as long as we are in the world, there is somewhat of ignorance in the understanding, perversity in the will, fleshliness and impurity in the affections, flesh and spirit in every faculty, like water and wine in the same cup; but so as the gift of grace doth more and more prevail over the corruption of nature, light upon darkness, holiness upon sin, and heavenliness upon our inclinations to worldly vanities. As the sun upon the shadow of the night till it groweth into perfect day: "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18). Therefore, when a man doth heartily apply himself to the things of God, and acknowledging his defects, doth go on "from faith to faith" (Rom. i. 17), from love to love, and from obedience to obedience (Heb. vi. 10), and doth study to bring his heart into a further conformity to God, not looking back to Sodom, or turning back to Egypt, God accepteth of these desires, and constant and uniform endeavours, and will spare us, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Mal. iii. 17); as a son, an only son that is obsequious for the main, though he hath his failings and escapes. There is in them integrity but not perfection, all parts of holiness though not degrees. As in the body every muscle, and vein, and artery hath its use; thus all Israel is said to seek the Lord with their whole desire: "And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire" (2 Chron. xv. 15). It is said of Asa, "That he sought the Lord with his whole heart, yet the high places were not taken away."

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Now the reasons why we must keep the law with our whole heart, are these following:

He

1. He that giveth a part only to God giveth nothing to God, for that part that is reserved will in time draw the whole after it. The Devil keepeth an interest in us as long as any one lust remaineth unmortified; as Pharaoh stood hucking, he would fain have a pawn of their return; first, their children, then their flocks and herds must be left behind them, knew this was the way to bring them back again. So Satan hath a pawn, and knoweth that all will fall to him at last. "Their heart is divided, now shall they be found faulty" (Hos. x. 2); halting between God and idols. When men are not wholly and solely for God, but divided between him and other things, God will be justled out at last. Grace is but a stranger, sin is a native, and therefore most likely to prevail, and by long use and custom is most strongly rooted. Herod "did many things," but his Herodias drew him back into Satan's snare. A bird tied by the leg may flutter up and down and make some show of escape, but he is under command still. So may men have a conscience for God, and some affections for God, but the world and the flesh have the greater share in them. Therefore though they do many things, yet still God hath no supreme interest in their souls. And therefore when their darling lusts interpose, all God's interest in them signifieth nothing. As for instance: a man that is given to please the flesh, but in all other things findeth no difficulty, can worship, give alms, findeth no reluctancy to these duties, unless when they cross his living after the flesh, which in time swalloweth up his conscience, and all his profession and practice. A man addicted to the world can deny his appetite, seem very serious in holy duties, but the world prevaileth, and in time maketh him weary of all other things.

2. The whole man is God's by every kind of right and title; and there.

fore, when he requireth the whole heart, he doth but require that which is his own. God gave us the whole by creation, preserveth the whole, redeemeth the whole, and promiseth to glorify the whole. If we had been mangled in creation we would have been troubled; if born without hands or feet. If God should turn us off to ourselves to keep that part to ourselves which we reserved from him, or if he should make such a division at death, take a part to Heaven, or if Christ had bought part: "Ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God's" (1 Cor. vi. 20). If you have had any good work upon you, God hath sanctified the whole in a Gospel-sense, that is every part: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thes. v. 23). Not only conscience, but will and affections, appetite and body. And you have given all to him for his use: "I am my beloved's :" not a part but the whole. He could not endure Ananias that kept back part of the price; all is his due. When the world, pleasure, ambition, pride, desire of riches, unchaste love, desire a part in us, we may remember we have no affections to dispose of without God's leave. It is all his, and it is sacrilege to rob or detain any part from God. Shall I alienate that which is God's to satisfy the world, the flesh, and the Devil? It is his by creation, redemption, donation, when our flesh, or the world, or Satan, detain any part; this is with Reuben to go up unto our father's bed.

USE I.—1st, To reprove those that do not give God the heart in their service. 2ndly, Not the whole heart.

