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Title: The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Author: Latimer, Hugh, 1485?-1555, Knox, John, 1514?-1572, Welch, John, 1568?-1622
Language: English
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The Pulpit of the Reformation;
No. 1, October 30, 1834.
Containing
The Last Judgment,
By John Welch.
The Day Of Judgment,
By Bishop Latimer.
No. 2, December 1, 1834.
Containing
The Parable Of The Householders,
And The
Parable Of The Tares,
By Bishop Latimer.
No. 3, January 1, 1835, and No. 4, February 1, 1835.
Containing
A Sermon Preached Before Queen Mary
By John Knox
To Which Is Subjoined An Extract From Knox’s Admonition To The People Of
England.
Aberdeen:
Published By
George King, 28, St. Nicholas Street,
And
Robert King, Broad Street, Peterhead
CONTENTS
The Last Judgment.
By The Rev. John Welch, A. D. 1570-1622.
The Day Of Judgment.
Extracted From A Sermon By Hugh Latimer, Bishop Of Worcester, And Martyr,
1555.
The Parable Of The Householder.
A Sermon, By Bishop Latimer.
The Parable Of The Tares,
By Bishop Latimer, Preached On The 7th Of February, 1553.
A Sermon On Isaiah XXVI.
By John Knox.
“It Is I, Be Not Afraid.”
Extracted From Knox’s Admonition To England.
Footnotes
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
BY THE REV. JOHN WELCH, A. D. 1570-1622.
REV. xx. 11.—_And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on
it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away._
The security of all flesh is wonderous great, for there is a fearful sleep
fallen both upon the good and the evil. The foolish virgins are sound
asleep, and the wise are asleep also. And suppose the Lord be at the door,
and the hour of judgment at hand, and the seventh angel ready to blow the
last trumpet, when time shall be no more; yet it is scarcely one of a
thousand, yea, one of ten thousand, is to be found that is prepared, and
busying themselves to meet the Lord, who is making speed to come in the
clouds: and how soon that fire shall break forth, which shall kindle the
heavens above your head, and the earth under your feet, and shall set all
on fire; how soon the trumpet shall blow, and the shout shall cry, “Rise,
Dead, and come to judgment,” is only known to God, and to no mortal man.
Will ye not then be wakened till this trumpet waken you? And will none of
you take pains to look over the leaves of your conscience, and read what
sins are written there, since ye came into the world, before that day of
doom come upon you? O that ye knew that eternity, and that terror of the
day of the Lord, when the heavens above you, and the earth beneath you,
shall not be able to stand before the face of him that sits on the throne!
Therefore I hope the Lord has made choice to me of this text, at this
time, to give you warning before the judgment come. Ye know the watchman
that the Lord takes from among the people, that he sets over the city or
house to credit to them, “If ye see the sword and pestilence coming, and
warn them not, the blood of them that perish under the judgment for lack
of warning, will be required at his hand,” that is, the watchman’s;
therefore it is time for me to be making warning to you, and, in the
measure of strength that God will give me, I am to make warning not of a
temporal judgment, but of an everlasting judgment that is coming on, (God
waken you and warn you in time!) that when ye shall see the Judge sit on
his throne, your hearts may not tremble at his awful countenance, having
gotten your souls washed in his blood. But, to come to the purpose, there
are many visions in this book, and there are many things done here, that
the Son shews to his servant John. He shews him first the present state of
the Church at that time in the world, under the name of seven stars, and
he tells, “they are suffering, and had patience; and they laboured for his
name’s sake, and fainted not; but yet he had somewhat against them,
because they had forsaken their first love.” Some were in tribulation and
poverty, but yet rich in God; some kept the name of Jesus, and denied not
the faith, suppose they should had given their blood for it, as the
faithful martyr Antipas did; but yet he had a few things against them,
because they maintained the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing he
hated. Some had love, service, faith, and patience, and their work was
more at the last than at the first; but yet they suffered the false
prophetess Jezebel to be among them, to whom he threatens he will cast her
into a bed of affliction, and them that commit fornication with her,
except they repent them of their works. There were some whose works were
not found perfect before God; therefore he exhorts them to remember how
they had heard, and received; he bids them hold fast and repent,
otherwise, he tells, that he will come shortly against them. Some had a
little strength, and kept his word, and denied not his name; therefore he
promises to deliver them in the hour of temptation that shall come upon
all the world to try the whole earth. Some were neither cold nor hot; and
therefore, because they were lukewarm, he tells them that it would come to
pass, that he would spew them out of his mouth; they thought they were
rich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing, but they know not
that they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; and then he
counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that they might be
rich, and white raiment, that they might be clothed, and eye-salve that
they might see. So what is your case this day? Have ye not forsaken your
first love? But as for tribulation, it is not yet come; for our days have
been days of peace, of light, liberty, and glory; but as for tribulation
it is not yet come; but as the Lord lives, the days of tribulation are not
far off. As for false doctrine, God be praised, it is not among us yet,
or, at least, if it be, it dare not be avowed yet; but I fear, that, who
lives to see it, they shall see heresy and corruption in doctrine and
religion creep in piece and piece, in this Church; and if our works be
found perfect before God, or not, the Lord knows the contrary, and your
own consciences bear witness to it; and if your life be answerable to your
name, I leave it to your consciences to judge, if we have not a name that
we are living, and yet are dead; and whether this be not the doleful state
of the generation that is neither cold nor hot. It is clear, the zeal of
the glory of God, being so worn out of the hearts of all, plainly declares
the same. But I leave this. After he had shewed him the present state of
the Church, at that time, then he tells him what shall be the state of the
Church unto the end of the world.
And _first_, in the vision of a sealed book, containing these acts
concerning the Church, which none could open but the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, for it was sealed with seven seals. Now, what was contained in
these seven seals? This will take a larger time to declare than now is
meet to ware upon it.
Mark always of these things spoken, there are three consolations to the
Church of God; howsoever it be that she be in tribulation, or poverty, and
affliction; and albeit it come to pass, that the devil cast some of them
in prison, that they may be tried, and some have tribulation ten days,
which is but a short time; and howsoever it be that our adversary goes
about continually like “a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour;” but yet,
“he that rides on the white horse,” with the badge at his belt, and the
arrows at his side, he shall get the victory at the end of the world; and
to them that are faithful to the death, he shall give them a crown of
life.
Mark _next_, suppose the sword, the famine, the pestilence, these temporal
judgments, be common to the godly as well as to the wicked, yet there is
consolation to the “souls of them that are slain for the testimony of
Jesus, they are lying under the altar, and they cry with a loud voice,
Lord, how long, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
upon them that dwell on the earth?” Then it was said unto them, “that they
should rest for a little season, until their fellow-servants and brethren,
that should be killed, as they were, should be fulfilled.”
Mark, _thirdly_, the sixth seal is opened, “and there was a great
earthquake, and the sun was as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
was like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, and heaven
departed away as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places; and then the kings of the
earth, and the great men, and rich men, and the captains, and the mighty
men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in dens and
rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us,
and hide us from the presence of him that sits on the throne, and from the
face of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be
able to stand?” Then shall the Church of God be avenged on her enemies;
then she shall have power over the nations, and shall rule them with a rod
of iron, and as the vessels of a potter they shall be broken; then shall
the saints of God be brought out of great tribulation, and have their long
robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; they shall be in the
presence of the throne of God, and serve him both day and night in his
temple; and he that sits on the throne shall live among them, and he that
is in the midst of the throne shall govern them, and shall lead them to
the lively fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes. Now, I go forward. After this, he tells him, before this day
the Gospel shall be wonderfully restrained; “And the bottomless pit shall
be opened, and the smoke of that pit shall arise as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air shall be made dark with that smoke: and
out of that smoke shall come locusts upon the earth, and they shall have
power as the scorpions of the earth have, and the pain of them shall be as
the pain of a scorpion, when he have stung a man. And in these days men
shall seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and
death shall fly from them.” Then he tells two woes that shall come upon
the earth, the one of the Antichrist, the other of the Turk, “who shall
run through the world and slay the third part of men, and shall lead their
great army of twenty times ten thousand horsemen of war, and there should
be two witnesses raised up, and power should be given them to prophesy so
many days clothed in sackcloth; and if any man should hurt them, fire
should proceed out of their mouth and devour their enemies; and when they
have fulfilled their testimonies, they should be slain by the beast that
came out of the bottomless pit, but they should rise again; and the spirit
of life coming up from God, should enter into them, and they should stand
upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that seized them, and then
shall they ascend up to heaven in a cloud in the sight of their enemies.”
And at last, “The seventh angel shall blow his trumpet, and the dead shall
rise, and every man shall receive according to his works.” This he does
till he comes to the twelfth chapter, then he tells him, “The fights of
the dragon with the woman, and her seed that kept the commands of her God,
and kept the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Then he tells him, “the two
empires of the two beasts, Antichrist and the Turk, and the manner of
every one of them.” Then he tells, “The noble company of the Lamb that
stands in mount Zion, even the hundred and forty and four thousand, having
their Father’s name written on their fore-heads; and how he heard a voice
from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great
thunder; and he heard the noise of harpers harping with their harps; they
sung, as it were, a new song before the throne, and no man could learn
that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were brought
from the earth.” He tells what they were, saying, “These are they which
were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb
wherever he goes, and these were redeemed from among men, being the first
fruits to God, and to the Lamb: and in their mouth was found no guile; for
they are without spot before the throne of God.” Then he tells, “That
another angel flew in the midst of heaven, with the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them which dwell on the earth;” and that is the same Gospel
which I preach unto you, even this, “Fear God, and give glory to him, for
the hour of judgment is come; and worship him that made the heavens and
the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Then he tells, “that
another angel cried, It is fallen, it is fallen, Babylon that great city,
she made all the nations to drink of the wine of her fornication. Ay,
Rome, thou shalt be taken and burnt in a furnice of fire, and a mill-stone
shall be bound about thy neck, and thou shalt be cast into the midst of
the sea, and shalt be drowned; there thou shalt fall, and thy fall shall
make heaven and earth, and all the angels and saints to rejoice at thy
fall. Ay, God shall put it into the hearts of the kings to do it; we know
not what kings they are; and then the bride shall prepare her for the
bridegroom’s coming in the clouds.”
Next again, of _seven vials_ he sets down again almost the same things
that he prophesied before; and now here, last of all, he lets him see the
last judgment. Would you know then what is here? See ye yon great throne?
Ye shall see the Judge standing on the throne; ye shall all see both
heaven and earth flee away from his face, ye shall all see the dead, great
and small, and yourselves among the rest, standing before God; and ye
shall all see the books opened, and the dead judged according to their
works, and death and hell cast into the lake of fire, even those that had
their hands in his heart’s blood, and those that pierced his side with a
spear, and those that rivetted him with nails, both hands and feet, they
shall see it also. The elect shall see it, as Job says, “For I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the last day upon the
earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet I shall see
God in my flesh: whom myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another, though my reins were consumed in me.” And this was his
consolation; even so those very eyes of yours, and no other, shall see
with terror or with joy, either to your endless comfort, or to your
endless condemnation. Now, what sees he? First, he sees a throne; ye know
a throne is set for a judge to sit on; so he sees a throne whereon the
Judge of the whole earth is to sit on; therefore he shall come to be a
Judge. He came before, at his first coming, not to sit on a throne, nor to
be a Judge, but to be judged before thrones and tribunals of men; for John
says, “That he sent not his Son that he should condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved.” Christ himself says, “Man, who made
me a judge, or a divider over you?” And in another place, “The Son of man
came not to judge, but be judged himself.” In his first coming, he comes
from high majesty to baseness and humility; he came from his Father’s
glory to shame and ignominy; he came from a palace to a crib; from the
seat of his majesty to a tree; he came like a Lamb to be slain, and as a
Saviour to save sinners: as the Apostle says, it was a true saying, “That
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief;”
Christ himself says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance;” and therefore that is the name that the angel gives him, when
he appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, and “thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins; and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, that is, God with us,” our God made flesh, our God
manifested in the flesh. So I say, in his first testimony, he comes as a
Saviour and Mediator between God and man; but in his last coming, he shall
not come as a Lamb, but as a Judge, convoyed with all his angels and
saints in heaven; he shall come in flaming fire, kindling the heavens
before him, in melting the elements and earth beneath him; he shall come
with a blast of the trumpet, with the archangel, to gather all people from
the four corners of the earth; and he shall come with a peremptory
sentence, from the which there shall be no appellation, and of which there
shall be no revocation, ever again or again calling; and he shall come
with his reward in his hand, to every man according to his works which he
has done in this world, be they evil, be they good. Now, ye see he has a
throne, he has a throne of grace; as the Apostle to the Hebrews says, “Let
us go boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find
grace in time of need.” Now he is sitting on a throne of grace, that we
may receive mercy, and find grace in time of need; and now he holds the
door of mercy open, and lets in every penitent sinner that comes;
therefore I testify unto you, if ye will flee from your sins, if ye will
cast away the works of darkness, if ye will hate and detest all sort of
iniquity, and if thou wilt run to the throne of grace now, I will assure
thee thou shalt find mercy, and grace in the time of need; so now is the
throne of grace and mercy, but afterwards thou shalt see the throne of
glory and justice. Now is the good Shepherd seeking his lost sheep, and
finding them, to drink of the wells of the water of life, and to eat of
the fat things of his own house; but afterwards, such as would not be
gathered of him, he shall bind them hand and foot, and cast them into
outer darkness. Now he pities them that will not come home, as he said to
Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee, as
a hen doth her birds under her wings, but thou wouldst not: behold, your
habitation shall be made desolate.” So wo to the souls that repine and
refuse to be fetched within the sweet and loving arms of the Son of God,
even those bloody arms which were stretched out upon a tree. Now, discern,
I pray you, betwixt his first coming and his last coming; for now is the
time of grace, and now is the spirit of grace offered, and now is the
throne of grace set up, and now is the rainbow, which is the sign of the
covenant of life, round about the throne, and now the twelve ports of that
new Jerusalem are standing open, that all may come in; therefore, wo to
the soul that shall sit till this time of grace pass over, and will not
come in in time.
But I will go forward. Now, ye see two things in that throne, the one is a
_great_ throne, the other is a _white_ throne. Let kings keep silence of
their thrones, and speak of this throne. O ye kings, will ye look to the
heavens above you, and see that white cloud, and upon the cloud one
standing like the Son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in
his hand a sharp sickle, who thrusts his sharp sickle in the earth, and
cuts down the vine of the vineyards of the earth, and casts them into the
great wine-press of the wrath of God; so he calls it a _great_ throne.
Solomon’s throne was great which he made of ivory, and had six steps, and
twelve lions, two on every step, and the queen of the South was astonished
when she saw it; and it is said in the Canticles, “Come forth, O daughters
of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother
crowned him in the day of his marriage, and in the day of the gladness of
his heart.” But will ye come out, ye daughters of Zion, and see here
another throne nor Solomon’s, another crown nor his crown? It is a _great_
throne, so that all the monarchs’ thrones under heaven, what are they in
comparison with this throne? Nothing. Therefore no wonder that the
twenty-four elders take their own crowns, and cast them down before his
throne; and it is no wonder that they fall down before him that sits on
the throne, and worship him that lives for evermore, saying, “Thou art
worthy to receive glory, honour, and power, for thou hast created all
things, and for thy will’s sake they are created.” O that the men of the
world saw this throne! And, O that ye did see the greatness of the majesty
of his throne!
Now he calls it _great_, because of him that sits on it; _great_, because
of them that stand about it; _great_, because of them that shall be judged
there; and last of all, _great_, because of the judgment itself. Now, who
sits on it? O! the Judge of the whole world, God himself, that infinite
Essence that men and angels have borrowed their being from, even he whose
glorious face the seraphims and cherubims cannot behold for the brightness
thereof; and therefore they have wings to cover their faces, because they
cannot bear to see him, much less so then can any mortal man see his face
and live; he that rides on his white horse, and tramples under foot all
his enemies, and treads them in the wine-press of his wrath without the
city; therefore rejoice, all ye whose garments are made white in the blood
of the Lamb, for his throne shall not terrify you, because of the Judge
that sits thereon: for he is thy brother, thy Advocate, and thy Saviour. O
blessed for evermore is the soul of the righteous, and of such as are
reconciled with the great God, before he come to sit on this throne.
Now, I said, it was _great_ in respect of him that sits thereon; _next_,
in respect of them that stand about it. Ye see a judge has his assizers
that sit in judgment with him, and consent to his sentence; so this great
Judge has his assizers, for there is not one of his angels shall be left
in heaven, but all shall stand about this throne, and all the saints on
earth shall be caught up in the air, and they shall all have thrones set
about his throne. O the fairest parliament that ever was in the world! O!
behold the King crowned with many crowns, standing in the midst, and all
the King’s servants with their crowns on their heads, and also the saints
with palms in their hands, sitting on thrones about that throne.
_Thirdly_, Great is this throne, because great is the number of persons
that shall be there. All men and women in the world must be judged here;
there is never a reprobate that ever took life, but he shall be judged
here, and all the elect and saints of God shall be judged here also, (so
fair is this parliament,) six thousand years’ generations shall all stand
there, waiting to receive an eternal and final judgment.
