A Body of Practical Divinity, Sermon 87
Against being weary in well-doing.
Gal. 6.9.
And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due Season we shall reap, if we faint not.
IN the Verses before the Text, the Apostle had laid down a Proposition, What a Man soweth that shall he reap, v. 7. He that sows in Sin, shall reap in Sorrow; he that Sows the Seeds of Grace, shall reap Glory: There is the Proposition. In the Text, the Apostle makes the application, Let us not be weary of well-doing. We that have sown the good Seed of Repentance, and an Holy Life, let us not be weary, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
First, A Dehortation; Let us not be weary.
Secondly, The Argument; We shall reap in due season.
First, A Dehortation; foreign; Let us not be weary. Where there is,
I. Something implied; that we are apt to be weary in well-doing.
II. Something expressed; that we ought not to be weary in well-doing.
I. The thing implied, that we are apt to be weary in well-doing. This lassitude and weariness is not from the regenerate part, but the fleshly; as Peter's sinking in the Water, was not from the Faith in him, but the Fear: This weariness in a Christian course is occasioned from four Things.
1. From the revilings of the World: Psal. 41.5. My Enemies speak evil of me. Innocency is no shield against reproach; But why should this make us weary of well-doing? Will a Soldier run from his Colours, and quit the Field, because of a little Small-shot? Did not Jesus Christ undergo reproach for us, when the Iews put a Crown of Thorns on him, and bowed the Knee in scorn? Is it any dishonour to us to be reproached for doing that which is Good? Is it any disparagement to a Virgin to be reproached for her Beauty and Chastity? Our reproaches for Christ we should bind as a Crown about our Head. Now a Spirit of Glory rests upon us, 1 Pet. 4.14. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye; for a Spirit of God and of Glory resteth upon you. Regium est benè facere & malè audire: He that clips our Credit to make it weigh lighter, makes our Crown heavier.
2. That which is apt to occasion weariness in well-doing, is the present sufferings we are exposed to: 2 Cor. 4.8. We are troubled on every side, like a Ship that hath the Pirates shooting at it on both sides. The Cross is the Saint's Joynture, 2 Tim. 3.12. But why should this make us weary of well-doing? Is not our Life a Warfare? 'Tis no more strange to meet with Sufferings in Religion, than for a Mariner to meet with Storms, or a Soldier to meet with Bullets. Do not we consider upon what terms we entred into Religion? Did not we Vow in Baptism to Fight under Christ's Banner? Doth not our Lord tell us we must take up the Cross and follow him, Matth. 16.24. Is not this part of the Legacy Christ hath bequeathed us? Ioh. 16.33. We would partake of Christ's Glory, but not of his Sufferings. Besides, doth not many a Man suffer for his Sins? Do not Men's Lusts bring them to an untimely end? Do Men suffer for their Sins, and do we think much to suffer for Christ? How did St. Paul rejoice in Sufferings! 2 Cor. 7.4. How did he rattle his Chain that he wore for Christ? How did he Glory in it, foreign, As a Woman that is proud of her Iewels: Chrysost. Why should Sufferings make us faint? Who would not be willing to tread upon a few Thorns that is going to a Kingdom?
3. That which is apt to occasion weariness in well-doing, is the deferring of the Reward. We are apt to be discouraged and grow weary, if we have not what we desire presently; we are all for present pay. But consider,
1. Our Work is not yet done, we have not yet finished the Faith: The Servant doth not receive his pay till his Work be done. Even Christ's reward was deferred till he had done his Work; when he had compleated our Redemption, and said upon the Cross it is finished, then he entred into Glory. God doth not think it meet we should have our pay beforehand.
2. God defers the reward to make Heaven more welcome to us. Quo longius defertur eò suavius laetatur: After all our Praying, Weeping, Suffering, how sweet will the Wine of Paradise taste! Nay, the longer the reward is deferred, the greater will it be; the longest Voyages have the greatest Returns.
4. That which is apt to occasion weariness in well-doing, is the difficulty of a Christians Work. Superas evadere ad auras, hic labor hoc opus est. A Christian hath no time to lie Fallow; he hath many Precepts to obey, Promises to believe, Temptations to resist; his whole Life is a Race; he must Watch and Pray; he must put forth not only Diligence, but Violence for Heaven. But why should this make us weary? Difficulty whets a generous Mind. The Soldiers Life hath its difficulties, but they raise his Spirits the more; he loves to encounter hardship, and will endure a Bloody Fight for a Golden Harvest.
Besides, where there is the least Principle of Grace, it renders the way of Religion easie and pleasant. When the Load-stone draws, it is easie for the Iron to move. When God's Spirit draws, we move in the way of Religion, with facility and delight. Spiritu Sancto accenditur renatorum voluntas. Aug. Christ's Service is freedom. Psal. 119.45. I will walk at Liberty: to serve God, to love God, to enjoy God, is the sweetest Liberty in the World; besides, while we serve God we gratifie our selves: As he who digs in a Mine, while he sweats he gets Gold; while we glorifie God, we promote our own Glory.
