Sermons, Sermon 13
The XIII Sermon.
Acts XVII. 30.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
THEY which come from either mean or diſhonoured Progenitors, will deſire to make up their fathers defect by their own induſtry, foreign, ſaith Leo in his Tacticks, Will be more forward to undertake any valiant enterprize, to recover that reputation, which their Anceſtors cowardice and unworthy carriage forfeited. So doth it nearly concern the ſon of a bankrupt, to ſet upon all the courſes of Thrift, and ſtratagems of fiugality, to get out of that hereditary poverty in which his fathers improvidence had engaged him. Thus is it alſo in the poverty and bankrupt eſtate of the Soul: they who come from prodigal Anceſtors, which have embezled all the riches of Gods mercy, ſpent profuſely all the light of nature, and alſo ſome ſparks out of the Scriptures, and whatſoever knowledg and directions they met with, either for the ordering of their worſhip, or their lives, ſpent it all upon harlots, turned all into the adoring of thoſe Idol-gods, wherein conſiſts the ſpiritual adultery of the ſoul; Thoſe I ſay who are the ſtems of this ignorant, profane, Idolatrous root, ought to endeavour the utmoſt of their powers, and will, in probability, be ſo wiſe and careful as to lay ſome ſtrict obligations on themſelves, to ſtrive to ſome perfection in thoſe particulars which their Anceſtors fail'd in: that if the Gentiles were perverſly blind, and reſolutely, peremptorily ignorant, then muſt their Progeny ſtrive to wipe off the guilt and avoid the puniſhment of their ignorance. Now this ignorance of theirs being not only by Clemens and the fathers, but by Triſmegiſtus in his Paemander defined to be foreign, a prophaneneſs, Lib. 2. p. 7. 1.an irrational ſleep, and drunkenneſs of the ſoul; in ſum an ignorance of themſelves, and of God, and a ſtupid neglect of any duty belonging to either; this ignorance being either in its ſelf or in its fruits foreign, the wickedneſs of the ſoul, and all manner of tranſgreſſion: The only way for us, the ſucceſſors of theſe ignorant Gentiles to repair thoſe ruins,p. 10. m. to renew the Image of God in our ſelves, which their Idolatrous ignorance defaced, muſt be to take the oppoſite courſe to them, and to provide our remedy antiparallel to their diſeaſe, (i. e.) in reſpect of their ſimple ignorance, to labour for knowledge, in reſpect of the effects of their ignorance, idolatry, prophaneneſs, and all manner of wickedneſs, to labour for Piety and Repentance. Briefly, if their ignorance of God was an heirous ſin, and vertually all kind of ſin, then to eſteem repentance the greateſt knowledge, to approve and ſecond the force and method of St. Paul's argument, to preſcribe our ſelves whatever God commands. For ſo here in this Chapter, having diſcourſt over their ignorance, he makes that a motive of our repentance, and that back't with a ſpecial Item from God, Who now commands every man every where to repent.
We have heretofore divided theſe words, and in them handled already the ignorance of the ancient Heathen, which in the juſtice of God might have provoked him to have pretermitted the whole world of ſucceeding Gentiles. We now come to the 2d. part; the mercy of God, not imputing their ignorance to our charge, whoſoever every where to the end of the world ſhall repent. And in this you muſt conſider, firſt Gods Covenant made with the Gentiles, or the receiving them into the Church, deduced out of theſe words, But now commands, for all to whom God makes known his commands, are by that very cognizance known to be parts of his Church; and with all theſe he enters covenant, he promiſeth ſalvation upon performance of the condition required by his commands, Repentance. Secondly the condition it ſelf, in the laſt words, to repent. And then laſtly the extent of both; the latitude of the perſons with whom this covenant is made, and from whom this condition is exacted, all men everywhere. And firſt of the firſt, the covenant made with the Gentiles, or the receiving them into the Church, noted in theſe words, But now commands, &c.
'Tis obſervable in our common affairs, that we do not uſe to lay our commands on any, but thoſe who have ſome relation to us: a King will not vouchſafe to imploy any in any peculiar ſervice, but thoſe whom he hath entertained, and by oath admitted into his Court. And 'tis the livery by which one is known to belong to ſuch a family, if he be imployed in either common or ſpecial ſervice by the maſter of it. To expreſs it more generally, they are call'd natural members of a Kingdom, who are tyed to obedience, to all laws or cuſtoms national, who are engaged in the common burthens, as well as priviledges, the ſervices, as well as benefits of a ſubject. The Eccleſiaſtical Canons are meant and exhibited only to thoſe, who are either in truth, or profeſſion parts of the Church: the Turk or Infidel profeſs'd is not honoured ſo much as to be bound to them. The orders and peculiar laws of a City or Country are directed to thoſe who are either cives, or civitate donati; and our oaths and obligations to theſe, or theſe local Collegiate ſtatutes, argue us foreign, to be members of this or that foundation. Now to whomſoever theſe Laws and commands do belong, whoſoever is thus entertained, and admitted into ſervices, is partaker alſo of all advantages which belong to a member of a family; and is by covenant to receive all emoluments in as ample a manner as any other of his quality. And this briefly is the ſtate of the Gentiles here in the Text, who, in that God commands them here to repent (which is the law and condition of the New Teſtament) are judged upon theſe grounds to be received into the covenant of the New Teſtament; and conſequently made members of the Church. For as once it was an argument that only Jury was Gods people, becauſe they only received his Commands, and the Heathen had not knowledge of his Laws; ſo now was it as evident a proof that the heathen were received into his Church (i. e.) into the number of thoſe whom he had culled out for ſalvation, becauſe he made known his ordinances to them, entertained them in his ſervice, and commanded them every one every where to repent. Appian obſerves in his Proeme to his Hiſtory, that the Romans were very coy in taking ſome nations into their dominions; they could not be perſwaded by every one to be their Lords: he ſaw himſelf many Embaſſadors from the Barbarians, who came ſolemnly to give themſelves up to the Roman greatneſs, ambitious to be received into the number of their dominions, foreign, and the King would not receive ſuch low unprofitable ſervants. 