reproaches are the reproaches of Christ and we shall not need to depend upon any outward comfort for to comfort us much less have we need to help our selves by reviling again The comfort of a Christian is this That his reproaches are the reproaches of Christ this is enough to quiet his heart you need not comfort your selves in your parts or estates this is enough alone do but answer all your distractions and troublesome workings of your hearts with this and this will quiet them Quest But how shall I know that my reproaches are the reproaches of Christ Answ First if you be reproached for the sake of Christ though you be not a member of Christ yet if your adversaries reproach you because they take you for a member of Christ there is some comfort in this Secondly if you can under all reproaches bring your hearts in subjection unto Christ and quiet your hearts under reproaches in obedience unto him Thirdly if you finde the rule by which you are guided and acted in that condition to be the rule of Christ Fourthly if you finde the chiefest comfort that you gather in to help you to be the comfort of Christ Fifthly if you finde the end you do aim at in your bearing them is the honor of Christ and that you do desire rather that Christ may be in the conclusion honored then your selves cleared Sixthly take this as a special note if you make those reproaches that Christ suffers in his cause his truth his people yours then he makes yours his how does your hearts stand affected to the reproaches Christ suffers in others Zeph. 3. 17 18. God promises much mercy to such to whom the reproach of the solemn assemblies were a burthen That heart that is burthened with the reproaches of Gods ways shall finde ease in the comforts of Gods Spirit If these things be in you certainly these come from the Spirit of Christ and if from the Spirit of Christ then you are Christs and if you be Christs then your reproaches are Christs A third Use is this Seeing Christ suffers for us and all our reproaches are the reproaches of Christ Let us take heed that he do not suffer by us Now Christ may come to suffer by us two ways First if so be that we cause the name of Christ to be spoken evil of Secondly when we come to be actors our selves in speaking evil of Christ or of his people First if we cause Christ or his people to be spoken evil of by any sinful way of ours this is the reproach of Christ but not in that sense I spoke of before Christ does not onely suffer in you but he suffers by you This is the charge that the Apostles lays upon the Romans For your sake is the name of God blasphemed we had need look to our selves in this Mark what charge the Apostle lays upon women 1 Tim. 5. 13 14. that they should take heed of tatling and carrying themselves unchristianly and that they give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully That was the reason why Nehemiah was so careful in his business in Neh. 5. 9. Because of the reproach of the Heathen And so I say to you that are Gods people Is it not enough that Christ hath suffered for you and in you but must he suffer by you O that the fear of God might be upon you because of the reproach of your adversaries Is Christ dear to you did Christ ever do any thing for you Is it not better a thousand times that you were crost and your lives were taken away and you laid rotting in the grave if your names could wash away any stain that is upon the name of Christ know there are many that Christ have fuffered reproach by and you cannot clear your selves of it and know what an evil and bitter thing it is that after all the goodness and mercy of Christ to you and the near relation that he hath taken you into will you abuse all this mercy and this near relation if Christ had never taken you for his own had you been never so vile Christ had not suffered reproach by you but now in regard of your near relation to him he suffers reproach by you and is this the use you make of your near relation When therefore you finde your hearts begin to stir and corruption boil consider the name of Christ lies prostrate before you and will you trample upon the name of Jesus Christ if one were set upon going to a place to do mischief and his Father and Mother should throw themselves in the path that if he goes on he must tread upon them and they should say You shall tread upon the bowels out of which you came upon the loyns that begat you this would be a great stop and so you that are Professors of the Gospel if you have a temptation to a lust the name of Christ calls Stay and says If you go you shall trample upon me and my blood and bring reproach upon me will not this stop you Never think that gain that you get by the reproach of Christ It is true indeed if we be going on in our duty and do that we should though men say the name of Christ shall be reproached we are to go on and do our duty and let Christ vindicate his name if he will but if it be any thing that concern out selves and the satisfaction of our own wills and desires whereby Christ may be reproached this is a mighty argument to keep us from it the word hath scarce a stronger argument to keep us from an evil way then this The name of Christ shal suffer by it for the people of God to suffer reproach by you is an evil thing for a man to have but his kindred ashamed of him what an evil thing is it but that it may be said of one that is a Professor of Religion that he is not onely a reproach to the Church of God but a reproach to Jesus Christ if you have any ingenuity in you this might strike to your hearts It is reported of Alexander having a Soldier of his name and his Soldier being a coward he came to him and said Either leave off the name of Alexander or be a Soldier and so we have the name of Christians but when we are vile in our lives Christ says Either leave off your profession your name or be a Christian indeed do not come in amongst the number of Professors to let profession suffer by you And so Alexander Severus the Emperor seeing a company of Christians fighting together he commanded them to leave off the name of Christians for says he You profess your selves to be Christians and yet you are thus contending this is not the spirit of him whom you do profess It is a lamentable thing that we should profess such a glorious name as we do and that we should handle the
not see what were the ways of my providence towards my people Might you not have gathered from thence that there was another time a coming Fourthly Learn we hence to judge wisely of the poor of the afflicted and persecuted Psalm 41. 1. Far be it from us to think they are forsaken of God let us not be offended at Religion because troubles follow the profession of it the blessing that comes by profession of the truth consists not in such a peace as frees from trouble but in giving peace and rest to the soul in the middest of troubles Luther hath an excellent speech for this in one of his Epistles ad Tonitorem You seek and affect peace but preposterously such as the worlds peace not Christs who gives peace in the middest of troubles as he saith Rule thou in the middest of thine Enemies Now the cause of the Church calls for a wise judging How many carnal people are ready to think that Popery is rather the truth and that the Religion of Protestants is not right because God hath of late years so grievously afflicted his Church What would God suffer his own people say they his own truth thus to be beaten down As they formerly said of Christ Let him save him seeing he delighted in him so if God delighted in this way surely he would have saved it he would not have suffered opposition so far to have prevailed against the professors of it It is no argument that Christ is not in the ship because tempests and storms arise It is no argument that our cause is not Gods that Christ is not with us because of our afflictions it may be we have not awakened him by our prayers we are not yet fit to enjoy the sweetness of a calm Salvian was fain to write a whole Treatise above eleven hundred years ago to answer this argument that men had against the people of God and the profession of the Gospel Turks judge all things according to outward success and so did the heathens of old We read of Brutus being overcome by Anthony he cryes out Whatsoever things are disputed concerning vertue are but meer toys and fancies for fortune rules in all humane things but it beseems not Christians to judge by this rule Clemens Alexandrinus cites Plato expressing himself thus Although a righteous man be tormented although his eyes be digged out yet he remains a blessed man Let none judge worse of himself meerly because of afflictions before you were of the world it may be you prospered it shined upon you but now since you have given your name to Christ many troubles and afflictions follow you this is no other but that hath been is will be the estate of Gods people in this life we must not draw ill consequences from or make ill constructions of our afflictions for this is to charge God foolishly which Job did not Chap. 1. 