Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 50
§ 50.
3 BUt thirdly, 3 Of the greatest ſchollers.ſuppoſe moſt of the Learned and greateſt Shcollers in the land were given to this vice, (which notwithſtanding is a vanity to conceive) yet all were one, this could be no excuſe for thee.
For firſt, not many wiſe men after the fleſh are called, but God hath choſen the fooliſh things of the world to confound the wiſe, that no fleſh ſhould rejoyce in his preſence, 1 Cor. 1.26.27.29. yea, the preaching of Chriſt crucified was fooliſhneſſe to the wiſe Sages of the world, 1 Cor. 1.23.
It pleaſeth God, for the moſt part, to hide the myſteries of ſalvation from the wiſe and learned, and reveale them unto babes, Math, 11.25. Luk. 10.21. yea, the ſaving knowledge of Chriſt is hid to all that are loſt, 2 Cor. 4.3. But if once men abuſe their knowledge and learning to Gods diſhonour, and comply with Sathan and the world againſt the Church; then he taketh that knowledge, which once they had, from them, as he tooke heate from the fire, when it would burne his children, Dan. 3.27. I will deſtroy the tokens of the Southſayers, and make them that conjecture fooles: I will turne the wiſe men backward, and make their knowledge fooliſhneſſe, ſaith the Lord, Iſa. 44.25. he taketh the wiſe in their craftineſſe, and the counſell of the wicked is made fooliſh, Iob. 5.13. As how many wiſe and learned men among the Gentiles have turned fooles, and worſhipped gods that were not able to wipe off the duſt from their owne faces? How many Papists, that are great clarkes, and wiſe men, maintaine a thouſand abſurd and ridiculous Tenents, yea, ſuch braineſicke Poſitions, that never any old woman, or ſicke perſon doted worſe.
To nominate two, of two hundred, Iohn Baptiſt, with them, hath ſo many heads, that they cannot tell which is the right; God made him but one, Herod left him none, they (as if he were another Hydra) have furniſhed him with a great many. Chriſts croſſe is ſo multiplied with them; that the ſame, which one ordinary man might beare, if the peeces were gathered together, would now build a Pinnace of a hundred Tunne; yet they will tell us, that every ſhiver came by revelation, and hath done miracles; but this appeares to me the greateſt miracle, that any man ſhould beleeve them: yea, is not their folly and blindneſſe ſuch, as to maintaine thoſe things for truth, which the Holy Ghoſt plainely calls the Doctrine of Devills? 1 Tim. 4.1.2.
And juſtly are they forſaken of their reaſon, who have abandoned God: yea, moſt juſt is it, that they who want grace, ſhould want wit too. If Idolaters will needs ſet up a falſe god, for the true; is it not equall, that the true God ſhould give them over to the falſe? and becauſe they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be ſaved, therefore, ſaith the Apoſtle, God ſendeth them ſtrong deluſions, that they might believe lyes; that all they might be damned, which beleeve not the truth, but had pleaſure in unrighteouſneſſe, 2 Theſ. 2.10.11.12.
God giveth to every man a ſtocke of knowledge, more or leſſe, to occupy withall; and to him which uſeth the ſame well, viz. to his glory, and profit of himſelfe, and others, he giveth more, as to the Servant which uſed his Talents wel, hee doubled them; which makes the Holy Ghoſt frequent in theſe and the like expreſſions; If any will doe Gods will, hee ſhall understand the Doctrine whether it be of God or no, Ioh. 7.17. A good understanding have all they which keepe the Commandements, Pſal. 111.10. The Spirituall man underſtandeth all things, 1 Cor. 2.15. to a man that is good in his ſight God giveth knowledge and wiſdome, Eccleſ. 2.26. wicked men underſtand not judgment, but they that ſeeke the Lord underſtand all things, Pro. 28.5.
