Moses Self-Denial, Treatise · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
How Honours, Riches, and all delights whatſoever, are to be denied for Christ.
VVE are to deny theſe for Chriſt. Firſt, by going on in the waies of godlineſſe in the ſtrictneſſe and power of them, though all theſe be hazarded; keepe we on our way, and paſſe not for them, truſt God with them; if wee doe ſtill enjoy them, ſo it is; but if not, yet maintaine a conſtant ſtrong reſolution of keeping on in the waies of Gods feare. Thus did Daniel, when the Princes and Nobles watched him, in the matter of the Lord his God, yet hee abated not one whit, hee went on in his courſe, notwithſtanding all the hazard he was in: the conſtant courſe of godlineſſe in communion with his God, was more ſweet and precious to him a thouſand fould, then all his Court preferments and pleaſures that hee did, or might further enjoy. How reſolutely did Nehemiah goe on in the worke of the Lord, notwithſtanding that oppoſition he had? ſuch conſpirings againſt him, ſuch complaints, ſuch letters ſent to informe againſt him. And David profeſſeth, Pſal. 119. 23. That he did meditate in Gods Law, though Princes ſpake againſt him.
Secondly,2. appeare for God and his cauſe, his truth and his people, though the iſſue may ſeeme to bee dangerous, when none elſe will: As Eſter did, with that brave reſolution of hers, If I periſh, I periſh: And Nehemiah, who though he was ſomething afraid at firſt to ſpeake to that Heatheniſh King in the behalfe of his Religion and his people, yet having lift up his heart to God, he ſpake freely unto him. Let not a publike good cauſe be daſhed and blaſted, and none have a heart to appeare for it, for feare of the loſſe of their own pompe, and carnall delights, and profits; know that the venturing for a publike good, is a greater honour then the enjoyment of any private. Camerarius in his Hiſtoricall Meditations, hath a famous ſtory of the chiefe Courtiers, in the time of Lewis the eleventh, whom when they ſaw to intend to eſtabliſh unjuſt Edicts, they underſtanding his drift, went all to him in red Gownes; the King asked them, what they would: The Preſident La-Vacqueri anſwers, We are come with a full purpoſe to loſe our lives every one of us, rather then by our connivencie any unjuſt ordinance ſhould take place: The King being amazed at this anſwer, and at the conſtancie and reſolution of theſe Peeres, gave them gracious entertainment, and commanded that all the former Edicts ſhould be cancelled in his preſence.
There is a notable relation that wee finde in Joſephus, concerning Agrippa, that upon a time he invited Caius the Emperour to a ſupper,Joſephus lib. 18. cap. 11. and gave the Emperour great content in his entertainement; whereupon the Emperour ſaid unto him, let mee gratifie thee by giving thee what thou wilt: Agrippa asked (although it were with the venture of the loſſe of all hee had) as followeth; Dread Prince, ſince it is your good pleaſure to thinke mee worthy to be honoured by your preſence, I beſeech you to give commandement, that the Statue which you have charged Petronius to erect in the Temple of the Jewes may never be advanced there; this hee did, although hee knew it was as much as his life was worth, to aske any thing of Caius that was not anſwerable to his humour. Many Chriſtians would hardly goe ſo farre in venturing themſelves, either for Church or countrey, as hee here did for the Jewes. Theodoret likewiſe tells us of a Noble Spirit in one Terentius, Theo. lib. 4. cap. 32.a Captaine of the Emperour Valens, who being returned out of Armenia with a great victory, the Emperour bad him aske a reward; he asked onelyonly that hee would be pleaſed to grant to thoſe of the Orthodox Religion, one publike Church in Antioch: and although the Emperour were angry, and tore his Petition, and bade him aske ſomething elſe, yet hee perſiſted in this, and refuſed any other reward for all the ſervice hee had done.
