many c. Or if we render it with others Did not be who is one make it i. e. the covenant of marriage and he hath abundance of spirit still to breath into our seed And wherefore did that one make that order that a man should cleave to his wife but that he might have a godly seed and therefore take heed what you do in putting away your wives and taking others for hereby you offend him that breaths the spirit of life into us Or if we take it as others interpret it their wickedness is still argued to be the greater because they boasted that they were the children of Abraham Now Did that one i. e. the first of your family do so of whose spirit we are the residue and what did that one he sought a godly seed he put not away Sarah though she was barren which to you would seem a just cause nor matched with an Idolater that he might have issue Or if we receive that rendring of the words which the learned De Dieu prefers above all the rest it argues them of great inhumanity and that they had not common good nature in them which makes the sin still greater No one would do thus that had but any reliques of the spirit of God in him and therefore much less they that seek a godly seed as you pretend to do You see that he might well call this covering violence with his garment ver 16. because it was such a wrong to those that by the Laws of God and nature deserved better at their hands To spread ones garment or ones skirts over a woman is a phrase in holy writ for to marry her Ruth 3.9 Ezek. 16.8 By taking therefore of a strange woman into their society which was engaged before to another they did as it were marry to violence and contract a relation with injustice Or as the forenamed author thinks it should be translated Violence covered their garments i. e. when as they ought still to have cast their garments of love and protection over their wives violence and wrong did cover those garments their marriage was an act of injustice and their skirts which they spread over strangers were all over stained with cruelty hard-heartedness and oppression 5. And Zachary tells us by way of prophesie what should be in after times toward the end of this Nation and what manner of Rulers should be over the people He compares their Shepherds i. e. Governours as I have shewn before unto young Lyons who do not use to protect but to devour the sheep Zach. 11.3 And he calls the people the flock of slaughter ver 4. whom he is bid to instruct either because they were to be destroyed by the armies of their enemies or because they were a prey unto their Governours According as it follows ver 5. Their possessors slay them and they hold themselves not guilty Yea to such a confidence were they arrived in these sins that they Bless God for the riches which they had got in this sort They had some devotion you see left though no honesty nor goodness God is intituled to all wicked possessions and acquisitions that he may make them good and defend them against all the clamors of men and the suits of their own conscience And it seems the people were very bad also for ver 6. he threatens them that he would have no more pitty on them then their Rulers had but let them destroy one another by seditions and at last deliver them all into the hands of the King that oppressed them who should be so far from taking any pastoral care of them that he should only slay and devour them as you may read v. â—6 6. And some understand by that King the Roman Caesar to whom they made themselves a prey by such sins as those I have been treating of That long Captivity which indures to this day had its way prepared by their avarice and cruelty as those acquaint us upon whom the spirit of prophecy was again poured forth For our Lord coming and reproving the chief of that generation when he lived for devouring widdows houses for extortion rapine and blood for covetousness and oppression for being without natural affection and the like sins while they made long prayers and pretended a great deal of sanctity and religion He declaring also that faith judgement mercy and the love of God were more to be regarded then their strict observation of dayes and the multitude of sacrifices They out of a great zeal for their religion which they thought he did not speak honourably enough concerning most shamefully put him to death I believe they took themselves to be very religious persons and were zealous in what they did only their zeal was not equally dispensed nor conveyed alike through the whole body of duties that God commanded Their heat was like the flushing in mens faces or the burning in their hands which we do not take to be an argument of a good temper but rather a sign that there are obstructions as the ordinary language calls them in the body so that there is not a free motion of the vital blood in all the parts I mean they spent so much zeal in a few things that they left no warmth of affection for other most necessary duties In those things their heat was staid and stopt which made them of an extraordinary high colour and to have the repute in the world of very great Saints and most vertuous persons Yea they themselves gazed so much upon this flame that they took no notice how cold they were in matters of common honesty but they committed all iniquity in a comfortable belief that they were good men and most beloved of God Their great zeal for the Sabbath and such like matters made them take themselves for pious and devout persons but the partiality and particularity of it whereby it remained there confined made them really to be such as our Saviour calls Hypocrites which appellation they took in such disdain that they conspired his death who would not let such as they pass for godly men 7. And are Christians to this day more reformed who have inherited their promises I wish I could say that we are as free from covetousness rapine and unmercifulness as the Pharises were from Sabbath-breaking and Idolatry R. D. Kimchi upon Hos 2.19 20. hath confessed a great deal of that truth which I have endeavoured to illustrate but I can only wish that the latter part of his gloss were found as true as the former part hath proved He saith those words cannot have a compleat sense till the time of the Messiah and that God uses the word betroth three times because of the 3. captivities after which God doth as it were marry them to himself but in the dayes of the Messiah after a more excellent manner then in former times For when they came out of Aegypt he did not betroth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for
