Secondly, Now I come to the other branch, to confirm the point by showing - (1.) The necessity of pleasing God; (2.) The necessity of pleasing God in the present life.
First, The necessity of pleasing God; for whosoever will live happily with the Lord in glory must have a care to please him in the present life
1. Because this is the means and condition without which we shall never come to enjoy God; it is the way to fit the Sons of God for glory, though not the cause of glory: Heb. xii. 14, 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.' The apostle presseth there peace and holiness; but mark what he saith of holiness - without which no man shall see the Lord. He presseth them to follow both; but observe the difference: we must follow peace, that we may walk with men; and holiness, that we may walk with God. They that prefer peace before holiness may gain favour with men, but they lose fellowship and communion with God. God's stipulation with mankind is not made up together of promises; he promiseth much, but he requireth something; as he giveth many blessings, so he requireth many duties; not for which, but without which we shall never be blessed; it implies not a condignity of merit, but an ordinability to the reward. It is required of all those that will be saved: holiness is appointed by God as the way, heaven as the end of the journey. Wherever the scripture speaks either of the decrees of God, or those ordinances of judgment and justice by which he will govern the world, or the covenant of God, there is a duty left upon man. Thus the apostle, Eph. ii. 10, 'We are created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk therein.' They are not the cause of our salvation, or the merit by which we acquire a right, but they are the way and path by which we get to it. There is a great deal of dispute about the necessity of walks; (Qu. 'Works?' - Ed.) 'there is necessitas præsentiæ though not efficientiæ. Observe the constitutions of heaven, this is the order: he will appoint first holiness, then happiness; there is no causality, but order. God's decrees have put salvation into this way and course - first faith, then works, then glory: Eph. i. 4, 'He hath chosen us, that we should be holy.' The eternal counsel of God respecteth both the end and the means. Holiness is a necessary effect of election, and it must have a room; it is necessary, not as a cause, but as a condition. We are not chosen because we were holy, but that we might be holy: Rom. viii. 29, 'Whom he did foreknow he did also predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son.' This was the solemn appointment of God, that those whom he had marked out by his own choice and eternal counsel to be heirs of the grace of life should be conformed to his Son, first in holiness, then in glory. God hath bound himself by promise to deal this way with the creatures, that whosoever shall embrace the agreement of the new covenant shall be saved.
2. There is a necessity of it by way of sign, and as a pledge of our living with God hereafter - 'Before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.' This is that testimony which witnesseth to us our interest in the everlasting state. When holiness is our care, it is a token that heaven is our portion; God will not own us for his own, neither can we take this honour upon ourselves unless we have this mark. The merit of Christ, apprehended by faith, gives us our right and title; but holiness doth evidence and confirm our right and title; we can have no assurance till then. Good works are eternæ felicitatis præsagia, the necessary forerunners and presages of eternal happiness. Never can there be a sound hope towards God where there is not a religious and conscionable desire of walking before God in all well-pleasing; otherwise men do but confute their hopes, and live down their own expectations. In establishing assurance there is a double witness - the spirit and conscience: both have a voice; the Spirit hath a voice, but none can hear it but holy persons. The person must be qualified first to receive the testimony of the Spirit; for the Spirit when he comes to witness to us, doth not reveal to us so much the purposes of God as the gifts of God: 1 Cor. ii. 11, 'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?' The Spirit's testimony is always subsequent to that of the renewed conscience; for the Spirit's testimony is nothing but the evidencing and owning of its own work; and the testimony that we have from the Holy Ghost is not intuitive, but discoursive; the Spirit doth not comport at first with such a report as this is, that mercy is prepared for thee from all eternity; but thou art holy, and therefore thou art in a state of grace and favour. Then conscience hath a voice. Now the testimony of conscience ariseth from comparing our actions with the rule, the conversation of men with the stipulation of God. By a single apprehension it looks up to what God requires, then by reflection how we answer it; and so gives sentence: Heb. xiii. 18, 'We trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly;' 1 John ii. 3, 'Hereby we know that we know him, because we keep his commandments.' The soul is persuaded that it hath an interest in God because it keeps his commandments; there is some ground and warrant for the report of conscience. General hopes are but a deceit, and fond credulity without ground.'
