Motives
know, in the bent of the heart a godly man doth not; but in some particular acts he may and doth.) Are not our understandings more frequently awakened to anything than to what God commands? Are not our desires too vehement for those things which have no commerce with the law and mind of God? Have we no doubts of His faithfulness, no murmurings against His sovereign disposal of things, no risings of heart against His law, against His providences; no self-confidence, envy, ambition, revenge?
All these are but the branches of this bitter root. And is not our exactest care and constant watchfulness requisite against the workings of this natural cursed disposition? Sure it is, and sure it must be.
MOTIVES [1] First Motive. Consider the disingenuity of this enmity.
There is no necessity that thou shouldest be His enemy; neither is it honorable for thee to stand out against Him. Peter denied Christ when his own life was in danger; and thou hatest God, who would put the life of thy soul out of danger. It is against all the obligations of nature and grace to be an enemy to Him to whom thou owest thy being, thy preservation from hell, and thy recovery from misery, though that misery was procured by thine own fault.
Do we not voluntarily subject ourselves to men whom we esteem good, though the loveliness of their persons and the goodness of their nature be infinitely short of God, and as much below Him in alluring qualities as they are in greatness and majesty? What benefits can men bestow upon their servants comparable to those with which God recompenses His sincere adorers? Men may love their friends more than they can help them; but the lovingkindness of God is attended with a power as infinite as itself.
[1] First Consideration. God hath been good to us.
He is Love, and we are out of love with Love itself. Is He not our Father? Why should we not honor Him? Is He not our Master? Why should we not obey Him? Is He not our Benefactor? Why should we not affect Him? Whence have we our mercies but from His hand?
Who besides Him maintains our breath this moment? Would He call for our spirits this instant, they must depart from us to attend His command.
Shall His benefits be made weapons of unrighteousness, and the devil's arms against Him? Christ died for us while we were enemies, and shall we stand out as enemies still? It is the least thou canst do to love Him at the very time He shows mercy to thee, and that is every minute. There is not a moment wherein thou canst, with any ingenuity, be an enemy to Him; because there is not a moment wherein He is not thy guardian, wherein thou dost not taste of His bounty.
God hath let thee have thy swing all this time; thou hast had thy rendezvous at thy pleasure, and He never laid wait for thee but in kindness. He might have dealt with us as we do with venomous creatures, and destroyed such a generation of vipers, and crushed the cockatrice in the egg. What a disgraceful thing is it to put off the nature of men for that of devils, to hate God under mercy as much as devils do under wrathful anger!
Is not God our greatest Benefactor, and shall He have nothing but disdain from us for all His benefits? The Psalmist cries out, What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? But it is the language of our hearts, What ill turns shall we render to God for all His mercies unto us? It is of His mercy that we are not consumed, and shall we spend this mercy upon our lusts? He was compassionate in sparing us, and shall we be ungrateful in hating
Him? This is the highest disingenuity.
[2] Secondly. God hath been importunate in His entreaties of us.
God offers not only a truce, but a peace, and hath been most active in urging a reconciliation. Can He manifest His willingness by clearer methods than by sending His Son to reconcile the world unto
Himself? Can He evidence more sincerity than by His repeated and reiterated pressing of our souls to the acceptance of Him?
God knocks at our hearts, and we are deaf to Him; He thunders in our ears, and we regard Him not; He waits upon us for our acceptance of His love, and we grow more mad against Him; He
beseeches us, and we ungratefully and proudly reject Him. He opens His bosom, and we turn our backs; He offers us His pearls, and we tread them under our feet; He would clothe us with pure linen, but we will still wear our foul rags; He would give us angels' bread, and we feed on husks with swine.
The wisdom of God shines upon us, and we account it foolishness.
The infinite kindness of God courts us, and we refuse it as if it were the greatest cruelty. Christ calls and begs, and we will not hear Him, either commanding or entreating.
To love God is our privilege; and though it be our indispensable duty, yet it had been presumption in us to aspire so high as to think that the casting of our earthly affections upon so transcendent an object should be dear to Him, had He not authorized it by His command and encouraged it by His acceptance. But it is strange that God should court us by such varieties of kindness to that wherein not His happiness, but our perfection, doth consist; and much stranger that such pieces of earth and clay should turn their backs upon so adorable an object, be enemies to Him who displays Himself in so many allurements to their souls, and fix their hatred upon that tender God who sues for their affections.
