Will he always call upon God? (Job xxvii. 10).
CONCERNING these words, I would observe,
1. Who it is that is here spoken
of, viz. the hypocrite; as you may see, If you take the two preceding verses
with the verse of the text. "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he
hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God bear his cry when trouble
cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call up
on God?" Job's three friends, in their speeches to him, insisted much upon it,
that he was an hypocrite. But Job, in this chapter, asserts his sincerity and
integrity, and shows how different his own behavior had been from that of
hypocrite. Particularly he declares his steadfast and immoveable resolution of
persevering and holding out in the ways of religion and righteousness to the
end; as you may see in the six first verses. In the text, he shows how contrary
to this steadfastness and perseverance the character of the hypocrite is, who is
not wont thus to hold out in religion.
2. We may observe what duty of
religion it is, with respect to which the hypocrite is deciphered in the text,
and that is the duty of prayer; or calling upon God.
3. Here is something
supposed of the hypocrite relating to this duty, viz. That he may continue in it
for a while; he may call upon God for a season.
4. Something asserted, viz.
That it is not the manner of hypocrites to continue always in this duty. Will he
always call upon God? It is in the form of an interrogation; but the words have
the force of a strong negation, or of an assertion, that however the hypocrite
may call upon God for a season, yet he will not always continue in
it.
DOCTRINE
However hypocrites may continue for a season in the
duty of prayer, yet it is their manner, after a while, in a great measure, to
leave it off.
In speaking upon this doctrine, I shall show,
I. How
hypocrites often continue for a season to call upon God.
II. How it is their
manner, after a while, in a great measure to leave off the practice of this
duty.
III. Give some reasons why this is the manner of hypocrites.
I.
I would show how hypocrites often continue for a season in the duty of
prayer.
1. They do so for a while after they have received common
illuminations and affections. While they are under awakenings, they may, through
fear of hell, call upon God, and attend very constantly upon the duty of secret
prayer. And after they have had some melting affections, having their hearts
much moved with the goodness of God, or with some affecting encouragements, and
false joy and comfort; while these impressions last they continue to call upon
God in the duty of secret prayer.
2. After they have obtained an hope, and
have made profession of their good estate, they often continue for a while in
the duty of secret prayer. For a while they are affected with their hope: They
think that God hath delivered them out of a natural condition, and given them an
interest in Christ, thus introducing them into a state of safety from that
eternal misery which they lately feared. With this supposed kindness of God to
them, they are much affected, and often find in themselves for a while a kind of
love to God, excited by his supposed love to them. Now, while this affection
towards God continues, the duties of religion seem pleasant to them; it is even
with some delight that they approach to God in their closets; and for the
present it may be, they think of no other than continuing to call upon God as
long as they live.
Yea, they may continue in the duty of secret prayer for
awhile after the liveliness of their affections is past, partly through the
influence of their former intentions: They intended to continue seeking God
always; and now suddenly to leave off, would therefore be too shocking to their
own minds and partly through the force of their own preconceived notions, and
what they have always believed, viz. That godly persons do continue in religion,
and that their goodness is not like the morning cloud. Therefore, though they
have no love to the duty of prayer, and begin to grow weary of it, yet as they
love their own hope, they are somewhat backward to take a course, which will
prove it to be a false hope, and so deprive them of it.
If they should at
once carry themselves so as they have always been taught is a sign of a false
hope, they would scare themselves Their hope is dear to them, and it would scare
them to see any plain evidence that it is not true. Hence, for a considerable
time after the force of their illuminations and affections is over, and after
they hate the duty of prayer, and would be glad to have done with it, if they
could, without showing themselves to be hypocrites; they hold up a kind of
attendance upon the duty of secret prayer. This may keep up the outside of
religion in them for a good while, and occasion it to be somewhat slowly that
they are brought to neglect it. They must not leave off suddenly, because that
would be too great a shock to their false peace. But they must come gradually to
it, as they find their consciences can bear it, and as they can find out devices
and salvos to cover over the matter, and make their so doing consistent, in
their own opinion, with the truth of their hope. But,
II. It is the
manner of hypocrites, after a while, in a great measure to leave off the
practice of this duty. We are often taught, that the seeming goodness and piety
of hypocrites is not of a lasting and persevering nature. It is so with respect
to their practice of the duty of prayer in particular, and especially of secret
prayer. They can omit this duty, and their omission of it not be taken notice of
by others, who know what profession they have made. So that a regard to their
own reputation doth not oblige them still to practice it. If others saw how they
neglect it, it would exceedingly shock their charity towards them. But their
neglect doth not fall under their observation; at least not under the
observation of many. Therefore they may omit this duty, and still have the
credit of being converted persons.
