Why The Christian Should Not Rest On Any Inherent Work of Grace

First. Thy grace cannot thrive so long as thou thus restest upon it.  A legal spirit is no friend to grace; nay, is a bitter enemy against it, as appeared by the Pharisees in Christ's time.  Grace comes not by the law, but by Christ; thou mayest stand long enough by it, before thou gettest any life of grace into thy soul, or further life into thy grace.  If thou wouldst have this, thou must set thyself under Christ’s wings by faith.  From his Spirit in the gospel alone comes this kindly natural heat to hatch thy soul to the life of holiness, and increase what thou hast; and thou canst not come under Christ’s wings, till thou comest from under the shadow of the other, by renouncing all expectation from thy own works and services.  You know Reuben’s curse—that he should not excel, because he went up into his father's bed. When other tribes increased, he stood at a little num­ber.  By trusting in thy own works thou dost worse by Christ, and shalt thou excel in grace?  Perhaps some of you have been long professors, and yet [have] come to little growth in love to God, humility, heavenly-mindedness, mortification; and it is worth the digging to see what lies at the root of your profession —whether there be not a legal principle that hath too much acted you.  Have you not thought to carry all with God from your duties and services, and too much laid up your hopes in your own actings?  Alas! this is as so much dead earth, which must be thrown out, and gospel principles laid in the room thereof. Try but this course, and see whether the spring of thy grace will not come on apace.  David gives an account how he came to stand and flourish, when some that were rich and mighty, on a sudden withered and came to nothing.  ‘Lo,’ saith he, ‘this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches.’  ‘But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever,’ Ps. 52:7-8.  While others trust in the riches of their own righteousness and services, and make not Christ their strength, do thou renounce all, and trust in the mercy of God in Christ, and thou shalt be like a green olive when they fade and wither.

Second. Christian, you will not thrive in true comfort so long as you rest in any inherent work of grace, and do not stand clear of your own actings and righteousness.  Gospel-comfort springs from a gospel-root, which is Christ.  ‘We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,’ Php. 3:3. Now a soul that rests on any holiness in himself, he grafts his comfort upon himself, not upon Christ; he sucks his own breast, not Christ’s, and so makes Christ a dry nurse; and what comfort can grow on that dry tree?  The Spirit is our comforter as well as our teacher and counsellor.  Now as the Spirit, when he teacheth, comes not with any new or strange truth, but takes of Christ's own—what he finds in the Word; so where he comforts, he takes of Christ’s own —his righteousness, not our own.  Christ is the mat­ter and ground of his comfort.  All cordials are but Christ distilled, and made up in several promises; his acting, not ours; his suffering, not ours; his holi­ness, not ours.  He doth not say, ‘Soul, rejoice! thou art holy,’ but ‘Soul, triumph!  Christ is righteous, and is the Lord thy righteousness;’ not, ‘Soul, thou pray­est sweetly, fear not;’ but, ‘Thou hast an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;’ so that the first step to the receiving of comfort from the Spirit, is to send away all comforts of our own. 

As in learn­ing of the Spirit, he that will be taught by him, must first become a fool—that is, no way lean to his own understanding; so he that would be comforted, must first be emptied of all self-supports, must not lean on his own comforts.  As a physician first bids his patient cast off all others he hath tampered with, asks what physic he hath had from them, takes off their plas­ters, throws away their physic, and goes about the work de novo—anew; so the Spirit, when he comes to comfort a poor soul, first persuades the soul to send away all its old physicians.  O, saith the soul, I have been in the hand of such a duty, such a course of obedience, and have thought sure now I shall be well, and have comfort, now I do this duty, set upon such a holy course.  Well, saith the Spirit, if you will have me do anything, these must all be dis­missed in point of confidence.  Now, and not till now, is the soul a subject fit to receive the Spirit’s comforts.  And there­fore, friends, as you love your inward peace, beware what vessel you draw your comfort from.  Grace is finite, and so cannot afford much. It is leaking, and so cannot hold long; thou drinkest in a riven dish, that hast thy comfort from thy grace. It is mixed, and so weak; and weak grace cannot give strong consola­tion—and such thou needest, especially in strong conflicts.  Nay, lastly, thy comfort which thou drawest from it, is stolen—thou dost not come honestly by it; and stolen comforts will not thrive with thee.  O, what folly is it for the child to play the thief, for that which he may have freely and more fully from his father, who gives and reproacheth not!  That comfort which thou wouldst filch out of thy own righteous­ness and duties, behold it is laid up for thee in Christ, from whose fulness thou mayest carry as much as thy faith can hold, and [there is] none to check thee, yea, the more thou improvest Christ for thy comfort, the more heartily welcome. We are bid to open our mouth wide, and he will fill it.

Use or Application of the Pride of Grace

           

Use. Be exhorted above all to watch against this play of Satan, beware thou restest not in thy own righteousness.  Thou standest under a tottering wall; the very cracks thou seest in thy graces and duties, when best, bid thee stand off, except thou wouldst have them fall on thy head.  The greatest step to heaven, is out of our own doors, over our own thresh­old.  It hath cost many a man his life when his house on fire—a grippleness to save some of the stuff —which, venturing among the flames to preserve, they have perished themselves.  More have lost their souls by thinking to carry some of their own stuff with them to heaven—such a good work or duty —while [until] they, like lingering Lot, have been loath to leave in point of confidence—have themselves perished.  O sirs, come out, come out, leave what is your own in the fire.  Fly to Christ naked; he hath gold—not like thine, which will consume and be found drossy in the fire, but such as hath in the fiery trial passed in God’s righteous judg­ment for pure and full weight.  You cannot be found in two places at once. 

