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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	affliction_n	great_a	sin_n	1,620	5	5.2580	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23622	The life & death of Mr. Joseph Alleine, late teacher of the church at Taunton, in Somersetshire, assistant to Mr. Newton whereunto are annexed diverse Christian letters of his, full of spiritual instructions tending to the promoting of the power of Godliness, both in persons and families, and his funeral sermon, preached by Mr. Newton.	Alleine, Theodosia.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Alleine, Joseph, 1634-1668. Christian letters full of spiritual instructions.; Newton, George, 1602-1681. Sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. Joseph Alleine.	1672 (1672)	Wing A1013_PARTIAL; Wing N1047_PARTIAL; ESTC R19966	231,985	333

very subject to misplace our grief and to mistake the Ground and Object of our sorrow So did these Daughters of Jerusalem you see they wept where they should not and they wept not where they should And therefore Christ Corrects their Sorrow in the Text Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your Children A great part of the sin and corruption that hath invaded humane nature consists in the disorder and distemper of our passions and affections lies especially in two things either when we miss the right object or transgress the just measure When they are either ill placed or ill proportioned When we mistake in either of them When we are troubled where we should not or too much troubled where we should we are much to be condemned And both of these we are very subject to The first is pertinent to our purpose we are extreamly apt to grieve and to be troubled where we should not It is no wonder that we find Esau faulty here mistaken in the object of his sorrow He sought Repentance and sought it carefully with tears as you may see Heb. 12. 17. But what Repentance did he seek with tears Alas he missed his mark he sought not his own but his Fathers Repentance feign he would have his Father to Repent of his pouring out the blessing on his younger brother Jacob and consequently to revoke it and to call it back again But when he saw that was not to be done and heard his Father say I have blessed him and he shall be blessed he lifted up his voice and wept Gen. 27. 38. Yea the Apostles and Disciples of our Saviour Christ himself mistook in this that they misapplyed their sorrow They were extreamly grieved and troubled that Christ was ready to depart and to withdraw his fleshly presence from them Whereas he tells them plainly It is expedient for you that I go away John 16. 7. It is not only expedient for me but it is expedient for you so that here was no real cause of grief and sorrow And hence our Saviour puts a stop upon it John 14. 1. Let not your hearts be troubled q d. I see that you misplace your grief Come it must not be so I will not have it to be so lot not your hearts be troubled Poor Mary was greatly at a loss in this particular she stood besides the sepulcher of Christ Weeping John 11. 20. Why what 's the matter The Body of the Lord is gone Had she found him dead there it seems she had been very well content So that her grief and sorrow was in deed although she did not understand it and intend it so that Christ was Risen She should have wept over an unbelieving heart that doubted of the Resurrection of her Saviour and not over an empty Grave from which his Body was deliver'd God having loosed the pains of Death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it Acts 2. 24. I might add other instances but these may satisfie to clear the point That we are very subject to misplace our grief and to mistake the ground and object of our sorrow And there are two especial causes of it viz. Either because our understanding is 〈◊〉 or our Affections are mislaid Reas. 1 Sometimes we are very subject to misplace our grief because our understanding is misled We do not Judg aright of that which is indeed the only or the greatest cause of trouble Some apprehend their tears are fitter to be spent on their Afflictions then their sins They see no great hurt in sin but they feel much in Affliction Affliction is a grievous thing to them but corruption is not so There is a principle in Nature which makes a man averse from penal evil but there is none at all that maketh him averse from sinful evil so that a man needs nothing else but Nature to make him sensible of penal evils of Afflictions but he needs more then Nature to make him sensible of sin And hence it is because the greater part of men have nothing else but Nature in them that they are so exceedingly affected with the one and so regardless of the other Now these affections follow apprehensions as they always do They are mistaken in their judgments and so they misapply their passions They look upon their sins as small matters but they amplifie their troubles and afflictions as he in the Poet I am ten times twenty times an hundred times miserable And hence they weep for their afflictions and will not be comforted while they have not a tear to spend upon their sins And this in probability was Israels case Ier. 30. 