The Mortified Christian, Sermon 1
SERMON, I.
Luk. 17.17, 18.
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? there are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger.
THese words present to your view a narration of a very famous miracle, or rather ten miracles, wrought by one word of Christs mouth, ten Lepers were healed by Christ, by one word speaking.
Before I come to handle the words, I shall draw out some circumstantiall observations from the scope of this History. The History is a miracle that Ch. wrought in healing ten Lepers in a certain village.
Severall things might be observed from it. If it be supposed as in charity it might concerning some of them or one of them at the least, that they did not simply and solely desire Christ would cure their bodily distempers, but more generally that he would have mercy upon them both in regard of their souls and bodies, then the observation may be this,
That God doth many times make use of the Afflicting of mens bodies, Doct. to quicken and stir up supplications and prayers in their souls: as in Esai. 26.16. Lord in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
From the consideration of the conjunction of these ten Lepers, they had all of them one request and desire, and yet they were men of a different Religion; for the Text saies, one of them was a Samaritan, and the other were Jewes, and between these two there was no commerce or society; the Samaritans were an abomination to the Jewes, and the Jewes to the Samaritans: they held it unlawfull so much as to keep company with the Samaritans, Joh. 4.9. yet here they can be together and pray together; they are all conjoyned in affection and desire, all of them lying under the same affection: from whence I would note to you,
That many times a conjunction in affliction, Doct. doth cause and produce an union in mens judgements and opinions.
Hooper and Ridley could not agree when they were at liberty, yet a prison, a stake reconciled them.
I note this to this end, that though we are sadly disunited in our judgements in this nation, and are of so many severall opinions; yet the Lord sending afflictions and miseries upon us, this may be a means to unite us together. Who knowes whether God may not yet make use of some heavier affliction upon this nation, then any we have felt yet, to unite those that are now divided?
From the consideration of the time when Christ did heal these ten Lepers: the Text is very observable, Christ did not heal them while they were a praying, and crying out, Jesus have mercy on us. At other times he healed many while they were a praying to him, and bid them go away whole. But Christ heals these men when they were gone away from him, in their way towards the high Priest.
Christ would not heal them while they were a praying to him, because had he done so, the Jewes (who were a self-conceited people and very apt to exalt their own righteousnesse) might have laid too much weight upon their own prayers; and Christ healed them in the way as they went, before they came to the high Priest, lest they should have said the Priest had healed them: Christ healed them by the way as they went when they were 20 miles off from Christ, saith Chemnitius, because the glory of Christ in working this miracle, might be the more manifested, and that they might ascribe their healing to the power of Christ only, and not to the Priest, or the efficacy of their own prayers. The Lord Christ is very cautious, that none should take away from him the glory that is due to him.
But these are only circumstantial points, and therefore I shall passe them over, and come now to survey the Text it self: Jesus said, Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? The words are not difficult, and therefore I shall not lose time in the explication of them: only let me give you this caution, that you do not pervert these words by running into allegories, as to make these ten Lepers ten sinners, and that these ten sinners were going to the priest to be absolved, and have their sins forgiven them, or the like: for this Scripture is a history, and not my stery; it is a reall history, that there were such Lepers as these that were cleansed by Christ.
Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? there are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger; in both verses there are these two things considerable.
(1) An expostulatory interrogation; Were there not ten healed, but where are the nine? it is a question propounded with indignation; Christ was angry and displeased, that he should bestow mercy upon ten, and yet but one of these ten return him thanks for it.
(2) Here is a commendatory approbation; there is not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
I shall this day speak to the first of these, namely, the expostulatory interrogation here used; Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? From whence I shall give you a view of 4. Doctrinall propositions in this one Sermon.
(1) From the consideration of the enumeration of the persons that were healed by Christ; Were there not ten healed? Christ did remember the number of those which he healed: from whence observe,
That Jesus Christ keeps an exact account of the particular persons that receive mercy from him. Doct.
