Twenty-Six Sermons, Sermon 7
A SERMON Preached at WHITE-HALL,Serm. 7. Novemb. 2. 1617. SERMON VII.
PSAL. 55.19.
Becauſe they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
IN a Priſon, where men wither'd in a cloſe and perpetual impriſonment; In a Galley, where men were chain'd to a laborious and perpetual ſlavery; In places, where any change that could come, would put them in a better ſtate, then they were before, this might ſeem a fitter Text, then in a Court, where every man having ſet his foot, or plac'd his hopes upon the preſent happy ſtate, and bleſſed Government, every man is rather to be preſum'd to love God, becauſe there are no changes, then to take occaſion of murmuring at the conſtancie of Gods goodneſs towards us. But becauſe the firſt murmuring at their preſent condition, the firſt Innovation that ever was, was in Heaven; The Angels kept not their firſt Eſtate: Though as Princes are Gods, ſo their well-govern'd Courts, are Copies, and repreſentations of Heaven; yet the Copy cannot be better then the Original: And therefore, as Heaven it ſelf had, ſo all Courts will ever have, ſome perſons, that are under the Increpation of this Text, That, Becauſe they have no changes, therefore they fear not God: At leaſt, if I ſhall meet with no conſcience, that finds in himſelf a guiltineſs of this ſin, if I ſhall give him no occaſion of repentance, yet I ſhall give him occaſion of prayſing, and magnifying that gracious God, which hath preſerv'd him from ſuch ſins, as other men have fallen into, though he have not: For, I ſhall let him ſee firſt, The dangerous ſlipperineſs, the concurrence,Diviſio. the co-incidence of ſins; that a habit and cuſtom of ſin, ſlips eaſily into that dangerous degree of Obduration, that men come to ſin upon Reaſon; they find a Quia, a Cauſe, a Reaſon why they ſhould ſin: and then, in a ſecond place, he ſhall ſee, what perverſe and frivolous reaſons they aſſign for their ſins, when they are come to that; even that which ſhould avert them, they make the cauſe of them, Becauſe they have no changes. And then, laſtly, by this perverſe miſtaking, they come to that infatuation, that dementation, as that they looſe the principles of all knowledge, and all wiſedom: The fear of God is the beginning of wiſedom; and, Becauſe they have no changes, they fear not God.
Part I.Firſt then, We enter into our firſt Part, The ſlipperineſs of habitual ſin, with that note of S. Gregorie, Peccatum cum voce, eſt culpa cum actione; peccatum cum clamore, eſt culpa cum libertate; Sinful thougths produc'd into actions, are ſpeaking ſins; ſinful actions continued into habits, are crying ſins. There is a ſin before theſe; a ſpeechleſs ſin, a whiſpering ſin, which no body hears, but our own conſcience; which is, when a ſinful thought or purpoſe is born in our hearts, firſt we rock it, by toſſing, and tumbling it in our fancies, and imaginations, and by entertaining it with delight and conſent, & with remembring, with how much pleaſure we did the like ſin before, and how much we ſhould have, if we could bring this to paſs; And as we rock it, ſo we ſwathe it, we cover it, with ſome pretences, ſome excuſes, ſome hopes of coveraling it; and this is that, which we call Moroſam delectationem, a delight to ſtand in the air and proſpect of a ſin, and a loathneſs to let it go out of our ſight. Of this ſin S. Gregory ſayes nothing in this place, but onelyonly of actual ſins, which he calls ſpeaking; and of habitual, which he calls crying ſins. And this is as far, as the Schools, or the Caſuiſts do ordinarily trace ſin; To find out peccata Infantia, ſpeechleſs ſins, in the heart; peccata vocatia, ſpeaking ſins, in our actions; And peccata clamantia, crying and importunate ſins, which will not ſuffer God to take