and they are not nourished by it. As this evil of malice and envying, so ordinary among men, and (which is most strange amongst christians) like an overflowing of the gall, possesses their whole minds; so that they not only fail of being nourished by the word they hear, but are the worse by it, their disease is fed by it, as an unwholesome stomach turns the best meat it receives into that bad humour that abounds in it. Do not they thus that observe what the word says, that they may be the better enabled to discover the failings of others, and speak maliciously and uncharitably of them, and vent themselves, as is too common, This word met well with such a one's fault, and this with another's? Is not this to feed these diseases of matice, envy and evil speakings with this pure milk, and make them grow, instead of growing by it ourselves in grace and holiness.

Thus likewise the hypocrite turns all that he hears of this word, not to the inward renovation of his mind, and redressing what is amiss there, but only to the composing of his outward carriage, and to enable himself to act his part better; to be cunninger in his own faculty, a more refined and expert hypocrite, not to grow more a christian indeed, but more such in appearance only, and in the opinion of others.

Therefore it is a very needful advertisement, seeing these evils are so natural to men, and so contrary to the nature of the word of God, that they be purged out, to the end it may be profitably received. A very like exhortation to this hath the Apostle St. James, and some of the same words, but in another metaphor, Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted word. He compares the word to a plant of excellent virtue, the very tree of life, the word that is able to save your souls: but the only soil wherein it will grow is a heart full of meckness, a heart that is purged of those luxuriant

* Ja. i. 21.

weeds that grow so rank in it by nature; they must be plucked up and thrown out to make place for this word.

And there is such a necessity of this, that the most approved teachers of wisdom, in a human way, have required this of their scholars, that to the end their minds might be capable of it, they should be purified from vice and wickedness; for this reason the philosopher judges young men unfit hearers of moral philosophy, because of the abounding and untamedness of their passions, granting, that if those were composed and ordered, that they might be admitted. And it was Socrates's custom, when any asked him a question to be informed by him, before he would answer them, he asked them concerning their own qualities and course of life.

Now, if men require a calm and purified disposition of mind to make it capable of their doctrine, how much more is it suitable and necessary for learning the doctrine of God, and those deep mysteries that his word opens up. It is well expressed in that Apocryphal book of wisdom, That froward thoughts separate from God, and wisdom enters not into a malicious soul: no indeed, that is a very unfit dwelling for it; and even a Heathen could say, The mind that is impure is not capable of God, and divine things, Seneca. Therefore we see the strain of that book of Proverbs that speaks so much of this wisdom, it requires in the first chapter, that they that would hear it, do retire themselves from all ungodly customs and practices. And indeed how can the soul apprehend spiritual things, that is not in some measure refined from the love of sin, that abuses and bemires the minds of men, and makes them unable to arise to heavenly, thoughts? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, says our Saviour, not only shall they see him perfectly hereafter, but, as they can receive him, he will impart and make himself known unto them here". If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Fa

y Matth. v. 8.

z Joh. xiv. 23.

ther will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. This is that which makes the word obscure, namely, the filthy mists within; whereas, on the contrary, he will in just judgment hide himself, and the saving truth of his word, from those that entertain and delight in sin: the very sins wherein they delight shall obscure and darken the light of the gospel to them, that though it shine clear as the sun at noon-day, they shall be as those that live in a dungeon, they shall not discern it.

And as they receive no benefit by the word that have these evils here mentioned reigning and in full strength in them, so they that are indeed born again, the more they retain of these, the less shall they find the influence and profit of the word; for this exhortation concerns them. They may possibly some of them have a great remainder of these corruptions unmortified, therefore are they exhorted to lay aside entirely those evils, all malice, all hypocrisy, &c. else, though they hear the word often, yet they will be in a spiritual atrophy, they will eat much, but grow nothing by it, they will find no increase of grace and spiritual strength.

Would we know the main cause of our fruitless hearing of the word, here it is; men bring not meek and guileless spirits to it, not minds emptied and purified to receive it, but stuffed with malice, and hypocrisy, and pride, and other such evils: and where should the word enter, when all is so taken up? And if it did enter, how should it prosper amongst so many enemies, or at all abide amongst them? Either they will turn it out again, or choak and kill the power of it. We think religion and our own lusts, and secret heart-idols, should agree together, because we would have it so; but this is not possible, therefore labour to entertain the word of truth in the love of it, and lodge the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, as the Apostle St. Paul speaks, Join those together with David, I hate vain

a 1 Tim. iii. 9.

Psal. cxix. 113.

thoughts, but thy law do I love. And as here our Apostle, Lay aside all malice, and hypocrisy, and envy, and evil-speakings, and so receive the word, or else look for no benefit by it here, nor for salvation by it hereafter; but be prevailed upon to cast out all impurity, and give your whole heart to it, so to desire it, that you may grow, and then as you desire, you shall grow by it.

2dly, The Apostle speaks of the appetite of children, Desire the sincere milk, &c. Every real believer hath received a life from Heaven, far more excelling our natural life, than that excels the life of the beasts. And this life hath its own peculiar desires and delights, that are the proper actings and the certain characters and evidence of it: amongst others, this is one, and a main one, answerable to the like desire in natural life, namely, a desire of food; and because it is here still imperfect, therefore the natural end of this is not only nourishment, but growth, as it is here expressed.

The sincere milk of the word.] The life of grace is the proper life of a reasonable soul, and without it, the soul is dead, as the body is without the soul: so that this may be truly rendered, reasonable milk, as some read it, but certainly that reasonable milk is the word of God, The milk of the word.

It was before called the immortal seed, and here it is the milk of those that are born again, and thus it is very agreeable nourishment to that spiritual life, according to their saying, Iisdem alimur ex quibus constamus. As the milk that infants draw from the breast, is most connatural food to them, being of that same substance that nourished them in the womb: So when they are brought forth, that food follows them as it were for their supply in that way that is provided in nature for it; by certain veins it ascends into the breasts, and is there fitted for them, and they are by nature directed to find it there. Thus as a christian begins to live by the power of the word, he is by the nature of that spiritual life di

To

rected to that same word as its nourishment. follow the resemblance further in the qualities of milk after the monkish way, that runs itself out of breath in allegory, I conceive, is neither solid nor profitable, and to speak freely, the curious searching of the similitude in other qualities of milk, seems to wrong the quality here given it by the Apostle, in which it is so well resembled by milk, namely, the simple pureness and sincerity of the word; besides that the pressing of comparisons of this kind too far, proves often so constrained ere they have done with it, that by too much drawing, they bring forth blood instead of milk.

Pure and unmixed, as milk drawn immediately from the breast; the pure word of God without the mixture not only of error, but of all other composition of vain unprofitable subtilties, or affected human eloquence, such as become not the majesty and gravity of God's word. If any man speak, says our Apostle, let him speak as the oracles of God". Light conceits and flowers of rhetoric, wrong the word more than they can please the hearers; the weeds among the corn make it look gay, but it were all the better they were not amongst it. Nor can those mixtures be pleasing to any but carnal minds. They that are indeed the children of God (as infants who like their breast-milk best pure) do love the word best so, and wheresoever they find it so, they relish it well; whereas natural men cannot love spiritual things for themselves, desire not the word for its own sweetness, but would have it sauced with such conceits as possibly spoil the simplicity of it; or at the best love to hear it for the wit, and learning, which without any wrongful mixture of it, they find in one delivering it more than another; but the natural and genuine appetite of the children of God, is to the word, for itself; and only as milk, sincere milk: And where they find it so, from whomsoever, or in what way soever delivered unto them, they feed upon it with delight: before Peti

VOL. I.

1 Pet, iv. 11.