THE FAITHFUL COVENANTER A SERMON PREACHED AT THE LECTVRE IN DEDHAM IN ESSEX By that excellent servant of Iesus Christ in the work of the Gospel Mr. Tho. Hooker late of Chelmsford now in New England Very usefull in these times of Covenanting with God Psal 78. vers 9. The children of Ephraim being armed and carying Bows turned back in the day of Battle Ver. 10. They kept not the Covenant of God and refused to walk in his Law Ver. 36. Neverthelesse they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their tongues Vers 37. For their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant LONDON Printed for CHRISTOPHER MEREDITH at the Crane in Pauls Church-yard 1644. A SERMON PREACHED AT DEDHAM Lecture in Essex DEUT. 29.24 25. Even all Nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land what meaneth the heate of this great anger Then the men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their fathers which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt THe holy Prophet Moses having in the fore-going Chapters the 28. especially discovered unto the people as his last words almost which he spake unto them the marvellous mercies of the Lord to those which walked with him and were obedient unto his Commandements which he had set before them and the heavy Iudgements he had prepared for and would execute on them that walked stubbornly against him and were disobedient and rebellious notwithstanding all meanes he used to reclaime them and all the blessings that he bestowed upon them as the Commandements you may see in the fore-going Chapter If you will observe and doe all that I command you this day vers 1. then vers 3. Blessed shalt thou be in the Citie and blessed shalt thou be in the field vers 4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground vers 5. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store c. But if not but they will be disobedient and rebell against him he sends fire after them presently and sayes vers 16. Cursed shalt thou be in the Citie and cursed shalt thou be in the field vers 17. Cursed shalt thou be in thy basket and in thy store c. Now having dealt with them both waies he windes up all and deales with them by way of Prophecie and tels them what Israel would doe and what the Lord would doe if their hearts turned away from him and from his Statutes which he had set before them to walke in He tels them that the people after his death will goe a whoring O that this might not be sayes Moses but yet if it be the Lord will roote you out of this good Land and will bring upon you all these curses that are written in this Booke to plague you here and will cause everlasting vengeance to seise upon you hereafter Now after he had dealt with them by mercies and judgements these not prevailing the Lord sends an enemie upon them that sweepes them away as unprofitable * 1 King 14.10 a King 9 37. Psal 83.10 Ier. 8.2 9.22 16.4 25.33 dung off the face of the earth Now the Prophet brings in the Nations here justifying the Lords dealing with them and saying vers 24. Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this Land What meaneth this fierce wrath of the Lord As if a man should say What was this goodly ENGLAND the onely Nation of all the Earth and yet now all laid waste in this fearefull manner Whence came this heavie displeasure and what doth meane this fierce wrath of the Lord Now marke what followes All men shall say that is even the wicked themselves all standers by shall give sentence on the Lords side and justifie his doings and say Alas can you blame the Lord for dealing thus fiercely against such a stubborne rebellious people What would you have had the Lord done more he gave them a Law and Mercies and Iudgements but they would not serve the Lord but brake the bands asunder and cast the cords behinde their backs Psal 2.3 Therefore now they shall serve enemies God is not to be blamed What could he have done or what would you have had him doe more then he did for them Threatnings from Mount Eball and Blessings from Mount Gerizzim flue about from this side and on that side and yet nothing would doe them good Why should they live any longer then what should the Lord doe they profited by nothing neither by his mercies nor his judgements and what was the cause brethren Here was the cause they were false hearted they would not walke sincerely with the Lord and therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he rootetd them out of their Land in his wrath and in great indignation Oh the fearefull wrath of the Lord that came upon them In the words take notice of three particulars Parts of the Text. First the Iudgement of the Lord denounced threatned and executed against them It was very sharpe the Nations were agast that stood by and beheld it and wondred and said Why who would have thought it that the adversary and the enemy should have entred into the gates of Ierusalem What Ierusalem the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole Earth As if one should hereafter passe by and see all the Townes burnt up