are likewise diversities of Truths and Doctrines which are occasionally to be delivered some of comfort and consolation and others of terror and astonishment And this here now present in the Text it is one amongst the rest The terror of the Lord. What 's the use which we now from hence are to make of it but accordingly to be wrought upon by it and to be perswaded of it seeing the Apostle uses this Argument whereby to perswade you therefore to comply with it that as we perswade you in regard of our endeavour as I shewed before so we may also in regard of your success and that especially upon this basis as knowing the terror of the Lord. If this business were a mere fancy a conjecture a thing of our own devising it could not have so much weight in it neither might we our selves expect such an effect and fruit of it I but because it is a matter of knowledg in regard of the apprehensions and likewise a matter of terror in regard of the object apprehended surely we cannot here come off which a slighting or neglecting of it without great prejudice to our selves I will therefore conclude this point which I am now upon with two most eminent places and Texts of Scripture in the book of the Preacher The one is in Eccles 11.9 Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment And the other is in Eccles 12.13 14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it is good or whether it be evil And so now I have done with the first General part of the Text which is an account of the Ministerial Dispensations in reference to their performance in these words Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade c. The second is in reference to their acceptance in these words But we are made manifest to God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences This is added to prevent and objection which might perhaps have been made by some persons in the Church of Corinth against that which St. Paul had here spoken concerning himself and his companions and fellow-labourers in the work of the Ministry It is true indeed Paul you have told us a fair table of your self and of the rest of your brethren with what great matters you attempt to do But who thinks e're-a-whit the better of you for all this Who gives you any thanks for your labour or who gives any great credit to that which you deliver To this the Apostle answers very soberly and gravely and discreetly But we are made manifest to God and I trust also are made c. Where he gives a double account of himself as to matter of acceptance First In reference to God And secondly in reference to men as he does also in another place Act. 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men This was that which St. Paul was us'd to do but more particularly here in this Text. I begin with the first viz. His acceptance with God We are made manifest unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We had this word in the verse before though in another case and acceptation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must all appear or be made manifest but that was a manifestation before God This here is a manifestation to him That was a manifestation of presence this here a manifestation of praise That a necessary manifestation and such as we could not avoid This voluntary and upon our own choice and desire To speak distinctly of it as it lyes here in the Text it may be taken two manner of ways Either first of all by way of Discovery Or secondly by way of Approbation There 's manifestatio notitiae and manifestatio landis as Cajetan well distinguishes Now it is not the first only but the second which is here intended and that principally about this other Here 's a Metonymie of the cause for the effect Manifestation which is the Antecedent put for approbation which is the consequent and yet if we please we may take both one and t'other and so joyn them both together that we are manifested to God that is known to him what we are and then that being so we are hereupon accepted of and approved by him And this may be made good unto us for the particulars which it reaches unto in these five following respects 1. For our Calling and Gifts We are manifest to God so we are manifest to him as we are instituted and appointed by him for so we are The Ministry it is not an humane invention a device set upon by men but it is the Ordinance of God himself It is he who is the Author of it who has ordered it and commended it to his Church it is he which has given Apostles and Prophets and Evangelists and Pastors and Teachers c. Ephes 4.11 All these they are from him and from him alone not only by his meet allowance but likewise moreover by his command Indeed whether or no the Ministry in such a particular form or constitution of Government in the Church be that which is determined and appointed by God we will not meddle with that now But that the Ministry it self is that is that there be particular persons set apart to attend this work of feeding the flock of Christ and Church of God which be has purchased with his blood as the Apostle speaks Act. 20.28 This is clear to be from God himself and the Holy Ghost is said there in particular to make them overseers of it as being he who has appointed and designed them hereunto And to make it more remarkable to us and that we may take greater observation of it there are two circumstances in it which do manifest it and sets it out more The one is that it is a part of God's gracious Covenant with his People and the other is that it is a gracious fruit and consequent of the Ascension of Christ 1. I say it is a part of God's gracious Covenant with his People as we may see in Jer. 3.15 Thus saith the Lord I will give you pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding And so also Jer. 23.4 I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed neither shall they be lacking saith the Lord. When the Lord would express and manifest his favour and good will towards his People he does it by setting Pastors over them and by sending his Ministers among them It is a part of his Covenant
