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14 March, 2018

A GODLY MAN IS A ZEALOUS MAN

A GODLY MAN IS A ZEALOUS MAN

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Grace turns a saint into a seraph—it makes him burn in holy zeal. Zeal is a mixed affection, a compound of love and anger. It carries forth our love to God, and anger against sin—in the most intense manner. Zeal is the flame of the affections; a godly man has a double baptism—of water and fire. He is baptized with a spirit of zeal; he is zealous for God's honor, truth, worship: "My zeal has consumed me" (Psalm 119:139). It was a crown set on Phineas' head that he was zealous for his God (Numb. 25:13). Moses is touched with a coal from God's altar and in his zeal he breaks the tablets (Exod. 32:19). Our blessed Savior in his zeal whips the buyers and sellers out of the temple: "Zeal for your house will consume me" (John 2:17).
But there is a false heat—something looking like zeal, which it is not. A comet looks like a star. I shall therefore show some differences between a true and a false zeal:

A false zeal is a BLIND zeal
"They have a zeal of God—but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2). This is not the fire of the spirit—but wildfire. The  Athenians were very devout and zealous—but they did not know for all that. "I found an altar with this inscription, To the unknown God" (Acts 17:23). Thus the Papists are zealous in their way—but they have taken away the key of knowledge.

A false zeal is a SELF-SEEKING zeal
Jehu cries, "Come, see my zeal for the Lord!" (2 Kings 16). But it was not zeal—but ambition; he was fishing for a crown. Demetrius pleads for the goddess Diana—but it was not her temple—but her silver  shrines, that he was zealous for (Acts 19:25-27). Such zealots Ignatius complains of in his time, that they made a trade of Christ and religion, by which to enrich themselves. It is probable that many in King Henry VIII's time were eager to pull down the abbeys, not out of any zeal against popery—but that they might build their own houses upon the ruins of those abbeys, like vultures which fly aloft but their eyes are down upon their prey. If blind zeal is punished sevenfold, hypocritical zeal shall be punished seventy-sevenfold.

A false zeal is a MISGUIDED zeal
It occurs most in things which are not commanded. It is the sign of a hypocrite to be zealous for traditions and useless of institutions. The Pharisees were more zealous about washing their cups, than their hearts.

A false zeal is fired with ANGER
James and John, when they wished to call down for fire from heaven, were rebuked by our Savior: "You know not what manner of spirit you are of" (Luke 9:55). It was not zeal—but anger. Many have espoused the cause of religion, rather out of faction and fancy, than out of zeal for the truth.
But the zeal of a godly man is a true and holy zeal which evidences itself in its effects:
True zeal cannot bear an injury done to God
Zeal makes the blood rise when God's honor is impeached. "I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot tolerate those who are evil" (Rev. 2:2). He who zealously loves his friend, cannot hear him spoken against and be silent.
True zeal will encounter the greatest difficulties
When the world holds out of danger to discourage us, zeal casts out fear. Zeal is quickened by opposition. Zeal does not say, "There is a lion in the way!" Zeal will charge through an army of dangers, it will march in the face of death. Let news be brought to Paul that he was waylaid; "in every city bonds and afflictions" awaited him. This set a keener edge upon his zeal: "I am ready not to be bound only—but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!" (Acts 21:13). As sharp frosts by force of contrast make the fire burn hotter, so sharp oppositions only inflame zeal the more.
As true zeal has knowledge to go before it, so it has sanctity to follow after it
Wisdom leads the van of zeal, and holiness brings up the rear. A hypocrite seems to be zealous—but he is wicked. The godly man is white and ruddy; white in purity, as well as ruddy in zeal. Christ's zeal was hotter than the fire, and his holiness purer than the sun.
Zeal that is genuine loves truth when it is despised and opposed
"They have made void your law. Therefore I love your commandments above gold" (Psalm 119:126,127). The more others deride  holiness, the more we love it. What is religion the worse, for others disgracing it? Does a diamond sparkle the less because a blind man disparages it? The more outrageous the wicked are against the truth, the more courageous the godly are for it. When Michal scoffed at David's pious dancing before the ark, he said, "If this is to be vile, I will yet be more vile" (2 Sam. 6:22).

True zeal causes fervency in duty
"Fervent in spirit" (Romans 12:1). Zeal makes us—hear with reverence, pray with affection, love with ardency. God kindled Moses' sacrifice from heaven: "Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering" (Lev. 9:24). When we are zealous in devotion, and our heart waxes hot within us—here is a fire from heaven kindling our sacrifice. How odious it is for a man to be all fire when he is sinning, and all ice when he is praying! A pious heart, like water seething hot, boils over in holy affections!

True zeal is persevering
Though it is violent, it is perpetual. No waters can quench the flame of zeal, it is torrid in the frigid zone. The heat of zeal is like the natural heat coming from the heart, which lasts as long as life. That zeal which is not constant, was never true.  
Use 1: How opposite to godliness are those who cry down zeal, and count it a religious frenzy! They are for the light of knowledge—but not for the heat of zeal. When Basil was earnest in preaching against the Arian heresy, it was interpreted as folly. Religion is a matter requiring zeal; the kingdom of heaven will not be taken, except by violence (Matt. 11:12).
Objection: But why so much fervor in religion? What becomes of prudence then?
Answer: Though prudence is to direct zeal—yet it is not to destroy it. Because sight is requisite, must the body therefore have no heat? If prudence is the eye in religion, zeal is the heart.
Question: But where is moderation?
Answer: Though moderation in things of indifference is commendable, and doubtless it would greatly tend to settling the peace of the church—yet in the main articles of faith, wherein God's glory and our salvation lie at stake, here moderation is nothing but sinful neutrality.
Objection: But the apostle urges moderation: "Let your moderation be known to all" (Phil. 4:5).
Answer:
The apostle is speaking there of moderating our passion. The Greek word for "moderation" signifies candor and meekness—the opposite of rash anger. And so the word is rendered in another place "patient" (1 Tim. 3:3). By moderation, then, is meant meekness of spirit. That is made clear by the subsequent words, "The Lord is at hand"—as if the apostle had said, "Avenge not yourselves, for the Lord is at hand." He is ready to avenge your personal wrongs—but this in no way hinders a Christian from being zealous in matters of religion.

What strangers they are to godliness, who have no zeal for the glory of God! They can see his ordinances despised, his worship adulterated—yet their spirits are not at all stirred in them. How many are of a dull, lukewarm temper, zealous for their own secular interest—but with no zeal for the things of heaven! Hot in their own cause—but cool in God's cause. The Lord most abominates lukewarm nominal Christians. I almost said that he is sick of them. "I wish you were either one or the other!" (anything but lukewarm); "because you are neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15,16). A lukewarm Christian is only half-baked, just like Ephraim: "Ephraim is a cake not turned" (Hos. 7:8).
I would ask these tepid, neutral professing Christians this question, "If religion is not a good cause, why did they undertake it at first? If it is, why do they go about it so faintly? Why have they no more holy ardor of soul?" These people would gladly go to heaven on a soft bed—but are loath to be carried there in a fiery chariot of zeal. Remember, God will be zealous against those who are not zealous; he provides the fire of hell for those who lack the fire of zeal! 

