what I would have done why therefore thou hast it that so thou mayst have nothing to object or to pretend at that day Fourthly Sometimes to harden men and to give them up to themselves that those who will not be better they may now be worse As Pharaoh when God took off his Plagues he hardened his heart every mercy to him it was a greater judgment upon him that which was a mercy in the nature of the thing it was a judgment in the improvement to the person and so it is to many others And therefore it follows in the Verse next the Text After thine hard and impenitent heart c. which very often go together with Temporal favours Men from hence are more incouraged in evil and more slack and remiss in good there 's none are worse commonly than those who are bad after some special favour shewen unto them either in deliverance from some eminent danger or in the obtaining of some eminent advantage and accomodation in one kind or other And God sometimes where he accepts not the person he does in this manner dispose of the event and does thus manage his Providence towards them Fifthly and lastly and more especially which is also most agreeable to the Text and which we shall come to in the close of it and therefore will but name it here that so hereby he may more kindly and effectually work upon them and lead them by his Goodness to repentance These Dispensations in their own nature have a mollifying quality and property in them The consideration of this present point may be thus far useful to us seeing God is oftentimes thus gracious and indulgent even to wicked men as to bear with very much in them and to bestow many courtesies upon them let none therefore from hence conclude of the goodness of their state and condition in regard of God It is no infallible argument to any of Gods love and favour to them because they have great things here in the world or escape outward crosses and afflictions which others fall into this is no good argument at all nay it is many times rather the contrary and as it may happen a token rather of displeasure The reason why Godforbears punishing and afflicting of many people it is because he looks upon them as incorrigible and such as upon whom there 's no good likely to be done Why should ye be smitten any more thou wilt revolt still more and more Isa 1.5 And Hos 4.14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom nor your spouses when they commit adultery for themselves are separated with whores and they sacrifice with harlots therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall So the reason why he heaps outward blessings upon them here it is because it is all he means to give them and he makes account it is their portion which they must also make account of too They have their reward that 's the character which the Scripture gives of them which is the greatest punishment that may be if it be duly and thoroughly considered and attended unto And so the Gospel sets it Luk. 6.14 Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation which are rich and nothing but rich nor have nothing else to say for your selves but only that which are rich in Treasure but are not rich in Faith which are rich in Goods but are not rich in good works which are rich to the world but are not rich to God You which are rich and only rich thus with these exceptions and limitations wo be to you indeed even from the mouth of Christ himself if there should be any such amongst you and wo be to you upon this account Because you have received your consolation and there 's no more behind for you to expect Beloved we should all labour to see upon what terms we enjoy that which we enjoy and not so much take care to have the things themselves which we aim at as to have them in mercy and favour to have outward prosperity so far forth as we do partake of it to be seasoned and sanctified to us and sprinkled with the love of God in Christ which is the cream of all And then we may take some comfort and delight and contentment in it which otherwise we cannot do And this will be discern'd by us according to the effects which it hath upon us for further improvement there 's nothing which we are the better for which we are not the better with and the better by which does not draw us nearer to God and make us more fruitful to him in using it to his honour and glory our Parts and our Estates and our Interests or whatever we can name Therefore let us look to it that so as Jabez desired for himself we may be blest indeed and that the Lord may not from henceforth curse our very blessings to us as he hath sometimes threatned to do Mal. 2.2 I will send a curse upon you saith the Lord of Hosts and will curse your blessings yea I have curst them already because ye have not laid it to heart Again From hence we learn likewise as how to judg of our selves so likewise how to judg of others which is not so much according to the enjoyment of common things which there is no cause to envy them for as many sometimes are apt to do The Spirit of God gives divers hints against it in regard of our proneness hereunto It was that David himself was subject so much unto Psal 73.3 I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked But he was afterwards of another mind when he once went into the Sanctuary of God ver 17. and so he labour'd to make others also Psal 37.1 Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thon envious against the workers of iniquity And so Psal 49.16 Be not thou afraid when any one is made rich when the glory of his house is increased And Solomon Prov. 24.1 Be not thou envious against evil men neither desire to be with them Alas they are but common mercies and such as the worst partake of God is oftentimes very gracious to them thus Which is the first Particular here considerable his carriage and behaviour even to evil men which is to bestow great riches of goodness and of patience upon them The second is the miscarriage and unanswerableness of evil men again to him and that is signified in their despising of these riches of goodness from him This is that which wicked and worldly men are very apt to do and which frequently they also do They slight and contemn and despise these gracious and merciful dispensations of God towards them And this they may be conceiv'd to do three manner of ways especially First By non-attendancy and unthankfulness Secondly By non improvement and unfruitfulness Thirdly By misimprovement and incorrigibleness First By non-attendency and unthankfulness those
To teach them likewise by way of Conformity and Imitation to take pleasure and to delight in one unother First I say by way of Thankfulness to delight in Him Delight thy self in the Lord. It is the Counsell which the Scripture gives us and here 's a very good Argument and Reason for it because he delights in us We should solace our selves in God and take pleasure in Communion with him this we do when we are careful to observe him and to yeild Obedience to him When we delight to do his will and his Law is as it were written in our Hearts then indeed do we delight in Him when his Statues are our delight and his Sabboths are our delight and his Ordinances are our delight then is he our delight Himself those that truly delights in God they delight in every thing that savors of Him and that belongs unto Him When men shall pretend to take pleasure in God and yet shall think much of doing him service when they shall snuff with them in Malachy and cry what a Weariness it is to us c. When his Commandements shall be grievous to them and they shall think it to be the greatest Torment to be exercised and imployed about them This shewes that they have little true Delight or pleasure in God Himself Secondly This teaches us also to delight in Gods people our selves in Imitation of Him shall the Lord take pleasure in his servants and shall not they take pleasure in one another How unsutable and unagreeable is this we should learn from this Observation to take special Contentment in those that are dear to God those that are his Delight they should be our delight also and we should make very much of them this was that which the Prophet David professes concerning Himself Psal 16.2.3 O my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord my goodness extendeth not unto thee but unto the Saints that are on Earth and unto the Excellent in whom is all my Delight David 's Delight was in those that were Good and that excelled in Virtue and Piety he was a Companion of those that feared God and he delighted much in the Communion of Saints because they were such as God delighted in and took pleasure Himself And so it should be with all of us What may we think of those that are never worse then in such Company as this who are Despisers of those that are good as the Scripture complains and hates the graciousness of those that fear the Lord how far are they from being like unto God Himself who is here said to take pleasure in them Certainly this is a very ill Note and Character in them men are much according to their Delight and Rellish whether of Persons or things Lastly Seeing God does take pleasure in his Servants therefore let us take heed of doing any thing which may be hurtfull or pernicious to them It is a dangerous business to wrong the favorite of a Prince because he is one in whom he delights And so it is also to wrong the friends of God and the Favorites of Heaven it is such as he will not put up where we are any way guilty of it Love it is a Revengeful Affection upon any thing which stands in it's way and which goes cross unto it and so it is here with God in this particular because he takes such special pleasure and delight in his people therefore will he be avenged on all those that are Adversaries and Enemies against them and that attempt any thing upon them And so much may be spoken of this Passage as it may be taken Specificative as those that fear him and that hope in his Mercy are general Descriptions of his People and so his taking pleasure in them an Expression of his Delight in them at large Now further Secondly They may be taken Reduplicative as shewing upon what account especially God does indeed delight in them Namely as to the exercise of those two eminent Graces in them which are Fear and Hope God takes pleasure in all his people who are commonly exprest and known by those Graces but he does delight in them more especially according to the exercise of these Graces Look how far forth any Christians do reverence God and stand in aw of Him and look how far again any of them do waite and depend upon Him so far forth does he Himself take pleasure and delight in them This is that which is here Considerable of us For the better handling of them wee 'l take them asunder and look upon them distinctly And First here to speak of Gods Fear The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him that is not onely which for the General are his Children as that is usually a Discription of them in Scripture but which do express a special awfulness and regard of him and fearfulness and tenderness of offending him he delights in those of all others Thus Esay 66.2 To this man will I look saith the Lord even to him that is poor and of a Contrite Spirit and that