[10.] Tenthly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort, that all thy duties and services are very pleasing, delight- ful, and acceptable to the Lord, Acts x. 4 ; Mai. iii. 3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 21 ; and this roundly follows upon the former, for whenever a man's per- son comes to be accepted of God, and to be in favour with God, then all his services and sacrifices comes to be acceptable to God ; Gen. iv. .5, ' And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering.' God had first a respect to his person in Christ, and then to his offering ; and so his sacrifice was accepted for the man, and not the man for the sacrifice : Heb. xi. 4, ' By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained wit- ness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts ; and by it, he being dead, yet speaketh.' God will always welcome the holy man into his presence, and he shall always have his ear at command, Isa. xlv. 11 ; God will still be a-warming his heart, and a-cheering up his spirit, and a-satisfying of his soul, in meeting of him in all holy means, and in giving gracious answers to all his requests : Isa. Ixvi. .5, ' Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness ; those that remember thee in thy ways:' Prov. xxi. 8, ' The way of man,' that is, of unholy man, ' is fro ward and strange ; but as for the pure, his work is right. ' When God hath cleansed a man's heart, and sanctified his nature, then his work, his religious work, is right ; it is then right in the eye of God, and in the account of God, and in estimation of God ; and therefore his petitions are as soon granted as they are offered, Isa. Ixv. 24, and his requests performed as soon as they are mentioned : Ps. xxxii. 5, ' I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Selah.' i Holy David had an inward purpose and resolution to confess his sin, but before he could do it God throws him his pardon ; ' thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.' God loves to be beforehand with his people in acts of grace and favour. God's eye and his oar was in David's heart, before David's confession could be in his tongue. Oh the delight of God ! Oh the pleasedness of God, with the duties and services of his holy ones ! Ps. iv. 3, ' But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself : the Lord will hear, when I call upon him,' that is, the Lord will approve of my prayer, he will accept of my prayer, he will delight in my prayer, and he will answer my prayer when I call unto him ; and what can the godly man desire more? Ps. Ixi. 1, ' Hear my cry, 0 God, attend unto my prayer.' Aquinas saith that some read the words thus, Intende ad cantica mea, Attend unto my songs — and so the words may be safely read, from the Hebrew word HJ"), ranali, which signifies
^ Selah here is a special note of observation, to work us to a serious marking of the things that are mentioned, as things that are of special weight, and of highest concern- ment to us.
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 425
to shout or shrill out for joy — to note that the prayers of the saints are like pleasant songs and delightful ditties in the ears of God. No mirth, no music can be so pleasing to us as the prayers of the saints are pleasing to God, Cant. ii. 14 : Ps. cxli. 2, ' Let my prayer come before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.' What is more sweet, what is more pleasing, and what is more perfuming than incense ? why, the prayers of the saints, as they are in the hands of a mediator, are as sweet and pleasing to God, as incense that is made up of the choicest and sweetest spices are sweet and pleasing unto us, Rev. v. 8, and viii. 3, 4 : 1 Pet. iii. 12, ' For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers;' or rather, as the Greek hath it, his ears are — eh Ber,aiv avTOiv — to their prayers, that is, when their prayers are so faint and weak that they cannot reach to God, that they cannot travel as far as heaven, then God will come down to them, and lay his ears, as it were, unto their prayers ! Oh, what mattei: of joy and comfort is this to all the holy seed, that God will graciously bow his ears to their prayers, when he turns his back with the greatest disdain and indignation upon the most costly sacrifices of the wicked. 0 you precious sons of Zion ! that are daily lamenting and mourning over the weaknesses that cleaves to your best services, know for your com- fort and joy, that though with Moses you can but stammer out a prayer, or with Hannah weep out a prayer, or with Hezekiah chatter out a prayer, or with Paul sigh and groan out a prayer, yet the Lord will own your prayers, and accept your prayers, and delight in your prayers. 1 Oh, what a rare comfort is this for a Christian, to consider, that when he is under outward wants and inward distresses, that when he hath sickness upon his body, and reproach upon his name, and death knocking at his door, that in all these cases, and in all other cases, he may run to God as to a father, and tell God how it is with liim, and when he hath done that, he may sit down satisfied and as- sured of audience and acceptance in heaven ! 0 sirs ! this is a privi- lege more worth than a thousand worlds, and had unsanctified per- sons as many kingdoms to give as they have hairs on their heads, they would give them all for an interest in this privilege, when guilt and wrath is upon their consciences, and when the arrows of the Almighty stick fast in them, and when the terrors of death are round about them, and when the dreadful day of their account is every moment remem- bered by them. Oh ! if it be so great a favour to have the ears of an earthly king at pleasure, what a transcendent favour must it be to have his ear at pleasure who is King of kings and Lord of lords ! and yet this favour hath all his saints. But,
[11.] Eleventhly, If thou art a holy person, if thou art one that hast' that real holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for thy comfort that Jesus Christ will certainly preserve thy holiness. Next to Christ, holiness is a Christian's choicest jewel, and this Christ will be sure to preserve. Self-preservation is natural to all creatures. Holiness is Christ's creature, Christ's image ; and therefore he will
^ God once accepted of a handful of meal for a sacrifice, and of a gripe of goat's hair for an oblation. Artaxerxes, the Persian monarch, accepted with a cheerful countenance a little water, as a present from tiie hand of a poor labourer, &c.
426 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.