Chapter 4

Of the deceits of three several sorts of men: the rich worldling, the civil justiciary, the loose libertine.

So much of the first deceit in judging of our persons. The second follows. And that is when we think ourselves in good and happy estate before God, being indeed miserable; when with the Church of Laodicea we judge ourselves rich and wanting nothing, when indeed we are poor, naked, blind and beggarly wretches. If any man, says Paul, thinks himself somewhat, when he is nothing, he deceives himself in his imagination (Galatians 6:3). Now what greater somewhat than for a man to be happy? What greater nothing than to be miserable? And so what greater deceit than this, for a man being miserable to judge himself happy, being in God's deep displeasure to account himself to be highly in his favor? A deceit indeed very common, but also very dangerous: for in this case man's deceitful and dreaming heart makes him like that dreamer of the Prophet, who though hungry and thirsty, yet in his sleep thinks he has meat and drink; but as he awakened sees his error and feels his hunger, so shall the heart aroused by God, at least at the day of judgment, see her deceit and feel her misery (Isaiah 29:8). Surely as in the natural dreams it is better, when they be false, they should be of fearful things, than of joyful, as better for a King to dream himself to be a beggar, than contrarily for a beggar to dream that he is a King: for the King, when he wakes, his grief is gone and his joy is redoubled, seeing the vanity of his dream, but the beggar when he awakes, his former grief that slept with him awakes, and returns so much the fiercer, in regard of the false joy of his dream: so is it in these dreams and deceitful dotages of the heart. Far better is that deceit, whereby the son of God thinks himself a slave of Satan, than the contrary, when the limb of Satan deems and dreams himself a member of Christ. Better it is for Nebuchadnezzar being a man, through his brain distempered with melancholy to think himself a beast, than for a beast to think itself a man: for this deceit is nothing so usual, nor so perilous. A man's false conceit of misery, when indeed he is happy, may lessen his happiness: it cannot make him miserable: but a man's false apprehension of happiness being miserable, is so far from making him happy, that it makes him twice, indeed remedyless miserable; it being the first step to happiness to know our misery. Lamentable therefore is it, that this deceit being so pernicious, should be so universal. Our Savior tells us that there are but few that shall be saved. And yet if all they should be saved, that think they shall be saved, sure then there are but very few that shall be damned, and then the strait and narrow way is that which leads to Hell, the broad way is Heaven's way: for who is there almost that persuades not himself he shall be saved?

And here I observe more specially the deceit of four several sorts of men: the rich worldling, the civil justiciary, the loose libertine, or carnal gospeler, and the temporary believer; all these upon their several, but all of them deceivable grounds, persuading themselves, they are in the favor of God.

First, the men of this world, whose bellies God fills with the hidden treasure of the earth, upon occasion of their outward prosperity, are quickly brought into this fool's paradise of thinking themselves to be the special darlings of God: for if the godly themselves have oftentimes their eyes so dazzled with the outward glittering and flourishing estate of the wicked, as thereupon they are ready to say of them, The generation of God's children, which was once David's error for a time (Psalm 73): how much more then, think we, will the wicked think so of themselves? He that makes gain, says David, blesses himself, namely in this false opinion of his own felicity (Psalm 10:3). And elsewhere he shows that when God holds his peace, and does not by his judgments disturb them in their pleasures and profits, then presently their deceitful heart thereon infers, that God is like to them, he allows of them and their doings (Psalm 50). That we may free these men from this deceit, and discover the grossness of it, diverse things must be considered.

First, if riches be that which makes men happy, (according to the foolish phrase men use when such things befall one, O he is made!) how then comes it to pass, that Heaven the chief and royal seat of blessedness, is so empty of these treasurers? For there grow no minerals, the vein of silver and gold is not to be found there. And yet God who there shows the brightest luster of his glory, the holy Saints and Angels, that dwell there with him, want nothing that may serve to make them completely blessed. Surely it seems happiness must be dug out of the bowels of the earth, it grows below, not above. The earth can no longer say, when it is demanded of our happiness, as it is in Job, it is not in me (Job 28:14); if silver and gold be our happiness, then it is in the earth, and so, which is strange, it is nearer hell (which the Scripture seems to place below in the deeps) than heaven, which all know to be aloft, and so nearer the Devil, than God — let me have heaven's misery, take you hell's happiness.