1. Not the heart, but content themselves with outward profession : "Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins" (Jer. xii. 2). God is often in their speech, but they have no hearty affection: never was there an age higher in notions, and colder in practice of Christianity. The heart is all, it is the Terminus actionum ad intra, et fons actionum ad extra. It is the bound of those actions that look inward: the senses report to the phantasy, that to the mind, and the mind counsels the heart. If wisdom enter the heart (Prov. ii. 10), it is the well-spring of those actions that look outward to the life: "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. iv. 23); and, "Let thy heart retain my words, keep my commandments and live" (Prov. iv. 4). Then other things will follow.

2. It reproves those that do not give God the whole heart, for he requireth that, and surely all is too little for so great and so good a master. God will have the heart, so that no part of it be left for others, or for ourselves to dispose of as we will: the true mother would not have the child divided, (1 Kings iii. 26). God will have all or nothing, he will not part stakes with Satan, but Satan if he cannot have all will be content with a part. But who are they that do not give God the whole heart?

(1.) Those that are for God in their consciences, but not in their affections. Conscience many times taketh God's part; their affections are for the world, but their consciences are for God, as convinced men that do some outward work commanded in the law, but they have no love to the work; this will not serve the turn, for whatever is done by constraint, or the mere compulsion of a natural conscience, can never hold long : nature will return to its bias again, however men force themselves for a while to

comply with something which God had commanded. They do not take up his ways by choice, but upon compulsion, and the urgings of conscience which they no way liked.

(2.) Those that have their affections divided between God and the world, halting between two, they have some affection to spiritual things; the favour of God, and holiness as the only means to make them happy, but the world and their lusts have the greater share. They are troubled a little, would have the favour of God but upon their own conditions. The prevailing part of the soul bendeth them to carnal interest; as the person that was told, That he must take up the cross and follow Christ, he is offended. The young man turned away discontented, when he heard the terms, (Mat. xix. 21, 22). They like God's offers, but not his conditions to come up fully to his mind. They are loath to enter into Gospel-bonds. These do not entirely give up themselves to God, they have but an affection in part, to the comforts of the Gospel, but not to the duties of the Gospel.

(3.) Those that will do many things, but stick at one part of their duty to God. Men may suffer much for God, sacrifice some of their weaker lusts, but whilst any one sin remaineth unmortified there is possession kept for Satan. As Saul destroyed the Amalekites, but kept the fattest of the cattle, and spared Agag. Herod will not part with his Herodias. David saith: "I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity" (Psalm xviii. 23). Either some lust of the flesh, or of the eyes, or pride remaineth. There are some tender parts of the soul, which are as the right hand and the right eye, men are loath to have them touched. They do not unfeignedly comply with God's whole will.

USE II-is to press you to give up the whole heart to God in a course of obedience.

Let us believe in God with all the heart: "If thou believest with all thy heart thou mayest," &c. (Acts viii. 37); and, "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart" (Prov. iii. 5). This is the main thing of Christianity, when there is not only a naked assent, but when we embrace Christ with the heart, and there is a full and free consent to take him to all the uses for which God hath appointed him. So for love: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. vi. 5). When we delight in God and find full complacency in him as our all-sufficient portion, without reserving any part of our hearts for other things. So for obedience: "And thou Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts" (1 Chron. xxviii. 9). But now how shall we know that we give God all the heart in an evangelical sense?

1. When our purpose is to cleave to God alone, and to serve him with an entire obedience both of the inward and outward man, purely and sincerely without hypocrisy: "Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (Psalm li. 6), and, "For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. iii. 3). 2. When we do what we can by all good means to maintain our purpose: "Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin" (2 Kings x. 31). See the contrary in Paul: And

herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men" (Acts xxiv. 16). They had all their studies and fervency of their spirit this way, with all earnestness of endeavour to come up to God's law.

3. When we search out our defects, and bewail them with a kindly remorse, when we run by faith to Christ Jesus, and sue out our pardon and peace: "My little children these things write I unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John ii. 1).

SERMON XXXIX.

VERSE 35.-Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

but a heart to walk in it.

David, in the former verses, had begged for light, now for strength to walk according to this light. We need not only light to know our way, Direction is necessary because of the blindness of our minds; and the effectual impulsions of grace are necessary because of the weakness of our hearts. It will not answer our duty to have a naked notion of truths, unless we embrace and pursue them. So, accordingly, we need a double assistance from God; the mind must be enlightened, the will moved and inclined. The work of a Christian lies not in depth of speculation, but in the height of practice. The excellency of Divine grace consisteth in this,-That God doth first teach what is to be done, and then make us to do what is taught: "Make me to go in the path," &c.

