The Works of Mr. George Gillespie Part 44
Tribulation; 3. Mortification;-which make not three different senses, but three harmonious parts of one and the same sense.
I begin with _reformation_; concerning which I draw this doctrine from the text:-
"The right reformation of the church, which is according to the mind of Jesus Christ, is not without much molestation and displeasure to men's corrupt nature. It is a very purgatory upon earth: it is like the fire to drossy silver, and like fuller's soap to slovenly persons, who would rather keep the spots in their garments than take pains to wash them out."(1406)
Look but upon one piece of the accomplishment of this prophecy, and by it judge of the rest. When Christ cometh to Jerusalem, "meek, and sitting upon an a.s.s" (as the Prophet said), all the city is troubled at his coming, Matt. xxi. 5,10; when he had but cast out the buyers and sellers out of the temple, the priests and scribes begin to plot his death, Luke xix. 45, 47; nay, where Christ and the gospel cometh, there is a shaking of heaven and earth, Hag. ii. 6. The less wonder if I call reformation like a refiner's fire. The dross of a church is not purged away without this violence of fire.
This is the manner of reformation held forth in Scripture, and that in reference, 1. To magistrates and statesmen; 2. To ministers; 3. To a people reformed; 4. To a people not reformed.
In reference to magistrates and statesmen, reformation is a fire that purgeth away the dross: Isa. i. 25, "And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin." Here is the refiner's fire; and the Chaldee Paraphrase addeth the fuller's _borith_.
Then followeth, ver. 26, "And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, The faithful city." Interpreters note upon that place, that no effectual reformation can be looked for till rulers and magistrates be reformed; and that therefore the Lord promiseth to purge away the dross and tin of corrupt rulers and judges, and to give his people such judges and rulers as they had of old, Moses, Joshua, the judges, David, Solomon, and the like.
In reference to ministers the doctrine is most clear. The next words after my text tell you, that this refining fire is specially intended for purifying the sons of Levi. The same thing we have more largely, though more obscurely, in 1 Cor. iii. 12-15. I do not say that the Apostle there meaneth only of times of reformation, but this I say, that it holdeth true, and most manifestly, too, of times of reformation; and that this is not to be excluded, but to be taken in as a princ.i.p.al part of the Holy Ghost's intendment in that scripture.(1407) He is speaking of the ministers of the gospel and their ministry, supposing always that they build upon Christ, and hold to that true foundation. Upon this foundation some build gold, silver, precious stones; that is, such preaching of the word, such administration of the sacraments, such a church discipline, and such a life as is according to the word, and savoureth of Christ: others build wood, hay, stubble; whereby is meant whatsoever in their ministry is unprofitable, unedifying, vain, curious, unbeseeming the gospel; for the ministers of Christ must be purified, not only from heresy, idolatry, profaneness, and the like, but even from that which is frothy and unedifying, which savoureth not of G.o.d's Spirit, but of man's. Now, saith the Apostle, "Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." The church shall not always be deluded and abused with vanities that cannot profit. A time of light and reformation discovereth the unprofitableness of those things wherewith men did formerly please and satisfy themselves. There is a fire which will prove every man's work, even an accurate trial and strict examination thereof, according to the rule of Christ; a narrow inquiry into, and exact discovery of every man's work (for so do our divines(1408) understand the fire there spoken of), whether this fiery trial be made by the searching and discovering light of the word in a time of reformation, or by afflictions, or in a man's own conscience at the hour of death. If by some or all of these trials, a minister's work be found to be what it ought to be, he shall receive a special reward and praise; but if he have built wood, hay, and stubble, he shall be like a man whose house is set on fire about his ears; that is, he shall suffer loss, and his work shall be burnt, yet himself shall escape, and get his life for a prey, "so as by fire;" that is, so that he can abide that trial and examination whereby G.o.d distinguisheth between sincere ones and hypocrites; or, so that he be found to have been otherwise a faithful minister, and to have built upon a right foundation.
In the third place, you shall find reformation to be a refining fire in reference to a people or church reformed: "He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy," saith the Prophet; "when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning," Isa. iv. 3, 4.
