Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil, Chapter 6

Batteries Upon the Kingdom of the Devil · Chapter 6

p. 143The Golden Curb: OR, Sober Checks given to Rash Passions.

2 SAM. xix. 29.

I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the Land.

AND I must endeavour to perswade you, as I do my self believe, That he said very well: I am sorry to see what hard Thoughts are commonly taken up, concerning the Holy David, for passing such a Sentence as has now been read unto us. You know, That when David was flying before the General Sedition and Rebellion of the People under wicked Absalom, one Ziba, a crafty Person, that had the sense to foresee the Issue of that Insurrection, p. 144addresses himself to David, with a false Accusation against his Landlord Mephibosheth, as if he had been a Well-willer to the Conspiracy. David then being in an Hasty Passion, and being byassed by a Kindness received at such a Season, and not imagining that Ziba would impose upon him with a Lye, that might easily have been detected, rashly ordered this Calumniator to be made Owner of the Land, whereof he had been but a Tenant heretofore. But at the Return of David, Honest Mephibosheth having opportunity to vindicate himself, David gives the Sentence now recited; and it is commonly supposed, That herein David still renews and confirms at least, part of the Sentence, which he had before so rashly uttered. Not only have the most of Christian Expositors cry'd out upon David, for his extream and cruel Harshness, in giving away unto a false Loon, half the Land of Innocent Mephibosheth; but also the Jewish Expositors make hard Reflections upon David for his Action here; and they make this Remark upon it, I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the Land; At the same Instant the Providence of God said, Then let Rehoboam and Jeroboam divide the Kingdom. Whereas, in my Opinion, we have hitherto done more Injury and Injustice to David, than ever he did unto Mephibosheth. David, if I do not mistake, does here only and fully Revoke a piece of Rashness, which he had before fallen into. And I thus advance towards the Proof of my Exposition.

p. 145First, 'Tis uncharitable to suppose, David would wrong Mephibosheth. To take away the Livings of so blameless and righteous a Person, because a base Fellow had belyed him, would have been a most abominable thing. The Wisdom of a David would not have permitted him to be baffled and befool'd by such a palpable Cheat as would now have been put upon him; especially when a Thousand Men of Benjamin, were now at his Elbow to give him a true Information: He had a little before been called, One like an Angel of God, to discern Good and Bad; whereas now, it must have been said, There are few Mortals but what would have had more Discretion in them. Nor would the Justice of a David allow'd a Judgment so unreasonable as well as arbitrary; it was after said, He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and turned not aside, all the dayes of his life, but only in the matter of Ʋrijah; whereas we must now have look'd for one Exception more, And in the matter of abused Mephibosheth. Besides all this, The kindness of David for the Father of Mephibosheth, his old and his dear Friend Jonathan, was inconsistent with such a piece of barbarous Cruelty; a love beyond that of a Woman, to the Father, would not so easily sowre into a wrath beyond that of an Enemy to the Son; and this the rather, because the very Beard and Garb of the disconsolate Mephibosheth, was enough to proclaim his Innocency. I add,

p. 146Secondly, As he would not, so he did not commit so great a Wrong. And methinks, the Holy Spirit of God, seems to invite us unto such an Apprehension; by the dislocation of the Story. For, I pray, mark it; In the Twenty third Verse, you have David at Jordan; and again, at the Thirty first Verse you have David at Jordan; and yet in the Story of Mephibosheth, which lies between those Two Verses, you have David at Jerusalem. Now, whence this dislocation! how comes the Story of Mephibosheth to be thus anticipated? There was doubtless a reason for it; and it might be this. In the preceding Paragraph, you have Shimei and Ziba (a very proper Couple!) both meeting of David at Jordan. There you find that Shimei, a bauling, railing, bloody Traitor, upon his confession obtains the pardon of his Crimes. Well, immediately upon this, the Discourse between David and Mephibosheth, though it happened some time after, is introduced here. Which may sufficiently suggest unto us. If David could be so easily reconciled unto a cursed Shimei, certainly, he could not be inexorable to an harmless Mephibosheth; he that would not hear Abishai pre…sing for a revenge upon a Shimei, would hear a just Mephibosheth making a just Apology for himself.