22. There are some kinde of sufferings that a man meets with that have a kinde of sweet seal of God with them even in the time of suffering by which a man is more confirmed in his way to be from God then ever he was before Fifthly what shall become then of ungodly and wicked men Thus Saint Peter argues 1. Epist 4. 17 18. Iudgement must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel of God If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and sinners appear If it be done thus to the green tree what shall be done to the dry Behold they whose judgement was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken and art tbou he that shall go altogether unpunished thou shalt not go unpunished but thou shalt assuredly drink of it Ier. 49. 12. certainly there is shame and confusion for you there are tortures prepared for you You heard what the Martyrs have suffered but all that is nothing to the least spark of Gods revenging wrath when it is mingled with hatred That is a fearful expression that we have Psal 35. 6. Let their way be slippery and the angel of the Lord persecuting them It is a more fearful thing to have the Angel of the Lord persecute then to be persecuted by men but how fearful a thing is it when God himself that infinite Deity when he persecutes a man when Divine justice follows a man from one place to another and persecutes him You look upon those poor despised misused Servants of God and you think vilely of them let those spectacles strike terror into your hearts every time you see them O what is reserved for me then Sixthly if this be the usual estate of Gods people let us learn then to prepare for afflictions before they come although we have escaped many years yet we may be called to such an estate at last Polycarpus escaped till he was fourscore and six years old and then he was called to Martyrdom In the first ten persecutions in the primitive times the Christians in England escaped all the nine although the Gospel not many years after Christ was professed in England yet the tenth and last persecution fell heavy upon them Iulius Caesar escaped fifty several battels in which he was personally present and yet at last in the Senate house he was unexpectedly murthered Now all is well with you lay up for times of trouble this is a gathering time that will be a spending time know that that which will serve turn now will not serve turn then many are not able to hold out now what will they do then O what will you do in the day of your visitation Jer. 12. 5. If the footmen have wearied thee how canst thou contend with horses and if in the land of peace how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan We read of Polycarpus that as he lay in his bed he saw in a vision the bed set on fire under his head forewarning him of his Martyrdom we in our ease should seriously think of our sufferings now while Sun-shine days of peace continue we should consider of the days of darkness which may be many Oftentimes we are thinking of and seeking after great things when we should be preparing for suffering hard things as Mat. 20. 20. when Christ had been speaking to prepare for sufferings Zebedees children most unseasonably come seeking for the highest places in his kingdom This was the fault of Baruc Jer. 45. when God was bringing sore and grievous afflictions to his people he was seeking great things for himself CHAP. VIII Eleven Rules for preparation to suffer afflictions FIrst make account of them do not say I shall never be removed although you know not what particular afflictions shall befal you yet make an account that an afflicted condition will be your portion according to that of the Apostle Acts 20. 22 23. And now I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall
nothing to those which thy Lord suffered he suffered more and greater things and know assuredly says he to his wife I never leave off thinking of the wrongs my Savior endured till my minde be still and quiet He that is afraid to suffer cannot be his disciple who suffered so much says Tertullian Certainly the example of Christ in humbling himself to suffer so much for us should be mightily prevalent with us if he emptyed himself so much to become the Son of man how much more should we be willing to empty our selves that we may be the Sons of God Worthy is the Lamb that was slain he is worthy of all honor from us who being Lord of all was content to be in the form of a servant to suffer for us and how can we express our honoring of him our respect to him better then in being to suffer for him I have read of a Roman servant who knowing his Master was sought for by officers to be put to death he put himself into his masters cloaths that he might be taken for him and so he was and was put to death for him whereupon his master in memory of his thankfulness to him and honor of him erected a brazen statue Christ who was not a servant but our Lord yet when he saw we were like to dye he took upon him the form of a servant he came in our likeness that he might dye for us and he dyed he requires not us to erect up brazen statues in memory of him in honor to him but that we should be willing to suffer for him when he calls us thereunto let not us put off the cloaths of our Christian profession that we may avoid sufferings for him as many do who put on the cloaths of our humanity yea of our servility that he might suffer for us The example of the servants of God in all times suffering in his cause is likewise a special help to us in our way of suffering Let us warm our hearts often at the meditation of the fiery tryal of the Martyrs Consider what precious choycespirited men they were how holy heavenly spiritual what service they did for God and yet that they should suffer such hard things as they did what are we in comparison of them Chrysostom in an Oration upon two famous Martyrs raising their honor and speaking how the worthies of God in former times endured hard things How is it says he that thou ô Christian must be so delicate a Soldier so dainty canst thou overcome without fight triumph without combate And in his Sermons upon the Colossions Remember the chains of Paul and consider what an absurd thing it is that he should be in bonds and you should live deliciously Does the desire of pleasures take remember the Prison of Paul Wouldest thou be cloathed in silks remember Pauls chains and silken cloaths will be more vile to thee then filthy rags Wouldest thou be adorned with gold remember Pauls chains and they will shew you that such ornaments are no better then the dirt under your feet Would you be beautiful with your hair think of the filth of the deformity of Paul in the Prison and thy heart will rise with indignation against such beauty and will account it extream deformity What would you have sweet oyntments consider of his tears I have read of Phocion an Athenian Captain when he was condemned to death by his ungrateful Countrey he saw one Tudippus condemned to the same death but very fearful he comforts him with these words Is it not enough for thee Tudippus that thou art to dye with Phocion so we may say to our own hearts Is it not enough for us that we have such a cloud of witnesses such a noble Army of Martyrs before us and with us be not therefore so afraid of the ways of God because of afflictions as thou hast been but submit thy self to God in this way of his CHAP. IX Duties required of us when God calls us to an afflicted condition SEeing God hath so ordered things that his people must be in an afflicted estate in this world when God calls us to suffer afflictions let us know there are three duties required of us First that we be willing to yield to Gods call to come under that condition he hath appointed us unto Secondly that we behave our selves Christianly with all humble submission patience contentedness in this condition Thirdly that we labor to improve our affliction that shall be layed upon us For the first when our cross comes we must be willing to take it up freely and readily to submit unto it It was the honor of the three children in Daniel that they yielded their bodies to those fiery flames they were cast into Dan. 3. 