2. If this deceit be true, happiness should rather be found in the wilderness of India, Turkey, and such like barbarous, and brutish places, than in the fair Eden of the Church. Is it likely, that if riches were such pearls, the Lord would cast them to such swine? If such happy things, he would throw them to such dogs? If the children's bread, he would feed whelps with them?

Riches indeed themselves are the good blessings of God, and are notable instruments of virtue, as we see in Solomon, Abraham, Lot, and other holy rich men in the scripture, in all whom that saying was true, Wisdom is good with an inheritance. Wisdom is good without an inheritance to the owner, but it is not so good to others, it cannot so clearly show, and manifest itself to them, without the help of this instrument. As how could Abraham have showed his hospitable, and bountiful mind, in entertaining strangers, if poor? How could Job have declared his mercy, and liberality to the poor, without his riches? How could Solomon have witnessed his munificence, and royal magnificence, indeed his zeal, and piety in building the temple, together with his wisdom and skill in natural philosophy, had not the Lord so abundantly furnished him with these helps? What then? Shall we say, because riches are the instruments, whereby virtue declares itself, therefore they make men virtuous? That, because a good pen is the instrument of writing, therefore it will make one a good writer? In fact rather a good writer makes the pen good, and to be a fit instrument of writing well. For furnish an unskillful writer with never so good a pen, yet his fist remains still as unskillful. So a good man knows how to make use, and advantage of riches, for the practice of virtue; as Solomon says, The crown of the wise is their riches: but yet give them a fool, and you put a sword into a mad man's hand, still he is as wicked, in fact worse than before, as Solomon adds in the same place, the folly of fools, namely rich ones, is foolishness; Why, was it not foolishness before they were rich? Yes, but not in comparison of that it is now, since they became rich. That as wisdom is good, that is, better, shines brighter, so folly is bad, that is, far worse, more palpably discovers itself, with an inheritance. That which Solomon speaks of silence in a fool, may as truly be said of poverty sometimes. A fool is accounted wise while poor, but let him once be rich, then his folly is foolishness indeed. Riches then declare whether we be good, or no, as a sword in a man's hand whether he be sober, or drunk, but they make us not good; because, as I said, they are only instruments of goodness. And the instrument always receives its force from that which uses it, gives none to it. Were it not absurd for a man to think himself a good scholar, because he has many books standing in his closet, or a good musician, because he has many musical instruments hanging upon his walls, when he knows not how to use either books, or instruments? And yet riches are no such necessary instruments of grace, as books are of learning. For a man may show as much, in fact (as Chrysostom has well noted in the example of Job) more of some obedience namely that which we call passive in poverty, than in riches.

