the great advantages of Prayers Sermons and Sacraments other Judgments may the better be dispensed with Famine is another very sore Judgment when this rages God is said to march through the Land in indignation Hab. 3 12. and we will not stick to believe it when we consider the direful effects and consequences of Famine We read in our Chronicles that there was formerly such a dreadful Famine in this Island that when Malefactors were lead out of Prison towards the place of Exeeution the poor hungry People would presently fall upon them and tearing them in peices eat them up And we will not wonder at it when we read Ezek. 5 10. Of Fathers eating up their Sons and Sons their Fathers And which is stanger and more unnatural yet we find Lamen 4 10. Tender compassionate Women forced by the extremity of hunger to seeth their own Children These are horrid instances of a dreadful Judgment and yet we have a sadder instance of it and Famine is said to be such a devourer as causes a man to devour himself as you may read Isai. 9. 20. where every man is brought in eating the Flesh of his own Arm. Thus great and heavy a Judgment is Famine yea by some it is thought to be one of the sorest Heaven can inflict and yet it is inferiour to this of the Text when God in wrath removes our Candlestick out of his place when he takes his Gospel away from us and deprives us of all the priviledges and advantages of his Holy Ordinances No less than this is asserted Amos 8. 11 12. Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a Famine in the Land not a Famine of Bread not a thirst of Water but of hearing the Word of the Lord And they shall wander from Sea to Sea and from the North even to the East shall they run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord and shall not find it Thus a Famine of the Word is a sorer Judgment than the Famine of Bread and well indeed it may since the one destroys only the Body the other destroys the Soul If the Light of the Gospel be taken away worse than Egyptian darkness will ensue such as will cause us to fall and that into the bottomless Pit from whence there is no Redemption Thus I have dispatched the three Generals and shewn you that 't is an heavy Judgment to have our Candlestick removed out of his place For this heavy Judgment deprives a Nation of its Chiefest Honour and makes them become Lo-ammi or no people It deprives them also of God's special Care and Providence and renders them an easie prey unto their Enemies And lastly it surpasses the sorest of God's Judgments and a Famine of Bread is far more tolerable than a Famine of the Word These Considerations if any will teach us to value God's Ordinances at an higher rate than formerly we have and excite our greatest care and diligence to prevent such an heavy Judgment as this and to help us to perform this Duty the better I come in the fourth place Fourthly Briefly to consider some of those Causes which bring such an heavy Judgment upon a Nation And 1st Sin is the General Cause of this heavy Judgment we need no other proof of this than the Text it self where Christ bids the Church of Ephesus remember from whence she had fallen and repent and do the first works Nothing but our Iniquities can separate betwixt our God and us if we do not repent of them they will be our ruin For God will not continue his Gospel to a backsliding and disobedient People but will take it away and give it to a Nation that will better bring forth the Fruits thereof 2ly The contempt of God's Word and his Messengers is another Cause of this heavy Judgment This may easily be gathered from 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. Where we are told that the Lord God sent to the Iews by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his People and on his dwelling Place But they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his Words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his People till there was no remedy So Amos 8. where the Prophet threatens them with a Famine of the Word he assigns this among other reasons ver 5. namely because they prophaned his Sabbaths and despised his Ordinances And indeed when a Nation undervalues the Light of the Gospel and judg themselves unworthy of it it is but just with God to remove their Candlestick and carry his Gospel to a People more worthy of it 3ly Schisms and Divisions are another grand Cause of this heavy Judgment Historians tell us that this was it which opened the way to the Turks and Saracens to overflow the Eastern Churches and let Mahumetanism into the World It was this which brought that deluge of Goths and Vandals and other barbarous Nations upon the West And indeed we need not wonder at it since S. Iames tells us Chap. 3. 