and yet love and shall not God doe the same who is fuller of mercy then the Sea is of water all the mercy which is in all the men upon earth is not as the drop of a bucket to that Ocean of mercy that is in the Almighty Come to our own experience thou art the Father of a child and he offending thee thou correctest him shall a man say thou hatest him because thou chastifest him no wise man but will say thou lovest him and therefore thou punishest him that hee may grow better againe thy child hath a disease growing upon him which if it be not prevented in time will be his death and thou tendring his good givest money to a Surgeon to cure him though it be to his great paine is it because thou hatest him O no it rather appeares that therefore thou lovest him else thou wouldst not be at charge with him So God findes cause to punish us for our sinnes shall we dare to say he doth it because he hates us God forbid Saith Augustine I know the Physitian is irksome to a man in a frensie because he ties and binds him doth he use him thus because hee hates him no but desire to cure him constraines him to take that violent course with him Againe thou sometimes walkest into thy garden and findest occasion to prune thy trees is it because thou hatest them no but therefore thou do'st it to make them grow better now if all this be true in thine own experience why should not God love and yet punish Vse 2 In the second place it should teach every man to take heed of censuring any to he such as God hates on whom God layes his afflicting hand This was the humour of the Jewes spoken of in Luk. 13.2.3.4.5 they thought those Galileans whose bloud Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices Luk. 13.2 3 4 5 and those eighteen on whom the Tower in Silo fell to bee greater sinners then any in Ierusalem our blessed Lord corrects this and tells them it was not so but that except they repented they should likewise perish This was also the misprision of them of Melita Acts 28.4 Acts 28.4 When they saw a Viper come out of the fire and fasten on Pauls hand they presently judge him to be a murderer O take heed of this for all these things fall out alike both to good and bad and in so doing a man may censure the generation of the righteous Psal 73.15 Psal 73.15 Nay he may be guilty of censuring our Saviour Iesus Christ for he was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefe Isa 53.3 yet at the same time he was the Sonne of his Fathers love Isa 53.3 one in whom hee took an everlasting complacency Iosephs cup may bee found in Benjamins sack and Gods child may be punisht yet in his love and favour for God may love and yet punish thou hast punished us lesse then our iniquities deserve The point is plaine Doct. 2 God doth not punish any of his so much as they deserve In Ierem. 10.24 the Prophet prayes thus Ierem. 10.24 O Lord correct me but with judgement not in thine anger lest thou bring me to nothing as if he had said correct me moderately and not according to my demerits and yee shall finde it to bee Gods own promise in Ierem. 30.11 I will not make a full end of thee Ierem. 30.11 but will correct thee in measure the same also is the confession of the Church Psal 103.10 Psal 103.10 He hath not dealt with us after our sinnes nor rewarded us according to our iniquities And Zophar Iobs friend tells him Iob 11.6 Iob 11.6 that God exacted lesse of him then his iniquity deserved It is a good observation that is made by some of the Learned that as God still rewards ultra merita beyond mens deserts so he ever punishes citra lesse then they deserve that hee is alwayes beyond our merits in rewarding us is evident in Luk. 17.10 where our Saviour saith Luk. 17.10 When yee shall have done all those things which are commanded you say Wee are unprofitable servants wee have done that which was our duty but hee is ever on this side in punishing us See this in Gods dealing with Adam what deserved he at Gods hand but hell yet be punisht him only with temporall death So when Cain had committed that great sinne against God he might have sent him presently to his own place but hee spared him and suffered him to live a long time on the earth waiting for his repentance and when the Israelites deserved to be destroyed and that hee was forced to punish them yet he let not his whole displeasure rise against them Psal 78.38 Psal 78.38 Vse 1 Is it so let us then in all the judgments which God inflicts upon us lay our hand upon our mouth and conclude that it is lesse then we deserve Hast thou a disease upon thee know that it is lesse then thou deservest though it be sharpe and irkesome O but will some say my disease is so grievous that I wish I were out of my life what of that hee could yet lay more grievous upon thee he might send terrours into thy soule if he would which bee tempestates mentis the tempests of the mind and farre worse then any corporall disease judge then if God doe not punish thee lesse then thou deservest O but saith another when God sends a man to Hell doth hee punish him lesse then his desert I answer in regard of the extention of time that which God inflicts on the damned in hell is as much as they can deserve or he can inflict upon them because it is for ever but in regard of the intention of the punishment they be not punished as they deserve God could make the paines of those in everlasting chaines much more intensive but that all his wayes are intervein'd with mercy let us therefore be patient in suffering what God layes upon us knowing that whatsoever the punishment is it is lesse then and on this side our demerit Vse 2 Secondly let us learne of our heavenly Father to bee mercifull as he is mercifull hee doth not deale with us after our deserts why should wee deale otherwise with our brother you see Solomon spared Shimei his life though for reviling his Father he had deserved death only he confined him to Ierusalem which when he violated then and not before he took away his life The Iewes ever had a desire to bee more holy then the Law of God required therefore when the Lord had set and appointed when the Sabbath should begin and when it should end they would begin it an houre before and conclude it an houre after the time limited by God So the Lord commanded them to have no familiarity with the Heathen and they were so strict that they would not so much as speak to one uncircumcised