4 Riches, though they be the gifts of God, yet we must consider, with what hand he reaches them forth to us, whether with the right, or the left, with what mind he gives them, whether in love, or in anger. For God often gives men riches as he gave the Israelites quails, even to be thorns to choke them. Herein being like that King Eutrapeles, that heaped up most riches upon such as he most hated, saying that together with their riches he should crush them with a heavy burden of cares. Pharaoh himself was not smitten with many of those judgments, wherein others perished, but it was not from any special respect God had of him above them, but God himself, lest he should misinterpret it, tells him the reason — for this cause have I reserved you, namely from being struck with the former judgment, not for any love I bear to you, but, that I may show my power in you. The Psalmist therefore excellently couples these things together: The Lord gives sight to the blind, he raises up the crooked, he loves the righteous. To teach that the Lord may dispense these outward blessings to the wicked, but not in love, save only to the righteous. Therefore our rich worldling has little cause of rejoicing in his riches, unless he knew that the Lord looked upon him, as Elizabeth speaks of the blessing of her fruitful womb, in the giving of them, even with a sweet, and amiable countenance, ready together with his riches to deal his own soul to him. But it is otherwise: The Lord turns his back upon him, even then when his hand reaches forth these outward things to him. In his anger he gives these supposed felicities to the wicked, which in his mercy he denies to the godly. He puts them into the fatter pastures, because he means to kill them, and causes these to feed on the bare commons, because he will have them live still. If the stalled ox had reason, would he be so senseless as to think his master loved him better than his fellows, because of his more liberal food? Know it then, you rich worldling — God only fattens you for the slaughter. He thus loads you with these blessings that by this means aggravating your ingratitude, and impenitency, he might load you with a heavier weight of condemnation. Indeed by this means in his just judgment, as by an outward occasion, he provokes, and stirs up that corruption of pride, covetousness, cruelty, oppression, and such like, which before were in you, but for want of occasion could not so plainly show themselves. That therefore this secret corruption may be discovered, he offers fit matter for it to feed upon, to work upon. Judas was covetous before he came to Christ: therefore Christ gave him the bag to feed that his humor, to minister fuel to it, that so his rotten heart might be detected — should not now Judas have deceived himself much, if he had apprehended the office which Christ assigned him, as an argument of his greater respect, as though he had reposed more confidence in him for fidelity, whom indeed he knew to be most unfaithful? Judas's bag was a net to catch his soul. The wicked's table, though swimming never so much with dainties, is his snare, and his prosperity his ruin. God gives them these things no otherwise than Jael gave Sisera milk, and lodging, that by this means casting them into the dead sleep of security, he might strike them through with the nail of his judgments, or as Ehud gave the present to Eglon, only that he might have an occasion to sheath his dagger in his bowels. Therefore look how Haman deceived himself in construing the Queen's invitation of him to the banquet, as a matter of special grace — for indeed she did it only to accuse him; alike do these fat worldlings deceive themselves, imputing their outward prosperity to the favor of God, who indeed only gives them these things to furnish their indictment out of them. Like as once Joseph caused his cup to be put into one of his brothers' sacks, that he might pick a quarrel with them, and lay theft to their charge: for God, however he have given the wicked these earthly blessings, yet will he challenge them of theft, and unjust usurping of his creatures, to the which being out of Christ, they have no right and title. See then, you miserable muck-worms of the earth, how grossly you deceive yourselves, that are so fearful of being deceived by others, and know that as in other regards, so in this has our Savior made fools of you, that you thus lull yourselves asleep in a false conceit of your own happiness, and sing a requiem to your own souls — soul, take your ease; and yet sin lies before the doors; this night, O fool, shall they take away your soul. And then though with Dives you have been rich in this world, yet with him also you shall be poor enough in the world to come — so poor that you shall be driven to beg a drop of water of some Lazarus, to whom here you denied crumbs of bread. O extreme and more than beggarly poverty, when you cannot command a little drop of water! So fitly did the Apostle say, charge them that are rich in this world, intimating that there is one riches and poverty of this world, and of the world to come another, as Lazarus, poor in this world, became rich in the other world, and Dives, rich in this world, became exceeding penurious in the other. Withal teaching that these riches, when they last longest, last no longer than this life, they follow not after us when we are dead, to make us rich in that other world. Go now and bless yourself in your riches, and prosperous estate as badges of blessedness; from which holy Agur desired to be blessed, fearing lest his shoe being too wide for his foot it would but hinder him in his journey, and his over-ample estate would be as cumbersome to his soul, as Saul's armor would have been to David's body. The Apostle tells you, God chastens every child he has, and none but bastards go uncorrected — what an idle conceit then is this for you to take that for a note of your sonship, namely your oiled and buttered paths, your long ease and freedom from crosses, for which the Holy Ghost has reproached you with the brand of bastardy? Our Savior cries out, woe be to you rich men, for you shall weep. What madness for you to bless where Christ curses? He tells you that your riches are as great burdens, hindering your entrance in at the strait gate, and as the hump on the camel's back, hindering his passage through the needle's eye, and therefore cries out, how hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven? What dotage is this to account the bar of heaven's door shutting it up against us, to be the key opening it to us, to take weights, pressing us down to hell, to be wings, lifting us up to heaven?

