REV. WILLIAM BRIDGE, M.A.
FORMERLY FELLOW OF EMAXUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PASTOR OF
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK.
NOW FIRST COLLECTED.
IN FIVE VOLUMES.
VOL. IV.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG,
73, CHEA.PSIDE.
1845.
CONTENTS OF VOL. IV.
SEVENTEEN SERMONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS AND OCCA
SIONS.
Sermon 1. The True Soldier s Convoy: preached upon a
Prayer Day for the Prince s good success in
going forth to war. Numb. x. 35. . . 3
Sermon 2. Of Courage : to the Volunteers of the City of
Norwich, and also to the Volunteers of Great
Yarmouth. 2 Sam. x. 12 33
Sermon 3. The Diseases that make a stoppage to England s
Mercies discovered, and attended with their
Remedies. John vii. 4. .. .. 50
Sermon 4. Some Comfortable Directions for such as have
been, or may be driven from their houses,
goods, or Country. Lam. v. 2. . . 74
Sermon 5. Thankfulness required in every Condition. 1
Thess. v. 18 94
Sermon 6. The Woman of Canaan. Matt. \v. 21-28. 112
Sermon 7. A Vindication of Ordinances. Deut. xviii. 15.
130
Sermon 8. Grace and Love Beyond Gifts : preached before
the Lord Mayor. 1 Cor. xii. 31. 162
Sermon 9. Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost : wherein is
shewed, 1. What this sin against the Holy
Ghost is ; 2. How and in what respect this
sin against the Holy Ghost, is above all other
sins the Unpardouable Sin. Matt. xii. 31,
32 187
Sermon 10. Of the Sin of Infirmity : wherein is shewed,
besides other things, 1. That a man may pos
sibly fall into the same sin again and again,
yet be a true disciple ; 2. That this sin may
be but a sin of infirmity ; 3. That being so,
Christ will not leave him in it, but will come
again, and not cast him off. Matt. xxvi. 43.
212
Sermon 11. The False Apostle Tried and Cast. Rev. ii. 2.
240
Sermon 12. The Good and Means of Establishment. 1
Pet. v. 10. . 260
IV
CONTENTS TO VOL. IV.
Sermon 13.
Sermon 14.
Sermon 15.
Sermon 16.
Sermon 17.
EVANGELICAL
III. 2.
Sermon 1.
Sermon 2.
Babylon s Downfall : preached before the ho
nourable House of Commons. Rev. xiv. 8.
290
On Zech. i. 18 21, ii. 1. : before the honour
able House of Commons, at their Public
Fast 314
The Saints Hiding Place in the Time of God s
Anger i before the right honourable the
House of Lords, at their solemn Monthly
Fast. Zeph. ii. 3 346
England Saved with a Notwithstanding : before
the honourable House of Commons, on the
Day of Thanksgiving for Deliverance from
the Powder Plot. Ps. cvi. 8. . . 373
Christ s Coming is at our Midnight : before the
honourable House of Commons, on the Day
appointed for Thanksgiving for the great
Victory in Wales. Matt. xxv. 6. . . 405
REPENTANCE: IN TWO SERMONS ON MATT.
427
447
SERMONS
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS AND OCCASIONS.
PREACHED A.D. 164065.
NOW FIRST COLLECTED.
VOL. IV.
SERMONS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
SERMON I.
THE TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY.
A SERMON PREACHED MAY 16, 1640, UPON A PRAYER DAY FOR THE
PRINCE S GOOD SUCCESS IN GOING FORTH TO WAR.
" Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces as one that is slain; thoti hast scattered
thine enemies with thy strong arm." Psalm Ixxxviii. 10.
PREFACE.
To THE READER. Reader, out of desire to the good of God s people, and in
respect of these troublesome times, it was thought not altogether unfit by some
friends to print these few notes, in reading of which thou art desired not to ex
pect much completeness of dependency or style, as not being ordered to the press
by Ihe Author himself, but by a very weak hand ; whatsoever, therefore, thou
shalt find herein profitable, that improve ; if any thing otherwise, that cover by
Christian love, and the God of love be with thee. Amen.
" Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered."
NUMB. x. 35.
THIS chapter delivereth itself into four parts : in the first
part the author speaketh of the silver trumpets, and of the
matter and use of them ; secondly, he sheweth the march of
the children of Israel under their several standards ; thirdly,
he speaketh of a conference had between Moses and Hobab,
verse 29 ; and, fourthly, you have Moses* prayer : " And
they departed from the mount, and the ark of the covenant
of the Lord went before them in the three days journey, &c.
And it came to pass when the ark set forward, that Moses
said, Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered."
When they removed, still they prayed. When they set forth
with their army they used those words, " Arise, O Lord, and
let thine enemies be scattered." When they returned with
their army at the latter end of the year, or at any time, they
said, " Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel."
You have here their going forth : " Arise, O Lord," &c.
B 2
4 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [Ssn. 1.
It is as if he had said thus : O Lord, thou hast promised thy
presence to thy people, and therefore thou hast given them
thine ark, the outward sign of thy presence ; now we are to
go forth to war, and that is a dangerous work, oh, let us not
go alone, without thee, but let us have thy presence ; where
fore, " Arise, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered."
He doth not say thus : O Lord, we entreat thee give us good
munition or good provision, or (that which the world calleth
the nerves of war) give us money ; but, as if he would shew
that God s presence is most desirable to an army, and that
God s presence is their munition and provision, and containeth
all things, he saith, " Arise, O Lord," &c.
These words contain something implied and something ex
pressed. Implied, two things. 1. That God hath enemies :
that seems to be granted. 2. That God sleepeth to his ene
mies ; therefore he saith, " Arise." These implied. Expres
sed, three things. 1. The manner of the petition: and that
is that God would arise. 2. The effect of God s rising : and
that is, that his enemies may be scattered. 3. The occasion
of this petition : that is, their going forth to war.
From these words, " Then Moses said," &c., accordingly
there are five notes or observations that I intend, God willing,
to run through at this time.
First, That God himself hath many enemies.
Secondly, As God hath enemies, so sometimes he sleepeth
to all their enmity.
Thirdly, Though God sleepeth and they work, yet there is
a time when they shall be scattered ; and when God ariseth
they are scattered.
Fourthly, Our prayers awaken God.
Fifthly, When the people of the land go forth to war,
God s people should go forth to prayer.
First, God himself hath many enemies. Let none wonder
at this, nay rather wonder that God hath any friends in the
world, it is so wicked ; the Scripture is full for it : " Out of
the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength,
because of thine enemies," Psalm viii. 2 ; " But the wicked
shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat
of larr.bs," Psalm xxxvii. 20; " Thine enemies roar," &c. Ps.
Ixxiv. 4. Ye know the Psalm, " For lo thine enemies, O
Lord ; for lo thine enemies," xcii. 9.
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 5
Those that are in league and covenant one with another
have common friends and common enemies. God s children
are in covenant with God, and therefore they having enemies,
God hath enemies.
There is a special contrariety between God and the world :
" The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh, for they are contrary," Gal. v. 17 Take but this
one instance in this matter of contrariety to see how contrary
God and the godly are to the devil and the wicked. Let a
thing be never so bad, God and the godly will turn it to good
and God s honour. Let a thing be never so good, the de
vil and wicked men will turn it to bad and God s dishonour.
Now enmity being nothing else but enlivened contrariety,
and there being such a contrariety between God and the
world, it cannot be but that God should have many enemies.
That which maketh a thing so is more so. If a man loathe a
beaker or vessel because physic hath been in it, he loathelh
the physic much more ; and if the world hate the godly be
cause they are godly, then they hate God much more. Now
the godly have many enemies, and that for this reason, be
cause they are godly, therefore God himself hath more.
Further, when two are at a great distance and neither do
yield, buckle, nor comply too or with one another, there must
needs be a great enmity. Now, saith our Saviour Christ,
" You cannot love God and mammon ; you must love the one
and hate the other." God will have no complying. And for
this reason the senate of Rome, as the historians give it,
would not acknowledge Jesus Christ to be a God : because
he is such an one, say they, as if we acknowledge him to be
God, he will not let us acknowledge other gods ; other gods
will comply, and be content we shall acknowledge others also,
but for this Christ, if we acknowledge him we must acknow
ledge none other. Now God is very incomplying in all his
ways, therefore God himself must needs have many enemies,
and very deadly. Hence we may see that it is no strange and
new thing for us that are the people of God to meet with
enemies. Why should we, be discouraged though we meet
with enemies ? Are we better than our Lord and Master ?
Shall God himself have many enemies and shall we think to
have none ? It was the complaint of a heathen man, Inimicos
habeo, I have enemies : his friend standing by gave him
6 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
this answer, Sed pejus est quod amicos non habes, But that is
worse, that thou hast no friends. Though a man have many
enemies, yet if he hath some faithful friends he may comfort
himself thus : Though I have most bitter and vile enemies, yet
I have as fast and sure friends. So that here is a further argu
ment to shore up our unbelieving hearts : God himself hath
many enemies.
But my enemies are such as do pretend friendship ; and
truly so are God s enemies such as do pretend love. I
pray you tell me, I put it to your own hearts, who are those
that do pretend more love to God than the breakers of the
second commandment, that do make images ; and wherefore do
they so ? Say they, We will have an image of Christ wheresoever
we be come that we may always be put in mind of Christ.
What a mighty pretence of love is here ; and yet the breakers
of the second commandment are said to be haters of God.
It is not said so of the breakers of any of the other com
mandments that they are haters of God, but of those that
break the second commandment ; " visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth gene
ration of them that hate me." So that though they pretend
the most love, yet they are the most haters.
But for my enemies, the Lord knoweth I have done them
no wrong, but good. I pray you hath not God done good
unto his enemies ? God hath many enemies, but what hurt
hath God done them ? Have you enemies ? God hath so.
Have you many enemies ? God hath so. Have you many
false enemies ? God hath so. Remember this doctrine : God
himself hath many enemies.
The second observation is : As the Lord hath many enemies
so he is pleased for a time to sleep unto his enemies. He
sleepeth ; therefore it is said here, " Arise " arising is opposed
to sleeping. Lord, why sleepest thou ? Psalm xliv. 23. But
what is that ? Not that we should understand it literally, for
so the prophet derided BaaPs priests : " Cry aloud, it may be
your God sleepeth," 1 Kings xviii. 27; but understand it meta
phorically : a man is said to be asleep when he is so intense
about one business that he doth not regard another ; that
business which he doth not meddle with he is said to be asleep
to : so, now, when God shall have many enemies, and they
shall blaspheme his name, and revile his people, and hinder
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 7
his ordinances, and God shall be deaf to all their blasphemies,
revilings, and all their wickedness ; when they shall persist in
evil, and bring their wicked devices to pass, and yet God shall
be as it were blind to all their dealings ; then God sleepeth
to the enmity of his enemies. Would you know the reasons ?
It may be the enemies are not yet great enough for God to
contend with. The eagle doth not hunt after flies, and a lion
doth not harness himself to battle against a poor worm. It
may be the malice of the enemy is not yet great enough, and
so is not a fit object for the great indignation of the great
God, and therefore God suffereth them to go on that it might
be a greater and a more full object to bear his indignation.
Again. Therefore God suiFereth this, and seemeth to sleep
for a time, because his people are not provoked enough against
their enemies. As it was with the children of Israel that
went against Benjamin, and fell before them twice, if Israel
had overcome them the first time, they would not have been
so provoked against them to have cut them all off as they
were ; but being beaten by them twice, thereby they were
provoked to their destruction. So God suffereth his enemies
to prevail, and sleepeth to the case of his people for a time,
because the hearts of his people are not stirred enough
against their enemies to cut them off fully; when that is
done, then God awaketh.
Again, sometimes God sleepeth because his people sleep
to him, and say, Arise, to something else. They sleep to
him. It was the speech of an emperor when he was in
prison, Oh, said he, when I was in my palace, I hoped so
much in men, that I neglected trusting in God ; but now I
am in prison, I may hope less in men, and trust more in God.
So it may be there is a time, when God s people do fall
asleep to God ; hope too much in men, and not enough in
God. Now, saith the prophet, " Woe to him that saith to
the stone, Arise," Hab. xi. 19. Shall God arise to his peo
ple, when they say to the stone, Arise ? Shall God arise for
his people, when they sit down and arise not up themselves ?
Brethren, faith is prayer in the coals, and prayer is faith in
the flame ; now it may be men s faith doth not burn out
enough, it burneth dark ; they pray, but are not hot in
prayer ; they live, but they do not live out of themselves in
8 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
God enough. Wherefore that God may awaken his people,
he sleepeth himself.
Sometimes it is for this end ; because the pit of his ene
mies is not yet digged. Consider that Psalm xciv. 12, 13,
" Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and
teachest him out of thy law ; that thou mayest give him rest
from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the
wicked." There is a time when the pit of the wicked is dig
ging, and all that time God s people may be in suffering.
God suffereth the wicked to run away with the bait, and doth
not yet draw them, because they are not full on the hook;
but when they have swallowed the hook, then he will draw
them.
Hence we may see what the reason is many times, why
there is so much evil in the churches, and why the enemies
prevail so much, so long. God is the strength of the
churches, and our strength sleepeth sometimes upon all the
afflictions of the churches. We are apt to be much dis
couraged, like the disciples, who whilst our Saviour was in
the storm asleep, they came running in all haste to him, say
ing, " Carest thou not that we perish ? " So it is many times
when a storm ariseth upon the church, God seemeth to sleep,
and we run in haste to God, and are apt to charge God,
Lord, carest thou not that we perish ? But, peace, peace, he
sleepeth only, he will awake shortly, you shall see it, and
they shall feel it. For,
The third point tells us, that though God seem to sleep,
and his enemies prevail ; yet there is a time when they shall
be scattered, and when God ariseth they are scattered. There
are two parts in this doctrine, I will handle them severally.
1. Though the enemies of the Lord do prevail, and God
seemeth to sleep ; yet there is a time when they shall be
scattered. In that Psalm Ixviii. 1, you have the same words
that are here ; " Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered."
In the following part of the Psalm, verse 12, it is said,
" Kings of armies did flee apace/" In the Hebrew it is :
They fled, they fled ; fled, is twice. Why so ? That is, they did
flee very hastily, and they fled most confusedly, they fled all
ways ; they fled, they fled, noting the greatness of the flight.
If it were not so, how should God be honoured in the
world ? God is resolved to recover his honour, his truth,
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 9
and his justice out of the hands of the world. Saith the
Psalmist, " He will wash his feet in the blood of the
wicked : so that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for
the righteous ; verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth,"
Psalm Iviii. 10. But did they not know it before, that God
ruleth in the earth ? True, but men will not say all that for
God always which their hearts know, and the glut of prospe
rity often doth quench their knowledge; but when God s
judgments are abroad, then men shall say, (he doth not say
godly men, but then men shall say,) though they be but bare
men, they shall say, &c. Oh, it is a sweet time when ungodly
men shall own their own principles. And if you look into
Psalm Ixviii. 11, you shall find when the enemies of the
church are destroyed, that God hath many preachers made
that do teach his praises. Saith the psalmist, verse 12, " The
Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that
published it : kings ot armies did flee apace, and she that
tarried at home divided the spoil." The words in the origi
nal are very significant, and do note two things. First, the
word which you read company,in the Hebrew it is,army: "great
was the army " of preachers. An army of preachers is a
great matter; nay, it is a great matter to have seven or eight
good preachers in a great army ; but to have a whole army of
preachers, that is glorious. Secondly, it doth note out the
heartiness of this preaching army; for the word nephesh,
soul, is to be understood as in that place of Ecclesiastes ; it
is said there, "The words or book of the preacher," which being
in the feminine gender, doth suppose nephesh,a.nd as if he should
say, as Vatablus hath it : The words or book of him that hath a
preaching soul or heart, or the words of a preaching soul or
heart. So here, where it is said, great is the army of preach
ers ; the word being in the feminine gender, it is as if he
should say, great is the army of preaching souls, whose very
hearts within them shall preach of the Lord s works. Now,
my brethren, it is much to have a preaching army ; but if
this army shall with heart and soul preach of God s praise,
oh, that is a blessed thing. Yet thus shall it be, when the
enemies of God shall be destroyed. And therefore, seeing
God will not lose all those sermons of his own praises, in
due time the enemies of the church shall be scattered.
Again, all the plots and projects of God s enemies lie
10 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
under a curse. Now the curse scattereth, and the blessing
gathereth. When God blessed,, then the people were gath
ered; when God curseth, then they are scattered. You
know when Jacob was to bless his children, instead of bles
sing Levi, he seemeth to pronounce a curse upon them, that
they should be scattered in Israel. Gen. xlix. 7- Surely it is
a part of the curse to be scattered, and the enemies of God
and his people are always under the curse ; and, as a learned,
holy divine of your own hath it, They are never prayed for.
But look, as it is with some grass that groweth on the house
top, though it be higher than that which grows in the field,
yet no man prays for it, and no man saith, The Lord bless
it. But the grass and corn that grows in the field, the men
that come by, say, There is a good crop of corn, the Lord
bless it. So, though wicked men and the enemies of the church,
do perk up higher than the rest, yet they are never under
prayer, but always under the curse, and therefore no wonder
though they be scattered.
God will lay men s ways upon their own heads : the fish
shall be boiled in the water it lived in, and men destroyed by
the same way they walked in. Therefore in Psalm lix., you
shall see how sin is answered with the like punishment. The
psalmist speaking concerning his enemies, ver. 6, 7> " They
return at evening, tbey make a noise like a dog, and go round
about the city. Behold they belch out with their mouth,
swords are in their lips." That is, they revile, they jeer and
scorn at the godly : there is their sin. Now look into the
latter end of the Psalm, at ver. 14, you shall see their an
swerable punishment : " And at evening they shall return,
and make a noise like a dog, and go about the city ; let them
wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not
satisfied." As they went about the city, barking and making
a noise like dogs, so shall they go about the city howling like
dogs : thus God will answer men in their own kind. Was not
Adonibezek punished in his own kind, Judg. i. 7 ; Egypt in its
own kind; and the Jews of old in their own kind ? This is God s
method still ; and therefore if you compare Rev. viii. and ix.
with Rev. xvi., you shall see that the trumpets and the vials
are alike, and some take them to be all one ; but the trumpets
note out the time when the sins are committed, and the vials
the time when the punishments are inflicted. But the evils
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 11
mentioned in both are much alike, because God proportioneth
men s punishment to their own sins. Now the enemies of
the church have scattered themselves up and down to do
mischief. How are the Jesuits and the locusts of our time,
scattered up and down in all places ! They have scattered
God s people, and they scatter their own sins wheresoever
they be come. Therefore there must come a scattering time
for themselves also, for that is equal.
You will say, Do we not see the contrary ? Our eyes are
witnesses of the contrary. We see the people of God are
scattered, but we do not see the enemies are scattered.
It is true God s people are scattered, and truly it is the
remainder of the curse upon them, for which we are to be
humbled. Though God provides a place for us in the world,
yet ceitainly it is some part of the curse, to have our names
changed from Israel to Jezreel. This is God s way, that what
evil he doth afterward bring upon his enemies, he doth many
times first bring it upon his own friends, by his and their
enemies. He first sleepeth to them, then he awaketh for
them. But to answer: God s people are often scattered;
but though they be scattered, yet there is much difference
between their and the world s scattering. The scattering of
God s children is turned into a blessing to them ; the scattering
of his enemies is a curse, and so it endeth. A plain instance
for it you have in Levi: saith Jacob, " Let them be divided
in Jacob, and scattered in Israel," Gen. xxix. 7- yet that proved
a great blessing, for the tribe of Levi being scattered among
all the tribes, by that means all the tribes had preachers. So
now it is in the scattering of the saints, though they be scat
tered into divers places, yet they are made thereby a blessing
to many countries; hereby they carry truths into other
places ; hereby they are cleansed from their own filthiness ;
hereby they learn to walk more humbly ; hereby they learn
to die daily to the world and outward comforts ; hereby they
are weaned from their friends and all natural engagements ;
hereby they are made more conformable to Jesus Christ, who
was a stranger upon earth; hereby they meet with many
experiences ; hereby they see many promises fulfilled ; hereby
they enjoy the ordinances of God in a purer manner than
before ; so that all their scatterings are blessings to them.
Though the people of God be scattered, yet they are gathered
12 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
again, for " great shall be the day of Jezreel," Hosea i. 1 1 .
Yet more fully, Jer. xxiii. 2, 3, 4 : " Therefore thus saith the
Lord God of Israel, against the pastors that feed my people :
Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have
not visited them : behold, I will visit upon you the evil of
your doing, saith the Lord, and I will gather the remnant of
my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and
will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be
fruitful and increase, and I will set up shepherds over them,
which shall feed them ; and they shall fear no more, nor be
dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord." Yea,
they are therefore scattered, that they may be better gathered.
Ezek. xxxiv. 11, 17 ; " Thus saith the Lord God, behold I,
even I will both search my sheep and seek them out, as a
shepherd seeketh out his flock, in the day that he is among
his sheep that are scattered. Thus saith the Lord God, be
hold I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and
the he-goats." Before their scattering the goats were min
gled with the flock ; upon their gathering, the goats were
separated. A good garment may be ripped into pieces that
it may be better sewed. Good is that speech of Augustine :
He that killeth, considereth not how he slasheth and rend-
eth ; but he that cutteth to cure, considereth how he cutteth.*
Or thus, suppose a man be to cut two men, the one to cure
him, the other to kill him ; that man which he cutteth to
cure, he considereth how he cutteth him, but he taketh no
care how he slasheth him whom he intendeth to kill. So
doth God deal in the cuttings and scatterings of his own
children and the vile world. Or thus : an army you know
may be scattered two ways ; the soldiers when they come
from their trenches, every one goeth to his hut, and the
whole army is in some measure scattered and divided, but in
order; this is an orderly scattering : but when they are
routed, that is another scattering, wherein there is no order.
God s people are scattered as those that go to their huts, but
the wicked are scattered otherwise, their scattering is a full
routing, that is never gathered. This is the punishment of
the enemies of the church, they shall be scattered.
If so, hence we may see what a lamentable thing it is to
* Qui trucidat non considerat quo modo laniat, qui curat considerat quo modo
sicat.
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 13
be an enemy of God. This is the portion of all the enemies
of God. they shall be scattered. Lamentable is their condi
tion, therefore, that are God s enemies. Brethren, God is
the best friend and the worst enemy. If God be my friend,
what though I have many enemies ! Affliction shall be all
rated off in due time, as the dog is when he falleth upon a
friend. If the dog fall upon a thief or an enemy, we let
him alone, he hath leave to worry him. When afflictions
seize upon God s people, in due time they are chidden off;
but when they fall upon God s enemies, they shall not be
rated off, they may worry them, and the venom of their teeth
shall abide in them to all eternity. The text saith, " As for
those mine enemies," &c. It is some grief to be slain before
justice, but before mercy itself, that is more grievous. It is
some grief to be slain before those that cannot help, but to
have help stand by and not help, that is most bitter. Such
is Christ, he is our help, he is our merciful High Priest, and
yet he saith, " As for those mine enemies, which would not
that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them
before me," Luke xix. 27. Oh, what a sad thing it is to be
God s enemy.
But who are those enemies ?
You will all say thus, that if a man seeth the picture of
another, and as soon as he seeth it he falleth a tearing of it ;
and the more like the picture is to the man, the more he
teareth it ; surely this man was an enemy to him whom the
picture is like unto. So when men shall fall a tearing of
God s people, and therefore because they are godly, are not
they enemies to God ?
Consider Psalm Ixviii. 21, there is a plain place to shew
you who are God s enemies. Saith the psalmist, " But God
shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of
such an one as goes on still in his trespasses." Such as go
on still in their trespasses are God s enemies. There is no
child of God but may and doth fall into sin ; he may fail in
his speech and in his practice ; but it is the character of the
world to " lie in wickedness," 1 John v. 19. And therefore,
know you such an one as hath been a drunkard, and a
drunkard still ; a swearer eight, nine, or ten years ago, and a
swearer still ; a sabbath-breaker, a liar, an adulterer, a great
while ago, and so still, that man is an enemy, and in due
14 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SrcR. 1.
time the Lord will wound the hairy scalp of such a ruffian,
for he is an enemy.
When a man cannot endure to hear of the welfare and good
success of the churches, and of the ordinances of God, that
is a sign they are God s enemies. A man loveth to hear
good of him that he loveth. If a man love God, he loveth
to hear good of God and all that belongeth to him ; of the
churches, and of all the ordinances : but when men hear of
good news of the churches, and of the ordinances, and do
secretly grudge, repine, and wish it otherwise, these are now
secret enemies, and will be open.
The scripture phrase telleth us who are God s enemies.
Saith the psalmist, <( Lord, make plain thy way before my
face, because of mine enemies," Ps. v. 8. In the Hebrew it is,
" Lord, make plain thy way before me, because of my ob
servers." Malicious observation is a sign of enmity ; and
therefore when men. shall diligently observe and lay wait for
the haltings of God s people, and are glad to find any thing
to raise a scandal; more rejoicing at the scandal, than griev
ing for the sin ; those, as beasts which seek for the excre
ments of men to nuzzle in them, are God s enemies, and
God is their s.*
Those that hinder the great proceedings that God hath in
the world, are his enemies. In the restoration and rebuilding
of the temple, God had many enemies : Tobiah, Sanballat,
and many others. Neh. vi. 1. How did it appear ? They
did out of malice labour to make the work of God to cease.
So when men in their generations and times shall maliciously
labour to cause the works of God to cease, and hinder the
great proceedings which God hath on foot in the world ;
these are enemies and none but enemies. Now God is and
hath been working of many great works in the world ; if any
man s heart tell him that he hath thus taken up arms against
God, let him lay down his weapons and humble himself, for
God will be above him ; God is greater and will break him.
The second part of the doctrine followeth : that these ene
mies when God ariseth are scattered : God s arising is the
cause of their scattering.
When God ariseth, then all his host ariseth. When a
man ariseth, then all his clothes arise ; when the subject
* Qui tanquam famelici porci itnmergunt se, in stercora sanctorum et ex jis
delicias faciunt. Luther in Gen. ix.
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 15
ariseth, all the accidents arise ; when the prince in the field
ariseth, all his soldiers arise : when God ariseth, then all his
followers arise ; and when they arise, the enemies fly, and so
are scattered.
Consider but the nature of his enemies as they are de
scribed in Scripture. They are compared to wax before the
fire. Ps. Ixviii. 2. Though wax may lie awhile there and not
melt, whilst the fire is not blown up ; yet when the fire
flameth, the wax melteth. They are compared to the waves
of the sea, Jude xiii. ; that roar whilst they are in the sea,
yet when they come to the shore they break. They are com
pared to smoke, Psalm Ixviii. 2 ; which though it rise like a
dark cloud, yet is soon scattered and consumed by the puff
of the wind. They are compared to vapours, mists and
clouds, Hos. xii. 3 ; which though they may seem to threaten
the earth with some great storm, yet when the sun ariseth in
its full heat then are they scattered. Such wax, such waves,
such smoke, such vapours and mists are the Lord s enemies ;
soon therefore scattered when he ariseth.
But though it may be easy, in regard of God s power, to
scatter the enemies of the churches ; yet when we look upon
the condition of the churches as they are in themselves, their
deliverance is very difficult. It is an unlikely thing that the
distressed churches should be delivered, as the matter now
standeth with them ; when were the enemies of the church
more prevailing than now they are ?
So it must be. What is more unlikely than that a dead
man, who lieth upon the grave s mouth, should be raised up
to life, and to such life as to ascend and go up to heaven.
Yet such is the deliverance of the church when it cometh.
Rev. xi. 12. It was a very unlikely thing that Judah should
ever come out of Babylon ; the Jews did despair of it : and
therefore as a man that thinketh he shall never return the
way that he goeth, taketh no heed to his way, observeth not
by what turnings, windings and marks he cometh, so were
they in their journey and way to Babylon ; wherefore saith
Jeremiah, xxxi. 21, 22, " Set thee up waymarks, make thee
high heaps, set thine heart towards the highway, even the way
which thou wentest : turn thee again, O virgin of Israel, turn
again to these cities, &c., for the Lord hath created a new
thing in the earth ; a woman shall compass a strong man."
As if he should say thus : You think yourselves in a very
16 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
weak and low condition, the enemy strong,, and you in their
hands ; well, but the time shall come that a woman shall
lay siege to a strong man : Famina virum f orient angustiabit,
Psalm i. 18; for that word read, to compass, in the Hebrew
signifieth also, to compass by way of siege ; and that word
read, man, in your translation, signifieth a strong man : and
the sense of all is, that those which are as weak as women
shall beset, encompass, and beleaguer those that are strong
and valiant men. But we see no likelihood, might they say,
of this. No, it may be so, but saith God, " I will do a new
thing." But there is no means. It mattereth not, " I will
create a new thing :" I, that drew once the world out of no
thing, will draw the deliverance of the churches also out of
nothing : I will be a creating God to the churches though
they be never so low. Was it not an unlikely thing for Peter
to be delivered that very night when he was to die the next
day. Acts xii. 5, 6. He was in close prison, he was fast in
chains, he was there kept with soldiers, he had rough keepers
to keep the prison doors, he had to go through the first and
second watch, and he was to pass the iron gate that leadeth
into the city ; yet prayer conveyed him through all these par
ties of opposition. The church prayeth and Peter cometh,
but what is this to us ? We may not expect miracles now. Yes,
we, even we are commanded " to commit our souls into the
hands God in well doing as unto a faithful Creator," 1 Peter
iv. 19. Not as unto a Redeemer only, but of a Creator, who
hath promised his creating strength to supply us in our distres
ses, and therefore saith, " into theh ands of a faithful Creator."
Well, then, though the afflictions of the churches be never so
great, let us not mourn as those that are without hope, for
God can do it with ease and much facility. He is our Creator,
he will do it in truth and in much faithfulness, for he is our
faithful Creator, into whose hands we are to commit ourselves
and the condition of all the churches.
Again, When God ariseth, then God appeareth. Now the
enemies of God cannot endure the sight J of God. When
John the beloved disciple of Christ, who had the honour to
be trusted with the book of the Revelation, saw but one
angel, Rev. xxii. 8, he fell down and trembled. John was a
good man, he had not a guilty conscience ; yet when an angel
did but appear John falleth down. How shall men tremble
when the great God shall appear, and they shall appear before
SKH. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 17
him in all their guiltiness ! Surely they will tremble and fear
then, and that their fear will end in scattering.
Beloved, we may see what an easy thing it is for God to
scatter the enemies of the church, though the afflictions of
the church he never so great, and the condition of the saints
be never so mean. Is it not an easy thing for a strong man
to rise when he is free and healthy ; is it not an easy thing
for fire to dissolve the wax ; is it not an easy thing for a lion
to tear the caul of a man s heart ? What is more strong than
a lion ; what more thin than the caul of a man s heart ? and
God hath said it : "I will rend the caul of their heart ; and
there will I devour them like a lion," Hos. xiii.8. Was it not an
easy thing for Samson in all his strength to break those cords
and withs wherewith he was tied ? Judges xvi.9. Jesus Christ is
our spiritual Samson, and though his body, the church, be bound
with the withs and cords of the Philistines, yet he can easily
arise, crack and break them in pieces, though they be never so
strong. Is it not an easy thing for a man to open his hand ?
God openeth his hand and we are satisfied. Is it not an easy
thing for a man to set his face against another ? God only
setteth his face against his enemies and they are scattered.
Oh, with what infinite facility can God help the church ! If
his servants had no credit with him, or if he could not help
them but with much difficulty, there were room for our dis
couragements ; but it is not so, he speaketh the word only,
hisseth, stampeth, riseth, and we are helped.
Hence see what a necessity there is that we should ponder
and observe the works of God and the judgments of the
Lord. In these great volumes we may read much of God.
When God ariseth, then God is to be seen, and seen especi
ally; when God s enemies are scattered, then he ariseth.
Now there are three sorts of people that are to blame here,
as concerning the observation of the Lord s works and his
great judgments : the first are those that the prophet com
plains of: " When the hand of the Lord is lifted up on high
they will not behold his majesty," Isa. xxvi. 11. Another are
those that the psalmist strikes at in Psalm ii. 10, 12 : "Be
wise, therefore, O ye kings, : kiss the Son lest he be angry
and ye perish in the way :" who seeing and observing God
fetching his stroke at a land or people, will not stand out of
God s way and reach. The third sort are those that degrade
VOL. iv. c
18 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [Sun. 1.
the works of God, and nickname them, saying they are none
of God s works, but works of Satan : like the Jews and pha-
risees, who, when Lazarus was raised from the grave by a
miracle, would have killed Lazarus out of spite to Christ ; so
these men, when God hath wrought gloriously for the conver
sion of a poor sinner, or the destruction of his vile enemies,
do what they can to put God s work to death, calling that
hypocrisy which is God s grace, that obstinacy which is good
conscience, and that chance which is God s glory. But let
all these consider that one place in Psalm xxviii. 5, " Because
they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of
his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up."
There is more in it than we are aware of: who doth not study
to be built up ? Wherefore do many men of knowledge and
learning study and take so much pains, wearing out their
flesh, but that they may be built up in name and credit.
Wherefore do you trade up and down the world, but that you
may be built up in your estate ; and what is that which men
fear more than destruction ? Destruction is final ruin. Now,
my brethren, if the great works of the Lord be done before
you, and you do not observe them, you cannot be built up ;
and if you will not attend the operation of the Lord s hands,
you shall be destroyed. God s judgments will take hold on
those that will not give heed to his judgments ; a man may
be destroyed for not observing another s destruction. It is a
fearful judgment to have no judgment, and he hath no judg
ment that doth not mind the Lord s judgment. It is made
the character of the saints in the latter times of the world,
that they are able to sing the song of Moses, the servant of
God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, " Great and marvel
lous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
ways, thou King of saints : who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy; for all nations
shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are
made manifest," Rev. xv. 3, 4.
But suppose evil befal other men, it may be that it falleth
out by common providence ; how shall I say that God is
risen, and to be seen, and seen specially in a judgment,
and when may a judgment be said to come in the way of a
judgment ?
When wicked men are snared in the works of their own
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 19
hands, then God is seen and seen apparently: " The Lord is
known by the judgment that he executeth; the wicked is snared
in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah," Psalm ix. 16.
There is not such a clause again in all the whole scripture that I
remember. You have Selah in many places, but you have not
those two words, Higgaion, Selah, in any other place. The
word Higgaion, cometh from the Hebrew word, Hagar, that
signifieth, to meditate ; and Higgaion is meditandum aliquid,
a thing worth our meditation ; or, as much as if he should
say, This is a matter of spscial meditation, that God is to be
known by the judgment that he executeth, when the wicked
are snared in the work of their own hands. When, therefore,
wicked men begin a wcrk against the people of God, and it
wheeleth about upon their own heads, insomuch as they are
taken and snared in their own practices, then God is seen
specially, and known by the judgment that he executeth.
Higgaion. Selah.
God is specially to be seen when the judgment lieth be
yond the reach of second causes, and is greater than the stock
of the second cause can bear. Samson s strength was a judg
ment to the Philistines. How was God to be seen in that ?
Yes, for Samson was the strongest man that ever was, yet his
mother, when she was breeding him, was " to drink no wine
or strong drink, nor to eat any unclean thing," Judges xiii. 5,
which also did include strong meat. God would not have
Samson s strength imputed to the strength of second causes ;
out of the weak came strong ; the second cause was not able
to bear so strong effect. This strength was their judgment,
their vexation, their scourge ; and this their judgment lay
beyond the reach of the second cause, therefore was God seen
herein apparently ; where there is any thing of God s creating
power, there is God plainly to be seen ; now where the effect
lieth beyond the bounds of the second cause, God s creating
power is seen for to raise that, and therefore if in any evils
which befal the children of men, the strength of the second
cause cannot reach them, there you may say, Oh, my soul,
here is God s judgment, God s plague, God s hand ; here is
God seen, and seen specially : here God is risen.
When God s judgments for men s sins do so find them out
as they are their own blabs, their own accusers, their own
condemners, and sometimes their own executioners, then
c 2
20 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
God is to be seen, and seen especially: so with Judas and
many others. It is written of Julian the Apostate, who
raised an army against the Persians ; in the fight he was
stricken, whether with an arrow or otherwise I say not, but
being sorely wounded, he took a handful of his own blood,
and flung it into the air, saying, Vicisti Galilei ! Thou hast
overcome me, O Galilean. You have many stories to this
purpose in the Book of Martyrs, recorded by Master Fox, I
will name but that one of that vile wretch who dealt so inju
riously with the martyr James Abbes, who, after all his
base usage of that good man, was taken with a strange kind
of frenzy, and cried out, James Abbes is saved and I am
damned ; James Abbes is saved and I am damned ; and so
died. Others were not privy to all his injuries, but his own
guilt made him his own blab; so, now, when a man s sin
cometh and arresteth him, and his heart and conscience is
upon the rack continually, he bursting out into hideous out
cries, being his own accuser, his own condemner, or his own
executioner, there God is seen, and seen apparently.
When the work of the Lord is carried with such a
strong hand as cannot be resisted, there God is seen: " I will
work and who shall let," saith God. Isaiah xliii. 13.
A judgment cometh in way of a judgment when it maketh
way to a further judgment : as when God giveth in mercy,
he giveth that he may give; so when he smiteth in judgment,
he smiteth that he may smite : he maketh way to his anger
when he is angry indeed : and when you see this, then say,
Here is God seen, and seen especially ; now God is risen ;
blessed are all they that trust in him.
But how shall we raise God that he may be seen in the
world for the good of the churches ?
The next point telleth us : viz. Our prayers do excite, raise
and stir up God to the scattering and destruction of our ene
mies. I will not spend much time in the proof of this; you
all know the parable of the unjust judge, and you all know the
promise of the just God to hear prayer. Brethren, is God able
to scatter his enemies ; is God mighty ; is God all-sufficient ;
hath God power enough to do it ? God is pleased to make
over his power, his wisdom, his mercy to our prayers : who
doth not know what credit prayer hath in heaven and what
strength in earth ? The truth is, prayer may do any thing that
I SEK. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 21
I is reasonable with God ; and if you ask prayer by what au-
I thority it doth all, it will shew you its commission in that
place, 2 Chron. vii. 1, 2, compared with 2 Chron. vi., where
God wrought a miracle to shew that he would answer prayer.
But you will say, Can any prayer do this : excite, stir up
and awaken God ?
No, but it must be a crying prayer. If violence be offered
to a man in his house, and he doth not cry for help, help
cometh not in presently ; but if there be thieves in the house,
and he putteth his head out at a window and doth cry, Murder,
murder ! men will break up the doors and come in presently.
Besides, they must be self-awakening prayers : that prayer
will never waken God that doth not waken yourselves, and
that prayer will never stir and raise God that doth not stir
and raise your own soul.
It must be a self-denying prayer. You know the case be
tween Moses and Israel: Israel had provoked God, God says
to Moses, Exod. xxxii. 10, 14, that he " would consume
Israel, and raise up him to be a great people." Moses lays
by all that, and he goes to God in prayer; and what argu
ments doth he use ? His prayer was but short, and all the
arguments were fetched from God and the covenant : " Re-
O
member thy covenant with Abraham," &c ; and, " Thou art a
merciful God, slow to anger." &c. Not a word of himself;
it was a self-denying prayer, and was heard presently. In
prayer those arguments take most with God that are from
God.
Besides, it must be a continued prayer, as Col. iv. 2.
Prayers are the saints factors and negociate for them in hea
ven, therefore they must lie by it.
Again, It must be when the man abideth in Christ and
Christ in him : " If ye abide in me, and rny words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you,"
John xv. 7- He doth not say, If you abide in a tavern, or in
an alehouse, or in such a vile course ; but, " If ye abide in
me, and my words abide in you, then ye shall ask."
Reforming prayers are most prevailing. Virtutes stint ora-
tionis fundament a ; there is no energy in those prayers that
are not strengthened with reformation ; either your prayers
will eat up your sins, or else your sins will make a hand of your
prayers. Isa. Iviii. (i, " Loose the bands of wickedness, c.,
22 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer, thou shalt cry,
and he shall say, Here am I, if thou," &c. Though the les
son be never so good, yet if the instrument be out of tune
there is no harmony, and harmonious prayer is very speeding,
therefore,
It must be joint prayer. When the church prayed, Peter
was delivered. It is true that their prayer was very urgent in
itself, for, according to the original, it is, they continued in
outstretched prayer: it was holding prayer, for they con
tinued ; it was seasonable, for it was the night before his ap
pointed death : yet withal the church prayeth and Peter
cometh. One string doth not make the harmony, and the
word is, " If two or three of you shall make a symphony, it
shall be done for you," Matt, xviii. 19. God who is overcome
by none suffers himself to be overcome by prayer;* but your
prayer must be full of himself, pressing and a close leaguer ;
wherefore you that lie perdue, keep centinel, or to speak in
scripture phrase, Isa. Ixii. 6, 7j all you that are watchmen
upon the walls of Jerusalem, all the day and all the night
continually cease not : ye that are mindful of the Lord keep
not silence, and give him no rest, till he repair, and until he set
up Jerusalem the praise of the Lord.
Will prayer do it ? Will prayer raise God for the scatter
ing of the enemies of the churches ? I beseech you, in the
name of God, let us consider where to lay the fault and the
blame of much of that evil which is come upon the churches
in these latter times. When the defeat was lately before
Antwerp, there was fault laid on such a man, and such a man.
When we consider the afflictions of Germany, we are ready
to say, If such a king or country had stepped in, all this evil
had been prevented, the Palatinate restored and peace settled ;
but may we not rather say, If our prayers had stepped in.
This word telleth us that our prayers do awaken God, and
when God is awakened, then the enemies are destroyed ; we
see then, in truth, where the fault lieth, our prayers have not
come in full enough ; wherefore the less we have prayed be
fore, the more let us pray now ; pray in your closets, pray in
your families, pray in the assemblies, pray alone, pray in
company, pray for all the churches, pray for Germany the
first place of reformation, pray for Holland your hiding-place,
* Deus qui nullis contra se superari potest precibus superatur. Hierom.
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 23
and in all your prayers forget not England, still pray for Eng
land. Take some motives :
You are unnatural if you pray not. It is reported of
Croesus s son, that he was dumb, and seeing one about to
kill his father, though he had been always dumb before, yet
then he burst forth into this speech, What, will you kill Croe
sus ? If you be in Christ, the church of Christ is more to
you than many Croesuses ; your grace doth not extinguish
nature, but advance it; help, and not hinder. A gracious
heart cannot be unnatural though it loveth to be supernatural.
Again, It is the property of a good Christian, and of true
grace, to observe what work God is doing, and to help on
that work : what God is doing in the world, and to help
that on ; what God is doing upon his own heart, and to help
that on. O Lord, saith the soul, help me ! I will help thec,
I will put my shoulder unto thy work as thou art pleased to
put thy hand to my duty. Now the great work which God
is doing in these times is the pouring out of the seven vials,
Rev. xvi. ; and if you look into Rev. v. 8, you shall find that
the saints prayers are their vials : help forward, then, God s
vials with your vial ; vial doth call for vial.
Either good and deliverance will come unto the churches,
or else it will not. If it do not, you had need pray that your
hearts may be supported in all and settled. Prayer is a com
posing duty, and fully settling. If it do come, you had need
pray that you may have the comfort of it when it cometh, or
else that you may not envy at those that have prayed, for it
is a hard thing for one that standeth idle not to envy at him
that worketh.
You do not love the churches if you do not pray for them :
" He that loveth Jerusalem, prayeth for the peace of Jeru
salem." Do you love England ; do you love Germany ; do
you love Holland ; do you love the churches, and your
friends ? He that loveth Jerusalem prayeth for it, and if
you do not pray for them, you have no love to them.
You cannot prosper if you do not pray ; " They shall
prosper that love thee." How love thee ? In praying for
thee. You cannot prosper if you pray not for the churches :
will you not pray then ?
Again, You are not God s servants, if you do not pray for
his servants ; you are not God s children, if you pray not for
24 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SfiR. 1.
his children ; if you mark that of the psalmist, it is made an
act of service, and a sign of a servant, to " pity the dust
and stones of fallen Jerusalem." Saith he, " thy servants
pity the dust thereof;" as if they were not servants that
have no pity. I know you would not have vour livery taken
from you. All things of the like nature sympathize with
one another; if you have the same nature with the saints,
you shall, you will, you must sympathize with them in all
conditions; you cannot but pray.
You cannot have a part in the prayers of the churches,
unless you pray for the churches. Think upon this argu
ment. Can you be contented to lose your share in all the
prayers of the saints ? An action there, is better than an
action in the East India Company ; their stock is great, if
your stock go not in, you cannot have a part with them, and
that is evil.
If you pray not for the churches, your own selfish prayers
will be bootless. When a man shall pray much for his own
family, his own name or estate, his own child that lieth a
dying, and will not pray for the dying churches ; this is a
selfish duty. A carnal, selfish spirit, is very loathsome in
what is spiritual ; and what are you the better for your rich
cabin, your warm cabin, your neat cabin, if your ship sink.
Consult with Neh. xiii. 1, 2 ; there you find it written, that
" the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the
congregation of God for ever." What was the reason ?
" Because they met not the children of Israel with bread
and with water." He that will not meet with distressed
Israel with such relief as he may, is an unfit man to have a
name in a church of Christ, and it is unfit he should come
into the house of God for ever. Wherefore as ever you
desire to have a name in God s house, pray, pray, oh now
pray ; you may with this bread and water meet with Israel,
meeting with them you do meet with Christ.
The price of the welfare, peace, and good of the churches
is now rising ; the time may come it may not be purchased
or bought in by prayer.* I remember 1 have read of a man
that brought the book of the sybils unto the emperor or king
of the Romans, and desired a great price for those books.
* Fugientia sequimur.
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 25
The emperor refused. He goeth away, burneth half the
books, doubled the price, and then cometh to the emperor,
and offered him them at that rate. The emperor refuseth
again. He went away, and burnt the half of those books
which were left, and doubled the price : which the emperor
considering, gave him the whole money which he desired.
So now, it may be, you may have the welfare, the peace, the
life of the churches for prayer ; time may come, wherein
though you add to your prayer your estates, to your estates
your liberties, to your liberties all your welfares, and to your
welfares your lives, yet you may go without it. Now, it may
be had at this good rate, will you not take this good commo
dity whilst it is offered to you ?
It may be the business of the churches stayeth upon your
prayer. If that midwife would come away, the woman would
be delivered. Rev. vii. Four angels were sent out to punish
the world ; and after that a fifth angel is commissioned to go
bid them hold their hand, until the servants of the living
God are sealed in their foreheads. Angels work must stay
until they be sealed, saith Hezekiah. Isa. xxxvii. 3 : " This
day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy,
for the children are come to the birth, and there is not
strength to bring forth." So say I, brethren, it may be the
Lord your God will hear the words of all Rabshakahs, whom
the enemies of the church have employed to reproach the
living God, and will reprove the words, which the Lord your
God hath heard : wherefore lift up your prayer for the rem
nant that are left. God said to Moses, " Let me alone ;"
but to you otherwise, Why do you let me alone ? I stay for
you, if you pray earnestly I will come quickly.
I put you but this disjunction ; either, O Jacob, thou hast
thy brother Esau to meet withal, or else thou hast not : if
not, what meaneth thy fears ? if thou art to meet with rough
Esau, then remember what one night s sweating in prayer
did, how it first obtained the face of God, then of Esau.
Gen. xxxii. 24; xxxiii. 10; Isa. liv. 26, 17; Iviii. 14. The
promise is made to you. Every promise is a new footstep
for prayer, wherefore you that ever prayed, pray now; nay,
you that never prayed, pray now ; now is a praying time, and
it is good pulling whilst God is coming, begging whilst God
is giving. And hath Go j dealt out nothing to the churches
26 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
in these last times ? Do but observe which way the wheel
turneth in these latter days.
But why do you exhort us to pray ? We are here pur
posely, and come to pray.
True, we are so, but we must pray at other times too. We
are here this day to pray, that we may pray hereafter, that we
may set wheels of prayer on going; prayer doth fit for
prayer ; but yet pray for the present. And so we are corne
to note :
Fifthly, When the people of the land go forth to war, the
people of the Lord should go forth to prayer. When the ark
removed, then said Moses, " Arise, O Lord," &c. Our
prayers are to lead armies into the field. 1 Josh, xvii., see
how the people led forth Joshua : " According as we heark
ened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee ;
only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses."
You know the prayer of Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and
other worthies, to this purpose. Reasons of it, are these
especially :
Every business is to be led forth by prayer. Prayer is a
leading duty to all our duties ; and the greater any business
is, the more prayer is to be made. The business of war is a
great business, almost miraculous. When I see an army,
methinks I see a company of walking towns. It is a great
matter, and will you not have so great a business led on by
prayer.
But if a man have a business to do, which requireth haste,
by attending to prayer he may lose his business.
For that purpose, consider but that one place in answer to
this, Josh. v. 2. In the foregoing chapter the children of
Israel went through Jordan, and came into their enemies
country; and in this verse the Lord said unto Joshua,
" Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children
of Israel the second time," Josh. v. 2. Now upon their cir
cumcision they were sore : verse 8, it is said, " They abode
in their places in the camp till they were whole." Now
being come through Jordan, and lying before Jericho, among
all their enemies, the natives could not but hear that they
were circumcised, and how sore they were ; insomuch as the
children of Israel might have objected and said, Oh, Lord, if
we be circumcised, we shall hinder our designs, M eaken our-
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 27
selves, advantage our enemies, that they may fall upon us in
our trenches. But as the Lord commanded, so did they,
they were circumcised ; neither did this act of religion hinder
their business. And therefore let none say, If I stay upon
prayer my business will take despair; no, no, precedent
prayer will make it prosper : trust God and you will find it.
Solomon saith, " All things are beautiful in their season :
there is a time for all things," Eccl. iii. 1, 1 1 . Therefore a
time for prayer ; and though we are to pray continually, yet
there is some time wherein we are especially to draw near
to God. Saith the psalmist, Ps. xxxii. 6, " For this shall
every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time that thou
mayest be found." Grace maketh one pray ; the wisdom of
grace maketh one know the occasion, season, and time of
prayer.
Fearing times are times of prayer. Saith the psalmist,
" At what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee ;" and true
faith soon worketh itself into prayer.
Tropical uncertain times are times of prayer. " Seek ye
the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, if so be that ye may be
hid in the day of the Lord s wrath," &c. Zeph. ii. 3. When
the world laboureth under uncertainty, then should the saints
labour in prayer. Again, the morning time is a time of
prayer: "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning; O Lord,
in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee," Ps. v. 3.
There is a morning of every year, as well as a morning of
every day ; there is a morning to every business, as well as a
morning to every day : now is the year s morning, now is the
morning of our great business; wherefore now up in the
morning of this great work, let us direct our prayers to the
Lord, and look up. Pray now, my brethren, for now it is
seasonable.
As the promise is the only hold that we have on God, so
prayer is the only odds that we have of our enemy. Beloved,
the enemies have most commonly the outward advantage of
God s people ; look upon both, and you shall find that out
wardly they have much odds, either more men, more money,
or more munition: what shall weigh down this odds but
prayer ? Many times prayer doth more than the whole
army. Consider Ps. Ixxvi. 3 ; u There brake he the arrows
of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle." Where ?
28 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SER. 1.
In Salem, in Sion, ver. 2. He doth not say in the field.
The arrows are first broken in the assemblies by the saints
prayers, after that in the field by the Lord s soldiers. It is
said of Archimedes, being a mathematician, that he did more
by drawing his lines, than any soldier did by his valour.
So God s people may do more by the lines they draw, and
the prayers they make, than others can do any other way.
Prayers are the saints scaling ladders, wherewith they leap
over walls, and their strength whereby they break through
hosts. You know usually there is much disorder in armies ;
the soldiers have much evil and sin among them ; though the
soldiers be outwardly strong, yet many of them are inwardly
weak, and prayer cometh in to gather up the weak forces.
Numb. xii. 15, you may see how that for the sin of one wo
man, the whole host of Israel was stayed, and could not march
on. Her sin hindered their march ; she was but one, and a
woman. It may seem therefore strange, that the whole body
of the army should stay upon her; yet so it was, and they
could not remove until prayer came in : ver. 13, " Moses
cried to the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech
thee." Then she was healed, and the people journeyed.
Thus prayer ordereth the ranks, fetcheth up the weak forces,
leadeth on the army upon the enemy, and cometh in the
rear. Without prayer then there is no footing. We are not
fit to strike until our armies be in joint, and prayer jointeth
us ; we are not fit to be exalted until we be humbled, and
prayer humbleth us; and if it be so, then by way of use :
You may see what work we have to do this day, we are
to lead forth this well-formed army, as you heard in the
mandate sent unto us by the States, of a well-formed leaguer,
under the command of that noble and worthy general, the
Prince of Orange ; and methinks he doth, as it were, put
prayer in office, and saith, I will not be commander, prayer
shall; I will be only lieutenant unto prayer; let prayer go
first, let prayer strike the first stroke. Methinks I hear a
dialogue and conference between him and the country. We
desire you, Sir, to take the care of this great army ; we com
mit it to your wisdom ; go and prosper. But, saith he, I
dare not go until prayer go ; I am under prayer ; give me
prayer first, and then I will go : first smite with your prayers,
and then we will smite with our weapons. Smiting prayers
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 29
are now expected ; and though there are divers motives which
I have used, to stir up your hearts to pray for the churches
in general ; yet take three or four more, which may have
some special relation unto this people, and you amongst
them.
The enemies which you pray against, are the most wicked
enemies that God hath. Of all enemies, those are most
wicked that are most crafty ; the artificial sinner is the worst
sinner, as the naturalized grace is the most gracious ; such
are the antichristian enemies of the church : for as, (Gregory
observeth it,*) Jesus Christ did choose simple, poor men, to
preach the truth ; so antichrist chooseth those which are
crafty, subtle, to disperse errors. Of all enemies those are
most vile which are most cruel ; and those are most cruel
unto the churches, that have once made profession of the
truth and proved apostates. The Scripture pointeth at three
especially in this particular, the devil, the Jews, and anti
christ. The devil is cruel unto mankind, he is the grand
apostate; the Jew is cruel unto all chiistians, he is a vile
apostate ; antichrist is cruel to all the present churches, and
he is a great apostate, yet not only an apostate, but apostacy
in the abstract, 2 Thess. ii. 3, and therefore cruelty itself.
In the book of the Revelation, Rome and the antichristian
party is called Sodom, it is called Egypt, and it is called
Babylon. You know the unkindness of Egypt, the cruelty
of Babylon, and the villainy of Sodom unto God s people.
Why should Rome and the antichristian party stand under
all these names, but because they are guilty of all their evils.
And the worse they are, the more hold you have on them to
pray against them. Arius was a vile enemy to the churches,
and very cruel ; yet he was destroyed. How so ? Historians
tell us, orationis opus fuit, non morbi ; his death was the
work of prayer, not of his disease. Such effects may your
prayers have; what stubble can stand before the flame of
prayer. Oh that our hearts were much inflamed in this great
service.
Consider you are here in your possessions, in your lot ;
hidden when others of your brethren are not come to their
* Sicut pauperes spiritus et simplices ad predicandum elegit, ita astutos et
duplices antichristus ad falsitatis predicationem assumet. Greg. rnor. lib. 12,
cap. 5.
30 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SfiR. 1.
lot. Mark that place in Deut. iii. 18, Reuben, Gad, and the
half tribe of Manasseh were come into their lot and inherit
ance, before the rest of the children of Israel: what then,
should they sit down quietly ? No, at ver. 18, they were not
to sit down, but they were to pass over armed before their
brethren. So God having provided for you, before many of
your dear brethren and his good people, you are not now to
sit down quietly in your own lot, but to go up armed before
the rest of God s people, and prayer is your best harness.
You are here on purpose to pray ; it is the end why you are
come hither, that you might have liberty to pray. I am
loth to speak it, I would I might not, you had praying liberty
denied to you ; when any met together in private to pray,
you know it was their and your reproach. This place is your
Gilgal, wherein the Lord hath rolled away that reproach from
you. Oh, that your liberty might not degenerate into licence.
You have now praying liberty, and if this be the thing you
are come for, and now you have such an opportunity, will
you not improve it ? If a man leave one place of trading,
that he may set up his shop with more freedom in another ;
and in the second place money be brought unto him, will he
refuse to take money ? This is your case, you could not have
so free a trade for heaven as you desired, here you have leave
to open your shops, and behold this day a praying opportu
nity, which I call money, is put into your hands ; will you
refuse it ? consider you are come on purpose to pray.
In all likelihood the country shall be hidden, and you shall
not lose your prayers. I will tell you what Mr. Brightman
saith, whose memory is sweet and precious, he saith, There
are three sorts of reformed churches : the first, the German ;
the second, the French, the Swedish, the Scottish, and Hol
land ; the third the English ; which are all different. For
the English is ruled by prelates ; the French, the Scottish,
Swedish and Holland, is governed by presbyters ; the German
hold consubstantiation, and other things, which other reformed
churches do not. Germany therefore he compared to Sardis,
and thence foretold all the evils that have come upon it.
Holland, Sweden, Scotland and the French, he compared
to Philadelphia, and saith, though they have but a little
strength, and the hour of temptation shall come, and some
shall labour to shut their door, yet none shall shut it. It is
SER. 1.] TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. 31
the rather to be considered, because he foretold the evils that
came upon Germany. And why may he not speak true in
this also ? and then who would not pray for this people,
seeing that he may not lose his prayers. Wherefore I entreat
you in the name of God, now, up and be doing ; arise, O
daughter of Sion ; arise, oh hearts of the people of God, that
God might arise, and his enemies might be scattered.
Awake, awake, and now up to prayer.
You will say to me, we are agreed, we must go to prayer
both now and at home ; but what shall we speak, that God
may arise and that his enemies may be scattered.
Bring forth the Lord s engagements, and tell him how
much he is engaged to help the churches : the Lord saith in
his word that Babylon shall fall, Rev. xviii. 8, for strong is
that God that hath condemned her; the Lord saith, Psalm
cxxi. 4, " He never slumbereth or sleepeth ;" the Lord saith
in his word, 2 Chron. vi. 34, 35, " If his people pray when
they go forth to war, he will hear and maintain their cause :"
go and tell God, Lord, thou hast said thus and thus : thou
hast said thou wilt neither slumber nor sleep ; thou hast said
thou wilt maintain thy cause ; oh, then, arise, O Lord, and
let thine enemies be scattered.
Tell the Lord how long he hath seemed to sleep, and that
the time appointed for the church s deliverance is now at
hand. Saith the Psalmist, " It is time for thee, Lord, to
work, for they have made void thy law/ Psalm cxix. 126.
And again, " Have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour
her, yea the set time is come, for thy servants take pleasure
in her stones, and favour the dust thereof," Psalm cii. 13,
14. This is the reason why the time is come. So go to God
and tell him, Lord, thou hast stood still a great while, oh,
now the time is come, men have made void thy law, the
saints pity the dust and take pleasure in the stones of the
wasted churches ; it is time for thee to rise, " Arise, O
Lord," &c.
Tell the Lord that the enemies are up already abun
dantly; tell him that ere long he will rise, though you do
not pray : Lord, if we should never pray, wouldst not thou
help the churches ; and wilt not thou arise a little the sooner
for our prayers ? wherefore, " Arise, O Lord," &c.
Tell the Lord that all things are now ready ; it is
32 TRUE SOLDIER S CONVOY. [SBR. 1.
an argument that God moveth us with to come in to him :
Lord, we use thine own argument : Lord, arise, all things are
now ready. When the wind is good, and when the servants
of the ship are ready, and have got their tackling all ready,
and the anchor is up, only the master is not come into the
ship, they will send one to tell him, Sir, the wind is good,
your servants are ready, and the ship is under sail, we pray
you come away ; so tell the Lord that all his people are up at
prayer expecting him, and all the prayers of God s people are
spread, and their hearts under sail, and nothing can be done
till the Master come, until God himself come ; come, there
fore, O Lord, come away : (S Arise, O Lord, and let thine
enemies be scattered."
SERMON II.
OF COURAGE.
A SERMON UNTO THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE CITY OF NORWICH, AND ALSO TO
THE VOLUNTEERS OF GREAT YARMOUTH, IN NORFOLK.
" My heart is towards the governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly
among the people. Bless ye the Lord." Judges v. 9.
PREACHED A. D. 1642.
" Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and
for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seemeth him
good." 2 SAM. x. 12.
IN these words are the speech of that brave commander
Joab, which he made at the head of his army, being sur
rounded with many enemies, as you read verse 9. He divides
his army into two parts, the one led up by Abishai his bro
ther, the rest of the forces he brings up himself, and spake
thus to Abishai and to the rest of his men : <( Be of good
courage, and let us play the men/ 3 &c.
In those words you have these two parts : the braveness of
his resolution : " Be of good courage and let us play the
men." The humbleness of his submission : " And the Lord
do that which seemeth him good." Or, if you will, thus :
an exhortation to true noble valour in the former part, " Be
of good courage/ 3 &c. ; and, secondly, an humble resignation
of himself and cause and success into the hands of God ;
" And the Lord do that which seemeth him good. 33 His ex
hortation is strengthened with divers arguments : " It is for
our people. 33 The Ammonites and Syrians are now about us,
if you do not behave yourselves valiantly your people are
pillaged, plundered, captived, murthered ; and therefore " be
of courage, and let us play the men. 33 And for the cities of our
God. Some think that by " the city of our God/ 3 is meant
that city where the tabernacle was : but as Abulensis ob
serves,* though in 1 Chron. xix. 13, it is read city, in this
* Omnes urbes Israel vocantur urbes Dei ; quia Deus illas dederat Israelite
vel ilia erat specialiter terra Dei. Abulens. in 1 Chron. xix.
VOL. IV. D
34 OF COURAGE. [SER. 2.
place it is read in the plural number, cities ; and, as he saith,
all their cities were the cities of God, because given by God,
and because God in his worship and true religion was in their
cities ; and therefore, now, Joab seeing all the people were in
danger, and the cities of God, the religion and worship of
God, he breaks forth into this exhortation, " Be of good
courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the
cities of our God."
I shall not at this time reach the second part ; the humble
ness of his submission and gracious resignation : only from
his exhortation observe thus much :
In times of great danger, when religion is in hazard and the
people of God are in danger, good courage is very requisite.
It is then good for good people to have good courage when
the times are evil. This is that which Joab pitcheth upon,
and is the only matter of his exhortation : " Be of good cou
rage, and let us play the men." So David, when he was be
girt and berounded with many enemies, " Wait on the Lord
(saith he) and be of good courage." Some there are that do
wait on the Lord but are not of good courage ; some have
good courage, or courage, but do not wait on the Lord.
" Wait on the Lord, be of good courage," Psalm xxvii. 14 ;
both together ; " and he shall strengthen thine heart," Psalm
xxxi. 24. Good courage, then, is very requisite in evil times.
Some think this belongs only to soldiers ; but if you look into
Haggai ii. 4, you shall find this commanded to all the people :
" Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord (that is
the magistrates) ; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jose-
dech, the high priest (there is the ministers) ; and be strong,
all ye people of the Lord (there is the people)." And that
you read, be strong, in the Hebrew, is all one with the word
of my text, be of good courage ; and if you will, you may read
the words so : " Be of good courage, O Zerubbabel," &c. So
that it lies upon all, in evil times, men and women, to be of
good courage. For my better prosecution of this point, I
shall do these three things :
First, Give the description of good courage, shewing what
it is.
Secondly, Confirm the point.
Thirdly, Make application of all unto ourselves.
First. For the description of good courage you may take
SRR. 2.] OF COURAGE. 35
it thus : Good courage is that gracious disposition of heart
whereby a man, being called by God unto any service, doth
adventure upon difficulties either in doing good or enduring
evil, and that without fear.
Here are four or five things considerable in this description.
First, Good courage is a gracious disposition. There is a
moral boldness, and a natural audacity, and this is not good
courage, for the former is in heathens, and the latter is in
brute beasts. Job describes the horse after this manner :
" He rusheth into the battle, he laughs at the trumpet, and
his neck is clothed with thunder," chap, xxxix. This brute
beasts may have, and therefore this is not the virtue I press
upon you.
Again, There is a sinful desperateness whereby men are apt
and ready to rush upon all that is evil, and are sinfully bold,
and they think him a fool or a child that will not drink, and
be drunk, and whore, and run into all kind of evil : this is
not good courage. David, he was as valiant as any one
of them, as ever the earth bare, and yet, notwithstanding, in
the matter of sin he was very timorous.* Surely good cou
rage is such a flower as grows upon a good conscience : a man,
in truth, hath so much good courage as he hath a good con
science; and if that a man shall desperately run upon what
is evil and sinful, his courage does degenerate into a foolish
desperateness. " Wait on the Lord (saith the psalmist) and
be of good courage; and again, I say, wait on the Lord/
Good courage is hemmed in with waiting upon the Lord.
Again, There is a vaunting, bragging, boasting cavalierism
which hath no true courage.f Such a cavalier was Rabshakah,
who said, " With us is valour and courage ;" when he defied
the hosts and servants of the living God. Good courage is
the health of the mind ; this vaunting, bragging, boasting is
the swelling of the mind, not courage.
Again, There is a fierce, angry, revengeful disposition,
* Fortitude justorum est carnem vincere, propiis voluptatibus contraire delec-
tationeni vitiae prsesentis extinguere, hujusmodi aspera pro feternis jmemiis aniare,
prosperitatis blandimenta contemnere, adversitatis malum in corde superare ; re-
proborum vero fortitude est transitoria sine cessatione diligere, contra flagella con-
ditionis insensibiliter perdurare, bonorum vitam non solum ve rbis et moribus, sed
etiam glacliis impugnare, in semetipsis sjiem ponere et iniquitatem quotidie sine
ullo desiderii defectu perpetrare. Greg. Moral, lib. 3.
t Tumor nnimi non est magnnnimitas. Seneca.
D 2
36 OF COURAGE. [SER. 2.
whereby men are ready to run upon cruelties : this is no good
courage. " The righteous is as bold as a lion." The lion
himself is merciful, not revengeful ; if a creature lies down
before him he will spare it.* I remember a story one hath
concerning Malcolm, a king of the Scots. It seems there
was one of his nobles who underhand conspired his death.
The king having notice of it, he chose a day to go a hunting,
and called many of his nobles to go with him, and amongst
the rest he calls this courtier that was working of his death ;
and when they were in the field, he singles him from all the
rest, bids them go on with their game, he had something to
speak to him alone : saith he, I hear you are, underhand,
working of my death : if you put poison into my cup, a wo
man may do that ; if you set upon me with a company of
rascals, thieves may do that ; if you will put me to death, do
it as a soldier, I will take my sword, take you your s, we will
fight it out. The man fell down before him, and the king
pardoned him, and gained him ever after to be his own.f
This was true courage, but a fiery, cruel disposition is no
good courage ; courage is a gracious disposition.
It is a gracious disposition of heart. The heart, properly,
is the natural element of courage, and therefore some do de
rive the word courage, so ; courage, quasi cor agit, it is an
action or motion of the heart. The truth is, the heart of man
is the artillery yard where all the thoughts of courage train
continually.
Again, I say, whereby a man being called by God unto any
service. God s call is the ground of a Christian s courage.
This was pretended in Rabshakah s speech; " Hath not the
Lord sent me?" And this was, in truth, the ground of
Joshua s courage : " Be of good courage, have not I com-
* Leonum clementise rnulta indicia sunt, prostratis pareunt, in virus potius
quara in faeminas sseviunt, infantes non nisi in magna fame perimunt. Solinus.
f- Si igitur animus tibi sit, si valeas, si audeas, absolve quod propofuisti, redde
hostibus nieis et sociis fuis quod promisisti : si me occidere stat animus, quando
rectius, quando secretius, quando virilius ? veaenum parasti ? mulierculis id re-
linquito, tortulo insidiaris? hoc et adulterse possunt? ferro ex insidiis me aggredi
decrevisti ? hoc sicarii et non militis est officium, solus cum solo congredere, ut
saltern prodito tua turpitudine careat, quse per fidia carere non potest. Miles au-
tem hsec audiens mox verbis regis quasi gravi per cussus fulmine ad pedes regios
cum lachrymis et tremore cucurrit : cui rex noli timere (inquit) quod nihil a me
patieri? ; cumque ei de csetero se fidelem amicum futurum proxisisset, revertunter
ad socios, hihil psenitus referentes. Mat. Paris, p. 21, Hist, Willil. 21.
SER. 2.] OF COURAGE. 37
manded thee ?" If a man ventures upon any design, and
God s call doth not lead him to it, when he comes to make
good his standing, the ground quakes under him, his heart
trembles, his knees knock, his arms shake, and his heels be
gin to run. When a man is called to do a work by God,
though the opposition and difficulty be never so great, he may
encourage himself here ; but I am called by God, and he will
carry me through.
Again, I say, whereby a man being called by God unto any
service does venture upon difficulties, either in doing good or
enduring evil. One would think that it were a desperate ven
ture, but indeed a brave venture, of the men of Jabesh Gilead
which we read of 1 Sam. xxxi., which fetched away the dead
body of Saul out of the hands of the Philistines. There be
ing a great fight between the Israelites and the Philistines, the
Philistines had the best of it, kept the field and buried the
dead ; and amongst the dead they find Saul, they cut off his
head and fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. And
when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard of it, all the
valiant men arose, and went and took the body of Saul from
the wall of Bethshan. Here was valour, here was courage.
Wherein was it seen ? In venturing upon difficulties in do
ing good and enduring evil.
I add, All this must be done without fear : and therefore in
Scripture these go together : " Be of good courage ; fear not,
neither be dismayed." The more a man s fears are enlarged,
the more his courage is lessened ; and the more a man s cou
rage is enlarged, the more his fears are lessened. Good cou
rage, it makes a man higher by the head and shoulders than
the thing feared, though never so great : good courage lifts a
man up above fear. Put all together and you have the des
cription of good courage. It is that gracious disposition of
heart whereby a man, being called by God unto any service,
he does adventure upon difficulties, either in doing good or
enduring evil, and that without fear. Let us now advance to
the second thing, the confirmation of the point.
Secondly, In evil times, in times of danger, good courage
is very requisite. In times of danger good courage is the
strength of a man, it is the spirits of a man, it is the spark
ling of a man s heart, it is the life of one s life. Saith Solo
mon, " The spirit of a man shall sustain his infirmity,"
38 OF COURAGE. [$ER. 2.
Without strength there is no bearing of burthens. Now this
is the way to be strong, to stand under burthens in evil times :
" Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart."
Again, Evil times are full of changes, and good courage
will keep us from the power of those. It is a good speech
Seneca hath : He is a stout man whom adversity doth not
quail ; he is yet more stout whom prosperity doth not allure ;
but he is most stout of all whom the change of things doth
not disturb.* And in another place, saith he, He hath no
great mind that can be bent by injuries. t And evil times
are full of injuries. Without courage a man will easily be
bent by them ; bent unto sin and bent unto what is evil.
Had not the three children been men of courage, how would
they have been bent to idolatry ; but being men of courage,
say they, " Our God is able to deliver us ; but if not, be it
known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,"
Dan. iii. 17, 18. Oh, my beloved, in evil times good courage
keeps us from evil bending, and therefore in evil times good
courage is very requisite.
Again, Evil times are very expensive. Then a man shall
be called to lay out much ; his estate, his house, his liberty,
his body, his all : and no affection, no disposition so spending
as courage ; good courage will make a man spend and be
spent for God. But if a man should expend and lay out all
upon other things, they will not be able to quit charges.
Good courage will make a man spend all on God, and be
spent for God, as Paul was. Thus you see that in evil times
good courage is very requisite.
Thirdly, If this be so, you see what our duty is ; to be of
"good courage, and play the men." You all know into what evil
times we are now fallen, better than I can speak : are we not
berounded with many enemies, the Syrians before and the
Ammonites behind ; if Joab were alive he could see the battle
before and behind. In the prophet s time, he prayed ee that
God would open the eyes of his servant tliat he might see
who were with him ;" now we had need to pray that God
would open men s eyes to see who are against them : certainly
enemies are amongst us, within and without, at home and
* Fortis est quern adversa non frangunt fortier est quern prospera non alliciunt,
forlissimus est quern vicissitude rerum non deturbat. Seneca,
t Magnus animus est quern non incurvat injuria. Seneca.
SER. 2.] OF COTKAGE. 39
abroad, before and behind, they are very many. Now the
people of God are in danger, now the cities of God and reli
gion is in hazard ; and therefore, as Joab once, so now I may
speak unto all, "Be of good courage, and let us play the men
for our people, and for the cities of our God, arid the Lord
do that which seemeth him good." Be of good courage.
That is my exhortation ; notwithstanding the times be evil,
yet be of good courage. Good courage now if ever is requi
site ; requisite for magistrates, requisite for ministers, requisite
for parents and governors of families, requisite for these gen
tlemen that have listed their names for this great service of
God and their country, requisite for all the people.
Requisite for magistrates. Good courage is always in a
magistrate s commission ; though times be never so peaceable
they are to be men of courage, fearing God, much more in
troublous times. Good courage is a virtue annexed to their
place ; and therefore as injustice from the hand of a judge is
worse than from any other, because there is a special repug
nancy between him and the sin ; * so want of courage and
neutralizing in a magistrate is worse than in others, because
good courage is always annexed to his place.
Ministers, they must be of good courage. We read of
divers valiant men, 2 Chron. xxvi. 17, 18, who withstood
Uzziah the king, and said unto him, " It pertaineth not unto
thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord," &c. You
may see who they were in the 17th verse: " Azariah the
priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the
Lord that were valiant men." Wherein did their valour ap
pear ? In that they withstood the king in doing that which
was unlawful. These were valiant priests indeed, and it
stands upon record, and that for ever. In times nearer to
ourselves, we read of Dr. Latimer, that when the men of his
order were to send new year s gifts unto the king, he sent a
Bible with this posey written on the outside thereof:
" Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Was not
Mr. Deering very bold with Queen Elizabeth, who told her,
that though she once went, tanquam ovis ad lanienam, as a
sheep to the slaughter ; yet now, tanquam indomiter juvenca,
as an untamed heifer. In evil times the ordnance and mur-
thering pieces are planted against the house of the ministers,
* Peccatum majus ubi repugnantia major inter peccantem et peccatum. Aquin.
40 OF COURAGE. [SER. 2
against them especially, and therefore in them, also, good
courage is very requisite.
Requisite, also, for parents and governors of families.
Otherwise, if they have not good courage, they will quench
the forwardness and zeal and courage of those that are under
them. It is a lamentable thing that the carnal wisdom of a
worldly parent should be the quench-coal of the gracious de
votion of a godly child. Granatensis makes mention of a
woman, that hearing her son run away in the field, she got
some advantage of him, and put him to death, with these
words : Runaway, thou art none of mine. And of another
woman, that when her son was slain in the battle, she being
at the funeral with divers friends ; some wept and cried, du-
ram fortunam ! O hard fortune! she cried, O felicem fortu-
nam ! O happy fortune ! that ever I was so honoured to bear
a child to die so bravely for his country. Parents must have
courage ; and there are these three things to move parents
and governors of families unto it : the danger that is now
approaching, the protestation that you have taken, the special
opportunity that you have.
You that are parents and governors of families have the
greater opportunity of serving the commonwealth and churches
and people of God than others. Your children are your
goods, nothing is so much a man s own as his child ; your
children are your best household stuff. One observing that
it was the manner and fashion to bespangle their cupboards
with plate when they made any feasts ; when he was to make
a feast, he got his children and set them on his cupboard s
head : the guests asked the reason why he did so ; saith he,
These are my plate. Beloved, you have given your plate al
ready to the service of your country j what if God will have
this plate also to be given unto him ?
Again, The danger that is now approaching may move you
unto this. You know the greatness of the danger ; how we
are begirt with the Assyrians and Ammonites ; and should
the Ammonites prevail, I mean that malignant, Jesuitical party
prevail in the kingdom, what a dark and black day would it
be upon England. The Lord be thanked, we know, partly,
what a comfort it is to sit under our vines and fig-trees ; but
should they prevail, what would they do ? yea, what would
they not do ? the honour and safety of our dear sovereign,
SER. 2.] OF COURAGE. 41
the liberty of the subject, the security of the parliament, the
peace of the three kingdoms, the power and liberty of the
ordinances ; these are great mercies and much to be prized by
us ; and methinks every one should sit down and think with
himself, What shall I give or do that my person should not
be enslaved, that my wife and daughters be not abused, that
my poor children be not massacred, that my house be not
plundered, that my country be not betrayed ? Oh, if there
be any spirit, or valour and courage in any child or servant
to serve God and his country, go on, O child, and prosper;
do courageously.
Then, again, besides this, you may remember the protesta
tion that you have made. You have protested before the
Lord and the world, or should have done, that you will main
tain and defend the person of our king, the liberty of the law
and subject, the parliament, the protestant religion; and shall
you not give up your children and servants, though never so
dear and faithful, to make good your protestation ?
But methinks I hear some say, It is a hard thing to part
with my child, my only son, my only joy, the comfort and stay
of mine age ; oh, it is a hard thing to part with a child.
True, it is ; and wouldst serve God and thy country with
nothing ? Is that child lost that Christ gains ? I remember
Origen observes, that when Abraham gave up Isaac unto
God, and put the knife to his throat to offer him up as a
sacrifice to him, then the Lord found him a ram, another
sacrifice, and gave Isaac again unto him ; and, saith he, that
which you give unto God you shall receive from God : if you
can give up your child, and lift up your hand with a knife to
offer him up unto him, the Lord will give you that child,
and that child above others shall be the father of many gra
cious. Methinks I hear that speech sounding in mine ears :
" Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them, they
shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies
in the gate," Psalm cxxvii. 5. Your children are the arrows
that the Lord hath given you into your quiver, if they be
ready upon the string, will you break these arrows, or the
spirits of them ? They are made on purpose to meet your ad
versary in the gate ; and now the adversary is in the gate, will
you not let the arrow fly ? Oh, methinks there should not be
a father or master that hath a child or servant, but should say,
42 OF COURAGE. [SfiR. 2.
I will send one volunteer. What were it for such a town as
this to have two or three hundred ? But I know your rea
diness, the Lord bless it. Only I leave the exhortation of
Joab with you, the words a little altered. Be of good courage,
and if you cannot play the men yourselves, let your children
and servants play the men.
The exhortation looks also upon them that have listed them
selves in this service of God and their country in these dan
gerous times. Brethren, I have need for to speak to you, and
my commission especially is to speak to you, I had need do
it, for have not some freely offered themselves to this work,
yet shamefully deserted it again ? I say shamefully, for what
greater shame ? Marcus Crassus, amongst the Romans,
caused the cowards to be let blood, giving this reason, That
it was fit their blood should be shed in disgrace which they
would not shed in the defence of their country. And if you
look at Judges vii. 3, you shall find that when the hosts of
the Midianites came against the Israelites, Gideon had gotten
a good and well framed army together; but when word came
from the Lord that the fearful should return, how many, think
you, did return of them ? Surely no less than two parts of
three. The whole army consisting of thirty and two thou
sand. The divine story tells us that twenty-two thousand
of them went back, and but ten thousand left. Twenty and
two thousand not ashamed to be called cowards and fearful.
So that I say, that I had need to speak to you, and to you is
my commission, and if you please you may read my commis
sion and your own duty together : Deut. xx. 2, 3, " And it
shall be when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest
shall approach and speak unto the people ;" not the captain,
but the priest. What says the priest ? Let not your hearts
faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be you terrified
because of them. Therefore you see what I am commanded
to speak unto you. Well, good sirs, and beloved in the Lord
Jesus, be you also of good courage. And I have three words
of encouragement to speak unto you.
1. Your work and service you are about, it is very honour
able. It is observed to my hand, that when Solomon built
the temple, he did not employ the Israelites about the meaner
works, carrying of stones and drawing of water; strangers
were put to that work ; but the Israelites were employed to
SER. 2.] OF COURAGE. 43
be a guard about him. So did the most wise man in the
world, Solomon, count it an honourable thing to bear arms
and to be a soldier. Anciently soldiers were called latrones,
because they were a latere regis ; and now the latin word,
miles, for a soldier, signifies a knight. When the children of
Israel went out to battle, some there were that went into the
field, and some that did stay at home ; concerning those that
stayed at home,it is said, that "she that tarried at home divided
the spoil/ Psalm Ixviii. 12. As if they were only women,
and the weaker sort that stayed at home ; as if all that were
worthy to be called men went into the field. In the triumph
ing psalm of Deborah, we read that some are condemned and
some commended ; those that were condemned, were such as
came not forth, that came not forth to " help the Lord against
the mighty/ Judges v. 23. Those that were commended,
were the volunteers that offered themselves willingly amongst
the people (verses 2. 9). The truth is, that the volunteers of
England, under God, are the bulwarks of England; and
England, under God, the bulwark of the protestant religion.
Wherefore, honoured brethren, be ye all of good courage, for
your work and service is very honourable.
And as your work is honourable, so your work is safe. In
times of war, the safest place is the camp, and whilst that
those of poor spirits, that love only to be in their beds and
in their houses, shall be pillaged and plundered, men of brave
spirits, that are willing to be in the field, shall be secured. A
valiant and courageous mind commandeth all things, says Se
neca: he that commandeth death, commandeth all things, as
the valiant man doth. Now, beloved, you see into what times
we are fallen ; of necessity things must either go well or ill :
if things go ill, the worst is death, and what great matter is
it to die for your God a little before your time ; who would
live when religion is dead ? who would live to out-live his
religion ? Cicero tells us of some Indians that having many
wives, when the husband died the wives strived to be burned
with him, and she that was the strongest prevailed to be
burned, and the rest went away very sorrowful, as having met
ith a great loss that they might not be burned with their
usband ; and do you desire to live a day after the protestant
religion that you have been married to now for many years
together ? It is no great matter to live; the beasts, birds and
44 OF COURAGE. [SfiR. 2.
fishes live : this is truly great, to die well, honourably, freely,
wisely ; as Seneca saith, It is better to die in the field, for the
cause of God, than die in one s bed by the hand of a sick
ness. It is storied of one Bibulus, a great Roman, that having
obtained many victories, he came to Rome to ride in triumph,
where a tile falling off the house struck him so deeply and
mortally into the head, that he died of it. Thus may you die
by an unworthy tile as you walk in the streets, or by the turn
ing of some humour in your bodies ; and is it not better,
then, to die for the truth ? Can you lose too much for Christ
that hath lost so much for you ? Death is the worst. And
if things go well, I cannot but think it will go with the po
pish malignant party, as once with the Freislanders, when the
Earl of Holland had overcome them ; they took up arms to
resist him again : whereupon he ordered that the doors of
their houses should be made so low as they should always
stoop when they went in, noting their subjection ;* so, though
the mercy of those that are in authority may let the houses
of malignants stand, yet I make no question, but the doors
of their houses shall be made so low, that they shall always
stoop, as a note of their subjection ; whilst you that stand
for the cause, and country, and cities of your God, shall have
the doors of your houses enlarged ; and if a good cause have
any interest in heaven, and the prayers of God s people hath
any credit there, you shall undoubtedly in the end prevail,
wherefore be of good courage, for your work is safe.
And as your work is safe, so it is also warrantable. I know
it is objected, They take up arms against their king. I am
persuaded there is not such a thought in the bosoms of any
of you all, and God forbid there should. But there is much
difference between taking up of arms against the king s per
son, and taking up of arms for the defence of the kingdom,
without the king s command. David, though he were God s
anointed, yet he was a subject unto Saul his king, and he
took up arms to defend himself; he took up arms indeed,
but if you look into 1 Sam. xxvi. 19, you shall find that
David does impute that unnatural war that Saul his king
made against him, to those wicked malignants and wicked
counsellors about him. " If the Lord hath stirred thee up
against me, let him accept an offering ; but if they be the
* Hist. Nether.
SEB. 2.] OP COURAGE. 45
children of men, cursed be they before the Lord/ &c. He
does not say the king had done it, but lays it upon those that
were about him, and therefore took up arms to defend himself
against the malignants. David s example is our practice:
and certainly if the parliament should not have a power to
send for those by force of arms which are accused before
them for their just trial, they should no longer be a parlia
ment. Every court of justice hath a power to send for by
force, men accused to be tried before them : now the parlia
ment as king James speaks, is the highest court of justice ;
therefore, according to the known privilege of parliament,
they do send a serjeant at arms for those that are accused, to
be tried before them ; and if they have power to send out
one serjeant at arms, then they have power also to send forth
a hundred, and so a thousand, and so ten thousand if need
require. And if the accused persons gather into an army,
how can the parliament send for them but by an army ? So
that when you consider the law of the land, or the law of
God, or the law of nature, which is for a community to de
fend itself, your way and course is very warrantable, your
cause is good, for that must needs be good that religion ma-
keth so ; your enemies are weak, for they must needs be weak
that sin makes weak; your victory is certain, which the
Scripture promiseth, and first or last the victory shall
be to you. Put all together : your cause is good, your ene
mies weak, your victory certain, your service honourable, safe,
warrantable : wherefore, " Be of good courage, and play the
men for the people and the cities of our God, and the Lord
do with you what seemeth him good."
This exhortation looketh upon all that heareth me this day,
men, women and children; be you all of good courage in
these sad times, notwithstanding the evil of the times ; " Fear
not, neither be dismayed." Did the Lord do his work by
halves when he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt ?
Notwithstanding for men s unbelief some fell in the way to
Canaan, yet he brought them into Canaan. Beloved, you are
now again coming out of Egypt, for the Romish superstition,
and that partly is called Egypt, Sodom, Babylon : you are
now coming out of Egypt, marching up into the promised
land and promised ordinances. Nothing can make you fall in
the way but unbelief; wherefore be all of good courage, and
46 OF COURAGE. [SfiR. 2.
pray unto the Lord. Be all of good courage ; thereby you
shall be able to set upon great things for God, though never
so great ; thereby you shall endure great afflictions, though
never so heavy ; thereby you shall be untired and unwearied
in the service of God, though the opposition be never so
strong ; thereby you shall honour the cause ; thereby you
shall conquer your enemies; thereby you shall encourage
others, your courage shall beget courage ; your courage will
have an influence upon all the towns round about you> and
make them of good courage, as I make no question but the
courage and valour of London have had an influence upon
your hearts, to make you courageous : so your courage will
have upon others. What will they say when they come into
towns, and return home again ? I will tell you what : I was
at such a town, and there they were working and fortifying
their town for their country and king; and I saw the best
man s son in the town go to the work, and the best man s
daughter in the town carry a basket; and, father and mother,
shall we sit still ? Therefore put on, let the work never die
for want of money ; let not such a town as we are be base, be
poor and low, and want courage, when on the one side ye have
the sea, on the other side the river, on the other side the
walls, on the other side, I hope, friends; within abun
dance of good people, and and above a loving God. Oh,
therefore, put on, be all of good courage. I do but add some
directions, and so wind up all.
1. Be sure of this, that you make sure of God to be with
you. I mean, not only in the general causes, but in your
particular ; clear up your propriety to God himself. When
David was in a great strait, his enemies ~had broken in upon
him, taken away his wives, and then plundered all he had,
his own soldiers began to mutiny, and thought of stoning
him ; what did he do ? It is said, " He encouraged himself
in the Lord his God," 1 Sam. xxx. 6. Therefore first make
sure of this, clear up this your propriety in God himself.
The sight of a great God under interest will encourage your
spirits though dangers be never so great.
2. Never go out upon any design without God s promise,
God s promise of assistance, acceptance and success. Joshua
was a valiant man and brave commander, and yet we read of
him, chap, vii., when some thirty men were slain, and others
SER. 2.] OF COURAGE. 47
fled, he fell down upon the earth much discouraged. Why ?
The Lord had promised he would never leave him nor forsake
him, his enemies should not be able to stand before him ; but
he had lost the promise that God had given to him, and
therefore was discouraged ; but the Lord comes to him, and
saith, " What dost here ?" and brings him to the view of the
promise again ; and then a new spirit and new life came into
him. God s promise is your encouragement; keep that al
ways in your eye.
3. Take heed of all those things that will debase your spi
rits. These are three things especially: idleness, worldliness,
false courage.
As for idleness, saith Seneca,* it is the burying of a living
man. As for worldliness, saith Aquinas, it doth effeminate and
set a man below himself. And false courage is a true enemy
to true courage. If courage be laid upon the sense of the se
cond cause, when there is an ebb of the second cause there is
an ebb of your courage.
There were two sorts of spies that \ient into the land of
Canaan. As for the first, we do not read of any hard use
they met withal, and yet they were much discouraged, and
discouraged the people, saying, The men of the country are
giants, the cities are walled up to heaven, and the inhabitants
ride in chariots of iron. The other spies met with ill use,
and had not Rahab hid them they had been every man cut
off; and yet they returned with good courage, and so encou
raged the people, saying, " The men shall be meat unto us/
&c. What is the reason of this ? One would think, rather,
that the first sort should be encouraged and the last discou
raged, but it was not. so ; the reason is this, the first spies,
that were discouraged, looked only upon the men and walls
and iron chariots ; went out in the way of sense ; but as for
the other spies, they looked upon God, upon his promise, and
upon his providence in delivering of them ; and thereupon
returned and said, " The men of the land are meat unto us,"
&c. Would you not be discouraged but encouraged, take
heed how you raise or how you lay your courage upon second
causes ; take heed of all those things that may debase your
spirits, idleness, worldliness, and courage laid upon second
causes.
* Otium est vivi hominis sepultura. Seneca.
48 OP COURAGE. [SER. 2.
4. Again, be sure of this, that you keep your conscience
clear. A bad conscience is very timorous ; the righteous are
as bold as a lion, but the unrighteous, that have any con
science left, are as fearful as a doe ; be sure, therefore, that
you keep your conscience clear.
5. And then, again, keep and improve all the experiences
of God s delivering mercy. Beloved, how many delivering
mercies hath God wrought for us the last year ; truly it may
be said it hath been the annus mirabilis, year of wonders ;
and all the year long God hath been known to England by
this name, a wonder-working God. When any temptations
arise to discourage, answer, Surely if the Lord had meant to
destroy us, he would never have done all this. Experienced
men are most courageous. Only make use of your experience
as a stirrup to get up your spirits to the promise.
6. Again, Actuate, refresh and strengthen your love. True
love is very valiant. Says the apostle, " Love suffers all
things, it does all things." As one observes concerning a
sheep, though it be so feeble and fearful a creature, that a
little dog will make a whole flock run before it, yet, notwith
standing, you shall see, that if a great mastiff comes to take
away a lamb from the ewe, the ewe will stamp and run at
him. Why ? Love puts it on. Do you, therefore, love your
country ? I know you do. Do you love the people of God ?
I presume you do. Do you love the cities of God ? I be
lieve you do. Often actuate, refresh, and strengthen your
love ; this will give courage.
7. In the last place, Whenever any discouraging tempta
tions arise, before ever you parley with those difficulties and
temptations, step in to God by prayer. . Beloved, if you first
parley with difficulties before you go to prayer, you will never
have done ; a thousand objections will be created in your
minds : whereas if you first go to prayer before you parley
with them : in prayer you shall have the sight of a great God,
and the sight of a great God will make your spirits great. In
prayer your heart shall be composed, for prayer is a soul-
composing duty. In prayer you shall meet with the Captain
of your salvation, and he will lead up your hearts that are
ready to run away. In prayer you shall bring your souls to
this frame, quietly to resign up yourselves, and cause, and
success unto God; and a man is never more courageous than
SER. 2.] OF COURAGE. 49
in that frame, as Joab s courage and resignation went together.
Are you presented with any difficulty and discouraging temp
tation ? then say with yourselves, It is true, indeed, to attain
to such an event, certainly it will be hard; notwithstand
ing, I know that my cause is good, my work is good, the
people good ; and, therefore, though the difficulties and temp
tations be never so great, I will give myself to prayer, and
praying courage is good courage. Wherefore, my beloved, in
the name of the Lord, pray, in these evil times; pray, pray,
pray. And when you have done praying, then wait : " Wait
on the Lord, and be of good courage ; and again, I say, wait
on the Lord." And what I say unto one I desire to speak
unto my own soul, and so unto you all in these sad and evil
times, " Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our
people, and for the cities of our God, and the Lord do with us
what seemeth him good."
VOL. IV.
SERMON III.
THE DISEASES THAT MAKE A STOPPAGE TO ENGLAND S
MERCIES DISCOVERED, AND ATTENDED WITH
THEIR REMEDIES.
DELIVERED IN A. SERMON AT ST. MARGARET S ON FISH STREET HILL,
LONDON.
" Thy destruction is of thyself, but thy salvation is of me."
" Except ye reptnt. ye shall all likewise perish." Luke xiii.
PREACHED IN 1642.
PREFACE.
To THE READER. It is God s wont to warn before he smite a people, thereby
walking himself after his own rule, Deut. xx. 10, 13, who would have no city to
be destroyed until peace hath first been offered to it. The sword of the Lord is
ever drawn, his bow bent, his arrows prepared, his instruments of death made
ready, his cup mingled ; yet he doth not use to pour down his plagues, until he
hath rained a shower of mercy before them : he doth not surprise men at
unawares. God never discharges his murthering pieces, until he hath first dis
charged his warning ones: pax domini, Luke s., " Peace to this house," was
sounded at every door where the apostles came. All ages and nations will bear
witness to this truth ; the old world, Sodom, Pharaoh, &c. : but no nation or
age can better subscribe to God s goodness and fair dealing in this, than we, who
have been warned sometimes by prodigious signs, as by the appearance of that
wonderful comet, A. D. 1618, as importing some strange changes which we have
seen and heard since ; and as if its last influence might seem to end in this island
when it blazed over England, it was seen no more ; and Herlicius Stargardersis,
a noted astrologer, held, that its influence was like to continue between twenty
and thirty years. Sometimes by his ministers, by his administration of justice,
and dealing with other nations : how long hath the sword walked circuit in
Germany and in Ireland ? Sometimes by lesser and lighter judgments : how
long hath the plague continued in this city without intermission ? Sometimes
by taking many godly out of the world, and the removing many others out of
the kingdom, who were wont to stand in the gap ; sometimes by a general with
drawing himself, pulling down his hangings, not assisting his ordinances, &c.
And unless we will wilfully shut our eyes, how hath the goodness, patience,
bounty, merciful and powerful dealings of God towards us, and for us of late,
been as an hand put f?rth to lead us home unto him, to cause us to meet him,
and take warning, that we might prevent these wasting calamities that are
gathered together in a black cloud, as though they meant to empty themselves in
a shower of blood upon our heads ? But we are so far from taking warning,
that we study to hasten our own ruin : almost every one instead of bringing his
bucket of water to quench the fire that is already flaming about our ears, brings
SER. 3.] THE DISEASES, c. . )!
their bellows in their hands to blow up these coals of dissension in all places, so
that now not only is there a kingdom divided, but the head and the members di
vided, and the members among themselves, cities and towns divided, yea families
divided, parents against children, brother against brother, and familiar friends
become bitter enemies one to another ; the most sure symptom and presage of a
fearful desolation to fall upon all, unless some speedy remedy be applied to this
desperate disease, and the great God himself become our physician and heal our
distempers. I shall desire to commend these two Sermons (the third and fourth
of this volume) to thy serious consideration : in the one thou shall see there is a
stoppage made of God s mercies, who was coming to heal us but we would not
be healed ; the causes are discovered and the remedies prescribed, that could we
so go to work to open these stoppings, and bring God again into the way of his
mercies ; could we see our sins removed and God returned, I might then truly
say that there would be yet hope for England : the other Sermon is a preparative
to bear that cross that so many have already on their backs, viz. of being turned out of
all our earthly comforts ; a sad calamity indeed, but now too usual ; and when so
many of our neighbour s houses are on fire, why should we think to escape scot free
that are as deep in sin as they? Being, therefore, forewarned, let us be forearmed,
and get into God and his favour, as that one necessary thing for us all to look
after, as the only means to keep us from sinking under the waves that flow in
upon all, especially on God s people ; experience shewing, that if we will live in
the power of godliness, and not walk in the same excess of riot with the world,
we shall make ourselves a prey, and had need to have our helmets on to catch the
blows that fall upon us, and resolve to sit loose from the world, that we may
suffer the spoiling of our goods with joy, and be able to say with that noble
Spartan , who being told, 1 . of the death of his children, answered : I knew well they
were all begot mortal. 2. That his goods were confiscate : I knew what was but
for mine use was not mine. 3. That his honour was gone : I knew no glory
could be everlasting on this miserable earth. 4. That his sentence was to die :
That is nothing ; nature hath given the like sentence both of my condemners and
of me. Now should we get a stock of faith, and learn how to use it, to live by
it when our lands, our stocks, our trades, our friends, our wit, our shifts (as the
ordinary means of our livelihood) shall fail us. That we may live not only
above our fears and troubles and doubts, but above the world, above ourselves,
in God and in Christ, in whom we may see supply to all our wants, satisfaction
to all our desires, and have recompense for all our losses, and every thing that
may make for our good and welfare : light in our darkness, life in our death,
strength in our weakness, riches in our poverty ; and comfort ourselves, that we
serve a Master that will one day right all our wrongs, reckoning the injuries that
be done to his as done to himself ; so that we should not think much to part
with our country, our children, our possessions, our life, if the world will take
them from us, for Christ and his gospel s sake. All these, and much better than
these shall be restored to us one day ; and we may say thus to ourselves : Yet I
am not miserable so long as my Redeemer is happy ; he lives, and I shall live
with him. Men may take from me my goods, but they cannot rob me of my
grace; they may banish me from my country, but not from heaven ; take from
me my life, but not my happiness : no, my faith, my heaven, my soul, my hap
piness is in his keeping, that will safely preserve them for me, and me for them.
But I fear I have held thee too long in the porch, I shall now open thee the door
and let thee in, praying God to make those lessons as profitable to thee, as the Au-
K -
52 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfiB. 3.
thor s desire was they might both in his preaching them and his willingness to
have them published for the public good.
J. A.
" So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men,
and they fled before the men of Ai." JOSH. vii. 4.
IN this chapter you have a treatise concerning Achan s
sin, branching itself into three parts ; one concerning the
commission of the sin, the second concerning the discovery
of it, and the third concerning the punishment thereof. As
for the sin itself, the commission thereof, what it was, you
read in the first verse, that the children of Israel had com
mitted a trespass. God had commanded that all the spoil
of Jericho should be consecrated unto himself, and that the
first fruits of all should be his. Jericho being the first
city that they took in the land of Canaan, by right it did
belong unto God j all the treasure, silver and gold, wealth
and goods that was therein, properly it did belong unto God.
Now Achan he plays the thief, and does appropriate some of
God s goods and wealth unto himself. This was charged
upon him as a sin, and so upon all Israel, as at the first
verse : keeping from God any thing that does belong unto
him, is a sin. Now in the second place this sin was disco
vered by occasion of the defeat that was before the town of
Ai. They passing on from Jericho, at the second verse, unto
the town of Ai, they laid siege to it ; but their siege was
broken up, and three thousand men fled, and thirty-six men
were slain, verses 4, 5. Sins committed in one city, will
follow us unto another, and overtake us there. Oh what
unexpected ways and means hath God for to bring out men s
sin to light. Three thousand men flee before the men of Ai,
and thirty-six men are slain, and this was made the means of
discovery of Achan s sin ; who would have thought that there
should have been such a discovery as this ?
The work was hindered by this defeat, and that sets them
on work to search out the cause, and shews,
That afflictions should set us on work, to search out our
sins, and the cause of them.
That sins shall not always be pocketed up, but shall be
discovered, though never so secret.
That God hath strange ways to discover men s sins.
SHU. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 53
But why must the children of Israel be beaten here by
the men of Ai, and why must one man s sin be punished
upon all ? Surely the children of Israel were in covenant
one with another, and so being in covenant together, the sin
of the one not being punished by the rest, was charged upon
all the rest. As for England, either we are in covenant one
with another, or else we are not; either there is a national
covenant, or else there is not. If there be not a national
covenant, as was among the Jews, why do we not rather say,
the churches of England, than the church ? And if there be
a national covenant, the sin of one is made the sin of the
rest, what sins do we bring upon ourselves. But they must
flee before the men of Ai ; why ? Because that the men of
Ai were to be destroyed with a great destruction. Therefore
God does first suffer them to prevail, the more to embitter
and stir up the spirits of Israel against them: this did pro
voke them.
Whence I take up these two observations :
The first is this : Where God is in a way of mercy
towards a people, there sin makes a stoppage in his pro
ceedings.
The second is this : When God intends utterly to de~
stroy his enemies, he does first suffer his own servants, and
dearest children to flee and fall before them.
Concerning the first :
First, Where God is in a way of mercy towards his people,
there sin does make a stoppage in his proceedings ; so here
God was in a way of mercy towards his people, carrying of
them into the land of Canaan, but in the way they sin,
Achan plays the thief; mark what a stoppage this made in
the way of mercy ; so you have it in Josh. xxiv. 20. Though
God be about to do you good, and have done you good, yet
" if you forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will
turn " from the good he is a doing, " and do you hurt, after
he hath done you good." So in Jer. xxviii. 9, " At what
instant I shall say or speak concerning a nation, and con
cerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it :" that is, at
what time I shall give sensible testimony of good to a land
or nation : " If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good," &c. So that sins
committed against God when he is in a way of mercy, do
54 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfiB. 3.
make a stoppage in those proceedings of mercy. There are
these two or three reasons for it:
Sins committed when God is in a way of mercy, are a
slighting of mercy. Amongst yourselves, if you be doing
any special work before others, that they may take notice of
you, and they slight your work, you will leave off work, and
work no more ; now, I say, when as God is in a way of
mercy, and you then sin against him, your sins do slight
mercy, nay then, says God, I will turn away ; it will make a
stoppage in this work.
Again, those mercies that come unto God s people, come
unto them in the way of a promise. And God s promises
they are either spiritual, concerning spiritual things, or tem
poral, concerning temporal things. If they be spiritual pro
mises, concerning spiritual things, then they are absolute,
bottomed and grounded upon no condition ; as the promise
he made that " he would drown the world no more," says
the prophet Isaiah ; such a covenant as he made with Noah,
he makes with his people, that runs upon no condition : he
doth not say, If the world goes on and serve me, I will drown
it no more : but the promise runs upon no condition, and so
the promise of grace runs upon no condition : for if it runs
upon a condition of faith, God promises to give faith, God
promises perseverance, upon the exercise of grace he pro
mises to give the exercise of grace, all spiritual promises run
upon no condition. But now outward promises run upon
condition, and therefore if men do not keep the condition,
God takes himself free, and will turn himself out of the
way of his mercy. You have an expression to this purpose,
Num. xiv. 34, "After the number of the days in which ye
searched the land, even forty days (each day for a year) shall
you bear your iniquity, even forty years, and ye shall know
my breach of promise. Will God break his promise ? As
much as if he should have said, I have promised to bring
you into the land of Canaan, upon such and such conditions ;
but now, if you do not perform the condition, I count
myself free, and you shall know my breach of promise,
that I will not give you the thing that I am about to
give you.
God never gives his people any mercy, but he gives it
them in a way in a way of mercy. He does not think it
SER. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 55
enough to give them that which is mercy, but he will give it
them in a way of mercy. As now in your gifts to God, if
you be gracious> you do not think it enough to do that which
is gracious, but do it in a gracious manner ; so God in his
gifts to you, will not only give yon that which is mercy, but
he will give it you in a way of mercy : but now if God should
be in a way of mercy towards his people, and they sin a-
gainst him, and he should go on to give them the mercy,
they would be hardened in their sin, and so it would not
come unto them in the way of mercy. Therefore, if God be
in a way of mercy towards his people, and they sin against
him, he will break off the course of his mercy, and go ano
ther way, and there shall be a stoppage made in these pro
ceedings.
But you will say we see the contrary : who have more
blessings, and outward mercies, than the church of Rome ?
Who more sinful ? What adulteries, what idolatries, sor
ceries, opposition of saints and ministers ? And you know
what plenty is among them, and God goes on to give them
mercy after mercy, outward blessing after outward blessing,
and therefore this is not true, we see it in experience other
wise, that our sins do not make a stoppage in the proceedings
of mercy.
But for answer hereunto, The thing is not true, God does
not go on in a way of blessing and mercy towards them.
Beloved, of all afflictions, it is the greatest affliction to be
without affliction ; of all judgments, it is the greatest judg
ment to want judgment : as you may see for this purpose,
Isa. i., " Why should you be stricken any more ; ye will
revolt more and more." It is the greatest stroke not to be
smitten, and the greatest affliction to be denied affliction,
when there is use and need of it : now though the people of
Rome, and that party flourish in the world, yet their souls
are smitten, God smites them with blindness, and with spi
ritual death, so that there is a stoppage made in the proceed
ings of mercy.
But I rather answer it thus : When God is in a way of
mercy towards his people, towards his church, then sin will
make a stoppage. Those of Rome are no true church, the
church was in Babylon, but Babylon was not the church ;
the church was in Egypt, but Egypt was not the church ;
56 DISEASES THAT STOP [ER. 3.
Lot was in Sodom, Sodom was not in Lot s family; Rome
is called Babylon, Egypt, and Sodom; they are not the
church of God ; but if the church of God sin when God is
in a way of mercy, a stoppage shall be made rather for them
than for others, for these two or three reasons :
They are in God s house, and their sin is greater. The
great house of God is as a great man s house, who hath some
servants that doth his work abroad in the field, some that
tend in his chamber, that are nearer round about him : if
those servants that are near him be naught and vile, it makes
more to the dishonour of the master, than if those were so
that are abroad in the field ; now God s people are a people
that are round about him, near unto him, his household
servants, and therefore if they sin when God is in a way of
mercy, God will turn out of that way, and there shall be a
stoppage made in God s proceedings.
Their sin is of all others the most scandalous, and there
fore the worse, the more dishonouring to God, the more
provoking. If two men be drunk, one a professor and the
other not ; why there is no scandal arises from the drunken
ness of him that is no professor ; but if a professor be gotten
in, and made drunk, they are all so, what a scandal ariseth ?
And so, if two commit adultery, the one a professor, and the
other not, the scandal ariseth from the professor ; profession
is the ground of scandal. And therefore, 2 Sam. xx. 12,
when as Amasa was slain and laid in his blood, the people
made a stay and went no further, till they drew him out of
the way, and cast a cloth over him ; so when a professor falls
and lies in his blood, there is a stand made in people s duties
and conversations ; and therefore just that there should be
a stop made in the proceedings of God s mercy.
Their sins are most against the remedy. Sins against the
remedy, are the greatest sins : and therefore his sin is great
est that commits adultery being married, than his that com
mits fornication, though both be evil, because he sins against
the remedy ; now the people of God Lave more remedies
against sins than others, more light, more grace, more means,
more helps ; and therefore if they sin when God is in a way
of mercy, God will rather make a stoppage in them than in
others. Oh, that I might leave this impression upon you
SER. 3.J ENGLAND S MERCIES. 57
that are professors and godly, that you may take heed how
you sin against God.
Why should this be, that so small a sin should turn the
great God of heaven out of the way of his mercy ? Achan
commits but a small sin, and what a mighty stop is made in
the way of mercy ? So, David numbers the people, it was
no great matter, and a plague breaks out presently ; what
is the reason, that for sins that are little and small, such a
stoppage should be made in the proceedings and mercy of
the great God ?
For answer three things :
1. There is nothing small between God and us, and it is
true ; if thou hast but the least crumb of bread, it is a great
mercy, because it comes from the great God ; and if you
commit a sin, though never so little in your own eyes, it is
great, because committed against the great God; I may
boldly say thus much, that men sin a great sin in saying
their sin is small.
2. Sometimes what falls short in the greatness of the sin, is
made up in the number of sins. Great sins do go alone,
smaller sins do go by companies : as with creatures so with
sins ; you shall observe it so in the heavens, and in the air,
and in the water, and in the earth : in the heavens, but one
great sun, many less stars ; in the air, you have but few
great and kingly birds, the eagle she flies alone, but your
pigeons that are lesser fly by flights ; in the water your great
whale goes alone, but your lesser herrings go by shoals ; on
the earth the great elephant goes alone, your lesser sheep go
by flocks, and your hogs by herds ; the lesser sands infinite
in number, rocks fewer. And so with men s sins ; great sins
they go alone, but lesser sins go by companies, and often
times the number of your lesser sins do make up what is
wanting in the greatness of your sin. A man may be drunk
but once or twice in his life, in the gross act of it, but he
may be so often in drunken company, and spend away so
many hours which shall amount to drunkenness ; a man may
commit adultery but once in his life, but he may have as
many unclean thoughts as shall amount to adultery. So,
that what falls short in the greatness of sin, is made up in
the number ; and therefore say not, why should God for a
58 DISEASES THAT STOP [Sfill. 3.
a little sin turn out of the way of mercy? it may be the
number of your little sins amount to the greatest sin.
3. Beloved, God will make good his name to the utmost,
and his name is, "A jealous God;" now a husband s jealousy
ariseth not when he sees his wife commit adultery, but if he
do but see her playing and sporting with a stranger; so
God s jealousy ariseth, not only when we commit the gross
act of idolatry, when we bow before an idol, but if we be
sporting and playing with superstition ; for God is a jealous
God. And though the husband do not see cause enough to
turn away his wife, because of her sporting, and playing, and
dallying, he may see cause enough to deny such a courtesy ;
so God, though he does not give a bill of divorce for such a
sin which you count lesser, yet he may see cause enough to
make a stoppage in his proceedings of mercy. Thus the
doctrine stands firm, when God is in a way of mercy to
wards his people, if they do sin against him, their sins may
make a stoppage in his proceedings. By way of application ;
Hence you may see what the reason is, why there is a stop
made now of late in our England mercies. This last year
God hath done great things for England, as ever England
saw, and that man that sees it not, I shall think that Scrip
ture hath taken hold upon him, which you have in Jer. xxvii.
5, 6., " Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord, for
he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see
when good cometh," whether out of envy or malice, but when
good comes upon a people, he shall not see it : but who doth
not see what a black cloud is drawn over us again : when the
waters swell and stand up, you say, surely there is a stop
made ; the waters do not run down as before, not long since
justice and judgment did run down like a mighty stream ;
but now, how the waters swell, gather, and stand up again :
wicked men lie in prison, and those not censured : priests
and Jesuits lie condemned, and those not executed : the
plague is begun, and that is not quenched ; the sword hath
begun to drink deep in our brethren s blood, and that is not
sheathed : the wrath of our king is enkindled : divers of our
parlimentary worthies accused of high treason; certainly there
is a stoppage made in the proceedings of England s mercies ;
oh, beloved, this our sin hath done.
SER. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 59
But you will say unto me, Shall there be a stoppage made
for ever in the mercies of England ?
You will find, for answer, if you look into Scripture, that
there is a twofold stoppage of mercy : final and present : fi
nal, as God was in a way of mercy towards Saul, and was
about to settle the kingdom upon him and his posterity for
ever; but he sinned, and the Lord turned away from Saul
and turned away from him for ever ; there was a final stoppage
of mercy made. Now though there be a stop made in the way
of God s mercy towards England, I conceive there is not a
final stoppage. And my reasons are these :
Because that though many difficulties and mountains do
arise, yet we see how one after another they do melt.
And because God hath raised up instruments that are un
wearied in his service, working night and day, and are un
wearied in the work of the Lord.
As also because that the type of this work does speak as
much. The children of Israel s coming out of Babylon, and
building the temple, is a type of our coming out of antichristian
bondage, the great reformation that is now begun : now then
though there were many lets and hindrances by Tobiah and
Sanballat, and others, they could never hinder it fully, but it
recovered itself, and was driven on : so in this building and
work of reformation, though the Tobiah s and Sanballats of
the times may cause the work to cease for a time, the build
ing shall get up, and shall not fully cease, but the work of re
formation shall be driven on in the despite of all the enemies.
Therefore it is not a final stop now made in England s mer
cies. But there is a present stop, as when the plague broke
out in David s time ; and such a stoppage is made now.
But what evil and hurt is in this, if a final stoppage be not
made ?
Is it nothing in your ears, and in your hearts, that the
Lord should turn out of a way of mercy ? you read in Judges
ii., when the angel came with a message unto the people, and
told them that the Canaanites should be as " thorns in their
sides, and a snare unto them, they lift up their voice and
wept, and they called the name of the place Bochim :" you
shall be brought into Canaan, the promised land, but the na
tives shall be so mixed amongst you, as they shall be thorns
in your sides, hereupon they lift up their voice and wept: and
60 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfiR. 3.
so, though the work of reformation be carried on, the Canaan-
ites may be left to be as thorns in your sides, until Christ
come. Oh that we could lift up our voice and weep, that the
place might be called Bochim.
When God breaks off in the way of his mercy, then his
wrath breaks out ; he does not turn out of the way of his
mercy, but he turns into the way of his judgment. Why to
a loving child this a very cutting word, Your father is angry
with you ; I may speak this to you, there is a stop made in
England s mercy, and your Father is angry, this is much.
If there be a stoppage made in England s mercy though
but present, there is an obstruction in all your comforts : you
are sensible of the obstructions of your body, will you not be
sensible of State obstructions, of Church obstructions ? Sup
pose you were in Ireland begirt with the enemy, and were in
danger to have your convoy cut off, that should bring you
victuals and supply, would it not make you fear ? Beloved,
we have been begirt with enemies a long tirre, and God hath
raised us up a convoy to bring us victuals ; we do not know
whether our convoy shall be taken away, though but for the
present. Certainly there is a thief in our candle that does
make our comforts smear out.
But what is that thief in our candle ? It is apparent to us
that there is a stop made in England s mercy, what are those
sins, for it is a day of humiliation, that have made a stoppage
in England s mercy ?
This is that I especially aim at, that you may see what you
are to be humbled for this day and others. Parallel our condi
tion with others in Scripture, and we shall find six or seven
things especially, that do make a stoppage in mercy coming
to a people, and you shall find them in our land.
