Works Volume 4, Sermon 3
The III. SERMON.
JER. 31.18.
I have ſurely heard Ephraim bemoaning himſelf thus; Thou haſt chaſtiſed me, and I was chaſtiſed, as a Bullock unaccuſtomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I ſhall be turned.
THIS Text is a ſad Soliloquy of a provoking afflicted people. Ephraim tranſmigrantem, reads the Vulgar: and ſure foreign, which we read bemoaning, would be better rendred thus; The ten Tribes ſealed up in a black night, a fatal laſt Captivity.
To parallel our ſtate with Iſrael in the tranſmigrantem, is not my deſign, much leſs in the bemoaning; that's but a piece of unſeaſonable puſillanimity that our Engliſh hath impoſed upon the Text, and our Saviour hath inſpirited us into a more chearful guiſe in ſuffering, the foreign, rejoyce and be exceeding glad, the moſt bliſsful joyous condition of any.
The parallel, I fear, will prove too perfect in the words themſelves, which Ephraim then was over-heard to utter, and perhaps ſome infidel hearts may be a whiſpering now: and that I may prevent this parallel, I have pitcht upon theſe words, I have ſurely heard Ephraim, &c.
The ſenſe of Ephraim's foreign, thus ſadly muttered, 'tis poſſible you may not articulately underſtand. I ſhall briefly be his Interpreter, by giving you a plain Paraphraſe of the Verſe;
I heard the ten Tribes, in a melancholick reflexion on their ſtate, thus whiſpering within themſelves; We have long been puniſhed by God, and no more wrought on by thoſe puniſhments than a wild unmanaged Bullock, i. e. not reformed or mended at all by this diſcipline, (the Targum hath cleared the rendring, foreign We have not been taught, and the Septuagint's *Accordingly S. Chryſoſtom's Greek Copy muſt be Corrected, and read thus, foreign, Thou haſt inſtructed me Lord, and I was not inſtructed, but I became as an untaught, unmanag'd Oxe, or Heifer. Serm. eundem eſſe Senſ. Ve…. & Nov. Teſtam.[foreign] hath done ſo too) but then, Turn thou me, return my captivity, reſtore us to our liberty and our Canaan again, and then no doubt we ſhall be turned, reformed and mortified by that change.
Having thus laid bare the words before you, you will preſently diſcern the ſum of them, A people unreformed under God's rod, petitioning to be releaſed from that ſmart, becauſe it did not mend them, pretending that Proſperity would work wonders on them.
And this you will diſſolve into theſe three ſpecials, each worth our ſtay and pondering;
1. God's judgment what courſe is fitteſt to reform ſinners; not the delicate, but the ſharp, that of ſmiting: Tu percuſſiſti, thou haſt ſmitten.
2. Man's judgment, or the ſinner's flattering perſwaſion of himſelf, quite contrary to God's; a conceit that Roſes are more wholeſom than Wormwood, that Proſperity will do it better, and a bribing God with a promiſe that it ſhall do it: Converte, & Convertar; thy ſmitings have done no good on me, Turn thou me, and I ſhall be turned.
3. The ſtating of this difficulty betwixt God and man, and in that, the falſeneſs of man's judgment, and the fallaciouſneſs of ſuch his promiſe: 1. In reſpect of God, who will never ſend them Proſperity, that Adverſity wrought no good on; and 2. of Proſperity it ſelf, which would never do that work on thoſe, if God ſhould ſend it, intimated in the Prophet's recounting and upbraiding this ſpeech of Ephraim, I have ſurely heard Ephraim, &c.
I begin firſt with the firſt, God's judgment what courſe is fitteſt to reform ſinners, not the delicate, but the ſharp, that of ſmiting.
And all the proof I pretend to have from this Text for this, is the percuſſiſti in the front. 'Tis clear, God had ſmitten Ephraim, and God's actions are a declaration of his judgment, his ſmiting a ſufficient aſſurance that nothing elſe is judged by God ſo likely to reform Ephraim, and that upon theſe two plain heads of probation.
1. That whatever is, whatever is come to paſs, is certainly God's will it ſhould be.
2. That what was thus God's will, was deſigned to ſome benign end, and in ſhort, to nothing in Ephraim but his reformation.
