the edification of his Church and Kingdome Roote out good Lord we beseech thee all Iewish affections and Iewish opinions out of the hearts of thy people that so our prayers and supplications for the prosperity of thine inheritance and thine Anointed may be ever acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer AMEN THE SECOND SERMON VPON 2. CHRON. 6. 39. 40. COncerning the second generall proposed two points there be which require discussion or declaration The first whether this petition which Solomon here preferreth to the King of Kings were granted according to his desires The second how farre the grant made to him or how farre the practices or experiments answerable to his petition during the time that this temple stood may concerne us or the times wherein we live That Solomons petition was fully granted first the equity of the matter contained in it may perswade us for hee requests nothing at Gods hands which is for substance altogether new nothing but that which out of his free mercy and bounty he had granted unto his people before though not supplicated unto in such a solemne manner as Solomon now useth and prescribes as a patterne for others to use When Israel was in his infancy not able to speake the language of Canaan much lesse to frame his petitions according to the stile and forme of the Sanctuary the God of his father did understand his cry and was alwaies ready to give him a better answere then he could desire The cry of the children of Israel saith God is come unto me and I have also seene the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppresse them Exod. 3. 9. Might they have spoken for themselves the utmost of their request had beene only for some ease or mitigation of their present servitude and grievance but God so gracious is he sends them full deliverance and of slaves makes them a free state a royall nation Vpon the sight of Pharaohs hoste pursuing them after they had been set free the extremity of feare makes them desirous rather to returne unto their wonted thraldome then to hazard their lives for attaining that liberty whereunto God by Moses had called them Whilst thus affected they cry unto the Lord and he heares their cry although it were mingled with murmurings against Moses Exod. 14. v. 10. 11. True it is that Moses prayed whilst they murmured but God was more ready to heare then Moses to pray and therefore he saith v. 15. wherefore cryest thou unto me speak unto the children of Israel that they goe forward But for a master to redeeme his owne servants from foraigne oppression is not so strange or out of course Did God then at the prayer or instance of his servants heale his people whom he himselfe had wounded When the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt amongst them and consumed them that were in the utmost parts of the campe Numb 11. 1. The disease was acute and made quicke dispatch the medicine was as swift and speedy Then the people cried unto Moses and when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire was quenched v. 2. One branch of Solomons petition is that when Israel should goe forth to battaile against their enemies by the way which he should send them that he would then heare their prayers and supplications and iudge their cause A lively pledge of Gods favour answerable to this branch of the petition and of the immediate dependance which successe in battaile hath on faithfull prayers we have in that story Exod. 17. v. 9. 10. when Iosuah was sent by Moses appointment to fight with Amalek It came to passe when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed and when he let downe his hand Amalek prevailed Another branch of Solomons petition in this place is v. 24. That when Israel should be put to the worst before their enemies that God would be mercifull unto their sinne when they should turne againe and confesse his name and pray This was Israels case in the siege of Ai Iosuah 17. v. 7. 8. Iosuah upon the sight of this wound flies for succour to that medicine which Solomon happly from his practice prescribes For he rent his clothes and fell on his face to the earth before the Arke of the Lord and cried alas O Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backe before their enemies God heares his prayer before he was willing to make an end of praying Get thee up wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face and instructs him for restoring Israel to his wonted estate and condition by recompencing the way of the wicked upon his owne head First he makes Achan confesse his sinne and give glory unto God and so removes the sinne from Israel by execution of iustice which in like case is equivalent to prayer at least a necessary condition of successefull prayers for the publique weale and safety of kingdomes 2 If after Iosuahs death we were to give a generall title to the sacred history of ensuing times for almost foure hundred yeares or make an Epitome of the booke of Iudges it could not be more briefe then this Israel sinnes and is given up into the hands of the oppressor Israel cries unto the Lord and he sends him a Iudge and a deliverer And yet as the sacred pen-man of that story observes Israels repentance alwaies died with the Iudge which God did send them and could not be revived againe but by renewing of affliction One and the same affliction was commonly the effect of Israels sinne and the meanes of Israels repentance his sinne was the efficient and repentance the finall cause of their oppression And so gratious was God towards them so ready alwaies to heare their prayers that he seemed not to punish them so much for sins past as to continue his punishment untill they repented Among other calamities of estate whose cure or remedy Solomon here seekes the plague of pestilence is one v. 28. with this the land was grievously smitten even from Dan to Beersheba in his Father Davids daies by the immediate hand of God and in particular for his Fathers sinne in numbring the people Yet when David confessed his sinne and thus prayed Behold I have sinned yea I have done wickedly but these sheepe what have they done Let thine hand I pray thee be against mee and against my Fathers house v. 17. the Lord was appeased towards the land and the Plague ceased from Israel So ready was God alwaies to heare the prayers of this people when they turned unto him before this Temple was built The sumâ—â—hen of Solomons petition is that rhe Lord would be pleased to give his people some particular or new assurance for continuing his wonted mercies or blessings unto them that this house which he had built might be as a publique Court of audience a place wherein it might be free for every man and for all
