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at God alone, as our God, our portion, our strength, our happiness, our exceeding great reward, our all in time and eternity. This is simplicity; when a steady view, a single intention of promoting his glory, of doing and suffering his blessed will, runs through our whole soul, fills all our heart, and is the constant spring of all our thoughts, desires, and purposes.

12. We have had our conversation in the world, Secondly, in godly sincerity. The difference between simplicity and sincerity seems to be chiefly this: Simplicity regards the intention itself, sincerity the execution of it. And this sincerity relates not barely to our words, but to our whole conversation, as described above. It is not here to be understood in that narrow sense, wherein St. Paul himself sometimes uses it, for speaking the truth, or abstaining from guile, from craft and dissimulation. But in a more extensive meaning, as actually hitting the mark which we aim at by simplicity. Accordingly it implies in this place, that we do in fact speak and do all to the glory of God: that all our words are not only pointed at this, but actually conducive thereto; that all our actions flow on in an even stream, uniformly subservient to this great end: And that in our whole lives we are moving straight toward God, and that continually; walking steadily on in the highway of holiness, in the paths of justice, mercy, and truth.

13. This sincerity is termed by the apostle, godly sincerity, or the sincerity of God, (iv) to prevent our mistaking or confounding it with the sincerity of the heathens: (For they had also a kind of sincerity among them, for which they professed no small veneration) likewise to denote the object and end of this, as of every Christian virtue; seeing whatever does not ultimately tend to God, sinks among the beggarly elements of the world. By stiling it the sincerity of God, he also points out the author of it, the Father of light, from whom every good and perfect gift descendeth: Which is still more clearly declared in the following words, Not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God.

14. Not with fleshly wisdom. As if he had said, We cannot thus converse in the world, by any natural strength or understanding, neither by any naturally-acquired knowledge or wisdom. We cannot gain this simplicity,

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or practise this sincerity, by the force either of good sense, good nature, or good breeding. It overshoots all our native courage and resolution, as well as all our precepts of philosophy. The power of custom is not able to train us up to this, nor the most exquisite rules of human education. Neither could I, Paul, ever attain hereto, notwithstanding all the advantages I enjoyed, so long as I was in the flesh, in my natural state, and pursued it only by fleshly, natural wisdom.

And yet surely, if any man could, Paul himself might have attained thereto by that wisdom. For we can hardly conceive any, who was more highly favoured with all the gifts, both of nature and education. Besides his natural abilities, probably not inferior to those of any person then upon the earth, he had all the benefits of learning, studying at the University of Tarsus, afterwards brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, the person of the greatest account, both for knowledge and integrity, that was then in the whole Jewish nation. And he had all the possible advantages of religious education, being a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, trained up in the very straitest sect or profession, distinguished from all others by a more eminent strictness. And herein he had profited above many others, who were his equals in years, being more abundantly zealous of whatever he thought would please God, and as touching the righteousness of the law blameless. But it could not be, that he should hereby attain this simplicity and godly sincerity. It was all but lost labour; in a deep, piercing sense of which, he was at length constrained to cry out, The things which were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, Phil. iii. 7, 8.

15. It could not be that ever he should attain to this, but by the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord: Or by the grace of God; another expression of nearly the same import. By the grace of God is sometimes to be understood, that free love, that unmerited mercy, by which I, a sinner, through the merits of Christ, am now reconciled to God. But in this place it rather means, that power of God the Holy Ghost, which worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. As soon as ever the grace

of God, in the former sense, his pardoning love is manifested to our soul; the grace of God, in the latter sense, the power of his Spirit, takes place therein. And now we can perform, through God, what to man was impossible. Now we can order our conversation aright. We can do all things in the light and power of that love, through Christ which strengtheneth us. We now have the testimony of our conscience, which we could never have by fleshly wisdom, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have our conversation in the world.

