BALAAM'S WISH A SERMON Wherein the vanity of desires without endeavours in order to the obtaining the Death of the Upright and their last end is opened and applyed First occasionally Preached and now at the request of some Published By an unworthy Messenger of Christ Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace LONDON Printed by T. Leach for John Sims and are to be sold at his Shop near Gresham-Colledge-gate in Bishops-gate-street and at his Shop at Swithins-Alley-end in Cornhill near the Royal-Exchange 1670. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND ELECT LADIES The Lady Anne Clinton The Lady Eleanora Holles AND The Lady Diana Holles The Author wisheth Grace and Peace Right Honourable IT is the Nature of the Blessed God not only to give great things bountifully but also to accept of small things graciously though he looks for the Gift yet he looks at the Heart hence we read in the Law that the handfull of Meal which the Poor man brought for an Oblation to God was as gratefull to God as the whole Burnt-offering of the Rich and in the first of Leviticus the Reach Nichoach or sweet savour of rest is added not only to the Rich mans Oxe but to the Poor mans Turtle Doves to shew that it is not so much how much as from what mind a Sacrifice is brought to Gods Altar Your Ladyships have already in your Nobleness and Liberality to me shewed your selves to be partakers of the Divine Nature and in accepting this poor Pepper-corn present will give a further testimony of your Likeness to his Eternal Majesty for your acceptation will evidence more the goodness of your Ladyships than the desert of this Discourse Such as it is I am humbly bold to offer it to you taking this publick opportunity to declare my thankfulness so far as I am able though not so far as I ought I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ begging for you the mercies of his Covenant and Kingdom The great God lift up the light of his reconciled face upon you granting you assurance of his Love and perseverance in his Truth in this World and a Crown of Glory in a better Life No more but my earnest request that I may obtain the favour and honour to be Your Ladyships Humblest Servant c. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER Christian Reader THou hast here the Copy of a Sermon which was first taken from the Preacher's mouth by the Pen of a ready Writer the Person who was at the pains of Transcribing of it by his earnest desire hath prevailed with the Author to Review it and to give him leave to Publish it Here is nothing added to the Discourse it self only some things in the Margin to which some passages in the Sermon have relation The Author declares he loâ—es not to be in Print and that these few leaves had never been suffered to come abroad had not more then ordinary Obligations to comply with the requests of some been laid upon him The Godly will not condemn the Work because the subject is so serious and profitable for what can be of greater moment or benefit than to teach men the Lesson of an holy upright life as that which paves the way to an happy and comfortable death or to describe the blessed advantagious death of the righteous as that which encourages to the gracious and heavenly life of the Godly The Wicked will not blame it much because it is so very short let him that is most displeased with it turn over but a few Pages and he will certainly find something that pleaseth him viz. the END The Author hath endeavoured to offend no man by this Tractate for it s his design so to speak write and live as first to please God as much as he can and then to displease man as little as he can If thou reapest any benefit by what is here set before thee give God the praise for who should have the Tribute of all Glory but he that bestows the Treasure of all Grace who should have the Fruit but he that planted the Tree Magnifie God for any good this Sermon shall do thee for every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above from the Father of Lights Farewell BALAAM'S WISH Numb XXIII Vers 10 The latter Part. Let me Dye the Death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his THis Chapter with the foregoing and following conteyneth the History of Balaam's Journey Sacrifices and Parables and in this Narrative there are two things wonderful and extraordinary recorded by the Man of God Moses the one whereby the passion the other whereby the covetousnes of Balaam the false Prophet was rebuked and restrained first his passion was restrained by Gods putting words into the mouth of his Ass 2 Pet. 2.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the dumb Ass speaking with mans voyce rebuked the madnes of the Prophet anger had put the man besides himself so the Greek word there used signifies and so it is in all other persons though Balaam were a wise man yet when his passion was up his reason was down Anger is that feaver of the soul Lacholere est comme une fievre chaude qui nous fait dire un infinite de choses ridicules nous fait entreprendre beaucoup de sottes actions dont neus nous repentons lors qu'elle est passee that makes the tongue talk idly 't is a short fury it puts the mind into a rage you may see how he frets and fumes and chafes and storms and as wise as he was had need to be admonished by an Ass 2ly His coveteousness was rebuked by Gods putting words into his own mouth and this was as great a wonder as the former for though at first with some kind of maiden blushes and shamefac'd modesty he excused himself from the work yet he loved the wages of unrighteousness in so much that in the 11 Verse of the Epistle of Jude Jude 11. he is called in the original the Balaam of Reward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man who had no other soul but gain so that he being such a person it was a great wonder God should so over-rule him as to make his tongue speak that which his heart did least love Prov. 16.1 thus the preparations of the heart are in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord So in that speech of Caiphas we read of T' is expedient saith he that one man should dye for the people and this said he not of himself but being High Priest that year John 11.51 he Prophecied that Jesus should dye for that Nation c. and so here the Lord put a word into Balaam's mouth saying return unto Balak and thus thou shalt speak Numb 23.5 behold how the Lord limits him and tyes him up to speak not his own words but the Lords Against the inclination of his
