troubled waters and works men not onely to a defection from the Faith but to flat atheism and prophaness God make us wise to foresee in time the dismal effects of our Civil Midianitish wars and to prevent them To go on Observ 4. Good mindes will yeeld of their own right for piety and peace sake Thy maid is in thine hand to do to her as it pleaseth thee Why saith one upon the Text Abraham might have a little more stood upon it and have said to Sarah Thy maid is now in another condition then she was before she is become my wife with thine own consent and now she hath conceived and that issue will belong to me she is mine and the childe she goes withal is mine and I must have a care of both I may not suffer thee to have thy will of her There is none of this he calls her ancillam here her maid and yeelds the power of her to Sarah She is in thine hand do to her as it pleaseth thee Where my Author observeth How good mindes are willing to yeeld of their own right for peace sake Gen. 13. This Patriarch had done so once before Gen. 13. when the estates of Lot and himself grew so great that there fell a difference between their servants and so a necessity of parting though it had been fit Abraham being the elder and his uncle and under God the maker of him should have had the power of choice and Lot should have taken his leavings yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Chrysostom saith S. Chrysostome giveth him all the authority of the election and bids him chuse what part of the Country he likes and leave him the rest Isaac had right to those Wells which his fathers servants had digged yet when the Philistims stop them up he contends not And though he might have kept those Wells which his own servants digged yet when they strive with him for them he leaveth them unto them and digs elsewhere Gen. 26. There was no reason that Jacob Gen. 26. keeping Labans sheep should make good that which was torn of wilde beasts yet he bare the losses of it for peace sake Gen. 31. And Chap. 31. We see this in Nehemiah Chap. 5. Neh. 5.14 15. there was a certain allowance due to the Governour yet Nehemiah would not take it because he found the requiring of it had been burdensom to the people Our blessed Lord coming to Capernaum Matth. 17. Matth. 17.10 tribute was demanded of him he first shews that he was not bound to it but then because he would not trouble the publike peace or give occasion of contention lest saith he we should offend them he enableth Saint Peter to work a miracle for the getting of money to discharge it This was the spirit that was in Saint Augustine and other Bishops with him S. Augustine in his time as appeareth in his Book de Gestis cum merito They were content for peace sake to admit of Coadjutors into their Sees yea pro Christi unitate Episcopatum deponere to preserve Christian peace even to lay down their Government which they did not account as they said perdere but Deo tutiùs commendare that it was not to lose their Reverend Authority but to lay it up safer by recommending it to God And Saint Jerome of Nazianzen both in his Life S. Jerom l. 2. c. 9. touching Nazianzen and on Ruffinus that after he had taken a great deal of pains in Constantinople and Satan stirred up some ill mindes against him who did desire his removal thence though others as earnestly desired his stay he perceiving this is content to leave the place Absit saith he ut mei causâ aliqua simultas oriatur inter Sacerdotes Dei God forbid saith he that for my cause there should be the least discord among the Priests of God adding those words of Jonah to the Mariners Si propter â—e tempestas ista tollite mittite in mare If for my sake this great storm come upon you take me and cast me out into the sea Thus did these holy Fathers resemble the true mother before Solomon who rather giveth the living childe wholly away though her own by right then suffer it to be divided So they preferred the peace of the Church before places or lives Saint Paul might have commanded Philemon but he shakes off his right and chuseth rather to intreat him Philem. vers 8 9. Philem. v. 8 9. For the Use of this Let us bear in minde that of the Apostle Application Phil. 4.5 Let your moderation of minde be known unto all men Phil. 4. under that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that moderation is this yeelding of our right for peace sake We must yeeld our right our own right for we must not be so bold with that which is our brothers unless we have authority by our place as Magistrates or that by consent businesses are referred to our arbitrement or umpirage to do as we see fit much less may we give that which is Gods the Orthodox would not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not prostitute their cheap instructions they would not suffer the hems of Truths garment to be cut Neither must men take liberty to give away part of Gods day to prophane pastime But in our own case it is fit that we abate of our right for peace sake Who hears not with grief those kinde of passages It is my right and I will stand upon it and it may be the thing but a trifle and I will defend it as long as I have a groat So again Who grieves not to see men take extremities Forfeitures of Bonds voiding of a mans Lease for not paying of his rent at the day and saying It is my right and the Law gives it me So again I will make the most of mine own to keep a man in prison when not able to pay It may be these things may hold