sometimes answers his peoples prayers presently when they seek him so that it may not only be said in the evening but in the morning hast thou heard me not only this day but the next also see that place in 1 King 18.38 and 44. Elijah praies and the Lord heard him presently but he praies again and then the Lord defers in the 38. verse he praies for fire to come down to consume the sacrifice and it did so but in the 44. verse of the same chapter he praies again for rain and see in what a posture he praies in and obtained his petition with much difficulty sent his servent Seven times and at the seventh time it was but a little cloud at first God heard him presently but he praies again and then mercy comes difficultly yet God was not angry with Elijah So Daniel he prayes and was heard presently but the people they pray and pray earnestly yet they were not answered Oh therfore let us take heed of impatiency and frowardnes of spirit in trouble and of being weary of duty Use be patient in prayer and gâ—owing carelesse in holy services because an answer comes not presently this shows the rottennesse of our spirits as much as any thing and 't is as evident a sign of an hypocrite as any we have in Scripture Isa 8. they faâ—â—ed and prayed so long that they thought themselves mightily wronged because they were not heard therfore are they so bold to ask God a reason why he was so far behind hand with them when they had done so much service for him Oh boldnesse of spirit Obs 3 That the time of Gods reviving his people is neither long in Gods nor the Saints account 'T is but two daies the third day we shal live Isa 31.5 Isa 31.5 opened As birds flying so will the Lord be swift to help Jerusalem He hath promised not to contend for ever and in 1 Peter 1.6 1 Pet. 1.6 rightly pointed Though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through many tribulations in the Original 't is If now if need be so that there is great need of afflictions before God sends them So 2 Cor. 4.17 afflictions they are for a moment a very little time Faith that lifts up the soul upon two hills where it seeth Heaven on the one and the vally of Achor in the middle and it so works in the soul that it causeth it to be patient in suffering the greatest tryals it is a sign of a distempered spirit to complain of the length of an affliction a gracious heart desires more the sanctifying it than taking it away we might have been swallowed up in the gulf of eternal misery Hag. 2.6 yet a little while and I will shake Heaven c. But it was between five and six hundred yeers before this shaking came viz. at the coming of Christ our impatience make affliction seem long Obs 4 In the sadest condition faith makes present and real Gods reviving mercies When their help is gone in the mount of mans extremity will God be seen We should reason thus because Gods people are in great extremity then 't is a sign that God will arise and help them and not despair and give over our hopes simile as before the morning light is the thickest darkness so let us never be discouraged at the encrease of afflictions for they shew the time then hastens for deliverance and thiâ— faith makes present to the soul it shews the soul life in death favor in frowns love in strokes faith seeth a great difference between the strokes of God upon the Saints and upon the wicked that place is famous for this Isa 26.14 compared with the 19. They are dead they shall not live they are diseased they shall not rise When God strikes wicked men their wounds forerun death here and eternal death hereafter when he smites them in their cause in their names or estates 't is to undo them But now mark in the 19. verse Thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise Some think that these words note the glorious condition of the Church in regard of their safety that though men and means fail yet faith can see deliverance in the womb of an infinite wisdom Faith revives other graces power and faithfulness Faith revives other graces when seeming dead and puts life into them much more doth it into our dead conditions 't is reported of the * Vt vives alijs lapidibus pretiosis extinctis solo attactu luscitoret Guliel Paris Cristal that it hath such a vertue in it that the very touching of it quickens other stones and puts a lustre and beauty upon them This is true of faith it makes evil things present far off and good things far off present and herein consists the exercise of faith in a great measure Psal 91.7 A thousand shall fall on thy left band and ten thousand on thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee this is a very strange speech that a man may be in a place where a thousand shall fall by him and ten thousand on the side of him and yet he not touched by the disease By faith the soul enjoyes this security Psal 60.6 God hath spoken in his holiness I will rejoyce I will devide Sechem and met out the vally of Succoth the thing was not yet done yet they rejoyced in it as present faith it enables a dead and a barren womb to bring forth a child it raiseth up a dead son out of the ashes Abraham bids his servants to stay at the bottom of the hill and expect his coming Oh strong was his faith in this thing How unbeseeming are our spirits and how is our faith manifested to be weak and poor Use of reproof when a mercy promised is within sight ready to be fulfilled and made good yet how impatient are we and froward when it comes not so soon as we desire when we are full of such determinings against our selves or the Cause of God saying alas all is now gone we are left desperate God hath forsaken his Cause Oh let us take heed of pleasing our selves with this kind of carnal arguing and objecting for they are such as mightily provoke God and dishonor him and hinder much good which else we might enjoy But were I worthy I could think something Obj. then I might have some hopes Answ Faith sees worthines in its unworthines In this case do thou exercise faith upon Christ even in thine unworthyness and though thou maiest die and not see the harvest nor reap the fruit of thy prayers yet know the generations to come shall and this may comfort thee That speech of Jacob is remarkable to this purpose when he lay a dying saith he Behold I die but God shall do much more for you The Cause may be trodâ—n down for a while and God may hide himself but know that he wil keep