And Euſebius relates a Noble example of a great Noble man Vetius Epagathus, Euſeb. lib. 5. cap. 1.appearing in the cauſe of the Chriſtians, not being able to beare the unjuſt dealings hee ſaw againſt the Chriſtians, hee demanded that hee might be heard in defence of the Brethren, but all that ſate at the Tribunall being againſt it, becauſe hee was a Noble man, the Preſident asking him if hee were a Chriſtian, hee plainely and publikely confeſt it, and ſo was taken in amongſt the Martyrs, being afterwards called, The Advocate of Chriſtians: Where have wee Noble men now of ſuch free and diſingaged ſpirits, to venture themſelves in any publike cauſe for God, and their people? who ſhould bee free to ſpeake, if not you? Gallaſius upon Exod. 22. 28.In libera… civitate liberas eſſe linguas oportere. ſayes of Auguſtus, that he was wont to ſay, that in a free Citie Tongues ought to be free: Where ſhould tongues or hearts be free, if not in your honourable Aſſemblies? If you would ſhew your Noble mindes, ſhew the liberty of your ſpirits,Chryſoſt. in Mat. 18. Hom. 59. ſayes Saint Chryſoſtome; Liberty, I ſay, the ſame that that bleſſed Saint John had,Libertatē mihi animi oftende, libertatem dico eam quam ille vir beatus habe…at, à quo iterum atque iterum Herodes audivit, non …icet tibi fratris tui Philippi uxorem habere: quam is quoque habuit ante ipſum, qui dicebat Ahab; non ego, ſed tu & domus patris tui Iſraelem pervertis, &c. from whom Herod heard againe, and againe, It is not lawfull for you to take your brother Philips wife: That liberty alſo that before him he had, that ſaid to Ahab, It is not I, but you and your Fathers houſe that troubles Iſrael.
Wherefore ſeeke to get that Nobility of minde which the Prophets had, and Apoſtles had, which ſuch as ſerve riches cannot have; for nothing takes away the liberty of the ſpirit ſo much as the deſire of worldly things: thus Chryſoſtome. It is beneath true Nobleneſſe of ſpirit, to aime at no higher pitch in your deſires and endeavours, then to provide for your owne eaſe and ſafety, when publike cauſes for God and his people call you out to venture your ſelves.aSeneca epiſt. 104. Magnanimos nos natura produxit, nobis glorioſum & excelſum ſpiritum dedit quaerentem ubi honeſtiſſime, non ubi tutiſſime vivat. Seneca in one of his Epiſtles, ſpeaking of a true raiſed excellent ſpirit, deſcribes it to be ſuch a one as ſeekes, where it may live moſt honeſtly, and not most ſafely. Nature hath brought us forth magnanimous, ſayes hee, it hath given us a glorious and lofty ſpirit; what is that? ſeeking where it may live beſt, not where it may be moſt ſecure. What though you ſhould ſuffer ſomething; it will bee your honour, that while you ſuffer, the Church and your Country proſpers. It was the honour of the Fabii, and the Fabritii, that they being poore themſelves, they made the Common-wealth rich: Venture you your ſelves for God, and his people, and truſt God with your honors, eſtates and poſterities, doe not ſay, you are alone, you know not how many you may have to cleave to you, if you have a heart to appeare;Solatium non perdit deſolata juſtitia, tui conſortium Deus omni celebritate festivior. Hiero. ad Virg. in exil. miſſam. Inveniar ſane ſuperbus, avarus, adulter, homicida anti-Papa, & omnium vitiorum reus, modo impii ſilentii non arguar, dum Dominus pa…itur. Luth. ep. ad Staupit. howſoever deſolate righteouſneſſe, ſaith Jerome, loſeth not her comfort, which hath God to be with it, that is more then all.
It was a brave reſolution of Luther, which we finde in one of his Epiſtles to Staupitius, wherein hee profeſſeth, that he had rather be accounted any thing, then be accuſed of wicked ſilence in Gods cauſe: Let mee be accounted, ſayes he, proud, covetous, yea a murderer, yea, guilty of all vices, ſo I bee not proved to be guilty of wicked ſilence, while the Lord and his cauſe doe ſuffer. And know, that the more diſhonoured, and trampled upon, any cauſe of God is, the more he expects that you ſhould appeare for it. I have read, that among the Perſians, the left hand is accounted the more honorable place. Xenophon reports of Cyrus, that thoſe whō he honoured moſt, he placed at his left hand, upon this ground, becauſe it was moſt ſubject to danger, hee would have thoſe who were moſt honourable, to ſtand by him there where he was moſt weake and lyable to danger.