3. It is necessary by way of preparation. Those that walk with God are meet to live with God; they change their place, but not their company; here they walk with God, and there they live with him for ever. The vessels of glory are first seasoned and prepared with grace; God's qualifying grace makes way for his rewarding grace: Col. i. 12,' Who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.' Alas! what should carnal and sensual persons do in heaven? those blessed mansions that are above would be to them as melancholy and obscure shades. How can they endure the perpetual presence of God, that now cannot endure the thoughts of God? or how can they delight in the communion of saints to whom now good company and holy conference is as a prison? how can men leap from the lap of delight into the bosom of Abraham so suddenly? what should swine and dogs do with such a holy place in the upper paradise? Heaven is an intimate familiarity with God, and therefore it is not for mere strangers; heaven is said to be prepared for us, and we are said to be prepared for heaven. Christ is gone in person to heaven to prepare a place for us, and hath left his Spirit upon earth to prepare us for heaven; and this is the reason of those expressions so often used in scripture, of being 'worthy of eternal life,' and walking 'worthy of the high prize of our calling,' and 'worthy of God:' the meaning is, beseeming and becoming. We are put into a holy meetness and fitness for such holy rewards: Rev. iii. 4, 'They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy;' that is, fittingly disposed and prepared; as in another case, Mat. x. 11, ' Into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy;' that is, prepared by the Holy Ghost to receive the doctrine of life, and to entertain God's messengers; inquire who hath a good report and are lovers of religion, ready to entertain the word and the messengers of the word. So here they are 'worthy ;' that is, fittingly disposed, meet to receive such a portion in glory. It is not any equality of' worth that is implied there; but that which is meet, convenient, and becoming. God works in the hearts of believers an aptitude for blessing, then he bestows them upon them; first, he gives the heavenly mind, then the heavenly state; the new creature for the new heavens and the new earth. Wicked men have a portion suiting to them, and becoming their affections; sensual pleasures for a sensual heart; so God's children, before they have their portion, they are suited to it, that they may have a portion suited to their heart. This is the great mercy of God, that he will never advance our condition till he hath changed our hearts. A king may advance a slave to a high place of trust, but he cannot give him gifts and fitness; he may change his state, but he cannot change his nature; but God, before he gives heaven, he gives a heavenly inclination; and before he gives communion with himself in glory, there is communion with himself in grace.
Secondly, The necessity of pleasing God in the present life - 'For before his translation,' it is said, 'he had this testimony, that he pleased God.' There is a time for all things, and the time of pleasing God is in the present life.
1. Because this is the time of grace. Here we are invited to walk with God: now we have the means, then we have the recompenses; here Christ saith, Mat. xi. 28, 'Come to me,' in a way of choice communion; then, Mat. xxv. 34, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom.' Now we come to receive grace, then we come to him to receive glory; here God makes an offer, and there he makes it good. Upon gospel terms he holds out the golden sceptre, therefore here is the time to please God. When the angels came with a song to publish the tidings of salvation, mark the burden of their song: Luke ii. 14, 'Peace upon earth, and good-will towards men.' Now the Lord offers to be reconciled: the church is the seminary of heaven, and here we are trained up for glory. We shall never have such golden seasons again; you shall hear of no gospel afterward; there shall be no more tenders and offers of grace. Zanchy speaketh of some that had a fancy that the gospel should be preached in the other world to those that never heard of Christ in this world - to children, Turks and pagans, alleging that place, 1 Peter iii. 19, 'By which he went and preached to the spirits in prison;' but this is as a fancy and nothing to thy case. Now only doth Christ say, 'Come!' If you refuse him now, he will hereafter say, 'Depart!' This is the season of grace.
