Ten Sermons, Sermon 2
THE SECOND SERMON.Grantham Linc. 27. Febr. 1620.
3 KINGS 21.29.
—because hee humbleth himselfe before mee, I will not bring the euill in his dayes:—
I Will not so farre either distrust your memories, §. 1. A repetition of three former Obseruations.or straiten my selfe of time for the deliuery of what I am now purposed to speake; as to make any repetition of the particulars which were obserued the last time from the consideration of Ahabs person and condition, (who was but an Hypocrite,) taken ioyntly with his present carriage, together with the occasion and successe thereof. He was humbled: it was the voyce of God by his Prophet that humbled him: vponupon his humbling God adiourneth his punishment. From all which was noted, 1. that there might bee euen in Hypocrites an outward formall humiliation; 2. the power and efficacy of the word of God, able to humble an oppressing Ahab; 3. the boundlesse mercy of God, in not suffering the outward formall Humiliation of an vngodly Hypocrite to passe altogether vnrewarded. All this the last time; by occasion of those first clauses in the verse, [Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before mee? because he humbleth himselfe before mee, I will not—]. Wee are now next to consider of the great Fauour, which it pleased God to shew to Ahab vponupon his humiliation; what it was, and wherein it consisted. It was the Remoueall, at least for a time; that is, the suspension of an heauy Iudgement denounced against Ahab and his house most deseruedly for his bloudy and execrable oppression; [Because hee humbleth himselfe before mee, I will not bring the euill in his dayes.]
§ 2. The opening of.The Euill which God now promiseth hee will not bring, [I will not bring the euill in his dayes;] is that which in verse 21. hee had threatned, hee would bring vponupon Ahab and vponupon his house, [aVers. 21. &c. hîc. Behold I will bring euill vponupon thee, …nd will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut vp and left in Israel; and will make thy house like the house of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, and like the house of Be…sha the sonne of Ahijah, for the prouocation wherewith thou hast prouoked mee to anger, and made Israel to sinne.] A great Iudgement, and an hea…y: but the greater the iudgement is, when it is deserued, and threatned; the greater the mercy is, if it be afterwards forborne: as some of this was. But whatsoeuer becommeth of the iudgement; here wee see is mercy good store. God who is bEph. 2.4.rich in mercy, and delighteth to be stiled cDeus miserationum. Nebem 9.31.the God of mercies, and the d2 Cor. 1.3.Father of mercies, abundantly manifesteth his mercy in dealing thus graciously with one that deserued it so little. Here is mercy, in but threatning the punishment, when hee might hauehave inflicted it; and more mercy, in not inflicting the punishment, when hee had threatned it. Here is mercy first, in suspending the Punishment, [I will not bring the Euill:] and mercy againe, in suspending it for so long a time, [I will not bring the euill in his dayes.] Of these two points wee shall entreate at this time: and first and principally, of the former.
I will not bring the euill.] It is no new thing to them,§. 3. Obseru. 4. Concerning Gods forbearing of threatned iudgements, that hauehave read the sacred stories with obseruation, to see God, when men are humbled at his threatnings, to reuoke them. aChrysost. in Gen. hom. 25. & ahbi saepè.foreign, saith Chrysostome more than once: this is euer Gods manner; when men change their deeds, to change his doome; when they renounce their sinners, to recall his sentence; when they repent of the euill they hauehave done against him, to bIon. 3.10.repent of the euill hee had said hee would doe against them. Search the Scriptures; and say if things runne not thus, as in the most ordinary course: God commandeth, and man disobeyeth; Man disobeyeth, and God threatneth; God threatneth, and Man repenteth; Man repenteth, and God forbeareth. cGen. 20.3.7.Abimelech, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman which thou hast taken! but Abimelech restoreth the Prophet his wife vntouched; and God spareth him, and hee dyeth not. Hezekiah, make thy will, and dEsay. 38.1-5.put thine house in order, for thou shalt dye, and not liue! but Hezekiah turneth to the wall, and prayeth, and weepeth; and God addeth to his dayes fifteene yeeres. Nineueh, prepare for desolation; for now but eIon. 3.4—10.forty dayes, and Nineueh shall bee destroyed! But Nineueh fasted, and prayed, and repented; and Nineueh stood after that more than fortie yeares twice told. Generally, God neuer yet threatned any punishment vponupon person or place: but if they repented, hee either with-held it, or deferred it, or abated it, or sweetened it to them; for the most part proportionably to the truth and measure of their repentance, but howsoeuer alwayes so farre forth as in his infinite wisedome hee hath thought good: some way or other, he euer remitted somewhat of that seuerity and rigour, wherin he threatned it.
§. 4. with the proofe;A course, which God hath in some sort bound himselfe vntounto, and which hee often and openly professeth hee will hold. Two remarkeable testimonies (among sundry other) shall suffice vsus to hauehave proposed at this time, for the cleare and full euidencing hereof. The one in Ierem. 18.7.8. [At what instant I shall speake concerning a nation and concerning a kingdome, to plucke vp, and to pull downe, and to destroy; If that nation against whom I hauehave pronounced turne from their euill, I will repent of the euill that I thought to doe vntounto them.] The other in Ezek. 33.13.14 [When I say to the wicked, thou shalt surely dye; if hee turne from his sinne, and doe that which is lawfull and right, If the wicked restore the pledge, giuegive againe that hee hath robbed, walke in the statutes of life without committing iniquity; he shall surely liue, he shall not dye.] And eueryevery where in the Prophets, after Denunciations of iudgement follow exhortations to Repentance: which were bootelesse, if Repentance should not either preuent them, or adiourne them, or lessen them.