Thus where the cauſe of God is moſt oppoſed, and moſt like to ſuffer, there God would have the moſt noble ſpirits to ſtand, and to appeare in that; and to doe this is truely honourable indeed. Who knowes whether you bee raiſed for ſuch a time as this? who knowes whether you have beene preſerved from ſuch and ſuch dangers that you have beene in, that you might bee reſerved as a publike bleſſing for the Church of God and your Countrey? I have read of Philip King of Spaine going from the Low-countries into Spaine by Sea, there fell a grievous ſtorme, in which almoſt all the Fleete was wracked, many men loſt, and himſelfe hardly eſcaped, he ſaid he was delivered by the ſingular providence of God, that he might live to roote out Lutheraniſme, which hee preſently began to doe: this evill uſe hee made of his great deliverance: Some of you have been delivered from great dangers, but for a better purpoſe, that you might now be of uſe, to roote out profaneneſſe, Atheiſme, and ſuperſtition; and happy are you, and happy ſhall we be in you, if it may appeare that you are reſerved for this worke of the Lord.
Thirdly,3. let all goe, rather then bee brought to commit any ſinne; we had better have all the world caſt ſhame in our faces, and upbraid us, then that our conſciences ſhould caſt dirt in them: It is better to endure all the frownes and anger of the greateſt of the earth▪ then to have an angry conſcience within our breſt: it is better to want all the pleaſures that earth can afford, then to loſe the delights that a good conſcience will bring in. Oh let the bird in the breſt alwayes be kept ſinging, whatſoever we ſuffer for it▪ it is better to loſe all we have, then to make ſhip-wracke of a good conſcience. In this caſe you muſt be willing to loſe all, or elſe you are loſt in the enjoyment of all. If your greatneſſe be enlarged, and you will not bee willing to loſe it when God will have you,Dilata eſt magni…icentia, &c. ſi non vultis eam perdere certi perdi ab ea. Ber. epi. 207. Baron. ultimo anno Domit. ſayes Bernard, you ſhall bee loſt by it. Wee have many examples of brave ſpirits, manifeſting themſelves in this thing; the example of Flavianus Clemens is famous in this, hee was a Courtier in Domitians Court, with whom the Emperour was exceeding familiar, and delighted much in him, he was ſo deare unto him, as he intended to make his ſonne to be his ſucceſſor in his Empire; but this bleſſed Flavianus, rather then he would breake the peace of his conſcience in the matter of his religion, hee was content to beare the turning of the great love of the Emperour into as great hatred, ſo as he hated him unto death, and oppreſſed his whole houſe.Ecce quid prodeſt plena bonis arca, ſi inanis fit conſcientia, &c. Auguſt. de verbis Domini. Ser. 12. Saint Auguſtine hath a good ſpeech to this purpoſe, what doth it profit a man to have his cheſt full of goods, and his conſcience empty?
And now how happie wee, if God would worke mens ſpirits to this, who enjoy preferment, delights, and riches above other men:Pestifera vis eſt valere ad nocendum. you have power to doe much good, uſe not your power againſt God, but for God. O that you had but ſo much liberty to your ſpirits, as to bethinke your ſelves, wherefore God hath raiſed you above others: but reaſon and religion are uſually drowned in theſe in their ſenſuall luſts: they thinke they have enough in their honours, and in their pleaſures, to commend them, and make them happie; but as for religion, that is for private men, who have nothing elſe to comfort themſelves in▪ Sanctitas, pietas privata bona ſunt. Sen. in Thyeſte▪Even Seneca a heathen had this complaint concerning their religion in their times: Holineſſe (ſayes he) piety, and faith, are private good things: It ſeemes that even then thoſe that lived publikely in the world in their honours & delights, they thought their pompe and glory to bee ſufficient, and that they neede not the helpe of vertue to commend them. It was likewiſe the complaint of Lucan; Exeat aula qui volet eſſe pius: virtus, & ſumma poteſtas non coeunt. Lucan. Lib. 8.Let him goe from the Court, that intends to be pious: vertue and great power cannot agree together. But is not opportuity of ſervice for God, and his people, as great a good as any you can have? is not the excellency of any thing you have above others, in this eſpecially, that you have opportunity to doe more good then others?Clemens Alexan. paedag. l. 2. cap. 12. foreign. and what is a mans happineſſe, but his goodneſſe?
