good and so if they abuse the creatures to all manner of wickednesse they can do no otherwise They had them for this end to accomplish sinne thereby If every thing works to their damnation this may make them sin the more desparately But First Divines have a good distinction about Gods Will. There is a will of Complacency or Approbation and there is his will of Efficiency what he will bring about and none shall hinder Now it 's the will of Gods approbation that all things should be improved by the wicked for their good It 's his approving and commanding will that every Sermon should be received by Faith that every mercy be improved fruitfully The goodnesse of God doth invite such to Repentance The afflictions and scourges God brings on them are to humble them and make them to repent of their sinnes But if we regard the will of Efficiency so these things are the savour of death to them that perish The Apostle saith this plainly The Word was the savour of life to such as are saved and the savour of death to such as perish 2 Cor. 2.15 That their is such a will of God will appear by that instance to Pharaoh God inflicted strange and miraculous judgments upon him it was his approving and commanding will that by those Pharaoh should be humbled and repent and let the people go For this end Moses and Aaron are sent to exhort him to this duty Yet if we respect Gods will of Efficiency we see he told Moses that Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not let them go and his heart grew harder by these wonders So then Gods will of Approbation and Command is That even the wicked should make all things theirs though Gods will of Efficiency doth not bring it about Secondly If thâ—se things are poison to the wicked and snares to them they may still blame themselves for it 's the corruption of their natures not any violence God offereth them that makes them turn every thing to their own destruction Thy perdition is of thy self O Israel Hos 13 9. So that every wicked man having a corrupted nature and this wickednesse strengthened through actual impieties no wonder if every thing promote his damnation But still it 's of himself As you see poisonous creatures Serpents and Toads they turn every thing they eat to poison because of their venomous constitution So it is here wicked men turn all good things into ill Vnumquodque recipitur ad moâ—um recipientes Put the sweetest liquor into a noysome vessel it will have an ill tincture Paul sheweth this evidently The Law that was for life he found for death Rom. 7. The Law was good aand spiritual yet it stirred up all sinne in him because he was carnal It 's that within thee which defileth all without thee Wicked men sinne as wilfully and as industriously attend to pervert all things to their damnation as if there were no contracted necessity upon them to offend against God in all things The third Doubt is If all things be the Godlies Why then are they so uncomfortable so dejected complaining of wants as if nothing were theirs If this be true we would thinke no godly man should ever be in a plunge he may take up this Text and it would be an antidote against all fears and cares It can be no night with him as long as this Sunne shineth Answ It 's true it should be so but we are weak in faith we do not live upon Scripture-principles and priviledges but sensible and then we stagger and reel up and down While we are cloathed with the Sunne and have the Moon under our feet we walk in light and comfort David when his faith is lively then God is his shepherd he shall want nothing and he will lay him down and sleep because God taketh care for him But let him come from this Mountain of faith and look on the waters of afflictions below his head goeth round and he knoweth not where he is Now a two-fold faith is necessary to bear up the head and heart the one Firmly assenting to the truth of the things The other Fiducially applying them to our selves If we have not the first faith we look upon such things as meer good words as bare expressions Even as if a man should think he had such a Country because he had the Map of it Oh this divine historical faith strongly perswading our selves these things are Gods truth they cannot be a lie they cannot deceive us would greatly establish us And then Fiducial application is the hand that takes these things making them to be ours So that if you ask How all present and future things life and death are ours It 's by faith only A quiet resting and reposing of the soul upon Gods promise puts us into the possession of all these things Secondly As they want faith So an heavenly prudence and skill how to improve them spiritually Though all things be for their good yet they must have wisdome to know how to use all things Therefore Paul who said He had all things saith He was instructed in it as in a mystery Phil. 4.11 Prescribe the best medicines in the world if men have not judgement rightly to order them they can never get good What is a fountain sealed up or a Book that cannot be read though it hath never such admirable matter Thus are all things though never so usefull if thou hast not Christian wisdome There is no condition affliction or event but thou mayest say if I had heavenly wisdome I might make excellent use of it The last Doubt is How are all things the Godly mans seeing for the most part they are most wanting they are in the greatest necessities Had not Dives all things when Lazarus had not not so much as crums Doth not this Doctrine give a mock-comfort as those in Jam. 2.16 who bid some be cloathed and warmed but gave nothing Answ 1. This place