he that trains not up his Child to God for whom does he train him up but the Devil For is there any Mean between What Complaint God taketh up against Israel about their giving up their Children to Moloch may he not take up against Thousands in the World upon this Account Thou hast taken my Children and delivered them up to make them pass through the Fire That is the Children which I have given thee and which should have been mine He warned Men against Lying and False-speaking by the Example of Ananians and Sapphira that were struck dead for it Which he called a fearful Judgment set up as a Pillar of Salt at the very entrance of the Gospel into the World that Men might see and hear and fear and not dare to Lie under the Gospel of Truth especially not to the Spirit of Truth And if you look upon Ananias his doing you see him Deceiving and Lying and if you observe Peter's Words you may see he referrs his Lying and Deceiving to their proper Original Viz. That they both are the Work of the Devil Why hath SATAN filled thy Heart to lye and filled thy Heart to deceive and keep back part of the Price of the Land That if you will trace his Wickedness to the Spring-head his Intent to deceive made him lye and his base Covetousness made him deceive and the Devil caused all He gave this Rule concerning Apparel and for the avoiding Pride in what Men put on God allows Men to wear good Cloths according to their Quality and Degree but if Pride be there it is beside his Allowance God allows us Cloths to keep us warm He allows us Cloths to adorn our Rank and Quality but if we lace and trim our Wear with Pride there is a Leprosie got into the Warp and Woof that rots all God appointed the Jews to wear Fringes upon their Garments to make them still to be remembring the Law I am afraid the Fringing and Finery of two many have a clean contrary Effect It doth but puff them up and make them proud And again If any should ask What Cloths and Hair and Garb may I wear this may be a very direct and satisfactory Answer Wear what you think good so it be without Pride And this I believe will shut out of Doors 1. Wearing a Garb above one's Rank and Degree For I question whether one can wear a Garb above his Rank without Pride And 2. Affecting foreign and strange and few fangled Fashions For tho' it may be possible for a Person to be in the Fashion without Pride because he would not be hooted at for Singularity yet certainly it is hardly possible to affect new fangled Fashions without Pride It is one thing to put on the Fashion to avoid Reproach and another thing to dote upon Fashions and to make them Bravery He that makes his Cloths his Bravery it is very suspicious he makes them his Vainglory and he that dotes on the Fashion it is to be doubted he dotes on the Pride of the Fashion THESE Instances are enough to shew what a plain but fruitful Method of Teaching and Preaching Dr. Lightfoot took But he also took care of his People's Principles to preserve them from warping from the National Church as hath been taken notice of before and from the Church consider'd as Protestant Of which I shall proceed to a few Instances To arm his Auditors against Popery thus he taught them Our Histories tell us That when Austin the Monk came hither into Britain from the Pope as to settle Religion and when some of the British Christians consulted with a grave prudent Man whether they should close with him and submit to his Rules Yes saith he if he be humble do But if he be proud he is not of God Would you take a Measure of true Religion no surer Token than these two Humility and Charity They talk they will prove the Truth of their Religion by Antiquity Universality and I know not what Let them shew it by the Humility and Mercifulness of it and we shall desire no more But I doubt that Religion that teacheth the Merits of a Man's Works is too proud against God to be the true Religion and that that teacheth that the Pope is above all Princes is too proud against Men. And I doubt that Religion that stirs up Mâ—n to murder Princes Nobles People that will not be of that Religion is not the true Religion I am sure Christ and his Apostles were never either of such Pride or Cruelty but further from these Principles of Rome than it is 'twixt Rome and Jerusalem And as he warned them against Popery in general so particularly Against a blind Zeal Zeal without Knowledge or Zeal in a wrong Way It is good always to be zealous in a good Matter but mischievous to be zealous in a bad There was a great deal of Religious Zeal for those Parents to offer their Children to Moloch to be burnt alive in his Arms in Devotion to that God of theirs But it was blind Zeal mad Religion distracted Devotion Their God was the Devil St. Paul in one Place saith That in Zeal he persecuted the Church But in another Place he saith He was exceeding mad against the Church That Zeal of his was mere Madness It was blind and mad cared not whither it went nor what it did Rom. x. The Jew hath Zeal but without Knowledge and that made him so to set himself against the Truth You remember that They that kill you shall think they do God Service It was great Zeal but as blind as a Beetle It runs upon it cares not what