That which Clemens Alexandrinus ſayes concerning dwelling in magnificent houſes, is true of all other pompe and glory in the world. How much more glorious (ſayes hee) is it to doe good to many, then to dwell magnificently? who knowes what may bee done in godly courſes, if you will begin thē? how may others be provoked likewiſe thereunto? how ever it falls out, it is no great matter that wee hazard; what is my honour? my pleaſure? my eſtate? my liberty? my life? ſo God may be glorified. There is more honour, and there ought to be more pleaſure, and certainely there will be more pleaſure, and certainely there will be more profit in the ſervice of God, then in the enjoying all the world to my ſelfe and my poſterity: If Gods honour be not deare and precious in mine eyes, how can I thinke that my honours, and my comforts, and my eſtate, and my poſterity ſhould be deare and precious in his eyes? If the publike good falls,Qui amiſſa republica, piſcuinas ſuas fore ſalvas ſperare videntur. Epiſt. 15. ad Attic. lib. 1. ſhall I thinke to enjoy my eaſe and my peace, my eſtate and my honour upon good termes? Cicero laughed at the folly of thoſe men, which in his time ſeemed to conceive ſuch a windy hope, that their fiſh ponds, and places of delight ſhould bee ſafe, when the commonwealth was loſt. In publike calamities, if your perſon ſhould eſcape (which you can have no ſecurity of) yet you cannot expect, that your honours, and riches ſhould eſcape from being made a prey.
Platina hath a notable ſtory for this: when the citizens of Papia in Italy were at diſſenſion by reaſon of the faction betweene the Guelphes, and the Gibellines, the Gibellines procured a favourer of theirs, called Facinus Caius, to aſſiſt them, covenanting that hee ſhould have the goods of the Guelphes for his labour; but hee being once come into the citie, and prevailing, he ſpared the goods of neither of them; whereupon the Gibellines complained, ſaying, that their goods alſo were ſpoyled: hee anſwered them, that indeed they themſelves were Gibellines, and ſhould bee ſafe, but their goods were Guelphes; ſo it may fall out to others, who have beene unfaithfull to God, to religion, though they themſelves may prove to be Catholikes, yet their goods and places of preferment may bee counted to bee Heretickes: though they themſelves may bee accounted to be good quiet honeſt men, that cared not which way things went, ſobeit they might live in eaſe and peace for their time, yet their eſtates and places of office are liable to bee made a prey.
Conſider yet further; your example is much, many eyes are upon you, every one is ready to follow your way. Auguſtine in his confeſſion ſaith that the devill drew men on cunningly to wickedneſſe,Lib. 2. cap. 10. by thoſe poeticall fictions, attributing filthy luſts and wicked uncleanneſſes to their ſuppoſed feigned gods, that thoſe which did ſuch things might bleſſe themſelves in this, they did not imitate baſe men, but the Celeſtiall gods: thus the devill gets ſinne countenanced in the world, by the examples of the great ones, and thinke themſelves ſafe if they have you for their patterne: God hath ſet you as ſtarres in the firmament of honour, upon your influences depend the whole courſe of the inferiour world: the people are as the ſea, and you as the winde to raiſe or depreſſe them, according to your motion. As in evill your examples doe much hurt, ſo in good they would do much good: how might godlineſſe bee honoured if men ſaw you to prize it, ſo as to ſet it above all your honours? many are offended at the poverty and meaneneſſe of thoſe that profeſſe religion: you may in great part take away this offence.
