{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_3548/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_3548","id":"gutenberg_3548","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3548","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Pharisee and the publican (Parable) -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1845 Thomas Nelson \u201cWorks of the Puritan Divines\n(Bunyan)\u201d edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   THE\n                        PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN.\n\n\n    _Two men went up into the temple to pray_; _the one a Pharisee_, _and\n    the other a Publican_.  _The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with\n    himself_; _God_, _I thank thee_, _that I am not as other men are_,\n    _extortioners_, _unjust_, _adulterers_, _or even as this Publican_.\n    _I fast twice in the week_, _I give tithes of all that I possess_.\n    _And the Publican_, _standing afar off would not lift up so much as\n    his eyes unto heaven_, _but smote upon his breast_, _saying_, _God be\n    merciful to me a sinner_.\u2014Luke, xviii. 10\u201313.\n\nIN the beginning of this chapter you read of the reason of the parable of\nthe unjust judge and the poor widow; namely, to encourage men to pray.\n\u201cHe spake a parable to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not\nto faint;\u201d and a most sweet parable for that purpose it is: for if\nthrough importunity, a poor widow woman may prevail with an unjust judge,\nand so consequently with an unmerciful and hard-hearted tyrant, how much\nmore shall the poor, afflicted, distressed, and tempted people of God,\nprevail with, and obtain mercy at the hands of, a loving, just, and\nmerciful God?  The unjust judge would not hearken to, nor regard the cry\nof, the poor widow, for a while: \u201cBut afterward he said within himself,\nThough I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth\nme, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.\u201d\n\u201cHark,\u201d saith Christ, \u201cwhat the unjust judge saith.\u201d  \u201cAnd shall not God\navenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him?\u2014I tell you that\nhe will avenge them speedily.\u201d\n\nThis is therefore a very comfortable parable to such of the saints as are\nunder hard usage by reason of evil men, their might and tyranny: for by\nit we are taught to believe and expect, that God, though for a while he\nseemeth not to regard, yet will, in due time and season, arise and set\nsuch in safety from them that puff at them; Psalm xii. 4.\n\nLet the good Christian pray always; let him pray, and not faint at\nseeming delays; for if the widow by importunity prevailed with the unjust\njudge, how much more shall he with his heavenly Father.  \u201cI tell you,\u201d\nsays Christ, \u201cthat he will avenge them speedily.\u201d\n\nBut now, forasmuch as this parable reacheth not (so directly) the poor\nPublican in the text, therefore our Lord begins again, and adds to that\nother parable, this parable which I have chosen for my text; by which he\ndesigneth two things: First, The conviction of the proud and\nself-conceited Pharisee: Secondly, The raising up and healing of the cast\ndown and dejected Publican.  And observe it, as by the first parable he\nchiefly designeth the relief of those that are under the hands of cruel\ntyrants, so by this he designeth the relief of those that lie under the\nload and burden of a guilty and disquieted conscience.\n\nThis therefore is a parable that is full of singular comfort to such of\nthe sinners in the world that are clogged with guilt and sense of sin;\nand that lie under the apprehensions of, and that are driven to God by\nthe sense of the judgment that for sin is due unto them.\n\nIn my handling of this text, I shall have respect to these things\u2014\n\n1.  To the persons in the text.\n\n2.  To the condition of the persons in the text.\n\n3.  To the conclusion that Christ makes upon them both.\n\n_First_, For the persons.  They were, as you see, far one from another in\ntheir own apprehension of themselves; one good, the other bad; but yet in\nthe judgment of the law, both alike, both the same, both sinners; for\nthey both stood in need of mercy.  True, the first mentioned did not see\nit, as the other poor sinner did; but that altereth not the case: he that\nis in the judgment of the law a sinner, is in the judgment of the law for\nsin condemned, though in his own judgment he be ever so righteous.\n\nMen must not be judged, or justified, according to what themselves do\nthink, but according to the verdict and sentence that cometh out of the\nmouth of God about them.  Now, the sentence of God is, \u201cAll have sinned:\u201d\n\u201cThere is none righteous, no, not one;\u201d Rom. iii.  It is no matter, then,\nwhat the Pharisee did think of himself; God by his word hath proclaimed\nhim a sinner: a sinner, by reason of original sin; a sinner, by reason of\nactual transgression.  Personally, therefore, with reference to the true\nnature of their state, they both were sinners, and both by the law under\ncondemnation.  True, the Publican\u2019s leprosy was outward; but the\nPharisee\u2019s leprosy was inward: his heart, his soul, his spirit, was as\nfoul, and had as much the plague of sin, as had the other in his life or\nconversation.\n\n_Secondly_, As to their conditions (I do not mean by condition, so much a\nhabit of mind, as the state that they had each of them put themselves\ninto by that mind.)  \u201cThe one,\u201d says the text, \u201cwas a Pharisee, the other\na Publican.\u201d  A Pharisee: that is, one that hath chosen to himself such a\ncourse of life.  A Publican: that is, one that hath chosen to himself\nsuch a course of life.  These terms, therefore, shew the divers courses\nof life that they had put themselves into.  The Pharisee, as he thought,\nhad put himself into a condition for heaven and glory; but the Publican\nwas for this world and his lusts.  Wherefore when the Pharisee stands in\nthe temple, he boasteth of himself and good condition, but condemneth the\nPublican, and bitterly inveigheth against him.  But, as I said, their\npersonal state, by the law, was not at all changed.  The Pharisee made\nhimself never the better; the Publican also abode in his place.\n\nIndeed the Publican is here found to recant, and repent of his condition,\nand of the condition that he had put himself into; and the Pharisee to\nboast of his.  But the Publican\u2019s repentance was not of himself, but of\nGod, who can also, yea, and sometimes it is evident (Acts ix.) he doth,\nmake Pharisees also repent of that condition that they have chosen to be\nin themselves; Phil. iii. 3\u20138.  The Pharisee, therefore, in commending of\nhimself, makes himself never the better; the Publican also, in condemning\nof himself, makes himself never the worse.  Nay, contrariwise, the\nPharisee, by commending of himself, makes himself much the worse, ver.\n14; and the Publican, by condemning of himself, makes himself much the\nbetter.  \u201cI tell you (says Christ) this man went down to his house\njustified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself\nshall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.\u201d\n\nBut, I say, as to men\u2019s commending of themselves, yea, though others\nshould commend them also, that availeth, to God-ward, nothing at all.\n\u201cFor not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord\ncommendeth.\u201d  So then, men in \u201cmeasuring themselves by themselves, and\ncomparing themselves among themselves, are not wise;\u201d 2 Cor. x. 12.\n\nNow, this was the way of the Pharisee; I am not, saith he, as other men:\nI am no extortioner, nor unjust, no adulterer, nor yet as this Publican.\n\n\u201cTwo men went up into the temple to pray;\u201d and they two, as I said, as\nopposite one to the other, as any two men that ever went thither to pray.\nOne of them was over righteous, and the other wicked over much.  Some\nwould have thought, had they not by the word of Christ been otherwise\ndescribed, that they had been both of the same religion; for they both\nwent up into the temple to pray; yea, both to pray, and that at the same\ntime, as if they did it by appointment, by agreement; but there was no\nsuch thing.  The one was a Pharisee, the other a Publican: for so saith\nthe after words: and therefore persons as opposite as light and darkness,\nas fire and water; I mean, as to their apprehensions one of another.  The\nPharisee could not abide the Publican, nor could the Publican brook the\nPharisee; and yet both went up into the temple to pray.  It is strange to\nsee, and yet it is seen, that men cross in their minds, cross in their\nprinciples, cross in their apprehensions; yea, and cross in their prayers\ntoo, should yet meet together in the temple to pray.\n\n\u201cTwo men;\u201d men not of the middle sort, and them too picked out of the\nbest and worst that was: two men, a Pharisee, and a Publican.\n\nTo be a Pharisee was in those days counted honourable for religion, and\nfor holiness of life.  A Pharisee was a man of esteem and repute among\nthe Jews, though it is a term of reproach with us; else Paul would not at\nsuch a time as he did it, have said, \u201cMen and brethren, I am a Pharisee,\nthe son of a Pharisee;\u201d Acts xxiii, 6; Phil. iii. 5.  For now he stood\nupon his purgation and justification, especially it appears so by the\nplace first named.  And far be it from any to think, that Paul would make\nuse of a colour of wickedness, to save thereby himself from the fury of\nthe people.\n\nA Publican was in those days counted one of the vilest of men, as is\nmanifest; because when they are in the word, by way of discrimination,\nmade mention of, they are ranked with the most vile and base; therefore\nthey are joined with sinners\u2014\u201cHe eateth with publicans and sinners,\u201d and\n\u201cwith harlots.\u201d  \u201cPublicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of\nheaven.\u201d  Yea, when our Lord Christ would have the rebellious professor\nstigmatized to purpose, he saith, \u201cLet him be to thee as an heathen man\nand a publican.\u201d\n\nWe therefore can make no judgment of men upon the outward appearance of\nthem.  Who would have thought, but that the Pharisee had been a good man?\nfor he was righteous; for he prayed.  And who could have thought, that\nthe other had been a good man? for he was a Publican; a man, by good men\nand bad men, joined with the worst of men, to wit, with sinners, harlots,\nheathens.\n\nThe Pharisee was a sectarian; the Publican was an officer.  The Pharisee,\neven because he was a sectarian, was had the more in esteem; and the\nPublican, because he was an officer, was had the more in reproach.  To\nspeak a little to both these:\n\n1.  The Pharisee was a sectarian; one that deviated, that turned aside in\nhis worshipping from the way of God, both in matter and manner of\nworship; for such an one I count a sectarian.  That he turned aside from\nthe matter, which is the rule of worship, to wit, the written word, it is\nevident; for Christ saith, that they rejected the commandments of God,\nand made them of no effect, that they might keep their own traditions.\nThat they turned aside also as to their manner of worship, and became\nsectarians, there is with no less authority asserted\u2014\u201cFor all their works\nthey do for to be seen of men;\u201d Acts xxvi. 5; Mark vii. 9\u201313; Matt.\nxxiii. 5.\n\nNow this being none of the order or ordinance of Christ, and yet being\nchosen by, and stuck to of these sort of men, and also made a singular\nand necessary part of worship, became a sect, or bottom for those\nhypocritical factious men to adhere unto, and to make of others disciples\nto themselves.  And that they might be admired, and rendered venerable by\nthe simple people to their fellows, they loved to go in long robes; they\nloved to pray in markets, and in the corners of the streets; they shewed\ngreat zeal for the small things of the law, but had only great words for\nthings that were substantial\u2014\u201cThey made broad their phylacteries, and\nenlarged the borders of their garments;\u201d Matt. xxiii.\n\nWhen I say the Pharisee was a sectarian, I do not mean that every\nsectarian is a Pharisee.  There were the sects of the Herodians, of the\nAlexandrians, and of the Sadducees, with many others; but to be a\nPharisee, was to be of the straitest sect: \u201cAfter the most straitest sect\nof our religion, I lived a Pharisee.\u201d  That, therefore, of all the sects,\nwas the most strait and strict.  Therefore, saith he, in another place,\n\u201cI was taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers.\u201d\nAnd again, \u201cTouching the law, a Pharisee;\u201d Acts xxii. 3; xxvi. 4\u20136; Phil.\niii. 5.  The Pharisee, therefore, did carry the bell, and wear the\ngarland for religion; for he outdid, he went beyond all other sectarians\nin his day.  He was strictest, he was the most zealous; therefore Christ,\nin his making of this parable, waived all other sects then in being, and\npitched upon the Pharisee as the man most meet, by whose rejection he\nmight shew forth and demonstrate the riches of his mercy in its extension\nto sinners: \u201cTwo men went up into the temple to pray; the one a\nPharisee:\u201d such a brave man as you have heard.\n\n2.  The Publican also went up thither to pray.  The Publican, I told you\nbefore, was an officer: an officer that served the Romans and himself\ntoo; for the Romans at that time were possessors of the land of Jewry\n(the lot of Israel\u2019s inheritance), and the emperor Tiberius C\u00e6sar placed\nover that land four governors, to wit, Pilate, Herod, Philip, and\nLysanias; all these were Gentiles, heathens, infidels; and the publicans\nwere a sort of inferior men, to whom was let out to farm, and so men that\nwere employed by these to gather up the taxes and customs that the\nheathens had laid upon the Jews to be paid to the emperor; Luke ii. 1;\niii. 1, 2, 12, 13.\n\nBut they were a generation of men that were very injurious in the\nexecution of their office.  They would exact and demand more than was due\nof the people; yea, and if their demands were denied, they would falsely\naccuse those that so denied them to the governor, and by false accusation\nobtain the money of the people, and so wickedly enrich themselves, Luke\niii. 13, 14; xix. 2, 8.  This was therefore grievous to the Jews, who\nalways counted themselves a free people, and could never abide to be in\nbondage to any.  And this was something of the reason, that they were so\ngenerally by all the Jews counted so vile and base, and reckoned among\nthe worst of men, even as our informers and bum-bailiffs are with us at\nthis day.\n\nBut that which heightened the spirit of the people against them, and that\nmade them so odious and filthy in their eyes, was for that (at least so I\nthink) these publicans were not, as the other officers, aliens, heathens,\nand Gentiles, but men of their own nation, Jews, and so the brethren of\nthose that they so abused.  Had they been Gentiles, it had not been\nwondered at.\n\nThe Publican then was a Jew, a kind of a renegade Jew, that through the\nlove that he had to unjust gains, fell off in his affections from his\nbrethren, adhered to the Romans, and became a kind of servant to them\nagainst their brethren, farming the heathenish taxations at the hand of\nstrangers, and exacting of them upon their brethren with much cruelty,\nfalsehood, and extortion.  And hence, as I said, it was, that to be a\npublican, was to be so odious a thing, so vile a sinner, and so grievous\na man in the eyes of the Jews.  Why, this was the Publican! he was a Jew,\nand so should have abode with them, and have been content to share with\nhis brethren in their calamities; but contrary to nature, to law, to\nreligion, reason, and honesty, he fell in with the heathen, and took the\nadvantage of their tyranny to poll, to rob, and impoverish his brethren.\n\nBut for proof that the Publican was a Jew.\n\n1.  Publicans are, even then, when compared with, yet distinguished from,\nthe heathen; \u201cLet him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican,\u201d Matt.\nxviii.; which two terms, I think, must not here be applied to one and the\nself-same man, as if the heathen was a publican, or the publican a\nheathen; but to men of two distinct nations, as that publican and harlot\nis to be understood of sinners of both sexes.  The Publican is not an\nharlot, for he is a man, &c., and such a man as has been described\nbefore.  So by publicans and sinners, is meant publicans and such sinners\nas the Gentiles were; or such as, by the text, the Publican is\ndistinguished from: where the Pharisee saith he was not an extortioner,\nunjust, adulterer, or even as this Publican.  Nor can he by \u201cheathen man\u201d\nintend the person, and by the term publican, the office or place, of the\nheathen man; but by publican is meant the renegade Jew, in such a place,\n&c., as is yet further manifested by that which follows.  For\u2014\n\n2.  Those publicans, even every one of them that by name are made mention\nof in the New Testament, have such names put upon them; yea, and other\ncircumstances thereunto annexed, as doth demonstrate them to be Jews.  I\nremember the names of no more but three, to wit, Matthew, Levi, and\nZaccheus, and they were all Jews.\n\n(1.)  Matthew was a Jew, and the same Matthew was a publican; yea, and\nalso afterwards an apostle.  He was a Jew, and wrote his gospel in\nHebrew: he was an apostle, and is therefore found among the twelve.  That\nhe was a publican too, is as evident by his own words; for though Mark\nand Luke, in their mentioning of his name and apostleship, do forbear to\ncall him a publican (Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. l6); yet when this Matthew\ncomes to speak of himself, he calls himself Matthew the publican (Matth.\nx. 3); for I count this the self-same Matthew that Mark and Luke make\nmention of, because I find no other Matthew among the apostles but he:\nMatthew the publican, Matthew the man so deep in apostacy, Matthew the\nman of that ill fame among his brethren.  Love, in Mark and Luke, when\nthey counted him among the apostles, did cover with silence this his\npublican state (and it is meet for Peter to call Paul his beloved\nbrother, when Paul himself shall call himself the chief of sinners); but\nfaithfulness to the world, and a desire to be abased, that Christ\nthereby, and grace by him, might be advanced, made Matthew, in his\nevangelical writings, call himself by the name of Matthew the publican.\nNor has he lost thereby; for Christ again to exalt him (as he hath also\ndone by the apostle Paul), hath set, by his special providence, the\ntestimony that this Matthew hath given of his birth, life, death,\ndoctrine, and miracles, in the front of all the New Testament.\n\n(2.)  The next publican that I find by the Testament of Christ, made\nmention of by name, is Levi, another of the apostles of Jesus Christ.\nThis Levi also, by the Holy Ghost in holy writ, is called by the name of\nJames: not James the brother of John, for Zebedee was his father; but\nJames the son of Alpheus.  Now I take this Levi also to be another than\nMatthew; First, because Matthew is not called the son of Alpheus; and\nbecause Matthew and Levi, or James the son of Alpheus, are distinctly\ncounted where the names of the apostles are mentioned (Matt. x. 3) for\ntwo distinct persons: and that this Levi, or James the apostle, was a\npublican, as was the apostle Matthew, whom we mentioned before, is\nevident; for both Mark and Luke do count him such.  First, Mark saith,\nChrist found him when he called him, as he also found Matthew, sitting at\nthe receipt of custom; yea, Luke words it thus: \u201cHe went forth, and saw a\npublican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said unto\nhim, Follow me;\u201d Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 27.\n\nNow, that this Levi, or James the son of Alpheus, was a Jew, his name\ndoth well make manifest.  Besides, had there been among the apostles any\nmore Gentiles save Simon the Canaanite, or if this Levi James had been\nhere, I think the Holy Ghost would, to distinguish him, have included him\nin the same discriminating character as he did the other, when he called\nhim \u201cSimon the Canaanite;\u201d Matt. x. 4.\n\nMatthew, therefore, and Levi or James, were both publicans, and, as I\nthink, called both at the same time; were both publican Jews, and made by\ngrace the apostles of Jesus Christ.\n\n(3.)  The next publican that I find by name made mention of in the\nTestament of Christ, is one Zaccheus.  And he was a publican; yea, for\nought I know, the master of them all.  \u201cThere was a man,\u201d saith Luke,\n\u201cnamed Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was\nrich,\u201d Luke xix. 2.  This man, Christ saith, was a son of Abraham, that\nis, as other Jews were; for he spake to stop the mouths of their\nPharisaical cavillations.  Besides, the Publican shewed himself to be\nsuch an one, when under a supposition of wronging any man, he had respect\nto the Jewish law of restoring four-fold; Exod. xxii. 1; 2 Sam. xii. 6.\n\nIt is further manifest that he was a Jew, because Christ puts him among\nthe lost; to wit, among the lost sheep of the house of Israel, ver. 10;\nand Matt. xv. 24; for Zaccheus was one that might properly be said to be\nlost, and that in the Jews\u2019 account: lost, I say, and that not only in\nthe most common sense, by reason of transgression against the law, but\nfor that he was an apostate Jew, not with reference to heathenish\nreligion, but as to heathenish, cruel, and barbarous actions; and\ntherefore he was, as the other, by his brethren, counted as bad as\nheathens, Gentiles, and harlots.  But salvation is come to this house,\nsaith Christ, and that notwithstanding his publican practice, forasmuch\nas he also is the son of Abraham.\n\n3.  Again, Christ, by the parable of the lost sheep, doth plainly\nintimate, that the Publican was a Jew.  \u201cThen drew near all the publicans\nand sinners for to hear him, and the Pharisees and Scribes murmured,\nsaying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.\u201d\n\nBut by what answer doth Christ repel their objections?  Why, he saith,\n\u201cWhat man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth\nnot leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which\nis lost until he find it?\u201d  Doth he not here, by the lost sheep, mean the\npoor publican? plenty of whom, while he preached this sermon, were there,\nas objects of the Pharisees\u2019 scorn, but of the pity and compassion of\nJesus Christ: he did without doubt mean them.  For, pray, what was the\nflock, and who Christ\u2019s sheep under the law, but the house and people of\nIsrael?  Ezek. xxxiv. 11.  So then, who could be the lost sheep of the\nhouse of Israel, but such as were Matthew, James, Zaccheus, and their\ncompanions in their and such like transgressions?\n\n4.  Besides, had not the publicans been of the Jews, how easy had it been\nfor the Pharisees to have objected, that an impertinency was couched in\nthat most excellent parable of the lost sheep?  They might have said, We\nare offended, because thou receivest the publicans, and thou for\nvindication of thy practice propoundest a parable of lost sheep; but they\nare the sinners of the house of Israel, and the publicans are aliens and\nGentiles.  I say, how easily might they thus have objected? but they knew\nfull well, that the parable was pertinent, for that the publicans were of\nthe Jews, and not of the aliens.  Yea, had they not been Jews, it cannot,\nit must not be thought, that Christ (in sum) should call them so; and yet\nhe did do so, when he called them \u201clost sheep.\u201d\n\nNow, that these publicans were Jews, what follows but that for this they\nwere a great deal the more abominated by their brethren; and (as I have\nalso hinted before) it is no marvel that they were; for a treacherous\nbrother is worse than an open enemy, Psalm lv. 12, 13; for, if to be\ndebauched in an open and common transgression is odious, how odious is it\nfor a brother to be so; for a brother in nature and religion to be so.  I\nsay again, all this they did, as both John insinuates, and Zaccheus\nconfesses.\n\nThe Pharisee, therefore, was not so good, but the Publican was as bad.\nIndeed the Publican was a notorious wretch, one that had a way of\ntransgressing by himself; one that could not be sufficiently condemned by\nthe Jews, nor coupled with a viler than himself.  It is true, you find\nhim here in the temple at prayer; not because he retained, in his\napostacy, conscience of the true religion; but God had awakened him,\nshewed him his sin, and bestowed upon him the grace of repentance, by\nwhich he was not only fetched back to the temple and prayer, but to his\nGod, and to the salvation of his soul.\n\nThe Pharisee, then, was a man of another complexion, and good as to his\nown thoughts of himself; yea, and in the thoughts of others also, upon\nthe highest and better ground by far.  The Publican was a notorious\nsinner: the Pharisee was a reputed righteous man.  The Publican was a\nsinner out of the ordinary way of sinning; and the Pharisee was a man for\nrighteousness in a singular way also.  The Publican pursued his\nvillanies, and the Pharisee pursued his righteousness; and yet they both\nmet in the temple to pray: yea, the Pharisee stuck to, and boasted in,\nthe law of God: but the Publican did forsake it, and hardened his heart\nagainst his way.\n\nThus diverse were they in their appearances: the Pharisee very good, the\nPublican very bad: but as to the law of God, which looked upon them with\nreference to the state of their spirits, and the nature of their actions,\nby that they were both found sinners; the Publican an open, outside one,\nand the Pharisee a filthy, inside one.  This is evident, because the best\nof them was rejected, and the worst of them was received to mercy.  Mercy\nstandeth not at the Publican\u2019s badness, nor is it enamoured with the\nPharisee\u2019s goodness: it suffereth not the law to take place on both,\nthough it findeth them both in sin, but graciously embraceth the most\nunworthy, and leaveth the best to shift for himself.  And good reason\nthat both should be dealt with after this manner; to wit, that the word\nof grace should be justified upon the soul of the penitent, and that the\nother should stand or fall to that which he had chosen to be his master.\n\nThere are three things that follow upon this discourse.\n\n1.  That the righteousness of man is not of any esteem with God, as to\njustification.  It is passed by as a thing of naughtiness, a thing not\nworth the taking notice of.  There was not so much as notice taken of the\nPharisee\u2019s person or prayer, because he came into the temple mantled up\nin his own good things.\n\n2.  That the man that has nothing to commend him to God, but his own good\ndoings, shall never be in favour with him.  This also is evident from the\ntext: the Pharisee had his own righteousness, but had nothing else to\ncommend him to God; and therefore could not by that obtain favour with\nGod, but abode still a rejected one, and in a state of condemnation.\n\n3.  Wherefore, though we are bound by the law of charity to judge of men\naccording as in appearance they present themselves unto us; yet withal,\nto wit, though we do so judge, we must leave room for the judgment of\nGod.  Mercy may receive him that we have doomed to hell, and justice may\ntake hold on him, whom we have judged to be bound up in the bundle of\nlife.  And both these things are apparent by the persons under\nconsideration.\n\nWe, like Joseph, are for setting of Manasseh before Ephraim; but God,\nlike Jacob, puts his hands across, and lays his right hand upon the worst\nman\u2019s head, and his left hand upon the best (Gen. xlviii.), to the\namazement and wonderment even of the best of men.\n\n\u201cTwo men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the\nother a Publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God,\nI thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust,\nadulterers, or even as this Publican.  I fast twice in the week I give\ntithes of all that I possess.\u201d\n\nIn these words many things are worth the noting.  As,\n\n_First_, The Pharisee\u2019s definition of righteousness; the which standeth\nin two things: 1.  In negatives; 2.  In positives.\n\n1.  In negatives; to wit, what a man that is righteous must not be: \u201cI am\nno extortioner, no unjust man, no adulterer, nor yet as this Publican.\u201d\n\n2.  In positives; to wit, what a man that is righteous must be: \u201cI fast\ntwice a-week, I give tithes of all that I possess,\u201d &c.\n\nThat righteousness standeth in negative and positive holiness is true;\nbut that the Pharisee\u2019s definition is, notwithstanding, false, will be\nmanifest by and by.  But I will first treat of righteousness in the\ngeneral, because the text leadeth me to it.\n\nFirst, then, a man that is righteous, must have negative holiness; that\nis, he must not live in actual transgressions; he must not be an\nextortioner, unjust, an adulterer, or as the Publican was.  And this the\napostle intends, when he saith, \u201cFlee fornication,\u201d \u201cFlee youthful\nlusts,\u201d \u201cFlee from idolatry;\u201d and, \u201cLittle children keep yourselves from\nidols;\u201d 1 Cor. vi. 18; x. 14; 2 Tim. ii. 22; 1 John v. 21.  For it is a\nvain thing to talk of righteousness, and that ourselves are righteous,\nwhen every observer shall find us in actual transgression.  Yea, though a\nman shall mix his want of negative holiness with some good actions, that\nwill not make him a righteous man.  As suppose, a man that is a swearer,\na drunkard, an adulterer, or the like, should, notwithstanding this, be\nopen-handed to the poor, be a great executor of justice in his place, be\nexact in his buying, selling, keeping his promise with his friend, or the\nlike; these things, yea, many more such, cannot make him a righteous man;\nfor the beginning of righteousness is yet wanting in him, which is this\nnegative holiness: for except a man leave off to do evil, he cannot be a\nrighteous man.  Negative holiness is therefore of absolute necessity to\nmake one in one\u2019s self a righteous man.  This therefore condemns them,\nthat count it sufficient if a man have some actions that in themselves,\nand by virtue of the command, are good, to make him a righteous man,\nthough negative holiness is wanting.  This is as saying to the wicked,\nThou art righteous, and a perverting of the right way of the Lord:\nnegative holiness, therefore, must be in a man before he can be accounted\nrighteous.\n\n2.  As negative holiness is required to declare one a righteous man; so\nalso positive holiness must be joined therewith, or the man is\nunrighteous still.  For it is not what a man is not, but what a man does,\nthat declares him a righteous man.  Suppose a man be no thief, no liar,\nno unjust man; or, as the Pharisee saith, no extortioner, nor adulterer,\n&c., this will not make a righteous man; but there must be joined to\nthese, holy and good actions, before he can be declared a righteous man.\nWherefore, as the apostle, when he pressed the Christians to\nrighteousness, did put them first upon negative holiness, so he joineth\nthereto an exhortation to positive holiness; knowing, that where positive\nholiness is wanting, all the negative holiness in the whole world cannot\ndeclare a man a righteous man.  When therefore he had said, \u201cBut thou, O\nman of God, flee these things\u201d (sin and wickedness), he adds, \u201cand follow\nafter righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness,\u201d &c.; 1\nTim. vi. 11.  Here Timothy is exhorted to negative holiness, when he is\nbid to flee sin.  Here also he is exhorted to positive holiness, when he\nis bid to follow after righteousness, &c.; for righteousness can neither\nstand in negative nor positive holiness, as severed one from another.\nThat man then, and that man only, is, as to actions, a righteous man,\nthat hath left off to do evil, and hath learned to do well, Isa. i. 16,\n17; that hath cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of\nlight.  \u201cFlee youthful lusts (said Paul), but follow righteousness,\nfaith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure\nheart;\u201d 2 Tim. ii. 22.\n\nThe Pharisee, therefore, as to the general description of righteousness,\nmade his definition right; but as to his person and personal\nrighteousness, he made his definition wrong.  I do not mean he defined\nhis own righteousness wrong; but I mean his definition of true\nrighteousness, which standeth in negative and positive holiness, he made\nto stoop to justify his own righteousness, and therein he played the\nhypocrite in his prayer: for although it is true righteousness that\nstandeth in negative and positive holiness; yet that this is not true\nrighteousness that standeth, but in some pieces and ragged remnants of\nnegative and positive righteousness.  If then the Pharisee would, in his\ndefinition of personal righteousness, have proved his own righteousness\nto be good, he must have proved, that both his negative and positive\nholiness had been universal; to wit, that he had left off to act in any\nwickedness, and that he had given up himself to the duty enjoined in\nevery commandment: for so the righteous man is described; Job i. 8; ii.\n3.  As it is said of Zacharias and Elisabeth his wife, \u201cThey were both\nrighteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of\nthe Lord blameless;\u201d Luke i. 5, 6.  Here the perfection, that is, the\nuniversality, of their negative holiness is implied, and the universality\nof their positive holiness is expressed: they walked in all the\ncommandments of the Lord; but that they could not do, if they had lived\nin any unrighteous thing or way.  They walked in all blamelessly, that\nis, sincerely, with upright hearts.  The Pharisee\u2019s righteousness,\ntherefore, even by his own implied definition of righteousness, was not\ngood, as is manifest these two ways\u2014\n\n1.  His negative holiness was not universal.\n\n2.  His positive holiness was rather ceremonial than moral.\n\n1.  His negative holiness was not universal.  He saith indeed, he was not\nan extortioner, nor unjust, no adulterer, nor yet as this Publican: but\nnone of these expressions apart, nor all, if put together, do prove him\nto be perfect as to negative holiness; that is, they do not prove him,\nshould it be granted, that he was as holy with this kind of holiness, as\nhimself of himself had testified.  For,\n\n(1.)  What though he was no extortioner, he might yet be a covetous man;\nLuke xvi. 14.\n\n(2.)  What though, as to dealing, he was not unjust to others, yet he\nwanted honesty to do justice to his own soul; Luke xvi. 15.\n\n(3.)  What though he was free from the act of adultery, he might yet be\nmade guilty by an adulterous eye, against which the Pharisee did not\nwatch (Matt. v. 28), of which the Pharisee did not take cognizance.\n\n(4.)  What though he was not like the Publican, yet he was like, yea was,\na downright hypocrite; he wanted in those things wherein he boasted\nhimself, sincerity; but without sincerity no action can be good, or\naccounted of God as righteous.  The Pharisee, therefore, notwithstanding\nhis boast, was deficient in his righteousness, though he would fain have\nshrouded it under the right definition thereof.\n\n(5.)  Nor doth his positive holiness help him at all, forasmuch as it is\ngrounded mostly, if not altogether, in ceremonial holiness: nay, I will\nrecollect myself, it was grounded partly in ceremonial and partly in\nsuperstitious holiness, if there be such a thing as superstitious\nholiness in the world; this paying of tithes was ceremonial, such as came\nin and went out with the typical priesthood.  But what is that to\npositive holiness, when it was but a small pittance by the by.  Had the\nPharisee argued plainly and honestly; I mean, had he so dealt with that\nlaw, by which now he sought to be justified, he should have brought forth\npositive righteousness in morals, and should have said and proved it too,\nthat as he was no wicked man with reference to the act of wickedness, he\nwas indeed a righteous man in acts of moral virtues.  He should, I say,\nhave proved himself a true lover of God, no superstitious one, but a\nsincere worshipper of him; for this is contained in the first table\n(Exod. xx.), and is so in sum expounded by the Lord Christ himself (Mark\nxii. 30).  He should also, in the next place, have proved himself truly\nkind, compassionate, liberal, and full of love and charity to his\nneighbour; for that is the sum of the second table, as our Lord doth\nexpound it, saying, \u201cThou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;\u201d Mark xii.\n31.\n\nTrue, he says, he did them no hurt; but did he do them good?  To do no\nhurt, is one thing; and to do good, is another; and it is possible for a\nman to do neither hurt nor good to his neighbour.  What then, is he a\nrighteous man because he hath done him no hurt?  No, verily; unless, to\nhis power, he hath also done him good.\n\nIt is therefore a very fallacious and deceitful arguing of the Pharisee,\nthus to speak before God in his prayers: I am righteous, because I have\nnot hurt my neighbour, and because I have acted in ceremonial duties.\nNor will that help him at all to say, he gave tithes of all that he\npossessed.  It had been more modest to say, that he had paid them; for\nthey, being commanded, were a due debt; nor could they go before God for\na free gift, because, by the commandment, they were made a payment; but\nproud men and hypocrites love so to word it both with God and man, as at\nleast to imply, that they are more forward to do, than God\u2019s command is\nto require them to do.\n\nThe second part of his positive holiness was superstitious; for God had\nappointed no such set fasts, neither more nor less but just twice a-week:\n\u201cI fast twice a-week.\u201d  Ay, but who did command thee to do so, other than\nby thy being put upon it by a superstitious and erroneous conscience,\ndoth not, nor canst thou make to appear.  This part, therefore, of this\npositive righteousness, was positive superstition, and abuse of God\u2019s\nlaw, and a gratification of thy own erroneous conscience.  Hitherto,\ntherefore, thou art defective in thy so seemingly brave and glorious\nrighteousness.\n\nYet this let me say, in commendation of the Pharisee, in my conscience he\nwas better than many of our English Christians; for many of them are so\nfar off from being at all partakers of positive righteousness, that\nneither all their ministers, Bibles, and good books, good sermons, nor\nyet God\u2019s judgments, can persuade them to become so much as negatively\nholy, that is, to leave off evil.\n\nThe second thing that I take notice of in this prayer of the Pharisee, is\nhis manner of delivery, as he stood praying in the temple: \u201cGod, I thank\nthee,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I am not as other men are.\u201d  He seemed to be at\nthis time in more than an ordinary frame, while now he stood in the\npresence of the divine Majesty: for a prayer made up of praise, is a\nprayer made up of the highest order, and is most like the way of them\nthat are now in a state beyond prayer.  Praise is the work of heaven; but\nwe see here, that an hypocrite may get into that vein, even while an\nhypocrite, and while on earth below.  