If you consider that:
[1] First. God is our Superior.
An inferior should seek to a superior, not a superior to one below him. There is an equality between man and man, but an infinite inequality between God and us.
[2] Secondly. God is the party wronged, and yet offers a parley.
[3] Thirdly. When He could as well damn us as court us, He wants not power to rid His hands of us; but He would rather show
His almightiness in the triumph of His mercy than in the trophies of His justice. He had rather be a refreshing light than a consuming fire.
The Second Motive [2] This enmity against God is the greatest folly and madness.
The Scripture tells us that sin is folly and madness; and certainly, had man a clear prospect of that truth from which, in his first apostasy, he fell, so that he could examine all his speculations, desires, motions, and actions by that rule, they would appear to him to be acts of a crazed and frantic mind.
Therefore, when upon our return to God we have but a glimpse of this truth, how much ashamed is man of the deformity of his actions by that rule, as a man that hath been mad is ashamed of those pranks he played in his frenzy after he is brought to his right wits. Hence repentance, which is always accompanied with shame, is called μετάνοια, a return to our right mind.
[1] First. This enmity against God is, in itself, irrational; because:
[1] First. God is the most lovely object.
He hath, in His own nature as well as in His operations, the highest right to our love. For the more of entity and being anything hath, the more of perfection; and the more perfection, the more lovely it is in itself, and the more to be beloved by us. Now God hath the most of being; because other beings were eminently contained in His immense essence, and produced by His infinite power, and are but the manifestations of Himself, and lines drawn from Him and by Him. Therefore He is the most amiable object.
The creature hath nothing lovely but what it hath from God; which loveliness is more eminently treasured up in Him, and in Him may be seen and enjoyed with far greater advantage. The creatures are but pictures, and can no more fully represent the true amiableness of God than a few colors, though never so well suited together, can represent the moral or intellectual loveliness of the soul of man. As God had all the ideas of His creatures in His mind, so He had all the virtues of them in His essence. Therefore, to love any creature above
God, and so to hate Him, is the highest piece of unreasonableness.
[2] Secondly. God is the chief good, and the fountain of all goodness.
It is unreasonable to imagine that what comes from the fountain of goodness should be destructive to our true pleasure. Yet men have such hard thoughts of religion and divine commands, as if they were designed for their utter ruin, when indeed they are the effluxes of infinite goodness.
All hatred arises from an apprehension of the inconsistency of the thing we hate with something we esteem to be a part of our happiness. Sinners, being possessed with thoughts of the justice and holiness of God as inconsistent with their darling sin, hate Him for being of a nature so contrary to that which they love. Whereas none of God's perfections are repugnant to our being or well-being in themselves. For would we have a God unjust? What comfort could we then take in Him?
We hate Him for being against that which is most against us. We hate Him for hating that which would destroy our souls, and embitter our being to us for all eternity. We hate Him for hating that which, if it were possible, would disquiet His felicity and destroy His being.
What an unreasonable thing is it to quarrel with that law of God which obliges us to nothing but what conduces to the benefit of our souls and the order of the world! What doth it restrain us from but that which would bring destruction upon us? Is it not a greater advantage to be carried fettered to heaven, than to run at liberty to hell? Who but a madman would prefer the devil's yoke before God's, and be the captive of a hellish tyrant rather than the subject of a gracious Sovereign?
What an unreasonable thing is it to love any sin, a mere privation, better than the best of beings! Can we expect to gain as much advantage by being His enemies as by being His friends, since He is of so merciful a disposition?
[3] Thirdly. God cannot possibly do us wrong.
All right hatred arises from a real wrong, a sense of wrong, or a fear of wrong. Either of these is an unjust imputation upon God, who cannot possibly do wrong to His creatures, because He cannot be unrighteous. Romans 3:5: Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance? μὴ γένοιτο.
