of life for men to be provided of all necessaries befitting their several occasions before the time they should use them that he is rather derided then pittied that having time and means for it neglecteth so to do The grashopper in the fable had the merrier summer but the pismire fared better in winter If in our prosperity we grow secure flattering our selves in our own thoughts as if our hill were so strong that we should never be removed if then God do but turn his face from us yea but a little and send any little change upon us we shall be so much the more troubled at the affliction when it cometh by how much the lesse we expected it before Our unpreparednesse maketh a very little affliction sometimes fall very heavy upon us and then it foyleth us miserably and soon tireth us out and so we suffer by our own negligence 31. To which adde in the fourth place that which many times followeth upon such our neglect Gods deserting of us and withdrawing the ordinary support of his grace from us And then as the Philistines over-mastered Sampson when his strength was departed from him so will temptations us when we are left to wrestle with them by our own strength alone without the special grace of God to assist It is by Faith that we stand if we do stand This is the victory that overcometh the world even our Faith But it is by the grace and power of God that our Faith it self standeth Take that grace away and our Faith faileth and then our hearts fail and then there is neither courage nor patience nor obedience nor any thing else that good is in us At least not in that measure as to render our wayes during that estate either acceptable to God or comfortable to our selves untill it shall please him to renew us unto repentance to give us the comfort of his helpe again and to stablish us afresh with his free spirit and grace 32. Of whose most holy and wise dispensations although we be neither able nor worthy to apprehend any other reason then his own will nor to comprehend that for his spirit breatheth where and when it listeth and we know not antecedently either why or how yet are we well assured in the general that the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works Yea and we finde by the blessed consequents many times that the very withdrawing of his grace is it self a special act of his grace 1. As when he hath thereby humbled us to a better sight and sence of our own frailty so was Hezekiah left to himself in the matter of the Embassadours that came from the King of Babel 2. Or checkt us for our overmuch self-confidence as Peters denial was a real rebuke for his over-bold protestation 3. Or brought us to acknowledge with thankfulness and humility by whose strength it is that we have hitherto stood My strength will I ascribe unto thee Psalm 59. 4. Or taught us to bear more compassion towards our brethren and their infirmities if they hap to be overtaken with a fault and to restore them with the spirit of meekness considering that even we our selves are not such as cannot be tempted Or wrought some other good effect upon us some other way 33. Sith then great and lasting afflictions are strong trials of mens patience and courage and their inability to bear them great through the frailty of nature is yet by their own personal default and supine negligence much greater and without the support of Gods grace which as he is no wayes bound to give them so he may and doth when it pleaseth him take from them their spirits are not able to bear up under the least temptation you will grant the Apostle had great reason to fear lest these Hebrews notwithstanding the good proof they had given of their Christian constancy in some former trials should yet be weary and faint in their minds under greater sufferings And consequently how it concerneth every one of us whatsoever comforts we may have of our former sufferings and patience whereof unless God have the whole glory our comfort sure will be the lesse yet to be very jealous of our own treacherous hearts and to keep a constant watch over them that they deceive us not not to be too high-minded or jolly for any thing that is past nor too unmerciful censurers of our weaker brethren for their faintings and failings nor too confident of our own future standing 34. It ought to be our care rather at all times especially in such times as threaten persecution to all those that will not recede from such principles of Religion Iustice and Loialty as they have hitherto held themselves obliged to walk by to live in a continual expectancy of greater trials and temptations daily to assault us then we have yet wrestled withal And to give all diligence by our faithful prayers and utmost endeavours to arm and prepare our selves for the better bearing them with such calm patience and moderation on the one side and yet with such undaunted courage and resolution on the other side as may evidence at once our humble submission to whatsoever it shall please God to lay upon us and our high contempt of the utmost despite the world can do us 35. For since every affliction Ianus-like hath two faces and looketh two wayes we should do well to make our use of both It looketh backward as it cometh from God who layeth it upon us as a correction for some past sin And it looketh forward as it cometh from Satan and the World who lay it before us as a temptation to some new sin Accordingly are we to entertain it As it is Gods correction by no means to despise it My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord the next verse but one but to take it up with joy and to bear it with patience and to profit by it to repentance But as it is Satans temptation by all means to resist it with courage ey and with disdain too Resist it I say but in that sence wherein such resistance is to be understood in the very next verse after the Text. That is to say so to resist the temptation by striving against that sin what ever it be which the Tempter seeketh to drive us into by the affliction that we should fight it out in blood resolving rather to lose it all were it to the last drop then consent to the committing of that Thus to lose our blood is to win the day And the failing so to do is that weariness and faintness of minde and soul of which our Apostle here speaketh and upon which we have hitherto thus long insisted 36. Yet dare I not for all that leave it thus without adding a necessary caution lest what hath been said be mis-understood as if when we are bidden not to faint under the Cross we were forbidden to