without some preface of Honour as King David my Lord the King c. and so he is about forty times called King David and my Lord the King David in one Chapter but now see what an alteration there is in the first verse of the next Chapter When the dayes of David drew nigh that he should dye He that was my Lord the King so often a little before now he comes to dye is plain David so that you see death maketh all equal Do you then desire to dye the death of a Great man Surely it is not so good as to dye in the fear of the great God and therefore Hezekiah a potent and noble Prince when he had a message of death pleads not Remember Lord that I have been a King that I have worn the Crown and swayed the Scepter Isa 38.3 but Remember Lord that I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and have done that which is right in thy sight it s a poor thing in death to have been saluted Your Lordship and Your Ladyship Your Honour and Your Grace Your Highness and Your Majesty at every word if we cannot see our selves to be the persons whom the King of Heaven delights to honour Fourthly another had rather dye the death of the Wealthy many persons we see in the World they toyle and labour and sweat and if you ask them the reason it must needs be this that they might leave something behind them when they dye Christians that is not our own which we cannot carry with us into another World the rich man in this respect is like a poor man that is invited to a great mans Table whilst he is there he makes use of the Plate and Silver Spoons and other things but he must pocket up none of these but leave them behind him when he goes thence so God gives him a great many things here to use but he must leave them all at death Or just as it is with Travellers who make use of the movables of an Inne for that night they lodge there but the next morning they leave them and go onward in their journey Job 21.13 They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they go down to the grave Who would not choose to dye the death of the righteous rather than of Nabal or the rich man in the Gospel What a vain thing is man to desire to dye rich To leave a portion of Goods behind him and not to have a good portion in Heaven Surely the wealth and accommodations of the World do not make any person the more fit or willing to dye I remember a story that when the Duke of Venice shewed Charles the 5th at Venice his Earthly Paradice stately Palace Haec sunt quae faciunt invitos mori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb Gardens Riches Furniture Plate and Jewels and asked the Emperor what he thought of them he doth in a most Christian manner make no other answer but this These are the things that make men unwilling to dye Another shewing a private Christian the like sight expecting to be admired for it drew this speech from the Christian Sir you had need make sure of heaven or else you will be a great loser when you dye He that has set his heart on these things while he possesses them they will go to his heart when he is torn from them he will be unwilling to dye Fifthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Valiant some would choose this what large renown have many that have dyed upon the place in an engagement against the Enemies of their Country How doth their fame shine in History and the Chronicles of Nations embalm their Names to posterity Such as that glorious King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus Killed but not Conquered and that noble Captain Consalvo who being counselled to retire a little backwards from the Enemy made this answer Essendo egli consigliato a voler retirarsi alquanto indietro rispose desiderare d'haver piu tosto al presente la sua sepoltura un palmo di terrerro piu avanti che col ' retirarsi indietro poche braccia allungar la vita cento anni Guicciard That he had rather at that time get a span of ground forwards though he were sure to find his grave there then retreat a few yards to lengthen out his life a hundred years But though this may seem to be a brave and noble thing to dye so yet how poor comfort is it to their souls if they be not Souldiers of the Lamb called chosen and faithfull What does it avail them to be praised where they are not and be tormented where they are All their courage and resolution all their valour and magnanimity what is it to their Salvation without grace and piety They are laudable Virtues but not saving Graces 'T is true it is very honourable for a man to dye for his Country but let me dye the death of the righteous Sixthly let us compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Learned if some men were to choose what death they would dye they would choose to dye the death of a Philosopher when they have read of Seneca Plato Socrates and others with how much constancy and courage they looked death in the face they think it brave to dye like one of these but one spark of Grace is a better Lanthorn to lead you to happiness than all the reason and wisdom those men had they were wise to admiration