deliver me O Lord make haste to help me Ezrah 3.6 And though Ezrah acknowledgeth Gods justice and the peoples sinfulness Ezra 3. yet he prayeth The Prodigall had wilfullly cast himself out of his Fathers house and justly lay under the sad effects of his own disobedience and profusion and yet he resolveth to seek to his father So Nehemiah and Daniel see and confess the justice of God yet they beg Gods mercy 2. We must know it is a very good disposition to the mercy of God to be truly cast down in the sight of our sin Levit. 26.40 41 22. as the procreant cause of our misery the Lord saith Levit. 26. If they shall confess their iniquity and their trespass which they have trespassed against me and that they have walked contrary to mee and that I have walked contrary unto them and have brought them into the hand of their enemy if then their uncircumcised heart shall be humbled and they then shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity then I will remember my Covenant 3. We must know that when we pretend that we suffer justly and therefore have no heart to go to God our infidellity is a far greater sin then any we have formerly committed for it opposeth God in his Truth and maketh him a Lyar for he hath commanded us to call upon him in the day of trouble and hath promised to hear us and yet we will not call but say there is no hope In the fear of God therefore let us in our afflictions acknowledg our own desert but withall seek to God the further we have run into Gods debt the more need we have to sue for mercy and let us do this not in regard of our own particular afflictions but of the calamity of the times who sees not how cloudy the times are and how full of distraction how the sides of the building fly from one another and the roof ready to fall upon our heads It is true our sins have deserved all this and worse yea the very dreggs of the viall and we must say with Mauritius justus es O Domine recta judicia tua just art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgments but because we are so deep in the procuring of the storm shall we forbear to pray for the removing of it O no let us cry earnestly and mightily unto God yea not to give over though things should grow to a greater extremity cum duplicantur lateres venit Moses when the Israelites taskes were doubled then came the deliverer and mans extreamity is Gods opportunity Let us pray and pray still and joyn with our prayers a godly sober righteous and peacefull life and God is where he was and the same he was he will not take advantage of it in that our sins have drawn this upon us but he will be found of us and will heal our breaches and return our peace and prosperity upon us like a swelling floud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One hint further the name is Ishmael i.e. God will hear And the Exposition is God hath heard thine affliction The Angel seemeth to tell her that as God had heard her now so her son shall carry his name God will hear if she carry her self as she ought she may be confident that he that hath heard her will hear her in all her necessities and all his likewise that call upon him yea all such as call upon him faithfully We come now to the next Reason Wherein is the Angels prediction concerning the quality and disposition of Ishmael S. Chrysostom in locum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Chrysostom He foretelleth the inclination of the Child and it is laid down in three Clauses First He will be a wilde man Secondly His hand will be against every man and every mans hand against him Thirdly He shall dwell in the presence of his Brethren All which argueth the furiousness and ferity of his disposition that as he shall be powerfull so he will be provoking and cruell opposite to others and by that opposition drawing enemies upon himself But before I come to the particulars Observ 4. The most pious Parents may have impious Children and the contrary Grace is not entailed by man but only conferred by God 1 Iohn 2.12 observe of whom this is affirmed of Ishmael why He was the son of Abraham an holy meek courteous man a great lover of peace and this son contrary to him in all these things We may see then that Godly Parents may have wicked Children Adam as he had a religious Abel so a cursed Cain who was of that evill one and slew his brother because his brothers deeds were good and his evill 1 John 2. Noah a just man in his generation had a wicked Cham Abraham had this Ishmael who mocked his brother and persecuted Him that was born after the Spirit even Isaac Gal. 4.29 Isaac had an Esau a prophane man as he is stiled Gal. 4.29 Heb. 12.16 Eli a good man yet had lewd sons who by their wicked courses made the Sacrifices of God to be abhorred of the people 1 Sam. 2. Sons of Belial wickedness is not spoken in a stronger Phrase in all the Scripture Samuel a good man and upright yet his Sons were not such they walked not in his waies but after Bribes 1 Sam. 8. 1 Sam. 8.3 David a man according to Gods own heart yet had he an incestuous Amnon and an ambitious Absalon Jehosophat had a Jehoram Hezechiah had a Manasses and Josiah had a Jehojakim And what is found more true in experience the Father and Mother good and the Child stark naught The Reason whereof is easily given Grace is not traduced from the Parent to the Child the Father cannot conveigh holiness unto him it is the gift of God Let him be a sanctified man yet he begetteth a child as a man not as an holy man by naturall Generation not spirituall Regeneration Non ex principiis novitatis sed ex Reliquiis vetustatis saith the Father Not out of the principles of the new but out of the Reliques of the old man Gen. 5.3 Adam begot Seth in his own image and David acknowledges though he had religious Parents that he was shapen in iniquity and in sin did his mother conceive him Psa 51. Psal 51.5 The Corn purged from the chaff cometh up with it again when it is sowen The Circumcised father begetteth an uncircumcised child And so the Serpent without a sting begetteth a Serpent with a sting So a godly person though he can perhaps transmith is goods unto his Son can he leave him his goodness Can he conveigh his Graces as his Lands No one mans goodness doth not moralize another For the Use of this First Application It must teach Parents to do what they can that their Children may be gracious They must instruct them They must inlay them with Piety in their tender years They must
