those consuming Flames Bridges Remains being eight Sermons viz. Of Mans Blessedness 2. Affections Rightly placed 3. How to walk with God in our Calling 4. O Good and Bad Company 5. The Carnality of Professors 6. What our Work is and how to be done 7. Soul Resignation into the hands of God 8. Thâ— Dignity and Duty of Gods Called Ones Which was the last that ever waâ— preacht by that Learned and Judiciouâ— Divine Mr. William Bridge late Preacheâ— of the Word of God at Yarmouth A Discourse of Christs coming And the Influence which the Expectation there of hath on all manner of holy Conversation and Godliness By Theophilus Gale There are some other Pieces of the Reverend Author of these Sermons preparing for the Press 1 TIM 1. 5. Now the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned THE holy Apostle St. Paul as appears in the beginning of the Chapter and Epistle finds some at Ephesus who troubled the Church with needless and with fruitless Doctrine and therefore if you consult the third and fourth Verses of this Chapter you will find he besought Timothy to abide at Ephesus when he went into Macedonia that he might charge some that they teach no other Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Teach Doctrines contrary to what he had taught or Doctrines contrary to the General Tenour of the Gospel Such Teachers he calls accursed Gal. 1. 8. He would have him warn them at the fourth Verse Not to give heed to Fables and endless Genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in Faith Timothy was besought by St. Paul to give this charge to and concerning the Teachers at Ephesus And because those Fabulists and Genealogists were great pretenders to the Law therefore the Apostle tells them That the Law leads to the embracing of one another in love not to the imbroyling of one another in needless questions or in the venting of them and this he speaks in the Verse now Read The end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfained In which words we have two things First An Assertion laid down Secondly We have a limitation to the Assertion The Assertion is laid down in the beginning of the Verse The end of the Commandment is Charity The Assertion is limited in the close of the Verse 'T is Charity not Charity at large but Charity thus qualified or thus circumstantiated 'T is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned I shall first explicate the Assertion and then shew its Connexion with the limitation and give at the present one General Point of Doctrine from the whole Verse The end of the Commandment is Charity For the explication of this Assertion I must shew three things 1. What 's meant here by the Commandment 2. What 's meant by the end of the Commandment 3. What that Charity in special is which is the end of the Commandment And when I have briefly done these three things we shall come to a Point The end of the Commandment is Charity but what 's this Commandment The word which we here translate Commandment is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the ordinary word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Commandment but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the word properly signifies as Criticks tell us A charge given by Judges or Superiours concerning somewhat to be done or forborn and thus 't is used in Acts 5. 28. where the High Priests tell the Apostles Did not we straitly command you that you should not teach in thiâ— Name Did not we straitly Command you The Greek there is an Hebraism in which St. Luke doth there express the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees Did not we straitly command you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Did not we command you with a Command which we veâ—y well render according to the sense of the Idiom Did not we strictly command you Or as Mr. Beza renders it Did not we command you again and again And in the very same sense doth the Apostle use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the 18th Verse of the first of Timothy This charge I commit unto thee Why now if we should take the word Commandment in this strict sense it may have a special reference to the third and fourth Verses going before the Text whereas I toucht before St. Paul besought Timothy to charge some that they teach no other Doctrine To charge them or to Command them 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the root of the word which we render Commandment I charge thee to lay this Commandment upon them So we may well render it I command they teach no other Doctrine As if he had said the end why I besought thee to give that charge or Command was to promote charity whereas those other Doctrines did but breed questions and those questions breed Contentions among the Churches and among the Brethren the End of the Commandment the reason why I gave them that Commandment was to maintain love among Brethren Yea for as much as the Apostle at the 7. vers speaks of those who desire to be Teachers of the Law and in the 8. and 9. verses proceeds to speak of the nature and use of the Law I conceive the Word Commandment may be extended to the whole Law of God or to the whole Revelation or the mind of God concerning things to be done or forborn by us And so here is a figure here 's a change of number the singular is put for the plural Commandment for Commandments and indeed as the Doctrine of Grace is nothing else but a Collection of promises so the Law is nothing else but a Collection of precepts and in this sense saith Mr. Calvin here by the word Commandment we may take in all the Commandments of God Not only those that are exprest in the Decalogue but those which are scattered quite through the Holy Scriptures The end of the Commandment or of the Commandments the whole Revealed will of God concerning the Agenda or things to be done It is charity or it is Love and so much for the first thing what we are to understand by the Commandment Secondly what is the end of the Commandment the end of the Commandment is charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 end may be taken in a threefold notion First The end it notes the conclusion and Period of a thing the conclusion of all things so the Apostle Peter in his 1 Epist 4. 