grievous punishment than wee or others are but before this day it is not Christian-like it is not safe to say or thinke that this man is a more grievous sinner than wee our selves are for than this man deserves to be more grievously plagued than wee our selves or others whom wee thinke well of so long as either they or wee have one houres space left for repentance To judge of the measure of any mans sinnes by the manner of his punishments here on earth or to determine of his future estate by his present death or disaster is to usurpe or trench upon Christ Iesus his royall prerogative which to prejudice by word or sentence interlocutory which to preoccupate by any peremptory or censorious thought is more than a praemunire a branch of high treason or rebellion against him Besides this exception which cleerely infringes the former allegations for judging of the cause by the effect or measuring mens sinnes by the manner of their visible punishments many positive reasons there be which might perswade us that our most good and gracious God without impeachment unto his unchangeable mercy and justice may and often doth in this life shew extraordinary mercy to extraordinary sinners and recompence ordinary sinners men not so sinfull as the best of us account our selves to be with extraordinary punishments in this life Both parts of this allegation may bee proved by instance and by rule by examples of Scripture and by reason grounded on Scripture First because such as have beene extraordinary sinners have obtained extraordinary mercy There was not an honest matron or unmarried woman in in the land of Iudea or Galilee but would have taken it for a defamation to have beene compared to Mary Magdalen Shee was a notorious sinner in that notorious sinne of wantonnesse and uncleanenesse and yet obtained greater mercy than any woman of her time besides the blessed Virgin Mary for shee was endowed with an extraordinary measure of that excellent gift of love and charity Our Saviour gives her this testimony that shee loved much And the reason why shee loved much was because many sinnes and those of the worst kind of sinnes were forgiven her Here was mercy two wayes extraordinary First in that shee had many such sinnes foregiven her Secondly in that shee loved much For this extraordinary measure of love through the same goodnesse of God by which it was given her was to have an extraordinary reward Againe what disciple or Apostle of our Saviour was there which might not have upbraided Peter with extraordinary ingratitude which is the height of sinne for denying his Lord and master three severall times expressely and in a manner judicially And yet for all this Gods mercy and gratious favour towards him was extraordinary even in respect of other disciples and Apostles the disciple whom Iesus loved only excepted Paul for a long time was a blaspheamer of the evangelicall truth a more furious persecutor of such as followed the waies of life then the Prince of his tribe King Saul had beene of righteous David And yet this man from a notorious sinner from a persecuting Saul was changed into a zealous Paul became a valiant champion for the faith more zealous in maintaining it than hee had beene furious in persecuting such as professed it And this suddaine and extraordinary change was wrought by the extraordinary mercy of God But doe not these and the like instances or examples of Gods extraordinary mercy favour and bounty towards extraordinary and notorious sinners no way prejudice or impeach the unchangeable mercy of God or his impartiall dealing with men No for the extraordinary mercy which hee shewed did not extend to them only but to all extraordinary sinners in the like kind unto the worlds end His extraordinary mercy and favour unto Mary Magdalen was as a pledge of his mercy and favour to all like sinners of her sexe so they would by true repentance accept and embrace his mercy and favour manifested unto her If any which heare or read of his mercy exhibited to her doe finally perish their perdition is from themselues If any truely repent their salvation and repentance by which they become immediatly capable of salvation is from the Lord. Gods extraordinary mercy unro Peter who had in a manner made shipwrack of his faith was as secunda tabula post naufragium as a planck or mast cast out after shipwrack not only for his succour but for the succour of all the Iewish nation which had denied the Lord that bought them As many of this nation as after Peters conversion were converted and saved their conversion and salvation was meerely from the Lord as many of them as perished did therefore perish because they did not repent as Peter did and they did therefore not repent because they did not lay Gods mercies towards him and to their country-men converted by him to their hearts That extraordinary mercy againe which God exhibited unto Paul yeelds the assurance of faith a sure anchor of hope to all persecutors of the Church whether Heathens Turkes or Infidels that there is plenteous redemption with God in Christ mercy plenteous to worke repentance in them and by repentance compleat redemption of body and soule As many of Turkes or other infidels as doe not repent and by their not repentance perish their perdition or not repentance is from themselues Not the saluation only but the repentance of such as doe repent is meerely from God and this God our Lord who is rich in mercy towards all did worke repentance in Mary Magdalene in Saint Peter and Saint Paul by meanes and motiues extraordinary that all such sinners as they were might belieue and knowe that no sinners are excluded from possibility of repentance in this life but that the mercy which he shewed to them by meanes extraordinary is daily exhibited by meanes ordinary that is by the administration of the word and sacraments vnto all that doe not wilfully exclude themselues The second point proposed was that God doth award extraordinary visible punishments vnto ordinary sinners without impeachment to his vnchangeable justice or to that ingraffed notion which all Christians haue of his unpartiall dealing with the sonnes of men It was an extraordinary visitation wherewith he visited the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and their territories 1. Sam. 6. 19. for he smote of the people fiftie thousand threescore and tenne men because they had looked into the Arke of the Lord. It was likewise an extraordinary punishment upon Vzzah who being but a Leuite did touch the Arke of the Lord. 2. Sam. 6. 6. For he was smitten with suddaine death from which kinde of punishment all of us doe pray or ought to pray that the Lord would deliuer us But may wee therefore conclude that these men of Bethshemesh were sinners above all the men of Iudah or that Vzzah was a more grievous sinner than any Levite of his age on whom the Lord did not shew like punishments God
might have seed time and harvest as seasonable their fields as fruitfull the Sea as open as their hearts could desire yet the very freedome of commerce and traffique whether with foraine Nations or with other members of the same Nation may bring in a greater inconvenience which no plenty can hold out then the enemy then unseasonable winde or weather could threaten Want of trade and want of victuals are plagues or punishments sent by God but the plague of pestilence which is oft times the companion of peace and plenty the usuall effect of free trading or traffique is more terrible then either of the former wants And thus may every part of the reasonlesse host accomplish what another had omitted Now with turbulent spirits or unruly men good lawes duely executed may take some order but against unseasonable weather against unruly or incommodious windes no law of man no act of Parliament can provide Against the plague or pestilence no councell of state or warre no host or army can secure themselves much lesse others Though they that besiege and are besieged doe keepe watch and sentinell day and night yet the arrowes of this dreadfull messenger flye more certainly to the marke whereto they are directed though at mid-night then their bullets doe at mid-day As there is no counsell against the Lord so there is no policy that can prevent the execution of Gods judgements upon mightiest kingdomes by the meanest of his creatures besides that policy which his lawes given to Israel did prescribe One speciall branch of that wisdome which Moses ascribes unto these lawes was they taught their observers not to trust in bow or shield not to put any part of their confidence in the strength or wit of man no not in their owne observation of these very lawes or reformation wrought by their rules as it was theirs but only in the Lord of hosts Hee was their wisdome and he was their strength whensoever any danger did approach whether from men or from other creatures their lawes did teach them that he was absolute Lord over all that the hearts of Kings and Governours were under his governance that he could dispose turne them as it seemed best to his heavenly wisdome And that alwaies seemes best to him which is for the good of such as repose their whole trust and confidence in him When Israels enemies displeased him more then Israel did he made them stronger then their enemies and when their waies did please him he made their enemies as Solomon speakes to be at peace with them Whilst they faithfully served this Lord of hosts they knew hee could command the whole host of the reasonlesse or livelesse creatures to doe them service From this knowledge of God and his lawes did Solomon gather these unerring rules of sacred policy whose observation at this time did and might for ever have preserved this kingdome There is no inconvenience of peace no mischeife of warre no kind of calamity which can befall any state or kingdome against which the fundamentall lawes of this Nation and the rules of policy gathered from them by Solomon did not sufficiently provide The soveraigne remedies for every particular disease or kind of calamity are set downe at large 2. Chron. 6. v. 22. to the 40. The remedy against the calamity of war v. 24. 25. against the calamity that may come by drought v. 26. 27. against famine pestilence and blasting of corne or other inconvenience from the host of reasonlesse creatures you have the remedy v. 29. 30. against captivity in a foraigne land v. 37. 