as well as pleasure 9. The Epithite here given to Oyntments is in some former translations Good and so the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth but in our last rendred Precious All to one effect for good things are ever precious and the better they are the more precious The meaning is as if Solomon had said A good name is better then the most fragrant and odoriferous Oyntmements which for their exquisite pleasantness are held in greatest price and estimation 10. The word Better which decideth the whole controversie between the compared terms and is the just importance of that which the Hebrews in their idiome for want of the comparative degree express by the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prefixed must here be understood agreeably to the subject matter and without reference to Bonum jucundum Better that is to say more pleasant more contentful or as Solomon saith elsewhere comparing a good name with gold and silver Desiderabilius more to be wished or desired then a precious oyntment or Eligibilius in the choise to be preferred before it 11. From the words thus opened the whole result is briefly this A good name is a thing very worthy to be of every good man highly esteemed and to be held much more valuable then riches pleasures honours or whatsoever other outward things the men of this world can place their utmost felicity in Wise Solomon hath elsewhere delivered his judgement as positively as may be in this matter concerning one of these and that the chiefest of all the rest in most mens account the Worldlings Summum bonum Riches Prov. 22. A good name is rather to be chosen then great riches and loving favour rather then silver and gold And the wise son of Sirach also preferreth a good name before a thousand great treasures of gold Observe the gradation Before gold Treasures of gold great treasures of gold thousands of great treasures of gold ey and put life it selfe in to boot Sirach 41. Compare we a little the most esteemed delights of the sons of men those oyntments that are most precious in their esteem with a good name and see if it do not in very many respects goe beyond them all 12. If we should take an exact Inventory of all the particulars the World affords which worldly men hunt after with such eagerness that they not only spend all their strength and travel but adventure their healths also and lives in the pursuit nor so only but for the obtaining whereof they truck away their precious souls too we shall finde them all to come under one of these three styles whereunto S. Iohn hath reduced them summing them up as it were in the gross 1 Ioh. 2. The lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life Haec tria pro trino numine mundus habet These are the things so much magnified and adored in the world with one or other of these baits Satan tricketh up all his temptations when he laieth wait for our souls Riches honours and pleasures And to each of these may the word Oyntment in the Text either by way of Metaphor or Metonymie of the adjunct be very well extended For Riches first it appeareth that Oyntments were of ancient time accounted and are so taken notice of by Historians as a special part of the royall treasure of Kings and Princes And therefore are the spices and precious Oyntments reckoned amongst the things which Hezekiah shewed to the Babylonish Embassadors when with vain ostentation he desired they should see the royall wealth and magnificence of his treasures Oyntments also secondly were the ensignes and symboles of the greatest honours as being used in the solemn consecration and inauguration of men into the Kingly and Priestly dignities Among the Heathens indeed in 〈◊〉 of the Hebrews as many other of their rites came in upon that account but among the Hebrews by speciall appointment from God himself Insomuch as some interpreters conceive it not improbable that Solomon in this place might have respect to those Regall and Sacerdotall anointings But above all thirdly Oyntments were the special emblems and expressions of mirth and jollity and therefore were used in entertainments and at feasts Testimonies hereof from the writings of Poets and Historians both Greek and Latine in great abundance besides that I finde them ready collected by sundry learned men are of themselves obvious every where But finding store enough also in the holy scriptures I need not recite any other There we read of the Oyle of joy and the Oyle of gladness When thou fastest saith our Saviour do not by an affected sullennesse and sadnesse make ostentation of thy fasting as hypocrites do but unge caput c. make semblance rather by anointing thy head and washing thy face as if thou wert going to a feast that so thou maist be out of the reach of all temptation to vain glory that way whilst thou dost not appear to men to fast When David recordeth in Psalm 23. how bountifully God had dealt with him and shewed him his goodness plenteously he setteth it forth in this manner Thou hast prepared a table before me thou hast anointed my head with Oyle and my cup runneth over To omit other places hitherto tendeth that ironical speech of our Preacher to the epicure chap. 9. Goe thy way eat thy bread with joy and drink thy drink with a merry heart Let thy garments be alwayes white another signe of rejoycing that and let thy head lack no oyntment Riches Honours Pleasures you see Oyntment hath somewhat to do with them all and so the word may well comprehend them all 13. Now then to enter into the Comparison first all these Oyntments even the most precious of them are equally common to the Good and Bad. The worst of men may have as large a share in them as the best the most notorious vicious liver as the most eminently vertuous person For though they be in truth secretly disposed by the most wise and just hand of a divine providence yet to the outward appearance and farther our eye will not pierce the dispensation of them seemeth to come from chance rather then justice and fortune rather then merit This the Preacher took into his consideration and complaineth of it chap. 9. as one of the great evils and vanities among those that are done under the sun that all outward things come alike to all and that there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked and thence inferreth that no man can know so as to pronounce thereof with any certainty whether he be in the love or hatred of God by all that is before him If in respect of these outward things there be any difference between the Good and the Bad the advantage is rather on the worse side bad men oftentimes having a larger portion thereof then good men have Why the
it For whereas the precious Oyntment though it have in it much variety of pleasure in regard of the three now-mentioned qualities yet can it bring all that delight no farther then to the outward senses of Touch Sight and Smell As for that passage in Psal. 109. It shall enter like Oyle into his bones it is perhaps rather to be understood as an hyperbolical expression then to be taken as exactly true in rigore loquendi But as for a good Name that pierceth farther then either bones or marrow it entereth into the inner man and bringeth rejoycing to the very heart and soule A good report maketh the bones fat saith Solomon and that I weene is another-gates matter then to make the face to shine This for material Oyle Then for those other outward things which for some respects I told you might be also comprehended under the name of Oyntments Riches Honours and worldly Pleasures alas how poore and sorry comforts are they to a man that hath forfeited his good Name that liveth in no credit nor reputation that groaneth under the contempt and reproach and infamy of every honest or but sober man Whereas he that by godly and vertuous actions by doing justice and exercising mercy and ordering himself and his affiairs discreetly holdeth up his good Name and reputation hath that yet to comfort himself withall and to fill his bones as with marrow and fatness though encompassed otherwise with many outward wants and calamities Without which even life it selfe would be unpleasant I say not to a perfect