A SERMON Preached before the Worshipful MAYOR of Bridgewater And several other Members of that Ancient CORPORATION in the County of SOMERSET At a Lecture Design'd for Reformation of Manners By Iohn Cumming M. A. Minister of the Gospel in Shepton-Mallet in the same County Because thine Heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God I have even heard thee also saith the Lord. 2 Chron. 34.27 Shouldst thou help the Vngodly and love them that hate the Lord Therefore is Wrath upon thee from before the Lord 2 Chron. 19.2 Proponamus oportet finem summi boni ad queminitamur ad quem omne factum nostrum dictumque respiciat veluti navigantibus ad aliquod Sidus dirigendus est cursus Vita sine proposito vaga est Sen. Printed for Tho. Browne Bookseller in Shepton-Mallet 1699. To the Right Worshipful GEORGE BALCH Esq MAYOR of Bridgewater Honoured Sir YOV know that a Life full of Vertue constant and equal in the Profession and Holy exercises of Religion is what our blessed Lord hath recommended to his Disciples as the way to eternal Happiness and how unbecoming a Christian it is to give loose reins to his own Corruptions or take pleasure in those that do so Hence it is that no occasion hath presented since You were called to a Publick and Honourable Station to do GOD and your Country Service but you have embraced with Zeal and managed with Prudence As God hath preserved his Covenant in your House and recommended the Religion you Profess by the Pious Example of so worthy a Father so neither the Vanity of the World nor the influence of a degenerate Age hath had any power on You to do any thing unworthy of your Self of your Family or of Religion This watchful Conduct no doubt hath fixed the eyes of the People on You and captivated their Hearts Go on Sir in your Zeal for GOD in your generous tenderness of the good of Mankind in your watchfulness over your Self in your special Respect to such as Fear God and in your Holy disdain and contempt of Sinners And let this be your Motto Valiant for the Truth Nothing but your Zeal for God and Ardent wishes for the Reformation of our degenerate Age could move You to Request the Publishing of the following Discourse and I doubt not but it was Your leading the way that provoked others to joyn with You in the same Request which Request I have now yielded to after some struglings with my self to commit to the Publick what I fear hath not much more to Recommend it but Your candid Interpretation and the charity of the Auditors before whom it was delivered However Sir the Friendship wherewith You are pleased to Honour me with a faint hope that Providence may design Benefit to some by it hath ventured its fortune in the world If it may in the least Answer the design for which it was intended the awakening any to a Zeal for God his Truth that Reformed Religion we Profess I shall bless God that ever it was Preached or Published how little soever it doth please the Curious or what Censures soever I incur on its account I leave it therefore Sir such as it is to the providence of God and under Your Vmbrage And that God may Honour and set You more and more to do him Service and multiply his Blessings of all sorts upon Your Family is the Prayer of SIR Your much Obliged and Faithful Servant John Cumming Shepton-Mallet June 19. 99. Rev. II. 2. And how thou canst not bear them which are evil IT is an undeniable Demonstration of the absolute Perfection of the Divine Being and among other things of his Essential Holiness That on the one hand he loveth the righteous and looketh with Complacency upon the upright Psa 11.7.146.8 and on the other hand he is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity nay he hateth all the workers of Iniquity Hab. 1.13 Psa 5.5 God standeth in need of nothing out of himself being Perfection it self to make him happy or to add to his Joy and Pleasure yet he is pleased to delight himself with the derided and imperfect Holiness of his Creatures He is pleased with the rude Draughts of his own Image and taketh Complacency to magnifie himself his Justice Holiness and Mercy in the way of Righteousness But he cannot deny himself whatever Sinners do nor is he a God whatever sinners think that hath pleasure in wickedness No he is Holy and Just Evil dwelleth not with him neither shall the foolish stand in his sight His essential Righteousness is such that as he loveth Righteousness and the Righteous so he hateth Wickedness and the wicked as such All this is undeniable from the due Consideration of the divine Perfections from the Revelation of God's Will contained in the Scriptures from his Approbation and Commendation of the Righteous and his Displeasure and declared Abhorrence of the ungodly and finally from the great rewards laid up in store for the one and the heavy Judgements threatned to and infallibly inflicted on the other From all we may see how tender God is of and zealous for his own glory And that it is in his will and pleasure That rational Beings especially such