But after all, The Hinge of all will turn upon the true and right Notion of the Bargain heretofore made, about the Lands of Mephibosheth. You shall read, I'l show you, the Original Covenant about those famous Lands; 'tis p. 147in 2 Sam 9.10, — The King called to Ziba, Sauls servant, and said unto him, I have given to thy Masters son all that pertained to Saul, and all his House. Thou therefore shalt till the Land for him, and thou shalt bring in the Fruits, that thy Masters son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth thy Masters son, shall eat Bread alwayes at my Table. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. Upon the whole, I thus understand the Contract. Ziba was not Proprietor of these Lands; but was a Tenant, or, more properly, a Bayliff, or a Steward of them. Ziba was to Till the Lands; but how were the Profits to be disposed of? Why thus; One half of the Ioncomes was for the maintenance of Mephibosheth at the Court; it was to bear his Court-Expences. For, when David invited Mephibosheth to Court, it was not that he might there live upon Alms; but it was out of respect and friendship to him, as the like was done to Barzillai afterwards; and perhaps, there was a Reason of State in it, which there is no need of mentioning. He was to live in Port, as a Person of Quality, with his Retinue there; and half the Revenue of his Lands was to maintain it. But which way went the other half? The Product of the other half was divided between Mica and Ziba himself; in short, Ziba has a Moiety for the maintenance of Mica, and hires a Moiety for the maintenance of Mephibosheth; and upon that Score, 'tis said, All that dwelt in Ziba's House, were servants to Mephibosheth. Well then, when David now says, I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the Land; he does but p. 148unsay what he had rashly said when Ziba's Lye surprized him; and orders things to be according to the first settlement and contrivance of them; 'tis q. d. I now recal the rash words I spoke about your Lands, Mephibosheth; you need be at no further care; you know what I said in our first Act of Settlement; I would have that stand for the present; you shall enjoy all that I had rashly taken from you. If any now object, that our David went not far enough, in making Reparations to Mephibosheth; why did not he take Ziba, and hang him! Tis Answer enough, That it was now no time for that; and what was done afterwards, who can tell?

You see how far my concernment for the Honour of David has transported me; and it will be more David's wrong than mine, if you don't embrace my Interpretation. But it is now time for me to tell you, what it is that I am driving at; it is, this all-concerning

DOCTRINE. That Hasty Passions do sometimes put, even Good Men upon those Rash Things, which they should always be ready to Ret…act.

There are more than three times three Sins, which Men violate the Third Commandment of our God withal. But among them, that of Rashness deserves to be marked with a very particular Brand. Inconsiderateness is a direct contradiction of the Frame which that Commandment p. 149would have us always to uphold. The Commandment requires us always to maintain such a Reverence of God, as to act with a careful regard unto that Rule, and that End, which God ha… given us. When Men cast off the sense of G…d, and of his Word, and of his Praise, and suffer themselves to be hurried by their hasty Passions into rash things, they take the Name of the Lord in vain.

PROP. I.

There are hasty Passions oftentimes raging in Men, yea, in the be…t of Men. 'Tis a Division of man, made by one that had much of a man in him; You are to look upon man as consisting of two parts, namely, The Man, and, The Beast. Besides those Noble Capacities, of knowing, and thinking, and choosing, which make us men; we have those Appetites▪ because of which that Saint once complained, in Psal. 73.22. I have been as a beast before God Our Passions were in their first Creation, most useful things, and were no more damage to us, than Wheels are to a Coach, or than Wings are to a Bird. And the new Creat…on …f …hem, does by degrees reduce them to t…t ex…ellent order; so that they are to move neither out of their place, nor out of their pace. But alas! Original Sin, is a sort of Leprosie, which the whole Soul is distempered with; 'tis a woful Disorder with which it has depraved all our Faculties. In which Disorder the share that our Passions have, is remarkable and very lamentable. Adam that once had an Empire over p. 150the Beasts of the Field, upon his Fall, comes into a slavery unto as bad Beasts in his own miserable Soul. Hence 'tis that our Passions are now become hasty, furious, boisterous, and very much ungovernable. They are foreign, the Beasts of our Souls, and very wi…d ones indeed they are! Our Passions are the Motions of our Souls towards the Objects of them. Now these are become, what we may call, as in Rom. 1.26. Vile Affections. Temerity is now become a Property of our Passions: They move not with such leisure, and in such measure, as were conveni…nt. They are under no Command; but are worthy of the Name, which the Philosopher put upon them, Ʋnnurtur d Dogs. These Dogs do often worry the Children of God themselves; a Great Luther who removed the foulest Abominations out of the Church, yet could not hinder these Dogs from infecting of his own Heart.

PROP. II.

There ar… many Rash Things, which our Hasty Passions do precipitate us unto the doing of. Where the Passions Reign, those Tyrants make mad work of it; we then become Servi Servorum, the Curse of Cham is come upon us, and we must have many a silly Thing required and exacted of us. We read in Luke 10.30. A certain man fell among thieves, who stripped him, and wounded him, and left him half dead. There hath been given a my…tical Exposition of that Parable; now they that give a my…tical sense of p. 151it, make our Passions to be the Thieves which do so much mischief to our Souls.

Rash Things are Things that we have no good reason for; and the chief mischief that our Passions do unto us, is this; They push us on to the most unreasonable things. We are advised in Psal. 32.9. Be ye not as the horse, or the mule, which have no understanding. But when our Passion is in the Saddle, it throws the Bridle of Reason off, and away we are driven with switch and spur in our Sides, till tis well if we do not break our Necks over some deadly Precipice.

The Passions ought always to be under the Direction of the Ʋnderstanding; a Man should have his Passions as the Poets Fable their Aeolus to have the Winds; he should have them so at command, that they should blow just when, and how hard, and how long, his Rational Soul shall give permission for them: But when these Ʋsurpers get into the Throne, what absurd, and sordid, and preposterous Effects are then to be expected? When Hagar is the only Mistress in the House, and Sarah turned out of doors, there is like to be fine Work, I assure you. If Reason might be heard, all would go well; but Passion makes usually an horrible Storm, which drowns all Rational Proposals We are told, in Eccl. 9.10. The words of wise men are heard in quiet; but wise things can't be heard for the din and noise of outragious Passions, and so, none but rash things will be done under their discomposed Government. We say truly, Perit judicium cum res transit in affectum. When Passion is up, Judgment p. 152is degraded, perverted, nullified. Said the Wise man, in Eccl. 10.16. Wo to thee, O Land, when thy King is a Child. Much more may we say. Wo to thee, O man, when thy King is thy Lust; when childish, yea, brutish Pass…on Ruleth over thee. Our Lord has warned us, That when the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a ditch. Passion is a blind sort of a thing, and it makes blind all that fall under the conduct and phrenzy of it; now some rash thing or other is the ditch, which it quickly causes us to fall into. There are at least a dozen Passions which we are born into the World withal; and what a world of rash things, do you think, are like to be done by a Man that shall be Hag ridden with so many Enchantments at once upon him?

PROP. III.

Men should be ready to retract the rash things which their …asty Passions have caused in them. The most witty, if not the most learned and holy Writer of all the Ancients, thought it no dishonour unto him, to write a Book of Retractations Retractations are things that no wise and good Men will be averse unto, when they have done any rash things that have made them nec…ary. Now there are three things implied in the Retractati…ns that we are to make of the rash things produced by our hasty Passions.

Fi st, It is our Duty to examine what rash things our hasty Passions have been the occasion of. Our Passions would not let us beforehand weigh p. 153what rash things we do; but after we have done them, we should then view them, and scan them over again, for our humiliation before the Lord. We are told, in Jer. 8.6. Men should say, What have I done? When we have done a rash thing, we should cast it into the Scales, not only of Reason, but of Scripture too, and with sorrow say, O what have I done! When David had once done a rash thing, 'tis added, His heart smote him. There are certain smitings of Heart, with which we are to reflect upon the rash Actions of our Lives.

Secondly, It is our Duty to bear the Reproofs which are given us for the rash things which have been the efforts of our hasty Passions. A rash Fault will become as bad as one more deliberate and voluntary, if we cannot patiently bear to be reproved for it. If one come, and justly give that Admonition to us, You have done a rash thing, pray, think of it; we should thankfully reply, out of Psal. 141.5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oyl. So should we say, Pray smite me, reprove me, if I have done any rash thing; you'l deal better by me, than if you invited me to a Feast where the most excellent Oyl should be poured on me. When a Great Man once met with a Check …or a rash thing, said he, Blessed be the Lord, which hath sent thee this Day to meet me, and blessed be thy Advice, and blessed be thou! In like manner, we should bless God for any Stops that a Reproof may lay upon the …ash things that we are too prone unto.

p. 154Thirdly, Our Duty is to mend the Errors that are found in the rash things which have proceeded from our hasty Passions. There are many rash mistakes, which we heedlesly run into; now, we should readily correct those mistakes; as far as we can, we should unsay and undo those mistakes. It was a most rash thing that was done by Ahashuerus, when he issued out a Proclamation for the Desolation of the only People that God had in the World; but he did well in hearkening to that Request, in Est. 8.5. Let it be written to reverse the Letters. We should as far, and soon, and much as we can, reverse every rash thing; and what wrong steps we have taken, we should go back, if it be not too late. What said Asaph, when a rash thing had been uttered by him; I have been foolish and ignorant! We should presently redress the Folly and Ignorance in the rash things that we fall into.