doth not so much speak of the possession of all things as the spiritual serviceablenesse of them Those things which they have no possession of may yet serve for their souls good He doth not so much mean what they have as what tends to their good 2. If the godly have not all things they would that want is good for them The want of any outward mercy may sometimes be better than the having of them To lose blood when there is too much fulnesse is healthfull So then complain not saying I have not this or that good thing the not having it is good 3. Thou hast what is best for thee and that according to the wise Gods ordering Let this silence thee alwayes These afflictions these exercises these wants are the best The wise great God of Heaven doth dispense them and they come from his hand 4. Thou hast better things then any earthly thing thou wantest thou hast Christ thou hast a title to Heaven and eternal glory
live according to the wayes ignorance folly and customes of the world They are to shine as lights amongst a froward and crooked generation Phil. 2.14 Pure Religion is said to keep it self unspotted from the world Jam. 1.27 All the wicked and ungodly wayes in it are not to defile and soil him As they speak of a River called Alpheus that emptieth it self in the Sea yet even in the very Sea it keepeth its sweetnesse and is not made salt and brackish as the waters of the Sea are They are in the world but not of it Hence Rom. 12. Be ye not conformed unto the fashion of the world but be transformed in your minds Here you may see who are men of the best fashion in a place not men of the greatest wealth honours or earthly dignity but who do not conforme to the fashion of the world that hath not the cursing swearing lying uncleannesse and all the works of darknesse that the world is said to lie in Let us improve this Doctrine and I know no truth a sharper sword to enter into your bowels than this For generally men think it a disgrace not to live as most men do what to grow so precise and strict as not to do as others do They are afraid to own such to be thought such Oh what Antipodes are such men to the Scripture Either lay down the name of a Christian or else live above what men of the world do As Alexander said to a souldier named Alexander Either lay aside his name or else do valiant acts Matth. 5. If ye love them that love you what singular thing do ye do not even the publicans the same Mark that there is a godly singularity and the people of God must be singular not do so or live so as most men in the world do The Apostle in this phrase To live as men or According to man may imply these things First Meer men have no divine faith in the matters of Religion wrought in them by the Spirit of God but walk according to the natural dictates of conscience and education and so are for that Religion which they have been brought up in and accustomed to whether it be right or wrong whether good or bad This our Saviour cleareth when Peter made that excellent Confession of Faith That Christ was the Sonne of God our Saviour graciously accepts of it and tels him Flesh and bloud hath not revealed this to him Mat. 16.17 So that then men walk as men in all matters of Religion when they have no more than custome or the countenance of the Laws of the Land where they live no more than flesh and blood hath made known to them Thus we see the Jews the Turks the Papists they all wilfully adhere to the Religion they have been used to and so many Christians believe in Christ upon no better grounds than they do in their falsehoods Be not then any longer such men and servants of men as the Apostle cals it that is to believe the truâ—hs of Religion upon humane authority humane motives That our Saviour meaneth when he bids us Call no man master on earth because Christ is the only Master Mat. 23.8 Not that the instruction and teaching of Church officers is to be rejected as some absurdly would inferre from those places for we are commanded to hear them and to enquire for the truth at their mouth only it 's not a divine faith till it be upon divine grounds Not as the word of men but as the word of God 1 Thess 2.13 It 's a sad thing to consider how many walk as men in this respect being in matter of Religion without any eyes of their own as if another mans faith were to justifie them and not their own Secondly To walk as a meer man is to propound some outward inferiour comforts as the ultimate end and chief felicity of our souls Take a man as a meer man and the utmost end for which he labours and strives in this world is some earthly advantages Oh but what saith the Apostle of true Christians We walk not by sense but by faith 2 Cor. 5.7 And we behold not the things that are seen but the things that are not seen What made Moses deny all that earthly greatnesse he might have had in Pharaohs Court Who would have made such a choise as he did To suffer reproaches for Christ rather than the pleasures of Aegypt Why is this Because he saw him that was invisible and had an eye to the recompence of reward Heb. 11. See then Moses more than a man he propounds to himself as the greatest happinesse the enjoyment of God and communion with him And as the Sunne puts out the lesser light of the starres so this good in God obscured that in all earthly things Then therefore men walk as men when they look no further than the good things of this life riches honours earthly pomp and greatnesse and as for the enjoyment of God which is indeed the true end that they come short of Oh do not then walk as men any longer placing all your affections thoughts and desires in inferiour