Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 16
Serm. 16.A SERMON Preached at White-hall. February 22. 1629. SERMON XVI.
Matth. 6.21.
For where your Treaſure is, there will your heart be alſo.
I Have ſeen minute glaſſes; glaſſes ſo ſhort liv'd: if I were to preach upon this text to ſuch a glaſs, it were enough for half the Sermon; enough to ſhow the worldly man his Treaſure, and the object of his heart, (For where your Treaſure is, there will your heart be alſo) to call his eye to that minute glaſs, and to tell him there flows, there flies your treaſure and your heart with it; but if I had a ſecular glaſs, a glaſs that would run an age; if the two Hemeſphears of the world were compoſed in the form of ſuch a glaſs, and all the world calcin'd and burnt to aſhes, and all the aſhes and ſands, and atoms of the world put into that glaſs, it would not be enough to tell the godly man who this treaſure and the object of his heart is, a Parot or a Stare, docil a birds, and of pregnant imitation, will ſooner be brought to relate to us the wiſedome of a Council table, then any Ambroſe or any Chriſoſtome, men that have gold and hony in their Names, ſhall tell us what the ſweetneſs, what the treaſure of heaven is, and what that mans peace that hath ſet his heart upon that treaſure. As nature hath given us certain Elements, and all bodies are compoſed of them, and art hath given us a certain Alphabet of letters, and all words are compoſed of them, ſo our bleſſed Saviour in theſe three Chapters of this Goſpel hath given us a Sermon of texts, of which all our Sermons may be compoſed, all the Articles of our Religion, all the Canons of our Church, all the injunctions of our Princes, all the Homilies of our Fathers, all the body of Divinity is in theſe three Chapters, in this one Sermon in the mount; where, as the Preacher concludes his Sermon with exhortations to practiſe,7.24. (whoſoever heareth theſe ſayings of mine and does them,) ſo he fortifies his Sermon with his own practiſe (which is a bleſſed and powerful method,) for as ſoon as he came out of the pulpit,8.1. as ſoon as he came down from the mount, he cured the firſt Leper he ſaw, and that without all vain glory, for he forbad him to tell any man of it.
Of this noble body of Divinity one fair limb is in this text; where your treaſure is there will your heart be alſo. Imediately before our bleſſed Saviour had forbidden us the laying up of treaſure in this world, upon this reaſon, that here moths and ruſt corrupt,Diviſio. and theeves break in and ſteal, there the reaſon is, becauſe the money may be loſt; but here in our text it is, becauſe the man may be loſt, for where your treaſure is, there will your heart be alſo; ſo that this is equivalent to that,Mat. 15.26. what profit to gain the whole world and loſe a mans own ſoul. Our text therefore ſtands as that proverbial, that Hieroglifical letter Pithagoras his (y) that hath firſt a ſtalk, a ſtem to fix it ſelf, and then ſpreads into two beams. The ſtem, the ſtalk of this letter, this (y) is in the firſt word of the text, that particle of argumentation, for take heed where you place your treaſure; for it concernes you much where your heart be placed; and where your treaſure is, there your heart will be alſo; and then opens this Symbolical, this Catechiſtical letter, this (y) into two hornes, two beams, two branches: One broader, but on the left hand denoting the treaſures of this world; the other narrower, but on the right hand, treaſure laid up for the world co come, be ſure ye turn the right way, for where your treaſure is, there will your heart be alſo;
Firſt we bind our ſelves to the ſtake, to the ſtalk, to the ſtaffe,Cor fixum. the ſtem of this Simbolical letter, & conſider in it, that firmneſs & fixation of the heart which God requires; God requires no unatural thing at mans hand; whatſoever God requires of man, man may find imprinted in his own nature, written in his own heart. This firmneſs then, this fixation of the heart is natural to man; every man does ſet his heart upon ſomething, and Chriſt in this place does not ſo much call upon him that he would do ſo, ſet his heart upon ſomething, as to be ſure he ſet it upon the right object; and yet truly even this firſt work to recollect our ſelves, to recapitulate our ſelves, to aſſemble and muſter our ſelves, and to bend our hearts intirely and intenſly, directly, earneſtly, emphatically, energetically upon ſomething, is by reaſon of the various fluctuation of our corrupt nature, and the infinite multiplicity of objects, ſuch a work as man needs to be called upon and excited to do it; therefore is there no words in the Scripture ſo often added to the heart, as that of Intireneſs, Toto corde, omni corde, pleno corde, do this withal thy heart, with a whole heart, with a full heart; for whatſoever is indiviſible, is immoveable; a Point, becauſe it cannot be denied, cannot be moved; the Center, the Poles, God himſelf, becauſe he is indiviſible is therfore immoveable; and when the heart of man is knit up in ſuch an intirenes upon one object, as that it does not flatter nor ſubdivide it ſelf, then, and then only is it fixed. And thats the happineſs in which David fixes himſelf; not in his Cor paratim, my heart is preparad O God, my heart is prepared, Pſal. 57 7.