and yet not wise to salvation It was the speech of St. Austin in his time Surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum c. Vnlearned men arise and snatch Heaven away whilst we with all our Learning go loaden to Hell Therefore what will it profit to dye the death of the Learned I tell you Solomons repentance was better to dye with than all Solomons wisdom Learning is a poor cordial to a dying man Scholarship is a rare Ornament but a miserable Comforter when you come to dye a good Handmaid to Godliness but a bad supplyer of the place of it when Godliness is wanting Therefore what will it profit a man to dye the death of the greatest Philosopher that ever was if that be all Seventhly another it may be would choose to dye the death of the Antient some say if they might choose what death they would dye they would wish to dye in a good old age to spin out the thread of their lives to a great length and to go away at last like a Lamp for want of oyl gradually to spend the radical moisture of the body and then without pain to yield unto nature But unless you dye the death of the righteous the longer your death is deferred the greater will be the misery that will be inflicted the longer a sinner lives the more wrath he layes up for himself and therefore excellent is that expression of the
Apostle Rom. 2.5 According to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath What is the meaning of the phrase 'T is just like a covetous Miser that is making of a hoard he is every day adding something to it till it come to a great sum So thou treasurest up wrath the longer God continues thee the greater the wrath will be at last which thou must suffer Or as a man that every day is carrying a stick to a pile of wood with which at last he is to be burned the longer he lives the greater the pile and the more formidable the fire will be the longer God forbears thee the more interest thou must pay he will be thy sorer enemy because he was no sooner thine enemy If thou livest to be an Old man and not a Babe in Christ thy case is most dreadfull Old age in it self is not desirable an Old man is an animated grave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sepulchre with a little life in it it is the refuge and anvil for diseases to meet in and beat upon and therefore they are called evil dayes in which there is no pleasure Eccles 12.1 'T is true the hoary head when nature has snowed Gray hairs upon a man is a Crown of Glory Prov. 16.31 but it is no Crown to thee unless found in the way of righteousness Therefore the Text is thus read in the Holy tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in fut niphal The hoary head is a Crown of Glory of ornament or comeliness in the way of righteousness let it be found or it shall be found it is either to be understood as a promise thus in the way of righteousness the Crown of Glory shall be found by the hoary head or as a command thus that the Gray head may be a becoming ornament to the antient let it be found in the way of righteousness it is necessary it should be found in that way What do Old men that are not good so long in the World What is the advantage they get Surely only this They live to see more evil and to do more evil and to deserve more evil than others do that is all the happiness of an Old man that is not gracious for it is not the venerable face that will commend to God nor the snowy head of the Antient that will make way for him before the Ancient of dayes but to dye the death of the righteous To name one more Eightly compare the death of the righteous with the death of the Martyrs all that dye for such are not saved but all that dye righteous they are saved there are many persons that may give their bodies to be burned 1 Cor. 13.3 and yet their souls shall burn in Hell many persons that may be Martyrs in our account who are but Malefactors in the account of God If we dye the death of a Martyr and not of a Godly one it will be no profit for it is not the death nor the cause only but the heart that makes a Martyr Three things make a Martyr there must not only be suffering but a good cause to suffer in and a good conscience to suffer with some Martyrs that seemed nothing else to us may really be nothing less when as no righteous persons but they are happy There are some persons that may seem to us to dye for the Lord and yet do not dye in the Lord but all upright men dye in the Lord and therefore you see if we make the comparison here the death of the righteous is much to be preferred And thus you have the first thing the reasons why wicked men when they come to dye desire to dye the death and have the last end of the righteous The second thing is How it comes to pass that though they desire it yet they do not obtain it I would not speak now concerning the sins of wicked men by which they forfeit this desired happiness if a man should never so much desire health and yet go immediately and drink off a cup of poison death would be his portion before health if a Water-man should never so much desire to be at Westminster and yet row towards London-bridge his desires would be but in vain Thus it is with sinfull men they contradict their desires in their pratices therefore their desires further them nothing in the way to happiness their practices carry them faster to Hell than their desires can to Heaven But if you ask me Why do those that desire it not obtain it My answer is Because they do but desire it they have nothing but faint velleities which is too sloathfull full a way to get these great things by there are many means conscientiously to be used that this last end of the upright may be enjoyed the Lepers in the Gospel were cured not sitting still but walking Luke 17◠14 as they went they were cleansed we must be up and doing we must be at the charges and expences not only of many an earnest wish but of many a salt tear and many a bitter sigh and many a deep groan and many a hard pull before we can obtain this blessing an happy estate in death and a glorious life after it are commodities not to be had at so cheap a rate as for a wish we can gain but a little of the Earth though we take a great deal of pains for it and do we think to obtain Heaven with no pains It was the saying of an antient Rabbin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabb If thou canst obtain but a little of this World which thou pursuest so much how canst thou look for any thing of the other World which thou followest not at all We must then be working as well as wishing Lam. 3. 