Use 2: As you would be found in the catalogue of the godly, strive for zeal. It is better to be of no religion—than not to be zealous in religion. Beware of carnal policy. This is one of those three things which Luther feared would be the death of religion. Some men have been too wise to be saved. Their discretion has quenched their zeal. Beware of sloth, which is an enemy to zeal: "be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:19). Christians, what do you reserve your zeal for? Is it for your gold which perishes; or for your sinful passions which will make you perish? Can you bestow your zeal better than upon God?
How zealous men have been in a false religion! "They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance" (Isaiah 46:6). The Jews did not spare any cost in their idolatrous worship. No, they "cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to Molech" (Jer. 32:35). They were so zealous in their idol worship that they would sacrifice their sons and daughters to their false gods. How far the blind heathen went in their false zeal! When the tribunes of Rome complained that they needed gold in their treasuries to offer to Apollo, the Roman matrons plucked off their chains of gold, and rings, and bracelets—and gave them to the priests to offer up sacrifice. Were these so zealous in their sinful worship, and will you not be zealous in the worship of the true God?

Do you lose anything by your zeal? Shall it not be superabundantly recompensed? What is heaven worth? What is a sight of God worth? Was not Jesus Christ zealous for you? He sweat drops of blood, he conflicted with his Father's wrath. How zealous he was for your redemption, and have you no zeal for him? Is there anything you yourselves hate more than dullness and slothfulness in your servants? You are weary of such servants. Do you dislike a dull spirit in others, and not in yourselves? What are all your duties without zeal but mere fancies and nonentities?

Do you know what a glorious thing zeal is? It is the luster that sparkles from grace; it is the flame of love; it resembles the Holy Spirit: "There appeared cloven tongues like fire, which sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:3,4).  Tongues of fire were an emblem to represent that fire of zeal  which the Spirit poured upon them.

Zeal makes all our pious performances prevail with God. When the iron is red hot it enters best; and when our services are red hot with zeal, they pierce heaven soonest!

13 March, 2018

A GODLY MAN IS A HEAVENLY MAN

A GODLY MAN IS A HEAVENLY MAN

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Heaven is in him—before he is in heaven! The Greek word for saint, hagios, signifies a man taken away from the earth. A person may live in one place—yet belong to another. He may live in Spain yet be a citizen of England. So a godly man is a while in the world—but he belongs to the Jerusalem above. That is the place to which he aspires. Every day is Ascension Day with a believer. The saints are called "stars" for their sublimity; they have gone above into the upper region: "The way of life is above, to the wise" (Proverbs 15:24). A godly man is heavenly in six ways:
In his election.
In his disposition.
In his communication.
In his actions.
In his expectation.
In his conduct.

A godly man is heavenly in his CHOICES
He chooses heavenly objects. David chose to be a resident in God's house (Psalm 84:10). A godly person chooses Christ and grace, before the most illustrious things of this world. What a man chooses—that is what he is. This choosing of God is best seen in a critical hour. When Christ and the world come into competition, and we part with the world to keep Christ and a good conscience, that is a sign we have chosen "the better part" (Luke 10:42). Moses "chose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time." Hebrews 11:25

A godly man is heavenly in his DISPOSITION
He sets his affections on things above (Col. 3:2). He sends his heart to heaven before he gets there. He looks upon the world as but a beautiful prison and he cannot be much in love with his fetters, though they are made of gold. A holy person contemplates glory and eternity; his desires have gotten wings and have fled to heaven. Grace is in the heart like fire, which makes it sparkle upwards in divine desires and prayers.

A godly man is heavenly in his SPEECH
His words are sprinkled with salt to season others (Col. 4:6). As soon as Christ had risen from the grave, he was "speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). No sooner has a man risen from the grave of unregeneracy than he is speaking of heaven. "The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious" (Eccles. 4:12). He speaks in such a heavenly manner, as if he were already in heaven. The love he has for God, will not allow him to be silent. The spouse being sick with love, her tongue was like the pen of a ready writer: "My beloved is white and ruddy, his head is as the most fine gold . . . " (Song 5:10,11). Where there is a principle of godliness in the heart—it will vent itself at the lips!
(1) How can they be termed godly—who are possessed with a dumb devil? They never have any good discourse. They are fluent and discursive enough in secular things: they can speak of their wares and shops, they can tell what a good crop they have—but in matters of religion they are as if their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth! There are many people in whose company you cannot tell what to make of them—whether they are Turks or atheists, for they never speak a word of Christ!
(2) How can they be termed godly—whose tongues are set on fire by hell? Their lips do not drop honey—but poison, to the defiling of others! Plutarch says that speech ought to be like gold, which is of most value when it has least dross in it. Oh, the unclean, malicious words that some people utter! What an unsavory stench comes from these dunghills! Those lips that gallop so fast in sin, need David's muzzle. "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth," (Psalm 39:1). Can the body be healthy—when the tongue is black? Can the heart be holy—when the devil is in the lips? A godly man speaks "the language of Canaan." "Those who feared the Lord spoke often one to another" (Mal. 3:16).

A godly man is heavenly in his ACTIONS
The motions of the planets are celestial. A godly man is sublime and sacred in his motions; he works out salvation; he puts forth all his strength, as they did in the Greek Olympics, so that he may obtain the garland made of the flowers of paradise. He prays, fasts, watches, and takes heaven by storm. He is divinely actuated, he carries on God's interest in the world, he does angels' work, he is seraphic in his actions.

A godly man is heavenly in his HOPES
His hopes are above the world (Psalm 39:7). "In hope of eternal life" (Titus 1:2). A godly man casts anchor within the veil. He hopes to have his fetters of sin filed off; he hopes for such things as eye has not seen; he hopes for a kingdom when he dies—a kingdom promised by the Father, purchased by the Son, assured by the Holy Spirit. As an heir lives in hope of the time when such a great estate shall fall to him, so a child of God, who is a co-heir with Christ, hopes for glory. This hope comforts him in all varieties of condition: "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).  
(1) This hope comforts a godly man in AFFLICTION. Hope lightens and sweetens the most severe dispensations. A child of God can rejoice when tears are in his eyes; the time is shortly coming when the cross shall be taken off his shoulders and a crown set on his head! A saint at present is miserable, with a thousand troubles; in an instant, he will be clothed with robes of immortality, and advanced above seraphim!  
(2) This hope comforts a godly man in DEATH.  "The righteous has hope in his death" (Proverbs 14:32). If one should ask a dying saint, when all his earthly comforts have gone, what he had left, he would say, "the helmet of hope." I have read of a woman martyr who, when the persecutors commanded that her breasts should be cut off, said, "Tyrant, do your worst; I have two breasts which you can not touch, the one of faith and the other of hope." A soul that has this blessed hope is above the desire of life or the fear of death. Would anyone be troubled at exchanging the lease of a poor hut—for an inheritance that will be for him and his heirs? Who would worry about parting with life, which is a lease that will soon run out, to be possessed of a glorious inheritance in light?

A godly man is heavenly in his CONDUCT
He casts such a luster of holiness as adorns his profession. He lives as if he had seen the Lord with his bodily eyes. What zeal, sanctity, humility, shines forth in his life! A godly person emulates not only the angels—but imitates Christ himself (1 John 2:6). The Macedonians celebrate the birthday of Alexander, on which day they wear his picture round their necks, set with pearl and rich jewels. So a godly man carries the lively picture of Christ about him, in the heavenliness of his deportment: "our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20).  
Use 1: Those who are eaten up with the world will be rejected, as ungodly, at the bar of judgment. To be godly and earthly is a contradiction: "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears—many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things." (Philippians 3:18-19). We read that the earth swallowed up Korah alive (Numb. 16:32). This judgment is on many—the earth swallows up their time, thoughts and discourse. They are buried twice; their hearts are buried in the earth before their bodies. How sad it is that the soul, that princely thing, which is made for communion with God and angels, should be put to the mill to grind, and made a slave to the earth! How like the prodigal the soul has become, choosing rather to converse with swine and feed upon husks—than to aspire after communion with the blessed Deity! Thus does Satan befool men, and keep them from heaven by making them seek a heaven here on earth.  
Use 2: As we would prove ourselves to be "born of God", let us be of a sublime, heavenly temper. We shall never go to heaven when we die—unless we are in heaven while we live. That we may be more noble and raised in our affections, let us seriously weigh these four considerations:  
God himself sounds a retreat to us to call us off the world. "Love not the world" (1 John 2:15). We may use it as a bouquet of flowers to smell—but it must not lie like a bundle of myrrh between our breasts. "Be not conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2). Do not hunt after its honors and profits. God's providences, like his precepts, are to beat us off the world. Why does he send war and epidemics? What does the heat of this great anger mean? Surely dying times are to make men die to the world.
  
