantly calls them, Wolves in sheeps-cloathing. But it is also because the portion of Hypocrites is of all the worst that any Man can be damned unto. Behold, how Hypocrites are here accounted as Free-holders to the Vengeance of God; other Transgressors are but as it were Tenants or Inmates with them. 'Tis intimated, that Hypocrites are to have the deepest share, the largest room, in those Revenges which God has to execute upon ungodly Men.

The Text is full of Doctrines; but there is only this one that must be the Subject of our present Contemplations.

DOCTRINE. The Portion of Hypocrites, is a very miserable Portion.

By the portion of Men is meant, that condition which the Great God, in a way of Recompence, allots unto them. 'Tis a Phrase frequently occurring in both Old and New Testament; and it carries both condition and recompence in the signification of it. The God of Heaven will take a time to fulfil that frequently repeated, and solemnly confirmed, Word of p. 71his, in Rev. 22.12. I come quickly ['Tis the last Advice we have had from Heaven!] and my reward is with me; to give every man according as his work shall be. But when this Time does come, the Portion of the Hypocrite will be found extreamly miserable.

We may spend these Propositions upon this awful Truth.

PROP. I.

An Hypocrite is one who does pretend Religion, and but pretend it. Hypocrisie is properly a counterfeit of Religion. The Greek word for an Hypocrite, signifies a Stage-player. As a Stage-player will act the part of a King, though he be indeed a Beggar; so an Hypocrite acts the part of a Saint, while he is but a Sinner still. The word comes from a Theme, that signifies to compare; and a diminutive Particle is prefixed unto it; so that Hypocrisie is a thing that may be compared unto true Religion; it has a likeness and a shadow of Religion; but it comes very short of the reality; the resemblance is a dull, a faint, an empty thing. Accordingly, the Hebrew word for an Hypocrite comes from a Root that signifies, to tinge, or dye a thing of another Colour than what is Natural. Thus an Hypocrite, is one that appears not in his own colours; there are false colours that his Religion is disguised and concealed with Particularly,

p. 72First, In the Religion of an Hypocrite his Graces want an Ingredient, essential to the Graces of true Religion. The utmost attainment of an Hypocrite, is that in Acts 26.28. Almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian. As for the Hypocrite, his Faith is but Almost that which is, The Faith of Gods Elect. His Repentance is but Almost that which is, The Repentance not to be repented of. His Holiness is but Almost that which is, The holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. They say concerning the Devils, that in Apparitions of them, there never is a compleat and perfect shape; there is alwayes a blemish upon it, by which, as by a cloven Foot, it may be distinguished. This may be said about the Devil of Hypocrisie; it has a shape of Religion, but there are no compleat and perfect Graces in it: Some chief Ingredient is lacking in them. Our Lord said once to a notable Hypocrit… …n Matth. 10.21. One thing thou lackest. Here lies the miscarriage of an Hypocrite! He may have so much Faith as to call the Lord Jesus Christ, The Saviour of the World. But alas, One thing thou lackest; he does not utterly renounce all his own Righteousness, and his own Strength, and his own Will, and cordially receive the Lord Jesus Christ in every one of all his Offices. He may have so much Repentance, as to shed whole Bottles of Tears for his many Sins; but, one thing thou lackest; he has one beloved Sin, one Herodias, that he must be spared in; there is one Right Eye, one Right Hand, one Darling Lust, that he can't endure the Mortification of. He may have so much Holiness, as p. 73like him in the Gospel, to do many things; but, one thing thou lackest: Some one Command of God there is, which he has an irreconcileable prejudice unto; it cannot be said of him, He counts the precept concerning all things to be right, and he hates every false way.