28. Let us not seek to put off sufferings by distinctions certainly the best policy in dangerous times is the greatest purity The Lacedemonians were wont to say It is a shame for any man to flye in time of danger but for a Lacedemonian it is a shame for him to deliberate How much more truly may this be said of a Christian when God calls him to suffer he should be such a resolved man beforehand that it should be a shame now for him even to deliberate It is argument enough for a Christian to suffer any thing because it is the will of God out of bare submission to God but when it is not onely so but in the cause of God in witness to his truth in vindicating his honor this call to suffer comes with strength indeed it is unworthy of a Christian once to deliberate the avoyding of this How much better is it to suffer a little to prevent a sin and so prevent Gods wrath then by avoyding sufferings to fall into sin which being once committed Gods wrath incensed by it cannot be pacified though we should be willing to suffer a thousand times as much Our condition is such that we must suffer one way or another while we live here Is it not better then to suffer for God then any other way This was Chrysostoms argument in his Sermons upon the 2 Cor. chap. 12. Sermon 26. If you suffer not for Religion you will suffer for some other unprofitable light cause Seeing then says he we following this or the other course of life we must suffer affliction why do we not choose such a suffering which with the affliction brings unspeakable glory Certainly it is infinitely better to suffer for Christ then for our sin We read of Peace-offerings that were offered there might be oyl mixed but not so in Sin-offerings in those afflictions we endure for Christ we offer up our selves as Sacrifices of Peace-offerings and in them there is joy much oyl of gladness is mixed in such offerings but when we suffer for our sins there is no oyl of gladness mixed there Let us take heed that we be not found guilty before the Lord when the
no partner But that this might not be an offence so as to keep us from joyning in Communion with the people of God let us know if this might have been offence enough to keep men from joyning with them it would have kept men in all times from joyning with the Churches since Christs time You know what difference was between Paul and Barnabas two Apostles And so the Apostles do complain of the dissentions and divisions in the Church of Corinth in the Primitive times and if that had been enough to keep out men from joyning with them then there had been no joyning with the Church of Corinth and other Churches Basil complains I have lived now to the age of a man and I see more union in Arts and Sciences then in Divinity for in the Church I see such dissentions as do dissipate it and rend it asunder And so between Chrysostom and Epiphanius the one wished the other might never dye a Bishop and the other wished that he might never go home alive And between Jerome and Ruffinus and Luther and Oecolampadius There is a most sad story we have of those that fled to Frankford from England in Queen Maries time and when they came there though they fled for Religion and for their lives yet there were such grievous breaches as they sought the lives of one another picking out some words against the Emperor in a Sermon that Master Knox had preached in England long before and now accusing him for them to the Magistrates of Frankford upon which divers of them were fain to flee This is through the malice of the Devil in sowing tares and therefore if you will be offended in this way of scandal you must be offended Yet we must all take heed of giving offence for though offences will come yet wo to them by whom they come Howsoever there fall out offences through the sinful distempers of mens hearts let not the Ordinance of God be challenged as the cause of these offences Joyning in Church-fellowship is a special Ordinance of God to maintain love and peace amongst his people yet by the abuse of it many times divisions and dissentions are stronger and more bitter in the Church then elsewhere let not Gods Ordinance be accused as the cause of it nor declined for this but let the wickedness of mens hearts be accused let us seek to have it purged Christ came into the world to dissolve the works of the Devil and yet the Devil never more raged then in Christs time and a while after We never read of men so possessed of the Devil before Christ came as they were then Shall we therefore accuse Christ for bringing the Devil into the world for being the cause of mens being possessed of the Devil Those who thus reason against the Ordinance of Christ because of this evil that falls out by accident upon it may as well yea and certainly would as readily reason against Christ if they lived in his time because of such possession of Devils which never was so before he came as it was then but as the true reason why the Devil thus prevailed upon Christs coming was the just judgement of God against men for contemning and rejecting Christ who came amongst them so it is here the judgement of God for the evil of mens hearts in abusing such a blessed Ordinance of love and peace So likewise the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is a Sacrament appointed by God to maintain love and peace in the Church it is an Ordinance for communion it hath the denomination from thence it is called communion Yet what hath occasioned such dissentions in the Christian world as the controversies about the Sacrament Shall therefore this Ordinance be accused as the cause of dissention O let us for ever learn this truth that whatsoever evil falls out Gods Ordinances be not blamed but mans corruption let that be condemned and purged Origen writing to Celsus says If you will take offence at the dissentions in Christian Religion then you may take offence at dissentions in other things Valens the Emperor objected the same against Christians Nicephorus 11. 45. brings in one Themistius answering that those of the Graecian superstition had as great dissentions amongst them There is dissention amongst Merchants and other Trades you do not say therefore I will not binde my childe to that Trade they dissent amongst themselves If there be profit and accommodations in the Trade men will not be hindred by this plea but joyn with them notwithstanding And so come you and joyn with the Saints though there be some dissentions though there may be some rigid distemper'd hot spirited men that may cause some trouble yet there is not so much union and love in all the world as with them set but aside some and there are a company if you be gracious your soul may take pleasure in and bless God for and therefore away with all such stumbling blocks and reasonings against the Ordinances of God come you thirsting after the Ordinances of God and my soul for yours if you do not finde that sweetness in communion with them as never was found before There are many objections against this way and many are a long time ensnared in them but Isa 57. 13. where God promises the inheritance of his holy Mountain ver 14. he promises to make the way plain to it And Exod. 15. 13. God guides his people in his strength to his holy habitation it must be the strength of God that must carry through all objections all difficulties over all stumbling blocks to Gods habitation Thus much to those that yet are not joyned in that nearness of communion with Gods people which they may be CHAP. XXII Instructions to those who are joyned in communion with Gods people SEcondly if it be such a blessed thing to enjoy communion with Gods people then there are many things that are to be said to those that are joyned in communion First labor to approve to God and your own souls that you are indeed Gods people particularly you are his people in a way of outward profession and to men you do approve your selves so far as we hope you are Gods people but you must approve your selves to God and to your consciences If you be conscious to your selves of any secret filth and yet dare come and deceive the people of God in joyning with them you bring your selves in more danger then you are aware We read Deut. 22. ver 21. that if a damsel having defiled her self before marriage and so deceiving a man he marries with her when this is discovered she is to be stoned to death Uncleanness in such as were single was not by the Law to be punished with death but she must dye although her uncleanness was while she was single because she deceived the man in marrying to him in her defilement So know your filth in not joyning to Gods people is not so evil and
