A Gospel Glass, Treatise · Chapter 12
CHAP. XII. Their unthankfulneſs.
5ly. Profeſſours unthankfulneſs.UNthank fulneſs is another piece of ungodlineſs that Profeſſours are very guilty of. Praiſe, or Thankfulneſs is as the Penny or Pepper-corn, which God expects as acknowledgement, as high Rent, to be paid him for all we hold of him. But how hath this been denyed? And thereby how juſtly have we forfeited all into the hands of God? Pſa. 65. ult. Iſa. 46. ult.Though the paying of this rent penny be the only Heavenly work that can be done on Earth; the only joyfull imployment, that ſhall laſt to all Eternity in another life; a work that ſhould ever wait for God in Zion, and therefore Zion is called Iſrael my glory; not only becauſe God glorieth in Zion, but becauſe Zion ſhould continually glorifie God: yet how unthankfull are the moſt Profeſſours? The very Heathens will riſe up in judgement againſt unthankfull Chriſtians; They had their hymns to their Gods. Plato when ready to die, gave God thanks for three things, that he was made a man, that he was born in Greece, and that he lived in the time of Socrates. How much more ſhould our lips ſhew forth the high praiſes of God, who hath made us not only men, but new men? That we are born of God, adopted the Children of the moſt high, and regenerated by the Spirit? That we have breathed not in Greece, but in England, in Ariel, a place of Viſions, in the Valley of Viſion? O the riches of free grace I that our Mothers Conceived with us in this place of light, and at ſuch a time when the Nation was moſt enriched with the light of the Goſpel, when it was full of gracious Miniſters, the beſt that ever the world ſaw ſince the Apoſtles dayes! Why had not God brought thee out of the Womb when this land was overrun with Paganiſm? with Popery? Why had not the Lord ſhut thee up and impriſoned thee with the reſt of the World in darkneſs, and in the ſhadows of death. O that when the Goſpel ſhines but upon a little ſpot of ground, which God hath incloſed for himſelf, and ſtiles it his pleaſant place, his garden, that thou ſhouldſt be the man born there! That when the reſt of the world is like the barren mountains, on which no rain falls, and brings forth nothing but bryars, that God ſhould bring thee forth in the place of his Tabernacle! And yet thou ingratefull wretch will hardly confeſs, that the lines are fall'n happily, and that thou haſt a goodly heritage. How ſeldome is ſuch language as this heard from thee? Bleſſed be the Lord that my lot is fall'n in ſo fair a ground; bleſſed be God that I was born in England, and not in the Waſts of Arabia, or America; thanks be to the Lord, that I have had more than the light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars to conduct me to Jeſus, that ſo many wells of Salvation have been opened unto me, which have been ſhut unto the moſt of the World. But to return to Plato: If he thanked God for living in the dayes of Socrates, we may ſay that greater than Socrates have been amongſt us. We have had thoſe, with whom we have taken ſweet counſell, with whom together we have gone to the houſe of God, who have been burning, as well as ſhining lights; many examples of cloſe-walking heavenly Chriſtians have we enjoyed, ſuch as have had the wiſdome from above, and more pure learning, than ever Socrates or Plato could pretend to. The Society of how many heavenly, grave, ſerious, active, fruitfull Chriſtians have we been bleſt with, ſuch as have been faithfull admoniſhers, ſuch as would not ſuffer ſin to reſt upon us, ſuch as have dayly told us here is the way, walk herein? O the helps we have had! But O the curſed unthankfulneſs of our hearts towards God, notwithſtanding his beſtowing upon us ſo many lights to guide us, ſo many fires to warm us, and ſo much ſalt to ſeaſon us!
1. Inſtead of giving God the glory of all, O! Evidenced in their Sacrificing to Inſtruments. Hab. 1.16.how have we ſacrificed to our own nets and to other Inſtruments? We have praiſed our ſelves, rather than God for what we have. We have not aſcribed the glory to God, but to Inſtruments: like that Cardinal, who writ down how much ſuch a Prince honoured him, what ſuch a Lord did for him, and what ſuch a Pope conferr'd on him: whereupon another infers, This man remembred his Friends, but forgot God. Saul hath ſlain his thouſands, and David his ten thouſands; but God hath little or no ſhare in the Triumph.