as a blind Man runs upon every Post and falls into every Pit And against Cruelty The Papists plead stoutly that theirs and none but theirs is the true Religion If that should be tryed by this very Touchstone Is that can that be true Religion that makes it Religion to murder Men None of you but have heard of the bloody Days of Queen Mary and how many poor innocent holy Men were then put to the Fire and there ended their Lives And this forsooth done by the Papists out of Zeal for Religion Just such a Religion as they were spurred by that offered their Children to Moloch For compare the things together and what can be liker Those Wretches out of that Devotion and Religion as they took on them made their poor innocent Children pass through the Fire a Sacrifice to Moloch These Wretches out of that Devotion and Religion as they took on them made these poor innocent Souls pass through the Fire a Sacrifice to the Pope The Cruelty much alike the Manner of the Death they put them to much alike And were they not Religious think you much alike Such a Sacrifice to their Moloch would they have offered of innocent ones when they would have sent away our Parliament out of the World in Fire and Gunpowder and this forsooth out of Zeal to Religion
offer himself a living Sacrifice acceptable to God which is his reasonable Service In other things a Man may deceive himself He may think he prays well enough when it may be his Prayers are Sin That he confesses his Sins well enough when it may be he adds to his Sin by his Slightness of Confession But in offering a Man's self to God there can be no Deceit if he do but do it In the other he may offer but Words let him offer himself and there is Substance This is the Sacrifice that God requires Psal. xl 6 Burnt-Offering and Sin-Offering hast thou not required Then said I Lo I come to do thy Will Do but observe the Apostle's Allegation of this Scripture Heb. x. 5 Sacrifice and Offering thou would'st not but a Body hast thou prepared me That is the Sacrifice thou requirest viz. My Body my self to be offered to thee to do thy Will He frequently urged the Obligation of keeping God's Commandments against the Antinomians and others and that from the apparent Agreeableness of so doing to our Reason and that since we are reasonable Creatures we should live as such The very Equity and Justice of the Duties of the Moral Law is not only a Bond upon us to keep them but an apparent and plain Reason why they were given What more reasonable thing in the World tâ—an that we should love God and our Neighbour that we should do Mercy Justice Piety Honesty and the like Do not these things of themselves speak all the Equity and Reason in the World Is it not most agreeable to Reason that reasonable Creatures should live after another manner than unreasonable brute Beasts do God hath made us Men and must there be no Distinction 'twixt us and Beasts What is that that must difference us What meerly this that we have Reason and Understanding and Speech which Beasts have not The Scripture you know calls Men that have these by the Names of Beasts however Herod is a Fox in the terming of our Saviour and Nebuchadnezzar a Lion in the Speech of Jeremy False Teachers are Wolves in the Language of the Apostle and the Scribes and Pharisees Serpents and a Generation of Vipers in the Denomination of our Saviour and the Baptist. These Men had Reason and Understanding and Speech and Knowledge as well as other Men and they would have scorned to have been thought short of other Men in these things But it is living like reasonable Creatures and not like unreasonable brute Beasts that must distinguish us from brute Beasts If a Man live like a Dog a Swine a Fox a Wolf tho' he can talk never so much Sense and Reason does his having the use of Reason do him any Good when he is neither good towards God nor himself nor other Men but lives and dies as the Apostle speaks As natural brute Beasts made to be taken and destroyed 2 Pet. ii 12 He would at other times press upon Men Sobriety and Obedience to God's Laws out of Interest to themselves as tending to their own real Safety and Welfare so to do and excellent Argument to perswade if well managed To this Purpose he spake once God's Laws are the Cords of a Man and his Commands are the Bonds of Love laid upon Men by God for their own Good and without which it could not be well with them Let me ask any one that desires to be lawless this Question Wouldst thou that God should have nothing at all to do with thee That God should leave thee in this Wilderness thou art walking in to thy self and say I know thee not I will have nothing to do with thee Nay leave not all Care of me would'st thou say Withdraw not all Providence from me For then I shall have neither Food nor Rayment I shall have neither Comfort nor Support I shall have neither Health nor Life if God disclaim me and Providence will have nothing to do with me Why Friend I may say in some Sense his Commandments are his Providence in which and under which only thou mayest have Prosperity and Safety As Solomon once to Shimei Stay in Jerusalem and thou shalt be well but know that if e'er thou go over the Brook Kidron thou art but a dead