I think in the world Besdes the singular helps in Print those excellent Tracts both Polemical and Practical compare but our large Annotations with the Dutch Annotations and you will see what cause wee have to bee thankful in this kinde All these things make us deeply indebted to our God but had wee ten thousand times more Priviledges than wee have yet if wee walk not up unto them and answer them with obedience wee are an undone people The greater our Priviledges the nearer to Judgement if wee abuse them Shiloh was for a time priviledged with the Tabernacle and the Ark those visible pledges of Gods special presence and residence amongst them but they abusing these mercies were given up to Judgements Ier. 7. 12. And if England go on in sinning as it hath done of late and proceed in its Hypocrise Blasphemy Apostasie Heresie Witchcraft Formality Prophaneness and abuse of Gods favours c. wee must certainly expect some sweeping judgement It is not Priviledges it is not Circumcision nor Uncircumcision it is not those outward Prerogatives that make us acceptable to God but a new creature Gal. 6. 15. either new men or no men in Gods esteem Let us then become an holy people and wee shall bee an happy people Let us answer our Priviledges with self-denying hearts and lives that as God hath done more for us than for others so wee may do more for him than others that as hee hath given us distinguishing mercies so wee may answer them with distinguishing manners not living like the men of the world Exod. 19. 4 5. that the Lord may rejoyce over us to do us good and may shew us yet greater things than these 5 Obs. Abuse of mercies loseth mercies God had done much for Ephraim hee had not been to him a barren wilderness or a land that was not sown but hee brought him out of the wilderness miraculously delivered him out of Egyt freely adopted him for his own planted him in a fat pasture even a land flowing with milk and honey gave him his Law and sent to them many extraordinary Prophets but they instead of exalting God who had exalted them grew proud and insolent forgetting the God of all their mercies and confiding in Kings and Princes kissing the Calves and sacrificing to Baal who could not save them and then they dyed Hos. 13. 1. to 12. when hee began to fight against God with his own mercies and to abuse the health wealth and blessings which God had given him to the dishonour of the donor then hee lost his riches strength glory Kingdome and all Then comes the Assyrian like an East-wind and sweeps away all before his name was fruitfulness but now God threatens them with emptiness barrenness driness of roots fruits branches springs even the loss of all As all the world had been witnesses of Gods special favour to them so now they should be witnesses of their just confusion when men honour not the Lord with their riches but kiss their own hands and sacrifice to their own Nets when like beasts they bite the hand that feeds them and crop the tree that shelters them it is just with God to take all from them Hos. 2. 8 9. Neh. 9. 7. to 25. Wee have a large Catalogue of Gods singular mercies Vers. â—6 wee read how they abused those mercies vers 27 28. wee read of Gods judgements on them for abusing those blessings So Psal. 106. 9 10 11. wee see Gods mercies vers 13. to 39. wee have the abuse of them and vers 40. 41 42. Judgements follow It is usually seen that where the Lord bestows the greatest mercies there hee oft receives the greatest indignities where hee gives most honour there hee receives most dishonour When Iesurum is fat and full then hee kicks Deut. 32. 15. Ephraim here was a son and had all the priviledges of a son the greater was his sin to rebel against that God who had been so tender to him 1 Hee had Dilection when Israel was a childe God loved him Hos. 11. 1. 4. 2 Direction hee taught him how to go and sent Ionah Amos Hosea and other Prophets to instruct him Hos. 11. 3. 3 Correction as a father corrects his children for their good so did God by Ephraim Hos. 5. ult and 6. 1 2. 4 Provision Fathers provide for their children so did God for Ephraim Hee made him fruitful amongst his brethren and sed him in a large pasture Hos. 13. 6. 5 Protection hee was their King who saved them from their enemies Hos. 13. 