enemies humbled by our unfained repentance p. 114 What we should doe seeing the Lords armies approaching p. 115 CHAP. X. The mourners marked then comes the vengeance p. 117 Our comfort in the remainder of the mourners and the preservation of the Lords Anointed p. 119 120 The account we are to make of the mourners p. 121 It is for the godly that the Gospell with our blessings continue p. 122 CHAP. XI The charge to the destroyers to destroy without pittie and why p. 124 125 Causes in generall provoking the Lord to so fierce a wrath the hainousnesse of the abominations and that no meanes would serve p. 125 The abominations committed by all sorts p. 125 126 The Prophets to be read to behold the sins which brought the vengeance p. 127 In the abominations of Iudah we may see our owne sinnes and estate portraied p. 127 Little hope of any such search to be made by us in these daies of securitie The authors endevour thereupon to help herein for the good of all p. 128 129 God hath ordainâ—d the faithfull discoverie of the iniquitie as a last and principall meanes to turne away a judgement p. 130 147 CHAP. XI Section 2. Cautions in reading these abominations p. 132 133 How their sinnes were increased p. 132 The principall sinnes specially mentioned after Hezekiahs reformation for which this judgement is chiefly denounced p. 134 The same punishment or a beavier must needs belong to us if we be guiltie of the same or the like sinnes p. 136 CHAP. XI Section 3. The vengeance must begin at the Sanctuarie because from thence chiefly all the wickednesse proceeded p. 137 168 169 CHAP. XI Abomination 1. The horrible wickednesse of the Priests and Prophets generally angring the Lord and hastening the Captivitie p. 138 139 What holinesse the Lord required of the Priests and Prophets p. 138 Abomination 2. The blindnesse of the Priests and Prophets hastening the Captivitie p. 141 The Priests and Prophets ought to be Seers and watchmen p. 141 Blinde and senslesse men not giving warning of Gods judgements termed dumbe dogs p. 143 The blindnesse and sleeping of the shepherds calls for the beasts of the forest upon their flockes p. 145 Abomination 3. Flatterie of the Priests and Prophets hardning the people to destruction p. 146 148 c. The faithfulnesse required in Gods watchmen messengers p. 146 Dawbers must looke for a storme to cause their worke to fall on them and all who trust in it p. 151 Abomination 4. Preaching mens devices in stead of Gods word hastening the Captivitie p. 152 153 c. Gods ministers ought to preach his word sincerely and faithfully p. 152 153. and p. 156 All inventions of 〈◊〉 but vaine and foolish in regard of Gods word and to seeke out such things is to seeke out causes of desolation p. 154 Preaching mens devices the high way to cause men to forget Gods word p. 155 The power of Gods word sincerely handled p. 157 Good Arts and learning grations helps though set in place of Gods word they bring a plague p. 158 They that preach their owne devices steale his word from his people and bring no good to them p. 159 State of such teachers when their consciences shall be awaked p. 160 Abomination 5. Want of compassion in the Priests and Prophets hastening the Captivitie p. 160 Gods faithfull ministers full of compassion towards their people 161 Pastors without due regard of their flockes are butchers and wolues to their flockes p. 162 Pastors without commiseration of their flockes the greatest enemies to Gods faithfull messengers and servants p. 163 When the watchman is the snare of a fowler he is then hatred in the house of his God p. 166 Gods terrible and most just denuntiation against all carelesse Pastors and Idoll shepherds for his flocke especially for his faithfull servants p. 167 Application to our selves p. 169 Abomination 6. The sinne of the people in approving the wicked Priests hastening the Captivitie p. 170 172 The meanes which the Lord had provided that his people should not be deceived by false Prophets p. 171 The Lord cannot but be avenged for approving of false prophets p. 172 The severitie of the Lords most righteous judgement fitting a sinfull people with Preachers to their hearts p. 173 174 How God will answer hypocrites comming to inquire of him p. 17â— Deceivers and deceived punished alike p. 176 Antichrists delusions follow the contempt of the Gospell p. 176 Why God sends false teachers and seducers p. 177 How God punished in the Gentiles the abusing of the very light of nature p. 178 How the people comming to the Prophets with a desire to know the truth yet may be notably deceived p. 179 How the Prophets themselves may be justly deceived and so deceive p. 179 181 How fearefull it is after a man hath received his resolute answer from God to goe upon carnall respects to enquire the second time p. 181 The punishment of the false Prophet and of him who asketh of him alike p. 183 Abomination 7. The sinnes of the people against Gods faithfull Prophets sent to them in mercie to bring them to repentance p. 184 The duties and affections of Gods people towards his faithfull messengers p. 184 The people grieving the Prophets by an extreme dulnesse and untowardnesse to learne Gods word hastening the Captivitie p. 186 The word of the Lord is in vaine to a rebellious people p. 188 They that cast away Gods word have no wisdome p. 188 How God punisheth the not profiting by his word with more blockishnesse p. 189 The just judgement of God to cause 〈…〉 servants to learne by his enemies p. 189 Application to our selves p. 190 Abomination 8. Refusing to heare Gods faithfull servants more 〈…〉 hastening the Captivitie p. 191 The Lords complaint for this sinne and how it must be 〈…〉 in a booke for the last day p. 192 The just vengeance for this sinne p. 194 195 For the contempt of Gods servants he makes their tongues cleave to the roofe of their mouthes p. 194 Abomination 9. Mocking and abusing Gods true Prophets and all the godly hastening the Captivitie p. 196 The custome of false Prophets to harden men in the contempt of Gods threatnings p. 197 God will make unbeleevers know the truth of his word by feeling it p. 197 The word in the mouthes of Gods messengers shall be as a fire to consume all wicked gainesaiers p. 198 Abomination 10. Discouraging Gods true Prophets by threatnings hastening the Captivitie p. 198 Vengeance for this sinne p. 199 Abomination 11. Slandering and falsly accusing Gods messengers hastening the Captivitie p. 200 Incensing the Magistrates against Gods faithfull messengers hasteâ—ing the Captivitie p. 200 Ordinarie with Gods true Prophets to be railed upon p. 201 Abomination 12. Secret conspiracies against Gods true Prophets and servants to take away their lives or credit hastening the Captivitie p. 202 The Lord in due time revealeth the most secret plots against his
the sin of all yet it indangered all See the feare of the people of Israel for the suspition of the provocation by the two tribes and the halfe in the erecting of the altar of witnesse which the rest of the Tribes did thinke that they had done for sacrifice contrary to the commandement of the Lord. They al purposed to have gone immediatly to make war against their brethren for the punishment of that sin yet sent messengers to know the truth of the matter before with this message That if they did rebell against the Lord that day the morrow next he would be wrath with all the congregation of Israell The like we may behold in the feare of the people for the villany committed by some of the inhabitants of the City of Gibeah in abusing the Levites Concubine and the vengeance that came not onely upon the City wherein it was committed but also upon all the Tribe of Benjamin because they delivered them not to be punished but would seeme to defend them for as much as they were apart of their Tribe And not upon that Tribe alone which might seeme justly accessary but also upon all those who helped not to take vengeance for that wicked fact as on all the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead becavse they came not to the war to see Gods judgements executed upon those wicked men To come to the sinnes of particular men Did we not heare before of the vengeance on Israell in the dayes of Ioshuah for the sin of Achan How that worthy Captaine with his valiant soldiers were not able to stand before their enemies untill Achans sinne was found out punished Yea the Lord tels them he will not be with them any more unlesse they destroy the excommunicate from amongst them which thereupon they were glad to doe And far be it from us to thinke the Lord to be unjust in this or any other of his judgements or to have diminished any part of his justice or holinesse unto this day Secondly we cannot forget that anger that was kindled against Israell and the famine that came upon them in the dayes of David for three yeeres together for the sinne of Saul in killing the Gibeonites to gratifie the people contrary to his fidelity Though they were but heathens of the cursed Amorites and had dealt deceitfully with the Israelites in making their covenant Yet the wrath could not be appeased or the Land purged untill vengeance was taken upon his bloudy house for that murther committed so long before And therfore sith his anger may breake forth so long after even for such sins much more for such notorious abominations as are committed daily by them who have given themselves over to all manner of profanenesse and impiety and whereof they can have no such colour or occasion This was the cheife reason of the solemne inquisition which was at the publicke fasts in Israell for the finding out both of notorious offenders and offences to have vengeance taken of them openly Hence was the pretence of Iezabell for the saving of Naboth under a shew of execution of this justice against a blasphemer to pacifie the Lords anger This also seemes to have bin one principall cause why the word was read and preached at those their solemne fasts that thereby the sins might be discovered and reformed as God bids Ieremie to indite and Baruch to write from his mouth and to declare