Chapter XCVII: Introduction: To Each Treatise, Notes, (97)

The words, then, are a prediction or prophecy, and that both concerning the wicked and the righteous, with reference to time and things to come, and shall certainly be fulfilled in their season. Hence it is said concerning the wicked, that their triumphing is short, and that the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment (Job 20:5). O, their end will be bitter as wormwood, and will cut like a two-edged sword! Of this Solomon admonishes youth, when he saith. 'Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment' (Eccl 11:9).

This, therefore, showeth the desperate spirit that possesses the children of men, who, though they hear and read all this, yet cannot be reclaimed from courses that are wicked, and that lead to such a condition (Prov 5:7-14). I say they will not be reclaimed from such courses as lead to ways that go down to hell, where their soul must mourn, even then when their flesh and their body are consumed. O! how dear bought are their pleasures, and how will their laughter be turned into tears and anguish unutterable! and that presently, for it is coming! Their 'judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not' (2 Peter 2:3). But what good will their covenant of death then do them? And will their agreement of hell yield them comfort? Is not God as well mighty to punish as to save? (Isa 28:18). Or can these sinners believe God out of the world, or cause that he should not pay them home for their sins, and recompense them for all the evil they have loved, and continued in the commission of? (Job 21:29-31). 'Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in the days that God shall deal with thee?' (Eze 22:14). Thou art bold now, I mean bold in a wicked way; thou sayest now thou wilt keep thy sweet morsels of sin under thy tongue, thou wilt keep them still within thy mouth. Poor wretch! Thy sins shall lie down in the dust with thee (Job 20:11). Thou hast sucked the poison of asps, and the viper's tongue shall slay thee (Job 20:16). 'Thou shalt not see the rivers, the streaming floods, the brooks of butter and honey' (Job 20:17). 'All darkness shall be hid in thy secret places, a fire not blown shall consume thee.' 'This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God' (Job 20:26-29).

And as they [the Scriptures] predict or prophesy what shall become of the wicked; so also they plentifully foretell what shall happen to the righteous, when he saith their desire shall be granted: of which more anon. Only here I will drop this short hint, That the righteous have great cause to rejoice; for what more pleasing, what more comfortable to a man, than to be assured, and that from the Spirit of truth, that what he desireth shall be granted? And this the righteous are assured of here; for he saith it in words at length, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.' This, then, should comfort them against their fears, and the sense of their unworthiness; it should also make them hold up their heads under all their temptations, and the affronts that is usual for them to meet with in the world. The righteous! Who so vilified as the righteous? He, by the wise men of the world, is counted a very Abraham,[2] a fool; like to him who is the father of us all. But as he left all for the desire that he had of a better country, and at last obtained his desire; for after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise; so those that walk in the steps of that faith which our father Abraham had, even those also in the end shall find place in Abraham's bosom; wherefore it is meet that we should cheer up and be glad, because what we desire shall be granted unto us (Heb 6).

THE NATURE OF THE WORDS.

But I shall here leave off this short way of paraphrasing upon the text, and shall come more distinctly to inquire into the nature of the words; but my subject-matter shall be the last part of the verse, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.' From which words there are these things to be inquired into.

FIRST. What, or who is the righteous man? SECOND. What are the desires of a righteous man? THIRD. What is meant or to be understood by the granting of the desires of the righteous? 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.'

[WHO IS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN?]

FIRST. For the first of these, namely, 'WHAT OR WHO IS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN?

My way of prosecuting this head shall be to show you, first, that I intend a righteous man not in every sense, but in that which is the best; otherwise I shall miscarry as to the intendment of the Holy Ghost; for it may not be supposed that these words reach to them that are righteous in a general, but in a special sense; such, I mean, that are so in the judgment of God. For, as I hinted, there are several sorts of righteous men that yet have nothing to do with this blessed promise, or that shall never, as such, have their desires granted.

FIRST. There is one that is righteous in his own eyes, and is yet far enough off from the blessing of the text: 'There is a generation that are pure' or righteous 'in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness' (Prov 29:12). These are they that you also read of in the evangelist Luke, that are said to trust 'in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others' (Luke 18:9). These are set so low, by this their foolish confidence, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, that he even preferred a praying publican before them (Luke 18:13,14). Wherefore these cannot be the men, I mean those righteous men, to whom this promise is made.

SECOND. There are those that by others are counted righteous; I mean they are so accounted by their neighbours. Thus Korah and his company are called the people of the Lord, and all the congregation by them also called holy, every one of them (Num 16:3,41). But as he who commends himself is not approved, so it is no great matter if all the world shall count us righteous, if God esteemeth us not for such: 'For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends' (2 Cor 10:18).