Where you may understand(1409) by the filth of the daughters of Zion, their former idolatries, and such like abominations against the first table (which the prophets call often by the name of filth and pollution); and by the blood of Jerusalem, the sins against the second table. These the Lord promiseth to purge away by the spirit of judgment; that is, by a spirit of reformation (according to that John xii. 31, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out").
Which spirit of reformation is also a spirit of burning; even as the Holy Ghost is elsewhere called fire (Matt. iii. 11), and did come down upon the apostles in the likeness of cloven tongues of fire (Acts ii. 3). The spirit of reformation may be the rather called the spirit of burning, because ordinarily reformation is not without tribulation (as we shall hear) and by the voice of the rod doth the Spirit speak to men's consciences. When the Lord hath thus washed away the filthy spots, and burnt away the filthy dross of his church, then (Isa. iv. 5) she becomes a glory or a praise in the earth; and the promise is, that "upon all the glory shall be a defence:" but, you see, she is not brought to that condition till she go through the refiner's fire. It is no easy matter to cast Satan out of a person,-how much less to cast his kingdom out of a land? Another place for the same purpose we find, Zech. xiii. 9: When two parts of the land are cut off, the remnant which escape, the third part which is "written to life in Jerusalem," even they must be brought through the fire. "I will bring the third part through the fire (saith the Lord), and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." This is the fiery trial of affliction, but the fruit of it is a blessed reformation, to make the church as most pure refined gold: "They shall call on my name, and I will hear them;" that is, they shall no longer worship idols, but me only, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness, which shall be accepted. And what more? "I will say It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my G.o.d." Behold, a reforming people and a covenanting people. But he that hath his fire in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem (Isa. x.x.xi. 9), doth first refine them and purify them. We are not reformed, in G.o.d's account, till the refining fire have purged away our dross; till we be refined as silver is refined, and tried as gold is tried.
Lastly, In reference to a people not reformed, hear what the Prophet saith: Jer. vi. 28-30, "They are bra.s.s and iron; they are all corrupters.
The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melteth in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them." The Chaldee Paraphrase expoundeth it of the prophets who laboured in vain, and spent their strength for nought, speaking to the people in the name of the Lord, to turn to the law and to the testimony; but they would not turn.
I might draw many uses from this doctrine; but I shall content myself with these few:-
First of all, it reproveth that contrary principle which carnal reason suggesteth: Reformation must not grieve, but please; it must not break nor bruise, but heal and bind up; it must be an acceptable thing, not displeasing; it must be "as the voice of harpers harping with their harps," but not "as the voice of many waters," or "as the voice of great thunders." Thus would many heal the wound of the daughter of Zion slightly, and daub the wall with untempered mortar, and so far comply with the sinful humours and inclinations of men, as, in effect, to harden them in evil, and to strengthen their hands in their wickedness; or at least, if men be moralised, then to trouble them no farther. Saith not the Apostle, "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ"?
Gal. i. 10; and again, "The carnal mind is enmity against G.o.d; for it is not subject to the law of G.o.d, neither indeed can be," Rom. viii. 7. So that either we must have a reformation displeasing to G.o.d, or displeasing to men. It is not the right reformation which is not displeasing to a Tobiah, to a Sanballat, to a Demetrius, to the earthly-minded, to the self-seeking politicians, to the carnal and profane; it is but the old enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen.
iii. 15): nay, what if reformation be displeasing to good men, in so far as they are unregenerate, carnal, earthly, proud, unmortified (for "who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin," Prov. xx. 9)?
What if a Joshua envy Eldad and Medad (Num. xi. 27-29)? What if an Aaron and a Miriam speak against Moses (xii. 1, 2)? What if a religious Asa be wroth with the seer (2 Chron. xvi. 10)? What if a David will not alter his former judgment, though very erroneous, and will not (no, not after better information) have it thought that he was in an error (2 Sam. xix. 29)?
What if a Jonah refuse to go to Nineveh when he is called (Jonah i. 3)?
What if the disciples of Christ must be taught to be more humble (Mark ix.
33-35)? What if Peter must be reproved by Paul for his dissimulation (Gal.
ii. 11)? What if Archippus must be admonished to attend better upon his ministry (Col. iv. 17)? What if Christ must tell the angels of the churches that he hath somewhat against them (Rev. ii., iii.)? If reformation displease both evil men, and, in some respect, good men, this makes it no worse than "a refiner's fire;" and so it must be, if it be according to the mind of Christ.