1. That whatever comes to paſs, is certainly God's will. Not ſtill his will ſo as to be matter of decree (ſave only of permiſſion) that thou ſhouldſt do it; and therefore even thoſe things that are moſt neceſſarily to come, ſhall be matter of the greateſt guilt and woe to thoſe by whom they come. Matt. 18.7. But his will, his over-ruling decretory will, that I ſhould ſuffer it; his hand and his counſel foreign, Act. 4.28. predetermining that to be done, which none but Herod and Pilate, Gentiles and Devil, againſt the expreſs will of God and his child Jeſus, were gathered together to do. All the ſin and furies, guilt and damnation of hell may be in the foreign the doing or executing God's will, (as, believe it, there is not a more formidable trade in the world than that of which Satan alone hath the Patent, and men do but intrench on hell, whenſoever they exerciſe it, that of the lictor & carnifex, of being God's rods, God's executioners:) but then, all the mercy, and all wiſdom, bounty and divinity, ſometimes the redeeming of a world, in the foreign, the being done. Not the ſofteſt affliction or bloodieſt tyranny had ever come into the world, had not God permitted, and for our ſins decreed to permit the doors to be open for it. Not the lighteſt wound or deepeſt furrow on a poor Chriſtian's ſhoulders, but hath characters of God's hand in it, ſuperſcribing him foreign, in Ignatius's phraſe, the coyn of Chriſt, a ſtamp of his impreſſing: and as the Painter had ſo interweaved his own face in Minerva's picture, that you could not behold one without diſcerning the other; ſo when the Image of Chriſt is impreſt on us, I mean the image of the Crucified Saviour, the thorns on the head, the ſpitting on the face, the ſponge of vinegar and gall at the mouth, and the one wound on the whole body; when the conformity to this Image of the Son, Rom. 8. is ſealed upon us, that ſeal of the Tiphereth, or the Magnus Adam, (as the Caballiſts are wont to call it) I mean of the Archetypal ſufferer Chriſt, is impreſt ſo hard, that it prints quite through the bottom of him, leaves the impreſſion on the Malcuth, the bride, the houſe of Iſrael, the poor crucified Church here below; when, I ſay, that ſad original is thus copied upon us, there is no avoiding the ſight, no eſcaping the acknowledgment of that great Painter's face, that drew theſe parallel ſignatures both on Chriſt and us, or, in St. Paul's phraſe, predeſtined us to be conformable to that Image of his Son, foreign, Col. 1. by way of correſpondence, of antitype, to fill up the remainders of his ſufferings in our fleſh, and as punctually elected us to this foreign, this co-ſuffering for and after Chriſt, as to the foreign we truſt he hath, to the alſo being glorified with him.
Theſe are the foreign literally and exactly, the prints or brands of Chriſt, the works of his hands, as well as the tranſcripts of his ſufferings: and as this may give us a perfect ſatisfaction in whatſoever the moſt ſmitten condition,foreign. Act. 5.41. a foreign, all joy when we are thus vouchſafed and dignified, eſpecially if we ſhall have tranſcribed the active as well as paſſive part of his image, or if this ſuffering teach us to tranſcribe it; ſo will it be a firſt proof of the point in hand, a declaration of God's opinion by his preſcriptions, that nothing is ſo fit for our turn as ſmiting.
But then this firſt proof will not perfectly come home to the concluſion, unleſs we improve and ſharpen it with the ſecond, that this ſmiting, as it already appears to be God's will, ſo 'tis by God deſigned to Ephraims's good, the greateſt good for rebellious Ephraim, the bringing him to repentance, and that if any thing elſe could have tended ſo directly to that end, Ephraim had never been thus ſmitten. The foundation of this lies in the ſuperlative love of God extended even to enemies, and that evidenc'd by his manner of preſcribing that to us, with an ab exemplo, from the example of his own perfection, Mat. 5.48. who, it ſeems by that argument, is a benefactor and bleſſer even of enemies, and whatever he ſends to the moſt hoſtile Ephraim, it is method of deliberate charity, the bitter'ſt Recipe's deſign'd on purpoſe (neither by chance nor malice, thoſe two heathen principles of Theology, foreign & foreign, but, I ſay, on purpoſe) from love and pondering, from judgment and from bowels, as that which, as long as there is any hope of recovery, will do it, if any thing, and therefore cannot in charity be withdrawn while there is hope; and when there is none, is then to be ſpared, not laviſh'd out, like Galen's generous medicaments, that muſt not be diſhonoured, or caſt away on the deſperate Patient, but preſerv'd to do noble and ſignal cures on thoſe that are capable and worthy of them.
Such are theſe cauſtick plaiſters, preparatory to the incarnative, the knife and the launce that Hippoc. reckons among the foreign, the mollifying preparations that the Phyſician muſt always carry about with him. This is the new, and, as late Artiſts tell us, the truer notion of the Fever, not as of a diſeaſe, but an endeavour and ſtrife of Nature to cure one; as when there is a thorn in the hand, or burthenous excrement in the body, nature heaves and plunges, puts it ſelf into a paſſion and flame to thruſt it out: and then to cure that Fever, to quench that flame, to allay or traſh nature in that march, is to diſ-arm the friend, and ſide with the adverſary. And ſuch, it ſeems, was the meſſenger of Satan to St. Paul, that medicinal thorn in the fleſh, to prick the riſing, and let out the putrid humour, that he might not be puff'd up and exalted above meaſure; and God would not be ſo unkind as to hearken to his importunity, in giving it leave to depart from him.
If you will further ſee the opinion and judgment of God in this matter, I ſhall mention but one evidence more of it, the notes of his conſtant practice through the whole Scripture.
The briars and thorns were immediately deſigned by God to the firſt ſins, to repair the errours and crimes of Paradiſe.