Man Sinner keep within the Bounds of God's Commandments and it will be well with thee and God will be with thee But transgress those Bounds and thou art got where good Providence dwells not God and his good Providence dwell as I may say within the Verge and Compass of his Commandments As in Rev. iv 3 He and his Throne are encompassed with a Rainbow the Sign of his Covenant Keep thou within the Bounds and Compass of his Commandments and and thou art where God is where Mercy is where good Providence is But get out of these Bounds transgress his Commandments thou art then where God is not and where good Providence and Mercy have no Habitation Shimei is gone over the Brook Kidron and he is under Solomon's Protection no more but under the Doom of Death and Danger He mightily preached up a Conformity to the Will of God shewing how this fitted qualified and disposed to the highest Perfection of Man's Nature Thus speaking once of the Saints in Glory he turned his Speech to them after this manner O happy Souls you have attained now to that Perfection for which God created reasonable Creatures viz. To be resolved wholly into the Likeness of God by having your Wills resolved into his And could this ever be done unless the Work were begun here These blessed Souls while here made it their Work to do the Will of God and still were striving that their Will might be agreeable to his Will And now they find that what they did was worth all their Labour And the more they did of his Will the more they were sâ—â—ting for this happy Condition For do but consider how keeping the Commandments and doing the Will of God does dress and prepare for the Enjoyment of God I might observe here how the more a Man keeps the Commandments of God the less Guilt he contracts to himself and the less Barr there is between him and Heaven I might observe that the more he keeps the Commandments the more Comfort of Conscience he gets to himself and the more Hope of Reward in Glory Every good thing he does in doing the Wiâ—l of God lays on a Brick towards the building up his own Hope and Comfort of a blessed Reward But consider we only the thing under this Notion that the more a Man keeps the Commandments the more he purifies himself refines and fits himself for the Embraces of God and his Enjoyment No gross corrupt muddy fleshly thing can unite to God Flesh and Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For that is too gross and muddy to come into that Place of Purity and Holiness No unclean thing must come into the New Jerusalem but what is refined purified and holy
Mark vi the latter end of ver 6. Mat. ix ver 35 36 37 38. Sect. 40. That piece of ver 6. in Mark vi is enough for the Dependance SECT XLI Mat. x. all the Chapter and ver 1. of Chap. xi Mark vi ver 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. Luke ix ver 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sect. 41. The Coherence is so plain that it is not to be doubted of SECT XLII Mark vi from ver 14 to ver 30. Matth. xiv from the beginning to ver 12. Luke ix ver 7 8 9. Sect. 42. _____ SECT XLIII Mat. xiv from ver 12 to the end Mark vi from ver 30 to the end Luke ix from ver 10 to ver 18. John vi from the beginning to ver 22. Sect. 43. _____ SECT XLIV John vi from ver 22 to the end Sect. 44. The Coherence of the preceding Sections needed no Demonstration In the last Section in John vi 4 he speaketh of Christ's third Passover being near when Christ doth this Miracle of multiplying the Loaves and walking on the Sea In this Section you have him in Capernaum Synagogue and from thence doubtless he goes up to Jerusalem to his third Passover And now hath he but one Year to his Passion Non displicuisse meretur Festinat qui placuisse MEDITATIONS UPON SOME Abstruser Points of Divinity AND EXPLANATIONS Of Divers Difficult Places of Holy Scripture In Three DECADS THE HEADS OF THE Ensuing Discourses DECAD I. I. THAT the long Successes of some Sinners do not suppose a total Freedom from a just Sentence but only a Deferring the Execution II. Sin as it exposeth to Punishment hereafter so it is a present Punishment in the Act. III. A Meditation explanatory on the Book of Ecclesiastes IV. The Sin and Punishment of the Golden Calf explained V. How Israel was given up to Idolatry and yet remained a long while after God's People VI. The Case of Widows marrying again considered VII Wantonness unchristian VIII The Fear which seized our Saviour at his Passion innocent IX The Case of Jacob when he wrestled with the Angel explained X. An Inquiry into the Reason of Hezekiah's Tears upon God's Message to him that he must die DECAD II. I. AN Inquiry what Strength that was David requested when he prayed to God to spare him that he might recover Strength Psal. xxxix 13 II. The Necessity of Government explained from this Text Judges xvii 6 In those Days there was no King in Israel but every Man did that which was right in his own Eyes III. Who the SONS of God are and the calling of the Gentiles explained from Rom. viii 21 Because the Creature it self also shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God IV. The Christian's Holiness as well as his future Happiness stiled GLORY V. An Elucidation