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Show ·. 316 r66S. L/"V">.J Chap.! X. John 17• S• 1'Sam.2.30. tPet. 2.17. Exod.2o.12. ~?h. 6.1.2. JOOn S. 49· bke7,8. Pftl.r !. ~; aadn. S• NoCROSS, NoCROWN." .VoL. 1 §. X It is alfo a mightr Trial upon God's People, in that they are P~! upon rll.: Difcovery; of their Contradz{/um to the Cujlom~ generally receivt and efi:eem•d in the World ; which e~pofes t~em to rhe Tt' on~e~, Scon~, and .Abufe of the Multitude. But there ts an Hzddcn Tuafu!e In ~r: It mures us ro ReprOdcb, it Iorns us to dtfp.if~ rhe Faife Reput~t;~n ot ~he World, and filemly tO undergo the ContradlfJum. and Scorn of n,:, Vo~:me~' ~nd ji. nally with a Cbriflian Aletknrfs and Pottenu,_to overco~ their lnptnes~nd Reproaches, Add to this l it weJns thee ~ft tl~y Fmmlwrs; for by.helng flighted of them as a J\'innec, a Fool, a Frant!Ck, &c. thou an deltvcred from a greater Temptation, and tha.t i.s' The Power and Injluence nf tbtw vain Converfati0/1. And Jail of all, It lifts thee of rh; Co111pnny nf t~e B!iffed, .111odtd, Pe1fecured JESUS: To figh~ und~r h1s B:1nn~r, ag:t!nft t.he World, the F!rjh,and the Devil: That a ftc~ hav~ng f~tth_fully fuftercd wn~ hlf!I in a Start of HtJmiliorion. thou may'ft Rergn Wtthh1m m a State o.fG!orifientt· en: Who Glorifies his Poor, Defpifed, Confiant Fol.lowers, fAJIIb. the Glory be bttd with His Farber befoi-e the World b~gfln. Thts was the FuJI Reqfon. of our declining to pra8ife the before-menrtoned Honours, Refpefls, &c. §. XI. The Second RenJon, why we decline. and !efufe the prefent Uli: of thefe Cuftoms in onr Addrefi'es and Salutanons; ts from rhe Confidera· tion of their very Emptineft and Vanity: Tbtlt there is f!Othing of Trut.J!6- nour an3 Refpefl in them, fuppofing them not to be Evtl. And as Rdrgr01t and Worjhip are degenerated into Fo~m and Ceremony (and they not acco.rdins to Primitive PraOiu neither) fo ts Honour and Refpefl roo; there be1~g L11t!e of th:lt in the World, as well as of the other; and to be fure, m thefe Cuftoms none that is Juftifiable by Scripture or Reafon. §. XII. In 'scripmre, we find the Word l)onout often and diverfly ufed~ Firft For Obedience: As. when God faith~ They tbat Honour mt; that is, that' keep my Commtmdmenl!. Honour the King; that is, Ohq rbe Ki11t. Honour thy }"ather and Mother~ that is, (faith the Apoftle to the Epbt/tatu} Obey thy F~ttber nnd thy .Mother in the Lord, for that i1 right: Take Heed to their Precepts and Ad\•ice; pre·fuppofing always, that Rulers and Pitrent! command Lawful Things, elfe they difhonour themfelves to enjoyn Hflbwfal things; and SubjeE\:s and Children dHhonour their Superiors and Parents, ;,, complying wirb their unrigbreom Cof!Zffltmd.r_. Alfo, Chrift ufes this Word fo when he fays, 1 htrUe not tz Dtvtl, but I Honour my Fatbu, and ye Jf;no;our me: That ~~ I do my Father's Wil.l, il) what I do; ~ut you will not hear me; you rej'ea my Counfel, Jnd Will not Obq "Y Votce. 