have been already whereunto a Return may be expected of raging and bestial Calumnies and no other Here I shall not farther Indispose the Reader unto the serious perusal and Improvement of the ensuing Spiritual Discourses wherein there is more Worth and Use more that will turn unto a Refreshing Account at the last day than in a thousand Clamorous Contests managed with Pride and Passion what ever pretences they may be gilded withal That he who ministred this seed to the Sower would multiply the seed sown and give it an Encrease in the fruits of Righteousness among them that through his Providence shall be made partakers of it is the Prayer of Thy Servant in the Work of the Gospel John Owen 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 Apotle 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 this 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 very 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 Appetitus finis est infinitus 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 alms 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 render 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 too pen 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 exiâ—te ra cansa 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 Figs 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 the efore 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 then 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 the Prophets There was a
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 dâ—tes 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 â—ain of holy Doctrine and let him be dâ—â—â—t and cultivated every day 〈…〉 â—ill bâ—ing forth nothing 〈…〉 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 measure and degree in which they
out The fire of afflictions will not purge out the impurities of the heart The fire of Hell will not fetch out the dross that is in the hearts of the damned Nothing but the blood of Christ nothing but the Spirit of Christ are able to do it The blood of Christ meritoriously the Spirit efficiently and efficaciously And then Thirdly The heart re-made pure is so made Instrumentally by the Word The Word of God is pure it is as Silver purified in the fire seven times And the Word of God is a purifier instrumentally and the usual way by which the heart is re-made pure is by the Word Christ saith John 15. 3. Ye are clean How Through the Word that I have spoken And in general the Apostle in Ephes 5. 22 26. saith That Jesus Christ doth sanctifie and cleanse his Church with the washing of water by the Word With the washing of water that is with the Spirit But what 's the instrument By the Word This way is purity of heart commonly and usually wrought by the Word And Fourthly The heart is made pure applicatorily by Faith Acts 15. 9. He put no difference between us and them saith the Apostle that is between Jews and Gentiles having purified their hearts by faith God works faith in the heart and then faith purifies the heart by applying the blood of Christ and by receiving the Spirit and by working the soul to a submission to the holy Word and Will of God So that thus in these wayes the heart is re-made pure and of this re-made pure heart it is that the Text speaks That 's the spring out of which holy and acceptable works to the Lord doth flow Obj. But some may say Is there any such thing as a pure heart We find those questions somewhat rife in the Book of Job What is man that he should be clean So in Chap. 15. 14. Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman Chap. 25. 4. And Solomon saith expresly in Prov. 20. 9. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin It is plain then by these Scriptures that there is no such thing as a pure heart Answ I answer briefly in three things to these Scriptures and to all Scriptures of a like Import When the Scripture speaks thus It doth teach us either First that no man is born with a pure heart or it teaches us Secondly That no man by his own power hath made his heart pure or Thirdly it teaches us that no heart is made pure in this world with an absolutely perfect purity Indeed the best purity which the heart attains to in this world hath a mixture of much impurity in it so that thus indeed there is no heart pure That is there is no heart Legally pure strictly pure but there are thousands of hearts through Grace that are sincerely pure that are Evangelically pure and so esteemed in the thoughts of God and so exprest in his word If any shall say you tell us there is an Evangelical purity what mean you by it when may the heart be said to be Evangelically pure I answer thus the heart is Evangelically When the heart may be said to be Evangelically pure pure though there be sin dwelling in us or an in-dwelling sin and though sin is stirring hath strong motions in us makes war in our souls from day to day though sin doth some times prevail and give us that foil yet notwithstanding all this when First the soul in free from the Command of every sin Secondly When the soul is freed from the customary practice of every sin and Thirdly When the soul is free from the love of any sin then the soul is Evangelically pure Indeed sin will hide sin will stirr and I cannot warrant any man in the world that is a man of the purest heart in the world but that his sin may possibly give him a foil But this is certain he that hath an Evangelical purity is free from the commanding power of sin and from that constant and customary practice of sin and from the love of sin A man of a pure heart may have a special sin that is a sin to which he is more inclined than to any other Sometimes through the constitution of his body sometimes through his occasions and in the way of his calling there are many things which do indanger men to some special sin now though I say a good man may have a special sin a sin that he finds his heart most running out after in which sense David call's some iniquities his Iniquity Psal 111. 23. I have kept my self saith he from mine Iniquity that is from the Iniquity that did most beset him A good man then may have a special sin which haunts him which dogs him and besets him but yet he hath not a beloved sin Evangelical purity and the love of sin cannot consist together he that hath a pure heart cannot play with his sin cannot sport with his sin cannot take content in thinking of sin either past or what may be to come As they in the Prophet this day is thus with us and to morrow shall be more abundant No he cannot please himself thus in reference to any sin So that I conclude it the pure heart is freed if he be Evangelically freed from sin in all these notions and so he is the Person here meant in the text from whom all holy actions may proceed acceptably to the Lord and that may serve for the opening of this point for I intend to dispatch it at this time I shall make some use of it Use First To stir up all to consider whether they have this pure heart yea or no. You see the importance of it it is one of the springs out of which every action that is pleasing to God according to his appointment must flow therefore it stands us much upon lest we loose all things that we work To have a good assurance in our own bosoms that we have a pure heart in our bosoms and we had need consider it For First 't is most sure that many think they have pure hearts and have them not Solomon hath an expression saith he there are a Generation that are pure in their own own eyes and yet are not cleansed from their wickedness Chap. 30. 