as espouse Religion and Christianity should herein resemble and imitate him you may learn amidst other things from the words of the Text the Commendation of the Angel of the Church at Ephesus I know thy Works and thy Labour and thy Patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil There are many things commended in this Angel and Church but that which I shall confine my self to at present is that part of the laudable Character which respects a Zeal against Sinners as such And how thou canst not bear them which are evil In speaking to which Words I shall meddle no further with the Context than I judge absolutely necessary to shew the Connection and Dependence Let me only put you in mind that valuable Interpreters look upon these seven Churches of Asia to which you find Epistles directed in this and the following Chapter as typical of the state of the Church from the Infancy of Christianity to the end of the World And if so then each Church or the Church in its several Periods may learn from these Epistles what is of the greatest Concern with respect to Faith and Manners more especially what with relation to Mens Actions is praise-worthy and rewardable and what reproveable and liable to a Divine Censure This being premised let us hasten to the words which are a part of the Commendation of the Angel and Church of Ephesus I shall not enter upon the dispute whether the Term Angel is to be taken for any particular superiour Minister in this and the other Churches or collectively for all the Ministers in them It shall suffice at present to acquaint you that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth no more than a Messenger and this is common to
the pursuing of Gods Glory in the reformation of Sinners Moreover this zeal for God is one of the Effects and Discoveries of true Repentance or a godly Sorrow 2 Cor. 7.11 Yea what zeal It is a Frame most contrary to a lukewarm and Laodicean Spirit than which nothing is more hateful unto God And therefore Sinners of such a temper are called to this instead of all other Duties and that because indeed a pious and regular Zeal leads to all other holy Performances Rev. 3.19 Be zealous therefore This was that which made Phinehas famous to all Generations and gained him the Covenant of an everlasting Priest-hood He was zealous for his God and against these bold Sinners Zimri and Cosbi Numb 25. verse 8 15. This seems to have been Elijah's Boast or matter of glorying he pleads it twice before God in a Breath I have been very jealous surely it was his Zeal that made him so for the Lord God of Hosts for the Children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant 1 Kings 19. ver 10 14. This was that which gained the highest Character from the Spirit of God to David Asa Jehosaphat Hezekiah and Josiah above all other Kings they zealously advanced a Reformation This is the great Glory of the promoters of Reformation in any and all Ages and an Argument of the greatest sincerity and faithfulness in Gods Service It is what the Religious Nehemiah and the same may be said of other Reformers took much comfort in in his Reflections upon and Examination of his former Life Remember me O God saith he when he had been reforming and cleansing the People and manifesting his zeal against the prophanation of the Sabbath Nehem. 13.31 What shall I say It was one of the great and crying sins of Judah and what forced such floods of tears from the fervent Prophet Jeremiah That the people bent their tongues for lies but were not valiant for the truth upon the Earth Jer. 9.3 Surely then to be zealous for God is a duty incumbent upon all high and low that espouse the interest of God and Religion But that Christian Rulers whether Civil or Ecclesiastical should more especially discover a zeal for God and the reformation of Sinners that they should in their respective places endeavour to cast off all evil doers from the City of the Lord will further appear by considering that I. Their function and places call them to appear in a more eminent manner for God Such are God's mouth unto and his representatives among the people God hath raised them unto honour above others and invested them with Power and Authority in order to instruct rule reform and punish Sinners It is their work the very design of their office to stop the current of Prophaneness to promote Righteousness to discountenance Sin and maintain the power of Godliness Therefore they are to lay themselves out for God The Minister to reprove rebuke exhort with all Authority And the Magistrate to maintain justice and good order and to distribute rewards and punishments For he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil Hence it is he is said not to bear the Sword in vain Rom. 13.4 Let such Rulers consider the great end of Providence in calling them to Authority over and above others and they need no more to discover or prompt them to their duty to be zealous for that God by whom they rule and to whom they must be accountable for