Christian only but even to every ingenuous morall man The worthier sort of men among the Heathens would have chosen rather to have dyed the most cruel deaths then to have lived infamous under shame and disgrace And do not those words of S. Paul 1 Cor. 9. shew that he was not much otherwise minded It were better for me to die then that any man should make my glorying void Thus a good Name is better then any precious Oyntment take it as you will properly or tropically because it yieldeth more solid content and satisfaction to him that enjoyeth it then the other doth 17. Compare them thirdly in those performances whereunto they enable us Oyls and Oyntments by a certain penetrative faculty that they have being well chafed in do supple the joynts and strengthen the sinews very much and thereby greatly enable the body for action making it more nimble and vigorous then otherwise it would be Whence it was that among the Greeks and from their example among the Romans and in other Nations those that were to exercise armes or other feats of activity in their solemn games especially wrestlers did usually by frictions and anointings prepare and fit their bodies for those athletique performances to do them with more agility and less weariness Insoas Chrysostome and other Greek Fathers almost every where use the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely when they speak of those preparatory advantages such as are prayer fasting meditation of Christs sufferings or of the joyes of heaven and the like wherewith Christians may fortifie and secure themselves when they are to enter the combate with their spiritual enemies but more generally to signifie any preparing or fitting of a person for any manner of action whatsoever 18. But how much more excellent then is a good Name which is of such mighty consequence advantage for the expediting of any honest enterprise that we take in hand either in our Christian course or civil life in this world It is an old saying taken up indeed in relation to another matter somewhat distant from that we are now treating of but it holdeth no less true in this then in that other respect Duo cum faciunt idem non est idem Let two men speak the same words give the same advice pursue the same business drive at the same design with equal right equal means equal diligence every other thing equall yet commonly the success is strangely different if the one be well thought of and the other labour of an ill name So singular an advantage is it for the crowning of our endeavours with good success to be in a good name If there be a good opinion held of us and our names once up whether we deserve it or no whatsoever we do is well taken whatsoever we propose is readily entertained our counsels yea and rebukes too carry waight and authority with them By which means we are enabled if we have but grace to make that good use thereof to do the more good to bring the more glory to God to give better countenance to his truth and to good causes and things Whereas on the other side if we be in an ill name whether we deserve it or no all our speeches and actions are ill-interpreted no man regardeth much what we say or do our proposals are suspected our counsels and rebukes though wholsome and just scorned and kickt at so as those men we speak for that side we adhere to those causes we defend those businesses we manage shall lye under some prejudice and be like to speed the worse for the evil opinion that is held of us We know well it should be otherwise Non quis sed quid As the Magistrate that exerciseth publick judgment should lay aside all respect of the person and look at the cause onely so should we all in our private judgings of other mens speeches and actions look barely upon the truth of what they say and the goodness of what they do and accordingly esteem of both neither better nor worse more or less for whatsoever fore-conceits we may have of the person Otherwise how can we avoid the charge of having the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons But yet since men are corrupt and will be partiall this way do we what we can and that the world and the affairs thereof are so much steered by Opinion it will be a point of godly wisdome in us so far to make use of this common corruption as not to disadvantage our selves for want of a good Name and good Opinion for the doing of that good whilst we live here among men subject to such frailties which we should set our desires and bend our endeavours to do And so a good name is better then a good ointment in that it enableth us to better and worthier performances 19. Compare them fourthly in their Extensions and that both for Place and Time For place first That Quality of the three before mentioned which specially setteth a value upon Oyntments advancing their price and esteem more eminently then any other consideration is their smell those being ever held most precious and of greatest delicacy that excell that way And herein is the excellency of the choisest Aromatical Oyntments that they do not only please
bone in his body And so a man had better receive twenty wounds in his good name then but a single raze in his conscience But yet here the recovery is easier then there A broken bone may be set again and every splinter put in his due place and if it be skilfully handled in the setting and duly tended after it may in short time knit as firm again as ever it was yea and as it is said firmer then ever so as it will break any where else sooner then there But as for the shivers of a broken glass or earthen dish no art can piece them so as they shall be either sightly or serviceable they will not abide the file nor the hammer neither soader nor glue nor other cement will fasten them handsomly together The application is obvious to every understanding and therefore I shall spare it If Simon be once a leper the name will stick by him when the disease hath left him Let him be cleansed from his leprosie never so perfectly yet he will be called and known by the name of Simon the Leper to his dying day Envious and malicious persons apprehend the truth hereof but too well one of whose Aphorismes it is and they practise accordingly Calumniare fortiter aliquid adhaerebit Come and let us smite with the tongue and be sure to smite deep enough and then though the grief may be cured and perhaps the skin grow over again 't is odds but he will carry some mark or print of it to his grave It should make us very careful to preserve names from foul aspersions because the stains will not easily if at all be scoured off again 37. But how may that be effectually done may some say Absolutely to secure our selves from false aspersions truly it is not in our power and therefore I can prescribe no course to prevent it If malice or envy be minded to throw them on there is no help for it but patience But so far as dependeth upon our selves and the likeliest way withall to counter-work the uncharitableness of others to give you a very general answer is By eschewing evil and doing good by walking warily and circumspectly by living soberly righteously and Godly in this present world Praise is the reward of vertue as you heard and the foundation of a good name is a good life If any man desire yet more particular directions as namely what kinds of actions are especially to be practised and