Choose whether you will be found in your own righteousness or in Christ’s. Those who have had more to show than thyself, have thrown away all, and gone a begging to Christ.  Read Paul's inventory, Php. 3—what he had, what he did —yet all dross and loss.  Give him Christ, and take the rest who will.  So Job, as holy a man as trod on earth—God himself being witness—yet saith, ‘Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life,’ Job 9:21.  He had acknowledged his imperfection before, now he makes a supposition—indeed, quod non est supponendum, which ought not to be made—‘If I were perfect, yet would I not know my own soul.  I would not enter­tain any such thoughts as would puff me up into such confidence of my holiness, as to make it my plea with God.’  Like to our common phrase, we say, such a one hath excellent parts, but he knows it, that is, he is proud of it.  Take heed of knowing thy own grace in this sense; thou canst not give a greater wound both to thy grace and comfort, than by thus priding thyself in it.

Pride of Grace Is To Trust In The WORTH of Our Grace 3/3

2. When the soul hath shot the great gulf, and got into a state of peace and life by closing with Christ, yet this mannerly pride Satan makes use of in the Christian’s daily course of duty and obedience, to disturb him and hinder his peace and comfort.  O how uncheerfully, yea, joylessly do many precious souls pass their days!  If you inquire what is the cause, you shall find [that] all their joy runs out at their crannies of their imperfect duties and weak graces.  They cannot pray as they would, and walk as they desire, with evenness and constancy; they see how far short they fall of the holy rule in the Word, and the pattern which others more eminent in grace do set before them; and this, though it doth not make them throw the promises away, and quite renounce all hope in Christ, yet it begets many sad fears and suspicions, yea, makes them sit at the feast Christ hath provided, and not know whether they may eat or not.  In a word, as it robs them of their joy, so [it robs] Christ of that glory he should receive from their rejoicing in him.  I do not say, Christian, thou oughtest not to mourn for those defects thou findest in thy graces and duties, nay, thou couldst not ap­prove thyself to be sincere if thou didst not.  A gracious heart—seeing how far short his renewed state, for the present, falls of man's primitive holiness by creation—cannot but weep and mourn—as the Jews [did] to behold the second temple; yet, Chris­tian, even while the tears are in thy eyes for thy imperfect graces—for a soul riseth with his grave-clothes on—thou shouldst rejoice, yea, triumph over all these thy defects by faith in Christ, in whom thou art complete, Col. 2:10, while imperfect in thyself.  Christ’s presence in the second temple—which the first had not—made it, though comparatively mean, more glorious than the first, Hag. 2:9.  How much more doth his presence in this spiritual temple of a gracious heart, imputing his righteousness to cover all uncomeliness, make the soul glorious above man at first?  This is a garment for which—as Christ saith of the lily—we neither spin nor toil; yet Adam in all his created royalty was not so clad, as the weakest be­liever is with this on his soul.  Now, Christian, con­sider well what thou doest, while thou sittest lan­guishing under the sense of thy own weaknesses, and refusest to rejoice in Christ, and live comfortably on the sweet privileges thou art interested in by thy mar­riage to him.  Dost thou not bewray some of this spir­itual pride working in thee?  O, if thou couldst pray without wandering, walk without limping, believe without wavering, then thou couldst rejoice and walk cheerfully.  It seems, soul, thou stayest to bring the ground of thy comfort with thee, and not to receive it purely from Christ.  O how much better were it if thou wouldst say with David, ‘Although my house’ —my heart—‘be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure; and this is all my desire, all my confidence. Christ I oppose to all my sins, Christ to all my wants; he is my all in all, and all above all.’  Indeed, all those complaints of our wants and weaknesses, so far as they withdraw our hearts from relying cheerfully on Christ, they are but the language of pride hankering after the covenant of works.  O it is hard to forget our mother-tongue, which is so natural to us; labour therefore to be sensible of it, [of] how grievous it is to the Spirit of Christ.  What would a husband say, if his wife, instead of expressing her love to him, and delight in him, should day and night do nothing but weep and cry to think of her former husband that is dead?  The law, as a covenant, and Christ, are com­pared to two husbands: ‘Ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,’ Rom. 7:4.  Now thy sorrow for the defect of thy own righteousness, when it hinders thy rejoicing in Christ, is but a whining after thy other husband, and this Christ cannot take but unkindly—that thou art not well pleased to lie in the bosom of Christ, and have thy happiness from him as with your old husband the law.

           Second. [There is] a self-applauding pride; when the heart is secretly lift up, so as to promise itself ac­ceptation at God's hands, for any duty or act of obed­ience it performs, and doth not, when most assisted, go out of his own actings, to lay the weight of his ex­pectation entirely upon Christ.  Every such glance of the soul’s eye is adulterous, yea, idolatrous.  If thy heart, Christian, at any time be secretly enticed—as Job saith of another kind of idolatry—or thy mouth doth kiss thy hand, that is, dote so far on thy own duties and righteousness, as to give them this inward worship of thy confidence and trust, this is a great iniquity indeed; for in this thou deniest the God that is above, who hath determined thy faith to another object.  Thou comest to open heaven’s gate with the old key, when God hath set on a new lock. Dost thou not acknowledge that thy first entrance into thy justified state was of pure mercy? thou wert ‘justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,’ Rom. 3:24.  And whom art thou beholden to, now thou art reconciled, for thy further accep­tance or duty or holy action? to thy duty, thy obedi­ence, thyself, or Christ?  The same apostle will tell you, ‘By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,’ Rom. 5:2.  If Christ should not lead thee in and all thou doest, thou art sure to find the door shut upon thee.  There is no more place for desert now thou art gracious, than when thou wert graceless.  ‘The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,’ for ‘the just shall live by faith,’ Rom. 1:17.  We are not only made alive by Christ, but we live by Christ; faith sucks in continual pardoning, as­sisting, comforting mercy from him, as the lungs suck in the air.  Heaven’s way is paved with grace and mercy to the end.