Nor do I think that this prayer of\nhis was a premeditated stinted form, but a prayer _extempore_, made on a\nsudden according to what he felt, thought, or understood of himself.\n\nHere therefore we may see, that even prayer, as well as other acts of\nreligious worship, may be performed in great hypocrisy; although I think,\nthat to perform prayer in hypocrisy, is one of the most daring sins that\nare committed by the sons of men.  For by prayer, above all duties, is\nour most direct and immediate personal approach into the presence of God;\nas there is an uttering of things before him, especially a giving to him\nof thanks for things received, or a begging that such and such things\nmight be bestowed upon me.  But now, to do these things in hypocrisy (and\nit is easy to do them so, when we go up into the temple to pray), must\nneeds be intolerable wickedness, and it argueth infinite patience in God,\nthat he should let such as do so arise alive from their knees, or that he\nshould suffer them to go away from the place where they stand, without\nsome token or mark of his wrath upon them.\n\nI also observe, that this _extempore_ prayer of the Pharisee was\nperformed by himself, or in the strength of his own natural parts; for so\nthe text implieth.  \u201cThe Pharisee,\u201d saith the text, \u201cstood and prayed\nthus with himself,\u201d or \u201cby himself,\u201d and may signify, either that he\nspoke softly, or that he made this prayer by reason of his natural parts.\n\u201cI will pray with the Spirit,\u201d said Paul; 1 Cor. xiv. 15.  \u201cThe Pharisee\nprayed with himself,\u201d said Christ.  It is at this day wonderfully common\nfor men to pray _extempore_ also; to pray by a book, by a premeditated\nset form, is now out of fashion.  He is counted nobody now, that cannot\nat any time, at a minute\u2019s warning, make a prayer of half an hour long.\nI am not against _extempore_ prayer, for I believe it to be the best kind\nof praying; but yet I am jealous, that there are a great many such\nprayers made, especially in pulpits and public meetings, without the\nbreathing of the Holy Ghost in them; for if a Pharisee of old could do\nso, why not a Pharisee do the same now?  Wit and reason, and notion, are\nnot screwed up to a very great height; nor do men want words, or fancies,\nor pride, to make them do this thing.  Great is the formality of religion\nthis day, and little the power thereof.  Now, where there is a great\nform, and little power (and such there was among the Jews, in the time of\nour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ), there men are most strangely under\nthe temptation to be hypocrites; for nothing doth so properly and\ndirectly oppose hypocrisy, as the power and glory of the things we\nprofess.  And so, on the contrary, nothing is a greater temptation to\nhypocrisy, than a form of knowledge of things without the savour thereof.\nNor can much of the power and savour of the things of the gospel be seen\nat this day upon professors (I speak not now of all), if their notions\nand conversations be compared together.  How proud, how covetous, how\nlike the world in garb and guise, in words and actions, are most of the\ngreat professors of this our day!  But when they come to divine worship,\nespecially to pray, by their words and carriage there, one would almost\njudge them to be angels in heaven.  But such things must be done in\nhypocrisy, as also the Pharisee\u2019s was.\n\n\u201cThe Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.\u201d\n\nAnd in that it is said he prayed with himself, it may signify, that he\nwent in his prayer no further than his sense and reason, feeling and\ncarnal apprehensions went.  True Christian prayer ofttimes leaves sense\nand reason, feeling and carnal apprehensions, behind it; and it goeth\nforth with faith, hope, and desires to know what at present we are\nignorant of, and that unto which our sense, feeling, reason, &c., are\nstrangers.  The apostle indeed doth say, \u201cI will pray with the\nunderstanding;\u201d 1 Cor. xiv. 15; but then it must be taken for an\nunderstanding spiritually enlightened.  I say, it must be so understood,\nbecause the natural understanding, as such, receiveth not the things of\nGod, therefore cannot pray for them; for they to such are foolish things;\n1 Cor. ii. 14.\n\nNow, a spiritually enlightened understanding may be officious in prayer\nthese ways\u2014\n\n1.  As it has received conviction of the truth of the being of the Spirit\nof God; for to receive conviction of the truth and being of such things,\ncomes from the Spirit of God, not from the law, sense, or reason; 1 Cor.\nii. 10\u201312.  Now the understanding having, by the Holy Ghost, received\nconviction of the truth of things, draweth out the heart to cry in prayer\nto God for them.  Therefore he saith, he would pray with the\nunderstanding.\n\n2.  The spiritually enlightened understanding hath also received, by the\nHoly Ghost, conviction of the excellency and glory of the things that are\nof the Spirit of God, and so inflameth the heart with more fervent\ndesires in this duty of prayer; for there is a supernatural excellency in\nthe things that are of the Spirit: \u201cFor if the ministration of death (to\nwhich the Pharisee adhered), written and engraven in stones, was\nglorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the\nface of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be\ndone away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather\nglorious?  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more\ndoth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory: for even that\nwhich was made glorious hath no glory in this respect, by reason of the\nglory that excelleth;\u201d 2 Cor. iii. 7\u201310.  And the Spirit of God sheweth,\nat least, some things of that excellent glory of them to the\nunderstanding that it enlighteneth; Eph. i. 17\u201319.\n\n3.  The spiritually enlightened understanding hath also thereby received\nknowledge, that these excellent supernatural things of the Spirit are\ngiven by covenant in Christ to those that love God, and are beloved of\nhim.  \u201cNow we have received,\u201d says Paul, \u201cnot the spirit of the world\n(that the Pharisee had), but the Spirit which is of God, that we make\nknow the things that are freely given to us of God;\u201d 1 Cor. ii. 12.  And\nthis knowledge, that the things of the Spirit of God are freely given to\nus of God, puts yet a greater edge, more vigour, and yet further\nconfidence, into the heart to ask for what is mine by gift, by a free\ngift of God in his Son.  But all these things the poor Pharisee was an\nutter stranger to; he knew not the Spirit, nor the things of the Spirit,\nand therefore must neglect faith, judgment, and the love of God, Matt.\nxxiii. 23; Luke xi. 42, and follow himself only, as to his sense,\nfeeling, reason, and carnal imagination in prayer.\n\nHe stood and prayed thus \u201cwith himself.\u201d  He prayed thus, talking to\nhimself; for so also it may (I think) be understood.  It is said of the\nunjust judge, \u201che said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard\nman,\u201d &c., Luke xviii. 4; that is, he said it to himself.  So the\nPharisee is said to pray with himself: God and the Pharisee were not\ntogether, there was only the Pharisee and himself.  Paul knew not what to\npray for without the Holy Ghost joined himself with him, and helping him\nwith groans unutterable; but the Pharisee had no need of that; it was\nenough that he and himself were together at this work; for he thought\nwithout doubting that he and himself together could do.  How many times\nhave I heard ancient men, and ancient women at it with themselves, when\nall alone in some private room, or in some solitary path; and in their\nchat they have been sometimes reasoning, sometimes chiding, sometimes\npleading, sometimes praying, and sometimes singing; but yet all has been\ndone by themselves when all alone; but yet so done, as one that has not\nseen them must needs have concluded that they were talking, singing, and\npraying with company, when all that they had said, they did it with\nthemselves, and had neither auditor nor regarder.\n\nSo the Pharisee was at it with himself; he and himself performed, at this\ntime, the duty of prayer.  Now I observe, that usually when men do speak\nto or with themselves, they greatly strive to please themselves:\ntherefore it is said, there is a man \u201cthat flattereth himself in his own\neyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful;\u201d Psalm xxxvi. 2.  He\nflattereth himself in his own way, according as his sense and carnal\nreason dictate to him; and he might do it as well in prayer as in any\nother way.  Some men will so hear sermons and apply them that they may\nplease themselves; and some men will pray, but will refuse such words and\nthoughts in prayer as will not please themselves.\n\nO how many men speak all that they speak in prayer, rather to themselves,\nor to their auditory, than to God that dwelleth in heaven.  And this I\ntake to be the manner, I mean something of the manner, of the Pharisee\u2019s\npraying.  Indeed, he made mention of God, as also others do; but he\nprayed with himself to himself, in his own spirit, and to his own\npleasing, as the matter of his prayer doth manifest.  For was it not\npleasant to this hypocrite, think you, to speak thus well of himself at\nthis time?  Doubtless it was.  Also children and fools are of the same\ntemper with hypocrites, as to this: they also love, without ground, as\nthe Pharisee, to flatter themselves in their own eyes; \u201cBut not he that\ncommendeth himself is approved.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod, I thank thee, I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust,\nadulterers, or even as this Publican,\u201d &c.\n\nThus he begins his prayer; and it is, as was hinted before, a prayer of\nthe highest strain.  For to make a prayer all of thanksgiving, and to\nurge in that prayer the cause of that thanksgiving, is the highest manner\nof praying, and seems to be done in the strongest faith, &c., in the\ngreatest sense of things.  And such was the Pharisee\u2019s prayer, only he\nwanted substantial ground for his thanksgiving; to wit, he wanted proof\nof that he said, He was not as other men were, except he had meant, he\ndid not, that he was even of the worst sort of men: For even the best of\nmen by nature, and the worst, are all alike.  \u201cWhat, then, are we better\nthan they? (saith Paul), No, in nowise;\u201d Rom. iii. 9.  So then he failed\nin the ground of his thankfulness, and therefore his thankfulness was\ngrounded on untruth, and so became feigned and self-flattering, and could\nnot be acceptable with the God of heaven.\n\nBesides, in this high prayer of the Pharisee, he fathered that upon God\nwhich he could by no means own; to wit, that he being so good as he\nthought himself to be, was through distinguishing love and favour of\nGod\u2014\u201cGod, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.\u201d  I thank thee,\nthat thou hast made me better than others; I thank thee that my condition\nis so good, and that I am so far advanced above my neighbour.\n\nThere are several things flow from this prayer of the Pharisee that are\nworth our observation: as\u2014\n\n1.  That the Pharisees and hypocrites do not love to count themselves\nsinners, when they stand before God.\n\nThey choose rather to commend themselves before him for virtuous and holy\npersons, sometimes saying, and oftener thinking, that they are more\nrighteous than others.  Yea, it seems by the word to be natural,\nhereditary, and so common for hypocrites to trust to themselves that they\nare righteous, and then to condemn others: this is the foundation upon\nwhich this very parable is built: \u201cHe spake this parable (saith Luke)\nunto certain which trusted in themselves as being righteous,\u201d or \u201cthat\nthey were\u201d so, \u201cand despised others,\u201d ver. 9.\n\nI say, hypocrites love not to think of their sins, when they stand in the\npresence of God; but rather to muster up, and to present him with their\nseveral good deeds, and to venture a standing or falling by them.\n\n2.  This carriage of the Pharisee before God informs us, that moral\nvirtues, and the ground of them, which is the law, if trusted to, blinds\nthe mind of man that he cannot for them perceive the way to happiness.\nWhile Moses is read (and his law and the righteousness thereof trusted\nto), the vail is upon their heart; and even unto this day (said Paul) the\nvail remaineth \u201cuntaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which\nvail is done away in Christ.  But even unto this day, when Moses is read,\nthe vail is upon their heart;\u201d 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15.  And this is the\nreason so many moral men, that are adorned with civil and moral\nrighteousness, are yet so ignorant of themselves, and the way of life by\nChrist.\n\nThe law of works, and the righteousness of the flesh, which is the\nrighteousness of the law, blinds their minds, shuts up their eyes, and\ncauseth them to miss of the righteousness that they are so hotly in the\npursuit of.  Their minds were blinded, saith the text.  Whose minds?  Why\nthose that adhered to, that stood by, and that sought righteousness of\nthe law.  Now,\n\nThe Pharisee was such an one; he rested in the law, he made his boast of\nGod, and trusted to himself that he was righteous; all this proceeded of\nthat blindness and ignorance that the law had possessed his mind withal;\nfor it is not granted to the law to be the ministration of life and\nlight, but to be the ministration of death, when it speaks; and of\ndarkness, when trusted unto, that the Son of God might have the\npre-eminence in all things: therefore it is said when the heart \u201cshall\nturn to him, the vail shall be taken away;\u201d 2 Cor. iii. 16.\n\n3.  We may see by this prayer, the strength of vain confidence; it will\nembolden a man to stand in a lie before God; it will embolden a man to\ntrust to himself, and to what he hath done; yea, to plead his own\ngoodness, instead of God\u2019s mercy, before him.  For the Pharisee was not\nonly a man that justified himself before men, but that justified himself\nbefore God; and what was the cause of his so justifying himself before\nGod, but that vain confidence that he had in himself and his works, which\nwere both a cheat and a lie to himself?  But I say, the boldness of the\nman was wonderful, for he stood to the lie that was in his right hand,\nand pleaded the goodness of it before him.\n\nBut besides these things, there are four things more that are couched in\nthis prayer of the Pharisee.\n\n1.  By this prayer the Pharisee doth appropriate to himself conversion;\nhe challengeth it to himself and to his fellows.  \u201cI am not,\u201d saith he,\n\u201cas other men;\u201d that is, in unconversion, in a state of sin, wrath, and\ndeath: and this must be his meaning, for the religion of the Pharisee was\nnot grounded upon any particular natural privilege: I mean not singly,\nnot only upon that, but upon a falling in with those principles, notions,\nopinions, decrees, traditions, and doctrines that they taught distinct\nfrom the true and holy doctrines of the prophets.  And they made to\nthemselves disciples by such doctrine, men that they could captivate by\nthose principles, laws, doctrines, and traditions: and therefore such are\nsaid to be of the sect of the Pharisees: that is, the scholars and\ndisciples of them, converted to them and to their doctrine.  O! it is\neasy for souls to appropriate conversion to themselves, that know not\nwhat conversion is.  It is easy, I say, for men to lay conversion to God,\non a legal, or ceremonial, or delusive bottom, on such a bottom that will\nsink under the burden that is laid upon it; on such a bottom that will\nnot stand when it is brought under the touchstone of God, nor against the\nrain, wind, and floods that are ordained to put it to the trial, whether\nit is true or false.  The Pharisee here stands upon a supposed conversion\nto God; \u201cI am not as other men;\u201d but both he and his conversion are\nrejected by the sequel of the parable: \u201cThat which is highly esteemed\namong men\u201d (Luke xvi. 15) \u201cis abomination in the sight of God.\u201d  That is,\nthat conversion, that men, as men, flatter themselves that they have, is\nsuch.  But the Pharisee will be a converted man, he will have more to\nshew for heaven than his neighbour\u2014\u201cI am not as other men are;\u201d to wit,\nin a state of sin and condemnation, but in a state of conversion and\nsalvation.  But see how grievously this sect, this religion, beguiled\nmen.  It made them twofold worse the children of hell than they were\nbefore, and than their teachers were, Matth. xxiii. 15; that is, their\ndoctrine begat such blindness, such vain confidence, and groundless\nboldness in their disciples, as to involve them in that conceit of\nconversion that was false, and so if trusted to, damnable.\n\n2.  By these words, we find the Pharisee, not only appropriating\nconversion to himself, but rejoicing in that conversion: \u201cGod, I thank\nthee,\u201d saith he, \u201cthat I am not as other men;\u201d which saying of his gives\nus to see that he gloried in his conversion; he made no doubt at all of\nhis state, but lived in the joy of the safety that he supposed his soul,\nby his conversion, to be in.  Oh! thanks to God, says he, I am not in the\nstate of sin, death, and damnation, as the unjust, and this Publican is.\nWhat a strange delusion, to trust to the spider\u2019s web, and to think that\na few, or the most fine of the works of the flesh, would be sufficient to\nbear up the soul in, at, and under the judgment of God!  \u201cThere is a\ngeneration that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from\ntheir filthiness.\u201d  This text can be so fitly applied to none as the\nPharisee, and to those that tread in the Pharisee\u2019s steps, and that are\nswallowed up with his conceits, and with the glory of their own\nrighteousness.\n\nSo again, \u201cThere is a way\u201d (a way to heaven) \u201cwhich seemeth right to a\nman, but the end thereof are the ways of death;\u201d Prov. xxx. 12; xiv. 12.\nThis also is fulfilled in these kind of men; at the end of their way is\ndeath and hell, notwithstanding their confidence in the goodness of their\nstate.\n\nAgain, \u201cThere is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing;\u201d Prov. xiii.\n7.  What can be more plain from all these texts, than that some men that\nare out of the way think themselves in it; and that some men think\nthemselves clean, that are yet in their filthiness, and that think\nthemselves rich for the next world, and yet are poor, and miserable, and\nwretched, and blind, and naked.  Thus the poor, blind, naked,\nhypocritical Pharisee thought of himself, when God threatened to abase\nhim: yea, he thought himself thus, and joyed therein, when indeed he was\ngoing down to the chambers of death.\n\n3.  By these words, the Pharisee seems to put the goodness of his\ncondition upon the goodness of God.  I am not as other men are, and I\nthank God for it.  \u201cGod (saith he), I thank thee, that I am not as other\nmen are.\u201d  He thanked God, when God had done nothing for him.  He thanked\nGod, when the way that he was in was not of God\u2019s prescribing, but of his\nown inventing.  So the persecutor thanks God that he was put into that\nway of roguery that the devil had put him into, when he fell to rending\nand tearing of the church of God; \u201cTheir possessors slay them (saith the\nprophet), and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say,\nBlessed be the Lord, for I am rich;\u201d Zech. xi. 5.  I remember that Luther\nused to say, \u201cIn the name of God begins all mischief.\u201d  All must be\nfathered upon God: the Pharisee\u2019s conversion must be fathered upon God;\nthe right, or rather the villany of the outrageous persecution against\nGod\u2019s people, must be fathered upon God.  \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d and,\n\u201cBlessed be God,\u201d must be the burden of the heretic\u2019s song.  So again,\nthe free-willer, he will ascribe all to God; the Quaker, the Ranter, the\nSocinian, &c., will ascribe all to God.  \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d is in every\nman\u2019s mouth, and must be entailed to every error, delusion, and damnable\ndoctrine that is in the world: but the name of God, and their doctrine,\nworship, and way, hangeth together, as the Pharisee\u2019s doctrine; that is\nto say, by nothing at all: for God hath not proposed their principles,\nnor doth he own them, nor hath he commanded them, nor doth he convey by\nthem the least grace or mercy to them; but rather rejecteth them, and\nholdeth them for his enemies, and for the destroyers of the world.\n\n4.  We come, in the next place, to the ground of all this, and that is,\nto what the Pharisee had attained; to wit, that he was no extortioner, no\nunjust man, no adulterer, nor even as this Publican, and for that he\nfasted twice a-week, and paid tithes of all that he possessed.  So that\nyou see he pretended to a double foundation for his salvation, a moral\nand a ceremonial one; but both very lean, weak, and feeble: for the first\nof his foundation, what is it more, if all be true that he saith, but a\nbeing removed a few inches from the vilest men in their vilest actions? a\nvery slender matter to build my confidence for heaven upon.\n\nAnd for the second part of his ground for life, what is it but a couple\nof ceremonies, if so good? the first is questioned as a thing not founded\nin God\u2019s law; and the second is such, as is of the remotest sort of\nceremonies, that teach and preach the Lord Jesus.  But suppose them to be\nthe best, and his conformity to them the thoroughest, they never were\nordained to get to heaven by, and so are become but a sandy foundation.\nBut any thing will serve some men for a foundation and support for their\nsouls, and to build their hopes of heaven upon.  I am not a drunkard,\nsays one, nor a liar, nor a swearer, nor a thief, and therefore I thank\nGod, I have hopes of heaven and glory.  I am not an extortioner, nor an\nadulterer; not unjust, nor yet as this Publican; and therefore do hope I\nshall go to heaven.  Alas, poor men! will your being furnished with these\nthings save you from the thundering claps and vehement batteries that the\nwrath of God will make upon sin and sinners in the day that shall burn\nlike an oven?  No, no; nothing at that day can shroud a man from the hot\nrebukes of that vengeance, but the very righteousness of God, which is\nnot the righteousness of the law, however christened, named, or garnished\nwith all the righteousness of man.\n\nBut, O thou blind Pharisee! since thou art so confident that thy state is\ngood, and thy righteousness is that that will stand when it shall be\ntried with fire (1 Cor. iii. 13), let me now reason with thee of\nrighteousness.  My terror shall not make thee afraid; I am not God, but a\nman as thou art; we both are formed out of the clay.\n\n_First_, Prithee, when didst thou begin to be righteous?  Was it before\nor after thou hadst been a sinner?  Not before, I dare say; but if after,\nthen the sins that thou pollutedst thyself withal before, have made thee\nincapable of acting legal righteousness: for sin, where it is, pollutes,\ndefiles, and makes vile the whole man; therefore thou canst not by after\nacts of obedience make thyself just in the sight of that God thou\npretendest now to stand praying unto.  Indeed thou mayst cover thy dirt,\nand paint thy sepulchre; for that acts of after obedience will do, though\nsin has gone before.  But, Pharisee, God can see through the white of\nthis wall, even to the dirt that is within: God can also see through the\npaint and garnish of thy beauteous sepulchre, to the dead men\u2019s bones\nthat are within; nor can any of thy most holy duties, nor all when put\ntogether, blind the eye of the all-seeing Majesty from beholding all the\nuncleanness of thy soul (Matt. xxiii. 27.)  Stand not therefore so\nstoutly to it, now thou art before God; sin is with thee, and judgment\nand justice is before him.  It becomes thee, therefore, rather to despise\nand abhor this life, and to count all thy doings but dross and dung, and\nto be content to be justified with another\u2019s righteousness instead of thy\nown.  This is the way to be secured.  I say, blind Pharisee, this is the\nway to be secured from the wrath which is to come.\n\nThere is nothing more certain than this, that as to justification from\nthe curse of the law, God has rejected man\u2019s righteousness, for the\nweakness and unprofitableness thereof, and hath accepted in the room of\nthat the glorious righteousness of his Son; because indeed that, and that\nonly, is universal, perfect, and equal with his justice and holiness.\nThis is in a manner the contents of the whole Bible, and therefore must\nneeds be more certainly true.  Now then, Mr Pharisee, methinks, what if\nthou didst this, and that while thou art at thy prayers, to wit, cast in\nthy mind what doth God love most? and the resolve will be at hand.  The\nbest righteousness, surely the best righteousness; for that thy reason\nwill tell thee: This done, even while thou art at thy devotion, ask\nthyself again, But who has the best righteousness? and that resolve will\nbe at hand also; to wit, he that in person is equal with God, and that is\nhis in Jesus Christ; he that is separate from sinners, and made higher\nthan the heavens, and that is his Son Jesus Christ; he that did no sin,\nnor had any guile found in his mouth; and there never was any such he in\nall the world but the Son of God, Jesus Christ.\n\nNow, Pharisee, when thou hast done this, then, as thou art at thy\ndevotion, ask again, But what is this best righteousness, the\nrighteousness of Christ, to do? and the answer will be ready.  It is to\nbe made by an act of the sovereign grace of God over to the sinner that\nshall dare to trust thereto for justification from the curse of the law.\n\u201cHe is made unto us of God, righteousness.\u201d  \u201cHe hath made him to be sin\nfor us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God\nin him.\u201d  \u201cFor Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every\none that believeth;\u201d 1 Cor. i. 30; 2 Cor. v. 21; Rom. x. 4.\n\nThis done, and concluded on, then turn again, Pharisee, and say thus with\nthyself\u2014Is it most safe for me to trust in this righteousness of God,\nthis righteousness of God-man, this righteousness of Christ?  Certainly\nit is; since, by the text, it is counted the best, and that which is best\npleaseth God; since it is that which God hath appointed, that sinners\nshall be justified withal.  For \u201cin the Lord have we righteousness\u201d if we\nbelieve: and, \u201cin the Lord we are justified, and do glory;\u201d Isa. xlv. 24,\n25.\n\nNay, Pharisee, suppose thine own righteousness should be as long, as\nbroad, as high, as deep, as perfect, as good, even every way as good, as\nthe righteousness of Christ; yet since God has chosen, by Christ, to\nreconcile us to himself, canst thou attempt to seek by thy own\nrighteousness to reconcile thyself to God, and not attempt (at least) to\nconfront this righteousness of Christ before God; yea, to challenge it by\nacceptance of thy person contrary to God\u2019s design?\n\nSuppose, that when the king has chosen one to be judge in the land, and\nhas determined that he shall be judge in all cases, and that by his\nverdict every man\u2019s judgment shall stand; I say, suppose, after this,\nanother should arise, and of his own head resolve to do his own business\nhimself.  Now, though he should be every whit as able, yea, and suppose\nhe should do it as justly and righteously too, yet his making of himself\na judge, would be an affront to the king, and an act of rebellion, and so\na transgression worthy of punishment.\n\nWhy, Pharisee, God hath appointed, that by the righteousness of his Son,\nand by that righteousness only, men shall be justified in his sight from\nthe curse of the law.  Wherefore, take heed, and at thy peril, whatever\nthy righteousness is, confront not the righteousness of Christ therewith.\nI say, bring it not in, let it not plead for thee at the bar of God, nor\ndo thou plead for that in his court of justice; for thou canst not do\nthis and be innocent.  If he trust to his righteousness, he hath sinned,\nsays Ezekiel.  Mark the text, \u201cWhen I shall say to the righteous, that he\nshall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit\niniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered: but for his\niniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it;\u201d Ezek. xxxiii. 13.\n\nObserve a few things from this text; and they are these that follow.\n\n1.  Here is a righteous man; a man with whom we do not hear that the God\nof heaven finds fault.\n\n2.  Here is a promise made to this man, that he shall surely live; but on\nthis condition, that he trust not to his own righteousness.  Whence it is\nmanifest, that the promise of life to this righteous man, is not for the\nsake of his righteousness, but for the sake of something else; to wit,\nthe righteousness of Christ.\n\n1.  Not for the sake of his own righteousness.  This is evident, because\nwe are permitted, yea, commanded, to trust in the righteousness that\nsaveth us.  The righteousness of God is unto us all, and upon all that\nbelieve; that is, trust in it, and trust to it for justification.  Now\ntherefore, if thy righteousness, when most perfect, could save thee, thou\nmightst, yea oughtst, most boldly to trust therein.  But since thou art\nforbidden to trust to it, it is evident it cannot save; nor is it for the\nsake of that, that the righteous man is saved; Rom. iii. 21, 22.\n\n2.  But for the sake of something else, to wit, for the sake of the\nrighteousness of Christ, \u201cWhom God hath set forth to be a propitiation\nthrough faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the\nremission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to\ndeclare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just,\nand the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus;\u201d Rom. iii. 25, 26; see\nPhil. iii. 6\u20138.\n\n\u201cIf he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his\nrighteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath\ncommitted (in trusting to his own righteousness), he shall die for it.\u201d\n\nNote hence further.\n\n1.  That there is more virtue in one sin to destroy, than in all thy\nrighteousness to save thee alive.  If he trust, if he trust ever so\nlittle, if he do at all trust to his own righteousness, all his\nrighteousness shall be forgotten; and by, and for, and in, the sin that\nhe hath committed, in trusting to it, he shall die.\n\n2.  Take notice also, that there are more damnable sins than those that\nare against the moral law.  By which of the ten commandments is trusting\nto our own righteousness forbidden?  Yet it is a sin: it is a sin\ntherefore forbidden by the gospel, and is included, lurketh close in,\nyea, is the very root of, unbelief itself; \u201cHe that believes not shall be\ndamned.\u201d  But he that trusteth in his own righteousness doth not believe,\nneither in the truth, nor sufficiency of the righteousness of Christ to\nsave him, therefore he shall be damned.\n\nBut how is it manifest, that he that trusteth to his own righteousness,\ndoth it through a doubt, or unbelief of the truth or sufficiency of the\nrighteousness of Christ?\n\nI answer, because he trusteth to his own.  A man will never willingly\nchoose to trust to the worst of helps, when he believes there is a better\nas near, and to be had as soon, and that too, upon as easy, if not more\neasy terms.  If he that trusteth to his own righteousness for life, did\nbelieve that there is indeed such a thing as the righteousness of Christ\nto justify, and that this righteousness of Christ has in it\nall-sufficiency to do that blessed work, be sure he would choose that,\nthereon to lay, lean, and venture his soul, that he saw was the best, and\nmost sufficient to save; especially when he saw also (and see that he\nmust, when he sees the righteousness of Christ), to wit, that that is to\nbe obtained as soon, because as near, and to be had on as easy terms:\nnay, upon easier than man\u2019s own righteousness.  I say, he would sooner\nchoose it, because of the weight of salvation, of the worth of salvation,\nand of the fearful sorrow that to eternity will overtake him that in this\nthing shall miscarry.  It is for heaven, it is to escape hell, wrath, and\ndamnation, saith the soul; and therefore I will, I must, I dare not but\nchoose that, and that only, that I believe to be the best and most\nsufficient help in so great a concern as soul-concern is.  So then he\nthat trusteth to his own righteousness, does it of unbelief of the\nsufficiency of the righteousness of Christ to save him.\n\nWherefore this sin of trusting to his own righteousness is a most high\ntransgression; because it contemneth the righteousness of Christ, which\nis the only righteousness that is sufficient to save from the curse of\nthe law.  It also disalloweth the design of heaven, and the excellency of\nthe mystery of the wisdom of God, in designing this way of salvation for\nman.  What shall I say, It also seeketh to rob God of the honour of the\nsalvation of man.  It seeketh to take the crown from the head of Christ,\nand to set it upon the hypocrite\u2019s head; therefore, no marvel that this\none sin be of that weight, virtue, and power, as to sink that man and his\nrighteousness into hell, that leaneth thereon, or trusteth unto it.\n\nBut, Pharisee, I need not talk thus unto thee; for thou art not the man\nthat hath that righteousness that God findeth not fault withal; nor is it\nto be found, but with him that is ordained to be the Saviour of mankind;\nnor is there any such one besides Jesus, who is called Christ.  What\nmadness then has brought thee into the temple, there in an audacious\nmanner to stand and vaunt before God, saying, \u201cGod, I thank thee, I am\nnot as other men are?\u201d\n\nDost thou not know, that he that breaks one, breaks all the commandments\nof God; and consequently, that he that keeps not all, keeps none at all\nof the commandments of God?  Saith not the scripture the same?  \u201cFor\nwhosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is\nguilty of all;\u201d Jam. ii. 10.  Be confounded then, be confounded.\n\nDost thou know the God with whom now thou hast to do?  He is a God that\ncannot (as he is just) accept of an half righteousness for a whole; of a\nlame righteousness for a sound; of a sick righteousness for a well and\nhealthy one; Mal. i. 7, 8.  And if so, how should he then accept of that\nwhich is no righteousness?  I say, how should he accept of that which is\nnone at all, for thine is only such?  And if Christ said, \u201cWhen you have\ndone all, say, We are unprofitable,\u201d how camest thou to say, before thou\nhadst done one thing well, I am better, more righteous than other men?\n\nDidst thou believe, when thou saidst it, that God knew thy heart?  Hadst\nthou said this to the Publican, it had been a high and rampant\nexpression; but to say this before God, to the face of God, when he knew\nthat thou wert vile, and a sinner from the womb, and from the conception,\nspoils all.  It was spoken to put a check to thy arrogancy when Christ\nsaid, \u201cYe are they that justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth\nyour hearts;\u201d Luke xvi. 15.\n\nHast thou taken notice of this, that God judgeth the fruit by the heart\nfrom whence it comes?  \u201cA good man, out of the good treasure of his\nheart, bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man, out of the\nevil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil;\u201d Luke vi.\n45.  Nor can it be otherwise concluded, but that thou art an evil man,\nand so that all thy supposed good is nought but badness; for that thou\nhast made it to stand in the room of Jesus, and hast dared to commend\nthyself to the living God thereby: for thou hast trusted in thy shadow of\nrighteousness, and committed iniquity.  Thy sin hath melted away thy\nrighteousness, and turned it to nothing but dross; or, if you will, to\nthe early dew, like to which it goeth away, and so can by no means do\nthee good, when thou shalt stand in need of salvation and eternal life of\nGod.\n\nBut, further, thou sayst thou art righteous; but they are but vain words.\nKnowest thou not that thy zeal, which is the life of thy righteousness,\nis preposterous in many things?  What else means thy madness, and the\nrage thereof, against men as good as thyself.  True, thy being ignorant\nthat they are good, may save thee from the commission of the sin that is\nunpardonable; but it will never keep thee from spot in God\u2019s sight, but\nwill make both thee and thy righteousness culpable.\n\nPaul, who was once as brave a Pharisee as thou canst be, calleth much of\nthat zeal which he in that estate was possessed with, and lived in the\nexercise of, madness; yea, exceeding madness (Acts xxvi. 9\u201311; Phil, iii.\n5, 6); and of the same sort is much of thine, and it must be so; for a\nlawyer, a man for the law, and that resteth in it, must be a persecutor;\nyea, a persecutor of righteous men, and that of zeal to God; because by\nthe law is begotten, through the weakness that it meeteth with in thee,\nsourness, bitterness of spirit, and anger against him that rightfully\ncondemneth thee of folly, for choosing to trust to thy own righteousness\nwhen a better is provided of God to save us; Gal. iv. 28\u201331.  Thy\nrighteousness therefore is deficient; yea, thy zeal for the law, and the\nmen of the law, has joined madness with thy moral virtues, and made thy\nrighteousness unrighteousness: how then canst thou be upright before the\nLord?\n\nFurther, has not the pride of thy spirit in this hotheaded zeal for thy\nPharisaical notions run thee upon thinking that thou art able to do more\nthan God hath enjoined thee, and so able to make thyself more righteous\nthan God requireth thou shouldst be?  What else is the cause of thy\nadding laws to God\u2019s laws, precepts to God\u2019s precepts, and traditions to\nGod\u2019s appointment?  Mark vii.  Nay, hast thou not, by thus doing,\ncondemned the law of want of perfection, and so the God that gave it, of\nwant of wisdom and faithfulness to himself and thee?\n\nNay, I say again, hath not thy thus doing charged God with being ignorant\nof knowing what rules there needed to be imposed on his creatures to make\ntheir obedience complete?  And doth not this madness of thine intimate,\nmoreover, that if thou hadst not stepped in with the bundle of thy\ntraditions, righteousness had been imperfect, not through man\u2019s weakness,\nbut through impediment in God, or in his ministering rules of\nrighteousness unto us?\n\nNow, when thou hast thought on these things, fairly answer thyself these\nfew questions.  Is not this arrogancy?  Is not this blasphemy?  Is not\nthis to condemn God, that thou mightst be righteous?  And dost thou\nthink, this is indeed the way to be righteous?\n\nBut again, what means thy preferring of thine own rules, laws, statutes,\nordinances, and appointments, before the rules, laws, statutes, and\nappointments of God?  Thinkest thou this to be right?  Whither will thy\nzeal, thy pride, and thy folly carry thee?  Is there more reason, more\nequity, more holiness in thy tradition, than in the holy, and just, and\ngood commandments of God?  