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A60385 Ergon pseudous kai misthos alētheias, or, The wicked mans sad disappointment and the righteous mans sure recompence being a sermon preached the 17th day of October, 1661, at the solemn funerals of the Right Worshipful Sir Abraham Raynardson, Knight, late alderman of London / by George Smalwood. Smalwood, George, 1604-1679. 1661 (1661) Wing S4006; ESTC R10143 27,597 40

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both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. Salvation will make them amends for all their pains and patience in waiting and expectation shall be turned into fruition Thus you see the righteous mans imployment he is a Sower of seed and how fitly the Metaphor suits with his practice and condition 2 The Seed which he soweth is righteousness not legal righteousness which is an exact conformity to the Will and Law of God fulfilling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the utmost rigour of it in thought word and deed in perfection both of nature and action no mere man since the fall ever sowed such seed of righteousness it is proper only to Jesus Christ the righteous who is both God and Man and therefore is called Jehovah our Righteousness and was made a propitiation for our sins He and none but He was able to fulfill all Righteousness 2 Therefore the Righteousness here spoken of as the seed which must be sown is Evangelical Righteousness which Christ hath purchased for all those which believe and embrace the Gospel and this also is twofold 1 Imputative or the Righteousness of justification which is the Righteousness of Christ himself inherent in his Person as in the subject but imputed to us and made ours We sow this Righteousness when we receive Christ by Faith and are united to him and so are made Partakers of his Merits and by renewed acts of Faith we have it continually communicated to us to our lives end This is called The Righteousness of Faith Rom. 4. 13. 2 There is Evangelical Righteousness inherent in us which is the Righteousness of sanctification whereby we are regenerated and receive the Image of our Heavenly Father being renewed in our minds and putting on the new man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness Ephes 4. 24. and thereby we bring forth the fruits of all good works to God our neighbours and our selves Some restrain this righteousnesse in the Text only to Almes-deeds and liberality to the poor taking it in Daniels sense in his counsel to Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 27. O King break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor But righteousnes here is taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more generally for all manner of good works t is a comprehensive word containing all moral vertues in it and so to sow righteousnes is to lead a holy and a righteouslife in all godliness and honesty to give God and man his due to be fruitful in good works to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God Mic. 6. 8. It is as the Prophet Isaiah paraphraseth upon it to loose the bands of wickedness to undoe the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free to break every yoke it is to deal our bread to the hungry and to bring the poor that are cast out into our houses when we see the naked to cover him and not to hide our selves to our own flesh Isai 58. 6 7. To live in the constant and conscionable practice of these and all other duties which God requireth in his word and that sincerely and with an honest heart this is to sow righteousness and this righteousness inherent is always joined with righteousness imputed justus reputatus he that is accounted righteous is always justus factus made righteous by inherent sanctification and the fruits thereof and he that is justified by faith is always made zealous of good works the one is the Fountain the other the stream the one is the foundation the other the building the one is the precious ointment the other the sweet savour of that ointment thus you see what the righteouss mans seed is viz. his righteousness 3. There followeth his perseverance and continuance insowing this seed he is still sowing it all his life long for as I observed before the Participle of the Present Tense here used notes not only actum inchoatum an act begun sed continuatum perfectum continued and brought to perfection he doth not sow one or two or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost three days months or years but all his days as he goeth on his course he still scattereth the seed of righteousness it is his constant practice and he persevereth in it to the very end he seeks glory and honor and immortality by patient continuance in well doing he is truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a perfect man because he doth not his work by halves but is careful to bring it to perfection he begins not in the Spirit and ends in the Flesh but respondent ●ltima primis his end is answerable to his beginning he lets Faith and Patience and Humility and every heavenly vertue have their perfect work and giveth not over laboring about the spiritual building till he hath laid the top stone thereof with rejoycing crying Grace grace unto it he