You see God both practiseth and professeth this course: neither of which can seeme strange to vsus,§. 5. and Reasons thereof: 1. from Gods pronenesse to mercy; if we duely consider, either his readines to shew mercy, or the true End of his threatnings. We hauehave partly already touched at the greatnesse of his merciemercy. To shew compassion, & to forgiue, that is the thing wherein he most of all delighteth; and therfore he doth arripere ansam, take all aduantages as it were, and lay hold on eueryevery occasion to do that: but to punish, and take vengeance is aEsay 28.21.opus alienum, as some expound that in Esay 28. his strange worke, his strange act, a thing he taketh no pleasure in. bEzek. 33.11.Vivo, nolo-in Ezek. 33. As I liue saith the Lord God, I hauehave no pleasure in the death of the wicked, &c. As the Bee laboureth busily all the day long, and seeketh to eueryevery flower and to eueryevery weede for Hony ▪ but stingeth not once, vnlesse shee be ill prouoked: so God bestirreth himselfe, and his bowells yearne within him, to shew compassion, [cOsee. 6.4. O Ephraim what shall I doe vntounto thee? O Indah, how shall I entreate thee? dEzek. 18.31. & 33.11.Why will yee dye, O yee house of Israel? eIerem. 5.1.Runne to and fro through the streetes of Ierusalem, and seeke if you can find a man, but a man, that I may pardon it.] But vengeance commeth on heauily and vnwillingly, and draweth a sigh from him fEsay. 1.24.[Heu consolabor! Ah I must, I see there is no remedy, I must ease me of mine aduersaries, and be auenged of mine enemies; gMath. 23.37.Oh Ierusalem, Ierusalem, that killest the Prophets —how oft would I &c. hOsee. 11.8.How shall I giuegive thee vp Ephraim? —my heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together.] So is our God iPsal. 103.8.slow to anger, and loath to strike kOuid, 1. de Pont. 3.Quique dolet quoties cogitur esse ferox: but plenteous in mercy, as Dauid describeth him in Psal. 103. Neuer was man truely and inwardly humbled, but God in the riches of his speciall mercy, truely pardoned him: neuer was man so much as but outwardly humbled, as Ahab here, but God in his common and generall mercy, more or lesse forbare him.
§. 6. 2. from the end of his threatnings.Secondly, the end of Gods threatnings also confirmeth this point. For doth he threaten euill thinke yee, because he is resolued to inflict it? Nothing lesse: rather to the contrary, he therefore threateneth it, that wee by our repentance may preuent it, and so hee may not inflict it. aChrysost. in Gen. hom. 25.foreign, saith Saint Chrysostome: he foretelleth what he will bring vponupon vsus, for this very purpose, that he may not bring it vponupon vsus; & warneth before he striketh, to make vsus carefull to auoyde the stroke. In the ancient Romane state & discipline, the manner was, before they made warre vponupon any people, first to send bSee Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 2. Antiquit. Liu. 1. Decad. 1. Cic. 1 de offic.Heralds to proclaime it, (Bellum indicere, no inferrent,) to the end that if they would make their peace by submission, they might preuent the warre; nor so onelyonly, but be written also in al…o amicorum, enrolled as their friends and confederates. So God sendeth his Heralds the Prophets, to threaten vengeance against sinners: not thereby to driue them from hope of mercy, but to draw them to repentance and humiliation; whereby they may not onelyonly turne away the vengeance threatned, but also (if they performe them vnfainedly and with vpright hearts) interest themselues farther in his fauour and louelove. Nor is it to be accounted among the least of Gods mercies, when he might in his just displeasure ouerwhelme vsus in the very act of our sinnes, ascNumb. 2….8. Zimri and Cosbi were runne thorough in the very act of filthinesse; and as d2 Sam. 6.7.Vzzah, and eAct. 5.5.10.Ananias and Sapphira, and some few others whom God picked out to shew exemplary iudgement vponupon, were strucken dead vponupon the sudden for their transgressions: When God might in iustice deale with the same rigour against vsus all; I say it is not the least of his mercies, that he forbeareth and forewarneth and foretelleth and threatneth vsus before he punish; that fforeign. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 25.if we will take any warning, he may do better to vsus than he hath said, and not bring vponupon vsus what he hath threatned.
A point very Vsefull, and Comfortable: if it be not derogatory to Gods truth. §. 17. How all this may stand with Gods truth.Let vsus therfore first cleare that; and then proceede to the vses. If God thus reuoke his threatnings, it seemeth he either before meant not what he spake, when he threatned; or else after when he reuoketh, repenteth of what he meant: either of which to imagine, far be it from eueryevery Christian heart; since the one maketh God a dissembler, the other a changeling, the one chargeth him with falshood, the other with lightnesse. And yet the Scriptures sometimes speake of God, as if he aGen. 6.6. Psal. 95.10.grieued for what he did, or bGen. 6.6. 1. Sam. 15.11. Ierem. 18.8. Amos. 7.3.6. Ion 3.10.repented of what he spake, or altered what he had purposed: and for the most part, such like affections are giuen him in such places, as endeauour to set forth to the most life his great mercy and kindnesse to sinfull mankind. We all know, we cannot indeede giuegive God any greater glory than the glory of his mercy: yet must know withall, that God is not so needy of meanes to worke out his owne glory, as that he should be forced to redeeme the glory of his mercy, with the forfeiture either of his Truth or Stedfastnesse. We are therefore to lay this as a firme ground and infallible, that our God is both truely Vnchangeable, and vnchangeably True. cNum. 2….19. 1 Sam. 15.29.The strength of Israel is not as man, that hee should lye, nor as the sonne of man, that hee should repent: his words are not d2 Cor. 1.19.20.Yea and Nay, neither doth hee vse lightnesse. But his words are Yea and Amen; and himselfe eHeb. 13.8.yesterday and to day and the same for euer: fMatth. 24.35.Heauen and Earth may passe away, yea shall passe away; but not the least gforeign. Math. 5.18.tittle of Gods words shall passe away vnfulfilled: hPsal. 102.26.27.They may waxe old as a garment, and as a vesture shall hee change them, and they shall bee changed; but he is the same, and his yeares faile not: neither doe his purposes faile, nor his promises faile, nor his threatnings faile, nor any of his words faile. Let Heauen, and Earth, and Hell, and Angell, and Man, and Diuell, and all change: still still iMal. 3.6.Ego Deus et non mutor, God he is the Lord of all, and he changeth not.