Rom. vii. 12.  Why then, I say, dost thou\nreject the commandment of God, to keep thine own tradition?  Yea, why\ndost thou rage, and rail, and cry out, when men keep not thy law, or the\nrule of thine order, and tradition of thine elders, and yet shut thine\neyes, or wink with them, when thou thyself shalt live in the breach of\nthe law of God?  Yea, why wilt thou condemn men, when they keep not thy\nlaw, but study for an excuse, yea, plead for them that live in the breach\nof God\u2019s?  Mark vii. 10\u201313.  Will this go for righteousness in the day of\nGod Almighty?  Nay, rather, will not this, like a mill-stone about thy\nneck, drown thee in the deeps of hell?  O the blindness, the madness, the\npride, that dwells in the hearts of these pretended righteous men\n\nAgain, What kind of righteousness of thine is this that standeth in a\nmis-esteeming of God\u2019s commands?  Some thou settest too high, and some\ntoo low; as in the text, thou hast set a ceremony above faith, above\nlove, and above hope in the mercy of God; when as it is evident, the\nthings last mentioned, are the things of the first rate, the weightier\nmatters; Matt. xxiii. 17.\n\nAgain, Thou hast preferred the gold above the temple that sanctifieth the\ngold; and the gift above the altar that sanctifieth the gift; Matt.\nxxiii. 17.\n\nI say again, What kind of righteousness shall this be called?  What back\nwill such a suit of apparel fit, that is set together to what it should\nbe?  Nor can other righteousness proceed, where a wrong judgment\nprecedeth it.\n\nThis misplacing of God\u2019s laws cannot, I say, but produce misplaced\nobedience.  It indeed produceth a monster, an ill-shaped thing, unclean,\nand an abomination to the Lord.  For \u201csee,\u201d saith he (if thou wilt be\nmaking), \u201cthat thou make all things according to the pattern shewn thee\nin the mount.\u201d  Set faith, where faith should stand; a moral, where a\nmoral should stand; and a ceremony, where a ceremony should stand: for\nthis turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter\u2019s\nclay.  And wilt thou call this thy righteousness? yea, wilt thou stand in\nthis? wilt thou plead for this? and venture an eternal concern in such a\npiece of linsey-woolsey as this?  O fools, and blind!\n\nBut, further, let us come a little closer to the point.  O blind\nPharisee, thou standest to thy righteousness: what dost thou mean?\nWouldst thou have mercy for thy righteousness, or justice for thy\nrighteousness.\n\nIf mercy, what mercy?  Temporal things God giveth to the unthankful and\nunholy: nor doth he use to sell the world to man for righteousness.  The\nearth hath he given to the children of men.  But this is not the thing:\nthou wouldst have eternal mercy for thy righteousness; thou wouldst have\nGod think upon what an holy, what a good, what a righteous man thou art\nand hast been.  But Christ died not for the good and righteous, nor did\nhe come to call such to the banquet that grace hath prepared for the\nworld.  \u201cI came not,\u2014I am not come (saith Christ) to call the righteous,\nbut sinners to repentance;\u201d Mark ii.; Rom. v.  Yet this is thy plea;\nLord, God, I am a righteous man; therefore grant me mercy, and a share in\nthy heavenly kingdom.  What else dost thou mean when thou sayst, \u201cGod I\nthank thee, that I am not as other men are?\u201d  Why dost thou rejoice, why\nart thou glad that thou art more righteous (if indeed thou art) than thy\nneighbour, if it is not because thou thinkest that thou hast got the\nstart of thy neighbour, with reference to mercy; and that by thy\nrighteousness thou hast insinuated thyself into God\u2019s affections, and\nprocured an interest in his eternal favour?  But,\n\nWhat, what hast thou done by thy righteousness?  I say, What hast thou\ngiven to God thereby?  And what hath he received of thy hand?  Perhaps\nthou wilt say, righteousness pleaseth God: but I answer no, not thine,\nwith respect to justification from the curse of the law, unless it be as\nperfect as the justice it is yielded to, and as the law that doth command\nit.  But thine is not such a righteousness: no, thine is speckled, thine\nis spotted, thine makes thee to look like a speckled bird in his\neye-sight.\n\nThy righteousness has added iniquity, because it has kept thee from a\nbelief of thy need of repentance, and because it has emboldened thee to\nthrust thyself audaciously into the presence of God, and made thee even\nbefore his holy eyes, which are so pure, that they cannot look on\niniquity (Hab. i. 13), to vaunt, boast, and brag of thyself; and of thy\ntottering, ragged, stinking uncleanness; for all our righteousnesses are\nas menstruous rags, because they flow from a thing, a heart, a man, that\nis unclean.  But,\n\nAgain, Wouldst thou have mercy for thy righteousness?  For whom wouldst\nthou have it: for another, or for thyself?  If for another (and it is\nmost proper that a righteous man should intercede for another by his\nrighteousness, rather than for himself), then thou thrustest Christ out\nof his place and office, and makest thyself to be a saviour in his stead;\nfor a mediator there is already, even a mediator between God and man, and\nhe is the man Christ Jesus.\n\nBut dost thou plead by thy righteousness for mercy for thyself?  Why, in\ndoing so, thou impliest\u2014\n\n1.  That thy righteousness can prevail with God more than can thy sins; I\nsay, that thy righteousness can prevail with God to preserve thee from\ndeath more than thy sins can prevail with him to condemn thee to it.  And\nif so, what follows, but that thy righteousness is more, and has been\ndone in a fuller spirit than ever were thy sins?  But thus to insinuate,\nis to insinuate a lie; for there is no man but, while he is a sinner,\nsinneth with a more full spirit than a good man can act righteousness\nwithal.\n\nA sinner, when he sinneth, he doth it with all his heart, and with all\nhis mind, and with all his soul, and with all his strength; nor hath he\nin his ordinary course any thing that bindeth.  But with a good man it is\nnot so; all and every whit of himself, neither is, nor can be, in every\ngood duty that he doth.  For when he would do good, evil is the Spirit,\nand the Spirit against the flesh, and these are present with him.  And\nagain, \u201cThe flesh lusteth against one to the other, so that ye cannot do\nthe things would;\u201d Gal. v. 17.\n\nNow, if a good man cannot do good things with that oneness and\nuniversalness of mind, as a wicked man doth sin with, then is his sin\nheavier to weigh him down to hell than is his righteousness to buoy him\nup to the heavens.\n\nAnd again, I say, if the righteousness of a good man comes short of his\nsin, both in number, weight, and measure, as it doth (for a good man\nshrinks and quakes at the thoughts of God\u2019s entering into judgment with\nhim, Psalm cxliii. 2); then is his iniquity more than his righteousness.\nAnd I say again, if the sin of one that is truly gracious, and so of one\nthat hath the best of principles, is heavier and mightier to destroy him\nthan is his righteousness to save him, how can it be that the Pharisee,\nthat is not gracious, but a mere carnal man (somewhat reformed and\npainted over with a few lean and low formalities), should with his empty,\npartial, hypocritical righteousness counterpoise his great, mighty, and\nweighty sins, that have cleaved to him in every state and condition of\nhis, to make him odious in the sight of God?\n\n2.  Dost thou plead by thy righteousness for mercy for thyself?  Why in\nso doing thou impliest, that mercy thou deservest; and that is next door\nto, or almost as much as to say, God oweth me what I ask for.  The best\nthat can be put upon it is, thou seekest security from the direful curse\nof God, as it were by the works of the law, Rom. ix. 31\u201333; and to be\nsure, betwixt Christ and the law, thou wilt drop into hell.  For he that\nseeks for mercy, as it were, and but as it were, by the works of the law,\ndoth not altogether trust thereto.  Nor doth he that seeks for that\nrighteousness that should save him as it were by the works of the law,\nseek it only wholly and solely at the hands of mercy.\n\nSo then, to seek for that that should save thee, neither at the hands of\nthe law, nor at the hands of mercy, is to be sure to seek it where it is\nnot to be found; for there is no medium betwixt the righteousness of the\nlaw and the mercy of God.  Thou must have it either at the door of the\nlaw, or at the door of grace.  But sayst thou, I am for having of it at\nthe hands of both.  I will trust solely to neither.  I love to have two\nstrings to my bow.  If one of them, as you think, can help me by itself,\nmy reason tells me that both can help me better.  Therefore will I be\nrighteous and good, and will seek by my goodness to be commended to the\nmercy of God: for surely he that hath something of his own to ingratiate\nhimself into the favour of his prince withal, shall sooner obtain his\nmercy and favour, than one that comes to him stripped of all good.\n\nI answer, But there are not two ways to heaven: there is but one new and\nliving way which Christ hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is\nto say, his flesh; and besides that one, there is no more; Heb. x. 19\u201324.\nWhy then dost thou talk of two strings to thy bow?  What became of him\nthat had, and would have two stools to sit on? yea, the text says\nplainly, that therefore they obtained not righteousness, because they\nsought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.  See\nhere, they are disowned by the gospel, because they sought it not by\nfaith, that is, by faith only.  Again, the law, and the righteousness\nthereof, flies from them (nor could they attain it, though they follow\nafter it), because they sought it not by faith.\n\nMercy then is to be found alone in Jesus Christ.  Again, the\nrighteousness of the law is to be obtained only by faith of Jesus Christ;\nthat is, in the Son of God is the righteousness of the law to be found;\nfor he, by his obedience to his Father, is become the end of the law for\nrighteousness.  And for the sake of his legal righteousness (which is\nalso called the righteousness of God, because it was God in the flesh of\nthe Lord Jesus that did accomplish it), is mercy, and grace from God\nextended to whoever dependeth by faith upon God by this Jesus his\nrighteousness for it.  And hence it is, that we so often read, that this\nJesus is the way to the Father; that God, for Christ\u2019s sake, forgiveth\nus; that by the obedience of one many are made righteous, or justified;\nand that through this man is preached to us the forgiveness of sins; and\nthat by him all that believe are justified from all things from which\nthey could not be justified by the law of Moses.\n\nNow, though I here do make mention of righteousness and mercy, yet I hold\nthere is but one way, to wit, to eternal life; which way, as I said, is\nJesus Christ; for he is the new, the only new and living way to the\nFather of mercies, for mercy to make me capable of abiding with him in\nthe heavens for ever and ever.\n\nBut sayst thou, I will be righteous in myself that I may have wherewith\nto commend me to God, when I go to him for mercy?\n\nI answer, But thou blind Pharisee, I tell thee thou hast no understanding\nof God\u2019s design by the gospel, which is, not to advance man\u2019s\nrighteousness, as thou dreamest, but to advance the righteousness of his\nSon, and his grace by him.  Indeed, if God\u2019s design by the gospel was to\nexalt and advance man\u2019s righteousness, then that which thou hast said\nwould be to the purpose; for what greater dignity can be put upon man\u2019s\nrighteousness, than to admit it?\n\nI say then, for God to admit it, to be an advocate, an intercessor, a\nmediator; for all these are they which prevail with God to shew me mercy.\nBut this God never thought of, much less could he thus design by the\ngospel; for the text runs flat against it.  Not of works, not of works of\nrighteousness, which we have done; \u201cNot of works, lest any man should\nboast,\u201d saying, Well, I may thank my own good life for mercy.  It was\npartly for the sake of my own good deeds that I obtained mercy to be in\nheaven and glory.  Shall this be the burden of the song of heaven? or is\nthis that which is composed by that glittering heavenly host, and which\nwe have read of in the holy book of God?  No, no; that song runs upon\nother feet\u2014standeth in far better strains, being composed of far higher\nand truly heavenly matter: for God has \u201cpredestinated us unto the\nadoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good\npleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he\nhath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through\nhis blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his\ngrace;\u201d Eph. i.  And it is requisite that the song be framed accordingly;\nwherefore he saith, that the heavenly song runs thus\u2014\u201cThou art worthy to\ntake the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and\nhast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,\nand people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests;\nand we shall reign on the earth;\u201d Rev. v. 9, 10.\n\nHe saith not that they have redeemed, or helped to redeem and deliver\nthemselves; but that the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain; the Lamb only was\nhe that redeemed them.  Nor, saith he, that they had made themselves\nkings and priests unto God to offer any oblation, sacrifice, or offering\nwhatsoever, but that the same Lamb had made them such: for they, as is\ninsinuated by the text, were in, among, one with, and no better than the\nkindreds, tongues, nations, and people of the earth.  Better!  \u201cNo, in no\nwise,\u201d saith Paul (Rom. iii. 9); therefore their separation from them was\nof mere mercy, free grace, good will, and distinguishing love; not for,\nor because of works of righteousness which any of them have done; no,\nthey were all alike.  But these, because beloved when in their blood\n(according to Ezek. xvi.), were separated by free grace; and as another\nscripture hath it, \u201credeemed from the earth,\u201d and from among men by\nblood; Rev. xiv. 3, 4.  Wherefore deliverance from the ireful wrath of\nGod must not, neither in whole nor in part, be ascribed to the whole law,\nor to all the righteousness that comes by it, but to this Lamb of God,\nJesus, the Saviour of the world; for it is he that delivered us from the\nwrath to come, and that according to God\u2019s appointment; \u201cfor God hath not\nappointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by (or through) our Lord\nJesus Christ;\u201d 1 Thess. i. 10; v. 9.  Let every man, therefore, take heed\nwhat he doth, and whereon he layeth the stress of his salvation; \u201cFor\nother foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus\nChrist;\u201d 1 Cor. iii. ii.\n\nBut dost thou plead still as thou didst before, and wilt thou stand\nthereto?  Why then, thy design must overcome God, or God\u2019s design must\novercome thee.  Thy design is to give thy good life, thy good deeds, a\npart of the glory of thy justification from the curse.  And God\u2019s design\nis to throw all thy righteousness out into the street, into the dirt and\ndunghill, as to that thou art for glory, and for glorying here before\nGod; yea, thou art sharing in the glory of justification when that alone\nbelongeth to God.  And he hath said, \u201cMy glory will I not give to\nanother.\u201d  Thou wilt not trust wholly to God\u2019s grace in Christ for\njustification; and God will not take thy stinking righteousness in as a\npartner in thy acquitment from sin, death, wrath, and hell.  Now the\nquestion is, Who shall prevail?  God, or the Pharisee? and whose word\nshall stand? his, the Pharisee\u2019s?\n\nAlas! the Pharisee here must needs come down, for God is greater than\nall.  Also, he hath said, that no flesh shall glory in his presence; and\nthat he will have mercy, and not sacrifice.  And again, that it is not\n(or shall be) in him that wills, nor in him that runs, but in God that\nsheweth mercy.  What hope, help, stay, or relief, then is there left for\nthe merit-monger?  What twig, or straw, or twined thread, is left to be a\nstay for his soul?  This besom will sweep away his cobweb: the house that\nthis spider doth so lean upon, will now be overturned, and he in it, to\nhellfire; for nothing less than everlasting damnation is designed by God,\nand that for this fearful and unbelieving Pharisee: God will prevail\nagainst him for ever.\n\n3.  But wilt thou yet plead thy righteousness for mercy?  Why, in so\ndoing thou takest away from God the power of giving mercy.  For if it be\nthine as wages, it is no longer his to dispose of at pleasure; for that\nwhich another man oweth me, is in equity not at his, but at my disposal.\nDid I say that by this thy plea thou takest away from God the power of\ngiving mercy?  I will add, yea, and also of disposing of heaven and life\neternal.  And then, I pray you, what is left unto God, and what can he\ncall his own?  Not mercy, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased:\nnot heaven, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased: not eternal\nlife, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased.  Thus, Pharisee (O\nthou self-righteous man), hast thou set up thyself above grace, mercy,\nheaven, glory; yea, above even God himself, for the purchaser should in\nreason be esteemed above the purchase.\n\nAwake, man!  What hast thou done?  Thou hast blasphemed God; thou has\nundervalued the glory of his grace; thou hast, what in thee lieth,\nopposed the glorious design of heaven; thou hast sought to make thy\nfilthy rags to share in thy justification.\n\nNow, all these are mighty sins; these have made thine iniquity infinite.\nWhat wilt thou do?  Thou hast created to thyself a world of needless\nmiseries.  I call them needless, because thou hadst more than enough\nbefore.  Thou hast set thyself against God in a way of contending, thou\nstandest upon thy points and pantables; thou wilt not bate God an ace of\nwhat thy righteousness is worth, and wilt also make it worth what thyself\nshalt list: thou wilt be thine own judge, as to the worth of thy\nrighteousness; thou wilt neither hear what verdict the word has passed\nabout it, nor wilt thou endure that God should throw it out in the matter\nof thy justification, but quarrelest with the doctrine of free grace, or\nelse dost wrest it out of its place to serve thy Pharisaical designs;\nsaying, \u201cGod I thank thee, I am not as other men;\u201d fathering upon\nthyself, yea, upon God and thyself a stark lie; for thou art as other men\nare, though not in this, yet in that; yea, in a far worse condition than\nthe most of men are.  Nor will it help thee anything to attribute this\nthy goodness to the God of heaven; for that is but a mere toying; the\ntruth is, the God that thou intendest is nothing but thy righteousness;\nand the grace that thou supposest is nothing but thine own good and\nhonest intentions.  So that,\n\n4.  In all that thou sayst thou dost but play the downright hypocrite:\nthou pretendest indeed to mercy, but thou intendest nothing but merit:\nthou seemest to give the glory to God, but at the same time takest it all\nto thyself: thou despisest others, and criest up thyself; and in\nconclusion, fatherest all upon God by word, and upon thyself in truth.\nNor is there anything more common among this sort of men, than to make\nGod, his grace, and kindness, the stalking-horse to their own praise,\nsaying, \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d when they trust to themselves that they are\nrighteous, and have not need of any repentance; when the truth is, they\nare the worst sort of men in the world, because they put themselves into\nsuch a state as God hath not put them into, and then impute it to God,\nsaying, God, I thank thee, that thou hast done it; for what greater sin\nthan to make God a liar, or than to father that upon God which he never\nmeant, intended, or did: and all this under colour to glorify God, when\nthere is nothing else designed, but to take all glory from him, and to\nwear it on thine own head as a crown, and a diadem, in the face of the\nwhole world.\n\nA self-righteous man, therefore, can come to God for mercy no otherwise\nthan fawningly: for what need of mercy hath a righteous man?  Let him\nthen talk of mercy, of grace, and goodness, and come in an hundred times\nwith his, \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d in his mouth, all is but words; there is\nno sense, nor savour, nor relish, of mercy and favour; nor doth he in\ntruth, from his very heart, understand the nature of mercy, nor what is\nan object thereof; but when he thanks God, he praises himself: when he\npleads for mercy, he means his own merit; and all this is manifest from\nwhat doth follow; for, saith he, I am not as this Publican: thence\nclearly insinuating, that not the good, but the bad, should be rejected\nof the God of heaven: that not the bad but the good, not the sinner, but\nthe self-righteous, are the most proper objects of God\u2019s favour.  The\nsame thing is done by others in this our day: favour, mercy, grace, and,\n\u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d is in their mouths, but their own strength,\nsufficiency, free-will, and the like, they are the things they mean by\nall such high and glorious expressions.\n\nBut, _secondly_, If thy plea be not for mercy, but for justice, then to\nspeak a little to that. 1.  Justice has measures and rules to go by; unto\nwhich measures and rules, if thou comest not up, justice can do thee no\ngood.  Come then, O thou blind Pharisee, let us pass away a few minutes\nin some discourse about this.  Thou demandest justice, because God hath\nsaid, that the man that doth these things shall live in and by them.  And\nagain, the doers of the law shall be justified, not in a way of mercy,\nbut in a way of justice: \u201cHe shall live by them.\u201d  But what hast thou\ndone, O blind Pharisee?  What hast thou done, that thou art emboldened to\nventure to stand and fall to the most perfect justice of God?  Hast thou\nfulfilled the whole law, and not offended in one point?  Hast thou purged\nthyself from the pollutions and motions of sin that dwell in thy flesh,\nand work in thy own members?  Is the very being of sin rooted out of thy\ntabernacle?  And art thou now as perfectly innocent as ever was Jesus\nChrist? hast thou, by suffering the uttermost punishment that justice\ncould justly lay upon thee for thy sins, made fair and full satisfaction\nto God, according to the tenor of his law, for thy transgressions?  If\nthou hast done all these things, then thou mayst plead something, and yet\nbut something, for thyself, in a way of justice.  Nay, in this I will\nassert nothing, but will rather inquire: What hast thou gained by all\nthis thy righteousness?  (We will now suppose what must not be granted:)\nWas not this thy state when thou wast in thy first parents?  Wast thou\nnot innocent, perfectly innocent and righteous?  And if thou shouldst be\nso now, what hast thou gained thereby?  Suppose that the man that had,\nforty years ago, forty pounds of his own, and had spent it all since,\nshould yet be able now to shew his forty pounds again; what has he got\nthereby, or how much richer is he at last than he was when he first set\nup for himself?  Nay, doth not the blot of his ill living betwixt his\nfirst and his last, lie as a blemish upon him, unless he should redeem\nhimself also, by works of supererogation, from the scandal that justice\nmay lay at his door for that.\n\nBut, I say, suppose, O Pharisee, this should be thy case, yet God is not\nbound to give thee in justice that eternal which by his grace he\nbestoweth upon those that have redemption from sin, by the blood of his\nSon.  Injustice, therefore, when all comes to all, thou canst require no\nmore than an endless life in an earthly paradise; for there thou wast set\nup at first; nor doth it appear from what hath been said, touching all\nthat thou hast done or canst do, that thou deservest a better place.\n\nDid I say, that thou mayst require justly an endless life in an earthly\nparadise?  Why, I must add to that saying this proviso, If thou\ncontinuest in the law, and in the righteousness thereof; else not.\n\nBut how dost thou know that thou shalt continue therein?  Thou hast no\npromise from God\u2019s mouth for that; nor is grace or strength ministered to\nmankind by the covenant that thou art under.  So that still thou standest\nbound to thy good behaviour; and in the day that thou dost give the\nfirst, though ever so little a trip, or stumble in thy obedience, thou\nforfeitest thine interest in paradise (and in justice), as to any benefit\nthere.\n\nBut alas! what need is there that we should thus talk things, when it is\nmanifest that thou hast sinned, not before thou wast a Pharisee, but when\nafter the most strictest sect of thy religion thou livest also a\nPharisee; yea, and now in the temple, in thy prayer there, thou shewest\nthyself to be full of ignorance, pride, self-conceit, and horrible\narrogancy, and desire of vain glory, &c., which are none of them the seat\nor fruits of righteousness, but the seat of the devil, and the fruit of\nhis dwelling, even at this time in thy heart.\n\nCould it ever have been imagined, that such audacious impudence could\nhave put itself forth in any mortal man, in his approach unto God by\nprayer, as has shewed itself in thee?  \u201cI am not as other men,\u201d sayst\nthou!  But is this the way to go to God in prayer?  \u201cThe prayer of the\nupright is God\u2019s delight.\u201d  But the upright man glorifies God\u2019s justice,\nby confessing to God the vileness and pollution of his state and\ncondition: he glorifies God\u2019s mercy, by acknowledging, that that, and\nthat only, as communicated of God by Christ to sinners, can save and\ndeliver from the curse of the law.\n\nThis, I say, is the sum of the prayer of the just and upright man, Job.\ni. 8; xl. 4; Acts xiii. 22; Psalm xxxviii.; li.; 2 Sam. vi. 21, 22; and\nnot as thou most vain-gloriously vauntest with thy, \u201cGod, I thank thee, I\nam not as other men are.\u201d\n\nTrue, when a man is accused by his neighbours, by a brother, by an enemy,\nand the like, if he be clear (and he may be so, as to what they shall lay\nto his charge), then let him vindicate, justify, and acquit himself, to\nthe utmost that in justice and truth he can; for his name, the\npreservation whereof is more to be chosen than silver and gold; also his\nprofession, yea, the name of God too, and religion may now lie at stake,\nby reason of such false accusations, and perhaps can by no means (as to\nthis man) be covered and vindicated from reproach and scandal, but by his\njustifying of himself.  Wherefore, in such a work, a man serveth God, and\nsaves religion from hurt; yea, as he that is a professor, and has his\nprofession attended with a scandalous life, hurteth religion thereby, so\nhe that has his profession attended with a good life, and shall suffer it\nnotwithstanding to lie under blame by false accusations, when it is in\nthe power of his hand to justify himself, hurteth religion also.  But the\ncase of the Pharisee is otherwise.  He is not here a-dealing with men,\nbut God; not seeking to stand clear in the sight of the world, but in the\nsight of heaven itself; and that too, not with respect to what men or\nangels, but with respect to what God and his law could charge him with,\nand justly lay at his door.\n\nThis therefore mainly altereth the case; for a man here to stand thus\nupon his point, it is death; for he affronteth God, he giveth him the\nlie, he reproveth the law; and, in sum, accuseth it of bearing false\nwitness against him; he doth this, I say, even by saying, \u201cGod, I thank\nthee, I am not as other men are;\u201d for God hath made none of this\ndifference.  The law condemneth all man as sinners; testifieth that every\nimagination of the thought of the heart of the sons of men is only evil,\nand that continually; wherefore they that do as the Pharisee did, to wit,\nseek to justify themselves before God from the curse of the law by their\nown good doings, though they also, as the Pharisee did, seem to give God\nthe thanks for all; yet do most horribly sin, even by their so doing, and\nshall receive a Pharisee\u2019s reward at last.  Wherefore, O thou Pharisee,\nit is a vain thing for thee either to think of, or to ask for, at God\u2019s\nhand, either mercy or justice.  Because mercy thou canst not ask for,\nfrom sense of want of mercy, because thy righteousness, which is by the\nlaw, hath utterly blinded thine eyes; and complimenting with God doth\nnothing: and as for justice, that can do thee no good; but the more just\nGod is, and the more by that he acteth towards thee, the more miserable\nand fearful will be thy condition, because of the deficiency of thy so\nmuch, by thee, esteemed righteousness.\n\nWhat a deplorable condition then is a poor Pharisee in!  For mercy he\ncannot pray; he cannot pray for it with all his heart, for he seeth\nindeed no need thereof.  True, the Pharisee, though he was impudent\nenough, yet would not take all from God; he would still count, that there\nwas due to him a tribute of thanks: \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d saith he: but\nyet not a bit of this for mercy; but for that he had let him live (for I\nknow not for what he did thank himself), till he had made himself better\nthan other men.  But that betterment was a betterment in none other\u2019s\njudgment than that of his own; and that was none other but such an one as\nwas false.  So then the Pharisee is by this time quite out of doors: his\nrighteousness is worth nothing, his prayer is worth nothing, his thanks\nto God are worth nothing; for that what he had was scanty and imperfect,\nand it was his pride that made him offer it to God for acceptance; nor\ncould his fawning thanksgiving better his case, or make his matter at all\ngood before God.\n\nBut I will warrant you, the Pharisee was so far off from thinking thus of\nhimself, and of his righteousness, that he thought of nothing so much as\nof this, that he was a happy man: yea, happier by far than other his\nfellow rationals: yea, he plainly declares it, when he saith, \u201cGod, I\nthank thee, I am not as other men are.\u201d\n\nO what a fool\u2019s paradise was the heart of the Pharisee now in, while he\nstood in the temple praying to God!  God, I thank thee, said he; for I am\ngood and holy; I am a righteous man; I have been full of good works; I am\nno extortioner, unjust, nor adulterer, nor yet as this wretched Publican.\nI have kept myself strictly to the rule of mine order, and my order is\nthe most strict of all orders now in being: I fast, I pray, I give tithes\nof all that I possess.  Yea, so forward am I to be a religious man, so\nready have I been to listen after my duty, that I have asked both of God\nand man the ordinances of judgment and justice; I take delight in\napproaching to God.  What less now can be mine than the heavenly kingdom\nand glory?\n\nNow the Pharisee, like Haman, saith in his heart, To whom would the king\ndelight to do honour more than to myself?  Where is the man that so\npleaseth God, and, consequently, that in equity and reason should be\nbeloved of God like me?  Thus like the prodigal\u2019s brother, he pleadeth,\nsaying, \u201cLo, these many years do I serve thee; neither transgressed I at\nany time thy commandments,\u201d Luke xv. 29.  O brave Pharisee! but go on in\nthine oration\u2014\u201cNor yet as this Publican.\u201d\n\nPoor wretch, quoth the Pharisee to the Publican, What comest thou for?\nDost think that such a sinner as thou art shall be heard of God?  God\nheareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God (as I am, as I\nthank God I am), him he heareth.  Thou, for thy part, hast been a rebel\nall thy days: I abhor to come nigh thee, or to touch thy garments.  Stand\nby thyself, come not near me, for I am more holy than thou; Isa. lxv. 5.\n\nHold, stop there, go no further: fie, Pharisee, fie! dost thou know\nbefore whom thou standest, to whom thou speakest, and of what the matter\nof thy silly oration is made?  Thou art now before God, thou speakest now\nto God, and therefore in justice and honesty thou shouldst make mention\nof his righteousness, not of thine; of his righteousness, and of his\nonly.\n\nI am sure Abraham, of whom thou sayst he is thy father, never had the\nface to do as thou hast done, though, it is to be presumed, he had more\ncause so to do than thou hast, or canst have.  Abraham had whereof to\nglory, but not before God; yea, he was called God\u2019s friend, and yet would\nnot glory before him; but humbleth himself, was afraid, and trembled in\nhimself, when he stood before him acknowledging of himself to be but dust\nand ashes; Gen. xviii. 27, 30, 22; Rom. iv. 1, 2; but thou, as thou hadst\nquite forgot that thou wast framed of that matter, and after the manner\nof other men, standest and pleadest thy goodness before him?  Be ashamed,\nPharisee! dost thou think that God hath eyes of flesh, or that he seeth\nas man sees?  Are not the secrets of thy heart open unto him Thinkest\nthou with thyself that thou, with a few of thy defiled ways, canst cover\nthy rotten wall, that thou has daubed with untempered mortar, and so hide\nthe dirt thereof from his eyes; or that these fine, smooth, and oily\nwords, that come out of thy mouth, will make him forget that thy throat\nis an open sepulchre, and that thou within art full of dead men\u2019s bones,\nand all uncleanness?  Thy thus cleansing of the outside of the cup and\nplatter, and thy garnishing of the sepulchres of the righteous, is\nnothing at all in God\u2019s eyes, but things that manifest that thou art an\nhypocrite and blind, because thou takest no notice of that which is\nwithin, which yet is that which is most abominable to God.  For the\nfruit, alas! what is the fruit of the tree, or what are the streams of\nthe fountain?  Thy fountain is defiled; yea, a defiler, and so that which\nmaketh the whole self, with thy works, unclean in God\u2019s sight.\n\nBut, Pharisee, how comes it to pass that the poor Publican is now so much\na mote in thine eye, that thou canst not forbear, but must accuse him\nbefore the judgment-seat of God\u2014for in that thou sayst, that thou art not\neven as this Publican, thou bringest in an accusation, a charge, a bill,\nagainst him?  What has he done?  Has he concealed any of thy\nrighteousness? or has he secretly informed against thee, that thou art an\nhypocrite and superstitious?  I dare say, the poor wretch has neither\nmeddled nor made with thee in these matters.\n\nBut what aileth thee, Pharisee?  Doth the poor Publican stand to vex\nthee?  Doth he touch thee with his dirty garments? or doth he annoy thee\nwith his stinking breath?  Doth his posture of standing so like a man\ncondemned offend thee?  True, he now standeth with his hand held up at\nGod\u2019s bar; he pleads guilty to all that is laid to his charge.\n\nHe cannot strut, vapour, and swagger as thou dost; but why offended at\nthis?  Oh, but he has been a naughty man, and I have been righteous!\nsayst thou.  Well, Pharisee, well, his naughtiness shall not be laid to\nthy charge, if thou hast chosen none of his ways.  But since thou wilt\nyet bear me down that thou art righteous, shew now, even now, while thou\nstandest before God with the Publican, some, though they be but small,\nyea, though but very small, fruits of thy righteousness.  Let the\nPublican alone, since he is speaking for his life before God.  Or, if\nthou canst not let him alone, yet do not speak against him; for thy so\ndoing will but prove that thou rememberest the evil that the man has done\nunto thee; yea, and that thou bearest him a grudge for it too, and while\nyou stand before God.\n\nBut, Pharisee, the righteous man is a merciful man, and while he standeth\npraying, he forgiveth; yea, and also crieth to God that he will forgive\nhim too; Mark xi. 25, 26; Acts vii. 60.  Hitherto then thou hast shewed\nnone of the fruits of thy righteousness.  Pharisee, righteousness would\nteach thee to love this Publican, but thou shewest that thou hatest him.\nLove covereth the multitude of sins; but hatred and unfaithfulness\nrevealeth secrets.\n\nPharisee, thou shouldst have remembered this thy brother in this his day\nof adversity, and shouldst have shewed that thou hadst compassion on thy\nbrother in this his deplorable condition; but thou, like the proud, the\ncruel, and the arrogant man, hast taken thy neighbour at the advantage,\nand that when he is even between the straits, and standing upon the\npinnacle of difficulty, betwixt the heavens and the hells, and hast done\nwhat thou couldst, what on thy part lay, to thrust him down to the deep,\nsaying, \u201cI am not even as this Publican.\u201d\n\nWhat cruelty can be greater, what rage more furious, and what spite and\nhatred more damnable and implacable, than to follow, or take a man while\nhe is asking of mercy at God\u2019s hands, and to put in a caveat against his\nobtaining of it, by exclaiming against him that he is a sinner?  The\nmaster of righteousness doth not so: \u201cDo not think (saith he) that I will\naccuse you to the Father.\u201d  The scholars of righteousness do not do so.\n\u201cBut as for me (said David), when they (mine enemies) were sick (and the\nPublican here was sick of the most malignant disease), my clothing was of\nsackcloth, I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer (to wit, that I\nmade for them) returned into mine own bosom.  I behaved myself as though\nhe had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that\nmourneth for his mother;\u201d John v. 45; Psalm xxxv. 13, 14.\n\nPharisee, dost thou see here how contrary thou art to righteous men?  Now\nthen, where shall we find out one to parallel thee, but by finding him\nout that is called \u201cthe dragon;\u201d for he it is that accuseth the poor\nsinners before God?  Zech. iii.; Rev. xii.\n\n\u201cI am not as this Publican.\u201d  Modesty should have commanded thee to have\nbit thy tongue as to this.  What could the angels think, but that revenge\nwas now in thine heart, and but that thou comest up into the temple\nrather to boast of thyself and accuse thy neighbour, than to pray to the\nGod of heaven; for what petition is there in all thy prayer, that gives\nthe least intimation that thou hast the knowledge of God or thyself?\nNay, what petition of any kind is there in thy vain-glorious oration from\nfirst to last?  Only an accusation drawn up, and that against one\nhelpless and forlorn; against a poor man, because he is a sinner; drawn\nup, I say, against him by thee, who canst not make proof of thyself that\nthou art righteous; but come to proofs of righteousness, and thou art\nwanting also.  What, though thy raiment is better than his, thy skin may\nbe full as black; yea, what if thy skin be whiter than his, thy heart may\nbe yet far blacker.  Yea, it is so, for the truth hath spoken it; for\nwithin, you are full of excess and all uncleanness; Matt. xxiii.\n\nPharisee, these are transgressions against the second table, and the\nPublican shall be guilty of them; but there are sins also against the\nfirst table, and thou thyself art guilty of them.