Afterward, the Rod was the only engine by which Moſes was to work all his miracles, on the rock, on the Aegyptians, on the more obdurate Iſrael; all the exchange and variety was only this, the Rod ſometimes transformed into a Serpent, or elſe multiplied into an army of Frogs, and Flies, and Locuſts, when an obdurate rebellious ſinner, a Pharaoh, was to be ſoftned: and, if you mark it, when upon the importunity of Moſes God was perſwaded to withdraw that rod, to intermix deliverances, theſe never wrought any good upon Pharaoh; when Pharaoh ſaw that there was reſpite, reſpite but for a minute, he hardned his heart, &c. Ex. 8.15. an obſervation that made S. Baſil reſolve, that 'twas God's patience, or foreign, that hardned Pharaoh's heart, the removings of his plagues, interealations of mercy: the taking off the water from the fire, and letting it cool again, that, as Ariſtot. ſaith, makes it freez ſo hard and ſo ſpeedily. The Devil and the Magicians would have been better at the cure of an hard heart, than Moſes and his prayers: they could only conjure up more blood and more frogs, but could not remove any; and that, it ſeems, was the moſt likely means to have kept him humbled. And therefore in the New Teſtament, 'tis the Apoſtles ſaving method in ſuch great cures, to call in the Devil into conſultation, to deliver men up unto Satan, as the laſt and ſureſt remedy; the continued ſtripes and the no-reſpite, to give the impenitent to drink of the foreign, in the Apoc. that hath ſo poſe… the Interpreters, the unmixt mixt wine, the all myrrh but no water, the all manner of imbittering, heightning, but none of the allaying, cooling mixtures in it, and ſo ſtill the portion of our crucified Maſter, i. e. by the way of this Text, all ſmitings and diſciplining, real, corporeal inflictions of Satan, to the diſeaſing and deſtroying of the fleſh; and, it ſeems, no popular Empirical means ſo probable for the foreign, that the ſpirit may be ſaved in the day of the Lord.
And then, my brethren, to bring down this firſt particular unto our ſelves, was there ever ſuch a courſe of ſour diſcipline, ſuch a delivering up unto Satan, as this Nation of ours hath for ſome years been under? Were there ever ſuch real bufferings? not like that in Saint Jerom's Dream, to convert the Ciceronian into a Chriſtian, but as upon a waking Bedlam, a daily conſtant exerciſe of ſtripes; or like that on the poſſeſſed in the Goſpel, the ſpirit taking us, and tearing us till we foam again, (and our baſe reviling and ſlandering one another is that foam.) O how many ſad falling fits hath this poor demoniack been wraſtling under, and unleſs an over-ruling mercy interpoſe, perhaps the bittereſt part of the agony ſtill to come, in the ſtrugling of life to return again▪ is not this the antitype of a ſmitten Ephraim? I ſpeak not this particularly of thoſe that have been the ſufferers under this rod; believe it, the catalogue of the ſmitten is larger than ſo: You may mark it, that the Rod it ſelf is ſmitten whenſoever it ſmites, at every blow wounded and torn by way of re-paſſion.
And ſo the moſt diſtant atomes of this Kingdom are once united in this one ſad notion of ſtripes and wounds, fit to become one common foreign, precentor in the firſt note of this ſad anthem, the flagellâſti me, thou haſt ſmitten me. O that we could get but one word farther, join all in the foreign or counterpart, & flagellatus ſum, in the real paſſive, and I was ſmitten.
This were but juſtice unto God, that hath taken all this pains with us, been at ſuch an expence of culters with theſe ſtony fallow hearts of ours. You ſhall ſee how rhetorically he expoſtulates it, Amos 3.4. Will a Lion roar in the foreſt to have no prey? ſhall my chidings and threats and thunderbolts (tearing your Ephod and your Altar, rending not the veil, but the Temple it ſelf from the top to the bottom) be ſpent all to no purpoſe? Will a young Lion give forth his voice from his den that he may take nothing? (that is the beſt rendring of the place) Shall all this tragical ſcene deſigned and acted by God (all but our ſin-parts in it) be but a beating of the air, or a ſcourging of the ſea, unprofitably? no one ſin in ſuch a legion brought down or vanquiſh'd by all this ſtorming?
Nay, ſhall we at once evacuate and reproach, fruſtrate and defame his methods? pronounce unto all the world, that God hath loſt his deſign for want of conduct? ſhall we ſet up for the Maſter-wits? get Proſelytes away from heaven to Ephraim's hereſie? preach back again to God's Rod? and tell him, that afflictions are very improper engines to make batteries on Souls? If ſo, then are we juſt the indomiti juvenci in this Text, ſo perfectly untamed after all this ſmiting▪ I wiſh we could ſay as true in that that follows, the [Turn thou us, and we ſhall be turned;] that the reſolvedneſs not to benefit by ſtripes, were not ſo like the blaſphemy againſt the holy Ghoſt; that when this hath failed, any other method might hope to prove ſucceſsful. That Proſperity might do it, was Ephraim's fancy, though diſtant enough from God's: which brings me to my ſecond particular, Man's judgment, or the ſinners perſwaſion of himſelf, that Roſes are more wholeſome than Wormwood, that Proſperity will do it better, and a bribing God with a promiſe that it ſhall do it; Converte, & convertar, Turn, &c.
And this we ſhall not fully carry away with us, if we do not view it diſtinctly in three notions.
1. As 'twas a perſwaſion or act of belief in Ephraim, that ſo 'twould prove: Turn thou me, &c.
2. As a promiſe that it ſhould be thus: Turn, and I will, &c.
3. As in truth it was, an excuſe to get off the Rod, or to procraſtinate the repentance: the preſent method of ſmiting may be ſuperſeded; Turn thou me, &c.
The firſt, an act of judgment in Ephraim. The ſecond, of temporary reſolution. The third, of artifice and deſign. In each of theſe, Ephraim may chance to prove our mirrour; 'twill be worth your patience that I ſhew you how. And
1. As it was a perſwaſion or act of judgment in Ephraim, that Proſperity was the way to make them better.
'Twas a truth of God's own pronouncing, that his thoughts are not like our thoughts, conſented to by the Philoſopher, foreign, ſaith Xenophanes, God hath no more of our fancies than of our ſhapes; heaven and earth are ſeldom of an opinion. 'Twill be moſt pertinent and viſible in matters of his providence.
