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This is of absolute necessity to be known and to be believed. For without this no man can be counted righteous before God; and if we stand not righteous before God, it will benefit us nothing as to life eternal, though we should be counted righteous by all the men on earth. Besides, if God counts me righteous, I am safe, though in and of myself I am nothing but a sinner, and ungodly. The reason is that God has a right to bestow righteousness upon me, for he has righteousness to spare; he has also a right to forgive, because sin is the transgression of the law. Yea, he has therefore sent his Son into the world to accomplish righteousness for sinners, and God of his mercy bestows it upon those that shall receive it by faith. Now, if God shall count me righteous, who will be so hardy as to conclude I yet shall perish? 'It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' (Rom 8:33-35).

Thus, therefore, is a man made righteous, even of God by Christ, or through his righteousness. Now if, as was said, a man is thus made righteous, then in this sense he is good before God, before he has done anything of that which the law calls good before men; for God maketh not men righteous with this righteousness, because they have been, or have done good, but before they are capable of doing good at all. Hence, we are said to be justified while ungodly, even as an infant is clothed with the skirt of another, while naked, as touching itself (Rom 4:4,5). Works therefore do not precede, but follow after this righteousness; and even thus it is in nature, the tree must be good before it bears good fruit, and so also must a man. It is as impossible to make a man bring forth good fruit to God, before he is of God made good, as it is for a thorn or bramble bush to bring forth figs or grapes (Matt 7:15,16).

But again, a man must be righteous before he can be good; righteous by imputation, before his person, his intellects, can be qualified with good, as to the principle of good. For neither faith, the Spirit, nor any grace is given unto the sinner before God has made him righteous with this righteousness of Christ. Wherefore it is said, that after he had spread his skirt over us, he washed us with water, that is, with the washing of sanctification (Eze 16:8,9). And to conclude otherwise is as much as to say that an unjustified man has faith, the Spirit, and the graces thereof; which to say is to overthrow the gospel. For what need of Christ's righteousness if a man may have faith and the Spirit of Christ without it, since the Spirit is said to be the earnest of our inheritance, and that by which we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 1: 4). But the truth is, the Spirit which makes our person good, I mean that which sanctifies our natures, is the fruit of the righteousness which is by Jesus Christ. For as Christ died and rose again before he sent the Holy Ghost from heaven to his, so the benefit of his death and resurrection is by God bestowed upon us, in order to the Spirit's possessing of our souls.

Second. And this leads me to the second thing, namely, that God makes a man righteous by possessing him with a principle of righteousness, even with the spirit of righteousness (Rom 4:4,5). For though, as to justification before God from the curse of the law, we are made righteous while we are ungodly, and yet sinners; yet being made free from sin thus, we forthwith become, through a change which the Holy Ghost works in our minds, the servants of God (Rom 5:7-9). Hence it is said, 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' (Rom 8:1). For though, as the apostle also insinuates here, that being in Christ Jesus is antecedent to our walking after the Spirit; yet a man can make no demonstration of his being in Christ Jesus, but by his walking in the Spirit; because the Spirit is an inseparable companion of imputed righteousness, and immediately follows it, to dwell with whosoever it is bestowed upon. Now it dwells in us, principles us in all the powers of our souls, with that which is righteousness in the habit and nature of it. Hence, the fruits of the Spirit are called 'the fruits of goodness and righteousness,' as the fruits of a tree are called the fruit of that tree (Eph 5:9).

And again, 'He that doth righteousness is righteous,' not only in our first sense, but even in this also. For who can do righteousness without being principled so to do? who can act, reason that hath not reason? So none can bring forth righteousness that hath not in him the root of righteousness, which is the Spirit of God, which comes to us by our being made sons of God (1 John 2:19, 3:7; Gal 4:5-7). Hence the fruits of the Spirit are called 'the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God' (Phil 1:11). This then is the thing we say, to wit, that he that is made righteous unto justification of life before God, is also habituated with a principle of righteousness, as that which follows that righteousness by which he stood just before. I say, as that which follows it; for it comes by Jesus Christ, and by our being justified before God, and made righteous through him.

This second then, also comes to us before we do any act spiritually good. How can a man act in righteousness but from a principle of righteousness? And seeing this principle is not of or by nature, but of and by grace, through Christ, it follows that as no man is just before God that is not covered with the righteousness of Christ, so no man can do righteousness but by the power of the Spirit of God which must dwell in him. Hence, we are said through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, which works are preparatory to fruitful actions. The husbandman, says Paul, that laboureth, must first be partaker of the fruit; so he that worketh righteousness, must first be blessed with a principle of righteousness (2 Tim 2:1-6). Men must have eyes before they see, tongues before they speak, and legs before they go; even so must a man be made habitually good and righteous before he can work righteousness. This, then, is the second thing. God makes a man righteous by possessing him with a principle of righteousness, which principle is not of nature, but of grace; not of man, but of God.

Third. The man in the text is practically righteous, or one that declareth himself by good works; a virtuous, a righteous man, even as the tree declares by the apple or plum it beareth what manner of tree it is: 'Ye shall know them by their fruits' (Matt 7:16). Fruits show outwardly what the heart is principled with: show me then thy faith, which abideth in the heart, by thy works in a well spent life. Mark how the apostle words it, We being, saith he, 'made free from sin, and become servants to God, have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life' (Rom 6:23).

Mark his order: first we are made free from sin; now that is by being justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. Now this is God's act, without any regard at all to any good that the sinner has or can accomplish; 'not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy' thus he saveth us (Titus 3:5; Rom 3:24; 2 Tim 1:9). Now, being made free from sin, what follows? We become the servants of God, that is, by that turn which the Holy Ghost makes upon our heart when it reconciles it to the Word of God's grace. For that, as was said afore, is the effect of the indwelling and operation of the Holy Ghost. Now, having our hearts thus changed by God and his Word, the fruits of righteousness put forth themselves by us. For as when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which is in our members, did bring forth fruit unto death, so now, if we are in the Spirit, and we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, by the motions and workings of that we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom 8:6,9).