so what a controversie think you hath God against many in this Kingdom at this day How fearful is Gods controversie against some that must feel it for that blood that hath been shed in Ireland There is upon record one hundred and forty thousand that have been murdered there since the beginning of this rebellion and every body wil say it is plain murder And they whosoever they are that have had a hand in this and abetted it and strengthened the hands of the Murderers what will they be able to answer unto God Shall the blood of one righteous Abel cry loud in the ears of God and never leave crying untill it hath had vengeance and shall not the blood of one hundreth and forty thousand innocents I mean innocents in this regard in regard of the cause for which they were murdered We now in England begin to be somewhat sensible of the guilt of Murder what it is to have it lie upon a Nation In the last Declaration of the affairs of Ireland the Parliament giveth an intimation of some fear they have that possibly the guilt of the blood of King James may some way be upon US God hath a controversie for murder wheresoever it lies if it be not punished accordingly And for all that blood that hath been shed here of late where ever the cause lies God will find it out one day Oh the blood that will be upon the head of some Jer. 51.35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon shall the inhabitants of Zion say and my blood upon the inhabitants of Caldea shall Jerusalem say So let all Christians they may do it and they have warrant from God to do it let all Godly people in this Kingdom that have had their Husbands kill'd their Children kill'd their Apprentices kill'd their Friends kill'd in these unhappie wars let them say the violence done to my flesh be upon the Babylonish party the Popish partie and the blood that hath been shed of our husbands of our children of our servants of our friends be upon the inhabitants of Caldea the inhabitants of the Popish partie that are risen up and shed so much blood as they have done Oh how vile and cursed are mens hearts even in this thing that are so set upon their designs that to attain them they will go thorough streams of blood that lie in their way and no matter for the livâ—s of thousands of men so their lusts may be satisfied How are men vilified in this thing that their lives and bodies must go to be servicable unto the lusts of a few otherâ— Certainly God never made such a difference he never put such a distance between one man and another But now in the waies of execution of justice there we must not account the shedding of blood to be killing God hath not a â—ontroversie with a land for bloodshed in the execution of Justice nay on the contrary the Lord hath a controversie against a people when there is not shedding of blood that way Jer. 48.10 Cursed be the man that withholds his hand from blood such a case may be And 1. King 20.42 when Ahab let Benhadad go the text saith that a Prophet came to him in the name of the Lord saying Because thou hâ—st let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people So when we have men in our hands whom God hath appointed to destruction who are guilty of death who have sought not the blood of some few but the massacring of a Citie if for private ends of our own we let them go God may require our lives for theirs And this is the cause it may be amongst others that there is so much bloodshed at this day amongst us because there is no execution of Justice upon offenders and God requires the blood of many for many It is true Papistâ— for their Religion are not to be put to death that we acknowledg but the Lord because he intendeth the ruin of that partie will leave them to those waies that they shall be guilty of death by the Law of the Land and by the Law of Arms and then the putting them to death in that kind is the execution of Justice and not the breach of the sixth Commandement Quest But will som say Oh killing is a grievous thing we never were acquainted with killing as we have been of lâ—te were it not better we were all at peace than that still so much blood should be shed Answ God forbid any of us should be bloody men or desire the shedding of blood No let us all labour to have peace thaâ— there may be no more bloodshed Take this speech barely considered and it is a good speech and we are all I hope of the same mind Cursed be that man I say that shall not yeild to this But certainly peace though upon hard terms it were to be desired if that peace would save blood though half our estates went for it But what if it prove that that peace we talk of should be a means of more bloodshed If you should let in such men into your City as bloody Papists French Walloons and Irish Rebels and that meerly upon their bare word that they would do you no hurt do not you think if they were once in that you would every night be in danger of massacring and would there not be much more bloodshed than yet hath been Therefore let not men say that those are bloody men that will not yeild up their throats to bloody men that will stand up to defend their brethren from being massacred but they stand up and take up Arms not to shed blood but to prevent the shedding of blood For certainly if the Citie and Country had in the beginning of these wars rose up as one man and gone into the field they might have saved abundance of blood that hath been shed Many thousands that have now lost their lives might have been preserved if you had took up Arms to more purpose sooner than you did But when every County looks to it self and the enemy goes to such a County and there sheds blood and then to another and there sheds blood and you sit still and do nothing God may require the blood of your brethren at your hands and you cannot clear your selves from being guilty of the sheding of the blood of your Brethren when you do not appear to the uttermost you are able to subdue the power of those that shed their blood We cannot see any way to keep the blood that iâ— now in our veins but by subduing the Malignant and Antichristian partie that have already tasted so much of the blood of the Saints that they are like the Country-mans dog And so those Irish Rebels that in Ireland have tasted so much blood and now are come over hither to joyn with Papists you cannot in any way of