to the people their sinnes with the plagues judgements due unto them that they might returne from their evill wayes and so pacifie his wrath by crying unto him and reforming all the abominations Thus we see this point also cleere That the sinnes of a people even of a few of them not punished do anger the Lord and provoke him against the whole land making the land uncleane neither can he be fully pacified any way but by the punishing and taking away of those sinnes Whereby it is most evident to the consciences of all men what just cause the godly have to sigh and to tremble for all the abominations that are committed amongst them and especially which being notoriously knowne do still remaine unpunished Now to apply this unto our selues And first for the generall humiliation of us all afterward for the comfort of those few that are such true mourners indeed First this may strike the hearts of all sorts who imagining that they are the servants of the Lord yet hearing and seeing the fearfull apostacy coldnesse and security of our age even in many of the better sort together with Atheisme Poperie and all outragious and profane licentiousnesse daily increasing in the rest are yet never troubled therwith And much more may it astonish all such who are so far off from the condition of these mourners as that they can solace themselues as freely when they heare of all excesse in iniquity and whatsoever can bee devised by Iewd men to anger the Lord and to grieve his Spirit as ever they were wont at other times Most of all may it affright and awaken those who use all devices to drive each thought of Gods anger or any judgement with every occasion of humiliation and mourning utterly out of their hearts But of all other is their estate most fearfull who can make the beastly sinnes of others their chiefest sport Oh you that are such consider in your hearts Is this the spirit of Lot Moses Samuel Ieremie Ezra of these mourners heere marked Of our Saviour or Pavl Is this the Spirit of the Lord How deceive you your soules in a vaine imagination what will ye doe in the day of the Lords wrath if he let it come upon us as we justly deserue Or what have ye done to turne it from us Know know for certaine that this sinne of yours will one day undoubtedly bring you weeping enough you cannot tell whether even in this life as it did to them in the Captivity nay even whether this same uery day when you shall do nothing but weep day and night in remembrance of this one sinne that your hearts were so hard in the dayes of your prosperity that you could not mourne at all Besides all the other miseries that you are liable unto for all your sinnes chiefly if God should give you up for them when you shall be utterly destitute of comfort of the Lords mercy protection and-favour untill you shall have soundly bewailed all this your sencelesse security But on the contrary as this is given by the Lord for the comfort of all that mourne for the iniquities because they are surely marked before the vengeance come to be safe then so it may serue for the sweete consolation and cheering up even of all those of every estate and degree from the highest to the lowest who find their hearts thus affected in hearing of and beholding the abominations committed dayly to anger the
THE third part of THE TRVE-WATCH or The Call of the Lord to awake all sorts to meete him speedely with intreaty of peace to turne vnto him by true repentance shewing what causes we haue forthwith to betake orselu's to watching prayer Taken out of the vision of Ezekiel Chap 9. BY IO BRINSIEY The secâ—und edition Imprinted at LONDON for Thomas Pauier 1623. THE THIRD PART OF THE TRVE VVATCH Containing the call of the Lord to awake all sorts to meet him with intreatie of peace and to turne unto him by true repentance shewing what causes we have forthwith to betake our selves to Watching and Prayer Taken out of the Vision of EZEKIEL Chap. 9. By IOHN BRINSLEY IER 36. 2. Take thee a roule of a booke and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel and against Iudah and against all the Nations from the day I spake unto thee from the daies of Iosiah even unto this day VERSE 7. It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord and will returne every one from his evill way for great is the anger and the furie that the Lord hath pronounced against this people HAB. 2. 2. Write the vision and make it plaine upon tables that he may run that readeth it EZEK 18. 30. Repent and turne your selves from all your transgressions so iniquitie shall not be your ruine VERSE 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God Wherefore turne your selves and live you LONDON Printed by IOHN HAVILAND for THOMAS PAVIER and are to be sold at his shop in Ivie lane 1622. The summe of the whole Booke 1. How the Lord did long forewarne his people of Iudah calling them to repentance sundrie waies before he brought upon them the seventie yeeres captivitie in Babylon And withall the pâ—incipall abominations which provoked him to this heavie judgement 2. The wofull miseries which all sorts endured in that Captivitie when no warnings would preuaile to bring them to unfained repentance and more specially the plagues which came upon the wicked and impenitent 3. Particular application hereof unto our selves and of the manifold forewarnings which we have received chiefly from Babylon above all in the powder treason shewing evidently that the Lord is angrie with us for our sinnes and what use we are to make as of all our forewarnings so chiefly of that Powder-treason 4. How to appease the Lord so as to prevent the like judgements and all other plagues â—nd ever to â—emaine a most happie people unto the comming of Iesus Christ. Also how very one of us may attaine to true Christian boldnesse to be alwaies readie to appeare beâ—ore his Majestie See the more particular contents of the severall Chapters and heads after A Commendatorie Epistle THis Author Christian Reader having desired first my censure now sundrie yeeres agoe and since my joint testimonie touching this worke that by the mouth or two or three witnesses God might make it more effectuall for accomplishing all the good his heart desireth I could no way justly denie the same seeing as the ends which it propoundeth and wholly aimeth at are only to helpe to further the way to our unfained repentance for the generall happinesse of us all yea even of every soule and that our glory may be continued to us and to our posteritie so he hath long travelled in the same and used all holy meanes of triall and examination that there might be nothing in it but that which is necessarie to these ends and which might stand before the Lords Tribunall For the Author himselfe though I have knowne him from my childhood being borne neere unto him brought up in the same Grammar Schoole and after in the same Colledge in Cambridge and ever since beene most familiarly acquainted with him and therefore could speake more in this case then I take to be convenient yet I may wholly spare that paines seeing his owne faithfull and happy labours have so long agoe commended him and made him and his holy affection for the good of all so well knowne to the Church of God As first the first part of this True watch the Rule of Life so much approved of all religious Christians to whose hands it hath come that it hath now the ninth time seene the Presse and gone thorow the triall Wherein he hath set out to the view of all the holinesse and integritie of that way of life which we all jointly professe according to Gods sacred word and the good Lawes of our Christian Commonweale to the justifying of our Church against the Separatists to be the true Church of Iesus Christ and that whosoever so walketh shall undoubtedly finde eternall life and in the meane while all heavenly boldnesse peace and joy And not only against them but also against the superstitious and clamorous Papists who herein slander our Religion affirming it to be a religion of carnall libertie theirs of holinesse ours full of divisions and uncertaintie theirs of perfect unitie thereby to draw our people to a dislike of the eternall truth of our blessed God and to a liking of that popish way which is nothing but meere superstition in outward shews of devotion according to mens inventions and such as God never commanded or required nay such as God hath most expresly forbidden as tending to utter perdition both of soules and bodies So secondly the second part of this True watch the Rule of Praier in which he hath manifested his holy desire and unfained love to the Church of God and his native Countrie for a perfect peace and unitie with all happinesse in the same and hath so laboured to trace out the most sure and plaine way following the direction of our blessed Saviour as that whosoever striveth so to watch pray shall undoubtedly be amongst them that are as the Chariots and horsemen of Israel and helpe to save the Iland And in the third place in his Schoole labours for the benefit of our children and posteritie he hath fully witnessed his longing desire of the perpetuall flourishing of this our Church and Nation concerning which travell to omit all other that one testimonie of the learned Doctor Hall that worthie Deane of Worcester in his Commendatorie Preface before his booke called Ludus Literarius or the Grammar Schoole dedicated to Prince Henrie and Duke Charles speaking out of his owne experience and of sundry other learned many yeeres agoe may fully suffice And much more now of late that more then ordinarie witnesse by that learned Mr. Butlour of Oxford in his fourth Edition of his Rhetoricke who in stead of the commendations of many other of principall note which especially in Oxford are wont to be prefixed before any worke of speciall worth as that is taketh only the testimonie of this Author in a place or two in his Grammar-Schoole and sets it before his booke instead of many there commending him
