Gods Call from Heaven Echoed, Part 2 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III. II. Ʋſe, for Terrour.
THis doctrine in the next place ſpeaks woe, S. 1 and condemnation with a loud voice, to thoſe that are not effectually called; it diſchargeth a volley of ſhot, & thundreth an whole peal of ordnance in the faces of thoſe that are unchanged; & like pictures, that are made to look everie way, as it ſmileth upon the godly, as you ſhall hear afterwards, ſo it frowneth, & looketh 1 Kings 22. 8.louringlie upon the ungodly: And as Ahab ſaid of Micaiah touchilie, ſo may we ſay of this doctrine trulie, in reference to wicked men, that it doth not propheſie good concerning them, but evil. Doth the Lord effectuallie call, whom hee did predeſtinate, then you who yet are not called, have cauſe to wax pale, and to be filled with tremblings of ſpirit: It is like the hand writing upon the wall, and may looſe your joints, and cauſe your knees to ſmite one againſt the other; and that upon theſe accounts, and the conſideration of theſe enſuing particulars.
1. Such cannot yet conclude, that they S. 2 are predeſtinate; they have no ground, nor foundation, whereupon ſuch concluſions may ſtay themſelves; where the deluge of ſin reſts ſtill upon the ſpirit, and ways of a man, or woman, thoughts of predeſtination, can find no reſt for the ſole of their feet, but muſt either return, and die in the reſt of fond imagination, or elſe flutter up and down, till for want of being feathered by grace, they fall, and periſh in the inundation of unrighteouſneſſe: Such deſerve to be hiſt at in the Schools of the Saints, who make a flouriſh with ſuch concluſions, and are not able to produce the premiſes. The Scripture giveth no warrant thus to conclude; for Peter joyneth election, and ſanctification together; where he ſaith, Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through ſanctification of the ſpirit unto obedience, &c. 1 Pet. 1. 2. or to ſanctification rather: What Bez. in loc.though you have civilitie, and outward conformity, is that firm ground, fitting for thee to anchor upon with determinations of thine election; you may haplie make ſhift to paſſe the corps du guard, of man; and ſo to ſay the word, that none can gain ſay you, yet God can perceive your liſping; and when you come to the paſſages of Jordan, that lead into Judg. 12. 6.the heavenlie Canaan, and ſhall ſay, Lord let me go over, and open unto me. The Lord will ſay, art thou not a ſinner, a rebel, and an unbeliever; and though thou ſay nay, yet the Lord will find thee out; and bid thee ſay Shibboleh, which thou canſt not do; but inſtead thereof will ſay Sibboleh: Thou canſt ſay outward calling, but not inward calling; thou canſt ſay common grace, but not ſpecial grace; thou canſt ſay, I am a Chriſtian, but thou canſt not ſay, I am a Saint. There thou ſtammereſt, and ſtuttereſt, and art not able to ſpeak right; Be not deceived, God will not be mocked: And is Gala. 6. 7.it not a moſt doleful, and direful condition for a man to be in, wherein he cannot ſay upon ſufficient grounds, my name is written in Heaven, I am one in the Catalogue, and liſt of the elected, and choſen of God.
Whom the Lord chuſeth, he chuſeth to holineſſe, to ſonſhip, now if theſe things be not in Homo praedeſtinatus est eſſe filius Dei. Aquin.thee, what haſt thou to ſay for thy predeſtination? It is true, Gods people are many times under dark diſpenſations, and their condition ſo clouded, that with Paul and his company, neither Sun, nor Stars for manie dayes do appear Acts 26. 20.to them; ſo that their hope of being ſaved is taken away; but yet their condition is far diſtant from thine: For they have the root, though not the branch, the habit, though not the act: Though they cannot through impediments, yet they ought by Gods commandment to conclude his eternal loving thoughts towards them; yet withal they have ſuch a glimmering, and ſee ſo much of land, and diſcover the coaſt, though but in a ſmall meaſure, that if put to their choice, they would not exchange conditions with thee: but as for thee, that art in thy ſins, thou haſt no right, neither oughteſt thou to conclude any ſuch thing to thy ſelf.
