Samuels Encounter with Saul, Doctrine 6
Doct. 6. When we are yet in meane eſtate, each benefit is thankworthy.
VERSE 17, 18, 19.
And Samuel ſayd, When thou wast little in thine owne ſight, waſt thou not made the Head of the Tribes of Iſrael, and the LORD anoynted thee King ouer Iſrael?
And the LORD ſent thee on a iourney, and ſayd, Goe, and vtterly deſtroy the ſinners, the Amalekites, and fight againſt them, vntill they bee conſumed.
Wherefore then didſt thou not obey the voyce of the LORD, but didſt flie vponupon the ſpoyle, and didſt euill in the ſight of the LORD.
NOw in this verſe, it followeth, how Samuel tels Saul, what God had ſaid to him that night, to wit, that he had aduanced him to the kingdome, when he was meane and baſe, therefore that hee ought to hauehave honoured and obeyed him, whome he had ſo preferred: yea, (ſaith he) when the Lord commaunded thee to deſtroy vtterly the Amalakites, thou diddeſt not as hee commaunded thee, how canſt thou anſwere this? Furthermore hee ſaid, that thou ſoughteſt thine owne gaine and glorie, by diſobeying him, therefore it repenteth him that he made thee King. In theſe three verſes among other things, note this generally, which the Lord complaineth of, that when men are of meane eſtate and lowe, they can prize Gods benefits at an high reckoning, and count them great and precious, as Saul did the raiſing him to the Kingdom, counting himſelfe vnworthy of it, but when they once wax mighty, they forget themſelues, and make his benefits common things, little worth euen as he did, not reuerencing and obeying him that honored him. A moſt worthy inſtruction, and fit for our time, wherein may bee found ſo infinite perſons, which for want of well learning it, hauehave vndone themſelues, hauing their owne conſciences to accuſe them, and their mouthes to witnes againſt them: who, when they were baſe and of no account, were glad of eueryevery ſmall bleſſing of God, counting themſelues vnworthy of the ſame: but when God hath lifted them vp aboue their expectation, how ſoone hauehave they groſſely & ſhamefully degenerated from their former minde and thought, as if they had neuer beene the ſame perſons? And yet I ſpeake not of the mad, rude, and ignorant ſort of the world, (who being without common honeſty, and ciuility, what other thing is to bee looked for at their hands▪) but of ſuch as are vnderunder good teaching, and will as readily conſent to the doctrine, and ſpeake againſt ſuch as are offenders, as ſoone as any; who yet moſt wofully doe ſhew their inconſtancy, and diſguiſednes to the whole world.
And to begin with them,Some examples. who of all other ſhould bee furtheſt off from this ſinne,1. In the Miniſtry. I meane the Miniſters, how many of them, ſince the light of knowledge did begin to ſhine in their hearts: (ſo that either they were become teachers of others, being as yet ſchollersin the vniuerſities, or at leaſt old enough to teach and gouerne themſelues) hauehave ſaid it, and fully purpoſed, that if they might bee thought meet to bee imployed in the ſeruice of the Church, and to enioy liuing to maintaine themſelues and theirs, how many I ſay hauehave ſayd it, that they would beſtow their talent diligently, teaching the Lords flocke, & liuing among them kindely & Chriſtianly, and painefully and vnoffenſiuely, among whome they ſhould be placed, and with contentation in their eſtate and condition: only they hauehave thought themſelues vnmeet for ſo hie a calling, and hauehave ſaid that they were vnworthie to reape the fruites of a ſmall people and congregation. I am ſure I ſpeake the truth in many, whome my ſelfe hauehave knowne, and of others I hauehave heard the ſame, by men of good credit: who yet when they began to riſe to credit, degrees, fauour with their betters, and God had giuen them more liuing then they could deſire or hope for, they hauehave little conſidered what they had ſaid before; but with their liuings and promotions, their hearts hauehave riſen, till they ſeeing what liberties the time would affoord them, and how they might hauehave elbow roome, and to rule ouer others, as the creeping Iuie, which ouergrowes and maſters the ſtrongeſt oke, rather then to be called to their account by others, they by little and little, became vtterly changed, as if they had neuer beene the men, which before they ſeemed to bee: leauing wholly the care of their flocks, and gaue themſelues to liue at eaſe, and to ſeeke after more liuing: neither ſeeking the loſt, nor ſtrengthening the weake, they neither healed the ſick, nor bound vp the broken, yet cloathing themſelues with the wooll: and ſome of them (forgetting their couenant ſometime made to the Lord) liued