The Rousing of the Sluggard, Sermon 5
The fift Sermon.
9 How long wilt thou sleepe, O sluggard wh… … thou arise out of thy sleepe
10 Yet a little sleepe, &c.
THis question demau…ded of the Sluggard, doth most … set foorth his nature, which …lighteth in sleeping long, which loueth ease and idlenes, which hat…th labour and diligence, and yet … al … little though he hath been long idle… and finally▪ is so farre stom amendme…, being admonished, that he resolueth still to … he began, excusing it by a little, and …. Whereby we may see, that whatsoeuer … sayd to the Sluggard, that wanteth the spirit of God to quicken him, is but as so much water powred on a Blackamoore, the water is spilt, and the Blackamoore is neuer the whiter.
In this demaund to the Sluggard, the Lord expostulateth the matter with all of vsus for our dueties, & rowseth vsus vp out of our dead sleep, to shewe that we are all too careles in our dueties commaunded of God: So loth is the Lord to leaue vsus vntounto our selues, that when he hath called once, he calleth againe, and debateth with vsus for our carelesnes, as he did with Israel his owne people for their vnkindnes and wilfulnes, in refusing the meanes of their saluatiō: saying, Why will you die O house of Iacob, Ezec. 18…1why will you die? That both they and we might see the great goodnes of the Lord towards vsus, and that the Lord might be iustified when wee are iudged,Psal. 51. 4. and cleered when we are condemned: because our destruction is of our selues, which sleepe on still when wee are called, and yet count all but a little. And this may serue as a notable patterne of louelove for Christians to followe, in reclaiming their brethren that goe astray: whereby we are taught not to giuegive them ouer at the first: but when wee hauehave taught, to teach againe, and though we hauehave called once and often, yet to call againe, and not to leaue teaching, and instructing, and calling, and expostulating with them till they heare, and returne, if there bee any sparke of hope left vntounto vsus: like those that blowe at a coale till it hath set al the wood a burning. And in dealing thus with our brethren, let vsus but imagine that wee are labouring to fetch one againe that is fall… into a swoune, who with often rubbing and chafing, with much pinching, boxing; and wringing, may bee recouered againe, or els not.
The former patterne of diligence in the Pismire was sufficient to cōtroll vsus all, and to humble vsus, for our slouthfulnes in our calling, (if we were wise indeede, for a word to a wise man is sufficient) and very effectuall is that doctrine which the Lord hath taught vsus by it: yet it pleaseth God to goe on still in expostulating and debating the matter with vsus (as we see) whereby we may learne, what a hard matter it is to awaken our sluggish nature, & when we are awake, as hard it is to keepe vsus awake: for our eyes are no sooner open, but wee fall to nodding againe: Like the Disciples of Christ, who slept on still, though their master called them, though he called them lowd, and often, though the tempter were neere, and they in daunger of falling into the pit of temptations; yet coulde they not watch so much as one houre, so heauie were they: And so is it with vsus, if we bee as good as Christs disciples. Now if the best bee so heauie and sleepie, what are the worst? The experience hereof we hauehave daily: Let vsus goe but to the Temple where the word is preached, and there we shall see men no sooner set downe, but fast asleepe. And the like we finde at home in perfourming our spiritual exercises, whether it bee of prayer, or reading, or singing Psalmes, or instructing our families, though Gods spirite doth sometime touch vsus, and awake vsus, yet are we soone forgetfull, and sleepe creepeth on againe. Therefore the Lord giueth vsus to vnderstand, that we hauehave neede of many words to rowse vsus, and all little enough. For sinne is stubborne, like a monster whose face is of brasse, whose necke is of yron, and his heart as hard as an Adamant. And therefore when the Prophets had to deale with the stubborne Iewes, the Lord told them they should deale with a stiffenecked people, whose necks had finewes of yron,Eze. 3. 7. 8. 9 and therefore would not easily bowe to the yoke, and their faces were of brasse, and therefore would not blush at any thing, and their hearts were harder then the flint stone, and therefore would not easilie relent. They were euen such as the preachers now adaies speake vntounto.Philip. 3. 