times Father if it be thy will let this Cup pass from me and from these disconsolate Words which his inward Sorrow and Anguish extorted while he hanged upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The Sufferings of Jesus cannot be reckoned up no Man can describe no Tongue can express all the Particulars of his bitter Agony and bloody Passion and cruel Death The Words of the Prophet are applicable to him and as they were spoken prophetically of him so in him only they were fully accomplished Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above he hath sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them he hath spread a net for my feet he hath turned my back he hath made me desolate and faint all the day Who then that beheld this could Or who that hears and lays it to heart can refrain from weeping Tears indeed are due to the Memory of Christ's Death and Passion But yet our Lamentation and Weeping must not be as that in Rama spoken of by the Prophet Like Rachel weeping for her children who would not be comforted because they are not We may and should weep at the Remembrance of what Christ suffered but our Sorrow should not run to an Excess meerly on his Account Wherefore you see that our Lord turned about and checked the excessive Sorrowfulness of these Women saying Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me which was the Second thing I promised to speak to This is not a total Prohibition of weeping for Christ the Negative Particle Not is not always to be taken so peremptorily for frequently it imports only Rather or not so much as when it is said I will have mercy and not sacrifice the Meaning is Mercy rather than Sacrifice or not so much Sacrifice as Mercy So here weep not for me but for your selves is only as much as to say weep for your selves rather than for me or not so much for me as for your selves Thus all Weeping is not forbidden And as I have shewn it to be very just proper and suitable so we find it made both a necessary and an acceptable Duty Zach. xii 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born However we should so bewail his Death as to keep within a certain Measure Not as those good Women in the Text who apprehended that all their Hope and all their Comfort would have perished in his Death The Death of Christ is not to be lamented like the Tragical end of Pompey Caesar and other Heroes of the World whether Ancient or Modern whose Deaths were sad and convincing Instances of the Changeableness of Fortune of the Vanity of the World and of the Uncertainty of humane Affairs When they died their vast Designs and Projects were defeated and the Expectation of their Friends frustrated in that very Day all their Thoughts perished they instantly ceased to be either the Hope of their Friends or the Dread and Terrour of their Enemies and left nothing behind them save a faint Memory and uncertain Conjectures But the Death of Jesus Christ is quite another thing As our Lord still liveth so he reigneth and it was by his Death that he advanced and secured his Kingdom His Death was glorious and the Issue of it was eternal Praise to God and himself and everlasting Advantage to all the World Never any Triumph was so illustrious as the Death of Christ The greatest triumph in the World was only over Beasts and weak Men and set forth with the Spoils of earthly Kingdoms But Jesus at his Death triumphed over Devils he conquered Hell and the Grave made Spoils of Principalities and all the Powers of Darkness By his Death he quenched the Fire of God's Wrath blunted the Edge of the Law weakned the Strength of Sin loosned the Bands of the Grave ransomed Sinners and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to Penitents and Believers His Death gave Life to the World and renewed Nature so that the Face of things is altered ever since Thus as upon one Account there is Reason to lament the Death of Jesus Christ so upon another there is no less Reason to rejoice for by it God is glorified Jesus exalted and Mankind saved But when we leave off to mourn for Christ we should continue to mourn for our selves So you see here that our Lord biddeth the Women moderate their Grief upon his Account but still requireth it for themselves which was the third thing proposed Weep not for me but for your selves And very good Reason alas There is more than sufficient Cause for this Mourning For tho' Jesus Christ has merited Salvation for us yet our natural Wretchedness our Original and Actual Guilt is no less than it was both which are deplorable and neither of them can ever be enough lamented And if we are not sensible of the heinous Nature of these let us look upon the persecuted reviled mocked buffetted scourged and crucified Jesus let us call to mind his bitter Death and Sufferings and these will instruct us For all these things befell him for our sake and upon our Account The Jews who crucified him and put him to so vile and shameful a Death were only the Instruments But otherwise every one of us as well as they were the Cause and Occasion of all that evil which befell him They are to be considered only as the common Executioner who executeth the Law and the Will of the Judge and consequently our Rage and Indignation should not be against them but against the Crimes which caused and required so heavy a Punishment Now they were not his own Crimes for which he suffered for he knew no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth he was a Lamb without Spot and Blemish But he was made Sin for us Surely as the Prophet speaks he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and he received stripes that we might be healed Let us not go about to clear our selves of all Accession to the Death of this good and righteous Person because we are come to the World so long after it fell out and are not of the Race of those who laid wicked and violent hands on him For though Jesus died but once yet he did bear the Sins of all and was charged with the Sins of all that went before or shall come after From the time that he
who receiveth it are to be understood VIII The Application What the Name of Lord doth import What is meant by the things which Christ saith The Profession and Practice of Christianity ought to go together I. The Text considered as a Question II. The true Motives to believe in Christ or to profess him do also oblige to pay Obedience to him III. The Custom of the Country is not sufficient to wise and reasonable Men. IV. The first great Motive to profess Christ is his being sent from God Phil. 2. 9. Which requireth absolute and universal Obedience Mal. 1. 6. Joh. 13. 13. 1 Thes. 1. 8. V. A second Motive to profess Christ is Love No Love without Observance John 14. 15 21 23 24. VI. A third Motive is the Hope of Reward Joh. 6. 68 Which the Disobedient cannot expect Mat. 21. 22 23. Heb. 5. 9. Rom. 2. 6. Nor are they capable of it Heb. 12 14. VII The Text may be considered as an Expostulation or Reproof VIII The Disobedience of Christians very provoking IX It doth dishonour Iesus Christ. Gen. 34. 30. 2 Sam. 12. 14. X. It is prejudicial to the Interest of Iesus Christ. XI The Application of all Joh. 10. 27. 2 Tim. 2. 19. Jos. 24. 16. Psal. 19. The Scope of the Text. I. The Exhortation Let us draw near Lam. 2. 24. * O anima rationalis miserabilis creatura quo te dejicis terram diligis melior es coelum contemplaris altior es solo tuo creatore tu inferior Saith St. Augustine II. Of the Qualifications of those who would draw near to God 1. A true Heart Mat. 15. 8. 2. Full assurance of Faith A Belief of the Mysteries of the Gospel A Belief of our own particular acceptance with God 13. 58. 6. Mat. 21. 