by Thomas Manton
IN these words you have—(1.) A prayer, give me understanding. (2.) A promise, and I shall keep thy law. (3.) The promise amplified, by expressing the exactness and sincerity of that obedience, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. The first point is—
That there needeth a great deal of understanding to keep God's law.
1. That he may know his way, and understand what God commandeth and forbiddeth; for it is the wisdom of a man to understand his way, and to know the laws according to which he liveth: Col. 1:9, 10, 'Filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye may walk worthy of God unto all well-pleasing.' We have such great obligations to God, both in point of hope and gratitude, that we have reason to study our duty exactly, that we may not displease him and cross his will in anything. We take it for granted that a man should comply with the will of him upon whom he dependeth. We have all and look for all from him; therefore we should walk worthy of God unto all well-pleasing, which we can never do without much knowledge and understanding; therefore we should search out the mind of God in everything.
2. To avoid the snares that are laid for us in the course of our duty to God. There is a crafty devil and a deceitful heart; so that a man that would walk with God had need have his eyes about him. For the wiles of Satan: Eph. 6:11, 'Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.' His enterprises or devices: 2 Cor. 2:11, 'Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' He is ready to entrap us and ensnare us by plausible temptations; he suiteth the bait to every appetite. Then our own hearts: Jer. 17:9, 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?' There is a deceiver in our own bosoms, that will represent good under the notion of evil, and evil under the notion of good; that will cheat us of present duties by future promises. And therefore Ingeniosa res est esse Christianum. He that would keep God's law had need be a very understanding man, that Satan entrap him not, and his own heart deceive him not, and so he smart for his folly: 'Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil,' Eph. 5:15.
3. That he may respect things according to their order and places, and give them precedency in his care and practice as their worth deserveth, which certainly belongeth to understanding or wisdom to do. As (1.) That God should be owned before man, and served and respected before our neighbour or ourselves; for God hath a right in us antecedent to that of the creature: Acts 5:29, 'We ought to obey God rather than men.' Many times God's children are put to it, divided between duty and duty; duty to their parents, duty to their magistrates, and duty to God. Now it requireth understanding how to sort both duties. When the inferior power crosseth the will of the superior, the higher duty must take place, and we must dispense with our duty to men, that we may be faithful to God. Alas! the corruption of nature would teach us to do otherwise; we love ourselves more than our neighbour, and our neighbour more than God. Out of self-interest we comply with the lusts of men, and in complying with the lusts of men make bold with God. This wisdom every one that would keep God's law must learn, that we are bound to none so much as to God, from whom we have life, and breath, and all things; that none can reward our obedience so surely, so largely, as God, who can bear us out when men fail; that none can punish our disobedience so much as God. If these considerations were more in our hearts, we would not sin so boldly, nor serve God so fearfully and cowardly as usually we do, nor comply with men to the wrong of our souls. We may refuse obedience in a particular instance where we do not refuse subjection. (2.) That heaven is to be preferred before earth, and the salvation of our souls before the interests and concernments of our bodies: Mat. 6:33, 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' And whosoever fail in this point of wisdom are very fools: Luke 12:20, 'But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?' There should be no delays in heavenly matters. We busy ourselves about other things, and defer our care for eternity from day to day; but this should be sought before every other thing. (3.) That present affliction is to be chosen rather than future, and temporal rather than eternal. A wise man would have the best at last, for to fall from happiness is the utmost degree of misery—Miserum est fuisse beatum. And therefore better suffer now, with hopes of reward in another world, than take pleasure now, to endure pains to come: 2 Tim. 2:3, 'Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.' It is better to do so than to have all our hopes spent: 'Son, in thy lifetime thou receivedst thy good things,' Luke 16:25. That which is present is temporal, that which is to come is eternal: 2 Cor. 4:18, 'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' The good and evil of the present state is soon over. Now we stand not upon a short evil, so we may compass a great good. (4.) That things of profit and pleasure must give place to things that belong to godliness, virtue, and honesty; for the bastard good must give place to the true, real good. Profit and pleasure are but bastard goods. They