Choice If you would choose Moses Choice use Moses argument and this is the special argument that moved Moses to make this Choice he looked upon all these things as for a season and he looked upon eternity O that you being moved by Moses argument you may this day be brought to choose Moses Choice that you may sing Moses Song Rev. 15. 3 4. Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy name for thou only art holy O that that Choice by this argument were made that so you might sing hereafter this part of Moses Song O Lord there was a time that I never saw thee in thy glory and never minded thee but now Lord I see worthy thou art to be feared and glorified for ever for thou art holy The Lord give us hearts upon this argument to make this Choice Moses his Choice The third Part. Heb. 11. 26. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward CHAP. XXIX The Review of Moses Choice WE have finished the Choice of Moses the argument upon which Moses went in his Choice and now we are come to this 26. verse where we have the Review of Moses choice looking back to see what he had chosen to the consequent of it He sees that while he joyns himself with the people of God and suffers affliction he is like to meet with nothing but reproach and scorn for his labor this he sees yet he repents not his judgement still is not onely for his choice but he does esteem of it highly as accounting that reproach of Christ that he was to suffer great riches and the argument that here he hath is the greatness of the recompence of the reward He had an eye unto the recompence of the reward Esteeming the reproach of Christ Reproach is taken either materially or formally materially so it may be taken for the affliction that he did endure with Gods people that outward mean wretched condition that he was like to suffer with the people of God this was the matter of the reproach Or otherwise formally the scorn contempt reviling railing and all the evil that should be spoken of him when he had left the Court and joyned himself with Gods people and this formal kinde of reproach is that which is especially meant The reproach of Christ How could that reproach that Moses suffered be the reproach of Christ for Christ was not then born it was a long time after before Christ came into the world Christ was present unto Moses by the eye of faith though he were not yet come into the world Christ is the same to day yesterday and for ever he was the same to the Patriarchs and Prophets that he is to us Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt Moses was not onely content to suffer patiently the reproach of Christ but he counted it his glory his riches greater riches then the Treasures of Egypt Egypt was a rich countrey and full of treasures and therefore in Psal 87. Egypt is called by the name of Rahab and the reason is because of the pride and power and insolency of Egypt because Egypt was a fruitful rich place therefore they had a great deal of strength and power and were lift up with pride So Isa 51. 9. vide Hieronym upon the place The King of Egypt is called a Dragon in the waters and the chief horses that Solomon had in 2 Chron. 9. they came out of Egypt and the Whore in the Proverbs had her fine linen out of Egypt Egypt was a very fruitful Country Gen. 13. 9. The fruitfulness of that place to which Lot turned aside is described to be the garden of the Lord like the Land of Egypt it is called by many Horreum caeterarum regionum the Granary of other Countreys hence Abraham when famine was in Canaan went into Egypt and after Jacob in time of famine sent his sons into Egypt it is said of it that they sow almost every moneth And being such a flourishing place all kinde of learning was there and therefore in 1 King 4. 30. where the greatness of Solomons wisdom is set out it is said it excelled the wisdom of Egypt In Egypt was treasures of riches and treasures of strength treasures of the riches of the earth and treasures of merchandize and treasures of learning and yet Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches then all the treasures of Egypt Now the points that arise from these words are these First that the people of God have been and usually are a people under reproach Secondly the reproach of Gods people is the reproach of Christ Thirdly a gracious heart is not only willing to bear reproach when God calls unto it but in the cause of Christ triumphs and rejoyces in that reproach it suffers Fourthly the strong argument that moves Gods people thus to do is the eye that they have unto the recompence of the reward To begin with the first and that is this CHAP. XXX The condition of Gods people is a reproached condition HAving now to handle this Doctrine concerning the reproaches that are cast upon Gods people before I speak a word concerning the point I desire to put this caveat That none upon hearing the estate of Gods people being reproached shall think to wash away all just reprehension and accusation and think to answer whatsoever they are accused of with this That all Gods people have been reproached and therefore think their condition to be but the same that usually Gods people have been First if that were enough to answer any accusation upon this then there should never be any reprehension and accusation the Church of God should never proceed against any for any evil Secondly such as think to put off just reprehensions and accusations thus have their consciences reproach them more then others do or can reproach them Thirdly it is not for all to make use of this that I am speaking of but onely such whose constant and general way is gracious and inoffensive now if they meet with unjust accusations and reproachful slanders they may have the benefit of this to think it is the usual condition of Gods people to be reproached but if any have been offensive and evils break out they cannot have the benefit of this point for more evil may be in them then appears and thus I lay this caveat to pull up evil weeds before I sow good seed And now to the Point The condition of Gods people is a reproached condition They have been a people subject to all maner of evil speaking of them This the Church of God complains of in Psal 79. 4. they were not onely a reproach but God himself gave them over to be a scorn and reproach Isaac that was the son of the promise we know how he was reproached and contemned
running up and down from one witness to another but a gracious heart hath other ways to help it self it cryes to God most high and looks for help from Heaven God sends forth his mercy and truth to help and there is help indeed Fifthly another help is this if you can but get your hearts quietly and kindely to lament the condition of your reproachers this will be a marvellous means tosweeten the heart and to help to bear reproaches It was the answer of Socrates to one who wondred at his patience towards one who reviled him If we should meet one says he whose body were more unsound then ours should we be angry with him and not rather pity him why then should we not do the like to him whose soul is more diseased then ours The folly of our reproachers should cause us to pity them to be patient towards them and pass by the wrong they do unto us this was one of the arguments that Abigail brought to David to quiet his spirit that was so stirred against Nabal because of that reproach he cast upon him Nabal saith she is his name and folly is with him it is his folly rather pity him it is too low a thing for such a spirit as Davids is to be stirred with it Instead of being troubled with the reproaches that are upon you your spirits should be most troubled for their sin Now there is infinite cause we have to be troubled for their sin more then for any evil that befals us An evil tongue devours and is an abomination and in Prov. 8. 13. God says The froward mouth he hates Now if you have any love you should think thus This poor man what hath he done he hath brought himself under the hatred of God now this should mightily affect the hearts of the godly As he is an abomination to God so he is an abomination to men Prov. 24. 9. The scorner is an abomination to men scornful spirits love to cast shame and ignominy upon others And in Prov. 18. 7. A fools mouth is his destruction and his lips are the snare of his soul we should think he hath but ensnared his own soul and so fall a lamenting of his wretched condition And so in Isa 33. 