18. Paul sayth he spake often against belligods, which are enemies to the crosse of Christ, telling them that their glorie would be their shame, and their end damnation, if they repented not: and yet they continued stil in their sinne, as if it had neuer been touched, and Paul continued still in beating vponupon them for it, as if hee had neuer touched them: to teach vsus, that it is not enough to glaunce at sinne a farre off, (as the manner of many is) and to touch it lightly and away, a… some would hauehave it: but to hammer him, and neuer to leaue beating and calling vponupon him, til he made either to yeeld, or to flee: which cannot be done with glancing, and touching: for he hath a thicke skinne, and hard scales, vnderunder which he lieth fast asleepe. And this the seruants of God hauehave well vnderstood: therefore Dauid (being guiltie of his owne slouthfulnes in the seruice of God) made vowes, and bound himselfe by band as it were, to a more constant course in the seruice of God:Psalm. 119. 106. I ha… swor…e (saith he in one place) and will perfor… it, that I will keepe thy righteous iudgements. I… another place, the Church prayeth God to … member Dauid: that is, his couenant made with Dauid, Psalm. 132. 1. 2. 3.and al his troubles: And amongst other speciall vertues that he is described by▪ this is one, that he swore vntounto the Lorde, and vowed vntounto the mightie God of Iacob, saying, and vowing, that he would not enter into the tabernacle of his house, nor come vponupon his p… lace, or bed, nor suffer his eyes to sleepe, not his eyelids to slumber, nor the temples of hi… head to take any rest vntil he found out a place for the Lord, and an habitation for the mightie God of Iacob. Thus that holie man (perceiuing his zeale to faint) would binde himselfe in many obligations. And thus also in the exercise of prayer, the feruants of God doe vse many words, not because they delight in many words, and vaine babling, (as Pharisles and Papists, which labour it with their lips, thinking to be heard the sooner for their lip-labour) but thereby labouring to amplifie their griefe: and because they doe not yet sufficientlie see the wants that be in themselues, therefore they vse many words, as bellowes to blow vp their mindes, and to kindle their fainting spirits in zeale, and feruencie. And for this cause likewise the seruants of God hauehave set themselues to their taske of reading, and praying, and studying, that so much they will reade (if God will) eueryevery day, and so often they will pray eueryevery day,Dan. 6. 10. as Dauid and Daniel set themselues to pray three times a day at the least. And thus Isay in these and all other things belonging both to their calling, and to their profession, they hauehave still tasked themselues, and applied their taske through the grace of God, which (as S. Paul sayth) worketh and laboureth in them, fearing least otherwise they should doe but little or nothing. And in the doing of their taskes, it is a wonder to see how sluggish they are, and what a number of lets, and lions lye in their way (as the Prouerbe sayth) that they bee constrained to pricke themselues forward, and then they dragge their legges after them too.
In this demand we are (as we see) accused, and indited of making great delaies of those dueties which we owe to God. A matter surely very worthie to be expostulated:Note that. for it is a true token of a soule that feareth not God, to driue off so long the doing of that which the Lord by his word requireth to be done: for if they feared God, they would be more diligēt, knowing that God is able eueryevery minute to cast them downe to hell, and to presse them with his iudgements. Some goe on (for all this) and say, the time of their calling is not yet, they are not called yet: although they heare the word, and knowe in their owne conscience that they doe euill, yet they goe on like desperate wretches, making a mock at the iudgements of the Lord, and say they are not called yet, whē they are most euidently conuicted in themselues, & by themselues. And being tolde of it, they tell vsus, that they must pray to God to be mercifull to them in that, and so they continue still in their rebellion, bathing and rotting in their sinnes, like Naaman the Assyrian, who said, God be mercifull to me in this: for though he knewe it to bee a sinne to goe into his Rimmon, yet he must goe in and do as his master did, and God must dispense with him in that. Many such Naamans there are still, which hauehave one Rimmon or other that they knowe of, and yet they sleepe on still in their beloued sinnes: some in vsurie, some in whoring, some in stealing, some in swearing, some in oppressing the poore, some in deceiuing both poore and rich, some in scoffing at Religion, some in prophaning the Lordes sabbath, some in persecuting their brethen, some in their ambitious and vaineglorious attempts, and some in one sinne, and some in another, eueryevery one hath his Rimmon. And thinketh in his base conceite, that the Lord is as negligent in punishing of their presumptuous rebellions, as they are in obeying his holy commaundements: but let them take heed of dallying too long with his Maiestie, for hee will not bee mocked, though they bee deceiued.