My second and chief application shall be unto you, my n.o.ble lords. If you be willing to admit such a reformation as is according to the mind of Christ, as is like the "refiner's fire" and "fuller's soap," then, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (who will say, ere long, to every one of you, "Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward," Luke xvi. 2), I recommend these three things unto you,-I mean, that you should make use of this "refiner's fire" in reference to three sorts of dross: 1. The dross of _malignancy_; 2. The dross of _heresy and corruption in religion_; 3. The dross of _profaneness_.
Touching the first of these, take the wise counsel of the wise man, Prov.
xxv. 4, 5, "Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness." Remember, also, the fourth article of your solemn league and covenant, by which you have obliged yourselves, with your hands lifted up to the most high G.o.d, to endeavour the discovery, trial, and condign punishment of all such as have been, or shall be incendiaries, malignants, or evil instruments, by hindering the reformation of religion, dividing the king from his people, or one of the kingdoms from another, or making any faction or parties among the people contrary to this covenant. There was once a compliance between the n.o.bles of Judah and the Samaritans, which I hope you do not read of without abominating the thing: You find it, Neh. vi. 17, 19, "In those days the n.o.bles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. Also (saith Nehemiah) they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him." But you have also the error of a G.o.dly man set before you as a rock to be avoided, 2 Chron. xix.
2, "Shouldest thou help the unG.o.dly, and love them that hate the Lord?
therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." I am not to dwell upon this point: "I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say."
In the second place, think of the extirpation of heresy and of unsound dangerous doctrine, such as now springeth up apace, and subverted the faith of many. There is no heretic nor false teacher which hath not some one fair pretext or another; but bring him once to be tried by this refining fire, he is found to be "like a potsherd covered with silver dross," Prov. xxvi. 23. "What is the chaff to the wheat?" saith the Lord (Jur. xxiii. 28), and what is the dross to the silver? If this be the way of Christ which my text speaketh of, then, sure, that which now pa.s.seth under the name of "liberty of conscience" is not the way of Christ. Much hath been written of this question; for my part I shall, for the present, only offer this one argument: If liberty of conscience ought to be granted in matters of religion, it ought also to be granted in matters civil or military; but liberty of conscience ought not to be granted in matters civil or military, as is acknowledged, therefore neither ought it to be granted in matters of religion. Put the case: Now there be some well-meaning men, otherwise void of offence, who, from the erroneous persuasion of their consciences, think it utterly sinful, and contrary to the word of G.o.d, to take arms in the Parliament's service, or to contribute to this present war, or to obey any ordinance of the lords and commons, which tendeth to the resisting of the king's forces. Now compare this case with the case of a Socinian, Arminian, Antinomian, or the like: they both plead for liberty of conscience; they both say our conscience ought not to be compelled, and if we do against our conscience, we sin. I beseech you, how can you give liberty of conscience to the heretic, and yet refuse liberty of conscience to him that is the conscientious recusant in point of the war? I am sure there can be no answer given to this argument which will not be resolved into this principle: Men's consciences may be compelled for the good of the state, but not for the glory of G.o.d; we must not suffer the state to sink, but if religion sink we cannot help it. This is the plain English of it.
When I speak against liberty of conscience, it is far from my meaning to advise any rigorous or violent course against such as, being sound in the faith, and holy in life, and not of a turbulent or factious carriage, do differ in smaller matters from the common rule. "Let that day be darkness; let not G.o.d regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it"
(Job. iii. 4), in which it shall be said that the children of G.o.d in Britain are enemies and persecutors of each other. He is no good Christian who will not say Amen to the prayer of Jesus Christ (John xvii. 21), that all who are his may be one in him. If this be heartily wished, let it be effectually endeavoured; and let those who will choose a dividing way rather than a uniting way bear the blame.
