am and without the grace of God assisting the perfectest that ever were among the sonnes of men Christ only excepted had not power of themselves one houre to subsist In this then let mee cheere vp my heart that if I fall into drunkennesse I have a Noah to raise me when I am truly grieved if into adultery I haue a David to support mee when my heart is truly affected with his penitentiall Psalme if into pride of heart I have an Hezekiah to restore mee when the same heart is with godly sorrow truly humbled If I fall into plaine impaciencie murmure and repining I have a Moses a Iob a Ieremy a Ionah to direct mee when vnto a more sober and setled spirit with them I am returned Let this vse be made of the Saints faylings to comfort vs in our infirmities not to animate vs in any wilfull impieties Children they are not of God but of Belial who doe this latter Thirdly In the third place since it is a Prophet that here complaineth and we have observed the like complaints of sundry the Prophets in the examination of this doctrine more then of any other kinds and professions of men whatsoever Let the Prophets and Ministers of God from hence learne somewhat to their instruction at least-wise a right iudgement of the calling and businesse they take in hand Qui desiderat Episcopatum c. saith the Apostle he that desires the office of Bishop or of some inferiour Pastor and Teacher in the Church he desires a good worke But now worke hath painfulnesse and this by few I am sure is desired and if the calling may bee honourable yet sure it is not easefull Cursed is that man especially in this high and holy function that divideth what God hath ioyned together honour and labour or that ioyneth what God hath separated ease and honour The Angels of God the higher in nature the more quicke and diligent are they in their service to God and to his Church and the Prophets of God are called Angels and the Angels Ministers and fellow-servants with them Hee that shall with Atlas vnder-proppe the heavens or with David who was a Prophet beare vp the pillars of the earth no marveile if he groane sometimes And thinke not that it was not for nothing that Ionah here was thus besides himselfe and so iudge of the former complaints of those good Prophets mentioned that they did proceede from the grievous pressures and waight of those burdens which in the waightie charge of their callings they have sustained The names wherewith I finde the calling named may partly instruct vs herein Seers are they called and o how long wilt thou cause mee to behold or see grievance saith one of them Hab. 1. Shepheards they are called and well may say with Iacob Thus was it with mee in the day time the heate consumed mee and the frost by night and my sleepe departed from mine eyes Gen. 31. Are they not also called Watch-men and to them the voyce calleth Watch-man what of the night Watch-man what of the night A Lyon my Lord a Lyon the roaring Lyon that goes about seeking whom hee may devoure Watch yee stand yee fast quit your selves like men I stand I stand continually vpon the Watch-tower saith the Prophet Isaiah in the day time and I am set in my Ward whole nights you know to what end to fore-see dangers Lastly they are called Fishers Matth. 4. and here they must resolve to grapple with many an hideous storme If Peter and Andrew will follow Christ they shall catch soules but withall must looke to finde a sea of trouble of it when once they have launched out into the deepe O that this were considered of at Naioth in Ramah and in the Schooles of the Prophets The Lacedaemonians had their Palastram or place of exercise for the youth that afterwards they might make choice of tryed souldiers against the times of needfull warre What are those houses before named in the right intendment but improovements vnto noble fortitude that with the Priests of God who sounded the trumpets of old the Priests of these dayes may proove incouragers to the Lords people in the Lords battels against sinne and wickednesse Diogenes vpon a time comming into the tent of Philip King of Macedon was askt by him if he came as a spye yea quoth he for I come to spye out thy folly and madnesse who being not constrained by any necessitie doest set as it were vpon the dicing board both thy life and kingdome Are not we according to the best acception in as high honour as ever was the Macedonian Philip doth not the neglect of our office draw with it as great danger as his folly How is it then that we who should bee leaders to the Lords people have cloathed our selves with the fashions and humours of the times in stead of the compleate Armour commended by Saint Paul to the Ephesians have put on the sword of infidelitie the girdle of licentiousnesse the breast-plate of vnrighteousnesse the shield of infidelitie Whooredome and wine and new wine take away the heart was the complaint of old We have not lessoned but added to the account chambering and wantonnesse Tobacco too and drunkennesse are the sins of these dayes and which is worst of all I would not speake it the Prophets doe eate vp the sins of the people O that my head were a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for the sinnes of the Prophets For the leaders of my people cause them to erre saith the Lord leading them into blinde pathes and crooked waies and they shall stumble and fall together and none shall raise them vp saith the Lord. The case indeede must needs proove desperate when they who should support doe stand in neede of supportation and they who should be raisers vnto others are themselves down Awake for shame oh yee of the stocke and stemme of Levi and let Aarons rod flourish in your hands or else resolve to burne eternally Breake forth into thunder o yee sonnes of thunder and let the trumpet yet sound louder Are not we the men who are now even now to prepare a people against our Masters second comming and is the spirit of Eliah thinke you sufficient for vs now is the time to be zealous or never or never O let the people of God pray for the Priests of God O let the Priests of God whose office calles for more zeale now then did the former dayes looke well into their office if not so farre as to distast the same with Ionah yet to have a more considerate regard and to be more sensible of so sacred and Angelicall a function and not to prepare thereto as the most doe with myrth and Ioviality Neither is my speech wholly to these a word of exhortation would not doe amisse to the Prophets of God in earnest who having in sinceritie vndertaken the calling doe finde truly the burden of it Let them not
the fire without melting And for this cause neyther was it the voyce of the Lord proceeding immediately from his spirit which spake to Ionah here or to any of his Prophets elsewhere For as no man hath seene his shape so neyther hath any man heard his voyce at any time as sayth our Saviour Ioh. 5.37 The voyce of the Lord sayth David is powerfull the voyce of the Lord is full of maiestie c. but in his Temple doth everie man speake of his glory And truly vnlesse wee first take comfort in hearing the Lords voyce in his Temple and that by the Ministery of man daily delivered wee shall take little pleasure in hearing the Lords owne voyce which shall shake both heaven and earth much more the consciences of all sinners when he shall show himselfe in farre more dreadfull manner then once he did vpon Mount Sinai But how came the voyce to Ionah I have showen you negatively how not was it then in audible manner from without audible or rather intelligible it was to Ionah but in secret and from within like that still small voyce that came to Eliah The Lord spake vnto Iob but out of the whirl-winde and Job therewith grew humbled before a man most daring And I thinke had there to this voyce in what kinde soever it came to Jonah beene ioyned but some powerfull signe of the Lords presence Ionah durst not then have carryed himselfe so petulantly if the Lord had spoken to him whither out of the whirlewinde as to Iob or out of the flaming bush as to Moses or out of the storme as to Eliah or in a more excelling vision as vnto Daniel as vnto Iohn Rev. 1. He durst not then have replyed as he doeth much lesse if as he is in his owne ineffable existency had God spoken durst he once to have muttered It is true the Lord doeth sometimes speake audibly striking the outward sense of man as by the Trumpet which called vnto Iohn Revel 4. Againe sometimes hee hath revealed himselfe visibly to the eye of mans body and so he did to the young man with Elisha the Prophet 2. Kings 6.17 and to Paul Actes the 9.3 Sometimes againe and that very vsually vnder the time of the old Law he hath revealed his will to the fantasie or imagination and that by a dreame in the night Lastly and that most specially and most inwardly of all hath the Lord made knowen his purpose to the minde of man his intellective or vnderstanding part as the most essentiall part of man and most capable of Divine revelation But this last hath not happened alwayes after one kinde and manner but sometimes after a more abstracting and ravishing sort the man for the present being so disposed that hee knowes not whether his spirit bee in or out of his body at the lestwise the spirit being for the time deprived the vse of any the senses that it may attend the better to heavenly visions Thus was Ezekiel carryed out of himselfe into the valley of dry bones Paul into the third heavens thus fell Peter into his trance Sometimes againe to come to the question in hand and this most commonly to his Seruants the Prophets the Lord hath given his word or his signe by a secret instinct or inspiration Thus was the manner of olde and that thus it was with Ionah in this place may appeare by the context in comparing this speech with the precedent verse where is set downe that Ionah fainting wished in himselfe to die and said it was better for him to die then live This wish or speech of Jonah was secret within himselfe no eare heard it but the Lord and so the Lord in secret againe doth answer him and hee againe answers to the Lord. The Lord saide to Ionah and Ionah saide to the Lord the manner and carriage of which saying and interchange of speech as it was secret and silent so no thoughts could vnderstand but the heart of Ionah and the Lord only Shall we now apply this the Author to the Hebrewes hath done it in these words God who did in times past at divers times and sundry waies speake vnto the Fathers the Prophets have in these last daies spoken to vs by his owne Sonne whom hee hath appointed heire of all things by whom he made the worlds Now which kinde of speakings had you rather choose whither by seruants in the house or him that hath made the house and is heire of all Some there be who say O that we had lived in the daies of the Prophets or the Prophets now in our daies for then should we be vifited with new revelations and visions from the Lord. Hence spring vp almost in all ages those Anabaptisticall spirits pretending daily new revelations but inspired from hell to