The reason is, because God's manner of dispensation is, to convey all good to men, by the means of men like ourselves for the most part ; and this he doth to knit us into a holy communion one with another. Therefore it is needful that holy men should abide. In regard of the chiurch of God, their lives are very useful.
If we consider good, the great benefit that comes by them, we shall easily yield to this ; for v/hat a deal of sin doth a good magistrate stop and hinder ! VvTaen there were good judges and good kings in Israel, see what a reforma- tion there was. Antichrist could not come in when the Pioman empire flourished, 2 Thes. ii. 7, though now the Roman empire hinder the fall of antichrist, because antichrist hath given her the cup of fornication, and they are drunk with the whore's cup ; but at the first it was not so. Be- loved, whilst good magistrates and good ministers continue in a place, there is a hindrance of heresies and sin, &c. If they be once removed, there is a floodgate opened for all manner of sin and corruption to break in at. Yea, there is abundance of good comes in by gracious persons.
1. By their counsel and direction: ' The lips of the righteous feed many,' Prov. vii. 21.
2. By their reformMion of abuses, by planting God's ordinances and good orders, whereby God's wrath is appeased. They stand in the gap, and stop evil. They reform it, and labom' to establish that which is pleasing to God.
3. Gracious persons, in what condition soever they are, carry the blessing of God uith them. Wheresoever they ai'e, God and his blessing goes along with them.
4. They do a great deal of good by their pattern and example. ' They are the Hghts of the world,' Philip, ii. 15, that give aim to others in the darkness of this life.
6. They can by their prayers bind God, as it were, that he shall not inflict his judgments. They do a world of good by this way. A praying force and army is as good as a fighting army. Moses did as much good by prayer, as the soldiers in the valley when they fought ■ndth Amalek. They are favourites with God in heaven, therefore St Paul saith. It is need- ful for you that I abide in the flesh. Gracious men are public treasures, and storehouses, wherein every man hath a share, a portion ; they are pubHc springs in the wilderness of this world, to refresh the souls of people; they are trees of righteousness, that stretch out their boughs for others to shelter under, and to gather fruit fi-om. You have an excellent picture of this in Daniel, in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv. 21. The magis- trates there, are compared to a great tree, wherein the birds buUd their nests, and the beasts shelter themselves ; so a good magistrate, especially
844 CHRIST IS BEST.
if he be in great place, is as a great tree for comfort and shelter. Oh, beloved, the lives of good men are very useful. A good man, saith the philosopher, is a common good ; because as soon as ever a man becomes gracious, he hath a pubHc mind, as he hath a public place, nay, whether he hath a public place or no, he hath a public mind. It is needful, there- fore, that there be such men alive.
If this be so, then we may lament the death of worthy men, because we lose part of our strength in the loss of such, God's custom being to convey much good by them ; and when there is scarcity of good men, we should say with Micah, Woe is me, the good is perished from the earth, Micah vii. 2. They keep judgments from a place, and derive a blessing upon it. Howsoever the world judgeth them, and accounts them not worthy to Hve, yet God accounts the world unworthy of them. They are God's jewels, they are his treasure and his portion, therefore we ought to lament their death, and to desire their lives ; and we ought to desire our own lives, as long as we may be useful to the church ; and be content to want heaven for a time. Beloved, it is not for the good of God's children that they live ; as soon as ever they are in the state of grace they have a title to heaven, but it is for others. "When once we are in Christ, we hve for others, not for ourselves. That a father is kept alive, it is for his children's sake ; that good magis- trates are kept alive, it is for their subjects' sake ; that a good minister is kept alive, out of the present enjoying of heaven, it is for the people's sake that God hath committed to him to instruct ; for, as Paul saith here, in re- gard of my own particular, it is better for me to he ivith Christ.
Use. If God convey so much good by worthy men to us, then what wretches are they that malign them, persecute them, &c., speak ill of those that speak to God for them ? Doth the world continue for a company of wretches, a company of profane, blasphemous, loose, disorderly Hvers ? Oh no ; for if God had not a chmxh in the world, a company of good people, heaven and earth would fall in pieces. There would be an end pre- sently. It is for good people only that the world continues. They are the pillars of the tottering world, they are the stakes in the fence, they are the foundation of the building, and if they were once taken out, all would come down ; there would be a confusion of all. Therefore those that oppose and disquiet gi'acious and good men are enemies to their own good ; they cut the bough which they stand on ; they labour to pull down the house that covers themselves , being blinded with mahce and a diabohcal spirit. Take heed of such a disposition. It comes near to the sin against the Holy Ghost to hate any man for goodness ; because, perhaps, his good hfe reproacheth us. Such a one would hate Christ himself if he were here. How can a man desire to be with Christ when he hates his image in another ? Therefore if God convey so much good by other men that are good, let us make much of them, as public persons, as instruments of our good. Take away malice, and pride, and a poisouful spirit, and all then- good is ours. What hinders that we have no good by them ? Pride and an envious spirit, &c.