let the things that are present be sufficient to thee whether I have much or little honour or disgrace it is that that is present Now for a man to subscribe to the dealing of God and to lay his hand upon his mouth and to say This is the disposing of a wise Father it is but in viaticum it is not in praemium it is but for my passage it is not for my reward then I say for a man to say truly Whatsoever I have here if it be but enough to land me sase in an other world it is all I care for O my Brethren this is the pitch that the Saints of God now set to themselves where there is holiness I say these difficult duties the soul propounds unto itself But Further yet Where there is holiness it propounds this To look upon suffering as a gift in Phil. 1.29 to you it is given not only to believe but to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus Men can look upon imployment as a gift sometimes if God will set them in honorable service O but to look upon sufferings as honorable as if a man by that were to fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ this is that pitch which the Saints set to themselves the mark they aim at is such difficult duties as these are to look upon suffering as a gift to say as in Jam. 1.9 Let the brother of low degree rejoyce that he is exalied I there is reason for that I but shall the brother of high degree rejoyce that he is made low Yes that God hath called thee to any condition to do good O that is a spiritual heart indeed that is a holy heart indeed Besides there is yet another great truth and that is to have such a spirit willing to go alone in duties and not to be turned out of the way that if I am brought to duty though I am left alone yet notwithstanding the duty is mine the special assistance is Gods Man is a sociable Creature indeed and he is in a great measure like a drop emptyed into the Sea he is mightily apt to swim down with the tide O t is a hard matter for a man to be willing in duty to go alone yet so it was with Paul At my first Answer all men for sook me no man stood by me for a man to say One God is sufficient as Mr Calvin I remember hath it upon Zach. 9.12 Go to the strong holds ye prisoners of hope Strong holds they had no strong hold the City was burnt and the Temple destroyed and they had no strong hold to betake themselves to turn to your strong holds Satis praesidii in uno Deo but yet notwithstanding saith he there was succour enough in one God So saith the soul There is society and communion enough in one God if no man stand by me in duty yet notwithstanding the Lord will for a man to go alone and not to balk nor to be turned out of the way because he is deserted by men either by a principle of falshood or Cowardice truly this is one of the difficultest duties of Religion There is one thing more I see I must break off I will but name this one thing and that is To have a mans spirit raised by opposition that the more he doth meet with opposition in a way of duty the more resolute he is for it so far is he from being afraid of the threatnings of men of the frowns of men he shall lose this mans favour incur such a mans displeasure and lose such an advantage and opportunity no his spirit riseth far more for it it is with such a man as it is with the fire in winter the fire burns the hotter because of the coldness of the air so it is with such a soul that is truly inflamed Come to David and tell him O there is a Goliah and he is come out with a spear like a Weavers beam and there is one that bears his target goes before him where is he saith David I will fight with him saith he his spirit doth not fall by difficulties but riseth I am not afraid of any uncircumcised Philistim my Brethren this is a true noble spirit holy greatness of mind lies in this when a mans spirit is born up upon the greatness of his God and the goodness of his Cause it is a base spirit that is born up by the strength of his party I have so many men on my side alass my Brethren that is a base spirit but I say here is a true noble spirit the greatness of his God and the goodness of his Cause and if that will not bear me out saith the soul let me sink in it I am content to perish I remember a godly man the Lord saith he will make Jeremiahs face like an Adamant saith he like an Adamant the hardest of stones truly then let the storm come and the Adamant that shrinks not it fears not it changeth not its hue no not a jot the Adamant is the same Certainly my Beloved this is the Motio of every truly noble spirit Nec spe nec timore it is neither hope nor fear that acts me I can neither hope for any thing ne ther truly am I afraid of any thing that man can do unto me and he doth neither fear nor faint nor flie but the more difficulties rise the more doth his spirit rise I say grounded upon the greatness of his God and the goodness of his cause Now it ye be holy men you do not pick and chuse duties but the more difficult duties are the more you strive to rise to bring up your spirits to them I that is holiness not to bring down the duty to you but to keep up the Law as Paul saith the Law is holy and just and good only labour you to bring up your spirits to the rule of it If you are holy men now it will be thus with you Thirdly a holy man hates every false way and fears it and recovers out of it Psal 119.128 Rom. 12.9 the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it s to hate it as Hell it self Secondly he fears it Eccl. 9.2 he that fears an oath c. I fear nothing but sin saies the holy man Thridly he recovers himself he doth not lie in his sin Peter sinned but Peter sorrowed for his sin a good man is a living fountain will never be drawn dry grace is a living principle it doth work out the mudd in the heart by degrees as the Sun doth labour for some time with the mist but dispels it at the last the longer any man lies in sin after a fall the more unholy his heart is to sin presently after duty is a sign there hath been little communion with God in the duty and to rise presently after sin is a sign that God hath hold on the man and that the root of the matter is in him Fourthly try
