WHat Rules should be observed for a Christian’s walking with God? You will say to me, You have shewed to us, That it is a most blessed thing to walk with God, and we are convinced of it: But what Rules may there be given for it?
The First Rule
Be sure of this, That there be no way of sin in thee. Take heed of giving way to any sin, especially known sin, though it be a little one, though it should be but a sin of omision, the giving way to any known sin, will make the presence of God terrible, and make all thy duties empty; will estrang God from thy soul: there’s more evil in it than thou art aware of, thou canst have no Communion with God while thou art in any way of sin, especially if it be against Light, The least sin that is that a Christian gives way unto, is like a thorn in a mans foot, but a great sin, & a sin against knowledg is like a great gash in a mans foot; now if a man hath but a thorn in his foot he cannot walk well, it will make him halt; if a man hath but a little gravel got into his shoo he will not be able to walk along, he may walk a step or two, but not very long. Now small sins are like gravil in the shoo, or like a thorn got into the foot; but if thou fallest into a great sin, a sin against light, against conscience, Oh that is like a great gash that one may cut with a hatchet or an ax; if a man hath cut a great gash in his foot he wil hardly be able to walk with comfort: Even so it is when thou fallest into any great sin, thou hadst need then go to the Chyriurgeon, thou hadst need then have salve applied to thee to heal thy soul, or otherwise it wil hinder thee in thy walk with God.
The second Rule, or Direction
Secondly, Labor to abstract thy heart from earthly and sensual things as much as thou canst that thou mayest be spiritual: A drossie, earthly, sensual heart is unfit to have communion with God, God he is a Spirit, and thou must be Spiritual in thy converse with him, take heed of mingling thy heart with creature comforts, thou mayest make use of them, but in a spiritual way, do not defile thy heart with them, let not thy heart close with them as adequat objects of thy desires, or of thy love, take heed of being intangled, of being insnar’d with any creature comforts; a man cannot walk if he hath got into a snare, when men fetter themselves in the world, and intangle themselves with abundance of businesses, & creature contentments, it doth mightily hinder their freedom in walking with God, when mens hearts sink down to the creature they cannot walk with God, for God is above, he is on high, and the way of the wise is on high, and we must keep our selves on high: If so be that Christians have sometimes some good affections, their hearts are a little stir’d up to things that are good; but at other times their hearts sink down to the world, and to sensual, and earthly contentments, they cannot walk freely with God, they can but hault at the best; as a man that hath one leg shorter than the other, he cannot walk evenly, but he haults as he goes; so when our affections are up and down, sometimes they are stir’d up to Heaven, and sometimes down to the world again, yea, perhaps at the same time when we have some truths heave us upward, and yet a drossie spirit to sink us downward, this will be but haulting, our affections must go even, must not be for Heaven and Earth together, except it be in subordination one to the other, and so while we are on the earth we are in Heaven if we keep our hearts in a subordination to spiritual things when we are busied about earthly; Then is a mans heart spiritual, and separated from the earth when he knows how to have comfort in God alone, when he knows how to make up the want of all creaturecomforts in God himself, that’s a spiritual heart. Now you will say, we must not be insnar’d in the things of the earth: when is a mans heart spiritual? It’s then Spiritual when it knows how to satisfie its self in God alone, and to make up the want in all creature comforts in God himself, and no Christian can walk with God except he attains to that pitch, to know how to make up all in God, and use all in order unto God.
The third Rule, or Direction
Thirdly, If thou wouldst walk with God, evermore take Christ with thee God and the Soul cannot walk together but with Christ; Christ, God and Man, that Mediator, by that I mean this, in all thy converse with God have an eye to Christ, look unto God the infinite glorious First. Being of all things, but through Christ the Mediator, or otherwise God will not be rendered amiable, and sweet, and lovely to thee, then is God rendered sweet and amiable, and lovely to the soul, even as a friend that the soul can have familiarity withal when as he is look’t upon through Jesus Christ: do thou act all by Christ by the strength of Christ, and tender up all thy services to God through Christ, those that are not acquainted with the mystery of the Gospel in Christ, surely they know but little of this walk with God.