what kinds especially to be shunned in order to this end I shall commend unto his consideration these five Rules following which I shall but briefly point at the time not suffering me to insist 38. First Let him look well to his particular calling and the duties that belong to him in it bestirring himself with all diligence and faithfulness and carrying himself uprightly and conscionably therein and be sure to keep himself within the proper bounds thereof This Rule is given us 1 Thes. 4. That you study to be quiet and to do your own business Why so That ye may walk honestly towards them that are without 39. Secondly Let him carry himself lowly dutifully and respectfully to all his superiours and betters to Magistrates to Ministers to his Parents to his Masters to the aged and to all others agreeably to their respective conditions and relations And this Rule we have as in other places so in 1 Pet. 2. Honour all men be subject even to your froward masters submit to the King as supreme and to governours sent of him c. Why For so is the will of God that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 40. Thirdly Let him be wise charitable and moderate with all brotherly condescension in the exercise of his Christian liberty and the use of indifferent things Not standing alwayes upon the utmost of what he may or what he may not do but yielding much from his own liberty for his brothers sake considering as well what as the case presently standeth is expedient for him to do in relation to others as what is simply and in it self lawful to be done St Paul giveth us the Rule Rom. 14. If thy brother be grieved with thy meat now walkest thou not charitably c. Let not your good be evil spoken of 41. Fourthly Let him be milde gentle a lover and maintainer of peace and concord not violent or boysterous or peremptory either in his opinions or courses but readier to compose then to kindle quarrels and to qualifie then to exasperate differences This Rule we have Phil. 2. Do all things without murmurings and disputings And why so That you may be blameless and harmless and without rebuke 42. Fifthly Let him be liberal and merciful willing to communicate the good things that God hath lent him for the comfort and supply of those that stand in need This Rule I gather out of Psal. 112. The righteous shall be had in an everlasting remembrance He hath dispersed abroad he hath given to the poor His righteousness shall endure for ever his horn also shall be exalted with honour 43. Whoso observeth these directions his memory shall if God see it good for him be like the remembrance of good Iosiah in Ecclesiasticus like the composition of the perfume made by the art of the Apothecary sweet as honey in the mouths of all that speak of him and as musick at a banquet of wine in the ears of all that hear of him Or if it be the good pleasure of God for the trial of his faith and exercise of his patience to suffer men to revile him and to speak all manner of evil against him falsely in this world it shall be abundantly recompensed him in the encrease of his reward in heaven at the last great day when every man whose name shall be found written in the boook of life shall have praise of God and of his holy Angels and of all good men AD AULAM. Sermon II. WHITE HALL November 1632. Proverbs 16.7 When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him 1. THe words contain two blessed fruits of a gracious conversation the one more immediate and direct Acceptance with God the other more remote and by consequence from the former Peace with men Or if you will a Duty and the Benefit of it and these two coupled together as they seldome go single in one conditionall proposition consisting of an Antecedent and a Consequent wherein we have Gods part and ours Our part lieth in the Antecedent wherein is supposed a Duty which God expecteth from us ex debito and that is to frame our wayes so as to please the Lord. Gods part lieth in the Consequent wherein the benefit is expressed which when we have performed the Duty we may comfortably expect from him ex promisso and that is to have our enemies to be at
Brotherhood of Grace by profession of the faith of Christ as we are Christian men As men we are members of that great body the World and so all men that live within the compass of the World are Brethren by a more general communion of Nature As Christians we are members of that mystical body the Church and so all Christian men that live within the compass of the Church are Brethren by a more peculiar communion of Faith And as the Moral Law bindeth us to love all men as our Brethren and partakers with us of the same common Nature in Adam so the Evangelical Law bindeth to love all Christians as our Brethren and partakers with us of the same common faith in Christ. 25. In which later notion the word Brother is most usually taken in the Apostolical writings to signifie a professor of the Christian Faith and Religion in opposition to heathen men and unbeleevers The name of Christian though of commonest use and longest continuance was yet but of a later date taken up first at Antioch as we finde Act. 11. whereas believers were before usually called Disciples and no less usually both before and since Brethren You shall read very often in the Acts and Epistles of the holy Apostles How the Brethren assembled together to hear the Gospel preached to receive the Sacrament and to consult about the affairs of the Church How the Apostles as they went from place to place to plant and water the Churches in their progress every where visited the Brethren at their first coming to any place saluting the Brethren during their abode there confirming the Brethren at their departure thence taking leave of the Brethren How collections were made for relief of the Brethren and those sent into Iudea from other parts by the hands of the brethren c. S. Paul opposeth the Brethren to them that are without and so includeth all that are within the Church What have I to do to judg them that are without 1 Cor. 5. As if he had said Christ sent me an Apostle and Minister of the Churches and therefore I meddle not but with those that are within the pale of the Church as for those that are without if any of them will be filthy let him be filthy still I have nothing to do to meddle with them But saith he if any man that is within the Christian Church any man that is called a Brother be a fornicator or drunkard or rayler or otherwise stain his holy profession by scandalous living I know how to deal with him let the censures of the Church be laid upon him let him be cast out of the assemblies of the Brethren that he may be thereby brought to shame and repentance 26. So then Brethren in the Apostolical use of the word are Christians and the Brotherhood the whole society of Christian men the systeme and body of the whole visible Church of Christ. I say the visible Church because there is indeed another Brotherhood more excellent then this whereof we now speak consisting of such only as shall undoubtedly inherit salvation called by some of the ancients The Church of Gods Elect and by some later writers the Invisible Church And truly this Brotherhood would under God deserve the highest room in our affections could we with any certainty discern who were of it and who not But because the fan is not in our hand to winnow the chaff from the wheat Dominus novit The Lord onely knoweth who are his by those secret characters of Grace and Perseverance which no eye of man is able to discern in another nor perhaps in himself infallibly we are therefore for the discharge of our duty to look at the Brotherhood so far as it is discernable to us by the plain and legible characters of Baptism and outward profession So that whosoever abideth in areâ Domini and liveth in the communion of the visible Church being baptized into Christ and professing the Name of Christ let him prove as it falleth out chaff or light corn or wheat when the Lord shall come with his fan to purge his floor yet in the mean time so long as he lieth in the heap and upon the floor We must own him for a Christian and take him as one of the Brotherhood and as such an one love him For so is the Duty here Love the Brotherhood 27. To make Love compleat Two things are required according to Aristotle's description of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Affectus cordis and Effectus operis The inward affection of the heart in wishing to him we love all good and the outward manifestation of that affection by our deed as occasion is offered in being ready to our power to do him any good The heart is the root and the seat of all true love and there we must begin or else all we do is but lost If we do never so many serviceable offices to our brethren out of any by-end or sinister respect although they may possibly be very usefull and so very acceptable to him yet if our heart be not towards them if there be not a sincere affection within it cannot be truly called Love That Love that will abide the test and answer the Duty required in the Text must be such as the Apostles have in several passages described it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unfained love of the brethren 1 Pet. 1. Love out of a pure heart 1 Tim. 1. Love without dissimulation Rom. 12. 28. Of which inward affection the outward deed is the best discoverer and therefore that must come on too to make the love perfect As Iehu said to Ionadab Is thy heart right If it be then give me thy hand As in the exercises of our devotion towards God so in the exercises of our charity towards men heart and hand should go together Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis Good works are the best demonstrations as of true Faith so of true love Where there is life and heate there will be action There is no life then in that Faith S. Iames calleth it plainly a dead faith Iam. 2. nor heate in that Love according to that expression Matth. 24. the love of many shall wax cold that doth not put forth it self in the works of righteousness and mercy He then loveth not the Brotherhood indeed whatsoever he pretend or at least not in so gracious a measure as he should endeavour after That doth not take every fit opportunity of doing good either to the souls or bodies or credits or estates of his Brethren That is not willing to do them all possible services according to the urgency of their occasions and the just exigence of circumstances with his countenance with his advice with his pains with his purse yea and if need be with his very life too This is the Non ultra farther then this we cannot goe in the expressing of our love Greater love
my self contented with his alotment whatsoever it be and to have a sufficiency within my self though in never so great a deficiency of outward things Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content 6. The words contain a Protestation and the reason of it First because his commendation of their Charity to him might be obnoxious to mis-construction as if he had some low covetous end therein to prevent all evil suspicion that way he disavoweth it utterly by protesting the contrary in the former part of the verse Not that I speak in respect of want And then to make that Protestation the more credible he assigneth as the Reason thereof the Contentedness of his minde For I have learned saith he in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content Concerning which Contentedness in the later part of the verse he giveth a touch what a manner of thing it was and withall acquainteth us how he came by it giving us some hint in that of the Nature in this of the Art of true Contentment Which are the two things indeed mainly to be insisted upon from the Text. Yet would not the Protestation be wholy slipt over sith from it also may be deduced sundry profitable Inferences Some of which I shall first minde you of with convenient brevity and then pass on to the main 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not that I speak in respect of want 7. Hence learn first what a base and unworthy thing it is indeed for any man for a Christian man much more most of all for a Church-man to be covetously minded Would our Apostle be so careful to quit himself but of the suspicion if the crime it self were any whit tolerable Nor doth he it here only but upon every needful occasion otherwhere also using the like preventions and protestations To the Ephesians I have coveted no mans silver or gold or aparel To the Corinthians I have not written these things that it should be so done to me I was not neitâ—er will I be burthensome to you for I seek not yours but you To the Thessalonians Neither at any time used we a cloak of covetousness God is witness He calleth God in to be his compurgator which sure he would not do nisi dignus vindice nodus if it did not much concern him to stand clear in the eye of the world in that behalf And he speaketh there of a cloak of covetousness too for who indeed shameth not to wear it outwardly No man will profess himself covetous be he never so wretchedly sordid within but he will for very shame cast as handsome a cloak as he can over it Frugality good Husbandry Providence some cloak or other to hide the filthiness of it from the sight of other But filthy it is still be it cloaked never so honestly Still God abhorreth it as a filthy thing He speaketh well of the covetous whom God abhorreth To it in a more peculiar manner hath the very name of Sordidness been appropriated of old and still is in every mans mouth Our Apostle hath set a brand of Filthiness upon it more then once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calling it filthy lucre Yea so unfit he holdeth it to be found among the Priests that he would not have it if it were possible so much as once named at least not with allowance not without some stigma upon it among the Saints 8. There is an honest care to be had I confess of providing for a mans self and those that depend upon him no less requisite in a Church-man then in every other man if not in some respects even much more and verily he wanteth either wit or grace or both whoever neglecteth it Yea further sith God hath assigned by his own ordinance wages to him that laboureth in his work and if he be a faithful labourer he is well worthy of it he may without injustice not only expect it but even exact it of those that would unconscionably defraud him therein But why may not all this be done and that effectually too without either bearing inwardly or betraying outwardly a greedy and covetous minde Whether then we provide for our own by well husbanding what we have or whether we look for our own by requiring our dues from others still still let our conversation be without covetousness Take heed and beware of Covetousness saith our Saviour doubling his charge that we should double our circumspection Which if we do not and that with more then ordinary heedfulness the love of the world will creep upon us and by little and little get within us and steal away our hearts ere we can think it Take heed and beware of Covetousness It is an evil spirit but withal a subtile and can slily winde it self in at a little hole But having once made entrance and gotten possession it is not so easily outed again Rather it will quickly set open a wide door to seven more and in time to a whole legion of other evil spirits I cannot say worse then it self for there are not many such but certainly bad enough to render the end of that man much worse then the beginning For the love of money is the root of very many and even almost of all evill which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith made shipwrack of their consciences and entangled themselves in a world of piercing cares and sorrows But thou O man of God flye from these things flye covetousness Observe how careful the Apostle is every where to disclaim it and be thou as careful evermore to avoid it 9. Observe hence secondly what an aptness there may be even in very good men through the remainders of natural corruption to mis-interpret the speeches and actions of their spiritual Fathers as if in much of what they said or did they aimed most at their own secular advantage That these Philippians had charitable hearts if there were no other proof their great bounty both to our Apostle and others so often by him remembred were evidence enough Yet surely if he had not withall known those dregs of Uncharitableness that as the sediments of depraved nature lurke in the hearts of the most charitable men he might have saved the labour that sometimes he is put upon of his own purgation Hard the mean while is the straite men of our cloath are often put unto If we let all go and permit it to mens consciences how they will deal with us resolving to suffer and say nothing besides that we expose our selves both to loss and scorn we also betray Gods and the Churches right and are also unfaithful in the work of our calling in suffering sin upon our neighbour for want of a rebuke But if we look better about us and require what of right belongeth to us then do men set their mouthes wide open against us straight And covetous
his choisest blessings upon those men that think them not well worthy their best both Prayers and Pains He alone can frame mens hearts to unity and peace but we are vain and unreasonable if we expect he should do it for our sakes so long as we continue either silent without seeking to him for it by our Prayers or sluggish without employing our best endeavours about it to our powers 10. But why is this God to whom we are thus to make our addresses that he would be pleased to grant us this like-mindedness and to give unto us and to all his people the blessing of peace here stiled the God of Patience and Consolation The enquiries are many Why first the God of Patience And secondly why the God of Consolation taking the two Attributes apart either by it self Then taking them both together First for the choice why these two rather then any other Secondly for the conjunction why these two together Thirdly for the order why Patience first and before Consolation Five in all somewhat of each 11. The former Title is The God of Patience Which may be understood either Formaliter or Causaliter either subjectively or effectively as they use to distinguish Or if these School-termes be too obscure then in plain termes thus either of Gods patience or Ours That is to say either of that patience which God useth toward us or of that patience which God by his grace and holy Spirit worketh in us Of Gods patience and long-suffering to us-ward besides pregnant testimony of Scripture we have daily and plentiful experience How slowly he proceedeth to vengeance being so unworthily provoked how he beareth with our infirmities Infirmities ey and Negligences too yea and yet higher our very Presumptions and Rebellions how he spreadeth out his hand all the day long waiting day after day year after year for our conversion and amendment that he may have mercy upon us And even thus understood Subjectivè the Text would bear a fair construction as not altogether impertinent to the Apostles scope It might at least intimate to us this that finding so much patience from him it would well become us also to shew some patience to our brethren But yet I conceive it more proper here to understand it effectivè of that Patience which is indeed from God as the Cause but yet in us as the subject Even as a little after verse 13. he is called the God of Hope because it is he that maketh us to abound in hope as the reason is there expressed And as here in the Text he is stiled the God of consolation for no other reason but that it is he that putteth comfort and chearfulness into our hearts 12. It giveth us clearly to see what we are of our selves and without God nothing but heat and impatience ready to vex our selves and to fly in the faces of our brethren for every trifle You have need of patience saith the Apostle Heb. 10. We have indeed God help us 1. We live here in a vale of misery where we meet with a thousand petty crosses and vexations quotidianarum molestiarum minutiae in the common road of our lives poor things in themselves and if rationally considered very trifles and vanity yet able to bring vexation upon our impatient spirits we had need of patience to digest them 2. We are beset surrounded with a world of temptations assaulting us within and without and on every side and at every turne we had need of Patience to withstand them 3. We are exposed to manifold injuries obloquies and sufferings many times without cause it may be sometimes for a good cause we had need of patience to bear them 4. We have many rich and precious promises made us in the word of grace of glory of outward things of some of which we finde as yet but slender performance and of other some but that we are sure the anchor of our hope is so well fixt that it cannot faile no visible probability of their future performance we had need of patience to expect them 5. We have many good duties required to be done of us in our Christian callings and in our particular vocations for the honour of God and the service of our brethren we had need of patience to go through with them 6. We have to converse with men of different spirits and tempers some hott fiery and furious others flat sullen and sluggish some unruly some ignorant some proud and scornful some peevish and obstinate some toyish fickle and humorous all subject to passions and infirmities in one kinde or other we had need of patience to frame our conversations to the weaknesses of our brethren and to tolerate what we cannot remedy that by helping to bear each others burdens we may so fulfil the Law of Christ. 13. Great need we have of Patience you see and my Text letteth us see where we have to serve our need God is the God of patience in him and from him it is to be had but not elsewhere When ever then we finde our selves ready to fret at any cross occurrent to venge every injury to rage at every light provocation to droope at the delay of any promise to slugge in our own performances to skew at the infirmities of others take we notice first of the impatience of our own spirits and condemn it then hie we to the fountain of grace there beg for patience and meekness and he that is the God of patience will not deny it us That is the former Title The God of Patience 14. The other is The God of Consolation And the reason is for this can be understood no otherwise then effective because sound comfort is from God alone I even I am he that comforteth you saith he himself Esay 51. Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me saith David Psal. 23. And the Prophets often The Lord shall comfort Sion The Holy Ghost is therefore called as by his proper name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Comforter Ey perhaps as one among many others or allowing the Greek article his Emphasis as the chiefest of all the rest which hindereth not but there may be other Comforters besides though haply of less excellency If there were no more in it but so and the whole allegation should be granted it should be enough in wisdome to make us overlook all them that we might partake of his comforts as the best But in truth the Scriptures so speak of God not as the chiefest but as the only Comforter admitting no partnership in this prerogative Blessed be God c. The Father of mercies and the God of all Consolation 15. May we not then seek for comfort may some say nay do we not sometimes finde comfort in friends riches reputation and such other regular pleasures and delights as the creatures afford Verily under God we may alwayes and do sometimes reap comfort from the creatures But those comforts issue still
they on the other side are weary of the world and long after heaven their own countrey where their treasure is laid up and where their hearts and affections also are Like an English factor in Turky that hath some dealings there if not rather like an English captive that is held prisoner there but still professeth himself a subject of England and his heart and desires are there But the Children spoken of here in the Text are in the world tanquam in proprio as in their own country at their own homes where if they might they would willingly set up their rest for ever As Socrates being asked what Country-man he was answered that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Citizen of the world so but in another and a worse sence are they No marvel then if they doate so much upon the world as bad as it is and settle their hearts and affections so intirely thereupon saying as S. Peter did when he said he knew not what bonum est esse hic It is good being here Their soules cleave to the world and it is death to them to part from it 7. And as for their Affections so secondly children of this world in respect of their Conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle fashion not your self after this present world The godly being changed in the renewing of their minds do not fashion themselves according to this present evil world But as at their baptism they renounced the world with all the pomps lusts and vanities of it so they take themselves bound in the whole course of their lives to be as unlike the evil world as they can by walking in all holiness and purity of conversation So long as they continue in this vale of misery and live here in the world they must have to doe in the world and the world will have to doe with them and daily occasions they shall have for the necessities of this life to use the things of this world But then they are careful so to use them as neither to abuse themselves nor them Going through the vale of misery they use it for a well drawing out thence a little water as occasions require for their needful refreshing but they will take care withall to drain it well from the mud to keep themselves so far as is possible unspotted with the world and to escape the manifold pollutions and defilements that are in the world through lust But the children here spoken of immerse and ingulfe themselves in the affairs of this world with all greediness walking as the Apostle expresseth it Eph. 2. after the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the aire in the lusts of the flesh doing the will of the flesh and of the minde There is a combination you see of our three great Spiritual Enemies The Devil the Flesh and the World against us and these three agree in one to undoe us and to destroy us Now he that yieldeth to the temptations of the Devil or maketh provision for the Flesh to fulfil it in the lusts thereof or suffereth himself to be carried with the sway of the world to shape his course thereafter preferring his own will before the known will of God is a childe of this world in respect of his conversation 8. Thirdly the children of this world are so called in regard their Portion is in this world The children of light content themselves with any small pittance which it pleaseth their heavenly father to allow them here being assured they shall be provided for with so much as shall be sufficient for them to maintain them during this their minority with a kinde of subsistence But the main of their portion their full childs-part their rich and precious inheritance they expect not in this world They well know it is laid up for them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness and that in a safe place reserved in the heavens and that in safe hands kept by the power of God till they be growen up to it As Ioseph gave his brethren provision for their journey but the full sacks were tied up not to be opened till they were gotten home Indeed rather God himself is their portion both here in part and hereafter in full But the children we now speak of if there be any natural or moral goodnesse or usefulnesse in them by the superabundant bountifulness of a gracious God in any respect or degree rewardable habent mercedem They have all they are like to have in hand there is nothing for them neither for the most part do they expect any thing in reversion Which have their portion in this life saith David Psalm 17. If they have done him any small piece of service though unwittingly they shall have their wages for it paid them to the uttermost as Nebuchadnezzar had Egypt assigned him as his wages for the service he did against Tyrus If they be but bastard-sons they shall yet have their portions set out for them far beyond what they can either challenge as of right or pretend to as by desert But yet in this world onely The heavenly inheritance in the world to come which is to descend unto the right heir when he cometh to age is preserved for the legitimate children only such as are become the sons of God by faith in Christ Iesus As Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his Concubines and sent them away and so we hear no more of them nor of any thing their father did for them afterwards but Isaac in fine carried the inheritance though he had not so much as the other had in present 9. Those are the children of this world but the children of light who are they I should enter in a very spacious field if I should undertake to declare the sundry significations of the word Light as it is metaphorically used in the Scriptures or pursue the resemblances between the metaphorical and spiritual light and the natural To our purpose briefly Light is either spoken of God or of the things of God First God himself is light a most pure clear and simple light without the least allay or mixture of darkness God is light and in him is no darkness saith S. Iohn The Father of lights without so much as the least shadow of turning saith S. Iames. And if God be rightly styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the father of lights it cannot be unpropâ—r that his children be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the children of light 10. Next the Word of God that is a light too Thy word is a light unto my feet Psal. 119. So called from the effect because when it goeth forth it giveth light and understanding to the simple The Law which is but a darker part of that word enlighteneth yet the eyes Psal. 19. Lex lux The