\n\nThe Publican, in that he was an extortioner, unjust and an adulterer,\nmade it thereby manifest that he did not love his neighbour; and thou by\nmaking a god, a saviour, a deliverer, of thy filthy righteousness, dost\nmake it appear, that thou dost not love thy God; for as he that taketh,\nor that derogateth from his neighbour in that which is his neighbour\u2019s\ndue, sinneth against his neighbour; so he that taketh or derogateth from\nGod, sinneth against God.\n\nNow, then, though thou hast not, as thou dost imagine, played at that low\ngame as to derogate from thy neighbour; yet thou hast played at that high\ngame as to derogate from thy God; for thou hast robbed God of the glory\nof salvation; yea, declared, that as to that there is no trust to be put\nin him.  \u201cLo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted\nin the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his\nwickedness;\u201d Psalm lii. 7.\n\nWhat else means this great bundle of thy own righteousness, which thou\nhast brought with thee into the temple? yea, what means else thy\ncommending of thyself because of that, and so thy implicit prayer, that\nthou for that mightst find acceptance with God?\n\nAll this, what does it argue, I say, but thy diffidence of God? and that\nthou countest salvation safer in thine own righteousness than in the\nrighteousness of God? and that thy own love to, and care of thy own soul,\nis far greater, and so much better, than is the care and love of God?\nAnd is this to keep the first table; yea, the first branch of that table,\nwhich saith, \u201cThou shalt love the Lord thy God?\u201d for thy thus doing\ncannot stand with love to God?\n\nHow can that man say, I love God, who from his very heart shrinketh to\ntrust in him?  Or, how can that man say, I would glorify God, who in his\nvery heart refuseth to stand and fall by his mercy?\n\nSuppose a great man should bid all the poor of the parish to his house to\ndinner, and should moreover send by the mouth of his servant, saying, My\nlord hath killed his fatlings, hath furnished his table, and prepared his\nwine, nor is there want of anything; come to the banquet: Would it not be\ncounted as an high affront to, great contempt of, and much distrust in,\nthe goodness of the man of the house, if some of these guests should take\nwith them, out of their own poor store, some of their mouldy crusts, and\ncarry them with them, lay them on their trenchers upon the table before\nthe lord of the feast and the rest of his guests, out of fear that he yet\nwould not provide sufficiently for those he had bidden to the dinner that\nhe had made?\n\nWhy, Pharisee, this is the very case; thou hast been called to a banquet,\neven to the banquet of God\u2019s grace, and thou hast been disposed to go;\nbut behold, thou hast not believed that he would of his own cost make\nthee a feast when thou comest: wherefore of thy own store thou hast\nbrought with thee, and hast laid upon thy trencher on his table thy\nmouldy crusts in the presence of the angels, and of this poor Publican;\nyea, and hast vauntingly said upon the whole, \u201cGod, I thank thee, I am\nnot as other men are.\u201d  I am no such needy man; Luke xviii. 11.  \u201cI am no\nextortioner, nor unjust, nor adulterer, nor even as this Publican.\u201d  I am\ncome indeed to thy feast, for of civility I could do no less; but for thy\ndainties, I need them not, I have of such things enough of mine own; Luke\nxviii. 12.  I thank thee therefore for thy offer of kindness, but I am\nnot as those that have, and stand in need thereof, \u201cnor yet as this\nPublican.\u201d  And thus feeding upon thine own fare, or by making a\ncomposition of his and thine together, thou contemnest God, thou countest\nhim insufficient or unfaithful; that is, either one that has not enough,\nor having it, will not bestow it upon the poor and needy; and, therefore,\nof mere pretence thou goest to his banquet, but yet trustest to thy own,\nand to that only.\n\nThis is to break the first table; and so to make thyself a sinner of the\nhighest form: for the sins against the first table are sins of an higher\nnature than are the sins against the second.  True, the sins of the\nsecond table are also sins against God, because they are sins against the\ncommandments of God: but the sins that are against the first table, are\nsins not only against the command, but against the very love, strength,\nholiness, and faithfulness of God: and herein stands thy condition; thou\nhast not, thou sayst, thou hast not done injury to thy neighbour; but\nwhat of that, if thou hast reproached thy maker?\n\nPharisee, I will assure thee, thou art beside the saddle; thy state is\nnot good, thy righteousness is so far off from doing any good, that it\nmaketh thee to be a greater sinner, because it signifieth more\nimmediately against the mercy, the love, the grace, and goodness of God,\nthan the sins of other sinners, as to degree, do.\n\nAnd as they are more odious and abominable in the sight of God (as they\nneeds must, if what is said be true, as it is), so they are more\ndangerous to the life and soul of man; for that they always appear unto\nhim in whom they dwell, and to him that trusteth in them, not to be sins\nand transgressions, but virtues and excellent things; not things that set\na man further off, but the things that bring a man nearer God, than those\nthat want them are or can be.\n\nThis therefore is the dangerous estate of those that go about to\nestablish their own righteousness, that neither have, nor can, while they\nare so doing, submit themselves to the righteousness of God; Rom. x. 3.\nIt is far more easy to persuade a poor wretch, whose life is debauched,\nand sins are written in his forehead, to submit to the righteousness of\nGod (that is, to the righteousness that is of God\u2019s providing and\ngiving), than it is to persuade a self-righteous man to do it; for the\nprofane is sooner convinced of the necessity of righteousness to save\nhim, as that he has none of his own, and accepteth of, and submitteth\nhimself to the help and salvation that is in the righteousness and\nobedience of another.\n\nAnd upon this account it is that Christ saith the publicans and harlots\nenter into the kingdom of heaven before the scribes and Pharisees; Matt.\nxxi. 31.  Poor Pharisee, what a loss art thou at? thou art not only a\nsinner, but a sinner of the highest form.  Not a sinner by such sins (by\nsuch sins chiefly) as the second table doth make manifest; but a sinner\nchiefly in that way as no self-righteous man did ever dream of.  For when\nthe righteous man or Pharisee shall hear that he is a sinner, he\nreplieth, \u201cI am not as other men are.\u201d\n\nAnd because the common and more ordinary description of sin is the\ntransgression against the second table, he presently replieth again, \u201cI\nam not as this Publican is;\u201d and so shroudeth himself under his own lame\nendeavours and ragged partial patches of moral or civil righteousness.\nWherefore, when he heareth that his righteousness is condemned, slighted,\nand accounted nothing worth, then he fretteth and fumeth, and would kill\nthe man that so slighteth and disdaineth his goodly righteousness; but\nChrist, and the true gospel-teacher still go on, and condemn all his\nrighteousness as menstruous rags, as an abomination to God, and nothing\nbut loss and dung.\n\nNow menstruous rags, things that are an abomination and dung, are not fit\nmatter to make a garment of to wear when I come to God for life, much\nless to be made my friend, my advocate, my mediator and spokesman, when I\nstand betwixt heaven and hell; Isa. lxiv. 6; Luke xvi. 15; Phil. iii.\n6\u20138, to plead for me that I might be saved.\n\nPerhaps some will blame me, and count me also worthy thereof, because I\ndo not distinguish betwixt the matter and the manner of the Pharisee\u2019s\nrighteousness.  And let them condemn me still for saving the holy law,\nwhich is neither the matter nor manner of the Pharisee\u2019s righteousness,\nbut rather the rules (if he will live thereby) up to which he should\ncompletely come in every thing that he doth.  And I say again, that the\nwhole of the Pharisee\u2019s righteousness is sinful, though not with and to\nmen, yet with and before the God of heaven.  Sinful, I say it is, and\nabominable, both in itself, and also in its effects.\n\n1.  In itself; for that it is imperfect, scanty, and short of the rule by\nwhich righteousness is enjoined, and even with which every act should be;\nfor shortness here, even every shortness in these duties, is sin and\nsinful weakness; wherefore the curse taketh hold of the man for coming\nshort; but that it could not justly do, if his coming short was not his\nsin: Cursed is every one that doth not, and that continueth not to do all\nthings written in the law; Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10.\n\n2.  It is sinful; because it is wrought by sinful flesh; for all legal\nrighteousness is a work of the flesh; Rom. iv. 1, &c.; Phil. iii. 3\u20138.\n\nA work, I say, of the flesh; even of that flesh, who, or which also\ncommitteth the greatest enormities; for the flesh is but one, though its\nworkings are divers: sometimes in a way most notoriously sensual and\ndevilish, causing the soul to wallow in the mire.\n\nBut these are not all the works of the flesh; the flesh sometimes will\nattempt to be righteous, and set upon doing actions that in their\nperfection would be very glorious and beautiful to behold.  But because\nthe law is only commanding words, and yieldeth no help to the man that\nattempts to perform it; and because the flesh is weak, and cannot do of\nitself that, therefore this most glorious work of the flesh faileth.\n\nBut, I say, as it is a work of the flesh it cannot be good, forasmuch as\nthe hand that worketh it is defiled with sin; for in a good man, one\nspiritually good, that is \u201cin his flesh, there dwells no good thing,\u201d but\nconsequently that which is bad; how then can the flesh of a carnal,\ngraceless man (and such a one is every Pharisee and self-righteous man in\nthe world), produce, though it joineth itself to the law, to the\nrighteous law of God, that which is good in his sight.\n\nIf any shall think that I pinch too hard, because I call man\u2019s\nrighteousness which is of the law, of the righteous law of God, flesh,\nlet them consider that which follows: to wit, That though man by sin is\nsaid \u201cto be dead in sin and trespasses,\u201d yet not so dead but that he can\nact still in his own sphere; that is, to do, and choose to do, either\nthat which by all men is counted base, or that which by some is counted\ngood, though he is not, nor can all the world make him, capable of doing\nany thing that may please his God.\n\nMan, by nature, as dead as he is, can, and that with the will of his\nflesh, will his own salvation.  Man, by nature, can, and that by the\npower of the flesh, pursue and follow after his own salvation; but then\nhe wills it, and pursues or follows after it, not in God\u2019s way, but his\nown; not by faith in Christ, but by the law of Moses.  See Rom. ix. 16,\n31; x. 3, 7.\n\nWherefore it is no error to say, that a man naturally has will, and a\npower to pursue his will, and that as to his own salvation.  But it is a\ndamnable error to say, that he hath will and power to pursue it, and that\nin God\u2019s way: for then we must hold that the mysteries of the gospel are\nnatural; for that natural men, or men by nature, may apprehend and know\nthem, yea, and know them to be the only means by which they must obtain\neternal life; for the understanding must act before the will; yea, a man\nmust approve of the way to life by Jesus Christ, before his mind will\nbudge, or stir, or move, that way: \u201cBut the natural man receiveth not the\nthings of the Spirit of God (of the gospel); for they are foolishness to\nhim; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.\u201d\n\nHe receiveth not these things; that is, his mind and will lie cross unto\nthem, for he counts them foolishness; nor can all the natural wisdom in\nthe world cause that his will should fall in with them, because it cannot\ndiscern them.\n\nNature discerneth the law, and the righteousness thereof; yea, it\ndiscerneth it, and approveth thereof; that is, that the righteousness of\nit is the best and only way to life, and therefore the natural will and\npower of the flesh, as here you see in the Pharisee, do steer their\ncourse by that to eternal life; 1 Cor. ii. 14.\n\nThe righteousness of the law, therefore, is a work of the flesh, a work\nof sinful flesh, and therefore must needs be as filth, and dung, and\nabominable as to that for which this man hath produced it and presented\nit in the temple before God.\n\nNor is the Pharisee alone entangled in this mischief; many souls are by\nthese works of the flesh flattered, as also the Pharisee was, into an\nopinion, that their state is good, when there is nothing in it.  The most\nthat their conversion amounteth to is, the Publican is become a Pharisee;\nthe open sinner is become a self-righteous man.  Of the black side of the\nflesh he hath had enough, now therefore with the white side of the flesh\nhe will recreate himself.  And now, most wicked must he needs be that\nquestioneth the goodness of the state of such a man.  He, of a drunkard,\na swearer, an unclean person, a Sabbath-breaker, a liar, and the like, is\nbecome reformed, a lover of righteousness, a strict observer, doer, and\ntrader in the formalities of the law, and a herder with men of his\ncomplexion.  And now he is become a great exclaimer against sin and\nsinners, denying to be acquaint with those that once were his companions,\nsaying, \u201cI am not even as this Publican.\u201d\n\nTo turn therefore from sin to man\u2019s righteousness, yea, to rejoice in\nconfidence, that thy state is better than is that of the Publican (I\nmean, better in the eyes of divine justice, and in the judgment of the\nlaw); and yet to be found by the law, not in the spirit, but in the\nflesh; not in Christ, but under the law; not in a state of salvation, but\nof damnation, is common among men: for they, and they only, are the right\nmen, \u201cwho worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and\nhave no confidence in the flesh.\u201d  Where, by \u201cflesh,\u201d must not be meant\nthe horrible transgressions against the law (though they are also called\n\u201cthe works of the flesh,\u201d Gal. iv. 29); for they minister no occasion\nunto men to have confidence in them towards God: but that is that which\nis insinuated by Paul, where he saith, he had no \u201cconfidence in the\nflesh,\u201d though he might have had it; as he said, \u201cthough I might also\nhave confidence in the flesh.\u201d  \u201cIf any other man,\u201d saith he, \u201cthinketh\nthat he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more,\u201d Phil. iii. 3,\n4; and then he repeats a twofold privilege that he had by the flesh.\n\n1.  That he was one of the seed of Abraham, and of the tribe of Benjamin,\nan Hebrew of the Hebrews, &c.\n\n2.  That he had fallen in with the strictest men of that religion, which\nwas such after the flesh, to wit, to be a Pharisee, and was the son of a\nPharisee, had much fleshly zeal for God, and \u201ctouching the righteousness\nwhich is of the law, blameless,\u201d Phil. iii. 3, 5, 6.\n\nBut I say still, there is nothing but flesh; fleshly privileges and\nfleshly righteousness, and so, consequently, a fleshly confidence, and\ntrust for heaven.  This is manifest; when the man had his eyes\nenlightened, he counted all loss and dung that he might be found in\nChrist, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that\nwhich is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God\nby faith.\n\nAnd this leads me to another thing, and that is, to tell thee, O thou\nblind Pharisee, that thou canst not be in a safe condition, because thou\nhast thy confidence in the flesh, that is, in the righteousness of the\nflesh.  \u201cFor all flesh is grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of\nthe field;\u201d and the flesh, and the glory of that being as weak as the\ngrass, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, is but a\nweak business for a man to venture his eternal salvation upon.\nWherefore, as I also hinted before, the godly-wise have been afraid to be\nfound in their righteousness, I mean their own personal righteousness,\nthough that is far better than can be the righteousness of any carnal\nman: for the godly man\u2019s righteousness is wrought by the Spirit and faith\nof Christ, but the ungodly man\u2019s righteousness is of the flesh, and of\nthe law.  Yet I say, this godly man is afraid to stand by his\nrighteousness before the tribunal of God, as is manifest in these\nfollowing particulars.\n\n1.  He sees sin in his righteousness; for so the prophet intimates, when\nhe saith, \u201cAll our righteousnesses are as filthy rags\u201d (Isa. lxiv.); but\nthere is nothing can make one\u2019s righteousness filthy but sin.  It is not\nthe poor, the low, the mean, the sickly, the beggarly state of man, nor\nyet his being hated of devils, persecuted of men, broken under\nnecessities, reproaches, distresses, or any kind of troubles of this\nnature that can make the godly man\u2019s righteousness filthy; nothing but\nsin can do it, and that can, doth, hath, and will do it.  Nor can any\nman, be he who he will, and though he watches, prays, strives, denies\nhimself, and puts his body under what chastisement or hardships he can;\nyea, though he also get his spirit and soul hoisted up to the highest peg\nor pin of sanctity and holy contemplation, and so his lusts to the\ngreatest degree of mortification; but sin will be with him in the best of\nhis performances: with him, I say, to pollute and defile his duties, and\nto make his righteousness speckled and spotted, filthy and menstruous.\n\nI will give you two or three instances for this.\n\n(1.)  Nehemiah was a man (in his day), one that was zealous, very\nzealous, for God, for his house, for his people, and for his ways; and so\ncontinued, and that from first to last, as they may see that please to\nread the relation of his actions; yet when he comes seriously to be\nconcerned with God about his duties, he relinquisheth a standing by them.\nTrue, he mentioneth them to God, but confesseth that there are\nimperfections in them, and prayeth that God will not wipe them away.\n\u201cWipe not out my good deeds, O my God, that I have done for the house of\nmy God, and for the offices thereof.\u201d  And again, \u201cRemember me, O my God,\nconcerning this also (another good deed), and spare me according to the\ngreatness of thy mercy; and remember me, O my God, for good;\u201d Neh. xiii.\n\nI do not think that by these prayers he pleadeth for an acceptance of his\nperson, as touching justification from the curse of the law (as the poor\nblind Pharisee doth), but that God would accept of his service, as he was\na son, and not deny to give him a reward of grace for what he had done,\nsince he was pleased to declare in his testament, that he would reward\nthe labour of love of his saints with an exceeding weight of glory; and\ntherefore prayeth, that God would not wipe away his good deeds, but\nremember him for good, according to the greatness of his mercy.\n\n(2.)  A second instance is that of David, where he saith, \u201cEnter not into\njudgment with thy servant, O Lord; for in thy sight shall no man living\nbe justified;\u201d Psalm clxiii. 2.  David, as I have hinted before, is said\nto be a man \u201cafter God\u2019s own heart,\u201d Acts xiii.; and as here by the\nSpirit he acknowledges him for his servant; yet behold how he shrinketh,\nhow he draweth back, how he prayeth, and petitioneth, that God would\nvouchsafe so much as not to enter into judgment with him.  Lord, saith\nhe, if thou enterest into judgment with me, I die, because I shall be\ncondemned; for in thy sight I cannot be justified; to wit, by my own good\ndeeds.  Lord, at the beginning of thy dealing with me, by the law and my\nworks, I die: therefore do not so much as enter into judgment with me, O\nLord.  Nor is this my case only, but it is the condition of all the\nworld: \u201cFor in thy sight shall no man living be justified.\u201d\n\n(3.)  A third instance is that general conclusion of the apostle, \u201cBut\nthat no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident; for\nthe just shall live by faith.\u201d  By this saying of St Paul, as he taketh\nup the sentence of the prophet Habakkuk, chap. ii. 4, so he taketh up\nthis sentence, yea, and the personal justice of David also.  No man,\nsaith he, is justified by the law in the sight of God: no, no just man,\nno holy man, not the strictest and most righteous man.  But why not?\nWhy, because \u201cthe just shall live by faith.\u201d\n\nThe just man, therefore, must die, if he has not faith in another\nrighteousness than that which is of the law, called his own: I say, he\nmust die, if he has none other righteousness than that which is his own\nby the law.  Thus also Paul confesses of himself: \u201cI (saith he) know\nnothing by myself,\u201d either before conversion or after; that is, I knew\nnot that I did any thing before conversion, either against the law, or\nagainst my conscience; for I was then, touching the righteousness which\nis of the law, blameless.  Also, since my conversion, I know nothing by\nmyself; for \u201cI have walked in all good conscience before God unto this\nday.\u201d\n\nA great saying, I promise you.  Well, but yet \u201cI am not hereby\njustified;\u201d Phil. iii. 7; Acts xxiii. 1; 1 Cor. iv. 4.  Nor will I dare\nto venture the eternal salvation of my soul upon mine own justice; \u201cfor\nhe that judgeth me is the Lord;\u201d that is, though I, through my\ndim-sightedness, cannot see the imperfections of my righteousness, yet\nthe Lord, who is my judge, and before whose tribunal I must shortly\nstand, can and will; and if in his sight there shall be found no more but\none spot in my righteousness, I must, if I plead my righteousness, fall\nfor that.\n\n2.  That the best of men are afraid to stand before God\u2019s tribunal, there\nto be judged by the law as to life and death, according to the\nsufficiency or non-sufficiency of their righteousness, is evident;\nbecause by casting away their own (in this matter), they make all the\nmeans they can for this; that is, that his mercy, by an act of grace, be\nmade over to them, and that they in it may stand before God to be judged.\n\nHence David cries out so often, \u201cLead me in thy righteousness.\u201d  \u201cDeliver\nme in thy righteousness.\u201d  \u201cJudge me according to thy righteousness.\u201d\n\u201cQuicken me in thy righteousness.\u201d  \u201cO Lord (says he), give ear to my\nsupplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.\u201d\n\u201cAnd enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord: for in thy sight\nshall no flesh living be justified.\u201d  And David, what if God doth thus?\nWhy, then, saith he, \u201cMy tongue shall speak of his righteousness.\u201d  \u201cMy\ntongue shall sing of thy righteousness.\u201d  \u201cMy mouth shall shew forth thy\nrighteousness.\u201d  \u201cYea, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of\nthine only;\u201d Psalm lviii.; xxxi. 1; xxxv. 24; cxix. 40; xxxv. 28; li. 14;\nlxxi. 15, 16.\n\nDaniel also, when he comes to plead for himself and his people, he first\ncasts away his and their righteousness, saying, \u201cFor we do not present\nour supplications unto thee for our righteousness:\u201d  And he pleads God\u2019s\nrighteousness, and that he might have a share and interest in that\nsaying, \u201cO Lord, righteousness belongeth to thee;\u201d to wit, that\nrighteousness, for the sake of which, mercy and forgiveness, and so\nheaven and happiness, is extended to us.\n\nRighteousness belongeth to thee, and is thine, as nearly as sin, shame,\nand confusion, are ours, and belongeth to us.  Read the 16th and 17th\nverses of the 9th of Daniel.  \u201cO Lord (saith he), according to all thy\nrighteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger, and thy fury, be turned\naway from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins,\nand for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and thy people, are\nbecome a reproach to all that are about us.  Now, therefore, O our God,\nhear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face\nto shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord\u2019s sake:\u201d  For\nthe sake of the Lord Jesus Christ; for on him Daniel now had his eye, and\nthrough him to the Father he made his supplication; yea, and the answer\nwas according to his prayer, to wit, that God would have mercy on\nJerusalem; and that he would in his time send the Lord, the Messias, to\nbring them in everlasting righteousness for them.\n\nPaul also, as I have hinted before, disclaims his own righteousness, and\nlayeth fast hold on the righteousness of God; seeking to be found in\nthat, not having his own righteousness, for he knew that when the rain\ndescends, the winds blow, and the floods come down on all men, they that\nhave but their own righteousness, must fall; Phil. iii\n\nNow, the earnest desire of the righteous to be found in God\u2019s\nrighteousness, ariseth from strong conviction of the imperfections of\ntheir own, and the knowledge that was given them of the terror that will\nattend men at the day of the fiery trial; to wit, the day of judgement.\nFor although men can now flatter themselves into a fool\u2019s paradise, and\npersuade themselves that all shall be well with them then, for the sake\nof their own silly and vain-glorious performances, yet when the day comes\nthat shall burn like an oven, and when all that have done wickedly shall\nbe as stubble (and so will all appear to be that are not found in\nChrist), then will their righteousness vanish like smoke, or be like fuel\nfor that burning flame.  And hence the righteousness that the godly seek\nto be found in, is called, The name of the Lord, a strong tower, a rock,\na shield, a fortress, a buckler, a rock of defence, unto which they\nresort, and into which they run and are safe.\n\nThe godly therefore do not, as this Pharisee, bring their own\nrighteousness into the temple, and there buoy up themselves and spirits\nby that into a conceit, that for the sake of that God will be merciful\nand good unto them; but throwing away their own, they make to God for\nhis, because they certainly know, even by the word of God, that in the\njudgment none can stand the trial but those that are found in the\nrighteousness of God.\n\n3.  That the best of men are afraid to stand before God\u2019s tribunal by the\nlaw, there to be judged to life and death, according to the sufficiency\nor non-sufficiency of their righteousness, is evident; for they know,\nthat it is a vain thing to seek, by acts of righteousness, to make\nthemselves righteous men, as is the way of all them that seek to be\njustified by the deeds of the law.\n\nAnd herein lieth the great difference between the Pharisee and the true\nChristian man.  The Pharisee thinks, by acts of righteousness, he shall\nmake himself a righteous man: therefore he cometh into the presence of\nGod well furnished, as he thinks, with his negative and positive\nrighteousness.\n\nGrace suffereth not a man to boast before God, whatever he saith before\nmen.  His soul that is lifted up, is not upright in him; and better is\nthe poor in spirit than the proud in spirit.  The Pharisee was a very\nproud man; a proud, ignorant man; proud of his own righteousness, and\nignorant of God\u2019s: for had he not, he could not, as he did, have so\ncondemned the Publican, and justified himself.\n\nAnd I say again, that all this pride and vain-glorious show of the\nPharisee did arise from his not being acquainted with this, that a man\nmust be good before he can do good; he must be righteous, before he can\ndo righteousness.  This is evident from Paul, who insinuateth this as the\nreason why none do good, even because \u201cThere is none that is righteous,\nno, not one.\u201d  \u201cThere is none righteous,\u201d saith he, and then follows,\n\u201cThere is none that doeth good;\u201d Rom. iii. 10, 11, 12.  For it is not\npossible for a man that is not first made righteous by the God of heaven,\nto do any thing that in a gospel-sense may be called righteousness.  To\nmake himself a righteous man, by his so meddling with them, he may\ndesign; but work righteousness, and so by such works of righteousness\nmake himself a righteous man, he cannot.\n\nThe righteousness of a carnal man is indeed by God called righteousness;\nbut it must be understood as spoken in the dialect of the world.  The\nworld indeed calls it righteousness, and it will do no harm, if it bear\nthat term with reference to worldly matters.  Hence worldly civilians are\ncalled good and righteous men, and so, such as Christ, under that notion,\nneither died for, nor giveth his grace unto; Rom. v. 7, 8.  But we are\nnot now discoursing about any other righteousness, than that which is so\naccounted either in a law or in a gospel-sense; and therefore let us a\nlittle more touch upon that.\n\nA man then must be righteous in a law-sense, before he can do acts of\nrighteousness, I mean, that are such in a gospel-sense.  Hence, first,\nyou have true gospel-righteousness made the fruit of a second birth.  \u201cIf\nye know that Christ is righteous, know ye that every one that doeth\nrighteousness is born of him;\u201d 1 John ii. 29.  Not born of him by virtue\nof his own righteous actions, but born of him by virtue of Christ\u2019s\nmighty working with his work upon the soul, who afterwards, from a\nprinciple of life, acteth and worketh righteousness.\n\nAnd he saith again, \u201cLittle children, let no man deceive you: he that\ndoeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.\u201d  Upon this\nscripture I will a little comment, for the proof of what is urged before:\nnamely, that a man must be righteous in a law-sense, before he can do\nsuch things that may be called acts of righteousness in a gospel-sense.\nAnd for this, this scripture, 1 John iii. 7, ministereth to us two things\nto be considered by us.\n\nThe first is, That he that doth righteousness is righteous.\n\nThe second is, That he that doth righteousness is righteous, as Christ is\nrighteous.\n\n_First_, He that doth righteousness; that is, righteousness which the\ngospel calleth so, is righteous; that is, precedent to, or before he doth\nthat righteousness.  For he doth not say, he shall make his person\nrighteous by acts of righteousness that he shall do; for then an evil\ntree may bear good fruit, yea, and may make itself good by doing so; but\nhe saith, He that doth righteousness is righteous; as he saith, He that\ndoth righteousness is born of him.\n\nSo then, a man must be righteous before he can do righteousness, before\nhe can do righteousness in a gospel-sense.\n\nOur second thing then is to inquire, with what righteousness a man must\nbe righteous, before he can do that which in a gospel-sense is called\nrighteousness.\n\nAnd, first, I answer, he must be righteous in a law-sense: that is, he\nmust be righteous in the judgment of the law.  This is evident: because\nhe saith, \u201cHe that doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.\u201d\nThat is, in a law-sense: for Christ in no sense is righteous in the\njudgment of charity only; but in his meanest acts, if it be lawful to\nmake such comparison, he was righteous in a law-sense, or in the judgment\nof the law.  Now the apostle saith, that \u201che that doeth righteousness is\nrighteous, as he is righteous.\u201d  They are the words of God, and therefore\nI cannot err in quoting of them, though I may not so fully as I would\nmake the glory of them shine in speaking to them.\n\nBut what righteousness is that, with which a man must stand righteous in\nthe judgment of the law, before he shall or can be found to do acts of\nrighteousness, that by the gospel are so called?\n\n1.  I answer, first, It is none of his own which is of the law, you may\nbe sure: for he hath his righteousness before he doth any that can be\ncalled his own.  \u201cHe that doeth righteousness is righteous\u201d already,\nprecedent to, or before he doth that righteousness; yea, he \u201cis\nrighteous, even as he is righteous.\u201d\n\n2.  It cannot be his own which is of the gospel; that is, that which\nfloweth from a principle of grace in the soul: for he is righteous before\nhe doth this righteousness.  \u201cHe that doeth righteousness is righteous.\u201d\nHe doth not say, he that hath done it, but he that doth it; respecting\nthe act while it is in doing, he is righteous.  He is righteous even then\nwhen he is a-doing of the very first act of righteousness; but an act,\nwhile it is doing, cannot, until it is done, be called an act of\nrighteousness; yet, saith the text, \u201che is righteous.\u201d\n\nBut again, if an act, while it is doing, cannot be called an act of\nrighteousness, to be sure, it cannot have such influences as to make the\nactor righteous\u2014to make him righteous, as the Son of God is righteous;\nand yet the righteousness with which this doer is made righteous, and\nthat before he doth righteousness, is such; for so saith the text, that\nmakes him righteous, as he is righteous.\n\nBesides, it cannot be his own, which is gospel-righteousness, flowing\nfrom a principle of grace in the soul; for that in its greatest\nperfection in us, while we live in this world, is accompanied with some\nimperfections; to wit, our faith, love, and whole course of holiness is\nwanting, or hath something lacking in it.  They neither are apart, nor\nwhen put all together, perfect, as to the degree, the uttermost degree of\nperfection.\n\nBut the righteousness under consideration, with which the man, in that of\nJohn, is made righteous, is a perfect righteousness; not only with\nrespect to the nature of it, as a penny is as perfect silver as a\nshilling; nor yet with respect to a comparative degree, for so a shilling\narriveth more toward the perfection of the number twenty, than doth a\ntwopenny or a threepenny piece; but it is a righteousness so perfect,\nthat nothing can be added to, nor can any thing be taken from it; for so\nimplieth the words of the text, he is righteous as Christ is righteous;\nyea, thus righteous before, and in order to his doing of righteousness.\n\nAnd in this he is like unto the Son of God, who was also righteous before\nhe did acts of righteousness referring to a law of commandment; wherefore\nit is said, that as he is, so are we in this world.  As he is or was\nrighteous, before he did acts of righteousness among men by a law; so are\nhis righteous, before they act righteousness among men by a law.  \u201cHe\nthat doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.\u201d\n\nChrist was righteous before he did righteousness, with a twofold\nrighteousness.  He had a righteousness as he was God; his Godhead was\nperfectly righteous: yea, it was righteousness itself.  His human nature\nwas perfectly righteous, it was naturally spotless and undefiled.  Thus\nhis person was righteous, and so qualified to do that righteousness, that\nbecause he was born of woman, and made under the law, he was bound by the\nlaw to perform.\n\nNow, as he is, so are we; not by way of natural righteousness, but by way\nof resemblance thereunto.  Had Christ, in order to his working of\nrighteousness, a two fold righteousness inherent in himself?\u2014the\nChristian, in order to his working of righteousness, had belonging to him\na twofold righteousness.  Did Christ\u2019s twofold righteousness qualify him\nfor that work of righteousness that was of God designed for him to\ndo?\u2014why, the Christian\u2019s twofold righteousness doth qualify him for that\nwork of righteousness that God hath ordained that he should do and walk\nin this world.\n\nBut you may ask, What is that righteousness with which a Christian is\nmade righteous before he doth righteousness?\n\nI answer, It is a twofold righteousness.\n\n1.  It is a righteousness put upon him.\n\n2.  It is a righteousness put into him.\n\nFor the first, It is a righteousness put upon him, with which also he is\nclothed as with a coat or mantle, Rom. iii. 22, and this is called \u201cthe\nrobe of righteousness;\u201d and this is called \u201cthe garment of salvation;\u201d\nIsa. lxi. 10.\n\nThis righteousness is none other but the obedience of Christ; the which\nhe performed in the days of his flesh, and can properly be called no\nman\u2019s righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ; because no man had\na hand therein, but he completed it himself.  And hence it is said, that\n\u201cby the obedience of one shall many be made righteous;\u201d Rom. v. 19.  By\nthe obedience of one, of one man Jesus Christ (as you have it in verse\n15); for he came down into the world, to this very end; that is, to make\na generation righteous, not by making of them laws, and prescribing unto\nthem rules (for this was the work of Moses, who said, \u201cAnd it shall be\nour righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the\nLord our God, as he hath commanded us;\u201d Deut. vi. 25; xxiv. 13); nor yet\nby taking away by his grace the imperfections of their righteousness, and\nso making of that perfect by additions of his own; but he makes them\nrighteous by his obedience, not in them, but for them, while he\npersonally subjected himself to his Father\u2019s law on our behalf, that he\nmight have a righteousness to bestow upon us.  And hence we are said to\nbe made righteous, while we work not, and to be justified, while ungodly\n(Rom. iv. 5), which can be done by no other righteousness than that which\nis the righteousness of Christ by performance, the righteousness of God\nby donation, and our righteousness by imputation.  For, I say, the person\nthat wrought this righteousness for us, is Jesus Christ; the person that\ngiveth it to us, is the Father; who hath made Christ to be unto us\nrighteousness, and hath given him to us for this very end, that we might\nbe made the righteousness of God in him; 1 Cor. i. 4; 2 Cor. v. 21.  And\nhence it is often said, \u201cOne shall say, Surely in the Lord have I\nrighteousness and strength.\u201d  And again, \u201cIn the Lord shall all the seed\nof Israel be justified, and shall glory.\u201d  \u201cThis is the heritage of the\nservants of the Lord; and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord;\u201d\nIsa. xlv. 24, 25; liv. 17.\n\nThis righteousness is that which justifieth, and which secureth the soul\nfrom the curse of the law; by hiding, through its perfection, all the\nsins and imperfections of the soul.  Hence it follows, \u201cEven as David\nalso describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth\nrighteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities\nare forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the\nLord will not impute sin;\u201d Rom. iv.\n\nAnd this it doth, even while the person, that by grace is made a\npartaker, is without good works, and so ungodly.  This is the\nrighteousness of Christ, Christ\u2019s personal performances, which he did\nwhen he was in this world; that is that by which the soul, while naked,\nis covered, and so hid as to its nakedness, from the divine sentence of\nthe law: \u201cI spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness,\u201d Ezek.\nxvi. 4\u20139.\n\nNow this obediential righteousness of Christ consisteth of two parts. 1.\nIn a doing of that which the law commanded us to do. 2.  In a paying that\nprice for the transgression thereof, which justice hath said shall be\nrequired at the hand of man; and that is the cursed death.  \u201cIn the day\nthat thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die the death;\u201d to wit, the\ndeath that comes by the curse of the law.  