He cometh again to the main thing in question, the success
of humble addresses to God, showing we shall not want the divine help, if we do
but make way for it. God is never wanting to us till we are first wanting to
ourselves. We withdraw our hearts from God, and therefore no wonder if we do
not feel the effects of his grace. All the world may judge between God and
sinners, who shall bear the blame of our wants and miseries, providence or our
own hearts. If 'the foolishness of man pervert his ways.' there is no cause why
we should 'fret against God,' Prov. xix. 3.
Draw nigh to God. - You may
look upon the words as spoken to sinners or to converts.
First, To sinners,
or men uncalled; and then the sense is 'draw nigh to God.' that is, seek him by
faith and repentance; 'and he will draw nigh to you,' that is, with his grace
and blessing. Thence observe:-
Obs. 1. That every man by nature needeth
to draw nigh to God. Drawing nigh implieth an absence and departure: we are
'estranged from the womb.' Ps. lviii. 3. As soon as we were able to go we went
astray. In Adam we lost three things - the image of God, the favour of God, and
fellowship with God. As soon as man sinned, God speaketh to Adam as lost:
'Adam, where art thou?' Non es ubi prius eras, as Austin glosseth - thou art
not where thou wert before. So when Christ would resemble our apostate nature,
he doth it by a prodigal's going 'into a far country,' Luke xv. 14. And the
apostle giveth the reason how we came to lose the fellowship as well as the
favour of God, when he thus describeth the natural estate of the Gentiles,
'alienated from the life of God.' Eph. iv. 18 We are strangers to God's life,
and therefore no wonder if we have lost his company. Trees do not converse with
beasts, nor beasts with men, because they do not live the life of each other.
Sense must fit the trees to converse with beasts, and reason the beasts to
converse with men, and grace must fit men to converse with God. There is a
distance, you see. Now men alienate themselves more and more, partly by their
affections, and partly by their practices. By their affections; they care not
for God, desire not his company: Job xxi. 14, 'Depart from us, for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways.' Fallen man is grown obstinate, little worse
(Qu. 'better'? Ed.) than the devil. The devils said, 'Depart from us; art thou
come to torment us before our time?' Mat. viii. God's presence is their
torment. Men care not to hold communion with him, because of a hatred to his
ways; they wish the annihilation and destruction of his being. It is a pleasing
thought to carnal spirits to suppose that if there were no God they might let
loose the reins to vile affections. So also by their practices. All sins divide
between God and the soul: 2 Isa, lix. 2, 'Your iniquities have separated
between you and God.' Sin maketh us shy of his presence; guilt cannot endure a
thought of the judge; and it maketh God offended with us. How can a holy nature
delight in an impure creature? And as sin in the general doth thus, so there
are some special sins that separate between God and the soul; as pride: Ps.
cxxxviii. 6, 'The proud he knoweth afar off.' God standeth at a distance, and
will have no communion with a proud spirit. So creature-confidence and
self-satisfaction, that keepeth us off from God; we stand at a distance, as if
we had enough of our own: Jer. xvii. 5, 'Cursed is the man that maketh flesh
his arm, departing from the living God.' The nearest union is wrought by faith,
that maketh the soul stay in him; and the greatest separation when we go to
other confidences, for then there is a plain leaving of God. Well, then,
consider your condition by nature - aliens from God. That you may resent it the
more, consider the cause and the effects of it. (1.) The cause. The heart is
set upon sin, and therefore estranged from God: Col. i. 21, 'Alienated, and
enemies in your minds by evil works;' or it may be rendered, 'by your minds in
evil works;' mente operibus malis intenta, that is, because the mind is set
upon sin. Likeness is the ground of love. There being such a disproportion
between us and God, we delight not in him. So Job xxi., 'Depart from us;' why?