beareth forth precious seed and is always sowing it till at last he cometh to reap the Harvest of Eternal Blessedness thus you see the qualification of the person he is one that soweth his Seed is righteousness and continueth in sowing it to the end 2. Let us take a view of his blessed success to him shall be a sure reward herein three things are observable 1. The futurity of this mans reward in the perfection and completeness of it it shall be it is not yet now he is but in via in the way travelling towards his reward he shall ere long be in patriâ in his heavenly Country enjoying his reward now he hath it only in primitiis in the first fruits and foretasts of it in the graces of the Spirit which are but a few Clusters of the Grapes of Canaan hereafter he shall reap the full crop now he hath his blessedness in faith and hope hereafter he shall have it in vision and fruition It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 John 3. 2. This is a glorious priviledge to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like God and to see God how beautiful will their faces be that shall be like him how blessed will their eyes be that shall see him surely their beauty and blessedness is beyond all expression or conception but all this is to come It is said the righteous shall shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father Mat. 13. 43. they shall shine hereafter for the present they must be content to be darkened and clouded with corruptions afflictions and temptations this is their cloudy time the time of their Eclipse their shinning time is to come Now they are as it were under the Horizon in obscurity but hereafter they shall arise like the Sun after a dark night and shine in perfect brightness and glory God giveth the wicked their heaven upon earth they have their portion in this life he filleth their bellies with his
himself and his Son Jesus Christ and the Spirit of comfort both in the communications of Grace here and the fruition of Glory hereafter So prayeth Novemb. 15. 1661. Madam Your Ladyships humble Sevant in the Lord Jesus GEORGE SMALWOOD The wicked mans sad disappointment and The righteous mans sure recompence PROVERBS 11. 18. The wicked worketh a d●ceitful work but to him that s●weth righteousn●ss shall be a sure reward THis Booke of the Proverls is made up of Divine Aphorismes and short Sentences which as one of the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith upon another occasion are very short if you measure the words but full of spiritual energy and Soul-saving Vertue like a little body full of spirits or like juycy clusters of Grapes filled with the noblest liquour and ready to burst forth with new wine Here are heavenly Apophthegmes fit for all occasions for all persons for all actions Here are comforts for the poor counsels for the rich instructions for the ignorant corrections for the obstinate wholsome precepts and precious promises Characters both of good and bad matter for all to work upon It was pen'd by Solomon who himself was a Proverb for his wisedom a man though not without great failings to shew that the Saints have their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their fainting-fits their imperfections and aberrations as well as others and we must expect no absolute perfection in those that dwell in houses of clay Yet he was one in whom much matter of great worth and excellent knowledge was shut up and contained The Holy Ghost saith He spake of trees from the Cedar-tree that is in Lebanon even unto the Hysop that springeth out of the wall He spake also of Beasts and of Fowls and of creeping things and of Fishes and there came of all people to hear the wisedome of Solomon 1 Kings 4. 33 34. It pleased God to use him as one of his Amanuenses or Divine Penmen of holy Writ and so notwithstanding his failings he is to be reckoned inter Sanctos Dei among the holy Ones of God For Saint Peter telleth us that Prophesie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. so then he was one of those holy men that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inspired of God himself and guided by his spirit And this eminently wise man like a careful Physician hath in this Book as it were piled one upon another boxes of Medicines for all diseases cordials to comfort and chear up pious souls in the midst of all troubles and distresses with short inscriptions upon each of them that any man without overburthening his memory may easily learn a compendious and sudden cure for every particular malady and find a Cordial to revive and comfort his heart in any fainting fit whatsoever These words which I have chosen for the subject of my discourse upon this occasion like most of the rest have no dependance at all upon the former but are in themselves two absolute divine sentences or doctrines as contraries one to another as the persons they speak of and so they adde lustre each Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt to other For contraries placed together make one another more apparent Now here is an Antithesis or opposition between the state of the wicked and the state of the righteous shewing the vast difference between the one and the other in their respective conclusions or finall events or the issue and result of both their works 1 The wicked mans work how prosperous and happy soever it seems for the present yet at last it proveth vain and deceitfull For the wicked c. 2. The righteous mans work whatever outward evils accompany it for the present yet in the end it proveth most blessed and successful For to him that soweth c. Thus this world is like a common field where both good and bad have ground to work upon But the wicked sow such bad seed that it brings forth nothing but briars and brambles it is all overgrown with thorns and nettles cover the face thereof as it is said of the field of the slothful and the Carduus spinis surgit paliurus acutts Virgil. Vineyard of the man void of understanding Prov. 24. 