Son of Old Adam with all his fleshly and Dead Works Those Carnal uncleannesses under the Law several Diseases the Menstruous Corruptions of Nature the Dead Man c. which were then made unclean in that day as to that worship were Types of this This is clearly the scope of the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.14 15 16 17. be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness or what part hath he that believeth with an Infidell wherefore come out from among them and be ye seperate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing c. Believers and Unbelievers Believers and Infidels are not to unite together are not to be Cemented together in one building The Unbeliever the Natural man the Son of Old Adam is that unclean thing which the Believer the Spiritual man the Son of the New Adam Jesus Christ is to come out from to be separated from and not to touch with if he will be the Temple of the living God for him to Dwell in and walk in 3. IDOLS What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate c. Idols are a part of that unclean thing which those who will be the Temple of the living God must be separate from and not touch with Babylon and her Idols All will grant yea the Carnal fry of Christians will grant that they are to be separated from even while in the mean time they are hugging a more Refined sort of Idols in their hearts crying out against another as guilty of Idolatry and Wil-worship while yet they mind not the Idols in their own Hearts Dividing withdrawing communion from each other looking upon each other as not the Sheep of Christs Fold for their Opinion their waies-sake for the sake of those things wherein they Differ notwithstanding they all are by the mighty working of the Spirit of God planted in the true Foundation Jesus Christ putting their Opinions their Waies their Differences in the Room and Place of the Foundation Jesus Christ making them the Standard and Boundary of their Communion and Separation by which they become their Idols from which the Lord in his due time will separate them induing them with such a Spiritual frame of Spirit as should abolish their Idols the Idols he shall utterly abolish †See Tillinghurst upon this Scripture Isa 2.18 These things of a Religious Nature may be and too too often are as really the Heart Idols of Carnal Christians as the Silver and the Gold of this World are either unto such or unto the men of the World Of these Heart Idols the Lord expresses exstream detestation Ezek. 14.3 4 5. Son of man these men have set up their Idols in their Hearts and should I be inquired of at all by them Therefore speak unto them and say unto them thus saith the Lord God Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his Idols in his heart the Lord will answer him according to the multitude of his Idols And these Religious Heart Idols when we are joined to them make us so tenatious so obstinate so perverse that there is no dealing with us God himself thinks not fit to deal with us while in this Condition except in a way of Correction to scourge them out of us but saith Ephraim is joined to Idols let him alone Hosea 4.17 when men have Idolatrous hearts adoring either the Idols of this World the Silver and the Gold the good things of this Life or those more curious Idols those Religious things wherewith a world of Professors cheat their own poor Souls while they hug their Form for the Power while they make their Opinion and Way the Measure and Standard of their Religion there 's so little hope of them that saith God He is joined to Idols let him alone as Solomon saith of his Conceited man Pro. 26.12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit there is more hope of a Fool than of him So it 's as true there 's more hope of a meer Natural man that never knew what belongs to making a Profession of the Name and worship of God than of such a one whose Opinion or Way or Judgement are his Heart Idols Let him alone saith God I will answer him deal with him by my self and that so as ye shall know that I am the Lord Ezek. 14.7 8. None can deal with such but the Lord and he deals with such a People by terrible things utterly abolishing the Idols that the Lord alone may be exalted See Isa 2.17 18 19. verses 4. Covetousness which is Idolatry Col. 3.15 This is another part of the unclean thing which must be separated from and not touched with This Sin was then of such an unclean Nature that it caused the Lord who was among them and in the midst of them to withdraw from Israel upon which they fell before their Enemies neither would the Lord be with them till they had cleansed themselves by separating from it Joshua 7.1 and 12. verses It was Covetousness made Achan put forth his hand to the accursed thing and to steal from the Lord part of his due that he had consecrated to his use as appears by ver 11. compared with Chapter 6.18 And the same that the Lord Consecrated to himself in that day he hath said he will again consecrate to himself in these last daies when Sion shall arise and thresh and beat in pieces many People Mich. 4.13 and he will as little bear with it in his People now as then for this is One of Babylons Sins for which the Lord Judges her Jer. 51.13 and it 's for the Iniquity of our Covetousness that the Lord is wroth with us and smites us Isa 57.17 Now it 's worth our searching into whether Achans sin hath not been one great cause of that Stop put to the Work of God and of that great Affliction which is fallen and is yet falling upon poor sinning Jacob at this Day Instead of Consecrating the gain unto the Lord have we not taken it to our selves and put it among our own Stuff From this Sin will the Lord separate his People making them his Redeemed from the Earth Rev. 14.3 Notwithstanding this and that the Apostle tells us Eph. 5.3 that Covetousness ought not to be so mnch as named amongst us as becometh Saints Yet how partial have poor Carnal Christians been in this day a small difference an Opinion hath caused them to Divide to Separate and Flce from each other as from Monsters while in the mean time this pernitious Idolatrous Evil is not so much as taken notice of Nay looked on as a Vertue or at least past over as an Infirmity For this as well as for other Evils the Lord is Judging his People Let these things be Separated from and I think I may safely without presumption say the People of the Lord will quickly come into such an undesiled united
