The Crucifying of the World, Treatise · Part 1 · Section 2
SECT. II.
Doct. 1. THE carnall Glorying of worldly professors, is a thing detested and renounced by the Saints.
Doct. 2. A Crucified Christ, or Christ and his Cross, is the Glorying of the Saints.
Doct. 3. The world is Crucified to the Saints, and they to the world.
Doct. 4. It is by a Crucified Christ, or by Christ and his Cross that this is done.
But because our limited time will not allow us to handle each of these distinctly, I shall reduce them all to one Generall Doctrine, which is the sense of the Text.
Doct.
THE world is Crucified to the Saints, and the Saints are Crucified to the world, by the Cross of Christ; and therefore in it alone must they Glory, abhorring the Glorying of carnall men.
THE Method which I shall observe as fittest for your Edification in handling this Doctrine is this. 1. I shall more fully shew you Negatively what it is not, and Affirmatively what it is, to have the world Crucified to us, and to be Crucified to the world. 2. I shall shew you, How this is wrought by the Cross of Christ. 3. I shall give you the Reasons, which prove that so it is. 4. I shall give you the Reasons why it must be so. 5. I shall make application of this first part of the Doctrine. And then handle the latter part as time shall permit.
I. THere are few Doctrines of faith, or waies of holiness, but have their extreams, which men will reel into from side to side, when few will consist in the Sacred mean. The purblind world cannot cut by so small a thred, as the word of God directeth them to do, and as all must do that will be conducted into Truth. We have much ado to take men off these vanities; but yet when many of them are convinced, and see that the world must be cast aside, they mistake the nature of holy mortification, and embrace instead of it some superstitious and cynicall conceits; in which they are as fast bemired almost as they were before. I shall therefore first tell you what is not the Crucifixion which we are to treate of.
1. It is not to think that the world is indeed Nothing; and that in a proper sense our life is but a dream: Nor yet sceptically to take the being and modes of all things as uncertain: Nor to imagine that sense is so far fallible, that a man of sound sense, and understanding, may not be sure of the objects conveniently presented to his sense. There still remaineth one Argument which the Scepticks were never able to confute, but will make them at any time to yield the cause; Even to scourge them, as fools, till they are sure they feel it. But we have few of these to deal with; the Scepticism of our times being restrained to those things which closelyer concern the matter of salvation.
2. Nor is it any part of the meaning of this Text, that we should entertain a low and base esteem of the world or any thing therein, as in its Natural state considered, it is the work of God. For though man be eminently created in his image, yet all his works are like him in their measure, and therefore have all an excellency to be admired. It cannot be that infinite wisdom can make any thing which shall not have some impressions and demonstrations thereof. Nor can Goodness make any thing but what is Good. And never did the Almighty make any thing that is absolutely contemptible; Nor any thing so mean, which can be done by any other without him; so far unimitable is he in the smallest of his works. Nor did he ever make any thing in vain; but those things which seem small and useless to us, have an unsearchable excellency and usefulness which we know not of. If the unskilful have the modesty to believe, that the smallest string in an Instrument of Musick, and the smallest pin in a Watch, have their use, though he know not of it, we have great reason to think as modestly of the frame of all the works of God. And those things that in themselves considered are small, yet respectively and virtually may be very great. The heart may do more to the preservation of life then a part much bigger; and the eye may see more then all the rest of the body besides. And the order, location and respects of several parts, doth give them such an admirable usefulness and excellency, which none can know that seeth not the whole frame.
Yea our own selves, souls or bodies considered as the workmanship of God, must not be thought or spoke contemptibly of. For so by all that we say against the work, we do but reproach and dishonour the work-man. In all our self-accusations and condemnations, we must take heed of accusing or condemning our Creator. Our Naturals therefore must be honoured, while our Corrupt Morals are vilified. We must disgrace nothing that is of God, but only that which may be truly called our own: Nor in the accusation of our Own, must we by reflexions and consequences accuse that which is Gods, as if the fault in the Original were his. By giving us our Natural free-will, which is a selfdetermining power, he made us capable of having somewhat in Morality which we may too justly call our own: And our loss and want of Moral freedom, (which is but our right Dispositions and Inclinations) were not to be charged ultimately on our selves, if the foresaid Natural freedom did not make us capable of such a culpability. Its a strange way that some men have devised, of magnifying the Creator by v…ifying his works: and its a strange conceit that all the praise that is given to the creature is taken from God; They would not do so by man: The praise of an House is taken to be no dishonour to the Carpenter: Nor the commendation of a watch a dishonour to the watch-maker. God did not dishonour himself, when he said, his works in the beginning were all Good▪ He would never have been a Creator, if all the Good which he made and Communicated had been to his dishonour: When there was nothing but himself in being, there was nothing but himself to be commended: but doubtless God intended his Glory by his Works; and all that is in them proceeding from himself▪ the praise of them redoundeth to himself. In a word, we must be very careful of Gods interest in his creatures, and take heed of any such contempt or vilifying of them, which may reflect upon himself.