'for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.' We do not love holiness, and
therefore do not love God. What a madness is this, to part with God for sin! If
you will not be saints, be men; be not devils; they cannot endure God's
presence upon that ground. (2.) The effects of it. You that fly from God as a
friend, you will find him an enemy; you may depart from him as a friend, you
cannot escape him as an enemy. It is a sweet passage that of Austin, Te non
amittit nisi qui dimittit: et qui te dimittit quo fugit, nisi a te placato ad
te iratum? You that cannot endure the presence of God, or a thought of him,
where will you go from him? Ps. cxxxix. 6, 'Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? In heaven thou art there; in hell thou art there,' &c. Where will
you go? Jer. xxiii. 23, 'Am I God at hand, and not a God afar off?' God is
here, and there, and everywhere; you will find him wherever you go. Surely then
it is better to draw near to him as a friend than to run from him as an enemy.
Obs. 2. A great duty that lieth upon the fallen creature is drawing
nigh to God. I do not mean to handle the duty at large: I shall only open three
things: -
1. How God and the creature may be said to be near one to
another, or to draw nigh. God's special presence is in heaven, and we are on
earth; and his general presence is with all the creatures, and so 'he is not
far from any one of us,' Acts xvii. I answer - It is to be understood
spiritually; we draw nigh unto him non vestigiis corpora, sed animo, not by the
feet of the body, but the soul. Spirits may have converse with one another
though at a distance. Now God's children are with him in their thoughts, in the
affections and dispositions of their souls. Their politeuma, 'their business
and negotiation is in heaven,' Phil. iii. 20; 'Their heart and their treasure
is there.' Mat. vi. 20, 21. Their desires are there; the world is but a larger
prison. But it is more especially meant of their communion with God in duties,
wherein their souls and their prayers are 'lifted up' to him, Acts x. 4; and he
is said to come down to meet them, Isa. lxiv. 5. And also it noteth the
continual intercourse that is between God and them in all their ways. The first
epistle of John was written to this purpose, 'That they might have fellowship
and communion with the Father and the Son,' 1 John i. 4.
2. How is this
effected and brought about, since we cannot endure the thought of God? The
question is necessary. This was the great design of heaven, to find out a way
to bring man into fellowship again with his maker; and God hath found out a
'new and living way' by Christ, and therefore he is said to be 'the way to the
Father,' John xiy. 6. And the main intent of his incarnation and death was 'to
bring us to God,' 1 Peter iii. 18. To bring strangers and enemies together is a
mighty work. But how doth Christ effect it? I answer -
(1.) Partly by doing
something for us - satisfying God's justice, and 'bearing our sins in his body
upon the tree;' otherwise guilt could have no commerce with wrath, stubble with
devouring burnings: 'God is a consuming fire,' and we are as 'stubble fully
dry.' Now Christ is a screen drawn between us: the divine glory would swallow
us up, but Christ's flesh is a veil that abateth the edge and brightness of it,
Heb. x. 19, 20.
(2.) Partly by doing something in us. Christ's work in
bringing a soul to God is not ended upon the cross; he giveth us the graces of
his Holy Spirit, which fit us for communion with God. The principal are these:
- Faith, which is nothing else but a coming to God by Christ for grace, mercy,
and salvation: Heb. x. 22, 'Draw nigh by the assurance of faith.' Unbelief is a
going off from God, Heb. iii. 12, and Zeph. iii. 2; and faith a coming to him.
Then love, the grace of union. By desire, it maketh us go out to God; by
delight it keepeth us there: the one is the thirst, the other the satisfaction
of the soul. Love runneth out upon the feet of desire, and resteth in the bosom
of delight. Then holiness: 'God will be sanctified in those that draw nigh to
him,' Lev. x. 3. Holy hearts are fittest to deal with a holy God, otherwise we
should not endure God, nor God us. Then fear, by which the soul walketh with
God, and is near to him: there where the thoughts are, there we are
spiritually. Of wicked men it is said, 'God is not in all their thoughts;' but
the godly always keep God in their eye: Acts ii. 25, 'I foresaw the Lord always
before me.' Fear still keepeth them in his company. Then humility; because of
our distance and guilt we cannot come to God unless we come humbly and upon our
knees: Ps. xcv. 6, 'Come let us worship and bow down, and kneel before the Lord
our maker;' that is the fittest posture in approaches to God: God 'will dwell
with the humble,' Isa. lvii. 15. Now all these graces, being exercised in the
conversation, or in holy duties, where the addresses to God are more direct,
make the soul near to him.