for the wealth of vs and our posteritie I haue strictly kept my selfe within the limits of the first part of this Watch which conteyneth the Summe of the Couenant of our God wherein we all agree in outward profession and vnto which whosoeuer returneth vnfeignedly to walke in the sincere obedience of it shall vndoubtedly haue eternall life like as euery impenitent transgressor against it is certainely condemned by the generall verdict of all the true Churches of Christ. In all this worke I haue and doe instantly desire of the Lord that I may be a faithfull and true witnesse both for his heauenly Maiestie and for his people and also that I may shew in euery part a right demonstration of an vnfeigned loue to the Church of Christ and towards my Nation euen to euery soule for the sauing of ech from the wrath to come and withall that I may preserue the honour due to all in autoritie chiefly to the highest to binde all hearts to their superiours ech to others and all of vs to Iesus Christ That he may euer remaine our Captaine Protector King and Sauiour euen he who will one day manifest all the secrets of the hearts of men who haue bin with him and who against him who will come quickly and reward euery one as their workes shall be Amen euen so come Lord Iesus CONTENTS OF THE seuerall Chapters particularly as they arise out of the Vision Ezechiel 9. 1. THe Vision giuen to Ezechiel with the occasion and opening of it 2. Certaine directions to be obserued in our reading hereof to teach vs to make right vse of the Vision to our selues 3. The Lord is not wont to bring any terrible iudgement on his Church but euer before hand to giue some euident warning That he neuer warned without cause or in vaine and what iust matter we haue for all our manifold gratious forewarnings to betake our selues to watching and prayer 4. The withdrawing of the Lords glorious presence from his Church is both an euident signe of his displeasure and a manifest threatning of his departure And what causes we haue therevpon to watch and to pray to pacifie the Lord so to hold him still amongst vs. 5. How the Lord is most vnwilling to depart from his Church so long as there is any other remedie manifested in his oft threatning to depart before he goe and of the outward tokens both of his glorious presence in his Church and of his departure from it And what causes we haue in respect thereof to watch and pray continually 6. No priuiledges can doe a people any good if they grow in their iniquitie but the mo their mercies haue bin the greater is their sinne and the heauier shall their iudgement be when it commeth what cause we haue thence to watch and to pray for the fearefull increase of the transgressions amongst vs. 7. The marking of the mourners That is how Gods owne people are marked in the midst of the greatest confusions before the destruction come And so what cause euery one hath to watch and to pray that he may be so marked 8. The propertie of the godly liuing amongst the wicked in a sinfull age is to mourne and cry for all the abominations and tokens of Gods anger Also what cause all Gods seruants haue to watch and pray for the fewnesse of such and that ech of vs may be found of that litle number 9. The enemies by which the Lord threatneth or afflicteth his Church are his soldiers and therevpon what cause we haue to giue our selues to watching and prayer because of the increase of them in number pride and malice 10. The mourners being once marked made sure then comes the vengeance for the destroyers follow at the heeles of the marking Angell What neede we had therefore to watch and pray bicause we know not whether this worke be not already accomplished or how neere it is 11. The principall abominations for which the godly so mourned and which moued the Lord to so seuere a vengeance first in generall after more particularly And therein what causes we haue to watch and pray both to be kept pureâ— from them and to obteyne pardon and redresse of them or at least that we may escape the plagues due vnto them 12. The meanes which the Lord had vsed to bring them to repentance that he might spare them and how their sinne was increased thereby Also the cause why the meanes could doe them no good And what neede we haue therevpon to watch and pray continually 13. The seueritie of the Lords vengeance and the miseries which all sorts indured in that captiuitie when no other meanes could serue to reclaime them And thence what neede we haue all to watch and pray continually to turne away the like and also to be thankfull for all our former deliuerances from as great calamities so neere vnto vs. 14. How Gods true messengers and all his faithfull seruants are wont to be affected when they perceiue the Lords anger to be kindled and his iudgements ready to rush vpon his people Also the meanes which in this their holy affection they vse to preuent the euils and to pacifie his Maiestie And herein likewise what cause we haue to watch and pray for the want of these affections and for the generall neglect of the state of the people and of pacifying the Lords wrath 15. The sinnes of a people may be so heynous as that the Lord will not be pacified at the prayers of his deerest seruants Also when that time is and what cause we haue therevpon to watch and pray continually 16. The true obedience of Gods faithfull messengers and seruants will bring them boldnesse to appeare before him and this alone when they are able to say in a good conscience Lord I haue done as thou hast commanded me And what great cause all of vs haue to watch and pray continually that we may be alvvayes able to say so to haue boldnes euermore hereby vvhatsoeuer come to passe THE VISION given to EZECHIEL before the great Captivitie of IVDAH set downe in the ninth Chapter of Ezechiel with the occasion and opening thereof 1. HE cryed also in mine eares with a loud voyce saying Cause them that have charge over the Citie to draw neere even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand 2. And behold six men came from the way of the higher gate which lyeth toward the North and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand and one man among them was clothed with linnen with a writers inkehorne by his side and they went in and stood beside the brazen Altar 3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the Cherub whereupon he was to the threshold of the house and he called to the man clothed with linnen which had the writers inkehorne by his side 4. And the Lord said unto
among them that he may shew his love to his and the care that he hath for them in the greatest confusions to the end that they may gather themselves unto him before and prepare to be accounted worthy to be hid by him or else delivered or certainely some way finde comfort in the evill day That hereby their love and care may better appeare unto the world in their seeking by all meanes to save and pull others from the vengeance to come More specially that their faith and obedience may be seene to all how they beleeve and feare the Lord and the tokens of his wrath And that they may set themselves to become suters unto the Lord for the rest as Abraham Moses Ieremie and others that so he may either spare all at their supplications and that thereby the world may take notice in what high favour such are with his Majestie even all they who make conscience to walke in his Covenant and endevour to be righteous in their generations when he spares so sinfull a people at their prayers or at least that their prayers may returne into their owne bosomes Secondly the Lord doth use to manifest his judgements aforehand even unto the wicked as we heard and for their causes also howsoever they for the most part use all devises to flatter and harden themselves yea to lull themselves asleepe in their securitie and to blinde their owne eyes left they should see the judgements of God comming upon them and so still perswade themselves that there shall be no such matter And this he doth also to declare the riches of his mercy towards the most wretched sinners and how unwilling he is to take vengeance so long as there is any other remedie or if they will turne unto him in any time This is most apparent in the Lords infinite compassion in sparing Ninivie that proud Citie after Ionah had proclaimed Yet fortie dayes and Ninivie shall be destroyed And also in reproving Ionah for his impatience saying Thou hast had pitie on the gourd for which thou labouredst not neither madedst it to grow which came up in a night and withered in a night and should not I spare Ninivie that great Citie wherein are six score thousand persons which cannot discerne betweene their right hand and their left and also much catâ—le And hereupon it was that God spared it at that time though after when having forgotten that great deliverance they fell into their old sins he tooke vengeance for all as may appeare by the Prophet Nahum executing most severely whatsoever he had formerly threatned He dealeth thus moreover with the very wickedest that every mouth may be stopped and all the world compelled to acknowledge his judgements to be most righteous thus to justifie him therein when no admonition at all will serve So we see how he hath set downe this point most clearely and also the reasons of it and that he hath not bin wont to give any such warnings in vaine or without most dreadfull execution of his wrath where his warnings have not bin regarded Now then to apply this point to our selves we are first wisely to inquire whether the Lord hath not likewise forewarned us that most plainly of some terrible judgments towards this our Nation That if we finde it so we may then all know for certaine that it is full time to look to our selves to betake us all forthwith to such a course as whereby we may either altogither appease his anger or at least in some sort mitigate and asswage it To come to our very consciences Must we not all be inforced to acknowledge and say with the Prophet Amos The lion hath roared who shall not then be afraid The Lord God hath spoken who can but prophecie Hath not the lyon roared upon us sundry times as being ready to crush our bones in sunder or to devoure us at once but