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THE NATURE OF THE WORDS.

But I shall here leave off this short way of paraphrasing upon the text, and shall come more distinctly to inquire into the nature of the words; but my subject-matter shall be the last part of the verse, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.' From which words are these things to be inquired into?

FIRST. What, or who, is the righteous man? SECOND. What are the desires of a righteous man? THIRD. What is meant or to be understood by the granting of the desires of the righteous? 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.'

[WHO IS THE RIGHTEOUS MAN?]

My way of prosecuting this head shall be to show you, first, that I intend a righteous man not in every sense, but in that which is the best; otherwise I shall miscarry as to the intendment of the Holy Ghost; for it may not be supposed that these words reach to them that are righteous in a general, but in a special sense; such, I mean, that are so in the judgment of God. For, as I hinted, several sorts of righteous men yet have nothing to do with this blessed promise, or that shall never, as such, have their desires granted.

FIRST. There is one that is righteous in his own eyes, and is yet far enough off from the blessing of the text: 'There is a generation that are pure' or righteous 'in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness' (Prov 29:12). These are they that you also read of in the evangelist Luke, that are said to trust 'in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others' (Luke 18:9). These are set so low, by this their foolish confidence, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, that he even preferred a praying publican before them (Luke 18:13,14). Wherefore these cannot be the men, I mean those righteous men, to whom this promise is made.

SECOND. There are those that by others are counted righteous; I mean they are so accounted by their neighbours. Thus, Korah and his company are called the people of the Lord, and all the congregation by them also called holy, every one of them (Num 16:3,41). But as he who commends himself is not approved, so it is no great matter if all the world shall count us righteous, if God esteemeth us not for such: 'For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends' (2 Cor 10:18).

THIRD. There are those that indeed are righteous when compared with others: 'I came not to call the righteous'; 'for scarcely for a righteous man will one die,' and the like, are texts thus to be understood. For such as these are, as to moral life, better than others. But these, if they are none otherwise righteous than by acts and works of righteousness of their own, are not the persons contained in the text that are to have their desires granted.

FOURTH. The righteous man therefore in the text is, and ought to be, thus described: 1. He is one whom God makes righteous, by reckoning him so. 2. He is one whom God makes righteous by endowing him with a principle of righteousness. 3. He is one who is practically righteous.

First. He is one whom God makes righteous. Now, if God makes him righteous, his righteousness is not his own, I mean this sort of righteousness: 'Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord' (Isa 54:17). God then makes a man righteous by putting righteousness upon him—by putting the righteousness of God upon him (Phil 3:6-9). Hence we are said to be made the righteousness of God in Christ: 'For God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him' (2 Cor 5:21). Thus God, therefore, reckoneth one righteous, even by imputing that unto us which can make us so: 'Christ of God is made unto us—righteousness' (1 Cor 1:30). Wherefore he saith again, 'In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory' (Isa 45:25).

The righteousness then by which a man is made righteous, with righteousness to justification of life before God, for that is it we are speaking of now, is the righteousness of another than he who is justified thereby. Hence it is said again by the soul thus justified and made righteous, 'The Lord hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness' (Isa 61:10). As he also saith in another place, 'I spread my skirts over thee, and covered thy nakedness' (Eze 16:8). This we call a being made righteous by reckoning, by the reckoning of God; for none is of power to reckon one righteous but God, because none can make one so to be but him. He that can make me rich, though I am in myself the poorest of men, may reckon me rich, if together with his so reckoning, he indeed doth make me rich. This is the case, God makes a man righteous by bestowing righteousness upon him—by counting the righteousness of his Son for his. He gives him righteousness, a righteousness already performed and completed by the obedience of his Son (Rom 5:19).

Not that this righteousness, by being bestowed upon us, is severed from Jesus Christ; for it is still his and in him. How then, may some say, doth it become ours? I answer by our being put into him. For of God are we in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us, of him, 'righteousness.' And again, we are made 'the righteousness of God in him.' So then, the righteousness of Christ covereth his, as a man's garments cover the members of his body, for we are 'the body of Christ, and members in particular' (1 Cor 12:27). The righteousness therefore is Christ's; resideth still in him, and covereth us, as the child is lapped up in its father's skirt, or as the chicken is covered with the feathers of the hen. I make use of all these similitudes thereby to inform you of my meaning; for by all these things are set forth the way of our being made righteous to justification of life (Matt 23:37; Eze 16:8; Psa 36:7).

Now thus a man is made righteous, without any regard to what he has, or to what is of him; for as to him, it is utterly another's. Just as if I should, with the skirts of my garments, take up and clothe some poor and naked infant that I find cast out into the open field. Now, if I cover the person, I cover scabs and sores, and ulcers, and all blemishes. Hence, God, by putting this righteousness upon us, is said to hide and cover our sins. 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin' (Rom 4:7,8). For since this righteousness is Christ's, and counted or reckoned ours by the grace of God, it is therefore bestowed upon us, not because we are, but to make us righteous before the face of God. Hence, as I said, it is said to make us righteous, even as gay clothes do make a naked body fine. 'He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'

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[Third.] In the third place, as the wicked has his fears, so the righteous has his desires. 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted'; but this must not be taken exclusively, as if the wicked had nothing but fears, and the righteous nothing but desires. For both by Scripture and experience also, we find that the wicked has his desires, and the righteous man his fears.

1. For the wicked, they are not without their desires. 'Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his,' was the desire of wicked Balaam (Num 23:10), and another place saith, 'the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire'; that he is for heaven as well as the best of you all, but yet, even then, 'he blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth' (Psa 10:3). Wicked men have their desires and their hopes too, but the hope and desire of unjust men perisheth (Prov 11:7, 14:32). Yea, and though they look and long, too, all the day long, with desires of life and glory, yet their fears, and them only, shall come upon them; for they are the desires of the righteous that shall be granted (Psa 112:10).

