Characters of a Sincere Heart, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. Of Mortification of the Deeds of the Body.
THe eleventh Character of a ſincere Charact. 11. Mortifiation of the Deeds of the Body. Sect. 1.Heart, is Mortification of the Deeds of the Body; i. e. all manner of Luſts, and the evil fruits of corrupt nature. Carnal luſts, and all the works of the fleſh muſt be mortified. And that we may the better know what they are, the Apoſtle gives us a large Catalogue of the works of the fleſh, Gal. 5. 19, 20, 21. Now the works of the fleſh are manifest, which are theſe; adultery, fornication, uncleanneſs, laſciviouſneſs, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, ſtrife, ſeditions, hereſies, envyings, murthers, drunkenneſs, and ſuch like. Our duty is to confer the ſtrength of our beſt endeavours, to ſet upon the practice of mortification of all thoſe fore-mentioned, and not of thoſe only, but of all other ſins: For not only one particular member, not only one particular act, not only one particular affection or faculty muſt be mortified, but the habit, nature, and conſtitution, even the whole body of ſin muſt be mortified. Every ſin muſt have a mortifying blow, and not only be left half dead, but dead altogether. I have heard an obſervation made of two eminently Learned and Dr. Job. Reynolds, and Dr. Guil. is bitaker.Valiant Champions of the Truth, that one of them fought ſo long with his Adverſary, that he conquer'd and ſlew him in his Diſputations; the other did not only ſlay his Adverſary, but buried him. Thus muſt we deal with every ſin; our endeavour muſt be to deſtroy all our ſins utterly, to kill and bury them, that ſo they may never riſe againſt us in this World to our ſhame, nor in the World to come to our condemnation. Whereever we find the curſed fruits of ſin, we muſt utterly deſtroy them; neither muſt ſin only be deſtroyed in the fruits, but in the roots alſo: both root and branch muſt be pluckt up. When the plague of Leproſie was ſpread in any houſe, God gave a ſpecial command, That the Prieſt ſhould break down the houſe, and the Levit. 14. 45.ſtones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the houſe. Sin is a ſpiritual infectious Leproſie; and wherever it is, it ought to be rooted out. The morter of a Leprous houſe may not be made uſe of for daubing of any houſe; no more may any ſin be mingled in the worſhip of God. We read of the barbarous cruelty of Pilate, Luke 13. 1. who mingled the bloud of the Galileans with their ſacrifices. But it's moſt juſt for God to reject all our ſervices, and deſtroy us, when we mingle our ſins, vain fancies, and ſinful inventions, with the purity of his worſhip. Nadab and Abihu are ſtanding examples and warningpieces againſt offering ſtrange fire unto the Lord. And that is ſtrange fire which is after our will-worſhip, and deviſed by our own brains, and not according to divine Inſtitution. We have the Hiſtory upon record, Lev. 10. 1. And Nadab and Abihu the ſons of Aaron took either of them his cenſer, and put fire therein, and put incenſe thereon, and offered ſtrange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. We may not offer to God the lame and the blind. And if ye offer the blind for ſacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and ſick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy Governor; will he be pleaſed with thee, or accept thy perſon, Mal. 1. 8.ſaith the Lord of hoſts? As for all thoſe who put ſuch a high affront and indignity upon God, as to offer the refuſe and worſt of their ſervices, (as if they thought any good enough for him.) they incur that dreadful curſe, Mal. 1. 14. But curſed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth and ſacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing; for I am a great King, ſaith the Lord of hoſts, and my Name is dreadful amongst the Heathen. If then we would offer any acceptable ſacrifice unto God, we muſt mortifie our ſins and corruptions, and offer unto God the beſt of our ſervices: the male in the flock, and the beſt male.
Sect. 2 Although the Lord commanded the ſacrifice of Bullocks and Rams, &c. yet he rejected the ſacrifices of the Jews, and had no reſpect to their perſons, nor to their ſacrifices. Thus the Lord expoſtulates the caſe with them, Iſai. 1. 12, 13. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? And the Lord forbids them to bring ſuch kind of ſacrifices, verſe 13. Bring no more vain oblations; incenſe is an abomination unto me.
Queſt. But might not they truly have replied, that incenſe, oblations, ſacrifices, &c. were all of Divine inſtitution? God commanded them all, why then ſhould not they yield obedience to the command accordingly?
Anſw. I anſwer, They were commanded to offer ſacrifice; but they offered ſacrifice in a wrong manner: For in every ſervice which we perform to God, we ſhould do it in a right manner, and for a right end; not only the action it ſelf, but the manner of performing it muſt be regarded. The Jews reſted only in the Ceremonial ſervice, and in the multitude of external ſacrifices, having no regard at all to their own hearts and lives: theſe they ſhould have offered up to God pure and holy; but their hearts were exceeding foul, and their hands were full of bloud; therefore God rejected both their perſons and their ſacrifices. For thus ſaith the Lord, verſe 15. When ye ſpread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of bloud. Firſt then before we can offer any acceptable ſacrifice unto God, we muſt ſet upon the practice of mortification and ſlaughter of all our ſins. Wherefore the ſpecial charge of the Apoſtle is, Col. 3. 5. Mortiſie therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanneſs, in ordinate affection, evil concupiſcence, and covetouſneſs, which is idolatry. Not a… luſt may be ſpared: All carnal luſts may be compared to thoſe brats of Babylon, which are appointed for utter deſtruction. To this purpoſe we may apply that of the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 137. 8, 9. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be deſtroyed; happy ſhall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast rewarded us. Happy ſhall he be that taketh and daſheth thy little ones againſt the ſtones.