trim bleth at my word Happy is the man that fearth alway but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into mischief Prov. 28.14 Still this fear is commended as very desirable The reason of it is this because it is that which has a very great Influence upon the Life and Conversation for the regulating and ordering of that look how far forth any fear God so far forth will they approve themselves to him and do those things which are pleasing in his sight Fear it is the Awband of the Soul which restrains it and keeps it in good order and preserves it from Miscarriage And again it is the Spur of the Soul which quickens it and excites it and provokes it to the doing of Good so much fear of God so much Innocency and Vprightness And this is that which makes God so to love it and to take pleasure in it and in those who are the Subjects of it Therefore it should teach us especially to nourish and cherish this in our hearts all that may be We should be in the fear of the Lord all the day long as Solomon exhorts us Prov. 23.17 Those that cast of this once they cast of all kind of Goodness with it and the true reason why any do so transgress is from the want and defect of it Psal 36.1 2. The Transgression of the wicked saith within my Heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes For he flattereth himself in his own Eyes untill his Iniquities be found to be hateful Whereas on the otherside wheresoever this is it does still dispose a man to that which is his Duty Therefore Joseph when he would satisfy his Brethren concerning that wherein they suspected him as if he intended some mischeif unto them he gives them no other answer then this I fear God in Gen. 42.18 As who should say whilst he did so there was no likely
Furnace This we may be sure and take notice of for our instruction we are not born Christians but made so Christiani Non nasciuntur sed siunt It is not a business of Nature but a business of Art Nor of Humane Art neither but Divine as we shall see more hereafter out of the following words of the Text The Lord tryeth the hearts And therefore this may discover to us the vanity of all such persons as have other conceits of it which think to be Gold and Silver as they come out of the impure Earth without refining in their pure Naturals No it will not be If we have no other Principles in us than which we brought with us into the World we shall never be Currant Coin in God's Account no such as he will one day take or accept from us But he will reject us and cast us away at the Great Day and time of Payment Therefore I say let us here take notice of our Conditions in this particular and see what we are Take the best of us by nature and there we are nothing but Dross no Gold nor Silver at all in us but such as is counterfeit And take us when Grace has refined us and we have many gross and drossy Intermixtures still adhering to us which will not be removed but by those means which God has sanctified and set apart for such a purpose a these here before us in the Text. These are here under a Double Specification The Fining Pot and the Furnace which have their answerable Preparations even in Spirituals The Fining Pot that is the Word of God And the Furnace that is the Rod of God Either of these does the Lord as he sees sitting take an occasion to purifie his Servants by First By his Word he desires to begin with that The word of the Lord tryed him Psal 105.29 And so it does many more besides This it has a Special Vertue through the power of God's Spirit joyning with it to reform and better the heart and to purge away its dross from it Heb. 4.12 For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart This it will shew a man his Corruption of Nature and discover to him the wickedness which is in his heart As we have divers instances hereof in the Disciples that went to Emmaus Did not our hearts burn within us And St. Peter's Converts When they heard it they wee pricked at their hearts And so the Jayâ—oâ— and divers others to whom the Word of God has been instead of a Fining Pot to separate their Corruption from them as to discover it to them Secondly By Affliction that is his Furnace Isa 58.10 I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction Affliction is God's Furnace wherein he purges and purifies his Gold and takes away the dross of it And accordingly does the Scripture represent it Therefore it is called the Fiery Tryal which is to try us 1 Pet. 4.12 And the tryal of our faith which is much more precious than the gold that perisheth though it be tryed with fire c. 1 Pet. 1.7 Therefore we should so look upon it and be perswaded of it and of God's Intendments in the imposing of it The Furnace it is not for the hurt of the Gold but for the advantage to make it more pure and useful and precious to form it in some Vessel of Service and Honour sit for the Master's use and so are Troubles and Afflictions to the people of God which should make them the more patiently to bear them when he lays them upon them It is true that this is an harsh Doctrine to Flesh and Blood and we are all ready to shrink at it but Grace it will close with it so far forth as it is prevailing in any measure in us And so it should We should look upon the Furnace not so much in the heat of it but in the improvement the end of setting it up and the effect which follows upon it and then we shall be satisfied exceedingly by it as the Apostle intimates to us Heb. 12.11 There is no chastisement which for the present is joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it brings forth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to those which are excercised thereby This is that which we should look upon such Dispensations as these in the love and Wisdom of God which does appoint them and the blessed and happy Fruit which does arise from them And further labor also to be bettered by every hand of God upon us that so therein we may close with his gracious Ends If God casts us into the Furnace to come out of it better then we went in be sure of that otherwise it will be so much the worse for us Yea if we be true Gold indeed it will be so with us Corruption it is hardened by Affliction but Grace it is refined Take a man that has a wicked heart and crosses they do not make him better but make him worse more impatient and obstinate and Rebellious and standing out against God and contesting with him like that wretched Jehoram 2 Kings 6 ult But a man that hath a true work of Grace wrought upon his Spirit he will be so much the better more wary of himself more compassionate to others more meek and humble tractable and obedient and thankfull These things will follow with it But so much for this as also of the First General in the Text viz. The Propsition The Fining pot c. The Second follows which is the Reddition But the Lord Tryeth c. According to the usual manner of Speech it should not be but but so But we will take it as lies before us where this Adversative Particle hath a Threefold Emphasis in it First an Emphasis of Proportion Secondly an Emphasis of Exception Thirdly an Emphasis of Designment or of Appropriation An Emphasis of Proportion First by taking but for so And so it signifies thus much unto us that the Lord is no less able or carefull to try the hearts of the Sons of men then the Goldsmith is his Silver and Gold As that does the one so does this also the other so the Lord tryeth the hearts When we speak of Gods trying of the heart it may be taken two manner of ways Either first of all in a way of Discovery or Secondly in a way of Purification He tries them to make known what is in them and he tries them to remove that which is corrupt and amiss from them to each purposes he tries them First In a way of Discovery He tries them so as to discern them and make known what they are This the Lord does and this he is said to do in Scripture not only here but elsewhere Thus Exod. 16.4 I
establishing of his own Counsels Thus it was said to be as concerning the Betraying of Christ He was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God Act. 2.23 Though it was also by the wicked plottings and contriving of Men. And again Act. 4.27 28. Against this holy Child Jesus were Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people gathered together To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done Their malice did but further God's design So the Egyptians and Pharaoh for the diminishing and destroying of the Israelites The more they conspired to lessen them and thought they did wisely in doing so the more their number multiplyed and increased And so Haman instead of destroying the Jews he confirmed their Peace and Liberties to them so much the more I might be infinite in Examples in this kind wherein God has over-ruled Men's Devices by the Accomplishments of his own Purposes And the more that they have had their Will the more at last has he come to have had his occasionally from it But To shut up all which hath been spoken with a Word of Application and to conclude These Points thus opened unto us may be drawn forth in a Various Improvement First As matter of Conviction to all such persons as walk contrary hereunto And they are of two sorts especially First That Device without God And Secondly That Device aginst Him That Devise without him first They herein come to be censured and so to be awakened Alas it is but a vain and foolish thing for them so to do as neglecting that which is principally to be looked after by them for the prospering of their Counsels to them that they may be successful Woe be to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that come with a covering but not by my spirit that they may add sin to sin as it is in Isa 30.1 That advice of Solomon is rather better which he gives unto us in Prov. 3.5 6. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Secondly As which devise without God so also which devise against him These are far more vile than the other and their case is desperate for Did ever any man harden himself against God and prosper as Job expostulates Job 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength Saul Saul why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks in Act. 9.5 Surely there is no wisdom nor conscience nor understanding against the Lord in Prov. 21.30 Therefore the Church of God has sometimes upon this Account triumphed over her greatest Enemies whether for Wisdom or Power as we have a notable place to this purpose Isa 8.9 10. Associate your selves O ye people and ye shall be broken in pieces and give ear O ye of far Countries Gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces Take counsel together and it shall come to naught speak the word and it shall not stand for Immanuel or God is with us In which excellent portion of Scripture the Spirit of God seems to come home to the disposition and practice of men to this purpose in all particulars Men are apt to think with themselves that if they cannot obtain a thing one way they may haply do it another if they cannot do it at this time they may haply do it hereafter if they cannot do it themselves yet they may perhaps do it if they take in other if they cannot do it upon the suddain yet they may do it upon deliberation advice and consultation Well but here is signified that none of these things shall prevail Not Combination not Strength not Counsel nor all these matters reiterated and repeated again If there be a mistake in the End all the means are frustrate that lead and carry unto it But Secondly Here is likewise a Word of comfort to the Church it self and to every true member of it Here is the Encouragement and Security of a good Christian and that in all Varieties and Changes and Uncertainties and Revolutions that are in the World Whosoever belongs to God he may be sure it shall go well with him for his particular because The counsel of the Lord shall stand We know saith the Apostle that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose We know not what things shall be nor we know not what time shall be But what ever either times or things happen to be we know they shall all be for the good of Gods People to the best for them that own him and are saved by him Those who are the called of his Purpose his Purposes shall be sure to be establisht to them and for them There is none besides in the world who can have this promised to them Eccles 8.12 Though a sinner c. Yet I know it shall be well with them that fear the Lord but it shall not be well with the sinner c. It is the Blessed and Happy Privilege of all those that are in Covenant with God that God does nothing in the World but he does it for there sakes and they have a share and interest in the Good and Benefit of it both because they are mainly and principally intended in it as also have hearts in themselves to improve it to their own Advantage All the paths of the Lord are mercy and Truth to them that keep his Covenants and his Testimonies So that the Firmness of his Counsel is by Consequent likewise the firmness of their Conditions Lastly Here 's a Word of Direction how to carry and behave our selves in answerableness to these Truths here propounded and premised Seeing after all the Devices of Man the Counsel of the Lord shall stand as we have all this while heard there are therefore three things especially which do lye upon us to be done by us in reference and order to this Counsel First To be carefull to know it Secondly To be carefull to own it Thirdly To be carefull to improve it and to have recourse unto it First To endeavour to know it let us be carefull of that To know it How can we do that Who hath known the mind of the Lord Or who hath been of his Counsel says the Prophet first and then the Apostle And so it is true in regard of an absolute knowledge and discovery of it His ways are unsearchable and his Judgments are past finding out His way is in the Sea and his path in the great Waters and his footsteps are not known There is a depth in the riches both of the Wisdom and knowledge of God as the Scripture tells us But yet so far as he reveals it us we may be acquainted with it and it concerns us so to be Be
to themselves Yea but now your simple and obstinate sinners and such persons as Solomon here speaks of they pass on for all this from childhood to youth from youth to ripers years from maturity to old age and never mend all this while they are as vain and licentious and resolute and peremptory in sins as ever they were This is a fearfull Aggravation That when God time and space of repentance yet they are never the gives men better for it Secondly In the Ministerial Excitements and Awakening of them pass on notwithstanding these How many people are there that dayly hear of the sins which are upon them in the Preaching and Ministery of the Word who notwithstanding persist in them and resolve to do so still This is a very sad condition when as Admonition and Warning does not mend us Yet this is the case with abundance of persons though they hear of their sins dayly and of the dangers which belongs unto them yet for all that they pass on Is not this now a piece of wonderful sottishness and stupidity in them Yet thus it is Who hath believed our report or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed as the Prophet Isaiah speaks of himself with complaint and of other Prophets with him If men give us the hearing yet that is all not bettered at all by it Thirdly In the threatnings of Providence They pass on notwithstanding this also though God's Judgments hang over their heads Iye at their doors yea come up into their Windows yet for all this they continue in their sinful Provocations of God's Majesty and Wrath against them Was it not a great Aggravation of Wickedness and Sinfulness in the old World that as Noah's preaching did not reform them so neither did the beginning of the Deluge it self but they passed on still in their Abominations till the Flood came and carried them all away Even so is it still the case of men now to this very present day for They pass on and are punished So they are punished and yet still they pass on No amendment or Reformation at all notwithstanding God's Judgments both threatned against them and likewise in part executed and fulfilled upon them and yet still as bad as ever they were And their wickedness remaining in them as much as ever before Yea even there where there are some pretences of Reformation and profers towards it Covenants and Engagements to it yet it is not really and thoroughly effected Men perhaps abstain for a while and some short time from their sinful Courses but then they return to them and come on to them again like the Dog to his Vomit And what is the reason of all this But because there is no inward change wrought in their hearts That is the reason why wicked men pass on and continue still in sin without little amendment because they have no contrary principle curbing them and restraining them and putting a check upon them as to the pursuit of them Till this be once wrought in them all without them will do them no good whether of Mercies or Judgments or Corrections or Instructions or Examples or whatever it be but still they will be where they are That is one thing implyed in this expression to wit Constancy and Persevering in sinning passing no so The Second is Increasing and adding to it They pass on that is grow worse and worse Look as on the other side a good Christian he is still the better by all God's dealings towards him at least labours and endeavours to be so to pass on from strength to strength and to go from one measure and degree of Grace to another So a wicked man he is still the worse every day he is more hardened and confirmed in sin than he is at another He does not only continue in sin but improve and promote it The Ground hereof is this First The seeming sweetness of Sin which he hath already tasted and been partakers of this still tickles him and perswades him and draws him on further Sin is very deceitful and hardening Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin says the Apostle to the Hebrews Heb. 3.13 It was a Caution which had some bottom and foundation for it For Sin has that property with it to those which are not better principled even to harden and deceive them and by steps and degrees to draw them on further and further to the embracement and commission of it Secondly Which is also mentioned in that place An unbelieving heart in departing from the Living God Men do not believe the Word of God nor his threatnings which he has denounced against such courses And this makes them to proceed in them which otherwise they would be much restrained from Thirdly Present Impunity and freedom from Punishment Because they are not punished yet therefore they think they shall not be punished at all as it is in Eccles 8.11 Because sentence against an evil doer is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil They pass on till they be punished as we shall now see in the Branch that follows So much for the first Particular to wit these men's Carriage and Disposition The simple pass on The Second is their Miscarriage or ill Condition which is consequent hereunto and are punisht This it carries a reference with it to all that went before concerning wicked men whether their sin or progress in it or their Presumption and Security upon it They have each by the just Judgment of God corrected and punisht in them Their simple iniquity their continuance and improvement of it and likewise their stupidity and senselesness in the condition in which they are But for Brevity sake we will reduce them to two Heads Their Sin and Security Their Sin in the word Simple implies as I shewed in the beginning wicked and ungodly men And their Security in the word passing-on implying a non-attendancy or heedlesness to any evil or danger which is near unto them First of all this word they are punished it does refer to their first sin it self and that iniquity which is in it whether of Principles or Conversation This is sure to be punished sooner or later And because it is so the Holy Ghost does therefore give it us in the present expression They are punisht as who will be out of question It is true they are not always in Act God is a great while indulgent towards them and is full of patience and forbearance towards them but yet at last he meets with them They pass on and are punished Sin and Judgment they are Relatives and do infer one the other and that by order and vertue of God's Justice which does require it and call for it And God's Sentence which he has past upon it upon the first coming of it By Sin came Death and so also all other Punishments which lead and tend unto it It is
cannot do they cannot do good Take a man that lives in a vile and sinful course and his heart is off from all good whatsoever he has no mind not list unto it cannot pray cannot read cannot hear cannot communicate cannot sanctifie a Sabbath cannot perform any duty of Piety or Religion which is required of him but is very backward and averse thereunto Or if it may be he may come off to the bare work and outward performance yet his heart is altogether flat and dead in it he has no life no spirit at all in him nor favour or spiritual rellish of that which he goes about but is as 't were out of his Element Nay further let it be one who has some beginnings of Grace in him and who is in some manner changed by the Spirit of God yet so far forth as he has any sin which is prevailing and domineering in him so far forth will his heart and Soul be much averse and indisposed to any goodness and he will find a great deal of difficulty in himself as to the managing of it Ye know how it was with David a man as I said before after Gods own heart whilst he lay still in those great sins whereof he was guilty how his heart was from hence out of frame and temper as to that which was good and therefore when he begins to recover and to come to himself he prays to God for a clean heart and a new spirit to be bestowed upon him and then he could teach transgressors the ways of God which before he could not do in that manner as he ought As Paul says of himself The good which he would do he could not do And as he tells the Galatians Ye cannot do the things that ye would that is indeed that ye ought This is the great thraldom and slavery which sin brings men into Men may do that which is good materially though evil but not good formally