Sermons Preached on Several Occasions Volume 2, Sermon 1
The First Sermon.
GEN. XXII. 1, 2.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
IN this Chapter we have that very well known, but Wonderful History of God's commanding Abraham to offer up his Son to him for a Burnt-Offering; together with the Issue and Consequents thereof. The whole History, which I purpose (God willing) to treat of, may be resolved into these parts:
I. We have the Command or Injuction of God to Abraham, in the 1st and 2d Verses.
II. Abraham's Obedience thereunto, from thence to the end of the 10th Verse.
III. The Event or Issue thereof, in the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th Verses.
IV. The high Acceptance which Abraham's Obedience found with God, in the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Verses.
Of these Parts in order. I begin with the first of them, God's Command to Abraham. In the Command there are these Three things to be considered;
1. The Circumstance of Time; And it came to pass after these things.
2. The Phrase or Form of Speech in which the Action of God in this matter is expressed; he tempted Abraham.
3. The Matter of the Temptation, or of the Command (for here they are one and the same thing, he tempted him by laying such a Command upon him), He must offer his Son for a Burnt-offering.
As for the first of these, the time when God was pleased to lay this Command upon Abraham, that is pointed at or intimated in the first words of the History, And it came to pass after these things. But you will say, it doth not appear what the things are which must here be understood as intended. I answer, 'Tis not to be questioned but that we are to understand the Things that are related in the foregoing Chapter; for what should rather be intended, than those things that had been immediately before recited? Now there we read of the Birth and Circumcision of Isaac; of Ishmael's mocking him, and of his being thereupon cast out of Abraham's Family, together with Hagar his Mother. There we read that God told Abraham, that thus to dismiss Ishmael should not be grievous to him, because in Isaac his Seed should be called: His Seed, that is, The Seed, by way of Eminency, concerning which God had spoken, saying, In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Tho Ishmael was his Son as well as Isaac, yet not from Ishmael but from Isaac was this his Seed to be reckon'd. And furthermore, whereas he saith, In Isaac shall thy seed be called; he means, in Isaac's Posterity, in Jacob, or Israel, the Son of Isaac, from whom they should be called Israelites. Now after these things; after that God had thus declared his Will concerning Abraham's Family, and after that Ishmael being cast out, Abraham had been told that in Isaac, and not in Ishmael, his Seed should be called, and that in him, at least in his Offspring, he must expect the fulfilling of God's Promise, That in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed; after all this, God commands him to offer up Isaac to him for a Burnt-Offering. Which Circumstance of Time, as it made the Command of God the more difficult to be complied with, and Abraham's Trial the greater, so in the issue it render'd both his Faith and his Obedience so much the more admirable.
And hence we may observe, That God most wisely orders and determines the Circumstances of those Trials with which he exerciseth his People, in such a manner as may best conduce to the Ends for which he brings such Trials upon them. If his intentions be to humble them for sin, to correct and reform them, then their Afflictions shall be so circumstantiated, as they may smart most, and work most throughly and effectually upon them: If they be for the Exercise and Improvement of their Graces, then the Circumstances of them shall be such as may best promote and further that his design. God's design here was to give Abraham an occasion of acting his Faith and Obedience to the heighth; and therefore he tries both the one and the other at such a time and in such a manner as the Strength and Lustre of those Graces might best appear, and as might hold him forth as a rare Pattern of Faith and Obedience to all succeeding Ages. The like Instance of God's most wise Providence, we may observe in God's dealing with Jepthah. God had given Jepthah a glorious Victory over his Enemies the Children of Ammon, Judg. 11.34, 35, 36.and now he returns to his House at Mizpeh in Triumph. But to humble him, and that he might not be lifted up with the Success of his Undertaking, his own Daughter, and Only Child, must be coming out of his house to meet him with Timbrels and Dances; which was such an Allay and Cooler to his Joy and Triumph, as scarce any thing else in all the world could have been: For he had vowed a Vow unto the Lord, saying, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace, shall be the Lord's, I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. Now that amid his Joy his own Daughter, and only Child, should meet him, how sad and humbling a Providence was this! When he saw her, he rent his Clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. In which Dispensation there was also this to add much unto his Affliction, that it was through himself that this befel him, it was through his own Rashness in making such a Vow, for a Rash Vow most Divines conceive it to have been.
