The Good of Early Obedience, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Somewhat Prooemial. The Yoke explained, what it is Literally taken, what Metaphorically.
THE Apoſtle tells us that great is the Myſtery of Godlineſs; 1 Tim. 3.16.and it is ſo, not only in credendis, the things which are to be believed, but in agendis, the matters that relate to practice. There are Myſteries in the Precept as well as in the Promiſe.Pſal. 55.22. If a man be commanded to caſt his burthen upon the Lord, then he himſelf hath none to bear; and yet the Lord Chriſt lays a burthen upon every Believer;Matth. 11.30. Rev. 2.24. where he is a Redeemer, he ſets the ſoul free from every Yoke it is under, and if the Son make a man free, John 8.36.he is then free indeed. And yet none are more under the Yoke than the Lords Freemen being not without Law, 1 Cor. 9.21.but under the Law to Chriſt. When he takes off one, he puts on another, Take my Yoke upon you, Matth. 11.29.
Though Chriſt breaks our Fetters, yet he brings us into Bonds; though he delivers us from thraldom and ſlavery, yet not from duty; he redeems us from the power of ſin, but not from the power of the Precept: and therefore to argue from liberty to licentiouſneſs, is a kind of Logick found only in the Devil's School,Rom. 6.1, 2. Shall we continue in ſin that Grace may abound? God forbid. The right reaſoning is from mercy to duty, Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorifie God in your Body, and your Spirits, which are Gods, 1 Cor. 6.20.
Redemption and ſervice are, in the deſign of the Goſpel,Luke 1.74, 75. linked together, That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might ſerve him without fear, in holineſs and righteouſneſs before him all the days of our life. The freedom purchaſed by Chriſt makes ſervice neceſſary; for he quits us of our burden, but not of our obedience; he doth not ſet us free from ſervice, but changes our work and our Maſter,Rom. 6.19. As ye have yielded your members ſervants to uncleanneſs, and to iniquity unto iniquity; even ſo now yield your members ſervants to righteouſneſs, unto holineſs: So that ye are Servants ſtill. It was the intereſt of the Fleſh and fleſhly luſts that was ſerved before, but now it is the intereſt of God and holineſs; the freedom then is from the Government of the God of this World, who rules in the Children of diſobedience, Epheſ. 2.2.unto a voluntary ſubmiſſion and reſignedneſs to the Divine conduct; from the brutiſh drudgery of ſin, to the excellency of ſuch an Empire,Pſal. 19.11. whoſe Precepts carry their own reward with them, beſides the Glory that enſues. So then the Yoke that hath a curſe in it, that Chriſt hath took off, but the Yoke of obedience that he hath call'd us to put on; and herein he hath excellently accommodated things to the great advantage of man. For as it is his miſery and burthen to be under the former Yoke, (which, what it is, I ſhall ſhew anon) ſo it is as much his intereſt and happineſs to be under the latter; and therefore the earlier he takes it up, the ſooner he begins to be happy. It is good for a man that he bear the Yoke in his Youth.
I ſhall not ſpeak any thing of this Book in general, only a little about the manner of penning it, which is ſomewhat unuſual; each Chapter (the laſt only excepted) being penned according to the Order in which the Letters ſtand in the Hebrew Alphabet, as ſome of the Pſalms of David are. For what reaſon the Spirit of God ſhould direct the Pen-man of it this way, it doth not appear. Hierom labours to find out great myſteries in it, but doth but beat the Air. This way of writing ſeems to be very uſeful for the help of the memory, and may ſeem to hint as if God would have ſuch Scriptures peculiarly remarked and remembred, and that is the beſt reaſon I can give.
But whereas the firſt, ſecond and fourth Chapters begin with a ſingle Alphabet, the ſeveral Verſes beginning with ſeveral Letters in their Order, this third Chapter conſiſteth of a threefold Alphabet, every three Verſes in courſe beginning with the ſame Letter.