2. This is the time of our exercise and trial. As death leaves us, so judgment finds us; our everlasting woe or weal hangs upon the present moment. Hereafter is not the time of labour, but of rewards and punishment. Then there will be no more room for repentance, though we should seek the blessing with tears, Heb. xii. 17; therefore here is, the time of our exercise and of our work; we are now put to our choice. There is no triumph without warfare - 'They are not crowned except they strive lawfully,' saith the apostle; that is, according to the laws of the race, 2 Tim. ii. 5; so we cannot expect our crown till we have been exercised in the duties of holiness. They that live in the Lord die in the Lord, and they shall hereafter reign with the Lord. It is said of ungodly men, 'their iniquities shall find them out,' Num. xxxii. 23; and of the godly 'their works follow them,' Rev. xiv. 13: they reap the fruit of their works in the other world. We may observe, many live as if they never thought to die; therefore when they come to die they die as if they never thought to live. Oh consider, your works do not die when you die; they are kept in a safe register, and they will find you out: Eccles. xi. 3, 'If the tree fall toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall lie.' As we live, so we die, and so we shall arise and come to judgment. Here is the time of our trial and exercise. Look, as the Jews upon the sixth day were to provide for the sabbath, and therefore they were to gather two omers of manna then; the present life is our sixth day, here we are to make provision; they that did not provide on the sixth day had nothing on the sabbath; so we shall have nothing to do with the everlasting sabbath unless we make provision in the present life. Here we are in via, then 'in termino. Death will at length cut us down and deprive us of further opportunity: Eccles. ix. 10, 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.' When this life is ended, all opportunity of doing good ends with it. The next life is not sæculum operis, but mercedis. Therefore now we must be making out our qualification: Gal. vi. 10, 'As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men.' Opportunities are passing, and being passed will not return; they are confined within the narrow precincts of the present life. Afterwards, the time of our trial and exercise is past: John ix. 4, 'I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.'
3. The sooner we begin the better.
[1.] Because you make a necessary work sure, and put it out of doubt and hazard. The time of this life is uncertain: James iv. 14, Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow; for what is your life? it is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.' And a work of necessity should not be left on per-adventures; therefore we must bestir ourselves without delay. We know not how soon opportunity will be over; it cannot be done too soon, it may be too late, and therefore it is good to be of the surer side. Ludovicas Capellus telleth us, out of Rabbi Jonah's book of the mystery of repentance, that when a disciple came to his teacher to know what was the fittest time to repent in, he answered, 'One day before death,' meaning presently; for we have not assurance of another day: Prov. xxvii. 1, 'Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.' Our greatest works, and of most absolute necessity should be done first, and have the quickest despatch, lest it be too late before we go about them. Oh, woe to us, if God should call us off before we have minded coming to him, and walking with him!
[2.] In point of obedience, God presseth to 'now.' God doth not only command us to please him, but to do it presently: Heb. iii. 7, 8, 'To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' God standeth on his authority, and will have a present answer. If he say, 'To-day,' it is flat disobedience for you to say, 'To-morrow:' 2 Cor. vi. 2, 'Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.' At this instant you are charged in his name, as you will answer the contrary. You say, no; I will please the flesh a little longer. It were just with God, if you refuse him, never to call you more.
[3.] In point of ingenuity. We receive a plenteous recompense for a small service. When a man thinketh what God hath provided for them that love him and serve him, he should be ashamed that he should receive so much and do so little; and therefore he should redeem all the time that he can, that he may answer his expectations from God. Shall we adjourn and put off God to our decrepit time, when he hath provided for us eternal happiness? Can a man, which hath any ingenuity in his breast, be content to dishonour God longer, and grieve his Spirit longer, provided that at length he may be saved? Those that have any due sense of God's kindness, or their own duty, will think God hath been too long kept out of his right, and that all the time that remaineth is too little to express our love and thankfulness to him: 1 Peter iv. 3, 'For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles.' Men that delay, do in effect say, Let me despise thy commands and abuse thy mercies a little longer but then, when my lusts are satisfied and youthful heats are spent, I will see what I can do to be saved. What baseness of spirit is this!