Secondly, In the Religion of an Hypocrite, his Duties want a Principle. necessary to the Duties of true Religion. The Hypocrites case is that in Matth. 25.3. They took their lamps, and took no oyl with them. One of the Jewish Rabbies describes to us the fashion of the Lamps which that Scripture alludes unto. They were certain Staves or Canes, to be carried in their hands, having Vessels at the top, into which they put both a great Wiek, and an Oyl to feed it. Now 'tis the Hypocrites guise, he may make a marvellous blaze of performances; but he has not an oyl within to supply and nourish that short-liv'd blaze. Tell me so much as one external thing done by a Believer, which may not also (I don't say as well) be done by an Hypocrite. As how does the Believer hear the Word of God, on Sabbath-days, and Lecture-days? Why, we read of some, who are hearers of the Word, and yet they deceive their own selves. Does the Word of God cause a Reformation in the Conversation of a Believer? We read, of them that have escaped the pollutions of the World, through the knowledge of the Lord, and yet the Dogs return to their vomit, the Swine return to their quagmire; they are Dogs and Swine still! Does the Believer pray much, fast oft, and give Alms li…rally? We read of a false Pharisee that could p. 74say as much, I Fast twice in the week, and give Tithes of all that I possess. In a Word, can a Believer suffer in the cause of God? We read of some that can give their Bodies to be burned, and yet have in them no Charity or Sincerity. A Paul and an Alexander may be fellow-sufferers. What is then the difference? Briefly, deest aliquid intus, It lies in the Principle of all these Duties. Hypocrisie don't arrive to this one thing, The doing of any thing purely out of respect unto the blessed God. What is done by the Hypocrite, either he does it out of Custom; he is a Christian for the same cause that another is a Jew, or a Turk, or a Papist; and he goes to Church (as he calls it) upon the very same account with his Dog that follows him. Or else, he does it out of terror; all his Resolutions for God, are like the Vowes that Pharaoh made, when the Thunders of Heaven rumbled over him: The fear of Death or Shame is the cause of all his Goodness. Or lastly, He does it out of design. He undertakes no good thing without some Earthly Byas upon his undertaking. It is with him, as in Matth 6.2. he does, to be seen of men. An Hypocrite is a Man-pleaser. 'Tis to serve some Secular Interest, that he does list himself among the People of God; he would quickly desert them, if danger appeared; as Rats and Mice, they say, will run out of a falling Hoase. There is this failing in the most splendid and glorious Actions of an Hypocrite, Have ye done it unto me, even unto me, saith the Lord.

p. 75Thirdly, The Hypocrite is not secretly, that which he openly seems to be. Our Lord has notably touch'd upon this quality of the Hypocrite, in Matth. 23.23, 28. He makes clean the out-side of the platter: He is like one of the sepulchres, which the Jews whited and painted every Spring; but within, he is full of hypocrisie and iniquity. If the Hypocrite can approve himself World-ward, he is enough; to approve himself God-ward, is not the most sollicitous of his cares. He will keep some guard upon his Words and Walks, but at the same time it may be said, How long shall thy vain thoughts l…dge within thee? He takes little pains to cleanse his Heart of such proud, revengeful, envious and lascivious thoughts, as render that Heart of his a noysome Dunghil before the Lord. It is the description of an Hypocrite, in Job 36.13. he is an hyyocrite in heart. Indeed that is the property of an Hypocrite, God shall have any thing but the heart of him. You may see it especially in his Religious Exercises; he will be much in such Exercises, but he has not his Heart prepared for, nor his Heart affected in, those Exercises. He will do good Works every day, but is not studious to have good frames in the doing of them. God may say, This people draw near me with their mouth, but have removed their heart far from me. To instance in one Sacred Exercise; there is that of Prayer. An Hypocrites Prayer, 'tis more by Art than by Heart; he is very nice about the Expressions on his Tongue, but wholly regardless about the Impressions on his Heart, when he stands before the Lord. And hence also the p. 76Hypocrite is very forward upon publick Exercises, but about private ones, he is as remiss as can be; he is very large and full, as to what is to be done at a Meeting; but follow him home to his Closet, and you shall find small or no Communion with the Almighty there. But now,

PROP. II.