7. The end of all things is at hand and it 's well for us to Remember that If the end of all things were at hand in the Apostles time how near is the end now the end the Period of all this visible world it is at hand Be ye therefore watchful and sober Secondly End notes as much as the Aim design plot scope of any Action what
it is that we drive at and in that sense 't is well said That the desire of the end is endless that is men Appâ—titus fiâ—is est infinicus will never end their desirings till they have attained their desired end namely that which is the scope and Aim which they have set up to themselves in any undertaking the end of a thing is the Aim or the scope of it Thirdly End is taken in this notion It notes the accomplishment or the fulfilling and Compleating of a thing and in that sense it is used in Rom. 10. 4. Christ saith the Apostle is the end of the Law for Righteousness The end of the Law he hath brought the Law to its end what end why to its accomplishment to its fulfilling so that we are not to seek for righteousness by the Law for our Justification for Christ hath made an end of the Law or accomplished the Law as to that point for righteousness Christ hath fulfilled the Law both in doing the precepts of it and he hath fulfilled the Law by enduring the penalty of it and so he is the end of the Law the fulfilling end of the Law It hath no more to require than that we obey the precept or endure the penalty of it and both these Christ hath fully done and so he hath fulfilled the whole Law and Indeed Christ having done so in his own person having been the end of the Law in his obedience both active and passive I may say He is the Abolishing end of the Law he hath taken it away as to that use for Justification by our own works the Law is quite out of doors as to that point Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness and no more are we to seek for righteousness by the Law Why now in the text the word end when 't is said that the end of the Commandment is charity the word end is to be taken in the two latter senses First charity is that which the Law aims at 't is the scope of the Law to bring us into a Love one to another and that we may walk in Love that 's the business of the Commandments of God the Aim the Scope of them And then secondly charity is the end of the Law that is 't is the fulfilling of the Law 't is the accomplishing end of the Law the Law is fulfilled in Love take it in two Scriptures Rom. 13. 10. Love is the fulfilling of the Law Love it is the Accomplishing end of the Law as in Gal. 5. 14. The whole Law is fulfilled in one word that 's a good word Indeed what is that one word by which the whole Law is fulfilled 't is fulfilled in one word even in this thou shalt love they Neighbour as they self to them the end here is to be taken in that sense charity it is the accomplishing 't is the fulfilling of the Law Thirdly One step farther what is that charity which is the end of the Commandment both the Final end and the fulfilling end of it What is this charity Charity is taken two ways in Scripture 1. More strictly as it consists in the relieving of those that are poor and in the comforting of those that are sorrowful this is charity to relieve the poor to comfort the sorrowful But secondly charity is taken in a more large sense 't is taken for Love in General and so some translate this text the end of the Commandment is Love For charity is a word of a narrower sense than Love is The end of the Commandment is Love and the truth is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we rendeâ— in the text charity doth Indifferently signifie and is Indifferently translated Love or charity all the New Testament over I need not stay to quote places This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Love to God Love to Man Q well but what is Indeed the Charity or Love here Intended in the Scripture A. I answer first I conceive the Love here Intended Is not love to God though that is Love above all things and the most excellent end of the Commandment yet I conceive in this place 't is Charity or Love to Man which is here meant And my Reason is this why I restrain it here to the Love of Man because the Apostle speaks of charity in opposition to those Fables and questions which false teachers were like to raise up in the Church The end of the Commandment is charity that all may be peaceable and quiet among the Brethren and he saith at verse 7. From which some having swerved from charity shot quite beside it saith he they are turned aside unto vain Jangling so that if we consider either the Antecedents of the text or the consequents it seems he confines charity or Love here spoken of to that love or charity which is among men among Brethren that 's one thing Secondly Charity here with respect to Brethren is not that charity which doth consist in opening our hand to relieve the poor though that is a most excellent piece of