Right Thoughts, Part 1 · Trial 4
The IV. and Laſt Tryal.
WOuldſt thou (Laſtly) know whether thy Thoughts be Right,4. Tryal of Right thoughts by the Rule. Remember that RIGHT is a Relative word, and refers to proportion and Rule. As in THINGS ſo in THOUGHTS;
Eſt modus in rebus, ſunt certi denique fines,
Quos ultra citraque, nequit conſiſtere RECTUM.
THOUGHTS have their Meaſures, SHORT, or OVER-LONG, cannot be RIGHT, but both extremely WRONG.
Thy Thoughts are Right if Regular, and conformed to Right meaſures: And here are two things … be preſuppoſed to thy Right judging of thy Thoughts.
Firſt, that thou think there is a Rule for Thoughts;Two things prerequired a Rule for Right thoughts. Secondly, that thou have Right Thoughts of the Rule.
Sect. I.
AS to the Firſt,2. Right thoughts of the Rule. It was a ſore ſpiritual Plague and Judgment, A black Vail upon the heart, upon the Jewiſh Rabbines and Expounders of the Law, that they did not extend Its Rule to the Thoughts, but taught for Doctrine, what we have in the Proverb, that Thoughts were FREE, (even in that ſence) Mans Thoughts from Gods Laws; Some of them are obſerved to have given that curſed gloſs upon that Text, If I regard Iniquity in my heart, Pſal. 66.18. Rabbi Kimchim loc.God will not …ar; God will not hear; that is, ſay they, If it go no further then my Thoughts, God will not mind, he will take no notice thereof, nor call to any account for it. And this made them think ſo well of themſelves, becauſe they thought no worſe of their thoughts. Bleſſed Paul, Acts 22.3. Paul brought up at Gamaliels feet, Ignorant of thoughts. Rom. 7.7. Verſe 9. Till the Commandment came to him Chriſts own teaching. Chriſts expoſition of the Law ſpiritual teaching thoughts, Matth. 5.3. Verſe 8. Verſe 22, 28. Chap. 6.25, 28, 31. Laſt Commandment. Rom. 7.7. Againſt evil Thoughts. Rom 7.14. 1 Cor. 4.6. Gods writing is Rule for mans thinking. Reaſonable ſence, Rom. 12.1. what, Chap. 7.21.though brought up at the feet of Gamaliel a Doctor of Law, yet was alive once, without the Law, and gives this as the Reaſon, He did not by all their Doctrine, know LUST; He knew not that thought-ſins were ſuch ſins untill the Commandment came in another manner, and by another kind of teaching then ever he had from them. For this was our Saviours great buſineſs, in that Incomparable Sermon upon the Mount, to vindicate the Spirituality of the Law, from their carnal and corrupt Dotages; they put the great ſtreſs of the Rule upon the outward man, He puts it upon the Heart alſo, Poverty in ſpirit, he begins with that: He layes the breach of the Sixth and Seventh Commandments in heart and thought as well as outward Act, He condemns carking cares, Anxiety of Thoughts. 'Tis ſtrange indeed they ſhould be ſo blinded, ſeeing the very laſt of Gods Ten Words, goes down to the very bottom of the mind and thought, Thou ſhalt not COVET, ſo that when the ſcales were but fallen from the Apoſtles eyes, He could eaſily-ſee, in the light of that Law, that THOUGHT was Sin; He knew LUST to be SIN then: He knows now that the Law is Spiritual, Yea, and thus he Schools others foreign, That ye might learn not to think above what is written. Gods written WORD is the meaſure of mans Right THOUGHTS, yet even ſome Heathens had ſome glimmerings of this, Deut eſt animus, therefore mente colendus, God it a Spirit, and requires mental worſhip and conformity to his will: And this is indeed foreign, our reaſonable Service, when the Internal foreign, THOUGHT and mind ſerve the Law of God.
Sect. I.
Secondly,
AS a man muſt have a right Rule for his Thoughts,Right thoughts of the Rule. James 4.11. 1 Cor. 2.14. ſo he muſt have Right Thoughts of the Rule. The Apoſtle ſpeaks of ſome that Judge the Law, Take we heed that we do not misjudge it. Therefore it is neceſſary that we look on the Spiritual Law with a Spiritual eye. To carnal Thoughts, the Right wayes of the Lord ſeem crooked and unequal, Gods right Rule, why ſeems crooked to men.not that the Law is ſo, but becauſe the medium is ſuch through which it is looked upon; as if a man put part of a ſtrait ſtaff into the water, it appears crooked, becauſe of the inequality of the medium. All Gods Rule to David. Pſal. 119.228. All right.But now a right heart hath right thoughts of the Rule, I eſteem all thy Precepts, concerning all things, to be right. So we Read it, but the Text is, I eſteem all thy Precepts to be all right, every one, and every way, Right. 'Tis true, There may be ſome kind of approving the things that are excellent, Rom. 2.18. Some approve ſome excellent things. As Herod, Mark 6.20.And yet the Heart not be Right; But if there be not an approving of excellent things, the Heart cannot be Right; A bad Heart may think good of many good wayes, as Herod, but a good heart thinks good of every good way, as David. Then ſhall I not be aſhamed, when I have reſpect unto all thy Commandments. Pſal. 119.6. But David all Gods Laws. Univerſal reſpect, fair evidence. 1 Tim. 3.16.Men may have a fair reſpect to many of Gods Laws, yet have hard Thoughts of ſome. But an univerſal reſpect is a fair Evidence of Sincerity. For ALL SCRIPTURE is given by Inſpiration of God, and is profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for Inſtruction in Righteouſneſs, &c.