Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermons · Sermon 181
On Tewsday the ij. of Iune, 1556. The CLXXXI. Sermon, which is the fourth vponupon the two and thirtith Chapter.
11 As the Eagle stirreth vp, &c.
12 So the Lord alone did leade him, and there was no straunge god with him.
13 He caryed him vp to the high places of the earth, and made him to eate of the fruits of the fieldes: and he made him to sucke Honnie out of the Rocke, and Oyle out of the hard stone.
14 He fed him with butter of kyne and milke of sheepe, with fatte of Lambes and of sheepe fed in Bashan, and Heegoates, and with the fatte of wheate: and made thee to drinke the iuice of the most excellent grape.
15 But he which ought to hauehave beene vpright, became fatte and fell to kicking. Thou art become fatte, lustie, and thicke. And so hee forsooke God his maker, and regarded not the strong God of his welfare.
YEsterday we sawe the similitude which Moses brought in to expresse what goodnes and gentlenes God vsed towardes the children of Israell: for he dealt with them as when a hen gathereth her chickens vnderunder her winges. We see thē howe God dooth in such wise vtter and make knowen his infinite power to his children in the preseruing of them, that hee stoopeth to them, beareth with them in respect of their frailetie, and (at a word) maketh himselfe lyke a Clockhen. Now it remaineth on our side, yt we knowing our owne feeblenesse, should flee vntounto God, and hide our selues vnderunder his winges, that wee may there be defended and kept safe. And wee must not bee afraid to peace vntounto him, for his maiestie ought not to be terrible to vsus any more sith we see he hath made himselfe familiar with vsus, & draweth vsus to him by gentlenes. And surely it must needes bee that we be destitute of wit and reason, if we goe not to seeke him: for howe shall the little chicken doe, if he be not vnderunder his dammes wing? Much lesse can wee continue without the protection of our God, than little chickens can doe, if they run not vnderunder ye wings of their dam which leadeth them. But in the meane while we fare little the better by this lesson. For although we bee warned sufficiently of our infirmities, yet doe we not cease for all that to be blinded with presumption, insomuch as eueryevery of vsus thinketh to maintaine himself well enough. And by yt meanes we hold skorn of ye help of our God. Or else we be so full of distrust, yt although he call vsus to him with all the gentlenes that can be deuised: yet we cannot finde in our heartes to come to him, but doe alwayes stand in doubt of him. And that is the cause why our Lord Iesus Christ findeth fault with the citie of Ierusalem,Matt. 23.37 that when as hee would hauehave gathered her chickens together, she would not. Hee maketh euen a complaint of it in way of lamentation, saying: O Ierusalem Ierusalem, how often would I hauehave gathered thy childrē together, as ye Hen stretcheth out her wings to gather her yong chickens to her, & thou hast despised that great benefite, thou hast not voutsafed to shroud thy selfe vnderunder me. I hauehave bin desirous to make thee to feele my power to ye maintaining of thee in thine estate. But what? Thou hast bin faine to feele heeretofore many chastisementes because of thine vnthankfulnes: but the time will come yt thou shalt bee vtterly destroyed. Let vsus beware that God hauehave not lyke cause to finde fault with vsus nowadayes, and to powre out his vengeance vponupon vsus after he shal hauehave borne with vsus a long time. For the foresaid threatning which our Lord Iesus Christ made, befel not out of hād. God had many ways assayed to gather the citie of Ierusalem vntounto his obedience: and when he saw them so stubborne yt they were past amendment, he punished them according to their desert. Therfore let vsus not tempt ye patience of our God, but when we see him spread out his wings to gather vsus to him, let vsus runne to him, & let necessitie driue vsus thereto: For what shall we… doe if our Lord keepe vsus not? Againe, Let not fearefulnes or douting keepe vsus back from him. For what can he do more, than abace himselfe after the maner of a clockhen, to the intent that his maiestie shoulde not bee terrible to vsus and scarre vsus away?
