Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A46743
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A practical exposition of the historical prophesie of Jonah delivering sundry brief notes in a cursory way concerning the mind of the Holy Ghost in the several passages. Imprimatur. June 5. 1665.
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Jemmat, William, 1596?-1678.
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1666
(1666)
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Wing J550B; ESTC R217032
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159,232
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228
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and down the City when he came there and might spend much of his strength by travelling and crying all along Learn we Ministers and people to settle to difficult costly and dangerous duties Are they not Gods Commandments did not he say Arise and cry To the third point The wickedness of a people doth go Doctr. 3 up and call for vengeance upon them Wickedness calls for vengeance so did the blood of Abel against Cain Gen. 4 10. So did the filthiness of the Sodomites against that City Chap. 18.21 So the cry of Servants wages detained â—ames 5.4 And here the Robbery and Oppression of the Assyrians who had made slaughter of many Nations and spoiled others to enrich themselves together with the cries of Widows and Fatherless Children and their Pride Idleness Filthiness Inchantments other sins which were now grown so great that the Earth was no longer able to hold the cry but the Air and Heaven too did ring of their sinfulness and now it was high time for God to take vengeance The Lord sees when the iniquity of a man or people is ripe and then proceeds to judgment as of the Amorites It is not yet full but when it is I will 〈◊〉 root them out Gen. 15.16 Every single sin comes up before God and provokes wrath Psal 7.11 but wickedness much more He is angry with the wicked every day but defers to do execution till the measure of sin be filled up and then he can forbear no longer Use 1 Admire the patience and long-suffering of the Almighty though he be wearied daily with the cries of mens sins yet he bears all yea though they be sins of whole Towns whole Nations or the whole world He is not slack of his coming but patient to us-ward and waits for our Repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 No mans patience can be so exercised as Gods is yea we see too often how even a godly man hath some adoo to keep patience on such and such provocations Oh the goodness and long-suffering of our God to whom our wickedness goeth up continually The Lord the Lord merciful and gracious slow to wrath abundant in goodness and truth Use 2 Admire also the worth and power of Christs mediation which cries down the cry of our sins and keeps off the vengeance which thereby we had deserved The blood of Christ speaks better things then the blood of Abel Heb. 12.24 mercy and not judgment and this secures both the persons and duties of Believers though they deserve a fulness of wrath yet by the mediation all will be well with them Use 3 This shews people the sinfulness and danger of their estate even when they are most secure All the while their wickedness gets up before God and would draw down vengeance upon then when they are most jolly and brave in their worldly enjoyments yet their extreme danger continues sin hath not lost his voice of crying as here against the Ninevites yea it cries more because of more light and more means of grace so the men of Nineve shall rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it Take heed of sin if not for the foulness which should Use 4 be yet for the fearful after-claps and for the measure of your sins lest that be filled up and then the Vials of wrath be emptied upon you Know the Lord can overthrow England as well as Nineve and we have had warning not only for forty years but forty and forty and more then that it is now above a hundred years that the Gospel hath been preached among us with liberty and encouragement and ye know we have sins enough to hasten the overthrow Oaths and other abominations Consider and beware if there were no more mischief in sin but the losing of the Gospel it were bad enough an intolerable loss to have the Candlestick removed out of his place or to have your Jonahs sent from Israel to Nineve or the righteous taken from the evil to come Ver. 3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he payed the Fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Here the Prophet declines the Lords message of going to Nineve by going a quite contrary way Why Jonah fled to Tarshish His ground he tells us in Chap. 4.2 Namely a carnal fear lest he should be ashamed and accounted a false Prophet if within forty dayes Nineve were not overthrown A great matter with the proud nature of man which cannot endure the least disparagement Other reasons Jonah might have for not going to Nineve So peter Act. 1â— 1. The strangeness of the thing No Prophet had ever been sent to the Gentiles before Jonah All of them were sent to the house of Judah or of Israel and should Jonah be the first man that should be sent to the sinners the Gentiles God goes beside his ordinary method and Jonah thinks strange of it 2. What hope could there be of doing good among the Heathen seeing he had so little good among Gods own people should Ninevites be converted and Israel not converted how can things go quite in a new Road which was never heard of 3. Might not Jonah fear what would become of him among a Company of Infidels who were also rich and proud and knew not God he one and they many he a poor man and they the Potentates of the world What should one Lamb do among a thousand Wolves 4. For the Errand which Jonah was to deliver what likelihood that Nineve should be overthrown within forty days seeing no enemy appeared before it and it had now flourished twelve hundred years in great prosperity what wise man would go and publish impossibilities No sound reason at all Yet all this is but carnal fear and Jonah sinned greatly in flying to Tarsus 1. He left the Command and calling of the great God of Heaven which is the only rule of all our obedience 2. He left the Land of Israel wherein his main business lay for all his life-time 3 He thought poorly of God as if he could not meet with him at Tarsus as well as Samaria 4. He shewed little pity to thousands of souls that might receive benefit by his preaching All shewing the great corruption of mans nature even after grace received and how watchful we need to be and keep close to our rule and to the calling wherewith we are called not regarding the crooked rules of humane reason and wisdom which Jonah too much followed He rose up to flee to Tarsus The chief City of Cilicia Expos 1. St. Pauls Country a Citizen of no mean City Act. 21.39 Some say Jonah went to be a Merchant there another while But it is not good to fasten more sins to the good man then we are sure of It is most likely that as a man
