Moses Choice, Treatise · Part 3 · Chapter 36
CHAP. XXXVI. The dreadful evil there is in reproaching the Saints.
FOurthly, the conſideration of this calls for a trembling heart unto all thoſe that have been Uſe 4.guilty in any degree of caſting reproaches upon the people of God. In this Uſe we have three branches: Firſt, thoſe that have done it themſelves: Secondly, thoſe that rejoyce in the reproaches that others caſt upon Gods people: Thirdly, thoſe that are the divulgers and ſpreaders of the reproaches of Gods people. In Zeph. 2. The Holy Ghoſt there rebuking Moab for reproaching his people in the eighth and tenth verſes, at the eleventh verſe it is ſaid, The Lord will be terrible to them: there are ſome of you, that howſoever God have ſhewn you better things now, yet heretofore you have been guilty, and it may be ſome of you are guilty of this ſtill; and if you be guilty, the Lord will be terrible to you. God hath contempt and diſhonor for you, as you have caſt contempt and diſhonor upon Chriſt: ſuitable to your ſin ſhall be your puniſhment. That is obſervable that we have in Pſalm 59. verſe 6. their ſin is, They return at evening, they make a noiſe like a dog, and go round about the City: thus is their ſin, and it is their ſin of reproach and ſcorn, as appears in the following words, verſe 7. They belch out with their mouth: and obſerve ver. 14. their judgement is expreſſed in the ſame words, And at the evening let them return, and let them make a noiſe like a dog, and go round about the City. Did your reproaches reach no further then the Saints themſelves, yet in regard of that excellency there is in them, it is an abominable wickedneſs. Mark with what indignation the Spirit of God ſpeaks againſt ſuch as are guilty herein, Iſa. 57. 3, 4. Draw near hither ye ſons of the ſorcereſs, the ſeed of the adulterer, and the whore, againſt whom do ye ſport your ſelves? againſt whom do ye make a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of tranſgreſsion, a ſeed of falſhood? What, you who are ſo vile and filthy your ſelves, will you preſume to reproach the Saints of God, ſuch as are ſo precious in the eyes of God, and ſo near to Chriſt? Know, you have not to deal with them onelyonly, but with Chriſt in them. You think you have to do onelyonly with a company of poor weak creatures that are not able to right themſelves; but know, you have to do with Chriſt himſelf. Mark that expreſſion we have in Iſa. 37. 23. it is ſpoken concerning Rabſhekah, Whom haſt thou reproached? it is not againſt Hezekiah, it is againſt the holy One of Iſrael: Thoſe that have done thus, have lifted up their mouthes againſt heaven it ſelf: They ſet their mouthes againſt the heavens: Thou haſt reproached Pſal. 37. 9him that is the brightneſs of the glory of the Father; The character, The engraven image of the Father; he that is the glory of heaven, that hath all the treaſures of all good in him; Thou haſt caſt reproach upon him that muſt be thy Judge; At whoſe mercy thou lyeſt for thy preſent and eternal eſtate; Him that is God bleſſed for ever, that is the infinite delight of the Father. You miſtake, you have ſhot at Chriſt all this while: As we read of Oedepus, he killed his father Laius King of Thebes, taking him for his enemy; your miſtake is worſe you ſtrike at, you reproach Chriſt, while you think it is but a poor man, yea your enemy.
O that ever you ſhould be born to do ſo much miſchief as to caſt dirt upon the face of Chriſt; ſurely you kick againſt the pricks: It is an argument that you are not a ſon of the promiſe, that you are a ſucceſſor of Iſhmael: Thou haſt cauſe to fear that God will laugh at thy deſtruction, and mock when thy fear cometh: Thou haſt cauſe to fear that thou art reſerved for everlaſting ſhame and contempt, unleſs God does humble thee for this dreadful guilt that is upon thee. When you take advantage upon the meanneſs of Gods people for to reproach them, you are the men and women that are found guilty in heaven for to reproach Chriſt.
But you will ſay, There are none ſo vile as to reproach Object.Chriſt, nor the people of Chriſt for their godlineſs, it is for their hypocriſie.
Let no man deceive himſelf thus; for there never Anſw.was any Devil or man that did reproach godlineſs under the name of godlineſs, but they would put ſome other name upon it, under which it might appear vile and contemptible; and in this the men of the world do as the perſecutors did in the Primitive times with the Chriſtians, they put the bodies of Chriſtians into the skins of wilde beaſts, and then they would ſet dogs upon them, and other wilde beaſts, to tear them: So men do to this day; they put the profeſſion of godlineſs into the ſhapes of their own conceits, and their own ſlanders, and their own apprehenſions, to make it ugly, and they fall a reproaching and tearing, and run upon them like a company of wilde beaſts: And that which thou ſayeſt is hypocriſie, is but the skin of the wilde beaſt, thy own unſhapen conceits, to make thy ſelf and their adverſaries run upon them, that you may the more freely venture; becauſe the wilde beaſts would not venture upon the body of a man ſo freely, but when they ſaw the body of a man in the ſhape of ſuch a beaſt as they hated, they ran upon it freely: And ſo thou dealeſt with Gods Saints in putting an unſhapen form upon them, to let out thine heart more freely upon them. But what if that which thou calleſt hypocriſie, God account godlineſs? yea know, that this thy aſperſion upon godlineſs, to ſay it is hypocriſie, and upon the people of God, to ſay they are hypocrites, is the reproach of Gods people, and there is a great deal of evil in it more then thou art aware of. In Mark 3. from verſe 22. and ſo on, when Chriſt caſt out devils, they ſaid, He caſts them out by Beelzebub the Prince of devils: well ſays Chriſt, All ſins ſhall be forgiven unto the ſons of men, and blaſphemies wherewith ſoever they ſhall blaſpheme, but he that ſhall blaſpheme againſt the Holy Ghoſt, hath never forgiveneſs, but is in danger of eternal damnation: So that it ſeems theſe Phariſees had ſinned the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt, in that they ſaid, He had an unclean ſpirit, becauſe they attributed that to an unclean ſpirit, which was done by the Spirit of Chriſt; onelyonly they did this againſt knowledge, and in malice: I do not ſay that all reproachers do ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt; but if it be againſt knowledge, and in malice, conſider how near it comes: as their attributing that to an unclean ſpirit which came from the ſpirit of God was it; ſo does not thy attributing that to hypocriſie which comes from the Spirit of God in ſincerity come near it. But laſtly, if it be for hypocriſie that thou reproach, and not for godlineſs, then it is for an evil; if it be for an evil that thou doeſt reproach them, then the better thou art, and the better mood thou art in, the more thou wilt reproach them. But we ſee the contrary evident: Wicked men they reproach the godly for hypocriſie, as they ſay, but they do it when they are in the height of their luſts; but if they be in a good mood, when they are on their ſick beds or death beds, and in their beſt condition, they reproach them leaſt; therefore ſure it was the good they reproached, and not the evil. But thus much concerning the firſt branch.