God that men cannot receive the heart makes up a stop a dam against them they pass not through the whole man to bring into subjection every thought 2 Cor. 10.6 but men imprison truth in unrighteonsness Rom. 1.18 and will not suffer it to pass through the whole man through the whole soul this is a marish place c. Secondly when the waters and the earth do mix together this makes the myre when the Truths of God do mix with the corruptions of men that either men can hold some Truths and yet keep their lusts they can stand for truths and yet they live in their sins and so shine as lights and have their lamps and yet be unclean all the while or else when men do make use of the Truths of God to justifie their sins and they do plead the word of God to maintain their lusts they can stand for the Truths of God yet will not leave their lusts but seek to cover them under it Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. forâ—ing the Scriptures to their lusts Voluptatem sequi non quam audit sed quam attulit Aust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Austin 2 Pet. 3.16 They do wrest the Scriptures and make them to speak that which the Spirit of God never intended in them and all is to favor some lust or other following the hidden things of dishonesty they do handle the word of God deceitfully and make it speak peace when the Lord in the word doth speak terror c. Thirdly the longer men continue the more filthy they grow the longer the Truths of God lie upon the heart of a man and if they reform not they make him grow the more filthy and the more polluted it makes a mans lusts the more hatefull and the more defiling for Ordinances do ripen mens sins as well as their graces and in this respect they may the more fitly be called myrie places Nâ—w the judgment is They shall not be healed they shall be given unto salt First They shall not be healed they had the waters flowing in upon them and by them many were healed but they were not healed under them and now in judgement the Lord saith that they shall not be healed those healing Ordinances which work a very great change upon other men and restore their souls they shall take no place upon them that which was their sin shall be their plague they would not be healed they shall not be healed they would not be purged they shall not be purged they will not come when they are invited they shall not taste of my Supper A man cannot have a greater plague befall him then to be given up unto his own sin and that which is the natural fruit there of Men that have lived under the Truths of God and have not been healed by them the Lord gives them up as incorrigible in judgement they shall not be healed that makes the Anathema Maranatha reserved they are as incorrigible for the judgement of the Lord at his coming for this is that curse upon them which is denounced by God most properly its Gods ordinary way to deal with sinners that shall be their punishment which they chose to themselves as their way of sinning He that is ignorant shall be ignorant still and he that is filthy shall be filthy still he that will not be healed the Lord says he shall not be healed c. Secondly They shall be given to salt which hath a double interpretation given of it First they shall be given up unto a perpetual barrenness Deut. 29,23 The whole land is brimstone and salt it is not sowen and neither grass nor any thing grows therein So Abimelech dealt with Shechem he beat down the city and sowed it with salt Judg. 9.45 Psal 107.34 a fruitfull land he turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into saltness that is barrenness and so Jerom given to salt Ut in perpetuum frugibus careant that they may not bear fruit for ever Secondly Given to salt ut alios condiant exemplorum sale that is he shall be given up unto some exemplary judgement that may teach all other men to beware For he that built his house and not upon a rock when the rain falls and the winds blow he will fall and the fall of that house will be great Doctrine Some men that live under the purest and the most powerful Ordinances are in judgement given up unto a perpetual barrenness For the explication of this there are these sour particulars First that God doth by the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings Secondly that of all judgements those that are spiritual are the most dreadfull Thirdly why the Lord doth in Judgment give men up to a barrenness under the Gospel Fourthly the manner how the Lord doth this and how these Judgements are executed in an ordinary way First the Lord doth by the Ordinances of the Gospel execute spiritual Judgements as well as confer spiritual blessings there are the greatest curses as well as the greatest mercies come out of Zion all Judgements both temporal and spiritual come out of Ordinances for as they have the promises of this life that