from him that sitteth upon the Throne to the Beggar upon the Dunghill must we all be since the Man according to God's own Heart so heavily complained (b) Psal 38.4 Mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me And elsewhere (c) Psal 40.12 Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of mine head therefore mine heart faileth me O that we could every one of us speak of our Sins so feelingly and penitently as He did of His and that God would appoint over us Refiners and Purifiers some Hezekiah and Josiah who also as they begun to Reign shewed their zeal for God and against Sin I hitherto have spoken of our Sins I must now say something of the punishment With Paul I say to my self and to all Sinners (a) Gal. 6.7 8. Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a Man soweth that shall he also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life Here is Good and Evil a Gracious Reward and a just punishment offered let us chuse well 'T is of God's Truth and Justice that Punishment should follow Sin he rewardeth both Good and Evil we are told how (b) 1 Cor. 3.8 every man shall receive his own reward and ever it was so (c) Heb. 2.2 for every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward There is a Reward for the Righteous so saith our Saviour (d) Matth. 5.12 Great is your reward in heaven Long before he had by David said that the Obedience to God's Laws was the way to 't (e) Psal 19.11 In the keeping of them there is a great reward and as there is a recompense for the good so there is for the wicked (f) Psal 91.8 With thine eyes shalt thou see and behold the reward of the wicked We for our Sins have felt and still feel Judgments of several sorts for I must come home First the Honour of the Nation is low in the world which doth hit in a sensible part Foreign Countries at this time want the Value and Esteem which once they had for England Time was and 't is not long since when our Neighbours were in fear of and had us in Reverence but now 't is otherwise the reason is plain (g) 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed that is shall be honoured by Men as they are of God as we have it in the examples of David at the latter end of his Life of (h) 2 Chro 17.10 Jehoshaphat Hezekiah (a) Chap. 32 23 27. and their People under them but now God hath smitten us in that very tender part (b) Prov. 14.34 Righteousness exalteth a Nation but sin is a reproach to any people Also (c) Rom. 2.9 Tribulation and anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil The strength of the Nation is much weakened now it cannot do what formerly it could and what remaineth of it is through certain ways and means made useless The Comliness is gone (d) Psal 39.11 For when thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth For God is a consuming fire and we are as stubble before him There is now a concurrence of Sins committed of Judgments inflicted and of others threatned so that not only we feel but also have cause to fear for God's Mercies we by our sins have made our selves unworthy of and deserved his most severe Judgments We seem in our carriage ashamed to Confess and Repent of our Sins thô not to commit them so that 't is a wonder that having so often sinned against Grace and the Gospel we have not quite sinned it away it threateneth to to leave us to go to others who will value it more than now many do among us Also the Riches are lessen'd Poverty is come on apace upon many I know those who formerly Fared plentifully now to want the Conveniencies even the Necessaries for Life Trade once Flourishing is now much decay'd the Mastery of the Sea question'd and a Blast laid almost upon every thing we undertake We have felt the great Scourges Plague Fire War Unseasonable weather one after another and Dearth yet are not returned to God we are troubled with Partialities Factions Hatred and Animosities The Nation is Divided Subdivided Undersubdivided yet we will not return to God but walk contrary to him so no wonder if he walks contrary to us and I am afraid it may at last be in fury For as we have been unthankful under Mercies so we are become uncorrigible under Judgments besides we have God's word for it to be seriously read in the Texts (a) Lev. 26. Deut. 28. Joel 1. and 2. Amos 4 2 Chron. 7.19 20 21 22. quoted in the Margin which contain terrible Judgments but the worst are the Blindness of Mind and hardness of Heart which many are punish'd with who mind not and care not for the Dispensations of God's Providence and are (b) Rom. 1.26 27 28 29 30 31. Given up to vile Affections and to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness Fornication Wickedness Covetousness Maliciousness full of Envy Murther Debate Deceit Malignity Whisperers Backbiters Haters of God Despiteful Proud Boasters Inventers of Evil things Disobedient to Parents without Vnderstanding Covenant-breakers without natural Affection Implacable Vnmerciful This is all now written for us as once it was for the Romans for those Sins are among us as they were among them and I look upon them not only as Sins but also as Punishment for Sins For when God leaves Men to themselves from one Sin they by his just Judgment fall into another for these Spiritual and Temporal Punishments are only Warning pieces What then will the Murthering ones be Do we wait and stay till some destroying Angel come upon us Well may we cry out with the Prophet (c) Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not We read how once upon an unseasonable weather of Rain and Thunder in Wheat-Harvest time (d) 1 Sam. 12.18 the people greatly feared and cry'd out they had sinned And in another place 't is said that (a) Ezra 10.9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin trembled because of their sin and for the great rain which they look'd upon as a Punishment for it So should we who of late almost every Summer about Harvest time have had such Rains as prejudiced the Corn and other Fruits of the Earth upon the like case as now ours is (b) Micah 6.9 The Lord's voice crieth unto the City