15. They were extreamly troubled at the miseries that were upon them but they were little troubl'd at their sins They cryed because of their Afflictions they did not only sigh and mourn and grieve and weep but more then so they cry'd aloud which shews extremity of sorrow But we hear nothing of any sorrow for their sins And therefore God comes in and interrupts them why what 's the matter with you can you tell why you take on in this fashion Why criest thou for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine Iniquitie because thy sins are increased And so for penal evils they mistake there too They think that Temporal Judgments are greater and heavier then spiritual judgments They take the bodily plague to be worse then the plague of the heart a famine of Corn then the famine of the word and so they grieve more for the one then for the other and they had rather lose their Saviour then their 〈◊〉 That is the first reason then why we misplace our grief Because our understanding is misled 2. The second is Because our Affection is misled I mean our love for love is the commander of our other passions It is the first and great wheel of the soul that carries all the rest about and governs them as it pleaseth Love is the strongest of the passions and Affections and therefore all the rest yield to it and are greatly sway'd by it And by this means it comes to pass that if we misplace our Love we are in danger to misplace our sorrow For we shall surely grieve for that most which we love best whether it be best or not Oh what a deal of vain unnecessary sorrow do many throw themselves into by misapplying this Affection Their love is setled where it should not be or it is stronger then it ought to be to such a friend to such a comfort to such a relation and when they find a disappointment by the removall or the change of that which they have set their hearts too much upon their grief is answerable to their love Strong affections especially when they miscarry in the object of them do cast men into strong Afflictions Oh how was David overcome with the death of Absalom though yet indeed the cutting of him off was

a great and signal mercy to himself and to his people And therefore Joab even rates him for it 2 Sam. 19. 5 and following verses Saith he Thou hast sham'd this day the faces of all thy servants who have sav'd thy life and the life of thy Sons and of thy Daughters and thy Wives Since thou hast 〈◊〉 thine Enemies and hated thy Friends and hast declar'd this day that thou regardest neither Princes nor Servants And I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day it would have pleased thee well You see the reason of his immoderate and overflowing sorrow for him was his inordinate Affection to him Which was so out of measure great that when he heard the news his passion wrought and he was hasting to a room to give it vent But alas he cannot hold till he come thither but discharges at the stairs as he is going up 2 Sam. 18. 33. He wept as he went and said O my Son Absalom my Son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my Son my Son You see then both that and why we are so ready to misplace our grief and to misapply our sorrow Use. The application of the point shall be for Caution and Direction both together To watch our hearts against it that so we lay not out our tears amiss Be circumspect that you do not misplace your grief and that you do not mistake the ground and object of your sorrow like these poor Daughters of Jerusalem who wept where they should not and wept not where they should Oh what a deal of grief do some men waste away when there is no cause at all How do many men take on when they are crost in prosecution of their lusts and hindred in their sins which is in deed a great mercy Oh what floods of tears do some men pour 〈◊〉 upon a petty flight occasion at a trifling accident Beloved tears if they be shed aright are precious things God puts them up into his Bottle as if they were of great value And yet some lay them out on nothing How will they weep and grieve at any disappointment in their small affairs any miscarriage in their business any little petty loss any unkindness from their friends or neighbours any affront or provocation in the least degree nay if they be but crossed in their wills though it be best indeed they should All their sorrow is bestowed on little trifling inconsiderable things Why my beloved have ye not other manner of things then these to grieve for what think you of your own sias with all their bloody aggravations what think you of the horrible Abominations and woful desolations of the Land And of all the wrath of God that hath been lately manitested and reveal'd from Heaven against us more ways then I am able to express I might be very large in shewing you particularly and distinctly both what you should and what you should not grieve for and giving you directions from the word of God about it But because the time spends and I would not be prevented of that which I have principally in my eye I shall pass over many other things that so I may apply my self to the occasion Methinks I see the clouds gather and return after the Rain And out of question many of you are come hither with a sufficient 〈◊〉 of sorrow your hearts are full of grief and your souls full of trouble and your bottles full of tears brim full You have drawn water and are ready to pour it our before the Lord this day My work shall be to guide you and direct you with our Saviour in the Text how to bestow these tears and how to spend this sorrow that you may not weep in vain I say to you as Christ doth to the Daughters of Jerusalem with a little alteration weep not for him whom the Lord hath taken from you but weep for your selves and for your Children 1. Weep not for him I know the loss of such an Able Faithful Painful zealous Minister of Christ as he was ought to be very much bewailed Men of such hidden worth as he had in him and of such publick use and service in the Church should not be raked up in their Graves without tear and lamentations Joash a wicked King wept for a good Prophet and that with very great affection 2 Kings 13. 