as they were wont to do at no greater charge then again to confess it They beg that the acknowledgements of their faults may procure leave to practice the same again with no greater trouble but only to make a new acknowledgement It speaks only that they are sinners that they desire the favour to be so still and they will not stick continually to make Confession of it Confession is the condition of sinning more freely in their Divinity they disburden their consciences by it that they may lay on more load As the mariners unlade the ship to take in new stowage and as the drunkard vomits up his former draughts to continue the merry meeting so do men that are weary with sinning bring up all before God that troubles their stomack that so under the severity as they imagine of his pardon they may fill themselves again when they have a mind unto it They think it not good manners to come to Gods Table smelling rankly of a debauch and so against some such high time they may confess their sins as a means to cleanse and purge their souls Or their consciences are griped and their sins make them sick and ill at ease and so they go to disgorge themselves for by no better name can I call it and make a relation of their case to the great Physitian But then as many patients if they hear but a word drop from the Physitians mouth that their disease is not dangerous but they may easily recover will take no Physick at all but throw away their Bills of advice so if these sinners can but hear one good promise any merciful saying that gives men encouragement to hope away they go with it in their mouthes and with no amendment in their lives And yet many times these Confessions come not from so high a cause but owe their birth to meer custom and imitation being as common as to say Lord have mercy upon us we are all sinners and God help us 3. But whatsoever men may mean by them such Confessions as these signifie nothing at all unto God For the sins that men rehearse unto him are all known by him before and lie continually in his eyes If this be all they have to say that they are sinners and have committed such and such acts against him they may as well let their tongues rest in quiet there is nothing new in all this Then Confession is significant when it is an act of shame and reproach to our selves an act of grief and hatred a disavowing and disclaiming for ever such practices Now we say something unto God this is a new business the case is quite altered and there is forgiveness with him for such persons So the Apostle tels us 1 John 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Which is to the same sense with that of the wise man Prov. 28.13 He that confesseth his sins and forsaketh them shall have mercy And what Solomon prayes for in the behalf of such supplicants 1 King 8.47 48. God himself promises to them 1 Chron. 7.14 as you may see if you will take the pains to read the places True confession signifies that we are ashamed and blush to look up unto heaven that we have nothing to say for our selves but much against them that we cannot but cry out upon our own baseness and falsness unto God that we had rather not be then do one such vile act again that we are grieved and pained at the very heart and cannot but give vent to our souls in sighs and groans that we cannot with patience think upon our selves nor hold from proclaiming our own guiltiness that we remember nothing with so much sadness as that we have been offenders and that we resolve by Gods assistance and our utmost endeavours to grow better may we but be pardoned such offences It is begotten by a deep sense of the nature of sin and the high affront which it puts upon on God The soul is stounded with such thoughts and struck with a strange palsie and a fearful trembling that it should dare to adventure upon such a contempt The multitude of these depsperate acts makes it groan earnestly for a deliverance from them Every groan every word grates upon the heart as a file doth upon iron which at every rub fetches off some of the rust And the further it proceeds in such Confessions the more is all affection to sin diminished and impaired 4. Now God loves such a pungent sorrow as pricks to the very heart and gives a deadly wound to all our sins Such words are acceptable to him as strike like darts through the very life of our lusts and nail them to the Cross He loves when we look upon him whom we have pierced and mourn so bitterly that our hearts are shot through with an incurable wound to the flesh and all the affections and desires thereof And he loves such a Confession as expresses this sorrow this pain and this torment of our hearts which will be mixed with a vehement displeasure and hatred both against our selves and our sins This he loves more then all sacrifices or such like gifts whereby they thought many times to flatter him And therefore the returning sinners promise as God bids them Hos 14.2 that they will render the calves of their lips i. e. as Kimchi interprets it humble and penitent Confessions instead of sacrifices for thou lovest saith he the words of repentance best And therefore he observes that the scape-goat Lev. 16.21 on which the wickedness of the children of Israel was laid that he might carry them away was not offered upon the Altar but Confession only was offered to God which was far better But then this Confession of ours is to be 1 with a promise never to do so any more and 2 it is to be made good by actual forsaking of sin and 3 it is to be done presently in such instances as we have been most guilty in So we read in Numb 5.7 and the Hebrew Doctors Comments upon it The text saith that in case of a trespass a man was to confess his sin that he had done and to make a recompence for any wrong by a full restitution with some addition to it And Maimon saith the form of Confession was this O God I have sinned V. Ainsw in loc I have done perversly I have trespassed before thee and have done thus and thus but lo I repent and am ashamed of my doings and I will never do this thing again And he saith no atonement could be made for a man no not when he had made satisfaction for the damage he had done his neighbour till he had confessed and did promise to turn away from doing so again for ever And therefore when Ezra exhorts the people to make Confession unto the Lord God of their Fathers he adds and do his pleasure and separate
a thousand that make a conscience not to sin and to keep a Fast every day to God by the constant practice of mortification and holy living If railing and swearing against their enemies if damning and cursing those that are the cause of our troubles were the things that would cure our Nation we need not light a candle to find a multitude of such Saviours their deeds of darkness being so open and manifest And if praying fasting and such like things had been plaisters broad enough for our wounds they had been long since closed by many pretenders But as for those who pray for their enemies and live all their prayers and exercise daily denyal of themselves though they are not so few but we can see their light shining before men yet they are scarce enough to testifie to all men that their deeds are evil nor have they been able hitherto to dash the out-side Religion out of countenance and to prevail for salvation to be brought to us I leave it to the private scrutiny of every mans conscience to find whether or no he be in the number of those that are healing their wounds slightly or of those that thoroughly amend their wayes and doings And I have said enough to let him know the state of his soul if he will impartially ransack his heart and have no mind to put a cheat upon himself If it be necessary further to assist him the explication of the second thing which I proposed to be considered will I hope contribute some further help to his sincere search both into his own and the whole Nations condition unto which I shall now betake my self CAP. VIII 1. The remedy that God prescribed them by his Prophets was a general reformation 2. The proof of it from them and other things also 3. How they came notwithstanding to be so negligent in matters