So then, Christ having brought\nin that part of obedience for us, which consisteth in a doing of such\nobediential acts of righteousness which the law commands, he adds thereto\nthe spilling of his blood, to be the price of our redemption from that\ncursed death, that by sin we had brought upon our bodies and souls.  And\nthus are the Christians perfectly righteous; they have the whole\nobedience of Christ made over to them; to wit, that obedience that\nstandeth in doing the law, and that obedience that standeth in paying of\na price for our transgressions.  So, then, doth the law call for\nrighteousness? here it is.  Doth the law call for satisfaction for our\nsins?  Here it is.  And what can the law say any more to the sinner but\nthat which is good, when he findeth in the personal obedience of Christ\nfor him, that which answereth to what it can command, that which it can\ndemand of us?\n\nHerein, then, standeth a Christian\u2019s safety, not in a bundle of actions\nof his own, but in a righteousness which cometh to him by grace and gift;\nfor this righteousness is such as comes by gift, by the gift of God.\nHence it is called the gift of righteousness, the gift by grace, the gift\nof righteousness by grace, which is the righteousness of one, to wit, the\nobedience of Jesus Christ, Rom. v. 15\u201319.\n\nAnd this is the righteousness by which he that doth righteousness is\nrighteous as he is righteous; because it is the very self-same\nrighteousness that the Son of God hath accomplished by himself.  Nor has\nhe any other or more excellent righteousness, of which the law taketh\nnotice, or that it requireth, than this: for as for the righteousness of\nhis Godhead, the law is not concerned with that; for as he is such, the\nlaw is his creature, and servant, and may not meddle with him.\n\nThe righteousness also of his human nature, the law hath nothing to do\nwith that; for that is the workmanship of God, and is as good, as pure,\nas holy, and undefiled, as is the law itself.  All then that the law hath\nto do with, is to exact complete obedience of him that is made under it,\nand a due satisfaction for the breach thereof; the which, if it hath,\nthen Moses is content.\n\nNow, this is the righteousness with which the Christian, as to\njustification, is made righteous; to wit, a righteousness that is neither\nessential to his Godhead, nor to his manhood; but such as standeth in\nthat glorious person (who was such) his obedience to the law.  Which\nrighteousness himself had, with reference to himself, no need of at all,\nfor his Godhead, yea, his manhood, was perfectly righteous without it.\nThis righteousness therefore was there, and there only necessary, where\nChrist was considered as God\u2019s servant (and our surety) to bring to God\nJacob again, and to restore the preserved of Israel.  For though Christ\nwas a Son, yet he became a servant to do, not for himself, for he had no\nneed, but for us, the whole law, and so bring in everlasting\nrighteousness for us.\n\nAnd hence it is said, that Christ did what he did for us.  He became the\nend of the law for righteousness for us; he suffered for us, he died for\nus, he laid down his life for us, and he gave himself for us.  The\nrighteousness then that Christ did fulfil, when he was in the world, was\nnot for himself simply considered, nor for himself personally considered,\nfor he had no need thereof; but it was for the elect, the members of his\nbody.\n\nChrist then did not fulfil the law for himself, for he had no need\nthereof.  Christ again did fulfil the law for himself, for he had need of\nthe righteousness thereof; he had need thereof for the covering of his\nbody, and the several members thereof; for they, in a good sense, are\nhimself, members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones; and he owns\nthem as parts of himself in many places of the holy scriptures; Eph. v.\n30; Acts ix. 4, 5; Matt. xxv. 45; x. 40; Mark ix. 37; Luke x. 16; 1 Cor.\nxii. 12, 27.  This righteousness then, even the whole of what Christ did\nin answer to the law, it was for us; and God hath put it upon them, and\nthey were righteous in it, even righteous as he is righteous.  And this\nthey have before they do acts of righteousness.\n\n_Secondly_, There is righteousness put into them, before they act\nrighteous things.  A righteousness, I say, put into them; or I had rather\nthat you should call it a principle of righteousness; for it is a\nprinciple of life to righteousness.  Before man\u2019s conversion, there is in\nhim a principle of death to sin; but when he is converted to Christ,\nthere is put in him a principle of righteousness, that he may bring forth\nfruit unto God; Rom. vii. 4\u20136.\n\nHence they are said to be quickened, to be made alive, to be risen from\ndeath to life, to have the Spirit of God dwelling in them; not only to\nmake their souls alive, but to quicken their mortal bodies to that which\nis good; Rom. viii. 11.\n\nHere, as I hinted before, they that do righteousness are said to be born\nof him, that is, antecedent to their doing of righteousness, 1 John ii.\n29; \u201cborn of him,\u201d that is, made alive with new, spiritual, and heavenly\nlife.  Wherefore the exhortation to them is, \u201cNeither yield ye your\nmembers as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves\nunto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as\ninstruments of righteousness unto God;\u201d Rom. vi. 13.\n\nNow this principle must also be in men, before they can do that which is\nspiritual: for whatever seeming good thing any man doth, before he has\nbestowed upon him this heavenly principle from God, it is accounted\nnothing, it is accounted sin and abomination in the sight of God; for an\nevil tree cannot bring forth good fruit: \u201cMen do not gather grapes of\nthorns; neither of a bramble gather figs.\u201d  It is not the fruit that\nmakes the tree, but the tree that makes the fruit.  A man must be good,\nbefore he can do good; and evil before he can do evil.\n\nThis is that which is asserted by the Son of God himself; and it lieth so\nlevel with reason and the nature of things, that it cannot be\ncontradicted: Matth. vii. 16\u201318; Luke vi. 43\u201345.  \u201cA good man, out of the\ngood treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good: and an\nevil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that\nwhich is evil.\u201d  But notwithstanding all that can be said, it seemeth\nvery strange to the carnal world; for they will not be otherwise\npersuaded, but that they be good deeds that make good men, and evil ones\nthat make evil men.  And so, by such dotish apprehensions, do what in\nthem lieth to fortify their hearts with the mists of darkness against the\nclear shining of the word, and conviction of the truth.\n\nAnd thus it was from the beginning.  Abel\u2019s first services to God were\nfrom this principle of righteousness; but Cain would have been made\nrighteous by his deeds; but his deeds not flowing from the same root of\ngoodness, as did Abel\u2019s, notwithstanding he did it with the very best he\nhad, is yet called evil: for he wanted, I say, the principles, to wit, of\ngrace and faith, without which no action can be counted good in a\ngospel-sense.\n\nThese two things, then, that man must have that will do righteousness.\nHe must have put upon him the perfect righteousness of Christ: and he\nmust have that dwelling in him, as a fruit of the new birth, a principle\nof righteousness.  Then indeed he is a tree of righteousness, and God is\nlike to be glorified in and by him; but this the Pharisee was utterly\nignorant of, and at the remotest distance from.\n\nYou may ask me next, But which of these are first bestowed upon the\nChristian\u2014the perfect righteousness of Christ unto justification, or this\ngospel-principle of righteousness unto sanctification?\n\n_Answ_.  The perfect righteousness of Christ unto justification must\nfirst be made over to him by an act of grace.  This is evident,\n\n1.  Because he is justified as ungodly; that is, whilst he is ungodly:\nbut it must not be said of them that have this principle of grace in\nthem, that they are ungodly; for they are saints and holy.  But this\nrighteousness, by it God justifieth the ungodly, by imputing it to them,\nwhen and while they, as to a principle of grace, are graceless.\n\nThis is further manifested thus: The person must be accepted before his\nperformance can; \u201cAnd the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his\noffering;\u201d Gen. iv.  If he had respect to Abel\u2019s person first, yet he\nmust have respect unto it for the sake of some righteousness; but Abel as\nyet had no righteousness; for that he acted, after God had a respect unto\nhis person.  \u201cAnd the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering:\nbut unto Cain, and to his offering, he had no respect.\u201d\n\nThe prophet Ezekiel also shews us this, where, by the similitude of the\nwretched infant, and of the manner of God\u2019s receiving it to mercy, he\nshews how he received the Jews to favour.  First, saith he, \u201cI spread my\nskirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness.\u201d  There is justification; \u201cI\ncovered thy nakedness.\u201d  But what manner of nakedness was it?  Yes, it\nwas then as naked as naked could be, even as naked as in the day that it\nwas born; Ezek. xvi. 4\u20139.  And as thus naked, it was covered, not with\nany thing but with the skirt of Christ; that is, with his robe of\nrighteousness, with his obedience, that he performed of himself for that\nvery purpose; for by the obedience of one, many are made righteous.\n\n2.  Righteousness unto justification must be first; because the first\nduty that a Christian performeth to God, must be accepted, not for the\nsake of the principle from which in the heart it flows, nor yet for the\nsake of the person that acts it, but for the sake of Christ, whose\nrighteousness it is by which the sinner stands just before God.  And\nhence it is said, \u201cBy faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent\nsacrifice than Cain,\u201d Heb. xi.  By faith he did it; but faith in respect\nto the righteousness that justifies; for we are justified by faith; not\nby faith as it is an acting grace, but the righteousness of faith, that\nis, by that righteousness that faith embraceth, layeth hold of, and\nhelpeth the soul to rest and trust to, for justification of life, which\nis the obedience of Christ.  Besides, it is said, by faith he offered;\nfaith then in Christ was precedent to his offering.\n\nNow, since faith was in act before his offer, and since before his offer\nhe had no personal goodness of his own, faith must look out from home; I\nsay to another for righteousness; and finding the righteousness of Christ\nto be the righteousness which by God was designed to be performed for the\njustification of a sinner, it embraces it, and through it offereth to God\na more excellent sacrifice than Cain.\n\nHence it follows, \u201cBy which he obtained witness that he was righteous;\u201d\nby which, not by his offering, but by his faith; for his offering, simply\nas an offering, could not have made him righteous if he had not been\nrighteous before; for \u201can evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit.\u201d\nBesides, if this be granted, why had not God respect to Cain\u2019s offering\nas well as to Abel\u2019s?  For did Abel offer?  So did Cain.  Did Abel offer\nhis best?  So did Cain his.  And if with this we shall take notice of the\norder of their offspring, Cain seemed to offer first, and so with the\nfrankest will and forwardest mind; but yet, saith the text, \u201cThe Lord had\nrespect to Abel and to his offering.\u201d  But why to Abel?  Why, because\nhis, person was made righteous before he offered his gift: \u201cBy which he\nobtained witness that he was righteous;\u201d God testifying of his gifts,\nthat they were good and acceptable because they declared Abel\u2019s\nacceptation of the righteousness of Christ, through the riches of the\ngrace of God.\n\nBy faith, then, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.\nHe shrouded himself under the righteousness of Christ, and so, of that\nrighteousness, he offered to God.  God also looking and finding him there\n(where he could not have been, as to his own apprehension, no otherwise\nthan by faith), accepted of his gift; by which acceptation (for so you\nmay understand it also) God testifieth that he was righteous, for God\nreceiveth not the gifts and offerings of those that are not righteous,\nfor their sacrifices are an abomination unto him, Prov. xxi. 27.\n\nAbel then was, I say, made righteous, first, as he stood ungodly in\nhimself; God justifieth the ungodly, Rom. iv.  Now, being justified, he\nwas righteous; and being righteous, he offered his sacrifice of praise to\nGod, or other offerings which God accepted, because he believed in his\nSon.  But this our Pharisee understandeth not.\n\n3.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, because we are made so, to\nwit, by another\u2014\u201cBy the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.\u201d\nNow to be made righteous, implies a passiveness in him that is so made,\nand the activity of the work to lie in some body else; except he had\nsaid, they had made themselves righteous; but that it doth not, nor doth\nthe text leave to any the least countenance so to insinuate; nay, it\nplainly affirms the contrary, for it saith, by the obedience of one, of\none man, Jesus Christ, many are made righteous; by the righteousness of\none, Rom. v.  So then, if they be made righteous by the righteousness of\none; I say if many be made righteous by the righteousness of one, then\nare they that are so, as to themselves, passive and not active, with\nreference to the working out of this righteousness.  They have no hand in\nthat; for that is the act of one, the righteousness of one, the obedience\nof one, the workmanship of one, even of Christ Jesus.\n\nAgain, If they are made righteous by this righteousness, then also they\nare passive as to their first privilege by it; for they are made\nrighteous by it; they do not make themselves righteous by it.\n\nImputation is also the act of God.  \u201cEven as David also describeth the\nblessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness.\u201d  The\nrighteousness then is a work of Christ, his own obedience to his Father\u2019s\nlaw; the making of it ours is the act of the Father, and of his infinite\ngrace: \u201cFor of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us\nwisdom and righteousness.\u201d  \u201cFor God hath made Jim to be sin for us, who\nknew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u201d  And\nboth these things God shewed to our first parents, when he acted in grace\ntowards them after the fall.\n\nThere it is said, the Lord God made unto Adam, and unto his wife, coats\nof skins, and clothed them; Gen. iii. 21.\n\nWhence note,\n\n(1.)  That Adam and his wife were naked, both in God\u2019s eye and in their\nown, verses 10, 11.\n\n(2.)  That the Lord God made coats of skins.\n\n(3.)  That in his making of them, he had respect to Adam and to his wife,\nthat is, he made them.\n\n(4.)  That when he had made them, he also clothed them therewith.\n\nThey made not the coats, nor did God bid them make them; but God did make\nthem himself to cover their nakedness with.  Yea, when he had made them,\nhe did not bid them put them on, but he himself did clothe them with\nthem: for thus runs the text; \u201cUnto Adam also, and to his wife, did the\nLord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.\u201d  O it was the Lord God\nthat made this coat with which a poor sinner is made righteous!  And it\nis also the Lord God that putteth it upon us.  But this our Pharisee\nunderstandeth not.\n\nBut now, if a man is not righteous before he is made so, before the Lord\nGod has by the righteousness of another made him so; then whether this\nrighteousness comes first or last, the man is not righteous until it\ncometh; and if he be not righteous until it cometh, then what works\nsoever are done before it comes, they are not the works of a righteous\nman, nor the fruits of a good tree, but of a bad.  And so again, this\nrighteousness must first come before a man be righteous, and before a man\ndoes righteousness.  Make the tree good, and its fruit will be good.\n\nNow, since a man must be made righteous before he can do righteousness,\nit is manifest his works of righteousness do not make him righteous, no\nmore than the fig makes its own tree a fig-tree, or than the grape doth\nmake its own vine a vine.  Hence those acts of righteousness that\nChristian men do perform, are called the fruits of righteousness, which\nare by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God; Phil. i. 11.\n\nThe fruits of righteousness they are by Jesus Christ, as the fruits of\nthe tree are by the tree itself; for the truth is, that principle of\nrighteousness, of which mention has been made before, and concerning\nwhich I have said it comes in in the second place; it is also originally\nto be found for us nowhere but in Christ.\n\nHence it is said to be by Jesus Christ; and again, \u201cOf his fulness have\nwe all received, and grace for grace;\u201d John i. 16.  A man must then be\nunited to Christ first, and so being united, he partaketh of this\nbenefit, to wit, a principle that is supernatural, spiritual, and\nheavenly.  Now, his being united to Christ, is not of or from himself,\nbut of and from the Father, who, as to this work, is the husbandman; even\nas the twig that is grafted into the tree officiateth not, that is,\ngrafteth not itself thereunto, but is grafted in by some other, itself\nbeing utterly passive as to that.  Now, being united unto Christ, the\nsoul is first made partaker of justification, or of justifying\nrighteousness, and now no longer beareth the name of an ungodly man; for\nhe is made righteous by the obedience of Christ; he being also united to\nChrist, partaketh of the root and fatness of Christ; the root, that is,\nhis divine nature; the fatness, that is, the fulness of grace that is\nlaid up in him to be communicated unto us, even as the branch that is\ngrafted into the olive-tree partaketh of the root and fatness of the\nolive-tree.  Now partaking thereof, it quickeneth, it groweth, it\nbuddeth, and yieldeth fruit to the praise and glory of God; Rom. xi. 17.\n\nBut these things, as I have often said, the poor Pharisee was ignorant\nof, when so swaggeringly he, with his \u201cGod, I thank thee,\u201d came into the\ntemple to pray.  And, indeed, in that which hath been said is something\nof the mystery of God\u2019s will in his way with his elect; and such a\nmystery it is, that it lieth hid for ever to nature and natural men; for\nthey think of nothing less than of this, nor of nothing more, when they\nthink of their souls and of salvation, than that something must be done\nby themselves to reconcile them to God.  Yea, if through some common\nconvictions their understandings should be swayed to a consenting to\nthat, that justification is of grace by Christ, and not of works by men;\nyet conscience, reason, and the law of nature, not being as yet subdued\nby the power and glory of grace unto the obedience of Christ, will rise\nup in rebellion against this doctrine, and will over-rule and bow down\nthe soul again to the law and works thereof for life.\n\n4.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, because, else faith, which\nis a part, yea, a greater part of that which is called a principle of\ngrace in the soul, will have nothing to fix itself upon, nor a motive to\nwork by.  Let this therefore be considered by those that are on the\ncontrary side.\n\n1.  Faith, so soon as it has a being in the soul, is like the child that\nhas a being in the mother\u2019s lap; it must have something to feed upon; not\nsomething at a distance, afar off, to be purchased (I speak now as to\njustification from the curse), but something by promise made over of\ngrace to the soul; something to feed upon to support from the fears of\nperishing by the curse for sin.  Nor can it rest content with all duties\nand performances that other graces shall put the soul upon; nor with any\nof its own works, until it reaches and takes hold of the righteousness of\nChrist.  Faith is like the dove, which found no rest any where until it\nreturned to Noah into the ark.  But this our Pharisee understandeth not.\n\nPerhaps some may object, that from this way of reasoning it is apparent,\nthat sanctification is first; since the soul may have faith, and so a\nprinciple of grace in it, and yet, as yet it cannot find Christ to feed\nand refresh the soul withal.\n\n_Answ_.  From this way of reasoning it is not at all apparent that\nsanctification, or a principle of grace, is in the soul before\nrighteousness is imputed and the soul made perfectly righteous thereby.\nAnd for the clearing up of this, let me propose a few things.\n\n1.  Justifying righteousness, to wit, the obedience of that one man,\nChrist, is imputed to the sinner, to justify him in God\u2019s sight; for his\nlaw calls for perfect righteousness, and before that be come to, and put\nupon the poor sinner, God cannot bestow other spiritual blessings upon\nhim; because by the law he has pronounced him accursed; by the which\ncurse he is also so holden, until a righteousness shall be found upon the\nsinner, that the law and divine justice can approve of, and be contented\nwithin.  So then, as to the justification of the sinner, there must be a\nrighteousness for God; I say, for the sinner, and for God: for the sinner\nto be clothed within, and for God to look upon, that he may, for the sake\nthereof in a way of justice, bless the sinner with forgiveness of sins:\nfor forgiveness of sins is the next thing that followeth upon the\nappearance of the sinner before God in the righteousness of Christ; Rom.\niv. 6, 7.\n\nNow, upon this forgiveness follows the second blessing.  Christ hath\nredeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; and so,\nconsequently, hath obtained for us the forgiveness of sins: for he that\nis delivered from the curse hath received forgiveness of sins, or rather\nis made partaker thereof.  Now, being made a partaker thereof, the second\nblessing immediately follows, to wit, the blessing of Abraham, that is,\nthe promise of the Spirit through faith; Gal. iii. 13. 14.  But this our\nPharisee understandeth not.\n\nBut now, although it be of absolute necessity that imputed righteousness\nbe first, to the soul; that is, that perfect righteousness be found upon\nthe sinner first by God, that he may bestow other blessings in a way of\njustice:\n\nLet God then put the righteousness of his Son upon me; and by virtue of\nthat, let the second blessing of God come into me; and by virtue of that,\nlet me be made to see myself a sinner, and Christ\u2019s righteousness, and my\nneed of it, in the doctrine of it, as it is revealed in the scriptures of\ntruth.  Let me then believe this doctrine to be true, and be brought by\nmy belief to repentance for my sins, to hungering and thirsting\nvehemently after this righteousness: for this is the kingdom of God, and\nhis righteousness.  Yea, let me pray, and cry, and sigh, and groan, day\nand night, to the God of this righteousness, that he will of grace make\nme a partaker.  And let me thus be prostrate before my God, all the time\nthat in wisdom he shall think fit; and in his own time he shall shew me\nthat I am a justified person, a pardoned person, a person in whom the\nSpirit of God hath dwelt for some time, though I knew it not.\n\nSo then, justification before God is one thing, and justification in mine\nown eyes is another; not that these are two justifications, but the same\nrighteousness by which I stand justified before God, may be seen of God,\nwhen I am ignorant of it: yea, for the sake of it I may be received,\npardoned, and accounted righteous of him, and yet I may not understand\nit.  Yea, further, he may proceed in the way of blessing to bless me with\nadditional blessings, and yet I be ignorant of it.\n\nSo that the question is not, Do I find that I am righteous? but, Am I so?\nDoth God find me so, when he seeth that the righteousness of his Son is\nupon me, being made over to me by an act of his grace?  For I am\njustified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Jesus\nChrist, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his\nblood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are\npast, through the forbearance of God; Rom. iii. 24.  But this our\nPharisee understandeth not.\n\nI am then made righteous first by the righteousness of another; and\nbecause I am thus righteous, God accepteth of my person as such, and\nbestoweth upon me his grace; the which, at first, for want of skill and\nexperience in the word of righteousness, I make use of but poorly, and\nhave need to be certified that I am made righteous, and that I have\neternal life; not by faith first and immediately, but by the written word\nwhich is called \u201cthe word of faith;\u201d which word declareth unto me (to\nwhom grace, and so faith in the seed of it, is given), that I have\neternal life, and that I should with boldness, in peace and joy, believe\non the Son of God; Heb. v. 13; Rom. xv. 13; 1 John v. 13.  But,\n\nAgain, I, in the first acts of my faith, when I come at Christ, do not\naccept of him, because I know I am righteous, either with imputed\nrighteousness, or with that which is inherent.  Both these, as to my\npresent privilege in them, may be hidden from mine eyes, and I only put\nupon taking of encouragement to close with Christ for life and\nrighteousness, as he is set forth to be a propitiation before mine eyes,\nin the word of the truth of the gospel; to which word I adhere as, or\nbecause I find, I want peace with God in my soul, and because I am\nconvinced that the means of peace is not to be found any where but in\nJesus Christ.  Now, by my thus adhering to him, I find stay for my soul,\nand peace to my conscience, because the word doth ascertain to me, that\nhe that believeth on him hath remission of sins, hath eternal life, and\nshall be saved from the wrath to come.\n\nBut, alas! who knows (the many straits, and as I may say, the stress of\nweather, I mean) the cold blasts of hell, with which the poor soul is\nassaulted, betwixt its receiving of grace, and its sensible closing with\nJesus Christ?  None, I dare say, but it and its fellows.  \u201cThe heart\nknows its own bitterness; and a stranger intermeddleth not with his joy;\u201d\nProv. xiv. 10.  No sooner doth Satan perceive what God is doing with the\nsoul, in a way of grace and mercy, but he endeavoureth what he may to\nmake the renewing thereof bitter and wearisome work to the sinner.  O\nwhat mists, what mountains, what clouds, what darkness, what objections,\nwhat false apprehensions of God, of Christ, of grace, of the word, and of\nthe soul\u2019s condition, doth he now lay before it, and haunt it with;\nwhereby he dejecteth, casteth down, daunteth, distresseth, and almost\ndriveth it quite into despair!  Now, by the reason of these things, faith\n(and all the grace that is in the soul) is hard put to it to come at the\npromise, and by the promise of Christ; as it is said, when the tempest\nand great danger of shipwreck lay upon the vessel in which Paul was, they\nhad \u201cmuch work to come by the boat;\u201d Acts xxvii. 16.  For Satan\u2019s design\nis, if he cannot keep the soul from Christ, to make his coming to him,\nand closing with him, as hard, as difficult and troublesome, as he by his\ndevices can.  But faith, true justifying faith, is a grace, is not weary\nby all that Satan can do; but meditateth upon the word, and taketh\nstomach, and courage, fighteth and crieth, and by crying and fighting, by\nhelp from heaven, its way is made through all the oppositions that appear\nso mighty, and draweth up at last to Jesus Christ, into whose bosom it\nputteth the soul, where, for the time, it sweetly resteth, after its\nmarvellous tossings to and fro.\n\nAnd besides what hath been said, let me yet illustrate this truth unto\nyou by this familiar similitude.\n\nSuppose a man, a traitor, that by the law should die for his sin, is yet\nsuch an one that the king has exceeding kindness for; may not the king\npardon this man of his clemency; yea, order that his pardon should be\ndrawn up and sealed, and so in every sense be made sure; and yet, for the\npresent, keep all this close enough from the ears or the knowledge of the\nperson therein concerned?  Yea, may not the king after all leave this\nperson, with others under the same transgression, to sue for and obtain\nthis pardon with great expense and difficulty, with many tears and\nheart-achings, with many fears and dubious cogitations?\n\nWhy, this is the case between God and the soul that he saveth; he saveth\nhim, pardoneth him, and secureth him from the curse and death that is due\nunto sin, but yet doth not tell him so; but he ascends in his great suit\nunto God for it.  Only this difference we must make between God and the\npotentates of this world; God cannot pardon before the sinner stands\nbefore him righteous by the righteousness of Christ; because he has in\njudgment, and justice, and righteousness, threatened and concluded, that\nhe that wants righteousness shall die.\n\nAnd I say again, because this righteousness is God\u2019s and at God\u2019s\ndisposal only, it is God that must make a man righteous before he can\nforgive him his sins, or bestow upon him of his secondary blessings; to\nwit, his Spirit, and the graces thereof.  And I say again, it must be\nthis righteousness; for it can be no other that justifies a sinner from\nsin in the sight of God, and from the sentence of the law.\n\n_Secondly_, This is, and must be the way of God with the sinner, that\nfaith may not only have an object to work upon, but a motive to work by.\n\n(1.)  Here, as I said, faith hath an object to work upon, and that in the\nperson of Christ, and that personal righteousness of his, which he in the\ndays of his flesh did finish to justify sinners withal.  This is, I say,\nthe object of faith for justification, whereunto the soul by it doth\ncontinually resort.  Hence David saith to Christ, \u201cBe thou my strong\nhabitation (or as you have it in the margin, Be thou to me a rock of\nhabitation) whereunto I may continually resort;\u201d Psalm lxxi. 3.  And two\nthings he infers by so saying.\n\nThe first is, That the Christian is a man under continual exercises,\nsometimes one way, and sometimes another; but all his exercises have a\ntendency in them more or less to spoil him; therefore he is rather for\nflying to Christ than for grappling with them in and by his own power.\n\nThe second is, that Christ is of God our shelter as to this very thing.\nHence his name is said to be \u201ca strong tower,\u201d and that the righteous run\ninto it, and are safe, Prov. xviii. 10.  That also of David in the\nfifty-sixth Psalm is very pregnant to this purpose; \u201cMine enemies,\u201d saith\nhe, \u201cwould daily swallow me up; for they be many that fight against me, O\nthou Most High.\u201d  And what then?  Why, saith he, \u201cI will trust in thee.\u201d\nThus you see, faith hath an object to work upon to carry the soul unto,\nand to secure the soul in times of difficulty, and that object is Jesus\nChrist and his righteousness.  But,\n\n(2.)  Again, as faith hath an object to work upon, so it hath a motive to\nwork by; and that is the love of God in giving of Christ to the soul for\nrighteousness.  Nor is there any profession, religion, or duty and\nperformance, that is at all regarded, where this faith, which by such\nmeans can work, is wanting.  \u201cFor in Jesus Christ neither circumcision\navaileth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love\u201d\n(so Gal. v. 6) acteth lovely; or, by faith whose fruit is love (though\ntrue faith hath love for its offspring) but faith which worketh by love,\nthat is true, saving, justifying faith, as it beholdeth the righteousness\nof Christ as made over to the soul for justification; so it beholdeth\nlove, love to be the cause of its so being made over.\n\nIt beholdeth love in the Father, in giving of his Son, and love in the\nSon, in giving of himself to be made soul-saving righteousness for me.\nAnd seeing it worketh by it, that is, it is stirred up to an holy\nboldness of venturing all eternal concerns upon Christ, and also to an\nholy, endeared, affecting love of him, for his sweet and blessed\nredeeming love.  Hence the apostle saith, \u201cThe love of Christ\nconstraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then\nwere all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live, should not\nhenceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and\nrose again,\u201d 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.\n\nThus then is the heart united in affection and love to the Father and the\nSon, for the love that they have shewed to the poor sinner in their thus\ndelivering him from the wrath to come.  For by this love faith worketh,\nin sweet passions and pangs of love, to all that are thus reconciled, as\nthis sinner seeth he is.  The motive then, whereby faith worketh, both as\nto justification and sanctification, the great motive to them, I say, is\nlove, the love of God, and the love of Christ: \u201cWe love him, because he\nfirst loved us.\u201d  That is, when our faith hath told us so; for so are the\nwords above, \u201cWe have known and believed the love that God hath to us.\u201d\nAnd then, \u201cWe love him, because he first loved us.\u201d  And then, \u201cThis\ncommandment have we from him, that he that loveth God, loveth his brother\nalso,\u201d 1 John iv. 16\u201321.  But this our poor Pharisee understandeth not.\nBut,\n\n5.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, to cut off boasting from\nthe heart, conceit, and lips of men.  Wherefore he saith, as before, that\nwe are justified freely by the grace of God, not through, or for the sake\nof an holy gospel-principle in us; but \u201cthrough the redemption that is in\nJesus Christ,\u201d &c.  \u201cWhere is boasting then?  It is excluded.  By what\nlaw?  Of works?  Nay, but by the law of faith.\u201d  And this is the law of\nfaith, by which we are justified as before; Rom. iii. 27, 28.\n\nNor can any man propound such an essential way to cut off boasting as\nthis, which is of God\u2019s providing: For what is man here to boast of?  No\nrighteousness, nor yet of the application of it to his soul.  The\nrighteousness is Christ\u2019s, not the sinner\u2019s.  The imputation is God\u2019s,\nnot the sinner\u2019s.  The cause of imputation is God\u2019s grace and love, not\nthe sinner\u2019s works of righteousness.  The time of God\u2019s imputing\nrighteousness is when the sinner was a sinner, wrapped up in ignorance,\nand wallowing in his vanity; not when he was good, or when he was seeking\nof it; for his inward gospel-goodness is a fruit of the imputation of\njustifying righteousness.  Where is boasting then?  Where is our Pharisee\nthen, with his brags of not being as other men are?  It is excluded, and\nhe with it, and the poor Publican taken into favour, that boasting might\nbe cut off.  \u201cNot of works, lest any man should boast.\u201d  There is no\ntrust to be put in men; those that seem most humble, and that to\nappearance, and farthest off from pride, it is natural to them to boast;\nyea, now they have no cause to boast; for by grace are we saved through\nfaith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.  \u201cNot of works,\nlest any man should boast.\u201d\n\nBut if man is so prone to boast, when yet there is no pound of boasting\nin him, nor yet in what he doth; how would he have boasted had he been\npermitted by the God of heaven to have done something, though that\nsomething had been but a very little something, towards his\njustification?  But God has prevented boasting by doing as he has done;\nEph. ii. 8, 9.  Nay, the apostle addeth further (lest any man should\nboast), that as to good works, \u201cWe are God\u2019s workmanship, created in\nChrist Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we\nshould walk in them;\u201d ver. 10.  Can the tree boast, since it was God that\nmade it such?  Where is boasting then?  \u201cBut of him are ye in Christ\nJesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and\nsanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, he that\nglorieth, let him glory in the Lord;\u201d 1 Cor. i. 30, 31.  Where is\nboasting then?  Where is our Pharisee then, with all his works of\nrighteousness, and with his boasts of being better than his neighbours?\n\nIt may be said, If we should be justified for the sake of our inherent\nrighteousness, since that righteousness is the gift of God, will it not\nfollow that boasting is, in the occasion thereof, cut off?\n\n_Answ_.  No; for although the principle of inherent righteousness be the\ngift of God, yet it bringeth forth fruits by man, and through man; and so\nman having a hand therein, though he should have ever so little, he has\nan occasion offered him to boast.  Yea, if a man should be justified\nbefore God by the grace, or the working of the grace of faith in him, he\nwould have ground of occasion to boast; because faith, though it be the\ngift of God, yet as it acteth in man, takes man along with it in its so\nacting; yea, the acting of faith is as often attributed to the man by\nwhom it is acted, and oftener, than to the grace itself.  How then can it\nbe, but that man must have a hand therein, and so a ground therein, or\nthereof to boast?\n\nBut now, since justification from the curse of the law before God lieth\nonly and wholly in God\u2019s imputing of Christ\u2019s righteousness to a man, and\nthat too, while the man to whom it is imputed is in himself wicked and\nungodly, there is no room left for boasting before God, for that is the\nboasting intended; but rather an occasion given to shame and confusion of\nface, and to stop the mouth for ever, since justification comes in a way\nso far above him, so vastly without him, his skill, help, or what else\nsoever; Ezek. xvi. 61\u201363.\n\n6.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, that justification may not\nbe of debt, but of mercy and grace.  This is evident from reason.  It is\nmeet that God should therefore justify us by a righteousness of his own,\nnot of his own prescribing; for that he may do, and yet the righteousness\nbe ours; but of his own providing, that the righteousness may be his.\n\u201cNow to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of\ndebt;\u201d Rom. iv. 2\u20134.  If I work for justifying righteousness, and that\nway get righteousness, my justification is not of grace, but of debt.\nGod giveth it not unto me, but he oweth it unto me; so then it is no\nlonger his, but mine: mine, not of grace, but of debt.  And if so, then I\nthank him not for his remission of sins, nor for the kingdom of heaven,\nnor for eternal life; for if justifying righteousness is of debt, then\nwhen I have it, and what dependeth thereon, I have but mine own; that\nwhich God oweth to me.\n\nNor will it help at all to say, But I obtain it by God\u2019s grace in me;\nbecause that doth not cut off my works, nor prevent my having of a hand\nin my justifying righteousness.\n\nSuppose I give a man materials, even all materials that are necessary to\nthe completing of such or such a thing; yet if he worketh, though the\nmaterials be mine, I am to him a debtor, and he deserveth a reward.  