II. The Second thing expressed is, that we should not grow weary in a Christian course, we should not tire in our Race; Let us not be weary in well-doing. The Greek Word to be weary, foreign, signifies, to shrink back as Cowards in War: Let it not be thus with us; let us not shrink back from Christ's Colours. Heb. 4.14. Let us hold fast our profession: We must not only hold forth our profession, but hold fast our profession: Our zeal in Religion should be as the Fire on the Altar, which never went out, Lev. 6.13. Non pugnanti sed vincenti dabitur Corona, Aug. The Crown is not given to him that Fights, but to him that overcomes.
1 Vse. R…dargution. It reproves such as are weary of well-doing. There are Falling Stars. 2 Tim. 4.10. Demas forsook God, and afterwards became a Priest in an Idol Temple: Dorotheus. Hos. 8.3. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good. Many have thrown off Christ's Livery; they have left off an Holy course of Life, they have turned to Worldliness or Wantonness, Gal. 5.7. Ye did run well, who hindred you? Why did you tire in your Race? It is sad to see those who formerly seemed to be eminent Saints; Stars of the first magnitude; yet now are fallen away, and are ready to embrace either the Mass or the Alcoran; that which begins in Hypocrisie ends in Apostacy. 2 Pet. 2.21. It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment.
2 Vse. Exhortation. Let us not be weary in well-doing. Consider,
1. The Way of Religion is of Good Report: Heb. 11.2. By Faith the Elders obtained a Good Report. Shall we be weary of that which is our Credit? If indeed the Christian Religion were a thing that would bring shame or loss (as the Ways of Sin do) then we had cause to desert it, and grow weary of it; but it brings Honour, Prov. 4.9. He shall give to thy Head an Ornament of Grace. Besides the Credit, an Holy course of Life brings inward Ioy and Delight: Prov. 3.17. All her ways are pleasantness. What sweet Musick doth the Bird of Conscience make in the Breast? Act. 9.31. Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the Comforts of the Holy Ghost. Why then should we be weary of well-doing?
2. The Beauty of a Christian is to hold on in Piety without being weary: Act. 21.16. Mnason of Cyprus an old Disciple. 'Tis a beautiful sight to see Silver Hairs crowned with Golden Vertues. The Beauty of a thing is when it comes to be finished. The Beauty of a Picture is, when it is drawn out in its full Lineaments, and laid in its Orient Colours. The Beauty of a Christian is when he hath finished his Faith, 2 Tim. 4.7. It was the Glory of the Church of Thyatira, she kept her best Wine till last. Rev. 2.19. I know thy Works, and the last to be more than the first.
3. Such as are weary of well-doing, it is a sign they never acted in Religion from a right Principle. Things that proceed from a Principle of Life do not cease, as the beating of the Pulse: But things that move from an artificial Spring are soon at an end, as the Motion of a Watch. Unsound Hearts move only from the external Spring of Applause or Preferment; and when these fail their seeming Goodness ceaseth. Naturalists observe of the Chelydonian Stone, that it retains its Virtue no longer than it is inclosed in Gold, take it out of the Gold and it loseth its Virtue: False Hearts retain their Goodness no longer than they are inclosed in Golden Preferments; take them out of the Gold, and they lose all their seeming Piety. Such as are weary of well-doing, never served God out of choice, or from a Principle of Faith. If the Water in a Cistern fail, it is because it is not fed from a Fountain: If Men's Religion fails, it is because it wants that Fountain-Grace of Faith to feed it.
4. God is never weary of doing us Good; therefore we should not be weary of serving him. The Honey-comb of Mercy is continually dropping upon us. God sends us in fresh Provisions every Day; he gives us the finest of the Wheat; he is not weary of watching over us, but keeps a continual Guard about us. Psal. 21.3. God is not weary of detecting and defeating the Plots of our Enemies. And shall we be weary of engaging in his Service? A King that is continually obliging his Subject by Gifts and Gratituites, that Subject hath no cause to be weary of serving his Prince.
5. If we grow weary, and throw off Religion, we make all we have done null and void. Ezek. 18.24. When the Righteous turneth away from his righteousness, all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned. He who hath been serving God, and doing Angel's Work, if once he grows weary and desists, he unravels all his Work, and misseth of the recompence of reward: He that runs half a Race, and then tires, loseth the Garland. O what folly is it to do well a while, and then by Apostasie to unravel all: As if a Limner should with his Pencil draw a fair Picture, and then come with his Spunge and wipe it out again.