An unwillingness and backwardness to the great work of
reformation, to the great work that God is now about, is
one thing that doth make a stoppage in the proceedings of
England s mercy. When the children of Israel were in Egypt,
they groaned unto the Lord, God sent a deliverer to them,
Moses, and they being vexed by their task-masters, after he
came, they murmured, and for anguish of soul, hearkened not
unto Moses ; God bare with that, till he got them on the
other side of the water carried them through the Red Sea,
when they came there, though they did sin and murmur, God
SER 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. fll
did not swear they should not enter into Canaan, but at the
last they made them a captain, and they would return back to
Egypt ; says God, seeing you are there, I swear in my wrath
you shall never enter into my rest, but your carcases shall fall
here ; you shall neither go backward nor forward : we have a
long time, the Lord look upon us, set under Egyptian dark
ness, and the Lord hath sent his messengers to you to draw
you out, and you would not, or for anguish of soul you
hearkened not ; well, but now there is a tender of reforma
tion made, and hath been lately : if people say now, What
need this reformation ; were not things well before ? This
provokes the Lord, and causes him to say, Your carcases shall
fall. And yet oh how hath this been among us, what ado is
here, says one ; what need this work ; were not things well
before ? 2 Kings x. 32., " In those days the Lord began to
cut Israel short." What days were those ? They were in a
way of reformation, and they cut short the reformation ; and
in those days the Lord began to cut them short of mercy.
At verse 18., he got the worshippers of Baal by craft; at
verse 25., he slays them ; at verse 29., they break down the
images in the house of Baal : howbeit at verse 29, " From
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to
sin, Jehu departed not," &c. Then at verse 32., when they
thus cut short reformation, the Lord began to cut them short.
You know what our Saviour Christ says, " O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you, and you
would not; behold your house is left unto you desolate."
Beloved, when Christ comes to gather us, as certainly there
is a time when Christ comes a gathering, and if the people
will not be gathered, then behold thy house is left desolate.
God hath made a tender of reformation lately, among you,
this is one sin that hath made a stoppage in the proceedings
of your mercy, people have been backward and unwilling un
to this great work of reformation.
A tempting of God does also stop and hinder the proceed
ings of mercy. They tempted the Lord, and the Lord s
mercy was stopped.
You find in Scripture, people are said to tempt God; ei
ther when they doubt of God s presence, after God hath
especially appeared to them : " they tempted God, and said,
Is God amongst us ?" after God had appeared to them.
62 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfiR. 3.
Again, when a man does not rely, and live upon God s all-
sufficiency, when God hath appeared in that way. It is said
of the Israelites " they tempted God, and said, can God pro
vide a table in the wilderness ?" As Musculus observes well,
The Israelites were not so silly, as to think God was not able;
they knew God opened the rock, and brought them through
the Red Sea, but this was the language of their conversation,
" can God provide a table in the wilderness ?"
A man is said to tempt God, when he does tie and limit
God unto ordinary means, when God is in an extraordinary
way. And so it is said of Ahaz that he tempted God, and
would not take a sign ; what is the meaning of that ? that is
that he would go in an ordinary way " why (says he) should I
tempt God, and require a sign/ and go in an extraordinary
way ? I will go in an ordinary way : when as God is in an
extraordinary way of mercy towards his people, to tie God to
ordinary means is a tempting of God. Now I appeal to you,
whether or no, we have not tempted God, God hath appeared
gloriously, oh yet we have said God is among us ? how few
live upon God s all-sufficiency, notwithstanding he hath ap
peared so gloriously; and we see no way and means for such
a reformation as is spoken of, tying and limiting of God unto
an ordinary way, when God is working extraordinarily. This
is a second sin that hath made a stoppage in England s mercy,
this tempting of God.
Abusing of God s instruments which he raiseth up for to
do his work by, doth exceedingly provoke and make a stop
page in the mercy of God. There are two ways whereby his
instruments are abused : either idolizing and deifying of them,
or wronging, scorning and jeering of them, falsely accusing and
condemning of them. The first way the Jews sinned, when
they cried " the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,"
and deified that ; well, says Christ, " there shall not be one
stone left upon another." God raised up the king of Sweden,
people idolized him, he was taken away and a stoppage was
made in that way of mercy : on the other side scorning and
evil speaking of the instruments of reformation, and falsely
accusing them that God does set up, this makes a stoppage
in mercy, Numb, xii., Moses was appointed by God to bring
them into Canaan, mark how they speak against him verse 2.,
" And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Mo-
SRR. 3.] ENGLAND S MKRCIKS. (it
ses ; hath he not also spoken by us ?" see what follows, verse
9, 10., " And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them
and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the
tabernacle, and behold Miriam became leprous," &c. Mark
what a step is made, verse 15., " Miriam was shut out of the
camp seven days, and the people journied not," only because
they opened their mouths against this instrument of God that
was employed in this work. So Numb. xvi. 1., Korah,
Dathan and Abiram rise up against Moses and Aaron instru
ments that God employed in his service, you may see what
became of it in the following part of the chapter, the Lord
would have consumed the whole congregation, " And Moses
said to Aaron, take a censer, and put fire therein from oft
the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congre
gation, and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath
gone out from the Lord." verse 45, 46. Oh, my beloved, I
would to God we were not guilty here : the Lord hath raised
up a blessed and happy parliament, and hath made them in
struments of much good unto this kingdom ; some idolize and
deify them, others again have accused them as traitors, the
great senators and judges of our kingdom, no less than trai
tors: thus have the instuments of the Lord been abused, and
bow can this but make a stoppage in our mercy ?
What is this to us ? we have not accused them, that is done
above.
I pray do but consider the place diligently, Numb, xvi., it
is said, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the two hundred
and fifty princes, men of renown, rose up against Moses, but
wrath breaks out upon the whole congregation, and the Lord
would have consumed them all, why ? because they were not
humbled. And if upon all this evil that hath been done to
the instruments of God, we have not been humbled, the wrath
of God may break out upon us all, and justly it should be, that
a stop should be made in England s mercy.
Carrying on the work of reformation, and the great affairs
of the church, upon the shoulders of human prudence, will
make a stoppage in the way of mercy. You know that when
David brought back the ark, they were very cheerful, and
went along withal, nothing fearing, at last Uzzah lays his hand
upon the ark, and is smitten, a cloud ariseth, David is dis
mayed, a stop is made in the business, what is the matter :
64 DISEASES THAT STOP [SER. 3.
The text tells us, they carried the ark upon the cart, and it
should have been carried upon men s shoulders. So when
God is bringing back the ark, men set it upon a cart, and
upon the shoulder of human wisdom ; oh, says one, there is
no government appointed in the church, it is a matter of hu
man prudence, and so will you cart the ark of God ? look
that God will make a stoppage in mercy. And this is ano
ther sin that provokes God to make a stoppage in our En
gland s mercy.
As prayer and humiliation do exceedingly further the
work of God in the hands of his people ; so the falling and
slacking of the hands in those two works, doth make a stop
in mercy, and hath done in our mercy. In 2 Kings xxiii., we
read there, that good king Josiah went a great way in the
work of reformation ; the law is brought out, his heart trem
bles, the images are pulled down, he executes justice upon
Baal s priests ; yet notwithstanding all he had done, " The
Lord turned not from the fierceness of his wrath wherewith
his anger was kindled against Judah," verse 26, 29, 30 ; he
went out to battle with Pharaoh Necho, and Pharaoh Necho
slew good king Josiah ; oh, what a stoppage was made in Ju-
dah s mercy ; what is the matter ? let us enquire into that ;
here are two causes ; at verse 26., you have mention made of
Manasseh s sin, " The Lord turned not from the fierceness of
his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Ju
dah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had pro
voked him withal ;" the people were not thoroughly humbled
for their father s sins : and good king Josiah goes up to war,
and did not seek the Lord before, as he should have done.
So that want of humiliation and slacking in the work of prayer
made this stop. On the contrary, you shall read a notable
place, Ezra viii. 21, 22, 23., when the Jews came out of Ba
bylon to build the temple, they were way-laid by ther ene
mies, and in the midst of the field Ezra proclaims a fast ; a
strange kind of fasting and praying to be in the field, so i
was then, in the field by the river s side they go to fasting an
prayer : but Ezra might have had a guard from the king, wh
had he not ? verse 22., " For I was ashamed to ask of th
king a band of soldiers and horsemen, to help us against th
enemy, in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, say
ing; The hand of our God is upon all them for good tha
SRR. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 65
seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them
that forsake him : so we fasted and besought our God for
this, and he was intreated of us." Mark, fasting arid prayer
was their convoy ; oh, beloved, what will not fasting and
prayer do, when we are beset with divers enemies? there
must be these two, the slacking of these make a stop. As for
prayer, first, you know how it was with the Israelites when
they fought against Amalek, when Moses held up his hand,
Israel prevailed, when he let fall his hand, Amalek prevailed ;
slacking in prayer made a stop. And so likewise for humilia
tion ; there are two things that are opposite to that, which
makes a stop : spiritual pride, and also nice curiosity concern
ing the means of grace. Spiritual pride makes a stop. Paul
was caught up into the third heaven, and had great revela
tions ; but lest he should be proud, and a stop should be
made in that mercy, a messenger of Satan is sent to buffet
him. It is recorded of a Frenchman having read excellent
lectures of divinity, some of his auditors came to him and de
sired him that he would print them, he was so puffed up
withal ; as he broke out into this blasphemy : Lord Jesus,
how art thou beholden to me ! If I had turned my wits
against thee, how much hurt could I have done thee ! where
upon he was stricken with such blindness, ignorance, and
dulness, that afterwards he was two years learning the Lord s
prayer; this I speak to shew what a stoppage, spiritual pride
will make.
And for curious niceness about the means of grace,
1 Sam. vi. The ark being in the hands and country of the
Philistines, they sent it back, and so the ark returning, God
was returning ; but at the 19th verse, the Lord smote of the
people fifty thousand three score and ten men, why ? because
they had looked into the ark of the Lord : their foolish
niceness and curiosity about the ark, what a stoppage it
made in the way of mercy ! It is recorded by historians,
that before the great massacre in France, the protestants
were grown so curious about preaching, that no preaching
would down with them, but acute sententious preaching.
Beloved, both these are opposite to humiliation ; and where
these two, humiliation falls, and prayer slacks, there is a
stoppage made, then will the Lord say to mercy, Stand, go
no farther. For the present, God be thanked, there is a day
VOL. IV. F
HG DISEASES THAT STOP [SttR. 3.
of humiliation, and a spirit of prayer up in the field., but
when of late the enemies began to fall, how did men leave
off prayer, and began to insult over the enemies ; the Lord
saw this, and therefore a stoppage was made in England s
mercy.
An unthankful receiving of the mercies that God hath
given us, and a slight beholding of the great works he hath
done before us now lately, is another sin that hath made a
stoppage in our mercy. It is said, Ps. cvi. 7? concerning the
Israelites, " Our fathers understood not thy wonders in
Egypt, they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies,
but provoked him at the sea, even the Red sea ;" there lies the
emphasis, at the sea, even the Red sea that God carried them
through. So you have a notable place for this purpose,
Hosea ix. 14, 15, "Give them a miscarrying womb and dry
breasts," they shall conceive, mercy shall be begun, but it
shall not bring forth, why? at verse 15, "All their wick
edness is in Gilgal :" why, how was all their wickedness in
Gilgal ? they had much wickedness in other places : but the
meaning is, Gilgal was the first place they went into when
they went into Canaan, and there they were circumcised,
and there the Lord rolled away their reproach, and therefore
it was called Gilgal ; now to sin in Gilgal, in that place
where the Lord had done so much for them, though they
sinned in other places, yet the sin there was so great, as if
all the sin were there, because that was a place of special
mercy ; " for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their
doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them
no more ;" there is a stoppage made in mercy, when sin is
in Gilgal, in the place of such and such mercy. So, my
beloved, you all know what great things the Lord hath done
for this place, you were brought exceeding low, into great
straits, oh, poor afflicted distressed England ; but in the
midst of all your troubles and fears, the Lord created a
parliament for you, and delivered you with great deliver
ances ; and if after all this you will go on in the way of sin,
and thanklessly regard all that God hath done, this provokes
God to make a stop. Mark how Ezra reasons for this pur
pose, Ezra ix., they had committed a great sin in taking of
the daughters of the country to themselves to wife, verse 10:
"And now, oh, our God, what shall we say after this ? for
SER. 3.] Kxoi.Axn s MERCIES. C7
we have forsaken thy commandments," Ezra xiii., " and
after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our
trespass ; seeing that thou our God hast punished us less
than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance
as this :" see where the emphasis lies, not deliverance
only, but such deliverance : should we again break
thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peo
ple of these abominations ? Wouldst thou not be angry
with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should
be no remnant nor escaping ? " Now, my beloved, you see
where he sets the emphasis, and truly have not we this word,
such, written upon our deliverances ; you were oppressed in
your estates, and you are delivered from those manifold op
pressions; you were oppressed in your consciences by the
inventions of men, and you are delivered from those heavy
oppressions in a great measure ; you were in great danger to
have lain in blood, you and your children, and you were deli
vered from that bloody war with Scotland j and your parlia
ment worthies of late, delivered from a hellish conspiracy, I
had almost said as bad as that of the powder plot: and now I
say, after such deliverances, if you will go on still in the way
of sinning, how just is it with God to say, O England, I
thought to have done thee good, and to have built thee, but
because he that was a drunkard before, is a drunkard still ;
he that was a swearer before, is a swearer still ; he that was a
sabbath-breaker before, a liar, and unclean person before, is
so still : therefore I will now unkingdom thee, and unchurch
thee ; if after such mercies and such deliverance you shall go
on in a way of sin, I will make a stop in mercy, and in all
the good I thought to do ; this hath made a stop in our Eng
land s mercies.
The last sin that makes a stop in England s mercy, is a
worldly disposition, whereby a man hangs back unto the
great work of God, and the glorious reformation that is now
a doing. You know that when they came out of Ba
bylon, and were to build the temple, the people were for their
ceiled houses, and the temple went not on so long as they
stuck to their cieled houses, but when once they were brought
off from their cieled houses, the temple was built, and they
settled. So now, the Lord is about to rebuild you, and build
a temple among you ; if our hearts be after our cieled houses,
F 2
68 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfcR. 3.
how just is it with God to say, I thought to do you good, but
you will not be at the cost ; I know you would have your
brethren in Ireland delivered, but you will not be at the cost,
you that are rich will not lend twenty, or thirty, or a hundred
pounds towards it; I thought to have gone on and purged
the whole kingdom, but you will not be at the cost, you
would have the pictures out of your windows, but you are
loth to be at the cost to buy new glass ; you would have
preaching ministers in every congregation, but you are loth
to be at the charge ; this makes a stop in our England s
mercy. Thus I have to my poor ability shewed you the
seven sins that make a stop in the Lord s proceedings of
mercy ; the Lord grant we may lay them to heart, and be
humbled for them.
We grant these are the sins that do make a stop in En
gland s mercy, and the Lord is gone out of the way of mercy,
and is angry : how shall we open a way to England s mercy ;
how shall we bring God back again, and how may the Lord s
anger be appeased ?
In answer to this, I shall shew you it is a hard thing to ap
pease God s anger when it is gone out.
It must be done, and that quickly.
I shall shew you what you shall do, that you may do it.
Therefore it is an exceeding hard thing and very difficult to
appease God s anger. God s anger is compared to a stream ;
" Tophet is prepared of old for the king (saith the text) and
out of his mouth goes a stream of fire." It is hard to turn a
stream, you may easily turn the water when it is in the gutter
before it comes into the stream, but when it is gotten into the
river, it is hard turning of it ; God s wrath is a stream, it is
hard turning of it.
When you do solicit God to turn out of the way of his
wrath, and turn into a way of mercy, you solicit him to that
which is not for his ease, that is a burthen to him. Though
you think you have great interest in a man, if you solicit
him to that which is not for his ease, you will hardly
obtain : now God says in Scripture, it is an ease to him to be
avenged on his adversaries ; ah, " I will ease myself of my
self of my adversaries :" when you turn him from wrath, you
turn him from ease.
Again, there are but few to do it. If the sea break over
SER. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 69
the banks, and there are but few to stop it, it is hard to do ;
if fire hath taken two or three houses in a street, and but few
to quench it, it is hard to do : the fire of God s anger is
broken out, and there are but few to quench it : it is a hard
thing, therefore.
Again, God seems to be engaged in the way of his wrath.
God walks according to his word. Now, says God, you would
have me return again to the way of my mercy, and leave off
mine anger, and for this purpose you tell me you do pray and
humble yourselves and reform ; but was it not so in Josiah s
time ? his heart melted, and he prayed, and broke down the
images and pictures, and the offenders, Baal s priests, were
punished; nevertheless I turned not from the fierceness of
my wrath : why should I turn from mine anger now, for your
sakes, more than in Josiah s time ? Oh, it is a hard thing to
turn God from his anger.
But it must be done, and done quickly. If a fire be bro
ken out, and not quenched quickly, it is more hard to quench ;
if the sea break in at a place, and be not stopped quickly, it
is more hard to stop. Run in and make an atonement quickly,
says Moses to Aaron ; it must be done quickly.
What then shall we do ? Do as Joshua did. There are
six things that Joshua did here, when they fled before the
men of Ai. 1. He was very sensible of God s stroke that
was given to them, for he says, Lord, would we had been con
tented in the wilderness. 2. He was humbled under God s
hand, for it is said, he rent his clothes, and fell down upon
the earth. 3. And he prayed, and cried mightily unto God,
as you read in the chapter. 4. And he put away the evil of
their doings. 5. And he punished Achan the offender. 6.
He made a holy resignation. And there must be a concur
rence of all these six things if we would bring God back into
the way of his mercy towards England.
We must be sensible of God s stroke. Though men be
greatly afflicted, yet if they be not sensible of their affliction,
and of the stroke that God gives them ; says God, I have
spent one rod upon them, and they do not feel it, I will lay
on till blood come. God will make men sensible of their
afflictions, and of the afflictions of the church, else he lays
on more.
Again, Though a man be very sensible of God s stroke and
70 DISEASES THAT STOP [SfiR. 3.
hand, yet, notwithstanding, if he be not humbled under the
hand of the Lord, God will not exalt him ; for, says the Lord,
I have promised, indeed, that if men humble themselves un
der my mighty hand, they shall be exalted ; and I have said,
if the people, upon whom my name is called, humble them
selves, I will hear. He humbled himself much. This will
mortify your sins as your sins mortified and took captive
your duties, and this must be done thoroughly. And to move
us to it, take notice of the general darkness that is in the
land, how few know what they would have in a way of re
formation, what is agreeable to God s way. Ezek. xliii. 10,
11. The way to see stars in the day, is to go to the bottom
of a well. But now here is a company not humbled, what
fashion have they left since ; wherein does it appear that you
are more humbled ? this must be.
Though that a man be humbled, yet, notwithstanding, if he
does not pray and cry mightily to God, he cannot fetch God
back again, for, says God, I am engaged to my word, and I
walk by rule. When I threatened Nineveh, the king went
from his throne, and went in sackcloth and ashes, and they
cried mightily unto me ; and do you think if you do not
cry mightily, that I will return in mercy to you? Oh,
says God, I have given you more than Nineveh, you know
more and you must do more ; they cried mightily, and shall
not you cry mightily ? We must pray more than ordinary ;
so did Moses; and for motives to it: 1. It is all that some
of you can do : you cannot help other ways, by building God
an house, lending money, &c., but you may pray. 2. If you
be idle, you will envy those that do pray ; for it is a sure rule,
those that stand by will envy the workmen ; and what that
will do you may see in Cain s envy of Abel when his sacrifice
was rejected. 3. The scales may seem to hang even, it may be
your grain of prayer may turn them to mercy. 4. The Lord
seems to be going, he is rising : when the judge sits still the
malefactor does not lift up his voice and cry after him ; but
when the malefactor is condemned, and the judge riseth, and
goes off the bench, then the poor malefactor lifteth up his
voice, and cries, Good, my lord ; good, my lord. So when
God is rising and going off the bench shall men cry, and cry
mightily unto him ; pray, and pray mightily unto him. Be
loved, the Lord seems to be going off the bench ; oh, you
SER. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 71
that never prayed, now pray ; you that have despised prayer
and praying-meetings, now pray ; you that have a heart to
pray, pray now, and cry mightily unto the Lord your God.
Though a man does pray, and cry mightily unto God, yet,
notwithstanding, if he does not turn from the evil of his do
ings, all is nothing. Yet, says the Lord, I am constant to
my rule, and I have promised, Isa. Ivi. 9, " If thou take
away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of
the finger and speaking vanity." If you put away the evil of
your doings, what then ? Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer presently ; thou shalt cry, and he answer sensibly,
and say, There am I. And so Judges x. 14. they having
come and cried to the Lord, the Lord gives them this answer,
" Go and cry unto the gods which you have chosen, let them
deliver you in the time of your tribulation. And the children
of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned ; do thou unto us
whatsoever seemeth good unto thee, deliver us only we pray
thee this day. And they put away the strange gods from
among them and feared the "Lord." They cried before, but
now they prayed and put away their strange gods ; " And his
soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." So now will the
Lord do when people are sensible of his hand, and are hum
bled, and cry, and cry much unto him, and put away the evil
of their doings : this will prevail. Wherefore, beloved in the
Lord, let us now join together in this work, and for the Lord s
sake put away the evil of your doings. All you that hear me
this day are of three sorts, either such as do live upon your
lands, or such as live upon your trades, or such as live by
keeping taverns and ale-houses. If you be such as live upon
your lands, then think, and say with yourselves, I see there
is a stoppage made in England s mercy, come, oh my soul, it
may be it is my sin hath done it ; it may be I have lived so
much upon my lands, that I have lived little or nothing upon
Christ; I will learn to live more upon Christ and less upon
my lands. If you be such as live upon your trades, say,
Husband, wife, children, servants, it may be it is our sin that
hath made this stop ; our lying, our false dealing, our break
ing of the Sabbath, selling upon the Sabbath for gain ; it may
be it is our poor family that hath made this stop ; let us
put away the evil of our doings. If you be such as keep ta
verns and ale-houses, say, It may be it is the drunkenness
72 DISEASES THAT STOP [ER. 3.
that I have suffered in my house, the thousands of oaths that
are sworn in my family; for my part I will never have Ire
land s blood lie at my door, therefore, servants, children,
friends, I charge you, no more lying, no more swearing, no
more Sabbath-breaking ; for the Lord s sake, and for our poor
brethren s sake in Ireland, let us put away the evil of our
doings. You that have been drunkards, swearers, or adulte
rers, put away the evil of your doings ; it may be this will
bring God back again.
But though there be this, yet unless the troubles of Eng
land, the Achans be brought forth to punishment and thrown
overboard, the sea cannot be appeased, the storm will not
down. For, says the Lord, I am the same God that I was
when wrath brake out upon Israel ; then stood up Phinehas,
and slew Zimri and Cosbi, and my wrath was stayed. When
wrath broke out in Joshua s time, Achan was brought forth
and punished, and so my wrath was stayed. Do you think
that I will take less at your hands ? Therefore let us pray
that the Achans may be brought forth, and when they are
brought forth, justify the worthies of the Lord, own them,
guard them, and stand by them. And when the work is done,
rejoice with fear and trembling, wash your feet in the blood
of the wicked, and give glory to God, and say, Blessed be the
Lord, who only doth great things ; marvellous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty ; who would not fear thee ?
He made an holy resignation of himself to be at God s
disposing, so we may see Araunah did, 1 Chron. xxi. 23 :
" Then Oman said to David, Take it to thee," &c. He gave
up his threshing-floor, and his oxen, and his threshing instru
ments ; those things that were his livelihood. So should we
offer up our shops, our trades, yea ourselves and all we have
to God.
Thus you have heard, when God is in a way of mercy, sin
does make a stoppage in his proceedings. You acknowledge
there is a stoppage made in our mercy ; you have heard that
those sins are as thieves in our candle, that do smear out
our comforts ; you have heard what a hard thing it is to bring
God back to mercy again ; you have heard the work must be
done ; and you have heard what to do : wherefore let every
man, as in the sight of God, go home and think, and say, and
resolve with himself, I have not been much affected with Ire-
SER. 3.] ENGLAND S MERCIES. 73
land s condition, I confess it, the Lord forgive me, but I will
look more into it than ever I have done ; I have not been
much humbled for my own sin, and the sins of the time, but
the Lord pardon it, and I will be more humbled ; I have not
cried unto the Lord, but from this day following I will cry
mightily unto the Lord my God, it may be he will return.
And I will put away the evil of my doings : I have been an
unclean person, I have been a Sabbath-breaker, and have been
proud of this coat, and that gold lace ; I will be proud no
more, farewell all bad company ; and I will pray that justice
may be done upon all Achans and troublers of Israel, and
when it is done I will rejoice with trembling. And thus I
have done the first doctrine : when God is in a way of mercy
towards his people, there sin makes a stoppage in his pro
ceedings.
SERMON IV.
CONTAINING SOME COMFORTABLE DIRECTIONS FOR SUCH
AS HAVE BEEN, OR MAY BE DRIVEN FROM THEIR
HOUSES, GOODS, OR COUNTRY.
PREACHED IN 1642.
" Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens."
LAM. v. 2:
WHEN I consider the estate of this kingdom, this country,
and this town ; I cannot but fear, notwithstanding the speech
of accommodation, that evil is now approaching. Our breth
ren in other parts of this land and in Ireland, are thrust out
of their habitations ; and what are we better than they in
other places ? We are as sinful as others, as secure as
others ; and therefore why we should not fear their miseries
I know not. That therefore you may not be unprovided in
the evil day, I have made choice of these words, that in
some measure we may be prepared for that condition.
The words are part of the church s lamentations, penned
by Jeremiah, in which there are two things that are most
considerable.
First, The matter of their lamentation.
Secondly, The manner.
First, The matter that they had lost their goods.
Secondly, That those their goods were given, and " turned
unto strangers."
The goods lost are their inheritance, and their houses, their
lands, and their habitations. Their lands were not such as
they had purchased with their monies, but such as did de
scend upon them from their forefathers by promise. " Our
inheritance is turned to strangers," &c.* It is a great loss to
lose one s lands, it is yet more to lose one s inheritance, it is
yet more to lose one s house and habitation, it is yet more
that they should be given to strangers. This was their con-
* Coutingit enim all juando ut quis amittat prredium suam, agros et vites,
dooms ejus maiieat iutaeta. Calvin in locum.
SER. 4.] DIRECTIONS, &c. 75
dition, whereupon they said in verse 1, " Remember, O Lord,
what is come upon us; consider and behold our reproach."
Whence I take up this observation :
That it is a matter of great lamentation for God s people
to be driven from their houses and inheritances, and for
strangers and aliens to be brought into them. When the
Jews were in Babylon, and remembered their former estate
and condition, they sat down and wept by the waters of
Babylon. Saith the psalmist, " We sat down and wept
when we remembered thee, O Zion," Psalm cxxxvii. 1. This
is matter of tears and weeping ; a condition in itself exceed
ing sad and very lamentable. Which truth, that I may more
fully open to you, and apply to ourselves according to our
occasion, I shall deliver myself these four ways :
First, Shew that it is a sore and heavy affliction for a man
to be driven from his habitation, and aliens to be brought
into it.
Secondly, That it is such an affliction, as God suffers his
own servants to fall under.
Thirdly, Why God suffers his own people thus to be
driven from their houses and habitations.
Fourthly, How a man should prepare for the evil of that
condition, and carry the matter so as he may have comfort
and supportance in that estate.
First, I say, that it is a sore affliction, and matter of great
lamentation, for a man to be driven from his house and ha
bitation.
His house and habitation is the meeting place of all his
outward comforts ; the seat and centre and receptacle of all
those outward blessings that he doth enjoy in this world.
If he hath riches, they do meet him there ; if friends, they
do meet him there, if rest, quiet, peace, sleep, they do meet
him there. There are all his pleasant things laid up. If he
hath any money, choice gold or silver, left by his father,
which he will not part with, but keep for a remembrance of
the dead, there it is laid up. If he hath any choice linen or
household stuff that was left by his mother, which he will
not sell for any money ; where are they laid up, but in his
house ? And therefore the church, in Lam. i., complains,
that when the enemy came to rifle and plunder their houses,
the adversary had spread out his hand upon all her pleasant
76 DIRECTIONS FOB [SfiR. 4.
things. Now whence is grief, but from the losing that which
a man counts pleasant ? And for this cause, some say, the
valley of Megiddo was so mournful a place, because it was
the valley of Hadadremmon ;* that is, say they, the valley of
the cutting of their pleasant things. Zech. xii. 11. So that
when a man s house is spoiled, and he is outed, it is as it
were a little valley of Hadadremmon, a man s house, &c.
As a man s house is the nest where all these eggs are laid,
and therefore when a man is driven from thence, the meeting
place of all his outward comforts, surely it must be an ex
ceeding sad thing and very lamentable.
To say nothing of the reproach that doth come thereby, or
of the violence that doth come therewith ; it is the judgment
threatened, threatened against the wicked, and those that are
most ungodly. The contrary is often promised unto God s
people : " They shall build houses and inhabit them, and
they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them : they
shall not build, and another inhabit ; they shall not plant,
and another eat ; for as the days of a tree are the days of my
people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands : they shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for
trouble/ Isa. Ixv. 21, 22, 23. On the contrary, when God
threatens evil to a place and people, this is the evil that he
denounceth ; that he will drive them from their houses and
habitations, and that others shall be brought into them :
" But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his com
mandments, and his statutes, which I command thee this
day ; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and over
take thee : thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie
with her; thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell
therein ; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the
grapes thereof," &c. Deut. xv. 28, 29,30. Now is it nothing
for a man to go up and down under the wounds of a threat
ening ? Saith Paul, " I bear about in my body the marks of
the Lord Jesus." But such an one may say, I bear in mine
estate and name and body, the marks of the threatening ; oh,
* LXX. Legunt Hadadremmon, sicut planetus mali granati quod in campo
succiditur ; quia fortasse quo tempore occisus fuit Josias mala punica occisa
sunt, quse Judaeis erant in deliciis. Theodor. similitudmem surni putat ab eo,
strepitu qui a lignatoribus editur cum mala punicu succiduutur.
. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 77
the threatening hath taken hold upon me. As of all mercies,
it is most comfortable to receive a blessing in the way of a
promise ; so among miseries, it is the most lamentable to
meet with an affliction in the way of a threatening : therefore
matter of lamentation hereby.
Again, A man loseth many, if not most of his opportuni
ties of doing good and receiving. " Make yourselves friends
of your unrighteous mammon (saith our Saviour), that they
may receive you into everlasting habitations," Luke xvi. 9.
But if this unrighteous mammon fail, how shall a man make
him such friends ? So long as a man is at home, and hath a
habitation to resort unto, he hath many opportunities of
doing good, and receiving good into his family. He may
pray, read, meditate, sing, and have a little church and
heaven on earth.* If God give a man any notion or know
ledge out of the Scripture in his chamber, when he hath a
family he may come down and communicate it unto them.
He may there receive strangers, for which many have been
blest. There he may give a hiding, a resting place unto the
saints, for which many have been hid themselves. There he
may exercise good duties, the only way unto heaven and
happiness. When he is thrust out, and strangers brought in,
he doth therefore lose many of these opportunities ; and
therefore how justly may he take up this lamentation and
say, Have pity, have pity upon me, oh all my friends, for the
hand of the Lord hath touched me. This condition is very
sad, I am not able to express it in words, and praised be the
Lord that your experience cannot preach it.
Secondly, Yet God suffers his own people and dear chil
dren many times to fall into this condition. Our Saviour
Christ himself, who bare our sins, had not whereon to lay
his head. The apostle tells us, Heb. xi., that many saints
wandered up and down the world in woods and caves, of
whom the world was not worthy. They did not only wander,
and were removed from their own houses ; but, as Chrysos-
tom observes,t they were not quiet even in the woods : they
* Unum quod equantumvis exiguum tuguriolum fieret coelum quoddam et
superaret omnia omnium regum palatta. Luther.
Ipse Deus hospitiore cipitur. Cette eniiu scimus ipsum Deum domi nostne
esse, apud nos pasci, cubare, re puescere quoties bonus aliquis frater ob evan-
gelium exulans ad nos venit, et a nobis hospitio ex ipitur. Luther.
t Non solum non habebant propriam dotnum intra civitatem, sed neque in
78 DIRECTIONS FOR [SEE. 4.
did not only want their own house in the city, but they
wanted a quiet seat in the wilderness.
Four especial causes there are, or occasions, as Musculus
observes* whereby men have been driven from their houses
and habitations. First war. Secondly famine. Thirdly in
humanity, cruelty, exaction of evil men and magistrates.
Fourthly, want of liberty in the matter of religion : and in all
these respects God s people have been driven from their
houses. First by famine and outward scarcity : so Abraham,
so Naomi, so Jacob and his family, when they went down
into Egypt. Secondly by war : so the Israelites when they
were carried into Assyria, and the Jews into Babylon. Thirdly :
by the inhumanity, cruelty, and exaction of evil men and
magistrates : so Joseph and Mary went down into Egypt.
Fourthly, by want of liberty in the matters of religion : so it
is said many of the saints in Jeroboam s time left their houses,
and went down to dwell in Jerusalem underRehoboam,2 Chron.
xi. 14, 16. " The Levites left their suburbs, and their possess-
ionsandcametoJudahand Jerusalem. And after them, outof all
the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord
God of Israel came unto Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord
God of their fathers." So that we see this condition, though
sad, is no other than what may, and doth, and shall befal the
servants of the Most High God. In the churches since Christ
what men of note have there been, but have fallen under this
condition ? Cyprian, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, all
by violence, one time or another driven out of their habita
tions and forced to leave their houses. In times nearer to
ourselves, Calvin driven from Geneva, because especially he
would not administer the sacrament of the Lord s supper to
some that were very scandalous : you know the story of Galea-
cius Caracciolus, you may read it in Mr. Jewell s life ; to this
purpose described in English and set down before his Works.
Doctor Humfreyf also, relating his life, tells us how he was
solitudine propriam et quietam sedem habebant ; quippe non dicit apostolus
sedebant in solitudine, sed cum illic essent fugiebant. et illine expellebantur non
solum exteria que inhabitari poterat, sed etiam ex inhabitabili. Tena in Heb. xi.
Chrysostom in Heb. xi. a\\a K<U IK to leg ttyivyov. &c.
* Musculus in Ps. xciv. page 714.
f Certe qui me hie nolunt e^se si esset integrum nus quam vellent vivere.
Ego vero cedo temporibus, et si quam ille amea calamitate voluptatem capiant
earn niliil impedio ; quodque suis precatus est. Aristides cum ire in ex ilium
SER. 4.] SUFFERING Ti\fF,s. J"9
expelled the college, and at once suffered a threefold banish
ment, who taking his leave of the college in a solemn oration,
breaketh forth into these expressions : Well surely those that
would not have me live here, if it were in their power, would
not have me live in the world. But I give place to the times,
only wishing, as Aristides when he went into banishment,
and praying that none of you all hereafter may think on me :
and so farewell all studies, farewell these schools and
seat of learning, fare ye well, O young men, fellows, friends,
brethren, yea mine own eyes. Ye know how it fell out
with many of our brethren in England, Tyndale, Rogers, Pal
mer, and divers others. Our Saviour saith expressly, " when
they persecute you in one city, flee unto another." " And
when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the
holy place, then let them that are in Judea flee unto the
mountains." Matt. xxiv. Let me allude and say also, when
you see the desolating army, the army that maketh desola
tions in places where it comes, that abomination of desola
tion standing in the holy place, the highest court of justice,
then let those that are in England also flee unto the moun
tains.*
But God hath promised the contrary, that he will plant
his people surely with his whole heart, and they shall be no
more removed.
You must distinguish of times : some promises are made
to all times, some promises are made only to some times,
and are to be fulfilled especially in the later times, the end
of the world, when the Jews are converted : when the Jews
are called, the enemies of the churches shall be all destroyed,
and then God s people shall be planted in their houses,
and no more removed, as Isa. Ixv. Who would not pray
for this time ?
But besides you know God s promises are of two sorts,
such as are made absolutely, and such as do run condition
ally according unto the nature of that good thing which he
promiseth ; some good things promised are absolutely good
id ego nunc Deum opt max. preco ne mei posthac cuiquam in mentem veniat
valete, omnes valete, Humfred. in vita Juelli, page 75.
* Sed id tern pus in hac Angliorum Ecclesia Francforti exulante multinobiles et
alioqui variis Dei muneribus illustrati convenerunt. Doctor Humfred. de vita Ju
elli, page 87.
80 DIRECTIONS FOR [SfiR. 4.
for us, as pardon of sin, grace, and the like, and thus God s
promise is made absolute to the elect in Christ : some good
things are but conveniently good for us, and conditionally,
as degrees of grace, comfort, and outward blessings ; and
concerning these God s promise is made conditionally, which
condition if we break, he is at liberty as in this case.
Thirdly, But why doth God suffer this to befal his own
people ; that his own servants and dearest children should be
driven out of their houses and habitations ?
In general it is for their good : we read of a vision which
Jeremiah hath in chap, xxiv., of two baskets, the one of
good figs, and the other of bad ; the good figs were the good
people of the kingdom, the bad figs were the wicked, both
these sorts of figs are said to be in baskets, which is a vessel
whereby we carry fruit from one place unto another, setting
forth unto us the moving condition of God s people, and
how they were to be carried to Babylon, so it is explained,
verse 5, "Thus saith the God of Israel, like these good figs,
so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of
Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of
the Chaldeans for their good." That is for the good of the
good people, that they should be thus removed for their
good, that they should be driven from their houses and
habitations, for their good they should be driven from all.
But can it be for men s good to be carried and driven by
violence from house and habitation, by those that are pro
fane wretches, and very wicked ?
Yes. Hereby first a man may be, and is, if godly, emptied
of that slime and filth that did lie within him. It is written
of Moab, Jer. xlvi., that because she was settled upon her
lees, and not removed from vessel to vessel, Iheir scent re
mained, so that to be removed from vessel to vessel, from
one place to another, from one country to another, one house
to another, is a means to take away the filth and scent of sin
that is in the soul. The sea water though it be exceeding
salt, and very brackish, yet if it run through several earths,
the brackishness is lost thereby, as we find in all sweetest
springs which, as philosophers say, come from the sea, and
lose the saltness of the sea water by running through the
earths : and in experience if you take water, though it be
salt in your hand, yet if you cause it to pass through divers
SER. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 81
earths it will lose that saltness : so that though there may be
much saltness and brackishness in the spirits of men, yet if
the Lord by his providence cause them to pass through
divers earths, it is a special means to lose that brackish,
brinish disposition, and to grow more quiet, sweet, and
savoury.
Again, thereby sometimes the saints, though unwillingly,
are carried from greater judgments that are coming upon the
places where they dwell and live. As it is written of Lavater,
that being in an house, was violently occasioned from it, and
when he was gone, the house fell down to the ground. Lot
though violenced, and pulled, and driven from his habitation
in Sodom, yet thereby he was drawn out of the fire, so it is
many times with other godly.
Thereby also truth and knowledge is carried and scattered
into other places, many shall run to and fro, " and know
ledge shall be increased," Dan. xii., and that is a cause-all,
and, Acts viii. 4, therefore they that were scattered, &c.
Thereby a man is fitted and prepared for God s own house,
and those revelations and manifestations that God hath to
communicate to him concerning the house of God. A man
is never more fit to see the beauty of God s house, than
when he is driven from his own. When Jacob was driven
by his rough brother Esau from his home and habitation, the
first night he was fain to lie in the field upon the cold ground,
but then and there the Lord appeared to him, and he called
the name of that place Bethel, that is, the house of God,
Gen. xxviii. When did God communicate so much of his
mind concerning the churches to Daniel, but when he, with
other Jews, was carried from Judah into Babylon ? When
did God reveal so much of his mind concerning the churches
under the New Testament, unto John the Evangelist, as
when he was in Patmos, a banished condition ? Rev. i.
This is God s way, he will first unhouse a man before he will
shew him the beauty and glory of his own house : and is not
this for our good ; who would not be quiet when he is driven
from all ?
Hereby also a man is received from the world, and taught
to live upon God himself, when Abraham and the patriarchs
were called from their own houses, then they looked for a
habitation, a city that had a foundation. "The widow that
VOL. IV. G
82 DIRECTIONS FOB [SER. 4.
is desolate (saith the apostle) trusteth in God " and when
is a man more desolate, than when he is driven from all ? *
The swimmer will not commit himself to the stream whilst
he hath any thing to rest upon, no more will men leave them
selves at length upon the stream of God s mercy, whilst they
have anything at home to live upon. Chrysostome saith, a
tree that grows by the highway side, will hardly have any
of its fruit come to ripeness, but the passenger will one or
another pull it off before it be fully ripened ; so, saith he,
those that grow by the highway side, in the way of the
world, and are always standing there, will hardly bring any
good work or duty to perfection. A man whose heart cleaves
to the world is like unto it : he that cleaves unto vanity, is
made vain thereby, as he that cleaves unto God, is like unto
God : so long as a man is fixed in the world, and settled
there, he cannot settle upon God himself, the way to be
settled on God, is to be unsettled in the world ; and because
the Lord sees that some of his own people do settle too
much in the world, he concludes with himself saying, I will
take an order against this distemper, I will unsettle you in
the world, that you may settle upon myself. Thus God
works good out of this evil. But though his providence do
work good out of this evil condition, yet in itself it is sad,
and matter of great lamentation.
And if so, why should not we more lament our brethren
in other places ? Our brethren in Ireland and in other parts
of this kingdom, upon whom this stroke is fallen, and why
should not we prepare ourselves also for this condition ? f
It may be some of you think that you shall shift well enough,
and though the robbers, and spoilers, and plunderers come,
yet you are friends to them, they have your names and mo
ney underhand, and you have such and such a friend with
them that will make your peace. But in this war that is
now a foot, either you have to deal with God or else you
have not ; if not, then are you Atheists, for is there evil in
* Sed filiis Dei qui se agnoscant mundi hseredes exulare non adeo durum est
re ipsa quoque assuefieri ut peregrini discant esse in terra, utile est. Calvin,
exul. Anglicanis.
* Cum advenis nuper receptaculum esset Anglica, dominus vos in tempore
illorum exemplo premonuit ne vobis molestum foret easdcm obire vices Calvini
literae, piis et doctis Anglire exulabus. Humfred. de vita Juelli, page 91.
SER. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 83
the city, and God hath done it ? if you do deal with him,
he hath said that in such a time of public calamity as this,
he will light up a candle to search out those that are settled
upon their lees, and he tells you expressly who those are,
even such as say, God will do neither good nor evil, Zeph. i.,
that is, not to them : and whom will you now believe, your
own hearts, and friends, that speak peace unto you, or that
God in whose hand this sword is ? Mr. Foxe in the Book
of Martyrs tells us, that when the persecution was greatly
in France, by the papists against the protestants, insomuch
as ^the popish army were far raging up and down, some of
the papists themselves were glad to send their children even
to the houses of protestants that dwelt in other places,
fearing the violence of their own soldiers : and why may not
the sword of those that you think are on your own side
knock at your door ? but what if a foreigner come into the
kingdom ? what greater invitation can there be than this
wasting and wracking of one another? and if a foreigner
should land, why not as likely in these parts as any other ?
considering the great evils that we above others are guilty
of, and how the popish pollutions did first set in this country
when England went astray: why should we not fear that
God may have some intention to reserve the foreigner for us,
the last and bitterest part of the cup ? and will a foreigner
know the language of your entreaty more than your neigh
bours ? will not his hand find out the riches of the people,
one as well as another ? will his sword make a difference
between you and your neighbour ? I am sure you that have
made a combination, and said a confederacy with them that
have said a confederacy, are more fully under the threatening
than others, and if the sword come with a commission from
God s threatening, as it doth, it will find you out as well as
your neighbour : oh, therefore, who would not labour in some
measure to be prepared for that condition ? One and ano
ther, I beseech you, in Christ labour, labour all to be pre
pared for this estate.
Fourthly, What shall we do, that if it shall please the
Lord to drive us out of our houses and habitations as well
as our brethren, we may both prepare for it, and so carry the
matter, as we may be patiently and sweetly supported in thut
estate ?
G 2
84 DIRECTIONS FOR [SfiR. 4.
By way of preparation, for the present before that condition
come, and the Lord grant it may never come, be sure of this
that you make good your interest in God himself, clear up your
evidence for heaven, your assurance of God in Christ ; when
David was driven from home and harbour, he encouraged
himself in the Lord his God ; his God, tolle meum et tolle
deum, saith Augustine, take away that word my, and take
away God. If a man knows that God is his in Christ, his
friend, his God, his habitation, unto whom he may contin
ually resort, he will soon relieve himself thus : Well, though I
have lost my house, yet I have kept my God, he is such a
habitation as cannot be plundered, such a habitation as wind,
and rain, and weather cannot beat through, such a habitation
as I may carry up and down the world with me. Be sure of
this therefore, that you clear up your interest in God himself.
Learn now before the rainy day come to be dead unto all the
world. The man that is dying is senseless, not affected with
the cries of his children, wife, and friends, that stand round
about him, though they weep and wring their hands, he is not
stirred, why ? because being a dying man he is dead to them ;
and if you be dead to your houses, liberties and estates
aforehand, you will be able to buckle, and grapple with that
condition : so it was with Paul who died daily.
Be sure of this also, that you take heed now of all those
things that may make your condition uncomfortable then.
There are three things that will make that condition very un
comfortable : pride, wanton abuse of your creature-comforts,
and unwillingness to lay them out in the case of God. If you
have house, lands, estates, friends or good clothes, and be
proud thereof, when they are taken away from you, your heart
will smite you and say, Ah this was because I was so proud
thereof, and lifted up myself above my brethren, and there
fore now I am made even with them, as poor as they. If
you do wantonly abuse the creature in drunkenness, cham
bering, wantonness &c., when they are taken away, your
heart will upbraid you and say, Ah, this you may thank your
wantonness for, you used the creatures so basely that they
groaned under your hand, and so now they are gotten from
you. If you be unwilling to lay them out in any good case, your
heart will reproach you in the evil day and say, Ah, it is even
just with God to take away all from me, I would not lay out
SBR. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 85
my money and estate for his truth, his ordinances, his cases,
and now he hath given me, and all into the hands of spoilers.
We read of David that he was twice thrust out from his home,
once by his father in law Saul, and once by Absalom his son ;
when he was thrust out by Saul, though driven into a wilderness,
we do not read, as I remember, that he wept ; Saul the perse
cutor wept, but not David the persecuted : but when he was
driven out by Absalom, he went barefoot, and wept, he wept
and he went, and he went and he wept, why so ? oh, that was
the punishment of his sin, God had threatened that the sword
should never depart from his house and now that threat
ening did seize upon him. Take heed therefore that this evil
may not be the fruit of your sin, and do nothing now that
may make your condition uncomfortable then; and because
these three things will do it, take heed of them I pray you in
the Lord.
But in case this evil feared should come, and who knows
how soon it may ? then some things are to be practised, and
some things considered.
By way of practice. If it pleased the Lord to bring you
or me or any of us into this sad condition, first humble your
selves, accept of the punishment of your iniquity, kiss the
rod, and say, the Lord is righteous in all that is come upon
you ; so did Daniel, Dan. ix. 6., " O Lord, righteousness be-
longeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this
day," &c., so must we do, saying, As for me I confess indeed
I deserved this long ago, for I did not pity those enough
that were driven from their houses and habitations ; I would
not part with my house, and liberty, and estate for the truth,
and give them up as a sacrifice unto the gospel, and now it is
just, all should be taken from me ; the Lord is righteous, the
Lord is righteous.
Then be sure you bless and praise the Lord for that little
that you have left ; and if nothing be left, praise God for
others that are free from your condition. If a man be in
prosperity, and grieve for others in adversity, it is the only
way to keep him in prosperity ; if a man be in adversity, and
can praise God for others and rejoice in their prosperity, it is
the only way to have his own adversity changed into pros
perity. A man is never so low but he hath somewhat left to
86 DIRECTIONS FOR [SER. 4.
praise God for ; so did Job, and so saith the apostle, " Be in
all things thankful;" not in some conditions, but in all.
If ever you be brought into this estate, be sure that you
keep God s promise in your full view. The promise is very
full and clear ; what condition is there enriched with more pro
mises ? Are you afraid when you are driven out of your houses,
that you shall faint and fall in the streets, that you shall die
in the fields, or some ditch ? Remember that promise where
God hath said ; " Those that forsake house and land shall
receive an hundred fold :" then remember the hundred fold
promise. But would you return to your own house ; and are
you afraid that you shall not do so ? then remember that pro
mise -, Micah iv. 6, 7> " In that day, saith the Lord, will 1
assemble her that halteth, and will gather her that is driven
out, and her that I have afflicted." In the interim are you
afraid of misery, poverty, beggary? then remember that pro
mise which hath five seals upon it, " I will never leave you
nor forsake you " Heb. i. 3. 5 ; Joshua i. 5.; where in the
original there are five negatives, as if he should say thus, " I
will never, never, never, never, never leave you nor forsake
you." Luther insists much upon that promise of our Saviour
Christ unto his disciples : " You shall not have gone over all
the cities of Judea until the Son of man shall come." The
Son of Man was already come, saith Luther, when he did
speak these words, and therefore the promise belongs not
only to the disciples, but to all the disciples of Jesus Christ
that shall be ; the promise speaking thus much that though
they be persecuted and driven from one place to another :
yet there shall be always some place open to receive them ;
when persecution is one place, another shall be free from it ;
and there shall be always some place free, until the Son of
Man shall come. Stock and store yourselves with many suit
able promises, and when this misery spoken of shall come,
keep them in your full view. These things are to be practi
sed.
Again, By way of consideration. Though such a condition
as this be exceeding sad and very lamentable, yet consider
this, that it is not any new thing that doth befal you, but such
as befals the saints and best of God s servants. This some
times bears the breadth of a great temptation, that my con
dition is like to none ; and it may be you will think, Oh,
SER. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 87
never any was in such a condition as I ; what, driven from my
houses and from my friends ? Yes, Abraham ; yes, Jacob ;
yes, Joseph ; yes, David ; yes, Daniel ; yes, John, And
Luther saith, as usually he doth speak boldly, This is the
common chance and fortune of the gospel.* The very land of
Canaan, the place of God s people is called by such a term
as doth signify a land of beauty or comeliness, and a land of
hinds,* or roes, or harts, that are swift in going, and of a fly
ing nature, to shew, say some, that when God s people are in
the most beautiful state, it is but a flying, moving state, c.
Yet when they are so, they are notwithstanding a delight unto
God himself. Think, therefore, with yourself, There is no
new thing befallen me.
Consider the way that God takes ordinarily to bring his
people to mercy. He seldom brings them to any mercy but
he brings them about by the way of the contrary misery. If
he intends to give them a sure peace, he will bring them about
unto it by the way of war ; so he brought Israel to Canaan,
the land of rest, through much war. If he brings them to
riches, he will bring them about by the way of poverty, as
with Job. If he intends a kingdom to them, he will bring
them by a wilderness, as with David. If a sure habitation,
he will suffer a man to be driven from his habitation.* And
therefore when you are driven from your s, despair not, but
say, Ah, this is God s way, now am I in God s way to a sure
habitation.
Consider seriously with yourselves what that is which you
leave, what the cause is that you do leave it for, and who
it is you do leave it with : you leave your house, your habita
tion, your land, your riches, which shortly would leave you,
whose wings are like the wings of an eagle, strong to fly away ;
you leave it for your God, your country, your religion. And
is that lost which you do lose for truth ? Is there any loss in
losing for Jesus Christ ? And with him you leave it, who is
a faithful paymaster, and will pay you forbearance money
* Hie mos hsec fortuna evangelii. Luther in Ezek. \x. 6.
f Hie enim OY usurpatur saepius exist! mo spiritum consulto vocabulum hoc
adhibuisse quo complecteretur utrumque de pulsionem ct faelicitatem ne despon-
derent ejus cives animos sed in media sua trlstissima abdicatione se esse Deo
IV cordi et deliciis. Brightman in Dan. p. 22.
* Si enim non impense te deligeret Deus non ita tecum luderet hoc est non
differet neque in contrarium disponeret suarn promissionem et auxiliuui. Luther.
88 DIRECTIONS FOR [SfiR. 4.
also. Did he not pay Ruth well all that ever she did leave for
him ; mark but that one example of Naomi and Ruth : Naomi
being in Israel, where the ordinances were, and there coming
a time of famine, she left all to go into the land of Moab,
and the text tells us (Ruth i.) she went for bread. If you
inquire what became of her, you shall find she returns empty,
bitter : " Call me not Naomi, call me bitter, for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me." Her daughter Ruth, on
the contrary left her country, Moab, to go to the place of
God s ordinances ; and when she came into Israel she was so
poor, at the first, that she was fain to glean for -her living, yet
contented ; and after a while the Lord provided a husband
for her, the richest man in all the country, Boaz. The moral
of this example is this : those that will leave the ordinances
and way of God s true worship for bread, shall return home
empty and full of bitterness ; yea, though they be good peo
ple : but those that will leave their own places and habita
tions and friends to go unto the place of God s ordinance,
though they be put to a gleaning condition at first, yet the
Lord, in his providence, in his due time, will make them ex
ceeding rich and very wealthy. Consider, therefore, when
you are in this estate, what is that you leave, why, and with
whom you leave it, even with Ruth s paymaster, who is as
good a paymaster now as he was to Ruth.
If you would have comfort and supportance in that condi
tion, consider seriously and much how God hath dealt with
his people that have been thus served and used. And if you
look into Scripture, you shall find that he still hath provided
for them, given them favour in the places where they have
come, and brought them back again from those places into
which they have been scattered. He hath provided for them,
Did not God provide for Jacob when he was driven out
of his father s house by his rough brother Esau ? Says Ja
cob, " I passed over this brook with this staff and rod, and
now I am returned with two bands." When at the first he went
out and took up his lodging in the cold fields the first night,
lying upon a stone for his pillow, as the Scripture speaks,
there the Loid appeared to him in a vision, and shewed him
a ladder, with angels ascending and descending upon it, which
is interpreted by Christ to be Christ himself, in John i. 51.
And so if it should ever be your portion to be driven out by
SER. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 89
your rough brethren Esaus, though you lie in the cold fields,
God will there shew you this ladder. It is observed that our
Saviour Christ sent out his disciples twice ; the first time he
commands them to take no money, nor sword, nor scrip, and
then, upon account, they said they wanted nothing : after
ward he sent them out again, and said unto them, " Now let
him that hath a sword take it, and he that hath a coat take
it ;" then they met with more suffering than we read of be
fore, teaching thus much, that God will then more fully pro
vide for his people when they are purseless, scripless, sword-
less, and in the most shiftless condition. Besides, the Lord
gave them favour in the eyes of the people in the places
where they came. Had not Abraham favour, and Joseph
favour, and Moses favour ? David favour in the eyes of the
king of Achish, Nehemiah favour, Ezra favour, and others of
his people favour in the places into which they were driven ?
And if you look into the xxxivth of Ezekiel, you shall find
that when God s people were by the proud prelates of those
times abused, the Lord promised to gather them from those
places into which they were scattered. First he complaineth
of the proud prelates that they would not gather them : verse
4, " The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye
healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that
which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which
was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost,
but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them." Then
he promiseth that he would do it himself: verse 13, "I will
bring them out from the people, and gather them from the
countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed
them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers," &c. This
he did, this he doth, this he will do. If my people would but
think of these things, they would never stick with God for
their houses and liberties when the profession of his truth
doth call for them. Think of it, therefore, seriously, it will
be exceeding helpful to you now, and comfortable then. In
such a condition God hath always provided for his people,
given them favour, and in due time gathered them to their
own place again; and he is the same God now that ever
he was.
If you would have comfort and be supported in that estate,
put yourselves often to these disjunctions. Either I am one
90 DIRECTIONS FOR [SfiR. 4.
of God s family and household servants or not ; if not, why
do I not mourn rather that I am none of God s house, than
that I have lost mine own house ? and if I be, will not God
provide for his own family ? Men provide for their families,
God will much more. Again, thus, either God doth take care
of a man or woman in this condition or not ; if not, what
mean those frequent charges in Scripture upon men to pity,
to respect, to care for, to entertain the stranger ? and if God
do take care, and that by promise, why should not I believe
it, go away, and be very quiet ? Again, thus, either there is
grace in me or not ; if not, why do I not rather mourn for
want of grace than want of house ; for want of Christ than
the want of liberty : if there be grace in me, surely it is not
in the power of men to make me miserable. Seneca, though
a heathen, speaks divinely to this purpose : A man s country
is wherever he is well, but that whereby he is well is not in
the place but in the man.* The whole world is a Christian s
country. And says another author : The blood of Christ
knows no nations ;f all are alike to him. Indeed when the
child or boy hath gotten a long pole, he thinks to go up to
the top of such a mountain and there to touch the heavens ;
and when he comes there, he sees he is never the nearer ;
then he thinks to run to the top of the next mountain, and
then he will touch them surely, but when he comes there he
is as far distant as before : so men think to get such and such
a mountainous estate, and when they are at the top of that
mountain they shall touch the heavens, or when they are in
such and such a place they shall be nearer heaven ; but hea
ven may be as near one place as another. " The earth is the
Lord s, and the fulness thereof." The prophet doth not say
that England is the Lord s, and the fulness thereof; London
is the Lord s, and the fulness thereof; Norfolk is the Lord s,
and the fulness thereof; Yorkshire is the Lord s, and the
fulness thereof; no, but he saith, " The earth is the Lord s
and the fulness thereof."
Chrysostom J speaks excellently to this argument, who,
being to be banished, in his parting sermon to his people, saith
* Patria est ubicunque bene est illud cunctam per quod bene est in homine
non in loco est. Seneca.
f Sanguis Christi non novit rationes.
% Chrysostom de exilio illius, torn iv.
SER. 4.] SUFFERING TIMES. 91
thus : What should I fear ? Shall I fear death ? To me to
live is Christ, to die is gain." Shall I fear banishment ?
" The earth is the Lord s and the fulness thereof." Shall I
fear the loss of mine estate ? " I brought nothing into this
world, neither can I carry any thing out of it." Shall I fear
poverty ? I never desired to be rich. Shall I fear the misery
and wasting and spoiling of the churches, part whereof I
am now to leave ? The church is greater, saith he, than hea
ven and earth. Christ never said, the gates of hell should
not prevail against the heavens or the earth, as he hath said
for the churches. Christ never took upon him the body of
the heavens as he hath done of the church s. The church, it
is the ship wherein Christ is ; and though the waves arise,
and storms beat, they shall never be able to sink the ship,
yea, though Christ himself doth seem to sleep. Often,
often therefore, my beloved, put thyself unto this disjunction :
Either I am in the ship with Christ or else I am not ; he in
me and I in him, or else not : if not, why do 1 not rather
mourn that I am not in Christ than that I am not in my
house ? and if I be in him, surely he will be exceeding careful
and very tender. Oh that men and women would but think
of these things, surely they would be quiet, patient, if not
joyful in that condition. Think of them, therefore, and lay
them up by you.
But I shall never be able to bear this affliction. What, to
be driven from my house ! If I meet with any cross now in
my family, I cannot bear it, how shall I be able to be thrust
and driven out of all, and that with patience ?
You do not know what you shall be able to do in that
condition. Seneca tells us a story of one Marcellus, that
being in banishment behaved himself so virtuously, that when
a man was to part from him, he that parted from this banished
man would rather count himself unhappy and the banished
man, than he that was indeed so.* Dabitur in hora, God
giveth more grace if need be, saith the apostle.
But when you know that parents bear with their childrens
frowardness in weaning times ; and though they cry, and are
more froward than ordinary, yet the parent excuseth it, and
says, It is weaning time, it is weaning time. Now if God
* Quantus ille vir fuit qui efficit et aliquis exul sibi videretur quod ab exule
recedebat. Seneca.
92 DIRECTIONS FOR [SttR. 4.
calls you to lose your houses and liberties, that is your wean
ing time ; and though there be some frowardness more than
ordinary, yet your God and Father will bear with it: yet be
humbled for it, for it is your weaning time.
Oh, but that time when a man is driven from house and
habitation, is a time wherein a man is exposed to great temp
tations ; exposed to poverty, to reproach, many miseries and
sad temptations ; and I shall never be able to stand out those.
True, that time indeed is exposed to sad temptations. And
we read of David, that when he came to the king of Achish,
he changed his behaviour, and let fall his spittle upon his
beard. Take heed that you do not see some that are good
people, before such a condition as this come, when they are
thus tried, do change their behaviour, and their spittle falls
on their beards. Oh, take heed that you do not change your
behaviour in this condition; which, that you may not do,
fear, fear always. Fear is the keeper of innocency.* He is
to be feared most, that doth fear least ; and he is to be feared
least, that doth fear most.
Oh, but I am afraid my children, my charge, should mis
carry in that condition.
I will tell you what Chrysostom f saith upon his return
out of his banishment, wherein he compares the church that
he had left unto Sarah in the hands of Pharaoh. Pharaoh,
saith he, seeing Sarah to be a beautiful fair woman, desired
her, Gen. xii. ; she was fain to leave her husband, and her
husband her. She was in the hands of Pharaoh ; yet Pha
raoh perceiving afterward that she was another man s wife,
she returned again to her own husband untouched and chaste.
So, saith he, though my charge hath been taken from me,
and hath been as it were in the hands of Pharaoh ; yet God
hath preserved you untouched and chaste, you have watched
though I have slept. Surely if God calls for our liberties,
and scattereth us from our charge, he will keep our charge ;
if you keep the charge of God s house, he will keep the
charge of your houses. Did not David preserve Mephibo-
sheth, when the other sons of Saul were slain ; and why
Mephibosheth preserved, a lame and deformed man ? but
because there was entire love between Jonathan and David,
and so for Jonathan s sake he did spare his son. And so if
* Timor innocentise custos eat. f Chrysostora. torn iv.
SER. 4,] SUFFERING TIMES. 93
there be any entire love between you and Jesus Christ,
though your children and charge be Mephibosheths, that
even grow awry, the Lord Jesus Christ will take care of
them and preserve them. If you can say that there is as
much love in your heart towards Christ, as there was in
Jonathan towards David ; I can say, that there shall be as
much care in Christ towards your children and posterity and
charge, as there was in David towards Jonathan s. Where
fore, my beloved, either you do trust God with your souls
for your eternal mansions, or you do not : if you do not, why
say you that you do trust God for your eternities, and for
your souls ? and if you do trust God with your souls for an
eternal mansion, why should you not trust him with your
children for a temporal mansion ? Certainly, if God s charge
be your charge, your charge shall be his charge ; and being
so, you have his bond that they shall never want their daily
bread. Wherefore think on all these things ; think of them
for the present, and in the future, if such a condition fall, and
the Lord give us understanding in all things.
SERMON V.
THANKFULNESS REQUIRED IN EVERY CONDITION.
PREACHED AT ST. MARGARET S, NEW FISH STREET, MARCH 23, 1645.
" In every thing give thanks : for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you." I THESS. v. 18.
WHAT is written to the Thessalonians, is written for our
instruction. What they are commanded as Christians, we
are commanded as Christians.
In the latter part of this chapter, several exhortations were
given to them. Among the rest this is one ; in which ye
have,
The exhortation itself : " In every thing give thanks."
And, the reason enforcing that exhortation : " For this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
" In every thing give thanks :" in prosperity and in adver
sity, whether things go well or whether they go ill ; in every
thing give thanks. He had said before, verses 16, 17, " Re
joice evermore, pray continually." Unto those exhortations
he adds no such reason as here. Because it may seem
strange that a man should give thanks in every thing, he
adds also, " For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus con
cerning you." So that plainly here lies this observation, or
truth, upon the words :
It is the will of God, even our Father, that we should be
thankful to him in every thing.
When we are full, it will be granted that then we are to
give thanks to God. Deut. viii. 10. But ye are not only to
give thanks when ye are full, but when ye are empty ; not
only when ye are strong, but when ye are weak ; not only
when ye are delivered from the hands of your enemy, but
when you are delivered into the hands of your enemy.
Therefore Job says, i. 21., " The Lord giveth, and the Lord
taketh away, blessed be his name." Job was plundered by
the enemy, and yet he does bless the Lord ; Job was emptied
. 5.] THANKFULNESS REQUIRED, &C. 95
of a full estate, and yet he does bless the Lord ; Job had lost
his dear children, and yet he does bless the Lord ; Job was
in a great measure given up into the hands of Satan, and yet
he blesses the Lord : for which he is commended.
So then, it is our duty, and the will of God our Father,
that we should not only be thankful, but we should be thank
ful in every thing.
For, there is always excellency enough in God and Christ,
to entertain your thankfulness, to draw out your thankfulness
and praises. Indeed, there is a formal or notional difference,
between praising God, and giving thanks to God. Praises
respect the excellencies of God himself; thankfulness re
spects the benefits we receive from God. I praise God,
when I honour him for the excellency that is in him ; I am
thankful to God, when I bless him for those benefits I
receive from him. But now in Scripture, these are put one
for the other ordinarily : and whatsoever our condition be,
whether high or low, rich or poor, full or empty, there is
enough excellency in Christ for to draw out our praises : and
therefore in every thing we are to be thankful.
There is no condition so sad, but somewhat is good that is
mingled with it ; no darkness so dark, but some light withal ;
no misery so miserable, but some mercy withal. Heaven is
all mercy, and hell is all misery : but this life is made up of
both, it is a twilight, some good in every condition ; and
therefore, in every thing we are to give thanks unto God.
It is the duty of a Christian to be like unto Jesus Christ :
he was thankful in every thing. When he had not whereon
to lay his head, " Father, I thank thee," Matt. xi. 25. When
he was to go to his agony, and sweat drops of blood; they
sung a hymn, says the text, a psalm of praise. So, when a
Christian is to go to his agony : whatever agony he meets
withal, there is rise enough yet for his thankfulness : in every
thing be thankful. As the apostle hath it in Eph. v. 20,
" Giving thanks always, for all things unto God, even the
Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
You will say, Suppose that a Christian meet with some
long, heavy, and sharp affliction : is he to be thankful then ;
to be thankful in that condition ?
Yes ; look I pray into Isa. xxiv. 15, "Wherefore," says he,
" glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord
96 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
of Israel in the isles of the sea." Glorify ye the Lord in
the fires ; so ye read it. Some rather translate it thus : " Glorify
ye the Lord in doctrines ;" Urim, the same word that we
translate, Urim, for the Urim and Thummim : but I would
rather translate it vallies ; so Calvin: for doctrines does not
suit with that which follows : " Glorify ye the Lord in the
vallies, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles
of the sea." A valley is a low place, and dark ; now, says
he, though ye be in a dark condition, removed from light ;
Glorify the Lord in the vallies, glorify the Lord there. And
good reason why the saints should do so ; as ye will see, if ye
will look into Zech. i. 8 : I saw by night, and behold a man
riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees
that were in the bottom, and behind him were there red
horses, speckled and white." This man upon a red horse
plainly must be meant Christ : who is here attended with red
horses, speckled and white, to send forth and dispatch into
the several parts of the world upon his design. These other
red horses, they are behind him, waiting upon him : now
where is Christ ? he is among the myrtle- trees : and where
are the myrtle-trees ? they are in the bottom. The saints
and people of God for their fruitfulness they are called
myrtle-trees, and sometimes their condition is as a valley ;
they are in the bottom ; but yet they are myrtle-trees in the
bottom, and Jesus Christ is among these myrtle-trees, though
they be in a bottom, though they be in a valley ; and there
fore no wonder that we should praise, and glorify God in this
condition. Beloved, what we may rejoice in, that we may
praise God for. Now, says the apostle, " Let the brother of
low degree rejoice in that he is exalted ; and let the brother
of high degree rejoice in that he is made low," James i. 9, 10 :
" Rejoice in tribulation," Rom. v. 3. A man is to rejoice
more for the opportunity of exercising grace, than in all
prosperity : there are some graces that cannot be exercised
but in tribulation, cannot be exercised in heaven ; patience,
and the like. Now then, when tribulation comes, a Christian
should thus look upon it : I have hereby an opportunity of
exercising that grace, that I had not before ; and then he will
bless God, and then he will be thankful in that condition :
when God takes away one mercy, he gives another : if he
take away Moses, he will give a Joshua : if he take away
. 5.] IN EVERY CONDITION . 97
Eli, he will give a Samuel : if he will take away Christ s
personal presence, he will send the Holy Ghost. And the
truth is, he does not so much take away as borrow a mercy ;
and he pays it again with usury and advantage : Onesimus
goes away like a thief from Philemon, but he returns again
with profit to him and others. As for these outward
things, they will prove but debts at the great day of judg
ment : riches now, and gifts now, but debts then : and the
less ye have of these outward things, the less ye have to
reckon for them. In a bad day, men they say, Oh, that I
had less, my reckoning would be less : the less ye have, the
less your reckoning will be. The comfort of a man s life,
consists not in muchness, \>\& fitness to his heart. If a man
have a great farm, and a small stock, it is the only way to
break him : it is better to have a farm fit for one s stock,
than a great farm. The Lord he sees what our stock of
grace is, and accordingly he provides a farm for every one
of his children ; and sometimes it is lessened, but the rea
son is, because the stock of grace is no bigger, they have no
more grace to stock it withal. Our gifts, and our parts, and
our prosperity, they are so strong sometimes, that God is
fain to mingle water therewithal, that we may not be drunk.
I appeal to you : are not the saints gainers by all their losses ;
are not they strengthened by all their weakness; are not
they bettered by all their crosses ? Surely then, in all things
they are to be thankful : though their affliction be exceeding
long, sharp, and grievous ; yet they are to be thankful in that
condition.
But suppose now, that it be persecution that a man is to
be exercised with ; and that is bitter : is a Christian to be
thankful then, even in that condition ?
Yes, ye know what the apostle says; "to you it is given,
not only to believe, but to suffer," Phil. i. 29. God s gift is
worth our thanks. And says the apostle, " All shall turn to
the furtherance of the gospel," Phil. i. 22. Is it not a great
matter, and worth our praise and thankfulness ; that we should
be trusted by God to bear witness to his truth ? " For this
came I into the world," says Christ, "that I might bear
witness to the truth," John xviii. 37- It was his design ;
thereby ye are like to him, and so honour him. When were
the churches and people of God more pure than under per-
VOL. IV. H
98 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
secution ? and is it not a great mercy to be kept pure ? The
more you suffer for any truth, the more that truth will be
spread by you : you die, but the truth lives : your estate dies,
and your name dies, and your liberty dies : but your dying
estate gives a living testimony unto the truth. " When I am
lifted up," says Christ, meaning upon the cross, " I will draw
all men after me," John xii. 32. And so shall you do, when
you are lift up upon the cross for any truth, ye shall draw
all men after that truth that ye are lifted up for. When have
ye more communion with Jesus Christ, than when ye sufter
most for his truth ? Is it not a great mercy for a man to be
glorified on this side heaven ? Pray look upon that expres
sion which ye have in John xiii. 30, 31 ; it is said concerning
Christ himself, that when Judas went out, having received
the sop, Jesus saith, Now is the Son of man glorified, and
God is glorified in him, verse 30. Judas " having received
the sop, went immediately out, and it was night : therefore
when he was gone out, Jesus saith, Now is the Son of man
glorified." Judas went out to betray him, to bring him to
the cross, a false brother was gone out. Now is the Son of
man glorified, says he, not only because the cross was the way
to glory ; but the truth is, he was glorified upon the cross, there
was a glory there. You may observe it ; he did many mira
cles, and when he had done those miracles, he did not say
then, Now is the Son of man glorified. He was transfigured ;
and he did not say upon his transfiguration, Now is the Son
of man glorified : but now he comes to suffer, now he comes
to the cross; Now, says he, is the Son of man glorified.
And indeed, now is his love to poor sinners glorified. The
apostle says, " He triumphed over all principalities and pow
ers upon the cross," Col. ii. 15 ; and his love triumphs over
all our sins, and our guilt, and our unworthiness : oh, then
was free grace and love, when Christ was upon the cross !
Now is the Son of man glorified. And so it shall be with
you : when a false brother goes out to persecute you, to be
tray you, to bring you the cross ; you may say so : Now is
the servant of the Lord glorified, now is my love to Christ
glorified ; never more glorified than now. This makes the
apostle Peter speak in his 1st Epist. iv. 16 : " If any man
suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him
glorify God on this behalf." It is matter of praise, and
SER. 5.] ix EVERY CONDITION*. 99
thanksgiving here : says he, at verse 13, " Rejoice, inasmuch
as ye are partakers of Christ s sufferings." Veise 14, "If
ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for
the Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you." That is,
says one upon that place, as Noah s dove hovered over the
water, and found no place for to rest her foot upon, until she
returned to the ark : so does the Spirit of God, as it were,
hover over the souls of men, it wanteth rest : and when it
sees a soul that suffers for the truth, there it lights, there it
rests, there the Spirit of God and of glory rests. I appeal
to you : which will be most comfortable, think ye, at the
day of judgment ; that ye have been persecuted for the
truth, or that ye have been a persecutor of the truth ? I
know your answer ; when a Christian is under persecution,
he may lift up his voice, and say, I might have engaged
against the truth ; ah ! I might have been a persecutor of
the truth ; but blessed be God it is not so. The apostles
went away rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to
suffer for the name of Christ. Surely therefore, there is
matter of praise and thanksgiving, even in this condition
also, in this condition a Christian should be thankful: it
is the will of God our Father we should be thankful here.
But suppose that a man s inward arid spiritual condition
be overclouded, and God withdraw, and hide his face from a
Christian : shall he, can he be thankful in this condition ?
is it his duty to be thankful now ?
Yes ; for though God do withdraw, though he do hide his
face, and not shine upon a Christian ; yet it may be light with
him. Day may be day though the sun do not shine forth in
bright beams. And it may be day light, it may be day upon
a Christian soul, though there be never a beam shines. We
are saved by faith, and not by feeling.
Again, Though Christ doth hide his face, though he doth
withdraw his comforting presence, he never withdraws his
supporting presence from a Christian ; sometimes more of
that, when least of the other. Christ deals by a Christian
as God dealt by Christ in his agony, and on the cross:
though God withdrew his comforting presence, so as he cried
out and said, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me ? " Matt, xxvii. 46, yet he had never more of God s
supporting presence : and so it is with a Christian. Though
ii 2
100 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
Christ may withdraw his comforting presence, yet he never
withdraws his supporting presence from them.
Besides, Jesus Christ does so withdraw from a Christian as
he does draw withal by his Spirit. He seemed to withdraw
from the Canaanitish woman, but he did draw her to him by
his Spirit. When he withdraws in Cant. v. from his spouse,
he leaves myrrh upon the ringles of the door. And so when
he withdraws from a Christian, he leaves his myrrh upon the
ringles of the heart : the heart cannot be quiet, cannot rest,
takes no contentment without him, he does draw the soul to
him, while he seems to withdraw from the soul.
What a man would not lose for all the world, that, you
will say, is worthy of praise and thankfulness. Now take a
gracious soul, a godly man when he is most deserted, forsa
ken, left, as it were ; and he says, Now mercy is gone, now
Christ is gone : ask him but this question : If Christ be
gone, as you say, why do not you renounce Christ, and re
nounce all his ways ? He will tell you, Oh, no, I dare not
renounce him for all the world. But if he be quite gone,
why do not you turn drunkard ; why do not you turn
swearer: and why do not you cast off all duties ? Oh, no,
that I dare not : I have yet something left, that I would not
lose for all the world. Is there not then matter of praise
and thanksgiving in this condition ? Surely there is, even in
this condition also.
But you will say : Suppose that a man be oppressed with
sad temptations, black and dark temptations; God does
not only withdraw, but Satan draws near, heavy, and dread
ful temptations press in upon him : is it the will of God the
Father, that he should be thankful in this condition also ?
Yes ; for is it not matter of praise, think ye, and thankful
ness, that your enemy is overcome before you strike a stroke ?
you shall be more than conquerors : write, your enemy
overcome before you fight. " Be of good comfort," says
Christ, " I have overcome the world/ John xvi. 33 ; and so
the god of the world, Satan, your enemy, is overcome before
you do strike a stroke.
Besides, is it not matter of praise and thanksgiving, that
Satan can tempt you no more than your own Father gives
him leave to do ? " Simon, Simon, (says Christ,) Satan
hath desired thee, that he may winnow thee as wheat," Luke
SER. 5.] ix EVERY CONDITION. 101
xxiii. 31. Mark the words, " He hath desired:" he was fain
to ask leave first, he could not winnow Peter until he had
leave. And he could not winnow Job until he had leave ;
he hath not power to tempt you further than your own
Father gives him leave.
Again, is it not matter of praise and thanksgiving, that
nothing hath befallen you but what hath befallen the best of
God s children, the greatest saints ? Men say sometimes,
Oh, never any one s condition like to mine, never any afflic
tion like to mine. The most godly men have been most
sorely tempted. In the Old Testament, David, a man after
God s own heart, it is said of him, "The devil stood up, and
moved him to number the people," 1 Chron. xxi. 1. What
a report did God give of Job, and you know his winnowing
and his continuance. In the New Testament, two famous
apostles, Paul and Peter. " Peter, Satan hath desired to
winnow thee :" Paul, " a messenger Satan, sent to buffet
him." And our Lord Jesus Christ himself, " in all things
tempted, that he might succour those that are tempted,"
Heb. ii. 18. Oh, beloved, how gracious will Jesus Christ be
to tempted ones, that came from heaven on purpose to be
gracious to them.
Further, is it not matter of praise and thanksgiving, that
you have always one for to run unto, to succour you, to
relieve you in your temptations ? A brazen serpent up,
against you be stung. Paul therefore, in Rom. vii., having
said, " Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me
from^this body of death ?" in the next words says, ff I thank
God through Jesus Christ." When Satan is tempting,
Christ is praying, interceding. " Satan hath desired to
winnow thee, (says he,) but I have prayed," Luke xxii. 31.
You cannot pray : truly sometimes we pray most, when we
pray least, for Christ prays for us.
Again, is it not matter of praise and thanksgiving., that ye
have such an estate that these thieves can never rob you of?
A Christian is a traveller; the thief meets him, and takes his
money that he hath about him ; but he hath an inheritance
of land at home, which the thief cannot take away from him.
And Satan by his temptations possibly may rob you of these
comforts that are about you ; but you have an inheritance
102 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SflR. 5.
and estate, Christian, in heaven, that shall never be taken
away, that you shall never be robbed of.
I will conclude thus, is it not matter of praise and thanks
giving, that by this mud you shall be more cleansed. Be
loved, this is Christ s way : he suffers men to be tempted,
that they may be freed fiom more temptations, and he suffers
this dirt to be cast upon them, that they may be the more
cleansed. " Simon, Simon, (says our Saviour,) Satan hath de
sired to winnow thee as wheat." How so ? Satan " goes up and
down like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." True,
that is his intent in his temptations ; Satan s intent in the temp
tation, is not to winnow, that is Christ s intent. Satan s intent
in the temptation is to devour, but Jesus Christ s intent in
all those temptations is to winnow. And who more knowing,
who more gracious, who more humble, who more thankful
than those that have been most assaulted with a temptation ?
Pray observe what is said in 2 Cor. xii. 7- Says Paul, " Lest
I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance
of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger Satan, (so it may be read, without of, the mes
senger Satan,) to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure," again. See how that goes before and follows : it
begins the verse and ends the verse : " Lest I should be ex
alted above measure," at the beginning of the verse ; " Lest
I should be exalted above measure," at the latter end of the
verse. As if now, that these temptations were special pre
servations against spiritual pride; it is set down twice, " Lest
I should be exalted above measure ;" again and again. Spi
ritual pride indeed is very dangerous. It was Mr. Fox s
speech, As I get good by my sins, so I get hurt by my graces :
in regard of that spiritual pride he was guilty of upon the
receipt of them. By temptation God uses to keep men
humble. The Hebrew word for lees, the lees of wine, comes
from the root that signifies, to keep, because the wines are
kept by the lees. And so God is pleased to keep men hum
ble by these temptations ; in these lees, and in these dregs,
God keeps men s graces. Temptations do you no hurt, until
ye yield to them. The greater the temptation, and the more
your flesh does tremble at it, the greater the affliction, but
the lesser the sin. Temptation is the soul s rape ; it may
SER. 5.] IN EVERY CONDITION. 103
deflower your soul, offer violence to your soul : it cannot
take away your innocency. Now, is it not a great mercy to
be kept innocent and chaste unto Jesus Christ ? Austin
hath a notable speech : If ye praise God under good things,
ye are paid your debt; if ye praise God under evil, ye have
made God your debtor. The truth is, we can never pay our
debt to God, neither are we able to make God our debtor ;
but God is pleased to call himself so : when men praise him
under temptations, and under persecutions, and under deser
tions, God is pleased to call himself our debtor. Surely
therefore, it is good for a Christian to bless God, and to
praise God in every thing; in all things to be thankful; in
affliction, in persecution, in desertion, under temptation.
This is the will of God our Father, that we should be
thankful to him in every thing, in every condition.
And if so, then what great cause have we to be very thank
ful to God in these times. Had the Lord let in the enemy up
on you, ye should have been thankful : had ye been plun
dered of all your estates, ye must have been thankful : had ye
lien at the mercy of the merciless enemy crying for quarter ;
yet you must have been thankful : how much more now ?
Had ye been emptied of all ye must have been thankful. Oh,
shall we not be thankful then unto God now, that hath given
us such deliverance, and such victories as these ?
You will say unto me ; what special thing is there that we
should be thankful unto God for in these times ?
Hath the Lord done such great things for England, and
art thou only a stranger in Israel ? Did ever England
hear of such a year as this last year hath been ? Can any re
cords tell us of such a year ? May I not say, stand out, O all
ye ancient records from your dust, and tell us from the first
day of England s birth, did ever England see such a year as
this hath been, wherein the power and mercy, and free grace
of God hath rode in triumph throughout the kingdom ?
Yet that I may not be wanting to you, to your question :
look I pray into Psalm cvii. 1, 2., ye shall find it written :
" O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy
endures for ever: let the redeemed of the Lord say so;
whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." See
who are to say so: "let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." Be-
104 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
loved ye know that not long since we were in captivity : I
mean a spiritual captivity : we sat down by the waters* side,
and saic, How shall we do to sing a Christian song ? The
Lord hath redeemed us, he hath redeemed us out of the hand
of our enemies. And if the Lord hath not redeemed you
out of the hand of your enemy : do not say so : but if he
have, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Besides, Is it not worth our thankfulness, that we have
had so many days of thanksgiving together ? A day of fast
ing and prayer, is a sweet day ; a thanksgiving day sweeter,
if I may make compare : for in a day of fasting and prayer,
we deal with the anger and wrath and displeasure of God :
in a day of thanksgiving with the love of God, and the mercy of
God. In a day of fasting and prayer, we exercise grief: but in a
day of thanksgiving, we exercise joy and love ; in a day of fast
ing and prayer, your eye is upon your sins ; in a day of
thanksgiving, upon your graces, to be thankful for them. As
the fish swims upon the top of the water when the sun
shines, which in a storm lay at the bottom : and wood, and
sticks tumbled up and down, and those were. seen. So in a
day of thanksgiving, there ye see and take notice of your own
graces, to be thankful for them. In a day of fasting and
prayer, sometimes, ye are so humbled for sin committed, as
the sense of your justification is quite shattered : but in the
day of thanksgiving, your assurance for heaven is sealed : they
are sweet days. And, beloved, you have had many of them of
late ; and surely this is worth our praise.
But give me leave a little to enumerate : for enumeration is
one kind of argument : hath not the Lord from heaven
owned his own cause in the hands of his servants, our breth
ren in the field ? Hath not the Lord heard your prayers ?
Hath not the Lord opened many mines of precious truths
that ye never knew before ? Hath not the Lord delivered
you from the hand of a savage enemy ? Those that lay
among the pots, brought forth with doves wings : victory
after victory ; one treading upon the heel of another, overta
king one another ? Does he not daily load you with his be
nefits ? I cannot say as David in Psalm ix. 1., " I will praise
thee, O Lord, with my whole heart : I will shew forth all thy
marvellous works." The former part, " I will praise thee, O
Lord, with my whole heart," you will say, but the latter
Ski*,. 5.] IX EVERY COXDITION*. 105
part, " I will shew forth all thy marvellous works ;" who can
say ? they are beyond us.
And now, beloved, if it be our duty to praise God, to be
thankful to him in every condition, when we are low : shall
we not be thankful to him now, that the Lord hath raised us,
and filled us thus ?
You will say, there is one thing that hinders us in the work
of praise and thanksgiving in these times : a reformation is
now begun, and things do not succeed according to our desires
in the matter of reformation : should we, can we be thank
ful now ?
Yes ; if the Lord give me a child, should not I be thankful
for it, because it is not born a man ? When the Jews built
the temple, did not they shout, and praise God that the
foundation was laid ? When the Israelites had overcome
their enemies, in Samuel s time; though the enemies were
round about them, they set up a stone, and called it Eben-
ezer, " Hitherto the Lord hath helped us," 1 Sam. vii. 1 2.
Beloved, in our thanksgiving we are to be like unto Je
sus Christ : he did not only praise God when he had
the mercy, but before he had it, in the entrance upon it.
When he raises up Lazarus from the dead : " Father (says he)
I thank thee that thou nearest me always :" John xi. 41, 42.
and then he commands Lazarus to come out. But first he
gives thanks to God. In the Scripture, the Holy Ghost
hath commanded us, " to honour the Lord with our sub
stance ; and with the first fruits of all our increase." Prov.
iii. 9. Either ye have the first-fruits of reformation or not.
If not, what mean all those precious ears and fruits which ye
have been gathering in these latter times ? And if ye have
the first fruits, though ye have not reaped the harvest
yet : then " honour the Lord with your substance, and with
your first fruits ; so shall your barns be filled with plenty,
and your presses with the new wine of the gospel." God
does give one mercy as a seal unto another; a first as
a seal to the second : the second as a seal to the third :
the lesser as a pledge of the greater. God does give a
lesser mercy to try us whether we will be thankful, that he
may give a greater. Beloved, these are trying times, God
tries us whether we will be thankful for what we have. A
reformation is now on foot : what though things do not sue-
106 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SfiR. 5.
ceed according to your desire, shall we not be thankful for
what we have, because we want something of what we would
have ? when then shall we thankful ?
Aye, but it is not only want of reformation, but many er
rors that are risen up among us in these times : and should
we be thankful now in this condition ?
Yes, shall I not be thankful for some grace, because it is
mingled with much corruption ; shall I not be thankful for
my field of corn, because divers weeds are mingled therewith;
shall I cast away the kernel, because it is compassed about with
a shell ? Luther, in the beginning of the reformation, met
with many errors, and he comforted himself with this ; When
the corn is grown, the weeds will die alone. Meaning
this ; when reformation is come to greater strength, errors
would die alone. It is said of our Lord and Saviour Christ,
" He was numbered among transgressors :" Isa. liii. 12.
Should not I love Christ, or own Christ, or be thankful for
Christ ; because he was numbered among transgressors ?
The errors of the time, you say, are the transgressors of the
time. Shall I not love the truth, and own the truth, and be
thankful for the truth because it is numbered among the
transgressors, the transgressors of the time ? Blessed is the
man that can see a beauty in truth when it hath a scratch
ed face. And indeed every truth hath a beauty ; and the
Lord hath given you out many truths in these times that ye
were ignorant of before. Beloved, I do not say that ye
should be thankful for any error, we ought to be grieved for
any error. But shall we be so mindful against error, crying
out against error, error; as not to be thankful for any truth
we have ? If the whole world were spread with error ; that
one truth living : " Jesus Christ died for sinners ;" there were
matter of praise. The more error does prevail, the more
mercy it is, that you are kept. And truly the only way, or a
special way to be kept from error, is to be thankful for truth.
As a way to be kept from sin, is to be thankful for grace : so
a special way to be kept from error is to be thankful for
truth. So then, notwithstanding all this ; yet you are to be
thankful : thankful even in this condition, though many
errors, yet ye are to be thankful, to be in all things thankful,
in every thing thankful. Thankful when ye are straitened,
as well as when ye are most enlarged. Thankful when ye
SEW. 5.] IN EVERY CONDITION. 107
are deserted, as well as when God shines upon you. Thank
ful when ye are afflicted, as well as when ye are delivered.
Thankful when ye have no victories, as well as when ye have
victories. Some, it may be, now will praise the Lord and
be thankful ; hearing of so many victories ; and because
there may be some hopes of peace : but beloved, it is our
duty to be in every thing thankful : it is the will of God our
Father, that we should be thankful in every thing, thankful in
every condition.
Give me leave to propound some few encouragements
hereunto : for it seems a hard thing to be thankful in every
thing, in every condition.
If you can be thankful in every thing, even when ye are
low, you will engage God for to raise you up : if when you
are weak, you engage God for to make you strong : if when
you are deserted, you engage God to enlarge you, to shine
upon you. It pleases God much, you cannot please him
more, than to be thankful in every thing, even when ye are
low. For example, suppose a man be convinced of sin,
troubled in conscience, hath no assurance of God s love in
Christ ; if he should die, he does not know whether he shall
go to heaven or hell. Yet notwithstanding, says he, what
ever become of me, I bless the Lord that I am come hither :
I was going on in the most sad condition : the Lord hath
opened my eyes, I see indeed nothing but the wrath of God,
due for my sins ; but yet blessed be the Lord, that hath
opened my eyes to see this : Aye, says the Lord, dost thou
bless me because I have opened thy eyes for to see thy sins ?
I will open thine eyes for to see thy Saviour. Dost thou
bless me because I have opened thy eyes to see thy own
heart, and the naughtiness thereof ? I will open thy eyes to
see all my grace, and I will cause all my grace to pass before
thee. This engages God, when we can be thankful for
every thing ; and when ye are low, it engages God much
unto you.
Again, Hereby your afflictions shall be made blessings
unto you. You say, How shall I know whether an affliction
be a blessing or no ? Take this note : when thou canst bless
God under an affliction, then thy affliction is made a blessing :
thy very blessing of God under an affliction, makes thy
affliction a blessing to thee. Job, was greatly afflicted, and he
108 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
blessed God and his affliction was a blessing to him : so shall
it be with you. Touch but thy affliction with a thankful
heart, it will turn it into gold.
Moreover, the more you can be thankful for any thing
when ye are low ; the more peace shall your heart and your
soul be filled with. Some of you, it may be, want peace of
conscience; and ye say: Oh, that I had peace within, what
ever become of me outwardly : whatsoever the world do with
me, oh, that I had peace within.
To this purpose consider Phil. iv. ; says the apostle : " Be
ye in nothing careful," verse 6, " but in every thing, by
prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving; let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God which
passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus." This is the way to get a great, and
a full peace. Be in nothing careful : be in all things thank
ful, then the peace of God shall guard you.
Besides, hereby ye shall shame the devil : your great ad
versary shall retreat from tempting of you, as one ashamed
and confounded. Some there are that shame the saints : and
are a shame to the ways of God, and to the gospel : some
there are that shame the devil. The devil said unto God con
cerning Job, " Do but touch him, and he will curse thee to thy
face." Job i. 11. Says the Lord, " He is in thy hand, only save
his life :" and Satan touched him : what then ? " The Lord
giveth, the Lord taketh away ; blessed be his name." The
devil said he would curse God, and he blesses God : see
how the devil is shamed and confounded here. Some there
are that make the devil s words good : " Touch him, and he
will curse thee to thy face :" and so do some do, and thereby
they are a shame indeed unto the people of God, and the
ways of God. But when people can bless God under afflic
tion : if ye in every thing be thankful ; the devil is con
founded, God is much honoured. Wherefore, beloved, as
ye desire that God may be much honoured by you, the devil
confounded, your own peace settled, all your afflictions
turned into blessings, and the Lord engaged to you, to raise
you up when ye are low : learn out this lesson, not only to
be thankful when ye are full, but to be thankful when ye are
empty, to be in every thing thankful, this is the will of God
your Father.
SER. 5.] ix EVERY CONDITION. 109
How shall we do this, you will say, how must that be
done ?
Some few things in answer to that, and so I will wind up
up all.
Observe your own temper, and accommodate yourselves ;
put thyself upon that duty, and that grace, which thine own
disposition lies next unto. God hath given us this indul
gence. " Is any afflicted ? let him pray : is any merry ? let
him sing psalms." According to your disposition, says he,
that is the meaning ; so let your work be, so let your grace
be. It may be thou canst not pray ; by that time thou hast
been at another duty that thy disposition lies more unto,
next unto, thou wilt be fit to pray. It may be thou canst
not sing; by that time thou hast been at prayer, which thy
disposition lies next unto, thou wilt be fit to sing. Let us
not be more cruel to our souls than God is ; he hath given
us this indulgence : observe yourselves, accommodate your
selves ; and by this means you shall be able upon all occa
sions to bless and praise the Lord.
Again, Be sure of this, that you maintain your assurance
fresh, and green. It is a hard thing for a man to be thank
ful in every thing that wants assurance ; come to him for to
praise God for a great work : but it may be, said he, it came
in judgment to me, I have no assurance. Strengthen your
assurance in these three things, and it will cause continual
thankfulness, thankfulness in every thing : assurance of your
interest in Christ, and union with him : assurance that all
comes from love : assurance that all things work together
for your good : and then if the Tempter come, and says,
Wilt thou praise the Lord; dost thou not see how all thy
acquaintance hath left thee ; and all thy friends left thee ?
you will answer again, Aye, but all this is for my good, and
all this comes out of love, and so whatever falls out, you will
be thankful in every thing.
Desire not much : he that desires much, will expect much ;
and he that expects much, he will not be content with little,
much less thankful for every thing. Jacob was a plain
hearted man ; he desired little, he was content with less, he
was thankful for every thing. So must you be.
And if you do desire much, let your eye be as much upon
what ye have, as upon what ye want. The covetous rich
110 THANKFULNESS REQUIRED [SER. 5.
man, having a desire to have more, is not thankful for what
he hath ; if you come to borrow money of him, says he,
I have need to borrow of you, I am a very beggar, I have
nothing. His eye is so much upon what he would have, he
forgets what he hath. So many times it falls out spiritually ;
let your eye therefore be as well upon what you have, as
upon what you want.
Be sure of this, that you maintain the sense of your own
unworthiness. No man more thankful than David, no man
more sensible of his unworthiness than David ; continually
thankful, continually sensible of his unworthiness. There is
a twofold unworthiness : creature unworthiness and sinful
unworthiness. Accordingly a twofold sense of unworthiness;
one that arises from the apprehension of creature unworthi
ness, of emptiness of that is in us as creatures ; and another
that arises from sense of guilt of sin. See them both in the
viiith Psalm. The psalmist there praises the Lord : verse 1,
" O Lord our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.
When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, what
is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that
thou visitest him ?" He praises the Lord. This thankfulness
was raised from the sense of unworthiness, it was creature
unworthiness : " Lord, what is man ? O Lord our God, how
excellent is thy name in all the earth. Lord, what is man ?"
Look into the cxvith Psalm, and there ye find the psalmist
praising God upon the sense of unworthiness too : " Gracious
is the Lord, and righteous ; yea, our God is merciful." And
at the 12th verse, " What shall I render to the Lord for all
his benefits towards me ?" Here is his thankfulness. It was
raised upon sense of unworthiness. But what unworthiness ?
Sinful unworthiness : verse 11, (f I said in my haste, All men
are liars : what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits
towards me?" He was sensible of his own unworthiness, and
it was a sinful unworthiness : " I said in my haste, All men
are liars :" yet God is gracious to me : " What shall I render
to the Lord for all his benefits ?" So now it will be with you.
If ye can but keep the sense of your own unworthiness, you
will say, I was a wretched and a great sinner, and though I
have but little in the world, yet any thing is too much for one
that was such a great sinner as I was ; you will be thankful
for every thing, in every thing thankful; maintain but this.
SER. 5.J IN EVERY CONDITION. Ill
Beloved, ye see how in all these troubles of these times God
hath given us our lives for a prey. As the Lord said con
cerning Job : " Only spare his life," chap. ii. 6 ; so hath the
Lore said concerning us, Spare their lives. God did not deal
so by our Saviour Christ. When our Saviour Christ came
into the world, he met with hard dealing from wicked men,
and his life went for it. He did not say, " Only spare his
life;" his life went for it. You have more, in this respect,
than our dear Saviour had ; you have your lives given you
for a prey in these evil times, our Saviour had not. Shall we
not, then, be thankful in every thing ? having more than our
Saviour had in this respect, shall we not be thankful for any
thing ; for any thing that God gives us shall we not now be
thankful ? How many are there that walk directly contrary
unto this truth that I have spread before you: in every thing
thankful : and they in nothing thankful, in nothing contented :
husband godly, children hopeful, estate comfortable, and yet
never contented ; servants cannot please, children cannot
please, friends cannot please ; never contented. Oh, is this
a duty, to be in every thing thankful; how do they lie in a
sin, and the breach of this commandment, that are in nothing
contented, never pleased. Beloved, I do not now come to
call for contentment and patience and quietness under afflic
tion, but for thankfulness ; and not for thankfulness only,
when all goes well with you, but for thankfulness in every
thing. Oh, therefore, let us return unto our own souls, con
sider how it hath been with us. If there be ever a discon
tented man or woman, read this sermon, consider this scrip
ture. The Lord says, " Be in every thing thankful ;" and
thou hast been in nothing thankful, in nothing contented in
thy condition. Oh, how will you answer it at the great day ?
Let me leave this exhortation with you, in your bosoms ; the
Lord knows into what condition we may come, whether into
affliction, or persecution, or desertion, or of temptation ; re
member here lies your duty before you, lay it up in your
hearts : " It is the will of God, even our Father, that we
should be thankful to him in every thing ;" not in some things,
not when things go well only, when we have victory ; but in
all things thankful; " In every thing give thanks unto God;
for this is the will of God our Father concerning you."
SERMON VI.
THE WOMAN OF CANAAN.
A SERMON, PREACHED AT CHRIST S CHURCH, OCTOBER 26, 1647.
MATTHEW xv.
"21. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre
and Sidon.
22. And behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts,
and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, Lord, thou Son of
David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and
besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.
24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.
25. Then came she and worshipped him, saying. Lord, help me.
26. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children s
bread and cast it to dogs,
27. And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs whiih
fall from their master s table.
28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, woman, great is thy
faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made
whole from that very hour."
YE have in this story a great storehouse of heavenly com
fort and instruction. I shall labour, briefly, to open it at this
time unto ye.
The words tell us of a great miracle wrought by our Saviour
Christ : casting out the devil in one that was possessed.
Concerning which cure two things are considerable : where
this cure was wrought; and by what means it was wrought.
Wrought in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon ; and by means of
a woman s faith, for our Saviour said, " O woman, great is
thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daugh
ter was made whole." The greatness of this woman s faith
is set out by three great temptations that she did meet withal
SfcR. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 113
when she came and besought our Saviour for the cure of her
child.
First, " lie answered her not a word ;" but was silent to
all her misery and prayer. This was a great temptation, a
great trial.
Secondly, He was not only silent, but when the disciples
spake for her, he seems to give her a flat denial : " I am not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And this
was a further and greater temptation.
Thirdly, When yet she pressed in upon him, he seems to
give her the repulse, and to call her dog : " It is not meet to
take the children s bread and to cast it to dogs." Here was
a great temptation indeed. But her faith wrought through
all these temptations. And because, as ye shall see and hear
in the opening of the words, that there is none of all these
temptations but one time or other may befal the best of God s
children, it will be good for us to observe how this woman s
faith wrought through every temptation, that we may do the
like in our temptations.
But before we come unto that. The Holy Ghost here
would have us take notice, first, from whence Christ came, and
upon what occasion. Secondly, Whither he came, and how
he was received.
First of all, it is said here, "Then Jesus went thence:" he
went from the Jews. He had been, as ye read in the former
part of the chapter, disputing with them against their tradi
tions : " Ye have made the commandments of God void
through your traditions," verse 6. Whereupon they were
much offended, verse 12. Our Saviour now then goes from,
them; they were offended, and rejected his words, and he
goes from them. These were the Jews that dwelt at Jerusa
lem, not the meanest neither, the scribes and pharisees, the
learned men of that time, and those that were most in account
for holiness. See what entertainment the gospel finds in
Christ s own time among the learned and those that were ac
counted the most holy : scribes, learned men, and the phari
sees, the most precise and strict men of those times, and yet
here the gospel is rejected by them. Christ goes away, Christ
goes from thence upon this account.
None more rigorous opposers of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, than learned men, and such as go for holy and pre-
VOL. IV. I
114 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SfiR. fi.
cise men, being wedded to their own inventions : so were
these here. Know ye, therefore, men wedded to their o\vn
inventions, though never so learned, or never so strict in
their lives ; little hope that the gospel or the Lord Christ,
should find entertainment among them. Be not offended
though this fall out.
Jesus went from thence : but whither went he ? The text
says, " He departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon."
How so ? Our Lord and Saviour Christ, commanded his
disciples, that they should not go into the way of the gen
tiles ; but says he, " Go and preach to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel, but go not into the way of the gentiles,"
Matt. x. 5, 6. Will Christ forbid his disciples and apostles
to go into the way of the gentiles, and will he himself go
into the way of the gentiles, go into Tyre and Sidon, how can
this be ? Some answer it thus : That the law-giver was not
bound unto the law that he made himself. Others answer it
thus : That our Lord and Saviour did not go unto Tyre and
Sidon for to preach, but he went thither to be hid. And in
Mark vii., where ye have the same story, " From thence he
arose and went to Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house,
and would have no man know it." In this respect now, he
did not forbid his disciples to go into the way of the gentiles.
But the answer is clear, both in Matthew xv., and that
same of Mark, " He departed c ra^rj unto the coasts of
Tyre and Sidon." And in Mark vii. 34., " He arose and
went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon." He went unto
some place of Judea ; he did not go into the way of the gen
tiles, but he went unto some town and place in Judea, which
was upon the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And here now he being, a woman comes unto him, who is
described at verse 22., from her country ; and from the
action which she did. " Behold a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coasts, and cried unto him saying," &c.
A woman, a woman of Canaan, and " behold a woman of
Canaan." As if that the Holy Ghost would have us take
special notice of it, " Behold, a woman of Canaan came unto
him." The Canaanites were of all others the most wicked :
the Jews were for to cast them out of their nation, and not to
converse with them : in the Jews account they were dogs.
And therefore our Saviour says afterward, " It is not lawful
SER. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 115
to cast children s bread unto dogs." She was a Canaan-
ite. But now this woman, this Canaanite, she believes ;
comes unto Christ, and believes greatly : " O woman, great
is thy faith."
Pray let us observe the wonderful dispensation of God
here. The Jews that Christ was sent unto, they rejected
Christ : a Canaanite that is called a dog, receives Christ.
Oh, the wonderful dispensation of God s grace. Mercy takes
those in, and free grace takes in those into Christ that are
most unlikely. The Jews they were called the children of
the kingdom; the children they turn dogs: " Beware of the
concision, beware of dogs," Phil. iii. 2. Children turn dogs :
and dogs turn children : the Canaanite, a dog, becomes a
child and believes ; and the Jews that were the children of
the kingdom, they turn dogs and rend Christ ; oh, what free
grace and love is here. Who would rest upon any out
ward privilege though it be never so great ? Who would be
discouraged in regard of any unworthiness though it be never
so much ?
But what says the woman ? Says she, " Have mercy upon
me, O Lord thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil." " Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou
son of David." Why does she call him the Son of David,
and not rather the son of Abraham ; and not rather the son of
Adam ; and not rather the Son of Man ? as Christ was often
called ; why does she here call him the Son of David ?
We find in Scripture, that Christ and David did often ex
change names. " And David your king shall reign over
you," Jer. xxx. 9. A promise is made to the Jews yet to be
converted ; that is, Christ, David your king, and not Abra
ham, shall reign over you ; but David your king. David was
the king of the people of God, and was to feed them : and
so Jesus Christ is king of the church, and feeds the people
of God. Abraham was not a king, David a king ; and there
fore, thou Son of David, and not thou Son of Abraham. And
then, Messiah ordinarily among the Jews was called David.
And therefore this woman here says, " O Lord, thou Son of
David."
She does first of all acknowledge his Deity ; and therefore
she calls him Lord, " O Lord :" she does acknowledge his
humanity, and incarnation ; and therefore she says, " Thou
i 2
116 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SEll. fi.
Son of David." Her faith was rightly planted ; here now
ye have her faith in the mustard seed ; look but down
a few verses, and you find it grown up into a great tree, that
the birds of the air, and the saints may come and build their
nests in the branches of her faith, But here it is planted.
She had in her own country, some that by exorcism did un
dertake for to cast out devils : she does not go to them : she
had her own gods in her own country, she leaves them, and
she singles out Christ, and she singles out that name, title,
and attribute of Christ, wherein was most of the covenant,
and most of the promise : and her faith now, being thus
rightly planted, it rises up unto great perfection, she comes
on with boldness.
But stay, O woman, a little, thou art a great sinner, thou
art a Canaanite, and so a dog, and what dost thou coming
unto Jesus Christ ? I know what I do, might she say, I do
not come to Peter, I do not come to James, I do not come to
John ; but I come to Christ, and I come to mercy, to
mercy itself. I do not plead mine own righteousness, or
mine own patience, or my humility, or prayer, or perseve
rance in prayer ; but I plead mercy, " Have mercy on me, O
Lord." Behold a miracle in the midst of a miracle, says
Chrysostom. The angels in heaven cover their faces in be
holding the glory of Jesus Christ; and a poor woman here
on earth comes with boldness : the cherubims and seraphims
in heaven, says he, fear before Christ; fear above, and faith
below ; fear in angels, faith and boldness in a poor woman,
she comes with boldness.
If faith be true and right, it lays aside all one s own righ
teousness, and comes unto naked mercy ; passes by all other
helps and means, singles out Christ, that name and title of
Christ that hath most of the covenant, and of God s love in it.
She does not only come with boldness, but she comes with
prayer, " Have mercy upon me," &c. She comes praying,
for she came believing. * Faith and prayer well go together.
Prayer is the issue of faith. Faith is prayer in the coal, and
prayer is faith in the flame ; she comes praying. And mark
also, she comes with love ; and such love, as makes another
body s infirmity and weakness one s own : for she does not
say thus, " My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil,"
have mercy on my daughter ; but have mercy on me : her
. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 117
daughter s vexation is her own, her infirmity is her own.
Faith wrought the love here. Oh, that parents would imi
tate this woman, and go unto Jesus Christ for their children
that are vexed with devils. If a child be sick in body, a pa
rent will run to God and cry for help ; but children s souls
may be vexed with devils, every lust and sin is a devil, and
they do not run to Christ, and say, Oh, Lord, have mercy
on me ; for my daughter, or my son, or my child is vexed
with an unclean devil, or a profane devil ; but this woman,
having planted her faith rightly, her faith here it does work by
prayer, and it works by love, and she says thus, " Have
mercy upon me, O Lord, thou Son of David, my daughter is
grievously vexed vuth a devil."
But what now is Christ s answer to her ? " He answered
her not a word." Now comes the temptation, the three
great temptations ; do not wonder that I call these tempta
tions. It is true, God tempteth no man, and Christ tempteth
no man ; but take temptation for trial, so Christ tempts, so
God tempteth. Satan, he tempts a man for to draw out
his sin ; but Christ tempts for to draw out our faith. Satan s
temptations are black within, white and sweet without ; but
Christ s temptations are black without, white and sweet
within.
The first temptation therefore, you have here, " He an
swered her not a word." Not a word ! Christ is called the
Word: the Word answers not a word. The fountain of
mercy seems to be enclosed ; as if he rejected her, and her
condition ; as if he cared not for it, nor for her ; he answered
her not a word. Here was a great temptation upon the
woman, a great trial ; for she might say thus : I have heard
" that the Lord heareth prayer ;" and now I come and pray
unto him, he answers me not a word; how is the Scripture true ?
I have heard that this man says, " Come unto me all ye that
are weary and heavy laden, and I will ease you :" and now
I do come unto him, he answers me not a word. The cen
turion came unto him, and he helped him. A poor leper
came unto him, and he helped him : my condition is worse
than any body s. Here was a great temptation, Christ an
swered her not a word.
Though Christ answered her not a word, he heard every
word ; in not answering her, he answered her. In not
118 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SER. 6.
speaking, Christ speaketh much, many times, for when he
speaks no answer to your prayers, the language of his actions
speaks thus : Pray on, cry on, and lift up your voice on high.
Christ holds the door close, not that he may keep you out,
but that he may make you knock the more. Christ lets you
continue praying, not because he does not regard your prayer,
but because he loves your prayer so well, that he would hear
your prayer again and again. Christ knows that strength
comes in wrestling.
It is no new thing, then, for believers to have no present, vi-
ble answer to their prayers. But mark, although they have no
visible answer to their prayers, they have invisible strength :
he answered her not a word to her prayer, but he assisted
her all that while in praying: he gives her no answer to her
prayer, but he gave her prayer, he gave her faith to continue
in prayer. So long therefore, as the Lord Jesus Christ does
send down his Spirit upon your heart in prayer ; though you
have no visible answer unto your prayer, yet if he uphold
your heart in believing, still to hang upon him, still to wait
upon him, your condition is not new, it is no other than
that which befals the best of God s children and true be
lievers : thus it befel this woman.
If this temptation do befal any of you as it befel this
woman, to have no visible answer unto your prayer ; pray
do as this woman did. What did she ?
He answered her not a word ; but still she does acknow
ledge that he was able to help her, does acknowledge his
Deity, and says, " Lord." So do you.
She does acknowledge ; that it is his office for to help :
and therefore she says, "Thou Son of David." So do you
also say in your heart, Though I have not help for the pre
sent, it is the office of Christ to help me ; he is the Son of
David.
She does not rest upon her own duty, or her own righ
teousness ; but she comes unto mere mercy, and she waits on
that. So do you also.
She does propound her misery, leave her misery at the
feet of Christ, and does not stint or limit him to this or that
means. " Lord," says she, " my daughter is grievously
vexed;" but she does not say how she would have her
daughter cured, she leaves that to Christ, only propounds
. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 119
her misery, and leaves that at the feet of Christ, to take his
own way, and use his own means. So do you also.
She continues yet praying, yea, when the disciples had
done. The disciples they said, " Send her away for she
crieth after us," verse 23. Christ made an answer to them,
and ye hear no more of the disciples, they had done. Thus
do you also, as this woman did, though your friends, and the
disciples of Christ that have been praying for you, be weary,
have done, and have no more to speak for you ; yet hold you
out, and continue praying. Thus did this woman, she would
not leave Christ, but she comes on afresh, she comes unto
him again.
What is Christ s answer ? " He answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Here now is the second temptation. And this indeed seems
to be greater than the former. Before, he answered her not
a word ; and now here is denial, seeming denial, tf I am not
sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This
temptation is greater : for now in this his dealing, his way
seems to run cross unto promises. The promise was made
unto the gentiles ; the Old Testament is full of it, Isa. xlii.
1. " He shall bring forth judgment unto the gentiles." verse 6.
" I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light
of the gentiles." And so in many places, mercy is promised
unto the gentiles. Here now our Saviour says, " I am not
sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." His
dealing with this woman seems to run cross to the promises.
Yea, now he comes to the great unanswerable objection ;
as if he should say thus : There are a company of poor lost
ones, that are my sheep, elected, predestinated to salvation
from all eternity ; and I am sent unto them, I am not sent,
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Whereupon
this woman might say, Nay then, what do I waiting any
longer ? for if I be not one of the elect, if I be not one of
Christ s sheep, then there is no hope for me. This was a
great, and a very great temptation, to lay these words before
her, a great trial, " I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of
the house of Israel." But mark her carriage ; she coes not
fall to dispute the matter of election, or predestination ; she
came and worshipped him, saying, "Lord help me," verse 21.
As if she should say, Lord, whether I be elected or not, I
120 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SER. 6.
do not know ; whether I be one of those lost sheep or no, I
cannot tell, but I am sure I am lost, and therefore, O Lord,
help nee. Observe,
A man s temptations may rise higher and higher, even
after prayer; and yet pray aright. This woman did pray
before, and her temptation arises after prayer, yet her prayer
right, and her faith right.
Observe this, that God s dealings, or Christ s dealings
with a man, may sometimes seem to be cross to his very
promise, and yet a man s condition right. So here with this
woman.
That it may be the case of some of God s children, to be
exercised about their election and predestination ; and temp
tations concerning election and predestination thrown in
upon them.
That in case any poor believer, that is a weak person,
weak in the faith, be tempted and tried about election or
predestination, the best way for the present is, to lay that
dispute by ; and to run to mercy, and say, u Lord help me :"
and for the present, not to dispute whether he be a sheep
or no, elected or no, predestinated or no, but run to Christ,
and go to prayer, and say, Lord help me, and lay the dispute by.
Again, As our temptations increase, so our faith shall
increase. The woman s temptations rose, so did her faith
too ; " She came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help
me:" still she held on and and hung upon Jesus Christ.
According to the increases of our temptations, so shall the
increases of our faith be.
If all this will not do, behold now a third, and a greater
temptation. " He answered and said, It is not meet to take
the children s bread and to cast it to dogs."
" It is not meet to cast children s bread to dogs" The
word in the original is, a whelp. A dog grown, or a mastiff,
may be, and is good for something, of great use ; but what
is a whelp good for, for the present, of what use ? It is not
meet to cast children s bread unto whelps.
" To cast children s bread." It intimates thus much, that
God does cast out some outward blessings upon wicked men
that are even dogs : but the bread of children is so dis
pensed, gospel bread is so dispensed, as nothing shall be lost.
Here was a very great temptation, and greater than the
. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 121
other. Dog is most unworthy. When the Scripture would
set out the unworthiness of a man, and the ahject condition
of any, he is called a dog. Goliah could understand this,
" Am I a dog, that thou comest out thus against me," 1 Sam.
xvii. 43. Am I so base, vile, and unworthy ? am I a dog ?
And so Mephibosheth, when he would acknowledge his own
unworthiness to David he calls himself, a dog, and a dead
dog. So Hazael, te Am I a dog ?" Yet says our Saviour
here, " It is not meet to cast children s bread unto dogs."