Thou\nsayst, God has given thee his Spirit, his grace, and all other things\nthat are necessary for the working up of a complete righteousness.  Well,\nbut is thy work required to the finishing of this righteousness?  If so,\nthis is not the righteousness that justifieth; because it is such as has\nthy hand, thy workmanship therein, and so obtains a reward.  And observe\nit, righteousness, justifying righteousness, consisteth not in a\nprinciple of righteousness, but in works of righteousness; that is, in\ngood duties, in obedience, in a walking in the law to the pleasing of the\nlaw, and the content of the justice of God.\n\nI suppose again, that thou shalt conclude with me, that justifying\nrighteousness, I mean that which justifies from the curse of the law,\nresideth only in the obedience of the Son of God; and that the principle\nof grace that is in thee is none of that righteousness, no, not then when\nthou hast to the utmost walked with God according to thy gift and grace;\nyet if thou concludest that this principle must be in thee, and these\nworks done by thee, before this justifying righteousness is imputed to\nthee for justification, thou layest in a caveat against justification by\ngrace; and also concludest, that though thou art not justified by thy\nrighteousness, but by Christ, yet thou art justified by Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness for the sake of thine own, and so makest justification to\nbe still a debt.  But here the scripture doth also cut thee off: \u201cNot for\nthy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to\npossess the land\u201d (which was but a type of heaven); and if our\nrighteousness cannot give us, by its excellency, a share in the type, be\nsure that for it we shall never be sharers in the anti-type itself.\n\u201cUnderstand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good\nland to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked\npeople;\u201d Deut. ix. 5, 6.\n\nGospel-performances, therefore, are not first; that was first, for the\nsake of which God did receive these people into favour with himself, and\nthat was a covenant-righteousness; and where could that\ncovenant-righteousness be found, but in the Prince, Mediator, and High\nPriest of the covenant?  For it was he, and he only, that was appointed\nof God, nor could any but himself bring in everlasting righteousness;\nDan. ix. 24, 25.  This is evident from these texts last mentioned; it was\nnot for their righteousness that they possessed the land.\n\nAgain, As it was not for their righteousness that they were made\npossessors of the land, so it was not for the sake of their righteousness\nthat they were made partakers of such a righteousness that did make them\npossess the land.  This is plain to reason; for personal righteousness,\nwhen by us performed, is of no worth to obtain of God a justifying\nrighteousness.  But if it be of no worth to obtain a justifying\nrighteousness, then, it seems, it is more commodious to both parties than\njustifying righteousness.  First, it is more commodious to him that\nworketh it; and, secondly, it is more commodious unto him that receiveth\nit, else why doth he for it give us a due debt, and so put upon us the\neverlasting justifying righteousness?\n\nPerhaps it will be objected, That God doth all this of grace; but I\nanswer, That these are but fallacious words, spoken by the tongue of the\ncrafty.  For we are not now discoursing of what rewards God can give to\nthe operations of his own grace in us, but whether he can in a way of\njustice (or how he will) bestow any spiritual blessing upon sinful\ncreatures, against whom, for sin, he has pronounced the curse of the law,\nbefore he hath found them in a righteousness, that is proved to be as\ngood justice and righteousness, as is the justice and righteousness of\nthe law, with which we have to do.\n\nI assert he cannot, because he cannot lie, because he cannot deny\nhimself: for if he should first threaten the transgression of the law\nwith death, and yet afterwards receive the transgressor to grace, without\na plenary satisfaction, what is this but to lie, and to diminish his\ntruth, righteousness, and faithfulness; yea, and also to overthrow the\nsanction and perfect holiness of his law?  His mercy, therefore, must act\nso towards the sinner that justice may be satisfied, and that can never\nbe without a justifying righteousness.\n\nNow what this justifying righteousness should be, and when imputed, that\nis the question.  I say, it is the righteousness, or obedience of the Son\nof God in the flesh, which he assumed, and so his own, and the\nrighteousness of no body else otherwise than by imputation.\n\nI say again, that this righteousness must be imputed first, that the\nsinner may stand just in God\u2019s sight from the curse, that God might deal\nwith him both in a way of justice as well as mercy, and yet do the sinner\nno harm.\n\nBut you may ask, how did God deal with sinners before his righteousness\nwas actually in being?\n\nI answer, He did then deal with sinners even as he dealeth with them now;\nhe justified them by it, by virtue of the suretyship of him that was to\nbring it in.  Christ became surety for us, and by his suretyship laid\nhimself under an obligation for those for whom he became a surety to\nbring in this everlasting and justifying righteousness, and by virtue of\nthis, those of his elect that came into and went out of the world before\nhe came to perform his work were saved though the forbearance of God.\nWherefore, before the Lord came, they were saved for the Lord\u2019s sake, and\nfor the sake of his name.  And they that were spiritually wise understood\nit, and pleaded it as their necessities required, and the Lord accepted\nthem; Heb. vii. 22; Rom. iv. 24; Dan. ix. 17; Psalm xxv. 11.\n\n7.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, that justification may be\ncertain; \u201cTherefore it is of faith (of the righteousness that faith\nlayeth hold on), that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might\nbe sure to all the seed;\u201d Rom. iv. 16.  \u201cThat the promise,\u201d\u2014What promise?\nThe promise of remission of sins, &c., might be sure.\n\nNow a promise of remission of sins supposeth a righteousness going\nbefore; for there is no forgiveness of sins, nor promise of forgiveness,\nfor the sake of righteousness that shall be by us, but that already found\nin Christ as head, and so imputed to the elect for their remission.  \u201cGod\nfor Christ\u2019s sake hath forgiven you,\u201d Eph. iv. 32; For Christ\u2019s sake;\nthat this, for the sake of the righteousness of Christ.  Imputed\nrighteousness must be first; yea, it must be before forgiveness, and\nforgiveness is extended by God then when we lie in our blood, though to\nus it is manifested afterwards.  Therefore it is _of_ faith; he saith not\n_by_ it, respecting the act of faith, but of, respecting the doctrine or\nword which presenteth me with this blessed imputed righteousness: they\nthat are of faith are the children of faithful Abraham.  They that are of\nthe doctrine of faith, for all the elect are the sons of that doctrine in\nwhich is this righteousness of Christ contained; yea, they are begotten\nby it of God to this inheritance, to their comfortable enjoyment of the\ncomfort of it by faith.\n\nThat the promise might be sure to all the seed, to all them wrapped up in\nthe promise, and so begotten and born.  That it might be sure, implying\nthat there is no certain way of salvation for the elect but this; because\nGod can never by other means reconcile us to himself, for his heavenly\neyes perceive, yea, they spy faults in the best of our gospel\nperformances; yea, our faith is faulty, and also imperfect: how then\nshould remission be extended to us for the sake of that?  But now the\nrighteousness of Christ is perfect, perpetual and stable as the great\nmountains; wherefore he is called the rock of our salvation, because a\nman may as soon tumble the mountains before him, as sin can make invalid\nthe righteousness of Christ, when, and unto whom, God shall impute it for\njustice; Psalm xxxvi.  In the margin it is said to be like the mountain\nof God; to wit, called Mount Zion, or that Moriah on which the temple was\nbuilt, and upon which it stood; all other bottoms are fickle, all other\nrighteousnesses are so feeble, short, narrow, yea, so full of\nimperfections; for what the law could not do in that it was weak through\nthe flesh, Christ did for us in the similitude of sinful-flesh.  But what\ncould not the law do?  Why, it could not give us righteousness, nor\nstrengthen us to perform it.  It could not give us any certain, solid,\nwell-grounded hope of remission of sin and salvation.\n\nWherefore this righteousness being imputed, justice findeth no fault\ntherewith, but consenteth to the extending to the sinner those blessings\nthat tend to perfect his happiness in the heavens.\n\n8.  Righteousness by imputation must be first, that in all things Christ\nmay have the pre-eminence.  Christ is head of the church, and therefore\nlet him have the highest honour in the soul; but how can he have that, if\nany precede as to justification before his perfect righteousness be\nimputed?  If it be said, grace may be in the soul, though the soul doth\nnot act it until the moment that justifying righteousness shall be\nimputed:\n\nI ask, What should it do there before, or to what purpose is it there, if\nit be not acted?  And again, how came it thither, how got the soul\npossession of it while it was unjustified? or, How could God in justice\ngive it to a person, that by the law stood condemned, before they were\nacquitted from that condemnation?  And I say, nothing can set the soul\nfree from that curse but the perfect obedience of Christ; nor that\neither, if it be not imputed for that end to the sinner by the grace of\nGod.\n\nImputed, that is, reckoned or accounted to him.  And why should it not be\naccounted to him for righteousness?  What did Christ bring it into the\nworld for? for the righteous or for sinners?  No doubt for sinners.  And\nhow must it be reckoned to them?  Not in circumcision, but in\nuncircumcision; not as righteous, but as sinners.  And how are they to\nconsider of themselves, even then when they first are apprehensive of\ntheir need of this righteousness?  Are they to think that they are\nrighteous, or sinners?\n\nAnd again, How are they to believe concerning themselves, then when they\nput forth the first act of faith towards this righteousness for\njustification?  Are they to think that they are righteous, or sinners?\nSinners, doubtless, they are to reckon themselves, and as such to reckon\nthemselves justified by this righteousness.  And this is according to the\nsentence of God, as appeareth by such sayings.\n\n\u201cFor when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the\nungodly.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet\nsinners, Christ died for us.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of\nhis Son,\u201d &c., Rom. v.\n\nOut of these words I gather these three things.\n\n1.  That Christ by God\u2019s appointment died for us.\n\n2.  That by his death he reconciled us to God.\n\n3.  That even then, when the very act of reconciliation was in\nperforming, and also when performed, we were ungodly, sinners, enemies.\n\nNow, the act by which we are said to be reconciled to God, while ungodly,\nwhile sinners, and while enemies, was Christ\u2019s offering himself a\nsacrifice for us, which is, in the words above mentioned, called his\ndeath.  Christ died for the ungodly; Christ died for us while sinners;\nChrist reconciled us to God by his death.  And as Christ is said to die\nfor us, so the Father is said to impute righteousness to us; to wit, as\nwe are without works, as we are ungodly.  \u201cNow to him that worketh not,\nbut believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted\nfor righteousness.\u201d  He worketh not, but is ungodly, when this gracious\nact of God, in imputing the righteousness of Christ to him, is extended;\nwhen he shall believe, his faith is counted to him for righteousness.\nAnd why should we not have the benefit of the righteousness, since it was\ncompleted for us while we were yet ungodly?  Yea, we have the benefit of\nit: \u201cFor when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of\nhis Son.\u201d\n\nWhen I say the benefit, I mean that benefit that we are capable of, and\nthat is justification before God; for that a man may be capable of while\nhe is in himself ungodly, because this comes to him by the righteousness\nof another.  True, were it to be his own righteousness by which he was to\nbe justified, he could not: but the righteousness is Christ\u2019s, and that\nimputed by God, not as a reward for work, or of debt, but freely by his\ngrace; and therefore may be, and is so, while the person concerned is\nwithout works, ungodly, and a sinner.\n\nAnd he that denieth that we are capable of this benefit while we are\nsinners and ungodly, may with the like reason deny that we are created\nbeings: for that which is done for a man without him, may be done for him\nat any time which they that do it shall appoint.  While a man is a\nbeggar, may not I make him worth ten thousand a-year, if I can and will:\nand yet he may not know thereof in that moment that I make him so? yet\nthe revenue of that estate shall really be his from the moment that I\nmake him so, and he shall know it too at the rent-day.\n\nThis is the case: we are sinners and ungodly; there is a righteousness\nwrought out by Jesus Christ which God hath designed we shall be made\nrighteous by: and by it, if he will impute it to us, we shall be\nrighteous in his sight; even then when we are yet ungodly in ourselves:\nfor he justifies the ungodly.\n\nNow, though it is irregular and blameworthy in man to justify the wicked,\nbecause he cannot provide and clothe him with a justifying righteousness,\nyet it is glorious, and for ever worthy of praise, for God to do it:\nbecause it is in his power, not only to forgive, but to make a man\nrighteous, even then when he is a sinner, and to justify him while he is\nungodly.\n\nBut it may be yet objected, that though God has received satisfaction for\nsin, and so sufficient terms of reconciliation by the obedience and death\nof his Son, yet he imputeth it not unto us, but upon condition of our\nbecoming good.\n\n_Ans_.  This must not be admitted: For,\n\n1.  The scripture saith not so; but that we are reconciled to God by the\ndeath of his Son, and justified too, and that while or when we are\nsinners and ungodly.\n\n2.  If this objection carrieth truth in it, then it follows that the Holy\nGhost, faith, and so all grace, may be given to us, and we may have it\ndwelling in us, yea, acting in us, before we stand righteous in the\njudgment of the law before God (for nothing can make us stand just before\nGod in the judgment of the law, but the obedience of the Son of God\nwithout us.)  And if the Holy Ghost, faith, and so, consequently, the\nhabit of every grace, may be in us, acting in us, before Christ\u2019s\nrighteousness be by God imputed to us, then we are not justified as\nsinners and ungodly, but as persons inherently holy and righteous before.\n\nBut I have shewed you that this cannot be, therefore righteousness for\njustification must be imputed first.  And here let me present the reader\nwith two or three things.\n\n1.  That justification before God is one thing, and justification to the\nunderstanding and conscience is another.  Now, I am treating of\njustification before God, not of it as to man\u2019s understanding and\nconscience: and I say, a man may be justified before God, even then when\nhimself knoweth nothing thereof; Isa. xl. 2; Mark ii. 5; and while he\nhath not faith about it, but is ungodly.\n\n2.  There is justification by faith, by faith\u2019s applying of that\nrighteousness to the understanding and conscience, which God hath of his\ngrace imputed for righteousness to the soul for justification in his\nsight.  And this is that by which we, as to sense and feeling, have peace\nwith God \u201cBeing justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our\nLord Jesus Christ;\u201d Rom. v. 1.  And these two the apostle keepeth\ndistinct in the 10th verse: that \u201cwhile we were enemies we were\nreconciled to God by the death of his Son.\u201d  He addeth, \u201cAnd not only so,\nbut we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now\nreceived the atonement,\u201d verse 11.  Here you see, that to be reconciled\nto God by the death of his Son is one thing, and for us actually to\nreceive by faith this reconciliation is another: and not only so, but we\nhave \u201creceived the atonement.\u201d\n\n3.  Men do not gather their justification from God\u2019s single act of\nimputing of righteousness, that we might stand clear in his sight from\nthe curse and judgment of the law; but from the word of God, which they\nunderstand not till it is brought to their understanding by the light and\nglory of the Holy Ghost.\n\nWe are not, therefore, in the ministry of the word to pronounce any man\njustified, from a supposition that God has imputed righteousness to him\n(since that act is not known to us), until the fruits that follow\nthereupon do break out before our eyes; to wit, the signs and effects of\nthe Holy Ghost indwelling in our souls.  And then we may conclude it,\nthat is, that such a one stands justified before God, yet not for the\nsake of his inherent righteousness, nor yet for the fruits thereof, and\nso not for the sake of the act of faith, but for the sake of Jesus Christ\nhis doing and suffering for us.\n\nNor will it avail to object, that if at first we stand justified before\nGod by his imputing of Christ\u2019s righteousness unto us, though faith be\nnot in us to act, we may always stand justified so; and so what need of\nfaith? for therefore are we justified, first, by the imputation of God,\nas we are ungodly, that thereby we may be made capable of receiving the\nHoly Ghost and his graces in a way of righteousness and justice.\nBesides, God will have those that he shall justify by his grace through\nthe redemption that is in Jesus Christ to have the Holy Ghost, and so\nfaith, that they may know and believe the things not only that shall be,\nbut that already are freely given to us of God.  \u201cNow,\u201d says Paul, \u201cwe\nhave received, not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of\nGod, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God;\u201d 1\nCor. ii. 12.  To know, that is, to believe: it is given to you to\nbelieve, who believe according to the working of his mighty power; \u201cAnd\nwe have known and believed the love that God hath to us,\u201d preceding to\nour believing; John iv. 16.  He then that is justified by God\u2019s\nimputation, shall believe by the power of the Holy Ghost; for that must\ncome, and work faith, and strengthen the soul to act it, because imputed\nrighteousness has gone before.  He then that believeth shall be saved;\nfor his believing is a sign, not a cause, of his being made righteous\nbefore God by imputation; and he that believeth not shall be damned.\n\nAND THUS MUCH FOR THE PHARISEE, AND FOR HIS INFORMATION.  AND NOW I COME\nTO THAT PART OF THE TEXT WHICH REMAINS, AND WHICH RESPECTETH THE\nPUBLICAN.\n\n\u201cAnd the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his\neyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to\nme a sinner.\u201d\n\nWhat this Publican was, I have shewed you, both with respect to nation,\noffice, and disposition.  Wherefore I shall not here trouble the reader\nas to that.  We now, therefore, come to his repentance in the whole and\nin the parts of it; concerning which I shall take notice of several\nthings, some more remote, and some more near to the matter and life of\nit.\n\nBut, first, let us see how cross the Pharisee and the Publican did lie in\nthe temple one to another, while they both were presenting of their\nprayers to God.\n\n1.  The Pharisee he goes in boldly, fears nothing, but trusteth in\nhimself that his state is good, that God loves him, and that there was no\ndoubt to be made but of his good speed in this his religious enterprise.\nBut, alas! poor Publican, he sneaks, crawls into the temple, and when he\ncomes there, stands behind, aloof, off; as one not worthy to approach the\ndivine presence.\n\n2.  The Pharisee at his approach hath his mouth full of many fine things,\nwhereby he strokes himself over the head, and in effect calls himself one\nof God\u2019s dear sons, that always kept close to his will, abode with him,\nor, as the prodigal\u2019s brother said, \u201cLo, these many years do I serve\nthee; neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment;\u201d Luke xv. 29.\nBut alas! poor Publican, thy guilt, as to these pleas, stops thy mouth;\nthou hast not one good thing to say of thyself, not one rag of\nrighteousness; thy conscience tells thee so; yea, and if thou shouldst\nnow attempt to set a good face on it, and for thy credit say something\nafter the Pharisee in way of thine own commendations, yet here is God on\nthe one side, the Pharisee on the other, together with thine own heart,\nto give thee a check, to rebuke thee, to condemn thee, and to lay thee\neven to the ground for thy insolence.\n\n3.  The Pharisee in his approach to God, wipes his fingers of the\nPublican\u2019s enormities, will not come nigh him, lest he should defile\nhimself with his beastly rags: \u201cI am not as other men are, nor yet as\nthis Publican.\u201d  But the poor Publican, alas for him! his fingers are not\nclean, nor can he tell how to make them so; besides, he meekly and\nquietly puts up with this reflection of the Pharisee upon him, and by\nsilent behaviour justifies the severe sentence of that self-righteous\nman, concluding with him, that for his part he is wretched, and\nmiserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and not worthy to come nigh,\nor to stand by, so good, so virtuous, so holy, and so deserving a man as\nour sparkling Pharisee is.\n\n4.  The Pharisee, as at feasts and synagogues, chose the chief and first\nplace for his person, and for his prayer, counting that the Publican was\nnot meet, ought not to presume to let his foul breath once come out of\nhis polluted lips in the temple, till _he_ had made his holy prayer.\nAnd, poor Publican, how dost thou hear and put up this with all other\naffronts, counting even as the Pharisee counted of thee, that thou wast\nbut a dog in comparison of him, and therefore not fit to go before, but\nto come as in chains, behind, and forbear to present thy mournful\nsupplication to the holy God, till he had presented his, in his own\nconceit, brave, gay, and fine oration?\n\n5.  The Pharisee, as he is numerous in his repeating his good deeds, so\nis he stiff in standing to them, bearing up himself, that he hath now\nsufficient foundation on which to bear up his soul against all the\nattempts of the law, the devil, sin, and hell.  But, alas, poor Publican!\nthou standest naked, nay, worse than naked; for thou art clothed with\nfilthy garments, thy sins cover thy face with shame: nor hast thou in, or\nof thyself, any defence from, or shelter against, the attempts, assaults,\nand censures of thy spiritual enemies, but art now in thine own eyes\n(though in the temple) cast forth into thine open field stark-naked, to\nthe loathing of thy person, as in the day that thou wast born, and there\nready to be devoured and torn in pieces for thy transgressions against\nthy God.\n\nWhat wilt thou do, Publican?  What wilt thou do?  Come, let us see; which\nway wilt thou begin to address thyself to God?  Bethink thyself: hast\nthou any thing to say? speak out, man: the Pharisee by this time has\ndone, and received his sentence: make an \u201cO yes;\u201d let all the world be\nsilent; yea, let the angels of heaven draw near and listen; for the\nPublican is come to have to do with God! yea, is come from the receipt of\ncustom into the temple to pray to him.\n\n\u201cAnd the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his\neyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to\nme a sinner.\u201d  And is this thy way, poor Publican!  O cunning sinner!  O\ncrafty Publican! thy wisdom has outdone the Pharisee; for it is better to\napply ourselves to God\u2019s mercy than to trust to ourselves that we are\nrighteous.  But that the Publican did hit the mark, yea, get nearer unto,\nand more in the heart of God and his Son than the Pharisee, the sequel\nwill make manifest.\n\nTake notice then of this profound speech of the Publican, \u201cGod be\nmerciful to me a sinner.\u201d  Yea, the Son of God was so delighted with this\nprayer, that for the sake of it, he even as a limner draweth out the\nPublican in his manner of standing, behaviour, gestures, &c., while he\nmakes this prayer to God: wherefore we will take notice both of the one\nand of the other; for surely his gestures put lustre into his prayer and\nrepentance.\n\n1.  His prayer you see is this, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nHis gestures in his prayer were in general three.\n\n1.  He \u201cstood afar off.\u201d\n\n2.  He \u201cwould not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.\u201d\n\n3.  He \u201csmote upon his breast,\u201d with his fist, saying, \u201cGod be merciful\nto me a sinner.\u201d\n\nTo begin first with his prayer.  In this prayer we have two things to\nconsider of.\n\n1.  His confession: I am a sinner.\n\n2.  His imploring of help against this malady: \u201cGod be merciful to me a\nsinner.\u201d\n\nIn his confession divers things are to be taken notice of.  As\u2014\n\n1.  The fairness and simplicity of his confession; \u201cA sinner:\u201d I am a\nsinner; \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d  This indeed he was, and this\nindeed he confesses; and this, I say, he doth of godly simplicity.  For a\nman to confess himself a sinner, it is to speak all against himself that\ncan be spoken.  And man, as degenerate, is too much an hypocrite, and too\nmuch a self-flatterer, thus to confess against himself, unless made\nsimple and honest through the power of conviction upon his heart.  And it\nis worth your noting, that he doth not say he was, or had been, but that\nat that time his state was such, to wit, a sinner.  \u201cGod be merciful to\nme a sinner,\u201d or who am, and now stand before thee a sinner, in my sins.\n\nNow, a little to shew you what it is to be a sinner; for every one that\nsinneth may not in a proper sense be called a sinner.  Saints, the\nsanctified in Christ Jesus, do often sin, but it is not proper to call\nthem sinners: but here the Publican calls himself a sinner; and therefore\nin effect calls himself an evil tree, one that beareth no good fruit; one\nwhose body and soul is polluted, whose mind and conscience is defiled;\none who hath walked according to the course of this world, and after the\nspirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: they having\ntheir minds at enmity against God, and are taken captive by the devil at\nhis will; a sinner, one whose trade hath been in sin, and the works of\nSatan all his days.\n\nThus he waives all pleas, and stoops his neck immediately to the block.\nThough he was a base man, yet he might have had pleas; pleas, I say, as\nwell as the Pharisee, though not so many, yet as good.  He was of the\nstock of Abraham, a Jew, an Israelite of the Israelites, and so a\nprivileged man in the religion of the Jews, else what doth he do in the\ntemple?  Yea, why did not the Pharisee, if he was a heathen, lay that to\nhis charge while he stood before God?  But the truth is, he could not;\nfor the Publican was a Jew as well as the Pharisee, and consequently\nmight, had he been so disposed, have pleaded that before God.  But he\nwould not, he could not, for his conscience was under convictions, the\nawakenings of God were upon him; wherefore his privileges melt away like\ngrease, and fly from him like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor,\nwhich the wind taketh up and scattereth as the dust; he therefore lets\nall privileges fall, and pleads only that he us a sinner.\n\n2.  In this confession he judges and condemns himself: For a man to say,\nI am a sinner, is as much as to say, I am contrary to the holiness of\nGod, a transgressor of the law, and consequently an object of the curse,\nand an heir of hell.  The Publican, therefore, goeth very far in this his\nconfession; For,\n\n3.  In the third place, To confess that there is nothing in him, done or\ncan be done by him, that should allure, or prevail with God to do any\nthing for him: for a sinner cannot do good; no, not work up his heart\nunto one good thought: no, though he should have heaven itself if he\ncould, or was sure to burn in hell-fire for ever and ever if he could\nnot.  For sin, where it is in possession, and bears rule, as it doth in\nevery one that we may properly call a sinner, there it hath the mastery\nof the man, hath bound up his senses in cords and chains, and made\nnothing so odious to the soul as the things that are of the Spirit of\nGod.  Wherefore it is said of such, that they are \u201cEnemies in their\nminds;\u201d that \u201cThe carnal mind is enmity against God,\u201d and that\n\u201cWickedness proceedeth of the wicked;\u201d and that the Ethiopian may as well\nchange his skin, or the leopard his spots, as they that are accustomed to\ndo evil may learn to do well; Col. i.; Rom. viii.; 1 Sam. xxiv. 13; Jer.\nxiii. 23.\n\n4.  In this confession he implicitly acknowledgeth that sin is the worst\nof things, forasmuch as it layeth the soul out of the reach of all remedy\nthat can be found under heaven.  Nothing below or short of the mercy of\nGod can deliver a poor soul from this fearful malady.  This the Pharisee\ndid not see.  Doubtless he did conclude, that at some time or other he\nhad sinned; but he never in all his life did arrive to a sight of what\nsin was: his knowledge of it was but false and counterfeit, as is\nmanifest by his cure; to wit, his own righteousness.  For take this for a\ntruth undeniable, that he that thinks himself better before God, because\nof his reformations, never yet had the true knowledge of his sin: But the\npoor Publican he had it, he had it in truth, as is manifest, because it\ndrives him to the only sovereign remedy.  For indeed, the right knowledge\nof sin, in the filth, and guilt, and damning power thereof, makes a man\nto understand, that not any thing but grace and mercy by Christ can\nsecure him from the hellish ruins thereof.\n\nSuppose a man sick of an apoplexy unto death, and should for his remedy\nmake use only of those things that are good against the second ague,\nwould not this demonstrate that this man was not sensible of the nature\nand danger of this disease?  The same may be said of every sinner that\nshall make use only of those means to justify him before God, that can\nhardly make him go for a good Christian before judicious men.  But the\npoor Publican, he knew the nature and the danger of his disease; and knew\nalso, that nothing but mercy, infinite mercy, could cure him thereof.\n\n5.  This confession of the Publican declareth, that he himself was borne\nup now by an almighty though invisible hand.  For sin, when seen in its\ncolours, and when appearing in its monstrous shape, frighteth all away\nfrom God.  This is manifest by Cain, Judas, Saul, and others, who could\nnot stand up before God under the sense and appearance of their sin, but\nfled before him, one to one fruit of despair, and one to another.  But\nnow this Publican, though he apprehends his sin, that himself was one\nthat was a sinner, yet he beareth up, cometh into the temple, approaches\nthe presence of an holy and sin-revenging God, stands before him, and\nconfesses that he is that man that sin had defiled, and that had brought\nhim into the danger of damnation thereby.\n\nThis therefore was a mighty act of the Publican.  He went against the\nvoice of conscience, against sense and feeling, against the curse and\ncondemning verdict of the law: he went, as I may say, upon hot burning\ncoals to one that to sin and sinners is a consuming fire.\n\nNow then, did the Publican this of his own head, or from his own mind?\nNo, verily; there was some super-natural power within that did secretly\nprompt him on, and strengthen him to this more noble venture.  True,\nthere is nothing more common among wicked men, than to trick and toy, and\nplay with this saying of the Publican, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner:\u201d\nnot at all being sensible either what sin is, or of their need of mercy.\nAnd such sinners shall find their speed in the Publican\u2019s prayer far\notherwise than the Publican sped himself; it will happen unto them much\nas it happened unto the vagabond Jews, exorcists, who took upon them to\ncall over them that had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus; that\nwere beaten by that spirit, and made fly out of that house naked and\nwounded, Acts xix. 13.  Poor sinner, thou wilt say the Publican\u2019s prayer,\nand make the Publican\u2019s confession, and say, \u201cGod be merciful to me a\nsinner.\u201d  But hold; dost thou do it with the Publican\u2019s heart, sense,\ndread, and simplicity?  If not, thou dost but abuse the Publican and his\nprayer, and thyself and his God; and shalt find God rejecting of thee and\nthy prayers, saying, The Publican I know; his prayers and godly tears I\nknow; but who or what art thou? and will send thee away naked.  They are\nthe hungry that he filleth with good things, but the rich (and the\nsenseless) he sendeth empty away.\n\nFor my part, I find it one of the hardest things that I can put my soul\nupon, even to come to God, when warmly sensible that I am a sinner, for a\nshare in grace and mercy.  Oh! methinks it seems to me as if the whole\nface of the heavens were set against me.  Yea, the very thought of God\nstrikes me through; I cannot bear up, I cannot stand before him; I cannot\nbut with a thousand tears say, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner;\u201d Ezra ix.\n15.\n\nAt another time, when my heart is more hard and stupid, and when his\nterror doth not make me afraid, then I can come before him, and ask mercy\nat his hand, and scarce be sensible of sin or grace, or that indeed I am\nbefore God.  But above all, they are the rare times, when I can go to God\nas the Publican, sensible of his glorious majesty, sensible of my misery,\nand bear up, and affectionately cry, \u201cGod me merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nBut again, the Publican, by his confession, sheweth a piece of the\nhighest wisdom that a mortal man can shew; because; by so doing, he\nengageth as well as imploreth the grace and mercy of God to save him.\nYou see by the text he imploreth it; and now I will shew you that he\nengageth it, and makes himself a sharer in it.\n\n\u201cHe that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and\nforsaketh them shall have mercy.\u201d  And again, \u201cIf we confess our sins, he\nis faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all\nunrighteousness;\u201d Prov. xxviii. 13; 1 John. i. 9.\n\n_First_, In the promise of pardon, \u201che shall have mercy;\u201d he shall have\nhis sins forgiven.  As also Solomon prays, that God will forgive them\nthat know their own sores; and they are indeed such as are sensible of\nthe plague of their own heart, 2 Chron. vi. 29, 30; 1 Kings viii. 37, 38.\nAnd the reason is, because the sinner is now driven to the farthest\npoint, for confession is the farthest point, and the utmost bound unto\nwhich God has appointed the Publican to go, with reference to his work;\nas it is said of Saul to David, when he was about to give him Michal his\ndaughter to wife, \u201cI desire not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of\nthe Philistines, to be avenged of the king\u2019s enemies.\u201d\n\nSo says God in this matter, I desire no sacrifices, nor legal\nrighteousness to make thee acceptable to me: \u201cOnly acknowledge and\nconfess thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against me,\u201d 1 Sam.\nxviii. 25; Jer. iii. 12, 13.  And though this by some may be thought to\nbe a very easy way to come at, and partake of the mercy of God; yet let\nthe sensible sinner try it, and he shall find it one of the hardest\nthings in the world.  And there are two things to which man is prone,\nthat makes confession hard:\n\n_First_, There is a great proneness in us to be partial, and not thorough\nand plain in our confessions.  We are apt to make half confessions; to\nconfess some, and hide some; or else to make feigned confessions,\nflattering both ourselves, and also God, while we make confession unto\nhim; or else to confess sin, as our own fancies apprehend, and not as the\nword descries them.  These things we are very prone to do; men can\nconfess little sins, while they hide great ones.  Men can feign\nthemselves sorry for sin when they are not, or else in their confessions\nforget to judge of sin by the word.  Hence it is said, They turned to\nGod, \u201cnot with their whole hearts, but as it were feignedly.\u201d  \u201cThey\nspake not aright, saying, What have I done?\u201d  \u201cThey flatter him with\ntheir mouth, and lie unto him with their tongues,\u201d and do their\nwickedness in the dark, and sin against him with a high hand, and then\ncome to him and \u201ccover the altar with their tears.\u201d  These things\ntherefore demonstrate the difficulty of sincere confession of sin; and\nthat to do it as it should, is no such easy thing.\n\nTo right confession of sin, several things must go: as,\n\n1.  There must be sound conviction for sin upon the spirit: for before a\nman shall be convinced of the nature, aggravation, and evil of sin, how\nshall he make godly confession of it?  Now, to convince the soul of sin,\nthe law must be set home upon the conscience by the Spirit of God: \u201cFor\nby the law is the knowledge of sin.\u201d  And again, \u201cI had not known lust,\nunless the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;\u201d Rom. vii. 7.  This law,\nnow when it effectually ministereth conviction\u2014of sin to the conscience,\ndoth it by putting of life, and strength, and terror into sin.  By its\nworking on the conscience, it makes sin revive, \u201cand the strength of sin\nis the law;\u201d Rom. vii.; 1 Cor. xv.  It also increaseth and multiplieth\nsin, both by the revelation of God\u2019s anger against the soul, and also by\nmustering up and calling to view sins committed and forgotten time out of\nmind.  Sin seen in the glass of the law is a terrible thing; no man can\nbehold it and live.  \u201cWhen the commandment came, sin revived, and I\ndied;\u201d when it came from God to my conscience, as managed by an almighty\narm, then it slew me.  And now is the time to confess sin, because now a\nsoul knows what it is, and sees what it is, both in the nature and\nconsequence of it.\n\n2.  To a right confession of sin, there must be sound knowledge of God,\nespecially as to his justice, holiness, righteousness, and purity;\nwherefore the Publican here begins his confession by calling upon or by\nthe acknowledgement of his Majesty: \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner:\u201d  As\nif he should say, God, O God, O great God, O sin-revenging God, I have\nsinned against thee, I have broken thy law, I have opposed thy holiness,\nthy justice, thy law, and thy righteous will.  O consuming fire (\u201cfor our\nGod is a consuming fire\u201d), I have justly provoked thee to wrath, and to\ntake vengeance on me for my transgressions.  