2. If ſuch do conclude, they do but delude S. 3 themſelves; onlie Saints can make right ſyllogiſmes in this matter, for mood, and figure; becauſe themſelves through the grace of God are in a good mood, and they have the figure, and image of Jeſus Chriſt upon their hearts: others can make paralogiſmes, as the Apoſtles Jam. 1. 22. foreign.word is; and are good, or rather bad at fallacies, which is the way of diſputing altogether in the devils Schools; and what a deſparate thing is it for a man to cheat, and bear falſe witneſs againſt himſelf in things of ſo great moment, when he is forbidden ſuch demeanour towards his neighbour in the ninth commandement.
Friend, and Chriſtian Reader, you are full of concluſions, and do abound with determinations of his kind, yet wanting the inward and ſaving workings of the ſpirit, you do but cozen, and deceive your ſelves: If you ſay, you are choſen, and are not called; if you ſay, you are purpoſed to life, and are not prepared for life, that your name is regiſtred in Heaven, and not your nature regenerated on Earth: If you think you are the object of predeſtination, and not the ſubject of ſanctification, you do erre in your thoughts, and greatly miſtake: Hath your hope for Heaven no other ſtaffe to lean on, but the broken reed of Egypt? Will that building laſt, that hath no other foundation than the ſand? Hear what Paul ſaith, If a man think himſelf to be ſomething, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himſelf, Gal. 6. 3. It is univerſally true, in divine, moral, civil, and natural things; and very applicable to our purpoſe: He that thinketh himſelf to be ſomething in regard of predeſtination, and is nothing in regard of effectual vocation, deceiveth himſelf; yet there is nothing more common with people, than thus to do; and this is the miſery, and the miſchief of all, that people will not be beaten out of theſe thoughts, and ſayings, though there be not the leaſt of reaſon for them.
To run upon miſtakes in temporals, may be great detriment, but to do it in ſpirituals, is like to prove grievous damnation: Is thy condition ever the better for ſuch conceptions? Is it ſufficient warrant for hopes, and confidences, to have nothing but the hand and ſeal of Satans deluſions. There is nothing will bring thee more woe, and ſpeaks thy condition more ſad, than theſe deluſions: It may be truly ſaid of thee, a deceived heart hath turned thee aſide, that thou canſt not deliver thy ſoul, nor ſay, Is Iſa. 44. 20. Adulatio fallax crudelis est.there not a lie in my right hand. Deceitful flattery will prove deſtructive cruelty; bottomleſs concluſions will prove bottomleſſe confuſion, if the ſpirit prevent not by Scripture confutation; and in the end thou wilt find this courſe but a counterfeit ſalve for thy ſins, a skinning of the ſore, and the devils breath to carry thee down the more ſwiftly, and eaſily upon the tide, and ſtream of temptation into the Vitiis ſemper ſerviunt blandimenta, lenocinantur dulcia delictis.gulph of perdition. The Lord uncaſe this deceit for thee, and ſhew thee the helliſh and hideous face thereof: Rational men will have a reaſon for what they think or do; and ſhould not Chriſtians make the divine reaſon, the baſis of all their inward, and outward motions: It is moſt unſafe for us to enter into the labyrinth of predeſtination, to pace it with our own feet, to make particular applications of it to our ſelves without the clue of Scripture-reaſon; and doth not that, even in the text, ſay? Whom he predeſtinated, them he alſo called. If effectual calling ſay not Amen, thy ſtrong conceits have none of the ſpirit's ſeal: If thoſe that have true grace, may have doubting fears concerning their predeſtination, then thy certain thoughts without grace are but a deluding fancy; If they may yet ſuppoſe their condition ſad, thou haſt no reaſon to conclude thine ſafe. Chriſt ſaith, Woe, when all men Luke 6. 26.ſpeak well of you; and doth not a woe alſo belong to ſuch, who think, and ſpeak well of themſelves cauſeleſly. Deceits of this nature will prove like mountains of ſnow, which with the heat of Gods wrath will diſſolve into floods of ſorrow.