Let vsus marke further, yt God playeth the part of a Clockhen in all pointes, to gather vsus vnderunder his winges. For on the one side he calleth vsus vntounto his tuition by ye preaching of the Gospel, promising vsus yt the power of his holy spirit shall not faile vsus, but yt it shall defend vsus against all the assaultes of Satan, according as it is sayd that all the fortresses of hell shall bee able to doe nothing to vsus,Matt. 16.… if wee bee grounded vppon the faith of the Gospell. Besides this, wee knowe that God watcheth ouer his seruaunts, and that he guideth them. Therfore let vsus sticke to those promises, and suffer our Lorde to vse his kindnesse, as he setteth it forth by this similitude; and sith we see he is willing that we should come familiarly vntounto him; let vsus not play ye wild beasts.
Nowe, it is saide immediatly after▪ that God alone ledde his people, and that there was no straunge god with him. This serueth to condemne the wickednesse of the children of Israel, which coulde not rest wholly vponupon God; whereas hee was so sufficient for them: for they had founde by experience, that they needed not to seeke any other. And not without cause is this set downe. For although men doe not vtterly refuse Gods help, yet can they not content themselues with it, but they fall to raunging and rouing and make byleapes, bearing themselues in hand, that it wilbe good for them to match some other helpe with God. Lo at what point we be. For we woulde bee ashamed to say that God can doe vsus no good, & that we can well forbeare him. Therefore wee can finde in our hearts that he shal hauehave the first place and chiefe preheminence: but we cannot finde in our hearts to rest wholly vponupon him, but we fall to conceiuing of fonde imaginations, O, God is farre from vsus, wee deserue not that hee should hauehave care of our saluation, and therefore it were good for vsus to get vsus this or that. To bee short, in all ages men hauehave sought occasion to turne away from God, not by falling quite and cleane away from him, (as I said) but by making a minglemangle, and by seeking still the things which hauehave seemed best to their owne lyking, as though God were not ynough of himself alone.
In respect of such naughtinesse it is said here, that there was no straunge god with him when hee led the people through the wildernesse, and conueied thē into the Lande of promise. The God which had adopted Abraham, the same which made both heauen and earth, the same which afterwarde did set forth his lawe, euen the same was hee alone, and hee called not any others to his helpe. True it is that God continually vsed the seruice of his Angels for the welfare of his people, and for the maintenance of his Church: but yet doth it not followe that hee borrowed aught of them. Whereas it is said that the Angels are appointed to hauehave care of vsus,…. 91.11. …. 1.14. it is not to stoppe vsus from repai…ing right foorth vntounto God, nor to darken his brightnesse therby, that men should honour him the lesse: for the Angels are nothing as in respect of themselues: And therefore the holy scripture termeth them the vertues or powers of God,…. 1.38. for he vseth them as his owne hands. Not without cause therefore doth Moses say, that God was alone in the leading of his people, and had not any straunge god with him. For we see how those wretched folk forbare not to forge ydols to themselues. Insomuch yt although God 400 yeres before had promised to redeeme them, although he had performed that promise in very deede, although he had shewed himself to them so many sundry wayes, so yt they had eueryevery day some newe visible token and yt the cloude by day and the fire by night were a warrant of Gods presence: yet notwithstanding they forbare not to inuēt new superstitions. And why? Because that (as I saide afore) such is our cursed inclination, that we cannot repose our selues vponupon God alone, but we fal to rāging here & there, and our wits are rouing abrode to inuent ydols to our selues. For this cause doth Moses here reproue the leawdnesse of the children of Israel, which could not hold themselues contented with God, though he gaue them sufficient cause.