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Pride of Grace Is To Trust In The Worth of Our Grace          

 Second. The second way a Christian may be proud of his grace, is by trusting on the worth of his grace—resting on it for his acceptance with God.  The Scripture calls inherent grace ‘our own righteousness’ —though God indeed be the efficient of it—and opposeth it to the righteousness of Christ, which alone is called ‘the righteousness of God,’ Rom. 10:1-4. Now, to rest on any grace inherent, is to exalt our own righteousness above the righteousness of God; and what pride will this amount to?  If this were so, then a saint when he comes to heaven might say, ‘This is heaven which I have built—my grace hath purchased;’ and thus the God of heaven should be­come tenant to his creature in heaven.  No, God hath cast the order of our salvation into another method —of grace, but not of grace in us, but grace to us. In­herent grace hath its place and office to accompany salvation, Heb. 6:9, but not [to] procure it.  This is Christ’s work, not grace’s.  When Israel waited on the Lord at Mount Sinai they had their bounds.  Not a man must come up besides Moses to treat with God; no, not touch the mount, lest they die.  Thus all the graces of the Spirit wait on God, but none come up to challenge any acceptance of God besides faith, which is a grace that presents the soul not in its own gar­ments.  But you will say, ‘What needs all this? where is the man that trusts in his grace?’  Alas, where is the Christian that doth fully stand clear, and freely come off his own righteousness?   He is a rare pilot, indeed, that can steer his faith in so direct a course, as not now and then knock upon this duty, and run on ground upon that grace.  Abraham went in to Hagar, and the children of Abraham’s faith are not perfectly dead to the law, and may be found sometimes in Hagar’s arms.  Witness the flux and reflux of our faith, according to the various aspect of our obedi­ence.  When this seems full, then our faith is at a spring-tide, and covers all the mountains of our fears; but let it seem to wane in any service or duty, then the Jordan of our faith flies back, and leaves the soul naked.  The devil’s spite is at Christ, and therefore, since he could not hinder his landing—which he en­deavoured all he could—nor work his will on his per­son when he was come, he goes now, in a more re­fined way, to darken the glory of his sufferings, and the sufficiency of his righteousness, by blending ours with his.  This doctrine of justification by faith hath had more works and batteries made against it, than any other in the Scripture.  Indeed many other errors were but his sly approaches to get nearer to under­mine this.  And lastly, when he cannot hide this truth —which now shines in the church like the sun in its strength—then he labours to hinder the practical improvement of it, that we (if he can help it) shall not live up to our own principles—making us, at the same time that, in our judgment, we profess acceptance only through Christ, in our practice confute ourselves.

           Now there is a double pride in the soul he makes use of for this end—the one I may call a man­nerly pride, the other a self-applauding pride.

           First. [There is] a mannerly pride, which comes forth in the habit and guise of humility, and that dis­covers itself, either at the soul’s first coming to Christ, and keeps him from closing with the promise; or afterward in the daily course of a Christian’s walking with God, which keeps him from comfortable living on Christ.

When a poor soul is staved off the promise by the sense of his own unworthiness and great unrigh­teousness.  Tell him of a pardon, alas! he is so wrap­ped up with the thoughts of his own vileness, that you cannot fasten it upon him.  What, will God ever take such a toad as he is into his bosom, discount so many great abominations at once, and receive him into his favour, that hath been so long in rebellious arms against him!  He cannot believe it; no, though he hears what Christ hath done and suffered for sin, he refuseth to be comforted.  Little doth the soul think what a bitter root such thoughts spring from. Thou thinkest thou doest well thus to declaim against thyself, and aggravate thy sins.  Indeed, thou canst not paint them black enough, or entertain too low and base thoughts of thyself for them; but what wrong hath God and Christ done thee, that thou shouldst so unworthily reflect upon the mercy of the one, and merit of the other?  Mayest thou not do this, and be tender of the good name of God also?  Is there no way to show the sense of thy sin, except thou asperse thy Saviour?  Canst thou not charge thyself, but thou must condemn God, and put Christ and his blood to shame before Satan, who triumphs more in this than all thy other sins?  In a word, though thou, like a wretch, hast undone thyself, and damned thy soul by thy sins, yet art thou not willing God should have the glory of pardoning them, and Christ the honour of procuring the same? or art thou like him in the gospel, who could not dig, and to beg was ashamed? Luke 16:3.  Thou canst not earn heaven by thy own righteousness; and is thy spirit so stout that thou wilt not beg it for Christ’s sake? yea, take it at God’s hands, who, in the gospel, comes a begging to thee, and beseecheth thee to be reconciled to him?  Ah, soul! who would ever have thought there could have lain such pride under such a modest veil? and yet none like it.  It is horrible pride for a beggar to starve rather than take an alms at a rich man’s hands—[for] a malefactor rather to choose his halter than a pardon from his gracious prince’s hand; but here is one in­finitely surpassing both—a soul pining and perishing in sin, and yet rejecting the mercy of God, and the helping hand of Christ to save him!  Though Abigail did not think herself worthy to be David’s wife, yet she thought David was worthy of her, and therefore she humbly accepted his offer, and makes haste to go with the messengers.  That is the sweet frame of heart indeed—to lie low in the sense of your own vileness, yet to believe; to renounce all conceit of worthiness in ourselves, yet not therefore to renounce all hope of mercy, but the more speedily to make haste to Christ that woos us.  All the pride and unmannerliness lies in making Christ stay for us, who bids his messengers invite poor sinners to come and tell them ‘all things are ready.’  But, may be thou wilt say still, it is not pride that keeps thee off, but thou canst not believe that ever God will entertain such as thou art. Truly thou mendest the matter but little with this.  Either thou keepest some lust in thy heart, which thou wilt not part with, to obtain the benefit of the promise, and then thou art a notorious hypocrite, who under such an outcry for thy sins, canst drive a secret trade with hell at the same time; or if not so, thou dost discover the more pride in that thou darest stand out, when thou hast nothing to oppose against the many plain and clear promises of the gospel but thy per­emptory unbelief.  God bids the wicked forsake his ways, and turn to him, and he will abundantly pardon him; but thou sayest thou canst not believe this for thy own self.  Now who speaks the truth?  One of you two must be the liar; either thou must take it with shame to thyself, for what thou hast said against God and his promise—and that is thy best course; or thou must proudly, yea, blasphemously cast it upon God, as every unbeliever doth, I John 5:10.  Nay, thou makest him foresworn, for God—to give poor sinners the greater security in flying for refuge to Christ, who is that ‘hope set before them,’ Heb. 6:17,18—hath sworn they should have strong consolation.  ‘O happy we, for whose sake God puts himself under an oath: but O miserable we, who will not believe God, no, not when he swears!   