willing to fully themselves with such vanities as their parents and masters before them did they do begin to know the Lord and to enquire after God Young ones the hope of a Nation And blessed are you of the Lord you are our hope that God intendeth good unto us and that He will not let out the wild beasts to devour us but will rebuke them for your sakes And although perhaps many of these gracious young ones may perish yea many have been slain already in this Cause yet let not others that remain behind be discouraged at it for it is in argument that there is some great and special mercy that God intendeth for us in that He is willing to venture such precious ones for the procuring of that mercy We may well reason so that if so much precious young blood that might have lived to serve God be shed in this Cause if God come to grant unto England mercy He wil grant such mercy as wil be worth al their blood and that mercy must needs be great that shal be worth all the blood of those that are so precious which might have lived to serve God so many years here in this world And seeing God makes use of them it is because the mercy that is to come for the next generation is so precious that indeed such as have defiled themselves with superstitious vanities are like to have no share in it and as they are not like to live to see it so God will not make use of them to prepare that mercy for the next generation But because God hath a love unto the young generation that are godly therefore He hath reserved much mercy for many of them that are like to see and enjoy it and others of them that are not like to see it yet he will be so gracious to them as he will imploy them in making way for that mercy And whether it is better to be made instrumental for the glory of God and the good of another generation or to live to see the fruit of this it is hard to determine Certainly those that in one generation are made so instrumental as to lay the ground work of mercy for another generation they are as happy as that other generation that comes to reap the fruit of their labours and sufferings and those that do come to reap the fruit of their labors shall bless God for them and when they enioy the good and liberty of the Gospel they shall say Oh blessed be God that stirred up such a generation of young ones to shed their blood and now we reap the fruit of it and blessed be God for them they will bless you to all generations Therefore let there be no discouragement to godly young ones though it pleaseth God to cut of many by death in this Cause for God hath some excellent end in it beyond all our reaches Thus much for these words Only one Note more and that is this That Obs God takes it exceeding ill at mens hands that they should corrupt young ones This Note is as full in the words as any other God takes it exceeding ill it is a part of treachery against God for any to be a means to corrupt young ones Take heed what you do in corrupting of young ones Those young people that are coming on and beginning to enquire after godliness take heed what you do that you hinder them not Especially parents and governors Oh let your consciences flie in your faces when you begin to curb them for their forwardness Many times your consciences cannot but misgive you when you think I have been wicked and naught most part of my daies I spent God knows many of my yeers in vanity and profaness here are young ones that begin betime to enquire after God and yet wretch that I am my heart riseth against them And as these people that hinder young ones are to be rebuked so such as seek to corrupt them by false opinions Certainly it is that by which God is much provoked at this day and as on the one side there is hope of mercy in regard so many young ones begin to enquire after God so I know no such dreadful argument of Gods displeasure against this Nation as this That assoon as young ones begin to come to know Jesus Christ there are presently corrupt erroâ—â— infused into them and that under the notion of honoring Christ and free grace and the Gospel so much the more whereas indeed they do no other than infuse principles of libertinisme and loosness and such as will even eat out the heart of godliness Certainly the Lord hath a quarrel against such as corrupt young ones by their false principles for there are none so ready to drink in false principles as young ones especially young converts who begin to enquire after the waies of God and these men that are their corrupters they have this advantage they come not to them to perswade them to profaness but they come to them with seeming pretences of giving honor unto Christ and of magnifying free grace and in the mean time sow seeds in them that will eat out the power of godliness Oh to corrupt children and young ones and when they begin to enquire after God and to know him for you to do that which may estrange them from God this is that which God will have a quarrel against you for And it is a greater argument of Gods displeasure against us A common evil that it is so common and frequent at this day than any one I know there is not any one argument that I know that is a greater discouraging argument to us of Gods displeasure than this thing But so much for those words They have begotten strange children It follows Now shall a month devour them with their portions Expos A month I find Interpreters have a great deal of do about this expression Many think that God aims at one special month and they tell uâ— of one month in the yeer which answereth to our July that there were many grievous things to befal the Jews in that month in former times and in latter times too as if that were a more Ominous month than any other I will not spend time to speak further of that But there is certainly somewhat else in this expression I find an expression paralel to this in Zech. 11.8 the holy Ghost there speaks of three Shepherds that God will cut off in one month these Idol Shepherds saith he My soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me I will cut them off in one month There is the most exact description of your superstitious Idol Shepherds even such as we have at this day amongst us in many places saith God My soul loathed them and their soul abhorred me Who do more hate the power of godliness than those kind of men and against whom is the soul of God more than against those kind of men
