Chapter 28

Of certain notes which the word of God gives of an upright heart.

After this discovery by the means, we must lay our hearts to the rule of the word, and examine them by those notes which there are given of an upright and sincere heart. And these are many. I will name only five.

1. A sincere heart is an humble heart. A hypocritical heart is always proud, and vainglorious: as in the Pharisees (Matthew 6). And therefore our Savior said to them, How can you believe, when you seek glory one of another? And so in Simon Magus seeking his own praise, and profit, in the desire of the Apostolic gifts. Whom therefore Peter told, that his heart was not upright before God. In Jehu likewise we may discern the same spirit, when he said to Jonadab, Is your heart upright, as mine? preferring himself before Jonadab. Whereas sincerity is always better conceited of another, and very fearful, and suspicious of itself. And so it will make a Christian, when he sees another, specially a Jonadab, to say to himself, Is my heart upright, so as is his? Again, Come, says he, and see what zeal I have for the Lord of hosts. But sincere zeal desires not to be seen of any, save him who sees in secret. The Pharisees desire to be seen of men, because they seek the praise of men. Their lamps will not burn without this oil. Windmills they are, which will not turn about to do any good service, without the wind of men's praises. Hence it is that they have little zeal in prayer, unless it be the public, that so ostentation and vainglory may warm their hearts. As in fasting, once it fared with one, that in the monastery could fast whole days together with ease but in the desert he could not hold out until noon, but his belly would crave presently. Whereof when he demanded the reason, this answer was returned him, that in the monastery the praise of men was in stead of meat to him, he fed there upon it, which sustenance failing him in the desert, his fasting strength also failed. But to sincerity her very obedience itself is meat and drink (John 4:34). In other works, the worker must have meat, or else he will not hold out in his work. But to sincerity, her very work is her meat. Hypocrisy, which is soon tired at this work, without the refreshment of human praises, well may it seek for public theaters: but sincerity hides itself in the closet, and as in prayer, so in all good duties shuts the door.

And as the sincere heart is humble in regard of the end, at which it aims in doing any good, namely God's glory, not daring in any thing to seek itself; so also in the manner of doing; not daring to trust itself, but affected with a thorough sense of its own infirmity, it rests itself wholly on the power of God, to be perfected in her weakness. Peter therefore, in that wherein his heart was unsound, and deceitful, showed this spirit of pride, and vain confidence in himself. For he could not think that strength whereby he thought to stand was of Christ; because Christ flatly denied him his strength, and Peter never prayed for it. And yet lo how confident he was? Though all men, yet not I; as though there had been more in him, than in any other. He contradicted Christ admonishing him of his frailty, and as Mark notes, the more Christ warned him, the more confident and peremptory was he.

Lastly, after the doing of every good thing sincerity still remains humble, and when men would deify us, it will not accept of any such honors, but sends them back to the Lord, as in Daniel, and the Apostles. And thus, if we be sincere, in all things we do, there must be humility, preposed, in regard of the end we must look at, apposed, in regard of the manner of doing, imposed, after we have done, as a curb to restrain us, lest we rejoice not in the Lord but in ourselves.

Objection. But this is a hard saying will some say, and if the case be thus, who then can be sincere? For who is there that is not tainted with pride, if not in all, yet in some of these three respects?

Answer. It is one thing for a man's eye to glance towards a thing, another thing to fix, and fully to settle itself upon it. Thoughts of pride and vainglory may rush into the heart of a sincere Christian: they rest only in the heart of a hypocrite; who is set on work only by them in all his actions, and seeks only to give contentment to them.

I add further, if sincerity be not humble in this first kind of humility, yet at the least, it is humble in an after-humility. If it have been overseen in the doing of any thing in pride, it is twice as humble afterward, because it was not humble. A notable difference between sincerity, and hypocrisy. There may be some kind of humility in hypocrisy, and of pride in sincerity: but hypocrisy's humility is followed with pride, and sincerity's pride with humility. This latter humility is the better. And here only it is seemly for virtue to come behind vice. Hypocrisy is proud because it is humble: Sincerity is humble, because it is proud. Epaminondas a Theban captain the day after his victory, and triumph went drooping and hanging down the head; and being asked why he did so, answered, yesterday I felt myself too much tickled with vainglory; therefore I correct myself for it today. The same is the spirit of the sincere Christian, of the true Israelite. As you may see in the example of Hezekiah, of whom it is thus written: His heart was lift up — notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself after his heart was lift up. In a sincere heart there must be either the fore-humility, or the after-humility, which is the more severe of the two; either the directing humility, for the right manner, or else the correcting humility, for the erroneous manner of doing. If we can follow the swing and sway of our own proud, and vainglorious affections, without all respect of God's glory, and yet never be truly humbled afterward, this is palpable hypocrisy, we have not so much as the least dram of sincerity: which is many times more humbled for such mixtures, and defilements of good works, than for some works simply evil in themselves.

