We have handled in the 6th verse—
1. A
caution,'Let no man deceive you with vain words.'
2. A denunciation, 'For
these things' sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.'
Now I come to—
3. A dissuasion; this is in the text, and is inferred
out of the former verse; where we have—
[1.] The evil dissuaded from,
'Be not partakers with them,' that is, do not join with them in their evil
ways, by committing these and the like sins.
[2.] The reason, 'Therefore;'
that is, because the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience, do
not join in their sins, that you may not be involved in their punishment; as
Rev. xviii. 4, 'Be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.'
Doctrine. The dreadful estate of the children of
disobedience should keep us from joining with them in their evil ways.
Here
let me show you—(1.) Who are children of disobedience; (2.) The misery of
their condition; (3.) Why this should deter us from being partakers with
them.
I. Who are children of disobedience.
1. Those who are not
only sinners, but stubborn, obstinate, and ignorant sinners; such as are prone
to all evil, and are not only indisposed, but averse from all good. Both parts
of the character must be minded. They presently do what lust biddeth them, and
are at the beck of a temptation, but all the reasons in the world shall not
persuade them to do what God commandeth them. They are as wax to Satan, but as
a stone to God. They find an irresistible force in temptations: Prov. vii. 21,
22, 'With her much fair speech she caused him to yield; with the flattery of
her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the
slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks.' But as to good, they
are not only weak and indisposed, but cannot endure to be subject to God. The
more holy any creature is, the more readily does he obey God: Ps. ciii. 20,
'Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his
commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word.' But for others, a small
matter serveth their turn; neither promises nor threaten ings will gain them to
their duty.
2. This good is either to be determined by the light of nature
or the light of the gospel.
[1.] Wicked men are called 'children of
disobedience/ because they rebel against the light of nature: Job xxiv. 13,
'They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the way thereof,
nor abide in the paths thereof.' They have light enough to condemn their
practices, yet live in them: Ps. liii. 4, 'Have the workers of iniquity no
knowledge ?' Yes, they know better ; but the light hath no authority to bind
them to their duty, it doth rather irritate their corruptions than break the
force of them; and therefore justly are they left to destruction: Ps. ix. 17,
'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.'
They do not improve the natural impressions of God, and the distinction of good
and evil that is written upon their hearts; they drown the voice of reason and
conscience.
[2.] Those that have heard the gospel, and will not suffer
themselves to be persuaded to embrace the blessed offers made therein, nor will
they give up themselves to the obedience of Christ. Their condition is more
terrible, for these are desperately sick, and refuse their remedy: 1 Peter iv.
17, 'For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if
it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of
God?' Their condition is more deplorable and desperate than that of other men;
for they will not enter into the kingdom of God when invited thereunto, though
they do so apparently need this healing dispensation. There are two things in
the gospel —the doctrine of salvation, what God hath done on his part; and
the counsels of salvation, what we must do on our part.
(1.) The doctrine
of salvation, or the rich preparations of grace which God hath made for our
recovery. On God's part, 'All things are ready,' Mat. xxii.4. He hath given his
Son to die for us, and to be the foundation of that new and better covenant
wherein pardon and life are offered to us. But this is coldly entertained by
many; either they do not consider it: Mat. xxii.5, 'They made light of it;' or
they do not believe it: 1 Cor. ii. 14, 'For the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned;' or they do not apply and
improve this blessed offer, that it may be 'the gospel of our salvation,' Eph.
i. 13.