Men of this character can come to a
neglect of secret prayer by degrees without very much shocking their peace. For
though indeed for a converted person to live in a great measure without secret
prayer, is very wide of the notion they once had of a true convert; yet they
find means by degrees to alter their notions, and to bring their principles to
suit with their inclinations; and at length they come to that, in their notions
of things, that a man may be a convert, and yet live very much in neglect of
this duty. In time, they can bring all things to suit well together, an hope of
heaven, and an indulgence of sloth in gratifying carnal appetites, and living in
a great measure a prayerless life. They cannot indeed suddenly make these things
agree; it must be a work of time; and length of time will effect it. By degrees
they find out ways to guard and defend their consciences against those powerful
enemies; so that those enemies, and a quiet, secure conscience, can at length
dwell pretty well together.
Whereas it is asserted in the doctrine, that it
is the manner of hypocrites, after a while, in a great measure to leave off this
duty; I would observe to you,
1. That it is not intended but that they may
commonly continue to the end of life in yielding an external attendance on open
prayer, or prayer with others. They may commonly be present at public prayers in
the congregation, and also at family prayer. This, in such places of light as
this is, men commonly do before ever they are so much as awakened. Many vicious
persons, who make no pretense to serious religion, commonly attend public
prayers in the congregation; and also more private prayers, in the families in
which they live, unless it be when carnal designs interfere, or when their
youthful pleasures and diversions, and their vain company call them; and then
they make no conscience of attending family prayer. Otherwise they may continue
to attend upon prayer as long as they live, and yet may truly be said not to
call upon God. For such prayer, in the manner of it, is not their own. They are
present only for the sake of their credit, or in compliance with others. They
may be present at these prayers, and yet have no proper prayer of their own.
Many of those concerning whom it maybe said, as in Job xv. 4, That they cast off
fear and restrain prayer before God, are yet frequently present at family and
public prayer.
2. But they in a great measure leave off the practice of
secret prayer. They come to this pass by degrees. At first they begin to be
careless about it, under some particular temptations. Because they have been out
in young company, or have been taken up very much with worldly business, they
omit it once: After that they more easily omit it again. Thus it presently
becomes a frequent thing with them to omit it and after a while, it comes to
that pass, that they seldom attend it. Perhaps they attend it on Sabbath days,
and sometimes on other days. But they have ceased to make it a constant practice
daily to retire to worship God alone, and to seek his face in secret places.
They sometimes do a little to quiet conscience, and just to keep alive their old
hope; because it would be shocking to them, even after all their subtle dealing
with their consciences to call themselves converts, and yet totally to live
without prayer. Yet the practice of secret prayer they have in a great measure
left off.
I come now,
III. To the reasons why this is the manner of
hypocrites.
1. Hypocrites never had the spirit of prayer given them. They may
have been stirred up to the external performance of this duty, and that with a
great deal of earnestness and affection, and yet always have been destitute of
the true spirit of prayer. The spirit of prayer is an holy spirit, a gracious
spirit. We read of the spirit of grace and supplication, Zech. iii. 10. I will
pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of
grace and supplications. Wherever there is a true spirit of supplication, there
is the spirit of grace. The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own
Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this spirit comes from God,
so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings. It naturally
leads to God, to converse with him by prayer. Therefore the Spirit is said to
make intercession for the saints with groanings which cannot be uttered, Rom.
viii. 26.
But it is far otherwise with the true convert. His work is not
done; but he finds still a great work to do, and great wants to be supplied. He
sees himself still to be a poor, empty, helpless creature, and that he still
stands in great and continual need of God's help. He is sensible that without
God he can do nothing. A false conversion makes a man in his own eyes
self-sufficient. He saith he is rich, and increased with goods, and hath need of
nothing; and knoweth not that be is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked. But after a true conversion, the soul remains sensible of its
own impotence and emptiness, as it is in itself, and its sense of it is rather
increased than diminished. It is still sensible of its universal dependence on
God for every thing. A true convert is sensible that his grace is very
imperfect; and he is very far from having all that he desires. Instead of that,
by conversion are begotten in him new desires which he never had before. He now
finds in him holy appetites, an hungering and thirsting after righteousness, a
longing after more acquaintance and communion with God. So that he hath business
enough still at the throne of grace; yea, his business there, instead of being
diminished, is, since his conversion, rather increased.
