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A11454 Ten sermons preached I. Ad clerum. 3. II. Ad magistratum. 3. III. Ad populum. 4. By Robert Saunderson Bachellor in Diuinitie, sometimes fellow of Lincolne Colledge in Oxford.; Sermons. Selected sermons Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. 1627 (1627) STC 21705; ESTC S116623 297,067 482

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Hypocrite as Ahab here notwithstanding all this his solemne humiliation was Here is Ahab an Hypocrite and yet humbled before the Lord. §. 16. The opening of the second Obseruation But yet now this Humiliation such as it was what should worke it in him That wee finde declared at verse 27. And it came to passe that when Ahab heard these words c. There came to him a message from God by the hand of Eliah and that was it that humbled him Alas what was Eliah to Ahab a silly plaine Prophet to a mighty King that hee durst thus presume to rush boldly and vnsent-for into the presence of such a potent Monarch who had no lesse power and withall more colour to take away his life than Naboths and that when hee was in the top of his iollity solacing himselfe in the new-taken possession of his new-gotten Vineyard and there to his face charge him plainly with shake him vp roundly for and denounce Gods iudgements powerfully against his bloody abominable oppressions Wee would thinke a Monarch nusled vp in Idolatry and accustomed to blood and hardened in Sinne and Obstinacy should not haue brooked that insolency from such a one as Eliah was but haue made his life a ransome for his sawcinesse And yet behold the words of this vnderling in comparison how they fall like thunder vpon the great guilty offender and strike palsie into his knees and trembling into his ioynts and tumble him from the height of his iollity and roll him in sack-cloth and ashes and cast him into a strong fit of legall Humiliation Seest thou how Ahab is humbled before mee And here now commeth in our second obseruation euen the Power of Gods word ouer the Consciences of obstinate sinners §. 17. Obseru 2. the Power of Gods word powerfull to a 2 Cor. 10.4 5. cast downe strong holds and euery high thought that exalteth it selfe against God That which in Heb. 4. if I mistake not the true vnderstanding of that place is spoken of the Essentiall Word of God the second Person in the euer-blessed Trinitie is also in some analogie true of the reuealed Word of God the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles that it b Heb. 4.12 is quicke and powerfull and c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more cutting than any two-edged sword piercing euen to the diuiding asunder of the soule and spirit and of the ioynts and marrow d Ier. 23.29 Is not my word like as a fire saith the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rocke in pieces Ierem. 23. Like a soft fire to dissolue and melt the hearts of relenting sinners and true conuerts but like a strong hammer to batter and breake in pieces the rockie and flintie consciences of obstinate and hardened offenders Examples hereof if you require behold in the stories of the kings e 1. Sam. 15.24 Saul whining when Samuel reproueth him in the bookes of the Prophets the f Ion. 3.5 Nineuites drooping when Ionas threatneth them in the Acts of the Apostles g Act. 24.25 Felix trembling when Paul discourseth before him in the Martyrologies of the Church Tyrants and bloudy Persecuters maskered at the bold confessions of the poore suffering Christians in this Chapter proud Ahab mourning when Eliah telleth him his sinne and foretelleth him his punishment §. 18. with the Causes thereof ● in the Instrument Effects which might iustly seeme strange to vs if the Causes were not apparant One Cause and the Principall is in the Instrument the Word not from any such strength in it selfe for so it is but a dead letter but because of Gods ordinance in it For in his hands are the hearts and the tongues and the eares both of Kings and Prophets and hee can easily when he seeth it good put the spirit of zeale and of power into the heart of the poorest Prophet and as easily the spirit of feare and of terrour into the heart of the greatest King He chooseth weake Instruments as here Eliah and yet furnisheth them with power to effect great matters that so the glory might not rest vpon the instrument but redound wholly to him as to the chiefe agent that imployeth it a 2 Cor. 4.7 We haue this treasure in earthen vessels saith S. Paul that the excellency of the power may bee of God and not of vs 2 Cor. 4. Wee say Words are but winde and indeed the words of the best Minister are no better as they are breathed out and vttered by sinfull mortall man whose breath is in his nostrils but yet this winde as it is breathed in and inspired by the powerfull eternall spirit of God is strong enough by his effectuall working with it not only to shake the top branches but to rend vp the very bottome-roote of the tallest Cedar in Libanon b Psal. 29.4.5 Vox Domini confringens Cedros Psal. 29. The voyce of the Lord is mightie in operation the voyce of the Lord is a glorious voyce The voyce of the Lord breaketh the Cedars yea the Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon Another Cause is in the Obiect §. 19. 2. in the Obiect and that is the force of Naturall Conscience which the most presumptuous sinner can neuer so stifle though hee endeauour all hee can to doe it but that it will bee sometimes snubbing and stinging and lashing and vexing him with ougly representations of his past sinnes and terrible suggestions of future vengeance And then of all other times is the force of it most liuely when the voyce of God in his word awakeneth it after a long dead sleepe Then it riseth and Sampson-like rouseth vp it selfe and bestirreth it selfe lustily as a Gyant refreshed with wine and it putteth the disquieted patient to such vnsufferable paine that he runneth vp and downe like a distracted man and doth he knoweth not what and seeketh for ease he knoweth not where Then hee would giue all Diues his wealth for a Luk. 16.24 a drop of water to coole the heate hee feeleth and with b Gen. 25.30.31 Esau part with his birth-right for any thing though it were neuer so little or meane that would giue him but the least present refreshing and preserue him from fainting Then sack-cloth and ashes and fasting and weeping and mourning and renting the garments and tearing the haire and knocking the brest and out-cryes to heauen and all those other things which hee could not abide to heare of in the time of his former security whilest his conscience lay fast asleepe and at rest are now in all haste and greedily entertained and all too little if by any meanes they can possibly giue any ease or asswagement to the present torment he feeleth in his soule §. 20. 3. in the fit application of the one to the other A third Cause is oftentimes in the Application of the Instrument to the Obiect For although Gods word in the generall bee Powerfull and the Conscience
