SERMON XXIV
I pray not
that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.—john XVII. 15.
christ
having
enforced his request, explaineth
it; not to inform God, but to comfort the disciples, as explications in prayer
are for our benefit. Our heavenly Father can interpret our sighs and
breathings, but formed and explicit words have a greater force and efficacy
upon our hearts. This explication is delivered, \~kata\~
\~arsin\~ \~kai\~ \~kata\~ \~yesin\~.
1. \~kata\~, \~arsin\~, 'not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world;' that is, presently glorify them, either by an
ordinary death, or [Pg. 390] by an extraordinary translation, as Elijah
and Enoch were translated. Christ was not ignorant of their danger, yet he
would have them ride out the storm; he would not carry his disciples to heaven
with him, nor doth he pray his Father to do it, though he loved their company,
and they his, that they could be content to die with him; as John xi. 16, 'Let
us also go, that we may die with him;' yet, 'I pray not
that thou wouldst take them out of the world.'
2. \~kata\~ \~yesin\~. 'but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil;' \~ek|~ \~tou\~ \~ponhrou\~, it may be
rendered from the evil one, or from the evil thing, as referring to a person or
thing. To a person; the evil one is often put for the devil: Mat xiii. 19,
'When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, \~o\~ \~ponhrov\~, and taketh away that
which he heard;' 1 John ii. 13, 'I write unto you, young men, because ye have
overcome, \~ton\~ \~ponhron\~, the wicked one;' 1 John iii. 12, 'Not as Gain, who was \~ek\~ \~tou\~ \~ponhron\~, of that
wicked one, and slew his brother.' Or else to the evil thing: Mat vi. 13, \~rusai\~ \~hmav\~ \~apo\~ \~tou\~ \~ponerou\~, 'deliver
us from evil;' Mat v. 37, 'Whatever is more than this, cometh of evil.' \~ek\~ \~tou\~ \~ponhron\~. 1 John v. 19, 'The whole world lieth,
\~en\~ \~tw\~ \~prohrw\~, in wickedness.' Which shall we prefer? I
answer--Since the words lie so indifferently for either sense, we may interpret
them of both; keep them from the author of evil, and from evil itself; from
sin, from the power and snares of the devil, from destruction, till their
ministry be accomplished. Satan he is the author; the world is the bait. Sin is
the hook. Keep them from the devil, that they may not come under his power;
from the world, that they may not be deceived by its allurements. Briefly, this
keeping may be referred to their life or to their souls; keep them alive as
long as they have work to do; keep their souls, that they may neither, by the
world or by the devil, be drawn to do anything unseemly and unbecoming their
profession: 2 Cor. xiii. 7, 'I pray God that ye do no
evil, but that ye should do that which is honest;' and Rev. iii.
10, 'I will keep them from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all
the earth, to try them that dwell upon the earth.' It is meant of a preservation in the time of a bloody persecution under Trajan. Christ prays for temporal and spiritual safety;
temporal safety, so far as is necessary to carry on the duty of their calling.
Points.
1. Observe that it standeth with the wisdom and goodness of God to continue us
in the world, notwithstanding the dangers of it. Christ loved his disciples,
and knew they were exposed to the world's hatred; yet, 'I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.' In evil times
sometimes God taketh his children out of the world,
and sometimes he continueth them in the world; both
dispensations stand with his wisdom and goodness. There are reasons on both
sides.
[1.] For
taking them away in evil times. It standeth with his
goodness, that they may not feel the smart of them: Isa. lvii.
1, 'The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, yea, the merciful man is taken away,
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.' When
corn is gathered in, then the beasts are turned into the field. God valueth his saints so that he doth not [Pg. 391] count the
world worthy of them: Heb. xi. 38, 'Of whom the world was not worthy.' He showeth his jewels, and then shutteth
them up into the casket. And with his wisdom, that they may not be corrupted.
The wisdom of providence concurreth to our
preservation, as well as the power of grace. Enoch was translated and taken out
of the world in a wicked age: 1 Cor. xi. 32, 'But
when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we might not be
condemned with the world.' What judging and chastening was it? Not only by
sickness, but by death:' Many are sick, and many weak, and many fallen asleep.'