charity and I pray Remember it to open your hand to the relieving of the poor yet I conceive that 's not the charity here meant but the charity here meant is charity in the uniting our hearts and in the closing of our affections one with another and then Thirdly The charity here intended or the Love is not a lazy habit for one to say I have a love for God I and there it lyes and doth nothing I say the charity here intended is not a lazy habit but 't is that which is put forth by vigorous and lively actings and so some expound this Text Charity is to be taken Metonymically Charity for all the offices and duties of charity which we owe one to another 4. Lastly As 't is an Acting and an active charity which is here spoken of so it is not every kind of charity how vigorously soever acted which is the end of the Commandment but 't is the charity that flows out from and is fed by those three springs spoken of in the close of the Verse Namely 't is a charity flowing out of a pure heart a good conscience and faith unfeigned I cannot stay now to discover those springs to you for that would take up too much of the time Indeed it may take up all the time to make a little discovery of those springs All that I shall say at present is only this That the charity which issues out of these springs that 's the charity in the Text and that 's the charity which is the fulfilling of the Commandment So that here we have the Genealogy as I may call it the Pedegree the Parentage of Gospel charity Or to keep to the former Metaphor here we have the spring of that blessed River called charity the streams whereof like the streams of the River spoken of in Psal 46. 4. which is the favour of God to his people
will make glad the City of God in all the Cities of men where ever it hath an open chanel and a free course By what hath been said beloved you may perceive what my work the Lord assisting is like to be in handling this Scripture namely to discover to you that Love or Charity which is the end of the Commandment and chiefly indeed to discover to you those blessed springs A pure heart a good conscience and faith unfeigned out of which that charity flows and by which it must be fed day by day And this will I do if God permit But at the present I shall wave all these particulars and speak to one General Point as I hinted before raised from the whole Context and of this Verse or from all the particulars of it laid together and the Point of Doctrine is this DOCT. Those works of Love of Love to man much more of Love to God which are the end of the Commandment must flow from a good spring from a gracious Principle or a Principle of Grace This Point is very plain in the Text plainly collected from it For saith the Apostle Love out of a pure heart and the like Now that pure heart I shall shew clearly afterwards if the Lord bring me to it that the pure heart is a gratious heart So that the Love must flow from a principle of Grace There are three things especially in which the Completion the full Constitution and making up of a good work whether towards God or man doth consist and they must all three concur in the business Evil arises out of any single defect in that which is required Bonum oritur ex iâ—te ra causa malum ex qâ—olibet defectu But a good action must have a concurrence of all things requisite thereunto I name only these three First That the work may be good we must What required to a good work be sure that the matter of it be good It must be good in it self as being according to Rule And It must be good in the mind and in understanding of him that doth it for to do that which is good we not knowing and understanding it to be good or not being perswaded that it is good that action is not good to us Yea the Apostle tells you It is sin whatsoever is not of faith and there he speaks not of justifying faith but of perswading faith what ever is not of faith is sin And 't is possible for one that is in a justified state or one that hath justifying faith yet not to do a thing with a perswading faith and so it may be sin to him That 's one thing Secondly The aim or the end of the work must be good and among all ends that are good the chief and that which can never be left out is the glory of God Matth. 5. 16. Let your light so shine before men that they seeing your good works your works of Love may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Not glorifie your self not set up self 'T was the setting up of self or the making self the end which corrupted and poisoned all those materially good very good actions of the Pharisees even their alms giving their praying their fasting as you may read at large in Mat. 6. 1 5 16. and those that follow The End doth denominate the action It must have a good end else though the matter be never so good the work is not good Thirdly Which is the matter in hand The Principle or spring of the work must be good 'T is possible for one to do a work that 's good for the matter of it and to have some good ends in it and yet not to do it out of a right principle and this is it which the Text and Doctrine speaks unless the Principle be good the work 's not good As the Fountain is such are the streams that come from it As the Tree is such is the fruit that grows upon it Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Eigs of Thistles Matth. 7. 