38. The soveraigne remedy against all these and other like inconveniences and calamities is for substance one and the same with that which good King Hezekiah here used to feare the Lord and pray unto the Lord either in the Temple when they had opportunity to resort unto it or towards the Temple or the place wherein it stood when they soiourned 〈◊〉 were detained Captives in a foraigne land And who so would diligently peruse the sacred story from Solomons time untill this peoples returne from captivity and the building up of the second Temple shall finde a probatum of this Catholique and soveraigne medicine in respect of every branch of calamity mentioned by Solomon at the consecration of the first Temple I must hold to the instance of my Text. Another branch of that which was contained in the fundamentall lawes of this kingdome and which goes a great deale deeper than the fundamentall rules of any other policy was this that of all calamities which did or could befall them their sinnes and transgressions were the prime causes and whatsoever afflictions were laid upon them for their sinnes could not bee taken off without the humble supplication of the sinners Vnto a lower ebbe then King Ahaz did leave it at the kingdome of Iudah had not beene brought by any of his Predecessors or by any other in their dayes Now of all the miseries which at any time befell it by the famine by the enemies sword or by the pestilence the only cause which the rule of faith assignes was their forsaking of the Lord their God and the transgressing of his lawes But to prevent the perpetuity and continuance of such calamities as king Ahaz and his Adherents had by their foule transgressions involved this kingdome in no attempt or practice of Prince or people whether joyntly or severally did ever finde successe untill they put Solomons rules of sacred policy in practice as good king Hezekiah did Did hee not feare the Lord and prayed before the Lord c. The fruits of his prayer and the reformation of those corrupt times by giving life unto their fundamentall lawes were two First his prayers procured an healing of the wounds which by negligence of his Predecessors had beene given to the State Secondly he prevented the execution of those terrible Iudgments which in his owne dayes did hang over this land and people specially over their Heads and Rulers The kingdome of David had sometimes exceeded the most flourishing neighbour kingdomes as farre as the Cedars of Libanus did the ordinary trees of the forrest but was now brought low That height which was left her but as a decayed tree markt to the fall Hezekiah by zealous prayers removes the axe from the roote after it had made such deepe incision that it was scarce able to beare its stemme though dispoiled of his top or principall branches it nearely concerned every one which hoped for shelter under its shade to pray for gentle winds and comfortable weather that shee might recover root and branch againe But so Hezekiah's and his peoples Successors did not Manasses his sonne found a people not untoward as being in some tolerable sort reformed by Hezekiah but he himselfe a most untoward King able by his authority and bad example to undoe what his good father had well done to spoile and marre a greater people than he was Lord of though better reformed in Iosiah
grand-child to this Manasses as good a King as could be wished for a man that needed no reformation a fit patterne for reforming others But this heavenly starre was placed in an earthly sphere hee had to deale with such a lewd court and naughty people as choaked the influence of his goodnesse And albeit his personall performances in his attempted reformation were no way inferior to Hezekiah's practice in this place yet neither his performances nor prayers found the like successe He could not plant the feare of the Lord either in his people or in his owne childrens hearts And if we sequester Iosiah his attempt of reformation from Hezekiah his time unto the destruction of the City and Temple there was sometimes on the Princes part sometimes on the peoples part usually on all parts Prince and people if not a continuall increase of sinne yet a continuance in usuall and wonted sinnes And where Gods Iudgements have once seized upon a land or people there is no removall of them without publique repentance no true repentance without prayer no prayers effectuall without feare of the Lord. Did hee not feare the Lord and befought the Lord c. His prayers were earnest and effectuall because his feare was hearty and unfained not affected But how feare should performe the office either of mother or mid-wife for the bringing forth of succesfull prayers is a Quaere not to be omitted and was the second generall proposed Pray we may but our prayers cannot bee successefull unlesse they be conceived in faith And faith as our Apostle tels us Heb. 11. 1. is the ground or substance of things hoped for And what affinity is there what agreement can there be between feare hope or confidence which is if not the nature yet the native issue of faith From these words of the Apostle faith is the ground of things hoped for haply it was that some late writers have put fiducia or confidence in the very definition of faith But wee are to consider that the former words of our Apostle containe rather a character then a iust description or definition of faith Otherwise his words following had beene superfluous faith is the evidence of things not seene And under this more generall character things feared may be as directly conteined as things hoped for But have we any Scripture to warrant us that faith in some cases may be as truely the ground of things feared as of things hoped for Yes By faith saith the Apotle Heb. 11. 