An Ark for All Gods Noahs, Title page – Dedication
AN ARKE FOR ALL GODS NOAHS In a gloomy ſtormy day; OR, The beſt Wine reſerved till laſt. OR, The tranſcendent Excellency of a believers portion above all earthly Portions whatſoever:
Diſcovered in ſeveral SERMONS, which may be of ſingular uſe at all times, but eſpecially in theſe Breaking times, wherein many have, and many daily do break for more than their all, and wherein many thouſands are turned out of all, &c.
By THOMAS BROOKS, late Preacher of the Goſpel at Margarets New Fiſhſtreet, and ſtill Preacher of the Word in London, and Paſtor of a Congregation there.
I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, refuge failed me, no man cared for my ſoul, I cryed unto thee, O Lord, I ſaid, thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living, Pſal. 142.4, 5.
London, Printed by M. S. for Henry Cripps, at the firſt entrance into Popes-head Alley, next to Lombard-ſtreet, 1662.
TO All the Merchants, and Tradeſ-men of England, eſpecially theſe of the City of London, with all other ſorts and ranks of perſons that either have, or would have God for their portion, Grace, mercy, & peace be multiplied.
Gentlemen,
THe wiſeſt Prince that ever ſate upon a Throne hath told us, Prov. 21.11That a word fitly ſpoken is like Apples of gold in pictures of ſilver, or as the Hebrew hath it, a word ſpoken (foreign) upon his wheels, that is, rightly ordered, placed, and circumſtantiated. Such a word is of all words the moſt excellent, the moſt prevalent, and the moſt pleaſant word that can be ſpoken: ſuch a word is indeed a word that is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver; of all words ſuch a word is moſt precious, moſt ſweet, moſt deſirable, and moſt delectable. O Sirs, to time a word, to ſet a word upon the wheels, to ſpeak a word to purpoſe is the project of this Book. Though all truths are glorious, yet there is a double glory upon ſeaſonable truths; and therefore I have made it my great buſineſs in this Treatiſe to hold forth as ſeaſonable a truth, and as weighty a truth, and as comfortable and incouraging a truth as any I know in all the Book of God. The Mother of King Cyrus willed, that the words of thoſe that ſpoke unto her ſon, ſhould be in ſilk, but certainly ſeaſonable words are alwayes better than ſilken words.
Every prudent husbandman obſerves his fitteſt ſeaſons to ſow his ſeeds, and therefore ſome he ſowes in the Autumn and fall of the Leaf, and ſome in the Spring and renewing of the year; ſome he ſowes in a dry ſeaſon, and ſome he ſowes in a wet; ſome he ſowes in a moiſt clay, and ſome he ſowes in a ſandy dry ground, as the Holy Ghoſt ſpeaks, Iſa. 28.25.He ſoweth the Fitches and the Cummin, and caſteth in Wheat by meaſure. And ſo all ſpiritual husbandmen muſt wiſely obſerve their fitteſt ſeaſons for the ſowing of that immortal ſeed that God hath put into their hands, and ſuch a thing as this is I have had in my eye; but whether I have hit the mark, or miſt it, let the Chriſtian Reader judge.
One ſpeaking of the glory of heaven, ſaith, That the good things of eternal life are ſo many, that they exceed number, ſo great that they exceed meaſure, and ſo precious that they are above all eſtimation, &c. the ſame may I ſay concerning the Saints portion, for certainly the good things that are in their portion, in their God, are ſo many that they exceed number, ſo great that they exceed meaſure, and ſo precious that they are above all eſtimation.