are counted understanding men in the world that make pleasure give way to profit; therefore Solomon saith, 'Where there are no oxen the crib is clean, yet there is much gain by the labour of the ox.' I am sure he is an understanding man before God that maketh both give way to honesty and godliness; for the same reason that will sway us to make pleasure give way to profit will also teach us to make profit give way to the interest of grace. As for instance, that pleasure is a base thing as being the happiness of beasts; so is profit, as being the happiness of the children of this world, in contradistinction to holiness, the perfection of the next. The pleasure of sense is only in this life, so is worldly gain only serviceable in our pilgrimage; pleasure in excess destroyeth profit; so doth profit destroy grace. As the world scorneth a man that hath wasted an estate upon his pleasures, so do God and angels him that, from the abundance of his wealth, maketh havoc of a good conscience, and neglecteth things to come: 'Godliness is the great gain,' 1 Tim. 6:6. (5.) That the greatest suffering is to be chosen before the least sin. In sufferings, the offence is done to us; in sin, the offence is done to God. The evil of suffering is but for a moment, the evil of sin for ever; in suffering we lose the favour of men, in sin we lose the favour of God; suffering bringeth inconvenience upon the body, sin upon the soul; suffering is only evil in our sense, sin whether we feel it, yea or nay. It requireth spiritual wisdom and understanding to choose of evils the least, as well as of goods the best: Moses, Heb. 11:25, 'choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' (6.) That a general good is to be chosen before a particular, and that which yieldeth all things rather than that which will yield a limited and particular comfort. Riches will avail against poverty, and honour against disgrace; but 'godliness is profitable for all things,' 1 Tim. 4:8; it will yield righteousness, comfort, and peace eternal, and food, and raiment, maintenance, and eternal life. Now these and many such principles must be engrafted in the heart if we would keep God's laws. The reasonableness of such propositions in the theory may easily appear; but as to practice, we are governed by sense and human passion, which judgeth the quite contrary of all this, and causeth us to make bold with God because afraid of men, to follow earthly things with the greatest delight and earnestness, and spiritual things in a formal and careless manner, to be all for the present and nothing for things to come, and to sell the birthright for a mess of pottage, to make a wound in our souls to avoid a scratch in our bodies, and for a little particular contentment to neglect the things of God.
4. Understanding is necessary, that we may judge aright of time and place and manner of doing, that we may do not only things good but well, where to go, where to stand still; as it is said, they sought of God a right way, Isa. 8:21, and David behaved himself wisely in all that he did, 1 Sam. 18:5. It is for the glory of God, and the credit of religion, and the peace of our own souls, that we should regard circumstances as well as actions, and discern time and judgment, that we do not destroy what we would build up. Therefore understanding is necessary. See further ver. 98 of this psalm.
5. Because our affections answer our understanding. If we understand not, how can we believe? If we believe not, how can we love? If we love not, how can we do? Knowledge, persuasion, affection, practice, these follow one another, where the faculties of the soul are rightly governed, and kept in a due subordination. Indeed, by the fall the order is subverted: Titus 3:3, 'Serving divers lusts and pleasures.' Objects strike upon the senses, sense moveth the fancy, fancy moveth the bodily spirits, the bodily spirits move the affections, and these blind the mind and lead the will captive. But a true understanding makes us more steadfast.
Now all these considerations do show us our need of understanding, and that a Christian should be prudent, not headstrong and precipitant, 'Like horse or mule, that have no understanding,' Ps. 32:9, but wise and knowing in all principles, actions, and circumstances that belong to his duty, if he would honour his profession, and not follow the brutish motions of his own heart, but God's direction. Now, if we would have understanding, we must—
1. Attend upon the word; that will make us 'wise to salvation,' 'wiser than our enemies,' 'than our teachers,' 'than the ancients.' Than enemies: A man that consulteth not with flesh and blood, but the word and rule of his duty, will find plain honesty at length to be the best policy. Than teachers: Because he contented not himself with the naked rules delivered by them, but laboured with his conscience to make them profitable to himself. Than ancients, or men of long study and experience. That is a costly wisdom; when men have smarted often, they learn by their own harms to be circumspect. If there were no other way to be wise than by experience, miserable were man for a long time, and would be exposed to hazards and foul dangers before he could get it. But now scripture, which is not the result of men's experience, but God's wisdom, is not such a long and expensive way.