his reſt, no nor to fulfil his own Oath, and proteſtation: He hath ſaid, As I live, I would not the death of a ſinner; and they extort a death from him. But beſides theſe, Here is a farther degree, beyond ſpeaking ſins, and crying ſins; beyond actual ſins and habitual ſins; here are peccata cum ratione, and cum diſputatione; we will reaſon, we will debate, we will diſpute it out with God, and we will conclude againſt all his Arguments, that there is a Quia, a Reaſon, why we ſhould proceed and go forward in our ſin: Et pudet non eſſe impudentes, as S. Auguſtine heightens this ſinful diſpoſition; Men grow aſham'd of all holy ſhamefac'dneſs, and tenderneſs toward ſin; they grow aſham'd to be put off, or frighted from their ſinful pleaſure, with the ordinary terror of Gods imaginary judgements; aſham'd to be no wiſer then S. Paul would have them, to be mov'd, or taken hold of, by the fooliſhneſs of preaching; or to be no ſtronger of themſelves then ſo,1 Cor. 1.21. that we ſhould truſt to anothers taking of our infirmities,Matth. 8. and bearing of our ſickneſſes; Or to be no richer, or no more provident then ſo, To ſell all, and give it away,Luc. 12. and make a treaſure in Heaven, and all this for fear of Theeves, and Ruſt, and Canker, and Moths here. That which is not allowable in Courts of Juſtice, in criminal Cauſes, To hear Evidence againſt the King, we will admit againſt God; we will hear Evidence againſt God; we will hear what mans reaſon can ſay in favor of the Delinquent, why he ſhould be condemned; why God ſhould puniſh the ſoul eternally, for the momentany pleaſures of the body: Nay, we ſuborn witneſſes againſt God, and we make Philoſophy and Reaſon ſpeak againſt Religion, and againſt God; though indeed, Omne verum, omni vero conſentiens; whatſoever is true in Philoſophy, is true in Divinity too; howſoever we diſtort it, and wreſt it to the contrary. We hear Witneſſes, and we ſuborn Witneſſes againſt God; and we do more; we proceed by Recriminations, and a croſs Bill, with a Quia Deus, becauſe God does as he does, we may do as we do; Becauſe God does not puniſh Sinners, we need not forbear ſins; whilſt we ſin ſtrongly, by oppreſſing others, that are weaker, or craftily by circumventing others that are ſimple. This is but Leoninum, and Vulpinum, that tincture of the Lyon, and of the Fox, that brutal nature that is in us. But when we come to ſin, upon reaſon, and upon diſcourſe, upon Meditation, and upon plot, This is Humanum, to become the Man of Sin, to ſurrender that, which is the Form, and Eſſence of man, Reaſon, and underſtanding, to the ſervice of ſin. When we come to ſin wiſely and learnedly, to ſin logically, by a Quia, and an Ergo, that, Becauſe God does thus, we may do as we do, we ſhall come to ſin through all the Arts, and all our knowledge, To ſin Grammatically, to tie ſins together in conſtruction, in a Syntaxis, in a chaine, and dependance, and coherence upon one another: And to ſin Hiſtorically, to ſin over ſins of other men again, to ſin by precedent, and to practice that which we had read: And we come to ſin Rhetorically, perſwaſively, powerfully; and as we have found examples for our ſins in Hiſtory, ſo we become examples to others, by our ſins, to lead and encourage them, in theirs; when we come to employ upon ſin, that which is the eſſence of man, Reaſon, and diſcourſe, we will alſo employ upon it, thoſe which are the properties of man onelyonly, which are, To ſpeak, and to laugh; we will come to ſpeak, and talk, and to boaſt of our ſins, and at laſt, to laugh and jeſt at our ſins; and as we have made ſin a Recreation, ſo we will make a jeſt of our condemnation. And this is the dangerous ſlipperineſs of ſin, to ſlide by Thoughts and Actions, and Habits, to contemptuous obduration.