THIRD. There are those that indeed are righteous when compared with others: 'I came not to call the righteous'; 'for scarcely for a righteous man will one die,' and the like, are texts thus to be understood. For such as these are, as to life moral, better than others. But these, if they are none otherwise righteous than by acts and works of righteousness of their own, are not the persons contained in the text that are to have their desires granted.

FOURTH. The righteous man therefore in the text is, and ought to be, thus described: 1. He is one whom God makes righteous, by reckoning him so. 2. He is one that God makes righteous, by possessing of him with a principle of righteousness. 3. He is one that is practically righteous.

First. He is one that God makes righteous. Now, if God makes him righteous, his righteousness is not his own, I mean this sort of righteousness: 'Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord' (Isa 54:17). God then makes a man righteous by putting righteousness upon him--by putting the righteousness of God upon him (Phil 3:6-9). Hence we are said to be made the righteousness of God in Christ: 'For God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him' (2 Cor 5:21). Thus God, therefore, reckoneth one righteous, even by imputing that unto us which is able to make us so: 'Christ of God is made unto us--righteousness' (1 Cor 1:30). Wherefore he saith again, 'In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory' (Isa 45:25).

The righteousness then by which a man is made righteous, with righteousness to justification of life before God, for that is it we are speaking of now, is the righteousness of another than he who is justified thereby. Hence it is said again by the soul thus justified and made righteous, 'The Lord hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness' (Isa 61:10). As he also saith in another place, 'I spread my skirts over thee, and covered thy nakedness' (Eze 16:8). This we call a being made righteous by reckoning, by the reckoning of God; for none is of power to reckon one righteous but God, because none can make one so to be but him. He that can make me rich, though I am in myself the poorest of men, may reckon me rich, if together with his so reckoning, he indeed doth make me rich. This is the case, God makes a man righteous by bestowing of righteousness upon him--by counting the righteousness of his Son for his. He gives him righteousness, a righteousness already performed and completed by the obedience of his Son (Rom 5:19).

Not that this righteousness, by being bestowed upon us, is severed from Jesus Christ; for it is still his and in him. How then, may some say, doth it become ours? I answer, by our being put into him. For of God are we in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us, of him, 'righteousness.' And again, we are made 'the righteousness of God in him.' So then, the righteousness of Christ covereth his, as a man's garments cover the members of his body, for we are 'the body of Christ, and members in particular' (1 Cor 12:27). The righteousness therefore is Christ's; resideth still in him, and covereth us, as the child is lapped up in its father's skirt, or as the chicken is covered with the feathers of the hen. I make use of all these similitudes thereby to inform you of my meaning; for by all these things are set forth the way of our being made righteous to justification of life (Matt 23:37; Eze 16:8; Psa 36:7).

Now thus a man is made righteous, without any regard to what he has, or to what is of him; for as to him, it is utterly another's. Just as if I should, with the skirts of my garments, take up and clothe some poor and naked infant that I find cast out into the open field. Now if I cover the person, I cover scabs and sores, and ulcers, and all blemishes. Hence God, by putting this righteousness upon us, is said to hide and cover our sins. 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin' (Rom 4:7,8). For since this righteousness is Christ's, and counted or reckoned ours by the grace of God, it is therefore bestowed upon us, not because we are, but to make us righteous before the face of God. Hence, as I said, it is said to make us righteous, even as gay clothes do make a naked body fine. 'He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'

This is of absolute necessity to be known, and to be believed. For without this no man can be counted righteous before God; and if we stand not righteous before God, it will benefit us nothing as to life eternal, though we should be counted righteous by all the men on earth. Besides, if God counts me righteous, I am safe, though in and of myself I am nothing but a sinner, and ungodly. The reason is, because God has a right to bestow righteousness upon me, for he has righteousness to spare; he has also a right to forgive, because sin is the transgression of the law. Yea, he has therefore sent his Son into the world to accomplish righteousness for sinners, and God of his mercy bestows it upon those that shall receive it by faith. Now, if God shall count me righteous, who will be so hardy as to conclude I yet shall perish? 'It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' (Rom 8:33-35).

