and Aaron took as Moses commanded him and ran into the midst of the Congregation behold the plague was begun among the People and he put on Incense and made an atonement and stood between the dead and the living and the Plague was stayed Aaron he was the High Priest and in that Office a great Type of Christ and in this action a great Type of Christ also it is he by his intercession and mediation steps in between the Living and the Dead if thou art not fallen among them that fall it is because this Aaron hath stept in to thy help because he hath rescued thee and been a Preservation unto thee The 68th Psalm is a Psalm applicable to Christ witness that passage in the 18th verse Thou hast ascended up on high thou hast led captivity captive and received Gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them This you know is spoken of and applied unto Christ by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Ephesians Chap. 4. mark now what follows in this 68th Psalm vers 26. He that is our God is the God of Salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death This is also spoken of Christ unto him belong the issues from death so that if thou art spared and saved in a day of slaughter it is from the Lord thou must say thou hast had this issue from death That which I drive at is this that you may not lose my design Have you not cause great cause to see that the Branch of the Lord by your escape be rendered so much the more excellent and comely to you since what escape you have is through him if you are preserved it is by Christ unto whom you are beholding for your preservation 3. Further The escaping of slaughter should render the Lord beautiful and glorious to you seeing it is from him that thou hast not onely thy Escaping but the Good of thy Escape not onely the Thing it self but the Mercy with it by him it is blessed unto you if it be blessed Some there are and O unhappy they unto whom every thing is accursed Psal 69.22 Let their Table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Every enjoyment is a snare unto some The curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked Prov. 3.33 Some men though they have houses to hide their heads in and it may be many things in them that look like mercies they are yet curses to them possibly their houses are full of the things of this World Waters of a full Cup may be rung out unto them their Eyes may stand out with fatness and they may have more then Heart can wish they may have Basket and Store and yet be cursed both in the Basket and in the Store it may be their Houses are full of Children and the Substance they leave is left unto their Babes as is the Psalmists expression but they are cursed also in the fruit of their Womb it may be Health and Life are within their Walls not one sick not one dead all preserved and well but yet it is not well for this their preservation is not blessed Let me tell you that read these lines As God smites some in anger in anger also sometimes he forbears to smite therefore in Isa 1.5 Why should you be smitten any more It was a word of great displeasure The escaping of some may be cursed unto them but if thy escape be blessed unto thee and thou hast it and the mercy with it thou art beholding unto Christ for both Some are preserved in love sweet is that expression and happy they that can say so Isa 38.17 Behold for peace I had great bitterness but thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the pit of corruption He was not onely delivered from the pit of corruption but delivered in love unto his Soul in a way of mercy and special kindness happy they that can say Thou hast given me this escape in love to my Soul But how comes a Soul to have such a Deliverance and to have it in love too from that general word Gen. 22.18 there is the fountain-head from whence our mercies flow In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be bâ—essed in Abraham's Seed meaning Christ all the Blessings come that come upon the World Whatever comes to thee or me if it come as a Blessing it is through the Seed of Abraham and upon that score we are to place it Now if thou do'st escape and this Escape be sanctified unto thee and all this be but Fruit growing upon this Branch of the Lord should not thy Escape render the Lord Jesus the more amiable to thy Soul 4. Thou hast not onely the mercy of thy Escape from Christ but skill to walk under it becomingly Vain man would be wise though he is born as the wild Asses Colt untoward untractable good for nothing unruly and perverse and if there be any thing of Wisdom given him it is from this fountain 1 Cor. 1.30 it is Christ that is made of God unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption it is in him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge and from him communicated and given down unto poor Creatures as Paul Phil. 4.12 13. saith I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ that strengthneth me that is I can do all wisely I can use and manage every