16. This is properly the ground of a Christian's joy. We may now therefore readily conceive, How he that hath this testimony in himself, rejoiceth evermore. My soul, may he say, doth magnify the Lord, and my Spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour. I rejoice in him, who of his unmerited love, of his own free and tender mercy, hath called me into this state of salvation, wherein through his power I now stand. I rejoice, because his Spirit beareth witness to my spirit, that I am bought with the blood of the Lamb, and that believing in him, "I am a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven." I rejoice, because the sense of God's love to me hath, by the same Spirit, wrought in me to love him, and to love, for his sake, every child of man, every soul that he hath made. I rejoice, because he gives me to feel in myself the mind that was in Christ: Simplicity, a single eye to him, in every motion of my heart; Power always to fix the loving eye of my soul on him who loved me, and gave himself for me, to aim at him alone, at his glorious will, in all I think, or speak, or do: Purity, desiring nothing more but God, crucifying the Aash with its affections and lusts, setting my affections on things. above, not on things of the earth: Holiness, a recovery of the image of God, a renewal of soul after his likeness: And godly sincerity, directing all my words and works, so as to conduce to his glory. In this I likewise rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, because my conscience beareth me witness in the Holy Ghost, by the light he continually pours in upon it, that I walk worthy of the vocation wherewith I am called: that I abstain from all appearance of evil, fleeing from sin as from the face of a serpent; that as I have opportunity, I do all possible good, in every kind, to all men; that I follow my Lord in all my steps, and do what is acceptable in his sight. I rejoice because I both see and feel, through the inspiration

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inspiration of God's holy Spirit, that all my works are wrought in him, yea, and that it is he who worketh all my works in me. I rejoice in seeing, through the light of God which shines in my heart, that I have power to walk in his ways, and that through his grace, I turn not therefrom, to the right hand or to the left.

17. Such is the ground and the nature of that joy, whereby an adult Christian rejoiceth evermore. And from all this we may easily infer, First, That this is not a natural joy. It does not arise from any natural cause: Not from any sudden flow of spirits. This may give a transient start of joy. But the Christian rejoiceth always. It cannot be owing to bodily health or ease; to strength and soundness of constitution. For it is equally strong in sickness and pain; yea, perhaps far stronger than before. Many Christians have never experienced any joy, to be compared with that which then filled their soul, when the body was well nigh worn out with pain, or consumed away with pining sickness. Least of all can it be ascribed to outward prosperity, to the favour of men, or plenty of worldly goods. For then chiefly, when their faith has been tried as with fire, by all manner of outward afflictions, have the children of God rejoiced in him, whom unseen they loved, even with joy unspeakable. And never surely did men rejoice like those, who were used as the filth and offscouring of the world; who wandered to and fro, being in want of all things; in hunger, in cold, in nakedness: Who bad trials, not only of cruel mockings, but, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments: Yea, who at last counted not their lives dear unto themselves, so they might finish their course with joy.

18. From the preceding considerations, we may, Secondly, infer, That the joy of a Christian does not arise from any blindness of conscience, from his not being able to discern good from evil. So far from it, that he was an utter stranger to this joy, till the eyes of his understanding were opened that he knew it not, until he had spiritual senses, fitted to discern spiritual good and evil. And now the eye of his soul waxeth not dim. He was never so sharp-sighted before. He has so quick a perception of the smallest things, as is quite amazing to the natural man. As a mote is visible in the sun-beam, so to him who is walking in the light, in the beams of the uncreated sun, every mote of sin

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is visible. Nor does he close the eyes of his conscience any more. That sleep is departed from him. His soul is always broad awake: No more slumber or folding of the hands to rest! He is always standing on the tower, and hearkening what his Lord will say concerning him and always rejoicing in this very thing, in seeing him that is invisible.

19. Neither does the joy of a Christian arise, Thirdly, from any dulness or callousness of conscience. A kind of joy, it is true, may arise from this, in those whose foolish hearts are darkened; whose heart is callous, unfeeling, dull of sense; and, consequently, without spiritual understanding. Because of their senseless, unfeeling hearts, they may rejoice even in committing sin: And this they may probably call liberty! Which is indeed mere drunkenness of soul: a fatal numbness of spirit, the stupid insensibility of a seared conscience. On the contrary, a Christian has the most exquisite sensibility; such as he could not have conceived before. He never had such a tenderness of conscience, as he has had since the love of God has reigned in his heart. And this also is his glory and joy; that God hath heard his daily prayer,

"O that my tender soul might fly

The first abhorr'd approach of ill :
Quick as the apple of an eye,

The slightest touch of sin to feel.".

20. To conclude. Christian joy, is joy in obedience : Joy in loving God, and keeping his commandments. And yet not in keeping them, as if we were thereby to fulfil the terms of the covenant of works; as if by any works or righteousness of ours, we were to procure pardon and acceptance with God. Not so: We are already pardoned and accepted, through the mercy of God in Christ JesusNot as if we were by our own obedience to procure life, life from the death of sin. This also we have already through the grace of God. Us hath he quickened, who were dead in sin. And now we are alive to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. But we rejoice in walking, according to the covenant of grace, in holy love and happy obedience. We rejoice in knowing, That being justified through his grace, we have not received that grace of God in vain; That God having freely (not for the sake of our willing or running,

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