truth is the life of the fervant, and the fecurity of the fon; for what is a fervant if any one fay he is not true? no man will receive him upon any terms; and the fon fhall not be admitted to stay in the houfe, if he be untrue. If any one be a liar in the first place, in the fecond he is a thief; the liar is not to be believed, and the thief is not to be trufted: a man's truth is better to him than his limbs, his arms, his legs, his bodily ftrength, or than his wit and parts; thefe may render a man formidable; but if a man be refolved concerning truth, that man fhall be more loved than feared, and every one will have confidence in him; and if he chance to fail and miscarry, he fhall meet with every man's pity; but he that is false, every man is glad when he is difabled. Man's cunning, wit, the parts of his mind, and inftruments of his body, are tools of mischief, if he have not truth; therefore magiftrates do take away fuch, that they, may not do mifchief. It is for the fafety of innocents to take away high malefactors; whereas truth doth fanctify all these things, and makes them all inftrumental and ferviceable, and they will be for the good of mankind.

3. With which I will conclude: fuch is the excellency and neceffity of truth and fincerity, that it is the thing that God will have; fincerity, true meaning and intention, God doth every where look for, and in no cafe doth he difpenfe with it, and will take no other things in competition: now this is our confolation, that that gracious and merciful God, who knows our frame, and remembers that

we

we are but duft, and knows that in many things we may fail and be mistaken; this God doth fo far confider us, that he will allow for fins of weakness, and deal tenderly with a man in refpect of his infirmities; he will give abatement for fins of fudden" furprifal, alfo violent affaults, mistakes of judgment, misapprehenfions, &c. But for failing in truth, fincerity, uprightness and honest-heartedness, he will never give men allowance; for if he hath not a man's meaning, he hath nothing for what is a man, but what he means? Therefore be fure that you be fincere and honeft-hearted, and that you do truly and honestly mean God and righteousness and truth; for in these God will be exact and fevere, and upon this account he hath declared himself to be the fearcher of mens hearts. And herein every man may refolve himself; every man knows what he means, every man knows the intentions of his mind and meaning God-ward; tho' he may have fcruples as to his other graces, and in other things be uncertain, yet this a man knows, or he knows nothing. Therefore it is a vain and a ridiculous complaint, to complain of infincerity; fail not therefore in this; for according to the fincerity of our fpirits, God will accept us; but if truth doth not remain in our hearts, every thing that we facrifice to God is abominable to him.

And thus I have given you an account of this perfection that is worthy of a christian; and that in this catalogue is in the first place in the use of your reafon and understanding think it becomes you to abide in the truth.

399

DISCOURSE LXIX.

S

O the translation; but I rather keep to the Greek, what foever things are venerable; which word is put in the margin. Neither do I forfake the word in the text, without very good reafons; these two I give. 1. Because the word box neft, doth not import the emphasis of the Greek. 2. The very notion of honeft you have afterwards therefore you are not to take it here. Now the Greek word imports, whatsoever things are honourable, grave, venerable, feemly, comely; this is the import of the Greek word. Things that may raise the efteem of the person, and gain him reverence; I fay such things as may gain repute and value to a man's person.

This is explicable two ways; you have an account of it, partly from the things themselves, partly from the perfons. In refpect of the perfons, there are two things requifite. 1. Grave behaviour, and 2. Compofure of spirit. Light carriage and an ungoverned spirit render any man mean, vile and contemptible; a man lays himself low in the esteem of others, by misbehaviour; and a man lays himself

open

open by falling into paffion or running out into immoderate defires.

The beft way for me to lead you into an apprehenfion of the notion, is to lead you to particulars; and I am abundantly furnished from several texts of fcripture. The first is, 2 Sam. vi. 20. Michal takes upon herself to reprove David for light behaviour and vain carriage; fhe tells him that he behaved himself as one of the vain fellows this was upon the occafion of his dancing before the ark; the truth is, Michal was right in her notion, though falfe in her application; for had it not been upon fuch an occafion, Michal had justly reproved David, but Michal was as much mistaken, as fometimes old Eli was, when he did rafhly challenge devout Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 12, 13, 14. And it came to pafs as fhe continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard : therefore Eli thought she had been drunken; and Eli faid unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken ? put away thy wine from thee. Whereas the gives him an excellent account, as faith the text, ver. 15. And Hannah anfwered and faid, no, my Lord, I am a woman of a forrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my foul before the Lord. She faith never a word; only the high priest perceives her lips to move, and he rafhly cenfures. We fhould not be too hafty to judge and condemn the outward behaviour of devout perfons, though they may feem to us something undecent: this is what I fuggeft from these two places. But

then

then, you have David defective and falling under reproof in another place, I Sam. xxi. 13. For there before Achifh, when he was in fear (which is an apology for him) he changes his behaviour and imitates fools, and feigns himfelf mad; but there he forgot himself, he doth that which did mifbecome him, only he doth it for his preservation : but then in another place, we have a thorough account of David, coming up to the notion in the text, I Sam. xviii. 15. where Saul obferves that David behaved himself, wifely, and it strikes a terror to him: wherefore when Saul faw that he behaved himself very wifely, he was afraid of him. Here you have the notion. For another inftance; and that is a most eminent man, the best man of the old world, Noah, the great preacher of righteoufnefs; fee how by a fault of his, he renders himself contemptible to his own fon Ham, Gen. ix. 21, 22. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Then his fon hath a curfe entailed upon his pofterity for this unnatural behaviour. It were well if they would think upon this, who take too much liberty to themselves, and o verthrow their reafon by excess in this kind. Let fuch remember this inftance of Noah; what a dif paragement it was to fuch a worthy perfon, and what a mischief followed upon it, that he should be an inftrument from God to curfe his own pofterity. Another inftance of this misbehaviour which is con→ trary to this grave and comely carriage, is of Ell's VOL. III.

C c

fons;