of greatest moment 4. Which were the duties of the second Table as appears out of Zachary 5. The Rulers especially neglectfull in these things and how it came to pass 6. They might easily have known better therefore the sin was greater 7. And their fore-fathers being corrected for them made their persisting in them more inexcusable 8. No peace without these 9. The summe of many of the following Chapters consisting of four general heads 1. THE Prophets of God were not like the Fanatique spirits which are now in the world that know how to find fault with what is in use but cannot advise how to amend it nor like Ignorant Physitians that cry out upon all vulgar and old-wives medicines but know not themselves how to apply any that are more proper for the disease But when they cast so much disrespect upon their Fasts and other Religious duties they directed to the true use of them and when they showed how the false Prophets that were among them did but flatter and humour their distemper they discovered its true nature and prescribed them a certain and effectual way of cure And it was no far-fetcht medicine to which they advised them there was no need that they should climb up to heaven and consult with the Planets or go beyond the Sea and traffique with some strange Countrey for it as we do for drugs to cure our bodily diseases but the Word was nigh them even in their mouthes and in their hearts that they might do it A general reformation of their manners was that to which they exhorted if the people expected a General good as he that doth not want eyes may read in every leaf of their Books All the exercises of devotion which they used were but in order to this And without this all their Fasts were but painful provocations all their Confessions but accusations brought in against themselves all their Prayers but the labour of their lungs which like bellows did make the fire of Gods anger burn and not blow it out And especially they earnestly beseeched the Governors and Leaders of the people to amend who have a manifest influence upon a whole Nation and after whose fashion almost every body uses to dress himself For which cause their sins are sometimes alone named in holy Writ as procuring Gods Judgements upon a Land because by their neglect and ill example the rest run more pronely into all wickedness 2. And therefore Jeremiah commands all the words of his prophesie to be written in one book and read to all the people upon their fasting day in the fourth year of Jehoiakim as you may see Jer. 36.6 which was perhaps upon the day of expiation when the great Fast was observed And again the next year upon occasion of another Fast which was proclaimed ver 9. he took the same course and caused Baruch to read his exhortations and threatnings in the ears of all the people of Jerusalem and those that came likewise out of the Cities of Judah to Jerusalem Hereby teaching them that their fasting and praying was to no purpose unless they hearkened to Gods voice by returning every man from his evil way which he saith was the only way to obtain forgiveness of their sins ver 3. and 7. And they might have understood this even from the manner of their offering sacrifices in which they so much trusted He that brought a burnt-offering was to lay his hand upon the head of it before it was slain Lev. 1.4 which was an evident sign 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we may believe Philo a learned man of that Nation of innocence and an unreprovable life conforming with the Law of nature For God saith he would have him that sacrificeth first of all to have a mind purified and exercised in pious and profitable principles and then a life consisting of the most excellent actions so that he may be able confidently to say out of a pure conscience when he layes on his hands L. de anim l. sacrificio idoneis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. These hands did never receive a bribe to do wrong nor have they touched innocent blood nor have they been instruments of any hurt injury wound or force nor have they ministred to any other dishonest action but they have been serviceable to all things good and profitable and which are approved by the Laws and by all good men And he takes notice likewise that the blood being the soul as it were of the living creature the pouring out of that signified the offering of our souls to God And that it was therefore poured out round about the Altar because a circular figure being most perfect it should signifie That the whole soul should be given to him and that all the mind should cheerfully move and as it were dance round in all kind of words thoughts and deeds according to the divine pleasure 3. A great wonder then it may be to some that they should be so defective in matters of the greatest concernment while they were so curious even to superstition in the outside of these services Especially
considering that on their fasting-dayes they used to examine offences and the Court sate to punish those that were guilty To which sense Valent. Schindler in vocab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a learned man expounds that place in Joel 1.14 Sanctifie a Fast call a solemn Assembly gather the Elders c. i. e. call a Court who may make inquisition into crimes that have been committed and see that they be animadverted upon and reformed And so when Jezabel wrote letters to the City wherein Naboth dwelt that they should proclaim a Fast 1 King 21.9 it was as much as to say Call a Court that may examine and take cognizance of the high sin that Naboth is guilty of But one true reason I suppose that there was not a general reformation in all things made by these Judicatures was because they heard only matters of fact against such Laws of Moses to which there was a punishment annexed Now there was a great penalty inflicted upon all those that did eat upon the great Fast a bit of bread though but as big as a date and on other Fasts the quantity of an Olive but for covetousness unmercifulness and such like things you read of no punishment at all If a man did not fast he was to be cut off by excommunication Lev. 23.29 and besides by the decrees of the Elders he was to be beaten And for the breach of any of the nine first Commandments you shall find some either death or some great punishment threatned But for the breach of the Tenth Commandment which is Thou shalt not covet there is no corporal penalty which they incurred for we find none threatned And therefore they were more carefull to keep the Sabbath not to worship idols c. though in these sometimes they were negligent then to do justly and love mercy Because they might suffer for the one by the hand of the Magistrate but not for the other Their carnal desires not standing in any awe of any bodily infliction they took occasion as the Apostle saith Rom. 7.8 to be more licentious and to work all manner of concupiscence 4. And the sins indeed against this Commandment and those that concern our neighbours were those which the Prophets called chiefly for reformation in if they expected any good to their Land This I will first of all shew you out of the same Prophet Zachary upon whose words I built the former discourse After he had told them from the Lord that they had not fasted to him in all the seventy years of their affliction he proceeds to acquaint them what the true Fast was which God alwayes called for and expected And that he doth chap. 7. 