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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87874	A sermon preached at the publique fast the ninth of Feb. in St Maries Oxford, before the great assembly of the members of the Honourable House of Commons there assembled: and published by their speciall command.	Leslie, Henry, 1580-1661.	1643 (1643)	Wing L1167; Thomason E36_4; ESTC R12873	25,682	45

A SERMON PREACHED AT THE PVBLIQVE FAST the ninth of Feb. in St MARIES OXFORD BEFORE The Great Assembly of the Members OF THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF COMMONS There Assembled And published by their speciall Command Luk. 19.41 42. And when he was come neere he beheld the City and wept over it Saying if thou hadst knowne even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace OXFORD Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD Printer to the Vniversity 1643. Die Sabbati decimo Februarii 1643. ORdered that Mr Mostyn and Mr Tompkins give the Bishop of Downe thankes for his Sermon and desire him it may be printed by a Printer at his own appoyntment unlesse for Expedition he please to imploy the Printer to the Vniversity Noah Bridges IEREM 5.9 Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soule be avenged on such a Nation as this AT the first hearing of these words read you wil conceive that I am come with an angry message in my mouth yet are you bound to heare it because it is from the Lord Dictum Iehovae even a fearfull threatning from God himself against his people Israel which is repeated no lesse then thrice in this book here in the ninth verse of this Chap. againe v. 29. and after Chap. 9.9 Now saith S. Ierome verba toties inculcata vera sunt viva sunt sana sunt plana sunt Words so often inculcated are true and lively sound and plain The Truth of this threatning appeareth by the fearfull execution of the judgement threatned upon the Iews who became a spectacle of Gods vengeance unto all Generations This doth something concerne us for the Apostle saith Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning And again he telleth us 1. Corin. 10.6 that the punishments of the Iewes are our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evill things as they also lusted If therefore it appear that we have sinned in like manner as they did that our case is like unto theirs I shall have a good warrant to take up this Dictum Jehovae to come with this threatning in my mouth shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soule be avenged on such a Nation as this In which words two things are expressed First the Prophets commission or the authority by which he spake in these words Dicit Dominus saith the Lord. Secondly The message which he brings which is a fearfull threatning against his people Israel shall I not visit for these things and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this The Prophets commission is not from man nor by man but from the Lord for dicit Dominus the Lord saith it It is ordinary with all the Prophets to alledge the authority by which they speak and to bring forth their commission thereby to draw the attention of their hearers and to procure faith and obedience to their words as being the words of God himselfe And this they have done in many and diverse phrases such as are these especially the word of the Lord came unto me the Lord said unto me the Lord spake by me I saw the visions of God the spirit of God came upon me and this here in my text dicit Dominus wherewith every particular Prophecie is sealed to shew the dignity of the Prophecie and the truth of the Prophet that he speakes not the vision of his own heart as it is said of the false Prophets Ier. 23.16 but that he doth prophesy from the mouth of God himselfe Our Prophet in the beginning of this book brought forth his commission shewing that the word of the Lord came unto him in the daies of Iosiah and yet afterwards as oft as he beginneth a new matter and particularly here where he threatneth Iudgement to show that there is nothing his own he doth it in the stile of the Court of heaven with a Dicit Dominus saith the Lord. Now if it be the Lord that saith it if this message be from God then it is our duty to heare it for when God speakes all men are bound to heare He that made the care shall he not be heard Ye it is our duty not only to heare it but also to heare it aright not as it is the word of man but as it is indeed the word of God we must receive it as Gods message that is with reverence and attention with feare and trembling with wisedome and discretion and especially with faith and obedience else all our labour is in vaine for this is the Propter quod the end of hearing therefore God sends his word unto us that we may obey and obey we cannot unlesse we beleeve the word which we heare for faith is the mother of obedience as Saint Paul hath taught us in that excellent gradation How shall they call on him in whom they have not beleeved Rom. 10 14. Calling on God is the first act of obedience and this cannot be done without faith And so we see the true reason why men do not profit by the word that commeth unto them from the Lord even because they doe not beleeve it The Gospel was preached to the Iewes who perished as well as unto others but saith the Apostle It did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it Heb. 4.2 Turne over all the volumes of the