And I cannot but particularly press this doctrine upon you, because it is the grand secret of our holy religion. It is this, my brethren, that distinguishes the true christian from the mere moralist and formal professor; and without which none of our actions are acceptable in GOD’s sight: For “if thine eye be single,” says our blessed LORD, _Matthew_ vi. 22. that is, if thou aimest simply to please GOD, without any regard to thy own will, “thy whole body, (or all thy actions) will be full of light;” agreeable to the gospel, which is called light: “But if thine eye be evil, (if thine intention be diverted any other way) thy whole body, (all thy actions) will be full of darkness,” sinful and unprofitable, we must not only do the will of GOD, but do it because it is his will; since we pray that “GOD’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And no doubt, the blessed angels not only do every thing that GOD willeth, but do it chearfully, out of this principle, because GOD willeth it: And if we would live as we pray, we must go and do likewise.
But farther; as we must renounce our wills in doing, so likewise must we renounce them in suffering the will of GOD. Whatsoever befals us, we must say with good old _Eli_, “It is the LORD, let him do what seemeth him good;” or with one that was infinitely greater than _Eli_, “Father, not my will, but thine be done.” O JESUS, thine was an innocent will, and yet thou renouncedst it: Teach us, even us also, O our Saviour! to submit our wills to thine, in all the evils which shall be brought upon us; and in every thing enable us to give thanks, since it is thy blessed will concerning us!
_Thirdly_, we must deny ourselves, as in our understandings and wills, so likewise in our affections. More particularly, we must deny ourselves the pleasurable indulgence and self-enjoyment of riches: “If any man will come after me, he must forsake all and follow me.” And again (to shew the utter inconsistency of the love of the things of this world with the love of the Father) he tells us, “unless a man forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
Far be it from me to think that these texts are to be taken in a literal sense; as though they obliged rich persons to go sell all that they have and give to the poor, (for that would put it out of their power to be serviceable to the poor for the future) but however, they certainly imply thus much, that we are to sit loose to, sell and forsake all in affection, and be willing to part with every thing, when GOD shall require it at our hands: that is, as the apostle observes, we must “use the world as though we used it not;” and though we are in the world, we must not be of it. We must look upon ourselves as stewards, and not proprietors, of the manifold gifts of GOD; provide first what is necessary for ourselves and for our housholds, and expend the rest, not in indulgencies and superfluous ornaments, forbidden by the apostle, but in cloathing, feeding, and relieving the naked, hungry, distressed disciples of JESUS CHRIST. This is what our blessed LORD would have us understand by forsaking all, and in this sense must each of us deny himself.
I am sensible that this will seem an hard saying to many, who will be offended because they are covetous, and “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of GOD:” but if I yet pleased such men, I should not be the servant of CHRIST. No, we must not, like _Ahab_’s false prophets, have a lying spirit in our mouths, but declare faithfully the whole will of GOD; and like honest _Micajah_, out of pity and compassion, tell men the truth, though they may falsely think we prophecy not good but evil concerning them.