When God hath deſigned the croſs, the conſtant poſt and ſtage in our geſſes to Heaven, we muſt needs ſet up another oeconomy, fanſie it a kingdom of uncompounded felicities, croud all the Godly into one throne, and the ungodly into one footſtool, bring Chriſt unto this Earth again, on a ſecond more prudent errand, to have an age of reigning, not of ſuffering, among a world not of followers, but of fellow-kings, and ſo, in the Apoſtles judgement, incloſe him in a kingdom of baſtards, whom we are reſolv'd (quite contrary to God's pronouncing) to be the only ſons and Saints of the Millennium. To this end muſt Prophecies be precipitated, and what belongs to the future (perhaps long ago paſt) Converſion of the Jews, or our yet more future bliſs, ſhall be all anticipated preſently, the Croſs condemn'd and baniſh'd out of the world, and none like to be of the Order of the new Diſciples, but he that will caſt off that unchriſtian luggage, and ſo not follow Chriſt. Can there be a greater contrariety unto Chriſt's judgement, a more perfect Antipodes to all that hath hitherto been Goſpel, than that which by pulling out one pin in the ſcene, hath been thus ſhifted into its ſtead?
And as in the general, ſo in the particular too, [In what ſtate ſoever I am, therewith to be contented] is not to be had, by Saint Paul's own confeſſion, without a foreign, a great deal of myſterious inſtruction, ſuch as in the Eleuſinia ſacra coſt the Client ſo many ſighing patient years of attendance and purgation, before he could aſcend to the foreign & foreign, the heights of Chriſtian contentment: but eſpecially to have any good opinion of Afflictions when they are actually on our ſhoulders, to be ſo tame as to think ſuch a proportion of earth, with wormwood imbibed, can prove uſeful or medicinal to any.
Will not a brave golden ſhowr of cordials diſpel poyſons, raiſe a collaps'd habit of Soul, infuſe a new ſtock of ſpirits, more probably far than a courſe of ſteel or quickſilver? Would not an army of Sun-beams, that have light as well as warmth in them, ſubdue and thaw the moſt hardned heart in the whole quarry, diſſolve the moſt icy cryſtal ſpirit, better than a ſtroke of Moſes rod, or a crack of thunder?
Thus hard it is for fleſh and bloud to believe that God can chuſe beſt for us: Are not Abanah and Pharphar, rivers of Damaſcus, better than all the waters of Jordan? May not I waſh there and be clean? Would not a little kind uſage, a few fatherly kiſſes and embraces, an inheritance or portion given me in my hand, a fair demeans to keep hoſpitality upon, be more likely to work upon well-natur'd ſinners, that do not love to be forced, will be as thankful as any man living, if they may be courteouſly treated, but with a froward handling cannot chuſe but ſhew themſelves unſavoury? This driving and forcing men to repentance is a violation of the Goſpel-liberty, a kind of conſtraining and violencing of the ſpirit, if it be inſlaved to theſe beggerly rudiments of ſtripes and terrors, and ſavours much of the ſpirit of Legal fear, that Hagar or mount Sinai that ingendreth unto bondage, quite contrary to the free-born Sion or Jeruſalem-ſpirit, whereby we cry, Abba Father.
Farther yet, I have heard Ephraim a murmuring as well as a bemoaning; I am ſo incumbred with the preſſures of a villanous world, ſuch a hurry of paſſions, of indignation and impatience, of a tumultuous grief and ſhame, that I have neither heart, nor joy, nor leiſure to mend any thing. Thus it follows, verſ. 19. I am aſhamed and confounded, becauſe I bear the reproach of my youth; no poſſible reforming in ſuch a ſtate of confuſion, ſuch a kind of Tophet and hell as this.
And I heartily wiſh I did not ſpeak to men that can think Ephraim in the right all this while, that with Jonas on the withering of the Gourd can juſtifie againſt God himſelf, that they do well to be angry even unto death, that can really perſwade themſelves that Afflictions are not for their turn, that they are as noxious to their Souls as to their bodies, that as Hippocrates reſolved of the Scythians, that the foreign, if they came from God, (that all the curſes and ill-turns that Heaven had to ſpare) would be confined to the poor, becauſe their wants ſet them always a murmuring and a blaſpheming of God; ſo, I ſay, I wiſh we had not ſome of that Atheiſt's conceit, that cannot tell how to imagine that ſtripes ſhould bring forth any thing but clamours and execrations, more ferity, more ſullen Atheiſms, more beſtiality to drown, Opiate potions to benum the ſenſe of our calamities. And many of us do this out of pure judgment, that affluence is far the more probable way toward mending, that a Canaan were able to inſpire Iſraelites, as the good foil in Plutarch was thought to infuſe Poetry into the Oracle. And having experience to demonſtrate the firſt part of Ephraim's ſpeech, being no more wrought on by all God's ſmiting than the moſt untractable Steers, they go on with a preſumption of the truth of the ſecond, that Proſperity will do all that Adverſity hath not done: Turn thou me, &c.
But then, 2. I told you there was a ſecond notion of theſe words, as they are an act of promiſe and temporary reſolution, that if God will but turn our captivity, we will infallibly amend.