3. The last question is, What special acts
doth the soul put forth when it draweth nigh to God? The answer may be given
you from what was said before. There must be an act of faith in our wants; by
faith we must see that in God which we stand in need of in sense. Fear must be
acted in all our ways, keeping us in God's eye: persons loose and regardless
are far from God: 'Walk before me.' &c., Gen. xvii. 1. Then love and
humility must be acted in holy duties. Drawing nigh doth chiefly imply humble
and fervorous addresses; when you come naked to God, as the rich man that will
clothe you; hungry to God, as the bountiful man that will feed you; sick to
God, as the physician that will cure you; as servants to your Lord, as
disciples to your master, as blind to the light, as cold to the fire, &c.
The creatures addresses are best when they begin in want and end in hope, when
there is a rare mixture of humility and confidence; and love there must be in
every duty, for God must be sought as well as served.
Well, then, let
us all mind this duty. Sin is a departing from God, grace a returning. Draw
nigh to him, make out after the comforts and supports of his presence: the way
is by Christ, but you must resolve upon it; I must, and I will: Ps. xxvii. 8,
'Thy face, Lord, will I seek;' there must be a care to bring the soul to this
resolution. Mark that place, Jer. xxx. 21, 'I will cause him to draw near and
approach to me, saith the Lord, for who is this that engageth his heart to draw
near to me?' that is, by my Spirit I will comfort them. But will you engage
your hearts? Out of a conviction of the necessity and excellency of the duty,
issue forth a practical decree: David doth, Ps. lxxiii. 28, 'It is good for me
to draw near to God.'
Object. There is one doubt in the text which must
be cleared before we go further, and that ariseth from the phrase used, 'draw
nigh to God,' as if it were in our own power. The old Pelagians abused this
place; and the Rhemists in their notes say, that free-will and man's own
endeavour is necessary in coming to God, and that man is a cause of making
himself clean, though God's grace be the principal. Usually two things have
been built upon this place: -
(1.) That the beginning of conversion is in
man's power;
(2.) That this beginning doth merit or increase further grace
from God; for, say they, God will not draw near to man ere he do first draw
near to him; therefore, before special grace the beginning of conversion must
be in man, and upon this beginning God will come in.
So I answer -
(1.) This place and the like showeth not what man will do, but what he
ought to do. We left God ere he left us; therefore, we should be first in
returning, as we were first in forsaking: the wronged party may in justice
tarry for our submission; but yet, such is the Lord's kindness, that he loveth
us first, 1 John iv. 19.
(2.) Precepts to duty are not measures of
strength: there is no good argument a mandato ad effectum, from what ought to
be done to what can or shall be done. These things are expressed thus for
another purpose: to show God's right, to convince the creature of weakness, to
show us our duty, that man's endeavour is required, and that we should do our
utmost, to convince us wherein we have failed, &c.
(3.) These precepts
are not useless; to the elect they convey grace. God fulfilleth what he
commandeth: evangelical commands carry their own blessing with them; for, by
the co-working of the Spirit, by this means they are stirred up and made to
draw near to God. Towards others they are convincing, and show us our obstinacy
and contumacy; we will not come to God, and lie at the foot of his sovereignty,
saying, O Lord, thou hast said, Turn to me, and I will turn to you: 'Turn us
and we shall be turned; draw us and we shall draw near to thee,' Jer. xxxi. 18.