22. III. The Heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience IV. The Body washed with pure water Application The Scope of the Text in reference to the Jews It is applicable to other People The Expressions are borrowed from Husbandry * As Varro Cato Virgil c. I. What is meant by Sowing II. What is implied by Righteousness The Reasonableness and Advantage of sowing Righteousness III. Of reaping Mercy IV. Of breaking up the fallow Ground Gen. 6. 5. 1 Cor. 2. 14. Jer. 4. 3. Zach. 7. 11. V. Of seeking the Lord. Isa. 55. 6. Ezek. 18. 21. Isa. 55. 7. Isa. 1. 15. Jer. 11. 11. Heb. 3. 13. VI. He will come and rain Righteousness Isa. 45. 19. Heb. 11. 6. Heb. 10. 36. John 15. Mat. 5. 6. Isa. 54. 17. Scougall's Life of God pag. 75. Jer. 23. 6. VII An Application to the Publick Prov. 14. 34. Judith 5 17. An Explication of the Text. I. Sin is the Cause and Occasion of all the Evils which befall either private Persons or publick States Ps. 34. 16. Ps. 73. 27. Amos 3. 2. II. People commonly are insensible of the Cause of their Evils Psal. 38. 2. III. The common Custom of Mankind is to run to second Causes before they address to God Jer. 17. 5. Isai. 28. 14 IV. How Peace with God may be obtained V. The Application To private Persons To the publick state of the Nation The Occasion Scope and Meaning of the Text. Observations from the Text. I. To rejoice at the Afflictions and Calamities of others is both the Sign and Effect of a Prophane Ungodly Spirit Job 31. 29 30. Psal. 52. 7. Hab. 3. 16. Eccl. 7. 11. Prov. 17. 5. Seneca II. The Church and People of God are often visited with the Rod of Afflictions III. When God is provoked to punish he doth not lay aside his Kindness and good Will Isai. 30. 18. IV. The Right uses which people ought to make of Calamities and Afflictions 1. To acknowledge God the Author of them 2. To own Sin to be the Cause and Occasion of them 3. To suffer them Patiently 4. To repent of Sin and to sorsake it V. The Iudgments of God when rightly understood do declare his Righteousness See Enquiry into the Nature c. of Faith Essay 5th VI. Application I. An Enquiry into the Coherence of this Verse with the Context The Opinions of some proposed and rejected The true Reason why St. Paul gives this Advice in this place II. Inferences from the Occasion of delivering this advice The first to caution against the Abuse of Doctrines The second the true expressions of Friendship The third a Concernment for useful and eminent Persons III. The Advice of not drinking water considered 1. It only regards Timothy's Case and Practice 2. A Reproof of the Luxury of this Age. 3. Cautions to be used in Abstinence and Mortification See amongst others Tavernier's Travels IV. of Drinking Wine The use of it lawful The Excess Unlawful Prov. 31. 6. Eph. 5. 6. Isai. 5. 11. The Evil of Drunkenness 1 Pet. 5. 8. V. The Reason of S. Paul's Advice to Timothy considered 1. It sheweth the true Ends and Rules of Eating and Drinking 2. The Lawfulness of the Use of Means to remove Afflictions 3. The Gift of Healing not always used VI. An Enquiry into the Reasons why God suffereth eminent and useful Persons to labour under bodily Infirmities and Diseases First Reason Second Reason Third Reason Fourth Reason Fifth Reason Sixth Reason Seventh Reason Eighth Reason Conclusion
p. 123 SERMON VI. On Easter Day 1 Pet. I. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the Dead To an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you p. 166 SERMON VII On Easter Day 1 John V. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life p. 195 SERMON VIII On Easter Day 1 Cor. XV. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable p. 228 SERMON IX Rev. II. 17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it p. 261 SERMON X. Luke VI. 46. Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say p. 296 SERMON XI A Preparation to the Holy Communion Heb. X. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies washed with pure Water p. 340 SERMON XII Hosea X. 12. Sow to your selves in Righteousness reap in Mercy Break up your fallow Ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain Righteousness upon you p. 385 SERMON XIII Hosea V. 13 14 15. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Iudah saw his Wound Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Iareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your Wound For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion and as a young Lion to the house of Iudah I even I will tear and go I will take away and none shall rescue him I will go and return unto my Place till they Acknowledge their Offence and seek my Face in their Affliction they will seek me early p. 416 SERMON XIV Micah VII 8 9. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in Darkness the Lord shall be a Light unto me I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my Cause and execute Iudgment for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his Righteousness p. 446 SERMON XV. 1 Tim. V. 23. Drink no longer Water but use a little Wine for thy Stomachs sake and thine often Infirmities p. 479 SERMON I. On Matth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest THESE words are worthy of all acceptation they ought to be listned to most earnestly and deserve our most serious Consideration if either we regard the Person who uttered them or the Matter contained in them For here is promised what all Men seek after here is a free and gracious Invitation to what all Men would be at to that which they toil and labour for with all their might The Wise and the Unlearned the High and the Low and all the World pursue this tho' they entertain different Sentiments and follow various Courses yet still they agree in this that they all would be at rest Rest to the Soul is a common End which all aim at for without this there is no happiness What is the true way to this has been the Enquiry of Philosophers and of all wise and thinking Men in all Ages The several Sects of Philosophers pretended to teach it and the same is done by all the Parties who now divide the World One alledgeth the way to rest and happiness is with them another saith it is with them But we may trust him who speaketh here we may safely rely on his Word and have reason to believe him with an implicite Faith for he neither can be deceived himself nor will he deceive others He who giveth this Invitation and maketh this Promise of Rest is the Blessed Jesus that is the greatest Person who ever appeared in Human likeness the very eternal Son of God Wisdom and Truth it self No Falsehood can come from him and he is willing that all come to the Knowledge of the Truth He loves us and wisheth our happiness more than we our selves do He had no other Errand to this World but only to procure our happiness and to direct us in the way to it We ought therefore to receive his Instruction and when he promiseth rest we have all reason to expect it and no cause to fear the missing it O! with what joy should we hear these words from him Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. First you see the Invitation is general to all Persons whatsoever Jesus Christ excludes none from his Mercy who do not exclude themselves by their contempt hardness and impenitency As his Benefits are highly to be valued and most desireable so they are freely and kindly offered to every one he is willing that all partake of them The Favours of Kings and Princes are reserved to a few special Friends and Favourites either because they would exhaust themselves if they bestowed many or because they are afraid of rendering them contemptible if they make them common But as Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible Treasure of all desireable riches as he is a