Knowest thou not that thy zeal, which is the life of thy righteousness,
is preposterous in many things? What else means thy madness, and the
rage thereof, against men as good as thyself. True, thy being ignorant
that they are good, may save thee from the commission of the sin that is
unpardonable; but it will never keep thee from spot in God’s sight, but
will make both thee and thy righteousness culpable.
Paul, who was once as brave a Pharisee as thou canst be, calleth much of
that zeal which he in that estate was possessed with, and lived in the
exercise of, madness; yea, exceeding madness (Acts xxvi. 9–11; Phil, iii.
5, 6); and of the same sort is much of thine, and it must be so; for a
lawyer, a man for the law, and that resteth in it, must be a persecutor;
yea, a persecutor of righteous men, and that of zeal to God; because by
the law is begotten, through the weakness that it meeteth with in thee,
sourness, bitterness of spirit, and anger against him that rightfully
condemneth thee of folly, for choosing to trust to thy own righteousness
when a better is provided of God to save us; Gal. iv. 28–31. Thy
righteousness therefore is deficient; yea, thy zeal for the law, and the
men of the law, has joined madness with thy moral virtues, and made thy
righteousness unrighteousness: how then canst thou be upright before the
Lord?
Further, has not the pride of thy spirit in this hotheaded zeal for thy
Pharisaical notions run thee upon thinking that thou art able to do more
than God hath enjoined thee, and so able to make thyself more righteous
than God requireth thou shouldst be? What else is the cause of thy
adding laws to God’s laws, precepts to God’s precepts, and traditions to
God’s appointment? Mark vii. Nay, hast thou not, by thus doing,
condemned the law of want of perfection, and so the God that gave it, of
want of wisdom and faithfulness to himself and thee?
Nay, I say again, hath not thy thus doing charged God with being ignorant
of knowing what rules there needed to be imposed on his creatures to make
their obedience complete? And doth not this madness of thine intimate,
moreover, that if thou hadst not stepped in with the bundle of thy
traditions, righteousness had been imperfect, not through man’s weakness,
but through impediment in God, or in his ministering rules of
righteousness unto us?
Now, when thou hast thought on these things, fairly answer thyself these
few questions. Is not this arrogancy? Is not this blasphemy? Is not
this to condemn God, that thou mightst be righteous? And dost thou
think, this is indeed the way to be righteous?
But again, what means thy preferring of thine own rules, laws, statutes,
ordinances, and appointments, before the rules, laws, statutes, and
appointments of God? Thinkest thou this to be right? Whither will thy
zeal, thy pride, and thy folly carry thee? Is there more reason, more
equity, more holiness in thy tradition, than in the holy, and just, and
good commandments of God? Rom. vii. 12. Why then, I say, dost thou
reject the commandment of God, to keep thine own tradition? Yea, why
dost thou rage, and rail, and cry out, when men keep not thy law, or the
rule of thine order, and tradition of thine elders, and yet shut thine
eyes, or wink with them, when thou thyself shalt live in the breach of
the law of God? Yea, why wilt thou condemn men, when they keep not thy
law, but study for an excuse, yea, plead for them that live in the breach
of God’s? Mark vii. 10–13. Will this go for righteousness in the day of
God Almighty? Nay, rather, will not this, like a mill-stone about thy
neck, drown thee in the deeps of hell? O the blindness, the madness, the
pride, that dwells in the hearts of these pretended righteous men
Again, What kind of righteousness of thine is this that standeth in a
mis-esteeming of God’s commands? Some thou settest too high, and some
too low; as in the text, thou hast set a ceremony above faith, above
love, and above hope in the mercy of God; when as it is evident, the
things last mentioned, are the things of the first rate, the weightier
matters; Matt. xxiii. 17.
Again, Thou hast preferred the gold above the temple that sanctifieth the
gold; and the gift above the altar that sanctifieth the gift; Matt.
xxiii. 17.
I say again, What kind of righteousness shall this be called? What back
will such a suit of apparel fit, that is set together to what it should
be? Nor can other righteousness proceed, where a wrong judgment
precedeth it.
