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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	good_a	see_v	2,875	5	3.5208	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42767	A sermon preached before the right honourable the House of Lords in the Abbey Church at Westminster, upon the 27th of August, 1645 being the day appointed for solemne and publique humiliation : whereunto is added a brotherly examination of some passages of Mr. Colemans late printed sermon upon Job 11.20, in which he hath endeavoured to strike at the root of all church-government / by George Gillespie, minister at Edenburgh.	Gillespie, George, 1613-1648.	1646 (1646)	Wing G759; ESTC R30413	43,318	49

Many shall be purified and made white and tried where the same word is used from which I said before the fullers sope hath its name The Doctrine shall be this Tribulation doth either accompany or follow after the work of Reformation or purging of the house of God So it was when Christ himself came into his Temple Luk. 12.49 I am come to send fire on the earth vers. 51. Suppose ye that I am come to send peace on earth I tell you nay but rather divis●●on So it was when the Apostles were sent forth into the world Peter applieth to that time the words of Joel And I will shew wonders in heaven above and signes in earth beneath blood and fire and vapour of smoke the Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood Acts 2.19 20. The meaning is such tribulation shall follow the Gospel which shall be like the darkening of the great lights of the world and as it were a putting of heaven and earth out of their course so great a change and calamity shall come The experience both of the ancient and now-reformed Churches doth also abundantly confirm this Doctrine Neither must we think that all the calamities of the Church are now overpast Who can be assured that that houre of greatest darknesse the killing of the witnesses is past and all that sad prophecie Rev. 11. fulfilled And if some be not much mistaken it is told Dan. 12.1 that there shall be greater tribulation about the time of the Jews conversion then any we have yet seen At that time saith the Angel to Daniel there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered every 〈◊〉 that shall be found written in the book I make haste to the Uses and first let me give unto God the glory of his truth if we have been deceived surely he hath not deceived us for he hath given us plain warning in his word and hath not kept up from us the worst things which ever have or ever shall come upon his Church And now when the sword of the Lord hath gotten a charge against these three covenanting and reforming Kingdoms is this any other then the word of the Lord that when Christ cometh into his Temple who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth so he is like a refiners fire and like fullers sope And for the invasion of Scotland by such an enemy after a reformation is it any new thing May we not say that which is hath been Did not Senacherib invade Judah after Hezekiahs reformation 2 Chro● 32.1 And though after the reformation of Asa and after the reformation of Jehosaphat also the land had a short rest and a breathing time yet not long after a forrain invasion followed both upon the one reformation and the other Nay look what is the worst thing which hath befallen to Scotland as yet as much yea worse hath formerly befallen to the Church people of God toward whom the Lord had thoughts of peace and not of evil to give them an expected end I say it not for diminishing any thing either from the sin or shame of Scotland the Lord forbid we will bear the indignation of the Lord because we have sinned against him we will lay our hand upon our mouth and accept the punishment of our iniquity we will bear our shame for ever because our Father hath spit in our face our Rock hath sold us and our strength hath departed from us But I say it by way of answering him that reproacheth in the gates and by way of pleading for the truth of God Some have objected to our reproach that when the Lord required the Israelites to appear before him in Jerusalem thrice a yeer he promised that no man should invade their habitations in their absence Exod. 34.23.24 which gracious providence of his no doubt saies one continues still protecting all such as are employed by his command yet thath not been so with Scotland during the time of their armies being in England I answer besides that which hath been said already even in this the word and work of God do well agree and that Scripture ought not to be so applyed to us except the Canaanites and the Am●rites and the Jebusites of our time had been all cast out of our borders we find this day too many of them lurking there and waiting their opportunity for the Septuagints and many of the interpreters read that Text thus For when I shall cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders no man shall desire thy land when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the yeer And this is the true sence read it as you will For the promise is limited to the time of casting out the Nations and inlarging their borders which came not to passe till the dayes of Solomon it is certain that from the time of making that promise the people had not ever libertie and protection for keeping the three solemne Feasts in the place of the Sanctuary as might be proved from divers forrain invasions and spoylings of that Land for some yeers together whereof we read in the book of the Judges But I go on In the second place let God have the glory of his just righteous dealings Let us say with Job I will leave my comp●aint upon my self and say unto God Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me But by all means take heed you conceive not an ill opinion of the Covenant and cause of God or the reformation of Religion because of the tribulation which followeth thereupon Say not it was a good old world when we burnt incense to the Queen of heaven for then we were well and saw no evil But said the people to Jeremiah Since we left off to burn incense to the Queen of heaven and to poure out drink-offerings to her we have been consumed by the sword and by the famine Jer. 44.17 18. To such I answer in the words of Solomon Say not thou what it is the cause that the former times were better then these for thou diest not enquire wisely concerning this Was the peoples coming out of Egypt the cause why their carcasses did fall in the windernesse or was it their murmuring and rebelling against the Lord which brought that wrath upon them If thou wilt enquire wisely concerning this thing read Zephaniah cap. 1. In the dayes of I siah even in the dayes of Judahs best reformation the Lord sent this message by the Prophet I will utterly consume all things from off the Land v. 2. And I will bring distresse upon men that they shall walk like blind men and their bloud shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as dung vers. 17. What was the reason of it It is plainly told them and

