160 SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. [SeR. X.
But those that love the truth prize the institutions of God ; there is a displeasure in their hearts against any false way.
3. There must be frequency in the practice of it. God and their souls must not grow strangers. Things that are not used contract rust, as a key seldom turned in the lock turns with diflSlcult}^ So it will not stand with your spiritual welfare to omit duty long. Much spiritual exercise keeps the soul in health and sweet ; as the oftener they drain the well, the sweeter the water is. By running and breathing your- selves every day, you are the fitter to run in a race ; so the oftener you come into God's presence, the greater confidence and freedom and en- largement it will bring. The way to be fervent in prayer or in any holy exercise is to be frequent. Best breeds many distempers, which are prevented by exercise. The right arm is bigger and stronger than the left, and fuller of spirits. Why ? Because it is most agitated, and in exercise ; so the oftener you are with God, the more full of life, strength, and spiritual enlargement. The field of the sluggard is over- grown with thistles. You grow barren, raw, sapless, and lose the choiceness of your spirits, and the savouriness of your thoughts, when, you are seldom with God. The soul runs out of repair when you pray but now and then ; and therefore a christian indeed cannot be long out of God's company ; there is a strong bent in his heart towards God. Can a man love God and be a stranger to him ? Is it possible ? Briefly, there are so many necessities, so many frequent impulses and excitations of grace, that it cannot be imaginable that a man be a christian and neglect worship. Certainly if we did not want a heart we could never want an occasion to come to God, either for ourselves, children, friends, or relations. God hath left the more wants upon the creature that he may the oftener hear from him. The throne of grace was erected for ' a time of need,' Heb. iv. 16. Many needs are left upon us, that we may have continual recourse to God ; many doubts to be resolved, many graces to be strengthened, many corruptions to be mortified. A christian in good earnest will be sensible of these things. It is true it is not expressly set down in scripture how often -we should pray, meditate, read, or perform other duties. In these days of the gospel, God trusts love, which is a grace that is wont to keep the heart open and free. We are left to our liberty more than those under the law, not that we may come short of them, but that we may do more. However, there is no gap opened to looseness, because the terms wherein duty is enjoined are very large and comprehensive : 1 Thes. V. 17, ' Pray without ceasing ; ' Eph. vi. 18, ' Praying always ; ' that is, upon all occasions. And we have high patterns ; we are referred to the angels that are never weary. David had his seven times a day : Ps. cxix. 164, 'Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments.' And Daniel thrice : chap. vi. 10, ' He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.' Certainly it must be done every day ; for Christ saith. Mat. vi. 11, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' Every day we stand in need of the blessings of providence, and it must be sought KaO' ?]/ji.ipav, day by day. Every day we live as it were a new life ; it is but the lesser circle of time, and it should not pass with- out some worship. From the morning and evening sacrifice we may
VeK. 12.] SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. 161:
plead for morning and evening prayer : iSTuni. xxviii. 4, ' The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even/ This is expounded, Ps. cxli. 2, ' Let my prayer be set forth be- fore thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacri- fice ; ' there is the exposition of the sacrifice. Certainly there is a stand- ing occasion. Who dares venture on the temptations of the day without prayer, or the dangers of the night ? In the morning we are to beg direction ; in the evening, protection. Can God's children go to bed without leaving their hearts with him over-night, or awake without God in the morning ? It is an ill sign when men wrangle and dispute away duties rather than practise them.
Secondly, There is godliness in conversation. In all you do, godliness must bear sway. Even in the actions of the civil life, they must be done from God, to God, and for God, with a sense of his eye, a dependence upon his strength, and an aim at his glory. All such actions as proceed from self-love, and tend only to self-welfare they cannot be godly, for godliness comes from God, and brings to God ; it hath another alpha and omega than nature hath.