Part II.Now amongſt the manifold perverſneſſes and incongruities of this artificial ſinning, of ſinning upon Reaſon, upon a quia, and an ergo, of arguing a cauſe for our ſin; this is one, That we never aſſigne the right cauſe: we impute our ſin to our Youth, to our Conſtitution, to our Complexion; and ſo we make our ſin our Nature: we impute it to our Station, to our Calling, to our Courſe of life; and ſo we make our ſin our Occupation: we impute it to Neceſſity, to Perplexity, that we muſt neceſſarily do that, or a worſe ſin; and ſo we make our ſin our Direction. We ſee the whole world is Eccleſia malignantium, Pſal. 26.5.a Synagogue, a Church of wicked men; and we think it a Schiſmatical thing, to ſeparate our ſelves from that Church, and we are loth to be excommunicated in that Church; and ſo we apply our ſelves to that, we do as they do, with the wicked we are wicked; and ſo we make our ſin our Civility. And though it be ſome degree of injuſtice, to impute all our particular ſins, to the devil himſelf, after a habit of ſin hath made us ſpontaneos daemones, Chryſost.devils to our ſelves; yet we do come too near an imputing our ſins to God himſelf, when we place ſuch an impoſſibility in his Commandments, as makes us lazie, that becauſe we cannot do all, therefore we will do nothing; or ſuch a manifeſtation and infallibility in his Decree, as makes us either ſecure, or deſperate; and ſay, The Decree hath ſav'd me, therefore I can take no harm; or, The Decree hath damn'd me, therefore I can do no good. No man can aſſigne a reaſon in the Sun, why his body caſts a ſhadow: why all the place round about him, is illumin'd by the Sun, the reaſon is in the Sun; but of his ſhadow, there is no other reaſon, but the groſneſs of his own body: why there is any beam of light, any ſpark of life, in my ſoul, he that is the Lord of light and life, and would not have me die in darkneſs, is the onelyonly cauſe; but of the ſhadow of death, wherein I ſit, there is no cauſe, but mine own corruption. And this is the cauſe, why I do ſin; but why I ſhould ſin, there is none at all.
Yet in this Text the Sinner aſſignes a cauſe; and it is, Quia non mutationes, Becauſe they have no Changes. God hath appointed that earth, which he hath given to the ſons of men, to reſt, and ſtand ſtill; and that heaven which he reſerves for thoſe ſons of men, who are alſo the ſons of God, he hath appointed to ſtand ſtill too: All that is between heaven and earth, is in perpetual motion, and viciſſitude; but all that is appointed for man, mans poſſeſſion here, mans reverſion hereafter, earth and heaven, is appointed for reſt, and ſtands ſtill; and therefore God proceeds in his own way, and declares his love moſt, where there are feweſt Changes. This reſt of heaven, he hath expreſſed often, by the name of a Kingdom, as in that Petition, Thy kingdom come: And that reſt which is to be derived upon us, here in earth, he expreſſes in the ſame phraſe too, when having preſented to the children of Iſrael, an Inventary and Catalogue of all his former bleſſings, he concludes all, includes all in this one, Et proſperata es in regnum, I have advanced thee to be a kingdom: which form, God hath not onelyonly ſtill preſerv'd to us, but hath alſo united Kingdoms together; and to give us a ſtronger body, and ſafer from all Changes, whereas he hath made up other Kingdoms, of Towns and Cities, he hath made us a Kingdom of Kingdoms, and given us as many Kingdoms to our Kingdom, as he hath done Cities to ſome other. Gods gracious purpoſe then to man, being Reſt, and a contented Repoſedneſs in the works of their ſeveral Callings; and his purpoſe being declared upon us, in the eſtabliſhing and preſerving of ſuch a Kingdom, as hath the beſt Body, (beſt united in it ſelf, and knit together) and the beſt Legs to ſtand upon, (Peace and Plenty) and the beſt Soul to inanimate and direct it, (Truth of Religion) and the beſt Spirits to make all parts anſwerable and uſeful to one another, (Wiſdom and Vigilancie in the Prince, Gratitude and Chearfulneſs in the Subject:) And ſince God hath gone ſo far, once in our time already, in expreſſing his care of our Reſt and Quiet, as to give us a Change without Change, an alteration of Perſons, and not of Things, that we ſaw old things done away, in the Seceſſion of one, and all things made new in the Succeſſion of another Soveraign, and all this newneſs done without Innovation; ſo that,Pſal. 76.9. as David ſays of the