There is not a cordial assent or lodging; the truth in the soul:
'My word hath no place in you," John viii. 37. Whatever general profession
there is made of believing this doctrine, there is no room for it in their
hearts, they believe it not heartily so as to affect it, and so as to build
upon it for the saving of their souls. It is not received by sound evidence, as
is seen by the little influence it hath upon them, by the doubts and
questionings that frequently arise in their minds whenever they are serious; by
their hatred of those that seriously embrace this truth, by the scorn they cast
upon those that improve it to a holy conversation and godliness. Alas!
generally it is received in the Christian world, as it was said of the reports
about Christ's resurrection, as an idle tale or vain dream: Luke xxiv. 11, 'And
their words seemed unto them as idle tales, and they believed them not.' And
the doctrines of Christ, heaven, and hell, and judgment to come are made matter
of scoffing and mockage: 2 Peter iii. 3, 'Knowing this, that there shall come
in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is
the promise of his coming?' and the root of men's disobedience is unbelief.
(2.) The counsels of salvation, or what we must do on our part, that we may
partake of the righteousness and Spirit of Christ: Luke vii. 30, 'But the
pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves.' There is
the counsel which God giveth us, if we will have sin pardoned and be eternally
happy. Many look to what he hath done for us; but they do not seriously
consider what he hath required of us. We are to obey the counsels of the
gospel, as well as to believe the doctrines of the gospel. Now what hath God
required ?
(1st.) That we should believe in Christ as the redeemer
of the world, with such a faith as may make him precious to us, and value his
grace above all the world: 1 Peter ii. 7, 8, 'Unto you therefore which believe
he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient, whereunto they were also appointed.' The apostle divideth the
hearers of the gospel into believers and disobedient; and there he showeth what
Christ is to believers, 'precious,' as the alone refuge and sanctuary of
distressed souls, who are ever hungering and thirsting after Christ, and more
of his renewing and recovering grace. The other party are the disobedient, and
to them he is 'a stone of stumbling," with allusion to them that travel by
land, and 'a rock of offence," with respect to them that travel by sea.
They are loose and careless in this matter (we do not speak of every
disobedience, but of wilful disobedience), they are 'a froward generation,'
Deut. xxxii. 20. Preach and say what we will, it moveth them not; teach them
their duty, warn them of their danger, all is to no purpose; they still reject
Christ, and despise his benefits, and refuse to take on them his yoke, or
embrace the noble and heavenly life. To the serious and broken-hearted, he is
their life, light, food, strength, righteousness, and all; but to others a
fancy, or nothing. Believing in Christ is God's great command: 1 John iii. 23,
'And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son
Jesus Christ.' Therefore it is called 'the obedience of faith;' Rom i. 5, 'Made
known to all nations by the obedience of faith,' Rom xvi. 26; 'And bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," 2 Cor.x. 4. But the
rebellious world little valueth God's authority; they are so addicted to paltry
vanities, and their own will and lusts, that they slight the offered Saviour,
and all the grace he tendereth to them.
(2d) Repentance is another
part of the counsel given to us. Christ told his disciples what they should do
to perform their charge: Luke xxiv. 47, 'And that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations.' And the apostles
pressed it on all that would enter into the gospel kingdom: Acts ii. 38, 'And
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;' Acts iii.19, 'Repent, that your sins
limy be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord.' Now repentance implieth an hearty detestation and renunciation of
our former ways, whereby we have offended God, and a serious dedication of
ourselves to his use and service. Now many regard not this, and though they
hear their personal sins reproved, and the curses of the law denounced against
them, yet they hold on their course still, and cannot be persuaded to leave
those sins ; and when God would heal them, they will not be healed, but are
wholly led by their corrupt affections, and will not be persuaded to abandon
their bewitching lusts: 2 Chron. xxx. 8, 'Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your
fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord ;' (Hebr. Give your hand unto
the Lord). We press men to return, and not keep God out of his right any
longer; but we do but water a rock, and seek to mollify a flint, that yieldeth
not; nor will they strike hands with God. We cannot bring it to a bargain or
thorough conclusion, so as to lay down the buckler, and say, 'Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do ?' Acts ix. 6.