compassion of us that men may have that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subject unto the like to the same passions with us Secondly they are too glorious and we should not endure them so well being our selves cloathed with flesh Elihu saith to Iob. 33. Iob. 33.6.7 Behold I am according to thy wish in Gods stead I also am formed out of the clay my terrours shall not make thee affraid God could either by himself or by an Angell have instructed the Eunuch but he sendeth Philip unto him and so Ananias to Paul and Peter to Cornelius and Paul to Lydia It is his will we should submit unto the ministery of men And certainly though our curious mindes may stand to Gods immediate speaking or the ministery of Angels yet as we should not be able to endure it so not to profit by it for that speech of Abraham to the rich man who would have one sent from the dead to his brethren will serve us in this case If they will not hear Moses and the Prophets they will not hear an Angel I come to the next verse wherein her thankfulness doth appear in giving a name to the Well where the Angel had met with her for it is probable that she gave the name and that afterwards others took it up and commonly called it by that name Now in that she gave a name to the place we may see Observ 5. Grateful mindes use all good means to keep up the memorial of Gods favours The care of grateful mindes to use all lawful means to keep Gods mercies in remembrance I told you before how this woman was advised to lay up the memory of the blessing in the name of her son Ishmael and so Isaac's name was to that purpose that they might never forget what a cause of joy he was to Abraham So Joseph calleth his eldest son Manasseh 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 calleth his son Gershom that is a stranger there and his other son Eleazer in that God had helped him They have also for this reason given names to places as Abraham calleth the place where Isaac was spared and another sacrifice provided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 22.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And 28.19 God will provide Gen. 22. Jacob changeth the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Luz into Bethel that is the house of God Gen. 28. that he might ever remember how graciously and comfortably God had revealed himself unto him in that place Jehoshaphat and the people called the place where they met to praise God 2 Chron. 20.2 after their great deliverance the valley of Berachah 2 Chron. 20. that is the valley of blessing Thus they have given names to times as Mordecai and Gods people to keep in remembrance that deliverance of theirs from Hamans plot called them the days of Purius of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esth 9.26 or of lots Esth 9. So they have kept Anniversaries as we see in the feasts of the Passeover and Pentecost and the Tabernacles and the feast of Dedication spoken of Joh. 10. which our Lord himself did keep Oblivion is the worst sort of Ingratitude and to cast such benefits behinde our backs or set them in some blinde corner argueth a slighting of them and no purpose to be thankful for them Our Memory though it be a natural mother to courtesies done by us yet it is a stepmother to benefits received and therefore good men here used the more care to refresh it For the Use of it Application Let it be our care also to keep in minde Gods favours that we may not onely serve God with a flash of joy and blaze of thanks but may keep a continual fire within us yea set apart some times purposely for the recalling of Gods mercies that we may stir up our selves to the greater measure of thankfulness Let us often meditate how free and full Gods favours are he giveth because he loveth and he giveth fully because he loveth Let us think also what need we have of his mercies and what a maim it would be to want even the least of those we seem to undervalue And let us think also how importunate we are for his benefits and therefore a shame to forget them Lastly how we dispose our selves to receive future mercy by being thankful for former and on the other side how we stop the current to our selves by our ingratitude Again she gave this name to the Well not onely for her self to quicken her own memory but in regard of posterity saith Ferus Ferus in locum ut inde admonerentur divinae misericordiae that they might be thereby minded of the divine mercy that they might know that God did there behold his servant in affliction and that they might expect the like mercy that she had found that gave the name to the Well out of her experience of Gods mercy to her The favours of God to some ought to be encouragement to others Observ 6. The favours of God to some ought to be encouragements to others both for expectation and adaptation Psal 32. Rom. 4.22 23. David speaking of that which he had found upon his resolution to confess his sin even the remission of it he addeth Psal 32. and for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found Saint Paul Rom. 4. speaking of the faith of Abraham that it was accounted to him for righteousness withal addeth It was not written for him alone but for us also to whom our faith also shall be imputed for righteousness Saint James giveth hopes of a good issue to our afflictions by the example of Job James 5. James 5.1 You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord As who should say Expect the like And Verse 17. verse 17. when he will encourage to the expectation of a good return of fervent prayer he voucheth the example of Elias how God upon his prayer shut and opened heaven It is said of the woman that was a sinner in the city when she knew that Christ sate at meat in the Pharisees house she came Luke 7. yea Luke 7.37 thought thus If he offered so much grace to those that be his enemies he will not reject me that come in the humility of my soul And it is Saint Bernards Meditation Non renuisti confitentem latronem S. Bernard non lachrymantem meretricem non supplicantem Cananaeam non deprehensam in adulterio non negantem discipulum non persecutorem discipulorum in odore horum unguentorum currimus post te Thou O Lord rejectedst not the thief confessing the penitent harlot the importunate Canaanite the reformed adultress the denying disciple the very persecutors of thy disciples and in
that Cadesh-Barnea that we often read of and was one of the stations of the children of Israel when they were Ambulans Respublica Salvianus as Salvian calleth them a travelling Common-wealth and Bered we finde no where but in this place the Chaldee calleth it Chagra Now this description of the place some think to be a needless circumstance but let them take heed for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil To say there is any idle word in holy writ saith Basil is no less then blasphemy Certainly Moses the pen-man of this story did purposely and advisedly mention it as he doth often in the like kinde such a place is thus and thus scituated and as thou goest to such a place Here was a famous occurrent and a new Name was given to the Well and therefore it was fit it should be described where it was that when people should pass by that way they might take knowledg of it Isaac meditated or prayed about this place Gen. 24. Gen. 24.62 c. 25.11 yea he dwelt by this Well after the death of his Father Gen. 25. No doubt but many in after times made use of this place and it was the fault of the children of Israel that neer to this place they murmured for water Numb 20. not remembring hoc loco that in this place God had succoured Hagar in her affliction So then Moses doth in this description posteriorum negotium agere act the business of posterity as it was said of one of old He doth that which may be for the benefit of posterity Remarkeable mercies should be recorded and treasured up unto posterity Observ 3. Remarkable mercies are to be treasured up to al posterity and that with circumstances of place and time and person that posterity may be stirred up to thankfulness and expectation