The desires of the wicked want a good bottom; they flow not from a sanctified mind, nor of love to the God, or the heaven now desired; but only from such a sense as devils have of torments, and so, as they, they cry out, 'I beseech thee torment me not' (Luke 8:28, 16:24). But their fears have a substantial foundation, for they are grounded upon the view of an ill-spent life, the due reward of which is hell-fire; 'the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' their place is without; 'for without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie' (1 Cor 6:9,10; Rev 22:15).

Their fears, therefore, have a strong foundation; they have also matter to work upon, which is guilt and justice, the which they shall never be able to escape, without a miracle of grace and mercy (Heb 2:3). Therefore it saith, and that with emphasis, 'The fear of the wicked it shall come upon him'; wherefore his desires must die with him: for the promise of a grant of that which is desired is only entailed to righteousness. 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted,' but 'grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked,' saith David (Psa 140:8).

2. Nor are the righteous without their fears, and that even all their life long. Through fear of death, they, some of them, are all their life time subject to bondage (Heb 2:15). But as the desires of the wicked shall be frustrate, so shall also the fears of the godly; hence you have them admonished, yea commanded, not to be afraid neither of devils, death, nor hell; for the fear of the righteous shall not come upon them to eternal damnation (Isa 35:4, 41:10-14, 43:1, 44:28; Luke 8:50, 12:32; Rev 1:17).

'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.' No, they are not to fear what sin can do unto them, nor what all their sins can do unto them; I do not say they should not be afraid of sinning, nor of those temporal judgments that sin shall bring upon them, for of such things they ought to be afraid, as saith the Psalmist, 'My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments' (Psa 119:120). But of eternal ruin, of that, they ought not to be afraid with slavish fear. 'Wherefore should I fear,' said the prophet, 'in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?' (Psa 49:5). And again, 'Ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord;—for the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake' (1 Sam 12:20-22).

The reason is, because the righteous are secured by their faith in Christ Jesus; also their fears stand upon a mistake of the nature of the covenant, in which they are wrapped up, which is ordered for them in all things, and sure (2 Sam 23:5; Isa 55:3). Besides, God has purposed to magnify the riches of his grace in their salvation; therefore goodness and mercy shall, to that end, follow them all the days of their life, that they may 'dwell in the house of the Lord for ever' (Psa 23:6; Eph 1:3-7). They have also their intercessor and advocate ready with God, to take up matters for them in such a way as may maintain true peace betwixt their God and them; and as may encourage them to be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto them at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13; 1 John 2:1,2). Wherefore, though the godly have their fears, yea, sometimes dreadful fears, and that of perishing forever and ever; yet the day is coming, when their fears and tears shall be done away, and when their desires only shall be granted. 'The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon them; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.'

The words, then, are a prediction or prophecy, and that both concerning the wicked and the righteous, with reference to time and things to come, and shall certainly be fulfilled in their season. Hence, it is said concerning the wicked that their triumphing is short, and that the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment (Job 20:5). Oh, their end will be bitter as wormwood, and will cut like a two-edged sword! Of this Solomon admonishes youth, when he saith. 'Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment' (Eccl 11:9).

This, therefore, showeth the desperate spirit that possesses the children of men, who, though they hear and read all this, yet cannot be reclaimed from courses that are wicked, and that lead to such a condition (Prov 5:7-14). I say they will not be reclaimed from such courses as lead to ways that go down to hell, where their soul must mourn, even then when their flesh and their body are consumed. O! how dear bought are their pleasures, and how will their laughter be turned into tears and anguish unutterable! and that presently, for it is coming! Their 'judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not' (2 Peter 2:3). But what good will their covenant of death then do them? And will their agreement of hell yield them comfort? Is not God as well mighty to punish as to save? (Isa 28:18). Or can these sinners believe God out of the world, or cause that he should not pay them home for their sins, and recompense them for all the evil they have loved, and continued in the commission of? (Job 21:29-31). 'Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong in the days that God shall deal with thee?' (Eze 22:14). Thou art bold now, I mean bold in a wicked way; thou sayest now thou wilt keep thy sweet morsels of sin under thy tongue, thou wilt keep them still within thy mouth. Poor wretch! Thy sins shall lie down in the dust with thee (Job 20:11). Thou hast sucked the poison of asps, and the viper's tongue shall slay thee (Job 20:16). 'Thou shalt not see the rivers, the streaming floods, the brooks of butter and honey' (Job 20:17). 'All darkness shall be hid in thy secret places, a fire not blown shall consume thee.' 'This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God' (Job 20:26-29).

And as they [the Scriptures] predict or prophesy what shall become of the wicked; so also they plentifully foretell what shall happen to the righteous, when he saith their desire shall be granted: of which more anon. Only here I will drop this short hint, that the righteous have great cause to rejoice; for what more pleasing, what more comfortable to a man, than to be assured, and that from the Spirit of truth, that what he desireth shall be granted? And this the righteous are assured of here; for he saith it in words at length, 'The desire of the righteous shall be granted.' This, then, should comfort them against their fears and the sense of their unworthiness; it should also make them hold up their heads under all their temptations and the affronts that are usual for them to meet with in the world. The righteous! Who so vilified as the righteous? He, by the wise men of the world, is counted a very Abraham, a fool; like to him who is the father of us all. But as he left all for the desire that he had of a better country, and at last obtained his desire; for after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise; so those that walk in the steps of that faith which our father Abraham had, even those also in the end shall find place in Abraham's bosom; wherefore it is meet that we should cheer up and be glad, because what we desire shall be granted unto us (Heb 6).

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'The desire of the righteous is only good.'—Proverbs 11:23

'The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.'—Proverbs 10:24

This book of the Proverbs is so called because it is such as containeth hard, dark, and pithy sentences of wisdom, by which is taught unto young men knowledge and discretion (1-6). Wherefore this book is not such as discloseth truths by words antecedent or after the text, so as other scriptures generally do, but has its texts or sentences more independent; for usually each verse standeth upon its own bottom, and presenteth by itself some singular thing to the consideration of the reader; so that I shall not need to bid my reader go back to what went before, nor yet to that which follows, for the better opening of the text; and shall therefore come immediately to the words, and search into them for what hidden treasures are contained therein.