Fountain which can never be drained so he doth not shut himself up he freely communicateth of his fulness to us If we be miserable we have only our selves to blame if we lack any thing it is because we do not ask if we cannot rest it is because we do not apply unto him We find him complaining of Mens backwardness to their own happiness but there was never any instance of his hard-heartedness Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life And to give all Confidence and Encouragement and to manifest his free and unlimited Goodness towards all therefore it is written by the Prophet Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Again And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come And let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely So here it is Come unto me all ye that labour c. The adding this doth not restrain the Invitation or make it less general for this Epithet may be made of equal extent with Mankind it self for saith the Son of Sirach great travel is created for every man and an heavy yoke is upon the Sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their mothers womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things Ecclus. xl 1. By the words of labouring and
Death their imagination of things to come and the day of death trouble their thoughts and cause fear of heart said the Son of Sirach Eccl. xl 2. And the Apostle tells us that through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. ii 15. They saw it was appointed for all men to die they understood that the Sentence of Death was passed upon all Men and none knew how soon or after what manner this Sentence was to be executed upon himself so that they stood in jeopardy every Hour Neither Youth nor Health nor Strength nor Vigour nor any natural or acquired Vertue and Endowment could secure Men from Death and what was to come after it they knew not their hopes of another better Life were faint for it was not yet revealed Therefore as they were daily liable to Death and had cause continually to apprehend it so the fear of it and the uncertain consequence of it as every one's Experience witnesseth damped their Joys and filled them with Melancholy and embittered their Life The terrours of the Mind are more burdensom and grievous than outward weights and pressures upon the Body Now nothing is so terrible to Men as Death it is called the King of terrours Iob xviii 14. And again it is said Chap. xxiv 17. they are in the terrours of the shadow of Death My heart said David is sore pained within me and the terrours of death are fallen upon me Psal. lv 4. Aristotle and other Heathens have declared that it is of all things most terrible and certainlv it is and shall be and must be so to all who believe not in Jesus who are Strangers to him his Doctrine and Promises until Men come to him take his Yoke upon them and learn of him the fear and terrour of Death must make them to labour and be heavy laden Fourthly The great Evil which Men labour under and which is the Cause of all other Evils is Sin As this lyeth upon all Men for there is no Man who hath not sinned except the Man Christ Jesus so this indeed is a heavy burden and most grievous whether we consider it in it self or in its Consequences The load of Sin which is upon us is great enough to press us down to Hell and to crush us in pieces It is Sin which maketh us to travel all our days with pain the guilt of this is uneasie to the Mind and disturbeth its rest and also maketh us liable to the Wrath of Almighty God which is a weighty burden too heavy for the strongest Shoulders This burden of Sin tho' it be of all others the heaviest yet few are sensible of it many do not feel it tho' it be ready to sink them because the weight of it has benummed their Senses and stupified their Spirits But they who are sensible of it complain most heavily O wretched man that I am saith St. Paul who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. vii 28. And David upon this account uttereth this grievous Lamentation Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Fools make a mock of sin but who have a due sence of it find it is not to be sported with or set light by for certainly it is the greatest and saddest of Evils No Misfortune which befalls us is so great as that of Sin He that is not sensible of this let him take a view of our Saviour in the Garden and repair to a dying Person and consider what inward Agony and Torment such suffer for Sin And if this do not affect him he must be very insensible The guilt of Sin is unsupportable no Man has sufficient strength to bear it Therefore saith Solomon the spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear Thus you see that all Mankind is liable to a fourfold Misery Four several Burdens are lying upon every Man that cometh into the World viz. The Burden of Affliction the want of true Satisfaction in things relating to this Life the fear of Death and the guilt of Sin each of which is enough to bear down the Spirit of Man and to crush or break it O then how heavily are they laden when they have the weight of all these upon them how weary may they be how much stand they in need of Rest and Ease how desirous should they be of it And how thankful to him who offers it unto them And thus I come to consider the gracious Promise which our Lord here makes to miserable Men whom he invites to himself come to me and I will give you rest Rest is very desirable but no rest so desirable as this An ease of those Burdens which were presently set before you would exceedingly lighten the Mind and quicken and cheer up the Spirit But none can give this Ease but Jesus who here promiseth it Some Philosophers have proposed some Antidote against Afflictions but for the most part they talked impertinently when they spoke of the other Three But as the greatest and truest Comfort under Afflictions cometh from Jesus Christ so it is he only who can satisfie the large Cravings of the Soul who can take away the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin And as he can so he will for he hath promised it here Come and I will give you rest This rest must certainly imply a full and perfect Ease of all Misery which lieth upon Men For if all were not taken away if any part of it did remain the Soul could not be at rest Now because the very News of Rest is Matter of Comfort and it is yet more comfortable to be assured of it I will confirm this gracious and comfortable Promise by other Places of Scripture and also shew the Reasons why we may expect and look for Rest from Jesus with a Respect to that Fourfold Misery which is upon us I will invert the Order which was used in enumerating those Burdens we groan under and will take the last first because it is the greatest and that the Removal of it prepares the way for taking the rest away That the Burden of our Sins shall be taken away by Jesus is evident from his Name and the Reason why he got that Name for he was called Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins therefore also he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the world when one sick of the Palsie was brought unto him he said to him Son be of good chear thy Sins be forgiven thee And he said so that they might know the Son of Man had power to
