Chapter V
What are the principles of godliness which a wicked man believes not.
Now the main principles of a godly life which the heart of man believes
not, and the contrary principles to them, which do sway and prevail with
the heart, are sundry and diverse.
1. We naturally believe not that there is a God, but the contrary. For
this I produce not this place only, but the tenth psalm, where we have the same truth laid down, yea, and that as the spring and source of all those
villanies and oppressions which there are reckoned up. He speaks in that
psalm of great and potent oppressors and politicians, who see none on
earth greater than themselves, none higher than they, and think therefore
they may impune prey upon the smaller, as beasts use to do ; and in the
fourth verse this is made the root and ground of all, that God is not in all
: Ps. x. 4, The wicked through the pride of his countenance
his thoughts
will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts ; the words are
diversely read, and all make for this sense. Some read it, No God in all
his crafty presumptuous purposes; others, All his thoughts are, there is no God. The meaning whereof is not only that among the swarm and crowd of thoughts that fill his mind, the thought of God is seldom to be
found, and comes not in among the rest, which yet is enough for the pur
pose in hand ; but farther, that in all his projects and plots, and consulta
tions of his heart (the first reading of the words intends), whereby he
contrives and lays the plot, form, and draught of all his actions, he never
takes God or his will into consideration or consultation, to square and frame
all accordingly, but proceeds and goes on in all, and carries on all, as if
there were no God to be consulted with. He takes not him along with
him, no more than if he were no God ; the thoughts of him and his will
sways him not. As you use to say, when a combination of men leave out some one they should advise with, that such an one is not of their counsel,
232 AN UNKEGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK V.
is not in the plot, so nor is God in their purposes and advisings, they do all
without him. But this is not all the meaning, but farther, all their thought
is, that there is no God. This is there made the bottom, the foundation, the groundwork and reason of all their wicked plots and injurious projects, and deceitful carriages and proceedings, that seeing there is no God or
power above them, to take notice of it, to regard or requite them, therefore
they may be bold to go on. That whereas Solomon says in that very case
there is a higher than the highest regardeth it : Eccles. v. 8, If thou seest
the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter ; for he that is higher than the high est regardeth, and there be higher than they. They think not so, ver. 11
of that 10th Psalm, He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten ; he hideth his face, he will never see it. Enemies on earth he sees none can do him any hurt ; all his distressers he puffs at them, and then vainly imagining that there is no God
4 he thinks
that he may go on presumptuously, for, says he, I shall never be removed ; and tell him of God s judgments, why, if there be no God, what need he fear
any ? he is far enough out of their gun-shot to reach him, they are far out
: ver. 5, His ways are always grievous ; thy judgments are far above out of his sight : as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. That is, he sees them not, as we do not things that are high and far above us, and
of his sight
he, wanting faith, which is the optic-glass of things not seen, he believes them not ; and that he believes this great fundamental error that there is no
God, you may see by all his thoughts and ways, they declare that he thinks
there is no God ; that this is the sum verdict they give in, they speak and
declare so much. And if this principle be laid in men s hearts (as you see it
is), then no wonder that they are so wicked, for if there be no God, there is
not, nor can be, any sin, and then no judgment, and then men may do what
they will. Quod libet, licet his. As when there was no king in Israel, every man did what was good in his own eyes ; so when men think there is no
God, their own lusts are their laws, and riches and preferments their gods, and gain in all these is all their godliness.
Or, 2, if men be sensible there is a God, and so come to have some re
spect to him in their actions, yet all those glorious attributes wherein he hath represented himself to us, as principles of our obedience to him, they believe not, in deed and in truth ; and this is the ground also of all their
impiety.
(1.) They believe not really that he is a God omniscient, and sees and
regards us in all. Though men profess this, yet when they come to commit
secret sins their hearts think not so, for contrary thoughts are the ground of
their impiety. And this very thing God, who searcheth the hearts, hath
revealed to us ; the ancients of Israel, the rulers in Israel, Ezek. viii.