Prophets and you shal find that this was the immediate cause of the destruction of the Iewes even their not beleeving and obeying the words of the Prophets They made a mock at Gods threatnings for as it followeth a little after my Text vers 12. They said It is not he neither shall evil come upon us neither shall we see sword nor famine And the Prophets shall become wind and the word is not in them And this their incredulity brought forth disobedience for how often doth the Lord complaine When I called none did answer Esa 65.12 and 66.4 and as it is in Chap. 35. vers 15. of this Prophecie I have sent vnto you all my servants the Prophets rising up early and saying returne ye now every man from his evill way and amend your doings But ye have not inclined your eare nor hearkned vnto me And therefore if we would profit by the word that commeth from the Lord we must give credit to the message beleeve all Gods threatnings that so we may apprehend the danger and labour to prevent it by repentance as did the repenting Israelites Hos 6.1 when they heard Gods judgements threatned they called one another saying Come let us returne vnto the Lord for he hath wounded and he will heale us As yet the judgement was only threatned it was not inflicted and yet they cry out He hath wounded he hath torne us as though they had even then felt the strokes which after came upon the wicked for why they knew that God is true and

out before the Lord and fasted that is as the Chaldee observeth they poured out their hearts before God and shed teares in such abundance as if they had drawne water and powred in upon the ground whereupon God tooke their Cause in hand against the Philistims So Iehosophat proclaimed a Fast when the Moabites came against him 2 Chron. 20.3 And it is reported of O tho the great that being to joyne battel with the Hungarians he proclaimed a Fast in his Campe and called upon God If we would thus humble our selves God would soone humble our enemies it is his owne Covenant Ps 81.13 O that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my wayes I should soone have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries This Covenant is expressely set downe by our Prophet Chap. 18.7 8. At what instant I shall speake concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdome to pluck up and to pull downe and destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turne from their evill I will repent of the evill that I thought to doe unto them The like is promised 2. Chron. 7.14 If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turne from their wicked wayes then will I heare from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heale their Land Where observe that we must not only humble our selves pray and seeke Gods face but also we must turne from our wicked wayes otherwise we cannot expect that God should heale our Land Therefore in the next place I say that with our humiliation we must joyne the reformation of our lives It is not enough that we bow down our heads like a bul-rush and afflict our soules for a day by fasting if afterwards we returne to our sins as a dogge to his vomit we have often fasted or made a shew to fast since this bloody Rebellion begun but it seemes God hath not regarded our Fastings for his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still And the reason is we doe not fast from sin but pour out our selves into all manner of wickednesse and so long as we by our sins fight against God we may be sure that God will fight against us When Trajan Generall to Valens the persecuting Emperour was defeated by the Gothes the Emperour upbraiding him with cowardise and sloth as the causes of the overthrow he told the Emperour that himselfe was the cause of the losse for you doe so warre against God Niceph. lib. 11. cap. 4. saith he that you abandon the victory and send it to your Enemies When Phocas had built a mighty well about his Palace for his security in the night he heard a voyce saying O King though thou build as high as the clouds Cedren Hist pag. 5 42. yet the City may easily be taken the sinne within will marre all Except sin be cast over the wals a wall of brasse is but a vaine thing To this purpose speaketh the Comick Si incolae benè sint morati pulchrè munitam arbritror at nisi invidia avaritia ambitio exulent centuplex murus parum est Therefore the Romans at first in their warrs as Vlpian and Flavius Vopiscus doe testifie made choice of no criminous parties no adulterers no condemned persons yea no bondslaves nor contentious brawlers But afterward as Li. vie saith the Common-wealth being brought to the very pinch of despaire they imployed such wicked persons whereof Scipio complained Liv. l. 10. Dec. 3. saying Non est mihi tantum ab hostibus armatis periculi c. We need not so much to fear the forces of our enemies as our own ill conditions for indeed as Ambrose saith Graviores sunt inimici mores pravi quam hosies infesti Our sinnes areenemies more to be feared then armed men It is out sins that have layd Christian Kindomes open to the tyranny of the Turke now our sins have betrayed us into the hands of more cruell and harbarous enemies then the Turkes our sins are the only cause of their prevailing they have not prevailed so farre for that their cause is good or their carriage better then their cause for both are starke naught but God cannot endure that in his own people