Consider how much below a Christian it is to be earthly-minded. We sometimes laugh at children when we see them busying themselves with toys, kissing and hugging their dolls, etc., when we do the same! At death, what will all the world be, which we so hug and kiss—but like a rag doll? It will yield us no more comfort then. How far it is below a heaven-born soul to be taken up with these things! No, when such as profess to be ennobled with a principle of piety and to have their hopes above, have their hearts below, how they disparage their heavenly calling and spot their silver wings of grace, by besmirching them with earth!
  
Consider what a poor, contemptible thing the world is. It is not worth setting the affections on; it cannot fill the heart. If Satan should take a Christian up the mount of temptation and show him all the kingdoms and glory of the world, what could he show him but a deceitful dream? Nothing here can be proportionate to the immense soul of man. "In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits" (Job 20:22). Here is lack in plenty. The creature will no more fill the soul than a drop will fill the bucket. That little sweet which we suck from the creature, is intermixed with bitterness, like that cup which the Jews gave Christ. "They gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh" (Mark 15:23). And this imperfect sweet will not last long: "the world passes away" (1 John 2:17). The creature merely greets us, and is soon on the wing. The world constantly changes. It is never constant except in its disappointments. How quickly we may remove our lodgings and make our pillow in the dust! The world is but a great inn where we are to stay a night or two, and then be gone. What madness it is so to set our heart upon our inn—as to forget our eternal home!
  
Consider what a glorious place heaven is. We read of an angel coming down from heaven who "set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth" (Rev. 10:2). Had we only once been in heaven, and viewed its superlative glory, how we might in holy scorn trample with one foot on the earth and with the other foot on the sea! Heaven is called a better country: "But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one" (Heb. 11:16). Heaven is said to be a better country, in opposition to the country where we are now staying. What should we seek, but that better country?

Question: In what sense is heaven a better country?
Answer 1: In that country above there are better DELIGHTS. There is the tree of life, and the rivers of pleasure. There is amazing beauty, and unsearchable riches. There are the delights of angels. There is the flower of joy fully blown. There is more than we can ask or think (Eph. 3:20). There is glory in its full dimensions—and beyond all hyperbole.
Answer 2: In that country there is a better HOME.
(1) It is a house "not made with hands" (2 Cor. 5:1). To denote its excellence, there was never any house, but was made with hands. But the house above surpasses the art of man or angel; none besides God could lay a stone in that building.
(2) It is "eternal in the heavens." It is not a guest house but a mansion house. It is a house that will never be out of repair. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars" (Proverbs 9:1), which can never moulder.  
Answer 3: In that country there are better PROVISIONS. In our Father's house, there is bread enough. Heaven was typified by Canaan, which flowed with milk and honey. There is the royal feast, the spiced wine; there is angels' food. There they serve up those rare foods and dainties, such as exceed not only our expressions—but our imaginations.  
Answer 4: In that country there is better SOCIETY. There is God blessed forever. How infinitely sweet and ravishing will a smile of his face be! The king's presence makes the court. There are the glorious cherubim. In this terrestrial country where we now live, we are among wolves and serpents; in that country above, we shall be among angels! There are "the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb. 12:23). Here on earth, the people of God are clouded with infirmities; we see them with  spots on their faces; they are full of pride, passion, censoriousness. In that Jerusalem above, we shall see them in their royal attire, decked with unparalleled beauty, not having the least tincture or shadow of sin on them!  
Answer 5: In that country there is a better AIR to breathe in. We go into the country for air; the best air is only to be had in that better country:
(1) It is a more temperate air; the climate is calm and moderate; we shall neither freeze with the cold, nor faint with the heat.
(2) It is a brighter air; there is a better light shining there. The Sun of righteousness enlightens that horizon with his glorious beams: "the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev. 21:23).
(3) It is a purer air. The marshes, which are full of foul vapors, we count a bad air and unwholesome to live in. This world is a place of bogs and marshes, where the noxious vapors of sin arise, which make it pestilential and unwholesome to live in. But in that country above, there are none of these vapors—but a sweet perfume of holiness. There is the smell of the orange-tree and the pomegranate. There is the myrrh and cassia coming from Christ, which send forth a most fragrant scent.  
Answer 6: In that country there is a better SOIL. The land or soil is better:
(1) For its altitude. The earth, lying low, is of a baser pedigree; the element which is nearest heaven is purer and more excellent, like the fire. That country above is the high country; it is seated far above all the visible orbs (Psalm 24:3).
(2) For its fertility; it bears a richer crop. The the country above yields noble commodities. There are celestial pearls; there is the spiritual vine; there is the honeycomb of God's love dropping; there is the water of life, the hidden manna. There is which that does not rot, flowers which never fade. There is a crop which cannot be fully reaped; it will always be reaping time in heaven, and all this the land yields, without the labor of ploughing and sowing.
(3) For its inoffensiveness. There are no briars there. The world is a wilderness where there are wicked men, and the "best of them is a brier" (Micah 7:4). They tear the people of God in their spiritual liberties—but in the country above there is not one briar to be seen; all the briars are burned.
(4) For the rarity of the prospect; all that a man sees there is his own. I account that the best prospect, where a man can see furthest on his own ground.  
Answer 7: In that country there is better UNITY. All the inhabitants are knit together in love. The poisonous weed of  malice does not grow there. There is harmony without division, and charity without envy. In that country above, as in Solomon's temple, no noise of hammer is heard. 
Answer 8: In that country there is better EMPLOYMENT.  While we are here, we are complaining of our needs, weeping over our sins—but there we shall be praising God. How the birds of paradise will chirp when they are in that celestial country! There the morning stars will sing together, and all the saints of God will shout for joy.
Oh, what should we aspire after but this country above? Such as have their eyes opened, will see that it infinitely excels! An ignorant man looks at a star and it appears to him like a little silver spot—but the astronomer, who has his instrument to judge the dimension of a star, knows it to be infinitely larger than the earth. So a natural man hears of the heavenly country that it is very glorious—but it is at a great distance. And because he has not a spirit of discernment, the world looks bigger in his eye. But such as are spiritual artists, who have the instrument of faith to judge heaven, will say it is by far the better country and they will hasten there with the sails of desire.