9 10. and again chap. 8. 16 17. which places I desire the Reader to take pains to consider And then I doubt not but he will see good cause for this observation that the sins they were chiefly guilty of more then others were Neglects of the duties of the second Table as we speak not performing of those offices which one man owes to another but violent breaking of all those bonds whereby men are tyed by God together They may be reduced to these three heads 1. Unjust dealing and defrauding one another by lying false-swearing devising to over-reach and ruine their Brethren chap. 7. 9 10. chap. 8 16 17. Speak every man the truth to his neighbour execute the judgement of truth imagine not evil love not a false Oath 2. Want of mercy and compassion cruelty hard and rigid dealing with their neighbours which is as bad as down-right in justice chap. 7. 9. Shew mercy and compassion every man to his Brother 3. Oppression of the poor and those that could not right themselves against the mighty Chap. 7. 10. Oppress not the widdow nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor 5. Concerning all which sins you must note these things That all of the Nation were generally guilty of the breach of the tenth Commandment there being nothing to restrain them from it but only the fear and love of God and the belief of another life of which that stiff-necked generation had very little sense And this covetousness or greediness of the things of this world which God having liberally promised them they were the more desirous of was the root of all that evil which broke out against the other commands of the second Table And their Rulers especially were guilty of this and the rest of the sins that proceeded from it both because they had fairer occasions to satisfie those desires and because though many of their sins against the Law were punishable yet the punishment could be executed upon them who were in the supremacy by none but God And these sins were the greater in them because they ought to have rectified others and given them a better precedent to follow and the greater in the people likewise both because they might easily have learnt better and because they were the sins for which their fore-fathers had been punished very severely by God 6. It is an observation of Philo De animal sacr idon in the book fore-mentioned that among all those living creatures that were offered in sacrifice whether aerial or terrestrial there were none chosen by God but those that were of a gentle and good nature The Dove of all those that love society and company is most mild and the Turtle of all those that are naturally solitary is most easie to be made tame and brought to hand And among the flocks of four-footed creatures those three sorts that were selected for holy use the oxen the sheep the goats are of all other the most gentle and inoffensive one man or a boy being sufficient to drive whole herds of them to pasture and again to bring them back without any rebellion to their stalls and folds And this saith he also is a most manifest token of their gentleness that none of them eat flesh but all of them grass and herbs neither are they armed with such hooked claws and tallons nor with such rows of teeth as other creatures And besides they are the most profitable and useful as well as most innocent and harmless of all others For the sheep afford clothes for our bodies the oxen plow the earth and after it hath yielded its fruit they tread out the corn and the hair and skins of goats make clothes for travellers and souldiers and such like persons whose necessities force them to abide much in the open air From all which methinks we may gather that they were taught by those things wherein they did most confide not only to keep good order by Justice and Uprightness not using any rapacity or crooked dealing but also to be tender-hearted loving gentle living in all peaceableness together and being beneficial and useful unto others God many times said it that it was not the flesh or blood of beasts wherein he delighted and therefore hence they might easily have received documents that he desired mercy more
ever as he saith he will ver 19. And when they came out of Babylon he did not betroth them in righteousness judgement and mercy as he saith he would ver 19. for we read Ezra 9.2 that they took strange wives and they oppressed their Brethren likewise c. Therefore in the dayes of the Messiah which they still expect after this third captivity all this shall be done when he will betroth his people in faithfulness ver 20. We have seen the truth of what he saith concerning the time of their coming out of Babylon and that they did not love righteousness judgement and mercy We also see the dayes of the Messiah and God hath married us Gentiles to himself O that we could see the Christian world full of justice and charity But alas Christians deal falsely with God in his covenant and they are not thus espoused to him They would have God and Mammon at the same time in marriage together And they grieve the spirit of God as the Jews did their lawful wives by taking co-partners with it into their love I wish that this truth did not shine as clear without any proof as it doth appear by the many proofs I have alledged that this was the state of Israel And I need not borrow more light from any other Scriptures to make it plainer then it is that these have been very often the wasting and destroying sins because commonly not observed in the midst of a blaze of religious duties which dazzle mens eyes and make these sins seem either none at all or very little and contemptible CAP. XIII 1. The third General propounded that these sins are of a most destructive nature to Nations 2. Proved from the captivity of Israel 3. And from the the first Captivity of Judah 4. The injustice of Rulers very fatal to them and why 5. The second captivity of Judah imputed to the same cause 6. Tyre split on the same rock 7. Ninive likewise and Babylon 8. With many other Nations mentioned in the first and second chapters of Amos. 9. And in many other places 10. This confirmed from an observation among the wise men of the Hebrews 11. And from the history of the last Greek Empire where 10. Causes are given of its destruction by the Turks 1. AND this leads me to the third thing that I am to make proof of viz. That these are sins which pull down ruine and destruction upon a Nation and are oft the chiefest cause of it The Poet never spoke a truer word then when he said Pindar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. as the Scholiast well notes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice is an high wall there is no such tall and impregnable bulwark such a safe defence to a Nation as to deal uprightly and honestly one with another and with all their neighbours And then I am sure a Nation is like to be laid waste when there is a breach made in this wall for oppression violence and wrong to enter in I have already noted so many passages out of the Prophets that make these sins the cause of their desolation and being carried captive out of their land that I may presume the Reader is sufficiently convinced of it But that I may leave no room for doubting and give more abundant satisfaction in this particular I shall distinctly by these steps confirm him in that belief 2. And first let it be observed that the captivity of Israel or the ten Tribes is in great part charged upon the account of these sins This will be evident to him that can take the pains to consult these places in the Prophet Amos whose vision was concerning that people chap 2.6 7 8 and chap. 3. v 8 9 10 11 14 in which place he speaks as if he destroyed them for these sins but would reckon with them also for their Idolatrous worship at the same time Read also chap. 4.1 2 3. chap. 5.7 10 11 12 16. and chap 8. from the fourth verse to the end of the tenth to which add chap. 6.3 7. and Hosea 4.1 2 3. 