2. The sincere heart is a good and honest heart, as our Saviour calls it. The honest heart is that which cherishes a universal hatred of all sin, without exception, and carries a constant purpose and resolution in nothing willingly to sin against God, but to endeavor itself to the utmost in every good way of God's commandments. Whatever it shall know to be a sin, it will not purposely and deliberately do it for all the world; it will not detain the truth in unrighteousness. This note the Prophet David gives. For having said, Blessed are the upright in their way, he teaches us to discern them by this note, Surely they do no iniquity (Psalm 119:3). And in another place, he opposes such as walk in any crooked ways to the upright in heart. Do good, O Lord, to those that are upright in heart: but those that turn aside by their crooked ways, etc. (Psalm 125:4). It is the property of a hypocrite to dispense with his conscience, at least for some one special, beloved sin. As Job among other his characters makes this one, that he holds his wickedness as a sweet thing in his mouth and hides it under his tongue, and favors it, and will not forsake it, but keeps it close in his mouth (Job 20:12). Now this honest heart, as it hates all sins, so at all times. Sometimes the unsound heart will hate sin, when there is no benefit by it, but if after it may chance to be beneficial to ourselves, then we love it. Here is a notable trial of sincerity, to prefer virtue before vice, then, when in human reason virtue shall be the loser, vice the gainer. This note discovered false-hearted Jehu. He would not do away with the worship of the calves, as well as with Baal's, and why? Because he thought that would be dangerous for his kingdom, if the Israelites were let go to the temple at Jerusalem to worship (2 Kings 10:29). Therefore Jeroboam's policy still prevailed with him. By this note many are detected for unsound.

1. Those that pretending conscience of small matters stick not at greater. Like the Pharisees straining a gnat and swallowing a camel. Hypocritical Saul seemed to make a heinous matter of eating the flesh of beasts with the blood. For to the people thus offending he said, You have dealt wickedly (1 Samuel 14:33). But it was nothing with him to spill the innocent blood of worthy Jonathan his son: for unless he had been hindered, he had put him to death. No, he was so scrupulous, that he would not so much as name a guilty man or a sinner, but in casting of lots, in place of saying, show the guilty or nocent, he said, show the upright, or innocent person, as Tremellius reads it. And yet this man at the same time, made no conscience of cruel and bloody oaths. The priest in the Gospel, when he saw the wounded man lay half dead, he went on the other side of the way, fearing lest, by coming near to him, he might contract some legal uncleanness (Luke 10:31): but he feared not to pass by without all mercy and compassion his poor and distressed neighbor. The Pharisees would not defile themselves, in coming into the common hall on the day of preparation to the Passover (John 18:28): but they scrupled not a whit to imbrue their hands in the blood of the innocent lamb of God. In no case would they eat in vessels unpurified: but the meats which they did eat in those vessels were horribly polluted, both with injustice and oppression, in the getting of them, and with intemperance, and riot in the eating of them. And this is the meaning of that of our Saviour, Woe be to you Scribes, and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make [reconstructed: clean the] outward side of the cup, and [reconstructed: platter]: but within they are full of bribery, and excess (Matthew 23:27). So likewise Judas's 30 pieces at no hand must go into the treasury, because it was the price of the blood (Matthew 27:6). What a counterfeiting of holiness was this, not to suffer the price of blood to lie in a chest, and yet to suffer blood itself to lie in the conscience?