APPPLICATION.

I. What if we should now retract some Expositions of some Remarkables in the Bible, which have been perhaps too rashly and hastily taken up! It will hold some correspondence with our late Vindication of David, as well as prove a fit Inference from the Doctrine which we are insisting on, if we entertain our selves with such a Contemplation as we go along. There has a deal of wrong been very commonly done, as well to the Sacred Bible it self, as to several renowned Persons in the Bible, by the rash and p. 155hasty Commentaries that have been made thereupon. 'Twill scarce be a Digression, and if it were one, it would be a profitable, it should be an acceptable one, to touch upon a few notable Examples. 'Tis a mo…t rash and hasty Observation that has been made upon the whole Old Testament, by Thousands of Learned Men; We have in our Hands a Greek Translation of of the Old Testament, which (they report) was made by Seventy Two Interpreters; there are in the New Te…tament several Quotations out of the Old, which we now find more agreeable to our present Septuagint than to the Hebrew Original. Hence many Exquisite and Accurate Critics imagine the Hebrew Original to be corrupted, and go to reform it by the present Septuagint. This now is a great wrong most rashly and hastily done to the Oracles of God. It was for more glorious Ends, than that of agreeing with a falacious and erroneous Translation, that the Holy Spirit of God cited Things from the Old Testament in other Words than they were first written in. It may be proved, that some of the Primitive Christians, hundreds of Years after the writing of the New Testament, did alter the Septuagint, in many of those places which the New Testament quotes out of the Old, and put in the Words of the New Testament which were not there before it. It is easie to assign the cause of their doing so; and for the Proof of it, I need only bring Psal. 40.6. There in the Hebrew it is, My Ears hast thou bored: In the Septuagint it now is, A Body hast thou prepared for me. Well, so 'tis in the New Testament, p. 156even in Heb. 10.5. Some Divines will now make no bones to tell you, The Apostle took his Words out of the Seventy, and the Seventy did not read rhe Original as we do in our Days. But this is a vile wrong, most rashly and has…ily done to these Holy Pages; no, Twas the Spirit of God that made that Paraphrase by the Apo…tle on the Psalmist; and you shall find in Jerom's Works, and even in Je…om's Days, that the Seventy did not so read the Words as now they do; the New Testament by no means did Conform to the Seventy; but somebody did more lat…ly Reform the Seventy by the New Testament.

Having thus taken off an Aspersion that has been rashly and hastily cast upon the whole Bible, why mayn't we see whether no particular Persons in the Bible have been wronged with rash and hasty Glosses upon them. I know not whether we do not some wrong to Laban, abeut the time that he bestowed his Two Daughters upon his Kinsman; though, I confess, in the thing he were hard enough; if the matter be exactly pondered, I suppose, we shall find, that Jacob first married, and then served; and that his Nuptials were celebrated before he had been Two Months at his Uncles House; which is, you know, contrary to the vulgar Opinion of it. We have commonly condemned Zipporah, as if in Exod. 4.25. she had with a sufficient Prophaness and Impudence called Moses, A bloody Husband; whereas indeed, we have been too rash and hasty in it: She only call'd her Child, One p. 157espoused by Blood (that is, by Circumcision) to the Holy God; An Expression most proper to the occasion! I know not what Thoughts many have had concerning Joseph, when the… find him speak, in Gen. 44.5. of Divining by a Cup; whereas, if we be not rash and hasty, we shall find no mean Translators thus to read the words, Is it not that in which my Lord drinketh, and for which he would make a through search. I hope, 'tis also a rash and hasty thing, to charge the Hebrew Midwives with Telling a Lye to Pharoah; no, I rather think, They truly acknowledged a miraculous Work of God, for their distressed Nation. I would also try whether nothing might be said for the clearing of Jephta from the murder of his Daughter, but it will be too long for the present Exercise. We have commonly condemned Naaman, as if in 2 King. 5.18. he had asked a liberty still to bear a part in the idolatrous Worship of Rimmon; whereas, 'tis possible, we have been too rash and hasty in thinking so; an Excellent Writer long since, has made it evident, that the Words refer not unto his future, but his former Actions, and he laments it, that he had heretofore so often bow'd before that accursed Idol; upon which C…nfession, the Prophet gives him Absolution. I have heard a Jew reproach the Martyr Stephen, for saying in Act. 7.16. A Sepulchre Abraham bought for a sum of m…ney of the Sons of Emmor: Whereas, the Sepulchre bought by Abraham, was of Ephren the Hittite at Hebron. But if we be not rash and hasty, the Text may be so Translated as to admit this Paraphrase. Jacob and our Fathers died, and were p. 158removed to Sychem, and were laid in Sepulchres, both in that which Abraham bought for money, and also in that which was bought of the Sons of Emmor, the Father of Sychem. I ll give but one glance more. How often has Paul been charg'd with a rash and hasty Speech, for saying to the High-Priest, God shall smite thee! And this may seem argued from his adding in Act. 23.5. I wist not, that he was the High priest. Whereas, it may be, 'twas a rash and hasty Charge which is now laid upon him. That very Ananias, that High-priest, if History deceive me not, came to a most miserable End, in the Destruction of Jerusalem afterwards; and so Paul did only denounce a sober, solemn, Divine Prophecy upon that wicked Hypocrite. Besides, 'tis likely that Paul not only knew the Dignity of this Dignified Clergyman, from the Seat and Garb which he saw him in, but also he had been brought up at the same Colledge with him. His meaning therefore must novv be this I do not acknowledge t…is man for any High-priest at all; I declare his Priesthood wholly antiquated and abolished by the Lord Jesus, for whom I am a witness here; or, if there be an High-priest at all, I know this man too well to count him worthy of the Title.