Very miserable will be the portion of such an Hypocrite. Indeed, some Hypocrisie there is in the best Men alive: Hypocrisie is a corruption, whereof we may speak, as in Prov. 20.9. Who can say, I have made my heart clean? But for a Man to have so much Hypocrisie, to be so much under the power and reign of Hypocrisie, as may denominate him an Hypocrite before the Lord; O 'tis impossible to declare the miseries that such a Man thereby plunges his own woful Soul into! I remember that when the Queen of Israel presented her self before the Prophet in a disguise, the good Man that heard of her coming, said in 1 King. 14.6. Come thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thy self to be another? I am sent unto thee with heavy tidings. If there be any Hypocrite now among us [and it is well if there been 't!] sitting under the disguise of a fair Profession, I must in like sort say unto him, Come, thou dissembler, I am sent unto thee with heavy tidings from the Lord. For,

First, The portion of the Hypocrite is, To be cut asunder. Perhaps he esteems himself safe, and sayes with Agag, The bitterness of Death is p. 77past; but God comes upon him, and like Agag, in 1 Sam. 15.33. he is hewn to pieces before the Lord. Forlorn Creature! He made a division between God and the World, a division between God and a Lust; something he gave to God, but something the World and a Lust laid claim unto; and now God will make a division upon him for ever. It was of old the manner to handle some that were counted enormous Transgressors at such a rate, as cutting them asunder: It is reckoned among the usual Torments, in Heb. 11.37. They were sawn asunder. It was of old, and it still is, the usage, for Traitors to be thus dealt withal. The Hypocrite is a Traitor to the Kingdom of Heaven; he takes an Oath of Allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, and is listed under the Banner, and for the Service of that Holy Lord; but he is indeed one of the Devils Party all the while. Now, the Great God will proceed against the Hypocrite, as guilty of an High Treason against his Eternal Majesty. But this is not all that is in the cutting asunder of the Hypocrite referred unto. Sacrifices did use to be thus handled in the former Ages; thus, besides what is recorded concerning the like act of Abrahams, we find in Jer. 34.18. They cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, in their Sacrifices at the making of their Covenants; the scope of which Rite was, q. d. Discindantur ejus membra, & fiat sicut pecus istuct, qui juramentum violaverit. Why, the Hypocrite is one that has made a Covenant with God; but it may be said of such a Man, His heart was not right with God, neither was he stedfast in his p. 78covenant. Hence what follows but this? The Righteous and Jealous God will make a Sacrifice of this wretched Hypocrite; he shall become a Sacrifice to the burning and furious Indignation of the Omnipotent God. He has broke his Covenant; and now the vindictive Justice of God will break him asunder for it; or as it is expressed in Psal. 50.22. I will tear you to pieces, and there shall be none to deliver you. But when shall the Hypocrite thus be cut asunder? It shall be at least when he comes to dye, and leave the World. The sharp scythe of Death will one day cut asunder the Hypocrite, so that the Body and the Spirit of the Man shall never have one comfortable hour together any more. The Curse which was denounced upon Simeon and Levi, those two Companions in Hypocrisie, that will God execute upon the Spirit and the Body of an Hypocrite, I will divide and scatter them. Before the Hypocrite is aware of it, an Officer will come from God, that shall say unto him, as in Luke 12.20. Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. So, when the Body of the Hypocrite shall have snakes and worms in a cold Grave crawling about it, then shall the Spirit of him in an hot Hell be under the gnaws of the worm, the snake, which never dyes. But this is not all; it shall be further done, In the day wherein God will judge the world by Jesus Christ. God will then cut the Hypocrite asunder from that Body which heretofore he seemingly belonged unto. Before the Day of Judgment shall expire, we are told in Matth. 25.32. All Nations shall be gathered together, and he p. 79shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divides his Sheep from the Goats. God will then separate the Hypocrite from all that Society which he crowded once into. Christ, and Saints, and Angels, will then hiss him away with one Voice, Depart from us, we know thee not.

