Category Archives: Obedience

Edward Polhill, Obedience Prepares One for Suffering

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in affliction, Edward Polhill, Obedience, Uncategorized

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(The previous post in this series on Edward Polhill’s A Preparation for Suffering in an Evil Day may be found here )

 

Polhill next explains that obedience to God’s will before we suffer, will prepare us to persevere through suffering when it comes. We are fitted to God’s determination for our life through obedience, that obedience then becomes the basis for submitting to God’s will in suffering.

He proves this point with six consideration:

First, obedience is the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life: this supernatural work of the Spirit in obedience leads to the same supernatural work of the Spirit to go through suffering:

Again, the Holy Spirit, which makes good men do God’s will, will enable them to suffer it too. St. Paul took pleasure in persecutions, because, when he was weak, then he was strong, (2 Cor. 12:10); that is, the Holy Spirit did strengthen his inward man to bear the cross. The Holy Spirit in the saints is a well of water, springing up to everlasting life, (John 4:14; 1 Peter 4:14).

Second, we must believe, because God has commanded: that it is enough. Having been fitted to obey, we are fit to suffer at God’s determination.)

Third,

True obedience makes us to grow up into Christ the head, and to be of near alliance to him. It makes us to grow up into Christ the head, (Eph. 4:15). Obedience, being the exercise of all graces, brings us into a near union with Christ, and makes us more and more like to him: the more we act our love, meekness, mercy, goodness, or any grace, the more we are united to him and incorporated with him; nay, true obedience makes us to be of near alliance to him. (Luke 8:20-21)….St. Paul bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, (2 Cor. 4:10); and the allies of Christ must be ready, at God’s call, to suffer with him.

Fourth, suffering well will take strength; we can only increase in such strength through obedience:

True obedience produces an increase of grace and spiritual strength. Obedience is a christian’s daily walk; the more he exercises himself to godliness, the more grace he hath in his soul. …Such an obedience as this admirably disposes a man for suffering. The greater his stock of grace is, the better will he hold out in the straits of the world. The more strength he hath in the inner man, the more able he will be to bear the burden of the cross:

Fifth, “True obedience obtains the gracious presence of God to help and comfort good men in the doing his will.”

Sixth, if we are in the way of obedience, we are on the way to God, and thus will endure suffering on that way:

True obedience is the way to heaven: those blessed ones, that do the commands of God, “have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city,” (Rev. 22:14). The more obedient a man is to the divine will, the richer entrance he hath into the blessed kingdom. After sowing to the Spirit comes the crop of eternal glory; after walking in holy obedience, comes the blessed end of life and immortality…..When Basil the great was threatened with banishment, and death, he was not at all moved at it: banishment is nothing to him that hath heaven for his country; neither is death any thing to one to whom it is the way to life: He that is in the way to heaven hath great reason to break through all difficulties to get thither.

 Edward Polhill, The Works of Edward Polhill (London: Thomas Ward and Co., 1844), 352–354.

 

Thomas Manton on helps to obedience

15 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Obedience, Psalms, Sanctification, Sanctifictation, Theology of Biblical Counseling, Thomas Manton

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Thou has commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Ps. 119:4

In this fifth sermon on the 119th Psalm, Manton begins by providing a help to obedience. There would be no need to speak of obedience, if it were “natural” to use. What then keeps us from obedience? Manton begins here:

Doctrine 1: To gain the heart to full obedience, it is good to consider the authority of God in his word.

Manson makes three points: the first two concern our benefit in obedience; the third, the necessity of obedience.

Our profit:  Obedience to God’s commands is both reasonable and profitable: our good lies in in obedience:

First, it is reasonable to obey God. “If we were left at our liberty, we should take up the ways of God rather than any other: Rom. vii. 12, “The commandment is holy, just, and good.”

Second, it is to our benefit to obey God, both in this life — and more even more so at the judgment. Obedience, “will bring in a full reward for the future.”

God commands:

The next motive is that of the text, to urge the command of God. It is a course enjoined and imposed upon us by our sovereign lawgiver. It is not in our choice, as if it were an indifferent thing whether we will walk in the laws of God or not, but of absolute necessity, unless we renounce the authority of God.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 39.

He then supports this point with three considerations:

First, God is not our equal: He is our creator, therefore he has the right to command. He is our judge and therefore has the power to enforce his commands by punishment or reward.