[First.] The words then, in the first place, present us with the general condition of the whole world; for all men are ranked under one of these conditions, the wicked or the righteous; for he that is not wicked is righteous, and he that is not righteous is wicked. So again, 'Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting-place.' I might give you out of this book many such instances, for it flows with such; but the truth hereof is plain enough.

The world is also divided by other general terms, as by these—believers, unbelievers; saints, sinners; good, bad; children of God, and children of the wicked one, &c. These, I say, are general terms, and comprehend not this or that sect, or order of each, but the whole. The believer, saint, good, and child of God, are one—to wit, the righteous; the unbeliever, the sinner, the bad, and the child of the devil, is one—to wit, the wicked; as also the text expresses it. So that I say, the text, or these two terms in it, comprehend all men; the one all that shall be saved, the other all that shall be damned for ever in hell-fire (Psa 9:17, 11:6). The wicked; who is he but the man that loves not God, nor to do his will? The righteous; who is he but the man that loveth God, and his holy will, to do it?

Of the wicked there are several sorts, some more ignorant, some more knowing; the more ignorant of them are such as go to be executed, as the ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; that is, as creatures whose ignorance makes them as unconcerned, while they are going down the stairs to hell. But, alas! their ignorance will be no plea for them before the bar of God; for it is written, 'It is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour' (Isa 27:11; Prov 7:22).

Though, I must confess, the more knowing the wicked is, or the more light and goodness such a one sins against, the greater will his judgment be; these shall have greater damnation: it shall be more tolerable at the judgment for Sodom than for them (Luke 10:12, 20:47). There is a wicked man that goes blinded, and a wicked man that goes with his eyes open to hell; there is a wicked man that cannot see, and a wicked man that will not see the danger he is in; but hell-fire will open both their eyes (Luke 16:23). There are that are wicked, and cover all with a cloak of religion, and there are that proclaim their profaneness; but they will meet both in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; 'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God' (Psa 9:17).

There are also several sorts, if I may so express myself, of those that are truly righteous, as children, young men, fathers, or saints that fear God, both small and great (Rev 11:18; 1 John 2). Some have more grace than some, and some do better improve the grace they have than others of their brethren do; some also are more valiant for the truth upon the earth than others of their brethren are; yea, some are so swallowed up with God, and love to his word and ways, that they are fit to be a pattern or example in holiness to all that are about them; and some again have their light shining so dim, that they render themselves suspicious to their brethren, whether they are of the number of those that have grace or no. But being gracious they shall not be lost, although such will at the day of reward suffer loss; for this is the will of the Father that sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, 'That of all which he had given him he should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day' (John 6:37-39; 1 Cor 3:15).

[Second.] In the next place, we are presented with some of the qualities of the wicked and the righteous; the wicked has his fears, the righteous has his desires. The wicked has his fears. 'The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.' Indeed, it seems to the godly that the wicked feareth not, nor doth he after a godly sort; for he that feareth God aright must not be reputed a wicked man. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, declareth that he feareth not God aright, because he doth not graciously call upon him; but yet for all that, the wicked at times are haunted, sorely haunted, and that with the worst of fears. 'Terrors,' says Bildad, 'shall make him afraid on every side.' And again, 'His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors' (Job 18:11-14).

A wicked man, though he may hector it at times with his proud heart, as though he feared neither God nor hell, yet again, at times, his soul is even drowned with terrors. 'The morning is to them even as the shadow of death; if one knew them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death' (Job 24:14-17). At times, I say, it is thus with them, especially when they are under warm convictions that the day of judgment is at hand, or when they feel in themselves as if death was coming as a tempest, to steal them away from their enjoyments, and lusts, and delights; then the bed shakes on which they lie, then the proud tongue doth falter in their mouth, and their knees knock one against another; then their conscience stares, and roars, and tears, and arraigns them before God's judgment-seat, or threatens to follow them down to hell, and there to wreck its fury on them, for all the abuses and affronts this wicked wretch offered to it in the day in which it controlled his unlawful deeds. O! none can imagine what fearful plights a wicked man is in sometimes; though God in his just judgment towards them suffers them again and again to stifle and choke such awakenings, from a purpose to reserve them unto the day of judgment to be punished (2 Peter 2:7-9).

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As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity—the evidence of the new birth—the spiritual barometer of faith and grace—and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes—the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built—and the root by which they are nourished. It is from this principle of Divine life which flows from Christ to his members, that these desires and struggles after holiness of thought and conduct arise, and are kept alive. They prove a fountain of consolation to the harassed and tried believer; for if we are in the sense of this scripture 'righteous,' we shall have those desires to enjoy the presence of God on earth, and with him felicity in heaven, which the voice of the Omnipotent declareth SHALL be granted. O! the blessedness of those in whose hearts are planted 'the desires of the righteous.'

This brings us to the most important of all the subjects of self-examination—am I one of the 'righteous'? or, in other words, 'am I born again?' Upon this solemn heart-trying inquiry hangs all our hopes of escape from misery and ascension to glory—a kingdom, a crown, a bright, a happy, an eternal inheritance, on the one hand, or the gloomy abodes of wretchedness on the other hand, are forever to be decided. What are our desires? To guide our anxious inquiries into this all-important subject, our author unlocks the heavenly treasures, and in every point furnishes us with book, and chapter, and verse, that we may carefully and prayerfully weigh all that he displays in the unerring scales of the sanctuary. A desire after the presence of God—of conformity to his image and example—for a greater hatred of sin—yea, as Bunyan expresses it, a desire to desire more of those blessed fruits of the Spirit, inspires the inquirer with the cheering hope that he has passed from death unto life—that he has been born again, and has been made righteous. And if, as we progress in the Divine life, our experience of the delights of communion with God enables us to say with David, 'My soul panteth,' or crieth, or, as the margin of our Bibles have, brayeth, 'yea, thirsteth after God,' however we may be assaulted by the enemies within and without, we may say with confidence, 'Why art thou disquieted, O my soul? hope thou in God, for I SHALL yet praise him.'