of the like mercy from God Jacob taketh one of the stones that he had laid his head upon and pitched it up for a pillar and called the name of the place Bethel and it retained that name Gen. 28. the pot of Manna must be kept Gen. 28. Exod. 16. to instruct posterity and Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Iordan and they are to this day saith the text Iosh 4.9 Josh 4.9 and at the 20. vers other 12 stones that they brought out of Iordan were erected in Gilgall that all ages after might take knowledg of the great work of God in dividing Iordan for his people Verse 20. the deliverance from Amaleck God would have Moses write Exod. 17.14 This shall be written for the generations to come and the people that shall be born shall praise the Lord Psal 102. The parents were commanded of God Psal 102.18 to teach their children what the passeover did signifie and other things that they might teach their children and so from age to age the memory of Gods mercy might be continued that the father to the children might make known Gods truth as Hezekiah speaketh Isai 38. And for the Use of it Isai 38.19 I wish this may be taken up into our practice Application God hath magnified his mercy to this land of ours in great deliverances and we have seen them with our eyes we should tell our children of these things and charge them to teach their children that in all succession of time God may be glorified and his people encouraged to serve that God that hath wrought such wonders for us that great deliverance in 88. but 54. years agoe it is almost buried one great occasion is the want of an anniversary That other as great deliverance from the gun-powder treason hath an anniversary yet it is but little thought of in this short time some of the popish side have had the bold front to say there was no such thing what will they be ready to say one hundred years hence nay some of our own I speak it with grief stick not to mince the matter and partly to excuse the actors and wish it were forgotten and so wonderfully extenuate the great mercy of God doth it not behove us then to take care as Moses did that posterity may know it let our children be informed of it in their confabulations that they may tell their children and they theirs that so in all succeeding ages they may be thankfull for the mercy may abhor such rebellion that bringeth forth such sower grapes and may love that truth which God did so miraculously defend and protect but you will say this is enough out of a circumstance Now we come to the next Verse which telleth us First how Hagar brought forth her son Ishmael Secondly how the name was given by Abraham For the former I have told you that this her bringing forth in Abrahams family necessarily supposeth 1. that she returneth thither 2. that she was received there She returned thither for that was it that the Angel gave her in charge Return to thy mistress and humble thy self under her hand No doubt she did both she came a penitent and reformed woman no more insolent against Sarah nor giving occasion of offence Where we may note Observ 4. Happie that Affliction which ends in Reformations Prov. 20.30 What a happie thing it is when after Affliction followeth Reformation Surely it is that which God intendeth God intendeth to open their ears whom he afflicteth unto discipline and that they should depart from inquity Job 36.10 And so Prov. 20. The blueness of the wound serveth to purge out evil And Isai 27.9 By this that is by afflictions formerly spoken of shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit the taking away sin Jer. 9.7 I will melt them and try them how shall I do for the daughter of my people I have tried other means I will now afflict her if by this means I may reclaim her I will go to my place till they acknowledge their offence Hos 5.10 Hos 5. in their affliction they will seek me early We see what Gods intention is in afflicting and this end he hath attained in divers that have been afflicted Psal 119.67 as we see in David Psa 119. he saith Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept thy word And vers 79. It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes The like we see in Manasseh who was recalled by his affliction 2 Chron. 33. So it was with Paul who being unhorsed and smitten with blindness three days and in that time exercised with spiritual terrours Acts 16. he returned no more unto folly And so the Jaylor Acts 16. And the Prodigals penury brought him home to his fathers house and made him ever after an obedient son Now for the Use of this Application It meeteth with those against whom the hand of the Lord is gone out and hath been heavie upon them and yet when the affliction hath been removed they have not been
Providence is ever strictly and gratfully to be observed that it was a great providence of God that Sarah should bring the Egyptian maide along with her into Canaan that as oft as she looked upon her she might remember the great danger she was in in Pharaohs Court and how miraculously her chastity was secured and so might be stirred up to a daily thankefulness for such a great mercy and the same Author makes the use of it that we should observe the passages of Gods providence towards us remember them be thankfull for them for he doth his works so that they ought to be had in continuall remembrance our memories are fraile and leaky they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they do as the Apostle speaks run out like sieves some blessings are so great as that magnitudo non sinit excidere saith Seneca that their greatness permits not a slip from us yet we make a shift to forget them as the Spanish invasion and gun-powder treason if at all we remember them we are but slenderly thankfull for them And therefore no wonder though God hold his hand as unwilling to cast his seed into ground that yieldeth him no better increase increase said I Nay when he requires but thankfulness and yet he cannot have this interest And therefore no wonder though he take away the principall but of this heretofore For the last thing her name in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Arabian tongue a fugitive or relapsed stranger from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It may be from her were her posterity called Hagarens 1 Chron. 5.10 Psal 39.12 or Hagarites 1 Chron. 5. Where the Greek translates them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strangers For the Allegory which Saint Paul makes of Agar which he makes Mount Sinai Gal. 4. we shall speak of it afterwards In the meane time let us take heed of grieving the Spirit of God for mentioning those circumstances it is not in vain They that deale in gold saith a Greek Father will not neglect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Observ 9. Applicat the least fylings and the least syllable in Gods word is sacred he that thinks or saith otherwise is profane and Atheisticall Preached May 5. 