You see for how many Good People I have now made my self an Advocate. There are many Learned Persons in this Assembly, to whom (since I am their Debtor!) these can be no ungrateful Intimations; and I would give you many more of them, if other Matters were not by other People now call'd for. Wherefore,

p. 159II. Why should not all ungodly Sinners retract the lewd things which they have been rashly and hastily doing all their Days! We count it a rash thing in David, for him to give away another Mans Lands unto a lying Ziba; but what a rash thing then is it, for Men to give away their own Souls unto a lying Devil, at his first asking for them! And yet we may say to every unconverted Sinner among us, Thou art the man! This rash and hasty Thing hast thou a thousand times over been guilty of. Every time that a Sinner does a thing which his Conscience does rebuke him for, he bids the Devil take that poor, forlorn, undone Soul of his; and why is it? It is because he believes the Lyes which the Devil tells him, about The Pleasures of Sin for a Season here. The unconverted Sinner is not only call'd a Fool, in this Book of Wisdom, above an Hundred and Thirty Times over, if I have not miscounted them; but it is also said of him, in Eccl. 9.3. Madness is in his Heart. Alas! the poor Sinner is mad, and they are none but rash and impertinent, and extravagant Things, which he is continually doing of. Sinner, What rash Bargains hast thou been driving? Was it not a rash Thing in our First Father, to sell his Innocence and his Paradise for an Apple? 'Tis a rash Thing, which thou repeatest every Day. Is it not a rash Thing for thee, to squander away thy precious Time in foolish and hurtful Things, when all the Angels in Heaven can't fetch back one Minute of it? Is it not a rash Thing for thee to spend all thy Life only in building and filling p. 160a little Nest, which the Cudgels of Death will quickly break to peices, and then to have an Immortal Soul wholly unprovided for? And what rash Ventures art thou making too! Was it not a rash Thing in the Celebrated Philosopher, to walk so far into a burning Mountain, till it swallowed him up? 'Tis a rash Thing which thou art every Day exposed with. Is it not a rash Thing to rush upon that Go…, who is a consuming Fire unto them that r…bel against him? Is it not a rash Thing to sleight all the Threatnings of God, and all the Judgments of God, and provoke the Jealousie of the Omnipotent God, by thy impenitent Unbelief? Is it not a rash Thing to remain where the horrible Cannon-bullets of the Divine Vengeance are flying, roaring, striking round about thee? W…o ever hardened himself against God, and prospered? O repent of this prodigious Rashness When Sinners come to repentance, that repentance is thus described, in Isa 32.4. The Heart of the Rash shall understand. What is Repentance, but an after mind, and a better mind, than what the Sinner was once carried away withal? Pray change your Minds, Sinners; and you that have been so rash, now by repentance grow wise again. When a Sinner is converted, it is said of him, in Luke 15.17. He comes to himself. Sinners, you have all this while been acting besides your selves; you have been doing of none but rash things which you have not so much as a colour of Reason for. May you now come to see your own Rashness, and with Consideration change the dangerous Ways you are in. The God of Heaven p. 161is this Day giving unto you that Call in Hag. 1.5. Thus saith the Lord, consider your ways. The God of Heaven is this Day, making over you that sigh, in Deut. 32.29. O that they were wise, that they would consider their latter end! Pray, do you answer that Call, answer that Sigh, by labouring that you may be able to say, as in Psal. 119.59. I thought on my ways, and I turned my feet!