exercise loving-kindness judgment and righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord and not in Sin which I abhor Once there were great outcry 's against the Sins of the late Reigns and there was cause for it as God's Judgments which are always just declared But are we now better in the least On the contrary we can observe those same Sins to increase and daily grow stronger and more frequent upon us Have any of the guilty and offenders against God and the Country been punished for their notorious Offences How can the Effect cease if we remove not the Cause and what signifies to find fault except we mend I look upon 't only as an aggravation We know yet act not according to knowledge neither do we improve the means and opportunities which God had put into our hands to assert his Honour and his Truth to reform Abuses redress Grievances promote the good of the Nation prevent Evil restrain Sin punish Sinners and with greparing our Hearts unto God to fit ourselves for further Mercies Rather with continuing as we do in our Sins and through our unthankfulness we provoke the Lord and are in a way to draw his vengeance upon us The most notorious Sins of the late Reigns were Whoredom and Adultery taking other Mens Wives and without Shame living with them in the sight of the Sun Also downright and open Idolatry yet such were Prayed for as our Religious Kings and Defenders of the Faith when they were about destroying it So was Hypocrisie in pretending to be Protestants tho' actually Papists yet 't was made Treason to say the King was a Papist or Popishly affected which I say to shew how any Society or Assembly of Men chiefly when guided by Interest and Passion is apt to Err and be mistaken and thereby Men were made guilty of Death for telling the Truth Well these Sins and many more in Church and State were under the late Reigns the cause of our Complaints and have been the grounds for our Deliverance But what are we the better for it Tho' God (a) Ezek. 16.50 hath taken away some of the Sinnners as he saw good if the same Sins in the same degree nay in a higher do still continue among us and are become our master Sins is not there Cause to put this Question after God hath so graciously and wonderfully wrought for us are these Distempers remedied and all the great Abuses we complained of Reform'd nay are we so much as in earnest about to do it Tho' we may say some few are in a small degree yet far from it as to others for specially those relating to God ' Honour and Service are increased and without restraint daily multiplied We have bad Examples whence we expected good ones How careful are Men to promote their worldly selfish Interest and how neglectful of God's as if it was not worth minding Hence it is that we see obscene blasphemous and impious Books publickly exposed to Sale in Shops Auctions c. without any Curb and when there hath been other Books in opposition to those how much unfaithfulness tricking and unfair dealings have been used to smother or mangle them about the time of the coming out nay after that for Love nor Money one could not get them put into the Gazzetts among the Advertisements tho' desir'd more than once So that Diana's Interest wants no Demetrius of several kinds among us Some think they may be of no Religion others of any and profess what they please some do vent and publish their Opinions whilst others cheat and revile their Neighbours and wrong them in their good Name Fortune Liberty and sometimes in their Life without little or no Curb at all which is a bringing in a-pace of Confusion and Anarchy and all this some would call the Liberty of the Subject which is with Impunity to abuse one another and to run into all manner of Licentiousness Some think themselves Priviledged to Defraud others of their own nay others go further to Strike those Persons whose Character ought to be Respected and that in such Places as require a special Punishment and upon such occasions as deserve Thanks and not Blows Thus in one kind or other (a) Judg. 17.6 Every one doth that which is Right in his own Eyes as we read it was when there was no King in Israel Thus God in his wise Providence suffereth Abuses to Creep in and sometimes to Prevail of which we may say what our Blessed Saviour speaks of Offences (a) Luke 17.4 It is impossible but that Offences will come but Wo unto him through whom they come by Right it should be so with those who commit Abuses but also he from time to time raiseth Instruments in his hand for his People's good and makes them as Paul would have us to be (b) Rom. 12.11 Acts 17.16 Fervent in Spirit Serving the Lord. As we read how his Spirit was stirred in him in Athens when he saw the City wholly given to Idolatry Not Lukewarm in his Service for such (c) Rev. 3.16 He speweth out of his Mouth Nor such as (d) Jer. 48.10 Do his Work deceitfully For such are Cursed But for his Honour and the benefit of his People he makes use of such as Love Fear and Serve him with their Heart such a one was Moses to deliver Israel out of Aegypt and Joshua to bring them into the promised Land After the Babylonian Captivity God chose Zerubbabel to carry them home Ezra to reform their Manners settle Religion and build the Temple then Nehemiah to build up the Walls of Jerusalem So he never wants Instruments to do his Work and if some Men ly as Blocks in his way he knows well how to Remove them Happy those whom he is pleased to make use of for so good a Work But as Rules back'd with Examples make a greater impression so I shall mention some whom Scripture hath proposed as Patterns in matters of Religion for after Ages to follow Asa I begin with for after the falling off of the Ten Tribes he was the first Reformer of the Kings of Judah To his commendation 't is Recorded of him that (e) 1 King 15.11.14 He did that which was Right in the Eyes of the Lord as did David his Father and that his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his days Whereof Instances are given to shew how he minded the true Worship of God and removed Abuses therein Committed 'T is with every collective Body whether Ecclesiastical Civil or Politick as with the Natural in this ill humours and destructive are sometimes Bred and Formed which 't is necessary to Purge away Thus often Corruptions which cause Distempers do creep into the sore-named Bodies which to preserve the whole ought to be taken away and Remedied This good King began his Reign with minding things of Religion 't is just that God should be served first The Right way for a