As for those Phrases then of Repenting, §. 8. how God is sayd to repent, &c.Grieuing, &c. which are spoken of God in the Scriptures: that aforeign. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 3. So also ibid. hom. 15. & 26. & 60. & in Psal. 6. & passim.foreign, whereof S. Chrysostome so often speaketh, salueth them. God speaketh to vsus, and therefore speaketh as wee vse to speake, and frameth his language to our bPro captu nostro, non pro suo statu. Bernard. lib, 5. de Consid. ad Eugen.dulnesse, and teacheth vsus by cforeign Chrys. in Psal. 8.our owne phrases what hee would hauehave vsus learne; as Nurses talke halfe syllables, and dforeign. Chrysost. in Psalm. 6.lispe out broken language to young children. But what is so spoken foreign, of God, after the manner of men; must yet be vnderstood foreign, so as befitteth the Maiestie and perfection of his diuine nature. When he repenteth then, we are not so to conceiue it, as if God eNunquam primi consilij Deos poenitet. Seneo. 6. de benef. 23.changed his mind, or altered anie thing of his euerlasting purpose and counsell, eyther in substance or circumstances: it only fQuod dicit (Poenilentiam agam) intelligigitur metaphoricè dictum: nam homines, quando non implent quod comminati sunt, poenitere videntur. Aquin. 1. qu. 19.7. ad. 2.importeth, that he now doth not that; which, so farre as we could reasonably coniecture by his words, or workes, or our deserts, or otherwise, seemed to vsus to hauehave beene his purpose to hauehave done.
This for the Phrases: but yet the maine doubt for the thing it selfe standeth vncleared.§. 9. the doubt resolued, Abimelech and Hezekiah shall dye, and yet Abimelech and Hezekiah shall not dye; Nineueh shall be destroyed, and yet Nineueh shall not be destroyed; I will bring euill vponupon Ahabs house, and yet I will not bring it: is not this Yea and Nay? is not this a plaine contradiction? How is there not here a plaine change of Gods will? If not for substance; because the things were at length performed: yet at least in circumstance; because they were not performed at those times, and in that manner, as they were threatned and foretold. That wretched miscreant Vorstius, instead of vntying this knot, cutteth it: who, to maintaine Arminian conclusions from blasphemous Principles, trembleth not to affirme, aVorst. de Deo.In parte aliquâ diuini decreti fieri aliquam mutationem; that there may be some change made in some part of Gods decree. An assertion vnbeseeming an ingenuous Pagane, and to be for euer abhorred and held accursed by eueryevery soule that professeth it selfe Christian. Admit this once: and let Man, yea and the Diuell too, be true; and onelyonly God a lyer. Leaue wee him therefore to the iudgement of that great God, whom he hath blasphemed; and seeke wee better satisfaction. That of Aquinas, and the Schoolemen, is true, but subtile: that God doth sometimes bAquin. 1. qu. 19.7.Velle mutationem, though hee doth neuer mutare voluntatem; that though hee neuer changeth his will, yet hee sometimes willeth a change. That of cCùm exteriùs mutari videtur sententia, consilium non mutatur quia de vnaquaque re immutabiliter intùs constituitur, quicquid foris mutabiliter agitur. Gregor. in Moral.Gregory is plainer, and no lesse true; Mutat Deus sententiam, non consilium: God sometimes changeth the sentence which he hath denounced, but neuer the Counsell which he hath decreed. Others, otherwise: diuers men conceiuing the same answer for substance, in diuers and different termes.
That which is plainest, and giueth fullest satisfaction, and whereinto the answeres of Gregory, §. 10. by vnderstanding euer a clause of exception,and Aquinas, and the rest, (as many as hauehave spoken with any truth and pertinency to the point,) in the last resolution fall; is briefly this. In the whole course of Scripture, Gods threatnings, and so his promises too,) hauehave euer a condition annexed vntounto them in Gods purpose: which though it be not euer, indeede but seldome expressed; yet is it euer included, and so to bee vnderstood. All Gods promises, (how absolutely so euer expressed,) are made sub conditione Obedientiae: and all his threatnings (how absolutely so euer expressed,) sub conditione Impoenitentiae. And these Conditions, viz. of continuing in Obedience, in all Promises; and of continuing in Impenitency, in all Threatnings, are to be vnderstood of course; whether they be expressed, or not. This is plaine from those two famous places before cited, Ier. 18. and Ezek. 33. aIer. 18.7.8. See Chrysost. hom. 5. ad pop. Antioch. fuse & pulchrè.When I say to the wicked, thou shalt surely dye; if the wicked turne from his sinne, &c. hee shall surely liue, he shall not dye. Where Almighty God plainely teacheth vsus, that we ought so to conceiue of all his threatnings, bee they neuer so peremptorily set downe, (as what more peremptory than this, Thou shalt surely dye?) as that he may reserue to him a power of reuocation, in case the parties threatned repent. The examples make it plaine. Abimelech shall dye for taking Sarah: vnderstand it; vnlesse he restore her. Forty daies, and Nineueh shalbe destroyed: vnderstand it with this reseruation; Vnlesse they repent. And so of all the rest.
But why is not that clause expressed then?§. 11. though sometimes not expressed: because it is needlesse ▪ may some demand, I answer: first, it needeth not; secondly, it booteth not. First, it needeth not. For God hauing in Ierem. 18. and Ezek. 33. and elsewhere instructed vsus in the generall, that all his Threatnings are to be vnderstood with such clauses and conditions and reseruations▪ it is needlesse to repeate them in eueryevery particular: As amongst Christian men, who acknowledge Gods prouidence to rule in all things, and to dispose of all actions and euents; it is needlesse in eueryevery speech de futuro contingente to expresse this clause [if God will;] wee will goe to such or such a place, or doe such or such a thing, if God will: because wee readily conceiue it, as a clause, which either is, or should be vnderstood in eueryevery such speech, as aIam…s 4.15.St. Iames requireth. And so in many promises amongst men, this clause, though not expressed, is yet allowed of course, and to common intendement vnderstood, [Rebus sic stantibus; things standing and continuing as now they are:] so as if a man make a promise absolutely, without expressing that or any other like clause of Limitation or Exception, if in the interim some such vnexpected accident befall, as maketh that either he cannot or may not do what he promised; wee may not in right reason charge such a man with breach of promise, if he perform not all hee promised: because the foresaid clause, though not expressed, is yet presumed to hauehave been intended by the Promiser. And that Gods Threatnings, as deiure they ought to be by vsus when wee heare them, so de facto they were vnderstood by him when he made them, with a secret clause of reseruation and exception in case of Repentance; appeareth by the vsuall practice of many vponupon such threatnings, and the vse they made of them. The Nineuites when Ionah preached destruction within forty daies, without any expresse clause of repentance; yet vnderstood it so: else had it beene in vaine for them to hauehave repented at all, out of an hope of preuenting the iudgement by their repentance; as their speeches shew they did. aIon. 3.9.For who can tell, say they, if God will turne and repent, and turne away from his fierce anger, that wee perish not? The like may be said of Abimelech, Hezekiah, and others: and of Ahab in this place.