in judicio soli but not poli in the judgement of earth but not in the judgement of heaven O let us then abate of our right for peace sake Our Lord did so came down from heaven emptied himself of glory to make peace between God and us The holy servants of God have done it it is Love Charity for that seeketh not her own And yet there is no loss in it for as the Prophet said to Amaziah when he was troubled for the hundred talents God is able to give thee more God is able to make up and will whatsoever we lost for Peace sake when those that grasp and grope all that they can pretend any right to and much more and that will part with nothing for Peace no nor for Justice sake shall finde God blowe upon it and make it uncomfortable Lastly Do to her as it pleaseth thee Was not this too great a power given to his wife over the servant considering she was now with childe and her mistress
his sons name which Hagar bare Ishmael And so Jacob altered the name that his wife had given from Benoni to Benjamin if we finde in Scripture Observ 4. The imposition of the name belongs unto the Father yet no name or other externals whatsoever to be boasted of or deemed a priviledg Ruth 4. 1 Sam. 1. that women gave names to their children we must suppose the consent of their husbands not that they did it by their own authority The wife of Manoah bare a son and called his name Sampson the women the neighbours of Naomi gave the childe a name Ruth 4. but we must suppose it was suggested unto Boaz and he appointed it So Hannah gave Samuel his name no doubt with the consent of her husband Elkanah 1 Sam. 1. Elizabeth likewise when the child was to be circumcised and the neighbours would have him called Zacharias after his father she said no he must be called John yet was not that ratified till the father himself was consulted and when he said it must be so they called him Iohn but I let that pass Cajetan in locum he shall be called Ishmael nec praeterea saith Cajetan take knowledg that Ishmael is the first in Scripture that God gave a name unto before he was born but withall another observeth that he was the only ill in Scripture whose name is foretold The next was Isaac and Iosias in the old testament and the Baptist and our blessed Saviour in the new But in or before the birth of these four whose names were foretold there was some miracle shewed Isaac born of Sarah at ninety years of age when Josias was named the Altar clove in sunder 1 Kings 13.2 1 Kings 13. When the Baptist was promised his Father was strucken dumb and Christ was born of a virgin but in the foretelling of Ishmaels name no miracle that we read of was wrought unless we will give way unto the fiction of the Hebrews that we mentioned in the beginning that the childe was dead in Hagars womb upon her long travell and miraculously revived again Well then the foretelling of Ishmaels name though as Saint Chrysostom observeth S. Chrysostom it sheweth the care that God had of Hagar by mentioning such particulars yet it is not to be boasted of nor any of those outward things else wherein men out of the covenant have as great a share as others yea oftentimes a greater then others as if they were certain evidences of Gods speciall love Eccles 9. no they fall alike both to good and bad saith the Preacher Eccles 9. There is a conceit that possesseth the minde of many a man in the world who being guilty of gross sins yet because God blesseth him in these outward things and maketh him prosper faith surely God would not thus favour me if he did not love me is it like I should enjoy this abundance if God did not bear a speciall affection towards me Application But this is a gross mistake for Esau was hated of God and yet the fatness of the earth was his portion Psal 17.4 These be those that have their portion in this life Psal 17. and yet have no part in Heaven Let no man therefore think these outward things and the full enjoyment of them assurances of Gods special love but let him labour as I said the last day for the graces of Gods Spirit which are panis Filiorum the childrens bread and the doggs of the world shall have no part in them Gifts are bestowed upon Ishmael and the sons of the Concubine but the inheritance is reserved for Jsaac God only loveth with a speciall love and the affection of a Father whom he hath ordained to salvation Observ 5. The strange metamorphoses of sin But now for the reason of the imposition of this name because the Lord hath heard thy affliction Where we may observe the reason of the imposition of names 1. It hath not been only used to distinguish one party from another but 2. in the second place to signifie something to come So Hevah had her name because she was to be the mother of all living and Abram was called Abraham because he was to be the Father of much people and Sarah because she was to be the mother of Princes And Isaac had his name from laughter not only because of the present rejoycing of his parents but because he was to be cause of joy to posterity in regard the Messiah was to spring from him And Ioseph because God would add another son And Solomon because he was to be a peaceful Prince And Iesus because he was to save his people from their sins 3. Names have been imposed to keep in fresh memory some blessing past and so we see Iacob hath the name of Israel to put him still in minde of his wrestling with God and how he prevailed with him So Ioseph called his elder Son Manasses because God had made him