Twenty-Nine Sermons, Sermon 2 – Title page 1
The Second SERMON OF The uſe and benefit of Divine MEDITATION.
HAGGAI 1. 5.
Now therefore thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, Conſider your wayes.
NOw follows the manner, how to follow Meditation home to the heart. Here are four things to be practiſed.
Firſt, weigh and ponder all theſe things in thy heart. It's ſaid of Mary, ſhe pondred, Luke 2. 19. and kept all theſe ſayings in her heart: verſe 51. The words ſignifie two things: Firſt, ſhe compared theſe things together, Secondly, ſhe caſt them in the ſcales together. Doſt thou know God is mercifull? ponder it with his juſtice. Doſt thou know that Jeſus Chriſt dyed for ſinners? ponder it with the true drift of it, how that it is not to let men go on in their ſins, but to ſave them from their ſinnes. Doſt thou obey God in this or that Commandement? O ponder thy life with the reſt, Ponder the path of thy feeet, and let all thy wayes be eſtabliſhed. Prov. 4. 26. A man that eats his meat well, forty morſels well, yet one crum going awry throttles him. Thou walkeſt in theſe and theſe Commandements; yea, but there be other Commandments beſides theſe: doſt thou walk in them too? thou muſt, if thou meaneſt to have thy ways to be eſtabliſhed. The Jews had their continers, talents, minaes, ſicles, which were greater weights; ſo they had alſo their gerahs, and agarahs, ſmaller meaſures, and ſmalleſt of all: ſo have thou greater and leſſe weights; great ones to ponder the great Commandements, and leſs to weigh even the leaſt of Gods Commandements: and ſee thou make true Evangelical weight, or elſe all will not be well. Suppoſe a man were to pay a 100 pound of good and lawful money, and in weight, upon forfeiture of all that he hath; if he weigh it not, but the Creditor doth, and finds it light, he is undone. If thou pondereſt not thy wayes, God will ponder them: Prov. 5. 21. the word ſignifies, he weighs and ponders them in a ballance, or ſcales; he puts the word of his Goſpel in the one, and thy goings and obedience in the other. Thou art weighed, and art found too light, thy kingdom is departed from thee, ſaith God to Belſhazzer, Dan. 5. 27. So if thou be light, thou ſhalt be weighed, and ſo found▪ thou ſhalt loſe the Kingdom of heaven for ever.
Secondly, ſtrip ſin, and look upon it ſtark naked ſin covers and diſguiſeth it ſelf with pleaſure, profit, eaſe, and many a whoriſh garment, and ſo inticeth the heart. Even a toad, if ſhe were covered over with gold, thoſe that ſaw only the gold would pocket it up; if it were naked they would fling it in the kennel. Why doe men love covetouſneſſe? Why? its hooded with profit▪ Why carding, dicing, hunting, hawking, tabring, piping, and more than the word alloweth? Why? they are cloathed with pleaſure, and delight. Its the duty of Miniſters to unmaſk and uncaſe ſin, and pluck off he vail that covers it from appearing unto men. The not doing of this is the cauſe that men do not meditate on the vileneſſe of their ſin, never are humbled, never eſcape Gods wrath, even becauſe they … diſcover … iniquities, Lam. 2. 14. Alas the profit of thy ſins ſhall ceaſe the pleaſure ceaſe, the eaſe ceaſe, and all theſe goodly ſuits ſhall vaniſh away; when the ſoul comes to dye, or to ſtand before the judgement ſeat of Chriſt: ſin will remain, but thy ſilver, and thy gold; where will that be then? thy laughter, and thy mer…iment, what will become of that then? thy delight will be gone. Meditate therefore with thy ſelf, my ſin is now gainful, and eaſie, and pleaſant▪ but what will my ſin become, when I come to lye on my deathbod▪ what good will it do me, when I have moſt need