12 March, 2018

A GODLY MAN IS A SINCERE MAN  

A GODLY MAN IS A SINCERE MAN 

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"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whose spirit there is no deceit" (John 1:47). The word for sincere, haplous, signifies "without pleats and folds". A godly man is plain-hearted, having no subtle subterfuges. Religion is the uniform a godly man wears, and this uniform is lined with sincerity.
Question: In what does the godly man's sincerity appear?  
Answer 1: The godly man is what he seems to be.  He is a Jew inwardly (Romans 2:29). Grace runs through his heart, as silver through the veins of the earth. The hypocrite is not what he seems. A picture is like a man—but it lacks breath. The hypocrite is a picture; he does not breathe forth sanctity. A godly man answers to his profession as the transcript to the original.  
Answer 2: The godly man strives to approve himself to God in everything. "We labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him" (2 Cor. 5:9). It is better to have God approve, than the world applaud. Those who ran in the Olympic race strove to have the approval of the judge and umpire of the race. There is a time coming shortly, when a smile from God's face will be infinitely better than all the applause of men. How sweet that word will be, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matt. 25:21). A godly man is ambitious of God's  testimonial letters. The hypocrite desires the praise of men. Saul was for the approval of the people (1 Sam. 15:30) A godly man approves his heart to God, who is both the spectator and the judge.  
Answer 3: The godly man is sincere in laying open his sins. "I acknowledged my sin unto you, and my iniquity have I not hid" (Psalm 32:5). The hypocrite veils and cloaks his sin. He does not  cut off his sin but conceals it. Like a patient who has some loathsome disease in his body, he will rather die than reveal his disease. But a godly man's sincerity is seen in this—he will confess and shame himself for sin: "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly" (2 Sam. 24:17). No, a child of God will confess sin in particular. An unsound Christian will confess sin wholesale, he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general. Whereas David does, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: "I have done this evil" (Psalm 51:4). He does not say, "I have done evil"—but "this evil". He points at his blood-guiltiness.  
Answer 4: The godly man has blessed designs in all he does. He propounds this objective in every ordinance—that he may have more acquaintance with God, and bring more glory to God. As the herb heliotropium turns about according to the motion of the sun, so a godly man's actions all move towards the glory of God. A godly man's praying and worshiping, is so that he may honor God. Though he shoots short—yet he takes correct aim. The hypocrite thinks of nothing but self-interest; the sails of his mill move only when the wind of self promotion blows. He never dives into the waters of the sanctuary—except to fetch up a piece of gold from the bottom.  
Answer 5: The godly man abhors deception. His heart goes along with his tongue; he cannot both flatter and hate; both commend and censure (Psalm 28:3). Love must be sincere" (Romans 12:9). Insincere love is worse than hatred; counterfeiting of friendship is no better than a lie (Psalm 78:36), for there is a pretense of that which is not. Many are like Joab: "He took Amasa by the beard to kiss him—and smote him with his sword in the fifth rib, and he died" (2 Sam. 20:9,10). "Horrible poisons lie hidden under sweet honey."
There is a river in Spain where the fish seem to be of a golden color—but take them out of the water and they are like other fish. All is not gold that glitters; there are some who pretend much kindness—but they are like great veins which have little blood. If you lean upon them, they are like a leg out of joint. For my part I seriously question a man's sincerity with God—if he flatters and lies to his friend. "He who conceals his hatred has lying lips" (Proverbs 10:18). By all that has been said, we may test whether we have this mark of a godly man—being sincere.
Sincerity (as I conceive it) is not strictly a grace, but rather the ingredient in every grace. Sincerity is that which qualifies grace and without which grace is not true: "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" (Eph. 6:24). Sincerity qualifies our love; sincerity is to grace what the blood and spirits are to the body. There can be no life without the blood, so there can be no grace without sincerity.  
Use: As we would be reputed godly, let us strive for this characteristic of sincerity.  
Sincerity renders us lovely in God's eyes. God says of the sincere soul, as of Zion, "This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it" (Psalm 132:14). A sincere heart is God's paradise of delight. "Noah found grace in God's eyes." Why, what did God see in Noah? He was girt with the girdle of sincerity (Gen. 6:9). Noah was perfect in his generation. Truth resembles God, and when God sees a sincere heart, he sees his own image, and he cannot choose but fall in love with it: "He who is upright in his way, is God's delight" (Proverbs 11:20).
  
Sincerity makes our services find acceptance with God. The church of Philadelphia had only "a little strength"; her grace was weak, her services slender; yet of all the churches Christ wrote to, he found the least fault with her. What was the reason? Because she was most sincere: "You have kept fast my word, and have not denied my name" (Rev. 3:8). Though we cannot pay God all we owe—yet a little in current coin, is accepted. God takes sincerity for full payment. A little gold, though rusty, is better than tin, be it ever so bright. A little sincerity, though rusted over with many infirmities, is of more value with God than all the glorious flourishes of hypocrites.
  
Sincerity is our safety. False hearts that will step out of God's way and use carnal policy, when they think they are most safe, are least secure. "He who walks uprightly walks surely" (Proverbs 10:9). A sincere Christian will do nothing but what the Word warrants, and that is safe, as to the conscience. More, often the Lord takes care of the outward safety of those who are upright in their way: "I laid me down and slept" (Psalm 3:5). David was now beleaguered by enemies—yet God so encamped about him by his providence, that he could sleep as securely as in a garrison. "The Lord sustained me." The only way to be safe is to be sincere.
  
Sincerity is gospel perfection. "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man?" (Job 1:8). Though a Christian is full of infirmities and, like a young child, weak and feeble—God still looks on him as if he were completely righteous. Every true saint has the Thummim of perfection on his breastplate.
  
Sincerity is what the devil attacks most. Satan's spite was not so much at Job's estate, as his integrity; he would have wrested the shield of sincerity from him—but Job held that fast (Job 27:6). A thief does not fight for an empty purse—but for money. The devil would have robbed Job of the jewel of a good conscience, and then he would have been poor Job indeed. Satan does not oppose mere profession—but sincerity. Let men go to church and make glorious pretenses of holiness. Satan does not oppose this; this does him no hurt—and them no good! But if men desire to be sincerely pious, then Satan musters up all his forces against them. Now what the devil most assaults—that we must strive most to maintain. Sincerity is our fort royal, where our chief treasure lies. This fort is most shot at, therefore let us be more careful to preserve it. While a man keeps his castle, his castle will keep him. While we keep sincerity, sincerity will keep us.
  
Sincerity is the beauty of a Christian. Wherein does the beauty of a diamond lie—but in this, that it is a true diamond? If it is counterfeit, it is worth nothing. So wherein does the beauty of a Christian lie—but in this, that he has truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6)? Sincerity is a Christian's ensign of glory; it is both his breastplate to defend him and his crown to adorn him.
  
See the vileness of hypocrisy. The Lord would have no leaven offered up in sacrifice; leaven typified hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). The hypocrite does the devil double service; under the mask of piety, he can sin more and be less suspected: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers" (Matt. 23:14). Who would think that those who pray for so many hours on end, would be guilty of extortion? Who would suspect of false weights, the man who has the Bible so often in his hand? Who would think that the one who seems to fear an oath, would slander? Hypocrites are the worst sort of sinners; they reflect infinite dishonor upon religion. Hypocrisy for the most part ends in scandal, and that brings an evil report on the ways of God. One scandalous hypocrite makes the world suspect that all professing Christians are like him. The hypocrite was born to spite religion, and bring it into disrepute.

The hypocrite is a liar. He worships God with his knee—but the passions with his heart, like those who "feared the Lord, and served their own gods" (2 Kings 17:33).