14. He wept over his face and said My Father my Father the Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof And if you mark the carriage of the Saints when such as he I mean our dear and worthy Brother have been taken from them it would warrant all the tears you have to spend on this occasion In the first of Kings 13. 30. You find a Prophet burying a Prophet and melting over him when he Inter'd him He laid his Carcase in the Grave and mourned over him and said alass my Brother How solemnly did Israel lament the death of Samuel and made their grief as remarkable and publick as their loss 1 Sam. 25. 1. It is observed of Stephen that he was carried by devout men to his burial with great lamentation Acts 8. 2. And God forbid that such an one as we have lost should die away as if he were not desired that he would steal into his Grave as if there were no notice taken of his Death No my Beloved weep and weep on sit down and weep till you can weep no more yet still I say weep not for him Your loss is unaccomptable indeed and time perhaps will shew it to be greater then as yet you see But tell me my Beloved is he a loser any way Nay is he not an infinite gainer Is not this best of all for him Indeed to have continued in the flesh was better for you as the Apostle states the case when he was 〈◊〉 Phil. 1. 24. But for him it was far better to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Now he enjoys a 〈◊〉 deliverance from all Corruptions all Temptations all Afflict 〈◊〉 A full return of all his Prayers and Breathings after God and Christ in which he was transported when he was drawing near his Glory A full reward of all his tiring and incessent Labours Oh blessed soul You know a Voice from Heaven hath said Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their Labours and their works follow them Therefore I say weep not for him There is one thing I must confess that makes this Providence the sadder to us You know it is the Prophet Davids Prayer Psal. 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my daies The Lord indeed hath taken him away in the midst of his days and in the midst of his Ministry But is he gone to Heaven too soon Too soon indeed for you but not for him Is he got home to his Fathers house too soon Is he with God and Christ and Angels and glorified Saints too

me all my dayes I am full and running over And now I charge you to walk chearfully and to follow me with your Praises whilst I am alive And for such in the Family as lay under doubts of their condition he took great care of them endeavouring daily to satisfie their Doubts and answer their Scruples and still would be enquiring whether they had yet any more settlement And if they said they knew not how to try themselves he would say Come let me help you and so would take them aside and propound some three or four sound Marks by way of Question and would ask them whether it were so with them or not And if any doubt appeared to remain about it he would not easily leave them till they were somewhat satisfied at that time and would bring all down to the 〈◊〉 Capacity by putting his Questions several wayes And if yet doubts remained he would use all the compassion and pitifulness that might be and open to them the goodness of God's Nature the sufficiency of Christ and his readiness to accept returning Sinners and after long tryal by fairer means would plainly labour to convince 〈◊〉 of the Sin of Unbelief c. And for any in the Family that seemed to stick under bare Convictions he much urged 〈◊〉 to go on and make a through and sound and sure work of it In Family Duties he seemed more excellent than at other times He was a man of singular patience in Affliction Though he lay under such weakness for certain years as rendered him almost wholly unable for his publick Work and many times not able to move a Hand or Finger or hardly any other part yet some that have been much with 〈◊〉 never heard him once complain of one pain or other unless any askt him and then would alwayes make the least of it And when he lay many nights and never took the least 〈◊〉 by sleep he would never shew the least impatiency nor so much as say he had not slept unless it were askt him And still would justifie and 〈◊〉 God and say Shall I receive good at God's hand and no evil Speaking of Exhortations and Reproof he said It 's the safest course where it may be done to take the opportunity and not to suffer our backward hearts to cheat us of the present on pretence of staying for a fitter time As advice for profitable Discourse he said It is good for such Christians as need it to study before-hand what to speak that they may alwayes have something in readiness to bring forth for the benefit of others which will prevent impertinencies Of Prayer with others he would say We have need to watch against confining our Thoughts and Desires to the cases of our own Souls with the neglect of those that joyn with us but above all with the neglect of the miserable World and of the Church of Christ. For though indeed Hypocrites use to Indite almost all their publick Prayers from the supposed case of those that are present and meddle but little with their own sins and wants unless in formality Yet sincere Christians are at first too apt to dwell