Section 13
13. A godly man is a sincere man, John 1. 47. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whose spirit there is no guile. The word for sincere, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] signifies sine plicis, without pleats and folds: A godly man is plain-hearted, having no subtle subterfuges; Religion is the Livery a godly man wears, and this Livery is lined with Sincerity.
Quest. Wherein does the godly man's Sincerity appear?
Answ. 1. The godly man is that which he seems to be; he is a Jew inwardly, Romans 2. 29. Grace runs through his heart, as silver through the veins of the earth: The hypocrite is not what he seems. —Fronte positus, Astutam vapido servans sub pectore vulpem.
A picture is like a man, but it wants breath: The Hypocrite is an Effigy, a picture, he does not breathe forth Sanctity; he is but like an Angel on a Sign-post: A godly man answers to his profession, as the Transcript to the Original.
2. The godly man labors to approve himself to God in every thing, 2 Corinthians 5. 9. We labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. It is better to have God approve, than the world applaud: They that did run in the Olympic Race, labored to have his approbation, who was the Judge and Umpire of the Race: There is a time shortly coming, when a smile from God's face will be infinitely better than all the applauses of men: How sweet will that word be, Euge bone serve, Well done thou good and faithful servant, Matthew 25. 21. A godly man is ambitious of God's Letters-Testimonial; the hypocrite desires to carry it fair with men: Saul was for the vogue of the people, 1 Samuel 15. 30. A godly man approves his heart to God, who is both the Spectator and the Judge.
3. The godly man is ingenuous in laying open of his sins, Psalm 32. 5. I confessed my sin to thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. The hypocrite does veil and smother his sin; he does not abscindere peccatum, but abscondere; like a Patient that has some loathsome disease in his body, he will rather die than confess his disease: But a godly man's sincerity is seen in this, he will confess and shame himself for sin, 2 Samuel 24. 17. Lo I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: Nay, a Child of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale, he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general; whereas David does as it were point with his finger to the sore, Psalm 51. 4. I have done this evil: He does not say, I have done evil, but this evil; he points at his blood-guiltiness.
4. The godly man has blessed designs in all he does; he propounds this end in every Ordinance, that he may have more acquaintance with God, and bring more glory to God; as the herb Heliotropium turns about according to the motion of the Sun; so a godly man's actions do all move towards the glory of God: It is an axiom in Philosophy, The means are in order to the end. A godly man's praying and worshipping is, that he may honor God; though he shoots short, yet he takes a right aim; the hypocrite minds nothing but self-interest, the sails of his Mill move not, but when the wind of preferment blows; he never dives into the waters of the Sanctuary, but to fetch up a piece of gold at the bottom.
5. The godly man abhors dissimulation towards men, his heart goes along with his tongue, he cannot flatter and hate, commend and censure, Romans 12. 9. Let love be without dissimulation. Dissembled love is worse than hatred; counterfeiting of friendship is no better than a lie, for there is a pretense of that which is not: Many are like Joab, 2 Samuel 20. 9. He took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and smote him with his sword in the fifth rib, and he died. —Impia sub dulci melle venena latent.—
There is a River in Spain, where the fish seem to be of a golden color, but take them out of the water, and they are like other fish: All is not gold that glitters; there are some pretend much kindness, but they are like great veins which have little blood; if you lean upon them, they are as a Leg out of joint: For my part I much question his truth towards God, that will flatter and lie to his friend, Proverbs 10. 18. He that hides hatred with lying lips is a fool. By all that has been said, we may try whether we have this note of a godly man, to be sincere.
Sincerity (as I conceive) is not properly [•] grace, but rather the ingredient into every grace: Sincerity is that which does qualify grace, and without which grace is not true, Ephesians 6. 24. Grace be with them, which love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity: Sincerity qualifies our love; sincerity is to grace, as the blood and spirits are to the body; there can be no life without the blood, so no grace without sincerity.
Use. As we would be reputed godly, let us labor for this Character of sincerity.