whole earth, we might ſay again of this Land, Terra tremuit & quievit, The earth ſhak'd, and ſtood ſtill at once; it was all one act, to have been afraid, and to have been inſtantly ſecur'd again, ſince nothing beyond that, nothing equal to that Change, can be imagin'd by us from God; may it be ever his gracious pleaſure, to continue to us, the enjoying of our preſent Reſt, without ſhewing us any more Changes. As (to end this Branch) it were a ſtrange enormity, a ſtrange perverſneſs in any man, to plant a Garden in any place, therefore, becauſe he foreſaw an Earthquake in that place, that would diſorder and diſcompoſe his Garden again; or to build in any place therefore, becauſe the fire were likelieſt to take hold of that ſtreet; that is, to make any thing the cauſe of an action, which ſhould naturally enforce the contrary: ſo is it an irreligious diſtemper, to be the bolder in ſin, becauſe we have no Changes, or to defer our converſion from ſin, till Changes, till Afflictions come. For, Satan knew the air, and complexion, and diſpoſition of the world, well enough: he argued not impertinently, nor frivolouſly, for the general, though he were deceived in the particular, in Job, when he ſaid to God,2.5. Stretch out thy hand, and touch his bones, and his fleſh, and ſee if he will not blaſpheme thee to thy face. Afflictions, and Changes in this life, do not always direct us upon God: The diſpleaſure of a Prince may make a harſh perſon more ſupple, more appliable then before; his graces receiv'd may make him more acceſſible, more equal, more obſequious, then before: and loſſes and forfeitures ſuſtain'd, or threatned, may make him more apt to give, to bleed out, to redeem his dangers, then before: But theſe Changes do not always make him an honeſter man, nor a better Chriſtian then before.1 Theſſ. 4.11. And therefore, ſays the Apoſtle, Study to be quiet; Labour to finde a teſtimony of Gods love to you, in your preſent eſtate, and never put your ſelf, either for temporal, or ſpiritual amendment, upon Changes.
To proceed then: This ſhutting up of themſelves againſt the fear of God, is not meerly quia non mutationes, becauſe there are no changes; but, quia non illis, becauſe They have no changes. It is a dangerous preterition, not to bring a mans ſelf into Conſideration; but to conſider no man but himſelf, to make himſelf the meaſure of all, is as dangerous a narrowneſs. The Epigrammatiſt deſcribes the Atheiſt ſo, That he deſires no better argument to prove that there is no God, but that he ſees himſelf, Dum negat ista beatum, proſper well enough, though he do not believe this proſperity to proceed from God. What miſeries ſoever fall upon others, affect not him. He may have ſeen, ſince he was born, the greateſt Kingdom in Chriſtendom likely to have been broken in pieces, and canton'd into petty Seigniories, and ſo left no Kingdom: he may have ſeen ſuch a danger upon our next neighbours, as that, when the powerfulleſt Enemy in Chriſtendom hung over their heads, and lay upon their backs, they bred a more dangerous enemy in their own boſomes, and bowels, by tearing themſelves in pieces, with Differences, in Points of ſubdivided Religion, and impertinent Scruples, unjuſtly call'd Points of Religion; in which, men leave Peace, and Unity, and Charity, the true ways of Salvation, and will enquire nothing, but how ſoon, how early God damn'd them: They muſt know, ſub quibus Conſulibus, in whoſe Reign, in whoſe Mayoralty, what hour of the day, and what minute of that hour, Gods eternal Decree of Election or Reprobation was made. Many, very many of theſe Changes he may have ſeen and heard; but all theſe he hears, as though he heard them out of Livie, or out of Beroſus, or in Letters from China, or Japan; and not as though they concern'd his Time, or his Place, or his Obſervation. To contract this: We have all been either in Wars, and ſeen men fall at our right hand, and at our left, by the Bullet; or at Sea, and ſeen our Conſort ſunk by Tempeſt, or taken by Pyrates; or in the Citie, and ſeen the Peſtilence devour our Parents above us, our Children below us, our Friends round about us; or in the Court, and ſeen Gods judgements overtake the moſt ſecure, and confident: we have all ſeen ſuch Changes as theſe everywhere; but quia non nobis, becauſe the Bullet, the Shipwrack, the Pyrate, the Peſtilence, the Judgements have not reach'd us, in our particular perſons, they have not imprinted the fear of God in us.