But as for him which uſeth it not, much more, if he abuſeth his knowledge to his owne hurt, and Gods diſhonour, as too many doe, he taketh from him even that which he had formerly given him; as he tooke away the odd Talent from the ſervant which had but one, and did not uſe the ſame, Luk. 19.24. That this is Gods manner of dealing, you may ſee Mat. 21.43. Gen. 4.11. Acts, 26.18. Iſaiah, 29.14. and 44.25. and 6.9.10. Dan. 2.19.23. Iob, 5.13.14. Ioh. 9.39. and 12.37.40. Rom. 1.28. Eph. 4.18.19. 1 Cor. 1.20. 2 Theſ. 2.10.11.12. Hee is not more the author of light in Goſhen, then of blacke darkeneſſe in Aegypt, hee doth not more open the heart of Lydia, then harden the ſpirit, and make obſtinate the heart of Sihon King of Hesbon, Deut. 2.30. If there be a Mordecay, growing into favour with him; there is alſo an Haman, growing out of favour. As Eliah's ſpirit is doubled upon Eliſha; ſo the good Spirit departed from Saul. As the Gentiles became beleevers, ſo the Iewes became Infidells. As Saul became an Apoſtle, ſo Iudas became an Apoſtate. As Iohn groweth in the ſpirit, ſo Ioaſh decayeth in the ſpirit, 2 Chro. 24.17. &c. As Zacheus turneth from the world, ſo Demas turneth to the world, and God is no leſſe the permitter of the one, then the cauſe of the other, if we conſider him as a righteous Iudge, puniſhing one ſinne with another by way of retaliation.
Hereupon, when Chriſt meets with good Nathaniell, a true Iſraelite, in whom there was no guile, he ſaith unto him, beleeveſt thou, becauſe I ſaw thee under the Figg-tree? thou ſhalt ſee greater things then theſe, Iohn. 1.50. whereas to the obſtinate Iewes, he ſaith, by hearing, ye ſhall heare, and ſhall not underſtand; and ſeeing, yee ſhall ſee, and not perceive, Math. 13.14. Even like Hagar, that had the Well before her, but could not ſee the water, Gen. 21.19. make the heart of this people fat, make their eares heavy, and ſhut their eyes, leaſt &c. Iſaiah 6.10. which words, with the former examples, are written for our learning and warning: for was the Talent, thinke we, onelyonly taken from him in the Goſpell? Did none loſe the ſpirit, but Saul? Have none their hearts hardened for their obſtinacy, but Pharaoh? Doe none grow out of favour with him, but Haman? Doe none become Infidels, beſides the Iewes? None prove Apoſtates, but Iudas? Have none their eyes darkened, and their hearts hardened for their ſinnes, but the Gentiles? O yes, the idle ſervant was but a type of many that ſhould have their Talents taken away; Saul was but a type of many that ſhould Ioſe the ſpirit; Sampſon was but a type of many that ſhould loſe their ſtrength; the Gentiles were but a type of many Chriſtians which ſhould have their minds darkened, and their hearts hardened, whom God ſhould give up to a reprobate minde, &c. It's true, this is not meant of naturall, or ſpeculative knowledge, wherein the wicked have as large a ſhare as the godly; but of ſpirituall, experimentall, and ſaving knowledg, which is ſupernaturall and deſcendeth from above, Iames, 3.17. And keepeth a man from every evill way, Pro. 2.12. Wherein the wicked have no part with the Godly, the natural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 2, 14.
Now God eſteemes none wiſe, that are not ſo in this latter ſenſe; yea, naturall and worldly wiſdome, without this, is meere fooliſhneſſe in Gods account, 1 Cor. 1.20. and 3.19. and no leſſe then twelve times infatuated by the wiſdome of God in one Chapter, 1 Corinthians, 1.2. Whence it is that the Scribes and Phariſies, who were matchleſſe for their knowledge and learning (and that in the Scriptures, Gods Oracles, which will make a man wiſe, or nothing) are called by our Saviour, who could not be deceived, foure times in one Chapter, blind, and twice, fooles, Math. 23. and Baalam (who had ſuch a propheticall knowledge that ſcarce ever any of the holyeſt Prophets had ſo cleare a Revelation of the Meſsiah to come) is called by the Holy Ghoſt, foole 2 Peter, 2.16. and good reaſon, for though he was a Seer, hee could not ſee the way to Heaven; and the ſame may be ſaid of Iudas (who knew aſmuch as the wiſeſt naturall man) for if he had beene wiſe, he would not have taught others the way to Heaven, and gon himſelfe the direct way to Hell.