2. Use much meditation in debating matters between God and your souls: Ps. 119:99, 'I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation;' and 2 Tim. 2:7, 'Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.'
3. Prayer, as David doth here ask it of God. Desire him to remove that darkness of spirit which sin hath brought upon you, that you may not govern your life by sense and passion, but by his direction: Job 32:8, 'There is a spirit in man, but the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding.' Man hath reason, but to guide it to a spiritual use, that is above his power. The Psalmist complaineth of all natural men: 'There is none that understandeth, none that doeth good to no one,' Ps. 14:2; and Rom. 3:11, 'There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.' Therefore it is God must give understanding at first conversion: Acts 16:14, 'God opened the heart of Lydia;' and Acts 26:18, 'To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,' &c. By a fuller illumination: Eph. 1:17, 18, 'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, that father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,' &c.; otherwise we have not a heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear: Deut. 29:4, 'Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear unto this day.'
Secondly, The next thing that I shall observe is this—
That upon the supposition of this benefit he promiseth obedience, I shall keep thy law.
Doct. They that have understanding given by God will keep his law.
1. That it is their duty, and they ought so to do, there is no question; for all knowledge is given us in order to practice, not to satisfy curiosity or feed pride, or to get a fame and reputation with men of knowledge and understanding persons, but to order our walk: Col. 1:9, 10, 'For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, cease not to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.'
2. That they will do so is also clear upon a twofold account:—
[1.] Because answerable to the discovery of good or evil in the understanding. There is a prosecution and an aversation in the will; for the will doth necessarily follow practicum dictamen, the ultimate resolution of the judgment; for it is ὄρεξις μετὰ λόγου, not a brutish inclination, but a rational appetite. God hath appointed this course to nature; therefore when the judgment cometh to such a conclusion as is set down in the 73d Psalm, ver. 28, 'But it is good for me to draw near to God'—not only it is good, but it is good for me—the will yieldeth; for conviction of the judgment is the ground of practice. I know conviction and conversion differ, and the one may be where the other is not. But then it is taken for a partial conviction; the mind is not savingly enlightened and thoroughly possessed with the truth and worth of heavenly things; the most and greatest sort of men have but notions, a weak and literal knowledge about spiritual things, and that produceth nothing; they do not live up to the truth which they know. Others have besides the notion a naked approbation of things that are good. Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor—they see better things and approve them in the abstract; but this doth not come to a practicum dictamen; it is good, and good for me, all circumstances considered, thus to do. This is the fruit of spiritual evidence and demonstration, which always is accompanied with power, 1 Cor. 2:4. Carnal men think it is better for them to keep as they are, being blinded with their passions and lusts, though they could wish things were otherwise with them. But a godly man's judgment being savingly enlightened, determineth it is good, it is better, it is best for me; it is better to please God than men, to look after heaven than the world, &c. There is a simple approbation of good things, and a comparative approbation of them. Simple approbation is when in the abstract notion we apprehend Christ and pardon of sins and heaven good; but when compared with other things, and considered in the frame of Christian doctrine, or according to the terms upon which they may be had, they are rejected. Many approve things simply, and in the first act of judgment, but disallow them in the second, when they consider them as invested with some difficult and unpleasing terms, or compare them with pleasure and profit which they must forsake if they would obtain them; as the young man in the Gospel esteemeth salvation as a thing worthy to be inquired into, but is loath to let go his earthly possessions, Mat. 19:21, 22. He would have these good things at an easy rate, without mortifying the flesh or renouncing the world. But a godly man, that sits down and counteth the charges, all circumstances considered, resolves, It is good for me; as Boaz, liking the woman as well as her inheritance, took them both, which his kinsman refused, Ruth 4:9, 10; he would have the inheritance without the woman. They like Christ and his laws, as well as the benefits that he bringeth with him. He doth approve things upon good knowledge, and cometh to a well-settled resolution. Another defect in wicked men is because the judgment is superficial, and so comes to nothing. It is not full, clear, and ponderous; it is not a dictamen, a resolute decree, not ultimum dictamen, the last decree, all things considered and well weighed.