And indeed so very often it is, there is some Act or Neglect of our own, either occasioning or furthering our Sufferings, which Circumstance puts a sting into them, and makes them wound us so much the more deeply. O, saith the person suffering, if I had not done this, or neglected that, I might have prevented what is befallen me! And how doth it pierce my heart, to think that I my self should have been the Procurer of what is come upon me or mine! But, I say, however it be, there is an over-ruling Providence most wisely ordering and disposing the Circumstances of our Trials in such a manner as may best conduce to the effecting in and upon us what he intends them for.
And hence we may learn several things.
As 1. To observe and heed carefully the Circumstances of our Trials; the Time and Season of them, the Matter and Subject of them, the Means and Instruments of them: For hereby we shall come to discern much of the Wisdom of God in them; as also much of his Fatherly Love and Gracious Providence, which we should be ready to overlook, if the Circumstances of his dealings with us be not heeded.
2. It may also teach us to submit to our most Wise and Gracious Father's disposal in all our Trials, however circumstantiated. Though there should be some particular Circumstances in our Trials which are most grievous and afflicting to us, yet let us bear them quietly and patiently, never suffering our hearts to rise against them; never allowing our selves to say, I could have submitted, and have born my Trial, had it not been for such or such a Circumstance, which so aggravates my Sufferings, that my burthen is intolerable. For what is this but to charge God foolishly, as if he did not order all the Circumstances of your Trials with the greatest Wisdom and Exactness, and as if you could have contrived them better than he hath done?
But here one Caution may be useful. After things are past, and cannot be recalled, we are apt to afflict our selves beyond all measure for those things which perhaps were neither our Sin nor our Imprudence. Though we did what for the present we judged best and most advisable, most fit to be done, and most agreeable to our duty, yet because the event was quite contrary to what we aimed at and desired, and because what we did with a good Intention, proved rather prejudicial than advantagious and helpful towards the promoting of that good which we had in our eye, therefore we lay a load upon our selves, and charge our selves much more heavily, than in reason we ought to do. In such cases therefore our first and main enquiry should be, Whether there were any sin in what we did, or omitted? And if upon the most impartial enquiry we can find no sin or guilt to charge our selves with, we must not any further disquiet our selves. We did what for the present, as matters lay before us, appeared fittest to be done; and if God made that use of our endeavours which we never intended, and thereby furthered that which above all things we desired to decline and keep off, we must sit down contented, resting satisfied in his disposal of matters, who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will, and serves his Providence of us, not as we would, but as he pleaseth. In a word, where in the issue you seem to have contributed towards your own suffering, you are so far to be troubled for it as there was any sin in it, and no further. If this Caution were well observed by us, how much causless trouble and disquiet would it free us from! And how much more easy would it render many of our Afflictions to us than now they are, as we represent the Circumstances of them to our selves, making the utmost advantage of them that we can, towards the heightning of our trouble!
So from the Circumstance of time, when this Command was laid upon Abraham, I come to the Phrase or Form of Speech in which the Action of God therein is expressed, He tempted Abraham. Thus Moses coming to set down this History, expresseth the Action of God, that we might not be surprized and startle at the strangeness of the thing, when we read or hear it. But how is this affirmed of God,James 1.13. that he Tempted Abraham? St. James saith, Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. For reconciling Moses and the Apostle, we must distinguish of Temptations. A Temptation may either be of Seduction or of Trial. A Temptation of Seduction is proper to Satan and his Instruments; and 'tis that whereby they Seduce to Evil, or endeavour to Seduce; and this Seduction is twofold, either into Error, or into Sin: Of this kind of Temptation, St. James speaks when he saith, God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. A Temptation of Trial is that whereby the Servants of God are proved or tried; and in this sense is God said to have tempted Abraham: By a most difficult Command laid upon him, he proved or made trial of his Faith and Obedience.
But here again, that we run not into a mistake, and frame unmeet notions and conceptions of God, and such as are not agreeable to the Perfection of his Nature, we must still remember that God is Omniscient; all things are naked and opened unto his eyes; Heb. 4.13.neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. He searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins. Jer. 17.10. Psal. 139.2.He understandeth our thoughts afar off. Wherefore 'tis impossible that he should by any trial or experiment he makes of us, come to know any thing in us, or concerning us, that he was before ignorant of. Thus indeed we prove and try one another, that we may, if we can, find out and discern that which we were uncertain of before; but for us to have such thoughts of God, were unworthy of him, and infinitely below his Perfections. This were to make him like our selves, as dimsighted and defective in knowledge as we are. In short therefore, God proves and tries men, not to inform himself of what he knew not, but to inform the Persons whom he tries, and others; he proves them, to the end that what lay hid in them, not only from other men, but from themselves also, may be discovered to them and others. He knew the measure and strength of Abraham's Faith before; How is it possible that he should be ignorant of it, who knows all things, and who had wrought and cherished that Grace in him, who had infused it into his Soul, preserved it, and fed it there, who had both planted and watered it, given it both its being and all its increases? But that Abraham himself might better understand what God had wrought in him, what strength of Faith he had endowed him with; and that others also might understand it, God makes an high experiment upon him, he lays a most strange and difficult Command upon him, that might exert, call forth, and discover all the strength of Faith which he had bestowed on him. And what hath been said of tho trial of his Faith, the same also may be said concerning his Obedience.