find out the meaning of a text who stand so curiously upon such inceties The meaning the meaning therfore of the words are after two daies that is although God do not come presently after two daies yet he will come mercy though it staies long yet it will come two daies in Scripture signifies a little and a short time as Numb 9.22 whether it were two daies or a month or a yeer that the cloud stayed upon the Tabernacle two daies that is when we shall be in any great extremity of pain or misery Mercer Mercer quotes R. Abrah R. Abrah Ezra filium who saies that wounds and gashes in a mans body pain and smart more at two daies end than at the first so God may let us lie in the smart of pain and sorrow two daies but in the third day mercy shall follow Interpreters generally conceive these words to have reference unto the two daies that Christ lay in the grave Christs resurectioÌ„ prophesied in this scripture and Luther saith that this is the Scripture which Paul speaks of in 1 Cor. 15.4 That Christ rose the third day according to the Scripture what Scripture why this the third day we shall live in his sight though the text Notes the confidence which repenting Israel had in Gods mercy towards them yet hath it reference also unto Christ as if they should say our straits and miseries may be great and we may lie in them a while so did Christ but he was raised the third day and so shall we Mr. Calvin Calvin saith that God gave a famous and memorable example of Israels mercy after their captivity by Christs rising from the grave and this may well be meant of Christ as that Scripture shews Hosea 11.1 When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt Who would have thought that this had meant Christ but that the Scripture applies it unto Christ in Mat. 2.15 And he departed into Egypt untill the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled c. How darkly was Christ shadowed out in the old Testament as by Jonas in the Whales belly three daies Oh what cause have we to bless God who lives in the times of the Gospel where Christ is manifested so cleerly what dark and mistical intimations had they of Christ in those daies this was one of the cleerest and that of Jonas in the Whales belly When at any time God would comfort his people in distress what doth he do Christ Gods usual medium to comfort his afflicted people Luthers Object he reveals a prophesie of the Messias to come as in Isa 7.14 and in Isa 9.6 and when was this when the rod of the oppressor was broken in Zacca 9.9 and so here God having smitten wounded torn them he comes and heals them promising life and reviving to them But here now Luther makes an objection If these words had reference unto Christ they should run thus He should live in his sight not we and he answers it himself that it notes the efficacy of his resurrection Answ Ostendit fructum resurectionis Christi we are risen live in Christs resurectioÌ„ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad facies ejus not only for himself but for many others We shall live in his sight that is comfortably mortis habet vices que trahitur vita genitib before his face that is His favor shall be towards us for mercy as the turning the face away shews anger so the turning of Gods face towards us signifies favor 2. We shall see his face with comfort and reâ—oyce in the sight of it 3. We shall eye his face in acts of obedience and he will eye our duties with acceptance 4. It notes security in his presence As when we are in the presence of a King his very presence is our security and safety so we shall live in his â—â—ght that is we shall be safe in his presence The Notes from hence are Obs 1 That Gods own people may not only he smitten and wounded by God but may lie for dead in their own eyes and in the eyes of all about them for a time see it in the case of Heman Psal 88.8 14. verses Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me verse 10. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead shall the dead praise thee Ezek. 37.3 we reade there of drie bones which should be made to live and Revel 11. the witnesses shall be slain and lie dead in the streets the beast shall overcome them the generallity of those that stand for Christ shall be slain by the beast and overcome by his power Reas God works by contraries The reason of this may be because God can work about his glory by contrary means This is a great affliction yet not so great as sin is when God fetches out his glory from the afflictions of his people it costs him not so much nor so deer as when he fetcheth it out of sin now if Gods glory be so dear to him that he will suffer sin to be in the world thereby to fetch his glory out of it why should we be unwilling that God should suffer afflictions to be upon us seeing by them he fetcheth out glory to himself Exod 15.7 In the greatness of thine excellency hast thou overthrown them which rose up against thee how should God manifest his glorious power in raising them up were they never brought very low In Heaven God will manifest his glory so to us that we shall not need such dark shadows to have it set out and opened unto us as here it is Use Care to be well grounded in a cause thâ—t may suffer If this be thus take heed of drawing darker conclusions from Gods dealings than they will bear as to say the Lord hath forsaken us and God will have mercy no more upon us he hath forgotten to be gracioos or to say he hath left his cause and turned his back upon his inheritance therefore we should labor to be well informed in the grounds upon which his cause stands and is maintained and which may uphold us in the maintenance of it for know that God may put thee to the tryal and if thou art not throughly grounded thou wilt apostatize God leaves his people in that dead condition for a time the first Obs 2 day they may look for help and it may not come and the second day he may let them lie when help is look'd for and this may be after their seeking of God This people they said Come let us return unto the Lord yet what do they say after two daies he will revive us it must be some time first God is a great God and his creature must wait there is much grace exercised in an afflicted condition when the soul quietly submits to God and patiently waits upon his pleasure let his dealing be never so hard towards them God