3. Let it be observed in the second place that the captivity of Judah both first and last is most manifestly ascribed to the same sins which even in their reformations they spared from being destroyed For the causes of their first captivity I must again put the Reader to the pains of considering these places in the Prophets which are too large to transcribe Mic. 2.1 2 3. Mic. 3.12 Isa 10.1 2 3. Isa 30.12 13 14. and Isa 57. â—7 where God saith that for the iniquity of his covetousness he was wroth c. So unjust indeed they were that they hated all good men and cared not whether there was one of them left in the world ver 1. But especially consider Isa 29.2 which hath been explained before chap. 6. to signifie that the people of Jerusalem should be slaughtered just as their sacrifices wherein they trusted for salvation were at the Altar Now if you look into ver 21. you will see what their sins were unjust dealing and laying hold of every occasion to ruine their neighbour and contriving wayes to intrap him And it is remarkable that such as their sin was such was their punishment As they were unsatiable in their covetousness and thirst after wealth so were their enemies unsatiable in their appetite to devour them For he saith v. 7 8. that their enemies shall be as an hungry man that thinks his belly is full in a dream but awakes and finds his stomack to be sharp let by reason of emptiness They had a kind of dog-like appetite all their cruelties wherewith one would have thought their anger would have been satisfied being but like a dream in comparison of those that were behind As their thirst of unjust gain still used to increase and the more they had the more they desired to have so was it with their enemies thirst after their blood one draught that might be thought enough to quench it was but a preparation for a larger and made them more greedy of it Read likewise Jer 5.25 26 27 28 29 and Jer 7.28 29 where after he had said Truth is perished and cut off from their mouth it follows Cut off thine hair O Jerusalem and cast it away c. i. e. he proclaims a captivity which should be a cause of grievous mourning and lamentation to them And so Jer. 21.12 13. He calls for speedy execution of judgement or else his anger should break forth like fire against them and though mount Sion was strong as a rock yet they must not think that it should be able to defend them without justice which as I said is a rampart stronger then a wall of rocks and mountains 4. And let me here before I proceed further take notice how angry God was with the injustice of their Kings and Governours and destroyed them for it Ezekiel compares their two Kings Jehojakim and Jehojachin to two young Lyons
to hazzard your selves in a good cause Be as consciencious in following the Ministers Doctrine as in paying of him his tithes and speaking well of him As zealous in doing as you are in hearing as carefull to use Gods grace as to beg it to live to God as to pray to him And Saint James gives us the reason Jam. 1.22 That we shall otherwise deceive our own souls We shall have only so much religion as will serve to cozen our selves as many a man doth who hears Gods word and prayes and is much affected but makes no conscience of laying it to his heart by serious consideration and working of it into the frame of his spririt that he may live according to it CAP. XXIV 1. The distinctions which the Pharisees had to elude Gods commands 2. One more notable then the rest that if they kept one precept well they need not keep all others 3. The fleshly Christian hath his jugling tricks He distinguishes between the letter and the Spirit of a duty 4. Or saith he follows Providence 5. Or that he hath an Impulse 6. Or he pleads Necessity 7. Or that he doth it for Gods glory 8. Or hath liberty from Free-grace 9. Or from the Examples of good men 10. We must not believe every pretender 11. Observe how they change and turn about 12. Especially how loth they are to suffer and how impatient under it 1. BUT you may well wonder how men so knowing as they were should overlook the most necessary things which are so legible in the Book of God and perswade themselves that they were pious notwithstanding such palpable neglects Sure these men had a most notable wit which could invent such cunning distinctions as should allow them to break all Gods Commandments while they seemed to keep them And so they had as our Saviour tells Mat 23 16 17 c. where you may see that they did absolve men even from their oaths that were made by holy things viz the Temple and the Altar if they were not made by that which they most loved the Gold and the Gift It is so senseless a distinction whereby they freed men who had solemny sworn as our Saviour plainly proves to them that we cannot but think it was invented by gross covetousness and yet with a shew of devotion to God in preferring the Gold that was brought to his treasury and the gifts to his Altar above all other things in sacredness And so they defeated another command concerning the giving of honour to our Parents by making a vow that all they got should be as a Sacred thing to their parents i. e. it should be as unlawfull for them to have any of their goods as to enjoy that which was devoted to God For so they that are best skilled in the Jewish learning do expound that place V. J. r Coch. in duns Tit. Talmud cap. 7. Sanhedr Mat. 15.5 though some of the Fathers as I have already said think that it speaks of consecrating their goods to the treasury of God This was a rare way to be rich by vowing not so much as to give their parents a mite of their goods and a great piece of religion no question they thought it to keep such a vow when they had made it This was a subtile Art to be covetous and under a religious tye both together 2. But these are no more then trifles in compare with that transcendent trick which absolves a man at once from as many duties as he pleases That rare device was this That if a man observed but one command well it was not absolutely necessary that he should keep the rest Vid Tit. Maccoth cap. 3. So R. Chanania saith that God would have Israel increase in merits and therefore it was that he multiplied so many precepts It was not absolutely necessary that they should observe them all but they should merit exceedingly if they did For so Maimon observes in his Comment upon that place cited in the margin If any of Israel keep one of the six hundred and thirteen precepts as he ought out of love and without a mixture of worldly designs he shall have a portion in the world to come Many evasions will mens own lusts and desires suggest to them for the casting off the weight