Men pretend cannot; the truth is they will not come, hungry to the table,
thirsty to the fountain; they will not lie at God's feet for grace: so that
those precepts convince the reprobate, and leave them without excuse. I shall
conclude all with that sweet saying of Bernard, Nemo te quaerere potest, nisi
qui prius invenerit; vis igitur inveniri ut quaeraris, quaeri ut inveniaris;
potes quidem inveniri, non tamen praeveniri - none can be aforehand with God;
we cannot seek him till we have found him; he will be sought that he may be
found, and found that he may be sought: it is grace that must bring us to
grace; and the stray sheep cannot be brought home unless it be upon Christ's
shoulders.
2. Secondly, The next consideration of the words is, as they
respect Christians already converted and called; and so the sense is, draw more
near to God every day in a holy communion, and you shall have more grace from
him. The note is: -
Obs. That gracious hearts should always be renewing
their accesses to God by Christ. So 1 Peter ii. 5, 'Coming to Christ as a
living stone;' always coming to him in every duty, in every want This
maintaineth and increaseth grace, and maketh your lives sweet and comfortable,
Drawing nigh to God is not the duty of an hour, or in season only at first
conversion, but the work of our whole lives.
And he will draw nigh to you;
that is, he will make us find that he is near to us by his favour and blessing.
You have the like promise, Zech. i. 3, 'Turn unto me, and I will turn unto
you.' So Mal. iii. 7, 'Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the
Lord of hosts.'
Obs. 1. Observe, that the way to have God to turn to us
in mercy, is to turn to him in duty. This is the standing law of heaven; God
will not vary from it; it is the best way for God's glory, and for the
creatures' good. Mercies are most sweet and good to us when we are prepared for
them by duty. Do not divide then between mercy and duty. Expectations in God's
way cannot be disappointed. The prophet saith, Hosea x. 11, 'Ephraim is an
heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn,' but not to break the
clods. The mouth of the beast that treadeth out the corn was not to be muzzled;
in that work they had plenty of food. The meaning - Ephraim would have
blessings, but could not endure the yoke of obedience. We are apt to lie upon
the bed of ease, and securely look what God will do, but do not stir up
ourselves to what we should do.
Obs. 2. God will be near those that are
careful to hold communion with him. See Ps. cxlv. 18, 'The Lord is nigh to all
that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.' Nigh to bless, to
comfort, to quicken, to guide, to support them. Let it encourage us to come to
God, yea, to run to him; we are sure to speed. The father ran to meet the
returning prodigal, Luke xv. 18. He will prevent us with loving-kindness: 'When
they call I will answer, when they cry I will say, Here am I.' Isa. lviii. 9.
What have you to say to me? what would you have from me? Here am I to satisfy
all your desires. Nay, elsewhere it is said, Isa. lxv. 24, 'Before they call, I
will answer,' &c. When they do address themselves to seek God, he is nigh
to counsel, to quicken, to enlighten, to defend; ready with blessing ere your
imperfect desires can be formed into a request. So Ps. xxxii. 5, 'I said, I
will confess, and thou forgavest,' &c. As soon as David had but conceived a
repenting purpose, he felt the comfort of a pardon.
Cleanse your hands,
ye sinners, &c. - From the connection of this precept with the former you
may observe: -
Obs. That unclean persons can have no commerce with God. You
must be holy ere you can draw nigh to him; conformity is the ground of
communion: Mat. vi. 9, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'
So Josh. xxiv. 19, 'You cannot serve the Lord, for he is an holy God,' &c.
Without holiness God cannot endure our presence; he 'will not take the wicked
by the hand,' Job viii. 20. And we cannot endure his presence: 'The sinners in
Zion will be afraid.' Isa. xxxiii. 14. Well, then, when you would have free
converse with God, come with a holy heart; there is special purgation required
before worship. The Israelites were to wash themselves when they heard the law,
Exod. xix. And David saith, Ps. xxvi. 6, 'I will wash mine hands in innocency:
and so compass thine altar, O Lord.' He hath respect to the solemn washing,
which God had appointed for such as came to the altar, Exod. xl. Again, if you
would have sweet converse with God in your ways, walk holily; the Spirit of God
loveth to dwell cleanly. See Ps. xxiv. 3, 4, 'He that hath clean hands, and an
holy heart, shall stand in his holy hill.' Generally it was the custom of the
eastern countries to wash before worship. The very heathen gods would be served
in white, the emblem of purity.