'Twas eſteemed a preferment, which it ſeems every nation could not attain to, to be under the Roman government, and commanded by the Roman laws: and there were many reaſons, if we may judge by the outſide, why the Gentiles ſhould not be likely to obtain this priviledge from God, to be vouchſafed his commands. For 1. they had been neazled up in ſo many centuries of ignorance, they had been ſo ſtarved with thin hard fare, under the tyranny of a continued ſuperſtition, which gave them no ſolid nouriſhment, nothing but husks, and acorns to feed on, that they were now grown horrid, and almoſt ghaſtly, being paſt all amiableneſs or beauty, foreign, good for nothing in the World. We ſee in Hiſtories that perpetual war hinders tillage, and ſuffers them not to beſtow that culture on the ground, which the ſubſiſtence of the Kingdom requires. Thus was it with the Gentiles in the time of their foreign, their hoſtility with God: they generally beſtowed no trimming or culture on the ſoul, either to improve or adorn it; and then receiving no ſpiritual food from God, all paſſages being ſhut up by their Idolatry, they were famiſhed into ſuch a meagerneſs, they were ſo ungainly and creſt-faln, that all the fat kine of Aegypt according to Pharaoh's dream, all heathen learning could not mend their looks, they were ſtill for all their Philoſophy, like the lean kine that had devoured the fat, yet thrived not on it; they were ſtill poor and ill favoured, ſuch as were not to be ſeen in all the land of Jury for badneſs, Gen. xli. 19.
2. They had engaged themſelves in ſuch a courſe, that they could ſcarce ſeem ever capable of being received into any favour with God.Lib. 1. p. 29. Polybius obſerves it as a policy of thoſe which were delighted in ſtirs and wars, to put the people upon ſome inhumane, cruel practice, ſome killing of Embaſſadors, or the like feat, which was unlawful even amongſt enemies, that after ſuch an action the enemy ſhould be incenſed beyond hope of reconciliation. So did Aſdrubal in Appian, Ap. foreign, p. 54.uſe the captive Romans with all poſſible cruelty, with all arts of inhumanity, fley'd them, cut off their fingers, and then hanged them alive; to the end, ſaith he, that thereby he might make the diſſenſions of Carthage and Rome foreign, not poſſibly to be compoſed, but to be proſecuted with a perpetual hoſtility. This was the effect of Achitophel's counſel to Abſalom, that he ſhould lye with his fathers concubines; and this alſo was the Devils plot upon the Gentiles, who as if they were not enough enemies unto God for the ſpace of 2000 years Idolatry, at laſt reſolved to fill up the meaſure of their rebellions, to make themſelves, if it were poſſible, ſinful beyond capability of mercy; and to provoke God to an eternal revenge, they muſt needs joyn in crucifying Chriſt, and partake of the ſhedding of that blood, which hath ever ſince ſo dyed the ſouls, and curſed the ſucceſſions of the Jews. For it is plain, 1. by the kind of his death which was Roman, 2. by his Judge, who was Caeſaris rationalis, by whom Judaea was then governed: or as Tacitus ſaith in the 15. of his Annals, Caeſar's Procurator; all capital judgments being taken from the Jews Sanhedrim, as they confeſs, Joh. xviii. 21. it is not lawful for us to put any one to death, 3. by the Prophecy, Mat. xx. 19. They ſhall deliver him to the Gentiles: by theſe I ſay, and many other arguments, 'tis plain that the Gentiles had their part and guilt in the crucifying of Chriſt, and ſo by ſlaying of the Son, as it is in the parable, provoked and deſerved the implacable revenge of the Father. And yet for all this, God enters league, and truce, and peace with them, thinks them worthy to hear and obey his laws; nay above the eſtate of ſervants, takes them into the liberty and free eſtate of the Goſpel, and by binding them to ordinances as Citizens, expreſſeth them to be civitate donates caeleſti, within the pale of the Church, and covenant of ſalvation. They which are overcome and taken captives in war, may by law be poſſeſt by the victor for all manner of ſervitude and ſlavery, and therefore ought to eſteem any the hardeſt conditions of peace and liberty as favours and mercies, foreign, ſaith Marcus in Polybius: they which are conquered muſt acknowledg themſelves beholding to the victor, if he will upon any terms allow them quarter, or truce. Thus was it above all other ſinners with the Gentiles of that time, after 2000 years war with the one God, they were now fallen into his hands, ready to receive the foreſt ſtrokes, to bear the ſhrewdeſt burdens he could lay on them; had it not been then a favour above hope, to be received even as hired ſervants, which was the higheſt of the Prodigals ambition? Luke xv. 19.Luke XV. 19. Had it not been a very hoſpitable carriage towards the dogs as they are called,Mat. XV. 26. Mat. xv. 26. to ſuffer them to lick up thoſe crums which fell from the childrens table? Yet ſo much are Gods mercies above the pitch of our expectation, or deſerts; above what we are able or confident enough to ask, or hope, that he hath aſſumed and adopted theſe captives into ſons. And as once by the councel of God Jacob ſupplanted Eſau, and thruſt him out of his birth-right; ſo now by the mercy of God, Eſau hath ſupplanted Jacob, and taken his room in Gods Church and Favour, and inſtead of that one language of the Jews, of which the Church ſo long