of Heb. x. 26 27. If we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries VI. Some Description of the Death and Doom of an ungodly Man VII A Meditation upon the Widow's Mite VIII A Meditation and Explanation of the HOPE of Christians according to the Apostle's Account of it Heb vi 17 18 19 20. XI An Inquiry why the Jews were so importunate with Christ for Signs and Wonders and why he was so backward to gratifie their Curiosity therein X. An Explanatory Discourse of the Fall and Punishment of Angels DECAD III. I. An Inquiry which is most to be esteemed Evangelical Holiness or Absolute Perfection II. An Explanation of those Words of our Saviour That Servant that knew his Lord's Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many Stripes But he that knew not and did commit Things worthy of Stripes shall be beaten with few Stripes Luke xii 47 48. III. An Inquiry why God appointed the Jews a Carnal Ceremonious Institution IV. A Meditation upon the Length of Time the Second Temple was in Building Forty and Six Years was this Temple in Building John ii 20 V. How the Face and Back-parts of God Exod. xxxiii 20 23. are to be understood VI. An Inquiry what that first Resurrection is Revel xx 5 VII An Examination into the Reason of that Eruption of the Apostle O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! Rom. xi 33 VIII Asa's perfect Heart how reconcilable with his Sufferance of the High Places XI In what Sense the Apostle thanks God that the believing Romans had been the Servants of Sin X. The Papists the Millenaries and the Traditionary Jews confuted from that Place Whom the Heavens must contain until the times of Restitution of all Things c. Act. iii. 21 MEDITATIONS UPON SOME Abstruser Points of Divinity AND EXPLANATIONS Of Divers Difficult Places of Holy Scripture DECAD I. I. That the long Successes of some Sinners do not suppose a total Freedom from a just Sentence but only a Deferring the Execution IN Authors and Writings in the Chaldee Language we find a Thousand Times over the Word which we translate SENTENCE in Eccles. viii 11 Because Sentence against an evil Work is not executed speedily c. But in all the Hebrew of the Bible we hardly find it above once more besides the abovesaid Place namely Esth. i. 20 where the Determination of Aâ—asuerus for the unqueening of Vashti is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Decree of the King The Word in the Chaldee doth primarily and properly signifie A Word and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Words And nothing is more frequent in that Language Our English hath render'd it A Sentence in that Place of Ecclesiastes and A Decree in that of Esther Where the Chaldee Translator useth both Senses and renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word of the Decree I observe this the rather because the Sentence of God against Evil is in his Word Uttered and in his Mind Decreed In his Mouth and in his Heart The Lord hath Spoken it the Lord hath Decreed it How infinite in Scripture are Passages of this Nature and Purpose Such and such Judgments shall come For the Lord hath SPOKEN it This is the PURPOSE of the Lord the DECREE of the Lord the WORD of the Lord against such and such Sins And do we read them and can we doubt whether there be a SENTENCE against an evil Work Do not all the Instances and Examples of Judgments and Vengeance executed in Scripture also prove this Truth from the Doom upon Cain in the Beginning of Genesis to the Doom of Babylon in the End of the Revelations And may not this be an Answer or Resolution about all the Judgments that have been in the VVorld that they have been because there is a Sentence against an evil VVork VVhy the old VVorld perished by VVater Sodom by Fire Because there is a Sentence
Dead shall hear c. and he speaks distinctly of the General Resurrection at ver 28. But the raising of the Dead that he means here is the raising of the Heathen from the Death of Sin to the Life of Righteousness The Heathen that had lyen 2200 Years in Darkness and the Shadow of Death that had been dead in Trespasses and Sins Eph. ii 1 Buried in all Idolatry Ignorance Darkness Wickedness and Abhomination from the Confusion at Babel When Christ came and sent his Voice among them by the Gospel these dead Souls lived as it were come out of Death and the Graves to the Life of Grace Holiness and the Obedience of the Gospel And this is that first Resurrection mentioned Rev. xx 5 when the old Serpent the Devil was bound up by the Chain of the Gospel So that he could no more deceive the Nations as ver 3. That he should no more delude the poor Heathen with Idols and Oracles and Miracles and such Delusions as he had done This is the first Resurrection Here is a Resurrection the great Work of Christ and a great End of his Coming But it is a Resurrection of Souls vile Souls to make them Glorious like his Soul Souls changed with a great and blessed Change from Death to Life This is the mighty Work of a Resurrection Observe how the Apostle sets it out Eph. i. 19 What is the exceeding Greatness of his Power to usward that believe according to the working of his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the