upon their own Cases almost alone insomuch that they have need to be called outward and as they grow in Love they will grow enlarged in the case of their Brethren but especially of Publick and Universal Consequence CHAP. VIII An intire and exact Delineation of this Holy Person Written by one of his familiar Acquaintance presented in the last place as the Portraiture of a compleat Gospel-Minister First His Personal Character His Stature and Complexion AS to his Personal Bodily Character He was of Stature tall and erect of Complexion clear and lovely his Countenance being the seat of chearfulness gravity and love It contradicted that usual saying viz. Fronti 〈◊〉 fides for his spritely serene Countenance was the Index of an active and harmonious Soul Anger as it seldom beclouded so 〈◊〉 became not that Face most uncapable of sowr impressions It was forc'd and so not of long continuance for it never appeared but upon Summons when commanded to interpose it self the Glory of GOD and Honour of Religion being concern'd Neither did his Reason and Vertue sooner raise than lay it when the Cause was ceased He was angry and sinned not by being angry chiefly or only for sin His Constitution He had not a more hail Complexion than healthful Constitution hugely fitted for the Employment in which he was so successful viz. His Ministerial Labours and Studies Insomuch that he hath often been heard to confess that he knew not what an hours sickness or indisposition was for thirty years and upward even until after his first Imprisonment to which as it is else-where intimated it may well be thought that he owed the first and fatal impairs of his healthful vigour Since which first decay it may be affirmed that contrariwise for some years together till the period of his life he scarce knew what was an hours health Most deplorable it is that his great and even excessive labours and hard durance should have been prodigal of that strength which might perchance have been hitherto employed to the most noble purposes But alas the innocent flames of Divine Love to GOD and Zeal for his Glory and the good of Souls made all his strength a whole burnt Sacrifice and as well devoted as if sacrificed to the flames of Martyrdom His Judgment And here some injury would be done to his Worthy Name should his internal Excellencies which are of all the greatest be wholly forgotten His Judgment was as the Pot of Manna wherein were found and conserved all wholesome Soul-feeding-Doctrines most solid and accute it was For though with the Eye of his Body he could not see far off yet with the Eye of his mind or understanding he penetrated far into the recesses of difficult Truths and out of mental 〈◊〉 he was wont happily to extricate himself and others the toyl of his Intellect herein being not so pleasant as successful He was all judgment in his enquiries after Truth and all affection in pursuing and promoting that which is good His Memory His Memory was as the Tables of the Covenant GOD's LAW being his Meditation Day and Night and as the Sacred Records there kept It was a most Faithful and Refined Treasury out of which he continually brought Things New and Old for the Instruction and Consolation of his Hearers So 〈◊〉 it was that it needed not and wholly refused those helps by which it is usually fortified and its defects supplyed It knew not the slavery of an imposed task for what had once engaged his love was without delay or difficulty 〈◊〉 of his Mind or Memory His Phansie His Phansie was as Aarons Rod budding ever producing fresh 〈◊〉 of refined Divine Wit and Invention It was quick and happy a fruitful Store-house of hallowed and 〈◊〉 Notions Ever pregnant yet never bringing forth any other than the Off-springs of

soon What doth he wish that he were back again with you Hath he his everlasting Rest too soon His glorious Recompence too soon Brethren he wrought a pace you know while he had strength and finished the work that God had given him to do betime So that it is no wonder though he hath his wages early sooner then such dull heavy Slugs as we are His life was short indeed though filled up with Grace and Duty and God hath made but an exchange of an Eternal one for it He was a burning and a shining light burning with enflamed Affections till the Oyl was spent and shining in an exemplary Conversation But this Lamp is not extinguished but only lighted up to flame and shine in a more glorious place And there he shall shine forth as the Sun for ever and ever So that I may say still weep not for him 2. But you will ask me For whom shall we weep then I answer for your selves and for your Children 1. Weep for your selves The Lord you see hath made a woful breach upon you as it is said of 〈◊〉 1 Sam 6. 