forget his affliction and his younger Ephraim because God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction And so Moses had his name from being drawn out of the flaggs And Samuel because he was begged of God yea to this purpose that Gods people might remember his mercies they have given names to places Abraham calls the place where God had spared Isaac Gen. 22. c. 28. and provided another sacrifice in his room Iehovah-jireh the Lord will provide that he might never forget the experiment he had of Gods gratious providence Jacob changeth the name of Luz into Bethel the house of God Gen. 28. that he might ever remember how gratiously and comfortably God had revealed himself unto him in that place Iehosophat and the people that they might never forget the marvellous comfort that they had received from God in a strange deliverance from an invincible army of the Ammonites and Moabites and Edomites called the place where they met together to praise God for his mercy the valley of Berakah i. e. the valley of blessing 2 Chron. 20. 2 Chron. 20. yea they have given names to times Mordecai and Gods people to keep in perpetual remembrance that deliverance of theirs from that conspiracy of Haman did not only keep those daies wherein execution should have passed upon them as daies of rejoycing every yeare but called them daies of Purim Esther 9. Esther 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Lot and a Lot we know was cast upon them for their extirpation Lastly Names have been given unto men as to mind them of Gods mercy to them so of their duty to him that as oft as they heare or remember their name they might be stirred up to thankfulness and obedience as Judah that is from praising Simeon from hearing and Benjamin the son of his fathers right hand which carried his duty in it So John or Jochanan the graces of God and Theophilus and Timothy and divers others Now for the Use of this
is called Fons vitae The fountain of life Psal 36.9 and 42.8 Act. 17.25 28. Psal 36. and Psal 42. David calleth him the God of his life He giveth to all life and breath Acts 17. and verse 28. In him we live and move and have our being Now for the Use of this Application First in that he is the living God it serveth to difference him from all the idols of the world The Scripture sheweth it by opposing this stile of God to idols Jer. 10.8 10. Jerem. 10. having spoken of the stock that doctrine of lyes he saith But the Lord is the true God he is the living and the everlasting King And so Acts 14.14 We preach that you should turn from those vanities to the living God Idols and the living God are opposed 1 Thess 1.9 so 1 Thess 1. You turned from idols to serve the living God He is the true God idols are lyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they are called as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is non dii no gods nay from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing according to that of the Apostle An idol is nothing 1 Cor. 8.4 or if any thing yet at best onely a dead thing and therefore cannot be the true God which is living Dumb idols the Apostle calleth them Psal 115.45 c. 1 Cor. 12.2 Nay David describeth them more fully Psal 115.4 5 6. They are the works of mens hands they have mouthes and speak not eyes and see not ears and hear not noses and smell not hands but handle not feet but walk not They that make them are like unto them and so is every one that putteth his trust in them Much good therefore do it the Pagans with their idols and the Papists who are worse then Pagans with their images because they have more light They would have people believe belike that they are living ones for sometimes they say they look with a cheerfull countenance and sometimes they turn away in dislike they turn their eyes they weep they move their hands they nod their heads but these are gulleries to fool children withall wise men know these impostures God give them better minds then to make the Scripture a mute judg and images lay-mens books God turn their hearts from these vanities let us serve him that is the living God in Spirit and truth and ever acknowledg him to be the only true God God blessed for ever A second Use is that we prize life as the Rachel the most beautiful Use 2 of all Gods blessings and certainly life must needs be excellent when God is stiled the living God Secondly life maketh the first division of things there is nothing before life but being and being maketh no distinction of things for that can be nothing that hath no being and therefore those creatures that have life we esteem before those that have it not how noble soever otherwise a living dog is better then a dead lyon saith Solomon Eccles 9.4 And the poorest worm that crawleth Eccles 9.4 is more glorious in this respect then the frame of Heaven and Earth in that it liveth and the other doth not And again Thirdly the greatest happiness that men shall ever attain unto the happiness of Heaven is set out by life O let us then prize this blessing and let us not be foolishly prodigall of it like some who by their contention and quarrelsomness and being forward to every duell hazard it nor like others that dig their own graves by intemperance and so dye in tempere non suo before their time scarce live out half their days Such as refuse meat or drink or physick for the preservation of life shew a flat undervaluing if not a contempt of that great Iewell and as we are to prize it for