The third part of my application shall be to stir you up, right honourable, to a willing condescending to the settling of church-government, in such a manner, as that neither ignorant nor scandalous persons may be admitted to the holy table of the Lord. Let there be, in the house of G.o.d, fuller's soap, to take off those who are "spots in your feasts," and a refining fire to take away the dross from the silver. Psal. cxix. 119, "Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross," saith David. Take away, therefore, the wicked from before the King of glory, for they shall not stand before him who hateth "all workers of iniquity," Psal. v. 5. You see G.o.d puts all profane ones in one category, and so should you. There is a like reason against seven, and against seventy scandals; or, if you please to make a catalogue of seven, you may, provided it be such as G.o.d himself makes in the fifth verse of this chapter, where seven sorts are reckoned forth, as some interpreters compute; but the last of the seven is general and comprehensive, ?a? t??? f???????? e, as the Septuagint have it,-_and those that fear not me_,-those, saith one, who are called in the New Testament ?see??,-_unG.o.dly_. Jerome noteth upon the place,(1410) that though men shall not be guilty of the aforementioned particulars, yet G.o.d makes this crime enough, that they are unG.o.dly. Nay, I dare undertake to draw out of Erastus himself, the great adversary, a catalogue of seven sorts of persons to be kept off from the Lord's table, and such a catalogue as G.o.dly ministers can be content with. But of this elsewhere.
Most horribly hath the Lord's table been profaned formerly in this kingdom, by the admission of scandalous persons. G.o.d will wink at it no longer,-now is the opportunity of reformation. The Parliament of England, if any state in the world, oweth much to Jesus Christ; and he will take it very ill at your hands, if ye do him not right in this. I say do him right; for, alas! what is it to ministers? It were more for their ease, and for pleasing of the people, to admit all; but a necessity is laid upon us, that we dare not do it; and woe unto us if we do it. And for your part, should you not establish such a rule as may put a difference between the precious and the vile, the clean and the unclean, you shall in so far make the churches of Christ in a worse condition, and more disabled to keep themselves pure, than either they were of old under pagan emperors, or now are under popish princes, you shall also strengthen, instead of silencing, the objections both of Separatists(1411) and Socinians,(1412) who have, with more than a colour of advantage, opened their mouths wide against some reformed churches, for their not exercising of discipline against scandalous and profane persons, and particularly for not suspending them from the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Nay, which is yet more, if you should refuse that which I speak of, you shall come short of that which heathens themselves, in their way, did make conscience of, for they did interdict and keep off from their holy things all such as they esteemed profane and scandalous, whom therefore they called ??a?e??, that is, accused or delated persons. In this manner was Alchibades excommunicate at Athens, and Virginia at Rome, the former recorded by Plutarch, the latter by Livius. I trust G.o.d shall never so far desert this Parliament as that, in this particular, pagan and popish princes, Separatists, Socinians and heathens shall rise up in judgment against you.
I am persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation; and, namely, that you will not suffer the name and truth of G.o.d to be, through you, blasphemed and reproached.
Do ye not remember the sad sentence against Eli and his house, "Because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not," 1 Sam. iii.
13. The Apostle tells us, that the judgment of G.o.d abideth not only on those that commit sin, but those also who consent with them, Rom. i. 32.
Aquinas upon that place saith, We may consent to the sins of others two ways: 1. Directly, by counselling, approving, &c.; 2. Indirectly, by not hindering when we can. And so did Eli consent to the vileness of his sons, because, though he reproved them, he did not restrain them.
There is a law, Exod. xxi. 29, "But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death." It could be no excuse to say, I intended no such thing, and it is a grief of heart to me that such mischief is done. That which I aim at is this: The Directory which you have lately established saith, "The ignorant and the scandalous are not fit to receive this sacrament of the Lord's supper;" and therefore ministers are appointed to warn all such in the name of Christ, that they presume not to come to that holy table. It is now desired that this, which you have already acknowledged to be according to the word of G.o.d and nature of that holy ordinance, may be made effectual, and, for that end, that the power of discipline be added to the power of doctrine, otherwise you are guilty, in G.o.d's sight, of not restraining those that make themselves vile.
In the third and last place, I shall apply my doctrine to the sons of Levi, and that in a twofold consideration: 1. Actively; 2. Pa.s.sively.
Actively, because, if we be like our Master, even followers of Jesus Christ, or partakers of his unction, then our ministry will have not only light, but fire in it,-we must be burning as well as shining lights (John v. 35), not only shining with the light of knowledge, and of the doctrine which is according to G.o.dliness, but burning also with zeal for reforming abuses, and purging of the church from the dross thereof. Which made Augustine(1413) to apply propologically to ministers, that which is said of the angels of heaven, Psal. civ. 4, "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire." Satan hath many incendiaries against the kingdom of Christ. O that we were Christ's incendiaries against the kingdom of Satan! If we will indeed appear zealous for the Lord, let it not seem strange if the adversaries of reformation say of us, as they said of the apostles themselves, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also," Acts xvii. 6. Yet it shall be no grief of heart to us afterward, but peace and joy unspeakable, that we have endeavoured to do our duty faithfully.
Pa.s.sively also the application must be made, because the sons of Levi must, in the first place, go through this refining fire themselves, and they, most of all other men, have need to be, and must be, refined from their dross. I find in Scripture that these three things had a beginning among the priests and prophets: 1. Sin, error, and scandal, beginneth at them, Jer. l. 6, "Their shepherds have caused them to go astray;" xxiii.
15, "From the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land." 2. Judgment begins at them, Ezek. ix. 6, "Slay utterly old and young,-and begin at my sanctuary." 3. The refining work of reformation beginneth, or ought to begin, at the purging and refining of the sons of Levi; so you have it in the next words after my text, and where Hezekiah beginneth his reformation at the sanctifying of the priests and Levites, 2 Chron. xxix. 4, 5, &c. But as it was then in Judah, it is now in England, some of the sons of Levi are more upright to sanctify themselves than others. The fire that I spake of before will prove every man and his work.
I am sorry I have occasion to add a third application. But come on, and I will show you greater things than these. What will you say, if any be found among the sons of Levi, that will neither be active nor pa.s.sive in the establishing of the church-refining and sin-censuring government of Jesus Christ, but will needs appear upon the stage against it. This was done in a late sermon now come abroad, which hath given no small scandal and offence. I am confident every other G.o.dly minister will say, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth before I do the like.
I have done with that which the text holds forth concerning reformation.
The second way how Christ is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, is in respect of tribulation, which either followeth or accompanieth his coming into his temple. Affliction is indeed a refining fire: Psal.
lxvi. 10, "For thou, O G.o.d, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried;" ver. 12, "We went through fire and through water;" 1 Pet. i. 6, 7, "Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise," &c. Affliction is also the fuller's soap to purify and make white: Dan. xi. 35; xii. 10, "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried;" where the same word is used from which I said before the fuller's soap hath its name.
The doctrine shall be this: "Tribulation doth either accompany or follow after the work of reformation or purging of the house of G.o.d." So it was when Christ himself came into his temple: Luke xii. 49, 51, "I am come to send fire on the earth. Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?
I tell you, Nay; but rather division;"-so it was when the Apostles were sent forth into the world: Peter applieth to that time the words of Joel, "And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood," Acts ii. 19, 20. The meaning is, such tribulation shall follow the gospel, which shall be like the darkening of the great lights of the world, and, as it were, a putting of heaven and earth out of their course, so great a change and calamity shall come. The experience both of the ancient and now reformed churches doth also abundantly confirm this doctrine. Neither must we think that all the calamities of the church are now overpast. Who can be a.s.sured that that hour of greatest darkness, the killing of the witnesses, is past, and all that sad prophecy, Rev. xi., fulfilled? And if some be not much mistaken,(1414) it is told, Dan. xii. 1, that there shall be greater tribulation about the time of the Jews' conversion than any we have yet seen: "At that time," saith the angel to Daniel, "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."
I make haste to the uses; and, first, let me give unto G.o.d the glory of his truth. If we have been deceived, surely he hath not deceived us; for he hath given us plain warning in his word, and hath not kept up from us the worst things which ever have or ever shall come upon his church. And now when the sword of the Lord hath gotten a charge against these three covenanting and reforming kingdoms, is this any other than the word of the Lord, that when Christ cometh into his temple, "Who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap."
And for the invasion of Scotland by such an enemy after a reformation, is it any new thing? May we not say, that which is hath been? Did not Sennacherib invade Judah after Hezekiah's reformation? 2 Chron. x.x.xii. 1.