(for ſo it may be prepared even by God himſelf, and yet ſcattered and ſubdivided by us) But in his Cor fixum; My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed, awake my glory, awake my Pſaltery and Harp, I my ſelf will awake early, Pſal 108 1.and praiſe thee O Lord among the people: A triumph that David returned to more then once, for he repeats the ſame words, with the ſame pathetical earneſtneſs again; ſo that his glory, his victory, his triumph, his peace, his acquieſcence, his al-ſufficiency in himſelf, conſiſted in this, that his heart was fixed; for this fixation of the heart argued and teſtified an intireneſs in it; when God ſaies, ſili da mihi Cor, my Son give me thy heart, God means the whole man;1 Cor. 12.17. though the Apoſtle ſaith, The eye is not the man, nor the ear is not the man; he does not ſay the heart is not the man; the heart is the man; the heart is all. And as Moſes was not ſatisfied with that Commiſſion that Pharaoh offered him,Exod. 10 8. that all the men might go to offer Sacrifice; but Moſes would have all their young and all their old, all their Sons and all their Daughters, all their flocks and all their heards, he would have all; ſo when God ſaies, Fili da mihi cor, my Son give me thy heart, God will not be ſatisfied with the eye, if I contemplate him in his works, (for thats but the godlineſs of the natural man) nor ſatisfied with the ear, with hearing many Sermons; (for thats but a new invention, a new way of making beads, as if the Papiſt think all done if he have ſaid ſo many Aves, I think all done, If I have heard ſo many Sermons) But God requires the heart, the whole man, all the faculties of that man; for only that that is entire, and indiviſible is immoveable; and that that God cals for and we ſeek for, in this ſtem of Pithagoras his Symbolical letter, is this immoveableneſs, this fixation of the heart; and yet even againſt this, though it be natural, there are many impediments; we ſhall reduce them to a few; to three; theſe three, Firſt, there is Cor nullum, a meer heartleſneſs, no heart at all, incogitancy, inconſideration; and then there is, Cor & cor, Cor duplex, a double heart, a doubtful, a diſtracted heart, which is not incogitancy, nor inconſideration, but purplexity and irreſolution; and laſtly Cor vagum, a wandring, a wayfaring, a weary heart, which is neither, inconſideration, nor irreſolution, but inconſtancy; and this is a trinity againſt our unity, three enemies to that fixation and intireneſs of the heart, which God loves; inconſideration when we do not debate, irreſolution when we do not determine, inconſtancy when we do not perſevere; and upon each of theſe,Cor nullum. be pleaſed to ſtop your devotion a few minuts.
This firſt is, Cor nullum, no heart at all, incogitancy, thoughtleſneſs. An idle body is a diſeaſe in a ſtate; an idle ſoul is a monſter in a man; That body that will not work muſt not eat, 2 Theſ. 3.10.but ſtarve; that ſoul that does not think nor conſider, cannot be ſaid to Actuate (which is the proper operation of the Soul) but to Evaporate; not to work in the body, but to breath and ſmoak through the body. We have ſeen eſtates of private men waſted by inconſideration, as well as by riot, and a ſoul may periſh by a thoughtleſneſs, as well as by ill thoughts; God takes it as ill to be ſlighted as to be injur'd; and God is as much ſlighted, in Corde nullo in our thoughtleſneſs and inconſideration, as he is oppoſed and provoked in Corde maligno in a rebellious heart: There is a good nullification of the heart, a good bringing of the heart to nothing, for the fire of Gods ſpirit may take hold of me, and (as the Diſciples that went with Chriſt to Emaus, Luk. 24.were affected) my heart may burn within me, when the Scriptures are opened, that is, when Gods Judgments are denounced againſt my ſin; and this heat may overcome my former frigidity and coldneſs, and overcome my ſucceeding tepidity and lukewarmneſs, and may bring my heart to a mollification, to a tenderneſs, as Job found it, The Almighty hath troubled me, and made my heart ſoft; for there are hearts of clay as well as hearts of wax; hearts whom theſe fires of God,23.16. his corrections, harden: but if theſe fires of his, theſe denuntiations of his Judgments, have overcome firſt my coldneſs, and then my lukewarmneſs, and made my heart ſoft for better impreſſions, the work is well advanced, but it is not all done; for mettle may be ſoft and yet not fuſil; iron may be red hot, and yet not apt to