This woman now, her heart might have risen, and she
might have said thus, One would think I am no dog; I
am no dog; I am a woman, though a sinful woman, but I
am no dog : I have now come and spread my condition, and
misery before ye ; if ye will not relieve me, do not miscall
me ; if ye will not help me, yet do not abuse me ; if ye will
not help me, yet pity me, do not call me dog, I am no dog.
The Jews, that you call the children of the kingdom, they in
deed are dogs, they turn again and rend you, but I do not
turn again and rend you, I am no dog. Her heart might
have risen at this phrase : here was a great temptation now, a
mighty trial here in this third thing.
It is no new thing for true believers, God s own people, to
have their unworthiness objected to them. It is an ordinary
thing amongst men and women : I am unclean, I am unwor
thy of communion with the saints, communion with God s
people, with Christ, I am a dog, I am most unworthy ; it is
no new thing for true believers to have their own unworthi
ness objected to them.
But mark, how this woman s faith works through this
temptation. Says she, " True, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the
crumbs which fall from their master s table."
" True." The word is the same that in the Corinthians,
ye translate, protest. " I protest by our rejoicing, that I die
daily," 1 Cor. xv. 33. And it should rather be translated so ;
" Yea, by our rejoicing we die daily :" rather than in the
form of an oath, as it is there, it is the same word that is
here for, true.
Ye cannot charge a believer so deeply, or speak so meanly
of him, but he does think and speak as meanly of him
self: Lord, that dost call me a dog, and one that is most un
worthy ; true, Lord, I am most unworthy. Some, they will
122 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SER. 6.
dispraise themselves; but if you dispraise them too, then
they will be angry ; if you fall in with their own dispraises,
and say, It is true : then they will be angry. But a true be
liever, you cannot speak or think so meanly of him, but he
will say, True, Lord, true.
" Lord." Observe here, she calls Christ, Lord, when
Christ calls her dog. Lord, says she, though thou speakest
dishonourably of me, yet I will speak honourably of thee :
though I am a dog in thy mouth, thou art a Lord in my
mouth. A gracious heart, and a true believer, will speak
and think honourably of Jesus Christ, even then, at that
time, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall suffer the great
est dirt and reproach to be thrown upon him : True, Lord.
" But the dogs eat the crumbs." True faith finds out a
promise in the very refusal, in Christ s refusal : finds out en
couragement in the bowels of discouragement. True, Lord,
bread is for children ; that is the loaf, the piece that is cut off
the loaf; but the crumbs do as well belong to a dog, as the
loaf belongs to the child. And, Lord, thou sayestl am a dog,
therefore a crumb does belong to me. True faith, it gathers
in upon Jesus Christ, and gathers in upon him by that very
hand that seems to put the soul away from him : it makes
advantage of a discouragement, and gathers it upon Jesus
Christ even by that hand that does thrust it away. " The
dogs eat the crumbs."
Again, You may observe here, that the least of Christ is
highly prized with a true believer : a gracious heart, a true
believer does highly prize and value the least of Christ. A
crumb, a crumb ; oh, if I may have but a crumb ; a crumb
shall be welcome ; Lord, a crumb of mercy is welcome : the
loaves are for children, but if I can get a crumb I will praise
God for it, I will be contented. The least, the worst of
Christ in the eye of a believer is highly \alued, and he sets a
great price upon it.
Lastly, All this is said by a woman. Women usually are
not of that boldness, but more easily dashed out of counte
nance. Faith rises above our nature and above our natural
disposition. Faith had gotten into this woman s heart, and
she forgets her own disposition, she come like any man with
boldness upon Jesus Christ, follows him, and will never let
. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 123
him alone. Faith rises above our own dispositions and above
our natures.
From all this you may observe here, if you be tempted
with consideration of your own unworthiness, how you should
give an answer unto those temptations. Do as this woman
did : If I be a dog, Lord, yet I am thy dog ; and if I be a
dog, Lord, yet crumbs belong to me ; and if I be never so
great a sinner, mercy and grace is for sinners, and I come to
mercy. Oh, still, still hang upon Jesus Christ, still hang
upon Jesus Christ, and never let him go. Ab negando pro-
mittit, he does promise in denying. There was honeycombs
found in the body of the lion. Do but hang upon Jesus
Christ, hang upon him by faith, and you will find honeycombs
in the midst of all those temptations and discouragements
that you do meet withal. And though for the present he does
seem to give a denial unto all your prayers, yet at the last he
will own your prayers, he will own your faith, and he will say
unto thee, man or woman, " Great is thy faith : be it unto
thee even as thou wilt."
I come to the victory after this combat. " Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith :
be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Here, now, the Lord
does give a testimony of her faith, and he does give her the
mercy desired. First, he commends her faith, and, secondly,
he commends the greatness of her faith, " O woman, great is
thy faith."
Why does he rather commend her faith than other graces ?
She had other graces. Here is humility in this woman to be
seen ; here is a great deal of wisdom in this woman to be
seen ; here is prayer ; here is perseverance in prayer. Christ
commends none of these, but commends her faith. Why
does he rather commend her faith than any other grace ?
Faith does commend Christ above all the other, and there
fore Christ will commend faith above all other duties or
graces. Faith honours Christ, and Christ will honour faith.
It is faith that gives a being to, and is the root of all other
graces. He commends that. It is only faith that brings
Christ and the soul together; and therefore he does commend
faith above all other graces.
If the Lord Jesus Christ does commend faith so, why
should we not all labour especially to strengthen our faith.
124 THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SER. 6.
Get faith, you that have it not; and strengthen it, you that
have it. Get humility, patience, wisdom; be much in prayer,
and continue in prayer; but above all things get faith. Faith
is the grace commended by Jesus Christ above all other
graces ; therefore we should labour above all for to get faith,
and to strengthen faith. It is observed from this place, that
Christ commends none but the gentiles, the faith of the gen
tiles. He says concerning the centurion, " I have not found
so great faith, no not in Israel;" he was a gentile. And here
he says concerning this woman, " O woman, great is thy
faith ;" and she was a gentile. Whatever, therefore, thou
hast been ; though a Canaanite, though a sinner, though a
great sinner ; get faith, labour to strengthen thy faith, and the
Lord Jesus Christ will own thy faith at last. Though for the
present he seems to hide himself from thee, yet he will own
it at the last, and he will commend it at the last.
He commends here the greatness of her faith. Wherein
was the greatness of her faith ? Faith consists in the know
ledge of Christ, assent unto the truth, a relying upon God in
Christ in time of temptation; it is a coming to Jesus Christ,
an adherence to him. But the greatness of her faith lay in
this, that in the midst of all these temptations, yet she did
hang on Christ, and would not be beaten off by any of these
discouragements or temptations. Here was the greatness of
her faith.
The strength of faith does not lie in the assurance of our
salvation, or of God s love, or of the mercy that we desire
in prayer; one may have strong faith, and yet no assurance ;
I say, not only faith, but strong faith. This woman had no
assurance, that we read of, not assurance of the thing that she
begged, that the Lord would hear her prayer; she had no as
surance of it, only she hung upon Christ, and would not away.
And when he put her away, she gathered in upon him ; in
the midst of all temptation and opposition still she did hang
upon him. So, then, a man may have faith, and strong faith,
although he have no assurance.
And, upon this account, how many are there that have
strong faith, that think they have no faith all. Some think
they have no faith because they cannot say, Christ is mine,
mercy is mine, heaven is mine ; but yet, if in the time of your
temptation ye can hang upon Christ, and will not away from
. 6.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN*. 125
Christ, but will still hang upon him, still wait upon him ; you
have not only faith, but you may have strong faith, a great
faith, as this woman had. And let me tell you this for your
comfort : at the last the Lord will make a report of your faith
unto your own heart ; yea, he will make a report answerable
to your temptation ; for you may observe here, that as the
wound was made, so the plaster was laid. You have three
great temptations : answerably, now, the Lord Jesus Christ
does testify of this woman. First of all, " He answered her
not a word," would not own her, would not speak to her : now,
says he, " O woman/ Then he said that " he was not sent
but unto the lost sheep :" now he does own her for a sheep,
and he says she hath faith. Before, he says, " It is not meet
to cast children s bread to dogs :" this did argue that she
was a dog, one most unworthy : now, he says, that she is
most worthy; O woman, thou hast not onlv faith, but thou
hast a great faith ; " O woman, great is thy faith." So that,
I say, still hang upon Christ ; in all your temptations, in the
midst of all your discouragements, still hang upon Christ ;
and the Lord Jesus, he will not only make a report of your
faith unto ye, but, according as your temptations rise, so shall
the report of your grace be from the Lord Christ unto your
poor soul : therefore hang upon Christ.
He does not only here give a testimony of her faith, and
the greatness of her faith, but now he does give the thing :
" Be it unto thee as thou wilt." Christ can deny nothing to
a true believer. A believer may have what he will of Christ
at last. Christ cannot hold : though he do hide himself from
his brethren, as Joseph did, for a time, he cannot hold it out
always, he cannot hold out the siege always, but he will give
up himself to a poor believer; O poor believer, be it accord
ing as thou wilt; thou wouldest have grace, thou wouldest
have this or that mercy, be it unto thee even as thou wilt.
I will only take one lesson from all and so conclude.
And the great lesson that we should all learn from this
whole story is, to believe in the face of all discouragement, of
all opposition, all temptation ; still to hang upon Jesus
Christ. The very reading of this story provokes us here
unto. Whatsoever your temptations be, whatever your dis
couragements be, yet hang on Christ, never away, still wait
upon him.
12G THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. [SfiH. (>.
You say, it may be, But I fear Christ and the promise does
not belong to me.
But did Jesus Christ ever say unto ye with his own mouth,
" I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep," and thou art
none ? He said so to this woman, and yet she did hang
upon him, and he commended her for her faith.
But you will say unto me, I have been at prayer, I have
prayed long, and I hear nothing of all my prayers.
This woman did pray to Christ, he answered her not a
word, and yet she did hang upon him, yet she did believe :
and she is commended for her believing.
You will say, I am one that have been a great sinner, an
unclean wretch, even as a dog ; surely there is no hope and
no mercy for me.
Did the Lord Jesus Christ ever himself say to you, as he
said to this woman, seeming to call her dog ? yet she did
hang upon him, yet she did wait upon him, yet she did be
lieve, and the Lord commended her for her faith.
I pray, indeed, but it is my necessities make me go unto
God in prayer; and when I go unto God in prayer, my
necessities put me on.
And was it not so with this woman ? Her daughter was
grievously vexed with a devil, and thereupon her necessity
drave her unto Christ ; and yet, poor woman, she is welcome.
But I do not go unto Jesus Christ : I go not unto Christ
at all.
But Jesus Christ yet will come to you. This woman did
not come to Jerusalem, Christ went down unto the coasts
of Tyre and Sidon ; Christ came to her, and yet she be
lieved : this stood with faith, and Christ commended her
faith.
I have no assurance of Christ s love and mercy towards me.
Tell me, Had this woman any assurance of this mercy
that she prayed for ? She only brings in her wants, pro
pounds them to Jesus Christ, lays them at his feet, hangs
upon him ; and this was her faith, and she is commended for
her faith, and the greatness of her faith : " O woman, great
is thy faith." So that, do but now hang on Christ, though
thou hast not assurance of thy salvation, or of the love of
God, yet in the face of all temptations, and all discourage
ment, hang on Christ, never away, never be beaten off by
. G.] THE WOMAN OF CANAAN. 127
any discouragement, hang on Christ, wait on Christ, and the
Lord Christ will at last commend thee as thou wilt. How
shall people that go on in a continued way of doubting and
unbelief, ever look this poor woman in the face at the great
day of judgment, this poor Canaanitish woman ? How will
you be able, you that go on in a continual way of doubting
and unbelief, to look the Lord Jesus Christ in the face ?
Stir up yourselves, stir up yourselves, I beseech you, to this
great work of believing. I confess it is a hard thing to
believe, and harder to believe than to keep all the ten com
mandments. There is something in nature to contribute
towards the keeping of the ten commandments, but there is
nothing in nature to contribute to thy believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is a very hard thing to believe truly ; and
those that make it an easy matter, they do not know what it
is to believe. But read over this story, and your hearts will
be provoked to believe, to hang upon Jesus Christ. Do it,
and the Lord will commend your faith, and own you and
your faith.
SERMON VII.
A VINDICATION OF ORDINANCES.
PREACHED AT STEPNEY, JULY 15, 1649.
PREFACE.
GOOD READER. The Jews say, that there is not the least letter of the word,
upon which huge mountains do not hang. Luther saith, That one tittle of the
word is greater than heaven and earth. But our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
saith, " That heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away." Shall we then stand still, behold and see the ordinances of Christ
wrested from us, and not bear witness against it ? Upon this account, though
the entreaties of divers friends have been very pressing, I am not unwilling that
this Sermon concerning ordinances be brought into public view.
You may read in the Scripture, that in the times next before Christ and his
glorious coming, professors shall not keep their garments which they were used
to wear with honour. Therefore saith our Saviour, " Blessed is he that watch-
eth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame,"
Rev. xvi. 15. When shall this be ? In the time of the pouring out of the sixth
vial, which is immediately before the coming of Christ : for he saith, then,
" Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth," &c. In Matt. xxiv.
it is said, " Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall appear the
sign of the Son of Man," ver. 29, 30. What days are those? Even the days
when men shall say of Christ, " Behold he is in the desert, behold he is in the
secret chamber," ver. 26. Gone from the public ordinances, only to be enjoyed
in private. Who shall those be that shall say thus ? Such as would fain he
reputed prophets, such as have had a hand in the great works of God in those
times, and such as have been great and high professors ; for saith our Saviour,
" There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs
and wonders, insomuch as, if it be possible, they shall deceive the very elect,"
ver. 24. But when shall these things be ? Immediately before Christ s coming,
ver. 29, for saith he, " Verily this generation," that is, the generation on which
he spake of, not which he spake to, " shall not pass, till all these things be ful
filled." So that immediately before the glorious coming of Christ, men shall
depart from, and cast away the precious ordinances of Jesus Christ: which is as
well grief as comfort to us : grief, that there should be such decliuings ; comfort,
that our Lord is at hand. This declining is an ill sin, but a good sign : as an ill
sin, it is grief; as a good sign of Christ s coming, so it is comfort. And if our
Lord and Saviour be at hand, even at the door, who would not watch and keep
his garments ? Shall we not watch with him one hour? The scope and drift
of this Sermon is, to call upon your s and mine own soul to watch. Wherein is
proved, both in the general, that ordinances, and in particular, that such and
such ordinances ought to be still continued, and that new testament believers are
still to live under the same ; not that they should not Jive beyond them, in the
use of them ; for in the way of nature we are to use our daily bread, though we
SER. 7,] A VINDICATION , &c. 129
do live beyond it. Living under an ordinance as Christ s appointment, and
living beyond it in regard of divine enjoyment, are not repugnant : but that be
lievers should so live beyond the ordinances, as that they are not bound to the
use thereof, is the thing which this Sermon lies against.
I have not spoken of the Lord s day herein. There are divers treatises
abroad which do prove that an ordinance of Christ to be still continued ; and
the clearing and proving thereof, requires more time than an hour or two in
preaching would admit. Neither have I spoken much unto that objection,
namely, That all the ordinances of Christ do hang upon the ministry, and there
can be no ministry now, because those extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost are
wanting : for the question before me was not, Whether the ordinances may or
can possibly continue ? but, Whether they ought to continue ? Yet as to that
objection, I add, if you look into 1 Tim. i. 3, where the apostle Paul dotb set
down the qualifications of one who is fit to be a minister of the gospel; ye shall
not find one word declaring that those extraordinary gifts of the Hoi) Ghost, are
any part of the essential qualification of an elder or bishop. The apostle shews
how a man should be qualified that is made a deacon, ver. 8 12 ; how a widow
should be qualified who is to be taken into that number, chap. v. 9, 10 ; and how
a bishop or elder should be qualified, chap. iii. : but though he set down many
particulars of the qualifications of a man fit for that office, yet not one word of
these extraordinary gifts, plainly speaking this truth, that those gifts are not of
the essence of a minister of the gospel ; yea, where do we find that those ordi
nary elders chosen in the apostles time, Acts xiii. ; Titus i., were endued with
such gifts ? Apostles and evangelists, who were extraordinary officers, and not
to continue, had those gifts ; we read they had them, but where do we read that
the ordinary elders, who were to continue, had these extraordinary gifts of the
Holy Ghost constantly? We find that baptism was administered to those
persons who had none of these gifts. Acts viii. 15, 16, 17 ; that the Lord s
Supper was administered to Christ s disciples, before the Holy Ghost in those
gifts fell upon them, Matt. xxvi. ; and that the church s censure requires no
such gifts, Matt. <viii. Now therefore if the ordinances may be received without
them, and they are not of the essence of the ministry j why should any man
think that the ordinances of Jesus Christ do so hang upon these, that if these
be wanting, the ordinances cannot be used or administered ?
And as for the Lord s day, which is called the Lord s day, as the Lord s Sup
per is, because of the Lord s appointment and institution ; who doth not see how
the power of godliness hath grown and thriven under the droppings thereof?
What nation or kingdom is there under all the heavens, where the power of
godliness hath flourished more than in England ? Why ? Not excluding other
reasons of God s grace and free love to us, but because the Lord s day hath lived
more institution-wise in England, than in any other part of the world. And
what gracious man is there in all this nation who may not rise up and say to
this day, Blessed art thou amongst the days of the week : my soul doth, yea,
and all generations shall call thee blessed.
The other Sermon (the eighth in this volume) is about Grace and Gifts ; the
excellency of grace and love above gifts ; whereunto we shall do well that we
take heed, for if our gifts do wax wanton, they will despise ordinances, and kick
against grace itself, which they have the more cause to nourish, because they live
plentifully under the roof of grace. Happy is the man whose gifts do cherish
his graces, and whose graces do produce gifts : and as diversities of gifts should
not make us disagree or envy one another, but rather bind us in love to one
another ; so extraordinary enjoyments should not draw us from ordinary means,
VOL. IV. K
130 A VINDICATION" [SER. 7-
but quicken up our hearts thereunto. As if God do marvellously bless us without
prayer, and we be driven the more unto prayer by it, then it is of God and his
love ; but if it cause us to leave or neglect prayer, then it is perilous. Now
these are perilous times, for they are the last times ; wherefore, good reader, let
us rather desire to have plain grace than fine gifts, for this is the more excellent
way.
I have not had so much time to peruse these two Sermons as I would, for the
notes stayed a very little while in my hands ; but I find they are agreeable to
what I delivered in preaching, whereunto I have made some little addition. The
title, &c I left to my friends who desired the printing ; the mending of some
press-faults I must leave to the pen of the reader. Now the good Lord himself,
who hath often refreshed our souls with the sense of his love in Christ Jesus,
keep all our feet in his ways, and grant that we may hold fast what we have, lest
another take our crown.
Your s in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
" Unto Him shall ye hearken." DEUT. xviii. 15.
THESE words are spoken concerning our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, who is our great prophet; whose work and
office it is, to reveal and make known the mind and will of
God the Father unto us. Our duty therefore is, to hearken
unto him. And this is that inference which the Lord himself
makes here, " Unto him shall ye hearken." Only ye may
observe, that when the apostle Peter in Acts iii. doth cite
this scripture, he gives you a double exposition : for whereas
it is said in verse 19 of this chapter, " It shall come to pass,
that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he
shall speak in my name, I will require it of him ;" Peter in
Acts iii. 23 renders it thus, " And it shall come to pass, that
every soul which will not hear the prophet, shall be destroyed
from among the people." And whereas it is said here in the
text, " Unto him shall ye hearken ;" Peter in Acts iii. 23,
renders it thus, " Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever
he shall say unto you." So that this is the great inference
and use that the Lord himself doth make of this prophetical
office of Christ, " Unto him shall ye hearken."
It will be therefore worth our time to consider, what it is
for to hearken to him, this great Prophet. Know therefore,
that when he saith, " Unto him shall ye hearken ;" the mean
ing is, unto him alone, and to none else ; as, " Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God," our Saviour translates, " And
him only shalt thou serve." So here, " Unto him shall ye
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 131
hearken ;" that is, to him only, to him alone, and to none
else.
Now a man is said to hearken unto Christ, this great Pro
phet, either when he doth acknowledge, receive, and submit
unto his appointments ; or else when he doth obey his voice
with the obedience of faith. I say, first, a man is said to
hearken unto Christ, this great Prophet, when he doth
receive, acknowledge, and submit unto his appointments.
And therefore if you compare Matt. x. with Luke x, ye shall
find that hearing and receiving is the same thing. In Matt.
x. 40, " He that receiveth you, receiveth me." In Luke x.
16, " He that heareth you, heareth me." What is hearing in
one, is receiving in the other : so that I say, first, a man is
said to hear Christ, this great Prophet, when he doth receive,
acknowledge, and submit unto his appointments : this is our
duty. When it is said, fs Unto him shall ye hearken," this
is here commanded.
For the opening therefore, and pressing of this truth, I
shall labour,
First, To shew you, what those appointments of Christ,
this great Prophet of cur s, are, which we are to receive,
acknowledge, and submit unto, and thereby to hearken unto
him.
Secondly, That these appointments and institutions of
his, do still continue and bind us, and that we are still to
hearken to him therein : still he lives and speaks in those
appointments.
Thirdly, I shall answer to some objections, questions, and
cases of conscience concerning ordinances, and the institu
tions of Christ.
Fourthly, Shew you what a dangerous thing it is for a man
to turn his back upon, and ears from, the voice of this great
Prophet, speaking in his appointments and institutions.
Fifthly, How and in what manner this hearing work should
be rightly performed ?
First, If you ask me what these appointments are which
we are to receive, acknowledge and submit unto, and so to
hearken unto this great Prophet in ?
I answer, That if you look into the whole new testament,
you shall find the precepts of Christ are either moral, as the
ten commandments, or positive. As for the moral precepts of
K 2
132 A VINDICATION [SER. 7-
the ten commandments, though our Lord and Saviour Christ
hath added no new thing unto them more than what was be
fore, yet, as I may so speak, he hath put them into another
dress than what was formerly put upon them ; for saith he in
the vth of Matthew, " It hath been said by them of old,
Thou shalt not commit adultery : but I say unto you, whoso
ever looketh upon a woman to lust after her," &c. In this
vth of Matthew there are six cases that our Lord and Saviour
Christ speaks unto ; in three of them he makes mention of
the very words of the moral law ; as at verse 21, " Ye have
heard it was said of old, Thou shalt not kill." At the 27th
verse, " Ye have heard that it was said of old, Thou shalt
not commit adultery." So again, verse 33. But, now, when
he speaks of the other laws that were not of the ten com
mandments, ye may observe that he alters his manner of
speaking : " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for
an eye." He doth not say, Ye have heard that it hath been
said by them of old time. When, I say, he speaks of any of
the ten commandments, that clause is added; when he speaks
of the other three cases, that clause is not added.
Again, You may observe this, that those words, * Ye have
heard that it was said to them of old time;" should be rather
translated, as it is in some of your books, " Ye have heard
that it was said by them of old time ;" which appears by the
antithesis, or opposition, " But I say."
Again, You may observe, that when he saith, at the 17th
verse, " Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the
prophets, I am not come to destroy but to fulfil ;" those
words, according to the original, may be read thus ; " I am
not come to destroy but to fill up ;" for though Christ added
nothing unto the ten commandments, or moral law, yet, not
withstanding, he did more fully reveal and make known what
was and is therein commanded; for ourLord andSaviourChrist
did not barely speak against the false glosses and interpreta
tions of the Jews and Jewish rabbins, for he instanceth in
the words of Moses, and of the law itself. " It hath been
said by them, Thou shalt not commit adultery ; but I say,
Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust," &c. What, then,
were not unclean thoughts forbidden by the law, and in Mo
ses s time ? Yes : but when Christ came, he doth more fully
and clearly reveal what was before commanded and forbidden
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 133
in the law; and so though he hath made no new addition to
the law, yet in this respect he hath, as it were> made some
advance upon the very moral law, the ten commandments ;
and herein we are to hearken to him, this great Prophet, by
acknowledging, receiving and submitting unto these commands
thus opened and interpreted by him.
But now if you look upon the positive precepts or com
mandments of Christ, you shall find that Jesus Christ hath
given forth many that were not given forth in the times of
Moses, or of the old testament : for in the times of the old
testament circumcision was, now baptism is ; then the pass-
over, now the Lord s supper ; then their ministers were
priests and Levites, now pastors and teachers ; then the
whole nation of the Jews a church, now as men do believe
they are added to the church ; then if any man did sin pre
sumptuously he was to be cut off by the sword from among
the people, now to be cut off by the censures of the church.
So that, I say, if you look upon the positive precepts, there
are many that are now given forth by Christ which were
not given forth before in the times of Moses and of the
old testament ; and these, all these we are to receive, to ac
knowledge, and to submit unto, and herein to hearken to this
great Prophet.
But it will be granted on all hands, that there are many
appointments, institutions and ordinances which were given
forth by this great Prophet in the times of the new testament ;
but the question is, whether these are to continue still or no ?
We grant, indeed, that there were such appointments in
Christ s own time, and in the apostle s time; for the people
of those times, and of that generation : but the question is,
whether these still are to continue, and whether still we are
to submit, to receive, and to acknowledge these appoint
ments ; and so whether still we are to hearken unto Christ
herein ?
For answer hereunto, observe, I pray, the laying of Christ s
appointments, institutions and ordinances. If they be laid
and pressed upon universal and perpetual grounds, then they
are still to continue. Now you shall find that these appoint
ments, institutions and ordinance of Christ baptism, the
Lord s supper, particular churches, the ministry, church cen
sures, singing of psalms, and the like are laid upon such
134 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
universal and perpetual grounds, as to continue until Christ s
coming again.
I shall touch a little upon these particulars, and prove the
thing first by way of enumeration.
As for that of particular churches. You find in the book
of Revelation, that Christ speaks of things to come after
John s time, who lived the longest of all the apostles, at
chap. i. 1, thus : " The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass." And chap. iv. 1, at the latter end of
the verse, saith the Lord Christ to John, " I will shew thee
things which must be hereafter." Now in the ist chapter he
gives him a vision of the Son of Man walking between the
seven golden candlesticks ; and he tells us, at the last verse,
that those seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches ;
shewing that thus Christ would appear unto his people in the
way of churches after John s time, in the times that were to
come. And so in the close of the book of the Revelation,
after he had spoken of all things that should come to pass,
saith he, at the 16th verse, " I have sent mine angel to testify
unto you these things in the churches." Not in the church
in general, but in the churches. And if ye look into the first
epistle of Timothy, ye shall find, that the apostle Paul having
given directions and several precepts concerning bishops,
elders, deacons, widows, and about the ordering of the house
of God, which, saith he, is the church of God; he concludes
all with a solemn charge, chap. vi. 13, " I give thee charge,
in the sight of God, and before Jesus Christ, that thou keep
the commandment," not this, but the commandment, accord
ing to the old translation, and the original greek, " without
spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Which appearing doth synchronize with the judg
ing of the quick and dead. 2 Tim. iv. 1. But Timothy
himself doth not live so long, and therefore this charge lies
upon every minister, and others respectively, for so indeed
the charge is directed to the man of God, chap. vi. 11, who
by the same apostle is interpreted to be every minister. 2 Tim.
iii. 17. So that the ordering of God s house by bishops, or
elders, deacons and widows is still to continue, and therefore
particular churches and congregations for public worship are
still to continue.
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 135
As for the ministry, you know what the apostle saith in
Eph. iv. 11., speaking of Christ, " He gave some, apos
tles : some, prophets: some, evangelists : and some, pastors
and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
Well, but how long are these to continue ? read verse 13.,
" Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the know
ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea
sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And I pray are
we yet come unto this condition ? It may be some particu
lar man will dare to say it, that he himself is come unto
this condition, this stature of the fulness of Christ; but
mark what the apostle saith, till we all come in the unity of
faith. What a world of differences in faith are there now
amongst us ? but saith the apostle, these offices of the minis
try are to continue till we all come ; not till one man comes,
or two men come, but till we all come unto the unity of the
faith ; that is not yet come to pass, and therefore the minis
try is still to continue ; neither can it be said, that this unity
of faith is to be understood of the doctrine of faith ; for that
were to say, that the ministry were to continue till the doc
trines and rules for the ministry were given out, and then to
cease : and if ye look into Psalm Ixviii., from whence these
words are cited; ye shall find at verse 18, that Christ hath
given these gifts, " That the Lord God might dwell amongst
men." As if there were no abode or dwelling for God
amongst men, without these gifts ; and have we not need
still that God should dwell amongst us ? yea, and doth not
God still dwell amongst us ?
As for baptism; you know what our Lord and Saviour
Christ said to his disciples, Matt, xxviii. 19. " Go teach all
nations, baptizing them/ I do not insist upon those words,
" Lo, I am with you until the end of the world," though that
will carry it ; but I pray you mark those words, " Go teach
all nations, baptizing them." So that all nations are to be
taught and baptized ; baptism therefore, is not to end till all
nations be taught and baptized ; and is that done ? read
what is said in Matt. xxiv. 14. " And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness
unto all nations, and then shall the end come." But the end
is not yet come. When the gospel is preached unto all na-
136 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
tions, then shall the end come ; but the end is not yet come,
therefore the gospel still is to be preached unto the nations,
and they to be baptized, and so this ordinance of baptism is
to continue still.
As for that of the Lord s supper ; ye know what the apos
tle saith, " As oft as ye eat, &c., ye shew forth the Lord s
death till he come." That cannot be understood of the
coming of the Spirit ; for so he was come in the apostle s
time. But if ye look into 1 Cor. xi., ye shall see what a reason
the apostle gives, why he gave out the Lord s supper unto
the Corinthians, and they were to receive it; even such a
reason as reacheth unto us as well as to the Corinthians,
saith he, verse 23., " For I have received of the Lord, that
which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the
same night in which he was betrayed, took bread," &c. He
makes this the reason why he gave forth the Lord s supper
unto the Corinthians, and why they were to receive it, even
because that the Lord Christ did give it to his disciples in
the night when he was betrayed, and because he had thus
received of the Lord, &c. Now I appeal unto any man, Is
not this reason as good a reason upon us, as upon the Cor
inthians ? If indeed the apostle had made this the reason, I
have received a message from Christ, that you Corinthians
should receive the Lord s supper, then this reason had not
bound us as well as them, but the reason that he gives of
this dispensation, reacheth to us as well as them, and there
fore to continue amongst us as it was used amongst them.
As for the censures of the church, in case that any do of
fend and continue scandalously and obstinately in their sin ;
ye know what our Saviour saith in Matt, xviii., " Tell it un
to the church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him
be unto thee as a heathen man, and a publican." Now if
you look upon the verses before and after this text, ye shall
find that they do all bind us. Verse 10., " Take heed that
ye despise not one of these little ones :" that still continues,
So after this text. " Peter came unto Christ and said, Lord,
how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him ?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven
times, but until seventy times seven times," verse 21., yea,
look upon the whole chapter, and the other verses thereof,
and ye find that they do still bind us and continue upon us,
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 137
why therefore not this also, which you have at verse 17.
And if we mind 1 Cor. v., we may see that the apostle
Paul doth argue this censure of the church, from universal,
perpetual, and moral grounds ; cast out therefore the old lea
ven, why ? because " a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."
As for singing of psalms ; you know w T hat is said concern
ing our Saviour Christ and his disciples when they had re
ceived the supper Matt. xvi. 30., " And when they had sung
a hymn, they went out." It was a usual practice among
the Jews after the passover to sing a hymn : our Saviour
Christ did receive the passover then, but he did not sing a
psalm or a hymn between the passover and the Lord s supper,
but he takes the hymn and removes it from following the pass-
over, and hangs it upon the Lord s supper, to shew that it
should be a new testament ordinance.
And they all sang : for those that went out did sing, and
when they had sung a hymn they all went out.
And they all sang together : for if one of them only did
sing, then either our Lord and Saviour Christ alone did sing,
or some one of his disciples did sing alone : our Lord and
Saviour Christ did not sing alone, for the evangelist would
have told us so : John tells us, That our Saviour prayed then,
and he sets down his prayer in John xvii., and saith he, he
prayed, " and he said, Father, glorify thy Son," &c. So if
Christ had sung alone, John or some other evangelist would
have said that he sung, and would have given us his psalm
which he sung, as well as his prayer which he prayed : nei
ther can it be said, that they all sung because they did all
consent unto what he did : for they consented unto his
preaching, to the miracles which he wrought, and to his
prayer which he made ; yet it is not said, they wrought this
or that miracle when he wrought it ; or that they preached,
when he preached ; or that they prayed, when he prayed
alone : yea, where do we find in all the New Testament, that
they are said to do any thing that Christ did alone : surely
therefore he did not sing here alone, for it is said, " And
when they had sung," &c. Nor did one of his disciples sing
alone ; for to that kind of singing two gifts are required, the
gift of prophesy, whereby a man is able to speak in the con
gregation to the benefit of the whole body ; and the melo
dious gift of singing. Now those gifts were not yet given,
for Christ was not yet dead and ascended and therefore one
138 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
of the disciples did not sing alone, and if Christ did not sing
alone, nor one of his disciples alone, then they all sang together.
Aye, but if they did all sing together, how could it be to
edification ? For we read in Col. iii., that the apostle says
thus, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wis
dom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms, and
hymns, and spiritual songs." How can we teach and ad
monish one another if we sing altogether ? If a disciple do
sing alone, he may teach and admonish the rest.
For answer to that, I shall but acquaint you with the mis
reading of the words ; look upon the words in verse 16., and
the very right reading will take off this and other scruples. The
words are to be read thus, " Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one an
other : (there is a stop) In psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The
words do not run thus, Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in
psalms, stopping there, but in the Greek and original, the
words run thus, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another: (there
is the stop) In psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, sing
ing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." And thus there
is a better sense of the words too, and a greater dependence
of things together. So that I say, our Lord and Saviour
Christ and his disciples did all sing together, and if they all
sung together at the supper, why should not his practice
be a rule to us as well as his receiving the supper a rule to us ;
as it is pressed by the apostle in 1 Cor. xi., if Christ could
sing thus with his disciples without stinting the Spirit, in
whom the Spirit was without measure, then also we may sing
together, and yet not stint the Spirit ; but Christ and his
disciples did all sing together, and that for our example.
Thus whether you look upon one or another of these ordi
nances, ye find that they are still to continue, and that we
are to receive, acknowledge and submit unto these appoint
ments, and to hear Christ herein.
But besides these particulars, take three or four general
reasons for the continuance of them.
If that the word of the New Testament, as command
ing to believe, and promising to give the Spirit ; I say,
SEK. 7] OF ORDINANCES. 139
if this word do continue, then the ordinances of Christ are
still to continue. If the appointments, institutions, and
ordinances of Christ be not still to continue, then the word
of the New Testament, as the commandments of believing,
and the promise of giving the Spirit, do not continue
neither. There is the same reason : for, when we say that
the Lord Jesus Christ hath appointed baptism, the Lord s
supper, and other ordinances, what do men say ? True,
these were appointed indeed for those times, when Christ
and the apostles lived. But now I pray, may not the same
be said concerning the commandment of believing, and con
cerning the promise of giving the Spirit ? You say that you
are bound to believe ; how prove you that ? Say you, because
Christ hath commanded me. But I answer you with your
own answer, He commanded the men of those times only.
You say, that you shall have the Spirit; how prove you
that ? Christ hath promised it. But how prove you, that
the promise of the Spirit reacheth beyond those times ?
Look what you answer for the ordinances, that may be an
swered to the commandment of faith, and the promise of
giving the Spirit, and so for the whole New Testament. And
so both Old and New Testament will fall to the ground, and
then we return to heathenism.
If the doctrine of the ordinances be of the foundation of
our religion, then certainly the ordinances are still to continue,
for without a foundation there is no building. Now if you
look into Heb. vi., you shall find, that the doctrine of ordi
nances is of the foundation of religion, ver. 1, " Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith towards God, of the doctrine
of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrec
tion of the dead, and eternal judgment." What this baptism
is, I will not dispute ; what this laying on of hands is, 1 will
not now reason ; but certainly they must be ordinances.
Now look, saith the apostle, as the doctrine of the resurrec
tion, and eternal judgment, and repentance from dead works,
and of faith towards God, are fundamental doctrines ; so the
doctrine of baptisms, and laying on of hands, are of the
foundation. Now I say, if these are of the foundation, then
the ordinances must still continue. Neither can it be said,
140 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
that these doctrines of baptisms, and of the laying on of
hands, are to be laid aside, because the apostle saith, " Leav
ing these principles, let us go on to perfection " for thereby
he meaneth only in regard of his pressing, urging, and incul
cating thereof upon them ; as appears by the words of the
former chapter in the last verses : otherwise he should wish
them to lay aside the doctrine of the resurrection, eternal
judgment, and faith towards God, which he presseth unto in
the after part of this very epistle.
If this be a great difference between the ministration of
Moses in the time of the Old Testament, and the ministration
of Christ, and of the gospel ; that the ministration of Moses
and the Old Testament was not to continue, and the minis
tration of the gospel is to continue : then surely the ordi
nances of Christ are still to abide. Now look into 2 Cor.
iii., and there plainly you shall see this difference : " If the
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was
glorious, (at ver. 7>) bow shall not the ministration of the
Spirit be rather glorious ?" Ver. 1 1, " For if that which is
done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is
glorious." He makes this difference between the ministra
tion of the gospel and that of Moses, that one is to be done
away, and the other remains. Now if the ordinances were
not to continue and remain, what difference would there be,
as concerning this matter, between the ministration of Moses*
and the ministration of the gospel ? But the apostle here
plainly speaks that this is the difference, the ministration of
the one to be done away, the ministration of the other doth
still continue ; therefore the ordinances and the appointments
of Christ do still remain.
If there shall be ordinances in the most glorious times that
are to come, when there shall be a full pouring out of the
Spirit of God upon the children of men, then certainly they
are to remain now. And if you look either upon the last of
Isaiah, the iiird of Jeremiah, the xivth of Zechariah, or upon
other scriptures where mention is made of the most glorious
times that are yet to come ; ye shall find that there is
mention made also of ordinances in those times. Only let
us look into the xith chapter of the Revelation, and ye shall
find there, at the 15th verse, " The seventh angel sounded,
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 141
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." Here are
plainly the glorious times spoken of that are yet to come.
Well, shall there be any ordinances then ? Yes; for at the
19th verse, "And the temple of the Lord was opened in
heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his tes
tament." What is this but ordinances ? The ark, the visible
sign of the presence of God in way of ordinances ; and the
temple open, though it was shut before. But it is said in the
latter end of the book of the Revelation, there shall be no
temple. True, no Jewish temple, for there he speaks in that
chapter of the conversion of the Jews, and the bringing in of
the Jews ; but a Christian temple shall then be opened again,
though shut before in antichristian times, in those glorious
times the temple shall be fully opened again. Now, I say, if
that in those more glorious times, when the Spirit shall be
fully poured out upon the children of men, there shall be or
dinances, then certainly they are now to continue ; but so it
is : surely, therefore, the appointments, institutions and ordi
nances of Christ are still to continue ; we are to acknowledge,
receive and submit unto these appointments, and to hearken
unto Christ our great Prophet herein.
But what need of ordinances, for I enjoy God most in
private ; when I go unto God alone, when I am all alone in
prayer I enjoy God more than I do under the public ordi
nances, and therefore what need of them ?
Do you enjoy more of God in private ; what, more than
ever you did in public ? Where wert thou then converted ?
Wert thou not converted under the public ministry ? Ordi
narily men are converted by the public ministry ; and now
you have some good affections in private, doth that good
affection that you have in private arise to a higher enjoyment
of God than your first conversion to God ? Do you think
that a little affection or drawing out of the heart in private,
doth arise to a higher enjoyment of God than your first turn
ing to him ? This cannot be. Is it not an easy thing for a
man to think that God is most enjoyed when his heart is most
affected ? It is possible a man s heart may be more affected
when God is less enjoyed; such is the deceit of our hearts.
God is most enjoyed where God is most served. But, now,
suppose God were more enjoyed in private than under public
142 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
ordinances, T do but suppose it, yet were this no reason why
a man should lay by the public ordinances : for you are some
times in your closet at prayer, and there you enjoy God ;
sometimes you are below at dinner and supper, and you have
some enjoyments of God there. But, I pray, tell me, whe
ther do you enjoy God more at your ordinary dinner and
supper or in your closet in prayer ? Surely I enjoy God
more in my closet in prayer. And is this a reason why you
should never dine and sup again ? Yet, notwithstanding, how
do people reason thus : I enjoy God more in private, there
fore I must lay by the public.
But yet I have not only mine own experience, but I have
the experience of divers other precious souls : I know some
men and women that have left the ordinances, the public or
dinances, and they profess that they never enjoyed more of
God than since they have left the ordinances ; I have not,
therefore, mine own experience only, but I have the experi
ence of divers other gracious people.
Poor soul ! Wilt thou hang thy salvation upon another
man s experience ? Hath not our Lord and Saviour Christ
said, that many shall say, " Lord, Lord, we have prophesied
in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many
wonderful things in thy name ; and Christ will say unto them,
Depart, I know you not :" Hath not our Saviour said, " Not
every one that saith, Lord, Lord, but he that doeth the will
of my Father." What is the will of the Father ? The will
of the Father is, That ye hear his Son, " A voice was heard
from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye him."
How can ye hear him, and turn your backs upon Christ s
appointments ; is this the will of the Father ?
But now suppose it be so, that others give in their experi
ences, some that you look upon as godly and precious ; and
they say, I never enjoyed more of God than since I have
left the ordinances. Are there not also divers godly that
have said and say, I never enjoyed more of God than in the
ordinances ? Yea, and are there not a hundred of those to
one of the other ? Yea, and are there not some, if you go
to experience, are there not some that have laid by the ordi
nances, and by this lime are come home, as you say, by
weeping cross ? some that were in the last defeat at Burford,
who formerly had laid by the ordinances and said they lived
SER. 7-] OP ORDINANCES. 143
upon God, and in God immediately, stout-hearted cham
pions ; yet being condemned to die, they cried out, and said,
Oh that I might live but two days longer : Oh, that I might
live but one day longer : Oh, that I might live but one hour
longer: I am unprepared for death, I know not how to die.
And yet these men said before, that the ordinances were
nothing, and they lived in God, and upon God immediately ;
see what it came to, how their experience shrunk. And wilt
thou hang the salvation of thy soul upon the experience of
such people as these ?
But I do not go the way of experience, neither mine own
nor others experience, but I have scripture, at least I think
so, and there are three scriptures especially that do persuade
me; and the one is that in the Hebrews: "You shall no
longer teach your neighbour, but every man shall be taught
of God." Another scripture is that in John: "Ye need
not that any man should teach you, for ye are taught of God,
and have received the unction of the Holy One, and need
not that man should teach you." Another scripture is that
of Peter : " We have a more sure word of prophesy, unto
which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star
arise in your hearts." But now the day-star hath arisen in
my heart, and therefore why should I attend upon these
ordinances any longer ?
For answer, Let us I pray consider whether these scrip
tures do speak any such thing or no.
As for that of the Hebrews, chap, viii., the words run
thus : (( This is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, (verse 10) I will put
my laws into their mind, and write them in their heart ;"
verse 11, "And they shall not teach every man his neigh
bour, and every man his brother ; saying, Know the Lord,
for all shall know me." Mark the words, they do not run
as they are ordinarily cited by people, viz., They shall not
teach every man his neighbour, for all shall know the Lord ;
but thus, " They shall not teach every man his neighbour,
nor every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord." That
is, they shall not teach them as if they were to teach hea
thens, that knew not the Lord, but in gospel times they shall
teach a knowing people. If it were only said thus, They
144 A VINDICATION [SER. 7-
shall not teach every man his neighbour, but they shall be
all taught of God, then it were another case ; but the words
run thus, They shall not teach every man his neighbour,
saying, Know the Lord. There is that clause too. That is,
they shall not teach an heathenish, unknowing people, but
in the times of the gospel, they shall be taught by God, and
his ministers shall teach a knowing people.
As for the place in John, ye have it in the 1st Epis. ii. 27 :
" But the anointing which you have received of him abideth
in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as
the same anointing teacheth you of all things." Now if you
look into verse 18, you will find that these words are spoken
in opposition to antichrist, to the false unction. X^OTO? signi-
fieth, anointed. Antichrist is the false anointed. Little chil
dren, saith he, at verse ] 8, " It is the last time, and as ye
have heard that antichrist (the false anointed) shall come,
even so there are false anointeds, but (verse 20, says he) we
have an unction from the Holy One." So that plainly, he
speaks here of this unction as opposite to the false unction
of antichrist. " But (saith he, at verse 27) the anointing
which we have received of him, abideth in you, and you need
not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing
teacheth you/ Ye need not be taught by false anointings,
and antichristian anointings. That this is the meaning, and
that he speaks in opposition to antichristian anointing, ap
pears plainly by the words that go before, at verse 26,
" These things have I written unto you concerning them
that seduce you." So the meaning is, ye need not be
taught by man, or by those that are falsely anointed, as anti
christ is ; nor any otherwise need ye be taught by man, but
as the same anointing, Christ, teacheth, and Christ teacheth
by the public ministry of the word.
As for that place in 2 Peter i. 19, "We have also a
more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." Until ;
this until, doth not always denote an end of time, the end
of that time to be then, which this until doth relate unto ;
for example, David saith, " I will wait upon the Lord till he
shews mercy unto me." Would David wait upon the Lord
no longer ; when he had the mercy, would he not wait upon
SER. 7.] OF ORDINANCES. 145
the Lord then ? Is that the meaning : I will wait upon the
Lord till he shews mercy ; that is, only till I have it : was
he to make an end of his waiting upon the Lord when he
had received the mercy? No, that is not the meaning; but
saith he, I will wait on the Lord till he shews mercy ; be
cause the times in the interim are full of temptation and
trouble ; " I will wait upon the Lord till he shews mercy unto
me." So the Lord saith to Christ, " Sit thou on my right
hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Till ! what
no longer ; is not Christ to sit for ever at the right hand of
the Father ? Yes, yet saith the Father, sit thou on my right
hand till; not that then when the enemies of Christ are
brought under, he shall sit no longer at his Fathers right
hand, for he shall sit there for ever. So here, Ye shall do
well that ye take heed, " till the day-star arise in your hearts."
Not that they should leave taking heed unto the word then,
but because of the temptations, trials, and dark condition
that they should be in before ; he saith, Ye do well to take
heed until the day-star arise in your hearts. So that thus
now you see, there is nothing in these scriptures that do hold
forth any such thing as this, any such sense and meaning as
this objected.
But the apostle Paul saith, that the ordinances are only to
continue till Christ come: for saith he, 1 Cor. ii. 26, "As
often as ye eat of this bread, and drink this cup, ye shew
forth the Lord s death till he come." Now he is come al
ready by his Spirit to my soul, therefore this ordinance of
the supper is to continue no longer to me, and so no other.
And do you think that in this sense Christ was not come
in those times when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, was
Christ come to none of the Corinthians by his Spirit ? Read
the 1st Epis. xii. " Unless I go, (saith Christ) the Comforter
will not come." When Christ ascended, the Comforter
came ; in that sense therefore Christ was come in the apos
tles time, yet they were under ordinances then.
But he was not come in such a degree of the Spirit as
now he is.
No : either, then, you have a greater degree of the Spirit
in regard of gifts or in regard of grace ; if you have a greater
degree of the Spirit in regard of gifts, why do you not speak
with tongues, and work miracles, healing, &c., as they did ?
VOL. IV. L
146 A VINDICATION [SER. 7-
and a greater degree of the Spirit in regard of grace you have
not, for are you filled with all goodness ? so were they too,
Rom. xv. 14, yet they were under ordinances : or is the gos
pel come unto you in power, so that you are an example to
those that believe ? so were they too, 1 Thess. i. *J } 8, yet they
were under ordinances : or do you live in God, and is your
life hid with Christ in God ? so it was with them too, Col. iii.
3, yet they were under ordinances. And will you venture the
salvation of your soul upon this point, that you have a greater
degree of the Spirit than they had in those times ; which you
must do if you cast up the ordinances upon that ground. But
I suppose it will be granted that Christ s coming and appear
ing is all one : and if ye look into 2 Tim. iv. 1, his appearing
and judging of the quick and dead go together. And is that
time come ? The angel saith, Acts i., that as the disciples
saw him go away, so he should come again ; and they saw
him go away personally, therefore his coming is personally :
but he is not yet come again personally, and therefore, accord
ing to the Scripture, the Lord s supper, and so ordinances
which hold forth his death and first coming, are still to con
tinue : why should it, therefore, enter into any of our hearts,
that we are to lay aside the precious ordinances of the Lord
Jesus Christ our great Prophet ?
But we do not deny the ordinances ; we grant that the or*
dinances are still to continue ; but they are lower dispensations,
for the weak only, not for those that are strong.
No ! not for those that are strong ! why ? were there none
strong among the Romans, among the Thessalonians, among
the Corinthians ? Saith the apostle, " You that are strong,
bear with those that are weak." And yet they were under
ordinances. Aye, but they were not so strong, and had not
so much of the Spirit, and were not filled with the Spirit.
Stay then a little. First, We have it granted that the ordi
nances are to continue upon those that are weak. Secondly,
That they are to continue upon those that are strong; but, it
is said, that if a man be so strong, then not. Now, then, let
any man shew that the ordinances are to continue upon those
that are weak and upon those that are strong, but if a man
come unto such a degree of strength, then they are not to
continue upon him. Where is that degree mentioned in
Scripture ? Let any man shew that degree. The Scripture
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 147
doth speak the contrary; for it is said that Stephen was filled
with the Holy Ghost, and yet he was made a deacon of the
church, arid was under ordinances. Filled with the Holy
Ghost : here is a high degree, and yet under ordinances.
And if that the Spirit of the Lord be therefore poured out
in the fulness of it, that men may be enabled for to walk with
God under his ordinances, then the fulness of the Spirit is
no reason why ordinances should be laid aside. Now I pray
look into the xxxvith chapter of Ezekiel, and you shall find
that the Lord speaking concerning the new covenant, pro-
miseth thus, ff I will put my Spirit within you (at the 27th
verse) and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall
keep my judgments and do them." I will put my Spirit
within you, and cause you to walk, &c. The word in the
Hebrew signifies, to prepare, as we prepare and dress our
meat, or as sacrifices were dressed for the offerings : so saith
the Lord, I will put my Spirit within you, and will prepare
you, or adapt and fit you for to walk in my statutes ; the
Spirit is therefore put into us, that we may be prepared and
fitted to walk in God s statutes. And saith he, "Ye shall
keep my judgments, and do them." I will not only give you
my Spirit to keep my commandments and do the things I
command you, but ye shall keep my judgments, and my sta
tutes, and therefore I will give you my Spirit that ye may be
fitted and thus adapted to walk in my statutes and keep my
judgments. Yea, more plainly yet, in the xith of Ezekiel,
where the Lord opening the new covenant, saith, at verse 19,
" I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit with
in you, and I will take away the stoney heart out of their
flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh, that they may
walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances," verse 20. Now
I say, if the Spirit of the Lord be therefore given, that a man
may be more fitted to walk with God under ordinances, then
the fulness of the Spirit cannot be a reason why you should
lay aside ordinances ; but thus it is, the Spirit of the Lord is
therefore given that we may walk with God in his statutes,
and in his judgments, and keep them and hold them ; yea,
and if we look into the xth chapter of the Acts of the Apos
tles, we shall find that baptism with water is therefore ad
ministered, because men had received the Holy Ghost and
the gifts thereof: verse 44, " Whilst Peter spake, the Holy
L 2
148 A VINDICATION [SER. 7-
Ghost fell on them all which heard the word : (verse 45) on
them was poured the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then said
Peter (verse 47), Can any forbid water that these should not
be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as
we ? And he commanded them to be baptized." Now if
this be reason why they were to have the ordinance pass upon
them, because they had received the Holy Ghost in the gifts
and pourings out of it, then our being filled with the Spirit
is no reason why we should lay by the ordinances ; but as we
see plainly this is made a reason why they were to come under
the ordinance, surely, therefore, the ordinances are still to
continue, though we have the Spirit, and be filled therewith.
Why, therefore, should we be so bold as to call them low,
and poor, and weak, or fleshly dispensations, seeing that the
Holy Ghost by Paul, 2 Cor. iii., calls the whole ministration
of the gospel and dispensation thereof, Spirit, and glorious ;
upon this very account, because the ministration and dispen
sation of the gospel, as then used in Paul s time, were to abide
and to continue, the ministration of Moses only to be done
away?
But suppose these ordinances and appointments of Christ,
this great Prophet, do still continue, and that we do and
should use the same ; yet we are not to use them because of
any appointment or commandment without us, but because
of the law within us.
This destroys all obedience on this side heaven; for what
is obedience, but doing the will of God because it is com
manded? The apostle Paul saith to the Thessalonians, 1st
Epist. iv. 9, touching brotherly love, " Ye yourselves are
taught of God to love one another." Yet he presseth them
thereunto from the commandment without them : verse 2,
" For ye know what commandment we gave you," by the
Lord Jesus, for this is the will of God, even your sanctifica-
tion, that ye should abstain from fornication, verse 3, and
" that no man go beyond and defraud his brother," verse 6.
Had not our Lord and Saviour Christ a law written within
him ? yet he obeyed, not only because of that law within, but
also because of the commandment without him. Heb. x. 7,
" Lo I come to do thy will, O God." Why ? " For in the
volume of the book it is written of me." And yet he saith,
withal, Thy law is within my heart ; I delight to do thy will.
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 149
And doth not the apostle James press obedience upon
those believers whonc he wrote unto, from the authority of
God, and commandment without them ? " For he that said,
Do not commit adultery; said also, Do not kill/ chap. ii. 11.
Had not the godly, believing Jews the law of grace written
within them ? yet how frequently doth the Lord press them,
through the whole book of Deuteronomy, to obedience, be
cause it was commanded, and from the commandment with
out them ?
But all this doth not reach my scruple. I grant that the
ordinances are still to continue, and should continue ; yea,
and that I am to submit to them because they are appointed
and commanded : but then they must continue as they are
appointed and commanded, according to the institution of
the Lawgiver, and this great Prophet ; but we read that anti
christ shall lay waste, and trample upon the churches, minis
try and ordinances of Christ. Now these are antichristian
times ; and therefore now the churches, ministry, and ordi
nances are all levelled, laid waste, and utterly spoiled ; and
therefore though they should, yet they do not continue, and
so there are none for me to submit unto, wherein I should hear
ken to this great Prophet : when the apostle comes again, all
shall be then restored ; but for the present, through anti-
Christian defilement, there are no public ordinances to sub
mit unto.
Not so : we read indeed in Rev. xi., that the outward court
of the temple shall be given to the Gentiles, the antichristian
party ; but the inward court, and the altar, and those that
worship therein, shall be measured, ver. 1 ; and if the woman,
which is the church, shall be nourished in the wilderness, and
the two witnesses shall prophesy in sackcloth the whole time
of antichrist; then the woman and the witnesses shall con
tinue with ordinances, even in antichristian times. Now the
whole time of the whore of Babylon and the beast, is forty-
two months, Rev. xiii. ; and all that time shall the woman be
nourished, chap, xii., and the witnesses continue prophesying,
chap. xi. And do we not read, that at the same time whilst
the vassals of antichrist do receive his mark in their forehead
and hand, Rev. xiii., that there are an hundred, forty and
four thousand, who stand upon Mount Zion with their harps
in their hand, having the mark of God and the Lamb in their
150 A VINDICATION [SEK. 7-
foreheads. Rev. xiv. In chap. xvi. the vial of the wrath of
God is poured out upon the beast and the throne of the
beast ; but those angels who do pour out those vials men
tioned in chap, xvi., come out of the temple, chap. xv. ;
indeed it is said, chap. xv. 8, that the temple shall be filled
with smoke, and that none shall be able to enter into it ; but
it is with the smoke of God s glory, the sign of his presence
in the temple : and though through the wickedness of the
times no man shall be able to enter, that is, no considerable
company shall be added to the churches of Christ then; yet
this proves that there shall be a temple, for can the temple
be filled with the smoke of God s glory, and yet no temple ;
or doth this argue that you have no house, because it is said,
that no man could get in ? this proves rather that you have
an house ; so here. And if antichrist, the man of sin, shall
sit in the house of God, or rather upon the house of God, as
Austin translates it, in regard of his tyranny; then there
shall be a temple, and public worship, even under the most
tyrannical oppressions of antichrist. Why therefore should
any poor soul be deceived and say, There are no ordinances
now ? Surely the ordinances and appointments of Christ, <
this great Prophet, are and do still continue, wherein we are
to hearken to him.
But in all this discourse you proceed in a way of reason,
and these things are not to be beaten out or attained to by
reason ; no not by Scripture reason, but as God shall reveal
them to us by his Spirit. If God do shine upon my soul,
and reveal the necessity of ordinances to me, then I shall use
them, else not. Sometimes, therefore, I do attend upon or
dinances, sometimes I do not ; I can use them, and I can
forbear, or not use them ; even as the Spirit doth reveal
things, so do I.
But if any thing seem to be revealed which is contrary to
the Scripture, there is no revelation of the Spirit, for saith
our Saviour, " The Spirit shall take of mine, and shall shew
it to you," John xvi. 14 ; and ver. 13, He shall lead you
into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself," &c. And
saith the Lord, " I will put my Spirit into you, that ye may
keep my statutes and ordinances," Ezek. xi. Whatever
therefore is revealed contrary to the word, is not of the Spirit.
Now it is contrary to the word, as hath been proved, that we
SER. 7.] OF ORDINANCES. 151
should cast off or neglect ordinances ; and therefore there
can be no revelation of the Spirit for this : a delusion there
may be, but no true revelation. Besides, our Lord and Sa
viour Christ hath so ordered things in the gospel, that if a
man err, or be a heretic, he may be convinced. " A bishop,
(or elder,) must be unreprovable," 1 Tit. vii. 9. " Holding
fast that faithful word according to doctrine, that he also may
be able to exhort with wholesome doctrine, and convince
them that say against it." But how can any man be con
vinced but in a way of Scripture reason, the Spirit of the
Lord joining therewith ? If this were the way of Christ,
that a man should say, I have a revelation for what I hold,
the Spirit hath revealed it to me, and there is no more Scrip
ture reasoning to be admitted about it ; how should a man
be convinced any more ? But I say, Christ hath so ordered,
that men should be convinced in case they err, and be out of
the way ; and therefore flying from Scripture reasonings to a
way of mere revelation, cannot be right. And whereas you
say, that you can use the ordinances, and you can forbear or
not use them ; this doth not heal the wound, but makes it
greater : for if you can forbear the ordinances, or not use
them, then you think there is no commandment upon you to
use them, and so, as to yourself, you have cast them off; and
if yet you do use them, vi hen you think there is no com
mandment for the use of them, then are you superstitious,
for what is superstition, but to worship God without a com
mandment ? Super stitio quasi super statutum : superstition
is that worship which is without God s commandment.
But suppose all this be true, what is the danger of re
nouncing or forsaking the ordinances then ? We grant now
after all this, that the ordinances of Christ are still to con
tinue ; we have seen it proved, and objections are answered :
but is there any danger in renouncing and forsaking of them ?
Yes, and much danger too : let me lay before you the mind
of God herein ; only first I distinguish, there is a difference
between those that forsake the ordinances, as being under a
temptation, and those that are not under a temptation.
Possibly a good man may be tempted to it, and may lie under
this temptation ; for there is no sin that I know of, but a
godly man may be tempted to it: possibly therefore, I say, a
godly and a good man may be tempted to this, and may for
152 A VINDICATION [SER. f.
a time lie under this temptation. But now if a man not
under a temptation shall forsake ordinances, when he hath
tasted of the sweetness of them, and turn his back upon this
great Prophet, the Lord Jesus, not submitting unto his ap
pointments, see what the Scripture saith of him in this
chapter : saith the Lord, " I will require it at his hand/
And in Exod. xxiii. 20, 21, " Behold, I send an angel before
you, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place
which I have prepared ; (this is Christ) beware of him, and
obey his voice, provoke him not, for he will not pardon your
transgressions, for my name is in him." And you know what
the apostle saith, " If any man sin wilfully after he hath
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth 110 more
sacrifice for sin," Heb. x. 26. Which speech, which dreadful
speech, relates unto those that cast off the ordinances of
Christ, after they have tasted of the sweetness of them ; for
the word is brought in with a for, " For if we sin wilfully."
What doth he then speak in relation to ? Read the words
before : " Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves toge
ther, as the manner of some is : for if we sin wilfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth," &c. It
comes in as relating to this matter ; so that if men not under
a temptation, shall wilfully throw up the ordinances of
Christ, after they have tasted the sweetness of them, and of
the ways of God by them, the Lord pronounceth this doom
upon them. And if ye look into Heb. vi., ye shall find, that
the apostle speaking concerning those that had left their
principles, saith, that " it is impossible to renew them again
unto repentance." Ye read at verse 6, " If they shall fall
away .... to renew them again unto repentance." But in
the Greek and original, the word if is not, but it runs as the
other words before do, thus : " For it is impossible (verse 4)
for men having once been enlightened, and having tasted of
the heavenly gift, and having been made partaker of the Holy
Ghost, and having tasted of the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come, and having fallen away," not
with an if; and having "fallen away, it is impossible to renew
them again unto repentance." Who are these that he speaks
of? Pray mark ver. 1, " Therefore leaving the principles of
the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not lay
ing again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and
SER. 7] OF ORDINANCES. 153
of faith towards God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of
laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and
of eternal judgment : for it is impossible." This same word
for, shews that it relates unto those that he speaks of before,
that had lost these principles. " For," saith he, it comes in
as a reason, " For it is impossible to renew them again to
repentance/ If once they come to this pass, that they shall
lose their principles, and deny the doctrines that are funda
mental; the doctrines of the resurrection, and of eternal
judgment, and the fundamental doctrine of ordinances ; if
they shall fall from these, and let go their principles, and not
under a temptation, it is impossible, or very unlikely, utterly
unlikely in a way of reason, that ever those souls should be
renewed again ; yet if we look into Matt, xxiv., ye shall find
that such as these there shall be in the latter times, the times
immediately before the coming of Christ: for saith our Sa
viour, " There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." How shall
we know them, how are they characterized ? why, they shall
say of Christ, ver. 26, " Behold he is in the desert, behold
he is in the secret chamber ;" gone from the public ordi
nances, they are low and flesh ; but, saith our Saviour, " Be
lieve them not ;" yet, Lord, how many do believe them.
But oh, what a sad condition are these poor creatures in ;
they may pretend living upon God immediately, but oh, what
a sad condition are these poor souls in ! I hope better things
of you, and every of you, though I thus speak ; yet I must
here exhort you to keep close unto your principles, and to
the appointments of the Lord Jesus this great Prophet.
And I do exhort you, by the sweat of all your ministers,
dead and living : by the love you bear to the precious
name of God : by the love you bear to your own precious
souls ; hold and keep close to ordinances in these declining
times ; see where they are in purity and power, keep close to
them. I am persuaded, that there is never a one of you,
but would be a friend to Christ ; says Christ, " Then are ye
my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you." And
can my heart tell me, that I am a friend to Christ if I cast
off all his appointments, and all his ordinances ? I arn per
suaded there is none of you, but desire to be the children
154 A VINDICATION [SER. 7
of God, "Wisdom is justified of her children;" Christ is
the Wisdom of the Father; and if you be the children of
Wisdom, you will justify Christ in all his appointments, but
if Christ the Wisdom of the Father, shall give you such
institutions and ordinances, and you cast them off, and say,
They are low and fleshly, and the like : oh, how will you
justify Christ the Wisdom of the Father ? Wherefore I say,
you that are professors, hold your hold in these declining
times; and if you know any of your friends that are
departed from the good ordinances of God, oh, stand
and mourn, and lament over them and say, Alas, alas, my
friend, how is his crown fallen from his head ? If you
have a neighbour that hath a monster born instead of a
child, you will lament over your neighbour and say, My
neighbour instead of a sweet child hath an ugly monster,
with the head of a hog, and the ears of an ass; ah, my poor
neighbour hath a monster born in his family. Why, this
non-ordinance is England s monster; and as people carry
monsters up and down to shew them ; so in other countries
they go up and down, and say, Come and behold the Eng
lish monster; a thing never seen before, that professors
should deny ordinances. And yet, good Lord, how many
families in this kingdom hath this monster born there. Ah,
will you not pray, weep, and lament over the families of
your friends? Christian, hold thy hold, in these sad and
declining times, hold thy hold.
But what shall we do then ? These are deceiving and declin
ing times, and there is nothing so dangerous, but by steps
we may be drawn into it ; what shall we do, that in these
times we may be kept close to ordinances ; that we may
never turn our backs upon this great Prophet the Lord Jesus
Christ, but receive, acknowledge, submit unto his appoint
ments, and therein hearken unto him ?
Ye know that there is a concatenation, a linking together
of ordinances, and dispensations : as of sins and of graces,
so of ordinances and dispensations ; take away one link, and
the whole chain is broken ; open but one gap in the hedge,
and a way is made unto all the beasts. Austin writing upon
John, tells us a story of a certain man, that was of an opi
nion, that the devil did make the fly, that God did not make
a fly, but the devil did make a fly ; saith one to him then,
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 155
If the devil did make the flies, then the devil did make the
worms, and God did not make the worms neither, for the
flies are living creatures as well as the worms : True, said he,
I grant it, the devil did make the worms too. But, said the
other, if the devil did make the worms, and not God; then
the devil did make the birds, for the worms are living
creatures as well as the birds : True, said he, I grant it,
the devil did make the birds, and God did not make the
birds. Then, saith the other, if God did not make the birds,
but the devil made the birds, then the devil made the beasts ;
for the birds are living creatures as well as the beasts : True,
I grant it, said he, the devil did make the beasts too. Then_,
said the other again, if the devil did make the beasts, the
devil made man, for the beast is a living creature as well as
man : True, said he, I grant it, the devil made man. Thus
saith Austin, by denying God in the fly, he came to deny
God in man, and to deny the whole creation ; by letting a
little hold go, to deny the whole workmanship of God in
the creation. So I say here, if you let go but a little in this
spiritual creation, you may lose all. Whensoever therefore,
you have a question upon your own soul concerning any one
of the ordinances, then know, you are upon your trial, upon
your good behaviour ; and therefore then go to the Lord,
and say, Lord keep me now, for it I let go one, I am in
danger to lose all.
If you would be kept close to ordinances, and hearken to
Christ this great Prophet, in acknowledging, receiving, sub
mitting unto his appointments ; then take heed that you be
not dead, dull and formal under them ; but improve them,
grow and increase under them ; otherwise you will say, Alas,
I get but little good under these ; were these the ordinances,
appointments, and institutions of Jesus Christ, I should
profit by them, but I get little or no good at all under them,
therefore it is a vain thing for me to wait any longer, I will
attend no longer upon these. If a rich man put out a child
to nurse, and he send clothes for the child, or give money
unto the nurse for his child, and she takes the money and
lays it out upon her own, or takes those clothes and puts them
upon the back of her own child, the father will surely fetch
away his child quickly from that nurse. The Lord hath given
vis ordinances, and given us i^ood affections, and if we lay out
156 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
those affections upon the world, upon our own brats, then
will the Lord say, I will take away my child, my ordinances
from that soul, or I will take away that soul from my ordi
nance. Labour, therefore, to profit, grow and increase under
them.
If you would keep close unto these appointments, and not
stop your ears unto the voice of this great Prophet, then have
a very watchful eye upon those principles that walk abroad in
the world, which though they have a truth and goodness at
the bottom, yet, notwithstanding, being not well digested or
understood, are dangerous guides in these dark times. For
instance, it is an ordinary principle that now walks abroad,
that a godly man doth not sin, a believer sins not : the thing
is true, for the apostle saith, " He that is born of God sins
not," that is, irrecoverably, " for the seed of God abides in
him." But it is not true in regard of the act of sin ; for the
same apostle says, " If any man saith he sins not, he is a
liar." Again, It is a common principle that now walks
abroad, that the Spirit of God in me is not to be tried by any
thing without me. It hath a good sense, for the testimony of
the Spirit hath a sufficiency in itself as to the matter of tes
timony ; yet, notwithstanding, it is not true in regard of the
Scripture, for the Spirit of God in me is to be tried by the
Scripture without me. Again, It is a common principle that
walks now abroad, that the coming in of a particular word
upon one s heart, the impression of the word upon one s heart
is to be the rule of action : a word came, and therefore I
must do such a thing. The thing is true in a sense ; for if a
man be in a strait between two lawful things, and a word come
and be set upon the heart, that impression is enough for to
cast the business : but it is not true in all respects, for it is
not the bare coming in of the word, but the Lord s command
that is to be the rule of my action. Again, It is a common
principle that walks now abroad, that the ordinances are for
the enjoyment of God. This is true, they are for the enjoy
ment of God ; when do we enjoy God more, when doth God
let out himself more than under ordinances ? but though it
be true, yet it is not all the truth, for the ordinances are not
given only for the enjoyment of God, but for us to give a vi
sible testimony, and to bear witness before the world of our
obedience to God. Now many such principles as these there
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 157
are abroad in the world : but if you take them up and do not
understand them, I dare boldly say, you will be carried from
all ordinances presently. As, now, suppose I be of an opin
ion that I, who am a believer, cannot sin ; then, it follows, if
I go to ordinances, well ; if I do not go to ordinances I do
not sin : here is ordinances gone upon this principle.
So, again, if I be of this opinion, that the coming in of a
particular word upon one s heart is to be the rule of my ac
tion ; I am in a doubt, now, and a strait, whether I should
attend upon ordinances or no ; then comes a word, it may be
Satan throws it in, or mine own memory reacheth it in, and the
word tells me I am to attand upon ordinances no longer ; then
farewell ordinances. Again, Suppose I be of this opinion,
that the Spirit of God within me is not to be tried by any
thing without me ; then I think the Spirit and word within
me saith, Wait upon God no longer in these lower dispensa
tions, do not attend upon ordinances any longer ; and that is
to be tried by nothing without me, not by the Scripture, and
thus ordinances are gone too. Again, If I be of this judg
ment, that ordinances are given us only for the enjoyment of
God, then, think I, I can enjoy God in private, and ordinan
ces are only for the enjoyment of God, what need I, there
fore, attend upon ordinances any longer ? Thus, I say, follow
these principles to the head, and you will certainly forsake
ordinances. Wherefore, you that are godly, look to your
principles ; do not take a principle, and not understand it,
but look well into it, thus shall you be kept.
But suppose that I be kept to ordinances, institutions and
appointments of Christ, this great Prophet, and I do hear
him, that is, I do receive, acknowledge and submit unto his
appointments ; possibly a man may do this and miscarry to
all eternity : what shall I do that I may so receive, acknow
ledge and submit unto Christ s appointments, that I may hear
him effectually, hear him savingly ?
You know that Christ our great Prophet, doth especially
look at the inward man ; for he is God, and a Spirit, and
minds the Spirit. Though he will have every letter of his
commandment to be observed, yet he lays the great stress
and the emphasis upon the spiritual part of the command
ment. As now, " It hath been said (saith he), Thou shalt
not commit adultery ;" but, mark where he lays the empha-
158 A VINDICATION [SfiR. 7-
sis, "But I say unto you, Thou shalt not look upon a woman
to lust after her." Here this great Prophet lays the empha
sis and stress upon the spiritual part. So saith he, " It hath
been said to you of old, Thou shalt not kill ;" but mark
where he lays the emphasis, " But I say unto you, ye shall
not be angry." Would you therefore so hearken to this
great Prophet, as ye may hear him effectually and savingly;
observe where he lays the emphasis in the giving of the com
mandment, and there do you lay the emphasis in your obe
dience. Doth the Lord say, " It hath been said of old, Thou
shalt not commit adultery; but I say:" is the Lord Christ s
(( I say " written upon the spiritual part of the command
ment ? then through the grace of God shall my " I say " for
obedience be pitched upon the spiritual part also.
The law you know was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Christ. The law and the ten commandments
was given by Moses, but no grace to keep them. But Christ
our great Prophet, doth not only give forth his appoint
ments, but he gives grace to keep them ; do I, therefore, or
do any of you stand poring upon the letter of the command
ment, and not look upon the grace, the assisting grace for to
keep the commandment ? Herein I hearken to Moses. But
do I so look upon the commandment and appointments of
Christ, as that withal I have an eye to grace, assisting grace,
and say, I shall have grace too to keep this commandment ?
Then do I hearken unto Christ Jesus, this great Prophet.
Look therefore, I say, as well to grace as to the letter of the
commandment.
The more you have the exercise of faith in the observance
of Christ s institutions, appointments, and ordinances ; the
more effectually and savingly you hear him. Faith is a saving
hearing of this great Prophet. There is a great difference
between an instituted and a natural means. Physicians and
physic are natural means of health ; but the beholding of the
brazen serpent was an instituted means for recovery, not a
natural means. Now if we go to the use of natural means,
we are to use our faith ; much more when we go to the use
of instituted means : and the appointments of the Lord
Jesus Christ are instituted means ; therefore when we come
to them, we must come with our hearts full of faith, exer
cising much faith when we come to them. You find the
SER. 7-] OF ORDINANCES. 159
apostle, writing unto the Thessalonians, makes this sign of
election, 1 Thess. i. 4 : " Knowing, brethren, your election
of God ;" how so ? fi for our gospel came not unto you in
word only, but also in power." Why our gospel ; why doth
he call it their gospel, and not the gospel ? For es our gos
pel, because he speaks of the gospel as it was preached by
them in the ministry, in the dispensation thereof. " For our
gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power :" it
came in power, and not in word ; therefore saith he, hereby
it appears that ye are elected. Would you know whether
you are elected or no ? hereby it appears, " For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power." But
how may it appear that it came in power ? At ver. 6, " And
ye became followers of us, and of the Lord ; having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."
Here is faith, faith exercised here. So I say, it shall be an
argument to you, that ye are chosen and precious, when as
you mingle the appointments of Christ with your faith.
Come unto Christ s appointments, but oh, come believing,
come believing. It may be some poor soul will say, Oh, but
I cannot believe ; I can keep close to ordinances, but I can
not believe, I cannot receive them so.
Why, but if thou dost leave off thy parley with Satan in
the time of temptation merely upon Christ s command, thou
dost hear him, and hear him effectually. For suppose now
that a man s son be treating, in a way of marriage, with an
other man s daughter, and the father doth not like the match ;
the father comes unto the son, and saith, I would not have
thee, son, to marry there, but I have a match for you in such
a place, such a woman that is fit for you every way ; son, I
would not have you go on where you do. Then saith the
son, Father, I am willing with all my heart to hearken to
you, but my affections are not in mine own hand, I cannot
love where I list ; as for the person you point at, and the
motion you make, my affections do not yet come unto it, but
this I will do, sir, I will presently knock off where I am, and
I will strive to love where you would have me. Doth not
this child hear his father now, in that he knocks off, and
will go no more to the person that he was in parley w r ith>
although for the present he cannot love the person his
father would have him love ? So here, the Lord would
160 A VINDICATION [SfiR. *
have us believe, and cast our souls upon Jesus Christ, and
love him; but, saith the soul, I cannot believe in Christ, I
cannot love him ; yet this I will do, Lord, I am in parley
with Satan upon such and such terms, I will knock off with
him : this being done is a hearing of the Lord Jesus Christ,
this great Prophet, and it is an effectual hearing too. Thus
we are to hear this great Prophet, and thus you have heard
that ye are to hear him, and how ye are to hearken to him.
What now remains, but that you up and be doing. Whoso
ever you are that hear the word of the Lord this day, either
you are godly or you are ungodly. If you be ungodly, " hear,
and your souls shall live." Hear this great Prophet, and
your souls shall live. If you be godly hear this Prophet, for
saith he, fc My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me." It
was the speech of that holy, eminent person Mr. Brightman,
If Christ be not your Prophet, he shall never be your Priest :
if Christ may not be your Prophet to teach you, guide you,
and direct you, he shall never be your Priest to satisfy God s
vrath for you. Now, therefore, as you desire that the Lord
Jesus should be your Priest, to satisfy the wrath of God for
you ; oh, let him be your Prophet ; hearken to this Prophet,
to his institutions, appointments, and keep close to them.
And, to end all, take but one scriptural encouragement, it
is at Isa. xlviii. 17: "Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel (this is Christ), I am the Lord thy
God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the
way that thou shouldest go." Christ is our teacher. Aye,
but we have many teachers ; oh, that I could meet with that
teacher once that could teach me to profit by all that I have
heard. So Christ teacheth : " Thus saitli the Lord thy Re
deemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God
which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way
that thou shouldest go." Well, but what is my duty then ?
Your duty is to hear him ; at verse 18, " Oh that thou hadst
hearkened unto my commandments." But what good shall
I get thereby ? " Then had thy peace been as a river ;" not
as a drop of water in a glass that is soon dried up : in a river
there is much water, and in a river, you know, there is fresh
water : now saith the Lord, Do but hearken unto this teacher,
this great Prophet, and the peace of thy conscience shall be
like a river, full of peace shall thy conscience be; and as the
S:CH! 7-] OF ORDIXAXCES. 1G1
water of the river is always fresh, so shall thy peace of con
science be; whereas now thou art troubled in conscience, and
hast no peace within, do but hearken unto this great Prophet
as distinct from Moses, and thou shalt have peace within as a
river, full and fresh. But what matter for peace unless I
have grace withal ? If I do hearken unto him shall I have
grace too ? See what follows : " Oh that thou hadst heark
ened to my commandments, then had thy peace been as a
river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Thy
righteousness and thy holiness shall be as a sea, thy peace as
a river, but thy grace shall be more, as the sea that knows no
bottom so shall thy righteousness be. Who doth not desire
these two, peace and grace ? If there be ever a poor soul in
all the congregation that is troubled in conscience, and labours
under conscience burdens, hearken, then, and hear the Lord
Jesus ; go, I say, to him, and stand waiting on him as the
great Prophet, as distinct from Moses. I do not say hearken
to Moses, that speaks conditionally, but hearken to Christ,
that speaks grace absolutely; " I will write my law in thy
heart;" that is upon no candition. Soul, go and hearken to
this great Prophet and thou shalt certainly have peace ; yea,
the peace shall be as a river, and thou shalt have fulness of
peace, and freshness of peace : that whereas now thy soul is
mudded, and thy conscience troubled, and thou goest under
many temptations, thou shalt then have thy conscience clear,
and thy soul cleansed : and whereas now thou labourest un
der much corruption, then shall the righteousness be as the
waves of the sea, thou shalt have grace and abundance of
grace ; wherefore what I say to one I say to all, Hear, hear,
hear and your souls shall live.
VOL. IV. M
SERMON VIII.
GRACE AND LOVE BEYOND GIFTS.
PREACHED BEFORE THE LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY OF LONDON,
JULY 22, 1649.
To THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS ANDREWS, LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY
OF LONDON, WITH THE ALDBRMEN HIS BRETHREN.
ACCORDING to your command, I have presented these notes to your view,
which were once delivered unto your ear and heart. 1 have joined another Ser
mon therewith, pleading for our submission to Christ in the way of his ordi
nances : the argument of the one is a friend to the other stantque caduntque
simul. The sweet enjoyment of ordinances together, is a great help to our love.
We can hardly cool in our love to one, but we shall abate in our love to the
other: swelling gifts despise ordinances and neglect love. This sermon, there
fore, of grace, love and gifts, is to call upon our gifts, that they take not the
wall of our graces ; the other sermon of ordinances, is to call upon our graces
to submit unto Christ s appointments : for gifts thrive best when they live under
grace, and grace thrives best when it lives under ordinances. Now the girdle of
all the ordinances is the Lord s day, which doth surround and combine all the
rest. May it please the magistrate to be a friend to this good day, Christ will
surely be a friend to him in an evil day. You cannot make people sanctify this
day, for the hearts of men are not in your hands ; but you may restrain them
much from public profaning this day, for the tongues, hands, and feet of men
are much in your hands. Job is said to sanctify his sons, Job i, because he
commanded them to sanctify themselves, used all means for their sanctification,
and prayed for them. So, though the magistrate cannot sanctify the people as
to the infusion of grace, yet by his prayers and gracious endeavours of love,
mixed with some power, as just occasion requires, he also may be said to sanctify
them. The magistrate is the people s father, and the people are the magistrate s
children. Now, therefore, as it was said of Job and his children, so let it be
said of you and your children in the generations to come ; And it was so, that
when the days of their feasting, or rather sporting, were come, (for so the Lord s
days have been too truly called of late,) the magistrate sent and sanctified them.
Thus shall our decayed love to God, his truth, his ordinances and his children,
revive and be advanced again ; and thus shall the blessing of the house of Obed-
edom (who received the ark) rest upon you and your families, which shall be the
prayer of your servant in the work of the gospel,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
Yarmouth, c ept. 10, 1649.
" But covet earnestly the best gifts : and yet I shew unto you a
more excellent way." 1 COK. xii. 31.
OF all the churches of Christ which we read of in the New
*KK. 8.] GRACE AXD LOVE, &C. 1 G3
Testament, the church of Corinth seems to have abounded
most with spiritual gifts ; and as they did abound most in
them, so they did most abuse them. All had not those spi
ritual gifts, some had : those that had them, despised those
that had them not; and those that had them not, envied
those that had them. The apostle Paul, therefore, that he
might heal this distemper, doth acquaint them with the excel
lency of those gifts, and the end for which they were
appointed. Concerning the excellency of gifts, he tells them
in the beginning of this chapter, that they are all from the
Spirit. " There are diversities of gifts (ver. 4) but the same
Spirit : there are differences of administrations, but the same
Lord." Ver. 8, " To one is given by the Spirit, the word of
wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge, by the same
Spirit ; to another faith, by the same Spirit." And concern
ing the end for which they were appointed, he tells them, at
verse 7> that they are given to profit withal : " But the
ministration of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal." Now both the excellency of gifts, and the end for
which they were appointed, he doth illustrate by a similitude
drawn from the natural body : that as in the natural body
there are many members, and those, having several gifts,
are helpful to one another; and the eye cannot say unto the
foot, I have no need of thee : so in the body of Christ, all
members, with their several gifts, are to be helpful to one
another, and one member of Christ cannot say to the other,
" I have no need of thee." For, at ver. 26, " Whether one
member suffers, all the members suffer with it ; or one mem
ber be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." Now, at
ver. 27, saith he, " Ye are the body of Christ, and members
in particular/* But how do these members come, or attain
unto these gifts ? Ver. 28, " God hath set some in the
church, first, apostles ; secondly, prophets ; thirdly, teachers ;
after that, miracles; then gifts of healing." But have all
men these gifts ? No. Are all apostles ? At ver. 29, " Are
all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have
all the gifts of healing ?" &c. But may we not all desire
gifts then ? Yes. " But covet earnestly the best gifts : and
yet I shew unto you a more excellent way." What way is
that ? If you look into this chap, xii., it is the way of hu
mility, grace and holiness. If you look down into chap.
M2
164 GRACE AND LOVE [$ER. 8.
xiii., it is the way of love ; for, saith he, in ver. 1, " Though
I speak with the tongue of men and angels, and have not
love. I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
So then take the words as they look upwards and downwards,
relating unto all the former parts of chap, xii., and unto chap,
xiii., and you have this observation or doctrine :
Though the way of gifts, spiritual gifts, be an excellent !
way, and much to be desired ; yet the way of grace and love j
is a more excellent way, and most to be desired.
For the opening of which truth, three things :
First, That there is a way of gifts distinct from the way of
grace, and a way of grace distinct from the way of gifts.
Secondly, That there is much excellency in these spiritual 1
gifts ; that the way of gifts is a yery excellent way, and much ]
to be desired.
Thirdly, That the way of grace and of love is yet a more ^
excellent way, and more to be desired.
First, I say, there is a way of gifts distinct from the
way of grace and holiness, x a P 19 and x a ^ ff ^ a are distinct: all
the saints and people of God have grace, but all have not
these gifts. Grace is that excellency whereby we are made
like to God in Christ ; gifts are that excellency whereby we
are made able to do service for God in the church of God.
By grace, say the schools, we do bene agere, we do work
well; and by gifts we do expedite agere, we do act more*
facily, easily, expeditely. A man may have a gift in prayer,
and yet no grace in prayer ; a man may have a gift in preach
ing and exercising, yet no grace under it ; a man may have
the gift of faith, (though " I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I have nothing ;" he
speaks of the gift of faith) ; a man may have, I say, the
gift of faith, and yet not the saving grace of faith. So that
plainly there is a way of gifts distinct from the way of grace,
and a way of grace and holiness distinct from the way of
gifts.
Secondly, But what excellency is there then in gifts, and
in the way of gifts ?
Much, very much; they are called Trveu/xaru-a^ in chap. xiv.
1, te Desire spiritual gifts." In chap. xii. they are said to be
of the Spirit, by the Spirit, from the Spirit. And if you
look into Acts x., you shall find that they are called, " The
SEK. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 165
very Spirit," or the Holy Ghost ; at ver. 44, " While Peter
yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell upon all them
which heard the word, and they of the circumcision which
believed, were astonished, because that upon the Gentiles
was also poured out the gifts of the Holy Ghost," In one
Verse it is said, " They received the Holy Ghost ;" and in the
next, they " received the gift of the Holy Ghost." " For
they heard them speak with tongues and magnifying God :
then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy
Ghost ? " Yet notwithstanding, before, it is said, the gift of
the Holy Ghost was poured out upon them. So that here
the gift of the Holy Ghost is called the Holy Ghost. And
so I take that place in Heb. vi. to be understood, concerning
wicked men that do fall away : it is said, " They are made
partakers of the Holy Ghost;" that is, the gifts of the Holy
Ghost : for in those times the Holy Ghost appeared by sen
sible gifts, and it is usual to put the sign for the thing signi
fied. But now, that these gifts should be raised up to such
a title as this, to be called the Holy Ghost, it argues that
there is a great deal of excellency in these gifts, in spiritual
gifts.
They are the purchase of Christ, the fruits of his ascen
sion ; some of those talents which that great Lord left unto
his servants, when he went into a far country ; they are bet
ter than all gold and silver in the world, for if you had all
the gold and silver of both Indies, you had but natural gifts,
but these gifts are spiritual.
It is an excellent thing for a man to be able to do good to
others : this is the end of gifts ; they are, as the schools
speak, in ordine ad alium, they are given for others good ;
they are to profit with, saith the apostle. The sun is
an excellent creature ; why ? because he doth good to others :
so, many are, by these spiritual gifts, enabled to do good to
others ; they are those vessels, which grace and holiness being
embarked in, is transported into others souls. Though there
be excellent commodities in other countries, yet if you have
not shipping to transport them, you are not the better for
them; therefore you say, there is a great use of shipping,
thereby such and such rare commodities are transported : so,
by these gifts, that grace and goodness that grows in one
166 GRACE AND LOVE [SfiR. 8.
man s heart, is transported into another s, carried into an
other s soul. " He hath given gifts," saith the apostle, " for
the edifying of the body of Christ," Eph. iv. If you cannot
reach a book off the shelf, you take a stool, and standing
upon that stool, you are able to reach down the book: the
stool are these gifts ; grace alone many times cannot reach
clown such a notion in divinity, as it is able to do by the help
of gifts. Dona dantur in adjutorium gratia : gifts are given
for the help of grace, they are the handmaids of grace, and
they bring forth sweetly upon the knees of grace.
Again, That must needs be excellent, that is able to add a
further excellency unto that which is the most excellent.
You say ordinarily, that if a worse thing be added unto a
better, the better is defiled ; as if water be added unto wine,
the wine is corrupted ; if lead be added unto silver, the silver
is denied ; if silver be added unto gold, the gold is debased ;
and so the better is defiled by the worser. But now grace is
the greatest excellency in the world, yet add gifts unto grace,
and grace itself is made the more excellent and beautiful:
for as the temple did sanctify the gold, but the gold did
beautify the temple ; so though grace do sanctify gifts, yet
gifts do beautify grace. Now grace being the greatest beauty
under heaven, and gifts putting a further beauty upon that
which is the most beautiful, what doth this argue, but that
there is abundance of excellency and beauty in spiritual gifts.
Thirdly, But then, if there be such an excellency in gifts,
in spiritual gifts, wherein is grace and love more excellent?
Wherein lies the excellency of grace and love, beyond the
excellency of gifts ?
Concerning love first. Love is not an empty thing, the
voice and sound of love is not an uncertain sound, or an
empty voice; but saith the apostle here, 1 Cor. xiii., "Though
I speak with the tongue of men and angels, and have not love,
I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." A
man s heart may be purged from grosser sins, and he may be
garnished with parts and gifts, and yet his soul left empty for
Satan to return into again, as you read in that xiith of Mat
thew ; but grace and love is a filling thing, yea, saith the
apostle, chap. xiii. 8, " Love (or charity) never fails," but
it continues, it is that garment that never waxeth old ; but
gilts do, and are soon threadbare. Though these gifts are
SER. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 167
fine sweet flowers, yet therewithal the mower filleth not his
hand ; a gracious heart cannot be satisfied with gifts alone,
gifts alone are not able to satisfy, love and grace doth. But
wherein doth love work beyond gifts ? Saith the apostle here,
I will tell you, chap. xiii. 4, " Love is not easily provoked ;"
better read thus, Love is slow to anger ; parts and gifts are
not so. But a man may be slow to anger, and yet not kind
and bountiful. True, but " love is kind," or bountiful, as
the word bears it, gifts are not so. The apostle speaks of the
effects of love in opposition to parts and gifts all along.
Love, saith he, is slow to anger, and is kind, or bountiful.
Aye, but though a man be kind or bountiful, yet notwith
standing he may envy at the good of others. True, if he
have parts and gifts only; but love, true love, that envies
not. Aye, but though a man do not envy at the good of
others, yet he may not consider the wants of others. True,
but love will, for in the next words, " Charity (or love) vaunt-
eth not," so you read it, but according to the greek, rather,
u Love is not light/ or inconsiderate, but considers, and
weigheth all things. Aye, but though you do all this, yet
notwithstanding a man may be proud when he hath done.
True, if he have gifts alone, but " love is not puffed up," is
not swelled or blown and filled with wind as the bellows are ;
at the 5th verse, saith he, " Love doth not behave itself un
seemly." This may be understood two ways, saith Peter
Martyr ; love will do no unseemly thing, or, love counts no
thing unseemly for the person loved. Our Saviour Christ
washed his disciples* feet : one would think it an unseemly
thing for the Lord and Master to do this for the servants,
but he loved them, and love counts nothing unseemly for the
person loved. Judas comes and betrays his Master with a
kiss, this was an unseemly thing ; Judas had parts and gifts,
but he had not love, and therefore he did an unseemly thing.
Love doth not behave itself unseemly, that is, it doth no un
seemly thing, and yet counts nothing unseemly for the person
loved. " It seeks not her own," in the next words, but the
good of the person loved. " Love is not easily provoked ;"
the words rather to be read thus, " Is not easily embittered,"
or is not sharp, doth not speak bitter language ; gifts and
parts will. " Love thinks no evil j" that follows : and at
verse (>, "It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rcjoiceth in the
168 GRACE AND LOVE [SflR. 8.
truth." " It rejoiceth not in iniquity ;" the word is a&iaa,*
injustice : " It rejoiceth not in injustice, but it doth rejoice
with the truth ;" <rvyx ai P" ^ a\jj9ea ;f so the words are to be
read, and that is thus : If a man be oppressed, love cannot
rejoice in his oppression ; but if a man be freed and delivered
from his oppression, and the truth heard and known, love re
joiceth with such a man when the truth is discovered; it re
joiceth not in injustice, but rejoiceth with the truth when that
comes to light. Well, but suppose all this, yet notwithstand
ing a man may labour under some sinful infirmities, &c.,
what will love do then ? " Love beareth all things," verse 7
But the words should be otherwise translated ; for as you
read them, " Love beareth all things ;" what difference will
there be between that clause and the latter of that verse,
" Endureth all things, it bears all things," &c. ? J Here is no
difference. The words, therefore, should be read thus : " It
covereth all things." So the greek word, ortyw, signifies pro
perly, to cover : it is the same word that is used ordinarily in
the New Testament to that purpose. Mark ii. 4, " They un
covered the roof of the house," &c. The roof, or the cover
ing, is the same word that is used here, and so, " love cover
eth all things ;" though men have many infirmities, yet true
love will cover them all : and " it believeth all things ;"
though a man have done that which is evil in itself, yet love be
lieves he had a good intention in the doing of it, for it believeth
all things ; and though a man go very far in sin, yet if another
have love, he hopeth that God will bring him back again, for
" love hopeth all things, it covers all things, it believeth all
things, it hopeth all things;" and if another do me wrong, if
I have love I shall bear that too, for " love endureth all
things." But, now, will gifts and parts do these things ?
Surely no ; gifts and parts will not bear all things, cover
all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure
all things. Aye, but love doth, and love will, and there
fore here is a greater excellency in the way of love than in
the way of gifts ; ana if love do outshoot gifts in their own
bow, then certainly there is a greater excellency in love than
in all gifts. Now if you look into 1 Cor. viii., you shall find
* Ou X a ? t 7rt rr l
\ Ah/x.a et arty if ita distinguuntnr quod Ewfj-ae. sit sutnma edium pars artyt]
ver notat tabulatum TOV
SEB. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 169
that it is said concerning love, that it edifies ;" knowledge
puffeth up, but charity (or love) edifies." Knowledge, that
is, the gift of knowledge, doth puff us up. The end of gifts
is edification ; it is the proper work of gifts to edify; yet,
saith the apostle, love edifies ; comparing love and gifts to
gether, he shews that love edifies rather than gifts. Now, I
say, if that love do thus outshoot gifts in their own bow, then
certainly there is a great deal more excellency in love than
in all gifts, though they be never so great. Thus concerning
love.
And concerning grace and holiness in the general. Grace
and holiness is the proper and natural effect of the Spirit, as
I may so speak. Gifts are, opus ad extra. You shall find
that voluntary and rational agents have a twofold effect: a
man begets a child like himself, that is a natural effect; then
he makes a stool, or a hat, or a ship, this is not a natural
effect, this is an artificial effect : so God the Father, he made
the world, there is opus ad extra : but he begat his Son, and
the Son is of the Father, so the Holy Ghost hath a twofold
effect. The proper and the natural effect of the Holy Ghost
is grace, but the opus ad extra is gifts. Grace and holiness is
the proper effect of the Holy Ghost, and therefore the apostle
Paul speaking of love, joy, peace, and of other particular
graces, saith, they are " the fruits of the Spirit," Gal. v. 22.
" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, faith," &c.
Again, Sin and corruption will not so easily plant upon
grace as upon gifts ; pride and corruption will more easily
plant upon gifts than upon grace ; gifts do sooner gather filth
and sooner rust than grace doth. Saith the apostle in that
place I named even now. " Knowledge puffeth up, but love
edifies;" he speaks of knowledge as of a gift; now saith he,
" Knowledge, that puffeth up." But how can knowledge, or
how can any spiritual gift puff one up ? Can that which is
the fruit or the effect of the Spirit of God puff one up ? No,
but occasionally it can, and it will occasionally. So, you will
say, grace itself doth, for a man may be proud of his grace
as well as he may be proud of his gifts. It is very true. I
remember that speech of Mr. Fox, Sometimes, said he, I get
hurt by my graces, and sometimes I get good by my sins ; for
by my sins I am made more humble, and by my grace I am
170 GRACE AND LOVE [SfiR. 8.
made more proud. It is true, occasionally a man may be
proud of and puffed up by his very graces, but there is yet
that in true grace itself that will suppress pride, grace being
contrary to sin ; as for gifts, though they be divers from sin,
yet they are not contrary unto sin, and so cannot suppress
sin, as grace can do, that is contrary thereunto ; for one con
trary doth destroy the other. I express it thus : a man may
be proud of his clothes, and he may be proud of his graces,
but there is not that in his clothes which will suppress his
pride ; there is nothing in clothes that is contrary unto pride,
but in grace there is. So a man may be proud of his gifts,
and he may be proud of his graces, but there is not that in
gifts that is so contrary unto pride as there is in grace ; there
is that in grace that is directly contrary unto sin and pride :
I say, therefore, that pride and corruption cannot so easily
plant and grow upon grace itself as it can upon gifts, and
therefore there is a greater excellency in grace, and the way
of grace and holiness, than in the way of gifts. Though a
man have never so little grace, and have no gifts, yet he gives
no offence, is not scandalous ; but if a man have all gifts, arid
have no grace, how many offences doth he fall into, and how
scandalous is he ? let experience speak.
Though a man have never such great parts and gifts, yet if
he have not grace withal, he may go to hell, and perish to all
eternity, for by his gifts he is not united unto Jesus Christ,
for by his gifts he is not made the child of God, for by his
gifts he is not estated in the covenant of grace. You know
what our Saviour saith : " Many shall say in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils
in thy name, and have done many wonderful works?" these are
the effects of gifts; " and he shall say unto them,Depart,I know
you not." But saith the apostle concerning grace and love,
" I hope better things of you, and such as accompany salva
tion, for God is not unmindful to forget your labour of love"
that accompanies salvation. You see how it is with children
that are playing together in the day, if they be playing abroad,
and children of divers parents, when night comes, one child
goes to his father, and the other unto hlB father; they are
very like, it may be, and their clothes are alike, and when
they are playing together abroad, you cannot say whose child
this is, or whose child that is, but when night comes, the fa-
. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 171
ther then comes unto his child and saith, Come home, my
child, come in at doors, and if the other offers to go in there,
No, child, you must go home to your father ; so while we
are living, grace and gifts are mingled together, some men
have gifts and some men have graces, and they look very like.
Ah, but when night comes, and when death comes, then God
the Father, he saith to those that have grace, Come, my chil
dren, enter in ; but if those that have gifts only come, he
sends them away : No, you must go to your father, it is not
your gifts make you my children ; by grace you are my chil
dren, but not by gifts, and therefore home to your fa
ther, I am none your father, home unto your own father ;
thus will the Lord speak when night comes: yea, and
if a man do go to hell and perish, the more gifts he hath,
the deeper will he sink into hell ; as it is with a man that
is in the water, sinking in the water, the more he is laden
with gold, the more he sinks, and as he is sinking if he
hath any time to cry out, he saith, Oh, take away these bags
of gold, these bags of gold will sink me, they will undo me :
so 1 say, these golden parts and golden gifts they will
undo men ; when men come to hell, and shall perish, the
more golden gifts and parts they have had, the deeper they
shall sink in hell; parts and gifts will never save a man from
the wrath to come, aye, but grace, and love, and holiness
under Christ will ; surely therefore there is an excellency in
the way of grace and of love, beyond the way of gifts : though
the way of gifts be an excellent way, and much to be desired,
yet the way of grace and of love is a more excellent way, and
most of all to be desired.
By way of application then methinks this doctrine looks
wishly upon those that have gifts, upon those that have none,
or very weak, and it looks wishly upon us all.
It looks wishly upon those that have parts and gifts, and
it calls upon you all for to bless the Lord. Hath the Lord
led you in a way of gifts ? He hath led you in an excellent
way, for the way of gifts is an excellent way. Is it not a
great mercy for a man to be able to do guod to others, and to
save another man s soul, to have a hand to pull others out of
everlasting burnings ? Herein man seems to go beyond the
angels, tor the angels are ministering spirits, but men are
called saviours, " Others save with fear, pulling them out of
172 GRACE AND LOVE [SER. 8.
the fire." And hath the Lord led you in a way of gifts,
and given you gifts to do good to others ? Such a hand he
hath given to you, surely therefore you have cause for ever
to bless the Lord.
But though the Lord, through his grace, hath led me in
this way of gifts, I fear I have nothing but gifts, I fear that
they are gifts alone, and not grace withal ; had I gifts and
graces too, I should bless the Lord indeed, but I fear it is
nothing but gifts.
For answer, it is possible that a man that hath grace may
think he hath nothing but gifts ; it is possible for a man that
hath only gifts to think that his gifts are graces. But would
you know the difference between gifts and graces as they are
in subjecto, as they are in a particular person ? for the differ
ence between them as they are in themselves, I have shewn
you in the beginning. Then thus, the faculty you know is
distinguished by the act, and the act by the object, potentia
distinguitur per actum, et actus per objectum, saith philo
sophy. If a man have gifts only, he is exercised most about
a gifting object; if grace, then about a gracious object; and
therefore if you look into Scripture, you shall find, that grace
and faith fall in with a crucified Christ, " I desire to know
nothing but Christ, and him crucified/ saith faith and grace.
But now gifts coming in by the ascension of Jesus Christ,
" He hath ascended on high, he hath given gifts to men/
they are conversant especially about ascensions and glories,
but a crucified Christ is a mean and fleshly thing in their
eyes.
Again, They differ in their nature ; for gifts, as I may so
speak, are a dead grace, and grace is a living gift ; dead men
are free among the dead, and living men love to converse
with the living ; grace is a living quality, and therefore it
prizeth living saints, and things are most savoury that come
from a living hand ; but gifts in comparison are a dead thing,
and therefore prizeth dead notions, and dead persons ; and
things relish best which come from a dead hand, as books
and the like ; why ? because gifts being dead, themselves
are free among the dead.
Again, They differ also in their disposition, for grace and
holiness is contented with the simplicity of the gospel, gifts
are not contented therewithal, and therefore you shall ob-
. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS.
serve that the Corinthians, who excelled in gifts, adulterated
the gospel with their swelling words ; the Galatians adulter
ated the doctrine of the gospel, and mingled the doctrine of
the gospel with justification by works ; and the Corinthians
mingled the words of the gospel with their own swelling
language ; they had gifts and they were not contented with
the simplicity of the gospel, aye, but grace is. Yoxi see how
it is with a child that comes into a corn-field, he is mightily
taken with the blue or red weeds, or a company of daisies,
but now when a man comes, the husbandman comes, he
looks at the corn, and is not so much taken with the blue or
red weeds, or the daisies that grow there, but is taken with
the corn itself. So now take a man that hath gifts only, and
bring him to a sermon, or to a prayer, and if there be any
fine expressions, any daisies, he is much taken with them,
he prizeth and magnifieth them, and he hangs on them ; but
now bring a man that hath grace, to prayer, or to a sermon,
and he looks at the corn, he doth not look at the daisies so
much, but at the spirituality and the power of those things
that are there delivered. They differ in their disposition.
Again, They differ also in their effects ; grace hath a good
hand at suffering as well as at doing ; gifts have a very good
hand at doing, but they have an ill hand at suffering ; they
are given to profit withal, they are given to act, and to do
with ; but when you come to suffer, gifts, I say, though they
have a good hand at doing, they have a very ill hand at
suffering : but now grace hath as good a hand at suffering
as it hath at doing.
Again, They differ also in their abatement and in their
quenching : if a man have grace and fall into sin, that sin
will hinder and quench the former actings of his grace ; he
cannot act now as he did act before ; therefore saith the
apostle, " Quench not the Spirit :" but if a man have gifts
only, and no grace, and he fall into sin, that sin hinders not
his actings, he can pray as he did, and he can converse as he
did, his actings are not so much hindered or quenched there
by ; as it is with a candle, if it be only painted upon a board,
and you put it into the water, that is not quenched thereby ;
why ? because it is a dead candle, it is not a living candle :
but now come and take a living candle, a burning candle,
and put that into the water, and that is quenched : why ? be-
174 GRACE AND LOVE [SRR. 8.
cause it is a living candle, it is a burning candle : so now,
take a man that hath gifts only, and let him fall into sin, and
his gifts are not quenched with his sin ; why ? because he is
but a dead candle, a painted candle, and so he can pray as
well, and converse as well, though he fall into sin : but now,
a man that hath grace in truth, and more than gifts, if he
fall into sin, oh, he cannot act as he did act before, he hath
not the same face towards God as he had before : thus, I say,
they differ in their abatements. And therefore now, whoso
ever you are that make this objection, and fear that you have
nothing but gifts, and not grace ; as it is the scruple of many
Christians, Oh, I fear, saith one, I have nothing but gifts, that
I have not grace at all, but gifts alone : I appeal unto you
before the Lord, whoever you are that labour under this fear,
whether do you not desire above all to know Jesus Christ
and him crucified ; whether are not things best that come
from a living hand to you; whether do not your disposition
lie towards the simplicity of the gospel; and are you not
content and satisfied therewithal ; whether have you not as
good a hand at suffering, when God calls you thereunto, as
at doing ; whether are you not quenched, when you fall into
sin ? Oh, yes, saith the poor soul ; this I must needs say,
through grace thus it is with me ; the Lord knows I can
speak this in truth, I desire to know nothing but a crucified
Christ; living things from a living hand do savour best with
me, and my disposition lies towards the simplicity of the
gospel; I am not so much taken with the daisies, as with the
corn that grows in a sermon and in a prayer ; and through
grace I have as good a hand at suffering, when God leads me
to it, as at doing ; and this I can say in truth, that when I
do fall into any great sin, that I find some abating and
quenching, I cannot pray then as I could pray before. Well,
if these things be in you and abound, be of good comfort, here
is more than bare gifts, here is grace also.
This doctrine looks wishly also upon those that have no
gifts, upon those that are weak in gifts, have either no gifts
at all, or very weak gifts ; and it calls upon you to be of good
comfort. There is many a poor soul complains and says, As
for such and such men, they have great gifts, but I have no
gifts at all ; I have no memory at all, I have no utterance, I
have no elocution, I have no gifts in prayer, I have no gifts
. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS . ] 7. )
I in conference. Well, the way of gifts indeed is an excellent
way : and hath not the Lord led you in the way of gifts, that
ij excellent way ? yet notwithstanding, if he have led you in a
i more excellent way, have you any cause to complain ?
Though the way of gifts be an excellent way, the way of
grace is a more excellent way, the way of love is a more ex-
! cellent way. What then, soul, what then ? Though the
Lord hath not led thee in the way of gifts, that excellent
way, yet, I say, if he have led thee in the way of grace, and
in the way of love, in the more excellent way, certainly you
have no cause to complain.
Will you complain for want of that, which if you had in
abundance, you would have less time to tend your own souls?
Gifts are given for to profit with, gifts are given for the good
of others, to do good to others ; the more gifts you have
therefore, the more you are to tend upon others, and do good
to them ; and the more you are to tend upon others, the less
time you have to tend upon your own souls. Now, I say,
would you complain for want cf that, which if you had in
abundance, you should have less time to tend your own souls?
Or, will you complain for want of that, which if you had
without grace, would be your undoing ? The heathens tell us
a fable concerning a man, who desired that all that ever he
touched might be gold, and, say they, it was granted to him
by the gods ; when therefore he came to eat his meat, he
touched it, so his meat was turned to gold, and so the man
was starved : the moral of it is this, that many a man would
be utterly undone if he had that which he most desires : and
let me tell you this, had you all gifts and golden parts, yet, if
you had not grace withal, you would desire that all that ever
you should touch might be gold, you would turn all into gifts,
and matter of parts, and so your own soul would be undone
and starved by it.
Or, will you complain for want of that, which, if you have,
may aggravate your condemnation ; but, if you want, cannot
hinder your salvation ? Pray consider it ; will you, I say,
complain for want of that, which, if you have, may aggravate
your condemnation ; but, if you want, can never hinder your
salvation ? If you have gifts, they may aggravate your con
demnation ; but if you have them not, your wanting of them
shall never hinder your salvation. Shall I then complain for
176 GRACE AND LOVE [SER. 8.
want of them ? Yet thus, I say, thus it is with you that
complain for want of gifts ; hath not the Lord therefore led
you in the way of gifts ; and hath he led you in the way of
grace ? be of good comfort : comfort, comfort, comfort, to all
those that are weak in gifts, but have truth of grace. Only
here give me leave to lay before you some few directions,
whether you have gifts, or no.
Either you have gifts, or not ; if that you have gifts, then
you are called to doing good ; if you have not gifts, thsn you
are called to receiving good, for all a man s life should be
spent, either in doing good, or receiving ; if a man have gifts,
then he is called to doing ; if a man have no gifts, then he is
called to receiving : have you gifts ? therefore know, you are
called to doing ; have you no gifts ? know, you are called the
more to receiving.
And either you have gifts, or not ; if you have gifts, take
heed you do not despise those that have none ; and if you
have not, take heed that you do not envy those that have ;
take heed you do not desire grace for gifts sake, as hypocrites
do, but rather desire gifts for grace s sake, as the godly do ; as
your gifts come upon you, labour to grow proportionable in
grace : for if a man have a great farm, and have no stock, or
a small stock, it is the only way to break him; so if a man
have great gifts, and but little grace, it is the only way to un
do him.
But, above all things, take heed that you do not lay your
gifts at the foundation of your religion ; gifts are good in the
building, but they are naught in the foundation ; gifts are
good above, but they are naught beneath : you see how it is
in some trades, if men have gunpowder, barrels of gun
powder, or commodities that are apt to take fire, they lay
them in the upper rooms on the top of their houses; and if
you ask them the reason, Why do not you lay these things
below ? they will say, Nay, but they are apt to take fire ; and
if they should but take fire, the whole house might be blown
up therewithal. Beloved, gifts and parts are as gunpowder,
they are very apt to take fire ; and what is the reason that
many a professor is blown up, and the whole building of his
religion ruined ? but because when first he began to look to-
words heaven, he laid his gifts at the foundation of his pro
fession, whereas Christ only is our foundation, and if any
. 8.J BKYOND GIFTS. 177
man will build upon gifts and parts, his whole building will
come to nothing: take heed therefore that gifts and parts do
not come into the foundation of your religion.
This doctrine looks wishly also upon all of us : Is this
true, that though the way of gifts be an excellent way, yet
the way of grace is a more excellent way, and the way of love
a more excellent way, and more to be desired ? Why stand
we then so much upon our gifts and parts ; and why look we
no more after love ? love is the great command, the most ex
cellent way; the apostle saith, chap. 13., " Though I speak
with the tongue of men and angels, and have not love, I am
become as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal." What
though I preach as never man preached, yet if I want love, I
am but as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal : what
though I pray as never man prayed with praying gifts, yet if
I want love, I am but as sounding brass, and as a tinkling
cymbal ; what though I confer and discourse of all things, as
never man did, yet if I want love, I am but as sounding brass,
and as a tinkling cymbal. Yet, good Lord, how many are
there that bear themselves upon these bladders of gifts and
parts (which will ere long be pricked) and neglect this way
of love. Are there not some professors that do sometimes
question their everlasting condition for the want of gifts, yet
can go up and down a whole year together in the breach of
love, and never question their condition for want of that ?
Yea, are there not some preachers that fetch the great part
of their evidence for heaven from their gifts; and the exer
cising of their gifts, whilst they lie in the breach of love ?
The apostle, you see here, doth advance love above all gifts ;
and I pray let us consider a little what these gifts are, that
are thus sunk down before love, which love is advanced
above : the apostle tells us they are spiritual gifts, not natural
gifts : suppose now I be to preach, and I go from one book
to another : out of one book I take one thing, out of another
book I take another thing, out of a third book I take another
thing, and I do but only put these together that I have out
of several books ; is this any more than a natural gift ? sup
pose a book-binder be to bind up divers sheets of paper, and
he stitcheth them up together, is it any more than a natural
gift ? so suppose I be to preach, or I be to pray, and I take
this expression from one, and that expression from another,
VOL. IV. N
17S GRACE AND LOVE [$ER S.
and this thing from one, and that from another and I do only
put these things together, is this any more than a natural
gift ? Aye, but they are spiritual gifts that the apostle doth sink
before love, and doth advance love above, yea, and if you
observe this scripture, you shall find that they were the high
est gifts, for saith he at verse 28. " God hath set some in
the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of healing." And " though
(saith he, chap, xiii.,) I speak with the tongue of men and
angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass,
and a tinkling cymbal." Though I be an apostle, have the
gift of an apostle ; be a prophet, and have the gift of a pro
phet, though I have gifts of miracles, yet notwithstanding if
I want love, all is nothing : these were great and high gifts,
the highest gifts, and yet all nothing without love : and are
all these gifts as nothing, spiritual gifts nothing without love?
apostolical gifts and prophetical gifts and miraculous gifts,
are all these gifts nothing without love ? O Lord, what are
my poor minnum gifts then without love ? my gifts either in
preaching, or in praying, or in conference ? ah, what poor
shrubs are my gifts then ? how are they much more nothing
without love ? and yet how many have these times brought
forth that hunt much after gifts, and the exercise of their
gifts, and are strangers to the way of love ? I had almost said,
they are out of love with this grace of love : but if we look
into 1 John ii., we find a scripture that may make all of us
to take heed how we walk up and down without love.
Verse 10., " He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light,
and there is no occasion of stumbling in him." Though
there be much stumbling abroad, yet if a man love his bro
ther, though he have many failings, and some odd opinions, yet
if he love his brother he abideth in the light and there is
no occasion of stumbling in him. But (saith he, verse 11.)
" He that hateth his brother, is in darkness, and he walks in
darkness, and he knows not whither he goes." He thinks
he is going to heaven, and he is going to hell ; he thinks he
is going on in a way of zeal, but alas, poor man, he walks up
and down in darkness, he knows not whither he goeth ; who
soever walks in this way of hatred, or want of love, he walks
in darkness, and he knows not whither he goes ; but I need
not say no more. The apostle here tells us, that the way of
SER. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 179
love is an excellent way, the more excellent way, and most
to be desired : now therefore, oh, that our love might abound.
Oh, that our love, that is much declined in these days, might
be recovered. Oh, that our love might abound towards one
another, and towards all the saints. Oh, that there were love,
and peace, and reconciliation yet among prossessors.
But though such a man be a professor, it may be he is not
godly, yea, I do not think he is godly, and why should I love
him then ?
