Hypocrisy Discovered, Sermon 4
SERMON IV. Beware of the Leaven of the Phariſees, which is Hypocriſie.
I Have ſhewed you in ſeverall exerciſes what the nature of hypocriſie is, and have diſtinguiſhed to you the ſeverall ſorts of hypocrites under the Goſpell: ſhewed you how cunningly and cloſely men may act, and yet ſtill have this leaven in them, paſſing through all their parts; there is ſome little thing or other that is inſenſible to ſome men, known to others, wherby they are miſtaken and undone under all their profeſſion.
I ſhall not be able to repeat any thing: but in the latter end of the laſt Sermon I told you of Six things that no hypocrite could do, or attaine unto: and I will adde but this one to all the reſt.
Seventhly, No hypocrite in the world can deſire Chriſt, that God might be glorified in the utter ſhaming of himſelfe, as to all priviledges, and to all enjoyments, and abatement of comforts to himſelfe, pray obſerve it: this is that which ſtrikes at ſelfe-love perfectly, which is, as I told you, the originall of all hypocriſie in a mans ſpirit: and I ſpeake this as a tryall, that is very cloſe and narrow to the ſpirits of men, and likewiſe to diſtinguiſh in this point between a Saint and a hypocrite.
For I will not go ſo high as ſome Chriſtians have often ſaid, and given it as a Character of a gracious and bleſſed frame (but I will not go ſo high) that they could be content to be damned: that I take is a paſſionate expreſſion of Chriſtians not underſtanding. But as to all enjoyments, all things that concerne not purely the glory of God, and all priviledges, and comforts of this life, either inward or outward, that ſoule that is a Saint can ſay, he can be really willing to part withall, that Chriſt may be all (if he be but himſelfe, and have a freedome from temptations, no hypocrite can ſay it, cut him in his priviledges and enjoyments, there he will fret: But for any Saint to be willing to be damned for Chriſt, it is an expreſſion that will never hold weight in the Goſpell, if it be conſidered.
For firſt, know this, I cannot deſire that which is not Gods will to grant, nor ought to deſire it; it is a ſin to deſire any thing againſt Gods will: it is not Gods will that a Saint ſhould be damned.
Secondly, Damnation is not an immediate act of Gods Soveraignty, but of his vindictive juſtice, for indeed, I am damned, becauſe I have ſinned, not becauſe God hath willed that I ſhould be in that ſtate, for it follows only ſin; damnation, it doth not follow immediately the ſoveraignty God, who chuſeth whom he will, he cals one, rejects another, gives grace to one, leaves another in a ſtate of damnation: that is not immediately an act of Gods ſoveraignty, though it be conſequently.
Then againe thirdly, it is againſt nature; God will never deſire any thing of any that is againſt the conſtitution of that nature which God hath put in him: that is, to be willing to be ſeparated from God, God cannot command you, nor give it as a rule to you to will it, that any of his Creatures ſhould deſire to be ſeparated from him. Therefore take it as a flaſhy expreſſion of a Profeſſor to ſay, he can be willing to be damned; and I ſhould ſuſpect that ſoules truth of grace that ſhould ſay ſo, if I did not know the temper of that perſon; As for thoſe expreſſions of Paul, and Moſes, and the like, pray conſider of it, and you will eaſily find the anſwer; it is not the meaning that they deſired to be ſeparated from God, for Pauls caſe, and Moſes caſe was about the People of God; the Children of Iſrael they had ſinned againſt God, and God was angry with them, and would take the outward Ordinances from them, and caſt them out of the priviledge of being a Church, (ſaith Moſes blot out me rather, let me rather loſe the priviledges than they;) but to be deſirous to be damned, none could do it without ſin: for it is to deſire to be ſeparated from the greateſt good, that I may be perpetually incapacious of ſerving the living God, or knowing any thing of his love. Neither doth God will it, nor lawfully may a Saint, a Saint cannot will it, becauſe it is againſt God, and for God to do it he cannot, for it is againſt himſelfe, but that only by the by.