run into an other mold. Therefore there is a liquefaction, a melting, a powering out of the heart, ſuch as Rahab ſpeaks of Joſhuahs ſpies:2.11. & 5.1. as ſoon as we heard how miraculouſly God had proceeded in your behalf, in drying up Jurdan, all our hearts melted within us, and no man had any ſpirit left in him; and when upon the conſideration of Gods miraculous Judgments or mercies, I come to ſuch a melting and pouring out of my heart, that there be no ſpirit that is, none of my one ſpirit left in me, when I have ſo exhauſted, ſo evacuated my ſelf, that is; all confidence in my ſelf, that I come into the hands of my God as pliably as ductily, as that firſt clod of earth of which he made me in Adam, was in his hands, in which clod of earth, there was a kind of reluctation againſt Gods purpoſe; this is a bleſſed nullification of the heart. When I ſaid to my ſelf as the Apoſtle profeſſed of himſelf, I am nothing, and then ſay to God,2 Cor. 12.11. Lord though I be nothing, yet behold I preſent thee, as much as thou hadſt to make the whole world of; O thou that madſt the whole world of nothing, make me, that am nothing in my own eyes, a new creature in Chriſt Jeſus; this is a bleſſed nullification, a glorious annihillation of the heart. So is there alſo a bleſſed nullification thereof in the contrition of the heart, in the ſenſe of my ſins; when as a ſharp wind may have worn out a marble Statue, or a continual ſpout worne out a marble Pavement; ſo my holy tears made holy in his blood, that gives them a tincture, and my holy ſighs made holy in that ſpirit that breaths them in me, have worn out my marble heart, that is, the marbleneſs of my heart, and emptied the room of that former heart, and ſo given God a vacuity, a new place to create a new heart in: but when God hath thus created a new heart, that is, re-enabled me, by his ordinance to ſome holy function, then to put this heart to nothing, to think nothing, to conſider nothing, not to know our age, but by the Church-book, and not by any action done in the courſe of our lives, for our God, for our Prince, for our Country, for our Neighbour, for our ſelves, (our ſelves are our Souls,) not to know the ſeaſons of the year but by the fruits; which we eat, and not by obſervation of the publick and national bleſſings which he hath ſucceſſively given us; not to know religion but by the conveniency and the preferments to he had in this, or in the other ſide; to ſit here and not to know if we be ask'd upon a ſurprize, whether it were a prayer or a Sermon, or an Antheme that we heard laſt, this is ſuch a nullification of the heart, ſuch an annihillation, ſuch an exinanition thereof as reflects upon God himſelf; for Reſpuit datorem, Turtullian.qui datum deſerit, he that makes no uſe of a benefit, deſpiſes the benefactor,Pro. 10.13. and therefore a rod for his back, Qui indiget corde that is, without a heart, without conſideration what he ſhould do, nay what he does; for this is the firſt enemy of this firmneſs and fixation of the heart, without which we have no treaſure; and we have done with that, Cor nullum, and paſs to the ſecond, Cor & cor, Cor duplex, Cor duplex.the double, the divided, the diſtracted heart, which is not inconſideration but irreſolution. This irreſolution, this perplexity is intended in that comination from God, The Lord ſhall give them a trembling heart; Deut. 28.65.this is not that Cor nullum, that melted heart in which there was no ſpirit left in them, as in Joſhuahs time, but Cor pavidum, a heart that ſhould not know where to ſettle, nor what to wiſh, but as it follows there, in the morning he ſhall ſay, would God it were evening, and in the evening would God it were morning; and this is that which Salomon may have intended in his prayer:1 Reg. 3.9. Give thy ſervant an underſtanding heart; Cor docile; So St. Hierome reads it, a heart able to conceive counſel; for thats a good diſpoſition, but it is not all; for the original is, lcb. ſhemeany, that is, Cor audiens, a heart willing to hearken to counſel; but all that is, not all that is asked: Solomon askes there a heart to diſcern between good and evil; ſo that it is a prayer for the ſpirit of diſcretion, of concluſion, of reſolution; that God would give him a heart willing to receive counſel, and a heart capable to conceive and digeſt counſel, and a heart able to diſcern between counſel and counſel, and to reſolve, conclude, determine. It were a ſtrange ambitious patience in any man, to be content to be rack'd every day in hope to be an inch or two taller at laſt; ſo is it for me to think to be a dram or two wiſer, by harkning to all jealouſies and doubts, and diſtractions and perplexities that ariſe in my boſome, or in my family, which is the rack and torture of the ſoul: A ſpirit of contradiction may be of uſe in the greateſt Councellers, becauſe thereby matter may be brought into further debatement; but