Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 49
§ 49.
SEcondly, 2 Of the greatest men, orſuppoſe this were the common practiſe of the greateſt, richeſt, and nobleſt men in the Land; it would no way ſerve thee for an excuſe, nor make thy ſin any whit more warrantable.
I confeſſe, authority of greatneſſe, doth often corrupt the integrity of goodneſſe; yea, the evill examples of great men, doe great harme, and ever have done; and he that is moſt eminent, hath moſt followers. Auguſtus a learned Prince, filled Rome with Schollers; Tiberius filled it with Diſſemblers; Conſtantine with Chriſtians; Iulian with Atheiſts.
As other beaſts levell their looks at the countenance of the Lion and birds make wing as the Eagle flies: ſo Regis ad arbitrium totus componitur orbis: If Saul even kill himſelf, his Armor-bearer will do the like; the leaders example is a law to the followers.
Yea, many (like Aeſops Aſſe, that imitated the fawning Dogg,) will doe what great ones doe, though they make themſelves ridiculous by it: wee are led by whom we are fed, without any reſpect to him that feeds both them and us. A ſicke head makes a diſordered body; a blinde eye endangers all the other members; a Rulers unrighteouſneſſe, like a blazing ſtar, hath a long taile, and drawes a traine of miſchiefes after it, and is ominous to the whole land; wheras piety in a Prince, like Aarons oyntment, runnes downe to the skirts of his garments, Pſal. 133.2. bleſſeth all his ſubjects.
The bad conditions of popular perſons, are like Iacobs ſpeckled Rods, they make the people bring forth their owne party-coloured actions, Geneſis 30.38.39. the ill cuſtomes of the eminent, are drawn up like ſome peſtilent exhalations, and corrupts the aire round about.
But ſhould their examples be followed becauſe they are great, or becauſe they are ſet by God to rule over us in matters civill, politicke, and judiciary? no, for God doth not make every one good whom he hath made great, neither makes he difference between the Noble and the rabble, either in the diſpenſing of his grace, or in the tolleration of offenders; one is no more priviledged then another, for his grace is alike free to both, and both the ſame law bindes all men alike to their good behaviour, and the ſame puniſhment ſhall bee inflicted upon all that offend.
Yea, God is ſo farre from being a reſpector of perſons in the diſpenſing of his grace, that as he hath put downe the mighty from their ſeates, and exalted them of low degree; ſo he hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich hee hath ſent empty away, Luk. 1.52.53. he hath choſen the poore of this world to be rich in faith, James 2.5. yea, not many noble are called, as Paul ſpeakes, but God hath choſen the baſe things of the world, and things that are deſpiſed, to confound the mighty, 1 Cor. 1.26, 27.
Neither is this the manner of his donation onelyonly, but of his acceptation alſo; for, as our Saviour choſe rather to bee born in the towne of Bethlehem, a meane place of Iudea, then in Ieruſalem, the Metropolitan, and moſt glorious city, Mat. 2.1. And as David preſerred the approbation of a Maid ſervant fearing God, before Michols, a ſcoffer, though ſhee were Queene, 2 Sam. 6.22. So God eſteemes more of vertue clad in raggs, then vice in Velvet: hee reſpects a man, not for his greatneſſe, but for his goodneſſe; not for his birth, but for his new birth; not for his honour, but for his holineſſe; not for his wealth, but for his wiſdome: with him Ephraim ſhall bee preferred before Manaſses, Gen. 48.14.19. and Iſhaes little ſonne before the reſt of his brethren, 1 Sam. 16 11, 12. Adoniah may pretend his elderſhip, but Salomon ſhal enjoy the kingdom, 1 King. 2.15. It is humility that makes us accepted both of God and man, whereas the contrary maketh us hated and abhorred of both. While Saul was little in his owne eyes, God made him head over the Tribes of Iſraell, and gaue him his Spirit; but when he abuſed his place and gifts, God took both from him, and gave them to David, whom Saul leaſt reſpected of all his ſubjects, 1 Sam. 15.17.28. and 16.14.
