The Best Treasure, Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV.
Shewing the poor and lamentable State of all Chriſtleſs Souls.
IF there are ſuch vaſt and unſearchable treaſures in Chriſt, tendered to ſinners in the Goſpel: Hence ſee then the poor and lamentable ſtate of all thoſe Souls that are without Chriſt. O they are very beggerly Souls that are Chriſtleſs Souls: As they that are far from the Sun, muſt needs be far from Light and Heat; ſo they that are far from Chriſt, muſt needs be far from true Riches: He that hath not a Title to the Field, hath none to the Treaſure that lies in it: He that hath the Son hath Life, he that hath not the Son hath not Life. The Character of Laodicea is the complexion of all Chriſtleſs Souls: They are Wretched, Miſerable, Poor, Blind, and Naked, Rev. 3. 17. They are aliens from the Common Wealth of Iſrael, ſtrangers to the Covenant of promiſe, without God, and without hope, Eph. 2. 12. They have none of Chriſts perſonal, or purchaſed treaſures to enrich them: They have no right to his Perſon, and ſo none to his Excellency: His glorious Attributes ſignifies no good at all to them. His moſt precious and ſweet diſpoſitions, beſpeaks little comfort to them: What Chriſt hath done and ſuffered, imports no advantage to them: Chriſtleſs ſinners are like beggers, or like poor perſons ſhut out of the Rich mans door, that have Charity lock'd up from them; till they come to Chriſt, neither himſelf nor his is theirs; they have not any part of his fulneſs: No Treaſures of Juſtification, Pardon, and Peace, are imparted to them: No Riches of Sanctification are made over to them: No Treaſures of Grace, or Glory, are the Unbelievers intereſt; therefore he muſt needs be a pitiful poor Soul: Yea, all the Symptoms of Poverty are upon Chriſtleſs ſinners. To name a few of them.
Firſt, A poor Perſon is a very needy perſon: He is full of wants; ever and anon in diſtreſs, and extremities; always deſtitute: Poor and needy are Synonimous terms, Iſa. 41. 17. When the poor and needy ſeek Water. So it is with Chriſtleſs Souls, their neceſſities are many; their wants are more than can be numbred: They want Wiſdom, Light, Grace, Glory, every good thing: Nothing truly good is imparted to them: Their unbelief mars all the mercies given to them: To the unbelieving Soul every thing is unclean, defiled, Tit. 1. 15. Their unregeneracy overturns all their mercies. Ah! They want eyes to ſee what is lacking in them, and hence 'tis they go up and down ſo ſecure: They want Eyes to ſee, Ears to hear, a mouth to ſpeak, Legs to go, and Hands to Labour: they want Life, and every good thing: And being Aliens from the Common-wealth of Iſrael, ſtrangers to the Covenant of promiſe, and alienated from the Life of God; muſt needs be miſerably poor.
Secondly, Poor Perſons as they are needy, and their wants great, ſo they have nothing of their own to ſupply them: A poor man may want Bread; but his Cupboard doth not afford it: He may ſee his wants, but hath no money in his purſe, no treaſure to repair them; they are poor that have no Eſtates; no Barns-floar to go to; no Lands, no Livings, no money to help them in time of ſtraits: Chriſtleſs Souls are in this ſenſe poor alſo: They have nothing to ſupply their wants, to relieve them in their neceſſities: Their own Treaſures are totally exhauſted by ſin: Where the fountain is ſealed, the Ciſterns are dry: When the Creator will not help, the Creature cannot, Angels cannot, will not help: Scriptures can impart no comfort to them, whiles out of Chriſt: Where Chriſt ſhuts his door, no good thing gets out to ſuch Souls: They are naked of all thoſe advantages that might enrich them, ſtript of thoſe Conſolations that might chear and refreſh them: Where ſhall we go? ſays the Diſciples to Chriſt, Joh. 6. 68. So may poor ſinners ſay: Where ſhall we go? they are like the Lepers that ſate without the Gate of Samaria, ready to Famiſh, and knew not what to do, 2 Kings 7. 3. This is the caſe of Chriſtleſs Souls: They may have of the fat things of this Life; but not a jot of the Everlaſting hills reacheth them.