conſiſted, now is come in the confuſion of the Gentiles, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the Babel of tongues, Act. ii. 9. And as once at the diſperſion of the Gentiles by the miracle of a puniſhment, they which were all of one tongue, could not underſtand one another, Gen. xi. 9.Gen. XI. 9. ſo now at the gathering of the Gentiles by a miracle of mercy,V. Leo. p. 67. they which were of ſeveral tongues underſtood one another, and every Nation heard the Apoſtles ſpeak in their own language, Acts XI. 6.Acts xi. 6. noting thereby, ſaith Auſtin, that the Catholick Church ſhould be diſperſed over all Nations, and ſpeak in as many languages as the world hath tongues. Concerning the buſineſs of receiving the Gentiles into covenant,De Civit. l.18. p. 49. c. St. Auſtin is plentiful in his 18. Book de Civit. Dei. where he interprets the ſymbolical writings, and reads the riddles of the Prophets to this purpoſe, how they are called the children of Iſrael, Hoſ. I. 11.Hoſ. i. 11. as if Eſau had robbed Jacob of his name, as well as inheritance; that they are declared by the title of barren and deſolate, Eſa. LIV. 1.Eſa. liv. 1. whoſe fruitfulneſs ſhould break forth, ſurpaſs the number of the children of the married wife. To this purpoſe doth he enlarge himſelf to expound many other places of the Prophets, and among them the Prophecy of Obadiah, from which (Edom by a pars pro toto ſignifying the Gentiles) he expreſly concludes their calling, and ſalvation: but how that can hold in that place, ſeeing the whole Prophecy is a denunciation of judgments againſt Edom, and ver. 10. 'tis expreſly read, For thy violence againſt thy brother Jacob, ſhame ſhall cover thee, and thou ſhalt be cut out for ever. How I ſay, from that place, amongſt others, this truth may be deduced, I leave to the revealers of Revelations, and that undertaking ſort of people, the peremptory expounders of depths, and Prophecies. In the mean time we have places enough of plain prediction beyond the uncertainty of a gueſs, which diſtinctly foretold this bleſſed Catholick Truth, and though Peter had not mark't or remembred them ſo exactly, as to underſtand that by them, the Gentiles were to be preach't to, and no longer to be accounted prophane and unclean, Acts x. yet 'tis more then probable, that the devil, a great contemplator, and well ſeen in Prophecies, obſerv'd ſo much; and therefore knowing Chriſts coming to be the ſeaſon for fulfilling it, about that time drooped, and ſenſibly decayed: loſt much of his courage, and was not ſo active amongſt the Genti'es as he had been; his oracles began to grow ſpeechleſs, and to ſlink away before hand, leſt tarrying ſtill they ſhould have been turned out with ſhame. Which one thing, the ceaſing of Oracles, though it be by Plutarch, and ſome other of the devils champions, refer'd plauſibly to the change of the ſoyl, and failing of Enthuſiaſtical vapours and exhalations; yet was it an evident argument that at Chriſts coming, Satan ſaw the Gentiles were no longer fit for his turn, they were to be received into a more honourable ſervice under the living God, neceſſarily to be impatient of the weight and ſlavery of his ſuperſtitions, and therefore it concern'd him to prevent violence with a voluntary flight, leſt otherwiſe he ſhould with all his train of oracles have been forced out of their coaſts: for Lucifer was to vaniſh like lightning, when the light to lighten the Gentiles did but begin to appear; and his laws were outdated, when God would once be pleaſed to command. Now that (in a word) we may more clearly ſee, what calling, what entring into covenant with the Gentiles, is here meant by Gods commanding them; we are to rank the commands of God into two ſorts, 1. common Catholick commands, and theſe extend as far as the viſible Church, 2. peculiar commands, inward operations of the ſpirit, theſe are both priviledges and characters, and properties of the inviſible Church (i. e) the Elect, and in both theſe reſpects doth he vouchſafe his commands to the Gentiles. In the firſt reſpect God hath his louder trumpets, foreign, Matth. xxiv. 31.Mat. XXIV. 31 which all acknowledge, who are in the noiſe of it, and that is the ſound of the Goſpel, the hearing of which conſtitutes a viſible Church. And thus at the preaching of the Goſpel, foreign, all the Heathens had knowledge of his Laws, Acts l. 25.and ſo were offered the Covenant, if they would accept the condition. For however that place, Acts i. 25. be by one of our writers of the Church wreſted, by changing (that I ſay not, by falſifying) the punctuation, to witneſs this truth, I think we need not ſuch ſhifts to prove, that God took ſome courſe by the means of the Miniſtery and Apoſtleſhip, to make known to all nations under Heaven (i. e.) to ſome of all nations, both his Goſpel and commands;Rom. X. 18. the ſound of it went through all the earth, Rom. x. 18.Pſal. XIX. 4. cited out the xix. Pſal. verſe 4. though with ſome change of a word, their ſound in the Romans for their line in the Pſalmiſt, cauſed by the Greek Tranſlators, who either read and rendred foreign, for foreign,foreign, or elſe laid hold of the Arabick notion of the word, the loud noiſe and clamor which hunters make in their purſuit and chaſe.Mar. XIV. 9. So Mark xiv. 9. This Goſpel ſhall be preached througthout the world: Mar. XVI 15.So Mark xvi. 15. To every creature; Matth. xxiv. 14. in all the world, Mat. XXIV. 14and many the like, as belongs to our laſt particular to demonſtrate. Beſides this, God had in the ſecond reſpect, his vocem pediſſequam, which the Prophet mentions, a voice attending us to tell us of our duty, to ſhew us the way, and accompany us therein. And this, I ſay, ſounds in the heart not in the Ear, and they only hear and underſtand the voice, who are partakers as well of the effect, as of the news of the covenant. Thus in theſe two reſpects doth he command, by his word in the Ears of the Gentiles, by giving every man every where knowledge of his laws:Juſt. l. 24. and ſo in ſome