But this is that I ſay, a Saint can be content and willing if God ſee it fit to be abſtracted from all priviledges, from all enjoyments, from all thoſe things that are deare to him, if he knows it to be Gods will, and mind, and the glory of God is concerned in it, from all ſelfe-willing, though he ſhould never enjoy any more comforts in the world; for here is ſelfe-deniall: to be willing to be abſtracted from thoſe things that hinder communion with God, to be willing that God for the glorifying of his name ſhould leave me in the darke ſo long as I have but union with himſelfe, is but only as to the conveniency, and the acting of that glorious love to my ſelfe, elſe it is unworthy for a Saint to will ſuch a thing. But I ſay, here is that a hypocrite cannot do, he cannot be willing that God ſhould ſhame him to glorifie himſelfe, he cannot deſire to be blaſted in thoſe things, thoſe comforts which he moſt gloried in, he will fret againſt God, he can never endure it. A Saint, like Jonah, may be pettiſh for the preſent when the Gourd is gone, but he continues not ſo: But a hypocrite let him be poore in the eyes of thoſe Saints he converſes withall, and his heart will never ſubmit to God. But I go on now, and come to ſhew you the ſtraines of hypocriſie in thoſe three things:
Firſt, As to duties in generall.
Secondly, In prayer in ſpeciall.
Thirdly, In converſes with Saints, and in the world; we will go as far as we can at this preſent.
Firſt, A Hypocrites acting as to duties in generall; take all the Commandements of God, and that in theſe ten particulars at leaſt, I deſire you to obſerve them, and try your own ſpirits.
Firſt, Every one that is an hypocrite hath a byas in every duty, ſomething that turnes him alwaies; though he may ſeeme to looke at Chriſt, yet certainly he looks another way; though he may ſeeme to go to the promiſes, yet he hath another end than to be ſanctified and made pure by them: there is never a hypocrite in the world but he hath ſuch a byas, that caſt him which way you will, that ſhall lead him, either applauſe of men, or ſome ſecret corruption that acts within him at the ſame time if he be faithfull to his own heart: and it is the end rules the action; what a man's aimes are, that a man is in his duties; if nothing but pure grace, and Chriſt, and glory will be of only concernment, then it is a ſigne I am carried out by other principles than hypocrites act from, but I ſhall know commonly this at the end, or beginning, or at the firſt moving to a duty, or the turne of it what hath been that which carries me on, ſtill there is a byas: after I have done, what is that which poyſes my ſpirit in the duty, or what moves me to it, or what is that I aime at in it: If a mans aimes in every duty be not primarily the glory of God, ſecondarily to deſire the enjoyment of God in a mans own heart, it is an hypocriticall act: O it is ſtrange to ſee, when a man runs on a long time fairely, evenly, as it were, when the byas comes to have his weight, then you ſhall ſee him at length turne with the byas. As the ſtrength of a mans hand in throwing a bowle is ſo much, that there will be no ſight at preſent of a byas, but when it is ſet, and the ſtrength of the hand off, then you ſhall ſee which way it will turne: So you may try your own ſpirits; there is a thouſand ſecret kinds of ſhifts that paſs up and down a mans ſpirit ſo inſenſibly in duties, that none knows them but a mans own heart, if he be faithfull; if a man be not high in his aimes, and high in his ends, all his duties are loſt, they are to no purpoſe at all.
Secondly, know this, that you may know a hypocrite in his duties, that he is moſt forward and zealous in externall duties, more than in internall.
For the opening of that, know there are two ſorts of duties.
Firſt, Theſe that are purely the acts of the ſoule within a man, as ſelfe-examination, and meditation, and inward humblings, and mournings of the ſoule before God: they are perfectly the workings of the ſoule within from the conſideration of the things laid before them, as the object is, as the grounds and reaſons of mourning and rejoycing are, ſo thoſe inward actings are: theſe you ſhall find that a hypocrite ſeldome takes delight in, or is conſiderate about.