But it may be here further Objected, That we read in the 2 Chron. 32.31. concerning Hezekiah, that in the business of the Embassadors of the princes of Babylon, God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart, Which words seem to imply, that God therein designed his own information rather than Hezekiah's, or as well as Hezekiah's.
I Answer, That those words ought not to be understood, cannot be understood in a proper sense; 'tis a figurative speech, in which God speaks of himself after the manner of men: Because men try one another that they may know how they stand affected, which way they incline, what in such or such cases and circumstances they will do, and the like; therefore God useth the same form of speech concerning himself when he tries men: He said,Of which I have elsewhere spoken, namely, in my Discourse on the 2 Chron. 32.31. [This is sitted for the Press.] that he left Hezekiah to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart; but his meaning only is, that he might make known and discover all that was in his heart. Though God be pleased so far to condescend, as to represent himself and his actions, sometimes in such a manner, and in such language, as might seem to make him like us, subject to the same passions, infirmities, and defects, as we are; yet we must take heed, that however we still frame our thoughts and conceptions of God suitably to his Nature and Perfections as near as we can. If we should take whatever in Scripture is said of God in a proper and literal sense, we should have such Notions of him, and of his Nature, as would divest him of his Attributes and Deity: Here that Rule must ever be observed, Quod Deo tribuitur foreign intelligendum foreign. Whatsoever is attributed unto, or spoken of God in way of conformity unto, or compliance with the manner, passions, or affections of man, must be so understood as may carry a congruity unto, and condecency with the Nature and Perfections of God.
Thus we have seen in what sense God is said to have Tempted Abraham, and how Moses and St. James are accorded and reconciled: as likewise how God is said to have left Hezekiah to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
And now I shall here, upon occasion of what is said concerning God's tempting Abraham, discourse a little more largely and fully concerning this Subject.
Shewing,
1. How, in what manner, and in what ways God is wont to Tempt men.
2. To what ends he Tempts men.
3. How, and wherein his Temptations differ from Satan's.
4. Answer some Objections.
5. Make some Application.
I begin with the first of these, endeavouring to shew how, in what manner, and in what ways God is wont to Tempt men.Deut. 13.3.4.34.7.19.29.3. And here we shall be able much better to apprehend positively how God tempts men, if we first understand negatively how he doth not tempt them. Negatively therefore,
1. God doth not tempt any man, by infusing any evil, any corrupt Principle, or malignant Quality into him, whereby he is inwardly disposed or inclined to Sin.
2. Neither doth he inwardly hurry him on, impel, or thrust him forward into Sin.
3. Neither doth he excite, stir up, incline, allure, intice, persuade, or encourage any man to Sin. 'Tis upon several accounts absolutely impossible that God should any of these ways tempt any man.
For (1.) This would make him the Author of Sin, which is directly contrary to the Purity of his Nature, and utterly inconsistent with his Holiness.Hab. 1.13. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, any the least Evil with approbation, and much more then to infuse into man's heart any Malice, any evil Quality, or sinful Principle, or to impel him, and thrust him forward into Sin, or to become the Author of man's Sin in any of the other ways before-mentioned.
(2.) This were inconsistent with his Justice in punishing Sin: For how could he justly punish Sin in the Creature, if he should thus Efficiently contribute to it, and promote it?
(3.) It were also as inconsistent with his Goodness thus to promote the Sin, and consequently the Misery and Ruin of his Creatures. For he that in any of the ways before-mentioned, either impels or draws a man into Sin, makes way for his destruction.
(4.) 'Tis no less inconsistent with his Sincerity, to dehort and dissuade men from sin, and by terrible Threatnings to seem to deter them, and scare them off from it, and yet to thrust them forward, or draw them into it. I say, upon all these accounts 'tis utterly impossible that God should efficiently further man's sin in any of the ways above recited.