The Children of God are commended (in the word) for their diligence in obeying the will of God, when once they know what was his pleasure:Gen. 17. 23. When Abraham was commanded to circumcise himselfe, and all the male that were in his familie, he might hauehave sought many toyes to driue off the time, as that he had many soules in his house, himselfe was 99. yeres olde, but he circumcised them al presently that selfe same daye.Gen. 21. 12. 13. 14. So when he was commanded to cast out his sonne Ismael ouer night, hee gate vp early in the morning, and did it, as hee was commaunded, which might bee a hooke to pull out his very bowels: to cast out his sonne was grieuous vntounto him (as the storie sheweth) yet hee did neither deny, nor delaye the dooing of it. So in the 22. of Genesis we reade, that when he was commaunded to offer vp in sacrifice his onelyonly sonne Isack, (which might hauehave cut his heart strings in peeces) yet hee delayed not the time, but rose vp early in the morning, and went speedily about it: I am perswaded that Abraham loued his sonnes, (and he had cause so to doe) as dearely as wee louelove our sinnes, and yet when God commaunded him to cast out one, and to kill the other, he was readie to doe both: how ready then should we be to obeie the Lord when hee commaundeth vsus to cast out, not our children, but our iniquities, and to sacrifice not ou… sonnes, but our sinnes, which else will cast vsus out of Gods fauour, and sacrifice vsus in the valley of Gehinnom, that is, in the pitte of hell fire? Surely, if wee beleeued the promises of God, and feared the iudgements of God as Abraham did, we would no more sticke at the matter then he did. Many hauehave receiued as good a warrant from God and her Maiestie, both of Magistrates, and Prelates, and Pastors, and people, for the casting out of many abuses and corruptions, both in the Church & commonwealth, and in their priuate families, as Abraham had for that which hee did, but they are not yet halfe so forward as Abraham was, nay would to GOD they were not backeward: which sheweth, that though Abraham were the father of the faithfull, yet he is not their father, because they are vnfaithfull.
If men cannot like that duetie which commeth slowly from vsus, much lesse is it acceptable to God. We must first serue our selues, and then obeye GOD, as he that would first goe home and burie his father,Matt. 8. 21. and then come and followe Christ. But this obedience loseth the fauour of GOD, therefore what rewarde can …hey looke for, which hauehave a purpose indeede to leaue their sinne, but not till their sinne leaue them? That will serue, God, but that is when for want of abilitie, or occasion they can serue the di…ell no longer? That will measure out the Lorde a parte, but yet with a false ballance? That will giuegive the Lord the cuppe, but it shall be whe… the diuell hath drunke the best of it, and nothing is left but the dregges of old age in the bottome? Oh let vsus consider what … praie when we say: Thy will be done in earth by vsus, … A…gles doe it in heauen. The Angels neuer … their busines, but doe it …, and therefore the scripture doth gi… … note their swiftnes: now if wee say… his: … and doe not … God …, …hat doe wee else … with his … ▪
How long wilt thou sleepe O Sluggard? How long shall God daunce attendance vponupon thee? As the Lord in this demaund doth charge vsus with delayes in his seruice, so in the same wordes he doth likew…e teach a way to redresse the same▪ And that is to consider how long wee hauehave slept, or …ow long wee hauehave made the Lorde to waite our leisure in eueryevery thing. And in the Scripture wee shall finde that by this meanes the children of God hauehave been much stirred … to doe their duetie. In the 119. Psalme … 60. Dauid saith, He considered his wai…, … then made haste to keepe the Comma…ments of GOD, which hee did not befo… he considered his waies, that is before he considered how long he had gone out of the rig… waie, and wandred in his owne crooked … to shew that the cause why we put off the k… ping of Gods commandements is, because we consider not how long wee hauehave dwelt in … sinnes. But if we doe consider how long God hath forborne vsus, and swallowed vp our si…nes in his mercies, this woulde make our … hearts to relent, except we were past all goodnes. To consider (I say) how long the Lor… hath spared vsus when he might often most … hauehave punished vsus: how hee hath eueryevery …o… ning renewed his mercies with vsus, when … might hauehave consumed vsus in our sinnes: & how long wee hauehave disobeyed him, and pro…oked his maiestie