10. God hath done as great things for England all things considered as ever hee did for Ephraim hee hath been a tender Father to us hee hath blessed us abundantly both in Church and State Hee hath broken the power and policy of many subtil Achitophels and great Zanzummims Giants and sons of Anak Hee hath made Mountains a plain before us and though fierce men have rid over our heads yet hath hee brought us through fire and water into a wealthy place For Englands sake hee hath sent to Babylon and brought down all their Nobles Hee hath bound even Kings and Princes in chains and their followers in links of iron Hee hath made the wicked to bow before the good and the evil at the gates of the righteous No Nation so blessed of our God as wee and no Nation that hath worse requited the Lords blessings than wee have done As hee hath loaded us with mercies so wee have loaded him with Blasphemies Heresies Apostasies no favours can win us no benefits binde us if God had been our deadly enemy wee could not have acted more ignobly and disingenuously against him than wee have done It is a Miracle of mercy that hee yet continues his mercies to us and that he hath not long ago stripped us naked as in the day when wee were born Hos. 2. 3. Wee have rendred evil to the Lord for all his goodness to us and therefore wee may justly fear that evil should pursue us Prov. 17. 13. if hee shall bee punished that renders evil for evil to man what shall bee done to him that renders evil for good and that to his God who never did him hurt The good Lord humble us for all our ungrateful and dis-ingenuous walking before him who hath been so good and gracious to us and grant that at last wee may know and acknowledge the God of our mercies lest an East-wind come and bereave us of all for though at present wee have peace and plenty and fresh springs of mercy round about us yet God can suddenly dry up all our springs and bring a plundring Assyrian from the East or West upon us for those Metathorical winds as well as the Natural are all his servants that shall quickly rob us of all our pleasant things Let us not therefore flatter our selves and think that because at present wee have peace therefore no evil shall come upon us for if England go on to sin
pains of a woman in travel are sharp exquisit and extream sorrows the bitterness whereof that sex can witness Such pangs the Scripture oft makes the emblems of extream anguish and distress Psal 48. 6. Esay 26. 17 18. and 37. 3. Ier. 6. 28. and 22. 23. and 49. 24. Micai 4. 9 10. Gal. 4. 19. So the calamities which were coming upon this people were not slight sorrows but such as brought desolation with them 2. The longer a dead birth is concealed and carried in the womb the more dangerous and difficult is the travel Ephraim had for a long time concealed his sin and therefore now his pangs are like to be so much the more grievous 3. If the birth be living the greater the birth and the longer they go with it the sharper are the pangs so the longer God bears with a people and the more his Patience is a bused the more terrible will his wrath be 3. Inevitable and irresistible There 's no escaping when once the time of travelling is come Cum adest hora non datur mora So the set time of Ephraims calamities was now at hand which they should in no wise be able to avert or avoyd 2. Here is a Reason of this Commination taken from the folly of Ephraim he is and for ought I see for ever will be an unwise son which appears in his stupidity and obstinate persisting in his sins without any striving to get out of them by Repentance Ephraim is an unwise son for had he been wise he had not staid so long in the birth Object Lest Ephraim should reply that a travelling woman is soon delivered her pain may be sharp but 't is but short she hath hope not only of an end but also of a birth the joy whereof maketh her remember her anguish no more Iohn 16. 27. Answ. The Prophet replyes that 't is not so with Ephraim for he 's an unwise son that sticks long in the birth and so will be the death both of himself and mother also He useth no means to facilitate the birth or to help himself by passing through the straight gate of Repentance God stands over him stretching forth his hands all the day long to do a Midwifes office and take him from the womb to cut his navel and wash off his filth Ezek. 16. 4 9. but he had no mind to come out of his filth or to be washt from his wickedness Rather than endure the pangs of regeneration he 'l venture to stay a while at least in the very mouth of the matrix though he be stifled for his pains q. d. 