Holy Dedication Both Personal and Domestic, Part 2 · Chapter 10
CHAP. X. The laſt Branch of Houſe-Dedication urged.
IN long Chaſes, Doggs are apt to loſe the Scent; Reader, that thou mayſt not think in this long Diſcourſe, we have loſt our Matter and Method, let me tell thee, where we are. The Dedication of the Houſe, I made to conſiſt in four things; In a Religious Entrance upon it, by Prayer and Praiſe: In the ſolemn commitment of it to God's Protection; In the ſetting up of Religion in it; In a right carriage under Domeſtick mercies: Hitherto I have been ſpeaking to the Three first of theſe; and I have very largely inſiſted upon the Third Head, becauſe of its vaſtneſs and comprehenſiveneſs, and alſo becauſe of its ſpecial reference to the Duty in hand, namely, Houſe-Dedication. I come now to the fourth and laſt thing to ſtir you up, to a right deportment and carriage under Domeſtick mercies. I told you, that Houſe here, is not to be limited to the bare walls, to the external structure, but 'tis to be conſidered, as it includes, thoſe ſeveral bleſſings, mercies, comforts, accomodations, that are enjoy'd there; Now all theſe muſt be dedicated to God.
I need not tell yon, that a fixed Habitation, to have an Houſe to dwell in, is a great mercy: 'Tis that mercy which Chriſt himſelf had not, Math. 8.20. The Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have neſts, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head; He that made the world, and was Lord of all things, had not an Houſe to be in; He that went to Heaven,Joh. 14.2, 3. to prepare a place for us there, had not a place here on Earth prepared for himſelf: 'Tis that mercy which the Apostles and Primitive Saints had not; for they wandered about in ſheep skins, and goat skins, being deſtitute, &c. Heb. 11.38. Even unto this preſent hour, we both hunger and thirſt, and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling place, 1 Cor. 4.11. Bleſſed be God, it is not thus with you; yon have your Houſes to dwell in, (and ſome of you very convenient, beautiful Houſes too); Is not this mercy? I hope you do not forget, how it was lately with you, when you had not an Houſe to be in, (if God had not in your ſtraights graciouſly provided for you). And further, your Houſes are full of Mercy; God fills them with good things, (as 'tis Job 22.18). they are richly furniſhed with all kinds of Mercies, Perſonal and Relative, Spiritual and Temporal, &c. There's good food to nouriſh you, good apparel to cloath you, good beds to eaſe yon, good Relations in whom you take much comfort: every day your Tables are ſpread; mercies are new upon you every morning, Lam. 3.21. God loadeth you daily with his benefits, Pſal. 68.19. you live under a constant ſucceſſion of mercies.
My God, thou art all Love.
Not one poor minute 'ſcapes thy breast,
But brings a favour from above.
You have Mercies, not only ultra merita, Bernard.but alſo ſupra vota; ſuch as are not only undeſerved, but undeſired and unexpected too. Your enjoyments are above what you could well have looked for; As Jacob ſaid to Joſeph, I had not thought to ſee thy face, and lo, God hath ſhewed me thy Seed alſo, Gen. 48.11. I appeal to many of you, when you first came up to this City, did you then expect ſuch Eſtates as God hath now bleſſed you with? your beginnings were very low, and now you are greatly advanced, (as to wordly poſſeſſions). Shall not all now be dedicated to God? Shall not Domeſtick mercies paſs under this holy Dedication? If you ask me, How is this to be done? Take a ſhort account of that in three things.