Thus therefore is a man made righteous, even of God by Christ, or through his righteousness. Now if, as was said, a man is thus made righteous, then in this sense he is good before God, before he has done anything of that which the law calls good before men; for God maketh not men righteous with this righteousness, because they have been, or have done good, but before they are capable of doing good at all. Hence we are said to be justified while ungodly, even as an infant is clothed with the skirt of another, while naked, as touching itself (Rom 4:4,5). Works therefore do not precede, but follow after this righteousness; and even thus it is in nature, the tree must be good before it bear good fruit, and so also must a man. It is as impossible to make a man bring forth good fruit to God, before he is of God made good, as it is for a thorn or bramble bush to bring forth figs or grapes (Matt 7:15,16).

But again, a man must be righteous before he can be good; righteous by imputation, before his person, his intellectuals, can be qualified with good, as to the principle of good. For neither faith, the Spirit, nor any grace, is given unto the sinner before God has made him righteous with this righteousness of Christ. Wherefore it is said, that after he had spread his skirt over us, he washed us with water, that is, with the washing of sanctification (Eze 16:8,9). And to conclude otherwise, is as much as to say that an unjustified man has faith, the Spirit, and the graces thereof; which to say is to overthrow the gospel. For what need of Christ's righteousness if a man may have faith and the Spirit of Christ without it, since the Spirit is said to be the earnest of our inheritance, and that by which we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 1, 4). But the truth is, the Spirit which makes our person good, I mean that which sanctifies our natures, is the fruit of the righteousness which is by Jesus Christ. For as Christ died and rose again before he sent the Holy Ghost from heaven to his, so the benefit of his death and resurrection is by God bestowed upon us, in order to the Spirit's possessing of our souls.

Second. And this leads me to the second thing, namely, That God makes a man righteous by possessing[3] of him with a principle of righteousness, even with the spirit of righteousness (Rom 4:4,5). For though, as to justification before God from the curse of the law, we are made righteous while we are ungodly, and yet sinners; yet being made free from sin thus, we forthwith become, through a change which the Holy Ghost works in our minds, the servants of God (Rom 5:7-9). Hence it is said, 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' (Rom 8:1). For though, as the apostle also insinuates here, that being in Christ Jesus is antecedent to our walking after the Spirit; yet a man can make no demonstration of his being in Christ Jesus, but by his walking in the Spirit; because the Spirit is an inseparable companion of imputed righteousness, and immediately follows it, to dwell with whosoever it is bestowed upon. Now it dwelling in us, principles[4] us in all the powers of our souls, with that which is righteousness in the habit and nature of it. Hence the fruits of the Spirit are called 'the fruits of goodness and righteousness,' as the fruits of a tree are called the fruit of that tree (Eph 5:9).

And again, 'He that doth righteousness is righteous,' not only in our first sense, but even in this also. For who can do righteousness without he be principled so to do? who can act reason that hath not reason? So none can bring forth righteousness that hath not in him the root of righteousness, which is the Spirit of God, which comes to us by virtue of our being made sons of God (1 John 2:19, 3:7; Gal 4:5-7). Hence the fruits of the Spirit are called 'the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God' (Phil 1:11). This then is the thing we say, to wit, that he that is made righteous unto justification of life before God, is also habituated with a principle of righteousness, as that which follows that righteousness by which he stood just before. I say, as that which follows it; for it comes by Jesus Christ, and by our being justified before God, and made righteous through him.

This second then also comes to us before we do any act spiritually good. For how can a man act righteousness but from a principle of righteousness? And seeing this principle is not of or by nature, but of and by grace, through Christ, it follows that as no man is just before God that is not covered with the righteousness of Christ, so no man can do righteousness but by the power of the Spirit of God which must dwell in him. Hence we are said through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, which works are preparatory to fruitful actions. The husbandman, says Paul, that laboureth, must first be partaker of the fruit; so he that worketh righteousness, must first be blessed with a principle of righteousness (2 Tim 2:1-6). Men must have eyes before they see, tongues before they speak, and legs before they go; even so must a man be made habitually good and righteous before he can work righteousness. This then is the second thing. God makes a man righteous by possessing him with a principle of righteousness; which principle is not of nature, but of grace; not of man, but of God.

Third. The man in the text is practically righteous, or one that declareth himself by works that are good; a virtuous, a righteous man, even as the tree declares by the apple or plum it beareth what manner of tree it is: 'Ye shall know them by their fruits' (Matt 7:16). Fruits show outwardly what the heart is principled with: show me then thy faith, which abideth in the heart, by thy works in a well spent life. Mark how the apostle words it, We being, saith he, 'made free from sin, and become servants to God, have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life' (Rom 6:23).