But now let vsus applie this lesson to our selues also. For we see what ye Prophet Esay saith where he speaketh of the redemption that was to bee wrought in the person of our Lord Iesus Christ. It is said in the 59. Chapter; that God sought and looked about him if he coulde finde any helpe to redeeme the worlde.Esa, 59.16. Not that God was cumbered with the matter, or that he wist not what hee had to do: but by that figure the Prophet expresseth the better, that it was onelyonly God that redeemed vsus, and that he was not helped by any other. Therefore when he had sought, he found that he shoulde bee faine to vse his owne onelyonly power. Then armed hee himselfe with his iustice, hee fenced himselfe with his owne power, and so finished and performed the thing which hee had determined, that is to wit, the redemption of his people. Seeing then that God hath so purchased vsus to himselfe in the person of his sonne, as that he had not any companion in the doing thereof, but hath vttered forth the infinite treasures of his goodnesse, iustice, and power: let vsus learne to hold our selues wholly to him, and not to be so fickleheaded as to set vp ydols, and to runne gadding here and there, and to let our selues loose to no benefite. Let vsus rather consider howe God himselfe alone hath redeemed vsus once for all, and that hencefoorth hee will hauehave the guiding of all his himselfe alone, and that hee wil hauehave vsus to sticke to him alone. True it is that our Lord Iesus Christ also was a leader of the people of Israell in the wildernes,1. Cor. 10.9. as sheweth S. Paule in the tenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, where he saith that they tempted Iesus Christ. And how was that? Euen because he was alwaies the mediator: howbeit, that was after a darke maner. But nowadaies hee sheweth himselfe to vsus face to face: insomuch that if we looke there, we hauehave there ye whole fulnes of Gods maiestie. Seeing it is so, that God in these daies discouereth himself more fully vntounto vsus, than he did to the Iewes in the time of the law: there wilbe so much the lesse excuse for vsus, if wee abyde nor fast setled in him, so as hee alone do suffice vsus, and we doe take our whole contentation in him. Yet notwithstanding, wee see howe froward the worlde hath beene. For what a number of ydolles hauehave men forged euen since Christes comming into the world? And howe hauehave we behaued our selues since the time of our ignoraunce? For looke howe manie Patrons and Aduocates the Papistes hauehave imagined, so many fellowes hauehave they added to our Lorde Iesus Christ, and so doing they set their minds vponupon the creatures, and let the liuing God goe. Indeede they will protect that their intent is nothing so: but a man may see by their doings that God is not knowen there from his sainctes, as they themselues hauehave saide in their common prouerbe. After that manner hauehave we erred: and we hauehave alienated our selues (to our power) so farre from our God, that we hauehave wel deserued to be shaken off at his hand. But forasmuch as he hath shewed vsus that it is onelyonly hee to whom wee must sticke, and forasmuch as he offereth himselfe so familiarly vntounto vsus, to the intent we shoulde submit our selues to him: we ought now to be so much the more stedfast: and seeing wee hauehave such assurance, let vsus not be drawen too and fro by our vnconstancie and lightnes, but let vsus conclude that God cannot away to hauehave any straunge gods with him, and that it behoueth vsus to doe him the honour of resting in such wise vponupon his power and goodnesse, as it may suffice vsus to call vponupon him, and to flee to him for all our refuge.
And Moses addeth immediatly, that God caried vp his people, (or made them to ride vp) vppon the high places of the earth, and gaue them the fruites thereof to feede them, namely the butter of Kyne, the milke of sheepe, the fat of Muttons, of Lambes, and of Goates, the fat of Corne and the bloud of Grapes, (for so he termeth them:) and that he made them to eate Oyle out of the harde stones and honny out of the Rocks. Hereby Moses ment to vtter howe liberall (yea euen beyonde all opinion of man) God shewed himselfe towards his people. His speaking of the high places of the earth, is in respect of the situation of the lande of Chanaan: for it is high in comparison of Egypt and of the countries thereabouts. To say (as some hauehave imagined) that it is the middest and (as ye would say) the Nauill of the earth, is to no purpose. Because mention is made of the mids of the earth among the Prophetes,Psal. 74.12. some hauehave surmised that God meant to bound it out, as if he had beene some Geometrician that should hauehave butteled and bounded the whole world. But whereas it is saide, in the mids of the earth, it is meant, in the mids of the lande that is to say, of Iewry. Yet notwithstanding, as I saide afore, the Lande of Chanaan is high, if a man hauehave an eye to any of all the Countries round about it. Againe, it hath many mountains and high Rockes in it, insomuch that at the first fight a man woulde take it to be barren. And therefore Moses declareth that the people shold eate honnie out of the Rockes, and Oyle out of the harde stones: that is to say, that where men would think there were nothing but wildernes, there would God make Olifetrees to growe: and where men would thinke to be nothing but barrennesse, there they shoulde gather honnie, and (to be short) that eueriwhere there shoulde bee nothing but sweetenesse and abundance.