2. Too much Complaining.How ſenſible are we of our wants and ſtraits? But O how unaffected with the goodneſs of God towards us? How full of complaints are we? but empty of acknowledgements? Hath not the want of ſome one thing robb'd us of the comfort of all our enjoyments, and God of the praiſe that was due to his name? We have been (ſuch is our wayward Nature) more troubled for the want of ſome one thing, than thankful for many mercies: Like Haman, one Mordecai not bowing to our deſires, hath made us heavy and ſenſeleſs under all our honours, and Gods vouchſafements: Like Achab, we have been more dejected for want of Naboth's Vineyard, than we have bleſs'd God for a Kingdome.
3. Being moſt in the Petitionary part of Prayer.Are not we oftner, longeſt and heartieſt in the Petitionary part of Prayer? We are ſtill craving the ſupply of wants; but ſeldome, very ſeldome, too too ſeldome bleſſing of God for what we are ſtored with: Our Petitions are long, but Praiſes are ſhort; To whom be praiſe, honour and glory, ſerves for a ſufficient Doxolgy: Yea, how earneſt, how fervent, how importunate are we in the Petitionary part; but how dull and heartleſs are we in the Gratulatory part of Prayer?
4. Setting up their reſt in Gladneſs.Do not we ſet up our reſt in being glad of Mercies and Deliverances? Whereas it is one thing to be glad of a Mercy or Deliverance, but another thing to be thankful for it. Then are they glad: I but that will not ſerve the turn; Pſal. 107.30, 31.it is a return of an higher nature, which God looks for: O that men would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſs!
5. Forgeting Mercies. Iſa. 17.10.Are not we unmindful of the gracious dealings of God with us? Have not we forgotten the God of our Salvations, and been unmindful of the Rock of our ſtrength? He is an unthankful man (ſaith Sekeca) that denies a Benefit received, ſo is he that diſſembles it, together with him that requites it not: but of all the reſt, he is moſt unthankful, that hath forgitten it.
6. Not making Catalogues of Mercies. Pſal. 78.5. Deut. 4.9.6.7.31.19.Have not we neglected to make Catalogues of the Mercies we have received, to help our memories? How can we, that have not, and will not ſubmit to this Divine Ordinance, look upon our ſelves as ſome of Gods Iſrael! This God hath ordained for a Law, and a Statute for Iſrael: What was this Ordinance? That they ſhould write it (what God had done for them) and ſo provide, that the Generations to come might know what God had done. But alas! how little care have we, that whatſoever God does, may be for ever to his glory? Eccleſ. 3.14.How injuſt are we unto our Children, and the Generations to come, in depriving them of a faithful Record of Gods Mercies to us, in which God ſpeaks to them, as well as unto us? What God ſpake to Jacob at Bethel, he ſpake to Iſrael, that lived in Hoſea's time, Hoſ. 12.3.above a thouſand years after it: There he spoke with us. How injurious to them? By ſuch a faithful Record, they might read the right way in ſayling Heaven-ward; by our Falls, they might know where lye the Rocks and Quickſands; and by our Deliverances, where Outgates are to be found.Not ſpeaking of Gods Mercies unto others. Pſal. 66.16.
7. Have not we been too ſilent concerning the Goodneſs of God towards us? How ſeldome do we with David ſay, Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my Soul. How unlike Saints are we? Thy Saints ſhall bleſs thee, they ſhall ſpeak of the glory of thy Kingdom, Pſal. 145.10, 11, 12. Iſa. 63.7and talk of thy power, to make known to the ſons of men thy mighty acts. I will mention the loving Kindneſſes of the Lord, and the Praiſes of the Lord, according to all that he hath beſtowed on me, &c. So ſings Zion.
8. Not ſtirring up others to joyn with them in praiſing God.Have not we neglected to call on others to joyn with us in the bleſſing of God? When did we make a Collection of Praiſes from our Friends, that would gladly have been in the Quire? A thankful heart is fill'd with enlarged deſires, that others, that all, would joyn in the work of Praiſing God. A gracious heart doth not think it enough to praiſe God alone; though it would be praiſing God, were there none in Heaven or Earth to bear it company.