a ſpirit of contradiction in mine own boſome, to be able to conclude nothing, reſolve nothing, determine nothing, not in my religion, not in my manners, but occaſionally and upon emergencies; this is a ſickly complexion of the Soul, a dangerous impotency, and a ſhrewd and ill preſaging Criſis. If Joſuah had ſuſpended his aſſent of ſerving the Lord, till all his neighbours and their families, all the Kings and Kingdomes about him had declared theirs the ſame way, when would Joſuah have come to that proteſtation, I and my houſe will ſerve the Lord? If Eſther had forborn to preſſe for an audience to the King, in the behalf and for the life of her Nation, till nothing could have been ſaid againſt it, when would Eſther have come to that proteſtation, I will goe, and if I periſh, I periſh? If one Milſtone fell from the North-pole, and another from the South, they would meet, and they would reſt in the Center; nature would con-center them; not to be able to con-center thoſe doubts which ariſe in my ſelf, in a reſolution at laſt, whether in morall or in religious actions, is rather a vertiginous giddineſs, than a wiſe circumſpection or warineſs: when God prepared great Armies it is expreſſed alwayes ſo, Tanquam unus vir, Iſrael went out as one man; 1 Sam. 11.7.when God eſtabliſhed his beloved David to be King, it is expreſſed ſo, Uno corde, 1 Cor. 12.3, 8.He ſent them out with one heart to make David King; when God accelerated the propagation of his Church it is expreſſed ſo, Una anima, The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one ſoul; Act. 4.32.Since God makes Nations, and Armies, and Churches one heart, let not us make one heart two in our ſelves, a divided, a diſtracted, a perplexed, an irreſolved heart; but in all caſes let us be able to ſay to our ſelves, this we ſhould doe. God asks the heart, a ſingle heart, an intire heart, for whilſt it is ſo, God may have ſome hope of it; but when it is a heart, and a heart, a heart for God and a heart for Mammon; howſoever it may ſeem to be even; the odds will ſeem to be on Mammons ſide againſt God, becauſe he preſents poſſeſſions, and God but reverſions; he the preſent and poſſeſſory things of this world, God but the future and ſperatory things of the next: ſo then the Cornullum, no heart, thoughtleſneſs, incogitancy, inconſideration, and the Cor duplex, the perplexed, and irreſolv'd and inconcluſive heart, do equally oppoſe this firmneſs and fixation of the heart which God loves, & which we conſider in this ſtem & ſtalk of Pithagoras his Symbolical letter; and ſo doth that which we propoſed for the third, the Cor vagum, the wandring the way faring, the inconſtant heart.
Many times in our private actions,Cor vagum. and in the cribration and ſifting of our Conſciences (for thas's the Sphere I move in, and no higher) we doe overcome the firſt difficulty, in conſideration, wee conſider ſeriouſly; And ſomtimes the ſecond irreſolution we reſolve confidently, But never the Third, In conſtancy; if ſo far as to bring holy reſolutions into actions, yet never ſo far as to bring holy actions into Habits.Jer. 17.9. That word which we read Deceitfull (The heart is deceitfull above all things, who can know it?) is in the Originall Gnacob; and that is not only fraudulentum, but verſipelle, deceitfull, becauſe it varies it ſelfe into divers forms; ſo that it does not only deceive others (others finde not our heart the ſame towards them to day, that it was yeſterday) but it deceives our ſelves, we know not what, nor where our heart will be hereafter. Upon thoſe words of Eſai Redite praevaricatores ad Cor; 46.8.Return O ſinner to thy heart, Longe eos mittit, ſayes Saint Gregory, God knowes whether that ſinner is ſent (that is) ſent to his own heart; for where is thy heart? Thou maiſt remember where it was yeſterday; at ſuch an office; at ſuch a Chamber; but yeſterdaies affections are chang'd to day, as to daies will be to morrow, They have deſpiſed my Judgements, ſo God complains in Ezechiel; 20.16.that is, They are not mov'd with my puniſhments, they call all: naturall accidents; And then it followeth; They have polluted my Sabaths, they are come to a more faint, and dilute, and indifferent way in their Religion; now what hath occaſioned this neglecting of God's Judgements, and this diluteneſs and indifferency in the wayes of Religion? That that followes there; Their hearts went after their Idols: Went? Whether? every whither; for, Quot vitia tot recentes Deos; Hier.