Gods Glory in Mans Happiness, Tract 1 · Part 1 – Part 23
Yee ſee.
Some read it indicatively, foreign.Yee ſee; others imparetively, See, or look upon your calling. They that read it the firſt way, may urge theſe reaſons:
Firſt, the coherence; it ſeems ſcarſe to be good Engliſh, For look upon your calling.
Secondly, it ſeems more fully to prove what the Apoſtle intended, to read it, For yee ſee your calling; that is to ſay, yee know the truth of what I ſpake already, and have had experience of Gods wiſdome in chooſing you before many wiſer men, and therefore I need not to prove it to you. But the other reading is more conſonant to the Originall and native ſignification of the Greek word; which is not barely to ſee, but to fixe ones eye upon a thing, foreign.or to look wiſhly upon it, and with conſideration. Now for the Apoſtle to ſay, yee do view or look well upon your calling, peradventure might be more then was true of many of them, for no doubt but there were divers amongſt them that did not throughly conſider of it: It therefore may ſeem more fitting to bid them to do ſo, then to preſume they did ſo already. And this latter reading the Syriack tranſlation followeth, reading it thus, foreignFor my brethren look upon your calling alſo. Neither is the ſpeech incongruous, but very emphaticall, and very fit for the Apoſtles purpoſe. As if the Apoſtle ſhould have ſaid, If yee doubt whether the fooliſhneſs of God be wiſer then men, I will not ſend you abroad to look for an example to prove it, only I adviſe you to look inward into your own condition, and ſee if God have not ſufficiently proved it in calling you to the hope of eternall life, when he neglected many wiſer men. For thus hath God ſo provided for your good, that he hath not failed his owne glory. Poor men are moſt glad of riches, and moſt thankfull for them.
But what is it that the Apoſtle would have the Corinthians to view?
Calling.foreign
Whereby he puts them in mind, that there was nothing bred in them by nature, nor gotten by art or labour, that could advance them to this high honour, but they had it only from Gods calling them.
Next obſerve whoſe calling he bids them look into: not other mens, but their own.
Your calling.foreign
But what doth the Apoſtle mean? Doth he call his beloved Corinthians fools? Had he no other example in the world of ſimple men called to be Saints but the Corinthians to whom he writes? Surely he did it not to diſcredit them, but to credit God that had called them. They could not ſo well tell what God had done for others, as what he had done for themſelves. The Apoſtle therefore puls down them that he may ſet up God. The Apoſtles were deſpiſed by the Philoſophers, and the Corinthians by the Gentiles among whom they lived. Yet had both the Apoſtles and Corinthians obtained that which neither the Philoſophers nor Princes of the Gentiles could attain unto, to be called of God.
Conſider next what title the Apoſtle gives them.
Brethren.foreign et foreign, i. e. foreign, Fratres uterini.
This name of kindneſs qualifies the former example, and makes the Corinthians to take it kindly and to hearken to what elſe the Apoſtle ſhould ſay to them, becauſe it came from a brotherly affection and unfaigned love. For what ſtricter name of familiarity could the Apoſtle have beſtowed upon them then this of Brethren?
Now what manner of calling is this which the Apoſtle cals upon them to conſider of?
How what not many wiſe men.foreign.
The Syrian tranſlation addes, Among you, foreign:well expreſſing the Apoſtles meaning, as if he ſhould have ſaid unto them, Conſider your ſelves and conſider them that dayly joyne themſelves unto you; Que vous n' eſtes point beaucoup de ſages ſelon le chaix Gall. Tranſl. That ye are not many wiſe according to the fleſh.you ſhall finde that few men noted for learning joyne themſelves unto you, but many of mean capacity are dayly added to your number.
And leſt the Apoſtle ſhould ſeem to diſcommend wiſdome, he qualifies the matter in the next words.
After the fleſh.foreign.
That is, ſuch wiſdome as is pleaſing to the fleſh, or rather ſuch as is born and bred in the fleſh, or gotten by the ſtrength of naturall wit and by our own labour, as Philoſophy, and other naturall Sciences, and artificiall inventions. Yet the Apoſtle doth not ſay not any of theſe wiſe men, but not many, for though God more freequently call the ſimpler ſort of men, yet doth he not wholly paſſe by the wiſer, but ſometimes makes uſe of them alſo. Elſe had St. Paul been in a worſe condition then the Corinthians to whom he writes. So that as they ſtand for examples of ignorant men called, ſo he ſtands for a patterne of a learned man reclaimed.