But alas! how few that make\nconfession of sin have right apprehension of God, unto whom confession of\nsin doth belong.  Alas! it is easy for men to entertain such\napprehensions of God as shall please their own humours, to bear up under\nthe sense of sin, and that shall make their confession rather facile and\nfantastical, than solid and heartbreaking.  The sight and knowledge of\nthe great God is, to sinful man, the most dreadful thing in the world;\nwhich makes confession of sin so rare.  Most men confess their sins\nbehind God\u2019s back, but few to his face; and you know there is ofttimes a\nvast difference in thus doing among men.\n\n3.  To the right confession of sin, there must be a deep conviction of\nthe terribleness of the day of judgment.  This John the Baptist inserts,\nwhere he insinuates, that the Pharisees\u2019 want of (sense of, and) the true\nconfession of sin; was because they had not been warned (or had not taken\nthe alarm) to flee from the wrath to come.  What dread, terror, or\nfrightful apprehension can there be, where there is no sense of a day of\njudgment, and of our giving unto God an account for it?  Matth. iii. 7;\nLuke iii. 7.\n\nI say, therefore, to confession of sin, there must be,\n\n(1.)  A deep conviction of the certainty of the day of judgment; namely,\nthat such a day is coming, that such a day shall be.  This the apostle\ninsinuates, where he saith, \u201cGod commandeth all men, every where, to\nrepent: because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the\nworld in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath\ngiven assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead;\u201d\nActs xvii. 30, 31.\n\nThis will give a sense of what the soul must expect at that day for sin,\nand so will drive to an hearty acknowledgement of it, and strong cries\nfor a deliverance from it.  For thus will the soul argue that expecteth\nthe judgment-day, and that believes that it must count for all.  O my\nheart! it is in vain now to dissemble, or to hide, or to lessen\ntransgressions; for there is a judgment to come, a day in which God will\njudge the secrets of men by his Son; and at that day he will bring to\nlight the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the counsels of\nthe heart.  If it must be so then, to what end will it be now to seek to\ndissemble? 1 Cor. iv. 5.  This also is in the Old Testament urged as an\nargument to cause youth, and persons of all sizes, to recall themselves\nto sobriety, and so to confession of their sin to God; where the Holy\nGhost saith ironically, \u201cRejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy\nheart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine\nheart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these\nthings God will bring thee into judgment.\u201d  So again, \u201cGod shall bring\nevery work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or\nwhether it be evil,\u201d Eccles. xi. 9; xii. 12, 14.\n\nThe certainty of this, I say, must go to the producing of sincere\nconfession of sin; and this is intimated by the Publican, who within his\nconfession, addeth, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d  As if he should\nsay, If thou art not merciful to me, thy judgment shall swallow me up:\nwithout thy mercy I shall not stand, but fall by the judgment which thou\nhast appointed.\n\n(2.)  As there must be, for the producing of sincere confession of sin, a\ndeep conviction of the certainty, so of the terribleness, of the day of\njudgment: wherefore the apostle, to put men on repentance, which is\nsincere confession of sin, saith, \u201cFor we must all appear before the\njudgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in\nhis body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.\nKnowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;\u201d 2 Cor. v. 10,\n11.  The terror of the Lord, as we see here, he makes use of, to persuade\nmen to confession of sin, and repentance to God for mercy.\n\nAnd I am persuaded, that one reason that this day doth so swarm with\nwanton professors, is, because they have not sound conviction for, nor go\nto God with sincere confession of, sin: and one cause of that has been,\nthat they did never seriously fall in with, nor yet sink under either the\ncertainty or terribleness, of the day of judgment.\n\nO the terrors of the Lord! the amazing face that will be put upon all\nthings before the tribunal of God!  Yea, the terror that will then be\nread in the face of God, of Christ, of saints and angels, against the\nungodly!  Whoso believes and understands it, cannot live without\nconfession of sin to God, and a coming to him for mercy.\n\n\u201cMountains, fall upon us, and cover us, and hide us from the face of him\nthat sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great\nday of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand?\u201d  This terror is also\nsignified, where it is said, \u201cAnd I saw a great white throne, and him\nthat sat on it, from whose face the (very) earth and the heaven fled\naway: and there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small\nand great, stand before God: and the books were opened; and another book\nwas opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of\nthose things which were written in the books, according to their works.\nAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell\ndelivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man\naccording to his works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of\nfire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in\nthe book of life, was cast into the lake of fire;\u201d Rev. xx.  Here is\nterror; and this is revealed in the word of God, that sinners might hear\nand consider it, and so come and confess, and implore God\u2019s mercy.\n\nThe terror of the Lord, how will it appear, when he \u201cshall be revealed\nfrom heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on\nthem that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus\nChrist!\u201d  2 Thess. i. 7\u20139.\n\nThe terror of the Lord, how will it appear, when his wrath shall burn and\nflame out like an oven or a fiery furnace before him, while the wicked\nstand in his sight!  Matt. xiii. 50.\n\nThe terror of the Lord, how will it appear, while the angels at his\ncommand shall gather the wicked to burn them!  \u201cAs the tares are gathered\nand burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.  The Son\nof man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather together out of\nhis kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall\ncast them into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and\ngnashing of teeth;\u201d Matt. xiii. 40\u201342.  Who can conceive this terror!\nmuch more unable are men to express it with tongue or pen; yet the truly\npenitent and sin-confessing Publican hath apprehension so far thereof, by\nthe word of the testimony, that it driveth him to God with a confession\nof sin for an interest in God\u2019s mercy.  But,\n\n4.  To right and sincere confession of sin there must be a conviction of\na probability of mercy.  This also is intimated by the Publican in his\nconfession; \u201cGod (saith he) be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d  He had some\nglimmerings of mercy, some conviction of a probability of mercy, or that\nhe might obtain mercy for his pardon, if he went and with unfeigned lips\ndid confess his sins to God.\n\nDespair of mercy shuts up the mouth, makes the heart hard, and drives a\nman away from God; as is manifest in the case of Adam and the fallen\nangels.  But the least intimation of mercy, if the heart can but touch,\nfeel, taste, or have the least probability of it, that will open the\nmouth, tend to soften the heart, and to make a very publican come up to\nGod into the temple, and say, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nThere must then be this holy mixture of things in the heart of a truly\nconfessing publican.  There must be sound sense of sin, sound knowledge\nof God, deep conviction of the certainty and terribleness of the day of\njudgment, as also of the probability of obtaining mercy.  But to come to\nthat which remains; I told you that there were two things that did make\nunfeigned confession hard.  The first I have touched upon.\n\n_Secondly_, And now the second follows: and that is, some private leaning\nto some goodness a man shall conceit that he hath done before, or is\ndoing now, or that he purposeth to prevail with God for the pardon of\nsins.  This man, to be sure, knows not sin in the nature and evil of it,\nonly he has some false apprehensions about it.  For where the right\nknowledge of sin is in the heart, that man sees so much evil in the least\ntransgressions, as that it would break the back of all the angels of\nheaven should the great God impute it to them.  And he that sees this is\nfar enough off from thinking of doing to mitigate or assuage the rigour\nof the law, or to make pardonable his own transgressions thereby.  But he\nthat sees not this, cannot confess his transgressions aright; for true\nconfession consisteth in the general, in a man\u2019s taking to himself his\ntransgressions, with the acknowledgment of them to be his, and that he\ncannot stir from under them, nor do anything to make amends for them, or\nto palliate the rigour of justice against the soul.  And this the\nPublican did when he cried, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nHe made his sins his own; he stood before God in them, accounting that he\nwas surely undone for ever, if God did not extend forgiveness unto him.\nAnd this is to do as the prophet Jeremiah bids; to wit, only to\nacknowledge our iniquities, to acknowledge them at the terrible bar of\nGod\u2019s justice, until mercy takes them out of the way; not by doing, or\npromising to do, either this or that good work.  And the reason of this\nkind of confession is,\n\n(1.)  Because this carrieth in it the true nature of confession; to\nconfess, and plead for mercy under the crimes confessed, without shifts\nand evasions, is the only real simple way of confession.  \u201cI said, I will\nconfess my transgressions to the Lord;\u201d and what then? \u201cand thou\nforgavest the iniquity of my sin.\u201d  Mark, nothing comes in betwixt\nconfession and forgiveness of sin, Psalm xxxii. 5; nothing of works of\nrighteousness, nothing of legal amendments, nothing but an outcry for\nmercy; and that act is so far off from lessening the offence, that it\ngreatly heightens and aggravates it.  That is the first reason.\n\n(2.)  A second reason is, Because God doth expect that the penitent\nconfessors should not only confess, but bear their shame on them: yea,\nsaith God, \u201cBe thou confounded also, and bear thine own shame:\u201d when God\ntakes away thine iniquity, thou shalt \u201cbe confounded, and never open thy\nmouth more, because of thy shame;\u201d Ezek. xvi. 52, 54, 62, 63.  We count\nit convenient that men, when their crimes and transgressions are to be\nmanifested, that they be set in some open place with a piece paper,\nwherein their transgressions are inserted, that they may not only\nconfess, but bear their own shame.  At the penitential confession of\nsinners God has something to do; if not before men, yet before angels,\nthat they may behold, and be affected, and rejoice when they shall see,\nafter the revelation of sin, the sinner taken into the favour and\nabundant mercy of God; Luke xv.\n\n(3.)  A third reason is, for that God will, in the forgiveness of sin,\nmagnify the riches of his mercy; but this cannot be, if God shall suffer,\nor accept of such confession of sin, as is yet intermixed with those\nthings that will darken the heinousness of the offence.\n\nThat God, in the salvation, and so in the confession, of the sinner,\ndesigns the magnifying of his mercy, is apparent enough from the whole\ncurrent of scripture; and that any of the things now mentioned will, if\nsuffered to be done, darken and eclipse this thing, is evident to reason\nitself.\n\nSuppose a man stand indicted for treason, yet shall so order the matter\nthat it shall ring in the country that his offences are but petty crimes;\nthough the king shall forgive the man, much glory shall not thereby\nredound to the riches and greatness of his mercy.  But let all things lie\nnaked, let nothing lie hid or covered, let sin be seen, shewn, and\nconfessed, as it is in the sinner himself, and then there will be in his\nforgiveness a magnifying of mercy.\n\n(4.)  A fourth reason is, for else God cannot be justified in his\nsayings, nor overcome when he is judged; Psalm li.; Rom. iii.  God\u2019s word\nhath told us what sin is, both as to its nature and evil effects; God\u2019s\nword hath told us, that the best of our righteousness is no better than\nfilthy rags.  God\u2019s word has also told us, that sin is forgiven us freely\nby grace, and not for the sake of our amendments: and all this God shews,\nnot only in the acts of his mercy toward, but even in the humiliations\nand confessions of, the penitent; for God will have his mercy to be\ndisplayed even there where the sinner hath taken his first step toward\nhim: \u201cThat as sin hath reigned unto death, even so grace might reign\nthrough righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord;\u201d Rom.\nv. 21.\n\n(5.)  A fifth reason is, because God would have by the Publican\u2019s\nconversion others affected with the displays and discoveries of wonderful\ngrace, but not to cloud and cover it with lessening of sin.\n\nFor what will such say when sin begins to appear to conscience, and when\nthe law shall follow it with a voice of words, each one like a clap of\nthunder?  I say, what will such say, when they shall read that the\nPublican did only acknowledge his iniquity, and found grace and favour of\nGod?  That God is infinitely merciful to those or to such as in truth\nstand in need of mercy.  Also, that he sheweth mercy of his own good\npleasure, nothing moving him thereto.\n\nI say, this is the way to make others be affected with mercy, as he\nsaith, by the apostle Paul, \u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, for his great\nlove wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath\nquickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath\nraised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus; that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches\nof his grace in his kindness to us-ward (or toward us) through Christ\nJesus;\u201d Eph. ii. 4\u20137.  You may also see that 1 Tim. i. 15, 16.\n\n(6.)  Another reason of this is, because this is the way to heighten the\ncomfort and consolation of the soul, and that both here and hereafter.\nWhat tendeth more to this, than for sinners to see, and with guilt and\namazement to confess, what sin is, and so to have pardon extended from\nGod to the sinner as such?  This fills the heart; it ravishes the soul;\nputs joy into the thoughts of salvation from sin, and deliverance from\nwrath to come.  Now they \u201creturn, and comb to Zion with songs, and\neverlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and\nsorrow and sighing shall flee away;\u201d Isa. xxxv. 10.  Indeed, the belief\nof this makes joy and gladness endless.\n\n(7.)  Besides, it layeth upon the soul the greatest obligations to\nholiness.  What like the apprehension of free forgiveness (and that\napprehension must come in through a sight of the greatness of sin, and of\ninability to do any thing towards satisfaction), to engage the heart of a\nrebel to love his prince, and to submit to his laws?\n\nWhen Elisha had taken the Syrian captives, some were for using severities\ntowards them; but he said, \u201cSet bread and water before them, that they\nmay eat and drink and go to their master;\u201d and they did so.  And what\nfollows?  \u201cSo the bands of Syria came no more into the land of\nIsrael,\u201d\u2014he conquered their malice with his compassion.  And it is the\nlove of Christ that constraineth to live to him; 2 Kings vi. 13\u201323; 2\nCor. v. 14.\n\nMany other things might possibly be urged, but at present let these be\nsufficient.\n\nThe SECOND thing that we made mention of in the Publican\u2019s prayer, was an\nimploring of help against this malady: \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\nIn which petition I shall take notice of several things.\n\n_First_, That a man\u2019s help against sin doth not so absolutely lie in his\npersonal conquest as in the pardon of them.  I suppose a conquest, though\nthere can indeed by man be none so long as he liveth in this world, I\nmean, a complete conquest and annihilation of sin.\n\nThe Publican, and so every graciously awakened sinner, is doubtless for\nthe subduing of sin; but yet he looketh that the chief help against it\ndoth lie in the pardon of it.  Suppose a man should stab his neighbour\nwith his knife, and afterwards burn his knife to nothing in the fire,\nwould this give him help against his murder?  No, verily,\nnothwithstanding this, his neck is obnoxious to the halter, yea, and his\nsoul to hell-fire.  But a pardon gives him absolute help: It is God that\njustifies; who shall condemn?  Rom. viii.  Suppose a man should live many\ndays in rebellion against God, and after that leave off to live any\nlonger so rebelliously, would this help him against the guilt which he\nhad contracted before?  No, verily; without remission there is no help,\nbut the rebel is undone.  Wherefore the first blessedness, yea, and that\nwithout which all other things cannot make one blessed, it lies in\npardon.  \u201cBlessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is\ncovered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin;\u201d\nPsalm xxxii.; Rom. iv.\n\nSuppose a man greatly sanctified and made holy; I say, suppose it: yet if\nthe sins before committed by him be not pardoned, he cannot be a blessed\nman.\n\nYet again, suppose a man should be caught up to heaven, not having his\nsins pardoned; heaven itself cannot make him a blessed man.  I suppose\nthese things\u2014not that they can be\u2014to illustrate my matter.  There can be\nno blessedness upon any man who yet remaineth unforgiven.  You see\ntherefore here, that there was much of the wisdom of the Holy Ghost in\nthis prayer of the Publican.  He was directed the right, the only, the\nnext way to shelter, where blessedness begins, even to mercy for the\npardon of his sins.  Alas! what would it advantage a traitor to be taken\nup into the king\u2019s coach, to be clothed with the king\u2019s royal robe, to\nhave put upon his finger the king\u2019s gold ring, and to be made to wear,\nfor the present, a chain of gold about his neck, if after all this the\nking should say unto him, But I will not pardon thy rebellion; thou shalt\ndie for thy treason?  Pardon, then, to him that loves life, is better,\nand more to be preferred and sought after, than all other things; yea, it\nis the highest wisdom in any sinner to seek after that first.\n\nThis therefore confuteth the blindness of some, and the hypocrisy of\nothers.  Some are so silly and so blind as quite to forget and look over\nthe pardon of sin, and to lay their happiness in some external\namendments, when, alas! poor wretches as they are, they abide under the\nwrath of God.  Or if they be not quite so foolish as utterly to forget\nthe forgiveness of sin, yet they think of it but in the second place;\nthey are for setting of sanctification before justification, and so seek\nto confound the order of God; and that which is worse unto them, they by\nso doing do what they can to keep themselves indeed from being sharers in\nthat great blessing of forgiveness of sins by grace.\n\nBut the Publican here was guided by the wisdom of heaven.  He comes into\nthe temple, he confesseth himself a sinner, and forthwith, without any\ndelay, before he removeth his foot from where he stands, craves help of\npardon; for he knew that all other things, if he remained in guilt, would\nnot help him against that damnation that belonged to a vile and\nunforgiven sinner.\n\nThis also confuteth the hypocrites, such as is our Pharisee here in the\ntext, that glory in nothing so much as that they are not as other men,\nnot unjust, no adulterer, no extortioner, nor even as this Publican; and\nthus miss of the forgiveness of sin; and if they have missed of the\nbeginning good, they shall never, as so standing, receive the second or\nthe third.  Justification, sanctification, glorification, they are the\nthree things, but the order of God must not be perverted.  Justification\nmust be first, because that comes to man while he is ungodly and a\nsinner.\n\nJustification cannot be where God has not passed a pardon.  A pardon,\nthen, is the first thing to be looked after by the sinner.  This the\nPharisee did not; therefore he went down to his house unjustified; he set\nthe stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face when he went to\ninquire of the Lord; and as he neglected, slighted, scorned, because he\nthought that he had no need of pardon, therefore it was given to the\npoor, needy, and miserable Publican, and he went away with the blessing.\n\nPublicans, since this is so weighty a point, let me exhort you that you\ndo not forget this prayer of your wise and elder brother, to wit, the\nPublican that went up into the temple to pray.  I say, forget it not,\nneither suffer any vain-glorious or self-conceited hypocrites with\nargument to allure you with their silly and deceitful tongues from this\nwholesome doctrine.  Remember that you are sinners as abominable as the\nPublican, wherefore do you, as you have him for your pattern, go to God,\nconfess, in all simple, honest, and self-abasing, your numerous and\nabominable sins; and be sure that in the very next place you forget not\nto ask for pardon, saying, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d  And\nremember that none but God can help you against, nor keep you from, the\ndamnation and misery that comes by sin.\n\n_Secondly_, As the Publican imploreth help, so notwithstanding the\nsentence of the law that is gone out against him, he saith to God, Be\nmerciful to me: and also in that he concludes himself a sinner.  I say,\nhe justifieth, he approveth of the sentence of the law, that was now gone\nout against him, and by which he now stood condemned in his own\nconscience before the tribunal of God\u2019s justice.  He saith not as the\nhypocrite, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me;\nor, What have we spoken so much against thee?  No, he is none of these\nmurmurs or complainers, but fairly falls before the law, witnesses,\njudge, and jury, and consenteth to the verdict, sentence, and testimony\nof each of them; Jer. ii. 36; Mal. ii. 13.\n\nTo illustrate this a little, suppose a malefactor should be arraigned\nbefore a judge, and that after the witnesses, jury, and judge, have all\ncondemned him to death for his fact, the judge again should ask, him what\nhe can say for himself why sentence of death should not pass upon him?\nNow, if he saith, Nothing, but good my lord, mercy; he confesseth the\nindictment, approveth of the verdict of the jury, and consenteth to the\njudgment of the judge.\n\nThe Publican therefore in crying, Mercy, justifieth the sentence of the\nlaw that was gone out against his sins.  He wrangleth not with the law,\nsaying, that was too severe; though many men do thus, saying, \u201cGod\nforbid; for then woe be to us.\u201d  He wrangleth not with the witness, which\nwas his own conscience; though some will buffet, smite, and stop its\nmouth, or command it to be silent.  He wrangleth not with the jury, which\nwere the prophets and apostles; though some men cannot abide to hear all\nthat they say.  He wrangleth not with the judge, nor sheweth himself\nirreverently before him; but in all humble gestures that could bespeak\nhim acquiescing with the sentence, he flieth to mercy for relief.\n\nNor is this alone the way of the Publican; but of other godly men before\nhis time.  When David was condemned, he justified the sentence and the\njudge, out of whose mouth it proceeded, and so fled for succour to the\nmercy of God; Psalm li.  When Shemaiah the prophet pronounced God\u2019s\njudgments against the princes of Judah for their sin, they said, \u201cThe\nLord is righteous.\u201d  When the church in the Lamentations had reckoned up\nseveral of her grievous afflictions wherewith she had been chastised,\nshe, instead of complaining, doth justify the Lord, and approve of the\nsentence that was passed upon her, saying, \u201cThe Lord is righteous; for I\nhave rebelled against his commandment.\u201d  So Daniel, after he had\nenumerated the evils that befel the church in his day, addeth, \u201cTherefore\nhath the Lord brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in\nall his works which he doth: for we obeyed not his voice;\u201d 2 Chron. xii.\n6, Lam. i. 18; Dan. ix. 14.\n\nAnd this is the case with our Publican.  He has transgressed a law that\nis holy, just, and good: the witness that accuseth him of this is God and\nhis conscience; he is also cast by the verdict of holy men; and all this\nhe knows, and implicitly confesses, even in that he directs his prayer\nunto his judge for pardon.  And it is one of the excellentest sights in\nthe world, to see or understand a sinner thus honestly receiving the\nsentence of the law that is gone out against him; to see and hear a\nPublican thus to justify God.  And this God would have men do for these\nreasons.\n\n1.  That it might be conspicuous to all that the Publican has need of\nmercy.  This is for the glory of the justice of God, because it\nvindicates it in its goings out against the Publican.  God loveth to do\nthings in justice and righteousness, when he goeth out against men,\nthough it be but such a going out against them as only tendeth to their\nconviction and conversion.  When he dealt with our father Abraham in this\nmatter, he called him to his foot, as here he doth the Publican.  And,\nsinner, if God counts thee worthy to inherit the throne of glory, he will\nbring thee hither.  But,\n\n2.  The Publican, by the power of conviction, stoops to, and falleth\nunder, the righteous sentence gone forth against him, that it might be\nalso manifest, that what afterward he shall receive is of the mere grace\nand sovereign goodness of God.  And indeed there is no way that doth more\nnaturally tend to make this manifest than this.  For thus; there is a man\nproceeded against for life by the law, and the sentence of death is, in\nconclusion, most justly and righteously passed upon him by the judge.\nSuppose now, that after this, this man lives, and is exalted to honour,\nenjoys great things, and is put into place of trust and power, and that\nby him that he has offended, even by him that did pass the sentence upon\nhim.\n\nWhat will all say, or what will they conclude, even upon the very first\nhearing of this story?  Will they not say,\u2014Well, whoever he was that\nfound himself wrapped up in this strange providence, must thank the mercy\nof a gracious prince; for all these things bespeak grace and favour.\nBut,\n\n3.  As the Publican falleth willingly under the sentence, and justifieth\nthe passing of it upon him; so by his flying to mercy for help, he\ndeclareth to all that he cannot deliver himself: he putteth help away\nfrom himself, or saith, It is not in me.\n\nThis, I say, is another thing included in this prayer, and it is a thing\ndistinct from that.  For it is possible for a man to justify, and fall\nunder, the sentence of the judge, and yet retain that with himself that\nwill certainly deliver him from that sentence when it has done its worst.\nMany have held up their hand, and cried Guilty, at the bar, and yet have\nfetched themselves off for all that; but then they have not pleaded mercy\n(for he that doth so, puts his life altogether into the hands of\nanother), but privilege or good deeds, either done or to be done by them.\nBut the Publican in our text puts all out of his own hand; and in effect\nsaith to that God before whom he went up into the temple to pray, Lord, I\nstand here condemned at the bar of thy justice, and that worthily, for\nthe sentence is good, and hath in righteousness gone out against me: nor\ncan I deliver myself: I heartily and freely confess I cannot; wherefore I\nbetake myself only to thy mercy, and do pray thee to forgive the\ntransgressions of me a sinner.  O how few be there of such kind of\npublicans, I mean of publicans thus made sensible, that come unto God for\nmercy!\n\nMercy, with most, is rather a compliment, I mean while they plead it with\nGod, than a matter of absolute necessity; they have not awfully, and in\njudgment and conscience, fallen under the sentence, nor put themselves\nout of all plea but the plea of mercy; indeed, thus to do is the effect\nof the proof of the vanity and emptiness of all experiments made use of\nbefore.\n\nNow, there is a twofold proof of experiments; the one is the result of\npractice, the other is the result of faith.\n\nThe woman with her bloody issue made her proof by practice, when she had\nspent all that she had upon physicians, and was nothing bettered, but\nrather grew worse; Mark v.  But our Publican here proves the emptiness\nand vanity of any other helps, by one cast of faith upon the contents of\nthe Bible, and by another look upon his present state of condemnation;\nwherefore he presently, without any more ado, condemneth all other helps,\nways, modes, or means of deliverance, and betakes himself only to the\nmercy of God: saying, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nAnd herein he sheweth wonderful wisdom.  For,\n\n1.  By this he thrusts himself under the shelter and blessing of the\npromise; and I am sure it is better and safer to do so, than to rely upon\nthe best of excellencies that this world can afford: Hos. xiv. 1\u20133.\n\n2.  He takes the ready way to please God: for God takes more delight in\nshewing of mercy than in any thing that we can do; Hos. vi. 6; Matt. ix.\n13; xii. 7.  Yea, and that also is the man that pleaseth him, even he\nthat hopes in his mercy; Psalm cxlvii. 11.  The Publican, therefore,\nwhatever the Pharisee might think, stood all this while upon sure ground,\nand had by far the start of him for heaven.  Alas! his dull head could\nlook no further than to the conceit of the pitiful beauty and splendour\nof his own filthy righteousness.  Nor durst he leave that to trust wholly\nto the mercy of God; but the Publican comes out, though in his sins, yet\nlike an awakened, enlightened, resolved man, and first abases himself,\nthen gives God the glory of his justice, and after that the glory of his\nmercy, by saying, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner;\u201d and thus in the ears\nof the angels he did ring the changes of heaven.  And,\n\n3.  The Publican, in his thus putting himself upon mercy, sheweth, that\nin his opinion there is more virtue in mercy to save, than there is in\nthe law and sin to condemn.  And although this is not counted a great\nmatter to do, while men are far from the law, and while their conscience\nis asleep within them; yet when the law comes near, and conscience is\nawake, who so tries it will find it a laborious work.  Cain could not do\nthus for his heart, no, nor Saul; nor Judas either.  This is another kind\nof thing than most men think it to be, or shall find it, whenever they\nshall behold God\u2019s angry face, and when they shall hear the words of his\nlaw.\n\nHowever, our Publican did it, and ventured his body, soul, and future\ncondition for ever on this bottom with other the saints and servants of\nGod, leaving the world to swim over the sea of God\u2019s wrath (if they will)\nin their weak and simple vessels of bulrushes, or to lean upon their\ncobweb-hold, when he shall arise to the judgment that he hath appointed.\n\nIn the mean time, pray God awaken us as he did the Publican; pray God\nenlighten us as he did the Publican; pray God grant us boldness to come\nto him as the Publican did; and also in that trembling spirit as he did,\nwhen he cried in the temple before him, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nThus having passed over his prayer, we come in the next place to his\nGESTURES; for in my judgment the right understanding of them will give us\nyet more conviction of the Publican\u2019s sense and awakening of spirit under\nthis present action of his.\n\nAnd I have observed many a poor wretch that hath readily had recourse to\nthe Publican\u2019s prayer, that never knew what the Publican\u2019s gestures, in\nthe presence of God, while in prayer before him, did mean.  Nor must any\nman be admitted to think, that those gestures of his were a custom, and a\nformality among the Jews in those days; for it is evident enough by the\ncarriage of the Pharisee, that it was below them and their mode, when\nthey came into the temple, or when they prayed any where else; and they\nin those days were counted for the best of men; and in religious matters\nmen were to imitate and take their examples at the hands of the best, not\nat the hands of the worst.\n\nThe Publican\u2019s gestures then were properly his own; caused by the guilt\nof sin, and by that dread of the majesty of God that was upon his spirit.\nAnd a comely posture it was, else Christ Jesus, the Son of God, would\nnever have taken that particular notice thereof as he did, nor have\nsmiled upon it so much as to take, and distinctly repeat it, as that\nwhich made his prayer the more weighty, also to be taken notice of.  Yea,\nin my opinion, the Lord Jesus committed it to record, for that he liked\nit, and for that it will pass for some kind of touchstone of prayer that\nis made in good sense of sin and of God, and of need of his goodness and\nmercy.  For verily, all these postures signify sense, sight of a lost\ncondition, and a heart in good earnest for mercy.\n\nI know that they may be counterfeited, and Christ Jesus knows who doth so\ntoo; but that will not hinder, or make weak or invalid what hath already\nbeen spoken about it.  But to forbear to make a further prologue, and to\ncome to the handling of particulars:\n\n\u201cAnd the Publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his\neyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast,\u201d &c.\n\nThree things, as I told you already, we may perceive in these words, by\nwhich his publican posture or gestures are set forth.\n\n1.  He stands \u201cafar off.\u201d\n\n2.  He \u201cwould not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.\u201d\n\n3.  He \u201csmote upon his breast,\u201d &c.\n\nFor the first of these, He stood afar off.  \u201cAnd the Publican standing\nafar off.\u201d  This is, I say, the first thing, the first posture of his\nwith which we are acquainted, and it informeth us of several things.\n\n_First_, That he came not with senselessness of the majesty of God when\nhe came to pray, as the Pharisee did, and as sinners commonly do.  For\nthis standing back, or afar off, declares, that the majesty of God had an\nawe upon his spirit; he saw whither, to whom, and for what, he was now\napproaching the temple.  It is said in the 20th of Exodus, that when the\npeople saw the thunderings and lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,\nand the mountain smoking (and all these were signs of God\u2019s terrible\npresence and dreadful majesty), they removed themselves, and \u201cstood afar\noff;\u201d Exod. xx. 18.  This behaviour, therefore, of the Publican did well\nbecome his present action, especially since, in his own eyes, he was yet\nan unforgiven sinner.  Alas! what is God\u2019s majesty to a sinful man but a\nconsuming fire?  And what is a sinful man in himself, or in his approach\nto God, but as stubble fully dry?\n\nHow then could the Publican do otherwise (than what he did) than stand\nafar off if he either thought of God or himself?  Indeed the people afore\nnamed, before they saw God in his terrible majesty, could scarcely be\nkept off from the mount with words and bounds, as it is now the case of\nmany: their blindness gives them boldness; their rudeness gives them\nconfidence; but when they shall see what the Publican saw, and felt, and\nunderstood, as he, they will pray and stand afar off even as these people\ndid.  They removed and stood afar off, and then fell to praying of Moses,\nthat this dreadful sight and sound might be taken from them.  And what if\nI should say, he stood afar off for fear of a blow, though he came for\nmercy, as it is said of them, \u201cThey stood afar off for fear of her\ntorments;\u201d Rev. xviii. 10, 18.\n\nI know what it is to go to God for mercy, and stand all that while\nthrough fear afar off; being possessed with this, will not God now smite\nme at once to the ground for my sins?  David thought something when he\nsaid as he prayed, \u201cCast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy\nHoly Spirit from me;\u201d Psalm li. 11.\n\nThere is none knows, but those that have them, what turns and returns,\nwhat coming on and going off, there is in the spirit of a man that indeed\nis awakened, and that stands awakened before the glorious Majesty in\nprayer.  The prodigal also made his prayer to his Father intentionally,\nwhile he was yet a great way off.  And so did the lepers too: \u201cAnd as he\nentered into a certain village there met him ten men that were lepers,\nwhich stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus,\nMaster, have mercy on us;\u201d Luke xvii. 12, 13.\n\nSee here, it has been the custom of praying men to keep their distance,\nand not to be rudely bold in rushing into the presence of the holy and\nheavenly Majesty, especially if they have been sensible of their own\nvileness and sins, as the prodigal, the lepers, and our poor Publican\nwas.  Yea, Peter himself, when upon a time he perceived more than\ncommonly he did of the majesty of Jesus his Lord, what doth he do?  \u201cWhen\nSimon Peter saw it (says the text), he fell down at Jesus\u2019 knees, saying,\nDepart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord;\u201d Luke v. 3\u20138.  Oh! when\nmen see God and themselves, it fills them with holy fear of the greatness\nof the majesty of God, as well as with love to, and desire after, his\nmercy.\n\nBesides, by his standing afar off, it might be to intimate that he now\nhad in mind, and with great weight upon his conscience, the infinite\ndistance that was betwixt God and him.  Men should know that, and tremble\nin the thoughts of it, when they are about to approach the omnipotent\npresence.\n\nWhat is poor sorry man, poor dust and ashes, that he should crowd it up,\nand go jostlingly into the presence of the great God\u2014especially since it\nis apparent the disproportion that is betwixt God and him?  Esther, when\nshe went to supplicate the king her husband for her people, made use\nneither of her beauty nor relation, nor the privileges of which she might\nhave had temptation to make use of, especially at such a time, and in\nsuch exigencies, as then did compass her about; but, I say, she made not\nuse of them to thrust herself into his presence, but knew, and kept her\ndistance, standing in the inward court of his palace until he held out\nthe golden sceptre to her; then Esther drew near, and touched the top\nthereof; Esth. v. 1, 2.\n\nMen, also, when they come into the presence of God, should know their\ndistance; yea, and shew that they know it too, by such gestures, and\ncarriages, and behaviour, that are seemly.  A remarkable saying is that\nof Solomon, \u201cKeep thy foot,\u201d saith he, \u201cwhen thou goest into the house of\nGod, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; for\nthey consider not that they do evil.