1641. THE SECOND SERMON GEN. 16.2 And Sarah said unto Abraham Behold now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing c. THe last day dividing this Chapter we told you that in the three first verses was set down the Marriage of Abraham with Hagar The Introduction and herein we observed four things 1. The occasion of it in the first verse 2. The causes of it in the second verse 3. The knitting of the knot in the third verse 4. Together with the fourth thing The circumstance of time when this was done We have spoken of the Occasion now we come to the Causes of the Marriage and they be four set down in this second verse First Sarahs barrenness The four parts Secondly her advice to Abraham to go in to Hagar her maid Thirdly her hope to have a childe by her And fourthly Abrahams approbation of this counsel For the first of these And Sarah said The first The Lord hath restrained me from bearing it is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath shut me for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is clausit He hath shut up And so the 70 render it here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is claude to shut thence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a key and is used to shut up a place Our Saviour bids a man when he will pray to enter into his chamber 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is shutting the door then to pray And 1 John 3. He that hath this worlds good 1 Joh. 3.17 and sees his brother in need 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and shuts up his compassion or locks up his bowels from him how is the love of God in him The phrase of shutting up the womb is used when it pleaseth God to restrain the woman from bearing of children Gen. 20. God had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech 1 Sam. 1.5 Gen. 20.19 1 Sam. 1.5 it is said of Hannah that God had shut up her womb Job in his paroxysm wisheth that the doors of his mothers womb had been shut up Job 3. Job 3.10 Isai 66.9 and Isai 66.9 causing to bring forth and shutting of the womb are opposed It is very well rendered in our Translation God hath restrained me from bearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in this speech of hers Saint Chrysostome would have us observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysostome that is How emphatical the word is Observ 1. Of Fruitfulness and Barrenness God onely keeps the keys God onely shuts and opens the womb She maketh her want of children to be Gods work God hath restrained me and seems to say to Abraham saith that Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is As we use to shut and open our houses so God that great Master of Nature doth by the wombs of women locks them or opens them restrains them from bearing or gives them the ability to bring forth children and certainly it is his work to afford and ordain children as he shut up the wombs in Abimelechs family and the womb of Hannah so he is said to have opened the womb of Leah Gen. 29 Gen. 29.31 and 30.32 and of Rachel Gen. 30. The Hebrews speak of four keys that God keeps in his own power and gives them not as they say to any Angels no not to the Seraphims The first is the key of Rain of which it is spoken Deut. 20.12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the heavens to give the rain unto thy land in due season Psal 104.28 The second is the key of Food of which it is spoken Psal 104 Thou openest thy hand and they are filled Ezek. 37.12 The third is the key of the Grave of which Ezek. 37 Behold O my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves The fourth is the key of the Womb as you have heard before God remembred Rachel and opened her womb Gen. 30. Some have added to these four keys the key of the Heart for it is said Acts 16.14 God opened the heart of Lydia that she attended to Pauls preaching Acts 16.14 But this is not one of the Hebrews keys they mention onely the four former And for the last which is the key of the Womb certainly it is in Gods own keeping Children are the inheritance of the Lord Psal 127.3 and the fruit of the womb is his reward Psal 127. Now for the Use of this Application First it may teach man and wife in the want of children not to murmure against each other and to chalenge each other of insufficiency for it is God that restrains the fruitfulness of the womb and we see that those
some things so want others Si non fit quod petitur non expedit ut fiat S. Augustine saith the Father if it be not granted which thou prayest for God seeth it not expedient for thee Lastly let us prepare our selves for heaven and by a meek and holy carriage fit our selves for it and in that place there shall be no want it shall give every one satisfaction though the vessels cast into the vast ocean may be of different capacity and so degrees of glory yet the least vessel shall be as full as it can hold and whereas here as the School-men acutely quiescimus in desideriis we are fain to be contented with desires of rest there shall be desideriorum quies an absolute and blessed rest of all desires We come now to the next verse in which and in the two following are set down the Consequents of this marriage of Abraham and Sarah First her conception Secondly her insolent carriage upon her conceiving Thirdly the expostulation of Sarah with her husband Fourthly Abrahams yeelding of the power into Sarahs hand Fifthly Sarahs correcting of Hagar together with her flight For the first He went in to her and she conceived For the phrase of going in unto her we spake of it before at the second verse For the other clause and she conceived this may be observed Observ 3. Evil actions often prosper outwardly yet no events can denominate them nor the divine permission be construed their occasion That evil actions oftentimes take effect and prosper that is attain that end which the plotters and contrivers aim at Satan at first laid his bait and it took with our first parents And Cain his first-born accomplished what he intended he had his brothers life And so the brethren of Joseph succeeded in their enterprise against their brother Ziba prospereth in his cheat and Gehazi in his attempt The ambitious mans lines hold and the man that useth unjust courses heapeth up wealth And the slanderer findeth such as receive his defamations and are wrought into an ill conceit of their brethren by such incendiaries The revengeful man fulfilleth his own desire of touchiness And the voluptuous man having laid his plot satisfieth himself and catcheth that he fished for God though the Permitter not the Author of sin And God permitteth it to be thus for though non vult peccatum God willeth not sin yet permittit volens non invitus that God permitteth sin freely and not unwilling Yet his permission and his will have two several objects His permission is referred to the sin it self his will to that good end that by his wisdom he is able to bring out of it S. Aug. in Enchiridion c. 94. Certain it is saith Saint Augustine non fit aliquid nisi omnipotens fieri velit vel sinendo ut fiat vel ipse faciendo nothing is done unless the Almighty will it to be done either by suffering it to be done or doing of it himself And again secondly non dubitandum est Deum facere benè etiam sinendo fieri quaecunque fiunt malè 't is not to be doubted saith he but God doth well even in permitting those things to be done that are done ill And thirdly the good God would not suffer it unless he knew how to fetch good out of it Man may censure him for this permission of evil to be done and to take effect that he is the author of sin Just reasons there be as you have been taught heretofore why God doth not hinder the wicked in their course yea letteth them prosper in their evil actions For the Use of this Application Let us learn never to justifie an evil action because of the event Hagar here conceiveth and so many a base woman hath children as soon and with more easie labour then those that came honestly by them Shall they therefore justifie their unclean mixture A thief prospereth but this justifieth not his course Good purposes and intendments do oftentimes fail they must not be condemned for that no more must wicked actions for their success be justified Careat successibus opto quisquis ab eveâ—tiâ— facta notâ—nda putat May he want success that draweth his conclusions from events It is a thing that swayeth much with carnal mindes that if they prosper in their ill way and they have that which they aim at they think it is a blessing and hence are apt to justifie their actions Foelix scelâ—â— virtus vocatur saith the Heathen And Dionysius having a fair winde after he had robbed the temple of Aesculapius stuck not to say That the gods did approve sacriledge It may be it made Jeroboam think the better of his idolatry because the Prophet that spake against the altar at Bethel was destroyed by a lion And those in Jerem. 44. Jerem. 44. justified themselves in offering cakes to the queen of heaven by the plenty that they had upon it Antonius Archbishop of Florence Archbish of Florence the third part of his Hist p. 18. c. 6. telleth of the mother of Peter Lombard and Petrus Commestor and Gratian the first the compiler of the Sentences the second of the Scholastical History the third of the Decrees being all children born in adultery and uncleanness That when she came to confession she told the Priest she could not repent her of her adultery because of the good success of it having brought into the world three such worthy men And still this raigneth in mens mindes that so far as they prosper in ill ways so far they are blessed of God I will shut up this Point with one known thing Many men and women commit foul acts and it pleaseth God to suspend his judgements nay to suffer them to thrive and prosper and to live in all possible jollity without the controlment of any the least judgement O how do they bless themselves in this and think themselves in better estate by far then Preachers would make them But if they would look into Gods book they should finde that it is one of the greatest judgements that God layeth upon man in this life than he suffereth them to thrive in sin He telleth the people Ezek. 16. Ezek. 16.42 that he will make his fury to rest and his jealousie to depart from them and he will be quiet Which when Saint Augustine upon occasion took into consideration he crieth out Quâ—â—ta poena vulla poena How great a judgement is no punishment And Hosea 4. he saith Hosea 4.14 he will not punish their daughters when they commit whoredom nor their spouses when they commit adultery And a Father as wise as he was devout crieth out Nulo hanc misericordiam Domine I shew me no such mercy Lord. For there is Terribilis lenitas a terrible clemency and Parcens orudelitas a merciful cruelty for God oftentimes maketh such way for the sinner as he did for Pharaohs chariots even till her came into the midst of the
themselves liable to Gods correction Shall I adde a little more without the challenge of a digression A master may use a servant hardly not onely in regard of Correction but in other things which I wish may be taken knowledge of First in regard of Food they may use them hardly when out of a miserable humour they will not allow them enough to fill their bellies It should seem the master of the Prodigal dealt so with him for he was fain to eat husks with the swine Or secondly when they give them enough but it is of such stuff that they buy for cheapness sake and is scarce mans meat yea that which is mustie and unsauoury This is fearful The good houswife provides meat and wholesom meat Prov. 31. for her family Prov. 31. And the Prodigal could say that in his fathers house the hired servants had bread enough Secondly Masters may use servants hard in regard of apparel the good houswife again provides clothing for her servants Prov. 31. But we see how ragged and tattered the servants of many be who are known to be of that ability that they could provide better for them if a base and fordid and miserable spirit did not insoul them and that their conscience were not still tied up in their purse Thirdly they may use them hardly in regard of labour when they put them upon employments above their strength which was the Egyptians usage of the Israelites but that cried to God and drew down wrath and therefore let masters take heed of the like cruelty of using servants like horses yea worse Yea and denying them seasonable rest which is another way of ill usage and one end that God had in ordaining the Sabbath was that the servant might rest and therefore they are contrary to God that will defraud servants of their rest whereby they should repair their spirits and refresh their bodies Lastly masters and mistresses may deal too hardly with their servants in time of sickness The king of Syria had so much care of his servants infirmity that he commends him by letters to the king of Israel 2 Kings 5. Matth. 8.6 2 Kings 5. and the care that the Centurion had for his sick servant is set down and commended Matth. 8. But these times are full of such as the Amalekite was who left his servant because he was sick 1 Sam. 30.13 1 Sam. 30. had not David lighted upon him he had perished send them to some out-house and take no further care I know that those people would take more care of their beasts some will take care in such a case but it shall be at the poor servants cost if they have not present money if they recover they will abate it of their wages is this to undoe heavy burthens or rather is not this to make the burthen heavyer Or if they will pay it themselves yet they mutter and grumble and say they make themselves sicker then they are and they may rise if they will So that the poor servant is more troubled with these discontented speeches then with his own sickness and so forceth himself to strive above his strength even to his undoing I could tell you of some other kindes of hard dealing with servants as when masters and mistresses will not teach their servants that for which they come if they do when they are neer out of their time and think they will part from them they will disgrace them and disable them and whereas they should send them away with encouragment and reward if they have been faithful for so God commanded they must not goe away empty Deut. 15. Deut. 15.13 they will maligne them and envy them and do them the worst offices they can Laban could have been content Jacob should have stayd with him still and therefore if he goe away he will not only vex at it but pursue him with hostility I could speak of hard usage of servants while their wages are either detained altogether which is no less then a crying sin Jam. 5. which entreth into the ears of God Jam. 5.4 and doth interpellare pro vindicta sollicite him for vengeance or else detaining them so long that it moveth them to filch and steal to supply their necessities Do these masters and mstresses in these several wayes of injustice consider that which the Apostle mindes them of Eph. 6. That they have also a master in Heaven Eph. 6.9 Job durst not despise the cause of his servant Chapter 31. 