himselfe of being a blasphemer and a persecuter yea the chiefe of sinners 1 Tim. 1.13.15 Secondly 1 Tim. 1.13.15 it stands in a mans judging himselfe when hee passeth the sentence of condemnation against himselfe Thus did David he confesses that hee had done wickedly 2 Sam. 24.17 2 Sam. 24.17 and Daniel acknowledgeth that to him and his people belonged nothing but shame This is to judge a mans selfe which if men doe they shall save God a labour for hee that judgeth himselfe shall eseape the judgement of the Lord. I desire you to practise this second act of Ezra doe not only pray unto God Vse but likewise confesse your sinnes unto him I doe not charge on you that kinde of confession which our Adversaries of the Church of Rome charge upon their people they tye a man First to a particular enumeration and confession of all his sinnes to the Priest Secondly they say if men doe not particularly confesse their sinnes they cannot obtaine pardon But thirdly if a man shall doe so then hee deserves to bee pardoned But wee are against them on these grounds First there is no precept in the Word of God which commands a man to make a particular enumeration and confession of his sins to the Priest Secondly there is no promise to encourage us to doe it Thirdly there is no example for it in the whole Book of God Nay I will prove that without this particular enumeration of sinnes remission hath been granted as to the woman which was a sinner in the City Christ pronounceth her pardoned without a particular enumeration of her sinnes Luk. 7.48 Luk. 7.48 and thus hee pardoned Zaccheus who only made a generall confession of his sinnes and obtained remission Secondly wee oppose them herein on this ground because they charge that on people which is impossible for as David saith Psal 19.12 who can understand his faults Psal 19.12 and yet hee was better skilled in this kinde of Arithmetick then any Romanist and if he could not reckon his sinnes no man else can Our sinnes are as the sands upon the Sea-shore for multitude which no mortall wight can number And saith Solomon the just man falls seven times a day Prov. 24.16 Prov. 24.16 Therefore it is impossible for any man to confesse all his sinnes particularly Thirdly this is the wrack of the soule for such a man goes away without any plenary remission of his sinnes for if it bee so that hee that meanes to obtaine pardon must make a particular enumeration of all his sinnes then it is certaine that hee must goe away without remission because it is impossible to confesse all his sinnes particularly Lastly this is that which the primitive Christians knew not it was a yoake too heavie for them to beare and one of their own saith Tertullian never knew any particular confession but to the Church Again when it grew up in after-times it was put down wisely For when a Bishop of Constantinople perceived that a Priest under pretence of confession did with Eli his Sonnes abuse a woman at the doore of the sanctuary hee presently put it down Againe they of Rome make it the picklock of Kingdomes for by this particular confession they unlock all the secrets of Princes I charge not this on people but I wish them to acknowledge their sinnes in the presence of God Neither is this so easie as most men think it to bee for since our fall wee are so prone to conceale our sinnes that if there bee but one bush in Paradise wee will finde it to hide our selves in but let us not hide our sins as Adam hid himselfe but let us with the prodigall confesse them and that is the way to have them pardoned But some will demaund and say how shall we confesse our sins To this I answer First wee must confesse them with shame thus did Iob Iob 42.6 Iob 42.6 I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes And thus did the poore Publican he confesseth that hee was not worthy to lift up his eyes unto Heaven Thus also did the woman which was a sinner in the City shee was so full of shame for her sinnes that shee dares not come before our Saviour but comes behinde his back as hee sat at meat and washed his feet with her teares Secondly wee must doe it ingenuously it must not bee extorted from us as it was from Achan but wee must willingly confesse our iniquities Thirdly wee must doe it with sorrow and contrition of soule Fourthly with anger Fifthly with honest hearts that is with an assured purpose to leave our impieties therefore it is said Prov. 28.13 Prov. 28.13 Hee that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall finde mercy Lastly wee must confesse our sinnes fully there must bee no retaining excusing or extenuating of sinne for God knowes the depth of our deceitfull hearts yee know how it is with a begger if hee have one soare worse then another hee will bee sute to lay that open that hee may move passengers to commiseration So wee should not only confesse our lesser but our grosse iniquities which is the next way to have God mercifull to us Alas what will it availe us to keep one Achan when that one is enough to trouble a whole Host what shall wee gaine by reserving one Ionah when that one will hazard the losse of the ship and the lives of all them that saile in it Let us therefore confesse our sinnes according to the manner prescribed and then wee may bee confident that God will forgive our iniquities and blot out all our offences Wee come now to the manner of Ezra his confession laid down in these words weeping and casting himselfe down before the house of the Lord. The first thing in it is his weeping and this hath ever been an usuall concomitant of prayer Psal 6.6 See it in David Psal 6.6 I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swimme and water my couch with my teares Mark hee made his prayer to God and teares went along with it The like wee see in the same Prophet Psal 42.3 Psal 42.3 My teares have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto mee Where is thy God The like wee see in the sinner in the City Luk. 7.38 Luk. 7.38 and wee see it in Ezra in our Text hee not only prayes but weepes And there is great reason why wee should weep in regard of sinne Reason 1 First because of the great good that sin deprives us of we are apt to grieve for the losse of a father a wife or a child but what great cause have we to mourne especially for our sinnes though wee lose our friends by death yet wee may meet them againe in the Kingdome of Heaven if wee live and die in Gods feare but if we mourn not for sinne wee shall never see the face of God to our comfort Micha
owne hands and shall there be such a moderation in spirituall things well take heed of this else that may befall you which befell the Scribes and Pharisees Publicans and Harlots will goe before you into heaven be perswaded then to be the first in good actions and when thou art in a good way keep in it for unlesse thou persesevere in well-doing it will availe thee nothing that thou wert once good it did Judas no good at all to be of the twelve when once he fell away and it shall not doe man any good to lay a good foundation if he build not a good structure upon it for to begin in the spirit and to end in the flesh to set out good Wine at the first and then that which is worse is the Devills banquet and no other Further as Ezra had the honour to be an example to others in goodnesse so now see the effect of it a great company of men women and children assembled together And why so Doubtlesse for no other cause but to humble themselves as he had done So efficacious and powerfull is the example of goodnesse in great ones see it in Joshua when he protesteth that he and his house will serve the Lord the people presently say that they also will serve the Lord. Josh 24.15.18 the like wee see in Nehemiah Josh 24.15.18 he no sooner shewed himself willing to reedifie the walls of Hierusalem but all the people set their heart and hand to the worke wee see the same in the King of Nineveh as soone as hee put on sackcloth all his Subjects did the like it is said of Augustus that in his time Rome was full of Schollers because he affected Learning in the time of Commodus