Deeply are the churches of Christ indebted to the Holy Spirit for having assisted their honoured servant to write this treatise. We are under great obligation to his friend, Charles Doe, for having handed it down to us, as he found it prepared for the press, with other excellent treatises, among the author's papers after his decease. It abounds with those striking ideas peculiar to the works of the author of the Pilgrim's Progress; most faithful home thrusts at conscience, which those who really desire to know themselves will greatly prize. It has been very properly observed that the words used by the author, as descriptive of the text, may, with great propriety, be applied to this treatise—' It is a sharp and smart description' of the desires of a righteous man.

The desires of the righteous are very graphically depicted and described. They reach beyond time and peer into eternity. 'The righteous have desires that reach further than this world, desires that have so long a neck as to look into the world to come.' 'So forcible and mighty are they in operation'; 'is there not life and mettle in them? They lose the bands of nature—harden the soul against sorrow—they are the fruits of an eagle-eyed confidence.' They enable the soul to see through the jaws of death—to see Christ preparing mansion-houses for his poor ones that are now kicked to and fro, like footballs in the world!' 'A desire will take a man upon its back and carry him away to God, if ten thousand men oppose it.' 'It will carry him away after God to do his will, let the work be never so hard.' The new man is subject to transient sickness, during which desire fails in its power when the inner man has caught a cold.

Bunyan's views of church fellowship are always lovely; they are delightfully expressed. He also introduces us to the unsearchable riches of Christ. 'The righteous desire a handful, God gives them a seaful; they desire a country, God prepares for them a city.' Wonders of grace belong to God. Bunyan's pictures of the natural man are equally faithful and striking—when guilt and conviction take hold on him—when pestilence threatens to break up his house-keeping—and death takes him by the throat and hauls him down stairs to the grave; then he, who never prayed, crieth, Pray for me, and the poor soul is as loath to go out of the body for fear the devil should catch it, as the poor bird is to go out of the bush. At the same time, she sees the hawk waiting to receive her. But I must not detain the reader longer from entering on this solemn and impressive treatise, but commend it to the Divine blessing.

GEO. OFFOR.

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(2.) The dying bed of such a man is made easy by reason also of the good company such shall have at their departure; and that is, (1) The angels; (b) Their good works they have done for God in the world.

(a) The angels of heaven shall wait upon them, as they did upon blessed Lazarus, to carry them into Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22). I know all that go to paradise are by these holy ones conducted thither; but yet, for all that, such as die under the clouds for unchristian walking with God, may meet with darkness in that day—may go heavily hence, notwithstanding that (Job 5:14). Yea, their bed may be as uncomfortable to them as if they lay upon nothing but the cords, and their departing from it, as to appearance, more uncomfortable by far. But as for those who have been faithful to their God, they shall see before them, shall know their tabernacles, 'shall be in peace' (Job 5:24), 'the everlasting gates shall be opened unto them,' in all which, from earth, they shall see the glory (Acts 7:55,56). I once was told a story of what happened at a good man's death, the which I have often remembered, with wonderment and gladness. After he had lain for some time sick, his hour came that he must depart, and behold. In contrast, he lay, as we call it, drawing on, to the amazement of the mourners, there was heard about his bed such blessed and ravishing music as they never heard before; which also continued till his soul departed, and then began to cease, and grow, as to its sound, as if it was departing the house, and so still seemed to go further and further off, till at last they could hear it not longer. 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him': behold, then, how God can make thy sick bed easy! (1 Cor 2:9).

(b) A dying bed is made easy by those good works that men have done in their life for the name of God: 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them'; yea, and go before them too (Rev 14:13). No man need be afraid to be accompanied by good deeds to heaven. Be afraid of sins, they are like bloodhounds at the heels; and be sure thy sins will find thee out, even thee who hast not been pardoned in the precious blood of Christ; but as for those who have submitted themselves to the righteousness of God for their justification, and who have, through faith and love to his name, been frequent in deeds of righteousness, they shall not appear empty before their God, 'their works,' their good works, 'follow them.' These shall enter into rest and walk with Christ in white. I observe, when Israel had passed over Jordan, they were to go to possess between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, from whence was to be pronounced the blessing and the cursing (Deut 27). The gospel meaning of which I take to be as followeth: I take Jordan to be a type of death: and these two mountains, with the cursing and blessing, to be a type of the judgment that comes on every man, so soon as he goes from hence—' and after death the judgment'—so that he that escapes the cursing, he alone goes into blessedness; but he that Mount Ebal smiteth, he falls short of heaven! O! none knows the noise that doth sound in sinners' souls from Ebal and Gerizim when they are departed hence; yet it may be they know not what will become of them till they hear these echoings from these two mountains: but here the good man is sure Mount Gerizim doth pronounce him blessed. Blessed, then, are the dead that die in the Lord, for their works will follow them till they are past all danger. These are the Christian's train that follow him to rest; these are a good man's company that follow him to heaven.

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7. If any escape public calamities, usually they are such as are very tender of the name of God, and that make it their business to walk before him. They either escape by being mercifully taken away before it, or by being safely preserved amid the judgment, until the indignation be overpast. Therefore, God saith in one place, the 'righteous are taken away from the evil to come' (Isa 57:1). But if not so, as all be not, then they shall have their life for a prey (Jer 39:15-18). Caleb and Joshua escaped all the plagues that befel to Israel in the wilderness, for they followed God (Num 14:24). Somewhat of this you have also in that scripture, 'Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be, ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger' (Zeph 2:3). According to this is that in Luke, 'Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man' (Luke 21:36). When a man's ways please the Lord, he will make his enemies to be at peace with him. Marvellous is the work of God in the preservation of his saints that are faithful with him, when dangers and calamities come; as Joseph, David, Jeremiah, and Paul, with many others, may appear. 'He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh' (Job 5:19-21).