Secondly There is precipitancy to evil that 's another thing here considerable and is impli'd though it be not exprest as we may see if we make up the comparison in its full force for the strength of the sense runs thus As the Ethiopian cannot change his skin but as he is black so will he be black still and never but black And as the Leopard cannot alter his spots but as he is spotted so will he be spotted still and never be otherwise In like manner is the case with such a person as is accustomed to do evil so he does and so he will do continually and never give over A man that 's rooted and confirm'd in sin by daily and constant practise it is an hard matter ever to wean him or to pull him from it he has upon the point taken up his course which he will hold on and persist in to the end His heart is fully set in him to do evil as ye shall find that expression used by the Preacher Eccles 8.11 The ground of this prevalency of Custom is the fixedness and setledness of it it being as it were a second Nature which is sure and constant to its Principles Naturalia non mutantur Those things which are natural are unchangeable and this custom seems to be and therefore compared to those things which what they are they are by a Natural impression upon them as it is with the fore-mentioned resemblances which we spake of before Custom in sin it breeds an habit and that is such as it is not easily removed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but is as radicated as Nature it self The use which we may make of all this to our selves is briefly this First take heed of any thing to do with sin at first What Solomon says of strife it holds good as to any other miscarriage The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water therefore leave off contention before it be medled with Prov. 17.14 The same we may say to this purpose concerning sin Principiâ—s obsta stop it in the very beginning and the first entrance upon it of all if we do not we know not where we shall make an end after we have begun but are in danger of proceeding from one degree of wickedness to another from lust to consent from consent to act from act to custom and from custom to hardness of heart which being brought to the perfection of it as the Great Transgression of all proves unpardonable It is a good and safe course for a Christian not to think slightly of any sin at all though never so little for lesser sins make way for greater and beginnings make way for proceedings in such persons as dare to venture upon them Take heed brethren says the Apostle lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin in Heb. 3.13 and it is good counsel for sin will harden where at any time our hearts are enclined and carried unto it yea and it will entice too and bring the sinner from snare to snare till it has quite undone him and overwhelm'd him in absolute destruction There are many people which are ready to think when they make bold with such and such evil practises as the occasions which tend unto them that they will certainly go no further Alas when they are once got into the briars they do not know how to get out or to expedite themselves but like those which run down the hill they are at the bottom before they are aware We see it again in the example of David who when he had once begun he had almost never done but was miserably perplexed Again secondly If any should perhaps by chance fall into sin at the first yet as near as they can let them not stay and abide in it still but hasten out of it as soon as may be Shall we continue in sin says the Apostle God forbid No but as those which are out of their way and perceive and know themselves to be so they get into it as soon as can be because every step which they take otherwise leads them so much the further from home than they were before Even so should it be here with us as to the ways of Godliness and Religion where we find our feet any thing to slip and turn away be careful presently to rectifie them and bring them into rights again Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed Heb. 12.13 Again further thirdly Take heed of Relapses and falling back to sin again If sin be such a Tyrant as it is and especially a slave in sin let then those which are in any measure delivered and freed from the Tyranny of it take heed of coming within the compass and snares of it again For who being set at liberty from imprisonment or captivity or any great bondage would willingly return to it again and undergo the
the nature of the children of God that they hate more sin than they can rectifie they could wish many things to be otherwise than themselves can make them Well but when all comes to all they can mourn and bewail them that they are no better And this for Grief which is inwardly conceived in such cases and is represented here by this word of sighing The second is which is outwardly exprest and declared by crying and there is use also sometimes of this Crying abominations they call for crying dispositions not onely for sighing but for roaring not onely for secret weeping but for open complaints Men are sometimes and in some cases call'd to testifie and to declare against the common abominations according to the circumstances especially which they may be in and the places which are sustain'd by them Here they can do no less than manifest their abhorrency of them Thus the Lord to the Prophet Isaiah concerning the sins and abominations of the times in which he liv'd Cry aloud says he and spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins in Isa 58.1 And this for the expressions of Sorrow viz. Sighing and Crying The second is the occasion of these Expressions and that is the abominations that are committed Hatognevoth There are no sins whatsoever that are to be allowed or indulged though the least and smallest that are But the greater that any sins are the more are they to be abhorred by us when it once comes to abominations here we are especially to proceed against them and to bewail them all that may be as being such as carry the greatest guilt and consequently the greatest danger with them The Scripture still sets a mark upon abominations as such things as are chiefly to be lamented as in the Chapter preceding verse 17. Hast thou seen this O son of man Is it not a light thing to the house of Judith that they commit the abominations which they commit here So Jer. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abominations It was a great offence not to beashamed there where-ever it had been besides So Mic. 6.10 Are there yet the treasures of wickeaness in the house of the wicked and the scant measure which is abominable That which is abominable it should especially be abominated by us The third thing is the Extent of the Commission both in the word of Vniversality All and of Place in the midst of the City This shews how far these abominations had spread and what footing they had got amongst them as matter of just bewailing and lamentation to them When sin is once come to this pass it is so much the more grievous when it is got into the midst and into the heart as it were of the City then it is sad indeed we count it so in regard of Judgment We think it a sad thing here for the Plague to be in the midst of the City and as it were in the very heart of it this is dreadful and terrible Oh! but what is it then for wick edness and abomination to be so as it is here exprest And so now I have done with the first General Part of the Text which is the Persons mentioned in those words That sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof The second is the special care or regard which is had of them in those words Go and set a mark upon the foreheads of them that c. Whereas there are such persons as these now and then to be found in the world that do sigh c. so we see how there is a special mark by Gods appointment fastned upon them who are thus affected This mark to speak distinctly of it is of two sorts First it is a mark of Observation And secondly it is a mark of Preservation It is a mark of dignity and special respect and it is a mark of safety and special security which is vouchsafed to such persons First It is a mark of Honour and Observation such persons as these are they are highly esteemed and accounted of by God himself In times of common sins and calamities the Lord has a special regard to mens spirits and takes notice how they are affected and those whom he finds to lay either of these two to their hearts he has a great respect for them to mark them in their foreheads or place of eminency or observation But secondly and more to our purpose as it is a mark of Observation so it is a mark of Preservation likewise and that especially it is such a mark as whereby God does distinguish them from other persons in the execution of his Judgments which he does graciously exempt them from We shall find still all along in Scripture how as any persons have had any thing more of this temper and disposition in them so they have been more secured by God from publick calamities God has still taken care of his own Servants when he has most severely proceeded against others Thus when the Aegyptians were destroyed in their First-born there was bloud sprinkled upon the posts of the Israelites for their security that he that destroyed the other might not touch them Heb. 11.28 And Rev. 7.3 there was a charge given to the Angels that neither the earth nor the sea nor the trees should be any thing hurt till such time as the servants of God were sealed in their fore-heads And here in this present Text before us a special charge is given to the Destroyer not to burt any man upon whom was the mark c. And who were they namely such as mourned and took on for the common abominations Such as these God has a special regard to in such cases to keep and preserve them A notable instance whereof we have in Josiah 2 Chron. 54.27 where it is said that because his heart was tender and he humbled himself before God and rent his clothes and wept before him therefore he should not see all the evil which God would bring upon the place where he was and upon the inhabitants thereof God preserv'd him because he sigh'd and cri'd for all those abominations c. Now the Reason of Gods Indulgence to such persons as are thus affected is especially upon this account First Because they are such as do more especially honour God and glorifie him both in his Attributes and Providence and those that honour him he will honour and he will also protect In Mal. 3.16 17. when a company of profane wretches took no notice of any thing at all Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another namely in the bewailing of such profaneness And what was the issue of it The Lord hearkned and heard and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name And they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that