Providence rightly and how canst thou do this Paul Through Christ that strengthens me So to use Afflictions and Distresses Miseries and Mercies becomingly thy strength is in Christ and from him it must be communicated unto thee and therefore the sence of this should much endear Christ unto thy Soul that not only the Mercy of an Escape is from him but also Wisdom to use and rightly to manage it To which adde 5. That by Jesus Christ this Branch of the Lord we have not onely an Escape in time of common Calamity but greater and better things which by our Escape we may be led unto the consideration and meditation of Certain it is that through this Branch of the Lord we have salvations of more kinds then one in that 68th Psalm vers 20. where it is said He that is our God is the God of Salvation Junius renders it thus He is a God powerful to all kindes of Salvation or as the Hebrew is He is the God of Salvations in the plural number So is it with Souls that have really Grace and Mercy from Christ they have Salvations of divers sorts they have Salvation from Sin from that power and dominion that sin is wont to have in the Soul they are wonderfully by Christ delivered
wilt never act Faith upon him But this was the Fruit that this escaping Remnant should bring forth and is that which God expects from preserved ones in a day of slaughter All this confirms the Truth I have been driving at and in the prosecution of it I shall propose two things to be spoken to 1. To show what Engagement there lieth upon them that escape in a day of slaughter to be thereby led unto an esteem of Christ why it should render this Branch of the Lord and Fruit of the Earth beautiful and glorious in their eyes 2. When those that do escape may conclude their escaping hath this issue and effect upon their Souls And 3. Try what Improvement we may make of this Truth First How doth our escaping in a time of Calamity lay an engagement upon the heart to prize and value Christ the more I suppose it is very natural I would evidence it in four or five things 1. Christ hath the management of all Providences and surely then of such as these a Sword goeth not thorow a Land nor a Plague thorow a City Country or Town but Christ hath a great hand in it Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand the Father out of his great love unto his Son and confidence he hath in him that he will do nothing but what is well hath committed the management of all Providences into his hands he hath given him the power of life and death in the World and where he will he spares and where he will he slayes the People of God represented under the notion of the two Witnesses it is said of them that they have a kinde of power to kill People as they will Rev. 11.6 These meaning the two Witnesses have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy and have power over Waters to turn them into Blood and to smite the Earth with Plagues as often as they will but their power is but in a way of Prayer through the great interest they have in the Lord and his Christ they can do much and carry a great stroke for or against a People But now the power of Christ is absolute he can do and govern in this matter as he pleaseth and why hath he this power look Joh. 5.22 23. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all Judgement unto the Son by judging here I humbly conceive Ruling and Government ordering and disposing of things in the World is intended which the Father doth not do without but by the Son the matter is left unto him and why That all men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father therefore is this Government committed unto the Branch of the Lord that it might gain him the more esteem We that have seen so much of Christ in these his Dispensations ought it not to have this effect upon our hearts to teach us to honour the Son as we honour the Father Especially 2. Considering That that Escape which you and I have in a day of Calamity it is through the Son if thou do'st escape this Branch of the Lord hath a great hand in it however we may rob Christ of his honour and attribute it unto second Causes yet indeed and in truth the matter is in Christs hand You read of a Retiring-Chamber for the People of God in days of Calamity Isa 26.20 Come my People enter into your Chamber and shut the doors about you hide your selves for a little moment until my indignation be over-past Are there Retiring-Chambers in the day of Gods Controversie when he comes to contend and smite down unto the Earth I might ask the question Where are they and say as David Psal 139.7 c. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me where may a man be hid in the day of Gods anger I would say Retire into Christ he is a Rock of shelter he is the Munition of Rocks where the Soul shall be hid it is the man Christ Jesus shall be a Covert from the storm a hiding place in the day of distress suitable unto which the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 32.7 Thou art my hiding-place thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with Songs of Deliverance Soul art thou preserved it is Christ hath been thy hiding place There were some in the days of David's Calamity scoffed at him and bid him flee as a Bird unto his Mountain but see what he saith Psal 11.1 In the Lord I put my trust how say ye to my Soul Flee as a Bird to your Mountain It was a Psalm penn'd in the time when he fled from Saul as I conceive and it is as if he should say It is true I have recourse sometimes unto this and that Mountain and I do go up and down from place to place to be hid from the hand of Saul but I go as God leads me as Christ goes before me and where-ever I am and which way so ever I look it is the Lord is my Refuge from him I expect my security You read Ezek. 1.26 of a Throne and upon the Throne there was one like unto a man that Man was the Man Christ Jesus the Throne upon which he sat is the Throne of his Providential Kingdom where he sits and governs all things in the World and where he sits to order all the matters in the following part of this Prophecy Now see what he doth upon this Throne of his And the Lord said unto him that is the Man cloathed with Linen that had the Writers Inkhorn by his side Go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the Abominations that be done in the midst thereof and to the others he said Go ye after him through the City and smite let not your eye spare neither have ye pity slay utterly old and young both maids and little children and women but come not near any upon whom is the mark c. I gather hence that it is Christ hath the marking men for destruction or preservation he upon the Throne of his Providential Kingdom governs and orders for preserving or destroying in a day of slaughter therefore if thou art kept know who hath been thy Keeper This was typified in the Case of Aaron in that sore Plague Numb 16.46 c. And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on Incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an attonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun
EBEN-EZER OR Profitable Truths after Pestilential Times Being some MEDITATIONS Upon ISAIAH 4.2 SHEWING The MERCY and the DUTY Of Those that have Escap'd the Slaughtering Pestilence As also That all Slaughter shall end in the Exaltation of CHRIST and the setting up of HIS KINGDOM Together with An Epistolary Preface To the Citizens of London Westminster By THOMAS BLAKE London Printed in the Year 1666. To the Citizens of LONDON and WESTMINSTER A few Things are humbly offered needful to be considered SIRS IN this day of the Lords Controversie a Cup of trembling hath been put into your hands and you have drank deep of it Such Slaughters rarely if ever have been within your Walls since their Foundations were first laid The memorable year of Twenty Five must not be compar'd with Sixty Five either for the number of the Slain the continuance of the Visitation or such unwonted reiterated Increases and Decreases And O that suitable to the dread of the Dispensation Effects might be wrought upon all your Hearts that the Lord may be pacified towards you and may not add to this Plague seven other and worse Plagues You are now comforting your Hearts with thoughts that the bitterness of Death is past your Trade will return and the Cloud that hath darkened your glory and splendor will vanish To which I heartily say Amen the Lord do so But if I thought it would be born and kindly received I would take leave to tell you I have my fears fears not bottom'd upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostles expression is 1 Tim. 4.7 profane and old Wives fables but upon Considerations as I judge more solid An account of which be pleased to take in a few words First Cities every way famous have had their Periods all worldly glory carrieth decaying Principles in its bowels It may as the Sun go forth in its beauty and strength until it climb to its Meridian and thenceforward it will decline until its lustre set in obscurity As they say of the World so of Cities they have their Youth and Manhood in which they are in their strength and vigour and after that Old Age until they return to the dust out of which they were raised Tyre a City of strength called the strong City Josh 19.29 an ancient and enriching City yet from the Lord went forth a Commandment to destroy it Isa 23.11 Babylon once the Metropolis of a mighty Empire and consequently stood upon suitable advantage-ground for its security yet could not bear up it self against that Sentence Isa 14.4 Thou shalt take up this Proverb against the King of Babylon and say How hath the Oppressor ceased the golden City ceased Ceased to be as well as to oppress It is the destiny of some that when they cease to oppress they must cease to be also Jerusalem the beloved City honour'd by the King of Heaven that Fountain of all true Honour against her cries the Prophet Isa 3.8 Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen God commands and threatneth concerning