If the Kingdome of heaven cannot be taken by craft, yet peradventure fleſh and bloud will imagine it to be like the kingdomes of the earth that are often carried by the ſword. That we may think that force hath no ſtroke in this buſineſſe, the Apoſtle proceeds:
Not many mighty.foreign a foreign poſſum.
Meaning ſuch as are able to do more then other men are; for ſo the Greek word imports. Gods wiſdome is too great to be overreached, and his power too mighty to be compelled to calany, and that he ſhews by his common calling, in that for the moſt part he ſides with the weakeſt.
Further it may be thought, that Noble men may by their birth make ſome challenge to Gods kingdome, becauſe they are born of greater parents and to greater means then other men. To prevent this conceit it followes in the text:
Not many noble.foreign.
Not many that are born of a good ſtock, as the Greek word ſignifies, or of a great kindred, foreignas the Syriack tranſlation reads it. They may be borne to great poſſeſſions upon the earth, but not to the kingdome of heaven, unleſſe they be twice born as well as meaner men. Joh. 3.3.And that happineſſe fals not upon many of them, unleſſe the text be miſtaken.
The wiſe God then that hath refuſed theſe; whom hath he choſen? Hath he refuſed all? Or will he chuſe the worſt when he hath put by the beſt? Surely God is as wonderfull in his chooſing as in his refuſing. He hath not refuſed the chief to rid his hands of all, or to diſcourage the meaneſt to come unto him. But rather to make way for the meaneſt, and in them for his own glory, hath God put by the greateſt. See his choiſe.
But the fooliſh things.foreign.
The Apoſtle alters his phraſe, he ſaith not the fooliſh men of the world, but the fooliſh things, that is, the moſt fooliſh men and ſuch as are ſcarſe eſteemed men ſometimes, becauſe of their ſimplicity. foreign, non videre; vel a foreign et foreign non cura vel nulla providentia, Etymol.Men that the world will not vouchſafe to look upon, or men that have no manner of forecaſt to provide ſuch an honourable condition for themſelves by their foreſight and providence. And therefore muſt needs have it caſt upon them by the providence of God. So low doth God deſcend in his choiſe among the ſons of men, that he may advance his own honour.
Peradventure may ſome man ſay, God choſe the fooliſh things, becauſe there were no wiſer to chooſe. The Apoſtle ſtops this gap in the next word,
Of the world.foreign.
No doubt but the world had choiſe of worldly wiſe men. It hath its name from ornament and neatneſs in the Greek and in the Latine. foreign, Gr. ornatus et mundus. Mundus, Lat. orbis et purus.As in the heavens then there are bright ſtarres as well as darke clouds, and in the earth there are ſweet flowers, as well as noyſome weeds; ſo queſtionleſſe in the world there are wiſe men as well as fools. Gods choiſe therefore is the more admirable becauſe he chuſeth not fooliſh men for lacke of wiſe, but rather then the wiſe, that not they but he might have the greateſt honout.
But who hath made this choiſe, this ſtrange choiſe the Apoſtle here mentions?
God.foreign.
And no marvail, for it is not like the choiſe of men. If a man were to chuſe, he would take a wiſe friend rather then a fooliſh, a powerfull favourite, rather then a weak one, a wife of a honourable ſtock, rather then of a mean. God who is wiſer then all men doth otherwiſe: they chuſe like men, he chuſeth like a God: they make choiſe of ſuch as may be helpfull to them; he makes choiſe of ſuch as he may be helpefull to, and not they to him.
The next thing conſiderable is the action of God.
Hath choſen.foreign.
God is in the world as in his orchyard, he gathereth one apple of a tree and leaveth the reſt; or as in his garden, where he crops one flower and leaves the reſt where he found them. So God chuſeth ſome fooliſh men, and omits many wiſer then they.
The chuſing which the Apoſtle here ſpeaks of, may be taken for Gods eternall choiſe before the world was made. And then the Apoſtle gives … a reaſon why God calls not the wiſe, but the fooliſh for the moſt part, becauſe he had choſen them from all eternity. And God is no changeling. It may be taken alſo for Gods ſelecting in time, rather then for his electing before time, and then the Apoſtle confounds calling and chuſing, and takes them for one and the ſame thing; even for a work of Gods Spirit in our ſouls, bringing mean men to true faith in Chriſt, which many greater never attain unto for all their greatneſſe.