And the word of the Text, carries it farther then ſo:Non habent. it is not becauſe There are no Changes, for they abound; nor becauſe They have had none, for none eſcapes; but it is, Qui a non habent, becauſe they have no preſent, nor imminent danger in their contemplation now; becauſe no affliction lies upon them now, therefore they are ſecure. It is not Quia non habuerunt; every perſon, every State, every Church, hath had Changes: Becauſe the Romane Church will needs be all the world, we may conſider all the world in her, ſo far; ſhe hath had ſuch a Change, as hath awakened other Princes to re-aſſume, and to reſtore to themſelves, and their Crowns, their juſt Dignities; ſo ſhe hath had a Change in Honour and Eſtimation. She hath had ſuch a Change, as hath contracted and brought her into a narrower chanel, and call'd in her overflowings; ſo ſhe hath had a Change in Power and Juriſdiction. She hath had ſuch a Change, as hath leſſened her Temporal treaſure everywhere, and utterly aboliſhed her imaginary Spiritual treaſure, in many places; ſhe hath had a change in Means, and Profit, and Revenue: ſhe hath had ſuch a change, as that they who by Gods commandment are come out from her, have been equal, even in number, to them who have adhered to her; ſuch a change, as hath made her Doctrine appear, ſome to be the doctrines of men, and ſome the doctrines of devils: ſuch a change in Reputation, in Juriſdiction, and in Revenue, and in Power, and in manifeſtation of her Diſguiſes, ſhe hath had: But quia non habet, becauſe ſhe decays not every day, the Reformation ſeems to her to be come to a period, as high as it ſhall go: Becauſe ſhe hath a miſ-apprehenſion of ſome faintneſs, ſome declinableneſs towards her again, even in ſome of our Profeſſors themſelves, who (as ſhe thinks) come as near to her, as they dare: Becauſe ſhe hath gained of late upon many of the weaker ſex, women laden with ſin; and of weaker fortunes, men laden with debts; and of weaker conſciences, ſouls laden with ſcruples; therefore ſhe imagines that ſhe hath ſeen the worſt, and is at an end of her change; though this be but indeed a running, an ebbing back of the main River, but onelyonly a giddy and circular Eddy, in ſome ſhallow places of the ſtream, (which ſtream, God be bleſſed, runs on ſtill currantly, and conſtantly, and purely, and intemerately, as before) yet becauſe her corrections are not multiplied, becauſe her abſolute Ruine is not accelerated, ſhe hath ſome falſe conceptions of a general returning towards her, and ſhe fears up her ſelf againſt all ſenſe of Truth, and all tenderneſs of Peace; and becauſe ſhe hath rid out one ſtorm, in Luther and his ſucceſſors, therefore ſhe fears not the Lord for any other, Quia non habent, Becauſe ſhe hath no changes, now.
