Chapter VII: The Use (5)

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.

And is it thus with thy soul indeed? Happy man! It is grace that has thy soul, though sin at present works in thy flesh. Yea, all these breathings are the very actings of grace, even of the grace of desire, of love, of humility, and of the fear of God within thee. Be of good courage, thou art on the right side. Thy desires are only good; for that thou hast desired against thy sin, thy sinful self; which indeed is not thyself, but sin that dwells in thee.[9]

[The distinct or particular desires of the righteous.]

Second. I come next to speak of desires more distinctly, or particularly, as they work this way and that. First, then, the desires of the righteous are either such as they would have accomplished here; or else, Second, such as they know they cannot come at the enjoyment of till after death.

[Desires that may be accomplished or enjoyed in this life.]

First. For the first of these, the desires of the righteous are for such good things as they could have accomplished here; that is, in this world, while they are on this side glory. And they, in general, are comprised under these two general heads:—1. Communion with their God in spirit, or spiritual communion with him; 2. The liberty of the enjoyment of his holy ordinances. And, indeed, this second is, that they may both attain to, and have the first maintained with them. But for the first:

1. They desire now communion with God. ‘With my soul,’ said she, ‘have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early’ (Isa 26:9). The reason of this she renders in the verse foregoing, saying, ‘The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.’

Now, thus to desire, declares one already made righteous. For herein there appears a mind reconciled to God. Wherefore the wicked are set on the other side, even in that opposition to these; ‘they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways’ (Job 21:14). They neither love his presence, nor to be frequenters of his ordinances. ‘What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him?’ (Job 21:15). So, again, speaking of the wicked, he saith, ‘Ye have said it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance?’ (Mal 3:14). This, then, to desire truly to have communion with God, is the property of a righteous man, of a righteous man only; for this desire arises from a suitableness which is in the righteous unto God; ‘Whom,’ said the Prophet, ‘have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee’ (Psa 73:25). This could never be the desire of a man, were he not a righteous man, a man with a truly sanctified mind. ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be’ (Rom 8:7).

When Moses, the man of God, was with the children of Israel in the wilderness, he prays that God would give them his presence unto Canaan, or else to let them die in that place. It was death to him to think of being in the wilderness without God! And he said unto God, ‘If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence’ (Exo 33:14,15). Here, then, are the desires of a righteous man—namely, after communion with God. He chooses rather to be a stranger with God in the world, than to be a citizen of the world and a stranger to God. ‘For I am,’ said David, ‘a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were’ (Psa 39:12). Indeed, he that walketh with God is but a stranger to this world. And the righteous man’s desires are to, for, and after communion with God, though he be so.

The reasons of these desires are many. In communion with God is life and favour; yea, the very presence of God with a man is a token of it (Psa 30:3-5). For by his presence he helps, succours, relieves, and supports the hearts of his people, and therefore is communion with him desired. ‘I will,’ said David, ‘behave myself wisely in a perfect way; O when wilt thou come unto me?’ (Psa 101:2). The pleasures that such a soul finds in God that has communion with him are surpassing all pleasures and delights, yea, infinitely surpassing them. ‘In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’ (Psa 16:11). Upon this account he is called the desire of all nations—of all in all nations that know him. Job desired God’s presence, that he might reason with God. ‘Surely,’ said he, ‘I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God’ (Job 13:3). And again, ‘O that one would hear me! Behold my desire is that the Almighty would answer me’ (Job 31:35). But why doth Job thus desire to be in the presence of God! O! he knew that God was good, and that he would speak to him that which would do him good. ‘Will he plead against me with his great power? No: but he would put strength into me. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge’ (Job 23:6,7).

God’s presence is the safety of a man. If God be with one, who can hurt one? As HE said, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Now, if so much safety flows from God’s being for one, how safe are we when God is with us? ‘The beloved of the Lord,’ said Moses, ‘shall dwell in safety by him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders’ (Deut 33:12). God’s presence keeps the heart awake to joy, and will make a man sing in the night (Job 35:10). ‘Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?’ (Matt 9:15). God’s presence is feasting, and feasting is made for mirth (Rev 3:20; Eccl 10:19). God’s presence keeps the heart tender, and makes it ready to fall in with what is made known as duty or privilege (Isa 64:1). ‘I will run the ways of thy commandments,’ said the Psalmist, ‘when thou shalt enlarge my heart’ (Psa 119:32). The presence of God makes a man affectionately and sincerely good; yea, makes him willing to be searched and stripped from all the remains of iniquity (Psa 26:1-3).