GOOD NEVVS OR Wine and Oyle Poured into the Wounds of SINNING and DISTRESSED JACOB In some Meditations on Isa 27.6 7 8 9 verses Directing to the Cause wherefore and the End for which The present Affliction is come upon him Hinting at the Means by which his Deliverance will be wrought And Comforting him against the Extremity of Affliction come and coming upon him By PAIN LuMLE A WELCH christian Jer. 30.7 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacob's Trouble but he shall be saved out of it Lam. 2.1 3.18 21 22 31 32. How hath the Lord covered the Daughter of Sion with a Cloud in his Anger and cast down from Heaven unto the Earth the Beauty of Israel and remembred not his footstool in the day of his Anger I said My Strength and my Hope is perished from the Lord. It is of the Lord's Mercy 's that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not â— for the Lord will not cast off for ever but though he cause grief yet will be have Compassion according to the multitude of his Mercies Isa 61.9 All that see them shall ACKNOWLEDGE THEM that they are the SEED which the Lord hath BLESSED London Printed in the Year 1661. TO Sinning and Distressed JACOB LEt not your Heart be troubled saith our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to his Disciples when they were going through the withdrawing of his blessed bodily Presence into a scattered persecuted desolate helpless Condition full of Sorrows Now with what doth he fortifie their Heart against Trouble With his Gracious Ends in going away from them which were first To Prepare a Place for them in his Father's House In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a Place for you there a better State and Condition than I can either fit you for or bring you into while I am present with you here on Earth and then I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also And secondly after I am glorified I will pray the Father and he shall in the mean time give you another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth who will be a greater Comfort unto you than either I have been or can be or you can be able to receive I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now till I have carried your Nature the humane Nature which I have assumed into the Same Glory I had with the Father before the World was Therefore it is Expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and he shall guide you into all Truth He shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you and all things that the Father hath are mine Joh. 17.5 and 16.7 13 14 15. verses Strongly inculcating not only his Gracious Ends for their Eternal Good but the Necessity of his going away to accomplish those Ends which would not nor could not be effected except he withdrew from them Therefore Let not your Heart be Troubled but Believe in Me that I will do these things for you As the Lord Jesus had these Glorious Ends at Thâ—â— Time in his leaving and withdrawing from his Disciples So he hath Glorious Ends in all his Dealings with his Chosen to the End of the World the Consideration of which should fortifie the Hearts of the distressed and peeled People of Jacob against all Heart-trouble What 's the Meaning of all that Chequer-work between Christ and his Spouse in the Canticles a Prophecy that reaches through many various Dispensations to the coming of our Lord to work a Total Deliverance for his Chosen as is asserted by Persons of no mean repute in the Church of Christ for Piety and Learning Sometimes hiding himself from her making her sick of Love and sometimes in the strength of his affection towards his Spouse He is Leaping and Skipping towards her Sometimes he Hides himself behind the Wall and again shews himself forth at the Window discovers himself through the Latess Sometimes he quite withdraws himself and is gone yet at last after she had undergone very hard usage from the hands of men the Smitings and Woundings of the Watchmen and the Insulting Robberies of the Keepers of the Wall he meets her and comforts her in his Garden among the beds of Spices What is the Reason of these various Becloudings of his so often hiding and withdrawing himself from his Beloved Surely it's to No other End as the whole current of the Prophecy and the Advantages the Spouse gaines after every casting down will tell us it is but to carry her from Glory to Glory from one Degree of Glory unto another until she be fitted for such a Total Deliverance and Salvation as shall never be clouded more and then the cry is Who is this that cometh up from the Wilderness out of all her Trouble and Wilderness-straits leaning upon her Beloved And now at this time O thou Afflicted tossed with Tempests the fury of men and not yet comforted though the Cloud that is over thee grow darker and darker and this terrible Storm shake all the Pillars of thy fleshly Building yet let it not touch thy Heart with anxious trouble only Believe thy God is the same to thee that ever he was if he withdraw himself it is that he may come again and shew thee greater Mercy 's such as shall never be taken from thee if he hide his face from thee it is that he may fit thee for and shew thee more of his Glory than ever he did before if thine Enemy weaken thee it is that by waiting upon the Lord forsaking thy Idols thou mayest renew thy strength if he Imprison thee in Holes and Corners it is that the Lord may be glorified in fitting thee for it hearing thy Groanings if he appoint thee to Death it is that the Lord may be glorious at the appointed time in loosing those that are appointed to death Nay surely the Lord hath this Gracious End in Afflicting thee at this time viz. To fit thee for a Compleat Salvation that Manifestation of the Sons of God that Glorious Liberty of the Children of God which the Creature Earnestly Expects and the whole Creation Groaneth and Travelleth after yea which the Saints of God who have received the first fruits of the Spirit Groan within themselves for waiting for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Bodies Rom. 8.19 21 22 23 v. that being fitted for that Work the Lord hath purposed to do by thee thou mayest go forth to it thrive and prosper in it both in Soul and Body and grow up to a compleat preparation to meet Our Lord when he shall come again without Sin unto Salvation All God's Ends towards thee in all his Dispensations are full of Glory to himself and Salvation to thee Therefore
Members should goe on to Perfection through the same Path of Sufferings hence it is that the Apostle Paul makes this the Path through which he expected to attain that Perfection he so earnestly prest after Phil. 3.10 11 c. That I may know him and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable unto his Death If by any means I might attain to the Resurrection of the Dead not as though I had already attained either were already Perfect c. So here in this Prophesy Jacob must take root and Israel must blossome and bud but that he may be thus Blessed the Lord will first Purge him from his Iniquity and take away his Sin and that by a Sore and Sharp Affliction a Smiting and Slaying Affliction I have Enumerated these Instances to hint these two things 1. The Agreement that there is between the Old and New Testament in holding forth to us the Manner of Gods proceeding with his People in order to fit them for his Salvation and so for that Work he hath to do by them 2. That God will not have his Work done with Defiled but with Pure hands according to that word Job 22.30 He shall deliliver the Island of the Innocent and it is delivered by the Pureness of thine hands or as it is in the Margent of some Bibles The Innocent shall Deliver the Islands Impure foul and dirty hands will so sully and Besmear the Work of God that it will appear more like Mans Work than Gods Work and so the Lord loses the Glory of his Works now because he will not