_Last_ of all, _Great_ is this throne, because great shall be the judgment
that shall come forth from this throne. Lords of the Session think their
judgments great; but come out here, and see to whom the new city Jerusalem
in heaven shall be given, and who shall be cast into the lake of fire.
Now, compare all these together, and see if this throne be not great;
great is he that sits on the throne, even the Prince of life, and God of
glory, and the Judge of all the world; great is his synod, even all the
elect angels and saints, from the beginning of the world to the end of the
world; for ye that are in Christ shall be glorified in the clouds, and the
sight of your glory shall aggravate the torment of the reprobates, because
they might have had it, and would not take it; and then you shall rule
them with a rod of iron, and as a potter’s vessel they shall be broken;
and great is the number of them that shall be judged; for let all flesh
prepare them for it, even kings and emperors, those that wore many crowns
on the earth, must appear naked before the throne. Alexander, thou worest
many crowns, conquered many nations, but yet thou must stand up naked as
thou was born, and thou must render a reckoning of thy conquests.
But I leave this. Again, you see this throne is _white_. What means this
whiteness? It is innocency or righteousness, and full of shining
brightness, of an unspeakable joy. Innocent and righteous; how so? Because
the Judge is white, innocent, and righteous; all his assizers that shall
sit round about him, they are white, innocent, white and righteous; all
his citations, summonses and convictions, sentences and executions, are
innocent and righteous; so all is white, the Judge, the unspotted innocent
and undefiled Lamb of God, sitting on his throne of justice, and ordained
deputy of his Father, to judge both the quick and the dead, he in whose
heart was never found guile; therefore Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge
of the world judge righteously?” So this Judge is white, innocent, and he
is bright and glorious. Peter, James, and John, saw him white on the mount
Tabor, when he was transfigured, “and his face shined as the sun, and his
raiment white as the light; and when Peter said, Master, it is good for us
to be here: if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias.” Matth. xvii. 1, 2, 3. Ay, Peter, but
this shall be a whiter appearing, and thou shalt think it better to be
with him here. Ay, Lord, it is true, _white_ wast thou upon mount Tabor,
but whiter shalt thou be in the clouds.
He is _white_ again, in respect of his citations. O that our hearts were
ravished with the consideration of thy righteous and just citing and
summoning of all men, when thou shalt cause the earth, grave, hell, and
the sea, and all places, thrust out of them all their dead; just shalt
thou be in glorifying the souls and bodies of them that glorify thee on
earth; and just shalt thou be in glorifying thyself, by tormenting the
souls and bodies of them that dishonoured thee on earth.
He is _white_ in respect of his accusations, for there shall be nothing
read in thy ditty, but that which shall be found written either in one
leaf of thy conscience or other; there the sins of thy conception, there
the sins of thy youth, there the sins of thy ignorance, there the sins
against the light of thy conscience, and there the sins against the law,
and there the sins against the gospel, and all shall be presented to thy
conscience. O! well is the soul and conscience that dare lift up the head
with rejoicing, and can say, “Thou Lamb of God, thou takest away the sins
of the world,” thou tookest away my sins when thou wast on the tree. And
can any body tell how ye will compear before this throne that were never
cleansed with the blood of Jesus? O! that blackness and darkness, which is
abiding that soul which never yet ran to the blood of the Lamb, to make
itself white in it; so the raising of all, the compearing of all, the
accusation of all, the conviction of all, shall be just, and God shall be
glorified in all.
There is also the absolution of the righteous, and the condemnation of the
wicked; and therefore the throne is called white, because of the innocency
and righteousness of the Judge. Now, brethren, I will go no further at
this time than this that follows or remains to be spoken of, the majesty
and terror of the Judge sitting on his throne, “and him that sat on it.”
Many shall sit on thrones in that day, but one shall sit above all the
rest, for the saints shall be caught up in the air, and shall all sit on
thrones, and give out sentence both of absolution and condemnation, and
they shall say, “Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and power, be to the
Lord our God, for true and righteous are his judgments.” I could never yet
rightly consider the majesty of this Judge. O heavens! what aileth thee to
flee from the face of this Judge. O earth! what aileth thee to flee, and
why art thou chased away, and never seen again? What ails thee, O heavens,
that never sinned, and, O earth, that never sinned neither, for they had
never understanding to be capable of a law, nor to be subject to keep a
law. What means this? O but I must leave this! for who can but wonder at
this! Yet I will tell you the cause. You and I, and the generations before
that this firmament has seen, and this earth seen or born, since the first
day that God made the earth, and established this heaven and earth, and
since that day that Adam eat of the forbidden tree, since that day heaven
and earth have been eye-witnesses of our sins, and subject to vanity, and
since that day they have been defiled with our iniquities, and since that
time they have been subject to bondage and corruption, and therefore they
groan with us also, and travail with pain together until this present; and
therefore, in that great day, they cannot abide the face of the Judge.
Now, what is the fruit ye should make of this? I thank my God that I
preach unto you so sure a gospel, even the oracles of the eternal God; the
earth and the heavens shall pass away, but this word and oracles shall
never pass away; therefore it is not a doubtsome message that I carry unto
you, for it is surer than the heavens, and surer than the earth; and these
eyes of yours, that have seen both the truth of this spoken here. O that
the Lord would fill my heart, with this verity, that I might eat it and
drink it, and feed upon it continually, and that he would fill me with the
spirit of exhortation, that I might exhort you to meditate on this truth,
both day and night, that the remembrance of that day might never go out of
your hearts. O that you would do it, even for his sake that left you his
heart’s blood to slocken that fire which will burn both the heavens and
the earth: therefore hear, hear! What should you hear? things of the last
importance. Is hell, is heaven, is the terror of that day of any
importance? And this is not the blessing of mount Gerizim, but that
everlasting blessing which the Judge of all the world shall pronounce out
of his mouth, saying, “Ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you before the foundation of the world.” And it is nothing to
the curse of the mount Ebal, but it is that everlasting curse and
malediction which the Son of God shall pronounce, saying, “Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
(And what shall I say to you?) This day is coming, and the Lord is
preparing himself to come down through the clouds, to sit on a great white
throne, and the archangel is putting the trumpet to his mouth, and he is
near to the blowing of it, and the rest of the angels are but waiting when
they shall give the last shout, “Rise, dead, and come to judgment,” the
Bridegroom is coming, and the heaven and the earth are waiting when the
Lord shall come in his glory, in flaming fire, to burn them up.
Now, brethren, what should ye do then? It is but this one thing that I
will charge you with, hear what I am to say to you, I bear the message of
God, and I preach the Gospel that shall judge you; and I am here sent of
God to tell you what is his will towards you; therefore I charge you all
before God, and his Son Christ Jesus, every man and woman, let this be
your occupation this day, turn over the leaves of your conscience, and see
there what is the ditty that thou hast pinned up against thyself, since
the day that thou wast born, and look on thy sins before the Lord, and
come and spread them before the Judge, and crave pardon of them, now in
the day of grace; for he is ready to forgive thee and thy sins, were they
never so great; for aye the redder that thy soul has been, the virtue of
his blood shall appear the greater in cleansing thee from thy sins;
therefore let none of you scare at the greatness of your sins; for here I
testify unto you, that if any of you be condemned, it shall not be for
your sins, but it shall be for contempt of that blood which shall condemn
you. O God! full of mercy and goodness, and of fatherly care and
providence, and never a greater providence found I in my lifetime, than I
found this last time in my journey, I thank my God for it; and here I
avow, if this blood of mine should go for it, it was acceptable service to
God we did that day; I know there were many that sent up their prayers to
God for the maintenance of his liberty, I am sure the Lord heard you; for
I say to you, the room was never that I came to, but I found the Lord
meeting me there, and confirming me that all was well and acceptable to
him; so that I never found sweeter providence since I was born; I see the
Lord’s hand is not shortened. O Scotland! O that thou wouldst repent, and
mourn for the contempt of this so great a light that has shined in thee;
then thou shouldst see as glorious a day on God’s poor Church within this
land, as ever was seen in any church before from the beginning; then the
Lord should be strong, and glorious, and wonderful in all the hearts of
his own. What is it to him to run sixteen or eighteen score of miles to
London, and then run to the hearts of kings, princes, and nobles of the
land, and humble them, and subject them to the crown and kingdom of Jesus
Christ; but, let them think of it what they will, I know who has approven
of us, for it is the running of the Gospel through the whole land, and it
is that the net of Christ may be spread over all, that if it were possible
we may gather in a world in it, that they might not perish; it is that
which we seek, and when I look to the eternity of wrath that is abiding
the wicked of this world, then I may say, who would not pity a world of
sinners? But I leave this, and I will give God the praise of his own
glory, that he can begin and he can perfect his own work in you: therefore
this is my petition to God, that ye may all be presented blameless before
him in that great day. Therefore I beseech you all, for Christ’s sake,
that every one of you would come in time, by speedy repentance, and that
you would take up Christ in the arms of your souls, and that ye would take
a fill of his flesh and blood, that ye may never hunger and thirst any
more; and, in like manner, he may know you in that great day to be his own
sheep, marked with his own blood. Will ye have any pleasure at his coming,
when ye have eaten and drunken, and taken your pleasure here, and then
shall be flung into hell hereafter? So I would beseech you, in all lenity
and meekness of mind, for Christ’s cause, ye would not delay at least to
mint at repentance; and if ye cannot get your hearts melted as ye would,
yet run to God, and say, “Father have mercy upon me; Father, forgive me,”
and cause me to repent; Father, send down thy Spirit to soften my heart.
Now, if ye would do this, ye should be welcome to him; for I assure you he
delights to shew mercy on poor penitent sinners, that would “repent, and
hunger, and thirst for righteousness.” Now, I say no more now, but I
commend you all to him that is able to give you repentance and remission
of sins in the blood of his Son Jesus Christ: to Father and with the Holy
Ghost, be all honour, Amen.
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.
EXTRACTED FROM A SERMON BY HUGH LATIMER, BISHOP OF WORCESTER, AND MARTYR,
1555.(1)
LUKE XXI.(2)
As we die so we shall rise again. If we die in the state of damnation, we
shall rise in that same state. Again, if we die in the state of salvation,
we shall rise again in that state, and come to everlasting felicity, both
of soul and body. For if we die now in the state of salvation, then at the
last general day of judgment we shall hear this joyful sentence,
proceeding out of the mouth of our Saviour Christ, when he will say,
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess that kingdom which is prepared for
you from the beginning of the world.” (Matt. xxv.) And though we have much
misery here in this world, though it goeth hard with us, though we must
bite on the bridle, yet for all that, we must be content, for we shall be
sure of our deliverance, we shall be sure that our salvation is not far
off. And no doubt they that will wrestle with sin, and strive and fight
with it, shall have the assistance of God; he will help them, he will not
forsake them, he will strengthen them, so that they shall be able to live
uprightly; and though they shall not be able to fulfil the law of God to
the uttermost, yet for all that, God will take their doings in good part,
for Christ his Son’s sake, in whose name all faithful people do their good
works, and so for his sake they are acceptable unto God, and in the end
they shall be delivered out of all miseries and troubles, and come to the
bliss of everlasting joy and felicity.
I pray God, that we may be of the number of those who shall hear this
joyful and most comfortable voice of Christ our Saviour, when he will say,
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which is prepared for
you before the foundation of the world was laid.” There are a great number
amongst the Christian people, who in the Lord’s prayer, when they pray,
“Thy kingdom come,” pray that this day may come; but yet, for all that,
they are drowned in the world, they say the words with their lips, but
they cannot tell what is the meaning of it; they speak it only with their
tongue: which saying indeed is to no purpose. But the man or woman that
saith these words, “Thy kingdom come,” with a faithful heart, no doubt he
or she desires in very deed that God will come to judgment, and amend all
things in this world, to pull down satan that old serpent under our feet.
But there are a great number of us who are not ready. Some have lived in
this world fifty years, some sixty, but yet for all that they are not
prepared for his coming; they ever think he will not come yet. But I tell
you, that though his general coming be not yet, yet for all that he will
come one day, and take us out of this world: and, no doubt, as he finds
us, so we shall have; if he find us ready, and in the state of salvation,
no doubt we shall be saved for ever, world without end. But, if he find us
in the state of damnation, we shall be damned, world without end, there is
no remedy after we are once past this world; no penance will help then,
nor anything that man is able to do for us.
“And then shall they see the Son of man come in a cloud with power and
great glory.” St. Paul to the Thessalonians setteth out the coming of
Christ and our resurrection; but he speaks in the same place only of the
rising of the good and faithful that shall be saved. But the Holy
Scripture in other places witnesses, that the wicked shall rise too, and
shall receive their sentence from Christ, and so go to hell, where they
shall be punished world without end. Now, St. Paul’s words are these,
“This say we unto you in the word of the Lord: that we which shall live
and shall remain to the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them
which sleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in
Christ shall arise first: then we which shall live, even we which shall
remain, shall be caught up with them also in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord; wherefore comfort one
another with these words.” 1 Thess. iv.
By these words of St. Paul it appears, that they which died in the
beginning of the world shall be by Christ as soon saved, as they who shall
be alive here at the time of his coming. I would have you to note well the
manner of speaking which St. Paul uses; he speaks as if the last day
should have come in his time. Now, when St. Paul thought that this day
should have come in his time, how much more shall we think that it shall
be in our time? For no doubt it will come, and it is not long thereunto;
as it appears by all the scriptures which make mention of this day; it
will come, but it shall come suddenly, unawares, as a thief in the night.
For a thief when he intends a robbery, to rob a man’s house, to break up
his chests, and take away his goods, gives him not warning, he lets not
the good man of the house know at what time he intends to come, but rather
he intends to spy such a time, that no man shall be aware of him. So, no
doubt, this last day will come one day suddenly upon our heads, before we
are aware of it; like as the fire fell down from heaven upon the people of
Sodom when unlooked for; they thought that all things were well, therefore
they took their pleasures, till the time when fire fell down from heaven
and burned them up all, with all their substance and goods.
“And he showed them a similitude, Behold the fig-tree and all the trees,
when they shoot forth their buds, ye see and know of your ownselves that
summer is then near at hand.” So when you see the tokens which shall go
before this fearful day, it is time to make ready. But here a man might
ask a question, saying, I pray you wherein standeth this preparation? How
shall I make ready? About this there has been great strife, for there have
been an infinite number, and there are some yet at this time, who think
that this readiness standeth in masses, in setting up candles, in going of
pilgrimage; and in such things, they thought to be made ready for that
day, and so to be made worthy to stand before the Son of man, that is,
before our Saviour Christ. But I tell you, this was not the right way to
make ready. Christ our Saviour showeth us how we shall make ourselves
ready, saying, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcome with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this world, and so
this day come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all
them that dwell upon the face of the whole world.”
“Watch and pray:” as if he had said, Be ye ever in readiness, lest you be
taken unawares. But those sluggards who spend their time vainly in eating
and drinking, and sleeping, please not God, for he commands us to watch,
to be mindful, to take heed to ourselves, lest the devil, or the world, or
our own flesh, get the victory over us. We are allowed to take our natural
sleep, for it is as necessary for us as meat and drink, and we please God
as well in that, as we please him when we take our food. But we must take
heed, that we do it according as he has appointed us; for like as he has
not ordained meat and drink that we should play the glutton with it, so
likewise sleep is not ordained that we should give ourselves to
sluggishness, or over-much sleeping; for no doubt when we do so, we shall
displease God most highly. For Christ saith not in vain, “Watch and pray.”
He would have us to be watchers, to have at all times in remembrance his
coming, and to give ourselves to prayer, that we may be able to stand
before him at this great and fearful day. Meaning, that we should not
trust in ourselves but call unto God, saying, “Lord God Almighty, thou
hast promised to come and judge the quick and the dead; we beseech thee
give us thy grace and Holy Ghost, that we may live according unto thy holy
commandments, that when thou comest, thou have not cause to bestow thy
fearful anger, but rather thy lovingkindness and mercy upon us.”
So likewise when we go to bed, we should desire God that we sleep not the
sleep of sin and wickedness, but rather that we may leave them, and follow
his will and pleasure; that we be not led with the desires of this wicked
world. Such an earnest mind we should have towards him, so watchful we
should be. For I tell you it is not a trifling matter, it is not a money
matter: for our eternal salvation and our damnation hang upon it. Our
nature is to do all that is possible for us to get silver and gold; how
much more then should we endeavour to make ourselves ready towards this
day, when it shall not be a money matter, but a soul matter, for at that
day it will appear most manifestly who they are that shall enjoy
everlasting life, and who shall be thrust into hell. Now as long as we are
in this world, we have all one baptism, we go all to the Lord’s Supper, we
all bear the name of Christians, but then it will appear who are the right
Christians; and again, who are the hypocrites or dissemblers.