Againe, as it is sometimes needlesse, so it is alwaies bootlesse, §. 12. 2. bootlesse.to expresse this clause of repentance in the threatnings of God. The expressing of it can doe little good; secure ones will repent neuer the sooner for it: but it may doe much harm; secure ones may thereby put themselues in fairer hope of forbearance, and so linger their repentance till it be too late. Beloued, it is admirable to obserue foreign, Gods gracious courses, which hee vseth for the calling of men to repentance. In this particularity whereof we now speak, see how his aPsal. 85.10.Mercy and Truth are met together, and doe most louingly embrace each other. Where he spareth in the end, it is most certaine he euer meant to spare bDeus perseuerauit in proposito suo, misereri volens ab initio. Hieronym. in Ion. 3.from the beginning: but that his euerlasting purpose is part of his secret counsell, and vnreuealed will; which as wee cannot learne, so wee may not seeke to know, till the euent declare it. Now to bring this his secret purpose about, he must worke those men to repentance, whom he hath thus euerlastingly purposed to spare: else his iustice should become questionable, in finally sparing the impenitent. Amongst other meanes to worke men to repentance, this is one, to cforeign. Chrys. hom. 5. ad pop. Antioch.threaten them with such iudgements, as their sinnes hauehave deserued: which threatning the more terrible it is, the more likely it is to be effectuall; and the more peremptory it is, the more terrible it is. So then God, to bring those men to repentance whom hee meaneth to spare, in his word and by his messengers denounceth against them such iudgements, as their sinnes hauehave deserued, and as his iustice without their repentance would bring vponupon them; denounceth them I say absolutely, and in a peremptorie forme, without any expresse clause of reseruation or exception, the more to terrifie and affright them, and to cast them downe to the deeper acknowledgement of his iustice and their owne vnworthinesse: which yet are to bee vnderstood conditionally, and interpreted with reseruation and exception of Repentance.
§. 13. The Inferences.You hauehave heard euidence enough to acquite Gods Truth; and doe by this time, I doubt not, perceiue how, as in all other things, so in the reuoking of his threatnings, Gods Mercy and his Truth goe hand in hand together. Let vsus now see, what profitable Inferences may bee raised hence for our vse. The summe of all wee hauehave said, is but this. Gods threatnings are terrible; but yet conditionall: and if he spare to execute them, when we are humbled by them, it is a glorious illustration of his Mercy, but without the least impeachment of his truth. Here is something for the Distressed, something for the Secure, something for All, to learne.
First; for the Distressed. §. 14. 1. of Comfort, to the distressed;Consider this, and take comfort; all you that aEsay. 61.3.mourne in Sion, and groane vnderunder the waight of Gods heauy displeasure, and the fearfull expectation of those bitter curses and iudgements, which hee hath threatned against sinne. Why doe you spend your strength and spirit, in gazing with broad eyes altogether on Gods Iustice, or Truth: take them off a little, and refresh them, by fastening them another while vponupon his mercy. Consider not only what hee threateneth: but consider withall why hee threatneth, it is, that you may repent; and withall how hee threatneth, it is, vnlesse you repent. Hee threatneth to cast downe indeed: but vntounto humiliation, not into despaire. Hee shooteth out his arrowes, euen bitter words: but as b1 Sam. 20.20.21.Ionathans arrowes, for warning, not for destruction. Thinke not, hee aymeth so much at thy punishment, when he threatneth: alas, if that were the thing he sought, hee could lay on loade enough cforeign. Chrysost. in Gen. hom. 25. Nemo punire desiderans, quod facturus est comminatur. Hieronym. in Ion. 3.without words: No, it is thy amendment hee aimeth at, and seeketh therein: and hee therefore holdeth not his tongue, that if thou wilt take it for a warning, hee may hold his hand. If the Father doe but threaten the childe, when the rod lyeth by him; it is very likely hee meaneth not to correct him for that time, but only to make him the more carefull to obey, and the more fearefull to offend, for the time to come. Canst thou thus gather hope from the chiding of thy earthly father; and wilt thou finde no comfort in the chidings and threatnings of thy heauenly Father? whose bowels of tender compassion to vsus-ward are so much larger, than any earthly Parents can be; by how much himselfe the dHeb. 12.9.Father of spirits is greater than those fathers of our flesh. Yea, but who am I, will some disconsolate soule say, that I should make Gods threatnings voide? or what my repentance, that it should cancell the Oracles of Truth, or reuerse the sentence of the eternall Iudge? Poore distressed soule, that thus disputest against thine owne peace; but seest not the while the vnfathomed depth of Gods mercy, and the wonderfull dispensations of his Truth. Know, that his threatnings are not made voide, or of none effect, when thou by thy repentance stayest the execution of them; yea rather then are they of all other times most effectuall: for then doe they most of all accomplish their proper end, and the thing for which they were intended, in thy amendment. Neither let his truth make thee despaire; but remember, that the tenor of all his most peremptory threatnings runneth with an implicite reseruation and conditionall exception of Repentance: which condition if thou on thy part faithfully performe; the iudgement shall bee turned away, and yet Gods Truth no whit impaired. This for the Distressed.
§. 15. 2. of Terrour, to the secure.Now for the Secure. Moses in Deut. 29. speaketh of a certaine aDeut. 29.18.19.roote, that beareth gall and wormewood; that blesseth it selfe when God curseth, and standeth vnmoued when God threatneth. Here is an Axe for that roote, to hew it in pieces; and, vnlesse it bMath. 7.19.bring forth better fruite, to cleane it out for the fire. If there be any spriggs or spurnes of that roote here; let them also consider what hath beene said, and tremble. Consider this I say and tremble, all you that make a mocke at God, and at his word, and imagine that all his threatnings are but Bruta fulmina, empty cracks, and Powder without shot; because sundry of them hauehave fallen to the ground, and not done the hurt they made shew of. But know, who so euer thou art, that thus abusest the Mercy, and despisest the Truth of God; that as his Mercy neuer did, so his Truth shall neuer faile. Thou saiest, some of his threatnings hauehave done no harme: I say as much too; and his mercy be blessed for it: but what is that, to secure thee? If any where Gods threatnings did no harme, and wrought no destruction; it was there only, where they did good, and wrought repentance. If they hauehave turned thee from thy sinnes, as they hauehave done some others: there is hope thou maist turne them away from thee, as some others hauehave done. But if they hauehave done no good vponupon thee, in working thy repentance; certainly they hang ouer thee to doe thee harme, and to worke thy destruction. Gods threatnings are in this respect, as all other his words are, sure and stedfast; and such as cEsay. 55.11.shall neuer returne voide, but accomplish that for which they were sent: if not the one way, then without all doubt the other. If they doe not humble thee, they must ouerwhelme thee: if they worke not thy conuersion, they will thy ruine. As some strong Physicke, that either mendeth, or endeth the Patient; so are these. And therefore when iudgements are denounced; resolue quickly, off or on: Here is all the choyce that is left thee; either Repent, or Suffer. There is a generation of men, that (as Moses complaineth) dDeut. 29.19.when they heare the words of Gods curse, blesse themselues in their hearts, and say they shall hauehave peace, though they walke in the imagination of their owne hearts; that (as S. Paul complaineth) eRom. 2.4.despise the riches of his goodnesse and forbearance and long-suffering, not taking knowledge that the goodnesse of God would lead them to repentance; that (as S. Peter complaineth) f2 Pet. 3.3.4.walke after their owne lusts, and scoffingly iest at Gods iudgements, saying, where is the promise of his comming? But let such secure and carnall scoffers bee assured, that howsoeuer others speed, they shall neuer goe vnpunished: Whatsoeuer becommeth of Gods threatnings against others; certainely they shall fall heauy vponupon them. They that hauehave taught vsus their conditions, Moses and Paul, and Peter; hauehave taught vsus also their punishments. Moses telleth such a one, how euer others are dealt with, that yet gDeut. 29.20.the Lord will not spare him; but the anger of the Lord and his iealousie shall smoake against that man, and all the curses that are written in Gods booke shall light vponupon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from vnderunder heauen. S. Paul telleth such men, that by despising the riches of his goodnesse and forbearance, they doe but hRom. 2.5.treasure vp vntounto themselues wrath against the great day of wrath, and of the reuelation of the righteous iudgement of God. S. Peter telleth them, howsoeuer they not only sleep, but euen snort in deep security; that yet i2 Pet. 2.3.their iudgement of long time sleepeth not, and their damnation foreign, not so much as slumbereth. Doe thou then take heed, whosoeuer thou art, & whatsoeuer thou dost, that thou abuse not the Mercy of God: and to diuorce it from his Truth, is to abuse it. If when God threatneth, thou layest aside his Truth, & presumest on his bare Mercy: when he punisheth, take heed he doe not cry quittance with thee, by laying aside his Mercy, and manifesting his bare Truth. God is kPsal. 145.8.patient and mercifull: Patience will beare much, Mercy forbeare much: but being scorned, and prouoked, & dared, lFuror sit laese saepius patientia.Patience it selfe turneth furious, and Mercy it selfe cruell. It is Mercy, that threatneth; it is Iustice, that punisheth. Mercy hath the first turne; and if by Faith and Repentance we lay timely hold of it, we may keepe it for euer, and (reuenging) Iustice shall hauehave nothing to doe with vsus. But if carelesse and secure we slip the opportunity, and neglect the time of Mercy; the next turne belongeth to Iustice: which will render iudgement without Mercy, to them that forgat God, and despised his Mercy. That for the Secure.
Now thirdly, and generally for All. §. 16. 3. of instruction, to All.What God hath ioyned together, let no man put asunder. God hath purposely in his threats ioyned and tempered Mercy and Truth together; that wee might take them together, and profit by them together. aAuson. Epigr. 10.Diuidat haec siquis, faciunt discreta venenum; Antidotum sumet, qui sociata bibet: as hee spake of the two poysons. Either of these single, though not through any malignant quality in themselues, (God forbid wee should thinke so;) yet through the corrupt temperature of our soules, becommeth ranke and deadly poyson to vsus. Take Mercy without Truth; as a cold Poyson it benummeth vsus, and maketh vsus stupid with carelesse security. Take Truth without Mercy; as an hot poyson it scaldeth vsus, and scortcheth vsus in the flames of restlesse Despaire. Take both together, and mixe them well: as hot and cold poysons, fitly tempered by the skill of the Apothecarie, become medicinable; so are Gods Mercy and Truth restoratiue to the soule. The consideration of his Truth humbleth vsus; without it wee would be fearelesse: the consideration of his Mercy supporteth vsus; without it wee would bee hopelesse. Truth begetteth Feare and Repentance; Mercy, Faith and Hope: and these two Faith and Repentance keepe the soule euen, and vpright and steddy, as the ballast and sayle doe the ship; that for all the rough waues and weather that encountereth her in the troublesome sea of this World, shee miscarryeth not, but arriueth safe and ioyfull in the hauen where shee would be. Faith without Repentance, is not Faith, but Presumption; like a Ship all sayle, and no ballast, that tippeth ouer with eueryevery blast: and Repentance without Faith, is not Repentance but Despaire; like a Ship all ballast, and no sayle, which sinketh with her owne weight. What is it then, that wee are to doe; to turne away Gods wrath from vsus, and to escape the iudgements, he threatneth against vsus? Euen this: As in his Comminations, hee ioyneth Mercy and Truth together; so are wee in our Humiliations to ioyne Faith and Repentance together. His threatnings are true: let vsus not presume of forbearance; but feare, since hee hath threatned, that vnlesse we repent, he will strike vsus. Yet his threatnings are but conditionall: let vsus not despaire of forbearance; but hope, although hee hath threatned, that yet if wee repent, he will spare vsus. That is the course, which the godly, guided by the direction of his holy Spirit, hauehave euer truely and sincerely held; and found it euer comfortable to assure them of sound peace, and reconciliation with God. That is the course, which the very Hypocrites, from the suggestion of naturall conscience, hauehave sometimes offered at, as farre as Nature (enlightened, but vnrenewed) could leade them; and found it effectuall, to procure them at the least some forbearance of threatned iudgements, or abatement of temporall euills from God.
Thus hauehave you heard three Vses made,§. 17. The Promises of God how to be vnderstood; of Gods Mercy in reuoking, ioyned with his Truth in performing, what he threatneth. One, to cheare vp the distressed; that hee despaire not, when God threatneth: another, to shake vp the secure; that hee despise not, when God threatneth: a third, to quicken vp all; that they beleeue and repent, when God threatneth. There is yet another generall Vse to be made hereof; which, though it bee not proper to the present argument, yet I cannot willingly passe without a little touching at it: and that is, to instruct vsus for the vnderstanding of Gods promises. For contraries, (as Promises and Threatnings are,) being of the like kinde and reason either with other, doe mutually giuegive and take light either to and from other. Gods threatnings are true and stedfast: his Promises are so too [aTit. 1.2. promisit qui non mentitur Deus, which God that cannot lye hath promised] saith the Apostle in one place; and in another. [b2 Cor. 1.20. All the promises of God are Yea and Amen:] and where in a third place hee speaketh of cHeb. 6.18.two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lye, his Promise one of those two. The Promises then of God are true; as his Threatnings are. Now looke on those Threatnings againe; which wee hauehave already found to be true, but withall Conditionall, and such as must be euer vnderstood with a clause of reseruation or exception. It is so also in the Promises of God: they are true, but yet conditionall, and so they must euer be vnderstood with a conditionall clause. The exception there to be vnderstood, is Repentance: and the Condition here, Obedience. What God threatneth to doe vntounto vsus, absolutely in words; the meaning is, hee will doe it, vnlesse wee repent and amend: and what hee promiseth to doe for vsus, absolutely in words; the meaning is, he will doe it, if wee beleeue and obey. And for so much as this clause is to bee vnderstood of course, in all Gods promises: we may not charge him with breach of Promise, though after hee doe not really performe that to vsus, which the letter of his promise did import, if we breake the condition, and obey not.
§. 18. and entertained.Wouldest thou know then, how thou art to entertaine Gods promises, & with what assurance to expect them? I answer, with a confident, and obedient heart. Confident, because hee is true, that hath promised; Obedient, because that is the condition, vnderunder which hee hath promised: Here is a curbe then for those mens presumption; who liuing in sinne, and continuing in disobedience, dare yet lay claime to the good Promises of God. If such men euer had any seeming interest in Gods Promises; the interest they had, they had but by contract and couenant: and that couenant, whether either of the two it was, Law or Gospell, it was conditionall. The couenant of the Law wholly, and à Priori conditionall; aLuk. 10.28.Hoc fac & viues, Doe this and Liue: & the Couenant of the Gospel too, after a sort, and à Posteriori Conditionall; Crede & Vines, Belieue and Liue. If then they hauehave broken the conditions of both couenants, and doe neither Beleeue, nor Doe what is required: they hauehave by their Vnbeliefe and Disobedience forfeited all that seeming interest they had in those Promises. Gods Promises then, though they be the very maine supporters of our Christian Faith and Hope, to as many of vsus, as whose consciences can witnesse vntounto vsus a sincere desire & endeauour of performing that Obedience we hauehave couenanted; yet are they to be embraced euen by such of vsus, with a reuerend feare and trembling, at our owne vnworthinesse. But as for the vncleane, and filthy, and polluted; those bMath. 6.6.Swine and Dogs, that delight in sinne and disobedience, and eueryevery abomination: they may set their hearts at rest for these matters; they hauehave neither part nor fellowship in any of the sweet promises of God. Let dirty c2. Pet. 2.22.Swine wallow in their owne filth; these rich dMath. 6.6.pearles are not for them, they are too precious: let hungry e2 Pet. 2.2.Dogs glut themselues with their owne vomite; the fMath. 15.26.Childrens bread is not for them, it is too delicious: Let him that will be filthy, gReu. 22.11.be filthy still; the promises of God are holy things, and belong to none but those that are holy, and desire to be holy still. For our selues in a word; let vsus hope that a promise being left vsus, if with faith and obedience and patience we waite for it, we shall in due time receiue it: but withall hHeb. 4.1.let vsus feare, (as the Apostle exhorteth Heb. 4.) lest a promise being left vsus, through disobedience or vnbeliefe, any of vsus should seeme to come short of it.
§. 19. The opening of theThus much of the former thing proposed; the mignifying of Gods Mercy, and the clearing of his Truth in the reuocation and suspension of of threatned iudgements; by occasion of these words [I will not bring the Evill.] There is yet a Circumstance remaining, of this generall part of my Text, which would not be forgotten: it is the extent of time, for the suspending of the iudge- [I will not bring the Euill in his dayes.] Something I would speake of it too by your patience: it shall not be much, because the season is sharpe, I hauehave not much sand to spend. I will not bring the evill in his dayes. The iudgement denounced against Ahabs house, was in the end executed vponupon it; as appeareth in the sequele of the story, and especially from those words of Iehu (who was himselfe the instrument raised vp by the Lord, and vsed for that execution,) in 4. King. 10. a4 King, 10.10.[know that there shal fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his seruant Eliah.] Which were enough, (if there were nothing else to be said) to iustifie Gods Truth in this one particular. That which Ahab gained by his humiliation, was only the deferring of it for his time; I will not bring the euill in his dayes. As if God had said, This wretched king hath prouoked me, and pulled down a curse from me vponupon his house, which it were but iust to bring vponupon him and it without farther delay: yet because he made not a scoffe at my Prophet, but tooke my words something to heart, and was humbled by them; he shall not say, but I will deale mercifully with him, and beyond his merit: as ill as he deserueth it, I will doe him this fauour, I will not bring the euill that is determined against his house, in his dayes.