lose this Glory nor suffer it to be given to Another he therefore comes to his People with Smarting and Bloody Strokes with Fire and with Sope to Purge and Cleanse them that they may do his Work so that it may Evidently appear to be Gods Work had not Mans. How far what hath been done and befaln us in our daies doth confirm this let the Seeing Eye and understanding Heart judge I shall give but one Instance more to confirm the Position and that is Num. 23.21 and 23. verses He hath not beheld Iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seen Perversness in Israel the Lord his God is with him and the shout of a King is among them Surely there is no inchantment against Jacob neither is there any Divination against Israel according to THIS TIME it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel What hath God wrought the Sinning rebellions of Jacob was Judged Died in the Wilderness but this Judgement of God upon him having Purged Jacob from his Iniquity and taken away his Sin that the Lord beholds not iniquty in Jacob neither sees perversness in Israel but they are brought into a Purified humble Obedient State According to THIS TIME it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel what hath God wrought This is the Time wherein they shall be Blessed with Blessings that men cannot reverse verse 20. and no Inchantment nor Divination shall prevail against them wherein God wil Bless him that Blesses them Curse him that Curses them Ch. 24.19 From this Time it is that such Blessings shall attend Jacob such great things the Lord will do for him and by him that those who believe the Works of God shall with great Admiration cry out What hath God wrought while Jacobs Sin was upon him he could not Possess the Promise but is Smitten by his Enemies But when the Corrections of the Lord upon him had Cleansed and Purged him from his Sin and taken away his Iniquity then the Promise was his Portion he entred the Good Land and none could hinder So it stands firm both upon Old and New-Testament grounds that the Cause that brings Correcting Afflictions upon Jacob is his Own Sins and his Own Iniquities and the End of the Lord in Afflicting and Correcting of him is to take his Iniquity away and to Purge him from his Sin 2. But the GREAT END of all this is that he may Cause them that come of Jacob to take Root and Israel to blossom and Bud and fill the face of the world with fruit The Lord Loves Jacob and all his waies towards him are pathes of Love Love is in the Bottom and End of all his Dealings with Jacob. If he Correct and Afflict him it 's in Love in Measure to Purge him from his Iniquity that he may become Precious in his sight and then in the same Love that he Corrects him he will give men for him and People for his Life Isa 43.4 God will deal in wrath with the Nations I will make a full End of all the Nations Jer. 46.28 but he loveth Jacob though he Frowns it 's in Love though he strike it 's in Love though he visits so sorely that the Rod even threatens the Destruction of Jacob yet it 's Still in Love for though Jacob provokes the Lord to Command his Enemies to go upon his Walls and Destroy yet this Love gives them a Check their Measure but make not a full End Jer. 5.10 yea though Jacob's Sins provoke the Lord to make a Desolation in the Land his Love will not suffer him to make a full End yet will I not make a full End saith Jacobs Father Jer. 4.27 No the Lord Loveth Jacob with an Everlasting Love If he Correct if he Smite and that to the drawing of his Blood yet it 's not to destroy but it 's only in Love to Save him from his Sin and so from that Destiuction his Sin would bring upon him If the Lord be Wrath so that he Hides his Face it 's not with Jacob but with his Sin The Lord Loveth Jacob still In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with Everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer Isa 54.8 So that here 's the Great End of God in his Dealings with Jacob that he may Fit him for and so Bestow upon him Everlasting kindness Everlasting Mercy Though the Lord in a little wrath against our sins Afflict so Sorely Smite so Smartingly that he seems as if he watched over us to Pluck up and to Break down and to Throw down and to Destroy as he did his People of Old Jer. 31.28 yet it 's in Much Mercy Everlasting Love If that he may Cause them that come of Jacob to take Root Though he seems to Pluck us up by the Roots it 's but to Transplant us into a Better Soil To cause Jacob to take Root Hitherto Jacobs Seed have had little or no Rooting have only spread a little over the surface of the Earth but now when the Lord hath Purged and Cleansed Lopped and Pruned Jacobs Plant it shall take Root He will cause them that come of Jacob to take Root and such Root too as that all our Enemies shall never be able to Pluck us up any more for the Lord will watch over us to Root us and to Plant us The same Mighty Arme that hath
World for himself and for his Sake that this State shall be unto us as the Holy of Holies comparatively wherein he will speak Comfortably unto us And speak Comfortably unto her Better words than ever we heard before from him such as shall make us forget all our Trouble and Sorrow And he will not only give Good Words but Gracious Gifts too And it shall be at that day saith the Lord that thou shalt call me Ishi my Husband and shalt call me no more Baali my Lord. Behold he hath been a Gracious Lord but now he will be a Tender Loving Husband unto us he will bring us into more Near and Intimate Converse and Communion and Fellowship with himself than ever we enjoyed all our Days before And this Grace extends not only to our Inward Man but to our Outward Man also I will give her Vineyards from thence Whatsoever we forsake for his Sake to follow him and keep close to him he will not suffer us to be losers by it if we lose a Vineyard any possession in this world to follow him to keep him company in the Wilderness he will give it us again there with advantage according to the Promise of our Lord Jesus Every one that hath forsaken houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my Names sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit Everlasting life Mat. 19.29 Yea so great shall be the manifestation of the Love of God and so abundant shall be the Gifts of God to us there as shall Cause our Exceeding Rejoycing She shall sing there as in the Daies of her youth and as in the Day when she came up out of the Land of Egypt Though this Day of Wilderness-Troubles and Straits brings Sorrowes hard to be undergone yet such shall be the Gracious dealings of the Lord with us as that we shall be made to forget all our Sorrows there 's no Day that ever we yet enjoyed yeelding so much cause of Joy as this shall do the Lord will make us Sing for Joy And now who would not rather choose the Trouble of this Day the very Wilderness of this Wilderness State than the Serenity and Glory which the Children of this world are drowned in which shall be consumed by the burning like the burning of a fire which the Lord of Hosts the Light of the Holy one of Israel shall kindle under it POSTSCRIPT NO thing can Provoke the God of Jacob