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Pride of Grace Is To Trust In The STRENGTH Of Our Grace.

           First. A Christian may be proud of his grace, by trusting in the strength of his grace.  To trust in the strength of grace is to be proud of grace.  This is op­posed to that poverty of spirit so commended by our Saviour, Matt. 5, by which a man lives in the continual sense of his spiritual beggary and nothingness, and so hath his recourse to Christ, as the poor to the rich man's door, knowing he hath nothing at home to maintain him.  Such a one was Paul, not able to do anything of himself.  He is not ashamed to let the world know that Christ carries his purse for him.  ‘Our sufficiency is of God;’ yea, after many years trading, this holy man sees nothing he hath got.  ‘I count not myself to have apprehended,’ Php 3:13.  He is still pressing forward.  Ask him how he lives, he will tell you who keeps house for him, ‘I live, yet not I,’ Gal. 2:20.  Ask a beggar where he hath his meat, clothes, &c., he will say, ‘I thank my good master.’  Now Satan chiefly labours to puff the soul up with an overweening conceit of his own ability, as the readiest means to bring him into his snare.  Satan knows it is God's method to give his children into his hands, when once they grow proud and self-confident.  Hezekiah was left to a temptation, ‘to try him,’ II Chr. 32.31.  Why?  God had tried him to purpose a little before in an affliction; what needs this?  O, Heze­kiah’s heart was lift up after his affliction.  It was time for God to let the tempter alone a little to foil him.  Probably now Hezekiah had high thoughts of his grace—O he would never do as he had done before—and God will let him see what a weak crea­ture he is.  Peter makes a whip for his own back in that bravado, ‘Though all should forsake thee, yet will not I.’  Christ now in mere mercy must set Satan on him to lay him on his back, that seeing the weak­ness of his faith, he might be dismounted from the height of his pride.  All that I shall say from this is, to entreat thee, Christian, to have a care of this kind of pride.  You know what Joab said to David, when he perceived his heart lift up with the strength of his kingdom, and therefore would have the people numbered.  ‘Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?’ II Sam. 24:3.  The Lord add to the strength of thy grace an hundredfold, but why delightest thou in this? why shouldst thou be lift up? is it not grace? shall the groom be proud because he rides on his master’s horse? or the mud-wall because the sun shines on it?  Mayest thou not say of every dram of grace, as the young man of his hatchet, ‘Alas, master, it is bor­rowed?’ nay, not only borrowed, but thou canst not use it without his skill and strength that lends it thee.  O beware of this; let not those vain thoughts lodge in thee, lest thou enter into temptation.  It is a breach a whole troop of sins may enter at, yea, will, except speedily filled up.

1. It will make thee soon grow loose and negli­gent in thy duty.  It is sense of insufficiency [that] keeps a soul at work, to pray and hear—as want in the house and hutch holds up the market; no man comes thither to buy what he hath at home.  ‘Up,’ saith Jacob, ‘go down to Egypt for corn, that we live and not die.’  Thus saith the needy Christian, ‘Up, soul, to thy God; thy faith is weak; thy patience al­most spent; ply thee to the throne of grace; go with thy homer to the ordinances, and get some supplies.’ Now a soul conceited of his store, hath another song, ‘Soul, take thine ease, thou art richly laid in for many days.  Let the doubting soul pray, thy faith is string; let the weak lie at the breast, thou art well grown up.’  Nay, it is well if it goes not further—to a despising of ordinances, except they have some more courtly fare than ordinary.  Such a pass were the Corinthians come to, ‘Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us,’ I Cor. 4:8.  I pray observe how he lays the accent on the particle now—now ye are rich, as if he had said, I knew the time [when] if Paul had come to town, and news spread abroad in the city that Paul was to preach, you would have flocked to hear him, and blessed God for the season; but then you were poor and empty, now ye are full, you have got to a higher attainment—Paul is a plain fellow now, he may carry his cheer to a hungry people if he will; we are well a paid [satisfied].  And when once the heart is come to this, it is easy to judge what will follow.
2. This trusting to the strength of grace will make the soul bold and venturous.  The humble Christian is the wary Christian.  He knows his weak­ness, and this makes him afraid.  ‘I have a weak head,’ saith he, ‘I may soon be disputed into an error and heresy, and therefore I dare not come where such stuff is broached, lest my weak head should be intoxi­cated.’  The confident man will sip of every cup, he fears none, no, he is established in the truth—a whole team of heretics shall not draw him aside.  ‘I have a vain light heart,’ saith the humble soul—‘I dare not come among wicked debauched company, lest I should at last bring the naughty man home with me.’ But one, trusting to the strength of his grace, dares to venture into the devil’s quarters.  Thus Peter [ven­tured] into the route of Christ’s enemies, and how he came off, you know.  There his faith had been slain on the place, had not Christ sounded a retreat, by the seasonable look of love he gave him.  Indeed I have read of some bragging philosophers, who did not think it enough to be temperate, except they had the object of intemperance present, and therefore they would go into taverns and whore-houses, as if they meant to beat the devil on his own ground.  But the Christian knows an enemy nearer than so—which they were ignorant of—and that he need not go over his own threshold to challenge the devil.  He hath lust in his bosom, that will be hard enough for him all his days, without giving it the vantage-ground.  Christian, I know no sin, but thou mayest be left to commit it, except one.  It was a bold speech of him —and yet a good man, as I have heard—‘If Clapham die of the plague, say Clapham had no faith;’ and this made him boldly go among the infected.  If a Chris­tian, thou shalt not die of spiritual plagues—yet such may have the plague-sores of gross sins running on them for a time; and is not his sad enough? therefore walk humbly with thy God.
3. This high conceit of the strength of thy grace will make thee cruel and churlish to thy weak breth­ren in their infirmities—a sin that least becomes a saint.  ‘If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meek­ness,’ Gal. 6:1. But how shall a soul get such a meek spirit?  It follows—‘Considering thyself, lest thou al­so be tempted.’  What makes men hard to the poor? they think they shall never be so themselves.  Why are many so sharp in their censures, but because they trust too much to their grace, as if they could never fall?  O you are in the body, and the body of sin in you, therefore fear.  Bernard used to say, when he heard any scandalous sin of a professor,‘He fell to-day, I may stumble tomorrow.’