'Twas not refufing Hot and Knee, ttor empty Titles: No, 'twas Difobedkncei ·Rejijling Him that God bnd jent, and 1101 Believing in Him. This was the Dijhonour he taxed them with ; ufing him as an lmpo.ft_or, that God had Ordained for the Salvation of the World. And of thefe Dijhonourers, there :ue but too many at this Day. Chiift has a Saying to the fame Effed i That all Men foouid Hono11r the Son, tven tU they Honour the Farber; and ht that Hortourtth not tbe Son, Honouretb not the Fatbtr, ubicb bath fent biJJJ.: Th:tt is, they that hearken not to Chtifi, and do nor Worfhip and Obey him, they do no~ Hear, Worfhip, nor Obey God. As they pretended to believe in God, fo they were to have believed in him; he told them fo. rhis is pregn:mtly manifefted tn the Cafe of the Centttrion, whufe Faith was ro much commended hy Chrift, Where, giving Jefus an Account of his Honourable Station, he tells him, He bad Soldiers under bit .A111hority, and tvbm be Jaid to one, Go, be ttent ; to another, Cume, be co,Je ; mrd to tt third, Do this, be did it. In Tbis it was he placed the Honour of his Ca· pacity, and the Rdptll of his Soldiers, and not in Hau and Legs: Nor are :fuch Cufioms yet jn ufeamongft Soldier:, being Effcminllfe, and unwonby of Mafculine Gravity. , §. XIII. In the next Place, Honour iS uftd for Preferment to Trufl t~nd Eminent Emplo)'mems. So the Pfalmifl fpeaking to God; For t.hau b,ifl Croron'd him wtth Glory and Hono11r: Again, Honour and .lllajejly bafl t"cM laid on him: That is, G.od hsd given ChriftPorver over allhis Enemies, and exalted him to Great Dominion ... Thus the Wife Mau intimates, whrn he . - fJys, VoL. I. No CROSS,' No CROWN. 3~7 fays, The. Fear d tb~ Lord ir the Injlru&ion of Wifdom, nnJ before Honour i'66S. is Humthry. That _Is, before Advanceme.nt or Preferment, lS Humility. ~ further, he has thts Saytng, lit Snow 111 Summer, and as R~tin i11 H11r. Chap. IX. ve/1, Jo Honou_r !s nor fetmly (or a Fool: That is, A Fool is uot ca- ·Prov. ''i· ·H· pable of t~e. D1gmty of. Truft, .F;mploymenr, o! Preftrment; rhe,y require Ch. 26. ,, Virtue, '¥tfClom, lntegnty, D1hgence, of whtch Fools are unturnith'd. And yet if the Refpcl\s and Titles, in Ufe Jmongft us, arc ro go for Marks of Honour, Solomon's Proverb will take Place, and doubrlefs doth, upon . the .PraCtice of this Age, thar yields fo much of that Hono11r to a great many Pro;·. 13• 1s. of Solomon's Fools; who are not only Silly J11en, but Wicked too; facb M t"t/ufe InJ1,ru8ion, and batt the :f'et~r of•the Lord; which only maketh one of his Wilt Men. §. XII'. And as Virtue and Wifdom ore the fJme, fo Folly and Wicked- a..,, l4·7· nefs. Thus Sbechem's Rav.ifhment of Dinah, 7t~eob's D1ughter, is called: Jo!b.7.t4,1S· So is the Rebellion and Wickednefs of the ifr.e/ius in ]oj/Juo. The PJo/m,(J Pr. J8. I· ~preffes it thus : My U}"oundt jlittk becauf~ of ~ny Foolijhnifs ; that is, his Pr. 8~ .. 