[4.] It is our advantage to begin betimes, both here and hereafter.
(1.) Here. The sooner you begin to please God, the sooner you have an evidence of your interest in his favour, more experience of his love, more hopes of being with him in heaven; and these are not slight things. When once you taste the comfort of them, you will be sorry that you had begun no sooner; as Paul complaineth, 'that he was born out of due time,' 1 Cor. xv. 8. He lost the advantage of seeing Christ in the flesh, and personal conference with him, and so you will lose many sweet visits of love and experiences of grace that otherwise might fall to your share: Rom. xvi. 7, 'Who were in Christ before me.' An early acquaintance with Christ bringeth many benefits with it of peace, and comfort, and joy, and hope, which others that set forth later want. The consolations of God should not be vile and cheap with us; if you were acquainted with them, you would leave your husks for bread in your Father's house.
(2.) The sooner you begin with God, the greater will your glory he hereafter; for the more we improve our talents here, the greater will be our reward in heaven: Luke xix. 16 - 19, 'Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds; and he said, Well, thou good servant; because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds; and he said likewise to him, Be thou over five cities.' See Christ's answer, Mat. xx. 23, 'To sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.' There are degrees of glory set forth, by sitting on the right hand to some, and left hand to others; as in hell, there is a hotter and cooler judgment: certainly, they that have long pleased God and made it the whole business of their lives shall have larger measures of happiness.
Use 1. If there be such a necessity of pleasing God, and giving up ourselves to the severities of religion, then it serves for reproof of divers sorts of persons; as -
1. Those that, though they live as they list; as if they were sent into the world for no other purpose but to gratify their carnal desires, yet lay as bold a claim and title to heaven as the best; they doubt not but glory belongs to them, though they cannot make good their title. It is true, here in this world is the time of God's patience, and God keeps on open house; here the wicked, as well as the godly, have some taste and some experience of God's bounty. The world is a common inn for sons and bastards, but heaven is a pure place; no unclean thing enters there. There are no swine in the upper paradise. At the great assembly and congregation, God will make a separation: Ps. i. 5, 'The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment; nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.' Wicked men shall not be able to look Christ in the face, they shall not mingle themselves with that glorious assembly of saints - 'The place of dogs is without,' Rev. xx. 15. There is no point more pressed in religion than the separation God will then make, and no point less granted; for we all flatter ourselves with general and deceitful hopes of mercy: 'Know ye not,' says the apostle, 1 Cor. 6, 10, 'that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven? Be not deceived,' &c. We are all apt to deceive ourselves with a general loose hope. Universal salvation is written in the heart by nature; that is the reason why we are so prone to hearken to the doctrine of universal grace. Men are apt to deceive themselves with such a lying hope. Our desires do by degrees settle into opinions. Careless people would fain have it so; they would have God guide and govern the world after another manner; they would have heaven, and they would not be at the pains of strictness to conquer lusts and subdue unruly affections; they would not be at the trouble to dedicate and give up themselves to the will of God; and by little and little their desires grow into hopes. Men will never be persuaded that God will ever damn his own creature; therefore, as ignorant people, they say, He that made me will save me, though there be express words to the contrary, Isa. xxvii. 11; and therefore they please themselves with a naked hope of mercy, without making good their own interest. Consider, you have no liberty to sin by Christ's death. Christ died to gain you to please the Lord, and walk before him in all holiness: 1 Peter i. 18, 'Forasmuch as you were redeemed not with corruptible things, from your vain conversation,' &c.