8. If afflictions do overtake thee, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, yet those afflictions shall not befal thee for those causes for which they befal the slothful and backsliding Christian; neither shall they have that pinching and galling operation upon thee, as on those who have left their first love and tenderness for God's glory in the world.

(1.) Upon the faithful upright man, though he also may be corrected and chastised for sin, yet, I say, he abiding close with God, afflictions come rather for trial and for the exercise of grace received, than as rebukes for this or that wickedness; when upon the backsliding heartless Christian these things shall come from fatherly anger and displeasure, and that for their sins against him. Job did acknowledge himself a sinner, and that God therefore might chastise him: but yet he rather believed it was chiefly for the trial of his grace, as indeed, and in truth, it was (Job 7:20, 23:10). 'He is a perfect man,' saith God to Satan, 'and one that feareth God, and escheweth evil, and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause' (Job 2:3). God will not say thus of every one when affliction is laid upon them, though they yet may be his children; but rather declareth and pronounceth that it is for their transgressions, because they have wickedly departed from him (Psa 39:11, 38:1-4).

(2.) Now, affliction arising from these two causes, their effects in the manner of their working, though grace turns them both for good, is very different one from the other; he who hath been helped to walk with God, is not assaulted with those turnings and returnings of guilt when he is afflicted, as he who hath basely departed from God; the one can plead his integrity, when the other blusheth for shame. See both these cases in one person, even that goodly beloved David. When the Lord did rebuke him for sin, then he cries, O blood guiltiness, O 'cast me not away from thy presence' (Psa 51:11). But when he at another time knew himself guiltless, though then also sorely afflicted, behold with what boldness he turns his face unto God; 'O Lord, my God,' saith he, 'if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; [yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy] let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah,' &c. (Psa 7:3-5).

This, therefore, must needs be a blessed help in distress, for a man to have a good conscience when affliction hath taken hold on him; for a man then, in his looking behind and before, to return with peace to his own soul, that man must needs find honey in this lion, that can plead his innocency and uprightness. All the people curse me, saith Jeremiah, but that without a cause, for I have neither lent nor taken on usury; which it seems was a sin at that day (Jer 15:10).

9. When men are faithful with God in this world, to do the work he hath appointed for them, by this means a dying bed is made easier, and that upon a double account. (1.) By reason of that present peace such shall have, even in their time of languishing. (2.) By reason of the good company such shall have at their departure.

(1.) Such souls usually abound in present peace; they look not back upon the years they have spent with that shame as the idle and slothful Christian does. 'Remember now, Lord,—how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart' (Isa 38:3). Blessed is the man that considereth the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (Psa 41:1-3).

Ah! when God makes the bed, he must needs lie easy that weakness hath cast thereon; a blessed pillow hath that man for his head, though to all beholders it is hard as a stone. Jacob, on his deathbed, had two things that made it easy: (a) The faith of his going to rest, 'I am to be gathered unto my people'; that is, to the blessed that have yielded up the ghost before me (Gen 49:29). (b) The remembrance of the sealings of the countenance of God upon him, when he walked before him in the days of his pilgrimage: when Joseph came to see him, before he left this world, Israel, saith the Word, 'strengthened himself and sat upon his bed'; and the first word that dropt out of this good man's mouth, O how full of glory was it! 'God Almighty appeared unto me,' saith he, 'at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,' &c. (Gen 48:1-3). O blessed discourse for a sick bed, when those can talk thus that lie thereon, from as true a ground as Jacob; but therefore will God make the bed of those who walk close with him in this world.

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2. Dost thou love thy friends, dost thou love thine enemies, dost thou love thy family or relations, or the church of God? then cry for strength from heaven, and for wisdom, and a heart from heaven to walk wisely before them. For if a man be remiss, negligent, and careless in his conversation, not much mattering whom he offends, displeases, or discourages, by doing this or that, so he may save himself, please his foolish heart, and get this world, or the like, this man hath lost a good report of them that are without, and is fallen into reproach and the snare of the devil (1 Tim 3:7). He is dropped into reproach, and is slighted, disdained, both he, his profession, and all he says, either by way of reproof, rebuke, or exhortation: physician, cure thyself, say all to such a one; this man is a sayer, but not a doer, say they; he believeth not what he says; yea, religion itself is made to stink by this man's ungodly life. This is he that hardens his children, that stumbleth the world, that grieveth the tender and godly Christian; but I say, he that walketh uprightly, that tenders[26] the name of God, the credit of the gospel, and the welfare of others, seeking with Paul, not his own profit, but the profit of others, that they may be saved; this man holds forth the Word of life, this man is a good savour of Christ amongst them that are saved; yea, may prove, by so doing, the instrument in God's hand of the salvation of many souls.

3. This is the way to be clear from the blood of all men, the way not to be charged with the ruin and everlasting misery of poor immortal souls. Great is the danger that attends an ungodly life, or an ungodly action, by them that profess the gospel (Jer 2:33). When wicked men learn to be wicked of professors, when professors cause the enemies of God to blaspheme, doubtless sad and woeful effects must needs be the fruit of so doing (2 Sam 12:14). How many in Israel were destroyed for that which Aaron, Gideon, and Manasseh, unworthily did in their day? (Exo 32:25; Judg 8:24-27). A godly man, if he take not heed to himself, may do that in his life that may send many to everlasting burnings, when he himself is in everlasting bliss. But on the contrary, let men walk with God, and there they shall be excused; the blood of them that perish shall lie at their own door, and thou shalt be clear. 'I am pure from the blood of all men,' saith Paul (Acts 20:26). And again, 'your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean' (Acts 18:6). Yea, he that doth thus, shall leave in them that perish an accusing conscience, even begotten by his good conversation, and by that they shall be forced to justify God, his people, and way, in the day of their visitation; in the day when they are descending into the pit to the damned (1 Peter 2:12).