3. The Crucifying of the world to us▪ doth not consist in our looking upon it as an useless thing, or laying it aside as to all spiritual improvement. No; so far is this from being any part of our duty, that it is none of the least of our sins: The creature was the first book that ever God did make for us, in which we might read his blessed perfections; And the perverting it to another use, with the neglect of this, was mans first sin. As it was the great work of the Redeemer, to bring us back to God that made us, and restore us to his favour, so also to restore us to a capacity of serving him, even in that imployment which he appointed to us in our innocency; which was to see God in the face of his creatures, and then to love and honour him, and by them to serve him. Though this be not our highest felicity, yet is it the way thereto: Till we come to see face to face, we must be glad to see the face of God in the glass of his works. But of this we have more to say anon in the application.
4. Our Crucifying of, or to the world, requireth not any secession from the world, nor a withdrawing our selves from the society of men, nor the casting away the propriety or possession of the necessaries which we possess. It is an easier thing to throw away our Masters Talents, then faithfully to improve them. The Papists glory in the holiness of their Church, because they have many among them that have vowed never to marry, and have no propriety in Lands or Houses, and have separated themselves into a Monasticall society. A…high commendation to their Church, when men must be Sainted with them, if they will do no mischief, though they make themselves useless to the rest of the world▪ The servant that hid his Talent in a Napkin, was condemned by Christ as wicked and sloathful; and shall he be commended by us for extraordinarily devout? Will you reward that servant that will lock up himself in his chamber, or hide his head in a hole when he should be busie at your work? Or will you reward that souldier that will withdraw from the Army into a corner, when he should be fighting? The world swarms on every side with multitudes of ignorant and impenitent sinners, whose miserable condition cryeth loud for some relief, to all that are any way able to relieve them. And these Religious Monks make haste from among them, and leave them to themselves to sink or swim, and they think this cruelty to be the top of piety. Unworthy is that man to live on the earth, that liveth only to himself, and communicateth not the gifts of God to others. And yet do these idle unprofitable droans, esteem their course, the life of perfection. When we must charge through the thickest of our enemies, and bear all the unthankfull requitals of the world, and undergo their scorns and persecutions, these wary souldiers can look to their skin, and get out of the reach of such encounters; and when they have done, imagine that they have got the victory. To live to our selves, were it never so spiritually, is far unlike the life of a Christian: A good man is a common good; and compassionate to the miserable, and desirous to bring others to the participation of his felicity. To withdraw from the world to do God service, is to get out of the Vineyard or Shop, that we may do our Masters work.
If you have riches, it is not casting them away that shall excuse you, instead of an holy improving them for God. If you have possessions, it is not a renouncing of propriety, that shall excuse you from the prudent and charitable use of them. The same I say also of Relations, of Offices in the Church and Common-wealth. God calleth you not to renounce them: To crucifie the world is not to disclaim all the relations, possessions, or honours of the world. These are not yours but Gods: And as he put them into your hands, and commanded you faithfully to use them as his Stewards, so you must do it; and not think it a good account of your Stewardship, …o tell God that you threw away the talents that he trusted you with, because they were temptations to you, or because he was austere. I should have no great need to speak of this, were there not such a multitude of deluded souls that have lately received the Popish dotages herein. Its one thing to creep into a Monks Cell, or an Anchorets Cave, or an Hermits Wilderness, or Diogenes Tub; and another thing truly to be Crucified to the world; and in the midst of the creatures to live above them unto God; as we are anon to shew.
5. To be Crucified to the world, is not to forbear our lawfull trades and labours in the world. He that bids us eat our bread in the sweat of our brows, and would not have him eat, that will not labour, Gen. 3. 19. 2 Thes. 3. 6, 10, 12. did never call men to be begging Fryers, nor licentious Prodigals, nor idle Gentlemen, nor lazy unprofitable burdens of the earth. All idleness that's wilfull, is sinful; but that which is cloaked with the pretence of Religion, is a double sin. When some servants grow lazy, they will pretend piety for it, and accuse their Masters of worldliness for setting them to work. And some that have families will neglect their duty for them, and all upon pretences of a contempt of the world. But he that bid us use the world as not abusing it, 1 Cor. 7. 31. did never mean to forbid us the use of it. While such Hypocrites will needs be more then Christians, they become in Pauls judgement worse then Infidels, 1 Tim. 5. 8. They should not labour with a desire to be rich, yet must they labour to give to him that needeth, Eph. 4. 28. Idleness is not Mortification.
6. To be crucified to the world or the world to us, containeth not an unthankfull undervaluing of our Mercies. It will not warrant us to say, Health, and Riches, and Honours are contemptible; and therefore I owe God but little thanks for them; nor will it excuse any ingratefull insensibility of our deliverances.
7. To Crucifie the world, is not to take away the lives of the men of the world, nor actually to use them as they used Christ. Though the Magistrate must bring a false Prophet to Capital Punishment that sought to turn the People from God, yet every one might not do so: nor is that any part of the sense of this Text; nor was it thus that Paul did crucifie the world.
8. Much less may it encourage any poor Melancholly tempted souls to be weary of their lives, and to seek to make away themselves. This horrid sin is far from the duty here required: To be crucified to the world, is not to rid our selves out of the world; nor to do that to our selves, which were so hainous a sin if we did it to another, as not here to be lightlyer punished then with death.
And thus I have shewed you Negatively, What it is, not to have the world crucified to us; which I do both to prevent extreams, and to prevent your unjust censures of the Doctrine which I must next deliver, that you may see that I am not leading you into extreams, but insisting on a plain and needfull truth.