Here you have David's prayer, and an argument to enforce it.
I. His prayer," Make me to go in the path of thy commandments."
II. His argument, "For therein do I delight."

This ar

The argument is taken from his delight in the ways of God. gument may be looked upon as the reason of making the request, or the reason of granting the request.

1st, As the reason of asking. Those whose hearts are set upon obedience, they will be earnest for grace to perform it acceptably. Now saith David, I would not be denied this request, for this is all my delight to do thy will.

2ndly, As the reason of granting. lay forth his necessity, and his hope.

And there he may be supposed to

1. His necessity: though God had done much for him, yet he needed more still; God had given him scire, knowledge to know his duty; velle, to delight; now he begs perficere, to practise, to bring it to an issue. Though he had grace in some measure, yet he still needed an increase. God must work in us both to will and to do (Phil. ii. 13). Sometimes God gives one where he gives not the other: "To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not" (Rom. vii. 18). Or else you may suppose him here to lay forth his hope; the granting of one grace makes way for another; for God will perfect what he hath begun ; and where he hath given a disposition to delight in his ways, he will give grace to walk in his precepts: xápiv ávrì xápiros (John i. 16); grace upon grace, or grace after grace; his giving grace to them is an argument why he will give more grace to them. Two things will be here discussed.

First, The necessity of the efficacious assistance of grace that we may walk worthy of God in all well-pleasing.

Secondly, How acceptable a frame of heart it is when we are once brought to delight in the ways of God.

DOCTRINE I.-For the first, that God from first to last doth make us to go in the path of his commandments.

David was a renewed man, a man that had gotten his heart into a good frame; for he owneth his delight in the paths of God's commandments, yet he begs for new strength and quickening, "Make me to go." "Lead or walk me" (as the Septuagint has it).

That at first conversion God maketh us go in the path of his commandment, that is clear by Scripture; for it is said, "That we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them " (Eph. ii. 10). When we are renewed, we are as it were created over again; there is a power given us that we had not before to do this work. Clearly the Apostle doth not speak there of the first creation, the end of our first creation was to serve God; but he speaks of supernatural renovation, for he saith, "We are created in Christ Jesus." There was a twofold creation at first, Ex nihilo et ex inhabili materia; either that which God created out of nothing; or if out of pre-existent matter, yet such as was wholly unfit and indisposed for those things that were to be made of it. Now this latter suits with us; "We are created in Christ Jesus to good works;" that is, were altogether indisposed before to that which is good. We had our natural powers, but they were wholly viciously inclined till the Lord worketh on us, and infuseth a principle of new life: till then we cannot do anything that is spiritually good. But when the Lord createth us anew, he furnisheth us with an inward power and ability to do good. What David prays for, "Make me to go in the way of thy commandments," God promiseth, "I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes" (Ezek. xxxvi. 27). God puts his Spirit, a new principle of grace. When the Gospel is proposed to a man, his will must be determined by something, either by an object, or a quality, not by the proposal merely of the object without; for the Scripture shows there must be some work upon the heart, some Divine quality infused within to incline and bend us to what is good. Well then, first there must be an infusion of the principles of grace. In sinning there the mischief began with an act. Adam sinned, and that infected his nature. But in grace the method is contrary; the principle must be before the action: God first sanctifieth our natures, and then we act holily; and this difference there is between acquired and infused habits. Acquired habits follow action, for frequent acts beget a habit, as often swimming makes us expert in swimming, and much writing expert in writing; but gracious habits are infused; and so precede the act, as a wheel runs round not to make itself round, but because it is round. Indeed there is a further radication of grace by frequent acts as the means which God blesseth. Now by this first work of grace we have three advantages:

1. An inclination and tendency towards what is good. As all natures imply a propensity to those things which agree to such a nature. As sparks fly upward, and a stone moves downward, it is their natural propensity; so in the new nature there is a new bent and tendency of heart, which is to live unto God (Gal. ii. 19), there is an inclination towards