Conclusions of Peace, Part 6
How these wordes, My sonne, do serue to persuade, and to moue affection.
NOw our heauenly father commandeth vsus nothing but things honest & lawfull, neither can he cō mand any thing els; for it is against his nature: but our rebellious hearts naturally doe go against the hearing of them: therefore wee had need of some oratour to persuade vsus, and that might vse some good argumentes and strong reasons to moue our affections. The Lord doth therfore become that Oratour himselfe, but all the fine eloquence, and al the strong argumentes by which hee would mooue affection, are in these wordes, My sonne, as if he should say, If thou wilt heare no bodie, O thou rebellious person, yet thou wilt harken to the voyce of thy father; if thou wilt not regard thy Father which begat thee, and brought thee vp, whom wilt thou regarde? Thy father speaketh, heare him. I louelove thee with a fathers louelove, therefore heare, I hauehave a fathers aucthoritie ouer thee, therefore heare mee: I hauehave a fathers interest in thee, therefore regard what I say: I hauehave a fathers care ouer thee, therefore giuegive eare vntounto me. If thou be my sonne, heare me, and if thou louest me as I louelove thee, heare mee. If thou hast felt the power of my louelove, if thou hauehave tasted the sweetnesse of my louelove, If thou hauehave known the greatnesse of my louelove, which I hauehave shed abundantly vponupon thee, when I gaue Iesus Christ for thee, I know thou wilt not stoppe thy eares, but wilt both regard me and obey me, whatsouer reasons or persuasions thou hast receiued, or maiest receiue of the worlde, or the deuill, or thy owne false heart, to the contrarie. Nowe when the Lorde woulde speake all this in one worde, hee sayth, My sonne: Therefore let vsus remember that GOD calleth vsus sonnes, and wee call him father: for wee say, Our father, &c. and it sufficeth. Nay more (saith the Lord) Remember that I call thee not onelyonly a sonne, but my sonne: and remember that thou hauehave not onelyonly a father, but that I am thy father, no man, nor Angell, nor anie person of meane estate, but the almightie God of heauen and earth, the King of kinges, and Lord of lords, euen the King of glorie, and the Lord of hostes, mightie in battaile, whose Psal. 24. 8.glorie is infinite, and his Maiestie is incomprehensible, who filleth the earth with the riches of his merciemercy, Psal. 104. 24. Psal. 8. 1. 3.whose wisedome, power, and goodnesse doth shine in eueryevery part of the worlde, who telleth the Starres, and calleth them all by Psal. 147. 4. 9their names, whose dwelling is in the Heauens, and the Earth is his footstoole, at whose presence the Heauens and the Earth are mooued, and melted, euen such a one is thy Father, and if thou wilt not be mooued when suche a one speaketh and calleth thee his Sonne, then it goeth hard. Remember againe that I am thy father, and such a one doth call thee his sonne, as might hauehave forsaken thee for euer, but hee did not, he could hauehave destroyed thee in thy sinnes, but he did not: hee could hauehave made thee a prey to the deuill, but hee did not: hee coulde hauehave plagued thee with infinite plagues, but hee did not, he coulde hauehave shut vp thy bodie and soule in the chaines of darkenesse, in Hell fire for euer, but hee did not. Againe hee was not bound to make thee his son and heire, yet he did it: he was not compelled to spare thee, yet he did it, he sawe no reason why he should blesse thee so many ways, yet he hath blessed thee manie waies: thou couldst not persuade him, yet hee was persuaded: thou hadst nothing to say for thy selfe, yet hee was satisfied: thou wert his ennemie, yet hee became thy friend: in a worde, thou wert the childe of the Diuell, and the heire of endlesse perdition, yet hee made thee the childe of God, and an heire of euerlasting saluation, such a one is thy father: therefore if thou contemnest the wordes of such a Father, remember whom thou contemnest. I coulde presse thee with my power, but I doe woo thee by my louelove. I might hauehave displaied my flagge of defiance against thee, and hauehave saide my rebell; but loe, I hauehave put out a flagge of truce, and displaied my colours of louelove, when I call thee My sonne, Remember this, My sonne, and be persuaded. Thus wee see howe the Lord doth as it were adiure vsus by the louelove, and authoritie of a father, and by the louelove and duetie of a sonne, to heare his word, and obey his commandementes.