Well, I pray God grant us such hearts, that we may look diligently about
us, and make ready against his fearful and joyful coming—fearful to them
that delight in sin and wickedness, and will not leave them; and joyful
unto those who repent, forsake their sins, and believe in him; who, no
doubt, will come in great honour and glory, and will make all his faithful
like unto him, and will say unto them that are chosen to everlasting life,
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess that kingdom which is prepared for
you from the beginning of the world.” But, to the wicked who will not live
according unto his will and pleasure, but follow their own appetites, he
will say, “Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” O what a horrible thing
will this be, to depart from him who is the fountain of all goodness and
mercy, without whom is no consolation, comfort, nor rest, but eternal
sorrow and everlasting death! For God’s sake I require you let us consider
this, that we may be amongst those who shall hear, “Come to me;” that we
may be amongst those who shall enjoy eternal life.
THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER.
A SERMON, BY BISHOP LATIMER.
MATTHEW XX.—_The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was an
householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers
into his vineyard._
This parable is written by the evangelist Matthew in the twentieth
chapter, and is very dark and hard to be understood; yea, there is no
harder piece of scripture written by any evangelist. Therefore it may well
be called hard meat; not meat for mowers nor ignorant people, who are not
exercised in the word of God. And yet there is no other diversity between
this scripture and any other. For though many scriptures have diverse
expositions, (as is well to be allowed of, so long as they keep in the
tenour of the catholic faith,(3)) yet they pertain all to one end and
effect, and they are all alike. Therefore although this parable is harder
to understand than the others at the first hearing or reading, yet when we
well advise and consider the same, we shall find it agreeable unto all the
others.
Now to the principal cause, and to which our Saviour had respect in this
parable, and that is, he teaches us hereby that all Christian people are
equal in all things appertaining to the kingdom of Christ. So that we have
one Christ, one Redeemer, one baptism, and one gospel, one Supper of the
Lord, and one kingdom of heaven. So that the poorest man and most
miserable that is in the world, may call God his Father, and Christ his
Redeemer, as well as the greatest king or emperor in the world. And this
is the scope of this parable, wherein Christ teacheth us this equality.
And if this is considered, the whole parable will be easily and soon
understood.(4)
Here is declared unto us that some laboured the whole day, which are hired
for a penny, that is of our money ten pence: for like as we have a piece
of money which we call a shilling, and is in value twelve pence, so the
Jews had a piece that they called _denarium_, and that was in value ten of
our pence. The first company wrought twelve hours, and the others wrought,
some nine hours, some six hours, some three hours, and some but one hour.
Now when evening was come, and the time of payment drew on, the
householder said to his stewart, Go, and give to every man alike, and
begin at those that came last. And when the others that came early in the
morning perceived that they should have no more than those that had
wrought but one hour, they murmured against the householder, saying,
“Shall they which have laboured but one hour, have as much as we that have
wrought the whole day?” The householder, perceiving their discontented
mind, said to one of them, “Friend, wherefore grudgest thou? Is it not
lawful for me to do with mine own what pleaseth me? Have I not given thee
what I promised thee? Content thyself therefore, and go thy way, for it
hath pleased me to give unto this man which hath wrought but one hour as
much as unto thee.” This is the sum of this parable, which Christ
concludes with this sentence, “The first shall be the last, and the last
first.”
First consider who are these murmurers? The merit-mongers, who esteem
their own works so much, that they think heaven scarcely sufficient to
recompense their good deeds; namely, for putting themselves to pain with
saying of our lady’s psalter, and gadding on pilgrimage, and such like
trifles. These are the murmurers; for they think themselves holier than
all the world, and therefore worthy to receive a greater reward than all
other men. But such men are much deceived and are in a false opinion, and
if they abide and continue therein, it shall bring them to the fire of
hell. For man’s salvation cannot be gotten by any work: because the
Scripture saith, “Life everlasting is the gift of God.” (Rom. vi.) True it
is, that God requires good works of us, and commands us to avoid all
wickedness. But for all that, we may not do our good works that we should
get heaven withal; but rather to show ourselves thankful for what Christ
hath done for us, who with his sufferings hath opened heaven to all
believers, that is, to all those that put their hope and trust, not in
their deeds, but in his death and suffering, and study to live well and
godly; and yet not to make merits of their own works, as though they
should have everlasting life for them; as our monks and friars, and all
our religious persons were wont to do, and therefore may rightly be called
murmurers; for they thought they had so great a store of merits, that they
sold some of them unto other men. And many men spend a great part of their
substance to buy their merits, and to be a brother of their houses, or to
obtain one of their coats or cowls to be buried in.
But there is a great difference between the judgment of God, and the
judgment of this world. In this world they were accounted most holy above
all men, and so most worthy to be first; but before God they shall be
last, when their hypocrisy and wickedness shall be opened. And thus much I
thought to say of murmurers.
Now I will not apply all the parts of this parable; for, as I said before,
it is enough for us if we know the chief point and scope of the parable,
which is, that there shall be an equality in all the things that appertain
to Christ: insomuch, that the ruler of this realm hath no better a God, no
better sacraments, and no better a gospel, than the poorest in the world;
yea, the poorest man hath as good right to Christ and his benefits, as the
greatest man in this world.
This is comfortable to every one, and especially to such as are in misery,
poverty, or other calamities; which, if it were well considered, would not
make us so desirous to come aloft, and to get riches, honour, and
dignities in this world, as we now are, nor yet so malicious one against
another as we are. For then we should ever make this reckoning with
ourselves, each man in his vocation; the servant would think thus with
himself, I am a poor servant, and must live after the pleasure of my
master, I may not have my free will; but what then? I am sure that I have
as good a God as my master hath; and I am sure that my service and
business pleases God as much, when I do it with a good faith, as the
preachers and curates, in preaching or saying of service. For we must
understand that God esteems not the diversity of the works, but he hath
respect unto the faith; for a poor man who does his duty in faith, is as
acceptable unto God, and hath as good right to the death and merits of
Christ, as the greatest man in the world.
So go through all states of men, whosoever applieth to his business with
faith, considering that God willeth him so to do, surely the same is most
beloved of God. If this were well considered and printed in our hearts,
all ambition and desire of promotion, all covetousness and other vices,
would depart out of our hearts. For it is the greatest comfort that may be
unto poor people, especially such as are nothing regarded in this world—if
they consider that God loves them as well as the richest in the world—it
must needs be a great comfort unto them.
But there are some that say, that this sentence, “The first shall be
last,” is the very substance of the parable. And here you shall
understand, that our Saviour Christ took occasion to put forth this
parable, when there came a young man demanding of him, “What shall I do to
come to everlasting life?” Our Saviour, after he had taught him the
commandments of God, bade him, “Go, and sell all that he had, and give to
the poor; and come and follow him.” He hearing this, went away heavily,
for his heart was cold. And then our Saviour spake very terribly against
rich men, saying, “It is more easy for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven:”—a camel,
or as some think, a great cable of a ship, which is more likely than the
beast that is called a camel. The disciples hearing this, said, “Who then
can be saved?” He made them answer, saying, “God is almighty, and that
which is impossible to men, is possible with God;” signifying, that he
condemns not all rich men, but only those who set their heart upon riches,
who care not how they get them, and when they have them, who abuse them to
the satisfying of their own carnal appetites and fleshly delights and
pleasures, and use them not to the honour of God.
And again, such riches as are justly, rightly, and godly gotten, those are
the good creatures of God, when rightly used to the glory of God, and
comfort of their neighbours; not hoarding nor heaping them up, to make
treasures of them. For riches are not evil of themselves; but they are
made evil, when our hearts is set upon them, and we put hope in them; for
that is an abominable thing before the face of God. Now after these words
spoken by our Saviour Christ, Peter came forth, saying, “Lo, we have
forsaken all that we had, what shall be our reward?” Peter had forsaken
all that he had, which was but little in substance, but yet it was a great
matter to him, for he had no more than that little: like the widow who
cast into the treasury two mites, yet our Saviour praised the gift above
all that gave before her. Here thou learnest, that when thou hast but
little, yet give of the same little; for it is as acceptable unto God, as
though it were a greater thing.
So Peter, in forsaking his old boat and net, was approved as much before
God, as if he had forsaken all the riches in the world; therefore he shall
have a great reward for his old boat; for Christ saith, that he shall be
one of them that shall sit and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; and to
signify them to be more than others, he giveth them the name of judges;
meaning, that they shall condemn the world: like as God speaketh of the
queen of Sheba, that in the last day she shall arise and condemn the Jews
who would not hear Christ, and she came so great a journey to hear the
wisdom of Solomon. Then he answered and said, “Whosoever leaveth father,
or mother, or brethren, for my sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and
shall inherit everlasting life.” Now what is this, to leave father and
mother? When my father or mother would hinder me in any goodness, or would
persuade me from the honouring of God and faith in Christ, then I must
forsake and rather lose the favour and good-will of my father and mother,
than forsake God and his holy word.
And now Christ saith, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be
first,” alluding to St. Peter’s saying, which sounded as though Peter
looked for a reward for his deeds; and that is it, which is the let of
altogether,(5) if a man come to the Gospel and hears the same, and
afterwards looks for a reward, such a man shall be “the last.” If these
sayings were well considered by us, surely we should not have such a
number of vain gospellers as we now have, who seek nothing but their own
advantage under the name and colour of the Gospel. Moreover, he teaches us
to be meek and lowly, and not to think much of ourselves; for those that
are greatly esteemed in their own eyes, are the least before God: “For he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted;” according to the scripture, which
saith, “God resisteth the proud, and advanceth the humble and meek.” And
this is what he saith, “The first shall be the last,” teaching us to be
careful and not to stand in our own conceit, but ever to mistrust
ourselves; as St. Paul teacheth, saying, “Whosoever standeth let him take
heed he fall not; and therefore we may not put trust in ourselves, but
rather in God.”
Further, in this saying of our Saviour is comprehended a great comfort;
for those that are accounted by the world to be the vilest slaves and most
abject, may by this saying have a hope to be made the first and the
principal; for although they are ever so low, yet they may rise again, and
become the highest. And so this is to us a comfortable sentence, which
strengthens our faith, and keeps us from desperation and falling from God.
And at the end he saith, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” These
words of our Saviour are very hard to understand, and therefore it is not
good to be too curious in them, as some vain fellows, who seeking carnal
liberty, pervert, toss and turn the word of God, after their own mind and
purpose. Such, I say, when they read these words, make their reckoning
thus; saying, “What need I to mortify my body with abstaining from all sin
and wickedness? I perceive God hath chosen some, and some are rejected.
Now if I be in the number of the chosen, I cannot be damned; but if I be
accounted among the condemned number, then I cannot be saved: for God’s
judgments are immutable.” Such foolish and wicked reasons some have; which
bring them either to desperation, or else to carnal liberty. Therefore, it
is as needful to beware of such reasons, or expositions of the scripture,
as it is to beware of the devil himself.
But if thou art desirous to know whether thou art chosen to everlasting
life, thou mayest not begin with God: for God is too high, thou canst not
comprehend him; the judgments of God are unknown to man; therefore thou
mayest not begin there: but begin with Christ, and learn to know Christ,
and wherefore he came; namely, that he came to save sinners, and made
himself subject to the law, and a fulfiller of the same, to deliver us
from the wrath and danger thereof, and therefore was crucified for our
sins, and rose again to show and teach us the way to heaven, and by his
resurrection to teach us to arise from sin: so also his resurrection
teaches and admonishes us of the general resurrection. He sitteth at the
right hand of God and maketh intercession for us, and gives us the Holy
Ghost, that comforts and strengthens our faith, and daily assures us of
our salvation.
Consider, I say, Christ and his coming; and then begin to try thyself
whether thou art in the book of life or not. If thou findest thyself in
Christ, then thou art sure of everlasting life. If thou be without him,
then thou art in an evil case. For it is written, “No man cometh unto the
Father but through me.” Therefore if thou knowest Christ, then thou mayest
know further of thy election. But when we are about this matter, and are
troubled within ourselves, whether we are elected or no; we must ever have
this maxim, or principal rule before our eyes; namely, that God beareth a
good-will towards us; God loveth us; God beareth a fatherly heart towards
us.
But you will say, “How shall I know that? Or how shall I believe that?” We
may know God’s will towards us through Christ: God hath opened himself
unto us by his Son Christ; for so saith John the Evangelist, “The Son
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath revealed.” (John i.)
Therefore we may perceive his good-will and love towards us; he hath sent
his Son into this world, who suffered a most painful death for us. Shall I
now think that God hates me? Or shall I doubt of his love towards me? Here
you see how you shall avoid the scrupulous and most dangerous question of
the predestination of God. For if thou wilt inquire his counsels, and
enter into his consistory, thy wit will deceive thee; for thou shalt not
be able to search the counsels of God. But if thou begin with Christ, and
consider his coming into the world, and dost believe that God hath sent
him for thy sake, to suffer for thee, and deliver thee from sin, death,
the devil, and hell; then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of
Christ, then, I say, this simple question cannot hurt thee; for thou art
in the book of life, which is Christ himself.
Also we learn by this sentence, “Many are called,” that the preaching of
the gospel is universal; that it pertains to all mankind; that it is
written, “Through the whole earth their sound is heard.” Now seeing that
the gospel is universal, it appears that he would have all mankind saved,
and that the fault is not in him if we are damned. For it is written thus,
“God would have all men to be saved:” his salvation is sufficient to save
all mankind, but we are so wicked of ourselves that we refuse the same,
for we will not take it when it is offered unto us; and therefore he
saith, “Few are chosen;” that is, few have pleasure and delight in it; for
the most part are weary of it, they cannot abide it. And there are some
that hear it, but they will not abide any danger for it, they love their
riches and possessions more than the word of God. And therefore few are
elected, there are but a few that stick heartily unto it, and can find in
their hearts to forgo this world for God’s sake and his holy word.
There are some now-a-days that will not be reprehended by the gospel; they
think themselves better than it. Some again are so stubborn, that they
will rather forswear themselves, than confess their sins and wickedness.
Such men are the cause of their own damnation; for God would have them
saved, but they refuse it; like as did Judas the traitor, whom Christ
would have had to be saved, but he refused his salvation; he refused to
follow the doctrine of his master Christ. And so, whosoever heareth the
word of God, and follows it, the same is elect by him. And again,
whosoever refuses to hear the word of God, and to follow the same, is
damned. So that our election is sure if we follow the word of God.
Here is now taught you how to try out your election, namely, in Christ,
for Christ is the accounting book and register of God; even in the same
book, that is, Christ, are written all the names of the elect. Therefore
we cannot find our election in ourselves, neither yet in the high counsel
of God; for “Secret things belong to the most High.” (Deut. xxix.) Where
then shall I find my election? In the counting book of God, which is
Christ; for thus it is written, “God hath so entirely loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, to that end, that all that believe in
him should not perish, but have life everlasting.” Whereby appears most
plainly that Christ is the book of life, and that all that believe in him
are in the same book, and so are chosen to everlasting life; for only
those are ordained which believe.
Therefore when thou hast faith in Christ, then thou art in the book of
life, and so art thou sure of thine election. And again, if thou art
without Christ, and have no faith in him, neither art sorry for thy
wickedness, nor have a mind and purpose to leave and forsake sin, but
rather exercise and use the same, then thou art not in the book of life as
long as thou art in such a case; and therefore shalt thou go into
everlasting fire, namely, if thou die in thy wickedness and sin, without
repentance.
But there are none so wicked but he may have a remedy. What is that? Enter
into thine own heart, and search the secrets of the same. Consider thine
own life, and how thou hast spent thy days. And if thou find in thyself
all manner of uncleanness and abominable sins, and so seest thy damnation
before thine eyes, what shalt thou then do? Confess the same unto the Lord
thy God. Be sorry that thou hast offended so loving a Father, and ask
mercy of him in the name of Christ, and believe steadfastly that he will
be merciful unto thee in respect of his only Son, who suffered death for
thee; and then have a good purpose to leave all sin and wickedness, and to
withstand and resist the affections of thine own flesh, which ever fight
against the Spirit; and to live uprightly and godly, after the will and
commandment of thy heavenly Father. If thou go thus to work, surely thou
shalt be heard. Thy sins shall be forgiven thee; God will show himself
true in his promise, for to that end he sent his only Son into this world,
that he might save sinners. Consider therefore, I say, wherefore Christ
came into this world; consider also the great hatred and wrath that God
beareth against sin; and again consider his great love, showed unto thee,
in that he sent his only Son to suffer most cruel death, rather than that
thou shouldst be damned everlastingly.
Consider therefore this great love of God the Father, amend thy life, fly
all occasions of sin and wickedness, and be loath to displease him. And in
doing this thou mayest be assured that though thou hadst done all the sins
of the world, they shall neither hurt nor condemn thee; for the mercy of
God is greater than all the sins of the world. But we sometimes are in
such a case that we think we have no faith at all, or if we have any, it
is very feeble and weak. And therefore these are two things; to have faith
and to have the feeling of faith. For some men would fain have the feeling
of faith, but they cannot attain unto it; and yet they may not despair,
but go forward in calling upon God, and it will come at length: God will
open their hearts, and let them feel his goodness.