9, 10, 12, And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abomina
tions that they do here. So I went in, and saw : and, behold, every form of
creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of
Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. Then said he unto me, Son
of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the
dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery ? for they say, The Lord
seeth us not ; the Lord hath forsaken the earth, who know God and all his
attributes, they sacrificed in secret to idols, whilst they professed the true God openly. And what is the cause of this ? God gives this as a reason,
1 For they say, The Lord seeth us not. That thou shouldst commit un-
cleanness in secret thou wouldst not do afore a child, or tell that lie thon
wouldst not have discovered or known, is it not from this principle embolden-
CHAP. V.J IN KESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 233
ing thee, God sees me not ? Would Gehazi have told that lie which he did,
if he had believed the spirit of his master went with him ? Would men in
secret lay plots to overturn churches, and states, and societies, to oppress God s people, to advance themselves, if they believed God to be wiser than
themselves, or that he did see them, and delighted to shew his wit in con
founding them ? Isa. xxix. 13-16, Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch
as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour
me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear towards me is
taught by the precepts of men : therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a
marvellous work amongst this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder ;
for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of the
prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their
counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who
seeth us ? and who knoweth us ? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter s clay
: for shall the work say of him
that made it, He made me not ? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? God speaks there of those that did
profess him and call upon him, ver. 13 ; wise men whom God would con found in their plots, ver. 14 ; the wisdom of the wise shall perish, for, ver.
15, they digged deep to hide counsel from the Lord ; their gunpowder
plots and underminings are in the dark, and they look round about them, and they discern none that sees them, and therefore they say, Who sees us and who knows us ? Ps. x. 11, He hath said in his heart, God hath for
gotten : he hideth his face, he will never see it. Ps. xciv. 7, Yet they say, The Lord shall not see : neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
(2.) If men believed the greatness and sovereignty of God, and power of
his wrath, would they fear the fury of the oppressor daily, as God complains, Isa. li. 12, 13, them that can kill but the body, yea, that cannot do that
neither long or often, for he is one that shall die, and then have no longer power to hurt, and he before may have his horns cut short, may be blasted and wither as the grass, and his spirit cut short, so as where now is the fury of the oppressors ? wilt thou fear him, says God there, and doest thou forget the Lord thy Maker, who hath power to kill body and soul, who dies not ?
fearest thou not to fall into the hands of the living God ? Isa. li. 12, 13, I, even I, am he that comforteth you
: who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid
of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass ; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth : and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy ? and
where, is the fury of the oppressor ? If thou didst believe his greatness, thou wouldst fear him, for what dost thou fear the oppressor ? If thou hadst but
as strong and deep apprehensions of his power over thee, as thou hast of a
powerful enemy, thou wouldst not fear a poor weak man more than God. But that thou forgettest thy Maker, thou wouldst not do it ; for if one greater than thy oppressor comes, that is able to oppress both him and thee, thou would slight even him, whom but now thou fearedst, and slight him as much
as thou didst God before.
(3.) Men do not believe he is so great and terrible a God as they profess him to be. For would they then come with loose, irreverent, scattered, and
careless thoughts into his presence, and offer the sacrifice of fools, if they believed he were in heaven and they on earth? That is, that there were such a distance and infinite disproportion between God and them, would they offer the blind, the lame, such prayers as neither their understandings are
intent upon nor their affections ? If they believed he were so great a king,
234 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK V.
and his name so dreadful, they would not come into his presence so negli gently ; you would not do thus to your governors, says God : Malachi i. 8, And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil ? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil ? offer it now unto thy governor ; will he be
pleased with thee, or accept thy person ? saith the Lord of hosts. That is,
if you believed my greatness, as you believe their power and sovereignty over
you, you would bring other hearts and sacrifices into my presence. And in Ezek. v. 3, God puts them in mind of his greatness, to rectify this
their slighting of him, implying therefore necessarily thereby, that the want of the belief of this was the cause of their careless and irreverent worship
: Ezek. v. 3,
< Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
So also in Isa. li. 13 (as I shewed under the last head), the reason why men fear the fury of great men, when they oppress them, or command one
thing, and God another, is because they forget his greatness and believe it
not. Who art thou, says God there, who fearest the fury of the oppressor, who is yet but a man, who can therefore but kill the body ? and a mortal man too, that must die as well as thou, and it may be before thee, or who however hath no longer power after his death to hurt, and whose power may be blasted ere he dies ; or if not, yet his fury may cease towards thee, and
his spirit be cut short ; for says God there, Where is the fury of the oppres sor ? that is, thou seest it comes to nothing often, and that all their threats vanish ; why is it then, says God, thou forgettest me thy Maker, who there
fore am able to destroy all that is in thee, both body and soul, for I made
both, who am the great God who hath stretched forth the heavens, &c. ? When I tell thee I am he that comforteth thee, and will back thee, and bid
thee not fear, ver. 12, how comes it thou fearest them more than me ?