Second Kind of Spiritual Pride—Pride of Grace

Second Kind of Spiritual Pride—Pride of Grace

           Second. Another way Satan assaults the Chris­tian is through pride of grace.  It is true, grace cannot be proud, yet it is possible a saint may be proud of his grace.  There is nothing the Christian hath or doth, but this worm of pride will breed in it.  The world we live in is corruptible, and all here is subject to purify, as things kept in a rafty muggish room [are] subject to mould.  It is not the nature of grace, but the salt of covenant, keeps and preserves the purity of it.  In heaven indeed we shall be safe.  But how can a saint be said to be proud of his grace?  Then a soul is proud of his grace, when he trusts in his grace.  Trust and confidence is an incommunicable flower of God’s crown as Sovereign Lord;—even among men it goes along with royalty.  Set up a king, and as such he ex­pects you should give him this, as the undoubted pre­rogative of his place, and therefore to seek protection from any other is, as it were, to set up another king. ‘If indeed you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust under my shadow,’ Judges 9:15. Therefore when a soul puts his trust in anything be­side God, he sets up a prince, a king, an idol, to which he gives God’s glory away.  Now it doth not make the sin less, that it is the grace of God we crown, than if it were a lust we crowned.  It is idolatry to worship a holy angel as well as a cursed devil, to make our grace a god as well as our belly our god; nay, rather it adds to it, because that is now used to rob him of his glory which should have brought him in the greatest revenue of glory.  Certainly the more treasure you put into your servant’s hands, the greater wrong to you for him to run away with it.  I doubt not but David could have borne it better to have seen a Philistine drive him from his throne than a son—an Absalom.  But how can, or may, a saint be said to trust in his grace?  First. By trusting on the strength of his grace.  Second. By trusting on the worth of his grace, I conceive, cannot stand with grace: but there is an oblique kind of trust, or that which by interpre­tation may savour of it.  Satan is sly in his assaults.

Three Doors Whence This Enemy Comes Forth 2/2

2. Make this sin as black and ugly as thou canst possibly to thy thought, that when it is presented to thee, thou mayest abhor it the more.  Indeed there needs no more than its own face—wouldst thou look wisely on it—to make thee out of love with it.  For,

(1.) This envying of others’ gifts casts great con­tempt upon God, and that more ways than one.

(a) When thou enviest the gifts of thy brethren, thou takest upon thee, to teach God what he shall give and to whom; as if the great God should take counsel, or ask leave of thee, before he dispenseth his gifts.  And darest thou stand to thy own envious thoughts with this interpretation? such a one thou findest Christ himself give, ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?’ Matt. 20:15, as if Christ had said, What hath any to do with cavil, at my dis­posure of what is not theirs, but mine, to give?

(b) Thou malignest the goodness of God.  It troubles thee, it seems, that God hath a heart to do good to any besides thyself; thine eye is evil, because he is good.  Wouldst not thou have God be good? you might as well say, you would not have him God. He can as soon cease to be God as to be good.

(c) Thou art an enemy to the glory of God, as thou defacest that which should set it forth.  Every gift is a ray of divine excellency; and as all the beams declare the glory of the sun, so all the gifts of God imparts declare the glory of God.  Now envy labours to deface and sully the representations of God; it hath ever something to disparage the excellency of another withal.  God showed Miriam her sin by her punish­ment.  She went to bespatter Moses that shone so eminently with the gifts and graces of God, and God spits in her face, Num. 12, yea, fills her all over with a noisome scab.  Dost thou cordially wish well to the honour of God? why then hangest thou thy head, and dost not rather rejoice to see him glorified by the gifts of others?  Could a heathen take it so well, when himself was passed by, and others chosen to places of honour and government, that he said he was glad his city could find so many more worthy than himself; and shall a Christian repine that any are found fit to honour God besides himself?

(2.) By this envying of others’ gifts, thou wrong­est thy brother, as thou sinnest against the law of love, which obligeth thee to rejoice in his good as thy own, yea, to prefer him in honour before thyself. Thou canst not love and envy the same person.  Envy is as contrary to love, as the hectical feverish fire in the body is to the kindly heat of nature.  ‘Charity envieth not,’ I Cor. 13:4.  How can it, when it lives where it loves?  And when thou ceasest to love thy brother, thou beginnest to beginnest to hate and kill him; and dost not thou tremble to be found a murderer at last?

(3.) By this envying of others’ gifts, thou con­sultest worst of all for thyself.  God is out of thy reach.  What thou spittest against heaven, thou art sure to have fall on thy own face at last; and thy brother whom thou enviest, God stands bound to defend against thy envy, because he is maligned for what he hath of God in him.  Thus did God plead Joseph’s cause against his envious brethren, and David’s against wicked Saul.  Thyself only hast real hurt.