41. Oratione operatio operatione fulciatur oratio Hieron therefore 't is said Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the Heavens our hearts in praying and wishing our hands in acting and doing We ought to support our praying with our working and our working with our praying both these should go together we must be as well in the operative way as in the optative mood I remember the Fable of the Country man whose Cart stuck fast in the mire he falls a praying to Jupiter to help it out but doth nothing else and Jupiter bids him set his shoulder to the wheel and then cry to Jupiter so we must set our hands to the work and then desire to dye the death of the righteous Solomons advice is good Prov. 2.3 4. if thou shalt cry after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding if thou shall seek for her as for silver and search for her as for hid treasure c. not only cry and lift up the voice but seek and search so the Apostle counsels Col. 3.1 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to seek the things
that are above as well as to mind the things that are above hence the Church prayeth in the Psalm Ps 67.1 God be mercifull to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and cause his face to shine with us that is his grace to accompany our endeavours Gods grace is to be desired and mans endeavour not to be spared Now this may be summed up in a few words here are the two reasons why they do not obtain though they do desire First They neglect the active obedience of a righteous life they neglect the performance of those duties that lead to this end Obedience though it be not the cause of Heaven yet it is the cawsey to it though it doth not merit yet it is the means when our wishes go without duty then they are lame and out of joynt there must be Faith Repentance Holiness Ordinances Obedience to the commands of God c. 't is by these we please God It s said of the Ninivites and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seder Maamadoth ex tract Sabbath the Prophet saith not and God saw their Sackcloth and their Fasting but their works that they turned from their evil way Remember this He that made you without your assistance will not save you without your obedience and this obedience is to be universal not only to the easier duties but to the more difficult Some are easie as to believe we must be saved by an imputed righteousness to trust to another when we see our own imperfection these we are easily perswaded to but then to love our enemies to mortifie our corruptions to pull out our right eye and cut off our right hand these are hard sayings men will not go to the cost of universal active obedience and therefore wish and wish and do not obtain Secondly they decline the passive obedience of a righteous life and that makes them miscarry they would be willing to be saved by the Cross of Christ bit they are not willing to bear the Cross of Christ they would be willing to follow Christ to his Kingdom but they would not follow him to his Cross they would follow him into the Garden of pleasure but not to Golgotha the place of Souls they would be willing to eat bread with Christ at his Table but are loath to pledge him in his bitter Cup they would be glorified with his Glory but not be baptized with his Baptism There 's the great reason men do not attain Heaven they would be willing to dye the death of the righteous but are unwilling to dye the death for righteousness sake Alas Christians the Lord Jesus Christ will be your head but it is a head under a Crown of Thorns God will be your God as he was to Moses but he will appear to you in the burning Bush we must first enter into the sorrow of our Lord before we can enter into the joy of our Lord there are first those groans that are unutterable and then those joyes that are unspeakable He that hath not learned the lesson of the Cross has not learned his A. B. C. in Religion The Scriptures teach first a suffering with Christ and then a reigning with him Now there are few persons willing to suffer and therefore it is that so few get to Heaven Few think themselves to be graced as they in the Acts. Acts 5.41 when they are disgraced few that count themselves dignified when they are villified for Christ few that are convinced that though they lose all for Christ yet they shall lose nothing by him nay that though they lose all for him yet they may find it all again and more in him few that are like the antient Christians that were glad they had any thing to lose for Jesus Christ thus should it be with us all we must neither neglect the active nor decline the passive obedience of a righteous life if we would dye the death of the upright and have our last end like his Thus I have answered the two Questions let me now conclude in a few inferences from the premisses And first this shews us the wisdom and happiness of those that make choyce of a righteous life 'T is the best wisdom because they only take the right way to ensure a blessed death they have a