principally within our fresh memorie when the proud enemie came against us in their Navie invincible And more also when that long threatned day came whereof the insolent enemie had so much triumphed and for feare whereof the whole Land had trembled for so many yeeres togither But most of all in that more than Babylonish and unnaturall furnace that hellish crueltie from which we were so marveilously delivered in a moment before we felt or so much as feared any such thing at all To omit the insurrection by the rude multitude about the throwing downe of the inclosures the danger whereof all who are wise-hearted did manifestly see if any bloodie enemie had set it on foote to have bin a Leader unto them which issue all neere unto them did very greatly feare had not the Lord so graciously prevented that perill in an instant quencht that fire when the flame was now ready to have brust forth so high that getting above our heads it would have bin hard to overcome it without much blood to have quenched it And to passe over in silence all other the treasonable devises against that our worthy Deborah both before her comming to the Crowne and after that almost never yeere was without some new plot though continuing constant with our God they were never able to touch one haire of her head and since also against our Iosiah the breath of our nostrills of whom we have gloried as Iudah of Iosiah that under his shadow we should be preserved 〈◊〉 amongst our cruellest enemies as we have bin untill this day thorough the endlesse mercy of our God had they not almost taken him in their nets to have made him and all his a perpetuall prey if the watchfull eye of our gracious God had not wonderfully preserved and delivered them But to leave all these Hath not the Lord moreover thundred out vengeance by his heavenly word in the mouthes of all his faithfull servants thorough the whole Land for the abounding of iniquitie and that for many yeeres togither Hath he not besides spoken unto us from heaven as he did to Ierusalem seeming to have inclosed us all in that dreadfull tent spred directly over all our heads and compassing us in round on every side which was so terrible to behold with pillers of horrible darknesse pillers of fire and pillers of blood about some twelvemoneth before the powder-furnace At the beholding of w th most fearfull sight all whose hearts were not utterly sensles could not but tremble for feare of the Lords dreadfull anger for mine owne selfe I remember it well and hope I shall never forget it Did he not also for a long time togither heretofore send most strange lights and flashings in the heavens and even at that very instant of that threatned powder-destruction in a terrible manner Which howsoever they are taken now that they were but ordinarie matters thorough the long continuance of them and
for the abundance of Gods blessings which they injoy principally to that end to buy wisdome as Solomon saith Whereas heretofore many of them were able to put to silence the proudest Papists amongst us in displaying the abominations of Poperie and in maintayning the Gospell of Christ committed unto us in trust to that end is it not to be feared our swaggering courses considered and our generall neglect of religion that we are in the greatest part by far become unable to maintaine the one or to confute the other or so much as to speake with any lively feeling of the truth of the Lord or yet as having any sound love of the one or dislike of the other And how should it be otherwise when we for most part give over our selves wholly to our pleasures with all licentiousnesse or to follow after the honours and riches of the world and which is yet far worse and more to be feared as an evident forerunner of vengeance when we are so generally ashamed to be noted for being forward or zealous in the profession of the Gospell of Christ On the other side are not many of the Popish sort growne to be exceeding cunning in the mysterie of Antichrists iniquitie and the depths of Sathan whereby they deceive themselves and others for that is all the glory that can justly be given them seeing in the first principles of the knowledge of our blessed God out of his heavenly word they are commonly knowne to be far more ignorant than our litle children which are but catechized in the faith of Christ Are not even ordinarily the simpler sort of them waxen generally so perfect in the cheife points of their religion by their paines which they take though alas to their perdition for setting up the throne of the Beast againe as that they are able therein to goe about the greatest part of the cheife among us and put us to silence We can many of us be the best companions for them that may be and can talke with them of any matter of vaine pleasure and commoditie and happily in scorning at all them who shew any more love to the word and more dislike of their abominations than we do and who is so good a fellow as one of them though a deadly enemie to the Gospell and all that sincerely professe the same but hardly a word either for Christ and his truth or against Antichrist and his iniquitie Though we have as good cause to be armed against him with all possible meanes especially with the armour of the word of the Lord as ever Nation had before having had so many faire warnings from him Oh that this may be well thought of for sundry parts of our Land But here it may be some will say That there was never more knowledge in the Land To whom I answer Far be it off from me from obscuring any gift or blessing of the Lord amongst us Nay I magnifie him for them but that which I have spoken hath bin of a sanctified and powerfull knowledge wherein the kingdome of God and our glory consists and that amongst our people And secondly of such I would demand as before the Lord whether in many a Congregation there be not a sensible decay as in all places where the meanes have failed and for the rest what is our knowledge generally in regard of our meanes and the long continuance of them Have we not very many places where within sundry miles there are not two to be found in a Towne which have any sound substantiall and saving knowledge even of matters of salvation and the wayes of God And of those who seeme to have knowledge doe not many of them as it were grope for the wall like the blinde stumbling at noone day as in the twilight making no conscience at all of their wayes no not of monstrous sins wherein they live not fearing any judgement towards the Land or themselves Is not the very day darke over them as we may so speake for seeing their owne sinnes or the fearfull sins of the Land And may not the Lord therefore as he threatneth cause the Sunne to goe downe at noone and darken the earth in the cleare day And where is that holinesse become whereby the Lord should be sanctified of us and honoured of all about us with that obedience and submission to his most sacred word Are we not in very great numbers come to this passe to make such a fearefull revolt from all holy conscience of our wayes which many began to make to open impietie profanenes as that certaine who were of us have departed from us although not without their owne fearefull sinne in that behalfe The old Serpent hath undoubtedly used this as one first and principall provocation hereunto Even the very dishonors done to the Lords Sacred Majestie amongst us by our heynous sinnes and lest they should be polluted by our intolerable impieties whereof they can see no hope of redresse and also for feare of the vengeance of the Lord hanging over us for the same whereby they have made a most grievous rent in the Church of God to the indangering of their owne soules and the advantaging of the bloudie enemie against us all though they observe not so much Doe not the Popish sort blaspheme the religion of the Lord established among us for the extreme irreligiousnesse of the lives of too many of us Do they not hereupon thinke that no crueltie can be devised sufficient for us no not the butchering or blowing us up all at once Though indeed it be not our wickednesse which they so deadly malice for therein many of them far surpasse us Let Italie and Spaine be witnesses hereof for from them chiefly hath our iniquitie come as will appeare heereafter but it is Christ and his Gospell which they so maligne to the death doe not sundry make fresh revoults unto them for some shewes of holinesse that are amongst the devouter sort accounting it much safer to live in filthy Babylon the cage of every uncleane and hatefull bird under that abominable slavery and and drudgery of Antichrist then to communicate with us at his table in the true service of Iesus Christ Is not all true devotion waxen so odious amongst very many of us as that it hath beene thought ordinarily a disgrace for the cheifer sort men of note to kneele unto the Lord in the congregation at the publike prayers And must not their private devotion be sutable in all reason Though it be not or at least have not beene any disgrace for too many of them to kneele in the most reverend sort as doing a most solemne service though not to Bacchus Ceres and Venus yet to their owne bellies Certainely our Land of late yeeres hath beene grievously polluted herewith whether it be yet left or at least repented of I leave it to our consciences Is not