leade away vnstable soules which will not content themselues with the sound doctrine of the Gospel delivered by Christ Iesus the only Sonne of God To this end also have the Ministers of Antichrist devised new traditions and vnwritten verities to feed the humour of such men that they all might bee damned saith Saint Paul who beleeve not the truth but have pleasure in vnrighteousnesse in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians O remember the saying before that God spake divers times and diversly to the Fathers the Prophets none of them for the time being able to deliver an absolute forme of doctrine but as expecting daily somethings yet to bee added they waited for further revelations or inspirations from above And shall we expect that doctrine which they left imperfect to be made vp or perfected by the giddy spirits or furious phantasies of such who come like the old Prophets I have dreamed I have dreamed O no God hath spoken to vs in these last dayes by his Sonne the heyre of all who came out of his Fathers bosome and therefore hath revealed his whole will concerning our salvation and the means thereof and the same to remaine without any addition alteration or change to the end of the world he hath also sealed the same by the witnesse of his spirit in the hearts of all beleevers so that we may say with Peter whether shall we goe from thee for thou hast the word of Life c. To conclude since Saint Iohn wrote his revelation which he received from Christ there is to be looked for no other Revelation whether from Angels or men but cursed is he that addeth or taketh away from the words of the Booke of this Prophesie or from the writing of any other the Prophets Euangelists Apostles This word of God saith S. Paul to Timothy is able to make the man of God perfect what neede then any other helpe and furtherance perfection being by this word to bee attained vnto a perfection greater then that the fathers before Christ saw a perfection so farre as is conuenient during the state of our mortall life and Pilgrimage here vntill that glorious day in full strength breake out and the
IONAH'S CONTESTATION ABOVT HIS GOVRD IN A SERMON DELIVERED AT Pauls Crosse Septemb. 19. 1624. By R. V. Preacher of Gods Word IONAH 4. vers 9. And God said to IONAH Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd and he said I doe well to be angry even vnto death LONDON Printed by I. L. for Robert Bird and are to be sold at his shoppe at the signe of the Bible in Cheape-side 1625. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Mr. THOMAS AVDLEY ESQVIER SIR Considering with my selfe the over-flowing fancies of these daies the desire beeing growne common vnto each man almost to see himselfe in Print wherein is observable much vanity vnder the Sunne it was not my purpose from the beginning to make publike further then by publishing with open voyce these my poore indigested labours and if by adventuring into the light I be equally censured to fall vnder the same taxation which I have laide vpon the times it would proove but an addition to my vaine attempts to lay the imputation vpon other mens perswasions Thus far notwithstanding in this last particular I must not dissemble that reading the counsell of a faithfull friend who hath iudiciously censured the Diseases of the time and in the first place doth note such who love to write every thing and such who affect to write nothing thing I inclined to his reasons and then overcome well-nigh with a selfe conceit and loue of my owne inventions I began to perswade with my selfe that the purpose halfe-conceived might bee produced really into effect This one thing in serious wise yet faintingly vnder the silent langvage of my pen I doe pronounce how full of Interiections the studie of this Theme was which Sermon-wise I have vnfolded so why may I not againe without suspicion of selfe flattery presume that in the same I have not travelled altogether in vaine but as I discovered some sparkle of new light to the setling of the peace of my owne soule so I trust the perusall hereof shall not proove vngratefull to others who study after patience and to please the Lord with vprightnesse in the land of the living Why with you Sir rather then others I have desired to leave this simple gage of my hearty regard and sincere affection I must confesse that friendly vsage and kinde respect continued since the time you first had sight of mee beyond my merit and the ordinary vse to strangers hath made me not only hold in reverence your liberall disposition this way but also to advance my thoughts higher in a speciall regard vnto Divine providence with patience to expect the issue in this and other occurrents whereof vnto my promised content in private I have made particular application and vnder this name doe crave pardon for my boldnesse if I have erred When Rachel had borne Naphtali shee expressed the travell of her soule by the name shee bestowed vpon the fruit of her body shee had wrastled with much paine in her inward desires before she could bring forth therefore she gave the childes name from wrastling she called him Naphtali Iacob wrastled with God and prevailed and thence is the name bestowed vpon all Gods Elect he is no childe of Israel that is no wrastler Whither it be with our flesh and blood or in an higher kinde with Principalities and Powers or in the highest degree with God himselfe with teares and prayers and strong cries and other whiles with pangs and terrors with griefe with anger anguish and bitternesse of spirit we must all that looke for the blessing wrastle the wrastlings of God Thus Abraham wrastled a long time before he obtained Isaac Isaac wrastled twentie yeeres before he obtained Iacob and Iacob by his wrastling got the name of Israel Rachel was a woman-wrastler when she brought forth Naphtali an example to instruct her weaker Sexe in the like trade of wrastling and Hanna did sustaine a long and grievous wrastling yet in the end shee had power with God and brought forth Samuel Lastly Ionah was a wrastler and so am I Further to expresse which then to the common Reader I doe forbeare for whose sake chiefely I have enlarged those Meditations which were vttered lately in a great assembly have collected them into one forme and doe now make humble offer of them to your gentle intertainment The which kinde of testimonie of my sincere meaning and dutious loue professed to you I have rather made choice of then as the vsuall manner now adaies is to prefixe a large Encomium of titles honours words of Worship and of Worth termes of the highest elevation and straines of the lowest and most prostrate submission with many other superlative peerelesse comparisons and farre fetcht commendations and to place it in the front of their writings in a forme Dedicatory to give lustre to all the pages following whether to the Lords or Ladies Patrones or Patronesses Which kinde of writing as it was never practised by mee so Sir I hope you doe presume the same not to bee affected by you whose retired integritie and vnshaken constancy in the strictest course of mortification doth well witnesse that you more respect the praises of God then of men For which cause I have the more heartily desired an increase of your good opinion towards mee and an happy confirmation of that bond of mutuall good liking whereof I have seene some faire beginnings Accept Sir then of this my kindnesse the fruits of a ready minde the pledge of my love and true observance only as it respecteth you a testification of my good will to Sion and the building vp vnto further holinesse as it resptcteth others not yet growne but groaning vnder their imperfections a fruit of my inward labours strivings my Naphtali my Benoni pained as I was in the conception grieved in the production after as respectēth my selfe and halting yet hopefull indeavours in the vineyard of his Church And so I commend it and my selfe once more to your friendly acceptance and your counsels wishes and whole selfe to his happie guydance who is God of all true comfort and consolation to his chosen Israel and rest An vnfained lover of your Person a studious observer of your Worship R. V. Ionah's Meditation vnder his Arbour TOss't by Sea by Land distrest Ionah here hath found some rest When others live in houses seel'd My bed and boade is in the field What care I then so I may have The comfort which of God I crave Heare Lord O heare now my request Then is thy servant Ionah Blest Advice to Ionah What though with wealth some doe abound Content it springs not from the ground A little to the iust is blest When great revenewes are accurst And Nineveh shall be consum'd Which of her glory hath presum'd But Ionah thou art ignorant A selfe-will'd man and male-content Who measurest the Lords decree According to thy fantasie Therefore thou art now sad now glad Whence is this mutabilitie The Lord the same our nature's bad He
changeth not though chang'd be we Then doe thy office but consider The Gourd that spring's from'th ground will wither IONAH'S CONTESTATION ABOVT HIS GOVRD IN A SERMON DELIVERED AT Pauls Crosse Septemb. 19. 1624. IONAH 4. vers 9. And God said to IONAH Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd and he said I doe well to be angry even vnto death THIS whole Prophesie or Booke of Ionah may well for the state thereof be so conceived as to be borne forth by way of Dialogue or Interlocution betweene the Lord and Him the Argument maintained sometimes directly sometimes indirectly by Word by Signe by Practise by Example The Lord begins The word of the Lord came vnto Ionah the sonne of Amittai c. Ionah answeres disobediently The Lords sends him to one place hee goeth to another Then the Lord speaketh againe but by his creatures opposing his practise against Ionah's and maintaines his Argument by the Windes the Marriners the Whale-fish and so the controvesie descendeth into the bottome of the Sea At the third Chapter Behold A new Scaene of trouble beginneth The word of the Lord came vnto Ionah the second time saying Arise Goe vnto Nineveh that great Citie and Preach vnto it the preaching that I bid thee Here Ionah answeres like an obedient seruant conforming his practise to the Lords command But soone after his Message according to the tenour thereof not taking effect he showes his discontented minde and the same expressed in angry tearmes inwardly conceived by way of expostulation in the beginning of the fourth Chapter Then the Lord enters parley with Ionah after a friendly manner Doest thou well to be angry the Lord replies vpon Ionah by a loving signe and the Lord prepared a gourd c. and thereof Ionah was exceeding glad But now Iterum saeuiunt irae Anger breakes out againe The gourd withers Ionah frets the Lord speakes Ionah answeres the one friendly as before the other frowardly Ionah Doest thou well to be angry yea saith Ionah I doe well to bee angry even vnto death The next words conclude the prophefie and whole disputation directly against Ionah And thus may be conceived the frame and structure