endless darkness Lastly By way of extent or explication to shew unto us the full nature of this business wherein it does consist There are two Branches of the sentence of condemnation and which the judgment of the great day does extend unto The one is positive to the punishment of sense and the enduring of exquisite torments and so in that consideration it is called darkness The other is privative in the punishment of loss and expulsion from God's glorious presence and the comfort of his countenance and so in that consideration it is said to be no light And thus we have seen this passage in each expression of it both Affirmative and Negative darkness and not light And so much may be also spoken of it as consider'd simply and absolutely in its general Proposition We may further Secondly look upon it relatively and in its particular scope as directed more especially to the persons above mentioned who desired this day of the Lord. To these the Prophet Amos here declares that this day it is darkness and not light And here again in this reference it carries a threefold force or emphasis with it First an emphasis of Information to those which were ignorant and did not know that this day was Secondly an emphasis of Conviction to those which were obstinate and would not know what this day was Thirdly an emphasis of Astonishment to those which were desperate which knew it but laid aside the thoughts and considerations of it and would put it to the venture First I say This expression The day of the Lord is darkness and not light it has an emphasis of information to those who were ignorant and which did not know it as if he had said thus unto them You seem to desire the coming of the day of the Lord as if thereby you should get some great good to your selves but alas as the case stands with you you have no cause at all to do so for there will be no advantage from it to you The proper object of desire it is good and not evil it is light and not darkness But this day of the Lord as it is circumstanced it is that which is quite contrary it is evil and not good it is darkness and not light that ye may rightly understand it The world has other notions commonly of death and judgment than those which they should have but the Scripture and word of God is the best instructer of them in this particular and that gives them a true account and estimate of such things as these are if they will hearken unto it Secondly An emphasis of Conviction to those which were obstinate and would not know it Profane persons as I shewed before they laugh'd at those things thought there was no such thing indeed as the day of the Lord and therefore scoffingly and in scorn call'd for it Well let it come We would fain see this day that you speak of and threaten us withal Well says the Prophet to these ye have no great cause to be so full of this confidence and security if ye consider all for I can tell you there is somewhat more in this day than you are aware of there 's no playing or jesting with it This day of the Lord it is darkness and not light what ever you may think of it it is so and so you will find it The word of God is powerful sharper than a two-edged Sword and the threatenings of the word having the spirit of God going along with them and setting them home upon the conscience have an ability in them to conquer and confound the most impartial mockers Thirdly An emphasis of Astonishment to those which were desperate and though they knew and in some sort believed such a day as this was yet did not fear it but were hardened in their hearts against it To such as these the Prophet here declares the horridness and unsupportableness of it That though they may think they could grapple with it and hold out against the extremities of it yet in conclusion and when it comes to the trial they will find it to be too heavy for them and above their strength whether the day of common and publick calamity or the day of trial and general judgment Who may abide the day of his coming or who shall stand when he shall appear as it is Mal. 3.2 And again Rev. 6.16 17. They shall call to the mountains to hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Take this day in reference to the Jews for their particular and it was full of astonishment in each acception whether we take it for the day of their Captivity or for the day of their Messias The day of their Captivity it was a doleful day unto them insomuch as the Prophet Jeremy made it the sole matter of his Book of Lamentations And the day of the Messias that was an heavy day like wise that it proved their final rejection for since that time they are mark'd out to the world for a persidious people and hardly known for a people The Vse of all to our selves and so to draw to a conclusion comes to this We have heard how the day of the Lord is darkness and not light that is terrible and full of horror in the whole latitude and extent of it whether we take it for the day of death and general judgment or whether we take it for the day of captivity and National visitation Now what remains but that accordingly we should be sensible and apprehensive of it in this representation and from thence to prevent the terribleness of it to our selves For this is the nature of such things as these are that the terribleness of them encreases with the security about them and the less grievous they are thought to be afore-hand the more heavy are they when they happen and come to pass And on the other side preparations for them do take off from the dreadfulness of them We should therefore labour to get a stock of Grace against such times as these are and in this day of the Lord's mercy and respite and intermission prepare for the day of his wrath and judgment and visitation We should labour and endeavour to make our peace with God in Christ who alone can take off the terribleness of that day from us and make it of a day of darkness to be a day of light We should cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light in the abandoning of all wicked and sinful courses and in the practice of all spiritual and heavenly Graces We should walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying but putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof as
and strengthen their faith and to take notice of such Dispensations as these to them we should not shut our eyes upon God's Providence in this particular but observe them and lay them to heart and be affected with them it is that which God expects from us in a suitableness to his dealings with us and that in the midst of many troubles which are upon us yet still see how God does deliver us So likewise for spiritual deliverances to apply it to that also God does here deliver after deliverances The vertue and efficacy of Christs Death which hath purchased deliverance for us it is extended beyond the time of his suffering to all following generations Now does Christ deliver us and now does he offer deliverance to us in such Ordinances as these are and now does his spirit strive with us and move us and incite us to good To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts c. which should move us also to take the present opportunity And so now I have done likewise with the second General part of the Text and that is the signification of a deliverance present exhibited to us in this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And doeth deliver The third and last is the prognostication of a deliverance to come in these words In whom we trust also that he will yet deliver us We see here this excellent gradation how the Apostle proceeds from one thing to another from time past to time present and from time present to time to come What may we observe from hence Namely thus much That deliverances which are past are a very good ground for the hoping and expecting of deliverances to come or if ye will thus God that has delivered hitherto he will likewise deliver again Thus does Paul reason here he delivered us from the great danger in Asia and he will deliver us hereafter from others as occasion is afforded unto him and as we have for our part need of it Thus also in another place 2 Tim. 4.18 speaking of his deliverance from Nero I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work He infers one deliverance from another yea a general deliverance from a particular God had delivered him from that cruel Tyrant whom for his fierceness he calls a Lyon and from hence he concludes that he would deliver him from the suffering of any evil work besides for so we may understand it if we please not actively only but passively as from doing evil works himself so from suffering evil works from others in their attempts against him This was likewise the reasoning of David 1 Sam. 17.37 The Lord hath delivered me out of the paw of the Lyon and out of the paw of the Bear and be will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine So again Psal 22.4 Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them What does he suppose from hence why that accordingly he would deliver himself too This is the sweetest heavenly reasoning of the Saints and Servants of God even to argue thus with themselves and to draw deductions and conclusions of expectation from former experience What God will do from what he has done and that also upon weighty Considerations First His Ability and Power In men this is many times defective so that we cannot so happily conclude of the one from the other of future goodness from former because their power and opportunity may be gone and they may not be so able to do that which has been formerly done by them but now as for God there 's no such fear his strength and power is the same that ever it was and what he has been formerly he is able to do the same still his hand is not shortned that it cannot save nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear power and strength is his he is the rock of ages our Almighty God and mighty to save Ye know a spring or fountain it issues out streams continually in omne volubilis as you see water coming out of it to day so you expect it in like manner to morrow And why so why because it is a spring it has an indeficient sufficiency in it And this now is the Lord to his Servants he is a spring of preservations to them his Power is inexhaustible and so he is a Sun as he calls himself Psal 84.11 The Lord is a sun and shield a Sun which has light continually proceeding from it This is a very good Argument to reason froth as the three Children in the fiery furnace Dan. 3.17 The God whom we fear is able to deliver us And what follows thereupon and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king he is able and therefore he will in God it is a very good Argument in such cases as these are So to his Power we may joyn also his skill Those which do things by art and skill they can do them again wheras those which do them by chance and hap-hazard once is enough and sufficient for them Now the Lord he is a person of skill as men are for their parts skilful to destroy so is he for his part skilful to deliver And then further here is an Argument likewise from the greater to the less he that has done the one he can do the other too he that has delivered from so great a death he can much more deliver from a less or smaller danger where it happens unto us and that 's the first foundation of this Confidence viz. God's Ability and Power Secondly There is in God a perpetuity of affection too It is of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not Lam. 3.22 The Lord 's an unchangable God and therefore he will deliver for time to come as well as for time past I the Lord change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed Mal. 3.6 there 's a great matter in that especially if we shall consider that himself is the original of the mercies and deliverances which he vouchsafes That he loves us freely and not so much for any thing in our selves If it were founded in us we had then little cause to expect it or to look for it because we for our part are ever and anon out of frame we are such as do continually provoke him and give him occasion very frequently to suspend his goodness towards us but the comfort is that lies in himself and in his own gracious nature and essence which is not subject to any kind of change or alteration at all Thirdly There is in God exactness and a desire to finish and perfect his own work now this he should not be able to do if together with deliverances which are past he should not join deliverances to come The deliverances of the Church of God though they are so many distinct actions consisting of distinct moments in a succession and