This Text, which I have pitched upon, falls under the Letter [foreign] which Hierome makes to ſtand for foreign, which ſignifies Good; and accordingly the 25th, 26th, and the 27th Verſes do all begin in the Hebrew with the word Tobh.
foreignSo in the 25th Verſe, Tobh Jehovah Lekovau, Good is the Lord to them that wait for him.
foreignSo the 26th Verſe, Tobh vejahhil vedumam. It is good a man ſhould both hope and quietly wait.
foreignAnd ſo here in the Text, Tobh Laggebher Ki-jiſſa gnol bingnoraiu. Good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
The only difficulty in the Text that needs explaining is, What Yoke it is that is here meant.
The Yoke is ſometimes taken Literally, and ſometimes Metaphorically.
A Literal Yoke is an Inſtrument of Wood or Iron fitted to the Necks of Creatures, either to tame them, or work them, or puniſh them. Theſe are the three chief uſes of the Yoke:
Firſt, It is for the taming of wild Beaſts, and making them tractable, The Yoke and the Collar bow down the hard Neck, Ecclus 33.25. Ephraim complains of himſelf, As a Bullock unaccuſtomed to the Yoke, Jer. 31.18. that is, untamed and unruly.
Secondly, It is an Inſtrument of labour, by which Beaſts do draw burthens, Deut. 21.3. Take an Heifer that hath not drawn in the Yoke. And hence ye read in Scripture of a Yoke of Oxen, 1 Sam. 11.7. Luke 14.19.foreign Jugum Boum, from foreign niph foreign copulavit. And ſo in the Greek foreign quaſi foreign, quia eſt foreign.
Thirdly, It is an Inſtrument of puniſhment, Deut 28.48. Thou ſhalt ſerve thine Enemies in hunger and in thirſt, and in nakedneſs and in want of all things, and he ſhall put a Yoke of Iron upon thy neck, until he hath deſtroyed thee.
Theſe are the uſes of the Literal Yoke.
But then there is a Metaphorical Yoke, and ſo it is uſed in Scripture, and that both in a Civil, and a Religious ſenſe.
Firſt in a Civil ſenſe, and ſo it is uſed two ways.
Firſt, For a Condition of Marriage: Wedlock is called a Yoke, Conjugium à conjungendo, i.e. jugo communi quo Vir & Ʋxor ſimul junguntur, Polan.(and it is ſo too truly to many, that know no more how to bear it, than how to break it.) In this ſenſe many take that of the Apoſtle in 2 Cor. 6.14.The Greek is foreign, as when Beaſts of divers kinds, as an Ox and an Aſs, or of divers bigneſs and ſtature, draw together, the Yoke cannot lye equally on both. And in this the Apoſtle checks matching with Infidels. Quam malè inaequales veniunt ad Aratra Juvenci, Ovid. Epiſt. Dare not to yoke thy ſelf with cry untamed Heifer, that bears not Christ's Yoke, ſaith a Divine. Be ye not unequally yoked together with Ʋnbelievers. And hence a Husband or a Wife is called a Yoke-fellow. But this is not the Yoke in the Text, for it is not good for a man to bear this Yoke too ſoon, as many do that make more haſte than good ſpeed, coveting the condition before they underſtand the duties of the relation, and ſo marry in haſte and then repent at leiſure.
Secondly, Labour and obedience of Servants to their Maſters is called a Yoke. Let as many Servants as are under the yoke, count their Maſters worthy of all honour, 1 Tim. 6.1. [under the yoke] i. e. called to be Servants; indeed every Calling is a Yoke. And certainly it is good for every one to bear this yoke in their youth. It is an excellent thing that young ones ſhould be bred up in ſome ſuitable Calling, and thereby inured to labour and induſtry betimes. For I know none exempted from that Law of God,Gen. 3.19. In the ſweat of thy brows ſhalt thou eat thy bread.