now is and that which is to come so there belongs to them also the threatnings of the life that now is and that which is to come temporal Judgements come out of ordinances Ezek. 10.2 Take fire from off the Altar and scatter over the city they thought that the fire of the Altar had served for nothing else but ad expianda scelera Calvin To expiate their sins but the Lord doth let them see that it will burn their City also 1 Cor. 11.30 for this cause many are sick and many weak and many are fallen asleep and when the day of Revelation shall come that the Counsels of God and the hearts of men shall be made manisest we shall then see that many of the Judgements that now we complain of will be found to be fire taken off the Altar and to be inflicted for the neglect and abuse of the Gospel which now we do very commonly attribute unto other causes every man according as his own fancy or party leads him and also spiritual Judgments as Rev. 4.5 there are before the throne the seven spirits of God all spiritual gifts and graces are poured out in Ordinances and there are out of the throne thundrings and lightnings and voices which note the terrible ways that the Lord has of punishing wicked men for their contempt and neglect of the Gospel Fulgura tonitrua terribilia supplicia significant nec ullo modo vitanda Brâ—ghtman Judgements from Heaven shall be poured out immediatly upon the spirits of men and that from Heaven Isa 28.13 The word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept and line upon line here a little and there a little that is summacum industria indulgentia He did it daily and he did it with a great deal
branch in me that bears no fruit my father takes away that is he is cast out of the vine of which he did seem to be a branch and he withers and is thereby prepared for to be fuel for the fire its true if there were the least fruit or the least hope and expectation of it it would be reprieved for if there be but a cluster Isa 65 8. the Lord saith spare it for there is a blessing in it but when Christ comes to expect fruit and findeth nothing but leaves no fruits thereon then there is a curse neer Never fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever And by such a curse the man withers at the root immediatly Chrysost de poenit doth allude to the manner of men Chrysost Romanae leges poenam praegnanti deferunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the Laws of men spare for the fruits sake how much more will the goodness and the mercy of God do it if there be but a cluster but where there is no fruit there is nothing now between that and the fire there is nothing so much as to defer the judgement There is a double curse upon a barren tree not only the original curse which is the ground and cause of barrenness but there is a particular curse when the Lord pronounceth a sentence of perpetual barrenness to this very end that the soul being cut off may wither and may thereby be prepared for the fire and it is said they are withered and men gather them they are cast into the fire and they burn the fire of Hell burns so fiercely upon none as upon them that are cast out as withered branches in judgment for their unfruitfulness Fourthly why will the Lord give men over to a perpetual barrenness that they shall never more bear fruit but as it is said Iude 12. They are without fruit twice dead and pluckt up by the roots as there is no fruit for the present so there is no hope of fruit for the future for the Tree is pluckt up by the roots these are men given up to perpetual barrenness and the grounds of it are such as these First if any thing would make them fruitful the gospel would for we see that if the waters that issue out of the sanctuary run out into the dead sea the waters shall not be healed and that there is as little hope of fruit from such as there is of the dead Sea that it should be yet fruitful and therefore Zach 14.8 Living waters shall go out from Ierusalem towards the first sea this mare primum is nothing else but mare mortuum or the dead sea and why are they called living waters not only formaliter or as they are aquae perennes such as do always flow but effective because they do beget life where they come and all things where the waters come do live and there are trees for fruit on every side because the waters do come thither yea even when there was as little hope either of life or fruit as there it now in respect of the dead sea Secondly there is no other use to be made of them they must be either for fruit or else for fuel for men that live unprofitably under the Ordinances are good for nothing as it is with a vine if it be not fruitfull it is usefull for nothing else in the world for a man cannot take a pin from it Ezek. 15.3 those that are branches in the vine fruitfulness doth prepare it for pruning and soiling for every branch in me that bears fruit the father purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit so barrennes unfruitfulnes doth prepare it for lopping that it be cut down that it may be profitable one way for all the garden of Paradise the Lord hath reserved for one of these ends some of them because he would not have them all perish he hath reserved for fruit and some when he hath a long time expected fruit and indured with much long patience and suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destructâ—on now he cuts them down and lays them up for fuel for Prov. 16.4 he made all things for himself and he will make