III. But then at last, let us all take heed of those rash things which by our hasty Passions we may all be betray'd into. We all of us have our hasty Passions; even the best Elias among us all, may be very sensibly subject thereunto; and we had need be careful that we be not thereby ensnared in such rash things, as will be for ever to be repented of. Methinks the Town-Clerk of Ephesus gave a most wholsome word at a Towns-meeting once, in Acts 19.36. Ye ought to do nothing rashly. In the pursuance of such an Exhortation, let me set before you a few Cautions. And they may be such as these

First, Beware of rash Jealousies. By rash Jealousies, I mean, especially, all ungrounded suspicions of God, and of his Free-Grace, and of his Good Will unto us. It is a frequent thing for persons to be jealous that their Names are not written in the Book of Life; and so think they, 'tis in vain for me to do any thing at working out my own Salvation. And it is as frequent for Persons to be jealous, that they have sinned beyond the reach of Mercy, and that so p. 162there is no hope of Mercy for them. But it is a rash thing for any to imagine so; and the God of Heaven takes these rash thoughts very unkindly from us. He says in Isa. 55.8. My thoughts are not your thoughts. I do boldly, and yet not rashly, affirm it, that for ought any of you know, you may (even the blackest and oldest Sinner among you all) be predestinated for a glorious place among the Angels of God for ever. If any of you are under Fears that you have committed the unpardonable Sin, I may tell you that you are yet free from the great Transgression. I do further, and not rashly, affirm it, that there is not the wickedest Creature in all this Congregation, which would not be unspeakably welcome unto the Lord Jesus Christ upon their Humble Addresses: Go, in Gods Name, go after all your multiplyed Iniquities, carry a distressed and a perishing Soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, He will not cast you out! Some of you are haunted with such Thoughts as have a monstrous Blasphemy and Atheism in them; it will be a rash thing for you now to think, That God has cast you off. No, I can assure you, that such Injections do rarely trouble the Minds of any but such as are already the true Children of God. They are Darts which the Devil would poyson and inflame your Hearts withal: But unless he perceive a person to be one that will be troubled for the Sins of Thoughts, he will not give these molestations to them. Now, that is the Character of them that are born again.

p. 163In a word, you that have heretofore experienced a regenerating work of God upon your Souls; pray, do you beware of rash Jealousies about your selves. It was a rash word of her, My God has forgotten me, and forsaken me. It was a rash word of him, I shall one day perish by the hands of my enemy. The Saints have spoken such rash words, but they have been forced afterwards to say, as in Psal. 77.10. This is my infirmity; 'twas rashly spoken of me. For you to make nothing of all that God has done in bringing of you home unto himself, you are not well aware how displeasing this may be to the Holy Spirit of God.

Secondly, Beware of rash Promises. A rash Promise made unto Man layes an unhappy snare for the Maker of it. It is the badge of a good Man in Psal. 15.4. He swears to his own hurt, and changeth not. We rashly promise many a thing; and, if it be a lawful thing, it may be for our hurt if we keep it, but it will be much more for our hurt if we break it; if it be a wicked thing we must break it, and not keep it; but then we must own with shame the hurt we did in making it. The rash Promise which Israel made unto the Gibeonites, was an occasion of much Temptation afterwards unto them. You will do well never to make a Promise unto a Neighbour without a reserve; and never to promise but when you are both willing and able to perform. A rash Promise to do a thing may be very pernicious to us, and so may a rash Promise not to do a thing. A Church-Member once being admonished, that he would repent p. 164of a miscarriage which he would not own, rashly replyed, No, I'll burn before I'll turn. And the House of this Man was quickly after burned, himself perishing in the Flames. This, as to Man. But a rash Promise made unto God, yet further entangles, as well as defiles and pollutes the Soul that makes it. What says the Wise Man in Eccl. 5.2, 5. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: Better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than vow and not pay. It is a rash thing for a Man to vow a thing beyond his own reach; such a rashness there often is in the Popish Vows of Continency. It is much more a rash thing for a Man to vow a thing against Gods Law. There was an execrable rashness in the Vow of those Miscreants, who vow'd the Death of the Apostle Paul; and so there was in the Vow of Herod, who swore (I suppose by his own Head) what he thought bound him to cut off the Head of John, though one of the Antients has found a way, you know, to have brought him off. In short, it is a rash thing to vow any thing that shall not be commanded by God, or acceptable and serviceable to him. We should therefore look narrowly into all the circumstances of our Vows, before we venture upon them. I suppose 'tis the want of this that has given cause for that Observation, That a Nation or People hardly ever made a Vow, or Covenant, or Engagement against any one thing, but they afterwards did that very thing. You may, if you please, apply the Observation!