thou well to be angry If a man would Rhetorically defend Jonah in his anger there might be many specious colours for it Or if we would a little admit his excuses something might be said for him with some handsomeness Rom. 3. But let God be true and every man a lyar We know the judgement of God is according to truth and equity And a man shall never proceed safely and comfortably unless he can satisfie his conscience by the word upon a just examination Doest thou well to be angry God could provide for his own glory without Jonahs care yea and for Jonahs reputation And if God were so merciful as Jonah said why should he not shew it to repenting Nineve Or must God at Jonahs pleasure bacome severe and terrible must he be cruel that Jonah might not seem a lyar must more regard he had of Jonahs Credit then of Gods most holy Nature and glory Lastly it seems scarce to be endured that Gods doings should be so censured and misliked by a poor weak mortal sinner One of us would scarce abide it Yet God abides it day by day God can scarce do any thing either for afflicting us or out of the ordinary rode but we are apt to mutter and complain suppose about the confusions of the times c. In general we confess he is righteous in his judgements Jer. 12.1 yet in particulars we will needs plead with him and talk with him of his judgements why and wherefore Take heed and submit better But the main point is this Doctr. Say Do I well to be angry A Christian when he finds anger stirring should say Do I well to be angry Anger is a natural affection and very good use may be made of it Without some anger there will be no zeal for God nor against sin And he must needs be blockish and senseless who will not be angry when he ought There is a quietness which is sinful and dishonours God exceedingly and drowns souls in security But otherwise we should look well to our anger suppose in case of Gods doings against us or mans or any cross accident A beloved Child is taken away by death I suffer great loss by my Neighbour or the like my affections now are all in a hurry But Do I well to be angry Eph. 4.26 my rule is to be angry and not sin the affection is good but the distemper is evil What is it where am I whether do I swerve from my rule or no I am apt to offend one way or other therefore I must weigh well how I mannage my anger But how shall a man know whether he do well to be angry Quest Answ Signs of allowed anger Answ 1. If there be just cause for thy anger thou doest well to be angry suppose at thine own sin or the sin of another especially to see the wickedness of the world and how corruptly things are carried among men In these caâ—es godly men have shewed great anger and were never disliked for it Moses was very angry at their murmurings and idolatries and Christ at the profanation of the Temple Exod. 16.20.32 22. John â— 17 1 Cor. 11. And in such cases we ought to judge our selves that we may not be judged of the Lord to rate our selves for our â—illiness and revenge on our selves and undoe what we have done to the best we can there is just cause for it because we were so foolâ—sh and ignorant Psal 73.22 and as a beast before God Godly sorrow ever works indignation for errors committed 2 Cor. 7.11 But there will never be just cause to be offended or angry with Gods doings against us or against our opinion as Jonah was in this place All reason requires that here we be dumb and complain not and rest in this There is more reason for it then we are aware 2. Thou shalt not do well to be angry unless the cause be weâ—ghty and of some importance as well as just A Christian must not spend his powder upon trifles as the fashion of some is It would argue neither love nor wisdom Not love for that covereth a multitude of sins and is not easily provoked 1 Pet. 4.8 1 Cor. 13.4 5 7. Jam 3.17 Not wisdom for the wisdom which is from above is first pure then peaceable True love and wisdom reserves it self for weighty matters where God requires more of our anger and severity then of our mildness 3. Thou shalt not do well to be angry if thou exceed the due measure of this affection more then the cause requires There is a mean to be observed and certain bounds beyond which we shall not do well Even lawful anger if immoderate degenerates into fleshly anger it may be into fury more fit for a Beast or an Heathen then for a Christian Our rule is to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful and we see how his mercy goes Hab. 3.2 in wrath he remembers mercy Esa 27.7 8. Imitate God in punishing a Child a Servant an evil doer God corrects in measure and so must we 4. Thou shalt not do well to be angry if thou keep wrath over long as it seems Jonah did Eph. 4.26 ver 9. I do well is be angry even unto death Our rule is not to let the Sun go down upon our wrath As we must not be quickly angry so when we are angry we must be quickly pleased again Else our anger may be turned into malice And the Devil will watch the occasion to work us to farther ungodliness as there ver 27. neither give place to the Devil With a malicious man the Devil lies down at night and goes to bed with him Pure Wine is corrupted if it stand too long upon the Lees. 5. Thou shalt not do well to be angry if thou grow into hatred of the sinners person for right anger is bended at the sin rather then the person as Mark 3.5 He looked about on them with anger and grieved for the hardness of their hearts Impenitency is the principal object of our grief and anger And there are certain rules that we must neither approve the sin for the offenders sake nor hate the offender for the sins sake Only in his great wickedness he must be either shunned and avoided or else reproved 6. Thou shalt not do well to be angry unless thou quarrel with thine own sins as well as the sins of others and unless thou be angry in Gods cause as well as thine own in both which numbers of people bewray much corruption So did not Moses Num. 12.3 the meekest man on earth in his own cause when spoken against by Aaron and Miriam but in point of idolatry nothing but killing and slaying And for our own sins we see what our Saviour saith of Mâ—tes and Beames in the eye Mat. 7 1 2 3 4 5. Certainly every man hath most business to do at home And those shall ever go for hypocrites