the God and Father of Mercies to throw him into the Furnace of Affliction and to pour down his Fury upon him but such a degree of Sin as will either being let alone Destroy Jacob seperate him from his God or Deprive God of his Glory even the Glory of those Great and Wonderful things he hath done for his Jacob and even then when he is thus provoked to deal with him in wrath and anger his Eternal Love is at the Bottome of all to draw Jacob Neerer to himself and to make him the People of his Praise and Glory I have Refined thee but not with Silver I have Chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction for mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it For how should my Name be Polluted and I will not give my Glory to another Isa 48.10 11. Therefore it is that when these Effects are wrought the Lord so often speaks of Burning the Rod wherewith he Corrects them and punishing their Persecutors and Afflictors Now that the Dealings of the Lord with us may not seem too hard nor discouraging but just and righteous and full of Grace and Love I would mind you of two Scriptures the first is Num. 14. from 20. to 26. And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word But as truly as I live all the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord because all those men which have seen my Glory and my Miracles which I did in Egypt and in the Wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkned to my voice surely they shall not see the Land which I sware unto their Fathers neither shall any of them which provoked me see it but my servant Caleb because he had another Spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land whereinto he went and his Seed shall possess it Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the Valley To morrow turn you and get you into the Wilderness by the way of the Red Sea We find these Children of Israel in the Wilderness very near Canaan very neer their journies End when these words were spoken unto them They were very neer going out of their Wandering Wilderness State into Canaan a setled happy Condition setled upon the Lords Foundation but their unbelief brought forth Rebellion against the Lord and his Messengers Caleb and Joshuah which hurryed them back into their Wilderness State by the way of the Red Sea the same way by which they came out of Bondage that must be the way now by which they return into Misery These words are the Lords answer to Moses upon his Intercession on behalf of Provoking Israel God had said in his Wrath he would Smite this People and Disinherit them and make of Moses a greater and a mightier Nation than they but upon Moses his Earnest Intercession who was the Mediator of that outward Covenant that was between the Lord and this People as a Nation the Lord is Pacified he grants him his request as far as would stand with his Glory saith the Lord I have pardoned according to thy word but as truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord c. as if he should have said to spare all this People the Rebbels as well as the Innocent will not stand with the Glory of my Name thou so much pleadest to me but I will do so and so and by this means will I glorifie my Name this Evil Congregation have Dispised I would but take notice of a few things in the words which I conceive are worth your observing 1. The SIN which thus provokes the Lord. It 's no Common Ordinary Sin for such Moses their Mediator would have prevailed for pardon this People had Sinned against the Lord nine times before and all that was pardoned but this Sin is such a Sin as touches the Lords Glory the Glory of his Name that he had gotten to himself by all those Woundrous Works he had done for them It was Unbelief to such a Degree as was Despising the voice of the Lord in the mouth of his faithful Witnesses and running back towards Egypt towards that State and Condition to Deliver them out of which the Lord had wrought so wonderfully thereby despising that Blessed State and Condition the Lord had Promised and was Ready to bring them into This touches the Eyes of Gods Glory to the quick and brings down Devouring Judgements
upon their head 2. See their SAD CONDITION their Sin brought them into They cannot stand before their Enemies the Nation Cursed from the Lord to be rooted out from having a being upon the face of the Earth Amaleck drives them back into the Wilderness and they must return by the way of the Red Sea back towards Egypt they would needs return to Egypt wickedly saying It were better for us to return to Egypt than to run through those Straits Dificulties and Dangers we must pass through and overcome if we get Canaan Therefore saith the Lord get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea you have seen a little of Canaan at a distance now go look upon Egypt see the Difference that FEARED DEATH you would Run from through your own Inventions shall seize you in the VVilderness in your returning towards Egypt that Condition to Deliver you out of which I have done such Great things Saith the Lord you will not Believe me though I confirmed my Promise to your Fathers with an Oath and to perswade you to Believe me I shewed you my Glory the Glory of my Power and the Glory of my Faithfulnesse in working Miracles in Egypt for your Deliverance and bearing with you these nine times in this Wilderness still doing Woundrous Works before your Eyes to convince you of the Folly of your unbelief and of the Stability of my Promise yet you are still Tempting of me and this Temptation of yours doth so far Cloud my Glory that I will not bear with it but I will swear unto you as truly as I live saith the Lord as ye have spoken in mine Eares so will I do to you vers 28. Will you Believe me now you say you shall dye and I will not Perform my Promise in giving you the Good Land for there are so many Dangers and great Straits in the way to the possession of it that neither you nor I are able to remove them this was the purport of their language well saith God it shall be so you shall be in the truth though I be counted the lyar but before I have done with you I will make you know my breach of promise vers 34. in bearing your Iniquities tasting the fruit of your sin you shall know that it 's You that have broken the Covenant not I and that it 's your Sin grown up to such a height that it will not consist with the Glory of my Name that Glory which I have gotten to my self by all those Woundrous Works and Miracles I wrought for your deliverance and among you while I have been leading you through this Wilderness to spare you at this time which is the Cause of your falling short of the Promise into Misery 3. Gods END in all this severity towards his Israel is The vindication of his Name of his Glory As truly as I live all the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord Glory is the Great End the Lord proposes to himself in all his Works Therefore it 's no wonder he is so highly provoked when he sees any about to Rob him of his Glory The Lord had gotten himself a Glorious Name among the Heathen by those Great things those Wondrous Works he had done for this People and upon their Enemies