Come we now to the end why God prefers the fooliſh before the wiſe,
To confound.foreign.
The Greek word ſignifies to make a man aſhamed by putting ſome diſgrace upon him, ſo that he bluſh or hold down his head for ſhame. And well may wiſe men be aſhamed to ſhew their faces, when they ſhall ſee very idiots learn the way to true felicity, which they having ſtudiouſly ſought after, and ſpent many houres in diſputing; about the chiefeſt good, could yet never attain unto with all the wiſdome and learning the world could afford them.
The perſons confounded come next into our conſideration.
The wiſe.foreign.
It were no great wonder for God to confound a fool by a wiſe man. It were ſtrange to confound one wiſe man by another. It were ſtranger to confound one fool by another. But it is ſtrangeſt of all to confound a wiſe man by a fool. In the former, men have ſome ſhare in the commendation: in the latter all the praiſe muſt needs be Gods. For there is nothing in fools to procure it, but there is much in wiſe men to hinder it. Thus God takes the wiſe in their ſubtilty, and robs the proud of all their glory.
Thus then hath God choſen the fooliſh rather then the wiſe. But he hath refuſed the mighty as well as the prudent.
Whom hath he choſen in their room?
And God hath choſen the weak things of the world.foreign et foreign non poſſum.
Thoſe that are able to do leaſt. God hath choſen. So the word ſignifies ſuch as are of no force or can do nothing, to wit, in compariſon of ſuch as God hath refuſed.
To what end God hath choſen theſe weakeſt ones, the Apoſtle declares unto us in the words following.
To confound the things which are mighty.foreign.
Hereby God ſhewes us the vanity of all worldly power and force, when thoſe that are mightieſt are through his over-ruling hand confounded and brought low by ſuch as are weakeſt, and have moſt need of ſtrength to do it.
We ſee how ill the wiſe and mighty ſpeed, fares it any better with the noble? no ſurely, for as God hath rejected many of them, ſo he hath choſen baſe and mean men … their room, for ſo it followes,
Ad baſe things of the world hath God choſen.foreign ſine genere.
That is, ſuch men as are bred of ſo mean a ſtock, that there are no Chronicles of their predeceſſours, nor no pedegrees to be found for them upon record; for it is the faſhion of the world to keep account of the genealogies of Princes and Noblemen: but other meaner men ſcarſe know any thing of their predeceſſors.
Theſe men then whom God chooſeth in the room of nobles are men without ſtock, that is, ſuch whoſe genealogies are not obſerved. foreignOr, as the Syriack Teſtament reads it, whoſe kindred is ſmall or of no reckoning in the world. That he may the better expreſſe their meanneſſe, the Apoſtle addes:
And things which are deſpiſed.foreign.
Such men as go for nobody in the world, and are deſpiſed, as eſteemed worthy of no account. Nay that he may bring them as low as may be, he proceeds further, as if no words were ſufficient to expreſſe their former baſeneſs, except he ſhould put them quite out of the world, and ſaith of them,
Yea and things which are not.foreign.
Men that are ſo mean and ſo vile, that they are as much ſlighted in the world as if they had no being at all, nor never had any. Behold how low a foundation God hath laid to raiſe ſo high a building. See how deep he digs in the earth to finde out heires for the kingdome of heaven. And why doth God make choiſe of theſe things that are not? The words following give an anſwer,
To bring to nought.foreign.
This is ſomewhat more then confounding, or making aſhamed. He doth it to bring them to deſperation in themſelves, foreign reddo…to make them give over working and ſtudying, for ſo the word imports. And what can wiſe men do leſſe, and great and noble, but caſt away all their naturall and carnall ſtudies and labours and priviledges, and deſpaire of attaining heaven by them, when they ſee fooliſh, weak and mean perſons attain to Gods favour without them? Thus the word uſed elſewhere by the Apoſtle, foreign, &c. Rom. 3.31.Do we their make void the Law, or idle, through faith? God forbid; that is, we do not take away the operation of the Law, when we preach faith in Chriſt, but leave it a work ſtill fit for it. So in the text, by chuſing baſe men, God makes idle the labours and prerogatives of great men, even in their own account, which when they perceive, they either give over all ſeeking for heaven, or ſee themſelves forced to ſeek it another way. But who are they whom God intends to confound by calling theſe contemptible people?