10. Your breath as fire shall devour you If the breath of any man devours him the breath of revilers and reproachers and slanderers does The Heathens called a reproacher A three tongued man because he hurts three at once he hurts him that he reproaches and him that heard the reproach and himself worst of all do but get power over your hearts to bewail this sin and your reproach will not be so troublesom Trilinguis Gallesius a writer upon Exod. 22. ver 28. observes the exceeding patience of those three Emperors Theodosius Honorius Arcadius towards those who spake evil of them they would have them subject to no punishment for they said If it comes from lightness of spirit it is to be contemned if from madness it is worthy of pity if from injury it is to be pardoned wrongs are to be forgiven Again labor to possess your souls with the reality of the sweet of and the honor there is in the ways of God so no reproach will be grievous to you As it is said of the covetous man when some told him Such and such hiss at thee but says he I care not I rejoyce in what I have at home that I have so much money in my chest So it should be with a gracious heart he should say I have sweet enough in my own heart what need I trouble my self with what others think or say Seventhly labor to satisfie your souls in the glory of God and Christ Though my name be cast out as filth yet the name of God and Christ is blessed and glorious and so shall be for ever let Devils and wicked men do what they can against it It was a good speech of Luther writing to his friend Spalatinus bemoaning his condition to him because of the scorn and contempt he suffered yet comforting himself in this that Christ lived and reigned Luther is accounted even a Devil but Christ lives and reigns he addes his Amen to it Thirdly it is not enough to bear reproaches patiently but we must bear them fruitfully a christian should think he hath not done that which belongs to a christian unless he hath got some good by them a christian should not think it enough to free himself from the scorn of the tongue but he must improve it for good by it First consider what ends God aims at by it and labor to work them upon your selves that you may attain to those ends Secondly labor to draw what good instructions you can from the reproaches of others As namely thus when I hear men reproach and revile O what a deal of evil is there secretly in the heart of man that is not discovered till it have occasion I did not think that such and such could ever have been reproachers if they had not been provoked Again do I see another so vigilant over me to finde me out to reproach me how vigilant should I be over my self to finde out what is in me to humble me Again is there so much evil to be under the stroke of mans tongue what a great evil is it to be under the stroke of Gods justice Lastly to be fruitful that is set upon what duty God calls for at the present surely this is one great general duty that the less credit I see I have in the world let me labor to have the more credit in Heaven I see there is a breach of my name here let me seek to make up my name in Heaven 4. And then they must be born joyfully but we shall speak of that afterwards in the third point that a gracious heart is not onely willing to bear reproach when God calls unto it but in the cause of CHRIST to triumph and rejoyce in his reproaches 5. Lastly we should return good for evil then you come to the top of Christianity This is a sign of great progress in Religion If I be weak saith Ambrose perhaps I may pardon one charging me falsly but if I have profited although not altogether perfect though he flows in upon me with reproaches I hold my peace and answer nothing but if I be perfect I then bless him that reviles me according to that of St. Paul Being reviled we bless If you can do thus if you can heartily pray for your reproachers and desire good to them and be willing to take notice of any good in them to clear up their innocency where there is iust cause if you can be ready to offer any offices of love and respect and kindeness to them and so heap coals of fire upon them this is a great sign of grace you have made a good progress indeed in Gods way Mat. 5. 44
matter so as that it should suffer so much by us It is said of the high Priest Numb 6. 7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother or for his brother or for his sister because he had the holy oyl upon him the consecration of his God was upon him So I may say unto you You have the holy oyl of the profession of the name of Christ upon you and therefore take heed what you do says St. Paul It were better for me to dye then to lose my glorying were it then not better for us to dye then to have the glory of Christ suffer by us Know though the name of Christ be not dear to you he will defend his name when you shall rot and perish for ever and though it be defiled by you for the present he can clear it otherwise but wo to them that be the causes of reproaches that come thus upon Christ But as we must take heed that Christ be not reproached by us in this regard much more that he be not reproached by our selves so as to speak evil of the ways of God as we may hear it of those that have been forward in profession of Religion if profession of Religion do not come to serve their turns they are ready to speak evil of that way and all the professors of it Take heed what you do in reproaching of a member of Christ the name of Christ is upon him take heed you do not reproach him that the name Christ is upon the people of God do bear the name of Christ upon their foreheads take heed you do not spit upon their faces for it may be you may spit upon the name of Christ as many unskilful hunters will shoot at wilde beasts and shooting at random may kill a man and so many shoot at Christians but they hit Christ they reproach Christ CHAP. XXXVI The dreadful evil there is in reproaching the Saints FOurthly the consideration of this calls for a trembling heart unto all those that have been guilty in any degree of casting reproaches upon the people of God In this Use we have three branches First those that have done it themselves Secondly those that rejoyce in the reproaches that others cast upon Gods people Thirdly those that are the divulgers and spreaders of the reproaches of Gods people In Zeph. 2. The Holy Ghost there rebuking Moab for reproaching his people in the eighth and tenth verses at the eleventh verse it is said The Lord will be terrible to them there are some of you that howsoever God have shewn you better things now yet heretofore you have been guilty and it may be some of you are guilty of this still and if you be guilty the Lord will be terrible to you God hath contempt and dishonor for you as you have cast contempt and dishonor upon Christ suitable to your sin shall be your punishment That is observable that we have in Psalm 59. verse 6. their sin is They return at evening they make a noise like a dog and go round about the City thus is their sin and it is their sin of reproach and scorn as appears in the following words verse 7. They belch out with their mouth and observe ver 14. their judgement is expressed in the same words And at the evening let them return and let them make a noise like a dog and go round about the City Did your reproaches reach no further then the Saints themselves yet in regard of that excellency there is in them it is an abominable wickedness Mark with what indignation the Spirit of God speaks against such as are guilty herein Isa 57. 3 4. Draw near hither ye sons of the sorceress the seed of the adulterer and the whore against whom do ye sport your selves against whom do ye make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue are ye not children of transgression a seed of falshood What you who are so vile and filthy your selves will you presume to reproach the Saints of God such as are so precious in the eyes of God and so near to Christ Know you have not to deal with them onely but with Christ in them You think you have to do onely with a company of poor weak creatures that are not able to right themselves but know you have to do with Christ himself Mark that expression we have in Isa 37. 23. it is spoken concerning Rabshekah Whom hast thou reproached it is not against Hezekiah it is against the holy One of Israel Those that have done thus have lifted up their mouthes against heaven it self They set their mouthes against the heavens Thou hast reproached him that is the brightness of the glory of the Father The character The engraven image of the Father he that is the glory of heaven that hath all the treasures of all good in him Thou hast cast reproach upon him that must be thy Judge At whose mercy thou lyest for thy present and eternal estate Him that is God blessed for ever that is the infinite delight of the Father You mistake you have shot at Christ all this while As we read of Oedepus he killed his father Laius King of Thebes taking him for his enemy your mistake is worse you strike at you reproach Christ while you think it is but a poor man yea your enemy O that ever you should be born to do so much mischief as to cast dirt upon the face of Christ surely you kick against the pricks It is an argument that you are not a son of the promise that you are a successor of Ishmael Thou hast cause to fear that God will laugh at thy destruction and mock when thy fear cometh Thou hast cause to fear that thou art reserved for everlasting shame and contempt unless God does humble thee for this dreadful guilt that is upon thee When you take advantage upon the meanness of Gods people for to reproach them you are the men and women that are found guilty in heaven for to reproach Christ But you will say There are none so vile as to reproach Christ nor the people of Christ for their godliness it is for their hypocrisie Let no man deceive himself thus for there never was any Devil or man that did reproach godliness under the name of godliness but they would put some other name upon it under which it might appear vile and contemptible and in this the men of the world do as the persecutors did in the Primitive times with the Christians they put the bodies of Christians into the skins of wilde beasts and then they would set dogs upon them and other wilde beasts to tear them So men do to this day they put the profession of godliness into the shapes of their own conceits and their own slanders and their own apprehensions to make it ugly and they fall a reproaching and tearing and run upon them like a company of wilde beasts And