dwell in for ever and be as the signet upon my right hand yet seeing it now casteth me off and despiseth to heare my voyce any longer or to be reformed I will not spare it neither shall mine eye have pitie on it save onely of my remnant in it but I will leave it to be destroyed and desolate at least for seventie yeeres Whence the Lord would have all his people to learne That no priviledges promises mercies deliverances no nor any profession of religion can doe a people any good at all to secure them from his vengeance if once they begin to cast him off and his Covenant But when they fall to be stubborne against him and his word sent unto them in his mercy he will cast them off and leave them This also is a matter to be well thought of by us Because as they of Iudah were wont to secure themselves in their prerogatives even so doe we ordinarily First therefore to begin with them Were not these and the like the things whereby they were wont to think themselves safe and to make their boast of so that they could not repent Sometimes because they had the Lords Temple of which they so gloried saying The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord. Sometimes they used to flatter themselves depraving Gods word thus The Law shall not depart from the Priest nor counsell from the wise nor the word from the Prophet And commonly all singing this song which their children learned of them We have Abraham to our father and by these and the like did they grow so extremely impenitent that they could not be moved by any warnings And is it not even so with us That whensoever we are admonished of the Lords anger either by his word or judgements on us or by any other signes or threatnings against us to move us to seeke to pacifie his wrath is not this usuall with us to harden our hearts and still to lull our selves asleepe in our securitie thinking that we are in no such danger and all for some speciall priviledges which we imagine that we have Although it be acknowledged by all that there are most grievous sinnes amongst us yea most horrible contempt of God and his word with dreadfull signes of his departing and that we have had many strange and terrible warnings yet the Lord must needs still continue with us and there is no such danger or cause of feare as some imagine and why so Because we have Gods true religion established by law maintayned by authoritie and sincerely professed by many The Lord hath also shewed us such manifest tokens of his favour and love in our sundry and most admirable deliverances He hath taken such vengeance on our enemies He still discovers and overthrowes their plots And which is above all other his blessings for that he hath given us such a worthy Head and Governour such a hopefull Issue so established the Scepter and concluded such a peace with other Nations on every side as hencforth we cannot have any such cause of feare as formerly we have had Are not these and the like the things whereby we are commonly waxen so strong and safe in our owne conceit And are we not hereupon become so secure from any dreadfull judgement as that no warnings from heaven nor earth words corrections threats nor yet any mercies can do the greatest part any more good but that they desperately proceed from evill to worse as though no hurt could come unto us Let us to this end consider a litle of the priviledges of this Citie and people and then if the Lord open our eyes we shall easily see what causes we have of this our confidence and securitie First for Ierusalem The Lord chose it to dwell in for ever and Sion to be an habitation for himselfe yea he after a peculiar manner tyed his residencie to that place whereas now it is no more tyed to any one place than unto another but one Country now being unthankfull he removes his Church and abode to another There Salomon by the appointment of the Lord himselfe built a house for his glorious Majestie as the place wherein he would be specially worshipped of all the places in the world Such promises also were made by him unto that place as never unto any other That the people praying there because the Temple was a speciall figure of Iesus Christ he would heare those their petitions made in that place Or when they could not come thither if they did but turne their faces towards Ierusalem in prayer that he would heare their supplications made in faith and obedience as he heard Daniel in the Captivitie It was so famous for visions and revelations of the Lord by meanes of the Arke of the Testimonie there the Priests with the Vrim and Thummim the Prophets and messengers of the Lord that it was called the valley of visions yea it was so far preferred before all other places as that all must pray for the peace of Ierusalem So that the Prophet David prayes for the prosperitie of all them who love Ierusalem It is called for the excellencie of it The perfection of beautie The ioy of the whole earth and by our Saviour it is named The holy Citie and at that time when it did grow towards the very worst It was then so deere unto him as that he wept over it to thinke of the sinnes of it with the miseries that were to come upon it for the same And to shut up this point when our Saviour will set out unto the Church the glory of the kingdome of heav'n in the first flourishing estate thereof in earth and fully in heav'n he finds no fitter resemblance to expresse it by than by Ierusalem calling it the new Ierusalem and holy Ierusalem because Ierusalem was the type thereof These are some of the priviledges of the Citie For the prerogatiues of the people they are far more surpassing if we will beleeve the commendations which holy Paul gives of them in the 9. chapter to the Romanes vers 4. where he so highly esteemes of them that he could have wished himselfe accursed yea cast away utterly and seperate from Christ for evermore from eternall joy to perpetuall miserie even for his brethren that were his kinsmen according to the flesh if it had beene possible therby to turne away the Lords anger from them and to reconcile them unto his Majestie againe that so he might have beene glorified in saving of them These particular prerogatives are there moreover ascribed unto them 1. They were Israelites that is A people descended of the most noble stock of all the world Israels posteritie who prevailed with God discending lineally from faithfull Abraham the father of all the faithfull the freind of God and with
them whom they have hated so soone as ever any of the Babilonish designes shall take their effect could we wonder as it May we not much rather wonder at admire his former long sufferings that he hath only hitherto raised them up against us as to drive us to turne unto him but suffered them not to prevaile no not so much as against any one of us That though we have beene after a sort in the midst of the hot fiery furnace yet not so much as the smell of the fire hath beene felt upon us when as notwithstanding we are so many of us so ready by our countenancing them and joyning with them in their wickednesse to blow this fire of his vengeance to cause it so farre as in them lieth to consume us utterly in one day Can we ever looke to be freed from the danger untill we more generally abhorre their waies Or can we otherwise imagine but that our desperate perils must needs increase daily by them so long as we are still so much delighted in them and cast of the Lord Châ—f we had generally so received him as our Lord and master as we have either entred into a solemne covenant with him at our Baptisme and as in words wee make profession then had he undoubtedly long agoe cast such a feare upon them as they durst never have plotted any more against his annointed or against his sanctuarie Oh If we could yet but thinke of the good motions and purposes which we have had in the midst of our dangers and our greatest deliverances That for those preservations and the redeeming of our lives we would begin to lead new lives and become new men Oh I say That we would at length set our hearts faithfully to performe those our vowes so oft renewed with our God and submit our selves cherefully to obey the heavenly Gospell of his sonne becomming zealous in the profession therof Then would the Lord soone humble our enemies He would either cause their rage to cease utterly from us as he did sundry times in Iudah when the people so sought his face or if they would still pursue us as the Egyptians did Israel into the heart of the sea wee should not neede to feare but even stand still see what he would doe for us yet once againe in our final delivery from them and in their perpetuall confusion But sith we are daily further off from this unâ—eigned obedience to the Gospell and grow more rebellious certainly we can never truly expect that these enemies which are his sword drawne against us shall be turned backe much lesse can we secure our selves from them untill we begin to meete him with a more generall submission and intreaty of peace That is untill that we doe begin to give a more thankfull and welcome entertainement to his holy worship and religion and bring forth better fruits of our profession bearing more true affection to his servants and giving lesse countenance unto his enemies we are never to looke for any peace untill his quarrell be avenged He will be known to be the same mighty God that ever he was to hate sin as much as ever he did to be as true in his threatnings as ever in former age as zealous for his own glory And this especially must we assure our selues of if the like abominations be found among us which brought these cruell enemies upon the people of Iudah even as hethreatned them in al the daies of Iosiah and if he hitherto have used all other his rods in vaine amongst us and namely these three of all other to wit the sword of the destroying Angell shaking and sâ—iting in most parts of our Land for so many yeeres together The sword of the bloudy enemie devouring about us The same so oft and so long shaken at us and at length so neere to have beene sheathed in the bowels of every one of us that professe his name Now then these things being so It concerneth so many of us as whose eyes the Lord hath opened to see the mustering of his armies and who it is that bids them go against us and smite to doe as David and the Elders of Israell did when the Angell of the Lord having his sword drawne stretched out his hand against Ierusalem It is full time that each of us who are the Lords remembrancers humble our selves in secret falling upon our faces crying unto our God and never give him any rest untill he be appeased Yea that all of us who are the Lords watchmen doe get upon our walles and watch-towers still as the enemie approacheth neerer cry lowder to awaken us out of our dead sleepe and to warne all That those in authority may more zealously command