the worth of it so we are to be truly thankfull to the Doner for it and that is the living God Some men think they are beholding to their food and to their good stomack and able concoction Alas who giveth food Of whom doest thou beg thy daily bread 2. When thou hast meate who giveth thee an Appetite how many have meat before them and yet they loath the sight of it 3. When a man hath eaten with an Appetite who give thit power to nourish there be those that have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Caninus Appetitus a stomack like a dog and yet there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. a defect of nourishment it is most true that our Saviour saith man liveth not by bread only but by every word that commeth out of the mouth of God that is the word of Gods blessing we owe our life then and the support of it unto God who if he did not supply oyle our Lamps would quickly go out And if we must be thankful for life barely then much more for health which is the perfection of life for non est vivere sed valere vita not to be but to be well is to live to live in health It is true we must be thankfull Exod. 22.29 even for Penury and want Thou shalt not delay to offer thy first fruits and thy liquors Exod. 22. The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy teares and Cajetan observeth that it signifieth sterillity God will be thanked in a barren year as well as in a plentiful So God must be thanked for sickness also Iob blessed God for an Abstulit as well as a Dedit for his taking away as well as for his giving Iob. 1.21 But when God is pleased to give us not only life but a latitude of health how much are we bound unto him What light is to an house that health is to a man what comfort hath a man in an house though never so well furnished if he have not light And what comfort in a mans greatest possession if he have not health Let us then I say be thankfull to the living God for it and let us be affraid to turn the edge of so great a blessing against God himself and wrong him with his own gift as they do that spend their health in lust in excess in gaming and other vain and sinful courses do we live through the bounty of this living God and shall we live to his dishonour can we not subsist one moment without his supporting hand and dare we mispend this talent non hos quaesitum munus in usus this was not bestowed to such ends God giveth Israel corn and wine and oyle and they offer them to Baal and so he giveth us life and health and do we sacrifice it to sin but as he threatneth to take those things from them so it is just to take away our life that we thus mis-employ and grieve him withall Use 3 1 Tim. 6.17 A Third Use is that we should trust in God The Apostle maketh this one argument for our confidence in him because he is the living God 1 Tim.
by Urim nor by prophecie shall he seek out for a woman that hath a familiar spirit and enquire of her For the Use of it Let us take heed of this If we suffer want in our estate Application let us not use unlawful means to better it As Abraham would not be enriched by the King of Sodom so much as a shoe-satchet so let us scorn to be beholding to the ways of fraud for increasing our means There is no comparison between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Peleusiota Peleusiota between Poverty and Impiety better be poor to a Proverb as Job was then that it should be said Satan hath made us rich Want we meat though I confess that is a great exigent yet let us not steal to satisfie hunger Our Lord though he was an hungred would not hearken to Satan to make bread of stones neither would he fall down and worship him to gain the whole world Have we lost our goods or are we in great want of health Shall we run to Wizards and Wise-men as they falsly call them to be helped or use Spirits and Incantations Oh no! This is to cast out the devil by Beelzebub when God hath wounded us to make Satan our physitian Are we in terrour of conscience and shall we betake our selves to drinking and swilling and unlawful kindes of sports Will this help us Is this the harp that will conjure that ill spirit Will not this be bitterness in the conclusion Will not this be as cold water taken in the height of a hot Fever which maketh the broyling drought after a while the greater Why but will some say what would you have us do when comfort and ease bloweth from no corner I answer Be dumb before the shearers and still wait upon God and remember that power and soveraignty that he hath over us how all things that he giveth us he giveth them and taketh them from us and taking but his own must he lose a friend of us Secondly It may be God keepeth us under the hatches for our future good and to do us good in the later end as Moses saith Thirdly Let us know that all the means that we can use without God may soon prove unavailable nay not onely so but pernitious both increase our sin condemnation I say finally let us use no unlawful means but wait the issue that he will give to our temptation Again observe here how quick ones wit is to the invention of that which is evil Sarah hath in a readiness that if God fail her she knoweth presently what to do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Gregory Nazianzen evil is ever at hand S. Gregory Nazianzen it requireth no long study nay in this case can act ex tempore So Lots daughters being alone with him in the cave they have a sudden but a fearful invention Gen. 19. to make their father drunk Gen. 19. and to make use of him in that intemperance Rachel hath no children she hath a present invention she saith to her husband Behold my maid Bilhah go in to her Gen. 30. Gen. 30.3 When the steward is like to be discharged Luke 16.4 his wit quickly serveth him what to do that when he shall be cast out he may finde favour among the debters Were we as nimble at that which is good how happie a thing were it But there we are dullards and to seek and our wit serveth us not to light upon it It is true of us Jer. 4.22 which the Prophet speaks Jerem. 