which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price But the more to confirm this Truth another witness joyns with this (h) 1 Tim. 2.9 10. I Will that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame fac'dness and sobriety not with broidered hair or gold or pearl or costly aray but which becometh women professing godliness with good works All Women that have some regard to God's words will mind this Many sins are committed in another kind of relation between Parents and Children often when Men want Children they desire to have some and when they have they look or ought to look upon 't as a Blessing of God for thereby they afford Church and State some Members but do they afterwards answer God's end in giving them Children Do they take due care to breed them in the fear of God and put them in a capacity to serve their Maker and their Country Sometimes they be very careful to gather an Estate for them but not to qualifie them how to manage it well If they have a sine Horse they look out for a good and skilful Groom to Break and Order him but often neglect the means to improve the Souls of their Children What they do for them is sometimes not with judgment and often it doth them more harm than good They ought to give them good Counsel and good Example not to fright but to entice them to good things bear with some Humane Frailties especially those which attend the Age but to make use of their Authority to curb and restrain them from evil things shew themselves enemies to every vitious course as much as may be infuse into them a love for Piety Virtue and Honour with a Hatred to all that is contrary to 't they ought to study their Tempers and Inclinations Reform what is Bad and improve what is Good in them When this foundation is laid and there are in a Family several Children 't is Prudence in Parents not to shew themselves too partial for some more than for others for such carriage hath caused great mischief in some Families Yet 't is fit Parents should shew their Approbation of those Children that do well and are virtuously inclined and wisely a dislike of those whose Dispositions are vicious (a) Coloss 3.21 yet do not provoke them but elsewhere I have abundantly written upon this Subject Farther 't is the Duty of Parents according to their Abilities and Quality to provide for Children and dispose of them in the World This Scripture presseth upon them (b) 2 Cor. 12.14 The children ought not to lay up for the parents but the Parents for the children And (c) 1 Tim. 5.8 If any provide not for his own and specially for those of his own house he hath deny'd the faith and is worse than an infidel On the other side How many Undutiful Disobedient and Rebellious Children in the World Some (d) Psal 58.3 are estranged from the womb they go astray assoon as they be born This is a most wicked and unnatural frame of Spirit abhorred by all Nations and by God's immediate Command the Offender was (e) Deut. 21.20 punish'd with death By a natural Right all Men are equal but only in this case there is by nature a subjection of one to another Children ought to Love Honour Obey and Help their Parents But how many now a-days who instead of being the Joy Help Comfort and Support are the cause of their Grief and of Trouble in many ways and instead of a staff in their Old Age especially to support it do rather serve to knock them down but God will judge for such wickednesses I shall now insist upon the sins here committed in another relation between Masters and Servants There are so many notorious examples as any one may see them on the Master's side are Hardness Injustice contrary to Scripture not only Threatnings which the Apostle exhorteth to forbear but also Blows and Violence not considering that (f) Coloss 4.1 their master also is in heaven On the other side Servants are Unfaithful Careless Vicious Despisers when they are Commanded (g) Ephes 6.9 to be obedient to their masters according to the flesh (h) v. 56. and Coloss 3.22 with fear and trembling in singleness of heart as unto Christ not with eye-service as men-pleasers but in singleness of heart as fearing God And they ought to (i) 1 Tim. 6.1 count their masters worthy of all honour 'T is a common guilt with many Servants when their Masters find fault with them to Reply which they are expresly forbidden to do (k) 〈◊〉 2.9 not answering again Another Relation there is between Rulers and the People which hath its Sins great and pernicious this being a slippery step one must be nice and wary upon 't howsoever it being of the highest concernment must not go untouched For suppose we should speak of the Throne but with a due Respect yet those who Sit upon 't are but Men subject to like Infirmities with us Humane Nature is in them attended with Frailties and imperfections for being Kings they cease not to be Men then sometimes happen such Conjunctures as Cross and are Le ts in the way of the Government which yet I say not to excuse those who might do better but only those that cannot help it Besides that in all things we must observe a Governing and Over-ruling Hand of God 'T is too usual and common for Authority to mind its own Honour more than the Glory of God and also not (l) John 5.44 to seek the honour that cometh from God only but that which cometh from men It was as truly as wisely said (m) Prov. 20.8 A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes that is ought to do so and look upon Evil with a design to disperse it as the Sun doth the Clouds Nay 't is sin him Wisdom to do so these are the words of a Wise King and not mine (n) v. 26. A wise king scattereth the wicked and bringeth the wheel over them 't is not only his Duty but his Interest so to do for (o) Ch. 16.12 the throne is established by righteousness which he gives as a reason of what he said in the beginning of the Verse (o) Ch. 16.12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness they should mind Christ's Interest preferably before their own in this world which in effect is to promote their own if it be not contrary to the Lord's whereby they ought to begin (p) Mh 6.33 (p) Psal 103.13 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you After that they must procure the good of their People whom they ought to Love and upon some occasions in imitation of God to pity as a father pitieth his children