Queſt. Some make it a Queſtion, (though good Chriſtians make no Queſtion of it at all) Whether ſelf-murther be lawful?
Anſw. For Anſwer: It's murther in the higheſt degree, and an apparent breach of the ſixth Commandment, Thou ſhalt do no murther. As no murther ſhould be committed againſt another, much leſs againſt a mans ſelf: But for every one of us to ſlay our ſins, and deſtroy our corruptions, is no ſelf-murther; for then a Chriſtian lives beſt of all, when he hath ſlain his ſins and corruptions. We muſt make it our daily prayer, that God would deſtroy our ſins, and ſave our Souls. Every ſin we muſt account a Benhadad, deſign'd for deſtruction. Therefore Benhadad being appointed by God for utter deſtruction, Ahab by ſparing him brought inevitable ruine upon himſelf and his people. For thus ſaith the man of God to Ahab, by the word of the Lord, 1 Kings 20. 42. Becauſe thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter deſtruction, therefore thy life ſhall go for his life, and thy people for his people. If then we give quarter to any one ſin, and hug it in our boſomes, we take a ſpeedy courſe to deſtroy our own Souls; for by ſhewing fooliſh pity to ſpare any one ſin, we prove cruel to our precious Souls; we our ſelves being the greateſt enemies to our ſelves.
Sect. 3 Farther, we muſt take ſpecial cognizance of ſuch ſins as either are ſecret, unknown to any man, or elſe ſuch as come not within the verge of the puniſhment of the Law of man; as wanton and amorous glances, vain frothy diſcourſe, and covetouſneſs, on which God ſets a peculiar brand of infamy, Col. 3. 5. and calls it Idolatry. Now Idolatry is a ſin of a high aggravation, for it indeavors to rob God of his honour, and to aſcribe that honour and glory to Mammon, and worldly rich men, which is only due to the eternal Creator, God bleſſed for ever. Likewiſe we muſt obſerve what a wide difference the Apoſtle makes between carnal living, and the practice of mortification; the difference is as great, as between life and death, and ſo are the different effects and iſſues of both. For ſaith the Apoſtle, Rom. 8. 13. Ifye live after the fleſh, ye ſhall die; but if ye through the ſpirit do mortifie the deeds of the body, ye ſhall live. We read of that glorious Victory which the Lord wrought for Iſrael againſt Amalek, an inveterate enemy; after this Victory was obtained, we read that Moſes built an Altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Niſſi; for he ſaid, becauſe the Lord hath ſworn, that he will have war with Amalek from generation to generation, Exod. 17. 15, 16.
Queſt. The Queſtion may be askt, Why was war to be made and continued from generation to generation againſt Amalek?
Anſw. The Anſwer is obvious; they were cruel and bloudy Enemies, deſtitute of all manner of mercy, and bowels of compaſſion, and therefore God chargeth Moſes to make a Record of this ſignal Deliverance. And the Lord ſaid unto Moſes, write this for a memorial in a Book, and rehearſe it in the ears of Joſhua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven.
Queſt. But it will be further askt, Wherein conſiſted the particular ſin of Awalek?
Anſw. For Anſwer, Moſes gives a full relation, Deut. 25. 17, 18, 19. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, and ſmote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint; and he feared not God. Therefore it ſhall be when the Lord thy God hath given thee reſt from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to poſſeſs it, that thou ſhalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven; thou ſhalt not forget it. As war by Gods appointment ſhould be waged againſt Amalek, ſo it's the appointment of God that we ſhould continue fighting and warring againſt our ſins and corruptions. In this caſe onelyonly it's lawful to perpetuate a deadly fewd, and remain alwaies implacable and irreconcileable againſt all our ſins; we muſt not make the leaſt peace, nor admit of any parly for peace for any ſin, though it be of long ſtanding, cuſtom and antiquity, and pleaſing to fleſh and bloud.
To what hath been mentioned, I will add for further explication two ſignificant words; viz. foreign and foreign, of which the Apoſtle makes an emphatical mention, 1 Cor. 9. 27. But I keep under my body, and bring it into ſubjection; lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I my ſelf ſhould be a caſt-away. The firſt word is foreign, rendred, I keep under my body: but there lies in the word a greater emphaſis; for the word ſignifies to beat the body black and blue; and further yet in the propriety of the word, it ſignifies *foreign eſt par… ſaciet quae oculis eſt ſubjecta, contuendo ſuboctum, ſeu dejectū premo. Beza.to beat under the eye, and to leave a mark there of redneſs and blueneſs. The other word is foreign, and this properly ſignifies, to bring into ſubjection: it's a Metaphor took from Oxen, whom we bring under the yoke; or from any ſuch Creatures whom we enſlave or captivate, and bring them into ſubjection, for our uſe and ſervice. We ſhould then indeavor ſo to bring down our bodies, and ſubdue them, as to make them ſerviceable to our ſouls, and ſubject and obedient to the yoke of Chriſt; if ſo, we have well learn'd the Doctrine of Mortification. A learned moral Heathen will condemn many diſſolute livers, who call themſelves Chriſtians, and yet live without God in the world: I am (ſaith Seneca) greater, and born to greater things, than to be a ſlave to my body. Every Drunkard is a ſlave to his Cups, and every Whoremonger a ſlave to his Harlot, and every covetous Worldling is a ſlave to his Mammon: But our deſign muſt not be to enſlave our Souls to our Bodies; but the deſign which we drive, muſt be to make our Bodies ſerviceable to our Souls. It was an excellent ſaying of Ephrem Syrus, who flouriſht in the third Century after Chriſt; He that feaſts his Body, and ſtarves his Soul, is like him that feaſts his Slave, and ſtarves his Wife.