The hypocrite is an impudent sinner. He knows his heart is false—yet he goes on. Judas knew himself to be a hypocrite; he asks, "Master, is it I?" Christ replies, "You have said it" (Matt. 26:25). Yet so shameless was he as to persist in his falseness and betray Christ. All the plagues and curses written in the Book of God are the hypocrite's portion! Hell is his place of rendezvous (Matt. 24:51). Hypocrites are the chief guests whom the devil expects, and he will make them as welcome as fire and brimstone can make them!  
If the heart is sincere, God will wink at many failings. "He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob" (Numb. 23:21). God's love does not make him blind; he can see infirmities. But how does God look at a believer's sins? Not with an eye of revenge—but of pity, as a physician sees a disease in his patient—so as to heal him. God does not see iniquity in Jacob—so as to destroy him—but to heal him! "He kept on in his willful ways. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him" (Isaiah 57:17,18). How much pride, vanity, passion, does the Lord pass by in his sincere ones! He sees the integrity—and pardons the infirmity. How much God overlooked in Asa! The "high places were not removed"—yet it is said, "The heart of Asa was perfect all his days" (2 Chron. 15:17). We esteem a picture, though it is not drawn full length. Just so, the graces of God's people are not drawn to their full length! They have many scars and spots—yet having something of God in sincerity, they shall find mercy. God loves the sincere, and it is the nature of love to cover infirmity.
  
Nothing but sincerity will give us comfort in an hour of trouble. King Hezekiah thought he was dying—yet this revived him, that his conscience drew up a certificate for him: "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you in truth . . . " (Isaiah 38:3). Sincerity was the best flower in his crown. What a golden shield this will be against Satan! When he roars at us by his temptations, and sets our sins before us on our death-bed, then we shall answer, "It is true, Satan; these have been our misdeeds—but we have bewailed them; if we have sinned, it was against the bent and purpose of our heart." This will stop the devil's mouth and make him retreat; therefore strive for this jewel of sincerity. "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God" (1 John 3:21). If we are cleared at the petty sessions in our conscience, then we may be confident we shall be acquitted at the great assizes on the day of judgment.
"Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you—in the holiness and sincerity that are from God." 2 Corinthians 1:12. "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart." Hebrews 10:22.

11 March, 2018

A GODLY MAN IS A PRAYING MAN

A GODLY MAN IS A PRAYING MAN
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"Let everyone who is godly pray to You." Psalm 32:6
As soon as grace is poured in—prayer is poured out! "But I give myself unto prayer" (Psalm 109:4). In the Hebrew it is, "but I prayer". Prayer and I are all one. Prayer is the soul's communion with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit—and we go up to him by prayer. Caligula placed his idols—as whispering in Jupiter's ear.  Prayer is a whispering in God's ear! A godly man cannot live without prayer. A man cannot live unless he takes his breath, nor can the soul, unless it breathes forth its desires to God. As soon as the babe of grace is born, it cries. No sooner was Paul converted than "behold, he prays!" (Acts 9:11). No doubt he prayed before, being a Pharisee—but it was either  superficially or superstitiously. But when the work of grace had been done in his soul, behold, now he prays!
A godly man is on the mount of prayer every day. He begins the day with prayer. Before he opens his shop—he opens his  heart to God! We burn sweet incense in our houses; a godly man's house is "a house of incense"; he airs it with the incense of prayer. He engages in no business without seeking God. A godly man consults God in everything; he asks God's permission and his blessing. The Greeks asked counsel at their oracles; just so, a godly man enquires at the divine oracle (Gen. 24:12; 1 Sam. 23:3,4). A true saint continually shoots up his heart to heaven, by sacred prayers.
Question: Is prayer a sign of a godly man? May not a hypocrite pray eloquently and with seeming devotion?
Answer: He may: "they seek me daily" (Isaiah 58:2). But a hypocrite does not pray "in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18). A man may have  the gift of prayer, and not have the spirit of prayer.
Question: How shall we know that we have the spirit of prayer?
Answer: When the prayer which we make is spiritual.

Question: What is it to make a SPIRITUAL PRAYER?  
Answer 1: When we pray with KNOWLEDGE. Under the law, Aaron was to "light the lamps" when he burned the incense on the altar (Exod. 30:7). Incense typified prayer, and the lighting of the lamps typified knowledge. When the incense of prayer burns, the lamp of knowledge must be lit: "I will pray with the understanding" (1 Cor. 14:15). We must know the majesty and holiness of God, so that we may be deeply affected with reverence when we come before him. We must put up such petitions as are exactly adequate and agreeable to God's will. "Be not rash with your mouth, to utter anything before God" (Eccles. 5:2). The Lord would not have the  blind offered to him (Mal. 1:8). How can we pray with affection when we do not pray with judgment? The Papists pray in an unknown tongue. Christ may reply to them as he did to the mother of Zebedee's children, "You know not what you ask" (Matt. 20:22). He who prays he knows not how, shall be heard he knows not when.  
Answer 2: A spiritual prayer is when the HEART and spirit pray. There are not only words but desires. It is excellent when a man can say, "Lord, my heart prays." Hannah "prayed in her heart" (1 Sam. 1:13). The sound of a trumpet comes from within—and the excellent music of prayer comes from within the heart. If the heart does not accompany duty—it is speaking, not praying.  
Answer 3: A spiritual prayer is a FERVENT prayer.  "The effectual fervent prayer . . . avails much" (Jas. 5:16). The heart, like the mainspring, should carry the affections in a most zealous and rapid manner. Fervency is the wing of prayer by which it ascends to heaven. Prayer is expressed by sighs and groans (Romans 8:26). It is not so much the gifts of the Spirit—as the groans of the Spirit, which God likes. Prayer is called a "wrestling" (Gen. 32:24) and a "pouring out of the soul" (1 Sam. 1:15). Prayer is compared to incense (Psalm 141:2). Incense without fire makes no sweet smell. Prayer without fervency is like incense without fire. Christ prayed with "Strong crying and tears" (Heb. 5:7); crying prayer prevails. When the heart is inflamed in prayer, a Christian is carried as it were in a fiery chariot up to heaven.  
Answer 4: A spiritual prayer is such as comes from a BROKEN heart. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit" (Psalm 51:17). The incense was to be beaten, to typify the breaking of the heart in prayer. It is not the eloquent tongue—but the melting heart—which God accepts.
Moses said to the Lord, "I am not eloquent." "Oh," says a Christian, "I cannot pray like others." But can you weep and sigh? Does your soul melt out at your eyes? God accepts broken expressions, when they come from broken hearts. I have read of a plant which bears no fruit—but it weeps forth a kind of gum which is very costly. So, though you do not flourish with those gifts and expressions like others—yet if you can weep forth tears from a contrite heart, these are exceedingly precious to God, and he will put them in his bottle. Jacob wept in prayer and had "power over the angel" (Hos. 12:4).  
Answer 5: A spiritual prayer is a BELIEVING prayer. "Whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive" (Matt. 21:22). The reason why so many prayers suffer shipwreck, is because they split against the rock of unbelief. Praying without faith, is like shooting without bullets. When faith takes prayer by the hand, then we draw near to God. We should come to God in prayer like the leper: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean" (Matt. 8:2). It is a disparagement to deity to have such a whisper in the heart, that "God's ear is heavy and cannot hear" (Isaiah 59:1). What is said of the people of Israel may be applied to prayer—"They could not enter in, because of unbelief" (Heb. 3:19).  
Answer 6: A spiritual prayer is a HOLY prayer. "Lift up holy hands in prayer" (1 Tim. 2:8). Prayer must be offered on  the altar of a pure heart. Sin lived in—makes the heart hard, and God's ear deaf. Sin stops the mouth of prayer. Sin does what the thief does to the traveler—puts a gag in his mouth so that he cannot speak. Sin poisons and infests prayer. A wicked man's prayer carries the plague, and will God come near him? The loadstone loses its virtue when it is spread with garlic; so does prayer when it is polluted with sin. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). It is foolish to pray against sin and then to sin against prayer. A spiritual prayer, like the spirits of wine, must be refined and taken off the lees and dregs of sin: "that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Mal. 3:3). If the heart is holy—this altar will sanctify the gift.  
Answer 7: A spiritual prayer is a HUMBLE prayer. "Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble" (Psalm 10:17). Prayer is the asking of an alms, which requires humility. "The publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven—but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). God's incomprehensible glory may even amaze us and strike a holy consternation into us, when we approach near to him: "O my God, I blush to lift up my face to you" (Ezra 9:6). It is lovely to see a poor nothing lie prostrate at the feet of its Maker. "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord—who am but dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27). The lower the heart  descends—the higher the prayer ascends.  
Answer 8: A spiritual prayer is when we pray in the NAME OF CHRIST. To pray in the name of Christ is not only to name Christ in prayer—but to pray in the hope and confidence of Christ's mediation. As a child claims his estate in the right of his father who purchased it, so we come for mercy in the name of Christ, who has purchased it for us in his blood. Unless we pray thus, we do not pray at all; no, we rather provoke God. As it was with Uzziah, when he wanted to offer incense without a priest, God was angry and struck him with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16-19). So when we do not come in Christ's name in prayer, we offer up incense without a priest, and what can we expect but to meet with wrath?  
Answer 9: A spiritual prayer is when we pray out of LOVE to prayer. A wicked man may pray—but he does not love  prayer. "Will he delight himself in the Almighty?" (Job 27:10). A godly man is carried on the wings of delight. He is never so well, as when he is praying. He is not forced with fear—but fired with love. "I will make them joyful in my house of prayer" (Isaiah 56:7).  
Answer 10: A spiritual prayer is when we have SPIRITUAL GOALS in prayer. There is a vast difference between a spiritual prayer and a carnal desire. The goals of a hypocrite are selfish and carnal. He looks asquint in prayer. It is not the sense of his spiritual needs which moves him—but rather his lusts. "You ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts" (Jas. 4:3). The sinner prays more for food, than for  grace. This, God does not interpret as praying—but as howling: "They do not cry out to me from their hearts but howl upon their beds. They gather together for grain and new wine but turn away from me. " (Hos. 7:14).
Prayers which lack a good aim—lack a good  answer. A godly man has spiritual goals in prayer. He sends out his prayer as a merchant sends out his ship, so that he may have large returns of spiritual blessings. His design in prayer is that his heart may be more holy and that he may have more communion with God. A godly man engages in the trade of prayer—so that he may increase the stock of grace.  
Answer 11: A spiritual prayer is accompanied with the use of MEANS. There must be works—as well as prayer. When Hezekiah was sick he did not only pray for recovery—but he "prepared a poultice of figs and applies it to the boil" (Isaiah 38:21). Thus it is in the case of the soul when we pray against sin and avoid temptations. When we pray for grace and use opportunities to the full, this is laying a fig on the boil which will make us recover. To pray for holiness and neglect the means—is like winding up the clock and taking off the weights.  
Answer 12: A spiritual prayer is that which leaves a SPIRITUAL MOOD behind upon the heart. A Christian is better after prayer. He has gained more strength over sin, as a man by exercise gets strength. The heart after prayer keeps a tincture of holiness, as the vessel favors and relishes of the wine which is put into it. Having been with God on the mount—Moses' face shone. So, having been on the mount of prayer—our graces shine and our lives shine. This is the sign of a godly man—he prays in the Spirit. This is the right kind of praying. The gift of prayer is ordinary—like culinary fire. But spiritual prayer is more rare and excellent—like elemental fire which comes from heaven.  