This misplacing of God’s laws cannot, I say, but produce misplaced
obedience. It indeed produceth a monster, an ill-shaped thing, unclean,
and an abomination to the Lord. For “see,” saith he (if thou wilt be
making), “that thou make all things according to the pattern shewn thee
in the mount.” Set faith, where faith should stand; a moral, where a
moral should stand; and a ceremony, where a ceremony should stand: for
this turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s
clay. And wilt thou call this thy righteousness? yea, wilt thou stand in
this? wilt thou plead for this? and venture an eternal concern in such a
piece of linsey-woolsey as this? O fools, and blind!
But, further, let us come a little closer to the point. O blind
Pharisee, thou standest to thy righteousness: what dost thou mean?
Wouldst thou have mercy for thy righteousness, or justice for thy
righteousness.
If mercy, what mercy? Temporal things God giveth to the unthankful and
unholy: nor doth he use to sell the world to man for righteousness. The
earth hath he given to the children of men. But this is not the thing:
thou wouldst have eternal mercy for thy righteousness; thou wouldst have
God think upon what an holy, what a good, what a righteous man thou art
and hast been. But Christ died not for the good and righteous, nor did
he come to call such to the banquet that grace hath prepared for the
world. “I came not,—I am not come (saith Christ) to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance;” Mark ii.; Rom. v. Yet this is thy plea;
Lord, God, I am a righteous man; therefore grant me mercy, and a share in
thy heavenly kingdom. What else dost thou mean when thou sayst, “God I
thank thee, that I am not as other men are?” Why dost thou rejoice, why
art thou glad that thou art more righteous (if indeed thou art) than thy
neighbour, if it is not because thou thinkest that thou hast got the
start of thy neighbour, with reference to mercy; and that by thy
righteousness thou hast insinuated thyself into God’s affections, and
procured an interest in his eternal favour? But,
What, what hast thou done by thy righteousness? I say, What hast thou
given to God thereby? And what hath he received of thy hand? Perhaps
thou wilt say, righteousness pleaseth God: but I answer no, not thine,
with respect to justification from the curse of the law, unless it be as
perfect as the justice it is yielded to, and as the law that doth command
it. But thine is not such a righteousness: no, thine is speckled, thine
is spotted, thine makes thee to look like a speckled bird in his
eye-sight.
Thy righteousness has added iniquity, because it has kept thee from a
belief of thy need of repentance, and because it has emboldened thee to
thrust thyself audaciously into the presence of God, and made thee even
before his holy eyes, which are so pure, that they cannot look on
iniquity (Hab. i. 13), to vaunt, boast, and brag of thyself; and of thy
tottering, ragged, stinking uncleanness; for all our righteousnesses are
as menstruous rags, because they flow from a thing, a heart, a man, that
is unclean. But,
Again, Wouldst thou have mercy for thy righteousness? For whom wouldst
thou have it: for another, or for thyself? If for another (and it is
most proper that a righteous man should intercede for another by his
righteousness, rather than for himself), then thou thrustest Christ out
of his place and office, and makest thyself to be a saviour in his stead;
for a mediator there is already, even a mediator between God and man, and
he is the man Christ Jesus.
But dost thou plead by thy righteousness for mercy for thyself? Why, in
doing so, thou impliest—
1. That thy righteousness can prevail with God more than can thy sins; I
say, that thy righteousness can prevail with God to preserve thee from
death more than thy sins can prevail with him to condemn thee to it. And
if so, what follows, but that thy righteousness is more, and has been
done in a fuller spirit than ever were thy sins? But thus to insinuate,
is to insinuate a lie; for there is no man but, while he is a sinner,
sinneth with a more full spirit than a good man can act righteousness
withal.
A sinner, when he sinneth, he doth it with all his heart, and with all
his mind, and with all his soul, and with all his strength; nor hath he
in his ordinary course any thing that bindeth. But with a good man it is
not so; all and every whit of himself, neither is, nor can be, in every
good duty that he doth. For when he would do good, evil is the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are present with him. And
again, “The flesh lusteth against one to the other, so that ye cannot do
the things would;” Gal. v. 17.