In the Annalls wee reade in the hiſtorie of Charles the great, that there was one Aygolandus a King of Africa, of the Mohometane ſect, who had much warre with Charles the great, and that he might better make peace with him, he told him that hee deſired to bee a Chriſtian. Charles being glad of that, tooke him with him to the Court, where this Aygolandus ſaw thirty poore people, in meane habits, lying on the ground, & eating without any cloath: he asked Charles what they were; who anſwered him, they are the ſervants of God. (For Charles was wont to nouriſh poore people at his Court, on purpoſe that he might have the object of poverty before him to behold, that thereby hee might moderate his affections in his great fortunes) Aygolandus anſwered; and is it ſo that I ſee the ſervants of your God cloathed in ſuch filthy cloathing, and your ſervants ſhining and cloathed beautifully, I indeede deſired that I might bee baptized, and to give my ſelfe to the ſervice of your God; but now I am farre of another mind, when I ſee the ſervants of your God ſo ill entertained and provided for. This offence daily keepes off many, but the converſion of great ones would bring on not onelyonly multitudes of other people, but other great ones alſo,
It is reported of Lucius King of England, who was the firſt King that ever by his authority eſtabliſhed Chriſtian religion in his Kingdome;Sabellicus in his Hiſt. which is the honour of our countrey, it was the firſt Kingdome that ever had Chriſtian Religion eſtabliſhed by the ſupreme magiſtrate. In the firſt entrance into the Kingdome, he favovored Chriſtian Religion, as an ancient hiſtorian, Gildas Albanius reports: but yet the Religion hee was brought up in ſtucke ſo faſt in him, that hee could not bee brought off wholly to embrace Chriſtian Religion. And a great thing that hindered him, was the offence he tooke at the outward meanneſſe and povertie of Chriſtians; and eſpecially hee looked at the Romanes, who were a glorious and victorious people, and the Emperour there, who lived in ſo great glorie and proſperitie; and hee conſidered with himſelfe, that they did not embrace Chriſtian Religion, and wherefore then ſhould hee: But after hee learned from the Embaſſadours of Caeſar, that ſome of the noble and chiefe of Rome, as by name Trebellius and Pertinax, and others, embraced the Religion of Chriſtians; that the Emperour himſelfe was moved with that miraculous Raine, that was cauſed by the prayers of the Chriſtians; then Lucius attended more fully to underſtand what Chriſtian Religion was, and was taken off from that which formerly hindered him. Whereupon he ſent to Eleutherius, then Biſhop of Rome, Elvanus and Medinus his Embaſſadours, to ſend him ſome to inſtruct the Brittaines in the Doctrine of Chriſt, that hee might eſtabliſh Chriſtian Religion in his Kingdome, and aboliſh Heatheniſme; this was in the yeere of Chriſt 179. Thus you ſee what a power Religion hath, when it is in great ones.
And on the contrarie, the more eminent you are in Honours, and in Greatneſſe, if your examples be evill, they doe the more miſchiefe:Quanto illuſtriores homines in ſeculo ſcientia, & genere, tanto pluribus ſunt perditionis exemplum. Ber. Epiſt. 109 Sinne dreſſed up with a diamond, or covered with a ſcarlet robe, carries a brave ſhew with it: Deſinunt eſſe probri loco purpurata flagitia: If your waies bee never ſo baſe and unworthy, the generall courſe of people will follow after you; as Chriſt ſaid, if the ſonne of man bee lifted up, all men will follow him: ſo if the moſt baſe wickedneſſe in the world bee lifted up in the examples of great ones, all men will follow after it; that way that they ſee to be a way of preferment, and to get the countenance of thoſe that are great men, generally they will chuſe; yea how doe wee ſee many, that they may bee like great ones in their way, and get a little petty preferment by them, they will ſubject themſelves to moſt ſordid things, that otherwiſe common humanity would loath and abhorre. There is a notable example for this in a relation that Contzen hath in his booke that he intitles Aulae ſpeculum, in the 156. page,Eutropius Eunuchus, apud Arcadium in pretio fuit, aulae rector, pudendus, avarus & crudelis, ſpadonibus ille favebat, plurimi mortalium & ſibi & liberis virilitatem demere ſuſtinuere ut illi commendarent, atque ad optatas dignitates eveherentur, plerique eorum exvulnere obierunt. of one Eutropius, an Eunuch, hee was the governour of the Court, and had in exceeding honour, but favoured and preferred onelyonly ſuch which either were already, or were willing to make themſelves Eunuches like himſelfe; whereupon, ſayes my Authour, multitudes of men made themſelves and their children Eunuches, that they might obtaine the favour of Eutropius, and be raiſed to preferment by him, and many of them dyed of the wounds that were made in their body. Thus you ſee what the power of the countenance and favour of great ones is, which men ſeeke, by being like them in any baſe wayes. And have we not many ſtill that would bee content to proſtitute themſelves, their ſoules, and their bodies, in the moſt ſhamefull wayes that can be, to obtaine the favour of thoſe who are great, to get preferment by them, willing to let humanity, Religion, God, conſcience, ſoules and all goe, ſo they may be countenanced in the World.