Second, God has not suggested but commanded:

Unless you mean to renounce the sovereign majesty of God, and put him besides the throne, and break out into open rebellion against him, you must do what he hath commanded: 1 Tim. 1:9, ‘Charge them that be rich in the world,’ &c., not only advise but charge them. And Titus 2:15, ‘These things exhort, and rebuke with all authority.’ God will have the creatures know that he expects this duty and homage from them.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 40.

Third, God has given us precise directions that must be followed, “precepts”.

Christians, if we had the awe of God’s authority upon our hearts, what kind of persons would we be at all times, in all places, and in all company? what a check would this be to a proud thought, a light word, or a passionate speech?—what exactness would we study in our conversations, had we but serious thoughts of the sovereign majesty of God, and of his authority forbidding these things in the word!

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

At this point, Manton stops and considers the various hesitations, doubts, questions or weaknesses which could beset his hearers. He asks, Why should I consider the authority of God? This is a key point of the best preaching: it does not merely drop information before the hearer, but it helps the hearer process in the information. The preacher anticipates questions, uncovers motives, et cetera.

The very best preaching and the very best counseling are the same: helping another to understand, to digest, to live in accordance with God’s will.

1  We take God without the seriousness deserved: it shows in how we live:

Because then the heart would not be so loose, off and on in point of duty; when a thing is counted arbitrary (as generally we count so of strictness), the heart hangs off more from God. When we press men to pray in secret, to be full of good works, to meditate of God, to examine conscience, to redeem time, to be watchful, they think these be counsels of perfection, not rules of duty, enforced by the positive command of God; therefore are men so slight and careless in them. But now, when a man hath learned to urge a naughty heart with the authority of God, and charge them in the name of God, he lies more under the awe of duty. Hath God said I must search and try my ways, and shall I live in a constant neglect of it?

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

2  Obedience requires appropriate fear: disobedience comes from taking the commands of God too lightly:

The heart is never right until we be brought to fear a commandment more than any inconveniencies whatsoever. To a wicked man there seems to be nothing so light as a command, and therefore he breaks through against checks of conscience. But a man that hath the awe of God upon him, when mindful of God’s authority, he fears a command

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

3 If God has commanded the duty, then God will make obedience possible. We need not doubt our ability, because God stands behind the obedience. If someone thinks they will fail, they almost certainly will:

Many times we are doubtful of success, and so our hands are weakened thereby. We forbear duty, because we do not know what will come of it. Now, a sense of God’s authority and command doth fortify the heart against these discouragements

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

4  The purpose or profit behind some commands are not immediately obvious. Why should God command that I not eat from this tree? Why should God command such and such a morality, a behavior? Why should God command faith? We do not need to quibble at God’s reasons when we know that it is God who commands.

5  God does not need our bare behavior. When God commands us he is seeking the  voluntary submission of our will to his:

Obedience is never right but when it is done out of a conscience of God’s authority, intuitu voluntatis. The bare sight of God’s will should be reason enough to a gracious heart. It is the will of God; it is his command, So it is often urged: 1 Thes. 4:3, the apostle bids them follow holiness, ‘for this is the will of God, your sanctification.’ And servants should be faithful in their burdensome and hard labours; 1 Peter 2:15, ‘For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.’ And 1 Thes. 5:18, ‘In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ That is argument enough to a godly Christian, that God hath signified his will and good pleasure, though the duty were never so cross to his own desires and interests. They obey simply for the commandment sake, without any other reason and inducement.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 42.

Study Guide, The Mortification of Sin, Chapter 12

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Glory, John Owen, Mortification, Obedience, Sanctifictation

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The previous post in this series may be found here

 

EIGHTHLY, Use and exercise thyself to such meditations as may serve to fill thee at all times with self-abasement and thoughts of your own vileness; as,—

 

Kaipic, p. 110.

Warning: This direction is easily misunderstand, and if misunderstood, will have precisely the opposite effect as intended by Owen.

When we read such a direction, we could easily begin to think about ourselves, to direct attention to ourselves. Owen is trying to push our attention out of ourselves and onto Christ.

