2. By way of direction. I cannot go out into all the severals of preparation, how the heart must be purged, faith exercised, repentance renewed, wants and weaknesses reviewed, God's gloiy considered, the nature, grounds, and ends of the ordinances weighed in our thoughts. Only, in the genei'al, so nmch preparation there must be as will make the heart reverent. God will be served with a joy mixed with trembling : the heart is never right in worship till it be possessed with an awe of God: ' How dreadful is this place! ' Gen. xxviii. 17. And again, such preparation as will settle the bent of the spirit heavenward. It is said somewhere, ' They set themselves to seek the Lord ; ' and David saith, Ps. Ivii. 7, ' My heart is fixed, my heart is fixed ;' that is, composed to a heavenly and holy frame. And again, such preparation as will make you come humble and hungry. Grace is usually given to the desiring soul : ' He hath filled the hungry with good things/ Luke i. 53. Again, such as erecteth and raiseth the heart into a posture of expectation. It is often said, ' Be it to thee according to thy faith.' They that look for notliing find nothing ; Christ's greater things are for those that believe, John i. 50.
Obs. 2. Christian preparation consists most in laying aside and dis- possessing evil frames. WcckIs must be rooted out before the ground is fit to receive the seed : ' Plough up your fallow ground, and sow nol among thorns,' Jer. iv. 3. There is an unsiiilal)lcness between a filthy spirit and the pure iioly word ; and therefore they that will not leave their accustomed sins are unfit hearers. The matter must be pre- pared ere it can receive the form. Some translate Paul's hoKifxat,^ro3
Jas. I. 21.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 147
kavTov, 1 Cor. xi. 28, ' Let him purge himself,' get away his dross and corruption. All this showeth the need of renewing repentance before the hearing the word ; that sin being dispossessed, there may be room for the entrance of grace. Noxious weeds are apt to grow again in the best minds ; therefore, as the leper under the law was still to keep his hair shaven, Lev. xiv., so should we cut and shave, that though the roots of sin remain, yet they may not grow and sprout. There is an extraordinary vanity in some men, that will lay aside their sins before some solemn duties, but with a purpose to return to the folly of them ; as they fable the serpent layeth aside his poison when he goeth to drink. They say to their lusts as Abraham to his servants, ' Tarry you here, for I must go yonder and worship ; I will come again to you,' Gen. xxii. 5. They do not take an ever- lasting farewell of their sins. But, however, they are wiser than those that come reeking from their sins into God's presence : this is to dare him to his face. The Jews are chidden for praying with their ' hands full of blood,' Isa. i. 15. They came boldly, before they had been humbled for their oppression : ' If her father had spat in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days ? ' Num. xii. 14. After great rebellions there should be a solemn humbling and purging. What can men that come in their sins expect from God ? Their state con- futeth their worship. God will have nothing to do with them, and he marvelleth they should have anything to do with him. He hath nothing to do with them : Job viii. 20, ' He will not help the evil- doers ;' in the original, ' He will not take the wicked by the hand;' and he wondereth you should have anything to do with him : ' What hast thou to do to take my words into thy mouth?' Ps. 1. 16.
Ohs. 3. From the word laying aside, diroOe/j^evoi. Put it off as a rotten and filthy garment. Sin must be left with an utter detestation : Isa. XXX. 22, ' Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth ; thou shalt say. Get ye hence.' Sin is often expressed by abomination ; it is so to God, it should be so to men. Faint resistance argueth some inclination of the mind to it. Here affections should be drawn out to their height ; grief should become contrition, anger should be heightened into rage and indignation, and shame should be turned into confusion ; no displeasure can be strong and keen enough for sin.
Obs. 4. From that all. We must not lay aside sin in part only, but all sin. So in Peter, the particle is universal, iraaav KaKiav, 1 Peter ii. 1 , ' all malice : ' and David saith, * I hate every false way,' Ps. cxix. True hatred is ek ra jevij,^ to the whole kind. When we hate sin as sin, we hate all sin. The heart is most sincere when the hatred is general. The least sin is dangerous, and in its own nature deadly and destructive. Cifisar was stabbed with bodkins. We read of some that have been devoured of wild beasts, lions and bears ; but of others that have been eaten up of vermin, mice, or lice. Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat. The least sins may undo you. You know what Christ speaketh of a little leaven. Do not neglect the least sins, or excuse yourselves in any Rimmon. Carry out yourselves against all known sins, and pray as he. Job xxxiv. 32, ' That which