of any duty that lyes upon them but this is such a notorious gloss that by it they might slip their necks from the yoke of every command but that which they could be content to practice 3. And you must not think the fleshly Christian is at a loss for the like distinctions interpretations and glosses for to serve the dear interest of his sins Loth he is to break a Law unless he seem to himself to keep it and therefore here his wit steps in and offers its help to salve his conscience and his profit or pleasure both together I shall take the liberty to instance in a few which are easie to observe because I doubt men will make a shift to understand nothing that concerns them by all that I say unless I descend to particulars First therefore if a man have use for a sin as suppose the breaking of an oath he can distinguish between the Letter and the Spirit of it He can easily perswade himself that he keeps the prime meaning which is according as he pleases to have it though he go contrary to the sound of the words and the sense in which men commonly understand it And thus those persons in New England who made so great a disturbance See Mr. Welds relation An. 1636. evacuated and blotted out the whole body of Christian precepts and did not leave so much as the Pharisees who thought obedience to one precept at least to be necessary saying That the letter of all the Scriptures were for a Covenant of works but the Spirit of them held forth a Covenant of free grace This was a rare answer when they were urged with several places of Holy Writ that proved the necessity of Sanctification and inward righteousness which they turned out of doors under the pretence of letting in Christ If it were said that we must become new creatures the Answer was ready that by the new creature is meant Christ and therefore we must only get into Christ If it were said we must be holy as God is holy this was the return that Christ is our sanctification and that there is no inherent righteousness in us but only in him And whereas the Scripture saith Blessed are the poor in Spirit c. they said a man might have all grace and yet want Christ This was the secret sense the Spirit of the Scriptures That we need do nothing and Christ hath done all This was holding forth naked Christ as they called it so naked indeed that it is a shame to speak of it 4. If men cannot attain to this height of secret intelligence which the old Gnosticks likewise boasted of but they must acknowledge that
sense which we receive of Gods precepts then they have another little device to save them the labour of yielding obedience and that is called Providence which is able to justifie any action against the Authority of Gods word If they have something to accomplish which is contrary to Law and Justice and their conscience boggles at it then because they have a mind to keep friends with God if he be content upon fair terms they will intitle him some way or other to it and they will not do it except his Providence lead them to it And this hath been swallowed for very sweet doctrine by some Grandees as I am well assured That a man may follow providence against a precept And so a theef I have often times thought who going by an house sees the door open and a fair plate inviting of him no body within to deter him may stand and admire at this strange providence that he should come in that nick of time when all things concur together to justifie his theft to which he hath so loud a call And if he should at that time be thinking of another thing and this plate likewise should happen to have his name upon it how should he chuse but hold up his hands and say that he was lead to it by the hand of heaven I would have any one to tell himself how his case differs from this who when a great many things usually meet together to make up a temptation for it is nothing else to draw him to do an unlawfull action he saith that Providence hath so ordered it he did not intend it but that he hath a call And truly I believe he hath a call from his own importune and bawling defires and Providence I know disposes of all things and often sets us in such circumstances as we shall be tryed how we will behave our selves and prove us how we will do our known duty 5. But if this fail there is a third thing so powerfull that nothing can resist it and that is a secret impulse and inward motion mistaken for inspiration There is no act so guilty which this is not able to set a good face upon no cause so foul which this cannot justifie with a goodly pretence The Zealots among the Jews covered abundance of murders and other insolencies under the name of such a divine spirit as moved Phineas All the Jews had a tang of this fiery zeal and therefore rush like madmen with their stones upon St. Paul and others to vindicate their Law from the contempt which they imagined was cast upon it And so all men that are pricked forward and spurr'd on by their own ambitious covetous desires or their revengefull and angry passions may easily think that they feel some forreign impulse because they are thrust on by no small violence Their own longings are wings large enough to mount up their soul and carry them like an Eagle to his prey Their own desires can inspire them and impregnate their sails without any other spirit to breath upon them There is so much fire naturally within them that none need descend nor ascend to stimulate their souls to any beloved enterprise 6. But if men be not of so high spirits as to have a touch of Enthusiasm there is a fourth thing called necessity which hath no Law In Apolog. Tertullian indeed was so simple as to say in the name of the old souldiers of Jesus Christ that Nulla est necessitas peccandi quibus una est necessitas non peccandi there can be no necessity of sinning to them who have one necessity lying upon them of not sinning But there are blades now of a purer make and a sharper edge who cut asunder those Iron chains of necessity it self wherein those grosser souls were fettered Though it be necessary for such as us who follow the old steps not to sin yet it is necessary to them to sin but they think it not to be a sin because it is necessary But they had best look to it and consider who is the author of that necessity and not when they have run themselves into a strait think that God gives them leave to break an hedge Let them not think to escape better with all these pittifull shifts then a theef doth who when he hath rob'd a man of his money thinks it necessary for to make all sure to cut his throat It is a necessity which he himself creates and he must either make it good against the other of not sinning which is of Gods creating or else it is necessary that he suffer soundly both for sinning and for making it necessary to sin 7. And if it be said as it must That there is no necessity that they or any other men should be great or rich or live in the world and therefore they should not do an illegall action for the saving of life it self They have another distinction ready at hand which is That all is done for Gods Glory and we are not always to tread in the ordinary path to accomplish that A man may step out of his way for Christs sake and he is mightily beholden you may think unto him that he will sin even against his conscience for his honour What can he do more for Christ then sacrifice his very