of ſuccour? I will never acknowledge him my friend, that will turn againſt me, when I have moſt need of him. Alas, I muſt dye, I muſt come to judgement, I, I muſt go either to heaven or to hell: the profit that I get now by my ſins, will it beſtead me then▪ the pleaſure, the eaſe that I now find in ſin, will it help me there? Alas no it will then be my break neck, it will be a Devil unto me the more I have been delighted with it, the more it will gall …e: the more I have gotten by it the more it will damne me: the ſin which I moſt of all loved▪ will moſt of all torment me. Eccleſ. 11. 9. look thus upon ſin▪
The third means▪ Dive into thy own ſoul and heart. There is a tough brain over thy heart, that it feels not its ſins. Now Meditation muſt look through▪ and come to the heart at the quick, and cauſe the truth to dive into the deep places of the ſoul. When the timber is hard, the workman cannot thruſt in the nail with the weight of his hand: no, he muſt hammer it in. Meditation is the hammering of the heart. It's a pertinent phraſe, Jer. 23, 24. Is not my word like a fire (ſaith the Lord) and like a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces? There be two ſimilitudes, firſt, of a hammer: the Word of God is the hammer; meditation is the hand that taketh this hammer, and knocks the nail into the rocky heart, and makes it enter: Wilt thou not feel? I'le make thee feel (ſaith Meditation) wilt thou not take notice of thy wretched eſtate? Meditation comes with blow after blow, and makes us take notice. Secondly, of fire; the word is like fire; Meditation kindles it about the heart. A man benummed with cold is ſenſeleſſe; the water frozen with cold, though the leaſt pebble would have ſunk in it before, now a great milſtone is able to lye upon it, and not ſink; the water is able to bear it: ſo is the heart, be it's ſins never ſo heavy, as the hill of Baſan, yet it bears it and feels no weight: but Meditation thawes the heart, and then every ſin pincheth and oppreſſeth. Is not my word like fire? as if he ſhould ſay, think of it, and muſe of it, and meditate of it, and thou ſhall feel it as a fire. Meditation is the often ſmiting of the heart with this hammer: ſo did Ephraim ſmite upon his thigh, Jer. 31. 19. like a man in a miſerable agony, he thumps his own breaſt, and in a vexation ſtrikes his hand on his thigh. Oh miſerable wretch that I am! So did Ephraim, Oh what an unruly Oxe am I? how unwilling am I to bear the yoke of the Lord? Oh, and oh the hardneſs of my heart! oh that I could tell how to beat thee black and blue! Many men ſmite their hearts, but they ſmite them not often enough. When Eliſhah bad Joaſh ſmite upon the ground, he ſmote thrice, and ſtayed; The man of God ſaid to him in anger, Thou ſhouldeſt have ſmitten five or ſix times, for then thou hadſt ſmitten Syria, till thou hadſt conſumed them, whereas now thou ſhalt ſmite Syria but thrice. 2. King. 13. 19. So men ſmite their hearts twice, or thrice, or ſo; but they will not ſmite their ſins dead: it may be they break the head of their ſins, but they recover again, and grow ſtrong upon them, as at firſt. Thou muſt ſmite five or ſix times, yea fifty times five times, till thou haſt quite broken the impoſtume of thy heart. Meditate on the mercies of God, and with them ſmite it often, and often: Meditate on the juſtice of God, and with it ſmite it again, and again: Meditate on the wrath of God, which is as a conſuming fire, and with it ſmite it ſoundly. Meditate on the truth of the Lord, this threatning and that threatning; this commandement and that commandment this promiſe and that promiſe; and with all theſe ſmite it to powder.