16. Why the Thorn hath not a Principle in Nature to put forth a Grape the Thistle hath not a Principle in Nature to put forth a Figg and therefore saith Christ A corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good fruit Which words of Christ as they are primarily to be understood concerning false Prophets and their Doctrine so they may be truly applyed to all false professors and their ends they being corrupt they cannot bring forth good fruit If you would draw out of a vessel which is unseasoned or ill scented the liquor will taste of the Cask Now we all by nature are unseasoned yea we are ill scented vessels therefore the liquor that which passes from us considered so must needs have an ill scent an ill taste And hence that cutting question of Christ to the Pharisees Matth. 12. 34. O Generation of Vipers how can ye being evil speak good things They might possibly speak good for the matter Bad men wil often tip their tongues with good words and appear Chrysostom's Golden mouth'd speakers when their hearts are nothing but brass and dross But usually evil men speak evil that which is evil for the matter Their throats are an open sepulchre the poyson of Asps is under their lips as the Apostle speaks quoting it from the Psalms in Rom. 3. 13. And as they usually and naturally for that 's their natural Language speak evil so they always mar the good they speak either by their ill manner of speaking it or by their ill meaning in speaking it As the Devil when he made a confession of Christ and said he was the Son of the most high God it was a confession like that of St. Peter which Christ calls the Rock upon which the Church is built the Devil spake it out of a base intent and therefore Christ threw it away and rebuked him for it So evil men they spoil good speaking with their ill manner of speaking or their ill meaning in speaking and therefore Solomon hath that expression in Prov. 26. 7. As the leggs of the lame are not equal so is a Parable in the mouth of fools A Parable there notes a Divine saying a ruling word a commanding word that 's a Parable a word that should reign over us so saith he a Parable a divine saying in the mouth of a fool are like the leggs of the lame Good words do as it were lisp in the mouth of a bad man and his heart never keeps pace with his Tongue Thus you see Christ saith evil men cannot speak that which is good they cannot speak to the purpose fully now as they that are evil cannot speak so neither can they do good things answerable to the rule or pleasing unto God I do not say they cannot do good things but they cannot do good things answerable to the rule or pleasing unto God And that 's the Apostles conclusion Rom. 8. 8. after a further discourse he comes
with his so theâ— here 's the conclusion so then they that are in the flesh they cannot please God every action which comes up to the fulfilling of the Commandment is pleasing to God but saith he they that are in the flesh they cannot please God they that are in the flesh what 's that surely not that which two Popes as Infallible as they Judge themselves to be thought to be the meaning they thought that by being in the flesh was meant being in a marriage State But by being in the flesh the Apostle means being in a natural that is being in an unregenerate State they cannot please God and such do not only not please God when they do that which is evil but they do not please God when they do that which is good for the very Sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to him Prov. 15. 8. and therefore the Apople says of all men in their natural capacity or State there is none that doth good no not one in Rom. 3. 12. Why none do good because none of them have a principle they have not a spring though the matter they do may be good and though possibly they have some good end in doing it yet they not having a principle there is none of them that doth good that is a compleat good no not one there 's no exceptions I need not labour further in the proof of the point but I would make some use of it and I would make a threefold use out Use The first may be for our Information If those good works both to God and Man which are the fulfilling of the Commandment must flow from a Gratious principle then we are Instructed by this truth how to Judge of their best works who still abide in the State of nature having neither a pure heart nor a good Conscience nor Faith unfeigned Why what Judgement are we to make of their works why surely they are not the end of the Commandment they are not the fulfilling of the Commandment the works of such even their works of charity of love of temperance Patience of Justice were call'd by some of the godly learned Antients shining sins and why we may not call them so now I know no reason That 's the Judgement they give of such mens good actions for as Christ tells the Pharisees Luke 16. 15. that which is highly esteemed among men is an Abomination unto God Why because it wants this principle And to be sure though their box of ointment I mean the good things done by Persons who have not these principles I say though their box of ointment may have a fragrant smell among many men yet there are many dead flies in it especially one great one call'd unbelief which makes their whole box of ointment very unsavory in the nostrils of God for so saith the Apostle Heb. 11. 6. without faith it is Impossible to please God And that 's one of the springs expresly spoken of in the text Gospel charity is of a nobler extract than to be found in the whole compass of nature and Godliness moves in a higher sphere than the best dress that the gayest Moralist ever reacht unto In Matth. 5. 20. Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God That 's a word for Information Use 2. Now upon that let me take up a second use by way of Lamentation If this be a truth then 't is to be Lamented that the Religious duties and charitable Acts of many who bear the name of Christ flow meerly from a natural principle and doing so they are not the fulfilling of the Commandment The most of men Love one another with affection no more spiritual than Damon and Pithius and Pilades and Orestes or any other who are most memorised or admired among the Heathens for Love Yea I may say they worship God and Jesus Christ with a devotion no more raised and spiritual than the old Romans did worship their Jupiter or the Ephesians their great Godess Diana And surely this is to be Lamented that Christian Acts should be done and not from a principle spiritual or not from a Christian principle It is very possible and very ordinary to follow Christ yea to call upon Christ meerly with human affections with Carnal affections Jesus Christ did find it so In John 6. 26. Ye seek me saith he not because ye saw the Miracles but because ye did eat of the loves and were filled To follow Christ was an excellent work but they did it meerly upon a humane principle Yea that prayer of theirs in Verse 34. may well be Judged to come meerly from a carnal spirit When Christ had discourse of the bread that came down from Heaven and giveth life into the World say they Lord evermore give us of this bread and yet this was but from a Carnal desire not knowing what that bread meant spiritually And it appears clearly to be so for in the close of the Chapter many of his Hearers went quite away they forsook him Now certainly to do these excellent things and to do them but with Carnal principles this is a thing to be Lamented Solomon doth report it as a thing to be lamented that often in this world it is done to good men according to the works of the wicked and it 's done to wicked men according to the works of the righteous Eccles 8. 14. This is a thing to be lamented but I now shall shew you two sights more much more to be lamented First 'T is a very lamentable thing to see good men do according to the works of the wicked Thus did David in the matter of Uriah 2 Sam. 11. Thus did Solomon when his heart went after strange Gods and he built High Places to their Abominations 1 Kings 11. 4 5. Thus did Asa a good King when he imprisoned the Prophet and in his disease sought to the Physitians and not to God 2 Chron. 16. 10 12. Yea thus did St. Peter that holy Apostle when he denyed yea forswore his Master in Matth. 26. 72 74. And thus have many other godly men done under the pressures of Temptation and Corruption And is not this a sad sight to see one professing Godliliness yea one that is really godly act thus like a wicked man This is to act as I have sometimes exprest it the old Creatures part in the new Creatures state This is a very sad thing I but now I have another sight to shew you according to the Tenure of this Text and Doctrine which is very sad also And what 's that Why to see bad men do according to the works of good men still continuing in their bad state They plod on and go on doing good things but never mind to become good themselves And so bad men do according to the works of the righteous I say This is a sad sight And thus did Saul when he was among
themselves may be made better And that 's the third Use which I shall briefly make of this point and so I shall conclude Use 3. Is it so That those good works that flow from a good Principle are pleasing to God Why then we see the necessity of Regeneration Christ saith in 3 John 3. Verily verily There 's a strong and a double asseveration Verily verily I say unto you except a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of God We are not born with this pure heart with this good conscience with this faith unfeigned which are the requisites to a good work in the Text. We are not born with these for Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean Not one Not one among the sons of men Job 14. 4. A pure heart a good conscience faith unfeigned are the issues of the new birth Education cannot make the heart pure It must be Revelation which makes the heart pure Good Education it may change the Life and the Conversation As they say To study Arts and Philosophy it takes off the roughness that is in mans nature didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores and doth smooth them and frame them very much for excellent uses Good literature and education it may civilize but it cannot spiritualize It may change a mans course but it cannot change his nature that 's only done by Regeneration Now I say a mans state his nature must be changed he must have a pure heart which we never have till our natures are changed He must be good before he can do good spiritually Mark that word of the Apostle Ephes 2. 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Mark it here are good works But how do we come to these good works Why we are his workmanship saith he we are his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God works us before we can work for him he makes us good before we can do good Saith he We are his workmanship And then created or so created in Christ Jesus to good works We by union to Jesus Christ come to have a spiritual principle to carry us out in the doing of all good works Here 's your way You must be Gods workmanship before you can do Gods work You must be new creatures created in Christ Jesus unto good works before you can do them A Crab-tree will never yield pleasant fruit untill you change the nature of it Take a Crab-tree and plant it in the best soil that you have and water it and dress it and prune it as much as you can yet this