YeR. 24.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XT. 433
hath provided for me, he hath advanced me to sjreat empire and sove- reiiinty, but what have I done for God ? ' So Neh. i. 11, he says there, ' The Lord prosper thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man (for I was the king's cup-bearer).' That parenthesis hath great significancy, — ' I was the king's cup-bearer.' When the Lord ordered it so that one of the captivity was advanced to such a high ministry and service about that great king, he was considering, What do I for that God ? and how ought I to improve it for the glory of God? So must a christian consider with himself, How have I entered upon this honour ? how have I carried myself ? It is a slippery place, and therefore we had need be the more watchful.
3. Honours must be actually renounced when they are sinful in themselves, or cannot be kept and enjoyed without sin.
[1.] When they are sinful in themselves ; as an ofHce that is unlaw- ful, a calling that is superstitious, idolatrous, and antichristian, what- ever honour, pleasure, and treasure is annexed to it. Thus Paul was employed as an officer by the high priests to vex the saints. Better be low and despicable than high and not in God's way. Kev. xvii. 4, the whore of Babylon is said to propine her abominations in a golden cup. Preferment is usually the bait of that carnal and political religion that lords it over God's heritage. Popery is a pseudo-christianity, a Chris- tianity calculated for this world, and not for the next ; and there all goes by greatness, honour, and preferment ; it is nothing but a faction and combination of men ; they have debauched the law of Christ to serve a carnal turn and worldly purpose ; and therefore all that honour which depends upon that, though it hath pleasure and profit annexed to it, this must certainly be denied. Or,
[2.] When honour cannot be enjoyed with a good conscience, or kept without sin. One that was brought up in a great court said, ' I had rather be Christ's exile than a companion of a great king.' Manaen would rather be a poor teacher at Antioch than a glorious courtier at Jerusalem. A great man — yet he did not disdain to take upon him the ministry, which is usually held so mean a calling. So it is said of Galeacius Caracciolus, that he left his honours in the world, and be- came an elder at Geneva. Therefore if the thing be sinful, or cannot be kept but by sin, it ought to be renounced. This sin may be either of omission or of commission.
(1.) Of omission, we ought to be ' valiant for the truth,' Jer. ix. 3. Still Christ's interest must be preferred. But now, when to keep our places we must smother our sense of religion, and cannot explicitly declare ourselves to be for God, then it is sinful, for then you prefer it before Christ. We read of Terentius, an orthodox christian, a cap- tain under Yalens, an Arian emperor, when he returned from Armenia with a great victory, the emperor bade him ask what he would, and he should have it ; he only presented his supplication for liberty for a church of the orthodox. The emperor tore it in pieces, and bade him ask another thing. ' ISo ; ' said he, ' I will ask nothing for myself where I am denied for my God.' This is that temper which possesses christians where their hearts are sincere with God : Luke ix. 2G, ' For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory, and in
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434 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LVIII.
his Father's, and of the holy angels.' Look, as he that will not own his poor parents, though he do not renounce or formally deny them, is blameworthy ; so he that will not own Christ, though he do not for- mally deny religion, he that stifles his profession altogether in his bosom (I speak when God calls him to confession), and is forced to smother it for his honour's sake, he is not sincere.
(2.) When the sin is a sin of commission ; that either they must renounce Christ or their honour in the world ; when both come in com- petition, that they must part with the one or the other. This is a grievous thing, for a man to part with his religion for a little honour and greatness in the world. Thus Pilate, against his conscience, con- demned Christ, when they touched him to the quick, and told him, You are no friend to Ctesar unless you condemn him. This is, in short, the case : certainly honour is lawful, and may be improved for God ; but we must consider how we come by it ; and when we have it, we must possess it with a holy jealousy. But when it cannot be kept with- out sin — that is, without smothering our profession, or without actual renouncing the truth, then the case is clear.