4. Neither doth God by any Eternal Act of his lay upon man such a necessity of sinning as takes away or infringeth his liberty therein. If he did, it must be either by his Foreknowledge, or Decree. But neither his Foreknowledge of sin, nor his Decree concerning it, do lay any such fatal necessity of sinning upon any man.
1. As to his Forknowledge of sin, that toucheth not the Will of man, to incline or dispose it one way or other, much less doth it offer any force to it, impelling it, or thrusting it forward into sin, but leaves it every way as free as if no such Foreknowledge had been. If I could certainly foreknow what you would do in some particular business that lies before you, would my Foreknowledge of what you will do, take away your liberty? As long as I only foreknow what of your own accord and free choice you will do, neither impelling, nor urging, nor as much as persuading, nor any way endeavouring to dispose or incline you to do it, when you do it, is not your Action as free and voluntary, as if I had not at all foreknown it? Add hereunto, That God's Foreknowledge is such, as it respects and takes in not only the Matter or Substance of what he foreknows, but also the Manner, and all the Circumstances thereof. He doth not only foreknow what you will do, but how you will do it. As he foresees that a man will in such or such a matter offend, so he foresees that he will freely do it. Thus he did not only foresee, that Adam, left to the liberty of his own Will, would fall, but that he would voluntarily fall: so far is God's Foreknowledge of sin from laying any such necessity upon any man, as that he must sin, and cannot but sin, whether he will or no. His acts of sin, though foreknown of God, are not only as voluntary and spontaneous as if they had not been foreknown, but they are therefore voluntary, because God foreknew they would so be. I mean not, that his Foresight is the cause of their being voluntary, no more than of their being; but only, that 'tis so far from hindering the Spontaneousness or Voluntariness of them, that 'tis a certain Argument and Demonstration thereof.
2. Neither by any Decree doth he necessitate men to sin whether they will or no.
For 1. God doth only decree to permit sin; his decree concerning it is only permissive, not effective; his eternal purpose is only to suffer it to be, not to cause it to be.
2. This his permission of it, is not a giving men leave to sin, or allowing them to sin, but a not hindering them in the use of their liberty, or a pure letting them alone to do as they please, and a not interposing by his restraining or sanctifying Grace, to keep them from sin. Now this kind of permission of sin, including no efficiency on God's part towards it, doth not in the least make God chargeable with man's sin: For we may not think that God is bound to keep and withhold men from sin, as we are to keep and withhold one another from sin as far as we are able. If God were obliged to withhold men from sin, then there never had been, nor could have been any sin in the world. That he wanted not Power to have prevented all sin if he had pleased, cannot be questioned by any man that acknowledgeth his Omnipotency; and if he were under any obligation to hinder it, then it could not consist with his Holiness to permit it to be. And thus I have shewed, that neither God's Foreknowledge of sin, nor his Decree to permit it, doth lay any such necessity upon the Creature, as to render it less free or voluntary in the Commission of sin. Hence it follows undeniably, that notwithstanding God's foreknowledge of sin as future, and his decree to permit it, the whole blame of man's sin lies at his own door, and there is not the least shadow of reason to impute it to God, either in whole or in part: And consequently, that their plea is both wicked and unreasonable, and such as shall never serve their turn, or stand them in any stead at the day of their trial, who to excuse themselves, or lessen their guilt, lay the blame upon the foreknowledge or decree of God. What will this plea avail them when they come to stand before the Tribunal of Christ, where it shall appear before all the world, before Angels and Men, that no eternal or temporal Act of God did in the least infringe or lessen their freedom and liberty in sinning, and that they sinned as voluntarily as if no such Acts on God's part had ever been?
So I have shewed Negatively, How God doth not Tempt men.
Positively he Tempts men divers ways.
As 1. By laying difficult Commands upon them; which sometimes he enables them to obey, as here he did Abraham; and sometimes being left to themselves, they disobey, as did Jonah, who endeavoured to go to Tarsus, when he had been enjoined to go to Nineveh, and proclaim that Message there which he thought might prove dangerous to him.
2. By laying sore and heavy Afflictions on them, which try their Faith and Patience, as on Job.
3. By heaping much of the world upon them, and giving them a prosperous condition as to outward things, to try how they will bear their Prosperity, and what use they will make of their abundance.
4. By laying objects of an indifferent nature before them, of which they may either make a good use or a bad, as Grace or Corruption prevails.
5. By permitting Satan and his Instruments to tempt them.
6. By substracting his Grace, or suspending the Influences of it, and leaving them to themselves, as in the case of Hezekiah before-mentioned. Now in all this God doth no more than what he may righteously do; and if the Persons thus tempted do sin, 'tis wholly through the Corruption of their own hearts, and the Instigation of Satan or his Instruments.