was threatned though not presently is yet e 4. Kin. 10.10 at last performed yet where is his Iustice the while being a f 1. Pet. 1.17 God that without respect of persons rendereth to euery man according to his own workes and will g Exod. 34.7 not acquite the guilty neither condemne the innocent thus to seuer the Guilt the Punishment and to lay the Iudgement which hee spareth from the Father vpon the Sonne from the more wicked Father vpon the lesse wicked Sonne §. 3 and Diuision of the Text. Thus God to magnifie the riches of his Mercy is content to put his Holinesse and his Truth and his Iustice to a kinde of venture That so his afflicted ones might know on what obiect especially to fasten the eies of their soules not on his Holinesse not on his Truth not on his Iustice not onely nor chiefly on these but on his Mercy Hee seeketh more generall glory in and would haue vs take more special knowledge of and affoordeth vs more singular comfort from his Mercy than any of the rest as if he desired we should esteeme him vnholy or vntrue or vniust or any thing rather than vnmercifull Yet is he neither vnholy nor vntrue nor vniust in any of his proceedings with the sons of men but a Psal 145.17 righteous in all his waies and holy in all his workes and true in all his words And in this particular of his proceedings with King Ahab at this time I hope by his blessed assistance so to acquite his Holinesse and Truth and Iustice from all sinister imputations as that hee may be not onely magnified in his mercy but iustified also in the rest and b Psal 51.4 cleare when he is iudged as we shall be thereunto occasioned now and hereafter in the handling of this Scripture Wherein are three maine things considerable First the Ground or rather the Occasion of Gods dealing so fauourably with Ahab namely Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me because hee humbleth himselfe before me I will not c. Secondly the great Fauour shewed to Ahab thereupon namely the suspension of a Iudgement denounced I will not bring the euill in his dayes Thirdly the Limitation of that fauour it is but a suspension for a time no vtter remoueall of the iudgement But in his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house Wherein wee shall be occasioned to enquire how the first of these may stand with Gods Holinesse the second with his Truth the third with his Iustice. And first of Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before mee This Ahab was King of Israel §. 4. Ahabs person considered that is King ouer those ten Tribes which reuolted from Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon and claue to Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat Search the whole sacred storie in the bookes of Kings and Chronicles and vnlesse we will be so verie charitable as notwithstanding manie strong presumptions of his Hypocrisie to exempt Iehu the sonne of Nimshi and that is but one of twentie wee shall not finde in the whole List and Catalogue of the Kings of Israel one good one that claue vnto the Lord with an vpright heart Twentie Kings of Israel and not one or but one good and yet than this Ahab of the twentie not one worse It is said in the sixteenth Chapter of this booke that a 3. King 16.30 Ahab the sonne of Omri did euill in the sight of the Lord aboue all that were before him at verse 30 at verse 33. that b Ibid. 33. he did more to prouoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel that were before him and at verse 25. of this Chapter that c vers 25. hîc there was none like vnto Ahab which did sell himself to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. An Oppressour hee was and a Murtherer and an Idolater and a Persecuter of that holy Truth which God had plentifully reuealed by his Prophets and powerfully confirmed by Miracles and mercifully declared by many gracious deliuerances euen to him in such manner as that hee could not but know it to be the Truth and therfore an Hypocrite and in all likelihoood an obstinate sinner against the holy Ghost and a Castaway §. 5. and his carriage with the Obseruations thence This is Ahab this the man But what is his carriage what doth hee hee humbleth himselfe before the Lord. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me The manner and occasion of his humbling is set downe a little before at verse 27. And it came to passe when Ahab heard those words the words of a vers 20. 24. hîc Eliah the Prophet dealing plainly and roundly with him for his hatefull Oppression and Murther that he rent his cloathes and put sack-cloth vpon his flesh and fasted and lay in sack-cloth and went softly And that is the humbling here spoken and allowed of and for which God here promiseth that hee will not bring the euill in his daies Lay all all this together the man and his ill conditions and his present carriage with the occasion and successe of it and it offereth three notable things to our consideration See first how farre an Hypocrite a Castaway may goe in the outward performance of holy duties and particularly in the practice of Repentance here is Ahab humbled such a man and yet so penitent See againe secondly how deepe Gods word though in the mouth but of weake instruments when he is pleased to giue strength vnto it pierceth into the consciences of obstinate sinners and bringeth the proudest of them vpon their knees in despight of their hearts here is Ahab quelled by Eliah such a great one by such a weake one See yet againe thirdly how prone God is to mercy and how ready to apprehend any aduantage as it were and occasion to shew compassion here is Ahab humbled and his iudgement adiourned such a reall substantiall fauour and yet vpon such an empty shadow of repentance Of these three at this time in their order and of the first first An Hypocrite may goe very farre in the outward performances of holy duties §. 6. Obseru 1. How far an Hypocrite may goe in the performance of holy duties For the right conceiuing of which assertion Note first that I speake not now of the common graces of Illumination and Edification and good dexterity for the practising of some particular Calling which gifts with sundrie other like are oftentimes found euen in such apparantly wicked and prophane men as haue not so much as a 2 Mim 3.5 the forme much lesse the power of godlinesse but I speake euen of those Graces which de totâ specie if they bee true and syncere are the vndoubted blessed fruites of Gods holy renewing Spirit of sanctification such as are Repentance Faith Hope Ioy Humility Patience Temperance Meekenesse Zeale Reformation c.