And though, after the reformation of Asa, and after the reformation of Jehoshaphat also (2 Chron. xiv. 9; xx. 1), the land had a short rest and a breathing time, yet not long after a foreign invasion followed both upon the one reformation and the other. Nay, look what is the worst thing which hath befallen to Scotland as yet;-as much, yea, worse, hath formerly befallen to the church and people of G.o.d toward whom the Lord had thoughts of peace, and not of evil,-to give them an expected end. I say it not for diminishing anything either from the sin or shame of Scotland; the Lord forbid:-we will bear the indignation of the Lord, because we have sinned against him; we will lay our hand upon our mouth, and accept the punishment of our iniquity; we will bear our shame for ever, because our Father hath spit in our face, our rock hath sold us, and our strength hath departed from us;-but I say it by way of answering him that reproacheth in the gates, and by way of pleading for the truth of G.o.d. Some have objected to our reproach, that when the Lord required the Israelites to appear before him in Jerusalem thrice a year, he promised that no man should invade their habitations in their absence, Exod. x.x.xiv. 23, 24; "which gracious providence of his, no doubt (says one(1415)), continues still protecting all such as are employed by his command;" yet it hath not been so with Scotland during the time of their armies being in England. I answer, besides that which hath been said already, even in this the word and work of G.o.d do well agree; and that Scripture ought not to be so applied to us, except the Canaanites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites of our time had been all cast out of our borders (we find this day too many of them lurking there, and waiting their opportunity); for the Septuagint, and many of the interpreters(1416) read that text thus: "For when I shall cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders, no man shall desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy G.o.d thrice in the year:" and this is the true sense, read it as you will; for the promise is limited to the time of casting out the nations, and enlarging their borders (which came not to pa.s.s till the days of Solomon). It is certain that, from the time of making that promise, the people had not ever liberty and protection for keeping the three solemn feasts in the place of the sanctuary; as might be proved from divers foreign invasions and spoilings of that land for some years together; whereof we read in the book of the Judges. But I go on.
In the second place, let G.o.d have the glory of his just and righteous dealings. Let us say with Job, "I will leave my complaint upon myself,"
[and say unto G.o.d,] "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me," Job x. 1, 2. But, by all means, take heed you conceive not an ill opinion of the covenant and cause of G.o.d, or the reformation of religion, because of the tribulation which followeth thereupon. Say not it was a good old world when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, "for then we were well and saw no evil." "But (said the people to Jeremiah) since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine," Jer. xliv. 18. To such I answer, in the words of Solomon, "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these?
for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this," Eccl. vii. 10. Was the people's coming out of Egypt the cause why their carca.s.ses did fall in the wilderness? Or was it their murmuring and rebelling against the Lord which brought that wrath upon them? If thou wilt inquire wisely concerning this thing, read Zephaniah, chap. i. In the days of Isaiah, even in the days of Judah's best reformation, the Lord sent this message by the Prophet: "I will utterly consume all things from off the land," Zeph. i. 2; "And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung," ver. 17. What was the reason of it? It is plainly told them (and let us take it all home to ourselves), because, notwithstanding of that public reformation, there was a remnant of Baal in the land, and the Chemarims, and those who halt between two opinions; who swear by the Lord (or to the Lord, which is expounded of the taking of the covenant in Josiah's time), but they swear by Malcham also, ver. 4, 5.
There are others who do not seek the Lord, nor inquire after him, and many that turn back from the Lord in a course of backsliding (ver. 6); others clothed with strange apparel (ver. 8); others, exercising violence and deceit (ver. 9); a number of atheists also, living among G.o.d's people (ver. 12). For these and the like causes doth the land mourn. It is not the covenant, but the broken covenant; it is not the reformation, but the want of a real and personal reformation, that hath drawn on the judgment.
Blessed are they who shall keep their garments clean, and shall be able to say, "All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant," Psal. xliv. 17.
Thirdly, Give G.o.d the glory of his wisdom. Many are now crying, "How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?"