of the whole Booke This Text is a plaine part of the Dialogue disputation contestation or contention which you will and herein more particularly are obserueable the parties contending the Lord and Ionah the manner how the contention or controversie is carryed and it is by word or saying God said to Ionah and againe Ionah said to God The matter in question is expressed in the word angry and therein I shall speake of anger somewhat largely the question in speciall is concerning Ionah his anger and therein I shall deale more strictly And thus far on the Lords part The answere of Ionah hath likewise in it these three specialties answerable to the three parts of the former Quere which may easily bee apprehended in the question by the Lord specially directed to Ionah First here is a simple affirmation on Ionah's part the Lords question first implying thus much Ionah art thou angry yea saith Ionah I am angry Secondly a peremptory affirmation or iustification Doest thou well to be angry Ionah yea I doe well to be angry Thirdly a deepe aggravation Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd yea I doe well to be angry vnto death The first Circumstance The parties contending are the Lord and Ionah Impar congressus a most vnequall match and yet Ionah farre the weaker hath also the weaker cause in hand Tu domine fundasticaelos Thou Lord in the beginning hast established the heavens and laide the foundation of the earth and formed the spirit of man within him Great is our God and great is his power his wisedome is infinite Now looke vpon Ionah and who or what is he at the best but a weake and mortall creature a man borne of a woman of few dayes and full of misery hee commeth vp and is cut down like a flower he fleeth as a shadow and abideth not And doest thou open thine eyes vpon such an one bring such one into iudgement with thee saith Iob in the same place Here is instruction for all in places of Superiority let them learne from this one example of the Lord here how to carry themselues towards their inferiours Doth the Lord vouchsafe to reason with Ionah and give him account of his doings who then art thou that doest swell against thy brother and disdainest to answere thy fellow-seruant Drop downe yee heavens from above and let the skies powre downe righteousnesse Woe be to him that striveth with his maker For wee may not search into the Lords counsell further then he hath revealed it is farre more dangerous then to meddle in mans matters but there admire where he hath concealed Howbeit we see to the shame of our pride and scorne of our haughtie stomackes the Lord full often doth not refuse to commit himselfe to the tryall the Iudge to be iudged by vs his vassals Therefore hath he appointed a day wherein he will iudge the world in righteousnesse and the consciences of wicked men who refuse his iudgements now shall be made to acknowledge his iustice then Thus speakes the Apostle and he alleadgeth it out of the Psalmes that thou mightest be instified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art iudged Let then all petty gods take example from this great God whether they be Kings or Rulers or Magistrates or Officers or Masters or Fathers of Families since God is equall towards vs and that the heavens will one day declare let vs learne equitie and faire dealing one towards another This lesson had Iob learnt Chap. 3.13 If I did despise the cause of Man-seruant or Maide-seruant when they contended with mee what shall I doe when God riseth vp and when hee visiteth what shall I answere him Thus shall we walke worthy the title of Gods otherwise breake the teeth of the vngodly and malicious smite out the Iaw-bones of the Lyons O Lord. For such who walke not according to this rule retaine no longer the image of their Maker but are degenerated into Lyons Beares Tygers evening Woolues and so are they called in Scripture The second Circumstance Here the question is how the saying came to Ionah againe how Ionah spake to the Lord. Was it facie ad faciem face to face not so It was a Priviledge of Moses alone Exod. 12. That the Lord would speake to him face to face and this but in a figure too there being intended thereby but only a more familiar kinde of presence or dealing with Moses then with any other the Prophets vntill Christ came for when Moses desired to see the glory of God and his very countenance it was permitted to him only to haue a sight of his Backe-parts while his glory passed by This being a received truth That no man can see God and live I meane the life of Nature more then the waxe can indure the heate of
sheaves Therefore also he saith in another place ah I will ease me of mine aduersaries and avenge me of mine enemies And againe if I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on iudgement I will render vengeance to mine enemies and repay them that hate me But yet he speakes peace vnto his people mercy and loving kindnesse all the day long why will yee die O yee house of Israel I desire not the death of a sinner why art thou all so angry O Ionah I have given thee no iust cause Doest thou well to be angry thus against thy Maker be not so peruerse in thy fury but iudge righteous iudgement The same I say to thee and every one else in particular for the Lords words are both particularly vniuersall and vniversally particular that which at first was delivered to one Tribe is applyable to all Tribes and kindreds of the earth and the word preached to an whole Citie is brought home to some few private consciences and is to be brought home to thine Propound this that hath beene said as thine owne cause and admiring not so much the Lords patience towards Ionah as towards thy selfe aske these questions of thine owne soule Whether thou doe well to deferre thy repentance and turning vnto God so long whether thou doe well at any time to be angry with thy God or with thy brother say oftentimes to thy selfe in thy passion and distemper of minde doe I well to be thus impatient thus fretfull doe I well to be thus vnthankefull to my God to provoke him to grieve his holy Spirit Is it better for mee to inioy God as my Father or as a Iudge a gracious Redeemer or terrible revenger to have my part in his blessed promises by listening vnto his loving admonitions or in those fearefull comminations before mentioned by continuing obstinate An admirable clemencie was it in the Lord in such faire tearmes to treate with Ionah his servant his creature but far greater his loue vnder this forme of reasoning to make Ionah his owne Iudge in the cause by this meanes to reduce him to a more sober minde when as he saith to this effect if thou thinke that thou art hardly dealt withall Ionah at my hand and that I the Lord am no equall Iudge in thy behalfe I referre the cause to thine owne censure lay aside wrath and speake out of a more serious consideration whether thou doe well to be angry Angry with mee about the Gourd Thus if we were wise to take the whole benefite of this example we should not only admire his clemencie but also avoide his iudgements and procure his fauour we being made our owne Iudge as before for if we would iudge our selues we should not be iudged of the Lord as saith the Apostle to the Corinthians The cause of Ionahs anger It is expressed here in the text the Gourd Doest thou well to be angry for the Gourd A silly matter to be angry for yea to be angry with the great God in this regard only But this vndoubtedly is not the only cause but many things besides as vpon this ground doe offer themselues to the minde of Ionah as the sparke to the tinder the match to the sparke Yea indeede Ionah was as an hotte oven damm'd vp seeking vent for he was angry before as may appeare from the second verse of this Chapter he was not well pleased at first now this Gourd doth both increase the heate and makes passage Let vs put vpon vs the person of Ionah and reason the whole matter so farre as by circumstance we are able to collect in his behalfe And first looke wee vnto the office of Ionah He was a Prophet a name of honour so of great labour and molestation pride lookes contemptuously at the function envy weaves many subtill disgraces to bring downe the honour of it all the armies of vices doe bandon against it and he who hath vndertaken this office must show himselfe a profest enemie to the times iniquities Ionah was a Prophet So he was a Prophet to those revolting Tribes of Israel of whose incorrigiblenesse all the other Prophets have complained And now after that he hath wearied and spent himselfe among these hee is sent vnto a stout-hearted people the Ninevites And what hope of better fruit and successe of his labours amongst an vnbeleeving nation Or if perchance they proove beleeving and repent then is the credite of his message called in question this made him at the first to flye to Tarshish Now after so many iournyings by land and tossings by sea he takes vp his lodging in the belly of a Whale-fish He is out of that nastie place deliuered as out of the mouth of hell and now is commanded the second time for Nineveh And now Ionah must put on a firme resolution either to be slaine or else derided if the feare of God be not in the place then Ionah hath spoken words the land is not able to beare Flee oh thou seer and escape for thy life Or if the feare of God doe worke in their hearts to repentance and amendment then hearke to Ionah I pray thee O Lord saith he was not this my saying when I was yet in my owne countrey therefore I fled before vnto Tarshish for I knew that thou art a gracious God c. Now after all these labours after all these dolours some poore refreshment springs vp to Ionah a Gourd from the ground to comfort Ionah's head in this great disquiet and paine of Ionah's heart The Lord prepared a Gourd to overshadow Ionah's head and therewith he was content to forget his present myserie for now thinkes he the Lord begins to remember my affliction and flatters himselfe from this conceit that the Lord will proceede to adde further consolation and herein Ionah was exceeding glad of the Gourd But behold on the suddaine all his mirth is marr'd Ionah's reioycing lasteth but for a night Ionah awakes in the morning and finds the Gourd quite decayed and all his pleasure therewith vanished Thus am I crossed saith Ionah every way thus am I mocked thus deceiued thus am I altogether and on all sides vexed And it came to passe saith the text when the Sun did arise that God prepared a vehement East-winde and the Sunne beate vpon the head of Ionah that he fainted and wished in himselfe to dye and said It is better for me to dye then to live Now saith God to Ionah thus many reasons no doubt and many more in his thoughts being amassed together Ionah Doest thou well to be angry or art thou exceeding angry yea saith Ionah I am exceeding angry yea I doe well to be angry to the death You see the cause or rather causes of Ionah's anger to content my selfe with one onely observation let vs learne from hence thus much for our instruction Namely from the orderly or rather disorderly working of Ionah's passions the present being vsed as an instrument to rake vp the