some advantage of all the creatures to his own glory they shall be some way or other serviceable either as vessels of mercy or as vessels of wrath either to honor or to dishonor Thirdly the Lord doth this because therein are several provocations that they are unto him First he hath bestowed much labour upon them for the father is the husband-man and his eye is in reference unto fruit Isa 49 45. I have laboured in vain and spent my strength in vain When he hath dunged and digged about it not only the barrenness but the loss of his labour then is a provocation then the Lord lays a man out of his hand Ier. 6.29 Then reprobate silver shall men call them when the Lord hath rejected them I would have formed you I would have purged you but now you shall never be formed or purged Secondly the Lord expects fruit Isa 5. I looked for grapes for though nothing is hid from God yet he speaks after the manner of men through his patience and long suffering waiting upon them that never bring forth fruit now it is a dangerous provocation to deceive his expectation Isa 5.12 I looked for mourning but there was rejoycing with the harps c. This iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die Thirdly they dishonor the Lords vineyard that there should be found fruitless trees and therefore the Lord is provoked against them to take them away which he doth by giving them up to perpetual barrenness this Judgement is that which the Saints fear and bewail as Beza saith Beza Tanquam monstrum inter filios Dei sto inutile lignum to serve for nothing but to fill up a room to the dishonour of the vineyard and that is very dreadfull Culcate me salem insipidum good for nothing neither for the land nor for the dunghil and upon these grounds the Lord gives up men to live under the Ordinances of the Gospel unprofitably that they have no saving effect upon them he gives them up a perpetual barrenness they are given to salt Vse Use Ye that live under the Gospel and glory in it as the Jews did under the Law fear lest the Lord give you over to this Judgement for many are called but few are chosen A very dangerous thing it is to live under spiritual Ordinances and influences with carnal hearts and to this end let me exhort you to fear the several steps and degrees by which commonly God doth give men up to it and they are such as these First men miss of Christ who is the only fruitfull Root for it is in him only that you bring forth fruits Joh. 15.5 without him you can do nothing when men begin their Religion with duties and performances without a work of regeneration which tends unto Union
the pulpits in times past sound with such words as these Lord remember bleeding and dying Ireland Lord this is Ireland that is a cast-out peoplâ— hat none cares for but when thou makest inquisition for blood remember them c. and those prayers which were put up from many a gracious heart which are now answered though now many of them haply are displeased and discontented with the return of their own prayers Secondly it is a mercy given in when all things were desperate and even all hope of a deliverance was gone Now is God a help found in the needful time of trouble when the enemies power and confidence was high and they said Ireland is our own we will pursue them even take them and satisfie our lusts upon them we will surely root out the English name from amongst us and we will try if they can swim into England it may be their faith will bear them up as that partie hath alwayes scoffed at godliness in all their successes but be no more mockers least your bonds increase Now when you had not an Armie in the field the whole Kingdom was their own and not a Garrison left in the whole Kingdom but one and that brought to the very brink of destruction also and must have been surrendred speedily after they made their approaches to it Now God gives in the mercy now doth the Lord judge his people and repent him concerning his servants when he sees that their power is gone and that there is none shut up or left Deut 32.36 when there is no Army in the field no souldiers in garrison now is the time that the Lord doth appear and take to himself his great power and raign Thirdly when the Lord doth therein exceed the expectations of his servants a deliverance they hoped for but not so great not so sudden so that when it came they seemed as men that dream and they can scarce believe that God would do so great things for them when the Lord is come to do them when the son of man comes shall he find faith upon earth its a faith in reference to the coming of Christ for to take vengeance on the Churches adversaries Isa 64.3 thou didst great things for us which we looked not for for God doth not answer prayers according unto our hopes but according to his own mercies as he doth not reward our services according to the measure of our duty but in the mouth of mercy Hos 10.12 a man doth sow in duty but he doth reap in ore misericordiae Fourthly when it is by the hand of those whom they have oppressed when the witnesses that were slain shall rise again and they shall destroy their persecutors by the sword that comes out of their mouthes then it is the greater mercy and far the greater confusion unto the enemy Isa 41.15 When the worm Jacob shall thresh the mountains and when the arm of the Lord should be made bare in it and his hand more immediately seen beyond the purpose courage and intention of men they are engaged before they are aware and victorie is won before