452 SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27. [SeR. IV.
There were moralities among the heathens far more exact than are to be found among many christians. As dogs excel man in acuteness of smell and sense, it is their perfection, so do many heathens excel abun- dance that go for christians, in temperance, justice, meekness, and a command of their passions ; they that were never acquainted with Christ and the Spirit were civil and harmless ; therefore to be a mere moral man certainly is not enough. Paul saith of himself, before he was acquainted with Christ, that he was ' as touching the righteous- ness which is of the law blameless,' Phil. iii. 6 ; and the apostle hath taught us to live "' godly/ as well as ' soberly and righteously in this present world,' Titus ii. 12. There is a living in communion with God, as well as being fair to men ; and therefore a man may be civil and harmless, but such are not vicious, rather than virtuous and gracious ; the mere rational life is one thing, and the spiritual life another thing. Then take the comparative part ; they live better than others, so did the pharisee : Luke xviii, 11, 'God, I thank thee I am not as other men are ; ' yet Christ saith, Mat. v. 20, ' Except your righteous- ness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Among blind men the purblind is a kind of king, and guide of them all. A man may not be as bad as others, and yet not so good as God requires : Gal. vi. 4, 'Let every man prove his own work, and then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.' It is a miserable thing when a man hath no other ground of confidence but the sins of others ; he is good because others are worse ; he hath no rejoicing in himself, but only from the sinfulness of others. Or suppose that a man be better than himself was heretofore, there is a moral change as well as a supernatural, a reformation as well as a regeneration. As a wanton young man that came in to Xenocrates' lecture half drunk, with his head crowned with rosebuds, and when he heard a discourse of temperance, he was converted by his lecture, and betook himself to a sober course, so a man may cast off his youthful vanities, and may be changed from being riotous to be more sober, and yet be far from grace. A sow washed is a sow still. What is short of regeneration is short of salvation. There- fore do not think because of a civil orderly life you do enough ; this is a sottish principle, and keeps us from the righteousness of God.
2. Here is another of their errors ; they are born and bred up in the bosom of the church and true religion, and because they are baptized, and profess the faith of Christ, therefore they think they ever had faith and a good heart towards God, and do not see why or from what they should be converted. It was a wonderful thing to Nicodemus to hear that a man should be born again, as strange as if a man should ' enter again into his mother's womb,' John iii. 4. They are wholly ignorant of any change of soul or state, and mind it not. So the Jews, when Christ told them of being made free from the bondage of sin, John viii. 33, * We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man, how sayest thou. Ye shall be made free ? ' Alas ! men neglect their inward spiritual estate, and are not sensible of setting their souls free from the fetters of lusts and carnal affections, that they may pursue their chiefest good. Nothing so hard and heavy as spiritual bondage, nnd yet is little known and little discerned in the world. They live in
VeR. 20.] SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27, 453
the bondage of sin with as much delight as fishes in their own element, and all this while they are puffed up with carnal dreams of their own privileges and worth. These are the men that are said ' to need no repentance/ Luke xv. 7, that is, in their own conceit, those that do not see wh)', or from what they should be converted.
3. They own no difference between a state of nature and a state of grace ; they know no such thing as passing from death to life, and therefore are never troubled about it : ' All the Lord's people are holy,' Num. xvi. 3, and it is factious to make such distinctions : ' They have put no difference between the holy and })rotane, neither have they showed difference between the clean and unclean,' Ezek. xxii. 26. As if all were of one lump, and all should fare alike, and therefore think themselves as good as the best.
4. That those that are blameless before men and well spoken of in the world need not doubt of their acceptance with God. Oh no ! God's trial is one thing, and men's another. Men see no further than the outside, but God regards the frame of the heart : 1 Sam. xvi. 7, ' Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' Therefore though a man cannot be justly taxed before men, yet this is nothing before the all-seeing God : Ps. cxliii. 2, ' Enter not into judg- ment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.' Kon elicit, cum liostibus tuis, seel cum servo tuo. David doth not say. Lord, enter not into judgment with thine enemies, but with thy servant.