Secondly. The portion of the Hypocrite is, Weeping and gnashing of Teeth. It is more than once, that the Oracles of God have pronounced this Doom upon the Hypocrite; we have it particularly in Mat. 8.12. There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth. It is the same that the Prophet long before sentenced such people unto; in Isa. 65.14. Ye shall cry for sorrow of Heart, and shall howl for vexation of Spirit.

There is an Intolerable, and an Interminable Sorrow which the Hypocrite shall be cast into; this is meant, by the Weeping appointed for him. Here he wept now and then under the Ordinances of God; he seem'd as if he were much concerned in them; and perhaps, he could cry when he would, as your worst Hypocrites often can? all this was in Jest, and his Tears were like those which they report of the Crocodile. But God will at last make him weep with more Earnest and Horrid Agonies. The Sorrow which will torture the Soul of the Hypocrite, will be for and in his Exclusion from the Blessed presence of God for ever. It was the Resolve of David, in Psal. 101.7. He that worketh Deceit, shall not dwell within my House; he that telleth Lies, shall not tarry in my sight. They that go to Heaven, are alwayes in the House, and in the sight of our David; but our David, p. 80our Jesus will Banish all Deceitful Hypocrites from that House and sight of His for ever; it is an Inscription upon the Golden Gates of Heaven, Let never any Hypocrite enter here! Surely, the Hypocrite must weep no less than Tears of Blood when he sees the Gates of Heaven shut upon him. When Esau lost a Blessing for which he had wrought and hop'd considerably, it's said, He cried with a great and exceeding bitter Cry. What a Cry will it cause in the Hypocrite, when he shall see himself shut out from a Blessed Heaven, after so many Works, and so many Hopes, for the obtaining of it! We read concerning Hypocrites, in Mat. 25.10, 11, 12. The Door was shut, and they came saying, Lord, Lord, open to us! But He answered, I know you not. Such a Cry, will the Hypocrite make, when he perceives an Admission into Heaven is denied unto him; Lord, Lord! Open to me! and, Lord, Lord! is this all that my Religion has obtained for me! and, Lord, Lord! Whither art thou now sending of my desolate Soul! But what further, what rueful weeping will the Hypocrite fall into, when he finds the Devils and the Damned now his Companions for Eternity! When he lies Roaring in the fiery bottom of Hell, and crying out, I am Tormented in this Flame! When he feels the Wrath of God, like a Stream of Burning Brimstone. Running through his Heart; When he is bleeding and breaking in the Winepress of Gods Anger, and is chained up in the place of Dragons; and for him then to think, Here must I Lie, till the very Heavens be no more! Alas, what Weeping mo… p. 81he endure, throughout a Night that shall never have a Morning!