it was full of Fencers because he loved that exercise and in Nero his time it was full of Musitians for he took great delight in Musick thus that old verse is verified Regis ad exemplum totus componitur orbis all men compose their manners to his who is their Governour the truth is the example of great ones is the Load-stone which drawes inferiours after it that is the Compasse by which most men saile and as it is so with those who be great in the State so with those which are eminent in the Church their Godlinesse drawes many to goodnesse how admirable is that which Nazianzen reports of St. Basil he saith he thundered in his Preaching and lightned in his conversation hee was like another John Baptist who was a burning and shining light Joâ—n 5.35 Joh. 5.35 hee burned in himself by sincerity and shined to others by a godly conversation and what was the effect of this wee finde in the same verse that all men rejoyced in his light thus it was with Ezra in our Text hee weeps and mournes and that so workes upon the people that they are presently moved to doe the same Vse 1 It shall be to all great ones in the world let them that be high in the State labour to be good for they be in oculo mundi in the eye of the world and if they be not godly their failings be taken notice of more than others and though their offences be but small yet they hurt much by reason of their example a Wem in the backe is not so much as a Wart in the face because the one is hid but the other is obvious to all beholders and a private mans sinne is nothing so great as the sinne of a publike person for the errors of great men are observed strangely as yee see it is with the Sunne when it is not eclipsed few look upon it but when it is in an Eclipse all mens eyes almost are fixt upon it so it is with the sinnes of eminent persons their failings though small runne into the observation of many when as great sins of private men are scarce taken notice of Neither is this all but by this meanes other men are heartned on in sinne for inferiours take a liberty to sin when they see their superiours doe the same ipsi non solum corrumpuntur sed alios corrumpunt they are not onely corrupted themselves but they corrupt others by their evill example they poison many by their vitious life which is as a canker that frets and as a gangrene that corrupts and they doe not more hurt by their sinne then by their example Vse 2 In the second place let it be a Use to those who are eminent in the Church such as Ezra was let them not onely Preach but live well for if Aaron shall have his bells but not his Pomegranates he may sound well but he will sent ill if a Physitian shall prescribe that Physick to another in the same disease with himself to recover him and yet will refuse to use it himself what can men say lesse then that he is an enemie to his owne health and when Ministers shall Preach that to others which themselves will not practise is the next way for them to be cast-awayes neither is this all but by an ill life they infect many it is said of Saint Paul Gal. 2.11.14 Gal. 2.11.14 that when he came to Antioch hee withstood Peter to the face because he had compelled the Gentiles to live as the Jewes we must not thinke that Peter used any violence to constraine them but they took boldnesse by his example and therefore as Paul saith there hee was to be blamed Let all such therefore be exhorted not to binde heavie burdens upon others which themselves will not touch with one of their fingers if they doe I know it will be laid unto them Medice cura teipsum Physitian heal thyself and for you that be the people not to leave you without an admonition it will advantage you nothing to say that your Governours and Ministers have been bad and therefore you are no better but remember what our Lord and Master saith Doe what they say not as they doe therefore when you have holy Precepts and Patterns make conscience to follow them but if neither of these will prevaile with you judge whose fault it is if ye faile and fall short of your Salvation there assembled a very great company of men women and children for the people wept sore the sinne was great and generall therefore all assembled that they might be humbled together the point of Doctrine which ariseth hence is this Where the sinne is generall and epidemicall good reason that all should be joyned together in humiliatition in the 1 Sam. 7.6 the people had committed a great sinne 1 Sam. 7 6. therefore they gathered together to Mizpeh and drew water and powred it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said Wee have sinned against the Lord they were conscious to themselves that all had sinned therefore they were all humbled Neh. 9.1 2. the like wee see in Neh. 9.1 2. it is said All the children of Israel assembled with fasting and sackcloth and
spirit he may exalt you Thirdly The children came What the children joyne in humiliation Yes why not for God was offended and they had reason to be humbled for it Secondly though they were not actors in sinne yet they were guilty of Adams transgression Thirdly they could not excuse themselves for besides their originall sinne they had committed many actuall sinnes for I suppose none came to this assembly but such as were of some understanding and such though little ones are proud and wanting in duty to parents and love to brethren and such will speak wickedly and falsely before they can talke perfectly there have been excellent vertues found in little ones Samuel when he was a child ministred before the Lord and in the time of our Blessed Saviour the children cryed Hosanna to the King of Israel I therefore direct my speech to little ones let sinne be detested by you in your younger yeeres learn the trade of fearing and serving God when you are young and it will never be forgotten as long as you live The second thing set downe in this verse is that the people wept very sore What was the reason the Reason shall be the Observation Great sinnes must have a great measure of sorrow In Psal 6.6 David having committed great sins Psal 6.6 made his bed to swim and watered his couch with his teares Nay he made them not onely his Physick but his meat â—saâ— 42.3 Psal 42.3 My teares have been my meat day and night it was thus with Peter hee had committed a foul sinne in denying his Lord and Master therefore hee went out and wept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitterly it was so with Mary Magdalene she was a great sinner therefore she shed many teares and the incestuous Corinthian grieved sore for his foul sinne the Church saith in the Lamentations Mine eyes drop down daily the teares stood still in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks in great abundance because shee knew her self guilty of many sinnes This is that which Cyprian subscribeth to saith he as wee are sensible of great sins which we commit so let us spend teares in abundance for them It is to censure the slightnesse of sorrow which men bestow upon their sinnes Vse though great and grievous but if the heart be a daily fountaine of sinne as sure I am it is I know no reason but our eyes should be Rivers of teares seeing wee have deserved to be in that place where is nothing but