Q. Will you discourse a little particularly of self-denial?—A.
With all my heart.
Q. First then, pray in what spirit must this self-denial be performed?—A. It must be done in the spirit of faith, of love, and of a sound mind. Otherwise, if a man should sell all that he hath and give to the poor, and his body to be burnt besides, it would profit him nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3).
Q. Who are like to miscarry here?—A. They whose ends in self-denial are not according to the proposals of the gospel.
Q. Who are they?—A. They that suffer through strife and vain-glory; or thus, they who seek in their sufferings the praise of men more than the glory of Christ, and profit of their neighbour.
Q. Who else are like to miscarry here?—A. They that have designs like Ziba to ingratiate themselves by their pretended self-denial into the affections of the godly, and to enrich themselves by this means (2 Sam 16:1-4).
Q. Are there any other like to miscarry here?—A. Yes. They that by denying themselves think with the Pharisee, to make themselves stand more righteous in God's eyes than others (Luke 18:11,12).
Q. Who else are in danger of miscarrying here?—A. They who have fainted in their works, they whose self-denial hath at last been overcome by self-love (Gal 3:4, 6:9).
Q. Shall I propound a few more questions?—A. If you please.
Q. What then if a man promiseth to deny himself hereafter and not now, is not this one step to this kind of worship?—A. No, by no means; for the reason why this man refuseth to deny himself now, is because his heart at present sticks closer to his lusts and the world, than to God and Christ.[21]
Q. Can you give me a Scripture instance to make this out?—A. Yes; Esau never intended for ever to part with the blessing, he intended to have it hereafter; but God counted his not choosing of it at present, a despising of it, and a preferring of his lusts before it: and therefore when he would, God would not, but reject both him and his tears (Gen 25:30-34; Heb 12:14-16).