1. Sincerity renders us lovely in God's eyes; God says of the sincere soul as of Zion, Psalm 132. 14. This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it: A sincere heart is God's Paradise of delight: Noah found grace in God's eyes: Why, what did God see in Noah? he was girt with the girdle of sincerity, Genesis 6. 9. Noah was perfect in his Generation. Truth resembles God, and when God sees a sincere heart, he sees his own Image, and he cannot choose but fall in love with it, Proverbs 11. 20. He that is upright in his way, is God's delight.
2. Sincerity makes our services find acceptance with God; the Church of Philadelphia had but a little strength; her grace was weak, her services slender, yet of all the Churches Christ wrote to, he found the least fault with her: What was the reason? because she was most sincere, Revelation 3. 8. Thou hast kept fast my word, and hast not denied my Name. Though we cannot pay God all we owe, yet a little in current Coin is accepted; God takes sincerity for full payment: A little gold, though rusty, is better than Alchemy be it never so bright; a little sincerity, though rusted over with many infirmities, is of more value with God, than all the glorious flourishes of hypocrites.
3. Sincerity is our safety; false hearts that will step out of God's way, and use carnal policy, when they think to be most safe, they are least secure; he that walks purely, walks surely, Proverbs 10. 9. A sincere Christian will do nothing but what the word warrants, and that is safe, as to the Conscience: Nay, oftentimes such as are upright in their way, the Lord takes care of their outward safety, Psalm 4. I laid me down and slept. David was now beleaguered with Enemies, yet God did so encamp about him by his Providence, that he could sleep securely as in a Garrison: Verse 5. The Lord sustained me: The only way to be safe, is to be sincere.
4. Sincerity is Gospel perfection, Job 1. 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect, and an upright man. Though a Christian be full of infirmities, and like a Child that is put out to Nurse, weak and feeble, yet God looks upon him, as if he were completely righteous: Every true Saint has the Thummim of perfection upon his breast-plate.
5. Sincerity is that which the Devil strikes most at: Satan's spite was not so much at Job's Estate, as his integrity; he would have wrested the Shield of Sincerity from him, but Job held that fast, Job 27. 6. A Thief does not fight for an empty purse, but for money: The devil would have robbed Job of the Jewel of a good Conscience, and then he had been poor Job indeed: Satan does not oppose Profession, but Sincerity: Let men go to Church, and make glorious pretenses of holiness, Satan does not oppose this; this does him no hurt, nor them no good; but if men will be sincerely pious, then Satan musters up all his forces against them: Now that which the Devil does most assault, we must labor most to maintain: Sincerity is our Fort-Royal, where our chief treasure lies; this Fort is most shot at, therefore let us be more careful to preserve it: While a man keeps his Castle, his Castle will keep him: While we keep Sincerity, Sincerity will keep us.
6. Sincerity is the beauty of a Christian, wherein lies the beauty of a Diamond, but in this, that it is a true Diamond? If it be counterfeit, it is worth nothing: So wherein lies the beauty of a Christian, but in this, that he has truth in the inward parts: Sincerity is a Christian's Ensign of glory; it is both his Breast-plate to defend him, and his Crown to adorn him.
7. The vileness of hypocrisy: The Lord would have no leaven offered up in Sacrifice; leaven did typify hypocrisy, Luke 12. 1. The hypocrite does the devil double service, under the Visor of Piety, he can sin more, and be less suspected, Matthew 23. 14. Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour Widows houses, and for a pretense, make long prayers: Who would think they were guilty of Extortion, that would pray so many hours together? Who would suspect him of false weights, that has the Bible so often in his hand? Who would think he would slander, that seems to fear an oath? Hypocrites are the worst sort of sinners, they reflect infinite dishonor upon Religion; hypocrisy for the most part ends in scandal, and that brings an evil report upon the ways of God; one man breaking, makes such as are honest suspected; one scandalous hypocrite, makes the world suspect that all Professors are so; the hypocrite was born to do Religion a spite, and to bring it into an odium.
The hypocrite is a liar, he worships God with his knee, and his lusts with his heart; like those 2 Kings 17. 33. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods.