weeping and wailing there is good cause wee should weep here for our sins that we may avoid those eternall flames Nay though God have pardoned our sins yet let us remember them with griefe and sorrow that we may be the more humbled for them ye lay your flesh in brine to keep it from putrefying and there is no better way in the world to humble us then to call to minde our former iniquities Yee say much rain makes the high-wayes foul and so it is but the more teares we shed the cleaner will our souls be for repentant teares cleanse better then either Soape or Nitre To conclude this verse all the people saw Ezra mourne therefore they weepe with him from whence I collect thus much Sin must have sorrow at one time or other saith the Wise-man Prov. 29.6 Prov. 29.6 In the transgression of an evill man there is a snare and the trueth is in the commission of every sin a ground is laid for sorrow nay let me tell you the sweeter sinnes have been to men the soarer shall be the remembrance of them when God sets them before their eyes Job 13.26 See it in Job 13.26 Thou writest bitter things against mee and makest me possesse the iniquities of my youth The sinnes committed in youth men account the sweetest sinnes and yet the remembrance of these was most grievous to Iob. Wee see the same in David when hee had committed that sweet sinne as men call it and had layn nine Moneths in it at last hee calls it to remembrance and it brought him so much grief that he thought hee had lost the favour of God and therefore hee saith Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation But it will be said wee finde it not alwayes thus for there are some that sinne and never have sorrow in all their lives but dye in peace I wil suppose this but yet the Doctrine is true for I say sinne must have sorrow at one time or other and if such men have not sorrow here to be sure they shall have it hereafter Hearken to this you Epicures of the World you that swallow downe sinne as the fish doth water who straine neither at Gnats nor Camells but spend your time in eating and drinking in singing and dancing the time is comming when you shall mourn while others laugh therefore think on sinne now that you may sorrow for it before it be too late hic mordeant ne in aeternum excrucient let thy sinnes bite thee here lest they torment thee for ever hereafter teares will doe thee good now but if once a man be over the threshold of this life though then hee would weepe a whole Ocean of Teares they would doe him no good Sermon VII EZRA 10.2 Then Shecaniah the sonne of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra Wee have trespassed against our God c. BEfore we fall upon this verse wee have a few things more to handle out of the last words of the first verse the words are these for the people wept very sore that the multitude should come together which was the first fruite of Ezra his humiliation it was no great matter for the common rout be apt to assemble on the least occasion saith our Saviour speaking to the people concerning Iohn Baptist Matth. 11.7 Matth. 11.7 What went yee out into the wildernesse to see a reed shaken with the winde as if the shaking of a feather would bring the multitude together Acts 19.29.32 and in Acts 19.29.32 wee finde that the whole city was full of confusion and rushed into the theatre with one accord and yet the text saith The more part knew not wherefore they were come together but now for the other effect that they wept sore there was comfort for Ezra That which I gather from hence is this What comfort it pleaseth God to give his Ministers here in that happy fruit of peoples humiliation So great is the comfort of this kinde that there cannot be a greater I doe not thinke but at this very time the tears stood in Ezra his eyes yet when he saw teares distill from the peoples eies it made him glad at the heart doe you not think it was a great comfort to Nathan to see David so penitent when hee came from God to detect and reprove him for his adultery murder Marke what the Baptist saith Joh 3.29 John 3.29 the friend of the Bridegroome which standeth and heareth him
forbeare but breaks forth into lamentation and mourning which affords us this point of Doctrine Doctrin 1 Good men though they be at peace with God finde cause of sorrow for other mens sinnes yee shall see this proved in the Scripture the Spirit of God calls Lot a righteous man yet this righteous mans soule was vexed from day to day with the uncleane conversation of the Sodomites 2 Pet. 2.8 The like we see in Moses that good man 2 Pet. 2.8 doe yee not think that hee was strangely moved at the sinne of the people when he let fall and brake in pieces the two Tables of Stone in which God had written the Decalogue with his owne sacred finger Exod. 32.19 Exod. 32.19 It was so with the Prophet Samuel he mourned for the disobedience of Saul for which God rejected him from reigning over Israel 1 Sam. 15.35 1 Sam. 15.35 the like we see in David mine eyes saith he gush out rivers of teares because men keep not thy Law Psal 119.136 Psal 119.136 may some man say what were the sinnes of the world to David it is true they were none of his yet he thinks himselfe bound to grieve for them because he knew they were displeasing to his maker We see the same in good Ieremiah he wishes his head were waters and his eyes a fountaine of teares that he might weep day and night for the iniquities of his people who were all adulterers and an assembly of treacherous men Ier. 9.1.2 Ier. 13.17 Ier. 9.1.2 and in Ier. 13.17 He professes that his soul shall weep in secret for their pride and was it not so with thee O blessed Saviour thou didst mourn for the hardnesse of mens hearts Mark 3.5 Mark 3.5 and when thou camest to Hierusalem thou weptst over it saying if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Luk. 19.41 42. and the same spirit was in S. Paul Luk. 19.41.42 Philip. 3.18 Philip. 3.18 he tells them he had told them often and now speakes it weeping that there bee those among them who are enemies to the crosse of Christ thus yee see the point sufficiently proved Vse 1 It shall be to let us see the stupidity and sencelessenesse of the sonnes of Belial though they have most cause to weep and mourn yet they live in jollity and merriment and are meere strangers to all sadnesse Some of these stick not to say What hath any man to doe to weep for their sinnes and that by their impieties they trouble none but their own soules But I tell thee O wretch thou troublest not only thine own house and soule but thou troublest all Israel thou givest the Saints of God occasion to be pensive for that which makes thee jocant and glad and happy is it for thee that there be such as Noah Lot Samuel and David to mourn for thee for were it not that some did mourn for thy prophannesse thou shouldst not live againe to commit it did not some bewaile thy drunkennesse thou shouldst bee taken away with the pot at thy mouth did not some godly people grieve for thy filthy lust thou shouldst with Zimri and Cosbi be smitten dead flagrante crimine in the very act of uncleannesse but the servants of God pray and mourn fast and weep and all to avert judgements from thee who deservest little at their hands