16. That where envying and strife is there will be confusion and every evil work Thus I have dispatched the fourth General and shewn you some of those Causes which provoke God to remove his Candlestick from a People and Nation Sin in the General is the Cause of it In particular the contempt of God's Messengers and his Ordinances and those Schisms and Divisions which rage in a Nation And if we should now reflect upon our selves I fear we should find so much wickedness and debauchery raging in the Land such gross prophanation of God's Sabbaths contempt of his Messengers and his Ordinances and withal so many dangerous Schisms and Factions amongst us as may justly cause us to dread the heavy Judgment of the Text. But I will not foretel your danger but exhort you to prevent it and that by Repentance as the Text directs Which Fifthly brings me to the fifth and last General proposed which is to shew you the Means to prevent this heavy Judgment Now this cannot better be learned than from that advice Christ gives the Church of Ephesus in this place remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works Repentance therefore is the best means we can take to appease God's Wrath and prevent his Judgments If we repent of the evil of our ways God also will repent of the evil we have reason enough to fear he is bringing upon us Hear what is said to this purpose in the Prophet Jer. 3. 12. Return O back sliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful What a gracious motive is here urged What will perswade us to repent if the hopes of Mercy will not In what a sad condition should we be if God should remove our Candlestick out of his place if he should take away his glorious Gospel from us and deprive us of all the
they reviled in a horrid manner as appears by the Blasphemies of Rabseca And yet even these stout-hearted Assyrians were spoiled the Army of this great Monarch Sennacherib was miraculously defeated either by the Pestilence as Iosephus reports or by a destroying Angel as the Scripture relates Even Sennacherib himself tho' then the greatest King upon Earth was not able to stand in God's sight when he was angry he came to a fatal end and was slain in the Temple of his God by his own Sons Nay farther yet after his death he had a Statue erected in the Temple of Vulcan with this pious Lesson inscribed on it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in English Whosoever beholdeth me let him learn Piety And since these things were so our Psalmist had good reason to make this Epiphonema in the Text Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy Sight when once thou art Angry From the words thus far explained I shall take occasion to shew you First That there is great reason to fear the Lord our God And Secondly The vanity of those reasons which cause most men to shew so little fear of God in their Lives and Conversations First Let me shew you what great reason there is to fear the Lord our God and this will appear at large by these particulars 1st We shall find reason enough to fear the Lord our God if we consider his Sovereign Power over all Creatures which he is able to command at his Pleasure and make them revenge his Quarrel upon impenitent Sinners As God Almighty by the bare speaking of a word created all things both in Heaven and in Earth so he can with as much ease command all Creatures to execute his Wrath and Vengeance upon Sinners It is the observation of the Eloquent Tertullian that God as soon as he had finished the great work of the Creation did then but not till then assume the dreadful Title of Lord of Hosts And it is further observed by others that this Dreadful Title is mentioned in Scripture more than two hundred times the better to deter Sinners from affronting Omnipotent Majesty It seems the Sinner cannot make War with Heaven but he must at the same time arm the whole Creation against himself he cannot fight against the Almighty but he must also fight against all those Creatures which are under the Command of this Lord of Hosts The Heathen Poet is able to tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. All the Elements saith he are full fraught with Evils and ready when God pleaseth to pour forth ruin and destruction upon Sinners Sodom and Gomorrah did no sooner kindle their impure flames but the Element of Fire descending in sulphureous Streams made them most dreadful Monuments of Eternal Vengeance As soon as Israel began to murmur against Moses the Element of Air mingled Pestilential Vapours with their Vital Breath and chastised their Rebellion with a dreadful Plague When proud Pharaoh gathered together all the strength of Egypt and furiously pursued the Children of Israel to the Red Sea the waters thereof soon swelled themselves into mountainous Billows as if they had been proud to be imployed in the service of Heaven and the destruction of the Egyptians The Earth also as dull and sensless as it seems to be is yet able to resent such indignities as are offered to the Almighty and when commanded by God will open its devouring Mouth and swallow down alive