Part 69 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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Part 70 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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Now, oh, what folly and madness is it for you to neglect the pursuit of holiness, because such and such revile it, who perhaps before the next year, the next month, yes it may be the next Sabbath comes about, will wish ten thousand times over and over that they had pursued after it, and that they had made it their greatest work in this world to obtain it! But,
[4.] Fourthly, Such people who are revilers, deriders, and haters of holiness, should rather be divinely despised, scorned, and slighted—than anyways gratified, encouraged, pleased, and strengthened in their evil ways by your neglect of holiness, and by your non-pursuance after holiness. Oh, how may your neglect of holiness upon the account of revilings and scornings, strengthen the hands and the hearts of revilers and scorners! etc., Ezek. 13:19, seq.; and therefore it is much better divinely to slight and disdain them, than by sinful omissions to gratify and please them.
See how slighting Elisha carries it to wicked Jehoram, though he was a king: 2 Kings 3:13-14, "Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What do we have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." [The prophets here spoken of were the remaining prophets of Baal, of the idolatrous groves, and of the calves of Jeroboam] "No," the king of Israel answered, "because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to hand us over to Moab." Elisha said, "As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you." It was not the great distress and danger that they were in, being likely to perish for lack of water, nor the dignity of kings, nor the number of three—but the goodness, the graciousness, and holiness of Jehoshaphat, which wrought upon Elisha to work a miracle to preserve them and their people alive. Had it not been for Jehoshaphat, the holy prophet would not have honored Jehoram with a look, no, not with a cast of his eye. These words, "I would not look at you or even notice you," are words of a very high strain, and speak out a great deal of holy loftiness, stateliness, and contempt towards king Jehoram.
And the same spirit was working in Mordecai towards wicked Haman, as you may see in Esther 3:2, "All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor." [The Persians' manner was to kneel down and reverence their kings, and such as he appointed in chief authority, which Mordecai would not do to this proud, ambitious, wicked Haman, though all the courtiers, and the king's life-guard, and all who attended the court did.] The Persian kings, as many other heathenish kings, were reverenced by their subjects with a kind of divine honor or service; and such reverence and honor the king commanded should be showed to his great favorite Haman; but this renowned Mordecai refused to do.
He was so divinely noble and stout, that he would not reverence such a wicked wretch in his heart, nor yet yield to him who outward worship that was required by the king, it being more than was due to a man. Some of the Rabbis say, that Haman had the image of some false God about him, and that therefore Mordecai would not bow before him, lest he might seem to bow to the idol that Haman carried about him: others of the Rabbis say, that Haman did make himself a god, and required such worship as was due only to the true God, and that therefore Mordecai would not reverence him, nor bow before him. And other expositors say that it was more honor than did belong to a man that they gave to Haman; and that therefore Mordecai refused to bow to him.
And it is very remarkable that some of the wisest and best of heathens have forborne to come into their king's presence, because there was expected greater honor and worship to be done to their kings than was fit to be done to a mortal man. But that which is most considerable, and most probable, is this, that therefore Mordecai refused to reverence Haman, and to bow unto him, because he was a wicked Amalekite, and a bitter enemy to the people of God, and of that nation and of that stock whose remembrance God would have blotted out under heaven, Exod. 17:14; Deut. 25:19; and with whom the Lord had sworn that he would have war from generation to generation, until they were utterly wasted and destroyed, Exod. 17:16, compared with that 1 Sam. 15:3.
It has been usual with the saints to slight such who have been slighters of Christ and holiness. ["I shall look upon Auxentius no otherwise than as upon a devil, so long as he is an Arian," said holy Hilary.] When Amphilochius the bishop came into the presence of the emperor Arcadius and his son, who was then partner with his father in the empire, he saluted the emperor with all reverence—but slighted his son, whereupon the emperor was very much displeased, and demanding the reason why he so slighted his son? the bishop answered, because he had slighted and neglected the eternal Son of God, he being at that time a professed Arian; whereupon the emperor received the bishop again into favor, and banished all Arians out of his dominions. I have read of one Maris, a godly bishop of Chalcedon, who, being blind, and Julian, that apostate emperor, giving him some opprobrious words, calling him blind fool, because he had rebuked him for his apostasy, the good man answered thus, "I bless God that I have not my sight, to see such an ungracious face as your is."
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Part 70 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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