The Holy Limbeck(1), Commentary 42 – Commentary 46
Peace, be ſtill.
And he aroſe, and rebuked the wind, and ſaid unto the ſea, Peace, be ſtill: and the wind ceaſed, and there was a great calm,
Mark 4.39.
VVHilſt Chriſt ſlept, the winds awaked; whilſt he lay down, the ſtorm roſe: when Chriſt aroſe, the winds fell; and when he ſpake, they held their peace: when Chriſt took his reſt, the Ship took none; but ſilence commanded, and the Winds, the Sea, the Ship, and all are pacified: Where's the miracle? Shall not the Sea become a ſtanding Pool, when he rebukes the wind, at whoſe rebuke the waters were unchanell'd, and the foundations of the world diſcovered? Pſal. 18.15. ſhall not the troubled Ocean become a bed of reſt for him, who layeth the Beams of his Chambers in the Waters? Pſalm 104.3. or ſhall not he bridle the wind, who maketh the clouds his Chariot, Pſal. ibid. ſhall not he that brings the winds out of his Treaſuries, Pſalm 135.7. whiſtle them back again? ſhall not he clip the wings of the wind that flies thereon? Pſalm 18.10. ſhall not that ſtormy wind fulfil his word, Pſalm 148.8. whoſe word fills full the wind with ſtorms? Pſalm 107.25. ſhall not his voyce ſtill the Seas, Pſalm 65.7. at whoſe preſence the Earth trembles? Pſalm 18.7. ſhall not he that giveth ſnow like wool, Pſalm 147.16. ſcatter the Sea-froth like aſhes? ſhall not his path be plain, Pſal. 27.11. whoſe way is in the ſea? Pſal. 77.19. No wonder his mercy ſhould ſtill the ſurface of the waves, Pſal. 65.7. whoſe wrath ſhakes the foundation of the hills? Pſal. 18.7. Say then the world were all afloat with blood, and in unconſtant motions; ſay Antichriſtianiſm blew a ſtorm, that whileſt the Maſter-Pilot ſeemed to have ſlept, the doubtful Mariners, ſhifting the ſayls of their Religion with the wind of every doctrine, had anticipated their danger by the ſelf-ſhipwrack of their own faith; ſay Truth, the Churches Cargaiſon, lay at the mercy of the inſulting waves, or tumult of the People, Pſal. 65.7. ſay all the blood from righteous Abel to Zacharias, ſlain between the Temple and the Altar, emptied it ſelf into the bloody Ocean of theſe latter ages, Cannot he that turned the Red-ſea into dry Land, Pſalm 66.6. repeat one wonder in a Goſpel-ſeaſon? ſay the Eaſt and Weſtern ſtorms of perſecution, together with inteſtine whirlwinds, threaten inevitable ruine to the diſtreſſed Veſſel, cannot that High Lord, to whom the wind and ſea owe their Allegiance, ſilence thoſe Euroclydons, ſpunge thoſe impetuous Waves, and land his Ark upon the Ararat of his holy Hill in Sion? or ſay the State, full fraighted and deep loaden with the invalluable riches of that long-acquiring, yet periſhable treaſure of all Civil Happineſs, were in the Bedlam-ſurges of a Civil War, ſo toſſed and fluctuated by the violence of factious winds and guſts of Machivilianiſm, that all the Steerſmen ſeem'd beſide their Compaſs, and every common Marriner ready to make Ship-wreck of a good conſcience on the open ledges of moſt deſperate prophaneneſs, or inviſible Quickſands of ſome dangerous Opinion; yet he before whom all nations are as nothing, Iſa. 40.17. can ſoon annihilate the ſtirs of one: he that ſtilleth the noiſe of the Waves, can quickly appeaſe the madneſs of the People, Pſal. 65.7. if he touch the Hills they ſmoak, Pſal. 104.3. and if he touch the heart (though as hard and lofty as the other) ſhall it not melt? Doubtleſs, he that rebuked the wind, and gave to the ſea his decree, Prov. 8.29. can as eaſily muzzle the rage of wicked men, and ſay to the Church, Peace; and to the State, Be ſtill.
The Charitable Martyr.
And he kneeled down, and cryed with a loud voyce, Lord, lay not this ſin to their charge; and when he had ſaid this, he fell aſleep,
Acts 7.60.