Corah Dathan and Abiram Thus all the Elements are at Gods command yea even rejoyce to be employed by Heaven in executing Wrath and Vengeance upon Sinners And whither now will the Sinner fly from this Lord of Hosts Will his Alliance with Hell protect him from the Almighty Or can he hope to hide himself from the heat of his fury in the shades below No certes he may as well seek Heaven in Hell as expect one single beam of comfort from these Regions of Darkness for from these black quarters it was that God of old commanded an evil Spirit to vex Saul and drew whole Legions of Devils to punish the degenerous Iews in the days of our Saviour Nor does our God rule only in this sublunary World in the Seas and in all deep places but he ruleth also in the Heavens For if the Almighty doth at any time frown upon the Sinner each Planet will put on its Malign Aspect and every Constellation shall foretel his destiny Thus the Stars fought in their Ranks against Sisera and as Iosephus reports poured down such prodigious showers of Hail as served instead of Shot to destroy his Army Thus also the Sun and Moon became fixt Stars in Heaven that the Israelites might not want the benefit of the light to compleat their Victory over the Amorites Thus the Elements the Heavens and Hell it self are at the Command of Almighty God and if there yet be wanting more Forces to fight these Battles of the Lord the Angels are still remaining those mighty Hosts of Heaven and standing Militia of the Almighty Indeed God doth not always draw forth these Trainbands of Heaven an Army of Lice serves sometimes to baffle a proud Pharaoh and a silly Worm when commissioned by God is able to spoil the Divinity of a Blaspheming Herod But when the King of Heaven appears as it were in Person against his Enemies then these Courtiers of Heaven attend the Divine Presence and putting on their Robes of Light add what Lustre they can to the Majestatick Appearance Hence it is that Christ when he shall come at the last day to destroy at once all the Works of Satan he shall not only have Angels for his Trumpeters but Matt. 16. 27. he is said to come in the Glory of the Father because he shall come attended with these Glorious Angels And now when all these Battalions of the Almighty shall set themselves in array against the Sinner when he shall not only fear with Cain lest he fall a prey to every Wild Beast but with Pashur in the Prophet Ieremy becomes a Magor Missabib that is surrounded with fears from all parts of the Creation then doubtless he will say with the Psalmist Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry Our Saviour in the Parable makes him more stout than wise who having only ten thousand is not affraid to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand But sure every Sinner stands guilty of infinitely greater madness who with his single valour dares the Almighty and bids defiance to him who comes not only with twenty thousand but with the whole Universe against him O consider this all ye that forget God lest he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you Take our Saviours advice send and sue for peace whilst this Almighty Adversary is but yet on his way Labour by your Prayers your Fasting and Humiliation to reconcile your selves to this Lord of Hosts
Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which you have received and avoid them Thus we have found Schisms and Divisions in all those Churches which are recorded in the New Testament and if we descend to succeeding Ages we shall find Schisms and Divisions too many Whosoever have learning and leisure enough to consult Epiphanius and S. Austin will find them reckoning up no fewer than an 100 Heresies even in those best and purest Ages of Christianity All this I hope will suffice to prevent any sinister opinion of the Church of England which at this time is torn in pieces by Schisms and Divisions This indeed ought to be matter of Lamentation to us and ingage our most ardent prayers for the peace of Ierusalem But sure it cannot be managed as an Argument against our Church but the blow will reach other Churches too even all those Churches which are now in Christendom and as you have heard those best of Churches which were in the first and purest Ages of Christianity Let not therefore your present Divisions lessen your esteem of the Church of England The best of Churches are subject to these misfortunes and will be so to the end of the World For as our Saviour speaks Luke 17. 