2. It reproves them that think that every slight profession of the name of God will serve the turn; no, you must walk with God and please God. We are mistaken in the business of pleasing God; it leaves a great burden of duty upon the creature; it notes a universal constant care to please God at all times and in all things; it is resignation and giving up yourselves to the will of God: Rom. xii. 1, '1 beseech you, brethren, that ye present your' bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.' Now wordly men that have not God in all their thoughts, or else wholly devote themselves to humour their own lusts, to please themselves and to please the flesh, not to please the Lord, yet, because of some slight acts of duty, they will foster and cherish great hopes in their bosoms. Oh, consider, you that please the flesh and deny yourselves in no carnal delight, you must look for your reward from the flesh. If you have lived as those that would gratify yourselves in all your carnal desires, you are not meet for heaven. Or else men will rest in this they will please God where they do not displease themselves, or wrong or endanger their own interest. Alas! this is man-pleasing and walking with mammon, not with God; they mind duty only, as it lies in mammon's road. Consider, walking with God is not a step or two - practising duty now and then; but a 'walking worthy of the Lord,' as the apostle saith, 'unto all well-pleasing,' Col. i. 10. It requires much severity of life and solemn sequestration from the distractions and pleasures of the world, a great deal of self-denial, and still waiting upon God in holy services. Now, men that are only varnished over with the general name of christians are far from this. Oh, consider, what God is, and what you expect from him, and what in reason is suitable hereunto! God will not be put off with anything; you are 'to walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory,' 1 Thes. ii. 12. Oh, but we cannot endure to hear of such strictness, and think it is rank puritanism. But do you know that God is a great king, and will not be served with what costs you nought, you that wipe your mouths, and think sins are but petty slips and small escapes; that God's patience will suffer all and his grace pardon all; that no man can be perfect; that the purest saints have fallen into as great faults; and that you shall do well enough, though you be not so strict and so nice? Oh no, it cannot be; these are vain thoughts - spider's webs, sorry fig-leaves, sandy foundations; all these notions the scripture useth in this case. Our presumption of the end is upheld by our presumption of the means; it is not presumption simply to think you shall be saved, but to make every slight act a ground of hope. Men have no solid grounds of assurance, but usually make up in the strength of persuasion what is wanting in the grounds and warrant of it, as if bold-faced confidence would serve instead of duty.
3. It reproves those that would please God, but with a limitation and reservation so far as they may not displease men, or displease the flesh. Oh, if you please God, it requireth a solemn sequestration for his use, much sell-denial, 'to be followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises,' Heb. vi. 12. There is none went to heaven but one time or another they were sorely put to it; and God will try whose interest is greater in us; the fleshly interest or his interest, whether sensible things have a greater hand and power over us, or his promises: the best have need to look how they acquit themselves upon trial.
4. It reproves those that adjourn and put off the work of religion from time to time, till they have lost all time; that use to put off God to the troubles of sickness or the aches of old age. It is Satan's great artifice to cheat men of the present season by future promises. Oh, consider, the work is great, and life is short! If we did live as many years as days, or as many years as there be days in the year, as Enoch did, yet there would be enough to take up our time. The journey to heaven is long, and we have but little time; we can never outgrow our duty; still there would be room for abounding in the work of the Lord. Consider again, no season can be fitter than the present time. But still we want something; in youth we want wisdom; and in age we want vigour and strength; and, besides, it is very uncertain whether God will give us another opportunity. We have not a lease of tomorrow; if we had, it is doubtful whether ever we shall have a heart to make use of it. We cannot