(3d) New obedience. This is part
of the counsel of God to you if you would be saved: Heb. v. 9, 'He is the
author of eternal salvation to them that obey him ;' Isa. i. 19, 'If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.' And grace teacheth
us, Titus ii. 12, 'That, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.' We should be sober as
to the government of ourselves, righteous as to our carriage to our neighbour,
godly as to the Lord himself, not defrauding him of his due worship, internal
and external, love, trust, delight, reverence, daily commerce with him in
company and alone. Though we persuade these things by the strongest and most
cogent arguments, yet still there are some that will be intemperate,
incontinent, that will not live soberly; Christians that will not live soberly,
that cannot bridle the desires of the flesh; unrighteous Christians, that will
not make conscience of giving everyone their due; and ungodly persons that
forget God days without number. Though much of this duty be evident by natural
light, and necessary to preserve a comely order in human society, yet neither
restraints of conscience nor the laws of men or God will keep them within the
bounds of their duty; but men will be disobedient still, and run out into many
excesses and disorders, without all shame, especially when they have habituated
themselves to some evil custom and practice: Jer.xiii. 23, 'Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are
accustomed to do evil.' Alas! who is able then to preach away the cup out of
the drunkard's mouth, or wantonness out of the heart of the unclean person?
Yea, to bring vain people to part with a fashion, or a recreation, which hath
often been a snare to them ? they are brought under the power of these things,
and cannot leave them. A child of God may err and straggle out of his way
through ignorance or incogitancy, or be overcome and borne down through the
violent incursion of a temptation. It fareth with them as with the wise men who
came a long journey to seek Christ; when they went out of the way, the star
left them, but they stayed not there till the star appeared to them again. So
God's people may straggle from their duty, but they do not rest there. But the
children of disobedience cannot cease from sin in the several kinds wherein
they are captivated: 2 Peter ii. 14, 'Having eyes full of adultery, and cannot
cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with
covetous practices: cursed children, they have forsaken the right way.' It is
their element, out of which they cannot rest.
3. This obstinacy and
disobedience is aggravated—
[1.] From the person who is disobeyed. It
is not 'our counsel, but God's. To weary and grieve men who do entreat them to
forsake their sins and seek after God, is ill, for they must give an account:
Heb. xiii. 17, 'Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves;
for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do
it with joy, and not with grief.' But that is not all: Isa. vii. 13, 'Is it a
small thing for you to weary men, but will ye •weary my God also?' They
rebel against God himself while they shake off his authority: Ps. xii. 4, 'Who
have said, With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own, who is lord
over us ?' and refuse to accept his gracious offers: Heb. ii. 3, 'How shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation?' It redounds to the contempt of God,
who hath provided such an excellent salvation for us in Christ. You despise him
that speaketh from heaven, as well as weary them that speak on earth: Heb. xii.
25, 'See that ye refuse not him that speaketh; for if they escaped not who
refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away
from him that speaketh from heaven.'
[2.] From the manner of the
persuasion, which is by the word and Spirit. In the word there are the highest
motives to allure, the strongest arguments to persuade, the greatest terrors to
scare men out of their sins. For motives, God outbiddeth them that bid most for
your hearts; he offereth you an eternal infinite happiness, both for your
bodies and souls. A little dreggy delight, profit, honour, or vain pleasure is
nothing to it; it is not worthy to be compared with it. In other cases we would
take the best bargain; here is life, and pleasure, and honour, for evermore:
Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy; and at thy right hand
pleasures for evermore.' Here are the strongest arguments to persuade God's
authority : James iv. 12, 'There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy.' Christ's love : 2 Cor. v. 14, 'The love of Christ constraineth us.'
For terrors, God doth not tell us of mean penalties, but of a pit without a
bottom, a worm that shall never die, a fire that shall never be quenched: Mark
ix. 44, 'Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.' Is hell a
vain scarecrow, where the damned spirits are perpetually exercised with a
bitter remembrance of what is past, a sense of what is present, and a fear of
what is to come ? If all this will not work, what will do? Ps. lviii. 4, 5,
'Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder,
that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely." An allusion to charming for the taming of serpents,
which were used in those eastern countries; not to approve them, hut to improve
a vile practice. Men will hold on their way, say God what he will to the
contrary. See the words of the prophet Jeremiah, chap. xiii. 11, 'But the
people would not hear.' But this is not all. The motions of the Holy Spirit go
along with it : Acts vii. 51, 'Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost;' ye stop him
in his sanctifying work, and refuse the help that God offers, which maketh it
the more heinous.