Mark his order: first we are made free from sin; now that is by being justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. Now this is God's act, without any regard at all to any good that the sinner has or can accomplish; 'not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy' thus he saveth us (Titus 3:5; Rom 3:24; 2 Tim 1:9). Now, being made free from sin, what follows? We become the servants of God, that is, by that turn which the Holy Ghost makes upon our heart when it reconciles it to the Word of God's grace. For that, as was said afore, is the effect of the indwelling and operation of the Holy Ghost. Now having our hearts thus changed by God and his Word, the fruits of righteousness put forth themselves by us. For as when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which is in our members, did bring forth fruit unto death, so now, if we are in the Spirit, and we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, by the motions and workings of that we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom 8:6,9).

But now by these fruits we are neither made righteous nor good; for the apple maketh not the tree good, it only declares it so to be. Here therefore all those are mistaken that think to be righteous by doing of righteous actions, or good by doing good. A man must first be righteous, or he cannot do righteousness; to wit, that which is evangelically such. Now if a man is, and must be righteous, before he acts righteousness, then all his works are born too late to make him just before God; for his works, if they be right, flow from the heart of a righteous man, of a man that had, before he had any good work, a twofold righteousness bestowed on him; one to make him righteous in the sight of God, the other to principle him to be righteous before the world. 'That he might be called a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified' (Isa 63:3).

The want of understanding of this, is that which keeps so many in a mist of darkness about the way of salvation. For they, poor hearts! when they hear of the need that they have of a righteousness to commend them to God, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, that is, of that which God imputeth to a man, and that by which he counteth him righteous, have it not in their thoughts to accept of that unto justification of life. But presently betake themselves to the law of works, and fall to work there for the performing of a righteousness, that they may be accepted of God for the same; and so submit not themselves to the righteousness of God, by which, and by which only, the soul stands just before God (Rom 10:1-3). Wherefore, I say, it is necessary that this be distinctly laid down. That a man must be righteous first, even before he doth righteousness; the argument is plain from the order of nature: 'For a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit': wherefore make the tree good, and so his fruit good; or the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt (Luke 6:43).

Reason also says the same, for how can Blacks beget white children, when both father and mother are black? How can a man without grace, and the spirit of grace, do good; nature is defiled even to the mind and conscience; how then can good fruit come from such a stock? (Titus 1:15). Besides, God accepteth not any work of a person which is not first accepted of him; 'The Lord hath respect unto Abel and to his offering' (Gen 4:4). To Abel first, that is, before that Abel offered. But how could God have respect to Abel, if Abel was not pleasing in his sight? and how could Abel be yet pleasing in his sight, for the sake of his own righteousness, when it is plain that Abel had not yet done good works? he was therefore first made acceptable in the sight of God, by and for the sake of that righteousness which God of his grace had put upon him to justification of life; through and by which also the Holy Ghost in the graces of it dwelt in Abel's soul. Now Abel being justified, and also possessed with this holy principle, he offers his sacrifice to God. Hence it is said, that he offered 'by faith,' by the faith which he had precedent to his offering; for if through faith he offered, he had that faith before he offered; that is plain. Now his faith looked not for acceptance for the sake of what he offered, but for the sake of that righteousness which it did apprehend God had already put upon him, and by which he was made righteous; wherefore his offering was the offering of a righteous man, of a man made righteous first; and so the text saith, 'By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous' (Heb 11:4); that is antecedent to his offering; for he had faith in Christ to come, by which he was made righteous; he also had the spirit of faith, by which he was possessed with a righteous principle; and so being in this manner made righteous, righteous before God, and also principled to work, he comes and offereth his more acceptable sacrifice to God. For this, all will grant, namely, that the works of a righteous man are more excellent than are even the best works of the wicked. Hence Cain's works came behind; for God had not made him righteous, had no respect unto his person, had not given him the Spirit and faith, whereby alone men are made capable to offer acceptably: 'But unto Cain and to his offering, the Lord had not respect' (Gen 4:5).

From all which it is manifest, that the person must be accepted before the duty performed can be pleasing unto God. And if the person must first be accepted, it is evident that the person must first be righteous; but if the person be righteous before he doth good, then it follows that he is made righteous by righteousness that is none of his own, that he hath no hand in, further than to receive it as the gracious gift of God. Deny this, and it follows that God accepteth men without respect to righteousness; and then what follows that, but that Christ is dead in vain?