2. A sort of men deceiving themselves in this kind are our civil justiciaries, who therefore judge themselves to be in good state toward God, because they live without scandal honestly, quietly paying every man his own, etc. If they had from this concluded they had been in good state toward man, the deceit had been more tolerable; for men cannot so well challenge those that can say with Samuel, whose ox or donkey have I stolen? whom have I wronged? But the deceit is foolish, to think that therefore God can have no action against you. It is as if you should think the king can touch you in nothing, because you have not failed in any point of the law that ties you to your fellow subjects, with whom you live, and yet perhaps have in many ways faulted against the king himself. You talk of paying men their dues; well, let it be so: what can follow from this, but that among men you shall go for an honest man? What about with God too? Yes, if you can truly say you paid him his dues — the due of prayer, hearing, reading, and meditating in the word, sanctifying of the Sabbaths — which our civil man never pays, and therefore as you would account him dishonest who pays you not your dues, so will God account you, for not paying him his. This is true religion, says James to the loose professor severing some outward duties of religion in the first table from righteousness in the second table — to visit the fatherless and widow, etc. — which are duties not of religion properly, but of justice and righteousness; and this he does because this is the trial of the truth of our religion. By like reason and proportion may I say to the civil man, as unreasonably dividing the works of righteousness in the second table from those of religion in the first: this is true righteousness, this is true honesty — to sanctify the Sabbaths, to call upon the name of the Lord, to confer, to meditate on the word. For just as that kind of religion is which is not attended with honesty to men, alike is that honesty which is not joined with religion to God. Now the former religion none is so ready to condemn for nothing as the civil man himself: for zeal and devotion he can in no case away with. Therefore, his own mouth being judge, his own honesty which he so magnifies and makes the only prop of his happiness must needs be rotten and unsound. Dishonest religion is as good as irreligious honesty. And if in your judgment the former is worthless, surely the latter cannot be good. Religion, or the fear of God, Solomon calls the head of all goodness: honesty then without religion is as a body without a head — even a rotting and stinking carrion — and will you yet be so foolish as to think it is a sweet-smelling sacrifice in God's nostrils? Hear Christ telling the Pharisees, such as you are, that the harlots and tax collectors — as if I should now say to you, cutthroats and pickpockets — should go before them into the kingdom of heaven. And again, Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And if this cannot stop your mouth, yet let Isaiah's foul cloth speak — all our righteousness, even our righteousness (the prophet includes himself), holy Isaiah's own righteousness, the righteousness of grace, is a menstruous cloth that will rather foul our faces than wipe away the filth of them. What then is the righteousness of nature? Surely Christ must both wash and wipe his disciples' feet — his blood must be both water and towel. Renounce then your own righteousness — even spiritual, much more civil — and trust only to his.