But this is not all; there is also a dismal Vexation which the Hypocrite shall be cruciated with; here is the Gnashing of Teeth reserved for him. A Fever or Ague begins with a Gnashing of the Teeth; it is a terrible Fever that the Soul of the Hypocrite shall fall into. His Diappointment, will be such as will make him gnash his Teeth for Vexation of Soul; it may therefore be said of him, as in Psal. 112.10. He shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his Teeth. There are especially two vexing Losses, which will make the very Teeth of the Hypocrite chatter in the Head of him. He shall first, find that he has lost all his Works, and he will gnash his Teeth at such a Loss. 'Tis a thousand to one, but the Hypocrite loses even in this World, what of this World he had been labouring for. Judas had play'd the Hypocrite for a little Money; but, I pray, what had he got when he came to cast up his Accounts? Methinks, I see how he gnashed his Teeth, when he threw down his Money, and said, Here take it again: I have made but a cursed Bargain of it! The Hypocrite has been squinting at some secular Advantage in all he did; but it is said in Job 8.14. The Hypocrites Trust shall be as a Spiders Web. He as it were, unbowell'd himself, to get an Easie Lodging here; but all on the sudden, there comes a mischievous Beesom, that sweeps down all the Riches, and all the Honours, and all the Pleasures which he had been spinning for. But be sure, the Hypocrite loses all his Labours for another World. p. 82His Faith is nothing in the account of God, because it is not such as that in 1 Tim. 1.5. A Faith unfeigned. His Love, is of no account with God, because it is not such as that in Rom. 12.9. A Love without Dissimulation. All his Laborious Devotions, they are all thrown away; they are the Sacrifices, that are Abomination to the Lord. The Infamous Jehu, was a Great Hypocrite; wherefore, though he did many things that God commanded him, yet the Lord said, I will for those very things be Avenged on him. After the Hypocrite has been much and long industrious about the Things of God, he will find a Mene Tekel written upon it all; the Just God will make him know, 'Tis all weigh'd in the Ballances and found wanting! And how will it now make him gnash his Teeth to think, All the Hours that I spent in the pretended Service of God, I shall never be one jot the better for them! But he shall then likewise find, that he has lost all his Hopes; and he will yet more gnash his Teeth at such a Loss as that. It is an amazing Enquiry, in Job 27.8. What is the Hope of the Hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God takes away his Soul? 'Tis possible the Hypocrite has gained some Honour, and some Figure, by his Devotions; yea, 'tis possible, that he has gained some confident Hope of Everlasting Blessed ness. But O! what becomes of that Hope, when God summons the poor Man before His Dreadful Tribunal? We are told in Job 20.5. The Joy of the Hypocrite is but for a moment. Why? because, The Hope of the Hypocrite is but for a moment. When the Hypocrite is thrown down into the fiery dismal p. 83Vault below, that horrible Fire-light will give him a true sight of himself. One of the first Shrieks that he will make, at his going down, will be, O I hoped for better things than so! It is said, They that go down to the Pit cannot Hope. All the Hope that the Hypocrite had of his Acceptance with God, will be extinguished, when God shall clap him up into the Dungeons of the Devouring Pit. The Hypocrite is that Foolish Builder, whom in Mat. 7.26. we find mention of; he had built a fair House of a fine Hope; only 'twas on the Sand; the Storms of Divine Wrath will shortly overset that House, that Hope. Now, if as the Wise man speaks, Hope Deferred makes the Heart sick what will Hope Frustrated? and this, an Hope of Heaven, of Glory too? O how he will gnash his Teeth to see all his Hopes thus at once exterminated!

Thirdly, and Summarily. The worst of Punishments must be the Portion of the Hypocrite. when one would speak of the Hottest and Lowest place in Hell, when one would speak of the furthest Pulls on the Racks with which undone Sinners are Tormented there, we are to call it, The Portion of the Hypocrite. It is said in Job 36.13, 14. The Hppocrites heap up Wrath; and their Life is among the Ʋnlcean. It is not a common Wrath; no, there are vast Heaps and Loads and Weights and Mountains of Wrath, which the Hypocrite has to welter under! He is, Among the Ʋnclean; it refers to the Destruction that came upon the Sodomites of old. God often leaves the Hypocrite unto a Course of some Ʋncleanness; it may be that he has been an old p. 84Professor, but an old Hypocrite all the while; nevertheless, even in his old Age, he follows a Trade of Lechery that could hardly be imagined. However, God will deal with an Hypocrite, as with another Sodomite; he may expect an Horrible Tempest of Judgments to rain down from Heaven upon him; and be sure, he cannot escape the Vengeance of Eternal Fire. Yea, unto Hypocrites our Lord has given that awful Warning in Mat. 11.24. It shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom, than for thee! Hypocrisie is indeed a Crime of a Deep Dy A Portion with Hypocrites, here i… called in Luke 12.46. A Portion with Ʋnbelievers An Hypocrite is a sort of an Infidel; we say, Simulata Sanctitas, est Duplex Iniquitas; it is a wicked thing for a Man to be an Enemy unto the God that made him; but for him at the same time to profess a Friendship for the Lord, this is a Double Wickedness; a Double one did I say? nay, 'tis more then a Treble one; there is Atheism, there is Ʋnbelief, there is Prodigious Idolatry in Hypocrisie; 'tis a Big bellied Sin. And no wonder then, that it brings forth such astonishing Plagues unto them that are guilty of it. No wonder that our Lord in one Chapter, namely, in the Twenty Third of Matthew, pronounces no less than Seven or Eight Woes together, upon these woful Creatures! How fast he Repeats a Wo to you Hypocrites! and again, Wo to you Hypocrites! Had I like one of the Three Angels in the Revelation, a Wo-Trumpet in my Hand, the Woes of the Hypocrite are those which it might chiefly and justly be filled withal. Well then,

p. 85APPLICATION.