1. It is impossible but that Offences will come And St. Paul says the same in the Text where he tells us that there must be Heresies which brings me to the second General proposed Secondly Namely to enquire what those Causes are which make Schisms and Divisions in some sort necessary and here I cannot but assign 1st The first and principal place to the infernal Fiends Satan is the Enemy in our Saviours Parable who is said to sow these Tares in the Field of the Church Hence St. Paul calls Heresies the Doctrins of Devils Ignatius styles them the Plants and Snares of Satan and to name no more Epiphanius calls the Arch-heretick Arius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Image and Statue of the Devil However the Devil labours to keep his own Kingdom in peace and tranquility yet he seeks nothing more than to cause Divisions in the Kingdom of Christ. The Egyptians who worshipped of old Dogs and Cats and shed penitent Tears before the Shrine of a Deified Onion The Pagans who worship the Sun Moon and all the Host of Heaven and the Mahometans who worship a cursed Impostor these never had such divisions among them as have been and still are in the Church of Christ. Unity is the strength and stability of all Communities So that Satan would fight against his own Interest should he disturb the quiet of those Societies which are devoted to his Service But the Church of Christ the purer it is either in Doctrin or in Worship the more does it threaten ruin and destruction to Satans Kingdom no wonder then if this subtil Serpent does use all his stratagems and devices to stir up differences and contentions in these Christian Societies Well then might St. Cyprian conclude that the Schisms and Heresies which happened in his time were industriously raised by the Devil that he might revenge himself on the Christian Religion which had struck his Oracles dumb and almost banisht his Worship out of the World Thus Satan you see is the Principal Cause of those Divisions which disturb the Peace of God's Church and this by the way affords us another Apology for the Church of England We must confess our Divisions are great and sad but this only argues Satans greater Rage and Malice against her And I pray what wonder is it that the Father of Lies should be a malitious Enemy against that Church which is the Ground and Pillar of Truth But 2ly Tho' Satan be the Principal Cause of Schisms and Divisions yet he employs the Lusts and Passions of Men as Instruments to raise them Hence is that of St. Iames Chap. 4. 1. Whence are Wars and Fightings among you Are they not hence even from your Lusts Man before his Conversion is no better than a Centaur half Bruit and half Man And till Grace has ascended the Throne he exceeds for Rage and Fury the wildest Inhabitants of the Forest. Lactantius compares his Exorbitant Passions to mad furious Horses which hurry him violently on such things as are mischievous and pernicious to Society Now Satan works upon these Passions of Men and raises them as Wind does the Seas into tumult and commotion no wonder then if St. Paul Chap. 5. 20. reckons among the Lusts of the Flesh Hatred Variance Emulation Strife Seditions Heresies and Envyings But tho' there be not any Lust which does not contribute more or less to those contentions which happen in the Church yet Pride Covetousness Curiosity and self-love are observed to be the chief Beautifeau's and Incendiaries of them 1. Pride is one great Cause of those Divisions and Contentions which happen in the Church It is a true saying of Solomon Prov. 13. 10. Only by Pride cometh Contention Melanchton in his Comment upon the place mentions a famous Proverb to this purpose Duo Montes non miscentur two swelling Mountains will not mix well together When Men begin to swell with Pride and Ambition they soon grow too big for the little Fold of Christ. Thus Diotrephes loving the preheminence disturbed the Peace of the Asiatick Churches Thus Arius priding himself in his skill in Logick sought to raise his reputation by opposing his Diocesan Ambition is a very turbulent and seditious Passion and if Men once give the Reins to it it will make them fire the Temple of God as Herostratus did Diana's only to get a name and to be talkt of in the World 2. Covetousness is another great and special Cause of those Divisions which happen in the Church Since St. Paul tells us that the love of mony is the root of all evil we may well conclude it one cause of the evil of Schism and indeed St. Peter tells us so expresly 2 Pet. 2. 3. where the Character he gives of Hereticks is this Through Covetousness they make merchandise of people with feigned words Mammon is own'd for a God by the greatest part of Mankind and with most men in the world Gain passes for Godliness We need not wonder then if the desire of Wealth prove often both the Mother and the Nurse of Heresies As soon as Demetrius had told the Silver-Smiths of Ephesus that their Craft was in danger to be set at naught they presently fill the City with noise and uproar and cry out stoutly Great is Diana of the Ephesians St. Iude describing the manners of the Gnostick Hereticks tells us they ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward St. Cyprian writes of the Heretick Novatus that he was Avaritiae inexplebili rapacitate furibundus most insatiably covetous and rapacious even to a degree of madness But to name no more the Magdeburgenses long ago observed that Covetousness helpt to Spawn most of the Heresies in the World 3.