prospect into futurity they consider what is coming and therefore provide for it And 't is their great happiness because they make sure of a heavenly reward after death therefore how strangely do we argue when we see a Worldling dandled upon the knees of prosperity we are prone to think surely this is one of the Favourites of Heaven the darling of providence surely God loveth that man he makes him so great and rich and on the other hand when we see the righteous afflicted in this World reproached threatned impoverished imprisoned banished martyred we are apt to judge surely this is not a person that God loves but it must be the end that must be regarded and then it will appear who is the happy man Psa 37.37 mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace the happiness of life is to be esteemed of by the end and issue of it though the righteous mans way be affliction yet his end is peace that is an absence of all evil and the presence of all good the Hebrew word for Peace comes from a root which denotes perfection his end is perfection of happiness hence the Rabbin tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rab. Shimson Ben Cholpeta misna okatzim sub finem that the Holy blessed God finds not any vessel that will contain enough of blessing for Israel but the vessel of Peace according to that of the Psalmist Psa 29. ult the Lord shall bless his people with Peace indeed this is ALL therefore Balaam himfelf though a wretch and a reprobate wished himself no more happiness then the righteous should enjoy at death and in the other life If an unskilfull man should go to an exquisite Limner and see him draw the rude draught of a Picture he would wonder what he intended but if he would but stay till he had set to his ultimam manum his last hand and finished the piece he would see it to be excellent Thus it is with foolish men they look upon the rude draught of a Godly mans condition in this World and mis-judge it but if they had but patience to suspend their judgement till God had finished it they would find it excellent and worthy to be desired If a man had been present with God at his first dayes creation when God began to make the World when in the tohu vabohu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 1.2 in the indigested Chaos all things lay disorderly and confusedly jumbled together fire and water cold and heat
vitae inopes sed prodigi and yet live as if their lives were too long O methinks there is enough in the death and last end of the righteous to perswade you to the way of the upright Be therefore adding working to your wishing remember that of Paul Gal. 6.7 8. Be not deceived God is not mocked according as a man soweth so shall he also reap He that sowes to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting The meaning of the Apostle is plainly this that there is a consonancy betwixt a mans life and death such as his sowing is such shall his reaping be Lastly to conclude the whole this may be the comfort of such as do live the life as well as desire to dye the death of the upright that choose the former part as well as the latter end of the righteous for as the wicked go from a temporal life to an eternal death Vita ad mortem sic impius vivit mors ad vitam sic pius moritur so the righteous go from a temporal death to an eternal life their death is both precious to God and advantageous to temselves The righteous may welcome death for death to a righteous man though it parts two near friends Soul and Body yet it unites two better friends the Soul and its Saviour to all Eternity The Scripture records concerning Moses in the last Chapter of Deuteronomy Deut. 34.5 that Moses the servant of the Lord dyed according to the word of the Lord the words in the Hebrew are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moses dyed upon the mouth of the Lord The meaning is say the Jews l'Empereur paraph Jach in Dan. p. 258. Moses dyed kissing of God surely so it is with the Saints of God their Father gives them a kiss and so layes them down in the bed of the Grave therefore they that have lived righteously may at death smile themselves into a corpse for the body of a Godly man goes to his Lords bed and his soul to his Lords bosom the Grave is perfumed for his body and Heaven prepared for his soul I may say of righteousness as Solomon in a case not much differing Prov. 6.22 when thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee that is according to the Gloss of the Rabbinical Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou goest it shall lead thee viz. in thy passage through this World when thou sleepest it shall keep thee viz. when thou lyest down in the Grave and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee viz. when thou art awakened at the glorious Resurrection Well then all ye that are upright in heart and life I bring you glad tydings of great joy Psal 58.11 Eccles 8.12 Verily there is a reward for the righteous and it shall be well with them that fear God that fear before him it shall be so well that none of you shall desire to have it better while the languid wishes of the wicked betray them to the pit of Perdition your holy and earnest endeavours shall deliver you into the Mansion of Glory 1 Cor. 15 ult your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord God is too good to suffer himself to be overcome in love Dieu est trop bon pour se laisser surmonter en amour it shall never be said there is more love in man to righteousness than there is love in God to the righteous Therefore comfort your selves with these words for you shall in this World certainly obtain a comfortable dissolution and in the other World a joyfull Resurrection You shall dye the death of the righteous and like unto his shall be your last END