We must not therefore be deceived, 'He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he,' the Lord, 'is righteous' (1 John 3:7). He doth not say he that doth righteousness shall be righteous; as if his doing works would make him so before God; but he that doth righteousness IS righteous, antecedent to his doing righteousness. And it must be thus understood, else that which follows signifies nothing; for he saith, 'He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he,' the Lord his God, 'is righteous.' But how is the Lord righteous? Even antecedent to his works. The Lord was righteous before he wrought righteousness in the world; and even so are we, to wit, every child of God. 'As he is, so are we, in this world'! (1 John 4:17). But we must in this admit of this difference; the Lord was eternally and essentially righteous before he did any work, but we are imputatively righteous, and also made so by a second work of creation, before we do good works. It holds therefore only as to order; God was righteous before he made the world, and we are righteous before we do good works. Thus, therefore, we have described the righteous man. First. He is one whom God makes righteous, by reckoning or imputation. Second. He is one that God makes righteous by possessing of him with a principle of righteousness. Third. He is one that is practically righteous. Nor dare I give a narrower description of a righteous man than this; nor otherwise than thus.

1. I dare not give a narrower description of a righteous man than this, because whoever pretends to justification, if he be not sanctified, pretends to what he is not; and whoever pretends to sanctification, if he shows not the fruits thereof by a holy life, he deceiveth his own heart, and professeth but in vain (James 1:22-27).[5]

2. Nor dare I give this description otherwise than thus, because there is a real distinction to be put between that righteousness by which we should be just before God, and that which is in us a principle of sanctification; the first being the obedience of the Son of God without us, the second being the work of the Spirit in our hearts. There is also a difference to be put betwixt the principle by which we work righteousness, and the works themselves; as a difference is to be put betwixt the cause and the effect, the tree and the apple.

[WHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN?]

SECOND. I come now to the second thing into which we are to inquire, and that is,

WHAT ARE THE DESIRES OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN?

My way of handling this question shall be, FIRST, To speak of the nature of desire in the general. SECOND, And then to show you, more particularly, what are the desires of the righteous.

[Desires in general.]

FIRST. For the first; desires in general may be thus described:--They are the workings of the heart or mind, after that of which the soul is persuaded that it is good to be enjoyed; this, I say, is so without respect to regulation; for we speak not now of good desires, but of desires themselves, even as they flow from the heart of a human creature; I say, desires are or may be called, the working of the heart after this or that; the strong motions of the mind unto it. Hence the love of women to their husbands is called 'their desires' (Gen 3:16); and the wife also is called 'the desire of thine' the husband's 'eyes' (Eze 24:16). Also love to woman, to make her one's wife, is called by the name of 'desire' (Deut 21:10,11). Now, how strong the motions or passions of love are, who is there that is an utter stranger thereto? (Cant 8:6,7).

Hunger is also a most vehement thing; and that which is called 'hunger' in one place, is called 'desire' in another; and he desired 'to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table' (Luke 16:21; Psa 145:16). Exceeding lustings are called 'desires,' to show the vehemency of desires (Psa 106:14, 78:27-30). Longings, pantings, thirstings, prayers, &c., if there be any life in them, are all fruits of a desirous soul. Desires therefore flow from the consideration of the goodness, or profitableness, or pleasurableness of a thing; yea, all desires flow from thence; for a man desires not that about which he has had no consideration, nor that neither on which he has thought, if he doth not judge it will yield him something worth desiring.

When Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was a beautiful tree--though her sight deceived her--then she desired it, and took thereof herself, and gave to her husband, and he did eat; yea, saith the text, 'when she saw that it was a tree to be desired, to make one wise, she took' (Gen 3:6). Hence that which is called 'coveting' in one place, is called 'desiring' in another; for desires are craving; and by desires a man seeks to enjoy what is not his (Exo 20:17; Deut 5:21). From all these things, therefore, we see what desire is. It is the working of the heart, after that which the soul is persuaded that it is good to be enjoyed; and of them there are these two effects.

First. One is--on a supposition that the soul is not satisfied with what it has--to cause the soul to range and hunt through the world for something that may fill up that vacancy that yet the soul finds in itself, and would have supplied. Hence desires are said to be wandering, and the soul said to walk by them; 'Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire,' or than the walking of the soul (Eccl 6:8,9). Desires are hunting things, and how many things do some empty souls seek after, both as to the world, and also as to religion, who have desirous minds!

Second. The second effect is, If desires be strong, they carry all away with them; they are all like Samson, they will pull down the gates of a city; but they will go out abroad; nothing can stop the current of desires, but the enjoyment of the thing desired, or a change of opinion as to the worth or want of worth of the thing that is desired.

[What are the desires of the righteous.]

SECOND. But we will now come to the thing more particularly intended, which is, To show what are the desires of the righteous; that is that which the text calls us to the consideration of, because it saith, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.'