would have done with the young Children he answered boldly that all above seven years old should have been murdered with their Parents the rest should have lived but they were to be branded in the Forehead with the Letter L. signifying Lutheran and so be reserved for perpetual Bondage These and many other Specimens have they given of their Cruelty but this days Conspiracy seems to exceed them all For had this Hellish Plot obtained its desired end the Metropolis of our Nation had become a flaming Aetna our Church and State been turned into a Chaos our Court into a Golgotha and our whole Island into an Aceldama or Field of Blood Here is more than Assyrian Rage and Fury now at least we see the Rages of the Text such as we may well call the Wrath of Man the Wrath of Adam of the worst the wickedest of Men For let Men pretend what they will there is nothing of Religion nothing of Christ in such Wrath as this for he would not suffer his Disciples to call for Fire from Heaven to destroy a little Village of the Samaritans whereas these Heathen Catholicks these Bloody Barbarous Papists would have fetched Fire I cannot say from Heaven but at least from Hell to have destroyed one of the greatest Cities in the World but the remainder of wrath God did restrain Which brings me to the second thing proposed namely Secondly That God by his good Providence does over-rule and govern the Wrath and Rage of Wicked Men so as may be for his own Glory and his Peoples Good As for the Wicked they are far from proposing such ends this proud Assyrian in the Text did not in the least design the Glory of God or the Good of his People as the Prophet Esay tells us Chap. 10. 7. He meant not so neither did his Heart think so but it was in his Heart to destroy and to cut off Nations not a few His Head and Heart were full of devices how to satisfie his Ambition and raise his Empire on the ruins of other Nations but God's Providence over-ruled his Ambitious Rage and made the Wrath of this Assyrian to praise him But for the fuller opening this part of the Text we will consider First How God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him Secondly Whom he makes to praise him First Let us inquire how God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him Now he doth this several ways 1st By diverting their Power and their Rage otherwise than they first intended The Wise Man tells us That the Hearts of Kings are in the Hands of God he turneth them whithersoever he will Prov. 21. 1. Thus Nazianzen reports of Iulian the Apostate that when he had designed the utter ruin of the Christians God cut him out work elsewhere and made it necessary for him to go first against the Persians by whom he was overthrown So this Sennacherib in the Text you 'l find Esay 10. 5. called but the Rod of God's Anger and the Staff of his Indignation to denote that the greatest of Men are but a kind of Instruments in the Hand of God's Providence and must expect the direction of a Superiour Cause Hence it is very observable that when this proud Assyrian had bent his Rage against Hezekiah it was diverted by Tirhakah the King of Aethiopia waging War against him as you may read 2 Kings 19. 9. And it is easie to parrallel this out of the late History of the Reformation For in the Reign of Queen Mary Gardiner and other Papists endeavoured to destroy the Lady Elizabeth on whom alone under God the hopes of the Reformation did depend K. Philip did interceed for her and preserved her out of interest of State God putting it into his Heart to fancy that if she were put out of the way and he should have no Issue from Queen Mary which he very much feared then the Queen of Scotland who was to be married to the Dauphine would succeed and make too great an accession to the French Crown 2ly God makes the Wrath of Man to praise him sometimes by suffering it to proceed so far till nothing but a Divine Power an immediate Arm of the Almighty can deliver God does not always blast the designs of the Wicked in the Bud or crush their Enterprizes in the Shell but frequently suffers them to come to the Birth and his chosen People to fall into great extremity thus the tale of Bricks was doubled before Moses was sent Thus Haman was allowed to go so far as even to erect the Gallows for Mordecai Thus Pharaoh was allowed to pursue Israel not only to the Banks but even into the midst of the Red Sea that by destroying him there the Right Hand of the Lord might become more Glorious in Power And were we not delivered in such a sort this day Were not all the Instruments of Death made ready Were not the Barrels lodg'd the Train laid the Match burning and the time well-nigh expired before the Lord made bare his Arm and pluckt his People as so many Brands out of the Fire 3ly God does sometimes make the Wrath of Man to praise him by infatuating the Counsels of his Churches Enemies thus he is said to have made the Princes of Zoan Fools and the wise Counsellors of Pharaoh to become brutish Isaiah 19. 