280 SERMON LXXII. MATTHEW iv. 18, 19, 20. And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, (for they were fishers.) And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men; and they straightway left their nets and followed him. We are now in our order proposed at first, come to our second part, from the consideration of these persons, Peter and Andrew, in their former state and condition, before, and at their calling, to their future estate in promise, but an infallible promise, Christ's promise, if they followed him, (Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.) In which part we shall best come to our end, (which is your edification) by these steps. First, that there is an humility enjoined them, in the sequere, follow, come after. That though they be brought to a high calling, that do not make them proud, nor tyrannous over men's consciences; and then, even this humility is limited, sequere me, follow me; for there may be a pride even in humility, and a man may follow a dangerous guide; our guide here is Christ, sequere me, follow me. And then we shall see the promise itself, the employment, the function, the preferment; in which there is no new state promised them, no innovation, (they were fishers, and they shall be fishers still) but there is an improvement, a bettering, a reformation, (they were fishermen before, and now they shall be fishers of men;) to which purpose, we shall find the world to be the sea, and the Gospel their net. And lastly, all this is presented to them, not as it was expressed in the former part, with a for, (it is not, Follow me, for I will prefer you) he will not have that the reason of their following; but yet it is, Follow me, and I will prefer you; it is a subsequent addition of his own goodness, but so infallible a one, as we may rely upon; whosoever doth follow Christ, speeds well. And into these considerations will fall all that belongs to this last part, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. First then, here is an impression of humility, in following, in coming after, sequere, follow, press not to come before; and it had need be first, if we consider how early, how primary a sin pride is, and how soon it possesses us. Scarce any man, but if he look back seriously into himself, and into his former life, and revolve his own history, but that the first act which he can remember in himself, or can be remembered of by others, will be some act of pride. Before ambition, or covetousness, or licentiousness is awake in us, pride is working; though but a childish pride, yet pride; and this parents rejoice at in their children, and call it spirit, and so it is, but not the best. We enlarge not therefore the consideration of this word sequere, follow, come after, so far, as to put our meditations upon the whole body, and the several members of this sin of pride; nor upon the extent and diffusiveness of this sin, as it spreads itself over every other sin; (for every sin is complicated with pride, so as every sin is a rebellious opposing of the law and will of God) nor to consider the weighty heinousness of pride, how it aggravates every other sin, how it makes a musket a cannon bullet, and a pebble a millstone; but after we have stopped a little upon that useful consideration, that there is not so direct, and diametral a contrariety between the nature of any sin and God, as between him and pride, we shall pass to that which is our principal observation in this branch, how early and primary a sin pride is, occasioned by this, that the commandment of humility is first given, first enjoined in our first word, sequere, follow. But first, we exalt that consideration, that nothing is so contrary to God, as pride, with this observation, that God in the Scriptures is often by the Holy Ghost invested, and represented in the qualities and affections of man; and to constitute a commerce and familiarity between God and man, God is not only said to have bodily lineaments, eyes and ears, and hands, and feet, and to have some of the natural affections of man, as joy, in particular, The Lord will rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers'; and so, pity too, The Lord was with Joseph, and extended kindness unto him; but some of those inordinate and irregular passions and perturbations, excesses and defects of man, are imputed to God, by the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures. For so, laziness, drowsiness is imputed to God; Awake Lord, why 1 Deut. xxx. 9. * Gen. xxxix. 21. sleepest thou? So corruptibleness, and deterioration, and growing worse by ill company, is imputed to God; Cum perverso perverteris, God is said to grow froward with the froward, and that he learns to go crookedly with them that go crookedly; and prodigality and wastefulness is imputed to God; Thou sellest thy people for nought, and doest not increase thy wealth by their price3; so sudden and hasty choler; Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish In ira brevi, though his wrath be kindled but a little: and then illimited, and boundless anger, a vindicative irreconcilableness is imputed to God; I was but a little displeased, (but it is otherwise now) I am very sore displeased; so there is ira decorans; Wrath that consumes like stubble; so there is, ira multiplicata, Plagues renewed and indignation increased': so God himself expresses it, I will fight against you in anger and in fury and so for his inexorableness, his irreconcilableness, O Lord God of hosts, Quousque, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people"? God's own people, God's own people praying to their own God, and yet their God irreconcilable to them. Scorn and contempt is imputed to God; which is one of the most enormous, and