-- CHAPTER VI: That another particular wherein their folly is manifest is in their false judgments.
themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.' When God comes with armies into their country, or wastes it with fire, or a plague, still they are careless, as those in Isa. 42:24, 25, 'Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.' And indeed it is no wonder that they lay not God's judgments to heart, who make light of sin, that deserves, and brings them: Prov. 14:9, 'Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.'
CHAPTER VI:
That another particular wherein their folly is manifest is in their false judgments.
They deceive themselves in the estimate they make of things and actions 2. The second main thing wherein the folly of unregenerate men consists is their false judgments. In judging and esteeming of what is good and profitable for themselves, they are deceived by many false rules. And folly or false judging of things is called in the general by Christ, and Paul, judging according to the appearance, κατʼ ὄψιν; that is, according to what things outwardly seem to be: John 7:24,
'Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.' And by the apostle it is styled judging, κατὰ πρόσωπον, according to the first show and semblance of things, the first blush and view of them: 2 Cor. 10:7, 'Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we
Christ's.' And again it is called by Christ judging, κατὰ σάρκα, according to the flesh: John 8:15, 'Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man after the flesh;' that is, according to the outward bark and rind, not piercing into the marrow, nor searching the soul of the thing within, the inward virtues and qualities. Christ speaks upon occasion of their judging of him by his outside, because they saw him clothed with flesh, and hidden under the poor appearance of a carpenter's son, encompassed with the same infirmities that men are, overcast with disgraces, and soiled with poverty, therefore thought of him but as of an ordinary man, and were offended at him and his followers.
And Paul also, in that 1 Cor. 10:7, speaks to the Corinthians upon occasion of their false judging of preaching, which they estimated by flaunting and outward eloquence; and because Paul's preaching was rude, and not handsomely dressed up, though full of the depths of wisdom, they contemned him. Thus an unregenerate man foolishly judges according to the outward face of things, and so is deceived; as a countryman, who sees the sun, and thinketh it to be no bigger than a platter, whenas it exceeds the earth in magnitude; he judgeth according to appearance, and not by rules of art, and so is mistaken.
Now the false rules by which men are guided in thus judging are many.
(1.) They judge those things best for them which are present before them, and may presently be enjoyed, though but a while, and are so inconsiderate as to prefer them to those that are afar off, and out of sight, and but in hopes, though infinitely better, and of eternal duration. They are so foolish as to prefer the devil's and the world's present pay above all God's promises, and his recompence of reward.
They act thus merely out of folly, for wisdom only enableth a man to see and apprehend the goodness of things afar off and out of sight; but fools, and children, and beasts look only to what is before them, and present in their view. Take a child, and look what he hath in his hand he will hardly be brought to part with it for all your promises, and hopes given him of something better, unless you present it before him to exchange with him, for he wants wisdom to judge of the goodness of what he sees not. Hence also it is always one fruit of
folly and weakness to be impatient, and that it cannot stay for a thing, wisdom being wanting to content and quiet the mind till the thing for which it longs is come; hence you see children and fools, whom nothing but present things will satisfy, cry till they see and enjoy what they would have. So this same now, the present time, sways all unregenerate men, as it swayed and prevailed with Esau:
Gen. 25:30–32, 'And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage: for I am faint: therefore was his name called
Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?' He had a sense of nothing but what might satisfy his present needs and desires, and as for his birthright, he thought he should have no use of it till his father's death; it was a thing to come, and a type of heaven, and so he sells it. Thus do wicked men sell heaven, and purchase to themselves eternal destruction to enjoy present pleasures, or to avoid present sufferings:
2 Tim. 4:10, 'For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed into Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus into Dalmatia.' There lay the motive and inducement: he had present offers and opportunities of riches and preferments, though with the shipwreck of a good conscience. Whereas grace enableth a man to bear present inconveniences, and to forbear present pleasures, looking to things to come; so says Paul, 2 Cor. 4:16–18, 'For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.' For this cause (says he) we faint not; though our outward man perish, though our credit decays, our estate consumes, and our strength wastes, yet it is well enough with us as long as the inward man is renewed. He judged not according to the appearance and outside of things, and therefore though he suffered afflictions at present, yet he saw a glory beyond them attending him, and that these light afflictions wrought for him that far more weighty glory, while he looked not at the things
which are seen; thus he judged. There is the reason of all; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (says he), thus we judge of our afflictions, and of the glory which is to come. And after this rate he speaks also in another place: Rom.