vnkindely with the people, and with crueltie and rigour, and ruling and dominering ouer them: and attended not to reading, exhortation and doctrine, as they knew they ought to hauehave done? It is a generall obſeruation, that before the time of Conſtantine and the good Emperours, the Clergie beeing then perſecuted and vnderunder the croſſe, ſtood ſtoutly to the defence of the truth, and oppoſed hereſie, and profanenes with equall courage? Who yet beeing (as warmed in the boſome of eaſe and preferment) grew both diuided among themſelues, and ſlacke in their zeale and miniſtrie, ſeeking their owne things, and quite giuing ouer their care of the publique welfare? And out of this root, by degrees aroſe the Papacie, to that head of ambition and inſolencie. But to return, where it now venteth, euen iuſt ſo hath the wine & oile of many forward preachers, whereby they cheered the heart of God & man, degenerated into the vineger & dregs of ſloth and pride. As the traueller being put to it, by the winde & weather, claſpeth his cloake more cloſely to him: but being in the warm ſunne, caſteth it off, as not able to beare it, ſo hauehave theſe done: verefying the prouerbe, that religion had brought forth wealth, and the daughter had deuoured the mother. But alas, where ſhall remedie bee ſought for this if it pleaſe not God to breake their harts, and bring them from that their vnfaithfull dealing with God, to true repentance, by conſidering, how farre they hauehave degenerated from former times, and broken their couenants which they made with him, when they thought they ought to doe no leſſe; and yet I ſay, they kept them not.
But to proceed from the miniſters to the people,A ſecond example of the people. how hauehave many of them, after that God hath enlightened them with the knowledge, & liking of the truth, and ſtirred them vp by the examples of others, to a care of reforming their liues, how (I ſay) hauehave many teſtified the ſame, by weeping & bewayling their ſinnes, by diligent hearing of ſermons, keeping companie with godly Chriſtians, forſaking the fellowſhip of the prophane, & their prophane gaming and playing, into making many purpoſes, neuer to do as they hauehave done: inſomuch, that they gaue great hope to become rare Chriſtians? And being mean in their owne eyes, when the Lord aduanced them to the hope of a farre better eſtate, and gaue them a taſte of the life to come, and fauor with his good ſeruants, that yet afterward, not wiſely and circumſpectly walking, not fearing the allurements of the world on the one ſide, nor the diſcouragements from duty on the other ſide, fell from their good beginnings, and ſo became reuolters from thier firſt louelove, declaring to thier iuſt reproch and ſhame, that now they waxed full, an honycomb was not pleaſant vntounto them, vntounto whom ſomtime eueryevery common inſtruction had been ſweet and ſauoury.
And to ſpeak more particularly:A third, of dealers in the world. how many at their entring into the dealings of the world, and their fathers inheritance, other in ſeeking marriages, and ſome liuing in hope of commodities and preferment: and others in their ſicke beds hauehave ſeriouſly couenanted, that if God would now grant them the deſire of their harts, they would euer after glorifie him, and ſay that he had done great things for them. Who yet when they hauehave enioyed their deſires hauehave ſoone forgot their hot & raſh vowes, and hauehave ſome of them beſtowed thoſe benefites of God vponupon their luſts: Iam. 4.and others hauehave eaten their word, and hauehave made light of thoſe things which before, they ſo earneſtly deſired, & wiſhed for: as namely in the marriages of the moſt, we ſee daily it is verefied, and ſo of all ſorts it may be ſaid; when they hauehave gotte that which they deſired, they hauehave become altogether other men. Therefore they may much reioyce, who can hold that conſtancie, that they can thinke it meete, that all they hauehave, ſhould honour God, and whatſoeuer they enioy, they can remember that once they had nothing, and therefore that they ſhould not lift vp themſelues, which is fooliſhnes, ſaying they hauehave receiued it, nor prouoke God, by vnthankfulnes, to ſtrippe them off all, and to giuegive them ouer as the other doe, whoſe laſt eſtate ſhould be worſe then their beginning; whereas, if there had beene no other reaſon, to perſwade them to conſtancy, in care of godly liuing, this might hauehave beene ſufficient to them, that their cauſe had ſometime beene farre better, and that they had ſometime beene glad, namely, in their meaner eſtate, to make promiſes to God of better ſeruice, though now they had ſhamefully neglected it.