is it to be like Jesus for he is the brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person so that to be like him is to be like God By the Imitation of Jesus we recover what our First Parents lost and forfeited to themselves and us even the Image of God Therefore the Imitation of Jesus brings more Honour and Glory than any or all earthly Dignities Likeness to God is the highest degree a Creature is capable of therefore if we understood our selves and our interest we should be more ambitious of this than of all the Titles and Dignities which either Kings or People can bestow If the Imitation of Christ were impossible it would not have been enjoined us but neither is it so difficult as some at first may imagine besides that the Difficulties may be surmounted through the Grace of God the thing will become both easie and pleasant if we will but converse with Christ contemplate and meditate on him frequently They who converse much together we see use to slide insensibly into the Manners Fashion and Behaviour of one another Even so if we take this Method we shall soon find our selves changed into a resemblance with Jesus Christ. But we all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. iij. 18. But now as it is our Duty our Honour our Interest to follow Christ and to labour to be like him So it is fit to consider wherein we should follow him Some Imitations are indiscreet unreasonable and so far from obliging that they provoke A King loves to be imitated by his Subjects because it is a Testimony of their Love and Respect and the greatest Honour they can put upon him But he would not have them to imitate the Peculiarities of Royalty and Sovereignty Imitation should not be in things peculiar but in these things which are common which may agree to and suit with both So we must not attempt to follow Christ in what was peculiar to him as the Son of God and the Saviour of the World we must not imitate the Acts of his Almighty Power or what was proper to his Mediatory Office It is no part of our Duty to imitate him in his Miracles in his walking on the Water commanding the Winds and Seas casting out Devils fasting Forty Days and the like What we ought to imitate is the Divine Vertues which shined forth in his holy Life and which appeared in all his Actions Wherefore he saith learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart These Words may also be considered as an Encouragement for coming to Christ taking up his Yoke and learning of him because he is a meek and lowly Person gentle and easy no wise rigid and severe therefore Men may come to him readily and ought to come willingly for they need not fear hard Usage he will not treat them roughly nor impose grievous Tasks upon them He is a kind and loving Master who consults the Good and Ease of his Disciples and who will not exact any Service which is not both reasonable and also for their Interest as is clearly insinuated in the last Words my yoke is easy and my burden is light But seeing Jesus requires us to imitate him and is frequently proposed as an Example to us and seeing in this very place in which he bids us come and learn of him he recommends himself as a meek and lowly Person therefore we ought to consider those Vertues of Humility and Meekness as particularly proposed for our Imitation Jesus Christ had all other Vertues as well as these he was a true Pattern of Love to God of Zeal Submission Obedience and heavenly Mindedness of Charity Mercifulness and good Will towards Men of Chastity Purity Sobriety Patience and Contentment and in a Word of every thing which is Praise worthy in the Sight of God or good Men. By his Life as well as Doctrine we may learn how to behave our selves in all Circumstances and Conditions in Poverty and Affliction under Contempt and Disgrace when we are hated and persecuted And though he possessed not outward Plenty and Grandeur yet several of his Actions shew the true end and use of these and do teach those who possess them to imploy them more for the Glory of God and the Good and Comfort of others than for their own private Satisfaction From his Practice and Example we may learn our Duty to Superiours Inferiours and Equals But tho' he be a Pattern of all Vertue and Goodness yet he instanceth only in Meekness and Humility either because these comprehend all other or are the chief and first to be learned and which if they be learned will draw all other after them All Vertue and Religion either respects Man or God and without Meekness and Humility it is impossible to carry our selves aright towards either of them But he that is truly humble and meek will certainly endeavour to please both Nay the very Exercise of these two comprehends all our Duty to God and Man as we may learn from Micah vi He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but that thou shouldest do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God Meekness cannot be either better or more briefly described than in the Characters of Charity given by St. Paul It suffereth long is kind envieth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things For these Characters belong to Charity because it softneth our Natures and rendreth us meek Meekness is a Branch of Charity and naturally flows from it These two are inseparable and we may certainly conclude the one is not where the other is wanting Love smooths our Natures and carries off all Ruggedness of Temper it disposeth us both to please others and also to be well pleased with what they do it maketh the Persons and Actions of others acceptable and even when any thing is amiss in either it excuseth or censureth gently If Christian Love did abound more there would be more of Meekness and good Nature in common Conversation But because that is very much wanting therefore there is so little generous Complaisance to be seen The most are very selfish and have but very little Concernment for others and this is the Cause why they are so surly and morose so peevish and wrathful why their Temper is so stiff and uneasie and their Behaviour so rough and blustering they love themselves too much and others too little and therefore they can hardly condescend to gratify others and are but seldom satisfied with what is done to themselves As Meekness proceeds from Love so from Humility and therefore they are
their Hearts were swelled up with Grief their Souls were inwardly pierced with excessive Sorrow which abundantly appeared by all the ways by which People use to express their sorrowful Thoughts and sad Apprehensions smiting their Breasts and rending their Garments which the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth howling and mourning with the Voice which is the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now it will be worth the while and very proper for the Day to consider what it was that moved them to all this Indeed the Hearts of Women by Nature are soft and tender and their Passions are sooner and more easily moved than those of Men but if we view the Object of their Grief we will not think it strange that these Women did thus bewail and lament it will be much more strange if we can restrain our Passions and refrain from weeping at the account of it and yet all know that the sight of a thing toucheth more sensibly than the hearing of it doth These Women had seen all which our Lord had hitherto suffered at the hands of wicked and sinful Men and had lively Apprehensions of what he was yet to suffer for the Death he was going to was known and ordinary but known only to be a vile shameful and most painful Death as upon other accounts so upon this that it was not a speedy but a lingering Death If they themselves were not Witnesses yet they well enough understood how he was seiz'd in the Garden as a Thief when he was most serious in Devotion and Prayer and dragged from thence to the High-Priest's Palace which ought to have been a Refuge to Innocence and a Safeguard against Indiscretions and an Unmerciful Threatment But alas even there they saw him unjustly used and most indiscreetly Handled falsely Accused illegally convicted of Blasphemy and other Crimes and all the rules of Discretion Civility and Good Manners broken in treating him He was Spit upon and Buffetted Blindfolded and smitten on the Cheek with a Prophesie who it was that smote thee By the break of Day he was hurried away to Pilate from him to Herod and back again to Pilate every one making their Sport of him After some Mock-Formalities of Law and Justice these Women saw him delivered to the Roman Soldiers a sort of Men who took Pleasure in Blood and Cruelty and then they beheld him dressed like a Fool with a Crown of Thorns a Purple Robe and a Reed instead of a Scepter because he was said to be the King of the Iews They saw him strip'd of these Ornaments of mocked Majesty and unmercifully Whipt and Scourged by the same Soldiers with Cords till Furrows were made in his Back and the Blood ran down his innocent Body And when all this would not satisfie the Malice of his Enemies they saw him given in exchange for a Villain and Notorious Robber and against all Law and Reason meerly upon the importunity of an unreasonable Multitude condemned to a Violent and Cruel Death and contrary to all Equity denied any respite or breathing time but instantly forced away to the place of Execution and made to bear that Cross on which he was to hang and pine away his Life in Pain and Torment Represent all this to your selves and consider if it be not sad and doleful who would not shed Tears at such a Sight May not this force Tears either from Man or Woman Suppose Jesus had been as bad and criminal as his Enemies would have made him yet such cruel and unmerciful Usage called for Compassion Quod non homini detur humanitati Even when it is necessary to satisfie the Law and to execute Justice Pity should be shewn to the Offender But if Pity and Compassion be due to Calamity and Misery even when there is guilt to deserve it what should be shewn when there is no Guilt at all If it should touch our hearts to see any of our Fellow-Creatures suffer though it be no more than the just Punishment of their Sins how should we be affected How should our Passions be stirred when unspotted Innocence and Vertue suffer These good Women knew that Jesus had no Crime they saw his very Enemies could not fix any upon him and that they were baffled when they undertook to prove any against him Nay he was not only innocent but also perfectly righteous he not only was guilty of no Ill but also he was one who went up and down doing good and had done many great and good and wonderful Works The Malice of his Enemies was not occasioned by any Fault of his but only by the Truth and Purity and Powerfulness of his Doctrine and by the Holiness and Integrity of his Life both which reproved their Errors their false Teaching their Hypocrisie and their Covetousness Add to all this his Quality which was the greatest in the World For tho' these Women were not yet instructed fully about his eternal Generation nor yet perhaps believed him to be the true Son of God equal with the Father as the Catholick Church doth teach and hath always taught and which must be believed if the Scriptures be true and genuine yet they believed him a Prophet and knew him to be a good Man mighty in Word and Deed they were perswaded that he was the Messiah and trusted that it was he who should have redeemed Israel Judge I pray you then what cause of Grief was here The greatest Dignity trampled upon and affronted The greatest Innocence condemned The greatest Righteousness punished The greatest Meekness reviled The greatest Charity and Beneficence persecuted The Man who preached the Word of God with Authority who shewed them the true way to Life who comforted them in their Affliction who cured their Diseases who restored their Children and Friends to Life who fed them with Miracles and from whom they expected the Salvation promised by all the Prophets to see this Man mocked scourged and put to Death before their Eyes Lord what matter of Grief was this What Occasion for Weeping Mourning and great Lamentation But though all this was more than sufficient to afflict and grieve the minds of these Women yet there was something more than all this which Jesus suffered which they knew not he suffered in his Soul and Spirit by the immediate Hand of God which none was sensible of save himself Inward Trouble and Disturbance of the Soul is much more sad and weighty than Pains and Torments in the Body The spirit of a man may sustain his Infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear Jesus was at this time drinking the Cup of his Father's Wrath and Displeasure against Sin and the Sin not of one or two but of all Mankind What it was that he suffered in his Soul on this Account we do not know but that he did suffer in that part is certain and that he suffered heavily appears from his sweating Blood in the Garden in a cold Night from his praying three
was set apart to be the Sacrifice for Sin he bears the Iniquity of Men and that is from the beginning wherefore he is called the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World that is appointed to be slain And therefore our sins come in among the rest and consequently we have all Reason to deplore his Death and to bewail our own Wretchedness and Sin which was in part the Cause of it O ye Children of Men ye of the sinful Race of Adam come and behold the wretched and deplorable State of your Nature look upon the Cross and let thine Eyes see Jesus bleeding and dying on it and then consider that Blood was shed to wash away thy natural Filthiness and his Life taken to redeem thee from Death O how unreasonable How insolent a thing is Pride in Man Art thou Proud who hast an evil Disease cleaving to thee and inherent to all thy race which cannot be cleansed but by the precious Blood of the Eternal Son of God Art thou vain who art born such a slave that nothing could have ransomed thee except the Death and Sufferings of the Lord of Life and Glory Pride Arrogance and Boasting are no wise suitable to Persons of our Condition but Mourning and Weeping are very proper especially considering the guilt we have contracted since our coming to the World the heinousness of which the Cross of Christ will also shew us for that heavy Cross was laid on him to take away the guilt of those Sins which we daily commit The Son of God was humbled and Crowned with Thorns to make atonement for our Pride and Ambition he was stript naked because of our Covetousness he was unmercifully treated that he might bear the Punishment of our Revenge and Cruelty towards our Brethren The inward agony of his Soul was occasioned by our wanton Mirth and Lasciviousness and that he might be a Propitiation for our Excess and Riot there was nothing left him but Vinegar and Gall to drink His Bowels his Hands and Feet were pierced upon the account of our Oaths and Blasphemies In a word he was mocked had no pity shewed him was Scourged and put to Death contrary to Law Justice and Equity because we are false and treacherous and have no respect to the Commands of God Ye Fools who make a mock of Sin and who think it but a Sport to commit Iniquity come hither be instructed and learn to be Wise. Is the Shame and the Pain Is the Agony and Grief Is the Death and are the unspeakable Sufferings of Jesus the Son of God only a Sport Are these things only matter of Laughter Has any the Impudence either to say it or to think it No sure But then if these be bitter Sport what shall we think of our Sins which produce it for the Sufferings of our Lord are only the Effects of our Sins Doth it not trouble every honest and thinking Man when he is so unfortunate as to be the occasion of any Evil and Mischief to another Casual Murther or Manslaughter by an accidental Rencounter the