to wrath, except wee were desp… rate, and giuen vp to a reprobate minde, these things would wring bitter teares from … eyes. He hath wooed vsus, and besought vsus this 36. yeares, by his worde, to bee …conciled … to him, and still we prouoke him. Then let the sluggish Magistrates consider of this: How long will they neglect the glorie of God to set vp their owne? How long by their euill examples shall the people stumble and fall into … How long shall the poore crye out for iustice? How long will they continue in discountenauncing of good men and good causes, and many fowle faultes moe would be considered of them, how long they hauehave continued? This is also for the slouthfull minister to thinke vponupon: How long will they keepe the doore of Heauen shut? For if they had preached diligently and faithfullie, it had been impossible for poperie to hauehave crept into so many mindes as it hath done. How long will they betraye Gods cause, and let the people perish for want of instruction? So to the Adulterer also, how long shall the Lorde beare thy filthines, and how long wilt thou abuse thy body and thy …oule in his sight as thou doest? And how long will the Vsurer eate vp the Lordes people, as o…e eateth bread, and grinde the faces of the poore like a milstone? This must also come to the quarreller, and malicious person to be considered of: how long will they … in their hatred, byting one of another? is there no end of their malice? will their rash iudging, and condemning one of another neuer come to an ende? This is also spoken to Parents: how long shall the Lord call vponupon you to bring vp your children in the feare of his name? How long will you suffer them to liue so wantonly, and so loosely as yee doe? How long shall they goe vp and downe the streetes with such filthie songes, othes and ribaldies in their mouthes to bewraie their filthie educatio… withall? Consider of this question also, yo… that bee seruants, How long shall the worlde complaine of your idle and vnfaithfull seruice? When will you begin to adorne the doct…in… of the Gospell, with your good conuersation? This is also for vnthriftie gentlemē, that spe… their da…es in play, and …iotting: How long will you bee vnfaithfull …? how long shall the Lord waite for your conuersion? Thi… is also to occupiers, which liue by false othes, by false waights, and false lights, & false … how long shall the Lord daunce your at…ndance for the reformation of these abomin… tions? There be many mo… that are also to cō sider of this poynt: but that which the Lord speaketh to one, he speaketh to eueryevery one, … long wilt thou sleepe O sluggard? Though … woman of Samaria dallied and iested long … the words of the Lord Iesus▪ yet at the last,Ioh. 4. 29. … Christ tolde her what she did, and she per…iued him to be the Messias indeede, she beleeued, and ranne into the citie, and called her neighbours to come and see. Christ hath tolde vsus all that we hauehave done, and al that we ought to doe, and yet we beleeue not his words: but put them off with scoffes and iest…: and those that would goe to Christ wee doe not further them, but hinder them. Now, if wee continue at this stay, shall not the woman of Samari… condemne vsus? In the 18. of Luke the 4. and 5. verses, we reade of a wicked Iudge, which feared neither God nor man: yet when a poore woman was importunate with him, at the last he heard her. The Lord by his ministers (poore men I confesse) hath been importunate with vsus to heare his suite, and to reforme our selues by his word, which is not for his good, but for our owne, as he sayth in Deut.Deut. 5. 29. Oh that there were such a heart in my people to heare me, and obey me, that it might goe well with them, & their children. But yet we heare him not. Now, if we still shall giuegive him the deafe eare, hardening our hearts when wee should heare his voyce, shall wee not showe our selues worse then he that feared neither God, nor man? When Christ forbad the diuell to torment and vexe a man, he trembled at his word, and obeyed his commandement. There be many that deuise with themselues how to molest and vexe the children and seruants of God, for professing the truth, and discharging a good conscience: The Lord Iesus hath often forbidden them, crying to them as he did to Saul: Act. 9.Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? thou doest but kicke against the pricke: and yet they still persist in their purpose. By which it should seeme that they hauehave lesse …eare of God in them then the diuell himselfe: and if they still continue so, shall not the veri… diuels of hell condenme them?