30 31. And so the wicked work to no good purpose but lose all the fruit they expected and are nigh unto cursing whose end is to be bur●ed Heb. 6. 8. For as the work is false which they do God biding them do one thing and they doing another he commanding them to sow to the spirit and they sowing to the flesh so it proveth a work of falsehood to themselves also wholly frustrating their expectation for it is a deceitfull work It is in the Original the work of a lye or a lying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work The work of a wicked man telleth him a most notorious lye for it promiseth him good success and he thinks his happiness is placed in it he hugs and applauds himself in his politick enterprises Populus me sibilat sed mihi plaudo domi Horat. as the covetous man in the Poet did in his heaps of money though all the people were ready to hiss at him As the Prophet speaks of the oppressors in his time He sacrificeth unto his net and burneth incense unto his drag because by them his portion is fat and his meat plenteous Habak 1. 16. How many such fishers have fished in our troubled waters and thought themselves the wisest and best men in the Land Thus the wicked mans work makes a fair shew in the beginning nay perhaps it hath a very hopeful progress for a long time for the Tabernacles of robbers may prosper and they that provoke God may be secure into whose hands God may bring abundantly Iob 12. 6. but at last it bringeth nothing but woe and misery and so all his devices fail and vanish into nothing they become a meer lye and there is no truth in them But the righteous sowe the pure corn of righteousness which therefore proveth sincere also and true to their hope it deceiveth not their expectation but bringeth forth the harvest of a plentifull reward which is reaped in Heaven though it were sown upon earth So then these words contain two remarkable dispensations of divine providence 1. The wicked mans sad disappoi●tment after all his tedious toil and labor in the works of iniquity he works a deceitfull work 2. The righteous mans blessed success after he hath laboured in the work of the Lord and passed through many difficulties he loseth not his labor he scattereth not his seed in vain For to him that soweth c. I shall not speak much to the first of these viz. The wicked mans sad disappointment but onely to warn you to take heed of his ways For it is not so sutable to our present occasion save onely to
out But I leave the dark side of the cloud and shall change the scene and present unto you the light side viz. the Godly mans blessed success Although the wicked mans work will deceive him yet the righteous shall not be disappointed of his hope For to him that soweth c. Herein let us consider 1. The quality of the person To him that soweth righteousness 2 His blessed success wherein these things are to be observed 1. The futurity of it It shall be it is not yet 2. The certainty of it it shall be sure 3. The excellent nature of it what and how great it shall be in the word Reward First Let us reflect a little upon the quality of the person and therein three things are to be noted 1. The Metaphor by which he is resembled He is a Sower of Seed 2. The Seed which he soweth is righteousness 3. His perseverance and continuance in sowing this Seed he is sowing in the present tense that is still sowing all his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 long he never breaks off this work till it be quite finished and that will not be till his life be ended Of each of these in order 1. The righteous man is a Sower of Seed this Metaphor of sowing fitly setteth forth the practice of a true Christian a righteous man is like one that soweth Seed in a field 1. In respect of his preparation for it for as before the Seed is sown the ground must be broken and plowed up and so made sit to receive it So he that soweth righteousness must first have his heart plowed and broken by contrition godly sorrow and humiliation for sin The Prophet Hoseah saith to Israel So we to your selves in righteousness reap in mercy break up your fallow ground cap. 10. 12. He that ploweth not cannot sow It is onely the broken and contrite heart that is fit to receive or retain grace our hearts must be prepared for grace as the ground for the seed by plowing So it was with St. Peters converts Acts 2. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do if the fallow ground of our hearts was never yet plowed by godly sorrow and humiliation for our sins it argueth that the seed of righteousness was never yet sown there 2. After our hearts are plowed up then the seed of grace must be cast in by the Ministry of the Gospel the glad tidings of salvation being declared and applied by the faithful Dispenser of Divine mysteries The Preacher saith In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether both shall be alike good Eccles 11. 6. This is not much unlike S. Pauls Counsel to Timothy Preach the word be instant in season and out of season 2 Tim. 4. 2. The Ministers of Christ must be carefull to sow the seed of the word upon all occasions and leave the success to God that giveth the increase for as our Saviour saith the Ut sementem feceris ita ●…etes Kingdome of Heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field Mat. 13. 14. After plowing there must be sowing or no crop can be expected 3 After sowing the seed there must be rain to moisten it and sunshine to warm it and make it spring forth for humor calor moisture and heat are the causes of growth So the seed of grace that is sown in the heart must still be watered with the tears of true godly sorrow and with the dew of Heaven from above They that sow in tears can onely look to reap to joy he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoycing bringing his sheaves with him Psal 126. 5 6. A dripping Spring is most likely to produce a plentiful Harvest And then the sunshine of the Spirit must continually warm and quicken the seed of grace till it spring up and come at last to maturity for the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3. 6. 4 When the ground is well plowed and the seed is sowne watered and warmed there must be expectation and patient waiting till the time of Harvest So when the seed of grace is sown it must have a time to grow and ripen by degrees for no man cometh to the perfection Nemo repente sit optimus of goodness on a suddain the Sun climbs by little and little to his Meridian altitude And so the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4. 18. The earth brings forth fruit first the blade then the ear after that the full Corn in the ear Mark 4. 28. So it is in all things ad summum non nisi ex principiis we must begin at the bottome and so come to the top by rounds and steps as they that climb up a Ladder Therefore when we have sown the seed of grace we must wait upon God till we reap the Harvest of Glory and be content to endure all manner of Weather rain and storms aswell as serene Halcyon dayes of peace and tranquillity if we meet with Thunder and Hail and an horrible Tempest we must not be terrified but bear it out with courage and constancy So did Job in the midst of the fiercest storms and foulest Weather that ever poor mortal endured he saith all the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come Job 14. 14. the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Militiae 〈◊〉 so Montanus word that signifieth an appointed time signifieth also a warfare now Job was content to wait upon God till he should be pleased to give him his quietus est and discharge him though his life were a continual warfare where every battel of the Warriour is with confused noise and Garments rolled in blood Isai 9. 5. So must he that soweth this seed of righteousness wait till the time of rewarding come Behold saith St. James the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the Earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain Be ye also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh cap. 5. ver 7. 8. The righteous have more reason to wait patiently then the Husbandman for they shall come to a better Harvest then he to a more rich and plentiful crop even to the enjoyment of God himself who is the chiefest good to sit with Christ upon his Throne and be Partakers with him of his Glory Therefore they have good cause to wait with patience for they shall be well payed for their waiting every minute shall be abundantly remunerated besides they shall do that which is good and well pleasing to God Lam. 3. 26. It is good that a man should
battail and for want of Christian courage would have betraied this City into the hands of her enemies and consequently have exposed her to the wrath of God but this noble Heroe stood stoutly in defiance of all opposition was couragious and faithful to his trust and would not betray it for fear of men or love of this present world 3. When the then usurping Parliament had made an Act to abolish the Kingly Office and House of Lords and sent it to this worthy Person then Lord Mayor to be proclaimed at the usual places of the City he judging it altogether inconsistent with nay positively contrary to the several oaths which he had taken considering of what dangerous consequence it might be to the City and Citizens he delayed to do it for eight days and afterward being summoned to come in person before the Parliament to give a reason of his refusal he appearing told them plainly that his conscience being forecharged with divers oaths would not permit him to do what they required Though he was before so great an Assembly surrounded with his enemies and his person estate liberty and life were all in their power and lay at their mercy which was no better then cruelty yet he did not shrink