Habuerunt then, They have had changes; and Habebunt, They ſhall have more, and greater: Impii non ſtabunt, ſays David, The wicked ſhall not ſtand: In how low ground ſoever they ſtand, and in how great torment ſoever they ſtand, yet they ſhall not ſtand there, but ſink to worſe; and at laſt, non ſtabunt in judicio, They ſhall not ſtand in judgement, but fall there, from whence there is no riſing: Non ſtabunt: They ſhall not ſtand, though they think they ſhall; they ſhall counterfeit the Seals of the Holy Ghoſt, and delude themſelves with imaginary certitudes of Salvation, and illuſory apprehenſions of Decrees of Election: nay, non ſtabunt, They ſhall not be able to think that they ſhall ſtand: that which the Apoſtle ſaith,1 Cor. 10.12. Let him that thinketh he ſtandeth, take heed lest he fall, belongs onelyonly to the godly; onelyonly they can think, deliberately, and upon juſt examination of the marks and evidences of the Elect, that they ſhall ſtand: God ſhall ſuffer the wicked to ſink down, not to a godly ſenſe of their infirmity, and holy remorſe of the effects thereof; but yet lower then that, to a diffident jealouſie, to a deſperate acknowledgement, that they cannot ſtand in the ſight of God: they ſhall have no true reſt at laſt: they ſhall not ſtand; nay, they ſhall not have that half, that falſe comfort by the way; they ſhall not be able to flatter themſelves by the way, with that imagination that they ſhall ſtand.
Now, both the ungodly, and godly too, muſt have Changes: in matter of Fortune, changes are common to them both: and then, in all, of all conditions, Mortalitas Mutabilitas, ſays St. Augustine: even this, That we muſt die, is a continual change. The very ſame word,14.14. which is here, kalaph, is in Job alſo: All the days of my appointed time, till my changing come. And becauſe this word which we tranſlate changing, is there ſpoken in the perſon of a righteous man,Symma. ſome Tranſlators have rendred that place, Donec veniat ſancta nativitas mea, Till I be born again: the change, the death of ſuch men, is a better birth: And ſo the Chaldee Paraphraſts, the firſt Expoſition of the Bible, have expreſs'd it, Quouſque rurſus fiam, Till I be made up again by death: He does not ſtay to call the Reſurrection a making up; but this death, this diſſolution, this change, is a new creation; this Divorce is a new Marriage; this very Parting of the ſoul, is an Infuſion of a ſoul, and a Tranſmigration thereof out of my boſome, into the boſom of Abraham. Bernard.But yet, though it is all this, yet it is a change; Maxima mutatio est Mutabilitatis in Immutabilitatem, To be changed ſo, as that we can never be changed more, is the greateſt change of all. All muſt be changed ſo far, as to die: yea, thoſe who ſhall, in ſome ſort, eſcape that death; thoſe whom the laſt day ſhall ſurpriſe upon earth, though they ſhall not die, yet they ſhall be changed. Statutum est omnibus, ſemel mori, All men muſt die once;Heb. 9.27. we live all under that Law. But ſtatutum nemini hic mori: ſince the promiſe of a Meſſiah, there is no Law, no Decree, by which any man muſt neceſſarily die twice; a Temporal death, and a Spiritual death too. It is not the Man, but the Sinner, that dies the ſecond death: God ſees ſin in that man, or elſe that man had never ſeen the ſecond death. So we ſhall all have one change, beſides thoſe which we have all had; good and bad muſt die: but the men in this text, ſhall have two. But whatſoever changes are upon others in the world, whatſoever upon themſelvs; whatſoever they have had, whatſoever they are ſure to have; yet, Quia non habent, non timent Deum; Becauſe they have none now, they fear not God. And ſo we are come to our third and laſt Part.
They fear not God: This is ſuch a ſtate,Part III. Non timent. as if a man who had been a Schoolmaſter all his life, and taught others to read, or had been a Critick all his life, and ingenioſus in alienis, over-witty in other mens Writings, had read an Author better, then that Author meant, and ſhould come to have uſe of his Reading to ſave his life at the Bar, when he had his Book, for ſome petty Felony, and then ſhould be ſtricken with the ſpirit of ſtupidity, and not be able to read then. Such is the ſtate of the wiſeſt, of the learnedeſt, of the mightieſt in this world: If they fear not God, they have forgot their firſt letters; they have forgot the baſis and foundation of all Power, the reaſon and the purpoſe of all Learning, the life and the ſoul of all Counſel and Wiſdom: for, The fear of God is the beginning of all. They are all fallen into the danger of the Law; they have all ſinn'd: they are offer'd their Book, the merciful promiſes of God to repentant ſinners, in his Word; and they cannot read, they cannot apply them, to their comfort: There is Scripture, but not tranſlated, not transferr'd to them: there is Goſpel, but not preached to them; there are Epiſtles, but not ſuperſcribed to them.