God is so far from being injurious to us in the least, that He contrives our happiness in His laws more than we can ourselves, or are willing that He should do for us. Men cannot, if they consult but the sparks of reason, deny the reasonableness of God's commands, nor the righteousness of the duties enjoined, nor the profitableness of the counsels set forth in the gospel. They must needs acknowledge the felicity promised to be excellent and desirable; and therefore cannot, upon any reasonable account, charge God with doing them wrong.
Or let me argue thus: either God hath wronged us, or He hath not. If not, it is unreasonable to disaffect Him. If He hath, why should we hate Him, seeing that if God could do injustice, He would not have the being of a God? For if it were possible that He should cease to be just and righteous, He would at that moment cease to be God, and destroy His own nature. As every man, in doing an unjust act, is less than a man and loses the end of his own reason; so God, by doing any injustice, would be less than God.
Nay, our hating Him as Judge is highly irrational, because of His equity and righteousness in all His proceedings. And because it is our own act, in forcing Him to that work by our evil practices, which He
is not willing to do but according to His righteous nature, and for the vindication of His holiness in His law, which He cannot but do upon our final impenitency and persistence in transgressions.
[4] Fourthly. God cannot be hurt by us.
It is folly among men to show enmity where they cannot hurt. What unreasonable boldness is it for a man to think he can grapple with omnipotency, and enter the lists with the fountain of all strength and power! What is thy enmity but a small wriggling against God? What disadvantage can accrue to Him by thy opposing Him?
It is as much as the moon receives by the dog's barking at it, which neither stands still, nor alters its course, nor is frightened at the noise. Foolish man! who will not discover enmity against a superior, but rakes it up in the ashes and muzzles his anger till he be able to bite; and yet proclaims war openly against heaven, as if he were too strong for God, and God too weak for him.
As the light of God's face is too dazzling to be seen, so the arm of His power is too mighty to be oppressed by us. His almightiness is above the reach of our potsherd strength, as His infiniteness is above the capacity of our purblind understandings. His happiness is too firm to be disturbed by us, as His essence is too glorious to be comprehended. What force canst thou have to resist the presence of Him before whom the rocks melt, and the heavens at length shall be shriveled up as parchment by the last fire?
[5] Fifthly. Though thou canst not hurt God, yet thou dost greatly wrong thyself.
Senseless sinner! God is out of thy gunshot. Thy arrows are too short for that mark; but His are long enough for thee. Thy shot will fall before it reach Him; but His arrows will both reach thy heart and stick fast in it.
Hatred in the world is sometimes attended with outward advantage; but what gain canst thou expect by this enmity? What refreshment is there in endeavoring to dry up the fountain? What good in laboring to destroy the original of goodness itself? What harm is it to the sun to shoot arrows against it? Do they pierce its light, or shatter any of its beams? No; they fall down upon the archer's own head.
The opposition of a wicked man against God is like a man running his head against a rock, to be revenged on it for splitting his ship; whereby he bruises not the rock, but dashes out his own brains, and pays his life as the price of his folly. The poor man is like a potsherd that jostles with a rock and bursts itself. And is not this the highest piece of madness?
Isaiah 45:9: Woe unto him that strives with his Maker: let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Dost thou fight against the Rock of Ages? It will rather blunt thy weapon than be hurt by thy arm; it will cause thy sword to fly back in pieces upon thine own face. Every wicked man is a greater enemy to himself than the devil is, and wrongs himself more than the devil can do, because he nourishes that sin within him which wars against his own soul.
[3] Thirdly. The Third Motive: Consider the misery of such a state.
Thou wilt be miserable with a witness. 1 Corinthians 16:22: If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Let all the curses in heaven and earth light upon him. Let the mercy, wisdom, power, and strength of God appear against him. Let him have no Advocate to make any plea for him. Angels, men, and devils will all appear against such a person.
[1] First. Thou canst not possibly escape vengeance.
The Sodomites, whose sins had so long dared God's justice, might have better escaped than thou canst. But alas! what force hath a puppy or a worm in a lion's paw? Thou art no more in His hand than a fly between a giant's fingers.