all inferiors more cheerefully obey to the more ioyfull receiving and professing the Lords most glorious religion that so his anger being asswaged he may cease from sending any more the destroyers against us least otherwise in the end our Religion peace prosperity lives and all doe pay for it and be utterly taken away by them togither And let us all humbly againe confesse with the Prophet Amos The Lion hath roared upon us all sorts have heard him as we have so oft and so publikely confessed who shall not then tremble The Lord God hath by his threatnings many a time spoken to us and still speaks every day more and more making us ech houre to hearken for some new treacherie from Rome and to wonder that we heare of none of so long and likewise causing all of us to admire the riches of his goodnesse in that he hath so miraculously preserved us all from them unto this very day who then amongs us can but give signification hereof Is it not therefore full time to doe what we can every one with the Lord by instant prayer and ech with men also stirring up one another to turne and cry unto the Lord that he doe not indeed bring the enemie upon us and give us into their hands without any pitie as he did this people and as he hath so oft and so neerely accomplished the like wrath upon us But this may suffice for this cause which the Lord gives us all hereby to watch and pray day and night if we would have him to stay or to turne from us the sword of the Babylonian and every other enemie terrible plague or at least if we would finde him a hiding place in the day of his vengeance Hitherto of the first part of the Commission to the destroying Angels to goe and smite CHAP. X. The mourners being once marked and made sure then comes the vengeance for the destroyers follow at the heeles of the marking Angell And what neede we have therefore to watch and pray because we know not whether this be not already accomplished or how neere it is Vers. 5. And to the other he said in my hearing Goe yee after
7. 12. Sauls in murdering the Gibeonites 2 Sam 21. 1 2 3. Iosh 3. 16. 17. 2 Sam 21 1. 2. 6. 14. Gods anger oft breaks out loÌ„g after for sinnes committed loÌ„g before The cause of the inquisition at fasts for horrible offences 1 King 21. 9. 10 11. One cause of reading and preaching the word at solemne fasts Nehe 8 8. Ier 36. 2. 3. Application For humiliation to the secure ApplicatioÌ„ for the comfort of the mourners Comfort to Godly rulers If as Ezra or Iosiah Comfort to the Prophets that mourne Isay. 49. 4. Ier 6. 29. Ier 1. 8. 17. Isa 58. 1. Ezech 3. 17. 33. 6 7 8. Acts 20. 26 27 28. Mica 3. 8. 2 Tim 1. 7. Comfort â—o private Christians sighing for the iniquiâ—ie Psal. â—3 15. Eâ—cles 10. 4. Psal â—3 2 3. Mal 3. 16 17. Isa 54. 10. Isaâ— 49. 15. 1 Cor 2 9. Application to all profane contemners 〈◊〉 9. â— 2 3 4 〈◊〉 28. Application to our pretended Catholicks The state of all the wicked tho the Lord still spare us at the prayers of his servants Iob 22. the end Iust cause of lamentation for the small number of true mourners 〈…〉 Ierem 7. 4. Our generall securitie fearefull Ier 5. 12 13. Scorning at all that mourne for the evils 〈◊〉 The enemies by which God threatneth his Church are his soldiers The knowledg of this point most necessary most plainely set downe in the Scriptures In the captivitie of Israel the Lord sent on them the King of Assâ—ur Isâ—y 10. 5 6. The Assyrian the rod or the Lords wrath The Lord gave them yâ— charge tho the enemie thought not so Atter God hath corrected his Church he wil burne his rods in the fire Esa 12. 17 14. In carying Maâ—assâ—â— into Captiuâ—ie 2 Chr 33. 1 2 3. vers 9. 10. 17. The Lord brought on him the Assyrian God did all in it So in this Captivitie the Lord likewise did all 2 Chro 36. 17. Lament 2. 22. Isai. 5. 26 27. 〈…〉 29. 〈…〉 26. 3 14 to 26. Deut 28. 15. to 50. 2 King 17. 13 14 15 16. 2 Chro 33. 10. 2 Chor 36. 14 15 16 17. This threatned in the Law 〈◊〉 9 4 5 6. 〈◊〉 26. 24. Deut 28 25. to 48. 〈◊〉 5. 17. 〈◊〉 14 2 Chr â—6 6. 13 14. vers 17. to the end of 21. Isai 54. 16. Application to our selves to behold yâ— Lords Armies Popâ—sh Bulls sent to move our people to rebellion The bloudie league The 〈◊〉 Armada 〈…〉 〈…〉 26. 〈◊〉 5 15. Yet turned backe overthrowne at our prayers when wâ—ndes watâ—rs were armed against them to take vengeance for us Many treasons since Chiefly the infernall furnace Branding that religion for ever Iob. 8. 44. Increase of the outrage for Popery and all profanenesse Their deadly malice increased declared in all devises to divide and disgrace us After so many convictions These fearefull denunciations of vengeance And daÌ„gerâ—us prognostications of a most heavy scourge from Babylon For abusing his religion Not enduring the power of 〈◊〉 but seeking to destroy it 〈◊〉 better of th◠〈…〉 Experience of the dâ—slike of al true lovers of Religion A manifest joyning hands and calling for the enemie How righteous with God to bring in the day of the speÌ„d thrists To 〈◊〉 Gods mercy in saving 〈◊〉 In the midst of the fire We cannot be assured to be delivered from them 〈…〉 their waies And renew our vowes beginning to performe them â—zech 16. 4. 6. Eccles 5. 3. 4. 5. Our enemies humble by our turning to the Lord. Psal. 81. 11 12 13 14 15. Never til then What we should doe feeling the Lords Armies approching 1 Chrou 20. 16. Our so many confessions by authoritie are so many principall witnesses of his threatnings by them The mourners marked then comes the vengeance This set downe clearely and why In the old world Gen 7. 11 13 16 17. Noaâ— Lot Gen 19. 22 23 24 25. 2. Pet 2. 6. The last overthrow of Ierusalem Matth 24. This captivitie beginning upon the death of 〈◊〉 2 Chr 34. 27 28. Ierem 8. 7. Gen 17. 10 11 19. 22. 2 Clâ—â— 34. 27 28. Application to our selves Many of our Noahs pluckt into the Arke Isai 57. 1. Our comfort in the remnant of the mourners still amoÌ„g us Isaâ— 58. 1. Isay 1. 9. And the preservation of the Lords Anointed 1 amen 4. 20. what could we looke for these being taken away Though the ungodly long for it why Iude. 23. Apoc 18. 4. These once taken away to looke for the judgement When all shall be alike Thus had it bin if God had not prevented To cry for the preservation of our siâ—elter and all these To make more account of Noah and our mournâ—s
Remember 1. The danger we stand in because of the Lords displeasure for our sin 2. The meanes how we may yet pacifie and prevent the same if we be not wanting to our selues 3. That we are all to be helpers hereunto 4. The comfort and happinesse of the true helpers whatsoeuer come to passe with the misery of the rest are the briefe and scope of all Esa. 65. 24. Before they call I will answer and whiles they are yet speaking I will heare Hos. 12. 4. He had power over the Angell and prevailed he wept and praied vnto him In wrastling and weeping is our victorie I. B. Errours to be corrected thus PReface Page 1. l. 5. marg write hying on us p. 5. l. 36. thus p. 9. l. 14. as was said p. 15. l. 19. to our good In the Contents b. 3. l. 2. too indifferently l. 4. The light esteeme of the great c. c. 2. l. 5. put out sometime l. 12. through ignorant In the vision p. 1. l. 1. marg Al In the booke p. 1. l. 32. should endure p. 44. l. 25. worst p. 45. l. 8. marg able p. 65. l. 28. grandfather p 79. l. 4. and is l. 6. Apo. 2. l. 23. shewed p. 111. l. 23. disgrace p. 114. l. 8. humbled p. 123. l. 22. seduced brethren p. 127. l. 18. portraid out p. 244. marg l. 1. Luc. 10. 13. p. 264. l. 10. enow l. 36. of her torment p. 304 l. 7. marg uncutablenesse p. 370. l. 27. witnesse p. 375. put out Italian p. 377. marg l. 16. Mat. 7. p. 389 l. 9. Tetrastylon p. 398 marg l. 1. A question p. 433. l. 25. the holy Prophet p. 468. l. 13. Together with the helpes herein contained and the reading p. 514. l. 26 in many places p. 515. l. 5. many p. 516. l. 17. put out the number of p. 517. l. 17. put out 〈◊〉 p. 535. for their carkases write they p. 543. l. 2. all that feare A TABLE OF THE chiefe things contained in each Chapter thorow out the whole booke in order either handled more at large or briefly pointed at CHAP. I. THe resolution and opening of the vision in the 9. chapter of Ezekiel pag. 1 CHAP. II. Directions to make a right use of this forewarning to our selves with Rules to be observed to this end p. 5 6 The sinnes of the wicked are in some sort the sinnes of us all p. 8 Hainous and impudent sinners helpe to draw downe Gods vengeance p. 8 Every soule that turneth not to God seeking withall to cause others to turne must perish p. 9 CHAP. III. God not wont to bring any not able judgement on his Church but to foreshew it first and then to bring it when no repentance hath followed to prevent p. 10 Reasons of the Lords forewarnings of his Church p. 14 Application hereof to our selves how the Lord hath forewarned us p. 15 16 17 c. CHAP. IIII. The withdrawing the lively tokens of Gods presence a signe of his departure and of vengeance at hand p. 26. 