Afterwarde hee speaketh of fat Sheepe, Goates and Lambes. Trueth it is that in this place is vsed the worde Basan, which had that name, of fatnesse: for the hill of Basan was a goodly countrie of pasture. And this is the cause, why hee expresly speaketh thereof. And let vsus marke that Moses neuer came within the land of Chanaan, hee had neuer so vewed it that hee coulde describe it, as he doth heere. Needs therefore must hee speake, not as a man, but as one whose tongue is gouerned by the spirite of God. And heere he treateth of the thinges which the people were to finde after the decease; and yet hee speaketh of them as if he had seene them, and as though the thinges had beene done alreadie. So then we hauehave a plain proofe that Moses wrate not any thing on his owne heade, but was an instrument of the holy Ghost. For he left this song to the children of Israel, and made it common among them before his death, as wee hauehave seene afore. Whereby it was apparant, that hee was taught at Gods hand all the thinges which were vnknowen vntounto him as in respect of the flesh: & surely not euen the children of Israel themselues coulde vnderstande the contentes of that song, vntill they had had the experience of it. But the effect shewed that his so speaking was not in vaine. The thing then which Moses (or rather the holy Ghost by his mouth) intended; is to put the Iewes in minde, howe liberall God had shewed himselfe to them, namely by bringing them into the Lande of promise, and by giuing them fruitfulnesse, that it might suffice to maintaine them. And no doubt but he meant here to magnifie Gods goodnes, by declaring that he passed the common order of nature when he had such a care to sustaine his people so welthily in that lande which a man woulde neuer hauehave thought able to do it. So much the more therefore ought we to abhorre these diuelish heades, which hauehave gone about to deface Gods grace in this behalfe, seeing that the holy scripture standeth thereuppon, namely that men must not deeme according to the common order of nature, concerning Gods mainteining of his people after that manner.He meaneth Seruettus. As for example, that cursed heretike which was executed heere among vsus; was not ashamed to write in one of his books that the land of Chanaan is indeede spoken of, howebeit ouer fauourablie, and that they which hauehave so spoken thereof, hauehave made vsus to beleeue many things vnaduisedly. And what caused him so to do, but that he was a worldly man and a despiser of God, seeking by all meanes to skorne God, and to abolish his grace, and that men might no more knowe how to worship him? So then yee see howe Gods grace was had in contempt. But contrariwise, we must always be resolued, that God hauing once made his promise to his seruant Abraham, did therupon intend to vtter his wonderfull power, as one that had a care of his people. Yea and we must call to mind what was saide yesterday, namely that GOD had made his partition to the former inhabiters of that countrie, (to wit of the lande of promise) according to the number of the children of Israel, for he knewe wellynough what a multitude of people he was to maintaine there. That is a cause why Moses declareth here again, that the Rocks yeelded hony, and ye stones brought forth Olifes: that there was pasture ground to yeelde fat mattons, lambs & goats, & to yeeld butter, & all manner of white meate, so as nothing might be wanting: also yt the land yeelded ye fat of corne (for he vseth that terme,) as who shold say there were lumps in the meale, and nothing but pure and fine flower of wheate, so as our Lorde gaue his people abundance of all things yt he knewe to be meete for them: and that hee gaue them the bloud of ye grape, that is to say, the grapes were so full, that a man might hauehave pressed as it were bloude out of them. To be short, he declareth that God failed not his people in any thing, but prouided them store of all things necessarie, yea and shewed himselfe so liberall, that hee gaue them euē more than needed. Now after as God dealeth largely vntounto vsus, so must wee inlarge our harts to serue him, that we may be fully fraught with louelove towardes him. For all the benefites which we receiue of him, must kindle our hearts to goe vntounto him. We hauehave in them a tast of his goodnesse to draw vsus vntounto him. Now then if wee make not Gods gracious gifts auailable to vsus, so as we louelove him for them, and bee rauished with desire to come vntounto him: it is certaine that wee must yeelde a sorrowfull account for it. For wee vnhallow them, and abuse them too shamefully, and thereby God looseth the things which hee had bestowed vponupon vsus as his children, because it is not his meaning that they should hauehave beene cast away as vponupon dogges.