I. Let us all examine our selves, whether we are like to be found among those Hypocrites, whose portion is very miserable.

Do but consider this one thing, How easie 'tis to be an Hypocrite. There are self condemned Hypocrites; those to whom it may be said, as it was to Shimei, T…ou knowest the wickedness which thy own heart is privy to. But then, there are self dec…ived Hypocrites; those over whose Graves it …y at la t be written, A deceived Heart was that which turned them aside. An Hypocrite may not only deceive Neighbours, deceive Churches, deceive Ministers, but also deceive himself: We read of one who seems to be Religious, and yet, as in Jam. 1.26. He deceives his own Soul. I'll tell you the Name of the most crafty and bloody deceiver in the World, and I'll tell you, where you shall find him too. You need not stir from the place where you now sit, that you may find that Impostor, which has already cheated a million of Hypocrites of their very Lives; in one word, It is the heart of man. 'Tis this Heart of ours, whereof we are told in Jer. 17.9. The heart is deceitful above all things; who can know it? I remember, that once reciting unto a Sick Person the Terms of the Gospel, and inquiring whether he did not think himself sincere in his consent unto them, he made me this discreet Answer, O Sir, I should think so, if it were not for the Seventeenth of Jeremiah, and the Ninth. Why, this p. 86I would say, were it not for the Seventeenth of Jeremiah and the Ninth, it were not so needful for us to be afraid of our own Hypocrisie. But now, Blessed is the man that feareth always. When our Lord had no more than twelve Disciples in his Family, one of them was an Hypocrite. How many Hypocrites may we then reasonably think there are in this whole Congregation! Certainly it becomes every one of us to search, Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? It was a terrible Expression used by the Famous Chrysostom, unto a vast Assembly; Hearken, said he, here are divers Thousands of you, yet I doubt whether above One Hundred of you ever get safe to Heaven at last. God forbid that there should be room for any such uncharitable computation upon this Assembly. But this I say, 'tis well if many of us do not by our Hypocrisie miscarry for ever.

Shall I mention a few sorts of Men that have more peculiar cause to be suspicious of themselves?

First, It is gross Hypocrisie for a Man to pretend Religion, and intend something else; perhaps Knavery and Villany. It was a Devilish Hypocrisie in Jezabel, to seem concerned for the Name of God, but really to pursue a covetous and malicious humour of her own. Thus Herod, will by all means worship our Lord; but his aim was to murder him. Thus Judas must by all means have the Poor well provided for; whereas, This he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a Thief. Such was the Hypocrisie of Saul; he pretends for the Battles p. 87of the Lord, when the business was to destroy a Godly Neighbour: In a mighty Zeal for Israel, he must clear the Church of all the Gibeonites that were now got into it. Such a Zeal for the Church had he, that no Dissenters can be spared; but the bottom of the business might be their Lands, which lay near to his, might thus fall into his hands. Thus Absalom declares for Church-work, but Rebellion and Sedition lay at the bottom of all. 'Tis frequent for Men to cry up Diana, because of the Shrines. How many follow our Lord, because of the Loaves? Men will be Ministers to get a Living, and Church-Members to get an Office among their Neighbours. This was the Hypocrisie of the Pharisees in Matth. 23.14. Ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayer. Their way was this; they pray d every day in the Synagogue; and they spent an Hour before Prayer, and an Hour after Prayer, in Meditation. Hence all People which now saw them spend so many Hours every Day in Prayer, concluded, These are brave Men; we can't better dispose of our Estates, than to put them into the hands of such Men as these! and so they got by the Trick. This now is pure Hypocrisie.

