Cases Considered and Resolved, Text
GOOD COUNCEL TO Bad Men. OR FRIENDLY ADVICE TO Unfriendly Neighbours, and their Abettors.
YOUR Petitioning againſt me, to all underderſtanding men, was a compounded evil; an evil made up of pride, envy, malice, diſcontent, ignorance, &c. Dan 4.27. Iſai. 50.11. Iſai. 33.14. Ʋtinam ubique de gehenna diſſereretur, Chryſoſtom. I could wiſh that men would diſcourſe much and oft of hell.My councel to you is to breake off your ſins by repentance, that it may go well with you for ever; if you will not, juſtice will be above you, and in the cloſe, you muſt lye down in ſorrow. Tell me, Can you dwell with the devouring fire? Can you dwell with everlaſting burnings? 'Twas a good ſaying of Chryſoſtom, ſpeaking of hell, (Ne quaeramus ubi ſit, ſed quomodo illam fugiamus) Let us not ſeek where it is, but how we ſhall eſcape it. Grievous is the torment of the damned for the bitterneſs of the puniſhments, but it is more grievous for the diverſitie of the puniſhments, but moſt grievous for the eternity of the puniſhments. Ah, conſider before it be too late! what a ſad thing tis for ſouls, at laſt, to have the gate of Mercy, the gate of Indulgence, the gate of Hope, the gate of Glory, ſhut upon them, Matth. 25.10. When a ſinner is in hell, ſhall another Chriſt be found to dye for him? or will the ſame Chriſt be crucified again? Oh no; oh that you were ſo wiſe and merciful to your own ſouls, They were wont to ſay in former times, (Caius Seius bonus vir, ſed Chriſtianus. Caius Seius was a good man, but he was a Chriſtian. You may eaſily apply it, &c.as to dwell upon theſe Scriptures, Joh. 3.3. Jeſus anſwered, and ſaid unto him, Verily, verily, I ſay unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot ſee the kingdom of God. Except men be firſt unmade, and new made up again by the Spirit and Word; except the whole frame of their old converſation be diſſolved, and a better erected, there is no heaven to be had. Heaven is too holy, and too hot to hold Drunkards, Revilers, Mockers, and ſuch like, as you may plainly ſee by comparing theſe Scriptures together, 1 Cor. 6.9, 10. Gal. 5.19, 20, 21. Jude 14, 15. Revel. 21.8. & 22.15. He that is truth it ſelf and cannot lye, hath ſaid, Without holineſs no man ſhall ſee God, Heb. 12.14. This I am ſure of, that all mans happineſs here, is his holineſs, and his holineſs, Chryſoſtem cals ſome holy men of his time (aggelous) earthly angels.ſhall hereafter be his happineſs. You muſt in this life be holy, or in the life to come you ſhall never be happy. Seneca, a heathen man, ſaw ſo much excellency that morality put upon a man, that he ſaith, that (ipſe aſpectus boni viri delectat) the very looks of a good man delights one. Oh then, what a beauty and glory, doth real ſanctity put upon a man; it makes him more excellent then his neighbour, as Solomon ſpeaks, Proverbs 12.26. When Ageſilaus heard the king of Perſia, Pſalm 16.3.ſtiled the great king, ſaith he, I acknowledg none more excellent then my ſelf, unleſs more righteous; none greater, unleſs better.
But to haſten towards a cloſe, you may be very confident of theſe few things, which I deſire, as you tender your own good, you would ſeriouſly conſider.