And 'tis very poſſible at a diſtance for a man to think himſelf in earneſt when he ſo promiſes. 'Twas Dio's obſervation of Nero's mother, (that profeſt her ſelf content to be kill'd by her ſon, on condition he might be Emperor) That 'tis very ordinary at a diſtance to enter ſuch obligations; we'l venture any the ſowreſt paiment from Satan after this life, ſo we may get but his Kingdom of the Earth, his Seraglio of Carnal felicities at the inſtant. The Hypocrite or falſe-hearted profeſſor will make any bargains with God for the future, will not doubt but to be a Diſciple of Chriſt, ſo he may but firſt go and bury his father, or, with Jephta's daughter, have a month or two to go up and down the mountains and bewail her virginity, ſhe and her fellows: Be it the Cloiſter or the Altar, Chaſtity or Death it ſelf, (as you know 'tis not reſolved which 'twas that that Vow belong'd to) a little preſent felicity will be ſufficient paiment for either of them; only when the date of the undertaken returning begins to commence, when the ſowr part of the bargain comes to be performed, the Nero to kill as well as to reign, the Cloiſter to be actually entred, and with that the foreign, a vow never to return ad ſeculum again, then the Votary begins to underſtand himſelf better, finds it as improper to turn Penitentiary in a Palace as it was in a Priſon, as irrational to be condemn'd to Tantalus as to Prometheus fate, to be abſtemious in a river of delights as patient of faſtening to a mountain of torments: and had he known it that he ſhould thus have been taken at his word, have had his turning required as ſoon as his Captivity was turn'd, his mortification expected at the reſtoring of his peace, and with the feſtivity and reſt, the holineſs alſo and ſervices of a Sabbath and Jubilee, he would have even courted his Rod, embraced his pleaſanter Gyves or Dunghill, have continued a ſlave in Aegypt, rather than thus be circumciſed in Canaan, have been bored through the ear by his old Maſter, rather than thus dignified with the Title of Free-man, and denied the Libertiniſm that belongs to it.
But the truth is, there is a third notion of theſe words, which will be a Superſedeas to that of a Promiſe; and that is, as this art of promiſing is only an excuſe, or ſhift, or pretence, to get off the preſent ſmart of the rod, or the importunity of the Prophet, to eſcape the ſmiting or the being ſmitten, the croſs or following of Chriſt.
Should the unmanaged Horſe (inſtead of the Bullock in the Text) deſire his Rider to put off his Spurs and Whip, and at once to eaſe him both of Bit and Saddle, and then promiſe to be the tractableſt Beaſt in nature, but till then profeſs that all thoſe Inſtruments of Diſcipline ſhould never tame him, I beſeech you, what would be thought of this Oration? would you certainly be perſwaded that the Beaſt ſpake reaſon, that it was a ſerious deſign of a generous obedience, a gallantry of a voluntary unconſtrained vertue? If ſo, you may believe the Beaſt within you, that makes the ſame propoſal to God and you. In the mean time, 'twill not be amiſs to reſolve, that he that hath exceptions to God's methods, hath ſome other Maſter to whom he is more inclinable to retain; he that will not ſerve God for nought, that is all for the thriving Piety, the gainful Godlineſs, that muſt have his reward juſt as he is a doing the work, a payment in hand, even before he ſets about the duty; will ſure bring in little profit to God, be he fed never ſo high, very thin returns of good life for all his donatives. He that will not now mend under the rod, edifie by ſo many doleful Lectures as have been read us out of a Zachary's and a Jeremy's roll, that hath arrived to Theodoret's foreign, a mind that can reverberate judgments, and make them rebound in more provoking ſins againſt the hand that ſent them, is of the Pharaoh, the anvil-temper; and, let him pretend, or promiſe, or flatter himſelf what he pleaſe, by holding out his white Flag for Treaty, he deſired to be in caſe to maintain his Fort ſtill againſt God, and 'tis not victualling and bribing, but ſtarving and ſtorming, muſt help to drive him out of it. Which brings me to the third and laſt particular,
The ſtating of this difficulty betwixt God and man, and in it the falſeneſs of man's judgment, and fallaciouſneſs of ſuch his promiſe, both in reſpect of God, who will never ſend them Proſperity that Adverſity wrought no good on, and of Proſperity it ſelf, which would never do the work if God ſhould ſend it.
For the firſt, in reſpect of God, who will never ſend them Proſperity that Adverſity wrought no good on: this you may judge of, not only by that great Rule of State in Heaven; of [God's reſiſting the proud] and [Surely God heareth not ſinners] compounded into one Goſpel-aphoriſm, [the incorrigible beggar can never have audience in heaven, nor returns from thence, ſave only of ſtones and thunder-bolts;] but eſpecially on that wiſe ground of divine oeconomy on which all theſe ſtripes are ſent.
God's firſt method of calling us off from the world, is the ſoft and friendly, the [having therefore theſe promiſes, let us cleanſe our ſelves,] a Heaven, a Paradiſe, and a Canaan, to confirm Angels, and bring men to bliſs, to draw with the cords of a Man, with the bands of love; and if that prevail, Afflictions are ſuperſeded, (and were it not that there is another ſpecial uſe of them, to illuſtrate our Chriſtian vertues, and improve our Crown, and withall to confute Satan when he accuſes us of unſincerity, the reformed Chriſtian ſhould never be thus exerciſed.) But when Proſperity will not work, when the calmer phyſick is digeſted into nouriſhment of the diſeaſe, then, and not till then, the vomit comes in on the reſerve, the tempeſt and deluge to drown thoſe Serpents that had ingendred and thriven in the ſhallow and ſtlll waters, as to them that are ſick of perfumes, the noiſomeſt Smell is the only Cordial: and then, as Cuſanus obſerves there is in God coincidentia contrariorum, this ſeverity is the only mercy, theſe wounds the only balſame, the hoſtile approach the moſt obliging charity: and as by the Heathen artifice in Hero's foreign, as ſoon as ever the fire was kindled upon the Altar, the plummets fell, and the doors flew open, and the God appeared upon the Chair of State; ſo by this rarifying power of flames and judgments, the earthly obſtacles are oft removed, and the Deity ſet up and inthron'd in the heart; and then ſure 'twas good for that man that he was in trouble. And generally the rule is true in Gerſon, Omnes poenae non exterminantes ſunt medicinales, All mulcts that are not undoing (and our Law admits not of any but ſuch as are ſalvo contenemento) are a piece of charity and phyſick in the Judge. For this cauſe are many ſick and weak, nay, many fallen aſleep, (if we will believe the Apoſtle;) and all theſe judgings of the Lord, the only Antidotes againſt that fatal poyſon, the being condemn'd and ruin'd with the world.