Latin Authors mandare ſignifies to give notice, to expreſs ones will, to declare or proclaim. And thus ſecondly, doth he command by his ſpirit in the ſpirits of the elect Gentiles, by giving them the benefit of adoption, and in both theſe reſpects he enters a covenant with the Gentiles (which was the thing to be demonſtrated) with the whole name of them at large, with ſome choice veſſels of them more nearly and peculiarly; and this was the thing which by way of doctrine we collected out of theſe words, but now commands.] Now that we may not let ſuch a precious truth paſs by unreſpected, that ſuch an important ſpeculation may not float only in our brains, we muſt by way of Application preſs it down to the heart, and fill our ſpirits with the comfort of that doctrine, which hath matter for our practice as well as our contemplation. For if we do but lay to our thoughts, 1. the miracle of the Gentiles calling (as hath been heretofore and now inſiſted on) and 2. mark how nearly the receiving of them into covenant concerns us their ſucceſſors, we ſhall find real motives to provoke us to a ſtrain and key above ordinary thanksgiving. For as Peter ſpake of Gods promiſe, ſo it is in the like nature of Gods command (which is alſo virtually a promiſe) it belonged not to them only, but it is to you and your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God ſhall call, Acts II. 39.Acts ii. 39. From the firſt, the miracle of their calling, our gratitude may take occaſion much to enlarge it ſelf.Pag. 158. 'Tis ſtoried of Braſidas in the fourth of Thucidides, that imputing the victory which was ſomewhat miraculous to ſome more then ordinary humane cauſe, he went preſently to the Temple loaded with offerings, and would not ſuffer the gods to beſtow ſuch an unexpected favour on him unrewarded: and can we paſs by ſuch a mercy of our God without a ſpiritual ſacrifice, without a daily Anthem of Magnificats and Hallelujah's? Herodotus obſerves it is as a Proverb of Greece, foreign,Pag.59.that if God would not ſend them rain, they were to famiſh; for they had, ſaid he, no natural fountains, or any other help of waters, foreign, but what God from above ſent. Pag. 130.So faith Thucidides, in the fourth of his Hiſtory, there was but one fountain within a great compaſs, and that none of the biggeſt. So alſo was Aegypt another part of the Heathen world, to be watered only by Nilus, Herod. p.62.and that being drawn by the Sua, did often ſuccour them, and fatten the Land, for which all the neighbours fared the worſe: for when Nilus flowed,Pag.61. the neighbouring Rivers were left dry, ſaith Herodotus. You need not the mythology; the Philoſophers, as well as ſoyl of Greece, had not moiſture enough to ſuſtain them from nature; if God had not ſent them water from Heaven, they and all we Gentiles had for ever ſuffered a ſpiritual thirſt. Aegypt and all the Nations had for ever gaſped for drought, if the ſun-ſhine of the Goſpel had not by its beams call'd out of the Well which had no bucket, foreign, living or enlivening water, John 4. 6. But by this attraction of the Sun, theſe living waters did ſo break out upon the Gentiles, that all the waters of Jury were left dry, as once the dew was on Gideons fleece, and drought on all the earth beſides, Judg. vi. 37.Judg. VI: 37. And is it reaſonable for us to obſerve this miracle of mercy, and not return even a miracle of thankſgiving? Can we think upon it without ſome rapture of our ſouls? Can we inſiſt on it, and not feel a holy tempeſt within us, a fſorm and diſquiet, till we have ſome way disburthened and eaſed our ſelves, with a powring out of thankſgiving? That ſpirit is too calm, (that I ſay not ſtupid) which can bear and be loaded with mercies of this kind, and not take notice of its burthen: for beſides thoſe peculiar favours beſtowed on us in particular, we are, as faith Chryſoſtome, Tom. 4.P. 824. in our audit of thankſgiving, to reckon up all the foreign, all thoſe common benefactions of which others partake with us: for 'tis, ſaith he, an ordinary negligence in us, to recount Gods mercies as we confeſs our ſins, only in groſs, with an foreign, we are great ſinners, and God hath abounded in mercies to us; never calling our ſelves to a ſtrict retail either of our ſins or his mercies; and this neglect, ſaith he, doth deprive us of a great deal of ſpiritual ſtrength. For 1. the recounting of the multitude of Gods mercies to us formerly, might give us confidence of the continuance of them, according to St. Cyprian, donando debet, Gods paſt bleſſings are engagements, and pawns of future. 2. 'Tis, faith he, of excellent uſe, foreign, to bring us acquainted and familiar with God, and infinitely increaſeth our love to him, and deſire of performing ſome manner of recompence. Which one thing made the Heathen of old ſo love and reſpect their benefactors, that they worſhip't them, and would not ſuffer any common real benefaction to be done them without an foreign, to the author of it, as might be proved through all ancient writings; for on theſe grounds was it that they would needs ſacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, Acts XIV. 13.Acts xiv. 13. In the ſecond place, if we conſider how nearly it concerns us, that if they had been pretermitted, we to the end of the world might probably have lived in the ſame darkneſs, that we now hold our right to Heaven by the Covenant made to them, that thoſe commands belong alſo to us and our children, then we muſt in ſome reaſon of proportion thank God liberally, for that calling of the Gentiles, as we cannot chuſe but do for our preſent adoption, and enlarge our thankſgiving not for our own only, but for that firſt juſtification, ſanctification, and ſalvation of the Gentiles. And this effuſion of our ſouls in thanks, will prove of good uſe to us both to confirm our confidence, and keep us in a Chriſtian temper of humility and chearful obedience. And therefore I thought good to preſent it to you in the firſt place as a duty of no ordinary moment.