8. And that your hearts remain unbroken they are unsutable to this heavy dispensation God hath remov'd his holy faithful servant not into a blind corner but into a dark pit The Grave hath newly shut her mouth upon him he is gone hence to be no more in this world You shall behold him now no more in the Land of the Living Your eyes shall see your Teacher here no more for ever You shall now be no more enlightened with his clear instructions No more enliven'd with his zealous Exhortations No more quickned with his fervent Prayers No more warm'd with his heavenly Discourses No more chear'd with his sweet Consolations No more guided by his holy Example The Lord hath made him up among his Jewels because indeed we were not worthy of such a precious Gemme as he was He hath in anger and displeasure pluckt away one of our Pillars as if he meant the House should fall And shall we be insensible of such a stroke Shall we have tears enough to waste upon our petty Losses and not to have a tear to spend on this Inestimable and Irreparable one Brethren you are allow'd to weep here though not for him yet for your selves And that especially in two respects 1. For the sins that you have done for they have made this sad work They are the true and real cause of all your Losses They are your sins that binder good things that they come not to you or take them quite away when they are come If God carry you a side into a Wilderness and strip you naked there of any mercy as if he meant to 〈◊〉 you to the purpose Your waies and your doing I have procured you these things such is your wickedness Believe it you have sinned some way or other against the Mercy which the Lord takes from you They are our sins against the Ordinances of the Lord that cause the Lord to take away our Ordinances from us They are our sins against the Ministers of Christ in that capacity as Ministers that provoke him to remove our Ministers from us yea many times to take away the Candlestick and Light together You may take up the Lamentation of the Church this day The Crown is faln from our heads wo to us for we have sinned They are our sins that 〈◊〉 and Impair and Kill our Ministers who are indeed the Churches Crown and the glory of Christ. Sometimes we overvalue them and then we kill them with kindness Sometimes we undervalue them and then we kill them with neglect and 〈◊〉 them do their work with grief Sometimes we are 〈◊〉 and unthankful and unfruitful and God calls away his Workmen out of the Vineyard that will yield no better Fruit. Nay sometimes we decline and grow remiss and cold and slat we lose our love to God and Christ and then he takes away our Beloved comforts from us And let me tell you some of you have backslidden grievously and sensibly abated of your former Zeal and Holiness and strictness in the Waies of God Yea sinned scandalously to the dishonour of Religion and the Gospel This grieved our dear Brother who will grieve no more now I had it from his Mouth and Pen how tenderly he took some late miscarriages and how near they went to him These things brought him low among you who was low enough before and made him to bewail many who have manifestly sinned and have not repented as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 12. 21. Oh how it wounded him after so many Labours and so many Sufferings for your establishment and confirmation to see such declinations and backslidings He might have said with the Apostle 1 Thes. 3. 8. Now I live if you stand fast in the Lord if not I die and dead he is Oh my dear Friends What have your sins done What hath your barrenness and your unfruitfulness and your backsliding done I know you lov'd him with a very high affection and have made it to appear in many outward declarations to your great praise But the best way to shew your love to the true Ministers of Christ Who seek not yours but you who seek not profit and applause but Fruit is to bear their just reproofs and to be amended by them to hear and obey them in their regular directions to follow all their good Examples For the Ministers of Christ are Samplers to the flock and Samplers must be wrought after And in a word to bring them in the return of all their Labours in Holiness and holy Walking that they may see the travel of their souls and be satisfied Nothing but this will satisfie them and make them do their work with Joy I know you lov'd him as there was cause enough you should but say in truth have you Improv'd him I am assur'd that many of you a considerable number have Improv'd him to the utmost of your power That you have made the most you could of his Indefatigable and Incessant pains among you That you have gather'd up the very Fragments of the Bread of Life and pick'd up the very Crums that nothing might be lost That you have eyed his exemplary Conversation and walked according to your pattern And this I make no question is no small comfort to you in this doleful day But have you all done this Are there no secret Stitches at the Hearts of any of you upon this consideration He spent his strength indeed among you he wasted and consumed himself that you might flourish But tell mee have there been answerable Fruits among you of Holiness and Obedience When he Fed you have you prosper'd He got a poor lean wither'd Body that you might have fat Souls And are you all fat and well liking Oh what lean Souls have some of you who have attended on his Ministry even to his dying day How hath your rich and fat Pasture been

cast away upon you So that our Brother might have said in reference to many as the Prophet did I have spent my strength in vain However he is glorious with his God But I am very much afraid that many of you will find this holy witness who is now ascended Witnessing against you when the day of trial comes Dear Friends Be not offended if I tell you that your sins have had a stroke in the Sickness and the Weakness and the death of your deservedly beloved Minister They were our sins that killed Christ He was bruised for our iniquities and broken for our sins He bare our sins in his Body on the Tree And so they are our sins that kill the Ministers of Christ. You have often seen your Saviour slain before you by and for your sins Now you have seen a holy Minister of his slain by the same hands And yet your sins live still to do more such work and the Lord knows where it will end There is no Execution done upon them who have done such dreadful Execution in our view Oh let your hearts break and your Tears run down till your Lusts be broken mortified and destroyed or else they will break you and destroy you If you have any love to Christ to the Ministers of Christ or to your Selves you may see cause enough to weep though not for our deceased Brother yet for your selves and for your sins That 's the first thing then weep for the sins that you have done 2. For the Judgments that now you may be like to suffer To this our Saviour referreth in the Text weep for your selves and for your children That is for the extremity of Wrath and 〈◊〉 V engeance that is about to come on you and them Even so say I to you my Brethren with the Apostle James 5. 