For this cause Moses aggrauateth heere the malice of the people, in that he saieth, that after God had shewed himselfe so liberall, foorthwith they became fatte, and being become thicke, fat, and as is were so brawned that they were readie to burst with greace: they fell immediatly to defie the God which had made them, and to mocke as the strength of their welfare. Here wee be taught to call our selues daily to account for the benefits which God hath bestowed vppon vsus. Wherefore let vsus beware that we deuour not the benefites which wee hauehave of God, forgetting them and the giuer of them; Nay, let vsus make them all as notes of rememberance to put vsus in mind how much we be bound and indebted vntounto him. True it is that wee can neuer bring that to passe, according whereto it is saide in the Psalme,… 6. that if men imploy themselues neuer so much to the considering of Gods gracious gifts, they shall finde themselues graueled, for they be mo than the hayres of our heads. Yet notwithstanding, it behoueth vsus to doe our indeuour to magnifie our God, considering how greatly wee be bounde vntounto him, and howe many wayes hee maketh vsus to feele his goodnes. That is our true studie; that is ye thing wherein we must exercise our selues all the time of our life. And the chiefe sacrifice that God requireth of vsus, is thanksgiuing, which is when we honour him with the things that we hauehave receiued of him, according to this saying of the hundred and sixteenth Psalme.… 11. What shall I yeeld vntounto the Lorde for all the good which hee hath done vntounto mee? I will take the cup of saluation, and call vponupon his name. So then let this text bea warning and incouragement to vsus, to consider better of our Gods benefites that wee may fare the better by them. That is one point.
And moreouer, when wee once knowe that God hath bounde vsus vntounto him, and dayly bindeth vsus in hauing a care to sustaine these our mortall bodies which are but carions & dung, the which neuerthelesse he feedeth with bread: let the consideration thereof make vsus to mount vp higher,Ioh. 4.14. & 6.35. and to bethinke vsus howe we be daylie fedde with the grace of his spirite, and refreshed with the liuing waters which wee hauehave of him; yea and that we be fedde with our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe who is the heauenly breade that feedeth our soules. Let vsus consider these things, and learne therby to giuegive ourselues wholly to our God who sheweth himself so bountifull and liberall a father towards vsus. If we do not so, we hauehave here a horrible condemnation. For (as I hauehave said) to the intent to set out the mischiefe so much the more to the full in that men dischargo not their duetie to Godwarde, being so preuented by his drawing of them vntounto him: Moses putteth heere as it were into a paire of scales, on the one side Gods benefits, and on the otherside the peoples forgetfulnes, negligence & vnthankfulnes. And this is the thing that in effect wee hauehave to remember out of this place.