2. If God hath commanded, and conſequently expects our obedience; if theſe commands concern us, and contain in them all that belongs to our ſalvation; if they are, as hath been proved, Gods covenant with the Gentiles, then not to be wanting to our ſelves, but earneſtly to labour and provide that no one circumſtance of them may be without its peculiar profit, and advantage to our ſouls.Lib. 1. p. 30. Polybius from the war betwixt the Numidians and Uticenſes, obſerves, that if a victory gotten by the Captain, be not by the Souldiers proſecuted to the utmoſt, it likely proves more dangerous, then if they had never had it: if the King, faith he, take the City, foreign, and the multitude overjoy'd with the news, begin to grow leſs earneſt in the battle, a hundred to one, but the conquer'd will take notice and heart from this advantage, and, as the Uticenſes did, make their flight a ſtratagem to get the victory. Thus is it in thoſe ſpiritual combats, where God is our leader, our commander, our conquerer againſt the Devils hoſt, if we of his command, the foreign, the many, who expect our part in the profit of the victory, do not proſecute this conqueſt to the utmoſt, to the utter diſcomfiting and diſarming of our fugitive enemy; if we ſhould grow ſecure upon the news, and neither fear nor prevent any farther difficulties, we may be in more danger for that former conqueſt, and as 'twas ordinary in ſtory, by that time we have ſet up our Trophie's, our ſelves be overcome. I might preſcribe you many courſes, which it would concern you to undertake, for the right managing of this victory, which this our Commander, hath not by his fighting, but by his very commanding purchaſed us. But becauſe my Text requires haſt, and I go on but ſlowly, I muſt omit them, and only inſiſt on that which is ſpecified in my Text, repentance, which drives to the condition of the covenant, the matter of the command which comes next to be diſcuſs'd.
The word Repent] may in this place be taken in a double ſenſe; 1. generally for a ſorrow for our ſins, and on that, a disburdening of our ſelves of that load which did formerly preſs down the ſoul; for a ſenſe of our former ill courſes, and a deſire to fit our ſelves for Gods ſervice; for an humbling our ſelves before God, and flying to him as our only ſuccour, and ſo it well may be called the condition of Gods covenant with us, that which God requires at our hands under the Goſpel: for it was the firſt word at the firſt preaching of the Goſpel, by John Baptiſt, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, Mat. III. 2.Matth. iii. 2. which, ſaith the Text, was in effect, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths ſtraight, verſe 3. So that briefly, this repent is a ſtraightning and rectifying all crookedneſs, every diſtortion of the ſoul, and thereby a preparing of it for the receiving of Chriſt and embracing his Goſpel. 2. In a nearer relation to the firſt words of the verſe, repentance is taken more ſpecially by way of oppoſition, for a mending and forſaking of that which of old was the fault, and guilt of the Gentiles, a reforming of every thing which was either formally or virtually contain'd in their ignorance, and what that is you ſhall briefly judg.
'Tis obſerved by Interpreters, that doing or ſuffering, action or paſſion are expreſt in Scripture by the word knowing; ſo to know ſin is to commit ſin, to know a woman, and the like. So Peter to the maid, Matth. xxvi. 70. I know not what thou ſaiſt (i. e.) I am not guilty of the doing what thou imputeſt to me. According to which Hebraiſm to know God and his laws, is to worſhip him, and perform them: and conſequently to be ignorant of both, is neither to worſhip God, nor practiſe any thing which his laws command: and ſo knowledge ſhall contain all piety and godly obedience, or love of Gods commandments, as God is ſaid to know thoſe whom he loves; and ignorance, all prophaneneſs and neglect, yea and hatred either of God or goodneſs. According to which Expoſition are thoſe two ſayings, the one of Hermes in his 10. Book called foreign, the ignorance of God is all manner of ſin, the other of Paſtor in Clemens, foreign, repentance is a great piece of knowledge or wiſdom. So that briefly the recovering of the ſoul to the pure knowledge of God and goodneſs, the worſhipping, loving, and obeying of God, is the thing here meant by repentance, which yet we may preſs into a nearer room, into one ſingle duty, the directing all our actions to his glory: for this is in effect to worſhip, to obey, to love God, to worſhip for obedience ſake, becauſe he commands it, to obey him for love's ſake, becauſe we deſire he ſhould be glorified in our obedience. And this is the excellency and perfection of a Chriſtian, infinitely above the reach of the proudeſt moraliſts: this is the repentance of a Chriſtian, whereby he makes up thoſe defects, which were moſt eminently notorious in the Heathen: this is the impreſſion of that humbling ſpirit, which proud heathen nature was never ſtamp't with, for 'twas not ſo much their ignorance in which they offended God, (though that was alſo full of guilt, as hath been proved) as their miſuſing of their knowledge to ungainly ends, as either ambition, ſuperſtition, or for ſatisfying their curioſity, as partly hath, and for the preſent needs not farther to be demonſtrated, Only for us whom the command doth ſo nearly concern, of repenting for, and reforming their abuſes; how ſhall we be caſt at the bar, if we ſtill continue in the ſame guilt? The orderly compoſition of the world,P. 5. ſaith Athenagoras, the greatneſs, complexion, figure, and harmony of it, are foreign, engagements to us and pawns to oblige us to a pious worſhip of God. For what Philoponus obſerves of the doctrine of the ſoul, is in like manner true of all kind of learning, foreign, they extend and have an