Laſtly, remember the great and ſolemne account that you are to give before the Lord another day, of all the mercies you have received from God above others, which have beene abundant, which cannot be reckoned: and if your receipts be ſo great, as you know not how to reckon them, how ſhall you be able then to reckon for them? Surely when you come to give an account of all you enjoy, you will have other manner of thoughts of all your outward glory, then you had when you conceived there was ſo much happineſſe in it. Conſider now what will be peace to your ſoules, when you muſt bid an everlaſting farewell to all thoſe things which are ſo glorious in your eyes: Doe you thinke that now you doe improve all thoſe mercies that God hath given you, ſo as when you come upon your death beds, and before the Lord, you ſhall be able to look backe to your former time, and rejoyce in it? The Lord will not regard how you have beene magnified by men, but how you have magnified his great and glorious Name: Riches will not availe in the day of wrath, the remembrance of all ſinfull delights will be bitterer then gall to you, when the accounts of all your honours, riches, and pleaſures ſhall be called for, how they have been improved for God: If you cannot then make your accounts even, either by ſhewing how you have imployed theſe talents, or by bringing in an acquittance, and pardon, bought with Chriſts precious bloud, and ſealed to you by his holy Spirit,Quae hic honorant, ibi onerant. you are undone for ever; ſo that now thoſe things will prove your burdens, that here were your delights and honours: what will it then profit you to have beene honorable and rich in the World, & have nothing left but guilt in your conſciences, and Gods vile eſteeme of you? what good ſhall your paſſed pleaſures bring to you, when they have abandoned you, and nothing remaines but pollution and filth upon your ſoules, and the juſt wrath of God whom you have diſpleaſed, by pleaſing your ſelves in thoſe pleaſures? or what will it profit you to have gained the whole world, and to have loſt your owne ſoules?
I have read of one Franciſus Xaverius, who writing to John the third, King of Portugal, gave this wholſome counſell to him, that every day, for a quarter of an houre, he would meditate of that divine ſentence, What ſhall it profit a man to win the whole world, and to loſe his owne ſoule? and that he would ſeeke of God the right underſtanding of this, that hee might be ſenſible of it, and that he would make it the cloſe of all his prayers, the repetition of thoſe words, What ſhall it profit a man, &c. How happy counſell would this be for all our Courtiers and great men, if it might be followed? when you have ſpent all your eſtates, and improved your power onelyonly upon ſinfull wayes, to ſatisfie the luſts of your owne hearts, when theſe ſhall be taken from you, or you from them, with what confidence can you looke up to God for mercy? doth it not come from low thoughts of God, and want of the feare of his great and dreadfull Name, for you to thinke to ſpend ſuch great talents upon your luſts, which hee hath betruſted you withall for his honour, and yet to thinke that you can eaſily do well enough in this matter between God and you? that this holy, great, and dreadfull God will be pacified by a word or two? If you had indeed ventured thoſe things that you did enjoy, and ſo had parted with them in the cauſe of God, you might then, after all had beene gone, have beene able to looke up to God with much comfort, and to have expected with confidence much mercy from him.