they know they are engaged in a Battle when the Lord shall bend Judah for him and fill his bow with Ephraim and they shall have the honour of the conquest that have had their great share in their Torments and were by the enemies designed for destruction and they shall fall by their hand it makes the mercy far the greater Fifthly when it is such a mercy as lets us see still that God owns the same cause and however men warp and turn too and fro yet the good old cause in which the people of God were engaged against the Antichristian party the Lord owns that cause still and gives unto his people hereby hopes of a settlement For the Lord Christ when he rides forth in the conquest of the Gospel he doth ride forth conquering and to conquer not all at once but by degrees and doth give to his people yet a ground of their faith to see if they be of the seed of the Jews before whom they have begun to fall they shall surely fall God hath given us therein Hos 2.15 the vally of Achor for a door of hope it is true that Achor was a pleasant vally and it was sweet in it self therefore it was joyned with Carmel and Bashan but yet it was much more sweet in reference to the hope for it was at the first entrance into the Land of Canaan and as the first fruits gives them possession of the whole Sixthly it is still a carrying on of the grand design that the Lord Christ hath to do in the world in the latter daies for Christ in glory hath not only Saints to gather home to himself and to bind them all up in a bundle of life and he doth raign for their sakes for he is the head over all things for the Churches sake but the Lord hath also enemies to be subdued he must raign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet and he will be faithful as the Fathers servant in the one as well as in the other therefore Rev. 14. there is a harvest of all the Saints to be reaped and there is a wine press of wicked men at the same time to be trodden c. Now the great enemy unto Christ in the latter daies of the world is that wicked one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Baylon the great the Mother of Harlots Now so far as this tends to the promoting of that great design as it doth exceedingly so far should the Saints of God rejoyce therein for they must by degrees go into pâ—rdition and though all the former subjects would be fit matter for our meditation throughout this day and might have given us several Considerations of very publike concernment in reference to the mercy of the day yet at present I have chosen this rather to draw out your praises thereby concerning which I shall present you but with these three considerations First the least return that you can make of a mercy is praise to God for it and it is all that the Lord doth expect of you Hos 14. and we will give thee the calves of our lips it is all the promise that the Lord would have his people make to him in the time of their straits Afflictions they are stupefactive and of a confounding nature and they close the mouth Jâ—r 8.14 let us enter into our fenced Cities and let us be silent there for the Lord our God hath put us to silence but mercies they are of an expansive and dilating nature and they open the mouth as Hannah not only her heart 1 Sam. 2.1 was filled but her mouth was enlarged also Secondly if you do not return praises for mercies God will surely add Judgements unto mercies and will turn his hand against you do you evil after he hath done you good Hezekiah received a mercy but he did not render according to
it by this if you hate your own iniquity if that be your great care Psal 18.23 Ezech. 7.19 they shall not satisfie their souls because it is the slumbling block of their iniquity c. 13. neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life that is the whole comfort and delight of their lives doth come in by it it is all the pleasure and the joy they have men looking upon the vanity of the world every man hath his Treasure something that he doth chuse to himself either in his age Psal 119.9 or in his calling or in his acquaintance in his custom and if ever a man do meet with an opportunity of temptation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is then he is to take heed to himself as the exhortation is in Luke 8.13 you have been Conquerers take heed now you be not overcome with the Devil and you have fought for liberty take heed you be not the worst of slaves as that man is that is a servant to his lust You have asserted the liberty of others maintain your own liberty also and be not the servants to sin Fifthly if you be holy you will have respect unto all the commandments Psal 119.6 he that doth despise any one Commandment makes conscience of none it is universality that is the great note of sincerity now to live in the willing neglect of any known duty and the Law of God comes in against a man and the man is afraid to hear of such a duty because his guilt arises and his trouble is renewed thereby and therefore the man would shift it off would disburden himself of the sens of it surely then that soul has cause to fear holiness is not his aim but now when the commandment comes and the man is a co-worker with God as it were and is willing it should be set on upon his soul and is not willing to give himself a dispensation from it but he saith I must walk up to the extremity of the rule and observe it to the uttermost extent of it for I must be Judged by it God will lay Judgement to the line c. this is the sense