3. The hope which the
hypocrite hath of his good estate takes off the force that the command of God
before had upon his conscience; so that now he dares neglect so plain a duty.
The command which requires the practice of the duty of prayer is exceeding
plain; Matth. xxvi. 41. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."
Eph. vi. 18. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints."
Matth. vi. 6. "When thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." As long as the hypocrite was
in his own apprehension in continual danger of hell, he durst not disobey these
commands. But since he is, as he thinks, safe from hell, he is grown bold, he
dares to live in the neglect of the plainest command in the Bible.
4. It
is the manner of hypocrites, after a while, to return to sinful practices, which
will tend to keep them from praying. While they were under convictions, they
reformed their lives, and walked very exactly. This reformation continues for a
little time perhaps after their supposed conversion, while they are much
affected with hope and false comfort. But as these things die away, their old
lusts revive, and they by degrees return like the dog to his vomit, and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. They return to their sensual
practices, to their worldly practices, to their proud and contentious practices,
as before. And no wonder this makes them forsake their closets. Sinning and
praying agree not well together. If a man be constant in the duty of secret
prayer, it will tend to restrain him from wilful sinning. So, on the other hand,
if he allow himself in sinful practices, it will restrain him from praying. It
will give quite another turn to his mind, so that he will have no disposition to
the practice of such a duty It will be contrary to him. A man who knows that he
lives in sin against God, will not be inclined to come daily into the presence
of God; but will rather be inclined to fly from his presence, as Adam, when he
had eaten of the forbidden fruit, ran away from God, and hid himself among the
trees of the garden.
To keep up the duty of prayer after he hath given loose
to his lusts, would tend very much to disquiet a man's conscience. It would give
advantage to his conscience to testify aloud against him. If he should come from
his wickedness into the presence of God, immediately to speak to him, his
conscience would, as it were; fly in his face. Therefore hypocrites, as they by
degrees admit their wicked practices, exclude prayer.
5. Hypocrites never
counted the cost of perseverance in seeking God, and of following him to the end
of life. To continue instant in prayer with all perseverance to the end of life,
requires much care, watchfulness, and labor. For much opposition is made to it
by the flesh, the world, and the devil and Christians meet with many temptations
to forsake this practice. He that would persevere in this duty must be laborious
in religion in general. But hypocrites never count the cost of such labor; i. e.
they never were prepared in the disposition of their minds to give their lives
to the service of God, and to the duties of religion. It is therefore no great
wonder if they are weary and give out, after they have continued for a while, as
their affections are gone, and they find that prayer to them grows irksome and
tedious.
6. Hypocrites have no interest in those gracious promises which God
hath made to his people, of those spiritual supplies which are needful in order
to uphold them in the way of their duty to the end. God hath promised to true
saints that they shall not forsake him; Jer. xxxii. 40. I will put my fear into
their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. He hath promised that he will
keep them in the way of their duty; 1 Thess. v 23, 24. And the God of peace
sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your spirit, soul, and body, be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth
you, who also will do it. But hypocrites have no interest in these and such like
promises and therefore are liable to fall away. If God do not uphold men, there
is no dependence on their steadfastness. If the Spirit of God depart from them,
they will soon become careless and profane, and there will be an end to their
seeming devotion and piety.
APPLICATION
May be in an use of
EXH0RTATION in two branches.
I. I would exhort those who have entertained
an hope of their being true converts, and yet since their supposed conversion
have left off the duty of secret prayer, and do ordinarily allow themselves in
the omission of it, to throw away their hope. If you have left off calling upon
God, it is time for you to leave off hoping and flattering yourselves with an
imagination that you are the children of God. Probably it will be a very
difficult thing for you to do this. It is hard for a man to let go an hope of
heaven, on which he hath once allowed himself to lay hold, and which he hath
retained for a considerable time. True conversion is a rare thing; but that men
are brought off from a false hope of conversion, after they are once settled and
established in it, and have continued in it for some time, is much more
rare.
Those things in men, which, if they were known to others, would be
sufficient to convince others that they are hypocrites, will not convince
themselves; and those things which would be sufficient to convince them
concerning others, and to cause them to cast others entirely out of their
charity, will not be sufficient to convince them concerning themselves. They can
make larger allowances for themselves than they can for others. They can find
out ways to solve objections against their own hope, when they can find none in
the like case for their neighbor.