[3.] From the plenty of offers. God hath called often and
long: Prov. xxix. 1, 'He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall
suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.' It is dangerous to slight
frequent warnings; these are obdurate in their sins.
[4.] From the
concomitant dispensations of providence. When our obstinacy and resolved
continuance in sin is not broken by afflictions; as Pharaoh was Pharaoh still
from first to last. Ahaz had a brand set upon him: 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, 'And in
the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord; this is
that king Ahaz.' God may break their backs by his judgments, but not their
hearts: Prov. xxvii. 22, 'Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among
wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.' Spices
bruised and pounded are more fit for medicine, but these depart not from their
luxury, profaneness, and uncleanness, when they are not softened by mercies:
Isa. xxvi. 10, 'Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn
righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not
behold the majesty of the Lord.' God shall not have their heart for all this;
they despise his goodness: Rom ii. 4. 'Or despisest thou the riches of his
goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of
God leadeth thee to repentance ?
4. This disobedience, the longer it is continued, the more it is increased. There is a natural averseness from God. Take a man in his pure naturals, he hath nothing to incline him to God; but the longer we continue in it, we every day make ourselves seven times more the children of hell. Still it increaseth till it come to the height of senseless judicial hardness of heart: Zech. vii.11,12, 'But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ear that they should not hear; yea, they have made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law.' So still they grew more and more disobedient.
II. The misery of their condition. It is either matter of sense
or matter of faith; of sight, because of present judgments, or foresight,
because of the threatenings of the word.
1. It is matter of sight, as God
doth inflict remarkable judgments on obstinate sinners in this life, to teach
his children to beware of their sins. These judgments are either spiritual or
temporal.
[1.] Spiritual. These men are in a miserable and voluntary
servitude both to sin and Satan; and both are the basest masters that anyone
can have.
To sin: Titus iii. 3, 'For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures.' They do
all things which their lusts command, and cannot by any reason be persuaded to
shake off this yoke. The less they feel this bondage in themselves, the more
dangerous it is, and the more they are obnoxious to it; for then both will and
mind is oppressed, and they know no better things. They that are slaves by
force are not in so bad a condition as they that are slaves by consent, that
sell their souls, their religion, their God, their Christ, their happiness,
their all, for a little brutish satisfaction, and are so governed by their
carnal affections that they know not how to come out of this thraldom, but
suffer the beast to ride the man, and have gotten such an habit and course of
sinning, that they are wholly enslaved by these brutish pleasures, and cannot
help it.
To Satan: The other master is the devil; they are of his party
and confederacy: Eph. ii. 2, 'Wherein in times past ye walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience.' Their hearts are Satan's
shop and proper workhouse, where his weapons of defiance are formed against
God. They carry on a defensive war, shutting up their hearts against all his
invitations to repentance and offers of grace, so that God can get no entrance
there. An offensive war, as they do not only despise his offers, but hate his
ways. Thus God hangeth up some in chains of darkness for a warning to the
rest.
[2.] Temporal judgments; for the wrath of God that cometh on the
children of disobedience is not to be confined to the other world; much of it
cometh upon them here; as when it is said, Heb. xiii. 4, 'Whoremongers and
adulterers God will judge;' that is, punish, not only eternally after this life
if they repent not, but also temporally in this life; yea, though they may
repent, as is evident in David, who, though he repented, yet he suffered
grievously for his adultery. If God's own children will act the part of the
children of disobedience, they smart for it; for this is necessary to prevent
the taint of their example in the world. Well, but these judgments are not
lightly to be passed over, especially when they are executed before our eyes,
and God cometh near and close to us, for they are the holy and righteous
dispensations of the wise God; not things casual, indeterminate, or done at
random, nobody knoweth by whom, or to what end and purpose. You cannot imagine
that a holy, just, and wise God should have no end and scope in what he doth.
