Gods Husbandry, Sermon 2 · Chapter 18
CHAP. XVIII. Containing an exhortation to all true Chriſtians to increaſe in goodneſſe, with directions for that purpoſe.
ANd let me in the next place call earneſtly vponupon each ſoule amongſt you, Vſe 2 An exhortation to growth in goodneſſe.to approue himſelfe a true branch, by indeuouring after this increaſe in fruitfulneſſe: for nothing doth more infallibly argue life, then growth, I meane, a ſutable and proportionable growth of each part. Be not therefore ſatisfied with what you hauehave already gotten, but ſtriue to get more. Make your ſelues euen vnſatiably couetous after grace: account your ſelues neuer to hauehave enough, but for this matter: imitate the Horſe-leach, and the graue, and be alwayes ſaying, GiueGive, giuegive; for no grace is further ſound, then it is ioyned with an hungring after more. O then, trauell forward in the paths of righteouſnes daily. Labour to be each weeke more holy, more heauenly minded, more patient, more temperate, more contentfull, more prayerfull, more abundant and affectionate in holy cogitations, and to doe all good things more ſincerely, and more heartily, with a more particular and actuall intending of Gods glory in each of them, and with a more feeling attractiue of louelove inducing you to them. Grow, I ſay, continually, either bigger, or better, or both. Let theſe words put wings to your ſoules, and let this exhortation, as it were a good gale of wind to a ſhip, carry you more ſwiftly towards the hauen of perfection. You cannot glorifie God, or profit your ſelues, or edifie your brethren more, or better; you cannot make a better preparation for death, or the day of affliction, nor make your aſſurance of eternall happineſſe more large and vndeceiuable, then by making a continuall progreſſe in the vertues of Chriſt Ieſus, Faint not therfore nor grow weary; let not your hands fall from this worke; ſlow not your pace in this iourney: but prouoke your ſelues, and let the Word of God prouoke you to be yet more and more godly, righteous, ſober, and to proceed from faith to faith, from vertue to vertue, till you be made at laſt fully conformable to the Image of Chriſt. Let there bee no going backe in any hand, no flying, no reuolting. By going backe, you ſhall as much as proclaime to all the world, that you account Gods ſeruice an ill ſeruice, and his worke an vnprofitable worke, not worth the while to imploy your ſelues in it. By going backe, you ſhould giuegive occaſion of diſcouragement to others, and lay vp matter of griefe and ſhame for your ſelues. Offer not God this iniury, doe not ſuch hurt to your ſelues and to your brethren. But as the God of heauen reneweth his mercies daily, and inlargeth his bounty, ſo doe you daily renew your obedience, and let your graces be ſtill on the thriuing hand. But that my words may not bee fruitleſſe in perſwading you to grow, let me alſo declare vntounto you what it is that you muſt doe, to the intent you may grow.
Growth, you know, doth preſuppoſe life,Meanes of growing. and that wee muſt take for granted to bee in all thoſe that ſhall be fruitfull hearers of this exhortation. And yeelding a man to liue with a ſpirituall life in Chriſt, the meanes of growth to his ſoule, may not vnfitly be reſembled to thoſe that concerne his body. The body will grow, if it be of a good conſtitution, and hauehave a good ſtomacke, good diet, and good digeſtion; ſo will the ſoule alſo: and therefore wee will ſpeake a word or two of each of theſe.
Firſt then, as the body,1. To preſerue the good conſtitution of the ſoule. ſo the ſoule muſt inioy the benefit of a good conſtitution. Now as the good conſtitution of the body conſiſts in a right mixing together, and tempering of the foure firſt and chiefe qualities; ſo the good conſtitution of the ſoule ſtandeth in a right and due ordering of the principall faculties of the minde towards the different obiects thereof: I meane, the iudgement, the will, and the affections: when the iudgement entertaineth an high and excellent eſteeme of God, and things diuine, but a meane and baſe eſteeme of ones ſelfe, and all things earthly: when the will moſt vehemently and earneſtly inclineth it ſelfe to God, the chiefe Good, and carefully withdraweth it ſelfe from fained or inferiour good things: when the affections are inflamed towards God and heauen, and cooled towards earth, and the things of the earth; This is a ſweet and happy conſtitution of the ſoule: and if this conſtitution be not preſerued by a diligent watching ouer the mouing and working of our mindes, and a daily ſtriuing to pull them from things below, and ſet them on things aboue, there is no poſſibility of growing: but if this conſtitution bee carefully preſerued, the meanes following will infallibly procure a proceeding in all the fruits of good liuing.