Crab-tree will bear nothing but Crabs sowre fruit till you come to graft it and then your grafting of it doth change the nature of the stock and it hath another principle and so then it brings forth good fruit So it is in this case Take the best natured man in the world plant him in the best soil in the best ground in Church-ground plant him in the house of God and there let him be watered by the rain of holy Doctrine and let him be drest and cultivated every day yet he will bring forth nothing but Crabs nothing but unsavoury fruit till he himself be changed Though he be under all those spiritual means yet till those means have wrought effectually in him his actions are all unsavoury 'T is only by our implantation into Jesus Christ that we become fit to do good so as is acceptable unto God 'T is this that makes the change For as in nature the graft doth change the stock so in grace the stock doth change the grafted branch As we are grafted into Christ he changes the branch being planted into Christ by the power of the Spirit we are then made like him and then we bring forth fruits of righteousness which are to the glory of God by him Mark the expression Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ That is by vertue of union with Christ of implantation and ingrafture into Christ When once it is thus then all your fruits are sweet fruit and pleasant fruit it is well tasted Why it is done First From a principle of life in Christ And Secondly It is done from a principle of Love unto Christ and then when your works whether respecting God or man are thus done then they are the fulfilling and the final end of the Commandment For then they come from the pure heart Of which hereafter if God will I may speak And so much at the present of the point in General That until there be a good Principle there cannot be a good work SERMON II. Jan. 6. 1672. 1 TIM 1. 5. Now the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned HAving shewed that every good work which is to answer to the Commandment of God must flow from a good spring I shall now come to speak of the springs from whence they flow Beginning with that which is first in the Text A pure heart The end of the Commandment is charity out of a pure heart A pure heart is the point I am now to speak to and the matter I am to make discovery about It being in order in this Text the first of those three most blessed springs out of which all duties well pleasing unto God must proceed A pure heart Two things are here to be spoken to First What is meant by heart And Secondly What by purity of heart And so put both together A pure heart For the first I need not stay to spend time to shew you what is meant by the heart It being that which you have so often heard By heart the Scripture often intends the whole inner man And sometimes it intends some special faculties of the inner man The understanding is noted by the heart the will by the heart the affections by the heart the conscience by the heart And in this large sense we are to take the word heart here only bating the reference of it unto Conscience which is spoken of as the second distinct spring from whence good actions flow The heart then here is the understanding the will the affections Indeed what ever lyes in the bosome of man you may call his heart Yet I shall not prosecute the point in this distinctness of these particular faculties of the soul shewing how the understanding is pure which is by its freedome from error and clear light in divine truths How the Will is pure which is by its freedom from the bondage from the obstinacy and rebellion which doth naturally wholly possess it and by having a freedome in choosing good and refusing that which is evil Nor shall I stay strictly to shew what the purity of the affections is namely their freedom from all inordinacy and irregularity either as to the object upon which they are fixt or as to the
say Pray do what you can to keep your hearts pure For they who have pure hearts may quickly find their hearts very impure unless they look narrowly to it A heart that is made pure will be greatly impured unless we watch and keep it pure Solomon hath that expression in Prov. 4. 23. keep thy heart with all diligence saith he For out of it are the Issues of life keep thy heart keep it with all diligence with all manner of keeping you see then it is not enough to get a pure heart but we must keep our hearts and keep them clean As 't is in this case with your houses you do not only make them clean but you keep them clean and if a house be made never so clean yet it will contract defilement Dust will be upon it unless it be kept clean unless it be watcht that none throw dirt into it Indeed we had need in keeping our hearts to watch them continually and that 's the great business of keeping our hearts for the Devil if we do not watch our hearts he will do one of these two things He will either steal away our heart for the Devil comes a heart-stealing continually and especially when you are at a Sermon or a holy duty and if he can but steal away your hearts he cares not how many Bodies there are here Or he will be throwing dirt into your hearts suggesting wickedness He will throw dirt into the inner closet of your hearts by his Temptations by his Injections Therefore if you would keep your hearts clean you must watch them I and you must often wash your hearts if you would keep them clean for your hearts will contract filth do what you can unless they are daily washt and duly searcht As it is with a Garden let a Garden be drest and made very exact so that there is not any