8. Stn. And, The Lord WlU fpeak Pet~cc to bu Sa•nrs, thm they turn not again Prov. ~· 22, 'to Folly; that is, to Evil. His own lniquitiet (.fJys Solomon) jhall t ttke the 2 3• Wicke4 himfelf, an~ be ]ball .De holden witb tbc Cords of bis Sins: !fe J~alJ dye mttbcut Inflru(lton, and m the Grearncfs of bit Folly be jhaUgo aftray. Mark 7• 21, Chri£1: puts Foolijhneft with B!tzfpbetny, Pride, Tbefts, lHm·ders JJ.du!re- 24. ries, Wukt!tlnefs, &c. I was the more willing to add thefe Paffages: to fhew the DifFerence that there is between the Mind of tbc Holy GboP and the Notion that thofe Ages had of Fools, th:tt deferve not Honour; and that which is generally mea~t by FOt?ls and F~lly in our Time; that we may the better underftand the D_ijproport1on there IS between Homur, as then under· ftood by th~ Holy Ghojl! -and thofe that were Jed thereby; and the Appre-henfion of tt, and PraCltce of thefe latter Ag-:.:s ofProfefled Chriftians .. §. XV. But Hono11r is alfo taken for Rcputati?tt, and it is fo underftood Prov. u, 16~ with us: A Graciom Woman (fays Solomon) rciainetb Hononr. thJt is fhe keeps her Credit; and by her Virtue, mainrains her Repmario;1 of Sob;iety Prm·. 2o. 3• and. Chaftity •. In . another Place, Jt it an H!'11o11r for a .1l1an to ceafe {roJn Strife: That ts, 1t makes for h1s Reputauon, as a w1fe and good Man. ~Jat. 13. 57; Chrift ufes. th~ Word thus, where h~ fays, A Prophet is not tvi1bo:Jt Ho· nour., Jt1ve 111 bu own Co11nrry: That JS, ~e has Credit, and is Valued, fave I Thef. 4o 4~ at Home. The Apoftle to the Tbeffa!onwu has a Saying to thar Efl:C:El:: That every one of JOif foou!d _know bow t~ pojJift hi.r Vtffil in SanUiji&atioh and Honour; that Js, tn Chaft1cy and SQbnety. In aU which; nothing of the FaOtions, by us dec~ined, is otberwifeconcerned, than to berotallyexcluded. §. XVI. There 1S yet another Ufe of the Word r Honour] in Sctipture~· and that is to FunS:ions a.nd Capacities: As, An Eider i.r worthy of double 1 Tim. S• J#~ Honour: T~at js~ he deferves double F.fteem, Love, and Refpe8:; being Holy, !tfueifu!; Ttmpera_re, Peaceable, Humhlt, , &c. efpecially one tha.t L!f.· hours tn Word and Do8nne. So Paul recommends Epaphro.ditrg to the Phi· Philip. 20 29;. ~ippians; R;tctivc hi1ii therefore [n the Lord with all G!adne{s, and bold fuch m Reputatton. As if he had faJd, Ltt them be VaiYetl anl Regarded by you ;n wbat they fay and teach. Which is the trueft, and moft natural and con-vi~ c~ng Way of teftifying Refp~ to ,a Miln of God; as Chrift faid to his D1fC1ples, If you love me, ye uull keep my Stl)'ings. Further, the Apoftle b~ds us, To Honour Wido~s indeed; that is, fuch Women as a.rC. of Ch :~fr. Laves, and Exempbry Vmuc, areHont~urah}e. ll1arria..{t is Honourable too with this Provifo, That tbt Bed he undefiled : So that the HCJ!lPflr of .. Mat~ Heb. 1 3· 4· riage, is the Chaflityofrbe Married. . §. XVII. The Wor.d Honour in the Scripture, is alfo ufed of Superiors to Inferiors; which is plain io that of Abaf~terut to Haman : Whal jhaU be Efl:h. 6. 6. d011e to the Alan whom the King deligbutb to Honour? l~'hy, he mightily advanced him, as MJJrde&rri afterwards. And more particularly it is faid,. Tbattbe Jews bad Light,. and G!adnefs, and Joy, and Jionour: That i.s, Efth. S.. 1~ they efcaped the Perfecuuon that was like to fall upon rhem, and by rhe Means of Eflber and Mordteai, they enjoyed, not only Peace, b_ut F::.r\'our. * ~ |