God made not the World to be a Nurſeſery of idleneſs; Creatures void of life are ſerviceable in their places. The Sun is called Shemeſh, from a Chaldee Root, which ſignifies to miniſter; becauſe the Sun is, in miniſtring light, a Servant to the whole World.foreign Chald. in Pahel miniſtravit, inde foreign Sol, ſic dictus quod in adminiſtrando lumine totius Mundi miniſter ſit. The Angels are always working, and ſo is Jeſus Chriſt, and ſo is God himſelf. Chriſt ſays, The Father worketh hitherto, and I work, John 5.17. Nay the Devils are never idle;One being asked, Who was the moſt vigilant Biſhop in all his Dioceſs? anſwered, The Devil, Nunquam dormitat, ſemper vigil Synagogae ſuae Epiſcopus. ſo that an idle perſon cannot find a pattern either in Heaven or Hell. God who hath appointed a time for every thing under the Sun, never did allow any time for ſin and ſloth. Though he ſays, foreign, Be careful for nothing; Phil. 4.6.yet he hath no where ſaid, foreign, Do nothing. There is a threefold care mentioned in Scripture, the care of the head, which is providence; the care of the hand, which is diligence; and the care of the heart, which is diffidence. Now though the care of the heart be forbidden, yet the care of the head and the hand is commanded. To be diffident then, and diſtruſtful, that is a ſin; but to be provident and diligent, that is a Duty.
The Lacedemonians made idleneſs actionable in their Courts, and by Solon's Law ſuch were to ſuffer death. And our Law ſuppoſes all to be of ſome Calling, not only Men but Women, and the young Ladies too; and therefore it calls them, during their Virgin eſtate, Spinſters. But alas! the viciouſneſs and degeneracy of this Age hath forfeited the Title, many can card, but few can ſpin; and therefore you may write them, Carders, Dancers, Painters, Ranters, Spenders, rather than Spinſters. Induſtry is worn out by pride and delicacy, the Comb and the Looking-Glaſs poſſeſs the place and the hours of the Spindle and the Diſtaff; and their great buſineſs is to curl the Locks, inſtead of twiſting Wool and Flax: So that both Males and Females are prepared for all ill impreſſions, by the miſchief of an idle education.
Indeed meaner perſons are forced to put their Children to Trades for an after ſubſiſtence, but the Nobility and Gentry of the Nation are in this thing the ſhame of it; it is reckoned below a Perſon of Quality to be a Mechanick; and therefore how many, that might otherwiſe have been uſeful in their Generation, are bred up in idleneſs, and ſo fit only to be reckoned among the Vermine of the Earth! whilſt they live only to eat what others earn, and inſtead of proving the Pillars, they prove the Caterpillars of the Nation: and it is ſeldom but that idleneſs and wickedneſs go together. Thou wicked and ſlothful Servant, ſaid our Lord Chriſt, Matth. 25.26. And I pray who are the moſt vicious and debauched part of the Nation, but young Gallants, who have no Callings to yoke them? Who haunt the Drinking-houſes, the Play-houſes, the Brothel-houſes, ſo much as they? Who are the Corrupters of others, the Scoffers, the Duellers, ſo much as they? So greatly doth an idle life expoſe to the Devils malice, and diſpoſe to the Devils ſervice. It is good therefore that every one ſhould bear this Yoke in their youth, that young ones of all ſorts ſhould be trained up in ſome honeſt Calling.Therefore Machiavil's Rule is good counſel, Otium prohibeatur, & perpetua quaedam honeſtorum exercitiorum neceſſitas imperetur, vitanda est maximè ſterilitas. For
1. This will more fit them for hardſhips and ſufferings. Idleneſs cauſes delicacy and tenderneſs, and that is no ſuffering quality. It will be dreadful when the Lord ſhall paſs over your fair Neck, as it is ſaid of Ephraim, Hoſ. 10.11. I paſſed over upon her fair Neck; that is, I put a Yoke upon her, viz. a Yoke of ſuffering, an Iron Yoke. And if ſuch a day ſhould come upon England as upon Ephraim, Ah! how will thoſe Necks that have been chained with Gold and Pearl, be able to wear an Iron Yoke? or thoſe tender feet that muſt not touch the dirt, be able to wade after Chriſt through blood?