Therefore doe these two words, My sonne, runne from one to another so often in this booke of Prouerbs, whatsoeuer matter almost he hath in hand. Father and Sonne, must go before as common Oratours to get attention, and to mooue affection: to shew vsus that if anie thing will draw a man to God, it is the feeling and consideration of his louelove in Christ: and hee that will not yeeld, when hee is thus charmed, will hee euer be wonne? And hee that shall runne from God, when hee seeth the white auncient, with the colours of merciemercy and fauour displaied, when wil he come and humble himselfe to God?
Therefore Salomon saith, That louing Prou. 22. 1.fauor is aboue gold and siluer: meaning, that it is not onelyonly more worth, but that it is of greater force, and will bring greater matters to passe, and yet we know that money will doe much: but is not the kings fauour without his paie, better than the kings paie without his fauour? and what good shall the goodes of his subiectes doe him, without their heartes and good will?
This knew the old counsellers of Salomon well inough, and therefore when Rehoboam (who succeeded Salomon) asked them, what course he 1. King. 12. 7.should take, to winne the heartes of the people, they gaue him counsell to speak kindly vntounto them at the first and they would be his seruantes for euer, meaning that some token of louelove, or shewe of a kind affection towardes them, would more preuaile with them, than any thing els. Shall the hope of Rehoboams louelove make his subiects serue him for euer, and shall not the assurance of Gods louelove make vsus serue him, for euer? Shall the kind words of Rehoboam the king of Ifrael, win the heartes of his people for euer, and shal not the kind wordes of Iehouah the king of heauen and earth, win the hearts of his people for euer and for euer vntounto himselfe? besides that Rehoboam had neede to speake kindly to his subiects, or els it is the worse for himselfe, Iehouah needeth not to speake so, for if we neuer louelove him, it is not the worse for him, but for our selues, yea if we be righteous, we are righteous for our selues, and if we all perish, God wil not loose a Iob.whit of his glory, shall we not then listen vntounto the Lord when he speaketh so kindly vntounto vsus, and hath displayed the flagge of Truce, with, My sonne, the badge of louelove vponupon it. When God commaunded Abraham to sacrifice his sonne Isaac, he was Gen. 22. 3. 10, 12.ready to do it. So deare was the louelove of God vntounto him, but if all the world besides had persuaded him therevnto, he would neuer hauehave yeelded. God doth not commaund vsus to sacrifice our sonnes, but our sinnes, least they sacrifice vsus, now if we thinke our selues as much beholding to God as Abraham was, we wil not spare them, though they be as necessarie for vsus, as our right hand, or as profitable vntounto vsus as our right eye. If Iudas had been the child Mat. 27.of God, as he was the child of perdition? would he hauehave sold the louelove of Christ for 30 pieces of siluer? no, nor yet for 30 thousande worldes, but so it is with all Hipocrites, and reprobate persons, (which are best knowne to the searcher of hearts.) They cannot be persuaded, that God is their father in Christ, their spirites are not assured by Gods spirit, that God doth louelove them. They conceiue of the Lord, as of their enemie, and therefore as they could neuer feele the sweetenesse of Gods louelove, in their soules, so they can neuer afford him their louelove in their liues. Whervpon it commeth to passe, that the least temptation in the world, the least feare of mans displeasure, and the least shew of pleasure and profit, doe easily persuade them to doe any thing against god, against his glory, against his word, and against his feruantes, as Baalam did, who serued for the wages of iniquitie.Num. 23.
But the faithfull indeed, hearing Iud. 11.God calling them his sonnes and his daughters, (hauing the spirit of sanctification, to assure them of their adoption, they (I say) do fall into the reckoning of Gods vnspeakable louelove in Christ, vntounto them, (howbeit not all at one time, nor alwaies alike) & he that is not now, may be hereafter, but when they consider of it indeed, they do therewithall resolue with themselues, (in token of thankfullnesse) to serue the Lord, in righteousnesse and true holines all the daies of their life (yet still depēding vponupon God by prayer) and herein (through Gods grace) they are resolute, whatsoeuer dislike of men or hinderance in the world or daunger to their owne liues, they might purchase for their labor? And thus wee see, what an Orator the louelove of God is. Therfore when the Lord saith, My son, let vsus looke for no more eloquēce, to entice vsus, nor reasons to persuade vsus, for heare is eloquence inough, & reasons inow, and learning inough, and fathers inow to persuade any man that hath the spirit of God in him, and whosoeuer doth not find the cords of Gods louelove, and authoritie strong inough, to knit his hearte vntounto the statutes of the Lord, he hath good cause to suspect himselfe as yet, that he is not the child of God.