his Message to King Joash and was slain for it and saith the text Acts 7.52 Which of the Prophets have not your fathers murdered But now here is their encouragement against al the il usage the hardships which they meet withal in their work I look upon it saith God as I doing it I had a hand in it therfore certainly God will not let them go unrewarded 1 Sam. 22.23 David said to Abiathar Abide thou with me fear not for he that seeketh thy life seeketh my life but with me thou shalt be in safeguard David was the occasion of Abiathers fathers death Consololation to those Ministers the frieÌ„ds of those that are perished in the Cause of God and because of that what respect had David of him for this and shall not God much more So that have you a friend a brother or a father slain for the Cause of God or in it standing for Him shall not God take his part yea He will Ahimâ—lech was slain accidentally for the Cause of David yet he would deal wel with Abiathar but saith God thy friend was slain standing for Me and owning My Cause he shall lose nothing by it for I will deal well with thee and preserve thee alive for his sake I have slain them That is thus Their Ministry hath been Expos 3 so heavy that it hath even kild them I have followed them on so with work that I have even slain them so that this people cannot say they have not been warned or that they have had no Prophets among them or that their Prophets have been idle that they have had no work to do and certainly it is a good death for a Minister to die preaching Pareus makes much use of this Oportet Episcopum concionantem mori saith he How much more honorable to die in doing Gods work than by coÌ„mitting sinful acts of intemperance uncleanness c. they cannot spend their strength better than in Gods service O let that people who have such Ministers look to it that they bring forth fruit answerable in some proportion to the cost that is bestowed on them and if you take the sense thus then God seems to speak grievingly Oh what shall I do with this people what means hath been used what losses have I sustained by them I have spent many choice Servants among them the lives and strengths of such spirits have bin spent upon them of whom the world was not worthy Oh what shal I do unto such a people Surely such a people enjoying such a Ministry had need look to their profession May not this be said of many Congregations in London Congregations in London hath not God sent many choice spirits among you to do you good and have they effected the end for which they were sent among you If not wo to you God hath a special regard unto this when he shall spend the lives of his choicest and most precious servants and if he have not a considerable vallue and return in peoples fruitfulnes it wil mightily provoke and incense him against them God hath an high esteem of his Ministers lives and strengths they are vallued more than so to be spent and wasted upon unfruitful people who neither care for them nor their Ministry Expos 3 But to come more particularly and according to the genuine sense of the words This slaying refers it self to the people How the word slaies Now the Word slaies in these two respects In its deonouncing of judgement upon men for what the Word threatens it is said to do Jer. 18.7 8. At what instant I speak concerning a Nation or concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy and when God promises mercy good he is said to give life and we should look upon them as performing of it In the operation and working of it it hath a mighty efficasie in it for the working impenitent sinners to ruin it is as a twoedged sword which doth execution every way Isa 11.3 It makes men of quick understanding in the fear of God and God is said to consume Antichrist by the breath of his nostrils and by the Word of his mouth 2 Thes 2. the Word is of such a force that sometimes if brings death in a litteral sense to some who withstand and oppose it Ezek. 11.2 Pelatiah gives wicked counsel in the City and the Prophet is commanded to prophesie against him and in the 13. verse we reade that when the Prophet prophesied Pelatiah died so many times God makes the Word so powerful in the mouths of his servants that it strikes men dead presently Gualter Gualter hath this Note from hence that the power of the Word appears in this that it awakens convinces and terrifies the consciences of men so that they go home and make away themselves and become self-murderers and the truth is it is nothing else but the word working powerfully to the ruin and destruction of men Or the words may be taken hyperbolically as men that Expos 4 are oppressed and in misery Oh ye kill me I am not able to endure it you wil be the death of me the Prophets came so close to them that they cryed out Oh they will kill us we are not able to suffer them Luther Luther saith that these words Thou hast slain them by the words of my mouth that is meant the Law by the Law thou hast slain them and by the word Prophets he saith is meant that part of Doctrine which is necessary to be preached to prevent the abuse of the Doctrine of the Gospel which otherwise men would be ready to pervert and he further adds that those men which deny the use of the Law were not fit so much as to be suffered I mention this of Luther the rather because those who deny the use of the Law urge him so strongly for the upholding of them in their way It follows Thy judgments are as the light That is passively thy threatnings Expos 1 upon them or the execution of those threatnings upon them shall break out as the light though they have slain my Prophets and think thereby to free themselves from those judgments which they threatned against them no saith God for all this I will make known my threatnings which they have denounced against them when the Prophet Jeremiah had delivered the message of God to the Princes and the Priests they laid hold on him and said he should surely die Jer. 26.8 Now see what the Prophet saith in the 14 and 15. verses As for me behold I am in your hands do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you but know ye for certain that if ye put me to death ye shall bring innocent blood upon your heads for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you You think perhapâ— that when the Minister is gone his words are gone and there is an end of them no they shall lie upon you