But I ſhall ſpeak more particularly, Their Vnthankfulneſs.and inſtance in ſome of thoſe choice perſonal Mercies (to wave national ones) for which the beſt of us are too too unthankful.
How have we forgot the hole, For Converſion.and deep pit, and miry clay, out of which we were digg'd? Have not we been unmindful of the bleſſed Jubilee, when the Priſoners were let out of the Priſon-houſe? Paul remembreth many Circumſtances of his Converſion, the Place wherein, Acts 22.6, 7.in a journey nigh to Damaſcus; the Time when, about Noon; the Manner how, ſuddenly there did ſhine from Heaven a great Light round about me, and I fell to the ground, and heard a voice, &c. He remembred alſo what he was before Converſion: 1 Tim. 1.13.I was a Perſecutour, a Blaſphemer, and injurious. What ſaith God? Remember this day: What day? The day wherein you were delivered from the houſe of bondage under Sin, the World, and Satan, O! how have we forgotten, that the Lord, by a ſtrong and irreſiſtable work of his bleſſed Spirit: tranſlated us out of the Kingdom of Satan, into the Kingdom of his dear Son? It was he that made Jordan to give back, and delivered us from Egypt, and the Wilderneſs, that we might inherit the good Land. O! what Enemies were we, ſtudying to be damned, galloping to Hell, till God met us?
How ſeldome do we look back to the Spring from whence all our Mercy flowes? For Election.How unthankful have we been for that Original-fountain-Mercy, eternal Election? Why ſhould God ſingle us out a People for himſelf? Why did Grace bloſſom from Eternity? Why did God plot and ſtudy my happineſs before I had a beeing? What was there, that Jacob is ſmiled upon, and Eſau not ſo? God might have had his Revenues of Glory out of my ruine. O that he ſhould glorifie the riches of his mercy in my Salvation! And yet how little is God magnified for this?
How little do we bleſs God for Chriſt? For Chriſt.Though he be the Stream that alone refreſheth the City of God, yet how ſeldome is his Love, his stoops and condeſcentions for us, his bleeding and dying for us, remembred by us, with hearty Praiſes and Thankſgivings?For the Covenant of Grace, and the Spirit.
How little do we bleſs God for the Covenant of Grace, which Mr. Allen excellently calls, The Bow in the Cloud, after a Deluge of Sin and Miſery, the forfeited Leaſe of Eternity renewed, the Magna Charta of the City of God, the Hopes of Sinners, and the Riches of Saints? And in particular, for the Promiſe of the Spirit, in all his Offices and Operations, for the application of the purchaſed Poſſeſſion? Ezek. 36.27. For outward Salvations.I will put my Spirit within you.
How little do we remember to bleſs the Lord for outward Salvations? You begin perhaps with a little, as Jacob, and now behold you have two bands, a troop of Children, Friends, &c. and an Eſtate to maintain them. When others have had one Meſs, you have had Benjamin's Portion, the ſilver cup put into the ſacks mouth; Riches, and God too; Eſtate, and Chriſt too; Peace, and the God of Peace too; the World, and a good Title to it: and yet do not you ſeldome cry out, Bleſs the Lord, O my Soul! and let all that is within thee praiſe his holy Name? How ſeldome do you conſider who hath maintained you all this while? Who hath delivered you, and pull'd you as brands out of the ſire? You have had the Sentence of Death in your ſelves; you have been, with David and Paul, in the mouth of the Lyon, and yet ſaved; near to periſh by the Bullet, Sword, Peſtilence, Feaver, and other dangers, and yet your Lives given you for a prey: But how ſoon have you forgotten the wonders ſhewen unto the dead? O the many preventing Mercies that you have been made partakers of! Hath not God ſecured you in many travails? How many have died much younger than you, whilſt the Lord lengtheneth out your dayes in order to Repentance? How many have died in an inſtant, and been ſnatch'd away, without any warning given of Death's approach; whilſt you have had many an Harbinger, to give you to underſtand its nearneſs to you? How many have been cruſh'd by falls from houſes, and c…oured by beaſts, and by other accidents have been haſtened to their long home; whilſt God is long-ſuffering to you? How many have you ſeen drawn on Sleds, led to ſhameful and violent Deaths, whilſt you have been kept from ſuch diſmal ends? And are there no thanks due to the Name of God? And yet how ſeldome do you admire at diſtinguiſhing Providence, and preventing loving kindneſſes? You have a guard of Angels to attend you day and night, to ſecure you from danger; but how little do you bleſs the Lord for the Heavenly Hoſt? And yet, if you do thank God for ſome ſignal outward Mercies, perhaps for eaſe from the Stone, Gout, Cholick; perhaps for ſecurity from the rage of the devouring Peſtilence: if you thank not God more for deliverance from Hell, from the guilt and power of Sin, than for outward Salvations, you diſcredit God, and his choiceſt Mercies, by under-rating Spirituals to Temporals.