Dead God's bringing Men to believe his changing them from the State of Nature and Unbelief into the State of Grace and Faith is the great exceeding great Work of God's Power Such a mighty Working as that was when God raised Christ from the Dead A first Resurrection And take that withal Rev. xx 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection On such the Second Death hath no Power Either we must have a Part in the First Resurrection the raising of the Soul from the Death of Sin and Unbelief or never Blessed never Holy never escape the Power of the Second Death VII An Examination into the Reason of that Eruption of the Apostle O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! Rom. xi 33 THE Cause of which Admiration lyes in the Verse before For God hath concluded them all in Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all A strange Conclusion Doth it not almost speak to this Sense they all became Unbelievers that they might become Believers He hath concluded all under Darkness that he might bring them to Light Like Elias pouring Water where he meant to fetch out Fire The 25th Verse of that Chapter will help to clear this Matter very pregnantly Brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant of this Mystery that Blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the Fulness of the Gentiles be come in Blindness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Parts is happened unto Israel for that is his meaning And for the Observation of it take notice of these two Things I. That the Apostle throughout the whole Chapter never names the Jews but Israel Because he is treating of the whole Seed of Israel Not the Jews only of the two Tribes but the Israelites of the ten Tribes also II. The Seed of Israel then considered in general had Blindness happened to them In Parts First The ten Tribes were blinded by Jeroboam's Idolatry and that was their Ruin and Casting off Then the two Tribes were blinded by their Traditions And that was their Ruin also and Casting off Now this is the Mystery which he would not have them ignorant of that whereas the Gentiles were blinded also as well as Israel and before and longer than Israel and that there were many Prophesies and Predictions that they should be at last unblinded and come to the Light it pleased God to conclude Israel under Blindness too first the ten Tribes and then the two till the Gentiles should be unblinded by the coming in of the Light of the Gospel and then Israel is unblinded also Viz. That Remnant of them that belonged to the Election of Grace as he speaks ver 5. Thus God concluded all under Blindness all under Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all the Gentiles under Unbelief the ten Tribes under Unbelief and the two Tribes under Unbelief that at length he might as he did at the bringing in of the Gospel shew Mercy unto all in bringing Jew Gentile and Israelite to believe And observe what he saith in the next Verses before As ye O Romans who are Gentiles in time past have not believed yet now have obtained Mercy through their Unbelief So these Israelites also now have not believed that through your Mercy they might obtain Mercy Their Unbelief hath caused God to hearken unto you O Gentiles for his Church and to bring you to believe hereby was great Mercy to you And through this Mercy to you the Gospel rising and shining to you thus bringing you to believe Mercy also ariseth to them in the same shining of the Gospel that they also may believe Here is Mercy to Gentile Mercy to Jew Mercy to Israelite God hath concluded all under Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all And therefore O! the Depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God VIII Asa's perfect Heart how reconcileable with his Sufferance of the High Places IT is said concerning Asa King of Judah Nevertheless Asa his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his Days 1 Kin. xv 14 A Humane Chronicler is not able to say Such an one's HEART was perfect 〈…〉 because he is not able to discern what the Heart 〈◊〉 He writes the Story of a Man's Actions he cannot write the Story of his Heart because he cannot know it But he that held the Pen and wrote these sacred Chronicles the Holy Ghost saw the Carriage of all Actions saw the secret Frame and Temper of all Hearts and he was able to give Judgment of them whether they were good or evil and he could not but give right Judgment How happy then is this good Man of whom he gives this true and most noble Testimony Asa his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his Days A more renowned Memorial than what all your Chroniclers can say concerning Alexander the Great Julius Cesar Tamerlane or the great Conquerors of the World Their Story is like that Appearance of Elias at Mount Horeb a dreadful Earthquake a tearing Wind a devouring Fire In their Story nothing but blustering in the World and blundering of Nations Sword and Blood and Fire and Plunder This is all the Noise and Sound of their Fame But happy is he that comes off with such a soft sweet still Voice as this Nevertheless Asa 's Heart c. The first Word Nevertheless doth bring in an Excuse or Pleading for Asa in