It is reported of Alphonſus King of Arragon, when a Knight of his had conſumed a great patrimony by luſt and luxury,Si tantam pecuniam vel in ſui regis obſequium, vel patriae commodis, vel ſublevandis propinquis impendiſſet, audirem; nunc quoniam tantas opes impendit corpori, par eſt ut luat corpore. and beſides ran into debt, and being to be laid into priſon by his creditors, his friends petitioned for him to the King; the King anſwered, if hee had ſpent ſo much money in the ſervice of his Prince, or for the good of his Countrey, in relieving his kindred, I would have hearkned; but ſeeing hee hath ſpent ſo much upon his body, it is fit his body ſhould ſmart for it: So when you come and looke up to God for mercy in your diſtreſſe, when the comforts of the creature ſhall be gone, God may juſtly anſwer; if you had ſpent that abundance of the creature that I afforded to you in my ſervice, for the good of my people, I would have heard you, but now it is juſt you ſhould be left in your diſtreſſe, and that ſo much pleaſure as you have had, ſo much miſery ſhould follow.
Doe not your hearts tremble at that Text, 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many rich, not many noble? it is enough to make a mans heart to tremble when he heares that of men few are ſaved, but when ſalvation is ſtraightned in a more narrow compaſſe, and God ſaith of ſuch a ſort of men but few, this hath more power in it to ſtrike feare: as if a company in a Church ſhould heare that but few of them ſhould goe out alive, it would ſtrike feare into all; but when thoſe who ſit in the Chancell, ſhall heare, but few of thoſe that ſit in the Chancell ſhall goe out alive, this ſtrikes feare into ſuch who ſit there: As Joſhua, when ſearch was made for Achan amongſt the Tribes, he had cauſe to feare, but when the Tribe of Judah was taken, of which he was, then much more; but when the family of the Zarhites, then much more: So within the ſtraighter compaſſe God hath ſaid, But few ſhall be ſaved; if you be amongſt them, you have cauſe to feare the more, and not to take more liberty then others, but to be more diligent then others to make your calling and election ſure. Its a terrible ſpeech that Chryſoſtome hath in his 34. Sermon upon the Hebr. you would thinke it ſo if it came from us, it may be you will receive it better from him: the ſpeech is this,Miror ſi poteſt ſalvari aliquis rectorum. I wonder, ſaith hee, if any Governour can be ſaved. Howſoever conſcience may be quiet and ſtill now, yet when it apprehends it ſelfe neere the giving up account to God, it will ſpeake, it will ſting then. It is reported of Philip the third of Spaine, although it is ſaid of him, that his life was free from groſſe evils, yea ſo as he profeſſed, he would rather loſe all his Kingdomes, then offend God knowingly. But being in the agonie of death, and conſidering more thorowly of his account hee was to give to God, feare ſtruck into him, and theſe words brake from him: Oh, would to God I had never reigned; Oh, that thoſe yeeres I have ſpent in my Kingdome, I had lived a private life in the Wilderneſſe; Oh, that I had lived a ſolitarie life with God, how much more ſecurely ſhould I now have dyed, how much more confidently ſhould I have gone to the Throne of God? what does all my glory profit me, but that I have ſo much the more torment in my death? This ſtorie Cornelius à Lapide hath upon the ſecond of Hosea.Lib. 11. hiſt. Bohe. plus temporis operaeque ſe palatio, quam templo impendiſſe; luxū & vitia aulae quae corrigere debuiſſet adjuviſſe, auxiſſe, atque ita multo peccati dolore trepida spe divinae clementiae, plurimo aſtantium …orrore, anceps ſui anima aeternitatem ingreſsa eſt.