cleere example of all others vpon Moses that man of God and Prophet likewise greater then whom none did rise till Christ came He is reported for the meekest man vpon the earth then living yet cannot be excused for speaking vnadvisedly with his lippes at the waters of Meribah Or if we could be content to passe by this what shall we say to that which fell out a little after the consumption at Taberah What great reason had Moses there to grow weary of his charge so weary that he desired to dye so desirous of death that he prayeth the Lord to slay him as plainly appeareth in the 11. Chapter of Numbers Is this the meeke man spoken of yea let him be so accounted secundum partem saniorem so that yet wee suffer not Ionah to want a companion in his impaciencie and my text receive confirmation from his example in like manner Come we to Eliah one that rode vp to heaven in a fierie Chariot called by a Father a Waggoner in the ayre a man ordained for reproofes saith Syrach Yet a man subiect to the same passions with others and not voyde of reproofe himselfe It proceeded from the heate of his spirit when he fell into that mistake as if there were none righteous but hee alone But whereas he saith O Lord take away my life he sympathiseth directly with the words of Ionah before my text who wished in himselfe to dye and said it is better for me to dye then live And however I cannot bee bold to say that he would have returned the same answere with this of Ionah in the defence of his anger yet sure God might well at that time have put the same question to him which is to Ionah Doest thou well to be angry Eliah I neede not to say much of Iob nor doe I finde him ranked among the Prophets yet sure he is well worthy to bee honoured with the title You have heard of the patience of Iob saith Iames t is true and of his great impatience too who knowes not that who is but meanely converst in his story or the substance of reasoning by his owne hand left in writing Now come we to Ieremy of whom and to whom I finde the Lord himselfe thus speaking See saith he I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdomes to roote out and to pull downe and to destroy and to throw downe to build and to plant But how much griefe and vexation this cost him you may behold In the fifteenth Chapter I heare him pleading thus woe is mee my mother that thou hast borne mee a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth In the twentieth Chap. thus O Lord thou hast deceived mee and I was deceived thou art stronger then I and hast prevailed I am in derision daily every one mocketh mee Who saith that Ieremy had not iust cause to be angry sure vnlesse himselfe had thought and beene perswaded so hee would never have broken out into these tearmes of heate and displeasure against the Almighty But towards the end of the same Chapter he growes horne-madde and then hee falles to cursing Iobs fit hath taken him and thus he takes on Cursed be the day wherein I was borne saith he let not the day wherein my mother bare mee be blessed Cursed be the man who brought tydings to my father saying a man-childe is borne vnto thee making him very glad And let that man bee as the Cities which God overthrew and repented not and let him heare the cry in the morning and the shouting at noonetyde And why Ieremy and why because hee slew mee not from the wombe saith he or that my mother might have bin my grave and her wombe to be alwaies great with me Behold a man even drunke with sorrow and thus hee reeles and thus he staggers yet an holy Prophet a man sanctified from the wombe Take but one example more and in a word let Ezechiel be the man prophesying at the same time and perplexed with the like vexations in his calling He was most vnwilling to goe amongst them of the captivitie howbeit when needs he must in this manner doth he expresse it The spirit lifted mee vp and tooke mee away and I went in bitternesse in the heate of my spirit or hot anger but the hand of the Lord was strong vpon me Chapter 3. What now then shall we say to these things since such sturdy oakes Ionah Ieremy Iob Eliah Moses by the violent blasts of temptations are laide flat vpon the ground what shall we say to these things 1. First as before I saide againe I say let him that thinketh he stands take heede least he fall If it were so that wee could command the winds from blowing or beate downe the foming sea if we could restraine the bottles of heaven or repeale the crackes of thunder then happily we might square out the limits and appoint the measure of our most wished peacefulnesse and drinke downe pleasures as Leuia than the river Iordan But when I heare the groanes of dying men doe see the gaspings as it were of many after breath when I heare the horrible rage and rushing of the billowes mightie flawes renting downe the tackling When strong men fall downe wounded the valiant ones cry bitterly and the shield of the mightie be broken alas for me then thinke I how shall I bee able to stand in the day of battell David was not well advised when he said in his posteritie I shall never bee mooved thou Lord of thy favour hadst made my hill so strong What followes vpon the same thou diddest hide thy face and I was troubled The place is remarkable concerning Hezekiah in the history of the Kings of Iudah where it is said that in such a businesse the Lord left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heart Alas what vertue is in vs and what power to vanquish evill is all from heaven whose influence if it descend not into our fraile soules wee presently send forth cryes as from the depth of hell Adam left vnto himselfe in Paradise fell so did Hezekiah so did Salomon the most glorious King that ever swayed a scepter And hence proceede even all those bitter words of the holyest Saints that ever lived to shew that their holynesse was not inherent properly in their owne persons for which cause the most sanctifyed have ever retained the most sober and humble conceits in themselves of themselves And therefore away with all proud and swelling thoughts of the flesh and againe I say let him that thus thinketh he stands take heede least he fall Secondly So againe in the second place to comfort weake ones in their manifold slippes and falles this doctrine may not vnfitly be applyed For why I am not a Moses I am not an Eliah a Iob a Ionah or a Ieremy a meaner portion of grace shall content mee Howbeit by the grace of God I am that I
faint nor be discouraged an end shall be and their expectation shall not perish for ever though in the meane time they beare the heate and burden of the day and the harvest be great and Labourers few Let them take courage and grow yet bolder to oppose against the face of all such who cast durt and dishonour into the profession Let them not grow impatient with Ionah though with him tossed by sea and land the time is at hand wherein Michael our Archangel shall descend causing them who have slept in the graves to awake and they who have converted soules shall shine as the Starres in glory but they who have subverted soules shall be turned into the darknes of Gehenna Thus farre have I beene bold with my brethren of the same profession I would be loath so to determine my application since the case of Ionah in the iustification of his anger against God is not particular only to him but may well be applyed as more generall and common Fourthly Give me leave in the fourth place therefore to examine his words in a larger sense whether ever either thee or I or any of vs have not beene in the excesse of this passion so farre mis-carryed that in our persons this speech of Ionah be not too truly verified I doe well to be angry against the Lord. It is to be wished that we were all in grace so well confirmed that Saint Iames doctrine were well grounded in vs my brethren count it all ioy when yee fall into divers temptations But as it is with vs the exhortation of Saint Peter is not needlesse Beloved thinke it not strange concerning the fiery tryall as if some new thing were happened to you For iudgement must begin at the house of God and hereat the righteous full oft-times proove dismayed Whether it be his owne sinnes the waight whereof presse heavy and he cries yea roares and cannot be heard Whether it be the iniquities of the times as a man borne downe with a violent streame whether oppression in iudgement and violent perverting of iustice able to make a wise man madde Whether the scourge of tongues and malediction of sinners whether the secure estate of such as feare not God and the flourishing of scornes a shrewd temptation whether his owne neglected innocency or meekenesse trampled vnder by the feet of the wealthy Whether dereliction of friends losse in estate poverty sickenesse or what other disease of the time Or lastly Ionah his plague to sustaine continuall molestation in his calling and to be tossed vp and downe I doubt not but I have touched the grievances of many one who heares mee this day Hence come those dolorous pangs fearefull distempers despairing cryes those fighes those groanes that beating of the breast that stamping with the foote Ezekiels signes of mourning In briefe that cursing of the day of our nativities and why were wee borne to such hard conditions O that the grave had beene my wombe or the wombe alwaies great with mee Non est dolor sicut dolor meus No man ever so plagued so troubled so crossed as I am and I see no reason no cause for all this nor end of all my sufferings This to be the case of every of vs who can deny sometime or other and all this heate to be discharged directly or indirectly against the face of God The Lord doth send vs troubles many times to see how we will beare his yoke but we are like a young Heifer or Bullocke vnaccustomed to the yoke how oft have wee beene offended with our state our calling or condition Behold Israel after the flesh why came wee into the wildernesse say they why here is no water to drinke why dyed we not in Aegypt here 's no bread to eate no cloathes to put on and now must we live vpon the bread of providence onely say we We know God can provide such things as are needfull in this life for his children but why doth he not He hath promised that no good thing shall be wanting to such as feare before him and seeke the righteousnesse of his kingdome But wee see the contrary full often wherefore is Lazarus laid at the rich mans doore to be releeved with his crummes and Iob the richest man in the East and one that feareth God too become poore even to a Proverbe Why is Naboth most vniustly stoned and his field given away to an other why is Ioseph a good man cast into prison and Ieremy an holy Prophet into the dungeon and Daniel into the Lyons denne Are these things done in a well ordered Common-wealth now God seemes to take lesse care in the behalfe of his people then an indifferent King for his subiects Sure oppression makes a wise man mad saith Salomon and is not here iust cause of anger or