So we will need to first unpack some of Owen’s language. First the word “vile”: there is a nuance of this word which may difficult for us to capture at this distance in time. Here is a quotation from the Authorized Version of the Bible which will help:

20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:20–21 (AV)

“Vile” is contrasted with the glorious body will have in the future. It is the normal state of a human being on the Genesis 3 side of the Fall. It does not mean a peculiarly vile human being — it means a normal human being. The human being is “vile” in contrast to (1) what a human being should be; and (2) implicitly in contrast to the glory of God.

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It Creates a New Existence

12 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, Faith, Obedience, Self-Denial

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Following Christ means taking certain steps. The first step, which responds to the call, separates the followers from their previous existence. A call to discipleship thus immediately creates a new situation. Staying in the old situation and following Christ mutually exclude each other. At first, that was quite visibly the case. The tax collector had to leave his booth and Peter his nets to follow Jesus. According to our understanding, even back then things could have been quite different. Jesus could have given the tax collector new knowledge of God and left him in his old situation. If Jesus had not been God’s Son become human, then that would have been possible. But because Jesus is the Christ, it has to be made clear from the beginning that his word is not a doctrine. Instead, it creates existence anew. The point was to really walk with Jesus. It was made clear to those he called that they only had one possibility of believing in Jesus, that of leaving everything and going with the incarnate Son of God.

The first step puts the follower into the situation of being able to believe. If people do not follow, they remain behind, then they do not learn to believe. Those called must get out of their situations, in which they cannot believe, into a situation in which faith can begin. This step has no intrinsic worth of its own; it is justified only by the community with Jesus Christ that is attained. As long as Levi sits in the tax collector’s booth and Peter at his nets, they would do their work honestly and loyally, they would have old or new knowledge about God. But if they want to learn to believe in God, they have to follow the Son of God incarnate and walk with him.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, Chapter 2

Biblical Counseling, Anxiety Part Two

24 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by in affliction, Biblical Counseling, Fear, Meditation, Obedience, Philippians, Prayer, Resurrection, Thomas Manton

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(This is the second part of a lesson on anxiety).

COUNSELING PROBLEMS AND BIBLICAL CHANGE

BIBLICAL SOLUTIONS FOR ANXIETY, PART TWO

 WHEN THE BIBLE DOESN’T WORK

The “go-to” text for anxiety is found in Philippians 4:6

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

The faithful and trusting Christian prays, Dear God take away my fear and fix my trouble. He then lays down to sleep, but only tosses and turns throughout the evening. Come the morning, he feels tired and anxious and complains that somehow the promise of Philippians 4:6 “doesn’t work.”

  1. A Serious Charge

Now it would be a serious charge if a promise of God truly failed. However, as we shall see, using Philippians 4:6 like a magic-charm does a grave disservice to Scripture and has needlessly troubled the faith of many broken Christians.

The impulse to trust the promise is correct. Trouble in not in the trust or in the promise. The trouble stands in the misunderstanding of the promise.

  1. A Mistaken Charge

Let’s consider our problem. First, note something about the text. It should shows up in the fourth chapter, which means it was preceded by three chapters. It is in the sixth verse of the four chapters. It is followed by 15 verses in the fourth chapter.

Let’s say you bought an assemble-yourself piece of furniture from Ikea. You lay the materials out on the floor. You take out the manual, turn to the fourth page, go down a bit on the page, read one line of instruction, perform that step, close the book and step back.  You wanted a desk, but instead you have a plastic clip attached to a piece of wood.  You complain that the instructions “don’t work”.

When we pluck a single verse from an entire letter, we should not be surprised if it does not “work”. The trouble is even greater: The verse concerns the matter of “prayer”. The Scripture says a great deal of prayer which help inform our understanding of this command. As we should know, “prayer” entails more than a mere recitation of words.

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Good you did for your servant (Psalm 119:65-72)

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in affliction, Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Mortification, Obedience, Psalms, Submission

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Good you did for your servant, O Lord

Just as you spoke.

Fine taste and knowledge teach me

For it is your commandments that I trust.

Before I was afflicted, I went straying

But now … your word I keep.

Good are you, who does good:

Teach me your statutes.

Insolent liars smear me –-

I guard your precepts with my whole heart.

Unfeeling as fat is their heart —

I rejoice in your law.

Good it is for me that I was humbled,

Because I have learned your statutes.

Good it is for me, the law of your mouth

Better even than gold and silver.