comforts Is this to have your conversation in Heaven Is this to sit with Christ in heavenly places Is this to make God your portion Is not this rather to have the Serpents curse upon you to lick up the dust of the earth and to mind earthly-things Thirdly To walk as meer men is to put confidence and hope onely in second causes and visible instruments not trusting the promise of God or believing his power that he reigneth and ruleth in Heaven and earth doing what he pleaseth This is not only to walk as men but as the wise men and most admired men in the world The Scripture brings in the thoughts of the wise men as if God sate in Heaven and did not judge all things as he pleased The fool hath said in his heart and that fool is every meer man there is no God Psal 14.1 No Judge no Governour Therefore they look only to instruments to second causes and they puff up themselves and grow insolent when they have these bladders to swim with As on the other side they sink even as Pharaohs hoast into despair when such outward props are taken away Know then that all thy dedejections cares and doubtfull thoughts either about thy self or the publick they argue thee to walk as a meer man Our Saviour doth excellently shame his Disciples for this when using several Arguments to the Disciples against their distrust and carefulnesse he tels them Such things the Gentiles and Heathens seek after Mat. 6.7 So that to walk as men is to be affected in our own particular or in the publick good as if there were no promise no God as if men were Omnipotent as if men brought about all things When Melancthon was often dejected about the affairs of the Church being prone to distrust and fears Luther told him That God had bound
done is but thy duty God need not reward thee or might have bestowed a less reward 6. What work thou doest as it is a due besides God doth not need it It addeth nothing to him if thou art righteous that doth not better him it 's thy happinesse not Gods Lastly All thou doest is but for a little time that the little work thou hast done for God should be rewarded to eternity Here is matter of wonder So that all these considerations should teach deep humility O wretched and foolish Pharisee Thou fastest thou prayest and thinkest by this to be saved O pray for eye-salve to have thy eyes opened Let this 1. Drive people out of self-righteousnesse and trusting in their workes I would this sinne were onely among Papists Oh no it 's too much imbred in the hearts of Protestants How can the civil righteous man die without roaring and trouble of spirit lest he be an hypocrite an unregenerate person one that never felt the power of godlinesse but only he hath a secret confidence of the goodnesse of his heart such and such things he hath done and there are many worse and this doth exceedingly harden him 2. Be not slack or grudging in Gods work Oh how unreasonable is it that thy heart should be so unwilling so listlesse so repining Why dost thou not remember what a reward God hath laid up for those that labour for him Oh when thou comest to enter into thy Masters joy thou wilt think if it had been ten thousand times more it had been too little Verse 9. For we are workers together with God THis ninth verse is a further amplification of Pauls intent which is to presse unity against factions and divisions and it 's a declaration of his Argument before which was The planters and waterers are one but God gives the increase This he further illustrates in the beginning of this verse For we are workers together with God We are all in Gods vineyard and labour unto him So that this expression doth as much extoll the office of the Ministry as the former did seem to depresse it For how great a glory is this to be workers together with God Omnium divinorum divinâ—ssimum est saith an Ancient It 's the divinest work that can be to be instrumental to bring a rational soul to its first principle which is God from whom it hath apostatized But First The words most be explained then the sense We are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Labourers or Workers with The Vulgar Translatours Dei adjutores we are helpers of God but that is very unsafe For to help supposeth weeknesse and infirmity Yea some dislike the expression Gratia adjuvans as if God did not change the will but onely help it as Lactantius also blamed the Heathens for calling Jupiter â juvando But God hath appointed the Office and Gifts of the Ministry not out of need but from meer love to us dealing with us in a suitable and accommodated way to our nature The Apostle useth the same expression 2 Cor. 6.1 We as workers together with him c. If we interpret the word thus then in what sense can this be made good And First of all The Apostle doth not here speak of every particular man in respect of his conversion as if we did work with God in that by our own power and free-will There were some Divines called Synergists from the word in the Text because they did hold That mans will did co-operate and work together with God in turning to him But this is nothing to the Apostles meaning in this Text for he speaks of ministerial labours and Gods blessing them Neither in the second place is the meaning though of the Ministers As if they with God did work faith and repentance in the hearts of the hearers No the Apostle said before That God only gave the increase Baldwin the Lutheran upon this place putteth the Calvinists and Swenckfeldians together because the Calvinists hold That the Ministry reacheth only to the outward man the words thereof not being able to reach to the heart but they