being all providence, shall have learned negligence from us: when God who is all blessing, hath learned to curse of us, and being of himself spread as an universal honeycomb over all, takes in an impression, a tincture, an infusion of gall from us, what extraction of wormwood can be so bitter, what exaltation of fire can be so raging, what multiplying of talents can be so heavy, what stiffness of destiny can be so inevitable, what confection of gnawing worms, of gnashing teeth, of howling cries, of scalding brimstone, of palpable darkness, can be so, so insupportable, so inexpressible, so in-imaginable, as the curse and malediction of God? And therefore let not us by our works provoke, nor by our words teach God to curse. Lest if with the same tongue that

we bless God, we curse men35; that is, seem to be in charity in our prayers here, and carry a rancorous heart, and venomous tongue home with us God come to say, (and God's saying is doing) As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he clothed himself with cursing, as with a garment, so let it be as a girdle, wherewith he is girded continually 36: when a man curses out of levity, and makes a loose habit of that sin, God shall so gird it to him, as he shall never divest it. The devil's grammar is Applicare activa passivis, To apply actives to passives; where he sees an inclination, to subminister a temptation; where he seeth a froward choler, to blow in a curse. And God's grammar is to change actives into passives: where a man delights in cursing, to make that man accursed. And if God do this to them who do but curse men, will he do less to them, who blaspheme himself? Where man wears out æternum suum, (as St. Gregory speaketh) his own eternity, his own hundred years; that is, his whole life, in cursing and blaspheming, God shall also extend his curse, in æterno suo, in his eternity, that is, for ever. Which is that, that falls to the bottom, as the heaviest of all, and is our last consideration; that all the rest, that there is a curse deposited in the Scriptures, denounced by the church, avowed by God, reduced to execution, and that insupportable in this life, is infinitely aggravated by this, that he shall be accursed for ever.

VOL. IV.

35 James iii. 9.

36 Psalm cix. 7.

2 H

This is the anathema maran-atha, accursed till the Lord come; and when the Lord cometh, he cometh not to reverse, nor to alleviate, but to ratify and aggravate that curse. As soon as Christ curst the fig-tree, it withered, and it never recovered: for saith that Gospel 37, he curst it in æternum, for ever. In the course of our sin, the Holy Ghost hath put here a number of years, a hundred years: we sin long, as long as we can, but yet sin hath an end. But in this curse of God in the text, there is no number; it is an indefinite future; he shall be accursed: a mile of ciphers or figures, added to the former hundred, would not make up a minute of this eternity. Men have calculated how many particular grains of sand, would fill up all the vast space between the earth and the firmament: and we find, that a few lines of ciphers will design and express that number. But if every grain of sand were that number, and multiplied again by that number, yet all that, all that inexpressible, inconsiderable number, made not up one minute of this eternity; neither would this curse, be a minute the shorter for having been endured so many generations, as there were grains of sand in that number. Our esse, our being, is from God's saying, Dixit et facti, God spoke, and we were made: our bene-esse, our well-being, is from God's saying too; bene-dicit, God blesses us, in speaking graciously to us. Even our ill-being, our condemnation is from God's saying also for malediction is damnation. So far God hath gone with us that way, as that our being, our well-being, our ill-being is from his saying: but God shall never come to a non esse, God shall never say to us, Be nothing, God shall never succour us with an annihilation, nor give us the ease of resolving into nothing, for this curse flows on into an everlasting future, he shall be accurst, he shall be so for ever. In a true sense we may say, that God's foreknowledge grows less and less every day; for his foreknowledge is of future things, and many things which were future heretofore are past, or present now; and therefore cannot fall under his foreknowledge: his foreknowledge in that sense, grows less, and decayeth. But his eternity decayeth in no sense; and as long as his eternity lasts, as long as

:

37 Matt. xxi. 19.

God is God, God shall never see that soul, whom he hath accurst, delivered from that curse, or eased in it.