general and ordinary dispensation And especially be careful not to improve them to security and presumption and sinning so much the more as God does any thing spare thee and forbear to proceed against thee for this will increase thy guilt so much the more and make more for thy condemnation This sinning upon mercy received as it is laid here in the Text has a double iniquity in it First As it is a trespass against God in despising of his goodness And secondly as it is a trespass against our selves in the neglecting of our own salvation so far forth as it is a neglect of repentance in the mean which tend unto it and so in either respects is to be shun'd and avoided by us And this for our own particulars Now secondly also in reference to the Community as we are parts and members of that the Exhortation will prove very seasonable and pertinent here likewise that we despise not the riches of Gods goodness and forbearance and long-suffering but know that this goodness of his it does lead us and invite us to repentance and that in all relations and capacities in which we are considerable This Nation this City this Company this Parish and Congregation I might very well enlarge it and carry it down to all these Particulars and the rather out of the particular interest which my self hath in them all I might I say improve this admonition to each of these and shew you the engagements which we all have from the goodness of God But I will especially at this time insist upon the two first an commend them to your serious consideration and so conclude And that is this Nation and this City England and London in England it lyes upon us more especially For the Nation first what great things has God been pleased to do for us in all times and ages of the world from one generation to another As Moses sometime of the Israelites What Nation is there so great who heath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for How wonderfully hath God bestirred himself for our Deliverance and Preservation from time to time How many blessings in all kinds have we partaked of from him And how to this very day have we a sense of his miraculous Love and Providence over us in that Peace which at present we enjoy even to admiration From the Nation in general come down to the City in particular and look upon that and tell me what one under Heaven has the like mercies that we enjoy and that in all sorts and varieties whether Spiritual or Temporal For Temporal let me mind you of one amongst the rest which can never be sufficiently minded and laid to heart and that is the abundance of Health which is continued still amongst us notwithstanding the multitude of Inhabitants that increase upon us that whereas in former times that sad Plague of the Pestilence was ever and anon almost breaking in upon us of late we have not known what it meant but have been wonderously preserved from it And for Spiritual mercies how many and great here How much of the Gospel and Word and Ordinances above all other places Now what does all this speak unto us What to be so much the more secure and hardened and presumptuous and full of provocations to be so much the more peccant as God is any thing indulgent and favourable to us Oh no take heed of that by all means but rather be more watchful and careful and fruitful than ever we have been before to repent of those sad abominations which are every where amongst us and to eject them and cast them out from us As Bradford that Holy Martyr when he was imbracing the Stake and fire Repent O England and London Repent repent This is that which we should do ad this is that which we are called upon to do from these Divine Dispensations and which also we are admonisht to do from this present Scripture Not to despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance SERMON XXXVIII Rom. 6.21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death There 's nothing more useful and necessary for Christians after conversion than sometimes to be put in mind of their condition before conversion and to be compared in what they are with what they have been And it is useful to divers purposes and effects First to make them more humble in the reflexion upon their former miscarriages Secondly to make them more thankful in the consideration of that blessed change which God has graciously wrought in them Thirdly to make them more fearful and careful and wary in themselves of returning back again to that condition in which they were on at least of doing any thing which might be suitable and agreeable thereunto For these and the like Considerations and especially the last which I have named does the Apostle Paul here in this Scripture and Text which I have now read unto you apply himself after this manner to these faithful and believing Romans to whom he here writes wherein he does expostulate with them about the vanity and misery and unsatisfactoriness of their former courses whiles they remained in their estate by nature and before the time of their conversion to Christ What fruit had ye c. IN this present Verse before us the Apostle Paul lays down unto us the inconvenience of the ways of sin which he does in these Particulars First In their unprofitableness What fruit had ye then Secondly In their Dishonourableness Whereof ye are now ashamed And thirdly in their perniciousness For the end of those things is death There are three things which men commonly most look after their profit and their honour and their ease and pleasure and safety now sin it disappoints them in them all Here 's sin in all the periods of time and still with a disadvantage upon it for time past for time present and for time to come For time past there 's damage and loss no fruit for time present there 's a blot and disgrace now ashamed and for time to come there 's destruction the end of those things death We 'l begin in order with the first viz. Sin in its unprofitableness for time past What fruit had ye then The Apostle here appeals to these Romans themselves for their own particular as such persons which were now able to speak out of experience they had been some of them before their conversion great and notorious sinners and had walked in the ways of vanity and ungodliness with a great deal of liberty and freedom of mind now since that they were brought home to God he bids them speak what great profit or benefit or advantage they got by those ways It is a kind of triumphing and insulting expression wherein knowing he was
the Prophet Amos speaks and then consequently speak peace to others and so indeavour to put it far away from them also who not only boast of it but also proclaim it and propagate it to all they can and accordingly they scoff at all hints and intimations of the contrary and the word of God it self it is a by word and reproach unto them they cannot indure it They abhor judgment and pervert equity yet will they lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord amongst us none evil shall come upon us as the Prophet Micah compains of them Chap. 3.11 And that 's also the second Explication which is verbally they say it with their mouths The third is practically or really they say it in their lives and carriages and conversations The behaviour of worldly persons is such as by which they do declare that great security which is in their hearts This is another thing which the Scripture also does sometimes take notice of and there are two instances of it to this purpose the one is in the days before the Flood Mat. 24.38 They were then eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage till the flood came and swept them away The other is in the condition of Sodom and in the days of Lot Luk. 17.28 Where 't is said they eat and drank and bought and sold and planted and builded till it rained fire and brimstone from heaven c. Where those actions whether natural or civil are not simply condemn'd in themselves but in the carriage and managing of them which was with much security and carnal confidence and a promising of themselves a great deal of happiness and contentment for time to come in their present unrighteousness This was that which was remarkable in them for which they were condemned as also in many other places And thus have we seen in what sense it is here exprest they shall say Peace and safety whether mentally they shall say it in their minds or verbally they shall say it with their lips or practically they shall say it in their lives and in their carriages All these ways do they say it But who are they which do thus indeed say it Why does not the Apostle name them which it is to be thought he might have done but rather expresses them to us thus impersonally There 's a threefold account which may be given hereof unto us First They were so wretched they did not deserveit Secondly They were so many they did not admit it Thirdly They were so manifest they did not need it First They were so vile and wicked and wretched as that they did not deserve to be named As there are some sins which are not to be named in regard of the heinousness of them Peccata nonnominanda so there are some sinners which in some cases are not to be named neither in regard of the odiousness of them Peccatores non nominandi and such were these here aim'd at in the Text. These Atheists and presumptuous persons which in the circumstance wherein they were cry'd out Peace and safety They were such as did not deserve so much as naming as the Psalmist speaks of Idolaters that he would not take up their names into his lips Psal 16.4 So neither woud St. Paul here the names of such as these but leaves them rather to be guestat especially because such as they might have been offensive it might have carried the greater scandal and offence with it and so have had the greater mischief and inconvenience following upon it they were so vile and wicked and wretched they did not deserve it that 's the first Secondly They were so many and numerous and abounding they did not admit it If the Apostle should have begun once to have named he should not have known where to have stop'd or staid they did so much increase This