Tropes and Figures, Treatise 1 · Head 8 · Part 31 · Subpart 6 – Subpart 7
Wicked Men Debtors.
Mat. 5.25, 26. Agree with thine Adverſary quickly, whilſt thou art in the way with him; leſt any time the Adverſary deliver thee to the Judg, and the Judg deliver the to thee Officer, and thou be caſt into Priſon. Verſ. 26. Verily I ſay unto thee, Thou ſhalt by no means come out thence, till thou haſt paid the uttermoſt Farthing.
Mat. 18.24. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which ought him ten thouſand Talents.
IN both theſe Places Sin is called a Debt, and the Sinner a Debtor. The Reaſon of which is ſhewed under the Head of Metaphors concerning Sin, where Sin is compared to a Debt; unto which we refer you.
| Metaphor. | Parallel. |
| A Debtor is one that oweth Money, Duty, &c. to his Neighbour; alſo one that is a Treſpaſſer, an Offender, or guilty Perſon. A Man may be a Debtor by Office, Gal. 5.3. by Duty, Rom. 8.12. by the Law of Charity, Rom. 15.27. by treſpaſſing or offending, whether God or Man, Mat. 6.12. | MAn oweth all that he is, hath, or can do, unto God; he having received his very Being, and all other good Things that he enjoys, from God, as ſo many Talents lent him, which he muſt be accountable to God for in the great Day, &c. Man is a Treſpaſſer,Mat. 25.19 an Offender, or a guilty Perſon, having broken the Law, the Penalty of which is eternal Death; ſo that as a Traitor, or flagitious Perſon, by his hainous Crimes he is become a Debtor to everlaſting Puniſhment. |
| II. An evil Debtor is unwilling to be called to an Accompt; nothing is worſe to him, than to hear the News, Give an account of thy Stewardſhip. Mat. 18.24 Hence 'tis ſaid, One was brought that owed ten thouſand Talents; as if it were by Force; he was haled before his Maſter to reckon with him. | II. So wicked Men do not love to think upon the Day of Judgment, care not to hear of thoſe large Bills and Handwritings that are againſt them. How grievous will that Voice from Heaven be to ungodly Men,Luk. 16.2. Give an Account of your Stewardſhip; Ariſe ye Dead, and come to Judgment! Give an Account of all the Oaths you have ſworn, the Lies you have told, the Times you have been drunk, the Days of Grace you have neglected; give an Account of all the hard and reproachful Words you have ſpoken againſt your godly Neighbours, and of all the Wrongs and Injuries you have done them; give an Account of all thoſe Talents that were lent you; what Improvement have you made of your Knowledg and Parts, your Seaſons and Sabbaths, and of thoſe many Years you have had in the World? This (I ſay) is grievous to wicked Men to think upon. They ſhall be brought forth in the Day of Wrath; they will not come willingly,Job 21.30. but ſhall therefore be as it were haled before the Judg of Heaven and Earth. |
| III. Ill Debtors are attended with Shame. Ambroſe ſpeaketh of ſome, who for the Shame and Diſtreſs thereof, have made away with themſelves,Burges. fearing more Opproprium Vitae, than Mortis Periculum, the Reproach of Life, than the Puniſhment of Death. | III. Sinners are ſuch vile Debtors, that they are attended with great Shame, and therefore, Adam-like, hide their Sins, do not love, nay, they are aſhamed any ſhould know how black and notorious in Wickedneſs they are; they have got many Ways to cover their Iniquity. |
| IV. Some great and ill Debtors have many Shifts and Delays to put off their Creditors; 'tis a common cuſtom amongſt Men far in Debt, to contrive ways to excuſe themſelves, and make vain Apologies, and all to ſhift and put off further Trouble. | IV. So Sinners have many ways to excuſe themſelves: have you not heard ſome ſpeaking to this purpoſe, I was drawn in before I was aware; I had not done ſuch nor ſuch a thing, had it not been for ſuch or ſuch an one; but all are guilty of human Infirmities, I ſhall do better; when God gives me more Grace, I intend to reform: and thus they put off God and Conſcience by trifling Delays and Excuſes, and repent not of their evil Deeds, nor go to God through the mediation of Jeſus Chriſt for Pardon and Forgiveneſs. |