Tyrus Ezek. 26.4 Break down her Towers I will also scrape her dust from her and leave her like the top of a Rock not so much as any Monument should remain Jamseges est ubi Troja fuit Others their memory is perished Psal 9.6 Thou hast destroyed Cities their memorial is perished with them Secondly Sins great Provocations have been precedaneous unto and the procuring Causes of the ruine of Cities God is known to be long-suffering to all among whom he is known he doth not strike much less destroy without a cause nor yet for every cause God can bear long yet will he not bear always Wickedness may in places of eminency as Diseases in the Body lurk up and down for a season till by continuance they grow strong seiz the Vitals and down goes the House of Clay Sin drowned the old World and burnt Sodom and Gomorrha and they are left upon record as Examples of Divine Vengeance to put a restraint upon the exorbitancies of sinful Cities Every publick sin of Cities as they are a Body and Community or the sin of them that are the visible owned authority in them acting as such is a stroke at their Foundations and many such may soon level them with the ground There are Prognosticks of decaies approaching Death not onely in the Natural but in Bodies Politick also The Death-Marks upon Cities of old have been such as these 1. Pride God resisteth the Proud is true concerning a Nation City or Man It it was Moabs height that laid him low We have heard of the pride of Moab he is exceeding proud therefore shall Moab howl for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn Isa 16.6 Tyrus said I am of perfect Beauty Ezek. 27.3 thence was she defaced and brought to nothing Foelicissima Dicta foret si non sibi visa fuisset 2. Oppression especially oppression and cruelty towards the Lords own People Wo to the oppressing City Zeph. 3.1 Rev. 18.21 With violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all and why so that follows vers 24. In her was found the Blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the Earth God will make inquisition for Blood especially for the Bloood of his Abels that will cry all that have had their hands in it call themselves by what name of distinction they will will be found to be Brats of Babylon and they and their Cities may fall thereby One of the great Sins that came up into remembrance against Tyre and Zidon was this The Children of Judah and the Children of Jerusalem have ye sold to the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border Joel 3.6 3. Treachery and Unfaithfulness Amos 1.9 For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they dilivered up the whole Captivity of Edom and remembred not the Brotherly Covenant 4. False-Worship Jer. 19.11 I will break this City as one breaketh a Potters Vessel that cannot be made whole again and they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place In Tophet they sinned in their corrupt Worship and there they must fall by this their iniquity Certainly wo to them who after Light received and solemn Covenants made dare to corrupt the Worship of God and defile the Sanctuary with their detestable things wo to them whether Persons or Places 5. The baseness of pretended spiritual men There is a wo against Jerusalem Zeph. 3.1 and why Her Prophets are light and treacherous Persons her Priests have polluted the Sanctuary they have done violence to the Law HER Prophets and Priests saith God not MINE some of their own making they do wickedly and would wrest the the Word and labor to make it speak for their abominations 6. Contempt of the Gospel This evidently was Jerusalems undoing They killed the Prophets and stoned them that were sent unto them and upon
dwells in me that I cannot think the Lord has been effectually at work upon my Soul That the work of the Gospel is to purifie the heart is plain from Joh. 17.17 Sanctifie them through thy Truth thy Word is truth so 1 Pet. 1.22 Seeing ye have purified your hearts in obeying the Truth thorow the Spirit unto unfained love to the Brethren The Gospel if it works it works to the purifying of the heart Answer As it is a work of the Gospel to cleanse and purifie the heart so it is not all the work it does nor is it the first work it doth nor the work that is first manifest upon the Soul The Law it humbles the sinner and makes him see his need of Christ the first work of the Gospel is to give the sinner hope that he may be delivered out of his undone condition and the next is to make him willing to subject to and accept of the Grace of God in the Gospel Psal 110.3 Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power Therefore Soul if thou dost make this Objection this I would say to thee Consider whether thou canst find that the Gospel hath done its first work upon thy heart hath made thee willing to accept of Grace in the Gospel-way and to bow and fall at the foot of Jesus Christ As to thy Holiness the holiness of thy heart will at first discover it self hardly by any other ways then by thy love