7. Noah being warned of God of things not seene as yet mooved with feare prepared an Arke for the saving of his house Or if we consider faith not in it's universality as it equally respects the whole word of God but as it hath a peculiar reference unto his covenant with this people that wee know was not a covenant of life only but a covenant of life and death And all the writings of the Prophets which were to them and are to us the truest leaders and guides unto faith are as full of threatnings as of promises their sweetest hymnes are composed as well of iudgement as of mercy So that faith if it be not lame or defective hath two hands aswell a left hand to apprehend the truth of Gods iudgements threatned whilst we swarve from the waies of life as a right hand to lay hold on the truth of his promises whilst we are not conscious of such deviation Feare then which is no other then an expectation or apprehension of evill is the left hand of faith and hope which is the expectation or apprehension of good is the right And they who place the nature of faith in fiducia or cōfine it unto confidence do utterly maime it on the left side being maimed or dead on the left side it cannot be sound or lively on the right That which they terme fiducia or confidence in Gods promises if it be not supported with an implanted feare of his iudgements threatned is in true language but presumption It cannot bring forth the prayers of faith For prayers made in faith presuppose and include a sincere renouncing or relinquishing of those desires or practises which by nature or course of Gods Iustice are either incompatible with the blessings which we pray or hope for or are the causes of the evils threatned or inflicted He that will offer the sacrifice of prayer unto God for his health must abandon all excesse and riot otherwise he doth but mocke God And he that supplicates for the forgivenes of his sinnes must be prepared in heart to forgive such as have sinned or trespassed against him 'T is our Saviours owne comment upon the prayer which hee hath taught us And hence the heathen Cynick did justly deride such supplicants and sacrificers as continued in riot whilst they tendered their prayers and sacrifices to intreat Gods favour towards themselves for health Whilst we retaine malitious or revengefull purposes towards our neighbours it is to put in a caveat against our owne suits or petitions in the court of heaven Now unto this qualification or preparative unto prayer which consists in the abandoning of those practises or resolutions which stand as a barre or caveat against our petitions and supplications there is no meanes so effectuall no method so compendious as hearty and unfeined feare of Gods iudgements It is the very arme or hand of faith for remooving all such obstacles For feare as wee said before is the expectation of evill approaching And the apprehension of any remedilesse mischiefe of any greater inconvenience or inestimable evill will oversway the hope or expectation of any inferiour good be it matter of pleasure or commodity by which two matters onely we are withdrawne from goodnesse it selfe And if any man bee altogether wedded unto temporary delights or contentments it is for want of feare In the beginning of a storme the Merchant or passenger will be unwilling to cast any part especially of his most pretious commodities over board but in case stormes increase to his sight or observation if then the Pilot or Mariner can perswade him that the ship wherein he sailes unlesse it be speedily disburthened will shortly sinke the certaine feare of loosing all will moove him to part with one halfe or instant dread of loosing his owne life will make him willing if need so require to part with all The griping Vsurer will be ready to release the unconscionable interest covenanted for if the Lawyer in whom he trusts can perswade him that by rigorous exaction of the use he may come to loose the principall or to incurre a censure from which both use and principall will not free him The case of Iudah in this extremity was the very same if we compare the iudgements threatned by Micah with the nature and quality of the sinnes that had provoked them as you may finde in the Prophet Micah 3. 9. They build up Sion with blood and Ierusalem with iniquity The heads thereof judge for
reflattered by their flocks into an higher conceit of themselves then any Pope pretends unto For though the Roman consistory usurpe the Monopoly of the Holy Spirit and of his gifts yet neither doth the Pope take upon him to secure the Cardinals nor the Cardinals to secure him that whensoever either of them dye they shall infalliby be saved and bee as glorious Saints as Saint Peter to morrow if they chance to dye this day But why doth the Prophet Micah when he assignes the causes of Gods iudgements threatned mention only the sinnes of the rulers Magistrates and Clergy Was not the people at that time infected with the popular diseases of all times as with adultery murther luxury of all kinds and prophanenesse No doubt they were and doe not these sinnes deserve vengeance They doe Yet the iudgements due unto them are usually charged upon the transgressors themselves not upon the land or state wherein they live unlesse the principall transgressors escape unpunished by the connivence or corruption of rulers in this case the sinnes of private men become the sinnes of the land and solicite publique visitations So doth oppression specially when it is practised by men of authority upon the poore and helples men Of others wrongs or of wrong done unto others that which Eli said unto his Sonnes 1. Sam. 2. 25. is most ture If one man sinne against another the judge shall judge him but if a man sinne against the Lord who shall intreat for him Now when iudges and Magistrates suffer the poore and helplesse to suffer wrong they sinne against the Lord for though he be Lord of all and the avenger of all wrongs yet is he in speciall manner the protector of the fatherlesse widow and the helpelesse and what can be more iust then that they which oppresse their helplesse brethren should be opprest by foraine enemies And how ever men esteeme of us the Sonnes of Levi we are by Gods ordinance and appointment as fathers to our flocke committed to our charge and though wee haue not that coercive authority over them which Eli had over his sonnes yet we shall partake of his punishment if wee prove not more faithfull remembrancers of their negligences and transgressions then Eli was to the Sonnes of his body Finally as the other sinnes