the Original is that they must not be Devils So that to carry slanders and evil reports up and down is the work of the devil Again wilt thou spread the reproaches of Gods people when as it is the great work of God to cover the sins of his people And further consider doest thou stand in need of so much covering of thy own sins and wilt thou have a hand in spreading abroad the sins of others How just will it be with God to let thee fall into some gross sin and spread abroad thy shame seeing his name and the names of his people are not dear in thine eyes CHAP. XXXVII Seeing Christ makes our sufferings his we should make his sufferings ours FIfthly if Christ will take our sufferings and our reproaches and make them his then we are to take Christs sufferings and Christ reproaches and make them ours It was the burning love of Christ and his zeal to his people that made him take the reproaches of his people to himself and so our burning love to him and zeal for him should make us take his reproaches upon our selves Christ is many ways reproached in the world not onely in his person when he lived upon the earth and in his people and so we are not onely to take the reproaches of Christ upon us in these regards but in any particular whatsoever reproach falls upon Christ any way let us account of it as our own When the Doctrine of the Gospel is reproached then he is reproached when the ways and light that God hath discovered to his people is reproached he is reproached when the Ordinances are slighted when as the blood of Christ is counted a common thing and every base lust is preferred before it when as the blessed authority of Christ is villified and slighted either when it is slighted openly or secretly if the authority of Christ be cast off then he is reproached Numb 15. 6 30. When you put a reed into the hand of Christ and bow to him and say Hail King of the Jews when you shall profess obedience and subjection unto Christ and in stead of a Scepter put a reed into his hand then he is reproached Again when Gods people walk unworthy of Christ then Christ is reproached And when Christ is reproached in any of these let us take them to heart as throughly as if we were reproached yea take them more to heart because the reproaches of Christ are far worse then our reproaches Those that are first upon Christ and then upon us are worser then those that are first upon us and then upon Christ To spit upon the face of a man is more reproach to the body then to spit upon some other member of the body is a reproach to the face and so the reproach of Christ that is the face of the Church is more then the reproach of any other member And therefore confider whether your hearts be more broken when Christ is reproached then when you your selves are reproached this is a good sign of grace And if you demand what should be the behavior of a gracious heart when he is in any company that he hears Christ reproached in I answer First thy spirit should rise in indignation against such desperate evils and wickedness as this that any should dare to be so bold as to reproach the holy One of God such a blessed one as Christ is that is so infinitely dear to thy soul and hath done so much for thy soul though in our own causes we may be quiet and give way yet when it comes to the cause of Christ it is good for the heart to rise It is the speech of Oeclampadius to his fellow Minister Let our Zeal be hot and burning not when scorns and reproaches are cast upon us but when the truth is endangered and the name of God is blasphemed Ye have heard that of King Croesus his son who though he were dumb all his life yet when one would have struck at his Father the affection to his Father broke the bars of his speech and he said Take heed of killing the King And so though we be dumb in things that concern our selves yet when Christ comes to be reproached let our hearts swell in us and break out Again look upon them with trembling hearts that ever the patience of God should suffer such wickedness as this As they did admire at Mordecai when he would not bow to Haman they held their peace and wondered what would become of that matter Yea we should if it were possible labor to wipe off all the reproach of Christ and take it upon our selves that we might rather be spit upon and contemned then Christ It was a brave speech of Ambrose he wished it would please God to turn all the adversaries from the Church upon himself and let them satisfie their thirst with his blood This is a true christian heart And therefore if it be for our sakes and we have any thing in the business by which Christ is reproached we should be willing rather to sacrifice our selves then that Christ should be reproached And as Jonah when he knew that the tempest rose for his sake says he Cast me into the sea And so Nazianzen when contention rose about him says he Cast me into the sea let me lose my place rather then the name of Christ should suffer for me Again the behaving of a Christian should be this it should take his heart from his own name so long as Christ is reproached What though I have esteem Christ is not esteemed he is contemned I have these comforts and I through Gods mercy want nothing and my friends cleave to me and prize me but Christ is not cleaved to he is not prized and what are all my comforts to me they are Ichabods the glory of all is departed from me And further we should be willing to interest our selves in the cause of Christ when we hear any of Gods people reproached we should not say What have we to do with them let them clear themselves but be willing to interest our selves in it and take it upon our selves as if our own name were to be cleared And lastly we should labor to wipe away the reproach of Christ in laboring to express the convincing power of that grace which is contrary to their carriage for which Christ is reproached Such a one is scandalous and Christs name suffers in that let me labor to make up the breach in being so much the more faithful and walking in the contrary grace Such a one is proud let me be more humble such a one is covetous let me be more liberal that there may be somewhat to answer As it is said of the wise son when his father is reproached he carries himself so as his father hath wherewithal to answer from his good carriage Prov. 27. 11. So let Christ have wherewithal to answer his reproaches from your
godly convincing conversation Suppose others have cast an aspersion upon the ways of godliness because such are false and covetous yet walk thou in the contrary that Gods people may answer Though such and such be so what say you to such an one is not the breach made up in those And so much for that Use Sixthly we must not onely labor to wipe away the reproach of Christ But if Christ have suffered so much in us and for us let us labor to honor Christ as much as we can in the world and set up the name of Christ as much as others pull it down How are we to set up the name of Christ First in holding forth the beauty and glory of the Spirit of Christ in our lives that though Christ be reproached in others he may be glorified in us Others may be forced to say in their consciences Blessed be God that ever I saw such men I never saw the graces of Christ shine more brightly in any then in them And then set up Christ in speaking all the good we can of Christ in bringing others in love with him As they in the Canticles said What is thy beloved more then another beloved says she My beloved is the chiefest among ten thousands Again let us set up the Ordinances of Christ therein appears the honor of Christ and let the beauty of his holiness appear in his Ordinances that men may say Blessed are the people that are in such a case Fourthly let Christ have the honor of our names and of all our comforts Surely if he have the shame of our reproaches he should have the honor of our honors If he have the pain of our sufferings surely he must have the praise of our comforts Christ hath a share in our sorrows shall he not have a share in our comforts when we are reproached he is reproached when we are honored let him be honored too What a sad thing will it be that when you go out of the world it should be said Christ hath had more dishonor by you then he hath had honor Seventhly If Christ suffers in all our sufferings hence we learn not to rush into sufferings before we be called to them nor to withdraw from sufferings when we are called to them Christ suffers in all our sufferings then it is not in our liberty to rush into sufferings when we please though it should be in the cause of Christ Indeed if we suffered alone we might venture but because Christ is interessed in it we must stay till we know whether Christ be willing to suffer though our time be come yet it may be Christ will say My time is not yet come because it is in a good cause you think you may suffer in it but consider is Christs time come In Proverbs 10. 