The hypocrite is an impudent sinner, he knows his heart is false, yet he goes on: Judas knew himself to be an hypocrite; he asks, Master is it I? Christ replies, Thou hast said it? Yet so shameless was he as to persist in his falseness, and betray Christ: All the plagues and curses written in the Book of God, are the hypocrite's portion, Hell is his place of Rendezvous, Matthew 24. 51. Hypocrites are the chief guests the Devil expects, and he will make them as welcome, as fire and brimstone can make them.
8. If the heart be sincere, God will wink at many failings, Numbers 23. 21. He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. God's love does not make him blind, he can see infirmities, but how? not with an eye of revenge, but pity, as a Physician sees a disease in his Patient to heal him: God does not see iniquity in Jacob, so as to destroy him, but to heal him, Isaiah 57. 18. He went on frowardly, I have seen his ways, and I will heal him: How much pride, vanity, passion, does the Lord pass by in his sincere ones! He sees the integrity, and pardons the infirmity: How much did God overlook in Asa! the high-places were not removed: Yet it is said, 2 Chronicles 15. 17. The heart of Asa was perfect all his days. We esteem of a picture, though it be not drawn at the full length: So though the graces of God's people are not drawn at their full length, nay, have many scars and spots, yet having something of God in sincerity, they shall find mercy; God loves the sincere, and it is the nature of love to cover infirmity.
9. Nothing but sincerity will give us comfort in an hour of trouble: King Hezekiah thought he had been dying, yet this revived him, that Conscience drew up a Certificate for him, Isaiah 38. 2. Remember O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, etc. Sincerity was the best flower of his Crown: What a golden Shield will this be against Satan, when he shall roar upon us by his temptations, and set our sins before us on our Death-bed, then we shall answer, It is true Satan, these have been our miscarriages, but we have bewailed them; if we have sinned, it was against the bent and purpose of our heart; this will stop the Devil's mouth, and put him to a retreat; therefore labor for this Jewel of Sincerity, 1 John 3. 24. If our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence towards God: If we are cleared at the Petty Sessions in our own Conscience, then we may be confident, we shall be acquitted at the Great Assizes at the day of Judgment.
13. A godly man is a sincere man. John 1:47: Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit! The word for sincere means without folds or hidden layers. A godly man is straightforward, with no hidden agendas or subtle evasions. Religion is the uniform a godly man wears, and that uniform is lined with sincerity.
Question: How does the godly man's sincerity show itself?
Answer: 1. The godly man is what he appears to be — he is a Jew inwardly, as Romans 2:29 says. Grace runs through his heart like silver through veins of ore. The hypocrite is not what he appears — he keeps a cunning fox hidden within a pleasant face.
A portrait resembles a person but has no breath. The hypocrite is a portrait — a likeness — he does not breathe out genuine holiness. He is like an angel painted on a sign. A godly man matches his profession the way a transcript matches the original document.
2. The godly man works to make himself acceptable to God in everything. 2 Corinthians 5:9: We make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be pleasing to Him. It is better to have God's approval than the world's applause. Those who competed in the Olympic races labored to receive the approval of the judge and umpire of the race. A day is coming very soon when one smile from God's face will be worth more than all the praises of men. How sweet that word will be: Well done, good and faithful servant, as Matthew 25:21 says. A godly man is ambitious for God's endorsement. The hypocrite wants to make a good impression on people — Saul was always after the people's approval, as 1 Samuel 15:30 shows. A godly man presents his heart to God, who is both the spectator and the judge.
3. The godly man is honest in confessing his sins. Psalm 32:5: I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity. The hypocrite veils and covers his sin — he does not cut sin off but hides it. He is like a patient with some ugly disease who would rather die than admit what ails him. But a godly man's sincerity shows in this: he confesses his sin and shames himself for it. 2 Samuel 24:17: I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. And a child of God will confess sin in specific terms. An insincere Christian confesses sin only in bulk — acknowledging in general that he is a sinner. But David points as if with his finger directly at the wound: Psalm 51:4: I have done this evil. He does not say, I have done evil, but this evil — he points straight at his bloodguilt.
