Book I] a treatise of self-denial. 287
servants enough upon such terms : Job i. 9, * Doth Job serve God for nought ? ' It is true, Job is diligent and zealous, but doth Job lose by his profession ? So carnal men will say, Is it for nought ? They hunt after great places and preferments in the world. It was an old complaint of the gentiles, Lo, say the heathens, those that talk of their being freed from the tyranny of the devil, that they are dead to the world and alive to Christ, yet we see them to be as base and self-seek- ing as any. In vain do they isilk of baptism and the Holy Ghost (by which they think they are ruled iu all their actions) , and of the gospel, when their whole life is nothing else but a contradiction to the rules of the gospel. It is a mighty prejudice to religion, and a dishonour to God, when men shroud themselves under the name of christian and zealous persons, and secretly aim at their private commodity and profit.
2. But to remedy this evil by way of practice, be more frequent in prayer and praise. Frequent in prayer, to be purged from all self- seeking and sinister respects , carnal affection will be importunate. Then for praises, cast the honour upon God himself As when they would have given the apostles divine honour, they cried out, ' We are men of like passions with yourselves. Why gaze ye upon us ? ' so when we meet with applauseia the world, and are apt to be puffed up, we should cast it back, and remember that God is to have this praise. As Joab sent for David that he might have honour in taking the royal city, so should you give God all the glory and praise.
Having handled self-denial in reference to God, I shall now speak of it with respect to our neighbour.
As there is a carnal self in opposition to God, so there is also a carnal self in opposition to the good of others, to the duty we owe to our neighbour. In a moral consideration there are three general beings, God, thy neighbour, and thyself. Now self is ravenous, and devoureth the respects due to both. It seeks to intercept and usurp the rights of the Godhead, and to divert and engross the respects that are due to our neighbour. Well then, I shall now speak of self-denial with reference to our neighbour, and the rather because it is established by God's law, and that in the next place to our respects of God: John iv. 21, ' And this commandment we have from liim, that he wliich loveth God, should love his brother also.' The scripture speaketh very little of love to our- selves, because of the strong bent of nature that way ; there is some- what of allowance, but nothing of precept. Seli-love is not commanded in scripture, but regulated. The commandment takes notice of our love to God, and then of our love to our neighbour. This grant we have, that we should love ourselves ; but this by commandment, to love our neighbour.
1. Because love to our neighbom- is a means to preserve our respects to God ; partly because he trieth us by this sensible way. God needeth nothing from us. He is elevated far above our bounty and kindness ; and therefore it is easy to pretend love to God, if God had not devolved his own right upon our brethren, and made them the proxies to receive those respects, that we cannot so well bestow upon God himself. God needs not our love, but his servants dix Therefore it is made the test of our love to God that we love our brother : 1 John iv. 20, ' If a man say I love God. and hateth his brother he is a Har ; '
288 A TREATISE OF SELF-DENIAL. [BoOK I.
SO 1 John iii. 17, ' If a man loveth not his brother, how dwelleth the love of Grod in him ? ' We cannot love God aright, without loving our brother, and cannot love our brother aright if we love not God ; we must love our brother for God's sake. Therefore ovu* pretensions are but mere lies when we pretend to be open to God, and our bowels are shut against our brethren, whom he hath made his proxies. And justly, because by sensible objects God would wean us from a devotion to our- selves, that so we may be made more fit for respects to objects spiritual and invisible. We are naturally moved to respect things or beings that are visible to our senses, and communicate with us in nature and blood, for so far they are nearer to self, and therefore God required the more respects to man, that we might be prepared for respects to his essence, which is more remote. Thus God argueth : 1 John iv. 20, 'If he love not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen ? ' By the senses, we see man partake with us in the same communion, and similitude, and nature ; and if objects sensible do not work upon us, how shall we be moved to do anything for God, that is invisible, and more remote? If things that have a greater similitude with us, if visible things, of the truth of whose being we have certain proofs, do not work upon us, how will our respects be elevated to God, who difFereth move from us, of whose being we are apt to doubt, because he is invisible ? If we have no natural love, how can we be supposed to have that which is supernatural ? So that we see God would make advantage of this natural love, and by our respects to man fit us to love himself. It is necessary then to state this kind of self-denial. Now that you may see how far we are to deny ourselves in reference to the good of others, let me lay down some propositions, and then close all with application.