10. it is said He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow but a prating fool shall fall when a man is loth to stand for those truths of God that shall bring him into suffering he winks He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow he will bring sorrow to his heart But others will say We will not wink with the eye it is the cause of God and we will stand for it but a prating fool shall fall A true man may ride in the rode and fear no danger yet he will not willingly ride into dangerous places and so a man is not to ride into danger As now if you be partners with another you cannot give what you will because it is not your own but it is your partners too If a man have a cottage of his own alone in a field he may set it on fire but if he set his own house on fire in the town it may cost him his life because others are interessed in the damage as well as himself Again if Christ do call we must go freely because they are the sufferings of Christ It is reported of Peter in Ecclesiastical Story that he was coming out of Rome for fear of suffering and as he was coming out of the gates he met Christ and he asked Christ wherefore he came says he I come to be crucified then he thought Christ came to be crucified in him and therefore he went back and resolved to suffer and so he was crucified And so though we be shy of suffering yet if we know Christ calls to it we must yield as being willing to suffer in us But when are we called There is an ordinary call and an extraordinary call The extraordinary call is by the Spirit And that is first when there are none that will stand for the cause of God in an ordinary way Secondly those that God calls extraordinarily are such as have extraordinary graces They act not their own natural boldness but are carried beyond it by a mighty work of Gods Spirit And therefore thou mayest suspect thy self that thou art not called extraordinarily but after much humiliation and much abilities to deny thy self But for an ordinary call First then we are called when if we do not suffer Gods cause will suffer Secondly when God does take away the means and helps of delivering us from suffering Thirdly the more helps are taken from us the more we finde the consolation of Gods Spirit come into us But when helps are taken away and the Spirit of God does absent it self shall we fear then that we are not called Some think surely they must not suffer then they shall betray Gods cause If they do because they do not finde God present with them If God do give you a fair way to escape when his presence is gone you may take it but if he shut you up that you cannot escape you may comfortably go on though now he be gone he will return again as it was with Mr. Glover who wanted the presence of God even till he came to the Stake and then he clapt his hands and cryed He is come he is come The last Use of the point is this If Christ suffer in his people and if all the evil you cast upon Gods people is Christs then all the good you do to them is Christs If when you speak evil of Gods people and reproach them you reproach Christ then when you speak well of Gods people you speak well of Christ If when you persecute Gods people you persecute Christ then when you relieve Gods people you relief Christ Christ will own the good that is done to his people as well as the evil And therefore as the argument once was Relieve all strangers for some unawares have done good to Angels So now do all the good you can to Gods people for unawares you may do much good to Christ And thus I have finished the second point from this Verse That the reproaches of Gods people are the reproaches of Christ Now we are to proceed to the third CHAP. XXXVIII A gracious heart hath a high esteem of
of the Martyrs in a way of honor to them Basil speaking of the forty Martyrs breaks out into this expression O blessed tongues which put forth such a confession as the ayr receiving it was even made holy by it You must suppose the expression to be hyperbolical yet so as shews how honorable the Martyrs were in their professions of Christ Thirdly it is a greater dignity in some degree then God puts upon the Angels in Heaven the Angels glorified God in a way of service but the Angels and Saints in Heaven have not this way to glorifie God they are not called to suffer in the cause of God Thirdly the reproaches we suffer for Christ are riches of imployment in this they are called to be imployed in the greatest work that God hath to do in the world there are no people in the world imployed so to set out Gods praise as they are that are called to suffer this is the lowest subjection that can be to God but the highest honor And they are called to be maintainers of the truth of God Says Calvin upon this argument What are we poor worms full of vanities and lyes that we should be called to be maintainers of the truth The great cause of Gods truth is maintained especially in Gods peoples suffering for the truth Here is a glorious contending for the faith of God that is delivered to the Saints Those who are in Prison says Cyprian Confess God with a glorious voyce Again they are imployed in bringing credit to the Church of God Gods people that suffer are a great honor to the Church of God whereas Apostates do disgrace the Church of God those that stand out in the defence of the truth in suffering make up that honor that the Church hath lost these are great employments A gracious heart accounts it as great riches to bring honor to the Church as to have honor himself of which before It is a notable expression that Cyprian hath to set out the honor the Church hath by such who suffer for the truth O blessed Church which in our times is made glorious by the glorious blood of the Martyrs it was white by the works of the brethren now it is purple by the blood of Martyrs there are neither Lillies nor Roses wanting in her flowers white garlands from their works and purple from their sufferings Fourthly they are riches of improvement First grace is improved grace is never so improved as it is at that time when a soul suffers for Christ they most profit me says Luther who speak worst of me as opposition of sin in the wicked improves their sin so opposition of grace in the godly improves their grace Lutherus pascitur convitiis Luther made reproaches his food he was nourished by them virtutem intelligo animosam excelsam quam incitat quicquid infestat Sen. Ep. 72. Secondly here is improved whatsoever Gods people do enjoy that they are willing to lose no such improvement of a mans credit or estate as the loss of it for Christ if we would devise how we should improve and lay out all our talents for God we cannot lay them out better we shall quickly gain from five to ten here If men know how to improve their stocks to the utmost they count the knowledge of that way more then if a man had given them many hundred pounds we come to improve all that we have in a glorious maner when God calls unto suffering Thirdly by suffering Gods people come to improve the malice and wickedness that is in the Devil and men that is a great improvement when I can turn the malice of the Devil and wicked men into my riches It is a notable speech that one Vincentius had of his Persecutors Never any man did serve me better then you serve me and he told them what a great deal he did get by their malice in persecuting of him if a man were able to turn dirt into riches how would that enrich a man but to have that which can turn the dirt of wicked men and the Devil into our riches that must