Secondly, there is a ſecond ſort of duties, which I call externall, and they are of two ſorts, and hypocriſie is ſeen in both: they are externall both, but the one is more publike, the other more ſecret, as to preach or pray among others, that is more publike: Now you ſhall find a hypocrite is more forward, more ſtrict in thoſe duties than in ſecret duties, more in the externall than in the internall. You ſhall find that hypocriſie it lies in this; firſt,
There will be a perfect careleſſeneſſe as to theſe duties that are inward, ſeldome examining and ripping up the heart: ſeldome going to God in the humbling frame of a mans heart, ſtudying the nature of humiliation, that mourning and humbling of a mans ſoule in dutie, and for duties, and as to meditation, to meditate what is Chriſt, and what I have done againſt Chriſt what is the frame of my own heart, very ſeldome any of thoſe things at all: And if it comes to a pinch the man is quiet, or at leaſt he finds a conveniency to turne it off: If upon examination of his heart he finds not things ſo well as he would, he will turne off them by ſome trick: whereas a gracious heart is never well, never better than when he is ripping up all his bowels, than when he is in ſoule-worke, when he can looke within, there is his great and mighty worke he looks after: you ſhall very ſeldome find that the Cloſet-hypocrites if they do theſe things, and make ſome triall of them, yet when they come to the pinch they will have ſomething to divert them from the ſtrength of their objections.
Secondlie, And ſo now as to externall duties, do but compare ſecret to publike, they are mightily taken with thoſe duties that are moſt publike, will be mighty curious in them; but if you come to ſecret duties they ſlubber them over, any thing will ſerve that; if they can but ſay they have been upon their knees, or done a dutie in their Cloſet, or in their Families, although no care of the nature of thoſe things. That is the ſecond thing: and my Brethren, you ſhould feare and try your own hearts by it, if you have but any conſideration, looke ſeriouſly into your own ſpirits what is that that takes you up moſt, whether thoſe things that are the immediate things of the ſoule, thoſe duties that do ſo purelie belong to the nature of your condition, thoſe things that are ſo within, that they can only be tried by your own ſpirits, and the ſpirit of God in them, or whether you are more choice in externals.
Thirdly, know this as to duties in generall, Hypocrites have their exceptions, and limitations, they have their choice, they will pick and chuſe, have what is moſt ſutable to fleſh and bloud, and what is moſt ſutable to their condition, what is moſt plauſible, thoſe duties they will cloſe in withall. But it is, my Brethren, contrary to a Saint; indeed he knows there are the great things of God that his heart is taken up with. But as David ſaies, then ſhall I not be aſhamed when I have reſpect to all thy Commandements; a hypocrite will neglect his duty if he finds it too redious, or if it be a hinderance to him in the world, he loves not duty in it ſelfe, but he hath his choice, and thoſe that are ſutable and convenient, thoſe he follows on; and this you will find to be a cloſe tryall for the beſt ſorts of them, you have ſome ſo zealous in ſome duties, that you would thinke their ſoules were in them, but come to other duties, they have no ſence of them: for if I did love duty in it ſelfe, I would not baulke any thing, be glad of every opportunity, there is Chriſt and heaven in this as well as in the other; but few hypocrites ever looke after this, they will pick out duties ſutable to the times, and ſutable to their own humours, and fit to the places they live in, but if they come to a dutie that will put a man to it, and wherein a man muſt be laid in the duſt there will be a ſhrinking of the ſoule of a hypocrite; pray conſider of it, and apply thoſe things home to your own hearts; he that doth not love every dutie, that he knows to be a duty, and would gladly do it with all his ſoule, and doth not ſtudy to know his duty, he is an hypocrite. Oh, to ſee ſome men, and ſome great Profeſſors, how faire they will be in ſome actings and duties, but come to others, they cannot abide them, they cannot away with them, there are ſuch winſings, ſuch turnings and deviations in their ſpirits.