We have hitherto spoken of desires, as to the nature of them, without respect to them as good or bad; but now we shall speak to them as they are the effects of a sanctified mind, as they are the breathings, pantings, lustings, hungerings, and thirstings of a righteous man. The text says 'the desire of the righteous shall be granted'; what then are the desires of the righteous? Now I will, First. Speak to their desires in the general, or with reference to them as to their bulk. Second. I will speak to them more particularly as they work this way and that.

[The desires of the righteous in the general.]

First. For their desires in the general: the same Solomon that saith, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted,' saith also, 'The desire of the righteous is only good' (Prov 11:23). This text giveth us, in the general, a description of the desires of a righteous man; and a sharp and smart description it is: for where, may some say, is then the righteous man, or the man that hath none but good desires? and if it be answered they are good in the main, or good in the general, yet that will seem to come short of an answer: for in that he saith 'the desires of the righteous are only good,' it is as much as to say, that a righteous man has none but good desires, or desireth nothing but things that are good. Wherefore, before we go any further, I must labour to reconcile the experience of good men with this text, which thus gives us a description of the desires of the righteous.

A righteous man is to be considered more generally, or more strictly.

1. More generally, as he consisteth of the whole man, of flesh and spirit, of body and soul, of grace and nature; now consider him thus, and you can by no means reconcile the text with his experience, nor his experience with the text. For as he is body, flesh, and nature--for all these are with him, though he is a righteous man--so he has desires vastly different from those described by this text, vastly differing from what is good; yea, what is it not, that is naught, that the flesh and nature, even of a righteous man, will not desire? 'Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?' (James 4:5). And again, 'In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing' (Rom 7:18). And again, 'The flesh lusteth against the spirit' (Gal 5:17). And again, The lusts thereof do 'war against the soul' (1 Peter 2:11).

From all these texts we find that a righteous man has other workings, lusts, and desires than such only that are good; here then, if we consider of a righteous man thus generally, is no place of agreement betwixt him and this text. We must consider of him, then, in the next place, more strictly, as he may and is to be distinguished from his flesh, his carnal lusts, and sinful nature.

2. More strictly. Then a righteous man is taken sometimes as to or for his best part, or as he is A SECOND CREATION; and so, or as so considered, his desires are only good.

(1.) He is taken sometimes as to or for his best part, or as he is a second creation, as these scriptures declare: 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,--all things are become new' (2 Cor 5:17). 'Created in Christ Jesus' (Eph 2:10). 'Born of God' (John 3; 1 John 3:9). Become heavenly things, renewed after the image of him that created them: Colossians 3:10; Hebrews 9:23 and the like. By all which places, the sinful flesh, the old man, the law of sin, the outward man, all which are corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, are excluded, and so pared off from the man, as he is righteous; for his 'delight in the law of God' is 'after the inward man.' And Paul himself was forced thus to distinguish of himself, before he could come to make a right judgment in this matter; saith he, 'That which I do, I allow not; what I would, do I not; but what I hate, that do I.' See you not here how he cleaves himself in twain, severing himself as he is spiritual, from himself as he is carnal; and ascribeth his motions to what is good to himself only as he is spiritual, or the new man: 'If then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good' (Rom 7).

But I trow, Sir, your consenting to what is good is not by that part which doth do what you would not; no, no, saith he, that which doth do what I would not, I disown, and count it no part of sanctified Paul: 'Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me; for--in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not: for the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do: Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me' (Rom 7). Thus you see Paul is forced to make two men of himself, saying, I and I; I do; I do not; I do, I would not do; what I hate, that I do. Now it cannot be the same I unto whom these contraries are applied; but his sinful flesh is one I, and his godly mind the other: and indeed so he concludes it in this chapter, saying, 'So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.'

Thus therefore the Christian man must distinguish concerning himself; and doing so, he shall find, though he has flesh, and as he is such, he hath lusts contrary to God: yet as he is a new creature, he allows not, but hates the motions and desires of the flesh, and consents to, and wills and delights in the law of God (Rom 15:17-22). Yea, as a new creature, he can do nothing else: for the new man, inward man, or hidden man of the heart, being the immediate work of the Holy Ghost, and consisting only of that which is divine and heavenly, cannot breathe, or act, or desire to act, in ways and courses that are carnal. Wherefore, in this sense, or as the righteous man is thus considered, 'his desires are only good.'