ſo many habituall ſinnes; ſo many Idols; and ſo every man hath ſome Idoll, ſome ſuch ſinne; and then that Idoll ſends him to a further Idoll; that ſinne to another; for every ſinne needs the aſſiſtance and countenance of another ſinne, for diſguiſe and palliation. We are not conſtant in our ſinnes, much leſſe in our more holy purpoſes; we complain (and juſtly) of the Church of Rome, that ſhe would not have us receive in utraque in both kinds; but alas, who amongſt us doth receive in utraque ſo, as that when he receives bread & wine, he receives with a tru ſorrow for former, & a tru reſolution againſt future ſins; Except the Lord of heaven create new hearts in us, of our ſelves we have (Cor nullum) no heart; all vaniſhes into incogitancies except, the Lord of heaven can center our affections, of our ſelves we have Cor & Cor, a cloven, a divided heart, a heart of irreſolution; except the Lord of heaven fix our Reſolutions, of our ſelves we have Cor vagum, a various, a wandring heart, all ſmoaks into inconſtancy; and all theſe three are enemies to that firmneſs and fixation of the heart, which God loves and wee ſeeke after; but yet, how variouſly ſoever the heart doth wander, and how little a while ſoever it ſtay upon one object; yet, that that thy heart doth ſtay upon, Chriſt (in this place) calls thy Treaſure; for the words admit well that inverſion, Where your Treaſure is there will your heart be alſo, implies this, where your heart is, that is your Treaſure: And ſo we paſſe from this Stem and Stalke of Pythagoras his Symbolicall letter, the firmneſs and fixation of the heart, to the hornes and beames thereof; a broader (but on the left hand) and in that, the corruptible Treaſures of this world, and a narrower (but on the right hand) and in that the everlaſting Treaſures of the next. On both ſides, that that you fix your heart upon is your Treaſure; for, where your heart is, there is your Treaſure alſo.
Literally, primarily, radically; Theſaurus, treaſure is no more,Theſaurus. but Depoſitum in Craſtinum, proviſion for to morrow; to ſhow how little a proportion a regulated minde and a contented heart may make a Treaſure: but we have enlarged the ſignification of theſe words, Proviſion and to Morrow; for, proviſion muſt ſignifie all that can any way be compaſſed; and to morrow muſt ſignifie as long as there ſhall be a to morrow, till Time ſhall be no more: but waiving theſe infinite extenſions and perpetuities, is there any thing of that nature as (taking the word Treaſure in the narroweſt ſignification to be but proviſion for to morrow) we are ſure ſhall laſt till to morrow? Sits any man here in an aſſurance that he ſhall be the ſame to morrow that he is now: you have your Honors, your Offices, your Poſſeſſions, perchance under Seal, a Seal of Wax; Wax that hath a tenacity, an adhering, a cleaving nature to ſhew the royall conſtancy of his heart that gives them; and would have them continue with you and ſtick to you: but then, Wax, if it be heat hath a melting, a fluid, a running nature to; ſo have theſe Honors, and Offices, and Poſſeſſions to them that grow too hot, too confident in them or too imperious by them; for theſe Honors, and Offices, and Poſſeſſions you have a Seal, a fair and juſt evidence of aſſurance; but have they any Seal upon you? any aſſurance of you till to morrow? Did our bleſſed Saviour give day or any hope of a to morrow to that man to whom he ſaid, Fool this night they fetch away thy ſoul? or is there any of us that can ſay, Chriſt ſaid not that to him?
But yet a Treaſure every man hath,Theſaurus malorum. Luc. 6. An evil man out of the evil treaſure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evill, ſayes our Saviour, every man hath ſome ſin upon which his heart is ſet, and where your heart is, there is your treaſure alſo: The Treaſures of wickedneſſe profit nothing, ſayes Job: 'tis true, but yet treaſures of wickedneſs there are:10.2. Mich. 6.10. Are there not yet Treaſures of wickedneſs in the houſe of the wicked? conſider the force of that word, yet, yet, though you have the power of a vigilant Prince executed by juſt Magiſtrates, yet, though you have the piety of a religious Prince ſeconded by the aſſiduity of a laborious Clergy, yet, though you have many helps which your Fathers did, and your neighbors doe want, and have (by Gods grace) ſome fruits of thoſe many helps; yet, for all this, Are there not yet Treaſures of wickedneſs in the houſe of the wicked? No, Are there not ſcant meaſures which are an abomination to God, ſayes the Prophet there; which are not only falſe meaſures of merchantdize, but falſe meaſures of men; for, when God ſayes that he intends all this, Is there not yet ſupplantation in Court and miſre-preſentations of men? When Salomon who underſtood ſubordination of places, which flowed from him as well as the higheſt, which himſelf poſſeſt, ſayes, and ſayes experimentally for his own, and prophetically for future times, If a Ruler (a man in great place) hearken to lies, all his ſervants are wicked, Are there not yet miſrepreſentations of men in Courts? Is there not yet oppreſſion in the Countrey;Prov. 29.12. Amos 8.5. a ſtarving of men and pampering of dogs, A ſwallowing of the needy, a buying of the poor for a pair of ſhoes, and a ſelling to the hungry refuſe corn? Eſai. 5.23.Is there not yet oppreſſion in the Country? Is there not yet extortion in Weſtminſter? A juſtifying of the wicked for a reward, and a taking away of the righteouſneſs of the righteous from him? Is there not yet extortion in Weſtminſter? Is there not yet Colluſion and Circumvention in the City? would they not ſeem richer than they are when they deal in private bargains with one another, and would they not ſeem poorer than they are, when they are called to contribute for the Publique?Exech. 