[2.] God's grace. God doth never fully and spiritually convince the judgment, but he doth also work upon the will to accept, embrace, and prosecute those good things of which it is convinced. He teacheth and draweth; they are distinct works, but they go together; therefore the one is inferred out of the other. Drawn and taught of God, both are necessary; for as there is blindness and inadvertency in the mind, so obstinacy in the will, which is not to be cured by mere persuasion, but by a gracious quality infused, inclining the heart, which by the way freeth this doctrine from exception, as if all God's works were mere moral suasion. The will is renewed and changed, but so as God doth it, by working according to the order of nature.
Use. By all means look after this divine illumination, whereby your judgment may be convinced of the truth and worth of spiritual things. It is not enough to have some general and floating notions about them, or slightly to hear of them, or talk of them; but they must be spiritually discerned and judged of; for if our judgments were thoroughly convinced, our pursuit of true happiness would be more earnest; you would see sin to be the greatest mischief, and grace the chiefest treasure, and accordingly act.
God enlightening the soul doth—
1. Take away carnal principles. Many men can talk well, but they are leavened with carnal principles; as (1.) That he may do as most do and yet be safe: Mat. 7:23, 'Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?' &c.; 'And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity;' Prov. 11:31, 'Behold the righteous shall be recompensed upon the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner;' Exod. 32 &c. (2.) That he may go on in ungodliness, injustice, intemperance, because grace hath abounded in the gospel: Titus 2:11, 12, 'For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godlily in this present world;' and Luke 1:75, 'That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.' (3.) That he may spend his youth in pleasure, and safely put off repentance till age. But Eccles. 12:1, we are bid to 'Remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;' and Luke 12:20, when the rich man said to his soul, 'soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry;' God said unto him, 'Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee, then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?' Heb. 3:7, 'Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,' &c. Men think it is a folly to be singular and precise; that it was better when there was less preaching and less knowledge; that small sins are not to be stood upon. But God, enlightening the soul, maketh us to see the vanity and sinfulness of such thoughts.
2. There is a bringing the understanding to attend and consider. There is much lieth upon it: Acts 16:14, 'The Lord opened the heart of Lydia, so that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul;' that is, weighed them in her heart.
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.—VER. 34.
I COME now to the last clause, I shall observe it with my whole heart. The point is—
Doct. That it is not enough to keep God's law, but we must keep it with the whole heart.
Here I shall show you—
1. That God requireth the heart.
2. The whole heart.
First, God requireth the heart in his service. The heart is the Christian's sacrifice, the fountain of good and evil, and therefore should be mainly looked after. Without this—
1. External profession is nothing. Most Christians have nothing for Christ but a good opinion or some outward profession. Judas was a disciple, but 'Satan entered into his heart,' Luke 22:3. Ananias joined himself to the people of God, but 'Satan filled his heart,' Acts 5:3. Simon Magus was baptized, but 'his heart was not right with God,' Acts 8:22. Here is the great defect.
2. External conformity is nothing worth. It is not enough that the life seem good, and many good actions be performed, unless the heart be purified; otherwise we do, with the Pharisees, 'wash the outside of the platter,' Mat. 23:25, 26, 'when the inside is full of extortion and excess.' It is the heart God looketh after: 1 Sam. 16:7, 'For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart;' Prov. 4:23, 'Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.' Cast salt into the spring. As Jehu said to Jonadab, so doth God say to us: 2 Kings 10:15, 'Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?' We should answer, It is. Men are not for obsequious compliances if not with the heart, so neither is God. Though thou pray with the Pharisee, pay thy vows with the harlot, kiss Christ with Judas, offer sacrifice with Cain, fast with Jezebel, sell thine inheritance to give to the poor with Ananias and Sapphira, all is in vain without the heart, for it is the heart enliveneth all our duties.
