Section I. — First, It is of God. It is his creatm-e, begot in the heart by his Spirit alone. Paul, in the place aforementioned, 2 Cor. i. 12, doth excellently derive its pedigree for us. What he calls walking in ' godly sincerity' in the first part of the verse, he calls ' having ova* conversation by the grace of God' in the latter part; yea, opposeth it to ' walking with fleshly wisdom in the world,' the great wheel in the moral man's clock ; and what doth all this amount to, but to shew that this sincerity is a babe of grace, and calls none on earth father? But this is not all ; this godly sincerity is not only of divine extraction, (for so are common gifts that are supernatural, the hypocrite's boon as well as the saint's,) but it is part of the new creature, which his sanctifying Spirit forms and works in the elect, and none besides. It is a covenant-grace, Ezek. xi. 19: ' I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you.' That ' one heart' is this godly, sincere heart, opposed to the double heart, or a heart and a heart, by which the hypocrite is so often described in the word.
Secondly, It aims at God, and ends in God. The highest project and most ultimate end that a soul, thus sincere, is big with, is, how it may please God. The disappointment such a godly, sincere person meets with from any other, ti'oubles him no more than it would a merchant, who speeds in the main end of his voyage to the Indies, and returns richly laden with the prize of gold and silver he went for, but only looseth his garter or shoestring in the voyage. As the master's eye directs the servant's hand, if he can do his business to his master's mind, he hath his wish, though strangers, who came into the shop, like it not. Tims godly sincerity acquiesceth in the Lord's judgment of him. Such a one shoots not at small nor great, studies not to accommodate himself to any, to hit the humour of rich or poor, but singles out God in his thoughts from all other, as the chief object of his love, fear, faith, joy, &c. ; he directs all his endeavours like a wise archer at this white, and when he can most approve him- self to God, he courits he shoots best. Hear holy Paul speaking, not only his own private thoughts, but the common sense of all sincere believers, 2 Cor. v. 9 : ' We labour, whether present or absent, that we may be accepted of him.' The world's true man is he that will not wrong man : though many go thus far, who can make bold with God for all their demure carriage to man. Some that would not steal the worth of a penny from their neighbour, yet play the noto- rious thieves with God in greater matters than all the money their neighbour hath is worth. They can steal that time from God, to gratify their own occasions, which he hath inclosed for himself, and lays peculiar claim to, (the sabbath-daj?, I mean,) by such a title as will upon trial be found stronger, I trow, than we can shew for the rest of the week to be ours. Others will not lie to man possibly in their dealing with him, (and it were better living in the world, if there were more of this truth among us;) but these very men, many of them, yea all that are not more than morally upright, make nothing of lying to God, which they do in every prayer they make, promising to do what they never bestow a serious thought how they may perform : they say they will sanctify God's name, and yet throw dirt in the face of every attribute in it ; they pray that the will of God may be done, and yet while they know their sanctifi- cation is his will, they content themselves with their imholy hearts and natures, and think it enough to beautify the front of their lives, that part which faceth man, and stands to the street, as I may so say, with a few flourishes of civility and justness in their worldly dealings, though their inward man lies all in woful ruins at the same time. But he is God's tnie man that desires to give unto God the things that are God's, as well as unto man the things that are man's ; yea, who is first true to God, and then to man for his sake. Good Joseph, when his brethren feared, as strangers to him, (for yet they knew no other,) they should receive some hard measure at his hands, mark what course he takes to free their troubled thoughts from all suspicion of any unrighteous dealing from him : ' Do this,' saith he, ' and live, for I fear God,' Gen. xlii. 18. As if he had said. Expect nothing from me, but what is square and upiught, for I fear God ; you possibly think, because I am a great man, and you poor strangers, where you have no friend to intercede for you, that my might should bear down your right ; but you may save yourselves the trouble of such jealous thoughts
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