3. In the next place conſider, what contentment S. 4 can you take in any enjoyment, whileſt you are unchanged, and ſo cannot make out, that you are one of God's choſen? What felicity in any temporal favour without this? Health is the ſauce of our morſels, peace gives a relliſh to our reſt. Plenty is a foil to our peace; a cheerful ſpirit within, is the quaver of our mirth, without; our enjoyments like loving brothers are mutual helpes to each other; but an intereſt in God, and a ſence of that intereſt is the crown and glory of all: without this, the reſt will not concoct well, but produce crudities, and diſtempers in the ſpirit; without this Benjamin what are all the reſt? who could ſmile at the higheſt attainments of nature, which would prove, but fawning flatteries, without the preſence of this: It was the counſel of Jeſus Chriſt to his inceptors, his young beginners; Notwithſtanding, in this rejoyce not, that the ſpirits are ſubject unto you; but rather rejoyce, becauſe your names are written in Heaven, Luke 10. 20. If we had the devil under our girdle, and our ſelves were not in God's heart; if we had never ſo much power on Earth, and had no place in Heaven, what would it advantage us? If the world were thrown into your boſom, and your name not written in God's book, could you ſay, you had enough? Heraclitus ſaid, if the Sun were wanting, it would be night for all the Stars: If the Sun of righteouſneſſe hath not riſen upon your heart with healing under his wings, the glory of your accommodations lies buried in darkneſſe, and yields no pleaſure to the eye; what ſatisfaction can there be in the world's goods, if thy maker be not thy Husband? Which he is to none, but thoſe that are effectually Gaudium ſolummodo verum est, quod de creatore concipitur.called: The blaze of temporal priviledges will ſoon out, if the knowledge of predeſtination do not maintain the flame: If you cannot upon good grounds, to wit, the right application of Chriſt, which is done in effectual calling, make out a real appointment to glorie, may it not, is it not ſufficient to marre your mirth, to ſpoil your ſport, to damp your delight, in things here below; if ſeriouſly conſidered, and duely thought on? Can meat be ſavoury without this ſauce? Can drink be ſweet without this ſugar? Though a Sea of temporal immunities ſhould come flowing in, yet it is this fair freſh ſtream, that alone can glad the ſoul. What contentment can there be in Remi, and Remaliahs ſon, if the waters of Shiloah do not bubble ſoftlie by the door? Indeed, people like ſwine, like beaſts, do find, and take delight in theſe huskes, and they are as dear to them, as their heart; and do account their having of theſe things to be their happineſſe: but it is, becauſe they know not what their ſtate and condition is, that they are loſt in ſin, nor what it is to be without ſome certainty of predeſtination, (they not being able to reach in their contemplations, things of ſo high concernment) which did they know, it would make their hearts to ſhrink for fear: but that is but adverſe felicity, whoſe foundation is nothing but bruitiſh inſenſibility; and that is not to be accounted the joy of a Chriſtian, of a man, that hath its riſe from nothing ſubjectively, but beaſtlike ignorance, and ſupineſſe: Haman accounted all his wealth, and greatneſs nothing, ſo long as he could not have his will Eſth. 5. 13.of Mordecai: ſo maieſt thou ſay, and the Lord make thee to ſay ſo; I have wealth, and wit; health, and honour; friends and favour; profit, and preferment; peace, and plenty; goods, and gold; meat, and mony; Lands, and Lordſhips; life, and liberty: but what good do theſe do me, they avail me nothing, ſo long as ſin ſits in the throne; ſo long as I am not called, not converted; and know not that I am elect, and choſen: How can I look upon them with delight, when I cannot perceive they are enamelled with eternal love: It is moſt true, that Paul ſaith; Ʋnto them that are defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure, Tit. 1. 15.
4. The next ſable conſideration, that maintains S. 5 this tragick ſcene, is this, that they can take no comfort in the promiſes propounded. The Scripture is a rich mine, full of golden promiſes; one of the promiſes there is worth a In ſacrâ Scriptura quicquid promittitur felicitas est.world: There are peace and pardon, grace and glory, love and liking, ſalvation and ſonſhip, Heaven and happineſs promiſed; but only to thoſe that are truly called. The Scripture is a treaſure of precious promiſes, a ſtore-houſe of gracious engagements: They are ſpread thick upon the pages of holy writ; The Manna of ſpiritual promiſes falls there together with the dew of Heavenlie doctrine: They both deſcend, and diſtil together. This laden tree is forbidden fruit to thee; And as Peter ſaid to Simon Magus, ſo I to thee in the name of the Lord, who art in thy ſins, Thou Acts 8. 21.haſt neither part, nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the ſight of God. It may juſtlie be ſaid to thee, touch not, taſt not, handle not, for they belong not unto thee. It is for the Saints onlie to ſit down at this feaſt, you that are ſinners muſt be excluded Procul hinc, procul eſte profani.this Paradiſe: who do you think the Authour to the Hebrews means by heirs of promiſe, Heb. 6. 