(2) From the notification of the number that did not return praise to Christ for this mercy; where are the nine? Observe,
That Christ takes speciall notice of those particular men their names and their number, Doct. 2 that do not return the praises of his own mercies.
(3) From the comparison between the number that did not return thanks, and those that did; there were nine that did not, and but one that did return thanks; where are the nine? there is none that returns to give glory to God, but this one stranger. From thence note,
That usually the greatest part and number of men in the world, Doct. 3 do not return praises to Christ for mercies received.
(4) From the consideration of the different dispositions in these nine men that did not return praises after they had received the mercy, from what it was before they had received the mercy: for the ten Lepers they all lift up their voice and cryed, Jesus have mercy on us; but when they were healed there was no talks then of returning thanks and praises unto God: from …hen…r note,
That it is naturall for men to be very importunate to beg mercies when they want them, Doct. 4 and yet to be slow and backward in returning praises to God for those mercies when they enjoy them.
I shall begin with the first from the enumeration of the persons healed by Christ:
Were there not ten cleansed?
That Christ takes an especiall account of the number of the persons that do receive mercy from him.
It may be we forget the mercies we receive, but Christ will never forget the mercies he bestowes; he knowes and remembers what particular mercies he gave to such and such particular persons, as in Esai. 11.11. It shall come to passe in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. He takes notice of a first and a second time, that he bestowes mercies upon a people.
The use I would have you make of it, Ʋse. is briefly this to consider, that as Christ doth keep an account of the particular mercies he bestowes, and of the particular men that receives them: so he doth likewise, upon the same account, take notice of the particular sins that are committed against him, and of the particular men that commits them: as in Numb. 14.22. saies God, There they have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkned to my voice. God reckons and numbers all the sins you commit against him, in Job 31.4. saies Job, Doth not he see my waies, and count all my steps, if I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, he takes notice of it. If you step aside to the crooked paths of sin, God observes it. Ʋse.
(2) Oh keep you an account of your mercies; Does Christ keep an account of what mercy he gives? Oh then do you keep an account of what mercies you receive from him.
(3) Use all your mercies well; hath Christ bestowed mercies upon you? Oh then doe not abuse them, but use them well: Christ takes notice of them all, and therefore use them well: in Mat. 25.9. it is said there of those that received the talents; one received two, and another five, and another ten talents; and after a long time, the master of those servants came and reckoned with them. Though it be long, yet it is certain, that Jesus Christ will come and have a reckoning with thee for all the mercies he hath bestowed upon thee; if Christ hath given thee any thing, he will reckon with thee for it. And thus I passe over the first doctrine from the enumeration of the persons here healed by Christ: Were there not ten healed?
(2) From the notification of the number that did not return praise to Christ; for the mercies they received, there were ten healed; saies Christ, but where are the nine? Observe,
That Christ takes speciall notice of those particular persons that do not returne him the praise of his own mercies? Doct. Where are the nine? There are nine unthankfull men, and but one thankfull.
The use of this shall be only by way of counsell and exhortation, Ʋse. to perswade you in the fear of God, to take heed that you be not found in the number of those that do not return Christ the praise of his own mercies; and to quicken you to imbrace this counsell, give me leave to presse it upon you with these five considerations.
(1) Consider that unthankfulnesse is not only a sin of disobedience, but also of high injustice. It is worthy your note, that in Mat. 5.45. it is said there, That God maketh his sun to rise on the evill and on the good, and sendeth rain upon the just, and upon the unjust: and in Luk. 6.36. there it is said, The Lord is kinde unto the unthankfull and to the evill. That which Luke cals the unthankfull man, Matthew cals the unjust man, to shew that unthankfulnesse is an high pitch of injustice.
(2) Consider that Christ taking notice of your not returning to him the praises due for his mercies, will provoke him to strip and deprive you of the mercies he hath bestowed upon you; as in Deut. 28.47, 48, 49. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulnesse and with gladnesse of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakednesse, and in want of all things.