which Micah taxed were their sinnes which did commit them so their leaning upon the Lord in the consciousnesse of such sinnes were the sinnes of the Priests and Prophets which should have forewarned them of the wrath to come and have put them in mind of their strange neglect of warnings past That the neglect of Gods forewarnings or summons to repentance whether these be meere monitions or mixt with punishments is a fearefull Symptome of a dangerous disease and without repentance a presage of death is a point so common and knowne as it needs no proofe The divers kindes of such fore-warnings sometimes given by the hoste of reasonlesse creatures sometimes by the reasonable and the danger increasing by their neglect are pathetically recounted by the Prophet Amos. Chap. 4. with this item or caveat still repeated at the neglect of every message yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord And I also have given you cleannesse of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. And also I have withholden the raine from you when there were yet three moneths to the harvest c. v. 6. 7. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees increased the palmer-worme devoured them yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt your yong men have I slaine with the sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stioke of your camps to come up unto your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. v. 10. The same burden is twice repeated in the verses following for not returning unto the Lord after two calamities inflicted upon them distinct from the former as well for time as quality The space or distance of time betweene the first and last of these fore-warnings was so long that many of them which had knowne the first or could take notice of it were dead before the last approached most of them whom the last message did specially concerne were unborne when the first warning was given And yet the neglect of it is laid to their charge of all these fore-warnings or chastisements beside the desolation of some cities there is scarce one which hath not beene paralleld by the like given to this kingdome long agoe 9 To begin with that which most resembles this fore-warning given by the Prophet Micah unto this people Sion for your sakes shall be plowed as a field This was to them a meere monition for God repented of the plague denounced against them such was the powder-plot unto us It was a gentle monition of a fearefull iudgement For however such as foretold it were lying Prophets Sonnes of Belial whom no sonne or child of God was bound to believe when they threatned iudgement yet the warning which God in mercy gave us by them was truly reall The sepulchers of our Kings were neerer the point to have been more pittifully plowed then Sennacherib intended to plow Sion or the city of David when in the daies of Hezekiah he did besiege it Gods mercy towards us was that time no lesse then at any time it had beene unto Sion our deliverance though not so miraculous was yet no lesse wonderfull for valuation then Ierusalems deliverance from Sennacheribs army shortly after this fore-warning by Micah But did either warning or deliverance take the same effect with us as the like had done with Hezekiah and his people Herein we truly imitate Hezekiah not so much in the use which he made of this forewarning as in his demeanour after his recovery from his sicknesse that we doe not render according to the reward bestow'd upon us An anniversary thanksgiving was upon our delivery by publique authority presently enjoyned and hath since by all sorts of men professing true religion to the eyes of men beene duely observed Vnto this day yong and old whilst they blesse God for his mercies accurse the malice of such as did project that fearefull plague against us and his curse be upon him that shall thinke either their practise or principles whence they inferred or sought to warrant it can bee detested too much Yet for all this we may detest their practise and religion yea we may magnifie Gods mercies towards us though never too much yet much amisse If our acknowledgement of his mercies had been or were yet sincere and intire our feare of his judgements ever since that time would hve held full equipoize with our hatred or detestation of our adversaries mischievous imaginations against
whatsoever is done with doubt or scruple is not of faith are oftner wrested sometimes to abette presumption in respect of God sometimes disobedience towards his vice-gerents than any other maximes in sacred writ besides For this present the limitation of them is briefly this Whensoever the doubt or controversy stands betwixt a mans belly or purse and his soule or conscience the Apostles rule whatsoever is not of faith is sinne is universally true whosoever doth any thing for his belly or purse or matters of such temporall consequence which he probably doubts may wound his soule or conscience his action or choice is not of faith is truly sinfull In other cases he that intends to doe much good must resolve to doe many things whereof hee cannot but doubt whereof hee cannot bee resolved but by the event or successe yet not sinne Thus these Ninevites were uncertaine or doubtfull whether the Lord would repent or no of the evill threatned against them and yet notwithstanding this doubt they did well exceeding well to fast and pray that hee might repent and in thus doubting and thus doing they declare not their workes only but their divinity to have beene much better than theirs who condemne the like actions of heathen men for sinfull because their persons were not sanctified by saving faith As for these Ninevites they had a true notion of that truth which the scripture teacheth to wit that as God is often said to repent so some speciall cases there be in which hee doth not in which hee wil not upon any termes