p. 165Thirdly, Beware of rash Prejudices. How often do profane Men take up a Prejudice against the Truths and Ways, and People of God! They know that all the Religion they have themselves, is but Hypocrisie; and so they clamour that there is nothing but Hypocrisie in the Religion of other Men. Perhaps they have seen one Church-Member prove a Beast, or a Knave; and then they cry out, They are all so! This now is a piece of most Brutal Rashness. To cure so Rash a Prejudice, I shall only say what was heretofore said in that very case in John 1.46. Come and see. We should be in like manner wary how we take up a rash Prejudice against this or that particular Person in the World; we should not be ready to censure a Man, as a stranger to the fear of God, because we can't readily comprehend something that the Man says, or does, or meets withal. Our Saviour forbids this rash judging in Matth. 7.1. Judge not. It was a rash thing in the Disciples, when they saw a Blind Man, to say, Who is the Sinner now! And Jobs Friends had like to have paid for a rash thing, when they imputed hard things to him, because God inflicted hard things on him. This wariness is peculiarly to guard us from a rash Prejudice against any Man who may otherwise be an Instrument of much good unto us; a Magistrate, a Minister, or the like. It was the Complaint of the Prophet in Jer. 20.50. I heard the defaming of many, Report, say they, and we will report it. There is no Servant of the Publick, but he is traduced with false Reports carried up and down the Country; and p. 166these Reports beget rash Prejudices in the Spirits of the People against the best Friends they have in the World; it is impossible to express the fatal Mischief and Phrensie of these Prejudices; but we should not be so rash as to be thus easily imposed upon.

Fourthly, Beware of Rash Conjectures. 'Tis an usual thing that Men go to shape some Conjecture upon the cause of this or that Calamity that comes upon a place; but there is oftentimes a World of Rashness in their Conjectures. Unless we see the Sins committed, which the Word of God plainly and clearly threatens those Judgments of Heaven for, we should not be very positive in saying, The Judgments are come for such or such a cause. What a rash thing was it in them of old, who counted that the original of all the Calamities which came upon them, in Jer. 44.18. Since we left off to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven, we have wanted all things. An Assembly of Lutherans once fell into such an astonishing and infatuated Rashness, when they ascribed the horrid Calamities which wasted Germany, unto this, That the Worship of Images was growing so much out of fashion. It is not safe, but rash to say, that the Judgments which are the consequents of these and those Transactions, do come as the Punishments of those Transactions, unless the Word of God evidently declare the Transactions to be Transgressions before the Lord. Because that since such a Year we have had many a Blast upon us, and since such a Day we have had sore Inconveniencies, that is not enough to make us conclude, p. 167that what was done such a Year, or such a Day, is the cause of all the Controversie. Thus also, we may make some conjecture upon the fulfilments of the Prophesies in the Book of God; we may with an humble and modest enquiry guess whereabouts we are upon the Line …f Time. Our Saviour was provoked at them of old, because they flouted at such endeavours, in Matth. 16.3. Ye hypocrites, can ye not discern the signs of the times? i. e. that the seventy weeks in which the Messiah was to come, are almost expired? But we should not be rash in such Conjectures; we should have better bottoms and epochs to build upon, than they that allotted so much upon Sixty Six a while ago; we may otherwise plunge our selves into great unhappinesses.

Fifthly, Beware of Rash Enterprizes. It was a rash Expedition that the Ephraimites made out of Egypt into Canaan, before the full time of their Deliverance was come. We do rash things when we do not go to God for his Direction in them: Thus we read in Isa. 30.1. Wo to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, which take counsel, but not of me. When we have any weighty thing to do, we should have God for our Counsellour, by searching what his Word enjoyns upon us, and by begging that our Heart and Way may be disposed by his invisible Influences. While Israel was under its Theocracy, even till the days of Solomon, God sent his Angels audibly to instruct from the Ʋrim and Thummim, what course to steer when they consulted him. When we don't remember duely to consult God, p. 168before our great undertakings, he does with woful, bitter, deadly disappointments, make us to find, That we have gone rashly to work. I pray, let us ask our selves, whether we have our selves never found it so! And thus for particular Persons to dispose of themselves in Marriage, or to do any thing that their comfort and welfare depends much upon; without much Prayer with Fasting over it, is to be inexcusably rash. And as it is rashness to enterprize any considerable thing, without consulting our God, so 'tis for us to do it without consulting our Strength. Says our Lord in Luke 14.26. W…ich of you intending to build, sits not down first, and counts the cost! Why, 'tis none but a rash Man. [Canis …estinans] that won't compare his undertaking with his ability, before he ll enter thereupon