(a) Thou deprivest thyself of what thou mightst reap from the gifts of others.  That old saying is true, ‘What thou hast is mine, and what I have thine, when envy is gone.’ Whereas now, like the leech—which they say draws out the worst blood—thou suckest nothing but what swells thy mind with discontent, and is after vomited out in strife and contention.  O what a sad thing it is, that one should go from a precious sermon, a sweet prayer, and bring nothing away but a grudge against the instrument God used; as we see in the Pharisees and others at Christ preaching!

(b) Thou robbest thyself of the joy of thy life.  “He that is cruel troubleth his own flesh,’ Prov. 11:17. The envious man doth it to purpose; he sticks the honour and esteem of others as thorns in his own heart; he cannot think of them without pain and anguish, and he must needs pine that is ever in pain.

(c) Thou throwest thyself into the mouth of temptation, thou needest give the devil no greater advantage; it is a stalk any sin almost will grow upon. What will not the patriarchs do to rid their hands of Joseph whom they envied?  That very pride which made them disdain the thought of bowing to his sheaf, made them stoop far lower, even to debase themselves as low as hell, and be the devil’s instru­ments to sell their dear brother into slavery, which might have been worse for him—if God had not provided otherwise—than if they had slain him on the place.  What an impotent mind, and cruel, did Saul show against David, when once envy had enven­omed his heart!  From that day [on] which he heard David preferred in the women’s songs above himself, he could never get that sound out of his head, but did ever after devote this innocent man to death in his thoughts, who had done him no other wrong, but in being an instrument to keep the crown on his head, by the hazard of his own life with Goliath.  O it is a bloody sin!  It is the womb wherein a whole litter of other sins are formed, Rom. 1:29, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, maligni­ty, &c.; and therefore, except you be resolved to bid the devil welcome and his whole train, resist him in this, that comes before to take up quarters for the rest.

Three Doors Whence This Enemy Comes Forth 1/2

Three Doors Whence This Enemy Comes Forth

           Question.  But how would you direct us against this?

           Answer.  Arguments you have had before; I shall only therefore point to two or three doors where your enemy comes forth upon you; and surely the very sight thereof, if thou beest loyal to Christ, will stir thee up to fall upon it.

           First Door. This kind of pride discovers itself in dwelling upon the thoughts of our gifts, with a secret kind of content to see our own face, till at last we fall in love with it.  We read of some whose eyes are full of the adulteress, and cannot cease from sin.  A proud heart is full of himself; his own abilities cast their shadow before him.  They are in his eye wherever he goes.  The great subject and theme of his thoughts in what he is, and what he hath above others, ap­plauding himself; as Bernard confesseth, that—when one would think he had little leisure for such thoughts—even in preaching; pride would be whis­pering in his ear, Bene fecisti Bernarde—O well done, Bernard.  Now have a care, Christian, of chat­ting with such company.  Run from such thoughts as from a bear.  If the devil can get thee to stand on this pinnacle, while he presents thee with the glory of thy spiritual attainments and endowments, for thee to gaze on them thy weak head will soon turn round in pride; and therefore labour to keep the sense of thy own infirmities lively in thy soul, to divert the temp­tation.  As those who are subject to some kind of fits carry about them things proper for the disease, that when the fit is coming—which is oft occasioned with a sweet perfume—they may use them for their help; sweet scents are not more dangerous for them, than anything they may applaud thee is to thy soul.  Have a care, therefore, not only of wearing such thoughts in thy bosom, but also of sitting by others that bring the sweet scent of thy perfections to thee by their flattery.

           Second Door. This kind of pride appears in a forwardness to expose itself to view, I Sam. 17:28. David’s brethren were mistaken in him indeed, but oft the pride and naughtiness of the heart breaks out at this door.  Christ’s carnal friends bid Christ show himself; pride loves to climb up, not as Zacchaeus, to see Christ, but to be seen himself.  ‘The fool,’ Solomon tells us, ‘hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself,’ Prov. 18:2.  Pride would be somebody, and therefore comes abroad to court the multitude; whereas humility delights in privacy.  As the leaves do cover and shade the fruits, that some hand may gently lift up them, before they can see the fruit; so should a humility and holy modesty conceal the perfections of the soul, till a hand of providence by some call invites them out. There is a pride in naked gifts, as well as in naked breasts and backs.  Humility is a necessary veil to all other graces, and therefore,  1. Christian, look when­ever thou comest forth to public duty, that thou hast a call.  It is obedience to be ready to answer when God calls thee forth, but it is pride to run before God speaks.  2. When called, earnestly implore divine strength against this enemy.  Shun not a duty for fear of pride—thou mayest show it in the very seeming to escape it—but go in the strength of God against it.  There is more hope of overcoming it by obedience than [by] disobedience.

           Third Door. This kind of pride discovers itself in envying the gifts of others, when they seem to blind our own that they are not so fair a prospect as we desire.  This is a weed may grow too rank in a good soil.  Aaron and Miriam could not bear Moses his honour, Num. 12.1; that was the business, though they pick a quarrel with him about his wife, because an Ethiopian, as appears plainly, ‘Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?’ ver. 2.  They thought Moses went away with too much of the honour, and did repine that God should use him more than themselves.  And it is observable, that the lusting for flesh broke out among the mixed multitude, and baser sort of people, Num. 11:4,5; but this of pride and envy took fire in the bosoms of the most eminent for place and piety.  O what need then have we, poor creatures, to  watch our hearts when we see such precious servants of God led into temptation?  ‘The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy,’ James 4:5.  Our corrupt nature is ever putting on to this sin.  It is as hard to keep our hearts and this sin asunder, as it is to keep two lovers from meeting together.  Thatch is not more ready to be fired with every flash of lightning, than the heart to be kindled at every shining forth of any excelling gift or grace in another.  It was of the first windows that corrupt nature looked out at—a sin that shed the first blood.  Cain’s envy hatched Abel’s murder.  Now if ever thou meanest to get the mastery of this sin,

1. Call in help from heaven.  No sooner hath the apostle set forth how big and teeming full the heart of man is with envy, but he shows where a fountain of grace is, infinitely exceeding that of lust: ‘The Spirit within us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace,’ James 4:5,6.  And therefore sit not down tamely under this sin: it is not unconquerable.  God can give thee more grace than thou hast sin—more humility than thou hast pride.  Be but so humble as cordially to beg this grace, and thou shalt not be so proud as wickedly to envy his gifts or grace in others. 