do greatly differ from the Swenckfeldians who do make the verbum externum nothing and runne wholly to the verbum internum whereas we hold the necessity of the external Word though ehe efficacy thereby be solely to be attributed unto God Neither in the third place is the meaning of it as if the Ministers of God in what they laboured did it by their own power No when the Apostle said I laboured more abundantly than they all he addeth yet not I but the grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15.10 Therefore God first inables them to work They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub-operatours before co-operatours But the sense in the first place though not generally received may be this We are Gods workers together in his vineyard or for him So that the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not have relation to God but to fellow-labourers as Paul cals others his fellow-labourers Timothy is called his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 16.21 But Secondly Take it as generally set down the sense is God who onely giveth increase hath yet appointed the Ministry in an external manner to be dispenced So that we work with God in that we preach the Word and apply it to men though God onely give the virtue Even as the Apostles might be said to work with God when they wrought miracles they touched the diseased man they speak to him but the miraculous cure is wholly of God Hence Mark 16.20 God is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Apostles because he wrought mighty signs and wonders by them Observe That the Ministers of the Gospel are workers with God for the conversion of mens souls So 2 Cor. 6.1 In what sence they are you have heard not by immediate producing of any spiritual effects but by the external application of the Ministry to the people As Gehezi carried his Masters staff and touched the child with it but that did no good till Elisha came himself God in Creation did use no instruments at all Yea some Schoolmen dispute That no creature can be used as an instrument in Creation because it cannot work but about something whereas the forme of Creation is nothing But in these divine effects which are also a spiritual creation and no less impossible to humane power God will have the Ministry as a necessary antecedent means unto the conversion of men Hence the Scripture doth so often attribute this mercy unto the preaching of the Word yea and increase of grace afterwards In the first place consider What Reasons may be for this Why God will use such workers with him he needeth not the parts or gifts of any It 's but his word and all things by it are wrought in Heaven and Earth Yet both in the Old Testament and New he hath appointed some by whose outward
who have got a Bird tyed to a string they make themselves sport with her and when she thinketh to fly here and there they pull her back again Thus God hath an over-ruling wisdome and an over-ruling power over all men their counsels and their actions Which made an Heathen call man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Tennis-ball that the Providence of God playeth withall and handeth hither and thither Thus the Scripture excellently expresseth it by putting an hook into mens nostrils and a bridle in their lips Isa 37.29 The Providence of God is the Rider or Sessor upon all the wise mens counsels and actions and they are over-ruled by God as we do our Horses to turn them this way and that way backwards and forwards And this is the chief scope of the Apostle in the words following as will then more particularly appear First therefore God makes this wisdome foolishnesse in a passive sense in that he did not vouchsafe to use it as an instrument to propagate the Gospel He disdained to take the wise and learned Oratours or Philosophers of the world Now wherein could a greater scorn be put upon the wisdome of the world then in this particular that God would not so much as own it or take notice of it in the plantation of the Gospel Paul doth often mention this 1 Cor. 1. It pleased God by the foolishnesse of Preaching to save men when the wise men of the world would not acknowledge God by the creatures And at another time Paul renounced the cunning and deceitfull waies of humane wisdome They did not come in such words And why That their faith might be in the power of God 1 Cor. 2.5 So then if you regard what Instruments God did at first choose to diffuse his Gospel truths you will find he slighted and passed over the great wise men of the world and chose the poor foolish and contemptible Instruments Herein God did demonstrate his wisdome that so all power and greatnesse might be acknowledged to be in and from him only What a reproach did Haman account it that all the Royal robes and honour should be put upon Mordecai his great enemy and he laid aside No lesse did this inrage the wise men of the world to see that by such contemptible Instruments so great and mighty changes should be wrought upon the hearts and lives of men This is the first instance Yet this is not so to be understood as if God did not sometimes use the wise men of the world for he chose Cyprian Nazianzen Basil to the latter whereof Libanius the great Scholar in those daies but an Heathen wrote that he did so admire his judgment that he did all over swete and tremble to think on that time when he should read his Epistle and passe his censure of it But though God did use such wise men yet this was not the chief and principall thing whereby they propagated Faith but rather the Gospel simplicity They did it not quà sapientes quà