| V. Some Debtors hate their Creditors, Leve aes alienum debitore facit grave inimicum, ſaith Burges, a little Money borrowed makes a Man a Debtor, but a great deal an Enemy; ſo the more they owe, the more they hate. Nay, Ariſtotle ſaith, Debtors wiſh their Creditors to have no Being, wiſh they were dead, ſo that they might but thereby be freed from their Debts. | V. Wicked Men hate God, they are often ſet out in Scripture as Haters of him, becauſe they fear him as an angry Judg, who will ſeverely demand ſatisfaction to the laſt Farthing; they care not whether there were any God or no, to call them to an account for all their Wickedneſs which they daily commit againſt him; hence the Apoſtle ſaith,Rom. 8.7. the carnal Mind is Enmity againſt God: nay, and the Lord poſitively ſaith of the Wicked,Zech. 11.8. that their Soul abhorred him. |
| VI. Some Debtors, are ſo far in Debt, that they owe much more than they are worth, or are able to pay, or make a compenſation for. | VI. Sinners are ſo far in Debt to God, that they are not able to make him ſatisfaction, they owe ten thouſand Talents, and have not one Farthing to pay: The aggravation of Sin lyeth in this, (viz.) that it is againſt God; therefore that Offence that is againſt Man is compared to an hundred Pence, but that which is againſt God to ten thouſand Talents, And when he had begun to reckon, Mat. 18.28. ver. 24. ver. 25. one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thouſand Talents. ver. 24. And becauſe he had nothing to pay, his Lord commanded him to be ſold, and his Wife, and Children, and all that he had, and the Debt to be payed. ver. 25. The Servant therefore fell down, and worſhipped him, ſaying, Lord, refrain thine Anger towards me, and I will pay thee all. ver. 26.ver. 26. Then the Lord of that Servant had Compaſſion, and looſed him, and forgave him the Debt. ver. 27.ver. 27. But the ſame Servant went out, and found one of his Fellow-Servants which ought him an hundred Pence, and he laid his Hands on him, and took him by the Throat, ſaying, Pay me what thou oweſt. ver. 28. &c. |
| VII. An ill Debtor, that is very far in Debt, does not love to ſee nor meet his Creditor, he will go ſome by-way, or go much about, rather than come near him, or meet with him. | VII. So Sinners who are notoriouſly Guilty before God, love not to meet with him, nor hear of him: if God comes near them by the reproofs of his Word, or by the checks of Conſcience, or by the rebukes of the Rod, how are they ſtartled? As in the caſe of Felix, who when he found that God had met with him by Paul's Preaching, who reaſoned of Righteouſneſs, Act. 24.25. Temperance, and Judgment to come, ('tis ſaid) he trembled: but mark his anſwer to the Apoſtle; Was he pleaſed with that Doctrine? Alas no, he could not bear it: therefore crys out, Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient ſeaſon, I will call for thee. |
| VIII. A Debtor that is far in Debt, is often-times afraid of an Arreſt, and much perplexed and troubled in his Mind; the thoughts of a Priſon being grievous to him. | VIII. So guilty Sinners are afraid of the Serjeant, Death; if they perceive Death is approaching, how troubled are they for fear of the Priſon of utter Darkneſs? (provided their Conſciences be awake.) See Sin a Debt. |
| Metaphor. | Diſparity. |