It is an hereditary Sentence,Pſal. 111.10. Prov. 1.7. Ecclus 1.16. and hath paſs'd from David in his Pſalms, to Solomon in his Proverbs, and then to him that glean'd after them both, the Author of Eccleſiasticus, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wiſdom. All three profeſs all that, and more then that. It is Bleſſedneſs it ſelf, ſays the father, David; Bleſſedneſs it ſelf, ſays the ſon, Solomon; and Plenitudo Sapientiae, and Omnis Sapientia, ſays the other, The fulneſs of wiſdom, and the onelyonly wiſdom. Job had ſaid it before them all, Ecce, timor Domini, 28.ipſa est ſapientia; The fear of the Lord, is wiſdom it ſelf: And the Prophet Eſai ſaid it after, of Ezechias, 33.6.There ſhall be ſtability of thy times, ſtrength, ſalvation, wiſdom, and knowledge; for, the fear of the Lord ſhall be thy treaſure. It is our ſupply, if we ſhould fear want, and it is our reaſon that we cannot fear want; for, he that fears God, fears nothing elſe. As therefore the Holy Ghoſt hath placed the beginning of wiſdom in this fear; ſo hath he the conſummation and perfection of this wiſdom, even in the perfect pattern of all wiſdom,Eſai. 11.3. in the perſon of Chriſt himſelf, The Spirit of the Lord ſhall rest upon thee, the ſpirit of wiſdom and underſtanding, the ſpirit of counſel and of might, the ſpirit of knowledge and of the fear of God. For, without this fear, there is no courage, no confidence, no aſſurance: And therefore Chriſt begun his Paſſion with a fear, in his Agony, Triſtis anima, My ſoul his heavie; but that fear delivered him over to a preſent conformity to the will of God, in his Veruntamen, Yet not my will, but thine be done: And he ended his Paſſion with a fear, Eli, Eli, My God, my God, why hast thou forſaken me? and that fear deliver'd him over to a preſent aſſurance, In manus tuas Domine, confidently to commend his ſpirit into his hands, whom he ſeem'd to be afraid of.
Since then the Holy Ghoſt, whoſe name is Love; ſince God, who is Love it ſelf, diſpoſes us to this fear, we may ſee in that, That neither God himſelf, nor thoſe of whom God ſaid, Ye are gods, that is, all thoſe who have Authority over others, can be lov'd ſo as they ſhould, except they be fear'd, ſo as they ſhould be too: If you take away due Fear, you take away true Love. Even that fear of God, which we uſe to call ſervile fear, which is but an apprehenſion of puniſhment, and is not the nobleſt, the perfecteſt kinde of fear, yet it is a fear, which our Saviour counſels us to entertain;Matth. 10. Fear him that can cast ſoul and body into hell; even that fear, is ſome beginning of wiſdom. That fear Job had uſe of, when he ſaid,31. Quid faciam cum ſurrexerit ad judicandum Deus? Here I may lay hold upon means of Reſtitution; but when the Lord ſhall raiſe himſelf to judgement, how ſhall I ſtand? So alſo had David uſe of this fear,Pſal. 119. A judiciis tuis timui: However I was ever confident in thy mercy, yet I was in fear of thy judgement. It is that fear which St. Baſil directs us to, upon thoſe words,Pſal. 33. Timorem Domini docebo vos, I will teach you the fear of the Lord, Cogita profundum barathrum, To learn to fear God, he ſends us to the meditation of the torments of hell. And ſo it is that fear, which wrought that effect in St. Hierome: Ego ob Gehennae metum carcere iſto me damnavi; For fear of that execution, I have ſhut my ſelf up in this priſon; for fear of periſhing in the next world, I baniſh my ſelf from this: There is a beginning, there is a great degree of wiſdom, even in this fear.