31 God being well pleased with his people is wont to witnesse his presence by some apparant signe p. 27 Signes of the Lords presence in the daies of the Gospell whereby to judge of our estate p. 28 29 c. Signes of his withdrawing himselfe p. 31 CHAP. V. The Lord makes sundrie removes of his glory from his Church before he depart from it to shew his unwillingnesse to depart p. 35 36 The outward glorie of the Lord in his Church wherein it consists p. 37 Abundance of sanctified knowledge a speciall part thereof p. 37 Holinesse and unitie make Gods people glorious in the eies of their enemies p. 38 The Lords glorious protection of his people a principall outward signe of his presence p. 40 41 c. Application of the removall of Gods glory first to Iudah before the Captivitie p. 42 Secondly to our selves p. 43 The true practise of Christianitie more reprochfull to many then to live in any sinne p. 48 How welcome the Lords messengers are unto many p. 49 Our unitie much departed p. 49 Fruits of our dissentions p. 50 Countenance to the true lovers of the Gospell much gone p. 50 Our protection oft indangered to be removed p. 50 51 All our glory ready to mount up at once in the powder furnace a fearefull forewarning unlesse we repent p. 52 53 God may justly leave us into the enemies hand for suffering Popâ—rie so to revive and grow up after he had given us so just occasion to seeke to root it out utterly p. 52 53 CHAP. VI. God will not spare Ierusalem if it rebell against him p. 59 No priviledges can secure a people from Gods judgements if they increase in thâ—ir iniquitie p. 58 59 Priviledges wherein we secure our selves p 59 60 66 〈◊〉 priviledges p. 59 60 61 Iudah in the beginning of her miseries not inferiour to us in prerogatives to secure her p. 67 The Gospell contemned can be no freedome no not from a temporall scourge p. 69 We cannot be more secured that our land is purged of the Idolatrie of former dayes and the bloud of Gods servants then Ierusalem in Iosiahs dayes p. 70 214 God purposing to remaine with us must needs deale as a kinde Father to bring us to obedience p. 71 CHAP. VII The Lord hath ever a speciall care of his in the greatest destructions and marketh them before the judgement come p. 73 Why the Lord oft lets his feele the smart with the rest in generall destructions p. 79 What the marking profiteth Gods servants suffering with the rest p. 80 State of the godly whom God takes away at such times p. 82 State of the wicked in such calamities p. 82 What the marke was wherewith the godly were marked p. 84 CHAP. VIII The godly mourne for the sinnes of the wicked amongst whom they live p. 85 The godly wont not only to mourne but to cry for the abominations of the wicked according to their calling p. 89 Reasons why the godly so mourne and cry for all the abominations p. 90 For one notorious sinner unpunished all the place is in danger of Gods wrath and much more for many p. 91 92 93 Comfort to true mourners though the Lord should execute his judgement for the sinnes of the wicked p. 96 State of all contemners of Gods mercifull forewarnings p. 100 Iust cause of feare for the small number of true mourners p. 102 CHAP. IX The enemies by which the Lord threatneth or afflicteth his Church are his souldiers p. 104 105 Application to our selves to behold the Lords enemies p. 109 All of them are fearefull denuntiations of vengeance untill we repent and why p. 111 112 Ioyning hands with Gods enemies is a calling them in to avenge his quâ—rrell p. 112 113 How righteous with God to bring in the enemie to be avenged and the day of the spend-thrifts p. 113 We cannot be assured to be delivered from them till we abhorre their wayes p. 113 Our
fetcht directly from it p. 385 386 A Syllogisme demonstrating plainly that Poperie especially the Iesuited Papists Religion is in a speciall manner of the devill teaching lying and murder for the supporting of it p. 386 Proofe of the Proposition p. 386 Proofe of the Assumption That Poperie teacheth lying and murdering for the supporting and advancing of it p. 386 Helpes and preservatives which God hath provided for those who would be kept from Poperie the scourge that followes the contempt of the Gospell As p. 387 1. Notable confutations of Poperie to keepe us p. 388 2. Notable discoveries of the bloudy cruelties and vilenesse of Poperie and contrarily The perpetuall witnesses of the truth which we professe p. 388. 3. Speciall helpes for sanctification whereby to be kept from declining from God and so from this scourge p. 389 4. Helpes for praier because we cannot be kept except we pray nor stand in these evill daies without the speciall sustaining hand of our God p. 390 5. Helpes for fasting to humble us and to make our praiers more powerfull and effectuall that we may be kept p. 390 Abomination 33. Atheisme of Iudah angring the Lord to the uttermost and bringing the Captivitie p. 390 The day of vengeance wished by desperate scoffing Atheists p. 391 What a day that will be when it commeth p. 392 Atheists scoffing at the threatnings of the Prophets p. 392 This sinne cannot be purged till they die p. 392 All were at a covenant with death and hell p. 392 Atheists of all others most timorous when the vengeance comes p. 393 Abomination 34. Divisions of Iudah angring the Lord and bringing the Captivitie p. 394 Their divisions flowing from all their abominations and chiefly from the Apostasie so generally p. 394 All were given to covetousnesse and spreading nets p. 395 No man could trust other p. 395 The greater spoiling the poorer p. 395 All against the true Prophets and against all that feared the Lord and why p. 395 Their owne familiars waiting to have matter against them p. 396 Not one left with Gods faithfull servants to be seene to stand for them p. 396 The Church had none to looke to but to the Lord. p. 397 The number of the godly exceeding small at that time amongst them as the grapes after the vintage p. 397 How the Church comforts her selfe against the insulting of the enemie p. 397 A question answered viz. In so many divisions to whom to joine p 398 399. Application to our owne soules concerning our divisions and the rest of the heads herein p. 399 CHAP. XII The meanes whereby the Lord had striven with them to bring them to repentance that he might spare them and how in stead of repenting their sinne was increased by them all p. 400 Meanes by calling them by his word and how he had thereby striâ—â—n with them in all sorts p. 401 402 How he had called them by the continuall voice of his mercies p. 402 How he had called them by the voice of his rods both bodily and spirituall p. 403 The Lord weary with smiting inforced to give them up to their owne hearts lust and to this induration p. 404 The highest step of their induration that they were given over to scoffe at the Lords warnings whereby he called them to repentance p. 405 This sinne could not be purged p. 405 Some causes of their induration and why they profited not by all the meanes which the Lord used p. 406 Why the Lord would spare them no longer after he had used all these meanes to reclaime them p. 407 Application to our selves p. 408 CHAP. XIII The severitie of the Lords vengeance when no other meanes could serve p. 410 The Lamentations of Ieremie written to set out this miserie p. 411 Their carnall confidence in Iosiah seemeth one cause to have provoked the Lord to take him away after whose death began their miseries immediatly p. 412 The wofull miseries which at that time they endured As p. 412 1. Famine in the most lamentable kindes p. 412 2. Destruction by the sword p. 413 3. The desolations of the Temple p. 414 4. The finall desolation that came upon them p. 414 5. The shame cast upon the Lord and his people p. 414 6. The people that escaped caried captives p. 415 The miseries of their Captivitie p. 415 7. In their Captivitie the Church acknowledgeth all this justly come upon her for rebelling against the word of the Lord. p. 415 Despising Gods word and misusing his messengers caused that 〈◊〉 could be no more remedie p. 416 Application why the Lord should not execute as heavie a judgement upon us as on Iudah p. 416 How neere we have beene unto it and how oft p. 416 The mourning of the Lord for his people before this execution p. 417 The Lords expostulation after a sort mourning over us for our foolish impenitency and unkindnesse p. 417 The changing of our danger into such a joyfull day p. 419 Our unthankefulnesse in forgetting our wonderfull deliverances and mercies p. 420 The Lords expostulation further urged bemoaning our unkindnesse and wilfulnesse p. 421 Whether the Lord may not justly thus speake unto us especially having so many ready to receive our most bloudy enemies into our bosomes p. 421 422 424 Our answer to the Lords expostulation taken away p. 424 Application to all notorious sinners who are the men that hale on the vengeance of the Lord. p. 425 Warning to all obstinate sinners howsoever the Lord deale with us at the cries of his servants p. 427 Their miserable state at death most at Christs appearing p. 427 How each may come to the certaine knowledge of the truth hereof viz. by inquiring of his owne heart awaked p. 428 CHAP. XIIII How Gods faithfull servants are wont to be affected seeing his anger kindled against his people p. 430 How they are wont in such cases to use all meanes to pacifie his Majestie p. 431 The meanes which they have beene wont to use to this end p. 431 1. Gods faithfull servants have beene wont to intreat the Lord in secret to pacifie him thereby towards his people p. 433 2. They have beene wont to forewarne Gods people of their sinnes and his vengeance comming on them for the same p. 434 3. Gods servants have beene wont to direct his people to the meanes whereby he may be pacified p. 436 The principall meanes publike humiliations p. 436. Examples hereof p. 436 c. The example of Iehosophat is to be beholden of all religious rulers who would see the like experience of the Lords presence and mercie towards them and therefore set downe at large p. 438 The way to ouerthrow and daunt the enemies of the Church p. 439 Our owne practise and experience p. 441 Reason hereof All having provoked the Lord all must seeke to pacifie him by humbling themselves p. 442 The office of forewarning and calling to fasting belongs to Gods Ministers p. 443 446 The supreme Magistrates to appoint publike