Cleanse your hands. - It noteth good works;
as pureness of heart implieth faith and holy affections. Thus it is often taken
in scripture, as Job xvii. 9, 'The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that
is of pure hands shall grow stronger and stronger.' Therefore washing the hands
was a sign of innocency, as Pilate did in the matter of Christ. Thus the
apostle Paul biddeth us, 1 Tim. ii. 8, to 'lift up holy hands without wrath and
doubting.' So God telleth the Israelites, Isa. l. 15,16, 'Your hands are full
of blood; wash you, make you clean,' &c. When we come to empty the fountain
of goodness, we must not do it with impure hands. The hands in all these places
are put synec-dochically for the whole body, and all the external organs of the
soul, because they are principally employed in the accomplishing of many sins,
as in bribes, rapine, lust, fights, &c.;
Obs. Observe, that the Lord
hath required not only holy hearts, but holy hands. The goodness of your hearts
must appear in the integrity of your conversations. When men's actions are
naught, they pretend their hearts are good. Is there no evil in the hand? The
heart must be pure and the way undefiled, that we may neither incur blame from
within nor shame from without; and when sin is once committed, the hand must be
cleansed as well as the heart. It is in vain to pretend repentance and washing
the heart, when the hand is full of bribes or ill-gotten goods, and no
restitution is made.
Ye sinners, - In this first clause he speaketh to
men openly vicious, such as were tainted with the guilt of outward and manifest
sins; so the word sinners is used in this place, as elsewhere, where it is put
indefinitely. So John ix. 31, 'The Lord heareth not sinners;' that is, men of a
corrupt life. So Mary Magdalene is called 'a sinner,' Luke vii. 37, that is,
openly profane. So, 'He eateth and drinketh with sinners,' Mat xi. 9, and Luke
xv. 2. Now the chief work of open sinners is to cleanse the hands, or reform
the life, that by such representations they may be beaten off from the fond
presumption of a good heart whilst the life is scandalous.
Purify your
hearts. - He speaketh this, partly because in this latter clause he dealeth
with hypocrites, whose life is plausible enough, their main care should be
about their hearts; partly because all cometh out of the heart.
Obs.
Observe, if you would have a holy life, you must get a clean heart. True
conversion beginneth there; spiritual life, as well as natural, is first in the
heart. See 1 Peter ii. 11, 12, 'Abstain from fleshly lusts ... having your
conversations honest.' First mortify the lusts, then the deeds of the body of
sin. If you would cure the disease, purge away the sick matter, not only stop
the flux of the humours; lest sin return again, cast salt into the spring: Isa.
lv. 7, 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,'
&c. Mark, not only his way or course of life, but his thoughts, the frame
of his heart; the heart is the womb of thoughts, and thoughts are the first
issues and out-goings of corruption: Mat xv. 19, 'Out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries,' &c. First the thoughts, then the practices.
Well, then, they are foolish and vain men that are over-industrious about the
outward man, washing the outside of cups and platters, Mark vii., altogether
for dressing up a garb and pretence of religion. That which God looketh after
and loveth is 'truth in the inward parts,' Ps. li. 6. God will easily find us
out under our disguise, as the prophet did Jeroboam's wife. Be not careful
merely of honour before the people, but of your hearts before God; and let
conscience be dearer to you than credit. Many are sensible of failings in the
carriage, because they betray and expose us to shame; you should be as sensible
of distempers in the heart; lusts must not be digested without regret and
remorse, no more than sins.
Ye double-minded, dipsuchoi. - The word
signifieth 'of two hearts,' or 'two souls.' An hypocrite hath 'an heart and an
heart,' which is odious to God; they halt between God and Baal, and deny the
religion which they profess; their thoughts are divided, and their affections
hover always in a doubtful suspense between God and the world. See the notes on
chap. i. 8.
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