And thus may you see who are in the book of life, and who are not. For all
those that are obstinate sinners, are without Christ, and so not elect to
everlasting life, if they remain in their wickedness. There are none of us
all but we may be saved by Christ, and therefore let us stick hard unto
it, and be content to forego all the pleasures and riches of this world
for his sake, who for our sake forsook all the heavenly pleasures, and
came down into this miserable and wretched world, and here suffered all
manner of afflictions for our sake. And therefore it is right that we
should do somewhat for his sake, to show ourselves thankful unto him; and
so we may assuredly be found among the first, and not among the last; that
is to say, among the elect and chosen of God, that are written in the
counting book of God, who are those that believe in Christ Jesus; to whom,
with God the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world
without end.—Amen.
THE PARABLE OF THE TARES,
BY BISHOP LATIMER, PREACHED ON THE 7TH OF FEBRUARY, 1553.
MATTHEW XIII.—_The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which
sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way, &c._
This is a parable or similitude wherein our Saviour compared the kingdom
of God, that is, the preaching of his word, wherein consisteth the
salvation of mankind, unto a husbandman who sowed good seed in his field.
But before we come unto the matter, you shall first learn to understand
what this word parable, which is a Greek word, and used in the Latin and
English tongue, means; that is to say, “A parable is a comparison of two
things that are unlike outwardly;” while in effect they signify but one
thing, for they appertain to one end; as in this place, Christ compared
the word of God unto seed: which two things are unlike, but yet they teach
one thing; for like as the seed is sown in the earth, so is the word of
God sown in our hearts: and thus much of this word parable.
The sum of this gospel is, first he speaks of a husbandman that sowed good
seed; after that he mentions an enemy that sowed evil seed. And these two
manner of seeds, that is, the husbandman’s seed that was good, and the
enemy’s seed which was naught, came up both together: so that the enemy
was as busy as the other in sowing his evil seed. And while he was busy in
sowing it, it was unknown. And at the first springing up, it all seemed to
be good seed, but at length the servant of the husbandman perceived the
evil seed sown amongst the good; therefore he came and told his master,
showing him all the matter, and required leave to gather the evil seed
from amongst the other. The husbandman himself said, “Our enemy hath done
this. But for all that, let it alone until the harvest, and then will I
separate the good from the evil.” This is the sum of this gospel.
First, note that he saith, “When everybody was asleep, then he came and
sowed his seed.” Who are these sleepers? The bishops and prelates, the
slothful and careless curates and ministers; they with their negligence
give the devil leave to sow his seed, for they sow not their seed. That
is, they preach not the word of God, they instruct not the people with
wholesome doctrine, and so they give place to the devil to sow his seed.
For when the devil cometh, and findeth the heart of man not weaponed nor
garnished with the word of God, he forthwith possesses the same, and so
getteth victory through the slothfulness of the spirituality, which they
shall one day grievously repent. For the whole scripture, that is to say,
both the Old and New Testament, is full of threatenings against such
negligent and slothful pastors; and they shall make a heavy and grievous
account one day, when no excuse shall serve, but extreme punishment shall
follow, for a reward of their slothfulness.
This gospel gives occasion to speak of many things: for our Saviour
himself expounded this parable unto his disciples after the people were
gone from him, and he was come into the house. For the disciples were not
so bold as to ask him of the meaning of this parable in the presence of
the people; whereby we may learn good manners, to use in everything a good
and convenient time. Also we may here learn to search and inquire
earnestly, and with great diligence, for the true understanding of God’s
word. And when you hear a sermon and are in doubt of something, inquire
about it, and be desirous to learn; for it is written, “Whosoever hath,
unto him shall be given; and he shall have abundance.” (Matt. xiii.) What
means this saying?—When we hear the word of God, and have tasted somewhat
thereof, and are afterwards desirous to go forward more and more, then
shall we have further knowledge; for God will give us his grace to come to
further understanding. And so the saying of our Saviour shall be fulfilled
in us.
Now when our Saviour heard the request of his disciples, he performs their
desire, and begins to expound unto them the parable, saying, “I am he that
soweth good seed: the adversary, the devil, is he who soweth evil seed.”
Here our Saviour, good people, makes known that he goeth about to do us
good; but the devil doth quite the contrary, and he seeks to spoil and
destroy us with his filthy and naughty seeds of false doctrine. The field
here is the whole world. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers
are the angels of God, who are his servants: for as every lord or master
has his servants to wait upon him, and to do his commandments, so the
angels of God wait upon Him to do his commandments. The angels at the time
of the harvest shall gather first all such as have been evil and have
given occasion of wickedness, and go forward in the same without
repentance or amendment of their lives. All such, I say, shall be gathered
together and cast into the furnace of fire, “where shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” For in the end of this wicked world, all such as have
lived in the delights and pleasures of the same, and have not fought with
the lusts and pleasures of their flesh, but are proud and stubborn, or
bear hatred and malice unto their neighbours, or are covetous persons;
also all naughty servants that do not their duties, and all those that use
falsehood in buying and selling, and care not for their neighbours, but
sell unto them false wares, or otherwise deceive them; all these are
called “the offenders of this world,” and all such shall be cast into the
furnace where shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
In like manner, all idle persons that will not work for their living, but
go about loitering and are chargeable unto others; and also drunken
persons that abuse the benefits of God in dishonouring themselves, so that
they lose the use of reason, and their natural wits wherewith God has
endued them, and make themselves like swine and beasts; also those who
break wedlock, and despise matrimony, which is instituted of God himself.
Hereunto add all swearers, all usurers, all liars, and deceivers; all
these are called the seed of the devil; and so they are the devil’s
creatures through their own wickedness.
But yet it is true that wicked men have their souls and bodies of God, for
he is their Creator and Maker: but they themselves, in forsaking God and
his laws, and following the devil and his instructions, make themselves
members of the devil, and become his seed; therefore in the last day they
shall be cast out into everlasting fire, when the trumpet shall blow, and
the angels shall come and gather all those that offend from among the
elect of God.
The form of judgment shall be in this manner: Christ our Saviour at the
day of judgment, being appointed of God, shall come down with great
triumph and honour, accompanied with all his angels and saints that
departed in faith out of this world before time: they shall come with him
then, and all the elect shall be gathered to him, and there they shall see
the judgment; but they themselves shall not be judged, but shall be like
as judges with him. After the elect are separated from the wicked, he
shall give a most horrible and dreadful sentence unto the wicked,
commanding his angels to cast them into everlasting fire, where they shall
have such torments as no tongue can express.
Therefore our Saviour, desirous to set out the pains of hell unto us, and
to make us afraid thereof, calls it fire, yea, a burning and unquenchable
fire. For as there is no pain so grievous to a man as fire is, so the
pains of hell pass all the pains that may be imagined by any man. There
shall be sobbing and sighing, weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,
which are the tokens of unspeakable pains and griefs that shall come upon
those that die in the state of damnation. For you must understand that
there are but two places appointed by Almighty God, for all mankind, that
is, heaven and hell. And in what state soever a man dieth, in the same he
shall rise again, for there shall be no alteration or change. Those who
die repentant and are sorry for their sins—who cry to God for mercy, are
ashamed of their wickedness, and believe with all their hearts that God
will be merciful unto them through the passion of our Saviour Christ;
those who die in such a faith, shall come into everlasting life and
felicity, and shall rise in the last day in a state of salvation. For
look—as you die, so shall you arise. Whosoever departeth out of this world
without a repentant heart, and has been a malicious and envious man, and a
hater of the word of God, and so continues, and will not repent and be
sorry, and call upon God with a good faith, or has no faith at all; that
man shall come to everlasting damnation; and so he shall arise again at
the last day. For there is nothing that can help a soul when departed out
of its damnation, or hinder it of its salvation.
For when a man dies without faith in Christ, all the masses in the whole
world are not able to relieve him; and so to conclude, all the travails
that we have had in time past by seeking of remedy by purgatory, and all
the great costs and expenses that may be bestowed upon any soul lying in
the state of damnation, can avail nothing, neither can it do any good. For
as I said before, the judgments of God are immutable, that is—as you die,
so shall you rise. If you die in the state of salvation, you shall rise so
again, and receive your body, and remain in salvation. Again, if you die
in damnation, you shall rise in the same state, and receive your body, and
return again to the same state, and be punished world without end, with
unspeakable pains and torments. For our natural fire, in comparison to
hell-fire, is like a fire painted on a wall; but that shall be so extreme,
that no man is able to express the terrible horror and grief thereof.
O what a pitiful thing is it, that man will not consider this, and leave
the sin and pleasure of this world, and live godly; but is so blind and
mad, that he will rather have a momentary, and a very short and small
pleasure, than hearken to the will and pleasure of Almighty God; who can
take away everlasting pain and woe, and give unto him everlasting
felicity! That a great many of us are damned, the fault is not in God, for
“God would have all men be saved.” But the fault is in ourselves, and in
our own madness, who had rather have damnation than salvation. Therefore,
good people, consider these terrible pains in your minds, which are
prepared for the wicked and ungodly, avoid all wickedness and sin: set
before your eyes the wonderful joy and felicity, and the innumerable
treasures which God hath laid up for you that fear and love him, and live
after his will and commandments; for no tongue can express, no eye hath
seen, no heart can comprehend, nor conceive the great felicity that God
hath prepared for his elect and chosen, as St. Paul witnesses. Consider,
therefore, I say, these most excellent treasures, and exert yourselves to
obtain the fruition of the same. Continue not, neither abide nor wallow
too long in your sins, like as swine lieth in the mire. Make no delay to
repent of your sin, and to amend your life, for you are not so sure to
have repentance in the end. It is a common saying, “Late repentance is
seldom sincere.” Therefore consider this thing with yourself betimes, and
study to amend your life: for what avails it to have all the pleasures of
the world for a while, and after that to have everlasting pain and
infelicity?
Therefore let every one examine his own conscience when he finds himself
unready. For all such as through the goodness of God have received faith,
and then wrestling with sin, consent not unto it, but are sorry for it
when they fall, and do not abide nor dwell in the same, but rise up again
forthwith, and call for forgiveness thereof, through the merits of our
Saviour Jesus Christ—all such are called just: that is to say, all that
die with a repentant heart, and are sorry that they have sinned, and are
minded if God give them longer time to live, to amend all faults, and lead
a new life; then are they just; but not through their own merits or good
works. For if God should enter into judgment with us, none are able to
stand before his face; neither may any of his saints be found just;
neither St. John Baptist, St. Peter, nor St. Paul; no nor is the mother of
our Saviour Christ herself just, if she should be judged after the rigour
of the law. For all are and must be justified by the justification of our
Saviour Christ, and so we must be justified, and not by our own
well-doing, but our justice standeth in this, that our righteousness is
forgiven us through the righteousness of Christ, for if we believe in him,
then are we made righteous. For he fulfilled the law, and afterwards
granted the same to be ours, if we believe that his fulfilling is our
fulfilling; for the apostle Saint Paul saith, “He hath not spared his own
Son, but hath given him up for us; and how then may it be, but that we
should have all things with him?”
Therefore it must needs follow, that when he gave us his only Son, he gave
us also his righteousness, and his fulfilling of the law. So that we are
justified by God’s free gift, and not of ourselves, nor by our merits: but
the righteousness of Christ is accounted to be our righteousness, and
through the same we obtain everlasting life, and not through our own
doings; for, as I said before, if God should enter into judgment with us,
we should be damned.
Therefore take heed and be not proud, and be humble and low, and trust not
too much in yourselves; but put your only trust in Christ our Saviour. And
yet you may not utterly set aside the doing of good works; but especially
look that you have always oil in readiness for your lamps, or else you may
not come to the wedding, but shall be shut out, and thrust into
everlasting darkness. This oil is faith in Christ, which if you lack, then
all things are unsavory before the face of God: but a great many people
are much deceived, for they think themselves to have faith when indeed
they have it not. Some peradventure will say, How shall I know whether I
have faith or not? Truly you shall find this in you, if you have no mind
to leave sin; then sin grieves you not, but you are content to go forward
in the same, and you delight in it, and hate it not, neither do you feel
what sin is: when you are in such a case, then you have no faith, and
therefore are like to perish everlastingly. For that man who is sore sick,
and yet feels not his sickness, he is in great danger, for he has lost all
his senses; so that man who has gone so far in sin, that he feels his sin
no more, is like to be damned, for he is without faith.
Again, that man is in good case, who can be content to fight and strive
with sin, and to withstand the devil, and his temptations, and calls for
the help of God, and believes that God will help him, and make him strong
to fight. That man shall not be overcome by the devil. And whosoever feels
this in his heart, and so wrestles with sin, may be sure that he has
faith, and is in the favour of God.
But if you will have a trial of your faith, then do this—Examine yourself
concerning your enemy; he does you harm, he slanders you, or takes away
your living from you. How shall you conduct yourself towards such a man?
If you can find in your heart to pray for him, to love him with all your
heart, and forgive him with a good-will all that he has sinned against
you—if you can find this readiness in your heart, then you are one of
those who have faith, if you would have him to be saved as well as
yourself. And if you can do this you may argue that your sin is forgiven,
and that you are none of those that shall be cast out, but shall be
received and placed among the number of the godly, and shall enjoy with
them everlasting life. For St. Paul saith, “Those that are just,” that is,
those that are justified by faith, and exercise faith in their living and
conversation, “they shall shine like unto the sun in the kingdom of God;”
that is to say, they shall be in exceeding great honour and glory. For
like as the sun exceeds in brightness all other works of God, and is
beautiful in the eyes of every man; so shall all the faithful be beautiful
and endued with honour and glory: although in this world they are but
outcasts, and accounted as “The dross and filth of the world;” but in the
other world, when the angels shall gather together the wicked, and cast
them into the fire, then shall the elect shine as the sun in the kingdom
of God. For no man can express the honour and glory that they shall have,
who will be content to suffer all things for God’s sake, and reform
themselves after his will; or are content to be told of their faults, and
glad to amend the same, and humble themselves under the mighty hand of
God.
Also the householder said unto his servants, “Let them alone until
harvest.” Here you may learn that the preachers and ministers of the word
of God, have not authority to compel the people with violence to goodness,
although they are wicked. But they should admonish them only with the word
of God, not pull the wicked out by the throat; for that is not their duty.
All things must be done according as God has appointed. God has appointed
the magistrates to punish the wicked; for so he saith, “Thou shalt take
away the evil from amongst the people, thou shalt have no pity of him.” If
he be a thief, an adulterer, or a whore-monger, away with him. But when
our Saviour saith, “Let them grow;” he speaks not of the civil
magistrates, for it is their duty to pull them out; but he signifies that
there will be such wickedness in spite of the magistrates, and teaches
that the ecclesiastical power is ordained, not to pull out the wicked with
the sword, but only to admonish them with the word of God, which is called
“The sword of the Spirit.” So did John Baptist, saying, “Who hath taught
you to flee from the wrath of God that is at hand?”
So did Peter in the Acts of the Apostles; “Whom you have crucified,” he
said unto the Jews. What follows? “They were pricked in their hearts;”
contrition and repentance followed as soon as the word was preached unto
them. Therefore they said, “Brethren, what shall we do? How shall we be
made clean from our sins, that we may be saved?” Then he sends them to
Christ. So that it appears in this gospel, and by these examples, that the
preacher has no other sword, but the sword of the word of God: with that
sword he may strike them. He may rebuke their wicked living, and further
he ought not to go. But kings and magistrates have power to punish with
the sword the obstinate and vicious livers, and to put them to due
punishment.
Now to make an end, with this one lesson, which is, If you dwell in a town
where are some wicked men that will not be reformed, nor in anywise amend
their lives, as there are commonly some in every town; run not therefore
out of the town, but tarry there still, and exercise patience amongst
them, exhort them, whensoever occasion serves, to amendment. And do not as
the fondness of the monkery first did, for they at the first made so great
account of the holiness of their good life, that they could not be content
to live and abide in cities and towns where sinners and wicked doers were,
but thought to amend the matter; and therefore ran out into the
wilderness, where they fell into great inconveniences. For some despised
the communion of the body and blood of our Saviour Christ, and so fell
into other errors, so God punished them for their foolishness and
uncharitableness. We are born into this world, not for our own sakes only,
but for every Christian’s sake. They forgetting this commandment of love
and charity, ran away from their neighbours, like beasts and wild horses,
that cannot abide the company of men. So there have been some in our time
who follow their example, separating themselves from the company of other
men, and therefore God gave them a perverted judgment. Therefore when you
dwell in any evil town or parish, follow not these examples; but remember
that Lot, dwelling in the midst of Sodom, was nevertheless preserved from
the wrath of God, and such will be preserved in the midst of the wicked.
But for all that, you must not flatter them in their evil doings and
naughty livings, but rebuke their sins and wickedness, and in nowise
consent unto them. Then it will be well with you here in this world, and
in the world to come you shall have life everlasting: which grant both to
you and me, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.—Amen.
A SERMON ON ISAIAH XXVI.