When you abuse the blessings of God to prodigality, and sensuality, it is the ready way to be stript and deprived of them all: in Esai. 17.10, 11. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindefull of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips; in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
God will recover those blessings which thou abusest, and take away those mercies which thou art not thankfull for. Suppose thy mercy be a spirituall mercy, if God sees thee proud of it, proud of thy gifts and graces, he will strip and deprive thee of them, as in Rom. 1.21. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankfull, but became vain in their imaginations, &c. therefore God gave them up unto vile affections.
(3) Consider that your unthankfulnesse under mercies will provoke God to curse those mercies and blessings he hath bestowed upon you, that though you enjoy them, yet you shall not have his blessing with them.
Thus when God gave the Jewes An…ls food to eat, Quailes and Manna from heaven, because they were not thankfull; therefore, while the mean was yet in their mouthes the wrath of God fell upon them. God will breath a curse upon those blessings for which we are not thankfull; God will not give you his grace with his mercies, if you deny him the glory of his mercies.
(4) Consider, Consid. 4 that it will provoke the Lord to inflict some heavie judgement upon thee, if thou doest receive mercies from him, and yet never return the glory and praise of them to him: as in 2 Chron. 32.24. it is said there, That Hezekiah was sick even unto death: Interpreters do make a diligent inquiry into the cause of his sicknesse, and do conclude it to be this, because Hezekiah did not returne praises to God, for the great overthrow given to Senacherib and his Army: that therefore the Lord did send that deadly disease upon him, because he did not give glory to God for that great mercy and deliverance.
Beloved, the Lord knowes whether our unthankfulnesse under present mercies of rest, and freedome from the fury of the sword, may not provoke the Lord to send some heavier judgement upon us.
5. It will impede and interrupt the streams of mercy for the future, from flowing in upon us; unthankfulnesse to God will not only curse present mercies enjoyed, but also interrupt, and hinder other mercies from coming in upon us.
And thus I have done with the second Doctrine from the notification of the number of those that did not returne thanks to Christ.
(3) From the comparison between the number that did not return praise to Christ, and those that did return thanks: there were nine that did not return praise to Christ, and but one that was thankfull; Where are the nine? From whence observe,
That amongst the multitudes of people that do receive mercies from Christ, Doct. 3 usually the greatest number of them doe not return thanks to him for those mercies they do enjoy.
I shall make but a short use of this, namely to stir up and provoke you to admire and magnifie the bounty and mercy of God to us, that he should bestow mercy upon those men that he knowes will not be thankfull to him for them. Oh the bounty of God, that he should give any of us mercy, that will not give him the glory of his mercy: as in Luk. 1.35. The Lord is kinde to the unthankfull, and to the evill, he bestowes mercy upon thee that will not return praises to him.
But may some say, Obj. Doe not the greatest number of men return to give glory to God for mercies received, though it is true that here nine often, did not return praise to God, yet I hope it is not so now?
Answ. I wish it were not so, Ans. and that you may not deceive your selves, Three Characters whereby we may knowwhether we be unthankfull for mercies received, or no.I shall give you three Characters, whereby you may discern, whether you are one of those unthankfull ones, that does not return to give glory to God for mercies received, or no.
(1) If the sense of one affliction thou livest under, does swallow up the comforts of 1000. mercies thou enjoyest, then thou art an unthankfull man: and thus the Israelites discovered their ingratitude to God, in Exod 17.3. Because they wanted water, the people murmured against Moses and said, Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our cattle with thirst? One affliction in the wildernesse made them forget all their former mercies, and the great works that God did for them in Egypt and the red Sea, and in the wildernesse; all the mercies they had received were swallowed up with one affliction. If thou wert a thankfull man, thou wouldst say with Job, (under every affliction or losse) the Lord gives, and the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord.
(2) That man is an unthankfull man that makes an ill construction of the crosse passages of Gods providence, Char. 2 as those did in Deut. 1.27. They murmured in their tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Because God hated us (saith they) therefore hath he brought us out of Egypt to destroy us. Where as God promised to preserve a seed that should be blessed, and of whom he would make a great nation.