But it your case be such as is spoken of in
the doctrine, it is surely time for you to seek a better hope, and another work
of God's Spirit, than ever you have yet experienced; something more thorough and
effectual. When you see and find by experience, that the seed which was sown in
your hearts, though at first it sprang up and seemed flourishing, yet is
withering away, as by the heat of the sun, or is choked, as with thorns; this
shows in what sort of ground the seed was sown, that it is either stony or
thorny ground; and that therefore it is necessary you should pass through
another change, whereby your heart may become good ground, which shall bring
forth fruit with patience.
I insist not on that as a reason why you should
not throw away your hope, that you had the judgment of others, that the change
of which you were the subject was right. It is a small matter to be judged of
man's judgment, whether you be approved or condemned, and whether it be by
minister or people, wise or unwise. I Cor. iv. 3. " It is a very small thing
that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment." If your goodness have
proved to be as the morning cloud and early dew if you be one of those who have
forsaken God, and left off calling upon his name, you have the judgment of God,
and the sentence of God in the Scriptures against you, which is a thousand times
more than to have the judgment of all the wise and godly men and ministers in
the world in your favor.
Others, from your account of things, may have been
obliged to have charity for you, and to think that, provided you were not
mistaken, and in your account did not misrepresent things, or express them by
wrong terms, you were really converted. But what a miserable foundation is this,
upon which to build an hope as to your eternal state!
Here I request your
attention to a few things in particular, which I have to say to you concerning
your hope.
1. Why will you retain that hope which by evident experience
you find poisons you? Is it reasonable to think, that an holy hope, an hope that
is from heaven, would have such an influence? No surely; nothing of such a
malignant influence comes from that world of purity and glory. No poison groweth
in the paradise of God. The same hope which leads men to sin in this world will
lead to hell hereafter. Why therefore will you retain such an hope, of which
your own experience shows you the ill tendency, in that it encourages you to
lead a wicked life? For certainly that life is a wicked life wherein you live in
the neglect of so well known a duty as that of secret prayer, and in the
disobedience of so plain a command of God, as that by which this duty is
enjoined. And is not a way of disobedience to God a way to hell?
If your own
experience of the nature and tendency of your hope will not convince you of the
falseness of it, what will? Are you resolved to retain your hope, let it prove
ever so unsound and hurtful? Will you hold it fast till you go to hell with it?
Many men cling to a false hope, and embrace it so closely, that they never let
it go till the flames of hell cause their arms to unclench and let go their
hold. Consider how you will answer it at the day of judgment when God shall call
you to an account for your folly in resting in such an hope. Will it be a
sufficient answer for you to say, that you had the charity of others, and that
they thought your conversion was right?
Certainly it is foolish for men to
imagine, that God had no more wisdom, or could contrive no other way of
bestowing comfort and hope of eternal life than one which should encourage men
to forsake him.
2. How is your doing, as you do, consistent with loving God
above all? If you have not spirit to love God above your dearest earthly
friends, and your most pleasant earthly enjoyments; the scriptures are very
plain, and full in it, that you are not true Christians. But if you had indeed
such a spirit, would you thus grow weary of the practice of drawing near to him,
and become habitually so averse to it, as in a great measure to cast off so
plain a duty which is so much the life of a child of God? It is the nature of
love to be averse to absence, and to love a near access to those whom we love.
We love to be with them; we delight to come often to them, and to have much
conversation with them. But when a person who hath heretofore been wont to
converse freely with another, by degrees forsakes him, grows strange, and
converses with him but little, and that although the other be importunate with
him for the continuance of their former intimacy; this plainly shows the
coldness of his heart towards him.
The neglect of the duty of prayer seems to
be inconsistent with supreme love to Go also upon another account, and that is,
that it is against the will of God so plainly revealed. True love to God seeks
to please God in every thing, and universally to conform to his will.
3 Your
thus restraining prayer before God is not only inconsistent with the love, but
also with the fear of God it is an argument that you cast off fear, as is
manifest by that text, Job. xv. 4. "Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest
prayer before God." While you thus live in the transgression of so plain a
command of God, you evidently show, that there is no fear of God before your
eyes. Psal. xxxvi. 1. "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart,
that there is no fear of God before his eyes."
4. Consider how living in such
a neglect is inconsistent with leading an holy life. We are abundantly
instructed in scripture, that true Christians do lead an holy life; that without
holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. xii. 14; and that every one that hath
this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure, 1 John iii. 3. In
Prov. xvi. 17, it is said, The highway of the upright is to depart from evil,
i.e. it is, as it were, the common beaten road in which all the godly travel. To
the like purpose is Isa. xxxv. 8. A highway shall be there, and a way, and it
shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it
shall be for those, i. e. those redeemed persons spoken of in the foregoing
verses. It is spoken of in Rom. viii. 1, as the character of all believers, that
they walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
But how is a life, in a
great measure prayerless, consistent with an holy life? To lead an holy life is
to lead a life devoted to God; a life of worshipping and serving God; a life
consecrated to the service of God. But how doth he lead such a life who doth not
so much as maintain the duty of prayer? How can such a man be said to walk by
the Spirit and to be a servant of the Most High God? An holy life is a life of
faith. The life that true Christians live in the world they live by the faith of
the Son of God. But who can believe that man lives by faith who lives without
prayer, which, is the natural expression of faith? Prayer is as natural an
expression of faith as breathing is of life; and to say a man lives a life of
faith, and yet lives a prayerless life, is every whit as inconsistent and
incredible, as to say, that a man lives without breathing. A prayerless life is
so far from being an holy life, that it is a profane life. He that lives so,
lives like an heathen, who calleth not on God's name; he that lives a prayerless
life, lives without God in the world.
5. If you live in the neglect of secret
prayer, you show your good will to neglect all the worship of God. He that prays
only when he prays with others, would not pray at all, were it not that the eyes
of others are upon him. He that will not pray where none but God seeth him,
manifestly doth not pray at all out of respect to God, or regard to his
all-seeing eye, and therefore doth in effect cast off all prayer. And he that
casts off prayer, in effect casts off all the worship of God, of which prayer is
the principal duty. Now, what a miserable saint is he who is no worshipper of
God! He that casts off the worship of God, in effect casts off God himself: He
refuses to own him, or to be conversant with him as his God. For the way in
which men own God, and are conversant with him as their God, is by worshipping
him.
6. How can you expect to dwell with God for ever, if you so neglect and
forsake him here? This your practice shows, that you place not your happiness in
God, in nearness to him, and communion with him. He Who refuses to come and
visit, and converse with a friend, and who in a great measure forsakes him, when
he is abundantly invited and importuned to come; plainly shows that he places
not his happiness in, the company and conversation of that friend. Now, if this
be the case with you respecting God, then how can you expect to have it for your
happiness to all eternity, to be with God, and to enjoy holy communion with
him?
Let those persons who hope they are converted, and yet have in a great
measure left off the duty of secret prayer, and whose manner it is ordinarily to
neglect it, for their own sake seriously consider these things. For what will
profit then to please themselves with that, while they live, which will fail
them at last, and leave them in fearful and amazing disappointment?
It is
probable, that some of you who have entertained a good, opinion of your state,
and have looked upon yourselves as converts; but have of late in a great measure
left off the duty of secret prayer; will this evening attend secret prayer, and
so continue to do for a little while; after your hearing this sermon, to the
end, that you may solve the difficulty, and the objection which is made against
the truth of your hope. But this will not hold. As it hath been in former
instances of the like nature, so what you now hear will have such effect upon
you but a little while. When the business and cares of the world shall again
begin to crowd a little upon you, or next time you shall go out into young
company, it is probable you will again neglect this duty. The next time a frolic
shall be appointed, to which it is proposed to you to go, it is highly probable
you will neglect not only secret prayer; but also family prayer. Or at least,
after a while, you will come to the same pass again, as before, in casting off
fear and restraining prayer before God.
It is not very likely that you will
ever be constant and persevering in this duty, until you shall have obtained a
better principle in your hearts. The streams which have no springs to feed them
will dry up. The drought and heat consume the snow waters. Although they run
plentifully in the spring, yet when the sun ascends higher with a burning heat
they are gone. The seed that is sown in stony places, though it seem to flourish
at present, yet as the sun shall rise with a burning heat, will wither away.
None will bring forth fruit with patience, but those whose hearts are become
good ground.
Without any heavenly seed remaining in them, men may whenever
they fall in among the godly, continue all their lives to talk like saints. They
may, for their credit's sake, tell of what they have experienced But their deeds
will not hold. They may continue to tell of their inward experiences, and yet
live in the neglect of secret prayer, and of other duties.
II. I would
take occasion from this doctrine to exhort all to persevere in the duty of
prayer. This exhortation is much insisted on in the word of God. It is insisted
on in the Old Testament; I Chron. xvi. II. "Seek the Lord and his strength, seek
his face continually."...Isai. lxii. 7. "Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep
not silence;" i. e. be not silent as to the voice of prayer, as is manifest by
the following words, "and give him no rest till he establish and till he make
Jerusalem a praise in the earth," Israel of old is reproved for growing weary of
the duty of prayer. Isai. xliii. 22. "But thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob,
thou hast been weary of me, 0 Israel."
Perseverance in the duty of prayer is
very much insisted on in the New Testament; as Luke xviii. at the beginning, "A
man ought always to pray, and not to faint;" i. e. not to be discouraged or
weary of the duty; but should always continue in it. Again, Luke xxi. 36. "Watch
ye therefore, and pray always." We have the example of Anna the prophetess set
before us, Luke i. 36, &c. who, though she had lived to be more than an
hundred years old, yet never was weary of this duty. It is said, "She departed
not from the temple, but served God, with fastings and prayers, night and day."
Cornelius also is commended for his constancy in this duty. It is said, that he
prayed to God always; Acts x. 2. The Apostle Paul, in his epistles, insists very
much on constancy in this duty; Rom. xii. 12. "Continuing instant in prayer."
Eph. vi. 18,19. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
and watching thereunto with all perseverance." Col. iv. 2. "Continue in prayer,
and watch in the same." I Thess. v. 17. "Pray without ceasing." To the same
effect the Apostle Peter, 1 Pet. iv. 7. "Watch unto prayer."....Thus abundantly
the scripture insists upon it, that we should persevere in the duty of prayer;
which shows that, it is of very great importance that we should persevere. If
the contrary be the manner of hypocrites, as hath been shown in the doctrine,
then surely we ought to beware of this leaven.
But here let the following
things be particularly considered as motives to perseverance in this
duty.
1. That perseverance in the way of duty is necessary to salvation,
and is abundantly declared so to be in the holy scriptures; as Isai. lxiv. 5.
"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember
thee in thy ways: Behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned: In those is
continuance, and we shall be saved." Heb. x. 38, 39. "Now the just shall live by
faith: But if any man draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. But we are not
of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul." Rom. xi. 22. "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: On
them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off....So in many other
places.
Many, when they think they are converted, seem to imagine that their
work is done, and that there is nothing else needful in order to their going to
heaven. Indeed perseverance in holiness of life is not necessary to salvation,
as the righteousness by which a right to salvation is obtained. Nor is actual
perseverance necessary in order to our becoming interested in that righteousness
by which we are justified. For as soon as ever a soul hath believed in Christ,
or hath put forth one act of faith in him, it becomes interested in his
righteousness, and in all the promises purchased by it.
But persevering in
the way of duty is necessary to salvation, as a concomitant and evidence of a
title to salvation. There is never a title to salvation without it, though it be
not the righteousness by which a title to salvation is obtained. It is necessary
to salvation, as it is the necessary consequence of true faith. It is an
evidence which universally attends uprightness, and the defect of it is an
infallible evidence of the want of uprightness. Psal. cxxv. 4, 5. There such as
are good and upright in heart, are distinguished from such as fall away or turn
aside: "Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to them that are upright in
their hearts. As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall
lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. But peace shall be upon Israel."
It is mentioned as an evidence that the hearts of the children of Israel were
not right with God, that they did not persevere in the ways of holiness. Psal.
lxxviii. 8. "A generation that set not their hearts aright, and whose spirit was
not steadfast with God."
Christ gives this as a distinguishing character of
those that are his disciples indeed, and of a true and saving faith, that it is
accompanied with perseverance in the obedience of Christ's word. John viii. 31.
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed." This is mentioned as a necessary evidence of
an interest in Christ, Heb. iii. 14. "We are made partakers of Christ, if we
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end."
Perseverance is
not only a necessary concomitant and evidence of a title to salvation; but also
a necessary prerequisite to the actual possession of eternal life. It is the
only way to heaven, the narrow way that leadeth to life. Hence Christ exhorts
the church of Philadelphia to persevere in holiness from this consideration,
that it was necessary in order to her obtaining the crown. Rev. iii. 11. "Hold
fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." It is necessary, not
only that persons should once have been walking in the way of duty, but that
they should be found so doing when Christ cometh. Luke ix. 43. "Blessed is that
servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." Holding out to the
end is often made the condition of actual salvation. Mat. x. 22. "He that
endureth to the end, the same shall be saved:" And Rev. ii. 10. "Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
2. In order to
your own perseverance in the way of duty, your own care and watchfulness is
necessary. For though it be promised that true saints shall persevere, yet that
is no argument that their care and watchfulness is not necessary in order to it;
because their care to keep the commands of God is the thing promised. If the
saints should fail of care, watchfulness, and diligence to persevere in
holiness, that failure of their care and diligence would itself be a failure of
holiness. They who persevere not in watchfulness and diligence, persevere not in
holiness of life, for holiness of life very much consists in watchfulness and
diligence to keep the commands of God. It is one promise of the covenant of
grace, that the Saints shall keep God's commandments. Ezek. xi. 19, 20. Yet that
is no argument that they have no need to take care to keep these commandments,
or to do their duty. So the promise of God, that the saints shall persevere in
holiness, is no argument that it is not necessary that they should take heed
lest they fall away.
Therefore the scriptures abundantly warn men to watch
over themselves diligently, and to give earnest heed lest they fall away. 1 Cor.
xv. 13. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." 1
Cor. x. 12. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." Heb.
iii. 12, 13, 14. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily,
while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. iv. 1. "Let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
short of it." 2 Peter iii. 17. "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these
things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness." 2 John v. 8. "Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full
reward."
Thus you see how earnestly the scriptures press on Christians
exhortations to take diligent heed to themselves that they fall not away. And
certainly these cautions are not without reason.
The scriptures particularly
insist upon watchfulness in order to perseverance in the duty of prayer. Watch
and pray, saith Christ; which implies that we should watch unto prayer, as the
Apostle Peter says, 1 Pet. iv. 7. It implies, that we should watch against a
neglect of prayer, as well as against other sins. The apostle, in places which
have been already mentioned, directs us to pray with all prayer, watching there
unto with all perseverance, and to continue in prayer, and watch in the same.
Nor is it any wonder that the apostles so much insisted on watching, in order to
a continuance in prayer with all perseverance; for there are many temptations to
neglect this duty; first to be inconstant in it, and from time to time to omit
it; then in a great measure to neglect it. The devil watches to draw us away
from God, and to hinder us from going to him in prayer. We are surrounded with
one and another tempting object, business, and diversion: Particularly we meet
with many things which are great temptations to a neglect of this duty.
3. To
move you to persevere in the duty of prayer, consider how much you always stand
in need of the help of God. If persons who have formerly attended this duty,
leave it off, the language of it is, that now they stand in no further need of
God's help, that they have no further occasion to go to God with requests and
supplications: When indeed it is in God we live, and move, and have our being.
We cannot draw a breath without his help. You need his help every day, for the
supply of your outward wants; and especially you stand in continual need of him
to help your souls. Without his protection they would immediately fall into the
hands of the devil, who always stands as a roaring lion, ready, whenever he is
permitted, to fall upon the souls of men and devour them. If God should indeed
preserve your lives, but should otherwise forsake and leave you to yourselves,
you would be most miserable: Your lives would be a curse to you.
Those that
are converted, if God should forsake them, would soon fall away totally from a
state of grace into a state more miserable than ever they were in before their
conversion. They have no strength of their own to resist those powerful enemies
who surround them. Sin and Satan would immediately carry them away, as a mighty
flood, if God should forsake them. You stand in need of daily supplies from God.
Without God you can receive no spiritual light nor comfort, can exercise no
grace, can bring forth no fruit. Without God your souls will wither and pine
away, and sink into a most wretched state. You continually need the instructions
and directions of God. What can a little child do, in a vast howling wilderness,
without some one to guide it, and to lead it in the right way? Without God you
will soon fall into snares, and pits, and many fatal calamities.
Seeing
therefore you stand in such continual need of the help of God, how reasonable is
it that you should continually seek it of him, and perseveringly acknowledge
your dependence upon him, by resorting to him, to spread your needs before him,
and to offer up your requests to him in prayer. Let us consider how miserable we
should be, if we should leave off prayer, and God at the same time should leave
off to take any care of us, or to afford us any more supplies of his grace. By
our constancy in prayer, we cannot be profitable to God; and if we leave it off,
God will sustain no damage: He doth not need our prayers; Job x. 6, 7. But if
God cease to care for us and to help us, we immediately sink: We can do nothing:
We can receive nothing without him.
4. 4. Consider the great benefit of a
constant, diligent, and persevering attendance on this duty. It is one of the
greatest and most excellent means of nourishing the new nature, and of causing
the soul to flourish and prosper. It is an excellent mean of keeping up an
acquaintance with God, and of growing in the knowledge of God. It is the way to
a life of communion with God. It is an excellent mean of taking off the heart
from the vanities of the world and of causing the mind to be conversant in
heaven. It is an excellent preservative from sin and the wiles of the devil, and
a powerful antidote against the poison of the old serpent. It is a duty whereby
strength is derived from God against the lusts and corruptions of the heart, and
the snares of the world.