4. The godly man has pure motives in everything he does. In every act of worship, his goal is to know God better and to bring more glory to God. Just as the plant heliotrope turns itself to follow the movement of the sun, so a godly man's actions all move toward the glory of God. It is a principle in philosophy that means exist for the sake of ends. A godly man prays and worships in order to honor God. Even if he falls short, he is aiming in the right direction. The hypocrite cares about nothing but self-interest — his mill's sails turn only when the wind of advantage is blowing. He never dives into the waters of the sanctuary except to fish for a piece of gold at the bottom.
5. The godly man hates pretense toward other people. His heart goes along with his tongue. He cannot flatter and hate at the same time, or praise a person and then tear him down. Romans 12:9: Let love be without hypocrisy. Pretended love is worse than hatred — faking friendship is no better than lying, because it claims to offer what is not there. Many people are like Joab: 2 Samuel 20:9-10: He took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and struck him in the stomach with his sword, and he died. Wicked poison lies hidden beneath sweet honey.
There is a river in Spain whose fish appear to be golden in the water, but when taken out, they look like ordinary fish. Not all that glitters is gold. Some people profess great kindness, but they are like large veins with little blood — lean on them and they give way like a dislocated leg. I deeply question the honesty toward God of a person who will flatter and lie to his friend. Proverbs 10:18: He who conceals hatred with lying lips is a fool. By everything said so far, we can test whether we have this mark of a godly man — sincerity.
Sincerity, as I understand it, is not exactly a grace in its own right, but rather the essential ingredient in every grace. Sincerity is what gives grace its quality — without it, grace is not genuine. Ephesians 6:24: Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love. Sincerity qualifies our love. Sincerity is to grace what blood and vital energy are to the body — there is no life without blood, and there is no genuine grace without sincerity.
Application: If we want to be regarded as godly, let us press toward this characteristic of sincerity.
1. Sincerity makes us lovely in God's eyes. God says of the sincere soul what He said of Zion: Psalm 132:14: This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. A sincere heart is God's paradise of delight. Noah found grace in God's eyes. But what did God see in Noah? He was girt with the belt of sincerity: Genesis 6:9: Noah was blameless in his generation. Sincerity resembles God, and when God sees a sincere heart He sees His own image, and He cannot help but love it. Proverbs 11:20: He who is blameless in his way is God's delight.
2. Sincerity causes our service to be accepted by God. The church at Philadelphia had but little strength — her grace was weak, her service modest. Yet of all the churches Christ wrote to, He found the least fault with her. Why? Because she was the most sincere. Revelation 3:8: You have kept My word and have not denied My name. Though we cannot pay God all we owe, a little in good coin is accepted. God accepts sincerity as full payment. A little real gold, however tarnished, is better than the shiniest imitation. A little sincerity, even with many weaknesses clinging to it, is worth more to God than all the spectacular performances of hypocrites.
3. Sincerity is our safety. People with false hearts who step out of God's way and rely on worldly scheming think they are most safe when they are least secure. The person who walks uprightly walks safely. Proverbs 10:9. A sincere Christian will do nothing that the Word does not sanction — and that is safe for the conscience. More than that, God often takes care of the outward safety of those who are upright in their ways. Psalm 4:8: I lay down and slept. David was surrounded by enemies at the time, yet God so encamped around him by His providence that David could sleep as securely as if he were in a fortress. Verse 5: The Lord sustained me. The only true way to be safe is to be sincere.
4. Sincerity is the gospel's idea of perfection. Job 1:8: Have you considered My servant Job, that there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man? Though a Christian may be full of weaknesses and be like a newborn infant put out to nurse — fragile and helpless — God looks at him as if he were completely righteous. Every true saint wears the Thummim of perfection on his breastplate.