back for fear but gave them a flat denial to their very faces whereupon he was voted out of his Office fined Two thousand pound and committed Prisoner to the Tower of London where he remained for a time and was afterwards released but not paying his fine the Committee for advance of monies ordered his goods housholds stuff and wearing apparel to be sequestred and sold by a candle which was done accordingly and so his whole fine was extorted from him in Money Bonds and Goods by the power of that Committee Thus the unspotted Integrity and Christian fortitude of this then Honorable Lord Mayor did shine forth most gloriously in the midst his persecutions and afflictions like the Stars in a clear cold frosty night to the honor of God and the Example of others he suffered for His Majesty he suffered for the Nobility he suffered for the City and his fellow Citizens and in all these which is his greatest happiness and the greatest shame to his enemies he suffered persecution for Righteousness and to keep a good conscience and such our Saviour pronounceth blessed and saith That great is their Reward in Heaven Mat. 5. 12. In expectation of this reward he would rather hazzard his Estate Liberty Life and all that was dear and precious to him then defile his conscience and break his Oath which was lawfull for the matter and lawfully imposed for the Authority O if men had been so conscionable in those days in keeping the lawful Oathes which they had taken our land had not been so stained with the blood of her own children neither had we seen and felt those Miseries and Calamities under which this City and Nation groaned for so many years together The Lord of his infinite mercy give repentance and pardon for all the perjury of these perillous times Our Christian Worthy would have no share in it nothing to burthen his conscience nor disturb his peace he was firm and inflexible in his Resolution and as St. Jerome saith of Joseph he was not changed from his Uprightness and Integrity nec squalore carceris nec tumore Aegyptiae potestatis neither by the unsavouriness of a Prison nor by the Pride and Swelling of that Egyptian power then in being he was a man so carefull to sow Righteousness that he was well content with the fruits of Gods Blessing upon his endeavors in his lawful calling and never sought to add one penny to his estate or inrich himself by the spoils and ruines of others like Harpies and Crows that love to seed upon dead carkeises and to eat the fruits of other mens labours And which was none of the meanest of Gods mercies to him the Lord was pleased to keep him from having any hand in beginning or promoting our late unnatural troubles and commotions he was a man of very peaceable and quiet Spirit which in the sight of God is of great price he was none of the Sons of Mars none of those people that delight in War but he heartily wished and prayed for the welfare of our Sion and the peace of our Jerusalem this was one special favour of God to him to keep him from having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness according to that Song of Hannah He will keep the feet of his Saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength shall no man prevaile 1 Sam. 2 9. But his fidelity and love of peace were very costly to him though indeed such a purchase as the reward of Righteousness cannot be bought at too dear a rate for his being Lord Mayor that year was prejudicious to his Estate at least to the value of Twenty thousand pound besides his Fine as he hath affirmed under his own hand and I dare believe it coming from the mouth or pen of a person of such Worth and Integrity as he was And for all these sufferings he hath had no recompence upon earth but we may very fitly apply that of the Preacher to his condition Eccles 9. 14 15. There was a little City and few men within it and there came a great King against it and besieged it and built great bulworks against it now there was found in it a poor wise man and he by his wisdom delivered the City yet no man remembred that same poor man This is very suitable to our present purpose except in some circumstances I confess there is some difference in this place from that and in this person from that for this City is great and there are many men in it and this person was rich and not poor but the work and recompence of both run Parrallel for this wise and righteousness man delivered the City by his wisdom and righteousness yet no man remembred this same wise and righteous man It is pity such honorable worthy Christian actions as these should not be proportionably regarded and rewarded upon earth But this is the comfort of the righteouss man and it is unspeakable that his reward is with God in Heaven yea God himself is his exceeding great reward This worthy Knight sowed Righteousness and I hope that through the infinite mercies of God and invaluable merits of the Lord Jesus Christ upon whom alone he relied for Justification and Salvation that he hath recieved this sure reward which shall never be taken from him the Lord give us grace so to follow the steps of his Integrity and Stedfastness in believing and well doing that we may have a sure reward with the Generation of the Righteous in Gods Heavenly Kingdom Amen FINIS