2. It shows how far they are from the temper of God's children that are not punctual with God in a course of obedience, that hate one kind of evil, not another. Many hate prodigality, yet not covetousness ; hate covetousness, and are given up to sensuality ; hate an epicure, and such a one as squanders away his estate, think as evil of him as can be, but not hard hearts, such as shut up their bowels, and do no good in their places ; and some hate sensualitj', but not pride, but cherish that ; there is some sweet bit under his tongue, as Zophar speaks. Job xx. 12. Christians ! though we can subdue no sin as we should, yet we are to resist every sin, and especially to bend all the force and strength of
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34 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CVII.
your souls against your sins, that sin whicli is most a])t to prevail with you : this is"a sign of uprightness, Ps. xviii. 23. And therefore, if you woukl know whether you have given up yourselves to walk with God, to keep his word, what lahouring hath there keen with your own hearts? what pains have you taken to set against your own sins? are you most jealous of it, pray most against it, often turn the edge of the word u})on it ? are you observing the decays, or do you keep it under the tongue ? Keason wiih yourselves upon the world to come ; is it reserved corruption or remaining corruption ? Have you never been dealing Avith your hearts to suppress such a corrupt inclination as you have been often foiled with ?
Use 2. To press those that would be exact with God, to stand at a distance in heart and practice from every known sin ; whatever urging and solicitations you have within yourselves, though it would break out, yet have you refrained. To this end let me commend two graces and two duties. The two graces are love to God and his word, and fear to God and his word.
For the graces : —
1. A love to God, a love to the word of God, A love to God: Ps. xcvii. 10, 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil' It is as natural and as kindly to the new nature to hate the chiefest evil, as it is to love the chiefest good. Do you talk of love and communion with God, and never exercise yourselves in refraining your feet from every evil way ? Certainly if you have any love to God, you will hate that whicli God hates ; for idem velle et nolle, to will and nill the same things, that is true friendship ; therefore if God be your friend, you will hate as he hates, that which makes a breach between you and God, and makes you grow shy of God, and lose your familiarity with him. As love to God, so love to his word : Ps. cxix. 113, ' I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love.' Certainly if a man hath a love to the law, he will not only hate sin in practice, but vain thoughts, what tends to break- ing the law in his thoughts, any lesser contrariety, contradiction, or defiance of God's law; for our hatred is engaged by love. Well, get this love, set it a-work, improve it by reason (for every affection is fed by discourses of the mind). All sins are set a-work by some dis- course, so graces are set a-work by discoursings of our minds. Now set this love a-work. Oh ! shall I, that have tasted so much of the love of God, or that do pretend to love God and Christ, and enjoy com- munion with him, yield to follow siu ? Ezra ix. 13, ' What ! after such a deliverance as this, should we again break thy commandment ?' When God hath delivered us, not only out of Babylon, but, you may say, out of hell, how should we set love a-work? The great instance of God's love was the giving his Son : 1 John iv. 9, 10, ' Herein is love," &c. Now, then, if God hate and resist sin, reason and argue from this love : What ! shall God give his Son for me, and I not spare a lust for God ? When God did not stand upon his Son, that was so dear and precious to him, shall I stand upon my sin ? What ! shall Christ die for me, to ransom me from hell ? is this my kindness to my friend ? Cyprian brings in Satan pleading thus, as vaunting against Christ : I never spilt one droj) of blood, my back was never mangled with whips and scourges, I never had a heaven to bestow upon them ;
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VeR. 101.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 35
yet among all thy beneficiaries, show me any so busy, painful, diHo;ent, exact in thy service, as these are in mine. Thou hast shed thy blood, and endured a painful and an accursed death for them ; yet they are not so dutiful to thee as to me. You see whereto this tends ; and shall Christ do so much for us, and we not deny our lusts for him ? Surely if we have any sense of the love of Christ Jesus, it will work this hatred, this abhorrency and refraining ourselves from every evil way. Thus set love a-work.