Mule 3. A stronger propension in our nature^ and more frequent in- cidence in our practice to one sin than another^ do not presently infer our hypocrisy,, and the unsoundness of our hearts in religion. It is true, every hypocrite hath some way of wickedness : Some peccatum. in djlici'is, iniquity that he delights in, and rolls as a sweet morsel under his tongue; some lust that he is not willing to part with, nor can endure that the knife of mortification should touch it ; and this un- doubtedly argues the insincerity and rottenness of his heart : And it is true also that the nature and constitution of the most sanctified man inclines him rather to one sin than to another, though he allow him- self in none; yea, though he set himself more watchfully against that sin than another, yet he may still have more trouble and vexa- tion, more temptation and defilement from it than any other.
As evei-y man hath his proper gift, one after this manner, and ano- ther after that, as the apostle speaks, 1 Cor. vii. 7. so every man hath his proper sin also, one after this manner and another after that. For it is with original sin as it is with the juice or sap of the earth, which though it be the com.mon matter of all kinds of fruits, yet it is specificated according to the different sorts of plants and seeds which it nourishes ; in one it becomes an apple, in another a cherry, &c. Just so it is in original corruption, which is turned into this or that temptation or sin, according to this or that constitution or employ- ment it finds us in ; in one it is passion, in another lust, in a third covetousness, in a fourth levity, and so on. Now I say the frequent assaults of this sin, provided we indulge it not, but by setting double guards, labour to keep ourselves from our own iniquity, as David did. Psalm xviii. 23. will not infer the hypocrisy of our hearts.
Rule 'kAgreaterbackwardnessandindisposednesstooneduty rather
RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE TRIALS OF GRACE. 597
ihan another^ doth not conclude the heart to he unsound andjhlse with God, provided ive do not inwai^dly dislike and disapprove any duty of religion,or except against it in our agreement with Christ,butthat it ris- eth merely from the present weakness and distemper we labour under.
There are some duties in religion, as suffering for Christ, bearing sharp reproofs for sin, that even an upright lieart under a present distemper, may find a great deal of backwardness and lothness to ; yet still he consents to the law, that it is good, is troubled that he cannot comply more cheerfully with his duty, and desires to stand complete in all the will of God : Perfection is his aim, and imper- fections are his sorrows.
Some Christians have much ado to bring their hearts to fixed, so- lemn meditation ; their hearts fly off from it, but this is their burden, that it should be so with them. True, it is a very dangerous sign of hypocrisy, when a man's zeal runs out in one channel of obedience only, and he hath not respect to all God's commandments ; as phy- sicians observe, the sweating of one part of the body, when all the rest is cold, is symptomatica!, and argues an ill habit : But whilst the soul heartily approves all the will of God, and sincerely desires to come up to it, and mourns for its backwardness and deadness to this or that duty, and this is not fixed, but occasional, under some present indisposition out of which the soul riseth by the same degrees as sanctification riseth in him, and the Lord comes in with renewed strength upon him ; this, I say, may consist, and is very ordinarily found to be the case of upright-hearted ones.
Rule 5. The glances of the eye at self-ends in duties, whilst self is not the loeight that moves the wheels, the principal end and design we drive at, and whilst tlwse glances are corrected and mourned for, do not conclude the heart to he unsound and hypocritical in religion : For even among the most deeply sanctified, few can keep their eye so steady and fixed with pure and unmixed respects to the glory of God, but that there will be (alas ! too frequently) some by-ends, insinuating and creeping into the heart.
These like the fowls, seize upon the sacrifice, let the soul take what pains it can to drive them away : It is well that our High-priest bears the iniquities of our holy things for us. Peter had too much regard to the pleasing of men, and did not walk with that upright- ness towards the Gentile Christians and the believing Jews, in the matter of liberty as became him. Gal. ii. 13, 14. for which, as Paul saith, he ought to be blamed, and he did blame him : But yet such a failing as that in the end of his duty did not condemn him. In pub- lic performances there may be too much vanity, in works of charity too much ostentation ; these are all workings of hypocrisy in us, and matters of humiliation to us ; but whilst they are disallowed, correct- ed, and mourned over, are consistent with integrity.
Rule 6. The douhts andfiars that hangupon, and perplex our spirits about the hypocrisy of our hearts, do not conclude that therefore we are
598 HEART-SOUNDING QUESTIONS.
wJtat ice fear ourselves to he. God will not condemn every one for a h^'pocrite that suspects, yea, or charges himself with hypocrisy. Holy David thought his heart was not right with God, after that great slip of his in the matter of Uriah ; and therefore begs of God to renew aright spirit in him, Psal. li. 10, 11, 12. his integrity was indeed wounded, and he thought destroyed by that fall.
Holy Mr. Bradford so vehemently doubted the sincerity of his heart, that he subscribed some of his letters, as Mr. Fox tells us, John Bi'adford the hypocrite ; a very 'painted sepulchre : And yet in so saying, he utterly misjudged the state and temper of his own soul.
V T ELL then, let not the upright be unjust to themselves in censuring their own hearts ; they are bad enough, but let us not make them worse than they are, but thankfully own. and acknow- ledge the least degrees of grace and integrity in them ; and possibly our uprightness might be sooner discovered to us, if, in a due com- posure of spirit, we would sit down and attend the true answers of our own hearts to such questions as these are.
Quest. 1. Do I make the approbation of God, or the applause of men, the very end and main design of my religious performances, according to 1 Thess. ii. 4. Col. iii. 23. will the acceptation of my duties with men satisfy me, whether God accept my duties and person or not ?
Quest. 2. Is it the reproach and shame that attends sin at present, and the danger and misery that will follow it hereafter, that restrains me from the commission of it ? Or is it the fear of God in my soul, and the hatred I bear to it as it is sin ? according to Psal. xix. 12. and Psal. cxix. 113.