Now, if a good man cannot do good things with that oneness and
universalness of mind, as a wicked man doth sin with, then is his sin
heavier to weigh him down to hell than is his righteousness to buoy him
up to the heavens.
And again, I say, if the righteousness of a good man comes short of his
sin, both in number, weight, and measure, as it doth (for a good man
shrinks and quakes at the thoughts of God’s entering into judgment with
him, Psalm cxliii. 2); then is his iniquity more than his righteousness.
And I say again, if the sin of one that is truly gracious, and so of one
that hath the best of principles, is heavier and mightier to destroy him
than is his righteousness to save him, how can it be that the Pharisee,
that is not gracious, but a mere carnal man (somewhat reformed and
painted over with a few lean and low formalities), should with his empty,
partial, hypocritical righteousness counterpoise his great, mighty, and
weighty sins, that have cleaved to him in every state and condition of
his, to make him odious in the sight of God?
2. Dost thou plead by thy righteousness for mercy for thyself? Why in
so doing thou impliest, that mercy thou deservest; and that is next door
to, or almost as much as to say, God oweth me what I ask for. The best
that can be put upon it is, thou seekest security from the direful curse
of God, as it were by the works of the law, Rom. ix. 31–33; and to be
sure, betwixt Christ and the law, thou wilt drop into hell. For he that
seeks for mercy, as it were, and but as it were, by the works of the law,
doth not altogether trust thereto. Nor doth he that seeks for that
righteousness that should save him as it were by the works of the law,
seek it only wholly and solely at the hands of mercy.
So then, to seek for that that should save thee, neither at the hands of
the law, nor at the hands of mercy, is to be sure to seek it where it is
not to be found; for there is no medium betwixt the righteousness of the
law and the mercy of God. Thou must have it either at the door of the
law, or at the door of grace. But sayst thou, I am for having of it at
the hands of both. I will trust solely to neither. I love to have two
strings to my bow. If one of them, as you think, can help me by itself,
my reason tells me that both can help me better. Therefore will I be
righteous and good, and will seek by my goodness to be commended to the
mercy of God: for surely he that hath something of his own to ingratiate
himself into the favour of his prince withal, shall sooner obtain his
mercy and favour, than one that comes to him stripped of all good.
I answer, But there are not two ways to heaven: there is but one new and
living way which Christ hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is
to say, his flesh; and besides that one, there is no more; Heb. x. 19–24.
Why then dost thou talk of two strings to thy bow? What became of him
that had, and would have two stools to sit on? yea, the text says
plainly, that therefore they obtained not righteousness, because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. See
here, they are disowned by the gospel, because they sought it not by
faith, that is, by faith only. Again, the law, and the righteousness
thereof, flies from them (nor could they attain it, though they follow
after it), because they sought it not by faith.
Mercy then is to be found alone in Jesus Christ. Again, the
righteousness of the law is to be obtained only by faith of Jesus Christ;
that is, in the Son of God is the righteousness of the law to be found;
for he, by his obedience to his Father, is become the end of the law for
righteousness. And for the sake of his legal righteousness (which is
also called the righteousness of God, because it was God in the flesh of
the Lord Jesus that did accomplish it), is mercy, and grace from God
extended to whoever dependeth by faith upon God by this Jesus his
righteousness for it. And hence it is, that we so often read, that this
Jesus is the way to the Father; that God, for Christ’s sake, forgiveth
us; that by the obedience of one many are made righteous, or justified;
and that through this man is preached to us the forgiveness of sins; and
that by him all that believe are justified from all things from which
they could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Now, though I here do make mention of righteousness and mercy, yet I hold
there is but one way, to wit, to eternal life; which way, as I said, is
Jesus Christ; for he is the new, the only new and living way to the
Father of mercies, for mercy to make me capable of abiding with him in
the heavens for ever and ever.
But sayst thou, I will be righteous in myself that I may have wherewith
to commend me to God, when I go to him for mercy?