get any thing by any fair way then they invent lyes and make lyes their refuge It is the Maxim of the Jesuites Câ—lumniare audacter aliquid herebit Calumminate and ly stoutly to purpose and somewat will stick for every one that shall hear of the report shall not come to hear of the answer that can be given to it And that is their policie to spread abroad lyes as much as they can and especially to invent lyes of those that are most eminent and active in publick affairs and that is the reason of those strange inventions that are raised of such as are most active in Parliament and also in the City and in the Ministry things so hideous that if they were true would render men altogether unfit to be entertained in a Common-wealth But you will say what can they get by it when it proveth to be false Yes because their lyeâ— spread a great way further than the answer to them can spread And those in Jer. 20.10 do fully set out the condition of these men I heard the defaming of many saith the Prophet how Report say they and we will report it This was their plot against Jeremiah the truth iâ— we must defame Jeremiah we see he hath got a great deal of credit and prevails with the people and we know not how to help our selves only if we can but defame him if we can but raise up something that may take away his esteem with the people we may then have our end Ier 20.10 Opened therefore devise somewhat report and we will report it we will spread it abroad we will put it into a frame and print it As now if a company of Malignants get into a Tavern there they wil talk against this Minister and the other against thiâ— Parliament man and the other against this Citizen and the other what shall we do say they we see they prevail let us devise somewhat that may defame them report somewhat and we will spread it This hath been the way to this day to maintain that Antichristian partie that great Lye Jer. 9.3 They bend their tongue like their bow for lyes and ver 5. They have taught their tongue to speak lyes They are now become artificial in it and they do it the rather because they know it will please some great ones It was so in former times Pro. 29.12 If a Ruler hea ken to lyes all his servants are wicked If any Officer or any that are about him see that it will humour him to raise ill reports against Gods servants the servants of such a Ruler will be wicked and raise lyes enow And amongst other places that is famous Hos 7.3 Hos 7.3 the text saith there They make the King glad with their wickedness and the Princes with thâ—ir lyes Opened It is spoken of Jâ—roboam and the other Kings that followed him that set up false worship How there were a great many in Israel whose consciences would not give them leave to follow that way of false worship upon that there were a company of Promoters and Apparitors and Baylifs and some Courtiers they would invent lyes against those that would needs go up to Jerusalem to worship and would not content themselves with the Calves that the King set up Now when they had invented lyes of some of the most zealous men amongst the people they brought these tales to the King and said thus Did your Majestie hear such a thing There are such men in your Majesties dominions that dwell in such Toâ—ns and they are forsooth so scrupulous they will not be content with that Religion that the Law hath established but they must go up to Jerusalem to worship yea and at sâ—ch aâ— mâ— they get into a corner and there they commit sâ—ch and such wickedness and they live in these and these wicked waieâ— And thus they came and told the King tâ—les of them and the text saiâ—s They madâ— the King glad with their tales the King was tickled with it and rejoyced at it and he gave them his hand gave them encouragement Certâ—inly amongst uâ— there hath not been wanting men that have endeavoured this that wâ—â—ld have accounted this their happiness to get a tâ— iâ—â—o tell of a Puritan or of a godly Miniâ—â—er though it were never so false Thus we have briefly paâ—â— over this second charge in this second verse â—weaâ—ng and Lying The next follows The Lord hath a contrâ—â—◠〈◊〉 with 〈…〉 of the land for Murder for Killing Murder that is a provoking sin God seldom suffers it to go unrevenged in this world Whence are all those discoveries of Murders scarce any one but can tell strange stories of the discovery of murder We have a vain distinction of murder man-slaughter as 't is call'd that forsooth if a man be angry and in a passion kills another thiâ— is man-slaughter and no murder God will not own that distinction for if you shall by your passion make your self a beast and so kill a man God will require this at your hand for Gen 9.5 God saith that he will râ—quire the blood of man at the hand of every beast much more at the hand of a man that by his passion makes himself a beast The life of a man is precious to God and God will not suffer any creature to have absolute power over it he keeps the dominion of mens lives unto himself Mr. Ainsworth upon Gen. 9.6 citeth the the Jewish Doctors affirming that a Murderer though it were possible for him to give all the riches of the world yet he must be put to death because the life of the murdered is the possession of the most holy God this is their argument Certainly it is not in the power of any man upon earth to save a murderer be he what he will be The greatest man upon earth hath no liberty from God no prerogative to save a Murderer but he that sheds blood by man must his blood be shed God avengeth the blood that Manasseh shed a long while after his death 2 King 24.4 And for innocent blood that he shed which God would not pardon Though Manessâ—h did repent and so we have cause to hope wel in regard of his soul and his eternal estate * Though Calvin seems to be of the contrary opinion Deut. 28. yet the Lord came upon the Nation after his daies and would not pardon his shedding of innocent blood What adoe do we find in the Law concerning the killing of a man When a man was found dead in the field nigh unto a City the Elders of that City they must come to the dead body wash their hands over the heifer to be slain and â—ake a solemn Oath that they had no hand in the murder and so clear the City from the guilt of it This shews how precious the life of man is in Gods esteem and that God hath a controversâ—e with a land for shedding of blood And if this be
