A Christian Library, Chapter 4
CHAP. IIII.
SEcondly, admit God i… pleased to continue or increase the unthankful and … then he had as good be without it; for no outward blessing proves a blessing, without Gods blessing upon it, Mal. 2.2.
The wealth of Croesus, were it to be given,
Were not thanks-worthy, if un-blest by Heaven.
That Gods blessing upon all we have or do is all in all, and that without it all is nothing, is easie to prove. The diligent hand, saith Solomon, maketh rich, Prov. 10 4. but withall, the blessing of God makes rich, sayes the same Solomon, ver. 22. not diligence without Gods blessing, for without it all the earning of great wages, is but putting money into a bag with holes: Haggai 1.6. Ye have sowen much, and bring in little, ye eat, but ye have not enough, ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink, ye cloath you, but there is no warmness, and he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes; and a great deal of the like in verse the ninth: and why all this? they were all for themselves, and sought not the glory of God, and therefore he did blow upon it, and blast all their blessings, as the whole book shews. And the same we dayly see; for have not many men great fees, great offices, great revenues, great gettings, and yet they can scarce keep themselves out of debt? Yea, who more needy, and who run more in debt than those, that have hundreds and thousands a year? whereas others that have very little, but small means, and yet maintain themselves and their families well, yea, and help their poor friends and neighbours also. OnelyOnly the word that proceedeth out of Gods mouth, makes the difference, his blessing sets forward the one, which he justly withholds from the other for their wicked unthankfulness.
Though Laba… changed Iacobs wages ten times, yet he could not one time change that blessing of God which was alwayes with him. A little thing which the rightoeus injoyeth is better than great riches to the wicked, Prov. 16.8. Meat, though it have a vertue to nourish, Medicine, though it have a vertue to heal, rayment, though it can both adorn and defend the body against the injury of air and cold, wealth, though it can make rich, yet man liveth not by bread, physick, rayment, &c. onelyonly, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God does a man live, as our Saviour speaks, Math. 4.4.
Nay, without Gods blessing the very use of their meat is taken away, for it shall not satisfie, as it fell out with them, Hosea 4.10. And the like of other things, Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the City, the keeper watcheth in vain. It is in vain for you to rise early, and to lye down late, and eat the bread of carefulness, Psal. 127. 1, 2. And again, Paul may plant, and Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth the increase, 1 Cor. 3.6, 7. as in temporal, so in spiritual food, it is not the Teacher, but the divine operation of Gods Spirit working with the word, which converteth the soul; and for want of this blessing, and divine operation from God, even the best of outward blessings, as health, strength, riches, honours, beauty, wit, learning, &c. prove but the bane of the owners; as Absaloms hair proved his halter. And nothing so soveraign , which (belog abused by sin) may not of a blessing become a curse.
… can rot the grain in the ground, blast it in the ear, wither it in the blade, rot It with unseasonable showers, when it is r…pe cause v…rmine to devour it in the barn, yea, when it hath past the flayl, the mill, the oven, he can make it gall in the mouth, in the stomack poyson. He can either give a man meat and no stomack, or a stomack and no meat. And the same God, that can break the staffe of bread, Ezek. 4.16. can also break the staffe of friends, riches, promotion, wit, learning, and all other meanes that we trust to, or put our confidence in, as he did the staffe of Physick to Asa, 2 Chron. 16.12, 13. as he restrained the fire from burning, Dan. 3.27. and the water from drowning, Exod. 14.21, …2. and the Lions from devouring, Dan. 6 22. Whereas if he please to give his blessing, a man shall be happy, have he any thing or nothing.
Even a word out of his mouth can either sustain us without bread, as it did Moses and Elias; or with a miraculous bread, as it did Israel with Manna; or send ordinary meanes after a miraculous manner, as food to the Prophet by the Ravens; or multiply ordinary meanes miraculously, as that meal and oyle to the Sareptane widdow; or make a little meanes go a great way, and perform much, as those two mean meales of the Prophet, when in the strength thereof he travelled forty dayes 1 King. 19 5. to 9. Unto which we may refer the strength of Moses, who being one hundred and twenty yeares old, …ad not his naturall strength abated, Deut. 34.7. and the like of Caleb, Ioshua 14.10, 11. All things are sustained by his almighty word, how else should the whole Globe of the earth and sea hang in the middle of the air, and have no other supporter?
The onelyonly means for grasse, and hearbs, and trees, and fruit to grow by, is rain, yet God provided for Adam all these things before ever it had rained on the earth ▪ The usual meanes of light is the sun, howbeit God provided light before he made the sun, light the first day, the sun the fourth day, he onelyonly said, let there be light, and there was light, Gen. 1.3.
There is no reason in the world, that seven loaves, and a few little fishes, in the Gospel, should feed four thousand, much lesse, that five loaves and two fishes should feed five thousand, meanes very insufficient to natural reason; yet God speaking the word to them, they did it. The like whereof we may read 2 King. 4.43, 44. So for the apparell of the Israelites, which they had when they were young and children in Aegypt, to serve them till they were grown men, even forty yeares together in the wilderness ▪ without being worn out, Deut. 29 5. and the like of that water and pulse, which with Gods blessing made Daniel, and his companions, farter and fairer than all the children, which did eat the portion of the Kings meat, Dan. 1▪ 15.
We live by food, but not by any vertue that is in it without God, yea, without the concurence of his providence bread would rather choak than nourish us: if he withdraw his word and blessing from his creatures, in their greatrst abundance we perish. A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven, Iohn 3.27. All which should teach us confidently to trust in God, what ever our extremeties be; for if God needs not his own lawfull, much lesse thy unlawful moanes. Again, if no moanes will serve the turn, or do us any good, without the blessing of God upon it, let us not forfeit his blessing by our vile ingratitude, but rather desire his blessing, though we want the meanes.
Thirdly, Is it be the blessing of God that makes rich, and not anything that we can do, let us take heed of ascribing the same to our wit and industry, of sacrificing to our net, and burning incense to our yarne, as the Prophet speaks, Hab. 1.16
Fourthly and lastly, say not as many do, O that I were so rich, that I had but so much as such a man… then should I be happy: but rather desire God, that he will bless and sanctifie unto thee what thou hast, that he may have glory, thy self and others good by the same: or else God may give thee thy desire, yea, more than thy heart can wish, as the Psalmist speakes of the wicked, Psal. 7▪ 3.7, 9. but it shall be to thy grief and sorrow: as it was said to Neroes Mother about her sons being Emperour: or as Bacchus granted the request of Midas, whose desire was, that whatsoever he touched might instantly be converted into gold, which was little to …comfort, when even his bread, wine, the feathers of his bed, his shirt, garments, and every thing else turned into that hard mettal, as Fulgentius delivers it: he had his desire, but so, as he would gladly n…w have unpray'd his prayers. Alass, how often does riches, without Gods blessing upon them, prove or become the owners ruine? Many a young Heir hath a great and fair estate left him, and is cryed up as happy, but it proves to him within a while, even like the Ark to the Philistines, which did them more hurt than good, and so fares it with all that forget God, and are unthankful to him for what they have. Neither is this all: For,