So you have seen how and in what ways God may be said to Tempt men.
It now follows in the 2d. place, That I shew to what end God Tempts men. That God therein, as in all other his Dispensations, aims at his own Glory, I may take for granted, so as I need not spend time to prove it: That is the great end of all his works, whether of Creation or Providence. But besides this greatest and highest end, there are other inferior and subordinate ends of God's tempting men. In brief, he tempts men to discover them, not to himself, (for, as hath been shewed, he hath no need of making experiments upon them for his own information) but to discover them to themselves and to others; and this, both as to their strength and their weakness.
1. He tempts or tries them to discover them to themselves, to discover their weakness and their strength to themselves. And here two things in this dispensation, are implied and supposed; That they are in part ignorant of themselves; And that 'tis of concernment and beneficial to them, to know themselves better, or to be better informed concerning their estate.
1. All men, even the best, the most knowing Persons, even such as study themselves, and commune with their own hearts most, are but in part acquainted with themselves. They may be much weaker than they think they are, and sometimes and some ways 'tis possible they may be stronger. Hezekiah did not think there had been so much Pride and Vanity in his heart, as was discovered when God had left him to himself to try him; no doubt he did not apprehend himself so weak as that trial discovered him to be. And on the other side, 'tis not improbable but that Abraham found himself stronger: It was not easy for him to believe that he had that measure of Spiritual strength which he had, unless God by that great and strange trial had given him proof of it, and discovered it to him.
2. 'Tis of great concernment to men to know themselves better.
1. To know their own weakness.
(1.) That they may be more humble, and think more soberly of themselves, not over-valuing themselves, or rating themselves above what they are, as did the Church of Laodicea, that thought she was rich, Rev. 3.17.and increased with goods, and that she had need of nothing; and knew not that she was wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
(2.) That they may have less confidence in themselves, and in their own supposed strength, and rely more entirely on God, and live more dependently on him. This benefit, no doubt, Peter had by the discovery of his weakness to him, when carnal fear so far prevailed with him, that he denied his Master; before, out of the abundance of his self-confidence he durst affirm, That if all men should deny Christ, yet would not he We may be assured that ever after that his sad experience of his weakness, discovered by his shameful fall, he was less confident of his strength, and more careful to place his confidence in God.
(3.) That they may be more watchful over themselves, and more heedful to avoid all Temptations. 'Tis a man's want of better acquaintance, with his weakness, that makes him bold to venture upon Temptations.
(4.) In short, That they may be more diligent in the use of all good means, whereby they may be preserved from falling into sin.
(5.) That they may be more tender and compassionate towards others that have fallen.
(6.) That having had such experience of their weakness when God leaves them, they may give him the Glory of their strength at other times. Did God never leave them to themselves, and let them have experience of their weakness, they would think they stood by their own strength, and that they needed not his supporting hand to uphold them.
All these benefits and advantages accrue to them from the knowledge of their defects, and their acquaintance with their weakness.
2. 'Tis also beneficial to them to know their own strength several ways.
(1.) It furthers their thankfulness to God for that strength which he hath bestowed on them. Unless they know what they have received, How can they be thankful for it?
(2.) It relieves them against those fears, misgivings of heart, and discouragements which they are subject unto, from the contemplation of those sore trials and temptations which they may meet with before they dye. The experience of the strength which they have had in former trials, makes them less distrustful, less anxious and solicitous in reference to future evils, the prospect whereof is wont to disturb and fright them.
2. God tempts or tries men, to discover them to others also, both as to their weakness and their strength. And 'tis beneficial to others, that their weakness should sometimes be discovered to others.
(1.) That they may not think too highly of them. This is our temper, when we have good thoughts of a man, we are apt to over-value him, and to give him too high a room in our hearts. To correct this error of our judgment, and excess of our affections, God oftentimes in great wisdom tries such a Person some way or other, and so far leaves him to himself, as that his weakness is discovered. This discovery of his weakness abates that excess of esteem and value that others had for him, and brings it down to a just moderation.
(2.) The discovery of a man's defects and weakness to others is of good use and great advantage to them, in that it gives them warning to look to themselves, lest they also be tempted, and in the time of trial discover the same infirmity which such a Person hath discovered, or greater. And this is one great reason why so many of the frailties and falls of God's Children are left upon record in Scripture, and transmitted to Posterity; Their infirmities, and sometimes their fouler miscarriages are our admonitions and cautions. If many of those eminent Persons who seemed to be so strong, bewrayed such weakness in the hour of temptation, What other lesson may this teach us, but that of the Apostle, Let him that thinketh he standeth, 1 Cor. 10.12.take heed lest he fall? This is a clear and natural inference, which we are all concerned to make.
'Tis likewise very useful and advantageous that a man's strength should sometimes be discovered, and appear to others, as well as his weakness. And this
(1.) To preserve and keep up in their hearts that just esteem of him which is due to him, and which cannot without injury be denied him.
(2.) To give them an occasion of acknowledging the Goodness of God to him, and of Blessing him for what he hath wrought in him, and bestowed upon him.
(3.) To humble them in reflection upon themselves, and in consideration of their own great weakness in comparison of that strength which they observe in another.
(4) To provoke them to an holy emulation, and a more zealous endeavour after that strength which they see another hath attained, but come far short of themselves.
Thus I have shewed for what ends God Tempts men; which was the second thing to be spoken to.
3dly. As touching the difference between God's tempting men, and Satan's tempting them; this may easily be gathered from what hath been spoken. They widely differ in respect both of the manner and the end.
1. They differ in the manner. For God never Tempts men by impelling, persuading, or enticing them to Evil, but only by proposing such things to them, and laying such things before them as their corruption abuseth, and from whence they take occasion of sinning. But Satan directly impels, persuades, and enticeth to sin; so that he is most properly the Author of it: Not indeed the sole Author of it, but the Author of it together with the Actors; and sometimes as the Circumstances of sin are, he is more the Author of it than the Actors themselves.
2. They also differ as much in respect of the end. For God in Tempting men after that manner as he doth, hath most Wise, Just, Holy, and Gracious ends; he therein designs his own Glory, the Benefit of those who are Tempted, and of others, as hath been shewed. But Satan, as he Tempts in a far other manner than God doth, so likewise to far different ends: In his Temptations he aims at the Dishonour of God, the Destruction of the Tempted, and the Ruin or Prejudice of others. This is so clear from the foregoing Discourse, that 'tis needlefs to add any thing by way of further confirmation thereof. I go on therefore to the
4th. Thing propounded, which was to Answer some Objections against what hath been delivered concerning the manner of God's Tempting men. The Objections are taken from several passages of Scripture, which seem to ascribe more unto God in the evil Actions of men, than what hath been now declared concerning that matter.
Obj. 1. We read in the Holy Scriptures of God's stirring up men, of his moving them, and inclining them to Evil, and turning their hearts that way. It was wickedly done of Hadad and Rezon, that they made such opposition against Solomon, and created such trouble to him and his People; and yet 'tis said, that the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, 1 Kings 11.14. And that God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the Son of Eliadah, v. 23. of the same Chapter. In like manner we also read in the 1 Chron. 5.26. that the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglah Pilneser king of Assyria, who carried them away captives. And yet these Assyrian Kings sinned greatly in so doing. So again in 2 Chron. 21.16. 'tis said that the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians. And thus we read Psal. 105.25. that God turned the heart of the Egyptians, to hate his people, and to deal subtilly with his servants. So it was David's sin to Number the People, for which he and they were severely dealt with, and yet 'tis said that the Lord moved David thereunto, 2 Sam. 24.1. Lastly, David prayed Psal. 119.36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. And Psal. 141.4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity. In which places David's praying that God would not incline his heart to Covetousness, or to any evil thing, may seem to imply that God may, and sometimes doth incline mens hearts to evil.
To all these Scriptures I Answer in the general, That they are not to be understood in a proper sense, for that would make God the Author of sin, the very thought whereof is to be abhorr'd. That he who is of infinite Purity and Holiness, who is of purer Eyes than to behold Evil with approbation, who hates sin with a perfect and irreconcilable hatred, who forbids it upon the highest and severest penalties, who threatens and punisheth it with all manner of temporal Plagues and Judgments here in this world, and with the far more dreadful evil of unexpressible and endless Misery in the world to come, should in a proper sense be said to stir up, or move, or incline, or dispose the Spirits or Hearts of men to what is sinful, is as impossible as that he should deny himself, and act directly contrary to his own Nature, and to all those discoveries and declarations of himself and of his Nature, which he hath made in his Word.