The ſame Author in one of his Epistles hath this remarkable relation, viz. That the ſame day wherein Jerom died, he was in his Study, and had got pen, ink, and paper to write ſomething of the glory of heaven to Jerom, and ſuddenly he ſaw a light breaking into his Study, and ſmelt alſo a very ſweet ſmell, and this voice he thought he heard. O Auguſtine, what doeſt thou? doſt think to put the Sea into a little veſſel? when the heavens ſhall ceaſe from their continual motion, then ſhalt thou be able to underſtand what the glory of heaven is, and not before, except you come to feel it, as I now do. Certainly, the glory of heaven is beyond all conception, and all expreſſion, and ſo is that portion that is a little hinted at in the following Diſcourſe. And indeed a full deſcription of that God that is the believers portion, is a work too high for an Aaron when ſtanding upon Mount Hor; Num. 20. & ch. 33. Deut. 32.49. and chap. 34.1. Iſa. 6.3.or for a Moſes, when ſtanding on the top of Nebo after a Piſgah proſpect; yea, it is a work too high and too hard for all thoſe bleſſed Seraphims that are ſtill a crying before the throne of God, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hoſts. No finite being, though never ſo glorious, can ever be able fully to comprehend an infinite being. In the ſecond Verſe of the ſixth of Iſaiah we read that each Seraphim had ſix wings, and that with twain he covered the face of God, with twain his feet, and with twain he did ſly, intimating (as one well obſerves upon the place) that with twain they covered his face, Vide Origen on the Text.the face of God, not their own face, and with twain they covered his feet, not their own feet; They covered his face, his beginnig being unknown; they covered his feet, his end being incomprehenſible, onelyonly the middle are to be ſeen the things which are, whereby there may be ſome glimmering knowledge made out what God is. Eccl. 7.24. There are many depths in God which our ſhallow reaſon cannot fathom; & indeed it is the credit of our Religion, and the glory of our God, that he is unſearchableThe wiſe man hit it, when he ſaid, That which is afar off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? who can find out what God is? The knowledge of him a priori is ſo far off, that he whoſe arm is able to break even a bow of ſteel is not able to reach it; ſo far off, that he who is able to make his neſt with the Eagle is not able to ſly unto it. And ſo exceeding deep that he who could follow the Leviathan could not fathom it; that he who could ſet out the center of the earth, is not able to find it out; And who then is able to reach it▪ In a word, ſo far off, and ſo deep too, that the Depth ſaith, it is not in me, and the Sea ſaith, it is not in me; it is ſuch a deep to men and Angels as far exceeds the capacity of both. Auguſtine ſpeaking to that queſtion, Auguſt. de fide contra Arrionum, cap. 6.what God is? gives this anſwer; Surely ſuch a one is he, who when he is ſpoken of, cannot be ſpoken of; who when he is conſidered, cannot be conſidered of, who when he is compared to any thing cannot be compared; and when he is defined groweth greater by defining of him. Such are not onelyonly good Scholars, but alſo great Scholars, who have learned contentedly to be ignorant where God would not have them knowing.If that great Apoſtle that learned his Divinity among the Angles, yea, to whom the Holy Ghost was an immediate Tutor, did know but in part, then certainly thoſe that are moſt acute and judicious in divine knowledge, may very well conclude, that they know but part of that part that was known to him. As for my own part, I dare pretend but to a ſpark of that knowledge that others have attained to; and yet who can tell but that God may turn this ſpark into ſuch a flame as may warm the hearts of many of his dear and precious ones. Much is done many times by a ſpark.
O Sirs, catch not at the preſent profits, pleaſures, preferments, and honours of this world, but lay up a good foundation for the time to come, provide for eternity, make ſure your intereſt and propriety in God. It was an excellent ſaying of Lewis of Bavyer, Emperour of Germany, Such goods (ſaid he) are worth getting and owning, as will not ſink or waſh away, if a Shipwrack happen. How many of you have loſt your all by Shipwracks? and how hath divine providence by your multiplied croſſes and loſſes taught you that the good things and the great things of this world cannot be made ſure. How many of you have had rich inheritances left you by your fathers, beſides the great portions that you have had with your wives, and the vaſt eſtates that you have gained by Trading; but what is become of all? is not all buried in the deep, or in the grave of oblivion? O the unconſtancy, and the grand impoſtury of this world! Oh the flux and reflux of riches, greatneſſe, honours, and preferments! how many men have we ſeen ſhining in their worldly pomp and glory like ſtars in the Firmament, who are now vaniſhed into ſmoak or Comets? How hath the Moon of many great mens riches and honours been eclipſed at the full, and the Sun of their pomp gone down at noon?
It was (ſaith the Hiſtorian) a wonderful precedent of the vanity and variety of humane condition to ſee mighty Exerxes to float and ſly away in a ſmall Veſſel, Juſtin.who but a little before wanted Sea-room for his Navy. The Dutch to expreſs the worlds vanity and uncertainty have very wittily pictured a man with a full blown bladder on his ſhoulders, and another ſtanding by pricking the bladder with a pin, with this Motto, Quamſubito, how ſoon is all blown down? I am not willing to make the Porch too wide, elſe I might have given you famous inſtances of the vanity and uncertainty of all worldly wealth, pomp, and glory, from the Aſſyrian, Chaldean, Perſian, Grecian and Roman Kingdomes, whoſe glory now lies all in the duſt. By all this it is moſt evident that earthly portions cannot be made ſure, they make themſelves wings, and they fly away, Prov. 23.5.
