Nabal's feasts were for his drunken companions; so this churl triumphs with them, made drunk with error. His food was prepared for his shearers; so this churl hates all but those who aim to starve the Lord's flock, and to strip his sheep of their beautiful clothing, the everlasting righteousness of Jesus imputed to them, and which is upon all the Lord's saints, and which this churl knows, and it makes him desperate. He shall not be called bountiful: his soul has not returned to its rest, nor has God dealt bountifully with him; he has not committed to his trust the true riches, the treasures of grace, the precious promises, the benefits of the cross, and the glorious truths of the gospel. The doctrines of God are not put into his earthen vessel, therefore he cannot have perfect charity. He has not received the gift; therefore he cannot minister the same, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. A man that utters error against the Lord, who makes empty the soul of the hungry, and seeks to destroy the poor with lying words, shall not be called bountiful. A churl, Nabal, a son of Belial, or a child of folly, are his proper names, and by these he shall be called.

This leads me to consider my third head, which is to shew

That a vile person is to be known by his vile doctrine. "The vile person will speak villany." My text does not describe this vile person by any outward, atrocious crimes, such as open profanity

or immorality; the devil would be divided against himself, if this was the case; the unclean spirit goes out here; he is described and called a vile person, from his speaking villany; and a churl, by his being in the flesh, trusting in himself, and being a self-seeker. His heart is said to work iniquity, which is to be concluded from his practising hypocrisy; and that which describes his soul, and completes his character, is his uttering error against the Lord; by which he makes empty the soul of the hungry, causes the drink of the thirsty to fail, and aims to destroy the poor with lying words. Hence it appears, that a good man is to be known by the good things which proceed out of the good treasure of his heart; as the evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, is said to bring forth evil things: which the Lord's question confirms, "How can ye, being evil, speak good things?" And, indeed, if the heart be made good by grace, the conversation and life must be good also; for a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Hence it appears, that a gracious heart is to be known by gracious words, which minister grace; a good heart, by the good and wholesome truths of the Spirit; a true heart, by the words of truth and soberness; and a sound heart, by sound doctrine and sound speech, that cannot be condemned. A spiritual man is to be known by his being a minister of the Spirit, by whom God communicates the Spirit of grace to others, which is

God's seal to the commission of the man, and a sure sign of himself being sealed.

in

A man in

Christ is to be known by his good conversation in Christ. A whited wall, a painted sepulchre, the prudent in their own sight, the pure in their own eyes, a grave that appears not what it is, a platter clean on the outside, an outward appearance of righteousness, a form of godliness, blind zeal, neglecting of the body, voluntary humility, will-worship, and straining at gnats, are all to be found on the Pharisee, who is further from the kingdom of God than publicans or harlots. He may use fair speeches; but, if he does, it is to make merchandize of souls: he may honour God with his lips prayer, and other ways, but his heart is far from him he may walk circumspectly in appearance, but it is in craftiness; and say, “Stand by; I am holier than thou!" and yet be a smoke in God's nose and he may handle the word of God, but it is deceitfully; yea, be rebuked for declaring God's statutes, and taking his covenant in his mouth, because he hates instruction, and casts his word of truth behind his back. When he uses fair speeches, it is not his natural conversation; it is not according to, nor consistent with, the inward state of his soul, the bent of his will, and the principles of his heart. The habitual, the accustomary, the native language, of a vile person, is villany, lying words, and uttering error against the Lord; and all that he aims at is his own applause, and the damnation of God's elect; or, as my text says, to destroy the

poor with lying words. A man in the flesh must send forth a stinking savour: his scent remains in him, he is upon his lees, his scent is not changed, Jer. xlviii. 11. He cannot savour the things that are of God, but those that are of men: he cannot make manifest the savour of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Christ is not all in all with him: self is so far from being denied, that self-will, selfrighteousness, and self-seeking, are all in all. Selfwilled are they, says God, cursed children; and by such vile persons the sovereign and good will of God in Christ Jesus is opposed, while the selfwill of man, or free-agency, is exalted. This is a damnable error uttered against the Lord. The self-willed are the self-sufficient and self-righteous, who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others that Christ has made so; and who appear outwardly righteous before men, but God knows their hearts and such

persons ridicule the perfect obedience of Christ, call it imputed nonsense, and set up their own dead works, performed under the sentence of death and damnation, in opposition to it; and so Israel of old sought righteousness, and failed, while the elect attained to it.

Thus a vile person is to be known by his villany; an enemy to God, by the error that he utters against him; his hatred to the King of Zion, by his opposition to his reign; his living in the flesh, by his fleshly savour; his being a selfwilled, cursed child, by his doctrines of free

agency; his being a self-righteous Pharisee, by his debasing the righteousness of the Lord, and exalting his own; and his hatred to God's elect, by his trying to destroy them, not with carnal weapons, but with false doctrine; or, as my text says, with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. They speak right in opposing his errors and villany, and by calling upon him, as he calls himself a preacher, for the pure gospel to feed their needy souls with, which is the provision of God's house, and what he has provided for the poor and needy. The gospel, and the promises of it, are the breasts that the free mother is always to suckle her children with.

This vile person often deceives by a counterfeit experience. Being a bond-child under the law, he calls his legal bondage a work of special grace; and sometimes he will talk about being shook over hell, but can never describe salvation from it, nor his being shook out of his lies and self-righteousness. The motions of sin, which are by the law, and which work in his members to bring forth fruit unto death, are called the plague of the human heart. The perpetual lashes that conscience gives him for his villany, or errors against the Lord, are termed the law in the members warring against the law of the mind. When there is a cessation for a while from the rebukes of Heaven, and the accusations of conscience, then this vile one is perfect in the flesh, has obtained the second blessing, and walks in the