Exod. v. 2. Or (which is the fame) with Pharaoh: Who is the SER M. Lord, that I fhould obey his voice? I know not the V. Lord, neither will I let Ifrael go, (or neither will I do as you in God's name admonish me ;) who, like that Prov. i. 24. unhappy Prince, by no efficacy of arguments, no wonders of power are to be convinced of their folly, or converted from their wickednefs: fome, like those of Chorazin and Bethfaida, whom not all the powerful difcourfes fpoken to them, all the mighty works done in them, fufficient to have brought Tyre and Luke x. 13. Sidon to repentance, can induce to mind or obey the truth; unto which fort of people (except upon fome particular occafions, and for fpecial reafons) it is not expedient that divine truth fhould be expofed. We may also observe how our Lord being asked by St. Jude a queftion like to ours; Lord, how is it that thou John xiv. wilt manifeft thyself unto us, and not to the world? thus refolves it: If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him: implying the ordinary reason of God's making a difference in the difcoveries of himself to be the previous difpofition and behaviours of men toward God; and interpretatively toward our Lord himself. 22. I Cor. xii. That God doth commonly obferve this method (plainly fuitable to divine juftice, wisdom, and goodnefs) to difpenfe the revelation of his truth according to men's difpofition to receive it, and aptness to make a fruitful and worthy use of it, to bring forth fruits Matt. iii. 8. worthy of repentance, as St. John Baptift fpake; and,. to withhold it from those who are indifpofed to admit it, or unfit to profit by it; we may from divers exprefs paffages and notable inftances (befides many probable intimations) of Scripture learn. We may on the one hand obferve, that thofe whom our Saviour did choose to call, were perfons difpofed eafily upon his call to comply; to forfake their fathers, Matt. iv. 18. and their nets; to leave their receipts of cuftom; to 37. relinquish all, relations, occupations, eftates, and to Matt. xix. follow 27. John i. 24, V. i. Matt. xxi. 31. Luke v. 31. V. 3. SER M. follow him; faithful Ifraelites, without guile, like Nathaniel, (that is, as is probably conjectured, St. BarthoLuke xix. lomew,) men honeftly devout, and charitable, like 8, 9. Zaccheus; that he chose to converse with publicans John. 47 and finners, men apt to be convinced of their errors, and touched with the sense of their fins; apt to fee their need of mercy and grace, and therefore ready to entertain the overtures of them; that he bleffes God for revealing his myfteries to babes, (to innocent and well meaning, imprejudicate and uncorrupted perfons,) fuch as if men were not, they could in no wife Matt. xviii. enter into the kingdom of heaven, or become Chrif3. xix. 14. tians; thofe poor in fpirit, of whom is the kingdom of 1 Cor. i. 27. heaven; thofe foolish things which God chooses as moft fit objects of his mercy and grace; that he enjoined his difciples, in their travels for the promulgation and propagation of the Gofpel, to inquire concerning the worthiness or fitnefs of perfons, and accordingly to make more clofe applications to them: Matt. x. 11. Into what city or village ye enter, inquire who therein is worthy; and entering in abide there. Of this proceeding we have a notable inftance in Cornelius, who for his honeft piety (correfpondent to the proportion of knowledge vouchfafed him) was fo acceptable to God, that in regard thereto he obtained from him the revelation of truth in a peculiar and extraordinary manner. And St. Paul was another moft remarkable example thereof; who for the like reafon was fo wonderfully called, as himself intimates, deA&s xxii. fcribing himself to have been nλwrns ex, zealously 3. xx. 1. affected toward God, according to the righteousness in the law, blameless; one that had continually behaved himAls xxvi. Self with all good confcience toward God; who even in the perfecution of God's truth did proceed with an Gal. i. 14. honeft meaning, and according to his confcience, for which cause he faith, that God had mercy on him; foreseeing how willingly he would embrace the truth, and how earnestly promote it: we may also observe, Acts xxvi. how in the Acts of the Apoftles, the Holy Spirit com xxiii. Πεπολίτευ. μαι. Phil. iii. 6. 9. monly Acts 48.xvii. 11. monly directed the Apoftles to fuch places, where as ER M. competent number of people were well difpofed to V. receive the truth, who were εὔθετοι εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν 1 Tim. i. 3. TOU OE, well difpofed to the kingdom of heaven, and con- Luke ix. 62. fequently by God's forefight (τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώ– Δεις xii. vo) ordained to have the word of eternal life (the rò xxviii. 