Now it behoueth vsus to marke well the thing that is rehearsed heere by Moses, namely that the Rightfull was growen fatte. His attributing of that title to the people of Israel, is to signifie whereto they were called of God: for this comprehendeth the principall end of our calling. Gods adopting of vsus to bee his children, is to the ende wee shoulde liue righteously. The Iewes are called a froward and crooked generation.Matt. 16.4. Such then are the vnbeleeuers vntill our Lorde Iesus Christ hauehave brought them home to himselfe. On the contrarie part, when God calleth vsus to be of his flocke or housholde: then he reformeth vsus, and he will hauehave vsus to holde the way of saluation as he sheweth it vntounto vsus. And such ought the children of Israel to hauehave beene, seeing that God had chosen them. But what? It is said that after the rightfull or righteous was waxen fatte, he fell to kicking against his master. Now if this bee saide nowadayes, it will bee double to our shame: for if our Lordes speaking of righteousnesse or vprightnesse be to shewe yt those whom he had sanctified, defiled themselues, and that those whom he had brought into the right way, were gone astray: it is to condemne them the more grieuously. Therefore it ought to make vsus the more ashamed, whē God shal say, What are yee? For I hauehave adopted you to be my children, and what a lookingglasse and patterne hauehave you in me? Ye ought to resēble your father: ye knowe my goodnes and my iustice, and yet are you as crooked as serpents. Must we not needs be confounded with double shame, when God vpbraideth vsus after that sort? So then, let vsus learne to what purpose God hath ordained vsus in vouchsafing vsus the grace to gather vsus vntounto him. Let vsus follow the vprightnes which he cōmandeth vsus, & let vsus not swarue aside from in. Moreouer let vsus beware yt fatnesse blind vsus not, and so mar vsus: least when we hauehave beene full fedde for a time, we growe frowarde through Gods vsing of his liberalitie towards vsus. And yt is a very needefull point. For when God sheweth himselfe so liberal, and feedeth vsus with abundance of all things: his so doing is to make vsus to perceiue his goodnesse the better. Therefore it ought to inflame vsus the more, seeing that our Lorde handleth vsus gently as though wee were his tender babes, as he himselfe termeth vsus. But wee see on the contrarie part, that if God deale bountifully with vsus, wee play the stubborne and vnruly horses. As a horse that is ouerpampered in the stable wil not be ruled, but fals to kicking, and becomes so lustie as if he were wilde: euen so is it with vsus also: such is our nature. And are wee to bee excused, when we shall hauehave abused Gods gifts after that fashion? If it be demaunded what maketh men proude, what maketh men become wilde beasts, so as they cannot away with any yoke, but are feerce and hardharted, and cannot afterward away with good instruction and warning, but are madde against God, puffed vp with pride and presumption, starke blinde, destitute of reason, and vtterly voide of modestie and humanitie: what is the cause of all this, but the good things which God hath bestowed vppon them? And how may that bee? For it is a monstrous thing, and a thing vtterly against nature. God commeth to vsus, he vttereth his treasures, hee woulde hauehave vsus to knowe him to be as gentle and gratious a father as can be, hee maketh vsus as it were cockeneyes; he could do no more to shewe what affection he beareth vsus, except he should powre out his bowels vppon vsus; he interteineth vsus as if it were in a Paradise, accordingly as it is saide of all those whom God hath taught,Psal. 36.1. namely that he keepeth them as much at their ease, as if they had all the commodities that coulde be wished. Seeing then yt God hath shewed himselfe such a one; what a thing is it that men shoulde take occasion thereby, to kicke against him, and to bee proude and full of presumption & ouerweening, so as they shoulde despise all admonitions, yea and be as it were stark mad against all doctrine? And what a horrible sin is this? Yet do wee make a trade and custome of it. Whereby we see howe froward our nature is, and what a bottomlesse pit of al vices and infections is in it.
And therefore let vsus beare this doctrine so much the better in minde, where it is said that the righteous fell to kicking when he once became fat. How that although wee had earst some good plaine meaning in vsus, & there appeared in vsus some willingnesse to serue God: yet assoone as we be waxen fatte, by and by we become wilde beastes, as appeareth euen by experience. Howe many be there, which are treatable & liue after some vpright manner, so long as God holdeth them in meane state? True it is that we shall see a number of hypocrites also, who as long as they hauehave not wherwith to set out themselues, will pretend to be as lowly as is possible, and yet all is but hypocrisie. Again there are others which wil beare the countenance of good behauiour, and be well ruled, and liue in the feare of God: but as soone as they be growen fatte, by and by they play the wilde beasts, they be starke mad, they shew their teeth, they put out their hornes, they fall to kicking, & they fling out against God. This is seene too much. And therefore it was not for the children of Israel onelyonly that Moses spake so: but the holy Ghost hath shewed vsus heere as it were the liuely picture or image of the naughtines which is in vsus, and wherunto we be inclined and giuen: that is to wit, that when God hath once made vsus fatte, by and by in steede of liuing righteously which is the very condition whereupon he hath chosen vsus to be his children, we fall to kicking against him.