his Covenant with thee he never yet broke Covenant so long as Christ is thine and thou art his Gods faithfulnesse in keeping Covenant is also thine what if those that stand for Christ and his Cause be sometimes beaten must they therefore give over No but venture still and if our sins hinder not though we may lie dead to day and to morrow yet the third day we may live in his sight Obs 5 Mercies after two daies death are reviving mercies After two daies I will revive you Promises in times of afflictions are sweet indeed Oh then how much more deliverance Such mercies are resurection-mercies which God sends after killing afflictions And such mercies hath the Lord given us at this very day the Lord hath revived us when almost dead Applicat for Engl. therefore would we give God the glory of such mercies and render unto him due and seasonable praise for such seasonable mercies Let us observe these rules First Look back to your base unbeleeving hearts formerly and chide them upbraid them with this now Oh vile heart of mine did not I begin to say Alas I am undone all iâ— now lost my hopes are now abortive was not I sorry that ever I was so engaged as I am were it to do again I would be better advised did not I think newters which had never manifested themselves for God in his Cause in a far better estate than I and wish my self in their condition how hath the Lord been dishonored by me what secret pining and grudging thoughts have I had even against God Himself because of the various dispensations of providence Say now oh base vile unbeleeving heart how hath the Lord confuted thee and made thee to see thy shame and ignorance in beleeving sence rather than faith Secondly Hath God bestowed reviving mercies upon you then be willing to give God the glory of them and resign them up to him upon thiâ— ground because we have forfited them by our unbeleef an unbeleeving heart forfits all mercies before he hath them 't is true God gives many precious mercies to sad dumpish froward discontented spirits but you cannot have that comfort in your mercies which others have because they are forfited and though God through his bounty lets you enjoy them yet you are in fear continually lest God should take his forfiture Oh beleeve your mercies in the promise through the difficulties Thirdly Remember the Covenants which you made unto God in the times of your trouble and keep them 'T is a provoking sin to break Covenant with God God complains of it against Israel Psal 78.38 They flattered him with tâ—â—ir lips in making Covenants to him in their trouble but they were not sâ—eadfast in their Covenants Oh how usual is it with men in any misery to Covenant largely with God and presently to forget what they have done this is a sign of a false heart therefore take heed of it Lay more wait upon your Covenants which you make if ever you mean to give God real praise for any mercy Fourthly Consider how much better it is to give God the glory of a mercy willingly than force him to extort it from you in a way of wrath God is better pleased with active praise than passive for his mercies consider glory he will have for his mercies Oh put not God to that trouble to force his own glory so due to him from you if you give not God the glory of a mercy in possession he in wrath will take it from you and had not God given us this reviving mercy it might have been our case to have been forced to give God his glory in a passive way Fiftly Whatever God câ—lls for now from you be willing to give it up to him freely whatsoever we would have been willing to have given for such a mercy in our misery had God indented with us for it let us be ready and willing to give it to him now the mercy is come had we known our danger and the miseries which would have flowed in upon us had not mercy prevented if God should have said thus What would you do what would you suffer what would you part withal for me and you shall be delivered out of this danger and possess the contrary mercy Then seeing God hath given us such a mercy without this indenting make this an argument to come off freely in giving God that which he now calls for you have been perhaps in bodily fears and danger of death by some sickness now if God should have cald for your estates would not you have given them to him Do that now which you would then have done Lastly Lay up against unbeleef for time to come Hath God remembred us in our low estate let us say with David We will trâ—st in him so long as we live we will never determine so as formerly we have either against our selves or the cause of God we wil never entertain hard thoughts of God more but we are resolved to do what belongs to us as creatures and leave the success of the business to God apply this any way and it will be very useful hath God helped us in any soul-trouble revived thee in the depths of sorrow when God hid himself from thee lay up the passages of God towards thee in this case against all the risings of unbeleef whatsoever resolve upon this that thy soul shall relye upon him for help whatsoever becomes of thee this is to give God the glory of reviving mercies Psal 18.1 2. thus doth David apropriate God to himself and gathers strength from this to support him David at this time was in a great straight by Sauls persecution of him that he gave all for lost I shall one day perish by the hands of Saul but he soon recals himself again It was in my hast he said in his hast the Prophets of God Gad and Nathan they are lyars they tell me that I shall be King that I shall sway the Scepter in Israâ—l but 't is nothing so I am like to be kild and betrayed every moment such enemies wait to catch me and is it ever likely that I should fit upon the Throne and be King So men in their hast are ready to think that God will forsake them and leave his cause upon every frown and hard word which he speaks but David found a reviving mercy presently upon it in the 1. and 2. verses of the 18. Psalm where he praised God for that mercy which formerly he would not beleeve before in this 2. verse he sets out God in way of praise by eight titles 8. Relations of God in Psal 18.2 with the Believers propriety in them and all his propriety in them for strengthening of his faith 1. My rock 2. my fortress 3. my deliverer 4. my God 5. my strength in whom I will trust 6. my buckler 7. the born of my salvation 8. my high Tower from all these titles of God as his he