The beſt Nobility, is the Nobility of faith; and the beſt Genealogie, the Genealogy of good works. The bleſſed Virgin was more bleſſed in being the child of her Saviour, then in being his mother: the onelyonly true greatneſſe is to bee great in the ſight of the Lord, as Iohn Baptiſt was, Luke. 1.15. which if we bee, it is no great matter how the world eſteemes of us: and he that is regenerate, is greater and more noble than the proudeſt that oppoſe them, for the righteous, ſaith Salomon, is more worthy then his neighbour, Prov. 12.26. and better is the poore that walketh in his uprightneſſe, then he that perverteth his wayes, though he be rich, Prov. 28.6. The Bereans are reputed, by the Holy Ghoſt, more noble men, then they of Theſsalonica, becauſe they received the word withall readineſſe, and ſearched the Scriptures daily, whether thoſe things were ſo, which Paul preached, Act. 17.11. Whence it is that David thought it not ſo happy for him to be a King in his owne houſe, as a doore keeper in Gods houſe: that Salomon in the book of his repentance, prefers the title of Eccleſiaſtes, that is a ſoule reconciled to the Church, before the title of the King of Ieruſalem. That Theodoſius the Emperor preferred the title of Membrum Eccleſiae, before that of Caput Imperii; profeſſing that he had rather be a Saint, and no King; then a King, and no Saint. And that godly Conſtantine rejoyced more in being the ſervant of Chriſt, then in being Emperor of the whole world.
And good reaſon, for they were but poore Caeſars, poore Alexanders, poore Tamerlanes, that wone ſo many victories, and loſt the beſt; whereas our adoption makes us at once both great, rich, and ſafe: as for greatnes, we are alied ſo high, that we dare call God Father; our Saviour, Brother, &c. for riches, we have heaven it ſelfe, which is made ſure to us for our patrimony and for ſafety, we think it no preſumption to truſt to a guard of Angels; ſee that yee diſpiſe not one of theſe little ones, ſaith our Saviour, for, I ſay unto you that in heaven their Angels …lwayes behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven, Matth. 18.10.
And thus wee ſee hee is great that is good, and hee noble that is all glorious within, Pſal. 45.13. and that it is no meaſuring men by the depth of the purſe, for ſervants are oftentimes ſet on horſeback; while Princes walke on foote. Wherefore our eſtimation of others, muſt bee led by their inward worth, which is not alterable by time, nor diminiſhable with externall conditions; and for our ſelves it matters not, if with Gideon, wee are dream't to bee but barley Cakes, when we know withall, that our rowling down the hill of outward eſteeme ſhall breake the tents of Midian; it matters not how baſe we be thought, ſo we may be victorious Iudge. 7.13.14.
But ſuppoſe God did make a difference between rich and poore, great and ſmall, noble and ignoble; yet ſtill greatneſſe, nobility, and riches would be but a deceitful guide or rule to walke by; for the Kings of the earth band themſelves, and the Princes are aſſembled together, againſt the Lord and against his Chriſt, Pſalme 2.2. and in 1 King. 20.26. we read of no leſſe then 32 Kings in a cluſter which were every one drunke; and elſewhere, that a thouſand of the chiefe Princes of Iſrael committed fornication, and were all deſtroyed for their labour in one day, Numb. 25.9. 1 Cor. 10.8. Yea, of twenty Kings of Iudah, which the Scripture mentions, we read of but ſix that were godly; and of eighteene Kings of Iſrael, all, but two, are branded by the Holy Ghoſt for wicked; and yet this nation was Gods peculiar and choſen people out of all the world. And laſtly, when the Rulers ſate in Councell againſt Chriſt, none ſpake for him but Nichodemus, Ioh. 7.50, 51.
All which ſhewes, that it is neither a good, nor a ſafe way to imitat other mens examples, be they never ſo rich, never ſo great. Or if we avoid not their ſinnes, wee ſhall not eſcape their plagues: if we ſinne together, we ſhall be ſure to periſh together: as when thoſe three and twenty thouſand Iſraelites committed fornication, after the example of their chiefe Princes, they were every one deſtroyed both leaders and followers, Num. 25.9. 1 Cor. 10.8. And as when thoſe other Cities followed Sodoms luſt, they were all conſumed with Sodoms fire, Iud. 7.
OnelyOnly there ſhall be this difference; as the errors of the eminent are eminent errors, and the more noble the perſon, the more notorious the corruption; for great Perſons, like the great lights of Heaven, the moſt conſpicuous planets, if they be eclipſed, all the Almanacks of all nations write of it; whereas the ſmall Starres of the Galaxy are not heeded; all the country runnes to a Beakon on fire, no body regards to ſee a ſhrub flaming in a valley; whereby ſinne in them, is not onelyonly ſinne, but ſubornatione quae in Vulgaribus nugae, in Magnatibus blaſphemia: ſo theſe great offenders, ſhall meete with great puniſhments; and as their fault is according to the condition of their place, ſo ſhall the nature and proportion of their retribution be.