1. That thoſe waies of the fleſh, wherein now you walk, will be bitterneſs in the latter end, It was the ſaying of an ancient Philoſopher, Whoſoever ſinneth, doth in that decline from his purpoſed end, and is certainly deceived. Hark Scholer, ſaid the Harlot to Apulſius, 'Tis but a bitter ſweet that you are ſo fond of. Ah, your ſcoffing, and mocking, will prove but a bitter ſweet at laſt. Act. 5.38, 39. & chap. 9.4, 5. Conſtantine the great Symbole, was (immedicabile vulnus enſe reſcindendum eſt.) When there is no hope of curing, men muſt fall a cuting. And ſo will God deal with ſinners ſouls. Therefore look about you ſinners. Iſai. 40.15. I laugh ſaid Caligula ſpeaking to the Conſuls, to think that I can kill you with a nod of my head. And can't God do it with as much eaſe; Rom. 14.19. Heb. 12.14. Luther ſaid, That in the cauſe of God he was content (totius mundi odium & impetum ſuſtinere) to undergo, the hatred and violence of the whole world. The Heathen Orator could ſay, (A recta conſcientia ne latum quidem unguem diſcedendum) a man may not depart an hairs breadth all his life long, from the dictates of a good conſcience. Cant. 8.1. Pſa 63.1, 2, 3. Rom. 14 1. & chap. 15.1. 1 Joh. 1.3, 4. Luk. 23.24. Act. 7.39.60. Mat. 6.12, 13, 14, 15. Tully ſaid of Caeſar (nihil obliviſci ſoles, niſi injurias) That he forgat nothing but injuries.Prov. 14.12. There is a way which ſeemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the waies of death. Though ſin doth come ſometimes cloathed with a ſhew of reaſon, and religion, yet the end of it will be death. Sin at laſt will betray your ſouls into the hands of Satan, as Dalilah did Sampſon, into the hands of the Philiſtims. Sinne makes the ſoul black with filth, and red with guilt, and then vengeance follows. The Rabbins were wont to tell their Scholars, to ſcare them from ſin, that every ſin made Gods head ake; but, without ſound repentance, you will at laſt finde, that every ſin will make your hearts ake. Oh, that when you are tempted to ſin, you would ſay, as Demoſthenes the Oratour, did of the beautiful Lais, when he was asked an exceſſive ſum of money to behold her; I will not (ſaid he) buy repentance ſo dear. I am not ſo ill a merchant, as to ſell the eternal for the temporal.
2. You may be confident, that all your oppoſitions, one way or other, againſt the waies of God, and againſt the people of God, is a fighting againſt God, who will be too hard for you, when you have done your worſt; and what you get, you may put in your eyes, and weep it out again. Thoſe that ſtrive for maſtery with God, God will over-maſter with a witneſſe, Iſa. 27.4. who would ſet the briars and thornes againſt me in battel? I would go through them, I will burn them together. God can nod a ſoul to hell; He can ſpeak a ſoul miſerable in a moment. Who ever ſtood out againſt him and proſpered? There is ſuch a neer union between God and his people, between God and his waies, that you cannot poſſibly oppoſe them, but you oppoſe God himſelf, who can preſently cauſe the greateſt arm of humane power, to ſhrink up; as you may ſee in his dealing with Pharoah, Hamman, Belſhazzar, and others, &c. Is a dry Reed able to ſtand againſt a conſuming fire? Is a worm able to overcom a Lion? Is weakneſs able to overcom ſtrength? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the ſmall duſt of the ballance: Behold, he taketh up the Iſles as a very little thing; as the Prophet Iſaiah ſpeaks. And what then is the poor creature, that he ſhould fight againſt an Almighty Creator? Caeſar told Metellus, he could as eaſily deſtroy him, as bid it be done. So can God; Who dares then engage againſt him?
3. You may be confident, that though I hate your ſins, yet I do don't hate your perſons. I am willing to live in love, and peace with all men, ſo far as I may without ſin; but I abhor compliancy with any man, to the diſhonour of Chriſt, to the wounding of my conſcience, to the prophaning of holy things; or to the prejudice and diſadvantage of the truth. 'Tis below humanity to hate a man, whoſe nature and ſimilitude he may behold in the humanity of Chriſt. (Deum odit qui hominem odit) He hateth God, that hateth man. I muſt love men, but hate their vice. It is ſaid of Epheſus, That they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, their errors not their perſons. So Jacob curſed the wrath of his ſons, but bleſſed their perſons. So Paul, 1 Cor. 4.15. and ſo do I, through free mercy.
4. You may be confident, that I don't refuſe the baptizing of your children, and the giving you the Sacrament, &c. out of pride, or envy, or upon any carnal account in the world, but onelyonly upon the grounds, that I have before laid down. I take the ſearcher of all hearts to witneſſe, that I ſhould much rejoyce and bleſſe the Lord, if he would be pleaſed to work ſuch a thorow work of grace upon all your hearts, as that I might (without ſinne) diſpence all the precious things of Chriſt to you. Ah, tis not a joy, but a real grief to my ſoul, that others han't that right, and can't come to thoſe Ordinances, which God hath made ſo ſweet and advantagious to me, and many others of the ſons of Sion.