Oratores but quâ credentes As Sampson wrought those great and wonderfull things not by the strength of his armes but by his hair that so the effect might be attributed to God and not to Sampson Secondly Herein God make it foolishnesse that as he doth not use it for the enlarging of his Gospel so he taketh very few of such men to bestow on them spiritual and soul saving graces Few of such doth he call doth he justifie doth he sanctifie doth he reveal the mysteries of grace unto Oh what a wonderfull instance is this of the foolishnesse of this worldly wisdome There are few of that ranck to whom God will communicate grace and salvation That whereas of many prophane and grievous sinners he hath chosen many to salvation of worldly wise men very few The Apostle 1 Cor. 1.26 doth industriously take notice of this Not many wise men after the flesh hath God chosen Yea Christ solemnly gave thanks to God that he had not revealed heavenly mysteries to the wise but to babes Mat. 11.25 So that there is little cause for men to boast of their worldly wisdome and prudence that they are crafty and subtile in their generation for this is both a cause and a sign also that thou art not one to whom God will reveal himself Not that God calleth none of such but not many viz. comparatively to those of a more contemptible way whom he doth set apart for himself Take heed thou be not too wise too proud of thy parts and therefore God will passe thee by Thirdly Herein also God will make it appear to be folly in that he takes the foolish things of the world and makes them confound the wise things When Pharaoh said Let us deal wisely to suppresse the Israelites the foolish Midwifes did confound him so that he brought up one by his own bread and at his own charge who should be his ruine and deliver the Israelites If we read in the Scripture you shall find nothing more ordinary then God by foolish things to confound wise and by weak things to overcome strong And well may it be called the confounding of the wise for certainly there cannot be a greater astonishing and confounding of men worldly wise then by such foolish instruments As Abimelech was enraged at the heart that it should be said A woman had killed him Thus by Frogs and Lice and such contemptible vermine did God plague the great Pharaoh of Aegypt Fourthly Herein doth God make the wisdome of the world foolishnesse because all that wise men do is a vain work They are not able to acomplish their ends to bring about their designes especially those which are to overthrow the Kingdom of Christ and rooting out his Church and People This hath been often attempted by the wise men of the world but it hath been a vain thing Psal 2. you see it was of old prophesied Why do the Heathens rage and the people imagine a vain thing It 's applyed to the chief Priests and other Grandees among the Jews but it was a vain thing It could not be effected And truly for many hundred years the Devil hath been attempting this by all kind of Instruments and by all manner of waies to root out the faithfull ones of Christ his Truth and Gospel but it hath been to them as God said to Paul in the heat of his persecution Thou kickest against the pricks What wise man would with his bare heels kick against the sharp points of iron and yet all the wise men of the world that have set against Christ and Godlinesse have been such fools Fifthly God makes the wisdome of the world foolishnesse because what they work is not only a vain work but a deceitfull work They are wholly frustrated in their expectation They find the clean contrary to what they intended Such foolishnesse doth God make the wisdome of the world The wicked worketh a deceitfull work saith Solomon Prov. 11.18 Compared therefore
sheep run into bryers that consume more then shelter 1 Cor. 7. the Apostle calleth it The fashion of the world not the substance and he saith it passeth away Whereas God is said to be alwaies the same and to abide from everlasting to everlasting Therefore if thy heart were wise thou wouldest see the vanity of these things Seventhly This must needs be an hainous sinne because it 's a breach of the first Commandement it 's direct Idolatry Worse then when we worship the true God after a false and unlawfull manner yet how severely doth God punish this kind of Idolatry How often do the Prophets threaten because of this But now thou who givest thy heart licence to delight in these things below thou sinnest against the first Commandement Thou errest in the Object of thy worship and not in the manner And is God only zealous of outward worship not of inward Is he angry only when men bow the body to wood and stones and not when the soul is prostituted to the creature Maiest thou not justly expect that as God said to those Idolaters They should call and see if their Idol gods would hear and deliver them So the Lord may bid thee call to those creatures to see if they will save thee if they will deliver thee from Hell Do not then wonder at the folly of Micha who cryed They have taken away my gods If gods Why did they not save themselves And thus here it is death takes away thy gods The fire may take away thy gods Oh that men would at last be awakened out of there blindnesse and folly herein Eighthly This creature affâ—ction is a wofull condition because it 's a debasing of a mans self and making of him a slave to that which he should rule over All the creatures they are made for his use God out of his rich abundance hath provided theâ—e things liberally for thee but they are given thee only to use As the belly is for meates and meates for the belly but