324 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXL.
Spirit enlightcneth a man, he beginneth to see that which he knew not before, to see things in another manner.
[2.] Advertency, or appHcation of the mind to the object or things esteemed ; that he seriously consider the matter, and what it is best to do ; it is not a sudden, rash undertaking. The scripture spcaketh of ' applying our hearts to wisdom,' Fs. xc. 12 ; and Prov. ii. 2, ' Apply thy heart to understanding;' Prov. xxiii. 12, ' Apply thine heart to instruction, and thine ears to the ways of knowledge.' Make it your business seriously to consider things that differ. But then —
2. Wherein lies this esteem, or wherein doth it formally consist? Esteem is an approbation of the will, or a hearty love. There is the approbation of the understanding, and the approbation of the will. The approbation of the understanding is a naked sense, or an acknow- ledgment of what is good : Rom. ii. 18, ' Thou knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent.' There is an excel- lency in holiness that winneth esteem, even there where it is not em- braced. All convinced men see the evil of sin, and are half of the mind to quit it ; they approve the law which they violate by a bare naked approbation. But then there is the approbation of the heart or will ; there is love and liking in it, and this is called esteem. This is seen in two things — consent and choice : consent, to take this law for our rule ; and choice, whatever temptation Ave have to the contrary. Men choose what they highly esteem. In short, it is such an appro- bation as doth engage affection, such an affection as doth engage prac- tice. Esteem is the fruit of" love.
[1.] There is a consenting to the law that it is good, Rom. vii. 16. There is a difference between assent and consent. A man may assent to the truth and goodness of the law that doth not consent to the good- ness of it ; as the devils assent to the truth of God's being, that do not consent to take him for their portion, James ii. 19. Therefore, besides the advertency of the understanding, there is the consent or approba- tion of the will. Paul speaketh good words of the law : Rom. vii. 12, ' The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just, and good,' v6fio<; and evToXr] — the law in general, and that commandment which wrought such tragical effects in his heart, that rifled all his confidence and hopes, and left him wounded with the sense of sin ; it is holy in teaching duty to God, just in prescribing duties to our neighbour, good in respect to ourselves ; a law becoming God to give and us to receive, suitable and profitable. Thus should we approve and like the law of God.
[2.] Choice, whatever temptation we have to the contrary ; a pre- ferring or prevailing love, a heart-engaging approbation, that doth prevailingly determine the soul to the ways of God. Nondifferunt re. consensus et elect io, saith Aquinas, sed ratione tantum, ut consensus dicatur, secundum quod placet ad agendum ; electio autem secundum quod iDixcfertur his qme non 2^lci'Ccnt — consent to the law and choice of the law are all one and the same act, distinguished by divers respects and considerations. It is called consent to the law, as it approveth of what the law adviseth ; and it is called choice or esteem, as it pre- ferreth the law and our obedience to it above other things. It is actualis iwcdatio unius rei free altera, a preferring one thing above another.
YeR. 128.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 325
Thirdly, I come to the properties or qualifications of this esteem.
1. It is not a simple, but comparative approbation. There is a twofold act of judgment — the first act and the second. The first act is that whereby I distinguish good from evil, and pronounce the one to be embraced, the other eschewed ; approve the one, disapprove the other. But there is a comparative approbation ; that is, that which the understanding judgeth best, all circumstances considered, better than all other things that can be represented. This is the proper notion of esteem : Heb. xi. 2G, ' Esteeming the reproach of Christ,' &c. We approve of many things simply, and in the first act, which wc disallow in the second, when we consider them as invested with some difficulty and unpleasantness, or overpoised with contrary desires, when we compare them with the pleasure and profit which we must forsake; it consents to walk in the ways of God, as Orpah will follow Naomi in1<» the land of Israel, if she may do it without inconveniency, Ruth i. 14. The young man esteemed salvation worthy to be inquired after, Mark X. 20, but is loath to forego his earthly possessions to purchase that inheritance. When the judgment that we make of the thing simply considered in itself, and of the thing as considered with all circum- stances, as it Cometh in comparison with other things that mtist be endured or foregone.
2. There is a judgment of general estimation, and a judgment of particular application. By the one I bind duty upon otliers ; by the other I engage my own heart, as the expression is, Jer. xxx. 21, ' Who is he that engageth his heart to approach unto me ? saith the Lord ; ' to engage his heart to take God for his portion. An instance we have in David : Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' But it is good for me to draw near to God.' 1 may approve many things as good, for which I have no appetite my- .self. Many will yield that it is good to serve God that cannot work, or do not engage their heart to it. Many approve piety in the general ; it is good to be religious, to live a holy life ; but when it cometh to our own case, when we are to abstain from this or that sin, we draw back. Many know what things are more excellent, but do not practise or embrace them ; commend those that are religious, but do not imitate them. Acts v. 13, the people highly esteemed the Christians, but yet would not become Christians themselves : Ps. xlviii. 14, ' This God is our God for ever and ever.' Many a wicked man judgeth it best for him to continue his evil courses, and thinketh religion is good for other men, but it is not good for him ; but God's children are of another mind.