11. Thus he Countermined the politick Advice of Achitophel and made that great Oracle appear according to his Name in Hebrew which signifies the Brother or Cousin-german to a Fool. A like instance of of God's Providence was that which happned in the Reign of Queen Mary for when She first fell into that kind of Dropsie which Physicians call the Mola the wisest of her Friends and Physicians were so far infatuated as to conclude her to be with Child by this means all Physick was forbid till her Distemper grew Desperate and that great Obstacle of the Reformation was happily removed 4ly God does sometimes make the Wrath of Man to praise him by making wonderful discoveries of their most secret Plots and closest Conspiracies Thus strangely did he discover Hamans bloody Plot against the Iews and that of the Iews against St. Paul But surely the Goodness of God was never seen more eminently in the discovery of any Plot than it was this day for the subtilty of the Serpent did never appear more than in the managing of this Conspiracy We know it was laid in the very Bosom of Hell hammer'd in the Devils Forge nurst up in a dark Vault We know also that the Traytors bound themselves by the Holy Sacrament and the strictest Oaths of Secresie not to discover it But yet how wonderfully did God discover it For did not the Lord cause one of the Conspirators notwithstanding he had taken three solemn Oaths to conceal the Plot to reveal it by Writing verifying that of the Wise Man in his Ecclesiastes That which has Wings shall tell the Matter Nay further was it not the over-ruling Providence of God
Ordained and whereof he hath given us assurance in that he hath raised him from the Dead Tho' we are not certain when the day of Judgment will come that we may be alwayes preparing for it yet you see it is certain that there will be such a day and that Christ our Mediator is ordained Judge A happy day for all that are truly pious they need not fear this Judge who is no other than their Merciful Saviour But it will be a day of darkness and gloominess unto the Wicked these will then mourn when they shall see this Son of Man coming with great Power and Glory so much we are told in the Text Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and then shall all the Tribes of the Earth Mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory For the better understanding of these words we will enquire First Why Christ is called the Son of Man Secondly What is here meant by the Sign of the Son of Man Thirdly That this Son of Man will come to Judge the World Fourthly That he will come with great Power and Glory Fifthly That all the wicked of the Earth will then have just cause to Mourn First Let us briefly enquire why Christ is called the Son of Man Some learned Men observe that he is called so in the Scriptures more than forty times and there are two reasons of the Name 1st He is called the Son of Man in token of his Humanity Christ our Blessed Mediator was both God and Man and therefore as he is often called the Son of God to denote his Divinity so he is as often called the Son of Man to denote his Humanity 2ly He is called the Son of Man to denote that state of Humiliation to which he condescended for our sakes It was usual for the Jews to style Princes and Potentates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sons of strong Men but such as were poor they styl'd Beni-Adam Sons of Men. Christ therefore aspired to no higher title than that of Son of Man He was pleased to humble himself for us He as the Apostle speaks became poor that we might become rich Born he was of the poorest Parents such as neither had an House of their own to lay him in when he was born nor able to procure any place besides a Stable for his reception into this World And as he was born in this poor condition so tho' the Birds of the Air have Nests as he speaks yet whilst he lived he had not of his own where to lay his Head Nay further yet when he came to die we know he was beholding to the Charity of Ioseph of Arimathea for a room in his Sepulchre No wonder then if Christ be ambitious of no more Honourable Title than this of Son of Man since he made himself so vile so mean so contemptible for our sakes Thus I have briefly shewn why Christ is called so often the Son of Man it denotes the truth of his Humanity as also that state of Humiliation to which he condescended for our sakes I come now in the second place to enquire Secondly What is here meant by the sign of the Son of Man It would spend too much of our time to mention all those conjectures which learned Men have made concerning this Sign since it is a matter we may be safely