let us take it all home to our selves because notwithstanding of that publick reformation there was a remnant of Baal in the land and the Chemarins and those who halt between two opinions who swear by the Lord or to the Lord which is expounded of the taking of the Covenant in Josiahs time but they swear by Malcham also v. 4.5 There are others who do not seek the Lord nor enquire after him and many that turn back from the Lord in a course of back-sliding v. 6. other clothed with strange apparell vers. 8. others exercising violence and deceit vers 9. a number of Atheists also living among Gods people ver. 12. For these and the like causes doth the land mourn It is not the Covenant but the broken Covenant it is not the Reformation but the want of a reall and personall Reformation that hath drawn on the Judgment Blessed are they who shall keep their garments clean and shall be able to say All this is come up on us yet have we not forgotten thee nor dealt falsely in thy Covenant Thirdly give God the glory of his wisdom many are now crying how long Lord wilt thou hide thy self for ever Shall thy wrath burn like fire Your answer from God is that the rod shall be indeed removed and even cast into the fire in your stead but when it shall be when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem Isa. 1 0 12. If the Iudgement have not yet done all the work it was sent for then they shall go out from on fire and another fire shall devoure them saith the Lord God is a wise refiner and will not take the silver out of the fire till the drosse be purged away from it He is a wise Father who will not cast the rod of correction till it have driven away all that folly which is bound up in the hearts of his children Behold therefore saith the Lord I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem as they gather silver and brasse and iron and lead and tinne into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you He speaks it to those who had escaped the captivity of Jeboiakim and also the captivity of Jehoiachin and thought they should be safe and secure in Jerusalem when their brethren were in Babylon I will gather you saith the Lord even in the midst of Jerusalem and when thou think you are out of one furnace you shall fall into another and if you will not be refined from your drosse you shall never come out of that furnace but I will melt you there and leave you there which did so come to passe for the residue that escaped to Egypt and thought to shelter themselves there as likewise these that remained in Jerusalem and held out that siege with Zedekias even all these did fall under the sword and the famine and the pestilence till they were consumed Jer. 24.8.10 Let those that are longest spared take heed they be not ●orest smitten Say not with Agag the bitternesse of death is past The child chast●ed in the afternoon weeps as sore as the child chastised in the forenoon Remember the Lord will not take away the judgement till he have performed his work yea his whole work and that upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem it self It is no light matter the rod must be very heavy before our uncircumcised heart can be humbled and the furnace very hot before our drosse depart from us We have need of all the ●ore strokes which we mourn under and if one lesse could do the turn it should be spared for the Lord doth not afflict willingly we our selves rive every stroke out of his hand But in the fourth and last place let us give God the glory of his mercy also he means to do us good in our latter end It is the hand of a father not of an enemy It is a refining not a consuming fire The poor mourners in Zion are ready to say Our bones are dried and our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts we are like to lie in this fire and furnace for ever because our drosse is is not departed from us we are stil an unhumbled an unbroken an unmortified generation yea many like Ahaz in the time of affliction trespassing yet more against the Lord many thinking of going back again to Egypt To such I have these two things to say for their comfort First there is a remnant which shall not onely be delivered but purified and shall come forth as gold out of the fire The third part shall be refined and the Lord shall say It is my people Zach. 13.9 And a most sweet promise there is after the saddest denunciation of judgement Ezek. 14.22 23. Yet behold therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought both sons and daughters ●ehold they shall come forth unto you and ye shall see their way and their doings and ye shall be comforted concerning the evill that I have brought upon Jerusalem even concerning all that I have brought upon it And they shall comfort you when you see their wayes and their doing● and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it saith the Lord God Dan. 12.10 Many shall be purified and made and tried but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand Jer. 24.7 After the promise of delivering those that were carried away to Babylon there is a nother promise added of that which was much better I will give an heart to know me that I am thy Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return unto me with their whole heart Psal. 130.8 He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Zebp 3.12 13. I will also leave in the mid●● them an afflicted and poore people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity not speak lies neither shall a deceitfull tongue be found in their mouth Let your souls now apply these and the like promises and cry Lord remember thy promise and let not a jot of thy good word fall to the ground Secondly as the promises of spirituall and eternall blessings so the promises of peace and temporall deliverances are not legall but even Evangelicall If we be not refined and purged as we ought to be that is a matter of humiliation to us but it is also a matter of magnifying the riches of free mercy Isa. 48.9 10 11. For my Names sake will I deferre mine anger and for my praise will ●refrain for thee Behold I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the fornance of affection for mine own sake yea for mine own sake will