to Holiness then by thy hatred of Sin and thy fighting against the Corruptions that be in thy Soul thy Conquest and Victory over Sin must be the work of time the fruit of much pains and long waiting many excellent Souls have not attained unto this Paul himself found impurity remaining and Corruption like to bear him down and therefore cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death But then Objection 3. The Soul objects and says But I have been but a little time under any Soul-Work and therefore I may soon be mistaken I may reckon I am an Israelite and may be but an Edomite still for it is but a little while that I have had any workings upon my heart I have gone indeed from Duty to Duty for a long time together but I have sat in and under them like a Stock or a Stone and moved not and therefore whether the Workings that are upon me are genuine or whether they be spurious and not of the right kind I know not Answer I answer therefore The work of Grace upon the heart is wrought in a little time a little time doth it there are indeed many preparations to it the Soul may fall under many convictions and many struglings may be in the heart of a poor creature before the new Creature is formed but Grace is infused into the heart in a moment at once It is the Devils design to oppose young Converts and puzzle them with endless questions about their state I would therefore that thou shouldst consult for thy satisfaction which way is the bent of thy Soul Canst thou say thy desire is for Communion with God for fellowship with Father Son and Spirit Thou wouldst fain see him who is invisible and fain wouldst know him whom to know is Eternal Life If the bent of thy heart be really for God it is bent and bowed though it hath not been long with God thou mayest conclude I think with some comfort the Lord hath been at work upon thy Soul and thou art one of the Israel of God though thou art but a little one of that Tribe But then Objection 4. Says the Soul Many of much longer standing and of much more raised confidence have afterwards miscarried and it has appeared that their Souls have not been right with God and therefore my heart trembles lest I should not be an Israelite indeed Answer To this I would answer That indeed it is so and it may be thought of with sorrow of heart that many Souls after long profession have been but empty Vines bringing forth fruit onely to themselves And happy is he that by other mens harms learns to beware A holy fear and jealousie over thy heart is very good and there is great cause for it considering the many and great miscarriages that are among Professors They say of Trees that are well rooted being shaken with the Wind they are made to root the better It may be thus may thy Temptations touching thy state be if thou art rooted in Christ thy Temptations may be for thy further setling in thy state But yet to be always perplexing thy self with questions about thy state may not onely marre thy comfort but may spoil thee in thy growth also and may prove a great hindrance to thee My poor thoughts are therefore these Be sure to make use enough of Christ see thy All in him that he is thy Righteousness for Justification and that from him is the work of thy Sanctification he must begin it and it is he also that must carry it on lie at his foot live upon him and let all thy expectations be from him and whoever may fall I think thou wilt stand and wilt be found one of the Israel of God that shall be made glorious in the day of Christs Glory I am perswaded if thou canst do as is hinted in Isa 45. ult see thy Righteousness in him and thy Strength in him and canst glory in Christ it is a good ground to thee to hope that thou art of the Israel of God with whom it is like for ever to go well Objection 5. The Soul may object and say further But alas I have had few Visions of God and that makes me fear Israel of old had many and he had sometimes very glorious Visions that did greatly comfort and strengthen and bear up his Soul Answer I answer That visions of God indeed are exceeding sweet very sweet but the dispensing and giving them forth is in the hand of God and he must do it how and when he pleaseth and it is good in his sight sometimes to let his own People sit in darkness and see no light Hast thou seen the face of God at any time If thou hast had but some Visions of him though not so many as thou wouldst yet it is ground of rejoycing to thee and thou oughtest from thence to conclude much to thy own comfort A little hint of Good Will is given in to be lived upon in after times However which way is it thy Soul does press Art thou waiting for the manifestation of the love of God in Christ Are these the things which thou art seeking of together with a Conformity to the mind and will of God If so thou hast cause of Thankfulness and Joy Briefly Watch against those devices of Satan whereby he labours to do thee hurt and put thee besides thy present proper work Thou art one of them that are escaped this day and God