What, what shall I say? God’s presence is renewing, transforming, seasoning, sanctifying, commanding, sweetening, and enlightening to the soul! Nothing like it in all the world; his presence supplies all wants, heals all maladies, saves from all dangers; is life in death, heaven in hell; all in all. No marvel, then, if the presence of, and communion with, God, is become the desire of a righteous man (Psa 26:9). To conclude this, by the presence of God being with us, it is known to ourselves, and to others, what we are. ‘If thy presence,’ said Moses, ‘go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth’ (Exo 33:15,16).

They are then best known to themselves. They know they are his people, because God’s presence is with them. Therefore he saith, ‘My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest’ (Exo 33:14). That is, let thee know that thou hast found grace in my sight, and art accepted of me. For if God withdraws himself, or hides his presence from his people, it is hard for them to bear up in the steadfast belief that they belong to him. ‘Be not silent to me,’ O Lord, said David, ‘lest I become like them that go down into the pit’ (Psa 28:1). ‘Be not silent unto me,’ that is, as he has it in another place, ‘Hide not thy face from me. Hear me speedily, O Lord,’ saith he, ‘my spirit faileth; hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit’ (Psa 143:7). So that God’s presence is the desire of the righteous for this cause also, even for that by it they gather that God delighteth in them. ‘By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemies doth not triumph over me’ (Psa 41:11). And is this all? No. ‘And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever’ (Psa 41:12).

As by the presence of God being with us we know ourselves to be the people of God: so by this presence of God the world themselves are sometimes convinced who we are also.

Thus Abimelech saw that God was with Abraham (Gen 21:22). Thus Abimelech saw that God was with Isaac (Gen 26:20,29). Pharaoh knew that God was with Joseph (Gen 41:38). Saul ‘saw and knew that the Lord was with David’ (1 Sam 18:28). Saul’s servant knew that the Lord was with Samuel (1 Sam 9:6). Belshazzar’s queen knew, also, that God was with Daniel. Darius knew, also, that God was with Daniel. And when the enemy saw the boldness of Peter and John, ‘they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4:13). The girl that was a witch, knew that Paul was a servant of the most high God (Acts 16:17). There is a glory upon them that have God with them, a glory that sometimes glances and flashes out into the faces of those that behold the people of God; ‘And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly upon him, saw Stephen’s face, as it had been the face of an angel’; such rays of Divine majesty did show themselves therein (Acts 6:15).

The reason is, for that, (1.) such have with them the wisdom of God (2 Sam 14:17-20). (2.) Such, also, have special bowels and compassions of God for others. (3.) Such have more of his majesty upon them than others (1 Sam 16:4). (4.) Such, their words and ways, their carriages and doings, are attended with that of God that others are destitute of (1 Sam 3:19,20). (5.) Such are holier, and of more convincing lives in general, than other people are (2 Kings 4:9). Now there is both comfort and honour in this; for what comfort like that of being a holy man of God? And what honour like that of being a holy man of God? This, therefore, is the desire of the righteous, to wit, to have communion with God. Indeed none like God, and to be desired as he, in the thoughts of a righteous man.

2. And this leads me to the second thing, namely, The liberty of the enjoyment of his holy ordinances; for, next to God himself, nothing is so dear to a righteous man as the enjoyment of his holy ordinances.

‘One thing,’ said David, ‘have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after,’ namely, ‘that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple’ (Psa 27:4). The temple of the Lord was the dwelling-house of God, there he recorded his name, and there he made known himself unto his people (Psa 11:4; Habb 2:20). Wherefore this was the cause why David so earnestly desired to dwell there too, ‘To behold,’ saith he, ‘the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.’ There he had promised his presence to his people, yea, and to bring thither a blessing for them; ‘In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee’ (Exo 20:24). For this cause, therefore, as I said, it is why the righteous do so desire that they may enjoy the liberty of the ordinances and appointments of their God; to wit, that they may attain to, and have communion maintained with him. Alas! the righteous are as it were undone, if God’s ordinances be taken from them: ‘How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God’ (Psa 84:1,2). Behold what a taking the good man was in, because at this time he could not attain to so frequent a being in the temple of God as his soul desired. It even longed and fainted, yea, and his heart and his flesh cried out for the God that dwelt in the temple at Jerusalem.