Now, as the fear of Gods puniſhments diſpoſes us to love him, ſo that fear which the Magiſtrate imprints, by the execution of his Laws, eſtabliſhes that love which preſerves him, from all diſeſtimation and irreverence: for, whom the Enemy does not fear, the Subject does not love. As no Peace is ſafe enough, where there is no thought of War; ſo the love of man towards God, and thoſe who repreſent him, is not permanently ſetled, if there be not a reverential fear, a due conſideration of greatneſs, a diſtance, a diſtinction, a reſpect of Rank, and Order, and Majeſtie. If there be not a little fear, by Juſtice at home, and by power and ſtrength abroad, mingled in it, it is not that love, which God requires, to be firſt directed upon himſelf; and then reflected upon his Stewards and Vice-gerents: for, as every Society is not Friendſhip, ſo every Familiarity is not Love.
But, to conclude: As he will be fear'd, ſo he will be fear'd, no otherwiſe, then as he is God: Non timuerunt Deum, is the increpation of the Text, They feared not God. It is timor Dei, and not timor Jehovae: God is not here expreſſed by the name of Jehovah, that unexpreſſible and unutterable, that incomprehenſible and unimaginable name of Jehovah. God calls not upon us, to be conſider'd as God in himſelf, but as God towards us; not as he is in heaven, but as he works upon earth: And here, not in the School, but in the Pulpit; not in Diſputation, but in Application. It is not timor Jehovae, nor it is not timor Adonai: God does not call himſelf in this place, The Lord: for, to be Lord, to be proprietary of all, this is potestas tam utendi quam abutendi, It gives the Lord of that thing power, to do, abſolutely, what he will with that which is his: And ſo, God, as abſolute Lord, may damn without reſpect of ſin, if he will; and ſave without reſpect of faith, if he will. But God is pleaſed to proceed with us, according to that Contract which he hath made with us, and that Law which he hath given to us, in thoſe two Tables, Tantummodo crede, OnelyOnly believe, and thy faith ſhall ſave thee; and, Fac hoc & vives, Live well, and thy good works ſhall make ſure thy ſalvation. Laſtly, God does not call himſelf here Dominum exercituum, The Lord of hoſts; God would not onelyonly be conſider'd, and ſerv'd by us, when he afflicts us with any of his ſwords, Famine, War, Peſtilence, Malice, or the like; but the fear requir'd here, is to fear him as God, and as God preſented in this name, Elohim; which, though it be a name primarily rooted in power and ſtrength, (for El is Deus fortis, The powerful God; and as there is no love without fear, ſo there is no fear without power) yet properly it ſignifies his Judgment, and Order, and Providence, and Diſpenſation, and Government of his creatures. It is that name, which goes thorow all Gods whole work of the Creation, and diſpoſition of all creatures, in the firſt of Geneſis: in all that, he is call'd by no other name then this, the name God; not by Jehovah, to preſent an infinite Majeſtie; nor by Adonai, to preſent an abſolute power; nor by Tzebaoth, to preſent a Force, or Conqueſt: but onelyonly in the name of God, his name of Government. All ends in this; To fear God, is to adhere to him, in his way, as he hath diſpenſed and notified himſelf to us; that is, as God is manifeſted in Chriſt, in the Scriptures, and applied to us out of thoſe Scriptures, by the Church: not to reſt in Nature without God, nor in God without Chriſt, nor in Chriſt without the Scriptures, nor in our private interpretation of Scripture, without the Church. Almighty God fill us with theſe fears, theſe reverences; that we may reverence him, who ſhall at laſt bring us, where there ſhall be no more changes; and hath already plac'd us in ſuch a Government, as being to us a Type and Repreſentation of the Kingdom of heaven, we humbly beg, may evermore continue with us, without changes, in Government, or in Religion.
AMEN.