3 Quod non actibus sed Jinibus pensantur officia : That duties are esteemed not by their acts but by their ends, is most certain.
142 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
Amen.' Look, as bright shining golden vessels do not retain the beams of the sun which they receive, but reflect them back again upon the sun ; so those that are really holy, they do return and reflect back again upon the Sun of righteousness the praise and glory of all the gifts, graces, and virtues that they have received from him, Kom. xiii. 7. The daily language of their souls is, Non nobis Domine, non nobis Domine, ' Not unto us, Lord, not unto us. Lord, but to thy name be all the glory.' Holy men make conscience of giving men their dues ; how much more then do they make conscience of giving God his due ? 1 Chron. xxix. 10, 18. Now glory is God's due, and God stands upon nothing more than that we give him the glory due unto his name, as you may see in Ps. xxix. 1,2; so in Ps. xcvi. 7, 8. There are three ' gives' in those two verses, ' Give unto the Lord,' ' give unto the Lord,' ' give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name ;' glory is God's right, and he stands upon his right ; and this holy men know, and therefore they give him his right ; they give him the honour and the glory that is due unto his name. Holy hearts do habitually eye the glory of Christ in all things. When they eat, they eat to his glory ; and when they drink, they drink to his glory, 1 Cor. x. 31 ; and when they sleep, they sleep to his glory ; when they buy, they buy for his glory ; and when they sell, they sell for his glory ; and when they give, they give for his glory ; and when they recreate themselves, they recreate themselves for his glory : so when they hear, they hear for his glory ; and when they pray, they pray for his glory ; and when they fast, they fast for his glory ; and when they read, they read for his glory ; and when they come to the Lord's table, they come to his glory. In all natural, moral, and religious actions, holy hearts have an habitual eye to divine glory. i Do not mistake me; I do not say that such as are really holy do actually eye the glory of Christ in all their actions : oh no, this is a happiness desirable on earth, but shall never be attained till we come to heaven. By and base ends and aims will too often creep into the holiest hearts, but holy hearts sigh and groan under them ; they complain to God of them, and they cry for justice, justice upon them : and it is the strong and earnest desires of their souls to be rid of them. But take a holy Christian in his ordinary, usual, and habitual course, and so he hath holy aims and ends in all his actions and undertakings. But now such whose holiness is coun- terfeit, they never look at divine glory in what they do ; sometimes their eye is upon their credit, and sometimes their eyes are upon ap- plause ; sometimes they have pleasure in their eyes, and sometimes they have profit in their eyes, and sometimes they have preferments in their eyes, &c. , Mat. vi. 5 ; John vi. 26 ; Zech. vii. 5-7. They will be very godly when they can make a gain of godliness ; they will be very holy when holiness is the way to outward happiness ; but this religious wickedness will double damn them at last. This is most certain, that some carnal or worldly consideration or other, always acts him who hath not real principles of holiness in him ; but he that is really holy makes the glory of God his centre. Propter te Domine, propter te, was once, and is still a holy man's motto.
Quest. But how may a person know when he makes the glory ^ Quicquid agas, propter Deum agon, waa an Eastern apophthegm, saith Drusius.
HeB. Xll. 14.] AND BEAUTY OE HOLINESS. 143
of God his aim, Ms end, in this or that service which he performs ? I shall answer this question briefly thus : —
Am. [1.] First, Such a man as makes the glory of God his aim, his end, he luill do duty when all outward encouragements to duty fail. When the eye of men, the favour of men, the respects of men, and all other encouragements from men fails, yet then a holy man will hold up, and hold on in his work and way ; yea, when all outward encour- agements from God shall fail, yet such a person will keep close to his duty: Hab. iii. 17, 18, ' Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, nei- ther shall fruit be in the vines ; the labour of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in t^e stalls : yet 1 will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of mpsalvation.' When all necessary and delightful mercies fail, yet he will not fail in his duty. Though God withholds his blessings, yet he will not withhold his service : in the want of a livelihood he will be lively in his duty ; when he hath no- thing to subsist by, yet then he will live upon his God.i Though war and want come, yet he will not be wanting in his duty. There are three things in a holy heart that strongly incline it to duty when all outward encouragements fail. The first is a forcible principle, divine love, 2 Cor. v. 14 ; the second is a mighty aid, the Spirit of God, Phil, iv. 12, 13 ; the third is a high aim, the glory of God. But now it is otherwise with those that have only a show of godliness. Let but their outward encouragements fail them ; let but the eye, the ear, the ap- plause of the creature fail them ; if they cannot make some gain of their godliness, some profit of their profession, some advantage of their religion, they are ready, with Demas, to throw up and throw off all. Profit and applause are usually the baits that these men bite at ;2 and if they miss these baits, then farewell profession, farewell religion, farewell all. But now look, as Ruth kept close to her mother in the want of all outward encouragements, Ruth i. ; so souls that eye the glory of God in duties, they will keep close to duties when all outward encouragements fail. Though outward encouragements be sometimes as a side-wind, or as oil, or as chariot wheels, means to move a Chris- tian to go on more sweetly, easily, and comfortably in the ways of God, yet when this wind shall fail, and these chariot wheels shall be knocked off, a real Christian wiU hold on his way, Job. xvii. 9.
[2.] Secondly, When a man aims at the glory of God in what he doth, then he labours to hide and conceal all his human excellencies, that may any ways tend to obscure, eclipse, or darken the glory of God : 1 Cor. ii. 3-5, ' And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.' Holy Paul handled holy things in such a manner, as much of God, and little or nothing of man could be