The ſecond is this, it calls for a trembling heart from thoſe that ſhall rejoyce at the reproaches of 2.Gods people: Perhaps thou art one that wilt not reproach thy ſelf, yet thou mayeſt rejoyce at the reproaches of Gods people: There is a great deal of evil in this: Surely thou haſt no love to them, for love does not rejoyce in iniquity, 1 Corinth. 13. 6. When the Devil does ſow the ſeed, thou doſt come with the harrows to cover the ſeed, when thou doſt rejoyce in their reproaches. Proverbs 18. 8. The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermoſt parts of the belly: It may be tranſlated, The words of a tale-bearer are as the words of them tbat are wounded: That is, The tale-bearers that come and tell you things, they come with expreſſions of a great deal of brokenneſs of heart, as if their ſpirits were grieved at that they hear, and they ſpeak as if they ſpoke in the defence of them, and then they are as wounds; not the wounds of them they ſpeak of, but the wounds of the wounded: And if any come in this way to caſt reproaches upon Gods people, they are taken down into the belly, and they go glib down: This is a ſlight of the Devil to make them paſs without the leaſt queſtioning; for thoſe that reproach, ſeem to ſpeak out of wounded troubled hearts.
But we do not rejoyce in this, that we hear any evil Object.of Gods people, but we rejoyce that they are diſcovered, and this is the work of God.
1. If ſo be thy conſcience be convinced, that through Anſw. 1.the concealing of ſuch and ſuch things, there was a great deal of miſchief done before, and there is a great deal of good like to come to the publike cauſe, and the name of God in the diſcovery, then you may rejoyce.
Secondly, I appeal to conſcience: Suppoſe the diſcovery do a great deal of hurt, Gods name does 2.ſuffer by it, is there a proportionable meaſure of grief in thy heart, for the ſuffering of Gods name, unto the joy that is in you for the diſcovery?
But thirdly, ſuppoſe it were one that were near to you; ſuppoſe it were your Father or Brother, the 3.Wife of your boſom, the deareſt friend you had that were diſcovered, would your hearts rejoyce then? if you rejoyce becauſe God hath glory by the diſcovery, then would you rejoyce, if the deareſt friend you had were diſcovered?
Fourthly, yea, ſuppoſe you did ſuffer much by this 4.diſcovery, that it were much to your prejudice, you ſhould loſe ſomething that your hearts are much ſet upon, would you rejoyce then?
Fifthly, if ſo be that it were for the diſcovery that 5.you rejoyce; then you would not rejoyce, that they are diſcovered to ſuch as will not honor Gods name: You are glad that any know of it, that Gods enemies know of it, that will not make a good uſe of it, but will be hardened in their ſin, and diſhonor Gods name: Take heed you do not deceive your ſelves, to rejoyce ſo in the diſcovery of the people of God; there is a great deal of evil in it, more then you think of. Joſeph he feared Mary, but he feared the name of God might ſuffer, and therefore he would not make her a publike example.
The third branch is to thoſe that are divulgers of the reproaches of Gods people. Conſider what 3.you do, they are the reproaches of Chriſt; take heed you do not divulge the reproaches of Gods people. Suppoſe they prove falſe, do you think that after Gods people have ſuffered ſo much, this will be enough to anſwer God and Chriſt, for all the dirt that hath been caſt upon his face, I heard ſo; that the names of Gods people may ſuffer much, when they are under falſe reproaches. As it is with a ſtick; a ſtick when it is in the water, it looks as if it were broken, pull it out of the water, and it is ſtraight: So it is with the names of Gods people; when their names are under reports that go abroad in the world, they look as broken; but when their names are pulled out from the reports of the world, they appear whole: And therefore take heed of divulging the reproaches of thoſe that are godly; You may in this do the Devils work, and carry the Devils pack. The Apoſtle in 1 Timothy 3. 11. ſpeaking of women, ſays, That they muſt be grave, not ſlanderers; The word in the Original is, that they muſt not be Devils: So that to carry ſlanders and evil reports up and down, is the work of the devil. Again, wilt thou ſpread the reproaches of Gods people, when as it is the great work of God to cover the ſins of his people? And further, conſider, doeſt thou ſtand in need of ſo much covering of thy own ſins, and wilt thou have a hand in ſpreading abroad the ſins of others? How juſt will it be with God to let thee fall into ſome groſs ſin, and ſpread abroad thy ſhame, ſeeing his name and the names of his people are not dear in thine eyes?