4. They are wise to do evil but to do good they have no knowledge Why but may some man say why doth she propound this that he should go in to the maid How did she know but the maid might deny such a service as this was It may be thought that she was perswaded of her servants obedience in this kinde and she might presume upon that command that she had over her being her servant Observ 4. Evil instruments are never wanting unto evil actions Instruments shall not be wanting if evil acts be to be done I confess it is a gross abuse of that dominion that God hath given to masters and mistresses over servants to engage them into sin and make them serve them in base ways to make them panders or bauds to their lust to make them oppressors of their tenants to make them lye and swear and forswear in their behalf to make them executioners of their unjust revenge And it is no less fearful on the other side when servants lose all sense of conscience towards God to shew their obedience toward their masters for they are tied onely to obey in Domino in the Lord so to serve their earthly masters as they may answer it to their Master in heaven And therefore for the Application Application Let them look to it let them obey no further then Gods Word will license them Pharaoh is full in his charge to the midwives but they obey him not Saul biddeth his guard fall upon the Priests that wore the linen Ephod but they do it not it is true that Doeg did it and Absalons servants slay Amnon because their master bids them But that great Tribunal before which these facts must be answered will not admit of this plea I did as I was commanded I told you the last day the Apostle flatly prohibiteth being servants unto men that is serving them in sinful courses and being subservient unto them in their lusts Art thou a Governour Do not require any thing of thy servant that is unlawful for thou drawest a great sin upon thy score and a wo upon thine head because by thee the offence cometh Art thou a servant and an unlawful thing is enjoyned thee Remember Saint Peters rule It is more fit to obey God then man Thy master cannot secure himself from vengeance and how can he help thee And do not tell me If thou wilt not do it another will thou oughtest to be most sollicitous for thine own soul Josh 24.15 Be of the minde of that holy man Let others chuse what God they will serve but thou wilt serve the Lord thy God Further There is an Expositor upon my Text that observeth the modesty of the phrase here used Go in unto my maid I will go in unto my wife saith Samson Judg. 15. Judg 1◠1 Isai 8.3 and David is said to have gone in unto Bachsheba And so Isai 8. He went unto the Prophetess and she conceived Amos 2. A man and his father go in unto the same maid Amos 2.7 Deut. 23.13 It is said Adam knew Eve Gen. 4. So when the Spirit speaks of the privie and unseemly part it calleth it our nakedness Gen. 9.22 and the flesh Gen. 17.13 and our shame Isai 47.3 And speaking of the necessary evacuation of the body he calleth it a sitting down and a covering of the feet Judg. 3.24 and so 1
and challenging him for not performance while in the mean time they regard not at all the performance of the condition What do men think that having entered into Covenant with God that he must be tied by his part and not they by theirs Must he be fast and must they be loose I wonder with what face they can complain of God where they are conscious to themselves of their gross and foul neglects contrary to their vow in Baptism contrary to their Covenant renewed in the Lords Supper and contrary to many private engagements upon occasion of some mercy experienced or judgement feared or inflicted I dare not think they are so desperate as to imagine that nothing is to be done on their part that they make account to go to heaven in some whirlwinde that the Kingdom of heaven will come with expectation or that there is no more required but some languid or faint wish to make them happie like that of Balaam Let my soul die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his that once being within the compass of the Church like passengers at sea they shall be brought to the haven even sleeping like the lilies cloathed without spinning and like the birds fed without sowing Certainly they must think that something is to be done on their part And if so Why do they not do it Why do they not strive that they may be crowned Why do they not run that they may obtain Why do they not fit themselves for Gods blessing by holy living At least why are they not ashamed to lay claim to the Obligation when they have not performed the Condition If they miss what they would have let them thank themselves God was and is still ready to do what he hath engaged himself but we fall to obey his Commandments and therefore fall short of our hopes and expectations and that we be forced to say as Nehemiah The Lord hath done righteously but we have done wickedly and as our Saviour he would but they would not In the second place let it teach us all that having a promise of blessings from God we be careful to do what is required of us Desideranda est promissio sed consideranda est conditio the promise saith one is not more to be desired then the condition to be considered The Apostle having mentioned 2 Cor. 5. 2 Cor. 5. toward the end that God would dwell among them and be their God and they should be his people that he would be a father unto them and they should be his sons and daughters in the first verse of the next Chapter he saith Having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Do we look to be made free by our Master and not serve our time Do we think to have our bargain and not perform conditions And do we think to have the good things of this life and not walk in the fear of God Surely we may have something but not in mercy and for eternal life Vis esse beatus S. Augustine non bonus saith Saint Augustine wouldst thou be blessed and not good Certainly no without holiness no happiness without holiness no man shall see God If a man live a deboist life and so die and think to have heaven at last he is miserably deceived he may as well look for grapes from thorns or figs from thistles The way is truely laid down by Saint Peter 2 Pet. 1.5 2 Pet. 1. Joyn unto faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience Verse 11. c. and vers 11. Thus an entering in shall be ministred unto us into the kingdom of our Lord. Haec via ducit ad urbem this is the way unto the new Jerusalem Let us perform the condition and he which cannot lye hath promised and will perform heaven and earth shall perish before he fail Calv. in locum I might adde a third general thing out of Reverend Calvin upon this place Ut mitiget quod in praecepto grave erat solatio aliquo lenat benedictionem promittit in foetu quem gestat That he might mitigate what was irksom in the command and alleviate it with some consolation he promiseth a blessing in the fruit she buds with It might seem an hard command to her to return to her mistress and to humble her self under her hand he therefore sweetneth it with the promise of a blessing And he goeth on Poterat Deus praecise injungere quod justum erat sed quo liberiùs faceret quod sui officii est quasi blanditiis eam allicit ad parandum God could have strictly enjoyned her what was just but that she might the more chearfully do her duty he even wooes her to obedience with pollicitations And this is the gracious disposition of God Observ 3. Gods gracious imitable disposition wooeth and inviteth where he might command and urge Hos 11.4 That what we are bound to do yet he is willing to invite us to the doing of it by sweet promises and so draweth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Prophet speaks with the cords of a man Non vult servilitèr trahere ut quasi coacti praestemus quod mandatum est he will not draw us in a servile manner like the horse and mule that we perform his precept by compulsion God might say to every man Obey me thou owest it unto me as my creature I am thy Lord and thou art my servant and see thou do it upon pain of damnation But he addeth to his Commands Promises of blessings both temporal and eternal so that what we do out of duty we yet shall not do without a reward We see this thorow the whole Book of God and we shall finde he hath not been more free in promising then sure in performing for who ever kindled a fire in vain upon Gods altar Application Against Merit And this may silence all conceit of Merit God of his good will inviteth us by promises to do our duty and shall we think the doing of our duty to be meritorious of that which God hath promised Shall his encouragement be accounted a debt and that as they say he cannot in justice deny the reward It is true he is a debtor promittendo nobis by promising something to us non accipiendo à nobis but not by receiving ought from us We may in humility say Da quod promisisti Give us Lord what thou hast promised but we cannot stand upon terms and say Redde quod accepisti Restore what thou hast received from us Nay he is so far from being any way indebted to us for that which we do that he is fain to help us to do our duty to furnish us with money and help us to pay him his own debt When he invites us to do our duty by a reward and
to bestow temporall favours with a full hand upon such as are Aliens from the common-wealth of Israel We see this in manifold examples how God hath made the cup of the wicked run over with these outward things Esau had the fatness of the earth for his portion and those Sodomites that were so profligately wicked yet dwelt in a place that was as the garden of Eden And the Canaanites whom God cast out and were so notorious for all kindes of abomination had a land that flowed with milke and honey The rich glutton in the Gospel was cloathed in purple and fared deliciously every day Luk. 12. and that other Luk. 12. had his barnes full and looked to receive his incoms They have had and have honour and great places and offices they have had children at their desire they have had goodly dwellings and gotten great victories and been succesfull in many enterprizes and there be many reasons of this First God will shew his bounty even to the vessels of wrath there shall be none but shall partake of his favour Secondly some good may be found in the most desperate persons some morall good some action though not in their intention yet in the event that hath some goodness in it and the least good God will not suffer to go unrewarded As Saint Ierom observeth upon Ezekiel 29. S Ierom. Ezech. 