When the Lord spake the word, the flyes,Psal. 105. 31 and the lice came, and were obedient to his commaundement. GOD hath spoken many words to vsus, and yet wee obey not: therefore they also shal condemne vsus. When God spake, the grashoppers came, and caterpillers innumerable vponupon the land of Egypt, and when he spake the worde, they went away too. There bee many caterpillers come amongst vsus, before they were called, and all the wordes in the world will not driue them away againe: therefore the caterpillers of Egypt shall condemne the caterpillers of England, in the day of iudgement. Though Peter did three times denie his master:Luk. 22. 61 yet at the last, when Christ looked vponupon him he remembred himselfe, and went out and wept bitterly. Wee hauehave oftner then three times denied our master, Christ hath both looked vponupon vsus, and spoken vntounto vsus, but yet we remember not our selues: nay, we are so farre from weeping and grieuing at the matter, that we rather reioyce & laugh it out. Therefore if we stil so continue, what weeping and wailing will there bee at the last? For it is sayd in the Gospell,Luk. 6. 25. Woe be to them that laugh and reioyce now: for they shall weepe and lament. When God had both warned Pharaoh to let Israel goe, and plagued him for detayning of them still: at length he asked him this questiō,Exod. 10. 3. How long wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe before me? So the Lord hath warned vsus often to let our sinnes goe, and hath also in some measure plagued vsus for keeping them still. Now he asketh vsus also the same question, How long will you refuse to humble your selues before the Lord? which argueth that we are growne as hard & as desperate as Pharaoh was, which is also a signe of greater plagues yet to ensue. Now this is fearefull and grieuous, when the Lord commeth vponupon vsus with such questions: for that sheweth that he doth not onel… note our sinnes, but the long time that wee hauehave prouoked him by them, and that he is euen wearie in bearing them any longer, and mindeth to vnburthen himselfe of them, and to beare no longer. And commonly we may obserue in the scriptures, that when the Lord cō meth with (How long? and how often?) there is some great iudgement following: as in the 14. of Numbers the 11. verse, The Lord sayd t… Moses, How long will this people prouoke me, and how long will it be, ye… they beleeue me, for all the signes which I hauehave shewed amongst them? Then marke what followeth in the next verse, I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, &c. to shewe, that though the Lord beareth long, yet hee will not beare alwaies. When Christ sayd, O Ierusalem, Ierusalem, how often would I hauehave gathered thee, as a henne g…thereth her young ones, and thou wouldest not? So great was his griefe conceiued with the remembrance of those mischiefes that were to come vponupon Ierusalem, that hee could not vtter his speech without shedding of teares. Therefore when the Lord commeth, expostulating the matter with vsus in this sort, with How long, and how often, &c. then let vsus beware, if euer wee beware, whether it be spoken in generall to al, or in particular to any one man, that hath been often warned by the hand of God vponupon him.
Had not Moses prayed for the Israelites,Exod. 32. 10 11. they had perished oftentimes in their sinnes: so if some did not pray for vsus, (whom yet wee can as hardly abide, as they could abide Moses when they would hauehave stoned him) surelie wee had perished yet this time. When the Lord sware in his wrath that the Iewes should not enter into his rest, he set them downe the causes which moued him thereunto, and those were in number fiue: They tempted him, to trie what he could doe: then they prouoked him by their often murmurings, &c. then they grieued him with their continuall vnkindnesses and rebellions: then their hearts were filled with error. And how could it be otherwise? for they cared not for the knowledge of his waies. And to aggrauate the matter, & make their sinne appeare in his full ripenes, he sets downe the time how long they had continued at that stay, saying, Fortie yeares long hauehave I been grieued with this generation, &c. Fortie houres had been much to grieue the Lord, but fortie yeares was intolerable. Now the same sinnes are we also to be endited for: and if no Iurie will finde the inditement, our owne consciences will crie guiltie. And how long hauehave wee grieued, and tempted, and prouoked the Lord? Hath it not been euer since the Gospell came among vsus? waxing eueryevery day worse and worse? And what doth that now lacke of fortie yeares long, hauehave I been grieued with this generation? surely but a little. Thus the Lord we see marketh wel enough eueryevery thing, not onelyonly what we doe, and how we liue, and how we sinne: but how long we hauehave sinned, and how often we hauehave been warned, & how long we hauehave refused to returne, & to humble our selues: yea the Lord marketh how many yeres, how many moneths, how many weeks, how many houres, how many sermons, & how many sentēces in eueryevery sermon we hauehave passed ouer in careles cōtempt, without trembling at the word of the Lord, or profiting by his corrections. And according to the time of his lōg suffering & patience, & of our stubbornnes & disobedience, shall his iudgements be powred vponupon vsus, if wee doe not preuent them by true and speedie repentance. Long did the olde worlde sleepe in their sinnes: long did Noah preach against their sins, and at last the floud came and awakened them to their cost. Long did Sodom and Gomorrha sleepe, and long did they vexe the soule of righteous Lot amongst them, & at last the fire of Gods wrath awakened them. Long slept Ierusalem in securitie, but at the last their enemies awaked them. So Nabuchadnezzar heard his dreame as a dreame, and Daniel told him what would come of it long before it came, but he fell a sleepe againe: and at last the Lord turned him out amongst the beast, and then he remembred himselfe: but he was seuen yeares first in learning his lesson.