1. Let God be owned and acknowledged in all your Mercies: Aſcribe all to Him as the proper Fountain from which all doth flow; Thus David did, Pſal. 87.7. All my ſprings are in thee. And ſo your All it is of God: The Wife that lies in your boſom, (that is the deſire of your eyes),Ezek. 24.16. God gave her to you, Prov. 19.14. Houſes and riches are the inheritance of Fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. The Children that are ſo dear to you, are the gift of God, Pſal. 127.3. Lo, Children are an Heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward, Pſal. 128.2, 3, 4. The eſtate you poſſeſs is not ſo much the fruit of your own induſtry, as of God's bleſſing; Prov. 10.22. The bleſſing of the Lord, it maketh rich. Inſtance in what mercy you will, you may ſay of it, what Jacob ſaid of his Children, this is that which the Lord hath graciouſly given to me, Gen. 33.5. O let your eye be upon God in every comfort; 'tis the property of gracious perſons to do this; (as the bird hath no ſooner ſipp'd a little water, but it looks upwards, and falls a chirping). And here's one great difference betwixt a godly man, and a wicked man; The latter looks no higher than Self, he aſcribes all to Self, Dan. 4.30. Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the houſe of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my Majeſty? The former aſcribes all to God, and admires God in all. O the different language of David from that of Nebuchadnezzar! 2 Sam. 7.18, 19. Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my Houſe that thou haſt brought me hitherto? &c. Shew your ſelves therefore to be gracious perſons by this, let a mercy be no ſooner received, but let God be acknowledged and admired in it; whilſt others look no further than the meer Branch, do you look to the root of all. We loſe our mercies, when we do not duly own God, as the giver of them. Hoſ. 2.8, 9. She did not know that I gave her corn and wine, and oyle, and multiplied her ſilver, and her gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore, will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the ſeaſon thereof, and will recover my wool, and my flax, given to cover her nakedneſs. God would have the First Fruits from the people of Iſrael, that in the giving of theſe,Munus Deo offerebaent Honorarium de frugihus terrae, ut Auctorem eorum Deum eſſe testificarentur, & aliquam gratitudinis ſignificationem exhiherent. Gualtper in Marc. 12.33. they might acknowledg God's right to the whole crop, and that it was of his bounty, that they had all the reſt: And 'tis obſervable, when this people had made this acknowledgment, then it was lawful for them to take the comfort of the reſidue: Theſe First Fruits were either the foreign, the Firſt growth and fruits of things, (of which you read, Levit. 19.23, 24.) or the foreign, the firſt fruits of every years increaſe; (of which, Levit. 23.10.) Now I ſay, after the people of Iſrael, had in the payment of theſe acknowledged God, to be the beſtower of all, than it was lawful for them to take the comfort of the reſidue. See Deut. 26.10, 11. and Levit. 19.23, 24, 25. That which I infer from hence is this; firſt acknowledg God in your mercies, that he is the Donor of them, and then you may take the ſweetneſs of them; This is the order in which God will have mercies enjoyed. O that we could keep up a conſtant ſenſe of God in the ſoul, as the Father and Fountain of all our Good; That we could ſay of every mercy, this is that, which comes from above; the gracious hand of God is in it.
2ly. Whatever mercies you enjoy, return them back again to God, improve them for him, and devote them to his glory. This was the carriage of Hannah, no ſooner had God given her a child, but ſhe gives it back again to him, 1 Sam. 1.28. And this we muſt do, as to all our Mercies; there muſt be returning, where there is receiving, Pſal. 116.12. What ſhall I render to the Lord, for all his benefits towards me? 'Tis a ſad thing, only to be upon the receiving hand; an ingenuous ſpirit will not be guilty of this, it will return as well as receive; and it will return what it receives: The Rivers come from the Sea, and they all run into it again; the Vapours are exhal'd from the earth, and they fall upon it again; let that which bears Analogie and reſemblance to this, be done by you. Many mercies are received from God, O let all of them be returned to God. Where can they be better than in the hands of him, who is the Father of them? This is with Pharaohs daughter, to put the Child to be nurſed by its own mother, Exod. 2.8. And doth any man loſe by giving to God? doth not this procure him more of mercy? He that returns upon receiving, receives upon returning. 1 Sam. 2.20. Eli bleſſed Elkanah and his wife, and ſaid, The Lord give thee ſeed of this woman, for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And ſo it fell out, for v. 21. The Lord viſited Hannah, ſo that ſhe conceived and bare three Sons, and two Daughters. O how doth mercy grow upon us, when we freely and faithfully give back what we do receive!