the faithful discharge of their places For to bear patiently them which are evil to encourage or connive at Sinners what is it but to contradict the end and great design of their Office II. By not opposing and appearing zealously against spreading wickedness they involve themselves in the guilt of the abominations and sins committed in the places where they Live and bear Rule Malum qui non prohibet cum potest Jubet saith the Moralist he that suffereth Sin to be committed when it is in his power to hinder it is equally guilty with the acter And the guilt is so much the greater as any is in authority or power to do God Service A Ministers People is in a manner his Family and a People within a Magistrates Juridiction is his also If it is in their power therefore to command good order and reform the one or the other and they do it not what is this but to encourage sinners in their wickedness Is it not to become publick Patrons of Sin and consequently to contract publick Guilt Elie's great Sin was that when his Sons made themselves vile he restrained them not Therefore saith the Lord I will Judge his House for ever 1. Sam. 3.13 how far this concerneth all in Authority who also are Fathers in their several places let them consider I am sure he payed dear for his negligence and it is recorded for admonition to others III. Much may be done to restrain growing Impiety and prevent impending Judgments when Men in authority perform the duty of their places Sinners are greatly discouraged when they see others brought to shame or punishment and that there is no transgressing with Impunity The zeal of two such Witnesses as a Religious Magistracy and Ministry doth not only torment but terrify the boldest Sons of Belial And for encouragement Acts of Justice are a Sacrifice acceptable unto God and sometimes as an atonement for the most crying Sins as in the case of Phinehas But supposing a People incorrigible and equally regardless of the Authority of religious Magistrates and Ministers which is the saddest case the worst that can be supposed yet what comfort will it prove unto such Rulers that they have done their duty It is not of them that Sin groweth or Sinners multiply They stood in the Gap and their great Affliction was that the Sons of Belial were too hard for them But however as faithful Witnesses and in some sense Martyrs they shall have their Souls for a prey God is not unfaithful to forget their labour and zeal for his Glory IV. A hatred of Sinners a restraint of Prophaneness makes Rulers a publick blessing unto any People By righteousness a Nation is exalted and Sin is not only a reproach but a sore and threatning evil Then it is The wicked walk on every side when vile Men are exalted Psal 12.8 Then sinners multiply and sin appears bare faced And the consequence is such Rulers are a visible Judgment and a Curse upon the People They are given in wrath and not in mercy On the contrary religious Rulers are a publick Blessing as pillars on which the happiness of a People stands firm and unshaken The Earth and all the Inhabitants thereof are dissolved I bear up the Pillars thereof saith the royal Psalmist Psal 75.3 Were it not for Government all things would soon come to ruin and dissolution Not only the throne but the happiness of Mankind is established by Righteousness Blessed art thou O Lord When thy
all Ministers to be God's Messengers Now the Character of this Messenger or Messengers and probably of that Church whose Angel or Angels he or they were is as followeth I know thy Works and thy Labour and thy Patience And how thou canst not bear them which are evil and so forth Tho' it is one Branch of this Character I design to insist upon yet because of the coherence I must briefly consider the Verse from the Beginning I know thy works c. Here you have 1st The Person speaking I He that holdeth the seven Stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks as in the preceding Verse This was Jesus Christ the 〈…〉 find by consulting the first Chapter throughout The Person is expressed in your Translation but in the original couched or implyed in the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2dly What is affirmed of him I know thy Works and thy Labour c. I know Now this Knowledge may have different Acceptations as it respects Works in general or such as are good or bad in particular I. As it respects Works in general it signifieth Christ's Omnisciency And so the meaning of the Phrase I know thy Works which we have in the Front of every one of the seven Epistles I say the meaning will be That Jesus Christ had a full Knowledge or Comprehension of all the Works of this Angel or Church whether good or evil and so of all the others Nothing was hid from him And this was a manifest Proof 1st Of his Divinity and consequently that his Knowledge was omniscience and his Testimony beyond all exception 2dly That the greatest Fear and Reverence were due to him as the Searcher of Hearts and Witness of all Actions But then II. As