Use 1: Is a godly man of a praying spirit? Then this excludes from being godly:  
Those who do not pray at all. Their houses are unhallowed houses. It is made the note of a reprobate that "he does not call upon God" (Psalm 14:4). Does that poor creature who never asks for alms, think that he will receive any? Do those who never seek mercy from God, think that they will receive it? Truly, then God should befriend them more than he did his own Son. "He offered up prayers and supplications with strong cries" (Heb. 5:7). None of God's children are tongue-tied. "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6). Creatures by the instinct of nature cry to God: "the young ravens which cry" (Psalm 147:9). "The lions seek their meat from God" (Psalm 104:21). Not to cry to God, is worse than brutish.
  
Others pray—but it is seldom. Like that profane atheist of whom Heylin speaks, who told God that "he was no common beggar; he had never troubled him before and if he would hear him now, he would never trouble him again."
  
Others pray—but not "in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20). They are more like parrots, than weeping doves. Their hearts do not melt in prayer: they exercise their tongues more than their hearts and affections.  
Use 2: As you would prove the new birth, cry "Abba, Father"; be men of prayer. Pray at least twice a day. In the temple there was the morning and evening sacrifice. Daniel prayed three times a day. No, he so loved prayer that he would not neglect prayer to save his life (Dan. 6:10). Luther spent three hours every day in prayer.

Objection: But what need is there of prayer, when God has made so many promises of blessings?
Answer: Prayer is the condition annexed to the promise. Promises turn upon the hinge of prayer: "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel" (Ezek. 36:37). A king promises a pardon—but it must be sued for. David had a promise that God would build him a house—but he sues for the promise by prayer (2 Sam. 7:25). Christ himself had all the promises made sure to him—yet he prayed and spent whole nights in prayer.

Therefore if you would be counted godly, be given to prayer. Prayer sanctifies your mercies (1 Tim. 4:5). Prayer weeds out sin. Prayer waters grace.
That I may encourage Christians and hold up their heads in prayer, as Aaron and Hur held up Moses" hands (Exod. 17:12), let me propound these few considerations:  
Prayer is a seed sown in God's ear. Other seed sown in the ground may be picked up by the birds—but this seed (especially if watered with tears) is too precious to lose.
  
Consider the power of prayer. The apostle, having set out the whole armor of a Christian, brings in prayer as the chief part (Eph. 6:18). Without this (says Zanchius), all the rest are of little value. By prayer, Moses divided the Red Sea. . By prayer, Joshua stopped the course of the sun and made it stand still (Josh. 10: 13). More, prayer made the Sun of righteousness stand still: "and Jesus stood still" (Luke 18:40). Prayer is the entrance to all blessings, spiritual and temporal. Prayer has a power in it to destroy the insolent enemies of the church. We read that "the two witnesses" have a flame on their lips—fire proceeds out of their mouths which devours their enemies (Rev. 11:3,5). This fire is certainly to be interpreted of their prayers. David prayed, "Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness" (2 Sam. 15:31). This prayer made Ahithophel hang himself. Moses' prayer against Amalek, did more than Joshua's sword. Prayer has a kind of omnipotency in it; it has raised the dead, overcome angels, cast out devils. It has influence upon God himself (Exod. 32:10). Jacob's prayer held God: "I will not let you go, except you bless me" (Gen. 32:26). Prayer finds God free—but leaves him bound.
  
Jesus Christ prays our prayers over again. He takes the dross out, and presents nothing but pure gold to his Father. Christ mingles his sweet fragrances, with the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8). Think of the dignity of his person—he is God; and the sweetness of his relationship—he is a Son. Oh then, what encouragement there is here for us to pray! Our prayers are put in the hands of a Mediator. Though, as they come from us, they are weak and imperfect—yet as they come from Christ, they are mighty and powerful.
  
The sweet promises which God has made to prayer. "He will be very gracious unto you at the voice of your cry" (Isaiah 30:19). "Then shall you go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:12,13); and "before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24). These promises keep the head of prayer above water. God is bound with his own promises, as Samson was bound with his own hair.

Let us, then, close ranks and with our Savior pray yet more earnestly (Luke 22:44). Let us be importunate suitors, and resolve with Bernard that we will not come away from God without God. Prayer is a bomb which bursts heaven's gates open.