presume of our own hearts, because grace is not in our own power; we cannot presume on God's mercy, for he hath made no absolute promise; we cannot presume of any singular efficacy that will be in old age or in death, because moral means do not work without special grace. Although we see we are declining every day, yet we are as the bad thief who had one foot in hell; yet he mocks and scoffs at Jesus Christ, and dies blaspheming; nay, we have shrewd presumptions of the contrary, because there will be a greater disability either in respect of ourselves or grace - and use makes our hearts readier to sin; and by long continuance the habit of displeasing God will be strengthened. Satan is never more busy than when life draweth to an end, and thou hast never less strength to resist him. Long use makes your hearts obdurate, and long resistance will grieve the Spirit of God, and sins of an unregenerate life will make death more terrible: and therefore do not adjourn and put off God. Certainly when a man is unfit for every common secular employment, he is much more for spiritual; the trouble of pains and aches, and decay of spirit, and the diversion of business, and the importunity of Satan's temptations, these things should put us upon taking hold of the present season. It is to be suspected, when we will not leave our sins till we leave our lives, how shall we then distinguish nature from grace? or that it is more than natural affrightment, arising from the sense of disease and pain, or natural desires of happiness? And besides, the invitations of scripture call for a present obedience, a yielding up ourselves, not upon force, as when we come to die; but they call for willing and ready obedience: Heb. iii. 13, 'While it is called to-day;' and Eccles. xii. 1, 'Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth: in thy young and flowery age, when thou mayest more glorify God. And then we do not know how long the day of grace will continue; the day of grace is not always as long as a man's life: the Lord may pass the sentence of obduration and final hardness upon us. Alas! corruptions will grow upon us, and carnal desires grow up with us, and our affections grow more stiff and hardened every day, as letters in the bark of a tree. Consider, a man cannot come soon enough into the arms of mercy, nor soon enough out of Satan's power; a man can never too soon begin his journey towards heaven. If you did but mind your salvation in earnest, you would be more in haste. The heirs of promise are described to be 'those that fly for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before them,' Heb. vi. 18; there is an avenger of blood at their heels, they see wrath pursues after them; therefore they fly for refuge. And consider again, there is little love of God showed in this, that you repent only when you can sin no longer; when you can be content God should be dishonoured for a long time, provided that at length you should be saved. Oh, do but consider what an ill requital you make to the Lord for his purposes of grace towards you! he thought of us before there was hill or mountain. As long as God is God, he is the God of the elect: Ps. ciii. 17, 'From everlasting to everlasting thy loving-kindness is to them that fear thee.' If God hath loved us from one eternity to another, what ingratitude is this to confine him to the odd corner of our lives, to the aches and phlegm of old age! Again, it is a great honour to seek the Lord betimes. Mnason is famous for this in scripture, because he was 'an old disciple:' and the apostle speaks of Andronicus and Junia, 'who were in Christ before me,' Rom. xvi. 7 - sooner than me in grace. It is a mighty privilege to be in Christ before others.
Use 2. If there be no hope of living with God without pleasing God, oh, then make it the aim and scope of your lives to please the Lord! You that have already given up yourselves to the will of God had need to be quickened again and again to make good your resolution. See how earnestly the apostle speaks: 1 Thes. iv. 1, 'We beseech and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.' This is the work and business of your lives, to keep company with God, to enjoy him in a gracious communion. Take a direction or two what you shall do; take the commandment for your rule; take the promises for your encouragement; and make the glory of God your great aim. Look to the commands that you do not err; look to the promises that you may not be disconsolate; look to the glory of God that you may be sincere, and keep on in an even course of holiness.