which for a time he will in his enemies the Midianites who caused the Jsraelites to sin were worse then the Jsraelites yet God first corrected his owne people and then vexed the Midianites Therefore how carefully should wee take heed unto our wayes now when the sword is upon the l●nd many think that in the time of war there is a liberty of sin and they may doe what they list such is now for the most part the carriage of our Soludiers they doe not Sanctifie a warre as God requireth Ioel 3.9 but by their godlesse behaviour they discredit the good cause for which they fight As we should keepe our selves from sin at all times so especially in the time of warre sin hath no time allowed for it but it is never more untimely nor out of season then in the time of Warre for Warre is the punishment of sinne Warre is the sicknesse sin is the surfeit now when we are sicke of a surfeit will we not be carefull to order our selves well to keep a strict diet and not then to drinke in iniquity like water distemper our selves as though wee were in perfect state of health and so make our disease desperate Warre is the rod of Gods wrath for our sinnes now when Gods fearfull rod is over us when his hand is upon us for our sinnes then to sinne and provoke God more is a high contempt against him a putting him to open defiance Warre is an act of Justice of justice corrective whose office is to punish sinne and is it not absurd that we should then poure out our selves into sinne when we goe about to correct sinne in others Or with what face can we punish Rebells when wee our selves stand out in rebellion against God Besides God is the Lord of hosts the battell is his and he giveth the victory now how can we expect that God should give us any victory or goe out and in with our Armies if we continue still in our sinnes whereby Gods wrath is provoked against us Remember therefore I beseech you that caveat which God hath given us Deut. 23.9 it is the great Canon of Martiall-discipline When thou goest out with the hgst against thine enemies keepe thee then from all wickednesse The reason followeth ver 14. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy Campe to deliver thee and to give up thine enemies before thee therefore shall thy Campe be holy that he see no uncleane thing in thee and turne away from thee For by experience we find that speech to be true which Azariah the Prophet spake to King Asa 2. Chron. 15.2 The Lord is with you while yee are with him but if yee forsake him he will forsake you As with our humiliation we must joyne reformation of our lives so we must test●fie this our repentance by workes of mercy and charity towards the poore Daniel joynes these two together in that counsell which he gave unto Nebuchadnezzar Breake off thy sinnes by righteousnesse and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poore Dan. 4.27 Surely if ever there were a time to extend the bowells of mercy now it is when there are so many objects of mercy even men full of misery But that whereunto I am now to exhort you is not onely a worke of charity and mercy but an act of thankfulnesse whereunto you are bound by the Law of Nature namely to contribute for the reliefe of the poore maimed and sick Souldiers who have ventured their lives and spent their blood for the defence of their Country I will adde onely one thing more that this our repentance must be generall as our sin is generall and Nationall a particular man by turning from his wicked wayes may avert a particular judgement hanging over his owne head but where the Rebellion against God hath been generall and the judgement prepared is some generall calamity upon the Land there nothing can turne away Gods wrath but a generall conversion unto God as the Lord himselfe hath taught us Ezech. 14.13 Sonne of man when the Land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out my hand upon it and though these three men Noah Daniell and Iob were in it they should deliver but their owne soules by their righteousnesse they shall deliver neither Sonnes nor Daughters they onely shall be delivered but the Land shall be desolate If the Sea roare and swell and be ready to breake the bankes it is not the care of one or two in repairing their bankes that will prevent the inundation but there must be a generall concurrence of all that are neare the place So now when God hath begun to roare from above against our Nation and is ready to swallow us up there must be a generall endeavour to stop the breach otherwise the particular care of some few will not prevent the deluge of his wrath Would we therefore remove this generall judgement which is upon our Land our repentance must be generall as the sinne was generall that brought the judgement let us therefore call one another as did the repenting Israelites Hos 6.1 saying Come and let us returne unto the Lord for he hath torne and he will heale us he hath smitten and he will bind us up And as it is Chap. 50.4 of this book let the Children of Israel and the Children of Iudah come together and weeping seeke the Lord. Thus if we seeke him hee will be found of us he will yet heale our Land and restore unto us the yeares which the Caterpiller hath devoured he will give us beauty for ashes and the oyle of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse hee will make the bones which he hath broken to rejoyce which God of his infinite mercy grant c. FINIS