for their sake and these Unbelieving Provoking Children would make him lose all that Glory by their unbelief and their going about to return to Egypt that State and Condition out of which the Lord had Delivered them by a Mighty Out-stretched Arme This Provokes the Eyes of Gods Glory their Tongue and their doings were against the Lord to the Provoking the Eyes of his Glory Isa 3.8 and he shewes himself a Jealous God for so he will be at such a time I will be Jealous for my Holy Name Ezek. 39.25 and this Glory the Lord will not part with I will not give my Glory unto another Isa 42.8 This Chosen People by their Rebellion and Great Unbelief would not suffer God to reap this Glory of his Name from them nor by them saith the Lord I will not lose it for the Same Glory of my Name these deny to give unto me will I have and fill the Earth with it all the Earth shall be filled with my Glory and that by their Destruction performing my Promise to my faithfull followers and their Little Ones whom their unbelief saith shal become a Prey The Lord is so Jealous of his Glory least it should be given to any other that as he will be prevailed with to pardon every Sin but such a Sin as Clouds his Glory rather than destroy his Chosen so he will destroy all things yea part with his Chosen People and destroy them as to their being in this life rather than part with his Glory that Great Fruit he expects to reap from all his Great Works both of Correction and Salvation Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our Admonition upon whom the Ends of the world are come as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 10 11. not only for the Corinthians but for ours also upon whom the Ends of the world are come The other Scripture I would put you in remembrance of is the 102 Psalm but especially the 13 and 14. verses Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Sion for the time to favour her yea the set time is come for thy servants take pleasure in her Stones and favour the Dust thereof That this Psalm treats of a very sore Afflicting Day that shall befal the people of God the whole of it evidently demonstrates And that it concerns us in these last Daies the Generations of Sion then to come and the People then not created not then brought within the compass of the Walls of Sion to praise the Lord the 18. verse sufficiently evidences If we take a View of the troubles of it we shall find it so full of Terrors that well may Jeremy cry our of it Alas for that day is Great so that none is like it it is even the time of Jacobs Trouble This DAY It 's the Day wherein God hides his sace from his Chosen and seems though he be a God hearing Prayer to be deaf unto his cry implyed in the 1. and 2. verses It 's the day of Gods Indignation and Wrath wherein the Lord in Wrath casts him down who formerly in Mercy and Loving-kindness he had lifted up verse 10. And the wrath of God waxeth so hot against this Afflicted that it burns bis Bones as an hearth and by it his daies are consumed like Smoke ver 3. The strokes of Gods wrath are such that they make him groan sorely and weep with a bitter weeping vers 5.9 to the withering and breaking of his heart vers 4. It deprives him of all his Outward Comforts drives him into the Wildernesse into the Desarts implyed in the 9. and 6. verses and as to his friends and acquaintance he is quite become
the glory of his high looks consuming his glory that they shall be as feeble and weak as when a Standard-bearer fainteth To prevent Objections that might arise I lay down this Position That this smiting and slaying of these two Seeds of each other hath relation not to several Generations Father and Son but shall have its performance to the full in the space of the time of one Generation And that upon these grounds 1. Because the Prophet throughout this large Discourse speaks of a particular day In that day and that day saith he and that in distinction from the VVorlds day This is a day wherein the Lord comes to empty the World to empty the Earth and this VVork of his upon Jacob is but in order to it 2. Because this Evil the Lord brings upon Jacob is altogether outward and temporal it relates not to Eternal matters it respects the Body not the Soul It 's like unto that Affliction the Lord laid upon the Children of Israel in the VVilderness that related to their Bodies deaâ—h in the VVilderness that deprived them of an earthly Canaan but it would be very uncharitable to say those that perished in the VVilderness because of that Judgement were excluded the Heavenly Canaan of which the Earthly was a Type 3. Because otherwise the Promise of restraining and measuring out the Affliction stopping it when it hath brought forth such an Effect would not nor could not yeeld such strong comfort and consolation to poor Jacob as it seems to me the Lord intends it should for what great comfort would it be for the Father to know that his Son his Child shall upon such and such conditions be delivered from the Evil that shall yet destroy him 4. If so be that this measuring out the Affliction here spoken of were only its ending in the destruction of the present Generation upon whom it falls then what difference is there between an Old Testament and a New Testament Measure The Measure of the Old Testament was the destruction of that Generation of rebellious Jacobs and saving their Children their little Ones whom their unbelief said would be destroyed together with themselves and if it be not otherwise now wherein doth Christ appear to be a better Mediator of a better Covenant established upon better Promises as is said Heb. 8.6 Lastly The Lord in this very Scripture it self doth clearly hint thus much by speaking in the Present tense Is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him that the SAME GENERATION of Jacobs Seed who are smitten and part of whom are slain by their Enemies shall get up again and slay them with a greater slaughter limiting it to a short space of time for performance of it 3. The CAUSE that brings this Sore Dreadful Dispensation upon the Seed of Jacob is their SIN This is strongly and closely implyed in the 9. Verse For if the taking away of Sin and Iniquity be the End of its coming then of necessity Sin is the Cause of its coming This is a People ROBBED and SPOILED they are all of them SNARED IN HOLES and they are hid in PRISON-HOUSES they are for a PREY and none delivereth for a SPOIL and none saith Restore VVho gave Jacob for a Spoyl and Israel to the Robbers did not the Lord He against whom we have SINNED FOR they would NOT VVALK IN HIS wAYES neither WERE THEY OBEDIENT uNTO HIS LAW Therefore he hath poured upon him the FuRY OF HIS ANGER and it hath set him on fire round about c. Isa 42.22 24 25. Ver. It 's Jacobs Sin that Causes the Lord to visit him in wayes of Affliction and Correction it 's his Sin that Causes the Lord to lay upon him his Fatherly Chastenings and Rebukes and that in Love that being cleansed from Sin he might be a partaker of his Holiness Consider Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear But YOUR INIQUITIES have separated between you and your God and YOuR SINS have hid his face from you that he will not hear How nearly this Scripture doth concern us will appear if we consider it doth not only speak of what God will do in the last dayes but to the Islands also V. 18. We see here the Lord in a posture ready to save and to hear his People His Hand is not shortened it 's ready prepared to save his Ear is not heavy it 's open to hear There 's no such thing as the Time being not come on the Lords part to hinder him from saving Jacob But it 's Jacob's Sin that Causes the Separation between him and his God It 's his Sin that Causes these Hidings of the face of his God from him It 's his Sin that retards his Salvation It 's not any thing in the Enemy it 's not to ripen his Sin that he may fill his Measure that so the Justice of God may fully seize upon him as some vainly conceit that is the reason why the Lord suffers this Affliction to befall his People No it 's Jacob's own Iniquities your Iniquities it's Jacob's own Sins your Sins that Causes God to separate himself and hide his face from him Was it think we for the Assyrians sake that the Lord might take an occasion against him to destroy him to be as a fire and a flame to him to burn him up Or for Sion's and Jerusalem's sake for the sake of that Work the Lord had to perform there that the Lord made him the Rod of his Anger against his People and by him sorely Afflicted him suffering him to be as Bryars and Thorns tearing and rending their flesh Surely it was for his Peoples sake Had not their Sins made a Work for the Lord to perform upon them by a Rod of Correction the Assyrian had never exalted himself over them No the Lord loves his People better than so if he Correct and Afflict them it 's for their own sake not for the sake of any other that through his Peoples Affliction he might destroy them The Lord loveth Jacob so that he will give men for him and People for his Life but we never find the Lord giving up his People for the sake of any other under Heaven either for their good or for their hurt Nothing can bring Affliction upon Jacob but his own Sin And Jacob's Sin brings Affliction and Sorrow upon him even then when the Lord is ready his hand is open prepared to bestow Salvation upon him when the Lords time is come to hear and save him yea even then when the Lord is waiting to be gratious Isa 30.18 Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you That the Prophet here speaks of the same Time and to the same People he speaks of and to in his 27. Chap. will clearly appear if the whole Chapter be seriously considered This waiting of God to be gratious is while Jacob
as those that he leaves as the subjects of his displeasure Therefore the Evil must lye some where else it must needs lye more secret and inward the Sin surely must lye in this in the hearts standng in and sitting close to these things And this seems to me to be clearly hinted to us by Christ while he commands us though we be but on the House top and our stuff in the House not to go down to it and though we be but in the field near home yet not to return to it He blames us not for having Houses and Stuff but commands us not to be so in Love with not to six our hearts so upon our Possessions in this World as to return to them and be solicitous in securing of them when he Comes to take us to call us from them to lead us in that Path and VVay to do that VVork he would have us to walk in and to do to enable us to walk in and to do which it 's absolutely necessary we forsake ALL of this World 3. Because of Christs severity against this Sin Remember Lots Wife Whosoever shall seek to save his Life shall lose it Our Lord is so severe against this Sin that that Love to the good things of this Life which the VVorld of Professors call a Vertue a Duty he warns us to flee from lest with Lots VVife he make us examples of his Justice It 's not dainty food not dilicious drinks but eating and drinking it 's not cozening and cheating but that which is at other times lawful buying and selling it 's not planting curious Gardens nor building glorious Structures but bare planting and building it 's not wheredom nor adultery but marrying of Wives the Lord instances in as the sinful state of the World in which when he Comes he shall find them to their sorrow So that it 's not enough that we can say we can part with our dainties things for delight but can we say we can part with forsake and love not our meat and drink that which maintains the very Being of our Bodies and with Elijah live upon the pure Providence of God for our Life and Being If not the Love of the Father is not in us but the love of the World And this Christ will not bear with in his People If at such a time as this when Christ is calling his People out of and from the World to his Work and Service there be but a dram of this Love a bare looking back towards a hankering after this Worlds good things but a little solicitousness after them a going but from the House-top a returning but back out of the field the back-side as it were into the House a going but a little out of the way Christ calls us into though it be but to save our Stuff yea our Life this will set us in the path of Judgement under his displeasure Remember Lot's Wife saith our Lord if when I come I find this temper in you as sure as she was so shall ye become a Monument of my severity A little love to this World but a looking back towards it hath turn'd and as little now but a returning back a little way towards it shall again turn Living Monuments of Mercy into Standing Monuments of Justice Secondly I fear upon a serious search it will be found that our Love to our Stuff the good things of this Life to keep and maintain our possession of these hath hurried us into such by-wayes such courses as have brought BLOOD upon us I shall only mention two Scriptures and leave it to a serious consideration 1. If Baasha execute Justice upon the House of Jeroboam according to the Word of the Lord and become like the House of Jeroboam in Sin and Wickedness that piece of justice becomes BLOOD-GUILTINESSE to him is imputed to him as Murder and he must dye for it 1 King 15.29 16.3 7. V. And it came to pass when he reigned that he smote all the House of Jeroboam he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed until he had destroyed him according unto the saying of the Lord which he spake by his Servant Ahijah the Shilonite Behold I will take away the Posterity of Baasha and the Posterity of his House and will make thy House like the House of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat And also by the hand of the Prophet Jehu the Son of Hanani came the Word of the Lord against Baasha and against his House even for all the Evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands in being like the House of Jeroboam and because he killed him That Blood which Baasha shed in Obedience to the Command of God by his Servant the Prophet in a way of Justice he walking in the same path of wickedness is required at his hand 2. If Jehu execute Justice upon the House of Ahab and do it so exactly too as that every piece of it is according to the Word of the Lord as the story mentions 2 King 9. 