The scripture calleth often God's judgments 'his arrows.' Now these are not
shot at rovers, as the man that killed Ahab drew a bow at a venture. No; God
hath a certain and steady aim at which he levelleth and directeth his shaft;
and God's aim is our instruction. All his judgments are speaking lessons and
real warnings, that we may not involve ourselves in the same sins, and so in
the same punishment. They are appointed, not only for our admiration, but our
instruction: Zeph. iii. 7, 'I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive
instruction.' God promiseth it to himself that the world will not be so stupid
as to run the hazard of the same fearful judgments which have overtaken others:
Deut. viii. 19, 20, 'I testify against you this day, that you shall surely
perish, as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, because ye
would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord;' Deut. xix. 20, 'And those
that remain shall hear, and fear, and henceforth commit no more any such evil
among you.' When any malefactor was executed, and found out by God's justice,
he expected they should make this use of it: Deut. xvii. 13, 'And all the
people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously."
2. It is
matter of faith and foresight. And so by this wrath of God is meant eternal
destruction, which cometh upon them for their disobedience, which is a sin of
the highest nature, and a chief cause of their damnation. At death they feel
the sad effects of it: 1 Peter iii. 19, 20, 'By which he also went and preached
to the spirits in prison, which were sometimes disobedient, when once the
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. 'They had God's word then,
for Noah was 'a preacher of righteousness,' 2 Peter ii. 5. They had the Spirit
then, for God saith, Gen. vi. 3, 'My Spirit shall not always strive with man.'
Well, then, these children of disobedience, when their body is sent to the
grave, the soul is sent to hell; which the psalmist expresseth by being torn in
pieces: Ps. l.22, 'Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." So
for the day of judgment: 2 Thes. i. 7,8, 'The Lord Jesus Christ shall be
revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel.' The great business then is
to convince the reprobates of their disobedience. They see then how many
warnings and invitations they have despised; so many sermons, so many stings in
the conscience. Those that despise his richest grace now, how glad would they
be of one favourable iook from Christ! It is not simplicity that is their ruin,
but obstinacy and impenitency in sin, for which they shall have no excuse or
cloak: John xv. 22, 'If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin.'
III. Why this should deter God's people from being partakers with
them. Here I shall inquire—(1.) What it is to be partakers with them;
(2.) Why God's wrath should deter us from this?
1. What it is to be
partakers with them.
[1.] There is a principal sense, and chiefly intended
here, that we should not follow their example. We are not so ready to anything
as to follow ill examples. Man is a ductile creature; they had need be well
resolved for God and holiness who are not carried down the common stream. The
example of the multitude hath a great force to pervert mankind: Isa. vi. 5, 'I
am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips,' Eph. ii. 2, 3, ' The spirit that ruleth in the children of disobedience;
among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind;' 1 Peter iv. 2,'
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts
of men, but to the will of God.' It doth at least take off the odiousness of
sin, and reconcile the hearts of men to it. It is hard to be singular, and not
to follow a multitude, though in an evil way; for by common practice things are
authorised: Gal. ii. 13, 'Peter dissembled, and the other Jews dissembled also
with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their
dissimulation.' Now lest this should prevail with us, the apostle would have us
consider the danger; we involve ourselves in the same punishment if we take not
heed of the sin: 'Because for these things the wrath of God cometh upon the
children of disobedience ; be not ye therefore partakers with them.' God
punisheth the disobedience of his people very sharply.
[2.] There is a
limited sense of the phrase: 1 Tim. v. 22, 'Neither be partakers of other men's
sins.' There it signifieth not committing the same sins, but being accessory to
the sins of others. Some are ringleaders and chief actors in a sinful course;
others are assessors and abettors. Now how many ways may we partake of the sins
of others?