12. It 's an easie matter to be pure in our own eyes and yet remain altogether unclean A Generation pure in their own eyes And St. Augustin speaks of a sort of people who would needs be called Cathorists and saith he they do call themselves so they most proudly and odiously call themselves the pure ones But according to his discovery of them they were not cleansed from their wickedness and how many are thus indeed clean in their own eyes and yet are unclean And Secondly There are many that are clean not only in their own eyes but in the eyes of other men yea possibly in very good men
Jesus Christ if one increase in these things What is worthy the name of good in comparison of an increase of these things That 's one thing we may take notice of from it Secondly We should be hence raised up in our hearts to magnifie the power wisdom and goodness of God who doth thus over-rule these things for his people for certainly this doth declare the wonderful work of God In Isa 28. where he hath a notable Allegory and speaks of the troubles and sufferings of the faithful people of God For all that that is spoken of the Plowman and of the Thresher and of the bruising of the Corn with threshing Instruments they do respect affliction and troubles which come upon the people of God as is clear But now saith he in the close of that Chapter This also cometh from the Lord of Hosts which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working We may wonder at the counsel and wisdom of God who doth his people good by threshing them and bringing the wheel over them Here are several sorts of afflictions and sufferings some lesser and some greater Now all this is but to separate the good seed from the chaff and to make it more fit for use for while the Corn is in the ear it is not fit for use and we cannot make bread of it untill it be thresht Now the Lord hath several wayes to do it But saith he This cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working Truly we may say How wonderful is the counsel of the Lord How excellent is his working that he makes the Righteous to flourish like the Palm-tree to grow upwards by that which one would think should bring them down As when we see the Corn laid at and thresht with a Flail one would think there were great hurt intended to the Corn but it is only to separate it from the chaff that it may appear in its own beauty and usefulness So the Lord hath a flail of tribulation to separate the Chaff from the Wheat Those acts of Providence towards Gods people which seem to be for their hurt and undoing when they are thresht as it were by the world it is only to make them appear what they are That which we find in Psal 69. 22. concerning the wicked by that we may observe the wonderful difference and dealings of God with the wicked who flourish as the Grass and the righteous David speaks there of such and saith he Let their table become a snare and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap that is the Lord doth curse their Comforts By Table he means the good things upon their table when they have a full table a plentiful table And so all outward prosperity saith he it shall be a snare to them And that which should have been for their good that is that which in the nature of it is for their good It shall be an occasion for their falling they shall grow more hardned by it more proud by it and more impenitent by it and more strangers to God by it But now when the Lord speaks of a righteous man here the thing which was appointed for his snare as the troubles and persecutions which lye upon him in the world shall be a table to him his very snares shall be a table to his Inner man where his Graces shall come and feed and grow fat and flourish and increase The things which the men of the world have devised for his falling they shall be to him an occasion of good This is wonderful and we are to bless the Lord for it when we find such effects of it when we see it so in others or have any experience of it in our selves that our afflictions do not snare us but are a table to our Graces That 's another thing to give God the glory of it for it is not in the nature of these things to do it No things would work quite otherwise but that God is wonderful in his Counsels and excellent in his workings towards his people they would rather drive us from God and destroy our graces Thirdly Seeing it is so that righteous ones do flourish as the Palm-tree then when any weights of affliction either personal or publick or persecution or whatsoever are upon any of us let us mind the purpose of God towards us Let us not think that he comes to hurt us but to make us grow and flourish like a Palm-tree Let us mind this and joyn with God in this Counsel in laying such things upon his people Let us joyn with God and promote the Counsel of God in our own hearts and lives and in the hearts and lives of others that they may be bettered by their sufferings and be encouraged by their sufferings to believe more in God and more for God than ever they were God doth not intend us hurt but good by it and so we should find it if we were wise to joyn with him in his Purposes Fourthly And then I would say yet further This may be matter of Tryal to us We may take a tryal of our selves both as to the state of our persons and as to the state of our graces First As to the state of our persons Why how is it with us under sufferings Do we improve by them Do we grow do we flourish though we have these weights upon us Why truly it is an argument and evidence that our state is good for a bad man is not made the better by the evils that are upon him I know God may use afflictions to change a man but unsound hearts they that have been unsound and false in the profession of the Gospel they do discover themselves in such a time shew their rottenness and their naughtiness And it is a very great question whether they that are not bettered by afflictions were ever good Though I would not speak it to lay a trouble upon any Our betterings sometimes under afflictions is not very dicernable at least at present But I say it may put us much upon a doubt whether we or any were ever really good if we are not bettered by afflictions and by tryals and by the troubles that are upon us and by our fears and by our dangers And likewise we may hence have a great tryal as to the state of our graces whether our graces are in good plight yea or no. For indeed if faith be down and the like we shall make little improvement of all our afflictions and crosses If love to Christ be down we shall rather be upon the losing side But now if we find that we are increased and are growing and flourishing in spirituals when the weight and pressure is upon us it is an argument that our graces are in a good state and grace is in a good state when it thrives and thrives by such means as seem rather for the quenching of grace and the