else of Atheisme For is there not a God iudging the world or if there be why are not matters ordered in better fashion then as we see Cast wee now our eyes vpon the wealthy ones of this world and such who care not for God their eyes stare out with fatnes and they doe even what they list saith David their Tabernacles are safe from feare neither is the rod of God vpon them saith Iob their Bull gendreth and faileth not their Cow calveth and casteth not her Calfe they send forth their little ones like a flocke and their children dance they take the timbrell and harpe and reioyce at the sound of the Organe This made David to have beene almost of the same mind as they and to have cast in his lot amongst them This very consideration made Iob astonished very much And Ieremy could not forbeare but he saith Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let mee talke with thee of thy iudgements Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper wherefore are all they happy that deale very treacherously Thou hast planted them yea they have taken roote they grow they bring forth fruit thou art neere in their mouth and farre from their reines Shall I proceed yet farther to say nothing of the common broyles which at this day eate into the bowels of Christendome the adversaries of Zion prevailing and setting vp their banners for tokens How infinite might I be to reckon vp particulars wherein each man finds himselfe aggrieved for from him that weares the purple and the crowne to him that is cloathed with a linnen frocke tribulation and distresse and anguish is vpon all the sonnes of Adam saith the sonne of Syrach Why was I borne blinde saith one and I borne deafe and I borne lame saith a second and a third to bee a creeple a scorne and derision to the world No man content with his state but why was it so with me why is it not otherwise with me a company of wrangling pots are we thus to reason with the great Potter thus to cavill with our Maker why hast thou made mee thus I like this fashion better then this
and why hast thou not made me so and doe we not oftentimes breake in the marring while we seeke to mend Gods making O but the times are very badde wherein we live who can be patient to consider well on it We live in dogged dayes the last and worst of times wee seeke peace but cannot obtaine it O thou false tongue what reward shall be given or done vnto thee thou false tongue Woe is me that I am constrained to dwell in Mesech and among the tents of Kedar O that I had the wings of a Dove I would flye away I would be gone I said I would make hast to escape because of the stormes winde and tempest but because I cannot therefore is my soule vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate Now besides and beyond all this what 's our hope what 's our consolation The Lord hath promised to bring vs vnto an everlasting rest an heavenly Canaan but how shall we doe if he slay vs before we get thither the sea is before vs the enemy behind vs with manifold discouraging impediments in this our iourney Ogge the king of Basan the divell with his infernall legions and gates and barres of brasse to keepe vs out Why doth he leade vs about by the wildernesse a long tedious and dangerous iourney since there is a farre more ready way from Kadesh Barnea vnto the confines of Canaan the land of promise Thus he workes by contraries still Why could not the Lord take vs presently vnto his rest without all this adoe thinkes flesh and blood vnlesse hee send vs into the sea againe where already we have hardly escaped drowning The billowes o the roaring billowes the waters of the sea rage horribly and we are horribly afraide save Master or we perish Thus he workes by contraries we have here no continuing Citie but seeke one to come we looke for walles and bulwarkes but here are exposed to all kinds of iniurious sufferings We looke for ioy but here is more cause of griefe wee looke for peace but here is paine we looke for rest but here is none for crownes and garlands but behold for the present thornes and tribulations In a word hereafter we looke for an incorruptible body a glorious body a shining body in the meane time we languish we pine we fret we grieve wee consume we dye rotte in the grave come to nothing where 's now our hope where 's now our consolation What thinkes carnall reason is this the way to light a candle to put it out is this way to attaine life thorow death to climbe heaven by descending first into hell Ionah why art thou angry is there not cause even of very deepe anger For lay now all these things or take but halfe into consideration hath not the valiantest hearted Christian in these regards cause to be offended to proove impatient and say with Ionah yea I doe well to be angry So long as we be at rest and not tryed by temptations there is no great neede of patience no great discovery of impatience vntill we be emptied from vessell to vessell wee settle vpon our lees But emptie the vessell shake the glasse the lees or dregs which before were setled at the bottome doe now in great plentie show themselves So when wee are shaken by temptations O then how great infidelitie how little faith how much intemperancie how little true zeale how much anger impatience and repining is discovered which before lay hidden in the bottome of our deceitfull hearts For conclusion then of the doctrine aske we the question so many as have felt the power of religion this question of our owne soules whether ever in this sense we have beene angry with God a proud conceit yea I say againe whether ever in this sense we have beene angry with God or no. Ionah did not in plaine tearmes expresse so much vntill the Lord with whom is no dissembling did vrge and wring it from him That whereby we are given to coniecture his disposition before the Lord spake is in the words preceding where it is said that Ionah fainted and wished in himselfe to dye and said it is better for mee to dye then to live So that if at any time we faint and grow weary in the cause of Religion or otherwise desire and wish within our selves to be dissolved only in regard of our present miseries which wee indure whatsoever they be then take heede we fall not into the same guiltinesse with Ionah here Yea indeede we are already fallen too farre For even these secret wishes of the soule though not expressed outwardly they have a kinde of language which God vnderstands well enough and wee are conscious to our selues at the same time against God of a certaine concealed anger wherein whether wee doe well or ill wee are for the present most vnfit Iudges condemning the Lord for the most part of iniustice or wrong to our persons and prayers in our most secret imaginations Yea wee are angry with that friend though wee say not so much in whom wee haue reposed any trust if hee haue in any point dealt vnkindly with vs if he have broken promise deceived vs separated from our distresse much more if hee have wrought against vs wee take it then most hainously so when God to our seeming doth forget our misery and troubles to hide his face and bee regardlesse of vs though wee have sought him with many teares When troubles daily doe arise and of long continuance yea and God himselfe our onely friend doth seeme to arme himselfe against vs to make vs as a marke or Butte for his arrowes to aime at as Iob in his passion thought Should God then while the violence of the inward distemper lasteth in the same manner aske the question as to Ionah wee would then goe neere hand to answer in the same manner as hee yea I doe well to bee angry angry euen to death And so I descend vnto the third or last specialty in Ionahs answer 3. His aggrauation I doe well to bee angry even vnto death Heere Ionah exceedes the iust measure of the question formerly considered Indeede in no part of his answere he keepes good correspondency with the Lord for though his speech bee answerable to the parts of the demand yet in no sort is it agreeable with the will of the Demander But here in this clause he showes himselfe irregular not only to Gods pleasure or will but also to the forme of the words from the Lord proposed For why else as to the other parts of the demand as when the Lord askes if he be angry he saith yea I am angry Doest thou well to be angry I doe well to be angry so doth hee not answere to the last part accordingly Doest thou well to bee angry for the Gourd I doe well to be angry for the Gourd Which plainly showes as before is noted that there were other farre greater causes then the Gourd which forced
these words from him viz. whereas he saith I doe well to bee angry even vnto death However it is a most intemperate speech and for the meaning thereof respecting either the intention or effect of Ionah's anger If we expound it of the intention it then importeth thus much that Ionah was exceeding angry so angry that he was full bigge with anger so bigge that he was ready to breake with anger And if so then fixe this Epitaph vpon his grave stone Here lyes the man who did both raging Sea and Whale disdaine His anger worse then Sea or Whale his anger hath him slaine And why yea why should not that anger which hath destroyed many in iustice turne the point sometimes vpon that breast which bred it Truly the anger of Ionah in this place conceived yea expressed against the Almighty must needs be very great For we are not angry with our superiours but for causes extraordinary suppressing commonly those motions provoking to this passion towards them which towards inferiours is presently exprest For example that is tolerable in an equall which is not to be borne with in a servant that in a Lord which not in a Knight that in a Prince which not in a Lord that in a King which not in a Prince and lastly that is to be borne with patience from God Almighty which is not to be brooked from any mortall creature besides O then when the heate of our anger ascendeth thus high as to be angry not with Kings and Princes and Potentates of the earth but with the God of heaven King of kings and Lord over all lords this is a fire that eates into the bones consuming the marrow and the moisture and must wee not either burne in our owne cinders or else daring to breake out bee incountred and consumed with that all devouring fire that flame of Gods displeasure of his vnquenchable anger Admire and wonder that Ionah is angry with the great God exceeding angry with the most puissant Lord he telles this God and Lord so to his face yet is not consumed admire and wonder But I doe rather vnderstand it for the effect of Ionah's anger the effect conceived in a manner and ready for the birth yet strangled in the wombe which had it beene brought forth would vnto Ionah have brought most certaine death In the old Law he that cursed father or mother was to be put to death much more he that should curse the Father of spirits and great Creator of mankinde this was expressely charged with present death Levit. 