of a holy heart Sixthly if you are holy your holiness will answer the Law of God for it is the Law written in the heart that you must come up to you have obeyed from the heart that forme of Doctrine which was delivered to you we are cast into it as into a mold and therefore it must be a perfect form there are the great things of the Law Rom. 11.17 Heb. 13.8,9 and it was the sin of the Pharisees that they only regarded lesser things and left the great things of the Law undone and it s the great sin of hypocrites whether it be in point of sin or in point of duty to be only zealous against lesser things therefore trie your selves by these rules for it is a matter of the greatest concernment of your lives c. By these may you know if you are in the way to the Beatifical vision by these may you judge of your holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Babylons utter ruine THE SAINTS Triumph At a Thanksgiving for the victory of Ireland against the Irish Aug. 29. 1649. REVEL 18.2 Babylon the great is fallen is fallen c. THE great works of the Saints in this life are to believe Gods promises and to serve his providence and reflect his praises and it is the great thing that God doth expect as the fruit of all his marvellous works that when his works do praise him that is give matter of praise his Saints should bless him Psal 145.10 and for this cause there are three titles given unto the Saints in the Scripture First they are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that take delight in the works of the Lord they being all of them wonderful and glorious and only to be admired whereas other men only study the works of men and be taken with them but they only take pleasure in studying the works of God Secondly they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking pleasure in them they study them and search into them that they may find out all the excellency and glory that is in them which at first sight no man is able to find out Psalm 111.2 Thirdly they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Recorders Isa 62.6 they received the promises of God and their accomplishment of these things the hearts of the Saints are a faithful Register his mercies are written in their hearts as well as his Laws the one that they may serve him and the other that they may rejoyce in him Now you that have pleasure in the works of God ye are come before the Lord this day to enter an eminent National mercy upon publike record and if ye search into it after a diligent scrutiny ye will find there are these six things specially to be observed therein First it is a return not only of late but of antient prayers It is one of the great Questions that the Saints of God have as matter to dispute in all the mercies that they receive whether they have them as effects of providence or as the heirs of the promise whether they have of them only a jus Politicum or Evangelicum the one indeed non fundatur in Gratiâ but the other is now if it be given in answer to prayers it is a birth of the promise which the prayers of the Saints help to deliver Isa 37.3 but specially when mercies have been long delayed and the answers of prayers have been long deserr'd wheâ— Abraham had prayed for a child twenty years then to have the promise speak and when thechildren of Israel had prayed 70. year then when they were even out of hopes and gave their prayers for lost now to be answered in them made them to be like them that dream to recover an old debt and to receive a ship safe home and richly laden that hath been long at Sea and we know not what was become of it it comes home with the greater joy Why doth the Lord delay the answers of the prayers of his people not that he doth not intend to grant them for Bernard Bernard Priusquam engrâ—ssa est oratto ex ore tuo ipse scribi jubet in libro suo But he doth wait to be gracious Now delaying of the mercy doth raise the price of it now ye come to reap of the harvest of many of your prayers that are past and gone that you even now gave for lost there is a twofold joy that the Scripture speaks of as transcendent the joy of harvest and the joy of souldiers when they divide the spoil and truly there is matter of both these joyes in this mercy administred to you for you divide the spoil of the enemie and with all you reap to your selves the harvest of all your former prayers and petitions Oh how did
to stop their mouthes therefore if you would not have Judgements encreased take heed when you see the Lord appearing for his Church providentially acting the Lord is up then Say to thy own soul Let all flesh be silent before him That is the first looking upon these words as referring to the Churches enemies A word I shall add looking upon these words as referring to the poor distressed Jews who were now returned out of the Land of their Captivity but there was a mighty power of the enemy against them why yet saith the Lord do you keep silence silence your doubtings silence your frettings Silence your doubtings It it said of Abraham Rom. 4.