\u201d  And as they should keep their\nfoot, so also he adds, \u201cBe not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine\nheart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and\nthou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few;\u201d Eccles. v. 1, 2.\n\nThree things the Holy Ghost exhorteth to in this text.\n\nThe one is, That we look to our feet, and not be forward to crowd into\nGod\u2019s presence.\n\nAnother is, That we should also look well to our tongues, that they be\nnot rash in uttering any thing before God.\n\nAnd the third is, Because of the infinite distance that is betwixt God\nand us, which is intimated by these words, \u201cFor God is in heaven, and\nthou upon earth.\u201d\n\nThe Publican therefore shewed great wisdom, holy shame, and humility, in\nthis brave gesture of his, namely, in his standing afar off when he went\nup into the temple to pray.  But this is not all.\n\n_Secondly_, The Publican, in standing afar off, left room for an Advocate\nand high-priest, a Day\u2019s-man, to come betwixt, to make peace between God\nand his poor creature.  Moses, the great mediator of the Old Testament,\nwas to go nigher to God than the rest of the elders, or those of the\npeople; Exod. xx. 21.  Yea, the rest of the people were expressly\ncommanded to worship, \u201cstanding afar off.\u201d  No man of the sons of Aaron\nthat had a blemish was to come nigh.  \u201cNo man that hath a blemish of the\nseed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the\nLord made by fire.  He shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his\nGod;\u201d Lev. xxi. 21.\n\nThe Publican durst not be his own mediator; he knew he had a blemish, and\nwas infirm, and therefore he stands back; for he knew that it was none of\nhim that his God had chosen to come near unto him, to offer \u201cthe fat and\nthe blood;\u201d Ezek. xliv. 13\u201315.  The Publican, therefore, was thus far\nright; he took not up the room himself, neither with his person nor his\nperformances, but stood back, and gave place to the High-priest that was\nto be intercessor.\n\nWe read, that when Zacharias went into the temple to burn incense, as at\nthe time his lot was, \u201cThe whole multitude of the people were praying\nwithout;\u201d Luke i. 9, 10.  They left him where he was, near to God,\nbetween God and them, mediating for them; for the offering of incense by\nthe chief-priest was a figurative making of intercession for the people,\nand they maintained their distance.\n\nIt is a great matter in praying to God, not to go too far, nor come too\nshort, in that duty, I mean in the duty of prayer; and a man is very apt\nto do one or the other.  The Pharisee went so far; he was too bold; he\ncame into the temple making such a ruffle with his own excellencies, that\nthere was in his thoughts no need of a Mediator.  He also went up so nigh\nto God, that he took up the room and place of the Mediator himself; but\nthis poor Publican, he knows his distance, and keeps it, and leaves room\nfor the High-priest to come and intercede for him with God.  He stood\nafar off: not too far off; for that is the room and place of unbelievers;\nand in that sense this saying is true, \u201cFor, lo, they that are far from\nthee shall perish;\u201d Psalm lxxiii. 27; that is, they whose unbelief hath\nset their hearts and affections more upon their idols, and that have been\nmade to cast God behind their backs, to follow and go a-whoring after\nthem.\n\nHitherto, therefore, it appears, that though the Pharisee had more\nrighteousness than the Publican, yet the Publican had more spiritual\nrighteousness than the Pharisee; and that though the Publican had a baser\nand more ugly outside than the Pharisee, yet the Publican knew how to\nprevail with God for mercy better than he.\n\nAs for the Publican\u2019s posture of standing in prayer, it is excusable, and\nthat by the very Father of the faithful himself: for Abraham stood\npraying when he made intercession for Sodom; Gen. xviii. 22, 23.  Christ\nalso alloweth it, where he saith, \u201cAnd when ye stand praying, forgive, if\nye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may\nforgive you your trespasses;\u201d Mark xi. 25.  Indeed there is no stinted\norder prescribed for our thus behaving of ourselves in prayer, whether\nkneeling, or standing, or walking, or lying, or sitting; for all these\npostures have been used by the godly.  Paul \u201ckneeled down and prayed;\u201d\nActs xx. 36.  Abraham and the Publican stood and prayed.  David prayed as\nhe walked; 2 Sam. xv. 30, 31.  Abraham prayed lying upon his face; Gen.\nxvii. 17,18.  Moses prayed sitting; Exod. xvii. 12.  And indeed prayer,\neffectual fervent prayer, may be, and often is, made unto God under all\nthese circumstances of behaviour: for God has not tied us up to any of\nthem; and he that shall tie himself, or his people, to any of these, doth\nmore than he hath warrant for from God: and let such take care of\ninnovating; it is the next way to make men hypocrites and dissemblers in\nthose duties in which they should be sincere.\n\nTrue, which of those soever a man shall choose to himself for the\npresent, to perform this solemn duty in, it is required of him, and God\nexpects it, that he should pray to him in truth, and with desire,\naffection, and hunger, after those things that with his tongue he maketh\nmention of before the throne of God.  And indeed without this, all is\nnothing.  But alas! how few be there in the world whose heart and mouth\nin prayer shall go together?  Dost thou, when thou askest for the Spirit,\nor faith, or love to God, to holiness, to saints, to the word, and the\nlike, ask for them with love to them, desire of them, hungering after\nthem?  Oh! this is a mighty thing! and yet prayer is no more before God,\nthan as it is seasoned with these blessed qualifications.  Wherefore it\nis said, that while men are praying, God is searching of the heart, to\nsee what is the meaning of the Spirit (or whether there be the Spirit and\nhis meaning in all that the mouth hath uttered, either by words, sighs,\nor groans), because it is by him, and through his help only, that any\nmake prayers according to the will of God; Rom. viii. 26, 27.  Whatever\nthy posture therefore shall be, see that thy prayers be pertinent and\nfervent, not mocking of thine own soul with words, while thou wantest,\nand art an utter stranger to, the very vital and living spirit of prayer.\n\nNow, our Publican had and did exercise the very spirit of prayer in\nprayer.  He prayed sensibly, seriously, affectionately, hungering,\nthirsting, and with longing after that for which with his mouth he\nimplored the God of heaven; his heart and soul was in his words, and it\nwas that which made his prayer PRAYER; even because he prayed in PRAYER;\nhe prayed inwardly as well as outwardly.\n\nDavid tells us, that God heard the voice of his supplication, the voice\nof his cry, the voice of his tears, and the voice of his roaring.  For\nindeed are all these acceptable.  Affection and fervent desire make them\nsound well in the ears of God.  Tears, supplications, prayers, cries, may\nbe all of them done in formality, hypocrisy, and from other causes, and\nto other ends, than that which is honest and right in God\u2019s sight: for\nGod would search and look after the voice of his tears, supplications,\nroarings, prayers, and cries.\n\nAnd if men had less care to please men, and more to please God, in the\nmatter and manner of praying, the world would be at a better pass than it\nis.  But this is not in man\u2019s power to help and to amend.  When the Holy\nGhost comes upon men with great conviction of their state and condition,\nand of the use and excellency of the grace of sincerity and humility in\nprayer, then, and not till then, will the grace of prayer be more prized,\nand the specious, flounting, complimentary lips of flatterers, be more\nlaid aside.  I have said it already, and will say it again, that there is\nnow-a-days a great deal of wickedness committed in the very duty of\nprayer; by words of which men have no sense by reaching after such\nconclusion and clenshes therein, as make their persons be admired; by\nstudying for, and labouring after, such enlargements as the spirit\naccompanieth not the heart in.  O Lord God, make our hearts upright in\nus, as in all points and parts of our profession, so in this solemn\nappointment of God!  \u201cIf I regard iniquity in my heart,\u201d said David, \u201cthe\nLord will not hear my prayer.\u201d  But if I be truly sincere, he will; and\nthen it is no matter whether I kneel, or stand, or sit, or lie, or walk;\nfor I shall do none of these, nor put up my prayers under any of these\ncircumstances, lightly, foolishly, and idly, but to beautify this gesture\nwith the inward working of my mind and spirit in prayer; that whether I\nstand or sit, walk or lie down, grace and gravity, humility and\nsincerity, shall make my prayer profitable, and my outward behaviour\ncomely in his eyes, with whom (in prayer) I now have to do.\n\nAnd had not our Publican been inwardly seasoned with these, Christ would\nhave taken but little pleasure in his modes and outward behaviour: but\nbeing so honest inwardly, and in the matter of his prayer, his gestures\nby that were made beauteous also; and therefore it is that our Lord so\ndelightfully delateth upon them, and draweth them out at length before\nthe eyes of others.\n\nI have often observed, that which is natural and so comely in one, looks\nodiously when imitated by another.  I speak as to gestures and actions in\npreaching and prayer.  Many, I doubt not, but will imitate the Publican,\nand that both in the prayer and gestures of the Publican, whose persons\nand actions will yet stink in the nostrils of him that is holy and just,\nand that searcheth the heart and the reins.\n\nWell, the Publican stood and prayed; he stood afar off, and prayed, and\nhis prayers came even to the ears of God.\n\n\u201cAnd the Publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes\nto heaven,\u201d &c.\n\nWe are now come to another of his postures.  He would not, says the text,\nso much as lift up his eyes to heaven.  Here, therefore, was another\ngesture added to that which went before; and a gesture that a great while\nbefore had been condemned by the Holy Ghost himself.  \u201cIs it such a fast\nthat I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul?  Is it to bow\ndown his head as a bulrush?\u201d Isa. lviii. 5.\n\nBut why condemned then, and smiled upon now?  Why?  Because done in\nhypocrisy then, and in sincerity now.  Hypocrisy, and a spirit of error,\nthat he shall take no pleasure in them; but sincerity, and honesty in\nduties, will make even them comely in the sight of men\u2014may I not say\nbefore God?  The Rechabites were not commanded of God, but of their\nfather, to do as they did; but, because they were sincere in their\nobedience thereto, even God himself maketh use of what they did, to\ncondemn the disobedience of the Jews; and, moreover, doth tell the\nRechabites at last, that they should not want a man to stand before him\nfor ever.  \u201cAnd Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus\nsaith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, because ye have obeyed the\ncommandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done\naccording unto all that he hath commanded you; therefore, thus saith the\nLord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not\nwant a man to stand before me for ever.\u201d\n\nHe would not lift up his eyes to heaven.  Why?  Surely because shame had\ncovered his face.  Shame will make a man blush and hang his head like a\nbulrush; shame for sin is a virtue, a comely thing; yea, a beauty-spot in\nthe face of a sinner that cometh to God for mercy.\n\nGod complains of the house of Israel, that they could sin, and that\nwithout shame; yea, and threateneth them too with sore repeated\njudgments, because they were not ashamed; it is in Jer. viii.  Their\ncrimes in general were, they turned every one to his course, as the horse\nrunneth into the battle.  In particular, they were such as rejected God\u2019s\nword; they loved this world, and set themselves against the prophets,\ncrying, \u201cPeace, peace,\u201d when they cried, \u201cJudgment, judgment!\u201d  And were\nnot ashamed when they had committed abomination; \u201cNay, they were not at\nall ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore shall they fall among\nthem that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down,\nsaith the Lord;\u201d ver. 12.  Oh! to stand, or sit, or lie, or kneel, or\nwalk before God in prayer, with blushing cheeks for sin, is one of the\nmost excellent sights that can be seen in the world.\n\nWherefore the church taketh some kind of heart to herself in that she\ncould lie down in her shame; yea, and makes that a kind of an argument\nwith God to prove that her prayers did come from her heart, and also that\nhe would hear them; Jer. iii. 22\u201325.\n\nShame for sin argueth sense of sin, yea, a right sense of sin, a godly\nsense of sin.  Ephraim pleads this when under the hand of God: I was\n(saith he) \u201cashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the\nreproach of my youth.\u201d  But what follows?  \u201cIs Ephraim my dear son? is he\na pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember\nhim still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will surely have\nmercy upon him, saith the Lord;\u201d Jer. xxxi. 19, 20.\n\nI know that there is a shame that is not the spirit of an honest heart,\nbut that rather floweth from sudden surprisal, when the sinner is\nunawares taken in the act\u2014in the very manner.  And thus sometimes the\nhouse of Israel were taken: and then, when they blushed, their shame is\ncompared to the shame of a thief.  \u201cAs the thief is ashamed when he is\nfound, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their\nprinces, and their priests, and their prophets.\u201d\n\nBut where were they taken, or about what were they found?  Why, they were\nfound \u201csaying to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a stone, thou hast\nbrought me forth.\u201d  God catched them thus doing; and this made them\nashamed, even as the thief is ashamed when the owner doth catch him\nstealing his horse.\n\nBut this was not the Publican\u2019s shame.  This shame brings not a man into\nthe temple to pray, to stand willingly, and to take shame before God in\nprayer.  This shame makes one rather to fly from his face, and to count\none\u2019s self most at ease when farthest off from God; Jer. ii. 26, 27.\n\nThe Publican\u2019s shame, therefore, which he demonstrated by hanging down\nhis head, was godly and holy, and much like that of the prodigal, when he\nsaid, \u201cFather, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no\nmore worthy to be called thy son;\u201d Luke xv. 21.  I suppose that his\npostures were much the same with the Publican\u2019s, as were his prayers, for\nthe substance of them.  O however grace did work in both to the same end!\nthey were both of them, after a godly manner, ashamed of their sins.\n\n\u201cHe would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.\u201d\n\nHe could not, he would not: which yet more fully makes it appear, that it\nwas shame, not guilt only, or chiefly, though it is manifest enough that\nhe had guilt; by his crying, \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d  I say,\nguilt was not the chief cause of hanging down his head, because it saith,\nhe _would_ not; for when guilt is the cause of stooping, it lieth not in\nthe will, or in the power thereof, to help one up.\n\nDavid tells us, that when he was under guilt, his iniquities were gone\nover his head: as an heavy burden, they were too heavy for him; and that\nwith them he was bowed down greatly.  Or, as he says in another place,\n\u201cMine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look\nup;\u201d Psalm xxxviii.; xl.  I am not able to do it: guilt disableth the\nunderstanding, and conscience; shame makes all willingly fall at the feet\nof Christ.\n\nHe would not.  He knew what he was, what he had been, and should be, if\nGod had not mercy upon him; yea, he knew also that God knew what he was,\nhad been, and would be, if mercy prevented not; wherefore, thought he,\nWherefore should I lift up the head?  I am no righteous man, no godly\nman, I have not served God, but Satan; this I know, this God knows, this\nangels know, wherefore I will not lift up the head.  It is as much as to\nsay, I will not be an hypocrite, like the Pharisee: for lifting up of the\nhead signifies innocency and harmlessness of life, or good conscience,\nand the testimony thereof, under and in the midst of all accusations.\nWherefore this was the counsel of Zophar to Job\u2014\u201cIf,\u201d saith he, \u201cthou\nprepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hand towards him; if iniquity\nbe in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy\ntabernacles.  For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea,\nthou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear;\u201d Job xi. 13\u201315.\n\nThis was not the Publican\u2019s state: he had lived in lewdness and villany\nall his days; nor had he prepared his heart to seek the Lord God of his\nfathers; he had not cleansed his heart nor hands from violence, nor done\nthat which was lawful and right.  He only had been convinced of his evil\nways, and was come into the temple as he was, all foul, and in his filthy\ngarments, and amidst his pollutions; how then could he be innocent, holy,\nor without spot? and, consequently, how could he lift up his face to God?\nI remember what Abner said to Asahel, \u201cTurn thee aside (said he) from\nfollowing me, wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then\nshould I hold up my face to Joab, thy brother?\u201d  2 Sam. ii. 22.\n\nAs if he had said, If I kill thee, I shall blush, be ashamed, and hang my\nhead like a bulrush the next time I come into the company of thy brother.\n\nThis was the Publican\u2019s case: he was guilty, he had sinned, he had\ncommitted a trespass; and now being come into the temple, into the\npresence of that God whose laws he had broken, and against whom he had\nsinned, how could he lift up his head? how could he do it?  No, it better\nbecame him to take his shame, and to hang his head in token of guilt; and\nindeed he did, and did it to purpose too, for he would not lift up, no\nnot so much as his eyes to heaven.\n\nTrue, some would have done it; the Pharisee did it; though if he had\nconsidered that hypocrisy and the leaning to his own righteousness had\nbeen a sin, he would have found as little cause to have done it as did\nthe Publican himself.  But, I say he did it, and sped therein; he went\ndown to his house, as he came up into the temple, a poor unjustified\nPharisee, whose person and prayer were both rejected; because, like the\nwhore of whom we read in the Proverbs, after he had practised all manner\nof hypocrisy, he comes into the temple and wipes his mouth, and saith, \u201cI\nhave done no wickedness;\u201d Prov. xxx. 20.  He lifts up his head, his face,\nhis eyes, to heaven; he struts, he vaunts himself; he swaggers, he\nvapours, and cries up himself, saying, \u201cGod I thank thee that I am not as\nother men are.\u201d\n\nTrue, had he come and stood before a stock or stone, he might have said\nthus, and not have been reprehended; for such are gods that see not, nor\nhear, neither do they understand.  But to come before the true God, the\nliving God, the God that fills heaven and earth by his presence, and that\nknows the things that come into the mind of man, even every one of them;\nI say, to come into his house, to stand before him, and thus to lift up\nhis head and eyes in such hypocrisy before him, this was abominable, this\nwas to tempt God, and to prove him, yea, to challenge him to know what\nwas in man, if he could, even as those who said, \u201cHow doth God (see)\nknow? can he judge through the dark cloud?\u201d  Job xxii. 13; Psalm lxxiii.\n11.\n\nBut the Publican\u2014no\u2014he would not do this; he would not lift up so much as\nhis eyes to heaven.  As who should say, O Lord, I have been against thee\na traitor and a rebel, and like a traitor and a rebel before thee will I\nstand.  I will bear my shame before thee in the presence of the holy\nangels; yea, I will prevent thy judging of me by judging myself in thy\nsight, and will stand as condemned before thee before thou passest\nsentence upon me.\n\nThis is now for a sinner to go to the end of things.  For what is God\u2019s\ndesign in the work of conviction for sin, and in his awakening of the\nconscience about it?  What is his end, I say, but to make the sinner\nsensible of what he hath done, and that he might unfeignedly judge\nhimself for the same.  Now this our Publican doth; his will therefore is\nnow subjected to the word of God, and he justifies him in all his ways\nand works towards him.  Blessed be God for any experience of these\nthings.\n\n\u201cHe would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.\u201d  He knew by his\ndeeds and deservings that he had no portion there; nor would he divert\nhis mind from the remembering, and from being affected with the evil of\nhis ways.\n\nSome men, when they are under the guilt and conviction of their evil\nlife, will do what they can to look any way, and that on purpose to\ndivert their minds, and to call them off from thinking on what they have\ndone; and by their thus doing, they bring many evils more upon their\nsouls; for this is a kind of striving with God, and a shewing a dislike\nto his ways.  Would not you think, if when you are shewing your son or\nyour servant his faults, if he should do what he could to divert and take\noff his mind from what you are saying, that he striveth against you, and\nsheweth dislike of your doings?  What else mean the complaints of masters\nand of fathers in this matter?  \u201cI have a servant, I have a son, that\ndoth contrary to my will.\u201d  \u201cO but why do you not chide them for it?\u201d\nThe answer is, \u201cSo I do; but they do not regard my words; they do what\nthey can, even while I am speaking, to divert their minds from my words\nand counsels.\u201d  Why, all men will cry out, \u201cThis is base; this is worthy\nof great rebuke; such a son, such a servant, deserveth to be shut out of\ndoors, and so made to learn better breeding by want and hardship.\u201d\n\nBut the Publican would not divert his mind from what at present God was\nabout to make him sensible of, no, not by a look on the choicest object;\nhe would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.  They are but bad\nscholars whose eyes, when their master is teaching of them, are wandering\noff their books.\n\nGod saith unto men, when he is teaching them to know the evil of their\nways, as the angel said to the prophet when he came to shew him the\npattern of the temple, \u201cSon of man,\u201d says he, \u201cbehold with thine eyes,\nand hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew\nthee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought\nhither;\u201d Ezek. xl. 4.  So to the intent that God might shew to the\nPublican the evil of his ways, therefore was he brought under the power\nof convictions, and the terrors of the law; and he also, like a good\nlearner, gave good heed unto that lesson that now he was learning of God;\nfor he would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven.\n\nLooking downwards doth ofttimes bespeak men very ponderous and deep in\ntheir cogitations; also that the matter about which in their minds they\nare now concerned hath taken great hold of their spirits.  The Publican\nhath now new things, great things, and long-lived things, to concern\nhimself about: his sins, the curse, with death, and hell, began now to\nstare him in the face: wherefore it was no time now to let his heart, or\nhis eyes, or his cogitations, wander, but to be fixed, and to be\nvehemently applying of himself (as a sinner) to the God of heaven for\nmercy.\n\nFew know the weight of sin.  When the guilt thereof takes hold of the\nconscience, it commands homewards all the faculties of the soul.  No man\ncan go out or off now: now he is wind-bound, or, as Paul says, \u201ccaught:\u201d\nnow he is made to possess bitter days, bitter nights, bitter hours,\nbitter thoughts; nor can he shift them, for his sin is ever before him.\nAs David said, \u201cFor I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever\nbefore me,\u201d\u2014in my eye, and sticketh fast in every one of my thoughts;\nPsalm li. 3.\n\n\u201cHe would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his\nbreast.\u201d  This was the third and last of his gestures; he \u201cSmote upon his\nbreast,\u201d to wit, with his hand, or with his fist.  I read of several\ngestures with the hand and foot, according to the working and passions of\nthe mind.  It is said, \u201cBalak smote his hands together,\u201d being angry\nbecause that Balaam had blessed and not cursed for him the children of\nIsrael.\n\nGod says also, that he had smitten his hands together at the sins of the\nchildren of Israel.  God also bids the prophet stamp with his feet, and\nsmite with his hand upon his thigh (Num. xxiv. 10; Ezek. xxii. 13; vi.\n11; xxi. 12), upon sundry occasions, and at several enormities; but the\nPublican here is said to smite upon his breast.  And,\n\n1.  Smiting upon the breast betokeneth sorrow for something done.  This\nis an experiment common among men; and indeed, therefore (as I take it),\ndoth our Lord Jesus put him under this gesture in the act and exercise of\nhis repentance, because it is that which doth most lively set it forth.\n\nSuppose a man comes to great damage for some folly that he has wrought,\nand he be made sorrowful for (being and) doing such folly, there is\nnothing more common than for such a man (if he may) to walk to and fro in\nthe room where he is, with head hung down, fetching ever and anon a\nbitter sigh, and smiting himself upon the breast in his dejected\ncondition: \u201cBut smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a\nsinner.\u201d\n\n2.  Smiting upon the breast is sometimes a token of indignation and\nabhorrence of something thought upon.  I read in Luke, that when Christ\nwas crucified, those spectators that stood to behold the barbarous usage\nthat he endured at the hands of his enemies, smote their breasts and\nreturned.  \u201cAnd all the people (says Luke) that came together to that\nsight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and\nreturned;\u201d Luke xxiii. 48.  Smote their breasts; that is, in token of\nindignation against, and abhorrence of, the cruelty that was used to the\nSon of God.\n\nHere also we have our Publican smiting upon his breast in token of\nindignation against, and abhorrence of, his former life; and indeed,\nwithout indignation against, and abhorrence of, his former life, his\nrepentance had not been good.  Wherefore the apostle doth make\nindignation against sin, and against ourselves, one of the signs of true\nrepentance; 2 Cor. vii. 11; and his indignation against sin in general,\nand against his former life in particular, was manifested by his smiting\nupon the breast, even as Ephraim\u2019s smiting upon the thigh was a sign and\ntoken of his: \u201cSurely (says he), after that I was turned, I repented: and\nafter that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea,\neven confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth;\u201d Jer. xxxi.\n19.  Man, when he vehemently dislikes a thing, is very apt to shew a\ndislike to that thing by this or another outward gesture; as in snuffing\nor snorting at it, or in deriding; or, as some say, in blowing of their\nnoses at it; Ezek. viii. 17; Mal. i. 13.  But the Publican here chooseth\nrather to use this most solemn posture; for smiting upon the breast seems\nto imply a more serious, solemn, grave way or manner of dislike, than any\nof those last mentioned do.\n\n3.  Smiting upon the breast seems to intimate a quarrel with the heart,\nfor beguiling, deluding, flattering, seducing, and enticing of him to\nsin; for as conviction for sin begets in man (I mean if it be thorough) a\nsense of the sore and plague of the heart, so repentance (if it be right)\nbegets in man an outcry against the heart; forasmuch as by that light, by\nwhich repentance takes occasion, the sinner is made to see that the heart\nis the fountain and well-spring of sin.  \u201cFor from within, out of the\nheart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, covetousness,\u201d &c.; Mark\nvii. 21\u201323.  And hence it is that commonly young converts do complain so\nof their hearts, calling them wicked, treacherous, deceitful, desperate\nones.\n\nIndeed, one difference between true and false repentance lieth in this.\nThe man that truly repents crieth out of his heart; but the other, as\nEve, upon the serpent, or something else.  And that the Publican\nperceived his heart to be naught, I conclude, by his smiting upon his\nbreast.\n\n4.  Smiting upon the breast seems to intimate one apprehensive of some\nnew, sudden, strange, and amazing thing; as when a man sees some strange\nsight in the air, or heareth some sudden or dismal sound in the clouds;\nwhy, as he is struck into a deep damp in his mind, so it is a wonder if\nhe can keep or hold back from smiting upon his breast.\n\nNow, oftentimes a sight of God and sense of sin comes to the sinner like\na flash of lightning (not for short continuance, but) for suddeness, and\nso for surprisal; so that the sinner is struck, taken and captivated to\nhis own amazement, with what so unexpectedly is come upon him.  It is\nsaid of Paul at his conversion, that when conviction of his bad life took\nfast hold of his conscience, he trembled, and was astonished (Acts ix.\n6); and although we read not of any particular circumstance of his\nbehaviour under his conviction outwardly, yet it is almost impossible but\nhe must have had some, and those of the most solid sort.  For there is\nsuch a sympathy betwixt the soul and the body, that the one cannot be in\ndistress or comfort, but the other must partake of and also signify the\nsame.  If it be comfort, then it is shewn by leaping, skipping,\ncheerfulness of the countenance, or some other outward gesture.  If it be\nsorrow or heaviness of spirit, then that is shewed by the body, in\nweeping, sighing, groaning, shaking of the head, a louring countenance,\nstamping, smiting upon the thigh or breast, as here the Publican did.\n\nWe must not, therefore, look upon these outward actions or gestures of\nthe Publican to be empty, insignificant things; but to be such, that in\ntruth did express and shew the temper, frame, and complexion of his soul.\nFor Christ, the wisdom of God, hath mentioned them to that very end, that\nin and by them might be held forth, and that men might see as in a glass,\nthe very emblem of a converted and truly penitent sinner.  He \u201csmote upon\nhis breast.\u201d\n\n5.  Smiting upon the breast is sometimes to signify a mixture of\ndistrust, joined with hope.  And, indeed, in young converts, hope and\ndistrust, or a degree of despair, do work and answer one another, as doth\nthe noise of the balance of the watch in the pocket.  Life and death is\nalways the motion of the mind then, and this noise continues until faith\nis stronger grown, and until the soul is better acquainted with the\nmethods and ways of God with a sinner.  Yea, were but a carnal man in a\nconvert\u2019s heart, and could see, he could discern these two, to wit, hope\nand fear, to have continual motion in the soul; wrestling and opposing\none another, as doth light and darkness in striving for the victory.\n\nAnd hence it is that you find such people so fickle and uncertain in\ntheir spirits; now on the mount, then in the valleys; now in the\nsunshine, then in the shade: now warm, then frozen; now bonny and blithe,\nthen in a moment pensive and sad, as thinking of a portion nowhere but in\nhell.  This will cause smiting on the breast; nor can I imagine that the\nPublican was as yet farther than thus far in the Christian\u2019s progress.\n\n6.  Smiting upon the breast seems to intimate, that the party so doing is\nvery apprehensive of some great loss that he has sustained, either by\nnegligence, carelessness, foolishness, or the like.  And this is the way\nin which men do lose their souls.  Now, to lose a thing, a great thing,\nthe only choice thing that a man has, negligently, carelessly, foolishly,\nor the like, why, it puts aggravations into the thoughts of the loss that\nthe man has sustained, and aggravations into the thoughts of them go out\nof the soul, and come in upon a sudden, even as the bailiff or the king\u2019s\nserjeant-at-arms, and at every appearance of them, makes the soul start;\nand starting, it smites upon the breast.\n\nI might multiply particulars; but to be brief, we have before us a\nsensible soul, a sorrowful soul, a penitent soul; one that prays indeed,\nthat prays sensibly, affectionately, effectually; one that sees his loss,\nthat fears and trembles before God in consideration of it, and one that\nknows no way but the right way, to secure himself from perishing, to wit,\nby having humble and hearty recourse to the God of heaven for mercy.\n\nI should now come to speak something by way of use and application: but\nbefore I do that, I will briefly draw up, and present you with a few\nconclusions that in my judgment do naturally flow from the text;\ntherefore in this place I will read over the text again.\n\n\u201cTwo men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a\nPublican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank\nthee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,\nor even as this Publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all\nthat I possess.  And the Publican standing afar off would not lift up so\nmuch as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be\nmerciful to me a sinner.\u201d\n\nFrom these words I gather these several conclusions, with these\ninferences.\n\n1.  It doth not always follow, that they that pray do know God, or love\nhim, or trust in him.  This conclusion is evident by the Pharisee in the\ntext; he prayed, but he knew not God, he loved not God, he trusted not in\nGod; that is, he knew him not in his Son, nor loved, nor trusted in him.\nHe was, though a praying man, far off from this.\n\nWhence it may be inferred, that those that pray not at all cannot be\ngood, cannot know, love, or trust in God.  For if the star, though it\nshine, is not the sun, then surely a clod of dirt cannot be the sun.\nWhy, a praying man doth as far outstrip a non-praying man as a star\noutstrips a clod of earth.  A non-praying man lives like a beast.  \u201cThe\nox knows his owner, and the ass his master\u2019s crib; but this man doth not\nknow, but this man doth not consider;\u201d Isa. i. 3.  The prayerless man is\ntherefore of no religion, except he be an Atheist, or an Epicurean.\nTherefore the non-praying man is numbered among the heathens, and among\nthose that know not God, and is appointed and designed by the sentence of\nthe word to the fearful wrath of God; Psal. lxxix. 6; Jer. x. 25.\n\n2.  A second conclusion is, That the man that prays, if in his prayer he\npleads for acceptance, either in whole or in part, for his own good\ndeeds, is in a miserable state.  This also is gathered from the Pharisee\nhere; he prayed, but in this prayer he pleaded his own good deeds for\nacceptance, that is, of his person, and therefore went down to his house\nunjustified.  And he is in this condition that doth thus.  The conclusion\nis true, forasmuch as the Pharisee mentioned in the parable is not so\nspoken of for the sake of that sect of men, but to caution, forewarn, and\nbid all men take heed, that they by doing as he, procure not their\nrejection of God, and be sent away from his presence unjustified.  I do\ntherefore infer from hence, that if he that pleadeth his own good doing\nfor personal acceptance with God be thus miserable, then he that teacheth\nmen so to do is much more miserable.\n\nWe always conclude, that a ring-leader in an evil way is more\nblame-worthy than those that are led of him.  This falls hard upon the\nleading Socinians and others, who teach that men\u2019s works make their\npersons accepted of God.\n\nTrue, they say, through Christ; but that is brought in merely to delude\nthe simple with, and is an horrible lie; for we read not in all the word\nof God as to personal justification in the sight of God from the curse\n(and that is the question under consideration), that it must be by man\u2019s\nrighteousness as made prevalent by Christ\u2019s, but contrariwise, by his and\nhis only, without the deeds, works, or righteousness of the law, which is\nour righteousness.  Wherefore, I say, the teachers and leaders of this\ndoctrine have the greater sin.\n\n3.  A third conclusion is, They that use high and flaunting language in\nprayer, their simplicity and godly sincerity is to be questioned as to\nthe doing of that duty sincerely.  This still flows from our text; the\nPharisee greatly used this: for higher and more flaunting language can\nhardly be found than in the Pharisee\u2019s mouth; nor will ascribing to God\nby the same mouth laud and praise help the business at all: for to be\nsure, where the effect is base and rotten, the cause cannot be good.\n\nThe Pharisee would hold himself that he was not as other men, and then\ngives thanks to God for this: but the conclusion was most vilely false,\nand therefore the praise for it could not but be foolish, vain, and\nfrivolous.  Whence I infer, that if to use such language in prayer is\ndangerous, then to affect the use thereof is yet more dangerous.  Prayer\nmust be made with humble hearts and sensible words, and of that we have\ntreated before; wherefore high, flaunting, swelling words of vanity,\nbecome not a sinner\u2019s mouth; no, not at any time; much less when he comes\nto, and presents himself before God in that solemn duty of prayer.  But,\nI say, there are some that so affect the Pharisee\u2019s mode, that they\ncannot be well if in some sort or other they be not in the practice of\nit, not knowing what they say, nor whereof they affirm; but these are\ngreatly addicted to hypocrisy and desire of vain-glory, especially if the\nsound of their words be within the reach of other men\u2019s ears.\n\n4.  A fourth conclusion is, That reformation and amendment, though good,\nand before men, are nothing as to justification with God.  This is\nmanifest by the condition of our Pharisee: he was a reformed man, a man\nbeyond others for personal righteousness, yet he went out of the temple\nfrom God unjustified; his works came to nothing with God.  Hence I infer,\nthat the man that hath nothing to commend him to God of his own, yet\nstands as fair before God for justification, and so acceptance, as any\nother man in the world.\n\n5.  A fifth conclusion is, It is the sensible sinner, the self-bemoaning\nsinner, the self-judging sinner, the self-abhorring sinner, and the\nself-condemning sinner, whose prayers prevail with God for mercy.  Hence\nI infer, that one reason why men make so many prayers, and prevail no\nmore with God is, because their prayers are rather the floatings of\nPharisaical fancies than the fruits of sound sense of sin, and sincere\ndesires of enjoying God in mercy, and in the fruits of the Holy Ghost.","title":"The Pharisee and the Publican","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":57120}