13. 14. because if he did he did not know how he should answer God when he did visit Oh think of this when you use your servants with rigour how you will be able to give account for this when God riseth up to judgment But I have held you too long in this I come therefore to something else for we have not yet done with Sarah sharp correction May we not further take knowledg First of great inhumanitie in her Observ 3. Severity oft degenerateth into inhumanity that would be so severe to her servant being now with childe such a one though there be just cause of displeasure is to be the object of mercy and compassion and in all times it hath been held cruel and inhumane to use such harshly to beat or strike them when they knew them to be pregnant as being a double hurt both to the party her self and the issue she went withal we have Gods law Exod. 21. That if one did hurt a woman with childe Exod. 21. â—â— he was to be severely punished our law is so merciful that if a woman be convicted and be found with childe her punishment is respited till she be delivered It was the cruelty that Elisha tells Hazael he shall practise in Israel To rip up women with childe 2 King 8. and so Menahem 2 King 15. ripped up the women with childe and in that bloody persecution under Q. Mary we read that a woman great with childe was brought to the stake and that her womb burst in the flames and they took the childe and threw it in and burned it with the mother It is true this was an excess of cruelty but to do wrong to a woman with childe by beating her though it be a lesser degree is bad enough Application and I wish all people to take heed how they be guilty of it Observ 4. The fickleness and instability of popular Affections Again let us observe with Musculus the change of Sarahs passion how full was she not long since of desire to have issue though by her maide how earnest was she to perswade her husband to yield to this course as a woman free from all jealousy she puts her maide into the bosome of her hushand and now to see how passionate she is why did she not bear with the miscarriage of her maide for the hope she had now of issue by her she having conceived See saith my authour nihil stabile
if I should not correct them Now for a season if need be saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.6 you are in heaviness through many temptations As if he should say You should not be in heaviness no not for that short season if there were not need but the dross will not be purged out without this fire the rust gotten off without this file nor the vitious humours purged out without this sharp dose you would not be sanctified here or saved hereafter without this And therefore David saith that God of his exceeding goodness caused him to be troubled And Saint Paul saith that when we are judged we are chastised of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world Secondly it should teach us to examine whether the affliction that God sends upon us have this effect in us whether our conscieences are awaked in this storm as Jonahs was whether it bring our sins to minde whether it makes us search and try our ways Lam. 3. as it is Lam. 3. and maketh us sift our selves as it is Eph. 2. and bethink our selves of former errours that we may purge them out by humiliation We have not the first degree of profiting by affliction unless we see our sin Yea we should labour to finde out the Achan the main cause of our trouble and beg of God to shew wherefore he woundeth us and with Job Job 10.2 And 13.23 Chap. 10. to shew us our rebellion and our sin A fearful thing it is when a man shall be in their case that Jeremiah speaks of Jer. 10.6 Ezek. 16.43 Chap. 10.6 No man said What have I done and of those Ezek. 16. I have brought thy way upon thine own head yet hast thou not consideration of thine abominations A man to be afflicted and to have no sense of sin to have his heart in him as Nabals like a stone no consideration of the cause most woful But now come to the next verse which containeth the direction that the Angel gives to Hagar to return to her mistress and to humble her self under her hand And here first we may observe the goodness of God toward this woman that whereas she was hastening to her own wo and in the high-way to ruine her soul by going into idolatrous Egypt God keepeth her from this precipice and suffereth her to go no further Observ 4. 'T is a mercy of the first magnitude Gods restraining 〈◊〉 from evil It is a great mercy of God to be restrained from evil I kept thee saith God to Abimelech that thou shouldst not sin against me Gen. 20.6 God kept the sons of Jacob from shedding of the blood of Joseph by that perswasion of Reuben God kept David from perfecting his resolution against the house of Nabal he had committed a fearful sin if in his rage and fury he had acted what he had intended And when he had Saul in the cave and that all opportunity did smile upon him yea invite him to take revenge upon his well-known adversary that sought his life God kept him from imbruing his hands in the blood of the Lords Anointed How many have we known that when they have been bound upon this and that designe something hath intervened that hath taken them off and kept them from doing that which they purposed which was Gods care and providence over them to prevent their sin and not to suffer them to be so bad as they would have been For the Use of this Application Let us every of us account it a mercy and bless God for his restraining grace we have the seed of all sin in us yet there are some sins that we never felt the least inclination unto as Luther saith he never knew that he had the least motion to covetousness and therefore when one thought fit for the stopping of his mouth he should be tempted with gold it was answered by another Germana illa bestia non curat aurum that that same German beast cared not for gold So many a man is never so much as tempted to theft or sodomy or murder this is Gods mercy that he should thus keep them down and cast them as it were into a sleep as he did Saul and those that were about him 1 Sam. 26. 1 Sam. 26. It is not that we are naturally better then others that every lust doth not bubble up in us we must acknowledge it is Gods mercy that keepeth them down and consider who it is that maketh us to differ as the Apostle speaketh in another case 1 Cor. 4. 1 Cor. 4.7 Secondly we have had motions and temptations to this and that sin that others have fallen into but they have not prevailed with us to the commission of them And what hath been the cause that we have not hatched these Cockatrice-eggs and that they have not come to a fiery flying serpent Certainly God hath restrained us he could easily have given us up to our own hearts lusts as it is Psal 81. Psal 81.12 and have said to our corruptions as he did to the deceiving spirit that went to Ahab Go and prevail 1 Kings 22. but he hath kept us it is his goodness and we must acknowledge it with all thankfulness When we hear men engaged in these foul sins of Idolatry and Murder and Blasphemy and Oppression we must pity them and thank God for preserving us who else should be as bad as the worst It was a pious minde in Saint Augustine he would praise God pro peccatis quae fecit and quae non fecit both for the sins he had committed and had not committed for the remission of the former and the prevention of the later I observe sometimes that people being resolved upon this and that wickedness and being prevented of the perfecting of it by the failing of some instrument or opportunity or some sickness or inability in themselves that they chase and fret Oh that their eyes were but opened to see what a mercy this is that they murmure at how good a friend God is to them while they are their own enemies They would ruine their souls and God will not suffer them That holy Father could say Utiliter vincitur cui peccandi licentia eripitur He is happily conquered that is restrained from sin yea though God stop his way with thorns and by some heavie-armed affliction on him for by this means though the body suffer yet the soul may be saved On the other side it is the greatest judgement that God can lay upon a man on this side hell to let him thrive in sin when he saith as to Ephraim in Hosea Hos 4.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him alone let him go on to make up the measure of his iniquity let him that is filthy be filthy still I will not stop or stay him Thus God in his judgement doth by many a man as by Pharaoh and his army make them fair way even into
Application First Let all Parents learn to give fitting Names to their Children such as may mind them of Gods mercy and their duty such as may be Monitors to them upon all occasions to remember God and themselves Scripture Names are fit to be given for they have good instructions in them Secondly Names of vertuous Predecessours by whose examples they may be stirred up to tread in their steps They too too much offend that care not what heathenish Names they give to their Children and some give such ridiculous Names that they are far from Christianity or Civility And some again are so affected and rather give Sentences sometimes then Names that me thinks it is a dishonor to God in whose Name the Child is baptized to the holy Sacrament which is solemnized and to the Congregation of Saints before whom the Name is given yea to the Child it self who is like to carry a mock and a brand rather than a Name all the daies of the life of it Thirdly When people have good and significant Names given unto them let them labour to make them good so did John He had the grace of God and Theophilus He loved God So did Timotheus according to his name He was a man that feared God So was Clemens and Prudens So was St. Jerom's Pannachius and St. Ambrose his Agnes and Nazianzens Meletius And Valentinian said of Probus He was vir sui nominis that he was a man of his own name i. e. an honest man Those that have had ill names have fulfilled them as we see in Zeb and Oreb a Wolfe and a Raven and such they were against the people of God And Nabal as his name was so was he he was a foole and folly was with him And Achitophel made good his name for though he were accounted as a wise man and consulted as an Oracle yet he dyed as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The kinsman or brother of a foole for seeing his Counsell despised He went home set his house in order and hung himself Let those then that have good names make them good But here is a grosse defect Absalon hath a name that signifieth the peace of his Father and we know full well what a disturbance and a vexation he was unto him Zedechiah signifieth the righteousness of God and a most unrighteous man he was Antiochus was called Epiphanes i. e. illustrious whereas he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the furious and breathed out nothing but cruelty against the people of God And so the Pope of Rome that stileth himself Servus servorum the servant of Servants sheweth how he doth affect to be Dominus Dominantium A Lord of Lords it is a fashion of the Popes when they enter on the Popedome to alter their names But Pollidâ—r Virgil observes Pol. Virg. He that called himself Bonifacius was Malefacius He meaneth an ill doer Urbanus was Rusticus i. e. clownish or as it was said of one of that name Turbanus from his troubling so the Christian world Innocentius Improbus being most nocent Pius impius being ungodly Paulus Saulus being a persecutor And so the Jesuites have a glorious name but as one saith of the Philosophers Nomen sibi solum retinuerunt They have retained only the name unto themselves for how unlike are they to him whose name they do most impudently usurp He went about doing good they go about doing mischief like their great master the devill seeking whom he may devour And as he commeth from compassing the earth so they compasse Sea and Land to make a Proselyte though they make him seven times more the child of the devill then themselves His words and deeds were alwaies full of compassion and mercy their 's full of rage and cruelty None more meek then he none more proud then they None more peaceable then he none more tumultuous then they As of old there was no Play but there was a Devill in it so no Treason or Conspiracy in these latter times wherein the hand of these Joabs these Jesuites is not But not to lay the Scene too far off How are we our selves guilty in this kind We have a glorious Appellation that which those of the Church of Antioch first had and no doubt triumphed in Acts 11. And that is Act. 11 26. the name of Christians we have it from Christ 1 Iohn 2. and should have that annointing St. John speaketh of 1 John 2. And the same mind should be in us that was in Christ Jesus as St. Paul speaketh we should learn of him we should resemble him and the very name is a strong Obligation upon us Bernard St. Bernard maketh one of the graces of the soul to be Recordatio propriae professionis the apprehension and memory of her own Christian Profession But at the other side it is a foul disparagement to a man vocari quod non est to be intituled what he is not Saith S. Augustin Nomen inane Crimen immane a frustrated name St. August is an hainous crime and yet how defective are we unto this our Denomination Called Christians but live like Pagans Oh what a Soloecisme is This Our Lord hath redeemed us and there is a vertue that proceedeth from his Passion to make those whom he hath redeemed holy He is our head and thence is an influence from the head into all the members Too we profess our selves the Redeemed of the Lord and find no vertue of his Death Members of him and find no power conveighed unto us for Piety What will the Heathen say Christians and bloudy Christians and excessive Christians and licentious Christians and fraudulent Christians and malicious Wherein are they better than we They shame their Master by their lewd courses In the feare of God as we have this honourable Title full of dignity that we are Christians so let it mind us of our duty and let it be a tye upon us to walk worthy of that calling to the which we are called For else as it was said in another case Nomen Crimen the Name of Christian was their Fault Tertul. in Apol. saith Tertullian So it will be to us the very Name will be our fault and the glorious Appellation will encrease our condemnation THE FIFTEENTH SERMON GEN. 16.11 12. Because the Lord hath heard thine affliction Vers 12. And he will be a wilde man THe words of the Angell to Hagar were of three sorts First of Question vers 8. Secondly of Direction vers 9. Thirdly of Prediction and he foretelleth First concerning the numerous multiplication of her seed vers 10. Secondly concerning the childe she went withall 1. That she should bring it forth 2. That it should be a son 3. That she should call his Name Ishmael To which is added the reason of the Name vers 11. Thirdly he foretelleth the quality and disposition and course of this son vers 12. He shall be a wilde man his hand shall be against every man and every