10. Chapters Notwithstanding this piece of Justice if done so exactly according to the Rule to the Word of the Lord yet Jehu through the Love of this World not departing from the Sins of Jeroboam but doing the Work of the Lord negligently by halves becomes GUILTY OF THIS BLOOD this act of Justice is imputed to him for Murder and the Blood is required at his hand Hos 1.4 Call his Name Jezreel for yet a little while and I will AVENGE THE BLOOD of Jezreel upon the House of Jehu I need not add further Thirdly Another Branch of the present Afflicting Sin that I would mention I conceive is PRIDE both NATURAL and SPIRITUAL PRIDE How contrary this is to the Lord in all Ages at al times I need not mention the Scriptures are full in expression of it Therefore much more at such a time as this when his design is to be ALONE exalted against which no Sin sets it self so much in opposition as this This Sin so extreamly unfits Jacob were he otherwise quallified for the Work of God that the Lord * Prov. 6.16 17. 13.10 Psal 10.2 86.14 Deut. 17.20 Prov. 16.18 Hos 5.5 hates it it 's Abominable to him This Sin is the source of wickedness by it comes contention which brings forth persecution and this proceeds to violence and causes Rulers in Israel to turn aside from the way of the Lord. Therefore this Sin must needs bring down a Correcting Judgement But Fourthly And the last I shall mention is CARNAL Mindedness Carnality of Spirit And this I would expatiate a little upon because it is the most Spiritual Evil and so needs the greatest battery gainst it The Carnal mind of the Natural man who is after the flesh is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Rom. 8.5 7. this brings Death to him v. 6. And
Pluckt up all our Defences even then when we could not believe it possible being lifted up and set on high because Isa 1 2 3. Ch. the Cedars of Lebanon and the Oaks of Bashan were the Stakes in our Hedg and the high Mountains and Hills and High Towers and fenced Walls were our Defences and Pleasant Pictures Gold and Silver were our Ornaments and we were strengthned by the Mighty Man and the Man of War the Judge and the Prophet and the Prudent and the Ancient and the Honourable man and the Counsellor and the cunning Artificer and the Eloquent Orator The same Mighty Arme of the Lord of Hosts that hath been and still is upon all these in the midst of us Plucking them up and Beating them down with the Rod of his Anger shall put forth its Almighty Power in Rooting and Planting them that come of Jacob I shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root and not only so But Israel shall Blossome and Bud. It 's not a Bare taking Root but such a Rooting as shall bring forth a Blooming Budding Flourishing State though this Winter night of Affliction may cause Israel in appearance to be as a Withered Dead Tree yet his Life shall appear in its Season he shall Blossome and Bud spring forth into a Flourishing State And fill the Face of the World with fruit Israels Tree shall so flourish so spread forth its Boughs as that the Beasts of the feild shall have shadow under them and the Fowls of the Heaven shall dwell in them the fruit of the Tree shall be much yea so much as it shall be meat for all all flesh shall be fed of it the whole World shall be filled with its fruit The * Isa 27.4 and Mal. 4.1 Bryars and the Thornes the worldly Professors in the midst of Jacob in his faln State shall be burned up and Israel the true Seed shal fill THEIR place with fruit the Proud and the Wicked of the world shall be burnt up as stubble and Israel shall fill THEIR place with fruit Though through our Sin and Stubborness in it we provoke the Lord to suffer us to be slain to be as Dead yet when our Sin is done away and our Iniquities purged we shall Arise though we be brought to dwell in the Dust yet we shall Awake and Sing our Dew shall be as the Dew of Herbs Isa 26.19 such Influences from Heaven shall descend down upon us as that we shall Spring again and Live and Flourish and fill the Face of the world with fruit What Fruit this is would require a large discourse to tell and it not being my work at this time to treat of therefore I leave it I shall only say this That it 's such Fruit such excellent Fruit of such a Divine Nature that it causes glorious effects that men shall fear the Name of the Lord from the West and his glory from the Rising of the Sun the Spirit of the Lord by his mighty working brings forth this fruit Isa 59.19 It 's to this People who are put into a capacity by the means appointed of the Father to bring forth such fruit that the Redeemer comes It 's this People who are brought into this Light upon whom the Glory of the Lord is thus Risen that must Arise and Shine upon whom the Lord shall Arise and upon whom his Glory shall be Seen Isa 59.20 and 60.1 2. These are the People to whom the Great gathering shall be mentioned Isa 60. Having Fixed the Prophesy and Opened it and shewed the Cause and End of the Present Affliction I would now draw a few Conclusions from the whole 1. That in the Last Daies at this Day the Lord will use the same means to Purge and Cleanse and Purifie his People that he makes use of to Destroy his and their Enemies Outward and Sore Afflictions Smiting and Slaying Death it self Jacob the true Seed Smites the Enemy to Destruction and the Lord permits the Same Enemy to Smite Jacob to Blood to Pnrge him from his Iniquity and take away his Sin 2. That this Sore Affliction the Lord makes use of as the means whereby he will Purge and Cleanse his People Ends not in Smiting only but Proceeds to Slaying to Blood slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him It seems Jacobs Disease is so highly Pluretick as the skilfullest Physitian in Heaven and Earth can find no way to cure Jacob of his Distemper but by letting out his Blood 3. The sharpness of the Affliction clearly shewes to Jacob the Hainousness of his Sin The tender Fathers of our flesh will not lay sharp and Sore Corrections upon their Children but for exceeding great Faultiness If we see a tender Father whipping a beloved Child till the Blood run down his back we say surely that Child hath committed some exceeding great fault Much more may we say Jacob hath Sinned a Great Sin when we see the God of Jacob who is the Father of Mercies whose thoughts of Mercy are as far above our thoughts as the Heavens are Higher than the Earth Isa 55.9 when we see him Smiting Jacob and Smiting him to Blood that he even faints under his Correcting hand yea so Sorely Afflicting Jacob that were it not measured out in measures of mercy did not the Lord in tenderness as it were stand upon his watch to put a stop to it when it comes to such a pitch it would deprive poor Jacob of Being This surely is an open Declaration of the Greatness of Jacob's Sin In a case like this we have the Lord mourning over him Hosea 11.8 How shall I give up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Admath How shall I set thee as Zeboim mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together 4. The continuance of this Sore and sharp Dispensation will be either Lengthned or Shortned according as Jacob behaves himself under it as he is Obedient or Disobedient to the voice of the Rod Isa 1.19 20. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land but if you refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the Sword Jacob's willingly doing the will of God may prevent this devouring Sword 's passing over him but if Jacob will not it must have its course saith the Lord of Hosts This Affliction must abide till it hath wrought its Effect Purged Jacob of his Iniquity and taken away his Sin So that the sooner Jacob departs from his Sin the sooner will the Rod of Gods displeasure be taken off his back Consider again that place we have already discanted upon Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save but your Iniquities have separaed between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear The Lord is now as Able so Ready to bestow Salvation it 's only our own Sin that hinders his hand