God will destroy both the one and the other So all these creatures that are corruptible they are for thee who art also corruptible but God will destroy both the one and the other Therefore thou sinnest against that noble End why God made thee It was to enjoy him He did not give a reasonable immortal soul and made thee the master piece of his visible creatures that thou shouldst crawle on the dust Say rather with Austin Feâ—â—sti domine cor nostrum irrequietum est Thou madest our heart and it is restlesse till it come to thee again Vse of Admonition to every unregenerate man to inform himself throughly of his wretched and undone estate Thou canst not go beyond a creature and therefore shalt never partake of that infinite eternal happinesse which is in God himself Dost thou not plainly see the vanity and uncertainty of all other things Can any creature say I will justifie thee I will glorifie thee Consider how greately it is to thy losse to leave the Sun and go to the Starres To forsake the Ocean and take up a drop Oh will these things be ever as good as a God to thee And then in the next place Consider how dearly the enjoying of these things will cost thee Doth not our Saviour say What will it profit a man to winne the whole world and loose his soul Mat. 16.26 If now the whole world thou gainest would be no advantage thou wouldest be a wretched looser for all that Oh think I get a finite good and loose an infinite I loose an eternal good for a temporary a particular for an universal This will be thy complaint in Hell to all eternity for thy madnesse herein Antidotes and Meanes against this Creature-Affection I shall now conclude this first Doctrine with giving severall directive Antidotes and meanes against this creature-affection that so being loosened from the world our hearts may be fixed on God And First Let this consideration move you That you cannot addresse your selves unto God in Prayer while thy heart is not above the world Doth not our Saviour in that direction of his to Prayer give God that description of a Father in Heaven And why so but that we should lift up our hearts and affections thither So that as in Antiquity the Deacon cryed Sursum corda that they should not rest upon the element in the Sacrament but look up to Christ himself Thus also in every duty and performance a Sursum corda a lift up your hearts is necessary Therefore upon this ground it it that we may truly say No natural man did ever pray in his whole life did ever perform any one holy duty since he was born because he could never truly lift up his heart to God Prayer is called Ascensio mentis ad Deum Now a natual man can no more ascend upwards towards God then the earth can have an ascending motion Every creature that did creep upon the earth it was unclean And thus all thy duties and religious performances which creep and crawle upon the ground which soar not up high they make thee unclean and abominable before God Now should not this Argument be like a sword in thy bowels What live such a life wherein thou canst not pray no Prayer will do any good Continue in such an estate wherein thou art not able to draw nigh to God but art the Bird tyed by the snare that would fain fly up but is pulled back again Thus thou hast some sighes and some desires but presently thou art pulled down again with those clogs of creatures that are upon thee Secondly Consider Thy heartâ— it is the choicest and chiefest Treasure about thee It is too noble for any creature Thou doest dishonour thy self in making it serve the creature We see God himself calls for the heart of a man as the best Sacrifice My sonne give me thy heart Prov 23.26 And Prov. 4.23 Keep thy heart with all diligence So that as the heart naturally considered is the principle of all life and nature hath placed a wonderfull defence about it Thus the heart spiritually also considered is the chief fountain of all our happinesse and misery Therefore it 's sure destruction to let thy heart runne out upon the creature that is to make the chiefest of thy soul subordinate to that which is farre inferiour It 's as if thou shoudest let swine or such unclean creatures come into thy choicest Chamber It was a sad calamity to Pharaoh when the frogs and lice crept up into his Chamber and he could not be quiet in his most retired room no lesse yea farre greater an evil it is when thou sufferest these fading creatures to get into the heart Keep that for God alone Nothing is to possesse that place but God himself He that filleth Heaven and earth and makes that his dwelling place doth also require thy heart Hence it is that the Apostle James calleth those who love
that these very considerations which should take them off from such security through their corruptions they further themselves in See this notably described Esa 22 12 13. When God call'd to weeping and mourning there was eating flesh and drinking wine the clearn contrary And what moved them even the sad condition they were in Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die Oh why not rather Let us mourn and humble our selves for we shall die But they are desperate They will take their pleasures while they may they know not how soon they may be deprived of them Such as these are filled up with desperate prophanenesse That as Saul and his Armour-bearers did desperately throw themselves upon the Spear to kill themselves Thus do these men laugh and drink and will have their pleasures though they know death will deprive them of all Such men are said to make a league with hell and the grave They will do well enough for all this Or rather they