The third sort of these self-deceivers are our common and carnal Gospelers, Gospel-spillers rather, being indeed loose libertines that do turn the grace of God into wantonness: these also judge themselves to be in good case before God; and why? Because they have been born in the Church, and still enjoy the privileges thereof; they have been washed with holy water, and are daily fed with the spiritual Manna of the word, and Sacraments. This was the usual deceit of the Jews, who cried, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord: and had nothing else to bless themselves withal, but the cognizance of circumcision. And our Savior shows how many at the last day shall look for eternal life, only because they have eaten and drunk in his presence, which I understand of the spiritual eating and drinking in the hearing of the word, and receiving of the Sacraments: but for all this, with the man that wanted the wedding garment, they may be taken from the very feasting table to the gallows with Haman. And though they flee never so much with Joab to the horns of God's altar, yet it shall not defend them from God's sword, for the very truth is this, the man that wants the wedding garment is no otherwise bidden to the feast by the king, than Haman was to Queen Esther's feast, he shall there find God no less angry with him, than Haman found Ahasuerus, and hear that fearful sentence, Take him, bind him, etc. Of this deceit Saint James speaks, when he says, Be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Showing thereby that many, as the miserable experience even of these times also shows, did therefore repute themselves in the number of God's people, only because they came to the Church, heard the word and presented him with the outward sacrifices of their prayers, and praises, however their lives otherwise were most vile and vicious. But Saint James afterward tells these deceivers, If any man seem religious and refrain not his tongue deceiving his own heart, his religion is in vain. And so does Saint Paul tell the Jews that rested in the law, and the outward letter thereof, that their circumcision was no better than uncircumcision; as a man may say to a base player, appareled like a king's son, that his prince's coat is no better than a beggar's. It shall do him no more good, procure him no more honor or respect. For circumcision, baptism, hearing, receiving, and all such like badges of outward profession they are but as the outward garment of Christians, which may easily be put on by those that are none. And therefore however these by many are thought sufficient to make them good Christians, yet Solomon sticks not to make them the marks of fools, when there are no better than they, as when he calls God's own sacrifices, the sacrifices of fools, be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools, because of this foolish conceit which many ground upon them. But notably does God shake these deceivers in the 50th Psalm, who for all their lying, slandering, whoring, thieving, would yet needs go for saints, because they were diligent in the outward service of the temple. They thought they were very careful rememberers of God, when they plied him so fast with the sacrifices of the Law, both morning and evening: and yet God tells them that none were so unmindful of him as they, and therefore very fearfully thunders against them: O consider this you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces. For when the truth of obedience, and power of godliness is wanting, surely there is small difference between an Israelite, and an Ishmaelite, a circumcised Hebrew, and an uncircumcised Philistine, a baptized Englishman, and an unwashed Turk. Neither is the barren fig-tree in God's orchard in any better case, than is the bramble in the wilderness. In which regard David is not afraid to call the [reconstructed: Ephraimites] strangers, and Saul's courtiers heathen, and Saul himself Cushi, or an Ethiopian, though all of them living in the visible Church as members thereof; to show, that God will wrap them up in the same bundle of condemnation, together with the heathen, and uncircumcised, strangers, from the covenants, and commonwealth of Israel. This therefore will be but a silly plea before God, we have gone to Church, frequented the prayers, heard the sermons; no, the plea of preaching sermons will not be admitted. When you bring to God the sermons you have heard, you bring Uriah's letters; the matter of your own death, and damnation. For therefore shall God adjudge you to so much sorer, and severer condemnation, by how much your means of repentance have been greater. Therefore shall the earth be cursed, because having been watered with the dew of heaven, it brings forth nothing but brambles, and briers. But here our libertine, besides his outward formal Church-service, urges his faith in the merits of Christ.

Answer. His faith is mere fancy: for, 1. Faith comes by hearing, and so also is it nourished by hearing of the word, prayer and the sacraments. But these men cannot tell how they came by their faith. And it is suspicious when men have goods, and cannot tell how they came by them: assuredly they cannot say they came to their faith by any such means: for they despise the powerful ministry, and to pray aright they know not, whereas true faith the daughter of the word, cannot but with all humility and thankfulness acknowledge her father.

2. True faith is copulative, it joins together the whole word of God: it believes one promise as well as another, the promises of this life, as well as those of the life to come. But our Libertines' faith that seems very strong in believing salvation by Christ, in temporal dangers that concern the outward man only, cannot uphold itself: the reason is, that, as their faith is a fancy itself, so it apprehends eternal salvation as a fancy, and so there can be bold enough, but temporal salvation being apprehended as a matter of truth, their fantastical faith cannot lay hold of the promises thereof: these men that so confidently profess that they believe God has provided superabundant riches of glory hereafter for them, cannot yet believe that he will provide competent necessaries of maintenance for this present life — from where they so tremble in their dangers. Again, faith believes the threats of the word together with the promises: now you who pretend belief of the promises, show me your belief of the threatenings: did you believe the truth of those menaces which God has denounced against unclean, covetous, ambitious, proud, envious, malicious persons, and such like sinners, how dare you then so wallow in these sins, that if God instead of hell had promised heaven as a reward to them, you could not do more than you do? Why should you deceive yourself with an opinion of faith, when indeed you believe not so much as the Devil? For he believes [namely the threatenings of the word] and trembles for horror; but you go on in sin, making a mock of the menaces, and in the infidelity of your heart give them the lie, saying no such thing shall befall you. And so much for the three former self-deceivers.