'T is Ephraims sin and misery that he sticks so long in the birth were Ephraim wise he would humble himself and make his peace with God that hee might by his mercy bee delivered fully from those miserable straights where in hoe is if there were but one drop of true wisdom in him yea if hee were not utterly stupified or rather mad he would take notice of Gods judgements impendent over him and would imitate little infants who coming into the world do help themselves and strive to free themselves out of the straights and dangers of the birth so would Ephraim have endeavoured to free himself out of those calamities that have be set him by true repentance But alas so besotted and hardned is hee in his sins that hee rests content with his carnal condition never once striving or desiring to come out of this darkness into light or to be brought from under the power of Satan unto God So that in these words the Prophet doth notably inveigh against the stupidity and folly of Gods people in that they had rather stick and bee stifled in the filth of their sins lye in the mouth of death and under the pressures of Gods wrath to the destruction both of themselves and the Church which hee had before compared to a mother Hos. 2. 2 rather than extricate themselves out of this sin and misery by true repentance OBSERVATIONS 1. Where sin goeth before there sudden Certain sharp inevitable sorrows alwayes follow In the former part of the Chapter wee read of Ephraims Idolatry Pride Impenitency c. now follows The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon him flagitium flagellum sin and punishment are inseparable companions Gen. 4. 7 14. and 19. 15. Numb 32. 23. Deut. 28. 15. to 68. hence the word that wee render Iniquity signifieth pain and sorrow because the workers of iniquity bring pain and sorrow upon their own heads Iob 21. 19. Psalm 32. 10. How then should wee hare sin with a pure and perfect hatred not only odio inimicitiae but also odio aversationis hate it so as to turn from it This is the cause of all our sorrows wee may thank our sins for all our sickness pains plagues Lam. 3. 39. wee should therefore do by our sins as the Jews did by Paul whom they lookt upon as their enemy Acts 21. 27 28. when they saw him they stirred up all the people and laid hands on him saying Men of Israel help this is hee that is agaist the people against the Law and against this place So should wee encourage each other against sin and lay violent hands upon it saying Men and Brethren help this is it that destroyeth our people layeth waste our Cities opâ—poseth the Law defiles our duties and incenseth the most high against us Let us therefore purge it out of our understandings and mortifie it in our affections Considering 1. What sin is in its own nature 't is poyson dung vomit filth folly madness darkness sickness destruction death It turned Angels into Devils men into beasts light into darkness life into death and order into confusion 2. Considering what sin is in respect of God 't is a reproach and a contempt of him 2 Sam. 12. 9. 't is blasphemy rebellion enmitie Rom. 8. 7. 2. Obs. Scripture language is modest The mouth of the matrix is called the place of the breaking forth of children So the vessel wherein nature doth ease it self is called a vessel wherein there is no pleasure Jer. 22. 28. Hos. 8. 8. Thus Adam is said to know Eve and David went in to Bathshebâ— Ehud covered his feer i. e. he eased nature Iudg. 3. 24. I Sam. 24. 3. Deut. 23. 13. Adultery is called stollen waters Prov. 9. 17. and grinding to another Iob 31. 10. See Matth. 1. 18 25. and 1 Cor. 7. 3 5. The holy Ghost knowing the power of our corruption and how apt wee are to bee fired with filthy speeches therefore by an Euphâ—mismus hee putteth seemly titles upon unseemly things The Scripture doth not only command chaste and modest things but it also speaks chastly and modestly of those things Abominable then is the sin of the Popish Casuists which speak so grossely of the secrets of women in their Cases on the seventh Commandment that they become foulely guilty of the breach of it By
heightens wrath by adding sin to sin 3 The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father if hee depart from the fathers iniquity and do not walk in his steps Ezek. 18. 14 17. If a man beget a son that seeth all his fathers sin and feareth and doth not the like hee shall not dye for his fathers iniquity But if the son tread in his fathers steps hee shall bear his own iniquity and becomes accessary to his fathers sin by imitation and approbation of it Matth. 23. 32. Luke 11. 48 50. the blood of former generations had not been required of that generation if they had not been as bloody as the former But where old sins are continued and approved of by new acting of them there the old sins as well as the new are justly punished So that the threatning is not to bee understood absolutely but conditionally viz. If the children do persist in their fathers sins and walk in their wicked wayes 4 The son shall not bear the personal iniquities of the father in reference to eternal punishment God will not damn a son simply for the sin of his father it is a mans own sin which is his everlasting ruine yet hee may lay many temporal chafâ—isements upon a good son for the sin of his father The Lord in Ezek. 18. 