I answer, But thou blind Pharisee, I tell thee thou hast no understanding
of God’s design by the gospel, which is, not to advance man’s
righteousness, as thou dreamest, but to advance the righteousness of his
Son, and his grace by him. Indeed, if God’s design by the gospel was to
exalt and advance man’s righteousness, then that which thou hast said
would be to the purpose; for what greater dignity can be put upon man’s
righteousness, than to admit it?
I say then, for God to admit it, to be an advocate, an intercessor, a
mediator; for all these are they which prevail with God to shew me mercy.
But this God never thought of, much less could he thus design by the
gospel; for the text runs flat against it. Not of works, not of works of
righteousness, which we have done; “Not of works, lest any man should
boast,” saying, Well, I may thank my own good life for mercy. It was
partly for the sake of my own good deeds that I obtained mercy to be in
heaven and glory. Shall this be the burden of the song of heaven? or is
this that which is composed by that glittering heavenly host, and which
we have read of in the holy book of God? No, no; that song runs upon
other feet—standeth in far better strains, being composed of far higher
and truly heavenly matter: for God has “predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace;” Eph. i. And it is requisite that the song be framed accordingly;
wherefore he saith, that the heavenly song runs thus—“Thou art worthy to
take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests;
and we shall reign on the earth;” Rev. v. 9, 10.
He saith not that they have redeemed, or helped to redeem and deliver
themselves; but that the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain; the Lamb only was
he that redeemed them. Nor, saith he, that they had made themselves
kings and priests unto God to offer any oblation, sacrifice, or offering
whatsoever, but that the same Lamb had made them such: for they, as is
insinuated by the text, were in, among, one with, and no better than the
kindreds, tongues, nations, and people of the earth. Better! “No, in no
wise,” saith Paul (Rom. iii. 9); therefore their separation from them was
of mere mercy, free grace, good will, and distinguishing love; not for,
or because of works of righteousness which any of them have done; no,
they were all alike. But these, because beloved when in their blood
(according to Ezek. xvi.), were separated by free grace; and as another
scripture hath it, “redeemed from the earth,” and from among men by
blood; Rev. xiv. 3, 4. Wherefore deliverance from the ireful wrath of
God must not, neither in whole nor in part, be ascribed to the whole law,
or to all the righteousness that comes by it, but to this Lamb of God,
Jesus, the Saviour of the world; for it is he that delivered us from the
wrath to come, and that according to God’s appointment; “for God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by (or through) our Lord
Jesus Christ;” 1 Thess. i. 10; v. 9. Let every man, therefore, take heed
what he doth, and whereon he layeth the stress of his salvation; “For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ;” 1 Cor. iii. ii.
But dost thou plead still as thou didst before, and wilt thou stand
thereto? Why then, thy design must overcome God, or God’s design must
overcome thee. Thy design is to give thy good life, thy good deeds, a
part of the glory of thy justification from the curse. And God’s design
is to throw all thy righteousness out into the street, into the dirt and
dunghill, as to that thou art for glory, and for glorying here before
God; yea, thou art sharing in the glory of justification when that alone
belongeth to God. And he hath said, “My glory will I not give to
another.” Thou wilt not trust wholly to God’s grace in Christ for
justification; and God will not take thy stinking righteousness in as a
partner in thy acquitment from sin, death, wrath, and hell. Now the
question is, Who shall prevail? God, or the Pharisee? and whose word
shall stand? his, the Pharisee’s?
Alas! the Pharisee here must needs come down, for God is greater than
all. Also, he hath said, that no flesh shall glory in his presence; and
that he will have mercy, and not sacrifice. And again, that it is not
(or shall be) in him that wills, nor in him that runs, but in God that
sheweth mercy. What hope, help, stay, or relief, then is there left for
the merit-monger? What twig, or straw, or twined thread, is left to be a
stay for his soul? This besom will sweep away his cobweb: the house that
this spider doth so lean upon, will now be overturned, and he in it, to
hellfire; for nothing less than everlasting damnation is designed by God,
and that for this fearful and unbelieving Pharisee: God will prevail
against him for ever.