think they shall be damned their conscience secretly whispers that to them therefore they will have their pleasures while they can O miserable and wretched men wo be to such that ever they were born Fourthly This prophane security differeth from spiritual confidence in respect of the Author and efficient cause For it 's plain who giveth David this holy quietnesse it 's God that maketh him dwell confidently it 's God that commands rest and ease to the soul whereas this carnal security cometh wholly from the Devil It 's he that lulleâ—h them asleep Our Saviour discovered this in that parable when he said While the strong one kept the house all things were in quiet You would wonder to see a man curse and swear and follow all the pleasures of his heart yet that he can lay himself to sleep that he should not think his chamber would be as â—ull of Devils as Pharaoh's was full of frogs That he should not cry out Oh I dare not sleep for fear this night the Devils fetch my soul to hell Now all this carnal security in his spirit ariseth from the Devil who is said to reign in the hearts of the children of disobedience It 's he that filleth the soul with spiritual madnesse As when he possessed the bodies of men he threw them into the fire and water and made them cut and launce their bodies without any grief at all the like he doth upon the souls of men hurrying them into beastly wicked and ungodly waies and by that meanes even into hell it self as he did the Herd of Swine when he entred into them carrying them violently into the Sea What was it that made Judas so desperately betray innocent blood though he had so much warning so many admonitions to the contrary Though some were stricken down with amazement yet nothing will stop him The Devil did drive him The Devil had entred into his heart even as he did also fill Ananias his heart So that as you see it 's with godly men when filled with the holy Ghost they would boldly confesse Christ though they endured all torments for it Thus when the Devil hath possession of mens hearts and the Lord leaveth them to his temptations then they are mad and obstinate they scoff and mock at the Day of Judgment As the Apostle Peter tels us of such prophane mockers Where is the day of his coming Are not all things as they were 2 Pet. 3 4. Thus like Leviathan they laugh at the Spear and as the Prophets hearers because he so often preached the burden of the Lord therefore they took it up by way of scoff The burden of the Lord The burden of the Lord. Thus do they about hell and damnation Fifthly Carnal security differeth from this heavenly confidence in respect of the Concomitants and Companions For though David had this great quietnesse of soul knowing God would help him yet he doth carefully use all the meanes God hath appointed He doth not presume or tempt God but he prayeth to God and flyeth for his safety and getteth all the possible succour he can So in that grand assurance and confidence which the people of God have about their eternal happinesse there is also an holy fear and trembling Therefore the Apostle exhorts to work out their salvation with fear and trembling And Paul himself who had so much confidence as to say Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ yet he kept under his body lest when he had preached to others he himself should become a reprobate 1 Cor. 9.27 But as for the wicked carelesse man he promiseth himself all happinesse and future good though he sit still and stirre not a foot towards Heaven yea though he go in the contrary path yet he flattereth himself as if that were the way to happinesse Vse of Terrour and we To all those Laish and Laodicean spirits who sit at ease and say They are rich and want nothing when indeed they are poor and miserable and want all things Oh turn your joy into sorrow Go out with Ephraim and let God see you smite upon the breast and strike upon the thigh crying out Oh what have I done Oh mad wretch that I am merry and jolly when in the Devils dungeon when in the chains of darknesse when upon the very borders of Hell It may shortly be no more said such an one is eating and drinking but his body rotting in the Grave and his soul roaring in Hell The Reason of the Saints Confidence is That God alone is their Preserver Shewing also the Waies and Meanes by which he doth Preserve them PSAL. 4.8 For thou alone doest make me dwell in safety IN these words we have a Reason why David hath such confidence it 's not from any carnal and outward Motive but only from divine consideration For in this also might be shewed the difference between carnal security and holy quietnesse The one is a fruit of a godly and diligent obedience to the Law of God and so is a fruit of the Promise as Prov. 3.23 24. You may see there a notable Promise for rest safety and sleep to such as follow Wisdomes Advice And Dâ—vâ—â— found God faithfull in his Word Psal 127. For so thou givest thy Belâ—vâ—â— sleâ—p But all earthly security ariseth from some temporal hopes they loâ—â— at in their dangers and therefore while they look for peace God makes calamity to arise on the suddain as 1 Thes 5.3 When they say peace and safety then suddain destruction shall arise as of a woman with Child and they shall not escape Suddainly in the midst of their mirth and jollity will their inevitable destruction arise David therefore hath a more firm and immoveable Rock and that is Gods Power and Preservation Which is expressed in The Effect of it And The solitary Efficiency of it The Effect is To dwell in safety David though now in banishment and had no House of his own to lay his head in