You that for any affliction can flie out against God, and put ill constructions upon his dealings, and the dispensations of his providence, you are the men that are unthankfull.
3. Char. 3 That man is an unthankfull man, that does not act more grace upon the receit of more mercies; for no man is a thankfull man that doth praise God with his mouth only, but he that loves the praises of God; the reality of thanksgiving unto God, consists in obedience, and doing much for God; that as God heaps mercies upon thy head, so thou doest labour to act grace and obedience in thy heart and life. Reall gratitude consists in a ready obedience to God; you must not Judge of your thankfulnesse by what you say of God, but by what you doe for him. Do you adde grace to grace, and duty to duty, as God addes mercy to mercy? then are you thankfull indeed, otherwise you will be counted one day among the number of these nine unthankfull Lepers. Were there not ten clensed, but where are the nine? So much for the 3. Doctrine.
(4) From the consideration of the different dispositions in these nine Lepers, before they were cleansed they all cryed out with a loud voice, Jesus have mercy on us; but after they were healed, then they had no thoughts of Christ; they were men of prayer before they were healed, but they are not men of praises when they were healed. From whence note.
That it is naturall to men to be importunate with God for mercies, when they want them, Doct. 4 but not to return praises to God for them, when they have received them.
And the reason of it is this, it proceeds from that predominant principle of self love that is in man, Pleniqs ut accipiant importuni donec acceperint inquieti, quando acceperint ingrati, Bem. de Consid.which makes him more to look after his own good, then the glory of God; and more earnest to beg mercies when he wants them, then to return praises to God when he enjoys them. Many men (saies Bernard) are importunate in begging mercies, and impatient till they receive them, and yet unthankfull when they have them.
Let us look upon our selves in this glasse, Ʋse. and see whether it be not so with us or no.
And let this humble us, that those mercies that we have won by prayer, we have not worn them with thankfulnesse, that our praises have not held equipage with our prayers.
Many men are like the Ship-master we read of in the Turkish History, that being very likely to undergoe shipwrack at sea; a great storm arising and the ship being in danger every moment to be cast away; in this great straight he made a vow, that if he were delivered this once he would in token of thankfulnesse sacrifice a wax candle to the Virgin Mary, as big as the Mast of his Ship. But when he came a shore, (being put in minde of his promise) he then resolved that a Candle of half a pound should serve the turne.
So it is with many of us, when we stand in need of mercy, then we make vowes and promises of better obedience, but when we have received the mercies we desired, then we return with the dog to his vomit, and forget to return praises for them.
We have cause to be humbled that we have beg'd mercies so often, and yet when we have received them, have not been thankfull for them. One hath a good observation upon Jonah, (saies he) the Mariners of the ship where Jonah was, when they were in danger to suffer Shipwrack, then every man went and prayed to his God for mercy and deliverance; but there is no mention made at all of these returning thanks to God for his mercy after they were delivered.
Many men under imminent danger and troubles, make vowes and promises of living better, and walking more humbly and holily before him; and yet afterwards return to their old sins again.
(2) By way of exhortation, Ʋse. let me perswade you in the fear of God, that what mercies you get by prayer, you would use with thankfulnesse; never win a mercy by prayer, but wear that mercy with praises, make good the promises you make to God, before you receive mercy from him: when you promise to God, that if he will give you such a mercy, you will praise him, and serve him, and love him, and live to him, make good this promise when you have received that mercy from him: as David saies in Psal. 66.13. I will pay thee my vowes, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble.
Now I have my mercy, God shall have his praises. It is naturall for us when we are sick to promise; Oh if God will restore me to my health, I will become a new man, and live a holy life, and never do as I have done, &c. And yet when God does restore us, we forget all our vowes; and return with the dog to his vomit, land with the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
These nine Lepers were very earnest, and importunate with God for mercy when they wanted it, they cryed out Jesus have mercy on us; but after they received mercy, the make no conscience of returning praises unto God for it.
And thus I have done with the first part of the Text, the expostulatory interrogation, or objurgation that Christ here useth, Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine?