Chapter VI
That another particular wherein their folly is manifest is in their false judg ments. 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, xar o-^/iv ; that is, according to what things outwardly seem to be : John vii. 24,
* Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. And by the apostle it is styled judging, Kara
KPoffuxov, according to the first show and semblance of things, the first blush and view of them : 2 Cor. x. 7, Do ye look on things after the outward appear ance ? 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, xara ffagxa, according to the flesh : John
viii. 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. x. 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 hand
somely 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 judg
ing 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 on 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 ex
change with him, for he wants wisdom to judge of the goodness of what he
204 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK IV.
sees not. Hence also it is always one fruit of folly and weakness to be im
patient, 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. xxv. 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, 1 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.
iv. 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 oppor tunities 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. iv. 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 tem
poral ; 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. viii. 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. xxvi. 13-15,
1 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
: Eccles. vii. 19, Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than tea mighty men which are in the city ; Prov. xxi. 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
attempt and venture on great things
CHAP. VI. J IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 205
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. xxvi. 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. xiii. 28, Never
theless 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 fight ing 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. xxiv. 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 unre-
generate 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. ix. 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, /ASTO, flragar^trsw;, but it is within you
: Lake xvii. 20,
* And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the king dom 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. x. 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. x. 7. They judged according to appearance ; and because Paul was weak and rude
206 AN UNREGENEEATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK IV.
in utterance, because he had not a majestic presence and lofty way of speak
ing, they regarded him not : 2 Cor. x. 10, For his letters (say they) are
weighty and powerful ; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech con
temptible. 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. xi. 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, great ness 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 greatness ; look which way the great ones, the
rulers do go, look what opinions they hold, what judgment they are of, or what courses they take, the same they therefore approve. And as they judge of men thus, so also of their own performances. They think for the
length, and breadth, and bulk of their duties to have them accepted
: Isa.
i. 11, To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? saith
the Lord : I am full of the burntofferings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When they imagined by reason of the number of their sacrifices to be
favourably received, to what purpose (says God) is your multitude of
sacrifices ?
(5.) Things that are in appearance and show like each other, though in worth and virtue differing, a fool cannot distinguish. Brass and gold, be
cause both glister, and look of the same colour, both are alike to him. And
thus is it with unregenerate men, who taking common grace for saving
grace, because there is a likeness, civility and good nature for the holy divine nature, checks of conscience for the combat of flesh and spirit, judge that they are well enough as long as they find these things in themselves.
CHAPTEE VII.
Their folly also appears in the ill choice which they make of things.
"We are next to consider men s folly as discovering itself in the choice of
things. They are very earnest and eager in the pursuit of what is of little
or no importance, but neglect that which is the main and greatest concern.
1. They choose to do unnecessary things in the first place, and neglect those which are most necessary, and put them off to the last. Is not this
the part of a fool ? If a man should go to London to get a pardon, or about some great suit at law, and should in the first place spend the most or
chiefest of all his time in seeing the lions at the Tower, the tombs in West
minster Abbey, or the streets and buildings of the city, or in visiting friends, and put the other off to the last, would he not be a fool ? Christ, who was
CHAP. VII.] IN EESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 207
wisdom itself, judged it folly in Martha to be busy about many things, and
to neglect the main, that one thing necessary. It is not necessary to be
rich, or learned, or great, though we have cause to bless God if we obtain them; but God s favour, and Christ, and grace are absolutely necessary;
therefore, says Christ, first seek the kingdom of God : Mat. vi. 33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these
things shall be added unto you. So he, as Wisdom, directs us.
2. He is a fool who chooseth to commit his happiness to uncertainties, rather than the greatest certainty which he might have. How foolish is that man, who makes a bankrupt a feoffee in trust for all his estate, who can
give him no security, but is likely to break and run away, when he might have good security for all ? Thus do all unregenerate men, who trust in uncertain riches, in their credit and preferments here, as their happiness :
* Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
1 Tim. vi. 17,
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. What is the counsel which the apostle kindly
gives us, that we should not trust in uncertain riches, which have wings, and are like to fly away to-morrow, but in the living God, who gives us all
things richly to enjoy ? There is a double opposition, riches are not all-
sufficient, but God is he who gives all things, and that richly. Or if they were sufficient, yet they are uncertain ; but God is the living God. This
accordingly is a motive made of establishing a sure covenant : Isa. Iv. 3,
1 Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live ; and
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. I will (says God) make an everlasting covenant with thee, even the sure mercies of David, which will never fail thee, as all other things will, which have wings, and will leave thee in the lurch.