throwing of a Stone the shooting of a Bow or Gun or the like do not infer guilt the Actors are innocent when they have no design of that Nature in their head and yet no Man who hath not lost Humanity but will be affected when any such Misfortune falls in his hands and his Grief will be so much the greater as the Person whose Death is occasioned is worthy and deserving What cause of Grief then have we who not accidentally but wittingly and willingly by our deliberate Sins and Transgressions have drawn Death on the Innocent and Righteous Jesus and that too the worst of Deaths the most shameful the most painful and the most bitter Death of the Cross Have we not reason to weep for our selves Can we ever bewail enough either our misfortune or wretchedness by Nature or our guilt through our actual Transgressions Certainly we should lament our condition on all occasions should set apart times for it and especially at occasions of this Nature when our guilt and the sad Effects of it is represented to us we should mourn and weep This is the only way to clear our selves to lessen our guilt and to keep innocent Blood from being charged upon us Blessed are they that thus mourn for they shall be comforted They who sow in tears shall reap in joy Jesus shall bear the Iniquities of those who regret his Death and their own guilt which caused it and made it necessary his Blood shall wash away their guilt and his Death shall prevent their Eternal Death for he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him 2 Cor. v. But as the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ procureth Mercy to the humble and Penitent so his Blood calleth for vengeance upon the hardned and impenitent Which leadeth me to the last thing in the Text for upon this account he added and weep for your Children for behold the days are coming c. by this intimating that the Imprecations of the People were ready to light upon them for as they cried out and wished his blood be upon us and our Children so to revenge it sore and heavy Calamities were impending over the City and the whole Nation Jesus spoke not these words from any Spirit of desire of Revenge nor out of any complacency at those sad Evils which were to befall them for the Injuries done to himself It is a fault which too many are guilty of when they think themselves wronged and cannot at present either revenge or remedy it they delight and please themselves with the thoughts of God's revenging their quarrel But Jesus was far from this temper for we find in the 19th of this Gospel That when he beheld the City he wept over it out of Compassion of those Evils which he saw would come upon it And they who have the same Mind in them which was in him will neither desire the destruction of their Enemies nor rejoice at it but will both pray against it and fear and tremble when they see it unavoidable But our Lord uttered these words to testifie his Divinity and Godhead and his Love and good Will even to those sinful Men his Divinity in that he knew what was to come for none knoweth future things but God alone his Love and good Will in that he forewarned them of their Danger that being forewarned they might if possible either prevent it or obtain a delay and suspension of it When he bids them weep for their Children he doth not mean the Children of these Women only or particularly but the whole Generation of the Iews for he speaks to those Women in the Name of the whole Inhabitants of Ierusalem or rather of all the People of Iudaea therefore they are called Daughters of Ierusalem which is as much as to say Israelites for Ierusalem was the Chief or Mother-city and to
be stiled after it did import their relation to and interest in that state The word Behold denotes the certainty of what he foretells by saying the days are coming he lets them know that the Calamity approacheth and is not far off as indeed it fell out within Forty Years The greatness and dreadfulness of that Calamity he holds out by telling that it shall be then said Blessed are the barren and the womb that never bare and the paps which never gave suck For these words are not to be taken absolutely but with a respect unto these Evil days In times of Peace in the days of Prosperity it is a great Blessing and Comfort to have Children and especially it was thought so among the People of the Iews But in times of grievous Trouble and sad Calamity when War or Famine or Pestilence rageth they who have Children are more heavily afflicted than those who want them for besides the Evils which they suffer in their own Person they suffer also in the Persons of their Children and are affected with their Misery Moreover Women who are either with Child or who have young Ones sucking at their Breast cannot so easily escape Calamities or provide against them as others Some also do think that this may have a particular reference to what afterwards fell out at the Destruction of Ierusalem viz. That during the strictness of the Siege some were reduced to that strait that to preserve their own Lives they Eat the flesh of their own Children which could not but be very grievous to Parents However it is to be interpreted not with any relation to Peoples Spiritual or Eternal State for in respect of that there is no difference betwixt the having and wanting Children but it is to be understood wholly as to this Life and that too only in relation to Times of great Trouble and sad Calamity As to what follows that then they shall begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us This is a further intimation of the dreadful Calamity of these Days for People shall then be in such Consternation and Fear that they shall wish Death rather than Life and any kind of sudden Death rather than to live to see and feel such unspeakable Misery And as all this was foretold here and Matth. 24. so whoever is pleased to read Iosephus his History will find That all was actually accomplished upon Flavius Vespasian and Titus his Son their Invading Iudaea Besieging and Sacking of Ierusalem For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in a dry As it is a Proverbial Speech so it is here used by our Lord both for a Proof of the Prediction and also as a Reason why such Evils are inflicted Green Wood is neither proper nor profitable fewel but sure if they be forced to cut it down and make use of it they will not pass by what is dry and withered and good for nothing so seeing God has suffered his own Son to be thus treated who never displeased him they might assure themselves that such gross and notorious Sinners would not escape As St. Peter says If the Righteous scarcely are saved where shall the Wicked and Ungodly appear Our Lord by comparing himself here to a green flourishing and fruitful Tree doth point out the greatness of their Sin who thus treated him and persecuted him to Death with such Malice and Cruelty And he also clearly intimates to them that for this Cause all these Evils would come upon them A little before this time he laid it more plainly home to them by the Parable of the wicked Husband-men who when they saw the Son said This is the Heir come let us kill him and seize on the Inheritance And accordingly they caught him and cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him The Doom of these Husband-men the Iews pronounced with their own Mouth for when our Lord asked when the Lord of the Vineyard cometh what will he do unto these Husband-men They replied He will miserably destroy these wicked men and will let out his Vineyard to other Husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their season Upon which he instantly added Did ye never read in the Scriptures the stone which the Builders refused the