the Knowledge of Christ respects particular good Works it signifies not only Omniscience and a full Comprehension but an Approbation and Commendation and so the Word is to be taken in this Verse Christ not only knew but he approved and commended at large the Works of the Angel and Church of Ephesus Therefore it follows that they were good and praise-worthy for the Holy and Just one tho' 〈…〉 things approveth or commendeth nothing but what is approveable and commendable III. As the Knowledge of Christ respects particular evil works it signifieth Omniscience together with Aversation As he knows delights in approves and encourages good works so he knows hates and witnesseth against those works that are evil As all things are naked before him so of all Men in general and of the good and bad in particular he can say I know thy Works And as the Works are good or bad so he approveth or disliketh them so he commends or reproves I may say so he rewardeth or punisheth the Workers 3. What is approved and commended in this Angel and Church and indeed approveable and commendable in any other either Church Angel or Christian according to his respective capacity Good works in general and labour patience and a zeal and warmth for God and against Sinners as such in particular I know thy Works and thy Labour and thy Patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil That by Works here we are to understand good Works appears by the following particular induction thy Labour thy Patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and so forth One commendable branch whereof was 1. Labour that is an active endeavour and diligence to propagate the Gospel 2. Another was Patience in suffering or in bearing the Cross for the Gospel Some think There is here a Hendiadys and that thy Labour and thy Patience signifieth only thy Patience in Labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But this makes no difference both Senses level at the same Scope The 3d. part of the commendable Character what we are now to speak to followeth And how thou canst not bear them which are evil I know that is I approve how thou canst not bear them which are evil So the Context will warrant us to understand it I know how thou canst not Now it may be said of one that he cannot do not only that which exceedeth his natural Power but what he cannot do without Reluctancy Abhorrence or with any Delight or Pleasure So here Thou canst bear that is Thou canst not patiently bear Or it is a great grief and trouble to thee to bear It is against thy Mind and Heart or such a thing as thou canst with patience endure Them which are evil that is scandalous Sinners Persons erroneous in Judgment or lewd and wicked in Life and Coversation So the stream of Interpreters run Grot. Cluv. Med. Par. Now what is approved commended and is indeed approveable commenble in all Christian Churches Kingdoms Commonwealths and particular Christians in their several Spheres is a Zeal and Warmth for God and Religion and against Sin and Sinners as such I know how thou canst not bear them which are evil From the words thus considered and opened I shall lay down this position as a foundation to build upon Doct. It is not only a laudable Character but the indispensable Duty of all Christians especially of such as are intrusted with Government in a Christian Church Kingdom or Commonwealth to discover a Zeal for God and a Holy Indignation against Sinners as such I know how thou canst not bear them which are evil To illustrate and confirm this Position so self evident and agreeable to Scripture in all its parts and the Character and Practice of the greatest Saints and Reformers I shall take the following particulars under consideration or shew 1. What is implyed in that Zeal for God and Holy Indignation against Sinners as such set forth in the Text by not being able to bear them which are evil 2. That such a Zeal is not only commendable but the Duty of all Christians especially of Christian Rulers whether Civil or Ecclesiastical 3. What means are to be used in order to the Consciencious performance of this Duty or the discovery of a Zeal for God and a Holy Indignation against Sinners as such These particulars contain the Substance of the Doctrine and will if duly handled give you the Scope and drift of the Text. I shall therefore hasten to their Consideration and that in order to a practical Application of the whole Thou canst not bear 1. Then consider we what is implyed in that Zeal for God and Holy Indignation against Sinners as such set forth here by not being able to bear them which are evil or such as are erroneous in Judgment or prophane and wicked in their Lives Thou canst not c. This implys 1. A great concern for the Glory of God and the Advancement of his Kingdom in the World Or which is the same a valiant appearance for the Truth and the Honour and Glory of God The Glory of God is sullied and underminded and his Kingdom overthrown by the prophaneness and licentiousness of Sinners