28.5. have they not encreaſed their riches by Trade, and lifted up their hearts upon the encreaſe of their riches?Amos 2 8. have they not ſlackned their Trade, and lyen down upon clothes laid to pledge, and ennobled themſelves by an ignoble and lazie way of gain? Is there not yet colluſion and circumvention in the City? Is there not yet Hypocriſie in the Church? In all parts thereof; half-preachings and half-hearings, hearings and preachings without practiſe? have we not national ſins of our own, and yet exerciſe the nature of Iſlanders in importing the ſins of foraign parts? And though we better no foragin commodity, nor manufactures that we bring in, we improve the ſins of other Nations: And as a weaker grape growing upon the Rhene contracts a ſtronger nature in the Canaries, ſo doe the ſins of other Nations tranſplanted amongſt us. Have we not ſecular ſins, ſins of our own age, our own time, and yet ſin by precedent of former, as well as create precedents for future?Joſ. 6.19. and not only Silver and gold, but veſſels of iron and braſſe were brought into the Treaſury of the Lord, not only the glorious ſins of high places and nationall ſins, and ſecular ſins, but the wretchedeſt begger in the ſtreet contributes to this Treaſure, the Treaſure of ſin, and to this miſchievous uſe, to encreaſe this Treaſure. The Treaſure of ſin is a ſubſidieman, he begs in Jeſus name, and for Gods ſake, and in the ſame name curſes him that does not give: he counterfeits a lameneſs, or he loves his lameneſs and would not be cur'd; for his lameneſs is his ſtock, it is his demean, it is (as they call their occupations in the City) his myſtery: Are there not yet Treaſures of wickedneſs in the houſe of the wicked? when even they who have no houſes, but lie in the ſtreets have theſe Treaſures?
Theſaurus Dei hic.There are, and then as the nature of treaſure is, to multiply; ſo does this treaſure, this treaſure of ſin, it produces another treaſure, Theſaurizamus iram, Ro. 2.5.We treaſure up unto our ſelves wrath againſt the day of wrath. Deut. 32.34.For it is of the ſins of the people that God ſpeaks, when he ſaies; Is not this laid up in ſtore with me, and ſealed up amongſt my treaſures? He treaſures up the ſins of the diſobedient; but where? In the treaſury of his Judgments. And then that treaſury he opens againſt us in this world, his treaſure of ſnow, and treaſures of hail; that is, unſeaſonableneſs of weather, barrenneſs and famine; and he bringeth his winds out of his treaſury; contrary winds or ſtorms, and tempeſts to diſappoint our purpoſes:Job 38.22. And as he ſaies to Cyrus, I will give thee (even thee Cyrus, though God car'd not for Cyrus, Pſal. 135.7.otherwiſe then as he had made Cyrus his ſcourge) I will give thee the treaſures of darkneſs, Eſa. 45.3.and the hidden treaſures of ſecret places; God will enable enemies, (though he loves not thoſe enemies) to afflict that people that love not him. And theſe, war, and dearth, and ſickneſs, are the weapons of Gods diſpleaſure; and theſe he poures out of his treaſury in this world.Theſaur. Dei in …tu…o. But then for the world to come, he ſhall open our treaſury, (for whatſoever moved our tranſlators to render that word Armory, and not Treaſury in that place, yet evidently it is Treaſury, and in that very word Otzar, which they tranſlate Treaſury,Jer. 50.25. in all thoſe places of Job and David, and Eſai, which we mentioned before, and in all other places,) he ſhall open that treaſury, (ſaies that Prophet) and bring forth the weapons, not as before of diſpleaſure, but in a far heavier word, the weapons of his indignation. And in the bowels and treaſure of his mercy, let me beſeech you not to call the denouncing of Gods indignation, a Satyr of a Poet, or an invective of an Orator; as Salomon ſaies, there is a time for all things, there is a time for conſternation of preſumptuous hearts, as well as for redintegration of broken hearts, and the time for that, is this time of mortification which we enter into now. Now therefore let me have leave to ſay, that the indignation of God is ſuch a thing as a man would be afraid to think he can expreſs it, afraid to think he does know it; for the knowledg of the indignation of God imples the ſenſe & feeling thereof? all knowledg of that is experimental, and thats a woful way, and a miſerable acquiſition and purchaſe of knowledg. To recollect treaſure is proviſion