Question: How shall we go about praying aright?
Answer: Implore the Spirit of God: "praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20). The Holy Spirit both originates prayer and  inflames it. God understands no other language, but that of his Spirit. Pray for the Holy Spirit that you may pray in the Holy Spirit.

10 March, 2018

A GODLY MAN IS A HUMBLE MAN

A GODLY MAN IS A HUMBLE MAN

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Augustine calls humility "the mother of the grace." But before I show you who the humble man is, I shall lay down three distinctions:
I distinguish between being humbled and humble
A man may be humbled and not humble. A sinner may be humbled by affliction. His condition is low, but not his  disposition. A godly man is not only humbled, but humble. His heart is as low as his condition.
I distinguish between outward and inward humility
There is a great deal of difference between humble behavior and a humble spirit.
(1) A person may behave humbly towards others—yet be proud. Who more humble than Absalom in his outward behavior? "When people tried to bow before him, Absalom wouldn't let them. Instead, he took them by the hand and embraced them." (2 Sam. 15:5). But though he acted humbly, he aspired to the crown (v. 10). Here was pride dressed in humility's mantle!
(2) A person may behave humbly towards God—yet be proud. "Ahab put on sackcloth and fasted and went softly" (1 Kings 21:27)—but his heart was not humble. A man may bow his head like a bulrush—yet lift up the ensigns of pride in his heart.
I distinguish between humility and policy
Many make a show of humility to achieve their own ends. The Papists seem to be the most humble, mortified saints—but it is rather subtlety than humility. For by this means, they get the revenues of the earth into their possession. All this they may do, and yet have no godliness.
  
Question: How may a Christian know that he is humble—and consequently godly?
  
Answer 1: A humble soul is emptied of all swelling thoughts of himself. Bernard calls humility a self-annihilation. "You will save the humble" (Job 22:29). In the Hebrew it is "him that is of low eyes". A humble man has lower thoughts of himself than others can have of him. David, though a king, still looked upon himself as a worm: "I am a worm, and no man" (Psalm 22:6). Bradford, a martyr, still subscribes himself a sinner. "If I be righteous—yet will I not lift up my head" (Job 10:15)—like the violet which is a sweet flower—but hangs down the head.
  
Answer 2: A humble soul thinks better of others than of himself. "Let each esteem others better than themselves" (Phil. 2:3). A humble man values others at a higher rate than himself, and the reason is because he can see his own heart better than he can another's. He sees his own corruption and thinks surely it is not so with others; their  graces are not so weak as his; their corruptions are not so strong. "Surely", he thinks, "they have better hearts than I." A humble Christian studies his own infirmities, and another's excellences and that makes him put a higher value upon others than himself. "Surely I am more brutish than any man" (Proverbs 30:2). And Paul, though he was the chief of the apostles, still calls himself "less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3:8).
  
Answer 3: A humble soul has a low esteem of his duties. Pride is apt to breed in our holy things, as the worm breeds in the sweetest fruit, and froth comes from the most tasty wine. A humble person bemoans not only his sins—but also his duties. When he has prayed and wept, "Alas," he says, "how little I have done! God might damn me for all this!" He says, like good Nehemiah, "Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me" (Neh. 13:22). "Remember, Lord, how I have poured out my soul—but spare me and pardon me." He sees that his best duties weigh too light; therefore he desires that Christ's merits may be put into the scales. The humble saint blushes when he looks at his copy. He sees he cannot write evenly, nor without blotting. This humbles him to think that his best duties run to seed. He drops poison upon his sacrifice. "Oh," he says, "I dare not say I have prayed or wept; those which I write down as duties, God might write down as sins!"
  
Answer 4: A humble man is always giving bills of indictment against himself. He complains, not of his poor circumstances—but of his poor heart! "Oh, this evil heart of unbelief!" "Lord," says Hooper, "I am hell—but you are heaven." A hypocrite is forever telling how good he is. A humble soul is forever saying how bad he is. Paul, that high-flown saint, was caught up into the third heaven—but how this bird of paradise bemoans his corruptions! "O wretched man that I am!" (Romans 7:24). Holy Bradford subscribes himself, "the hard-hearted sinner". The more knowledge a humble Christian has, the more he complains of ignorance; the more faith a humble Christian has, the more he bewails his unbelief.
  
Answer 5: A humble man will justify God in an afflicted condition. "You are just in all that is brought upon us" (Neh. 9:33). If men oppress and calumniate, the humble soul acknowledges God's righteousness in the midst of severity: "Lo, I have sinned" (2 Sam. 24:17). "Lord, my pride, my barrenness, my worldliness have been the procuring cause of all these judgments." When clouds are around about God—yet "righteousness is the habitation of his throne" (Psalm 97:2).
  
Answer 6: A humble soul is a Christ-magnifier (Phil. 1:20). He gives the glory of all his actions to Christ and free grace. King Canute took the crown off his own head and set it upon a crucifix. So a humble saint takes the crown of honor from his own head and sets it upon Christ's. And the reason is the love that he bears to Christ. Love can part with anything to the object loved. Isaac loved Rebekah and he gave away his jewels to her (Gen. 24:53). The humble saint loves Christ entirely, therefore can part with anything to him. He gives away to Christ the honor and praise of all he does. "Let Christ wear those jewels!"
  
Answer 7: A humble soul is willing to take a reproof for sin. A wicked man is too high to stoop to a reproof. The prophet Micah told King Ahab of his sin, and the King said, "I hate him!" (1 Kings 22:8). Reproof to a proud man is like pouring water on lime, which grows the hotter. A gracious soul loves the one who reproves: "rebuke a wise man, and he will love you" (Proverbs 9:8). The humble-spirited Christian can bear the reproach of an enemy, and the reproof of a friend.
  
Answer 8: A humble man is willing to have his name and gifts eclipsed, so that God's glory may be increased. He is content to be outshone by others in gifts and esteem, so that the crown of Christ may shine the brighter. This is the humble man's motto: "Let me decrease; let Christ increase." It is his desire that Christ should be exalted, and if this is effected, whoever is the instrument, he rejoices. "some preach Christ of envy" (Phil. 1:15). They preached to take away some of Paul's hearers. "Well," says he, "Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice" (v.18). A humble Christian is content to be laid aside, if God has any other tools to work with which may bring him more glory.
  
Answer 9: A humble saint is content with that condition which God sees is best for him. A proud man complains that he has no more; a humble man wonders that he has so much: "I am not worthy of the least of all your mercies!" (Gen. 32:10). When the heart lies low, it can stoop to a low condition. A Christian looking at his sins wonders that things are no worse with him. He says that his mercies are greater than he deserves. He knows that the worst piece which God carves for him, is better than he deserves; therefore he takes it thankfully upon his knees.
  
Answer 10: A humble Christian will stoop to the lowest person and the lowest office; he will visit the poorest member of Christ. Lazarus' sores are more precious to him than Dives' royal robes. He does not say, "Stand aside, come not near to me, for I am holier than you" (Isaiah 65:5)—but "condescends to men of low estate" (Romans 12:16).
  