[2.] Christ continueth them in the world, as the disciples here; partly
because he hath need of them, as the disciples were to preach the gospel;
partly that they might have more experience, and a more grown faith: they might
try God, and God might try them; they might have experience of his
faithfulness, and he of their loyalty. The world must have a time of trial, and
so must we. Nay, he dealeth thus with believers; they
are continued in evil times, either because God hath
more work for them to do, or that they may carry more experience with them to
heaven.
Use. To refer it to the wisdom and goodness of God, either to go or
tarry. Christ knew there was service for them to do, therefore he was
express, 'I pray not that they may be taken out of the
world.' We that know not the counsels of God must refer ourselves to his
pleasure.
2. Observe,
that as long as we have a ministry and service to accomplish, we should be
willing to continue in the world. Paul was at a strait: Phil. i. 21-23, the cause was service;
'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labour,' viz., bringing honour to Christ; 'yet what I shall choose, I wot not: for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire
to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.' He is ravished with the
thoughts of it; bat then he considereth the profit of
the church: ver. 24,' Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for
you;' and service casts the scale. Paul's case is the case many times of
mortified Christians; after long experience of God, and weanedness
from the world, they are in such a strait! Natural motion is swifter in the
end; the nearer they draw to the end the more vehemently do they long for
Christ's company. Some make it a question which is hardest, to bear affliction
or to wait for glory, the work of patience or the delay of hope? Desire is a
more restless affection than sorrow, yet I should think the depth of sorrow is
more burdensome than the strength of desire. Many of God's children are tempted
to make away themselves; but I never heard of any that were tempted to make
away themselves in the height of assurance, or out of the vehemency
of spiritual desire, though the present life be
accompanied with many vexations and afflictions. Despair maketh
men to lay violent hands on themselves, but not assurance; as Saul fell upon
his sword, and Achitophel went home and hanged
himself, and Judas was his own executioner. But assurance,
though it desireth God's presence, yet it tarrieth God's leisure. Waiting is a fruit of faith,
as well as confidence. Spiritual desires are always conceived with submission
and obedience; if God hath more work, they can brook the [Pg. 392] delay of the
reward, and tarry for their wages. I remember a passage of a heathen, of Tully,
in his Somnium Scipionis, when
Scipio had said, 'If true life be only in heaven, why stay I then upon earth? why haste I not to come to you?' 'No.' saith his father;'
unless God free thee from the fetters of thy body, thou canst not come hither.
Men are born and bred upon this condition, that they should promote the-good of
the world. You must not fly from the duty assigned by God; the soul is to be
kept in the custody of the body till it be commanded
thence by God that gave it at first.' This was his saying; and indeed it is
wonderful. Christians, learn to wait God's leisure; it is better to be with
Christ, but you must not look for your wages till you have-done your work. When
a sentinel is set upon the watch, he must not come off without the commander's
leave, and till he is discharged by authority. God hath set us in a watch, and
we must not leave our ground till we have done all that is enjoined us, till we
receive a fair discharge.
This point will serve to open
two cases:
Case 1. Whether men
confessing Christ may make away themselves to avoid the cruel torments of their
persecutors, and they know not certainly what their strength may be able to
sustain? This was a great case in the primitive times, and it may be still of
use. Eusebius telleth us, lib. viii. cap. 24, that in the time of Dioclesian's
persecution, which was very bloody and cruel, there were divers that procured
death to themselves by leaping down from lofts and high places, or else thrust
themselves through with knives or swords.
I answer—This
is sinful; Christ prayeth not that his disciples
'might be taken out of the world,' but 'kept from the evil.'
The sinfulness appeareth
1. Because this is an act of
disobedience, contrary to the law of God: 'Thou shalt
not kill.' Now the more unnatural any act is, the greater is the crime. A man
is not lord of life and death.
2. It is an act of distrust:
1 Cor. x. 13, 'There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to men: but God is faithful, who who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it' God will
either temper the affliction to our strength, or raise our strength to the
degree of the affliction. Christ hath laid in this prayer for our encouragement
in this case,' Keep them from the evil;' it is a making haste, as if God would
not be faithful, but require-brick where he giveth no
straw.
3. It is a
disparagement and dishonour to the cause which we
maintain. It robbeth God of a great deal of glory,
when he calleth us out to show our love to him, to
take our lives out of God's hands, when he· claimeth
them: Rom. xiv. 7, 8, 'For none of us liveth to
himself, and no man dieth to himself: for whether we
live, we live unto the Lord,, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether
we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.'