Go, foolish, self-deluding creature; recollect thyself. Can such a bubble, dust, chaff, stubble, worse than nothing and vanity, wrestle with God? Ah, poor worm! Wilt thou set thyself in a strutting array against omnipotency, far less in God's hands than a chicken newly stripped of its shell in the talons of an eagle? Jacob, a holy man, wrestled with Him upon a holy account and broke his thigh; take heed, in thy wrestling with Him upon a sinful account, that thou dost not break thy neck.
If He be thy Friend, none can hurt thee; but if thy Enemy, none can relieve thee. He is the best Friend when men will love Him, but as terrible an Enemy as a consuming fire when men will hate Him.
Thou must be subject to Him whether thou wilt or no; there is no remedy. If submission to His mercy be not free, subjection to His justice must be forced.
We must be under His power whether we will or no. We cannot wrest ourselves out of the compass of His arm. If we go down to hell, He is there; if we dive to the bottom of the deep, thence His hand will fetch us out. We always have been, are still, and forever must be within the reach of His almighty power.
Whither wilt thou go? Is there any garrison to defend thee, any sanctuary to secure thee, any champion to stand for thee? If all the angels in heaven and devils in hell should rouse themselves to be thy protectors, thou wouldest be just as safe as if thou hadst the shelter of the dust of the balance, or a drop of a bucket.
Can we blind His eye that He should not see, or deafen His ear that He should not hear, or bind His arm that He should not strike? Can we remove His jealousy by increasing it? Can we mitigate everlasting burnings by adding oil to them? Can our sins stand out against His judgments, or our persons successfully combat with His wrath?
Before any of these can be done, the Creator must descend into our impotency. What man will confess himself able to do any of these, and yet will walk in a path of enmity? Wrath will come, though it be slow in coming. It is slow, but sure; the longer it is preparing, the bitterer will it be in enduring.
Let all devils and sinners in the world join together; how soon is God able to overthrow them, turn their Babel-fort to their own confusion, and bury them in the ruins of their own works! Proverbs 11:21:
Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished. How
would He fling them all into hell, as one of us can fling a bag of dust or sand into the sea!
[2] Secondly. Thou dost even force God to destroy thee for His own content, and, as it were, provoke Him to damn thee for His own ease.
If thou wilt not lay down thy arms, thou dost wrest wrath out of His hands. Zechariah 6:8: Have quieted My Spirit. He speaks there of the angels He had sent out against Babylon, those black horses which noted death and destruction; and those angels, doing their work and duty, are said by Himself to quiet His Spirit. So that God can have no rest in His own Spirit but by thy submission or thy destruction.
The longer thou standest out, the more thou provokest God to take some course for the easing of Himself. Punishment, in another place,
He calls His ease: Isaiah 1:24, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries; I will avenge Me of Mine enemies. Is not the honor of God concerned in His laws? And would He not make Himself ridiculous to the sons of men, if He did not severely punish the violations of them?
[3] Thirdly. God cannot save thee without disturbing the happiness of those that love Him and are loved by Him.
Thou wouldest but make a disturbance in heaven by thy contrary disposition, and hinder that exact harmony. Thy jarring principles could never agree with that consort; thy enmity and division with that union. The repose of the saints would be disquieted, and their pleasure cooled.
If they cared not for thy company in the world, when they had many relics of enmity in themselves and an imperfect holiness, they can much less endure it in heaven, where their holiness is fully ripe and their hatred against impiety perfectly strong. God will not bring thee thither with that cursed nature thou hast, to damp their joy and spoil the order of heaven.
A state of wrath must necessarily succeed a state of enmity; for heaven can never be a place suitable to thee. It will be as little agreeable to thee, as thy being there would be to God.
[4] Fourthly. Thou hast the beginnings of hell in thee already.
Enmity is a hellish disposition. As the perfection of love in heaven is a part of heaven's happiness, so the perfection of enmity in hell is a part of the damned's misery. The sight of God in heaven enflames love in the saints; so the absence of God from hell enrages enmity in devils and damned spirits.
[5] Fifthly. All thy enmity will certainly be charged upon thee one day.
There is a time when all thy acts of enmity shall be set in order before thee. Psalm 50:21: I will set them in order before thee. This is to be understood more militari, when sin shall be set in rank and file, in bloody array against thy soul; or more forensi, when they shall be set in order as so many indictments for thy rebellion and treason.