here in this Land which God grant may never be but if it should be so and one should passe by and see all the houses burnt up and the Churches burnt would he not be amazed at it and say Why what meanes this fierce wrath of the Lord Would it not make our hearts ake Brethren to passe by these places and see the houses of God burnt downe to the ground and thinke with our selves Oh the good exhortations and admonitions we have heard here Then secondly here is the reason and cause why the Lord dealt thus with them Vers 25. then men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord their God So brethren if this should be our case poore little ones would say then I remember my father said thus it would be for the Land forsooke the Covenant of the Lord and the Minister told us of this stubbornnesse and rebellion against the Lord that this would be the end of it Then lastly here is the testimony of the Nations concerning the equitie of the Lords dealing the standers by justifie it and said The Lord is just for they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord their God And so people would doe here if the Lord should doe with us as he did with the Jews First of the judgements which the Lord threatned against them What means the fierce anger of the Lord why it was the fierce anger of the enemies was it not Yes But there is no enemy but is in Gods hand it
ware be in the shop there is as bad in the Warehouse sure if not worse This we call the inward and outward Covenant marke this you that thinke to smooth it over and carry it away with faire lookes and speake well and doe well outwardly but have durty corners within the heart is stubborne and rebellious against God proud stout malicious covetous These are in the outward Covenant as those whom the Lord complaines of Isa 1.2 Isa 1.2 Heare O Heavens and give eare O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up châ—ldren and they have rebelled against me vers 3. The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters crib but Israel doth not know my people doth not consider The wicked are in Covenant with the Lord outwardly but not inwardly the heart closes not with God they are not humble The Iewes were Gods people in outward Covenant but were disobedient and stubborne against the Lord. Thirdly there must be an answering the means of Grace with the measure of our uprightnesse and obedience He that hath received more must returne more to God brethren He that hath received more helps from the Almightie must returne more obedience you know how Farmes and Leases goe brethren he that hath a Lease of an hundred pound a yeere must not goe and pay but fiftie pound And he that hath one of fiftie pound goe and pay but twenty pound he that hath one of twenty pound goe and pay but tenne pound the Land-lord will not be put off so for his rent answerable to the Lease so must the rent be you that live in this Congregation sit at a high rate brethren your Leases are at an hundred pound a yeere looke that you pay God his full rent The people that are in a Towne that have a good honest Minister and carefull and painefull but he hath not those abilities that another hath expresse not that diligent power evidence of the Spirit in his Ministery the people that are in such a place sit at a good rate but they that have a faithfull eminent powerfull Minister they sit at marvellous high rents To pray little and doe little in good duties the Lord will not take this of a Dedham Christian that is for those that have small encouragements and a Sermon now and then and that but weake neither and creepe out once in a moneth to a Sermon there is a fiftie pound rent and a ten pound rent for such to pay but you sit at an hundred pound rent keepe touch brethren come off come off currantly Doe you thinke the Lord will lend his mercies for nothing No he prizes the life libertie and paines of his servants and their prayers at an exceeding high rate an hundred pound for a Prayer and an hundred thousand for an Instruction and doe you thinke with a prayer now and then and with a sigh and a wish that you could walke with the Lord to poppe off the Lord so No you sit at heavy rents and the Lord will call for accounts accordingly at the day of reckoning brethren this will breake some of your necks if it breake not your hearts now by repentance for your being behinde hand with the Lord in his rent and make you walke with the Lord better and keepe touch with him for the time to come But what is the reason that the Lord will call his Lawes and Commandements Covenants Reason The reason is this for I would have nothing untouched that you may be wise and understanding Christians because of the likenesse betweene and the resemblance of a Covenant that is made betweene two parties and the Law which is the Covenant which is given us of the Lord In a Covenant first there must be conditions and Articles of agreement betweene the parties offered and consented unto and secondly a binding one another to the performance thereof by Bond perhaps a paire of Indentures are drawne betweene them wherein is declared that they mutually agree he to make good the land and to pay thus much rent the other to let it him thus and thus It is just so here Marke the agreement betweene us and the Lord Deut. 28. Levit. 