use any means or endeavours to remove it No such matter True it is where no more is left to our choice but one of the two either Sin or Suffer a right Christian should not for shame so much as take it into deliberation Never demur upon it it is a plain case we must suffer But where is a Medium or third thing as an out-let or expedient between both as many times there is nothing hindreth but we may and reason would we should make choise of that and so neither sin nor suffer Lay that first as a sure ground We must avoid sin though we suffer for it But that once layed if we can then avoid suffering too without sinning why may we not nay why ought we not to avoid both 37. No man doubteth but we may pray to be delivered from troubles David doth it a hundred times and if we do it not daily too even as often as as we beg our daily bread our Saviour having contrived both petitions into the same prayer we are too blame And if we may pray for it then no doubt but we may endeavour it also Though they look something alike in some other respects yet in this one at least Wishes and Prayers are much unlike Many things we may lawfully wish for which we may not endeavour after but sure whatsoever we may lawfully pray for we not only lawfully may but are in conscience bound to use our best endeavours towards the effecting thereof We do indeed but mock God and prevaricate in our Prayers if we be not in some measure careful to second them with our Endeavours 38. Christ biddeth us deny our selves and take up the Cross. True deny our selves rather then deny him and take up the Cross when he laieth it before us so as we cannot step beside it without sin But he doth not bid us undoe our selves when his service requireth it not nor make our selves Crosses when we need not 39. Afflictions are usefull things and many wayes beneficiall to Gods children True blessed be God but no thanks to them that they are so That much good sometimes cometh from them it is but meerly by accident as to them the true cause of those blessed effects is that over-ruling power wisdom and goodness of God whereby he is able to bring light out of darkness and can turn any evil even sin it self to the good of his Children But take afflictions precisely as they are in themselves and in their pure naturals as we say and there is no such loveliness in them that any man should court them Nor are they productive of any the least good by any proper inherent vertue of their own Nor are therefore such desirable things as that any man can reasonably promise to himself any good effect from them or any sound comfort under them that shall wilfully draw them upon himself when he might without sin avoid them 40. We must not count life liberty or livelihood dear to us but despise them all yet even hate them for Christs sake and the Gospels True where any of those stand in opposition against or but in competition with Christ or his Gospel or any duty therein contained In case of competition despise them in case of opposition hate them Doe so and spare not But otherwise and out of those Cases these are the good blessings of God wherewith he hath entrusted us and for the expence whereof we are to be responsible and ought not therefore to be so vile in our eyes as that we should think we may trifle them away as we list no necessity so requiring 41. It is the most proper act of Fortitude to endure hardship True To endure it but not to provoke it We shall be like to finde in the world hardship enough whereon to exercise our manhood without seeking It is a fool-hardy madness better beseeming such a Knight Errant as is described in the Romances then a true Souldier of Christ such as the Gospel setteth forth to roame abroad to seek adventures Afflictions are Temptations as was said and it is a presumption both rash and absurd having prayed to God not to lead us into temptations to goe and cast our selves into them when we have done Fortitude is an excellent vertue doubtless but so is Prudence too as well as it and Iustice no less then either And therefore the offices of different Vertues are so to be exercised as not to hinder or destroy one another for between vertuous acts there must be there can be no clashing a man may without disparagement to his Fortitude decline dangers according to the dictates of Prudence provided withall that nothing be done but what is according to the Rules of Iustice. 42. St Paul saith of some that he had to deal with that they were unreasonable men Possibly it may be our case to have to doe with such men Reason will not satisfie them and it is not lawful for us to doe or to consent to the doing of any thing but what is agreeable to reason True but this very thing is agreeable to reason that to live at quiet among unreasonable men we should sometimes yield to their unreasonable demands But usque ad aras still that must evermore be understood In the pursuance of peace with our neighbours where it is not to be had upon better terms we may and ought by all seasonable compliances and condescensions to become omnia omnibus all things to all men even as Christ to make peace for us condescended to be made like unto us in all things And as his condescension for us had yet one and but one exception made like unto us in all things yet without sin so should our condescension to them be likewise sin and sin only excepted though upon conditions otherwaies hard and unequall enough 43. The sum is For the obtaining of peace the preventing of mischiefs the ridding of our selves and others from troubles we may with a good conscience and without sin yield to the doing of any thing that may stand with a good Conscience and be done without sin Nor it is to be interpreted either as an effect of faint-heartedness or as a defect of Christian patience and courage so to doe but is rather to be esteemed an act of Christian Wisdom and duty But so to faint under the Cross as to deny the Faith to forsake our Religion to violate the dictates of natural Conscience to do any thing contrary to any of the rules of Iustice or Charity or which we either know or suspect to be a sin though it be for the shunning of any danger or under the pretension of any necessity whatsoever cannot consist with that nobleness of spirit and magnanimity which becometh a worthy disciple of Christ. 44. I should have proceeded according to my first intendment when I pitched upon this Scripture had there been room for it to have discoursed somewhat also from the other part of the Text