(1.) By counselling; as Jonadab gave Amnon pernicious counsel
how to fulfil his carnal and incestuous desires, 2 Sam. xiii.5.
(2.) By
alluring and enticing; as Prov. i.10, 'My son, if sinners entice thee, consent
thou not.' Hear God persuading rather than a carnal companion enticing.
(3.) By consenting; as Ahab did to Jezebel's plot to destroy Naboth, 1 Kings,
xxi. 19. His part was less in the sin than hers, therefore his punishment was
less than hers; the dogs licked his blood, but they devoured her body.
(4.)
By applauding or flattery, and lessening the sin: Rom. i. 32, They not only do
these things, but have pleasure in those that do them.' So some are glad when
they can draw others to drunkenness, or inflame others with lust.
(5.)
Conniving, contrary to the duty of our place: 1 Sam. iii. 13,' I will judge his
house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not.' Their sin was a sin of
commission, but his a sin of omission, and so he came into a fellowship of the
guilt. Now as we should not imitate the sin, and so make it ours, so we should
not be any way accessory to these sins, and so be partakers in the guilt, as
when we have power to hinder the sin and do it not.
2. Why the wrath of God should deter us from this.
[1.] Because of
the impartiality of God's judgment; he will not only punish heathen sinners
without the pale, but Christian sinners who profess and own the true religion;
for there is no acceptance of persons with God: 1 Peter i. 17, 'And if ye call
on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's
works." There by 'person' is meant either Jew or Greek, Christian or pagan; if
there be any difference, it is worse with them, and wrath will come upon them
first, because they know more of God's mind, and have greater obligations and
advantages of doing his will: Rom. ii. 9-11, 'Tribulation and anguish upon
every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the gentile;
but glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first,
and also to the gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God."
[2.]
Because of the greatness of his mercy. That God will instruct us at their cost,
and sealeth our instruction on their backs, scourgeth them so sorely in our
sight, is for a warning to us. And in this sense is that fulfilled, 'Prov. xxi.
18, The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressors for
the upright;' that is, God will make them spectacles of his judgment, that he
may make us objects of his mercy. Now it is stupidness not to observe the
instances of God's wrath on others, that we may not be made instances
ourselves. David trembled when he saw Uzzah smitten, 2 Sam. vi. 9; so should we
when God avengeth the quarrel of any commandment, as he frequently doth in his
providence: Rom. i.18, 'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;' and Heb. ii. 2, 'For if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward;' (surely then it concerneth us to lay it
to heart.
Use 1. To show us that we are not to be idle spectators of God's
judgments on others, but judicious observers and improvers of them.
Observe here—(1.) The use of observing God's providences on others; (2.)
The manner of it.
First, The use and benefit of observing God's providences
is great in these particulars—
To cure atheism: Ps.lviii.11, 'So that
a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God
that judgeth in the earth.' They that know what to think of God's providence
before shall find that God doth govern the affairs of the world as a righteous
judge. Were men greater students in providence, and did they observe what
judgments he bringeth to light every day, they would soon see that God is not
indifferent to good and evil, that he taketh care of things below; that the
world is not governed by blind chance, but with great wisdom, and justice, and
equity. It is not only the cavil of the wicked: Mal. ii. 17, 'Ye have wearied
the Lord with your words; yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? when ye say,
Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth
in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?' As if God did approve of wicked
men, and were not a just and impartial judge, or there were no providence at
all. But it is the temptation of the godly: Ps. lxxiii. 11-13, 'And they say,
How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High ? Behold, these are
the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. Verily, I have
cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.'
The poet
Claudian—
'Res hominum tanta caligine volvi
Aspiceret, leatosque diu florere nocentes,
Vexarique pios."
He
much doubted—
'Curarunt superi terras? an nullus
inesset
Rector? et incerto fluerent mortalia casu?'