BY JOHN KNOX.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse,
at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this
arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of
the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore
deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following
Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic
value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it
will prove generally acceptable to our readers. For the information of
those who may not be acquainted with the circumstances attending its
delivery, we subjoin the following extract from a late edition of the
select works of Knox:—
“Henry Darnley (king of Scotland by his marriage with queen Mary,) went
sometimes to mass with the queen, and sometimes attended the protestant
sermons. To silence the rumours then circulated of his having forsaken the
reformed religion, he, on the 19th of August, 1565, attended service at
St. Giles’s church, sitting on a throne which had been prepared for him.
Knox preached that day on Isaiah xxvi. 13, 14, and happened to prolong the
service beyond the usual time. In one part of the sermon, he quoted these
words of scripture, ‘I will give children to be their princes, and babes
shall rule over them: children are their oppressors, and women rule over
them.’ In another part he referred to God’s displeasure against Ahab,
because he did not correct his idolatrous wife Jezebel. No particular
application of these passages was made by Knox, but the king considered
them as reflecting upon the queen and himself, and returned to the palace
in great wrath. He refused to dine, and went out to hawking.
That same afternoon Knox was summoned from his bed to appear before the
council. He went accompanied by several respectable inhabitants of the
city. The secretary informed him of the king’s displeasure at his sermon,
and desired that he would abstain from preaching for fifteen or twenty
days. Knox answered, that he had spoken nothing but according to his text,
and if the church would command him either to preach or abstain, he would
obey so far as the word of God would permit him. The king and queen left
Edinburgh during the week following, and it does not appear that Knox was
actually suspended from preaching.”
The following are Knox’s reasons for the publication of this Sermon,
extracted from his preface to the first edition.
“If any will ask, To what purpose this sermon is set forth? I answer, To
let such as satan has not altogether blinded, see upon how small occasions
great offence is now conceived. This sermon is it, for which, from my bed,
I was called before the council; and after long reasoning, I was by some
forbidden to preach in Edinburgh, so long as the king and queen were in
town. This sermon is it, that so offends such as would please the court,
and will not appear to be enemies to the truth; yet they dare affirm, that
I exceeded the bounds of God’s messenger. I have therefore faithfully
committed unto writing whatsoever I could remember might have been
offensive in that sermon; to the end, that the enemies of God’s truth, as
well as the professors of the same, may either note unto me wherein I have
offended, or at the least cease to condemn me before they have convinced
me by God’s manifest word.”]
A SERMON ON ISAIAH XXVI.
ISAIAH XXXVI. 13, 14, 15, 16, &c.—_O Lord our God, other lords
besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we
make mention of thy name._
_They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall
not rise; therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made
all their memory to perish._
_Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the
nation, thou art glorified; thou hast removed it far unto the ends
of the earth._
_Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer
when thy chastening was upon them, &c._
As the skilful mariner (being master,) having his ship tossed with a
vehement tempest, and contrary winds, is compelled oft to traverse, lest
that, either by too much resisting to the violence of the waves, his
vessel might be overwhelmed; or by too much liberty granted, might be
carried whither the fury of the tempest would, so that his ship should be
driven upon the shore, and make shipwreck; even so doth our prophet Isaiah
in this text, which now you have heard read. For he, foreseeing the great
desolation that was decreed in the council of the Eternal, against
Jerusalem and Judah, namely, that the whole people, that bare the name of
God, should be dispersed; that the holy city should be destroyed; the
temple wherein was the ark of the covenant, and where God had promised to
give his own presence, should be burnt with fire; and the king taken, his
sons in his own presence murdered, his own eyes immediately after be put
out; the nobility, some cruelly murdered, some shamefully led away
captives; and finally, the whole seed of Abraham rased, as it were, from
the fate of the earth. The prophet, I say, fearing these horrible
calamities, doth, as it were, sometimes suffer himself, and the people
committed to his charge, to be carried away with the violence of the
tempest, without further resistance than by pouring forth his and their
dolorous complaints before the majesty of God, as in the 13th, 17th, and
18th verses of this present text we may read. At other times he valiantly
resists the desperate tempest, and pronounces the fearful destruction of
all such as trouble the church of God; which he pronounces that God will
multiply, even when it appears utterly to be exterminated. But because
there is no final rest to the whole body till the Head return to judgment,
he exhorts the afflicted to patience, and promises a visitation whereby
the wickedness of the wicked shall be disclosed, and finally recompensed
in their own bosoms.
These are the chief points of which, by the grace of God, we intend more
largely at this present to speak;
_First_, The prophet saith, “O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have
ruled us.”
This, no doubt, is the beginning of the dolorous complaint, in which he
complains of the unjust tyranny that the poor afflicted Israelites
sustained during the time of their captivity. True it is, that the prophet
was gathered to his fathers in peace, before this came upon the people:
for a hundred years after his decease the people were not led away
captive; yet he, foreseeing the assurance of the calamity, did before-hand
indite and dictate unto them the complaint, which afterward they should
make. But at the first sight it appears, that the complaint has but small
weight; for what new thing was it, that other lords than God in his own
person ruled them, seeing that such had been their government from the
beginning? For who knows not, that Moses, Aaron, and Joshua, the judges,
Samuel, David, and other godly rulers, were men, and not God; and so other
lords than God ruled them in their greatest prosperity.
For the better understanding of this complaint, and of the mind of the
prophet, we must, _first_, observe from whence all authority flows; and,
_secondly_, to what end powers are appointed by God: which two points
being discussed, we shall better understand, what lords and what authority
rule beside God, and who they are in whom God and his merciful presence
rules.
The _first_ is resolved to us by the words of the apostle, saying, “There
is no power but of God.” David brings in the eternal God speaking to
judges and rulers, saying, “I have said, ye are gods, and sons of the Most
High.” (Psal. lxxxii.) And Solomon, in the person of God, affirmeth the
same, saying, “By me kings reign, and princes discern the things that are
just.” From which place it is evident, that it is neither birth, influence
of stars, election of people, force of arms, nor finally, whatsoever can
be comprehended under the power of nature, that makes the distinction
betwixt the superior power and the inferior, or that establishes the royal
throne of kings; but it is the only and perfect ordinance of God, who
willeth his terror, power, and majesty, partly to shine in the thrones of
kings, and in the faces of judges, and that for the profit and comfort of
man. So that whosoever would study to deface the order of government that
God has established, and allowed by his holy word, and bring in such a
confusion, that no difference should be betwixt the upper powers and the
subjects, does nothing but avert and turn upside down the very throne of
God, which he wills to be fixed here upon earth; as in the end and cause
of this ordinance more plainly shall appear: which is the _second_ point
we have to observe, for the better understanding of the prophet’s words
and mind.
The end and cause then, why God imprints in the weak and feeble flesh of
man this image of his own power and majesty, is not to puff up flesh in
opinion of itself; neither yet that the heart of him, that is exalted
above others, should be lifted up by presumption and pride, and so despise
others; but that he should consider he is appointed lieutenant to One,
whose eyes continually watch upon him, to see and examine how he behaves
himself in his office. St. Paul, in few words, declares the end wherefore
the sword is committed to the powers, saying, “It is to the punishment of
the wicked doers, and unto the praise of such as do well.” Rom. xiii.
Of which words it is evident, that the sword of God is not committed to
the hand of man, to use as it pleases him, but only to punish vice and
maintain virtue, that men may live in such society as is acceptable before
God. And this is the true and only cause why God has appointed powers in
this earth.
For such is the furious rage of man’s corrupt nature, that, unless severe
punishment were appointed and put in execution upon malefactors, better it
were that man should live among brutes and wild beasts than among men. But
at this present I dare not enter into the description of this
common-place; for so should I not satisfy the text, which by God’s grace I
purpose to explain. This only by the way—I would that such as are placed
in authority should consider, whether they reign and rule by God, so that
God rules them; or if they rule without, besides, and against God, of whom
our prophet hero complains.
If any desire to take trial of this point, it is not hard; for Moses, in
the election of judges, and of a king, describes not only what persons
shall be chosen to that honour, but also gives to him that is elected and
chosen, the rule by which he shall try himself, whether God reign in him
or not, saying, “When he shall sit upon the throne of his kingdom, he
shall write to himself an exemplar of this law, in a book by the priests
and Levites; it shall be with him, and he shall lead therein, all the days
of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep all
the words of his law, and these statutes, that he may do them; that his
heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not from the
commandment, to the right hand, or to the left.” Deut. xvii.
The same is repeated to Joshua, in his inauguration to the government of
the people, by God himself, saying, “Let not the book of this law depart
from thy mouth, but meditate in it day and night, that thou mayest keep
it, and do according to all that which is written in it. For then shall
thy way be prosperous, and thou shall do prudently.” Josh. i.
The _first_ thing then that God requires of him, who is called to the
honour of a king, is, The knowledge of his will revealed in his word.
The _second_ is, An upright and willing mind, to put in execution such
things as God commands in his law, without declining to the right, or to
the left hand.
Kings then have not an absolute power, to do in their government what
pleases them, but their power is limited by God’s word; so that if they
strike where God has not commanded, they are but murderers; and if they
spare where God has commanded to strike, they and their throne are
criminal and guilty of the wickedness which abounds upon the face of the
earth, for lack of punishment.
O that kings and princes would consider what account shall be craved of
them, as well of their ignorance and misknowledge of God’s will, as for
the neglecting of their office! But now, to return to the words of the
prophet. In the person of the whole people he complains unto God, that the
Babylonians (whom he calls, “other lords besides God,” both because of
their ignorance of God, and by reason of their cruelty and inhumanity,)
had long ruled over them in great rigour, without pity or compassion upon
the ancient men, and famous matrons: for they, being mortal enemies to the
people of God, sought by all means to aggravate their yoke, yea, utterly
to exterminate the memory of them, and of their religion, from the face of
the earth.
After the first part of this dolorous complaint, the prophet declares the
protestation of the people, saying, “Nevertheless in thee shall we
remember thy name,” (others read it, But we will remember thee only, and
thy name;) but in the Hebrew there is no conjunction copulative in that
sentence. The mind of the prophet is plain, namely, that notwithstanding
the long sustained affliction, the people of God declined not to a false
and vain religion, but remembered God, who sometime appeared to them in
his merciful presence; which although they saw not then, yet they would
still remember his name—that is, they would call to mind the doctrine and
promise, which formerly they heard, although in their prosperity they did
not sufficiently glorify God, who so mercifully ruled in the midst of
them. The temptation, no doubt, of the Israelites was great in those days;
they were carried captives from the land of Canaan, which was to them the
gage and pledge of God’s favour towards them: for it was the inheritance
that God promised to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. The league and
covenant of God’s protection appeared to have been broken—they lamentably
complain that they saw not their accustomed signs of God’s merciful
presence. The true prophets were few, and the abominations used in Babylon
were exceedingly many: and so it might have appeared to them, that in vain
it was that they were called the posterity of Abraham, or that ever they
had received the law, or form of right religion from God. That we may the
better feel it in ourselves, the temptation, I say, was even such, as if
God should utterly destroy all order and policy that this day is within
his church—that the true preaching of the word should be suppressed—the
right use of sacraments abolished—idolatry and papistical abomination
erected up again; and therewith, that our bodies should be taken prisoners
by Turks, or other manifest enemies of God, and of all godliness. Such, I
say, was their temptation; how notable then is this their confession that
in bondage they make, namely, That they will remember God only; although
he has appeared to turn his face from them, they will remember his name,
and will call to mind the deliverance promised!
Hereof have we to consider, what is our duty, if God bring us to the like
extremity, as for our offences and unthankfulness justly he may. This
confession is not the fair flattering words of hypocrites, lying and
bathing in their pleasures; but it is the mighty operation of the Spirit
of God, who leaves not his own destitute of some comfort, in their most
desperate calamities. This then is our duty, not only to confess our God
in time of peace and quietness, but he chiefly craves, that we avow him in
the midst of his and our enemies; and this is not in us to do, but it
behoves that the Spirit of God work in us, above all power of nature; and
thus we ought earnestly to meditate before the battle rise more vehement,
which appears not to be far off. But now must we somewhat more deeply
consider these judgments of God.
This people dealt with thus, as we have heard, were the only people upon
the face of the earth to whom God was rightly known; among them only were
his laws, statutes, ordinances, and sacrifices, used and put in practice;
they only invocated his name; and to them alone had he promised his
protection and assistance. What then should be the cause, that he should
give them over unto this great reproach; and bring them into such
extremity that his own name, in them, should be blasphemed? The prophet
Ezekiel, who saw this horrible destruction, forespoken by Isaiah, put into
just execution, gives an answer in these words, “I gave unto them laws
that were good, in the which whosoever should walk, should live in them;
but they would not walk in my ways, but rebelled against me; and
therefore, I have given unto them laws that are not good, and judgments,
in the which they shall not live.” (Ezek. xx.) The writers of the books of
Kings and Chronicles declare this in more plain words, saying, “The Lord
sent unto them his prophets, rising early, desiring of them to return unto
the Lord, and to amend their wicked ways, for he would have spared his
people, and his tabernacle; but they mocked his servants, and would not
return unto the Lord their God to walk in his ways.” (2 Kings xvii.) Yea,
Judah itself kept not the precepts of the Lord God, but walked in the
manners and ordinances of Israel; that is, of such as then had declined to
idolatry from the days of Jeroboam; and therefore, the Lord God abhorred
the whole seed of Israel, that is, the whole body of the people; he
punished them, and gave them into the hands of those that spoiled them,
and so he cast them out from his presence.
Hereof it is evident, that their disobedience unto God, and unto the
voices of his prophets, was the cause of their destruction. Now have we to
take heed how we should use the good laws of God; that is, his will
revealed unto us in his word; and that order of justice, which by him, for
the comfort of man, is established amongst men. There is no doubt but that
obedience is the most acceptable sacrifice unto God, and that which above
all things he requires; so that when he manifests himself by his word, men
should follow according to their vocation and commandment. Now so it is,
that God, by that great Pastor our Lord Jesus, now manifestly in his word
calls us from all impiety, as well of body as of mind, to holiness of
life, and to his spiritual service; and for this purpose he has erected
the throne of his mercy among us, the true preaching of his word, together
with the right administration of his sacraments: but what our obedience
is, let every man examine his own conscience, and consider what statutes
and laws we would have to be given unto us.
Wouldst thou, O Scotland! have a king to reign over thee in justice,
equity, and mercy? Subject thou thyself to the Lord thy God, obey his
commandments, and magnify thou the word that calleth unto thee, “This is
the way, walk in it;” (Isa. xxx.) and if thou wilt not, flatter not
thyself; the same justice remains this day in God to punish thee,
Scotland, and thee Edinburgh especially, which before punished the land of
Judah, and the city of Jerusalem. Every realm or nation, saith the prophet
Jeremiah, that likewise offendeth, shall be likewise punished. (Jer. ix.)
But if thou shalt see impiety placed in the seat of justice above thee, so
that in the throne of God (as Solomon complains, Eccles. iii.) reigns
nothing but fraud and violence, accuse thine own ingratitude and rebellion
against God; for that is the only cause why God takes away “the strong man
and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the prudent and the aged,
the captain and the honourable, the counsellor and the cunning artificer;
and I will appoint, saith the Lord, children to be their princes, and
babes shall rule over them. Children are extortioners of my people, and
women have rule over them.” Isa. iii.
If these calamities, I say, apprehend us, so that we see nothing but the
oppression of good men, and of all godliness, and that wicked men without
God reign above us; let us accuse and condemn ourselves, as the only cause
of our own miseries. For if we had heard the voice of the Lord our God,
and given upright obedience unto the same, God would have multiplied our
peace, and would have rewarded our obedience before the eyes of the world.
But now let us hear what the prophet saith further: “The dead shall not
live,” saith he, “neither shall the tyrants, nor the dead arise, because
thou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their memory,”
verse 14.
From this 14th verse, unto the end of the 19th, it appears, that the
prophet observes no order; yea, that he speaks things directly
repugning(6) one to another; for, _first_, he saith, “The dead shall not
live:” afterwards, he affirms, “Thy dead men shall live.” _Secondly_, he
saith, “Thou hast visited and scattered them, and destroyed all their
memory.” Immediately after, he saith, “Thou hast increased thy nation, O
Lord, thou hast increased thy nation. They have visited thee, and have
poured forth a prayer before thee.”
Who, I say, would not think, that these are things not only spoken without
good order and purpose, but also manifestly repugning one to another? For
to live, and not to live, to be so destroyed that no memorial remains, and
to be so increased that the coasts of the earth shall be replenished,
seems to import plain contradiction. For removing of this doubt, and for
better understanding the prophet’s mind, we must observe, that the prophet
had to do with divers sorts of men; he had to do with the conjured(7) and
manifest enemies of God’s people, the Chaldeans or Babylonians; even so,
such as profess Christ Jesus have to do with the Turks and Saracens. He
had to do with the seed of Abraham, whereof there were three sorts. The
ten tribes were all degenerated from the true worshipping of God, and
corrupted with idolatry, as this day are our pestilent papists in all
realms and nations; there rested only the tribe of Judah at Jerusalem,
where the form of true religion was observed, the law taught, and the
ordinances of God outwardly kept. But yet there were in that body, I mean,
in the body of the visible church, a great number that were hypocrites, as
this day yet are among us that profess the Lord Jesus, and have refused
papistry; also not a few that were licentious livers; some that turned
their back to God, that is, had forsaken all true religion; and some that
lived a most abominable life, as Ezekiel saith in his vision; and yet
there were some godly, as a few wheat-corns, oppressed(8) and hid among
the multitude of chaff: now, according to this diversity, the prophet
keeps divers purposes, and yet in most perfect order.