married may at the revolution of the yeer bless God for the mercies they have enjoyed in that Ordinance entred into on that day but how many are there who have little cause to remember either that or their birth day nay may they not rather with Job curse the day of their birth Suppose you should hear a voice from heaven this day that you must die and not live that this must be the last day you should live tell me then could you bless God for the day of your birth would the thoughts of it be delightful to you 'T is reported of Philip the third King of Spain Philip the 3 of Spain who lived so strictly that he never committed any gross crime never committed any known sin willingly yet when he came to die cries out Oh that I had never reigned that I had lived a private life in the wilderness that I might not have the sin to answer for not doing the good or hindering the evil which I might have done It is a sad thing when men come to die that they cannot look back with comfort to their lives spent that they have not discharged their places had Jeroboam kept his birth day in this manner there had been no evil in it but his keeping of it was only to satisfie the flesh till he himself was sick with wine in such daies Bachus and Venus have the greatest portions Obs 1 Festeval daies are usually made distempering daies daies of provocation It follows With bottels of wine This wine is like that in Deut. 32.33 Their wine is the poyson of Dragons and the cruel venime of Asps this wine of Asps it makes the spirits warm and the body sick Job knew the danger of feasting therefore when his children were a feasting he was in sacrificing They made the king drunk with wine This was the way which they took to gain the King And is not this the course which is taken now in our daies to betray the young Gentry into base filthiness This was the plot of these Priests first to make the King drunk and then they could do any thing with him could get any edict from him to serve their base ends and intentions to suppress the precise people Drunkenness is an old Court sin See how the Prophet Isa Obs 2 28.1 fills his mouth with woes and threatnings against the drunkenness of Ephraim Wo to the Crown of pride to the drunkards of Ephraim The Court the Crown of Ephraim was at Samaria A miserable thing it is that those which have the most opportunity for God should spend their time in such beastly vanities and do to their bodies and souls as Richard the third Rich. 3d to his brother drown them in a Butt of Sack Drunkards courses brings diseases Be not amongst wine-bibbers Obs 3 amongst riotous eaters of flesh Drunkennes brings diseases for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty how many are there which carry about with them the marks of their lusts as Paul carried about him the marks of the Lord Jesus men will venture much for their lusts but if Christ call them to suffer any thing for him then they are tender and sickly but let their estates healths and credits stand in the way to hinder them in the pursuance of their desires in sin they will break through them all now a shame is it for a Christian not to do more for God than these men will do for their lusts Timothy is commanded to drink but a little wine and that for his refreshment to help nature but when men drink make sots of themselves by it what diseases doth this bring men into See Mr. Sa. Ward his wo to drunkenes as the falling sickness disfiguring their countenances making them to look more lik swine than men c. The Scripture tells us that the Saints bodies are the Temples of the holy Ghost do you think that such a body as this is like to be a Temple no but rather like matter for the very sinck of hell where all filth shall be fuel for everlasting burning How canst thou answer the weakning of thy strength by this lust when God deserves all thy abilities It may be thou wilt say thou wert never dead drunk but wert thou never so distemperd as to weaken thy abilities and make thee unfit for service how sinful then is the practice of those that drink others healths till themselves are sick through excess Drunkenness is vile in any but most of all vile in Governors men of place and power Prov. 31.4 It is not for Kings to drink wine nor for Princes strong drink It is not for them and why because they are above us and how can any man endure to be under drunken beasts they are gods and how vile and abominable is it to have drunken gods The law of Carth. Therefore the Carthaginians made a Law that none of their Magistrates in the time of their Magistracie should drink any wine Obs 4 It is much more vile to make others drunk than to be drunk our selves Therefore in Esth 1.8 the drinking was according to the Law none did compel for the King had appointed to all the Officers of the house that they should do according to every mans pleasure none were compelled to drink more than they were willing you may think they express a great deal of love to you in drinking to you and pressing you to drink and when they have overcome you then will they laugh at you and make you a scorn especially if they can get you who are professors of Religion to be overtaken Therefore you had need above all men to take heed of this sin for if you fall Religion suffereth and the Name of God is evil spoken of by your means therefore Christ bids his Disciples themselves to take heed of surfeting and drunkenness Therefore you that are professors had the more need to take heed of this sin and mind this exhortation of Christ Obs 5 That drunkenness is vile at any time but especially when we pretend to praise God When God shall shew thee mercy and thou pretendest to praise him for it and then take liberty to be excessive in the creature this is most abominable we have had many daies of thanksgiving to praise God for his mercies if we have been excessive in the use of the creatures be humbled 't is an ill requital of God for his mercy It follows He stretched out his hand with the scorners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Septuagent translate this word Scorners by divers words as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First Pestilent people so in Psal 1.5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the Congregation of the righteous because every scorner is a plague to the family place and town where he lives Prov. 22.10 Cast out the scorner and contention will go out yea strife and reproach shall cease Hierom translates these words