CHAPTER XLIX – 9. The reputation of godliness and honesty—how to be denied
for shame, do not take on you to be lovers of truth, but of yourselves; nor haters of error, but of dishonour.
And consider further that you may lose the reputation of being orthodox, and catholic, and of the right religion, without losing any of the favour of God; nay, it may be a suffering for his sake that may advance you in his favour, and assure you in the reward of martyrs.
For saith Christ, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you;"
Matt. 5:11, 12. So that you see the thing that you so abhor, is matter of exceeding joy; even to be falsely counted a heretic or erroneous for the sake of Christ and truth; we are blessed when we are falsely reviled as erroneous, and have all these evil sayings against us. But to be such indeed, is to be accursed; though the name of heresy will stand with the special love of God, yet heresy itself he utterly abhors.
And whether do you think it is better to part with truth, and the favour of God with it; or with the name and reputation of truth, while we keep both truth and the favour of God? Deny yourselves then, even as to the reputation of faith and orthodoxness; for you will certainly deny the faith, if you cannot deny the name of it, to preserve it.
CHAPTER XLIX
Reputation of Godliness and Honesty, how far— 9. ANOTHER piece of honour that self must be denied in, is, the reputation of godliness and honesty. Concerning both the former and
this, I must say, by way of caution, that the reputation both of faith and godliness is a great mercy, and not to be despised, nor prodigally cast away by our own negligence or miscarriages; nor unthankfully to be received: but yet, 1. It is not to be desired for itself, but for God, that it may help and advantage us to serve him, or as it is a mercy that brings the report of his love. 2. And the greater the mercy is, the greater is our temptation, when it would deprive us of a far greater mercy than itself: I have oft thought it was a very high passage for a heathen to say as Seneca did, that 'No man doth shew a higher esteem of goodness, than he that can let go the name or reputation of being a good man, rather than let go his goodness itself.' The world is so much unacquainted with goodness, that they know it not when they see it; but call it by those odious names that least agree with it.
Their judgments follow their natures, dispositions and interests; and therefore they cannot take that to be good, which is contrary to these.
A feather-bed is no better to a swine than a mire-lake; a banquet is not so good to a cow as a green pasture. As the person is himself, so do all things seem good or evil to him. The toad or snake hath no such odious apprehensions of itself as men have. And hence it is that to ungodly men, the best men and best actions seem to be the worst.
And hence also it is, that in all ages godliness hath been matter of reproach; and the best have been laden with calumnies. David had enemies that laid to his charge the things that he never thought of.
And it seems by the strain of Shemei in his railing, that they took him to be but a traitor, because king Saul was against him; and to be a bloody man, because he had been engaged in the wars, "Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of belial: the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned;" 2 Sam. 16:7, 8. See what a wicked person David
was esteemed by such fellows as this! and yet he so far denied himself here, as that he would not hear of revenge upon the railer, but makes it as a trial sent from God. And two special reasons moved him to bear it. One was the remembrance of that sin against God and his servant Uriah, which he knew God was now chastising him for; and therefore being under the rod of the Lord, he durst not think of revenge upon the instrument; and being sensible that he had brought all this upon himself, he durst not let fly too much at others. The other was that God had raised up (by permissive Providence) the son of his bowels against him; and therefore he thought it an unseemly thing to be much offended with a stranger for less. And such reasons as these have we also to persuade us to patience and self-denial in the like case. The Lord Jesus himself, who had no sin at all, escaped not these censures of malicious men. He was esteemed a friend or companion of publicans and sinners, yea, a gluttonous person, and a wine-bibber; yea, a deceiver; yea, a conjurer, that did his works by the help of the devil; Matt. 11:16. Luke 7:34. Matt. 27:63. John 7:12.
Matt. 12:27. What usage the holy apostles themselves had, and how they behaved themselves under all, you may conjecture by that one passage (to mention no more), "For I think God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were men appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men: we are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised; even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labour working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things to this day;" 1 Cor. 4:9–13. The like usage
had the Christians after the apostles' days. They were slandered by the Pagans as if they sacrificed, and eat their own children, and putting out the lights had commonly been unclean together after their holy exercises: and when they cast them to the lions to be devoured, and many ways tormented them, it was as ungodly men, for preaching against the heathen gods, and refusing to offer sacrifice to them. And therefore the rabble was wont thus to cry for judgment against them, 'Tollite impios! Tollite impios!' Away with the ungodly
Christians! The wicked multitude that were drowned in filthiness and ungodliness, did think themselves religious men, and the Christians to be ungodly. So that they were fain to live and die under a reputation as contrary to the truth, as darkness is contrary to light.
And this usage hath still been the attendant of true godliness. When the Papists burn God's servants at the stake, it is for supposed heresy and impiety; they put a painted cap and coat upon them, made of paper, on which the images of devils are pictured, to make the people believe they are ungodly persons, the servants of the devil, and possessed by him already, and unworthy to live any longer among men. When they butchered the poor Waldenses and Albigenses by thousands, it was under the name of ungodly heretics. The ignorant, ungodly rabble among us now, that hate and revile those that seek after God more diligently than themselves, have yet more devilish wit than to oppose them directly under the name of honest, godly men; but they first make the world believe that they are hypocrites, and proud, and self-conceited, and covetous, and secretly are as bad as others, and these are the things, if you will believe them, that they hate and speak against them for. But then how comes it to pass that it is their praying and preciseness that is so much in the scorners' mouths? Doth that signify hypocrisy or pride? Why do they not
commend the good, while they speak against the evil? and join with them in the holy worship and ways of God, while they oppose their supposed viciousness? Doth the name (Puritan) signify a covetous man, or a vicious person? or rather one that will not be content to venture his soul in the common, impure, ungodly courses of the world? And how comes it to pass that a man may quietly enough follow such vices, if he will but forbear the profession of godliness?
But (to leave these wretches in the dirt where we find them) by this you may see the common measure that is to be expected from the world. If you will be truly godly, you must be taken for ungodly, or for hypocrites, that seem to be godly when you are not.
But it is easy to bear this charge when it falls upon a whole society, and takes us but in the crowd among the rest, and when we have so much honourable company to suffer with us; but it goes nearer us when we are singled out by name, and noted and talked of all about as hypocrites, or proud, or worse than others. But that also must be borne by those that will be Christians.
But the greatest trial of all is, when the servants of God that should help us in our suffering, have got a hard report of us, and by misinformation we have lost our credit even with them. Under all these false and injurious reports, direct and stablish your own minds by the help of these considerations following.
1. It may be there is some special cause that you should try and judge yourselves; and so God doth suffer other men to judge you, to awaken you to self-judging. However, make this use of it, and you are sure to be no losers by the reproach. Enter into your hearts, and search them throughly as before the Lord, and see if there be any way
of wickedness in them which hitherto you have not discovered: Try whether there be hypocrisy and pride or not; especially when it is the servants of God that think hardly of you; and above all, if it be wise, impartial men that are acquainted with you, it is then your duty to be very jealous of your hearts and ways, and to fear lest you are guilty, and to search the more diligently, and not be quiet till you either find out your sin, or be sure that you are clear. And if you be clear in that point, yet suspect and search lest there be some other secret or allowed sin, which God would detect to you, or excite you against by the injurious consures of those that have reproached you.
2. When you have searched and cleared your own consciences, then consider further, that though you are not such as you are censured to be, yet sinners you are, and you know your sins in other kinds are so many and so great, that you should bear the more patiently to be hardly thought of, when you know yourselves to be so bad. If indeed you are godly, you have seen a sink of uncleanness in yourselves, and have condemned yourselves oft, and loathed yourselves for your abominations, and bewailed them before the Lord. And is it suitable for such a spirit to be eager after the reputation of sincerity, and to be much troubled that you are taken by others to be naught?
3. And consider also that your case may be as David's was, and God may possibly make this reproach a chastisement for some former sin, and a means to humble you for it more thoroughly, and to reclaim you from it. Perhaps he bids (by permissive providence) some Shimei curse you. It may be the voice of a slanderer must do that which the voice of a preacher could not do. And then it is your work to look behind you and within you, more than without you, and to hearken
more to the voice of God and conscience, than of the slanderer: and to take it as the rod of God, and a call to a more serious repentance.
