[4.] Our title to the heavenly inheritance is more clearly made out by practice. By knowledge we know what to seek after, but by practice our right is confirmed. Knowledge directeth us in our duty, but serious practice assureth our interest, and so our contentment is doubled : John xiii. 17, ' If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.' Knowledge and speculation doth not prove the sincerity of our hearts, but it is practice that hath the blessing in the bosom of it.
[5.] By practice our will is conformed to the law and will of God. Now the compliance of our will with the will of God carrieth a quiet- ing pleasure in it, for then it agreeth with its proper rule and measure. Pleasure is applicaiio convenientis. There is a pleasure in the con- formity of our apprehensions to the truth revealed or represented ; but more in the subjection of our wills, either to the disposing will, or to the commanding will of God, for then all is right as it should be. The will lieth nearer the affections than the understanding, and goodness is nearer to delight than truth.
3. From the part affected ; not the senses, but the heart and the conscience : ' Thou shalt put more gladness in my heart,' Ps. iv. 7. Carnal delights are like a night dew, that only covers the surface, but spiritual delights are like a soaking shower, that goeth to the root ; they tickle the senses, but this affects the heart. So Christ saith, John xvii. 13, ' These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves ; ' that is, that their hearts might be filled with it, and feed on it as hidden manna. Now the more inti- mate any joy is, the more excellent. The joy of the world is empty ; in the midst of it the heart is sorrowful. A joy in outward things is
372 SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 17.
foreign, and taken in by the senses, or the musty vessel* of the body, but this is shed abroad in the heart. Which is more capacious, a deep well or a little cup or glass ? You will say. There is no comparison. No more is there between the delight and pleasure which carnal men take, and the delight and pleasure that is found in the ways of wis- dom ; for carnal men take in all their delights by their corporal senses, which are soon filled and overcharged ; the sense is easily glutted and clogged ; but the heart and conscience have a greater capacity, and are not easily satisfied with things proper to them.
4. From the author and exciter of these joys, which is the Holy Spirit ; and therefore it is called ' joy in the Holy Ghost,' Kom. xiv. 17. It is a joy of God's making : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast put gladness into my heart.' It is not only allowed by God, but wrought by him.
[1.] It is allowed by God. It is much to our satisfaction that it is allowed by God. Many of the pleasures of ungodly men are forbidden ; as James v. 5, * Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth, and been wan- ton ; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.' To throng their hearts with vain delight heartens the enemy, and is unsuitable to God's providential dispensations : Isa. v. 12, ' The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts ; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.' This is to defy providence, when there is nothing but jollity and mirth in the day of our Father's anger, or brethren's miseries ; or else it is unsuitable to their condition, when such a black storm hangeth over their heads : Isa. Ivii. 21, ' There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God.' This is not the joy that God doth allow ; not such as is baneful to our souls, or unsuitable to God's providences, or to our state and condition. To sit down contented with the creature on this side God, to sing lullabies to our souls when he is angry for sin, this is not allowed ; this is to go to our execution dancing. But we have God's warrant for this joy and peace ; it is never unsuitable, never unseasonable : Phil. iv. 4, ' Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say. Rejoice.' When we seek his favour in Christ, live in his love and obedience to his will, we may still keep an holy feast or maintain a continual joy.
[2.] But God doth not only allow it, but work it ; it is his gift, wrought in us by his Spirit, the fruit of his love, promoted in us by his promises : Rom. xv. 13, ' The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' It is God that speaketh peace to our souls, that reviveth the heart, healeth our "wounds, and filleth us with a sense of his love. It is a pleasantness and peace, that not only resulteth from the rectitude of our actions, or is stirred in us by our own discourse, but excited by the Spirit. Now, the Spirit's works are singular, and do much exceed the natural operations of man's own heart. His groans are unutterable : Rom. viii. 26, ' The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.' And his joys unspeak- able : 1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believ- ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' The heathens counted that fire more fit for their altars that was kindled by a sunbeam than by a coal taken from a common hearth. So this joy