from Saving and his eare from Hearing our cry If we would but turn from our Sin which brought the Rod upon us the Lord would Hear and Save us immediately The Lord is so ready to save that he is waiting upon his watch to see when we will return to him that he may save us Deliverance is fixed to no Time but only to the Time of our Turning from our Sin the sooner we Turn from it the sooner we shall be Saved till we turn from it we shall not be Saved for the Rod is brought upon our back to Turn us from it till which is done it will not be taken off and as soon as ever we Turn from our Sin the Lord will take that oportunity that Time to shew forth his Almighty power and get him self a Name and a Praise in the Earth in Saving of his People 5. From hence we may behold The Exceeding Riches of the Grace and Love of God to his People Though Jacob Sin and Sin at such a rate that compels the Father of Mercies who had rather be giving men for him and people for his life giving them as the dust to his sword and as the driven Stubble to his Bow for precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints notwithstanding this Father of Mercies is so highly provoked as that he is compelled to give up Jacob into the hand of his Enemies that so by such a sever Correction we may be brought to return to the Rock of his Salvation which he hath lightly esteemed then the remnant shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the Mighty God Isa 10.21 yet through this dark cloud of displeasure he manifests a Fathers Love to uphold the drooping Spirits of Sinning Jacob In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it c. as if the Lord had said Fear not Jacob though I deal thus sharply with thee know it 's only to Purge and Cleanse thee from thine Iniquities and Sin to Cut out the remainders of that rotten Core of Iniquity that is in thee to Lance those Boils of Corruption that are yet in thy flesh unbroken this Smiting and Cutting Dispensation shall proceed no farther My Rough Wind shall only blow away thy Chaff and then will I debate with it put a Stop to its rigorous proceedings I have an East-wind in my hand ready as soon as ever this potion I have given thee hath done its work for which I intend it to send forth to Turn this Rough Wind backward and make a way for thee to escape for this is all the fruit to take away thy Sin Thou wouldest not give me that Praise which was my due and I expected from thee for former kindnesses therefore thou hast compelled me to gain that Praise by making use of the Wrath of Man to Correct thee but the Remainder of wrath will I restrain Psal 76.10 They are only the Bryars and the Thornes in the midst of thee that set themselves against me in Battel that oppose my Work and my Intendments that I would bring to passe to get my self a Name and a Glory in the Earth it 's only these that I would Destroy and Burn together but my End in all this is to fit thee for that I may bestow upon thee Salvation therefore take hold of my strength and make peace with me and thou shalt make peace with me as it is in the 4th and 5th verses 6. Though the Immediate Minute of the Time of Jacobs Comfort is not yet come the Time wherein Jerusalem can say her warfare is accomplished Isa 40.1 2. Mal. 3.2 Isa 27. compared with Cant. 5.7 she hath received of the Lords hand double for all her Sins notwithstanding this terrible tryal may be as Hot as the Refiners Fire and as sharp as the Fullers Sope this Smiting may be to Wounding and Blood yet do not despond let not thy heart sink under it for the Lord hath not only said he will measure it out for thy good but he hath also said there is Hope in thine End This Affliction though it may be Sore and Terrible Smarting and Bloody yet it shall not make an End of Jacob. †Jer. 31.16 17 and 30.10 11. and 46.27 28 and 4.27 and 5.10 18. Fear thou not O my Servant Jacob saith the Lord neither be dismaid O Israel for loe I will save thee for I am with thee saith the Lord to save thee though I make a full End of all Nations yet will I not make a full End of thee though I leave thee not wholly unpunished yet will I Correct thee but in measure though the whole Land be desolate yet will I not make a full end though I command the Enemy to goe upon thy Walls and destroy yet not to make a full End yea in those daies saith the Lord I will not make a full End with you Though these Scriptures speak but Colaterally to us yet they speak as fully and as strongly to us as they did to them in the same Condition For if the Lord under the Old-Testament Administration bore so much Love to his Servant Jacob as not to suffer the punishment of his Sin to make a full End of him in that day much more will he not suffer the punishment of our Iniquities to make a full End of us in this day of the punishment of our transgressions under the New-Testament Adminstration Therefore let not our Hearts sinck under our Affliction but let us lift up our heads for our Redemption draweth nigh there is Hope in our End the Lord will yet Cause them that come of Jacob to take Root Israel shall Blossome and Bud and fill the face of the World with fruit though to Cause us to * Isa 10.21 Deu. 32.15 36. compared with Isa 59.16 return to the mighty God the Rock of our Salvation which we have lightly esteemed to bring us quite home to himself the Lord may fuffer the Afflictton to arise so high that it may be even ready to overwhelm us that there is no man left to stand up for us no Intercessor to plead on our behalf No Saviour our power is gone and there is none shut up or left then will the Lord repent himself for his Servants and his own Arme shall bring Salvation 7. As the Great End of the Lord in all is GOOD to Jacob all things the Smitings the Woundings the Slayings of his Enemies work together for good to Jacob So the Lord hath engaged to debate with and stay his Rough-wind the Smitings and Slayings of the Enemy the Present Affliction when it hath shot forth to that measure to that degree to the bringing forth of that Good he intends to Jacob by it it shall proceed no further if the Enemy of Jacobs Happiness offer to carry it on further to Jacobs hurt the Lord will by his East-wind that he hath in readiness for that purpose put a stop to it He stayeth