20 23 32. seems to speak of eternal and not of temporal punishment 1 This should make Parents fearful of displeasing God lest they bring miseries not only on themselves but also on their children their Idolatry may bring a curse upon their childrens children to many generations No children in Scripture are threatned like the children of Idolaters In none of the Commandements doth God threaten to visit the sin of the fathers upon the children but onely in the second Exod. 20. 5. It is well observed by a pious and precious Divine that there are eight sins which do more especially bring Judgements on a mans Posterity whereof the first is Idolatry 2 Adultery 2 Sam. 12. 14. 3 Covenant-breaking 2 Sam. 21. 13. 4 Persecution of the godly Matth. 23. 31. to 36. Psal. 137. 7. 5 Murder 1 King 21. 21. Jer. 15. 4. 6 Oppression Job 20. 19 26. Hab. 2. 9. 7 Contempt of Magistracy and Ministry Num. 16. 32. 41. 49. 1 King 13. 33 34. 8 When men pretend Reformation and intend themselves as Iehu did Hos. 1. 4. God is very pittiful and tender over Infants as appears in that hee would not destroy Nineveh for the Infants sakes that were in ti Ionah 4 11. and in the sacking of Cities hee commands them to spare Infants Deut. 20. 14. but it is the sin of Parents which many times hardens Gods heart against them and makes him to delight in the destruction both of them and theirs yea and it hardens mens hearts against them so that they cannot but act such cruelty against them as they never intended as wee see in Hazael 2 King 8. 11 12 13. when the Prophet Elisha wept and told him what mischief hee should do to Israel viz. that hee should kill the young men and dash the Infants against the stones and rend in peeces the women with childe Am I a dog saith Hazael that I should do such things as these Hee then thought it a base and barbarous thing when hee was King Benhadads servant to act such inhumane villany upon the mothers with their infants the Prophet onely tell him that hee shall bee a King vers 13. and then when hee had changed his condition hee would also change his manners and commit all the abominations which hee mentioned Let Parents then labour for grace that they may leave a blessing and not a curse to their posterity Gen. 17. 7. Exod. 20. 6. Psal. 112. 2. If you will not pitty your selves yet pitty your little ones let not them fare the worse for you It is ill-being a wicked mans childe yea their very beasts faâ—e the worse for them Iosh. 7. 24 25. Achan was stoned and his cattel with him Wicked Egyptians bring a Murrain upon their cattel Exod. 9. 3. As a good man is a publick good the Family City Kingdome fare the better for him yea his cattel are spared for his sake Exod. 9. 4. The Lord shall sever between the cattel of Egypt and the cattel of Israel there shall nothing dye of all that is the children of Israels God blesseth the very cattel of his people and if the creature could speak it would desire to serve those that serve God Most Parents provide Inheritances for their children but oft-times they leave their sins with them too It was a sad Legacy that Ioab left to his children that one should bee a Leper another a weakling a third beg his bread 2 Sam. 3. 29. So many a man to one childe hee leaves his Murder to another his Adultery to a third his Usury to a fourth his Swearing Gehazi left a Talent of silver behinde him to his posterity but hee left the Leprosie with it Better want such mens lands and inheritances than thus to inherit their sins too 2 Let children bee humbled then for their forefathers sins that they bee not imputed to them Lâ—v. 26. 41. So did Nehemia ch 1. 6. and David Psal. 79. 8. Remember not against us iniquitates praecedentium saith the Original the sins of our forefathers Hee that sees the sins of his Predecessors and is not humbled for them approves of them and so becomes accessary to them Hence the Lord blames Belshazzar for not humbling himself for his fathers sin and punishment which hee knew of Dan. 5. 22. Let us therefore acknowledge our selves to bee the children of sinful parents and say with him Deut. 26. 5. A Syrian was my father ready to perish and with David Wee have sinned with our fathers Psal. 106. 6. and with Daniel ch 9. 8. Deprecate the punishment which is due to uâ— for their sins So Ier. 14. 20. 