thing amiss not a Weed to be seen in it I but the Garden must be kept thus or else in a little time it will be over-run with Weeds again It is so in our hearts Suppose we have weeded out this and that and the other evil if we do not keep a continual care of our hearts the Weeds will grow again and therefore our hearts must be continually weeding and our hearts must be continually washt We must go daily to the Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness We must wash our hearts by the renewed Acts of Repentance confessing our sins bewailing our sins mortifying our sins This is a great work for us If you have pure hearts look to it that you keep them pure you may quickly be defiled David a man that had a pure heart yet got so much defilement upon his heart that he could not tell what to make of it but begs of God to create him a new heart and all because he did not watch his heart but gave way to Temptation and so was overtaken then you will find if you do not daily sweep your houses they will defile and the cob-webs they will grow the Spiders will be at work and though your hearts be never so pure Spiders will creep into them this Lust and that Corruption and they will be weaving their Webs there O what sad Webs we have in the hearts of men and all because they look not after them You must sweep down the Cob-webs and throw out the dirt every day if you would keep your hearts clean And I would press all I have said by these four Considerations Look to it that you have pure hearts and that you keep your hearts pure First Upon this Consideration which you find in Psal 18. 26. With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure with the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful with an upright man thou wilt shew thy self upright With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure I but if a man be not pure Will God shew himself impure towards him No such thing Let us be what we will God is ever the same Nothing can turn him out of his purity But the meaning is If we are pure pure in heart God will shew himself pure to us that is he will perform all things he will be that to us which he hath promised He will be all that to us which we can desire With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure And he saith With the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward As God knows how to deal with men in wayes of evil to hit them according to what they are With the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward Not that there is any frowardness or passion in the Lord but men shall be dealt with according to their way They that will wrestle with God as the word there signifies he will pay them in their own coin And so with the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure And then Secondly Look to this purity for then all things are pure to you As God will shew himself pure to you So if you are pure all things will be pure to you Titus 1. 15. Unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure Here is a very strong Argument to press you to this purity of heart To the pure all things are pure To the impure nothing is pure Why is it that to the pure all things are pure What are evil actions pure to them Is sin pure to them No God forbid that any should have such a thought This liberty have some taken to themselves as if there were no difference to be made in actions But to the pure all things are pure They need not trouble themselves about sin or this or that No but to the pure all things are pure that is all things are blessed to them All their enjoyments all the Ordinances of God all their outward comforts all their relations all their duties all things are pure to them Whereas saith he To them that are defiled there is nothing pure The very holy Ordinances are not pure to them Their Callings though honest are not pure to them their riches their great possessions in the world are not pure to them They have not a pure nor a holy use of any of these things This is an awakening consideration to look after a pure heart To the pure all things are pure but to the undefiled there is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled And then Thirdly The pure in heart are only fit for Communion with God 2 Tim. 2. 22. saith he With them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart They only are fit to call upon God who have a pure heart The Apostle would have them lift up clean hands in 1 Tim. 2. 8. much more then pure hearts who call upon God out of a pure heart And when the Apostle James had exhorted them to draw nigh to God with this Promise of Assurance that he would draw nigh to them presently he adds Cleanse your hands ye
sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded You are no wayes fit for Communion with God for drawing near to God unless your hearts are thus purified thus purged thus cleansed And then Fourthly Lastly The pure in heart are those that have that great promise the promise which concludes all good namely To see God Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart Why Saith he They shall see God God is a Spirit God is Invisible How shall they see him Him no man hath seen nor can see How shall the pure in heart see him Why they shall see him that is they shall enjoy him they shall have sweet communion with him they shall ascend into the Holy Hill Psal 24. 3 4. Who shall ascend into the Holy Hill He that hath clean hands and a pure heart They shall be admitted nigh to God they shall see him they shall enjoy him I may conclude with that of the Prophet Hab. 1. 