And then, you will not blame the wit or piety of the old Heathens, (who deifi'd all their Benefactors) that they had Temples for ſuch Fevers as theſe, the friends that had ſo oblig'd them: I'm ſure St. Auguſtine makes it his wonder, that upon that ſcore they had not erected one Altar more, impietati hoſtium, to the impiety and rapine of their enemies, which was conſtantly (if they had but the grace to make uſe of it) ſo royal a Benefactor.
The ſovereign power of this Recipe being thus conſidered, you will give it leave to be the laſt in God's preſcribing, and the moſt depended on; and the Patient being not fit for the coſt or trouble of any farther experiments, when theſe have proved ſucceſsleſs, the greateſt mercy of the Phyſician is to leave him with theſe Cupping-glaſſes at the neck, that if there be ever a ſpark of vital ſpirit within, it may by this aſſiſtance diſcharge it ſelf of that poyſonous vapour, and yet poſſibly overcome and quit the danger: but if not, 'tis ſure too late to divert to any new courſe; the fetching out the Cordials will but enhance the Bill, and maintain the Lamp a little longer, will never beget a new ſtock of ſpirits or ſpring of life, when 'tis once ſo quite exhauſted: and therefore the concluſion is clear, and the Prophet Amos hath expreſt it by an apt reſemblance, Amos 3.5. Shall one take up a ſnare from the earth, and take nothing at all? Shall God remove his judgments from a Nation, while the ſins are ſtill at the high-water? Infallibly he will not do it: If he do, 'tis a ſad preſage; his ſoft hand is but abſolute deſertion, the leaving to our ſelves is the giving us up to our bloudieſt enemies, that unſeaſonable heaven is the far worſe Tophet of the twain.
Let but the preſent Calamities work the cure on us, and then all the Canaans in the world are ready at hand to perfect it; the old peaceable, flouriſhing England, hid under that heap of thunder-bolts, is ready to be our Bath and Palaeſtra once again, to refreſh and confirm what was thus acquired, and to beget a whole treaſure of health in us. But till then, Proſperity is quite beſide the purpoſe, a mere ignorant Empirick-preſcription, which hath nothing of purging or medicinal in it, ſhould it be adminiſtred, 'twould never reform or convert any. The demonſtrating of which, is the undertaking of the laſt minute of my laſt particular, that in reſpect of Proſperity it ſelf, which in this caſe will never do the work if God ſhould ſend it.
The Beaſt that is not tamed or humbled by the whip or goad, the rich paſture in all reaſon will never break or work on; the liberty of that field is a new temptation, and the plenty ſtrengthens for a ſturdier reſiſtance, and both liberty and plenty, reſpite and peace are apt to be miſtaken for a reward of the former ſtubbornneſſes, far from any reſtraint of them.
Will you ſee it exemplified in the moſt eminent ſtories of deliverances and proſperities that the Scripture takes notice of? that will enforce the concluſion à majori.
You have Lot of Sodom, and Noah of the old World, the remnant preſerved from that double deluge of fire and water, and as ſoon as they are landed in their fair Havens, the ſame Calm ſhipwrecks both, and their Proſperity is branded by holy Writ for the mother of their two beſtial ſins, Inceſt and Drunkenneſs.
Look back from thence into Eden, and there that happy at once and innocent pair are not by plenty ſecured from coveting; beauty, and ſweetneſs, and deſire of knowledge, the perfections and temptations of Paradiſe, are the ruine to Innocence it ſelf: and then, what do you think, the Swine would have done there, when the Lambs committed ſuch early riots? what an havock would an Army of Roiſters have made in that Garden, where Adam himſelf (if you will believe the Rabbins rendring of the Pſalmiſt foreign) abode not one night in that ſtate of bliſs and honour.