{non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the heritage of the Lord as well as the Ministers Thus much by the way of that distinction of names And for the thing it self to object an innate enmity between the Ministers of the Gospel and those that are not Ministers is no lesse then a dishonouring and aspersing of the Christian Religion To return you see his words tend to the taking away of all Church-Government out of the hands of Church-Officers Now may we know his reasons He fetcheth the ground of an Argument out of his own heart I have a heart faith he that knews better how to be governed then govern I wish his words might hold true in a sence of plyablenesse and yeelding to Government How he knows to govern I know not but it should seem in this particular he knows not how to be governed For after both Houses of Parliament have concluded That many particular Congregations shall be under one Presbyteriall Government he still acknowledgeth no such thing as Presbyteriall Government I dare be bold to say He is the first Divine in all the Christian world that ever advised a State to give no government to Church-Officers after the State had resolved to establish Presbyterian Government But let us take the strength of his Argument as he pretendeth it He means not of an humble p●iablenesse and subjection for that should ease him from his fear of an ambitious ensnarement and so were contrary to his intention but of a sinfull infirmity and ambition in the heart which makes it fitter for him and others to be kept under the yoke then to govern And thus his Argumentation runs Might I measure others by my self and I know not why I may not God fashions mens hearts alike and as in water face answers face so the heart of man to man I ingeniously professe I have a heart that knows better how to be governed then govern I fear an ambitious ensnarement and I have cause I see what raised Prelacy and Papacy to such a height c. The two Scriptures will not prove what he would The first of them Psal. 33.15 He fashioneth their hearts alike gives him no ground at all except it be the homonomy of the English word alike which in this place noteth nothing else but {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} all mens hearts are alike in this that God fashioneth them all and therefore knoweth them all aeque or alike that is the scope of the place The Hebrew Jachad is used in the same sence Ezra 4.3 We our selves together will build they mean not they will all build in the like fashion or in the same manner but that they will build all of them together one as well as another So Psal. 2.2 The rulers take counsell together Jer. 46.12 they are fallen both together The other place Prov. 27.19 if you take it word by word as it is in the Hebrew is thus As in water faces to faces so the heart of man to man Our Translators adde the word answereth but the Hebrew will suffer the negative reading As in waters faces answer not to faces The Septuagints read As faces are not like faces so neither are the hearts of men alike The Chaldee paraphrase thus As waters and as countenances which are not like one another so the heart of the sons of men are not alike Thus doth Master Cartwright in his judicious Commentary give the sense As in the water face doth not answer fully to face but in some sort so there may be a conjecture but no certain knowledge of the heart of man But let the Text be read affirmatively not negatively what shall be the sence Some take it thus A mans heart may be someway seen in his countenance as a face in the water Others thus As a face in the water is various and changeable to him that looketh upon it so is the heart of man inconstant to a friend that trusteth in him Others thus As a man seeth his own face in the water so he may see himself in his own heart or conscience Others thus As face answereth face in the water so he that looketh for a friendly affection from others must shew it in himself It will never be proved that any suchthing is intended in that place as may warrant this argumentation There is such a particular corruption in one mans heart for instance Ambition which makes him unfit to be trusted with Government therefore the same corruption is in all other mens hearts even as the face in the water answereth the face out of the water so just that there is not a spot or blemish in the one but it is in the other I am sure Pan taught us not so when he said In lowlinesse of minde let each esteeme other better then themselves Phil. 2.3 Nay the Brother himself ha●h taken off the edge of his own Argument if it had any in his Epistle printed before his Sermon where speaking of his Brethren from whose judgement he dissenteth in point of Government he hath these words Whose wisdom and humility I speak it confidently may safely be trusted with as large a share of Government as they themselves desire Well but suppose now the same corruption to be in other mens hearts that they are in great danger of an ambitious insnarement if they be trusted with Government Is this corruption onely in the hearts of Ministers or is it in the hearts of all other men I suppose he will say in all mens hearts and then his Argument will conclude against all civill Government Last of all admit that there be just fears of abusing the Power and Government Ecclesiasticall let the persons to be intrusted with it be examined and the power it self bounded according to the strictest rules of Christ Let abuses be prevented reformed corrected The abuse cannot take away the use where the thing it self is necessary Why might he not have satisfied himself without speaking against the thing it self Once indeed he seemeth to recool and faith Onely I would have it so bounded that it might be said Hitherto shalt thou come and here shalt thou stay thy proud waves yet by and by he passeth his own bounds and totally renounceth the Government to the civill Power which I shall speak to anon But I must first ask Whence is this fear of the proud swelling waves of Presbyteriall Government where have they done hurt Was it upon the coast of France or upon the coast of Holland or upon the coast of Scotland or where was it Or was the dashing upon Terra in cognita He that would forewarn men to beware of Presbyteriall usurpations for so the Brother speaking to the present Controversie about Church-Government must be apprehended and to make good what he ●aith fals upon the stories of Pope Paul the 5. and of the Bishop of Canterbury is not a little wide from the mark I should have expected some examples