disproportioned weaknesses in man; that a worm that crawls in the dust, that a grain of dust, that is hurried with every blast of wind, should find anything so much inferior to itself as to scorn it, to deride it, to contemn it; yet scorn, and derison, and contempt is imputed to God, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision 12; and again, I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock you when your fear cometh. Nay beloved, even inebriation, excess in that kind, drunkenness, is a metaphor which the Holy Ghost hath mingled in the expressing of God's proceedings with man; for God does not only threaten to make his enemies drunk, (and to make others drunk is a circumstance of drunkenness) so Jerusalem being in his displeasure complains, inebriavit absynthio, He hath made me drunk with wormwood; and again, They shall be drunk with their own blood, as with new wine1; nor only to express his plentiful mercies to his friends and servants, does God 3 Psalm XLiv. 23. 6 Psalm ii. 12. 10 Jer. xxi. 5. 13 Prov. 1. 26. 4 Psalm xviii. 26. 7 Zech. i. 15. 8 Exod. xv. 7. 11 Psalm LXXX. 5 Psalm XLiv. 12. 9 Job x. 17. 12 Psalm ii. 4. 15 Isaiah XLIX. 26. take that metaphor, (Inebriabo animam sacerdotis, I will make the soul of the priest drunk; fill it, satiate it; and again, I will make the weary soul, and the sorrowful soul drunk1; but not only all this, (though in all this God have a hand) not only towards others, but God in his own behalf complains of the scant and penurious sacrificer, Non inebriasti me, Thou hast not made me drunk with thy sacrifices". And yet, though for the better applying of God to the understanding of man, the Holy Ghost impute to God these excesses, and defects of man (laziness and drowsiness, deterioration, corruptibleness by ill conversation, prodigality and wastefulness, sudden choler, long irreconcilableness, scorn, inebriation, and many others) in the Scriptures, yet in no place of the Scripture is God, for any respect said to be proud; God in the Scriptures is never made so like man, as to be made capable of pride; for this had not been to have God like man, but like the devil. God is said in the Scriptures to apparel himself gloriously; God covers him with light as with a garment; and so of his spouse the church it is said, Her clothing is of wrought gold, and her raiment of needlework; and, as though nothing in this world were good enough for her wearing, she is said to be clothed with the sun20. But glorious apparel is not pride in them, whose conditions require it, and whose revenues will bear it. God is said in the Scriptures to appear with greatness and majesty, A stream of fire came forth before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him". And so Christ shall come at judgment, with his hosts of angels, in majesty and in glory. But these outward appearances and acts of greatness are not pride in those persons, to whom there is a reverence due, which reverence is preserved by this outward splendour, and not otherwise. God is said in the Scriptures to triumph over his enemies, and to be jealous of his glory; The Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God 22: but, for princes to be jealous of their glory, studious of their honour, for any private man to be jealous of his good name, careful to preserve 16 Jer. xxxi. 14, 25. 17 Isaiah xliii. 24. 18 Psalm civ. 2. an honest reputation, is not pride. For, pride is appetitus celsitudinis perversus, It is an inordinate desire of being better than we are. Now there is a lawful, nay a necessary desire of being better and better; and that, not only in spiritual things, (for so every man is bound to be better and better, better to-day than yesterday, and to-morrow than to-day, and he that grows not in religion, withers, there is no standing at a stay, he that goes not forward in godliness, goes backward, and he that is not better, is worse) but even in temporal things too there is a liberty given us, nay there is a law, an obligation laid upon us, to endeavour by industry in a lawful calling, to mend and improve, to enlarge ourselves, and spread, even in worldly things. The first commandment that God gave man, was not prohibitive; God, in that, forbad man nothing, but enlarged him with that Crescite, et multiplicamini, Increase and multiply", which is not only in the multiplication of children, but in the enlargement of possessions too; for so it follows in the same place, not only replete, but dominamini, not only replenish the world, but subdue it, and take dominion over it, that is, make it your own. For, Terram dedit filiis hominum, As God hath given sons to men, so God gives the possession of this world to the sons of men. For so when God delivers that commandment, the second time, to Noah, for the reparation of the world, Crescite et multiplicamini, Increase and multiply, he accompanies it with that reason, The fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon all, and all are delivered into your hands; which reason can have no relation to the multiplying of children, but to the enlarging of possessions. God planted trees in Paradise in a good state at first; at first with ripe fruits upon them; but God's purpose was, that even those trees, though well then, should grow greater. God gives many men good estates from their parents at first; yet God's purpose is that they should increase those estates. He that leaves no more, than his father left him, (if the fault be in himself) shall hardly make a good account of his stewardship to God; for, he hath but kept his talent in a handkerchief 25. And the slothful man is exen brother to the waster 26. The Holy Ghost in Solomon, scarce pre 23 Gen. i. 28. 24 Gen. ix. 1. 25 Matt. xxv. 18. 26 Prov. xviii. 9. |