Psal. lx.x.xix. 46. Your answer from G.o.d is, that the rod shall be indeed removed, and even cast into the fire in your stead, but when? It shall be "when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerusalem," Isa. x. 12. If the judgment have not yet done all the work it was sent for, then "they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them" (Ezek. xv. 7), saith the Lord. G.o.d is a wise refiner, and will not take the silver out of the fire till the dross be purged away from it. He is a wise father who will not cast the rod of correction till it have driven away all that folly which is bound up in the hearts of his children: "Behold, therefore (saith the Lord) I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and bra.s.s, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you," Ezek. xxii. 19, 20. He speaks it to those who had escaped the captivity of Jehoiakim, and also the captivity of Jehoiachin, and thought they should be safe and secure in Jerusalem when their brethren were in Babylon: I will gather you, saith the Lord, even in the midst of Jerusalem, and when you think you are out of one furnace, you shall fall into another; and, if you will not be refined from your dross, you shall never come out of that furnace, but I will melt you there, and leave you there: which did so come to pa.s.s; for the residue that escaped to Egypt, and thought to shelter themselves there, as likewise those that remained in Jerusalem, and held out that siege with Zedekiah,-even all these did fall under the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence, till they were consumed, Jer. xxiv. 8, 10. Let those that are longest spared take heed they be not sorest smitten. Say not with Agag, "The bitterness of death is past." The child chastised in the afternoon weeps as sore as the child chastised in the forenoon. Remember the Lord will not take away the judgment till he have performed his work, yea, his whole work, and that upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem itself. It is no light matter; the rod must be very heavy before our uncirc.u.mcised hearts can be humbled, and the furnace very hot before our dross depart from us. We have need of all the sore strokes which we mourn under, and if one less could do the turn, it would be spared, for the Lord doth not afflict willingly: we ourselves rive every stroke out of his hand.
But, in the fourth and last place, let us give G.o.d the glory of his mercy also; he means to do us good in our latter end. It is the hand of a father, not of an enemy: it is a refining, not a consuming fire. The poor mourners in Zion are ready to say, "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts" (Ezek. x.x.xvii. 11); we are like to lie in this fire and furnace for ever, because our dross is not departed from us; we are still an unhumbled, an unbroken, an unmortified generation; yea, many like Ahaz, in the time of affliction, trespa.s.sing yet more against the Lord, many thinking of going back again to Egypt. To such I have these two things to say for their comfort: First, There is a remnant which shall not only be delivered, but purified, and shall come forth as gold out of the fire. The third part shall be refined, and the Lord shall say, "It is my people," Zech xiii. 9. And a most sweet promise there is after the saddest denunciation of judgment: Ezek. xiv. 22, 23, "Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their ways and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all the evil that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord G.o.d;" Dan. xii. 10, "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." After the promise of delivering those that were carried away to Babylon, there is another promise added of that which was much better: Jer. xxiv. 7, "I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their G.o.d; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart;" Psal. cx.x.x. 8, "He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities;" Zeph. iii. 12, 13, "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth." Let your souls now apply these and the like promises, and cry, Lord, remember thy promise, and let not a jot of thy good word fall to the ground. Secondly, As the promises of spiritual and eternal blessings, so the promises of peace and temporal deliverances are not legal, but even evangelical. If we be not refined and purged as we ought to be, that is a matter of humiliation to us, but it is also a matter of magnifying the riches of free mercy: Isa. xlviii. 9-11, "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own name's sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it." The Lord is there arguing with his people, to humble them, to convince them, and to cut off all matter of glorying from them; and among other things, lest they should glory in this, that whatever they were before, they became afterward as silver refined seven times in the furnace:(1417) Nay, saith the Lord, I have refined you in some sort, but not as silver, not so as that you are clean from your dross; but I have chosen you, and set my love upon you, even while you are in the furnace not yet refined; and I will deliver you, even for my own name's sake, that you may owe your deliverance for ever to free mercy, and not to your own repentance and amendment. A land is accepted, and a people's peace made with G.o.d, not by their repentance and humiliation, but by Christ believed on: Mic. v. 5, "This man shall be the peace, when the a.s.syrian shall come into our land."
There were sin-offerings and burnt-offerings appointed in the law for a national atonement (Lev. iv., xiii., xxi.; Num. xv. 25, 26) which did typify pardoning of national sins through the merit of Jesus Christ. We must improve the office of the Mediator, and the promise of free grace, in the behalf of G.o.d's people, as well as of our own souls, which, if it be indeed done, will not hinder, but further a great mourning and deep humiliation in the land. And so much of tribulation.