1. Look to the commandments as your rule: Micah vi. 8, 'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?' God hath told you what will please him. Because the characters that are engraven upon your hearts are blurred, and a man can hardly read them; therefore God hath given us his word, and there are his decrees and ordinances of judgment and justice recorded how he governs the world. A man is pleased when we do his will; God's will is in his word. God will accept of nothing but what he hath required, otherwise we walk at random. I shall not unravel the decalogue; a short summary is useful to us. It is good to have all christian obedience summed up into brief heads. Sometimes the will of God is summed up in one word, sometimes in two, sometimes in three; the apostle sums it up in one word: I Thes. iv. 3, 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification,' that you should grow more holy and holy every day; so Gal. v. 14, 'The law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' Sometimes the scripture doth sum up all christian obedience into two heads, as all sins by the apostle are referred unto two heads: Rom. i. 18, there are the breaches of God's will, 'unrighteousness and ungodliness;' so the great things required are holiness, or godliness and righteousness, the exercise of religion, and a civil honest conversation: Luke i. 74, 75, ' That we should serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.' Sometimes the Spirit of God abridgeth all duty into three heads. Titus ii. 12, would you please God and walk with God; there is the sum of all; to live ' soberly' with respect to ourselves, ' righteously' in respect of others, and 'godly' with respect to the Lord himself: 'soberly' in opposition to the lusts of the flesh. You should make straight steps to your feet; there is need of a great deal of severity; all your affections should he under a prudent coercion and restraint. There is too great a wantonness in professors. Men justify sensuality, and call it living to the height of the creature; the apostle taxeth such, Jude 19, 'Sensual, having not the Spirit.' They pretend to a special singularity of having the Spirit, yet walk to the utmost of christian liberty, yea, and many times exceed their bounds, burden their souls with excesses; therefore you should walk soberly, take all the creatures with thanksgiving, and use them as medicines to repair nature when it is tired with services, not as fuel to brutish lusts. Then the will of God is, that you should walk 'righteously.' Oh, the sadness of the fraud, oppression, and seeking to aspire and domineer by faction that is among professors! Now you are to walk righteously; that is, not only not to snatch from others, but to give of your own, to give and forgive. As you are not to take from others by hooking-in their estates by violent oppressions, so you should also lay out yourselves and part with your worldly comforts for the glory of God and necessities of the saints; you should walk with holy meekness and patience, not returning injury for injury. The next is 'godliness;' you should give God his portion, and bewail it that you have so often denied it him. If our bodies be but defrauded of a night's sleep, we are troubled and complain; if we feel the pain of hunger, we complain. Oh, do not neglect God and your precious souls! I remember St Bernard hath a pretty note of Martha's complaining of Mary, that she sat at Jesus' feet, while herself was employed in all the business of the family. Oh, saith St Bernard, 'That is a happy family where Martha complains of Mary!' Oh, how few families do thus complain! The world eats up our time, our care, and our thoughts, and God hath but little share, little worship, and little reverence.
2. Let the promises of God be your encouragement. All the sweet thoughts of a christian arise from the ample and gracious thoughts of God, expressed in the promises: Ps. xciv. 19, 'In the multitude of my thoughts within me (saith David) thy comforts delight my soul;' when his thoughts were interwoven arid intricated like the boughs of a tree. It is good to see that you fetch all your comforts and encouragements from God's promises, and not from carnal hopes: 2 Cor. v. 7, 'We walk by faith, not by sight.' This is to live by faith, to have recourse to the promises of a better life, when we have any burden upon us. A christian's comforts all lie within the veil; they are not taken from visible enjoyments or carnal hopes; the promises of God are his enjoyment.
3. You should make the glory of God your chiefest end, or you will be very irregular, and cannot keep pace with God in a constant course of duty. Look, as a man that hath a nail in his foot may walk in soft ground, but when he comes to hard ground he is soon turned out of the way, so when a man hath a perverse aim, he will soon be discouraged with the inconveniences that will trouble him in religion. The spiritual life is called 'a living to God,' Gal. ii. 19. The end must be right, otherwise the conversation will be but a vain pretence, that will please men, but not God: Prov. xvi. 2, 'All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.' The chiefest thing God puts into the balance is the temper of the mind, the bent of the heart; what you are moved by, and what sways you. Therefore your chiefest care must be to set the heart right in all actions, those that are of the most trivial concernment; in the use of our christian liberty, the necessary actions of our life; in our duties: 1 Cor. x. 31, 'Whether' you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.' This must be the bias upon the christian spirit, that he may be led on with a constant respect to the Lord's glory; as we act from him, so we should act for him and more to him - a by-end will make you eccentrical in your motions.
Hebrews
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