4. This is the way to maintain always the answer, the echoing answer of a good conscience in thy own soul. Godliness is of great use in this way; for the man that hath a good conscience to Godward, hath a continual feast in his own soul: while others say there is casting down, he shall say there is lifting up; for he shall save the humble person (Job 22:23-30). Some indeed, in the midst of their profession, are reproached, smitten, and condemned of their own heart, their conscience still biting and stinging of them, because of the uncleanness of their hands, and they cannot lift up their face unto God; they have not the answer of a good conscience toward him, but must walk as persons false to their God, and as traitors to their own eternal welfare; but the godly upright man shall have the light shine upon his ways, and he shall take his steps in butter and honey. 'The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever' (Isa 32:17). 'If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things; beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God' (1 John 3:20-22).

5. The godly man that walketh with God, that chiefly careth to do the work that God hath allotted him to do for his name in this world, he hath not only these advantages, but further, he hath as it were a privilege of power with God, he can sway much with him; as it is said of Jacob, as a prince he had power with God to prevail in times of difficulty (Gen 32:28). And so again, it is said of Judah, being faithful with the saints, he ruled with God (Hosea 11:12). How many times did that good man Moses turn away the wrath of God from the many thousands of Israel; yea, as it were, he held the hands of God, and staved off the judgments not once nor twice; the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (2 Sam 5:10). One man that walketh much with God, may work wonders in this very thing; he may be a means of saving whole countries and kingdoms from those judgments their sins deserve. How many times, when Israel provoked the Lord to anger, did he yet defer to destroy them? and the reason of that forbearance, he tells them it was for David's sake; for my servant David's sake I will not do it. As the Lord said also concerning Paul, 'Lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee'; that is, to save their lives from the rage of the sea (Acts 27:24). Yea, when a judgment is not only threatened, but the decree gone forth for its execution, then godly upright men may sometimes cause the very decree itself to cease without bringing forth (Zech 2:1-3). Or else may so time the judgment that is decreed, that the church shall best be able to bear it (Matt 24:20).

6. The man that is tender of God's glory in this world, still ruling and governing his affairs by the Word, and desirous to be faithful to the work and employment that God hath appointed him to do for his name; that man shall still be let into the secrets of God; he shall know that which God will reserve and hide from many; 'Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do,' saith the Lord?—'For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord,' &c. (Gen 18:17,19). So again, 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant' (Psa 25:14). 'And to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the salvation of God' (Psa 50:23). Such a man shall have things new as well as old. His converse with the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, shall be turned into a kind of familiarity; he shall be led into the Word, and shall still increase in knowledge: when others shall be stinted and look with old faces, being black and dry as a stick, he shall be like a fatted calf, like the tree that is planted by the rivers of water, his flesh shall be fresh as the flesh of a child, and God will renew the face of his soul.

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The Second Objection. And now I come to the second objection, and that ariseth from our being completely justified freely by the grace of God through Christ; and by the same means alone brought to glory; and may be framed thus:—but seeing we are freely justified, and brought to glory by free grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ; and seeing the glory that we shall be possessed of upon the account of the Lord Jesus, is both full and complete, both for happiness and continuing therein, what need will there be that our work should be rewarded? Nay, may not the doctrine of reward for good works be here not only needless, but indeed an impairing and lessening the completeness of that glory to which we are brought, and in which we shall live inconceivably happy for ever, by free grace?

Answer. That we are justified in the sight of the Divine Majesty, from the whole lump of our sins, both past, present, and to come, by free grace, through that one offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all, I bless God I believe it, and that we shall be brought to glory by the same grace, through the same most blessed Jesus, I thank God by his grace I believe that also. Again, that the glory to which we shall be brought by free grace, through the only merits of Jesus, is unspeakably glorious and complete, I question no more than I question the blessed truths but now confessed. But yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a reward for the righteous, a reward for their works of faith and love, whether in a doing or a suffering way, and that not principally to be enjoyed here, but hereafter; 'great is your reward in heaven,' as I proved in the answer to the first objection. And now I shall answer further:—

1. If this reward had been an impairment or derogation to the free grace of God that saveth us, he would never have mentioned it for our encouragement unto good works, nor have added a promise of reward for them that do them, nor have counted himself unfaithful if he should not do it.

2. The same may be said concerning Jesus Christ, who doubtless loveth and tendereth the honour of his own merits, as much as any who are saved by him can do, whether they be in heaven or earth; yet he hath promised a reward to a cup of cold water, or giving of any other alms; and hath further told us, they that do these things, they do lay up treasure in heaven, namely, a reward when their Lord doth come, then to be received by them to their eternal comfort.

3. Paul was as great a maintainer of the doctrine of God's free grace, and of justification from sin, by the righteousness of Christ imputed by grace, as any he that ever lived in Christ's service, from the world's beginning till now: and yet he was for this doctrine; he expected himself, and encouraged others also to look for such a reward, for doing and suffering for Christ, which he calls 'a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory' (2 Cor 4:17). Surely, as Christ saith, in a case not far distant from this in hand, 'if it were not so, he would have told us' (John 14:1-3). Now could I tell what those rewards are that Christ hath prepared, and will one day bestow upon those that do for him in faith and love in this world, I should therein also say more than now I dare or ought; yet this let me say in general, they are such as should make us leap to think on, and that we should remember with exceeding joy, and never think that it is contrary to the Christian faith, to rejoice and be glad for that which yet we understand not (Matt 5:11,12; Luke 6:23). 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be,' &c. But 'every man that hath this hope in him,' namely, that he shall be more than here he can imagine, 'purifieth himself even as he is pure' (1 John 3:2,3). Things promised when not revealed to be known by us while here, are therefore not made known, because too big and wonderful. When Paul was up in paradise, he heard unspeakable words not possible for man to utter (2 Cor 12:3,4). Wherefore, a reward I find, and that laid up in heaven, but what it is I know not, neither is it possible for any here to know it any further, than by certain general words of God, such as these, praise, honour, glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, thrones, judging of angels, a kingdom, with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, &c. (1 Cor 4:5; 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Tim 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4; Matt 25:34-36). Wherefore, to both these objections, let me yet answer thus a few words. Though thy modesty or thy opinion will not suffer thee to look for a reward for what thou dost here for thy Lord, by the faith and love of the gospel; yea, though in the day of judgment thou shouldst there slight all thou didst on earth for thy Lord, saying, When, Lord, when did we do it? he will answer, Then, even then when ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me (Matt 25:37-40).