influence over all our converſation; and if they be well ſtudied, and to purpoſe, leave their characters and impreſſions in our lives, as well as our underſtandings: and from thence aroſe the Gentiles guilt, who did only enrich their intellectual part with the knowledge and contemplation of them, no whit better their lives, or glorifie God which made them. But for us whoſe knowledge is much elevated above their pitch, who ſtudy and ordinarily attain to the underſtanding of thoſe depths which they never fathom'd, the reading of thoſe riddles which they never heard of, the expounding of thoſe myſteries which they never dream't of; for us, I ſay, who have ſeen a marvellous light, thereby only to enlighten our brains and not our hearts, to divert that precious knowledge to ſome poor, low, unworthy ends; to gather nothing out of all our ſtudies which may advance Gods Kingdom in us, this is infinitely beyond the guilt of Heatheniſin; this will call their ignorance up to judgment againſt our knowledge, and in fine make us curſe that light, which we have uſed to guide us only to the Chambers of death. Briefly, there was no one thing lay heavier upon the Gentiles, then the not directing that meaſure of knowledge they had, to Gods glory, and a vertuous life: and nothing more nearly concerns us Chriſtians to amend and repent of. For the moſt exquiſite knowledge of nature, and more ſpecially the moſt accurate skill in Theological myſteries, if it float only in the brain, and ſink not down into the heart, if it end not in reformation of erroneous life, as well as doctrine, and glorifying God in our knowledge of him, it is to be reputed but a glorious, ſpecious curſe, not an enriching, but a burthening of the ſoul, Aurum Tholoſanum, an unlucky merchandiſe, that can never thrive with the owner, but commonly betrays and deſtroys all other good affections and graces in us.Auſt. de civ. Dei, lib: 8. cap. 3. &c. Procluſ. v. Patricii Plat. exoter. p. 42. Socrates was the firſt that brought morality into the Schools, ideoque ad hominum ſalutem natus eſt, ſaid an old Philoſopher: and that made the oracle ſo much admire him for the wiſeſt man in the world. At any piece of ſpeculation, the devil durſt challenge the proudeſt Philoſopher amongſt them, but for a vertuous life, he deſpaired of ever reaching to it: this ſet him at a gaze, this poſed and made a dunce of him, and forced him to proclaim the Moraliſt the greateſt Scholar under Heaven. foreign, ſaith Heſychius, foreign, the making uſe of knowledge to ambition, or puffing up, is a dangerous deſperate diſeaſe, and pray God it be not foreign, alſo in its other ſence, a diſeaſe that attends our holyeſt ſpeculations, even our ſtudy of Divinity.Arrian. in Epict. l. 1. c. 26. For as Arrian ſaith of thoſe who read many Books and digeſt none, ſo is it moſt true of thoſe who do not concoct their foreign, and turn it into ſpiritual nouriſhment of the ſoul, foreign, they vomit it up again, and are never the better for it, they are oppreſt with this very learning, as a ſtomack with crudities, and thereby fall many times foreign, into vertigoes and catarrhes, the firſt of which diſorders the brain, and diſables it for all manner of action: or if the more claſſical notion of the word take place, it diſaffects the bowels, entangles and diſtorts the entrals, and (as St. Paul complains on this occaſion) leaves without natural affection, and then 2. by the defluxion of the humors on the breaſt, clogs, and ſtifles the vital parts, and in fine brings the whole man to a foreign, or corruption of all its ſpiritual graces. Thus have you at once the doctrine and the uſe of my 2. part, the nature of that repentance which is here meant in oppoſition to the Gentiles fault, which we have ſhewed to be, the directing of our knowledge to a ſober pious end; Gods glory and our own edification, together with the danger and ſinfulneſs attending the neglect of theſe ends, both which are ſufficient motives to ſtir you up, to awake and conjure you to the practice of this doctrine. To which you may add but this one more, that even ſome of the Heathen were raiſed up by the ſtudy of the creatures, to an admiration of Gods excellency, which was a kind of glorifying his power, and thoſe Philoponus calls foreign, perfect exact Naturaliſts; who from phyſical cauſes aſcend to divine.Galen. de Vſu part. l. 3. c. 6. Witneſs Galen. de Uſu partium, where from the miraculous ſtructure of the foot, he falls off into a meditation and Hymn of Gods providence, foreign, a Pſalm or holy Elogy of him that hath ſo wonderfully made us. Pag. 4.So Hermes in his firſt Book of piety and Philoſophy, makes the only uſe of Philoſophy to return thanks to the Creator, as to a good Father, and profitable Nurſe, which duty he profeſſes himſelf reſolved never to be wanting in: and after in the latter end of his 5. Book he makes good his word, breaking out into a kind of holy rythme, foreign, &c. The like might be ſhewed in ſome meaſure out of others more claſſick heathen writers, which may briefly ſerve to upbraid our defects, and aggravate our offence, if we with all our natural, and ſpiritual light, go on yet in learning, as travellers in peregrination, only either as curious inquiſitors of ſome novelties, which they may brag of at their return, or elſe having no other end of their travel but the journey it ſelf: without any care to direct our ſtudies to the advancement either of Gods glory in other, or graces kingdom in our ſelves. For this is the thing no doubt here aimed at, and the performance of it as ſtrictly required of us Chriſtians, and that not ſome only of us, but as many as the commandment is here given to, every man every where. So I come to my laſt particular, the extent and latitude of the perſons with whom this covenant is made, and from whom this condition is exacted, All men every where.