And first, after the first part of the complaint of the afflicted as we
have heard, in vehemency of spirit he bursts forth against all the proud
enemies of God’s people, against all such as trouble them, and against all
such as mock and forsake God, and saith, “The dead shall not live, the
proud giants shall not rise; thou hast scattered them, and destroyed their
memorial.” In which words he contends against the present temptation and
dolorous state of God’s people, and against the insolent pride of such as
oppressed them; as if the prophet should say, O ye troublers of God’s
people! howsoever it appears to you in this your bloody rage, that God
regards not your cruelty, nor considers what violence you do to his poor
afflicted, yet shall you he visited, yea, your carcases shall fall and lie
as stinking carrion upon the face of the earth, you shall fall without
hope of life, or of a blessed resurrection; yea, howsoever you gather your
substance, and augment your families, you shall be so scattered, that you
shall leave no memorial of you to the posterities to come, but that which
shall be execrable and odious.
Hereof the tyrants have their admonition, and the afflicted church
inestimable comfort: the tyrants that oppress, shall receive the same end
which they did who have passed before; that is, they shall die and fall
with shame, without hope of resurrection, as is aforesaid. Not that they
shall not arise to their own confusion and just condemnation; but that
they shall not recover power, to trouble the servants of God; neither yet
shall the wicked arise, as David saith, in the counsel of the just. Now
the wicked have their councils, their thrones, and finally handle(9) (for
the most part) all things that are upon the face of the earth; but the
poor servants of God are reputed unworthy of men’s presence, envied and
mocked; yea, they are more vile before these proud tyrants, than is the
very dirt and mire which is trodden under foot. But in that glorious
resurrection, this state shall be changed; for then shall such as now, by
their abominable living and cruelty, destroy the earth, and molest God’s
children, see Him whom they have pierced; they shall see the glory of such
as now they persecute, to their terror and everlasting confusion. The
remembrance hereof ought to make us patient in the days of affliction, and
so to comfort us, that when we see tyrants in their blind rage tread under
foot the saints of God, we despair not utterly, as if there were neither
wisdom, justice, nor power above in the heavens, to repress such tyrants,
and to redress the dolours of the unjustly afflicted. No, brethren, let us
be assured, that the right hand of the Lord will change the state of
things that are most desperate. In our God there is wisdom and power, in a
moment to change the joy and mirth of our enemies into everlasting
mourning, and our sorrows into joy and gladness that shall have no end.
Therefore, in these apparent calamities, (and marvel not that I say
_apparent_ calamities, for he that sees not a fire is begun, that shall
burn more than we look for, unless God of his mercy quench it,(10) is more
than blind,) let us not be discouraged, but with unfeigned repentance let
us return to the Lord our God; let us accuse and condemn our former
negligence, and steadfastly depend upon his promised deliverance; so shall
our temporal sorrows be converted into everlasting joy. The doubt that
might be moved concerning the destruction of those whom God exalteth,
shall be discussed, if time will suffer, after we have passed throughout
the text. The prophet, now proceeds, and saith, “Thou hast increased the
nations, O Lord, thou hast increased the nations; thou art made glorious,
thou hast enlarged all the coasts of the earth. Lord, in trouble,” &c.
verses 15, 16.
In these words the prophet gives consolation to the afflicted, assuring
them, that how horrible soever the desolation should be, yet should the
seed of Abraham be so multiplied, that it should replenish the coasts of
the earth; yea, that God should be more glorified in their affliction,
than he was during the time of their prosperity. This promise, no doubt,
was incredible when it was made; for who could have been persuaded, that
the destruction of Jerusalem should have been the means whereby the nation
of the Jews should have been increased? seeing that much rather it
appeared, that the overthrow of Jerusalem should have been the very
abolishing of the seed of Abraham: but we must consider, to what end it
was that God revealed himself to Abraham, and what is contained in the
promise of the multiplication of his seed, and the benediction promised
thereto.
First, God revealed himself to Abraham, to let all flesh understand, by
the means of his word, that God first called man, and revealed himself
unto him; that flesh can do nothing but rebel against God; for Abraham, no
doubt, was an idolater, before God called him from Ur of the Chaldees. The
promise was made, that the seed of Abraham should be multiplied as the
stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; which is not simply to be
understood of his natural seed, although it was sometimes greatly
increased; but rather of such as should become the spiritual seed of
Abraham, as the apostle speaks. Now, if we be able to prove, that the
right knowledge of God, his wisdom, justice, mercy, and power, were more
amply declared in their captivity, than at any time before, then we cannot
deny, but that God, even when to man’s judgment he had utterly rased them
from the face of the earth, did increase the nation of the Jews, so that
he was glorified in them, and extended the coasts of the earth for their
habitation. And, for the better understanding hereof, let us shortly try
the histories from their captivity to their deliverance; and after the
same, to the coming of the Messiah.
No doubt satan intended, by the dispersion of the Jews, so to have
profaned the whole seed of Abraham, that among them neither should have
remained the true knowledge of God, nor yet the spirit of sanctification,
but that all should have come to a like contempt of God. For, I pray you,
for what purpose was it, that Daniel and his fellows were taken into the
king’s court, were commanded to be fed at the king’s table, and were put
to the schools of their diviners, soothsayers, and astrologers? It may be
thought that it proceeded of the king’s humanity, and of a zeal which he
had, that they should be brought up in virtue and good learning; and I
doubt not but it was so understood by a great number of the Jews. But the
secret practice of the devil was understood by Daniel, when he refused to
defile himself with the king’s meat, which was forbidden to the seed of
Abraham in the law of their God. Well, God began shortly after to show
himself mindful of his promise made by his prophet, and to trouble
Nebuchadnezzar himself, by showing to him a vision in his dream; which the
more troubled him, because he could not forget the terror of it, neither
yet could he remember what the vision and the parts thereof were.
Whereupon were called all the diviners, interpreters of dreams, and
soothsayers, of whom the king demanded, if they could let him understand
what he had dreamed: but while they answered, that such a question used
not to be demanded of any soothsayer or magician, for the resolution
thereof only appertained to the gods, whose habitation was not with men,
the charge was given, that they all should be slain: and amongst the rest,
Daniel, whose innocence the devil envied, was sought to have suffered the
same judgment. He claimed, and asked time to disclose that secret; (I only
touch the history, to let you see by what means God increased his
knowledge) which being granted, the vision was revealed unto him; he
shewed the same unto the king, with the true interpretation of it; adding,
that the knowledge thereof came not from the stars, but only from the God
of Abraham, who alone was and is the true God. Which being understood, the
king burst forth in his confession, saying, “Of a truth your God is the
most excellent of all gods, and he is Lord of kings, and only he that
revealeth secrets, seeing that thou couldst open this secret.” And when
Nebuchadnezzar after that, being puffed up with pride by the counsel of
his wicked nobility, would make an image, before which he would that all
tongues and nations subject to him should make adoration; and when
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, would not obey his unjust commandment,
and so were cast into the flaming furnace of fire; and yet by God’s angels
were so preserved, that no smell of fire remained on their persons or
garments; this same king gave a more notable confession, saying, “The Lord
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, is to be praised, who hath sent
his angels, and delivered his worshippers that put trust in him, who have
done against the king’s commandment; who have rather given their own
bodies to torment, than that they would worship another god, except their
own God. By me therefore is there made a decree, that whosoever shall
blaspheme the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, he shall be cut in
pieces, and his house shall be made detestable.” Dan. iii.
Thus we see how God began, even almost in the beginning of their
captivity, to notify his name, to multiply his knowledge, and set forth as
well his power as his wisdom, and true worshipping, by those that were
taken prisoners, yea, that were despised, and of all men contemned; so
that the name and fear of the God of Abraham was never before notified to
so many realms and nations. This wondrous work of God proceeded from one
empire to another; for Daniel being promoted to great honour by Darius
king of the Persians and Medes, fell into a desperate danger; for he was
committed to prison among lions, because he was found breaking the king’s
injunction; not that the king desired the destruction of God’s servants,
but because the corrupt idolaters, who in hatred of Daniel had procured
that law to be made, urged the king against his nature; but God, by his
angel, stopped the lions’ mouths, and so preserved his servant; which
being considered, with the sudden destruction of Daniel’s enemies by the
same lions, king Darius, besides his own confession, wrote to all people,
tongues, and nations, after this form; “It is decreed by me, That in all
the dominions of my kingdom, men shall fear and reverence the God of
Daniel, because he is the Living God, abiding for ever, whose kingdom
shall not be destroyed, and his dominion remaineth; who saveth and
delivereth, and sheweth signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath
delivered Daniel from the lions.”
This knowledge was yet further increased in the days of Cyrus, who giving
freedom to the captives to return to their own native country, gave this
confession; “Thus saith Cyrus the king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the
earth hath the Lord God of heaven given unto me, and hath commanded me,
that a house be built to him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever
therefore of you, that are of his people, let the Lord his God be with
him, and let him pass up to Jerusalem, and let him build the house of the
Lord God of Israel; for he only is God that is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra i.)
Time will not suffer me to treat the points of this confession, neither
yet did I for that purpose adduce the history; but only to let us see, how
constantly God kept his promise in increasing his people, and in
augmenting his true knowledge beyond men’s expectation, when both they
that were the seed of Abraham, and the religion which they professed,
appeared utterly to have been extinguished. I say, he brought freedom out
of bondage, light out of darkness, and life out of death. I am not
ignorant, that the building of the temple, and the reparation of the walls
of Jerusalem, were long stayed, so that the work had many enemies; but the
hand of God so prevailed in the end, that a decree was made by Darius, (by
him I suppose that succeeded to Cambyses,) not only that all things
necessary for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices that were
to be burnt there, should be ministered upon the king’s charges; but also,
that “whosoever should hinder that work, or change that decree, that a
tree should be taken out of his house, and that he should be hanged
thereupon; yea, that his house should be made a dunghill,” (Ezra vi.); and
thereto he added a prayer, saying, “The God of heaven, who hath placed his
name there, root out every king and people, (O that kings and nations
would understand!) that shall put his hand, either to change or to hurt
this house of God that is in Jerusalem.” And so, in despite of satan, was
the temple built, the walls repaired, and the city inhabited; and in the
most desperate dangers it was preserved, until the promised Messiah, the
glory of the second temple, came, manifested himself to the world,
suffered and rose again, according to the scriptures; and so, by sending
forth his gospel from Jerusalem, replenished the earth with the true
knowledge of God; and so did God in perfection increase the nation, and
the spiritual seed of Abraham.
Wherefore, dear brethren, we have no small consolation, if the state of
all things be this day rightly considered. We see in what fury and rage
the world, for the most part, is now raised, against the poor church of
Jesus Christ, unto which he has proclaimed liberty, after the fearful
bondage of that spiritual Babylon, in which we have been holden captives
longer space than Israel was prisoner in Babylon itself: for if we shall
consider, upon the one part, the multitude of those that live wholly
without Christ; and, upon the other part, the blind rage of the pestilent
papists; what shall we think of the small number of them that profess
Christ Jesus, but that they are as a poor sheep, already seized in the
claws of the lion; yea, that they, and the true religion which they
profess, shall in a moment be utterly consumed?
But against this fearful temptation, let us be armed with the promise of
God, namely, that he will be the protector of his church; yea, that he
will multiply it, even when to man’s judgment it appears utterly to be
exterminated. This promise has our God performed, in the multiplication of
Abraham’s seed, in the preservation of it when satan laboured utterly to
have destroyed it, and in deliverance of the same, as we have heard, from
Babylon. He hath sent his Son Christ Jesus, clad in our flesh, who hath
tasted of all our infirmities, (sin excepted,) who hath promised to be
with us to the end of the world; he hath further kept promise in the
publication, yea, in the restitution of his glorious gospel. Shall we then
think that he will leave his church destitute in this most dangerous age?
Only let us cleave to his truth, and study to conform our lives to the
same, and he shall multiply his knowledge, and increase his people. But
now let us hear what the prophet saith more:
“Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when
thy chastening was upon them,” verse 16.
The prophet means, that such as in the time of quietness did not rightly
regard God nor his judgments, were compelled, by sharp corrections, to
seek God; yea, by cries and dolorous complaints to visit him. True it is,
that such obedience deserves small praise before men; for who can praise,
or accept that in good part, which comes as it were of mere compulsion?
And yet it is rare, that any of God’s children do give unfeigned
obedience, until the hand of God turn them. For if quietness and
prosperity make them not utterly to forget their duty, both towards God
and man, as David for a season, yet it makes them careless, insolent, and
in many things unmindful of those things that God chiefly craves of them;
which imperfection being espied, and the danger that thereof might ensue,
our heavenly Father visits the sins of his children, but with the rod of
his mercy, by which they are moved to return to their God, to accuse their
former negligence, and to promise better obedience in all times hereafter;
as David confessed, saying, “Before I fell in affliction I went astray,
but now will I keep thy statutes.”
But yet, for the better understanding of the prophet’s mind, we may
consider how God doth visit man, and how man doth visit God; and what
difference there is betwixt the visitation of God upon the reprobate, and
his visitation upon the chosen.
God sometimes visits the reprobate in his hot displeasure, pouring upon
them his plagues for their long rebellion; as we have heard before, that
he visited the proud, and destroyed their memory. At other times God is
said to visit his people, being in affliction, to whom he sends comfort or
promise of deliverance, as he visited the seed of Abraham, when oppressed
in Egypt. And Zacharias said, that God had visited his people, and sent
unto them hope of deliverance, when John the Baptist was born. But of none
of these visitations our prophet here speaks, but of that only which we
have already touched; namely, when God layeth his correction upon his own
children, to call them from the venomous breasts of this corrupt world,
that they suck not in over great abundance the poison thereof; and he
doth, as it were, wean them from their mother’s breasts, that they may
learn to receive other nourishment. True it is, that this weaning (or
speaning, as we term it) from worldly pleasure, is a thing strange to the
flesh. And yet it is a thing so necessary to God’s children, that, unless
they are weaned from the pleasures of the world, they can never feed upon
that delectable milk of God’s eternal verity; for the corruption of the
one either hinders the other from being received, or else so troubles the
whole powers of man, that the soul can never so digest the truth of God as
he ought to do.
Although this appears hard, yet it is most evident; for what can we
receive from the world, but that which is in the world? What that is, the
apostle John teaches; saying, “Whatsoever is in the world, is either the
lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life.” (1 John
ii.) Now, seeing that these are not of the Father, but of the world, how
can it be, that our souls can feed upon chastity, temperance, and
humility, so long as our stomachs are replenished with the corruption of
these vices?
Now so it is, that flesh can never willingly refuse these fore-named, but
rather still delights itself in every one of them; yea, in them all, as
the examples are but too evident.
It behoves therefore, that God himself shall violently pull his children
from these venomous breasts, that when they lack the liquor and poison of
the world, they may visit him, and learn to be nourished of him. Oh if the
eyes of worldly princes should be opened, that they might see with what
humour and liquor their souls are fed, while their whole delight consists
in pride, ambition, and the lusts of the corrupt flesh! We understand then
how God doth visit men, as well by his severe judgments, as by his
merciful visitation of deliverance from troubles, or by bringing trouble
upon his chosen for their humiliation; and now it remains to understand
how man visits God. Man doth visit God, when he appears in his presence,
be it for the hearing of his word, or for the participation of his
sacraments; as the people of Israel, besides the observation of their
sabbaths and daily oblations, were commanded thrice a-year to present
themselves before the presence of the tabernacle; and as we do, and us
often as we present ourselves to the hearing of the word. For there is the
footstool, yea, there is the face and throne of God himself, wheresoever
the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly preached, and his sacraments rightly
ministered.
But men may on this sort visit God hypocritically; for they may come for
the fashion, they may hear with deaf ears; yea, they may understand, and
yet never determine with themselves to obey that which God requires: and
let such men be assured, that He who searches the secrets of hearts will
be avenged of all such; for nothing can be more odious to God, than to
mock him in his own presence. Let every man therefore examine himself,
with what mind, and what purpose, he comes to hear the word of God; yea,
with what ear he hears it, and what testimony his heart gives unto him,
when God commands virtue, and forbids impiety.
Repinest thou when God requires obedience? Thou hearest to thine own
condemnation. Mockest thou at God’s threatenings? Thou shalt feel the
weight and truth of them, albeit too late, when flesh and blood cannot
deliver thee from his hand. But the visitation, whereof our prophet
speaks, is only proper to the sons of God, who, in the time when God takes
from them the pleasures of the world, or shows his angry countenance unto
them, have recourse unto him, and, confessing their former negligence,
with troubled hearts, cry for his mercy. This visitation is not proper to
all the afflicted, but appertains only to God’s children: for the
reprobates can never have access to God’s mercy in time of their
tribulation, and that because they abuse his long patience, as well as the
manifold benefits they receive from his hands; for as the same prophet
heretofore saith, “Let the wicked obtain mercy, yet shall he never learn
wisdom, but in the land of righteousness,” that is, where the true
knowledge of God abounds, “he will do wickedly.” Which is a crime above
all others abominable; for to what end is it that God erects his throne
among us, but that we should fear him? Why does he reveal his holy will
unto us, but that we should obey it? Why does he deliver us from trouble,
but that we should be witnesses unto the world, that he is gracious and
merciful?
Now, when men hearing their duty, and knowing what God requires of them,
do malapertly fight against all equity and justice, what I pray you, do
they else, but make manifest war against God? Yea, when they have received
from God such deliverance, that they cannot deny but that God himself hath
in his great mercy visited them, and yet they continue wicked as before;
what deserve they but effectually to be given over unto a reprobate sense,
that they may headlong run to ruin, both of body and soul? It is almost
incredible that a man should be so enraged against God, that neither his
plagues, nor yet his mercy showed, should move him to repentance; but
because the Scriptures bear witness of the one and the other, let us cease
to marvel, and let us firmly believe, that such things as have been, are
even at present before our eyes, albeit many, blinded by affection, cannot
see them.
Ahab, as it is written in the book of the Kings, received many notable
benefits of the hand of God, who visited him in divers sorts, sometimes by
his plagues, sometimes by his word, and sometimes by his merciful
deliverance. He made him king, and, for the idolatry used by him and his
wife, he plagued the whole of Israel by famine; he revealed to him his
will, and true religion, by the prophet Elijah; he gave unto him sundry
deliverances, but one most special, when proud Benhadad came to besiege
Samaria, and was not content to receive Ahab’s gold, silver, sons,
daughters, and wives, but also required, that his servants should have at
their pleasure whatsoever was delectable in Samaria. True it is, that his
elders and people willed him not to hear the proud tyrant, but who made
unto him the promise of deliverance? And who appointed and put his army in
order? Who assured him of victory? The prophet of God only, who assured
him, that by the servants of the princes of the provinces, who in number
were only two hundred thirty-and-two, he should defeat the great army, in
which there were two-and-thirty kings, with all their forces. And as the
prophet of God promised, so it came to pass; victory was obtained, not
once only, but twice, and that by the merciful visitation of the Lord.
But how did Ahab visit God again for his great benefit received? Did he
remove his idolatry? Did he correct his idolatrous wife Jezebel? No, we
find no such thing; but the one and the other we find to have continued
and increased in their former impiety: but what was the end thereof? The
last visitation of God was, that dogs licked the blood of the one, and did
eat the flesh of the other. In few words then we understand, what
difference there is betwixt the visitation of God upon the reprobate, and
his visitation upon his chosen. The reprobate are visited, but never truly
humbled, nor yet amended; the chosen being visited, they sob, and they cry
unto God for mercy; which being obtained, they magnify God’s name, and
afterwards manifest the fruits of repentance. Let us therefore that bear
these judgments of our God, call for the assistance of his Holy Spirit,
that howsoever it pleaseth him to visit us, we may stoop under his
merciful hands, and unfeignedly cry to him when he corrects us; and so
shall we know in experience, that our cries and complaints were not in
vain. But let us hear what the prophet saith further:
“Like as a woman with child, that draweth near her travail, is in sorrow,
and crieth in her pains, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord; we have
conceived, we have borne in vain, as though we should have brought forth
the wind. Salvations were not made to the earth, neither did the
inhabitants of the earth fall,” verses 17, 18.
This is the second part of the prophet’s complaint, in which he, in the
person of God’s people, complains, that of their great affliction there
appeared no end. This same similitude is used by our Master Jesus Christ;
for when he speaks of the troubles of his church, he compares them to the
pains of a woman travailing in child-birth. But it is to another end; for
there he promises exceeding and permanent joy after a sort, though it
appear trouble. But here is the trouble long and vehement, albeit the
fruit of it was not suddenly espied. He speaks no doubt of that long and
dolorous time of their captivity, in which they continually laboured for
deliverance, but obtained it not before the complete end of seventy years.
During which time, the earth, that is, the land of Judah, which sometimes
was sanctified unto God, but was then given to be profaned by wicked
people, got no help, nor perceived any deliverance: for the inhabitants of
the world fell not; that is, the tyrants and oppressors of God’s people
were not taken away, but still remained and continued blasphemers of God,
and troublers of his church. But because I perceive the hours to pass more
swiftly than they have seemed at other times, I must contract that which
remains of this text into certain points.
The prophet first contends against the present despair; afterwards he
introduces God himself calling upon his people; and, last of all, he
assures his afflicted, that God will come, and require account of all the
blood-thirsty tyrants of the earth.
First, Fighting against the present despair, he saith, “Thy dead shall
live, even my body (or with my body) shall they arise; awake and sing, ye
that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,” verse 19.
The prophet here pierces through all impediments that nature could object;
and, by the victory of faith, he overcomes, not only the common enemies,
but the great and last enemy of all, death itself; for this would he say,
Lord, I see nothing for thy chosen, but misery to follow misery, and one
affliction to succeed another; yea, in the end I see, that death shall
devour thy dearest children. But yet, O Lord! I see thy promise to be
true, and thy love to remain towards thy chosen, even when death appears
to have devoured them: “For thy dead shall live, yea, not only shall they
live, but my very dead carcase shall arise;” and so I see honour and glory
to succeed this temporal shame, I see permanent joy to come after trouble,
order to spring out of this terrible confusion; and, finally, I see that
life shall devour death, so that death shall be destroyed, and so thy
servants shall have life. This, I say, is the victory of faith, when to
the midst of death, through the light of God’s word, the afflicted see
life. Hypocrites, in the time of quietness and prosperity, can generally
confess, that God is true to his promises; but bring them to the
extremity, and there the hypocrite ceases further to trust to God, than he
seeth natural means, whereby God useth to work. But the true faithful,
when all hope of natural means fail, flee to God himself, and to the truth
of his promise, who is above nature; yea, whose works are not so subject
to the ordinary course of nature, that when nature fails, his power and
promise fail also therewith.
Let us further observe, That the prophet here speaks not of all the dead
in general, but saith, “Thy dead, O Lord, shall live:” in which words he
makes a difference betwixt those that die in the Lord, and those that die
in their natural corruption, and in the old Adam. Die in the Lord can
none, except those that live in him, (I mean, of those that attain to the
years of discretion;) and none live in him, but those that, with the
apostle, can say, “I live, and yet not I, but Christ Jesus that dwelleth
in me: the life that I now live, I have by the faith of the Son of God.”
(Gal. ii.) Not that I mean, that the faithful have at all hours such a
sense of the life everlasting, that they fear not the death and the
troubles of this life; no, not so; for the faith of God’s children is
weak, yea, and in many things imperfect. But I mean, that such as in
death, and after death shall live, must communicate in this life with
Jesus Christ, and must be regenerated by the seed of life; that is, by the
word of the everlasting God, which whosoever despises, refuses life and
joy everlasting.
The prophet transfers all the promises of God to himself, saying, “Even my
dead body shall arise;” and immediately after, gives commandment and
charge to the dwellers in the dust, that is, to the dead carcases of those
that were departed, (for the spirit and soul of man dwells not in the
dust,) “That they should awake, that they should sing and rejoice;” for
they should arise and spring up from the earth, even as the herbs do,
after they have received the dew from above.
Time will not suffer that these particulars be so largely treated as
ought, and as I gladly would do; therefore let us consider, that the
prophet, in transferring the power and promise of God to himself, does not
claim to himself any particular prerogative above the people of God, as
that he alone should live and arise, and not they also; but he does it, to
let them understand that he taught a doctrine whereof he was certain; yea,
and whereof they should have experience after his death. As if he should
say, My words appear to you now to be incredible, but the day will come,
that I shall be taken from you, my carcase shall be inclosed in the bosom
of the earth; and you shall be led away captives to Babylon, where you
shall remain many days and years, as it were buried in your sepulchres.
But then call to mind what I said unto you before hand, that my body shall
arise; even so shall you rise from your graves out of Babylon, and be
restored to your own country, and city of Jerusalem; this, I doubt not, is
the true meaning of the prophet. The charge that he gives to the dwellers
in the dust, is to express the power of God’s word, whereby he not only
gives life, where death apparently had prevailed; but also, by it, he
calls things that are not, even as though they were. True it is, that the
prophet Isaiah saw not the destruction of Jerusalem, much less could he
see the restitution of it with his corporeal eyes; but he leaves this, as
it were, in testament with them—that when they were in the extremity of
all bondage, they should call to mind what the prophet of God had before
spoken.
And lest that his doctrine, and this promise of God made unto them by his
mouth, should have been forgotten, as we are ever prone and ready to
forget God’s promises when we are pressed with any sorrow, God raised up
unto them, in the midst of their calamity, his prophet Ezekiel, unto whom,
among many other visions, he gave this—The hand of the Lord first led him
in a place, which was full of dry and dispersed bones. (Ezek. xxxvii.) The
question was demanded of the prophet, If these bones, being wondrous dry,
could live? The prophet answered, The knowledge thereof appertained unto
God. Charge was given unto him, that he should speak unto the dry bones,
and say, “Thus saith the Lord God to these bones, Behold, I will give you
breath, and you shall live: I will give unto you sinews, flesh, and skin,
and you shall live.” And while the prophet spake as he was commanded, he
heard a voice, and he saw every bone join its fellow; he saw them covered
with flesh and skin, albeit there was no spirit of life in them. He was
commanded again to speak, and to say, “Thus saith the Lord God, Come, O
Spirit, from the four quarters, and blow on these that are slain, that
they may live.” And as he prophesied, the spirit of life came; they lived,
and stood upon their feet. Then the Lord interprets what this vision
meant, saying “O son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, our hope is perished, we are
plainly cut off. But behold, saith the Lord, I will open your graves, I
will bring you forth of them, ye shall live, and come unto the land of
Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
This vision, I say, given to the prophet, and by the prophet preached to
the people, when they thought that God had utterly forgotten them,
compelled them more diligently to advert to what the former prophets had
spoken. It is no doubt but that they carried with them both the prophecy
of Isaiah and Jeremiah, so that the prophet Ezekiel is a commentary to
these words of Isaiah, where he saith, “Thy dead, O Lord, shall live, with
my body they shall arise.” The prophet brings in this similitude of the
dew, to answer unto that part of their fidelity, who can believe no
further of God’s promises than they are able to apprehend by natural
judgment; as if he would say, Think ye this impossible, that God should
give life unto you, and bring you to an estate of a commonwealth again,
after that ye are dead, and as it were rased from the face of the earth?
But why do you not consider what God worketh from year to year in the
order of nature? Sometimes you see the face of the earth decked and
beautified with herbs, flowers, grass, and fruits; again you see the same
utterly taken away by storms, and the vehemence of the winter: what does
God to replenish the earth again, and to restore the beauty thereof? He
sends down his small and soft dew, the drops whereof, in their descending,
are neither great nor visible, and yet thereby are the pores and secret
veins of the earth, which before by vehemence of frost and cold were shut
up, opened again, and so does the earth produce again the like herbs,
flowers, and fruits. Shall you then think, that the dew of God’s heavenly
grace will not be as effectual in you to whom he hath made his promise, as
it is in the herbs and fruits which from year to year bud forth and decay?
If you do so, the prophet would say your unbelief is inexcusable; because
you neither rightly weigh the power, nor the promise of your God.
The like similitude the apostle Paul uses against such as called the
resurrection in doubt, because by natural judgment they could not
apprehend that flesh once putrified, and dissolved as it were into other
substance, should rise again, and return again to the same substance and
nature: “O fool,” saith he, “that which thou sowest is not quickened,
except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that
shall be, but bare corn, as it falleth, of wheat, or some other, but God
giveth it a body as it pleaseth him, even to every seed his own body.” In
which words and sentence, the apostle sharply rebukes the gross ignorance
of the Corinthians, who began to call in doubt the chief article of our
faith, the resurrection of the flesh after it was once dissolved, because
that natural judgment, as he said, reclaimed thereto.(11) He reproves, I
say, their gross ignorance, because they might have seen and considered
some proof and document thereof in the very order of nature; for albeit
the wheat, or other corn, cast in the earth, appears to die or putrify,
and so to be lost, yet we see that it is not perished, but that it
fructifies according to God’s will and ordinance.
Now, if the power of God be so manifest in raising up of the fruits of the
earth, unto which no particular promise is made by God, what shall be his
power and virtue in raising up our bodies, seeing that thereto he is bound
by the solemn promise of Jesus Christ his Eternal Wisdom, and the Verity
itself that cannot lie? Yea, seeing that the members must once communicate
with the glory of the Head, how shall our bodies, which are flesh of his
flesh, and bone of his bones, lie still for ever in corruption, seeing
that our Head, Jesus Christ, is now exalted in his glory? Neither yet is
this power and good-will of God to be restrained unto the last and general
resurrection only, but we ought to consider it in the marvellous
preservation of his church, and in the raising up of the same from the
very bottom of death, when by tyrants it has been oppressed from age to
age.
Now, of the former words of the prophet, we have to gather this comfort;
that if at any time we see the face of the church within this realm so
defaced, as I think it shall be sooner than we look for—when we shall see,
I say, virtue to be despised, vice to be maintained, the verity of God to
be impugned, lies and men’s inventions holden in authority—and finally,
when we see the true religion of our God, and the zealous observers of the
same, trodden under the feet of such as in their heart say, that “There is
no God,” (Psal. xiv.); let us then call to mind what have been the
wondrous works of our God from the beginning—that it is his proper office
to bring light out of darkness, order out of confusion, life out of death:
and finally, that this is He that calleth things that are not, even as if
they were, as before we have heard. And if in the day of our temptation,
which in my judgment approaches fast, we are thus armed, if our
incredulity cannot utterly be removed, yet shall it so be corrected, that
damnable despair oppress us not. But now let us hear how the prophet
proceeds:—
“Come, thou my people, enter within thy chamber, shut thy door after thee,
hide thyself a very little while, until the indignation pass over.”
Here the prophet brings in God, lovingly, calling upon his people to come
to himself, and to rest with him, until such time as the fury and sharp
plagues should be executed upon the wicked and disobedient. It may appear
at the first sight, that all these words of the prophet, in the person of
God, calling the people unto rest, are spoken in vain; for we neither find
chambers, nor rest, more prepared for the dearest children of God, so far
as man’s judgment can discern, than for the rebellious and disobedient;
for such as fell not by the edge of the sword, or died not of pestilence,
or by hunger, were either carried captives unto Babylon, or else departed
afterwards into Egypt, so that none of Abraham’s seed had either chamber
or quiet place to remain in within the land of Canaan. For the resolution
hereof, we must understand, That albeit the chambers whereunto God called
his chosen be not visible, yet notwithstanding they are certain, and offer
unto God’s children a quiet habitation in spirit, howsoever the flesh be
travailed and tormented.
The chambers then are God’s sure promises, unto which God’s people are
commanded to resort; yea, within which they are commanded to close
themselves in the time of greatest adversity. The manner of speaking is
borrowed from that judgment and foresight which God has printed in this
our nature; for when men espy great tempests appearing to come, they will
not willingly remain uncovered in the fields, but straightway they will
draw them to their houses or holds, that they may escape the vehemence of
the same; and if they fear any enemy pursues them, they will shut their
doors, to the end that the enemy should not suddenly have entry.
After this manner God speaks to his people; as if he should say, The
tempest that shall come upon this whole nation shall be so terrible, that
nothing but extermination shall appear to come upon the whole body. But
thou my people, that hearest my word, believest the same, and tremblest at
the threatenings of my prophets, now, when the world does insolently
resist—let such, I say, enter within the secret chamber of my promises,
let them contain themselves quietly there; yea, let them shut the door
upon them, and suffer not infidelity, the mortal enemy of my truth, and of
my people that depend thereupon, to have free entry to trouble them, yea,
further to murder, in my promise; and so shall they perceive that my
indignation shall pass, and that such as depend upon me shall be saved.
Thus we may perceive the meaning of the prophet; whereof we have first to
observe, that God acknowledges them for his people who are in the greatest
affliction; yea, such as are reputed unworthy of men’s presence are yet
admitted within the secret chamber of God. Let no man think that flesh and
blood can suddenly attain to that comfort; and therefore most expedient it
is, that we be frequently exercised in meditation of the same. Easy it is,
I grant, in time of prosperity, to say, and to think, that God is our God,
and that we are his people; but when he has given us over into the hands
of our enemies, and turned, as it were, his back unto us, then, I say,
still to reclaim him to be our God, and to have this assurance, that we
are his people, proceeds wholly from the Holy Spirit of God, as it is the
greatest victory of faith, which overcomes the world; for increase
whereof, we ought continually to pray.