 

 Hebrew text and translation notes:  Continue reading →

Paul Baynes, Brief Directions Unto a Godly Life, Chapter Nineteen

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Obedience, Paul Baynes

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/paul-baynes-brief-directions-unto-a-godly-life-chapter-eighteen/

CHAPTER NINETEEN: GENERAL RULES FOR DAILY LIFE

Concerning outward actions, no certain rules can be given in particular, because they are variable and diverse. Yet some outward duties there are, although not necessary to be done daily, yet commonly to be observed; very profitable and helpful to live well and happily, by settling us in the practice of a daily direction. Such are these that follow:

How to Go About our Daily Business

1. That we walk with God, that is, that as soon as we have broken off our sleep, we set God before our eyes and our hearts upon him, resolving to walk with him that day. Proverbs 6:22. This accustoming ourselves to thoughts at the first awakening, by setting our hearts upon some holy and heavenly things, would be a good entrance to the well spending of the day, and a preventing of various evils.

2. That in some manner, if it may be, before we enter upon other affairs, we offer up our morning prayer to God, confessing our especial sins, remembering his particular favors; requesting both pardon for things passed and assisting us with blessings for time to come, especially for that day. Daniel 6:10. For the helping forward of this duty, it is fit that some holy meditation be joined with it. This being joined a hearty renewing of our covenant will so season us in the morning, that we shall retain the flavor, and hold the strength of such gracious beginning all the day after.

3. That event (it shall be expedient) we with our minds still kept well-ordered, betake ourselves to our calling and vocation. Wherein we must not so much mind our profit, that we cool any grace thereby or quench holy affections in us. That we must have a calling, see Genesis 3:19,  Ephesians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:6. But that we must labor diligently therein, 1 Corinthians 7:20, 1 Thessalonians 3:6, 10; Proverbs  13:4, 11 & 18:9, & 24:30.

But that the walking and are calling may diligently please God, we must so use earthly dealings that we neglect not spiritual duties; we must avoid worldly mindedness on the one part as idleness on the other: both which we shall be encouraged on to, if we consider that it is the Lord who sets us in our callings, and has promised to be us, and to give us good success, and to help us to bear all tediousness therein; and further, that he wills us to do all such duties for his sake, in such manner, as if we did that to him; and from him to look for reward. Joshua 1:8.

4. That in all company we behave ourselves as we are taught of God and as it becomes us, especially so as [to] leave no ill favor behind us. We must not therefore rush unadvisedly into it, as most but do, but determined before to do good onto others, as we be able, or to take good of others[1] as occasion is offered. Colossians 4:6; Joshua 1:8; one Timothy 4:12. We must take heed of the danger which will come from fruitless and hurtful talking and behavior, which in most company we shall meet with.

Occasions of good speech must not be only taken, but sought and waited for. Acts 26:28.

If  the company be so desperate that there is no place for God, yet we must keep ourselves from their unfruitful works of darkness, by giving of apparent tokens of our dislike, leaving them also as soon as we can, attending them afterwards as much as we may conveniently [do].

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Wheels to our obedience

08 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Joy, Matthew Henry, Obedience, Preaching

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Matthew Henry on Psalm 119:32:

God’s word should be our guide and plea in every prayer.—God by His Spirit enlarges the hearts of His people when He puts wisdom there, 1 Kings 4:29, and when He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, and puts gladness there. The joy of our Lord should be wheels to our obedience

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119:2a

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Keep the heart, Obedience, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton

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The previous post in this will be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/thomas-manon-on-psalm-1191c/

Manton preached two sermons on Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, that seek him with the whole heart.”

From this verse he sets out two doctrines: (1) They that keep close to God’s testimonies are blessed. (2) Those would be blessed must make this their business sincerely to seek after God.

The second sermon concerns the mean and application of these two doctrines.

Manton analyzes the first doctrine by breaking it down into two parts: (A) What is mean by testimony. (B) What is meant by “keeping”.

A “Testimony” is what God has said

First, The notion by which the word of God is expressed is testimonies, whereby is intended the whole declaration of God’s will, in doctrines, commands, examples, threatenings, promises. The whole word is the testimony which God hath deposed for the satisfaction of the world about the way of their salvation. Now, because the word of God brancheth itself into two parts, the law and the gospel, this notion may be applied to both

As Manton works through this matter, he notes that a “testimony” declares the content of one’s heart. Thus, “the word isa full declaration of the Lord’s mind.” At this point Manton turns to exegete the hearer (or reader) of the sermon. The fact of God’s self-declaration reveals something of humanity — and it implies a response:

It is a blessed thing that we are not left to the uncertainty of our own thoughts: Micah 6:8, ‘He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.’ The way of pleasing and enjoying God is clearly revealed in his word. There we may know what we must do, what we may expect, and upon what terms. We have his testimony.