28. owenpicy Ox, as it is in a parallel place called) difcovered to them; fuch people as the Berceans, men ingenuous and tractable; who confequently entertained the word, μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας, with all promptitude and alacrity. To fuch perfons God fometimes by extraordinary revelation directed the Apoftles to Aas xviii. preach; as to the Corinthians, in refpect to whom " the Lord fpake to St. Paul in a vifion, faying, Fear not, but speak, and be not filent; for I am with thee, becaufe πολύς ἐσί μοι λαός, there is for me much people in this city; much people whom I fee difpofed to comply with my truth. So in behalf of the Macedonians, ávne Tis Maxedwv, a certain man of Macedonia, was in a A&s xvi. vifion feen to St. Paul, exhorting him and faying, Paff-" ing into Macedonia, help us. Thus on that hand doth God take special care that his truth be manifefted to fuch as are fitly qualified to embrace it and use it well: thus is God ready to make good that answer of Pothinus (Bishop of Lions, and immediate fucceffor to St. Irenæus) to the Præfect, who afking him Euseb. v. 1. who was the Chriftians' God, was answered, 'Eas ἄξιος yron, If thou be worthy, thou shalt know; thus, as the Sap. vi. 16. wife man divinely faith, the divine Wisdom, días autñs περιέρχεται ζητέσα, goeth about feeking fuch as are worthy of her; fheweth herself favourable unto them in their ways, and meeteth them in every thought. 9. And on the other hand, that God withholds the fpecial discoveries of his truth, upon account of men's indifpofitions and demerits, may likewife very plainly appear. We may fuppofe our Lord to have obferved himself, what he ordered to his Difciples; Not to give Matt. vii. 6. that which is holy to dogs, nor to caft their pearls before fwine, (not to expofe the holy and precious truth to V. 57, 58. SER M. to very lewd and fierce people, who would fnarl at it and trample upon it :) we may allow God in the difpenfation of his truth and grace to do what he bids the Apostles to do: before he enters into any house, 'Eğir. or applies himself to any perfon, to examine whether the house or perfon be worthy, that is, willing Matt. xiii. to receive him, and apt to treat him well; if not, to decline them. Our Lord, we fee, did leave even his own country, feeing men there were not difpofed to use him with due honour and regard; seeing they were poffeffed with vain prejudices, apt to obftruct the efficacy of his divine inftructions and miraculous performances; fo that he was not likely (according to the ordinary way of divine providence) to produce any confiderable effect towards their converfion. He could not, it is faid, do many miracles there, because of their unbelief; he could not, that is, according to the moft juft and wife rules he did obferve, he would not do them; because he perceived the doing them would not conduce to any good purpose; that they were not apt to look upon those works as the effects of divine power and goodness, performed for their benefit, (for inducing them to faith and repentance,) but rather that the doing them would expofe God's mercy to contempt or reproach, at least to neglect or difregard. Hence our Saviour declined converfing 1 Cor. ii. with perfons indifpofed to (those Juxixol, who cannot δέχεσθαι τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος) receive benefit by his instruction and example; to grow wifer or better by Matt. xxi. his conversation; as the Pharifees and Scribes; men prepoffeffed with corrupt and vicious affections, obftructive to the belief of his doctrine, and obfervance of his laws; and worldly perfons; proud and selfconceited, crafty and deceitful, covetous, ambitious, and worldly men, incorrigibly tinctured with that góvnua tns σagnès, carnal wisdom and affection; which is enmity to God; fo that it is not fubject to the law of God, nor can be; inextricably engaged in the friendfhip of the world, which is enmity to God: to fuch 14. 31. Rom. viii. 7. James iv. 4. 1 John ii. 15. men Moreover I Cor. i. 23. 25. 1 men the Gospel would certainly be a fcandal or as ER M. folly: they would never be able to relish or digeft V. the doctrine of purity, felf-denial, patience, and the like doctrines oppofite to carnal fenfe and conceit which it teacheth. From fuch wife and prudent men Matt. xi. (conceited of their little wisdoms, and doting upon cor. i. 26. their own fancies) God did conceal thofe heavenly myfteries, which they would have despised and derided those many wife according to the flesh, many James ii. 5. powerful, many noble, God did not choose to call into his church. Accordingly we may obferve in the hiftory of the Apoftles, that God's fpirit did prohibit the Apoftles paffing through fome places, it difcerning how unsuccessful (at those seasons, in those circumstances, according to thofe difpofitions of men) their preaching would be: Paffing through Phrygia A&ts xvi. 6, and Galatia, being hindered by the Spirit to speak the" word in Afia; coming to Myfia, they affayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit fuffered them not. there is plainly the like reason, why God fhould withhold his faving truth from fome people, as why he should withdraw it from others; when it is abused or proves fruitless: but of fuch withdrawing we have many plain inftances, attended with the declaration of the reasons of them: our Lord prophefied thus concerning the Jews; I fay unto you, that the king- Matt. xxi. dom of God fhall be taken from you, and shall be given 43. to a nation doing the fruits thereof; they, when our Saviour would have gathered them under his wings, wilfully refufing. Our Lord charged his Difciples, Matt. x. 14. when by any they were repulfed or neglected in their preaching, to leave thofe perfons and places, fhaking Luke ix. 5. off the duft from their feet, in token of an utter (is 51. μaρTúgion in' AUTÈs) deteftation and defertion of them: As xviii. and accordingly we fee them practifing in their Acts; 6. when they perceived men perverfely contradictious, or desperately fenfeless and ftupid, fo that they clamoured against the Gospel, and thruft it from them, they abftained from farther dealing with them, turn Acts xiii. |