(2.) As the righteous man must here be taken for the best part, for the I that would do good, for the I that hates the evil; so again, we must consider of the desires of this righteous man, as they flow from that fountain of grace, which is the Holy Ghost within him; and as they are immediately mixed with those foul channels, in and through which they must pass, before they can be put forth into acts. For though the desire, as to its birth, and first being, is only good; yet before it comes into much motion, it gathers that from the defilements of the passages through which it comes, as makes it to bear a tang of flesh and weakness in the skirts of it; and the evil that dwells in us is so universal, and also always so ready, that as sure as there is any motion to what is good, so sure evil is present with it; 'for when' or whenever 'I would do good,' says Paul, 'evil is present with me' (Rom 7:21). Hence it follows, that all our graces, and so our desires, receive disadvantage by our flesh, that mixing itself with what is good, and so abates the excellency of the good.

There is a spring that yieldeth water good and clear, but the channels through which this water comes to us are muddy, foul, or dirty: now, of the channels the waters receive a disadvantage, and so come to us as savouring of what came not with them from the fountain, but from the channels. This is the cause of the coolness, and of the weakness, of the flatness, and of the many extravagancies that attend some of our desires. They come warm from the Spirit and grace of God in us; but as hot water running through cold pipes, or as clear water running through dirty conveyances, so our desires [cool and] gather soil.

You read in Solomon's Ecclesiastes of a time when desires fail, for that 'man goeth to his long home' (Eccl 12:5). And as to good desires, there is not one of them, when we are in our prime, but they fail also as to the perfecting of that which a man desires to do. 'To will is present with me,' says Paul, 'but how to perform that which is good I find not' (Rom 7:18). To will or to desire, that is present with me, but when I have willed or desired to do, to perform is what I cannot attain to. But why not attain to a performance? Why, says he, I find a law 'in my members warring against the law of my mind'; and this law takes me prisoner, and brings 'me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members' (Rom 7:23). Now, where things willed and desired meet with such obstructions, no marvel if our willing and desiring, though they set out lustily at the beginning, come yet lame home in conclusion.

There is a man, when he first prostrates himself before God, doth it with desires as warm as fire coals; but erewhile he finds, for all that, that the metal of those desires, were it not revived with fresh supplies, would be quickly spent and grow cold.[6] But yet the desire is good, and only good, as it comes from the breathing of the Spirit of God within us. We must therefore, as I said, distinguish betwixt what is good and that which doth annoy it, as gold is to be distinguished from the earth and dross that doth attend it. The man that believed desired to believe better, and so cries out, 'Lord, help mine unbelief' (Mark 9:24). The man that feared God desired to fear him better, saying, 'I desire to fear thy name' (Neh 1:11). But these desires failed, as to the performance of what was begun, so that they were forced to come off but lamely, as to their faith and fear they had; yet the desires were true, good, and such as was accepted of God by Christ; not according to what they had not, but as to those good motions which they had. Distinguish then the desires of the righteous in the nature of them, from that corruption and weakness of ours that cleaveth to them, and then again, 'they are only good.'

(3.) There is another thing to be considered, and that is, the different frames that our inward man is in while we live as pilgrims in the world. A man, as he is not always well without, so neither is he always well within. Our inward man is subject to transient, though not to utter decays (Isa 1:5). And as it is when the outward man is sick, strength and stomach, and lust, or desire fails, so it is when our inward man has caught a cold likewise (Eze 34:4).

The inward man I call the new creature, of which the Spirit of God is the support, as my soul supports my body. But, I say, this new man is not always well. He knows nothing that knows not this. Now being sick, things fail. As when a man is not in health of body, his pulse beats so as to declare that he is sick; so when a man is not well within, his inward pulse, which are his desires--for I count the desires for the pulse of the inward man--they also declare that the man is not well within. They beat too little after God, weak and faintly after grace; they also have their halts, they beat not evenly, as when the soul is well, but so as to manifest all is not well there.

We read that the church of Sardis was under sore sickness, insomuch that some of her things were quite dead, and they that were not so were yet ready to die (Rev 3:2). Yet 'life is life,' we say, and as long as there is a pulse, or breath, though breath scarce able to shake a feather, we cast not away all hope of life. Desires, then, though they be weak, are, notwithstanding, true desires, if they be the desires of the righteous thus described, and therefore are truly good, according to our text. David says he 'opened his mouth and panted,' for he longed for God's commandments (Psa 119:131). This was a sickness, but not such a one as we have been speaking of. The spouse also cried out that she was 'sick of love.' Such sickness would do us good, for in it the pulse beats strongly well (Cant 5:8).

[Some objections answered.]

Object. But it may be objected, I am yet in doubt of the goodness of my desires, both because my desires run both ways, and because those that run towards sin and the world seem more and stronger than those that run after God, and Christ, and grace.