Now, since the testimony is of God, it is certain. Here, again, Manton uses the doctrine to exegete the hearer:

John 17:17, ‘Sanctify them by thy truth.’ The sanctifying power of God, that goes along with the gospel, is a clear confirmation of the divine testimony in it: John 8:32, ‘The truth shall make you free.’ By our disentanglement from lust we come to be settled in the truth. God’s testimony is the ultimate resolution of our faith. Why do we believe? Because it is God’s testimony.

If the sure testimony of God sets us free, it implies that we were earlier entangled.

In addition, this sure word of God rebukes us for our foolish rejection; which rejection will testify against us on the day of judgment.

Keeping the Testimony of God

Keeping the testimony of God is an act of faith: it entails an intellectual assent, the engaged affections and actual practic.

Assent: “We must understand the word of God, assent to it; we must revolve it often in our thoughts, and have it ready upon all occasions. Understand it we must if we would be blessed: ‘He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,’ John 14:21. We cannot make conscience of obedience till we know our duty.”

Affections: We must have affection for the testimony of God:
“Sometimes it alludes to the apple of the eye: Prov. 7:2, ‘Keep them as the apple of thine eye.’ Such tender affections should we have to the testimonies of the Lord, as a man has for his eye.”

Practice: We do not keep God’s word if we do not do God’s word:

Our actions are a better discovery of our thoughts than our words. When we get a little knowledge, and make a little profession, we think we observe his commands; but he is a liar if he be not exact, and walk close with God. It is not enough to understand the word, to be able to talk and dispute of the testimonies of God, but to keep them.

[This man who can talk but does not practice, reminds me of Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress. Talkative says, “To talk of things that are good with you or with any other, to me is very acceptable; and I am glad that I have met with those that incline to so good a work. For, to speak the truth, there are but few that care thus to spend their time (as they are in their travels), but choose much rather to be speaking of things to no profit; and this hath been a trouble to me.”

Such sounds good, until one knows the rest. As Christian explains, “I will give you a further discovery of him. This man is for any company, and for any talk; as he talks now with you, so will he talk when he is on the ale bench; and the more drink he hath in his crown, the more of these things he hath in his mouth; religion hath no place in his heart, or house, or conversation; all he hath lieth in his tongue, and his religion is to make a noise therewith.”]

At this point, Manton explains the matter of “keeping” by explaining the difference between “legal” and “evangelical” obedience:

[T]here is a twofold keeping of God’s testimonies—legal and evangelical. Legal keeping is in a way of perfect and absolute obedience, without the least failing; so none of us can be blessed. Moses will accuse us; there will be failings in the best. But now evangelical keeping—that is, a filial and sincere obedience—is accepted, and the imperfections Christ pardoneth. If God’s pardon help us not, we are for ever miserable. The apostles had many failings; sometimes they manifested a weak faith, sometimes hardness of heart, sometimes passionateness when they met with disrespect, Luke 9; yet Christ returns this general acknowledgment of them when he was pleading with his Father, ‘Holy Father, they have kept thy word.’ When the heart is sincere, God will pass by our failings, James 5:11, ‘Ye have heard of the patience of Job.’ Ay! and of his impatience too, his cursing the day of his birth; but the Spirit of God puts a finger upon the scar, and takes notice of what is good. So long as we bewail sin, seek remission of sin, strive after perfection, endeavour to keep close and be tender of a command, though a naughty heart will carry us aside sometimes, we keep the testimony of the Lord in a gospel sense. Bewailing sin, that owns the law; seeking pardon, that owns the gospel; striving after perfection, that argueth sincerity and uprightness.

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119.1b

01 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Faith, Galatians, Obedience, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton, Uncategorized

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/thomas-manton-on-psalm-119-1-a/

The second doctrine Manton sets forth from Psalm119:1 is “That sincere, constant, uniform obedience to God’s law is the only way to true blessedness.” He derives this doctrine from the present participle “walk”, “in this way we must walk, which notes both uniformity and constancy”.