It hath a great tendency to keep the soul in a
wakeful frame, and to lead us to a strict walk with God, and to a life that
shall be fruitful in such good works, as tend to adorn the doctrine of Christ,
and to cause our light so to shine before others, that they, seeing our good
works, shall glorify our Father who is in heaven And if the duty be constantly
and diligently attended, it will be a very pleasant duty. Slack and slothful
attendance upon it, and unsteadiness in it, are the causes which make it so
great a burden as it is to some persons. Their slothfulness in it hath naturally
the effect to beget a dislike of the duty and a great indisposition to it. But
if it be constantly and diligently attended, it is one of the best means of
leading
not only a Christian and amiable, but also a pleasant life; a life of
much sweet fellowship with Christ, and of the abundant enjoyment of the light of
his countenance.
Besides, the great power which prayer, when duly attended,
hath with God, is worthy of your notice. By it men become like Jacob, who, as a
prince, had power with God, and prevailed, when he wrestled with God for the
blessing. See the power of prayer represented in James v. 16,18. By these things
you may be sensible how much you will lose, if you shall be negligent of this
great duty of calling upon God; and how ill you will consult your own interest
by such a neglect.
I conclude my discourse with two directions in order to
constancy and perseverance in this duty.
1. Watch against the beginnings of a
neglect of this duty. Persons who have for a time practiced this duty, and
afterwards neglect it, commonly leave it off by degrees. While their convictions
and religious affections last, they are very constant in their closets, and no
worldly business, or company, or diversion hinders them. But as their
convictions and affections begin to die away, they begin to find excuses to
neglect it sometimes. They are now so hurried; they have now such and such
things to attend to; or there are now such inconveniences in the way, that they
persuade themselves they may very excusably omit it for this time. Afterwards it
pretty frequently so happens, that they have something to hinder, something
which they call a just excuse. After a while, a less thing becomes a sufficient
excuse than was allowed to be such at first. Thus the person by degrees
contracts more and more of an habit of neglecting prayer, and becomes more and
more indisposed to it. And even when he doth perform it, it is in such a poor,
dull, heartless, miserable manner, that he says to himself, he might as well not
do it at all, as do it so. Thus he makes his own dullness and indisposition an
excuse for wholly neglecting it, or at least for living in a great measure in
the neglect of it. After this manner do Satan and men's own corruptions inveigle
them to their ruin.
Therefore beware of the first beginnings of a neglect:
Watch against temptations to it: Take heed how you begin to allow of excuses. Be
watchful to keep up the duty in the height of it; let it not so much as begin to
sink. For when you give way, though it be but little, it is like giving way to
an enemy in the field of battle; the first beginning of a retreat greatly
encourages the enemy, and weakens the retreating soldiers.
2. Let me dfrect
you to forsake all such practices as you find by experience do indispose you to
the duty of secret prayer. Examine the things in which you have allowed
yourselves, and inquire whether they have had this effect. You are able to look
over your past behavior, and may doubtless, on an impartial consideration, make
a judgment of the practices and courses in which you have allowed
yourselves.
Particularly let young people examine their manner of company
keeping, and the round of diversions in which, with their companions, they have
allowed themselves. I only desire that you would ask at the mouth of your own
consciences what has been the effect of these things with respect to your
attendance on the duty of secret prayer. Have you not found that such practices
have tended to the neglect of this duty? Have you not found that after them you
have been more indisposed to it, and less conscientious and careful to attend
it? Yea have they not from, time to time, actually been the means of your
neglecting it?
If you cannot deny that this is really the case, then, if you
seek the good of your souls, forsake these practices. Whatever you may plead for
them, as that there is no hurt in them, or that there is a time for all things,
and the like; yet if you find this hurt in the consequence of them, it is time
for you to forsake them. And if you value heaven more than a little worldly
diversion; if you set an higher price on eternal glory than on a dance or a
song, you will forsake them.
If these things be lawful in themselves, yet if
your experience show, that they are attended with such a consequence as I have
now mentioned, that is enough. It is lawful in itself for you to enjoy your
right hand and your right eye: But if, by experience, you find they cause you to
offend, it is time for you to cut off the one, and pluck out the other, as you
would rather go to heaven without them than go to hell with them, into that
place of torment where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.