| I. A Debtor among Men, upon the non-payment of his Debts is expoſed but to external Puniſhment, ſuppoſe it ſhould be the higheſt Puniſhment that we read of in Scripture or Hiſtory; we read under the Law they were bound to ſell their Children,Exod. 21.7. & 22.2. 2 King. 4.1. yea, themſelves to become Slaves or Bond-men; it was a ſore Puniſhment to have Children ſold for Parents Debts. I have read that Valentinian the Emperour, would have ſuch put to Death that were not able to pay their Debts; but eſpecially, that Law mentioned by Mr. Burges, Burges on Juſtification. p. 1…0. was the ſevereſt of all, that provided that he who was in Debt and could not pay it, the Creditors might take him, and cauſe him to be cut into as many pieces as they pleaſed. | I. BUt the ungodly and guilty Sinner is expoſed to eternal Puniſhment; ſuch who obtain no forgiveneſs or pardon of Sin, through the atonement of the Croſs, or ſatisfaction made by Jeſus Chriſt, ſhall be caſt into the Lake of Fire and Brimſtone; 'tis not Wife nor Children, Father or Brother can make a compenſation, or keep them from the place of Puniſhment;Rev. 14.10. They ſhall be tormented day and night; they ſhall drink of the Wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, into the Cup of his Indignation, and they ſhall be tormented with Fire and Brimſtone in the preſence of the holy Angels, and in the preſence, of the Lamb. ver. 10. And the ſmoak of their torment aſcendeth up for ever and ever; they have no reſt day nor night, &c.Mat. 13.50. They ſhall be caſt into a Furnace of Fire, there ſhall be weeping and gnaſhing of Teeth. |
| II. A Debtor among Men may eſcape an Arreſt, or fly from the Hand of Juſtice; or if he be taken, Death will free him from all Miſeries, nay if he dies in Priſon, his Debt is paid. | II. But it is impoſſible for Sinners to eſcape the Wrath of God, who live and dye in their Sins; Death will come, there is no eſcaping the Hands of this grim Serjeant; and when they are thrown into Hell, that ſtrong and fearful Priſon, they ſhall by no means come out thence, till they have paid the utmoſt Farthing. |
Inferences.
HOw may this humble ſinful Mortals! What little cauſe have any of the Chrildren of Men to boaſt of their Riches? Alas! they are, whether they know it or no, exceedingly in Debt, they are worth nothing; and whether they believe it or not, Death will convince them of it.
2. It may ſtir up the Hearts of the Godly to pity Sinners, when you ſee poor Priſoners that are in Priſon for Debt, crying out of the Grates; Bread, Bread, for the Lord's ſake! how ready are you to pity them; but how more doleful is that Cry of the rich Glutton in Hell, for a drop of Water to cool his Tongue, and none is given to him?
3. It ſpeaks much Comfort to Believers, who have through that redemption that is in Chriſt, obtained the forgiveneſs of all their Debts; Oh! what a Bleſſing (theſe things being conſidered) is pardon of Sin! Let thy Soul, with David, Bleſs the Lord, and all that is within thee praiſe his holy Name, who forgiveth all thine Iniquities, Pſal. 103.1, 2, 3.who healeth all thy Diſeaſes, who hath freed thee from thy Sins, and the Puniſhment of them.
Wicked Men the Rod of God.
Iſa. 10.5. O Aſſyrian, the Rod of mine Anger.
THe Ungodly, and bloody Perſecutors of the Lord's People, are called his Hand, his Rod, and his Sword: Deliver my Soul from the Wicked, which is thy Sword; from Men of the World, which are thy Hand, O Lord, — Pſal. 17.13, 14.
Parallels.
I. A Man ſmites ſuch as have offended him with his Hand, and with a Rod or Sword: So God makes uſe of the Wicked, as an Inſtrument to chaſtize his Children, when they tranſgreſs his Law, and grievouſly ſin againſt him.
II. As a Hand or Rod lays on harder or ſofter Blows, according to the Pleaſure and Purpoſe of him that ſtrikes: So God lets the Wicked out upon his own People, to oppreſs and afflict them as he fees good, either in a milder or more ſevere manner.
III. When a Father hath chaſtized his Children ſufficiently, and throughly humbled them, he ſometimes caſteth the Rod into the Fire: So when God hath by the Wicked, who are his Rod, throughly humbled his People, and taken away their Sin, he will throw the Wicked, their bloody Perſecutors, into the Fire of his Wrath: For yet a very little while, Iſa 10.25.and the Indignation ſhall ceaſe, and mine Anger in their Deſtruction.