The fourth means, Anticipate and p…ventthine own heart: meditate what thy heart will one day wiſh, if it be not humbled: and tell thy Soul as much; thou wilt one day wiſh, Oh that I had been humbled under the reproofs of the Lord! Oh that I had been wiſe to have underſtood my own mercy! Curſed be the day that ever I neglected the means of grace; ſo the Lord brings in a fooliſh obſtinate ſinner, curſing and banning his own ſoul, ſobbing and howling at the laſt. O how have I hated inſtruction, and my heart deſpiſed reproof! and have not obſerved the voyce of my Teachers, nor inclined mine care to them that inſtruct me? Prov. 5. 12, 13. I had Miniſters to preach to me, but I would not come at them: or if I did, I cared not for their doctrine, I had friends that adviſed me well; but woe is me damned wretch! I heeded them not. Thus thou wilt caſt the fool into thine own teeth, and fling a thouſand curſes into thine own face, becauſe of thy madneſs. I might have learned but I would not; I might have been humbled, but I would not: I was almoſt in an evill in the midſt of the aſſembly of the congregation, verſe 14. I lived where the Saints of God were in whole aſſemblies, but I mockt them, I hated them, I miſliked them for being too preciſe. I was not aſhamed of my ſecurity, no not in thy ſight. Thus thou wilt cry out one day, if thou wilt not yeeld unto meditation, which muſt make this as preſent with thee. Know thou, O my ſoul, the time of thy viſitation is at hand, thou wilt curſe thy ſelfe hereafter, if thou doſt not now be moved by Gods mercies, thou ſhalt never ſee mercy more: Now be awaked by Gods judgments, or elſe thou ſhalt feel them for evermore; now or for ever thou ſhalt …oar for them. Then thou ſhalt curſe thy gains and thy profits that bewitched thee, thou ſhalt curſe thy pleaſures and delights that beſorted thee, curſe thine one heart, and thine own ſoul, and thine own conſcience that have damned thee. Meditation may tell thee, thus it will be with thee, unleſſe thou obeyeſt now. Hear ye me now, Oh yee Children and depart not from the words of my mouth, verſe 7. hear the word now, and obey it, let it not depart out thy meditation. Now be humbled with grace, or then thou ſhalt be humbled with horrour: then thou ſhalt wiſh, Oh that I had been ruled! When thou art in hell, then thou ſhalt meditate, Oh it was good counſel that ſuch and ſuch a Miniſter gave me; good counſel that ſuch a friend, and ſuch a brother gave me; but wretch that I was, I had not grace to follow it. I had more mind of my pleaſures, more mind of my vanities than of grace. Oh if it were to do again, I would not do ſo for a thouſand worlds: but alas, it is now too late. Therefore let Meditation preſſe this upon thee beforehand.
Now follows the third thing, how to put life to Meditation. Four duties are to be done to this purpoſe.
1. Let Meditation haunt the heart, let meditation dog thee with the helliſh looks of thy ſinnes, and follow it with the dreadful vengeance of God, haunt it with promiſes, haunt it with threatnings, haunt it with mercies, and haunt it with judgements, and haunt it with Commandments, The heart is like the Beaver, when it perceiveth it cannot poſſibly eſcape from the Huntſman, it cuts off the Member for which it is hunted, and flings it down, and ſo eſcapes (ſaith Aeſop:) So purſue thy heart with its ſins, with the hue and cry of Gods mercies; purſue it with the bubbub of Gods judgements; let meditation haunt it, and let thy ſoul ſee it ſhall never be rid of the haunt; at laſt it will be content to part with its luſts. Let Meditation ſay, Wilt thou forſake thine own mercies? If thou liveſt thus and thus, If thou prayeſt thus and thus, dead-heartedly, thou kickeſt againſt thine own mercy, wilt thou ruſh upon the prick…. This mercy thou mayſt have, if thou wouldſt amend, that vengeance thou ſhalt have, if thou do not amend: Either cut off thy ſins, or elſe God will cut off thy ſoul. Return, O Shulamite, return, return, its the voice of Chriſt to thee: Let Meditation ſay, Return, O my ſoul, return, return, and thou mayſt be ſaved; return, or elſe thou ſhalt be condemned. Now what was the effect of this haunting meditation▪ Or ere I was aware, my ſoul made me like the Chariots of Aminadab. verſe 12. That is, my ſoul muſing and meditating on theſe and theſe commandments, it ſo humbled my ſoul, that it made me yeeld; yea, and made me run as faſt as the Chariots of Aminadab, freely and willingly to Chriſt.