Now the univerſality of the perſons, reflects either to the preceding words, Commands: or to the ſubſequent, the matter of theſe commands, Repentance. From the firſt, the point is, that Gods Commands were made known by the preaching of the Goſpel to all men every where. From the 2. that the Repentance here meant is neceſſary to every man that will be ſaved. For the firſt, it hath been already proved out of Scripture, that the vocal articulation of Gods commands, the ſound and preaching of the Goſpel, hath gone out into all the World, and that not Univerſis, but ſingulis, directed and promulged at leaſt to every creature,Mar. XVI. 15. Mar. xvi. 15. the whole Gentile world has title to it. Now for the ſpiritual efficacy of this voice,1 Cor. 11. 4. the demonſtration of the ſpirit and of power, hath not this alſo waited on the voice, and in ſome kind or other evidenced it ſelf in the like extenſive latitude? Yes no doubt, for there being two effects of the preaching of the Word, either converting or hardening, either diſſolving the wax, or ſtiffening the clay, you ſhall in every man be ſure to meet with one of them. For the converſion; what a multitude came in at the firſt noiſe of it, primo manè, as ſoon as ever the Sun of righteouſneſs began to dawn. In the ancient Sea-fights they had their foreign, little light ſhips, foreign, ſaith Zenophon, foreign, ſay Thucydides and Polybius, which they ſent out as ſpyes in the night, or at day break, to bring word how the Seas were cleared; that ſo they might dare to make uſe of the firſt opportunity to go out with their whole Navy. Thus was Job and ſome few other Gentiles before the Goſpel, and Cornelius at the dawning of it, ſent before in a manner, ut lembi ante claſſem, to ſpy and bring word whether the Gentiles might enter and be received; and theſe returning to them like Noahs Dove in Gen. viii. 11.Gen. VIII. 11. with an olive leaf in her mouth, as a token of peace and ſafety to all that would venture, then did the whole Navy and Troop follow, then did the, foreign, the many, the root, the common people of the world, out of all Nations, and conditions ſome, haſten and run and croud for a part in this ſalvation, and the Glory of the Lord was revealed, and all fleſh ſaw it together, as it is in the phraſe of the Prophecy, Iſa. xl. 5. or in the words of the Story, Iſa. XL. 5.There were daily added to the Church ſuch as ſhould be ſaved. Look but on the Doctor of the Gentiles, as he ſits in his chair in Tyrannus his School,Acts XIX. 10. Acts xix. 10. and you ſhall find that at that one Lecture (which indeed was two years long) all the leſſer Aſia heard the Word of the Lord Jeſus, both Jews and Greeks. The 3000 ſouls which were added to the Church at St. Peters Sermon, Acts ii. 4. was a ſufficient hours work,Acts 11. 4. and a thing ſo admired by the wiſe men of the Gentiles, that they imputed it magicis Petriartibus & veneficis carminibus, De▪ Civ. l. 18. c. 53.ſaith Auſtin, to ſome incantations and magical tricks which Peter uſed. And they got the dying oracle to confirm it with ſome ſuppoſ…itious verſes, to the purpoſe forged by them: that the Chriſtian Religion was raiſed by Peters witchcraft, and by it ſhould laſt 365 years, and then be betrayed and vaniſh. But had theſe ſame Gentiles in this humour of malice and prejudice, ſeen a third part of the Roman world, all the Proconſular Aſia converted by one Pauls diſputations, they would certainly have reſolved that all the ſorcery of Hell or Chaldaea could never have yielded ſuch miraculous enchantments. And this the Sons of Sceva had experience of, Acts xix. 14.Acts XIX. 14. who with all their exorciſms and the name of Jeſus added to them, could not yet imitate the Apoſtles in any one miracle; but the devil was too hard for them, wounded, overcame, prevail'd againſt them. Briefly 'twas more then the magick either of men or devils, which ſo convinced the artificers of hell, that they brought out their Books and burnt them openly; Act. XIX. 19.which beſide the price of their moſt profitable skill, were rated at 50000 pieces of ſilver, which is computed to be about 6250 l. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed, and the firſt effect of it, converſion, was miraculouſly manifeſt, though not on all, yet on many of all people every where. Now for the other effect of it, the hardning of obdurate Atheiſts, Act. XIX. 9.look on xix. Acts. 9. where it is plain, that for all Pauls Logick and Rhetorick, diſputing and perſwading for the ſpace of three moneths, many were hardned and believed not. They had within them foreign, as Theodoret calls it, a heart that would reverberate either precept or inſtruction, and make it rebound againſt the hand that ſent it;Philip. l. 1. de Anima. foreign, as Philoponus phraſes it in his 1. l. de animâ, their ſpirits fatned and incraſſated within them, ſtal'd up and fed to ſuch a brawnineſs, that neither the underſtanding nor the affections were capable of any impreſſion, and ſo their condition proved like that of the Anvil, which by many ſtrokes is ſomewhat ſmoothed, but no whit ſoftned; all they got by one days preaching, was to enable them the better to reſiſt the ſecond. Every Sermon of a Paul or Peter was but an alarum to ſet them on their guard of defence, to warn them to caſt up ſome more trenches and bulwarks, to fortifie themſelves ſtronger againſt any poſſible invaſion of Gods ſpirit; according to that of the Aegyptian Hermes, P. 5.ſpeaking, foreign, which is in a Chriſtian phraſe the power of the Scripture; they have, ſaith he, this property in them, that when they meet with evil men, foreign, they do more ſharpen and egg them on to evil. Thus was the preaching of the word to all men every where attended with ſome effects or other, according to the materials it met with, never returned unprofitably, but either was the power of God to ſalvation unto all that believed, or the witneſs of God to condemnation to thoſe which were hardned. Now if this precious receipt adminiſtred to all, find not in all the like effect of recovering, yet from hence is neither the Phyſick to be under-prized nor the Preſcriber; the matter is to be imputed ſometimes to the weakneſs and peeviſhneſs of the Patient, foreign, that he cannot or will not perform the preſcriptions, ſometimes foreign, the fault is to be laid on the ſtubbornneſs and ſtoutneſs of the diſeaſe, which turns every medicine into its nouriſhment, and ſo is not abated but elevated by that which was intended to aſſwage it, as Hippocrates defines it medicinally in his Book foreign.