2. This note likewise discovers such for unsound, whose conscience is only for the greater matters, the important matters of the Law, mercy and judgment, without any regard of mint or anise, though these also be God's commandments, and ought to be regarded. A sincere heart is like to the eye troubled with the least mote, or like to a neat spruce man, that no sooner spies the least speck or spot in his garment, but gets [reconstructed: it] washed out. Whereas a nasty sloven, though he be completely smeared and soiled, he can endure it well enough. A delicate garden may not have the least weed in it, though the wilderness be all overgrown with them. And a box of precious ointment may not have the least fly in it, though a barrel of pitch have swarms of them. A tight shoe cannot endure the least pebble stone, though a wide one may endure a greater. An unsound conscience is large and can swallow down anything. The sincere conscience is tight, and the least bone, though but such as are in little fishes, will stick in her throat. And certainly, he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. Judas, being unfaithful to Christ in the matter of money proved also, at last, unfaithful to him in the matter of his life itself. And Solomon tells us, how he, that will lie ordinarily in common speech, will lie also before the judgment seat, when he is produced as a witness; as contrarily, he that is a true witness bearer there, will not lie in his ordinary discourse. For this I take to be the meaning of that Proverb, A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness blows forth lies. If a man be truly faithful in much, he must needs also be faithful in little. For the same God that requires his fidelity in the one, requires it also in the other. Saint Paul upon this ground confirms his sincerity in a matter of private promise to the Corinthians, concerning his coming to them, by his sincerity in the preaching of the Gospel, a far greater matter. God is witness, says he, that our word, that is, promise of coming, towards you, was not yes and no. Why? for the Son of God, that is my preaching of him, was not yes and no. Neglect then of small matters may justly bring our obedience in greater matters into suspicion of unfaithfulness. And therefore in this regard must conscience be made of obedience even in the smallest matters, and that to the death, namely that we may approve our obedience to be sound, and free from deceit. For in greater matters if we should not stand out, all the world would cry shame of us. And here it would be hard to say whether the shame of the world, or conscience of God's commandment urged us. But in lesser matters, the world rather will cry shame of us, if we [reconstructed: stand out]. And therefore in our obedience here, God's commandment seems to carry the greatest stroke with us.

3. This note discovers those also for unsound, that having some care of outward conformity, yet mind not the inward reformation of the heart. In this regard our Savior calls the Pharisees hypocrites, and resembles them to painted sepulchres. Art begins, where nature ends. Nature in the framing of man's body begins first with the heart, and other such inward parts, and then in the last place comes to the face, and the outward parts. Thus is it with hypocrisy, which is an artificial kind of holiness; it begins and ends in the outward face, and fashion of religion: the inward pith, the heart, and substance thereof it cannot attain to. But the heart, and the purity thereof is the special thing the sincere Christian looks to. God's Israel is pure in heart, so that though sometimes the hand be defiled, yet then the heart is not alike polluted, but still the true Israelite may say, My heart is awake, though my eyes sleep. Whereas the base Israelite may say contrarily, My heart is asleep though my eyes be waking, and my tongue be walking. My heart is foul though my hand be never so fine.

3. A sincere heart is a plain and open heart, not desirous to smother, or craftily to conceal its sins, but rather to have them laid open, and to have the conscience rubbed and ransacked. So that with David it cries, Try me O Lord, and see if there be any wickedness in me, and with the same Prophet, let the righteous smite me. But an unsound and crooked heart as well as crooked legs, loves to be hidden. It hates the light; it cannot away with reprehension, but would rather eat of the [reconstructed: delicacies] of flatteries, against which the Prophet prays, Let not my soul eat of their delicacies, let me not delight in their clawings, but rather in the blows of righteous reprehensions. Neither in any sort can it endure trial. Guilty Rachel durst not rise, when Laban came into her tent to search for his idols. On the contrary, as it argued humility in the 11 disciples, to suspect the worst by themselves, so also sincerity, that they were not privy to any such wickedness, when hearing our Savior foretell the treachery of one of them, they offered themselves to the trial saying, Master is it I? is it I?

4. A sincere heart is always most severe against sin, where nature and carnal respects would teach us to be mildest. As first to ourselves. Indeed sincerity cannot endure sin in any, in itself least of all. An hypocrite will not endure the least sin in others, no not so much as a mote in his brother's; so sharp is he: in the mean time he can endure a beam in his own eye; so indulgent is he to himself. Judah could adjudge Tamar to the fire: upon himself yet, being far deeper in that transgression, he could pronounce no such sentence. David lay snorting in his own sin, when yet he sentenced a proportional sin, related in the person of another. Wherein he betrayed want of uprightness. It was said of Antony, he hated a tyrant, not tyranny. It may as truly be said of a hypocrite, he hates sinners, not sins. For he nourishes many in him, notwithstanding the rigor of his zeal against other men's sins. This is an ill sign, wherever it is. A good heart is ready to throw the first stone at itself, being slower in censuring others. None can say so much against it, but itself will be ready to say much more.