But how may we return our mercies to God? I anſwer, Improve them for him, and devote them to him. Are your Domeſtick-mercies and other mercies, improved for God, and devoted to God? he doth much for you, what do you do for him? what ſervice or glory hath God, for health, daily bread, reſt in the night, preſervation in the midſt of ſo many dangers, Relative comforts, a plentiful eſtate, good furniture, many accommodations (which others want)? Is ſo much done for you, and is nothing done by you, in a way of real Gratitude? Are mercies dedicated and devoted to God? Are they yielded up, ſet apart for his uſe and ſervice? (As 'tis propheſi'd, Iſaiah 23.18. And her merchandize, and her hire ſhall be Holineſs to the Lord; it ſhall not be treaſured nor laid up; for her Merchandize ſhall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat ſufficiently, and for durable clothing). This is but reaſonable, that as they are derived from him, they ſhould be devoted to him; 'tis but that which he expects, (for upon mercy he looks for Duty); 'tis but that which you ſtand engaged to, for every Comfort is a Talent which you are entruſted with, in order to ſervice; and 'tis the best thankefulneſs; (a verbal wordy thanksgiving is a poor thing, if it be not attended with ſomething that is real in the life); and will mercies be long continued, where they are not traded and improved for God? What Landlord will let that Tenant hold his land that pays him no rent, nor does him any ſervice? The way to hold what you have, is to improve what you have, for God and his glory. Serve him with your mercies, and he'l ſecure them to you; How kindly doth he take it, when the ſenſe of his goodneſs, quickens a perſon to be doing for him! So it was with David, God had done great things for him, and his; O he would build God an Houſe for it; he would ſome way or other teſtiſie his reſentment of God's favours to him. Thus let mercies work upon you; you know they are very many, and very precious, O dedicate them, devote them to God; where you have comfort, let God have glory; Take heed, leſt you again loſe your Domeſtick mercies for want of this Dedication.
3ly. And then thirdly, Be willing to reſign up all to the will and good pleaſure of God: So as if he ſees it good to continne them to you, you'l be thankeful; if he ſees it good to remove them from you, you'l ſubmit, and ſay, Let him do what ſeems him good. 2 Sam. 15.26.Yet you have an Houſe, and a comfortable Habitation, but if God will withdraw this mercy, and turn you out of doors, you will quietly and patiently acquieſce in his will; And ſo too, with reſpect to Relations, Eſtate, Liberty, all your comforts, you reſign them all to God; ſo enjoying them, as always to be willing to part with them, (if it pleaſes him to call for them): This is a bleſſed frame of ſpirit, and that which gives ſupport and comfort under all the iſſues and events of Providence. Many of you in this City are ſhortly to ſettle in your new Houſes, where you promiſe your ſelves much comfort, (I heartily wiſh that all things may anſwer your expectation); but pray enter upon them with this frame, of dedicating or reſigning up all to God, to be improved for his ſervice, to be referred to his diſpoſe. What if God ſhould bring another diſmal Fire upon your Habitations? or, what if God ſome other way, ſhould ſee it neceſſary, to call in his bleſſings, are you willing to give up all to him? to have all ordered by him? Can you lay your Comforts, Conveniencies, Enjoyments at his feet? (let me tell you, they are better placed, when they are laid at God's feet, then when they are laid too near your own hearts): this is to carry it aright under Domeſtick mercies, and to dedicate them to God: O be not wanting in this Dedication; As you muſt commit your Houſes to God's Protection, ſo you muſt ſubmit your Houſes, (and all bleſſings belonging to them), to his holy will, and wiſe diſpoſe, and then you act like Chriſtians indeed.