2. In particular, God is said to stir up Enemies against his Church and People, or against particular Persons, when he suffers and permits them to be stirred up by Satan or by his Instruments; and when he leaves them to be excited, transported, acted, and hurried on by their own Pride, Ambition, Covetousness, Passion, Envy, Malice, thirst after Revenge, or the like. So he is said to move or incline them to that which ought not to have been done by them, because he leaves them to themselves to be influenc'd by Temptations, and to be swayed and carried away by the swing of their own Corruption; and because he permits them to be wrought upon by such objects as lye before them, and to be moved, inclined, or disposed to this or that unlawful thing, through the propension of their sinful Nature that bends or draws them that way.
But you will say, If God do no more than this, Why is he said to stir up, move, incline, and the like? These phrases seem to import and signifie a great deal more: Why then are they used, if no more be intended?
I Answer, 1. Because God doth not interpose to hinder men, to blunt the edge of Temptations, to suppress and keep down their Corruption; in a word, because he doth not restrain them, when he might if he pleased.
2. Because he lets them alone on purpose, and in order to those ends beforementioned. Because he doth not barely suffer and permit them so to act, or so to be acted, but designnedly, and with an eye at those uses which he intends to make of their sin.
3. Because by his most Wise, Powerful, and Righteous Providence, he so Directs, Governs, and Over-rules the whole matter, as that his own ends are effectually accomplished and brought about, even by the Sins of men. So then, though God only permits Satan and his Instruments to tempt to sin, and men to act it, yet in regard that God doth not merely stand by as unconcerned, but permits these things on purpose, and with a Wise and Righteous design, and governs and over-rules them so, as effectually to accomplish that his own design, the Scripture expresseth God's acting herein, by stirring up, moving, incliing, and the like; all which phrases are ever to be understood with such pious caution, and religious tenderness of God's Honour, as there may be no reflection upon his Justice or Holiness.
And so much may suffice to have been spoken to that Objection.
Obj. 2. In other Scriptures God is said to harden the heart: So Exod. 7.13. he is said to have hardened Pharaoh's heart, and often afterwards in that Book: So Exod. 14.17. he is said to have hardned the hearts of the Egyptians. And Isa. 63.17. God's People expostulate with him, saying, Why hast thou hardned our hearts from thy fear?
A. But these places must not be so understood, as if God did infuse any hardness into man's heart: He hardens the hearts of men only by leaving them to the hardness of their own hearts, and by suffering them to harden their hearts more, or by denying them that softening Grace which he is not bound to give them, but may justly withhold from them if he pleases, especially when abused. 'Tis true, the Providence of God proposeth such things to them, or casteth such things in their way, upon occasion whereof their hearts are hardned; but however that hardness is neither from God, nor from the things which his Providence lays before them, but from themselves, from the corruption and naughtiness of their hearts. If their hearts were good, none of those things would do them any hurt, or be as much as an occasion of hardening their hearts. A wicked heart is the worse for every thing, and is apt to turn, not only things that are of an indifferent nature in themselves, neither good nor bad, but even the best things into sin.
And so much also to that Objection.
Obj. 3. But we read Rom. 1.28. that God gave over the Gentiles to a reprobate mind, to do those things that are not convenient. And of the Adherents and Complices of Antichrist, the Apostle saith, that God would send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lye, 2 Thes. 2.11.
A. The Answer to this Objection is easily framed out of what hath been said to the former Objections. As for the first of the Scriptures alledged, the Answer to the Objection taken from it, is clearly intimated in the words of the Text; 'tis said that God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do things that are not convenient. He did not by infusion of any malignity or ill quality into them, make their minds reprobate, he did not urge or put them on to do things that were not convenient, but only gave them over to a reprobate mind, that is, gave them up to themselves, to the vicious and corrupt inclinations of their evil Hearts; he suffered them to take their own course, to add sin to sin, and through long custom in sin, to arrive at length to such a decree of senselesness and stupidity, as nothing troubled them or disquieted them, or gave check to them. So then the cause of all this their sad improvement in sin, and of their coming up at last to such a pitch of wickedness, was wholly from themselves, from the corruption of their own hearts. God only left them; and he not interposing to restrain them, they ran on of their own accord from one degree of sin to another, till at length they had sinned away all sense of sin, and extinguished, in great measure, the common Notions of Good and Evil in themselves, so as now they stuck at nothing: Natural Conscience no longer did its office in checking them for sin; they did what they would without remorse or gainsaying, without opposition or reluctancy from any better principle within them. It must be granted, this was not the case of all the Gentiles, some of them, many of them, had not so far advanced in sin; but this was the deplorable condition of multitudes among them.
And so at length I come to make some Application, which was the 5th and last thing to be done.