17. but gracious ſouls? and more plainly doth he expreſſe himſelf, when he ſaith, that they which are called might receive the promiſe of eternal inheritance, Heb. 9. 15. May it not be juſt cauſe of ſadneſſe to thee, to think, that thou maieſt not warm thy ſelf at this fire; to think, that thou maieſt not pluck one fair apple from the tree; that there ſhould be ſo many heapes of gold, and ſums of treaſure, and thou not able to ſay, one penny is thine own: There is no ſaving good but by the promiſes, and yet ſuch is thy condition, that they belong not to thee. How canſt thou ſleep without this pillow under thine head? Doth it content thee to have ordinary mercies by a common providence without an intereſt in a ſpecial promiſe? Promiſes of mercy, favour, love, good will are not general, but particular, not to all, but to ſome; that is to ſay, to the Saints, the renewed, the effectually called: This is one thing, whereby the Apoſtle aggravates the miſery of the Epheſians former natural condition, that they were ſtrangers from the Covenants of promiſe, Epheſ. 2. 12. and not without good Spem merito conconjungit promiſſionibus de Chriſto: nam abſque his quicquid ſperant homines, fruſtra ſperant. Bez.reaſon adds, having no hope. Thoſe that hope without book, hope in vain: Souls, do not lay claim to the covenant, without you find the condition wrought in you; do not challenge glorie for your right, unleſs you can find grace in your heart; do not ſay you are pardoned, unleſs you find your ſelf purified; verilie, it muſt needs be very ſad, if you but ſeriouſlie conſider it, that there ſhould be ſo much good promiſed, but none to you, becauſe you are ſtill bad: He that carrieth a promiſe in his boſome, hath an antidote againſt all diſaſters; and he that wants it, lies expoſed even to eternal deſtruction; you had better want any thing, than this.
5. In the fifth place: Thoſe that are not effectuallie S. 6 called, and therefore cannot make out their predeſtination, have no true bladder to ſupport them in affliction. How can ſuch ſtand in ſtorms of trouble, who know not, but that they are the beginnings of eternal woe? Will not their head be ſoon under water, who cannot make out to the contrary, but that they are the objects of reprobation, becauſe they are not the ſubjects of regeneration: Theſe are ſinking thoughts; you muſt not look alwayes to ſit as a Queen, and ſee no ſorrow, you muſt not look, that the Sun ſhould alwayes ſhine warm upon your head; that your peace ſhould have no period, your ſummer dayes no date, your felicitie no fate: No, the clouds will gather, the Heavens grow black, miſerie invade you, and ſorrow ſeize upon you in one kind, or another: Oh, how it would leſſen your trouble, quench the flame, mitigate the dolour; if you could but make out, that you were one, that did belong to God, and that your name were in the book of life: It will be ſad, when the waters riſe, and you have no Ark to return unto; when the ſtorm comes, and you have no ſheltring place: whereas to be in an eſtate of grace is a great ſupport to a ſoul, when under hatches; I am thine, ſave me; for Hic murus aheneus eſto, &c.I have ſought thy precepts, Pſal. 119. 94. I am thine by predeſtination, I am thine by effectual calling, for through grace I ſeek thy Laws and waies; were not theſe things great ſtaies to his ſpirit? Dionyſius ſaid, that this benefit he had by the ſtudie of Philoſophie, that he bore with patience his alterations and changes; ſo this is the benefit that comes by grace, that ſuch may bear their ſufferings not onelyonly with patience, but alſo with joy, yea and may ſing in the midſt of a priſon: The ſhip of the ſoul, being ballaſted by grace, and effectual calling, is preſerved from being overturned by tempeſts of ſorrow. David was one of God's, and in an eſtate of grace, and this he had ſome knowledge of, or elſe he could not have kept his ground, as he did againſt the thundrings of 2 Sam. 16. 12.Shimei's railing tongue; without theſe things you will be like a wild Bull in a net, when you are caught in the toile; You will have no patience in, nor hardly profit out of your troubles. Doth not David once and again put the bottle to his mouth, and ſuck in this cordial in the time of his ſpiritual ſwoonings; that God Pſ. 42. 11. Pſ. 43. 5.was his God. The want of theſe things muſt needs make the fornace of the fiery trial more hot and burning; than otherwiſe it would be: It is doleful for a man or woman to be in ſuch a condition, that they may ſay, I want goods, and I want grace too; I want peace, and I want piety; I want liberty, and I want life; I want comfort, and I want converſion; I want Friends, and I want God's favour too; when God ſhall ſtrike you with his rod, and you cannot make out, but that his blowes are from loathing, and not from love; that they are from a foe, and not from a Friend; it will be very diſmal, if you cannot ſay, theſe wounds have Mitigat vim doloris conſiderata aequitas ferientis.I received in the houſe, and at the hand of my Friend, and theſe are the chaſtiſements of my Father in mercy, and not to miſery, it will prove a ſore ſhaking to thy ſpirit, a ſad aking to thy ſoul.