13. he saith that God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity And the truth is Impure eyes cannot behold God They cannot bear the Glory the Excellency of his presence They cannot enjoy God There is a stop in the very nature of the thing as well as there is a stop by a Divine Law Thus the Imposture shall not come into the presence of God that 's the Divine Law And there is a stop in the very nature of the thing they cannot abide in the presence of God As he is of purer eyes than to behold evil so evil ones have such impure eyes that they cannot behold him they cannot see God Now then let this be considered and lay it to heart what reason you have to look after this pure heart which is the first of those three springs out of which saith the Apostle all those holy actions which are the end and the fulfilling of the Commandment of God must flow and with which only it is that you may come to have acceptance And so much now of the first of the Springs The Pure Heart The second is a Good Conscience FINIS PSAL. 92. 12. The righteous shall flourish like the Palm-tree He shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon VVE see commonly that opposites either persons or things being laid together illustrate and set off one another To touch at no other things in this Psalm Here are two of the greatest opposites in this world laid together and they do wonderfully illustrate each other The opposites are the Wicked and the Righteous And indeed those two divide the whole world The state of the wicked is set down at the seventh Verse They may spring as the Grass they may flourish But what 's the issue of it It is that they shall be destroyed for ever They shall spring but they shall spring but like Grass which is Green for a while and quickly withers Now the Righteous at this twelfth Verse For I shall not enlarge further upon the state of the wicked but only to set off the state of the Righteous The Righteous shall flourish too But how Not like the Grass but like the Palm-tree And indeed they shall abide for ever whereas the wicked they shall be destroyed for ever Who the Righteous are I shall not stay to speak of at large They are such as are righteous in their state being in the righteousness of Jesus Christ And they are such as are righteous in their course and in their life walking answerably to such a state These Righteous ones shall flourish They shall not only Live and Continue but they shall have a flourishing life David saith Mine enemies live and are mighty 'T is true they do so for a time many times The Righteous live and they have a mightiness too For they flourish And how do they flourish Not as the Grass but as the Palm-tree I shall only open that a little and touch only upon one point from the Paralel They shall flourish as the Palm-tree The Palm-tree is an excellent tree and the praises of God are often resembled by it Nay they are said in the Revelation to have Palms in their hands And they are shadowed by the Palm-tree in the Prophecy of Ezekiel Chap. 40. 31. in the description of the New Jerusalem Now when it is said They shall flourish like a Palm-tree We must consider how the Palm-tree flourishes The Palm tree only to touch that is the Date-tree that 's the Palm-tree And so the Meeter or Singing Psalms expresses it There it is rendred thus The Just shall flourish up on high As Date-trees bud and blow Now there are five things which are observed in the Date-tree I shall name them all but speak only a little to one to carry on this point of the flourishing of the Righteous like the Palm-tree First The Date or the Palm-tree grows in the purest soil it will not grow in filthy places in dungy places but it loves a very pure soil And thus the Righteous flourish They flourish in a very pure soil for they are planted in that which is the purest soil of all They are planted in Christ They grow in Christ and they grow in the Church which is a pure soil They are planted in the house of God as it follows in the Psalm Not in the world the unclean and polluted world which lyes in wickedness and smells like a dunghill but in the Garden of God And Secondly The Palm-tree is a Tree whose branches do shoot all upwards there 's none grow out of the side as other Trees have And thus the Righteous flourish as the Palm-tree their affections are set upon things above they grow up Heaven-ward They do not shoot out their branches this way or that way to the world but all to Heaven So it is while they act according to their state Thirdly The Palm-trees are those Trees which are alwayes green Green in Winter as well as in Summer It doth not cast its leaf nor fade as the expression is in Psal 1. 3. The godly man is like a Tree planted by the Rivers of Water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season His leaf also shall not wither They hold up their profession they are green not only in the Summer of prospeâ—ity but in the very Winter of adversity and maintain their verdure and their beauty in the hardest times Fourthly The Palm-tree is a Tree that doth not only keep its greenness the beauty of its leaves but it is a Tree that is full of fruit and that good fruit pleasant fruit sweet fruit a kind of Cordial fruit which you know the Date is The Righteous have the greenness of a profession and besides that they have the fruitfulness of their Conversation and 't is pleasant fruit fruits of Righteousness fruits of Faith fruits of Love the fruits of the Spirit They are fruitful Trees such a one as the Palm Fifthly Which I shall a little insist upon They flourish like the Palm-tree It is so far noted that it is made