here employed to Hagar in the wilderness Concerning Guardian Angels whether they are so assigned and deputed by God to the protection of several Countries Princes Families and Persons we have formerly spoken And though it be the opinion generally of the Greek Fathers and of many of the Latine and some of our later Protestant Divines that there is a particular Angel to every one those places are urged Matth. 18. Their Angels always stand before God Matth. 18.10 and Acts 12. it is his Angel I have said We need not be anxious about it Acts 12.15 for not onely one Angel but many watch about those that fear God Psal 91.11 Psal 91. He giveth his Angels charge over them Thirdly others say that she challengeth her self that she had no sooner taken knowledge of the Angel till he was gone Indeed such is the dulness and inadvertency contracted upon men that they take not knowledge of Gods dealing with them Jacob awaking out of sleep Gen. 28.16 saith Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not Gen. 28. It is a good while ere Samuel understandeth that it is God that speaketh to him and therefore twice he runneth to Eli to know his pleasure thinking he had called him 1 Sam. 31. It is long ere Gedeon is brought to a right understanding both of the party speaking and the things spoken unto him Judges 6. Judg. 6. Elihu in Job saith God speaketh once and twice and man perceiveth it not Job 33.14 And Saint Augustine saith of himself August 1 Conf. Deus in me loquebatur ego nesciebam the Lord spake in me and I knew it not Fourthly some make this the sense Have not I here also looked after him that seeth me That is Did he not see me first before I saw him It was so indeed and so it is with us all that God seeth us and seeketh us and looketh after us before we look after him yea look up to him or think of him we are so happie oftentimes invenire to finde him But this we could not do if he did not praevenire prevent us with his grace and favour He is fain to offer himself to be found and put desires into us of seeking him or else we should never finde nor seek him We cannot suspirare unless he first inspirare we cannot pant after him nor aspire toward him unless he first inspire us Bernard In that advancement of Gods love to man that Bernard maketh Quòd tantus tantùm tantillos tales gratis that the Omnipotent should take care of a creature so mean and impotent and of him onely and of him in such a state of sin and opposition to him and all this freely yet the highest is prior dilexit that God loved him first as Saint John saith not that we loved him but that he loved us first And I would to God it were our onely fault that when we do not begin but such is our weakness yea our wickedness that God offereth himself to be found and putteth good motions into us we do not look after him those motions do but make a thorow-fare of our souls nay they are like sparks they flie and die we do not cherish and foment them and pursue them and therefore still continue strangers unto God and have none acquaintance with him as we ought Fifthly some think the emphasis of this speech to lie in the word here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Did I ever look to finde God so neer me now in this desolate place where all comfort failed me Had it been in my Mistress house upon which Gods Sun doth ever shine it had not been so much Observ 4. The substance of Gods mercies much advanced by circumstances and especially in that be loved first but here in the wilderness that God should look upon me and speak unto me and passing by my former errours should comfort me this is extraordinary Certainly Gods mercies are much advanced according as they are circumstantiated as when there is but a weak beginning of them as the captive maid is the first wheel in Naamans cure when a great comfort is effected by weak means as Hezekiahs recovery is wrought by a bunch of figs or when the means are made glorious as when a great person helpeth a poor man in his misery or when the mercy cometh in a time unexpected as the message of the Angel to Saint Paul when all hopes of escaping were past or when a man is not so well disposed to receive the mercy Saint Paul was then converted when he was in his full sins against the Church And Hagar when she was out in rebellion Some have met with a mercy when they have come from lewd company Again the place addeth much unto it as when Iacob hath the promise renewed unto him and the vision of the ladder in his Iourney and when he lay in the open field And Saint Iohn that had his Revelation in the place of his banishment and certainly that man that will work his heart Application to be so truly thankfull as it ought he must admit the consideration of circumstances and recollect himself when and where and how and by what meanes God afforded him this and that favour for to take favours in the lumpe and gross and to consider them only in the bulk will not so warm the heart and melt it into gratitude as the laying of them open in all their adjuncts Lastly divers do interpret it thus I yet see that is I live though I have seen God because it was thought no man could see God and live I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved saith Jacob in way of rejoycing Gen. 32. Nay they were conceited Gen. 32.30 that if they had but seen an Angell they should dye As we see in Gideon Iudg. 6.22 perceiving it to be the Angell of the Lord he said alas O Lord God for I have seen an Angell of the Lord face to face But the Lord said unto him peace be unto thee fear not thou shalt not dye Manoah said to his wife we shall surely dye because we have seen God Iudg. 13. Iudg. 13.22 And the souldiers upon the apparition of the Angell did shake for fear and became as dead men Mat. 28.4 And this may let us see how gratiously God dealeth with us Mat. 28.4 that he teacheth us by men like unto our selves for the sight of God speaking in mount Sinai was so terrible that they say to Moses Exod. 20 19. Exod. 20. Speak thou unto us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die Nay God doth not think fit to deal with us by Angels in the Ministry of his word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Chrysostom the dispensation of his word and Gospel S. Chrysostom is not inintrusted unto Angels and why First they could not being of so sublime a nature have that