You know what our Saviour saith concerning the Father,
" He maketh his sun to shine upon the good and bad " and
I pray is it not usual with deceitful hearts, first to degrade a
godly man into ungodliness, that so they may have room to
hate him ? There is a great deal of difference between the
affection of a profane man, and of an hypocrite j a profane
man makes nothing to profess that he hates, and that he
doth not love such a man that is godly, and that he hates him
because he is pure and holy; but now an hypocrite knows in
his conscience that he must not hate a man that is godly :
what then ? Therefore that he may make room to hate him,
he will first make him ungodly; first he will degrade him, and
make him ungodly, that so he may have room to hate him ;
as now, if he have a mind to love one, and to be intimate
with him, his conscience tells him, that he must not walk
with, or be intimate with them that are wicked ; therefore
first he will make a man godly, that so he may have room to
love hirr ; and so if a man be godly, he will first make him
ungodly, that so he may have room to hate him : take heed
of this deceit of heart ; you say such a one is not godly, take
heed of this deceit.
But suppose he be godly, yet notwithstanding he is of a
different judgment from me, he is not of the same opinion
with me, and should I love him then ?
I confess it is hard to do it, and we should all pray that we
might be of the same mind ; yet where, I pray, do you find
in all the Scripture, that the Lord doth make oneness of
judgment to be the only rule and measure of love ? Where
doth the Lord say in any place in Scripture, that oneness of
judgment shall be the only measure of our love to one an
other ? Doth a father say unto his child, Child, love your
brother, because he is of the same growth with you ? No,
N2
ISO GRACE AND LOVE [SKR. 8
but, my children, love one another, for ye are brethren : so
the Lord doth not say, My children, love one another, be
cause you are of the same growth, and the same pitch ; but
love one another, for you are brethren.
Aye, but suppose that a man doth me wrong, stirs and
provokes me, and that he hath first made the breach, should
I love him then ?
Yes, else there were no labour of love : God is not unmind
ful to forget your labour of love ; if there were no provoca
tion, your love were not worthy of God ; that faith is a faith
worthy of God that steps over difficulties, and that love is a
love worthy of God that steps over provocations : you see
how it is with a glass that hath sweet liquor in it, the more
you stir that glass, the more savoury sweet smell it sends
forth ; come indeed to a glass that hath filthy and unsavoury
liquor in it and the more you stir it the worse it smells. Art
thou provoked and art thou stirred ? if there be sweet
liquor in you, grace and patience within you, the more you
are stirred, and the more you are provoked, the sweeter you
will smell ; but if there be a froward spirit and a froward dis
position, if there be filthy liquor within, then indeed the more
you are stirred, and the more you are provoked, the worse
you will smell. And whereas you speak of his first making
the breach upon love, I pray look upon 2 Kings vi., you
shall find there with what bloody intentions the king of Syria
came to Dothan to take Elisha, at verse 14., " Therefore
sent he thither horses and chariots, and a great host, and
they came by night and compassed the city." Elisha goes
forth unto them at verse 19., and he said, " This is not the
way, neither is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you
to the man whom ye seek : but he led them to Samaria.
When they were come into Samaria, (at verse 20,) the Lord
opened their eyes : and the king of Israel said (at verse 21)
unto Elisha when he saw them, My father shall I smite
them ? shall I smite them ? He answered, Thou shalt not
smite them ; wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast ta
ken captive with thy sword, and with thy bow ? set bread
and water before them that they may eat and drink, and go
to their master: so he prepared great provisions for them, and
when they had eat and drunk, he sent them away, and they
went to their master ; so the bands of Syria came no more
SER. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 181
into the land of Israel." Mark the issue, the Syrians came
out first, were the first that made the breach ; well, Israel
had advantage upon them, and the king of Israel s fingers
did itch at them to be smiting of them, but Elisha would not
have it so, but instead of smiting he would have kindness
shewn unto them ; and I pray what was the effect thereof ?
having set bread and water before them, and refreshed them
with those provisions, they went away, " so the bands of
Syria came no more into the land of Israel/ I have read of
two famous philosophers that were at great variance, the one
an elderly man, the other younger, the elder comes unto the
younger with a motion of peace, and the younger willingly em
braced it ; peace being made, Well, saith the elder, remem
ber that though I were the elder, yet I come to you, and I
first offered peace; true, saith the younger unto him again, I
acknowledge it, and I shall upon this account for ever ac
count you the more worthy man, because though I was the
first that did make the strife, you were the first that did make
the peace. And shall heathens do thus, and shall not we
Christians, go beyond them, or do the same ?
Aye, but there is time for all things : there was a time, in
deed, for love, and for men to be reconciled, but now things
are grown to that height and to that pass, that it is now too
late to talk of love and of reconciliation ; we confess that the
way of love is the more excellent way, and there was a time
indeed to have been reconciled, but now it is all too late.
Well, then, if it be too late, give me leave to entreat one
thing at yonr hands, and that is this ; I say, If it be too late,
and you say it is too late to be reconciled and love one ano
ther, let me entreat this, that you would all lay aside your
garments, the garments of your profession of being Christ s
disciples ; for our Saviour saith, " By this shall men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye love one another:" and therefore if
it be too late for to love one another, and to be reconciled,
come and let us lay down our garments, let us lay down our
profession of being the disciples of Christ ; yea, let us lay
down our expectation of heaven too, for saith the apostle,
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."
And is not passion, malice, and want of love, flesh and blood ?
Certainly, certainly if I do not walk in this way of love, it is
not all my parts and all my gifts that will bail me from the
182 GRACE AND LOVE [SfiB. 8.
arrest of that scripture, " Flesh and blood shall not inherit
the kingdom of heaven." I have read or heard of a certain
champion that challenged a devil ; two armies being come
near to one another, one comes forth out of one army and
challengeth to fight hand to hand with any one of the other
army ; at last there steps forth a man for to meet him, and
they being there to fight, and many of both armies gotten
round to behold and see what would become of it, who should
fall and who should stand ; at last saith one of the two, Who
are you for ? saith the other, Sir, I am for you, and I am
come forth to save your life ; why, said he, should we, like
fools, kill one another to make sport for these beholders ? so
they threw down their weapons and embraced one another,
and so parted with love, to the admiration of all that did be
hold them. Now, beloved, things are grown to a great height,
and there is too much dissension amongst professors, and all
men are upon the tiptoe at this time to see who shall fall and
who shall stand. But now, after all our animosities, if we
would step in to one another, and embrace one another, how
would this glorify God and make religion glorious in the eyes
of the world ? Oh, why should we that are professors kill,
wound or abuse one another to make sport for our common
enemies that behold us ? Believe it, believe it, it is not too
late, it is not too late to love one another, it is not too late
for me to do my work, as long as it is not too late to receive
my wages ; and if I say, It is too late to be reconciled ; what
if God say to me, then, It is too late for my soul to be saved.
What, then, shall we do that we may get into this excellent
way of love ?
I shall only lay before you two or three directions. Two
or three things I conceive there are that yet would make a
reconciliation, and repair love among us ; that would recover
and recruit our love that is much declined. The first is an
evangelical, gospel spirit or disposition. A legal disposition
is a fretful, froward, fiery disposition, but a gospel disposition
is like the gospel, smooth, gentle, loving and sweet. We read
of Abraham, that he went in to Hagar, and he had a child,
Ishmael, by her ; he went in to Sarah, and he had a child by
her, Isaac; and these two mothers, Hagar and Sarah, the
apostle tells us, Gal. iv., were types of the law and of the
gospel. After Abraham had gone in to Hagar, and the child
SfcR. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 183
of Hagar well grown, there was no peace in the family, though
it were Abraham s family. And as Abraham then did go in to
Hagar, so now the children of Abraham do too much go in
to Hagar, the law. And as Luther said, Cain semper occidit
fratrem adfinem mundi ; Cain will be always killing of his
brother Abel till the world s end : so say I, Abraham will be
always going in to Hagar till Christ come again. I mean, the
children of Abraham will be always going in to the law and
to Hagar. And what is the reason, I pray, that there are so
many divisions and dissensions now among us, and so little
love ? But because the children of Abraham go so much in
to Hagar. I dare boldly say, it is not so much diversity of
judgment that maketh these dissensions, as it is the legality
of our dispositions ; for though your judgments were very
different and removed one from another, yet, if your spirits
were evangelical, you would love one another: and though
your judgments were all of a piece, yet if one were of a legal
disposition, and the other of an evangelical disposition, there
would be want of love still, still there would be divisions ;
now, therefore, whensoever you find divisions begin to stir,
or want of love, then go to God, and beseech the Lord, say
ing, O Lord, deliver me from a legal disposition ; O Lord,
bestow upon me a gospel disposition.
And again, a true and real sense of the name of God, and
how greatly the name of Christ and God the Father doth
suffer by the divisions of professors, and their want of love,
will recruit and recover our love. We are very sensible of
our own names, the sufferings of our own names ; but were
we as sensible of the suffering of God s name, certainly there
would not be such want of love amongst us. Luther said in
his time, The thief wrongs one, the adulterer wrongs two, the
slander wrongs three : but I think four ; himself, the person
abused, the bystander, and the precious name of God. You
have heard, it is likely, of the parable of the stomach.
There was a great variance sometimes fell out at Rome, be
tween the people and the senate, insomuch that the peo
ple banded together, to the hazard of the commonwealth.
The senate, to quiet the people, sent a certain eloquent man
amongst them ; and when he carne amongst them, he pro
pounded them this parable. Saith he: Upon a time the
members ot the body were at variance with the stomach, be-
184 GRACE AND LOVE [SfiR. 8.
cause the stomach devoured all the meat, and lay still, was
idle, and did not work, and all the other members of the
body wrought hard and sorely for their living: whereupon
they all combined against the stomach, and the eye would
not see no more for it, and the hand would work no more for
it, and the feet would walk no more for it, and the teeth
would chew no more for it, and other members refused for to
do their office, whereupon the whole body was weak, the eye
began to wax dim, the hand began to wax weak, the feet
began to be feeble, and all the members began to be weak,
and the whole body for to wither. So here, now in these
days of ours ; one man he thinks he is wronged, and he
withholds his influence and his love ; and another man he
thinks he is wronged, and he withholds his influence and his
love; and another man he thinks he is wronged, and he with
holds his influence and his love : and so in fine all the mem
bers are weakened, and the whole body of the commonwealth
weakened ; yea, and the body of Christianity weakened, and
the name of Christ, the precious name of Christ, that suffers
much. You that are a professor, you strike at me; and I
that am a professor, I strike at you : but 1 pray, where falls
the blow ? the blow falls upon the name of Christ, the blow
falls upon the name of God. Have I done you wrong ? I
pray, what wrong hath the name of Christ done you ? Hath
not Christ suffered enough for us, but shall his precious name
suffer more by us ? Moses was a man, you know, tender of
the name of God : " What shall become of thy great name }"
In Malachi s time, it was the character of a man fearing God,
that he " thought upon the name of God." Solomon in the
Proverbs saith, <e The name of the Lord is a strong tower,
the righteous fly thereunto and are safe." Now then, as ever
you desire that the name of the Lord should be a refuge and
a shelter to you in the evil day ; oh, be tender of the name
of God, and I dare say, the more tender you that are profes
sors are of the precious name of God, and the more sense
you have of the sufferings of God s name, the more you will
lay down your weapons one against another, and the more
you will set yourselves for to love one another.
And would you love one another now, as you have loved
before ? then do as you have done before. " I have some
what against thee, (saith Christ to the church of Ephesus,)
SER. 8.] BEYOND GIFTS. 185
thou hast left thy first love." But wouldest thou be recov
ered ? " Remember from whence thou hast fallen, and
repent, and do thy first works." I wish I might not say,
that Christ hath a somewhat against us, even this, that in
these days of ours we have lost our former love, love unto
one another. But would we be recovered, reclaimed ? Oh,
let us remember from whence we are fallen, repent and
bewail our divisions, declinings in love, and do our first
works. What are those ? Times were heretofore, when you,
that are of different judgments now, would have met toge
ther, prayed together, yea, fasted, prayed, and have wept
together. So let us do again : we meet now and dispute
together, we meet now and we wrangle together, but we shall
never dispute ourselves into love. If we would love one
another now, as we have done before, then let us do as we
did before, meet and pray together, as before. The living
fish swims against the stream, the dead fish is carried down
with the tide ; so a living Christian swims against the tide of
the times, a dead professor is carried down with all. And
which way doth the stream and tide of these times run, but
against love ? great oppositions that are made to love. Now
then, as we desire to be counted living Christians, let us make
it our work and business to heal and reconcile things. It is
in regard of graces, as in regard of ordinances ; when any or
dinance of God is decried, then it is our duty, and we are called
to it, for to cry it up ; so when any one grace is opposed, then
is our time, and then we are called to advance it most. And
when ever was this grace of love among professors so much
opposed as it is now ? Now therefore, if ever, is our duty to
abound in love, and to walk in this excellent way.
But you desire gifts, yea, and your gifts are great ; I know
where I speak, in this great and famous city of London,
where gifts and parts grow alone, even in your streets ; yet
let me tell you this, though you or I should have all gifts and
parts, yet if we want love, we should be but as sounding
brass and as a tinkling cymbal. But you desire gifts, the
gift of teaching, exercising, that ye may be able to do good
to others ; and you do well therein, for the way of gifts is an
excellent way: oh, but the way of love is a more excellent
way. You desire gifts, the gift of prayer, the gift of confer
ence, that you may speak a word in season unto them you
186 GRACE AND LOVE &C. [SfiR. 8.
shall meet with ; and you do well therein, for this way of
gifts is an excellent way ; yet saith the apostle, " Behold I
shew you a more excellent way." As for all our gifts and
parts, they will leave us when we must go in to our Father.
Do ye, therefore, any of you desire gifts ? desire them still,
yea, " covet earnestly the best gifts : but yet shew I you
(saith the apostle) a more excellent way :" and ye have heard
what that way is ; in general, the way of grace, holiness, and
of the power of godliness; in particular, the way of love.
" Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead
the Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of our souls, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect (in
this great work of love), working in you that which is well-
pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
for ever and ever." Amen.
SERMON IX.
OF THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.
Wherein is shewed,
I. WHAT THIS SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST is ?
II. HOW AND IN WHAT RESPECT THIS SlN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST
IS ABOVE ALL OTHER SlNS THE UNPARDONABLE SlN.
PREACHED AT STEPNEY, DECEMBER 29, 1650.
" Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasjihemy shall
be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall
not be forgiven unto men.
" And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man shall be
forgiven ; but whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to
come." MATT. xu. 31, 32.
HERE are two great arguments laid before you in these
words :
First, The largeness of God s heart in forgiving sins unto
the children of men : every sin : " All manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men."
Secondly, You have here the unpardonableness of the sin
against the Holy Ghost : " But the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."
I would rather choose to speak unto the former argument,
but if I should do so at the first, possibly some poor soul
would say, Though God s heart be very large in forgiving sins,
yet there is one sin that shall never be forgiven, the sin against
the Holy Ghost ; and I fear I have committed that.
That I may therefore take away this obstruction, and make
your way plain and easy to the forgiving mercy of the Lord,
I shall at this time speak unto the last of these two argu
ments ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not
be forgiven. " Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in
the world to come."
188 THE SIN AGAINST [SER. 9.
For the opening of which words two questions must be
answered.
The first is, Whether these Jews, that our Saviour spake
these words unto, did then sin against the Holy Ghost?
I answer, Some think, no ; but I rather conceive that these
pharisees did sin this sin against the Holy Ghost ; for if you
look into Mark iii., ye shall find that our Lord and Saviour
spake this because of some words that they had spoken
against him : he had cast out devils, and they said, " He cast
out devils by the prince of devils," verse 22. Whereupon
our Saviour reasoned with them, and at last he saith, at verse
28, " Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto
the sons of men, and blasphemies : (verse 29) but he that
shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost shall never be for
given." And the reason of this speech is given at verse 30 :
" Because they said He hath an unclean spirit. 5 And indeed
if these men did not sin the sin against the Holy Ghost, our
Lord and Saviour Christ should tell us that there is an un
pardonable sin, and not tell us what it is ; for unless it be in
this scripture, you shall not find, either in the gospel or in
the epistles, that the sin against the Holy Ghost is any where
mentioned in express words. Now our Lord and Saviour
would not tell us that there is an unpardonable sin, and not
tell us what it is : but he saith expressly, that " whoever doth
blaspheme or speak against the Holy Ghost shall never be
forgiven." And he chargeth those Jews, that they blas
phemed and spake against the Spirit of God, or that work
which was done by the Spirit ; and therefore, without doubt,
they did then sin the unpardonable sin, the sin against the
Holy Ghost.
But again, Why is it here said, that he that sinneth this
sin shall never be forgiven, either in this world or in the
world to come ; is there any forgiving of sins in the world to
come ?
Chrysostom saith, As men are punished in this world, and
in the world to come ; so they are pardoned in this world,
and in the world to come : pardoned in this world, when any
temporal affliction for sin is removed. So I also understand
that parable in Matt, xviii. at the latter end ; and pardoned
in this life when a man is justified, Rom. iv., pardoned and
forgiven in the world to come. So saith the apostle in Acts
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 189
iii. 19, " That your sins may be blotted out in the day of
refreshing." Which day of refreshing, compared with the
speech which you have in Heb. ii. speaking of the world to
come, shews that the day of refreshing is the time of the
world to come. But it is an usual phrase with Scripture,
noting the eternity of misery ; and therefore if you look
again into Mark iii., you shall find, that whereas here in
Matthew the words run thus : " Shall not be forgiven, either
in this world, or in the world to come ;" Mark hath it thus,
" He shall never be forgiven," that never being the explica
tion of this, " not in this world, nor in the world to come."
The words being thus far opened, the doctrine then will
presently be this :
That the sin against the Holy Ghost is the unpardonable
sin; that whosoever sins against the Holy Ghost, shall never
be forgiven, either in this world, or in the world to come.
For the opening of this great truth, which I shall the
rather desire you to hearken unto, because as it lies out of
the ordinary road, so it makes your way clear to the laying
hold of the former words of God s mercy. I say, for the
opening of this truth, we must inquire into two things.
First : What this sin against the Holy Ghost is, for people
are very ignorant of it.
Secondly : How and in what respect this sin against the
Holy Ghost, is above all other sins the unpardonable sin.
First : If you ask, what this sin is ?
I answer both negatively and affirmatively.
Negatively. It is not that sin, whereby men do barely
deny the personality, or the deity of the Holy Ghost. Pos
sibly a man may deny the personality or the deity of the
Holy Ghost, and yet not sin the sin against the Holy Ghost.
For as Chrysostom observes,* in his time there were divers
heretics, that did deny the personality and the deity of the
Holy Ghost, and yet afterwards repented, and were received
into the bosom of the church. And ye do not find that these
pharisees, who are here charged with this sin, did either deny
the personality or the deity of the Holy Ghost. So that
plainly then, the sin against the Holy Ghost doth not
FloXXot yap rwv raiHa e^rfxoTuv fTrioreuffav, varepov $e TTCLVTCL at-
a.(j>$ri. Chrysostom in Math. x.
190 THE SIN AGAINST [SER. 9.
consist in this, the mere and bare denying of the personality
or the deity of the Holy Ghost.
As it doth not consist therein, so neither doth it consist in
every opposition, or in a bare opposition unto the work of
the Holy Ghost, as distinct from the Father and the Son.
Unto God the Father belongs power ; unto the Son, wisdom ;
unto the Spirit, holiness. The work of the Father is to
create ; the work of the Son, to redeem ; the work of the
Spirit, or the Holy Ghpst, to sanctify. And hereupon some
have thought, that opposition unto holiness is the sin against
the Holy Ghost. But you find here it is a blasphemy, there
fore not every opposition. And if you look into Acts vii.,
you find that Stephen speaking of the Jews, saith at verse
51, " Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ear, ye
do always resist the Holy Ghost :" yet they did not sin this
sin against the Holy Ghost : why ? for Stephen prays for
them at the last verse, " Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge." But now saith the apostle John, in 1 John v. 16,
" There is a sin unto death, I do not say that ye shall pray
for it." Had they in Stephen s account sinned this sin unto
death, he would not have prayed for them ; but he did pray
for them. So that this sin against the Holy Ghost, doth not
consist in every opposition unto the work of the Holy Ghost,
as it is distinct from the Father and the Son.
As it doth not consist therein, so it is not necessary that
every man that sins the sin against the Holy Ghost, should
be an universal apostate, backsliding from the profession of
the gospel, and the power thereof. I know it is ordinarily
thought so ; but I say, it is not necessary that whosoever
doth sin the sin against the Holy Ghost^ should be a gospel
apostate, backsliding from the gospel, and the power thereof,
once professed : for these pharisees, who sinned against the
Holy Ghost, never professed the gospel, neither do we read
of any backsliding in them, from the power of the gospel
once professed ; and yet they sinned against the Holy Ghost.
Surely, therefore, such a gospel apostacy is not of the essence
of the sin against the Holy Ghost. Only here I must dis
tinguish concerning the word apostacy. A man may be said
to be an apostate two ways : either because he doth decline
and fall away from the profession of the truth, and power of
godliness, once professed ; or else because he doth rebel
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 191
against truth revealed, and the will of God manifested, and
will go no further. I will express it thus : five or six men go
a great journey, suppose to Wales, or into the north, to Scot
land ; when they come about the middle of the way, two or
three of them say, These ways are dirty, and longer than we
intended, and therefore we will go no further; but say the
other, Let the way be as dirty, and as long as it may be, we
will go on ; and on they go : which of these men do depart
one from the other ; do those that go on depart from them
that stay ? No ; those that will go no further depart, they are
the forsakers. So in the way to heaven, professors set out
together, and some find the way long, further than they
thought of, We will go no further, say they, and we will have
no more light ; but say the other, God willing, we will on ;
and on they go. Which of these two sorts are the apostates ?
Those that will go no further : they think not so, but the
Lord knows the truth, that those that will go no further are
they that leave and forsake the other. I will give you one
scripture for it, it is in Numb. xiv. ; there were certain spies
went into the land of Canaan, and they brought an ill report
upon the good land, " and the children of Israel murmured
against Moses/ verse 2; whereupon Moses speaks unto
them, and saith at verse 9, " Only rebel not against the
Lord." The words in the Septuagint, which greek the New
Testament follows, are, " Only be not apostates against the
Lord." So that in Septuagintal language, those that rebel
against light revealed, and will go no further, are called apos
tates. Now, indeed, this kind of apostacy always goes with
the sin against the Holy Ghost, but not the former, always ;
for we do not find that the pharisees were guilty of the for
mer, for they did not profess the gospel. So that the essence
of this sin doth not consist in apostatizing or backsliding from
the profession of the gospel and the power thereof.
Some think that this sin doth consist in final unbelief and
impenitency ; but final impenitency and unbelief is not the
sin against the Holy Ghost, for by final unbelief and impen
itency, they either understand that impenitency and unbelief
which a man lives and dies in, or that which he purposeth to
continue in to the last. The latter cannot be the sin against
the Holy Ghost, for many have purposed to continue in their
unbelief to their death, and yet have been converted and par-
192 THE SIN AGAINST [SfiR. 9.
doned.* And the first cannot be the sin against the Holy
Ghost, for, 1. The Jews whom Christ spake unto did then
commit this sin, and yet they had not continued in it to their
death. 2. Final unbelief is rather a sin against the Son ; but
the sin against the Holy Ghost is distinguished from that.
3. Our Saviour saith, Those that commit this sin shall not be
forgiven in this world nor in the world to come. Not in this
world. If therefore final unbelief or impenitency be this sin,
then Christ should threaten that he that dies in his sin shall
not be forgiven whilst he lives. 4. If a man sin against the
Father or Son, and die impenitently in that sin, he shall not
be forgiven either in this life or in the life to come : but here
in the sin against the Holy Ghost is worse than the sins
against the Father or the Son, and therefore it cannot consist
therein. 5. The apostle saith, 1 John v. 16, " There is a sin
unto death, I say not that you pray for it." Doth he say that
we must not pray for a man, and for the forgiveness of his
sin when he is dead ? 6. It is that sin for which there lies
no remission, but a man may sin such a sin whilst he lives :
for if any man sin wilfully, there remaineth no sacrifice for
sin, and wilfully a man may sin before his death. 7 It is
such a sin as a man may know another man is guilty of whilst
he lives, for saith the apostle, " There is a sin unto death, I
say not that you pray for it :" but final unbelief and impeni
tency is not known till death. 8. Our Saviour saith, " He
that speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven." But a word may be spoken against the Spirit long
before a man dies, and therefore surely this sin against the
Holy Ghost doth not consist in final impenitency and unbe
lief; final unbelief and impenitency is not this sin against
the Holy Ghost. 9. For then all wicked men living under
the gospel, and dying impenitently, should sin the sin against
the Holy Ghost, which is false.*
* Altissiodorensis, lib. ii. Tract. 30, in Sentent.
Desperatissimos convertit Deus. Augustin.
Sic homo potest penitere de finali impenitentia. Altissiodorensis, ib.
f Blasphemia in Spiritum Sanctum ea esse videtur qua quis destinata malitia
contra proprium animi sui sensum Spiritus Sancti gratiam et virtutem deique
gloriam oppugnat. Luc. Brugen. in Matt. xii.
* O? av enrr) \oyov Kara TOM viov TOU avO^ocrow 09/<7ra, os oe av
Ka.ro. TOV aytov Trvtv^aroe OVK EITI ^al on TOVTO yvopipov
rpov ra $r)\a Evctixwrefle. Chrysostom in Math. xii.
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 193
You will say, then, What is this sin against the Holy
Ghost, and wherein doth it consist?
Affirmatively. It is that wilful sinning against God, where
by a man doth maliciously oppose and blaspheme the proper
and peculiar work of the Holy Ghost, and that after he hath
been convinced thereof by the Holy Ghost.
I say, It is a wilful sinning against God ; and so the apostle
speaks, saying, " If any man sin wilfully, after he hath re
ceived the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more
sacrifice for sin," Heb. x. 26. So that the sin for which there
is no sacrifice, and of which there is no remission, is a wilful
sin. Now a man is said to sin wittingly, willingly, and wil
fully : wittingly, in opposition to ignorance ; willingly, in op
position to force and constraint ; wilfully, in opposition to
light, knowledge and reason ; and so he that sins against the
Holy Ghost doth sin ; for says the apostle, " If any man sin
wilfully, after he hath received the knowledge of the truth,"
or after the acknowledgment, rr\v nriyvtaaiv, &c.
He that commits this sin doth also oppose and blaspheme
the proper and peculiar work of the Holy Ghost; for it is
called here, a blasphemy, and a blaspheming of the Spirit,
as distinct from the Father and the Son. Now the work of
the Father is to create, the work of the Son to redeem,
the work of the Holy Ghost to sanctify ; and therefore he
that sins this sin, doth oppose and blaspheme holiness and
goodness ; and so these Jews did : for when our Saviour
Christ did cast out the devil, that unclean spirit, they said,
he did it by the power of the devil, calling the work done,
a work of the devil, and did oppose him therein.* Yet this
is not all, for,
It is that sin, whereby a man doth maliciously oppose, and
blaspheme ; and so the word /co<nwg, Heb. x. 26, is used by
the Septuagint, Exod. xxi. 13, 14. And thus did those
pharisees sin, for the Evangelist tells us, that when Christ
saw their thoughts, verse 25, s{ He said unto them/ &c.
So that it was not a bare opposing or blaspheming, but a
malicious opposing and blaspheming of this great work
of the Holy Ghost, which made them so deeply guilty.f
* Dicere verbum contra spiritum sanctum est verbis impugnare Deum sancti-
ficantem. Cajet. in Matt. \ii. vide sixth Senens. in locum,
f Peccatum iu spiritum sanctum dicitur illud ex carta malitia sit quod solent
VOL. IV. O
194 TFTE SIN AGAIXST [SEE. 9.
But how can a man sin, ex malitia, or maliciously, seeing
that, voluntas temper ferter in bonum, et omnis peccans est
ignorans. Now if the will be always carried out upon what
is good, and every man that sins, doth sin ignorantly, how
any can man be said to sin maliciously, or ex malitia ?
Yes, very well : for although the will be always carried out
upon that which is good; yet that good, is either morally
good, called, bonum honestum, honest good; or naturally
good, called, bonum utile, or jucundum, profitable, or de
lightful good. Now the will is not always carried out upon
that which is honestly good in appearance ; for voluntas est
appetitus universalis, the will is an universal appetite. And
if the will should be always carried out upon that which
is honestly good in appearance, then, as Suarez reasons well,
every thief and adulterer, should be an heretic, which no
man will say. And if the will may be carried out sometimes
upon that which is pleasantly, or delightfully, or naturally
good ; then it may hate that which is morally, and spiritually,
and honestly good ; for, amor odii causa, love is the cause of
hatred ; the will doth naturally hate that which is contrary
to the thing loved ; and if the will may hate that which is
honestly and spiritually good, then it may oppose and blas
pheme the same, and that out of hatred and malice ; for
every man speaks evil of and opposes what he hates.
If this be a reason why a man cannot sin maliciously, or
ex malitia, because the will is always carried out upon what
is good ; then the devils and damned in hell, do not sin ma
liciously, or ex malitia ; for they have wills in hell, as well
as men on earth ; but I presume it will not be said that the
devils and damned in hell do not sin maliciously ; for then if
they sin upon some mistake, and ex ignorantia, they should
have some excuse for their sin.*
distingui tria genera peccatorum, peccatum in patrem ex infirmitate bumana
peccatum in filium ex ignorantia, quod patri appropriatur potentia filio sapientia,
peccatum in spiritum sanctum, ex malitia quia bonitas attribuitur spiritui sancto.
Altissidorens. Lib. 2. Tract. 30. in Sent. Scot, in Sent. Lib. 2. Ques. 2.
* Non existimo absolute necessarium ad operandum malum per voluntatem
ut prsecedat defectus erroris in judicio intellectus vel speculativo vel practico.
Suar. Metapbys. disp. de necess. et conting. Eff. Sect 7.
Prima Propositio. Cum perfecta scientia et consideratione vel habituali vel
uaturali potest esse peccatum et defectus in voluntate, est communis sententia
et certa de fide.
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 195
Though every man that sins doth sin ignorantly, yet he
doth not sin ex ignorantia^ out of ignorance ; ignorance is
sometimes the cause of the sin, and so the man sins out of
ignorance : sometimes ignorance is the companion and con
sequent of the sin, and then he sins ignorantly. Now it is
granted, that every man that sins doth sin ignorantly, there
is always a darkness and obscuration of the mind, which
goeth along with every sin ; but every man that sins, doth
not sin ex iffnorantia, out of ignorance : I say, it is not true,
that every sin doth arise from some precedent error, or ig
norance in the understanding, as the cause thereof : For then,
Why should the Holy Ghost make so great and vast a
difference between him that sins ignorantly, and him that
sins presumptuously ? Num. xv. If any sinned through
ignorance, there was a sacrifice for him, verse 27? 28, but if
any man sinned presumptuously, there was no sacrifice for
him, verse 30, 31. Now if every sin do arise ex ignorantia^
from some precedent error and ignorance in the understand
ing, as the cause thereof; then presumptuous sins also
should arise from this cause, and so there would be no such
distinction between them, as the Holy Ghost makes.*
If every sin in the will, should arise from some error or
ignorance in the understanding; then the will should be
Secunda Propositio. Non est necesse prsecedere in intellectu aliquem erroretn
speculationum qui sit quasi origo ad peccandum.
Tertia Propositio. Ad peccandem non est necessarium ut prsecedat inconsi-
deratio speculativa tanquam origo peccandi.
Quarta Propositio. Etiam ad peccandum non est necessarius error practicus
qui peccatum antecrdat et sit quasi origo ejus.
Quinta Propositio. Moraliter loquendo semper in omni peccato occurrit
aliqua inconsideratio practica vel pravitatis object! vel actus licet si absolutam
voluntatis potentiam consideremus neque iste defectus intellectus simpliciter
videtur necessarius ad peccandum.
Sexta Propositio. Licet cum actu peccati semper sit conjunctus ille defectus
intellectus nou tamen ille est prima origo peccandi sed potius ilia reducitur in
defectum voluntatis.
Septima Propositio. Voluntatem posse peccare est defectus quidam naturalis
ipsius voluntatis.
Suarez de Causis propriis et interior, peccatorum Disputat. 5. Sect. 1.
* Quod aliquis ignoret illud quod scire debet contingit tripliciter : Uno ex
impotentia qua scire non potesi : Alio ex nescientia qua quis nescit quod scire
debet : Alio ex voluntate quando quis renuit scire quod debit, ilia ignorantia est
peccatum mortale, quod est effectus voluntatis, quod est in potestate voluntatis
ignorare vel non ignorare. Holcot de imputabilitate peccati.
o 2
190 THE SIN AGAINST [SfiR. 9.
always carried out upon bonum honestum, honest good, at
least in appearance ; but the will is an universal appetite,
and the wills of the devils and damned in hell, are not
carried out upon that which is apparently honest.
If every sin should suppose such a precedent error and
ignorance in the understanding, then the will cannot fall off
from, or resilire from the ultimate dictate of the under
standing, but must necessarily and continually follow the
same; and so the liberty will be formally, and not radicately,
in the understanding, and not the will ; then the will cannot
move, and apply the understanding to cousider a thing, nor
be the cause of ignorance in the understanding; yea, then
there shall be no sin in the will, because it follows the un
derstanding, as God hath set a law upon it to do ; but where
grace is, there is sin also.
If the will doth always pre-suppose such an error and
ignorance in the understanding, and doth necessarily follow
such an act of the understanding, presenting some truth, or
honest good, either real, or apparent, then the created and
defiled will of man, cannot tend unto any object upon any
reason, upon which the divine will of God cannot tend unto
its object ; for the divine will can tend, and be carried out
upon any good, being abstracted from all deformity : and
although the created will be carried out, and tend unto that
which is apparently good, and the divine will is always carried
out upon that which is really good, yet the reason why the
created will is carried out upon that which is apparently
good, is because it appears to be real, and so the divine will,
shall be carried out upon its object, upon no other reason
than the created will of man, yea, than the wills of devils,
and the damned in Hell, which I suppose none will affirm.*
It is confessed by all that there is a sin of malice, and a
sin of ignorance. Now if there be a sin of malice, as Ocham
reasons, then he that sins out of malice, hath either an uni
versal, or particular knowledge, or both ; if both, then as he
* Utrum voluntas creata possit peccare ex malitia volendo aliquod non ostensum
Bibi sub ratione boni veri, boni simpliciter vel boni apparentis et secundem
quid, &c.
Si non potest tune videtur quod voluntas creata non possit tendere in objectum
sub aliqua ratione sub qua non possit tendere voluntas Divina, voluntas enim
divina potest tendere in omne bonum substractutn illi deformitati. Scotus lib. 2
Sent. Dist. 44. Quest. 2.
. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 197
saith, habetur propositum, viz., every sin doth not pre-suppose
an error, or ignorance in the understanding. If he that sins
out of malice, hath an universal knowledge only, then he that
sins ignorantly shall have equal knowledge with him that
doth sin maliciously; for he that sins ignorantly hath an
universal knowledge that every just thing is to be done, and
that every good thing that pleaseth God is to be done ; but
he that sins out of ignorance, hath not equal knowledge with
him that sins out of malice ; and therefore he that sins out
of malice, must have both an universal and a particular
knowledge ; and if so, then every sin doth not pre-suppose
an error and ignorance in the understanding as the cause
thereof.* But,
Suppose that some ignorance in the understanding be the
remote cause of the sin, yet malice may be the next and
chief cause. As for example : suppose that a man hath
taken up some prejudice against another, through a mistake
and error; yet now he hates him, and out of hatred kills
him ; shall not this murderer be said to kill him out of malice,
because the malice was founded upon a mistake or error ?
Yes, surely. But why is he said to kill him out of malice ?
Because malice was the next cause of this murder. So that
though ignorance be the remote cause of a sin., yet malice
may be the next cause thereof; and being so, he shall be
said truly to sin ex malitia, though with some precedent
ignorance, as the remote cause thereof.*
Yet if you ask, how it can be that the will should be
* Secundum omnes theologos aliquid est peccatum ex malitia. Ocham. Lib.
3. in Sent. Quest. 12.
Quid est peccatum ex malitia ? est communis sententia patrum et Theolo-
gorum. Suarez de pecca. ex. pass, ignor. malitia Disput. 4. Sect. 1.
Peccatum ex malitia communiter dici peccatum ex certa scientia. Vasquez 12.
Tom. 1. Q 78. act.
Tune quaere- an peccans ex malitia habet notitiam tarn universalem quam
particularem aut tarn universalem, si prime- habitur propositum, quod babens
notitiam tarn universalem quano particularem potest ex malitia facere contra
utramque, si ducenti ita peccans ex ignorantia habet notitiam universalem sicut
peccans ex malitia, quis peccans ex ignorantia scit tales majores, omne justum
est faciendum, omne bonum est faciendum quod Deo placet, &c. sed ignorat
minores puta hoc est justum, hoc est Deo placitum, &c. si ergo peccans ex
ignorantia non tune plus sciret aequalern scientiam haberet peccans ex malitia
et ignorantia. Ocham in Sent. Lib. 3. Q. 12.
* Quo ex m litia ? an eousque ajnentue prosilire queant homines ut Dei gloriam
oppugnare scieutes et volentes non dubitent ? Resp. audacium istam prodire
10-" THE SIN AGAINST [SfiR. 9.
always carried out upon what is good, and yet a man sin
maliciously ? Plainly thus : from what hath been said, the
will of man is an universal appetite, willing that which is
naturally good, as well as that which is honestly good : if it
be carried out upon that which is naturally good, it will hate
all that spiritual good which is contrary to the obtainment
of it, and the man will oppose and blaspheme what the will
hates. Now because the hatred and malice of the will, is
the cause of that blasphemy and opposition, the man is truly
said to oppose and blaspheme out of malice, though the will
be carried on upon that which is naturally good at the same
time ; which was the case of these pharisees : for they sought
their own honour and greatness ; Christ and the truth op
posing, they did hate him and the truth ; and because they
hated him, the truth, and that light which reproved their
sins, they did oppose and blaspheme, and that out of malice,
and so the sin against the Holy Ghost is a malicious sin, or
that sin whereby a man doth oppose and blaspheme the
proper and peculiar work of the Spirit out of malice. Yet
this is not all. But,
It is that sin against God, whereby a man doth maliciously
oppose and blaspheme the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost,
after he hath been convinced thereof by the Holy Ghost;
for possibly a man may oppose and blaspheme, even mali
ciously, the work of the Holy Ghost, and yet not be con
vinced of it by the Holy Ghost, but otherwise; but those
that sin this sin, are such as are enlightened, and made par
takers of the Holv Ghost in the gifts and common graces of
J
it, Heb. vi. And so these pharisees were convinced, by the
Spirit which did work that great work before them ; and yet
after such a convincement wrought by the Spirit, they did
maliciously oppose and blaspheme this work of the Spirit.
So that I say, the sin against the Holy Ghost, is that wilful
sinning against God, whereby a man doth maliciously oppose
and blaspheme the proper and peculiar work of the Holy
Ghost, and that after he hath been convinced thereof by the
Holy Ghost. Or if you will, thus: it is that deliberate sinning
against God, whereby men do oppose the work of God,
which their own conscience and conviction tells them is
quidem ex cordis csecitate sed in qua malitia exsuperet, ut clarum est hoc loco
de Puarisaeis Lucas Brugensis in Matt. 12.
SER. 9.] TIIK HOLY GHOST. 199
wrought by the Spirit and finger of God, in order to man s
salvation, yet out of malice do blaspheme the same.*
Secondly, But why is this sin, above all other sins, unpar
donable ?
Not in regard of difficulty only, or because it is hardly
pardoned, as some would ; for many sins are hardly par
doned, and yet are not the sins against the Holy Ghost ;
for, as Zanchy doth well observe, if this sin were only un
pardonable, because it is hardly pardoned, then a man might
pray for those that sin this sin : but the apostle saith,
" There is a sin unto death, I do not say that ye shall pray
for it," 1 John v. 16. Therefore the unpardonableness of
it, doth not lie here.f
Neither is it unpardonable only in regard of event, because
in event it shall never be pardoned ; for there are many sins
which in event shall never be pardoned, which yet are not
the sins against the Holy Ghost. There is many a wicked
man that goes to hell, whose sins in event are not pardoned,
and yet he did never sin against the Holy Ghost. So that
this sin is not unpardonable only in regard of event.
Neither is it unpardonable because it is so great as doth
exceed the power and mercy of God ; for God s mercy and
power, in forgiving sins, is like himself, infinite. If that be
a good argument that David useth, " Forgive my sin, for it
is wondrous great ;" then the greatness of the sin cannot be
the only reason of the unpardonableness of it. There is
nothing greater than that which is infinite, but God s mercy
is infinite.
Neither is it unpardonable because it is against the means
of pardon ; for then the sin against the free love of the
Father, and the sin against the Son, should be unpardonable.
Neither is it unpardonable because a man doth not repent
thereof; for then all sins unrepented of, should be sins
against the Holy Ghost. It is true, that those who commit
this sin cannot repent, as the apostle speaks, It is impossible
* Tune aliquis masitne peccat in spiritnm sanctum qnando contra divinitatis
opera stupenda ordinata ad nostram salutem aliquis couvitia jactat cum proposito
perseverandi in illo peccat o usque ad mortem, abjectig procul spe et timore Dei
Domini. Bannes, 22. Q. 14. Art. 1.
t Peccatum dicitur irremissibile septem de causls. Altissidorens. Lib. 2.
Tract. 30. in Sent.
200 THE SIN AGAINST [SER. 9.
that they should be renewed to repentance, Heb. vi., because
God doth give them up to impenitency : but we do not find
in Scripture, that their not repenting is made the reason of
the unpardonableness of this sin.*
But the sin is unpardonable because there is no sacrifice
laid out by God s appointment for it ; " If any man sin
wilfully, there remaineth no more sacrifice," Heb. x., and
without blood and sacrifice there is no remission. He that
sinned ignorantly, Numb, xv., was pardoned ; why? because
there was a sacrifice laid out for him ; but if any man sinned
nm no with a high hand, he was to bear his own sin ;
why ? because there was no sacrifice laid out for him. But
why was there no sacrifice for that sin ? Not because the
man did not repent after it ; but because that in the com
mitting of that sin, he did despise the commandment of
God. So now, God hath declared that every sin and blas
phemy against the Father and Son, may be forgiven ; but if
men come to that height of sin, as maliciously to oppose
and blaspheme that very way and work of God s Spirit,
which they have been convinced of by the Spirit, then there
shall he no sacrifice for that, and so no remission and
pardon.*
And thus now ye have seen what the sin against the Holy
Ghost is ; in what respects it is not, and in what respects it
is unpardonable ; and so the doctrine cleared and proved,
That the sin against the Holy Ghost, is the unpardonable
sin, which shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor
in the world to come.
The application follows :
If the sin against the Holy Ghost be the unpardonable
sin, then surely the Holy Ghost is God, very God, true God,
as the Father is : for can it be a greater evil, or more dan
gerous, to sin against a creature, than against God the Fa
ther ? It is God that is sinned against, now the Holy Ghost
* Nunquam remittetur, quod intellige regulariter, nam nee divina potentia
nee divina miserecordia alligata est ad non remittendum, spiritus blasphemiam,
sed secundum regularem cursum eveniet non remissio quod comitem semper
habet obstinationem. Cajetan. in Matt. 12.
Duplicitur dicitur peccatum irremissibile, dicitur uno quod nunquam remittetur,
alio dicitur irremissibile quod remitti non potest et sic non sequitur iste est
similiter impenitens ergo habut peccatum irremissibile. Holcotdeimputabilitate
peccati.
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 201
is sinned against ; yea, the unpardonable sin is against the
Holy Ghost. The Socinians say, That if he be a person, he
must needs be God, true God : but ye see by this scripture,
that he is joined with the other person of the Son ; so also
he is joined with the Father and the Son, in Matt, xxviii. in
whose name we are to baptize. He who hath a name, and
in whose name something is to be done, must needs be a
person. And I pray you, what is proper and peculiar to a
person ? Is not understanding, willing, and speaking? these
are all given to the Spirit. 1 Cor. ii. 1 1 ; 1 Cor. xii. 1 1 ; Rom.
viii. 26, 27 ; Acts xiii. 2; and xx. 28. But I need go no
further than this text ; here the Spirit is joined with the Son,
and the sin against the Holy Spirit is made the unpardonable
sin. Surely, therefore, he is verily and truly God as the
Father is.
If this doctrine be true, then what a necessity is there
upon us all, to know and understand what this sin against
the Holy Ghost is ; for if a man have sinned this sin, we
are to forbear praying for him, 1 John v. 16. Therefore we
may know what this sin is, and we may know that another
hath committed the same; for how can we forbear prayer for
him, if we do not know and understand what this sin is ?
The not knowing what this sin is, makes many men fall into
it before they are aware. When the laws of a nation are
written in an unknown tongue, the people break them before
they are aware, because they do not know them. So the not
knowing what this sin is, makes many a poor soul to fall into
it ; yea, the not knowing what this sin is, breeds many scru
ples, doubts, and fears in new converts. Oh, saith one, I
have sinned that great sin against the Holy Ghost ; and I,
saith another, have sinned the unpardonable sin : and why ?
but because the man doth not know what this sin is ! Oh,
what a necessity, therefore, is there upon us all, to know and
understand what this sin is, and wherein it doth consist.
If the sin against the Holy Ghost be the unpardonable
sin, what mercy and what grace is it, that the Lord hath kept
us from this great sin ; that though ye have fallen into great
and heinous sins, and the Lord hath suffered you to fall into
such sins that you may be humbled ; yet that the Lord
should keep you from this sin, this unpardonable sin, for
202 THE SIN AGAINST [SEB. 9.
which there is no sacrifice, nor no remission ; oh, what mercy
and what grace is this.
But I am afraid I have sinned this sin, and the truth is I
have often feared it ; and my reason was and is, because my
sins are so great, so exceeding great.
Great, say ye ; how great, man ? I have sinned against
my light, I have sinned against my knowledge, I have sinned
against my conviction ; and therefore I fear I have sinned
the unpardonable sin. But I pray, for answer, did not Adam
sin against. light, when he eat the forbidden fruit? Did he
not sin against his knowledge, and against conscience ? Yet
he sinned not against the Holy Ghost, though he brought all
the world under condemnation by his sin ; for the Lord him
self came and preached mercy to him, " The seed of the
woman shall break the serpent s head." And I pray did not
Jonah, when he run away from God, sin against his light ;
and did he not sin against his conviction, and against his
knowledge ? yet he did not sin against the Holy Ghost, for
the Lord pardoned him and wonderfully delivered him.
Possibly this therefore may be, and yet not a sin against the
Holy Ghost. It is true indeed, that those who sin against
the Holy Ghost, do sin against their light, knowledge, and
conscience; but whoever sins against light and knowledge,
though he sins greatly, doth not sin against the Holy Ghost.
Oh, but I fear that I have sinned this sin, for I have fallen
foully into gross sins.
That is ill. But I pray did not David sin so ; were they
not great and gross and foul sins that David fell into, such as
one of your civil, moral men would abhor ? yet he did not
sin against the Holy Ghost, for the Lord pardoned him, and
Nathan said from the Lord, " The Lord hath forgiven thee."
Oh, but yet I fear that I have sinned this great sin, for I
am much declined, I have lost my former acquaintance and
communion with God ; I have lost my former heat and affec
tions to good, and in duty ; and I fear upon this account
that I have sinned this great sin.
Be it so: yet did not the church of Ephesus lose her first
love? yet this church of Ephesus did not sin the sin against
the Holy Ghost: why ? for the Lord saith unto her, " Repent
and do thy first works." She could not have repented thus,
if she had sinned this sin.
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 203
Oh, but yet I fear that I have sinned this great sin, because
that I have sinned directly against the Spirit ; I have
quenched, I have grieved, I have resisted the Spirit : the
Spirit of the Lord hath come and fallen upon my heart in
preaching, and I resisted and grieved it; the Spirit of the
Lord hath fallen upon my heart in prayer, and I have grieved
that ; therefore I fear I have sinned this great sin, that shall
never be pardoned.
This is ill too ; but those that you read of in Acts vii.,
resisted the Holy Ghost, yet they did not sin the sin against
the Holy Ghost, for then Stephen would not have prayed for
them. And indeed, beloved, if every resisting of the breath
ings of the Spirit, and grieving of the Holy Ghost, were the
unpardonable sin, what godly man would be free ? A godly
man is more properly said to grieve the Spirit, than a wicked
man. If an enemy strike you, you are angry; if your friend
strike you, ye are grieved. If a wicked man strike at God,
he is angry with him ; if a godly man strike at God, God is
angry, and his Spirit is grieved, because he is a friend.
" Grieve not the Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto
the day of redemption/ So that thus far, possibly a man
may go, and yet not sin this unpardonable sin.
But I am afraid that I have sinned this great sin, the sin
against the Holy Ghost, because I have not owned but denied
the truth. The work of the Spirit is to enlighten and to lead
into truth, and I have not owned but denied the truth rather,
therefore I fear that I have sinned this great sin against the
Holy Ghost.
This is evil, very evil. I remember a speech of Godtes-
chalchus,* worthy to be written in letters of gold : I am
afraid, said he, to deny the truth, lest I should be for ever
denied by the truth, that is, Christ. But I pray, did not
Peter deny the truth when he denied Christ; and did he not
do it again and again, and did he not do it openly, with
scandal; and did he not do it after admonition ; and did he
not do it with cursing and swearing ? and yet he did not sin
against the Holy Ghost, for the Lord pardoned, and took
him into his bosom, and made him a blessed instrument in
the church. Thus far yet a man may go possibly, and yet
not sin this sin.
* Timeo veritate negare quia metuo a veritate uegari.
204 THE SIX AGAINST [SER. 9.
Oh, but I am afraid yet that I have sinned it, for I have
been an opposer of goodness, 1 have been an opposer of the
people of God, and I have been a blasphemer; therefore I
fear I have sinned this sin.
This is ill indeed. But, I pray, tell me, was not Paul an
opposer and blasphemer of the saints and ways of God ; and
yet he did not sin against the Holy Ghost ; for I did it igno-
rantly, saith he : "I was a blasphemer and a persecutor, but
I obtained mercy, for I did it ignorantly."
Oh, but I have sinned, and I have done it maliciously, and
therefore I fear I have sinned this same dreadful sin.
This is yet worse : but what mean you by that word mali
ciously ? A man may be said to sin ex malitia or maliciously
three ways, saith Aureolus :* Either because he sins from
some evil habit, and so all wicked men sin ; yet they do not
all sin against the Holy Ghost ? or, because a man sins out
of anger, passion, or evil will against another ; so Paul sinned
when he persecuted the church of God, he was carried out
with a malicious spirit against the saints and people of God ;
yet he did not sin against the Holy Ghost : or else, because
a man is moved to sin, not out of any evil habit, passion, or
ignorance, but merely from the liberty of his own will, be
cause it pleaseth him, and because he doth hate that which
his own conviction tells him is right and good. Now have
you sinned thus ? Surely no ; for then you would not foe
troubled about it, but be well pleased with it.
Oh, but yet I fear I have sinned this great sin, for I have
forsaken God, and God hath forsaken me ; God is gone,
Christ is gone, and mercy is gone. Oh, what freedom once I
had, but now God is departed from me, God hath forsaken
me : and I fear it is upon this account, because I have sinned
this great sin.
But doth not David say, " How long, O Lord, wilt thou
forget me, forsake me }" and our Saviour himself saith, " My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" There is a
* Peccatum ex malitia quandoque dicitur peccatum ex habitu, puta quando ex
malo habitu, quis est intemperatus vel gulosus et sic non loquimur in proposito,
alio modo dicitur quod procedit ex passione tamen deliberate et scienter puta si
quis invideat, &c, nee sic loquimur in proposito ; sed vocatur peccatum ex malitia
proprie qnando movetur quis non ex habitu nee passione nee ignorantia sed ec
mera libertate voluntatis Sc. quod sic placet et hoc modo dicitur peccatum in
spiritual sanctum. Aureol. in lib. ii. Sent. Dist. 43, Art. 1.
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 205
gradual forsaking, and there is a total. As with a man that
goes from his house; possibly he goes a voyage, or is from
home a quarter, half a year, or a year; but he doth not leave
his house ; for his wife, his children and goods are there still :
but another man goes from his house, the house is let, and he
carries away all his goods : this is a total departure, the other
gradual. So now it is with the Lord : he doth sometimes
forsake his own children for a time ; but he doth not pull
down his hangings, or carry away his goods ; he doth not go
away, but returns again; this is gradual. But there is a total
forsaking of a man, and then he gives him up to his sin.
Now this is not the burden that you lie under; for if God
had thus forsaken you, you would be given up to your sins,
and you would give up yourselves unto all uncleanness.
Oh, but I am afraid, yet, that I am under the worst forsak
ing, and that therefore I have sinned this great sin ; for I do
lie despairing, saying, God is gone, and mercy gone; I am in
the dark. Oh, I despair, I despair, and upon this account I
fear I have sinned this great sin, the sin against the Holy
Ghost.
You know what Heman said, " I remember God and am
troubled ; O Lord (saith he), all thy waves are gone over my
head." The waves of thy wrath are gone over my head, and
yet a penman of Scripture. Aretius tells us of a certain man
in his time : It is no feigned story, saith he, but I saw the
man with my own eyes, one that had been a most vile and des
perate sinner, a drunkard, a swearer, a wanton, a gamester,
and so he continued to his grey hairs ; but at the last it pleased
God to set his sins in order before him, and the man was so
troubled in conscience, that he threw himself down upon the
ground, calling unto Satan to take him away, provoking Sa
tan to take him away ; Devil, take thy own ; I am thy own,
take thy own. Whereupon, saith Aretius, prayer was made
for him ; Christians prayed, they fasted and prayed, they
prayed night and day ; and, it pleased God, at last this poor
man revived, converted to God, lived a godly life, and died
comfortably. So that it is not an easy thing, saith he, to pro
nounce what the sin against the Holy Ghost is. But, now,
whosoever you are that have laboured under this fear, as in
deed this fear I know hath oppressed many, give me leave to
ask you four or five short questions.
206 THE SIX AGAINST [SfiR. 9.
The first is, Whether canst thou not find in thy heart to
forgive men that do trespass against thee ? Do not you find
a disposition in your own heart to forgive others ? Yes, I
praise the Lord that I do. Now if you can find in your heart
to forgive others, I am sure God can find in his heart to for
give you, and therefore you have not sinned this great sin,
which is unpardonable.
Secondly, Whether, aye or no, have you ever opposed the
ways of God, the people of God, and that out of malice ?
No : I confess I have opposed them, but the Lord knows I
did it ignorantly, it was not out of malice ; then remember
the description of this sin.
Thirdly, Whether, aye or no, do not you desire to be hum
bled for every sin, though it be never so small ? Yes, for
though I know that my greatest humiliation cannot, placere
Deum, make an atonement for my sin ; yet I know that the
least humiliation in truth doth, placere Deo, please God, and
it is my duty to be humbled for every sin ; for the least sin is
a great evil; and he that commands humiliation for the one,
commands it for the other also ; and through grace I desire
to be humbled for every sin : why then you cannot have sin
ned against the Holy Ghost, for it is impossible that they that
sin this sin should be renewed to repentance.
Fourthly, Whether, aye or no, do not you desire above all
things the breathings of the Spirit of God upon your heart ?
Yes : oh that God would come and breathe upon my poor
soul in duty. But those that sin against the Holy Ghost, do
despite to the Spirit of grace. Heb. x.
Fifthly, Where do you find in all the Bible, that those that
sin this sin against the Holy Ghost, are afraid that they have
sinned it? Those that sin against the Holy Ghost, are never
afraid that they have sinned against the Holy Ghost. This
alone satisfied Mistress Drake, a woman much troubled in
conscience ; she was afraid she had sinned against the Holy
Ghost; Mr. Dod, of blessed memory, came to her, and told
her, that therefore she had not sinned the sin against the
Holy Ghost, because she feared she had sinned it ; for those
that sin the sin against the Holy Ghost are never afraid that
they have sinned it; and she acknowledged it did satisfy her,
and she was thereupon comforted. Now, therefore, where is
the man or woman that hath laboured under such a fear as
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 2()/
this ? Oh, I have sinned this unpardonable sin ! Art thou
one that fearest thou hast sinned it ? I tell thee from the Lord
thou art free from it, and thou mayest go home and say thus :
Though I have sinned much, for which the Lord humble me,
yet I bless God I am kept from this great sin. And oh, my
beloved, what a mercy is it, that among all the sins that we
have committed, that yet we should be kept from this great
sin ! The greater the evil is, the greater is the mercy to be
kept from it. Now, I pray, what is the misery of this sin ?
Is it not a great misery to be past prayer, to be thrown out
of the prayers of the saints ? " For such an one pray not,"
saith the apostle. Is it not a great misery for a man to be
beyond the line of mercy ? A man that hath sinned this sin
against the Holy Ghost, is worse, spiritually, than a man that
is sick of the plague outwardly ; for if a man be sick of the
plague, ye pray for him, and say, Lord, have mercy upon him ;
but if a man have sinned this sin, he is past prayer and past
pardon, he is past sacrifice : the truth is this man is in the
devil s case : the devil, you know, is reserved in chains unto
the great day, and he cannot get out ; so, if a man hath sin
ned this sin, though he live ten years, twenty years, or thirty
years, he is reserved in chains, and he shall never be pardoned,
he is upon the deviFs ground, Oh, what a misery is it to
commit this sin ! Oh, what a mercy is it, then, to be kept
from it ! Now here is hope for the greatest sinner in the
congregation upon this account. Saith our Saviour, " All
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,
except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost." Hast thou,
therefore, been a great sinner ? Hast thou been a drunkard ?
Hast thou been a wanton ? Hast thou been a swearer ? Hast
thou been an opposer of the people of the Lord ; and hath the
Lord kept thee from this great transgression ? Man or woman,
here is hope yet. Who would not then turn to God ? Come
drunkard, swearer, wanton, here is yet hope for thy soul. Who
would not come in to Christ ?
And oh, what comfort is here for believers that are in
Christ? If thou beest in Christ, and a believer, thou canst
not sin this sin : that look as it is with a man that hath
sinned this sin, he cannot be pardoned; so if a man be the
child of God, a believer in Christ, he cannot sin this sin ;
for " he that is born of God sinneth not, neither can he,
208 THE SIN AGAIXST [SfiR. 9.
for the seed of God abides in him." Oh, you that are be
lievers, comfort yourselves with this truth. Here is comfort
for all the people of the Lord from this doctrine.
But again, If the sin against the Holy Ghost be indeed
the unpardonable sin, what cause have we all to look to our
steps, to our words, to our actions ? Beloved, this sin
against the Holy Ghost, is the professor s sin ; a man less
than a professor cannot sin this sin against the Holy Ghost ;
this sin against the Holy Ghost is the knowing man s sin,
a man less than a knowing man cannot sin the sin against
the Holy Ghost : and, as I said before, a man may possibly
go very far in sin, and yet not commit this great unpardon
able sin : so now on the other side, I say, possibly a man
may go very far in religion, and yet he may sin this
sin. These pharisees that committed it, had the key of
knowledge : knowing they were, and very knowing in the
Scriptures ; as for zeal, they travelled sea and land to make
a proselyte ; for their practice, they fasted twice a week,
exceeding strict in observing the Sabbath day ; the lights of
the church, and the eyes of all the people were upon them
for their guides ; and yet these men sinned this sin against
the Holy Ghost. Oh, what care should there be in all our
souls ; how had we all need to look to our ways ! The more
truth revealed, the more danger of sinning this sin, the more
great works of God are done by the very Spirit and finger
of God; if men do oppose and blaspheme, the more danger
of sinning this great sin. Now I will appeal to you, when
was there ever more light revealed than in these days of
ours; yet when more opposing and blaspheming of it?
When were there ever such great works done by the very
Spirit and finger of God; and yet when more opposing
and blaspheming ? Are there not some that have been con
vinced that the Spirit of God breathed upon their hearts in
such and such ordinances, and such and such ways, and yet
now oppose and blaspheme those very ways of God, wherein
they said heretofore they had the Spirit of God ? Are there
not some that are convinced that in these times great things
are done by the very finger, by the power and arm of God
among us, and that in order to our salvation ; and yet how
do men speak against them, and blaspheme ? I will not say
that these men do it out of malice, and therefore I do not
SER. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 209
charge this sin against the Holy Ghost upon them ; but,
beloved in the Lord, this is certain, that in knowing times,
times when God is doing great things by his own finger,
then is this sin stirring most. The times of Christ, and of
the apostles, were times of great light, when God wrought
by his own finger, then was this sin committed. Now in
these times, there is much breaking forth of light, and great
things done by the very finger of God; therefore, I say,
there is great danger if men do now blaspheme ; wherefore
I say again, take heed to your souls, you that are professors,
look to your steps in these days of ours.
But you will say, We grant indeed that this sin against the
Holy Ghost, is the unpardonable sin, and woe be to them
that do fall into it, and it cannot be committed but by a
knowing man ; but what shall we do that we may be kept
from this great transgression ; that whatsoever sin we do fall
into, yet we may be kept from this great evil, and this un
pardonable sin ?
I would that you would mind and consider the description
which you have heard, and think of it. But I will tell you
what David did ; saith David, " O Lord, keep back thy ser
vant from presumptuous sins, so shall I be free from the
great transgression :" It seems then that presumptuous sin
ning makes way to this great transgression. When is a man
said to sin presumptuously ? When a man sins upon this
score, that God will shew mercy to him, saying : I know,
indeed, it is not good for me to go to such a wicked company,
it is a sin so to do ; but I will venture, and repent afterwards,
for God will shew mercy. To venture upon a sin, presuming
that God will shew mercy, and that a man shall repent after
wards, is presumption, and presumptuous sinning makes way
to this great transgression ; therefore would you be kept
from this great transgression ? go to God with David, and
say, " O Lord, keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sins, so shall I be free from the great transgression."
Again : Be always humbled for lesser sins : he shall never
fall into the greatest, that is always humbled for the least ;
he shall never fall into the worst, that is always humbled for
the smallest.
Besides, fear is the keeper of innocency ; Timor innocen-
VOL. iv. p
210 THE SIN AGAINST [SEU. 9.
ti(B custos, fear is the guard of innocency : if you always
fear to commit it, you shall never commit the same.
In case that you do at any time fall into sin, say, Well, but
through the grace of God, though I commit what is evil, I
will never oppose what is good ; by the grace of God I will
carry this rule along with me : Though I commit what is evil,
I will never oppose what is good.
In case any great work be done before you, that lies beyond
your reach and beyond your fathom, say, though I do not
understand this work, I will admire ; and though I cannot
reach it, yet I will not blaspheme and speak against it.
And if heretofore, Christian, thou hast found God breath
ing upon thy heart in any ordinance, public or private, or in
any way of God, take heed, as for thy life, that thou dost
never speak evil or blaspheme that way of God wherein thou
hast found the Spirit of God breathing. This sin is always
accompanied with invidentia fratrum, with the envy of the
saints, and therefore some have thought the sin against the
Holy Ghost did consist in it, in the envying of the saints ;
but though that be not it, yet that accompanies it. Canst
thou not find thy own heart rise to those heights of graces
that others do ? take heed you never envy the saints lest you
fall from envying those that are good, to oppose goodness it
self, which is the proper work of the Holy Ghost.*
And if, indeed, you would be kept from this great trans
gression, then take heed of all declinings, and the steps
thereof. There are three steps, as in our conversion to God,
so in our apostacy, declining, and going out from God. Three
steps in our coming in to God : first, a man s affection is
taken with that which is good ; then his judgment is con
vinced ; and then his will strikes in, and he resolves with all
his heart and soul to cleave to the Lord for ever. So in a
man s declining and going out from God . first, a man s affec
tion declines ; then his judgment alters : I thought so and so
indeed before, but now I am of another mind ; and then it
comes to his will, and he will go on, and let parents say, and
ministers say, and friends say what they will, yet he will go
on, and that because he will. Now saith the apostle, " If any
* Hinc discimus quantopere nobis ab odio fratrum, cavendum est, quandoqui-
dem eo fit, ut quandoque odio hominis in ipsam Dei veritatem feramur precipites.
Cartwrighti Harm. p. 357.
. 9.] THE HOLY GHOST. 211
man sin wilfully, after he hath received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Therefore
as you desire to be kept from this great transgression : doth
your affections decline ? take heed your judgment do not
alter ; doth your judgment alter ? take heed that your will
be not perverse : oh, take heed of all declinings, and the steps
thereof.
But finally, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves to
gether, as the manner of some have been ; but as heretofore
provoke one another to love and good works ; and so much
the more as you see the day approaching ; and what I say to
you, I say to all, and to mine own soul, Let us breathe after
the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit, " for there is no condem
nation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after
the flesh but after the Spirit." Oh, let us pray to God for his
keeping grace, it is he alone that keeps us ; and the Lord keep
all our souls from this great transgression.
p 2
SERMON X.
OF THE SIN OF INFIRMITY.
Wherein is shewed, besides other things,
I. THAT A MAN MAY POSSIBLY FALL INTO THE SAME SIN AGAIN AND
AGAIN, YET BE A TRUE DlSCIPLE.
II. THAT THIS SIN MAY BE BUT A SIN OF INFIRMITY.
Ill, THAT BEING so, CHRIST WILL NOT LEAVE HIM IN IT, BUT WILL
COME AGAIN, AND NOT CAST HIM OFF.
PREACHED AT STEPNEY, A. D. 1656.
"And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were
heavy." MATT. xxvi. 43.
IN the verses next precedent and consequent, you may see
the difference between the true and the false disciple ; both
sinned, but they differ in their sin, and in the issue of it.
The true disciple sleeps, when he should have prayed ; and
he slept again and again, that was his sin, for our Saviour
commanded them to watch and pray. But Christ wakened
them, and would not leave them sleeping; he came to them
with his wakening mercy, and they were awakened ; that
was the issue of their sin. But the false disciple Judas was
awake, and he watched unto what is evil. The good disciple
slept unto what was good, and the false disciple watched unto
what was evil; that was his sin. "For while Christ yet
spake (ver. 17)> lo Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with
him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the chief
priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him,
gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same
is he, hold him fast : and forthwith he came to Jesus, and
said, Hail, Master, and kissed him." This was his sin,
wherein our Saviour leaves him, and doth not awaken him,
but suffered him to go on, leading him forth with the workers
of iniquity. That was the issue of his sin.
In this verse 43, you have the true disciple s sin, and the
Lord s grace ; his dealing by Christ, and Christ s dealing by
him.
SER. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 213
He slept when he should have been at prayer ; which sin
is described by the cause thereof, and by the repetition of it.
The cause of it in these words : " For their eyes were
heavy." This sin, therefore, was a sin of infirmity, a sin of
weakness, and so our Saviour calls it, ver. 41, for saith he,
" The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
The repetition of this sin you have in these words : " He
found them asleep again." Christ had wakened them before,
and commanded them to pray; but they slept again and
again. Thus did they deal by Christ.
But how did Christ deal by them ? He did not leave them
in their sin, nor cast them off, as he did deal by Judas ; but
he came to them again, and as they slept again, so Christ
came again : his waking grace and mercy was as high as their
slumbering sin ; they sin again, and he comes again. So that
the doctrine from the whole verse is this :
Though a man do sin again and again, yet if his sin be a
sin of infirmity, Christ will not leave him in it, but will come
again, and not cast him off.
For the opening and clearing whereof, three things will
fall under our consideration.
First, That a man may possibly fall into the same sin
again and again, yet be a true disciple.
Secondly, That this sin may be but a sin of infirmity.
Thirdly^ That being so, Christ will not leave him in it, but
will come again, and not cast him off.
First, It is possible that a good man may fall into the same
sin again and again.
I confess it is an evil thing so to do, and a great evil. In
some respects it may be worse to fall into the same sin, than
to fall into others; for this may more waste one s peace, and
destroy the assurance of God s love. Sins against light do
the most darken. Now when we have repented, and then
fall into that very sin which they repented of, they do sin
against light; yea, it is a kind of repenting of one s repent
ance : for as when a man hath gone on in a sinful way, and
doth return unto God, he doth then repent of his sin ; so
when a man hath gone on in a good way, and doth return to
his sin, then he doth as it were repent of his repentance.*
When God pardoneth a man, he saith, Go and sin no more :
* Lavamini niuiuli e=totc, Esa. i. Lavatur et mundus cst, qui et preterrita
214 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
do I therefore return unto the same sin ? then am I most un
thankful, disingenuous, and disobedient ; yea, it is exceed
ingly displeasing unto the Lord, for a man to fall into the
same sin again and again. Ye shall observe, therefore, that
although the Lord pardoned the children of Israel that great
sin of idolatry in the matter of the golden calf, yet in refer
ence to the land of promise, he did not pardon their unbelief
and murmuring, for they entered not into Canaan ; why ?
because of their unbelief, saith the apostle. Now if you
look into Numb. xiv. 19, you shall find that Moses prayed,
" Pardon I beseech thee, O Lord, the iniquity of this people,
according to the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast
forgiven this people from Egypt, even until now. And the
Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word ; but as
truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the Lord." At ver. 22, " Because all these men which have
seen my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt, and in
the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times,
and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not
see the land, which I sware to give unto their fathers."
Though I pardon them, saith God, they shall never come
into Canaan, the land of rest that I have promised : why ?
because they have sinned these ten times, murmuring again,
and again, and again. So that it is exceedingly displeasing
unto the Lord, for a man to fall into the same sin again and
again. But yet, I say, it is possible that a good man, and
true disciple of Christ, may fall into the same sin again and
again. It was a sin for them thus to sleep, when our Saviour
had commanded them to watch and pray ; but they slept
again and again. Look I pray you into Job xix., and see
what Job saith concerning his friends : " These ten times
(saith he, at verse 3) have ye reproached me, yet are ye not
ashamed." It is an evil thing to reproach a man, it is worse
to reproach a godly man, as it is yet worse to reproach a godly
man under affliction, and to afflict the afflicted. But to re
proach a man ten times, this is evil indeed ; yet saith Job,
" These ten times have ye reproached me :" and yet Job s
friends were godly. Possibly then, a good man may fall into
plangit, et iterum non adtnittit ; lavatur et non est num. his, qui plangit quod
gessit, nee deserit, sed post lachrimas flenda, hsec quse fleverat, repetit. Au-
gustini Ser. 66, de tempore.
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 215
the same sin again, and again, ten times : that is very often.
And you know how it was with Abraham, the father of the
faithful. You read in Gen. xii., that when he was driven by
reason of famine into Egypt, he desired his wife, Sarah, to
say that she was his sister; which indeed was no lie, but his
sin of unbelief, and very evil, for thereby he put his wife upon
a great temptation. He was reproved for it, as you read in
the chapter ; yet if you look into chap, xx., you shall find
that he was at the same work again. " And Abraham jour-
nied towards the south country ; and Abraham said (ver. 2)
of Sarah his wife, She is my sister." And so also if you
look into 2 Chron. xix., you shall find it was thus with that
good king Jehoshaphat, complying too much with the king of
Israel, for which he is reproved, at ver. 2 : " And Jehu went
out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou
help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord ? there
fore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Yet if you
look into chap. xx. you shall find that he falls into the same
sin again : " And Eliezer prophesied against Jehoshaphat,
saying, (at the last verse) Because thou hast joined thyself
with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works : and the
ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish."
Jehoshaphat a good man, yet he falls into the same sin again.
So that I shall not need to spend longer time in this, it is too
apparent: possibly a good man, a true disciple of Christ,
may fall into the same sin again and again. That is the first.
Secondly. Though a man do fall into the same sin again
and again, yet it may be but an infirmity.
For the opening and clearing of this, we must consider
what a sin of infirmity is, and what is the true notion of it :
which being cleared, the truth proposed will naturally fall into
your bosom. Properly, therefore, a sin of infirmity is that
sin which doth rather arise from want of strength to resist,
than from will to commit, else it should be wickedness and
not weakness.
But, in Scripture phrase, it is called a weakness, as here in
this chapter, " The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ;"
and Rom. vi. 19, " I speak after the manner of men, because
of the infirmity (or weakness) of your flesh." And, therefore,
it must be in one that hath spiritual life. You do not say
216
THE SIN OF INFIRMITY.
[SEE. 10.
that a stone is infirm or weak ; why ? because a stone hath
no life in it : infirmity is a defect in one that hath life.
And, I say, it doth arise, not from wilfulness, but want of
strength to resist. Now this want of strength to resist, doth
either arise from some natural cause, which one cannot avoid,
of which Paul speaks in Rom. vii. 19, " The good that I
would, I do not ; but the evil that I would not, that I do :"
and why so ? he gives the reason at verse 21, "I find, then,
a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me ;
and verse 23, " I find a law in my members fighting against
the law of my mind, and leading me captive/ &c. : or else it
doth arise from some present distemper, and that either in
the mind and judgment, and then it is called an error, " Who
knoweth the errors of his life ?" Psalm xix., Heb. iii. 2 : or
else this distemper doth arise from some present passion, fear
or the like, whereby a man is hurried into evil, and then he
is said to be overtaken, Gal. vi. 1. So that when a man is
alive unto God, and doth commit a sin for want of strength
to resist, then he is said to sin out of infirmity.
Therefore if you ask whether every sin that a godly man
doth commit be a sin of infirmity ? I answer, No ; because
there are some sins that a godly man doth commit which he
hath strength to avoid. Sometimes the word infirmity is
taken largely, for all sin, which Jesus Christ our High Priest
doth sympathize with us in. So Heb. iv. : " We have not
such an high priest who cannot be touched with our infirmi
ties." And thus all the sins of the godly may be and are
sins of infirmity. But, properly and strictly, an infirmity is
that sin which a man is taken captive by against his will,
Roir. vii., that is, against the general bent and frame of his
heart which he hath not present strength to resist. So Rom.
xv. 1, " Ye which are strong ought to bear the infirmities of
those that are weak." And thus every sin that a godly man
commits is not a sin of infirmity.*
If you ask whether any sin that a wicked man doth com-
* The sins wbereinto the godly falleth, are not presumptuous, but are ordina
rily of weakness and infirmity. Perkins Cases, book i. chap. 2.
Peccatum ex iiifirmitate est, cujas est determiuutur causa instigans, ita ut bine
tali causa non fieret. Corduba, lib. ii. quest. 8.
Ut peccatutn sit ex infirmitate, ita debere fiereex passione ut ipsasit sufficiens
causa qua ablata, tule peceatum lion sequeretur. Vazquez iu 12. Co. 1, q. 77.
art. 3.
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 217
mit be a sin of infirmity ? I answer, No ; because he hath no
spiritual life, and infirmity is in one that hath life ; and there
fore a wicked man being dead, his sin that he commits cannot
be called a sin of infirmity.*
If you ask whether any great, gross, foul, scandalous sin
be or can be a sin of infirmity ? I answer, No ; because it is
a sickness, as Austin well observes, and not a weakness ; for,
saith he, there is a great deal of difference between agrotus
and infirmus. If a man have some distemper and ailment in
his body, and yet he bears up to his meat and to his work,
he is not sick, but he hath an infirmity ; this is weakness :
but if a man have a distemper and illness in his body, where
by he is driven both from meat and work, and doth lie by it,
then it is not an infirmity but a sickness. So spiritually, if a
man have a failing, and yet through the grace of God he bears
up to meat and work, it is an infirmity ; but if he sin, and
thereby be driven both from meat and work, through the
commission of some gross sin, this is a sickness, this is no
weakness or infirmity. So then, properly, the sin of infirmity
is that sin which is committed by one that is spiritually alive
unto God, and which doth arise from want of strength to re
sist, and not from will to commit. And thus you see, briefly,
what the nature of this sin of infirmity is.f
But yet this doth not come near enough. When may a
man be said to sin a sin of infirmity, and how shall I know
whether my sin be of that rate of sins or no ; for if the Lord
will not cast a man off for a sin of infirmity, it concerns me
to consider what kind of sins my sins are : there are some
sins that God doth reject men for, as in the case of Saul, God
rejected him for his sin ; when may a man, therefore, be said
to sin out of infirmity ?
For answer unto this, First, I shall speak unto some mis
takes. Secondly, I will speak something unto it negatively,
and something affirmatively.
For mistakes. There are mistakes on both hands. Some
think that the sins which they commit are not sins of in-
* Infirmity cannot properly be said to be in them, in whom sin hath firmity
and strength, and where there is no power of grace at all. Perkins Cases, book
i. chap. 2
t Sicut corpori noxium est escam corporalem non posse percipere, ita aniuise
periculosurn est spiritales delitias fastidirc. Augu&tin.
218 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
firmity, when indeed they are; and some think that their sins
are sins of infirmity when indeed they are not. Both on the
right hand and on the left hand, men are mistaken about this
matter.
On the left hand, men think that their sins are infirmities,
when indeed they are not, and that upon a four-fold account
because their sin is but small in bulk ; or because that they
are tempted and drawn into their sin by others ; and because
they do strive against their sin ; and because they are trou
bled after it.
I think, will some say, that my sin is a sin of infirmity
because it is but small. But if you look into 1 Sam. xv.
you may read that Saul s sin, for which the Lord rejected
him, was of no great outward bulk; for he spared the
failings that he might sacrifice thereby ; and though he
spared the king Agag, it was neither murder that he com
mitted, nor adultery, nor drunkenness; yet saith the Lord
unto him, f Thy sin is as the sin of witchcraft." A great
many small sins may make as great a bulk as one gross sin ;
yea, possibly there may be much sinfulness and evil in com
mitting of a small sin ; for as amongst men, it is the greatest
incivility to break with another for a small matter ; so with
God, to break with God for a small thing, is a great unwor-
thiness and ingratitude. Thus did Adam in eating the for
bidden fruit ; the smallness of the thing to be done aggra
vated his sin; and the smaller the thing is, the more unwor-
thiness it is to break with God in so little ; a small leak
neglected may sink the ship, as well as the most boisterous
and greatest wave : and much skill may be seen in a small
work ; a little watch, &c. So your skill in sinning may be
seen in a small sin ; his sin is never small that thinks it
small. And if this be true, that there is no sin that a
wicked man commits which is a sin of infirmity, because he
is dead ; then a man may commit a sin that is but small in
the bulk, and yet no sin of infirmity.*
* Minuta peccata si negligantur, occidunt minutiae sunt guttse quse flumina
implent, minuta sunt grana arense, sed si multa arena imponatur, premit afque
opprimit ; hoc facit sentina neglecta, quod facit fluctus irruens, Paulatim per sen-
tinara intrat sed diu intrando et non ex hauriendo mergit navim. August.
Tom. vi. 9. Tract. 13. in Joan. 2.
Ne putemus parvum esse has culpas quae sunt plures, arenulaa parvoe sunt sed
K. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 219
But I think my sin is a sin of infirmity becouse I am
tempted to it, and because I am drawn on by others. But
I pray, was not Adam tempted unto the eating of the for
bidden fruit by Eve ? And was not Eve tempted by Satan ?
And will you call that a sin of infirmity that condemned all
the world as Adam s sin did ? And I pray you, was not Aaron
put upon making the golden calf by the people ; and will
you call that sin of idolatry a sin of infirmity ? Possibly a
man may be tempted, drawn unto sin by others, and put
upon it by others, and yet the sin may be no sin of infirmity.
But I think my sin is a sin of infirmity because I do strive
against it. And, I pray, did not Pilate strive against the
crucifying of Christ ? He would have delivered him from
the Jews, calls for a bason of water, and washed his hands,
saying, I am free from the blood of this man, used means,
and did strive against it, and yet the sin of Pilate no sin of
infirmity : Possibly therefore a man may strive against his sin,
and yet the sin be no sin of infirmity.
But my sin is a sin of infirmity because I am troubled
after it. And was not Esau troubled after he had sold his
birth-right for a mess of pottage ; did he not seek it with
tears ? And when Judas had betrayed his master, and our
Saviour, it is said that he repented of what he had done, and
was troubled. Surely then, though the sin that I commit,
may be lesser in bulk, than another s sin, and small compar
atively, and though I be drawn into it by others, and though
I do strive against it, and though I am troubled after it, yet
it may be no sin of infirmity. Yet, good Lord, how many
poor souls are there that deceive themselves, and think that
their sins are but sins of infirmity; and thus are mistaken
on the left hand.
But as some are mistaken on the left hand, thinking that
their sins are sins of infirmity, when indeed they are not :
tot possunt esse ut obruant citius quam saxum ingens, infirma res cst una locusta
sed qua plaga major agris quam multitude illarum. Euseb. Nieremberg. de
adoratione, Lib. ii. Cap. 13.
Cum Deus tantus sit nih.il est parvum quod ei displicet aut quod ei placet
quicquid est bonum statim est magnum quicquid malum statim hie non est
parvum.
Non est parvum quod censetur minimum cum in minimis stet perfectio.
Erubesse te vinci a parvis nam ad lioste exili et pumilione sterni turpissimuin
et ignavi signum. Id. Cap. 14.
220 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
so others on the right hand are mistaken, and think that
their sins are not sins of infirmity, but of a worse nature,
when indeed they are : and that upon these accounts :
Because they sin knowingly.
Because they fall into the same sin again and again, and
do lie therein.
Because they fall into the sin after admonition.
Oh, saith one, I fear my sin is no sin of infirmity, for I
sin knowingly, and with deliberation ; I sin against my
knowledge, and against my conscience, and therefore my sin,
can be no sin of infirmity.
But for answer hereunto, you must know, it is one thing
for a man to sin knowingly, and another thing for a man to
sin out of knowledge, or against his knowledge. As in the
case of ignorance ; it is one thing for a man to sin ignoranter,
and another thing to sin ex ignorantia. A man sins ignor-
rantly when ignorance is the companion of his sin only : a
man sins out of ignorance, when ignorance is the only cause
of his sin, and not the companion only. As for example :
Suppose a man be in fight, in a great battle, and he kill
another ; he kills him because he did not know him, if he
had known him in the battle, he would not have killed him ;
here his ignorance is not the companion only, but the cause
of it : so that it is one thing to sin ignorantly, and another
thing to sin out of ignorance. A man sins ignorantly, when ig
norance is the companion of his fact : a man sins out of
ignorance, when ignorance is the cause of it. So a man sins
knowingly, when knowledge is the companion of his fact :
but a man sins out of knowledge, or he sins against know
ledge, when knowledge is the cause thereof; as when a man
doth use his knowledge to make distinctions and shifts for
his sin, whereby he is emboldened to it, and continues in it.
Knowledge is sometimes only a companion of sin ; as when
a man knows that the first risings of sin are evil; this know
ledge is no cause of them, but merely a companion : some
times knowledge is the cause of sin ; as when a man dot!
know that his way is naught, and he doth deliberately consul
and devise excuses and lies to hide the same ; here his know
ledge is the cause of those sinful excuses, and the man dot!
not only sin knowingly arid with knowledge, but out o;
knowledge, and against his knowledge ; and this cannot
SER. 10.] THE SIN OF IXF1RMITY. 221
stand with infirmity, but the former may : for the disciples
knew that it was evil for them to sleep ; yet their sin was a
sin of infirmity.*
Oh, but I fear that my sin is no sin of infirmity, because I
fall into it again and again, and do lie in it.
But do ye know what it is to lie in sin ? there is much mis
take about lying in sin. Possibly a man may lie in a sin, yet
never fall into the gross acts thereof; he may lie in the breach
of the seventh commandment, and yet never commit the
gross act of adultery ; he may lie in the sin of covetousness,
yet never be any great oppressor. So on the other side, a
man may possibly fall divers times into the same sin, and yet
not lie therein ; for properly a man is said to lie in sin, when
he doth continue in it, and not purge it out ; so he that
is born of God sinneth not, because his heart is as a fountain
or spring, that purifies itself from that dirt and filth of sin
which doth fall into it : but as the apostle speaks, " The
whole world lies in wickedness " why ? because a wicked
man s heart is as a lake or standing pool, which keeps all that
dirt which is thrown into it. Now if you do thus keep and
lie in your sin, why do you so complain ? this your complain
ing argues that there is some purging out, and therefore you
do not lie in sin.
Oh, but I fear my sin cannot be a sin of infirmity, because
I fall into it after I have been admonished of the evil of it.
To that I say no more, but desire you to consider the in
stance that is here before you. The disciples slept, our Lord
and Saviour Christ comes and wakens them ; yea, and he
chides them too : " What (saith he) cannot ye watch with
me one hour ! watch and pray ;" and yet they slept again :
and he comes and wakens them again, and admonisheth them
again, and yet they slept again. Possibly, therefore, a man
may fall into the same sin again and again, yea, even after
* Adrian, sic definit peccatum ex infirmitate, est actus vel omissio culpabilis
sine deliberatione propter passionis impetum facta : hac tamen definitions non
complectitur omne peccatum ex infirmitate ; nam potest peccatum ex infirmitate
accidere cum deliberatione imo vero ut sit peccatum debet esse aliqua deliberatio
Vasquez. xii. Q. 77. A. 3.
Utrum sit possibile quod aliquis sciens ex infirmitate peccat.
Dicendum quod communiter ab omnibus ponitur aliqua peccata ex infirmitate
committi quse a peccatis ex ignorantia non distinguerentur nisi contingeret
aliquem scientem e< infirmitate peccare. Tho. Aquinas Quest. Disputat. de
causa peccati. Art. ix. p. 96.
222 THE SIX OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
admonition, and yet it may be a sin of infirmity. Yet how
many poor souls are there, that are mistaken here on the
right hand, and do think that their sins are no sins of infir
mity, when indeed they are.
But if there be such mistakes, how shall we then know
whether our sins be sins of infirmity ?
Negatively, That is no sin of infirmity, which is a gross,
foul, scandalous sin, committed with deliberation and con
sultation. It is said of David, that he turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left, save only in the matter of
Uriah. It seems then, that in this matter he did turn aside ;
but why is it said that he turned aside here, and not in other
things ; did he not sin at other times ? Yes, very often : but
there is a difference between missing one s way, and turning
aside out of one s way; a man may ignorantly miss his way,
or unadvisedly, but he that turns aside out of his way, doth
it voluntarily and deliberately : and so did David here in this
case, and not in others ; this act was a foul fact, which he
was able and had strength to avoid, committed with much
deliberation, and therefore it was no sin of infirmity. So
that if a man s sin committed, be a gross, foul, scandalous
sin, committed with deliberation and consultation, this is no
sin of infirmity.
If the sin be a ringleader unto other foul sins, it is no sin
of infirmity. The ringleading sin is the most heinous sin.
You shall observe, therefore, that when Samuel was raised
up, (whether it was true Samuel, or false, I will not now de
bate,) when he was raised up by the witch of Endor, 1 Sam.
xxviii., the only sin that Samuel lays to the charge of Saul,
is this, ver. 18, that he obeyed not the voice of the Lord, in
executing his fierce wrath upon Amalek : " Because thou
obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce
wrath upon Amalek (saith Samuel), therefore hath the Lord
done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover, the Lord will
also deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines."
If you read this story you shall find, that this only sin Samuel
doth instance in. Saul had committed other sins, Saul had
persecuted David, and out of malice, and had committed
great sins ; why doth Samuel instance in this sin above all
other sins ? but because this sin was the ringleading sin unto
all the sins that Saul did commit ; and therefore this is
SfcR. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 223
charged upon him especially, as a great and a heinous sin.
And you see how it is amongst men ; if there be a rebellion
or insurrection, they take the ringleader and hang up him,
for say they, This is the great transgressor, for he is the ring
leader. So amongst sins, the great sin is the ringleader ; and
therefore if your sin be a ringleader unto other foul sins, it
is not a sin of infirmity.
A sin of presumption is not a sin of infirmity. Sins of
presumption and sins of infirmity are set in opposition one
to the other in Numb. xv. and Psalm xix. Now, I pray,
-when doth a man sin out of presumption, but when he sinneth
because God is merciful ; when he sinneth because his sin
can and may stand with grace ; when he sinneth because the
sin is but an infirmity ; when he sinneth because he shall re
pent afterwards ? Now this is ordinary. I have read of a
certain young man, who being admonished of the evil of his
way and course, and pressed to leave his wickedness by the
consideration of judgment, eternity and death a coming, that
he said, Why tell ye me of these things ; I will do well enough ;
for when death comes I will speak but three words, and will
help all ; and so he went on in the way of his sin : but in the
end, coming to a bridge on horse-back, to go over a deep water,
the horse stumbling, and he labouring to recover his horse,
could not, but at last he let go the bridle, and gave up himself
and horse to the waters, and was heard to say these three
words : Diabolus capiat omnia : Devil take all. Here was
three words indeed, and an example for all men who think to
repent with a three word repentance at last, viz. Miserere mei
Deus ; Lord have mercy ; to take heed by. Such is the end
of presumption. And when a man doth therefore sin the
rather because God is merciful, or because the sin is but a sin
of infirmity, or because he hopes to repent afterward, or be
cause his sin may and can stand with grace ; this is a sin of
presumption, and is no sin of infirmity : sins of presumption
are no sins of infirmity.
Again, If the sin be a reigning sin, then it is no sin of
infirmity, for when sin reigns, grace doth not ; therefore saith
the apostle, Rom. vi., " Let not sin have dominion over you,
for ye are not under the law but under grace ;" and when sin
reigns it is in its lull strength. Now a sin of infirmity is not
therefore called infirmity because, as the schoolmen would, it
224 THE SIX OF INFIRMITY. [SER. 10.
doth make a man infirm, by impeding and hindering the vital
operations of the soul, for then all sins, and especially the
greatest, should be sins of infirmity ; but it is said to be a
sin of infirmity, because it doth arise from weakness, the
strength thereof being taken out and mortified ; and there
fore a reigning sin can be no sin of infirmity. Now sin reign-
eth in a man,*
1. When it hath the command of his duties, his spiritual
duties. When a master commands a servant from his meat,
it argues that he rules over him ; and if you see a man rise
from his meat at the command of another, you say, Surely
this man is the other s servant, for he was at dinner or supper,
and the other did but speak or come by him, and he took his
hat and cloak, and left all his meat, and followed him. So
when a man shall sit down to duty, and he shall ordinarily be
commanded from his duty by his sin, what doth this argue,
but that his sin is his master, and doth rule and reign over
him.
2. When men do yield the members of their bodies as
weapons of unrighteousness unto sin, then sin reigns in them.
" Let not sin reign in your mortal body (saith the apostle),
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye
your members as weapons of unrighteousness unto sin," Rom.
vi. 12. 13.f
3. Sin reigns when it usually riseth by opposition. It was
with sin as with grace ; when grace is in power it riseth by
opposition; "I will yet be more vile," saith David; and
when the believing blind man was commanded to hold his
peace, he cried so much the more, " Jesus, thou Son of Da-
* Potest autem dici infirmitas in anima ad similitudinem infirmitatis corporis,
dicitur autem corpus esse infirmum, quando debilitatur vel impeditur in executione
proprise operationis propter aliquam inordinationem partium corporis ita scil.
quod humores et membra hominis non subdantur virtuti regitivse et motivse cor
poris, unde et membrum dicitur infirmum esse, quando non potest perficere ope-
rationem membri sani : unde et infirmitas animse dicitur quando impeditur anima
in propria operatione propter inordinationem partium ipsius, partes autem cor
poris dicuntur esse inordinatse, quando non sequuntur ordinem naturae ita et
partes animee dicantur esse inordinatse quando non subduntur ordini rationis, &c.
Thorn. Aquin. xii. quest. 77. art. 3.
f Illicitse delectationi si resistamus, si non consentiamus, si membra velut arma
non ministremus non regnat peccatum in nostra mortali corpore peccatum enim
ante regnum perdidit et sic perfit, in hac ergo vita, quantum ad sanctos atlinet
regnum perdit, in alia perit. Augustin de Verbis Apost. Ser. 66.
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 225
vid, have mercy on me." Herein the power of godliness is
distinguished from the form. Godliness in power rises by
opposition, but the form doth not ; but the power of faith
doth, the power of love doth, and the power of repentance
doth : even as a little fire is quenched with water, but if
the fire be strong, it flames and burns out the more by that
dish of water which ye do cast upon it. So in regard of sin,
where it is in power it will not be quenched by opposition,
but it flames out the more ; witness that powerful malice of
the Jews against Christ, who when they were but a little
checked by Pilate, they cried out so much the more, Crucify
him, crucify him. Doth thy sin, therefore, ordinarily rise by
opposition ? this argues that it is sin in power, that it reigns
in thee, that it is no sin of infirmity ; for a reigning, full-
breathed sin is no sin of infirmity.* Thus negatively.
But how shall we know, then, affirmatively, whether our
sin be a sin of infirmity ?
Thus : If it do merely proceed from want of age in Chris
tianity, then it is, without doubt, a sin of infirmity. There
are several ranks and forms of Christians in the school of
Christ. The apostle John doth allude unto three ages : " I
write unto you fathers (saith he), I write unto you young
men, and I write unto you babes." There are the grown
children of God, and there are babes. Babes are weak and
full of weaknesses. And if your sin be such as doth arise
merely from want of age and time in grace, then it must needs
be a sin of a babe, and so a sin of infirmity.
If it be no other sin than what is incident unto all the
saints, then it is a sin of infirmity ; for that sin which is com
mitted by all the saints, is no reigning sin, but a sin mortified,
enervated and weakened ; there is no reigning sin in the child
of God : sin reigning and being under grace are opposed,
Rom. vi., " Let not sin have dominion over you, for ye are
under grace." Those that are under grace have their sin at
an under : and if the sin be committed by all the saints, then
it doth rather arise from want of strength to resist than from
will to commit. Is thy sin, therefore, no other than what is
* Manifestura igitur est quod credere improbabilia, fortitudinis est, atque vigo-
ris nostri intellectus, sicut amare daumosa, molesta et ignominiosa fortit udines est
et vigoris nostri affectus. Parisiens. de fide, p. 2.
VOL. IV. Q
226 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SER. 10.
incident unto all God s people ? then surely it is no other
than a sin of infirmity.
If it be such a sin as you cannot avoid, which breaks in
upon you before you are aware, even before you can call in
for help from your reason and consideration, and which the
general bent and frame of your heart and soul is against, then
it is a sin of infirmity, for then it doth arise from want of
strength to resist, and not from will to commit. This was
the case of Paul, Rom. vii., when evil was present with him,
being against the general bent and frame of his soul; for
saith he, " I delight in the law of God after the inward man,
and yet the thing that I would not do, that do I." Can you,
therefore, say with Paul, " It is no more I that do it," &c, for
my delight is otherwise, and the general bent and frame of
my heart is otherwise ? then you may also say, This is mine
infirmity.*
If your sin be your burden, because it is the burden of
your grace, then is your sin your infirmity. I speak not of
gross, foul and scandalous sins. But the apostle tells us, Gal.
vi., that this sin of infirmity is our burden, for having said in
verse 1, " If any one be overtaken, you that are spiritual res
tore him," &c ; he then gives the reason of it at verse 6,
" Bear ye one another s burdens." It seems, then, that this
sin of infirmity is a burden unto him that commits it. Now
a man may be burdened with sin upon a twofold account :
either because he is or shall be burdened with it, in regard of
pain and punishment, or, because it is the luggage and burden
of his grace and duty. In the first sense, all men may be
burdened with sin, even the most wicked man : Cain was so
burdened when he cried out, and said, " My sin (or burden)
is greater than I can bear." In the second sense, only those
are burdened with sin that are godly. Dost thou, therefoi
groan under the burden of this evil, though it be no gross
and scandalous sin, and that because it is a burden to your
grace and duties ? surely it is no other than a sin of infirmity.
* Hsec peccata quae accidunt ratione operationis sensitivi prevenientis rationem,
dici peccata ex infirmitate, natn infirmitas humanse voluntatis contracta ex peccato
original! magna ex parte consistit in rebellione appetitus, hoc est in ilia potestate
quam habet operandi ante usum rationis ex sola apprehensione sensus. Caspens.
Cursus Theolog. Tract, de Peccat. Disp. v. 4.
Ego sum in carne, ego sum in mente, sed magis ego sum in mente quam in
carne, et quia mens regit ego sum in regente. August, de Verbis Apost. Serm. 5.
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 2 2J
An infirmity will hardly acknowledge itself to be a sin of
infirmity ; but the person in whom it is, fears lest it should be
worse. It is in this case as in the matter of temptation ;
though a wicked man s sins be his own, the brat of his own
conception and corruption, yet he will hardly acknowledge them
to be his own corruption : no, but saith he, These are the temp
tations of Satan and not mine own corrruption: a good man, on
the contrary,saith, Nay, but these are mine own corruptions, not
the devil s temptations ; oh, these are worse than temptations,
they are all mine own. Witness David, 1 Chron. xxi. 8, " And
David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done
this thing, I have done very foolishly ;" yet the devil pro
voked him to it, and it was originally his temptation, for it is
said, verse 1, " And Satan stood up against Israel, and pro
voked David to number the people." David doth not lay the
fault upon the devil, but upon himself; he did not say, I was
thus and thus tempted by Satan, no, but I, even I have sin
ned and done foolishly. Temptation will hardly acknowledge
itself to be a temptation ; and so infirmity will hardly ac
knowledge itself to be infirmity ; but the person in whom it
is, doth fear worse, saying, This my sin is great, and I fear it
is no infirmity. Wicked men excuse their sin by infirmity,
because it is no infirmity ; but a good man fears it is worse
than infirmity. And therefore is thy sin no gross and foul
sin, and yet art thou afraid that it is worse than infirmity ?
this doth rather argue that it is no other than a sin of infirmity.
If your sin do arise chiefly from some outward cause, it is
a sin of infirmity ; for then it is not so much from will to
commit, as from want of strength to resist. The sin which
the apostle speaks of, Gal. vi. 1, is a sin of infirmity, and the
man that commits it is said to be overtaken. Now when a
man is upon his journey travelling and is overtaken by ano
ther person, his inward inclination and disposition was not to
meet the other: so when a man is overtaken by sin, it argues
that his sin doth proceed from some outward cause ; and
when it doth proceed from some outward cause, then he is
truly said to be overtaken with it. It is true the worst of
men say they are overtaken when they sin. Oh, saith the
drunkard, I confess I was drunk at such a time, and in such
a place, but I was drawn into it ; my inward disposition was
Otherwise, but I was so and so overtaken. But if men were
Q 2
228 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
only overtaken and surprized by their sin, then why are they
angry with those who keep them from their sin ? why are
they in their own element, and never more at home than in
the way of their sin ? and why do they so heartily will that
which is the cause of their sin ? It may be they do not will
the effect, namely, drunkenness, but do they not will that
which is the cause thereof? He that is overtaken with a
sin, is unexpectedly surprized with the cause thereof; and
therefore if it be not a gross and scandalous sin, it is a sin of
infirmity.
Infirmity loves admonition : I mean, the person that sins
out of infirmity, loves to be admonished, takes admonition
kindly, and doth bless God for it. Possibly the admonition
may be given scalding hot, and so he may refuse to take it
down ; but ordinarily, he will take the admonition kindly.
Ye know how it was with David, when he was going against
the house of Nabal in a great passion : Abigail came forth to
meet him, and having admonished him of his duty, he did
not only forbear the evil intended, but he blessed God for
her and her words, who kept him that day from shedding
innocent blood. Tell an honest man that he is out of his
way, and direct him into it, and he will thank you for it.
Tell a thief that he is out of his way, and he will laugh at
you. So, tell a wicked man that he is out of his way, and he
will despise you for it ; tell a good man that he is out of his
way, and he will bless God for it, and for you : why ? because
he hath but missed his way. Canst thou, therefore, take an
admonition kindly, when thou art out of thy way ? This
argues that thy sin is one of those infirmities, which Christ
our great High Priest will forgive, " Who can have compas
sion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way ;
for that he also was compassed with infirmities," Heb. v. 2.
An infirmity discovers good, though it be in itself evil ; it
is an ill sin, but a good sign. The thistle is an ill weed, yet
it discovers a fat and a good soil ; smoke is ill, but it discovers
fire. So do the saints infirmities ; though they be in them
selves weaknesses, yet they discover life. Moses was angry,
but his anger did discover his zeal : Job was somewhat im
patient, but his impatience did discover his innocency and
his great goodness : Abraham failed in saying Sarah was his
sister, but there was a faith which this unbelief grew upon :
SEE. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 229
the woman that came behind Christ, touching the hem of his
garment, came fearing and trembling, discovering her unbe
lief; yet she discovered her faith therewithal: the disciples
failed, when they said, " Lord, save us, carest thou not that
we perish ?" yet they discovered their faith too. Infirmity
sometimes is an excrescence which doth grow out of duty,
and upon duty. Doest thou therefore fail in thy duty, or
exercise of thy grace ; and doth thy duty go on, and thy
grace go on ? Though thy failing may be thy burden, yet it
being but an excresence and discoverer of thy grace, it is no
other than a sin of infirmity.
Sins of infirmities are servants and drawers of water unto
your graces ; though in themselves evil, yet through the over
ruling hand of God s grace, they will make you more gracious
another way. Ye know how it is with a young tradesman,
who hath but a small stock; he keeps his shop diligently, and
will not spend as others do. If you ask him the reason,
saying, Such and such men are of your trade, and they will
spend their shilling with us, and their time with us ; why will
not you do as they ? He answers presently, True, they do
so, and they may do so, their estate will bear it; but as for
me, my stock is small, very little, therefore I may not do as
they do, but I must be diligent, and a good husband; I am
but a young beginner, and have little skill in the trade, there
fore it behoves me to be diligent. His very weakness is the
cause of his diligence. So here, the more infirmities that a
gracious soul labours under, the more diligent he will be ;
and it you ask him, Why do you take so much pains in fol
lowing the means, and the like ? he answers, Alas, I am a
poor weak creature : such and such an one there is that hath
an excellent memory, all that ever he reads or hears is his
own ; but my memory is naught, my head and heart is
naught, and therefore by the grace of God I will take the
more pains in following after Christ. Thus his very infirmity
is a provocation unto all his diligence. The Gibeonites
served the Israelites, and were hewers of wood and drawers
of water for them ; why ? but because the Gibeonites were
at an under. So now. if your very sins be drawers of water,
servants, and handmaids to your graces, it argues that your
sins are at an under ; and being so, they are weak, and but
230 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
sins of infirmity, if they be not gross, foul, and scandalous
sins.*
Infirmity doth constantly keep a man s heart low, down,
and humble. If one have an infirmity in his speech, he will
not be so forward to speak as others are ; but being conscious
of his own infirmity, he is always low, and afraid to speak.
So spiritually. There are two sorts of sins that men do
commit: some are foul, gross, and scandalous sins; others
are weaknesses and infirmities : those that fall into great
and gross sins, will be much troubled, much trouble and sor
row they do meet with presently, in case they repent; but
those that lie under a constant infirmity, are constantly
kept low and humble thereby, f Do you therefore complain
of your sin, and would you know of what sort of sins it is r
Why, if it be not a gross and scandalous sin, and thy heart
be kept constantly low thereby, then without doubt it is no
other than this sin of infirmity. For though God could have
wholly delivered his people from the filth of sin, as well as
from the guilt of it, and as well from lesser sins as
from great and scandalous ; yet he hath left these infirmities
and weaknesses in the hearts and lives of his people, that
they may be constantly humbled in themselves, and prize
Christ the more. And if this be the manner of an infirmity,
then surely a good man, a true disciple of Christ, may possi
bly fall into the same sin again and again, and yet the sin be
but a sin of infirmity. Which was the second thing proposed
to be cleared by us.
But suppose that my sin be no other than a sin of infir
mity, what then ?
* Mirabilis Deus in consiliis super filiis hominum, maltos per peccata sanat a
peccatis, sicut venenum pellitur a veneno. Luther.
Non solum mala passiva, quse nobis irrogantur, in bonum cedunt, sed etiam
activa, hoc est, mala quae nos ipsi facimus ; quorsum hoc inquis ? quia homo
pius cum videt lapsum suum, pudesit, et confunditur, sic lapsus ille principio
operatur humilitatem, deinde invocationem ardentum, ac malum illud quod in
carne reliquam est ceu calcar est quod nos excitat, ut nobis ipsis irascamur, nos
damnemus et clamemus cum Paulo. Infelix ego, quis me liberabit a corpore
hujus peccati, sic crescit fides occasione vitiorum, &c. Luther, Com. 2. Gen.
fol. 151, in cap. 20.
f Datus est mihi stimulus carnis, ne extollar inquit Paulus, o venenum quod
non cnratur nisi veneno ; caput caedebatur ne caput extolleretur o antidotutn
quasi quod de serpente conficitur et propterea theria cum dicitur. Augustin de
vcrbis Apost. Serm. 3.
SER. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 231
The third particular answers you. Then, your sin being
but an infirmity, Christ will never leave you for it, nor cast
you off for it ; but if you sleep, he will waken you ; and if
you sleep again, he will waken you again ; and if you yet sleep
again, he will come again with his wakening mercy, and will
never cast you off for it. Oh, what sweet grace is this.
Is there no evil then in this sin of infirmity ?
Yes, much, very much : for though it be a drawer of water
to your grace, yet it is a Gibeonite, a native, a Canaanite,
that will upon all occasions be ready to betray you, and to
open the door unto greater thieves, and will always be a thorn
and goad in your sides ; and though it do not put out your
light, yet it is a thief in your candle, which may smear out
much of your comfort, and blemish your duty. Ye know
how it is with a good writing pen ; if there be a small hair in
it, though the hair be never so little a thing, yet if it be not
pulled out, it will blot and blemish the whole writing some
times. So may the sin of infirmity do ; your whole duty
maybe blotted and blemished by this small hair, and although
God can and doth make use of your infirmities for to keep
your graces, yet they are but your lees and dregs, whereas
your graces should be all refined. The word of God is as
gold refined seven times ; your ordinances are refined ordi
nances, refined by the hand of reformation ; your comforts
and mercies and privileges, are refined mercies, privileges and
comforts : surely therefore your graces should be refined
graces, and your duties refined duties. When Christ " shall
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, he shall purify the sons
of Levi as gold and silver, and then shall the offerings of
Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord," Mai. iii. 3,
4. Oh, what an evil thing therefore is it, for a man to be
unrefined. Is it not an evil thing to be burdensome unto
others ? By your sin, though it be but an infirmity, you may
be a burden to others ; for the apostle speaking of infirmities
saith, " Bear ye one another s burdens," Gal. vi. 1,6; and,
" Ye that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak," Rom. xiv. 1. And although Christ will not cast you
off for a sin of infirmity, yet you may provoke him thereby
to chide you, and to be angry with you. The unbelief of the
disciples M-HS but their infirmity, yet Chi.st did upbraid then;
because of their unbelief. The remissness and loss of first love
232 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
in the church of Ephesus, is by Christ called a somewhat^
" Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee " and yet
Christ threatens her, that he will for this somewhat come
against her quickly, and remove her candlestick, if she did
not repent. And, Rev. ii. 16, the Lord Christ threatens the
church of Smyrna, that unless she repented, he would come
unto her quickly : yet he saith not to her, I have many things,
but a few things against thee ; or if you will, for the word is
oXiya, I have some small or little things against thee. So
that although your sin be not of so great a bulk as others,
yet you may provoke Christ thereby, and he may be angry,
and chide you for it. Thus here he did chide the disciples,
yet their sin was but a sin of infirmity. Surely, therefore,
there is evil, and much evil in the sin, though it be but a sin
of infirmity. But,
Thirdly, Though there be much evil in this sin, Christ will
not cast you off for it.
For it is an honour to a man to pass by infirmities, saith
Solomon ; much more is it for the honour of Christ to pass
by the infirmities of his people.
The saints and people of God are in covenant with God
by Jesus Christ, and that covenant is a conjugal covenant.
Hosea ii. But what husband will put away his wife for her
infirmities ? That covenant is a paternal covenant, and what
father will thrust his child out of doors for his infirmities ?
A child, though deformed, is more pleasing to the father,
because the child is his own, than another beautiful child that
is not his own. Yea, that covenant is a covenant of grace:
now in the covenant of works, the least sin breaks the cove
nant ; but in the covenant of grace, the greatest sin doth not
break the covenant between God and the soul : in the cove
nant of works, the least sin provokes God to hatred ; in the
covenant of grace, the greatest sin provokes and moves God
to pity. If a master should turn away his servant for every
failing and weakness, who would serve him ? But God hath
many servants in the world, who do serve him with cheerful
ness ; surely, therefore, he doth not and he will not cast men
off for their infirmities.
The saints and people of God are the body of Christ;
and every one a member of that mystical body, whereof our
Lord Christ is the head. Now, saith Luther, what man will
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 233
cut off his nose, because there is filth in it ? yea, though the
nose be the sink of the brain, yet because it is a member
a man will not cut it off.* And will Christ cut off one of his
members, because there is filth in him, or some weakness
and infirmity in him ? No, surely. What woman will cast
away the mortar, because it savours of the onions, or garlick
which hath been beaten in it ? What father will knock his
child on the head, because a wart grows on his forehead ?
These infirmities in the saints and people of God, are their
warts, which grow in the face of their conversation : the
blessed martyrs themselves had these warts : Hierom of
Prague had a great wart upon him, Cranmer another, Jewel
another ; yea, if we look into that little book of Chronicles,
I mean Hcb. xi., what saint is there mentioned upon record,
but had one wart or another? Had not Abraham his wart,
in saying, that Sarah was his sister ? Had not Sarah her s
in laughing ? Had not Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph their s ?
Moses, Rahab, Samson, Jepthah, and David their s ? Luther
had his, and our reformers their s ; yet God owned, used, and
honoured them. Surely therefore, though there be much
evil in a sin of infirmity, especially if a man fall into it again
and again ; yet Christ will not leave a man, or cast him off
for it.f
But Solomon tells us, that the backslider in heart shall be
satisfied with his own ways.
True: But there is much difference between the back
sliding of an hypocrite, and the relapses of God s own chil
dren into their infirmities: a backslider loseth that power
which once he had ; but a good man relapsing into his infir
mities, doth still keep that power of godliness which he had
before : a backslider s judgment and principles crack and
* Nemo nasum ideo abjicet quod impure phlegmate abundat, et quasi cloaca
cerebri, ita etiam infirmi temporis infirmitatis sunt pars regni Cbristi qui non
ideo abjiciendi sed so vendi sanandi et erigendi sunt. Luther.
f Ego non possum excusare patres ut multi faciunt nee volo, imo libenter
audio lapsus et innrmitates sanctorum non quod laudem, &c. sicut non evcuso
apostolos fugientes a Christo, Petrum negantem et alias eorum infirmitates,
stultitias et ineptias, nee scribuntur ista propter duros super bos et obstinatos
sed ut ratio regni Christi ostendatur qui in grege suo pusillo habet pauperes et
infirm us conscientias ; est rex fortium paritur et infirmorum, &c. Luther in
Gen. xxvi.
Scio ego me saepe multa ttulte et temere admodum egisse adeo ut cogituruin
cur Deus, vocavit me ad predicaudum &c. Luther in Gen. xxvii.
234 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
alter, insomuch as he doth bless himself in his apostacy ;
but the good man relapsing into his infirmities, still doth
retain his judgment, keep his principles, and doth groan
under his relapses. Possibly a man may fall into the same
sin again and again, yet he may be no backslider, nor called
a backslider in scripture language.
But again, A man may be said to be satisfied with his
own ways either because he is given up to his sins, so as
to be glutted with them, finding all delight and contentment
in them ; or he is said to be satisfied with his own ways, in
regard of that sorrow and affliction which he doth reap by
them : in this sense a good man may have enough of his
sin, and be said to be satisfied with his own ways. Thus it
with Jacob ; he deceived his brother Esau, and he deceived
his father Isaac ; afterwards he was deceived by Laban, and
by his children ; as he deceived his own father, so was he
deceived by his father-in-law ; and as he deceived his bro
ther, so was he deceived by his children, in the reports of
Joseph s death : here was he satisfied in a way of sorrow
with his own ways ; he deceived others, and was deceived by
others : he had enough of it. But though a good man may
be thus satisfied with his own ways, yet he is never satisfied
with them, so as to be given up to them. Possibly he may
fall into them again and again, yet saith the Lord, Isa. Ivii.
17, "For the iniquity of his covetousness, was I wroth, and
smote him ; I hid my face and was wroth :" What then ?
"And he went on frowardly, turning aside again, (so the
Hebrew,) in the way of his hqart." But, saith the Lord, " I
have seen his ways, and will heal him, and will lead him also,
and restore comforts to him, and his mourners/ So that
though a good man may have enough of his sin, in regard of
sorrow that may come thereby : yet he shall never be satis
fied with his own ways, or sins, so as to be given up to
them: Christ will not cast him off ; if he sleep, Christ will
waken him ; and if he sleep again, Christ will wake him
again ; Christ will not leave him in it, nor cast him off for it.
If these things be true, then what necessity is upon us,
and what great cause have we to examine ourselves, and to
consider seriously, what sort of sins those sins are, which we
labour under. We do all sin, that is most certain ; but
there is a great difference between sin and sin : there is a
. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 235
sin unto death, and there is a sin not unto death : there is a
sin which may stand with grace, and there is a sin which
cannot stand with grace : there is the spot of the godly, and
there is the spot of the wicked : there is a gross sin, a reign
ing sin ; and there is a sin of infirmity : there is a sin, for
which God will leave and cast off the sinner, witness Judas s
sin, the sin of the false disciple : and there is a sin for which
God will not cast one off; witness the sin of these true
disciples : oh, then what cause have we to make it out to
our own souls, whether our sins be sins of infirmity or not.
But it seems that all the sins of the godly are not sins of
infirmity, and God will not cast off a godly man for any
sin : what advantage, therefore, hath this sin of infirmity
above other sins ; or what disadvantage do the other sins
of the godly labour under, which this sin of infirmity doth
not?
Much, very much : for though my sin be great ; yet if it
be a sin of infirmity, it shall not hinder the present accep
tance of my duty. Hezekiah and the people were not pre
pared according to the preparation of the sanctuary, that
was his and their weakness ; but he prayed, and the Lord
heard his prayer : so David said in his haste, " I am cast
out of thy sight ;" this was his infirmity, yet he prayed
withal ; and saith he, " Nevertheless thou heardest the voice
of my supplication." But if a man, a good man, do fall
into a foul, gross, and scandalous sin, though the Lord pardon
it to him afterward, yet it will suspend his present communion
with God.