It is ſtoried of Alice Driver how reſolutely and bravely ſhe ſuffered for Chriſt;Acts and Monuments, printed 1641. Vol. 3. p. 887, 888. when they put the Iron Chain about her Neck, to faſten her to a Poſt to be burned in Queen Maries days, ſhe gloried in it, This, ſaid ſhe, is the fineſt Neckerchief that ever I wore, bleſſed be God for it. Now ſhe was one who had been uſed to hard labour, being bred up to drive her Fathers Plough. Hard breeding fits us for hard ſufferings.
2. It prevents many temptations. Idleneſs is the Back-door for all temptations to come in at. It tempts the Devil to tempt us. It is a good Rule one gives for the avoiding ſin and temptation, Be always employed, that when Satan comes he may not find thee at leiſure. Many have been kept from great temptations by being diligent in their Callings, and many by idle diverſions have fallen into great temptations and ſnares. Dinah wanders abroad, and is deflowred before ſhe comes home; Tertullian tells of a Chriſtian Woman who going to ſee a Play, was there poſſeſſed by the Devil; and when he was asked (by ſome who came to her, and ſet themſelves to pray him out) how he durſt poſſeſs one that was a Chriſtian? He anſwered, I found her in my own Ground. Oh how ſhould this warn young ones to take heed of the Play-houſes? Theſe are the Devils Ground, and what he finds upon his own Ground, he will poſſeſs as his own. He is the Lord of that Mannor, and being ſo, the Waifs and Eſtrays are all his. Let young ones therefore take up the Yoke of ſome lawful Calling betimes. But this Civil Yoke is not the Yoke in the Text.
Secondly, The Yoke, as Metaphorically taken, is uſed in a Moral or Religious ſenſe; and ſo there is a threefold Yoke which it is not good to bear, and a threefold Yoke which it is good to bear.
There is a threefold Yoke which is not good to bear,
The Yoke of Moſaical Ceremonies,
The Yoke of Antichriſtian Impoſitions,
The Yoke of ſin and luſt.
First, The Yoke of Moſaical Ceremonies. This in its day was a ſtrict Yoke, a heavy Yoke, a Yoke (as the Apoſtle Peter ſays) which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear, Acts 15.10.
But this Yoke the Lord Chriſt hath freed us from, the Ceremonial Law was aboliſhed by him, and had no uſe after his death; but by accident, as he who builds a Vault lets the Centrels ſtand till he puts in the Keyſtone, and then pulls them away. So that now the Rule is, Stand faſt in the liberty wherewith Chriſt hath made us free, and be not intangled again in the Yoke of bondage, Gal. 5.1.
Secondly, There is the Yoke of Antichriſt, which is made up of humane inventions and impoſitions in the Worſhip of God; on which foundation all the Will-worſhip, Superſtition and Idolatry, which at this day obtain in the World, do ſtand.
This is a heavier Yoke than the former, for that had once the ſanction of God, and there the authority made the ſubjection reaſonable, though burthenſom; but this never had, and therefore more grievous, becauſe herein we are made Slaves to the luſts of men, whereas in that we were Subjects to the will of God.
And therefore to be impoſed upon by Ceremonies of mens deviſing, when we are actually freed by Chriſt from the Ceremonies that were once of Gods appointing,Bagſhaw's Great Queſtion about things indifferent. is a very heavy Yoke, a Yoke which one ſays is in the Impoſer, tyranny; and in the Perſons impoſed upon, burden and bondage. And therefore a Yoke which without ſin (in tranſgreſſing the Precept of our Lord Chriſt,Mat. 23.8. and his Apoſtle) we may not ſubmit to.1 Cor. 7.23.
Becauſe hereby we owne a power in the Impoſers over conſcience, which God never gave to any; and ſo abet them in their ſinful uſurpations upon the Prerogative of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt,Pſal. 2.6. Iſai. 9.6. Matth. 28.18. who alone is King and Head of the Church, and hath the Government upon his ſhoulders.
And alſo becauſe we make our ſelves to be what, in things appertaining to the worſhip of God, we are commanded not to be, viz. the Servants of men, Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the ſervants of men, 1 Cor. 7.23.