3 Admire the patience of the Lord that hath born so long with us who have been sinners from the womb If little ones who never sinned against the patience of God as wee have done indure such pangs sorrows sickness and death what may men of years look for who have added to original corruption a numberless number of actual transgressions If this bee done to the green tree what shall bee done to the dry If Infants who are Innocents and righteous comparatively shall scarcely bee saved where shall the ungodly and rebellious sinner appear If hee spare not little ones that lye in their mothers bowels but suffer wicked men to drag them thence where oh where shall those wicked parents appear that have been the primary cause of all this mischief and sorrow to them and have been the authors and actors of that wickedness which hath brought this misery on them It should therefore bee matter of great humiliation to us all when wee see the sharp and sore judgements that oft light upon little ones
such great places They had need to bee solid seasoned substantial peeces that have the weight of the building lying on them 4 When the Maintenance is Incompetent If a man have a great family to maintain but the means is so small that hee cannot maintain his family nor go thorow the works of his Ministery with that comfort and credit as becomes a Minister of the Gospel in such a case also it is lawful to remove Wee see it is fo in all callings if a man cannot live in one Town hee may lawfully remove to another God would have the Ministers of the Gospel not to beg but to live comfortably in their Ministery and to bee maintained not like Swine-heards but like the Ambassadors of Christ with a competent fixed honourable maintenance The Levites that had their Tythes taken from them left their stations without blame Neh. 13. 10. 5 Whereas many think that a Minister can remove at his pleasure from place to place and get what place soever pleaseth him they are much deceived for God hath decreed and fore-appointed Ministers to their places before they are born Hee hath decreed how long such a Minister shall abide in such a place and how long in such a place Act. 17. 26. and though wee are loath to remove yet when providence calls bee the means more or less it matters not wee must obey Gen. 12. 1. 4. Act. 7. 3. 5. And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground nor a hair from our heads without a providence much less can a Minister remove from one Congregation to another without a providence so that the quarrelling Quakers with the rest of that rout who rail at us when wee justly remove from place to place do not so much revile us as the Lord who is the disposer of us he is the Potter and we are the clay hee may raise us or ruine us plant us or transplant us as hee sees good and none may say unto him What dost thou It is not wee but the Holy Ghost that sets us over our flocks Act. 20. 28. Quest. But why doth the Lord remove men from place to place as hee did the Apostles sometimes why doth hee not fixe them to one place Answ. The Lord is a free agent and is not bound to give us a reason of his doings it may satisfie us that it is his good pleasure to have it so Psal. 39. 9. Matth. 11. 25 26. 2 If nothing will satisfie you without a Reason reasons enow may bee given 1 Sometimes people hate and persecute their Ministers and look upon them as a burden not a blessing it is fit such should bee eased and made to know the worth of the mercy by the wanting of it 2 Sometimes people are barren under the means of grace and do not value the Gospel according to its worth it is just with God to remove it to those who will prize it better When the Iews contemned the Gospel the Apostle left them and went to the Gentiles Act. 13. 46. The Kingdome of God shall bee taken from such and bee given to those that will bring forth the fruit of it 3 As for the Apostles there was great reason why they were not fixed to one place 1 Because the Church was then in planting but not planted 2 They were to spread the Gospel over the world and therefore were not confined to any fixed charge Caution Yet to prevent scandal these Cautions would bee remembred 1 Because many are apt to cavil and cry Ministers are covetous and remove without a cause let none remove rashly ambitiously self-seekingly but judiciously and piously for the profit and edification of the Church and the better to stop the mouthes of adversaries it were well if in such cases men would not bee their own judges but refer the hearing of the case with all its circumstances to the Presbytery or for want of that to some neighbour Ministers who are able