3. It is the heart wherein God dwelleth, not in the tongue, the brain, unless by common gifts; till he take possession of the heart all is as nothing: Eph. 3:17, 'He dwelleth in our hearts by faith.' The bodies of believers are temples of the Holy Ghost; yet the heart, will, and affections of man are the chief place of his habitation, wherein he resideth as in his strong citadel, and from whence he commandeth other faculties and members; and without his presence there he cannot have any habitation in us. The tongue cannot receive him by speaking, nor the understanding by knowing, nor the hands by external working: Prov. 4:23, 'Out of it are the issues of life.' It is the forge of spirits: 'He dwelleth not in temples made with hands,' Acts 7:48; and Jer. 23:24, 'Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.' He will dwell in thine heart and remain there, if thou wilt give thy heart to him.
4. If Christ have it not, Satan will have it. The heart of man is not a waste; either God is there framing gracious operations, or the devil, who 'worketh in the children of disobedience,' Eph. 2:2. Will you give them to God to be saved, or to the devil to be damned? Whose they are now they are for ever.
5. If you love any, you give them the heart; and you are wont to wish that there were windows in your bodies that they might see the sincerity of your hearts towards them. Surely if you have cause to love any, you have much more cause to love God. No such friend as he, no such benefactor as he, if you consider what he hath done for us, what blessings he hath bestowed, internal, external, temporal, eternal. He hath given his Son, the great instance of love: John 3:16, 'God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life;' his gospel, that his love might be preached to us; his Spirit, that not only sounded in our ears, but is shed abroad in our hearts, Rom. 5:5; his Christ to save us, his word to enlighten us, his Spirit to guide and direct us till we come to heaven, where he will give himself to us, an eternal inheritance. Certainly, unless void of all sense and common ingenuity, thou wilt say, as the Psalmist, Ps. 116:12, 'What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?' What indeed wilt thou render to him? Love will tell thee; but lest thou shouldst miss, God himself hath told thee: Prov. 23:26, 'My son, give me thine heart.' There is no need to wish for windows in thy body: 'He searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins;' Ps. 7:9, 'The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins;' and 1 Kings 8:39, 'Thou knowest the hearts of all the children of men.' The whole world is to him as a sea of glass. He knoweth how much thou esteemest and honourest him. If thou givest him the whole world, and dost not give him thy heart, thou dishonourest him, and settest something else before him.
6. This is, that all may give him. If God should require costly sacrifices, rivers of oil, thousands of rams, then none but the rich would serve him, and he would require nothing but what many hypocrites would give him. Then the poor would be ashamed and discouraged, not being able to comply with the command; yea, then God would not act like the true God, 'Who accepteth not the person of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands,' Job 34:19. Say not, Micah 6:6–8, 'Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' But go to God and give him thy heart, this will make thy mite more acceptable than the great treasures of the wicked: Luke 21:1–4, 'And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites; and he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all; for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God, but of her penury she hath cast in all the living that she had.' We read in pagan story of one that, when many rich scholars gave gifts to Socrates, every one according to his birth and fortunes, a poor young man came to him and said—I have nothing worthy of thee to bestow upon thee, but that which I have I give, and that is myself; others that have given to thee have left more to themselves, but I have given all that I have, and have nothing left me; I give thee myself. The philosopher answered—Thou hast given me a gift indeed, and therefore it shall be my care to return thee to thyself better than I found thee. So come to God; he needeth us not, but it is for our benefit: we should give our hearts and selves to him. He knoweth how much it is for our advantage that he should have our hearts, to make them better, to sanctify and save them.