6. The laſt bitter Pill is this: Such have no S. 7 ſupport in death; what will you do when death comes and mowes down the flouriſhing Flowers of your temporal comforts, when this great Philiſtine ſtops the Well of your outward conſolations? Though now you are alive, yet you muſt die; Death will find you out, and when he comes, will not return with a non eſt inventus, We cannot find him. And Vix bene moritur, qui male vixit.can you die comfortably, that have not lived graciouſly? Can you end with ſafety, that have not begun with ſanctity? can you have peace with the grave, who have no peace with God? can you be willing to be called out of the world by death, who were never called in, to God by grace? you may have ſtrong fancies, but you can have no ſure Faith. If you be not effectually called, and have not the true ſpectacles of faith and repentance, whereby you may be enabled to read your own name, in Heaven's court-rolls; What will ye do in the day of viſitation, and in the deſolation, which will come [from death?] to whom will ye flee for help, and where will ye leave your glory? without Iſai. 10. 3, 4.me ye ſhall bow down as Priſoners [of the grave] and fall among the ſlain, [by the ſtroke of death.] The ſting of death is ſin, ſaith the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 15. 56. It is ſin, that maketh death to bite, and leave the venome of his teeth behind him: you are yet in your ſins, death therefore muſt needs be bitterer to you than gall, and wormewood; you are yet without grace, and cannot make out that you are one of Gods; you cannot therefore lay this ſnake in your boſome with ſafetie. Have not ſuch thoughts ſadned thy heart, when death's meſſengers have knocked at the door? certainly they have, unleſſe thou be given up to fearedneſſe of conſcience, and ſtupefaction of Spirit, which is worſe than the ſtrongeſt ſence of ſin, and miſerie; without grace death muſt needs be the foreign.King of terrours; what is your reaſon, why you are yet loath to die? Do you not ſay, it is this? Oh, if I were fit, I ſhould not fear: If I had that upon me, and in me, that Miniſters ſpeak of, I ſhould be willing to die; If I did but know, that I did belong to the Lord, and that I were one of his choſen, it would never trouble me; why, you can never make out the latter without the former. You can have neither actual, nor habitual comfort in death without theſe things; you had better never to have been born, than thus to die; better never to have looked forth of your Mother's womb, than thus to look death in the face: friends, relations, accommodations, helpes, are all too weak twiggs to lay hold on to keep from drowning in this Sea of fear, if there be not grace: you may ſend to Miniſters to come to you (I wiſh with all mine heart, people would ſend to Miniſters to come to them in the time of their health and proſperity; and deal with them about the ſtate of their ſouls) but they, if they be faithful, dare not, cannot ſpeak peace to you, while you are in your ſins; for what peace, ſo long as the vileneſſes, and abominations of thine heart are ſo many: There is no peace, ſaith the Lord, to the Iſai. 48. 22.wicked. What comfort can they have in, or againſt death, who cannot rightly particularize the promiſes of eternal life, which ſuch Quis mortem temporalem metuat, cui aeterna vita promittitur?cannot do as we have ſhewed in the former head: If ſpirituals be abſent, temporals will prove, but miſerable comforters: Though now you hold up your heads, and blank at nothing; and you laugh at the ſhaking of the ſpears, and account darts as ſtubble; yet in your monethmonth, Job 41. 29.when you come to be gravid, and go bigge with the ſorrow of languiſhing ſickneſſes, and fear of approaching death, you will change your tone, and ſing another ſong; if you be not as bad or worſe than the Devil; for he hath ſuch a ſence of his condition, that it makes him to tremble: Thus you ſee what a dreadful condition all are in, that are not effectually called; no comfort preſent, or future; none in life, or in death; none in earthly and common; none in Heavenly and ſpiritual good things: They may well have their name changed, Jer. 20. 3.and be called Magor-Miſſabib, fear round about; for there is juſt cauſe they ſhould be a terrour to themſelves.