Fourthly, know that hypocrites in their duties make a great deale adoe about little things, and neglect the greater and maine things, and this is one of the great things Chriſt chargeth the Scribes and Phariſees withall, they make a great deale of adoe about little things that are in themſelves fit to be done, but neglect the greater and the more weighty and conſiderable things, ſo ſaies Chriſt, Mat. 23.16. Woe unto you Scribes and Phariſees, Hypocrites, that ſay, if a man ſweare by the Temple it is nothing, but if he ſweare by the Gold of the Temple he is a debtor, and Luk. 11.14. You tythe mint and cummin, &c. Now if you find you are curious in your owne ſpirits about outward little things, (ſuppoſe garments) and are not ſo curious about ſpirituall things, which ſhould be acted in a mans ſoule and ſpirit, it is a moſt dangerous ſigne of hypocriſie, thoſe things, ſaith he, ought to be done; you ought to be exceeding carefull, even of tything mint and cummin, you ought to be carefull how you carry your ſelves in every thing in the world, but you ought not to have left the other undone; to put weight upon this, and the ſtrictneſſe of the Goſpell upon this, and yet do far worſe, never looking at the wickedneſſe of your own hearts within, and the envyings of your own ſoule, and paſſions, but you can for a pin or a point be carefull, this is hypocriſie, neglecting the great things of the Goſpell, theſe ought to be done, but the other ought not to be undone. An hypocrite deales in ſmall ware, as I may ſay, he takes care only for a little outward concernments, and garbe of Religion, that is all.
Fifthly, This is a diſcoverie of a hypocrite as to duties in generall, wherein his hypocriſie is ſeene, that he never minds to get the ſpirit of a duty, or to a dutie, that is the holy bleſſed frame of it, but only cares how to act handſomly and takingly in his duties abroad in the world, (for in truth there is moſt of his actings abroad in the world) he cares not to get the frame and the ſpirit of his dutie, he only cares for a handſome deportment in it.
Now the frame of a duty in the generall is thus, to get our hearts in a poſture fit for the nature of the duty we are about; for,
Firſt, The frame of a dutie, and the ſpirit of it, is to get your heart in a preparation to meet with God, that is one thing which a hypocrite never lookes after; how ſhall I meet with God? What frame ſhould I be in when I come to meet with God? What ſhould I meet with God about?
Secondly, The frame of a duty is to get the heart ſpiritually behaved before God in a duty: truly few looke after it. I wiſh that the beſt Saints did looke after it more, but a hypocrite never looks after it at all almoſt, a ſpiritual behaviour that lies in that inward proportion of a mans ſoule before God, according as he is to act to God, or expect from God; if I go to God in a mourning frame, to beg ſomething from him, then can my ſoule behave it ſelfe in that poore and low condition, as one that expects purelie that which I want from heaven; I ought then to be mightie humble, and in a frame to get that of God; if I come to rejoyce and joy in God, then muſt I be in that frame that all the faculties of my ſoule may rejoyce in him, and be in a heavenlie ſpirituall tune, this ſhould be the frame of my ſoule, that ſpirituall behaviour which I cannot tell how to expreſſe ſo well, as in that inward decorum, in that inward proportion of a mans ſoule unto God, according to the nature of his dutie. And then
Thirdly, which a hypocrite never looks after, it is to have workings in them ſutable to expectation, and to what I would expreſs to God, and expect from God, which a hypocrite never hath, thoſe glorious deſires and breathings in the vigour of my ſoule carried out according to the weight and nature of things; ſo that I ſay all thoſe things ſhew you what is the frame of a hypocrite in a duty: If he can but carrie it on handſomely, with quietneſs, and conveniencie, and come off fairelie to his own conſcience, and to Saints, he little minds what his ſoule hath been doing, what his heart hath been acting all the while. And then
Sixthly, Pray you obſerve this: That a hypocrite in the midſt of all his zeale, and glory of his duties, he is ſecretly weary of them: you ſhall find it cleare in your own ſpirits, if ever you have been convinced of the workings of this ſin in your ſoules, eſpecially if they be duties that do not bring him in preſent profit, ſome internall, or externall things he wants. This is that which God complaines of in Malachy, They were weary of the Sabbath, when will the Sabbath be over that we may go to our buying and ſelling? For the truth is, a hypocrite is but a perfect ſlave and drudge to duties, he is hurried on either by neceſſity within, or ſome luſt or feare which moves him outwardlie, but he is wearie, it is a burthen to him, he hath no freedome at all, for no man can have a freedome that hath not a principle; it is againſt his nature, he is forced to it, he hath weights hang upon him that moves him to it; but it is not ſo with a gracious man: thy Commandements are not grievous, he can be content to do all duties ever, for ſaies David, How do I delight in thy Law, it is my meditation day and night: but a hypocrite can be willing to be free, if it were not on ſome other ground, he thinkes them to be ſhackles of gold at the beſt, no more: he cannot be without them, becauſe of thoſe things he laies before him as his ground, and aime, and end: but he would be glad to be handſomelie freed of them. Now with a Saint it is not ſo: his knees may faile, and his hands hang down, but his heart never: he would do all Gods will, and he is ſorry he can do no more than he doth, he is ſorry the body ſhould faile when the ſpirit lives; a Saint ſeldome failes in his heart and will, for the moſt part the will is preſent. I would do more, but I have a cloggy body, and I have a nature which is contrarie to it, but I have a reall will. Now it is not ſo with a hypocrite, he is ſecretly weary of his duties in the midſt of all his enjoyments.