This doctrine we shall not think strange, if we consider how suddenly our
spirits are carried away from our God, and from believing his promise. So
soon as any great temptation apprehends us, then we begin to doubt if ever
we believed God’s promise, if God will fulfil them to us, if we abide in
his favour, if he regards and looks upon the violence and injury that is
done unto us; and a multitude of such cogitations which before lurked
quietly in our corrupted hearts, burst violently forth when we are
oppressed with any desperate calamity. Against which this is the
remedy—once to apprehend, and still to retain God to be our God, and
firmly to believe, that we are his people whom he loves, and will defend,
not only in affliction, but even in the midst of death itself.
Again, Let us observe, That the judgments of our God never were, nor yet
shall be so vehement upon the face of the earth, but that there has been,
and shall be, some secret habitation prepared in the sanctuary of God, for
some of his chosen, where they shall be preserved until the indignation
pass by; and that God prepares a time, that they may glorify him again,
before the face of the world, which once despised them. And this ought to
be unto us no small comfort in these appearing dangers, namely, that we
are surely persuaded, that how vehement soever the tempest shall be, it
yet shall pass over, and some of us shall be preserved to glorify the name
of our God, as is aforesaid.
Two vices lurk in this our nature: the one is, that we cannot tremble at
God’s threatenings, before the plagues apprehend us, albeit we see cause
most just why his fierce wrath should burn as a devouring fire; the other
is, that when calamities before pronounced, fall upon us, then we begin to
sink down in despair, so that we never look for any comfortable end of the
same.
To correct this our mortal infirmity, in time of quietness we ought to
consider what is the justice of our God, and how odious sin is; and, above
all, how odious idolatry is in His presence, who has forbidden it, and who
has so severely punished it in all ages from the beginning: and in the
time of our affliction we ought to consider, what have been the wondrous
works of our God, in the preservation of his church when it hath been in
uttermost extremity. For never shall we find the church humbled under the
hands of traitors, and cruelly tormented by them, but we shall find God’s
just vengeance fall upon the cruel persecutors, and his merciful
deliverance shewed to the afflicted. And, in taking of this trial, we
should not only call to mind the histories of ancient times, but also we
should diligently mark what notable works God hath wrought, even in this
our age, as well upon the one as upon the other. We ought not to think,
that our God bears less love to his church this day, than what he has done
from the beginning; for as our God in his own nature is immutable, so his
love towards his elect remains always unchangeable. For as in Christ Jesus
he hath chosen his church, before the beginning of all ages; so by him
will he maintain and preserve the same unto the end. Yea, he will quiet
the storms, and cause the earth to open her mouth, and receive the raging
floods of violent waters, cast out by the dragon, to drown and carry away
the woman, which is the spouse of Jesus Christ, unto whom God for his own
name’s sake will be the perpetual Protector. Rev. xii.
This saw that notable servant of Jesus Christ, Athanasius, who being
exiled from Alexandria by that blasphemous apostate Julian the emperor,
said unto his flock, who bitterly wept for his envious banishment, “Weep
not, but be of good comfort, for this little cloud will suddenly vanish.”
He called both the emperor himself and his cruel tyranny a little cloud;
and albeit there was small appearance of any deliverance to the church of
God, or of any punishment to have apprehended the proud tyrants, when the
man of God pronounced these words, yet shortly after God did give witness,
that those words did not proceed from flesh nor blood, but from God’s very
Spirit. For not long after, being in warfare, Julian received a deadly
wound, whether by his own hand, or by one of his own soldiers, the writers
clearly conclude not; but casting his own blood against the heaven, he
said, “At last thou hast overcome, thou Galilean:” so in despite he termed
the Lord Jesus. And so perished that tyrant in his own iniquity; the storm
ceased, and the church of God received new comfort.
Such shall be the end of all cruel persecutors, their reign shall be
short, their end miserable, and their name shall be left in execrations to
God’s people; and yet shall the church of God remain to God’s glory, after
all storms. But now shortly, let us come to the last point:
“For behold,” saith the prophet, “the Lord will come out of his place, to
visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the
earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more hide her slain.” (Verse
21.) Because that the final end of the troubles of God’s chosen shall not
be, before the Lord Jesus shall return to restore all things to their full
perfection.
The prophet brings forth the eternal God, as it were, from his own place
and habitation, and therewith shows the cause of his coming to be, that he
might take account of all such as have wrought wickedly; for that he
means, where he saith, “He will visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of
the earth upon them.” And lest any should think the wrong doers are so
many, that they cannot be called to an account, he gives unto the earth as
it were an office and charge, to bear witness against all those that have
wrought wickedly, and chiefly against those that have shed innocent blood
from the beginning; and saith, “That the earth shall disclose her blood,
and shall no more hide her slain men.”
If tyrants of the earth, and such as delight in the shedding of blood,
should be persuaded that this sentence is true, they would not so
furiously come to their own destruction; for what man can be so enraged,
that he would willingly do even before the eyes of God that which might
provoke his Majesty to anger, yea, provoke him to become his enemy for
ever, if he understood how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of
the living God?
The cause then of this blind fury of the world is the ignorance of God,
and that men think that God is but an idol; and that there is no knowledge
above, that beholds their tyranny; nor yet justice that will, nor power
that can, repress their impiety. But the Spirit of truth witnesses the
contrary, affirming, that as the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and
as his ears are ready to receive their sobbing and prayers, so is his
visage angry against such as work iniquity; he hateth and holdeth in
abomination every deceitful and blood-thirsty man, whereof he has given
sufficient document from age to age, in preserving the one, or at least in
avenging their cause, and in punishing the other.
Where it is said, “That the Lord will come from his place, and that he
will visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them, and
that the earth shall disclose her blood;” we have to consider, what most
commonly has been, and what shall be, the condition of the church of God,
namely, that it is not only hated, mocked, and despised, but that it is
exposed as a prey unto the fury of the wicked; so that the blood of the
children of God is spilt like unto water upon the face of the earth.
The understanding whereof, albeit it is unpleasant to the flesh, yet to us
it is most profitable, lest that we, seeing the cruel treatment of God’s
servants, begin to forsake the spouse of Jesus Christ, because she is not
so dealt with in this unthankful world, as the just and upright dealings
of God’s children do deserve. But contrariwise, for mercy they receive
cruelty, for doing good to many, of all the reprobate they receive evil;
and this is decreed in God’s eternal council, that the members may follow
the trace of the Head; to the end that God in his just judgment should
finally condemn the wicked. For how should he punish the inhabitants of
the earth, if their iniquity deserve it not? How should the earth disclose
our blood, if it should not be unjustly spilt? We must then commit
ourselves into the hands of our God, and lay down our necks; yea, and
patiently suffer our blood to be shed, that the righteous Judge may
require account, as most assuredly he will, of all the blood that hath
been shed, from the blood of Abel the just, till the day that the earth
shall disclose the same. I say, every one that sheds, or consents to shed
the blood of God’s children, shall be guilty of the whole; so that all the
blood of God’s children shall cry vengeance, not only in general, but also
in particular, upon every one that has shed the blood of any that unjustly
suffered.
And if any think it strange, that such as live this day can be guilty of
the blood that was shed in the days of the apostles, let them consider,
that the Verity itself pronounced, That all the blood that was shed from
the days of Abel, unto the days of Zacharias, should come upon the
unthankful generation that heard his doctrine and refused it. (Matt.
xxiii.)
The reason is evident; for as there are two heads and captains that rule
over the whole world, namely, Jesus Christ, the Prince of justice and
peace, and satan, called the prince of the world; so there are but two
armies that have continued battle from the beginning, and shall fight unto
the end. The quarrel which the army of Jesus Christ sustains, and which
the reprobate persecute, is the same, namely, The eternal truth of the
eternal God, and the image of Jesus Christ printed in his elect—so that
whosoever in any age persecutes any one member of Jesus Christ for his
truth’s sake, subscribes, as it were with his hand, to the persecution of
all that have passed before him.
And this ought the tyrants of this age deeply to consider; for they shall
be guilty, not only of the blood shed by themselves, but of all, as is
said, that has been shed for the cause of Jesus Christ from the beginning
of the world.
Let the faithful not be discouraged, although they be appointed as sheep
to the slaughter-house; for He, for whose sake they suffer, shall not
forget to avenge their cause. I am not ignorant that flesh and blood will
think that kind of support too late; for we had rather be preserved still
alive, than have our blood avenged after our death. And truly, if our
felicity stood in this life, or if temporal death should bring unto us any
damage, our desire in that behalf were not to be disallowed or condemned:
but seeing that death is common to all, and that this temporal life is
nothing but misery, and that death fully joins us with our God, and gives
unto us the possession of our inheritance, why should we think it strange
to leave this world and go to our Head and sovereign Captain, Jesus
Christ?
Lastly, We have to observe this manner of speaking, where the prophet
saith, that “the earth shall disclose her blood:” in which words the
prophet would accuse the cruelty of those that dare so unmercifully and
violently force, from the breasts of the earth, the dearest children of
God, and cruelly cut their throats in her bosom, who is by God appointed
the common mother of mankind, so that she unwillingly is compelled to open
her mouth and receive their blood.
If such tyranny were used against any woman, as violently to pull her
infant from her breasts, cut the throat of it in her own bosom, and compel
her to receive the blood of her dear child in her own mouth, all nations
would hold the act so abominable, that the like had never been done in the
course of nature. No less wickedness commit they that shed the blood of
God’s children upon the face of their common mother, the earth, as I said
before. But be of good courage, O little and despised flock of Christ
Jesus! for He that seeth your grief, hath power to revenge it; he will not
suffer one tear of yours to fall, but it shall be kept and reserved in his
bottle, till the fulness thereof be poured down from heaven, upon those
that caused you to weep and mourn. This your merciful God, I say, will not
suffer your blood for ever to be covered with the earth; nay, the flaming
fires that have licked up the blood of any of our brethren; the earth that
has been defiled with it, I say, with the blood of God’s children; for
otherwise, to shed the blood of the cruel blood-shedders, is to purge the
land from blood, and as it were to sanctify it: the earth, I say, shall
purge herself of it, and show it before the face of God; yea, the beasts,
fowls, and other creatures whatsoever, shall be compelled to render that
which they have received, be it flesh, blood, or bones, that appertained
to thy children, O Lord! which altogether thou shalt glorify, according to
thy promise, made to us in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, thy
well-beloved Son; to whom, with thee, and the Holy Ghost, be honour,
praise, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Let us now humble ourselves in the presence of our God, and from the
bottom of our hearts let us desire him to assist us with the power of his
Holy Spirit; that albeit, for our former negligence, God gives us over
into the hands of others than such as rule in his fear; that yet he let us
not forget his mercy, and the glorious name that hath been proclaimed
amongst us; but that we may look through the dolorous storm of his present
displeasure, and see as well what punishment he has appointed for the
cruel tyrants, as what reward he has laid in store for such as continue in
his fear to the end. That it would further please him to assist, that
albeit we see his church so diminished, that it appears to be brought, as
it were, to utter extermination, we may be assured, that in our God there
is great power and will, to increase the number of his chosen, until they
are enlarged to the uttermost parts of the earth. Give us, O Lord! hearts
to visit thee in time of affliction; and albeit we see no end of our
dolours, yet our faith and hope may conduct us to the assured hope of that
joyful resurrection, in which we shall possess the fruit of that for which
we now labour. In the mean time, grant unto us, O Lord! to repose
ourselves in the sanctuary of thy promise, that in thee we may find
comfort, till this thy great indignation, begun amongst us, may pass over,
and thou thyself appear to the comfort of thine afflicted, and to the
terror of thine and our enemies.
_Let us pray with heart and mouth,_
Almighty God, and merciful Father, &c. Lord, into thy hands I commend my
spirit; for the terrible roaring of guns,(12) and the noise of armour, do
so pierce my heart, that my soul thirsteth to depart.
-------------------------------------
_The last day of August, 1565, at four of the clock in the
afternoon, written indigestedly, but yet truly so far as memory
would serve, of those things that in public I spake on Sunday,
August 19; for which I was discharged_(_13_)_ to preach for a
time._
Be merciful to thy flock, O Lord! and at thy good pleasure put an end to
my misery.
JOHN KNOX.
“IT IS I, BE NOT AFRAID.”
EXTRACTED FROM KNOX’S ADMONITION TO ENGLAND.
“Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good comfort, it is I, be not
afraid.” The natural man that cannot understand the power of God, would
have desired some other present comfort in so great a danger; as, either
to have had the heavens opened, to show unto them such light in that
darkness, that Christ might have been fully known by his own face; or
else, that the winds and raging waves of the seas suddenly should have
ceased; or some other miracle which had been subject to all their senses,
whereby they might have perfectly known that they were delivered from all
danger. And truly, it had been the same to Christ Jesus to have done any
of these, or any greater work, as to have said, “It is I, be not afraid:”
but willing to teach us the dignity and effectual power of his most holy
word, he uses no other instrument to pacify the great and horrible fear of
his disciples but his comfortable word, and lively voice. And this is not
done only at one time, but whensoever his church is in such a strait and
perplexity, that nothing appears but extreme calamity, desolation, and
ruin; then the first comfort that ever it receives, is by the means of his
word and promise; as may appear in the troubles and temptations of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Paul.
To Abraham was given no other defence, after he had discomfited four
kings, whose posterity and lineage, no doubt, he, being a stranger,
greatly feared, but only this promise of God made to him by his holy word,
“Fear not, Abraham, I am thy buckler;” that is, thy protection and
defence.
The same we find of Isaac, who flying from the place of his accustomed
habitation, compelled thereto by hunger, got no other comfort nor conduct
but this promise only, “I will be with thee.”
In all the journeys and temptations of Jacob the same is to be espied; as
when he fled from his father’s house for fear of his brother Esau; when he
returned from Laban; and when he feared the inhabitants of the region of
the Canaanites and Perizzites for the slaughter of the Shechemites
committed by his sons; he received no other defence, but only God’s word
and promise.
And this is most evident in Moses, and in the afflicted church under him
when Moses himself was in such despair, that he was bold to chide with
God, saying, “Why hast thou sent me? For since that time I have come to
Pharaoh, to speak in thy name, he hath oppressed this people; neither yet
hast thou delivered thy people.”
This same expostulation of Moses declares how sorely he was tempted; yea,
and what opinion he had conceived of God; that is, That God was either
impotent, and could not deliver his people from such a tyrant’s hand; or
else, That he was mutable, and unjust in his promises. And this same, and
sorer temptations, assaulted the people; for in anguish of heart, they
both refused God and Moses. And what means did God use to comfort them in
that great extremity? Did he straightway suddenly kill Pharaoh, the great
tyrant?—No. Did he send them a legion of angels to defend and deliver
them?—No such thing: but he only recites and beats into their ears his
former promises to them, which oftentimes they had before: and yet the
rehearsal of the same wrought so mightily in the heart of Moses, that not
only was bitterness and despair removed away, but also he was inflamed
with such boldness, that without fear he went in again to the presence of
the king, after he had been threatened and repulsed by him.
This I write, beloved in the Lord, since you know the word of God not only
to be that whereby heaven and earth were created, but also to be the power
of God to salvation to all that believe, the bright lantern to the feet of
those who by nature walk in darkness, the life to those that by sin are
dead, a comfort to such as are in tribulation, the tower of defence to
such as are most feeble, the wisdom and great felicity of such as delight
in the same. And, to be short, you know God’s word to be of such efficacy
and strength, that thereby sin is purged, death vanquished, tyrants
suppressed; and, finally, the devil, the author of all mischief,
overthrown and confounded. This, I say, I write, that you, knowing this of
the holy word, and most blessed gospel and voice of God, which once you
have heard, I trust to your comfort, may now, in this hour of darkness,
and most raging tempest, thirst and pray, that you may hear yet once again
this amiable voice of our Saviour Christ, “Be of good comfort, it is I,
fear not.” And also, that you may receive some consolation from that
blessed gospel which before you have professed, assuredly knowing, that
God shall be no less merciful unto you, than he has been to others
afflicted for his name’s sake before you; and albeit God speedily removes
not this horrible darkness, neither suddenly pacifies this tempest, yet
shall he not suffer his tossed ship to be drowned.
FOOTNOTES
1 The Editor may here state, what cannot be unknown to many of his
readers, that there are some of the sermons of our early Divines,
which, from various circumstances, are not, as entire discourses,
available for a publication like the present. From such, however, as
also from works which do not come under the appellation of Pulpit
discourses, striking and useful passages will be given from time to
time, when they can be inserted without interfering with those
complete discourses which will form the body of this work.
2 The Sermon is founded on the whole Chapter, which was the lesson for
the day, in the Church of England service.
3 Universal faith.
4 It should be observed that other commentators have taken other views
of the meaning of this parable.
5 Greatest or entire hinderance.
6 Opposing.
7 Combined.
8 Covered over, weighed down.
9 Manage.
10 Alluding to the political troubles of that day.
11 Cried out against it.
12 The cattle of Edinburgh was shooting against the exiled for Christ
Jesus’ sake.
13 Forbidden.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4." ***
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