24. Therefore wee reade Naboth hath cursed God and the King let him be stoned therefore did Iobs wife tempt her husband to this sinne Curse God and dye saith shee This I conceive to be Ionah's case He is come almost to the actuall sinne of blasphemie against the second Person in the Trinitie the which in thought he hath committed already For he saith he hath iust cause to be angry and if he doe well to be angry then sure God hath done him great wrong and if so why should he not heare of it yea though I dye for it I will speake my minde saith Ionah For I doe well to be angry We may supply the fuller meaning of Ionah's minde partly out of Iob and partly out of Ieremy men subiect to the same passions and wrastling with the same assaults as here They were both carryed away with this mis-conceit that God did vse his power as a law exercising herein little better then a Tyrannicall government and therefore saith Iob in one place is it good for thee that thou should'st oppresse c and Ieremy saith plainely that the Lord by his great might or strength did overbeare him as is to be seene in the place before cited Thus thinkes Ionah and to this effect hee reasons in his over-cast imaginations My soule is even full of anxietie and I want vtterance of my complaint Thy hand is over powerfull for mee thy counsels are vnsearchable I know not what to say to it this is the summe I am weary of my life for I see no fruite no end of all my vexing labours O yet that God would grant mee this request before I open my lippes against the Holy one and reproach my Maker and by mans law deserve to be stoned that hee would cut mee off and destroy mee or hide mee in the grave For sure I have most iust cause to be offended yea sure I doe well to be angry angry even to death death to mee is better farre then life I have touched I suppose vpon the highest string of Saints impatiencie wherevnto the perfectest of men during yet their mortall condition are most subiect and beyond which is no remission but to fall into that sinne vnpardonable which holds no concord with Gods mercy Let vs now but make a cord to draw Ionah out of the pit and preserve all Ionasses from sinking in this mire and mudde and I will make the vses and generall conclusion of the whole matter specially this second generall part of Ionah's answer and herein the last specially in this generall the point yet in hand Ionah's anger vnto death The floods are risen O God the floods are risen might Ionah well here say and all else brought vnto the same brinke of despaire or desperate fury with Ionah here O God the floods are risen the floods O God have lift vp the waves And this not so much in regard of the tyde of vngodlines flowing from without as the violent streames of inraged anger from within Save me O God for the waters are come in even into my soule These these are the waters which drowne the soule to be feared more then those waters which swallow vp the bodies of men Now two things there be which support Ionah and the one implies the other one thing which the Lord doth overpasse the other which he doeth worke the one proceeding from his Mercy the other from his Loue. First His Mercy it is which doeth cover Ionah's imperfections which at this time were risen to a very great height For how if the Lord should have entred contention with thee Ionah and set his anger against thine what would have become of thee The like may we say to Iob to Ieremy what Iob doeth the Lord oppresse Is it without reason the Lords dealing so and so with thee Ieremy and doest thou well indeede to bee angry Jonah dare wee thus to challenge the Holy one of Israel O no Take Ionah in his right temper and he is of another minde so is Iob so is Jeremy I said I will no more make mention of thy name within my lippes said Ieremy in his heate he spake it but a contrary stronger heate expelled that by and by thy word was a fire shut vp within my bones and I was weary with forbearing immediately after saith he So Iob Chap. 40. once have I spoken yea twise but I will say no more I abhorre my selfe in
dust and ashes But what marueile if while the fit lasteth the yet vnmortified flesh take on this being the beast which is to bee sacrificed vntill we be quite dead vnto our owne naturall desires reason and perverse iudgement This is that which the Lord in mercy passeth over putting a difference here betweene Ionah and his anger and betweene the sinnes of his children and his graces in them So the words here according to the originall are not to be read Doest thou well to be angry but thus is it well that anger is with thee according to the saying of the Apostle It is not I that sinne but sinne that dwelleth in me This as one day to be cast out and quite abolished from our natures the Lord doth passe by for the present accepting our persons not regarding the workes of our owne hands but as we are his workemanship in Christ Iesus Secondly And this is the second thing that preserveth and vpholdeth Ionah and with Ionah all Gods Elect in the most bitter conflicts from sinking into the pit and finall perishing namely the hand and power of grace which hath stated them in the covenant of Gods free Election and doth sustaine them in the same condition to their lives ends For first there is semen immanens an abiding seede as John calles it whereof whosoever be quickened never totally lose the life thereof but the vertue thereof at all times remaineth though not so evidently at all times discerned even as the Starres in a darke night are not seene to the eye yet both the eye retaineth the power of seeing and the Starres also are visible in themselves and abide fixed in the firmament which the succession of an other night plainly doeth discover So in this case againe and in this particular of anger a Christian is compared to a Philosopher in a tempest at the Sea While there is tumultus multus clamor magnus Much tumult and clamour the Philosopher though he be grounded in the Principles of his Art at that time hath no abilitie of manifestation neither himselfe being at all disposed nor his hearers capable of instructions so while the fury and strength of temptation lasteth the Christian is not his owne man in appearance waite then a while longer the tempest will be over the Starres shine cleere and the eye of faith shall be comforted with the light of Gods countenance Now as there is evermore an habite of grace and seede of God remaining in the soule of every true servant of God and faithfull member of Christ Iesus and ever shall remaine in spight of all the malice of Satan and the gates of hell and our owne corruptions too and the rage of wicked men so for the operation of the same it is at all times stirring the power thereof being never wholly buryed even in the greatest agony of the soules vexation there is a resistance vnto evill and a secret hand of grace running along with our impotent and tumultuous passions keeping those waving stormes of the soule within some compasse which else would swell above the bankes to the fearefull inundation of the soules tranquillitie And therefore is it howsoever may arise rebelling commotions from within yet never shall we finde that they have in direct tearmes of blasphemy broken out contrary to divine light inkindled in their breasts in despight against the Holy Redeemer which too often falleth out in Cast-awaies Consider the example before mentioned whether Moses or Eliah or Job or Jeremy It is true they were exceedingly and beyond measure transported to wish for death and to curse the day of their nativity doeth argue a great distemper of spirit but it is but a distemper and doth not forbid but they might as soone after they were be brought to a more sober moode and better minde Eliah wisht to dye so Moses so Jonah here wishes directly against themselves howsoever their anger or a great part thereof might be against the Lord. Iob and Ieremy they cursed but whom the Lord no they durst not they could not therefore it breakes out another way and is discharged vpon the day the night wherein they were conceived and borne the pappes that suckled knees that dandled them the man that brought tydings they shot at randome bitter words yet none flye vpward against their Maker this caution still hath beene remembred and the secret power that hath curbed those swelling motions hath at no time beene wanting to them Two cases there bee wherein I observe the holyest of Saints living to be iniurious in the highest measure against their owne felicitie but never directly against God the one is in extremitie of their owne sufferings which hath now beene handled the other an excesse of their zeale to Gods glory Thus Moses wished to be wiped out of the booke of life rather then that people should have beene consumed to whom the Lord had made promise of entring Canaan What would the nations have said thought he either that the God of Israel was vniust of his word or vnable of power to bring and plant that people in the land of the possession O let me never see good day saith Moses rather then God should suffer this dishonour With the same affectionate zeale was Paul mooved partly to his countrey-men the Iewes of the same flesh with him chiefely in regard of Gods honour who had sworne and bound himselfe in an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his seede for ever that rather then that people should absolutely be cast off and forsaken hee himselfe might become Anathema and accursed for ever Doe you see by these examples how iealous of Gods glory the Saints have beene though no mans zeale can be too great to Godward yet in the ardour thereof working with their dimme faith to have discovered manifest impotency The same effect well nigh to returne to the present purpose after a contrary manner of working in the violence of their owne extremities most commonly hath beene produced There can no such causes happen wherein a man with Ionah ought to wish for death the time by God appointed yet not come Ionah truly herein did transgresse so did Moses and Eliah too Yea but to be angry with God in expresse tearmes or to fall into this hopelesse exigent of cursing can it any waies be excused or made tolerable in the sight of God or course of sanctitie What then shall we say for Iob and Ieremy or yet for Jonah the occasion of this whole dispute Yea there is none so madde I doe suppose who will offer the excuse or purgation of Ionah in this his madde teasty combate and quarrell against the Lord his Maker yet in this will I exempt Ionah from the everlasting curse in that hee fell not into expresse tearmes of cursing For the other two O what iust what holy men Iob I meane and the other good Ieremy whether went ye downe downe vnto the sides of the pit or how fell yee downe downe into the