The Third Objection. But is not the reward that God hath promised to his saints, for their good works, to be enjoyed only here?

Answer. 1. For concerning holy walking, according to God's command, yieldeth even here abundance of blessed fruits, as he saith, 'in keeping of them there is great reward,' and again, 'this man shall be blessed in his deed,' that is, now, even in this time, as he saith in another place; for indeed there is so much goodness and blessedness to be found in a holy and godly life, that were a man to have nothing hereafter, the present comfort and glory that lieth as the juice in the grape, in all things rightly done for God, it were sufficient to answer all our travail and self-denial in our work of faith and labour of love, to do the will of God.

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[Objections answered.]

But before I go any further, I must answer three objections that may be made by those who read this book.

The First Objection. The first is this: some godly heart may say, I dare not own that what I do shall ever be regarded, much less rewarded by God in another world, because of the unworthiness of my person, and because of the many infirmities and sinful weaknesses that attend me every day.

Answer. This objection is built partly upon a bashful modesty, partly upon ignorance, and partly upon unbelief. My answer to it is as follows.

You must remind and look back to what but now hath been proved, namely, That both Christ and his apostles do all agree in this, that there is a reward for the righteous, and that their good deeds are laid up as treasures for them in heaven, and are certainly to be bestowed upon them in the last day with abundance of eternal glory. 2. Now then, to speak to thy case, and to remove the bottom of thy objection, that the unworthiness of thy person, and thy sinful infirmities, that attend thee in every duty, do make thee think thy works shall not be either regarded or rewarded in another world. But consider, first, as to the unworthiness of thy person. They that are in Christ Jesus are always complete before God, in the righteousness that Christ hath obtained, how infirm, and weak, and wicked soever they appear to themselves. Before God, therefore, in this righteousness thou standest all the day long, and that upon a double account; first, by the act of faith, because thou hast believed in him that thou mightest be justified by the righteousness of Christ; but if this fail, I mean the act of believing, still thou standest justified by God's imputing this righteousness to thee, which imputation standing purely upon the grace and good pleasure of God to thee, that holds thee still as just before God, though thou wantest at present the comfort thereof. Thus, therefore, thy person stands always acccepted; and, indeed, no man's works can at all be regarded, if his person, in the first place, be not respected. The Lord had respect first to Abel, and after to his offering (Gen 4:4; Heb 11:4). But he can have respect to no man before works done, unless he find them in the righteousness of Christ; for they must be accepted through a righteousness, which, because they have none of their own, therefore they have one of God's imputing, even that of his Son, which he wrought for us when he was born of the Virgin, &c. As to thy sinful infirmities that attend thee in every work, they cannot hinder thee from laying up treasure in heaven, thy heart being upright in the way with God; nor will he be unrighteous at all to forget thy good deeds in the day when Christ shall come from heaven.

1. Because by the same reason then he must disown all the good works of all his prophets and apostles; for they have all been attended with weaknesses and sinful infirmities; from the beginning hitherto there is not a man, 'not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not' (Eccl 7:20). The best of our works are accompanied with sin: 'When I would do good,' saith Paul, 'evil is present with me' (Rom 7:21). This, therefore, must not hinder. And for thy further satisfaction in this, consider, as Christ presents thy person before God, acceptable without thy works, freely and alone by his righteousness, so his office is to take away the iniquity of thy holy things, that they also by him may be accepted of God (Exo 28:36-38; 1 Peter 2:5). Wherefore, it is further said, for the encouragement of the weak and feeble, He shall not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, but shall bring forth judgment unto victory (Matt 12:20). The bruised reed, you know, is weak; and by bruises we should understand sinful infirmities. And so also concerning the smoking flax; by smoking you must understand sinful weakness; but none of these shall either hinder the justification of thy person, or the acceptation of thy performance, they being done in faith and love, let thy temptations be never so many, because of Jesus Christ his priestly office now at the right hand of God. By him, therefore, let us offer spiritual sacrifices; for they shall be acceptable to God and our Father.

2. Because otherwise God and Christ would prove false to their own word, which is horrible blasphemy once to imagine; who hath promised that when the Son of God shall come to judgment, he shall render to 'every man according to his work' (Rev 22:12); and doth upon this very account encourage his servants to a patient enduring of the hottest persecutions: 'for great is your reward in heaven' (Matt 5:12; Luke 6:23,35; Matt 6:1, 10:41,42). From this also he bindeth his saints and servants to be sincerely liberal, and good, and kind to all; first, because otherwise, they have no reward of their Father which is in heaven, that is, for what they do not; but if they do it, then, though it be but a cup of cold water given to a prophet or righteous man, they shall receive a prophet's reward, a righteous man's reward; yea, they shall receive it in any wise, 'they shall in no wise lose their reward.'

3. It must be so, otherwise he should deny a reward to the works and operations of his own good grace he hath freely bestowed upon us; but that he will not do. He is not unfaithful to forget your work of faith and labour of love (Heb 6:10). And so of all other graces, 'our work shall not be in vain in the Lord' (1 Cor 4:58). And, as I said before, temptations, weaknesses, and sins, shall not hinder the truly gracious of this their blessed reward. Nay, they shall further it, 'if need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ' (1 Peter 1:6,7). And the reason is, because the truth and sincerity of God's grace in us doth so much the more discover itself, by how much it is opposed and resisted by weakness and sin. It is recorded to the everlasting renown of three of David's mighties, that they would break through a host of giant-like enemies, to fetch water for their longing king; for it bespake their valour, their love, and good-will to him; the same also is true concerning thy graces, and every act of them when assaulted with an host of weaknesses (1 Chron 11:12,15-18).