Sixthly, Beware of Rash Dissatisfactions. 'Tis no rare thing for Men to grow dissatisfied at some of the circumstances that God has placed them in; but it is an easie thing to be rash in those dissatisfactions. What a rash thing was it in the renowned Elias, in 1 King. 19.4. He sat down under a Juniper-tree, and requested for himself, that he might dye, and said, Now, O Lord, take away my life. But, good Sir, what if God had granted this rash Request of yours, had not you been a loser by it? Why, 'tis an old saying, That many an eminent Man sits under Elias's Juniper tree. Men that are in publick places, had need look to their own Spirits, lest by some distaste and leven in them. they provoke the God of Heaven to deprive them of all their precious opportunities to serve their Generation. p. 169When Moses had a most unworthy and unthankful People under him, it is said in Psal. 106.32. It went ill with Moses for their sakes; because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. A Person that moves in any large sphere of serviceableness, will certainly find a perverse and froward World, requite him very basely for it; but let him not now be carried away with such a discontent, as to resolve, I will not be an healer to such a People; I'll do no more for them; they shall sink or swim for all me. Sir, this may be such an unadvisedness as the Holy God may chastise, by throwing of you by among those that he will never use for the good of his People any more. And thus also, it becomes particular Persons to keep under their dissatisfactions at whatever estate God may see needful for them. Our Lord said in John 13.7. What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. You can't say, when things go too fast, or too slow, an Imprisonment has ere now been the way to an Advancement. On the other side, when the discontents of Persons drive them to rash Wishes and rash Speeches, 'tis well if the God that hears them all, say not Amen unto them. I have heard an angry Father say, He car'd not whether he ever saw such a Child again; and God has taken care that accordingly he never did. So will a weary Mother say, She hopes this is the last Child she shall ever have; and God has taken care that she has had none perfect or living after it.

Lastly, Beware of Rash Zeal. We read of some in Rom. 10.2. They have a zeal of God, but p. 170duplicate page p. 171duplicate page duplicate page p. 173duplicate page p. 174duplicate page p. 175duplicate page p. 176duplicate page p. 177duplicate page p. 178duplicate page p. 179duplicate page p. 178duplicate page p. 179duplicate page p. 180duplicate page p. 181duplicate page p. 182duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page p. 170not according to knowledge. Such a Zeal there is in many that rashly burns like Wild-fire, and seeks to devour those very things that are holy, and just, and good. And there is a more pardonable Zeal in others, that will furiously exclaim against, perhaps a true Child of God, and this because of some Innocent, and it may be Laudable thing, which his Conscience has cause to be well satisfied withal. Moreover, 'tis but a rash Zeal for a Man to revile an Opinion, which for ought he does yet infallibly know, may be a Glorious Truth of God. It is not impossible that many things may be quickly understood and entertained as blessed Mysteries about the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which yet from the time that the Kingdom of Antichrist has been in play, to this very day, the multitudes of good Men have with a Rash Zeal, bestowed shameful, railing, and odious Characters upon. Let us beware of all this Rashness. And in opposition thereunto, let me recommend these two things.

First, Let nothing be done too suddenly. Let us be Men of Thoughts. It was the practice of an Holy Man, which Preached many scores of Sermons in this very Pulpit long ago, That if any important Question were asked him, he would not give an Answer thereunto, before he had made a pause which had some secret and silent Ejaculations in it. O did we but keep our pauses well, there would be a general Harmony in our Lives! The Jews Report, that old Adam used to say, A Man would never do amiss, if he saw from the beginning to the end. And it was p. 171once the Mode of no rash Person, when he saw any Man in haste upon any thing, to say, Pray stay a little, and we shall have done the sooner!

Secondly, Let nothing be done too Angrily. Be assured, nothing is done so well in Anger, but what may be done better out of it. The Roman Emperour, if he were Angry, would say, or do nothing till he had repeated, over all the Letters of the Alphabet. When a Man is Angry he's meerly Frantick. If your Anger be up, e'en make a stop; say nothing, do nothing, till at least you have gone over the Lords Prayer, or some such way cooled the Fever. All will be Rash while the Anger holds. I need only add that Oracle in Prov. 13.10. With the well-advised is wisdom.