is another thing which is considerable in it and it is matter of great mourning and lamentation that so it is that those who are good and gracious and spiritual and watchfulChristians they are so few that a child may number them to speak in the words of the Prphet Help Lord for the godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from the children of men Bnt those who are naught and carnal and secure and presumptuous persons they are so many that they cannot be summed or reckoned up not named because they are so numerous they do not admit it as uncapable of it And that 's the second Thirdly They were so manifest they did not need it What should the Apostle Paul need to name them who did in a manner name themselves Thus did wicked and ungodly men then and thus do they still they are obvious to every eye which may very easily take notice of them Atheists and profane persons such as make a mock of sin and a scoff of judgment they are such commonly as are no flinchers which do not hide or conceal themselves at all but do discover themselves abundantly as the Prophet Isaiah sometimes expresses himself about them so it may be very well said of them That the shew of their countenance doth witness against them and they declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not Isa 39. We cannot stir go out of door but we see them we cannot pass along the streets but we hear them they cause their voice to be heard in every passage and corner of them Peace and safety is that which we commonly hear from every mouth and that in the corruptions of the greatest danger and hazard that may be they say it that is they say it indefinitely The use which we are to make of this Observation is from hence so much the more carefully to take heed of this disposition and seeing so many besides are subject to it to beware lest we our selves be not guilty of it for it is a cathing and a contagious distemper People commonly are not more prone and inclinable to sin it self than they are to security in it not more prone to commit iniquity than they are to say peace and safety when they have so committed it and indeed this is oftentimes the consequent and effect of sin it self especially of some sins amongst the rest that they do very much harden and stupifie the minds of those that are given to them which therefore calls for the greater care and caution to be exercised by us so that counsel of our blessed Saviour should the more effectually prevail with us Luk. 21.34 Take heed therefore lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness c and so that day overtake you unawares And so now I have done with the first General Part of the Text which is the supposition namely of the former as it is exprest in these word When they shall say Peace and safety The second is the inference namely of the punishment and that 's in these words Then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with
man that feareth always but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into mischief Which agrees also with that of the Apostle Rom. 2.5 Who after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy self wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God And this is the Emphasis of Causality The third is an Emphasis of Concomitancy or Prognostication When they say Peace and safety then sudden destruction oometh c. that is from the time that they say so it thus happens the former it is a forerunner of the latter and a manifest sign and somptom of it from whence ye may conclude it When ye observe people to be full of the greatest security they are then nearest the greatest ruine Presumption it is the harbinger of destruction This is that which is here intimated to us in this connexion which we have now before us We have a proof of it in divers instances and examples in the old world in reference to the Deluge In the Sodomites in reference to their destruction with fire and brimstone from Heaven In the Egyptians in reference to their overthrow and destruction in the Red Sea and so it shall likewise be with wicked men in reference to the day of judgment and destruction then when they least fear it it shall then most of all apprehend them and seize upon them Nebuchadnezzar whiles he was in his pomp and glory and greatest triumph and boafted of his great prosperity Is not this great Babel that I have built c. It is said that whiles the word was in his mouth there fell a voice from heaven threatning him and declaring God's Judgment upon him Dan. 4.31 So Belshazzar whiles he was in the midst of his cups drinking and swilling and carousing and little thought of any evil near unto him it is said that in the very same hour there came forth an hand-writing against him with Mene Tekel c. Dan. 5.5 And so it also happens sometimes to many others besides their confidence it bespeaks their undoing The reason of it is this Because God loves to cross and thwart the pride of man and to make him know that he is at his disposal who has all events in his own hand God will humble men by disappointing them and by showing them that they are dependent upon himself And then besides this security it makes men to venture so much the more upon sin yea indeed does argue sin to have the greater and deeper rooting in the heart which while it has so Destruction cannot be very far off as to the coming of it All these things laid together serve to awaken men out of this distemper which hath seized upon them and never more than in these present days in which we live Wherein as people were never more wicked and so from thence lyable to destruction so indeed they were never more secure and from thence in danger of destruction Well let us take heed of it and look to it take heed of abusing Gods patience and compassion and forbearance and despising of the riches of his Goodness and Mercy to thee which should rather lead thee to repentance and not as men sometimes make it confirm them so much the more in sin for though God be long-suffering yet he will not be always suffering there will a time of reckoning and judgment come at last and that to purpose the longer that punishment is a-coming the heavier will it be when it comes and leasurable correction shall be turn'dinto sudden destruction and such as there shall be no avoiding or escaping from it It is no matter what men may be for the present and for such a particular time and season which has no fixedness or certainty in it We know how the greatest Tempests and Storms that are upon the Sea they are sometimes usher'd in with the great Calmes going before them and so it happens sometimes to be as to God's Providences and Judgments in the world he may here proceed from one extremity to another and make the greatest prosperity to conclude in the greatest misery that so none may absolutely promise themselves Peace or safety in any estate or condition whatsoever which is full of uncertainty surely our peace and safety lyes not in any condition here below or the present happiness and prosperity of it but in our peace made with God in Christ and the assurance of his peace towards us wher 's itis otherwise we are in danger and hazard and jeopardy every hour and never more near indeed unto danger than when we think our selves farthest from it For as it is here exprest in the Text which I have now disptcht when they shall say Peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them at travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape SERMON XLIV 2 Joh. 8. Look to your selves that we lose not those things which we have wrought wrought but that we receive a full reward It has been always counted a part of good husbandry here in the world not only to take care of getting but to take heed of losing and not only to have regard to the present but to provide for time to come Non minor est virtus quam quaerere parta tueir which as it holds in Temporals so in Spirituals and as in matters of ordinary Transaction so especially in Ministerial Dispensation This is that which the Apostle John does propound and exhibit to us here in this Scripture as a pattern to all others besides in the Applications of himself to the Elect Lady and her children He had been careful sometime formerly to instruct them and now he confirms them and indeavours to strengthen the things which remained towards them by perswading them to a special heed to themselves Look to your selves that we lose not the things which we have wrought c. IN the Text it self we have two General Parts considerable First The Caution propounded Secondly The Argument whereupon the Caution is urged or the matter wherein to be exercised The Proposition of the Caution that we have in those words Look to your selves The argument or matter in these That we lose not those things that we have wrought c. We begin with the first The Caution in its General and Indefinite Proposition Look to your selves This is that which belongs to all Christians and which they have need daily and frequently to be put in mind of even the best that are This elect Lady her self a choice and vertuous Matron and her children that walk't at present in the truth The Apostle John thinks it but necessary to lay his Caution and Admonition upon them for for self-observation that they would take special heed to themselves And we shall find the like elsewhere in Scripture in sundry places I shall not need now to insist upon them The Ground hereof is this First The danger which they are exposed to and the attempts and assaults which
and yet to draw near to God in his Services and Religious Performances it is a matter of very high aggravation Therefore it is that we shall find God not onely here in this Text but also in divers others besides to contest with them for it as Isa 1.11 12. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me saith the Lord c. When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hands Incense is an abomination I cannot away with it your feasts and your sabbaths c. they are a trouble unto me I cannot bear them And so Isa 66.3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man c. He that burneth incense as if he blest an idol c. So again Psal 50.16 17. Vnto the wicked saith God What hast thou to do to declare my statutes or to take my covenant into thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction and castests my words behind thee The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord especially if he bring it with an evilmind The Lord will be sanctified in all them that draw near unto him This is that which he hath said Levit. 