Deal with thy heart as Iunius his father dealt with him: he ſeeing his Son was Atheiſtical, he laid a Bible in every room, that his ſon could look in no room, but behold a Bible haunted him, upbraiding him, Wilt thou not read me, Atheiſt? Wilt thou not read me? And ſo at laſt he read it, and was converted from his Atheiſme: So let meditation haunt thy heart, hold forth the commandements, promiſes, threatnings of the Lord, that thy heart may ſee them; let meditation haunt thee in thy luke-warmneſſe: prayeſt thou thus luke-warm? This prayer will break thy neck one day. Repenteſt thou? This luke warm repentance will cauſe God to ſpue thee out of his mouth. Heareſt thou, ſpeakeſt thou, thinkeſt thou? Theſe lukewarm duties wil confound thee ere long, if thou lookeſt not to it.
Let meditations haunt thee, as they haunted Nehemiah with warnings, ten times (ſaith the Text) they ſent to Nehemiah, they will be upon thee, Nehem. 4. 12. Beware of the danger, the enemy will be upon thee: ten times they warned him, never giving over till Nehemiah looked about him, verſe 13. So do thou haunt thine own heart: they will be upon thee, this curſe, this wrath, that hardneſſe of heart, this ſecurity wil be upon thee. Ten times, yea, a thouſand times ten times, never give over thine own ſoul, untill thou haſt made it to ſubmit. Indeed there be ſome, let God ſend Meditations to haunt them, and follow them, ſaying, Repent, leave this or that ſin? why wilt thou be damn'd with this ſin? Oh forſake it, preſently they will gagge the mouth of meditation, and of conſcience, and ſtrike them ſtark dead: as Abner, when Azahel would haunt him and follow him, and turn neither to the right hand, nor to the left, but follow him at the heels. Turn aſide (ſaith Abner) but he would not turn aſide from following him. Turn aſide from me (ſayes Abner again) or I will kill thee, but he would not turn aſide, he would follow him cloſe: Then he up with his Spear and ſlew him, 2. Sam. 2. 19. 20, 21, 22, 23. So many deal with the Meditation of conſcience, when conſcience would dogg them, and weary them out of their ſins, they will not, when conſcience would haunt them, they will not be haunted therewith; when conſcience would follow them up with their deſperate wilfulneſſe, they gall, and wound, and murder conſcience to be quiet. But David haunted his heart, and would have it haunted.
The ſecond duty: Let Meditation trace thy heart, as it ſhould haunt thee, ſo alſo let it trace thee in the ſame ſteps. So would the Church, Let us ſearch and try our wayes, and turn again unto the Lord: Lam. 3. 40. The word (in the originall, ſayes Buxtorf) ſignifies, track her ſteps, ſtep by ſtep: this ſtep was in the ditch, that in the mire, that ſtep awry: track them all, that we may undergo them all again, and turn unto the Lord. Never pray but let Meditation track thy prayer: this paſſage was right, that paſſage was amis. Never keep a Sabbath but let Meditation track thy keeping of it; this duty was ſincere, that was rotten: Never do any thing, but let Meditation track it. This thought, this word, this action was warrantable; that was out of the way: track thy heart, as the Lord tracked Eliah, he trackt him in the wilderneſſe, he trackt him under the juniper tree, he trackt him in the cave; What doſt thou here Eliah? go forth: 1. Kings 19. What doſt thou here Eliah, go, return. He tract him in the Mount, Go, return, what doſt thou here Eliah? this is not a place for thee. So let Meditation wait thee; what doſt thou here, O ſinner? what doſt thou here, drunkard? in thy Cupps, or in thy prophaneneſſe, what doſt thou here? this is not a place for thee, unleſſe thou mean to periſh. It may be thou art now ſcar'd out of theſe ſins, and art run into civil honesty, let Meditation ſtill track thee. What doſt thou do here, O ſinner? Civilitie is not a caſe fit for thee, unleſſe thou wert better, thou ſhalt be torn in pieces. It may be thou art driven out of thy civility; and art gone further, to the profeſſion of Religion, though it be without the power of it; let meditation ſtill wait thee. What doſt thou do here, O ſinner? this ſorry kind of profeſſion is not a race fit for thee: unleſſe thou be godlier than ſo, thou ſhalt be devoured with everlaſting fire.