O but now God is a portion that may be made ſure. In the time of the Marian Perſecution, Mr. Fox, Acts and Monum.there was a woman who being convened before bloody Bonner, (then Biſhop of London) upon the trial of Religion, he threatned her that he would take away her husband from her: Saith ſhe, Christ is my husband; I will take away thy child, Chriſt, ſaith ſhe, is better to me than ten ſons; I will ſtrip thee, ſaith he, of all thy outward comforts, but Chriſt is mine, ſaith ſhe, and you cannot ſtrip me of him. A Chriſtian may be ſtript of any thing but his God, he may be ſtript of his eſtate, his friends, his relations, his liberty, his life, but he can never be ſtript of his God. As God is a portion that none can give to a Chriſtian, but himſelf; ſo God is a portion that none can take from a Chriſtian but himſelf; and therefore as ever you would have a ſure portion, an abiding portion, a laſting portion, yea, an everlaſting portion, make ſure of God for your portion.
O Sirs, that you would judge that only worth much now, which will be found of much worth at laſt, when you ſhall lie upon a dying bed, and ſtand before a Judgment-ſeat. O that men would prize and value all earthly portions now, as they will value them when they come to die, and when their ſouls ſhall ſit upon their trembling lips, and when there ſhall be but a ſhort ſtep between them and eternity, O at what a poor rate, at what a low rate do men value their earthly portions then certainly it will be their very great wiſdome to value their earthly portions now as they would value them then. And O that men would value this glorious, this matchleſſe portion that is held forth in this Treatiſe now, as they will value it and prize it when they come to die, and when they come to lanch out into the ocean of eternity. I have read of a Stationer, who being at a Fair, hung out ſeveral pictures of men famous in their kinds, among which he had alſo the Picture of Chriſt, upon which divers men bought according to their ſeveral fancies; the souldier buyes his Caeſar, the Lawyer his Juſtinian, the Phyſician his Galen, the Philoſopher his Ariſtotle, the Poet his Virgil, the Orator his Cicero, and the Divine his Auguſtine; but all this while the picture of Chriſt hung by as a thing of no value, till a poor Chapman that had no more money then would purchaſe that, bought it, ſaying, Now every man hath taken away his God, let me have mine too. O Sirs, it would make any gracious, any ſerious, any ingenious, any conſcientious beart to bleed to ſee at what a high rate all ſorts and ranks of men do value earthly portions, which at beſt are but counterfeit pictures, when as this glorious portion that is here treated on hangs by as a thing of no value, of no price; moſt men are mad upon the world, and ſo they may have much of that for their portion, they care not whether ever they have God for their portion, or no: Give them but a Palace in Paris, The Duke of Burbone.and then with that French Duke they care not for a place in Paradiſe: Give them but a meſſe of pottage, and let who will take the birthright; give them but Manna in a wilderneſſe, and let who will take the land of Canaan; give them but ground which is pleaſant and rich, and then with the Reubenites they will gladly take up their reſt on this ſide the Holy Land; give them but their bags full, Luke 12.16-22.and their barns full, and then with the rich fool in the Goſpel, they can think of nothing but of taking their eaſe, and of eating, and drinking, and making merry. So bruitiſh and fooliſh are they in their underſtandings, as if their precious and immortal ſouls were good for nothing, but as ſalt to keep their bodies from rotting and ſtinking.
O that theſe men would ſeriouſly conſider, that as a cup of pleaſant wine offered to a condemned man in the way to his execution; and as the Feaſt of him who ſate under a naked ſword hanging perpendicularly over his head by a ſlender thread, and as Adams forbidden fruit, ſeconded by a flaming ſword, and as Belſhazzars dainties overlooked by an hand-writing againſt the wall, ſuch and onelyonly ſuch are all earthly portions to thoſe that have not God for their portion.