26. he propounds the Law and saith That if we will keepe the Law he will blesse us abundantly in all things house and land wife children at home and abroad in every thing we put our hand unto Then the people they agree and say Content Lord what ever thou saist we will doe Deut. 5.29 the Law thou hast given us we will keepe it it is holy just and good But then for the binding of one another you will say How shall we know God will performe his part and how shall the Lord know that we will performe our part to him what Bond is there for it The world is naught and one cannot tell who to trust and therefore God must binde us brethren to keepe our Covenant and we are not to think much that he should And we have Bond of him too because of our unbeliefe now the Bond is a corporall Oath passed from the one to the other The Lord takes a corporall Oath that if we will keepe his Commandements he will not be God if he blesse us not And so brethren you sweare too again on the other side to the Lord and did when you were baptized every one of you that you would be his people and obey his Lawes and Commandements The Lords people take a corporall Oath and a Curse upon themselves if they doe not keepe Covenant with the Lord. This belongs to us at this day for we entred into a Curse and desired that all the plagues and curses written in the Booke of God might light upon us if we keepe not the Commandements of the Lord Deut. 29.10 When the Lord had propounded the Covenant marke how he deales with the people Deut. 29.10 You stand this day all of you before the Lord your God your Captaines of your Tribes your Elders and your Officers with all the men of Israel vers 11. Your little ones your wives and the stranger that is in thy Campe from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water vers 12. Deut. 29.12 That thou shouldest enter into Covenant with the Lord thy God and into his Oath marke that brethren the Oath of the Lord which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day marke that with us from Abraham to this day the Oath is taken in our Baptisme we take the Oath of Allegiance as it were in this kinde All you that have given your names to the Lord Jesus and have received grace from him you all stand here this day before the Lord and bring your childreÌ„ before the Lord in the day of a Fast else woe be to you that we may renew our Covenant with him We are to enter into his Oath the Oath of the Covenant betweene the Lord and us that the Lord
the God of Heaven saith Vers 20. The anger of the Lord shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this Booke shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven vers 21. Vers 21. And the Lord shall separate him unto evill out of all the Tribes of Israel All the vengeance of the Almighty that ever was made knowne shall light upon the head and heart of that drunkard and that contemner of God and the word of his Grace He will separate you from the Tribes of Israel You thinke to run away from your Countrey and to flie from his Judgements as some Bankerupts do escape from men to run to Amsterdam and other places No the Lord will separate that man from all the Tribes of Israel where ever he be in France Germany Amsterdam or where ever he will separate him and set the damned spirits on the backe of him and say Take hold of that man and execute vengeance on him Brethren you may think I deale something harshly with you but I deale for the best for you Is it not better to heare of this now in time then hereafter when the Lord hath arrested you and you are locked up in close prison for ever you should thinke Oh if such a denunciation had beene told me if such an exhortation had beene wrought upon me if such a man had pressed hard upon my conscience with such and such things I had never come here Consider this God will have it out of you as he had it out of Iulian the Apostate that had blasphemed Christ before in the field an arrow came from God and smote him that he died and then he said Thou hast overcome me O thou Galilean You that are mates in this kinde goe home to your fellow drunkards and to your fellow whoremasters and scoffers and those that side with you against God and goodnesse and such as are godly and tell them God will have his debt of them Know it now to your humiliation and amendment lest you know it to your cost when there will be no prevailing with the Lord for mercy The Lord perswade your hearts that there is no way to escape but by coming in and acknowledging your debt and craving pardon though you cannot pay Thirdly the close hearted Hypocrite Vse 3. he comes here to be discarded he thinkes his penny good silver the world esteems of him as a sincere honest upright hearted man Tell him that he keeps not Covenant with the Lord he takes it in great indignation