A Good evening Prayer to bedward, a ſet form of charity, not unworthy our every nights practice, if Stephens heart be our bed-fellow: To forgive an Enemy, is the gallant'ſt way of conquering; and he that can dye pardoning his perſecutors, ſurvives their malice in his immortal charity: Revenge juſtifies a wrong, but patient forgiveneſs heaps coals of fire on the Marble-wretch, till by confeſsion, through the repercuſſions of a ſelf-inditing conſcience, he drops out all the blood he formerly had ſuck'd, and his frozen heart be throughly diſſolved. Behold this ſoft-hearted, though ſtoned Saint, call him Stephen the Baptiſt to Chriſts death, Luke 12.50. Mat. 20.23. this Pelican of Martyrs, how to the life he dyes in charity: Not to bleſs them which curſe us, is the ready way to double that curſe upon us; and by the not forgiving ſuch as treſpaſs us, we not onelyonly unpray our prayers, and deprecate our own happineſs, but we pray God we may be damned; we endeavor to delude God by our fraudulent petitions, we give our ſelves the lye, and the world our hypocriſie. To forget an injury, is more then nature can promiſe, yet to forgive it, is leſs then charity commands or grace can perform; for to pray for an Enemy implies more then forgiveneſs, and any thing leſs then forgiveneſs implies nothing leſs then revenge: To forget injuries is the beſt uſe we can make of an ill memory; to forgive them, is a capital ſign of true charity; but to do good for evil, is the happy evidence of ſound Religion: Since 'tis no Comet among the vapors of this age, to account him a man of the beſt ſtomack, that can digeſt leaſt wrongs, let this ſtand for no Paradox, That the meekeſt minde hath the higheſt Spirit, Pſal. 127.6. An injury well remembred, is ill retain'd, and half reveng'd; If ever thou hope thy charity ſhould live after thee, let the injuries of others dye before thee; and if ever thou expect thy blood ſhould cry [How long Lord?] under the Altar, let it cry [Forgive Lord] over thy Grave: Thus Stephen kneeled down, and cryed with a loud voyce, Lord, lay not this ſin to their charge; and when he had ſaid this, he fell aſleep, Acts 7.60.
Reliance on Providence.
Therefore take no thought, ſaying, What ſhall we eat? or what ſhall we drink? or wherewithal ſhall we be cloathed? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all theſe things,
Mat. 6.31,32.
NOt to believe God, is to give him the lye; and not to acquieſce in his Promiſes, doth as well diſpute the point of his Power, as queſtion the infalibility of his Truth: Gods promiſes are the Patrimony of the faithful, whereby they keep heaven in hand, but let out the lower world to inferior Peaſants: Gods Providence is the yonger brothers Inheritance, and a fair one too, or Joſephs Vice-Royalty, Gen. 41.40. was but a dream. Rather then Elijah ſhall want a Providence to feed him in a famine, or Sampſon the like to feaſt him, the Raven of Fowls ſhall be a Cater for the one, and the Lyon of Beaſts an Epulary for the other; yea, the Lyon and the Raven, though the prey-Creatures of earth and ayr, yet ſeek their meat of God, Pſal. 104.21. and 147.9. whereas the earthly minded (who know no better Providence then their own) make a god of their Meat, Phil. 3.19. a whole flock of ſuch Peacocks, that glory in their train, is not worth one Sparrow, which lights not on ground without a conveyance of Providence: If Solomons gallantry came ſhort of thoſe withering bluſhes, that but enamell'd the earth, well worth the truſting is that Providence, with the care of that earth he refin'd for the ſuperſcription of his own image, to enamel it with the graces of his Spirit. To call this unhappy accident, or that unexpected circumſtance, the iſſue of Chance or Fortune, is but a ruſtick piece of ſophiſtical Atheiſm: There's not a hair of thy head but is placed to accompt in the the Diary of Providence, the number whereof though incalculable, yet comes far ſhort of ballancing the ſumma totalis of thy ſins: And though for want of better ſpectacles, that ſeems Chance in reſpect of us, which is Providence in reſpect of God; yet that Sect of Underſtanders, who refer all things to Gods abſolute will in a way of fatal neceſſity, do as much calumniate that ſuperintendent Attribute of his Mercy, as the other detract from the irreſiſtability of his Power: If thou wouldſt live by Providence, take God to his Word; for Providence without a promiſe, may be large Bounty without the leaſt mercy: Now, all his promiſes are Yea and Amen: Therefore take no thought what ye ſhall eat, or what ye ſhall drink, or wherewithal, &c. Matth. 6.31,32.
See thou do it not.
And I fell at his feet to worſhip him; and he ſaid unto me, See thou do it not,
Rev. 19.10.