6. Consider the Examples of such as have continued their Progress unweariably in a Christian course. The Apostle sets before our Eyes a Cloud of Witnesses: Heb. 12.1. Being compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses, let us run the Race that is set before us; let us run it with celerity and constancy. How many Noble Martyrs and Confessors of old, have walked in the ways of God, though they have been strew'd with Thorns? they scorned Preferments, laughed at imprisonments, and their love to Christ burned hotter than the Fire. Polycarp, when he came before the Proconsul, and he bad him deny Christ; he replyed, Octoginta fexannos illi inservii, &c. I have served Christ these 86 years, and he hath not once hurt me, and shall I deny him now? Tertullian saith, such was the constancy of the Primitive Saints that the Persecutors, cryed out, Quae miseria est haec? What a Misery is this, that we are more weary in tormenting than they are in enduring Torment, Let us tread in their steps, who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises.
7. It will be our Comfort on our Death-bed, to review a well-spent Life. It was Augustus's wish, that he might have an foreign, a quiet, easie Death. If any thing make our Pillow easie at Death, it will be this, that we have been unweariable in God's Work: This will be a Death-bed Cordial. Did you ever know any repent at Death, that they have been too Holy? Many have repented that they have followed the World too much; not that they have prayed too much, that they have repented too much. What hath made Death sweet, but that they have finished their Course and kept the Faith?
8. Think of the Great Reward we shall have, if we do not give over, or grow weary, and that is Glory and Immortality.
1. This Glory is ponderous; 'tis called, foreign, a Weight of Glory, 2 Cor. 4.17. The Weight adds to the Worth; the weightier a Crown of Gold is, the more it is worth.
2. It is satisfying, Psal. 17.15. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. This Glory will abundantly recompense all our Labours and Sufferings. The Joy of Harvest makes amends for all the Labour in sowing. O what an Harvest shall the Saints reap! It will be always reaping time in Heaven; and this reaping will be in the due season: So the Apostle saith in the Text, we shall reap, foreign, in due Season. The Husband-man doth not desire to reap till the Season; he will not reap his Corn while it is green, but when it is ripe: So we shall reap the Reward of Glory in due Season: When our Work is done, when our Sins are purged out, when our Graces are come to their full growth, then is the Season of reaping: Therefore let us not be weary of well-doing, but hold on in Prayer, Reading, and all the Exercises of Religion, we shall reap in due season, if we faint not. To keep us from fainting, know, that the Reward promised is very near: Rom. 13.11. Our Salvation is nearer than when we believed. We are but within a few Days March of the Heavenly Canaan. It is but a few more Prayers, and Tears shed, and we shall be perfected in Glory; as that Martyr, Dr. Taylor, said, I have but one Style more to go over, and I shall be at my Father's House. Stay but a while, Christians, and your Troubles will be over, and your Coronation-Day shall come. Christ, who is the Oracle of Truth, hath said, Behold I come quickly, Rev. 22.20. And yet Death's coming is sooner than Christ's Personal coming; and then begins the Saints Blessed Iubile.
Quest. What Means shall we use, that we may not wax weary in a Christian course.
Answ. 1. Let us, otium excutere, shake off Spiritual Sloath. Sloath saith, there is a Lyon in the way. He who is sloathful, will soon grow weary; he is fitter to lie on his Couch, than to run a Race. It is a strange Sight, to see a busie Devil, and an idle Christian.
Answ. 2. If we would not grow weary, let us pray for persevering Grace: It was David's Prayer, Psal. 119.117. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: And it was Beza's Prayer, Domine, quod Coepisti perfice, &c. Lord, perfect what thou hast begun in me, that I may not suffer Shipwrack within sight of the Haven. That we may hold on a Christian Course, let us labour for Three persevering Graces.
1. Faith. Faith keeps from Fainting; Faith gives a Substance to Things not seen, and makes them to be as it were present, Heb. 11.1. As a Perspective-Glass makes those things which are at a distance near to the Eye; so to Faith, Heaven and Glory seem near. A Christian will not be weary of Service, that hath the Crown in his Eye.
2. The Second persevering Grace is Hope. Credula vitam spes fovet: Hope animates the Spirits; it is to the Soul, as the Cork to the Net, which keeps it from sinking. Hope breeds Patience, and Patience breeds Perseverance. Hope is compared to an Anchor, Heb. 6.19. The Christian never sinks, but when he casts away his Anchor.
3. Persevering Grace is Love. Love makes a Man that he is never weary. Love may be compared to the Rod of Mirtle in the Traveller's Hand, which refresheth him and keeps him from being weary in his Journey. He who loves the World is never weary of following the World; he who loves God will not be weary of serving him: That is the Reason, why the Saints and Angels in Heaven, are never weary of Praising and Worshiping God; because their Love to God is perfect; and Love turns Service into Delight. Get the Love of God in your Hearts, and you will run in his Ways, and not be weary.