The third thing held forth in this text (of which I must be very short) is mortification. This also is a refining fire: Matt. iii. 11, "He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire;" Mark ix. 49, "For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." He hath been before speaking of mortification, of the plucking out of the right eye, the cutting off the right hand, or the right foot, and now he presseth the same thing by a double allusion to the law,-there was a necessity both of fire and salt; the sacrifice was seasoned with salt (Lev. ii. 13), and the fire upon the altar was not to be put out, but every morning the wood was burnt upon it, and the burnt-offering laid upon it (Lev. vi. 12, 13). So if we will present ourselves as a holy and acceptable sacrifice to G.o.d, we must be seasoned with the salt, and our corruptions burnt up with the fire of mortification.
The doctrine shall be this: "It is not enough to join in public reformation, yea, to suffer tribulation for the name of Christ, except we also endeavour mortification." This mortification is a third step distinct from the other two, and without this the other two can make us but "almost Christians," or, "not far from the kingdom of G.o.d." In the parable of the sower and the seed, as we find it both in Matthew (chap. xiii.), Mark (chap, iv.), and Luke (chap, viii.), this method may be observed, That of the four sorts of ground, the second is better than the first, the third better than the second, but the fourth only is the good ground, which is fruitful, and getteth a blessing. Some men's hearts are like the highway, and the hardbeaten road, where every foul spirit, and every l.u.s.t hath walked and conversed, their consciences, through the custom of sin, are, as it were, "seared with a hot iron;" in these the word takes no place, but all that they bear doth presently slip from them. Others receive the word with a present good affection and delight, but have no depth of earth; that is, neither having had a work of the law upon their consciences for deep humiliation, nor being rooted and grounded in love to the gospel, nor, peradventure, so much as grounded in the knowledge of the truth, nor having counted their cost, and solidly resolved for suffering; thereupon it comes to pa.s.s, when suffering times come, these wither away, and come to nothing. There is a third sort, who go a step farther; they have some root, and some more solid ground than the former, so that they can suffer many things, and not fall away because of persecution, yet they perish through want of mortification. One may suffer persecution for Christ, not being sore tried in that which is his idol l.u.s.t, yet enduring great losses and crosses in other things: of such it is said, that "the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the l.u.s.ts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful,"
Mark iv. 19. Mark that, "the l.u.s.ts of other things;" that is, whether it be the l.u.s.t of the eyes, or the l.u.s.t of the flesh, or the pride of life; and he speaks of the "entering in;" meaning of some strong tentation coming upon a man to catch him in that which is the great idol of his heart, and his beloved l.u.s.t, whatever it be; such a tentation he never found before, and therefore thought the l.u.s.t had been mortified, which was but lurking. Did not Judas suffer many things with Christ during the time of his public ministry? Did not Ananias and Sapphira suffer, for a season, with the apostles and church at Jerusalem? What was it then that lost them? They neither made defection from the profession of the truth, nor did they fall away because of persecution; but having shined in the light a sound profession, having also taken up the cross, and borne the reproach of Christ, they made shipwreck at last upon an unmortified l.u.s.t.
I shall enlarge the doctrine no further, but touch upon some few uses, and so an end.
First, Let all and every one of us be convinced of the necessity of our further endeavouring after mortification. The best silver which cometh out of the earth hath dross in it, and therefore needeth the refiner's fire; and the whitest garment that is worn will touch some unclean thing or other, and therefore will need the fuller's soap. The best of G.o.d's children have the dross of their inherent corruptions to purge away; which made Paul say, "I keep under my body, and bring it unto subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway," 1 Cor. ix. 27. It is a speech borrowed from reprobate silver which is not refined from dross, and so is the word used by the Septuagint, Isa. i. 22, t? ???????? ??? ?d????? "Thy silver is become dross." The Apostle therefore sets himself to the study of mortification, lest, saith he, when I have been refining and purifying others, I myself be found to be drossy silver. And as there is _inherent_ dross, so there is _adherent_ uncleanness in the best; and who can say that he hath kept his garments so clean that he is "unspotted of the world" (Isa. i. 27), or that he hath so separated himself from the pollutions of the world as that he hath touched no unclean thing: so that there is an universal necessity of making use both of the refiner's fire, and of the fuller's soap.
Secondly, Let us once become willing and contented, yea, desirous to be thoroughly mortified. A man's l.u.s.ts and corruptions are indeed so strongly interested in himself, and his corruptions are his members, therefore, when we leave off sin, we are said to live no more "to ourselves," 2 Cor.