Is it because thou forgettest me and my greatness ? for therefore he puts them in mind of it ; and that it is so it is evident. For if one whom thou
apprehendest greater than thy oppressor, who is able to overrule and oppress both him and thee, should but say as much as God doth, thou wouldst dread thy former oppressor no longer ; and therefore this shews that thy fear
ing him is because thou believest not God s greatness.
(4.) If they believe that God doth see and is able to punish, yet men
think him a God slack, and careless, and regardless of their ways, and not
so certain, and sure, and just [an avenger as they profess he is ; that is
: 2 Peter
another principle in their hearts, which is a ground of their impiety
iii. 4, 9, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the
fathers fell Asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness ; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. God deferring his coming to punishment, Peter says that God herein is not slack, as men count slack
ness, implying that men indeed think so, and they interpret his long-suffer
ing slackness; and they say in their heart, God will neither do good nor evil, as if he regarded nothing
: Zeph. i. 12, And it shall come to pass at that
time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that
are settled on their lees ; that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Hence they think that they may do what they will
for all him, for as they look for little good from him, but only in the
creatures, so they look for little hurt from him ; he will do neither, say they. And hence now their hearts come to be set upon evil : Eccles. viii. 11, Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore
the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. This principle
CHAP. V.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 235
is not only the ground why they venture upon many evil acts again and
again, but of a bent and resolute and fixed purpose in mind still to go on in
evil courses, so in Ps. x., when the sinner had often sinned, and had heard
nothing of it, he thought God regardless ; He hath forgotten it, saith he, Ps. x. 11, and as he hath done so he will do, and he will never requite it, he minds not these things,
(5.) Men think in their hearts that God is like to them, that if he be such
a God of judgment as it is said he is, certainly it is to those that are differ
ent from him ; but certainly he is a God of the same mind and judgment with us ; and look what pitch of obedience and religion pleaseth us, pleaseth him also. He is not so strict as men make him : so Malachi ii. 17, they reasoned and put this dilemma on him, which strengthened them in their
courses: Mai. ii. 17, Ye have wearied the Lord with your words: yet ye
say, Wherein have we wearied him ? When ye say, Every one that doeth
evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them ; or, Where is
the God ofjudgment ? They say, every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, that is, though a man doth evil, i. e. is given to some ill course, be a worldling, or a drunkard, or a swearer now and then, yet God is not so
strict a God as you make him, he may be in his favour for his good meaning, for God looks to the heart. Or if not so (for it is a dilemma), Where is the God of judgment? that is, either he is a God thus favourable, or else not such a God of judgment, so holy, and so severe as you prophets make him. For we see not, nor find him to be so ; where is the God of judgment ? The truth is, you have wearied him, says the prophet, that is, tired out his
long-suffering which he hath been exercising all this while ; so in Ps, 1. The
very ground and spring of that profaneness and lewdness in the hypocrite s
heart and life (who thought though he was an adulterer and a slanderer, yet he pleased God by his sacrifices), was this thought (says God), that I was like
* These things hast thou done, and I kept silence : thou
to thee : Ps. 1. 21,
thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove
thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. That is, thou thoughtest me a God, who, if he were to live and converse on earth, would suit himself with thee, justify thy courses, and approve all well.
(6.) Men naturally believe not the word of God, neither the promises nor
threatenings of it. It was the ground of the first sin that ever was com
mitted, Hath God said you shall die ? Gen. iii. 1, he made a question of it
to her, and she began to stagger, because [she saw] a creature subsist, and
yet call God s word into question, and therefore she thought she might eat and live also. And as it was the ground of the first sin, so of all ever since ; for if men believed the word, and writs we serve upon their consciences here out of the word (when they know themselves), as they do the writs that come out of courts, and attachments from the king or others, it would make them
fear, and tremble, and put a stop to their courses. Would the swearer be
so loud if in earnest he believed God will not hold him guiltless that takes
his name in vain ? Would men be covetous, be fornicators, drunkards, &c.,
if they believed that the wrath of God comes upon such ?