Vse 2 In the second place This may Answer a common Objection which is put to the Saints because they be sad and dumpish I would have you know that it is not holinesse which makes them sad but the prophannesse of the world is that for which they are so much dejected What need the child of God be sad who is in the love and favour of God thou that complainest against him for his sadnesse know that therfore he grieves with holy David because he is constrained to sojourne in Mesech Psal 120.5 and to dwell in the Tents of Kedar Psal 120.5 Vse 3 Lastly according to the practise of Ezra though we have made our peace with God let us mourn for the wickednesse of others every one knowes what cause there is for this iniquity having overspread this Land of ours from Dan to Beersheba from one corner of it to another and were these impieties modest it were not so much but they be impudent and have a Brazen front Religion is out of fashion and none are so esteemed as fashion-mongers they be your only men now in credit The case thus standing there is no way to prevent judgements which be imminent but by mourning and fasting Now that yee may bee perswaded to practise these so seasonable and necessary duties remember but these things First it is piety to mourn for the sins of others shall we hear and see God to bee dishonoured and not grieve for it piety cannot lodge in that breast where such an ill spirit inhabites a man will and ought to grieve when his friend is wronged Christ calls us his friends Ioh. 15.15 and hee is our best friend Iohn 15.15 therefore wee have abundant cause to mourn for the sinnes of wicked men whereby hee is much dishonoured and the Holy Spirit grieved Secondly pity requires this duty at our hands I read of Marcellus the Roman that entring a City which he had gained by composition after a long siege he burst forth into teares one that stood by him demanded why he wept saith he I cannot chuse but weep to see so many thousand led into captivity Shall a Heathen weep for the captivity of mens bodies and shall not Christians mourn for their sinnes which are enough to enthrall soules and bodies in Hell for evermore it should bee the griefe of our soules to see thousands and tenne thousands that will be damned Thirdly if we doe not mourne for other mens sinnes we make them our own that of the Father is most true peccatum quod non displicet tuum est that sinne is thine with which thou art not displeased and that yee may see I goe not without book in this look that place in 1 Cor. 5.6 there was one in the Church of Corinth that had committed that foule sinne of incest 1 Cor. 5.6 and the Corinthians were so farre from grieving for it as they ought to have done that they gloried in it S. Paul corrects them for it telling them that thereby they were become a sowre lump Lastly we should be moved to this duty by the blessing which attends it what saith our blessed Saviour Matth. 5.4 Matth. 5.4 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted And in Ezek. 9.4 the Lord gives command to spare them in Hierusalem Ezek. 9.4 that did sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst thereof The next way to escape judgement is to mourn for the sinnes of the Nation and though we should bee
under a great judgement and wee hope thou our God dost not think it small but bee it what it will wee are sure thou art just in inflicting it upon us and because contraries doe best appeare when they are brought together yee shall see how contrary the wicked be to the godly in this Cain cryes out that his punishment is greater then he could beare hee complaines not of his sinne but of his punishment as if God punished him more then hee deserved and Saul takes it ill that Samuel should charge him with disobedience though it were grosse and palpable and yee shall finde in Scripture that God exposes his actions to scanning Ierem. 5.19 Ierem. 10.16 that it may appeare to all the world how just he is In Ierem. 5.19 and in Chap. 10.16 the wicked are not ashamed to question God why hee punished them as if hee had done it without cause Ezek. 18.25 So in Ezek. 18.25 They say the Lords wayes were not equall as if he had punished the children for their Fathers sinnes when as the same sinnes were found in the children Mal. 3.8 So in Mal. 3.8 when God challengeth and plagueth them for their transgressions they reply What have wee done As if God punished them without desert and this humour of turning againe will not leave the wicked at the last day for when Christ shall say unto them on his left hand depart yee cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his angels for I was an hungred and yee gave mee no meat I was thirsty and yee gave me no drink then shall they answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst Vse 1 This lets us see how the world failes in this particular when God layes his hand on men how apt are they to dispute with God and say why doth hee deale thus and thus with us and by this meanes they are so farre from mitigating that they encrease his hand upon them Nay there bee those presumptuous ones that in argumentation will aske why God elected some and reprobated others but take heed of this is it not enough to knock at the doore but wee must break it open Who art thou O man that repliest to thy Maker Vse 2 Secondly let us alwayes bee perswaded of the justice of God in all his proceedings for though wee see not the reason why hee doth this or that yet there is good reason for it Voluntas Dei secreta sit nunquam injusta the cause why God punisheth may bee hid but it is never unjust Therefore when thy tumultuous flesh shall say with Rebeckah Why am I thus know that it is for thy excesse thy Sabbath-breaking thy hypocrisie thy lewd conversation Therefore change thy note and say with the Church Mich. 7.9 Mich. 7.9 I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him I know it is a hard thing to suppresse the tumultuous thoughts which arise in men in times of trouble but these must bee laboured agaist with all our power for no man gets by contending with his Maker but multiplies his stroaks Wee proceed now to the reason which hee gives for justifying God for wee remaine yet escaped as it is this day As if hee had said thy goodnesse is demonstrate hee that runnes may read it thou hast been abundantly more mercifull to us then to thousands of our brethren who perished in the captivity for lo we remain even to this day That which I collect from hence is this In generall judgements which God brings upon the World there is still some escaping When God sent the Deluge upon the world Noah and his Family perished not in the fiery shower which God rained on Sodom and Gomorrah Lot and his Daughters perished not nay a whole City to wit Zoar is spared at Lots entreaty When Pharaoh commanded all the male children of the Iewes to bee drowned Moses was preserved and when Iericho was destroyed Rahab and her Family were spared and when for Davids pride seventy thousand were consumed by the Pestilence many thousands in Israel escaped and when the last great Plague was among us thousands and ten thousands had their life for a prey What is the ground of this Reason 1 First all Gods wayes are interveined with