If any be here as this Age begetteth a world of close hypocrites understand and know if you keep back some of the payment have a secret haunt doe as Ananias and Saphira did Acts 5.2 that laid downe a part of the price for which the possession was sold and said Vers 8. It was all Is here all saith Peter to them Yes all saith he so when the Lord saith to you Dost thou pray Yes Lord And dost hate all sinne Yes Lord say you Why dost lye to the Almighty Vers 3. Doe you not know a company of secret haunts and back-dores that you have to this lust and that lust and many secret corruptions you have and yet come into the presence of the Lord as if you were upright with the Lord and there were no such matter O ye hypocrites why hath Satan filled your hearts to lye to the Lord Vers 3. Doe you not know what Elisha said to Gehazi 2 King 5.20.21 when he ran after Naaman for a bribe vers 25. Where hast thou been Gehazi Thy servant hath been no where Vers 25. he thought to wash it away and make it over so with a lye vers 26. Vers 26. Went not mine heart with thee saith Elisha when thou rannest after Naaman for a bribe If any close hypocrite be in the Congregation let him know the Lord will finde him out and will say to him Whither went thy heart all this while Where hast beene dodging Was not my heart with thee vers 26. when thou wentest after such a secret haunt and such a close lust O but you will say it is no such matter you desire to be upright I say be so brethren The Lord goes with thee wither so ever thou goest and he sees all thy Dalilahs and Herodiasses of pride and selfe-love he seeth how thou seekest to him in the pride of thy heart and how thou professest to get a name and to bold in with others These are base abominations cursed hypocrisie this is false-heartednesse before God and shall be plagued by God at the day of account There is not an honest woman that hath but one other man besides her husband He is not an honest man that will not pay one bond of tenne or many A penny is due as well as a pound My hand is on your heart brethren for I feare many of you have some one back-dore which you meane to keepe and you will be proud or covetous a little or uncleane onely and all the rest of that Covenant ye are content to keepe Is this honest to scrape out what you please and leave what you please still there is no honestie in this brethren But you will say Who can lay any thing to my charge I say thou art a Covenant-breaker and the Lord could never get his owne of thee yet Well yet thou wilt put it off as Saul did when Samuel came to meet him as he returned from slaying the Amalekites 1 Sam. 15.13 Come thou blessed of the Lord. But what said Samuel to him Vers 14. Ah saies he vers 14. What meanes the bleating of the sheepe and the lowing of the Oxen So you say you make conscience of all the Commandements of the Lord But what meane these secret corners and haunts I mean those which conscience and God heare of not what I heare of for I know nothing but by them What meane all these secret conveyances that you have to make away and hide your lusts with that you may live in them and not be knowne so to doe What meanes your drunkennesse in a corner your adultery in a corner your hypocrisie and covetousnesse lukewarmenesse and coldnesse carelesnesse and earthly mindednesse Yet men will not be out-faced they will beare a man downe still that it is so Then I have no other way but this with you looke what a man doth by a debtor that saith the debt is paid and will face him downe that it is so yet the Booke is not crossed What will this Creditor do now Why then to your Bookes he goes and cals in the servant that takes in the reckonings and saith Doe you remember it No saith the servant you gave me good words divers times when I called on you for it but no money was paid why then I never had it So brethren you say that you are holy we will call
no more Though thou loose this weeke that thou maist gather it up the next weeke worke so much the more and the harder The Lord be mercifull to us where are those honest men to be found brethren that desire to doe thus Me thinke I heare you in your souls now saying good Lord what will become of our towne good Lord what will become of our neighbours they talke of honesty and this is honesty but alas their life agrees not to it You complaine of trading in the world almost no trust to be put in any every man almost is turned banckrupt I am sure brethren it is true in Religion He that was a forward Christian a while agoe is a drunkard now or a gamester now And he that was a forward Professour and would goe to a Sermon foure or five mile in a morning and come home againe and to worke hard to get up the time againe But now God hath given him a pretty estate in this world he is turned a very muck-worme become covetous or a loose one Though I doe not know you brethren I am sure brethren there are a number such abroad in this land and I doubt not but you can point at such here in this congregation and say that is such a man and that is such a man he