Secondly, The whole heart. Here I shall show you—(1.) What it is to keep the law with the whole heart. (2.) Why we must keep the law with our whole heart.
1. What it is to keep the law with the whole heart. It is taken legally or evangelically, as a man is bound, or as God will accept what is required in justice, or what is accepted in mercy.
[1.] According to the rigour of the law. The law requireth exact conformity, without the least motion to the contrary, either in thought or desire, a full obedience to the law with all the powers of the whole man. This is in force still as to our rule, but not as to the condition of our acceptance with God. This, without any defect and imperfection, like man's love to God in innocency, since the fall is nowhere found but in Christ Jesus, who alone is harmless and undefiled, and will never thus be fulfilled by us till we come to heaven; for here all is but in part, but then that which is in part shall be done away. Then will there be light without darkness, knowledge without ignorance, faith without unbelief, hope without despair, love without defect and mixture of carnal inclinations, all good motions without distraction. Here is folly and confusion; here 'flesh lusteth against the spirit' in the best, Gal. 5:17. They have a double principle, though not a double heart.
[2.] In an evangelical sense, according to the moderation of the second covenant; and so God, out of his love and mercy in Christ Jesus, accepts of such a measure of love and obedience as answereth to the measure of sanctification received. When God sanctifieth a man he sanctifieth him as to all the parts and faculties of body and soul, enlighteneth the understanding with the knowledge of his will, inclineth the heart to obedience, circumciseth the affection, filleth us with the love of God himself and holy things. But being a voluntary agent, he doth not this as to perfection of degrees all at once, but successively, and by little and little. Therefore, 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: Prov. 4:18, 'The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.' 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. 1:17, from love to love, and from obedience to obedience, Heb. 6:10, 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 only son that serveth him,' Mal. 3:17—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: 2 Chron. 15:15, 'And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire.' It is said of Asa, that 'he sought the Lord with his whole heart, yet the high places were not taken away.'
2. Now, the reasons why we must keep the law with our whole heart are these following:—
[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. He 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: Hosea 10:2, 'Their heart is divided, now shall they be found faulty;' halting between God and idols. When men are not wholly and solely for God, but divided between him and other things, God will be jostled 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 therefore, 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—1 Cor. 6:20, 'Ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's'—if you have had any good work upon you, God hath sanctified the whole in a gospel sense, that is every part: 1 Thes. 5:23, '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;' 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 1. First, to reprove those that do not give God the heart in their service; secondly, not the whole heart.
1. Not the heart, but content themselves with outward profession: Jer. 12:2, 'Thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins.' 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. 2:10. It is the well-spring of those actions that look outward to the life: Prov. 4:23, 'Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life;' Mat 15:19, and Prov. 4:4, 'Let thy heart retain my words; keep my commandments and live;' 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 to others, or for ourselves to dispose of as we will: the true mother would not have the child divided, 1 Kings 3:26. 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 hath 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 interests; as the person that was told that he must take up the cross and follow Christ, he is offended, Mat 11:21; the young man turned away discontented when he heard the terms, Mat. 19:21, 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: Ps. 18:23, David saith, 'I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.' 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 2. 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: Acts 8:32, 'If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest,' &c.; and Prov. 3:5, 'Trust in the Lord with all thy heart.' 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: Deut. 6:5, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.' 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: 1 Chron. 28:9, '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.' But now, how shall we know that we give God all the heart in an evangelical sense?
Ans. 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: Ps. 51:6, 'Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom;' and Phil. 3:3, 'For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.'
Ans. 2. When we do what we can by all good means to maintain our purpose, and are watchful and diligent, and serious in this purpose: 2 Kings 10:31, '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.' see the contrary in Paul: Acts 24:16, 'And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men.' They bent all their studies and fervency of their spirit this way, with all earnestness of endeavour to come up to God's law.
Ans. 3. When we search out our defects, and bewail them with a kindly remorse, Rom. 2:29; when we run by faith to Christ Jesus, and sue out our pardon and peace: 1 John 2:1, '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.'