Paſs we from Paradiſe unto Heaven it ſelf, where there is neither eating nor drinking, marrying nor giving in marriage, and ſo no room for carnal ſins to do anything but ſtarve in, yet even there was matter for the filthineſs of the ſpirit to feed on; the Angels can grow proud and ambitious there, ſtumble and fall in plain Heaven, adore and worſhip (and ſo damn) themſelves in the abſence of all other Idols. And therefore from theſe experiments 'twould be no boaſt or hyperbole to affirm, (and perhaps worth your pains to conſider it) that if a prophane impenitent ſhould (upon an impoſſible ſuppoſition) be ſo proſperous as to enter heaven it ſelf, it would be very far from reforming or converting him; ſuch a gratifying and rewarding of ſinners, would but confirm them in their courſe: as when an habituate demure adulterer, oppreſſor, or the like, gets confident of his Salvation, with theſe crimes unreformed about him, there is not an engine imaginable to fetch him off from his ſins, but by firſt robbing him of his aſſurance, he muſt be thrown out of his imaginary uſurp'd heaven, before he will be really capable of coming thither. 'Tis true, there will be there in thoſe ſacred Courts ſome good motives and attractives to Reformation, examples of all the contrary vertues, if he were malleable enough to be controll'd by ſuch; the Seraphims pure divine flames of lo…e, to reproach and upbraid his prophane and unclean fires of luſt and rage; a quiet calm ſubordination of Saints and Angels under that great Theocracy, to ſhame that petulancy of his foreign, the irregularity of his rebel luſts againſt the foreign, the Monarchy of that divine beam within him; the Principalities and Powers, to make him bluſh and glow at thoſe vile ſervilities and mean ſubmiſſions to the paultry ſins that he ſtands guilty of; a whole volume of patterns of all holineſs in every Saint, to reproach and libel his impurities: But when he hath in himſelf that one great example, that luſt and pride, the filthineſs of the fleſh and ſpirit, can inherit life, (as ſuppoſe the impenitent in heaven, and he hath this example) he will then rather expect to be imitated himſelf, to gain Proſelytes to his delicate popular thriving hereſie, to ſet up a new faction or ſociety in heaven, all for proſperous Liberty, than conform to that old regular ſubordination, that Prelacy or Hierarchy of Arch-angels, and Cherubims, and Saints. In a word, we ſhould have, in ſuch a new ſuppoſed Platform, more hope to bring over and debauch Angels, (were they not confirm'd) than danger of being diſciplin'd or reform'd by them, even raiſe Lucifer's expectation, that he might return to his old Country ag…in, at leaſt give him more ground for that hope, than Origen's charitable Hereſie could ever afford him. And all this, though impoſſible enough, yet far more probable than for unclean Atheiſts or Hypocrites, remaining ſuch, to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, and then begin to reform when they are entred.
That Divinity that firſt inſtates impenitents in pardon, and ſo in bliſs, and then will have them mend by way of gratitude, ſuppoſes a degree of piety and generoſity in thoſe impenitents, that nothing but a through Converſion can plant in them. He that having a falſe graceleſs debtor to deal withal, will firſt abſolutely cancel his Bond, and then expect that payment from Gratitude, which Law and Sergeants could not extort from him, ſhall be allowed to be of Ephraim's mind, that the Sun-beams may diſſolve that Stone, that the Hammer could not. The Platoniſts and the Papiſts have been a little more rational in ordering their fancies, placing their imaginary Purgatory in their way to Heaven, not at the journey's end: and, if you mark it, they are not Purgatory ſtreams, but flames, which they dream of; a Caldarium or Scalding-bath or Fornace, to fetch out and burn up droſs, not a flowry Elyſian field or Paradiſe, only to upbraid it.
I ſhall make challenge to your memories and experiences, Did you ever ſee any man flatter'd and gratified out of his ſins by the increaſe and amiableneſs of his temptations? And yet 'tis certain that Proſperity and Eaſe and Peace abound more with theſe than any other ſtate. Acriorib…s ſtimulis animum explorant, in Tacit. and as he, felicitate corrumpimur; ſo, becauſe they have no changes, therefore they fear not God, could David ſay, their uninterrupted felicities, firſt made Atheiſts of them: Is it likely that a few more hours of thoſe joys would return them Saints?
The Eremites indeed, in Theodoſius the younger's time, left their Solitude, and came to ſtudy Perfection in the King's Palace: But ſure 'twas becauſe they were (or elſe conceived themſelves to be) advanced and arrived already to a ſpiritual height, to a full pancratick habit, fit for combats and wraſtlings, and ſo came out to practiſe in theſe Agones, that is, not becauſe there were conceived to be leſs, but more temptations: And yet even for ſuch, I ſhould not be over-forward to commend the deſign. Without queſtion, the ſtill Privacy had been the more prudent courſe. For ſo Licetus, that tells us of ſome Lamps which under ground continued light for ſixteen hundred years, concludes his obſervation, that as ſoon as ever they were brought forth into open air, they went out immediately. And I need not tell you how many zealous burning or fair ſhining Votaries the world hath had, whoſe, impriſon'd, retir'd, cloyſter'd Piety hath done ſo too.
And do not think that 'tis an appetite to other mens poſſeſſions, or an inſidious praiſing of a loſt treaſure, that ſo they that have taken it up, may return it again; If I tell you that, which 'tis not, theſe times have taught me, that affluence and abundance of Riches, of Eaſe, of even Peace it ſelf, is generally no ſafe commodity; there is not one of a hundred but is leſs Chriſtian for it. Jeſhurun waxed fat, began to thrive in the fair paſture, and, it follows, he kicked preſently. And 'tis Ariſtotle's Maxim, foreign, Riches make men inſolent and intolerable. Nay we have mention of the foreign, Eſther 16.2. and of ferre fortunam in Horace. 'Tis a weight that many are not able to move under; the talents of gold are the ſaddeſt lading, ready to ſink old Charon's boat in Lucian. 'Tis, ſure, that very bunch in the Camel's back, that made it ſo hard for him to enter that ſtreight paſſage: And unleſs you have ſome confidence and ſome experience of your extraordinary gifts, or faculty of conquering the temptations of wealth and reſt, particularly of taking out the ſting and teeth that are peculiar to the Serpent, the exact skill of allaying this quick-ſilver, believe me, that piece of ancient advice would be no unſafe counſel to many of us, when Riches increaſe, in ſtead of ſetting the heart on them, not ſo much as to lend them an ear, to be deaf to the knocks of Riches, when they are moſt importunate at the door. All the joys and high taſts that they can help you too, being not able to requite you for the damning ſin of one inſolence, one luxury, one impiety, nay for the pains that not only Petrarch, but Ariſtotle, the Heathen as well as Chriſtian Moraliſt, tells you it will coſt the rich or idle man to reſiſt thoſe temptations, much leſs to repair the wound of a waſted Conſcience, that the courting of wealth when 'tis ſhie or coy, the foreign, the reſolving to become rich, or continue ſo, doth conſtantly coſt us.
