The Government of the Thoughts, Chapter 22 – Chapter 23
CHAP. XXII. Of Jealousie.
AMONG those thoughts which discompose the Mind, the Jealous are not the least: And the Wise Man acknowledges, Prov. 6.34. that Jealousie is the rage of a Man; and it is frequently so exasperating to unplacable. Anger, That he will not regard any Ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou givest many Gifts, Verse 35. I mention not here that Jealousie, as 'tis Attributed to God, and sometimes importeth Anger, as in Ezek. 8.3. and Chap. 16.42. or execution of Justice, Deut. 29.20. nor Indignation at that which molesteth those the Almighty loveth, Ezek. 39.25. Zach. 1.14. or Pitty to his People, Joel 2.18, 19. nor as in Man, signifying only Envy and Emulation, as Rom. 10.19. and Chap. 11.11. or Fear of Danger to those whom we are most Indulgent, as 2 Cor. 11.2. Neither do I mean that of Ambition, to exclude Corrivals of Sinister Ends, such as St. Paul charged the false Apostles amongst the Galatians: Nor of Suspicion, which is an opinion or dread of some evil, sprung from Symptoms of Levity, or Airy notions, which sometimes set Friends at a great distance, and imbitter Humane Societies: But of that which God gave a Law to Israel, Numb. 5.14.
2. THIS is a perturbation of Mind, compounded of Fear, Love, Indignation, and Suspition; a bitter Electuary of Ingredients, though good and proper in themselves if applyed to their distinct uses: This Jealousie is the Bane of unhappy Love; the Gall of Wedlock; the sad Asmodeus, which makes the most flourishing Families detestable, if not desolate: It is a Tenebrous Apparition of disturb'd Thoughts, restless in the inquest after that which they most abhor, and dread to find: It is the Souls Absynthium, and overflowing bitterness, the Scourge and Torture of Afflicted Minds, really tormenting sometimes with Imaginary, but often with vain Evils: It is the Devils Master-piece, and Quintessence of his Envy, rendring the Honourable, and (otherwise) Happy Estate of Matrimony, which the Almighty appointed to be the greatest Worldly Comfort; he by his Diabolical Malice strives to make it the most odious and unhappy: Therefore it may well be nominated in Numb. 5.30. The Spirit of Jealousie. For a worse Fury could never have been contrived to perplex frail Mortality.
3. NOW whereas the Drama in this unhappy Scene, is of two Persons at least, the Rules of Advice in this case, must have a double Address; which is to the Jealous of either Party: And first, Espouse not anothers sin by a foolish and impious Connivance at the basest Action. He that inhibiteth Divorce in any other cause, as 1 Cor. 7.12. permitteth it in the cause of Adultery, Mat. 19.9. And the Law allows, when the Jealous man shall have set his Wife before the Lord, and Justice shall be executed uppon her, Then shall the Man be guiltless from iniquity, and the Woman shall bear her iniquity, Numb. 5.31.
4. BE not rash, lest thou prove injurious to the Innocent; it is an innate Corruption, to view others faults, rather than their Vertues, and to surmize that to be Evil which may be transacted: And this Axiom may be fitly applyed, That they who are evil themselves, claim that priviledge of being Jealous of others: And he that looks through a yellow Glass, thinks all the World of the same Colour: Consider well, and then tell me, if it be not thy own guiltiness which is the false medium, that casteth that Complexion on others, which indeed thou only retainest thy self.
5. GIVE not place to the Devil; his Malice is like those Envious Philistins, who cast filth into the pure Fountains of Humane Propagation, to create a jealousie between the Married Pair, that by this Venom he may put them at variance, whom God commanded to a perfect Union. Sometimes he will aggravate slight suspicions, which so encreases the rage of each other, that Reason is many times lost in the Battle: Or else, rather than lose his Game, he will suggest some vain Chimera of that which never was, or perhaps never like to be accomplished: Sometimes he will throw Temptations before 'em, such as private Meetings, Whispering, or some such loose Behaviour and Familiarity with others, as may unhappily create suspicion in the Good and Prudent.
6. NEITHER shall he be destitute of the service of other Mischievous Tongues to foment and feed this Malignant Humour: He that said Matrimony might be happy, if the Wife were blind, and the Man deaf, either did, or might mean, if the Wife had not wandring Eyes, she would never spy out Vanity, nor the Husband open Ears, he could not hearken to Malicious Reports: Seriously consider the vanity of this Evil, and then thou wilt prudently acknowledge, that all self-vexation is folly; and to invert the Theme, all folly is self-vexation: If with all thy Art and Care, thou couldst invent any Stratagem beyond tormenting thy self, there were some Plea for thy vexation: But none can be Chast against their Will, was a Sentence among the Heathens; and Argus's hundred Eyes cannot be so vigilant, but opportunity may prove too crafty for him.