Well, Gentlemen, remember this, there is no true happineſſe to be found in any earthly portions; Solomon having made a critical enquirie after the excellency of all creature-comforts, gives this in as the ultimate extraction from them all, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. If you ſhould go to all the creatures round, they will tell you that happineſſe is not in them: If you ſhould go to the earth, the earth will tell you that happineſſe grows not in the furrows of the field. If you go to the Sea, the Sea will tell you, that happineſſe is not in the Treaſures of the deep; If you go to the beaſts of the field, or to the birds of the air, they will tell you, that happineſſe is not to be found on their backs, nor in their bowels; If you go to your bags or heaps of gold and ſilver, they will tell you that happineſſe is not to be found in them; If you go to Crowns and Scepters, they will tell you that happineſſe is too precious and too glorious a Gemme to be found in them.
As it is not the great Cage that makes thn bird ſing, ſo it is not the great eſtate that makes the happy life, nor the great portion that makes the happy ſoul. There is no true comfort, nor no true happineſſe to be drawn out of the ſtanding pools of outward ſufficiencies; all true comfort and happineſs is onelyonly to be found in having of an all-ſufficient God for your portion, Pſal. 144.15. Happy is that people that is in ſuch a caſe, yea, happy is that people whoſe God is the Lord. And therefore as ever you would be happy in both worlds, it very highly concerns you to get an intereſt in God, and to be reſtleſſe in your own ſouls till you come to enjoy God for your portion.
A man that hath God for his portion, is a none-ſuch, This you will finde fully cleared up in the following Treatiſe.he is the rareſt and the happieſt man in the world, he is like the morning-ſtar in the midst of the clouds, he is like the Moon when it is at full, he is like the flower of the Roſes in the Spring of the year, he is like the Lillies by the Springs of waters, he is like the branches of Frankincenſe in the time of Summer, he is like a veſſel of maſſie gold that is ſet about with all manner of precious ſtones.
Nothing can make that man miſerable that hath God for his portion, nor nothing can make that man happy that wants God for his portion: the more rich, the more wretched; the more great, the more graceleſſe; the more honourable, the more miſerable that man will be that hath not God for his portion. The Sodomites were very wealthy; and who more wanton and wicked than they? the Egyptians, and Babylonians were very rich, great, and potent in the world, and what greater oppreſſors and perſecutors of the people of God than theſe: O the ſlavery, the captivity, and the woful miſery of the people of God under thoſe cruel Tyrants! Have not the Nimrods, the Nebuchadnezzars, the Belſhazzars, the Alexanders, and the Caeſars, &c. been commonly the Lords of the world? and who ſo abominably wicked as theſe? no men for wickedneſſe have been able tomatch them, or come neer them.
It hath been long ſince obſerved to my hand, Dan. 7.that Daniel ſets forth the ſeveral Monarchies of the World by ſundry ſorts of cruel beaſts, to ſhew that as they were gotten by beaſtly ſubtilty and cruelty, ſo they were ſupported and maintained by brutiſh ſenſuality, craft, and tyranny.
I have read of a Lacedemonian that ſaid, that they well deſerved death that did but quench Tyranny, they ſhould quite have conſumed it with fire: But whether he hit the mark, or mist it, let the Reader judge. Well, Sirs, you may be the Lords of this world, and yet you will certainly be miſerable in another world, except you get God for your portion. The top of mans happineſſe in this world lies in his having of God for his portion. He that hath God for his portion, enjoyes all; and he that wants an intereſt and propriety in God, enjoyes nothing at all.
Gentlemen, I have read of an Heathen, who ſeeing a ſudden Shipwrack of all his wealth, ſaid, Well, Fortune, I ſee now that thou wouldeſt have me to be a Philoſopher. O that you would ſay under all your heavie loſſes and croſſes: well, we now ſee that God would have us lay up treaſure in heaven, Matth. 6.19, 20.we now ſee that God would have us look after a better portion than any this world affords; we now ſee that it highly concerns us to ſecure our intereſt and propriety in God; we now ſee, that to enjoy God for our poron is the one thing neceſſary. Have not many of you ſaid, nay ſworne, That if you might but ſee & enjoy the delight of your eyes, that then you ſhould have a ſweeping Trade, and abound in all plenty and proſperity, and grow rich and great, and glorious in the world, and be eaſed of everie thing that did but look like a burthen, &c. If it be indeed thus with you, why do you ſo complain, murmur, and repine? and why do many of you walk up and down the Exchange and ſtreets with tears in your eyes, and with heavineſſe in your hearts, and with crack't credits, and thread-bare coats, and empty purſes? and why are ſo many of you broke, and ſo manie priſoners, and ſo manie hid, and ſo manie fled? But if it be otherwiſe, and that you are ſenſible that you have put a cheat upon your ſelves (I ſay not upon others) and that as you have been ſelf-flatterers, ſo you have been ſelf-deceivers, the more highly it concernes you to do your ſelves, your ſouls that right, as to make ſure God for your portion: For what elſe can make up thoſe woful diſappointments under which you are fallen.