soul and damn himself to make him glorious Sure Christ will catch hold on such loving friends of his and not suffer them to fall into that damnation which they ventured at seeing it was for him Just as Polititians when they do unwarrantable actions think to excuse them with the Reason of State and pretence of common Good So do other men think to shelter all their evil doings under the wings of Christ and drown the voice of their impieties with loud cryes for the Glory of God for the Glory of God As those Statesmen will break their faith and their oaths and at the rate of their honesty purchase the common welfare so do these men transgress all Gods Laws and will pawn their very souls upon it that all is done for the Divine honour As if God had need of mens sin or we could tell what is his interest better then himself I am something angry at this vile abuse of his holy name for I can make no better sense of mens actions then this That though God hath told us what is his mâ—â—d and pleasure yet they will instruct him and teach him what is more for his benefit and shew him a way that he thought not on for the advancement of his glory 8. But perhaps there is no such thing as sin in them and we poor creatures know not the mysterie of that great phrase Free-grace There is a singular priviledge that we know not of contained in those words to do evil As if it was called Free-grace because it made them free from all Law or by an Antiphrasis because it makes them slaves to all their own lusts and worldly affections
knowing that there is no other way to be made familiar with God be but Cozens to worms and neighbours to frogs cannot the brightness of righteousness that makes a man sociable friendly full of justice humanity and benignity do nothing to vindicate a man from the condition of a bat or an owl What then must they be who live in the filth and dirt of the world and wallow in all beastly lusts Thus those gallant spirits durst out-brave the heathens and dare them to shew any such men as the Christians were 4. And I wish that we could do so at this day and did not justly deserve the name of Bats that see not what the Gospel designs of worms that out of covetousness not humility crawl upon the earth of Frogs that love a moist and sensual life It is a good saying of Chrysostome Homil. 18. in Epist ad Rom. That God is not so much wondered at from the clearness of the heavens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as from a pure and heavenly life And therefore saith he when we dispute with the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We do not alledge the heavens but men for a proof who lying in a condition worse then beasts are perswaded by the Gospel to aemulate the Angels And when we speak of this change we stop their mouths and they have no more to say But alas now Religion is a thing described in Books and we cannot say to opposers Behold the men that transcribe it into their lives It lies in Paper and is the work of the Printer but of no body else Where shall we find the men who lead such a life as is delineated by our Lord and studies to conform himself to his will There are scrace enough of these men to make an argument but most that are called Christians are the confutation of the Religion of Christ I cannot forbear to speak to such in the words of the same sweet Father to the false Christians in his daies Suppose a Gentile come to thee and say If thou lookest for a Kingdom why dost thou mind this world so much Sure thou dost but talke Homil 26. in Epist ad Rom. for if thou didst expect the terrible tribunal of Christ hereafter why dost thou not despise the terrible things of this world now If thou expect est immortality why dost thou notaugh at death What canst thou now say for thy self and religion who tremblest at the loss of thy riches for the Kingdom of Heavens sake and rejoycest at the gain of a farthing This is that which scandalizeth the Gentiles and therefore do not any longer make apologies for thy Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by words but by deeds that it may be manifested there is such a religion in being alive in the world and not dead in Books And that they may see the Gospel commands things that may be done and doth not draw a Platoes Idea or as we say an Utopian Common-wealth which can never be put in practice Suppose a Gentile should say to thee How shall I know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that your God hath commanded things possible They look like things that cannot be done which you speak of and I never saw any Christian such a man Behold thou wast brought up from thy childhood in this Religion and yet thou dost no such thing What will they now say perhaps thou wilt shew him some other body and bid him look upon the Monks that live in the wilderness What holy lives they lead O most shamefull apology For he will say What then must I turn a Monk must I live in the mountains and deserts must I forsake all company to be a Christian This is a strange Religion which a man cannot be of unless he leave the society of men a religion that cannot dwell in Towns and Cities This truly is a great disgrace to Christian piety to make as though it could not inhabit in any place and be performed by any men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shew me a man that hath an house wife and children and yet is a Christian for Christ doth not say Let your light shine in Mountains and deserts but before men This I do not speak saith he to disgrace those that live so retired but to bemoan our Cities which have driven vertue out of them into the Wilderness 5. Some Christians it seems were so good as to be able by their lives to defend the Christian cause and others again were so bad that they they had nothing to say for their Religion but that there were better then themselves in the world But our case at this day is far sadder for many that live in sin will take upon them to be the most excellent Christians the standard and measure of all others because they can talk and account all them but Morall men who are not cast into the same mould of opinion with themselves They would be taken for the Examples of piety who have not yet mortified the flesh especially the subtiler part of it Pride Vain-glory Hatred and Strife But let the Scripture determine who are the godly persons they or those men who frame their opinions and lives by the Scripture and not by any other Books And Phavorinus methinks hath done our Religion a great deal of right and credit too who in his Lexicon where he explains the Greek language thus defines a Christian and Christianity A Christian saith he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. who hath by Christ crucified the body with the affections and lusts and keeps all the commands of Christ And the property of a Christian is Faith working by Love and afterward It is the property of a Christian to purifie himself from all filthiness by the blood of Christ and to perfect holiness in the fear of God and the love of our Lord. So he a little in-larges those words of the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.1 And again he defines Christianism to be a despising of things here below for the profession of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And an acknowledgement of Godliness leading to eternall life Whatsoever false Christianity there is among men which falls short of this and yet passes with great credit in the world it will at last discover it self by some carnal action or other which will betray its partiality As the Cat in the Fable could play the woman no longer when the Mouse came in her way so these men can no longer Act the part of Christians when some pleasure or credit or gain to which they are addicted gives them a fair occasion to serve themselves Cedrenus reports that this was one thing wherewith the Queen of Sheba posed Solomon viz that she apparelled a great many boyes and girls in the very same cloaths so that by their gesture and habit and carriage they could not be distinguished and she bid him tell her of which Sex every one of them was He called