to judge and determine the case 2 They must do what in them lyes to provide an able successour for the place they leave that the Church bee not unprovided of a faithful Pastor 3 If after all this any shall bee found to make it their trade to remove from place to place solely to get more means and shall refuse to refer their cause to the hearing and determination of sober pious judicious Ministers let them bear their shame for mee I shall never plead for such By all that hath been said wee may see 1 That some offend in the Defect whilst they hold it unlawful for a man upon any occasion to remove whereas Christ who is the Lord of the harvest hath not onely power to call Ministers but also to transfer them from one Church to another and therefore it is not in the power of any man absolutely to indent with any people to stay so long or so long with them 2 Others offend in the Excess when upon every light occasion without any urgent necessity or benefit to the Church they forsake their proper charge and chaffer for Parishes as Horse-coursers do for horses or as Seneca saith of sick men Mutationibus â—â—â—â—tur pro remediis they think to cure their sick souls with changing of their seats as the dropsie man thinks to cure his dropsie with change of drinks 15 Zachariah son to Ieroboam succeeds him both in the Throne and in his sin and hath therefore the common brandset upon him viz. That hee did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as his Fore-Fathers had done Hee was so far from repenting of the wickedness of his fore-fathers Iehu Iehoahaz Ioash and Ieroboam that hee justified them in their abominations by walking in their sinful paths This his obstinacy so incensed the Lord against him that when hee had reigned but six months hee cut him off by Shallum who killed him openly so wicked was hee and so ill-beloved that the people let him bee slain before them they did not oppose but rather approve of what was done 2 King 15. 8 9 10. This was the time of the Kingdome of Israels wane things grew worse and worse with them one judgement following in the neck of another till they were quite destroyed and one wicked King rising up as Gods executioner to do justice upon another till all was over-thrown Obs. 1 God faithfully performs what ever hee promiseth God promiseth Iehu that his seed should sit upon his Throne to the fourth Generation and see it here punctually performed and if hee thus faithfully keep promise with his enemies who daily provoke him by their ingratitude and Idolatry what will hee not do for his people who serve him sincerely Hee that thus keeps touch with his enemies will never fail his friends Though for a time hee may hide himself to try and exercise their graces yet not one tittle of all that hee hath promised shall fail 2 God is faithful in fulfilling his Threatnings though it bee long
upon Christ and his wayes and open the mouthes of the wicked to cry Behold these are the people of the Lord see how loosely and unrighteously they live Ezek. 36. 20. where the Lord hath been a Valley of Vision and bestowed much preaching if people answer not the Lords cost they muâ—t expect a burden of judgement to sight upon them Isa. 22. 1. No place was punished like Ierusalem because no place had better preaching and more priviledges Lam. 4. 6. Dan. 9. 12. They that have preaching shall one day know what it is to have Prophets amongst them Ezek 2. 5. and shall pay full dearly for their contempt of them 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. Prov. 1. 24 25. 28. 9. Isa. 5. 24 25. 30. 9 12 13. Ier 6. 19. 9. 12 13. Zach. 7. 11 12. Mat. 10. 14 15. This is the reason why Iudgements usually begin at the Sanctuary Ezek. 9. 6. and at the house of God 1 Pet. 4. 17. Rom. 2. 9. though it doth not end there but goes on to the wicked Ier. 25. 17 18 28 29. the cup begins at Ierusalem and then goes round to Egypt Vz Askelon Ekron Edom Moab c. The highest in preferment are first in punishment and if this bee done to Zion wo to Babylon Jer. 49. 12. The sins of Gods people are committed against greater light and love and bring more dishonour to God and disgrace to his truth than the sins of others and therefore of all men hee will not spare them for their iniquities as wee see in Moses Eli David Hezekiah Zachery 1 Sam. 2. 27 28 30. and 2 Sam 12. 14. Luke 1. 20. They are a people nearer to him than others and therefore hee will not bear with them as hee doth with those that know him not Numb 16. 9. Lev. 10. 2 3. Amos 3. 2. A father will sooner correct his children if they offend than strangers that hee knows not Heb. 12. 