It is a ſad ſight to ſee all the arrows that men ſhoot to fall upon their own heads, or to ſee men twiſt a cord to hang themſelves, or to ſee men dig a pit for others, and to fall into it themſelves; and it tis but juſtice that men ſhould bake as they brew, and that they which brew miſchief ſhould have the firſt and the largeſt draught of it themſelves.
Now the beſt way to prevent ſo ſad a ſight, and ſo great a miſchief, is to get God for your portion: for when once God comes to be a mans portion, then all things ſhall work together for his good, Rom. 8.28. and then God will preſerve him from ſuch hurtful and miſchievous actings. The whole World is a great Bedlam, and multitudes there are that think madly, and that deſign madly, and that talk madly, and that act madly, and that walk madly. Now as you would not be found in the number of thoſe Bedlams, it highly concerns you to get God for your portion, that ſo you may be filled with that wiſdome that may preſerve you from the follie and madneſſe of this mad world.
Gentlemen, The following Sermons I preached in the year 1660. at Olaves Breadſtreet, and God bleſt them then to thoſe Chriſtians that attended on my Miniſtry, and I hope he will bleſſe them alſo to the internal and eternal welfare of your ſouls to whom they are now dedicated. They are much inlarged; the profit will be yours, the labour hath been mine: I judge them very ſeaſonable and ſuitable to preſent diſpenſations, elſe they had not ſee the light at this time. Curioſity is the ſpiritual adultery of the ſoul; curioſity is that green-ſickneſſe of the ſoul, whereby it longs for novelties, and loaths ſound and wholſome truths; it is the Epidemical diſtemper of this age and hour.
And therefore if any of you are troubled with this itch of curioſity, and love to be wiſe above what is written, and delight to ſcan the choice myſteries of Religion by carnal reaſon, and affect elegant expreſſions and Seraphical notions, and the flowers of Rhetorick, more than ſound and wholſome Truths, then you may eaſe your ſelves (if you pleaſe) of the trouble of reading this following Treatiſe; onelyonly remember this, that the prudent Husband-man looks more and delights more in the ripeneſſe, and ſoundneſſe, and goodneſſe of the Corn that is in his Field, than he doth at the beauty of the Cockle; and remember, that no man can live more miſerably than he that lives altogether upon Sawces; and he that looks more at the handſomneſſe than he doth at the wholſomneſſe of the Diſhes of Meat that are ſet before him, may well paſſe for a fool.
Well, Gentlemen, for a Cloſe remember this, that as Noah was drunk with his own wine, and as Goliah was beheaded by his own ſword, and as the roſe is deſtroyed by the canker that it breeds in it ſelf, and as Agrippina was killed by Nero, to whom ſhe gave breath; ſo if ever you are eternally deſtroyed, you will be deſtroyed by your ſelves; if ever you are undone, you will be undone by your ſelves; if ever you are ſcourged to death, it will be by rods of your own making, and if ever the bitter cup of damnation be put into your hands, it will be found to be of your own preparing, mingling, and imbittering.
Behold, I have ſet life and death, heaven and hell, glory and miſery before you in this Treatiſe: and therefore if you will needs chuſe death rather than life, hell rather than heaven, miſery rather than glory: What can be more just than that you ſhould periſh to all eternity. If you will not have God for your portion, you ſhall be ſure to have wrath for your portion, and hell for your portion, &c.
Well Sirs, remember this at laſt, every man ſhall onelyonly thank his own folly for his own bane, his own ſin, for his own everlaſting ſhame, his own iniquity, for his own endleſſe miſery.
I have now no more to do, but to improve all the intereſt that I have in Heaven, That this Treatiſe may be bleſt to all your ſouls and that you all experience what it is to have God for your portion: for that will be my joy as well as yours, and my Crown as well as yours, and my glorying as well as yours in the great day of our Lord Jeſus. And ſo I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, Acts 20.32.which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them that are ſanctified. And reſt,
Gentlemen, Your Souls Servant Thomas Brooks.