10.3 Therefore in that place before in Esay he bids them wash them make them clean put away the evil of their doings from before their eyes ere they presumed to come into his presence To open this passage a little further and to speak distinctly of it This Question here in the conjunction of both parts together Will ye steal and murther c and yet will ye come and stand c It hath a two-fold intimation with it the one as an aggravation of their sinfulness and the other as an aggravation of their danger Will ye do it that is Will ye be so vile as to do it And Will ye do it that is Will ye be so bold as to do it There is each of these which is here intimated and intended in this Expostulation First Here 's an aggravation of their sinfulness Will ye do it that is Will ye be so vile There is a great deal of vileness and wickedness and sinfulness in such courses as these are for men to come into the presence of God and to draw near to him in Religious Performances whiles they allow themselves in their sinful lusts there 's irreverence and contempt of God and an argument of low conceits and apprehensions of him That men first think that any thing is good enough for him and then that they think that he will be content with any thing and easily put off with it there 's a trespassing upon God in his Majesty and there is a suspition of God in his Wisdom than which two taken together what can be more vile or abominable First There is a trespass upon God in his Majesty there 's irreverence and contempt of him that 's most clear and evident The higher apprehensions that men have of any one's person the more regardful are they of their carriage when they come before him If a man shall come into the presence of a Prince and carry himself rudely before him it is a sign he has no very great thoughts or esteems of him for if he had he would carry it otherwise to him And so it is here as to the presence of God when men shall come before him with base and false and naughty and deceitful hearts it is an argument they do not much regard him but think that any carriage indeed is good enough for him Secondly It is a trespass also upon his Wisdom and that strictness and severity that is in him they think he 'll be pleas'd with any thing and that any thing will serve his turn they think to flatter him and to satisfie him with some fair pretences and that 's all They think that he does not see and take notice of that naughtiness which is in them all this while they think he approves of it and so makes him a partaker with themselves And therefore the Lord in such cases he does commonly deal with them upon this point by shewing them that they are exceedingly mistaken in so imagining as we may see in Mal. 1.7 9. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar and ye say Wherein have we polluted thee In that ye say The table of the Lord is contemptible And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil And if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil Offer it now unto thy governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hosts Take but any man whatsoever and let one give him onely fair words and complements and some outward good carriage and yet in the mean time endeavour to ruine him and destroy him and undermine him and will he take it well from him What is it for any one to stand bare in the presence of a Governour and yet in the mean time to break his Laws and to have no regard to the Precepts or Edicts which are set forth by him And so is it here as to God for men to approach to his Ordinances and yet to despise his Commandments to come into his House and yet to steal and kill c. What is this but to juggle with him and to question his Wisdom if they think he can be satisfi'd with it Should I accept this at your hands No saith God I will not it is a great mistake to conceive it I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts c. Therefore secondly as here is an hint and intimation of greater sins in this Question Will ye do it that is will ye be so vile so there is likewise an intimation of greater danger Will ye do it that is Dare ye be so bold do ye consider the hazard which ye run upon in so doing There is certanly a great deal of hazard and danger in such ways as these For men to allow themselves in wicked courses and yet to please themselves in the outward performance of Religious Exercises it is a very great venture in them There are three sorts of Judgments which are commonly consequent and following hereupon namely Spiritual and Temporal and Eternal We may take notice of them all First Spiritual Judgments there is oftentimes an infliction of these upon such occasions When men come to the Ordinances in their sins they are from hence now and then more hardned and confirm'd in them than they were before and their lusts do for the most part gain and get ground upon them their fraud and their malice and their uncleanness and such as these they are so much the more improved unto them Look as meat to a stomach that is foul it destroys it but in a stomach that is clean it nourishes it so the Ordinances when men come to them with good affections they strengthen their Graces but when they come with deceitful hearts they increase their corruptions Secondly Temporal Judgments in sicknesses
and diseases and plagues and corporal death Those that receive the Sacrament unworthily they are said to eat and drink judgment to themselves that is in part temporal judgment We shall find if we look into Scripture many sad proofs and instances of this unto us wherein as people have been any thing more formal and hypocritical in Gods Service he has exercised them and follow'd them with many grievous temporal calamities which for this cause he has inflicted upon them Thirdly and last of all Eternal the vengeance of eternal fire and everlasting destruction Damnation as some render that place 1 Cor. 11. It is that which hereupon they deserve and which without repentance they likewise shall suffer The Lord will not hold them guiltless that thus take his name in vain but will give them their portion with the hypocrites in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone Thus we see how much danger there is in it as well as sinfulness and therefore danger because sinfulness The greater sin has always the greater danger attending it What 's the use of all this to our selves but even the Question of the Text it self Will ye now be any of you guilty in this particular shall any man now dare to presume in this kind as we have now exprest Oh far be it from us let them not so much trespass upon God and abuse his patience nor yet so much venture themselves by provoking of his indignation and the fierceness of his wrath against them And so now I have done with the first Branch of these peoples wickedness which God does argue and expostulate with them for viz. their abominable hypocrisie in the conjunction of these two both together Will ye steal and murther c. and yet will ye come c The second is their stupidity or carnality in these words And say We are delivered to commit all these abominations There are divers Translations which I find to be made of these words The Septuagint reads the words thus and so does the Arabick and say We have withdrawn or abstained from all these abominations and so it signifies their impudence in denying their manifest wickedness and notorious profaneness which is that which a great many people are also guilty of Though they be never so manifestly wicked yet they will not acknowledge it or be brought to the confession of it The Syriack renders them thus Deliver us because we have abstain'd from all these abominations which makes it more impudent still not onely to deny their notorious and manifest guilt but likewise to plead their innocency as meritorious of their preservation But there are three Translations which I shall especially fasten upon The first is that of the Chaldee Paraphrase We are delivered though c. which agrees both with Geneva and our Old English Translation The second that of St. Hierom and the Vulgar Latin We are delivered because c The third and last is that of our own last and newest English Translation which we have now before us which reads it that we may or 't is lawful to commit c. First Here was their security and insensibleness of their present condition in regard of sin We are delivered though c. whereby they would make their iniquities to be no hinderance at all to their preservation they might be delivered for all them and for all that the Prophets did menace and threaten against them for them their abominations should do them no hurt This was the first step and degree of carnality in them and it is that which accordingly the Lord does by his Prophet here call them to account for It is that which is oftentimes observable abroad in the world that men imagine as if their wickedness would bring no very great trouble or inconvenience unto them but that they shall scape well enough with it let them be as vile and bad as they can be steal and murther and commit adultery and swear falsly and what not yet that they shall evade for all this No evil shall overtake them or happen unto them They have made a covenant with death and with hell they are at an agreement as the Prophet Esay speaks They say When the over-flowing scourge shall pass through yet that it shall not come unto them as having made lies their refuge and under falshood hid themselves Isa 28.15 There is a various ground of this security and presumption in the hearts of many people First a false conceit in them of the mercy and indulgence of God they think that God is not so severe a punisher of sin as indeed he is or as he is said and proclaimed to be and as long as they do so they are well enough in their own apprehensions Tush the Lord does not see it nor the God of Jacob regards it as it is in Psal 9.7 Secondly A freedom and preservation from Judgment and Punishment at the present They are delivered and therefore they shall be Judgment is not executed speedily and therefore it shall not be at all This is commonly mens humour and disposition to go by sense and to make that to be a rule unto them either for fear or hope where they feel some evil at present there they think they shall feel it still and when they do not as yet feel it they never think they shall feel it at all And so it is here Because judgment is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the sons of men c. as I have lately shewed Thirdly Carnal refuges and reliances they think they shall be delivered because they think it is impossible they should be punished they think they are Judgment-proof and that all that can be done unto them shall be no way able to offend them or be disquieting of them This is the true account of such security Now the Lord by this Expostulation does seem to check them for it and to shew them the vanity of such thoughts as these are Do ye say so that is Ye are mistaken in saying so it is an error and misconceit in you and which in conclusion you 'll find to be so And that 's the first thing here impli'd viz. their Security according to that reading of the words We are delivered though we have committed all these c. The second is their Stupidity according to the reading of it thus We are delivered because c. Here is a further step and degree of the wickedness of these rebellious people and which is observable in many more not onely to think they shall receive no hurt by their sins but also that they shall have good for them that the more they abound in abominations the more they shall abound in deliverances and that God multiplies their mercies so much the rather as they multiply their transgressions Thus we find it in another place of this present Prophesie as in Jer. 44.16 When we burnt incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out our drink-offerings