And as the sincere man will no more wink at his own sins than at another's, so neither at theirs, to whom he is tied more by natural and worldly respects, than others, to whom he is not so tied. No more at his own children's, than at another's, at his own parents', than at another's, at great and rich ones, than at the meaner ones, at friends to whom he is bound for, and depends upon in hope of kindness, than strangers that have no interest at all in him. Sincerity is free from partiality. With Levi it knows neither father, nor mother, neither king nor Caesar. This the Pharisees, though hypocrites, knew well enough when they said, Master, we know you teach the way of God in truth, that is, in sincerity, and care not for any man's person, not even for Caesar's himself (Matthew 22:16). Tell us then, whether it is lawful to give tribute to him or not. Here then was Jonathan's sincerity, when he condemned his own father, and that a king, in his proceedings against David, and defended David's innocency (1 Samuel 19:4-5). Here was old Jacob's sincerity on his death bed, when fatherly affections are most lively, so deeply censuring Reuben, Simeon, Levi his own sons (Genesis 49). Here was John Baptist's sincerity, that he would not be silent, not even at Herod's incest (Mark 6:18). Here was our Savior's sincerity, that his mouth was not stopped with the Pharisees' good cheer, but even at their own tables laid them out in their own colors, and entertains them with as many menaces, as they did him with dishes of meats (Luke 9:37, 42). Here was the Benjaminites' unsoundness, that were ready with the sword to defend in their brothers such prodigious lusts, which they could not but condemn in their judgments, and in others no doubt would have been ready to have punished with their swords (Judges 20:14). The Prophet joins these two together, You are a God of pure eyes, and cannot behold iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). So must it be with us, if we will be pure and sincere in heart, we must behold no iniquity, not even in ourselves, or those that are nearest to us. For sincerity, as it loves goodness even in the greatest enemy, so it hates sin, even in the greatest friend.

Lastly, to omit many other notes, sincerity simply rejoices in goodness, and in good things themselves and the glory of God arising from them. Therefore as it grieves for other men's sins, so it rejoices in other men's obedience. Many are of a contrary spirit. They can be grieved for their own sins, but not for other men's. Here it is suspicious — we grieve not so much for God's cause, for the dishonor our sins have done to him (for then we should grieve also at our brothers' sins, because they also stain God's glory) but for our own sake, for fear, or feeling of some evil procured to ourselves by our sin: and such grief argues rather self-love, than any true love of God. So likewise they can be cheered, when they see God's glory set forth by themselves in any good work: not alike, when by others. Indeed rather they grieve at those good works of others, if of any mark, wherein they have had no hand themselves. Like those Ephraimites, that said to Jephthah, Why did you go to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us (Judges 12:1)? But the sincere Christian, so God be truly glorified, though it be without his help, yet rejoices and gives thanks, nothing less, than if himself had been the instrument. If any good thing be done, he does not stand curiously inquiring of the author; of his judgment, of his affections, to find out something to abase the work; but is glad that any glory is brought to God, or good to his Church, and with thanksgiving takes his part of benefit from it. Even as in eating of meats, we ask not where or how it was got, but fall to it; and in the shambles, the Apostle wills not to inquire whether it had been sacrificed to the idol or not, but being good meat, and fit to be eaten, without any more ado to buy it (1 Corinthians 10:27). Thus Nathaniel the good Israelite did not so stand upon, or stick at Nazareth, but that he would go and try what our Savior was (John 1:47). And though the Philippian preachers preached out of envy, and vainglory, yet for the matter soundly, their corrupt manner — what was that to Paul? That Christ was truly preached, he rejoiced in that, and would rejoice (Philippians 1:18). It is not then sincerity's palate, not to relish good meat, and well cooked, because we relish not the cook.

Thus I have shown both the means to discover and notes to try our false hearts by. And of the third illustration of the deceitfulness of the heart, namely by the unsearchableness thereof, so much.