This is the moſt perfect earneſt in the world: never was there Chriſtian of any extraordinary proficiency, but was reſolv'd of it as of a Principle, and therefore put it into his prayers, not only under the Petition againſt leading …to …emptation, but interpreted …is daily bread to that ſenſe, foreign, that which is moſt agreeable to every of our …o…d…tious, the neither poverty nor riches, with Solomon, but the panem d…menſ… noſtri, that which is juſ… even to the wants or cravings of a regular appetite, which is the only wholſom diet in the world.
And as this hath ſufficiently demonſtrated the Doctrine, ſo will it prove the moſt advantageous riſe for Uſe and Application, and the concluſion of the whole matter. And that is in the Prophet Micah's phraſe, to ſhew thee, O man, what is good: good to thee as thou art a Man, in all thy capacities, to put thee upon a project, give thee a patent and monopoly of the greateſt treaſure and riches of the world, a ſecret that the worldling hath not known; for had he known it, he would never have diſquieted the neighbourhood for ſuch a warm prize ſnatcht juſt out of the mint, ſuch a findging weight of gold that will ſo ſoon fire its paſſage, and flie from him again. And it is that treaſure of Chriſt, ſhall I ſay? nay, of Epicurus's Philoſophy, (as, for want of his own writings, the Greek Scholiaſts on Ariſtotle are fain to tell us.) In the one, the foreign, the calm, untroubled conſtitution of mind, that all the foreign, the preſent or poſſible tempeſts of this world (which are all extrinſecal, perfectly extrinſecal to a Chriſtian) have not had in their power to afflict or diſquiet, to put out of that magnanimous pace of equable conſtant piety: In the other, that, not effect or fruit of Faith, but Faith it ſelf, 1 John 5.4. foreign, Faith the victory and triumph over the world, uſing it as a tame conquer'd captive creature, contemning and defying it, and againſt all our tempters vindicating and maintaining that title of ours, which the blood of Chriſt help'd to purchaſe for us, that of ſuperiority and conqueſts over the world. Not only that of contentment with a little, a tame privative contentment, (which yet the Spaniard thinks fit to make rival with Jupiter, enough, when 'tis attain'd on earth, to get away all the love and value from heaven) but of preferring the conveniences and advantages of that little, (nay that admirably-valuable condition of the nothing at all) the quiet and dignity of being fed immediately from God's own hand, of being a ſpecial part of his ſolicitude, nay of rejoycing in tribulations, the glorifying and magnifying God in that behalf beyond all others, and ſo being as in a ſtate of aſcendency ſtill, (a yet more glorious condition) that of being under God's managery and diſcipline, a part not only of his retinue, but his, skill, a piece of his craft and workmanſhip, hewed and ſquared and carv'd by thoſe keen ſharp inſtruments of his, to become ſo many foreign, incarnate ſtatues of his divinity. And I beſeech you to tell me, is this a formidable condition? is not that of the proſperous Atheiſt far more formidable? tell me as men, as Chriſtians, and not only as cattel of the herd; look but upon it with thoſe eyes that hope one day to behold the face of God, (and he that hath this hope, muſt purifie himſelf ▪) and pronounce, if there be any thing in the ſmitten Ephraim's fate, beſide Ephraim's ſins, that may diſcompoſe or terrifie a ſervant of ſuch a maſter, much leſs drive us into tempeſts and rages of fear, with oaths and curſes, and damning of our ſelves, that we know not that Chriſt that would lead us or bring us into this condition; a condition (look it never ſo ſadly) which (believe me, or believe your Saviour upon his Mount, his Pulpit, or but believe your own Souls, whenever you come to trie it) ſhall prove a Mine of comfort to you, even in this life, the true fountain from whence the old foreign, the voluptuous or pleaſurable, drew but drops or lappings, but will yield the illuminate Chriſtian full ſtreams of all the real joy and Epicuriſm in the world.
Which as it ſhall be the ſum of my preſent Addreſs to you, ſo of my Prayers to God for ever for you, that he that knows beſt how to chuſe for us, will not ſuffer us to do it for our ſelves, will anſwer the neceſſities of our health, and not the importunities of our appetites, that he will take our Soul's part againſt our enemy Fleſh, and not our Bodies, our Eſtates, our Satans againſt our Souls; will teach us that patience and that joy, that tranquillity and that Serenity, that courage, and that Anthem of his three Martyr-children, that we may ſing alſo in the midſt of flames; denudate us of all, when that may fit us for our prizes; preſcribe us any the ſcorchingſt Fornace here, which ſhall prove moſt inſtrumental to our preſent Reformation and future bliſs, to our life of obedience here, and of glory hereafter: Which God of his infinite mercy grant us all, for his Son Jeſus Chriſt his ſake; To whom with the Father, &c.