And to amplifie the leawdnesse yet more, of such as doe so abuse Gods gratious giftes; Moses saith further, Thou art become thicke and fatte, thou art as it were cumbered with thine owne fatte, thou art euen ouergrowen with fatte. And so he forgate (or forsooke) the God that made him, and skorned the strong God of his welfare. Whereas Moses saith here that the people became lusty, fatte & thick, as though they had bin choked with their own greace: it is in two respects: the one to blame them ye sorer, for that in steed of noting & marking well Gods benefites, yt thereby they might hauehave bin the more prouoked to serue and honour him: they deuoured them vp without measure or temperance: and also that the quantitie of Gods benefites was so great, that it behighted them the greater condemnation. Let vsus marke well then, that if wee forget Gods benefites, they be registred vp before him to put vsus to reproch. Therfore we shall gaine nothing by the shortnes of our remembraunce, nor by our forgetting of the great number of Gods benefits, no nor yet by our defacing of them as much as in vsus lieth: for God forgetteth not any thing, all thinges must needes come to account before him. Wherefore let vsus prouide for it aforehand. And as (I hauehave said) let eueryevery of vsus looke neerely to himselfe, & the mo commodities we hauehave, let vsus consider yt our Lord bindeth vsus the more to magnifie him, & wil hauehave vsus to receiue the cup of saluation at his hand, & to call vponupon his name, that our mouthes may be open to sing songs of praise vntounto him. Mark that for one point. And therefore let vsus assure ourselues yt this vnthankfulnes wil make vsus the more vnexcusable, seeing yt God setteth here before vsus ye benefites which he had bestowed vpō his people, & vseth such a number of words to shew that nothing was forgotten which he had done for y• people when they had once estranged thēselues from him, and yt his intent in shewing himself so liberal, was not yt the people shoulde make none account of it, but yt they shold hauehave born al things wel in minde. Let yt therfore serue for one point.
Againe, when our God giueth vsus such abundance; let vsus beware that we vse his benefits wel. For surely to learne to be rich, and to hauehave abundance, and also to be contented with pouertie & want (as saith S. Paul) is a poynt very hard to bee attained vntounto:Phil 4.11. and yet it ought to be common to al the children of God. S. Paul, in saying that he could skil to be poore, meaneth that hee was patient, so as he neither troubled nor tormēted himselfe when God sent him scarsitie and want of ease: for he knew that God would not fail him in the end. Ye see then yt he knowledge of Gods children, is on the one side to be poore. Againe on the otherside he saith, that he can skill to abounde: meaning, that when God gaue him abundance and more than he needed: hee ouershot not himselfe by abusing it in superfluous expenses or in playing the loose colt as men term it, but that he vsed it moderatly and measurably. Then if God giuegive vsus more than wee neede, let vsus assure our selues that in so doing he approcheth the neerer to vsus, at leastwise if we can skill to vse well the benefites which he hath bestowed vpō vsus, that is to say without vainglory, without pride, without disorder, so as wee be not too much giuen to our delights, but vse Gods benefites with measure and stayednes, and therwithall be readie to indure hunger and thirst when it pleaseth God, that if he giuegive vsus abundance wee be not so drunken with it but that we stil acknowledge him to be our fosterfather. But we see on the contrary part howe the worlde behaueth it selfe in this behalfe. For what a sort of drunkardes, what a sort of gluttons shall a man see, which are like swine in a stie without any vnderstanding or reason? They can fill their paunches well ynough, but they can no skill to lift vp their heades to heauen to honor him that findeth and maintaineth them so wealthily: their groynes & mussels are euer grubbing downewarde to their feeding. Therefore let vsus not resemble them. If God giuegive vsus wealth, let vsus not pamper or pranck vp our selues, but rather let it bee as a spurre to quicken vsus vp to come vntounto him; the nearer that hee approcheth vntounto vsus, and the more that hee maketh vsus to feele his goodnes; the more wholly let vsus yeeld our selues thereto. That is the thing which we be taught in this text.
