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242 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XLI.
strained his disciples to get into a ship;' there was a call, yet they were tossed witli waves. Chrisfs warrant for the voyage did not exempt them from trouble and danger ; yet we read of no fear till Christ appeared on the waves, then 'they thought him a spirit, and were sore afraid,' ver. 26. But Christ comforts them, and revealeth himself to them — ' Be not afraid, it is I,' ver. 27. So usually it falleth out, this is a pattern of providence ; there will be troubles, but in God's way we need fear no danger.
4. Because it is a piece of atheism not to acknowledge God in every accident and affair of life. God will have the dominion of his provi- dence acknowledged : James iv. 13-15, ' Go to now, ye that say. To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get a gain, . . . for that ye ought to say, If the Lord will we shall live, and do this or tliat.' Such resolutions shut out God when conceived without prayer and inquiry of God. Do not first say. We will go to such a place, but, Lord, shall I ? We are neither lords of lives nor of actions ; it is a piece of religious manners to ask God's leave, and wait for his answer, if we expect his blessing : Judges i. 1, 'The children of Israel asked the Lord, saying. Who shall go up for us against the Cauaaniles first to fight against them.' Yea, profane Ahab : 1 Kings xxii. 6, ' Shall I go against Kamoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear ? '
5. Because many cases are exceeding difficult, as when God calls us from a place of ease and safety to a place of hazard and danger ; as when Christ called Peter to leave the ship, and come to him upon the waters, Mat. xiv. 29 ; so when God calls to forsake our dearest interests and relations. Now in such cases our call should be cleared up to us, lest we decline the duty of our calling, as Jonah did ; (^od called him to go to Nineveh, and because it was a work of much danger and difficulty, he fleeth to Tarshish, to his great loss and hazard, for he was forced to take up his lodging for a while in the whale's belly. Or sometimes there is a more urgent call ; God calleth one way, and our inclinations draw us another, and the question lieth between duty and interests, and yet interests want not excuses.
W^ell then, how shall we know the place when God hath called us to fix the place of our abode ? The question concerneth either christians in general, or else more particularly ministers, \vhose service is more weighty, for in ordinary removes there is a greater latitude, or else gentlemen who travel to get knowledge and experience, or else merchants for traffic, whose affairs do often call them from country to country. Now something is to be spoken for their satisfaction, that they may see God therein.
First, For christians in general, and so there are two cases — • (1.) Concerning the fixing of their abode ; (2.) Concerning flying in times of persecution.
1. Concerning the fixing of their abode. What rules shall they observe to guide them in this weighty affair of life ? Particulars are infinite, the general rules are these —
[1.] There is much in the designation of providence, there where God hath fixed our interests, birth, education, &c. : Acts xvii. 26, ' And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face
VeR. 8.J SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 243
of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.' There providence left us, and there without scruple we may expect to find God, I am sure there we have most opportunities to serve him, because of the privileges of our birth and interests ; every man hath a right to the privileges of his native soil.
[2.] But we are not absolutely confined there, but that upon convenient reasons we may remove. " The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.' God is not tied to places, nor we. As they laughed at his folly in Plutarch that said there was a better moon at Athens than there was at Corinth ; certainly there is not a better God in one place than in another. God is the same in England, in France, in the Indies. And as God is not tied, so we are not tied : Ps. cxv. 16, ' The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's ; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." The earth lieth freely open to all passengers. What partitions and restraints shall we fix but those that God hath fixed by providence and property? As long as we acknowledge providence in asking his leave, seeking his blessing, observing the way that he openeth to us, and as long as we do not invade property, and disturb the first occupants, we may remove.
[3.] This removal must not be out of levity and wantonness, but upon weighty cause. Some men are never fixed, but flit hither and thither, though still to their loss and inconvenience. A rolling stone never gathereth moss. This is to tempt God, as if his ]irovidence should be at our beck. It was the advice of a heathen, Where thou art weU, keep thyself well, lest thinking to meet with better thou findest worse. Usually these rolling stones carry their curse with them, and when men will be trying conclusions ; the last conclusion of all is want and inconvenience.