Case 2 is about
wishing for death. You know the law doth not only forbid acts, but thoughts and
desires; therefore, is it lawful to long for death and dissolution? We find instances on both hands is the scriptures. The murmuring
Israelites are taxed: Exod. xvi. 3, 'Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the
I answer in several
propositions:
1. There is a great deal of
difference between serious desires and passionate expressions. The desires of
the children of God are deliberate and resolved, conceived upon good grounds,
and after much struggling with flesh and blood to bring their hearts to it
Carnal men are loath that God should take them at their word; as he in the
fable that called for death, and when be came, desired him to help him up with
his burden. Alas I they do not consider what it is to be in the state of the
dead, and to come unprovided and unfurnished into
God's presence. We often wish ourselves in our graves; but if God should take
us at our word, we would make many pauses and exceptions. Men
that in their miseries call for death, when sickness cometh will run to the
physician. Many gifts are promised if life could be restored. None more
unwilling to die than those that in a passion wish for death.
2. We must carefully look to
the grounds of these wishes and desires. Carnal wishes for death arise, either
[1.] Out of violent anger,
and a pet against providence; as Jonah, Jonah iv. 3,
'Therefore now, Ο Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life
from me, for it is better for me to die than to live;' and ver. 8, 'He fainted
and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to
live.' The murmuring Israelites, when they felt the famine of the wilderness,
wished they 'had died in the
[2.] In deep sorrow; as Job
iii. 11, 'Why died I not from the womb? why did I not
give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?' and Job vi. 8, 9,' Oh that I
might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for I
even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand,
and cut me off.' Elisha: 1 kings xix. 4, He sat down
under a juniper-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said,
It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my
fathers.'
[3.] From the peevishness of
fond and doting love: 2 Sam. xviii. 33, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son
Absalom, would God I had died for thee! O Absalom, my son, my son!' As the
wives of the barbarians, that burn themselves to
attend the ghosts of their dead husbands.
[4.] From
distrust and despair; the evil is too hard for them, they are at their wits'
end: Job vii. 15, 'My soul chooseth strangling, and
death rather than life.' In all these cases it is but a shameful retreat [Pg. 394] from the conflict and burden
of the present life, from carnal irksome-ness under the labours
and burdens of the present life, or a distrust of God's help. There may be
murder in a rash wish, if it proceed from a vexed
heart These are but froward thoughts, not a
sanctified resolution.
3. Such desires of death and
dissolution as are lawful, and must be cherished, come from a good ground; a
heart deadened to the world, they are crucified to it, their hearts are
mortified, 'set on things above,' Col. iii. 1. Some
competent assurance: Rom. viii. 23, 'We groan, waiting for the adoption, viz.,
the redemption of our body.' They have tasted the clusters of
4. You must look to the end.
Men have a blind notion of heaven; they expect a carnal heaven, as the Jews
looked for a carnal Messiah, to enjoy a Turkish paradise, full of ease and
pleasure. The people of God desire heaven to have a perfect union and communion
with him whom their souls love: Phil. i. 23, 'I desire to depart, and be with Christ;' Phil, iii 20,' Our conversation is in heaven, whence we look for a Saviour;' they long to see him, to be where he is. Heart
and head should be together. And so also to be freed from sin: Rom. vii. 24, 'O
wretched man that I am t who shall deliver me from this body of death?' They
would be in heaven that they may sin no more. Men look upon heaven as a kind of
reserve, if the world do not hold. We should desire
heaven, not to be freed from trouble, but to be freed from sin, and to be with
Christ; there must be a holy desire of a better life.
5. The manner must be
regarded; it must be with submission: Phil i. 24,
'Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you;' otherwise we
encroach upon God's right, and would deprive him of a servant without his
leave. A Christian will die and live as the Lord will; while others want
submission to live in trouble, he is satisfied; or to die if he be not in
trouble; if it be the Lord's pleasure, a believer is satisfied with long life,
Ps. xci. 16; he is willing to live and die as God liketh; he will wait till his change comes, when God will
give him a discharge by his own immediate hand, or by enemies. Gratias agimus, quod a molestis Dominie liberamur. God knoweth how to choose the fittest time,
otherwise we know not what we ask.