Seventhly, pray take this along with you: That you have all his Religion in a few duties, take him out of duties and he is a common man: this will be a triall to your hearts if you put them to it ſeriouſlie; take him out of prayer and preaching (if he be one called to that worke) there is all his Religion, come to any dealing of corruption, there is his beſt part paſt, he is no more religious than he is in theſe duties; whereas Religion is a life out of duties as well as in duties, a man is every where going out after God, Religion will move him and breath in him: but a hypocrite take him out of any dutie he is about, and you have no more Religion, he will be as vaine and fooliſh afterwards as you can imagine; but if ever you would know a Saint, take him out of his duties as well as in his duties; ſee how the feare of the Lord is upon him in every way, in every walking, how the dread of the Almightie aws him; but a hypocrite it is a wonder to ſee how flouriſhing he will be in duties; but come and take him out of theſe, he knows in his conſcience there is nothing left, no power, only he was carried out to the dutie by ſomething that lay upon him externallie: therefore lay this to heart.
Eighthly, all duties that hypocrites do are but the colourings of ſome corruptions that they keep privately in their owne hearts, that they may keep them more undiſcernable from the world, looke to it; all their duties do but cover luſts, do but nouriſh corruptions, they do pray, and heare, but it is to keep in ambition, or pride, or luſt, or whatſoever it be, that is all they do, or to keep up a conſtant kind of correſpondency with their relations: and this advantage a hypocrite makes of his duties, that after he hath done with duties, he takes an advantage to act his corruptions; How many men they go to prayer, if it be a faſt-day, they go to faſt, and after they have done their duties, they thinke they are ſecure, then they may to their luſts and the world againe more eagerly, they may then give themſelves a little more way, they have been ſo long in duties, and their hearts are now warme to their corruptions after they have done their duties: Oh theſe are the ſecrets of ſome mens thoughts and hearts; I heard of a known Profeſſor in London, who would be all the morning two houres in prayer, and then he would ſay, now let the Devill do his worſt, and then play all his rea…s; Oh, the damnable deceits that are in mens hearts, as to deceits in that regard: and ſo a hypocrite if he can but ſhuffle off his duty, thinkes then he may act and ſpeake more freely than if he had not done his duty: this is a wicked ſtraine of hypocriſie that is found in many mens ſpirits. Then again,
Ninthly, herein lies the hypocriſie of men in duties, that they can be content with the performance of the duty though they have not dealt with Christ in it, and gotten ſomething purely from him in it: And this, my Brethren, is a certaine veine of hypocriſie, and the common frame of hypocrites, they will be upon their knees a long time together, and never looke for one reception from Chriſt, and go off their knees, though they have not had any diſcovery of God unto their poore ſoules at all. A Saint, though he ſhould pray like an Angell, I meane, ſpeake the moſt high and and glorious words in the world, and if he ſhould have all the whole world of Saints to applaud him in his duties, he would hate himſelfe, and abhorre his duties and all, if he cannot meet with Chriſt in them it is impoſſible he ſhould be pleaſed, for his ſoule is ſet upon it, and it is that which is the object, that which the ſoule hath in his eye, he cannot be without Chriſt; The power of a Command will force a hypocrite to his dutie, but the reallitie of the enjoyment is that which a Saint lookes after; If I have not gotten ſome love-token from the Lord Jeſus, if my heart be not in a ſpirituall frame through the operation of the ſpirit, and communion with Chriſt, the ſoule is not ſatisfied; looke to your ſoules what manner of frames you have.