Things that are.foreign.
By things that are, the Apoſtle means things that are in price in the world, and greateſt eſtimation. Things of no reckning in the Scripture phraſe are called things that are not: and ſuch as are of greateſt account, are called the things that are. 1 Joh. 2.16.So St. John reckons the luſt of the fleſh, the luſt of the eyes, and the pride of life to be all that is in the World; meaning, all that is in greateſt account amongſt wordly men. St. Paul then by Gods bringing to nought things that are by things that are not, intends his overthrowing the vain hopes of men of greateſt reckning, by ſuch as are accountleſſe in the world. Now to what end and purpoſe is all this, ſay the great ones of the world? Wherefore doth God refuſe us to chuſe ſuch as theſe be? Doth he envie at our proſperity? Or is he like to the men of this world, that compaſſionate the poor, whether their cauſe be right or wrong? Surely no, ſaith our Apoſtle, God doth not envie your greatneſſe, for he need not fear any evill you can do unto him; neither doth he want any thing that he need be beholding to your greatneſſe to procure. He doth it not on the other ſide out of too much pity to the poor, as if he reſpected their perſons becauſe they are poor, but the main reaſon that moves him to his choiſe is his own glory.
That no fleſh ſhould glory.foreign.
That is, that no man ſhould boaſt himſelf of his wiſdome, his power, or his honour. He ſaith not, no man, but no fleſh; that he may ſhew us what little cauſe we have to be proud or to boaſt, that are but fleſh. Mortall we are and corruptible; our worſer part is here put for the whole man, that we may not be lifted up. Thus when we with the Peacock ſpread our feathers, the Apoſtle gives us juſt cauſe to look down to our black feet. The wiſeſt are but fleſh as well as the fooliſheſt of the ſons of men: the greateſt as well as the weakeſt: the nobleſt as well as the baſeſt. Thus the Prophet puls down that confidence which the Jewes put in the horſes of Egypt; Their horſes are fleſh and not ſpirit. Iſa. 31.3.And ſo the Apoſtle warns us by the weakneſs of our nature, not to glory in our ſelves.
Another Argument to keep us low the Apoſtle takes from Gods greatneſs oppoſed to our weakneſs in the laſt words.
In his preſence.foreign.
Great men muſt remember that they are in Gods preſence, and comparing their weakneſs with his power they have little reaſon to be lifted up, but much to be humbled. The word may be paſſed a little further; Before him, that is, over againſt him, or in oppoſition to him. foreign dicuntur parietes domus, qui ſunt e regione januae, vel, ad utrum que ejus latus. Hom. ll. θ et Od. χ.And ſo the phraſe in the firſt Commandement may well be underſtood, Thou ſhalt have no other Gods before me, that is, over againſt me, or to ſet in oppoſition againſt me. We muſt not then advance our own good parts and ſet them in oppoſition to God, as if our happineſs came from our ſelves, and not from him. This were to ſet God on the one ſide, and our ſelves on the other; to derogate from God, that we may attribute to much to our ſelves. And this is the finall reaſon why God chuſeth the meaneſt and baſeſt, paſſing by the greateſt that all may give him the glory of their ſalvation, and not rob him of it to magnifie themſelves.
Thus ye ſee the ſenſe of the words, as if the Apoſtle ſhould have ſaid, God hath ſhewed his wiſdome wonderfully in his choiſe. Ye Corinthians are lively patterns of it; ye ſee how few wiſe, or mighty, or noble perſonages; how many ſimple, feeble, and baſe men in the worlds account, dayly joyn themſelves to your Congregation. This cannot come to paſſe without Gods wonderfull work, who by this means humbles the great men of the world by preferring the meaneſt before them: and gives cauſe to all fleſh to ſee their own weakneſſe, that they may not ſet themſelves in oppoſition to God, nor glory in their prerogatives; but give to God the whole glory of all their felicity. And thus the text juſtifies the title, and ſhews us what we muſt drive at in all this diſcourſe, Gods glory in Mans happineſs.
Now that we may the more orderly proceed in the handling of the words, we may well obſerve Two parts,
1. St. Pauls Compellation.
2. St Pauls Application.
In the firſt he beſtowes a loving title upon his beloved Corinthians;
In the ſecond he produceth them for patterns of Gods favour in chuſing mean perſons before great ones.
The title our Apoſtle beſtowes upon them is a very loving and amiable title.