mercy Reason 2 Secondly God still spares some to bring them to repentance that they may turn out of the crooked into the straight path Vse 1 Let me advise them that have tasted of Gods mercy in this way never to forget it and for this let me stirre up my own soule to prayse God with you when my next neighbour was smitten dead why was not I smitten also it was only Gods mercy when some in the same house with us were infected and died of the plague why were wee spared it was of Gods meere mercy and it ought to bee marvellous in our eyes Vse 2 Secondly let us bee farre from censuring any that dyed in the last visitation as if they were greater sinners then others farre bee it from us to bee of this wicked humour for many a good soule went to Heaven then and many a Cham was spared Wee are bound to praise him for our selves for why did hee spare us was it not that wee should bee better Gods sparing men is either to harden them or to amend them therefore except wee repent wee shall likewise perish The reason which hee gives on their part is that though God had spared them yet they were before him in their trespasses as if hee had said O Lord thou hast to the full performed thy counterpart with us but wee are yet in our sinnes for wee are as bad or worse then wee were before Here take notice of thus much What a fearefull judgement it is not to profit by afflictions It is that for which God finds great fault with his people in Deut. 29.2.3.4 his hand had been heavie upon their Enemies in their sight and view Deut 29.2.3 4. yet they were never the better So in lsa 1.5 there the Lord saith to Israel Isa 1.5 why should yee bee stricken any more yee will revolt more and more Ierem. 12.13 The like also we see in Ierem. 12.13 They were sick and had no profit This was the sinne of Cain hee was stigmatised for a wretch yet hee was as wicked as hee was before It was also the sinne of Pharaoh Ahab and Ahaz they were all the worse for comming under the rod and are therefore branded by the spirit of God to all posterity There is a great deale of difference between Gods afflicting the godly and the wicked Isa 27.7 as may appeare Isa 27.7 Hath hee smitten them as hee smote those that smote him What is the reason the godly profit by affliction but the wicked are the worse for being afflicted Every thing works together for the best to Gods people but every thing turnes into sinne to the wicked according
like a foolish Idolater wept for the losse of his carved image Iudg. 17.23 shall hee weep for the losse of that which was no God Iudg. 17 23. and shall not we mourn for sinne which deprives us of the true God Reason 2 Secondly we have reason to weep for sinne because of the miseries which it brings on the Sonnes of men Such a thing is sinne that it not only exposes them to temperall judgements but it makes them obnoxious to woes everlasting even to hell fire which is eternall the afflictions which befall men here bee not universall though a man bee pained in divers parts of his body yet hee is never pained all over still hee hath ease in some part or other but in Hell men are pained in every part Againe while wee are here our torment may bee mitigated as if a man have a swelling in any part of his body by applying a fomentation to it hee may have ease or if hee bee lame he may bee led but if once hee bee in Hell hee shall not have so much as one drop of water to coole his tongue There is no mitigation of paine in that place of horror where their paines bee easelesse endlesse remedilesse where is nothing but weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth to all eternity Therefore wee have good cause to shed teares yea many teares for our sinnes both in regard of the good wee lose by them as also the miseries they bring upon us But me thinks I heare some say are teares necessarily required of all those that truly repent I answer no for there bee some constitutions which afford no teares I have read a story of one that ever laughed and though such persons cannot burst into teares for sinne yet they may inwardly as truly mourne for sinne as hee that sheds rivers of teares Secondly though a man bee apt to teares yet the affliction may bee such that a man cannot weep I read of one that could not but weep when his friend went to bee executed but when his two Sonnes went the same way his sorrow was so great that hee could not shed a teare Great sorrowes stupifie men so that they be as full vessels which will not runne Thirdly wee read in the Scripture as of teares without repentance as in Esau Gen. 27.38 Genes 27.38 Hee shed many teares but left not his prophanenesse So in Mal. 2.13 we read of some Mal. 2.13 that covered the Altar of the Lord with teares yet at the same time they were impenitent So also of repentance without teares Luk. 18.13 as in Luk. 18.13 wee read not of a teare that the poore Publican shed only hee smote his hand on his breast saying O God bee mercifull to mee a sinner yet hee went away justified Acts 2. And in Acts 2. wee read that the new Converts were pricked in their hearts but not of any teares that fell from their eyes and the Thiefe upon the Crosse was a true penitent for hee went to Heaven but we heare not of a teare which hee shed but withall give mee leave to tell you if any bee apt to teares at first or last God touches their hearts to weep for their sinnes Secondly if any can weep for the losse of wife children or any other worldly thing and not for their transgressions they may question whether ever their repentance were sound or no. Lastly if a man can weep for his sins no soule receives such satisfaction as that soule doth It should exhort us to weep and mourne for our sins Vse We spend teares in abundance for these secular things but wee should spare them there and spend them here Is it not a foolery to wash a Stable with sweet water Thy teares be the sweetest water in the world therefore spend them on thy sinnes I am sure thou canst not spend them better but as it is in the times of solemnity when the Bells ring all the clocks bee tied up So I feare it is now adayes for such is the jovisance of men that they forget to weep for sinne but if they would call their wayes to remembrance they would be sorry and weep whilst others sing and rejoyce Every of us have cause to weep for not a Mothers Son of us but hath brought the fuell of sinne to kindle Gods wrath among us by sending the Pestilence to destroy us and it is better to weep here then hereafter The second thing in the manner is hee cast himselfe down before the house of the Lord. This hath been the custome of Gods people the more to testifie their sorrow Wee finde many expressions of sorrow in the Scripture as fasting weeping rending the garment putting on sackcloth sprinkling ashes on their heads knocking the breast striking the thigh and this in our Text which is casting a mans selfe down before the house of the Lord Thus did Ioshua hee fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of the Lord Iosh â— 6 Iosh 7. 