yielding to temptations to covetousness deceit and unlawfull gain or on the contrary very fearfull to fail in a ceremony but worshipping the flesh and living loosely An Hypocrite is much imployed in little things and busied about the shadow and bark of religion be it what it will If religion be pompously gloriously cloathed then he will strive to be most ceremonious costly and chargeable in his devotion so that we may say of him as the Philopher said of a finical but empty Lawyer homo in causis agendis bene vestitus a neat man in his Religion one that pleads with God in gorgeous apparrel But on the contrary if men take to a side that loves to be sordid and slovenly and as careless as they can in all outward decencies none shall more fiercely decry all ceremonies nor more prophane all that was before accounted holy And so in all other matters the most inconsiderable among them exercise their zeal and the weightiest exercise only their fancies and tongues 5. A Sixth thing to be noted in them is that they would be just in one thing that they might be unjust in another v. 23. They would pay their tithes to the Priests that this might cover all their acts of rapine and covetousness among the people And they did not only pay them but were very scrupulous to pay them exactly as if they would not wrong one of a Cummin seed or a Speer of mint or as we say of the hair of one head when as they neglected judgement if any causes came before them they shewed no mercy to the poor and kept no faith in their Covenants and promises It concerns a man to be very punctual with some persons and in his ordinary intercourse to keep to rules of justice else he would be hissed out of the world and he would have no opportunity to deceive a simple or unwary soul Much less would he be able when he stretches his conscience to do a base action to take himself still for a godly man if he did not at other times deal fairly And therefore he is fain also to imitate the Pharisee in a Seventh quality and that is to do some great act of Charity to excuse himself from a constant exercise of it It is like that these hypocrites which our Saviour speaks of paid the tythe which was due every third year for the use of them that were in need Deut. 14.28 as well as the yearly dues to the Ministers of God in the Temple And this great and expensive charity they thought perhaps so highly of that they never reproved themselves for their miserable and wretched covetousness at all other times As many men now whose fingers are very stiff may chance to draw their purse-strings at some solemn time or when they are much moved with a good Sermon of Alms-doing who at other seasons have hearts as hard as flints to the crying necessities of their Brethren Much of the Religion of men and their charity also knows its times and daies if they be observed God lends them they think the rest of their lives to dispose of as they please themselves 6. And lastly they would not stick to do more then they were commanded that they might neglect Gods express Commands For many think that the tythe of every herb which they paid Luke 11.42 was not due by the Law but they could be content to over-do in this case that they might do nothing in others to give these free-will offerings that they might have their own wills in greater matters so false is the heart of men that they think an excess in what pleases them will satisfie for all their defects in that which is most pleasing unto God As to keep whole daies of prayer is far more grateful to some then to keep a continual watch over themselves in all their dealings and converses with others and in all their own inward thoughts and desires They will leave no stone unturned to find out an Art or device to save themselves from the trouble of Mortification and self-denial They will wriggle every way rather then be strait and upright as God made them Any labour or pains they will take to shift off the great Commandments of loving God with all their hearts and souls and strength and loving their neighbours as themselves 7. The more need there is that men should be earnestly urged to search into their hearts and examine them well about these things lest there lie hid any of this leaven under many seeming actions of Godliness Take heed lest you wink at some evil affection which you bear a particular respect unto and let it scape untouched when you profess to cleanse your selves Beware lest you cast only a favourable look upon some duties of Religion and look asquint upon the rest or take no notice of them Labour to remove all obstructions that Zeal may have a free passage through the whole frame of your souls and that you may be equally spirited to every duty of Religion And I shall commend these two things as of singular use and advantage to keep our hearts from self deceit First Let men suspect themselves when they are moved with an extraordinary heat and feel a great zeal agitating of them in some one thing which they undertake upon the account of Religion Let them presently begin to ask themselves how they stand affected to all the rest and to feell how their pulse beats in all things especially in the most spiritual actions Or else it is a thousand to one that this zeal will betray them into hypocrisie and they will place all their religion in it And therefore search well if there be not some externall inducement which thou dost not observe some corrupt end at the bottom some willingness to spare a foul and nasty desire which makes thee so zealous in that particular thing which may be as a covering for thy coldness in other matters Be not cheated by thy self into a belief that thou art religious when thou bearest not a love to all Gods Commandments but labour impartially and conscienciously to carry thy self to every duty alike and then thou maist be well perswaded of thy sincerity in Religion 8. And Secondly Let every man observe what it is that he is most in danger to neglect when his Spirit is forwardly carried towards one thing There is alwaies some one duty more then others that a partial zeal is apt to devour Be sure therefore to take heed and beware of covetousness while you cry out against profaneness Be as carefull to maintain love in your heart to your Brethren as you are to observe them reprove them or to make them of your mind Be as humble lowly and poor in spirit as you are ready to distribute to relieve the poor or despise the world Labour to be in as great charity with your enemies to love them pray for them and bless them as you are willing and perhaps forward