finde by the pulse of their affections a strong inclination to Ionah's disease they may vse these remedies to allay the fury and settle the tranquillitie of their owne soules First let them consider against whom they doe oppose in their anger is it not against the great and mighrie God The Thistle in Lebanon sent to the Cedar in Lebanon saying give thy daughter to my sonne to wife or take thou my daughter to thy sonne to wife and there passed by a wilde beast that was in Lebanon and trode downe the Thistle Thus said Joash King of Israel to Amaziah King of Iudah when he sent this message let vs looke one another in the face and this is the least of a thousand that I can say when we dare provoke the God of heaven to his face Can we throw downe mountaines by our might or dry vp the sea at our rebuke Can the Toade as the Fable hath it equall the Elephant in bignesse though shee swell and swell and swell againe and burst in swelling O then let vs remember that arrowes shotte vp into the ayre returne vpon the head of the shooters and pierce downewards Againe consider thine owne deserving for sure thou hast good cause to be angry with God and why thou hast from time to time so well deserved at his hands It is the mercy of the Lord that we are not all consumed saith Ieremy and truly wee are lesse then the least of all his mercies therefore the vse is soveraigne which the same Prophet maketh Lament 3. Wherefore doeth a living man complaine a man for the punishment of his sinnes Let vs search and try our waies and turne againe to the Lord Let vs lift vp our heart with our hands vnto God in the heavens c. Thirdly to passe from this iudge not of Gods favour to thee or his righteous proceedings in thy cause or person from the sense of thy present suffrings but from the end and issue which commonly God makes of his Saints afflictions and therefore whereas now thou art vnder and thy feete sticke fast in myre and clay pray vnto God with David that he would advance thy head and set thee vpon the rocke which is higher then thou so shalt thou be able to looke about thee round and with comfort behold the hilles and dales spacious forrests and groves thou shalt then with correction of thy passed folly perceive plainely the causes the reasons the end issue of Gods wise and gracious proceeding with thee and perceiving shalt praise and magnifie his name for it The Warre-like Souldier while the heate of the battell lasteh heares and sees nothing but confused noise and garments rolled in blood the pransing of strong horses the ratling speares Bellonaes rage with the clashing armes and clanging trumpe doth astonne his sense for the present and hee hath no leisure so long to thinke of the countrey of Peace the Ensignes of Honour the Garlands of Victory Victorious when he doth returne from the spoyle of his enemies then he rides in the Chariot of Triumph Trophees are erected he doth with ioy recount his dangers passed glory in his wounds received when all tongurs doe sound his praises Saul hath slaine his thousand and David his ten thousand Even so when the Warre-fare appointed for vs is accomplished we shall stand vpon Mount Sion Victorious beholding the Aegyptians dead vpon the shoore and shall sing the song of Moses the Horse and his ryder are throwne into the Sea Principalities and Powers are vanquished and subdued and we shall raigne for evermore Secondly My second vse shall be also of exhortation but this to the troublers of Sions peace and Edoms children who insult vpon her desolations It is necessary saith our Saviour that offences come but woe be to them who are the causers and grieve the soules of Gods children for they doe not alwaies labour of their owne inward griefes and private distresses of their owne soules from within Eliah flyes from the face of Iezabel and growes weary of his life woe be to Iezabel therefore who is the cause of it In the meane time the Saints groane and cry out for the wrongs done vnto them and grow impatient of spirit because the Lord doeth not worke the deliverance shall we say howsoever their impatiencie is not to bee excused that the world who hath procured their vnrest shall escape vnpunished or that the soules shall not be heard who to this day cry from vnder the Altar how long o Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth Remember the parable of the widow and vniust Iudge avenge me of mine adversary saith shee avenge mee of mine adversary and still shee cryeth avenge mee of mine adversary he would not for the iustnesse of her cause heare her but her importunity prevailed What 's the vse our Saviour makes thereof the answere ariseth by a gradation shall not God much more Iudge and revenge who is a iust Iudge and in a most iust and rightfull cause and that in the behalfe of his children his children which doe not onely call but cry and cry day and night shall not God avenge his owne elect saith he which cry day and night vnto him though hee beare long with them As who would say there is no sense nor reason to the contrary and therefore he saith plainly I tell you he will avenge them speedily Luk. 18. Thirdly In the third place Let vs learne to bee advised of this one thing how wee spend our iudgements vpon any whom we yet see labouring vnder the crosse least prooving vncharitable in our censure it proove to be our turne next to vndergoe the same tryalls vnder which wee see our â—â—other with some bitternesse of spirit wrastling for the present Alas If we iudge onely from the outward behaviour and externall effects which for the present affect our senses Ionah then is already condemned by our doome and how hardly must it goe with all those famous Worthies before named Rather Let vs enter into this account with our selves and say good God if Ionah indued with a farre greater measure of holinesse then poore I did proove thus fretfull and impatient vnder the hand of God how lesse able should I have beene to have borne but halfe the burden he sustained If Eliah Moses Ieremy Iob had not the power to master their vnruly passions sure then if Ibe not conscious to my selfe of the like weakenesse I never came vnto the tryall or how weakely should I resist in the day of evill A man that lyes groveling on the ground and sends forth lamentable groanes wee know not well the anguish of his spirit yet this we know that he is terribly indisposed yet for all this though the sight of all men and in his owne thinking too he be as a man most desperately forlorne and miserable he may notwithstanding by the helpe of some cunning Physitian and Chirurgion be
recovered and set vpon his legs againe This comes to passe more ordinarily in the diseases of the soule then in the distempers of the body The more bitter bee the words of Ieremy and the more extreamely we heare Ionah to take on the more deepely let vs iudge of them that they have drunke of the cuppe of affliction the bitter cup of worme-wood and gall And this I finde God himselfe to have taken notice of and in a tender regard and compassionate feeling of her sorrowes thus to comfort his poore distressed Church by the Prophet Isaiah Awake awake stand vp O Ierusalem which hast drunke at the hand of the Lord the cuppe of his fury thou hast drunke the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out A man in drinke we vse to say is not himselfe and therefore I finde added in the same place and with it I conclude the point Heare now this thou afflicted and drunken but not with wine thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people Behold I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling even the dregges of the cuppe of my fury thou shalt no more drinke it againe but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee which have said to thy soule bow downe that we may goe over and thou hast laide thy body as the ground and as the streete to them that goe over Fourthly But now lastly let mee adde the conclusion of the whole matter what 's the conclusion of this whole dispute contention or contestation betweene the Lord and Ionah A Song of praise a Meditation of due thankfulnesse Blesse the Lord o my soule and all that is within mee blesse his holy name Blesse the Lord o my soule and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction might Jonah well say and crowneth thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies let every one who hath tasted the same cup with Ionah consesse O Ionah how great was thy offence how heavy Ionah was thy anger wherefore came not thy saying to passe or why did not death prevent thy wish since thou thoughtest it no sinne to be angry with God had it not beene too light a recompence for this thy rebellion to have sent thee hastily quicke into the grave with thy sinnes vpon thy head Behold death even called for doeth not appeare the Lord is more mercifull to Ionah then Ionah to himselfe man is angry with God God is not angry with man What shall we say The case is not Ionah's alone O David how troubled doeth the course of many of thy Psalmes runne why doest thou forget mee o God why art thou absent from the the words of my complaint o God Awake o Lord stand vp and iudge my quarrell Thus speakes David and much more as a man not well pleased with his God and as though the Lord were asleepe or deafe or blinde or forgetfull as if hee would not or could not regard the cause that was equall Yea but this same Dauid at other times hath recollected himselfe from this errour and hath as plainly noted the reason of the Lords more gracious and louing dealing both with himselfe and all Gods childrenels For hee knoweth whereof wee bee made saith hee in the Psalme before cited he well vnderstands our frame he remembreth that we are but dust therfore like as a father pittieth his owne children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him and shall set our sinnes as farre as the East is from the West Therfore also sayth another Prophet speaking in the person of God I will not contend for euer neither will I be alwaies wroth For the spirit should faile before me and the soules which I haue made For the iniquity of his covetousnesse was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seene his waies and will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts vnto him and to his mourners Isay 57. Here is the goodnesse of our God and the whole worke of our saluation this is his glory which he will not impart to others nor to our merits or any desert in vs for we are a froward and most vntoward generation in our selues And this is the whole benefit he expects at our hands the calves of our lippes and herevnto he hath ordained vs in his beloved before the foundation of the world that wee should render vnto him the sacrifice of praise a thankfull acknowledgement from the ground of our hearts Blesse ye the Lord as before For this cause is it that the Saints in glory whose felicity in part is shadowed by those foure and twenty elders Reu. 4 fall downe before him that sirs on the throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their crownes before the throne as acknowledging their owne vnworthynesse but thus they say Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Sing we vnto the Lord a new songe for old things are forgotten and all things are made new a new heaven and a new earth a new Ierusalem from aboue And old things are cleane passed away for there shall bee no more sorrow nor crying nor paine saith S. Iohn there shall be likewise no longer infirmity nor disease of minde nor body there shall not be those vexations nor yet those vexing causes which here we both meete and carry about with vs. The tempter cannot reach vs there temptations shall be banished for euer Anger hath no place in heauen Ionah thy branch shall flourish and thy gourd it shall not wither the Sea shall not tosse thee the whale shall not eat thee the Sun shall not smite thee the fire shall not burne thee Who then can be angry or euill affected when God shall shew himselfe most willing to please vs when he shall make all things worke for our contentment O Lord I am ashamed now saith Ionah when I consider this thy most wonderfull goodnesse I doe repent of this my foolish anger and begin to waxe exceeding angry that euer I was mooued to anger against so good so mercifull so gracious a redeemer who doest not onely passe by our offences when we haue most hainously prouoked thy iust displeasure but hast also reserved laid vp in store for vs most vndeseruing wretches such good things as passe mans imagination to conceive O Lord God mercifull and gracious long suffring abundant in goodnesse and truth accomplish thy good word vnto thy servants and shew vs thy glory that we may live and never dy that we may live and praise thee eternally Amen NOw to call thee backe a little friendly Reader to the matter of my text and withall if I may persume to communicate my selfe vnto thy