3. But wilt thou yet plead thy righteousness for mercy? Why, in so
doing thou takest away from God the power of giving mercy. For if it be
thine as wages, it is no longer his to dispose of at pleasure; for that
which another man oweth me, is in equity not at his, but at my disposal.
Did I say that by this thy plea thou takest away from God the power of
giving mercy? I will add, yea, and also of disposing of heaven and life
eternal. And then, I pray you, what is left unto God, and what can he
call his own? Not mercy, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased:
not heaven, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased: not eternal
life, for that by thy good deeds thou hast purchased. Thus, Pharisee (O
thou self-righteous man), hast thou set up thyself above grace, mercy,
heaven, glory; yea, above even God himself, for the purchaser should in
reason be esteemed above the purchase.
Awake, man! What hast thou done? Thou hast blasphemed God; thou has
undervalued the glory of his grace; thou hast, what in thee lieth,
opposed the glorious design of heaven; thou hast sought to make thy
filthy rags to share in thy justification.
Now, all these are mighty sins; these have made thine iniquity infinite.
What wilt thou do? Thou hast created to thyself a world of needless
miseries. I call them needless, because thou hadst more than enough
before. Thou hast set thyself against God in a way of contending, thou
standest upon thy points and pantables; thou wilt not bate God an ace of
what thy righteousness is worth, and wilt also make it worth what thyself
shalt list: thou wilt be thine own judge, as to the worth of thy
righteousness; thou wilt neither hear what verdict the word has passed
about it, nor wilt thou endure that God should throw it out in the matter
of thy justification, but quarrelest with the doctrine of free grace, or
else dost wrest it out of its place to serve thy Pharisaical designs;
saying, “God I thank thee, I am not as other men;” fathering upon
thyself, yea, upon God and thyself a stark lie; for thou art as other men
are, though not in this, yet in that; yea, in a far worse condition than
the most of men are. Nor will it help thee anything to attribute this
thy goodness to the God of heaven; for that is but a mere toying; the
truth is, the God that thou intendest is nothing but thy righteousness;
and the grace that thou supposest is nothing but thine own good and
honest intentions. So that,
4. In all that thou sayst thou dost but play the downright hypocrite:
thou pretendest indeed to mercy, but thou intendest nothing but merit:
thou seemest to give the glory to God, but at the same time takest it all
to thyself: thou despisest others, and criest up thyself; and in
conclusion, fatherest all upon God by word, and upon thyself in truth.
Nor is there anything more common among this sort of men, than to make
God, his grace, and kindness, the stalking-horse to their own praise,
saying, “God, I thank thee,” when they trust to themselves that they are
righteous, and have not need of any repentance; when the truth is, they
are the worst sort of men in the world, because they put themselves into
such a state as God hath not put them into, and then impute it to God,
saying, God, I thank thee, that thou hast done it; for what greater sin
than to make God a liar, or than to father that upon God which he never
meant, intended, or did: and all this under colour to glorify God, when
there is nothing else designed, but to take all glory from him, and to
wear it on thine own head as a crown, and a diadem, in the face of the
whole world.
A self-righteous man, therefore, can come to God for mercy no otherwise
than fawningly: for what need of mercy hath a righteous man? Let him
then talk of mercy, of grace, and goodness, and come in an hundred times
with his, “God, I thank thee,” in his mouth, all is but words; there is
no sense, nor savour, nor relish, of mercy and favour; nor doth he in
truth, from his very heart, understand the nature of mercy, nor what is
an object thereof; but when he thanks God, he praises himself: when he
pleads for mercy, he means his own merit; and all this is manifest from
what doth follow; for, saith he, I am not as this Publican: thence
clearly insinuating, that not the good, but the bad, should be rejected
of the God of heaven: that not the bad but the good, not the sinner, but
the self-righteous, are the most proper objects of God’s favour. The
same thing is done by others in this our day: favour, mercy, grace, and,
“God, I thank thee,” is in their mouths, but their own strength,
sufficiency, free-will, and the like, they are the things they mean by
all such high and glorious expressions.