In the Bohemian Hiſtorie it is reported of one Hermanus, a great Courtier, who being to dye, did moſt lamentably crie out, That he had ſpent more time in the Palace then in the Temple; and that he added to the Riotouſneſſe and Vices of the Court, which he ſhould have ſought to have reformed: and ſo dyed, to the horror of thoſe that were about him. I confeſſe, it is no little matter for you, who have ſo much of the world, to denie your ſelves in thoſe things that give content to the fleſh, conſidering the corruption that is in the hearts of the children of men: it is a hard thing, and ſeldome hath ſucceſſe, to give rules for the ordering of life, to men who are in great proſperitie in this world. Hence Laertius reports of Plato, who being deſired by the Cyrenians, that he would write down ſome Lawes for them, and that hee would ſet the eſtate of their Common-wealth in ſome order, he refuſed, ſaying,Perdifficile eſse condere leges tam felicibus. It was a very hard thing, to make Lawes to bind men who were in great proſperity. But the more hard any dutie is, the more honourable is it to yeeld to it; as Saint Hieronym. writing to Pamachius, Non eſt parum virum nobilem, virum locupletem potentium in plateis vitare comitatum, miſcere ſe turbis, adhaerere pauperibus, ruſticis copulare, de principe vulgum fieri, ſed quanto humilior, tanto ſublimior eſt.hath this expreſſion: It is not a little thing for a Noble man, for a rich man, to withdraw himſelfe from the companie of great ones, to joyne with thoſe that are meane and poore, and to be made as a common man: but the more low, the more mean he is in doing this, hee is the more ſublime, ſo much the higher in the eſteeme of God and his people.
There are ſome who have beene in as faire a way of honours and worldly delights, as any, yet they have denyed themſelves, and they rejoyce in it, and bleſſe God for it; they finde all they were willing to part with made up abundantly to them, they live moſt ſvveet, and joyfull lives, God hath made them honorable in his ovvne eyes, and in the eyes of his people, they are high and precious in the eſteeme and hearts of the Saints. Doe not feare, truſt your honours, your Dignities and riches vvith God: there vvas never any thing loſt in a ſelf-denying vvay for Ieſus Chriſt; nothing can make you more honorable then the vvaies of Godlineſſe, and nothing can caſt that contempt, and ſhame upon you as the vvaies of ſinne doe, it being the baſeſt ſervitude that is, both for your ſelves and all your eſtates and honours, to bee under the povver of your luſts: As you vvould account it a greater contempt and ſhame for you, to bee made to ſerve in the meaneſt and baſeſt worke that is, then if an ordinary man ſhould be forced to it: then ſurely it is more contemptible for you to be under the ſlavery of ſinne, then for an ordinary man.
Saint Chryſoſtome compares men of great quality in the world who are wicked, to a King taken priſoner of the Barbarians, who ſuffer him ſtill to weare his crowne, and to keepe on his royall apparell, but yet force him to performe all baſe offices in his royall apparrell, and with his crowne upon his head, as to carry water, to grind in the mill, and drudge in the skullery, in which caſe his goodly ornaments doe but ſerve with more deſpight to put him in minde of his miſery, and the more to upbraid, and caſt in his teeth the greatneſſe of his fall, and the baſeneſſe of his ſervitude; there could be nothing could put more ſcorne and contempt upon him then this. Thus whileſt you are bravely apparelled, gliſtering whereſoever you goe, and weare the enſignes of honour upon you, the Devill and your owne luſts doe put you upon the baſeſt ſervices, the moſt diſhonorable employments as can be; for ſuch are the waies of ſin, and all your outward glory does but make you more vile and contemptible, while you are under the ſervitude of your luſts.
Doe not thinke you have more liberty to ſinne then others, your greatneſſe cannot beare you out with God: nay in regard that the mercies which you have are greater then others,In maxima fortuna, minima eſt licentia. Saluſt. in conjurat. Catil. and your ſinnes doe more hurt then the ſinnes of others; you have the leaſt liberty to ſinne of all men: There is the leaſt liberty in the greateſt fortune, ſaies a heathen. Let it therefore rather bee your glory that you can doe good, then that you have power to have your mindes: it was the high commendation of Tiberius, that hee accounted Aurum illud Adulterinum eſſe, quod cum ſubjectorum lacrymis collectum eſſet, that mony no good coyne, that was levied with his ſubjects teares. And thus wee have finiſhed the firſt thing obſervable in Moſes Selfe-deniall; namely, The deniall of all worldly honours and delights whatſoever for Chriſt.