7. IF thy Jealousie be fruitless, then thou hast occasion to vex at the Levity and Vanity of thy own Mind: If it be just, what is the monstrous Object of thy Hatred and Malice? Assure thy self the Adulteress is unhappy enough; and there is no Creature on Earth more despicable and odious, nor no Sin in this Life, accompanied with so many varieties of Plagues and Judgments; so that indeed they are great Objects of Pity, if all these wretched Ingredients can render them to be so, as a wounded Conscience, the Devil's Earnest to the Impenitent, and assurance of Hell and Damnation.
8. IN the next place, my address shall be to those in whom there is occasion of Suspicion. And first, Let Man himself consider how odious Adultery is, and out of all measure sinful; for he sinneth against his own Body, defileth the Temple of the Holy Ghost, Cor. 6.18, 19. and pierceth through his own Bowels with a Dart of Rottenness, Prov. 7.23. And that which will render him in the end mournful: But beyond all this, in case of Impenitency, which the stubborn Presumer may justly suspect, it is that whereby he excludeth himself from the Kingdom of Heaven, 1 Cor. 6.9, 10. And in the Adulteresses Crime, some Aggravations are appertaining to it, as robbing her Husband of his Posterity; obtruding a base and adulterous Issue, and so stealing away his Estate and Inheritance, by giving it to a Stranger, and fixing on an indelible Character of Dishonor and Bastardy upon her Child, who but for her impotent and ungovern'd Lust, might have proved noble and legitimate. An Injury which she can never expiate, nor repair to the innocuous Son with Rivers of Tears, and streams of her infected Blood. This multiplied Sin is sometimes conceal'd from Men, but never from the All-seeing God, who is a severe Revenger of all Iniquity.
9 OTHER Sins are grievous and pernicious; yet neither Lying, Stealing, Idolatry, Murder, nor Witchcraft, can of it self dissolve the Sacred Bond of Wedlock, as this only base act of Adultery doth: Therefore our Saviour admits of no Divorce but upon that occasion. And it is remarkable, that when God would display the loathsomness of Idolatry, which most displeased him, he styl'd it Whoredom, and himself a jealous God; and certainly, though that be abolished of the bitter Water, causing the Curse, and rotting of the Thigh with swelling, which attended that antiquated Ceremony; yet the bitter Moral and Substance are not quite extinguish'd, Numb. 5.18.
10. AVOID what you are sensible of hath created your Suspicion; otherwise you are guilty, if not of Adultery, yet of a just Cause of Jealousie. Lysander punished one of his Soldiers for going out of his Quarters, resolving that he would have none of his, look, or go out like a Plunderer. Dinah's idle visits, Gen. 34.1, 2. proved her dishonor, effusion of guiltless Blood; her Father's Trouble, and her Brother's Curse: The wisest of Men recordeth it, as the mark of an Harlot, Prov. 7.11, 12. Her feet abide not in the house; now she is without, now in the streets, lying in wait at every corner.
11. IT was an Italian Severity in Sulpitius, and a Diposition to part with his Wife, who divorced her for going out of doors bareheaded: The Law, said he, confined thee to mine Eyes and Approbation, and not to please others. The common Law noted any, going out unvail'd, with the odious brand of Adultery. So careful were they to avoid all occasions or suspicions of that Sin. However foolishly strict they were, I am sure Jerom's Rules fore-noted is good; Whatsoever, saith he, may probably be feigned, be thou cautious it may not be feigned: Thou owest this to thy Husband's Love, thine own Indemnity and Honor, and the Right and Credit of thy Children.
The PRAYER.
O Eternal and Almighty God, Father of Lights, and of the First-born who are written in Heaven, and of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect. Thou art the Searcher of all Hearts and Reins, to whose All-seeing Eye every Creature is manifest, and every thought of the Heart naked and open: We humbly beseech thee to take from us our stony Hearts, and to give us Hearts of flesh; to subdue in us by thy omnipotent Spirit, the miserable remainders of the First Adam, that native inclination to Sin, which continually carrieth us away Captive to the Laws thereof, even to that Evil which we would not commit, but utterly detest, and in bitterness of Soul repent of.