Tenthly and laſtly, to adde no more at this time; A Hypocrite never grows in or by his duties at all, he is the ſame man he was to his corruptions and enjoyments, he may grow more fluent in his expreſſions, mannage them externally more neatlie, have an eaſineſſe of utterance, and a frequencie, but he grows not at all, as to inward ſpirituall enjoyments, his corruptions never dye, and this is a ſad ſymptome to many ſouls that have run a long time in duties, and no body can perceive the leaſt ſenſible growth in the world, nor they themſelves, though they have lived ſo long under the Goſpell of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, praying zealouſlie with much heartineſſe, one would thinke, and no fruit, no corruptions mortified, there is no more inward apprehenſions of things, no more growth than if they had never begun the Goſpell, now, I ſay, that is hypocriſie.
Now ſome may ſay, what is it to grow in duties?
Firſt, Then a man grows in and by duties, when a man is more endeared to the ſpirituall nature of thoſe things, his heart more affected with the heavenly nature of what he is about.
Secondlie, Then a man grows in and by duties, when the ſoule finds more ſpirituall power to performe his duties, he goes on more eaſilie, more ſpirituallie, and more freelie.
Thirdlie, Then a man grows when a man is fitted by one duty to performe another: when in one dutie, I pray now, I can pray anon in my own heart, as to the inward frame, I do not ſpeake of the outward expreſſion, for that will grow by cuſtome, but now I heare, and I can heare better the next time, be more open to take in the things of God: he grows in it; ſo it is as to meditation and ſelfe examination, when I can come and try my own heart now, and I can every day get more ſpirituall inſight into my own ſoule.
Fourthly and laſtly, I grow in and by my duties, when as I get a dayly life in them, an addition, a vigour, and ſpirit, and life, that whereas I began with a fainting ſpirit, and feeble knees, my heart now grows warmer every day, my ſpirit grows ſtronger: and as a Child finds dayly ſtrength and vigour of ſpirit, ſo I find a vigour in my ſpirit. A hypocrite runs his round, he grows not at all, there is no ſpirituall motion in him, but juſt the ſame as to the inward frame of his heart; though you and I may thinke he grows, yet he doth not grow, for all growth is by an addition to the ſame nature; if you ſhould ſee a heape of ſtones heaped up, you do not ſay it grows, it is not a growth, but an adding ſtones to ſtones, it muſt be in the degrees, and ſpirit, and life of the ſame nature, there lies growth.
I ſhould now have come to the ſecond thing, which is hypocriſie of men in prayer, which is a thing eſpeciallie to be diſcovered, for there is nothing a hypocrite is more excellent in, than in prayer, and nothing he eſteemes more than that; and there is nothing by which a hypocrite gets more eſteeme and a better opinion in the world than by prayer, for it is a dutie ſo much commended in the Goſpel, that all the worſhip of God is placed in it. My houſe ſhall be called the houſe of prayer, it is made the Character of a Saint: behold he praies; it is that which every Saint hath need of every moment, and it is is that the Saints are moſt in of any other duty in the world, and there is the greateſt excellency of a hypocrite of any thing, and to diſcover him there, you would find him out to purpoſe; for a man in prayer, if he hath got that curioſitie, as ſome have done, he ſpeakes as if he were wraſtling with the Almightie, and as if he were prompted by ſome Evangelical ſpirit, and aſſiſted by a mightie ſpirit from above, that a man thinks he is a perfect Saint if he have a mightie fluencie as to expreſſion. I ſhould in many particulars have ſhewed you the deceit of this.
But I will conclude all with a word or two of Uſe.