The rich man in hell, Luke xvi., whose brethren lived in the bosom of the church, and heard Moses read and preached, and all the promises and
threatenings which in Deut. xxviii. and elsewhere are made, yet he feared
they would come to hell. Why, says Abraham, they have Moses and the
prophets to tell them, and testify to them aforehand, a cloud of witnesses more likely to persuade than if one should come from the dead. But they would not be persuaded, the rich man thought, by them, for he had woful
experience of it in himself; for when Abraham says, Let them hear them,
236 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK V.
nay, says he, but if one come from the dead they would repent. Nay,
says Abraham again, if they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded by one rising from the dead. The reason men
* And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
repent not is because they are not persuaded. Luke xvi. 81,
persuaded though one rose from the dead. The word is vuo&faovrcu. That same word is used to express the persuasion of faith whereby we believe
things are : Heb. xi. 13, These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. Having seen the promises afar off, they were first persuaded, that
is, of the truth and reality of them, and then applied and embraced them. Now, then, his brethren would not so much as be persuaded of the truth of
the threatenings, and Moses and the prophets would not sink into them. Thus Christ also tells the Jews : John v. 46, 47, For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me : for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words ? Ye believe not Moses
his writings (says he), not in earnest, so as to be guided by them. The cause of all the murmuring in the people of Israel so often, and that they hearkened not to his voice, and despised the promised land, was, they believed not God s word, nor the truth and faithfulness of it : Ps. cvi. 24, 25, Yea, they despised the pleasant land ; they believed not his word ; but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, and
they in Heb. iv. are made a type of all unregenerate men, who believe not
the promises of heaven, for still you shall find their unbelief there mentioned ;
and they failed not only in the application to themselves that they should not enter, but of the truth itself, the seriousness of God s meaning in it, as
appeared by the story. You know who it was, even wicked Ahaz, who
refused a promise and a sign when it was offered him, Isa. vii. 10-13. The reason was, he was loath to take that course of trusting and depending upon
a promise to go that way to work; he not only distrusted, but refused God s
bond, would not take it, though God offered a sign and seal to it. And as
for promises, so for threatenings, how do men slight them ? Jer. xvii. 15,
* Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now; as also in Isa. v. 19, That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it : and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it. A parallel place to it, let him make haste that we may see
it, they speak it in a daring, desperate, unbelieving manner; he hath threat
ened long, let him come, we would fain see it once ! Thus that oppressor,
too, in Ps. x. 5, behaves himself ; as for God s judgments, of all else, he
fears them least, they are far out of sight, so as he cannot see them ; and if he doth, they seem small as stars do, he cannot believe they are so great.
(7.) Men believe not that there is a world to come, wherein evil men shall
be punished and godly men rewarded, nor a day of judgment, nor a resur
rection. You think you believe all these things well enough, they are in
your creed. Martha, she professed she knew her brother should rise in the
: John xi. 24, Martha saith unto him, I know
resurrection of the last day
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day, but yet Christ saw her faith staggering in the truth of this in deed and in truth, else he would never have after that profession posed her so in her creed, and cate
chised her again in this general article, Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die ; believest thou this ? ver. 25, 26, Jesus said unto her,
I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth on me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall
CHAP. V.J IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 237
never die. Believest thou this ? She had said it even now, and yet Christ asks her again if she believed it, though, had she believed it, she would not have thought her brother could not be raised now, because he stank. Christ
tells her that she did not believe it, as he had said and intimated to her, ver. 40 ; yet she had some faith. How much more is this true in wicked men, whose not believing the world to come is the cause they take out
their fill here ! That speech of the Jews, Isa. xxii. 13, Let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we shall die, is interpreted and applied by the Holy Ghost to the resurrection : 1 Cor. xv. 32,
l If after the manner of men 1 have
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me if the dead rise not ?
let us eat and drink ; for to-morrow we die. Because they denied that in
their hearts, and any life hereafter, therefore they thought it was best to take it out here, and that it was folly to do otherwise. Thus also the rich man
did, who is put in mind of this his atheism in hell : Luke xvi. 25, But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
: but now he is comforted, and thou
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things
art tormented. Remember thou receivedst thy good things in thy lifetime ; that is, all the good things thou didst look for or expect. And he acknow-
ledgeth as much, in that he would have Lazarus go, and testify to his brethren
that there was another world, and a place of torment. He knew the want
of belief of this brought him thither, and therefore prescribes it as a remedy to prevent their coming ; and this in like manner in Mai. iii. 14 is made the cause of their neglect of holy duties and seeking God :
* You say it is in vain
to serve God, and what profit is there in keeping his ordinance ? There is no reward for the righteous, nothing to be got by it ; they could see none
here, and much less did they look for any hereafter, what good will it then do us ? say they, and now therefore we call the proud happy, say they, and
the presumptuous they carry the world afore them, and for whom the world was made, seeing happiness is only to be had here, and that wicked men
are advanced, ver. 15 ; and they seeing this, they said in their hearts there
is no reward, and thought there was none to come neither. And yet they scarce discerned their unbelief of this future state (as many speeches are to be interpreted), for they said, wherein had they spoke against God: ver. 13,
Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord : yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee ?