Although my sin be great, yet if it be but an infirmity,
it shall not hinder the sense of my justification. A foul and
scandalous breach upon our sanctification, will make a breach
upon the sense of our justification : but though the sin be
great, yet if it be but an infirmity, it shall not make a breach
upon the sense of our justification.
Though my sin be great, yet if it be but an infirmity, there
is a pardon that lies in course for it ; and though it be good
to repent of every sin, with a distinct, and particular repen
tance, yet it is not necessary that there should be a particular
repentance for every sin of infirmity. If a man, though a
good man, do commit a gross, foul, and scandalous sin, there
must be a particular repentance fur it; and without that,
236 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SER. 10.
there will be no peace, no true peace in his soul : but if the
sin be only a sin of infirmity, a general repentance may, and
will serve for that; "Who knows the errors of his life ?"
saith David ; " Lord cleanse thou me from my secret faults."
Though a man s sin be great, yet if it be but an infirmity,
it shall never bring a scourge upon his family. It is a great
misery to a good parent, to see his family scourged for his
sin. Possibly the sins of a godly man may bring a rod on
his family : " Because of this," saith the Lord to David,
" the sword shall never depart from thine house." But now
if the sin be only a sin of infirmity, my family shall never
be scourged for that.
And though my sin be great, yet if it be but a sin of in
firmity, it shall never spoil my gifts, nor make them unpro
fitable : if a man have great gifts, praying, exercising gifts,
and his life be scandalous, what saith the world ? Aye, this
man hath exceeding good gifts indeed, but do ye see how he
lives ? A scandalous life soils and spoils his gifts, and doth
make them unuseful. But now if my sin be only a sin of
infirmity, it shall never soil my gifts, so as to make them
unuseful and unprofitable unto others. Surely then, there is
a great, and a vast difference between this sin of infirmity,
and another sin ; and therefore why should we not labour to
make it out with clearness to our own souls, what kind of
sins our sins are ? Every man almost thinks that his sin is a
sin of infirmity; come to the dninkard, swearer, adulterer,
opposer, and these will tell you, that their sins, are but sins
of infirmity ; they will rail at and oppose the people of God,
and yet their sins are but sins of infirmity ; swear, and swear
daily, yet their sins are but sins of infirmity ; go to the tap
house, play-house, whore-house, and yet their sins but sins
of infirmity : the vilest of men think their sins are only
infirmities. But is there such a great difference between sins
and sins; this, and the other sins? Then why should we
not look wishly into our condition ; consider our ways, arid
labour to make it out with clearness to our own souls, whether
our sins, be sins of infirmity, or not ?
But suppose that upon due search and examination, I find
that my sin is no other than a sin of infirmity, which will
not cast me off, although through my weakness, I do fall into
it again and again, what then ?
SER. 10.] THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. 237
Then several duties follow, and accordingly you are to take
up these, and the like gracious resolutions.
If my sin be a sin of infirmity, and no other, then through
grace, will I observe what God s design is, in suffering and
leaving such infirmities in me, and will labour what I can
and may, to promote and advance that design : God could
have freed me from all sin, these infirmities as well as the
greater; but God had some great designs in leaving of these
infirmities, as that I may be always humbled, that I may be
always upon the work of mortification, that Jesus Christ
may be the more sweet and precious to me, that I may live
in continual dependance on him, that I may not gather up
the assurance of my salvation only from my sanctification,
but from the free grace of God, and his absolute promise,
that I may be weary of my present state, and groan after
heaven, where no imperfections are ; and that I may learn
to pity others, and therefore through grace, I will do what I
can to help on these designs.*
If my sin be but a sin of infirmity, and God will not cast
me off for it, then, through the grace of God, will I never
believe these false reports of Christ, and those misrepresen
tations of him which Satan would put upon him, whereby he
would persuade me and others, that our Lord Christ is an
hard master: as Satan doth labour to present himself to me
as an angel of light, so he would represent Christ as an angel
of darkness. Bat is this true, that the Lord will not cast me
off for my sins of infirmity ? then will I never believe that
my dear Saviour is an hard master.
If the Lord Christ will not cast me off for my sins of in
firmity, then, through the grace of God, I will not question
my spiritual estate and condition for every sin ; I will grieve
for every sin of infirmity because it is a sin, but I will not
question my condition, because it is but a sin of infirmity.
Then will not I cast off myself and others for the sins of
* Deletur iniquitas manet infirmitas. Augustin.
Sed quare Deus talia peccato sinit fieri a suis, cur sic impingere eos perraittit ?
respondetur ex effectis, ideo ita permitt.it Deus ut occasionem accipiat multarum
bonarum rerum non enitn labantur sancti ut pereunt sed ut copiose eis Deus
benefaciat. ut lapsus principio operatur humiliatem, deinde invocationem ut
nos excitat ut nobis ipsis irascamur et nos damnemus, ut majori studio caveamus.
Luth. in Gen. cap. xx.
238 THE SIN OF INFIRMITY. [SfiR. 10.
infirmities. Shall Christ s eye be good and shall my eye be
bad ? Will not Christ cast me off for mine infirmities, and
shall I cast off others for their infirmities ? God forbid.
Then will not I cast off the things of Christ because of any
infirmity that may adhere to them, or the dispensation of
them. When Christ took our nature on him, his deity was
veiled under our humanity, his excellency under our infirm
ity. So now, his grace and his dispensations are veiled under
the infirmity of our administrations : as for example : preach
ing is an ordinance of Christ, yet the sermon may be so de
livered, with so much weakness of the speaker, that the
ordinance of Christ may be veiled under much infirmity.
So the admonition of a fallen brother is an ordinance of
Christ, yet it may be so administered, with so much passion
in the speaker, that this ordinance may be veiled under much
infirmity. Scarcely any ordinance but is veiled under some
infirmity in regard of its administration. But is this true,
that the Lord will not cast me away because of mine infirm
ities ? surely, then, I will never cast away the ordinances, or
things of Christ, because of those infirmities which may ad
here or cleave unto them.
And if the Lord will not cast me oif for my infirmities,
then, through grace, I will never be discouraged from the per*
formance of any duty. I will pray as I can and hear as I
can, and though I be not able to pray as I would, I will pray
as I am able ; and though I am not able to examine mine own
heart as I would, yet I will do what I am able, for the Lord
will not cast me off for infirmities, and therefore I will not
cast oif my duties because of them.
And, lastly, if the Lord Jesus Christ will not cast me off
for mine infirmities, then will I never sin because the sin is
but a sin of infirmity. Will the Lord pardon my sin because
it is but an infirmity, and shall I commit sin upon that
ground, because it is but an infirmity? then shall I walk con
trary to God, then shall I turn the grace of God into wan
tonness. Surely, therefore, I will never sin upon that account,
because it is but a sia of infirmity. Thus ye see what we are
to do, and what gracious resolutions we are to take up from
the consideration of this great truth.
But though the Lord will not cast us off for our sins of
infirmity, yet there is much evil in this sin, especially if we
SER. 10.] THE six OF INFIRMITY. 2.39
fall into it again and again ; what shall we therefore do that
we may not fall into this same sin so often ?
Be sure that you do not forget your former sins ; the slum
ber of grace is a preparation to sin, and the forgetfulness of a
former sin is a preparation unto future sin. When we forget
our old sins, then God leaves us to fall into new sins. As
long as the sense of old sins abide upon your heart, so long
you will be kept from new sins ; and as the sense of old sins
doth wear off, so the lust after new sins will come on. Would
you not, therefore, fall into the same sin again and again ?
then take heed that you do not forge t your old sins, or lose
the sense thereof.
If you would be kept from relapses into your infirmities or
other sins, then take your sin and quench it in the blood of
Christ by a fresh act of faith, over and beyond all your resolu
tions and acts of humiliation. You know how it is with a
candle ; if it be blown out only, it is easily lighted again, but
if you quench it in water, it is not so easily lighted again : so
in regard of sin ; if a man blow it out with a resolution, it
will be soon recovered, but if besides a man s resolutions and
humiliations, he takes his sin, and by an act of faith doth
quench it in the blood of Christ, it will not be lighted again
with that ease and facility.
And if you would not fall into the same sin again and again,
then watch and pray. Our Saviour Christ here saw that his
disciples were like to sleep again and again ; and, I pray you,
what direction doth he give them ? only this, " Watch and
pray :" as if watching with prayer, and prayer with watchful
ness, were the only or chief means to keep us from falling
into the same sin again and again. And indeed it is not all
our habitual strength that can keep us from falling, for then
Adam in the state of innocency would have been kept from,
falling; nor is it want of temptation that can secure us from
falling, for then the angels in heaven should not have fallen,
for they had no temptation there ; but we are kept by con
tinual dependance upon God in Christ : it is not therefore
enough to watch, but we must watch in prayer ; neither is it
enough to pray, but we must pray with watchfulness. What
I say, therefore, to one, I say to you all, and to mine own
soul, Let us watch and pray, and pray and watch, that we en
ter not into this temptation.
SERMON XL
THE FALSE APOSTLE TRIED AND DISCOVERED.
PREACHED A. D. 1656.
fl And hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and
hast found them liars." REV. ii. 2.
IT is not only the opinion of Mr. Brightman, but of very
ancient writers,* that these seven epistles, written to the
seven churches of Asia, do contain the state and condition of
the whole church of God, unto the coming of Christ. This
first epistle is written to languishing Ephesus, holding forth
the state of the church presently after Christ and his apos
tles, and is a good looking-glass for all those which begin
now to languish, and to lose their first love. Something our
Saviour doth commend in this church, and something he
reproves them for. He commends them for what was good,
and rebukes them for what was evil. Some will commend
what is good in their friends, but will not take notice of what
is evil. Some will take notice of what is evil in others, but
will not commend what is good. This is not according unto
Chrises proceeding ; the commendation of good, is a good
introduction to the reprehension of what is evil.
Now our Saviour Christ doth commend this church, both
officers and people, for many things. For their labour ; for
their patience ; for their zeal. " I know thy works, (saith
he,) and thy labour, and thy patience." Labour and patience
go together. Those that will labour in the work of God,
must be patient ; they shall surely meet with opposition, and
therefore patience must accompany our labours. Yet this
patience does not exclude zeal; but saith Christ here, " I
know thy labour, and thy patience, and thy zeal : thou canst
not bear them that are evil." Possibly then, a man may be
* In Joannis Apocal. septem ecclesias scribitur per quas una catholica desig-
natur. Greg. Horn. 15, in Ezek.
Joannes scribit ad septem ecclesias, in quibus etiam universas ecclesias septen-
ario numero intelligimus cooimendari. Austin Epist. 106, Extra septem ecclesias
quicquid foris est alienum est optat. Milevitan, lib. 2.
SfiR. 11.] THE FALSE APOSTLE, &C. 241
itient, and yet cannot bear or endure those that are evil,
low this zeal and severe dealing with those that were evil, is
described two ways : first, by the persons which they did
deal withal, those were false teachers, ver. 2, 6 ; secondly, by
the exercise of their zeal and severity, which did consist in
two things, the discovery of those false teachers, and the
hatred of their deeds. The hatred of their deeds ye have at
ver. 6, " This thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitans ;" the discovery of these false teachers ye have
in these words, " And thou hast tried them," &c.
It is strange that there should be false apostles in those
days, whilst some of the true apostles were alive to confute
and discover them. But it seems that the discovery of these
false apostles, was not a work only belonging to the true
apostles, for this church of Ephesus found them out, and are
commended for it by our Saviour Christ. And so the doc
trine from this part of the verse is :
That it is a matter of great commendation in the eyes ot
Jesus Christ, to try and discover false teachers, or false
apostles.
Christ doth not only commend this church for their zeal
herein, but hath left their commendation upon scriptural
record, as a good example for all the churches of Christ.
And therefore, I say, the discovery of false teachers and false
apostles, is still a matter of great commendation in the eyes
of Christ.
It is that which we are all commanded to do, 1 John iv. 1,
" Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they
are of God, because many false prophets are gone into the
world."
But for the clearing of this truth, it will appear, if you
consider,
What a dangerous and mischievous people, false teach
ers and false apostles are. They do deceive men in the
matter of their souls ; they are called deceivers and seducers,
John ii. 7, " Many deceivers are entered into the world," &c.
2 Tim. iii. 13 ; " But evil men, and seducers, shall wax worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived." And deceitful
workers, 2 Cor. xi. 13, 6, " For such are false apostles, de
ceitful workers." Now a man loves not to be deceived in
any thing, no, not in a small matter. If I had spent or given
VOL. iv. R
242 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiR. 1 1 .
away much more, it would never have grieved me, you say ;
but I cannot endure to be cheated and deceived. And if a
man cannot endure to be deceived in lesser things, what an
evil thing is it then to be deceived in the matters of his soul?
Such are the things that these false teachers do deceive men
in ; yea, they will and do subvert men s faith, and spoil them
of the very fundamentals of their religion. Therefore saith
the apostle, Col. ii. 8, " Beware lest any man spoil, or make
a prey of you." Is it not a sad thing for a man to lose his
faith for a fable ? They will first take away your faith, and
then they will lay a fable in the room of the faith ; for their
highest speculations and notions are but fables. Ye may ob
serve, therefore, that when the apostle Paul doth cehort from
their doctrine, he saith still, " Take heed and beware of
fables." Those are many, and of divers sorts. There are
old wives stories and fables ; such are the doctrines and
speculations of false teachers. Therefore, 1 Tim. iv. 1, the
apostle having said, that in the latter times some should de
part from the faith, " giving heed to seducing spirits ;" and
speaking of the doctrines of those seducers, in the following
verses, he saith, ver. 7? " But refuse thou profane and old
wives fables :" for such in the eyes of God are the doctrines
of these seducers. There are Jewish fables also, whereof the
Talmud is now full ; and such are all those doctrines and
commandments of men, which are beside the Scripture, the
doctrines of false teachers : and therefore saith the apostle,
Tit. i. 14, having spoken of seducers in the former verse,
whose mouths must be stopped, " Not giving heed to Jewish
fables, and commandments of men." There are also the
fables of heathen poets, the figments and devices of men s
own brains : and such are the doctrines and speculations of
all false teachers. And therefore says the apostle, 2 Pet. i.
16, " We have not followed cunning and devised fables ; but
we have a more sure word of prophecy," at ver. 19. So that
look whatever doctrine is not according to the Scripture, is
but a fable in the eyes of God. Now is it not an evil thing
to lose my faith for a fable ? Such fables do these false
teachers bring ; they steal away your faith, and lay a fable in
the room thereof; yea, they will and do beguile men of their
reward ; they beguile them of their faith ; they beguile them
of their souls, and they beguile them of their reward ; there-
SRR. 11.] TR7ED AND DISCOVERED. 243
fore saith the apostle Paul,, "Let no man beguile you of your
reward," Col. ii. 18. Yea, they will not only beguile you of
your reward, but they will bring you into pernicious ways,
which if you follow, the way of truth shall be evil spoken of,
2 Pet. ii. 1, 2 : in which scripture the apostle Peter tells us,
that as false prophets did arise in the times of the old testa
ment, so false teachers should arise in the times of the new
testament. He tells us, that the ways of these false teachers
are pernicious ways. That they shall infect many, for he
saith, " Many shall follow them." That by reason of them,
the ways of truth shall be evil spoken of. Surely then, this
sort of people are a very dangerous and mischievous people,
and therefore a commendable thing in the eyes of Christ to
make discovery of them. But,
Though they be a dangerous and mischievous people, yet it
is an hard thing to discover them, for they walk in the dark,
and transform themselves into ministers of light; they creep,
and they privily creep into houses, saith the apostle ; and
they will come to you, saith our Saviour, in sheep s clothing,
Matt, vii.* That is, look whatever garb the true prophet was
or is found in, that will they be found in also. Did the true
prophets of the old testament go in a plain or rough garment,
or a garment of hair, 2 Kings i. 8, Matt. iii. 4 ? so did the
false prophets also, Zech. xiii. 4, wear a rough garment, or a
garment of hair, as the Hebrew, to deceive. Did the true
prophets sometimes quake, shake and tremble ? so did the
wicked diviners also. And so now in the times of the new
testament. Uo the true teachers of the gospel press or make
use of Scripture ? so do false teachers also. Did the true
apostles preach Christ? so did the false apostles also : "Some
preach Christ out of envy/ Phil. i. 15, 16. Did the true
apostles and prophets declare the deep things of God ? 1 Cor.
* Induti specicm ovium, id est mentientes ovinam fraudisque nesciam simplici-
tatem, vestimenta Sgitur ovium sunt ea omnia, quae sunt proprie ovium, hujusmotii
vestimenta sunt perpetua verbi Dei et cvangelii inclamatio, densissima, scriptu-
rarum citatio, mansuetudo, blandiloquium sanctirnoniffi species, &c. LUc. Bru-
gens. in Matt. vii. If).
Vestes oiium sunt : I. Sophisticus verbi pretevtus, Matt. iv. 2. Nomen ec-
clesiie, Jer. vii. 3. Hypocrisis in vita, Col. ii. 4. Ficti enthusiasm!, Col ii.
5. Miracula, 2 Thess. ii. 6. Excei entia dond, Matt. vii. 7. Fortitudo in slip-
pliciis. 8 XpijiTToXoyteu KO.I tiAoytai, blanditia) et promissiones Strigel.
in Matt. vii. p. 64.
R2
244 THE FALSE APOSTLE [Sfcll. 11.
ii. 10; so did the false prophets also, Rev. ii. 24, "the depths
of Satan as they speak." Look what that is which the true
preachers do, that will false teachers in appearance do. On a
time, says Austin in his Confessions,* the house where I
lived was broken up in the night by thieves ; and the men of
the house perceiving that the house was beset with thieves,
and making a noise, the thieves run away, and left their crows
of iron and instruments whereby they did break up the house.
Then my friend Alipius coming to the house, and finding
those instruments and tools lying on the ground, he took the
crow of iron into his hand ; and when the men of the house
came out, and saw the crow of iron in his hand, they took
hold of him, and thought that he was the thief. So, says
another, the heretics of the times will take the same instru
ments to destroy the house of God as we do to build the
same. The same crow of iron, the same scripture that is in
the hand of Alipius, a friend, is made use of by a heretic,
one that is a thief, who comes to make a prey of your faith.
He that comes not in by the door, is fur et latro, a thief and
a robber : not apertus hostis, an open or professed enemy, but
a secret thief and a robber, whose coming is unknown, and
of whom you can less be aware : and you know the more
crafty and subtle they are in their practices, the more hardly
they will be discerned. Now false teachers, who come in
sheep s clothing, are a subtle and crafty generation ; for as
Satan at the first beguiled Adam by beginning with Eve, the
weaker vessel ; so do these people also creep into houses,
leading silly women captive, laden with divers lusts ; there
they begin, even with the weaker vessel, as Satan at the first
did ; and as Satan beguiled Eve, by telling her that she should
be like unto God himself, and so drew her from the appoint
ment of God ; so do false teachers now tell poor souls, that
if they will follow their doctrines, they shall be like to God,
yea, be God and Christ, and so draw them from the appoint
ments of Christ ; and therefore saith the apostle, " I fear lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his sub
tlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 3. Now if it be so hard a thing
to discover these false teachers, and they be so dangerous and
* Auijustini Confess, lib. vi. cap. 9.
SER. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED. 245
mischievous a people, then surely it is a matter of great com
mendation to make discovery of them.
It is an excellent thing also to make discovery of them ;
Christ doth commend what is excellent, spiritually excellent,
and the more excellent the thing the more it doth fall under
the commendation of Christ. Now by discovering of these
false teachers, you put a stop and check unto their folly and
madness ; their madness or folly, saith the apostle, shall pro
ceed no further. How so ? It shall be made known to all :
2 Tim. iii. 9, " But they shall proceed no further, for their
folly shall be made manifest to all men." Thereby, also, ye
shall preserve those who are not declined ; and thereby you
shall be serviceable unto Christ in the great work which he
hath to do and is doing in these latter times. One part of
his work is to discover those that are unsound : Rev. ii. 24,
" Then shall all the churches know that I am he that search-
eth the heart and reins." But did not the churches know
that before ? Yea, but then, that is, in the latter times, they
shall have experience of it, for then I will discover Jezebel
and all her false prophets ; so that this discovery of false
teachers is part of Christ s own work in the latter days, and
the more you labour therein, the more serviceable you are
unto Christ. Surely, therefore, it is a matter of great com
mendation in the eyes of Christ, to try, find out and discover
false teachers and false apostles.
If it be so commendable in the eyes of Christ to discover
these persons, then it is lawful for us, though weak, to go to
the meetings of these false teachers, or to receive them into
our houses, and to speak with them ; else how shall I try and
discover them ?
Nay, but this follows not, no more than that you must go
to Rome to try and find out the deceits of the papists, or that
you must go into Turkey to try and find out the false doctrine
of the Turks; you may try and discover papists and Turks,
yet it doth not follow that you must read over their books
and Alcoran. The apostle saith, " Mark those which cause
division, and avoid them. False teachers shall arise in the
last days (saith he), and from such turn away." And the
apostle John saith, " If any come to you not with this doc
trine, receive him not into your house, nor bid him God
speed," lest you be partaker of their evil deeds. Lc ok, what-
246 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiR. II.
ever mischief they shall do abroad by their false doctrines, all
that shall you partake in if you receive them into your houses,
or countenance them by bidding them God speed. He that
receiveth a true prophet in the name of a prophet, shall re
ceive that prophet s reward ; he shall profit by that prophet,
and shall have a share in all the good which he doth. So
he that receiveth a false prophet, shall receive a false pro
phet s reward ; he shall be poisoned by him, and shall partake
in his evil deeds.
But how then shall I try all things ?
Mark this scripture well. Those words are spoken to the
church of the Thessalonians, 1 Epist. v. 20, 21, " Despise not
prophesyings, prove all things ;" that is, try those things
which ye hear in the church by way of prophesy; but he doth
not say that you must run out to every meeting of suspected
persons to try all things there, but keep your place in the
church, and try all things ; otherwise, it being a command
ment, all men should be bound to read Popish books, Socin-
ian books, and the Turkish Alcoran. And if you should go
to these meetings, do you think that is the way to try all
things ? Do ye not know that it is the ordinary Xvay of all
false teachers, to hold out truth at the first ? Will they not
preach an hundred truths first, that they may make way to
one error ? And if so, how can you try them by going to a
meeting or two ? But keep your station in the church of
God, despise not, turn not your back on prophesyings, and
so try all things. If you be convinced of the truth and way
of God by the Scripture, you will easily find out a false doc
trine, for rectum est index sui et obliqui ; truth known will
discover error. But where do you find in Scripture that try
ing is the end of hearing : that we are to hear that we may
try ? I must therefore go to hear that I may learn and profit
by my hearing; and if you go to these meetings that you
may learn and profit, are you not in a fair way to be de
ceived by them ? The members of the church of Ephesus,
here, did not run from the church for this discovery, for says
the apostle, Acts xx. 30, "And of your own selves shall men
arise speaking perverse things ;" which, when it came to pass,
the Ephesians did discover them, saith our text, for which
they were thus highly commended of Christ.
Now if this be so commendable in the eyes of Christ,
. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED. 247
then why should we not all take some pains herein, and be
found doing this work of our generation ? Do ye think that
there are no false teachers, and false apostles, and false
prophets, in these days of ours ? Read what is said in Zech.
xiii. 2 6. 1. The prophet tells us, that in the days im
mediately before the calling of the Jews, there shall be
unclean spirits in the land, verse 2, and false prophets,
verse 3. 2. He tells us, that when the Jews shall be
called, in that day, verse 1, there shall be so great a zeal
amongst them, against these false prophets, that their pa
rents, and such as are near to them, shall be the first that
shall punish them, verse 3, " His father and mother that
begat them, shall say, Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest
lies " and yet these are high gospel times. 3. He tells
us here, that this correction shall be a means to reduce
them; for upon that it is said, verse 4, "And it shall come
to pass in that day, that the prophet shall be ashamed," &c.
But the thing that I bring this scripture for, is to shew you,
that there shall be such people as these, immediately before
the call of the Jews, and that is in these days of ours.
Only observe how the prophet doth here describe them :
He tells you that they shall be such as were originally hus
bandmen; for upon their reducement, he shall say, "I am
no prophet, I am an husbandman." He tells you here, that
they shall be such as shall wear a rough, hair, or plain gar
ment to deceive, verse 4. He tells you, that they shall come
in the name of the Lord, and say, they are not sent by men,
but by God immediately, verse 3. That yet these men shall
be acted by the very spirit of the devil ; for says the Lord,
" I will cause the false* prophet, and the unclean spirit, to
pass out of the land ;" that is, such as do work and act by
the inspiration of the devil, having the fierce and unclean
spirit of the devil : these are the men that shall arise in
these days of ours. Do you think then, that we are free
from false teachers now ; or do you think that it is not in
cumbent upon all ; only upon officers, to try and discover
them ? Here the whole church are commended for it. Or
do you think that it is nothing to be commended by Christ?
Those that he commends now, he will commend before the
Father, and all the angels, and saints another day ; his com
mendation shall never make you proud, as the applause of
248 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiR. 11.
man may do. Oh, what an excellent thing then is it, to make ;
discovery of these false apostles, and false teachers : why
should we not all, more or less, according to our places, la
bour to be found in this work, in these days of ours ?
How shall we find out, and discover them ? for if we may
not go to their meetings, and they be such a crafty, deceiving
people, what shall we do, and how shall we try, a true
teacher, from a false teacher ; or a true apostle, from a false
apostle ?*
All teachers are to be tried three ways. By
Their call.
Their doctrine.
Their fruits or lives.
As for a man s call to preach : whoever is called to preach,
is either called ad opus, to a particular work : or he is called
ad munus, to an office. If he be called to a work only, then
his preaching is called prophesy ; and so some are called to
preach ; for else how should we know whether men be fit for
office, if they may not preach before they be in office ? Now
if men be so called to preach, then they must preach ac
cording to the proportion and analogy of faith, Rom. xii. 6.
If they be so called to preach, they must have a gift to pro
fit others publicly ; for all prophesy is for exhortation, edifi
cation, and comfort, 1 Cor. xiv. 3. And if they be so called
to preach, they must submit that they speak to the judgment
of others : the officer speaks with authority ; but another
speaks with submission, " and let the rest judge," 1 Cor. xiv.
29. So that, if any man will take upon him to preach and
teach as a gifted man, if he have not a gift to profit others
in public: a gift beyond a family gift; and if he do not
speak according to the proportion of faith, and do not sub
mit what he speaketh to the judgment of others, he is a false
prophet, and no true teacher in this kind.
But if a man be called to office; then his office is either
extraordinary, or ordinary.
If extraordinary, then he is either a prophet, who doth
foretell things to come, and they do come to pass ; or he is
an^evangelist, whose office was to accompany, and minister
* Veri doctoris lana est vooatio vel authoritas, sana doctrina ; vita probata
sed hae lana non otiines eodem mode utuntur imo multi abutuntur. Ferus in
Matt. vii. p. 255.
. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED. 249
unto the apostles : when the apostles therefore ceased, then
the evangelists ceased ; for sublato subjecto tollitur adjunctum.
Or he is an apostle who hath seen the Lord, and is immedi
ately sent by him, whose commission extendeth unto all the
world, who is infallible in regard of doctrine delivered,
having the gifts of tongues given him ; not by industry, but
by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and doth work miracles.
And therefore if any man say, that he is an apostle, and yet
hath not seen the Lord Christ, nor hath these gifts of
tongues, nor can work miracles ; then he is a false apostle,
and a false teacher in that kind.
But if a man be called to an ordinary office, then, he
must be apparently godly: not only free from vice and
scandal, but holy and blameless, shining with positive
virtues, as well as free from scandalous sins, 1 Tim. iii., Tit. i.
He must be qualified, and gifted for the work of preaching,
being apt to teach, anointed with the unction of the Holy
One ; not that he must necessarily have the extraordinary
gifts of the Holy Ghost : for when the apostle Paul sets
down the due qualifications of a minister, 1 Tim. iii., there is
not one word of that. Being gifted and duly qualified, he
must be chosen, or desired by the church, Acts xiv. 23.
Then having consented, he must be separated to the work
of the ministry. And therefore if any man say, that he is
a teacher in office, ordinarily called, and yet be profane,
scandalous, or vicious, or ignorant, being not fitly qualified ;
or is not desired, or chosen by the church, and separated
to the work of the ministry, he is a false teacher in this
kind.
But whether a man s call be ordinary or extraordinary ;
whether he be called, ad opus, to a work, or ad munus, to an
office, he must make out his call to others ; it is not enough
to say, I am sent of God, I tell thee I am sent of God : the
apostles themselves made out their call to others ; " Do ye
require a proof of my ministry, or apostleship ? " says the
apostle Paul; then thus and thus. So that though a man do
pretend that he is sent of God, and that he hath seen the
Lord ; yet if he be not able to give an account thereof unto
others, he is surely a false apostle, and a false teacher. Thus
may you try and discover men by their call.
As for doctrine. Teachers may, and must be tried by
250
THE FALSE APOSTLE
. 11.
their doctrine, 1 John iv. 1. Particular doctrines whereby men
may be tried, are many : I will name some briefly, because I in
tend this work no further than to this one exercise. Therefore,
The true apostles never did decry the Scriptures, but
under God and Christ, did exalt the Scriptures. They called
them the word of God, Rom. ix. 6 ; 2 Cor. iv. 2. They told
us that the Scriptures are a sufficient rule, and able to make
us wise unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 14, 16, 17- That they
are the onlv rule and iudge of all doctrines, wherebv we are
*F O - >
to try the same, according to that of the prophet Isaiah ;
" To the law, and to the testimony ; if any one walk not
according to this rule, there is no light in him," chap. viii.
That these Scriptures may be expounded, 2 Peter i. 20.
The apostles never did deny the original, saying, I deny the
Hebrew, or I deny the Greek ; but often cited the original
Hebrew ; yea, the Septuagintal Greek. This was the true
apostle s doctrine in regard of the scripture.
As for Christ : The true apostles never did deny the Deity
of Christ, whilst he lived here on earth ; nor the humanity
of Christ in heaven. But for his Deity, the apostle tells
us, that he is very God, and the only wise God, 1 John v. 20.
And for the body of Christ: The true apostles tell us,
that he did not only rise from the dead, but his body as
cended, and that he is man still, 2 Tim. ii. 5, "There is one
Mediator, the man Jesus Christ."
As for the ordinances : The apostles never did deny the
ordinances; but have told us that the ministration of the
gospel, is more glorious than that of Moses, because this
was to continue, 2 Cor. iii. ; they did not destroy, but erect
these ordinances, by commission from Christ, "As I have
ordained in all the churches," saith Paul. And more par
ticularly, they did not deny the ministry, not the being of a
settled ministry, Rom. xii. 7> though by the hand of man :
Titus i., " For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou
shouldest ordain elders in every city :" nor the maintenance,
the settled maintenance of ministers, 1 Cor. xi. 14, " Even
so hath the Lord ordained, that those that preach the gospel,
should live on the gospel." As they did not deny the mi
nistry, so they did not deny water baptism : but they
rather called for water baptism, because Cornelius had re
ceived the Spirit, Acts x. 47- They did not lay a necessity
. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED. 251
upon the disciples, to be plunged into the river or water ;
for the jailor and Cornelius were baptized in their houses :
nor did they ever forbid infant baptism, but tell us that
children of believers are holy, 2 Cor. vii. As the true
apostles did not deny water baptism, so they did not cry
down the Lord s supper, but tell us plainly, that thereby we
hold forth the Lord s death till he come. As they did con
tend for the supper, so they commanded singing: 1. That
the whole church should sing ; for the whole church of
Ephesus, and the whole church of Colosse, are commanded
to sing, Eph. v. 18 ; Col. iii. 16. 2. That the whole
church should sing the Psalms of David ; for by those titles,
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the Psalms of David
are distinguished. 3. That this singing should be per
formed with an audible voice, and not in the heart only ;
for saith the apostle in the same scriptures, " Speaking
and singing with grace in your hearts." 4. That these
psalms, or hymns, or spiritual songs, should be sung by many
together ; not by one alone, but by the whole church ; for
the evangelist tells us, that Christ, and his disciples, sung a
hymn, and so went out after supper: if only one sang, and
the rest consented, then that one was Christ, or some one of
his disciples ; Christ it was not, for if he had sung a hymn,
it would have been said, that he sung, and the hymn would
have been set down ; as it is said, he prayed, and his prayer
recorded, John xvii. Nor was it one of the disciples, for
as yet the Holy Ghost was not fallen upon them, to gift them
with spiritual gifts ; neither can it be said, that the word
v^rjjffuj le*, should be translated, Praised; and when they
had praised, &c. For when it is to be so translated, then it
is joined with an accusative case, as Heb. ii. 12, but they
all sang, audibly, and together. Thus the true apostles
of Christ, were for, and not against the ordinances of Christ.*
As for the doctrine of justification : The true apostles
preached for justification by imputed righteousness, and by
faith, in opposition to works, Rom. iv.
They never preached, or told us that there is a light in
* AffinrKibant autera hanc fuisse aummarn vel culpae sure vel erroris quod
essent soliti stato die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere
secum invicem. Plin. Epist. ad Trajan.
Vel communi voce dicere. Magdeburgens. Hist. Cent. ii. cap. C.
252 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiR. 11. 1
every man, which followed, will bring to salvation : indeed | |
the evangelist saith, That Christ, as God, enlighteneth every ,
one that conies into the world ; the wicked with the light of I]
reason and understanding; the godly with the light of grace: |j
and the apostle saith, that the grace of God hath appeared I \
to all men, that is, both Jews and gentiles ; but doth not I
say, that the grace of God hath appeared to all particular : l
men : but he saith, The whole world lies in wickedness ; k
and a natural man doth not perceive the things of God, |j
neither can he.
They never preached, that any man might be perfect, so
as to be without sin in this life, but the contrary ; saying,
" If any man say, he hath no sin, he deceives himself, and
there is no truth in him," 1 John i. 8 ; he doth not say, and
there is no humility in him, though it be pride to say so ;
but there is no truth in him.* And again, the apostle James,
" In many things we offend all/ chap. iii. 2. And again,
" We see and know but in part," 1 Cor. xiii. 9, they acknow
ledge indeed a perfection of uprightness : but the true apos
tles never placed any perfection in monastical virginity, or
abstaining from meats, cuffs, points, and laces. f But says
the apostle, Col. ii. 18, "Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility, and in being subject to ordi
nances : as touch not, taste not, handle not : which all perish
in the using, after the commandments and doctrines of men.
Which things indeed have a shew of wisdom, in will-worship,
and humility, and neglecting of the body," ver. 19 23.
The true apostles never preached against respect unto
magistrates, parents, and masters. Indeed our Saviour
Christ says, " Call no man your father ; neither be ye called
masters :" but master, he tells us at verse 8, is all one with
rabbi : now these rabbins were their sect-masters, who were
the masters of their faith ; and such a father and master,
no man ought to be : but otherwise the apostle saith,
" Children obey your parents ; honour thy father : and ser-
* Poterat enim apostoliis dicere, si dixerimus, quod non habemus peccatum
nos ipsos extollimus, et humilitas in nobis non est, sed cum ait nos ipsos decipi-
mus et veritas in nobis ncn est satis ostendit eum qui sic dixerit non verum
loqui sed falsum. Concil. Milevit. Cau. 6.
f Nunc bene vivitur si sine crimine sine peccato auteno si quis vivcre se
existtimet non id agit, ut peccatum non babebat, sed ut veniam non accijnat.
Austin.
. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED.
vants, be subject to your masters/ And did not Paul the
apostle call himself, a wise master-builder ? Acts xxvi. 25,
Paul calleth Festus, most noble Festus ; and Agrippa, King
Agrippa. And chap, xxvii., he saith to them that were in the
ship with him, " Sirs, I perceive that voyage will be dan
gerous :" and again, verse 21, " He stood forth in the midst,
and said, Sirs :" and yet again, verse 25, " Wherefore, Sirs ;"
or excellent men, be of good comfort, &c.
The true apostles never preached against the resurrection
and ascension of the body, but make the doctrine of the
resurrection a fundamental article of our faith, 1 Cor. xv.,
yea, they tell us, that Christ did not only rise, but ascend
with his body ; and that our bodies shall remain bodies in
heaven, as Christ s doth, Phil. iii. 20, "Who shall change
our vile bodies, that they may be like to his glorious body."
The apostles never preached that there is no place of
heaven and hell after death : but as they received of Christ,
so they delivered truth unto us. Now Christ saith expressly ;
" Go ye cursed into everlasting torment, prepared for the
devil, and his angels : and Come ye blessed, inherit the king
dom of the Father, prepared for you before the foundation
of the world."
These were the doctrines of the apostles, and the true
teachers of the gospel. Doth any man therefore say, I now
come uuto you from God, and God hath sent me? And
doth he say, there is no other heaven, nor hell, than what is
in this life ? Or doth he preach against the resurrection and
ascension of our bodies ? Or doth he preach against respect
unto magistrates, and civil relations ? Or doth he tell you
of a light within all men, which is able to bring them to
salvation ? Doth he preach perfection, saying, that man
may be perfect, and without sin in this life ? Or doth he
tell you of justification by somewhat within you ? Or doth
he cry down, degrade, and vilify the ordinances of -Christ,
ministry, water baptism, Lord s supper, and singing? Or
doth he deny the Deity of Christ on earth ; or the humanity
of Christ in heaven ? Or doth he preach down the Scripture
by telling you, that the light and spirit within you is your
rule ? Surely this person is a false apostle, and a false
teacher. Thus you may try a man by his doctrine.
A teacher also may and must be tried by his life and fruits;
254 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SttR. 11.
for saith our Saviour, " Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep s clothing, but inwardly they are raven
ing wolves : ye shall know them by their fruits," Matt. vii.
15, 16. As ye know a tree, not by the leaves, but by the
fruit; so, saith he, ye shall know these men, not by their first
profession, but by their after works and ways and fruits.
But if they go in sheep s clothing, how shall I know they
are wolves ?
Yes; for though their clothing be the sheep s, yet they
have the nature and disposition of wolves, the voice, howling
and barking of wolves, and the practice of wolves.
The nature of a wolf, though he be in sheep s clothing, is
fierce and cruel. So is the nature, spirit and disposition of
the false teacher : 2 Tim. iii. 3, " Without natural affection,
truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good : of this sort are they (ver. 6) which creep
into houses, and lead silly women captive," &c.
The voice of the wolf -doth betray him ; he howls as the
sheep do not, and barks at the shepherds. So do false
teachers do, they resist the truth, as Jannes and Jambres re
sisted Moses, and are continually barking at and speaking
evil of the true ministers of the gospel, and shepherds of the
sheep. It is recorded of Philip of Macedon, when he laid
siege to Athens, that he sent word into the city, that if they
would send out ten of their orators, he would be at peace
with them. Whereupon Demosthenes rose up in the senate,
and said, If the wolves come to the fold, and tell the sheep,
that they will be at peace with them, if they will send away
all their dogs and shepherds, will the sheep do it ? No, the
great design of the wolf is to part the sheep from the shep
herd. Those therefore that come in sheep s clothing, and
cry out against the true ministry of Christ, are no true sheep,
but wolves.
The wolf, though he be in sheep s clothings, doth tear and
rend the sheep ; he cometh not in by the door ; and when he
is come in, then he doth devour the poor sheep. And so it
is with false teachers, they come not in by the door of a
lawful call, and they bite and devour and destroy the faith of
some.*
* Oili^c? %x vrat Tgos vjj.ac, Mact. vii. 13, qui venicnt ex seipsis legi-
t<me non missi, de quibns Jer. xxiii. 21, currebant et non mittebatn. Luc.
Brugens. in Matt. vii. 15.
. 11.] TRIE!) AND DISCOVERED. -.").">
But our Saviour saith, that we may know them by their
fruits ; what are those fruits, and how shall we know them
thereby ?
If you find that they are given to uncleanness, then they
are not sent of God. So are false teachers many times, 2
Pet. ii. 1, " There shall be false teachers amongst you."
" These do walk after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness,"
ver. 10. See the Epistle of Jude. God doth often give
men up to fleshly sins for their vile errors.*
If you find that they are given to lying, then you may
know that they are not of God. Truth doth not need our
lies to maintain it with ; but the doctrine of lies is often
maintained with the practice of lying. " And hast found
them liars," saith our text here.
If you find that the height of their religion is to maintain
some opinion, and that doth consist in some voluntary humi
lity, and keeping under the body, then are they not of God.
Col. ii. 1826.
If you find that their doctrine tends to draw men away
from the ordinances of God, then though they pretend to be
prophets, yet they are but false prophets. Deut. xiii. 1, " If
there arise among you a prophet, and he giveth a sign, and it
come to pass, thou shalt not hearken to him," ver. 3. "And
he shall be put to death," ver. 5. Why ? " Because he hath
spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God."
If you find that in truth he falls short of him whom he
would seem to be, and yet in shew goes beyond him, then he
is a deceiver. As for example : If a man say that he is an
apostle, but pretends to do more than ever any apostle did,
as to judge infallibly in all things; whereas the apostle saith
sometime, " This say I, not the Lord " yet in truth falls
short of what an apostle did, who spake with tongues, and
* Pseudo-prophetse quo modo probari possint : cettissima autem demonstratio
haec est, si deliquerit et contemnat voluptates corporales, imprimis vero sensum
ilium qui nobis est opprobrio et dedecori et si abominentur omnem libidinem et
scortationem ; an ignoras enim, qua ratione Zedekias filius Maasijse et Achab
filius Kolijse de propetia gloriati fuerint, multos homines ad se pertraxerint, ver-
baque prophetise ab aliis instinctus divini afflatu prolata sub suo titulo ventita-
rint, et tamen in voluptatibus suis venereis perrexerint, ita ut sociorutn et
discipulorum suorum uxores stupraverint. Donee a Deo retecti et a rege Baby-
Ionise, raeritissima psena igne combusti fuerint. Jer. xxix. 22, 23. Rab. Mos.
Maiemon. More Nevochim, part 2, cap. 40.
256 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiB. 11.
did work miracles ; surely this man is a false apostle. It is
the way of an hypocrite to imitate the godly, and in outward
things he will go beyond many a godly man, yet doth fall
short of the weakest saint. Now though every hypocrite is
not an heretic, yet every heretic is an hypocrite.
If you find that his great work and business is, to destroy
the churches of Christ, then he is not of God, but by this
fruit you may know him to be a false teacher. The apostles
went up and down confirming the churches, not destroying
them. But now, says Luther,* after we have taken much
pains, even for ten years together, to gather and settle a
church ; then comes some fanatic person, and he destroys
more in one moment, than we could build in ten years. But,
says the apostle, " Mark those which cause division," much
more those that cause destruction, and avoid them.
" If they will not hear us (says the apostle John), they are
not of God," 1 John iv. 6. " We are of God : he that know-
eth God, heareth us ; he that is not of God, heareth not us.
Hereby know we the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
Doth a man then forsake the assemblies of the saints, as the
manner of some is, and teach men so to do ? he shall be
called least in the kingdom of heaven ; he is a false teacher,
and by this fruit you may know him. Yea, and by all these
fruits you may know false teachers. You may know them
by their call; you may know them by their doctrines; and
you may know them by their fruits and their practices.
And thus you see how those that are false apostles, or false
teachers, may be tried and discovered. And is it a com
mendable thing in the eyes of Christ, to make discovery of
them ? Now then, as you desire that you may fall under the
commendation of Christ here or hereafter, let it be your work
and business in these times to make this discovery. Only
know,
That it is the special work of church officers, to try and
discover false teachers ; for this epistle is directed to the
angel of the church of Ephesus.
But though it is their work especially, yet it is a work in-
* Decem annis laboratur antequam ecclesiola recte et pie instituta paratur, et
ubi parata est, irrepit aliquis fanaticus et quidem idiota, qui nihil novit quam
contumeliose loqui, contra sinceros verbi doctores, is uno momenta evertit omnia.
Luther.
SER. 11.] TRTRD A\ T D DISCOVERED. 2.">7
cumbent upon all the saints and churches; fur though the
epistle he directed to the angel of the church, yet the matter
thereof doth belong to all ; tor saith the same epistle, " He
that hath an ear, let him hear, what the Spirit saith unto the
churches." And if this work do helong unto all the church,
what an evil thing is it for those that are members of a
church, to be beguiled with false teachers. Shall they he be
guiled by them, that, should discover them ? This is directly
contrary to their duty. It is your duty, and it is all your
duty, to make this discovery. Therefore, yet more practically,
Go to God for wisdom and the Spirit of discerning ; it is
Christ alone that doth see men s fruit under all their leaves :
beg this discerning Spirit therefore at the hands of Christ.
Take heed that you do not lie in any sin or error, for all
sin and error blinds. How shall you see the error of another,
if you be blinded with your own sin and error?
In case any thing doth arise, which hath any difficulty in
it, consult with others, for ye are not alone ; and saith David,
" I will inquire in thine holy temple."
Be sure that you keep to the Scripture, and take heed that
you do not judge of doctrines by impressions. Let the light
within you be your principle, enabling you unto what is good;
but let it not be your rule to judge of doctrines, that is the
word alone.
Take heed that you have not too great a charity towards,
and opinion of, those that are suspected to be false teachers.
Ye shall know them by their fruits, saith Christ. And lest
you should think that they may be good, I tell you, nay,
says Christ, in the next words, for a corrupt tree cannot
bring forth good fruit : no man gathers grapes off thorns, or
figs off thistles : u but evil men and seducers," says the
apostle. If seducers, you are to look upon them as evil men,
as well as on drunkards, swearers, and profane persons;
which because some have not done, they have been deceived,
instead of making this discovery.*
And if you would be sure to make up a right judgment in
this great discovery, then stay your time, and wait long
* Plerique enim hominurii ita impostorum liberalitate fascinaiitur ut quicquid
proponunt monstruosse doctrinse tamen pro bonis habeant. Quibus Christus re-
spondet, non modo hujusmodi homines bonos non esse. sed ne esse quidem
Cartwri^hti Harm. p. 271.
VOL. IV. S
258 THE FALSE APOSTLE [SfiB. 11.
before you close with any of their opinions ; for saith Christ,
Ye shall know them by their fruit. Now the fruit of a tree
is not presently seen ; an ill tree in winter may seem to be
as good as the best : stay therefore your time, and you shall
know them by their fruit, and so be able to make this disco
very, which is so pleasing to, and commendable in the eyes
of Jesus Christ.*
It may be some will think and say, This doth not concern
or reach my condition ; I am troubled with and labour under
such or such a temptation ; and in all this, nothing hath been
spoken unto that temptation. But remember, that our Lord
and Saviour Christ hath not said to some, but to all, " Be
ware of false prophets " not behold, but beware : we behold
what is open, and beware of what is hidden ,f And both
Christ and his apostles tell us, " That in the last days there
shall arise false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, and
false brethren ; insomuch, as if it were possible, they should
deceive the very elect :" and is this nothing then unto your
condition ? It may be it is your temptation, that you do not
take heed and beware enough. I dare boldly say, he is
under a temptation, that thinks these things do not reach
him, or concern his condition. And what is the reason that
many poor souls are so misled in these days of ours, but
because they have not been prepared, and underlaid with
knowledge for to make resistance. All their work and busi
ness hath been about some particular temptation, striving
against some temptation : if they have heard any thing about
that, well ; if not, then they think the matter concerns not
them ; and so not being grounded in the faith, when deceivers
come, they are taken captive by them. But I know you all
desire to be commended by Christ at that great day, when he
shall say, " Well done, good and faithful servant." And
this discovery of false teachers, is a matter of great com
mendation in his eyes now ; and what he commends now, he
will commend then : wherefore up and be doing. It may
* Si quis ex foliis et fioribus judicium formare velir, non expectata fructuum
maturitate plane hallucinetur, sic etiam qui de initiis quibusdam judicium sibi
singant, &c. tandem enim eorum amentia omnibus innotescet. 2 Tim. in.
Cartwrighti Harm. p. 270.
t Attendite a falsis prophetis, diligenter cavete non dixit aspicite, sed attendite,
quod aspicere est ad allud quod palam videtur, attendere autem est cum sollici-
tudine inquirere. Abulens. in Matt. vii. p. 218.
. 11.] TRIED AND DISCOVERED. 259
be this may be some pains and labour to you ; but Christ
saith, " I know thy works and thy labour." It may be it
may cost you much trouble and sorrow ; but he saith also,
" I know thy labour and thy patience/ It may be some
may think you are too busy and severe in the work of this
discovery ; but he hath said, " I know thy works, and thy
labour, and thy patience, and that thou canst not bear them
which are evil, and hast tried them which say, they are apos
tles, and are not, and hast found them liars." Wherefore
let us comfort and encourage one another with these words.
s 2
SERMON XII.
THE GOOD AND MEANS OF ESTABLISHMENT.
PREACHED AT STEPNEY, JANUARY 6, 1655.
" But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you," 1 PETER v. 10.
SOME think these words are spoken in the way of a pro
mise from God ;* others think they are spoken in the way of
a desire and prayer to God.f They are a promise, say some,
because they are brought in to comfort and relieve these dis
persed saints against the temptations of Satan and opposition
of the world, which the apostle had mentioned in the former
verses (8 and 9), as also because those words, " perfect, stab
lish, strengthen, settle you," are found in some books in the
future tense of the indicative mood, to be read thus : " Shall
perfect, stablish, strengthen and settle you ;"f but I find the
copies ordinarily to give them in the optative. Beza tells
us that all our books, excepting three, do read these words in
the optative mood.|| And Estius, though the vulgar latin
renders them in the future tense of the indicative, saith that
all such copies are of less credit, and that although the words
should be in the future tense, it comes all to the same reckon
ing ; forasmuch as the Hebrews, whom the New Testament
follows much, do ordinarily put futures for optatives as well
as for preceptives. So Num. xx. 17, we translate the words
thus : " Let us, I pray thee, pass through thy country ;" and
* Promissionem adjungit apostolus. Salmeron, Grotius, Gerardus, Tirinu?,
Thorn. Aquinus.
f Ad precationem se convertit apostolus. Calvin, Beza, Piscator, H. Illiricus,
Estius, Gomarus. Aretius.
|| Games nostri codices, tribus tamen exceptis, scripta hsec habent optandi
modo. Beza in loc.
In nonnullis qnidem exemplaribus grsecis verba sunt indicativa modi tempo-
risque futuri, quern admodura in latinis, verum ea minus probatse sunt fidei.
Estius in loc.
SfcR. 12.] THE GOOD AND MEANS, &C. 261
yet the word in the Hebrew is in the future tense : u We will
pass through/ &c.* So Jer. xl. 15, we read, " Let me go, I
pray thee, and I will smite Ishmael ;" and yet the word in
the Hebrew is, " I will go and smite Ishmael/ f So that
according to the Hebrew, the future is ordinarily put for the
optative in a way of desire and petition. But the words here
used are in the optative mood,]: and therefore, by that argu
ment, we cannot conclude these words to be spoken in the
way of a promise. It is true, indeed, that they contain mat
ter of much comfort and relief for those that surfer under the
temptations of Satan or oppositions of the world, but so they
do, also, though they be spoken in a way of prayer; and it is
usual with the apostles to conclude their epistles with a short
prayer, and that prayer with a doxology ; and so doth the
apostle here : " The God of all grace, who hath called you,
&c., perfect, stablish, strengthen and settle you ; to whom be
glory for ever and ever: 5 a promise is not so concluded, but
a prayer is.|| I conceive, therefore, that these words are spo
ken in way of a prayer ; wherein we have,
First, The mercy, and the blessing prayed for.
Secondly, the arguments ensuring it.
First, As for the mercy and blessing prayed for ; it is ex
pressed in four words : perfect, stablish, strengthen and settle
you. Some think they are synonimous, all intending the
same thing, the confirmation and perseverance of those dis
persed Christian Jews. But though they may aim at the
same general tiling, yet there are several particulars under
that general which the words seem to point at. The first
word, which we render perfect, should, I think, be translated
otherwise. It is the same word that is used Matt. iv. 21, and
Mark i. 19, for mending of their nets; and the same that is
used, Gal. vi. 1, " You that are spiritual restore such an one
with the spirit of meekness ;" and it signifies such a restoring
W TT)Q y? s - Septuagint.
FIopEvcro/xai 2e. Septuagint. Ibo nunc. Montanus.
II Postquam satis incubuit in monitiones nunc se ad precationem convertit,
nam frustra in nerem fundetur doctrina nisi Deus per Spiritum suum operetur.
Calvin in loc.
Quod pluribus verbis rem unam designat Petrns, nempe fidelium confirma-
tionem, boc ideo facit ut sciamus rarse esse difficultatis eursum nostrum persequi
et proinde singular! Dei gratia opus ese. Calvin in loc.
262 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SfiR. 12.
as is of unjointed members.* Now these Christians being
scattered, the apostle prays that God would please to joint
them again. Thus the God of all grace, after you have suf
fered, and been shattered, bring you into order, restore and
repair you. But suppose that God restore and mend us, yet
we may fall again. True, but I do not only pray for you,
saith Peter, that ye may be restored and mended, but that
ye may be confirmed, so as ye may not fall away : " The God
of all grace stablish you also/ 3 The word signifies to fasten,
and confirm, and establish ;t so Rom. i. 11 ; 1 Thess. iii. 1,
2. But though we be so confirmed by the grace of God that
we cannot fall away, yet we may be weak and labour under
great infirmity. True, but te I have prayed for you, that you
may be strengthened also."J But though we be strong and
confirmed, so as we shall never fall quite away from grace, yet
we may be unsettled. True, but I have not only prayed
against your apostacy, but against your unsettlement : " The
God of all grace restore, stablish, strengthen and settle you,"
even as the foundation of the house is settled. || So that he
doth not only pray for these saints that they may be restored
and put into joint, in opposition to their scattering, but
for confirmation in opposition to apostacy, and for settlement
in opposition to all unsteadfastness, and for strength of grace
in opposition unto weakness, the cause and ground of all un-
settledness. Now these graces he doth assure them of by
divers arguments. Some drawn from the nature of God, he
is the God of all grace ; not of grace only, as the Syriac
reads the words, omitting the word all, but he is the God of
all grace : and therefore though you have need of much grace,
yet you need not be discouraged, for the God whom you deal
with is a God of all grace ; and under this title have I prayed
unto him for you. It is good closing with God in prayer by
that title and attribute which is most suitable to our condition.
Other arguments are drawn from the precedent work of God
* Significat ergo apostolus relam bonorum operum quam teximus facile ac cito
in hac vita rumpi nisi accedat Dei (cara^noyio?. Gerard.
Significat enim Kmaer^tw , membra in corpore luxata reponere. Ibid.
Beza compingat Erasm. instauret.
f 2r;ift> significat figere, firmitur statuere, Septuag. utuntur pro II? stare
fecit : quod alibi exponunt pro or^peow, alibi pro <rr?/Aow, alibi pro
J Qivovv, significat roborare aSerw valeo, opponitur a
, fundare
SER. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 203
upon them : " Who hath called you unto his eternal glory,"
Now the gifts and calling of God are without repentance :
" Whom he hath called, them he hath also glorified." And
therefore seeing he hath called you, you may be assured that
he will confirm, strengthen and settle you. God s calling
grace doth assure us of his confirming grace; " He that hath
called you unto eternal glory, even he (at/Ioc, is emphatical,
and omitted in the English to be read, thus, The God of all
grace, who hath called you, &c.), he himself establish you,"
&c.* But our sufferings do still abound, for we are a dis
persed people. Be it so, yet your sufferings are but a modi
cum, a little, oXiyov, both in regard of measure and time : and
after you have thus suffered a little, and a little while, the
God of all grace will restore, stablish, strengthen and settle
you. This have I prayed for you. So that the doctrine from
the verse is this :
It is a great blessing of God, and worthy of all our prayer,
to be established and settled in the truth and good ways of
God. Settling grace and mercy, in opposition both to out
ward and inward trouble, is a great mercy, and well worth
praying for.
It is a great mercy and blessing to be outwardly settled.
The apostle speaks here in reference to that opposition and
hatred which they met with from the world, in scattering them
as a people and as a church ; for saith he, verse 9, " Be sted-
fast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accom
plished in your brethren that are in the world :" as also in
reference to those temptations of Satan which they laboured
under ; for saith he, verse 5, " Your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."
So that I say,
First, It is a great mercy for a nation and state to be settled.
Secondly, A mercy and great blessing for a church to be
settled.
Thirdly, A great blessing and mercy for a particular soul to
be settled in the good ways of God.
It is a great mercy and blessing, for a nation or kingdom
* Emphaticutn quoque illud quod in Grseco textu hsec verba O frs 0ioc TraarjQ
Xapiloc, conjunguntur cum sequentibus UVTOQ Kot^apTiaai : ostendit enim apos-
tolus ex eodem gratise fonte et primam ad gloriam coelestem vocationein et ultimam
bujus beneficii consummationem provenire. Gerard.
264 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
to be in a settled state and condition, outwardly : for it is the
mercy promised; and promised mercies are no small mercies.
Now the Lord promiseth to his people, when he deals with
them in a way of mercy, to settle and establish them, Jer.
xxiv. 6, " For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and
1 will bring them again to this land, and I will build them,
and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not
pluck them up. So chap, xxxii. 37, "And I will cause them
to dwell safely;" yea, vease 41, " I will rejoice over them,
to do them good ; and I will plant them in this land assur
edly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul." This
also was that mercy which the Lord promised to David,
2 Sam. vii. 16, " But thine house, and thy kingdom shall be
established for ever before thee, and thy throne shall be
established for ever." And if ye look into 2 Chron. ix. 8,
ye shall find, that this establishing of a nation or kingdom,
is both a sign, and a fruit of God s love ; " Blessed be the
Lord thy God," said the Queen of Sheba to Solomon,
s: which delighteth in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be
king for the Lord thy God ; because thy God loved Israel,
to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over
them," &c. On the other side ; when God is angry with a
people, then he pours a spirit of giddiness and perverseness
on them, that they run to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man, and are as the leaf shaken with every wind, 1 Kings
xiv. 1 5, the Lord threatens Israel " to smite them, as a reed
is shaken in the water, because they had made them groves,
provoking the Lord to anger." A great judgment then it is,
to be shaken like a reed in the water. This also is a fruit of
God s anger ; and when a people are in this posture, it
argues that God hath smitten them in his anger. But when
may a people be said to be thus smitten, as a reed shaken in
the water ? Even then, when they are driven to and fro
with every wind, when they are easily moved, and put by
their station, so that any one that rises up against them,
may afflict them, and lay them low. And if this unsettled,
shaking condition, be a great judgment upon a nation or
people ; then surely the contrary is a great mercy, it is a
great blessing indeed for any kingdom or nation to be in a
settled estate and condition.*
* Sicut solet uioveri arundo in aqua scilicet quia arundiaes fuciliter moventur
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 265
Secondly, As it is a mercy and blessing for a nation
to he settled and established, so for the church of God :
for when the church hath this rest, then it is edified, walking
in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost, Acts ix. 31.
Establishment is the mercy promised to the church also,
Isa. ii. 2, " It shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the Lord s house shall be established in the top
of the mountains :" what is more settled on earth than a
mountain ? The house of the Lord shall be as a mountain
upon the mountains in the last days ; great shall be the
glory of the latter days. As the sins and apostacies of the
latter days, shall be the greatest sins and apostacies ; so the
glory of the churches, shall be the greatest in the last days :
and the establishment of the churches, is not only promised,
but promised as part of the glory of the latter times.
It is that mercy and blessing which the apostles laboured
for continually. First they took a great deal of pains to
convert, and bring men home to God ; being converted, the
apostles then formed them into several churches ; and
churches being planted, then their great work and business
was to establish them, Acts xiv. 21, "And when they had
pleached the gospel to that city" or had gospelized that
city, "and had taught man}," or had discipled many, or
those that were fit and worthy, "they returned again to
Lystra, to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of
the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,"
&c.*
This they also prayed for; and therefore as the apostle
Peter shuts up his Epistle with this prayer for the dispersed
Christian-Jews : so the apostle Paul doth close up his Epistle
to the Corinthians, with the same desire and prayer for
them ; 2 Cor. xiii., " And this also we wish, even your per
fection," verse 9, rr\v v^uv Kalapliffav. And, Rom. xvi. 25, he
concludes thus : " Now to him that is of power to establish
you," &c. vpas dlripifai where the apostle Paul useth two of
in ".qua quocunque vento impellente, aut levi aqnarum decursu, ita Israeli inci-
dert-t iu magnas calamitates et Deus faceret euni tain passibilem ut a quocunque
Lnsurgente contra euni posset percuti. Abulens. in Loc.
iora/^f) in ri\v TTO\LV ek^t^/jv KOI ^a^rjrivffai ri
-u? ^ /-u^ae; rw* /taS/jIwv vapanaXowrtf e/x/^tj m rrj
266 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
these four words that are used by Peter. The closing wish
doth always fall upon some precious mercy.
And as it is the mercy prayed for, so sometimes it is made
the signal mercy, whereby the church is declared to be the
church of Christ ; " Whose house ye are," saith the apostle
to the Hebrews, " if you hold fast the confidence of your
rejoicing, stedfast to the end." An house is settled, fixed,
and established ; a tent is removable, but a house is not so :
unworthy are those of the name of the house of God, that
are unsettled in the truth : "These things write I unto thee,
saith Paul to Timothy, "that thou mayest know how to
behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of
the living God, the pillar and ground of truth." Yea,
every member of a church, should be the pillar in the
house of God. So the Lord promiseth to the church
of Philadelphia. Surely therefore it is matter of great im
portance for a church and people of God, to be settled and
established.
But thirdly and especially: It is a great mercy and blessing
for a particular soul to be settled in the truth, and established
in the good ways of God. " It is a good thing," saith the
apostle, " that the heart be established with grace, not with
meats, which have not profited them that have been exer
cised therein." Possibly a man s heart may be comforted
and strengthened with meats, Ps. civ. 15, it is said, " And
wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and bread which
strengthened man s heart." Where the same word is used
by the Septuagirit, that is here used in the text.* But the
apostle Paul doth relate to the ceremonial law : for the Jews
converted to Christ, were too superstitiously addicted to the
observation of legal ceremonies, especially those which con
cerned meats,f and difference of meats, Rom. xiv. 2 ; Col.
ii. 16, and to those is this speech opposed ; "It is good that
the heart be established with grace :" as if he should say,
some think to find establishment in the observation of meats,
and doctrines for the Jewish ceremonies, but the best esta
blishment, is in the doctrine of the gospel, and the grace of
fffu arSpoTrwc J^ilu. Septuagint.
f Judsei ad Christum conversi superstitiosius inhserebant observationi legalium
ceremonialum cum primis discrimini ciborum a Moyse prescripto illis hoec sen
tentia est opposite. Gerrard in Joe.
SEE. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 267
God revealed in the gospel. Some think that by grace here,
we are to understand holiness, and those spiritual gifts
whereby men are sanctified. But having said in the former
words, " Be not carried about with divers and strange doc
trines :" these words seem to comply and correspond better
with them, if by grace we understand the doctrine of the
New Testament ; from which the Galatians are said to fall,
" Ye are fallen from grace," when they returned to the law :
but in both respects, it is a good or beautiful thing, that the
heart be established with grace.* For,
It is the ground of all our fruitfulness : ye know how it is
with a tree or plant, though in itself it be never so good, yet
if it be not settled in the earth, it bringeth forth no fruit :
if the plant be good, and the soil good, it may bring forth
good fruit ; but if you be always removing it from one place
to another, it cannot bring forth fruit. And what is the
reason that many are so unfruitful in their lives, but because
they are so unsettled in their hearts and judgments ? The
tree that is planted by the water s side, brings forth fruit in
its season, Ps. i. But as for the ungodly, it is not so with
them, " They are as the chaff," that brings forth no fruit,
whom " the wind drives to and fro." And the truth is, an
unsettled man, is neither fit to receive good, nor to do good.
So long as the vessel is moved up and down, ye cannot pour
the liquor into it ; and who can write exactly when his arm
is jogged ? Can any man walk exactly in a crowd, which
one while carrieth him this way, and another while that
way ? No surely : neither can an unsettled, unestablished
heart walk exactly with the Lord his God.
It is the bottom of all our praises : The birds do not ordi
narily sing till they be set ; they do not usually sing flying ;
but when they are fixed, then they begin to sing : so saith
David, " My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed ;" and
what then ? then saith he, " I will sing and give praise ;"
but not till then : and what is the reason that many pass so
many years of their lives in doublings and fears, never prais-
* Quidam in genere intelligunt interna et spiritinlia Dei dona quibus homines
Fanctifk-antur ; quidam doctrinam Christianam fide susceptam. Oratiam Chris-
tianismi, ut sit sensus tirmitatem et stabilimentum cordis quaerendum esse in
gratia Dei quam N. T. mediator Christus attulit, non in observatione ciborum
quani Moses tradidit. Ibid.
268 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SfiK. 12.
ing God for any love, or mercy to them ? but because tbey
are unsettled in their spiritual estate and condition.
It is the beginning of our perseverance : then I begin to
persevere, when I begin to settle, and to be established;
as instability is the beginning of apostacy, so settledness
is the beginning of perseverance.
It is that good thing which pleaseth God exceedingly:
God was so pleased with Jehoshaphat upon that account, that
he passed by, and winked at all his infirmities, even because
his heart was fixed and established, 2 Chron. xix. 2, the
prophet reproves him for joining with the ungodly ; " Never
theless/ saith he, " there are good things found in thee, in
that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and
hast prepared thine heart :" so ye read it: but I think rather,
"And hast fixed, established, or set thine heart to seek
God." On the contrary, it is said of Rehoboam, though he
did many good things, that " he did evil in the sight of the
Lord, because he prepared not;" or, because he fixed not,
established not, set not his heart to seek God, 2 Chron.
xii. 14, it is the same word which we translate, establish, in
other scriptures,* as Ps. xl. 2, " He hath set my feet upon a
rock, and established my goings ;" and it notes, such a fix
ation and settlement, whereby a man doth so continue in his
way and course that he will not be put out of it. This
Rehoboam wanted; for he was i"?n, a soft hearted man
naturally : and though he did many things that were right
and good, yet he was led by the counsel of his young men,
and his heart was not set and fixed to seek the Lord : but
Jehoshaphat was of a stedfast spirit, and would not be put
out of his way, and therefore though he did some things
amiss, yet the Lord commends him, and accepts of him:
so that, although a man do many good things ; yet if his
heart be not fixed, and established, the Lord will pass by,
and not regard the same : but though a man do commit great
evils, yet if his heart be set to seek the Lord, God will
pardon and pass by all his failings. Oh, what a blessed frame
of heart, is this fixed spirit. Surely it is that grace wherein
God is much delighted: an unsettled soul God cares not for,
* "pi in Niphal "pDa. Paratus, sirmus stabilis qui nee everti nee impediri
qacat in Pirl. et Hiphil. paravit preparavit firmavit canfirmavit, stabilivit, includit
tirtnitatem et certitudinem. Shindlerg.
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 269
nor for any work or service that is done by him. We read
ot hundreds and thousands of vessels of gold, silver, and
brass that were in the temple, but not of one crystal glass
or vessel ; why so, saith one, but because that is of a brittle,
fragile, arid uncertain nature ? which, as it hath no colour of
its own, so it is apt to receive the colour of any liquor.*
So is an unsettled man, and uucoiistant, whom. God cares
not for in his temple and service. Who cares for the service
of a fool ; or regards the prayers, desires, and petitions of a
fool ? If a fool knock earnestly at your door, you say to
your servant, Go not to the door, it is the fool that knocketh ;
and if a fool come and speak to you, you regard not what he
saith. Now an unconstant, unsettled soul, is a foolish soul.
It is the property of a fool to be always beginning ; he
begins a good work, and then he leaves it off; then he begins
another, and he leaves off that; Stultus semper incipit vi-
vere, the fool doth always begin to live : and the same word
in the Hebrew, and Scipture phrase, that signifies an incon
stant man, signifies a fool :f and if ye look into Eccles. v.,
ye shall find, that the sacrifice ot fools, is called so upon
account of unconstancy and unsettledness ; for, says Solo
mon, " When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to
pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools ; pay that which thou
hast vowed/ verse 4.J And therefore, if an unsettled man
pray and knock at God s door, he will say, Let him alone,
regard him not, it is that unsettled fool, that unconstant fool,
who is off and on, to and fro in my service. God hath no
pleasure in fools, and an unsettled, unestablished soul, is a
fool in Scripture language ; surely therefore he is so in the
eyes of God. But if a man be fixed and established, the
Lord delighteth in him, and in all those works and services
that are done by him. Establishing grace is a great mercy.
* Cur quseso in tanta multitudine vasorum, ne unum quidem vitreum reperi-
tur ? dices quod cum facile frangatur est symbolum inconstantiae, quam Deus,
vult a suo templo exulare. Ita est, sed ulterius addo, quod vitrum quam expers
est coloris proprii, tarn facile refert alienos, quibuscunque enim liquoribus im-
buitur stutim concolor efficitur, sub hoc igitur typo voluit Deus a suo obsequio
arcere eos omnes qui non servant unam vivendi rationem, sed in diversa studia
feruntur, et nunc hos nunc illos mores imitantur. Mendoza in Reg. i. cap. i.
p. 300.
t ? D3 stultur, insipiens, varius, mobilis, levis, incoustans.
270 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
And it is also the character of a good and gracious person,
whereby he is distinguished from the ungodly of the world.*
A good man lives and dwelleth at the sign of a settled con
versation ; he is planted by the rivers of water, Ps. i., the
wicked are as the chaff that are driven to and fro, not settled,
not planted. It is true indeed, that a moral, civil man, may
be naturally of a fixed spirit, serious, staid, and settled in
his moralities ; but though he be settled in what is morally
good, yet he is also settled upon his lees, in what is spiritually
evil; settled in prejudice against the saints, and against the
power of godliness ; settled in his neglect of the sabbath,
&c., and though he be of a fixed spirit and temper naturally,
yet that fixation doth not arise to any high or great matter.
It is an easy thing to cast up the account truly, where the
sum is small : morality is a small sum.f When did you
hear of a boat cast away in the river, the narrow waters ?
It is the ship that puts to sea, that doth make the shipwreck :
small boats seldom miscarry in the narrow waters. Now
the civil, moral man, doth trade in the narrow waters, and
he boasts that he doth not miscarry : some make shipwreck
of faith, and a good conscience, but as for me, saith he, I
walk constantly, evenly, and these many years have made
no shipwreck of my profession, as others have done : but,
I pray, what is the reason ? He never put to sea, he never
yet did launch forth into the great ocean of the gospel ; he
trades in the narrow waters of his own righteousness, and
therein he is exact and constant. But now, take a godly,
gracious man, and he doth abound in the work of the Lord,
and yet he is established in it ; according to that of the
apostle, 1 Cor. xv. 58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord ; Why ? Forasmuch as ye know that your labour
is not in vain in the Lord." Surely therefore it is a great
mercy and blessing, to be settled in the truth, and established
in the good ways of God ; a mercy for a nation, a mercy for
* Ut venti in autumno arbores non tollunt, sed folia secum in auras forunt sic
tristia, leves tamen mentes movent fortes et in pietate firmas non evertunt.
Origen. Homil. xiii. in Numb.
Maximum malae mentis indicium nuctuatio. Sen.
t Virtus est circa difficile bonum, sed in parvis operibus constantem esse non
est difficile. Aquin.
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 271
a church, a mercy for a particular person to be thus esta
blished : and therefore,
Secondly, It is worthy of all our prayers ; which is the
second part of the doctrine : for saith the doctrine, It is
a great blessing, and worthy of all our prayers, to be settled,
and established in the good ways of God.
It is that mercy, grace, and blessing, which we all need.
<l Man in his best estate," or according to the Hebrew ex
pression, Man in his most consistent, and settled estate,
"is altogether vanity/ Man at the best is a poor, wavering,
and unsettled creature : yea, saith the scripture, God saw no
stability in his angels ; and therefore if we do naturally
labour under such instability, we have all need to pray, and
to pray much for this grace of establishment.
It is God only who doth give out this grace, it belongs
unto him alone to establish nations, churches, and persons.
He is able to establish those who do come to him for it :
" Now to him that is of power to establish you/ &c. Rom.
xvi. 25. He is willing to do it : " But the Lord is faithful,
who will establish you, and keep you from evil," 2 Thess. iii.
3. He is Migaged to do it, for he hath promised to do it, as
hath been proved already, and it is his prerogative : " Now
he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath an
ointed us, is God," 2 Cor. i. 21. As for a land or nation, it
is the Lord alone that doth settle it : " He looseth the girdles
of princes, and maketh them to wander or stagger like a
drunken man," Job xii. 25. Again, " He girdeth their loins
with a girdle," ver. 18. He speaketh the word, and it stand-
eth fast ; who said to Solomon, and so to all the princes of
the earth, " If thou wilt walk before me in integrity of heart,
and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have com
manded thee, and wilt keep my statutes, and my judgments,
then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel
for ever," 1 Kings ix. 4, 5. As for a church, it is he alone
who doth settle and establish it: " And of Zion it shall be
said, this and that man was born in her, and the Highest
himself shall establish her," Psalm Ixxxvii. 5. And as for a
particular person, it is God alone that doth settle him, both
in his outward and spiritual condition. In his outward con
dition, " The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but
he will establish the border of the widow," Prov. xv. 25 ;
272 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SfiR. 12.
and in his spiritual estate and condition, " Now our Lord
Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, comfort your
hearts (saith the apostle), and establish you in every good
word and work," 2 Thess. ii. 17 And the psalmist cloth
address himself unto God for this, saying, " Establish thou
the work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands,
establish thou it," Psalm xc. 1 7 And if it be so great a
blessing to be thus settled and established, if we have so
great need of establishing grace, and it belongs unto God
alone to work it ; then surely it is not only a matter worthy
of our prayer, but our duty also, to say and pray with the
psalmist, " Stablish thou, O Lord, the work of our hands
upon us ; yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it."
And thus you have the doctrine cleared in the parts thereof.
If it be so great a mercy and blessing, to be settled, fixed,
and established in the truth, and good ways of God ; then
what cause have all those that are now established, to praise
the Lord, and say, I was a poor, unsettled person, but through
grace I am now settled. The more unsettled the times are,
and men in the times, the greater is the mercy to be truly
fixed and established. Hath the Lord, therefore, settled
your heart in these unsettled times ? Oh, then give thanks
unto the Lord, and say, " My heart is fixed; O God, my
heart is fixed ; I will sing and give praise."
Oh, but I cannot find this fixation of spirit in my soul,
nor that stedfastness in my life, as I desire, and therefore I
cannot praise the Lord as I should.
It may be so. Yet know that there is much difference
between variety of grace and instability of spirit. The exer*
cise of various graces, is a great blessing; instability of spirit
is a great evil. Ye may exercise one grace which you did not
exercise before, and you may perform one gracious work
which you did not before ; yet this no instability of spirit.
You must know also, that there is a kind of shaking which is
consistent with this true settledness and establishment of
heart. Ye see how it is with the ships in the harbour, and
with those ships which lie at anchor, though they be not
driven, and tossed up and down with the waves of the sea,
yet in the time of a storm, they do move and are shaken.
So it may be with thy soul : though thou hast cast anchor
within the vail, and art come unto thy harbour, yet thou
SlCIl. 12.] OF ESTAIlLfSlIMRNT. L>7-*
niayest be somewhat moved and shaken ; but though you be
in some measure shaken, yet you are not tossed up and down
as those that are not at anchor ; and therefore, oh, what cause
have you in these unsettled times, for to praise the Lord.
If establishment be so great a blessing, what a sad condi
tion are those in, that are not established, not settled, not
fixed, either in their judgments, or lives ? Not a mounte
bank come to town, but they must run to him for some of
his salves ; not a wandering star appear, but they must go to
him for some of his light. These are those unlearned and
unstable souls ; these are those that are laid out for a prey
unto Satan s instruments : as Satan goes up and down, seek
ing whom he may devour, so do his instruments ; and there
are a people that through the just judgment of God, shall
be a prey unto them : and who are those, but these unlearned
and unstable souls ? Some again are unsettled in their lives
and practises ; sometimes they are for God, and sometimes
against him ; sometimes for his service, and sometimes
against it : these are those that are contrary to all men, and
to themselves : these are those that are like to Ephraim,
whose righteousness is like the morning dew, fading and
vanishing : and both these are as the picture or map in the
frame, which you may carry from one room to another ; hang
it in this room, and it suits well with it; carry it into an
other room, hang it up there, and it suits well with that ;
and whatever room yoa hang it in, it can comply therewith :
whereas, if it be in no frame, only glued or plastered to the
wall, ye cannot remove it without tearing of it. So in this
case ; take a good, and gracious, fixed soul, and you may
sooner tear him than remove him from the truth, or the good
ways of Christ : but an unsettled person, is for every room,
and for every company ; carry him into one company, and
he can comply with it; carry him into a second, third, or
fourth, he can comply with all ; why ? but because his heart
is unfixed, not established. But woe unto him, for he is
upon the road to apostacy ; instability is the highway to
apostacy. Oh, the sad condition of those that are not esta
blished.
What shall we do then, that we may be established ? It
is a mercy and great blessing for a nation, church, and parti-
vou iv. T
2/4 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
cular person to be settled ; what shall we do, that in all these
respects we may be established ?
As for a nation or Christian state. It must first settle
religion : such a nation can never be settled, till religion be
settled ; for religion is the main mast, and if that be not
strengthened, all the tackling will be loose, Isa. xxxiii. 23,
"The tacklings are loosed," saith the prophet; "they could not
well strengthen their mast, they could not spread their sail :"
and Deut. xxviii. 9, it is said, " The Lord shall command
the blessing upon thee in thy store-houses, and in all that
thou settest thine hand unto, and he shall bless thee in the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee/ verse 8, yea,
" The Lord shall establish thee, &c., if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways,"
verse 9. " And all the people of the earth shall be afraid of
thee," verse 10. And if ye look into the Books of the Kings,
and Chronicles, ye shall observe that in the latter days of the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah, before their captivity, these
kingdoms were unsettled, only upon this account, because
religion was not settled ; as religion was settled, so the land
was settled ; and as religion was unsettled, so was the land
unsettled. Men think that the settlement of religion is to
be an after work : First, say they, let us look to our being,
the settlement of the land ; and then look to our well-being,
the settlement of religion : But if we consult with God in
the Scriptures, we shall find that a professing nation, shall
never be settled, till religion be settled ; and as that wavers,
so shall the state waver also. Would you therefore have
a land settled ? pray for the settlement of religion in the
first place.
Then must there be care taken for a succession of godly
magistrates : a good magistrate, is a good steersman : but if
one steer one way, and his successor steer another way, how
can the state be settled ? While the children of Israel
had a good judge, the people served the Lord ; but when
Joshua was dead, " And the elders who had seen all the
great works of the Lord, they forsook the Lord, and the
anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered
them into the hand of their enemies," Judges ii. 7, H 15.
"Then God raised up other judges, and the Lord was with
the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their ene-
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 275
mies," verse 18. But when that judge was dead, they re
turned, and corrupted themselves, and so the anger of the
Lord was hot against them again, verses 19, 20. Then God
raised up Othniel, and he judged Israel, and the Spirit of the
Lord came on him, and the Lord delivered their enemies
into his hand, chap, iii., and so the land had rest forty years,
verse 10, 11. But when Othniel died, the children of Israel
did evil again, and so the Lord delivered them into the hands
of their enemies, verses 12 14. Then God raised up Ehud,
and he judged Israel, and subdued their enemies, verse 30 ;
but when Ehud was dead, the children of Israel did that
which was evil in the sight of the Lord again, chap. iv. 1,
and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of
Canaan. Then they cried unto the Lord, and he raised up
Deborah and Barak, who destroyed their enemies, praised
God, and settled religion, and the land had rest forty years,
chap. v. 31. Thus unsettled was the land, whilst there was
no succession of godly magistrates. Would you therefore
have your land settled ? pray for a continuation, and suc
cession of godly magistrates, and that care may be now
taken for this thing : thus shall your land and state be esta
blished.
Yet this is not enough ; but these godly, righteous men,
must not only do some righteous things ; but govern in righ
teousness : for the throne is established by righteousness :
though righteous men do rule, yet if they oppress the people,
and do not govern in righteousness, the nation cannot be
settled. Now God hath promised a new heaven, and a new
earth, wherein righteousness dwells ; not where righteous
things shall be done, and where righteousness shall now and
then pass through it ; but where righteousness shall take up
its habitation and dwelling. Pray, and pray much for this ;
for by this shall your throne be established.
Yet this is not all; but the governors of a nation, must
believe and trust in the Lord ; not ruling and managing the
afiuirs of the nation by policy only, and moral prudence ;
but they must trust in the Lord, and live, and act by faith in
their government; for saith the Lord to Ahaz, " If ye will
not believe, surely ye shall not be established/ Isa. vii. 9.
So that if princes, governors, and rulers, will trust in their
own strength, or in their confederacies with other nations,
T 2
270 THE GOOD AND MEANS
they and their land cannot be settled : but if in all their
dealings with the nations, they rule and act in a way of faith
towards God, then shall the land be established. And there
fore let them, and all the people, remember the good counsel
of that good king Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 20, " Believe
in the Lord your God, so shall you be established ; believe
his prophets, so shall ye prosper."
As for a church. All the churches must know, that they
are a people which of all others, are laid out for sufferings ;
unto them especially it is given, not only to believe, but to
suffer for Christ ; and the serious consideration hereof, will
help to establish them: for when the apostles went up and
down confirming the disciples, and churches, what doctrine
did they preach unto them but this ? Acts xiv. 21, " They
returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming
the souls ot the disciples, and exhorting them to continue
in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God."
If particular churches would be settled and established,
they must have all the officers, and ordinances of Christ
then ; as a ship under sail, with all its sails out, is beautiful
and doth move evenly ; so shall they also do. A church is
never settled, till it have all those officers in it, which our
Lord and Saviour Christ hath appointed. And what is the
reason that many are so unsettled at this day, but because
they do either despise, or neglect those offices, and officers
which are the fruits of Christ s ascension, and which he hath
given for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of th<
body of Christ, " That we henceforth be no more children, tos
sed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine/
Eph. iv. 11 14. What is more uncertain than a weather
cock that is carried about with every wind ? If you forsake
the ministry, and those officers which Christ hath given to hi
church, this will be your state and condition, saith the apos
tie here. Now, when pride or covetousness gets into churches
then, though they have some of Christ s officers amongs
them, yet they will not be for all : for, say they, we are no
able to maintain more than one ; and, saith that one, if an
other be chosen, I must have less, and rule less. Oh, tha
churches therefore, would take heed of these great sins, pride
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 277
and covetousness ; which will always keep them in an un
settled condition.
Let all the churches know, what the word of God s pa
tience is, and observe and keep the same: For saith our
Saviour to the church of Philadelphia, " Because thou hast
kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee from the
hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world ;
and him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out," Rev. iii. 10, 12.
He that overcometh, is the same that keepeth the word of
Christ s patience : what is that ? In all times : there is some
truth, which is the trying, suffering truth. In Luther s time,
the doctrine of justification by faith alone, was the word of
God s patience; in queen Mary s time, that truth which
opposed tran substantiation, was the word of God s patience ;
In Athanasius time, the doctrine of Christ s Deity was the
word of Christ s patience. There is always some truth or
other, the profession and owning whereof, saith, here is the
patience of the saints, Now if the churches keep that word,
and overcome in the keeping of it, the Lord Christ will make
every member of them, as a pillar in the temple of God,
that shall go no more out.
In case any difficulty or trouble do arise in a church
which is beyond their own light and strength, they must call
in the help of other churches : for when there was such a
knot as the church of Antioch could not untie, they sent
to the church and apostles at Jerusalem, Acts xv. 16 ;
who having settled the matter, they sent the result and
decrees unto other churches concerned, whereby they had
peace and establishment.
But especially, it is the duty of all the churches to pray,
and pray much for this great mercy of establishment; for
the Lord hath said, Isa. Ixii. 6, " Ye that make mention of
the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he esta
blish, arid make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." Such a
time as this there is a coming ; we are commanded to pray,
and to pray earnestly for it ; and the Lord hath not only
promised the mercy, but to give hearts to pray for it : for
saith he, " I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem,
which shall never hold their peace, day nor night," where-
278 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
fore let us give him no rest : so shall the churches have rest,
and be established.
As for particular persons. Would st thou be established
in the truth, and good ways of God ? Then observe what
those things are, which do make others unsettled, and take
heed thereof. In case a man doth decay, or break in his
estate ; some great merchant, tradesman, or farmer break,
you will diligently look into the causes of it, and say, this
man lived at too high a rate, beyond his estate ; or he was
bound for others, or he kept ill company, or he did not keep
his accounts well, and therefore I will take heed of these
things. Now will ye observe the causes of an outward
break, and will ye not observe what are the reasons that so
many are unsettled, break and decay, in the trade of their
souls ? Surely, either it is because they do want primitive
breakings ; for the stony ground comes to nothing at the
last, though it hath much joy at the first, because it wants
depth of earth. The stick that is thrust into the earth, is
more easily pulled up than the plant which is rooted in the
earth. So are all those who have no root in themselves.
Or because they take up great resolutions, without answer
able pre-deliberations ; whereas we know that the needle
must play about the polar point, before it comes to stand and
settle ; he that would hit the mark, must take his level be
fore he parts with his arrow. And if men resolve before
they have fully considered, they will ere long be unresolved
again. Or because men do not walk by a settled rule : he
can never be settled, that doth not walk by a settled rule :
a man s own thoughts and apprehensions are mtsettled things ;
the Hebrew word for thoughts,* comes from a root which
signifies to move, as the tops of trees, because as the tops
of the trees waver, and are in continual motion, so are our
thoughts and apprehensions. But the word of the Lord is
settled as the heavens, Ps. cxix. "Thy word is for ever
settled in heaven." So long as I want the divine counsel of
the word, my heart is like a vagrant, that is most unstable,
said Bernard ; for whilst I am not subject to God, I am con
trary to myself. Or because they are divided in their own
hearts : a double minded man, is unstable in all his ways,
saith the apostle ; and when men have a heart, and a heart,
* Q E)#D cogitatioues quse in corde sunt sicut ramus in arbore bine inde diffusus.
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT.
a 1 ?! a 1 ? a heart for the world, yet a good mind to Christ ;
how is it possible but they should be most unsettled ? Or
because they are too confident of their own strength and
judgment : whereas the only way to be firm and stedfast, is
to be sensible of one s own infirmity. We read of a two
fold confidence in Peter ; a confidence in Christ, and a con
fidence in his own strength : when he was confident in
Christ, saying, " Master, if it be thou, command that I come
unto thee," he did not miscarry ; but when he was confident
in his own strength, saying ; " Lord, though all men forsake
thee, yet will not I," then he fell, and fell foully. " Hold thou
me up," said the Psalmist, " and I shall be safe, and I will have
respect unto thy statutes continually," Ps. cxix. 119. But if
men lean to their own understanding, are confident of their
own strength, and think that they are able to deal with all
gainsayers, and so will try all things, God leaves them to
their own opinions, and they scrabble upon the door, and do
change their behaviour. Or because men do forsake the
ministry, which Christ hath given to the churches for their
edification, perfection, and establishment, Eph. ix. 11 14.
Or because they have too fair an opinion of those that are
erroneous, thinking that they may be godly, though they be
never so unsound in their judgments, whereby they are
drawn into society and communion with them, and so fall
from their own stedfastness ; whereas the apostle tells us of
the error of the wicked, 2 Peter iii. 1 7, and that men may be
wicked upon the account of their errors in judgment, James v.
19, 20, " Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and
one convert him ; let him know that he which converteth
a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins :" and our Lord
and Saviour Christ calling upon us to beware of false pro
phets, Matt. vii. 15, tells us, that they are corrupt trees, and
cannot bring forth good fruit, verse 16, 17, 18. As if he
should say, if you would take heed, and beware of them,
you must know them, and not think that they are good men ;
for if you think that they may be good, notwithstanding
their errors in doctrine, you will be misled by them, and
removed from your stedfastness. Or because that men do
not improve their Christian communion for the life and
power of godliness, but for light only, and discoursing
280 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
notions : whereas the apostle Paul writing to Timothy, saith,
"Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding oppo
sitions of science, falsely so called ; which some professing,
have erred concerning the faith," 1 Tim. vi. 20, 21. And
what is the reason, that not only some, but many have now
erred concerning the faith, and have fallen from their sted-
fastness, but because they have been thus affected ? Or
because they have not been built on the rock Christ ; but on
some sandy, and washy foundation : whereas the Psalmist
saith, " He set my feet on a rock, and established my
goings," Ps. xl. 2, but if men be upon the sand, they must
needs fall, and great will be their fall, as their profession is
great. Sometimes men live high, and profess beyond that
stock of grace which they have : but if you would be kept
and established, observe what the causes, and reasons are,
of the instability and apostacy of others, and take heed
thereof.
But what shall I do, that I may be more settled in regard
of my judgment; and that I may be established in the pre
sent truth ?
Get a clear and distinct understanding in the things and
truths of the gospel : labour, not only to know, but to get a
clear, and judicious apprehension, and clearness in the truths
of Christ ; Ps. cvi., it is said of the Israelites, that when
they saw the Egyptians drowned in the sea, " They sang the
praises of God, and believed his words," verse 12, " yet they
soon forgat his works, verse 13. And why so ? but because
they had no clear understanding in them, verse 7> " Our
fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt." And this
apostle Peter, doth join the unlearned and unstable man
together, 2 Peter iii. "Which they that are unlearned, and
unstable, wrest to their own destruction," verse 16. Some
would have it read thus : " Which those that are unteachable,
and do refuse." But unlearned suits well enough with the
original, apaSeie :* for what is the reason that men are so un
stable, but because they are not grounded, and studied, in the
body of divinity ? They take up some truth by hear-say,
and education ; and not being studied in them, they are soon
removed from them : study therefore, and get a clear and
* Gnecum a/uaStic proprie significat indociles qui nolunt rectius instrui
et informari, qui monstratse ex verbo Dei ccelebti veritati locum dare renunt.
Gerard in loc.
SER. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 281
distinct knowledge in the great mysteries and truths of the
gospel.
Take heed of unsettling principles ; for they will baptize
your judgment into a conformity with them; such as the
apostacy of saints, and falling from grace. If a man hold
that he may be a saint to day, and none to-morrow ; a saint
the third day again, and none the fourth day; must not he
needs be unsettled in judgment ? It is commonly known that
Bertius wrote a book de Apostasia Sanctorum, of the apos
tacy of the saints;* and as well known, that being then a
protestant, he after fell away unto popery : and when he came
to France, and made a renunciation of his former faith, and
shewed the reasons of his conversion to the popish faith, he
tells us in his printed oration, that primus conversionis gradus,
the first step to his popish conversion was, the knowledge of,
and contending for, that doctrine, that faith, as an act justi
fies ; and that the TO credere, is imputed to us for our justifi
cation in the sight of God. And well might that principle
have such an influence upon him, being brought forth by his
former unsettling principles. Unsettling principles will make
an unsettled judgment; and an unsettled judgment, will
bring forth an unsettled life, and practice. Take heed there
fore of unsettling principles.
Be sure that you do not make any impression, the rule and
square of your judgment ; judge not doctrines by impres
sions ; " We have a more sure word of prophesy, whereunto
ye shall do well, that you take heed, as unto a light shining
in a dark place," saith the apostle, 1 Pet. i. 19. Where do
ye find in all the scripture, that God hath put heart-impres
sions into the chair, to be judge of doctrines ? If I judge of
a doctrine by an impression made upon my soul, the devil
* Cum improbarem illam novatorum sententiam, qua docebant non justificari
DOS a Deo nisi jtistitia aliena videremqne illius sententiae. Authores in dicto illo
B. Pauli fides credentis reputatur ipsi in justitiam rocem fidei non proprie acci-
pere sed per catalepsin aut metonymiam ita sell, ut per fidem non ipsa fides sed
objectum fidei Cbristus scil. vel obedientia Christ! significaretur ; ostendi non
tamen id a Scripturis ease alienum sed etiam nervos religionis, hoc est studium
bonorum operum ea sententia succidi suscepi ergo adversus. Sibrand. Lubber-
turn, acerrimuui novae illius arrogautis et prophanae opinionis patrouuin grave
certauiea hie ergo primus suit mese ad fideui catholicam conversionis gradus.
Petri Bertii Oratio qua rationcm rcddit cur roinano catholicam fidem aniplexus
sit. page 19.
282 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SER. 12.
knows how to fetch me off quickly from the truth : what
settlement, or establishment of soul can there be, whilst men
will make their light within them, the rule of their judging
doctrines ? The word of God without, is my rule ; the light
within, is my help to understand that rule : but if I judge of
doctrines by impressions of the word on my heart, I can
never be settled ; therefore take heed of that.
Get into the house of God : God s house, is an house of
establishment; there he commandeth his blessing, and life
for evermore ; there if one fall, another may help him up ; and
if one err, another may inform him ; there the Lord hath pro
mised to make men pillars for stedfastness : " And he that over-
cometh, I will make him (saith Christ) a pillar in the temple of
God, and he shall go no more out/ Rev. iii. 12. Ye know
how it is with the bee : so long as it is fair, and sun-shining
weather, it is abroad in the fields ; but if the winds be high,
and rough, it doth then keep its hive. Now as Solomon
saith, Learn of the pismire ; so say I, Learn of the bee. Are
the winds high and rough ? Keep your hive ; and your hive,
or rather God s house, will keep you.
Go not into those companies, and meetings, where the false
prophet, and unclean spirit are, and where false doctrine is
taught ; false doctrine is a great leaven. Ye read of three
leavens in the New Testament: 1. The leaven of hypocrisy,
Luke xii. 1. " Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy." 2. The leaven of ill company, and society,
1 Con v. 6. " A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump."
3. The leaven of false doctrine, Matt. xvi. 6. 11, 12; Gal. vi.
8, 9. " This persuasion, is not of him that calleth you ; a
little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump," verse 9. Pos
sibly all these three leavens may be in such a meeting : but
the two last are certainly. And can you think to be under
the power of these leavens, and to come away unleavened ?
It argues unsettledness to go to such a meeting; and by your
going, you will be more settled in your unsettledness : as
men are confirmed in that grace which they bring to God s
ordinances : so they will be confirmed in that sin, which they
carry to the devil s ordinances. Who can come freely off from
the devil s ground? Will men tempt God, and think to
prosper ? And what is it to tempt God, but to put him upon
an unnecessary protection, and preservation of us ? Take
SER. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 283
heed therefore, how you come at such meetings, lest you leav
ing God, he do leave you.
Whatever truth you know, do not only know it in a spirit
ual way, but put the same into practice ; for he that knows
truth carnally, is not far from error ; and the way to be es
tablished in the truth, is to walk therein ; " As ye have
therefore received Christ (saith the apostle) so walk in him,
rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith/
Col. ii. 6, 7.
Then go to God for his establishing grace, and put your*
judgments into the hand of Christ to keep them for you :
even as you would put your children, or family into God s
hand, to keep them for you, when you are absent from them ;
so put your judgment into God s hand, to keep it for you
also : for it is God alone who doth settle us, even the God
of all grace ; and he hath said, Prov. xvi. 3., " Commit thy
works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be estab
lished :" it is he that hangeth weights on the wings of the
wind who hath founded the earth on nothing ; and therefore
though your thoughts be as fleeting and uncertain as the
wind ; yet he can hang weights upon them, he can make you
solid, staid, sober, who do now stagger to and fro like a
drunken man. And if you put your judgment into Christ s
hand, he will keep it for you ; for faithful is he who hath
called you, who will also establish your hearts in the truth
received.
But what shall I do, that I may be more settled in my life,
and established in the good ways of God ? for I want settle
ment in my ways and practises.
You must be very sensible of your own unsettledness, and
be humbled for it: he is not far from grace, that is sensible
of his sin, that is contrary to it; he is not far from humility,
that is sensible of his pride ; not far from sincerity, that is
sensible of his hypocrisy ; not far from faith, that is sensible
of his unbelief; not far from establishment, that is very sen
sible of his own unsettledness.
Labour for a serious spirit, a staid, solid, and a serious spi
rit ; a serious spirit, and an established heart go together,
Prov. iv. 26., " Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy
ways be established." Young men generally, are more un
settled, than ancient men : and what is the reason of it, but
284 THE GOOD AND MEANS [Sfill. 12.
because ancient men are the more serious and ponderous ?
Young men are the less serious, and so the more unsettled.
Labour therefore to be more serious, for the more you think
of the greatness of God, and the great things of your ever
lasting estate and condition, the more serious you will be.
Be sure that you do not live upon your condition itself,
but on the God of your condition : that is perpetual, which
hath a perpetuating cause.* God is perpetual, but your con
dition is uncertain, although it be never so firm and good ;
therefore live not upon your condition I say, but on the God
of your condition.
Take heed of a divided heart, that you have not a mind,
and a mind : " The double-minded man, is unstable in all his
ways," saith the apostle. Now a man may have a mind, and
a mind thus ; when his conscience runs one way, and his af
fection another way. So it was with Herod ; his consci
ence told him, that John was a just, and an holy man, and a
powerful preacher ; therefore his mind was to deliver him ;
but his affection was to gratify the damsel which begged
John s head, and so his mind was to kill him. Pilate also
had a mind, and a mind ; the mind of his conscience was to
deliver Christ; but the mind of his affection, was to gratify
and please the Jews. Zedekiah had a mind, and a mind;
the mind of his conscience was to spare Jeremiah ; but the
mind of his affection was to gratify his nobles : and between
these two minds, how unconstant was he ? So now, if the
mind of your conscience lie one way, and the mind of your
affection lie another way, you will be wrung like Paul s ship,
between two streams; one while you will be a servant unto
your affection, another while a servant to your conscience,
and so between both, you will never be settled : take heed
therefore of this divided heart ; the Lord hath promised to
give us one heart, Ezek. xi., oneness in regard of God, that
we shall be one with him ; oneness in regard of men, that we
shall be one with them : oneness in regard of our selves,
that we shall not be divided in our own souls : therefore
pray unto him for this oneness, and he will fulfil this his pro-
mise.f
* Perpetuum est quod habet causam perpetuantem.
f Et dabo eis cor uiium. Mihi soli deservieas non idolis, nunc enim divisuin
fju imlo habent cor quo et me et idola colunt sic interpretatur R. Da\id eodemque
R. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT.
Be sure that you put on the whole armour of God ; for
if you do not withstand in the day of temptation, ye cannot
stand ; " for ye fight not with flesh and blood," saith the
apostle, but with a more crafty, powerful enemy : and
therefore, if any place lie open, he will be sure to find it
out. You know how it was with Ahab ; a man drew a bow,
and shot an arrow at a venture, and wounded him between
the joints of the harness. Now Satan knows where your
naked, open place is, and therefore if you be not harnessed
all over, with every duty, with every truth, and with every
ordinance, you cannot withstand him : wherefore saith the
apostle, "Take unto you the whole armour of God, that you
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand ; stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and
your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace :
Above all, take the shield of faith, and take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, and pray always with
all manner of prayer, and supplication, and watch thereunto/
&c. Eph. vi. 1318.
The more delight and contentment that you find in the
good ways of God, the more your hearts will be fixed, esta
blished, and staked down to them : comfort and establish
ment go together, 2 Thess. ii. 17- A man will never hold to
that work long, which he finds no comfort and delight in :
when the devil draws a man from duty, he doth not tell him
at the first, that the duty is naught or evil; but he labours
to clog the way of that duty with many difficulties ; for saith
he, if I can make this man draw heavily, and uncomfortably
in his duty, he will soon cast it off. And indeed, what is the
reason that men are so off and on, to and fro, in the good
sensu vertit Chald. Paraph. Alii cor unum. Simplex vocari putant quasi dicat
faciam ut me simplici ac sincere animo colant : alii unum id est amicum atque
consentiens quod in christianis factum fuisse scribit, Lucas, \ct. 4. multitudinis
autem credentiam erat cor unum et anima una. Septuag. videntur pro ln le-
gisse in alterum, verterunt enim KO.I SUHTU) awrotc xap<JVaj> ele^av e t dabo
illis cor alterum. Novum qui sensua magnopere mihi placet, id enim videtur
dicere voluisse cum dixit unum et cum dixit spiritum novum, corfirmat hanc in-
terpretationem, Ezek. xxxvi. 25., hanc eandem repetens sententiam non dixit
dabo vobis cor unum, sed dabo vobis cor novum et spiritum novum quanquam
Jer. xxxii. 39., cor unum et viam unam dixit quid autem vocet cor alterum et
spiritum alterum declarat statim cum dicit auferam cor lapideum de carne eorum
et il.tbo eis cor cirneutn. Maldonat. in Eztk. xi. 19.
286 THE GOOD AND MEANS [SfiR. 12.
ways of God, but because they do not find delight and con
tentment in them ? Do you therefore desire to be fixed and
established ? labour more and more then, to make your way
to heaven easy and comfortable to you.
Now that the way to heaven may be made sweet and easy
to you : be sure that you do not separate between God s com
mandment and his promise : there is no one thing which
God hath commanded us to do, but he hath promised
strength, and grace to perform it with : if I look upon the
command alone, then the work doth seem hard to me ; but
if I take in the promise, then it is most sweet and easy.
Be sure that you apply yourself unto God s work, according
unto God s method ; let that be first which he hath made
first ; and that last, which he hath made last : a faggot, or
billet is easily drawn from the stack, if you begin aloft ; but
if you will take out that first, which doth lie below, it will
come hardly : so in regard of duties ; there are some duties
which do lie above, and some that lie beneath ; some are to
be performed first, and some after : first you must believe,
and then do good ; " Trust in the Lord/ saith the Psalmist,
" and do good :" but if you will do good before you believe,
then it will come off with difficulty. God s own method
observed, makes his way sweet and easy. Be sure that you
improve, and make use of that variety which God hath given
you : varietas resocillat, variety refresheth, and God s variety is
most refreshing : but if I will hold myself only to one duty,
when God hath given me many, and so neglect God s variety,
no wonder that his work is made hard and tedious : are you
therefore weary with praying ? Apply yourself unto reading.
Are you weary in reading ? Away then to conference. Possibly
your heart may be backward to prayer ; but by that time you
have been a while reading and meditating, you shall be fit for
prayer ; and having been a while at prayer, you shall be more
fit for conference : but if you will keep yourself only to one
duty, your way to heaven will be more difficult. Observe there
fore God s variety, and neglect not the same. Be sure that
you do not stint yourself unto any work, or duty, so as to
say, Thus far will I go, and no further. If a man be in a
journey, and hath fixed all his stages, he rides in continual
pain and fear, lest he should not reach his appointed
place, by his time appointed : but if he say, I will go as
. 12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 2^7
far as the providence of God will carry me, then he rides
more at ease in his mind all the day long. So in our
journey to heaven ; if you say, Thus far I will go this day,
and no further ; then you will go in continual pain, lest you
should not reach your appointed stage : but if you say, I
will pray morning, evening, and as much as I can, hear as
much as I can, read, and meditate as much as I can ; I will
go as far for heaven this day as I can, then the work of God
will come off with more ease and sweetness, and with less
difficulty : I speak not this against set times of prayer and
duty : but against stinting and limiting God, and your own
hearts. Oh, let us take heed of that. If you would so
sweeten the ways of God, as that you may be more fixed
and established therein, then labour more atid more to na
turalize them unto your own souls ; violent things never hold,
natural things do : the sun is constant in rising every morn
ing, for it is natural : the stone, if thrown up into the air,
will descend constantly; for it is natural. So, if the work
of God be natural to you, you will be constant in it; and
though you be put by it, yet you will return again, and
again. Labour therefore to naturalize the work of God to
your own soul ; so shall it be more and more sweet and
easy ; and you will be more fixed, settled, and established
therein ; for it is delight that doth give fixation.
If you would be fixed and established in the good ways of
God, then consider these ensuing motives : thereby you
shall rid and free yourselves from temptations, which will
otherwise press in and return upon you. The Jews saw that
Pilate was wavering, and not fixed for Christ, so they came
upon him with new volleys of temptations, and carried him
at the last : but when the disciples saw that Paul s heart was
fixed on his journey to Jerusalem, they gave over their siege,
and left him to his own thoughts: and though Naomi did
persuade Ruth to return unto her own country and kindred,
yet at the last she left speaking to her, for saith the text, " She
saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her," Ruth i.
18. As an unsettled spirit doth lie open unto new tempta
tions, and doth invite them ; so a settled, fixed and established
heart shall be freed from them.
This fixation of soul is a great honour upon your profession,
and thereby ye shall walk worthy of the gospel, Phil. i. ; he
THE GOOD AND MEANS [SEK. 12.
that is unsettled, unconstant and uneven in his course, doth
bring no honour unto his profession, but lays stumbling-
blocks before the blind, and doth offend the world. Do you
not see, say they, what a giddy and unsettled people some
of these professors are ? But there or there is a man that
doth walk closely with God ; there is a chiistian indeed. He
that keeps his constancy keeps his dignity.*
Thereby you shall rejoice the hearts of those that are set
over you in the Lord, who do watch for your souls. If you
stand fast, we live, say they, and your constancy is our re
joicing.
You have been constant in seeking earthly things, which
are in their own nature unconstant ; and will ye be constant
in seeking unconstant things, and not constant in seeking
those things that are most constant, and durable riches.f
If you be not constant in good, you will be constant in
what is evil ; if not settled in the truth, you will be tena
cious of error. Which is the greatest evil, tenacity in
error or instability in truth ? I say not; but seldom any are
unstable in good but they are most tenacious in what is evil.
And the more unsettled you are, the more you make the
way to heaven difficult and uneasy : you think and say, Oh,
this work of God is exceeding hard, and very difficult, and
therefore you leave it off; then you come to it again, and
then you leave it off again ; but by your leaving it off you do
make it difficult-! If a horse be ridden with an even hand,
he will go well all the day ; but if sometimes you ride him
upon the spur, and then he stand awhile, and then ride him
on the spur again, and then he stand and take cold again, he
will sooner tire : and what is the reason that many men are
so often jaded, tire, and give in, but because they do not
keep an even pace in good ? Now, therefore, as you do de
sire that the way to heaven may be more easy to you, that
you may not be tenacious in what is evil, that you may not
* Qui servat constantiam, servat dignitatem.
f Multos annos laborant homines et constantes sunt pro rebus mundi incon-
stantibus et fugitivis ; quia inconstantes sumus pro seterna et constanti gloria.
J Difficile putabis perseverare at difficilius est iterum incipere, multo molestius
inceptare sepius, equi minorem vim faciunt cum continuant iter, trahentes cur-
rum quam cum repetere volunt postquam steterunt: non fugiunt difficultatem qui
cessant ab opere, nam perseverando facilius net, si potuisti incipere quod difficil
ius est poteris continuare facilius. Euseb. Nierem. de Adorat. lib. iii. c. 7.
12.] OF ESTABLISHMENT. 289
grieve the ministers of the gospel, instruments of your good
and conversion, that you may not lie open unto sad and new
temptations, and that you may not be a scandal to the good
name of God ; for what hurt hath the precious name of God
done to you ? labour to be more settled, fixed and establish
ed ; which that you may be, think and think much on these
motives.
And, lastly, go to God by prayer for this fixation and es
tablishment of soul, he is apt and ready to pardon your former
unevenness and want of establishment. In Psalm Ixxviii. 37,
it is said of the Israelites, that " they were not stedfast in the
covenant ; yet God, being merciful, forgave their iniquity,"
verse 38. And he it is alone who hangeth weights on the
wings of the wind ; and therefore though your spirits have
been as light as the wind itself, yet he will hang weights upon
them ; therefore go to him, for he is the God of all grace,
who having called you to his eternal glory, after you have
suffered awhile, will restore, strengthen, stablish and settle
you.
VOL. iv. u
SERMON XIII.
BABYLON S DOWNFALL.
PREACHED AT WKSTMINSTKR, BEFORE SUNDRY OF THE HONOURABLE
HOUSE OF COMMONS, A. D. 1641,
PREFACE.
GOOD READER, Thou hast, I doubt not, heard with what difficulty and pains
this small work is brought forth, and delivered into the world ; let the difficulty
of printing quicken thine affection in reading. As the fall of Babylon is much
expected, so the rising of the churches is much desired. Thy prayers and our
pains may help forward both. Wherefore, that I might not be wanting to this
great service, I am willing that these notes should walk abroad, which I thought
should never see more light than what crept in at my study windows. This ser
mon may prove all the legacy which your dying friend shall be able to bequeath
unto you ; for I am now returning to that church and people of God, which
Jesus Christ hath committed to me and others. And if in this voyage, the Lord
shall put the winds and seas in commission for my death, my desire is
First, That God would forgive our adversaries, if it be his will, that have put
us to these extremities.
Secondly, That it may be ever said of this island, as once it was said of Israel :
" Happy art thou, O Israel ; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord,
the shield of thine help, and the sword of thine excellency," Deut. xxxiii. 29.
Thirdly, That falling Babylon may befallen Babylon ; and that all the dis
tressed churches may be restored churches. Vivat Chrlstus moriatur Barrabas,
moriatur Antichristus.
For the first we have great cause to forgive, seeing all their injuries are turned
unto our blessings. And therefore as Joseph said to his brethren that sold him
into a strange country, " As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant
it unto good : now, therefore, fear not," &c. Yet we know that public adminis
tration of justice is not contrary to personal forgiveness. We must confess, that
the leaving of our own dear country, was and is most afflictive to us : a trouble
to leave our good friends, convenient houses, precious liberties, and so many
souls under the hazard of your eternities. But Luther s counsel is good : Si
nolint vosferre in ditione sua non frangatur animus ad cessandum ad deferen-
dum verbum et officium, sed persevet andum et docendum, si non in hoc loco
saltern in alia. At ilerum dices quid si nullo loco liceat, sed ubique ; ejiciamur
in toto mundo, respondet Christu nolite solliciti esse. Antequam id eveniret ut
nullus locus amplius sit vcrbo, ego adero meo adventu, erit igitur semper locus
ubi doceatis donee ego veniam, tantum vos perdurate el salvi eritis, non expedi-
etis omnes civitates Israel quinfilius hominis veniet. Luther loc. com. de piis
exulibus. " If they will not suffer you where they have to do, let not your mind
be troubled to cease from your work, or desert your office, but teach and perse
vere ; if it be not lawful in one place, it may be in another. But thou wilt say,
What if it be lawful in no place, and that we be every where cast out in the
SER. 13.] HA NYLON S DOWNFALL. 291
whole world ? Christ answers, Be not solicitous ; before it come to pass, that no
place be left for the word, I will be present by my coming ; there shall always be
a place where you may teach till I shall come : only do you hold on, and you
shall be saved : you shall not have gone over all the cities of Israel, till the Son
of Man shall come."
So that according to Luther, and the truth, though the persecutions of the
churches be never so great, yet there shall always be some place free and open,
as a city of refuge for God s people to fly unto, and hide themselves in, till
Christ shall come by public deliverance for the churches.
- For the second. You have seen what great things the Lord hath done for
you ; believest thou because of these, thou shalt see greater, only let us follow
the star of heavenly and divine guidance, which hath led us along all this while,
and not go in to consult with the scribes and pharisees of the times, with those
that say they are Jews, and are not : so shall our star, the Scripture, lead us
more clearly to the place and house where Christ is. Neither be thou ashamed
to receive and own the truth and way of Christ, though it be despised. The
wise men did worship Christ in a manger.
And for the third, I shall not prophesy if I say, the sword is now drawn,
whose anger shall not be pacified till Babylon be down, and Sion raised. Yet if
thou shalt meet with another suffering bout, in patience possess thy soul, in faith
thy God, in love thy neighbour. And know that it is God s usual way to bring
his best servants to his choice blessings by tedious bouts. Exod. xiii. 18. In
the interim observe diligently what God is now doing, and help forward the work
of God what you can. Quod Deusfacit pro nobisfacit in nobis. And as you
would read and study some choice book to get learning, so read, attend, and
study every page, line, and letter of this great volume of the Lord s works which
is now extant ; be in commons with the Lord s people. " The works of the
Lord are sought out of all those that have pleasure in them," saith the psalmist.
Finally, good reader, pray for us, that we may stand complete in all the will of
God ; and though the malice of some men hath been so great, that we may not
live together in one land, yet the mercy of God is so rich, that we may live
together in one heaven.
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which
is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and
ever." Amen.
Thine in Christ,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
" Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great city," &(C. REV. xiv. 8.
THIS text hath connection with the present times, and the
preceding words ; for the Holy Ghost having made a de
scription of the state and condition of the church of Christ,
in verses 1 5, comes in ver. 6 to make mention of another
vision which St. John saw, and that is of an angel flying in
the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel ; which is
said to be everlasting, in opposition to those innovations and
u ->
292 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SER. 13.
traditions of men, under which the churches of Christ had
laboured a long time. This vision being past, as a right
consequent of the former vision, he sees another angel,
crying, " Babylon is fallen, is fallen," verse 8. And no won
der, for where the everlasting gospel is preached in the midst
of heaven, that is openly, there Babylon falls, and falls
immediately.
The words themselves are a short, and sweet prophecy of
Rome s ruin and destruction. Wherein we have :
The description of Rome itself.
The description of her destruction.
She is described two ways :
1. From her greatness, called the great city. Indeed she
hath been great in large possessions, and great revenues, so
she is fallen already in a great measure, yet she is too great.
Great in her opinion with kings and princes, and thus she
is fallen already in a great measure, yet still too great.
Great in her authority and power over the saints, and
churches of Christ, and from this greatness she is much
fallen already, and yet too great.
2. From her sins that she is guilty of, under that word
Babylon. For if we consult with this book of the Revela
tion, we shall find that the church of Rome, and that party
is called Egypt, Sodom, and Babylon, as if the wickednesses
of them all were concentred in her.
Egypt was exceeding harsh and cruel to the church, and
Israel of God : so are they.
Sodom was exceeding base and filthy in corporal unclean^
ness ; and so are they.