and receive impressions from him as Moses when he was with God in the Mount his face did shine But in times of outward peace and when all is well O we are very ready to neglect communion with God Fifthly Lastly While the righteous are under weights and prestures like a Palm-tree they have a special promise of the presence of God with them and this is that which makes them flourish indeed It is not our being in affliction which will make us better and make us grow Heaven-ward but it is Christ being with us in affliction It is Gods manifesting himself to us in affliction which makes us grow and flourish like a Palm-tree Now I need not stay to tell you how many promises there are of the special presence of God to his people while they are under the Cross that in Isa 43. 2. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee I will be with thee And truly the presence of God with us it is not only for this end Though that be there exprest that we shall not be quite swallowed up that the water shall not drown us nor the fire consume us but that the fire and water shall not consume us as to our soul state That we shall not suffer loss or detriment in our spiritual state by being in the fire or water but that we shall increase there and grow there So in 1 Pet. 4. 14. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you It doth not only come to you and visit you but it rests upon you Now when the Spirit of God is especially when the Spirit of God rests and doth abide there must needs be a growth and an increase in our spiritual state But so it is while we are under these afflicting dispensations when the weights are upon us we have promises of more of the presence of God and of the presence of his Spirit and of the resting of his Spirit and therefore we shall flourish flourish spiritually flourish in our inner man That may serve for the clearing of the Point That the Righteous flourish as the Palm-tree under weights and pressures Application First This may confirm us in a twofold Scripture-truth First That there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. That 's a Scripture assertion which receives a mighty confirmation by this point Prov. 21. 30. This point doth mightily confirm it Why what 's the Counsel what 's the purpose of the world when they hang their weights upon the Palm-trees upon the righteous what 's the meaning You shall understand their meaning when the first weights that we read of in the Scripture were ever hung upon these Palm-trees in the place before quoted Exod. 1. 10. Come on saith he Let us deal wisely with them The Wise man saith in the Proverbs There is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. Well saith he here Let us deal wisely with them To what purpose Why saith he Lest they multiply We will keep them down keep them down that their persons multiply not and we will keep them down too that their Graces multiply not Truly this is the design of the Counsels of men in hanging their weights upon the Palm-trees and so it hath been all along in the sufferings of the Church What hath been their wisdoms They thought by their sufferings to keep down those truths which they profest which it may be they call'd Heresie As Paul saith After the way which you call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers Heresies they thought to suppress them as Errors and Heresies And they thought again to discourage the professors yea they thought not only to discourage them in matters of truth of faith and worship but they thought to turn them quite aside to make them renounce it to forsake it to apostatize to backslide to deny the faith This is the thing which they have had in their eye in all the pressures which they have laid upon the people of God from one time to another to strip them of their faith and to strip them of the truth to break them in the things of God Now I say this is their Counsel And mark what the Scripture saith There is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. They thought to hinder them in all these things to suppress the truth to discourage the professors of the truth and to cause them to turn away and to deny the truth But they have fail'd in it for they multiplyed and the truth multiplyed and they flourisht more by the weights and burdens that were upon their backs So that we may say in this case as the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 44. 25. That the Lord turns the Counsels of the wicked hackward Turneth wise men backward that is their wisdom which they have been exercising that hath produced a quite contrary effect to what they intended they thought to hinder the truth and they have been rather a furtherance to it as Pauls word is in the first of the Philippians These things have hapned to the furtherance of the Gospel which they thought should have ruined the Gospel And this indeed is so notorious that the enemies of the Gospel have been forced many times to acknowledge and to confess it with grief That the righteous have flourisht like Palm-trees In Exod. 1. 12. when it is said the more they afflicted them the more they multiplyed and grew And what follows And they that is the Aegyptians were grieved because of the children of Israel We see we cannot bring them down their Counsels went quite backward And you have the like in John 12. 19. The Pharisees when they had done all that they could to hinder the peoples receiving of Jesus Christ they said among themselves Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing Behold the world is gone after him You see they were fain to make an acknowledgement of this thing their own selves We have been labouring to stop the progress of this man but we find it quite otherwise we prevail nothing at all Not only not much but nothing And behold the world is gone after him He will get all the world shortly they multiply so fast So that we see from this the truth of the Scripture that there is no Counsel against the Lord. And it may give you a further confirmation by way of Instruction concerning that great truth in Rom. 8. 28. All things shall work together for good to them that serve God and are the called according to his purpose All things work together for good What things Troubles afflictions pressures burdens which are laid upon them they work for good Why this is one of the greatest goods that can be to have grace flourish and grow Faith and Humility and Love to