3. He who provides not for all conditions, and all times which he is to run through, will be found to be a fool in the end, and he to be the only wise man who doth so. Therefore Christ called the rich man/ooZ, because he thought indeed whilst he lived he should do well enough, having goods for many years ; but suppose thou diest this night (says Christ) what a mis
taken, disappointed fool wilt thou be ? Then he is proved a fool indeed : Luke xii. 19, 20, And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? And so to the same purpose is Jer. xvii. 9, 10,
* The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it ? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and accord
ing to the fruit of his doings. However a deceitful heart may flatter him, and make him presume that he is happy in a present prosperous state of
things, yet when God comes to try him, and to make a change in his con
dition, he will prove him to be a poor deluded fool. But he is called a wise man, who makes provisions against all events. Thus, that steward is said
to have done wisely, who made himself friends, that when his master should turn him out of doors, might receive him : Luke xvi. 8,
* And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely
: for the chil dren of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. He did wisely (says Christ) in his generation. And I say to you, make you friends here of God, and Christ, and the saints; spend thy strength, money,
credit, and all for them ; that when you fail they may receive you, that you may be welcome to heaven when you are turned out here : ver. 9, And I
say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous-
208 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK IV.
ness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. That when you are turned out of house, and home, you may have still a
refuge, come what will, and can come ; that when the tower of your earthly
greatness, and the magazine of your riches is taken, you may have God as
* The name of the Lord is a strong tower : the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Thus
a strong tower to run to, and be safe : Prov. xviii. 10,
a regenerate man is truly wise, who provides a refuge, which will serve him
at all times, and in all estates, and so he can never be miserable. Though
all things be overturned, he will still fall on his feet, whenas another man
ventures his all in a false and deceitful bottom.
4. He who hath not the wit to choose a small present inconvenience to
avoid a greater for time to come, is a fool ; and he who can suffer a small
one, thereby to prevent a greater, is a wise man : 2 Tim. ii. 3, 7, Thou
therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Consider what
I say ; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Endure hard
ship here a while (says he), labour a while, and sow, expecting reward after
ward; and because wisdom only enableth to do this, therefore he adds, The Lord give thee understanding. This course Moses took, who chose to suffer
rather than sin : Heb. xi. 24-26, By faith Moses, when he was come to
years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh s daughter ; choosing rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin
for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. But wicked men who love sin, who regard iniquity in their hearts, choose
treasures in Egypt
* Take heed, regard not ini
iniquity rather than affliction : Job xxxvi. 21,
: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. He shrinks at a
quity
scoff rather than at being damned, and can be content, and suffer himself
to be jeered out of heaven, and hissed out of paradise.
5. He who in his bargains exchangeth away precious things for trifles is
a fool, and indeed you use to call such fools bargains, and a fool and a child
are easily cheated. Well, thus do men sell their time, which is their money
given them to purchase eternity, and they sell it for things unsatisfying,
: Isa. lii. 3, For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought, and ye shall be redeemed without money. They sell their right in heaven for a mess of pottage, as Esau did : Heb.
they sell themselves for nought
xii. 16, Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. And they sell themselves, as Ahab, to work wickedness. The pleasures of sin are their wages, and they are
content to sell their souls, and all to enjoy this world. Whereas he who made over all he had to buy the truths of salvation, that inestimable pearl,
* Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls
is called a wise merchant-man : Mat. xiii. 45, 46,
: who when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and
bought it. But a fool (saith Solomon) hath a price in his hand, and no
* Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool
heart to it : Prov. xvii. 16,
to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it ? He hath a good bargain offered him, and as it were pinned to his back, and yet passeth it by. Fools
are easily cheated, and so is a man who hath no grace, by the devil. If he
hath heard a sermon, and comes home with his heart full-fraught with rich
pearls and treasure, and full of the precious motions of God s Spirit, the
devil comes and puts worldly cares in his head, and steals the world away, and so cheats him : Mark iv. 15, 19,
* And these are they by the way-side, where the word is sown ; but when they have heard, Satan cometh imme
diately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts : and the
CHAP. VIII.] IN KESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 209
cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.