4. And consider that when you are under the false censures of the world, you may have the inward peace of a good conscience, which is better than all the applause of men; and this being a continual feast, they cannot do much against your quietness, as long as they cannot deprive you of this.
5. Yea, moreover, you have the approbation of God himself, and that should satisfy against the censure of all the world. Even a proud man, if he have any wit, can bear the contempt of the ignorant vulgar, if he have but the applause of great, and wise, and learned men; as that orator that valued the judgment of Socrates above all the rest of his auditory. But all the wisest men in the world are fools in comparison of God. Having his approbation, you have the greatest, the best, and the wisest on your side; and a judgment for you that will lay down the judgment of ten thousand worlds.
6. And if you value not God's approbation above man's, it is a sign that you are hypocrites indeed, and so the censure is not unjust; but if you do, then you will acquiesce in it, though man condemn you; and say as the apostle, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?"
Rom. 8:33, 34. And "With me it is a very small thing, that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment—but he that judgeth me is the Lord;" 1 Cor. 4:3, 4.
7. And remember that the great day of judgment is near at hand, that will set all straight which the slanderous tongues of men made crooked. Stay but a while, and the glory of Christ, and the sentence of
your Judge, will dispel all the unjust reproaches that were on you, and wash off all the blots that were falsely laid on your good name;
"and he will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noon-day;" for "there is nothing hid that shall not be then revealed."
8. In the meantime God will take care of your name; he will make the very tongues that slander you to honour you; in the blindness of their reproaches, crossing themselves. As the Papists by the poor
Waldenses, saying they were the more dangerous heretics, because they held all the articles of faith, and lived godly and honestly, and were reputed holy, but only that they were against the Church of Rome. As you trust God with your health, and wealth, so must you with your reputation, even in point of honesty, and be satisfied that he can clear you when he pleases.
9. And it is not God's ordinary way to leave the reputation of his servants wholly uncleared even in this world. If one condemn them, another shall justify them; and commonly the wisest and best men justify them; and the most foolish and ungodly are they that condemn them. And cannot you bear the words of fools and children? The proudest man can pass by a contempt or slander from a drunken man, an idiot, or a madman, as being no dishonour to him; and cannot you bear the censures of the distracted world? Or if they are better men that slander you, it is two to one but it is the more foolish or passionate sort of them; and that the judgment of the more wise and sober is against them, and vindicateth your reputation. Or if at the present they do not, it is ten to one but Providence shall work to the clearing of your reputation, either in your lifetime, or when you are dead. Most of the servants of God that
were most hated and slandered, while they lived on earth, are cleared and honoured now they are dead. God is not disregardful of his servants' names.
10. But however it go, you are secured of the main; that which you expected or covenanted for with God, you shall be sure of. If you have the thing, you may easily bear the want of the name. Hath the Spirit of God renewed and sanctified you? Are you made the living members of Christ, and the sons of God, and the heirs of heaven? I hope you may well spare then the applause of men, and easily bear it, if you be reputed to be destitute of what you have. If you are in health, it will not much trouble you if it be reported that you are sick; and if you are alive, you can bear it if the report go that you are dead: for as long as you have the thing, you can spare the name. And if you have Christ, and grace, and pardon, and justification, and title to eternal life, cannot you endure to have men think that you are without them? How basely do you undervalue these inestimable things, when the thoughts of a man's mind, or the words of a man's mouth, can blast the comforts of them all! As if you said to the world, it is not Christ, and grace, and pardon, and salvation, that will serve me, without the applause of men! How basely think you of God, and how highly of men, if this be your mind! It is more excusable for a Haman to say of all his honour and wealth that they satisfy him not, or do him no good, as long as he wants but Mordecai's obeisance, than for a Christian to say of God, of Christ, of glory, all this will not serve my turn as long as men take me for a hypocrite or ungodly. For there is not a satisfying sufficiency in honours and wealth, as there is in God and glory. As long as you have the precious treasure, methinks you may give losers leave to talk. It was not for the good words of men that you became Christians, and covenanted with God,