Babylon full of sorceries and idolatry, so are they. She
is called Babylon.
Her destruction is described, and that two ways.
1. From the fulness and greatness thereof, therefore she
is said to fall, and not once, but again fallen, fallen. As it
is God s way to reward those that are good with the good
which they most desire ; so it is his way to punish the
wicked with that punishment which is most contrariant to
their dispositions, and their own humours. Babylon, and
the Babylonish company most affect rising, and great prefer
ment ; contrary their punishment shall be that it may be
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 293
most vexatious to them, they shall fall, their destruction is
called a. fall.
2. From the certainty thereof. It is put in the present
tense, as if it were already done. The words are repeated,
* It is fallen, it is fallen.
Hardly a word but it affords its several observation. Yet
because I would not cut out more bread than we shall eat at
Dne meal, I will fall, and close with these especially.
Antichristian and Romish Babylon is truly Babylon.
Though this Babylon be never so great, yet it shall fall.
[t will fall assuredly.
It is the duty of the saints, and people of God to speak of
;his fall as if it were done already.
Antichristian Romish Babylun, is truly Babylon. Herein
[ shall parallel the old and our late Babylon. I shall prove
;hat by this Babylon is meant Rome. In the Old Testa
ment we read of a Babylon wherein Israel was once captived,
;hat was heathenish Babylon. In the New Testament we
ead here and in divers other places of another Babylon,
mtichristian Babylon. Give me leave to parallel them a little.
Heathenish Babylon was the metropolitan, or the chief
jity of the Chaldees, full of trade and merchandize, insomuch
is she calls herself the queen of the world, "who sat upon
uany waters/ Jer. li. xiii. So it is with our late Babylon,
vho calls herself the queen sitting upon many waters, which
s also interpreted by St. John, to be "peoples, multi-
;udes, and nations," Rev. xvii. 15.
Babylon of old was a proud people, and very confident,
exceeding delicate, and very wanton, calling herself a " lady
or ever," Isa. xlvii. 7? 8. Thus antichristian Babylon sits
ilso. Rev. xviii. 7 5 " She hath glorified herself, and lived
leliciously : for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am
10 widow, and shall see no sorrow."
This wanton and delicate place of old was full of sorcerers
md soothsayers. Isa. xlvii. 12, 13, " Stand now with thine
enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries,
.vherein thou hast laboured from thy youth," &c. Therefore
read that in Daniel s time they came before the king to
;ell him the meaning of his dream, but could not. So it is
tvith our late Babylon, wherein are many sorceries and sor
cerers. Rev. ix. 21 ; xviii. 23.
294 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SER. 13.
Heathenish Babylon was exceeding full of idols and vile
idolaters, the mother of them, and therefore we read, that
the three children were commanded to worship the king s
idol, Dan. iii. Answerably it is said of our late Babylon,
that she doth "make all nations drunk with the wine of her
fornication/ Rev. xvii. 2.
As ancient Babylon was full of idols, and gross idolaters,
so also it was exceeding cruel to the church and people of
God. Ps. cxxxvii. 1, "By the rivers of Babylon there we
sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Sion," &c.
Who hath not read of the Babylonish captivity, the fiery
furnace, and their den of lions. Answerably in this late
Babylon is "found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and
of all that were slain upon the earth," Rev. xviii. 24.
The destruction of ancient Babylon was great, and very
dreadful. For,
It was universal. Isa. xlvii. 14, " There shall not be a
coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before." And Is. xiv. 22 3
" For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts,
and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son 5
and nephew, saith the Lord."
It was very sudden. Is. xlyii. 9, "In a moment, in on
day : the loss of children, and widowhood : they shall com
upon thee in perfection."
It was irrevocable. Jer. li. 63, 64, " And it shall be when
thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shal
bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates
And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall no
rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."
Answerably the destruction of our late Babylon is ver
dreadful. For,
It shall be universal. Rev. xviii. 23, "The light of
candle shall shine no more at all in thee."
It shall be sudden. Rev. xviii. 8, "Therefore shall he
plagues come in one day, in one hour."
It shall be irrevocable. Rev. xviii. 21, "And a might
angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it int
the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great cit
Babylon be throw r n down, and shall be found no moi
at all."
Because of all these things, great sins, and great destruc
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 295
tions, the people of God were commanded to depart and go
out of old Babylon. Jer. li. 6, " Flee out of the midst of
Babylon, and deliver every man his soul." And verse 45,
" My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye
every man his soul," &c. In like manner \ve find that the
Holy Ghost having given warning to the world concerning
the fall of this late Babylon, he exhorteth his people to go
out from the midst of her, Rev. xviii. 4, " Come out of her
my people," &c.
Thus are these two Babylon s paralleled, certainly they are,
and shall be exceeding like one to another in these parti
culars. But the question now is, who is here meant in the
Revelation by this late Babylon ; indeed this is a question of
much concernment, because she is to fall, the princes of the
earth are to be provoked to eat her flesh, and drink her
blood, and we are all to depart from her, lest we partake
with her in her plagues.
By this late Babylon therefore, we understand the church
of Rome ; not as confined within her walls, but as by her
merchants she tradeth with, and putteth off her commodities
to other kingdoms. Rome in her latitude, with all her
merchants, and those that symbolize with her, is here to be
understood. And that Rome and no other is here meant,
I prove by these reasons :
Babylon is here in my text called " the great city," and in
St. John s time, what was the great city but Rome itself ?
for suppose a man were in France, and should hear another
say, that such and such a work were to be done in the great
city, who would not know that he meant Paris ? or suppose
a man in England should hear another say, that some great
work were to be done in the great city, who would not know
that he meant London ? In St. John s time the Roman
empire prevailing, the great city was Rome itself; and there
fore the Holy Ghost saying, that Babylon was the great city,
saith expressly, that by Babylon is meant Rome.
This city and whore of Babylon, is said to sit upon a
beast, Rev. xvii. 7 Now if we look into the book of
Daniel, whereby much of the Revelation is to be interpreted,
we shall find mention of four beasts to succeed one another,
which is there interpreted to be four kingdoms or mo
narchies. The first of the Chaldees. The second of the
296 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SER. 13
Medes and Persians. The third of the Grecians. And the
fourth of the Romans. Now before John s time, the three
first beasts were dead, and gone ; the fourth and last only
remained, the Roman empire. And what city or people hath
so ridden the Roman empire, as Rome hath done ?
St. John tells us, that this beast that carried the woman,
this city was to have " seven heads, and ten horns," Rev.
xvii. 7, which the Holy Ghost interpreted in the same chap
ter, saying, " These seven heads are seven mountains," verse 9,
or " seven kings," that is, several sorts of government, verse
10. And the ten horns are ten kings or kingdoms, verse 12,
which this empire did break into. Now though some think,
whilst they look through false perspectives, that they see
some other city sitting upon seven hills, yet let any man
shew us these three met together in any other city. Who
knows any other city whose building hath been laid on seven
hills, so famous that the city itself is called Septiros, and
whose government hath been of seven sorts, and whose
empire hath been broken asunder into ten kingdoms, or
thereabouts? This we know is agreeable to Rome itself,
and therefore Rome and no other people is here meant by
Babylon.
The Scripture is most express, telling us, totidem verbis,
that that city which in St. John s time reigned over the
kings of the earth, was Babylon, Rev. xvii. 18, "And the
woman which thou sawest, is that great city which reigneth
over the kings of the earth." But in St. John s time no
other city than Rome reigned over the kings ot the earth,
and therefore that, and that alone is truly Babylon, that is,
our late Babylon. Whereupon Cornelius a Lapide, consi
dering also how Irenaeus, Lactantius, Jerome, and other
ancients, speak fully to our purpose, professes that he will
not tergiversari, but granteth, that by Babylon is meant
Rome.
If so, what ill office have they done to the church and
people of God, that obtrude this position upon us, That the
church of Rome is a true church. But was Babylon a true
church ? was Sodom a true church ? was Egypt a true church ?
Rome is Sodom, Egypt, and truly Babylon. Oh, what abun
dance of hurt and mischief hath this dangerous position done,
that the church of Rome is a true church ! I myself have known
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 297
some that had relinquished the church of Rome, and written
against her, who again staggered in their faith, I wish I
might not say they were revolted, when they saw this opi
nion countenanced, and published by great authority. And
what say the papists ? Your own men, say they, hold that
the church of Rome is a true church, and that salvation is
to be had in her; as for the church of England it is a schis-
matical, heretical church, wherein no salvation is to be had.
The safest way therefore is to join with us, where, according
to all men, both ours and yours, you may be sure of your
salvation. And indeed the argument were very strong, and
home, if the premises were true. But when it shall appear
by Scripture, that Sion is called Babylon, and Babylon
called Sion, then, and not till then will I believe that Rome
is a true church. I know what some urge, namely, that
antichrist, that man of sin, is to sit in the house of God,
and therefore that the church of Rome is the house, and
church ot God. But if we consult with the original, we
shall find that the words are not tv rw va.u in the house, but
c rov votu upon, or against the house of God ; so Austin, and
others turn it. Upon ; noting his tyranny and usurped go
vernment, so the coherent words also give it, " He shall sit
exalting himself above all that is called God." The whole
words being nothing else, but a description of his proud
government and vile tyranny.
If antichristian and Romish Babylon be truly Babylon,
then set yourselves in array against her round about. I
mean not in way of warlike hostility, oh that all your
swords were turned into ploughshares, my exhortation is no
other than that of the prophet Jeremiah, concerning old
Babylon, chap. 1. 14, " Put yourselves in array against
Babylon, round about all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her,
spare no arrows, for she hath sinned against the Lord." It
is the wisdom of every man, to observe what design God
hath upon the world, a kingdom, or place, and to be in our
callings serviceable, and helpful to God s designs. God will
help us, if we help him. We love to be on the strongest
side, and God is strongest. Now is the time that God is
bearing down the walls of proud Babylon, that are raised up
in every kingdom. Magistrates, ministers, people, help. Help,
298 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SEH. 13.
oh, you that love the Lord, help the Lord, down with them,
down with them even to the ground.
But what shall we do to help forward the fall of Babylon ?
Either you are of public place, or private station. If you
be of a private station, yet you ought to be of a public
spirit. If you he of public place, give me leave to tell you
out of God s word what to do, and yet I will not so much
direct you to what you are not doing, as encourage you from
Scripture in what you are doing.
Therefore ye worthies of our Israel, it lies upon you
to search out, and inquire after this Babylonish company,
and to repay them according to their demerits. "An eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, burning for burning, ear for
ear, liberty for liberty, and blood for blood." We find in
the Old Testament, that if there were a noise and report of
idolatry in the land, the magistrate was not barely to take
information, but to make diligent search, Deut. xiii. 12 15,
" If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities which the Lord
thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men
of the children of Belial are gone out from among you, and
have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us
go and serve other gods which you have not known. Then
shalt thou enquire and make search, and ask diligently," &c.
And in the verses before you may see their punishment,
verse 6 10. And who knows not that of the Psalmist,
Ps. cxxxvii. 8, 9. " O daughter of Babylon, who art to be
destroyed : happy shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou
hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh, and dasheth
thy little ones against the stones." Though as little ones
they call for pity, yet as Babylonish little ones they call for
justice, even to blood. You may think it cruel, but there is
nothing cruel which God commands. Indeed father Latimer
in his sermon before king Edward the sixth, is exceeding
earnest, that popish prelates might be made quondams, as,
saith he, Abiathar the high priest was, because he laboured
to keep king Solomon from his throne. And behold a
greater than Salomon, Christ Jesus in the government of his
church is here. And there is a notable Scripture for this,
Ezek. xliv. 10 15, "And the Levites that are gone away
far from me when Israel went astray from me after their
idols, they shall even bear their iniquity." verse 13, " They
SER. 13.] HAHYLON S DOWNFALL. 299
shall not come near unto me to do the office of a priest unto
me, nor to come near to any of my holy things in the most
holy place," &c. Whence it appears, that those which were
unfaithful, superstitious, following innovations when Israel
went astray and followed idols, were to be thrust from their
places, and to be made quondams for ever. This now the
magistrate may see into, I prescribe not, I leave with you
this general. It is your duty to search and inquire after
these persons, and to punish them according to their de-
servings.
It is in you also to call for days of public humiliation,
fasting, prayer, and soul-affliction. It will be said this hath
been done already. True, it hath been done, and much
good hath been done thereby in heaven ; but when a man
lays his ears to the several committees, and hears what a
world of evil is discovered in each committee ; what filthi-
ness, and lewdness of filthiness in this and that priest, in
this and that officer ; how can a man but break forth, and
say, or rather sob, Good Lord, what a lamentable condition
was this poor land in ? Oh, that the weight of our sins
should not break the axle tree of God s patience. Oh, that
we are a nation to this day. And then is there not yet need
of more tears, humiliation, and soul afflictions ? Of all the
reformed churches in the world, England hath borne the
name, and worn the crown for the life and power of godli
ness ; yet give me leave with grief of heart, and sadness of
spirit, to make a challenge : What reformed church is there
in all the world, that ever knew so many suspended ministers
as England ? Speak, O Sun, whether in all thy travels from
one end of the heaven to the other, thou didst ever see so
many silenced ministers as thou hast done here. And is
there not then need of more humiliation, more fasting, and
prayer, more self-afflictions, and more tears ? I will lead you
but to one Scripture, and leave it with you, Ezek. xliii. 10,
11, "Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of
Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and let
them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all
that they have done ; shew them the form of the house, and
the fashion thereof, the goings out thereof, and the comings
in thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms
thereof, and all the laws thereof," &c. I know not such
300 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SfiR. 13.
another text in all the Bible, as this is for this purpose.
One man says, the government of the church of England
is the best ; another, that the Scottish government is the
best ; a third, that a third is best ; another, Oh, that I knew
what were the government and form of God s house, pre
scribed by God himself. Well. Wouldst thou know ? " If
you be ashamed of your own iniquities, God will shew you
the form of his house."
It is with you also, right worthy and beloved, to see
that all the ordinances of Jesus Christ, be rendered to the
churches in their native beauty, and that all the relics, and
remains of Babylon be quite removed. Opus marmoreum
albario non indiget. True marble needs no painting. And
God s ordinance is all marble, no chalk, True beauty needs
no colouring ; and the most deformed of God s ordinances
to a gracious eye, is truly beautiful. Great is the pomp of
God s ordinances, when freed from pomp, great is their
glory when freed from ours. Every ordinance is then best
administered, when it is most effectual, and a thing is most
full of efficacy, when it is plenum sui, immixtum alieni. As
wine or water which doth most cool, or cleanse when freed
from mixtures.
In the primitive times when the heathen would put the
Christians to a cruel death, they tied a living man to a dead
man, that so by the filthy savour, and stench of the dead
carcase, they might poison the living man to death ; this they
counted the worst of death ; the death of deaths. So when
the dead ordinances of man s inventions, shall be tied to the
living ordinances of God s appointment; what is this, but
as much as in us lies to poison the living with the dead ?
But I pray tell me, what unkindness hath the good ordinance
of Christ done to us, that we should put it to so sad a death.
And as Christ said to the Jews, ({ I have done many good
works amongst you, for which of all these do you take up
stones against me ? so may the ordinances of Christ say,
Oh, ye people of England, I have done many good works
among you ; I have converted many of you by preaching to
you ; I have healed many of you that were sore bruised ;
I have comforted many of you that were sore troubled ; for
which of all these do you use me thus unkindly; for which
of all these do you thus tie and link me to that, which never
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 301
entered into the heart of God to match me with ? What
Luther says concerning preaching, that may I say, concern
ing all the ordinances of God. We that are ministers, saith
he, think to take our people with our expressions, and if we
light upon an expression that pleaseth us well, we think that
it should convert every one that hears it from us; but when
the auditor comes, et hominem olet, he smells man in the
expression, turns his back upon it, and the whole vanisheth,
and comes to nothing. The explication is plain and easy.
Wherefore, I beseech you, in Christ s stead, that are the
heads of our tribes, that nothing be obtruded upon the
churches of Christ ; but what may clearly, and plainly have
Jus divinum written and engraven upon it. Your wisdoms
cannot but observe the several distractions that are both in
church and common-wealth. If you analyze the distractions
of the common-wealth, you may find thereby what is the
head of our distractions in the church also. And in the
common-wealth this is that which troubles, that proceedings
are so illegal ; Oh, says one, though it cost me never so
much, yet if it were according to law, I would yield unto it.
This is that which cuts so deep, says another, there is no law
for these, and these courses : so in the church, I cannot yield
to this, and that custom, this and that innovation, for there
is no law for it.
But if a thing be indifferent, and authority command it,
then Jus divinum is written upon it.
It is the wisdom of authority to preserve the churches in
that liberty, wherein Christ hath left them, for authority is
Tabularum custos, non author.
If a thing be indifferent in its own nature, and the doing
thereof offensive to a weak brother, authority cannot write
Jus divinum upon it ; for to offend a weak brother is to de
stroy him, 1 Cor. viii. 11. And the destruction of a weak
brother, is the breach of the moral law. Now we all know,
that authority cannot write Jus divinum upon the breach of
the moral law.
Solomon saith, Eccles. xii. 13, " Fear God, and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." As God
is an all-sufficient being for a man to live upon, so God s
word is an all-sufficient rule for a man to live by. And if
we look into Isa. xxx. 22, we shall find that God doth not
302 BABYLON S DOWNFALL, [SER. 13.
only command that the images themselves should be de
stroyed, but that "their coverings should be denied." I
remember what Master Bering said in a sermon before queen
Elizabeth. There hath been much dust in the house, and
though for the present the house be swept, yet the dust is
but laid behind the door, and a hen will come that will spread
it all abroad again. Wherefore, I beseech you take heed,
that there be no dust left in the house of God in any cor
ner. Give us the ordinances of Christ in their naked and
own colours, so shall they be blest to us, we under them
and you by them.
It is with you also to set up burning, and shining lights
in every candlestick of the kingdom. First, that the candle
stick be rightly fashioned ; secondly, that the lights therein
be duly settled with golden snuffers, not brazen extinguishers.
This is a special help to the fall of Babylon, for ye heard
from the context, that no sooner did there an angel fly
through the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel,
that is, preaching openly; but another angel followed pre
sently, crying, " Babylon is fallen." You know, that con
traries have contrary consequences. Babylon was built by
ignorance, therefore the papists say, Ignorance is the mother
of devotion, and they say truly ; for indeed ignorance is the
mother of their devotion ; therefore they use their friends,
that the people may be put off with matins, and even-song,
that so our ignorance might be an inlet to their devotion.
Wherefore then let there be an angel sent, that is a ministry
flying in the midst of heaven, that is openly, and not by
stealth, preaching the eveslasting gospel to every place and
congregation, then will Babylon fall, and fall immediately.
These be your duties.
But it is exceeding hard and very difficult to do these :
a perfect and full reformation is very good, and necessary,
but exceeding hard and difficult.
True, but did not Abraham s sacrifice hang in the briars and
bushes ? Ye read that when Isaac should have been sacri
ficed, God provided a sacrifice, but that sacrifice did first
hang in the briars. Ye are the children of Abraham, and if
you would offer a sacrifice of God s own, a sacrifice that
should be pleasing to him, make account that it must hang
in the briars, bushes, and many difficulties.
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWN T FALL. 3O.J
The heathen could say, Virtue grows upon the rocks ; and
if the extirpation of Babylon, with the reformation of true
religion, were not a hard work, it were not fit for a parlia
ment to do. They are met to untie such knots as none else
can untie. The heathen king said to a poor man, Though
this gift be too great for you to receive, yet it is not too
great for me to give. Either it is of God that you are as
sembled, or else it is not ; if it be not why sit you here, if
it be, can any thing be too hard for God ? Wherefore, let
your faith laugh in the face of difficulties. For as unbelief
will make a thing difficult though never so easy, so faith will
make a thing easy though never so difficult.
But this work is not only exceeding hard and difficult,
but very dangerous. In great reformations there must be
some alterations, and alterations cannot be without danger
and trouble.
There is much difference between smart and danger. If
a man have rotten and aching teeth in his head, though the
pulling them out be exceeding troublesome, and full of ache,
and smart even to bleeding of the gums, and vexation of all
the body, yet there is no danger, much smart, but no danger.
So in regard of the church and common-wealth, though the
pulling out of some rotten members may cause a bleeding,
make trouble, and some disturbance, yet there is no danger,
some ache, but no danger.
Many things seem to be dangerous at a distance, that are
not so at hand. When Moses rod was at a distance from
him, it was turned to a serpent, and he fled from it ; but
when he took it by- the tail at God s command, it was his
rod in his hand again. Prisons, banishments, miseries, at
a distance are serpents to us ; when we come to them, are
exceeding comfortable, and our rods in our hands.
Suppose there were danger in a reformation, and extirpa
tion of all that is Babylon s, yet there is more danger in
want of reformation. Vomiting physic is very troublesome,
but disease more. He that ventures against Babylon, at the
worst can but lose his life, which may be taken away by the
fall of seme tile, or the turning of some humour in our
body ; but he that partakes with Babylon in her sin, shall
partake with her in her plagues and punishments to all
eternity. What a trouble did Achan cause, yet he was but
304 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SfiR. 13.
one man, his act one, and the Babylonish garment but one.
Oh what trouble wuTit be then to"suffer many Achans, and
that continually ? ^ Augustine says, that when the Jews
would not acknowledge Christ, lest the Romans should come,
and take their place, in preventing loss, they lost most.
They would not lose their earth, and they lost their heaven ;
they would not lose their place, and they lost their God.
But suppose that there were the most danger in the best
reformation, is there not enough in heaven to pay for all ?
Nay, my beloved, even on this side heaven, there is no loss
by Christ in losing for Christ ; non habendo habemus, in not
having, we have. I remember what was written of fortis
Zisca, and, as my author says, written upon his tomb in his
epitaph, thus, Eleven times in joining battle, I went victor
out of the field, I seemed worthily to have defended the
cause of the miserable and hungry, against the delicate, fat,
and gluttonous priests, and for that cause to have received
help at the hand of God. Mark the emphasis, it lies there,
And for that cause. But ye have an example of Jehoshaphat,
which is exceeding full, and much encouraging, 2 Chron.
xvii. 3, " And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he
walked in the first ways of his father David/ 1 He brought
up reformation to the first institution, and he was full therein,
for it is said, " he walked in the first ways/ not in the last,
" of his father David," and sought not to Baalim, " Nor
after the doings of Israel," verse 4. And see what followed,
" Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand,
and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents, and he had
riches., and honour in abundance," verse 5. The prophet
Haggai is most express, and bids them compute, whether
that from the very day that they set their hands to the
building of the temple, God did not build them up in out
ward mercies. Certainly, my beloved, the only way to
gain, is to lose for God. It is a greater mercy to have, that
I may lose for God, than that I may keep for my posterity.
But suppose that a man be in place of authority, and find
that his heart is exceeding dull and dead, and backward to
this work of reformation, what should he do that may give
wings to his affections, that may move and quicken up his
spirit in this particular ?
In this case let him put himself upon the exercise of his
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 305
authority in the execution of justice. For it is with the
magistracy herein, as with the ministry, the way to preach,
is to preach ; the way to prayer, is prayer ; Iter ad yratiam
est gratia, the way to grace is grace. God is pleased some
times to come in with fresh strength, and to give new assist
ance in the heat of preaching. So in the acts of magistracy,
God comes in also in the dispensation thereof.
In that case present your souls with that great trust that
is committed to you, and put upon you. If a minister when
he is handing away his precious hours between this and that
play-book ; or when he is most prodigal of his people s time,
for it is their s not his ; if then I say when he is most idle, and
indisposed to those great services, he could but realize a
congregation, and present before him the many souls that
depend upon him, and as it were hear them calling out unto
him : Oh, sir, study, study for our souls, study for our eter
nity ; certainly this would awaken, move, and put life into
him. So if those that are in authority and place of magis
tracy, would but present themselves with those many thou
sands that have entrusted them with their liberties, estates,
lives, I had almost said consciences, and eternities, surely it
would be exceeding quickening and helpful.
Consider your present opportunity. Opportunity once lost,
is never recovered. My words shall know no flattery ; never
did England see a parliament more fitted for the service and
work of God than this now is. A quiver so full of chosen
and polished shafts for the Lord s work. I have often
thought that God would deal by our present parliamentary
assembly, as Samson did deal with the jaw-bone, wherewith
he had slain heaps of the Philistines, which when he had
done, he threw it away ; but afterwards thirsting, and being
like to die for want of water, God sent him back to his jaw
bone again, and tells him that he would cleave that, and open
a fountain of water to him from thence. So hath God used
this great parliamentary ordinance for the slaying of many
Philistines ; but, in these latter times, this jaw-bone of ours
hath been thrown away, and despised in the eyes of the
world ; and it may be now God will open a fountain of water
from hence, that we may all be revived and live thereby.
Wherefore then let all those that are of this honourable
assembly think : It may be God hath raised me up to this
VOL. IV. X
30G BABYLON S DOWNFALL,. [Sen. 13.
time, all the while I was at the university, God was laying
in of abilities in my education for this occasion ; and shall
I lose this opportunity, Opportunitas indicat virum, oppor
tunity shews the man, and makes the man, and sometimes hath
the casting voice for man s eternity.
Consider this also, that if reformation be not now wrought,
our sin and guilt will be greater than ever it was. This
parliament time is a commencement time for good or evil ;
take a good work, and though it were never so private, and
personal, yet if it pass in this house, it does commence
national: so take an evil, and though it were never so pri
vate before, yet if it pass here, it will take a higher degree,
and commence national wickedness ; this is a fearful evil,
and very dreadful, that a personal sin should become na
tional. I know you are unwilling that any sin should
steal its degree ; as therefore you do desire that no personal
sin shall become national, I beseech you in Christ s stead,
let the reformation be full and perfect, and let every man say :
Babylon shall fall, I also will have a hand in it, and shoulder
at it. "Down with it, down with it, even to the ground/
And if you be a minister, you know your duty ; only, as
Luther phrases it, let your knowledge be incarnate into godly
practice ; good works are faith incarnate, knowledge incar
nate. Now you read Joshua iii. 13, 15, 17, that when the
children of Israel went through Jordan, these priests that
bare the ark of the Lord, were first to enter upon the waters,
and to stay in the midst of them, till all Israel passed
over. The water doth note affliction, the feet of those that
bare the ark are to be first in danger, and there to stand til
all be over. In the place before mentioned, Ezek. xliv.
10 12, God s threatening is very terrible. As if he shoulc
say, As for those Levites that go astray when Israel goes
astray, and do admit the uncircumcised in heart to mine holy
things, though they be suffered in mine house, yet they shal
but do the out-works thereof, as for those inward things
mine house and self, they shall not be admitted to them,
nor trusted with them. Though they may preach some
outward truths, which they may read of in books, yet for
those inward secret heart things of the covenant, 1 will never
trust them with them, they shall not draw near to me. Oh,
therefore beloved, that we could deny our own knowledge,
SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 307
wisdoms, parts, gifts, liberties, and all that is ours in this
great service.
But if a man s condition and state be private, what must
he do to help forward the fall of Babylon ?
Take heed that thou do nothing to hinder God s public
design by your private practices, put away the evil of all
your doings, lest your private wickedness do ponere obicem
to God s providence.
Achan s wickedness was committed in the dark, and with
much privacy, yet what influence had it into public misery.
Miriam and Aaron murmured against Moses, and envied
at him, for which she was stricken with leprosy whereby the
whole congregation was stayed, and their march hindered.
It is said, 2 Chron. xx. 33, that the high places were not
pulled down, " because the people were not prepared for the
Lord;" not because the prince was not prepared, or the
great ones not prepared, but because the people were not
prepared. It is in regard of truth, as in regard of error in
this particular, though the baker may have kneaded his
dough, that is, his false opinion, and made it ready, yet as
the prophet Hosea speaks, and as Zanchy interprets the
place, he sets not in, till the oven be heated, that is, the
heart of the people warmed and prepared for it. So for a
truth also, or a public mercy and deliverance, though God
have provided it for a people, yet it is not handed to them,
and set in, till their hearts be warmed and prepared for it.
You may observe therefore, that when David had made his
penitential psalm for his own sin, Ps. li., after much suppli
cation for the pardon of his own evil, and for grace, and
comfort he comes at last in the 18th verse to this petition :
" Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion," &c. How comes
that in here ? Yes, when a man hath once repented of his
own sin, and cleared that reckoning, then he is fittest to ask
mercy for the church, and till then unfit. Therefore though
in regard of your own souls, your own eternity, you will not
part with your own sins, yet if you have any pity, any com
passion, any bowels towards your own country, or churches
of God, put away the evil of all your doings.
Though your condition be never so private, you may dis
cover the ways of Babylon, the works and complotments of
the Babylonish party : and the discovery of evil is half its
x2
308 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [S ER. 13.
ruin, as the apostle speaks, 2 Tim. iii. 9, " They shall pro
ceed no further, for their folly shall be made manifest to all."
You may believe down the walls of Babylon. Faith re
moves mountains, though it be but a grain; by it the walls
of Jericho fell, in the blowing of those poor rams horns.
And the walls of Jericho were built up to heaven, surely
then the walls of Babylon cannot be higher. Wherefore
seek out those promises and threaten ings, set your heart
towards them, bear yourselves upon them, urge, and press
God by virtue of them, and say, though it be very unlikely
that Babylon should fall, yet God hath thus and thus pro
mised, thus and thus threatened, and he is faithful, here I
will stay, and here I will wait.
You may spread the blasphemies of the Babylonish faction
in the eyes of heaven. Thus did Hezekiah when Rabshakeh
blasphemed, and we know how it prevailed. Great and
grievous have the blasphemies been wherewith the men of
Babylon have blasphemed the saints of God, and the foot
steps of his anointed, which God takes as done against
himself, and so repays them, Ezek. xxxv. 12, compared with
the 13th verse. In the 12th verse it is said, "I have heard
all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the
mountains of Israel, saying, they are laid desolate, they are
given us to consume :" but in the 13th verse these words
are charged upon them, as if they were spoken against God him
self: "That with your mouth you have boasted against me,
and have multiplied your words against me." Therefore at
the 14th verse follows the punishment. The spreading of
their hellish blasphemies, is exceeding prevalent with God,
and very potent.
You may use all the interest you have in heaven, and
whatsoever credit you have there, improve it, which we be
seech you do now in this particular. Your prayers puts them
under God s curse.
Though your condition and station be never so private,
you may according to your place, curse the practices and
complotments of all the enemies. Doth not Jacob seem to
pronounce a curse upon the practices of Simeon and Levi,
though his own children, Gen. xlix. 7> " Cursed be their
wrath for it was cruel, &c., for in their anger they slew a
man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. " What
SJSR. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 309
is the endeavour of the Babylonians, but to dig down the
walls of Jerusalem, and of our protection. Oh, my soul
come not thou into their secret. God hath commanded that
Meroz should be cursed, and cursed bitterly ; because they
went not forth to help the Lord against the mighty. How
bitterly then are they to be cursed, that go forth to help the
mighty against the Lord,
It was a statute and a law in Israel, that if any removed
the ancient landmarks, he shall be cursed. " Cursed," says
the text, " shall he be that removes the ancient landmarks,
and let all the people say Amen." What is the ancient land
mark of England, but our laws and religion ? and therefore
if any man shall remove this our landmark, cursed shall he
be, of the Lord cursed, and let all the people say Amen.
Whatever personal injury hath been done unto you by any
of the enemies of the churches, you may, you must pass
them by, so far as it is a private concernment, and you shall
not lose hereby, your forgiveness hastens their ruin. For
this cause, as you may read Numb. xii. 2, 3, 4, God himself
took vengeance on Miriam, because Moses was a meek man.
See how the mention of his meekness is brought in by way
of parenthesis at ver. 3, as the cause of God s proceedings
against her, ver. 4. Wherefore, my beloved, have any been
wronged and injured by your and God s enemies, carry it
meekly, carry it humbly, no revenge, no revenge, but all
forgiveness. And have they begun to fall before you, let
there be much rejoicing, but no insulting ; praises, but no
insulting; prayer still, but no insulting. Let your moder
ation be known to all, for God is at hand. These are your
duties ; which things if they be in you and abound, in due
time Babylon shall fall, and you shall see it ; for the next
doctrine tells us it :
Though antichristian and Romish Babylon be never so
great, yet it shall fall, and fall assuredly.
This is but equal : those that have fallen from God, shall
fall by God ; those that have made others to fall, shall fall
themselves. Now the man of sin is the star that is fallen
from heaven, who in 2 Thess. ii. 3, as some observe, is called
in the abstract, apostacy, not an apostate, a falling away, not
one that is fallen away, so notorious is he for sinful falling
310 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SER. 13.
And as God rewards grace with his own grace, so he rewards
sin with its own likeness.
How else shall Sion rise, if Babylon do not fall ? It is
said, when the Lord exalteth the low tree, he bringeth down
the high tree, then shall all the trees of the forest rejoice.
God is making way to such a jubilee, therefore Babylon must
fall, and that assuredly.
Those that are too big for themselves, and cannot manage
their own greatness, must needs fall. Pride goes before a
fall. It is the natural genius of Babylon to be proud and
great, great and proud. Babel was at first built to affront
providence, that the world might be no more drowned.
Afterwards says that king, in Daniel, " Is not this great
Babylon that I have built for mine honour?" And, Rev.
xviii., saith our late Babylon, " I sit a queen," &c. They
have been great, and in their own eyes great, surely therefore
their own weight shall sink them.
Must not those needs fall, that are set in dark and slippery
places, whom the angel of the Lord drives ? Now, if ever,
the places of God s enemies are very slippery, themselves in
the dark, and the angel of God driving them. Therefore
they shall fall, and fall assuredly.
And if so, then learn we how to take notice of, and behold
these great works of God concerning the fall of Babylon, as
they fall out in our generation. It is in regard of the evil
that comes to evil men, as in regard of the good that comes
to the good. Now when the saints do receive any mercy,
their hearts stick not in it, nor their eyes on it, but they see
it lying under its relation, in relation to the word and pro
mise, saying, It is indeed a great mercy that I have a house,
and place to dwell in ; but God hath not only given me sweet
habitation, but he hath given it me in the way of a promise,
to perform the mercy promised. He hath given me wife,
children, and friends, to perform the mercy promised. Nay,
he hath given me Christ himself, to perform the mercy pro
mised. Luke i. Thus they see s\\ things lying under a
promise in that relation. So also when ye see any judgment
befal the enemies of God s church, you are not to look upon
them as mere works of God, but to look upon them in their
relations, in relation to the threatening, as lying under the
threatening, and the fruits of it j and the reason hereof is
I SER. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 311
I this especially, because otherwise you do not see the whole
I work of God, when you do see it before you. As it is said
of Israel, " Yet the Lord hath not given you eyes to see,"
E &c. Deut. xxix. 4.
As now suppose that a fool, a madman, or a beast should
I come into the congregation, though they should see the water
I of baptism, yet they would not see the sacrament, or half
I the sacrament, because they could not see it under its rela-
I tion. Wherefore, my beloved, whenever you shall behold
I the hand of God upon the world, in the fall of Babylon, and
this great works, that way, be sure that ye behold them under
I the relation, in relation to the Lord s threatening, and say :
I True, here is a Babylonish priest crying out, Alas, alas, my
I living ! I have wife and children to maintain, and all is gone,
I my preferment is gone, my hope is gone, my place and office
I gone. But all this is to perform the judgment threatened.
I God threatened before, that he would " put it into the hearts
I of the princes of the earth, to eat her flesh and drink her
I blood," Rev. xvii. 16. Now it is in a great measure fulfilled,
E for her great revenues and rich livings are in part her flesh
I and blood. God said before, that " her merchants should
| stand afar off weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas,
| that great city/ Rev. xviii. Thus is the word of the Lord
fulfilled, and God is faithful.
As the fall of Babylon is very certain, so it is the duty of
the saints to speak of it as if it were done already.
We are bound to honour the faithfulness of God, more
than the faithfulness of any other, because other things are
faithful to us, as Salvian observes, because he is faithful.
We expect cooling and cleansing from the water, and that is
faithful. Why ? For God is faithful, he bids it be faithful
to us. We expect warmth and light from the fire, and that
is faithful. W T hy ? For God is faithful, he bids it be faithful
to us. In all these faithful creatures there is but a drop of
God s faithfulness ; and when they promise, we believe
them : and shall we not believe Him, when he promises
and when he threatens ? When a faithful friend promises,
we say it shall be ; but we are to honour God s faithfulness
more, and therefore to speak of the thing promised or
threatened, as if it were done already.
When we do but begin a good work, God speaks of it as
312 BABYLON S DOWNFALL. [SER. 13.
done already. It is said, " By faith Abraham offered up
Isaac," Heb. xi. 17; yet he did not actually offer him up,
but intended it, and set himself to do it at God s command.
It is said, that " Moses took his wife and son, and returned
to the land of Egypt," Exod. iv. 20 ; yet he was but in the
beginning of his return. When we have begun any good
work for God, he speaks of it as done altogether. Therefore
he having begun that great and good work for the churches,
the fall of Babylon, it is our duty also to speak of it as if it
were done already.
Let us therefore correct our manner of speaking. If any
storm or trouble arise upon the churches, we are ready to
break forth into despondent conclusions, saying, God is
now gone, mercy gone, the ordinances gone ; we were in
good hope to have seen good days, the ruin of the church s
enemies ; but they do so prevail, as that we have no hope at
all in this particular. But though the extremity of the
church be never so great, and the enemies never so flourish
ing, we ought to say, They are fallen, they are fallen.
But how can we speak thus, when an utter improbability
and unlikelihood dwells upon the business?
Yes. For when God destroys his enemies, he either takes
them away by a weak hand, as Jer. 1. 45, " The least of the
flock shall draw them out ;" or, they shall perish by their
own hands, as Ps. ix. 16, " The wicked is snared in the work
of his own hands ;" or, they shall be destroyed without
hands, as Job xxxiv. 20, " The mighty shall be taken away
without hands." And is this true, may the soul say, that the
enemies of the church shall perish by a weak hand, or by
their own hand, or without hands ; then will I never sink and
despair in my heart, or give ill language to God s faithful
ness, though the condition of God s churches be never so
low, though the condition of the enemies be never so high.
If we are to speak of this work as if it were done already,
when it is not done indeed; then how contrary are those to
God s word, who say it is not done when it is done indeed :
that will not acknowledge God s work, that say on the con
trary, It is not fallen, it is not fallen, when it is fallen in
truth. And such there shall be, who when the vial is poured
upon the seat of the beast, " shall gnaw their tongues, and
blaspheme the God of heaven, not repenting of their deeds,"
SKR. 13.] BABYLON S DOWNFALL. 313
Rev. xvi. 10, 11. But I hope better things of you, and such
as accompany salvation. Only now if there be any here,
that have given any assistance to Babylon, by pen, tongue, or
hand, let them repent. Oh, every one, repent you of your
superstition, repent, repent you, lest you partake with Baby
lon in all her plagues and torments to all eternity. And re
member that speech of Godtesscalchus : I am afraid to deny
the truth, lest I be for ever denied by the truth. Christus
est via et veritas, non consueludo. Christ is the way and
truth, not custom, not innovation. And if there be ever a
drunkard, swearer, adulterer, sabbath- breaker, or profane
person here, let him labour to get into Christ, lest when he
shall see these great works come to pass, and come to pass
ye shall see them shortly, with greater works of God than I
have mentioned, ye may be able to rejoice in them ; whereas
otherwise you will say, Aye, these be glorious works indeed,
and comfortable for those that are in Christ, but I am a poor
wretched drunkard, and not in Christ. Wherefore above all
things get into Christ, so shall you rejoice with the felicity of
God s chosen.
And if any have had any ill thoughts or words of, or
against God s people, now change your words and your
thoughts of them, for, for their sakes it is, that these great
works are to be done. " Thus saith the Lord your Re
deemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent
to Babylon, and have brought down all the nobles, and the
Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships," Isa. xliii. 14.
SERMON XIIL
ON ZECHARIAH I. 1821, II. 1.
PREACHED BEFORE THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AT THEIR
PUBLIC FAST, NOVEMBER 29, 1643.
" Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his gar
ments lest he walk naked, and they see his shame," Rev. xvi. 15.
To THE HONOURABLE THE KNIGHTS, CITIZENS AND BURGESSES OF THE
COMMONS HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT.
RIGHT WORTHY SENATORS. According unto your command I have presented
these notes unto your hands and the world s view ; give me leave, withal, to pre
sent my humble thankfulness for your unwearied labour of love to these three
kingdoms, and in them unto all the churches of Christ ; for as once the Poles
ambassador said in regard of the Turk, Per latus Polonies petunt Europam, I
may say in regard of your and our enemies, through the sides of England, Scot
land and Ireland, they strike at all that is truly called Christendom, your wisdom
therefore doth well to make good these passages.
It is true, indeed, your work is great, but it is for the great God ; and Solomon
saith, " The house that I build is great, for great is our God," 2 Chron. ii. 5.
Shall not we do great things for him who hath done and suffered great things for
us and by us ? " Sicut calere contra frigidum hoc est repugnare frigido, virtutis
est atque vigoris, sic amareet appetere insuavo sive molestum," &c. Parisiens de
Fide.
Your work is clogged with many difficulties ; but if it were not so, how should
the strength of your love appear either to your God or to your country ? A man
may be said to love the truth before the wind of opposition riseth, but he cannot
be said to hold it fast, or cleave unto it, till he meets with some that would take
it from him, Deut. xiii. 1 4. Difficulty doth commend duty : there was a stone
rolled upon Christ s grave, and there is a difficulty rolled upon every truth or way
of God which through the evil of the times hath been buried ; but when you
come to the grave s mouth, the place where you think to meet with most difficulty,
there and then the stone shall be rolled away. " Operum difficultates ccelorum
suavitates consequuntur." The more difficulty in doing, the more sweetness in the
work done.
Your work is berounded with many dangers, but the neglect of it is more dan
gerous, and the frown of a prince may sometimes stand with the favour of God ;
" Nee mendacii utilitas est diuturna, nee veritatis damnum diu nocet:" neither
shall flattery always hold in credit, nor truth ever continue in disgrace.
Your work is reproached sometimes, and calumniated by divers adversaries :
but as Seneca said to his friend, Male de te loquuntur homines, sed malt; so may
I say to you, Men speak evil of you, but they are evil men, and it may be, yea it
is likely God will hear the language of your Peninahs, and make you the more
fruitful, especially you doing as Hannah did, who though she was willing to an
swer to the charge of Eli, because he did speak from zeal, yet she would not an-
SEU. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. 315
swer the reproach of Peninah because she spoke from hatred. " Cur respondet
sacerdoti, sed Peninnaa non respondeat Anna? quia Peninna erat persona privata,
sacerdos autem publica: item Peninna loquebatur ex odio, sacerdos ex zelo : unde
illud negligendum erat, ille instruendus." Mend, in Sam. Surely malignant
clamours are best answered when neglected. Tutius aliquando agit qui calrtm-
nias non exaudet. Jesus Christ was eclipsed that God s servants might shine.
Your work, also, is or may be disadvantageous unto your own particular in
terests, your public employments cannot but hinder your private affairs, yet be
pleased to remember Moses and Joshua, who were men of great service in their
generation, having as full an opportunity to have made themselves rich as ever
men had, yet we do not read of any great lot they shared out to themselves or
their posterity. You are now employed upon God s service ; as for your own
private affairs, if you afford them some relics of your love, and so much only as
the public leaves, it is enough ; for what is too cold for God is hot enough for the
world ; yet as the baggage unto an army, so are things temporal to spiritual, and
personal estates to public employments. " Toleramus potius praesentia quam
diligamus. Augustin.
And in the throng of all your discouragements, be pleased also to remember
how good, how honourable, how successful your service is and will be.
It is good, first, in regard of the State ; for you are now in travail for your
country s liberty, which though it may stick some time in the birth, and a dragon
stand before you to devour it before it is born, yet in due time it shall be brought
forth, and we shall not only be liberati, but/iiert. The Hebrews Lave a proverb
which they have borrowed of Solomon, lynJn IJDUf ~nj]?~lS, that whoso
breaketh down the hedge fcl.all be bitten with serpents. The hedges of the State
or Church are the laws, as Drusius interprets it: " Qui diruit maceriam, eum
mordebit serpens ; qui legum constitutiones impingit, non feret impune ; qui re-
ligionis sacra violat, non erit a paena immunis :" or the ordinances thereof.
Those enemies of yours or ours, that have or would tread down our hedges even
to the ground, shall not ever go unpunished. When the hedge is lowest the ser
pent is nearest.
Good, again, in regard of the churches ; for through your pains and labour of
love, those swelling parts, I had almost said wens, which engrossed all the out
ward nutriment unto themselves, the direful presage of a people s death and ruin,
are either taken off or made more proportionable. " Ut videmus in corpore hu-
mano (cui apostolus in pluribus epistolarum suarum passibus comparat) quod si
nutrimentum luit ad unum membrum, ita ut enormiter ingrossetnr et alia nimia
attenuatione demacerentur non potest diu vivere : sic in corpora eccles. si supe-
riores fiant ita graves attractione substantial quod inferiores vix possunt prse inopia
se sustinere, hoc est signum jam propinquae ruinse." Gersom.
Your service is very honourable ; for what greater honour than under Jesus
Christ to be your country s saviours and your Lord s servants ? Upon Moses s
death, it was said, Moses, the servant of the Lord, is dead; not Moses, the prince
of the people, but the servant of the Lord, So Psalm xviii., in the title of the
Psalm, it is said, " A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord ;" not, A Psalm
of David, the anointed king of Israel, but, as if it were more honour to be God s
servant than Israel s king, it is said, the servant of the Lord : such honour have
all our worthies.
Your service is and will be most successful ; it is truth you stand for ; and
though the truth may labour, as Hierom speaks, it cannot be overcome :
" Veritas laborare potest, vinci non potest." For what, saith Mendoza, is more
316 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SEK. 14.
impregnable than the heavens ? and truth hath built itself a tower there.
" Quid enim coelo inexpugnabilius ? veritas arcem in cselo collocavit," Ps. cxix.
" Thy word, O Lord, is settled in the heavens," Ps. cxix. Wherefore, worthy
Sirs, as heretofore, so now much more be always abounding in the work of the
Lord, in due time you shall reap if you faint not. If you want money to carry
on your (yet not your, but God s) public design, remember what was promised
unto C)rus, who in regard of rebuilding the temple, was to do your work in the
type. " 1 will go before thee, saith God, and make the crooked places straight ;
I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron, and
will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places," Isa.
xlv. 2, 3. And doth not your own experience tell you, thus, even thus hath
our God dealt by us ; for the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret
places have been brought forth unto us ; gold and silver that hath not seen the
light for many years before. God is the same God still, and his promise, which
is your mint, the same.
If you want outward strength and power, then remember how often, when the
Jews were to build the temple, and therein to meet with enemies, the Lord in
culcates that his attribute upon them, the Lord of Hosts : " Thus saith the Lord
of Hosts," thrice in one verse, Zech. xv. 3 ; and five times in four short verses,
Hag. ii. " Silver is mine, and gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts j I will
fill this house with my glory, saith the Lord of Hosts," &c.
And if you find not the hearts of the people coming up always to your for
wardness, then your wisdom knoweth how to improve the beats of their hearts
while they last. All things, you know, are easy and beautiful in their season ;
and because men know not time and judgment, therefore their misery is great
upon them.
But, above all things, let your eye be upon that most which God s eye is most
upon, truth, reformation, and pure religion. State hypocrites desire truth for
peace sake, godly statesmen desire peace for truth s sake ; war is for peace, but
peace for truth : wherefore that I may serve you herein, I take the boldness to
lay these few lines before you.
The sermon calleth for exactness of reformation. If I have not been exact,
whilst I have called for exactness, your goodness knoweth as well how to connive
at what is mine, as to embrace what is God s. Go on, right worthy patriots,
still to defend your country, to contend for truth, to be willing to lose and be
lost for Christ. Whilst I live, I shall live praying for you, and when I die, I
hope I shall die praising God for you.
Your humble servant in the gospel of Jesus Christ,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
ZECHARIAH i. 18 21, n. 1.
" 18. Then lift I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
" 19. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these?
And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah,
Israel and Jerusalem.
" 20. And the Lord shewed me four carpenters.
"21. Then said I, What come these to do ? and lie spake, saying,
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 317
These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did
lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns
of the gentiles, which lift up their horn over the land of Judah to
scatter it.
"1. / lift up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold, a man with
a measuring- line in his hand."
ALTHOUGH, according to the English translation, these
words are parts of several chapters, yet in many Hebrew copies
the iind chapter begins where my text doth, and they have
such connection that I may not part them.
Three things there are which this age of ours hath brought
forth: malignant enemies; special instruments of their ruin;
and great endeavours for reformation. Accordingly here are
three visions: a vision of " four horns/ verses 18, 19; a
vision of " four carpenters," verses 20, 21 ; a vision of " a
man with a measuring-line in his hand," ii. 1.
Every vision hath its narration and explication.
The narration of the first vision is at the 18th verse, " I
saw, and behold four horns:" the explication in the 19th
verse, " These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Is
rael and Jerusalem." So that
You have the description of the church s enemies under
the vision of four horns, who are here described, 1. From
their number or multitude ; they are four horns according to
the four parts of the world : Quatuor cornua sunt quatuor
mundi paries. 2. From their power and strength : the horn
is a word that in scripture phrase doth note strength : " He
hath raised up a horn of salvation for us," Luk^ i. 69 ; that
is, strong and powerful salvation. 3. From their mischievous
and malignant practice : " They scattered Judah, Israel and
Jerusalem."
In the second vision you have the description of those
special instruments that are raised up for their destruction,
under the similitude of four carpenters, or four smiths ; who
are here described, 1 . From their number : four. And, 2.
From their work, which is to scatter the horns, and to cast
out the gentiles.
Then cometh in the third vision, the endeavours for refor
mation, under the similitude of " a man with a measuring
line in his hand;" which is described two ways : 1. From the
instrument thereof, a man, or, as in the Hebrew, , an ex-
318 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SER. 14.
cellent man, explained to be Zerubbabel their governor, chap,
iv. 10. 2. From the exactness thereof; he doth work by
line : " I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand."
Give me leave to open the words and draw out some short
observations upon them before I come to the main truths.
" Then lift I up mine eyes and saw," verse 18. That is,
I stirred and roused up myself with all intenseness to receive
this vision. Heavenly revelations are not to be obtained in a
drowsy and sleepy way.
ff And behold four horns." That is, enemies from all parts
of the world, and especially those four monarchies who have
all in their course and turn been vexatious to the people of
God. It is no new thing for the saints and churches to be
pushed, gored, scattered by cruel and beastly enemies. Yea
the churches may be so afflicted with enemies, that a man
shall not know whither to fly for safety, for in every part of
the world there shall be some opposers : " I saw four horns,"
misery and calamity and persecution arising out of every
part.
" And I said to the angel that talked with me," &c., verse
19. This angel by interpreters is said to be Christ himself,
the angel of the covenant, who is the best interpreter of
heavenly visions and of hard scriptures. When we under
stand them not, we should search, make inquiry, and go to
Christ, saying, as Zechariah here, " What are these, Lord ?"
" And he answered me, These are the horns which have
scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem." The enemies of the
churches are not said here to have wounded or killed Judah,
Israel, or Jerusalem, but m ventilarunt, they have tossed
them up as it were into the air ; they have scattered, saith
the English. It is the proper work of the enemies of the
churches to scatter God s people. The disciples of Christ
are corrmanded to be without horns; " Be wise as serpents
and innocent as doves ;" the word in the Greek is, a^atoi,
without horns as doves ; but here the enemies are said to
scatter Judah, Israel and Jerusalem ; that is their work and
property.
" And the Lord shewed me four carpenters," verse 20.
The word is mtmn,* that is, such agents and instruments as
do work with art, counsel and deliberation. Though the ene-
* ann fabricavit.
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 319
mies of the churches be unreasonable and cruel as horned
beasts, yet the instruments that God raiseth up to suppress
them are full of humanity, wisdom and counsel ; and they are
four, too, a proportionable strength.
" Then said I, What come these to do ? And he spake,
saying, These are come to fray them away, and to cast out
the horns of the gentiles." verse 21. Look how they dealt
by God s people, so God will deal by them ; they scattered
Israel, and the God of Israel will raise up instruments that
shall scatter them ; they cast out God s people, and they
shall be cast out. Scattering enemies shall be scattered them
selves at last.
" I lift up mine eyes again." chap. ii. 1. Here is another
vision brought to the same purpose, in general, to uphold and
comfort the distressed servants of God. When the condition
of the saints is low and their fears great, there is need of re
peating comforts ; then visions, promises and consolations
must be oft repeated, " I lift up mine eyes again."
" And I looked, and behold a man with a measuring line
in his hand;" that is for to build exactly. Verse 2., tells us
it was for to measure Jerusalem, which cannot barely be un
derstood literally, for chap. i. 16., it is said, " I am returned
to Jerusalem with mercies, saith the Lord, my house shall be
built in it, and a line shall he stretched forth upon Jerusa
lem," &c. which promise in its latitude was never yet fulfilled
literally, but it is to be understood of the new Jerusalem es
pecially, mentioned in Rev. xxi. Where we find a man also
at this measuring work. So that we may yet say, though the
afflictions of the churches be very great, and their desolations
many, yet if a man will lift up his eyes and stir up himself,
he may and shall behold, " a man with a measuring line in
his hand." And thus you see that there is hardly a word of
these three visions, but afFordeth some special instruction.
But because I have not time for all, I shall especially close
with those three doctrines, that are especially held in these
three visions. Thus,
1. In that here are four horns that appear, you may ob
serve this, That when God intendeth any good and salvation
to his churches, he doth first suffer many potent, malicious
enemies to rise against them,
2. In that these four carpenters do appear immediately after
320 ON ZECHARIAII I. 18 21. [SER. 14.
these four horns, as it were in the same vision, you may ob
serve, that though God do suffer the enemies of his churches
and people to be exceeding strong, many, and most mischie
vous, yet he will raise up an answerable strength against
them ; four carpenters against four horns, which shall fray
them away, and deal by them as they have done by others.
3. In that the " man with a measuring line," doth imme
diately follow upon these, you may observe,that when God shall
please to raise up special instruments to surprise the church s
enemies, then and then especially reformation is to be much
endeavoured, which is to be done with exactness, even by
line.
1. I begin with the former vision of the four horns, and
the first doctrine, namely, that when God intendeth any
great good and salvation to his people, he doth first suffer
malignant, potent, and many enemies to rise against them.
Was it not so with Israel when God intended to bring them
out of Egypt ? Then their taskmasters arose and doubled
their work, and were more inimicitious to them than former
ly. Was it not thus with the Jews when God brought them
out of Babylon to build the temple ? opposition they met
withal in their remove, in their journey, and all along in
their temple-work. Was it not thus with the Israelites when
they went to execute justice upon that malignant tribe of
Benjamin for the great sin of Gibeah ? If you look into
Judges xx., you shall find that before Benjamin was pu
nished they got two great victories upon Israel ; Israel, (if you
count the number of their soldiers) were twelve to one ; Is
rael had the best cause, and their work was good, they went
forth to do justice on that delinquent tribe ; yet if you con
sult the story, the tribe of Benjamain first slew of them down
to the ground forty thousand men. This is God s way still ;
he seldom or never destroyeth his enemies but out of zeal ;
" The zeal of the Lord of Hosts hath done this," saith the
prophet : now zeal is nothing else but angered love ; and
three things there are in the world that God doth love espe
cially, his people, his truth, and his worship ; when the ene
mies prevail, they spoil his people, they defile his worship,
they scorn his truth, so his love is angered, his zeal is stirred,
and then his enemies are confounded.
But what reason is there why God should suffer his pre-
14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 1821. 321
cious servants and people to be thus handled, oppressed,
gored, scattered by cruel enemies ?
Good reason for it. Totidem inimici, totidem padagogi :
so many enemies, so many school-masters. " Make plain
my way before me (saith the Psalmist) because of mine ene
mies ;" but in the Hebrew it is, " because of mine obser
vers :" our enemies are our observers, and their observation
is our preservation.* As a man s best friend sometimes doth
him more hurt than his worst enemy, so his worst enemy doth
him more good than his best friend. Now suppose, saith
Salmeron,t that a man were in great want and need of money,
and his friend should throw him a bag of gold, though in his
catching of it he might hurt his hands or head, yet when he
hath taken out the gold, he loves his friend nevertheless.
There is no persecution but brings a bag of gold to God s
people ; though it may somewhat hurt them in falling upon
them, yet when they have picked out the gold thereof, they
will love God the more.
Let me instance :
Hereby they are occasioned to honour God, which is the
end of their life and the comfort of their soul : for what is
honour, but as Aquinas J speaks, a testimony of another s
excellency ? The more I testify of any excellency in any
truth or way of God s, the more I honour him ; and in times
of persecution the saints of God do thus testify of him.
Hereby the children of God are weaned from the world,
and made to hie them home to their Father s house.
Hereby they are made more useful in their places, and
beneficial unto their enemies ; for therefore our enemies do
us so much hurt, because we do them no more good.
* Tlty Inimicus quasi observator dictus, quod semper observet et contempletur
quibus malefaciat. Buxtorf.
f Magna Dei misericordia in flagello temporal! : ut si quis crumenam graveiu
et auro onustam ex edito loco in caput cujusdam pro debito aliquo in carcerem
detenti proficeret et dolorem aliquem ei inferret, et tumorem capitis excitaret,
et unam vel alterem guttulam sanguinis eliceret, ille quidem rei ignarus moleste
ferret in principio, et vicem suam maguopere doleret quod afflicto afflictio ad-
deretur ; verum si paulo post animo jam tranquillo ad jaxum oculos suos convertit,
et crutnenam multo auro refeftam deprehendat, qno possit debiU sua persolvere
et quod superest ad vitam tranquillies plaoideque traducendam sufficere, profecto
de illato tantillo vulnere nulla esset amplius querimonia vel memoria, imo seria
congratulatio : Ad eundem modum de Cliristi flagellis considcraudum. Salmer.
de minicul. in Joan. iii.
J Honor eat testimonium de alicujus e\ce:lentia. Aquinas.
VOL. IV. Y
322 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SER. 14.
Hereby they carry the truths of God and Christ into
other parts ; the enemy intendeth to scatter their persons,
but God intendeth to scatter his truths.
Hereby the children of God receive a fuller and clearer
testimony of their own graces. When the world frowns
most, God smiles most upon them. When the enemy gives
the loudest testimony of their hypocrisy, God from heaven
doth give the highest testimony of their sincerity to their
bosoms.
Hereby the enemies themselves are more convinced.
Some men snore so loud in their sleep, that they wake them
selves with their own snortings ; and some men s sins are
so loud and unreasonable, that they convince themselves and
others by their own unreasonable dealing with the people
of God. Master Fox tells of one in queen Mary s time that
had so basely and maliciously used that servant of God
Jarnes Abbes, that when that good man James Abbes was
dead, the remembrance of this martyr s patience and his own
unreasonableness, made the persecutor cry out and say, James
Abbes is saved, and I am damned ; and so he went wringing
his hands to his grave, crying, James Abbes is saved and I
am damned, James Abbes is saved and I am damned. It is
recorded also of one Calocerius, that when he saw the malig
nancy of the enemies, and patience of the martyrs, he cried
out and said, Of a truth great is the God of the Christians.*
And what can a Christian desire more ? Is not God s truth
better than my house ?
Hereby also the saints are kept from and cured of divi
sions among themselves. Cyprian meditating of the several
causes that brought those sad and heavy persecutions in the
primitive times, reckoneth up this for one, their own divisions,
wherefore God was fain to let out the dog upon the sheep,
that the sheep might run together. Our punishments often
times wear the names of our sins in their foreheads : and
if ever, then now; God doth punish our divisions with
divisions ; but it is to cure our divisions. He points to
our sin by our punishment, that in our punishment we may
be cured of sin.
Hereby also the servants of God may see and know by
experience, that it is better to serve God than men. When
* Vere magnus Deus Christianorum.
. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH 1. 18 21.
,ve worship God after and for the precepts of men, we do
atlier worship men than God, and serve them than him ;
md when his servants do so, then God suffers men to rise
ip against them, that they may learn in a smarting way, as
veil as they have done in a sinning way, what it is to serve
nen.* This cause you have expressed, 2 Chron. xii. 7> 8, " And
the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word
jf the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled
:hemselves, therefore I will not destroy them, but I will
rant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be
)oured out by the hand of Shishak ; nevertheless they shall
>e his servants, that they may know my service and the ser
vice of the kingdoms of the countries."
Hereby again the servants of God learn the right use of
he rod, both in church and state : sometimes it so falleth
Kit that justice is not executed in a kingdom, and discipline
not exercised in a church ; Well then, saith God, seeing that
ou will not take the rod into your hand, I will take it into
mine own, but it shall be in such a manner as shall make all
our hearts to ache. In Rev. ii. and iii. you know that there
are seven epistles written to the seven churches, and there
none of all the churches but are threatened with one
affliction, calamity or another, save only that of Philadelphia,
nd if you mark it, you shall find that only that church had
he keys rightly used and handled. And you shall find this
also in all God s dealings both with states and churches : let
a state or kingdom be never so wicked, yet if justice be exe
cuted there is hope thereof; let a church be never so defiled,
et if discipline be exercised, there is hope of that: but if a
dngdom where there is no justice, or a church where there
s no discipline, nor in tendentia to it, then the Lord himself
ariseth and saith, Well, because you will not take this rod
nto your hand, I will, and I will raise up enemies against
rou that shall do the same to you, that you should have done
o them. Good reason therefore, yea, infinitely good reason,
licit God should sometimes suffer his own people to be
nished, gored, scattered, by cruel and bloody enemies that
are most unreasonable.
Wherefore then let no man be stumbled or offended at
* Qui Deum ideo colit ut aliud magis quam ipsum asscquatur, non Deum sed
llud colit quod assequi concupiscit. Augustin.
Y2
324 ox ZECHARIAH i. 1821. [SER. 14.
God s present proceedings in the world, or in this kingdom,
though very mysterious. Our Saviour says, " These things
tell ye before, that when they come to pass, ye may not be
offended;" and whatsoever is now come to pass among us,
Christ hath told us of it before ; yea, this Scripture. Yet,
good Lord, how many are there that are offended ! Oh, say:
one, we looked for reformation, and we meet with confusion ;
for light, and we meet with darkness ; we looked that Jesus
Christ should at this time have restored his kingdom to the
churches ; for friends, and we meet with enemies ; can Goc
love us, and suffer such enemies to rise against us ? Were
there ever any enemies that were like to ours ? so potent, so
cruel, so many, so blasphemous, so hellish, &c.
But who art thou, O man, that speakest thus long without
book under the command of unbelief, and darkenest know
ledge ? Should st thou not rather write so and such over thy
sins, than over thine afflictions ? You say, had ever any o
God s people such enemies as we ; so cruel, so many, so vile
&c. ? You should rather say, Come, O my soul, did evei
any commit such sins as I do ; so frequently, so knowingly
so deliberately, so incorrigibly, so scandalously ? Why dc
not rather write the so upon your sins, than upon your
sorrows? Thus did Eusebius Nieremburgius, aggravating
his own sins, Oh, saith he, never any sinned so as I have
done, the devil sinned indeed, but Christ never died for him
as he hath done for me; Judas sinned indeed, but he was j
never pardoned as I have been ; Achan sinned indeed and
troubled the kingdom, but he had not that light and know
ledge as I, nor lived under such means as I have done ; oh,]
never any sinned so as I have done: thus Nierembergius,-
thus Parisiensis, and thus should you think and say.*
But besides, though your enemies be so great, so many,,
so cruel, &c., as none of God s people have had before;
know you not that this is most agreeable to Scripture?]
When Satan s time is short, his wrath is great, Rev. xii.
The latter times of the world are above all others by the!
* Domine Deus meus, quod est malum cujus ego reus non sum, vel perpe-
trando illud opere, vel volendo illud perpetrare ? quod enim est bonum quod in
me non extinxi, vel in alio persecutus non sum impediendo ne fieret, vel detra-
bendo jam facto, vel permittcndo extingui, vel gaudendo si extinguebatur inj
ipso ? Domine misericordise, quot bona perierunt vel me procurante ut non
essent, vel me non juvante ut essent ? Parisiens.
SER. 14.] ox ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 325
apostle called "the perilous times/ Austin observeth that
the church from Christ to Christ, from Christ s death to
Christ s coming again, should meet with three sorts of per
secutions ; one by the sword, as in the primitive times ;
another by heresies, as in the Arian times ; the other both
by sword and heresies, as in these latter antichristian times.*
Luther says well, Cain shall be killing his brother Abel to
the end of the world, but he is most bloody in his old days.
It is observed to my hand, that the four great monarchies,
who have been the constant enemies of the church, are com
pared by Daniel unto four beasts, a " leopard, a bear, a lion,"
&c., but the antichristian beast that should arise in the
latter times is made up of all these ; his feet being the feet
of a bear, his mouth the mouth of a lion, himself like a
leopard, and the dragon giving his power unto him, Rev. xiii.
2. As if the cruelties of all the monarchies were concen
trated and met in him. Of all enemies, you shall observe
those are most deadly and cruel that are apostates, that have
been once professors, and then prove apostates :f therefore
the devil, the Jew, and antichrist are greatest enemies to the
saints, because they are all apostates. Now the enemies that
are risen up in our days are apostatizing enemies, and there
fore if they prevail, which God in mercy forbid, are like
to prove the sorest enemies that ever the English sun did
see ; yea, worse than the enemies of those Marian days ;
for in queen Mary s time we read that here and there two,
three, four, or ten were brought forth to the stake, but
should these enemies now prevail, not two, or three, or four,
or ten, but three thousands, and four thousands, and ten
thousands would be led out together to be all massacred. In
queen Mary s time though the parent died, the child did
inherit his land ; but now at once our lands, our liberties,
our children, our religion and we are all like to die together.
In queen Mary s days Germany was open, and a place of
refuge to God s people, many did fly thither, and were safe
in the time of that storm ; but now if these enemies prevail,
* Prima ecclesiae persecutio fuit violenta per mnndi principes ; secunda
fraudulenta per hsereticos ; tertia erit violenta et fraudulenta simnl, ubi scilicet
temporal!* et spiritualist potestas in unnm convenient adversus Dominum ct
Christum ejus. Augustin.
f Solus apostata est persecutor ordinis sui.
326 ox ZECIIARIAH i. 18 21. [SER. 14.|?E
whither should God s servants fly? Not to Frankfort, not
to the Palatinate, not to Bohemia, not to Ireland, not to
Scotland, I had almost said not to our graves, for they will
hardly give us grave room in our own country. Oh, the
black and dismal day that is like to come upon us, if these
horns that are now pushing at us should prevail against us.
Well, out remember God s method, your own sins and God s
method ; his method is, first the horns, and then the carpen
ters ; though the horns may push, and gore, and scatter for
a time, yet the carpenters shall fray them away, and cast
out these gentiles. And so I come to the second vision of
the four carpenters, and the second doctrine, namely,
Secondly, Though God suffer the enemies of his church
and people to be exceeding strong, cruel, and very many,
yet he will raise up proportionable strength against them,
apt and fitted instruments to suppress them, who shall fray
them away and deal by them as they have dealt by others.
This is in the commission of those who are deputed to de
stroy Babylon, Rev. xviii. 6. " Reward her even as she hath
rewarded you." And to this purpose, I say, God will raise I
up a suitable and proportionable strength, four carpenters ;
for the four horns. Now the truth of all this will be more
fully evidenced, if you consider those names, titles, and
attributes wherewith Jesus Christ hath invested himself;
titles and attributes directly opposite to all that evil which
is any of the church s enemies. Three enemies you know
there are by whom you are most molested, the flesh, the
devil, the world.
The flesh brings forth three great evils. Ignorance in the
understanding; in opposition to that Jesus Christ is called 1
our Prophet. Rebellion in the will ; in opposition to that]
Jesus Christ is called our King. Guiltiness that ariseth from ;
ignorance and rebellion ; irk opposition to that Jesus Christ
is called our Priest.
The devil our second enemy is armed with all weapons of
hostility against us ; therefore there are several names given
to him. He is said to be the strong man, o tox^oe, "when the
strong man keepeth the house," &c. ; in opposition to that
Jesus Christ is called io^vpor^oc a.vrov y stronger than he, Luke
xi. 22. The devil is called the accuser of the brethren ; in
opposition to that Jesus Christ is called our Advocate.
SER. 14.] ox ZECHARIAII i. 1821. 327
The devil is called Apollyon, destroyer ; in opposition to that
Jesus Christ is called our Saviour. The devil is called the
old serpent; in opposition to that Jesus Christ is called the
brasen serpent. The devil is called a roaring lion, in oppo
sition to that Jesus Christ is called "a Lion of the tribe
Judah* The devil is called the god of this world, tl.e
prince of the air; in opposition to that Jesus Christ is called
the " Prince of Peace, the mighty God." Thus whatever
terms or titles of strength and power there is in Satan, there
is somewhat in Jesus Christ that answereth, yea that over-
answereth all.
And for our third enemy, the world, you cannot have a
more full description of its power than as it is presented to
you in Rev. xiii. 1. " I saw a beast arising out of the sea having
seven heads and ten horns." Our text speaks but of four
horns, and here are ten ; yet if you look into Rev. v. you
shall find an answerable strength in Christ, who is de
scribed to be a Lamb having seven horns, seven rather than
ten being the number of perfection in Scripture. But if you
think that seven is not enough to equalize the ten, you find
also in Habak. iii. 4. that the Lord our God is said to
have horns in his hand, because all the works of his hand
are done in strength and power. So that whatever your ene
mies are, there is strength enough in Jesus Christ to subdue
their strength.
And why is Christ thus furnished, but for his church and
people ? He is the Lord-keeper of all our comforts, the Lord-
treasurer of all our graces, and the great magazine of all our
ammunition. f He was anointed that he might anoint ; he
was sanctified that he might sanctify ; he received of the Fa
ther that he might give unto you, unto you I say and unto
all the churches. He is the head of his church, and there
fore, as Luther J observeth well, though every member is sensi
ble of wrong or hurt done to another member, yet the head
* Iste leo ob feritatem , Christus ob fortitudinem Christus leo ad vincendum,
diabolus ad nocendum Augustin.
f Christus communis thesaurus. Luther.
J Sensus subtilitor et velocior est in capite quant in reliquis membris corporis :
hoc experientia videmus, naro Iseso dignitulo nut alb min ma corporis partr l">a,
statim caput in vnltu prodit sese hoc sentire; nasus i-iiim contrahitur, oculi
tirvum vident: sic Christus caput nostrum afflictiones nostras suas facit et ut
in capite omnes sensus, &c. Luther.
328 ON ZECHAIUAH i. 1821. [SER. 14.
is much more sensible then all the members, for the head is
the seat and habitation of all the senses ; the hand may
touch, but it cannot see; the foot may feel, but it cannot hear
or taste ; the head sees and feels and hears and tastes, and
smells ; so, says he, it is with Christ our head, in whom all
the senses dwell, and therefore infinitely more sensible of the
church s misery then any other member in all the world ; and
sensible he cannot be unless in due time he be helpful unto
them. Upon this very ground you shall find that God pro-
miseth to raise up seven shepherds and eight principal men
for the help of his people, Micah v. 5. " When the Assyrian
shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our
palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and
eight principal men ;" As if he should say, though you have
been heretofore without guides, and captains, and command
ers, and princes, yet when the enemy is come into your land,
I will raise up instruments enough to suppress them ; and look
what these Assyrians have done unto you, that shall my instru
ments and workmen do unto them ; do they come into your
country and tread down your palaces; so shall mine instru
ments go into their country and tread down their palaces,
ver. 6. And would you know the ground of all this ? It is
my love in Christ, for, " thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall He corne forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
And ver. 4. " He shall stand and feed in the strength of the
Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and
they shall abide; and this man shall be the peace when the
Assyrian shall come into our land, ver. 5." So that whosoever
doth but seriously consider the strength and anointment of
Jesus Christ, must needs conclude this doctrine with me :
Though God suffer the enemies of his church and people to
be many and great, yet in due time he will raise up a propor
tionable strength against them to suppress them and to deal
by them as they have done by others.
The application of this doctrine looks two ways :
To the saints in general ;
To the carpenters in special.
To the saints by way of consolation and encouragement.
SBR. 14.] ON ZECHARIAII i. 1821. 329
To the carpenters, to God s workmen, by way of direction
and exhortation.
Here is consolation and encouragement unto all the saints
and people of God. Wonder not that in a day of humilia
tion, I speak of consolation.* Beloved, you are never more
fit to mourn for sin, then when you can rejoice in God. One
grace makes way for another. It is the Avar in beams of
God s love and care must thaw our hearts. Two things that
we are this day to do. To wrestle with God ; to fight with
our enemies. You cannot in your wrestling take better hold
of God then by the skirt of a promise j you cannot fight bet
ter against your enemies than by faith. The devil, with
whom especially we fight in these wars, will not be killed
with swords and knives ; " This is our victory whereby we
overcome the world, even our faith." It is written in the
life of Mr. Tyndale, that when he was in the Netherlands,
there was a conjurer that could command dishes of meat from
several men s tables, so that he would invite his friend to a
dish of meat from such or such a prince s table ; divers going
to see his exploits, Mr. Tyndale went with the rest, if it might
be, to hinder it ; and when he came there, he set himself in
a way of believing to hinder this conjurer s proceedings, which
he did accordingly, for when that wretched man should have
done his exploit, his hands were held by Mr. Tyndale s faith,
and he cried out and said, I cannot do it, there sits the man
that hinders me, or to that purpose. What will not faith
do, if good ? what will it not hinder, if evil ? I will not say
that in these sad days of ours we have to deal with conjurers,
but surely with such persons as through their violence and
thefts are able not only to command men s dishes off their
tubbs, but all their goods out of their houses. Oh that we
had but faith enough, w r e might soon believe them out of all
their plunderings.f
Wherefore that I may raise up your faith a little and keep
you from discouragements, I lay before you this promise;
Zechariah s vision is your promise; yea it is somewhat
more, for as we say of sacraments, so I say of these two last
visions, they are promises unto the eye, unto sense. When
Joshua was to bring the children of Israel into Canaan, and
* Sanctus dolet et de dolore gaudct. Augustin.
t Fides si: duuiitlit ad dumestica.
ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SfiR. 14.
so to meet with many enemies, before he went out, God, and
Moses, and the people bestowed their several exhortations on
him; and if you consult the place, you shall find that all of
them, God, Moses, and the people wish him to " be of good
courage, and not to fear." Why so ? Abulensis answereth,
Rationabiliter enim timere portuit Joshua.* Joshua might
rationally fear, for he saw how that his master Moses was oc
casioned by the Israelites to sin against God, and to be angry,
insomuch as he was kept out of Canaan ; whereupon Joshua
might well think thus with himself, O Lord, if Moses who
was the meekest man on earth was moved to anger, the
holiest man, a man that saw God face to face, yet could not
do this work, but through his failing was denied entrance into
Canaan ; how shall I be able to lead this people up against all
these enemies ; well therefore might he fear (saith Abulensis)
lest God should give both him and his people into the hands
of his enemies. Well, but how then doth God remove these
fears, and relieve his heart; only thus, he strengthened him
with a promise, " Fear not, (says God) neither be dismayed,
for I am with thee, and I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee." So now, are there any of you oppressed with divers
fears because of these horns that are risen up in several parts
of the world, of this kingdom ? The Lord hath said that
according to the number of the horns, the carpenters shall
be. Are there enemies in every part ; there shall be carpen
ters in every part. Will you say, Oh but our enemies are
exceeding many, and very cruel ; so were these mentioned
in the text, who (as Sanctius observeth, the words signify)
were to do mischief in quantum potuerunt et in quantum
voluerunt, and as your English hath it, " so that no man did
lift up his head." Will you say, Oh but I do not yet see
these carpenters at work ; but is it not because you do not
stir up yourselves ; " I lift up mine eyes and saw," saith
Zechariah. Will you say, Oh but when I do stir up myself
to behold things as they are, I cannot see four for four, a pro
portionable strength on the church s side raised up against
the enemies ; well, but yet you may see some strength in
every place, wherever there is any opposition made by ene-
* Rationabiliter ergo timere poterat Josua, quod cum ipse fragilior esset facil-
lime peccare poterat, ita ut dens ipsum et populum in hostilem tradert potes-
tatem. Tostat. in Josu. cap. i.
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 331
mies, some there are in the same place that God hath raised
up to resist them. And the text is not, that God will raise
up strong gigantic carpenters, but carpenters, four carpen
ters, some or other that shall do the work of God, though
they be never so weak. In that Micah v. where the promise
is to raise up " seven shepherds and eight principal men," he
saith, ver. 7-j " The remnant of Jacob shall be as the dew
that waiteth not for the sons of men." Mark that word,
" that waiteth not for the sons of men." When Sisera and
all his host were discomfited, what were the carpenters ;
were not Deborah and Jael with her hammer amongst them ?
and saith the text, lf so let all thine enemies perish ;" it is not
only a prayer, but a prophecy.
It is recorded in the life and death of Melancthon, that
when Charles the fifth, and the Pope of Rome threatened
the protestants with fire and sword, Luther, Melancthon, and
others got together to seek a way for themselves, their little
ones, and their substance ; and on a certain day after long
deliberation, Philip tired out with labour, rose up exceed
ingly sad and very sorrowful, to go and speak with some that
knocked and inquired after him at the gate ; in his return to
his company he heard in a room as he passed by, the noise
of children, as it were pronouncing their catechism 5 where
upon he put aside the door where they were, and he saw the
ministers* wives of the place, praying and praising God with
their children ; upon this Melancthon returned to his com
pany exceeding cheerful and very joyful. Luther espying his
gladsome countenance, said thus to him, Philip, how cometh
it to pass that you return so joyful that went out even now
so sorrowful ? He answered, Let us be of good comfort, for
I have seen them that will fight for us and defend us. Luther
asked what those stout and brave captains were ? Oh, says
Melancthon, they are the chaste wives and virtuous children
of holy men. It seems that holy man Melancthon thought
such carpenters were a great matter in his time. Beloved,
you have many such carpenters as these at work for you.
But besides these, look into any part of the kingdom, and
you shall find that wherever any horn is raised up, there is a
carpenter at work also, some or other that God hath unex
pectedly raised up to make resistance. Wherefore, then, lift
up your heads, oh, all ye people of the Lord, and be not dis-
H ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SfiR. 14.
couragcd ; what Zechariah saw, you shall find, God s promise
is your security, he will raise up four carpenters to the four
horns.
Again, This doctrine speaks direction to the carpenters, it
tells them what they ought to do, and what is their work.
The work of the four carpenters, you see, is not only to fray
these horns away, but to cast out the gentiles. Whoever,
therefore, you are, whom God hath raised up for this employ
ment, behold your service, up and be doing, and do it fully ;
" Cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord negligently ;
and withholdeth his hand from shedding of blood:" they are
knit together in one verse, Jer. xlviii. 10.
But we are now upon the work of reformation, building
the temple; and if a man be a man of blood he is not fit for
that service.
Mistake me not, it is not in my intention to call for blood.
Oh that in this day of our humiliation and addresses to God,
we could so touch the hem of Christ s garment, that Eng
land s bloody issue might be staunched ! Be as mild as you
can, so you be like unto Christ, who was both a lamb and a
lion ; a lamb in his own cause, a lion in God s. Meekness
and justice may well stand together. Moses was the meekest
man upon earth, you know, yet when Israel had defiled them
selves with idols in the matter of the golden calf, he stood in
the gate of the camp, and said, Exod. xxxii. 27, " Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side,
and go in and out from gate to gate through the camp, and
slay every man his brother, and every man his companion,
and every man his neighbour." He doth not say, Slay every
man his enemy, or every man his countryman, but every man
his brother, and his companion, and his neighbour.* And,
verse 28, it is said, " The children of Levi did according to
the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day
about three thousand men :" yet the Levites had their hand
in temple-work more than any other tribe, and Moses had
* Moses totus ex misericor lia et justitia compositus, totus ex benignitate et
severitate conflatus : nam in monte miseracordiam a Deo postulabat, ver. 32, in
campo justitiam exercebat, ver. 27. Quis non miretur tantam pietatem cum
tanta severitate conjunctarn ? Mendoza in 1 Sam. ii.
Sic amavit eos quibus prsefuit, ut pro eis nee sibi parceret et tamen delinquentes
sic persecutus est, quos amavit, ut eos etiam Domino parceute prosterneret.
Gregory.
SER. 14.] ox ZECHABIAH i. 18 21. 333
the honour to build the tabernacle. You read also, in Zech.
xiii. of a great and glorious reformation, so high, so great and
so convincing, that the very priests who were wont to go in
rough garments to deceive the people, should throw away
their priest s coats, and say, verse 5, et I am no prophet, I am
an husbandman, for man taught me to keep cattle from my
youth/ As if they should say severally, Though I am able
to read a chapter, yet I am not fit to be a minister, I have no
learning, but in truth am more fit to go to the plough. Well
but now mark, I pray, how this great change and reformation
is ushered in and brought about, not without some kind of
holy violence, for it is said, verse 2, " It shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cutoff the names
of the idols out of the land, and they shall be no more re
membered ; and also I will cause the prophets and the un
clean spirits to pass out of the land : and (verse 3) it shall
come to pass that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father
and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when
he prophesieth." And, verse 6, when any should ask him,
" What are those wounds in thy hands ? then he shall an
swer, Those wherewith I was wounded in the house of my
friends." Another notable scripture you have for this pur*
pose in Psalm xxiv., when the question is made at verse 3,
" Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall
stand in his holy place ?" that is, Who is fit to be a member
of a true church ? answer is made to this at verses 4, 5, 6 :
" He that hath clean hands and a pure heart," &c. Where-
fore then saith the psalmist, " Lift up your heads, oh, ye
gates ;" that is, magistrates that sit in the gates : t( and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors ;" that is, of the churches, for
the doors of the churches are everlasting doors, against which
u the gates of hell shall not prevail:" and then, " the King
of glory shall come in ;" that is, God will come in and dwell
amongst you in his great glory, and your very congregations
shall be filled with glory. But, " Who is the King of glory ?
The Lord strong and mighty (saith the psalmist), the Lord
mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory :"
that is, thus will he bring his glory into the churches, by
shewing himself to be " the Lord strong and mighty, the
Lord mighty in battle." Wherefore, then, " lift up your
heads, oh, ye gates," and execute you justice and judgment,
334 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SffiR. 14.
" and be you lift up, ye everlasting doors " of the churches,
and be you reformed, and "the King of glory shall come in"
with his glory into your congregations. But if you ask me
who this King of glory is ? I must tell you he is the Lord of
hosts, and so he will be known unto you when he bringeth his
glory amongst you, " even the Lord strong and mighty in
battle." Wherefore I say, lift up your heads, oh, you car
penters and servants of the Lord, drawn forth to that em
ployment ; you see your work, the text hath cut it out, I be
seech you in the Lord Christ, do it, and do it thoroughly,
only let me lay in one caution, which is this :
When you have frayed away the horns, and cast out the
gentiles, take heed that the spirit of the horns do not live in
the carpenters. When the children of Israel drove the Ca-
naanites out of their land, they did as well inherit their sins
as their lands; the sins they came to punish they did commit,
the spirit of the Canaanites did dwell in the Israelites. So it
was with Jehu when he had beat down the house of Ahab.
So with Amaziah, who when he had destroyed the Edomites,
he brought the gods of the children of Seir and set them up
to be his gods, 2 Chron. xxv. 14, 15. This is too common in
times of reformation. You all know what a blessed instru
ment of reformation Master Calvin was in his time, yet when
he came to that matter of denying the Lord s supper to Bart-
lerius and other Servetians, who were most unworthy, those
that otherwise were called protestants rose up in opposition
to him, insomuch that he was ready if not altogether forced
to leave Geneva for a time.* And was it not thus in that
unhappy difference at Frankfort ?f In Queen Mary s time
you know that many left this their own country and did fly to
Germany ; when they came there, did not many of them that
fled for religion prove pushing, goring horns unto their breth
ren ? Yea, some of them were so bitter to others, that they
* At ego, inquit Calvinus, Chrysostomum sequuntus, occidi me potius patiar,
quam hsec manus Dei contemptoribus judicatis sancta Domini porrigat.
A prandio vero Calvinus locum ilium insignem Actorum Apost. forte tractans
in quo Paulus ecclesiae Ephesinse, testatus se eum mm esse qui adversus magis-
tratum jmgnare sciret aut doceret, coetumque ; multis verbis cohortatus ut in ea
quam audivisset doctrina perseveraret, tandem veluti postremam concionem Ge-
nevae habiturus, et quemadmodum, inquit, se res habent. liceat mihi quoque fra-
tres apud vos haec apostoli verba usurpare, commendo vos Deo et sermoni gratiae
ejus. Mel. Adam, de vita Calvini.
t llisloire de Frankfort.
SER. 14.] ON ZECIIARIAH i. 18 21. 335
complained of and impeached that reverend man Master
Knox of high treason against imperial dignity, insomuch that
he was banished from the city and driven from his congrega
tion. Oh, what a sad thing is this, that the spirit of papists
should live in protestants ; that the spirit of the horns should
live in the carpenters ; that the spirit of prelates should live
in those that are risen up to fray them away and cast them
out ! I say no more, but when we have done all, cast out
the gentiles and frayed away the horns ; if then we shall turn
and gore and cast out our brethren and one another, God will
find it out, and will not put it up at England s hands.
Wherefore, my beloved, in the fear of God let us all remem
ber this caution : oh, take heed that the spirit of the horns do
not dwell in the carpenters. And so I come to the third vi
sion, " A man with a measuring-line in his hand," and the
third doctrine, which is this :
When God shall raise up his carpenters against his church s
enemies, then, and then especially, reformation is to be laid
unto the line. You see how these three visions are knit
together, one following immediately upon another, shewing
not the coherence of the words only, but of the matter. The
doctrine therefore falleth asunder into two propositions :
1. Stones of reformation are to be laid with most ex
actness.
2. When God raiseth up his carpenters against his church s
enemies, then, and then especially, this exact reformation is
to be much endeavoured.
1. Stones of reformation are to be laid with most exact
ness. Temple-work is a great work and of great consequence.
When the matter that a man is to work upon is precious,
the eye curious and exact that he is to work unto, and the
work itself of infinite consequence, there exactness is much
required, especially when a miscarriage can hardly be mended
but with much difficulty. Now so it is in the work of refor
mation : the matter to be wrought upon are the souls of men
and women, the most precious matter in the world ; the eye
that we are to work unto is God s, is Christ s, who walketh
between the golden candlesticks ; and the business itself is
of infinite consequence, yours and mine and thousands
eternities lying at the stake ; and if there be a miscarriage, it
will be a hard thing to bring the whole nation unto the work
336 ox ZECHARIAM i. 1821. [SEO. 14.
again. You see that when a man walketh upon the rope, he
carrietli a pole in his hand to sway him, and he looks dili
gently to his feet, quia non licei bis peccare, because if he do
fail he cannot mend his miscarriage. And I say, that in this
work of reformation, if there be the least slip, it will be a
hard thing to recover it, when once a nation is settled in that
miscarriage. Surely therefore the work is to be done with
the most exactness.
It is only exactness that doth cause conviction in those
that do behold. There is no national reformation, but the
eyes of nations are upon it. Give me leave to tell you what
I have read in a letter written from a learned professor of
divinity in an university beyond the seas, who writes thus to
England :* Upon your reformation, saith he, if happily per
formed, doth depend the reformation of all the churches in
Christendom, as upon a rule and exemplar. So that I say,
there is no reformation on foot in any nation, but the eyes of
other nations are upon it. If it be done exactly, the behold
ing nations will also come in and say, We will take hold of
your skirt, and your God shall be our God. When Judah
shineth, and God s glory resteth upon them, then nations
come in and join themselves unto them, Isa. Ix. 1, 2, 3. It
is only beauty that doth take the eye; when there is no
beauty, there is no allurement ; KaXov, beautiful, comes from
Ko>.en y which signifies to call, because beauty calls forth the
eye and holds it in its beams. Now four things must concur
to beauty. There must be all the parts ; all in their propor
tion ; all in their due place ; all laid over with a sweet and
lively colour. So it is in the beauty of God s house ; there
must be all the ordinances ; all in their place ; all in due
proportion ; and laid over with the power of godliness.
When these meet in any church, there is beauty; but meet
they cannot, unless there be exactness in reforming. Surely
therefore stones of reformation are to be laid with most
exactness.
2. But what reason is there of the second proposition,
which is, that then this exact reformation is especially to be
endeavoured, when God shall raise up his carpenters against
* A vestra reformatione, siquidem fteliciter pevacta, pendebit reformatio om
nium aliarutn ecclesiarum in christianisrao, tanquam a norma et exemplari.
D. Voet.
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. 337
the church s enemies ? for when the carpenters do arise the
times are troublous.
True, they are indeed ; but God chooseth troublous times
to build in both his house and walls of the city. The
churches have always lost most in times of peace, and gained
most in times of trouble.* Whilst the ten persecutions con
tinued, the integrity of the churches was best preserved.
The psalmist saith., " Send out thy light and thy truth, O
Lord, and let them lead me unto thine altar," Psalm xliii. 4.
There is no going unto God s altar with worship, without the
leading hand of truth ; and there is no building God s house
for an altar without light. When God made the world, he
first made light on the first day, as an example unto us in all
our works to work by light. Now light and truth do break
forth much in troublous times.
Troublous times are praying times, and praying times are
knowing times. " If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest
up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver,
and searchest for her as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of
God," Prov. ii. 3, 4, 5.
In troublous times men s hearts are most low and hum
bled, and so more apt and ready to receive and to be led into
any truth. You read in Isa. xi., that God promiseth that in
the latter times " the whole earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord ;" and in the verses a little before, it
is said of the lion and the young lion, (( that a child shall
lead them :" these two go well together ; but the stout lion-
like spirit will never be led by the hand of a sucking child,
until it be brought down and low by troublous times.
In troublous times God is pleased to communicate himself
more freely to his people. God is not unto his in affliction
as at other times ; he is most sweet when the world is most
bitter. It is with a nation, church and people, in their refor
mation, as with a person in his first conversion : because of
those many temptations that a converting person is to conflict
withal, God doth more abundantly reveal and communicate
himself unto him at his first conversion ; so with a reforming
people, because of those many oppositions that they shall
* Ecclesia tune semper fuit optima quando agebat inter pessimos. Luther.
VOL. IV. Z
338 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SER. 14.
meet withal in that work, God doth then more than ordina
rily communicate hirrself unto them. Thus troublous times
do bring forth light and truth. God loveth to have a sacrifice
from the hands of the children of Abraham out of the
thickets and briars. Opposition commendeth reformation :
in troublous times there is much opposition, and therefore in
those times reformation is very beautiful. The doctrine is
clear then, the application easy. Thus :
Hence we may all see and know what is the work of the
times, even to measure the temple. Now for a long while
we have had experience of the first vision, and we have felt
the horns ; the rising of the carpenters we have seen also ;
and who may not say, " 1 have lifted up mine eyes, and be
hold, a man with a measuring line in his hand ? " Blessed
be God that we have lived to see this day, to see a man stand
with a measuring line in his hand in England. And whoever
you are that hear me this day, you are either such as have
this measuring line in your hand, or else such as are to be
measured.
If you have the measuring line in your hands, then re
member this doctrine, the first proposition : stones of refor
mation are to be laid with most exactness. Herein, if you
be exact, you shall be like unto Jesus Christ, who, as Sal-
meron observeth,* when he came to purge the temple, did
not only admonish, chide, reprove the money-changers, or
whip them away, but did overthrow their very tables, ne
impium opus facile repeterent, lest they should recover their
trade again. In other things you are very exact : men are
exact in their trades, exact in their accounts, exact in their
reckonings, exact in their diet, exact in their sleep, exact in
their hair both of head and face ; in small things you are,
exact, and will you not be exact in this greatest ? You knoi
what other reformed churches have done; the reformation ol
all other churches are round about you, you have their wri
tings before you, their books, their practices, their examples,
and this for many years : can you think that God hath set us
now for an hundred years upon their shoulders, to see no
further into reformation than they have done ? If two mei
be to do the same work, the one first and the other after;
* Sacerdotes in teroplo offendentes sunt flagellorum dignissimi. Salmeron in
Joan. 3.
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 3.59
that doth it first, though he doth it never so well, yet will
excuse himself and say, I never saw the work done before
trie, I was fain to invent my very tools and instruments ; and
you will excuse him though there be some failing in him :
but when the second man cometh to the same work that hath
a former example, and all his tools to help him, you expect
more exactness from him. You know my meaning, I need
not apply this ; oh, that our God would make England the
praise of the whole earth ; nothing will do it but our exact
ness in reformation. Certainly this reformation that is now
on foot, hath, as I may speak with reverence, cost our God
very dear, the liberties, the estates, the lives and blood of
many of his dear children, lt of whom the world was not
worthy." Do you think God will lay out all this for an im
perfect, unexact, poor and low reformation ? Let me present
you with the prophecy of Bishop Hooper, who when he was
in prison called his printer to him, and said, You shall out
live these Marian times, and see the alteration of the present
religion, when the gospel shall be freely preached ; wherefore
remember me to my brethren, as well in exile as others, and
bid them be circumspect in displacing of popish priests, and
put good ministers in churches, or else their end will be
worse than ours. He said, be circumspect ; I say, be exact :
and though I do not wish that every morning there might be
a boy crying at your doors, as once at Philip s, Mortalis es,
Thou art mortal, thou art mortal; for that the drum doth
sufficiently every morning ; yet I could wish that this sen
tence might be sounding in your hearts every morning and
night, that it might lie down with you and rise with you :
Stones of reformation are to be laid with most exactness.
But how shall that be ?
Thus : be sure of this that you take the right line into
your hands. God s word it is our line, able to reach unto
all particular affairs of the churches.
Mistake me not, I pray. A church is considered two
ways; as a meeting of people, men and women; or as a
church meeting, a meeting of saints, apparent believers,
ctetus fidelium. I do not say that the word is to be the only
line and rule to the church in the first respect, so reason may
be a rule to men as men ; but in the second respect it is, the
word is able to reach unto all things belonging unto a church
z2
340 ON ZECHARIAH I. 18 21. [SfiR. 14.
as a church. Our commission is not larger now than the
apostles commission was, and their commission ran thus :
" Go teach and baptize, &c., teaching men to observe what
ever I command you," Matt, xxviii. If not commanded by
Christ, then not to be preached by them nor by us. Jesus
Christ was and is as fully Christ in his prophetical as priestly
office, and his priestly satisfaction reached unto all our sins,
though they were never so small, therefore his prophetical
direction reacheth to all our duties, though they be never
so little. That which cometh not from heaven, can never
bring you into heaven. If you say, There are some things
indifferent ; it is true, but Christ s command is to keep them
so then, and not to alter them.* If you say that circum
stances are left unto the church ; either you mean all circum
stances, or some ; if you mean only some, then you conclude
nothing, for a particular proposition cannot make a general
conclusion ; if you mean that all circumstances are left unto
the church, then you do at once and at one stroke cut off
three commandments from the decalogue; the first com
mandment, "Thou shalt have no other Gods but me,"
commandeth the substance of worship, the second the means,
the third the manner, the fourth the time ; and means,
manner, and time are circumstances. Herein Luther speaks
well,f Whatsoever a man believeth, or learneth, or teacheth
besides the word, it is sin ; and again, saith he,J The church
is the daughter of Scripture, brought up at the feet of
the word. Oh, the perfection of that line, it is a complete
line, a glorious line, a blessed line. Take this line therefore
first into your hands.
* Cum Moses per incultam et desertam regionem populum exulem et vagum
traduceret, in tanta olitudine quicquid vel dicendeum vel agendum esset, semper
consuluit Dominum, nihil unquam attulit de suo ; prophetse semper aiunt, verbum
Domini, visio Domini, vox Domini, hsec dicit Dominus, audite Dominum ; Ego
(inquit Paulus) evangelium meum non accepi ab homine, neque per hominem ;
imo Christus omnia inquit quse audivi a Patre meo tradidi vobis, et predicate
inquit non quicquid incident, sed evangelium omni creature. Jewel in Concione
ad Clerum de verb, Dei, page 55, 56, &c.
t Circumst. cur, quomodo, quando, quibus auxilius. Quicquid vivitur, doce-
tur, discitur extra verbum, peccatum est. Ecclesia est Scripture filia.
Luther.
J Non enim nostro judicio instituenda est religio, sed e \erbo Dei. Omnia
pervertuntur, cum religio non verbo Dei, sed hominum arbitrio nititur. Jewel,
Concio ad Clerum de verbo Dei.
SEB. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21 341
When you have gotten this line into your hand, view your
ground well, and stones well, that you are to draw this line
over. Three sorts there are that are especially to be lined
by it : the magistrates, the ministers, the congregations.
These three the Pope and prelates, notwithstanding their
flattering with princes, have especially laboured to degrade
and to deprive of that power which was given unto them by
Jesus Christ. The magistrates, and therefore the " man of
sin " is so described by the apostle, that he te shall exalt him
self above all that is called God," 1 Thess. ii. 4. The minis
ters and elders of the church, and therefore you shall ob
serve that from Rev. vii. to xiv. there is no more mention
made of elders, unless it be in relation unto that same time.
In chap. iv. the condition of the church is stated, and then
the elders are mentioned ; so again in the vth and viith, but
in the after chapters to the xivth you have the story of anti
christ, his rise, his reign, and ruin; and till the fall of anti
christ, which is begun in the xivth and perfected in the xviiith,
we read no more of the elders ; but in the beginning of the
xixth, after Babylon is fallen, then come forth the elders
again, praising God, and with great joy. So in our service-
book, the collect runs thus, " Send down upon our bishops
and curates," &c., as if ministers and elders were only
bishops curates, and had no power but under them. The
congregations also have been much oppressed by them,
therefore Azorius * the Jesuit professeth ingenuously, that
until Gregory the first, and Charles the great, the congrega
tions had the power of choosing their own ministers;
since antichrist s power the congregations have lost their
power.
Now beloved in the Lord, there is none of all these three
but have some power about church affairs ; the magistrate
he hath his power, and therefore he is called " a nursing
father ;" the minister and elder, he hath his power, there-
he is commanded TTOI^O.IVI.IV^ which signifieth both to feed and
* Non itaque ; inficiamur veterem ritum ac morem episcopos eligendi, quo plebe
prsesento, imo et ipsius suffrages aliquando eligebantur : nam in Africa ilium
morem observatum esse constat ex electione Eradii successoris S. Augustin in
Grsecia tetate S. Chrysostum ex libro ejus 3. de sacerdote : qua quidem eligendi
Episcopi ratio usque ; ad Gregorium I. ut constat ex ejus epistolis, imo et ad
Caroli Magni, et Ludovici II. Imperatorum usque j tempera perduravit.
Azor. instit. Morab. p. 2. 1. 3. c. 28.
342 ON ZECIIAUIAII I. 18 21. [SER. 14.
rule ; the congregation hath its power, and therefore well
saith that blessed and learned man Dr. Whitaker,* who is
now in heaven : If you consider the government of the
church in regard of its Head, Christ, so it is monarchical ;
if in regard of the elders, so it is aristocratical ; if in regard of
the people who have a power to choose their own officers,
it is democratical : whether this power of theirs be a matter
of privilege or of jurisdiction, I dispute not now ; but a
power they have : a power the people, a power the minister
and elder, a power the magistrate; and if your line can be
so drawn, as that every one of these three may have that
native power which Jesus Christ hath left them by legacy,
then have you drawn your line aright : view therefore your
ground well.
Which that you may do, in the next place take heed of
self- engagements and self-respects in this work of reforma
tion. Veritas stat in aperto campo, the truth stands in the
open field, it sees no house, it sees no friend, no home ; and
if your eye be upon your engagements, your hand will draw
the line awry. Chrysostom observeth, that when our Sa
viour propounded the parable of the husbandmen unto the
scribes and pharisees, saying, " What shall be done to these
husbandmen?" Matt. xxi. 41., the Jews answered, "He
shall miserably destroy those husbandmen;" Luke xx. 16,
yet in another gospel when our Saviour saith, " he shall
miserably destroy them," the Jews answered, "God forbid."
In one gospel their answer is related to be, " He shall misera
bly destroy them ;" in the other gospel their answer is related
on the contrary, " God forbid." How can these agree ? Yes,
says Chrysostom, for first they say, "he will miserably de
stroy these husbandmen " but when they perceived Christ
* Ergo si velimus Christum ipsam respicere, fuit semper ecclesise regimen
monarchicum ; si ecclesise presbyteros qui in doctrina et disciplina suas ptirtes
agebant, aristocraticum : si totum corpus ecclesiae quatenus in electione episco-
porum et presbyteros suffragia ferebat ita tamen ut f.v roia semper a presbyteris
servaretur, democraticum : sic partim monarchicum, partim aristocraticum,
partim democraticum est semperque fuit ecclesise regimen ; non quod unus
aliquis episcopus potuit pro suo arbitratu singula facere, sed quod Christus
sum mus ecclesise suas monarcha episcopum quemqne suo loco constituit, qui
cum consilio pastorum, seniorum, et populi ecclesiam quoque suam regeret :
hanc fuisse eeclesise apostolicae TroXtma) ex scripturis discimus, eamque longo
tempore conservatum in ecclesiis fuisse historise ecclesiasticse tetantur. Whita
ker controvers. iv. de Rom. Pontif. q. i. c. i.
SER. 14.] ON ZECHARIAH i. 18 21. 343
that aimed at them, then they said, " God forbid." So mis
leading are all self-respects and engagements in receiving
the truth ; reforming persons therefore must be self-denying
persons.
They must deny their own wits, understandings, reasonings,
though they be never so plausible : Da mihi baptizatam ra-
tionem ; Give me baptized reason, saith one, mortified reason.
Natural reason may be a drawer of water unto the temple but
no officer in the temple.
They must deny their own wills and affections though they
be never so strong. The saints in heaven are the least pro
prietaries to their own wills, and yet most happy. Our Sa
viour says, " I am not come to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me ;" and this must be the resolution and
practice of all those that are sent by God upon any service.*
They must deny their own labours though they be never
so great. So did Paul, who though " he laboured more abun
dantly than all," yet says, " I am the least of all the apos
tles." I have read or heard a story of one being in the boat
where the king s crown was, and the crown falling accidentally
into the water, he leaped after it, and having recovered it, to
save himself and it, he put the crown upon his own head,
that so he might swim the better unto the boat or land ; but
though he was thanked for his venture, yet he was sharply
reproved for his boldness for putting the crown upon his own
head. The case is ours, is yours, the crown of the Lord
Jesus hath as it were fallen into the water, and been ready to
sink; it is our duty and practice to venture for to save it, but
you must not then set the crown upon the head of your own
labours, but upon Christ himself. " The four and twenty
elders threw down their crowns at the feet of Christ/ * Rev.
iv. 10.
They must deny their own enjoyments, comforts and con
tentments, though they be never so sweet. So Nehemiah
denied his court favours, his governor s table, and sometimes
to shift his own clothes : he that will lift up one that is
fallen must stoop himself. t
They must deny their own relations, though they be never
so near. Salmeron observeth that our Saviour Christ did still
* Quia voluntati propria non divinae obedit, sibi parit ruinam. Mendoaa.
t Nullus jacentem excitabit nisi in flexione sui. Augustin.
344 ON ZECHAUIAII i. 18 21. [SER. 14.
call his mother, woman : " Woman, what have I to do with
thee ?" not mother, but woman. Why so, says he, but to
shew that in matter of religion we are to know no relations.*
Thus must all reforming persons be self-denying persons.
And thus, right worthy Zerubbabels, if you do first take the
right line into your hands, then view your ground well, giving
unto every one those immunities that Christ hath left him,
and deny yourselves in working, your own reasons, wisdoms
and understandings, your own affections, your own labours,
your own outward contentments and all relations, I make no
question but our stones of reformation shall be laid with
much exactness, and the Lord s blessing ; and the Lord grant
it may be so.
As for these that are to measured, let them be willing to be
measured, to be reformed, exactly reformed, willing to be fully
measured. Wonder not that I call upon you to be willing;
I shall tell you what I read concerning Beza, who coming unto
a disputation before the court of France, and being very
mighty in his arguments against the adversary, a cardinal
stood up and said unto some peers, I would to God that either
Beza were dumb, or that we were all deaf; so unwilling were
they to receive the truth and to be reformed by it. And if
people did not in their hearts wish as much now, why should
they say in every place, Would to God we had never meddled
with this work of reformation; here is ado about reformation
and exact reformation, see what it has come to, would to God
that we had stayed in our old condition. Oh, my beloved, do
you not remember Christ s complaint ? " I came unto my own,
and my own received me not." Shall Jesus Christ take up
the like complaint and say, I came unto my own in England
and they received me not ; I offered, I tendered my own go
vernment unto them, and they would none of it ? O Eng
land, England, how long have I stood knocking at thy door,
and as it were put my finger in at the hole of the door by
my providential works : wilt thou not yet open unto me ?
How often would I have gathered thee under my wings as a
hen gathereth her chickens, and thou wouldest not ; where
fore now thy house is left unto thee desolate. Oh that people
therefore would be willing ! yea, go to God and say, Behold,
* la causa religionis consanguineos lion esse audiendos nee respiciendos.
Saluaeron.
SEB. 14.] ox ZECHARIAII i. 18 21. 345
Lord, we are all here before thee, do with us what is good in
thine eyes, only measure us ; measure my family, measure my
children, measure my servants, measure myself, only let the
line of reformation pass over me and mine ; I am willing,
Lord, help my unwillingness.
Then, again, if ever God shall please to bring you unto the
haven of your desires, reformation in exactness, Christ in his
own government into your congregations, be sure that you lay
fast hold of him, that he may never leave you or go from you
any more. When the spouse in the Canticles had lost Christ,
she goes bemoaning, lamenting, crying and inquiring after
him ; when she had found him, she brings him into the
chamber of her mother, and says, " I charge yoa, oh, ye
daughters of Jerusalem, I charge ye by the roes and by the
hinds, that ye awake not my Beloved until he please." So do
you; if ever you light on Jesus Christ again, a settled gospel,
carry him, oh, carry him into the chamber of your mother,
as it were, and say unto all your friends, neighbours and con
gregations, I charge ye, oh, ye daughters of England, yea by
the roes and hinds of the field, I charge ye, oh, ye daughters
of England, that ye awake not my Beloved until he please.
This do hereafter, and for the present engage yourselves
thereunto.
In the mean while, that you may do and have all this, now
pray, pray alone and pray in company, pray in public, pray
in private. The " man with a measuring-line in his hand,"
says, Pray ; your carpenters that are abroad in the field, say,
Pray ; the examples of all reformed churches, say, Pray ;
your parliament, say, Pray ; your assembly, say, Pray ; your
lives, your liberties, your gospel, your all, say, Pray : oh, you
that have any credit in heaven, pray now ; you that never
prayed before, pray now. It is but one hour and the work
is done. Can ye not watch with Jesus Christ one hour ?
" Watch and pray." And that I say unto one I say unto all,
and unto my own soul, Let us all watch and pray lest we en
ter into temptation.
SERMON XV.
THE SAINTS HIDING-PLACE IN THE TIME OF GOD S ANGER.
PRESENTED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE HOUSE OF LORDS, IN THE
ABBEY CHURCH AT WESTMINSTER, OCT. 28, 1646, THE SOLEMN
DAY OF THEIR MONTHLY FAST.
To THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT.
RIGHT HONOURABLE, According to your command I have published these
notes, which I humbly present to your lordships. They were once in your ear,
they are now in your eye, the Lord ever keep them in your hearts. They lead
to hiding love in the day of God s anger, and tell your honours where his hiding
places are : and though it is better to have no storms than the best harbour ; yet
if it shall please God that we must put to sea again, which mercy prevent, it is
good to be acquainted with a good harbour. They call for righteousness. The
first part of true righteousness, is to deny our own righteousness and to seek
Christ s. As, " prima pars salutis est nullam videre salutem." The second
part is to acknowledge and contend for the truth, the word of righteousness.
Solomon bids us " buy the truth," but doth not tell us what it must cost, because
we must get it though it be never so dear. " Multi amant veritatem lucentem
oderunt redarguentum," Aquin. ex Augustino. We should love it both shining
and scorching.
And another part, is to deal justly, and to set this land free from oppressions.
" Blessed art thou land (saith Solomon), where thy king is the son of nobles,"
Eccles. x. 17. The Septuagint reads it, tXevSepwv, the son of free-man.
Righteousness doth not only strengthen, but nobilitate a nation and enrich it.
When the officers are peace, and exactors are righteousness, then the gold and
silver abounds. Isa. Iv. 17.
The work of righteousness seems to be divine work, as authority itself is a
beam of divine majesty : for as the sun is said to be God s peculiar, " He
maketh his sun to rise." &c. ; and the wind is called his, " He causeth his wind
to blow," Ps. cxlvii. 18 ; so is righteousness also in a special manner called his,
" Give thy judgments unto the king, and thy righteousness unto the king s son,"
Ps. Ixxii. 1. " Da judicia tua et justitiam tuam, Ps. Ixxii. 1, habet mundus sua
judicia et suam justitiam verum ita ut quod vere justum est, magis opprimatur
quam promoveatur ; ergo dicit Psal. da id est da illis hanc gratiam ut quod apud
te justum est judicent. Quse ut recto judicent principes et justitiam exerceant
est donum Dei," Musculus. And if God lead your lordships into his own work,
he will accompany you with his own strength. You cannot better consult honour
unto your own families, and happiness unto this nation, than by causing justice
and judgment to run down like mighty streams into all the countries thereof.
They call for meekness and sweetness of disposition : which being gained, you
shall not need to leave your place if the spirit of the ruler rise up against you ;
" for yielding (saith the English, but according to the Hebrew and Montanus s
translation, lenity or sweetness,) pacifieth great offences." Eccles. x. 4, NQ"ID,
gaiiitas autlenitas, Ar. Montan. None pretend more to good nature than our
SER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. 347
gentry, and indeed I think it is a flower grows much in their gardens : but though
divine nature will bring us to heaven, meek, good nature will not. It is gospel
love and meekness which this sermon means. The gospel works it, and it
honours the gospel, The more the gospel conquers this nation, the more love
and meekness, which is so wanting, will abound. Oh, spread the gospel, and by
your means let us see the angel flying in the midst of our heavens, with the
, everlasting gospel in his hand. Rev. xiv. 6. This is a work worthy of you.
Great men should do great things, and count themselves little. " Vere magnum
est magna facere et teipsum putare nihil," Euseb. Nier.
My lords, Christ hath done much for you, you must do much for Christ.
The more you have in this world, the more grace it is to be of another. For
outward things, afford them some relics of your love, and so much only as better
things leave ; for what is too cold for God, is hot enough for these things.
" Toleremus potius prsesentia quam deligamus." Why should not we give that
unto God by an act of our faith, which he hath given unto us as a fruit of his
love ? Thus shall you be able to say in your lying down, as Christ spake at his
death : " Father, I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do, and now glorify me with thine own self," John xvii. 4, 5.
Which that your Honours may do, shall be the prayer of
Your humble and most unworthy servant in the gospel of Jesus Christ,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
" Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought
his judgment, seek righteousness, seek meekness : it may be ye shall be
hid in the day of the Lord s anger." ZEPH. n. 3.
GOD never lets off his murdering pieces upon a nation or
kingdom, but he doth first discharge his warning pieces ; he
never strikes, but he doth threaten first. For as he doth
therefore strike once, that he may not strike again ; so he
doth therefore threaten at the first, that he may not strike at
all. He promises that he may fulfil, but he threatens that he
may not fulfil.
Having therefore denounced great judgments in the first
chapter, he proceedeth by the prophet Zephaniah to soft and
sweet exhortations in the beginning of this second.
And because men are either godly or ungodly, he begins
with the ungodly, and exhorteth them to gather themselves,
&c. ver. 1, 2. And for the godly, he exhorteth them for to
seek the Lord, ver. 3, " Seek ye the Lord," &c.
In which words three things are most considerable :
First, The matter of the exhortation, which is, " To seek
the Lord, to seek righteousness, and to seek meekness."
Secondly, The subject or persons upon whom this exhor
tation falls ; that is, " the meek of the earth," further de
scribed to have wrought judgment.
348 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SEB. 15.
Thirdly, The motive pressing thereunto, " It may be ye
shall be hid in the day of the Lord s anger."
For explication :
" Seek ye the Lord." That is, the Lord himself, his face,
his favour, his honour. The word " seek," is used in Scrip
ture, either more largely, for our whole service of God and
endeavours after him ; or else more strictly for prayer. Here
it is taken in the largest sense, because the word in the
Hebrew is not f?i, which signifies rather verbo qucerere,
Prov. xv. 14, to seek by word or petition ; but iypi, which
signifies rather conatu queer ere, to seek by endeavour.*
" The meek of the earth." The Hebrew word turned
meek, signifies afflicted as well as meek, and so it is often
translated, for afflictions well used are means to meeken us,
and to file off the roughness and ruggedness off our disposi
tion. But here it doth note the grace and virtue of meek
ness, which is irarum moderativa, that scripture grace whereby
a man hath the command and moderation of his anger, leav
ing all his revenge unto God himself; for it is the same word
that is used after for meekness, which cannot be understood
of affliction, but of the grace and virtue of meekness, for
that no man is to seek affliction.
" Which have wrought his judgment." The word
judgment is used in Scripture, either for the commandments,
word and statutes of the Lord, or for that evil which God
doth bring upon a people in a way of justice ; in both these
respects the meek may be said to work his judgments, either
as obedient to the Lord s word, or as executioners of justice ;
but 1 take it rather in the first sense.
" Seek righteousness." That is, the righteousness of
Christ, just and righteous dealing between man and man :
and the truth of God which is called the word of righteous
ness ; none more fit to seek justice and righteousness, than
those that are the meek of the earth.
" Seek meekness." Yea, though they were meek before.