Use or Application - Spiritual Pride

           Use 1. [To those that have mean gifts.]  Doth Satan thus stir up saints to the spiritual pride of gifts? Here is a word to you that have mean gifts, yet truth of grace—be content with thy condition.  Perhaps when thou hearest others, how enlargedly they pray, how able to discourse of the truths of God, and the like, thou art ready to go into a corner, and mourn to think how weak thy memory, how dull thy apprehen­sion, how straitened thy spirit, hardly able, though in secret, to utter and express thy mind to God in prayer.  O thou art ready to think those the happy men and women, and almost [to] murmur at thy con­dition.  Well, canst thou not say, though I have no words, I hope I have faith?  I cannot dispute for the truth, but I am willing to suffer for it.  I cannot re­member a sermon, but I never hear a word but I hate sin and love Christ more than ever.  Lord, thou knowest I love thee.  Truly, Christian, thou hast the better part; thou little thinkest what a mercy may be wrapt up even in the meanness of thy gifts, or what temptations their gifts expose them to, which God, for aught I know, may in mercy deny thee.  Joseph’s coat made him finer than his brethren, but this caused all his trouble—this set the archers a shooting their arrows into his side.  Thus, great gifts lift a saint up a little higher in the eyes of men, but it occasions many temptations which thou meetest not with that art kept low.  What with envy from their brethren, malice from Satan, and pride in their own hearts, I dare say, none find so hard a work to go to heaven as such, [so] much ado to bear up against those waves and winds—while thou creepest along the shore under the wind to heaven.  It is with such as with some great lord of little estate—a meaner man oft hath money in his purse, when he hath none, and can lend his lordship some at a need.  Great gifts and parts are titles of honour among men, but many such may come and borrow grace and comfort of a mean-gifted brother, possibly, the preacher of his poor neighbour.  O, poor Christians, do not murmur or envy them, but rather pity and pray for them, they need it more than others.  His gifts are thine, thy grace is for thyself.  Thou art like a merchant that hath his factor [who] goes to sea, but he hath his adventure without hazard brought home.  Thou join­est with him in the prayer, hast the help of his gifts, but not the temptation of his pride.           

 Use 2. [To those that have great gifts.]  Doth Satan labour thus to draw to pride of gifts?  This speaks a word to you to whom God hath given more gifts than ordinary.  Beware of pride, that is now your snare.  Satan is at work; if possible he will turn your artillery against yourself.  Thy safety lies in thy humility; if this lock be cut, the legions of hell are on thee.  Remember whom thou wrestlest with—spir­itual wickednesses—and their play is to lift up, that they may give the sorer fall.  Now the more to stir up thy heart against it, I shall add some soul-humbling considerations on this pride of gifts.

1. Consideration.  These spiritual gifts are not thine own; and wilt thou be proud of another’s bounty?  Is not God the founder, and can he not soon be the confounder of thy gifts?  Thou that art proud of thy gourd, what wilt thou be when it is gone?  Surely then thou wilt be peevish and angry, and truly thou takest the course to be stripped of them.  Gifts come on other terms than grace.  God gives grace as a freehold—it hath the promise of this and another world; but gifts come on liking.  Though a father will not cast off his child, yet he may take away his fine coat and ornaments, if proud of them.
2. Consideration.  Gifts are not merely for thyself.  As the light of the sun is ministerial—it shines not for itself—so all thy gifts are for others —gifts for the edifying of the body.  Suppose a man should leave a chest of money in your hands to be distributed to others, what folly is it in this man to put this into his own inventory, and applaud himself that he hath so much money?  Poor soul, thou art but God’s executor, and by that time thou hast paid all the legacies, thou wilt see little left for thee to brag and boast of.
3. Consideration.  Know, Christian, thou shalt be accountable for these talents.  Now, with what face can a proud soul look on God?  Suppose one left an executor to pay legacies, and this man should pay them, not as legacies of another, but [as] gifts of his own.  Christ at his ascension gave gifts that his chil­dren should receive.  Thou hast some in thy hand. Now a proud soul gives out all, not as the legacy of Christ, but as his own; he assumes all to himself.  O how abominable is this, to entitle ourselves to Christ’s honour!
4. Consideration.  Thy gifts commend thee not to God.  Man may be taken with thy expression and notion in prayer; but these are all pared off when thy prayer comes before God.  ‘O woman,’ saith Christ, ‘great is thy faith!’ not, compt and flourishing thy language.  It were good after our duties to sort the ingredients of which they are made up—what grace contributed, and what gifts, and what pride—and when all the heterogeneal stuff is severed, you shall see in what a little compass the actings of grace in our duties will lie.
5. Consideration.  Consider while thou art prid­ing in thy gifts, thou art dwindling and withering in thy grace.  Such are like corn that runs up much into straw, whose ear commonly is but light and thin. Grace is too much neglected where gifts are too highly prized; we are commanded to be clothed with humil­ity.  Our garments cover the shame of our bodies, humility the beauty of the soul.  And as a tender body cannot live without clothes, so neither can grace with­out this clothing of humility.  It kills the spirit of praise; when thou shouldst bless God, thou art ap­plauding thyself.  It destroys Christian love, and stabs our fellowship with the saints to the heart; a proud man hath not room enough to walk in company, be­cause the gifts of others he thinks stand in his way. Pride so distempers the palate, that it can relish nothing that is drawn from another’s vessel.
6. Consideration.  It is the forerunner of some great sin, or some great affliction.  God will not suffer such a weed as pride to grow in his garden without taking some course or other to root it up; may be he will let thee fall into some great sin, and that shall bring thee home with shame.  God useth sometimes a thorn in the flesh, to prick the bladder of pride in the spirit; or at least some great affliction, the very end whereof is to ‘hide pride from man,’ Job 33:17,19. As you do with your hot mettled horses—ride them over ploughed lands to tame them, and then you can sit safely on their back.  If God’s honour be in danger through thy pride, then expect a rod, and most likely the affliction shall be in that which shall be most grievous to thee, in the thing thou art proud of. Hezekiah boasted of his treasure.  God sends the Chaldeans to plunder him.  Jonah [is] fond of his gourd, and that is smitten.  And if thy spirit be blown up with pride of gifts, thou art in danger of having them blasted, at least in the opinion of others whose breath of applause, possibly, was a means to overset thy unballasted spirit.