still seeks to hold in with his Minister and would faine be counted a Professour but O there is no life nor heart nor power of godlinesse in him he is grown starke cold since I knew him the world hath a part of his heart his pleasure another his profit another idlenesse and ease another he may even lay the key under the threshold for any found Religion and true grace indeed he is quite downe the winde But you will say haply that I thinke too hardly of you I know you not I hope brethren there are many of you godly the Lord increase your number and his graces that are in you but I am sure if you come to the ballance you shall finde few that are sound and godly Christians indeed that will hold weight Let us search a little Why you will say I hope we are honest men the most of us we pay every man his due It is well you doe so but I will bring in a bill now brethren which if you cannot prove to be cancelled woe be to you This Doctrin casts out aboundance in all places Vse at this doore and at that doore and packs them out and will leave poore thin congregations We will scan the case a little brethren First hence it is cleare that the poore ignorant creature is gone he is quite blown up if he so continue he knows nothing in this kinde he knows not how to count twentie shillings how shall he satisfie a debt of twentie pound that is to say brethren they know not God not understand the prayers that they make they say the Lords Prayer Lords Prayer and it is good to be used in its time but doe you please God in so doing when you understand not what you say one sayes Hallowed be thy Name when he knows not what Gods name is and what it is to hallow it Another sayes Thy Kingdome come when he knows not what it is to have his kingdome come You cannot count your money yet you cannot discerne a six pence from a groat that is to say brethren you know not what it is to pray and to heare the word you know not what it is to take the Name of God reverently into your mouthes And so some will call God Father but they know not how he is their Father nor how they come to be his children These are gone they are carnall they have not pay therefore certainly cannot pay the Lord his due 2. There is another generation worse then these and those are profane ones that set themselves professedly to run to rerages with the Lord scorne all means God hath appointed to bring in his debts by they will be drunke sweare profane the Sabbath scoffe at such as refraine their foot from evill Isa 59.15 Tell them God requires other things of them that they keep not touch with him and he expects other things at their hands and that they run in rerages with the Lord for his rent and that he will arrest them and confound them if they doe not pay him his rent for the time to come They say they purpose no other payment then he hath already at their hands but let God get his own as he can they will take their own course still Is there any such here brethren There are too many such in the world and I feare too some among you though you pretend faire and say not so openly yet you say so by your deeds brethren for you will have this privy haunt and that secret evill way take this and that wicked course you resolve of it and will doe it let the Lord get his own if he can So he will I warrant you Looke to it you that think to brave it with the Lord when you are among your cups and companions and to make your part good with him to out-brave all judgements and who shall arrest you the Lord will plucke the cup out of thy hands and arrest thee with death and a thousand devils shall lay hold on thee and drag thee to hell to torment thee for ever God will have his rent one way or other Thinke of it you that set your mouthes against heaven and what hath the Minister to doe to speake against you you will out face God and Minister and Gospell and all and thinke to goe away scot-free Looke to it God will get his own he will have it of thee as he had it out of Iulian the Apostate I will all edge but one place to you for this purpose and that is Deut. 29.18 the Text sayes Deut. 29.18 That if there be any root of bitternesse among them vers 19. Vers 19. That when he heareth the curse of the Lord shall yet blesse himselfe in his heart saying he shall escape and doe well enough for all that The Text sayes Vers 20. That the wrath of the Lord shall smoake against that man and he shall blot out his name from under heaven Oh that this verse were imprinted upon the palme of the hand of every drunkard and every scoffer and profane one that walks after the stubbornnesse of his own heart and addes drunkennesse to thirst and yet you thinke to goe away with it and so you may for a time and these words breake no bones and all this winde shakes no corne with you you hope to goe to heaven as well as the best you will drinke and whore and yet it shall go well with you in the end and you are proud and stout and stubborn and stiffe-necked against the Lord and the voyce of his word and yet you blesse your selves and promise to your selves peace Marke what