Thirdly, Poor men uſually fare hard; they are much ſtraitned in their refreſhments; they feed on mean things, very low dyet; Bread and Water is great chear with them: When the Prophet was reduc'd to a ſtate of poverty, he was fed with Bread and Water, 1 Kings 18. 4. Yea▪ ſometimes worſe fare; as the Prodigal fed on Husks; nay, glad to have it, he looked for ſome that would give it. Luk. 15. 16. Nay, ſometimes feed upon Doves dung; yea their own fleſh, 2 Kings 6. 25. O the mean, hard fare poor perſons are brought to in a ſtate of Poverty; they go many times with hungry Bellies: Poor people ſometimes with Lazarus would be glad of the Crumbs that fall from rich mens Tables, Luke 16. 21. Such is the ſtate of Chriſtleſs Souls; their fare is bad, and very courſe: They live upon the Carrion, the ſtinking Excrements of ſin; They feed upon their Luſts; their ſweeteſt draughts are (with Darius) dirty Waters: As the Children of God feed on holineſs, 'tis meat and drink to do their Fathers will; ſo the pleaſures of ſin are the dainties, and ſweet-meats of Chriſtleſs Souls: The forbidden Fruit is the beſt chear ſuch have: No Tree in the garden pleaſeth them ſo well as the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. O ſuch is the meat and drink of ſinners, they feed upon their own dung; yea, they are fed with Judgment, whiles Saints eat the dainties, the marrow and fat things of Chriſts Table: They eat the Bone, when the Children feed on the Fleſh: Sinners come to Ordinances, and eat up Bran, whiles the Children feed upon the fineſt of the Wheat; they have but the ſhell and outſide of Ordinances, when gracious Souls eat the kernel and inſide ſweetneſs: The Friends of Chriſt feed upon hidden Manna, when ſinners fill their ſtomachs with husks, yea, gravel: The appointments of Chriſt yield no ſweetneſs to them: Their Ear doth not try words, their Palate hath loſt its taſte; it cannot difference ſweet Waters from bitter; the Language of Canaan from the language of Aſhdod: Inſtitutions from Superſtition: 'Tis all one to them what is preached: The pure ſtrains of Goſpel truths is no other to them; than the dull methods of dead preaching, juicy meat and dry Bones is all alike to them; O they are poor indeed that fare ſo hard; If Hypocrites feed on any thing 'tis but a dream; if they have comforts, 'tis but ſtollen Waters, when they awake they are empty ſtill: Let the fare be never ſo nouriſhing, the choiceſt priviledges they prove not by; they are ill favour'd Souls, and look gaſtly.
Fourthly, Poor Men have uſually mean cloathing, ſo John the Baptiſts low eſtate in the World was ſet forth by his habit, Mark 1. 6. And John was cloathed with Camels Hair, and with the girdle of a skin about his Loynes: A plain and ſordid habit, as Calvin calls it: Ab omni urbano nitore & lautitiis remotis: A man far from a Court-like neatneſs, either in habit or apparel, but in a poor and ruſtick attire; not but that John might have been better cloathed; he was the Son of Zacharias the Prieſt, but taking on him the ſtate of Poverty, he cloathed himſelf accordingly: Poor Men are badly clad, Job 31. 19. Sometimes they go in rags, as Soloman ſaies, Pro. 23. 21. Drowſineſs will cloath a man in rags: It notes the Poverty that ſlothful Perſons are brought into; when James would diſcribe a poor man, he ſets him forth as cloath'd in vile rayment, Jam. 2. 2. And there come in a poor man in vile rayment, foreign, dirty baſe cloaths: The ſame word that is rendred filthly garments, Zach. 3. 3. Is the dreſs of poor men: So Chriſtleſs Souls are very poor, they go in mean rayment, they are naked; the Spirit of God tells the Church of Laodicea ſo, Rev. 3. 17, 18. Till Souls be cloathed with the white rayment of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, they be naked, and their ſhame appears; they have nothing to cover their nakedneſs from the ſight of God, Angels, and Saints: They go in poor rayment; their garments are webs of their own weaving, and their works are their covering. They are cloath'd with ſhame, and cover'd with Confuſion as with a Mantle, Pſa. 109. 29. O what ſad rayment do Sinners go in! Saints are cloathed with white Rayment, and beautiful through Chriſts comelineſs; adorn'dwith his Graces, beſpangled in his Jewels; they go up and down in rich Attire: But ſinners lye in ſordid attire, cloath'd with vile Rayment.