First Kind of Spiritual Pride—PRIDE OF GIFTS

   

First. By gifts, I mean those supernatural abil­ities, with which the Spirit of God doth enrich and endow the minds of men for edification of the body of Christ; of which gifts the apostle tells us there is great diversity, and all from the same Spirit, I Cor. 12:4. There is not greater variety of colours and qualities of plants and flowers, with which the earth like a carpet of needle-work is variegated for the delight and service of man, than there is of gifts, natural and spir­itual, in the minds of men, to render them useful to one another, both in civil societies and Christian fellowship.  The Christian, as well as man, is in­tended to be a sociable creature, and for the better managing of this spiritual commonwealth among Christians, God doth wisely and graciously provide, and impart, gifts suitable to the place every one stands in [relative] to his brethren, as the vessels are larger or less in the body natural, according to the place therein.  Now Satan labours what he can, to taint these gifts, and fly-blow them with pride in the Christian, that so he may spoil the Christian’s trade and commerce, which is mutually maintained by the gifts and graces of one another.  Pride of gifts hinders the Chris­tian’s trade—at least [its] thriving by their commerce, two ways.  First. Pride of gifts is the cause why we do so little good with them to others.  Second. Pride of gifts is the cause why we receive so little good from the gifts of others.

           First. Pride of gifts is the cause why we do so little good with them to others, and that upon a threefold account.

1. Pride diverts a man from aiming at the end. So far as pride prevails, the man prays, preaches, &c., rather to thought good by others, than to do good to others; rather to enthrone himself, than Christ, in the opinions and hearts of his hearers.  Pride carries the man aloft, to be admired for the height of his parts and notions, and will not suffer him to stoop so low as to speak of plain truths, or if he does, not plainly; he must have some fine lace, though on a plain stuff. Such a one may tickle the ear, but [is] very unlikely to do real good to the soul.  Alas! it is not that he attends.
2. If this painted Jezebel of pride be perceived to look out at the window in any exercise, whether of preaching, prayer, or conference, it doth beget a dis­dain in the spirits of those that hear such a one, both good and bad.  It is a sin very odious to a gracious heart, and oft-times makes the stomach go against the food, though good, through their abhorrency of that pride they see in the instrument.  It is, indeed, their weakness, but woe to them that by their pride lead them into temptation! nay, those that are bad and may be in the same kind, like not that in another which they favour in themselves, and so prejudiced [they] return as bad as they went.
3. Pride of gifts robs us of God’s blessing in the use of them.  The humble man may have Satan at his right hand to oppose him; but be sure the proud man shall find God himself there to resist him, whenever he goes about any duty.  God proclaims so much, and would have the proud man know wherever he meets him [that] he will oppose him.  He ‘resisteth the proud.’  Great gifts are beautiful as Rachel, but pride makes them also barren like her.  Either we must lay self aside, or God will lay us aside.

           Second. Pride of gifts is the cause why we receive so little good from the gifts of others.  Pride fills the soul; and a full soul will take nothing from God, much less from man, to do it good.  Such a one is very dainty; it is not every sermon, though wholesome food, not every prayer, though savoury, [that] will go down.  He must have a choice dish.  He thinks he hath better than this of his own.  And is such a one like to get good?  And truly we may see it, that as the plain ploughman, that can eat of any homely food if wholesome, hath more health, and is able to do more work in a day, than many enjoy or can do in their whole life, that are nice, squeamish, and courtly in their fare; so the humble Christian that can feed on plain truths, and ordinances which have not so much of the art of man to commend them to their palate, enjoy more of God, and can do more for God, than the nicer sort of professors, who are all to be served in a lordly dish of rare gifts.  The church of Corinth was famous for gifts above other churches, I Cor. 1, but not in grace; none [were] so charged for weakness in that, I Cor. 3:2.  He [Paul] calls them carnal babes in Christ, so weak as not able to digest man's meat.  ‘I have fed you,’ saith Paul, ‘with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.’  Why? what is the matter? the reason lies, ‘Ye are yet carnal: there is among you envying, and strife;’ ver. 3, ‘One saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos,’ ver. 4.  Pride makes them take parts, and make sides, one for this preacher, another for that, as they fancied one to excel another. And this is not the way to thrive.  Pride destroys love, and love wanting edification is lost.  The devil hath made foul work in the church by this engine.  Zanchy tells of one in Geneva, who being desired to go hear Calvin, answered his friend, ‘If Paul were to preach, I would leave Paul himself to hear Calvin.’  And will pride in the gifts of another so far transport, even to the borders of blasphemy, what work will then pride make when the gifts are a man's own?