Secondly, It looks Hypocritically for Men to have a scrupulous tenderness about a thing of no consequence, and make no Conscience of the things that are most considerable. To strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel, is a certain mark in the Throat, by which an Hypocrite may be known. 'Tis true, that very good Men may be strict about very small things; and if we should p. 88see any of them to be more nice than wise, we may not call them, old Hypocrites; no, we should even deny our selves of any thing but an opportunity to serve God, rather than disturb some of their little Fancies. But if one that seems very strict, perhaps about a Trifle, about which they have no Scripture, no Command of God, shall yet at the same time allow himself in cursed Immoralities; I would not have you call him so; but this I say, Let that man call himself an hypocrite. It was a Rebuke dispensed by our Lord, in Matth. 23 23. Wo to you hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint, and anise, and cummin; and have omitted the weightier matters of the law judgment, mercy and faith; by Faith is meant fidelity to their Promises. Thus 'twere an Hypocritical thing for a Man to scruple taking a Lawful Interest for his Money, and yet make no Conscience of unconscionable Cheating, Fraudulence or Oppression otherwise. Thus also, are there any People that will be mighty fierce perhaps against an Innocent Fashion taken up among the People of God, and yet will be notorious Promise-breakers, and Revilers, and Slanderers; and can, it may be, indulge themselves in loathsome Sensualities? I make no stick to tell you, They are stark naught. The Jews forsooth, were scrupulous of entering the Judgment-Hall, because they had eaten the Passover the Night before, and the approach of the Sabbath called them now to prepare for the repetition of it, so that they must by no means be defiled; and yet these Miscreants were now committing the most execrable Cruelty and p. 89Bloodiness in the World! So there are those that w…ll bow at the Name of Jesus, and yet swear by that Holy Name There are those that will be all on fire upon some disputable thing in the Congregational or the Presbyterian Di…cipline, and yet can be drunk every now and then. What is this, but a most vile Hypocrisie?

Third…y, It is a shrowd sign of Hypocrisie when Men are impatient at just and fit Reproofs bestowed upon them There are those who cannot stomach the publick Reproofs of the Ministry; but like Stephens Hearers, they'll gnash their Teeth upon the Embassadours of God; yea, they'll strive rather to report them with an equal Impenitence and Absurdity. As now, our Lord reproved the Jews for that in Matth. 23.5. They make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the borders of their garments. It may be proved, that our Lord himself wore those Phy…acteries, and those Borders, though with a becoming Modesty. However, he taxes their Pride, and their Excess, and their Hypocrisie in them things: Now, suppose that instead of reforming the Vices which he reproved, they should only have reproached him with such impertinent clamours, Why, does not he wear such things himself? 'Twould be a most ridiculous hypocrisie, so to divert from the Fault which notice had been taken of. And the private Reproofs of a Neighbourhood, are unsufferably distasted, though they have been sufficiently deserved by very many. If one would go to recover them out of an evil thing, I'll tell you how they must be p. 90treated; even as 'tis expressed in 2 Sam. 23.6, 7. They can't be taken with hands; but the man that shall touch them, must be fenced with iron. You must be wonderfully guarded; they'll not acknowledge any of their own offences, but instead of it, they'll rip up as many of yours as can be devised. And if after all, they'll seem to thank you for advising them, they'll yet bear you a grudge and a spleen that will vent it self upon the first occasion. This now is a Brand of a most rotten Hypocrite.

Fourthly, 'Tis an hundred to one, but Hypocrisie towards Men, is accompanied with hypocrisie towards God. Our Carriage towards God and Men holds a very near correspondence. There are monstrous Flatterers in the World; they'll speak you fair, and be your humble Servants, and gladly do you the utmost Service; but they'll immediately behind your Back, do you all the mischief that can be contrived. Solomon has given you a Rule about them, in Prov. 26.25. He dissembles; when he speaks fair, believe him not; for there are seven abominations in his heart. Why, 'tis extreamly probable that such People do but flatter the Great God himself. All their Piety is but Flattery; all the good they speak or do, is but from the Teeth outwards. And it is well if they don't flatter themselves too, till their iniquity be found hateful. These, and such as these, are they to whom it may be said, as in Acts 8.21. Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. But then,