When God calls upon wicked men, to love and seek him,
as Estius observes,* he wills them to do that which they did
* irpl est quserere magis conatu et studio quam interrogatione aut petitione
quod per iNty significatur, i. e. petere seu rogare et si interim confundatur.
Mercer. Pagni. in Thes.
* Quseritur quo re hsec non sit supervacanea prophetae exhortstio, cum eo ipso
SER. 15.] SAINT S HIDING-PLACE. 349
not before : when he calls upon godly men to love and seek
trim, he wills them to do that more which they had done
before. It is not enough to be habitually godly, but what
ever grace we have in the habit, must be drawn forth into
exercise, and though we have wrought judgment, we must do
it again.
We must not think to exercise one grace alone, but there
must be an harmony, mixture, conjuncture of all graces.
Some are wise, but not zealous ; some zealous, but not wise :
some just, but not meek ; some meek and sweet dispositioned,
but not righteous in execution of justice. But these graces
must be mixed together; and therefore saith the Lord here,
" Seek righteousness, seek meekness. 5
" It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord s anger."
Ye shall surely be hidden from the wrath to come, and it
may be from the wrath present. This may be,* says Junius,
is not a word of doubting, but provoking to more endeavour :
it is a half promise.
From all which words ye may observe these five notes.
First, that God hath his days of anger, there is wrath and
anger with God, which upon occasion breaks forth upon the
children of men.
Secondly, that in these days of anger, God is very willing
for to hide, save, and defend his own people.
Thirdly, though he be willing to hide his own children
in evil times, yet he doth sometimes leave them at great un
certainties.
Fourthly, when God s anger doth break forth upon the
children of men, and his people at uncertainties, not know
ing what will become of them ; then and then especially
it is their duty to seek the Lord, to seek righteousness, and
to seek meekness.
Fifthly, that if any men can do any good in the evil day,
it is the meek of the earth.
First, God hath his days of anger, there is wrath and
anger with God.
Take anger properly for a passion, and so there is none
mansueti sunt, Dominum jam antea qusesierint ? Resp. Quando impiis discitnr
diligite Dominum mopenturfacere id quod antea non faciebant ; quando autem rec-
taicorde discitur, diligite Dominum monentur amplius et diligentus facere quod an
tea faciebant, ita cum dicitur malis et duris quaerite Dominum, &c. Estius in locum <
* Kl/ Non dubitantis est sed sollicitudinem exacueniis. Jun. in Exod. xxxii.
350 SAINT S HIDING-PLACE. [ER. 15.
with God : ira we say is from ire, because when one is
angry he goes out of himself; and when he is pacified, he
does redire ad seipsum return to himself. Thus it is not in
God : Fury is not in me, saith the Lord.
If ye take anger for the effects and fruits thereof, so it is
not with God as his mercy is. " His mercy is over all his
works," even over the works of his anger. He is no where
called an angry God, but a merciful God often. The Psalmist
speaking of God s justice, and the fruits of his anger, saith,
(( His judgments are like the great mountains," Ps. xxxvi. 6, 7
but speaking of his goodness and mercy, saith, " It reacheth
unto the clouds. " What mountain doth so ?
His mercy is for itself, he gives that he may give ; he
loves that he may love ; and shews mercy that he may shew
mercy : but he is not angry that he may be angry. The
Lord is angry a little that he may love for ever, his very
anger doth end in love.
Exod. iv. 14 16, " He is slow, the slowest to conceive
a wrath, and ready to forgive :" he makes a way to his anger,
but the way to mercy lies always open.*
Yet there is anger with him, he hath his days of anger.
For as Aquinas says, Excellentia irascentis est causa ira.
The excellency of the person that is angry, is the cause of
anger; the more excellency in a person, the sooner he is
moved to anger, because pervipensio or contempt, is the
greatest provocation to anger. Now there is most excellency
in God, and therefore sin being a contempt of him, he
cannot but be moved to anger. Anger is the dagger that
love wears, to save itself, and to hurt all that wrongs the
thing loved : there is love with God, infinite love in God,
and therefore there must needs be anger too.
Yea, there is not only wrath, but great wrath with God.
His works are like himself : if his anger fix on a person, it
extendeth to all the man, soul and body. If one man be
angry with another, he may afflict his body, but he cannot
* Iratus est Dorainns adversus Moysem, Exod. iv. 14. In quo quseso furor
ejus declaratur in quo ira ejus exprimitur ? beneficium cognosco, non indigna-
tionem ; ecce enim verse 15, pollicetur ei virum eloquentissimunj in socium
legationis et hunc in itinere sibi occursurum ; an hsec signa indignationis vel
potius amoris ? sed Deus ita liberalis est ut nesciat eis cum punire debeat non
benefacere. De Haye in Exod. iv. 14, 15.
. 15.] SAINT S HIDING-PLACE. 351
reach his soul. God s anger doth especially seize on that
part, because he is a Spirit, and doth reach the spirits.
Yea, his anger doth not only extend unto all the man,
but as in heaven, when he pours out his glory upon men,
he doth enlarge and enable the faculty to receive his mercy,
which else could not take it in, or stand under it, the weight
of glorious mercy would break the very soul : so, when he
is angry, and pours out his wrath upon a person, he enlarges
the soul and faculty to receive, and to bear the same.
He blocks up all ways of succour and relief when he is
angry, which men cannot do ; his own children cannot bear
the strokes of his anger, though they be strokes of love ; *
what are they then when they do come from hatred ?
His anger gives a being to all our angers. What is the
wrath of man, kings, princes, or states, but, comparatively,
as the claw of the dead lion ? If the lion be dead, what hurt
can his claw do ? It is the anger of God that puts life into
all our angers. One drop of his wrath distilled into the soul
is able to burst it. Who knows the power of his anger ?
saith the psalmist. Oh, it is great, it is infinite, it is unspeak
able, it is inconceivable : and this wrath and anger of his doth
sometimes break forth upon the children of men ; he hath
his days of anger.
He hath three houses that he puts men into : an house of
instruction, an house of correction, an house of destruction.
If men mend not in the first they are removed to the second,
if they mend not in the second they are removed to the third.
As the creditor that lends his money gratis hath his three
times ; his time of mere love, his time of forbearance and
patience after the money is due, his time of execution and
judgment after forbearance and patience is tired.
So hath God also a time when he doth freely give forth
mercies to the children of men : if they improve them, well ;
if not, yet then he hath patience with them and forbearance ;
but if after long forbearance they do not mend and turn unto
him, then he brings his judgment, and does execution on
them. Oh, there is wrath with God : God hath his days of
anger.
Therefore it is not in itself unlawful to be angry, for God
* Si Deus tarn aspere percutit ubi parcit, qua aspere percutiet ubi ssevtit ? et
quanta destructione feriet quos reprobat, si sic crucial quos amat ? Greg, moral.
352 SAINT S HIDING-PLACE. [Sen. 15.
is angry sometimes ; only your wrath and anger must be in
order to reformation, as God s is. " Be angry (says the
apostle) and sin not : let not the sun go down on your wrath."
The beer or drink may be good in the cup over-night, but if
it stand all the night, it sours in the cup : so will your anger
sour that stands all night in your hearts, which you lie in.
Smoke may be borne whilst it goes up in the chimney, but if
it break out into the house or room, it is most offensive : so
is your anger too, yet it is not in itself unlawful to be angry.
Again, If there be wrath with God, and great wrath, how
infinitely are our souls bound unto Jesus Christ, by whom we
are delivered from the wrath to come, 1 Cor. v. 18, by whom
we are reconciled to God the Father, and made friends to
him; and being friends, his very wrath and anger are our
friends also. As when a man is my friend, not only his
power is my friend, his love is my friend, his purse is my
friend ; but his sword is my friend. So when God is my
friend, not only his wisdom is my friend, his power my friend,
and mercy my friend ; but his wrath and anger are my
friends also. Now suppose that one of you should be much
in debt, so as not able to pay, and being arrested and carried
away into prison, a man should come and pay all your debt,
only desiring that you would love him, aad now and then go
unto the prison to behold what he had delivered you from ;
would you not do it ? Thus it is with Christ : you were all
indebted, and so deeply that you were not able to pay ;
Christ hath paid our debt, and holds forth his empty veins,
saying, Behold, these are the purses that I have emptied to
pay your debt; only, I will that you love me, and look now
and then upon the wrath and anger from which I have deli
vered you. Shall we not then love him ? Oh that our hearts
were inflamed in love unto Jesus Christ !
I have read of a certain monk, that being in a town where
there was a great fire, and divers of the houses and families
escaping, he ran up and down the town, saying to delivered
persons, Deo gratias pro te ; Deo gratias pro me : God be
thanked for thee ; God be thanked for me : God be thanked
for thee, and God be thanked for me. Now this kingdom
hath been all on fire, and we that are here, as so many fire
brands pulled out of England s burnings. Who may not run
up and down, saying, God be thanked for thee, and God be
?ER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. 353
hanked for me ? But what is this fire to the fire of God s
Jternal wrath ? and this we are delivered from by Christ.
h, blessed be God for Christ, for his love in Christ.
Again, If there be wrath with God, and great wrath, which
ifter forbearance breaks forth upon the children of men ; then
see what great and just cause there is why those that are
in place should send forth godly and faithful preachers into
all the parts of this kingdom that may preach the gospel of
peace. Every godly, faithful minister, preacher, is an under
officer to Jesus Christ, a reconciler : " We beseech you, in
Christ s stead, be reconciled," says the apostle, 1 Cor. v. 19,
20. Thousand and ten thousand souls in this kingdom that
lie under wrath. Oh, that God would effectually stir up your
hearts to send forth more labourers into this harvest. The
harvest is great, the labourers few, but the work is necessary,
for poor ignorant souls to be delivered from the wrath to
come. What though ever} 7 formality cannot be had now
which you would have at another time ? Sure it is necessary
that men and women should be delivered from the wrath to
come.
Melancthon* makes mention of two certain persons in
Austin s time, that were in a ship which was like to perish in
a storm at sea, the one very godly but yet not baptized, the
other baptized but excommunicated ; there being no other
Christian in the ship with them, and they fearing they should
be both cast away, knew not what to do in that condition ;
he that was not baptized desired baptism by the hands of him
that was excommunicate, and he that was excommunicated
desired absolution from the other, and so it was concluded ;
whereupon the question was moved, whether these acts were
valid and good.
Austin commended the actions, which I only mention to
* Augustin. ad Fortunatum narrat. historiam quse continet eruditam disputatio-
nem ; ait enim in una nove fuisse quendam pium, sed nondum baptizatum verum
Karrjxovfjitvov, et alterum baptizatum, qui tatnen lapsus et si cuperat poenitentiam
agere, tamen nondutn erat absolutus, quod juxta veteres canones irrogabantur
poene exempli causa ante absolutionem. Addit Augustin. prseter hos neminem
ibi fuisse christianum ; quurn autem naufragium timerent, petit Kae,rr]\ov[^ei oi
ab illo altero baptismum ; qui cum isti impertiisset baptism um, visissim ab eo
petit absolutionem; proinde quaeritur an hsec administratio sacraraentorum valu-
erit ? Augustiiius reste respoudet valuisse ; et quidam hanc historiam tan topi- re
commendat ut dicat neminem tenere lachrymas posse qui earn audiat. disjj.it.
P. Melanch. Lutheri Opera, torn i. 443. Wittebergse 1558.
VOL. IV. A A
354 SAINTS HIDING PLACE. [SER. 15.
shew what men of judgment think lawful in case of necessity.
I plead not for the like action : but now, if ever, there is a
time of necessity, when some things may be done which are
not ordinary. Do not ye hear the souls of poor, ignorant
people crying from several countries, Help, O parliament !
Help, O nobles ! Help to deliver us from the wrath to come !
And blessed are those persons that have a hand in so good a
work as this.
Secondly, You may observe from the words, that in days
and times of God s anger, he is exceeding willing to hide his
own people; therefore he exhorteth them to the hiding means.
" Seek ye the Lord," &c.
" Come, O my people/ says the Lord by the prophet
Isaiah, chap, xxvi., " enter into your chambers, and shut the
doors about you, hide yourselves till the day of mine indig
nation be overpast."
" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," says Christ, foreseeing the day
of anger that was coming, " how often would I have gathered
your children as a hen gathereth her chickens ?" The hen
doth, therefore, gather her chickens under her wings, that
they may be hid from danger. Christ says, he would often
have done it: " How often would I," &c., Luke xix 41.
And that it may appear he was very willing, the text tells us
that he wept over Jerusalem when he spake these words.
Children weep upon all occasions, wise men seldom. It was
some great matter that made Christ weep : here Christ weeps ;
and why ? but because they would not be hidden. Yet this
people a wicked and an ungodly people. Oh, how willing is he,
then, for to hide the saints !
If he be so willing to hide his own children, how is it that
so many of his dear servants have fallen in these late wars :
some spoiled, wasted in their estates, some maimed in their
bodies, some killed by sword : if God be willing to hide his
people, why then so many exposed to dangers ?
God will never sell away his people or their comforts but
for a valuable consideration. Nothing of his children not
dear unto them ; their lives dear, their estates dear, their
names dear : he will have a valuable consideration for what
ever they lose ; though they do lose for present, yet they do
and shall gain thereby.* God knows how to deliver from
* Mercatura est qusedam, minora amittere ut majora lucreris. Parisiensis.
SER. 15.] SAIKTS HIDING-PLACE. 355
Janger by danger, from death by death, from misery by mi-
>ery. Perjissem nisi perjissem. I had been spoiled, unless
[ had been spoiled ; wasted, unless I had been wasted ;*
indone, unless undone ; and died, unless I had died, may
many say. God can provide a chamber of preservation in
;he belly of destruction, as he did for Jonah in the whale s
oelly ; and make the very miseries of his people to be a ten-
ier midwife to their great happiness. We do not always see
,he fence that is about Job : the devil saw it when Job s
Wends did not. God can and doth hide by cobwebs. I have
read or heard of one of our English soldiers, when we went
against some part of Spain, that when the Spaniards came
lown on our men to have cut them all off, crept under the
stairs, into a hole there ; the enemy seeking for him, came to
;he place, and finding a cobweb made over the mouth of the
lole where he lay, said, Surely there are none here ; so went
way, and the poor man escaped. God hath many such cob
webs : and thatwhich we look upon as a mere cobweb, in which
s no strength or shelter, God can and doth hide his people by.
Indeed, much of the saints preservation is put into the
land of angels. And we read, in Ezekiel i., that their hands
are under their wings ; that is, work in an nnseen way : yet
work they do, and bear them up in their arms, hiding, pre
serving and keeping them by God s commission. God is
very willing, then, exceeding willing to hide his own people
n evil times.
Behold a shelter in the time of a storm : who would not
ly to it ? Shall God be willing to hide us, and shall not we
>e willing to be hidden by him ? I know men will say, they are
willing to be hidden ; who is not willing to be hidden by
>y God ? But, qui vult finem, vult media, 8$c. He that wills
;he end, in sincerity, wills the means also. And if indeed,
rou be willing to be hidden by God, observe who those are
whom God hath hidden, or doth by promise engage for to
lide, and labour to be like to such.
Those that hide the saints of God are sure to be hidden
jy God. Two sorts of evil times there are, as in Noah s
days there were two floods ; the flood of profaneness, which
did first drown the world ; and the flood of God s anger in
water. And in our times, before the last flood and deluge of
* Christus ut bonus medicus aliquando non facit voluntatem ut facial sanitatem.
A A2
356 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SER. 15.
blood broke out, there was a flood of superstition and wick
edness, that had covered even the mountains of this king-
dom. So in all times. And the first flood is the herald of the
second. If a man shall provide an ark for God s children in
the day of the first flood, God will provide an ark for him
and his children in the day of the second flood.
Ebedmelech hid Jeremiah, as the prophecy of Jeremiah
tells us, in the day of the king s anger ; and therefore God
hid him in the day of God s anger.
Rahab hid the spies ; and God hid Rahab and her family.*
As God doth punish men in their own kind, so he doth
reward men : both punishments and rewards have the names
of their sins and graces engraven in their foreheads.
Our dear brother Joseph, (I mean Jesus Christ, who is not
ashamed to be called our brother, as the apostle speaks,) will
be sure to put our own money in our sack s mouth. God
will hide every hiding Obadiah.
Again, Those that keep the word of God s patience, have
a promise to be hidden by God : Rev. iii. 10, " Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, therefore I will deliver
thee from the hour of temptation, which will come upon all
the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." The
word of God s patience, I take to be the truth which the
saints suffered for in their time. Sometimes the saints suffer
for one truth, and sometimes for another. In the days of
Luther, the word of God s patience was, justification by faith
alone, and of free grace. In the days of queen Mary, the
word of God s patience was, The pope is antichrist, bread is
not transubstantiated. Now, says the Holy Ghost, "Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee,"
&c.
Those are sure to be hidden by God in evil times, that
fear not the fears of men, nor say a confederacy with them
that say a confederacy. There are always confederacies
against Christ, his cause and his children ; and some out of
fear are apt to be drawn into those confederacies. See what
God says in this case : Isa. viii. 12, " Say ye not a confederacy
to all them to whom this people shall say a confederacy ;
* Si Rahab meretrix salutem consecuta est, cum omni clomo sua, quia ducis a
Deo fflissi exploratores semel excepit : quid ille consequentur qui Deum ipsum
intra mentis suse domutn frequenter devote rtceperit ? Heb. ii. 2.
. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. 357
neither fear ye fear, nor be afraid/ Verse 13, " Sanctify the
Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him
be your dread." What then ? Then at verse 14, " And he
shall be for a sanctuary ; but for a stone of stumbling, for a
rock of oifence, to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and
for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." That is, for
those that did say a confederacy ; but as for those that did
not say a confederacy, the Lord would be a sanctuary unto
them.
Those are sure to be hidden by God, that remain green
and flourishing in their religion, notwithstanding all the
scorching heats of opposition that do fall on them. We
read in Rev. ix., that an angel opening the bottomless pit,
much smoke ascends, and out of the smoke came locusts like
scorpions to destroy, but they might destroy no further than
their commission reached ; and their commission extends not
to the green things. Verse 4, it was commanded them they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green
thing, neither any tree. Some that are dried and withered
in their profession ; great professors they have been, and are
now declined and withered ; these may be hurt in the day of
the locusts, but whoever remains green may not be touched.
And the text tells us, that the meek of the earth shall be
hidden by God; they have a half promise here, and a whole
promise in other places of Scripture.
Where is the person, therefore, that is thus qualified ?
You may go to God, and say, I confess, Lord, I am not
worthy to be hidden by thee, I have sinned as others ; yet
through thy grace, I and my family have been an hiding
place to thy children, I have kept the word of thy patience,
not feared men s fear, nor said a confederacy with them ; I
am yet green in my profession, not so strong as the green
tree, but yet green as the grass, not withered ; and I do apply
my soul to the ways of meekness : now, Lord, let me be
hidden in this evil day that is come upon us. And, my be
loved, as ever you desire to be hid in the day of God s anger,
get your souls in-arked in all these promises and scriptures.
Thirdly, Ye may observe from the words, that though God
is willing to hide his own people in evil times, yet he doth
sometimes leave them at great uncertainties, that they may
358 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SER. 15. |
not know what shall become of them, only with a may be, of
their salvation.
They have more than a may be, for their eternal salvation.
" I know that my Redeemer liveth," saith Job. " I am
persuaded (saith Paul) that nothing shall separate me from
the love of God," &c. Indeed God suffers his own children
sometimes, to labour under many doublings * and fears
about their eternal salvation. Luther tells us of one, that
lived a very gracious and holy life, yet when he came to die,
being filled with doubtings, some of his friends came to him
saying, Sir, what need you be troubled, you have lived most
exactly and graciously. True, saith he, I have indeed in
your eye, but the eye of man and of God differs ; God s
judgment is one, and man s judgment another, and therefore
now I do fear to die.f But there is an insuring office set up
in the gospel, as to the venture of our eternities. " These
things have I written (saith John, 1st Epist. v. 13) that ye
may know that ye have eternal life." Not that ye may
have eternal life, but that ye may know that ye have it.
But as for our temporal and outward salvation, God doth
sometimes leave his people to a may be. So here ; and in
Joel ii. 14, " Who knows if he will return, and repent, and
leave a blessing behind him ?" and Exod. xxxii. 30, " Perad-
venture (saith Moses) I shall make an atonement for your
sin."
God loves to have his people trust to the goodness of his
nature. If you have a man s word or promise for a kind
ness, then you trust to his promise. If you have his pro
mise, you say, But he is full, and rich, and of a good nature,
and therefore I will venture on him. And is there not infi
nite sweetness and goodness of nature in God ?J As God
would have us trust sometimes unto his promise, so unto the
goodness of his nature ; and therefore sometimes he gives
but a may be. We are at great uncertainties with God ; and
when we are left unto uncertainties, then we think and say,
Aye, this is just, I have been at uncertainties with God,
* Fidei certitude importat firmitatem adhsesionis, non semper quietationem
intellectus. Parisiens.
f Alia sunt Dei et liominum judicia.
+ Amat Deus ; non aliunde hoc habet, sed ipse eat unde amet; et idco velie-
mcntius amat quia non amorem tarn habet quatn hoc est ipse. Augustiu.
15.HER. 15.] SAINTS* HIDING-PLACE. 359
hometimes praying, and sometimes not, and it is fit he should
Ibe so with me, that I may be minded of mine own sin.
The more uncertain a man is, the more, if not ingenuous,
he will fear; and the more a man fears before the Lord, the
[more he will fly unto God : timor nos fecit consiliativos.
Truly we are not ingenuous enough towards God ; were we
more ingenuous, we should improve our assurance unto
greater obedience. Therefore God is fain to rebuke our want
of ingenuousness, and this uncertainty carries a report of it.
But suppose it be so, that in evil times we shall not be
able to say what shall become of us, what is our duty then ?
The fourth doctrine tells us, and so I come unto that,
which is,
Fourthly, When the tokens of God s anger are abroad,
and his people know not what will become of them, but
have only a may be for their deliverance, then, and then
especially, it is their duty for to seek unto God.
As the motions of the earth are guided and governed by
the motions of the heavens; and the earth s fruitfulness
depends on the heaven s influence : so do the motions of
our hearts and lives, and all their fruitfulness, depend on the
influence of God. When the scales are even, gold-weight,
then is a fit time to put in some grains of prayer: who
knows but that one prayer then may turn the scales ?
It is the duty of all the saints, in days of God s anger,
and uncertain times, to commit their ways unto God. I will
tell thee, saith Job s friend to him, what I would do in thy
case, " Unto God would I seek, unto God would I commit
my cause," Job v. viii. " Commit thy ways unto God, and
thy thoughts shall be established," saith Solomon, Prov.
xvi. 3.
And indeed, there is no such way to establish our thoughts
or kingdom, as to commit our ways unto God. Luther hath
a notable story to this purpose : There was, saith he, a great
contest between a duke of Saxony and a bishop of Ger
many, insomuch as the duke intended war against him ; but
before the war, he would send out a spy, to observe the
bishop s actions and motions ; and the spy being returned,
Come, saith the duke, what is the bishop a doing ? Oh, sir,
saith he, you may easily surprize him, he lives without fear,
idle, doing nothing, making no preparations for war. No,
360 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SfiR. 15.
said the duke, but what said the bishop then? He saith he
will feed his flock, preach the word, visit the sick ; and as
for this war, he will totius belli molem Deo committere, he
will commit the whole weight and bulk of the war unto God
himself. Aye, saith the duke, then bellum ei inferat diabolus,
non ego ; then let the devil wage war against him, for I will
not. Thus faith turns away the fury of the sword ; and
committing our cause unto God, turns away the anger and
wrath of God. But a man cannot commit his cause unto
God, unless he doth seek unto God ; and therefore, when his
anger is abroad, and people at uncertainty, then it is their
duty, then and then especially for to seek unto him.
By this truth we know now what we ought to do.
Your thoughts may prevent me, and say, But the wrath
and anger of God is pacified toward us, and this nation :
is not the war at an end ; are not our swords fully beaten
into plough-shares ?
Now I would to God it were so ; and long, oh, long may
you sit under your vines and fig-trees, praising the name of your
God : yet give me leave to tell you three reasons why I con
ceive that God is angry with us still, the day of his anger
not yet done.
1. The plague is begun. The beginnings of a plague are
the signs of God s anger. " Run in quickly," saith Moses,
" wrath is gone forth, the plague is begun," Num. xvi. 46.
2. I cannot but think God is angry with us still, be
cause we are so angry with one another. When God is
reconciled to a people, they are reconciled among themselves :
our reconciliation an emanation of his. Then the lion and
the lamb lie down together: then the sucking child plays on
the hqle of the asp. Then envy,* the root of all division,
and the wrath of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah ceaseth,
Isa. xi. Our love is a reflection of God s love. His love
is the cause of our love ; but our love is the sign of his love :
so contrary. You may observe therefore what the Lord
saith by Micah, chap, vii. 5, to this purpose, " Trust ye not
in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide, keep the doors
of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom." These are
treacherous times, and wrathful times. For, saith he, verse 6,
* Tolle invidiam et tuum est quod habeo, tolle invidiam et meum est quod
habes.
SER. 15.] SAINT S HIDING-PLACE. 361
" the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up
against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-
in-law ; a man s enemies are they of his own house." Here
is anger indeed, much like that of our times. But what is
all this to God s anger ? Yes, says he, verse 9, " I will bear
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him." Where these things are in this posture, there is God s
indignation.
You know the parable in Matt, xviii., " A certain servant
owed his master a thousand talents, and said, I will go to my
Lord, and say, Have patience with me and I will pay thee
all, which he did, and his master forgave him. But then he
meets with his fellow-servant that owed him an hundred
pence : and when that servant said the like words unto him,
which he spoke unto his master, he took him by the throat,
and cast him into prison, which (says the parable) his Lord
hearing of, was wrath." Beloved, God hath forgiven us a
thousand talents : our fellow-servants owe us some lesser
sums, and we cannot forgive them, but take them by the
throat ; surely our Lord and Master cannot but be angry
still.
3. I cannot but think that God is angry with us still ;
because the former sins that God hath been punishing all
this while, do still live among us : live in their principles,
live in the spirit of them, live in their practises under other
names and notions : old sins walking up and down under
new clothes.
Three great sins there are for which God hath been con
tending with us for divers years. Idolatry and superstition.
Opposition of the saints, and the power of godliness. Op
pression and injustice. I know that for oaths and drunken
ness, and adultery, the land hath mourned : but these three
named, are the great capital sins that God doth usually draw
out the sword against nations for.
Now I appeal to you : doth not idolatry and superstition
live in the principle of it ? Give me leave to instance in
one particular : the superstitious men of the former times,
commanded bowing before altars, at the name of Jesus, and
before bread in the Lord s supper. But I pray, What was
the principle whereby they forced their superstitions but
this ? That God commandeth the worship both of soul and
362 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SER. 15.
body ; and it is in the power of the church to determine all
circumstances : time and place are left to the church : and
therefore when he come, said they, at the table, then ye shall
bow. Not that we command the worship itself, that is com
manded by God ; we only command the time.
And so, when ye hear the name Jesus mentioned ; and so
when the bread comes before you in the Lord s supper.
Now though our altars and groves be broken down ; doth
not this principle still live too much in our bosoms, that God
commandeth the substance, and the circumstance is left unto
men ?
As for opposition to the saints, and the power of godli
ness ; 1 confess it doth not run in the same channel as be
fore. Before, profane men opposed the saints, and opposed
professors ; but now professors, oh, that I might not speak
it, oppose professors. And is this more pleasing to God,
that professors should oppose professors, than that profane
men should oppose them ?
As for oppression and injustice. What mean those cries
out of several countries, and parts of this kingdom, of the
widows and fatherless, Give me my husband s wages, or give
me my husband again ? Oh, give me my father again, or
give me my father s wages ? What mean those complaints
of some, of many : We have borne the heat of the day and
are no more kindlier used, or respected, than those that have
been the most enemies ? We ventured our whole estates in
the beginning of this war, for this cause, and yet we are
taxed as heavily as if our estates were all in our hands ?
Aquinas rule is good, Peccatum majus ubi specialis rcpug-
nantia inter peccantem et peccatum, The sin is the greater
where there is a special repugnancy between the sin and the
sinner. Injustice is naught in all, but worst in a judge, or
court of justice. Darkness is terrible, but when it falls upon
the vessels of light, as in the eclipse, it is more terrible than
the darkness of the night. And is there no injustice now
in our courts of justice or in our committees in town or
country ? I wish I might not say the same sins live still,
but disguised, and clothed in other habits : before the saints
opposed under one name, and now under another; I cannot
therefore but say, God is angry with us still, the day of his
anger is not done. And is this nothing to you, oh, all
SER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE.
you that hear the word of the Lord this day, that God
is angry still ? When the lion roars, all the beasts of
the field tremble : " The wrath of a king is as the roaring of
a lion :" what then is the wrath of God the King of kings ?"
What more cutting word to the heart of an ingenuous child,
than to say to him, Your father is angry ? Oh, you that are
the children of God, I tell you your father is angry, your
heavenly father is angry still.
And as for the uncertainty of our condition : who knows
or can say, what shall become of us ? Some think the sword
is dead, others no, but it sleepeth ; some think, the three
years and a half for slaying the three witnesses are over :
others think no, that they are yet to come : some think the
war is at an end, others think not. Whenever were the
people of God at greater uncertainties than now they are ?
What shall we do in this case ?
The text points us unto three things.
Seek ye the Lord himself: not his goods, but his good
ness ; not his, but him.* If a poor condemned malefactor
cry loud in the ears of the judge, though he usetb many
sweet appellations, Good my Lord, and the like, yet the
judge regards him not ; for, saith the judge, these are not
out of love to me, but only thus he pleads and cries, and
gives good words for to save himself. So saith God also,
when we come before him in prayer and fasting ; True, this
people cry aloud, but it is for themselves, for their little ones,
their substance, their corn, their wine, their oil, it is not for
my name, and out of love unto me ; and so he regards it
not, though we cry loud, and fast often. Wherefore, seek
ye the Lord himself, oh, all ye meek of the earth, that have
wrought judgment, seek the Lord himself.
Again, would you know what to do in the day of God s
anger, and uncertain times ? Seek righteousness.
The righteousness of Christ : <c He is the Lord our
righteousness, when the Assyrian treads in the land," saith
the prophet. " He shall bring peace, and raise up seven
shepherds, and eight principal men :" seven is a note of
perfection, that is abundance of help. He is that Shiloh,
* Hoc affectu ut desiderio colendus est Deus ut sui cultus ipse sit mcrces :
nam qui Deum ideo colit ut aliud magis quam ipsum habeat, non Deurn colit,
scd illud quod asscqui coiicupiscit. Augustin.
364 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SER. 15.
who should give peace when the sceptre should depart from
Judah. He is that Prince of peace, the great Mediator
between a distanced God and us. When the sea rages he
will say to it, " Be still ;" though the disciples say, " Lord,
carest thou not that we perish ? " His wounds are the cities
of refuge. " If his anger be kindled, yea, but a little, bles
sed are all they that trust in him :" so we read it ; or, as
some better, " that betake themselves unto him." Is this
therefore a day of God s anger? Come, oh, come unto
Jesus Christ that ye may be hidden by him. You will say,
Oh, but I have been a great sinner, a drunkard, a swearer,
unclean, opposer, scorner, and a very rebellious wretch.
But doth not the psalmist say, " He hath received gifts for
men, even for the rebellious also ?" Psa. Ixviii. 18. Not
only for sinners, but for rebellious sinners even for the re
bellious also. Hath he not made an invitation to all? Doth
not the proclamation run general, " Ho, every one that
thirsteth come ?" Hath not he himself said, " Those that
come unto me, I will in no wise cast out 1" Yea, hath he
not said, " Every sin and blasphemy," except the sin against
the Holy Ghost " shall be forgiven unto men ?" yea, though
it be such a sin as boils up unto blasphemy ? And hath he
not said, " Look unto me from all the ends of the earth and
be saved ?" Oh, therefore, whatever your lives have been,
whatever course you have run, come unto Jesus Christ :
come poor, sinful, vile wretch, come and be saved for ever.
Do not corne unto Christ that you may live wickedly; nor
think to be first holy, that you may come unto Christ;
but come unto Christ that you may be holy. Seek the Lord
and his righteousness in this respect.
Again, Seek righteousness, in opposition to all injustice
and oppression. If private men, seek righteousness in all
your dealings. The righteous just God, loveth righteous
dealings. If magistrates, seek righteousness in opposition to
all oppression : and if the cause of the poor and of Christ
come before you, say not, Go away, and come again, when it
is in the power of your hand to help them.
Surius* tells us of a certain poor woman that came to Ba-
* Mulier pauper Basilum adiit, et ab eo literas petiit ad perfectum regionis,
tanquam qui apud ilium plurimum posset ; arrepta charta, scripsit in haec verba,
accessit ad me ista muliercula, inops, dicens litter as incus apud te pondus ha
SER. 15.] SAIXTS HIDING-PLACE. 365
sil, desiring him to write to the governor of the place for fa
vour : I am greatly taxed, and I know, saith she, that your
letter may do me a great deal of pleasure : he writes ; and
says he in his letter : This woman tells me, that my letter
hath weight with you : if so, then I pray help her. The go
vernor returns this answer, I would with all my heart have
helped this woman for your sake, but I cannot, she is under
such and such taxes, I cannot relieve her. Well, says Basil,
in his reply, Si adsit voluntas, 6fC. If you had a will, and
wanted power, it is tolerable : but if you had a power, and
wanted will, God will bring you into a poor condition. Af
terward, through the disfavour of the emperor, this governor
was thrown into prison;, and then he sent to Basil to inter
cede for him, which he did, and after six days he was deli
vered : and then he comes to Basil, and shews twice as much
favour to the woman then, as she desired before. So apt are
men in place to say, we cannot help, when they will not.*
Take heed of that. And take heed of delaying justice; for
sometimes the very delay of justice, is injustice. Know we
not, that thrones are established by righteousness ? and so
kingdoms. " The mountains (saith the Psalmist) shall
bring peace unto the people, and the little hills by righteous
ness."
Oh, therefore, as you desire that this our kingdom may be
established in peace, seek righteousness : and let it come to
us by you that are the mountains and nobles of this land :
yea, even by you also that are the lesser hills of this king
dom, " seek ye the Lord and his righteousness " righteous
ness, righteousness we cry for, that the oppressed may be re
lieved, the wicked punished, and the poor saints in all parts
of these kingdoms refreshed. And if righteousness be out of
sight, and as it were lost, yet seek it. Seek righteousness, in
opposition to all injustice.
bere ; si sic est, id fac ostendas ; tradidit mulieri chartulam quam ilia obtulit
prsefecto, at ille sic rescripsit, hac causa libens essem misertus mulierculse, sed
non potui eo quod subjaceat tributis ; cui rursus Basilius ita replicavit, si quidem
voluntas prompta fuit, sed de fuit facultas, tolerabile quidem est ; si autem potuisti
et noluisti, Christus te in ordinem inopum rediget ; quod quidem re ipsa evenit ;
nam non multo post imperatoris ira in ilium concitata, in vincula conjectus est ;
bine vero preces offert Basilio ut sua intercessione imperatoris clementiam ipse
conciliet, idque sic fastum ; post sex namque dies jussus est a vinculis absolvi,
&c. Sur. 1. Tom. in vita Basil.
* Non est dicendus velle quicum potuit non fecit.
366 SAINTS* HIDING-PLACE. [SfiR. 15.
Again, seek righteousness in seeking the truth. The truth
and gospel is called " the word of righteousness," Heb. v. ;
Isa. xxvi. The righteous nation are expounded in the same
verse, to be such as do keep the truth. When truth falls in
the city or streets, God s anger breaks forth ; when truth is
raised up again, then God is pacified. Is the Lord angry
with us now, and would you know what to do in this day of
God s anger ? Seek the truth, seek righteousness in this
respect.
Only in seeking this part of righteousness, take these rules
along with you :
In seeking the truth, do not despise any truth because it
is called old, nor neglect any truth because it is called new.
It is a sign that men mean to sleep, when they draw the
curtains about them, and will have no more light to come in.
The reapers of the former reformation, could not so bind up
all ears of corn into their sheaves, but there will be some
ears left for the poor that come after to glean up.
Again, in seeking the truth, be as plain, sincere, open-
hearted as ever you can. Veritas stat in aperto campo.
Truth stands in the open fields, in this sense. Truth knows
no bushes, no houses, no relations. Christ who is truth,
said, Woman, not mother, as knowing no relations in matters
of religion. It was indeed the speech of one heathen, Facile
me Romanum episcopwn et ero protinus christianus. Make
me bishop of Rome, and I will be presently a Christian.
And now, many men will know no more truth, than what can
grow upon their own land. Some would have the truth
come down to them and to their interests ; some will bring
up their interest to truth. Ever let my soul cleave unto
those that can lay down all their engagements, relations and
comforts, at the feet of truth.
In seeking truth, rest not upon any means though it be
never so great, nor despise any means though it be never so
small. Sanctornm minima Deo placent maxime. God loves
the saints minnums, and delights to reveal his truths to those
that are most unlikely. The great truth of the incarnation,
first revealed to shepherds. The great truth of the resurrec
tion, first revealed to Mary, a woman. And when Christ
came, and gave the world a taste of his kingdom, riding upon
an ass colt : the multitude, who were then counted cursed
SER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. 3fi7
with the disciples, cry out, Hosanna, and own him ; when at
the same time, the scribes and pharisees in council make an
order and decree to apprehend him, John xi. 53 ; with John
xii. 12 ; and Matt. xxi. 8, 9. God loves to take those things
and persons that stand behind, and to bring them before.
The temple is refused^ and the synagogue is kept. In the
Jews time, when any were proselyted, they were washed and
circumcised ; the great ordinance of circumcision was laid
aside, and washing advanced unto a sacrament of baptism.
At the passover, they had their ordinary supper and the
paschal lamb : the use of the paschal lamb laid aside, and
bread and wine, which was used in the ordinary supper,
exalted to the sacrament of the Lord s supper. Thus God
exalts low things, and lays by greater. I speak not this that
men should neglect the ministry ; preachers lips shall and do
preserve knowledge ; but rest not on means, though they be
never so learned ; despise not means, though they be never
so unlearned. Who more despised for want of learning than
the Waldenses,* and yet the first blessed instruments of re
formation.
In seeking truth, " look not to gather grapes on thorns, or
figs on thistles " to find the scions of truth upon a crab-
stock of error or carnal principles.
They write of the partridge, that if one hen lay the egg,
and another hatch the bird, it will return to the true mother
when it is well grown. And this, saith Drusius Caminus
Jerome, is the meaning of that in Jer. xvii. 1 1, S( As the par
tridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that
getteth riches and not by right, shall leave them in the midst
of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." But this we
know certainly, that though an hen sit on a raven s egg, yet
when the young raven is hatched, and its wings well grown,
it will fly away and leave the hen in the lurch. So will all
carnal principles deal by spiritual truths. Oh, therefore, let
not any gospel truth be planted on a legal principle ; not a
spiritual truth on a carnal or mere philosophical principle ;
not a truth of Christ on an antichristian principle.f
* Vide Hist. Waldens.
f Ex philosophorum principiis omnis haeresis animatur ; omnes hsereses ex
philosophorum regulis constant, cum dogmata hsereticorum frigent et volare non
possunt, sedem sibi et requiem inter Aristotelis spineta reperiunt.
368 SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. [SER. 15.
Again, In seeking the truth, do not so hold the greater as
to neglect the lesser ; do not so seek tha lesser as to forget
the greater. Indeed, no truth of the gospel purchased by
Christ s blood is small or little, though comparatively with
others it may be called so.
And here I cannot but say I have seen a sore evil under
the sun, men losing their religion in seeking for religion ; los
ing the power of religion in seeking for the due form : others
losing the right form and circumstantials in resting upon fun
damentals. We have enough to bring us to heaven, what
need we more ? say some.* Would you therefore so seek
the truth as you may find it ? do not forget your old acquaint
ance, those great and precious truths which nursed you in the
cradle of your godliness ; the great truths of Christ, the
power of godliness, and humiliation for sin committed. And
take heed that you do not look awry, or cast a proud look on
small truths, yea, though strangers, for some have entertained
angels by receiving these strangers. Every truth is a stranger
at the first. What truth was ever received but was first op
posed ? Christ and his gospel is first a little stone, then a
great stone, then breaking the mountains, then filling the
world. Hold, therefore, your old fundamental truths, yet so
as you may raise your buildings. Seek your buildings, yet
so as you may keep foundations. Thus seek the truth, this
part of righteousness.
And, again, If you would know what to do in the day of
God s anger, so as to be hidden ; seek meekness : righteous
ness and meekness.
And so I come unto the fifth and last doctrine.
Fifthly, That if any man can do any good in the day of
God s anger, either for himself or others, it is the " meek of
the earth ;" therefore the text calls on them especially for to
seek the Lord.
The meek of all other men have the promise of the earth.
"The meek shall inherit the earth." This promise, or spring,
rises in the Old Testament, the head of it is there, and runs
down into the New : " Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth," Matt. v. It seems this entail was not cut
off by the coming of Jesus Christ.
* Miuime bonus est qui tnelior esse non vult ; et ubi incipit nolle fieri melior,
ibi definis esse bonus.
SER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACE. 3fi9
The meek of all other men do most honour Christ, the way
Christ, and the gospel. The heathens had this notion
iinongst them, as Lactantius reports,* that the way to honour
iheir gods was to be like to them ; and therefore some would be
wicked, counting it a dishonour to their god to be unlike to
him. I am sure we have a meek and sweet dispositioned
Saviour : "Learn of me (saith he) for I am meek and lowly."
A. physician and surgeon, who as he hath a quick eye, so a
mild heart and a tender hand. The more meek a man is,
the more he is like to him, and honours him. What says
the world ? Aye, there is a man of a humble, quiet and sweet
disposition ; if all professors were such, then I would become
one too.
A meek person leaves his cause to God, and his revenge to
him; is led by the hand of God, mansuetus quasi manui as-
suetus : and when men do, and are so, God comes in quickly
for their relief. Aaron and Miriam rose up against Moses,
Moses is silent, carries it meekly, and the text says, Num. xii.
" Then God arose, and was very angry." And the reason is
given, because Moses was the meekest man. A meek man is
subject to God in all conditions, gives up his matters to him,
and so God takes himself engaged for his succour.
Again, The meek person above all others is most fit for the
service of God. If I would convey a reproof, or a reprehen
sion into the heart of a man, a meek and sweet disposition is
the most fit for to do it with. If I would convey a comfort or
consolation into a man s heart, a meek disposition is most fit
for that. Christ gave the gospel, and he was meek ; Moses
gave the law, and he the meekest man upon earth in his time.
So that whether law or gospel, it is best handed into the heart
by meekness. I may with a soft breath blow a feather fur
ther than with strength of arm I can throw it. God loves
those that are like himself. The Holy Ghost is compared to
a dove, Christ is called a lamb, the Father, love itself in the
abstract ; no wonder, then, that a meek person, being so like
to God, hath so great an interest and credit in heaven.
And if these things be so, how little is this poor nation
and kingdom beholding to those that are of a froward, harsh
and perverse spirit; they disturb their own souls, they disturb
* Quoniam mores et vitia regis imitari genus obsequii est ; abjecerunt pieta-
tem ne exprobrare regi (Jovi) scelus viderentur. Lactantius.
VOL. IV. B B
370 SAINTS IIIDIXG-PLACE. [SER. 153
their own families, they disturb the place and kingdom where!
they live. If a meek person shall be hid in the day of God aj
anger, oh, where will you appear that are of a froward temper ?
I say, where will you appear in the evil day ? Bear the word^
of exhortation. It is only to get a sweet and loving dispo-*
sition. Qh, that our love might flourish at last and abound!
towards one another and to all the saints.
Hereby, even your meekness, ye walk as becometh the gos
pel, ye inherit the earth, are made like unto Jesus Christ,
have a great power and credit in heaven for yourselves and
others, and shall be hidden in the evil day.
And therefore, if any are here that are of a froward and per
verse disposition, go to God and say, Lord, give me meek
ness; and wherein I have been froward, either in my family
or elsewhere, forgive me this frowardness, and let not the
kingdom fare the worse by it.
It may be you will say, Oh, but he, or he, or he hath much
provoked me, and I cannot bear it.
But suppose that you have a ball of gold in your hand, and
another throw dirt in your face, will you throw away that
golden ball at him, because of the dirt that he doth throw on
you ? This meekness, sweet disposition, is your ball of gold;
and what though he throw dirt in your face ? you must wash
the dirt off his feet. Christ did so, washed his disciples feet.
And for our example, Luther calls upon magistrates, minis
ters, and all people, to tuck up their sleeves, and to fall a
washing of the disciples feet, by a loving and sweet submit
ting of our excellencies unto their infirmities.
But, Lord, how contrary are we unto Christ ? He washed
his disciples feet ; we throw dirt in disciples faces. Oh that
this guilt may not cleave to our souls in our dying day ! If
this day we could but stand up and forgive one another, and
learn meekness and sweetness towards one another, it would
prevail more with God than all our fasting and prayer ; and
without it, all our fasting and prayer is of no avail.
But my exhortation is unto you, especially, that are the
meek of the earth. Ye hear what interest, power and credit
ye have in heaven : seeing ye have so great an interest, away,
away to your Father s knee, and for poor England s sake im
prove your interest, and for Ireland s, Scotland s sake hold
not your peace : your dear and tender Father will bid your
>ER. 15.] SAINTS HIDING-PLACK. 371
>rayers welcome. Take a prospect of our sad condition : do
e not hear how Ireland cries, Help, help, O living England,
iclp poor, dying Ireland ! Do ye not hear how our afflicted,
>lundered and spoiled brethren in other parts of this king-
iom cry, Have pity, have pity upon us, oh, all our friends,
or the hand of the Lord hath touched us ! How the poor,
gnorant cry out of the countries, Oh, help to deliver us from
he wrath to come ! How this whole staggering nation cries,
f ever you help, help now ; if you have an interest in heaven,
ise it now !
Now, therefore, according to all your engagements here and
r our interest in heaven, go pray, cry, and cease not ; you may
o muchj you shall do much : for if any man in the earth can
o any good, it is the " meek of the earth." Wherefore, oh,
11 you that are the meek of the earth, I beseech you improve
our interest, seek ye the Lord : and not only this day, but
11 your days, seek righteousness, seek meekness : it may be
ou, and others by you, shall be hidden u in the day of the
jord s anger."
B B 2
SERMON XVI.
ENGLAND SAVED WITH A NOTWITHSTANDING.
REPRESENTED TO THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF COMMONS, Nov. 5, 1647,]
THE DAY OF THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THE
POWDER-PLOT.
To THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF COMMONS ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT.
IN what frosts and snows your hand hath cleaved to your plough, is not
known to this kingdom ; untharkfulness may say you have done little for us, buti
the truth cannot. " Magistratus labor m<jor rusticano," Luther. " Gubernatiol
est divina quaedam vertus, ideoque vocat Deus magistratus omnes, Deos, nouj
propter creationem, sed propter administrationem, quse solius Dei est, qui igitur
in regimine est, est quasi Deus incarnatus," Luther in Gen. The Lord hath
said ye are gods. Still therefore be pleased to act unweariedly and unchangeably
God doth save us with a notwithstanding our reluctancy, so should the magis
trate. God is a Father of the fatherless, and an help to the oppressed ; gather-
eth the outcasts, careth for those whom none careth for, and doth sometimes
carve for them first who do sit lowest. So should magistrates be and do ; anc
therefore the Lord, having said concerning magistrates that they are gods, PS
Ixxxii. 1, he addeth in ver. 3, 4, " Deliver ye the poor and needy," &c. The
magistrate should not always stay until the crying complaints of the poor be
brought to him, but should sometimes seek and inquire after them. The cry ol
the afflicted belongs to the magistrate, though they cry not to him. Musculus
therefore observes well, that the psalmist doth not say of the magistrate, " He
shall deliver the poor and needy " when he crieth unto him, but, " when he
crieth," Ps. Ixxii. 12. " Clamor afflictorum pertinet ad eos, qui in magistratu
sunt etiam si ad ipsos non clametur ; nam non dicit, liberabit egenum ad se cla-
mantem, sed clamentem et afflictum cui non est adjutor, hoc est, cui nihil est IE
rebus afflictis patrocinii," Musculus in Psal. God is a God of love, mercy and
grace ; he is called love itself, not justice, though he be so, but God is love :
should the magistrate be, full of love, bowels, and tender compassions unto
people ; therefore he is called, father, tender father, and Nasi, not only beca ,
he is lifted up above the people, but because he doth lift up. or ease their bur-
then, and doth potare populum in gremio suo. " IN ab raN velle quasi volens
bene suis aut benevolus dictus, T>3N Gen. xli., aliqui ducunt a 3^3 benedixit,
genua flexit, clamabant enim autem cum, genua flecte : sic Aben Ezra : alii di-
vidunt verbum in IN et D1 R. Solomon quod D1 in lingua Aramsea est rex nar
Joseph fuit pater regis : sed vox Ebraica m significat tener, mollis, quia prince
tener et molJis pater est, Mayer, philolog. Saer. par. prima p. 116. N ttf J a Nltf
levavit, clevavit, sublevavit, portavit." Now, most worthy patriots, ye hav
conquered this kingdom with your sword, conquer us once more with your lov
in providing for the poor, desolate, and in healing our sad divisions with a father
hand, and you are complete saviours and fathers to this bleeding kingdom. " Pa
cem nos poscimus," but not such a peace, as Augustine speaks, " ut inimi
ER. 16.] ENGLAND SAVED, &C. 373
ibmittant, sed ut amici jungant." I had thought to have been, date veniam
rrbo, disobedient to your command of printing this sermon, but being persuaded
iat it may in some measure conduce unto love both towards God and man, I
jose rather to disobey mine own inclinations than your order. Now the Lord
.mself make you the repairers of our breaches, and the restorers of paths to
ivell in : which is and must be the prayer of
Your servant in the gospel of Christ,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
"Nevertheless he saved them for his name s sake: that he might
ake his mighty power to be known." PSALM cvi. 8.
THIS psalm is a psalm of thanksgiving, as the first and
ist verses declare. Now because a man is most fit to praise
rod, when he is most sensible of his own sin and unworthi-
ess ; the psalmist doth throughout this psalm, lay Israel s
in and God s mercy together. Ver. 7, * Our fathers (says
e) understood not the wonders in Egypt/
They saw them with their eyes, but they did not under-
tand them with their heart; they did not apprehend the
esign and scope and end of God in those wonders : and
herefore, " they remembered not (says the text) thy mercies;"
a man remembers no more than he understands.
But it may be these mercies were very few, and so their
in in forgetfulness the less ?
Nay, not so, for verse 7> " They remembered not the mul-
itude of thy mercies."
But it may be this was their infirmity or weakness, and so
hey were the rather to be borne withal ?
Not so, " but they rebelled against him ;" so Montanus
eads it better.*
But it may be this sin was committed whilst they were in
Sgypt, among the Egyptians, being put on by them ?
Not so neither, but when they were come out of Egypt,
.nd only had to deal with God, and saw his glorious power
.t the Red Sea, then they rebelled against him, " At the sea,
.ven at the Red Sea."
What then, did not the Lord destroy them ?
* pD l sed rebellaverunt a mO: non dicit, et obedientes, vel haesitantes
ut tergiversantes, sed rebelles fuerunt ; rebellio est qua per contumaciam et
ontumtliarn adversatur subditus majori suf ; sic Israelite non simpliciter de-
rectabant obsequi, sed addebant murmura, obloquia, contumelias adversus Deum
t Moysen. Musculus in Psal.
374 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. 1GJ
No, says the text, " Notwithstanding " all their ignorance,
unthankfulness, and their rebellion, " he saved them for his
name s sake.
" He saved them ;" that is, with an outward salvation.
" For his name s sake ;" the name of God is that whereby
he is made known unto us. God s working for his name s!
sake, is still set in opposition to our deservings.
God doth sometimes work for his name s sake, that it maj
not be defiled and polluted by men. Sometimes, that thej
glory and honour of his name may shine out the more. Iiu
both these respects the words are to be understood, but
especially they are meant in the latter ; and so they are ex-J
plained in Isa. Ixiii. 12. And to this purpose the following!
words, " That he might make his mighty power known."
The word in the Hebrew is, To make known his mighty
power.*
Much of God s power is to be read and known in all his
creatures ; but in this their deliverance at the Red Sea, there
were the special prints of his fingers, the characters and
marks of his infinite power and deity, whereby he might be
plainly and clearly known. And that this name and power
of his might be thus known, he did save them with a not
withstanding all their former sins. Whence observe two
things :
First, Though the sin of a people be exceeding great, and
very heinous, yet God will and doth sometimes save them for
his own name s sake. He doth sometimes save his people
with a notwithstanding: notwithstanding all their sin and
guilt.
Secondly, When God doth thus save his people with a
notwithstanding , he doth then leave such marks and characters
of his mighty power upon their salvation, that he may be
cleaily and fully known and manifested to the sons of men.
First, God doth sometimes save his people, with a notwith
standing all their sin and all their unworthiness.
For God is gracious to a people, as well as to a person.
The blood of Jesus Christ is sprinkled on nations, as well as
particular persons. Now for a particular person ; ye read in
1 Tim. i. 15, how the Lord dealt with Paul: saith Paul
himself, " I was a blasphemer, injurious, persecutor ; never-
ad notificandum foititundinem suam. Ar. Montanus.
SEU. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 3/ >
theless I obtained mercy, although I did it ignoruntly through
unbelief/ or, Notwithstanding I did it ignorantly &c. Ye read
the words ordinarily thus, For I did it ignorantly ; as if igno
rance were the reason of his conversion, by way of excuse : but
the Greek on which you tran slate for, may be read, although.
As in Luke xxiii. 40, " Fearest thou not God," saith the
thief on the cross to his fellow, " seeing, (or although) thou
art in the same condemnation ? "* So Acts i. 17, "Who/
speaking of Judas, " was guide to them that took Jesus,
although he was numbered with us :" ye read it ordinarily for,
but it should he rather rendered although, for it is the same
on. Neither can it be truly translated for, by way of ex
tenuation, it being an aggravation rather : for sins of ignor
ance are of two sorts : either such as are simple ignorance ;
or of prave disposition. Simple ignorance doth excuse ;
but ignorance of prave, or ill disposition doth aggravate.
Such was Paul s ignorance :f for, says he, I did it ignorantly
* Or* iv TW avrti) K^i^ari , Luke xxiii. 40. Or* K ar7;pt9yu//iw.vos > rjv
aw rjp.iv, Acts i. 17. Vulg. annumerabatur enira nobiscum, quasi esset ratio
cur iste se ducem proebuerit illis qui Christum capiebant, cum contrarium velit
apostolus, hoc modo, ille Judas a diabolo et carne sua seductas eo pervenit
dementia?, ut suum dominum turpiter prodiderit, quamvis cum aliis maximis ab
eo sit affectus beneficiis, turn vel hoc inprimis ornatus, quod in numerum et
collegium apostolerum erat cooptatus. Tarnov. exercit. bibl. 188, 189.
f Paulus cum verbum de Christo prsedicato audiret, nolebat credere, sed re-
pugnabat, ut alii pharissei, licet hie eis fervidius, fecit enim ea quae sunt infide-
litatis ; hoc est, non tantutn habuerit fidei vacuitatem, sed etiam malo-
rum operum plenitudinem : quo spectat quod vox aTrtortae ssepe includat
onriiQuai imo repugnantiam. Jgnorantia facti et circumscautise excusat, in
tantum, non in totum, sed Paulus peccavit e\ ignorantia juris, qua; non excusat.
Nam Paulus se vocat peccatorem primum seu preecipuum, et misericordiaiu
Dei prsedicat, quse, quo peccatum majus, eo et ipsa major, quamvis igitur Paulus
pharisseus, cum scire omnino posset et deberet, Jerosolymis vivens, Christi doc-
trinam esse divinam, quippe tot miraculis, coiifirmatam, ipsumque esse mundi
salvatorem in V. Test, promissam, taraen oculos ad tantum lucem claudens.
volens illam ignorabit quam habere poterat, si non restitisset prsefracte ; et jam
id admirans dicebat, gratiam nihilominus sibi esse factam, quantumvis ignorans
fecerit ilia sua incredulitate, Idem 1106, 1107, &c. quomodo igitur per ori vel
quia, ignorantia potest constitui causa? ? quum extraordinaria prseter Dei volun-
tatem nullam habeant, saltern quod nos sciamus, causara. Paulus enim hie con-
stituitur Trgoe virolvTrwaii omnium qui sunt credituri, confer, v. 15, 16. Et
hie versu 16 est causa cur deus Paulus converted! ha rovro si euim or* vertis
causaliter, turn ignorantia et incredulitas erunt causo remissionis peccatoruui,
et proinde omnis qui peccat ex incredulitate et ignorantia, ut Judaei, Act. xxxvii.
13, 27 j 1 Cor. ii. 6, gratiam consequitur, quod tamen f alsum est, Idem, i .\cr-
cit. bibl. page 193, 189.
3/6 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [S^R. 16.
in unbelief. He doth not barely say, 1 did it ignorantly ;
but ignorantly in unbelief: which is the worst disposition,
and that doth aggravate.
Besides, ignorance is either such as is invincible, and
cannot be helped ; or such as is wilful and may be helped :
such was Paul s ignorance, for he stood by, and held the
clothes of those that stoned Stephen. There was enough
done and said before him to convince him of Christ, and
therefore his ignorance was rather aggravating.
Yea, and as Tarnovius doth well observe, Paul in this
Scripture doth not go about to extenuate, but aggravate his
sin. Witness the precedent, and following words : in the
precedent words, says he, " I was a blasphemer," and " a
persecutor, " and "injurious." In the following words,
"whereof I am chief," &c.
Besides, the conversion of Paul was miraculous, and not
to be laid on the ordinary cause of ignorance: and if he
were therefore converted because ignorant, then all that are
ignorant should be converted; but not so, we see the con
trary. The words therefore, are not to be read with for, but
with an although, or with a notwithstanding, thus : I was a
blasphemer, injurious, persecutor, nevertheless I obtained
mercy, although I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
And will the Lord save a particular person with a notwith
standing, and will he not save a people, his people with a
notwithstanding all their guilt and sin ?
God keeps the same method in giving out the benefits
that do corne by Christ, as in giving out of Christ himself.
Now for Christ himself: the first promise that was given of
him, was given with a notwithstanding, Notwithstanding the
great sin that Adam and Eve committed in the fall, yet, says
the Lord, " The seed of the woman shall break the serpent s
head."
Thus in the types of Christ; there were three great types
of him in the wilderness : the manna, the brazen serpent,
and the rock : but though all these were types, yet the rock
especially : and therefore in 1 Cor. x. 4, says the apostle,
" And that rock was Christ." He had said before, they did
all eat the same spiritual meat ; yet he doth not say, And
that meat was Christ, or that manna was Christ: but having
said, They all drank of the same spiritual rock, he addeth,
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 377
And that rock was Christ. Why ? but because the rock and
water was a special type of Christ. Now if we look into the
history, we shall find, that the waters of the rock, whereby
Israel were saved from death, was given with a notwithstand
ing : they murmured, and sinned much through unbelief;
yet the Lord struck the rock, and waters came forth like
honey ; yea, and the apostle tells us that the rock followed
them, they did not follow the rock, but the rock went after
them. And when Christ himself came into the world, ye
may read in Luke iii. what a pack of wicked men were then
in Judea that were in office ; Pontius Pilate, Herod, Annas
and Caiaphas ; yet then, even then did Christ come notwith
standing all the malice of those tyrants and times. And if
ye look into Isa. Ivii. 1 7j ye may read a clear proof of all
this, lf For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and
smote him : I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on fro-
wardly in the way of his heart." What then ? "I have
seen his ways," verse 18, "I will heal him: I will lead hirn
also, and restore comforts unto him, and to his mourners."
All this is spoken of a people, as well as of a particular per
son. Here is mercy, here is love, here is pardon with a
notwithstanding. So that God doth sometimes save his
people with a notwithstanding all their sins. That is the
first reason.
Again, if God should not shew mercy to his people
with a notwithstanding; how should the glory of his mercy
appear ? If a physician should only cure a man that hath
the head-ache or tooth-ache ; one that hath taken cold, or
some small disease ; it would not argue any great skill and
excellency in the physician. But when a man is nigh unto
death, hath one foot in the grave, or is, in the eye^of reason,
past all recovery ; if then the physician cure him, it argues
much the skill and excellency of that physician. So now, if
God should only cure, and save a people that were less
evil and wicked ; or that were good indeed, where should the
excellency of mercy appear ? But when a people shall be
drawing on, lying bedrid, as it were, and the Lord out of
his free love, for his own name s sake, shall o rise, and cure
such an unworthy people, this sets out the glory of his
mercy. Read therefore, and consider what is said in Ps.
Ixxxvii. 3. Glorious things are spoken of thee : but rather,
378 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. Ifi.
according to the Hebrew, in thee, Othoucity of God.* What
are those glorious things ? Verse 4 } I will make mention of
Rahab, and Babylon, to them that know me : Rahab signi
fies, pride and insolence; for Egypt dealt proudly and inso
lently with the people of God ; Babylon also oppressed
them sorely, and held them in captivity ; yet, says the Lord,
I will make mention of Egypt and Babylon to them that
know me. Yea, Philistia, and Tyre, and Ethiopia ; men and
people that were very wicked, shall be found with the saints ;
the Lord will take special notice of them, as of those in
Zion. What then ? Then glorious things shall be spoken
in thee. Mercy is never glorious, but when it is rich ; it is
never rich, but when it is free ; and the more free it is, and
works with a notwithstanding, the more glorious it is. Now
God, who is the God of glory, will have his mercy, which is
his glory, made glorious ; and therefore, though the sin of a
people be exceeding great, and very heinous, yet he will
sometimes save them for his own name s sake, with a not
withstanding all their sins.
If God doth sometimes save a people with a notwith
standing all their sin : then it is possible, I see nothing in
the word contrary to it, but that England, Scotland, Ireland,
may yet be saved, with an outward salvation, notwithstanding
all our fears, notwithstanding all our sins. The Lord saved
Israel, brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea,
notwithstanding all their rebellion. The Lord saved Lot out
of Sodom, notwithstanding he saw what he would do with
his two daughters afterward. The Lord saved Israel out of
Babylon, notwithstanding that they were loth to depart, and
were grown exceeding vile and very wicked there. The Jews
were a people that were under the law ; indeed they were
saved by the same covenant of grace that we are, and by
Jesus Christ as we are, yet were under the law, for God
dealt with them in a more legal way and manner than he
doth deal by us. And did the Lord s grace and free love so
strive upon them, as to save them with a notwithstanding,
and shall not his grace and love now strive upon his gospel-
people, to save, and deliver them with a notwithstanding ?
Were they under the law, and yet saved by grace ? Did the
Lord save the Mosaical Israel, for his own name s sake, with
* "p "ID "ID gloriosa dicta in te. Ar. Mont.
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 379
a notwithstanding ; and shall he not save Christian Israel, in
a way of free love, with a notwithstanding also ? Surely
the Lord is as full of grace now, in the times of the New
Testament, as ever he was in the times of the Old Testa
ment.
But we are a people that have been much defiled with
the superstitions of the former times, and the idolatry thereof.
And was not Israel so in the land of Egypt ? read Ezek. xx.
Oh, but since the Lord hath been pleased to come among
us, and make a tender, and offer of reformation, we have
been unwilling to it.
True, but were not Israel unwilling to go out of the land
of Egypt ?
But we are not only unwilling, but we have risen up
against, and murmured, and chidden with tluse that would
have been our reformers.
And did not Israel chide with Moses ?
Oh, but we have sinned worse than they, for we have
sinned greatly in the face of all those glorious mercies, which
God hath shewed of late among us.
And I pray consider it, was it not thus with Israel ? It is
said in the verse precedent ; They rebelled at the sea, even
at the Red Sea. Or, as in the Hebrew, even in the Red
Sea :* when the waters stood like walls on both sides of them ;
when they saw those walls of waters that never people saw
before, and saw the power, the infinite power of God leading
them through on dry land ; then did they rebel, at the sea,
even in the sea ; and yet for all this the Lord saved them,
he saved them with a notwithstanding all this. And I say,
shall the Lord put forth so much of grace upon a people,
that were under the law ; and not put forth much more of
his grace upon those that are under the gospel ? O England,
England, I cannot write thee lost or forsaken ; thou mayest
yet be saved, I speak of outward salvation, thou mayest yet
be saved, notwithstanding all thy fears, and all thy sins.
* DIDD l D 1 ?]?. Grsec. Kcu 7rapMnix.%ira.v a.vaaivov\i.c w rr)
SAa<7<n/. Vulg. lat. in mare. Hieron. in mari rubro ; erant in grandi et
senti, et inevitabili discrimine constituti. nam Egyptii a tergo, mcntibus inape-
diebantur ne vel ad dextram vel ad sinistram declinare, mari vero ne jn
possent occludebantur : hisce augustiis inclusi murmurabant et rebellabuul uli
potissimum diviiiaj bonitatis rnemoria vigere debet. Muscat, in Nas.
380 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. 16.
Yea, the Lord hath saved us, he hath saved us with a not
withstanding : as great and large a notwithstanding as ever
people and nation were saved with. Witness the mercy, and
deliverance of this day. When the powder-treason was on
foot, what a dark night of security had trodden upon the
glory of our English day ? Then did our strength lie fast
asleep in the lap of Dalilah. What pride, oppression, court-
uncleanness, superstitions, and persecutions of the saints
then, under the name of Puritans ! Nevertheless he saved us,
and our fathers.
And now of late what bitterness of spirit among profes
sors ; what divisions; oppressions, instead of justice; what
new-fangled prides ; what unwillingness to be reformed ?
Time was heretofore when we did call for truth, and cried
aloud for truth ; oh, that we might know the truth. But
now we deal by truth, as the friar said the people did by
their holy-water ; Ye call, and cry, said he, for holy water,
but when the sexton sprinkles it, ye turn away your faces,
and it falls upon your backs. So the times were heretofore
that we called, and cried out for truth, truth : it is now come
unto you, we would sprinkle it upon you, but you turn away
your faces from it, and it falls upon your backs.
And is there not as much swearing, drunkenness, profane-
ness still as before ? I read of a street in Rome, called Vi-
cus Sobrius, the sober street : because there was never an
ale-house to be found in it. And upon this account, I think
there will be never a sober street in England ; or very rare.
As for the precious ordinances of Jesus Christ, never so
slighted, and rejected as now. Nevertheless, the Lord hath
saved us ; yea, he hath saved us with a great salvation ; I
may say, miraculous salvation : oh, if ever people were saved
in a way of free love, and with a notwithstanding, thus are
we saved here in England.
But suppose it be so, that the Lord hath saved us with a
notwithstanding, for his own name s sake, out of his mercy
and free love : what is our duty that doth flow from hence ?
If the Lord doth save us with a notwithstanding, for
his own name s sake, out of mere grace ; then, what mighty
engagements are upon us all, to become gracious ; to repent
of, and turn from our former sins, notwithstanding which he
hath saved us. An ungracious heart may possibly mourn for
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 381
sin that it may be pardoned; but an ingenuous, gracious
heart, will mourn for sin because it is pardoned. Yea, and
the more he apprehends that his sin is pardoned, the more
he will, and doth mourn for it.
We read of David, that he had sinned greatly, and he lay
long therein without testimony of repentance : at the last, he
breaks out into a penitential psalm, the list, and there he
melts, and breaks all to pieces in repentance. When was
that psalm made ? The title tells us, A Psalm of David ;
when Nathan the prophet came unto him, that is after Na
than the prophet had come. And what did Nathan say to
him, but " thy sin is forgiven thee ;" whereupon he did melt
into that repentance. So now, when a person doth truly
consider how many notwithstanding s the Lord doth carry his
conversion through, then he doth melt indeed, if there be ingen
uousness in him. Oh, says he, I was a poor ignorant man,
a drunkard, a swearer, an opposer, and a jeerer at goodness
and good men ; yet the Lord saved me, shewed mercy to me,
notwithstanding all this : and therefore, what infinite cause
have I to be humbled for sin committed ; here he breaks,
and melts. And if ye look into Ezra ix., ye shall find that
nothing did so melt and break his heart as this, that the peo
ple sinned against the free love of God, verse 6., " O my
God, I am ashamed arid blush to lift up my face to thee, my
God : for now for a little space grace hath been shewed from
the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape and to give
us a nail in his holy place." verse 10, " And now O our God,
what shall we say after this ? for we have forsaken thy com
mandments." verse 13, " And after all that is come upon us,
for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that
thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities
deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this: should
we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with
the people of these abominations ? O Lord our God, thou
art righteous, for we remain yet escaped : behold we are be
fore thee in our trespasses : for we cannot stand before thee,
because of this." So say I, hath the Lord shewed mercy to
us with a notwithstanding all our sins; and shall we sin
against him notwithstanding all his mercies ; how shall we
stand before him because of this? Surely, the latter end
will be sad and smart. Ye read of the children of Israel s
382 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16.
unbelief, and that therefore they fell, and died in the wilder
ness: they had sinned greatly in unbelief on the other side
the water, before they came through the Red Sea, but God
pardoned that : but when the Lord had brought them
through the Red Sea, and they had seen God saving
them with a notwithstanding, and then fell into that unbelief,
they died for it : their unbelief on this side the water, was at
a dearer rate than on the other. And so it will be with us ;
many and great were our sins which we committed before the
Lord saved us ; and if yet we will go on, and will not repent
of them ; now they will cost us dear. The Lord hath saved
us with a notwithstanding : oh, what a mighty engagement is
this upon us all to leave those sins, notwithstanding which
the Lord hath saved us ?
If the Lord hath saved us with a notwithstanding, out of
free love ; then let us all walk humbly after all our deliverances,
victories, salvations. Be it known unto thee, O Israel, saith
the Lord, " that not for thy righteousness, not for thy up
rightness, but for mine own name s sake have I done all this."
So may I say to England : O England, the Lord hath done
great things for thee formerly, and of late ; yet, be it known
unto thee, that not for thy righteousness, nor thine upright
ness, but for his own name s sake hath he done it. Why
should any of us then be proud, and not walk humbly under
all ? " My soul (says Mary) doth magnify the Lord, &c.,
for he that is mighty hath magnified me :" so your old ser
vice book ; but it is, according to the original* " Hath done
great things for me." She doth not say, as Austin observes,
Fecit in me, or fecit per me, but fecit mihi he hath done
great things, not in me, nor by me, but to me and for me,
holy and reverend is his name ; as for me, I am not so much
an agent, as a poor patient. So may we say, The Lord hath
done great things for us, nor in us, not by us, but for us and
to us for his own name s sake. Oh, therefore let us all walk
humbly with our God.
If the Lord hath saved us with a notwithstanding : then
why should not we love one another with a notwithstanding ?
You say, I could love such, or such a man, but that he is of
this opinion : I confess he is godly, but not of my judgment,
nor of my opinion, this or that failing, or oddness of carriage
* On f&otr](r /not fieyaXeia o ^Walop.
SER. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 383
he hath.* But did God love me with a notwithstanding all
ray sin ; and shall not I love his children with a notwith
standing all their failings ? ye know the parable : when the
Lord forgave his servant frankly and freely, what he expec
ted that the servant should do to his fellow servant : and be
cause he did not, his Lord " was wroth with him." This is
an everlasting rule ; that when Christ loves us, he expects
that we should love his, as he hath loved us. And therefore
says he, " A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love
one another, even as I have loved you." Now he hath loved
as freely, notwitJistanding all our failings and sins ; all our
oddnesses and weaknesses : awake, awake, oh love of the
aints, awake.
Some think the best way to unite hearts in these dividing
times, is to make all things common, according to that verse,
Si duo de iiostris tollas preenomina rebus prolia cessarent, pax
sine lite foret. Take but two pronouns, that is, meum and tuum,
out of our matters, and wars will cease, and there will be peace
without strife. But the statute of meum and tuum was made in
heaven, and it is engraven in our nature. " Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-ser
vant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his." This
his is part of the moral law, and so in our nature. Indeed,
we read that when Cain, a wicked man, came to sacrifice, that
it is said, " he brought an offering of the field," in common.
But when godly Abel brought a sacrifice, it is said, {< he
brought a firstling of his sheep ;" the word of propriety be
ing written upon his sacrifice. And surely the way to unite
hearts, is not to dissolve our nature ; but if you would love
one another, as this doctrine calls for at our hands, let me tell
you, that the way to love, is to begin in faith. As in our love
to God : love is the fruit of faith, faith is the root of love : I
cannot love God if I do not trust him, nor can I ever love
my neighbour if I do not trust him. Away, therefore, with
all designings one upon another, and let us first profess sim
plicity and integrity. Though I can never help you as I
would, yet I will never detain you ; ye cannot love if ye do
not trust first. And, therefore, let us so carry it towards one
another, in all simplicity and godly gospel integrity, that we
* Diversutn sentire duos de rebus cisdem incolumi licuit semper amicitia.
384 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16.
may confide in each other. And if you would love one ano
ther much, do not expect too much from any ; man is but
man : " Verily every man in his best estate," and therefore
though he be godly, " is altogether vanity." There is some
what of the worst in the best, In optimo semper aliquid pessi-
mi. Every man must have his allowance, he hath his failings.
Whenever you look upon another man s infirmities, think of
his other excellencies. As when you look upon your own
excellency, think withal upon your other infirmity : so when
you look on another man s infirmity, think withal on his other
excellency. If we expect too much we are disappointed, and
disappointment doth breed vexation and displeasure : if we
expect little and find much, it breeds love ; if we expect much
and find little, it breaks love.
Again, If you would have the returns of love upon your
heart, walk and be together, you that are godly. Strangeness
is the next door to enmity. Strangeness doth breed suspicion,
and suspicion doth breed enmity. There are some things
wherein we are all agreed, let us walk together in the practice
of them.* It is a vain thing for men to run up and down to
get work, when much lies unmade upon their shop-boards.
Now there is much on our board yet not made up, let us all
work to make up that which lies on our board for the present,
arid by that time it is made up, through ,God s grace we shall
be agreed in the rest. And in the mean time let every man
keep his place. A learned man being asked what the reason
was of the dissensions of those times wherein he lived, said,
Because men do not keep their places ; all men were out of
their places.f I wish I might not say so too. We are out of
our places ; and what peace or love while men are out of their
* Nunciatum est mihi de vobis fratres ab aliquibus, qui in vestra congregatione
sum et ad nos inde venerunt, quod de hac re dissentiones in vobis sunt, itaque
dilectissimi ne vos perturbet hujus qusestionis obscuritas, moneo vos primum ut
de his quae iutelligitis agatis Deo gratias ; quicquid est autem quo pervenire non-
dum potest vestrse mentis intentio, pacem inter vos et charitatem servantes a do
mino ut intelligatis orate, et donee res ipsa perducat ad ea quse noudum intelligitis
ibi ambulate quo pervenire potuistis. Haec etiam admonet apostolus Paulus, qui
cum dixisset se nondum perfectum esse, paulo post ait, quotquot ergo perfect!
suimis hoc sapiamus et si quid aliter sapitis hoc quoque Deus revelabit, verum
1. -mien in quod pervenimus in eo ambulamus, Phil. iii. 15, 16. Augustin. vide
Cassandri tractat. de pii viri officio circa religionis desidium.
f Unde tot in rebus humanis turbse, nisi quod fere omnes earn quam Deus
SER. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 385
places, and do not act nor move in their own spheres ? Oh,
you that are scholars of Jesus Christ, away to your places,
your Lord is coming, and if he find you out of your places
he will take the rod into his hand.
But above all things, think of this truth much that is now
before ye. Lactantius observes, that the heathens accounted
it the best honouring of their gods, to be like them : and there
fore some would be wicked, that they might be like to Jupiter
their god :* and though it were evil which they did, yet they
thought they honoured their gods in it, because they were like
to them. Ye would all honour your God : labour more and
more to be like to him ; he hath saved, delivered and loved
you with a notwithstanding. Oh, therefore let us love one
another notwithstanding all our failings, and infirmities.
Ye read of Rebecca, that when she was with her servants,
she rode on camels : but when she saw Isaac on foot, she
did alight and walk as he did. It may be when you are with
your fellow servants, you think it fit to be on horse-back, you
are high and in your ruffe r but behold our Isaac, our Saviour
hath condescended to our infirmities, came down, walked on
foot : he hath saved us with a notwithstanding ; and why
should not all we be contented to walk, as Christ walked ;
and to love, as he loved ? He hath loved us with a notwith
standing, so let us do.
If the Lord doth sometimes save his people with a never
theless,, out of mere love, then why should we despise, or
despair of any, though they be never so vile ; or envy at any,
though they be never so good ? Say not, says Austin, Num
quid Deus correcturus est hominem tarn vilem $c. Will God
correct and convert a man so vile and so perverse ? Do not
despair, says he, attend whom thou pray est to, not for whom
imposuit nobis personam, nobis nolumus, et peregrinam agere desideramus ; qui
agere debet theologum, agere audet politicum, qui privata contentus esse umbra
debet, publico apricare sole molitur : quod non minus creat in hac mundi histri-
onia incomniodi, quam si in comoedia&ervusagatherum et ancilla dominum, morio
regem, &c. Est via ad concordiam, quisque facial in suo vitse genere ad quod
Deus eum vocavit suum officium. Non extollat se supra alios neque opera aliorum
reprebendat, et sua velut meliora laudet, sed alii aliis per cbaritatem serviant,
Luther.
* Mores et vitia regis imitari genus obsequii est : abjecerunt pietatem ne ex-
probrare regi (Jovi) scelus viderentur. Lact.
VOL. IV. C C
386 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. 16
thou prayest.* You see the disease of the patient, but not
the power of the physician. And seeing God works and
saves with a notwithstanding, who kno\vs what he will do,
whose ways are past finding out ? Joseph was thrown be
hind for a while, and though he had a promise that his sheaf
should be higher than the rest of his brethren, yet at the
first it was lowest, but God took him, raised him, and made
his sheaf higher than all his brethren s. So can God do by
this or that wicked person : though now he stands behind,
God may take him, and set him before ; for God works
freely. Oh, therefore, never despise any, though they be
never so wicked ; nor I say, envy at others, though they be
never so good, for their parts, gifts, and abilities : God can
take you and make you as good, or better. For the present
indeed, you may bemoan yourselves, and say, Is God so
good, so gracious, so free as to save with a notwithstanding,
and am I the only wicked man or woman that shall have
none of this free love ; that shall not taste of this rich grace ?
Si impius es, says one, If thou art wicked, think on the pub
lican : if unclean, think on Rahab : if injurious, think on the
thief ; if an idolater, think on Abraham ; if a blasphemer,
think on Paul : who would have thought, that should have
seen Paul trudging with a persecuting commission, that he
would ever have been such a famous preacher of the gospel ?
But the Lord, our Lord, works, delivers, saves with a notwith
standing ; he doth work freely : therefore, despise not any,
though they be never so vile : envy not any, though they be
never so good.
If the Lord doth save for his own name s sake, then let
us all be tender of his name : take heed that we do not
wrong his name, our only friend in adversity: but if we be in any
danger, labour more and more to engage his name in our work,
and upon all occasions exalt this name of the Lord. Abulen-
sis observes, that though Moses did strike other things with
his rod, yet himself would not strike the waters, but spake to
Aaron to strike them, when they were to be turned into
blood : for, says he, Moses was preserved in the waters, and
ont of thankfulness he would not strike the waters that had pre
served him. I do not like his reason, but I allude : it is
* Attende quern rogas non pro quo ragas, vides periculum morbi sed non vides
potentiam medici fecit reficere potest Augustin.
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 3>7
the name of the Lord that hath preserved you, and shall we
now strike his name ? I say nothing of those that do swear by
his name, their own consciences tell them, that they wound
the name of God : but how few are there in these days that
are tender of God s name ? If a man, a professor, fall and
sin, how ready are others to spread and divulge his sin ? yea,
though the spreading thereof be a scandal unto God s name.
As Luther said in his time, ob quodcunque erratum, for every
fault, and error, they presently cry out, These are your fruits
of the gospel : so now this is the fruit of your profession and
holiness.
But ye see into what times of danger we are now fallen.
" The name of the Lord (says Solomon) is a strong tower,
the righteous fly thereunto and are safe i" or, as some read it,
lifted up. If a man be in a tower, he may not only defend
himself, but offend his enemy. Abimelech and a sorry wo
man were too unequally matched ; what was a weak woman
to him ? Yet, Judges ix., a woman, having the advantage of
a strong tower, proved too good for him ; for, from the tower
she cast down a great stone upon Abimelech, brake his skull,
and he died. Now such a strong tower is the name of the
Lord : though you be so weak as a woman, yet if in-towered
in the name of God, you shall be able to cast down millstones
upon all your enemies. Who would not, therefore, engage
the name of God more and more in the time of danger ?
And seeing for his own name s sake he hath saved you, and
your fathers, and children, and families, as it is this day ;
come now, and let us exalt his name together.
The name of God is exalted, when ye speak highly of his
power, faithfulness, mercy, free love and grace, and of all his
attributes.
A man exalts his name, \then he ventures upon great
things, and hard things, even lions in his way, upon confi
dence in the name of God : as David against Goliah.
The name of God is exalted, when men yield up their
resolutions and engagements, and that presently, upon the
least discovery of dishonour that may come thereby to this
name of God.
We exalt the name of God, when we labour to bear up
those ordinances, ways and truths of God, which the world
decries. There is a verbal, and there is a real exalting of
c c 2
388 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. 16.
God s name ; it is not the verbal but the real that God ex-
pecteth : and seeing he saveth us, arid all our s hitherto, for
his own name s sake, why should we not all join together in
exalting his name ? Oh, you that are parents, call upon your
children to exalt his name ; you that are governors and mas
ters, call upon your servants to exalt his name : tell them
how he hath saved us with a notwithstanding, for his own
name s sake; and therefore exalt his name.
I shall now tell you, in the next place, that if God doth
save us with a notwithstanding, then we should serve him
with a notwithstanding all opposition, notwithstanding all
discouragements : that we should believe and trust in him,
notwithstanding all our fears and dangers. But I hasten to
the next doctrine, which is this :
Secondly, When God doth save his people with a notwith
standing, he doth then leave such marks and characters of
his infinite power upon their deliverance to salvation, that he
may be fully, clearly, plainly known to the sons of men.
Ye shall observe, therefore, that when God promised any
great deliverance to his people in the time of the prophets,
he frequently addeth these words, " Then shall ye know that
I am the Lord," or, " Then shall ye know that I am Jeho
vah." God s infinite and almighty power is never more seen
or legible, than when he works in a way of free love. And
therefore, if ye look into Numb, xiv., you find, that when
Moses pleaded with God to pardon and pass by the iniquity
of his people, to shew forth his grace and love to them ; he
doth then implore and call in the power, the great power of
God ; ver. 17, it is said, he made the heavens by his power,
but here great power is used and expressed for the pardoning
of sin. And in Ps. xcix. 8, we find that his free love and
power are knit together. Deusfortis condonans, fyc. For he
is not only strong and merciful, but he is strong in mercy.
So that, whensoever God doth save his people with a a not
withstanding, his great design is to make known his mighty
power unto the sons of men.
But it will be said now, We are all convinced and per
suaded, that the Lord hath saved us and ours in a way of
free love, with a notwithstanding : but what marks or impres
sions of a Deity, or of infinite power, are there upon the
deliverances or salvations that we have had ?
SER. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 389
It is only God himself that can turn the tide. Poor weak
man may turn and divert the stream of a river, but it is only
God, and the infinite power of the Almighty, that can turn
the tide. When the tide comes in, we may sail up with the
tide, or cast anchor : but none can turn the tide but God
alone. Not long since, there was a full tide of superstition
and prelatical malice coming in upon all God s people ; and
now of late how hath this tide been turned ? Oh, the tide
is turned, it is turned : this is the Lord s doing, and it may
be marvellous in your eyes if it be not.
Again, when there are such great things done for God s
people as the nature of the second cause will not, cannot
bear; then the hand, and arm, and special power of God is,
and may be seen therein, Jer. xxxi. 22, " I the Lord have
created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a
man."* It is ordinarily understood of Christ in the womb
of the virgin Mary, but, as Calvin doth well observe, (it is
his comment not mine,) it is not said, that a woman shall
compass a man barely, but a strong one : a woman shall
compass a strong one, or one that is strong : so the Hebrew
word signifies : and, says he, that word which is translated
compass, signifies such a compassing) as enemies do use when
they lay siege to a city. So Ps. cxviii., " They compassed
me about like bees." It is the same word there which is
used in a hostile way. And so the meaning is thus : though,
oh, ye Israelites, ye be as weak as women, and your enemies
strong, yet you shall lay siege to them, and take them cap
tive, for I will create a new thing."
When God works creation-wise, then he puts forth his
almighty power ; and when a woman, or those that are weak,
shall lay siege to, and take the strong, then his creating
hand is at work.
* Neque enim sinapliciter propheta hie de viro loquitur, sed nominal virum
robustura. ~OJ enim sumitur a fortitudine ; cum igitur fseminam viro comparet,
non dubito quin signified propheta Israelites qui similes erant fceminis, hoc est
carebant viribus, destituti erant omni auxilio, quin dicit superiores fore hostibus
suis quorum potentia poterat toti roundo terrorem incutere : Nam 3.30 signi-
ficat non amplecti sed obsidere, ssepenumero, et multis accipitur scripturse locis
in malam partem : Hostes circundederunt me, Ps. cxviii. Cum igitur notatur
obsidio scriptura hoc verbum usurpat. et perinde est acsi propheta dixisset,
redigent fseminse viros in angustias, ita ut ipsos captivos teneant. Calvin, in
Jerem. xxxi. 22.
390 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [ER. I(>.
And bath it not been thus in these great deliverances that
he hath wrought for us of late ? We may all say, " The
Lord hath created a new thing," for the woman, that is, those
that are weak, have laid siege to, and taken those that are
strong. Here is power legible.
Again, the Psalmist doth speak expressly, " The Lord is
known by the judgment that he executeth : the wicked are
snared in the work of their own hands." When the wicked
plot, consult, and design upon, and against the righteous,
and they are so snared in their complotments, as that the
cause of the just and righteous is furthered by their own
workings, then is the Lord known : then and there are the
marks, impressions, characters, of a Deity upon that work.
And hath not the Lord led you in this way all along ?
For the powcer treason : the enemies and papists thought
to have swallowed up the protestant party, and to have sub
dued all this kingdom with their religion ; promising them
selves such a good day, as they never had before : but never
had the papists such a blow, nor that religion made rrore
odious in this kingdom, than by this design of their own :
they were snared in their own works.
And was it not so with the prelates of late ; and with all
your enemies ? I appeal to ye, what hath contributed to, or
advanced the cause of God s people, more than the design
ings of their enemies ? Oh, therefore who may not say,
Now I have seen a Deity, now I have seen the Lord, and
his mighty power ?
But if there have been such marks and impressions of an
almighty power upon all our deliverances and salvations;
what is the reason, that men see God no more therein, God
is yet known no more ?
Let me tell you plainly : some men come to God s work
full of their own sense. Interpretation follows the dispo
sition. Every man interprets according to his own affection.
It is therefore observed by Masius, that when Moses and
Joshua came down from the mount, and heard the people
dancing, playing, and singing before their golden calf;
Joshua, being of a warlike disposition, interprets the noise
to be the noise of war : Moses, being a meek man, interprets
the noise to be the noise of singing. I have read of a
certain controversy that was at Rome, concerning the two
SHU. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 391
missals or services of Gregory and Ambrose: the contro
versy was very hot, whose missal or mass-book should be
allowed, and authentic : and thereupon they determined, that
they should both be left upon the altar in Peter s church all
the night ; and that they would expect some immediate
revelation from heaven the next morning : it was so done,
both were left on the altar ; and in the morning, they found
that Gregory s mass-book was rent, and torn in many pieces,
and lay scattered about the church : but Ambrose s whole,
and open upon the altar. Which event, says my author,
one would have thought, should have signified thus much,
that the missal of Gregory should have been cancelled and
abolished ; and that of Ambrose authentic and canonical :
but Pope Adrian, in whose time it was, being for Gregory s
mass-book, expounded this lying miracle thus : that the
rending of Gregory s missal, intended the dispersing thereof
over all the Christian world, and that it only should be made
authentic. Thus do men s interpretations follow their own
dispositions. And so now, when men come to God s works,
deliverances, and salvations, though there be much of a
Deity therein, yet coming to them in their own sense, and
abounding in their affection, they follow their own disposi
tion, and so they lose the Deity.
But when Moses came to see the wonder of " the burning
bush, that was not consumed ;" though he said, " I will turn
aside to see this great wonder;" the Lord said, " Pull off thy
shoes, Moses, pull off thy shoes." So doth God now call
unto us : you say, I will turn aside, and see this wonder,
that England s bush hath been burning thus many years,
and is not consumed ; a wonder indeed, to be beheld and
considered by all : but if you would see the Lord therein,
ye must pull off your own shoes ; and the Lord calls unto
ye, Oh, my servants, pull off your shoes ; lay aside your
own dispositions, else you will not see this wonder, nor my
power.
Sometimes men come to God s work with their hearts
full of envy and malice at God s instruments : and envy is
blind.* They will not see, says envy, in a case of justice,
but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at thy
* Ira sequintui invidium, qua; mentem exulcerat, sensum hebetat, linguam
iuirautat, ocnlos obumbrat, tutumque corpus perterbat. Ambrose.
392 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SfiR. 1 6
people. If a man have an envious, malicious eye at God s
instruments, he will never see much of God in the work.
Though there be much of God s power and glory in all
those salvations which he hath wrought for us with a notwith
standing : yet sometimes men see not God, because they stand
poring so much on the second cause. God seldom doth
any great work, but still he doth use some creature in the
doing of it, though the creature be too short to reach the
work. And though it be but a piece of brass, which, say
the naturalists, to behold is hurtful to those that are stung
with the serpent : yet the Israelites will rather adore the
brazen serpent, than they would see the Lord.
The Jewish Rabbins say, that when the Philistines had
taken Samson,* and saw that he was a man of such strength,
none like him in all the earth ; they caused him to sleep with
some women, that they might have a generation of Samsons,
and strongmen among them: and the reason of this notion
they take from Judges xvi. 21, where it is said, That they
made him him grind, not in the mill, but they made him
grind. Which word is the same in the Hebrew, with that in
Job xxxi., "Then let my wife grind to another." And if
this notion of theirs be true : ye see how the Philistines lost
the sight of God in the strength of Samson ; namely, by
poring too much on the second cause of strength. But
when our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, what great and
glorious things did he do, yet the Jews had not an eye to
see them, or God in them : why ? " Is not this the carpen
ter s son ? " say they. " Can any good come out of Naza
reth ? " They looked no higher than Nazareth, or a carpenter.
There was flesh in Christ, and a Deity : they looked so much
upon his flesh, as they did lose his Deity. So in all these
great things that God hath done for us ; there is a flesh in
the work, something of flesh ; and there is a Deity, the im
pressions of infinite power : but men stand looking so much
upon the flesh of the action, . as they lose the Deity of it.
Some stretch and crack their eye-strings so much in behold
ing the creatures, and in the admiration of men ; as they
have no eye left for to see the Lord : sometimes men see no
* Ebrsei tamen dicunt quod Philistsei fecerunt cum dormire cum mulieribus
robustis ut ex eo prolem robust am susciperent : quoniam idem vocabul : Judges
xvi. 21. imtS et Job xxxi. Tntsn Dilheius. Elect, lib. ii. cap ix.
SER. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 393
more of God in his works because they are not acquainted
with his ways and methods of his proceedings with his peo
ple ; his way is in the deep, and therefore his footsteps are
riot known ; we seek for him in our own way, and find him not ;
for his ways are not as our ways : whereupon says Luther,*
If we would see more of God in his works, we must under
stand his ways as distinct from ours. Nam ego, saith he, I
often endeavoured to prescribe God his way which he should
walk in. O Lord, said I, this I would have thus done, in
this order, and with this event : but God did the contrary
unto what I desired : then did I think but my counsel was
for God s glory, and did make to the sanctifying of his name ;
sed risit dominus, the Lord laughed at my wisdom, saying,
I know thou art a wise man, and learned ; but it is not my
manner to do, or work, or govern, as Peter Martyr, Luther,
or any other shall teach ; for I am not a passive but an ac
tive God : sciamus ergo, we must know therefore, that God
doth sometimes hide himself, that we may learn that his
goodness, mercy, power, is not to be attained by speculation,
but experience. The way to see him in his work is to under
stand his method in working, which nothing can attain unto,
but faith : " all men have not faith, few that do live by faith/
Sometimes men are so discontented with what is evil amongst
us, that for anguish of their souls, they cannot see what is
good : some crumb goes awry, and so they lose the whole
meal of mercy. But would you have a true prospect of the
great things God hath done for us ? then let us all go, and
run unto Jesus Christ, to open the mystery and parable of
* Discamus regulam et ordinem gubernationis Dee usitatum, nam ego ssepe
certas rationes conatus sum Deo prsescribere, quibus uteretur in administratione
sanctse ecclesiae et aliarum rerum ; ab Domine, dixi, hoc velim ita fieri, hoc
eventu ; sed Deus prorsus contrarium faciebat ab eo quod petiveram : ibitum
cogitabam, atqui meutn consilium non est alicuum a gloria Dei, sed plurimutn
facit ad sanctificandum nomen ejus : sed risit haud dubie dominus hanc sapieu-
tiam et dixit, age vero uovi te esse prudentem et eruditum, sed mihi nunquam
hie mos fuit ut aut Petrus, aut Divus Martinus, aut alius me doceret : non sura
Deus passivus, sed activus. Sciamus Deum se abscondere sub specie pessimi
Diaboli, ideo ut discamus bonitatem, tnisericordiam, potentiam Dei non posse
comprehend! speculando, sed experiendo. Deus suos humiliat uc exaltet, occidit
ut vivificet, confundit ut glorificet, subjicit ut extollat. Nam sic Deus sapien-
tiam nostram mortincat, ut homo agrestis mirabilem symphoniam tot vocum in
organis, aut Cythara non intelligit, propterea quod totius harmonise rationem
ignorat : sic nos arbitratnur temere omuia fieri, diabolum vigilare, Deuiu dor-
mire, &c. Luther in Gen.
394 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16*.
his works ; he is the Lord that is now at work. And as
when he lived, without a parable spake he nothing, so now
without a parable works he nothing : his works are all para
bolical as his words are.
We read, that when John, in Rev. v., met with a sealed
book that had seven seals, which neither he nor any could
open, he fell down and wept ; but one came to him and told
him, " the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy to open the
book ;" and so he was fully quieted, praising the Lord, Now
there is a great folio book of providence that is before you ;
indeed it is sealed with many seals, but if opened, you will
find that it is written in every page, Free grace, free love,
salvation with a notwithstanding. Would you open this book ?
away then to Jesus Christ, and as the disciples said, so do
you also, " Lord, tell us the meaning of this parable ;" tell
us the meaning of this dispensation ; oh, tell us the meaning
of this thy providence. Christ is very ready to teach you :
as a schoolmaster morning by morning teacheth his scholars,
so Christ, Isa. 1. 4. And all the worst he will say to you, as
to Peter, " What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know."
But suppose we have seen the Lord already, the finger,
hand, arm, and almighty power of God; for we must all
needs acknowledge " that the Lord hath done great things for
us " that we have seen the marks and characters of his al
mighty power imprinted upon all our deliverances, upon the
deliverance of this day, and upon all those salvations which
this age hath brought forth : but then what is our work, and
what returns are we to make unto God again ?
Discovery of power calls for fear : it must be the song of
these latter times, " Great and wonderful are thy works, O
Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, who shall
not fear thee, and worship thy name ?" Rev. xv.
But if God hath done great things for us, then are we to
do some great thing for God again. God never did any
great thing for his servants but they did great things for him,
so David, Paul, Zaccheus, and many others. And because
Hezekiah did not make answerable return of praise, though
he did praise the Lord for his deliverance, God was displeased
with him, and it cost him dear. Now God hath done great
things for us, and made known his infinite power in a way of
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 395
free love to us, what great thing shall we do for God ; yea,
what great thing shall we not do for God ?
Let us fix here a little.
It is in these working busy times a great thing to sit still
and be contented to be without work, to be laid by, and to
be used no more. God hath his times for men : he uses one
to-day and another to-morrow. If a man be used in one
service once, he thinks he must be used in all things and al
ways ; and when God lays him by and takes another, then,
like the elder brother in the parable, he murmurs, and envies
at the younger brother that is called home to God s work.
It is an hard thing for one that hath been used, to be con
tented to be used no more. Oh, that magistrates, ministers,
men of service could but be willing to be used no more, and
to be laid aside if God will have it so. A man is never more
fit for service than when he is willing to be used no more in
service.
Again, Simplicity and plainness in God s work is a great
matter in these designing times : those come nearest to God
that are the most simple, and without folds and doubles, for
divine nature is simplicity itself.
A great thing it is now to do God s work quickly and with
despatch ; to shew mercy readily, and to do justice speedily,
without delay. There may be and is as much of God s power
seen in the lesser creatures, as in the pismire, worm and the
like, as in the great bodies of the sun and moon ; because,
though the pismire be little, yet there is life in that, and none
in the sun or moon. Now when justice is executed speedily,
and mercy dispensed quickly, there is life in it. Let beer or
wine stand awhile, or till the morning, and though it were
never so good when it was drawn, yet after standing it grows
flat and dead. So do justice, equity and mercy too. Let
mercy, equity or justice be delayed, and stand awhile, and
then, though never so good in themselves, yet they are flat
and dead ; quickly dispensed and executed hath life.
Wherefore, right honourable, if you would do any great
thing for God, look over your laws and ordinances of justice,
equity and mercy, and consider what there is that clogs the
speedy execution thereof: take off the clogs. It may be
some half ordinance against Sabbath-sportings, drunkenness
and swearing may lie before you ; oh, that there may be more
396 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16.
despatch, more despatch, this will put life into all your works,
and make them great, though otherwise small in your own
eyes.
Again, It is a great matter for a man to know his time and
tide of working. There is a time for all things under the
sun ; and because men know not their time and judgment,
therefore their evil is great upon them, says Solomon.* But
if men could take the tide of providence, how easily might
they carry up a great burden ; whereas losing their tide, and
rowing against the streams of providence, things come off
heavily and with much difficulty.
When a man is at sea in a vessel, he must not go where he
will, but as the wind and tide carries him. Ye are now em
barked in a great work and service; ye may not, ye cannot
go where and when you will ; sometimes ye must lie becalmed.
But oh, that men did know the gale of providence, the time
and tide of providence. But though we have often come up
against tide, and come down with the tide, yet how few do
know the time and tide of providence ; how many heats of
own our hearts have we lost ! Would you, therefore, do any
great thing for God ? take your time and tide, and improve
those heats of your hearts when providence warms them.
This will be your wisdom, and thus shall you be great and do
great things in the eyes of heaven and earth.
Again, It is no great matter now for a man to spread the
gospel into all the parts of this kingdom, and dominion of
Wales, if men had an heart for it; and oh that they had a
heart to do it : but to spread the gospel into all the parts
of the world is something. Thus the Jesuits, thus the
papists do in regard of their gospel. Why should not we
be as active for good as they are for evil ? you have a better
master and you shall have better wages. When shall the
blessing of the poor Indian come upon our English parlia
ment ? This would be a great thing : let encouragement be
given this way.
It is no great matter for a man to do that which is right
* Tale ingenium erat laudatissimi principis Frederic! Saxonise ducis Electoris.
Is erat vir vere industrius, qui non dicebaf, non faciebat omnia quse poterat in
prsesens dicere et facere ; sed expectabat tempus, personam, locum commodum,
dissimulabat omnia, suo autem tempore et loco, uno verbo plus efficiebat quam
multi alii sine hac industria potentia et viribus summis, &c., quare adhibenda est
etiam oratio ut Deus ad sit. Luther in Gen.
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 39^
and good, yea, to do it exactly ; but to walk exactly in a crowd
and throng of business, this is somewhat.
It is no great matter for to be godly in a godly place ; but
to be godly in an ungodly place, in the midst of those that
are most ungodly, this is somewhat.
It is no great matter for a man to be the same for God in
the same condition ; but to have a sameness of heart for
God in variety of conditions, this is somewhat.
It is no great matter to be thankful, rejoice, and love God
in prosperity ; but to fear God in prosperity, and to love God
in adversity ; to bless God when he takes away from us, and
to be " in all things thankful," as the apostle speaks, is
something.
It is no great matter for a man to pray morning and even
ing, thinking no more of God all the day after ; but to be
heavenly in all our earthly employments throughout the day,
and in all our dealings with man, still to deal with God, living
to God and in God, this is somewhat.
It is no great matter to do well and hear well ; but to do
well and hear ill, for a man to do great things for God and
think himself nothing, to believe in the dark, to see through
natural impossibilities, and to trust in God for life in a busi
ness when the sentence of death is upon second causes ; this
is a great matter.*
Many other great things that I might lay before ye, but
I should be too long. God hath done great things for us :
a thankful heart says, What shall I return unto the Lord for
all his benefits ? and the answer is, Great is the Lord, and
greatly to be praised : great is the Lord, and greatly to be
served : he hath done great things for us, we must do great
things for him : small things now will riot serve our turn.
Again, if the Lord hath made bare his holy arm for your
deliverance , if he hath saved you with a great salvation, as
it is this day : you, and your fathers, and children from the
hand of Rome, and of the papists ; then why should you not
all prejudice your hearts against that religion that was the
mother of such a bloody design as the powder treason was ?
The papists said indeed, when their plot miscarried, that it
was but the work of some few unfortunate gentlemen. Aye,
* Magnum est, magna facere et teipsum putare nihil. Eusebius Nieremb.
398 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16.
and blessed be the Lord they were so unfortunate. But had
the plot fired, and taken, then the execution thereof would
have been painted in the Pope s palace : as I have read the
massacre of Paris was, in perpetuam rei memoriam. But if
their religion * itself do carry such principles in the bosom
of it as do naturally breed and lead to such practises, then
it cannot be said that this was only the design of a few unfor
tunate gentlemen. Now what are the principles of that
religion ? the papists themselves say, that what a Pope de
termines in a council, or general council, is de fide : ask
therefore the Lateran council, and Concilium Lugdunense,
ask Aquinas, Bellarmine, Suarez, Toilet, Sa, Mariana, Tan-
nerus, and Becanus, they will tell you, that infidelical, hereti
cal, apostatizing princes and governors are to be deposed
* Si vero dominus temporalis requisitus et monitus ab ecclesia, terram suam
purgare neglexerit ab hac haeretica fseditate, per metropolitanutn et caeteros
episcopos excommunicationis vinculo innodetur ; et si satisfacere contempserit
intra annum, significetur hoc sumino Pontifici ut ex tune ipse vassallos ab ejns
fidelitate absolutus denunciet et terram exponat Catholicis occipandam, qui
earn exterminates haereticis sine ulla contradictione possideant. E decretis
Concilii Generalis Lateranensis tempore Innocentii Papae iii. de fide Cathol.
cap iii. Binius. Omnesque qui ei (Imperatori scil.) juramento fidelitatis aliquo
modo tenentur astricti, vel obligati, a juramento hujusmodo perpetuo absolvimus
et liberamus, auctoritate apostolica firmiter et stricte inhibendo ne quisquam de
caetero ei tanquam imperatori vel regi pareat ; decernendo quoslibet qui dein-
ceps ei velut imperatori vel regi consilium, vel auxilium prestiterint, seu fauto-
rem ipso facto excommunicationis vinculo subjacere. Concil Lugdun. xiii.
oecnmenic. approbatum centum et quadraginta episcoporum, causa Frederici ii.
imperat. deponendi celebratum, 1245. Bin. vide plura apud Mat. Paris: cum
depositione, et submissione Joannes Regis Anglicani. Principibus apoatatanti-
bus a fide non est obediendum, et ideo cum cito aliquis per sententiam denuncia-
tur excommunicatus propter apostasiam a fide, ipso facto ejus subditi sunt abso-
luti a dominio ejus et juramento fidf-litatis, Thorn. Aquin. 22. quaest. 12. art.
2. et quest. 10. art. 10. Non licet cbristianis tolerare regem infidelem haere-
ticum si ille conetur pertrahere subditos ad suam haeresim vel infidelitatem,
tenentur christiani non pati super se regem non christianum, si ille conetur
avertere populum a fide. Bellarm. de Roman, pontif. lib. v. cap. vii. Possu-
mus veritatem hanc authoritate et praxi ecclesiae ostendere, et post varia exempla
addit, at vero haec omnia. et similia non temere nee in angulo, sed aliqua ex illis
in conciliis frequentissimns, aliquando in General. Ergo incredibile est fuisse
actus usurpatae, et uon verae authoritatis. Suarez. lib. iii. de Rom. pontif.
cap. xxiii., XMV. quaenam sunt apostatarum et haereticorum poenae ? privatio
politicae potestatis juxta Canonem nos Sanctorum et can. juratos 15. q. 6. et
extravagantem Martini v. ad evitanda ; septima poena est poena corporis, viz.
iucarceratio exillium, mors. Tannerus de fide, dispnt. i. quaest. viii. dub. 6.
Tom. 3. in Thorn. Aquinat. Em. Sa in voce, Tyrannus. Mariana, lib. 6. de
reg. c. vi. p. 59
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 399
and excommunicated by the Pope. 2. That being so sentenced,
their subjects are absolved and freed from the oath of
fidelity and allegiance. 3. That excommunicated persons,
being heretics, cujuscunque ordinis, are to be deprived
of their estates, jurisdictions, yea, their lives; heretici
sunt comburendi. And though this powder treason were
the design of some unfortunate gentleman, yet I dare chal
lenge all the Jesuits in the world, to shew such a practice
designed by any unfortunate gentlemen of the protestant
party.
Or is this the only bloody practice of the papists and
Jesuits ; or is this the only evil of that religion ? Truly as
things lie in my apprehension, this religion, this Bellarminian
religion destroys the whole law and gospel; the law, and
the ten commandments.
It destroys the first commandment : for they worship a
piece of bread for God, with the worship of God.
It destroys the second : witness their many images.
It destroys the third : taking God s name in vain, by
praying and worshipping in an unknown tongue.
It destroys the fourth, by denying the morality of the
sabbath.
It destroys the fifth ; for if a man or woman get into a
cloister, and say, Corban, it is a gift, they are no more bound
to obey their parents.
It destroys the sixth commandment ; for they murder
princes and magistrates, witness this day and the principles
of this action.
It destroys the seventh ; for they say single fornication is
no sin, or venial.
It destroys the eighth ; for it hath stolen away the cup in
the Lord s supper from the people, and the Scriptures from
them too.
It destroys the ninth : for they bear false witness of the
fathers and ancient writers, making them say what they never
did, to bear up their own cause ; and of godly Luther, Calvin,
Beza and others, affirming that they did and died, as they
did not and died not.
It destroys the tenth commandment : for they say concu
piscence is no sin, and that original sin is pcccatum minus
400 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 10.
minimo, less than the least. I know nothing less than the
least, but nothing.
It destroys the gospel, setting up a covenant of works.
The comfort and sweetness of the gospel hangs on the
priestly office of Christ, which consists in his satisfaction for
sin and intercession. This religion tells us of other satisfac
tions than that of Christ, and other mediators and inter
cessors, as saints and angels.
It destroys your faith ; for it holds doubtings, and that a
man cannot be ordinarily assured of his salvation.*
It destroys your repentance, by extenuation of sin, the
great sin of our nature, and giving a babel penance for true
repentance.f
It destroys your obedience by the ingrediency of merits.
It destroys the whole law of God and Scripture, by making
it a nose of wax, and insufficient rule for us to live by, with
out their own traditions. J
It destroys the laws of man too ; for what is the law of
England, but the parliament ? The law is a dead parliament,
and the parliament is a living law. You have now time to
dispute your liberty of subjects, privilege of parliament, and
royal prerogative ; but had this design taken, in what woful
confusion had all been wrapt up together !
It may be you say, So they are now.
But, unthankful heart, it had been worse then, infinitely
worse then. Then might the poor countryman have come up
and seen an heap of blood, flesh, and stones together; and
after long scraping in that heap, possibly might have found
the head of their knight and burgess, saying, Here is the
head of our dear knight and burgess, but where are his
arms, where his legs ?
Then might the wife and children have done the like, and
said, Here, oh, here is my husband s head, but where is his
body ; my father s head, but where is his body ? Then might
you have heard, not Rachel mourning for her children, but
all the children of this land mourning for their fathers, and
not comforted, because they were not. You will mourn, and
* Concil. Trident. Sess. 6, c. 9, 12.
t Quicunque peccatum originis extenuant, doctrinam de psenitentia depravant.
Gerard.
J Vide Gerardi Disputation. Theolog. 1. 2, ubi de hisce omnibus agitur fusius.
. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 401
lament, and weep sometime, at the execution of a malefactor,
and say, What pity is it, that such a man as this should die ;
though he were thus and thus faulty in this matter, yet other
wise a valiant man, a wise man, a brave man : what pity is it
that his head should thus be stricken off at one blow ! But
here the head of England should have been stricken off at
one blow, and not a malefactor executed, but our judges
themselves, under the stroke of injustice, tumbling in their
gore. Oh, unparalleled cruelty ! I know nothing beyond it,
but hell itself. Speak, O sun, whether in all thy travels from
one end of the heavens to the other, thou hast ever beheld
such a practice as this ? Yet this design, this black, cruel,
hellish design hath this Jesuitical religion brought forth, as it
is this day.
But I say no more ; ye know what the northern gentleman
said : I cannot dispute, but I have two arguments against the
papists that can never be answered, equivocation and the
powder treason : and this may all you say that cannot dis
pute. Who would not prejudice his own heart, his children s,
his servants hearts against this religion ? Oh, for ever take
heed of tampering with this religion.
I fear the hand of the Jesuit is too much among us at
this day ; but, O England, O parliament, for ever remember
the fifth of November : te The snare is broken, and we are
delivered."
And so I come to the next duty, which upon the account
of God s gracious and powerful deliverance, we are to return
unto God ; namely, c To praise him, and speak well of his
name."
" The Lord hath saved us, and made his mighty power
known in the midst of us : oh be thankful unto the Lord, for
he is good, for his mercy endures for ever." We read in
Psalm cxxvi., that when the Lord turned the captivity of
Zion, it is said, the church " was like unto those that are
restored to health." The words run thus : " When the Lord
turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like unto them
that dream." But the words should rather be translated,
" We are like unto those that are restored to health." The
Hebrew word signifies,* to recover, or, to be restored to
* D?n incolumis, sanus, sanatus, reviluit, convaluit, sic Ps. cxxvi., fiiimus
D D?nD sicut convalescentes, Targum : sicut iegroti, qui sanati sunt, at captivi-
VOL. IV. D D
402 ENGLAND SAVED WITH [SER. 16.
health. And so the same word is translated in Isa. xxxviii.,
when Hezekiah recovered, he made a psalm of praise, and
said, " O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these
things is the life of my spirit : so wilt thou recover me, and
make me to live." It is the same word that is used here.
Thus Cajetan, Shindler, and others would have it translated
here ; and it suits best with the following words, " Then were
our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with praise."
When a man is in a good dream, his mouth is not filled with
laughter, nor his tongue with praise ; if a man be in a bad
dream, his mouth is not filled with laughter, nor his tongue
with praise: but when a man is restored to health after a
great sickness, it is so. And therefore, says the psalmist,
" When the Lord turned our captivity," &c. Now if you
look into Scripture, you will find, that the word captivity is
used for any violence that is done by others upon God s
people. So it is said of Job when he prayed for his friends.
He was never from his own house in all his affliction, how
then in captivity ? he was under violence, for the present put
into the hands of Satan, and so in captivity. When God s
people are under violence, then in scripture phrase they are
said to be in captivity. Ye have also been under the violence
of men : in queen Mary s days, under the violence of papists ;
in later days, under the violence of prelates ; and now of late,
the parliament under the violence of the rout ; and the godly
of the city under violence too. But the Lord having freed
you from this violence, he hath turned your captivity, even
as the waters of the south : and therefore, why should not
all we be as those that are restored to health again ? When
a man is restored to health, then he praises the Lord, and
rejoices in all his goodnesses : yea, he will praise the Lord for
less strength and health than before, for that which he did
not praise God before.
Wherefore now then, though we do not keep this day as
an holy-day, " Let our mouths be filled with laughter, and our
tongues with praises. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he
tas morbo et sanationi liberatio comparetur. Sept. we ira^a.(.ic\T}/^Evoi sicut
consolati. Alii sicut somniantes, ex significations secunda, Shind. p. 582, fuimus
sicut convalescentes, veram esse hanc prophetiam res postea gesta testatur, quo-
niam similes ex agritudine convalescentibus fuerunt redeuntes ex captivitate
Babyloniae, paulatim enim auctse sunt vires eorum. Cajetan in Ps. cxxv.
SER. 16.] A NOTWITHSTANDING. 403
is good, for his mercy endures for ever. He hath scattered
the proud in the imaginations of their hearts : for his mercy
endures for ever." He hath saved us with a notwithstanding :
for his mercy endures for ever. He hath not only delivered
us from one powder treason, but from many, in these late
years : for his mercy endures for ever.
Oh, you right honourable, the House of Peers, " Praise ye
the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever."
And you, most honourable, the House of Commons, " Praise
ye the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever."
And let all the household of the faithful, " Praise the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever. Oh, give
thanks unto the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever."
We sinned, God saved us ; we sinned greatly, he hath saved
us with a great salvation, with a nevertheless : " Nevertheless
he hath saved us, for his own name s sake, that he might
make his mighty power known." Now then, let us all praise
the Lord, and call upon his name.
D D 2
SERMON XVII.
CHRIST S COMTNG IS AT OUR MIDNIGHT.
PREACHED AT WESTMINSTER, BEFORE THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF
COMMONS, MAY 17, 1648,
BEING THE DAY APPOINTED FOR THANKSGIVING FOR THE GREAT
VICTORY IN WALES.
To THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED
AT WESTMINSTER.
ACCORDING to your command I have presented these notes to your view, some
what concerning the kingdom and coming of Christ ; an argument as unwelcome
to some as welcome to others. Kings, princes and rulers sometimes startle at it,
but they need not, for Christ means them no hurt ; if they will throw down their
crowns at his feet, he will set their crowns on their heads and his own too. The
Jews feared and refused to receive Christ and his kingdom, lest they should lose
their own kingdom ; and thereby they lost both their God and their kingdom, as
Austin observes. But who ever lost his sceptre by submitting unto Christ s
sceptre ? I may say, truly, potestus Christi is rather cumulative^ than privi-
tiva. In helping Christ to his throne, you shall help yourselves to your honours
and greatness. I will not say that Christ hath need of you, he hath no need of
us : but if that of the schools be true, namely, that one is helped by another,
either by addition of new strength and virtue, or by the exercise of what was
formerly given ; then Jesus Christ may in some sense, and that according to
scripture phrase, Judges v. 23, be said to be helped by you. Great confederacies
will be raised against him when he comes to his kingdom, Psalm ii. 1, 2. But
God, who sits in heaven, laughs at those combinations, verse 4, and in spite of
them will set his King upon his holy hill of Zion, verse 6. And to him that
overcometh will I give to sit down with me in my throne, saith our Saviour, even
as I have overcome and sit with my Father in his throne, Rev. iii. 21. Where
fore, most honourable, be not overcome with evil, be not overcome with difficul
ties, with oppositions or combinations of men ; but overcome evil with good, and
do what in you lies to bring this blessed King Jesus unto his throne and inheri
tance that as the earth in due time shall, so England in special manner may be
come the kingdom of our Lord Christ, and we may all say, The Lord God
omnipotent reigneth amongst us.
I could not long deliberate in so short a time what part of God s word I should
preach to jou, but knowing the trouble of these times, and that the more you
spend your thoughts on Christ s coming and kingdom, the more your hearts will
be upheld in the times of your troubles ; I chose rather to preach on this argu
ment, which I here now present, and beseech the Lord to bless it to you, and you
to this kingdom ; only be strong, and be of good courage ; fear not, neither be
SER. 17.] CHRIST S COMING, &c. 405
dismayed ; and the Lord your God will be with you as he hath been formerly,
which shall be the prayer of,
Your humble servant in the gospel of Jesus Christ,
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
" And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the Bridegroom
cometh." MATT. xxv. 6.
IN this parable ye have the state and posture of the church
a little before and at the coming of Jesus Christ. " Then
shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,"
verse 1. Sometimes the doctrine and grace of the gospel is
called the kingdom of heaven ; " The kingdom of heaven is
like to a grain of mustard seed," &c. This cannot be meant
here : because in the gospel there are not ten virgins. Some
times the state of glory above is called the kingdom of hea
ven : that is not meant here, because there are no foolish
virgins. Sometimes the church of Christ under the new
testament is called the kingdom of heaven, for there God
appears, manifests himself, and it is heaven on earth ; and
this is that which is here called the kingdom of heaven;
which kingdom is described by the Governor, King and Head
thereof, and by the subjects of that kingdom. The subjects
are described by their agreement and disagreement. First,
They agree in this, that they are all virgins ; though some
foolish, yet virgins, not defiled with men or the pollutions of
the world : it is possible a foolish and unsound heart may go
thus far in religion, to be free from the pollutions of the
world, yea, through the knowledge of Christ, says the apostle
Peter. Secondly, They agree in this, that they have all their
lamps, good and bad, wise and foolish, under ordinances,
which are the lamps, whereby the golden oil of the sanctuary
is emptied into our hearts. Thirdly, They agree in this, that
they are all expectants, wise and foolish wait the Bridegroom s
coming ; they all think to receive good, and have a good day
by the coming of Jesus Christ : this is far, yet thus far may
a foolish virgin go. Fourthly, They all agree in this, that they
had oil in their lamps ; indeed it is said, verse 3, that " the
foolish virgins took no oil with them," but they say, verse 8,
" Our lamps are gone out ;"* so that oil they had once, but
* Ad nihilum valet quod non valet ad finem suutn.
406 CHRIST S COMING is [SER. 1
they had not enough, and so none ; parts and gifts and com
mon graces a man may have, not only his lamp, but some oil
in it for a time, yet be a foolish virgin. Fifthly, They agree
in this, that they keep company, have communion and fellow
ship together in the church, yea, so far that the foolish are not
known till Christ s coming ; so smoothly may a foolish virgin
carry it, yet remain foolish. Sixthly, They all agree in this,
also, that they hold out their profession with lamps, and wait
ing until the Bridegroom comes. So that possibly a man
may be a professor of the gospel, and bear up his profession
among the best, even to the last, yet be unsound at heart, and
a foolish virgin. Thus far they agree.
But though these virgins agree in many things, yet they
disagree in point of wisdom; for the wise got so much oil as
did serve till the last, the foolish not so ; there was defectus
olei, verse 8.
Again, You have here the description of the King, Gover
nor and Head of this kingdom, who is described from and by
the manner of his coming. First, He comes as a Bridegroom.
Secondly, He comes apparently : not as in the days of his
flesh, when he came more hiddenly ; " Behold a great cry/
&c. Thirdly, He comes suddenly, unexpectedly, in the most
dark time, he comes at midnight.
Now Christ s coming is either spiritual and invisible, John
xiv. 18, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to
you;" or visible ; and that either at the day of judgment, or
else at the calling and conversion of the Jews, when he will
appear in the clouds, and come to set up his kingdom in this
world in a more glorious manner than ever. So Rev. xvii.,
" Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him (that is the Jews) ; and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even so,
Amen ;" which relates unto Zech. xii. 10 14, " I will pour
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jeru
salem, the Spirit of grace and supplication ; and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him as one mourneth for his own son, &c. In that day
there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, and the land
shall mourn, every family apart : the family of the house of
David apart, and their wives apart ; the family of the house
of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the
. 17.] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 407
house of Levi apart, and their wives apart/ &c. ; which can
not be understood of the day of judgment, because then the
families of David, Nathan, Shimei, Levi, shall not mourn
apart, and their wives apart. Of this coming of Christ to
set up his kingdom, I rather take this parable to be under
stood, and not of his coming at the day of judgment ; for in
Matt. xiv. the disciples did propound three questions to our
Saviour Christ : verse 3, Tell us, when shall these things
be ?" that is, the destruction of the temple ; " and what shall
be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?"
To the last he doth answer first, as is usual in Scripture, ne
gatively : verse 6, " Ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of
wars, but the end is not yet." Affirmatively, verse 14, " And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come."
To the first question he doth answer in the second place,
verses 15, 16, and to the second he doth answer in the third
and last place, because he intended to speak most of that, and
so proceeds to speak of his coming, and the signs thereof, in
the after part of the xxivth chapter, verses 37 50, and so he
goes on in this beginning of the xxvth : " Then shall the
kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins." In which pa
rable still he speaks of his coming as before, for, verse 13, he
concludes this parable thus, " Watch ye, therefore, for ye
know not the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."
Besides, Christ comes not as a Bridegroom but as a Judge
at the day of judgment. And if ye look into Rev. xix., xxi.,
and xxii., where mention is made of the glory of Christ s
kingdom in the latter times, ye find that the converting Jew,
who there sings the Hebrew song, Hallelujah ! is called the
bride, the Lamb s wife, saying, " Come, Lord Jesus." And
at chapter xix. 18, 19, mention is made of a great battle : but
there is no fighting or battling at the day of judgment. That
is no time for feasting, nor suppers neither ; but at weddings
and marriages there were and are great suppers, which we
read shall be at this time, verse 17. And as the wise enter,
so the foolish, and those that tell and make lies, are shut out.
Finding therefore all these things at that coming of Christ,
thus to suit with this parable, I rather incline to think, that
it cannot be understood of the day of judgment, but of that
time when Christ will appear at the Jews conversion, to set
408 CHRIST S COMING is [SER. 17
up his kingdom on earth, in that glorious and blessed manner
which all the prophets bear witness unto.
And because all the victories and deliverances that Christ
worketh for the churches in the meantime, are so many steps
unto this kingdom and coming of his : therefore, in scripture
phrase, sometimes they are called his coming. Matt. xvii.
His transfiguration was called his coming in his kingdom, for
chap. xvi. 28, Christ saith, " There be some standing here,
which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man
coming in his kingdom." And then, chap. xvii. 1, it is said,
" And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John
his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain
apart, and was transfigured before them." In three gospels
the history of the transfiguration is linked unto that speech :
" There are some standing here, which shall not taste of
death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom,"
with those words, "And after six days Jesus took Peter," &c.
Our Lord and Saviour Christ was then come when he spake
those words, but he was to come in a more glorious way and
manner to set up his kingdom ; and his transfiguration being
a taste of that glory and coming, it is here called his coming
in his kingdom. So all these great deliverances and victories
which Christ worketh for his church, being so many tastes
and forerunners of his coming in his kingdom, they may be
called his coming too : surely they are as so many steps that
he takes in the way of his coming to his kingdom.
But, says the text, he comes at midnight ; that is, in a time
when he is least expected, suddenly, and when we are most
in the dark. And so the observation is this :
Christ comes at midnight : though his coming be most
expected, yet he will come in a time when he is least ex
pected : when he comes as a Bridegroom, he comes at mid
night, in a time when he is least expected, in the darkest
time ; Christ comes at midnight.
" Behold (says Christ) I come as a thief :" thieves come in
the darkest time, a time when they are least expected ; so
will Christ s coming be.
For the opening and clearing of which truth, I shall labour
to shew,
First, That our Lord and Saviour Christ will come again.
Secondly, That he will come at midnight.
SER. 17.] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 409
Thirdly, Give you some account why he chooses rather
thus to come at midnight, than otherwise.
And then draw down this by way of application to our
present occasion.
First, Our Lord and Saviour Christ will come again.
Take his coming for his spiritual coming, and though now
absent from your souls, yet he will come again. " If any
man love me, my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him and make our abode with him," John xiv. 25.
Take his coming, for his personal, visible coming at the
day of judgment, so he will come again, 2 Thess. i. 7 10.
Take his coming for his appearing in the clouds, when he
will come to set up his kingdom, so he will come again before
that great day : for if ye look into the Scripture, ye shall find
that his coming and his kingdom are knit together, do syn-
chronnize. Dan. vii. 13, 14.
So in many scriptures ye shall find that his coming and
his kingdom do go together. Now if ye look into Rev. xi.,
we shall find it spoken of times yet to come : " The king
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord
and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever," ver. 15.
" And we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, because
thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned,"
ver. 17: which cannot be understood of the day of judg
ment, for then the nations are not angry, then the temple
door is not opened, as is here said, ver. 18, 19.
1 would not be mistaken here; for I do not think that
Christ shall come and reign, continue reigning upon earth a
thousand years : I do not see how the saints can spare him
out of heaven so long. Neither do I think that this his
coming is only to be understood of a spiritual coming into
the souls of his, so filling their souls with his Spirit, that they
shall have need of ordinances no more ; for in those glorious
times, though there shall be no temple, that is, a Jewish tem
ple, yet the temple door, that is, the gospel temple, shall be
opened. And in Zech. xiv. which is plainly spoken of
the glory of the latter tinr.es yet to come, it is said expressly
three times in that chapter, that men shall go up to keep the
feasts of tabernacles, an allusion to the Jewish ordinance.
But why not the feast of pasaover and pentecost, only the
feasts of tabernacles ? Many reasons may be given, but I
410 CHRIST S COMING is [SER. 17.
think one is, because the feast of tabernacles had been more
neglected than other feasts ; for upon the coming out of Ba
bylon, in Neh. viii. it is said, they had not kept that feast
from the time of Joshua the son of Nun to that day, which
was almost a thousand years. Now the Holy Ghost seeing
what degenerations there would be in our latter times, and
losings and neglectings of ordinances, he saith here, that then
they shall keep the feast of tabernacles : that is, in the ex
pression of the Jews, observe those ordinances especially,
which had been most defaced and forgotten. But I keep to
the words of Scripture.
Christ shall come in the clouds again, when the poor Jews
shall see him, and those which are called, Forsaken, shall be
called, Beloved, the King s bride ; when the fulness of the
Gentiles shall be come in, when Christ himself shall set up
his kingdom in the world, his regnum potentia, not patientice,
when he shall rule from sea to sea, when he shall come, not
riding upon an ass colt, but in the clouds, with thousands of
angels ministering unto him. When foolish virgins shall be
shut out from his glory, and the wise professor taken in.
And in the meanwhile, though our Lord and Saviour Christ
seem to forsake the churches for the present, yet he will come
again unto them with delivering and conquering mercy :
" Behold, I come quickly, hold fast that which thou hast,"
Rev. iii.*
But how may it appear that Christ will come at midnight ?
I shall give you a taste of it in all his comings, because
there is the same Spirit in one as in another.
For his spiritual coming. When Christ comes first with
his converting grace, and causes his converting mercy to pass
upon any soul, then he doth come at midnight. " God
speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not ; in a
dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon
man, in slumberings upon the bed : then he openeth the ears
of men, and sealeth their instruction," Job xxxiii. 14, 15, 16.
When a man is fast asleep in his sins, little thinks of any
good, unless it be to oppose it, then Christ comes and seals
* Read 2 Esdras xiii. which though it be apocryphal, and the lowest of the
Apocrypha, being written in Latin, yet of great antiquity, cited by Cyprian, Je
rome, Austin, Clemens Alexandrinus, and divers others.
. 17.] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 411
on some instruction upon his soul. Thus he doth come at
midnight.
Again, When Christ comes with his comforting mercy, and
causes his comforting grace to pass upon a man s heart, then
he doth come at midnight, in an hour and time when he doth
least expect him. " I sought him (says the spouse) but I
found him not. I sought him on my bed (in private), and
found him not. I sought him in the streets (in the public
ordinances), but I found him not. It was but a little that I
passed from the watchmen, but I found him whom my soul
loveth." Then and there she finds him, where she looked
not for him, and did not expect him. Ps. xlii. 6, 7 3 8, says
David, " O my God, my soul is cast down within me."
Here is trouble, sorrow and heaviness. (f All thy waves have
gone over me," ver. 7- Here is more. Yet, saith he, ver.
8, " The Lord will command his loving kindness in the day
time, and in the night his songs shall be with me." It is
God s ordinary title, " The Lord our Maker, who giveth
songs in the night," Job xxxv. We read of Master Robert
Glover, mentioned by Master Fox in the Book of Martyrs,
that though he were a man very gracious and holy, faithfully
bearing witness to the truth ; yet it pleased God to withdraw
himself and presence from him, insomuch that he was greatly
distressed while he was, in prison : and opening himself to
his friend, told him how God had left him and deserted him.
His friend exhorted him still for to wait on God, which he
laboured to do ; and the night before his execution, spent
much of that time in prayer. Yet no comfort came, no
manifestations of the presence of Christ. The next day he
was drawn out to the stake for to die for the truth, and as he
went, he mourned much for the presence of Christ; but
when he came in the sight of the stake, it pleased God so to
fill his heart and soul with comfort and the incomes of his
love, that he cried out unto his friend, Oh, Austin, he is
come, he is come, he is come ! This good man was in the
dark a great while, but when in the darkest time, then Christ
came. Christ comes at midnight, when he doth come with
comfort.
And, when Christ comes with outward delivering mercy to
a person or people, then he doth come at midnight also. It
is said of Israel, that they went oat of Egypt at midnight.
412 CHRIST S COMING is [SEB. 17.
God had promised deliverance a long time before, and they
did all expect it; but who would have expected it at such a
time as that was ? And if ye look into that last chapter of
Zechariah, we shall find that the great deliverance of the
churches, promised, is to be " in one day, which shall be
known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to
pass, that at evening time it shall be light," ver. 7 Who
would expect light at evening ? All expect darkness at evening
time. But at evening, when we look most for darkness, God
hath promised this great light.
And for Christ coming at the last, ye know what he says,
" I will come in an hour when ye look not for me." And
for this great deliverance and victory which the Lord hath
now given unto you, was it not at midnight ? Consider with
yourselves a little, remember the days of your former trou
bles, and were you ever in a more dark condition ; were ye
not all benighted ; when were your enemies more high and
lofty ; when were your friends more down and dejected ? A
night, a night, the Lord knows, a dark night was come upon
us. Well, but now Christ comes with a seasonable, almost
miraculous victory and deliverance. And this is Christ s way
and manner ; he never comes to his people as a Bridegroom,
but still he doth come at midnight ; in all his comings, still
he doth come at midnight.
Christ loves that his people should sit up for him, watch
and wait for him. He waiteth to shew mercy on them that
wait on his mercy. The more a man is respected and beloved
in a house, the more, if he be abroad, those in the house will
sit up and watch for him : he that loves him not, says, I will
go to bed, I will stay no longer, let him come when he
pleases ; but he that loves him saith, I will watch, I will
stay, I will sit up for him, yea, though he do not come until
midnight.
And does it argue love, for one man to sit up and wait for
another ; and not love in our souls, to sit up and watch, and
wait for Christ ? Christ loves to see our love exercised ; and
therefore, says he, Though I intend to save and help such a
person, yet I will stay, and stay long, I will not help him
presently, I will suffer a night, a dark night to come upon
him ; so shall I see his love in waiting for me.
Christ loves to shew mercy to his people in such a way,
. 17.] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 413
as he may hide pride from men ; he would not have his peo
ple to be proud of mercies. And upon this account, says
the text, in Job xxxiii. " He seals on instruction in the night,
that he may hide pride from man." When a man is awake,
he tries things by reason, and if reason like them, then they
do pass for current; if reason do not approve them, then
they will be rejected : but in a dream, in a deep sleep, the
mind receives things, not examining them by reason. Now
in the great things of God, the less hand reason hath, and
the more faith, the better. Reason s going before faith doth
diminish it ; but reason s following faith, strengthens it : say
the schools.* Faith ennobles a work. The more a man
ushers in a business with his own reason, the more apt to be
proud thereon ; but in a dream, in a deep sleep, there is little
of reason to be used ; and therefore in a deep sleep he comes
upon us, that he may hide pride from us.
Christ loves to come so as he may be most welcome to his
people; and the less expected, the mere welcome many
times : and when is he less expected than at midnight? If a
man be in extremity of misery, and a friend comes to visit
him, then he doth not only bid him welcome, but admires his
love : Oh, sir, could you find in your heart to come to me
now ; what, now at midnight ? this is love indeed. Christ
comes to be admired of all that believe, says the Scripture ;
and therefore, when his people are in the dark, in a dark
night, then he chooses to come, and then especially, and then
a man s heart doth melt with love to Christ : Oh, what a
gracious Saviour have I, that could find in his heart to find
me out with his mercy in this dark condition, in this unex
pected time. His time is not as our time, as his thoughts
are not as ours. Christ is the good Samaritan, he will pour
wine and oil into the bleeding wounds of his servants ; but
he will first let the priest pass by, and the levite pass by, and
such means and helps pass by which we ordinarily expect
comfort from; and when we have none from them, then
says he, Now is a time for me : but by that time all other
helps are passed by, it will be midnight. But though it be
midnight, says Christ, it is all one to me, for I create light,
and my thoughts and my times are not as man s are. And
though man come with help and succour in the day time, yet
* Rationes precedentes minuunt fidem, subsequentes augent.
414 CHRIST S COMING is [SEB. 17-
I will come at midnight. Oh, what glorious dispensations of
love and mercy is here !
What is the issue of this doctrine ; what if Christ do come
at midnight?
This doctrine looks wishly upon two sorts of people, such
as he doth come against, and such as he doth come for.
Some foolish virgins there are whom Christ comes against,
and these he will come upon at midnight, take them in their
beds, when they are fast asleep in their sin, and are most
secure. Ye have heard of the lamentation of Norwich:
there was a generation of men that rose up and threatened
to destroy the godly party there ; but the Lord so ordered
things in his providence, that those whom they threatened
to destroy, were preserved, and the destroyers perished ; nigh
two or three hundred, if relations be right, blown up with
powder, or spoiled, and three godly families, consisting of
about twenty persons, in several rooms of the house that
was blown up, were all preserved, and not a bone of them
broken, whilst the others flew up into the air, as spectacles
of divine anger, as if God should speak from heaven, These
are the people whom I would have preserved, and those are
the people that I would have punished. But oh, poor de
stroyed souls who perished in the thunder of God s anger,
did they ever think that Christ would have come upon them
at such a midnight ? Here is a great deliverance and vic
tory that is now before ye : if relations speak true, two thou
sand and five hundred, putting to flight eight thousand of the
enemy, fifteen hundred slain, three thousand taken prisoners,
and the rest scattered : but, oh, poor deceived people who
made this insurrection, did they ever think that Christ would
have come so suddenly, in such a time, at midnight upon
them ? Consider all your wars, and hath not Christ come at
midnight all along ? Christ is in the way to his kingdom,
and every step he takes shall be midnight ; both unto those
he comes for, and those that he comes against ; but woe to
them whom he doth come against, it is a dreadful thing to
be cut off suddenly, and surprised in our sins. This is a
judgment threatened on the latter day, Christ will come
quickly, be quick with men in a way of judgment : as a
thief in the night will come, when poor foolish virgins shall
be fast asleep.
SER. 17-] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 415
I would here therefore exhort and beseech ye in the Lord,
to consider the ground ye stand upon, the principles ye
work by, the cause ye manage; and I appeal to you, whether
do ye not think that God is in all these wars, that the event
of battles is only in the hand of God ? Some of you, no
friends to parliament, nor the cause of God in their hands,
have tried many ways, as once Balaam, to curse Israel ;
sometimes ye have got upon one hill, and there ye have built
an altar, thinking from thence to curse God s people ; when
that would not do, then you got upon a second ; when ye
could not do it from thence, then ye got to a third mountain :
one while ye thought to have done it by the strength of your
old skilful soldiery ; when that would not do, then ye came
home, and sought to make divisions among us, and to raise
jealousies between brethren ; seeing that would not do it
sufficiently, you have now gotten to a third mountain, la
bouring to stir up the countries to make insurrection, and
yet ye cannot curse them from these. Wherefore now after
all, do ye not think that God is against you ; can ye believe
that God is with you, after all these successive victories that
have fallen against you ? Have ye not read that scripture,
" The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth,
the wicked are snared in the works of their own hands ? "
and have ye not been snared in the works of your own
hands ; have ye not risen to fall ; have not your own doings
been your undoing ; and will ye yet go on to plot, consult,
design ; what, will ye never have done ? Well then, go on,
consult, plot, devise, associate, confederate together, try the
conclusion, work to the utmost ; yet know that when ye have
done all, and as ye think have the better, and all is your
own, then will Christ come upon you at midnight, in an hour
and time when ye do least expect him, and it will be a darker
night than ever yet you saw ; for our Lord and Saviour
Christ, he doth come as at the last, so now in these his pre-
cedaneous comings, still at midnight, he doth come at mid
night. Be wise now therefore, oh, ye princes, nobles, rulers,
judges, gentlemen, and others : kiss the Son, lest ye perish
in the way, for Christ is upon his way unto his kingdom.
Again, this doctrine looks wishly upon such as Christ
comes for. Why should any of God s people despair or be
discouraged, saying, Christ is now gone, and will never come
416 CHRIST S COMING is [SER. 17*
come again ; he hath hid himself, and I shall never see his
face again. Nay, but he does come at midnight, that is his
time, a time wherein he is least expected, a dark time, the
darkest time, the sleepiest time, the coldest time, a time when
all your candles are out, and your comforts out, when you
cannot see your hand, your working hand, your praying hand,
when you say all is gone and lost, and I shall never see the
light again, comfort again ; then doth Christ say, This is my
time, it is now dark, and night, and midnight with my ser
vant, now will I go and comfort and deliver him: why should
any godly man be discouraged, whatever his condition be ;
shall Christ come at midnight, and shall I be discouraged
because I am in the dark? Oh, my soul, remember this,
Christ comes at midnight, in all his comings, still he doth
come at midnight. And that this is Christ s constant course
with all his people, see what is said in Hosea vi. 3, " Then
shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord, his going
forth is prepared as the .morning, and he shall come unto us
as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth/
Oh, but I am a poor ignorant creature, do not know or un
derstand the mind and will of God in these actions, and
transactions of things abroad. Be it so, yet, says the Lord,
you shall know him, if ye follow on to know him. Oh, but
I am in a sad and a dark condition, benighted with some
affliction. Be it so, Christ will come, and he will come as
the morning ; as sure and certain as the morning comes, so
will Christ come ; and though it be a dark night, yet ye say,
certainly morning will come again ; so confident may you be
of Christ s coming; for, saith the text, he will come as the
morning : that is, certainly. Oh, but I shall faint in the
meanwhile, he will stay long ere he comes. Nay, but he will
come in season, as the former, and as the latter rain ; the
former and the latter rain come in their seasons; so will
Christ do, and therewithal your comforts shall be all revived
and refreshed ; why should then any of God s people be dis
couraged ?
But suppose that the Lord Jesus do comfortably appear
to us in a dark condition, when we look not for him, as now
he hath done to this kingdom : what is our duty that doth
flow from hence ?
If Jesus Christ hath appeared to you in the dark, and
. 17-] AT OTR MIDNIGHT. 417
come to you even at midnight; then trust in the Lord for
ever ; and again I say, trust in the Lord, trust in the Lord at
all times. Here is one night over, but another night will
come, I fear, and it may prove a darker night ; night and
day have their courses. But does Christ come at midnight ;
why then should we not trust in God at midnight, in the
darkest time ? * "At what time I am afraid," says the
Psalmist, " I will trust in the Lord." Faith moves Christ
for to come the sooner : and therefore, says the apostle,
" Looking for, and hastening the coming of the Lord."
You read it in the English, hastening unto ; but according
to the Greek,t the words may be read better thus, looking for,
and hastening the coming of the Lord. Our very looking for
his coming doth hasten his coming. Faith mitigates our
calamities, and holds the hands of our enemies. I have read
in the life of Tyndale, that he being in the Low Countries,
heard of a certain juggling conjuror, that could by his con
juring, command a dish of meat from any prince s table in
the world, which he did use to do, and would ordinarily in
vite his friends unto dinner : whereupon Master Tyndale
resolved, that he world go see this act, but would set himselt
to believe the contrary ; which he did ; and the company
being come together, and the conjuror endeavouring the
same, was so hindered by the faith of Master Tyndale, that
he cried out, and said, I cannot do it, there sits the man that
hinders me, and holds my hands. J I say, faith will hold the
hands of wicked and devilish men ; such too many we have
to deal with in these times : oh, that you would use your
faith more and more. And have ye not ground enough for
it: Christ comes at midnight; why should you not believe
whatever your condition be, although it be never so dark ?
Again, If Christ come at midnight, then why should
those who are employed for Christ, be shaken, or unsettled
in his work and service ?
We many times leave God s work, and are not constant in
it because of opposition, which doth make us fear : but will
Christ come and own us, and come in a time when we look
not for him, in, the darkest time ; then why should not men
* Nee super biendum rebus florentibus nee desperandum adversis.
f ripo^oKwirac KOII crTTtv^ov^atc rr\v iragovfftav, 2 Peter iii. 12.
J Fide armdtus, difficilia queque potest.
VOL. IV. E E
418 CHRIST S COMING is [SEB. 17-
go on with all constancy, even in their darkest fears ? Lu
ther relates a story of Austin s mother, which also Austin
doth mention, who was much troubled for her son Austin,
because for the space of seven or nine years, he had been a
Manichee, she prayed and continued praying for him ; at the
last, in a night, she had as a word from God in answer to
her prayer these words, Qualis tu, tails ille ; As thou so he.
Whereupon she was much refreshed, and told him, she had
received a promise from the Lord that he should be con
verted from his error ; but he told her the meaning of the
words was contrary, that she should be as he was, that is,
converted to his opinion ; but she did so constantly abide in
her sense, that, Facile transmit in sententiam matris, he
easily turned to his mother s opinion. And indeed, what
more convincing to an adversary than to see one constantly
abiding by what is good. A Christian, especially a Christian
magistrate, should be like to Christ, who, when he is in a way
of mercy, will not be put out of his way by men. Isaiah xxvii.
4., " Who would set the briars and thorns against me in
battle ? I would go through them, I would burn them to
gether." At verses 2, 3, he speaks of his great love and care
to and of his church : {f A vineyard of red vine, I the Lord
do keep it, I will water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I
will keep it night and day." Aye, but in this vineyard, there
may be many briars and thorns, that may arise up to afflict
God s people. True, but says the Lord, Who would set the
briars and thorns against me in battle ? I would go through
them. As if he should say, Indeed these wicked men are as
briars and thorns, rending and tearing my poor people, and
as briars and thorns they do conjoin and twist together ; but
though they do rise up against me in the way of my mercy
towards my people, yet they shall not put me out of my way ;
I will even pass through them : yea and though they do rise,
it shall be to their own ruin ; they shall burn together ; I
would burn them together, I the Lord would pass through
them. Now our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I hope, is
in the way of mercy to this poor kingdom ; but certainly, he
is upon the way to his own kingdom ; and though wicked
men may obstruct and hinder us, they shall never hinder
him, but he will pass through them. Oh, therefore, labour
more and more to be like to Christ, keep on your way ; for
. 17-] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 411)
though it be late ere he come, yet he will certainly come, he
comes at midnight.
Again, If Jesus Christ have come unto us, even at mid
night : why should not all of us go forth to meet him with
some present of thankfulness ? The more abundant, full,
free, and continued any mercy is, the more it doth call for
thankfulness, Christ hath been in the field for you and fought
your battles for these many years ; and I must needs say,
that of late our divisions and sins have been so great, that I
feared they would even drive Christ out of the field : but
now I see still he doth own your cause, and own your forces,
still he doth keep the field ; yea, and goes on marching, as if
he were resolved not to leave the field, till he hath conquered
all this kingdom with his love ; and he hath now given you a
taste of his intentions and love in this victory, a seasonable
victory, a wonderful victory, an unexpected victory, a mid
night victory ; oh, thou wonder-working God, shall we not
now praise thy name ? We read of a great strait and dark
condition that Jehoshaphat was in by reason of his enemies ;
but he crying unto the Lord, the Lord heard and delivered
him and his people : insomuch as they kept a day of thanks
giving in the open fields, and they called the name of the
place Berachah, the valley of blessing. 2 Chron. xx. 26.
In Joshua s time the people of Israel were in a great strait
by reason of the Amalekites, who came upon them when they
were weak ; but the Lord fought for his people, smote their
enemies, and they were quite destroyed ; whereupon Israel
made an altar, and called it, Jehovah-nissi, the Lord my
shield. In Samuel s time, again, they were in a great dis
tress by reason of their enemies ; but they cried to the Lord,
and he delivered them, and destroyed all their enemies : then
they set up a stone, and called it, Ebenezer, the stone ot
help, saying, " Hitherunto the Lord hath holpen us." After
wards, again, they were brought very low, into a very dark
estate, sold into the hands of their enemies ; but the Lord
raised them up saviours, Deborah and Barak, and delivered
them from all their enemies : and then they penned a psalm
of praise, the vth of Judges, wherein they do ascribe and
give the glory of all unto God himself; wherein they make
an honourable mention of the instruments which God used ;
they did not revile the instruments but honoured them;
E E 2
420 CHRIST S COMING is [Sen. 17.
wherein they condemned and cursed those that would not go
forth to help the Lord, " Curse ye Meroz ;" wherein they
commended the tribes and countries who came forth and wil
lingly offered themselves unto the service of the Lord ;
wherein they prayed against the enemies of the church : and
then mark the issue, at the last verse, " And the land had
rest forty years." And such an issue, not only forty years,
but many times forty years rest may you have, as an issue of
the praises of this day.
But yet, observe, still some monument of praise was erected;
sometimes a stone, sometimes an altar, always one monument
or other of praise. And have we no altar; no stone now; no
name of God to celebrate now ; no present of thankfulness
to bring to our God this day ? Is there no act of mercy to be
shewn ; none of Christ s friends to be relieved ? Shall we
make no progress ; shall we stand still ; do nothing, as men
in amaze? Shall we make no improvement of this deliver
ance and victory ? Why should we not all sit down under
our relations, and say, How shall I make improvement of this
mercy ; what shall I do now for God and Christ that I did
not before ; is there nothing in your hand ; what, no present
to be given to Christ; have we nothing at all? then let us
bring the sense of our own nothing ; for the more humble ye
are after victories, the more thankful for victories. And if ye
have no present in your hand t nis day to bring unto God for
this victory, yet bring the victory itself and give it to God.
Ye give to Caesar the things that are Caesar s : why ? because
his image is upon them ; and hath not this victory much of
the image of God upon it ? When David was delivered from
his enemies, we read, in Psalm cxvi., that he checks himself
for his formei unbelief, " I said in my haste," &c., and gathers
up himself into God again ; " Return unto thy rest, O my
soul." When delivered from his enemies, as we read in Psa.
cxviii., he found a retreat from man. O my soul, trust not in
princes, not in man, nor in the sons of men; trust not in
princes. The word in the Hebrew is, ingenuous men, for
princes should be ingenuous ; and if any men are to be trusted
to, they are ingenuous men ; but being delivered from men, he
retreats from men, and says, O my soul, trust not in men, nor
in the sons of men, not in princes, not in ingenuous men.
Yes, and in that Psalm he call upon others also for to praise
the Lord, and so let us do in his words : " Oh, give thanks
. 17.] AT OUR MIDNIGHT. 421
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever:
he stilleth the rage of the sea and the tumults of the people,
for his mercy endures for ever." Who hath owned your
cause again, and your forces again, for his mercy endures fur
ever; who hath remembered you in your low condition,
for his mercy endures for ever ; and hath visited us with his
love at midnight, for his mercy endures for ever. " Oh, give
thanks unto the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever.
Praise the Lord. *
If Christ come at midnight, then methinks his personal
coming is not far off. I cannot say it is midnight in that res
pect, but surely it is very late ; it is very dark, and it hath
been dark a great while.
We read of two sorts of signs which go before the coming
of Jesus Christ ; some that are more remote and transient,
some that are more immediate and just at his coming. Those
that are more immediate and just at his coming, ye read of
in Matt. xxiv. 29, 30 : " Immediately after the tribulation ot
those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and then shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn ; and they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."
These are yet to come. But those that are more remote, all
seem to be past already. Before the coming of Christ, says
the apostle, the man of sin shall be revealed : that is past.
Before the coming of Christ there shall false prophets arise,
and say, I am Christ; and another, I am Christ: that is past.
Before the personal coming of Christ there shall be wars and
rumours of wars : this is past. And before that day there
shall be great divisions, even in the matter of religion ; one
saying, Lo. here is Christ ; and another, Lo, there is Christ :
this is already. And immediately before, and at his coming,
men shall be smiting their fellow servants, eating and drink
ing with the drunken : this is already. The wise and the
foolish virgins shall be all asleep : and was there ever a time
when both wise and foolish were more asleep than now ?
When men set themselves to sleep, they draw their curtains,
put out their lights, and will have no more light come in ; so
now, when men are asleep, their senses are bound up that
422 CHRIST S COMING is [SER. 17-
were open before ; they see not, bear not, taste not, smell
not ; their senses are locked up. Sleep is, legatio sensvum.
And was there ever a time when men s senses were more
bound up, that were formerly exercised, than now ? Are
there not some that would pray and hear and read, that will
not now ; who have now thrown off all duties, ordinances and
means ? Oh, what sleeping is here ; was there ever such
sleeping among professors as now there is ? If ever wise and
foolish virgins were asleep, they seem to be in our days ; and
shall we sleep also ; will ye not rather watch and pray ?
Watch and pray, pray and watch ; and what I say to one I
say to all, " Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."
Take but two or three wakening observations from this
parable.
1. If ye look into this parable, ye may observe a most des
perate sleep is come upon all professors, immediately before
the coming, the great coming of Christ. I call that desperate
sleep which is universal ; this parable falls upon the churches;
" Then shall the kingdom of heaven (not the kingdom of the
world) be like to tea virgins ;" and those ten shall be all
asleep, good and bad. And says our Saviour in another
place, " Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he
find faith on earth ?" Again, I call that a desperate sleep
which shall be in the face of light. It is a hard thing to sleep
whilst a candle is held unto one s eyes ; and in the time be
fore Christ comes, much light and truth shall break out, as
antichristian error goes off; and yet, even then, good and bad
shall fall asleep.
I call that desperate, again, which shall be in the midst of
trouble. It is a hard thing for a man to sleep when he is
pinched and stricken : in the times before Christ, and when
he comes, men shall be smiting their fellow servants, and yet
even the smitten shall be asleep. Oh, what desperate sleep
ing times shall the latter times be ; have we not all cause,
then, for to watch and pray ?
2. If ye look into this scripture or parable, ye find that
those who fall asleep immediately before the coming of Christ,
shall never wake again till Christ come. " And they all slept
(says the text of the ten virgins) and waked not till the
Bridegroom came."
Now if a man be very si eepy, and you come to him, and
. 17.] AT OVR MIDNIGHT. 423
say, Sir, take heed of sleeping, for if you do fall asleep, you
will never wake again, will he not take heed of sleeping ? thus
it shall be with the sleepers of this latter time. At other
times, men shall sleep and wake, and wake and sleep ; but if
men fall asleep, into a spiritual sleep, immediately before the
coming of Jesus Christ, they shall sleep till he comes, and
shall be waked no more but by his coming. O Lord, who
would not watch and pray lest he enter into temptation !
3. If ye observe this parable, ye shall find that there are
two sorts of sleepers, and accordingly two events of their
sleeping.
Some slept, as the wise virgins, but did keep their oil, their
oil not spent ; these when the Bridegroom came, entered with
him into his joy.
Others there are that sleep, and have spent their oil, had
oil but spent it ; and these when the Bridegroom cometh are
shut out ; and though they call, Lord, open ; he answers, " I
know ye not." So now in the latter days, there shall be two
sorts of professors, one that shall sleep and slumber, but they
shall keep their graces, their oil, their principles ; and these,
though they be found asleep when Christ comes, Christ will
pardon, and their sleeping, because they have still their oil.
Others there shall be, who shall not only fall asleep, but
they shall lose their principles. True, I thought, indeed, that
a man was bound for to keep the Sabbath, to live strictly, and
to make a conscience of every word and thought, but now I
see there is more liberty : thus they shall lose their principles,
their oil, their judgments. These poor souls shall never wake
again ; and when Christ comes, though they cry to him for
mercy, they will not obtain it. No, ye have lost your prin
ciples, your oil, your judgment ; ye are foolish virgins, ye
shall never enter into my joy, he will then say. Who would
not, then, watch and pray ? What I say to you, I speak unto
my own soul, and to every person here present, Oh, let us all
watch, for the Son of Man comes, and he comes at midnight ;
and if it be not midnight now, yet it is late already.
And seeing all these things are so, give me leave, honour
able and beloved, to leave an exhortation with you, which is
no other than that which the psalmist presents unto ye in the
xxivth Psalm : " Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lift
up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
424 CHRIST S COMING, &c. [$ER. 17.
in." Gates, ye know, are the place where the magistrate sat.
The temple door was called the everlasting door, in opposition
to the door of the tabernacle, which was to continue but a
little time. The psalmist speaks here of Christ s kingdom
and lordship on earth : verse 1, " The earth is the Lord s,
and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell
therein." Then he will have a church and precious people :
" Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord; who shall
stand on his holy place?" verse 3 ; which he answers in the
general : " He that hath clean hands and a pure heart :" and
more particularly at verse 6 : " This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, even Jacob."
The children of Israel had two names : sometimes they were
called Israel, when they were in a more flourishing arid strong
condition ; sometimes they were in a low and weak condition,
and then they were called Jacob : " Fear not, O worm Ja
cob." Now says the psalmist here, The earth is the Lord s,
and Christ shall reign, and the poor despised Israel shall be
converted, and ascend unto the hill of God. Now, therefore,
my advice and counsel unto you is, that as the Lord Jesus
shall make any approach unto your towns, cities, kingdoms,
churches, you would receive him, and not shut your gates and
doors against him ; but, oh, all ye cities, towns and magis
trates, lift up your heads ; lift up your heads, O ye gates, and
all you temple-men and churches, lift up your everlasting
doors, that this King of glory may come in. And if ye ask
who it is ? " It is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle ;" wherefore lift up your heads. And be
cause this exhortation is of great consequence, and men are
slow to receive, I exhort you to it again, at verse 9 : " Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in." Now the Lord
grant that we may also lift up our heads and gates, that this
King of glory may come in among us, not as a judge to con
demn us, but as our bridegroom to love us.
EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE.
IN TWO SERMONS.
PREACHED AT CLAPHAM AND AT MARGARET S NEW FISH
STREET. A. D. 1645-6.
EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE.
SERMON I.
" Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." MATT. in. 2.
Or thus,
" Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven hath approached."
THESE words are the words of John the Baptist, when he
first began to preach the gospel of Christ ; and if you look
into the next chapter, Matt. iv. 17? ye shall find that our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ himself does preach the same
doctrine in the same words, " Jesus began to preach, and to
say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Our
Saviour Christ, the better preacher, is not ashamed to tread
in John s steps and words : John honoured Christ, and Christ
honoured John. Ministers should strengthen the hands one
of another. And if ye look into Matt, x., ye shall find, that
when our Saviour sent out his disciples for to preach the
gospel, he commands them to preach the same doctrine too,
in the same words, ver. 7 " Go ye, preach, saying, the king
dom of heaven is at hand." But, here is no Repent ? Yes,
that was in their commission too, as ye may read in Mark vi.
12 ; they would not preach a word beyond their commission :
" And they went out, and preached that men should repent."
So that their commission also was to preach thus, " Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven hath approached," or hath drawn
near unto you. Surely there is somewhat more than ordinary
in these words, that John and our Saviour Christ and all the
disciples, should begin thus, for to preach in these words,
" Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." They
were all ministers of the gospel, and the ministers of the
gospel are not barely to preach repentance, but they are to
preach repentance upon gospel motives : " the kingdom of
heaven is at hand."
In the words ye have an exhortation, " Repent ye ;" a
motive unto the work of repentance, " for the kingdom of
heaven hath approached."
428 EVANGELICAL, REPENTANCE. [SfiR.
" Repent ye ;" that is, be not only sorrowful for sin com
mitted, but mend your lives. Repentance is sometimes taken;
in a large sense for amendment of life. Sometimes repent
ance is taken only for godly sorrow, in a more strict and a
narrow sense.
Sometimes it is taken largely, for the amendment of our
life ; not only for godly sorrow, but all obedience and reform
ation. And so it may be taken here, as ye may perceive by
ver. 3, where this word Repent, is explained : " Repent ye,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand : for this is he that
was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of
one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight." Preparing the way of the Lord,
and making straight paths, all one with repentance. There
is a legal repentance, and there is an evangelical repentance.
Some think it is a legal repentance that is here required : and
thereupon they urge a necessity of legal preparation before a
man does come to Christ : as there is John Baptist before
Christ, so, say they, there must be a legal work of necessity
before a poor soul can have any admittance to Jesus Christ.
But I pray consider the words, and you will find, that not
a legal repentance, but evangelical, is here required. Did our
Saviour Christ himself preach legal repentance ? They are
the words of our Saviour Christ, he uses them too.
The repentance is, as the consideration is, that this work is
to be founded on, as the motive is. What is the motive ?
The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent; let your re*
pentance be upon this ground, because the kingdom of heaven
hath approached, because the kingdom of heaven hath drawn
near. He does not say, Repent, because the kingdom of hell
is near; but, because the kingdom of heaven is near: the
motive being evangelical, the repentance is so ; it is not a
legal, but an evangelical repentance that is here required.
Besides, these words, u Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand," are not spoken only to the ungodly, but unto the
godly also of those times, who were to prepare the way of
the Lord, and to make straight their paths. And, therefore,
not to be understood of a repentance only preparatory to that
in the heart.
But what then are we to understand here by the kingdom
of heaven ; and the approaching of the kingdom of heaven ?
SliR. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 429
For the kingdom of heaven hath approached or drawn near
unto you.
The kingdom of heaven sometimes, in the language of the
New Testament, notes, the glorious condition of the other
world that we are going to. Sometimes it notes the state of
the church ; it is used for the church of Christ ; and some
times for the gospel of Christ. I take it here for the whole
state of the Messiah : the kingdom of grace, Christ, and all
his benefits, grace, mercy and free remission published in the
gospel, in the several dispensations and administrations
thereof. This is called the kingdom of heaven ; for this
motive, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, is set and used
here in opposition unto the motives that were used among
the Jews. When the Jews were excited and put upon any
duty, they were stirred up thereunto upon such motives as
these : for the kingdom of Canaan is at hand ; if you do so
and so, God will bring you into the land of Canaan, and give
you that land. Now under the gospel here are other motives,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Not like
those Jewish motives : the kingdom of Canaan is at hand, or
the kingdom of the Jebusites is at hand. Christians are not
only or especially to be stirred up by such motives as these,
but by higher and greater motives, Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand ; and may carry an Hebraism with it ;
the kingdom of heaven, that is, a heavenly kingdom ; as the
law is called, the law of fire, in the Hebrew, a fiery law.
The Jews expected the Messiah, and dreamed of an outward,
glorious, and pompous kingdom : now, says John the Baptist,
the Messiah is come, his kingdom is come ; but it is not an
outward, glorious, and pompous kingdom, but it is an hea
venly kingdom, and therefore, repent, and prepare yourselves
for the receiving of it, make your way plain, for the kingdom
of heaven, an heavenly kingdom, is now at hand.
" Is at hand," we read it ; but according to the original
rather thus, " The kingdom of heaven hath approached ;"
appropinquavit. As if he should say thus : Do you turn to
God, because God hath turned to you ; do you draw near to
God, because^the kingdom of grace and free remission hath
drawn near to you.
There are two notes that lie here before us, that I shall
commend unto your consideration.
430 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 1.1 li
The first is this, That the kingdom of heaven, of grace,Ji
mercy, and of free remission, does approach unto us beforeR
we do come unto it.
And secondly, that the appropinquation, or drawing near I
of the kingdom of heaven is the highest, and greatest argu- 1
ment and motive in the world unto true repentance.
The kingdom of heaven, I say, the kingdom of grace,!
mercy, and free remission of sin, does approach to us, before j
we draw near to it ; repent, turn ye, for the kingdom of
heaven hath approached, or it hath come near to you, and
therefore do you come to it.
Thus it lies in the words : and thus you will find it
along.
Tims God hath promised; thus Christ hath parabled
thus God fulfilled.
Thus God hath promised. Thou shalt hear a voice behin
thee : what voice is that, but the voice of mercy, and the
voice of grace, and of free remission ?
" Thou shalt hear a voice behind thee :" when thou art
going away from God, and when thou hast thy back upon
God, thou shalt hear a voice of mercy behind thee ; it shall
follow after thee before thou dost come to it.
And thus you have a clear parable for it, which you may
read, fully speaking this truth in Luke xiv. 16 18, and so
on, " A certain man made a great supper, and bad many ;
and sent his servant at supper time, to say to them that were
bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all
with one consent began to make excuses : so that the ser
vant came (verse 21) and shewed his Lord these things.
Then the master of the house being angry, said to his ser
vant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city,
and bring in hiiher the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
and the blind." Mark, here are invitations of mercy sent
out to those that never thought of it. " And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded and yet there
is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, (verse 23) Go
out into the highways, and hedges, and compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled." See I pray, how the kin
dom of grace, and mercy, and free-remission is brought ne
unto a people, before ever they did make after it.
And this, I say, you shall find fulfilled. So God hath
. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 431
lealt by the world. So by particular kingdoms and nations
n the world. So by particular towns and countries in a
cingdom. So by particular families in a town. And so by
particular persons in a family.
Thus God hath dealt with the world, he hath brought
lear the kingdom of grace, and mercy, and free-remission to
:he world, before ever the world did make after it. When
>he whole world had sinned in the fall, and lay in wickedness,
ind never thought of returning unto God ; ff God so loved
he world, that he sent his only begotten Son to them," John
ii. 16. When Adam did not think of Christ, nor the world
n him ; the Lord gives out a promise, " The seed of the
voman shall break the serpents head/ Gen. iii. 15. Thus
mercy, and grace made its approach towards the world,
>efore ever the world did seek after it.
So in regard of a nation, in regard of a kingdom in the
world : " Go (says our Lord and Saviour Christ unto his
disciples) and teach all nations." The nations did not come
o Christ and say, Lord, the Jews have refused the gospel,
and therefore we beseech thee that the gospel may be
preached unto us, and we will receive it : no, but before ever
{they sent any such message to have the gospel come down to
[them, the gospel is sent to them, " Go (says our Saviour) go
! preach to all nations." But Lord they might say, Suppose
that in those nations we meet with such a man as Herod,
such a man as Pilate ; shall we preach the gospel and free
remissions of sins then to such a one ? Go, says Christ, I
make no -exceptions ; go, and preach to all nations. But
suppose that a Judas come in when we are preaching the
gospel. Says Christ, I make no exceptions, if a Judas will
come and submit, go preach to all, go preach the gospel, go
preach to all nations.
And was it not thus with the nation of the Jews, as ye read
in Ezek. xvi., when they were first taken into God s love ?
" None eye pitied thee (verse 5.) to do any of these unto
thee, to have compassion on thee." Verse 6., " When I
passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I
said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live : yea, I
said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live." And so
it will be with this people, the Jews, again, when they shall
be converted in the latter days of the world : the Lord speaks
432 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SKR. 11
so concerning them by the prophet Isaiah : " I was found of j
those that sought me not," Isa. Ixv. 1. And in Isa. Ixvi. 7-J
it is said concerning the Jews that are yet to be called, andl
the preventing love of God towards them : " Before she
travailed, she brought forth : before her pain came, she was
delivered of a man child."
Thus it is also with particular towns in a kingdom or in a
nation : the kingdom of grace, of heaven is brought near to]
them before they do seek it. The apostles went and preach- -
ed unto several towns ; Iconium, and Derbe, and Lystra,
before those towns did call for the gospel. And if you lool
into Matt, iv., you find that our Saviour Christ came and dwel
in Capernaum, verse 13., " which is upon the sea-coast, in the
borders of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali : that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
The land of Zebulon, and the land of Naphtali, by the waj
of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles : The pec
pie which sat in darkness, saw great light; and to them
which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung
up." While they were sitting still in their sins, and in the
very shadow of death, Christ goes among them, and causes a
glorious light to shine upon them : they did not go out to the
light, but the light did come out to them first.
So it is also in regard of a particular family in a town. It
is said concerning the jailor s family, that they were all bap
tized, they all believed ; but how, did the jailor s family come
and seek after the kingdom of heaven before the kingdom of
heaven was brought unto them ? No ; the apostles were
brought into prison, God works a miracle, the kingdom of
heaven, grace, and free remission, is brought to the prison,
and is brought to the jailor s family, before ever the jailor did
stir after it.
And so ye know it was with the family of Zaccheus.
" Zaccheus, (says our Saviour,) this day is salvation come to
thine house." Pray consider it a little : did Zaccheus house
go to seek for salvation; or rather did not salvation come and
seek for Zaccheus house ? Indeed Zaccheus out of a curiosity
ran and got up into a tree that he might see the outside of
Jesus Christ; but our Lord and Saviour Christ calls him
down, "Zaccheus, (says he,) I must dine with thee :" invites
himself, he carries salvation unto his family.
. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. .} " \
Thus God deals by families : he deals thus by the world,
he deals thus by nations, he deals thus by towns, he deals
thus by families.
And he deals thus by particular persons also. Was it not
thus with Matthew the publican ? He sat, ye know, in his
custom-house, and Christ came and found him out there ; he
did not first go and seek after Christ, but Christ came first
unto him, and found him out in his trade, and said unto him,
" Follow me." And was it not thus with Paul ? Says Paul,
" I was a blasphemer and a persecutor, but I obtained mer
cy," 1 Tim. i. 13. I was breathing out threatenings against
the saints, and against the disciples of Jesus Christ: but as I
was breathing out threatenings against them, the Holy Ghost
breathed upon my heart, and met rne in the way, and un
horsed me, and shewed me mercy. The kingdom of heaven
did approach unto Paul, before ever Paul sought after it.
And as it is with a particular person in regard of his first
conversion and first repentance, so in regard of his after
repentance. Peter sins, and before ever Peter repents,
Christ looks back upon him ; that is the first, then Peter
wept bitterly. Jonah sinned and sinned greatly in running
away from G jd ; before ever Jonah could find in his heart for
to seek unto God, God works a miracle, provides a chamber
of preservation even in the belly of destruction, in the
whale s belly, for him. God brought near his pardoning
mercy and grace to him, before ever Jonah came near to it.
And as it is in regard of a man s first, second, and after
repentance, so it is also in regard of a man s comfort and
consolation. " O Lord," says David, " make me to receive
joy and comfort, that the bones that thou hast broken may
rejoice," Ps. li. 8. " My soul refuseth comfort," says he, Ps.
Ixxvii. 2. As if he should say thus : Lord, I have been a
great surgeon at other men s hearts, and I have been able to
set their bones that have been out of joint, but now mine
own bones are broken ; I have fallen greatly, and now my own
bones are broken ; I cannot set my own bones ; my soul re
fuseth comfort, and the promise is to my heart like a bank of
ice, that my heart slips off: and Lord, if thou dost not
uphold my heart with a promise, I shall never have comfort ;
make me to see comfort, O Lord.
Thus you see, wherever you look in the Scripture, it is full
VOL. IV. F P
434 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 1.
of the truth that is here before us, namely, that the kingdom
of heaven, grace, mercy, and free remission, does approach
unto us before we draw near to it.
Evidences of it :
One is taken from our own condition. Naturally we are
lost sheep : so we are called by Christ. Man, in his natural
state, is compared unto the lost son, the lost groat, and the
lost sheep. Now you know when a sheep is lost, it does not
lie where it is lost : if you lose your purse, or if you lose a
ring, it will lie where it is lost, unless it be taken up : but
now, if a sheep be lost, the sheep wanders up and down, and
doth not lie where it was lost, but wanders up and down over
one mountain to another, through one thicket to another,
through one dirty place to another ; and of all creatures, the
lost sheep does not seek the way home again. A dog lost
will seek the way home again ; a cat and such like creatures
lost, will seek the way home again : but a sheep lost, does not
seek the way home again. Now we are all lost sheep, wan
dering up and down. One, he wanders over the mountain of
pride ; another through the thicket of the world ; another
through some unclean slough; but all wandering, and no
man able to find his home, until he be first found. Therefore
says our Saviour Christ, " I came to seek and to save those
that are lost/ Luke xix. 10. He does not say barely, I came
to seek those that are lost ; but, " I came to seek and to save
those that are lost." And truly we must be sought all along.
Says David in Ps. cxix. 176> " Lord, I have gone astray like
a lost sheep, oh, seek thy servant." We have need of con
tinual seeking, as long as there is continual wandering ; we
have need of such a Shepherd as may seek us out. But first
of all the kingdom of heaven does seek us out, before we do
seek it : when we are found, then we seek, but we never seek
until we are first found.
Another evidence I take from Christ s willingness for to
save sinners. There is an infinite willingness in our dear
Saviour for to save poor sinners. He came from heaven for
that end and purpose. If a man come a thousand miles upor
a business, will ye not think he is willing to do it ? Jesus
Christ came from heaven for this business, for to save sinners
is he not then willing to do it ? I may say that Jesus Christ
is more willing to save sinners, than sinners are to be saved
SER. 1.] EVANGELICAL KEPENTANCR. 435
by him ! The prodigal goes home to his father, but when
the father sees him afar off, he runs ; the prodigal goes, and
the father runs to meet him with mercy.
Yea, and our Saviour Christ seems to be most willing to
save the greatest sinners ; the greatest saints have been made
up out of the greatest sinners. When the Lord Jesus Christ
was upon the earth, did he not carry his grace and mercy,
and the doctrine of free remission, to the greatest sinners ?
Beloved, consider of it, I pray you. The greater the sinner
is, the more is Christ honoured in getting out his pardon,
and in satisfying for such a sinner ; and so he will love Christ
the more. Look I pray into Luke vii. " Simon, (says Christ)
I will propound thee a parable. Master, say on," says he.
Then says our Saviour, at ver. 14, " There was a certain
creditor that had two debtors ; the one owed five hundred
pence, and the other fifty : and when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which
of them will love the most ? Simon answered and said, I
suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto
him, Thou hast rightly judged." Those that he forgives most
unto, will love most. Jesus Christ loves to be greatly
honoured and loved, and therefore he is willing to save the
greatest sinners. But now, the greatest sinners are most
opposite unto what is good, they do not seek after what is
good : surely therefore, if Jesus Christ would save sinners,
and the greatest sinners, of necessity the kingdom of heaven
and of grace must approach unto us, before we draw near
to it.
But you will say, the Scripture seems to be contrary unto
this doctrine ; for hath not the Scripture said, " Turn unto
the Lord, and he will turn unto you," Zech. i. 3 ; " Draw
near to God, and he will draw near to you," James iv. 8.
How is this therefore true, that the kingdom of grace, mercy,
and free remission, does first draw near unto us, before we
draw near unto it ?
Yea, hath not our Saviour Christ said, " I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentauc,e" Matt. ix. 13 : that
is, such as are sensible of their sins ? surely, therefore, a man
must be sensible of his sins, must be sensible first, before
the kingdom of heaven, of grace, mercy, and free remission,
be brought near unto him.
F F 2
436 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 1.
For answer, the Scripture is clearly with us ; the apostle
John speaks out expressly, " We loved him, because he loved
us first," John iv. 19.
And says our Saviour, " You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you," John xv. 16. I have chosen you, you have
not chosen me.
And whereas it is said, that we should " turn to God, and
he will turn to us ;" and " draw near to God, and he will
draw near to us :" that is, he will draw near unto you again,
he will turn more unto you: not as if we should begin to
turn to him, and first draw near to him, before he does first
draw near to us at all ; but, " draw near to him, and he will
draw near to you ;" and, " turn to him, and he will turn to
you ;" that is, he will draw more near to you, and he will turn
unto you again.
And whereas it is said, that " Christ came not to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance;" that is, such as are
sensible of their sins; and men must be first sensible, before
the offer of grace, mercy and free remission be made unto
them.
I beseech you turn unto the place where the scripture lies,
it is Matt. ix. 13, at the latter end of the verse : " I am not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." This,
say I, is not to be understood of sinners only sensible of their
own sins, but sinners indeed ; Christ came to call sinners
indeed, yea, before they are sensible of their sins. For the
word sinner, here, must be understood as the word, sinner,
before is, in verses 10, 11 : ff As Jesus sat at meat in the
house, behold many publicans and sinners came and sat down
with him, and with his disciples. When the pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with
publicans and sinners ?" He did eat with those that were
not sensible of their sins. Sinners, there, are not to be meant
of those only that were sensible of their sins ; Christ did not
only eat with those that were sensible of their sins. Now he
gives this account of it, " I came not to call the righteous but
sinners to repentance ;" that is, sinners, such as he names
before, such as he did eat withal ; and they were not only such
as were sensible of their sins.
Again, Our Saviour Christ gives this account, at verse 1 2 :
" The whole need not the physician, but those that are sick ;"
SER. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 437
to answer to this objection, that our Saviour did eat with sinners
and converse with sinners, says he, I am a physician ; and
physicians are to go to those that are sick only. There is
this difference between me, a physician, and other physicians,
for I come unsent for, but other physicians come when sent
for ; I, as a physician, come to call my patients, but other
physicians are called in by their patients. Now, says he, I
am a physician, and I come not to call the righteous but sin
ners ; I come to call my patients. Physicians do not only go
to those that are sensible of their disease, but if a man be
past sense, his friends send for the physician, and the physi
cian goes. So does Christ here, comes unto his patients
when they are not sensible of their disease many times.
Again, This suits with that which goes before. " Go," says
he, at verse 13, " and learn what that meaneth, I will have
mercy and not sacrifice." Sometimes this phrase, this sen
tence is to be understood concerning bodily mercy, but here
it is to be understood of mercy to the soul: " Go ye and
learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice."
Ye object to me, that I converse with publicans and sinners,
not with those that are righteous in their generation ; go and
learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice :
I have more delight in conversing with poor sinners than with
those Jews that do offer sacrifice.
And again, consider, what sense would there be if this
should be the meaning : " I came not to call the righteous
but sinners ;" that is, I came to call those that are sensible of
their sins. Then the meaning must be this, I came not to
call the righteous, but men that are penitent, men that are
sensible of their sins and are penitent. If by the calling the
sinners, we are to understand those that are sensible only, then
the sense must be this, I came not to call the righteous but
men that are penitent. No, no, Christ came to call sinners,
poor sinners ; although they were never yet sensible of their
sins, the Lord Jesus Christ came to call sinners, which are so
indeed.
This doctrine then stands, notwithstanding that objection.
But, you will say, the prodigal seems to come home unto
his father, before his father does come to him ; aid to repent,
before his father shews mercy to him : and so our repentance
438 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiK. 1.
does prevent the Lord s mercy, and not the Lord s mercy
prevent our repentance.
For answer, It is good for us always to attend unto the
scope of the scripture, in parables especially. The scope of
the parable cannot be according to the tenure of this objec
tion, for then it should be contrary to the former parable, of
the lost sheep.
Indeed, the prodigal says, he will repent, before he goes to
his father : " 1 will return to my father, and I will say, I have
sinned against heaven, and against thee, and I am not worthy
to be called thy son," Luke xv. 18, 19 ; but he never says so
till he came to his father; after his father had fallen upon his
neck, and forgiven him, and shewed mercy to him, then he
said so, and not before. " And (says the text) when his fa
ther saw him afar off:" notwithstanding he was resolved to
go home, yet he was far off from mercy : his father saw him
afar off, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck,
and kissed him, preventing of him by his grace ; this makes
it more prevalent.
But yet, you will say, How can this be ? can God love sin
ners ; can God set his love upon poor sinners, that are so ?
What says the apostle, in Rom. iv. 5, t( He justifies the
ungodly," not in their sins, but from their sins, through Christ.
It is not in God s love, as in our love : you love because the
thing loved is lovely, but God s love does make lovely ; your
love finds lovely, and God s love makes lovely ; you love a
person because of some beauty, but God s love does make
beautiful ; you love a person because of some good you do
find before you love, but God s love brings the goodness with
it, God s love makes the person good that he does love. His
love is the original and root of all our obedience and sanctifi-
cation. Though the root lies under ground, all the branches
are beholden to it, and the fruit have their sap and life from
it ; so though God s reconciling love lies under ground, and
ye see it not, yet it is the root of all your obedience, of all
your sanctification. Ye may observe, therefore, that in the
Epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, to the Hebrews,
when the apostle would stir up the Romans, Galatians, He
brews, to holiness of life, that he lays his exhortation upon
the doctrines of free grace, love, justification by faith alone,
and the fulness of Christ s satisfaction for poor unworthy sin-
. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 439
ners. In the book of the Romans he begins to state the
doctrine of free justification of sinners and remission by
Christ alone. In the book of the Galatians he begins with
free remission of sins and justification by faith alone. So in
the book of the Hebrews. But the end and conclusion of all
these epistles to the Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, is, obedi
ence, repentance, and holiness of life ; as if this were thf
great root that all our obedience did grow upon, even free re
mission of sins and justification by faith alone. And if jus
tification do go before our sanctification, then of necessity
there must be an approaching of the kingdom of heaven to
us before we do come to it.
Give me leave to give you two or three reasons of it, and
so I will come to the application.
God doth so order things in the dispensations of his grace
and administrations thereof, as that he may be known to be
God, Jehovah, that all flesh may see his glory. What is the
glory of God ? His free grace is his glory. And therefore
ye shall observe, that when Moses begs to see God s glory,
Lord (says he), shew me thy glory," Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19;
the Lord made him this answer: Moses, wouldest thou see
my glory; what, otherwise than thou hast seen it in the
mount ? Moses, here is my glory, " I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy." The Lord read him a lecture of
his free grace. Moses, here is my glory, my free grace is my
glory. And how can God s free grace be more seen and
manifest than in such a way ; causing the kingdom of heaven,
of grace and free remission to draw near to us, even before
we do stir towards it ?
God does so order things in the dispensations of his grace,
as that men may be made the most gracious. The sight of
God s grace will make a man gracious : the more ye see the
grace of God in Christ, the more gracious ye will be. And
pray mark that instance which ye have in Luke vii., the same
that I named before, consider it well, at verse 37? " Behold, a
woman in the city which was a sinner," it seems she was a
very wicked woman, a sinner, (( when she knew that Jesus
Christ sat at meat in the pharisee s house, brought an alabas
ter box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weep
ing, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them
with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed
440 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 1.
them with the ointment," What is the reason of this ? Says
our Saviour Christ, verse 47, " I say unto thee, her sins which
are many are forgiven her, for she loved much." She wept
much because she loved much, and she loved much, because
much was forgiven her.
The papists and those that do follow them say indeed,
that her forgiveness was a fruit of her love ; because it is said
here, " Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved
much." But, good people, mark it, and you will find, that
first of all there is forgiveness, and thereupon the woman
loved: and her loving much, was but a sign of her being
much forgiven. For this is suitable with the latter end of
verse 47, " Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she
loved much." Much forgiveness is the ground of loving
much : and loving much is a sign of much forgiveness : for
it follows, " But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth
little."
And this suits also with the parable that ye have before, at
verses 41, 42, 43, which is brought in upon occasion of this
woman s loving thus much. " A certain creditor had two
debtors : the one owed five hundred pence, and the other
fifty : and when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave
them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him
most ? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom
he forgave most." Mark the scope of the parable, and you
will find it is to show, that love flows from forgiveness. The
papists, and others that cleave to them, therefore, go against
the scope of this parable.
And now my beloved, if all our love be upon forgiveness,
and forgiveness goes first; oh, what free grace is here? we
repent, and we weep because we love ; and we love because
we are forgiven : but forgiveness goes first : oh, what grace,
and love is here. Paul was so taken with this, that to me
he seems to be more taken with it, than with the vision that
he had in the third heaven, says he, " I knew a man, whe
ther in the body, or out of the body, a man (says he,) wrapt
up into the third heaven, and heard unspeakable words,
which is not lawful to be uttered," 2 Cor. xii. 2. And this
Paul speaks of but once. But, says Paul, " I was a blas
phemer, I was a persecutor; but I obtained mercy," 1 Tim.
i. 13: this story he tells three times: he tells the other
. 1.] EVANGELICAL, REPENTANCE. 441
story but one time ; but this story, this story of free grace ;
how he was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and how he ob
tained mercy ; this was never out of his mind. As if he were
more refreshed with the thought of this, than with the other.
And I pray what then ? Do but observe Paul, how gracious
he is : how humble he is : how thankful he is : how ready to
serve Christ : how ready to serve the churches for Christ :
how ready to suffer for Christ upon all occasions : oh, how
gracious did this make him. Thus it is with a poor soul,
that hath tasted of the free grace of God in Christ; the
heart is more taken herewithal, than with the thoughts of
heaven : ah, says a poor soul, I was going on in such a sinful
way ; or, I lay sleeping and snorting in my sins ; and I know
not how, before ever I was aware, the kingdom of heaven
did approach unto me, and the Lord in his free grace showed
mercy to my family, and to my poor soul. Oh, there
fore any thing for Jesus Christ ; oh, I will spend, and be
spent, oh, any thing for Jesus Christ. The sight of God s
grace, doth make one gracious; and therefore Christ does
take this way, causing the kingdom of heaven, grace, and
free remission, to approach unto us, before we do draw near
to it.
There is one reason more, I will but name it.
Christ does so order things in the dispensations of his
grace, that no flesh might glory in itself, or in any thing that it
hath, or doth : that no flesh might rest in any duty, in any
service, in any suffering ; but only upon grace, upon Christ
alone. Beloved, we are very unwilling to come unto any duty ;
and when we have done, we are then as apt to rest upon it, as
ever we were unwilling to come unto it. But what is the
reason that men are so apt to rest upon their duties, but be
cause there are these secret thoughts, that they come to
Christ, before he does came to them. Let the heart be. pos
sessed with this truth, That Jesus Christ, and the kingdom
of heaven, and of free grace, does approach unto us, and come
near to us, before we draw near to it ; and then he will not
rest so much upon what he is, or doth, or suffereth. A man
in this case is like unto a silk-worm ; you know how it is with
that worm : it makes a fine web, a fine work, and when it
hath done, it dies in it ; afterward it eats a hole through the
work, and it comes out with wings, a quite other creature
442 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 1.
than it went into it. So it is with a poor Christian : he
makes a fine work of duty, and then he dies in it; but
through the manifestations of God s free grace, he does, as it
were, eat a hole through all, and he comes out with wings
flying away from his duties, not so as to neglect the perform
ance of them, but so as not to rest upon them : flies away
from, in regard of resting upon any duty ; and only upon
this ground, because, says he, God did draw near to me,
grace did draw near to me, mercy did draw near to me, before
ever I drew near to it : and therefore why should I rest upon
any duty ? perform it I will, but through grace I will not rest
upon it.
By way of application : let us I pray consider with our
selves, whether God hath dealt thus by our souls or no ;
hath the kingdom of heaven approached, and drawn near
unto us, before we drew near to it ? If not, truly, for aught
that I know, we are yet under the law : and all our mourn
ings, and walkings heaven- ward, they are but legal : if God
love you indeed, he shews kindness and mercy to you, before
you do come to him.
It is with God s darlings, as it is with the world s darlings.
You have some men take a great deal of pains, rise early,
and go to bed late, and yet the world does not smile upon
them : these are the world s enemies. Some take pains, and
grow rich thereby ; these are the world s friends. Others
there are again ; that before ever they take any pains the
Lord is upon them with the world s blessings ; these are the
world s darlings. So I say, God hath his darlings ; and if
thou art one of God s darlings, he does cause the kingdom
of heaven, grace, and free remission to appear and draw near
unto thy soul, even before thou dost draw near to it. Hath
God dealt thus by any of you ? Oh, contemplate, consider
seriously the sweetness of this grace. Beloved, preventing
grace is sweet grace. The Lord gave a crown, a kingdom to
David ; but the best pearl in all the crown, that his eye was
most upon, was God s preventing mercy : " Lord," says he,
"thou hast prevented me with the goodness of thy blessing."
Ps. xxi. 3. As if he had said thus : Lord, thou hast not
only given me a kingdom, made me a king over thy people ;
but when I was a poor shepherd, keeping my father s sheep ;
thou didst prevent me with thy love. So may a poor soul
iR. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPEXTAXCE. 443
ay, Ah, Lord, thou hast not only given me a kingdom, but
hou hast prevented me with thy love. It is a great matter
hat the great God of heaven and earth should answer our
prayers, give us any mercy upon our request: aye, but that
he Lord should give us the greatest mercy before we come
to it ! Pray, good people, mark it a little ; ye shall observe,
hat the greatest mercies that ye have, ye have them, and
hey are given unto you, before you come for them. There
are some great mercies that a Christian hath : as conversion
of his soul, justification, remission of sin ; some lesser mer
cies : as comfort, and peace, and outward plenty. As for
these lesser mercies, God gives them when we do come for
them ; but as for the great mercies : remission of sin, jus
tification of our persons, conversion of our souls, God is
upon us with these mercies before we come for them : oh,
what grace is here ; oh, what glorious, rich grace is here !
kVhat, shall we not stand and admire at the glory of this free
jrace of God in Jesus Christ !
You will say unto me : But suppose this, that the Lord
lath brought the kingdom of heaven near to me, and my
amily, before I did come to it : for I must confess, that I
lave tasted, and drunk deeply of God s preventing love :
oh, how graciously hath God dealt by our poor family ! we
were a poor, ignorant family ; and the Lord shewed mercy
to our family when we little thought of it : to such a child,
to such a servant, to such a friend, to mine own soul. In
deed this is true, that the kingdom of heaven hath ap
proached unto me, drawn near unto me, before I drew near
to it ; oh, what is my duty now that does flow from hence ?
Let me tell you :
First of all ; be sooner at heaven-gates with your duties here
after, than ever you were before. When as a master comes
into his servant s chamber in the morning, and takes him
abed : if the servant have any ingenuousness, the servant says,
This my master s coming thus early, is plainly a rebuke to
my sloth ; and therefore, God willing, I will be up sooner
another day. So now, when as the Lord doth thus prevent
us with his grace, and is at our bed-side with his grace,
when we lie sleeping, and never think of mercy and grace ;
an ingenuous soul should say thus: What is all this but a
plain rebuke to the slothfulness of my duty? Come, up
444 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 1
prayer, up duty, oh my soul be up sooner : yea, through the
Lord s grace I will be up sooner at heaven-gate in duty, than
ever I was before : his preventing grace teaches me thus
much, that I am not soon enough at heaven-gate with mi
duty.
Again, hath the Lord prevented any of you with grace,
and caused the kingdom of heaven to draw near to you
before you draw near to it ? Do you do the like : labour in
your love to be like unto Christ, to be like to God. We
stand upon our terms when we have to deal with men, upon
our terms of state. Had Jesus Christ stood upon his terms
of state when he came to save sinners, what had become ol
us ? We say, we will forgive such a man for wrong done to
us, upon his acknowledgment : oh, but did Christ do so ?
Did not Christ prevent us ? Beloved, ye see how it is with
the water, it moves downward ; but if the fire get into it ;
if there be water in a pot upon the fire, and fire get into the
water, the fire makes it move upward, it moves according to
the nature of the fire then. So now, if the love of Jesus
Christ get into our hearts, it will make us move like unto
Christ: how does the love of Jesus Christ move ? Oh, says
Christ, " Father forgive them, they know not what they
do," Luke xxxiii. 34. Christ did not stay for acknowledgment :
a poor, and a low thing for a Christian ; enough for a heathen
to say so : I will forgive such a man for wrong done to me
upon his acknowledgment. Let our love be like unto Christ s,
and labour to prevent others with our love, as Jesus Christ
hath prevented us.
Again, Then let all men wait upon others, with all long-
suffering, and patience, for their conversion, and the revela
tion of truth unto them. Thou art a parent, and desirest
thy child may be converted, and hast taken a great deal of
pains with him for his conversion, and yet it will not be.
Thou art a governor of a family, and wouldest fain have such
a servant converted to Christ, and hast taken a great deal of
pains, and yet it will not be. A friend you have, and you
would fain that he knew such a truth, and much pains you
have taken to beat such a truth into him, and he does not
take it, and you are ready to be angry : but remember this,
the kingdom of heaven draws near to us before we draw near
to it : grace must come to thy child s soul first before it does
lER. 1.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 445
pme to Christ, mercy must come to the soul, and the Lord
mst come and bring truths unto the soul. What is then to
|e done ? Then be not angry with him ; wait with all long-
iffering, and all patience, and go to God ; go to God for
child ; go to God for thy friend; go to God for thy ser-
ant, upon this ground, because the kingdom of heaven must
-ome to us first, before we can come to it.
But especially, Trust in the Lord for ever. Oh, all you
j;hat are the servants of the Lord, upon this ground, trust in
;he Lord for ever. Does the kingdom of heaven approach,
ind draw near to us, before we draw near unto it ? Then
pay within your souls, Doubting shall be no more.
Some there are, that doubt of their salvation, because of
ie ignorance that is in them : darkness causes fear : they
lo not know the merciful disposition of Jesus Christ, and so
;hey doubt of his love. The devil, as he labours to change
(himself into an angel of light; so he labours to change
Christ into an angel of darkness. But beloved, ye have
heard of the merciful, sweet disposition of Jesus Christ : he
is willing to save sinners, and the greatest sinners ; brings
near the kingdom of heaven to us, before we draw near to
it : oh, wilt thou doubt again ; poor Christian, wilt thou
doubt again ?
Some there are, that doubt of their salvation, because
they are afraid their duties shall not be accepted, prayers
shall not be accepted : Oh, if I could but be persuaded,
says one, that the Lord would hear my prayer, and accept of
my duty, then I should know indeed I should be saved :
but I am afraid the Lord doth not hear my prayers, and
accept of my duties ; and therefore I fear I shall not be
saved. Man or woman, wherever thou standest, or art, hear
the word of the Lord. Does the Lord cause the kingdom
of heaven to approach and draw near to us, before we draw
near to it ; will the Lord be found of those that seek him
not ; and will he not be found of you that do seek him ?
Will the Lord come with his grace, and make an offer of
grace and mercy to a sinner, and a great sinner ; and will
not the Lord receive you, when you do come unto him ?
Think of this : and surely then you will say, Doubting shall
be no more.
Some there are that doubt of their salvation, because they
446 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfcR. ll
cannot pray; their hearts are dead; pray I cannot, and heal
I cannot, and read I cannot ; perform duty I cannot ; ana
th erefore I have cause to fear that I shall never come to heave J
Well, but though you cannot, man, or woman, Christian, pray!
as thou art able, and hear as thou art able, and read as thou
art able : the Lord Christ is of this sweet disposition, that hq
does cause the kingdom of heaven to draw near to us, befor
we draw near to it : oh, therefore, you that are the servant^
of the Lord, trust in the Lord for ever ; for ever trust in thej
Lord : and let doubting be no more.
I conclude all with one word of exhortation, and it is unto
those that have not yet submitted unto this kingdom o
heaven, this kingdom of grace : is there a truth in thi
doctrine : That the kingdom of heaven, grace, mercy, an
free remission, does approach unto us, before we draw ne
unto it ; and that because, indeed, we are not able to dra
near to it, before it draws near unto us ? Then all you, th
have not yet submitted unto this kingdom of grace, and th
offer of grace and mercy in the gospel; whenever any oiFe
shall be made unto you, take heed that ye neglect not
great salvation. You see how it is with the seaman : becau
the seaman is not able to raise a wind, or turn the wind when
it is raised, he lies upon the sea coast ready, waiting upon
the wind ; and when the wind turn, then he hoists up his
sails, fur, says he, now the wind is come about, and if I lose
this gale, I am likely to lose my voyage : I cannot turn the
wind, I cannot make the wind. So I say to you, man or
woman, young man or old : hath the Lord brought a gale
upon thine heart at any time ; a gale of mercy, made a ten
der of mercy, and free remission to thee ? Oh, for the love
of God, and of thy own soul, take heed how you lose this
opportunity ; is the wind come about ? The Spirit bloweth
where it listeth. Is the wind come about? Up with thy
sails, up with thy sails, take heed how you lose this opportu
nity that now you have. Little do you think, that the king
dom of heaven may be in such a motion as you despise :
the kingdom of heaven may be knocking at your door, the
door of your heart, by such a hand as you little think of.
" The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed,
which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but it grow r s to that
bigness, that the fowls of the air come and make there their
SER. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 447
nests," Matt. xiii. 31, 32 : when you see a little mustard seed,
you will say, it is impossible; can ever this mustard seed
j grow to that bigness, that the fowls of the air should there
make their nests ? The kingdom of heaven is like Christ
himself? Can this be the Messiah ? it is the carpenter s
son ; can this carpenter s son be the Messiah ? So the
kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed : comes with
a small motion : may be the child makes a motion to his father,
Oh, father, let there be prayer in our family, oh, let there be
reading the word of God in our family. May be the servant
comes and makes a motion to the mistress ; Oh, mistress,
let us go to such a sermon, let us go to such a meeting, let
us go to prayer : the kingdom of heaven may come in such
a motion ; by the hand of a child, by the hand of a servant :
take heed therefore if you have not submitted to this offer ;
oh, take heed, take heed how you neglect so great salvation.
I say the kingdom of heaven may come in such a small
motion as you despise. And therefore, if ever the Lord
breathe upon any of your hearts ; if the wind come about ;
man and woman, up with thy sails, now for thy life, now for
thy eternity ; if this gale be lost, may be thou shalt never
have such a gale again : the kingdom of heaven does ap
proach and draw near unto us, before we draw near unto it :
well therefore, when it comes, see that you accept of it.
SERMON II.
" Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand:" (or hath
approached.} MATT. in. 2.
THESE words are part of that sermon which John the
Baptist preached, when he first began for to preach the gos
pel. They contain, ye see at the first view, an exhortation to
repentance, with a motive, or encouragement thereunto :
" For the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
I take it for granted, that ye understand what is the notion
of repentance. And my design is not to fall into the com
mon place of repentance ; but only to speak to it so far as it
hath relation to this motive.
448 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 2.
Some there are, that think these words are to be under
stood of a legal repentance; as if John the Baptist s ministry
were a legal ministry : and in that sense he himself a fore
runner of Jesus Christ. This, methinks, is to lower the
ministry of John the Baptist. And if you look into Luke
i., you will find, that John s ministry was not a legal minis
try, but a gospel ministry : verses 76, 77* " Thou, child, shalt
be called the prophet of the highest : for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways : to give knowledge
of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins."
And if ye look into the following verse to the text, ye shall
find the interpretation of this repentance : " Repent ye : for
this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make his paths straight." So that preparing
the way of the Lord, and making his paths straight, is all
one with that which is going before. Now is any one able to
make his paths straight, before he do come to Christ ; why
then do we come to Christ if we be able to make our paths
straight, before we do come unto him ?
And besides, As the motive is, such is the repentance that
is founded on it. The motive here is evangelical : " Repent
ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The motive is
evangelical, surely therefore the repentance here required,
is not a legal, but an evangelical repentance.
But what is it then ? what is here meant by the kingdom
of heaven ; and the kingdom of heaven being at hand, or ap
proaching ?
In the language of the New Testament, the kingdom of
heaven is sometimes put for the kingdom of glory; some
times it is put for the church of Christ under the New Testa
ment : sometimes it is put for the gospel, and the preaching
of the gospel : sometimes for the whole kingdom of grace.
I take it here for the whole state of the Messiah : the king
dom of grace, the preaching of the gospel, and the dispensa
tions thereof. And he says here, That the kingdom of
heaven hath approached : therefore do you turn, therefore do
ye repent.
There are these two notes that lie before ye.
First, The kingdom of heaven does approach unto us, be
fore we do come unto it. Repent ye : or turn ye : because
. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 449
the kingdom of heaven hath approached unto you; so in the
>eginning.
Secondly,, That the appropinquation, approaching, or
(drawing near of the kingdom of heaven, is the highest and
|the greatest motive in the world unto true repentance.
I have spoken to the former, in a congregation not far dis-
[tant : and my desire is to speak unto the second.
The appropinquation, approaching, or drawing near of the
I kingdom of heaven, is the highest and the greatest motive in
the world unto true repentance.
This is the motive that John uses here ; thus John begins,
when he began for to preach the gospel. And if you look
into chap, iv., ye shall find, that our Saviour Christ begins to
preach repentance upon the same motive: verse 17 3 " From
that time Jesus began to preach, and say, Repent : for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." The same words. And if
ye look into Malt, x., ye shall find, that when he sent out
his apostles for to preach, he put the like words into their
mouths also : verse 7* " And as ye go, preach, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is at hand."
There the word, repent, is not, you will say : but if you
look into Mark vi. 12, ye shall find that it is said there,
" Then they went out and preached that men should repent."
It was part of their commission : and thus they were to
preach repentance upon this motive, " That the kingdom of
heaven is at hand, or the kingdom of heaven is approach
ing." Surely therefore, this is the great motive, the motive
of motives. In the invitation to the great supper spoken of
in the gospel, what is the motive used, for to bring men unto
the supper, but this ? " Come, for all things are now ready ;"
mercy is ready, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is
ready, come, for all things are now ready ; this is the mo
tive that is used there. And if ye look into Rom. xii. 1,
ye shall find that when the apostle doth exhort them to pre
sent themselves a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
he persuades by this motive of mercy : " I beseech you there
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice." I beseech ye therefore. That
therefore, sends us unto the former chapter, to inquire what
these mercies were. At verse 30, of the former chapter, he
says unto them, " For as ye in times past have not believed
VOL. IV.
450 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 2
God, yet now have obtained mercy through their unbelief." The
Jews were cast off: and the gentiles, these Romans, receive
to mercy, the kingdom of heaven did come to them, the go
pel effectually preached to them, the doctrine of free remis
sion of poor sinners : now, says he, I beseech you by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice
The Scripture is full of this.
But for our better opening, and clearing of this truth : let
us, I pray, descend into the particulars of repentance, and
consider how the grace, and mercy, and love of God in
Christ, which is the substance of this kingdom of heaven,
hath an influence upon them all ; and how all of them are
caused thereby.
A man that does repent, must see and know his sins : true
sight of sin is requisite to true repentance. Indeed, a man
may in some measure attain unto the knowledge, and disco
very of his sin by some affliction : when Adonibezek had
his fingers and toes cut off, you know what he said : " Thus
have I done." Afflictions do unleave a man, take off his
leaves: when the leaves are off the hedges, ye see those
birds-nests that ye could not see before when the leaves
were on ; and so when affliction hath made one naked,
and taken one s leaves off, a man is able to see those nests
of corruption in his own heart that he never did see before.
The apostle says, " By the law is the knowledge of sin :"
but now, though by the law, as by a rule, we come to the
knowledge of our sin ; and by affliction we are helped to see
the nests of our own hearts : yet notwithstanding, a man
cannot see his sins fully but by gospel light ; it is a work
of the Spirit to convince of sin : " I will send the Spirit,
the Comforter, and he shall convince the world of sin."
And where does the Spirit breathe, but in the gospel, the
kingdom of heaven, the preaching of the gospel ? ie Received
ye the Spirit, (says the apostle) by works of the law, or
by the preaching of faith ?" When once Isaiah the pro
phet had had a sight of Christ out, he cries out, Vae mihi, " I
am undone ; woe is me, I am undone, I am unclean."
Again, for I will but touch upon these j as a man must
know his sin, so if he will repent truly, he must be grieved
and humbled for it. If you look into Luke vii., ye may see
what work it had. A woman, a great sinner, comes to Christ,
. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPEXTANCE. 451
and she washes his feet with her tears ; what made her do
so ? She loved much, for much was forgiven her. So that
the more the love and mercy of God in Christ is opened in
the gospel, or does make its approach unto a soul, the more
the soul is set a weeping and mourning for sin committed.
Again, As a man repenting must be grieved for sin com
mitted, so he must and he will loathe himself; self-loathing is
[requisite to repentance. If a man have taken a surfeit by
eating or drinking, he does not only loathe the meat which
caused the surfeit, but he loathes the very vessel that hath the
smell of the meat or the liquor in it. So now when a man
comes to repent, he does not only loathe his sin, but he loathes
himself, the vessel where the sin was. Oh, these filthy eyos
of mine; oh, these vile hands; oh, this vile heart of mine:
he loathes himself. But what causes this self-loathing ? The
prophet Ezekiel will tell ye, in chap. xx. 41, 42, 43 : " Then
shall ye loathe yourselves when I am pacified ;" or when God
had shewn them mercy, caused his love to approach unto
them. Then should they loathe themselves. It is not all
your afflictions, nor all my threatenings, says God, that will
make ye to loathe yourselves ; but when ye see my love, my
grace, my pardoning mercy, then shall ye loathe yourselves :
not your sins only, but yourselves also.
Again, A repenting person does not only loathe himself for
his sin, but he is ashamed of it ; he is ashamed of his former
evil ways. " What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye
are now ashamed ? " not before, but whereof ye are now
ashamed. So long as a man walks in the dark, he does not
blush, he is not ashamed, though his clothes be ragged and
torn, and his naked flesh appears, because he is in the dark ;
but if he comes to the light, then he blushes that his naked
ness appears. And so long as men are in their sins and are
in darkness, they are not ashamed of their sins, because they
are in darkness ; but when once they come to the light, then
they blush, and then they are ashamed. What light is that,
that will ashame one of sin ? There is light enough in hell-
fire, for the damned there to read their sins by, but that does
not make them ashamed ; where the light of the gospel, the
opening of the kingdom of heaven is, and pardoning love is,
there is shame. Ye shall see, therefore, how Ezra blushes
when he considered the love of God and their sins together ;
o G 2
452 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SflR. 29
in chap. ix. 6, " And be said, O my God, I am ashamed and!
blush to lift up my face unto thee, my God." Why? "FoB
our iniquities are increased." Is that all ? No; says he M
ver. 8, " For a little space grace hath been shewed us frool
the Lord our God, to give us a remnant to escape, and
give us a nail in his holy place : we were bond men, yet o\
God hath not forsaken us in our bondage : and now, O 01
God, what shall we say after this ? " After this ? The sigl
of their own sins, and the remembrance of God s love toge
ther, made him blush. Ye know the place in EzekielJ
" Then shall ye be confounded and ashamed, when I ar
pacified towards ye." The more a man knows that God
pacified towards him, the more he is ashamed.
Again, A repenting person is not only ashamed of his for
mer evil ways, but as occasion serves, he will acknowledge his
sins. But I pray, what worsts the heart over to this acknow
ledgment ? When David had Saul at a great advantage, am
spared him, Saul breaks forth into this expression, " O my I
son David, thou art more righteous than I." O David, thou
art a righteous man, but I am an unrighteous man. So when :
the soul sees what infinite advantage the Lord hath it at, and
how the Lord spareth, then the soul breaks forth and says,
The Lord is righteous, I am unrighteous, I am unrighteous ;
this works an acknowledgment.
A repenting person, does not only acknowledge his sin
occasion serves, but he labours to un-sin his sin : and truly
else it is no repentance. He does walk contrary unto himself
and his former self; he does labour to undo what he had
done before sinfully ; he does labour to unsay what he had
said before wickedly. Before the jailor was converted, he
clapped up the apostle into close prison, and either whipped
him there, or else being whipped, he did not relieve him and
wash his wounds. But the jailor repenting, mark how he
walks contrary to himself; repenting, he opens the prison-
door, he washes the apostle s wounds, brings him into his
own house, sets meat before him. Those sorcerers, Acts
xix., repenting, burnt their books, which before they prized,
and studied much. How did Manasses walk contrary to
himself, when he once repented.
Well, but what is that, that will bring the soul to this dis
position, to walk contrary to one s former self? If you look
.ER. 2.] EVANGELICAL KEPENTANCE. 453
ito Psalm cxvi., ye shall find there how the psalmist eats up
lis former words : " I said in my haste, all men are liars."
It was amiss in me, I eat my words, I am sorry for it. What
nade him do it ? Says he, at ver. 3, <f The sorrows of death
compassed me about, arid the pains of hell gat hold upon
ic : I found trouble and sorrow : then called I upon the
Iname of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver me." At
fver. 5, " Gracious is the Lord, and righteous ; yea, our God
merciful." Now having had a taste of God s grace and
[God s mercy, now he eats his former words. And so the
jood man Hezekiah : " I said (says he) I am cut off from
| the land of the living." He did eat his words : " I repent,
lit was suddenly done," Isa. xxxviii. 11. Ho.v was he wrought
off to this ? He had tasted of the love, and grace, and
goodness of God, and this made him do it. So that now,
look into the bowels of repentance, and the several workings
thereof, and ye shall find there is no such way or means or
motive to bring a soul unto repentance, as the approaching of
the kingdom of heaven, the word and work of God s grace,
and love of God in Jesus Christ.
Would you know the reason ? Briefly thus :
Repentance is a fruit of faith. Ye have a notable expres
sion of godly sorrow to the height, in Zech. xii. 10, 11, 12,
speaking of the call and conversion of the Jews : " They
shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and
shall be in bitterness for him :" ver. 10, " as one that is in
bitterness for his first-born." Bitterness upon bitterness,
and mourning. " And in that day (ver. 11) there shall be a
great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrim-
mon in the valley of Megiddon : and the land shall mourn,
every family apart, the family of the house of David apart,
and their wives apart." Here is great mourning and sorrow.
What caused this ? Says he, at ver. 10, " They shall look
upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn."
They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. This is
the eye of faith, and all true mourning and sorrow does come
from thence. All tears of repentance flow from the eye of
faith. The more a man by faith is able to see a pierced
Christ, the more his heart is pierced for sin committed. The
more by faith a man is able to see a wounded Christ, the
more will his heart be wounded for sin committed. Faith
454 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SER. 2.1
works repentance, but what worketh faith ? Surely the gos
pel, the preaching of the gospel. " Received ye the Spirit
by the works of the law, or by the preaching of faith ?" He
does not say by the preaching of the gospel, but by the
preaching of faith : the gospel is called faith, not only because
it is the object of faith, but that by which faith is wrought.
Again, As repentance is a fruit of faith, so also it does flow
from love. Amor doloris causa. Love is the cause of grief.
The more a man loves another, or apprehends that he is
loved of him, the more he grieves if he hath any way injured
him. If you at unawares do strike another, and one tell you
that he is your enemy, ye grieve not, ye are not troubled,
unless it be in regard of some mischief that may come to
yourself; but if one tell you that he is a friend, a special
friend, that grieves you. So now, if by my sins I have stricken
at God, if I look upon God as an enemy, I am not grieved
much, I am not troubled much ; but when I consider him as
my Father, the best friend I have in the world, and consider
how by my sins I have stricken at him, this makes me grieve.
Oh, that ever I should wound the name of him whom my
soul loves ! She loved much, says our Saviour concerning
the weeping woman, she loved much, for much was forgiven
her. He does not say, she wept much, for much was forgiven
her : there was no mention before of her love, but only of
her weeping ; and yet says our Saviour, she loved much : be
cause he would shew what it was that drew up the sluice of
these tears ; it was her love. And what causeth love ? Love
causeth love. The more a man sees and apprehends the love
of Christ towards him, the more his heart is drawn out in
love towards Christ again. And what greater act of love
than this : that the kingdom of heaven approaches, that the
kingdom of heaven should come, and make its approach to
such a poor sinner as I am ? Surely, therefore, the approach
ing or drawing near of the kingdom of heaven, is the highest
and greatest motive in the world unto true repentance.
You will say, Experience seems for to speak the contrary :
for, arguments drawn from hell, and the wrath of God, seem
to be more powerful and efficacious in the working of repen
tance. I have, will some say, sometimes considered the
wrath of God, and let out my henrt upon arguments drawn
from thence ; and then I have been much humbled, broken ;
)ER. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 455
[been much affected ; yea, the truth is, I have been more
jhumbled, and more broken, and more affected, and more
[troubled for sin, than when the gospel, the word of the
I kingdom hath been preached and opened unto me: how
therefore is this true ? Experience seems to speak the
contrary.
I answer, Quicquid recipiter fyc. Every thing is received
according unto the receiver. A legal spirit doth relish and
savour most of those arguments which are drawn from hell,
and from the wrath of God : but an evangelical Christian,
those that are drawn from love and mercy. But for the
more full answer to this, pray consider with me, these six or
seven distinctions.
It is one thing for a man to be troubled in conscience,
and another thing to be humbled for sin committed. Those
that are damned in hell, and lie there despairing, must needs
be troubled in conscience ; how could they despair else ?
Take a soul that hath the work of the law upon him, and a
mere work of the law, and in some respects, he may be
more troubled in conscience, but a Christian that hath a
work of the gospel upon his heart, is, notwithstanding this,
more humbled for sin committed.
Again, It is one thing for a man to be pricked in heart,
and another for a man to repent. Ye shall find therefore,
that in Acts ii., it is said concerning divers, that they were
pricked in their heart, and said, " What shall we do ? "
Peter said unto them, "Repent." They were pricked in
their heart, and said, What shall we do ? and he said, Re
pent. Possibly then, a man or woman may be pricked in
the heart, and yet not repent. Those that have the work of
the law upon them, may have more legal prickings : but
those that have the work of the gospel, they repent more.
Again, It is one thing for a man to repent of sin, consi
dered in genere entis ; and another thing, in genere moris.
Sin may be considered in regard of the mischief, and incon
venience that does come thereby ; or in regard of the moral
evil of it. It is said concerning Judas, that when he saw
what became of things, he repented. And a malefactor, a
murderer, when he sees what shall become of him, that he
must die for his sin ; he may repent of his sin, in genere
entis; wishing that he had never done it: and yet may be
456 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [&ER. 2.
not repent, in genera moris. Ye read concerning Esau in
Heb. xii., " That he sought his birth-right with tears ;" but
found no room for his repentance. He repented, he re
pented with tears, but found no room for his repentance.
What repentance was that ? Says Austin, He grieved that
he had lost his birth-right ; not that he had sold his birth
right. So there was no room for such a repentance. And
so now, take a man that hath the work of the law upon his
soul, and he may be much troubled, he may repent ; and he
may have more repentings in regard of the evil that does
come by sin : but the other more in regard of the evil that
is in sin itself.
Again, It is one thing for a man to be broken with the
weight of sin, and another thing to have his soul thawed,
and melted for it. There is a great deal of difference you
know, between the breaking of the ice with your hands, or
with a staff; and the thawing of the ice, melting by the thaw.
When you take a staff and break the ice with your hands,
though you break it in one place, it freezes in another : but
when there is a thaw, then it melts, then it breaks every
where. So now it is in regard of legal breakings : here is a
man hath a work of the law upon his soul, he breaks for his
drunkenness, and breaks for his swearing, and he breaks for
his wantonness : oh, but he freezes in unbelief, in another
place ; he freezes in unthankfulness : but when a gospel
work comes, it makes a general thaw, a man is broken every
where. And this is more.
Again, It is one thing for a man to have more sorrow,
grief, repentance, in the ore ; and another thing to have
more sorrow, grief, repentance, that is well refined. As now,
suppose a man take a handful of gold in the ore ; it seems
to be a great deal more than a twenty shilling piece ; aye,
but because much of that is to be taken away, a great deal
of earth is to be taken away, it is less in the worth. Thus
it is between legal repentance, and evangelical : the legal
repentance may seem to be more in bulk : aye, but a great
deal of that is to be taken away : much unbelief to be
taken away; many sad, despairing conclusions to be taken
away ; a great deal of mercenariness to be taken away. And
therefore ye shall observe, that when the father had kissed
the prodigal, he left out the mercenary piece that he spoke of
SER. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 457
before he came home. Says he at verse 11, "I will arise,
and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired
servants," Lukexv. 18 20. He rose and came to his fa
ther ; his father saw him, and ran and fell on his neck, and
kissed him, had compassion on him : ran, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him : and the son said to him, " Father,"
now see whether he makes good his words, that he said he
would say when he came to his father, ft I have sinned a-
gainst heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to
be called thy son :" but his father said to his servants,
" Bring forth the best robe :" he leaves out that, Make me
as one of thy hired servants. One kiss from his father had
filed off all the mercenary disposition. Oh, much, much of
the legal work is to be taken away : in evangelical repentance
there is much in little ; in legal repentance there is little in
much.
Again, It is one thing for grief, sorrow, repentance to be
more in view, sense, and noise; and another thing to be
more in spirit, and in profit. As now for example, the rain
does sometime fall in a storm, and when it does so, it makes
a great noise ; the earth hath not time for to take it at the
first into its bosom ; it runs down the streets in great abun
dance, and it stands in some places, in great plashes of
water : at another time the rain falls by small drops, and
makes no such noise : but yet notwithstanding, it falls to the
root of the corn, and profits more ; for when the rain falls so
in a storm, it lays the corn ; the corn, I say, is laid by it.
So now, sorrow and grief sometimes fall in a storm, as in
legal repentance ; and it is great in view, stands in great
plashes of water ; oh, but then it doth lay our duties, it lays
our assurance, it lays our faith : evangelical repentance, that
makes no such noise, but it falls to the root of the graces,
and does not lay your comforts, it does not lay your assur
ance, it does not lay your duties. And so it is more in
profit.
Lastly, this sorrow, grief, and repentance may take one s
own heart much, or the heart of God much ; one s own
heart may be much affected, or the heart of God may be
much affected : beloved, we are apt to luve our first born :
458 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 2.
and though legal repentance does not always go before the
work of the gospel : for what legal work was there in Mat
thew before he did come to Christ, or what legal work was
there in Zaccheus before he came to Christ ? yet oftentimes
it does ; I say, yet oftentimes it does ; and this being the
first-born of our soul, we go to God with both our repen
tances, legal and evangelical : and we say, Lord, lay the hand,
oh, lay the right hand of thy blessing upon my first-born,
oh, let that inherit : but the Lord deals here as old Jacob
did, when Joseph brought his two children before him to be
blessed ; Jacob crossed his hands, and for Joseph s sake he
laid the blessing upon the younger. So now does God do ;
you would have me to lay my blessing, says God, upon your
first-born, upon your elder, upon your legal repentance.
No, says God, I have said, the elder shall serve the younger,
and I will cross my hands ; and for Joseph s sake, because
there is more of Christ in this younger, therefore here will
I lay the hand of my blessing. Beloved, the heart of a
Christian, a gracious man, is never more drawn out in grief
than upon the apprehension of love injured : the greater
love, and the greater injury is presented, the greater is the
grief. When the kingdom of heaven comes unto a poor soul,
there is the greatest love presented ; sin against that is the
greatest injury : when therefore a man is sensible of his sin
under that notion, then is his heart most affected and drawn
forth in godly sorrow. Surely therefore, the approaching
and the drawing near of the kingdom of heaven, is the
greatest motive, and argument unto heaven unto true re
pentance.
By way of application : if these things be so, what a sad
condition are those in, whom the kingdom of heaven, the
word of the kingdom, the doctrine of free remission hath
come unto, and yet they are not stirred, nor moved for to
turn to God, or to repent ? It may be, here is some drunkard,
some swearer, some notorious sabbath -breaker, some wanton
that is gotten into the congregation : I will not say to thee,
Friend, how earnest thou in hither? Ah, poor soul, thou
mayest hear that voice, and those words too soon another
day : but this I say, Friend, the greatest motive under hea
ven hath been used to move and turn thee ; and yet thou art
nothing moved and stirred therewith : oh, whereby shall thy
. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 459
soul be brought unto repentance ? " Go, (says our Saviour
Christ unto his disciples) preach, Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand : if they receive ye, your peace be upon
them : if not, it shall be more easy for Sodom and Gomorrah,
than for that city, than for that people, at that great day."
Oh for the Lord s sake, take heed when ye hear the word
of the kingdom, take heed that ye do not lose it : repent,
and then turn to God.
But if these things be so, then here we see the reason,
why our hearts are no more broken, are no more humbled,
no more repentance, no more melting, heart no more sof
tened : because ye do not labour to bring the kingdom of
heaven near unto your souls : I mean the gospel, and the
word of the gospel ; free remission of poor sinners : when
the kingdom of heaven comes near unto a person, he runs
away from it, from the promise : oh, it belongs not to me ; I
am not so and so qualified ; I am not so and so broken; I am not
so and so weary, and heavy laden : and therefore the promise
belongs not to me. But the approaching of the kingdom of
heaven, is the only means and motive to break thy heart,
and wilt not thou therefore come to it, because thy heart is
not broken ?
Oh, but the promise does not belong to me ; the promise
is made unto those that are weary and heavy laden and I am
not so.
Mistake not, good people. The invitation is made to the
weary and heavy-laden, but the promise is made to coming.
There are two things in that speech, " Come unto me, all ye
that are weary and heavy-laden/ Here is an invitation, and
here is a promise. The invitation is made indeed to those
that are weary and heavy-laden. Oh, but the promise is
made to coming, the promise is made to coming.
But that is all one you will say, for then it seems I am not
invited, it the invitation be made to such.
God does not speak every thing in every scripture ; but,
man or woman, art thou not invited by some other scripture?
Pray what think ye of that in Prov. ix., " Wisdom hath built
her an house ;" that is, Christ, compared with the former
chapter ; " she hath killed her beasts, she hath mingled her
wine, she hath furnished her table : she cries upon the high
places of the city." What does she cry ? read ver. 4, " Whoso
460 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 2.
is simple, let him come in hither : as for him that wanteth
understanding," ye read it; it is, " as for him that wanteth
heart, come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I
have mingled." The invitation is made to simple ones :
" Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither."
Oh, but I have such an heart as never any had ; I want a
heart unto all that is good. Mark, " As for him that wanteth
heart," she saith to him, " Come eat of my bread." How
think ye, is the invitation here made only to those that are
weary and heavy-laden ? And if ye consider that place in
the gospel, which ye know, the invitation to the great supper;
the servants are sent forth to call in those that were bidden,
and they excuse themselves : but they were bidden, they
were invited : were they weary and heavy-laden, think ye ?
Well, he sent out again, and invites others. Look upon the
text, were they weary and heavy-laden too ? " Go, (says he)
go, go to the highways, and go to the hedges, and compel
them to come in ;" were they weary and heavy-laden too ?
And if ye look into Rev. iii., ye find there that our Saviour
says at ver. 20, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in,
and sup with him, and he with me." Our Saviour Christ
here stands knocking, and offers the greetest mercies that can
be ; f llowship and communion with a poor soul : f I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." What
greater blessing or mercy can you desire than fellowship with
Jesus Christ. Says Jesus Christ, " If any man will open, I
will come in and sup with him, and he with me." Here is
mutual fellowship; Christ stands and offers this; he stands
knocking. But, I pray, what door does he knock at; whose
door does he knock at ? Oh, my beloved, it is a Laodicean
door. Laodicean s, what are those ? Lukewarm : " I would
thou wert hot or cold ; but seeing thou art lukewarm, I will
vomit thee out of my mouth." Lukewarm person, worse than
profane ; and yet, behold, Jesus Christ stands at a lukewarm
person s door : knocking and tendering mercy to a lukewarm
Laodicean person.
Aye, but stay, may be they were weary and heavy-laden,
first, before they were invited.
Read verse 17 : " Because thou sayest, I am rich, and in
creased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest
. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 461
not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked/ Were these weary and heavy-laden, think ye ?
and yet at this door, behold, at this door the Lord Christ
stands knocking. Oh, grace, oh, glorious, rich grace. Oh, you
that have stood at a distance from the promise, and dared not
draw near to the promise ; said it did not belong to you, you
were not invited to mercy; consider, do you consider what
great enemies you are unto your own breakings and humblin^s
that ye do so much desire ! The approaching of the kingdom
of heaven, and the doctrine of grace and of free remission
unto a poor sinner, is the greatest means and motive in the
world to break one s heart. Oh, therefore, as ever you desire
to have your hearts broken, and to be humbled, look much to
the kingdom of heaven, and the doctrines thereof, and never
say it does not belong unto you.
But if these things be so, if there be a truth in this doc
trine, what infinite cause have we all for to repent, to mend
our lives, and to turn to God ? " The kingdom of heaven
hath approached." Beloved, hath not the kingdom of heaven
approached unto our nation ? Take the kingdom of heaven
for the kingdom of glory, and in these dying times, how hath
the kingdom of heaven approached in that sense ? Take the
kingdom of heaven for the state of the church, and how many
church truths hath broken out in these days that were not
known before ? Take the kingdom of heaven for the gospel
and the preaching of the gospel, how hath God gone up and
down in these latter times, even in these times of trouble,
preaching free grace to poor England ? Witness all these
victories ye have had notwithstanding all your sins. O Eng
land, England, now repent and turn unto the Lord. Surely,
if ever, the kingdom of heaven is come to you. Yea, hath
not the kingdom of heaven approached unto many of your
souls in particular? Are there not some here, great sinners,
that have been invited to mercy ; are there not some here,
great sinners, that have received mercy ? Hath the kingdom
of heaven approached unto you, and will not you repent, and
will not you turn to God, and will not you amend your lives ?
You will say, This work is not now to do, we have repented
already.
But pray give me leave, have ye, have ye repented upon
gospel motives ? have ye repented upon this ground, because
462 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [SfiR. 2.
the kingdom of heaven hath approached ? Oh, how many
legal professors are there among professors ! As there are
two sorts of men in the world, some that live in dark places
and prisons, and others that walk up and down in the light ;
so some there are among professors, some legal, that walk up
and down in the dark, and see no light ; others, again, that
walk up and down in the light of the gospel : many, many
legal professors.
Beloved, the more evangelical your repentance is, the more
it will cure your souls, and not hurt your body. Legal repen
tance soaks into the body, and frets out the very strength of
one s body. Pray look a little into Job xxxiii. ; see what the
Holy Ghost says there : " God speaks once, yea, twice, yet
man perceives it not ;" here is man in his natural, pure na
tural state : " In a dream (at verse 15), in a vision of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon
the bed ;" that is, before a man is aware : " then he openeth
the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may
withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
What then ? " He is chastened also with pain upon his bed,
and the multitude of his bones with strong pain ; so that his
life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat : (verse 21) his
flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen, and his bones
that were not seen stick out ; his soul draweth near to the
grave and his life to the destroyers/ Here is legal work.
Then comes the gospel. " If there be a messenger with him,
an interpreter, one of a thousand, to shew unto man his up
rightness ; then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver
him from going down into the pit, I have found a ran
som." Then, at verse 25, " His flesh shall be fresher than a
child s, he shall return to the days of his youth." His flesh
shall be fresher than a child s. Thus evangelical repentance
is a friend both to soul and body. Mere legal repentance eats
out the strength of one s spirit, even of one s very body.
Again, the more evangelical your repentance is, the more
you will be humbled and grieved for sins against the gospel.
" I will send (says Christ) the Comforter, and he shall con
vince the world of sin." What sin ? Of sin and of unbelief.
Oh, says the soul that repents evangelically, who more guilty
of unbelief than I ? Oh, never any one more ignorant of
Christ than I ! Oh, the unkindness of my soul towards
SER. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 463
Christ ! Legal repentance, it pitches upon some breach of
the law, and there it rests.
Again, Evangelical repentance complies with spiritual joy,
and is a friend unto it. You grieve for sin, and you rejoice
in God ; and when you rejoice in God you grieve for sin, I
will send the Comforter, says our Saviour. He does not say,
I will send the Spirit ; no, but, I will send the Comforter,
and he shall convince the world of sin and of unbelief. The
Comforter, because it shall be a work of comfort unto the
soul that is convinced of sin gospel-wise. And the more a
man rejoices in Christ, the more he grieves for sin ; and the
more he grieves for sin, the more he rejoiceth in Christ again.
Again, When your repentance is evangelical, the more you
apprehend or hope that your sin is pardoned, the more you
will grieve for it. Ye read in the Psalms of one special peni
tential Psalm of David, the list. But when was that made ?
A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him ;
that is, after the prophet Nathan had been with him. And
what did Nathan the prophet say to him ? Says Nathan, Thy
sin is forgiven thee. Upon that message David falls into a
penitential Psalm, a Psalm of humiliation and of repentance.
The more a man hath assurance that his sin is pardoned, the
more he doth grieve for it.
And the more evangelical your repentance is, the more your
heart will be enlarged to and for Christ. The sight of God s
free love in Christ will make your heart free in love unto
Christ and for Christ. When the poor sinner, the woman
spoken of in Luke vii., had much forgiven her freely, she
came and brought her precious boxes, and poured them out
upon Jesus Christ. So when a soul hath tasted of the free
love of God in Christ, then no boxes of ointment are too
precious to pour out upon the feet of Jesus Christ.
Further, The more of the gospel and the more of the king
dom of heaven is in your repentance, the more of the gospel
will be in your obedience, the more of the gospel will be in
your assurance, the more of the gospel will be in your per
formance, in your prayers and other duties. Beloved, repen
tance is foundation work ; it hath an influence upon all your
service. If your repentance be legal, your obedience legal,
and your performance legal, and your assurance legal ; ever
tying God unto such conditions as he never tied you to,
464 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. [Sen. 2.
through the improvement of your own unbelief. But now,
when as your repentance hath the gospel in it, drawn up and
raised upon such motives as these ; then your obedience, your
comforts, your duties, your assurance will have the impression
of the gospel also upon them.
And the more of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven, is in
your repentance, the more your hearts and spirits will be
meekened and sweetened towards the saints, towards your
fellow servants, the people of God. What is the gospel but
a dead Christ ? As Jesus Christ was a living gospel, so the
gospel is a dead Christ.
When the gospel approaches, when the kingdom of heaven
draws near to a soul, and Christ therein, the heart is meek
ened and made like to Christ. The law is called a fiery law,
the law of fire, compared unto Hagar ; and says the apostle,
The children of the bond-woman will persecute the children
of the free-woman, of Sarah. And what is the reason that
there is so much bitterness among professors, but because
there is no more of the gospel and of the kingdom of heaven
in our profession ? Beloved in the Lord, ye see into what sad
times of discord and bitterness we are now brought; as ever
you do desire to be free from this spirit of bitterness, as ye do
desire that ye may not have a hand in opposing your fellow
servants, and acting a spirit of bitterness towards the children
of God, oh, labour for more of the gospel, get more of it into
your repentance and into your obedience ; oh, let us labour to
be more evangelical than ever we have been.
I had need call upon my own heart for this ; and give leave
to measure your own hearts by mine. Beloved, I do not now
come to call for repentance, barely, but I come this night
unto you, calling for refined repentance, gospel repentance :
these are refining times ; your public worship refined, the go
vernment refined ; Christians had need refine all their duties,
and all their graces, and all their comforts, and all their assu
rance : we had need even take our whole garment, and look
into every seam, brush every seam, there is so much dust
gotten into it. Oh, labour, labour to be more evangelical, to
get more of the gospel of Christ into all your duties. The
gospel is the ministration of life; and the ministration of the
law is called the ministration of death. The ministration of
the gospel is called the ministration of righteousness ; the
SER. 2.] EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 465
ministration of the law is called the ministration of condem
nation. The gospel is called a glorious gospel, a glorious
gospel : as ye do desire that glory may be upon you, get more
of this glorious gospel into you ; more of the gospel into all
your duties, into your repentance ; which that you may do, now
even repent that ever you have been so legal in your repen
tance. A man will never be evangelical in his repentance
that does not in some measure grieve that he hath been so
legal in his repentance.
And, to end all, if at any time, man or woman, thou dost
find thy heart dead and dull, and sayest, thou canst not pray,
thou art unapt, and thy heart is hardened ; then go, go to the
word of the kingdom, go to the gospel, go, lay out thy soul
before the word of the gospel; consider the kingdom of hea
ven, the word of the kingdom, free remission unto poor sin
ners ; and this is the only way for to break your heart : for
certainly this is a truth that I have spread before you ; think
of it : the appropinquation, approaching, or drawing near of
the kingdom of heaven is the highest and greatest motive in
the world unto true repentance.
EXD OF VOL. IV.
E. I almcr ami Sou, Friutei s, 1-, ; uiTiius(cr lio\v.