Fifthly, Poor men uſually have but bad Lodging; They commonly live in mean Houſes; little Cottages: They ſometimes dwell in the duſt, Pſa. 113. 7. He raiſeth the poor out of the duſt, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; So the Prophet Iſaiah deſcribes a poor man, as one that is caſt out, Iſa. 58. 7. The poor that be caſt out: O their Loding is hard; they do not ſpread themſelves on Beds of lvory; nor lye on Cloth of Tapeſtry: The rich have their ceiled Houſes, fair dwellings. The poor many times their Cottages are in a Wilderneſs, and Houſes that drop through. So 'tis with Chriſtleſs Souls; they have poor Lodgings; when Saints Lodge in the boſom of Chriſt, they lye in the Arms of Devils: They lie upon Thorns; yea, Spears, that will pierce them thorough: They lye upon Stones; the Earth is their Bed, they are Earthy Souls, and lodge in the very boſome of the world: They dwell in habitations of cruelty; they lye in Graves: So the Prophet, when he ſpeaks of the Jews dead in ſin before Coverſion, he deſcribes them to be in their Graves, Ezek. 37. 12. Dead ſinners lye like Lazarus, bound with a Napkin in their Graves, Joh. 11. 44. O there's your Bed Souls, if out of Chriſt; there you lye kept till the day of Judgment; held Priſoners till a call comes to bring you to the Bar of Chriſt. O your lodging is mean indeed! Saints dwell in God, Pſa. 91. 1, 9. their habitation is in the City of God, Eph. 2. 19. But all Chriſtleſs ſinners lye without amongſt Devils; they dwell on pinacles, and live upon the borders of death every moment, amongſt Dogs, amongſt the unclean O ſee their habitation, and the place where their honour dwelleth, Rev. 22. 15. Without are dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whoremongers, and Murtherers, and Idolaters, and whoſoever loveth and maketh alye. Theſe are the company Chriſtleſs Souls lodge with: they are turn'd out of doors: O ſad, doleful ſtate indeed!
Sixthly, Another Character of a poor man is this: Poor men are Friendleſs, Pro. 19. 4 Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is ſeparated from his Neighbour. Every man ſeeketh the Rulers Favour; every mans Cap, and Hand, and Knee, and all is for them; But the poor man, his very Neighbour comes now to leave him, who was his Friend whiles in proſperity: When Rich men ſit down in places of Honour, poor men muſt ſtand at the Feet, Jam. 2. 3. They are ſure to find few Friends to own them, to pity, and help them! So Chriſtleſs Souls are friendleſs; they have no true Friends in Heaven or Earth: Thoſe that ſeem to flatter them, are not Friends but Foes; they rather wound them, and draw them into miſchief; whiles they lye in their blood there's no eye to pity them, to do any of theſe things for them, Ezek. 16. 5 No hand to help them, to waſh, ſalt, and ſwaddle them, ver. 4. 5. If the Father of Bowels ſhut up his pity, Creatures can extend but little; whiles they reject the good Samaritane, none that paſſeth by regards them. If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do ſtoop under him, Job 9. 13. If God be angry, who can befriend us? O ſinner, If God frown, what is the love of Creatures? O thy caſe is doleful, thou thou art a poor Soul indeed, that art out of Chriſt; if he wound, none can heal, Job 11. 10. If he cut off, or ſhut up, or gather together, none can hinder him. Chriſtleſs Souls are like a Gangreen member, in danger of being cut off if a ſudden cure be not found: and who then can befriend them? where the Lord of hoſts is a Friend, Creatures are Friends: And where he is an Enemy, Creatures are Enemies too: If God be in Covenant with a Soul, the Creatures are in Covenant too. And if God be againſt a Soul, all his armies fight againſt that Soul too: O ſinners, who can be friend you? ſuppoſe you have Rich kindred, great acquaintance, what can they do at the Bar of God for you? They will not go to the Judgment ſeat of Chriſt, and ſpeak for you there.