But we are now in the work of an hour, and no more. If there be a minute of sand left, (there is not) if there be a minute of patience left, hear me say, This minute that is left, is that eternity which we speak of; upon this minute dependeth that eternity and this minute, God is in this congregation, and puts his ear to every one of your hearts, and hearkens what you will bid him say to yourselves: whether he shall bless you for your acceptation, or curse you for your refusal of him this minute: for this minute makes up your century, your hundred years, your eternity, because it may be your last minute. We need not call that a fable, but a parable, where we hear, that a mother to still her froward child told him, she would cast him to the wolf, the wolf should have him; and the wolf which was at the door, and within hearing, waited, and hoped he should have the child indeed but the child being stilled, and the mother pleased, then she saith, So shall we kill the wolf, the wolf shall have none of my child, and then the wolf stole away. No metaphor, no comparison is too high, none too low, too trivial, to imprint in you a sense of God's everlasting goodness towards you. God bids your mother the church, and us her servants for your souls, to denounce his judgments upon your sins, and we do it; and the executioner Satan, believes us, before you believe us, and is ready on his part. Be you also ready on your part, to lay hold upon those conditions, which are annexed to all God's maledictions, repentance of former, preclusion against future sins, and we shall be always ready, on our part to assist you with the power of our intercession, to deliver you with the keys of our absolution, and to establish you with the seals of reconciliation, and so disappoint that wolf, that roaring lion, that seeks whom he may devour: go in peace, and be this your peace, to know this, Maledictus qui pendet in cruce, God hath laid the whole curse belonging to us upon him, that hangs upon the cross; but Benedictus qui pendet in pendentem; To all them that hang upon him, that hangeth there, God offereth now, all those blessings, which he that hangeth there hath purchased with the inestimable price of his incorruptible blood; and to this glorious Son of God, who hath

suffered all this, and to the most Almighty Father, who hath done all this, and to the blessed Spirit of God, who offereth now to apply all this, be ascribed by us, and by the whole church, all power, praise, might, majesty, glory, and dominion, now and for Amen.

evermore.

SERMON CVIII.

PREACHED TO THE KING AT WHITEHALL, APRIL 1, 1627.

MARK iv. 24.

Take heed what you hear.

WHETHER that which is recorded by this evangelist, in, and about this chapter, be one entire sermon of our Saviour's, preached at once, or notes taken and erected from several sermons of his, we are no further curious to inquire, than may serve to ground this note, that if it were one entire sermon our Saviour preached methodically, and eased his hearers with certain landmarks by the way, with certain divisions, certain transitions, and callings upon them, to observe the points as they arose: for as he beginneth so, Hearken, Behold, so he returneth to that refreshing of their considerations, Et dixit illis, He said unto them; and again, he said unto them seven or eight times, in this chapter; so many times he calleth upon them, to observe his passing from one point to another. If they be but notes of several sermons, we only learn from that, that though a man understand not a whole sermon, or remember not a whole sermon, yet he doth well, that layeth hold upon such notes therein as may be appliable to his own case, and his own conscience, and conduce to his own edification. The widow of Sarepta had no palaces to build, and therefore she went not out to survey timber; she had only a poor cake to bake to save her own and her child's life, and she went out to gather a few sticks', two sticks as she told the

11 Kings xvii. 12.

prophet Elias, to do that work. Every man that cometh to hear here, every man that cometh to speak here, cometh not to build churches, nor to build commonwealths; to speak only of the duties of kings, and of prelates, and of magistrates; but that poor soul that gathers a stick or two, for the baking of her own cake, that layeth hold upon any note for the rectifying of her own perverseness hath performed the commandment of this text, Take heed what ye hear. He that is drowning will take hold of a bulrush; and even that bulrush may stay him, till stronger means of succour come. If you would but feel, that you are drowning in the whirlpools of sin, and God's judgments for sin, and would lay hold upon the shallowest man, (be that man dignified with God's character, the character of orders) and lay hold upon the meanest part of his speech, (be that speech dignified with God's ordinance, be it a sermon) even I, and anything that I say here, and say thus, (spoken by a minister of God, in the house of God, by the ordinance of God) might stop you till you heard better, and you might be the fitter for more, if you would but take heed now what you heard; Take heed what you hear.

These words were spoken by Christ, to his apostles upon this occasion. He had told them before, that since there was a candle lighted in the world, it must not be put under a bushel, nor under a bed, verse 21. That all that is hid should be made manifest; that all that was kept secret should come abroad, verse 22; that if any man had ears to hear, he might hear, verse 23; that is, that the mystery of salvation, which had been hid from the world till now, was now to be published to the world, by their preaching, their ministry, their apostleship: and that therefore, since he was now giving them their commission, and their instructions; since all that they had in charge for the salvation of the whole world, was only that, that he delivered unto them, that which they heard from him, they should take heed what they heard; Take heed what you hear. In which he layeth a double obligation upon them: first, all that you hear from me, you are to preach to the world; and therefore Take heed what you hear; forget none of that; and then, you are to preach no more than you hear from me; and therefore Take heed