same is become the head of the corner This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Therefore I say unto you the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder The Application was so plain and the meaning so obvious that it is said that the Chief-Priests and Pharisees perceived that he spoke of them Matth. xxi 38 39. These Predictions and the Event which in all things answered them declare what a heinous Crime it is to be guilty of shedding the Blood of Jesus and what a Provocation it was to the great God to see his Son crucified by Men. But some may perhaps say what is all this to us This was the Sin of the Iews long since committed and which can never be acted over again seeing Jesus the Son of God has his abode in Heaven and so is out of the reach of Men and therefore it is impertinent to insist now upon it They who say or think so must give me leave to say that they are mistaken and do deceive themselves for Christ may yet be Crucified and with as great Provocation to God nay with greater than was before Doth not St. Paul tell us Heb. vi 6. of some who crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame and both by that Chapter and the 10th we are made to understand who they are that do it viz. They who Sin wilfully after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth They that undervalue the Death of Jesus and are not so affected with it as to hate and forsake Sin which was the cause of it but on the contrary cherish indulge and love it for they who do so by an after Act consent to his Death and are guilty of his Blood Not to speak what Jesus suffers in his Servants and Members by the Persecutions which they meet with for his Sake and for their Observance of his Laws Jesus still suffers immediately in himself when his Doctrine is despised his Authority affronted and his Power resisted They who question the veracity of his Doctrine confirmed by Miracles and Prophecies laugh at the Truth and Mysteries which he hath revealed and quarrel at his Ordinances and Institutions these Persons do violence to his Prophetical Office They who lessen the Merits of his Death and the worth and price of that Sacrifice which he offered they who advance their own Righteousness and put little or no Confidence in his Mediation and make the Mediation of others as necessary they
which is above upon those who do not obey him so none but those who keep his Commandments are capable of them The Dignities and Enjoyments of this present World may be possessed by any Both good and bad we see can be invested with them but as for the Heavenly Glory none can enjoy it but such as are worthy thereof As the Eye is required to Seeing and the Ear to Hearing and the Palate to Tasting so the previous Dispositions of Holiness and Righteousness are requisite and absolutely necessary to the Enjoyment of Heaven and Eternal Life Without holiness saith the Apostle no man can see God Seeing it is certain that we keep in the other World the same Temper and Inclinations which we have in this therefore he who is not prepared and disposed before-hand by the Exercise of Vertue and the leading a Life according to the Commandments of God is no more capable of Heaven and the Pleasures thereof than a Beast is of the intellectual and rational Enjoyments of Men. Heaven is not to be considered so much under the Notion of some glorious Place as of a State which brings us near to God and makes us Partakers of his Divine Nature It is a Life of perfect Holiness and Purity Wherefore they who seek for Heaven without the Desires and Endeavours to be truly holy are wholly ignorant of and do quite mistake the thing and do not know what they would be at Let any Object or Enjoyment be in it self never so good or excellent yet if it be not agreeable to the Faculties and suitable to the Inclinations of him who hath it it affords no Satisfaction or Delight And if he hath any Aversion thereunto it disgusts and procures Trouble and Pain The covetous Worlding the lascivious and intemperate Person relish no Pleasure in the Church in the Exercises of Devotion and in the Company of pious and devout Souls who are wholly mortified to the World and the things thereof these are irksome painful and wearisome things unto them And we may be sure Heaven would be yet far more troublesome because it would be a greater Violence to their Inclinations Therefore could we suppose a wicked Man translated into Heaven he yet would find no Heaven of it I mean he would not look upon himself as happy there because he would find nothing agreeable to his mind or grateful to his Inclinations he would taste as little Pleasure in all that that place could afford him as a Swine would do to be wrapped in Odours and fine Linen and decked with all manner of precious Ornaments As that Beast would still count the Mire and Puddle more delicious so a wicked and ungodly Person would esteem the lowest the most brutish and sensual Pleasures here to be preferable to the Joys of Heaven it self Heaven certainly is as much the natural Consequence of a holy and good Life as it is the Reward obtained for our Obedience And Hell is no more the determined Punishment of Sin than it is the necessary result and effect of it As a Weight naturally presseth towards the Earth so Sin sinketh a Man necessarily into Hell that is the outmost Misery Whereas true Goodness and Righteousness put him without the Reach of it in that they elevate and raise him towards God who is the Fountain of all Happiness Holiness therefore and Obedience to Christ is the true and only way to Heaven he that treads not this Path shall never come there Thus we have considered the Text as it seems the Proposal of a Question or interrogatory asking the Reason and Cause why those who own and acknowledge Christ to be their Lord and Master do not sincerely obey Him and keep his Commandments From which Occasion hath been taken to shew the unreasonableness and Absurdity of disjoining these which should be conjoined together I mean the Profession and Practice of Christianity seeing that which moveth and exciteth to the one doth also call for the other Now before I leave this Point allow me to ask you a few Questions and to reason the matter a little with you What is it that perswadeth you to call Christ Lord Is it that you may please God by receiving him whom he hath so highly exalted If this be the reason do you not see that by the same reason you are obliged to serve and obey him For this also is the Will of God Is it Love to Christ which makes you adhere to him You see Love and Obedience are inseparable and that Love cannot be ingenuously professed if Obedience be denied Finally do you embrace Christ on the account of that rich Reward which he hath promised But do you not see that this cannot be expected without keeping his Commandments and performing that Work which he requireth and hath intrusted to you What Reason can be given for refusing an entire Subjection to the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. Is there any Motive or Inducement to believe which doth not equally perswade to obey It is evident then that if the matter be laid home to Men they can answer nothing but must stand speechless Out of thine own Mouth thou shalt be condemned O wicked and slothful Servant for thou oughtest to have obeyed him whom thou knowest and believest to be thy Lord Shouldest thou not study to please him whom thou professest so much to Love And oughtest thou not to have done thy Work if thou wouldest have had thy Wages What a shameful and unworthy a thing is it for Men to act so unlike Men To shew so little Reason nay to walk so contrary to all Reason in these matters of the greatest Moment