Meditation is like the courſing of a Hare in the ſnow; the Hare fearing to be taken by the dogs, Here ſhe ſtops, there ſhe leaps, here ſhe interleaps, there ſhe goes backward, and forward, upward and downward, and all to deceive the dogs, that they may not find her; but they goe, ſmelling, winding and turning, and track her ſtep by ſtep, till they find her: ſo meditation is the courſing of the ſoul, the heart hath a thouſand fetches, a thouſand Meanders and labyrinths, a thouſand croſſe windings, and compaſſings, and deceits, and all to puzle Meditation. But Meditation muſt track the heart, as God dealt with Job, he counted his ſteps, ſtep by ſtep, Iob 14. 16. Meditation is the ſouls bloud-hound, it will never leave howling the wrath of God; till he hath taken the hearts ſin for a prey, Meditation haunts it out of one ſin, and it runs into another; Meditation haunts it out of that, and it runnes into a third: Meditation is a good purſevant, it proſecutes the ſinner, and attaches him.
Now becauſe the heart is moſt cunning, and hardeſt to be trackt by its ſent, when the heart hath taken up abundance of good duties, and attained unto ſundry graces, theſe good duties and common graces drown the ſent of the hearts wickedneſſe. As Huntſmen obſerve, that the hounds cannot well hunt in the Spring, as Theophraſtus, and Pollux, and others obſerve: the ſweet odors of the flowers and herbs (ſayes Oppian) hinder the hounds from ſmelling the hare: ſo it is with Meditation; it is hard for it to track the heart in the green Spring-time of civill honeſty and formality. And therefore let Meditation make deligent ſearch, ſaith he.
The third duty: hale thy heart before God, and let Meditation bring it before his throne, and there powre out thy complaint againſt it before God, out with all thy villany there, and article againſt thy ſelf, and bring as many complaints againſt thy ſelf before heaven, as there be drops in a bucket full of water. So doe the godly: I powred out all my complaints before him (Pſal. 102. in the preface) I powred out my complaints as a man powreth out water out of a veſſel; generally men are willing to call for mercy, but they are not ſo willing to bring complaints unto God againſt themſelves: ye ſhall have them whiſper after the Miniſter, as he is begging for pardon and mercy, but they will not do ſo, whiles he is complaining of their ſins, the helliſh and develiſh abominations of their heart. Theſe are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith, and ſhall never have mercy, till they be as forward to complain of their ſins, as to be plaintiffs for mercy.
When a man in Meditation meets with a hard matter, that he cannot ſufficiently dive into, he breaks it to another: ſo do thou to God; break all thy heart to God, tell him of thy hardneſſe of heart, of the pride of thy heart, of the deſperate prophaneneſſe of thy heart: but take theſe rules with thee;
Firſt, thy complaint muſt be full of ſorrow. Pſal. 55.
Secondly, it muſt be a full complaint of all thy ſins, and of all thy luſts; Lam. 2. 18, 19. Poure aut thy heart like water before the face of the Lord. Water runs all out of a veſſel, when you turn the mouth downward; never a ſpoonfull will ſtay behind. The wicked, will not complain of their ſins fully: they make hypocriticall profeſſions. If it be a ſin, I am ſorry for it; (ſays one) if it be naught, I cry God mercy; (ſaith another) when their own conſciences tell them it is is a ſin, yet they will not complain of it abſolutely.