And the ſecond thing required,2. To keepe a good appetite. is, to keepe a good ſtomack or appetite, that is, a continuall deſire of more grace, feeling its wants, and longing for a ſupply. Wee muſt tell our ſelues often how farre ſhort we come of that wee might attaine, and others hauehave attained; and wee muſt earneſtly prouoke our ſelues to deſire a ſupply of what we feele our ſelues to want. Wee ſhould often ſay to our ſelues, Alacke, how poore a quantity of faith, patience, hope, charity, temperance, heauenly-mindedneſſe hauehave I gotten? how ſlender are all graces in mee? If I compare my ſelfe with thoſe of Gods Saints, whoſe examples are commended in Scripture for mine imitation, I come ſo ſhort of them, that it may almoſt bee a queſtion, whether I hauehave any goodneſſe or none at all. What a little meekneſſe hauehave I, in compariſon of Moſes? what a little zeale of Gods glory, in compariſon of Dauid? what little patience to beare affliction for Chriſts ſake, in compariſon of Paul? what little faith in Gods promiſes, in compariſon of their faiths that the Apoſtle to the Hebrewes commendeth to mee? O how farre did Iob ſurpaſſe mee in patience, in bounty, in religiouſneſſe, in the feare of God? How farre did Nehemiah goe beyond me in louelove to the Church and people of God, and zealous deſire of promoting the worſhip of God? So weigh thy ſelfe in the ballance againſt the godly men which are famous in holy Writ, and ſeeing how much thou wanteſt of what they had gotten, (and yet that which they had, commeth farre ſhorter of what they ſhould hauehave had, then what thou haſt, doth come ſhort of what they had) then moue thy deſire to an increaſe, and thinke thus, Ah that I could get at leaſt a little more grace! Ah that my graine of faith were made two graines! Ah that my one talent were made two talents, my two fiue! What might I doe to get more grace? what courſe might I take to fil vp that which is wanting to my faith, patience, temperance, confidence, and other like vertues? To whet a mans appetite in this manner, and to ſharpen his deſires towards vertues, doth exceedingly helpe to make him capable of them, and is, as one may terme it, a great inducement to the Lord, to beſtow more vponupon him; for the Lord, as once Iob, doth louelove to feed the hungry, and to giuegive drinke vntounto them that thirſt. But ſome man may haply demand, How ſhall one get his ſoule a good ſtomacke? To this queſtion I anſwere, that the bodily appetite is ſtirred vp by two things, ſharpe ſawce, and due exerciſe;The way to get a good appetite. 1. Sharpe ſawce, that is, the renewing of godly ſorrow for ſinnes paſt. and ſo is the appetite of the ſoule after grace.
Now the ſawce of the ſoule, in which by dipping its morſels, it may prouoke its deſires after holineſſe and vertue, is the renewing of ſorrow for ſinnes paſt, and preſent. And when a good man findeth himſelfe to grow dul in holy deſires, if he will ſet a little time apart, to call himſelfe to account for his ſinnes paſt, and to conſider the greatneſſe and multitude of them, the heauy puniſhment he hath deſerued, and Chriſt hath ſuffered for them, the exceeding great diſhonour he hath done to God by them, and how exceeding vile and baſe they hauehave made him; and heerehence to inforce himſelfe to be ſad and heauy, and to ſigh and grone for theſe offences of his; This will quicken his ſpirituall deſires, this will reuiue and ſtirre vp his longings, and make him earneſtly couetous after grace.
But exerciſe is needfull to get a ſtomacke;2. Exerciſe, that is, a ſetting our ſelues to practiſe what we learne. and the ſoules exerciſe is to ſet it ſelfe on worke about good duties, to ſtirre vp frequent acts of vertue within it ſelfe, often bending his heart in louelove to God-ward, melting it in compaſſion toward the afflicted, inlarging it in congratulation to thoſe of Gods Saints that are in good eſtate, and ſo in other vertues, eſpecially when we hauehave been taught any good worke in the Word, to watch the next opportunity of doing that duty, and to ſet our ſelues, for ſome good ſpace of time together, principally to looke to the practice of ſome principall vertue, the louelove and feare of God, ioy in the holy Ghoſt, godly ſorrow, confidence in God, and the like. This addreſſing ones ſelfe to the practice of good duties, will beget a deſire of grace. And this is the ſecond thing neceſſary to cauſe an increaſe of grace.