or wearying out of him that he should give over Hee 'l make us weary of sinning before we shall make him weary of punishing Secondly Another occasion of escape in a multitude of delinquents amongst men is their exceeding great power and strength that they prove to hard for them which should judge them and call them to an account But this will not serve the turn against God when he shall come to punish them When the Lord shall stretch out his hand both he that helpeth shall fall and he that is holpen shall fall down and they shall all fail together as it is Isa 31.3 Thus much as it is terrible to wicked men Secondly This makes also very much for the comfort of the people of God in regard of their conflict which they sustain with great and potent Enemies and the multitudes of them They are such as prove oftentimes too hard and strong for them as the sons of Zerviah did for David but the Lord can tame them well enough whether a Nation or a man onely there 's no rescue out of his hands that he should not destroy them This was that whereby the Prophet Elisha comforted his servant in 2 King 6.16 Fear not says he for they that be with us are more than they that be with them And so Hezekiah to his Captains of war in 2 Chron. 32.7 Be strong and couragious be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria nor for all the multitude that is with him for there be more with us then with him with him is an arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battels The Lord will one day tread all our enemies under our feet Again Further whether it be done against a Nation or against a man onely we learn another observation from this conjunction and that 's this That the sins of one Particular Person as well as of an whole Nation may provoke the Lord to the execution of judgement and punishment upon such and such places Elihu is here indifferent in his expressions whether one or to'ther That 's a true word of the Preacher That one sinner destroyes much good Eccles 9. ult Thus we see how the sin of one Achan put an whole army of Israelites to flight Josh 7.12 Thus we see how the sin of one Saul was an occasion of three years famine in the land 2 Sam. 21.1 Thus we see how the sin of one David caused a Pestilence from Dan to Beersheba 2 Sam. 24.15 Thus as he said Delirant Reges plectuntur Achivi The ground of this point is taken from the filthy nature of sin it self and the odiousness therein which is so hateful and detestable to God that it makes him afflict those occasionally for it which were not immediately active in it Thus he has threatned to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth Generation Look as we see amongst men the whole stock and family is tainted for the treason of one member of it even so also in the dealings of God some whole Land and Nation may be defiled and involved for the sin of one man in it Secondly Because it is hard and rare for one notorious sinner to be in a Kingdom but the whole Kingdom more or less does partake of his guilt and wickedness in some one kind or other And a participation in sinning calls for a participation in punishing Hence may God easily be provoked and in good justice proceed to scourging of a Nation with a particular reference to a man onely This serve 's first of all to excite us to search and examine our selves now that Gods judgements are abroad in the land to see whether we or no for our particulars may not be the causes of them or if not of the first inflicting them yet at least of the further continuance of them and in that height that they are now upon us we are all ready in such cases to reflect upon the general Abominations and the Miscarriages of the Land in gross or it may be of such publique States and Conditions belonging to the Lands as the Magistrates and the Ministers and the like but we are here now call'd to search and inquire into our private and personal Faylings whether there may not be somewhat arising from them Secondly We see here what cause there is when God's Judgments are at any time upon a Kingdom that those which have the Government of it should proceed to the Execution of Justice upon notorious Offenders Forasmuch as but one of these for ought any one can say to the Contrary might be an occasion of wrath upon the Land and so accordingly the punishing of such an one might divert Wrath from it we see a plain and notable instance of this in the example of Phineas of whom it is said That when he stood up and Executed Judgment the Plague stayed Psal 106.30 Thirdly By the Rule of Contraryes as the Sin of one man may bring Judgment so the Righteousness of one man also may remove it and therefore we should all be here incouraged for the rectifying and reforming of our own wayes let the Nation do what it will There is a notable and excellent place to this purpose in this Book of Job Chap. 22. vers 29.30 Speaks there to a Godly man and one that delights himself in the Almighty When men are cast down then thou shalt say there is lifting up and he shall save the humble Person He shall deliver the Hand of the Innocent and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands So go through Jerusalem and find me a man that executeth Judgment c. Jerem. 5.1 And so much of these words also in their Connexion there remains to speak of them in their Second reference distinctly Trouble and Peace as it relates to a Private person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SERMON XIII Job 34.29 And when he hideth his face who then can behold him whether it be against a Nation or against a man onely This Scripture which I have here again read unto you it carryes a verygood complyance and Correspondency with the present times and seasons which are now fallen upon us for which cause I have the rather chosen it at this time to be handled by us It makes mention of those two things which take up the greatest part of our thoughts Trouble and Quietness The one is in our thoughts to Bewayl it and the other is in our thoughts to desire it The one we have in our Experience and the other in our Expectation and both we have also here Exhibited in that reference in which our selves look up it to wit in Generall to an whole Kingdom and in Particular to every Person to a Nation and to a man onely And this double reference of it does serve to make up unto us the two particulars of the Text. In the Morning we spake to the former where we