repent and of which the Prophets saying is most true He is not as man or the sonne of man that hee should repent And such for instance was the case of Saul the first King of Israel in the issue though not from the beginning of his raigne or from that point of time wherein God revealed that branch of his will to Samuel 1. Sam. 15. It repenteth me that I have set Saul up to be King for he is turned backward from following me and hath not performed my commandements And he that turnes his backe from Gods commandements shall be sure to meet his judgements in the face But this heavy sentence against Saul as it there followeth grieved Samuel and hee cryed unto the Lord all night but his cryes were not heard for so it followes v. 35. that Samuel came no more to see Saul untill the day of his death neverthelesse he mourned for Saul and in the 1. v. of the 19. chap. Samuel is expressely forbidden to mourne for Saul and if hee might not mourne for him hee might not pray for him A lamentable case that so great a Prophet so good a man as Samuel was might not pray might not mourne for his soveraigne Lord whom by Gods speciall command he had anointed but the cause is intimated v. 28. 29. For when Saul by seeking to hold the Prophet from departing from him had rent his coate he returnes this heavy message unto him The Lord hath rent the kingdome of Israel from thee this day and hath given it to a neighbour of thine that is better then thou and also the strength of Israel will not repent for he is not as man that he should repent And Samuel had no reason to mourne for him or to pray to God for reversing this sentence after he knew the Lord would not bee intreated to recall it But here the Aliens from the common weale of Israel or men of Iultans disposition would object is the God of Israel no otherwise affected towards his people towards Kings of his own making then the Gods of the heathen whom ye despise were towards kingdomes or Monarchies which served them Doth hee give his people iust cause to complaine of him as the heathen Poet did of his Gods when he saw Rome so rent and torne with civill warres that it could not long stand Heu faciles dare summa Deos eademque tueri Difficiles Will the strength of Israel advance a man to a kingdome which never sought it but had it put upon him whilst hee was seeking his fathers Asses And will he not be intreated to keepe him in it after long possession after many adventures of his body and effusion of his blood for supporting it Will he repent of the good which he had purposed to doe for Saul and will he not repent of the evill which he had denounced against him Thus uncatechised flesh and blood or men not instructed in the waies of God would repine Now it were an easie answer to say that God did thus peremptorily deale with Saul because it was his absolute will to depose him and to chuse David in his place But this or the like answere would make a foolish heathen starke mad and move a man that hovered betwixt heathenisme and Christianity to fall quite from us whereas we are bound by the Apostles rule to give no offence not only to the Church of God but neither to the Iew nor to the Gentile whereas this answer gives just occasion of offence to them all For sure the scripture is plaine and I thinke no Christian will in the generall deny that Saul did at this time much better deserve to be deposed than either hee or David did to bee elected King his sinnes were the meritorious cause of his rejection but what sinnes in particular is not so apparent Saul as some ancient interpreters observe was once little in his owne eyes and then he was a great man in Gods sight but hee grew great exceeding great in his owne eyes and the greater he thus grew the more hee waned in Gods favour whose eternall will and pleasure is to give grace unto the meeke and humble and to resist and bring downe the proud All this is true but too generall to give satisfaction to the doubt proposed For God doth never so peremptorily reject any lawfull Prince as hee did Saul without hope of repentance or reversing the sentence denounced against him unlesse it be for some excessive multitude or full measure of sinne or for some ominous or prodigious sinnes We read only of two remarkeable sinnes committed by Saul before his rejection the one was for offering a burnt offring and for his intendment to offer a peace offring before Samuel came unto him 1 Sam. 13. 19. 20. And for this transgression Samuel saith unto him v. 30. Thou hast done foolishly thou hast not kept the commandement of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee For now would the Lord have established the kingdome upon Israel for ever Saul then had Gods promise before for the continuance of his kingdome But of this good truely intended to him the Lord from this time repents as it followes verse 14. But now the kingdome shall not continue Yet upon this fact it is not said that the Lord would not repent of the sentence denounced against him But what was Sauls folly in all this or was it any for as it is