good nature I would intreat thee for the Author thus to iudge That he fell not by his hap-hazard vpon his text or that hee hath not had a feeling of the same What learning call you that which doth carry in hir bosome a sense or feeling of hir knowen principles It hath the name of knowledge experimentall which cannot be attained by all the search of meere study and is to bee preferred before all humane learning acquired by the documents and precepts of men Who can describe the image of God the father or pourtray out the shape of the holy Ghost or expresse the glory of the blessed Trinity The meanest Christian who hath God in his heart doth retaine a sounder knowledge of his maker by those hidden operations felt within then the stoutest Philosopher in the height and sublimity of his soring speculation or those better learned clearkes who can dispute subtilly aboue the Trinity yet want power to please the holy Trinity O but that knowledge is full of danger my text speaks of and who would wish to be possessed with such a feeling as Ionah was not I not thou nor any man yet take heede thou maiest be over-rash in iudging For why anger doeth sometimes and that ordinarily presuppose love O fearefull case is Ionah angry with God saist thou an other is of this minde is it possible in a fraile man to conceive anger against the great God whence springs this familiarity betweene heaven and earth aut quam nuper è coelo descendisti Ionah how lately camest thou out of heaven O Ionah yea sure by the very nature of the speech must be implyed a certaine intercourse of favour and loving commerce betweene the heavenly God and vs. Why els is any man angry with his fellow but in a conceyt that he hath bin requited euill for good and the fruits of hate where hee looked for the effects of loue Why then euen hence in like manner arise those manifold heart-burnings and great disturbances of the Saints quiet since they have bin assured of Gods love but want all signes thereof in their distresses Is this the part of a loving father think his misbeleeving children to neglect their suites who call day and night vnto him what 's become of his promises and those mervailous workes our forefathers have told vs of wherefore doth he not arise and helpe vs and that early O my God I cry in the day time and thou hearest not and and in the night season also my soule refuseth comfort Here our faith begins to stagger for what hath God forgotten to be gracious and will he be no more intreated and is his mercy cleane gone for evermore Then the spirit is almost tyred with waiting and the flesh growes monstrous vnruly God is not so good as his word for he hath promised if in trouble we call vpon him he will helpe vs but he regards neither our calling nor cryes nor teares O now the spirit waxeth hot and the blood doth boyle within the veines and thus our anger ariseth against God a thing not impossible as you see nor yet allowable to the Saints most incident and to the best of Saints more ordinarily then to the worst of hypocrites or any other to the state of grace not yet called Indeede for these I doe not reade of many or any examples in this kinde to have entred Contestation with the Lord as Ionah here hath done nor is it the Nabals of the world but the Davids who mourne in their prayer and are vexed For vpon what grounds can they challenge God of his promise and expostulate where hath God bound himselfe vnto these with an oath that he will be their God and of their seede for ever how oft have they called vpon him in faith and wept vnto him in zeale what love to his ordinances what trust to his Word what assurance of his mercies what consolation in his promises hath beene at any time in their hearts residing I am not angry with the Sunne when it shineth to the Antipodes nor with the Starres because they runne round I am not angry with the Windes at Sea when my house by fire is burnt at home or lastly why should the Malefactor who cryes guiltie at the Barre be angry with the Iudge who gives sentence according to the law vpon his offence Even so truly the wicked foolish who say in their hearts there is no God and doe impute their good and bad hap to blinde chance or fortune who are men of an other world and strangers to godlinesse I see no reason their anger should reach whether their beleefe doth not Yea truly when they are haled before Gods iudgement Seat as Malefactors arraigned their guiltie consciences proclaime woe immediately but then begins their anger and desperate rage when the scalding plagues of Gods wrath doe begin to torment their bodies and the horrour of deadly darkenesse doth cease vpon their soules for their wilfull blindnesse and folly and their rage is not only against God but in a remarkeable kinde of iustice against their owne members they gnawed their tongues and blasphemed Rev. 16. But if their malice breake out against God or his Saints sooner as oft it doth it is then a fearefull preparation to these eternall woes mentioned and hath more properly the name of malice then of anger For what difference is there betweene the anger of Gods Saints and of his enemies even such as I have shewed as is the anger betweene two friends and two most contrary enemies These things gentle Reader I have more deepely searcht into by occasion of my Text not that I presume herein to commend vnto thee any rare point of skill for that which may fall out to be rare in the course of my studies may have beene more soundly noted in the labours of other men and perhaps is not new vnto thy iudgement nor to this end doe I it to commend the feeling of this knowledge vnto any not so farre experimented in this kinde of learning which wee have from Ionah but to this end rather that wee may bee wise to put a difference and be suspended from rash iudgement concerning the state of divers Gods Elect wrastling here in this vale of misery falling and rising foyled and sometimes foyling like prevailers and that herein we studie true thankfulnesse to the sole-worker of our salvation who preserveth the soules of his Saints from going downe into the pit of desperation For my selfe Christian Reader I was angry with my God and knewit not very angry but did not well consider it How manifold are thy tryalls O how various and wonderfull art thou in the exercising of vs thy fraile creatures Vsque quo Domine vsque quo shal not my griefes and groanes my deepe sighings and often teares and strong cryes be full effectuall in thy fight to manifest thy power within to vtter thy praise abroad O those hills of peace where are they why hast thou caused me to hope in thy word hast nor furnisht me vnto the battel why was I called but returne now vnto thy rest O my soule and hope yet confidently I was angry and mourned in my prayer and was vexed was it not in thy temple O God in thy temple that my soule was exceedingly cast downe and troubled in thy temple therefore will I praise thee because there thou spakest peace vnto my troubled soule and did'st allay the heat of all my discontented passions saying as sometime thou didst vnto thy servant Ionah Doest thou well to be angry Thus even thus thou rebukedst the windes and the waves of all my inward commotions and there followed immediately a great calme praise the Lord O my soule and all that is within me praise his holy name For it was not flesh nor blood then which then was in the strength of impariency and stamped with the foot it was not flesh and blood that did reveale that did put this good motion into my breast but my father in heaven therefore praise the Lord O my soule At this time I was assigned to the Crosse had not yet chosen the Text I meant to treat of the choise was soone made For what more acceptable service to our God more pleasing to his Church more effectual for the preachers of his word to deale in then to expresse their minds vpon those Themes the power whereof hauing first subdued their owne affections doth with greater force from them flow forth vnto others and procure more ample glory to his name vnto whom the whole action and efficacy of the worke is in speciall wise to be referred Thus have I made my selfe a foole in glorying but it is in my infirmityes and if for this I be disdained of the Michals of the world I will study to become yet viler in their eyes that Gods power by my weaknes may be exalted Is not this the end of all our beings and ought we not by all meanes whether by precept or example or however labour here vnto whether we be besides our selues saith S. Paul to the Corinthians it is to God or whether wee bee sober it is for your cause and hee is no follower of Paul as hee followed Christ in this who will not thus indeavour to become all things to all men that of all sorts he may gaine some to God and he that respecteth his owne credit private opinion and speeches of others before the winning of souls he is ashamed of the Gospell of Christ a shame of all others most shamefull and one most vnworthy to be a minister of the new Testament Thus Christian and friendly Reader and one of the houshold of faith whose love I doe onely imbrace have I not made my selfe strange vnto thee and for this cause desire the fruit of thy prayes to be assistant vnto me that I may open my mouth with boldnesse in the cause of the Gospel whervnto I have traviled and am yet in paine I beleeved and therefore did I speake saith David but I was sore greived I also beleeved the same have I preached the same againe have I penned Now to all those who love the Lord Iesus I conclude Grace be vnto them and Mercy and vpon the Israel of God FINIS