8:18, 'For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
(2.) Fools are misled to judge of things by the easiness or difficulty of attaining them, and they prefer things easy before those which are hard and difficult. Fools are presently discouraged if you tell them of bugbears in the way, and so are idle and sluggish, and will not stir:
Prov. 26:13–15, 'The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.' A slothful man is loath to bring his hand to his mouth, and every slothful man is a fool: ver. 16,
'The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.' But wise men, knowing wisdom to be their strength, are not discouraged with difficulties, but dare attempt and venture on great things: Eccles. 7:19, 'Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city;' Prov. 21: 22, 'A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.' Now, to apply this to the purpose, unregenerate men, because the way to hell is easy, they go with the stream of their own hearts, and the rest of the world, and they sail thither with a fair wind, and need not row much against the stream, and therefore they choose this as the easier way; but the way to heaven being difficult, and disgraces, scoffs, the enmity and rage of the world, calamities and sufferings, being in that way, they say a lion is there, and danger, and they will not stir a foot thither, Prov.
26:13. They therefore decline those ways all that ever they can. They say the cities are all walled which lie between them and heaven, and that there are great and armed enemies to stop them in their passage. Thus they will say to themselves for discouragement, speaking as the spies did to discourage the Jews from going into Canaan: Num. 13:28, 'Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in
the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and, moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.' There are such great lusts to be overcome (says the man to himself), which will require much battering, and much prayer and fasting must be used to cast some devils out; and some lusts are so sweet that there can be no such thing as parting with them, some are so strong that there is no throwing them; this is impossible to be done, and it is hard to require it; as the disciple said to Christ, when he told them that they must deny themselves all things for his sake, 'These are hard sayings.' They will therefore content themselves with a common care of serving
God, so much as they can perform with ease, and as will stand with their lusts. And as for strictness of sanctifying the Sabbath, praying privately, and constant keeping down every lust, and fighting against it, and watching over the heart at all places and times, these are hard sayings to them, which they cannot bear, and so they are diverted and put off from such holy ways, and condemn such strictness as impossible to flesh and blood. This is their folly; for wisdom is too high for a fool, and so he lets it alone as a thing out of his reach, Prov.
24:7.
(3.) Fools judge of things by their outward adornings, and as they are set out to show, those to be the best men who have the gayest clothes.
As children fancy such books to be best which have the most gays in them, and those the best horses which have the most bells and trappings, so do unregenerate men judge of themselves and others.
Thus they judge of other men; let a man be never so holy, yet if poor, or disgraced in the world, or if he hath not great parts, they despise him: Eccles. 9:15, 'Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that poor man.' If the Messiah, if Christ himself, come among them, yet if clothed as a carpenter's son, and meanly attended but by fishermen, though he speaks as never man spake, and act as never man did, yet they are offended at him. Our Saviour, speaking to this false opinion had of him and his kingdom, says, The kingdom of God comes not with pomp, so it is in the original, μετὰ παρατηρήσεως, but it is within you: Luke 17:20, 'And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. 'So they think, too, them the happiest men who are most rich: Ps. 10:3, 'For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.' They judge them most happy who have an affluence of earthly good, who have fair wives, who have preferment or applause in the world, &c. Thus they will judge of sermons by the floridness of the words, thus they will judge of the preacher by his voice and way of delivery, and that he who makes most noise hath most eloquence, and that a discourse is best which hath most flashing, flaunting wit, as the Corinthians judged of their teachers, 2 Cor. 10:7. They judged according to appearance; and because Paul was weak and rude in utterance, because he had not a majestic presence and lofty way of speaking, they regarded him not:
2 Cor. 10:10, 'For his letters (say they) are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.' They prefer a tinkling cymbal, him who makes a fine noise before him.
How far is such a vain spirit from the wisdom of a man godly, who as one who comes to a feast regards not the music but the meat, so he comes to a sermon not to please his fancy but to feed his soul! And in all other things unregenerate men glory in vanity, and an empty show, as fools do in a new gay coat or in a rattle, or anything which makes a noise. They rejoice in the applause of the world, in a good bargain, a fair house, more than in a good ministry; in the glory of their town and the state of their magistrates more than in the holiness, grace, and gifts of their ministers. Thus they have the property of a fool, which is made to consist in glorying in outward things: 2 Cor. 11:16, 'I say again, Let no man think me a fool: if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.'
(4.) Fools judge of things by the quantity, and not the quality and worth of them. Thus they use to do both as to magnitude and multitude, greatness and number of things. If you offer a fool, or a child, a small piece of gold, and a bigger one of silver, or two or three pieces of silver, he will choose that which is biggest, or most, not what is most valuable. Thus do unregenerate men judge by