6. That which I gather from hence is this Observation Where repentance is true inward it will put it selfe outward Where repentance is sincere it will not only alter a mans judgement to make him with Paul to think himselfe the worst of sinners Secondly it will not only so humble him inwardly that hee will not care for the revilings of wicked men as wee see in David when Shimei railed on him but as it will have this inward effect so it will have outward effects also it will make him fast and weep and smite the breast it will force him to abstaine from those delights which otherwise he might lawfully take Nay it will turn every thing to him into sorrow when another man laughes he will mourn to see him laugh and holy Bradford the Martyr cannot sit at his meat but teares trickle down his cheeks and it is impossible but where repentance is true within but that it should shew it selfe without Those that finde not this in themselves Vse may suspect their repentance I would not have men to use externall expressions of repentance on purpose to bee seen of men for repentance ill becomes a Stage it is said of Peter that hee went out and wept bitterly it seemes hee regarded not whether any man saw him so God took knowledge of him and as a Father saith truly oculi virorum basilisci sunt operum bonorum the eyes of men are the basiliskes of good works Our blessed Saviour would have a man anoint his head And wash his face when he fasted that hee might not appeare unto men to fast but unto God it is a part of Iehu his humour to doe good works to be seene of men but Gods childe as hee uses outward expressions of repenting so these proceed from inward sanctification He cast himselfe down before the house of the Lord. Why so it was the more to stirre him up to humiliation hee seemes to say What shall thy people enjoy the priviledges
taken away in a generall visitation as none bee exempted yet that shall be to us as the fiery Chariot was to Eliah it shall put us into the possession of Heaven where all teares shall be wiped away from our eyes The second generall is the course which Ezra takes and that is humbling himselfe by confession weeping and supplication to let us know thus much Doct. 2 The maine receit in time of affliction is humiliation a probatum est of this will appeare in Gods people if a judgement have been threatned or comming they have humbled themselves before God 2 Chro. 20.3 in the 2 of Chro. 20.3 when that great Army of Ammonites and Moabites came against Iehoshaphat it is said Iehoshaphat feared and set himselfe to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Iudah So when that fatall Decree of Haman was procured for extirpation of the Iewes and a day destinate for their destruction Hesther commands the Iewes 10 fast three dayes and saith she I also and my Maidens will fast likewise Esth 4.16 and we doubt not Esther 4. â—6 but they afflicted their soules as well as their bodies Ionah 3.5 And in Ionah 3.5 when the Prophet denounced destruction to Nineveh saying yet forty dayes and Nineveh shall be overthrown what followes the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a Fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them This is in judgements imminent and to come yee shall see that this also hath been their course when a judgement hath been inflicted in a time of drought Ier. 14.20 Ier. 14.20 We acknowledge O Lord our wickednesse and the iniquity of our fathers for we have sinned against thee in a time of dearth and famine Ioel 2.12 the prescription is Turne to the Lord with all your heart with fasting Ioel 2.12 weeping and mourning The people of God have done the same when the sword hath been amongst them this wee find in Iosh 7.6 when Israel was discomfited by the men of Ai Ioshua rent his cloathes Iosh 7.6 and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the Lord untill eventide he and the Elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads So in the judgement of mortality when David saw that seventy thousand of his subjects were slaine by the pestilence for his sinne hee betakes himselfe to God in a humble manner saying Lo I have sinned and done wickedly but these sheep what have they done let thine hand I pray thee be against me and against my fathers house 2 Sam. 24.17 We see it also in Davids particular case 2 Sam. 24.17 Psal 30.7.8 Psal 30.7.8 Thou O Lord didst hide thy face and I was troubled then I cryed to thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made my supplication So likewise in the case of the whole Church Hosea 6.1 Come and let us returne unto the Lord for hee hath torne and hee will heale us Hosea 6.1 hee bath smitten and he will bind us up The grounds they went upon were these two Reason 1 First Zeph. 2.1.2 they knew it was Gods Commandement that place in Zeph. 2.1 2. is notable to this purpose where the Lord saith Gather your selves together yea gather together O Nation not desired before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaffe before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lords anger come upon you As when Absolom could not speak with Ioah by faire meanes hee knew that if once his corne were on fire hee would quickly come unto him So when the Lord inflicts judgements on his people it is to humble them in his presence Isa 22.12 So in Isa 22.12 In that day to wit in the day of their affliction did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and to mourning to baldnesse and to girding with sackcloth Reason 2 Secondly the Saints were sure that sinne was the cause of all their miseries that being the Achan which troubled the whole Host and the Ionah endangering the whole Ship therefore to look to have the judgement removed without humiliation and repentance were to no purpose who looks to have a wound cured as long as the weapon that made it sticks in it and it is in vaine to expect the removall of a judgement till men be humbled and purged but take away the cause and the effect will cease Vse 1 What shall we think of a number of desperate wretches in the world who when they should bee humbled under Gods afflicting hand sinne more and more and more against him this was the sinne of Abaz for which the Spirit of God stigmatises him to all posterity in the 2 Chro. 28.22 saying 2 Chro. 28.22 and in the time of this distresse that is when the Philistimes had invaded his Land did hee trespasse yet more against the Lord this is that King Ahaz This also we finde charged on Israel Isa 57.17 Isa 57.17 For the iniquity of his coveteousnesse was I wrath and smote him saith the Lord I hid me and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart They ' were so farre from being better that they were the worse for Gods afflicting them and are they better that when the plague of God is gone out against a place as at this time it is against this City yet can sweare lie cheat and be drunk they know not but that the destroying Angell may smite them next and yet they dare provoke God by these and many other sinnes woe is me that people should bee thus unprepared for death will nothing teach these but bare feeling will they take no warning till God touch them and set the bloudy crosse upon their bodies let these know that although God spare them a while hee will not spare them for ever and to be sure he will put all into the last draught which shall be as bitter as gall or worm-wood Vse 2 In the second place seeing the Lords wrath is at this present gone out against us for our iniquities let us all I beseech you with Ezra addresse our selves to God by Prayer and fasting what is it for us to fast in private though Authority have not commanded it when it is done by the command of the Magistrate wee seeme to fast of necessity but when wee take it up voluntarily it argues ingenuity nay there cannot be a more pregnant sign of sincerity Is it such a matter to forbeare one meale in a week Well however we think of this duty if it be performed as it ought with supplication and humiliation there is no such way to prevent or remove a judgement I hope there is none so wicked amongst us but will confesse that we have great cause to humble our selves before God for who can be ignorant but that we our selves are the cause of the plague which is now among us it is true sometimes it