Uſe. Firſt, to every ſoule to looke to his own heart in his duties, there is moſt hypocriſie in duties, more than in any other way of acting, there is the cloſeſt hypocriſie in a mans duties that can be: there is his pride, and ſelfe-ends acted to purpoſe, all other actings are but groſſe, a man may ſee them eaſilie, but as to duties they are carried ſo cloſely no man can know them; Alas, if a man ſhould be found in his Studie alwaies praying, who would not thinke him an excellent Saint? yet he may be the perfecteſt hypocrite in the world, nothing of God and Chriſt in his prayer, it is not the length or the meaſure you muſt looke after, nor how you have acted them, but how you are moved and acted in them: Oh, my Brethren, moſt glorious Profeſſors in duties will be found another day in ſtrange frames before God. We have preached in thy name, O Lord, ſay they, ſo Lord we have prayed night and day, kept all meetings in the Towne or place where we lived, and been at ſo many faſts, and kept all publike daies, and kept them cloſely: Yea ſoule, ſo thou maieſt: but if you have no more than that, depart from me, I know you not; you are no better, you never minded me, you never had the frame of the Goſpell in your own ſpirits, you never knew what it was to be out of your duties, and have the workings of my power in your hearts, you never knew what it was to denie your ſelves in your duties, to be made nothing for my name and glory.
Secondly and laſtly, I beſeech you (my Brethren) be not content with any thing but what is purely of God, what is a reality in the Goſpell, pure realities. Truly, my Brethren, the faireſt faces will one day looke like death when God comes to view them; be more afraid in duties than in any other way, the moſt ſpritefull men in duties, that we little thinke of, will be wrinckled like old men one day upon a ſudden when God comes to deale with them about the things of the Goſpell; be more afraid of your ſelves in duties than in any other way, for though you are in the waies of God as to outward actings, yet you are under the moſt ſpirituall temptations that can be, you will wonder to ſee one day how many thouſands will be placed at the left hand, that have paſſed through all the formes of duties to the uttermoſt; therefore be not content with any thing, but what you find perfectly reall, bring it to the touchſtone againe, and againe, let it be written with the Sun-beames in your hearts; looke to your principles and ends, mind the vigour and ſtraines of your ſpirits in duties, obſerve at what rate you act, ſtill be looking that way; Oh, to be a ſound Chriſtian is a moſt glorious thing. Give me that ſoule that can ſay, I have many things that I am aſhamed of before God night and day, but I am ſound, I am reall, though I were to be ſearched by God. I have that foreign, that inward ſinceritie, that is, not only a ſimplicity of ſpirit, but ſuch a ſhining judgement upon my own condition, that I know how I ſtand before God, and I know whom I have beleeved, and how I have beleeved, and how I have prayed, and heard in the Goſpell; I know it, the divine ſpirit was in my boſome in ſuch a place, in ſuch a corner, the Holy Ghoſt was in my ſpirit; I know that I was carried out in ſuch a duty meerly by the life and ſtrength of God, when I had no power, when I was as weake as water: Oh! this would be a comfort indeed to a poore ſoule. Many are glad to be lulled aſleepe, if they can but be ſaid to be religious and ſaints, and follow the things of the Goſpell, they thinke they are happy. No, ſoule: thou muſt have a principle in thy ſoule, and an eternall worke upon thee; thou muſt know what God is, and what Chriſt is, and what God in Chriſt is, what it is to have thy corruptions ſtruck at the heart, and be laid as low as hell in thy owne ſoule, before ever thou enjoy any thing of God in thy owne ſoule. And when thou haſt done ſo, thou muſt try all over againe by a ſpirit of fire and burning, and have not only thy own reaſon to witneſſe, but the Holy Ghoſt and Scriptures to witneſſe to what is in thy heart, to what thy conſcience ſpeakes, and all theſe things will be brought to you one day, though you looke ſlightly over them now.
Oh that men would be carefull to avoid hypocriſie, this wicked leaven that is in ſo many ſoules, to diſcerne the leaven that workes in every part ſo inviſibly: Beg of God a ſpirit of ſinceritie, to keep you from your own hearts, beg of the Lord that he never would leave you under any ſlight ordinarie common workings of ſpirit, but put you to it every day, ſhew you your own frames, never be quiet untill you find thoſe reall things, and then having a little grace, yet if in ſinceritie, you will find your ſoules in a happy eſtate: Oh you ſoules that have this merciemercy from God, bleſſe him, and magnifie him for ever, you have the earneſt of immortalitie in your owne ſoules.