be a rich thing Again a childe of God never improves his time so wel as when he is suffering for God when he is a doing good he is improving his time but when he is suffering he does as much in a little time as he was doing a great while before God does much reckon upon the time of his people in suffering Fifthly sufferings and reproaches are riches of experiences As first when they are called to suffer for Christ to be reproached for Christ they have experience of Gods power in upholding them Secondly experience of the ways and many passages of the providence of God towards them in all their sufferings Thirdly they come to have experience of the working of their own hearts And lastly they come to have experience what it is to be in a suffering condition men have another apprehension of a suffering condition before they are called unto it then when they are called to it and therefore they are ready to say I never knew what a prison meant and what reproaches meant till now I do not finde that in them that I was afraid of and these experiences are great riches Sixthly reproaches and sufferings bring in rich promises and they bring in a great deal O that Christians did but know their riches in regard of the precious promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. Every promise is a pearl to enrich Gods people withal and where there is true grace that soul does count it self more enriched by the promises then by any trading Now the promises that are so rich unto a gracious heart they are of divers sorts As first the promise of Gods presence with them and they count those promises to be rich things as the promise of Gods gracious presence and the promise of his glorious presence and the promise of his abiding presence For his gracious promise in Isa 43. 2. When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Again his glorious presence and his abiding presence for that you have one promise take in both together 1 Pet. 4. 14. If you be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you there is the Spirit of God in all the Saints but there is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of glory on those that are reproached for Christ that is The glorious Spirit of God the Spirit of God in a glorious maner Secondly the Spirit of God and of glory rests upon you it does not pass away but rests upon you now what a rich promise is here and what is in all the world that may be named with this promise Secondly
have had of the heighth and depth of the riches of the glory of the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ That sight of Gods grace that is the cause of security in people is that which is grounded meerly upon a natural light which hath no efficacy to raise and enlarge and to purge the heart But this true spiritual sight of Gods grace it hath a mighty efficacy and nothing more to raise and enlarge and purge the heart In 2 Corinth 3. 18. says the Apostle We beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror What then are we secure and presumptuous upon this No We are changed into the same image from glory to glory What was that glory that the Apostle did behold the glory of God in the mirror of the Gospel the glory of God in the riches of his grace towards the Saints Now says he While we behold as in a mirror this glory of God this is the fruit of it We are changed from glory to glory People talk of Gods mercy but how few ever had a spiritual sight of Gods mercy they would have Ministers preach much of Gods mercy but if people had eyes to behold it in the glory of it how would it change their hearts wherefore then I beseech you labor to have more then a natural sight of Gods mercy and goodness towards mankinde A man by a low apprehension of Gods mercy and goodness may think thus So long as I serve God it shall be well with me God will bless me and be merciful to me but that spiritual and supernatural sight of the riches of the glory of Gods mercy is this for a soul though it sees it self a base vile wretched worm a lump of filth and sees it self standing guilty before the Lord and God seems to look with an angry face upon it and conscience within it accuses it and the threats of the fiery Law come out against it yet for a soul to be able to look into the deep bowels of Gods infinite compassion that are in Christ and in them to look upon it self for all this as an heir of glory and eternal life so as to have the soul raised and enlarged and devoted to the magnifying praising and adoring the riches of Gods grace and to venture all upon this this is more then a natural sight of Gods grace and of his mercy towards mankinde You will say We could admire Gods grace and mercy towards mankinde and praise him and bless him for it and our hearts would be enlarged If we were sure these things did belong to us and that we had any interest in them there is enough in them to enlarge and raise our hearts but this is that which hinders We do not know that we have an interest therein To that I answer That this very work of God it self that gives this sight of his grace to raise up the heart to close with it and to make the soul venture all upon it that does bring the soul to devote it self to the praise and honor of it this very work of it self does interest your souls in it therefore do not say If I were interested in these things then I could praise and magnifie God for them If you can do this you are interested in them for this is an immediate work of faith and it is from a divine principle to be able to do this and therefore though you know no good at all in your selves before and you had no arguments to encourage you before and you had no preparation in your own apprehensions before yet if you have but this work of grace it does interest your souls in all that which hath been revealed concerning the recompence of reward of the Saints of God But may we not presume to think that such great things belong to us To that I answer Where ever presumption is it is built upon a natural sight of Gods grace and that is a poor low flat dead thing that hath no such efficacy to raise the heart to such a glorious work as this is and therefore if the heart be raised to such a glorious work as this by the appprehension of the riches of the grace and goodness of God towards mankinde that is not presumption And this is the sixth Use CHAP. LIV. Gods people to be highly honored SEventhly if there be such blessed things reserved for the people of God Hence let us look upon all the servants of God as honorable in our eyes and let them be honored in our thoughts for great are the thoughts of God upon them and towards them and therefore great and honorable should be our thoughts of them though they be never so poor and mean in the world We use to look upon great heirs with admiring thoughts and blessing of them every time we look upon them Do you see one walking in the ways of God whatsoever he be for his outwards let your hearts bless him and say Here is one indeed born to great things other maner of things then any the world affords Did we know what were the things that the people of God should be possessed of within a while we would say in our hearts O blessed that ever they were born blessed is the womb that bare them and blessed are the paps that gave them suck Did we with a spiritual believing eye behold what things they should have and saw them as now possessed of them we would see cause to fall down and kiss the ground upon which they tread The blessed Angels look upon them as great ones as the glory of the world and therefore do joyfully minister unto them because they know they are the great heirs of Heaven for whom such great things are prepared Great things are spoken of thee O thou City of God says the Psalmist Great things are spoken of you O ye Saints of God If Heaven must be so glorious to entertain the Saints how glorious are those for whom heaven is prepared Says Ahasuerus What shall be done to the man whom the King will honor O what shall be done to those whom an infinite God hath set his heart upon to raise to honor and to manifest to Angels and to all the world what his infinite power is able to do in raising of a creature to glory In the Saints there is a meeting as it were of the beams of Gods grace and goodness as in a center and that must needs be very warm and hot indeed The beams of the Sun in the circumference scattered in the ayr are warm but in a glass where they are united together as it were in a center there they warm after another maner there they burn so all the works of Gods grace abroad in the world they are as the beams of the Sun in the circumference that are scattered abroad but in his people there is the center where they are united together and there they burn and