encreases at other times it decreases so that it keeps at no stay but if wee shall therefore neglect to humble our soules and bodies in the presence of God we shall so incense him as to encrease this plague among us without measure but if we shall turn to him that smites us by unfained repentance and amendment of life hee will not only take this grievous sicknesse from us but hee will leave a blessing behinde him So much for the two generalls We now descend to the particulars as they were laid down Wee begin with the indictment preferred by Ezra against Israel in which is remembred Gods mercy and their rebellion Gods mercy is laid down in the thirteenth verse and that three wayes First he shewes that they were not punished without cause Secondly that God punished them lesse then they deserved Thirdly that he had totally delivered them First for the first particular in the gradation of Gods mercy thou our God hast punished us that is thou hast punished us deservedly Tyrants will and doe punish men without cause nay they desire to pick holes in mens coates that they may punish them but the Judge of all the world never proceeds to punish but when hee is provoked In that Ezra saith seeing that thou our God hast punished us take notice in the first place of this observation Doct. 3 Whatsoever is the instrument Isa 45.7 God is the Authour of the punishment This is proved in Isa 45.7 where the Lord saith I make peace and create evill I the Lord doe all these things so in Amos 3.6 Shall there be evill in a City Amos 3.6 and the Lord hath not done it yee must understand these places not of the evill of sinne but of punishment for Deus non author sed ultor peccati God is not the authour but revenger of sinne it was hee that opened the bottles of heaven and sent the deluge on the earths it was hee that rained that igneum imbrem shower of fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah it was he that shut up the wombs in Abimelechs house and that plagued Egypt with those successions of plagues the Magicians could not or would not see digitum Dei the finger of God in them but had they not been blind they might have seen ambas manus his ten fingers in those tenne judgements which hee inflicted on them It was hee that offered David his choyce of three plagues and upon his choyce sent the pestilence and in 1 Cor. 11.32 S. Paul there labours to perswade the Corinthians 1 Cor. â—â— â—â— that God chastened them Psal â—9 9 and David saith Psal 39.9 I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it mistake mee not I know that sometimes God makes use of instruments for the execution of his wrath hee made use of the earth to swallow up Corah Dathan and Abiram he made use of the water to drown Pharaoh and his Host hee made use of the fire to slay the Captaines and their fifties which came to apprehend Eliah he made use of a Lyon to kill the disobedient Prophet and of Beares to destroy two and fourty children that called Elisha bald-pate and he used Serpents to sting to death the rebellious Israelites but the primus motor the chiefe efficient is God who is the Lord of Hosts and hath all creatures at his beck Ioseph was not ignorant that his brethren had a hand in selling of him into Egypt yet he tels them that God had sent him thither and Iob knew well enough that the Sabeans and Caldeans had taken away his goods yet he saith The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away and blessed be the name of the Lord though men were the instruments yet he knew God to be Authour of what he suffered Vse 1 This may informe us what is the ground of all the impatience in the world there be a number which repine and murmure when Gods hand is upon them what is the reason they stick in the second causes and look so much on the lower links of the chaine that they forget him that hath the top of it in his hand one complaines of his brother another of the ayre hee lives in a third of the meat he eates and hence it is that they repine whereas if a man looked up to God in what he suffers he would say as Eli It is the Lord let him doe what hee will and with Iob The Lord gives and takes and blessed bee his Name Nay if a man would doe this it would not only make him patient but to profit by his affliction for no man sees himself so clearly and truly as in the glasse of adversity every affliction that God laies upon us seemes to say as Ehud to Eglon I have a message to thee from God which if a man would consider it would make his affliction a Bethesda to cure him of his spirituall infirmities and by so doing hee would come out of that fornace cleare gold purged from the drosse of his corruptions Vse 2 Secondly here is a Use of admonition ever look up to God in all thy afflictions look to him in thy Feaver in thy Ague in the Plague I know there may be an infected ayre there may be ill humours in the body which may help forward infection I know also that a man may bee infected by being conversant with infected persons these be second causes but God is the chiefe and principall The Heathens call the plague a judgement sent from God and surely there is something more divine in it then in other punishments and a man may say of those that die of the Pestilence as Moses said of the death of Korah and his Complices they die not the common death of men for as there is something in this disease for the Physitian to look on so something for the Divine Vse 3 Lastly when the Lords hand is upon us and that we would have it removed the nearest way we can take is to have recourse to God by prayer for as our Saviour told Pilate that he had no power but what was given him from above so afflictions could not seise upon us without Gods giving them a commission a man may spend all that he hath to be cured of his disease as did the woman in the Gospel that had the bloody issue and yet unlesse God please all shall doe him no good Saul may goe to the Witch of Endor for help and Amaziah to the god of Ekron to bee healed but except the God of heaven work the cure it shall never be effected let us therefore in all our afflictions seek to God and to him alone for he that is the inflicter must be the restorer I now proceed to the point which even now I named Ezra saith God punished them not without cause which guides mee to this Observation Doct. 4 God doth never punish any without desert Gen. 18.25 Saith Abraham