Oh! how willing ſhould I be, and thoſe that walk with me, to give you the right-hand of Fellowſhip, if we could but ſee, that the Lord has taken you into fellowſhip with his bleſſed Self; that ſo the Ordinance might be a cordial, and not poyſon to you.
I do profeſſe before the Lord, that I do, from my ſoul, forgive you the wrong and injuries that you have done me, or attempted to do. God has been good to me, notwithſtanding my failing towards him, and my ſins againſt him: And the ſenſe of his love and rich goodneſs, makes my bowels to earn towards you.
Oh! 'Tis a mercy more worth then a world to me, that God hath given me ſuch a frame of ſpirit, as that I can pray for your ſouls, and weep over your ſins; and that I am ready to ſerve you in all thoſe waies, wherein I may further the eternall welfare of your ſouls, &c. Lihnod lelammed, Wee therefore learn that we may teach, is a Proverb among the Rabbins. I could have dealt with you in another way, had I not intended the good of your ſouls. Jer. 44.15-ult. Acts 20.26, 27. Ezek. 3.17, 18, 19. 1 Cor. 9.20, 21, 22. John 12.48. 2 Cor. 5.10. Rom. 8.28. Micah 7.8, 9, 10. Jer. 20.9, 10, 11, 12. Mal. 3.17, 18. Iſa. 49. 4, 5. Prayer is (porta coeli clavis paradiſi) the gate of Heaven, a key to let us in to Paradiſe. Heb. 3.7-12. Nec Chriſtus nec coelum patitur hyperbolen. A man cannot hyperbolize in ſpeaking of Chriſt and Heaven. Omne bonum, in ſummo bono. All good is in the chiefeſt good. Iſai. 1.16, 17.Make uſe of me in any thing wherein I may ſerve you without ſin, and ſee whether I ſhall not be willing to act for your good, notwithſtanding all provocations to the contrary.
5. For a cloſe (becauſe I would not be over tedious I ſhall draw many things within a narrow compaſſe) you may be confident that my end in writing, is your due conviction and ſatisfaction, that you may weigh my Arguments, and clearly ſee that 'tis not will, nor humour, &c. but Conſcience, Reaſon, and Religion, that acts me. If notwithſtanding what I have ſaid, you ſhall continue in your malice, envy, hatred, &c. I ſhall have comfort in this, that I have in all faithfullneſſe freed my ſelfe from being guilty of the blood of your ſouls; and in that I have declared to all the world my willingneſſe to ſerve the intereſt of your ſouls in all chings wherein I may without ſin. And moſt confident I am, that if what I have written do not better you, it will be a witneſſe againſt you, when you and I ſhall meet before Chriſts judgement ſeat. And confident I am, that God will bring much good to me out of all the plots, deſigns, and actings that have been, or that ſhall be by vain men againſt me. And confident I am, that, the more you ſtir in any way of baſeneſſe or wickedneſſe, the more the Lord will make you to ſtink, and the more contempt he will pour upon you, and the more bright he will cauſe my innocency to ſhine, and the more weighty ſhall be my Crowne in the day of Chriſt.
My deſires for you before the Lord, are theſe, That you may have ſuch a ſight of your ſins as may work you to kiſſe the Son leſt he be angry, and you periſh when his wrath is kindled but a little. And that you may not trifle away the day of grace, and the things that belong to your eternall peace, leaſt God ſhould ſwear in his wrath, that you ſhall never enter into his reſt. Oh that in the light of the Spirit you may ſee Chriſt to be the greateſt good, the moſt deſireable good, the moſt neceſſary good, the moſt ſuitable good, to be a totall good, an only good, and an eternall good; that ſo your ſouls may in good earneſt fall in love with Chriſt, and may cry out with that Martyr, None but Chriſt, none but Chriſt; Oh none but Chriſt to ſave us, and none but Chriſt to rule us, none but Chriſt to juſtifie us, and none but Chriſt to command us. Oh that you may ceaſe from doing evill, and learn to do well, that ſo you may be happy in life, bleſſed in death, and glorious in the morning of the Reſurrection.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Brooks, Cases Considered and Resolved (1653)