So then by way of Uſe, Pag. 2.If we deſire that theſe commands, this covenant offered to all men every where, may evidence it ſelf to our particular ſouls in its ſpiritual efficacy, we muſt with all the induſtry of our ſpirits endeavour to remove thoſe hindrances, which may any way perturb, or diſorder, or weaken it in its working in us; foreign,Hippoc. foreign. &c. ſaith Hippocrates, you muſt furniſh your ſelf before-hand with a ſhop of ſeveral ſoftning plaiſters, and take ſome one of them as a preparative before every Sermon you come to, that coming to Church with a tender, mollified, waxy heart, you may be ſure to receive every holy character, and impreſſion, which that days exerciſe hath provided for thee, leſt otherwiſe if thou ſhould'ſt come to Church with an heart of ice, that ice be congealed into Cryſtal, and by an foreign, the warmth of Gods word not abate, but encreaſe the coldneſs of a chill frozen ſpirit, and finding it hard and ſtubborn, return it obdurate. O what a horrid thing is it that the greateſt mercy under Heaven ſhould by our unpreparedneſs be turned into the moſt exquiſite curſe, that Hell or malice hath in ſtore for us? That the moſt precious Balm of Gilead, ſhould by the malignity of ſome tempers be turned into poyſon, that the leaves which are appointed for the healing of the Nations ſhould meet with ſome ſuch ſores, which prove worſe by any remedy; that the moſt ſoveraign foreign, or lenitive in the world ſhould only work to our obduration, and the preaching of the word of mercy add to the meaſure of our condemnation! this is enough to perſwade you by an horror into ſome kind of ſollicitude to prepare your ſouls to a capability of this cure, to keep your ſelves in a Chriſtian temper, that it may be poſſible for a Sermon to work upon you, that that breath which never returns in vain, may be truly Goſpel happy in its meſſage, may convert not harden you; to which purpoſe you muſt have ſuch tools in ſtore,Hippocrat. ibidem. which the Phyſician ſpeaks of, foreign, inſtruments of ſpiritual ſurgery, to cut and prune off all luxuriant cumberſom excreſcences, all rankneſs and dead fleſh, which ſo oppreſs the ſoul, that the vertue of medicine cannot ſearch to it. And for this purpoſe there is no one more neceſſary, of more continual uſe for every man every where, then that which here cloſeth my Text, Repentance.
And ſo I come to the ſecond reſpect, the univerſality of the perſons, as it refers to the matter of the command, repentance, every man every where to repent.
And here I ſhould ſhew you that repentance, both generally taken for a ſorrow for ſin, containing in it virtually ſaith alſo, ſo the Baptiſm of repentance is interpreted,Acts XIX 4. Acts xix. 4. John baptized with the Baptiſm of repentance, ſaying unto the people, that they ſhould believe, &c. and more ſpecially in this place taken for the directing of our knowledge to practice, and both to Gods glory, as hath been ſhewn, is and always was neceſſary to every man that will be ſaved.1 …ſt. c. 4. For according to Ariſtotles rule, foreign, noting both an univerſality of ſubject and circumſtance, is a degree of neceſſity; and therefore repentance being here commanded, foreign, is to be judged a condition neceſſary to every man, who anſwers at the command, (i. e.) who expects his part in the covenant of ſalvation; this, I ſay, I might prove at large, and to that purpoſe vindicate the writings of ſome of the Fathers, eſpecially of Clemens, who I am almoſt confident is groundleſly cited, for beſtowing ſalvation on the Heathen, without exacting the condition of faith and repentance, which now 'twere ſuperfluous to inſiſt on. 2. Urge it both to your brains and hearts, and by the neceſſity of the duty, rouſe, and enforce, and purſue you to the practice of it. But ſeeing this Catholick duty is more the inſpiration of the Holy Ghoſt, then the acquiſition of our labours, ſeeing this fundamental Cardinal gift comes from the ſupreme donor, ſeeing nature is no more able ſpiritually to reinliven a ſoul then to animate a carcaſs, our beſt endeavour will be our humiliation, our moſt profitable directions will prove our prayers, and what our frailty cannot reach to, our devotions ſhall obtain.
And let us labour and pray, and be confident, that God which hath honoured us with his commands will enable us to a performance of them, and having made his covenant with us, will fulfil in us the condition of it; that the thundering of his word being accompanied with the ſtill voice of his ſpirit, may ſuffer neither repulſe nor reſiſtance; that our hearts being firſt ſoftned, then ſtamped with the ſpirit, may be the images of that God that made them: that all of us every where endeavouring to glorifie God in our knowledg, in our lives, in our faith, in our repentance, may for ever be glorified by him, and through him, and with him hereafter.
Now to him that hath elected us, hath created, redeemed, &c.