Now whereas Moses saith, Hee forsooke the God which made him, and skorned the strong God of his welfare: thereby hee sheweth vsus after what manner we abuse Gods benefites, namely by shrinking away from him, whereas he would hauehave vsus to bee brought neerer to him. For (as I saide afore) all the commodities which God giueth vsus in this world ought to be as ladders whereby to climbe vp to him. And if we be wedded to the earth, it is the way to make vsus turne the benefits of our God to the cleane contrarie. Therefore let vsus take good heede that we prouoke him not to displeasure. And whereas Moses saieth, that it was God that created his people: hee meaneth it not alonely as in respect that he is the maker of the world, but as in respect that hee had chosen that people, and had made as it were a newe worlde of them. For Gods fetching of the children of Israel out of the lande of Egypt, his feeding of them in the wildernes, and his putting of them in possession of the land which he had promised vntounto them, were as a newe creating of them: He had not onelyonly made them men, but also newe men. So then the making that Moses speakes of here, is not of the first making whereby the children of Israel were brought into the worlde: but of Gods reforming of them to bee his children. And it is the very same thing that is ment in the fourescore and fifteenth Psalm.Psal. 95.7. Now then (saith Moses) will ye spite him which hath twice made you after that fashion? What an vnthankfulnes were that? The like condemnation lyeth vponupon vsus nowadayes, if we walke not in the obedience of our God, seeing he hath not onelie placed vsus in the worlde, but also called vsus to the hope of the endlesse life, reforming vsus by his holy spirit, and calling vsus to the knowledge of the Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ. Sith it is so, let vsus beware we forget it not, or that we shrink not away from him in any wise. Yea and let vsus marke well the word that Moses vseth in saying that they mocked or skorned the strong God of their welfare. The terme that hee vseth commeth of a foole or thing of nothing ▪ [as if a man would say, they befooled him, or they louted him.] Whereby he aggrauateth the ouergreat skornefulnesse of that people in not honoring God as they ought to hauehave done. Then if wee yeelde not God his due glorie and praise, it is all one as if wee made no account of him, or as if wee bleared out our tongues at him in way of mockage▪ And that were too excessiue vnthankfulnesse or rather vntolerable trecherie. Therfore let vsus beware that we be not guiltie of such a crime as is the despising of him which is the strong holde of our welfare, that is to say, him vponupon whom we stay, without whom we can by no meanes continue, which keepeth vsus vnderunder his protection, and to be short, of whom we hold our life and all that belongeth thereunto. Must we not needes be worse than brute beastes, when we forget him? Let vsus vnderstand then that besides the other benefites which God bestoweth vponupon vsus, we be also setled vponupon his power, so as he hath ye gouerning of vsus, and we be after such a sort in his tuition, that we finde him alwayes the fortresse of our welfare, to the intent that wee holding our selues to him, may knowe also that hee is euer readie and forwarde to increase his gratious giftes and to multiplie them, vntill hee hauehave brought vsus to the full perfection of our saluation.
Nowe let vsus fall downe before the maiestie of our good GOD with acknowledgment of our faults, praying him to make vsus feele them more and more, and therewithall that hauing shewed himselfe so gratious towards vsus, hee suffer vsus not to forget his benefits, nor to abuse the sustenāce which hee giueth vsus in this worlde; but that wee may be drawen further by it, namely to seeke the heauenly foode of our soules least they shoulde starue, and that our whole stay and contentation may be in the doctrine which is dayly deliuered vsus by the Gospel, and in the grace of our Lorde Iesus Christ; so as all his spirituall gifts may bee applied by vsus to the glorifying of our good god: that when his glorie shineth forth in this world, we may perfectly be partakers thereof, after wee bee rid of this mortall flesh, and dispatched from the transitorie state of this earthly life. That it may please him to graunt this grace not onelyonly to vsus but also to al people and Nations of the earth &c.