Answ. There is not a Christian under heaven but has desires that run both ways, as is manifest from what hath been said already. Flesh will be flesh; grace shall not make it otherwise. By flesh I mean that body of sin and death that dwelleth in the godly (Rom 6:6). As grace will act according to its nature, so sin will act according to the nature of sin (Eph 2:3). Now, the flesh has desires, and the desires of the flesh and of the mind are both one in the ungodly; thank God it is not so in thee! (Rom 7:24). The flesh, I say, hath its desires in the godly; hence it is said to lust enviously; it lusts against the Spirit; 'The flesh lusteth against the Spirit' (Gal 5:17). And if it be so audacious as to fly in the face of the Holy Ghost, wonder that thou art not wholly carried away with it! (Rom 7:25).

Object. But those desires that run to the world and sin seem most and strongest in me.

Answ. The works of the flesh are manifest; that is, more plainly discovered even in the godly than are the works of the Holy Ghost (Gal 5:19). And this their manifestation ariseth from these following particulars:

1. We know the least appearance of a sin better by its native hue than we know a grace of the Spirit. 2. Sin is sooner felt in its bitterness to and upon a sanctified soul than is the grace of God. A little aloes will be sooner tasted than will much sweet, though mixed therewith. 3. Sin is dreadful and murderous in the sight of a sanctified soul: wherefore the apprehending of that makes us often forget, and often question whether we have any grace or no. 4. Grace lies deep in the hidden part, but sin lies high, and floats above in the flesh; wherefore it is easier, oftener seen than is the grace of God (Psa 51:6). The little fishes swim on the top of the water, but the biggest and best keep down below, and so are seldomer seen. 5. Grace, as to quantity, seems less than sin. What is leaven, or a grain of mustard seed, to the bulky lump of a body of death (Matt 13:31-33). 6. Sin is seen by its own darkness, and also in the light of the Spirit; but the Spirit itself neither discovers itself, nor yet its graces, by every glance of its own light. 7. A man may have the Spirit busily at work in him, he may also have many of his graces in their vigorous acts, and yet may be greatly ignorant of either; wherefore we are not competent judges in this case. There may a thousand acts of grace pass through thy soul, and thou be sensible of few, if any, of them.[7] 8. Do you think that he that repents, believes, loves, fears, or humbles himself before God, and acts in other graces too, doth always know what he doth? No, no; grace many times, even in a man, is acted by him, unawares unto him. Did Gideon, think you, believe that he was so strong in grace as he was? Nay, was he not ready to give the lie to the angel, when he told him God was with him? (Judg 6:12,13). Or what do you think of David, when he said he was cast off from God's eyes? (Psa 31:22). Or of Heman, when he said he was free among them whom God remembered no more? (Psa 88). Did these, then, see their graces so clear, as they saw themselves by their sins to be unworthy ones? I tell you it is a rare thing for some Christians to see their graces, but a thing very common for such to see their sins; yea, and to feel them too, in their lusts and desires, to the shaking of their souls.

Quest. But since I have lusts and desires both ways, how shall I know to which my soul adheres?

Answ. This may be known thus: 1. Which wouldest thou have prevail? the desires of the flesh, or the lusts of the spirit, whose side art thou of? Doth not thy soul now inwardly say, and that with a strong indignation, O let God, let grace, let my desires that are good, prevail against my flesh, for Jesus Christ his sake? 2. What kind of secret wishes hast thou in thy soul when thou feelest the lusts of thy flesh to rage? Dost thou not inwardly, and with indignation against sin, say, O that I might never, never feel one such motion more? O that my soul were so full of grace, that there might be longer no room for ever for the least lust to come into my thoughts! 3. What kind of thoughts hast thou of thyself, now thou seest these desires of thine that are good so briskly opposed by those that are bad? Dost thou not say, O! I am the basest of creatures, I could even spew at myself? There is no man in all the world in my eyes so loathsome as myself is. I abhor myself; a toad is not so vile as I am.[8] O Lord, let me be anything but a sinner, anything, so thou subduest mine iniquities for me! 4. How dost thou like the discovery of that which thou thinkest is grace in other men? Dost thou not cry out, O, I bless them in my heart! O, methinks grace is the greatest beauty in the world! Yea, I could be content to live and die with those people that have the grace of God in their souls. A hundred times, and a hundred, when I have been upon my knees before God, I have desired, were it the will of God, that I might be in their condition. 5. How art thou when thou thinkest that thou thyself hast grace? O then, says the soul, I am as if I could leap out of myself; joy, joy, joy then is with my heart. It is, methinks, the greatest mercy under heaven to be made a gracious man.