Seventhly, A poor man is one that is lightly eſteemed: This David gives as a Teſtimony of a mean ſtate; when ſome were ſent to treat with him about a match with Saul's daughter; he modeſtly puts it off. Who I, ſays he, I am a poor man, and lightly eſteemed, 1 Sam. 18. 23. The word is contemptible, of little, little worth. Rich men are ſure of honour; but the poor are little regarded: Great perſons are Courted, when the poor are ſleighted, paſſed by, little eſteemed. So 'tis with Chriſtleſs Souls: They are lightly eſteemed: God hath a very low account of them: The ungodly in Gods account are like the Chaff the Wind drives away, Pſa. 1. 4. So are the wicked, let them be what they will, in greateſt dignity here below; they are glittering ſtars in the worlds Eye, but falling Comets in God's account: The mighty King of Babylon being a wicked man, God accounts him but an abominable Branch, Iſa. 14. 19. So Chriſt calls proud Herod, a Fox, Luk. 13. 32. God reckons them as broken Pitchers: Wicked Coniah is as a broken Veſſel in whom is no pleaſure, Jer. 22. 28. No more doth God reckon of wicked men, though under all the grandure of the World: Angels do not regard them: They do not account them worth their company, and attendance: The Saints are guarded by Angels; but wicked men are let alone: Angels are Miniſtring Spirits to the Heirs of Salvation; not to the Heirs of Hell; they have no charge at all, to watch over them; but to fight againſt them: They are ſet in battel array againſt them; good men cannot regard wicked men; let them be never ſo high and honourable: Though they give every man his due; yet they cannot weigh them in the ballance of the Sanctuary as any thing: They had rather converſe with a poor Saint, than with the greateſt perſons in the world, if wicked, 2. Kings 3. 14. And Eliſha ſaid, As the Lord of hoſts liveth, before whom I ſtand; Surely were it not that I regarded the preſence of Jehoſhaphat King of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor ſee thee. So lightly eſteemed are wicked men in the Eyes of God, Saints and Angels.
Laſtly, A poor man is liable to dangers and ſufferings; he hath no might againſt the mighty, but lies open to the injuries and oppreſſions of thoſe that are above him, Amos 4. 1. Hear ye this word ye kine of Baſhan, which oppreſs the poor, which cruſh the needy: Poor men lye under the feet of the potent, and are ſubject to their Tiranny: On the oppreſſors ſide is power, and on the oppreſſeds ſide are tears, Eccl. 4. 1. So Chriſtleſs Souls are under the ruling power of Satan, and taken Captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. 2. 26. They have no defence againſt the ſtroaks of Judgment; 'tis eaſie with God to cruſh them every moment; they no have power to ſecure themſelves from ruining vengeance, wicked men are no more match for God than Bryars and Thorns, Iſa. 27 4. Yea they can no more reſiſt him than the ſtubble can the fire, Mal. 4. 1. O ſinner, thou art a miſerable Caitiff indeed! O ſee thy poverty, let this ſtain thy glory; O ſinner, look about thee, whiles thou haſt a little time: Art thou willing to die ſo poor? O 'tis not Houſes, nor Lands, nor Money, nor Friends, can miniſter comfort to thee then; O how wilt thou do to live for ever, if thou haſt none of Chriſts tryed Gold.
So much of the Third Inference.