5 6. Wee can indure dung in our fields which wee cannot abide in our Parlours Wee suffer those briars to grow in the wilderness which wee cannot away with in our gardens If they bee open enemies God can better bear it but it highly provokes him to bee wounded in the house of his friends when hee shall nourish and bring up children and they shall rebel against him hee cannot hee will not brook it Isa. 1. 2 7. To shew his impartial Justice to the world 2 For the terrour of others 3 To take off the scandal that comes hereby to Religion hee will punish sin where ever hee findes it Numb 20. 12. Hee hath his fire in Zion and his Furnace in Ierusalem and is terrible in the Assembly of his Saints Psal. 68. ult 4 Obs. No Priviledges nor Prerogatives can preserve a disobedieâ—t people from ruine Ephriam here had many Priviledges as you may see Gen. 48. 16 19 20. Deut. â—3 13 14 15 16 17. where under the name of Ioseph Moses blesseth Ephraim with the precious things of Sun and Moon and the precious things of the earth as Corn Wine Gold Silver c. and prophesies that the good will of him that dwelt in the bush should dwell amongst them i. e. God would shew his special love to them as his peculiar people and not only give them outward but inward blessings also would so strengthen them that no enemy should be able to stand before them yet Ephraim sinning against the God of those mercies lost all No priviledges can shelter us if God bee against us Hee that raised us can as easily ruine us hee that exalted us can as easily abase us hee that made us famous for mercies can quickly make us infamous for judgements and consume us after hee hath done us good Iosh. 24. 20. It is not silver nor gold Prov. 11. 4. Ezek. 7. 19. Zeph. 2. ult Not men nor might that can save us if God bee against us Psal. â—0 7 8. Isa. 22. 6. to 15. Nahum 3. 12. Many trust in their swords and think by their valour and skill in war to defend themselves and possess the Land as their inheritance for ever but God tells them since they trust in the sword that they shall fall by the sword and bee cast out of all Ezek. 33. 26 27 28. if hee bee against us all is against us and if hee but stamp or hiss for an enemy they presently come against us Isa. 5. 26. Ierusalem was strongly fortified and no man thought that ever the enemy could have entred it Lam 4. 12. And if Priviledges could ever have preserved a sinful people from ruine Ierusalem had never been destroyed for they had more Priviledges than all the people in the world besides It was called the Perfection of beauâ—y and the Ioy of the whole earth and Gods own City by way of eminency Psal. 46. 4. Matth. 5. 35. so famous was it for preaching that it is called the Valley of Vision Isa. 22. 1. and they were called a people near to God the holy people that knew his Name and were blest by him above all people They had godly Magisirates as David Hezekiah Iosiah c. and zealous Prophets as Isaiah Ieremiah Ezekiel c. and after Christ and his Apostles To them pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenants and the Law and the service of God and the Promises theirs were the Fathers and of them Christ came These eight Priviledges the Apostle sets down together Rom. 9. 4 5. None better seated none more strangely delivered none had such signal Providences and glorious Ordinances all the world besides â—ay in darkness they onely were a Goshen a Land of light Gods glory his pecuâ—iar his pleasant portion and delight c. So that if any people under heaven might have been secure in respect of Priviledges it was Ierusalem yet they falling to Atheism Idolatry persecution of Gods Messengers c. they are become a desolation Sodome was a beautiful place like the Paradise of God Gen. 13. 10. Babylon was the glory of Kingdomes Isa. 13. 19. yet both the one and the other were destroyed for their lewdness and pride England is apt to boast of its Priviledges and to tell what great things God hath done for us With thankfulness it must bee acknowledged that God hath done great things for us indeed Hee hath made us as hee did Ephraim here the head of the Nations when for our sins wee might have been the Tayl. Hee hath set us above when for our horrid Apostasies and hideous Blasphemies hee might justly have have laid us beneath Hee hath made us the terrour of the Nations and given us Victory upon Victory success upon success and hath pâ—ospered us by Sea and Land blessed us with the best Laws and the best Land all things considered in the world and as if all this had not been sufficient for us hee hath given us the word and the sword Moses and Aaron Magistracy and Ministry the best