Alaſſe! the greateſt Clarkes, and they that know moſt, are not always the wiſeſt men; many of the wiſe, and the ancient, and the learned, with Nicodemus, are to learne this leſſon, that except they be borne againe, they cannot enter into the kingdome of Heaven, Iohn. 3.4, 9. and they that give themſelves to be ſo bookiſh, are often times ſo blockiſh, that they forget God who made them.
Now as our Saviour ſaid to him, which thought he had done all, One thing is behind, Luk. 18.22. ſo may I ſay to theſe, who thinke they know all, one thing is behinde, and that is the true knowledge of God, of Chriſt, of themſelves, and how they may be ſaved: and hee which knowes not thus much, although I cannot ſay he is a ſtarke foole, yet I may truely ſay hee is halfe a foole, and halfe a wiſe man: as Ona-Centaure was halfe a man, and halfe an Aſſe: for all learning and knowledge, without this, is but as a wodden Diamond in a Lattin ring, and others who know leſſe, and are leſſe learned, may be more wiſe.
It was a true and juſt reprehenſion, wherewith the High Prieſt ſnib'd the Councell, as they were ſet to condemne Chriſt, and a great deale better then hee meant it, Ye know nothing at al, Iohn, 11.49. hee ſpake right, for if wee know not the Lord Ieſus, we know nothing at all; our knowledge is either nothing, or nothing worth. What ſaith Ariſtotle, no more then the knowledge of goodneſſe, maketh one to be named a good man; no more doth the knowledge of wiſdome, onelyonly, cauſe any perſon properly to bee called a wiſe man; ſaving knowledge of the trueth, workes a love of the trueth knowne: yea, it is an uniforme conſent of knowledge and action: hee onelyonly is wiſe, that is wiſe for his owne ſoule; he whoſe conſcience pulleth all hee heares and reades to his heart, and his heart to God, who turneth his knowledg to faith, his faith to feeling, and all to walke worthy of his Redeemer, he that ſubdues his ſenſuall deſires and appetites to the more noble faculties of reaſon, and underſtanding, and makes that underſtanding of his ſerve him, by whom it is, and doth underſtand, he that ſubdues his luſts to his will, ſubmits his will to reaſon, his reaſon to faith, his faith, his reaſon, his will, himſelfe, to the will of God; this is practicall, experimentall, and ſaving knowledge, to which the other is but a bare name or title: for what is the notionall ſweetneſſe of honey, to the experimentall taſt of it. It is one thing to know what riches are, and where they be, and another thing to be maſter of them; it is not the knowing, but the poſſeſſing of them that makes rich.
Faith and Holineſſe are the nerves and ſinewes, yea the ſoule of ſaving knowledge: the beſt knowledge is about the beſt things, and the perfection of all knowledge, to know God and our ſelves, as being the marrow, pith, or kernell, of Chriſtianity; and it is much, to know a little in this kinde. What ſaid Ariſtippus to one that boaſted how much hee had learned? learning conſiſteth not in the quantity, but in the quality; not in the greatneſſe, but in the goodneſſe of it. Wee know a little gold, is of more worth then much droſſe…a precious ſtone is a very little thing, yet it is preferred before many other ſtones of greater bulke: yea, a little Diamond is more worth then a rockie mountaine: ſo one drop of wiſdome, guided by the feare of God, is more worth then all humane learning; one ſparke of ſpiritual, experimental, and ſaving knowledge, is worth a whole flame of ſecular wiſdome and learning; one ſcruple of holineſſe, one drame of faith, one graine of grace, is more worth then many pounds of naturall parts.
But learning and grace do not alwayes keepe company together: yea, oh Lord how many are there that have a depth of knowledge, yet are not ſoule wiſe! that have a library of Divinity in their heads, and not ſo much as the leaſt catechiſme in their conſciences! No rare thing for men to abound in ſpeculation, and be barren in devotion; to have full braines, and empty hearts; clear judgement, and defiled affections; fluent tongues, but lame feet; yea, you ſhall heare a flood in the tongue, when you cannot ſee one drop in the life.
But ſee how juſtly they are ſerved; they might bee holy, and will not; therefore though they would bee ſoule wiſe, yet they ſhall not; the ſcorner ſeeketh wiſdome, but findeth it not, Pro. 14.6. Let them know never ſo much, they are reſolved to be never the better; and they wch are unwilling to obey, God thinks unworthy to know.