God's blessing accompanying of it which he has greatly annext unto it As the Apostle himself hath exprest it to us at large 2 Cor. 3.5 6 7. Who then is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye have believed I have planted Apollo watered but God gave the increase So then neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the increase The Vse which we may make of this Point comes to this First of all to reach people to wait and attend upon such means as these are and not easily to withdraw from them Take heed of despising Prophecying and of despising Preaching which is the means whereby God will save them that believe What hope is there that they should be fruitful who are not willing to be digg'd about and dung'd And what a fearful thing is it to be in such a condition These trees which are uncapable of digging shall be capable of burning and those trees that will not endure the mattock shall endure the axe Secondly Seeing this digging and dunging is thus advantageous and may do good after some former unfruitfulness this is then a good encouragement to such as are so employed It is a good argument to Ministers to go on cheerfully in their work against all discouragement whom it becomes as little as may be to suffer themselves to be out of heart upon any occasion As Peter said once to Christ when he commanded him to let down his net for a draught of fish after some former disappointment Master we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net Luk. 5.5 Even so should it be here with us in this particular A Minister should more look at God's command that sets him on work and the excellency of the business it self wherein he is employed than at his own and other present success or want of it in that which is undertaken by him Those Points which take not at one time they may possibly take at another and that Preaching which does no good this year it may haply do it the next We know how it is with those who dig in rich Minerals and Mines where they are perswaded there is some precious treasure of Gold and Silver they do not give over digging presently as soon as they have a little open'd the earth but they dig and dig on still till they come to the very bowels and bottom of all Even so should it be also with those who dig for such precious things as the souls of men not too easily to be taken off from their endeavour in hope of that future success which by God's blessing they may find therein And so now I have done with the first Condition which the Vine-dresser here interposes as an argument whereby to mollify and qualify the Lord of the Vineyard and that is taken from Himself from his own willingness for the contrivance of his labour about it Till I shall dig about it and dung it The Second is taken from the Fig-tree by way of a double supposition Either First of future fruitfulness If it bear fruit well or Secondly of further incorrigibleness and if not then c. First To speak of the former to wit the supposition of future fruitfulness If it bear fruit well This word well it is not exprest in the original Text but it is necessarily supply'd here in our English translation to make the sense compleat It is a figure in Rhetorick which they call Anatapodosis which is proper to the Attick Dialect If it bear fruit he does not say what then expresly but leaves the Reader to suppose it and to put it in to this or the like effect Then thou hast thy desire of it then it is as it should be Then I hope thou wilt spare it and let it alone altogether so as not to destroy it Our own translations have rendred it most full and emphatical who read it well If c. the well which we are to take in the full latitude and extent of it well for thee and well for me and well for the Vineyard and well for the Fig-tree it will be well every way First Well that is well for the Lord and Master of the Vineyard well for thee it shall be well So when the Fig-tree bears fruit it 's well for him that owns it Prov. 27.18 And so it is here when a people prove fruitful God himself is so much the better for it This must not be taken strictly and rigorously but by way of dispensation Indeed if we speak properly so God has nothing at all by it neither is it any thing to the bettering of him As Eliphaz expostulates in Job 22.23 Can a man be profitable to God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect That is to say it is none at all Our goodness it does not profit him and our want of goodness it does not hurt him According to that again in the same Book of Elihu to Job 35.6 7. If thou sinnest what doest thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplied what doest thou unto him And so if thou beâ—st righteous what givest thou to him or what receiveth he of thine hand God has nothing by any good which is at any time done by us if we take it in a strict acception but yet he has so by giving acceptation God reckons and accounts himself profited when we do that which is our duty before him when we are active and fruitful in goodness and answer those gracious opportunities and advantages of being better which God in goodness affords unto us we do thereby the more honour God and express his Graces in us as it becomes us to do Herein is my Father glorified in that ye bear much fruit says Christ himself to his Disciples Joh. 15.8 Secondly well that is well for the Husbandman Dresser of the Vineyard well that is well for thee It is well for the Minister when the people thrive in goodness and are fruitful in every good work namely upon this account because he sees some good success and effect of his labour amongst them It is natural for every one to rejoyce in the prospering of his work to see that he does not run in vain or labour in vain as on the other side it is very uncomfortable to observe them to miscarry I have no greater joy says St. John than to hear that my children walk in truth 3 Joh. 4. Indeed if we speak of profit and advantage as to his own salvation so it is all one whether they be fruitful and better or no where a Minister discharges his conscience and does that which belongs unto him he shall be saved for his own particular and accepted of God in his endeavours even though his people should prove otherwise
