A Practical Commentary on the Epistle of Jude

There is a Grace dispensed in the way of Gods providence which may be called, the Grace of God, and is very liable to; ⟨p. 212⟩abuse; a word of that before I come to the main thing here intended. Thus we find the patience of God often abused, when the Lord keepeth silence in heaven, and doth not presently thunder down vengeance on the heads of sinners, we¹ wallow in ease and fleshly delights, and dream of a perpetual happiness, and think we shall do as well as the precisest of them all; Eccles. 8. 11. Because vengeance is not executed speedily, therefore the heart is set in them to do evil: Thus doth mans venomous nature, suck poison out of so sweet an Attribute as Gods patience! And as Gods patience is abused, so is also his goodness and Bounty. When we are full and enjoy plenty, we grow wanton, and either despise our mercies, Mal. 1. 2. Wherein hast thou loved us? or, which is worse, despise God himself; turn back upon the Mercy-seat, grow very negligent, cold and careless in the Worship of God: nay many times the mind is efferated, and grown brutish and insolent both towards God and man, Hos. 13. 6. According to their Pasture so were they filled, they were filled and their heart was exalted, they have forgotten me. Men have large Pastures, and strong lusts, and then God is forgotten, there is not that care of God, that sense of duty, that meekness of spirit, this is growing wanton with Gods; goodness. Once more, there is another Grace of Providence which is apt to be abused, and that is, the vouchsafement of Ordinances, or the means of Grace, in great plenty a Mercy prized when it first cometh among a people, but within a little while they grow wanton, 1 Sam 3. 11. The Word of God was precious in those days, for there was no open vision: whilst Visions are scarce they are highly prized, but when they are open and public, men begin to grow giddy, cannot be contented with the simplicity of Gods Ordinances, but must be fed with ungrounded subtleties, and quintessential extracts, when spiritual appetite groweth wanton, it is an ill sign, when plain truths will not down, and all things must be carried in an airy, subtle, and notional way, God will have a scourge for such a wanton people.