'TWas well prevented; the Prophetical Divine was within a foot of Idolatry: There was but an Almoſt between Agrippa and a Chriſtian, and there was no more between John and an Idolater; the one had almoſt overtaken, by his Faith, that Scribe or diſcreet reſpondent in the Goſpel, travelling on the Dromedary of his works to the Kingdom of God, from which he was not far, Mat. 12.34. the other was as faſt poſting to the Kingdom of Satan, had he not in the way, when he fell, ſtumbled on a Vide ne feceris. Had not the Angel entred a caveat, the Divine had proved a moſt falſe Will-worſhipper; thus he that was ſo well ſeen in the viſions of God, was dazled with too much light.
And are not the Saints then much ingaged to thoſe Sacrilegious Idoliſts of the weſtern Babylon, for doing them more honor then Angels dare admit of; indeed, unleſs their worſhip were better, its no matter who had it, if God could be ſo ſatiſfied. Idolatry is the Epidemical ſin of the world; there's ſcarce a Nation this ſide Heaven, a people in any Nation, a profeſſion in any people, a perſon in any profeſſion, a ſoul in any perſon, or a faculty in any ſoul, to whom it may not be ſaid, See thou do it not. Not to do what we are commanded, is Diſobedience or Rebellion; to do what we are not commanded, uperſtition; & to do what we ought, in that way we ought not, Idolatry: If we worſhip the true God in a falſe way, we make an Idol of God; if we worſhip a falſe god in the true way, we make a god of an Idol. Indeed, all thoughts cogitable, all words articulable, and all actions performable by the Creature, as they tend either to the honor or diſhonor of the Creator, ſo have they in them a true worſhip, or downright Idolatry: For Covetouſneſs, which is idolatry, Col. 3.5. may not be meaſured onelyonly by thy purſe-ſtrings, but dilates it ſelf to all the evils man naturally covets to commit: Thus the whole world makes but one Idol; to our Savior it was the Devils gratituity, if he would condeſcend to worſhip him; to us it is the Devils Dagon which he hath ſet up for all People, Nations and Languages, at the ſound of the inchanting Muſick of his temptations, to fall down and worſhip, or be caſt into the burning fiery Furnace of Perſecution; and where ſhall we finde a truſty Daniel? indeed we have many that will burn, rather then fall to the leaſt ſuperſtition; yet take them out of the road of notorious idolatry, and let the Idol be compounded of Spiritual Pride, inviſible Covetouſneſs, Equivocated Love to earthly Temporals, or any other materials of their own Ingredients and Erection, and you ſhall finde Chriſtendom nonplus'd to parallel ſuch a Trinity of unidolatrous Children: inſomuch that as the corrupter ages have been ever bowing to the great Idol of Antichriſtianiſm, which myſtical Nebuchadnezzar hath ſet up; ſo the more refined times to the brazen Serpent in their own hearts, thoſe dregs of remaining corruption, to which the moſt ſuperſtitionleſs Saint would fall down, worſhip, and finally Sacrifice, did not the Angel of the Covenant by his Spirit intervene with a See thou do it not, Rev. 19.10.
The mad Prodigal.
And when he came to himſelf, he ſaid, How many hired ſervants of, &c.
Luke 15.17.
ANd when he came to himſelf] Why, whither went this yonger brother? how far had he been from himſelf? truly he had been with Swine; you may gueſs what his Profeſſion was, when he parted from ſober company; he asked leave of his father, to take leave of himſelf, and parted from himſelf, when he bad reaſon adieu: That charity begins at home, was the firſt thought that came to the Prodigal, after the Prodigal came to himſelf; and it was a happy eſcape, that during his deſperate Lunacy for want of Acorn husks, he had not made uſe of an Oaken bough: He began to go out of himſelf, when firſt he would fain be his own man; but when he came again to himſelf, he was half way home to his own happineſs: He begg'd heartily for his own curſe, when he firſt asked his Fathers bleſſing; and had not the ſwine fared the better of the two, the herd ſhould be drowned ere himſelf would cry Peccavi.
Swine and Drunkards, meet Companions; Swine and Luſtmongers, very fit Sty-fellows, Hogs and Epicures, Boars and Hell-Stalions, Sows and Harlots, Pigs and Prodigals; pity ſuch proper Engliſh that runs ſo naturally, ſhould ever know any other conſtruction then what the nature of the beaſt admits.
Though this be but a Parable, yet here's a Parent and a Prodigal, a Bleſſing and a Curſe, an elder and a yonger brother, a faithful and unfaithful ſervant, a penitent childe, and a pardoning Father, a ſelfjuſtifying ſervant, yet a wiſe rewarding Maſter; indeed the whole myſtery of mans Salvation: In which Parable, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit ſaith unto his Conſcience; and unleſs he reſolves to dye in this Bedlam, and periſh in the other, he will be of this Prodigals minde, When he came to himſelf, and ſaid, &c. Luke 15.17.