And that this is a principle in men s hearts that guides them thus, and
that also upon the same ground, is evident by that of Solomon in Eccles. ix. He had shewn in chap. viii. how that the wicked are rewarded with the work
of the righteous, that the righteous are unprosperous, and e contra, and in
ver. 2 of chap. ix. ; how here one event was to all: Eccles. ix. 2, All things come alike to all : there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to
the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean ; to him that sacrificeth, and
to him that sacrificeth not : as is the good, so is the sinner ; and he that
sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. And he says there was no greater evil than this, for the event and issue of this God s dealing was, that thereby the hearts of the sons of men was full of evil and madness whilst they live, and it is the occasion they go so many of them to hell when they die ; and why ? Because God s dealing thus engenders such thoughts as these, that
whilst a man lives there is hope indeed of some good and happiness, but in the world to come there is no recompence to godly courses, which they ex
press by this proverb, that a living dog is better than a dead lion : ver. 4,
* For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope : for a living dog is
better than a dead lion ; that is, the meanest condition of men here is better than the best hereafter, so as they had rather be a rustic clown now than
238 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK V.
a king in heaven ; they have no knowledge of hereafter, and knowing they shall die, think it is best taking it out here. They believe there is no reward
hereafter, unless it may be to be spoken well of for a while; they saw that, but no other, and that is soon forgotten, and therefore they are set upon evil here, and here they prepare only for this world, and this though they know they shall die ; not young men only, who may hope to live long, but old men also, when they know they cannot live long, and have a foot in the grave, yet they are most worldly. Whence is it ? Is it not from this principle, that they think not of any reward beyond this world, which God s dealings confirm them in ? I have known those persons wha have had this distinct thought in their minds, that let them but have their pleasure here, and let God keep heaven to himself, so he would not damn them f Thus that cardinal said that he would not lose his portion in Paris for that in paradise f
Bid we believe but these first principles, as we do other things of like nature in this world, we would be other men ; did we believe there were another world after this, in which we must live for ever, as all profess they
do, men would not take up their rest here, they would not lay out all their
money, that is, their endeavours, time, and care, upon the settling and assur
ing a happy condition here, and spend no thoughts or time to provide all
necessaries and friends in the world to come.- We see that men who believe
they shall shortly go into another land, send their goods thither, and care not how things go at home, as you do not when you know you are to remove
into another house, and your landlord hath given you warning. And yet now God gives you warning by sickness to dislodge from this world, why do
you not then look out for another house and better habitation ; why are your thoughts and care still employed to repair the decayed house which you are
leaving ? But the truth is, men believe it not ; so Solomon tells us, Eccles.
* Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth ? which is not the speech of an atheist, but of Solomon complaining that none believe it or know it, but
iii. 21,
think all befalls a man and a beast alike. Men s works shew that they do not heartily believe death and judgment ; for if men did believe the short ness of their time to get grace in when they are old, as men believe the
shortness of the time when the sun grows low, they would not defer to make
their calling sure. Did men believe that all the seed they sow to the Spirit,
all the prayers they make, and good they do, will come up again in a full
crop of reward at the great harvest of the world f and that as they sow they shall reap, as husbandmen do believe when they cast their corn into the
ground!, they would sow fewer sins, and more good duties, and more good
speeches ; but men think all cast away because it comes not up presently : Mai. iii. 14, Ye have said, It is vain to serve God ; and what profit is it
that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before
the Lord of hosts ? If men believed that in parting with credit, wealth,
&c., they should have an hundred-fold; as they believe if they put their money out, and venture it with such a company, they shall gain half in half;
if men believed this as the other, they would certainly venture all for heaven ;
if men believed evil times were coming, and that these times would cause
judgments (as you believe winter will come when summer is gone, and so
lay up provision, and provide winter suits), you would provide for such a
great and terrible day.
CHAP. VI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 239