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not dispute the business pro and con and truly neither must you if God be up leave the work in his hand leave off your doubtings leave off your doubtings upon conjectures and suppositions That is the first Let all flesh keep silence silence your doubtings Secondly Let all flesh keep silence silence your frettings saith David Psal 39. I kept silence I was dumb saith he for it was thy doings A terrible Judgement befell Aaron two sons were taken away by an immediate stroke from Gods hand and Aaron held his peace his spirit did not rise and discontentedly fret at the present dispensation Oh ye that fear God take heed when the Lord ariseth for his people keep silence before him silence your doubtings silence your fret tings That I press by four considerations and so I shall conclude I beseech you mark them You that fear God that know his name that expect an interest in all that mercy that the Lord intendeth for his people in the latter daies take heed I say that ye keep silence before the Lord. First Consider but this will you contend with God will you I say contend with God in Judgement the Lord challengeth that Who will appoint me a time who will contend with me in Iudgement Will you dispute the business out with God Consider Gods Judgement is the last Judgement and his Judgement is an eternal Judgement from his Sentence there is no appeal it is the worst course that a man could take that is to be Judged to undertake to contend with his Judgement before God therefore take heed of it you cannot contend with God in Judgement Iob 9.32 Secondly should not the Soveâ—aignty of God put you to silence though it may be all the actings of God be not according to your will should not the Soveraignty of God I say stop your mouthes â— hath not the Lord reserved to himself the power of Kingdoms Depoint Reges disponit Regna he it is that disposeth Kings he it is that disposeth Kingdoms now I beseech you observe this seriously this did silence David I was dumb and opened not my mouth it was thy doings truly had I looked barely upon man it was such a thing I could not have born if I had looked only upon instruments but when I looked upon him as my Soveraign and absolute Lord then saith he I was silent before him In the third place consider this A fretful spirit even in Gods own people doth strangely blind their eyes that they cannot see the goodness of God in the mercy but take many times that which is a high and glorious mercy they take it to be a cross and an affliction My Brethren observe envy will strangely hoodwink a man when the hand of the Lord is lifted up they will not see why for their envy at the people they text saith it is an evil frame of spirit in a Christian a froward discontented fretful spirit a spirit ill becoming a Saint your wisdom should hinder it Solomon tels you a man of understanding is of an excellent Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frigidus spiritu he is a man of a cool spirit a man of understanding a great many men will speak of their understandings and their zeal many times but know that a man of understanding is of a cool spirit Consider the Spirit of Christ comes in the form of a Dove be innocent as Doves without gall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sine felle sine dolo so the word signifies the Dove is without gall as well as without guil and truly that is a spirit becoming a Christian and the want of this my Brethren makes many deny the most glorious actings of God towards his people when many times even an Heathen man a stranger standing by is ready to cry out as he did truly it is a glorious God the God of the Christians Alas they will not look upon it they cannot see it envy I say strangely bleareth the eyes take heed of it therefore In the last place and so I have done Consider doth the wrath of man work the righteousness of God the Apostle S. Iames tels you clearly the contrary certainly you that will maintain Gods cause you must do it by Gods means the Lord needs no carnal weapons no help of any body no fleshly interest to maintain his spiritual cause no I entreat you consider it when if ever you will carry on the cause of God let it be done by the means and with that spirit that God requireth I dare undertake you shall find that of Nazianzen a good rule Nazian Let us be weak that we may overcome I that is the way the way to overcome men or to mannage a cause though you say it is the cause of God I say it is not to be done by humane heats and fleshly animosities therefore this is that I shall leave with you for the present in these five considerations farther and so have done First God hath never set up any authority or way of government but he hath reserved to himself in his providence a power to change it at his pleasure Zach. 21.10 Remove the Diadem take away the Crown God will shew himself to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords Secondly it is his ordinance that there should be a Magistracie they are called the shields of the earth the stay of your tribes the foundations of the earth and it is not good there should be an Anarchie for God hath set Rulers over men some by providence some by promise But yet God sets them over them that should be enough to restrain men of giddy spirits who are like the children of Belial without a yoak therefore let us not go about to pluck up our own bedge and destroy our own foundations Hab. 1.13 The fishes of the Sea have no Ruler over them but devour one another The Persians at the death of their Kings have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on purpose that men might find the evil of it therefore be not unruly boysterous spirits like the raging Sea But be content to submit to the bounds that God hath set you Thirdly though this Government be an Ordinance of God yet the extent and specification of it is but an humane creation 1. Pet. 2.13 〈◊〉