3. Observe, that a spiritual
victory over evil is to be preferred before a total exemption from it. Christ
doth not pray for an absolute immunity and deliverance, but, a
preservation from the evil of the world. Christ prayeth
thus, and so he teacheth us to pray. Mat vi. 13, 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil.' When we say, 'Lead us not into temptation.' he doth not mean that we
should pray for an absolute exemption from temptation; that is the lot of all
the saints; but that we may not fall under the weight of a temptation, that is,
\~eivenegkhv\~ and it is explained, that he would not
as a judge, by a spiritual excommunication, put us into the hands of Satan, to
be crashed by him, as it is explained in the next verse, 'But deliver us from
evil.'
use 1. It teacheth us how to pray to God. Our prayers should be [Pg. 395] to be
delivered not from the world so much as from the evil of the world, from sins rather than afflictions. The saints
seek grace rather than deliverance in their afflictions, direction as well as
protection, that they may do nothing unseemly while they suffer: Ps. cxli. 3, 4, 'Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil
thing, to practise wicked works with them that work
iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.' And they desire improvement
rather than a discharge; for the saints do not conceive prayers out of
interest, but from a principle of the new nature. To a gracious eye,
sustentation under the cross is better than absolute deliverance; the
deliverance is a common mercy, the sustentation is a special mercy. Carnal men
may be without affliction, but carnal men have no experience of grace; and bare
deliverance is no sign of special love, but improvement is: 'My grace is
sufficient for thee.' It is divinity preached from heaven makes the saints to
rejoice in infirmities. Paul before was earnest to be freed from the trouble.
Use 2. How to wait and hope for the blessings of Christ's purchase.
Absolute immunity is not to be looked for, but victory and conservation: 2 Tim.
iv. 18, 'The Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.' A Christian placeth his hope chiefly on that. Paul could not look for
such a deliverance again from the lion, but from an unworthy carriage. The
blessings which Christ hath obtained of his Father are rather spiritual and
celestial than temporal; therefore he is more solicitous to free as from sin
than from trouble: Mat. i. 21, 'Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people
from their sins;' not from their troubles, their sorrows, but their sins. We
would be delivered from sickness, trouble, danger; but Christ is a spiritual saviour; the great deliverance is to be freed from sin.
Use 3. To teach us to suffer with patience. Let us endure the evil
of punishment, that we may escape the evil of sin. Moral evil is worse than
natural; it is better to be miserable than to be sinful. Of all evil sin is the
greatest: to be carnal, a swearer,
a drunkard, an unclean person, this is a greater evil than poverty, sickness,
blindness, lameness; this doth not separate from God.
4. Observe the danger of the
worldly estate. It appears in two things:
First, The multiplicity of snares. The whole
world is full of snares, and we can walk nowhere but we are like to be defiled.
It is a vale of tears, and a place of snares; and therefore
a vale of tears because a place of snares, which make the saints go up and down
groaning: Rom. vii. 24, 'O wretched man that I am I who shall deliver me from
this body of death?' All conditions of life may become a snare, prosperity,
adversity: Prov. xxx. 8, 9, 'Give me neither poverty
nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, Who is the Lord? or
lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of God in vain.' Mark, either
condition hath its snares, but prosperity hath most As
a garment too short will not cover our nakedness, and too long proveth lacinia prapendens, ready to trip up our heels. Many that carry
themselves well in one condition quit-j miscarry in another; as it is observed
of Joab: 1 Kings ii. 28,
'That [Pg. 396] he turned after Adonijah, though he
turned not after Absalom.' 'Ephraim is a cake not turned,' Hosea vii. 8. The
young prophet that withstood the king is overcome with the insinuations of the
old prophet, 1 Kings xiii. 16, 17.
Some miscarry in adversity, others in prosperity, but more there; as diseases
that grow of fulness are more dangerous than diseases that grow of want. The
taking God's name in vain is not bo bad
as denying God: 'Lest I be full and deny thee; lest I be poor, and take thy
name in vain.' They that are full live as if there were no God at all; there is
the snare; and in adversity we are impatient, as in prosperity we are forgetful
of God. Paul 'learned of Christ how to be abased and how to abound,' Phil. iii.
12. We must do both. But there is a greater snare in prosperity; the more of
the world the wone; as fat and fertile grounds are
most rank of weeds, and produce most thorns and thistles: Rom. viii. 39, 'Nor
height, nor depth, shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.' The depth of misery is a snare, and the height of happiness
too; there the snare is greater. Misery is often made an occasion to bring us
to Christ, but never fulness, ease, and plenty. The moon is never eclipsed but when
at full; God's children have most miscarried then. David was not soiled with
lust whilst he wandered in the wilderness, but whilst he walked on the terrace
of his palace; then men discover themselves, as a leaky vessel is known when it
is filled with water. Adversity makes men more reserved and serious; when the
vessel is empty, its hollowness and unsoundness is least discovered. Thus every
condition may prove a snare. So every calling and course of
life. In ordinary callings, a long familiarity breedeth
a liking, and the soul receiveth taints from objects
to which we are accustomed. Men that have much to do in the world had need take heed of a worldly spirit; continual presence
of the object secretly linketh the affections; lone
suits prevail at length, and green wood kindleth by
long lying on the fire. When the course of your callings and employments put
yon much upon worldly business, the heart is drawn away from God insensibly,
and you will find less savour in holy things. Yea, in
that calling which immediately respects the service of God
there wants not snares: 1 Tim. iii. 6, 'Not a novice, lest being puffed
up with pride, he falleth into the condemnation of
the devil.' Holy things are often abused by a perverse aim. Those that are set. on the pinnacles of
the temple are in danger; tile devil carried Christ thither with an intent to
tempt him. Christ prayeth here principally for the
college of the apostles; ministers are in danger as well as others; we have our
temptations as well as you. Nay, in all actions and employments, worship,
feeding, trading, sporting, all these may become a snare; and temptations are
like the wind, that bloweth from every corner, east,
west, north, and south. So there are temptations in worship to pride,
self-confidence, carnal distractions. Satan stealeth away our hearts from under Christ's own arm:' When
the sons of God met together, Satan was amongst them,' Job i.
6. Not only our table may be turned into a snare, but
duties into dung. In recreations, eating, drinking, bodily refreshments, there
is a snare. Job i. 5, Job sacrificed while his
children were a-banqueting. At a feast there are more guests than are invited;
evil spirits haunt such meetings; and usually [Pg. 397] men let loose
themselves to a carnal liberty at each a time. Satan, to be sure to be welcome, bringeth his dish with him, a bait
for every humour: 1 Tim. iv. 5, 'The creatures must
be sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.' We must not only ask God's leave, but his
blessing. So pleasures, if not
sanctified, bring a brawn and deadness upon the heart: 1 Tim. v. 6, 'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.' So also in all places; in company, and when
we are alone, we are still in danger.
In company, we are in danger to be provoked to wrath or tempted to sin;
though open excesses manifest their own odiousness, yet secretly we learn of
one another to be cold, careless, less mortified. In good company, nature is very susceptible
of evil, and we imitate their weaknesses sooner than their graces: Gal. ii. 13, 'Barnabas was carried away with
their dissimulations.' So in privacy, when we are alone, the devil often abuseth our solitude; Christ was tempted in the wilderness,
Mat. iv. 1. In
the vast world there is no corner where a man can be privileged from
temptations; how hard a matter is it to be alone when we are alone, or to have
none with us bnt God and our own souls 1 It is good to be alone with God, but not
with Satan: John xvi. 32, 'Ye shall leave me alone, and
yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.' Now few can say so. Alas I we have cause to say, Here I am
alone, but I am not alone, for Satan is with me. So also there is danger from the men of the
world, and the things of the world. The
men of the world are apt to ensnare us by their counsels or threatenings. Sin is as earnest to propagate itself as
grace. Wicked men would have the whole
world to be all of a piece; they are panders and bawds to wickedness, to draw
others into the same snare with which they are held themselves; they are the
devil's factors, and when they cannot prevail, then they rage, and slander, and
persecute: 'They think strange that you do not ran with them into the same
excess of riot, speaking evil of you.' 1 Peter iv. 4.
The wills of men are ranked with the lusts of the flesh; ver. 2, 3, 'That he no
longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but
to the will of God. For the time past
of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we
lived in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine.' &c. Then the things of the
world. There are several baits
for every temper, pleasures, honours, profits. Satan is well skilled in tempers; he dresseth the temptation in that livery which suiteth with every man's humour
and complexion, and plieth that object which suiteth with the distemper. He knoweth every
distemper loveth the diet that feedeth
it; hath honours for the ambitious, wealth for the
covetous, pleasures for the sensual; and God by a righteous dispensation permitteth it: Jer. vi. 21, 'Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay
stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together
shall fall upon them.' As when we
suspect a servant to be given to filching, we leave loose money about the house
to try if he will steal it; so God, to try us, may suffer Satan to ply us with
a diet suitable to our distemper.
Secondly, The next reason is our own weakness. There are not only snares
and temptations in the world, but there is a flexibleness
in the party tempted: James i. 14, 'Every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.' The fire burneth in our [Pg. 398] own hearts; Satan doth bat blow up
the flame. There is bad liquor in the vessel; Satan giveth
it vent, and sets it abroach with violence: Mat v.
28, 'He that looketh on a woman to lost after her,
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart' There is an intrinsical flexibleness in the heart, a treacherous party
within. The evils of the world were tolerable, if there were not lust in the
heart: 2 Peter i. 4, 'Having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust.' We carry the worst enemy in our own bosom;
Satan could not prevail against us were it not for our own lusts; as the
Philistines could not prevail against Samson if Delilah had not lulled him to
sleep, or as Balaam first corrupted
Use. 1. Caution.
Take heed; the world is a dangerous place, even-to a disciple of Christ; and
therefore you have need 'to use it as it you used it not' The
heart is soon tainted, and that insensibly. There are two remedies that yon
should constantly nee—watching' and prayer; they are prescribed by our Saviour: Mat xxvi. 41, 'Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation.' These must always go together. We watch that we may not be
careless; we pray that we may not be self-confident These
two duties help one another; the heart is best kept when it is commended to
God. We watch only to discover the approaches of the enemy; and we cry for God's
help against the temptation. As watching helps prayer, danger descried giveth quickness, fervency, and earnestness in
supplication; so also prayer helpeth watching. We can
best maintain our station when we call in God's help.
1. Watch,
and that especially against two things—the occasions of sin, and the privy
distempers of the heart.
[1.] The
occasions of sin. Do not put yourselves upon danger; it is a sign of a naughty
heart to dally with occasions; as ravens, when they are driven away from the
carrion, will stand within the scent It is not good to
be within the scent of sin.
[2.] Against privy
distempers. We are not only to watch against actual sins, but the secret
growing of evil habits, especially against deadness, drowsiness, and those
distempers that insensibly creep upon the heart Conversing with worldly
pleasures and worldly objects breedeth a deadness, and withdraweth the
heart ere we are aware. Natural conscience is kept waking against foul lusts
and corruptions; they are in a dead sleep that can, as Jonah did, sleep in a
storm, that fall into brutish practices without remorse. But the great end of
spiritual watching is to keep the heart in frame, to prevent the sly encroachments
of the world. But how shall we know when the world doth encroach? I answer—When your care is lessened towards heavenly things, and your
delight is lessened in them.
(1.) When your care is
lessened towards heavenly things, you are not so serious, so frequent in
communion with God. This is Martha's fault; she' was cumbered about much
serving, while Mary sat at Jesus his feet, and heard his words,' Luke x. When
you begin to lessen your course of duty, though the same abilities,
opportunities, and necessities continue, and only out of respect to the world,
it is a carnal distemper, especially when the world beginneth
to upbraid conscience. If I hear as much, and pray as much, and meditate as
much as I was wont, it will engross my time and hinder my worldly pursuits. As
Sarah thrust Ishmael out of doors when he began to scoff at Isaac, it is good
to thrust the world out of the heart when it encroacheth
too much. Be it the world of carnal delight, or of carnal profit, when it would
defraud God, or the soul, or the family of its due allowance, it is sad.
(2.) When
your delight is lessened, and you have lost your savour
of the word or the ordinances, or sabbath,
and prize communion with God less, God is defrauded: 1 John ii. 15, 'Love not the world, nor the things of the world; for if
any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.' The love of the
world hath made you weary of God. When the affections are scattered to other
objects, it is adultery; the wife of the bosom is defrauded of her right So it is spiritual adultery when the world hath intercepted
your delight, and you go a-whoring after it. It is idolatry to divert our
trust, and adultery to divert our delight. Worldliness is expressed by both
terms—adultery and idolatry: Ps. lxxiii. 27, 28,'
Thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from thee; but it is good for me
to draw near to God.' Estrangement of affection from God is called there,
'going a-whoring from God,' and opposed to delight in communion with God. And
it is spiritual idolatry: Col. iii. 5, 'Mortify your
earthly members; fornication, &c., and covetousness, that
is idolatry.' And Eph. v. 5,' No covetous person, that is an idolater, shall
inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God.' Therefore though we do not run, [Pg.
400] into gross sins, we must watch against these distempers, lessening of our
care of and delight in heavenly things.
2. Fray. God is the heat
guardian and keeper; he must watch over our watching: Ps. cxli.
3, 'Set a watch, Ο
Lord, before my lips, and keep the door of my mouth.' Our
security lieth in the restraints of his grace and the
conduct of his Spirit: 2 Tim. i. 12, 'I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed to him against that day.' Give your souls to
Christ to keep; it is our best jewel, it is fit it should be in safe hands. In
every prayer we do anew charge Christ with our souls; the heart is best kept
when commended to Christ To quicken yon, consider how
weak the highest saints have been, when God hath loosed his hand and left them
to themselves. David was a holy man, a grown man, a saint of long standing, of
many experiences, yet he was overcome by his eyes. Joseph was a youth, a
servant, had a fair opportunity, which David wanted; he did not tempt, but was
tempted, vet he resisted: Gen. xxxix. 9, 'How shall I
do this wickedness, and sin against God?' Who would have thought that
5. Observe the necessity of
God's keeping. Christ would never make a prayer to his Father for it if it had
been in their own power to keep themselves. It is God must keep us; if he doth
but leave us to grapple with a temptation in our own strength, we are soon
gone: 'Keep them from evil.' This point hath been of often recourse in this
prayer, therefore I shall be the briefer in it:—(1.) How God keepeth us; (2.) Why God keepeth us.
First, How God keepeth us? God hath many ways of keeping us, but they may
be reduced to two—either by his Spirit or providence.
1. All the inward work is despatched by the Spirit, by the power of which he suppresseth inclinations to sin, and layeth
on restraints of grace: Gen. xx. 6, 'I withheld thee from sinning against me.' So in his people he weakeneth the power of sin,
prevents us by the counsels of his grace from giving consent, leaves the awe of
grace upon the soul to weaken the power of sin: Jer.
xxxii. 40, 'I will put my fear into their hearts, that they shall not depart
from me; and giveth actual strength when tempted: 2 Cor. xii. 9, 'My grace is sufficient for thee;' and when we
fall God raiseth us, that we perish not. Sometimes
God lets us fall; as a father, when the child is busy about the fire, puts his
finger to a coal, that he may be afraid of it. It is one of his methods to
bring us to heaven, to make us taste of sin's bitterness. David prayeth, 'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and
uphold me by thy free Spirit,' Ps. li. 12.
2. By
his providence.
[1.] He removeth
the provoking occasions and objects of sin: Ps. cxxv.
3, 'The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest
they put forth their hand to do iniquity' We need this outward help; if we had
oftener occasions, we should be more angry, more
voluptuous, more worldly.
[2.] Violent
temptations are not permitted where he seeth we are
[Pg. 401] most weak. As Jacob drove as the little ones were able to bear, 1 Cor. x. 13, 'God will not suffer us to be tempted above
what we are able, but with the temptation will make a way to escape, that we
may be able to bear it.' He doth not give us into the enemies' hands, end leave
us to the malice of Satan or the violence of men; all is guided with wisdom and
care.
[3.] By withholding occasions
and opportunities, when temptation hath prevailed: Job xxxiii. 17, 'That he may
withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.' When we have conceived
a purpose, God hindereth the execution; each disappointments are a great mercy.
Secondly,
Why. God alone must keep us.
1. From
the nature of God. He is able: 2 Tim. i. 12, 'I know that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him;'
1 Peter i. 5, 'Who are kept
by the power of God;' Jude 24, 'To him that is able to keep you from falling.'
He is wise: 2 Peter ii. 9,' The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of
temptation.' God is skilful and well versed in this work. God is faithful, and
will not fail: 2 Thes. iii. 3, 'The Lord is faithful,
who will stablish you, and keep you from evil.'
Our establishment and preservation from damning sins is among the blessings of
the covenant; his faithfulness lieth at stake.
2. From
our weakness! We cannot keep ourselves. We are so weak,
we are apt to consent to lusts, or to faint under afflictions. Wu fan no more
stand against Satan than a lamb can against a wolf. The world hath a treacherous
party in our own hearts. The best things are most dependent—a sheep, not a
wolf; a vine, not a bramble; a saint, he is always depending.
Use 1. Do not
forfeit Goers keeping. This may be done; therefore we pray, Mat vi. 13,' Lead us not into temptation.' God, as a judge, puts
us for our exercise under Satan's hands; as a malefactor is put into the serjeant's hands, if he will not be ruled; this is a
spiritual excommunication. Partly to cure us of
self-confidence, or resting in our own strength. We use to try men that
boast with a heavy burden; so doth the Lord: Judges x. 14, 'Go and cry unto the
gods whom ye hath chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.'
Partly to cure as of neglect and unthankfulness, when
we do not take notice of God's keeping, when God hath lent us his grace, and we
think we are not beholden to him; as if a man is weary, and another should lend
him his staff to go by, and thereupon he should begin to slight him. He taketh no notice of his preservation that doth not walk
answerably to it; dependence should beset observance: Phil, ii. 12, 13, 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is
God that worketh in you, to will and to do according
to his good pleasure.' When we do not thrive under his custody it is
scandalous. God will take away the hedge, let the boar of the forest come in
and eat them down.
Use 2. To press the children of God to two duties—dependence, confidence.
1.
Dependence: 1 Chron. xx. 12, 'We have no might
against this great company, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are up to
thee.' We must profess that we do not stand by our own strength, [Pg. 402] but
are as a staff in the hand of a man, or a child in the hand of the father: Ps. lxx. 5, 'I am poor and needy,
make haste unto me, Ο God: thou
art my help, and my deliverer, make no tarrying, O my God.' God is honoured when we acknowledge him for our guardian.
2. Confidence that he will
preserve us in that grace to which he hath called us in Christ. There will be
shakings and wanderings, as a tree fastened at the root is driven to and fro
with violent blasts. There may be an interruption of the acts of grace; as a
man in a swoon, or as stunned by a great blow, but he is alive: so there may be
particular falls, but we shall not fall constantly, readily, easily. As in a
land flood the meadows may be overflown, but the
marshes are drowned every tide. Preservation from damning sins is sure and
certain; Christ hath asked it God is able to keep us. Happy are they that have
an interest in Christ's prayers, and that have God for a guardiam
Therefore wait upon God with hope in the midst of temptations.
6. I observe from the last
words, 'the evil.' from the evil one, or evil thing; it lieth indifferenth.
[l.] From the
evil one Observe, Satan hath a great hand in the s that befall
us in the world, both afflictions and sin. He instigateth
our enemiess and inflameth
our lusts.
(1.) He instigateth
oar enemies. Christ said, Luke xxii. 53, 'This in your
hour, and the power of darkness;' Rev. xii. 12, 'The
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth
that he huth but a short time.' If you could behold
with bodily eyes this evil spirit hanging on the ears of the great men of the
world and of the common people, to animate them against the saints, you would
more admire the work of God that you do subsist
(2.) He inflameth
our sins and lusts: 1 Cor. vii. 3, 'Lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency.' The sin is ours, but Satan
joins with it and makes it more violent; as in storms and tempests, when matter
is prepared, the devil maketh them more formidable.
Use 1. Let
persecutors take heed; the devil is near, and they are guided by him, though
they see him not: Rev. xvi. 14, 'They are the spirits
of devils working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth.'
Use 2. Here is
advice to the people of God. (1.) To beware of sins, that you gratify not Satan
with the displeasure of God. Do you think Peter would ever have given such
advice to Christ as he did, if he knew Satan had been in it? Would carnal men
ever lie if they knew the devil filled their hearts? Acts v.
3, 'Why hath Satan filled thine heart, to lie to the Holy Ghost?' Would
men sin so freely if they knew the hand of Satan was in all? And if the Lord
should give you over to his power, if he should give Satan charge over you; now
far might he hurry and carry you? (2.) Let
this teach you dependence upon God so much the more: Eph. vi.
12, 'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this World, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.' We have to do with the devil as well a·
men, and therefore have need to look up to God And
this is thy comfort, O Christian, that God is stronger than Satan.
[2.] From
the evil thing, that is, the evil of persecution; keep them [Pg. 403] from
being destroyed till they have accomplished their ministry. Observe, God keepeth his saints
temporally, till their work is ended, by a special providence. He delivers them
from diseases and from the fury of men as long as he hath any service for them
in the world. Therefore, whenever you have escaped any visible and sensible
danger, when you are come out of a terrible disease, or kept from the fury of
men, improve it accordingly; it is for service.
But rather it may be
understood of the evil of sin; keep them from the evil. And so the note is,
that sin is the greatest evil. Christ doth not say, Keep
them from trouble. No; let them ride out the storm; but keep them from the evil
of sin.