p. 91II. Let us all indeavour that we may not be found among those Hypocrites that must have a miserable portion at the last. You may observe, that the same Sinner who is in the Writings of David and Solomon call'd a Fool, is in the Book of Job call'd an Hypocrite. So then, if we would not be found Fools at last, or if we would not fall into all those Miseries which Fools must suffer because of their iniquities: O then look to it, that we be not Hypocrites before the Lord.

When our Lord once had a bigger Auditory than this to Preach unto, and as 'tis reported, There were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, he thus began his Holy Sermon in Luke 12.1. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisie. The leaven of the Pharisees is elsewhere expounded, The doctrine of the Pharisees. We should therefore in the first place, beware of corrupt Opinions, which may have a tendency like leaven, to swell and sower our Hearts within us, and so to make us Hypocrites. All corrupt Opinions are formally hypocrisie; they seem Truths when they are not so; but some such are effectively hypocrisie, they have a tendency to make Men hypocrites. If you think, as the Pharisees did, that the Law of God reaches no further than the Behaviours of our outward Man: If you think, as the Pharisees did, that a sober Life will save us, without a thorough Regeneration in our Souls; we shall be but hypocrites like the Pharisees. Thus, if it be your Opinion, that you have a Free-will of your own to spiritual good; that without a p. 92special work of Gods Grace upon your Souls, you can come up to the Terms of the Gospel; this Opinion will never carry a Man beyond hypocrisie. A disputing Arm…nian may perhaps be a true Child of God; he does not, he dares not act upon his own Assertions; but it may be demonstrated. That a practical Arminian cannot go beyond an hypocrite. But waving that, as our Saviour began his, thus let me conclude my Sermon, Beware of hypocrisie.

To prosecute this, I only recommend these two things unto you.

First, Zealous Prayers When the Apostle had found a Man, whose heart was not right, said he, in Acts 8.22. Pray to God. O cry mightily to Heaven, that you may not be left unto the delusions of Hypocrisie. It was the Apostles course for his People, in Phil. 1.10. I pray that ye may be sincere. Let that be our course for our selves; that none of you may be any Hypocrite. Pray much, pray hard, and pray Davids Prayer, Lord, make my heart sound in thy statutes. And,

Secondly, Severe Tryals. Follow that method in 2 Cor. 13.5. Examine your selves, prove your own Souls; and be very exact, curious, and jealous in the scrutiny. This is a thing which Hypocrisie has usually a great antipathy unto; an Hypocrite can't endure the Touchstone, If you love to have your Hearts well ransacked for you, and if you are willing and ready to have the searchers come aboard you, to see what your loading and your clearing is, this will p. 93be an happy Token of your sincerity; and if you are often and strictly searching of your own Souls, lest you should have in you any undiscerned way of wickedness; this will be the way to prevent Hypocrisie.

I am sensible, that I have now delivered a Sermon, that will cause divers Persons to be inquisitive,

How shall I know whether I been't an Hypocrite?

One Token I have already given you; that is, Would you fain be tryed?

I would further add these two Notes.

One is this; No Hypocrite can be humbly thankful for Afflictions, because he finds them to bring him nearer to God. The Hypocrite can't feelingly say, as in Psal. 119.71. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I may learn thy statutes. Can you heartily bless God that he has crost you, scourged you, bereaved you, and thereby prevented your wandering from him? This I say, Hereby we know that we are passed from Death to Life.

Another is this: No Hypocrite can live as under the Eye of the Great God. The Hypocrite can t really say, as in Psal. 16.8. I have set the Lord alwayes before me. Do you realize the Omnipresence of God? and you so aw'd p. 92duplicate page p. 93duplicate page p. 94by that Omnipresence, as that you dare not live in those commissions, or those omissions, which none but the Infinite God could charge you for? Then I again say. Child, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.