ignorant of I shall only set down two of the best interpretaions I have met with 1st Very many learned Men both Antient and Modern do by the Sign of the Son of Man understand the Cross. St. Ierom St. Chrysostom and Venerable Bede upon this place affirm this Sign to be no other than that of the Cross. The Ethiopian Church is so peremptory in this matter that it is put into the Articles of their Creed as the Learned Gregory informs us There is hardly any thing the Antient Fathers are more unanimous in than this And to say the truth there is some tolerable Reason for this Antient Opinion For what can be more Honourable to our Lord and Saviour or more full of Terror to his Enemies than that the Cross of Christ which they counted foolishness and more than so esteemed the greatest reproach of the Christian Faith should at that day be made the Herald to Proclaim his Coming and call all Nations of the World to appear before him But tho' this interpretation be backt both with Reason and great Authorities Yet 2ly There is another interpretation that seems as plausible if not more plausible than it For the learned Vossius Mede Twisse Millet and several others do understand by the Sign of the Son of Man who is a Sign This kind of Dialect this manner of Speaking is frequent in the Scripture thus the Law of Faith is all one with Faith that is a Law the Law of Sin that is Sin it self which dwelling in unregenerate Persons reigns as it were by Law So the Sign of the Son of Man that is the Son of Man who is a Sign And that which gives the greatest Authority to this Opinion is that St. Luke in the parallel place interprets it so Chap. 21. 27. where the word Sign is left out and the Verse runs thus Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a Cloud with Power and great Glory And St. Mark renders the words the same way Chap. 13. 26. If therefore St. Mark and St. Luke may be allowed to be as good interpreters of St. Matthew as any other by the Sign of the Son of Man we may understand the Son of Man himself whose Glorious appearance in the Clouds will be a certain infallible sign that the day of Judgment is come Thus I have shewn you what Conjectures learned Men have made concerning this Sign of the Son of Man Some understand the Cross others Christ himself whose Glorious appearance will be a certain sign of the approaching Judgment I come now in the third place to shew you Thirdly That this Son of Man will come to judge the World None but that God who made us has any right to judge us As we have received all things from him so as Stewards must we render an account of all things to him Indeed this Judgment belongs originally to the whole Trinity but the outward administration of it shall be committed to the Son of Man So we are told expresly in the Text Then shall ye see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven Thus you see the Judgment of the last Day is committed to the Son of Man and indeed it is committed to him because he is the Son of Man our Saviour tells us so expresly John 5. 20 27. As the Father has life in himself so hath he given unto the Son to have life in himself and has given him Authority to execute Iudgment also because he is the Son of Man Ye see the Son of Man will come as
Excellent Words of Solomon that Solomon who was once a Famous and Renowned King of Israel and who besides those Advantages of Education which he received from the pious Care of his Father King David was also inspired with Wisdom from on high and endued with such Understanding and Largeness of Heart as was commensurate to the Sand of the boundless Ocean Besides what has hitherto been said concerning the excellency of Proverbs in general and these of Solomon in particular there is one Observation still behind which will yet farther recommend the Text to your best Attention For of all those three Thousand Proverbs which are Recorded as the products of Solomon's Wisdom there is not any one the Holy Ghost has thought fit to repeat so often or inculcate more frequently than this of the Text for it is repeated thrice in this one Chapter besides what it is in other places of this Book of Proverbs In all which places the Wise man gives us to understand that the wonderful Providence of God does rule and govern all the Actions of Men. The Metaphor of a Way which is here used in the Text is known in Scripture to denote all the Actions of Men whether good or evil And according to this latitude the Metaphor here used is understood variously by Divines St. Cyprian refers it to the good Actions of Men and accordingly interprets the Text thus Cor viri cogitet justa ut à Deo dirigantur gressus ejus Let the Heart of Man saith he think righteous things that so his goings may be directed by the Lord. But tho' this be a very great Truth namely that Good Actions are govern'd and directed by the Providence of God yet others rather understand the Text of