Use 1: If humility is the inseparable character of a godly man, let us test our hearts by this touchstone. Are we humble? Alas, where does their godliness appear—who are swollen with pride and ready to burst? But though men are proud, they will not confess it. This bastard of pride is born—but none are willing to father it. Therefore let me ask a few questions and let conscience answer:
  
Are not those proud, who are given to boasting? "Your boasting is not good." (1 Corinthians 5:6).
(1) Many are proud of their riches. Their hearts swell with their estates. Bernard calls pride the rich man's cousin. "Your heart has become proud because of your wealth." (Ezek. 28:5).
(2) Many are proud of their apparel. They dress themselves in such fashions as to make the devil fall in love with them. Painted faces, gaudy attire, naked breasts, what are these, but the banners which sinful pride displays?
(3) Many are proud of their beauty. The body is but dust and blood kneaded together. Solomon says, "Beauty is vain" (Proverbs 31:30). Yet some are so vain as to be proud of vanity!
(4) Many are proud of their gifts and abilities. These trappings and ornaments do not approve them in God's eyes. An angel is a creature of great abilities; but take away humility from an angel—and he is a devil!
  
Are not those who have a high opinion of their own excellences proud? Those who look at themselves in the magnifying mirror of self-love, appear in their own eyes better than they are. Simon Magus boasted that he was some great one (Acts 8:9). Alexander felt the need to be the son of Jupiter and of the race of the gods. Sapor, King of Persia, styles himself "Brother of the Sun and Moon". I have read of a pope who trod upon the neck of Frederick the Emperor and as a cloak for his pride cited that text, "You shall tread upon the lion, and the dragon shall you trample under feet" (Psalm. 91:13). There is no idol like self; the proud man bows down to this idol.
  
Are not those who despise others proud? "The Pharisees trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others" (Luke 18:9). The Chinese people say that Europe has one eye and they have two, and all the rest of the world is blind. A proud man looks upon others with such an eye of scorn, as Goliath did upon David: "when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him" (1 Sam. 17:42). Those who stand upon the pinnacle of pride, look upon other men as no bigger than crows.
  
Are not those who trumpet their own praise proud? "Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody" (Acts 5:36). A proud man is the herald of his own good deeds; he blazes his own fame, and therein lies his vice, to paint his own virtue.
  
Are not those proud, who take the glory due to God, to themselves? "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built?" (Dan. 4:30). So says the proud man, "Are not these the prayers I have made? Are not these the works of charity I have done?" When Herod had made an oration and the people cried him up for a god (Acts 12:22), he was well content to have that honor done to him. Pride is the greatest sacrilege; it robs God of his glory!
  
Are not those who are never pleased with their condition proud? They speak harshly of God, charging his care and wisdom, as if he had dealt badly with them. God himself cannot please a proud man. He is forever finding fault, and flying in the face of heaven.
Oh, let us search if there is any of this leaven of pride in us. Man is naturally a proud piece of flesh. This sin of pride runs in the blood. Our first parents fell by their pride. They aspired to deity. There are the seeds of this sin of pride in the best—but the godly do not allow themselves in it. They strive to kill this weed, by mortification. But certainly where this sin reigns and prevails, it cannot stand with grace. You may as well call him who lacks wisdom, a prudent man; as him who lacks humility, a godly man.
  
Use 2: Strive for this characteristic: be humble. It is an apostolic exhortation, "Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Pet. 5:5). Put humility on as an embroidered robe. It is better to lack anything, rather than humility. It is better to lack gifts rather than humility. No, it is better to lack "the comforts of the Spirit" rather than lack humility. "What does the Lord require of you—but to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic. 6:8).
  
The more value any man has, the more humble he is. Feathers fly up—but gold descends! The golden saint descends in humility. Some of the ancients have compared humility to the Celidonian stone, which is little for substance—but of rare virtue.
  
God loves a humble soul. It is not our high birth—but our humble hearts, which God delights in. A humble spirit is in God's view: "to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit" (Isaiah 66:2). A humble heart is God's palace! "For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy—I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (Isaiah 57:15). Great personages, besides their houses of state, have lesser houses which upon occasion they retreat to. Besides God's house of state in heaven, he has the humble soul for his retiring house, where he takes up his rest, and solaces himself. Let Italy boast that it is, for pleasure, the garden of the world. A humble heart glories in this, that it is the presence chamber of the great and glorious King!
  
The times we live in are humbling. The Lord seems to say to us now, as he did to Israel, "Remove your jewelry and ornaments until I decide what to do with you." (Exod. 33:5). "My displeasure is breaking forth—I have eclipsed the light of the sanctuary, I have stained the waters with blood, I have shot the arrow of pestilence—therefore lay down your pride—"Remove your jewelry and ornaments!" Woe to those who lift themselves up, when God is casting them down. When should people be humble—if not when under the rod? "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God" (1 Pet. 5:6). When God afflicts his people, and cuts them short in their privileges, it is time then to "sit in sackcloth—and sit in the dust" (Job 16:15).
  
What a horrid sin pride is! Chrysostom calls it "the mother of hell". Pride is a complicated evil, as Aristotle said. Justice encompasses all virtue in itself; so pride encompasses all vice. Pride is a spiritual drunkenness; it flies up like wine into the brain and intoxicates it. Pride is idolatry; a proud man is a self-worshiper. Pride is revenge; Haman plotted Mordecai's death because he would not bow the knee. How odious is this sin to God! "Everyone who is proud in heart, is an abomination to the Lord!" (Proverbs 16:5). "I hate pride and arrogance!" (Proverbs 8:13)
  
The mischief of pride. It is the breakneck of souls! "As surely as I live," says the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, "Moab and Ammon will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. They will receive the wages of their pride!" (Zeph. 2:9,10). "Doves", says Pliny, "take a pride in their feathers, and in their flying high; at last they fly so high that they are a prey to the hawk." Men fly so high in pride that at last they are a prey to the devil, the prince of the air.
  
Humility raises one's esteem in the eyes of others. All give respect to the humble: "Before honor is humility" (Proverbs 15:33).

Question: What means may we use to be humble?

Answer 1: Let us set before us the golden pattern of Christ. His degree is 'doctorate in humility'. "But made himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7). O what abasement it was for the Son of God to take our flesh! No, that Christ should take our nature when it was in disgrace, being stained with sin—this was the wonder of humility. Look at a humble Savior—and let the plumes of pride fall off!

Answer 2: Study God's immensity and purity; a sight of glory humbles. Elijah wrapped his face in a mantle when God's glory passed before him (1 Kings 19:13). The stars vanish when the sun appears.

Answer 3: Let us study ourselves.

First, our dark side. By looking at our faces in the mirror of the Word, we see our spots. What a world of sin swarms in us! We may say with Bernard, "Lord, I am nothing but sin or sterility, either sinfulness or barrenness."
Secondly, our light side. Is there any good in us?
How disproportionate is our good—compared to the means of grace we have enjoyed! There is still something lacking in our faith (1 Thes. 3:10). O Christian, do not be proud of what you have—but be humble for what you lack.

The grace we have is not of our own growth. We are indebted to Christ and free grace for it. As he said of that axe which fell in the water, "Alas, master, for it was borrowed" (2 Kings 6:5), so I may say of all the good and excellence in us, "It is borrowed". Would it not be folly to be proud of a ring that is loaned to us? "For who makes you to differ from another? And what have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7). The moon has no cause to be proud of her light—as she borrows it from the sun.

How far short we come of others! Perhaps other Christians are giants in grace; they are in Christ not only before us—but above us. We are but like the foot in Christ's body; they are like the eye.

Our beauty is spotted. The church is said to be "fair as the moon" (Song 6:10), which when it shines brightest, has a dark spot in it. Faith is mixed with unbelief. A Christian has that in his very grace, which may humble him.

If we would be humble, let us contemplate our mortality. Shall dust exalt itself? The thoughts of the grave should bury our pride. They say that when there is a swelling in the body, the hand of a dead man stroking that part cures the swelling. The serious meditation of death is enough to cure the swelling of pride.