the state of a regenerate person which is here illustrated and set forth unto us by a lively comparison or similitude taken from the Winde And that in three Particulars which may serve to make up unto us the parts of this Text. First from the quality of its motion Secondly from the sensibleness of its effects And Thirdly from the intricacy and mysteriousness of its proceeding The quality of its motion that we have in these words The winde bloweth where it listeth The sensibleness of its effects that we have in these Thou hearest the sound thereof The intricacy or mysteriousness of its proceeding in these But knowest not c. We begin in order with the First of these Parts viz. The quality of the motion The winde bloweth where it listeth Some by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here translated the winde understand the Spirit of God in the first sense and so render it But we are rather to take it in the analogy according to our own English Translation First the Winde and then the Spirit of God as compared and likened unto it Look as it happens in the blowings of the winde so it falls out in the breathings of the Spirit where whiles it is said that it bloweth where it listeth there are three things further implyed in it First the indefiniteness of it it is not limited Secondly the freeness of it it is not engaged Thirdly the efficacy or irresistibility of it it is not hindered First Whiles it is said of the winde that it bloweth where it listeth there is hereby signified to us the indefiniteness of it in its motions that it is not determined or limited in them no more it is not The Winde it blows where and when it pleases sometimes out of one corner of the world sometimes out of another Sometimes in the East and sometimes in the West and sometimes in the North and sometimes in the South There 's no certain place for the Winde which it is tied and restrained unto but it is indifferently inclinable unto any Sometimes it rises and sometimes again it lies still it is indefinite in all respects And as it is thus with the Winde so it is thus also with the Spirit of God which is thus far here compared unto it It is indefinite and undetermined in its Applications Thus it is in regard of Nations and thus it is in regard of Persons In regard of the means of Grace which it affords And in regard of its blessing of those means which are afforded Take it in regard of Nations And this winde of the Spirit it blows where it lists here as not limited to any particular either for place or time neither where nor how long it shall do so but all is still within the compass of his own will and good pleasure Thus in Acts 16.6 It is said of the Apostles that when they had gone through-out Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia And again in the seventh verse of the same Chapter After they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bythinia and the Spirit suffered them not to Preach in those places either by some express prohibition of them or by withholding of his assistance from them And that at such a time as when in other places they had more liberty and freedom The winde it serv'd them for one way when it did not serve them for another We may see this if we compare the Eastern Churches and Western together The time was when this Winde it blew more Easternly witness those famous Churches of Asia in the Apostle St. John's time which are made mention of in the Book of the Revelation they did for a time enjoy the Preaching of the Gospel in a plentiful and glorious manner whereas now they are altogether defaced and under the power of Mahometism and Turkish Tyranny Again on the other side the Winde is now come into the West and the Gospel is Preached in these parts which are more remote from the other Thus it is indifferent in regard of Nations sometimes vouchsafed to one people and sometimes vouchsafed to another though never so opposite And so as for Nations so for Persons it is unlimited here likewise God's Spirit is not always confined or determined to them He may deal with them at one time and at another time withdraw from them move in their hearts now and for hereafter be for ever silent to them and never more apply himself to them It is that which he often-times does and which many persons have the experience of in their own particulars who sometimes have gracious stirrings and excitements of them to good which at another time they may be deprived of and have no such thing in them The proper Use which we are to make of this Point is still to close with the present advantages and opportunities which are vouchsafed unto us and to take heed of the neglecting of them Be not high-minded but fear We should do in this case as it is with those who have some voyage by Sea who watch the winde when it makes for them and are careful to take hold on it so should we in this our passage to Heaven Let us not think to have the windes always at our command for we are mistaken if we think so The winde bloweth where it listeth as it is here exprest unto us And so does this winde of the Spirit and so there 's a variety and an uncertainty in it It is dangerous for any persons to neglect and especially to resist the secret and gracious motions of the Spirit whether as restraining and keeping from evils or provoking and exciting to good because it may so fall out as they may never meet with them again It is not as we list but as he lists remember that And therefore observe him and attend upon him and give heed and respect unto him all that may be It pleases God sometimes in his Providence to be more free in his dispensations than otherwise it may be occasionally from such a Sermon or such a Discourse or such a Conference more effectually to stir in the heart and to deal with such a particular person Now it is wisdom in such a case to follow it and to close with it and that upon this ground and consideration which we have now in hand as an argument and motive hereunto And that 's the first thing considerable in this motion of the winde and so consequently of the Spirit as to the quality of it Its indefiniteness that it is not limited The Second is its Freeness that it is not engaged The winde blows where it lists that is nothing moving it or enclining it thereunto but it s own proper nature and disposition And so is it also with the Spirit of God in the activity and operations thereof There 's a voluntariness and a spontaneity in it what he does in this respect he