1. Go to now weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you Oh let not that complaint of the Prophet Isaiah 57. 1. Be renewed against you The Righteous perisheth and no man laieth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the Righteous is taken away from the evil to come Our dear Brother now deceased was a Righteous man yea a Preacher of Righteousness The Lord you see hath taken him away Oh what evil is to come When such as he are hous'd what dreadful storms may there be like to fall Brethren the holy Ministers of God are the peoples Life-guard The Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof 2 Kings 13. 14. They are anointed Cherubs that Cover They are a Shelter and a Covering from the Storm and from the Rain Sometimes they are called Shepherds and the business of a Shepherd is to keep and save the Flock Sometimes they are called Angels and Angels are the Guardians of the Lords people They Guard and Cover and Protect a People Now this they do while they instruct them so to walk that wrath may not come upon them while they Intercede with God and stand up in the breach to keep out the Indignation that is flowing in upon it A praying Minister and such a one have you lost one that bare you on his Heart continually before the Lord as Aaron did the names of Israel on his Breast-plate I say a praying Minister is a Protection to the People It s true the fervent Prayers of the meanest Saint are an Incredible defence to any place to save it from the shokes of God And therefore even they are stiled Intercessors Isa. 59. 16. Because they mediate with God when he is Angry and by their zealous Supplications hold his hands But yet however though it be a certain truth that God hath much respect to the Petitions of his weakest Servants yea though perhaps some private Christians may Excel a holy Minister in Prayer yet God hath more regard to the Intreaties of his faithful Ministers who have a special Charge and commission to be his Remembrancers for the good of that People which he 〈◊〉 to their charge and their Petitions are of more avail and power with God both to Procure his Blessings and avert his Judgments Moses and Aaron among the Priests and Samuel among them that call on his Name They called upon the Lord and he answered them Psal. 99. 6. Why doubtless so he heard the Prayers of his other Saints But these his holy Priests and Prophets had the Ear of God as special Favourites have their Princes Ears and could be Heard and Answered when others were denied Access and Audience And this is not obseurely Intimated in that Protestation of the Lord to Israel concerning their approaching Desolation Ezek. 14. 14. Though these three men Noah Daniel and Job were in it they should deliver but their own souls By which he insinuates that when the absolute Decree is once gone forth it can by no means be revok'd so he suggests withal that if it had been feasible these holy 〈◊〉 would have done it q. d. were those three men in Israel they would put me to it hard and try me shrewdly to forbear the Land I should be hardly able to deny them He said he would destroy them had not Moses stood before him in the breach to turn away his wrath Psal. 106. 23. Oh how did Moses stand against him and bind the Hands of the Almighty when he was about to strike So that the Lord intreats and flatters with him to let him alone Exod. 32. 10. While such as Moses are Intercessors for a People God forbears he holds his Hands and restrains his Indignation as he that means to strike observes what strength there will be likely to oppose him And when he looks and sees that there is no Intercessor then he goes on with his design Isa. 59. 16. Then his Arm brings Salvation to him and he puts on the Garments of Vengeance Brethren you are in greater danger then you are aware by the removal of your Praying Minister For you have lost one Intercessor if any breach should happen between God and you Yea you have lost your Covering if a storm of Wrath should fall So that it may be said of you as it was once of Israel when Moses was a way that you are naked And what are you in Laodicea's case indeed Do you not know that you are naked Are you naked and are you not afraid Are you naked and not ashamed This would become a state of Innocence indeed in which it was observed of Adam and his Wife that they were both naked and were not 〈◊〉 Gen. 2. 5. But will it suit with such a state of sin and danger as the best of you are in Do you not find your selves uncovered Have you no sense and feeling of it Especially at such a time as this when the Judgments of the Lord are abroad upon the Earth upon the Land upon this very place in which you live more waies then I am able to express Alas alas you are uncovered whether you know it