This then is another Yoke, which we ought not to bear, When once humane inventions become Impoſitions, and lay a neceſſity upon that which God hath left free, then may we lawfully reject them as Plants of mans ſetting, and not of Gods owning, and which he will therefore in his time aſſuredly root up, Matth. 15.13.
Thirdly, There is the Yoke of ſin and luſt. For though Sinners are ſaid to be Children of Belial, that is, without Yoke *So the word foreign ſignifies a foreign abſque & foreign jugum, quaſi abſque jugo, ſcilicet Legis Divinae. Clarius, Tralatio à bubus jugum ſubire nolentibus, Druſius. And accordingly the Septuagint render it foreign.; yet none under ſuch a Yoke as they, for as the ſervice of Chriſt is perfect freedom, ſo to be free from righteouſneſs is the baſeſt thraldom.Rom. 6.20. If ſin breaks one Yoke off, it ever puts another on, They have broken the Yoke, and burſt the Bonds, Jer. 5.5. there is one Yoke caſt off, and then it follows in the next Verſe, Their tranſgreſſions are many, their backſlidings are encreaſed, there is another Yoke put on. As in converſion Chriſt breaks off the Yoke of ſin and Satan, and puts his own upon a man; ſo the Sinner breaks off the Yoke of God,Pſal. 2.3. Luke 19.14,—27. and ſubjects himſelf to Satans Yoke: and therefore ſome ſay, wicked men are called Children of Belial, making Belial the name of the Devil.Quidam Belial nomen eſſe Daemonis contendunt, ductum à foreign non, & foreign aſcendet, quia nos aſcendere ſurſum non permittet. What concord hath Chriſt with Belial, i. e. with Satan, ſays the Syriac Verſion? And hence Sinners are ſaid to be taken captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. 2.26. And he is ſaid to work (that is, with power and ſucceſs) in the children of diſobedience, Epheſ. 2.2. And this is the Reign of Satan in the ſoul of a Sinner; for as the Lord Chriſt reigns in the hearts of his people by the power of Grace and righteouſneſs, ſo Satan reigns in the hearts of wicked men by the power of ſin and luſt.
Now it cannot be good in any ſenſe to bear this Yoke, becauſe it every way tends to the hurt and miſchief of the ſoul.
1. As it breaks off the Yoke of God, which is everyway ſuited to the good and advantage of man. For the commandment is holy, juſt and good, Rom. 7.12. [holy] as it is the expreſſion of the will of the holy God; [iuſt] in that it commands nothing but what is equal and fit to be obeyed; [good] as it promotes the advantage and happineſs of the ſoul that obeys it.
2. As it inſlaves the Creature to the baſeſt bondage, and moſt unreaſonable vaſſalage in the World. O what a noble Creature was man while he did bear the Image of God, lived in his will, and enjoyed a conſtant fellowſhip with him! But alas, How is the Gold become dim! and the fine Gold changed! Lam. 4.1. How hath ſin debaſed his Excellency, defaced the Image of God, ſhut him out of favour, and out of fellowſhip? So that now he is become a Slave to Satan and all manner of luſts.
And can it be good to bear this Yoke? What! to oppoſe God? to be a Slave to ſin? to reject the Reign of Chriſt? to reſiſt the Spirit? to ſlight the Grace of the Goſpel? to gratifie the Devil? and to undo thy own ſoul? O think of that word, He that ſins againſt me, foreign ſperuit animam ſuam, Vatab. in loc.wrongs his own ſoul, Prov. 8.36. And where lies the wrong? He refuſes the Yoke of Chriſt, and ſo lays himſelf under the wrath of Chriſt, and ye periſh from the way, if his wrath be kindled but a little, Pſal. 2.12. And what greater wrong can any one offer to his own ſoul, than to lay it under a neceſſity of damnation by a willing ſubjection to the Yoke of ſin, rather than that of Chriſt? Therefore it is ſo far from being good, that it is the greateſt evil to bear this Yoke, Be not ye the Servants of ſin.
But then there is a threefold Yoke which it is good for a man to bear in his youth. There is,
The Yoke of affliction;
The Yoke of the Spirit in conviction of ſin;
The Yoke of ſubjection and obedience to Jeſus Chriſt.