29. In Gods giving of Egypt to Nebuchodonosor for his service against Tyrus Intelligimus etiam Ethnicos si quid boni fecerint absque mercede in Iudicio domini non praeteriri We hence understand saith he that very heathen men if any good they do are not dismissed without a recompence from the justice of the righteous Lord. Thirdly God will hereby render them inexcusable if they be not allured by his favours he will be justified in his judgments upon them Saint Augustin seemeth to add a fourth reason drawn from the nature of these outward blessings Dantur bonis ne putentur mala dantur malis ne putentur summe bona They are given to good men lest they should be thought evill things and they are given to evill men lest they should be thought the chiefest good For the Use of this Application Eccles 9.2 Let not men crow upon the enjoyment of these outward things for they are no arguments of Gods special love Eccles 9. neither love nor hatred by all that is before them the wicked may have them and have them ex largitate sed non ex benignitate dei Out of Gods royall bounty as a benefactor but not out of his tender love as a Father Secondly let not the godly envy the prosperity of the wicked this temptation they have had Psal 37.1 c. as we see in David Psal 73. and Iob 21. and Ierem. 12. But what saith the Psalmist Fret not thy self because of the ungodly neither be thou envious against the evill dooers they taste of his common bounty but not of his spirituall love and besides they stand in slippery places their table is their snare Et faelicitas implorum fovea ipsorum The prosperity of fooles saith Solomon is their destruction They are but fatted to the day of slaughter they receive all the good they are like to have in this life as Abraham saith to the rich man in Hell nay in steed of envying let the godly be comforted First let them make account that God will give them that which is fitting for them even in these outward things for if the dogs be so fed surely the children shall not want bread But if God be pleased to keep them short in these outward things he will make it up to them in spirituall yea in eternal blessings Quid dabit eis quos praedestinavit ad vitam Qui haec dedit eis quos pradestinavit ad mortem saith the Father what will he give to those whom he hath ordained unto life who hath given such good things to those whom he ordained unto death Lastly Let it be an Use to us all that seeing even the wicked may have so great a share in these outward things we should labour for those things that be most excellent and that may put a difference between us and them these outward things are gratis data gratiously and freely given but there be some things that be gratum facientia carrying grace along with them as the school speaketh and making their receivers gratious and such are true piety and godliness and the fear of the Lord There is justification and sanctification and peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost These be panis Filiorum the childrens bread these be prima the first and chief things these outward things but the Et Caetera the additionals First seek the kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and all these things shall be added unto you Let us labour to be in Christ in God and then we shall have more joy then all they whose corn and wine and oyle is increased Let us be adorned with the sanctifying graces of Gods Spirit in comparison whereof all the riches and honours and pleasures of the world are but dung and dross and the King of Heaven shall take pleasure in our Beauty Preached Decemb. 8. 1641. THE FOVRTEENTH SERMON GEN. 16.11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her Behold thou art with childe and shalt bear a son WE told you the words of the Angel to Hagar were of three sorts First words of Question Secondly of Admonition Thirdly of Prediction We have dispatched the two first and entred upon the third The Prediction is of three things 1. Of the multiplication of her seed vers 10. 2. Concerning the childe she went withal that was to be the root of that numerous issue vers 8. 3. Concerning the quality and condition of the childe vers 12. The first Prediction we stood upon the last day Now we are come to the second and this Prediction hath many Consolations in it First concerning her conception Secondly that she shall bring forth Thirdly that the issue shall be a son Fourthly that his name shall be Ishmael And Lastly in the reason of his name much comfort in that God had heard her affliction For the first Behold thou art with childe Lyra and others Lyra Glossa ordin read it in the future tense Thou shalt conceive And they have this conceit that Hagar first in way of punishment for her sin for her insolency toward her mistress and her flight from her and secondly through the weariness of her journey had suffered abortion her former conception was frustrated but now God in his mercy upon her humiliation would revive that embryo that was dead within her But Paulus Burgensis recites this as a Fable Paulus Burgensis and confutes the reason that Lyra giveth And whereas Lyra saith It is read in the future tense it is wonder that so great an Hebritian should be so mistaken for it is not so It is