5. Sincerity is what the devil attacks most fiercely. Satan's spite was not primarily against Job's wealth, but against his integrity. He wanted to wrench the shield of sincerity from Job's hand — but Job held it fast: Job 27:6. A thief does not fight over an empty purse but over money. The devil wanted to rob Job of the jewel of a good conscience — and then Job would truly have been poor. Satan does not oppose outward profession but sincerity. He lets people go to church and make grand displays of holiness without any opposition — that does him no harm and them no good. But when people are genuinely and sincerely godly, Satan musters all his forces against them. What the devil attacks most, we must labor hardest to defend. Sincerity is our royal fortress, where our chief treasure is kept. This fortress draws the most fire, so let us be most careful to protect it. While a man holds his castle, his castle holds him. While we hold our sincerity, sincerity will hold us.
6. Sincerity is the beauty of a Christian. Where does the beauty of a diamond lie, if not in this — that it is a real diamond? If it is a fake, it is worthless. In the same way, where does the beauty of a Christian lie, but in this — that he has truth in his inward parts? Sincerity is a Christian's banner of glory — it is both the breastplate that defends him and the crown that adorns him.
7. Consider the vileness of hypocrisy. The Lord commanded that no leaven be offered in sacrifice — and leaven was a picture of hypocrisy, as Luke 12:1 shows. The hypocrite does double service for the devil: behind the mask of piety, he can sin more and be suspected less. Matthew 23:14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for pretense you make long prayers. Who would think men guilty of extortion who prayed for hours at a time? Who would suspect a man of using false weights who always had his Bible in hand? Who would think him a slanderer who seemed to be afraid of an oath? Hypocrites are the worst kind of sinners — they cast the deepest reproach on religion. Hypocrisy usually ends in scandal, and scandal brings evil reputation on the ways of God. One man's bankruptcy makes even honest men suspected. One scandalous hypocrite makes the world suspect that all professing Christians are the same. The hypocrite seems almost designed to do religion harm and to make it despised.
The hypocrite is a liar — he worships God with his knees while his heart worships his own desires. As 2 Kings 17:33 says: They feared the Lord, and served their own gods.
The hypocrite is a shameless sinner — he knows his heart is false, yet he presses on. Judas knew himself to be a hypocrite. He asked, Master, is it I? Christ replied, You have said it. Yet so shameless was he that he continued in his falseness and betrayed Christ. All the plagues and curses written in God's Word are the hypocrite's inheritance — hell is his appointed meeting place. Matthew 24:51. Hypocrites are the very guests the devil is most expecting, and he will make them as welcome as fire and brimstone can.
8. When the heart is sincere, God will overlook many weaknesses. Numbers 23:21: He has not observed iniquity in Jacob. God's love does not make Him blind — He can see our weaknesses, but how? Not with an eye of vengeance but with an eye of compassion, the way a physician examines a disease in his patient in order to heal it. God does not see iniquity in Jacob so as to destroy him, but to heal him. Isaiah 57:18: He went on in his own way, but I have seen his ways, and I will heal him. How much pride, vanity, and anger does the Lord pass over in His sincere ones! He sees the integrity and pardons the weakness. How much did God overlook in Asa? The high places were not removed. Yet 2 Chronicles 15:17 says: The heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. We value a portrait even if it is not drawn full-length. In the same way, though the graces of God's people are not developed to their full measure — and even have many scars and spots — yet having something of God in them in sincerity, they will find mercy. God loves the sincere, and it is the nature of love to cover weakness.
9. Nothing but sincerity will give us comfort in an hour of trouble. King Hezekiah thought he was dying, but what revived him was that his conscience drew up a certificate on his behalf: Isaiah 38:2-3: Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before You in faithfulness and with a whole heart. Sincerity was the finest jewel in his crown. What a golden shield this will be against Satan when he roars at us with his temptations and sets our sins before us on our deathbed. Then we will answer: It is true, Satan — these were our failures, but we have mourned over them. If we sinned, it was against the grain of our heart's deepest desire. This will stop the devil's mouth and send him into retreat. Therefore pursue the jewel of sincerity. 1 John 3:21: If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. If we are cleared in our own conscience, we can be confident that we will be acquitted at the great judgment on the last day.