But at
length—
'Abstulit hunc tandem Ruffini poena tumultum,
Absolvitque Deos.'
He would no more call in question God's
providence and the just government of the world.
2. To make us more
cautious of sin, that we meddle not with it. God's judgments feed our holy fear
and awe of God, and so stir up watchfulness and care for our own safety, that
we may not fall into like offences, or do anything that is displeasing unto
God. We have to do with a just and holy God, who we see is tender of his laws,
a God that will not be dallied with. When he beginneth to execute his judgments
against the children of disobedience, we should fear for ourselves. When Uzzah
was stricken, 'How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?" saith David, 1
Chron. xiii. 12. Will not God be so severe to me if I behave myself
irreverently ? Certainly it is stupid incogitancy when God puts such examples
before our eyes and we are not affected with them. The Gibeonites were more
wise and cautious, Josh. is. 3; when they saw the cities of Ai and Jericho
destroyed, and their inhabitants cut off by the sword, they did not expect the
coming of Joshua, but sent messengers to him, and by a wile struck up a
covenant before he came any farther. Or as that captain, when two before him
with their fifties were destroyed by fire, he fell upon his knees before the
prophet: 2 Kings i. 13, 14, 'And besought him, and said unto him, 0 man of God!
I pray thee let my life, and the life of these fifty, be precious in thy sight.
Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the
former fifties, with their fifties; therefore let my life now be precious in
thy sight.' But our stupidness and blindness is such that we are not moved with
these judgments so as to be more cautious: Prov. xxii. 3, 'A prudent man
foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are
punished.'
3. To humble us, and make us more earnest in deprecating the
wrath of God, and sueing out our pardon in Christ. We see sin goeth not
unpunished. Alas! if God should enter into judgment with us, who could stand ?
Ps cxliii. 2. When we see his judgments executed upon others, every humble
heart will sue out his pardon. What miserable wretched creatures should we be
if God should stir up all his wrath against us!
4. To make us thankful for
our mercies and deliverances by Christ, that, when others are spectacles of his
wrath, we should be monuments of his mercy and grace. Were it not for the
Lord's pardoning and healing grace, we had been in as bad a condition as the
worst: Rom. xi. 22, 'Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God; on them
which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness; otherwise also thou shalt be cut off.' When the Israelites saw the
Egyptians drowned in the waters, they saw the more reason to bless God for
their own escape; and Moses pens a song of thanksgiving, Exod. xv. Our deserts
are in part represented to us in the bitter experience of others. It is of the
Lord's mercy that we are not condemned with the world, and left to perish in
our sins; but that we see by their sufferings what an evil and bitter thing sin
is.
Secondly, The manner of making these observations. This is needful to
be stated, because men are apt to misapply providence, and to sit as a
coroner's inquest on the souls of their neighbours, and so rather observe
things to censure others than for their own caution. These pervert the
providences of God, and speak to the grief of others whom God hath wounded.
Shimei was one of this sort of men: 2 Sam. xvi. 7, 8, 'Come out, thou bloody
man, thou man of Belial: the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the
house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and the Lord hath delivered
the kingdom into the hand of thy son Absalom ; and behold, thou art taken in
thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.' As if God had been calling him to
an account for the injuries done to Saul's house, and his rebellion against his
father-in-law was punished by the rebellion and usurpation of his own son. Such
bold glosses and comments do men put upon providence, and make it speak their
own language, and so they pry into God's secrets without God's warrant and
direction. Rules concerning the observation of God's providences towards
others.
1. Certain it is that judgments on others must be observed.
Providence is a comment on the word, and therefore it is stupidness not to take
notice of it They that will not observe God's hand shall feel it. If we will
not take the warning at a distance, and by others' smart and rebuke, there is
no way left but we ourselves must be taught by experience. He that will plunge
himself into a bog or quagmire, where others have miscarried before him, is
doubly guilty of folly, because he neither feareth the threatening, nor will
take warning by their example and punishment. Observe we must: Amos vi. 2,
'Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go
down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms ? or their
border greater than your border?'
2. This observation must be to a good
end; not to censure others, that is malice; or justify ourselves above them,
that is pride and self-conceit, condemned by our Lord Christ: Luke xiii. 2-5,
'And Jesus answered and said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you,
Nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon
whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them: think ye that they were sinners
above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you, Nay; but except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish.'
3. In making the observation, we must have a
care that we do not make providence speak the language of our fancies.
[1.]
There must be a due reasoning from the provocation to the judgment, sed non
e contra ; not judge of the wickedness of the person by the judgments on
the person; as the barbarians at Melita showed little reason and less charity
in misconstruing the passage of the viper that fastened on Paul's hand, that
therefore 'he was a murderer,' Acts xxviii. 4.
The dispensations of God's
providence are commonly alike to good and bad, Eccles. ix. 1. By a sudden
stroke God may take off the godly as well as the wicked. Josiah died in the
same way that Ahab did, by an arrow in the battle, after being disguised, 2
Chron. xxxv. 23; Jonathan died in the field by the hand of the uncircumcised,
as well as Saul, 1 Sam. xxxi. 1, 2. Did Simon Magus break his neck? so did good
old Eli, 1 Sam. iv. 18. We cannot conclude some great sin from the judgment.
No; our reasoning must be the contrary : Prov. xxi. 12, 'The righteous man
wisely considereth the house of the wicked, but God overthroweth the wicked for
their wickedness."
[2.] Sometimes the sin is clearly written on the
judgment, and the name of the sin is engraven on the rod wherewith we are
scourged: Judges i. 7, 'As I have done, so God hath requited me.' There are
some remarkable circumstances wherein sin and judgment meet: Obad. 15, 'As thou
hast done, it shall be done unto thee.' The judgments have a signature and
impress on them. The Israelites' children were drowned in the waters; so were
Pharaoh, and all his nobility, and men of war.
[3.] When the judgment
treadeth on the heels of the sin, as Zimri and Cosbi perished in the very act
of their sin; and Herod was immediately smitten with lice when he usurped
divine honour, Acts xii. 22, 23.
[4.] When by the very means by which they
hope to secure themselves, and so, whilst they think to avoid their danger,
they hasten and increase it. The builders of Babel, being afraid of scattering,
would build a stupendous tower for n place of retreat, Gen. xi. 4. God
confounded their language, and by that means they were scattered. Jeroboam, to
secure the kingdom to his house, sets up calves at Dan and Bethel, 1 Kings xii.
26-28. This became a snare to his house to cut it off, 1 Kings xiii. 34. The
Philistines threatened Samson's wife to burn her and her father's house with
fire unless she would betray her husband's secrets, Judges xiv. 15. She doth
so, and Samson taking his revenge; they fulfilled what they threatened, Judges
xv. 6. The Jews being afraid lest the Romans would take jealousy of the
people's following of Christ, consult to kill him, John xi. 48; and for that
reason wrath came on them to the uttermost. Zedekiah disobeyed God for fear of
mockage, Jer. xxxviii. 19-22; and the Chaldeans, when they had taken the city,
put out his eyes, Jer. xxxix. 7. Thus they readily fall into those evils they
would most gladly escape. Now it is much for the instruction of the world that
these things should be noted.
[5.] When they fall by those means by which
they seek to entrap others: Ps. ix. 15, 16, 'The heathens are sunk down in the
pit which they made, in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The
Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth; the wicked is snared in the
work of his own hand. Higgaion, Selah.'
[6.J When the word in the express
letter, is made good on wicked men: Hosea vii. 12, 'I will chastise them, as
their congregation hath heard.' When the word doth fully take effect as it is
laid down, it is fully accomplished; and the danger they would not believe they
are made to feel. Thus 'every morning he bringeth his judgments to light,'
Zeph. iii. 5.