The thing I would obserue hence, is; That,§ 20. 5. Obseruation: that though it be some griefe to foresee the euils to come; when God hath determined a iudgement vponupon any people, family, or place; it is his great mercy to vsus, if he doe not let vsus liue to see it. It cannot but be a great griefe, I say not now to a religious, but euen) to any soule, that hath not quite cast off all naturall affection; to forethinke and foreknow the future calamities of his countrey and kindred. aHerodot in Polyh; Valer. Max. 9.13,Xerxes could not forbeare weeping, beholding his huge army that followed him; onelyonly to thinke, that within some few scores of yeares so many thousands of proper men would be all dead and rotten: and yet that a thing that must needes hauehave happened by the necessitie of nature, if no sad accident or common calamitie should hasten the accomplishment of it. The declination of a Commonwealth, and the funerall of a Kingdome, foreseene in the generall corruption of manners and decay of discipline, (the most certaine symptomes of a tottering State;) hauehave fetched teares from the eyes, and bloud from the hearts, of heathen men zealously affected to their Countrey. How much more griefe then must it needes be, to them that acknowledge the true God, not onelyonly to foreknow the extraordinary plagues and miseries and calamities which shall befall their posteritie: but also to fore-read in them Gods fierce wrath and heauie displeasure and bitter vengeance, against their owne sinnes, and the sinnes of their posterity? Our blessed Sauiour, though himselfe without sinne, and so no way accessory to the procuring of the euills that should ensue, could not yet but bLuk. 19.41.weepe ouer the City of Ierusalem, when he beheld the present securitie, and the future ruine thereof.
§. 21. yet it is some happinesse, to be taken away before they come.A griefe it is then to know these things shall happen: but some happinesse withall, and to be acknowledged as a great fauour from God, to be assured that we shall neuer see them. It is no small Mercy in him, it is no small Comfort to vsus: if either hee take vsus away, before his iudgements come; or keepe his iudgements away, till we be gone. When God had told Abraham in Gen. 15. that his aGen. 15.13. —15.seede should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs, meaning Egypt, where they should be kept vnderunder, and afflicted 400. yeares: lest the good Patriarch should hauehave beene swallowed vp with griefe at it; hee comforteth him, as with a promise of their glorious deliuerance at the last, so with a promise also of prosperitie to his owne person, and for his owne time, [But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, & shalt be buryed in a good old age, vers. 15.]. In Esay 39. when Hezekiah heard from the mouth of the Prophet Esaiah, that all the bEsay. 39.6.-8treasures in the Lords house & in the Kings house should be carried into Babylon, and that his sonnes whom he should beget should be taken away, and made Eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon: he submitted himself (as it became him to do,) to the sentence of God; and comforted himselfe with this, that yet there should be peace and truth in his dayes, vers. 8. In 4. King. 22. when Huldah had prophesied of the c4. King. 2.16—20.euill that God would bring vponupon the City of Ierusalem, and the whole land of Iudah; in the name of the Lord shee pronounceth this as a courtesie from the Lord vntounto good King Iosiah, [Because thy heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thy selfe — Behold therefore I will gather thee vntounto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered vntounto thy graue in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the euill, which I will bring vponupon this place.] vers. last.
Indeed eueryevery man should hauehave,§. 22. with the Reason; and eueryevery good man hath, an honest care of posterity; would reioyce to see things settled well for them, would grieue to see things likely to goe ill with them. That common speech which was so frequent with aDio. lib. 57.Liberius, was monstrous, and not bIlla vox scelerata atque in humana—Cic. 3. de finib. Vox magna et detestabilis. Senec. 2. de Clement. 2.sauouring of common humanity cEverso juvat orbe mori. Dictum R…ffini apud Claudian.foreign, When I am gone, let heauen and earth be jumbled againe into their old Chaos: but hee that mended it, with dNero. apud Sueton. in Nerone, cap. 38.foreign, yea (saith he,) whilest I liue; seemeth to hauehave renounced all that was man in him. Aristotle hath taught vsus better, what reason taught him, that eArist. 1. Ethic. 11.Res posterorum pertinent ad defunctos; the good or euill of those that come after vsus, doth more than nothing concerne vsus, when we are dead and gone. This is true: but yet fTerent. Andr. 4.1.Proximus egomet mî, though it were the speech of a Sharke in the Comedy, will beare a good construction; EueryEvery man is gforeign.neerest to himselfe: and that Charity, which looketh abroad, and seeketh not onelyonly her owne, yet beginneth at home, and seeketh first her owne. Whence it is, that a godly man, as he hath just cause to grieue for posterities sake, if they must feele Gods judgements; so hee hath good cause to reioyce for his owne sake, if he shall escape them: and he is no lesse to take knowledge of Gods Mercy, in sparing him; than of his Iustice, in striking them.
§. 23. and vses therof: the first;This point is vsefull many wayes: I will touch but some of them, and that very briefly. First, here is one Comfort, amongst many other, against the bitternesse of temporall death. If God cut thee off in the middest of thy daies, and best of thy strength; if death turne thee pale, before age hauehave turned thee gray; if the flower be plucked off before it begin to wither: grudge not at thy lot therein; but meete Gods Messenger cheerfully, & embrace him thankfully. It may bee, God hath some great worke in hand, from which he meaneth to saue thee. It may be, he sendeth death to thee, as he sent his aGen. 19.16.17.Angel to Lot; to plucke thee out of the middest of a froward and crooked generation, and to snatch thee away, lest a worse thing than death should happen vntounto thee. Cast not therefore a longing eye back vponupon Sodome, neither desire to linger in the plaine; (it is but a vallie of teares and miserie:) but vp to the mountaine from whence commeth thy saluation, lest some euill ouertake thee. Possibly that which thou thinkest an vntimely death, may bee to thee a double aduantage: a great aduantage, in vshering thee so early into Gods glorious presence; and some aduantage too, in plucking thee so seasonably from Gods imminent iudgements. It is a fauour to be bnon mehercule quenquam audio hoc anno ereptum, qui mibi non a l…iis immort. ereptus ex his miseriis, & ex iniquissimâ conditione vitae videretur. Cic. 5. epist. 16. Fuit hoc luctuosum suis, acerbum patriae, graue bonis omnibus: sed ii tamen Remp. casus secuti sunt, vt mihi non erepta L. Crasso à Diis Imm. vita, sed donata mors esse videretur. Non vidit flagrantem &c. Id. 3. de Orat. Fortunatus illius [Hortensii] exitus, qui ea non vidit cum fierent, quae praeuidit futura—sed illum videtur felicitas ipsius, quâ semper est vsus, ab eis miserijs quae consecutae sunt, morte vindicasse. Id in Bruto.taken away betimes, when euill is determined vponupon those that are left.