for the future; no worldly thing is ſo; there is no certain future, for the things of this world paſs from us; we paſs from them; the world it ſelf paſſes away to nothing. Yet a way wee have found to make a treaſure, a treaſure of ſin; and we teach God thrift, and providence; for when we arme, God arms too; a treaſure furniſhed with weapons of diſpleaſure for this world, and weapons of indignation for the world to come. But then,Luc. 6.45. as an evil man out of the evil treaſure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil, (ſo ſaies our Saviour) the good man out of the good treaſure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; which is the laſt ſtroke that makes up Pithagoras his Symbolical letter, that horn, that beam thereof, which lies on the right hand; a narrow way, but to a better land; through ſtraights: Tis true, but to the Pacifique ſea; the conſideration of the treaſure of the godly man in this world, and Gods treaſure towards him, both in this and the next. Things dedicated to God are called often the treaſure of God; Theſauri Dei, and Theſauri ſanctorum Dei, Theſaur. bonorum.The treaſure of God and the treaſures of the ſervants of God, are in the Scriptures the ſame things; and ſo a man may rob Gods treaſury, in robbing an Hoſpital.1 Cor. 28.12. Now though to give a Talent, or to give a Jewel, or to give a conſiderable proportion of plate, be an addition to a treaſury, yet to give a treaſury to a treaſury, is a more pretious and a more acceptable preſent; as to give a library to a library, is more then to give the work of any one Author. A godly man is a library in himſelf, a treaſury in himſelf, and therefore fitteſt to be dedicated and appropriated to God. Inveſt thy ſelf therefore with this treaſure of godlineſs: what is godlineſs, take it in the whole compaſs thereof; and godlineſs is nothing but the fear of God;Pro. 1.7. for he that ſaies in his firſt Chapter Initium ſapientiae, The fear of God is the beginning of wiſdome,22.4. ſaies alſo in the 22th. Finis modeſtiae, The fear of God is the end of modeſty, the end of humility; no man is bound to deject himſelf to any lower humiliation then to the fear of God. When God promiſed good Ezekiah all thoſe bleſſings,Eſay. 33.6. wiſdome, and knowledg, and ſtability, and ſtrength of ſalvation; that that was to defray him and carry him through all,1 Tim. 6.19. was this, The fear of the Lord ſhall be his treaſure. And therefore Theſaurizate vobis fundamentum, Lay up in ſtore for your ſelves a good foundation againſt the time to come, do all in the fear of God; in all warlike preparations remember the Lord of Hoſts, and fear him; in all treaties of peace; remember the Prince of peace, and fear him; in all conſultations remember the Angel of the great counſel and fear him; fear God as much at noon as at midnight, as much in the glory and ſplendor of his Sun-ſhine, as in his darkeſt Eclipſes; fear God as much in thy proſperity as in thine adverſity, as much in thy preferment, as in thy diſgrace. Lay up a thouſand pound to day in comforting that oppreſſed ſoul that ſues, and lay up ten thouſand pound to morrow, in pairing his nails that oppreſſes; lay up a million one day in taking Gods cauſe to heart, and lay up ten millions next day in taking Gods cauſe in hand: Let every ſoul lay up a penny now in reſiſting a ſmall tentation, and a ſhilling anon in reſiſting a greater; and it will grow to be a treaſure, a treaſure of talents, of ſo many talents, as that the pooreſt ſoul in the congregation will not change treaſure with any Place-Fleets, nor Terra firma fleet, nor with thoſe three thouſand millions, which (though it be perchance a greater ſum then is upon the face of Europe at this day, after a hundred years embowelling of the earth for treaſure,) David is ſaid to have left for the treaſure of the Temple,Villalp. To. 2. par. li. 5. Diſp. 3. cap. 43. ſo. 503. Phil. 3.20. Apoc. 21.2. only to be laid up in the treaſury thereof when it was built; for the charge of the building thereof was otherwiſe defraid. Let your converſation be in heaven; cannot you get thither? you may ſee, as St. John did, heaven come down to you; heaven is here; here in Gods Church, in his word, in his Sacraments, in his Ordinances; ſet thy heart upon them, (the promiſes of the Goſpel, the ſeals of reconciliation) and thou haſt that treaſure which is thy viaticum, for thy tranſmigration out of this world, and the bill of exchange for the world thou goeſt, to; for as the wicked make themſelves a treaſure of ſin and vanity, and then God opens upon them a treaſure of his diſpleaſure here, and his indignation hereafter; ſo the godly make themſelves a treaſure of the fear of God, and he opens unto them a treaſure of grace and peace here, and a treaſure of joy and glory hereafter. And when of each of theſe treaſures here and hereafter; I ſhall have ſaid one word, I have done.
We have treaſure though in earthen veſſels, ſaies the Apoſtle,Theſaurus Dei Erga bonos hic. 2 Cor 4.7. we have, that is, we have already the treaſure of grace and peace, and faith, and juſtification, and ſanctification; but yet in earthen veſſels, in veſſels that may be broken; peace that may be interrupted, grace that may be reſiſted, faith that may be enfeebled, juſtification that may be ſuſpected, and ſanctification that may be blemiſhed; but we look for more; for joy and glory, for ſuch a juſtification, and ſuch a ſanctification as ſhall be ſeald and riveted in a glorification. Manna putrified, if it were kept by any man but a day; but in the Ark it never putrified. That treaſure which is as Manna from heaven, grace and peace; yet here hath a brackiſh taſte, when grace and peace ſhall become joy and glory in heaven, there it will be ſincere. Sordeſcit quod inferiori miſcetur nature, August.& ſi in ſuo genere non ſordidetur; though in the nature thereof, that with which a purer mettle is mixt be not baſe, yet it abaſes the purer mettle: he puts his example in ſilver and gold: though ſilver be a pretious mettle, yet it abaſes gold, grace and peace and faith are pretious parts of our treaſure here; yet if we mingle them, that is, compare them with the joyes and glory of heaven, if we come to think that our grace and peace and faith here, can no more be loſt, then our joy and glory there, we abaſe and we over-allay thoſe, joys and that glory. The Kingdome of heaven is like to a treaſure, ſaies our Saviour,Mar. 13.44. but is it all? is any treaſure like unto it? none; for (to end where we begun) treaſure is depoſitum in craſtinum, proviſion for to morrow: the treaſure of the worldly man is not ſo; he is not ſure of any thing to morrow. Nay the treaſure of the godly man is not ſo in this world; he is not ſure that this dayes grace and peace and faith ſhall be his to morrow; when I have joy & glory in heaven, I ſhall be ſure of that to morrow. And thats a term long enough; for before to morrow there muſt be a night; and ſhall there ever be night in heaven, no more then day in hell, there ſhall be no Sun in heaven,Apoc 21.23. therefore no danger of Sun-ſet. And for the treaſure it ſelf, when the holy Ghoſt hath told us that the wals & ſtreets of that City are pure gold, that the foundations thereof are all pretious ſtones, and every gate of an intire pearl, what hath the Holy Ghoſt himſelf left to denote unto us? what the treaſure it ſelf within is? the treaſure it ſelf is the Holy Ghoſt himſelf and joy in him, As the Holy Ghoſt proceeds from the Father and the Sonne, (but I know not how) ſo there ſhall ſomething proceed from Father, Sonne and Holy Ghoſt, and fall upon me, but I know not what: nay not fall upon me neither, but enwrap me, embrace me; for I ſhall be below them, ſo as that I ſhall not be upon the ſame ſeat with the Son, at the right hand of the Father, in the union of the holy Ghoſt; rectified by the power of the Father, and feel no weakneſs; enlightned by the wiſdom of the Son, and feel no ſcruple; eſtabliſhed by the joy of the holy Ghoſt, and feel no jealouſie. Where I ſhall find the Fathers of the firſt ages, dead 5000 years before me, and they ſhall not be able to ſay they were there a minute before me. Where I ſhall find the bleſſed and glorious Martyrs, who went not Per viam lacteam, but per viam ſanguineam, not by the milky way of an innocent life, but by the bloody way of a violent death, and they ſhall not contend with me for precedency in their own right, or ſay, we came in by Purchaſe, and you but by pardon. Where I ſhall find the Virgins, and not be deſpiſed by them for not being ſo; but hear that redintegration which I ſhall receive in Jeſus Chriſt, call'd Virginity and Intireneſs. Where all tears ſhall be wip'd from my eyes; not only tears of compunction for my ſelf, and tears of compaſſion for others, but even tears of joy too, for there ſhall be no ſudden joy, no joy unexperienced there; there I ſhall have all joyes altogether, alwaies. There Abraham ſhall not be gladder of his own ſalvation then of mine, nor I ſurer of the everlaſtingneſs of my God, then of my everlaſtingneſs in him. This is that treaſure, of which the God of this treaſure gives us, thoſe ſpangles and that ſingle money which this minute can coin, this world can receive, that is, Proſperity and a good uſe thereof in worldly things, and grace and peace, and faith in ſpiritual, and then reſerve for us the exaltation of this treaſure, in the joy and glory of heaven, in the mediation of his Son Chriſt Jeſus, and by the operation of his bleſſed Spirit.
Amen.