To walk must be in accord with some rule. The way in which must walk is the law of God, “First, The rule is the law of God. All created beings have a rule. Christ’s human nature was the highest of all creatures, and yet it is to be in subjection to God; he is under a rule.”

Here Maton makes a striking observation, the rule of inanimate creatures is a rule of covenant, “Inanimate creatures, sun, moon, stars, are under a law of providence, under a covenant of night and day”.

This rule must most especially apply to those redeemed of God. Hebrews 8:10 quotes the promise of the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Now if the promise of the New Covenant is to have the law of God written on one’s heart, the law must be a blessing to know,. As Manton writes,

If the law might be disannulled as to new creatures, then why doth the Spirit of God write it with such legible characters in their hearts? This is promised as the great blessing of the covenant of grace, Heb. 8:10. Now, that which the Spirit engraves upon the heart, would Christ come to deface and abolish? The law was written upon tables of stone, and the great work of the Spirit is to write it upon the table of the heart;

If we are to follow the rule we must not fall too short, nor overshoot the mark.

Not short. There are many false rules with which men please themselves, and are but so many byways that lead us off from our own happiness. For instance, good meaning, that is a false rule; the world lives by guess and devout aims. But if good meaning were a rule, a man may oppose the interest of Christ, destroy his servants, and all upon good meaning: John 16:2, ‘Those that kill you will think they do God good service

Neither may we overshoot the mark:

That we may not act over. There is a superstitious and apocryphal holiness which is contrary to a genuine and scriptural holiness, yea, destructive to it: it is like the concubine to the wife: it draws away respects due to the true religion. Now, what is this kind of holiness? It is a temporary flesh-pleasing religion, which consists in a conformity to outward rites and ceremonies and external mortifications,

If there must be obedience, then let be such obedience as will bring blessing. “If you would be blessed, there must be a sincere, constant, uniform obedience. The will of God must not only be known but practised.”

How can such obedience be perfect?

Then, sincere obedience is required: ‘Blessed is the undefiled in the way.’ At first hearing of these words, a man might reply, Oh, then, none can be blessed, if that be the qualification; ‘for who can say, My heart is clean?’ Prov. 20:9. I answer—This undefiledness is to be understood according to the tenor of the second covenant, which doth not exclude the mercy of God and the justification of penitent sinners;

What does this mean in practice?

Ps. 84:11, ‘The Lord will be a sun and a shield’, &c. To whom? ‘To those that walk uprightly.’ This is possible enough; here is no ground of despair. This is that will lead us to blessedness, when we are troubled for our failings, and there is a diligent exercise in the purification of our hearts.

Such obedience must be constant, and it must be as to all things which God commands: we cannot chose this and ignore that.

To what use can we put this knowledge:

To show you that carnal men live as if they sought misery rather than happiness: Prov. 8:36, ‘He that sins against me wrongs his own soul; all that hate me love death.’ If a man were travelling to York, who would say his aim was to come to London? Do these men pursue happiness that walk in such defilement?

Also, if we will be blessed, we must take the law of God for our rule.

Take the law of God for your rule. Study the mind of God, and know the way to heaven, and keep exactly in it. It is an argument of sincerity when a man is careful to practise all that he knows, and to be inquisitive to know more, even the whole will of God, and when the heart is held under awe of God’s word.

We must also take the Spirit as our guide:

Take the Spirit of God for your guide. We can never walk in God’s way without the conduct of God’s Spirit. We must not only have a way, but a voice to direct us when we are wandering.

The work of obedience runs contrary to the course of this world. To aim for a constant sincere obedience, to walk in the law of the Lord will bring difficulty and discouragement. We will not be able to past through discouragement if we walk only by faith, “The promises for your encouragement. If you look elsewhere, and live by sense, and not by faith, you shall have discouragements enough.”

Moreover, the difficulties of obedience will be disorienting; we will loss our way unless with an unmoving mark at which to aim:

Fix the glory of God for your aim; else it is but a carnal course. The spiritual life is a living to God, Gal. 2:20, when he is made the end of every action. You have a journey to take, and whether you sleep or wake, your journey is still a-going. As in a ship, whether men sit, lie, or walk, whether they eat or sleep, the ship holds on its course, and makes towards its port; so you all are going into another world, either to heaven or hell, the broad or the narrow way.