Secondly, here is a Warning for vsus,§. 24. the second; to take consideration of the losse of good or vsefull men; and to feare, when they are going from vsus, that some euill is comming towards vsus. The Prophet complaineth of the too great and generall neglect hereof in his times; [aEsay 57.1. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and mercifull men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the euill to come. Esay 57.] When God sendeth his bGen. 19.16.Angel to plucke out his righteous Lots, what may Sodome expect but fire and brimstone to be rained down vponupon them? When he plucketh vp the fairest and choysest flowers in his garden, & croppeth off the tops of the goodliest poppies: who can thinke other, than that he meaneth to lay his garden wast, and to turne it into a wilde wildernesse? When he vndermineth the maine pillars of the house, taketh away the very props and buttresses of Church & Cōmonweale; sweepeth away religious Princes, wise Senatours, zealous Magistrates, painefull Ministers, men of eminent ranck, gifts, or example: who can bee secure, that either Church, or Common weale shall cPeriturae vrbis, aut malorum imminentium, vel futurae labis, hoc primum indicium est; si decidāt viri consultores— Ambros de Cain. & Abel c. 3.stand vp long; and not totter at least, if not fall? God in Mercy, taketh such away from the euil to come: we in wisedome should look for euil to come, when God taketh such away.
§. 25. the third.Thirdly; here is instruction for Worldlings, to make much of those few godly ones that liue among them: for they are the very pawnes of their peace, and the pledges of their securitie. Thinke not, yee filthy Sodomites, it is for your owne sakes, that yee hauehave been spared so long; know to whom you are beholden: This aGen. 19 9.fellow that came into soiourne among you, this stranger, this Lott, whom you so hate, and maligne, and disquiet; hee it is that hath bayled you hitherto, and giuen you protection. Despise not Gods patience, and long-suffering, yee prophane ones; neither blesse your selues in your vngodly waies: neither say, Wee prosper, though wee walke in the lusts of our hearts. This and thus wee hauehave done, and nothing hath beene done to vsus, God holdeth his hand, and he holdeth his tongue at vsus; surely bPsal. 50.21.he is such a one as our selues. Learne, O yee despisers, that if God thus forbeare you, it is not at all for your owne sakes, or because he careth not to punish euill-doers: no; he hath a little remnant, a cLuke 12.13.little flock, a little handfull of his owne among you; a dReu. 3.4.few names that hauehave giuen themselues vntounto him, and call vponupon him daily for mercy vponupon the land, and that eEzek 9.4.weepe and mourne in secret and vponupon their beds for your abominations; whom you hate, and despise, and persecute, and defame, and account as the very scumme of the people, and the refuse and off-scouring of all things; to whom yet you owe your preseruation. Surely, if it were not for some godly Iehoshaphat or other, whose f4. King. 3.14.presence God regardeth among you; if it were not for some zealous Moses or other that gPsal. 106.23.standeth in the gap for you: Gods wrath had entred in vponupon you long ere this, as a mighty breach of water; and as an ouerflowing deluge ouerwhelmed you; and you had beene swept away as with the hEsay 14.23.besome of destruction, and deuoured as stubble before the fire. It is iIob 22.30.the innocent that deliuereth the land, and repriueth it from destruction, when the sentence of desolation is pronounced against it; and it is deliuered by the purenesse of his hands. O the goodnesse of our God! that would hauehave spared the fiue Cities of the salt sea, if among so many thousands of beastly & filthy persons there had been found but kGen. 18.32.ten righteous ones; and that was for each city, but two persons: nay, that would hauehave pardoned Ierusalem, if in all the Ier. 5.1.streetes and broad places thereof, replenished with a world of Idolaters, and Swearers, and Adulterers, and Oppressours, there had bin found but one single man, that executed iudgement, and sought the truth from his heart. But on the madnesse of the men of this foolish world withall! who seek to doe them most mischiefe of all others, who of all others do them most good; thirsting most after their destruction, who are the chiefest instruments of their preseruation. Oh foolish and mad world! if thou hadst but wit enough, yet, yet to hugge and to make much of that little flocke, the hostages of thy peace, and the earnest of thy tranquillity! if thou wouldest but mLuke 19.42know, euen thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong vntounto thy peace! Thou art yet happy, that God hath a remnant in thee: and if thou knewest how to make vse of this happinesse, at least in this thy day, by honouring their persons, by procuring their safety and welfare, by following their examples, by praying for their continuance; thou mightest be still, and more, and euer happy. But if these things, that belong vntounto thy peace, bee now hidden from thine eyes; if these men, that prolong thy peace, and prorogue thy destruction, bee now despised in thy heart, in this day of thy peace: God is iust; Thou knowest not how soone they may be taken from thee: and though he doe not bring the euill vponupon thee in their daies; when they are gone, thou knowest not how soone vengeance may ouertake thee, and nPsal. 50.22.then shall he teare thee in pieces, and there shall be none left to deliuer thee.
I hauehave now done.§. 26. the Conclusion, Beseech wee God the Father of mercies, for his deare sonne Iesus Christ his sake, to shed his Holy Spirit into our hearts; that by his good blessing vponupon vsus, that which hath beene presently deliuered agreeably to his holy truth and word, may take roote downewards in our hearts, and bring forth fruite vpwards in our liues and conuersations: and so to assist vsus euer with his grace, that we may with humble confidence lay hold on his mercies, with cheerefull reuerence tremble at his iudgements, by vnfained repentance turne from vsus what he hath threatned, and by vnwearied Obedience assure vntounto vsus what he hath promised. To which Holy Father, Sonne, and Spirit, three persons, and &c.