mens wicked Actions for the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render Deviseth is for the most part used in a bad sense and what we render Man is Adam in the Original which according to Luther's known Observation is seldom taken in a good sense So that the words taken in this limited and restrained sense will run thus A mans Heart i.e. the Heart of Adam or of a wicked Man deviseeh and contriveth his wicked ways but the Lord by his wonderful Providence governeth and directeth all his steps The Heathen may rage as the Psalmist speaks and the People devise vain things yet he that sitteth in Heaven shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision God as he is Omniscient can easily know all the wicked devices of sinful Men and as he is Omnipotent he can as easily over-rule them and direct them so as may be most for his own Glory and the good of his People God He is no idle Spectator in this vast Theatre of the World but doth continually as the Psalmist speaks whatsoever pleaseth him both in Heaven and in Earth Indeed he has made Man a free Agent and therefore as the Son of Sirach speaks He leaves him in the Counsel of his own hand and allows him to act according to the liberty of his Will But then as the Wise Rector and Almighty Governor of the Universe He over-sees and over-rules all the Actions and Devices of wicked Men so that such as will not do him true and laudable service by obeying the known Will of his Precept are forced to obey the secret Will of his Providence and are made subservient to his Everlasting Counsels Thus tho' the Heart a of wicked man deviseth his wicked ways yet the Lord governeth and directeth all his steps For the fuller opening of which Words I design to confine my present discourse to the discovering of these two things First How the over-ruling Providence of God is imployed about sin and wickedness whilst it is but in fieri or the Heart of Man is but yet devising it And Secondly How it governs and directs sin in facto esse when sin is brought forth into act And First Of the First how Gods over-ruling Providence is imployed about sin whilst it is yet but in fieri whilst the Heart of Man is yet but contriving and devising it And this will appear in some measure from these following Considerations 1st God's Providence orders and directs sin and wickedness to such objects as he thinks fit It is a true saying of Hugo de Sancto Victo i.e. Deus non dat malis voluntatibus corruptionem sed tantum ordinem God saith he never infuses any corruption or wickedness into the Wills of Men but only gives Order and Direction to their Wicked Actions All the preparations and contrivances of sin are from the depraved hearts of Men the ordering of them to particular and suitable objects from the good providence of God As the Huntsman in Bellarmines comparison holds the Hound in a Slip and suffers him only to run at such Game as he best liketh So God keeps a constant Watch upon the Wicked he puts his Hook in their Nose and his Bridle in their Lips and suffers not their Rage to break forth but only on such persons as he thinks fit We know Gods Providence extended it self to the very Swine and would not suffer Satan to enter into them without his particular Warrant and sure then we need not doubt but this Providence of God is more eminently concerned about Man whom he was pleased to make after his own Image and likeness God does therefore set a Guard upon the malice of Satan and his Instruments nor can it break forth but as he permits it sometimes on his Enemies for their destruction and sometimes on his own People for their chastisement A proof of the latter we have Isa. 10. 5 6 7. at the 5th Verse Sennacherib King of Assyria is called the Rod of God's Anger and the Staff of his Indignation which metaphorical expressions import thus much that Men are but Instruments in the Hands of Gods Providence and must expect the direction of a superiour Cause Now this Assyrian this Sennacharib is said to be sent and directed against Israel an hypocritical Nation and now become the People of God's Wrath. And at the 7th Verse we find that this Staff of Gods Indignation was more in the Hand than in the Heart of this proud Assyrian Howbeit saith God he meaneth not so neither doth his Heart think so but it is in his Heart to destroy and to cut off Nations not a few There was no need God should instil any wickedness into the Heart of Sennach arib who is here in the Prophet called the Assyrian it seems it was full enough and too full before Berosus an Antient Historian has left his Character of him Sennacherib qui apud Assyrios regnabat omnem Asiam Aegyptum bello infestabat Sennacherib saith he who was King of the Assyrians vexed and insested all Asia and Aegypt with Bloody Wars Ye see the Head and Heart of this Assyrian were full enough of devices how to satisfie his Ambition and raise his Empire on the ruins of