And this is most certaine, The longer the blow be in fetching, the heauier will the woūd be when it commeth: And the deeper the arrowe bee drawne in the bowe, the deeper it pearceth when it is let flie. Now in trueth, all this time the Lord hath forborne vsus, he is but bending of his bowe, and whetting of his sword, and aiming at the marke: and because he doth not yet let goe at vsus, wee thinke there is no such matter. But we deale with the Lord (oh miserable wretches that wee are) as birds play with a skare-crowe standing in a corne field with a bowe and arrowe in his hands, as though he would shoote, but doth not: and therefore they euen waxe bolde by little and little, and at last euen flie to him, and sit downe vponupon him, and picke vponupon him. In all holie reuerence of Gods vnspeakeable maiestie be this comparison made, which serueth onelyonly to declare the base, and brutish conceipt that the wicked hauehave of God, and his long suffering of them. But who knoweth the force of the Lords wrath?Psal. 90. 11. (sayth the Psalmist) for after as a man feareth, so shal his wrath be: and when it commeth, it shall burne like mountaines of fire, which no sea of water shall be able to quench, if once his wrath be kindled, yea but a little.
And on the other side, (for the comfort of the godly and faithful, which hauehave a sanctified desire to awake out of their sleep, and to serue the Lord at the last in all holie obedience, and careful diligence) though we hauehave long tempted the Lord, and tried him: yet if now at the last we awake in trueth, we shall finde, that as he hath been long in suffering, so he will bee as rich in merciemercy. The prodigall childe was long absent, and at last (returning truely humbled) was welcome to his father, and ioyfully receiued: and so shall we be to our heauenly father, if wee make such a returne, and that betimes. Therefore let none be so desperatly minded as to continue still his old course, as though there were no hope of grace at his returne. And let none be so discouraged with the remembrāce of his long sleepe, as to runne quite away from the Lord: for God will finde vsus out wheresoeuer we become, as he did Adam when he had hidden himselfe (as hee thought) among the trees of the garden. The diuell indeed will be readie to shewe thee what a great way thou hast to goe backe againe, what a number of dueties neglected thou hast to repent of while thou didst lie asleepe, and how hard a thing, & impossible it is for thee to performe all this; and all to discourage thee, and to keepe thee still fast asleep, but beleeue him not: for wherefore doth the Lord els put thee in mind of the same things, but to hauehave thee awake and bee diligent in doing thy duetie hereafter? And wherfore els doth he thus reach forth the hand of his grace vntounto thee, but to helpe thee vp, which canst not help vp thy selfe? Therefore giuegive ouer now at the last, & be resolute in the worke of the Lord, and the Lord hath promised, that all that is past shall be forgotten. Let vsus therefore in the feare of God, leaue our delaying, and descanting, and lay this doctrine to our hearts, that it may appeare in our liues, that wee be truely awakened, and all will bee well: if not, but our purpose bee to sleepe still, then the Lord by his Apostle doth giuegive vsus to vnderstand, that custome of sinne will bree…e hardnes of heart, and hardnes of heart will bring forth impenitencie in the end, that thou shalt not bee able to repent if thou wouldest. And thus hauehave wee heard the Lord calling to the Sluggard, and expostulating with him for his long sleeping. Now wee will heare what answer the Sluggard maketh vntounto the Lord.