Thirdly, thy complaint muſt be with aggravation: thou muſt aggravate thy ſins by all the circumſtances, that may ſhew it to be odious, as Peter did: When he thought thereon, he wept, Mark 14. 72. the Originall hath it, he caſt all theſe things one upon another. Wretch that I was, Chriſt was my maſter, and yet I denyed him; ſuch a good maſter, that he called me before any of my fellow-Apoſtles, and yet I denyed him; I was ready to ſink once, he denyed not me: I was to be damned once, he denyed not my ſoul, and yet I denyed him; he told me of this ſin before-hand, that I might take heed of it, and yet I denyed him. I ſaid, I will not commit it, nor forfake him, and yet I denyed him: yea, this very night, no longer ago, did I ſay and ſay again, I would not deny him, and yet I denyed him; yea, I ſaid, though all others denyed him, yet would not I; and yet worſe than all others, I denyed him with a witneſs before a maid, before a damſel; nay, more filthy beaſt that I am, I ſaid I did not know the man; nay more, I ſware I did not know him; nay more than all this, I did even curſe my ſelfe with an oath, that I did not know him: nay more, all this evill did I, not above five or ſix ſtrides from my Lord and Saviour: nay more, even then, when if ever I ſhould have ſtood for him, I ſhould have done it then, when all the world did forſake him. O wretch that I was, I denyed him! he caſt up all theſe circumſtances together, and meditating on them, he went out, land wept bitterly.
Fourthly, thy complaint muſt be a ſelfe-condemning complaint: thou muſt condemn thy ſelf, and lay thy ſelfe at Hell gates, and ſet the naked point of Gods vengeance at thy throat. Thus and thus have I lived, damned, caſt-away, as I have deſerved to be! So did Ezra in the behalfe of the Jews, Ezra 9.
For 1. He fell on his face; he did not bow down on his knees; but like a man aſtoniſhed, he fell on his knees, ready to fall on the ground in amazement.
2. He ſpread out his hand unto the Lord, verse 5. as if he ſhould ſay, here is my heart-blood, Lord here is my breaſt, Lord we deſerve thou ſhouldſt ſtab us with thy wrath.
3. He bluſhes to looke Heaven in the face, verſe 6. ſo vexed to think on the ſins of his people, that he is even confounded to beg mercy.
4. He is (as it were) dumb and ſpeechleſſe before God: And now our God, what ſhall we ſay after all this? for we hauehave forſaken thy commandements, verſe 10. Shall I excuſe the matter? alas! it is inexcuſable. What ſhall we ſay after all this? Shall we call for thy patience? Wee had it, and yet were little the better. Shall we call for mercy, Why? we had it, and yet our ſtubborn hearts would not come down; I know not what to ſay for our ſelves: for we have ſinned againſt thee.
5. He declares Gods truth, that he had warned them by his Prophets, (verſ. 11, 12.) but no warning can better us.
6. He ſhews how God had puniſhed them, yet they would not be humbled: for all that God had brought upon them leſſe evils than they deſerved, and wrought deliverance for them, wich they could not have expected; What ſhall we ſay, ſhould we for all this break thy commandements? verſe 13, 14. What can we expect but hell and confuſion?
7. He is ſenſible of Gods Judgements and righteouſneſſe: O Lord thou art righteous: as if he ſhould ſay, How canſt thou ſpare us for this ſinne? How can it ſtand with thy righteouſneſſe? How is it that ſuch hell-hounds as we are, ſhould live above ground, when thou art ſo righteous a God? It is a wonder that the earth opens not her mouth for to ſwallow us up quick: for, O Lord thou art righteous.
8. He layes down his ſoul, and all the peoples ſouls at Gods feet; as if he ſhould ſay, here we be, thou maiſt damn us if thou wilt; Behold we are all here before thee in our treſpaſſes: for we cannot ſtand before thee, becauſe of this, verſe 15. Behold here are we: rebels we are: here are our heads, and our throats before thee, if now thou ſhouldſt take us from our knees unto hell, and from our prayers unto damnation, we cannot ask thee, why thou doeſt ſo: Oh it's mercy, it's mercy indeed, that we have been ſpared. Thus Meditation muſt bring our hearts before God, and there complain againſt them before heaven.
Meditation ſhould deal with the heart, as the Father did with his poſſeſſed child, who carried him to Chriſt; ſaying, Maſter my child is poſſeſſed
THE DANGER Of Deferring REPENTANCE DISCOVERED In a SERMON preached at Maidſtone in Kent. By that Reverend and Faithfull Miniſter of the Word. WILLIAM FENNER, B. D. Sometimes Fellow of `Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, and late Paſtor of Rochford in Eſſex.
London, Printed by E. T. for John Stafford.