Use 1. Seeing God hath such wise, holy, and gracious ends in tempting or trying his Children; and seeing the advantages thence redounding to them are such, so many, and so great, let no Child of God be unwilling to submit to God's Discipline, and come under his methods for doing him good; though the trials which the wisdom of God judgeth expedient to exercise you with, should be very sore and grievous, very tedious and irksome to flesh and blood, and very hard to be undergone; though they should be of an extraordinary nature, and such as God very rarely exerciseth any of his People with; yet should the design of God in them, the gracious ends he aims at, and the benefit which you are sure to receive by them, reconcile you to them, and work in you a ready compliance with, and chearful submission to the good Pleasure of God. The Apostle would have us count it all joy, that is, matter of greatest, of highest joy,James 1.2. when we fall into divers temptations; and this upon account of the singular benefits and spiritual advantages which we shall reap thereby. What say you to this? Can you bring you heart to stand thus affected towards your sorest trials? Doth the prospect of the spiritual benefits that shall accrue to your Soul from them, make them welcome to you, or, at least, cure your prejudice against them, and work off that natural averseness of your heart from them, which makes you shrink back and look another way when they are making towards you? Alas! how far are we all from this holy frame of Spirit which St. James recommends to us! Instead of counting it all joy, we count it all sorrow when we are likely to fall into Temptation; we take on, wring our hands, and lament our condition as if we were undone, when any trial is in view, and especially when it comes near us. Though this great distemper be hard to be removed, yet there are two sovereign remedies, which if we had them, and could apply them as we ought, would certainly cure us of it, and they are no other than those which I have just now been speaking of.
1. An high prizing and valuation of Spiritual things, particularly of that Grace, knowledge of our selves, and acquaintance with our selves, experience in Heavenly things, and other advantages for our Souls, which might be gained by our trials
2. A firm and stedfast persuasion that our trials would certainly be thus advantageous to us in the issue, that we should be many ways gainers by them, and lose nothing by them but our dross. If these two things were throughly wrought into our Souls, and sixed there; if Spiritual things were in highest esteem with us, so as we could be content to purchase them at any rate, to undergo any thing upon condition we might obtain them: And if we were moreover throughly persuaded, that these better and more excellent things were to be attained by our trials, and that our improvement in these things would certainly be the issue of them, then would trials be welcome and acceptable to us, then would we chearfully entertain them, and go near to come up to St. James's pitch, of counting it all joy when we fall into divers temptations. But we are greatly deficient in both these, and that makes us so much afraid of trials, and so unwilling to hear of them. We have a low and mean esteem of Heavenly things, and prefer our ease before them; we have not that value for them, as to make us willing to suffer any thing, or to undergo any hardship to procure them. And then again, we do not really believe that we shall be such gainers by our trials: If we have some small esteem for Heavenly things, we have little expectation that our trials will much forward us towards the attainment of them. We rather say in our hearts, and it may be too often utter it also with our tongues, That such or such a trial can never bring any advantage to us, and that we might rather have expected to receive good from any other Afflictions, than from that which God thought sit to exercise us with.
Use 2. Seeing God hath such wise, holy, and gracious ends in the trials wherewith he exerciseth his Children, Be careful both to improve all your trials, and to observe the issues of them, what you gain by them, and how it pleaseth God to make them beneficial to you.
1. Be careful to improve them. For though God will be sure to do us all that good by them which he designed and intended, (for his purposes never fail to take effect) yet for the furthering thereof, our own endeavours are required. We must not think that we may sit still, and let God alone to do us good by our trials. It is incumbent on us to consider what Spiritual improvement may be made of them, and accordingly to apply our selves to make the most of them for our Souls advantage. There is here a great neglect in most People; in their Afflictions they bend all their thoughts to contrive how they may get out of them most easily and speedily, but take no care to improve them; if they can be rid of them, that is all they look after, but the fruit of them is that which they least concern themselves with.
2. Be careful to observe the issues of your trials, and what Spiritual benefit redounds to you from them. To be able to say, Thus and thus hath God done me good by my trials; I am sensible that I have received such and such considerable advantages to my Soul by them; is a great and very desirable thing.
For 1. It helps us to look back upon our past trials without regret or inward displeasure at God's Providence; it makes us acquiesce and rest well satisfied in w…t He hath done; yea, it enables us to reflect with thankfulness upon those dispensations which for the present were most grievous to us.
2. It ever after encourageth us to bear other trials when they come, with that quietness and patience, with that evenness and calmness of Spirit, which becomes Christians, and to expect the like good Effects and Issues of them.