forbid yea our Saviour who is both our Lord and God hath in my text forbidden us to passe the like censure either upon them or upon any in after ages on whom the like judgements have beene visibly executed That the men of Bethshemesh did grievously sinne in looking into the arke of God no Christian can no Iew doth deny But that they were more grievous sinners in this than a great part of men Christians by profession are in this our age none but an Hypocrite will affirme Leaving their persons to be judged by God this their particular sinne is more than doubled by all such as having neither lawfull calling nor abilities to discerne sacred mysteries will take upon them not only to looke into the arke of God but to determine of his covenant of life and death that is of election and reprobation the very grammaticall notion of which termes they understand not As for the sinne of Vzzah it was for nature and quality the very same as if a parish clearke in our dayes should intrude himselfe into a Deacons office as if a Deacon should usurpe the function of a Presbyter or a Presbyter the office of a Bishop Now the delinquents in both these kinds are at this day more than tenne to one in comparison of the men of Bethshemesh to all the men of Iudah or in comparison of Vzzah to all the Levites of his time which were not guilty of like sinnes in particular The judgments which God did shew upon the men of Bethshemesh and upon Vzzah though extraordinary were yet judgements tempered with mercy For God in thus punishing them did forewarne all posterity not to trespasse in the like kind as they did lest a more grievous punishment either in this life or in the life to come doe befall them For as our Apostle 1. Cor. 10. 6. in the like case saith all these were our examples But many in this last age more than in any age since our Saviour dyed and more in this kingdome than in any one Kingdome under heaven have palpably transgressed after the manner of Vzzah and the men of Bethshemesh May we hence therefore conclude that these men are more grievous sinners than any others of this age or Nation which have not transgressed in particular after these mens example No the Lord hath forbidden us to passe this censure or judgement upon them Such as are most free from these presumptuos sinnes must ever remember that they have often grievously transgressed the Law of God in some one kind or other All of us must lay that saying of our Saviour to heart unlesse wee repent wee shall all likewise perish But though this place prohibites rash censure and judgment upon particular sinners may not wee which are Gods embassadors pronounce the like universall sentence which our Saviour here doth against all the inhabitants of Galilee and Ierusalem with the same limitation against this or any other Christian Nation except yee repent yee shall all perish after the same disastrous manner that the Iewish Nation did I tell you nay this is beyond our commission beyond our instructions whom God hath appointed for his embassadors Our Saviour himselfe hath put in a caveat against all such presumptuous conjectures or pretended divinations The calamities and distresses of Galilee and Ierusalem of the whole Iewish Nation were so generall and so tragicall as no Nation since the beginning of the world had suffered the like no other shall suffer the like unto the worlds end But then all Nations unlesse they repent shall perish after a more fearefull and visibly disastrous manner than Galilee and Ierusalem did But may wee not in the meane time say that these Galileans and inhabitants of Ierusalem in whom this prophecy in my text was literally fulfilled were sinners above all other Nations or generations in the world because they suffered such things as no other Nation or generation had either suffered or shall suffer unto the worlds end I tell you nay But this present generation of the Iewes did put our Saviour the sonne of God the God of their forefathers to an ignominious death And this was the most grievous sinne quoad speciem for its specificall quality that could be committed A sinne that could not bee committed againe for he was to dye but once death hath no more dominion over him But though the sonne of God could dye but once yet many this day living may bee as guilty of his death as Iudas or Pilat as the most malitious amongst the chiefe Priestes the Scribes and Pharises were Or admit that those Iewes were more deeply guilty of our Saviours bloud than any generation since yet hee that would hence inferre his death to have beene the chiefe or only cause of all the calamities which be fell that present generation of the Iewes wherein he dyed should only proue himselfe to be more skilfull in laying the charge then in making the iust exoneration he should shew-himselfe to be but halfe an accoumptant but of this elsewhere But in what sense soeuer the putting our Saviour to death was the cause of Ierusalem's destruction yet this particular sinne in putting our Saviour to death was not the sinne or any part of the sinnes of which they are forewarned by our Saviour to repent for this sinne was not as yet committed nor so much as thought upon by those Galileans whose bloud Pilat mingled with their sacrifices or by those eighteene upon whom the tower in Siloe fell And no question but these men did perish for such sinnes as the Nation was for the most part guilty of and were forewarned of by exemplary punishments inflicted upon these Galileans The persecution of our Saviour was but a Symptome of those other sinnes of whose deadly issue without repentance they were forewarned by these and the like signes of the time The reason why they hated the light of the world after hee had done so much good unto them was because their deeds were evill Joh. 3. v. 19. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse rather then light because their deeds were evill What then were those capitall sinnes whereof they were warned in particular such in the first place was their present rebellious disposition for which sinne in particular these Galileans did thus perish But was this all No it is one thing to be rebellious another to bee unrelentingly rebellious This unrelentance presupposeth some other fouler sin then rebellion As what Hypocrisie specially when our Saviour upbraids them with this title of Hypocrisie as when he saith Luk. 12. v. 54. Mat. 16. Yee Hypocrites yee can discerne the face of the skie and of the earth how is it that yee cannot discerne the signes of the time His speech implies that their hypocrisy was the chiefe cause why they did not discerne the signes of the time Why they were so unrelentingly rebellious against God and man that they would take