We ſhould have bleſſed God for his Rod, For ſufferings for Chriſtas well as for his Staffe, for both are Mercies; but how unthankful are we even for ſufferings for righteouſneſs ſake? God expects, that in every thing we give thanks; as we ſhould not be partial in our Obedience, ſo neither in our Thanksgiving. How little have we imitated the ancient Chriſtians, whoſe mouths were alwayes full of Thanks be unto God? They ſaluted one another with Deo gratias; and when they heard tydings of Perſecution or Protection, of Croſſes or Comforts, ſtill they cried out, God be thanked. How unlike are we to famous Bradford? If (ſaid he) the Queen will releaſe me, I will thank her; if ſhe will keep me in Priſon, I will thank her; if ſhe will burn me, I will thank her. Thou ſhouldſt ſay from thy very heart, Though ſick, though ſcorned, though threatned, though all the day long counted as a ſheep for the ſlaughter; yet bleſſed be God that I am counted worthy to ſuffer for his Name: Bleſſed be God, that he counts me for a Son, and chaſteneth me for my profit, that I may be made partaker of his holineſs: Bleſſed be God, that I am chaſtened, that I may not be condemned. But how few give thanks alwayes in all things unto God? Eph. 5.20. Iſa. 24.15. 1 Pet. 4.16.13.We have been too backward to glorifie God in Zion, much more in the Fires. The Apoſtle Peter would not have any man, ſuffering as a Chriſtian, to be aſhamed; but to glorifie God on this behalf, and to rejoyce, in as much as he is partaker of Chriſts ſufferings. But God knows how farr from Praiſes we have been, when the Storms have been high, and threatned our Tabernacles.
How hath God charged us to remember Mercy, Confiderations againſt Vnthankfulneſs.and to praiſe him for it? Ye that fear the Lord, praiſe him: Praiſe him, O ye Servants of the Lord! Praiſe thy God, O Zion! Pſal. 22.23.135.1.147.12.148.1.150.1, 2.Praiſe him in the heights: Praiſe God in his Sanctuary: Praiſe him for his mighty acts: Praiſe him according to his excellent greatneſs. Doth not the innumerableneſs of Gods requiries of Praiſe and Thankſgiving, aggravate our neglect of this Duty? What Proviſion hath Chriſt made againſt this Sin? Hath not he appointed the Sacrament of his Supper, on purpoſe to help us to Remember him, and his ſaving benefits? Do this in Remembrance of me. But have not many Profeſſours been ſo reſolved to be unthankful, that they have neglected this great Ordinance, which was appointed to ſtrengthen their Remembrance of paſt Mercies? Hath not God told us, that he hath formed us for his praiſe? And what, yet backward thereunto? We can never love God to an height, whilſt we forget his loving Kindneſſes. I wonder not, that many complain of their decayes of Love to God, whilſt they forget his wonders of Grace and Love to their Souls. Even Publicans will love thoſe of whom they are beloved. And did we oftner recount the Mercies of God, they would work endearments betwixt God and our Souls: Did we conſider, what a wonder it is, that God ſhould draw us out of nothing; that he, who ſtoops to behold the things of Heaven, ſhould put his ſinger to our workmanſhip; that he ſhould curiouſly work us, as Needle-work, in the dark Vaults of Nature; and that when we were fuller of ſin, than the Toad of poyſon, that yet he ſhould feed a Toad, and cloath a Cockatrice: the Fire of Love to God would burn within our breaſts. How is God provoked by this ſin? God took it ill at the hands of the Iſraelites, that they remembred not his hand, Pſal. 78.42.nor the day in which he delivered them: How much more do we grieve the Lord, who remember not the goodneſs and ſalvations of the Lord in Canaan, yea in Zion? Our Saviour was grieved, that his Diſciples remembred not the five Loaves, Mat. 16.8, 9, 10.and the ſeven Loaves, and how many Baskets they took up: Innumerable greater favours hath God ſhewed to us, and yet we forget