The third is, good food.3. Good food will make one grow, and Chriſt is our food, and other things, ſo farre as they leade to Chriſt. And the food of our ſoules is Chriſt Ieſus, offered vntounto vsus, in the Word, and in the Sacraments, and in ſome ſort alſo in the workes of God, that wee may feede vponupon him, and grow ſtrong in him, and in the power of his might. Chriſt Ieſus is the bread of life; when by the Word and Sacraments, and workes of God, wee are moued and drawne to goe out of our ſelues, to reſt, cleaue, ſtay vponupon him for grace, life, ſaluation, ſtrength, & all good things, then we doe euen fill our ſoules with him, and then we are ſure to waxe ſtrong. In all the ordinances of God we muſt bee directed to Chriſt, neither can they doe vsus any good, further then they guide vsus to Chriſt, and to a depending vponupon him. If you remaine in me, ſaith our Sauiour by and by after, you ſhall bring forth much fruit. Lo our food. In the Word, and in each part of it, we muſt ſeeke Chriſt; in the Sacraments wee muſt ſeeke Chriſt. All the workes of Gods hand muſt leade vsus vntounto Chriſt; I meane, to looke to him for grace, to ſtay vponupon him for all good things: when the Word teacheth any good thing, it muſt cauſe vsus to reſt on the Lord Ieſus for ſtrength to performe it; when it diſcouereth any ſinne, it muſt driue vsus to Chriſt for power to amend it, and fauour to pardon it; when it promiſeth good, it muſt ſtill draw vsus to the ſame Chriſt, in him to obtaine the promiſes; when it threatens euill, it muſt driue vsus to Chriſt, that we may truſt by him to eſcape it. So the Sacraments muſt conduct vsus to Chriſt, and ſettle our ſoules in aſſurance of attaining all good things in him. When we receiue bleſſings of any kind at Gods hand, they muſt make vsus taſte the ſweetneſſe of his louelove in Chriſt; when we feele the ſharpeneſſe of his chaſtening hand, it muſt ſpurre vsus forward to a more earneſt ſeeking of our reconciliation with him in Chriſt: and thus all that God doth to vsus, and all his ordinances that wee inioy, by leading vsus vntounto the true Bread of life, ſhall happily confirme and ſtrengthen vsus in the inner Man. For if wee abide in Chriſt, and Chriſts Word in vsus, then ſhall we be ſurely fruitfull.
The laſt thing to helpe growth,4. Good digeſtion is needfull to growth: and our digeſting, is ſerious pondering and meditating of good things. is good digeſtion: when the bodily food is conueyed into the ſtomacke, and there concocted by the natiue heate, then it becomes fit to be diſperſed abroad to the ſtrengthening of eueryevery limme and ioynt: ſo the Word of God, the Commandements, the promiſes, the threats, and the workes of God, both of mercy and iuſtice, muſt be muſed, meditated, pondered vponupon. A man muſt ſet himſelfe ſeriouſly to conſider how true thoſe promiſes be, and how much they concerne him, and ſo ſettle his heart more and more in the imbracing of them. He muſt tel himſelfe how holy thoſe Commandements be, how much he is bound to obey them, and ſo euen inforce his heart to a reſolued purpoſe of following the direction of them. A light perfunctory hearing and ſpeaking of the diuine truths, of the Word, concerning God, Chriſt, our ſelues, and our duty, and the like, will affoord little or no ſtrength; but if a man will beſtow paines and time to conſider of theſe things ſeriouſly, and to make his thoughts dwell vponupon them ſome good while together, ſtriuing to beate them into his heart, and to frame his affections accordingly; this would be as ſure a means of ſtrength vntounto his ſoule, as good and wholeſome concoction of good food vntounto his body.
And thus, my brethren, ſo many of you as are liuing and true branches in Chriſt, may ſee what is required of you, that you may bring forth more fruit in him. Lay to heart that which you formerly heard, conſider the profit, poſſibility, neceſſity of this growth, and be not a ſluggard for thy ſoule. Thou ſeeſt how the worldly-minded man doth toyle his head and body, in ſeeking to grow in riches: thou ſeeſt how the ambitious man beſtirres himſelfe, in getting more preferment: thou ſeeſt with what an eager and vnſatisfiable greedineſſe, the voluptuous man doth purſue his pleaſures: why ſhouldeſt not thou, that art a Chriſtian, and a ſpirituall man, with at leaſt ſome meaſure of the like diligence, addreſſe thy ſelfe to thriue in the goods of the ſoule, to get an higher degree of this beſt promotion, and to inioy more and more of theſe moſt pleaſant of all pleaſures? No profit is ſo profitable, no honour ſo honourable, no pleaſure ſo pleaſurefull, as to bee fruitfull in good workes, and to abound more and more in the vertues of the inward man, and all the good effects thereof. Wherefore againe and againe bee intreated to make it the principall ſcope of your liues, to waxe more and more godly, and righteous in life.