and Concernment The Practice of Heathens and Infidels is not so absurd as this comes to they do not obey Christ because they do not believe in him or they will not profess him because they have no mind to obey him So one tells us of the Men of Congo That at first they were easily perswaded by the Portugueze to embrace Christianity and were baptized in great abundance But afterwards when they found it did require some Strictness which they had no mind to bear that they must leave their Heathen Practices particularly their Multitude of Women they came back to the Church renounc'd what they had done and return'd back to their indulgent Heathenism For they knew not how to reconcile the Christian Vow with living in the open Breach of it being too honest for such Practices And certainly it is far more reasonable to declare that we do not believe in Christ nor yet own him than to profess both and in the mean time continue disobedient to him if we lay aside our Obedience let us lay aside our Faith and Profession too for that but makes us the more guilty and liable to a greater Condemnation And thus we are brought from considering the Text Question-wise to consider it as an Expostulation or sharp Reproof made to all empty and barren Professors and such as rest
which touch them but are not so soon sensible of the Cause and Occasion which make them groan longer under the Distemper Ephraim perceived his Sickness Iudah felt his Wound their Senses taught them both these but they had not Understanding enough to discover whence these things came they had no Sense of their Sins and Transgressions and were slow in considering that the Reason they were so pinched and infested was because they sinned and would not frame their Doings to turn unto their God And it is just so with the Generality of the World at this time Men have sense enough to perceive the outward Evils that are upon them but scarce any to discover the Hand which inflicts them or the Cause which procures it Touch a Man in his Body in his Fortune or in any thing dear unto him he will be quickly sensible of it and ready enough to complain But there be few so wise as to acknowledge that the Root of the Matter is in themselves People ordinarily throw all the Blame of their Trouble from off themselves upon other external things he that is sick finds fault with his Diet or his riding and travelling unseasonably and in unwholsome Weather he that is wronged and oppressed chargeth and accuseth such and such Persons as perhaps are the immediate Instruments thereof in times of publick Calamity and Disasters all the Talk is how they began and after what manner they proceeded if the Plague enter a Place the Inhabitants curiously enquire about the first Person who brought it in if Fire take hold of a City the Discourse is about the small Occasion of its beginning and the Unwariness of the Servant who kindled it Statesmen and Politicians resolve Wars civil Broils and Factions Oppressions and other things of the like Nature into Political Causes Philosophical Heads exercise their Wits in finding out natural Reasons of Famine Pestilence immoderate Drought excessive Rains and other such Judgments according to the uncertain Hypothesis of some vain System they have imbib'd And thus Mens Thoughts are carried off from the serious Consideration of the true that is the moral and meritorious Cause of all the Evils that are upon them They reflect not upon their own Sins nor the Sins of the Land they live in They say not with David Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin For mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me It 's long before People come to lay to Heart that the Evils which are upon them are because the Lord hath a controversie with the Inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land that it is by reason of swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery and other abominations that the land is made to mourn To take only Notice of the immediate Instruments of our Trouble without enquiring into this chief Cause thereof is just but to act like Children and to do what the common Rabble do at publick Executions who only consider how the condemned Person is led to the Scaffold and after what manner the Executioner proceeds to put him to Death never reflecting upon the Sentence of the Judge nor the Transgression of the Law which yet ought chiefly to be considered Hear ye therefore the Rod and him who hath appointed it as ye feel the Evils which are laid upon you so call to mind from whom they come and for what Cause they are sent otherways Ease and Relief is not to be expected It 's necessary in order to the removing of bodily Distempers that there be first a Knowledge of the Nature and Cause of the Disease without this there can be no Cure all Applications are ineffectual even so the first step to remove the Wrath of God and the sad Effects of it is to find out those Sins and Transgressions which have occasioned it till this be done it 's in vain to struggle and to use Endeavours for the saving our selves it is but as the common Proverb is a striving against a stream which is too strong for us And thus I am brought to a third Observation and it is this That when God is visiting with his Iudgments people are seldom so wise as to address themselves first to God but they ordinarily in the first Place have recourse to second Causes and humane Endeavours which tends but to their greater ruine and mischief Ephraim and Iudah here instead of making Application to God sent to the King of Assyria and addressed to King Iareb So when Sickness comes upon Men the Physician is sent for and he is required to use his Skill and to apply his Remedies and with the Woman in the Gospel who had the bloody Issue they seek not out for Christ till they have spent much upon the Physicians to no purpose and that their Art and Skill hath been quite baffled When Men are opprest and born down all their Thoughts are how to get an Interest in some great Personage and ingage him to espouse their Cause and thereby counter-balance the Power of the Person that oppresses them In a word every one considers the nearest and likeliest Method and Means of procuring to themselves Ease and Relief and when they have discovered the same they are wholly bent on it and the Eagerness of Men to be saved by those means which their own Prudence has suggested keeps them from exercising that Trust and Dependance on God which is necessary Men have not Faith enough ordinarily to commit their cause entirely to God and they walk so much by Sight that they can put little Trust where they see no visible Means and because ordinarily God works by rational means and has established in the World a settled Order and a Series of Causes for producing certain Effects they too much imagine that these things work necessarily and that they cannot be disappointed of the Effects while they make use of the Means and Causes which ordinarily produce them Whereas all things depend upon the Blessing of God and only work and take effect as he is pleased to give the Word unto them I do not say that prudent Means and Methods should be neglected or that Men should expect Deliverances miraculously when these other may take Place But that in seeking to save our selves from any Danger or Judgment we ought to apply our selves to God and as we ought never to use any means for our safety but what is lawful so in the Use of the most lawful and most proper means we ought to depend entirely upon God for the Success else we may expect these Means to be blasted or what is worse to turn to our Hurt and greater Damage As we see here befel the Israelites for the King of Assyria whom they sent to