is counted the purest and sweetest honey. There is no profit, nor pleasure, nor joy to that which the purity of the word yields to a sin- cere heart : Ps. cxix. 48, ' My hands will I lift up to thy commandments ■which I have loved." Sometimes the lifting up of hands betokens ad- miration. When men are astonished and ravished, they lift up their hands. ' I will lift up my hands to thy commandments ;' that is, I will admire the goodness, spiritualness, holiness, righteousness, purity, and excellency of thy commandments. Luther would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible, he took such sweet pleasure and excellent delight in it. Kabbi Chiia, in the Jerusalem Talmud, says, ' That in his account all the world is not of equal value with one word out of the law.' The martyrs would have given a load of hay for a few chapters of the Bible in English. Some of them gave five merks for a Bible ; they were so delighted and taken with the word, as it was a holy word, a pure word, a spiritual word. Dolphins, they say, love music ; and so do sincere Christians love the music of the word. It is upon record, that Mary spent the third part of her time in reading the word, she was so affected and delighted with the holiness and purity of it. King Edward the Sixth being about to lay hold on something that was above the reach of bis short arm, one that stood by espying a bossed Bible lying on the table, offered to lay that under his feet to heighten him ; but the good young king disliked the notion, and instead of treading it under his feet, he laid it to his heart, to express the joy and delight that he took in the holy word.'
But now never did any hypocrite, since there was one in the world, ever love God as a holy God, or love his people as a holy people, or love his ways as holy ways, or love his word as a holy word. There is no hypocrite in the world that can truly say with David, ' Thy word is very pure ; therefore thy servant loveth it.' Saul could never say so, nor Ahab could never say so, nor Herod could never say so, nor Judas could never say so, nor Demas could never say so, nor Simon Magus could never say so, nor the scribes and pharisees could never say so, nor the stony ground could never say so, nor Isaiah's hypocrites could never say so, Isa. Iviii. It is true, some of these did rejoice in the word, and delight in the word, but not as it was a holy word, a pure word ; for then they would have rejoiced and delighted themselves in the whole word of God, every part of God's word being pure and holy. Hypo- crites are sometimes affected and delighted with the word, as it is dressed up with fine high notions, which are but mysterious nothiDgs ; they are taken with the word, as it is clothed with arts, parts, and elegancy of phrase ; they are pleased with the word, as it is apparelled with a spruce wit, or with silken expressions, or with some delicate elocution : Ezek. xxxiii. 32, ' So thou art to them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument ;' or as the Hebi^ew may be read, ' Thou art as one that breaks jests.' These hypocrites looked upon the solemnity and majesty of the word but as a dry jest. The prophet being eloquent, and having a pleasing delivery, they were much taken with it, and it was as sweet and delight- ful to them as a fit of music ; but they were not at all taken or de- lighted with the spirituality, purity, and holiness of the word, as is 1 Sir John Hayward in vita. [1630 and 1636, 4to. 12mo.— G.]
464 A CABINET OF JEWELS. [ChAP. IV.
evident in ver. 31, ' And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them : for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.' It was a very smart reproof of Chrysostom to his hearers : ' This is that,' saith he, ' which is like to undo your souls ; you hear your ministers as so many minstrels, to please the ear, not to pierce the conscience.' Augustine confesseth, that the delight which he took before his conversion in St Ambrose's sermons was more for the eloquence of the words than the substance of the matter.^ Hypocrites are taken more with the wit, eloquence of speech, action, quickness of fancy, smoothness of style, neatness of ex- pression, and rareness of notion, than they are with the spirituality, purity, and holiness of the word, which they either hear or read. These hypocrites are like those children who are more taken with the fine flowers that are strewed about the dish, than they are with the meat that is in the dish ; and that are more taken with the red weeds and blue-bottles that grow in the field, than they are with the good corn that grows there. But now look, as the prudent farmer is taken more with a few handfuls of sound corn than he is with all the gay weeds that be in the field, so a sincere Christian is more taken with a few sound truths in a sermon than he is taken with all the strong lines, and high strains, and flourishes of wit ; or than he is taken wnth some new-coined phrases, or some quaint expressions, or some seraphical notions, with which a sermon may be decked or dressed up. Some are taken with the word as the profession of it brings in customers into their shops, and keeps up their credits in the world ; others are taken with the word as it seems to tickle their ears and please their fancies ; some are affected with sermons because of the elegancy of the style, delicacy of the words, smoothness of the language, and gTacefuluess of the delivery. And these deal by sermons as many do by their nose- gays, that are made up of many picked sweet flowers, who, after they have smelt to them awhile, cast them into a corner, and never mind tbem more ; so these, after they have commended a sermon, after they have hio-hly applauded a sermon, they cast away the sermon, they smell to the sermon, if I may so speak, and say. It is sweet, it is sweet; and presently they throw it by, as a nosegay that is withered, and of no further use. But now a sincere heart savours the word, and relishes the word, and is affected and taken with the word, as it is a holy word, a spiritual word, a pure word, which the most refined hypocrite under heaven never was affected or taken with, nor can be, whilst hypocrisy keeps the throne in his soul. But,