Samuels Encounter with Saul, Doctrine 17
Doct.17. Men are far wide in their account of ſin.
Now to proceede, ſeeing his ſinne was as witch-craft, and yet he made light of it, let vsus marke, that this is the poynt which this Scripture teacheth; namely, how far wide men are, in iudging rightly of and about their ſinne, and how contrary to the iudgement of God, and of the Scriptures, which yet ſhall iudge eueryevery one in the latter day: here, I ſay, we may ſee it: for,…. that which God pronounceth to bee odious and execrable, men count light and ſmall; God ſheweth Saul, that his ſinne is as witchcraft and idolatry: Saul asketh if it be any at all, nay he ſaith it is none at all, but he had fulfilled the commandement of the Lord: he ſeeth no cauſe why hee ſhould be charged with any treſpaſſe, as long as hee had done part of that, which was required of him.
And how can men bee liker to him then they bee? for,Conuictiō of many ſorts, as guilty of this. when their diſobedience is bewrayed manifeſtly by the Word of God,Inſtance 1. how many ſhall yee heare of, which accuſe themſelues; nay, although they not onelyonly ſee it to bee ſo; but that their ſinne goeth forth openly in the ſight of men, ſo that all ſpeake of it; yet is moues them not, neither troubles them, but they make a tuſh at it, and waſh it away boldly and ſlightly, as if it were nothing,Prou. 30. as the Harlot wipeth her mouth, and ſayth, What euill hauehave I done? The reaſon is, that they erre groſſely,Why men ſlight off ſinne. and are corrupted in their iudgement, and hauehave euill and corrupted conſciences, and they are ſo, ſeeing their liues are naught, and ſo they will hauehave them, and will not bee reclaimed; but, to maintaine their euill doings, they blind-fold themſelues, & wil not ſee euen that, which is moſt groſſe; but call euill good, and error truth, and ſo it commeth to paſſe, as it is to bee ſeene this day, that in the middeſt of fearefull and notorious offences, yet it ſhall ſcarcely bee perceiued in perſons or townes, that there are many which ſee it in themſelues; or lay to heart the wickedneſſe of others; by which it mayeaſily be gathered, that they ſee no great thing amiſſe. One ſhall eſpy faults enough in another,Luke 19. and another in him again, and many wrongs and iniuries are cryed out of, and complained of; but rarely ſhall yee ſee him, who ſteppeth forth with Zaccheus, 1 Tim. 2.or Paul, and ſaith, I am the offender,2. & I will make reſtitution: many ſmart, who are innocents, and ſuffer without a cauſe, both taunts, and mockes, and falſe accuſations, and reproch, euen for well-doing, and for true and ſincere ſeruing of God. Yea, notwithſtanding godlineſſe and the Goſpell, which teacheth it, are both maintained by a moſt gracions Prince, ſo that they hauehave no Law to iudge them by.
And what meaſure (think wee) ſhould the righteous ſeruants of God, receiue at the hands of the vnthankfull and wicked world, if they had liberty to purſue ſuch, with ſword & puniſhment, as they doe with malice in their ſtomach, and with their mouthes: ſo, that many baytings and diſgraces, the innocent ſeruants of God, ſuſtaine in the world: but where are they, that come forth with Paul, aud confeſſe againſt themſelues, that they hauehave perſecuted the Church of Chriſt, Acts 9. 4.and hauehave ſpoken and intended euill againſt them without a cauſe? Of the infinite whoredomes cryed out of,3. brought to light; yea, and that in the open courts, how many do we ſee come to make ſatisfaction to the people of God? or if ſome be brought forth againſt their wils, yet how few ſhall bee heard of, who in token of their true repentance, accuſe themſelues, and confeſſe to their own ſhame, and that as willingly as euer they committed it, (which yet they ought to doe) that they are the great ſinners that are ſpoken of, that fill the Countrey with fearefull reports,Mat. 24. 12 that thus with the penitent woman in the Goſpell,Luk… 7. they might reuenge themſelues.
Thus I might go thorow the pack of filthineſſe, committed in the world, and iuſtifie that which I hauehave ſayd, that how bold ſoeuer men be in committing of them, and how common ſoeuer the greateſt faults are with them; yet, it is rare, to heare one of many to ſay, What hauehave I done? but are ſo far from any checke and pricke of conſcience, for them, that when they are preſſed with them by preaching (when a man would thinke they ſhould not be able to go vnderunder the burthen) yet euen then, they are nothing touched; but beare downe all threatnings of God, and reprehenſions lightly, either contemning them, or ſcoffing at them, or at the moſt, not laying them to heart, and labouring to thinke of them, as they heare the Word of Ged, to cenſure them, wherby it may eaſily be gathered, that they ſee little or nothing, worthy to bee found fault with, in them, and therfore cauſe (as much as in them lyeth) the preaching of the Word of God, to bee thought needleſſe (which God hath commanded ſo ſtrictly in ſeaſon, and out of ſeaſon, to bee preached) ſo that men ſay, it is that which cauſeth all ſtrife and contention in townes, and which bringeth all other calamities vponupon the people.
The Deuill hath wayes enough,The curſed fruit of this ſin. both before they commit it, and afterwards, when they ſhould repent of it, to extenuate it, and make it ſeeme ſmall, till it bee too late, and till the workers of it, hauehave too long lien hardned in it, and then he aggrauateth, at their death, or by ſome ſting of conſcience, which they cannot quench and put away, and he fiercely aſſaulteth them with ſtrong perſwaſions, that it is ſo great, that it cannot bee forgiuen, and ſo is ready to driue the poore ſinners to deſperation; yet, hee then maketh their offence greater, and more fearefull then the Scriptures themſelues doe: for, his property is to come and appeare to a ſinner firſt, as a tempter before he commit it, and after, as an accuſer, when hee feeles the burthen of it.
And all this erroneous iudging of ſinne,Vnbeleefe, is the cauſe of it. in that they come ſhort, or goe too farre, commeth from hence, that men beleeue not the Word. For, either they call a foule and moſt odious fact, an infirmity, and make it little, as he in the Goſpell, who ſayd, when he was a groſſe hypocrite,Luk 18. 3. Lord, I thanke thee, I am not as other men, or as this Publican: or elſe they make it ſo monſtrous, that there is no hope of pardon,Mat. 27. 3. as did Iudas: whereas the Word teacheth, neither of both, but to make all ſinne odious, and to bee affrayd to breake the leaſt Commandement, that ſo it may breede mourning, and true humiliation, and repentance in vsus, that the more ſowrer and bitter wee feele our ſinne, the more ſweet the ſatisfaction of Chriſt may be vntounto vsus: But few labour to beleeue this, neither are wiſe enough to ſee into this myſtery;Note. for, if they did, as the merits and death of Chriſt ſhould euer be ſweet and ſauoury, which now is to the moſt, both common and comfortleſſe, ſo ſhould ſin bee euer loathſome and fearfull. An oath, alye, deceiuing and ſlander, ſcoffing, fooliſh ieſting, a thing not ſeemely, and ſuch like, if they were accounted of vsus, as witchcraft and idolatry, wee ſhould little reioyce in our ſelues, till wee did walke ſtrongly armed againſt them.
Hitherto, theſe two things hauehave beene handled in this verſe: firſt, how odious diſobedience is, which is commonly committed among vsus, and that by occaſion of Samuels words vntounto Saul [to tranſgreſſe, is as witchcraft; and not to obey, is as the ſin of Idolatry.] Secondly, how wide men are, from iudging rightly of ſinne.