2. LORD create clean Hearts, and renew right Spirits within us; root out that raging Spirit of Jealousie, that infernal Fire which lies scorching in our bosoms; and enlighten our Vnderstandings with a sound Knowledge of all the Mysteries of Eternal Life and Salvation. Sanctifie our Wills and Affections, and according to thine own gracious promise, six thy Law in our inward Parts, and write it deeply in our Hearts, that we may know thee, from the least to the greatest. Heal up those Wounds which our Sins have made so wide, that none but thine own Hands can close them, and forgive our Iniquity, and remember our Sins no more.
3. O Lord, thou didst by thy holy Word, so heal the fountains, that death and barrenness was no more therein; heal, we humbly beseech thee, the wretched Corruptions of our hearts; cleanse and sanctifie all the thoughts thereof, by the sweet and blessed influence of thy Holy Spirit, and so quide, govern, and direct us in the way which thou wilt have us to walk in, as that we may in all our Thoughts, Words and Actions, be acceptable to thee: Mortifie and subdue, all our evil Desires and Thoughts, and bring them all into Subjection to thy Holy Will and Pleasure, that we may constantly resist all Temptations to Sin and Wickedness.
4. KEEP us, and Counsel us, in all our Affairs Spiritual and Temporal, that we may be filled with the holy Fruits of the Spirit of Sanctification, appearing in new and hallowed Thoughts, Words, and Actions, to thy glory, and our farther assurance before thee; so that in our Bodies and in our Spirits, we may be kept blameless in this sinful and miserable World, unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; To whom with thee, O Father of Mercy, and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of the Elect, be rendred all Honor and Glory, in Heaven and in Earth, from this time forth, and to all Eternity.
Amen.
CHAP. XXIII. Of External Actions.
THE External Actions of Men are the product and fruit of their Thoughts; and as we owe Sanctimony to God, and our own Consciences within, so do we good Examples to our Neighbors in things External. And our blessed Saviour in his Sermon on the Mount, excites us with this Doctrin, Mat. 5.16. Let your Light so shine before Men, that they may see your good Works, and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven.
2. GOOD Actions proceed from a sound Credence, without which they cannot be good, nor pleasing in the Sight of Heaven, For whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin, Rom. 14.23. For Faith apprehending Christ to our Justification, renders our Works acceptable to him, if they extend to Fruits of Regeneration; and uniting us to Christ, dedicateth us to a Capacity of his Sanctifying Spirit, and enableth us in some measure to vanquish Sin, and perform that wh…ch is holy in his sight. Now the Apostle mentions, St. James 2.18. Shew me thy Faith without thy Works, and I will shew thee my Faith by thy Works. And St. Paul says, Rom. 3.28. A Man is justified by Faith only, without the Deeds of the law.
3. THOUGH our best Performances cannot justifie us before the Almighty, because imperfect, yet are they never separated from true Faith; and they are the Path-way to the heavenly Jerusalem, though they cannot finish our happy Arrival. Therefore to the Young-Man's Query, who desired to be justified by Works; our Saviour replies, Mat. 19.16. Keep the Commandments: Thus he was convinced, who had not yet learned the Righteousness of Faith, which saith, Believe and thou shalt be Saved; thereby implying, that yet he was wanting in some things, who was excellent in others, and therefore must seek Salvation by Faith, and the way to Heaven by Sanctity. This is a Condition, not an Obligation of our Salvation; for as we can never acquire Salvation by it, so we can never expect any without it, because our very best Endeavours and Performances we owe to God's Honor and Glory.
4. IT is not sufficient to have a good Intention, either to speak, or to do good; for Satan is well-pleased, that Men should draw near unto God with their Lips, if their Hearts be far from him; or that they speak well, if they will perform Evil. Words at best are but Feminine Virtues, but Works are M…sculine; Of these the Spiritual Pharoah giveth charge to smother them. But we desire to convert our Words into Actions, and not only to speak, but to Effect holy Performances.
5. ACTIONS Humane, Natural, or Civil, are no otherwise here concerned, than as they are in order to the Moral, and so regulated by the Law, and holy Word of God, in the affirmative or negative Precepts, which is the only Rule of all our Moral Actions towards God or Man. Neither Examples, Prescriptions, Universality of Consent, nor Commands of Men, must be prevalent with us, against the express Word of God: For these claim Privilege only in those things which God's Law alloweth, and refereth to our Authority.