them. How have we forgot the God that bridled Natures proud waves, and ſaid, Hitherto ye ſhall goe, and no farther? When we were ripe for Judgement, then Mercy ſtept in, and yet how ſlow to give thanks? Hardly one of tea bleſſeth God for cleanſing Mercy, as they ought. Were there not ten cleanſed, but where are the nine? This makes me fear, People have not had a deep ſenſe of the miſery and ſtains of Nature, for that their Saviour is no more thanked. Did not the Lord force thee, by an over-powering work of Grace upon thy Soul at firſt Converſion, to be willing to be made happy? Did not he compel thee to come into the Feaſt? Was it not God that brought thee to ſuch a Pariſh, to ſuch a Miniſter, and to ſuch a Text? And did not he, by his Almighty power, enable thee to believe and apply? Was it not he, that broke thine heart, when as hard as a nethermoſt Mill-ſtone, and made it ſoft, malleable and pliant to his will and pleaſure? And what, forget the wonders of the Lord in the deep? This vexeth the Lord to the heart. Did not he cauſe the Walls of Jer…co to fall, as by the voice of Ramshornes, by weak inconſiderable means? Did not he alienate thine heart from Luſts, that were dearer to thee than thine eyes? Did not he preſent the face of Chriſt, as lovely to thy Soul, who before was deſpiſed aend rejected? And hath not Chriſt fed thee with freſh ſupplyes of free Grace, that have watered thy Soul every moment, ſo that you have been kept through his mighty power? How many doubts hath Chriſt anſwered; and how many ſcruples hath he, by his Holy Spirit, ſatisfied thee in? And yet, O wretched heart! how unthankfull haſt thou been? Thou haſt forgot all his benefits. A man would think it were impoſſible, that every unpleaſing Providence ſhould make us ſo forgetful of all the mighty Works, that have been done within doors upon our Souls. How just is it with God to plague us; for this our unkindneſs unto him? Iſa. 17.10, 11.Becauſe thou haſt forgotten, &c. therefore the harvest ſhall be an he…. In the beginning all ſucceeded well, (ſaith Vatablus upon the place) according to our deſire: In the day the Plant grew, and in the morning the Seed flouriſhed; but becauſe of unthankfulneſs, extreme miſery followed. Wonder not, that the Showres are with-held, that the Lord cauſeth the Sun to ſet on the Prophets at Noon day, that the Manna falls not before your doors, that the hidden Mannah, Ingrato quod donatur, deperditur. Sen.and white Stone, are denied you, you have been unthankfull, you have not taken care for the fragments, that nothing be loſt. Gods Mercies have been loſt upon you. Or Waters were become Wines, our Gleanings were better than the Worlds Vintage: God dealt with us as Sons. But now, if he draws in his hand, and make his Garden as a deſolate Wilderneſs for this ſin, who can ſay unto God, What doſt thou? Muſt not all of us put our mouths in the duſt? Did not we ſit under our own Vines? Had we not our ſolemn Aſſemblies? Did not we goe in troops to the houſe of the Lord? Was not Holineſs in credit? Did not the mix'd multitude joyn with us, and deſired to be numbred amongst us, becauſe God was with us? Did not fear come upon all the People? And had not the Churches reſt? Did we fear the ſhaking of the Spear? Might we not have been as holy as we pleaſed? Had not we as much liberty as we deſired? But O then how unthankfull were we? How troubled were we, that every Mordecai did not bow; that every one would not be of our mind, and dance after our Pipe? God knows what a Controverſie there is with the Land, for the Unthankfulneſs of them that dwelt therein. O how glad would ye be of one of the dayes of the Son of man; of your old Privileges, and Spiritual Liberties? Becauſe ye have not ſerved God with joy and praiſe in dayes of plenty, therefore it is but a righteous thing, that you ſerve in ſcarcity and famine of Bread: of the Word of the Lord.