The Lord hath beene wont to inflict some lesser judgement when the humiliation hath not beene unfained though he have saved his people from the greater and why p. 492 When the time is that the Lord will not spare his people any longer no not at the private praiers of his dearest servants p. 493 Three principall signes hereof 1. When a land is full of bloud 2. When it is full of declining and perversnesse 3. When it is overgone with Atheisme p. 494 For the first what that bloud was whereby their land was so dâ—filed that God would not spare them p. 494 c. The second maine sinne for which God would not spare them their generall all perversnesse and defection increased without hope of returning p. 499 Neither word judgements nor mercies would doe them any more good p. 500 There was also amongst them a marvellous corruption of judgement both in misjudging of the good waies of God and also in wresting of judgement p. 500 Perversnesse in judgement cause of their perversnesse in manners p. 501 Their last and principall sinne a senslesse Atheisme growing upon all that they did not acknowledge God in his judgements as they had beene wont p. 501 Reasons why the Lord cannot spare when these sinnes come to this height as theirs were p. 502 Application to our selves whether we be come to this height of sin and have these tokens thereof p. 504 God hath manifested his love as much to our nation as to any other and that he is most unwilling thiu to enter into judgement with us p. 504 505 He spreadâ—th out to us both his white and his blacke tent together p. 50â— To trie what we can answer the Lord if he charge these things on us as first that our land is full of bloud p. 505 The crie of violence and oppression goeth up to heaven for the crueltie of Landlords Vsurers and men void of commiseration p. 506 The like crie amongst us as was in the daies of Nehemiah p. 506 The crie of the poore in dearths p. 507 The holy law of God for the care to be had for all the poore of the land p. 509 We must sometime lend looking for nothing againe p. 509 How the Lord will blesse such a care for the poore and contrarilie p. 510 Vumercifulnesse crieth loud for vengeance and will bring judgement without mercy p. 510 The generall crie of the poore that they and theirs must be brought to perpetuall beggery p. 511 The husbandman cannot pay his rent but by selling his corne at high prizes and according to the same must usually all other commodities bee that the poore must live in miserie p. 512 What we are growing to hereby p. 512 The cause of all our unmercifulnesse and spoiling commonly viz. to maintaine those sinnes of Sodome Ezek. 16. 49. p. 513 Our land defiled with the bloud of Gods servants in Queene Maries daies p. 513 Deadly malice against all who make conscience to walke in the waies of God by all those who have chosen to live in their owne evill waies p. 514 The advice that a mans wisest friends will give to any noted for profâ—ssion rather to put up all wrongs then in most places to seeke redresse p. 515 Our land full of the bloud of soules p. 515 What our state must needs be herein through the multitude of ignorant and unconscionable Ministers p. 516 Multitudes destroyed by evill ensamples and through the generall neglect of superiours for the soules committed to them p. 517 Application of the second cause why the Lord could not spare them viz. That they fell away more and more p. 517 The word in many places become unfruitfull and without power p. 518. Gods mercies have made us so insolent as to say we will not heare p. 518 Gods judgements have made us to fall away more and more especially since our deliverance from our so long feared day p. 518 Pestilence famine and wilde beasts next forerunners of the sword p. 519 All Gods strokes so multiplied to make us to seeke him have made us more senslesse and to walke more stubbornly against him p. 520 This of all other a most infallible for erunner of vengeance when men wax uncurably worse by smiting p. 520 The manner of the Lords proceeding in judgement against Israel before her Captivitie is recorded for a president to us p. 520 Application to our selves of Gods manner of proceeding with us in judgements p. 521 We almost overthrowne as Sodome being as a firebr and pluckt out of the burning p. 521 God threatneth us with whatsoever he hath denounced seeing we amend not p. 522 God threatneth to smite us seven times more to bring one plague in the end seven times greater then any of the former unlesse we repent p. 522 God having shewed such tokens of his love and compassion towards us will be magnified accordingly p. 522 The third signe of Gods anger and for which he threatneth he cannot spare to wit Atheisme and how it declareth it selfe openly amongst us p. 523 If we had beene rightly perswaded that all our judgements had been sent by the Lord for our sinne we had repented long agoe in sackcloth and ashes p. 523 Our timorousnesse to manifest our love to the Lord and our hatred of sinne p. 524 Our generall leaving off to mourne for all our sinnes and tokens of Gods wrath or to tremble before him p. 524 Whence come these menâ—â—â—ned but from some spice of close Atheisme that we thinke at least that God is not so angry against sinne or so regardeth it p. 524 Cause of our drowsie professing in many for that iniquitie hath â—â—gotten the upper hand that it seemes unpossible that ever pietie should looke up againe therefore best to frame our selves to the time p. 525 CHAP. XVI What brings true boldnesse to appeare before the Lord. p. 526 The assurance and safetie of the mourners before the destruction come being sure marked by our Saviour repeated againe for our further comfort p. 526 To be put in minde ever to beare his marke in our foreheads that so we may alwaies have boldnesse before him p. 527 The boldnesse of the marking Angell appearing againe before the Lord and giving up his Commission p. 527 This only can bring boldnesse to appeare before the Lord when we can say Lord I have done as thou hast commanded me p. 528 Our obedience is chiefly in our willingnesse and unfained endevour mourning for our wants and this doth our God accept p. 528 Two notable ensamples of boldnesse hereupon to appeare before the Lord. p. 529 530 Reasons why they only who have done as the Lord hath commanded can be bold to appeare before him p. 531 When all nations shall tremble and shrike they alone shall lift up their heads for joy because of that their happiest day p. 532 The contrary horrour of all who have not done as the Lord hath commanded them whensoever their consciences shall be truly awaked more
specially at death most at the dreadfull judgement p. 532 533 Reasons of their horrour p. 533 State of them then who have neglected their callings and that which hath beene commanded them p. 534 How fearefull the condition of all those men is who have not gained with their talents nor increased them and more of those who have used them against the Lord and for Sathan p. 534 Their case of all other most fearefull to whom most hath beene committed p. 535 How their horrour shall be increased p. 535 No impenitent sinner can possibly looke to stand before the Lord. p. 535 Application to all who have neglected to doe as the Lord hath commanded them p. 536 Application to the chiefe to put them in remembrance as their answer must be the greatest for their place and charge p. 536 The Magistrates Commission and what the Lord will call for at his hards p. 537 The Iudges commission p. 538 The Ministers commission p. 538 The account of each Governour of a family for every soule within his gates p. 539 The account of every one to whom he hath committed any talent p. 539 How the Lord will reply to all sorts beginning to excuse themselves untill their mouthes be stopped p. 540 How he will reply to all for imploying their talents by trying their advantage p. 542 Objection of the weake Christian viz. who can be able to appeare before the Lord p. 543 Every one who hath unfainedly striven hereunto shall be able to stand before the Lord and reasons of it p. 544 Object 2. The cry of all sorts of sinners whose consciences shall be awaked when they shall bethinke themselves of this appearing p. 545 The Lords answer to all such p. 545 What the Lord commands the poore sinner in the first place p. 546 The endevour of Sathan to drive all such poore sinners to endlesse despaire p. 547 How to comfort the poore humbled sinner against Sathans assaults and temptations p. 547 The second terrour of Sathan that the time of mercie is past p. 549 The time is never too late whilst the Lord calls us to repent if we can obey p. 549 Generall comfort never repentant sinner but found mercie p. 550 The Lord still stretcheth out his hands to all to come to him p. 550 The terrible voice of the Lord to all despisers of mercy now offered p. 551 The Lord will one day bring all that belong unto him to say Lord I will doe as thou commandest at least he will bring them by strong hand p. 552 God purposeth their destruction whom he suffereth to goe on perpetually in their impenitencie p. 553 Application to us all in generall what securitie we have to escape the vengeance so long threatned from Babylon untill we doe as God commands p. 553 The Lords reply to us if we answer that we have repented and therefore shall have peace p. 554 555 God threatneth us as sensibly from Rome as he did them from Babylon p. 556 Conclusion of all how to trie the certaintie hereof and when we may have securitie and boldnesse p. 557 Comfort to all the meeke who can say that they have truly endevored to doe as the Lord hath commanded them These only have the promises p. 557 The Lord hath given most comfortable answers against each feare of his servants in such cases p. 558 Against the feare of being left into the enemies hand p. 558 The second feare for the wrongs and provocations of the enemies answered p. 559 Our third feare for that we are but poore wormes and nothing in regard of our enemies which are the mightie men of the earth p. 560 The fourth feare of Gods people for the miseries we may come into in the meane time amongst our enemies answered p. 561 A fift answer of the Lord against the feare of want of necessary comforts p. 562 A sixt comfort against feare of fainting in the long continuance of the troubles of the Church p. 563 The seventh the Lords answer to the faithfull soule mourning for feare of the dangers of the Church p. 565 What every faithfull servant of God should doe for the Church and this nation that would never see 〈◊〉 feele their miseries p. 565 All to hearken what the Lord calleth and crieth for at our hands moaning our estate p. 566 What he will doe for us and against our enemies if we will yet hearken unto him p. 567 A holy praier according to the Contents of the booke p. 569 TO ALL ESTATES AND DEGREES WHO truly tender their owne Soules the Church of God and their natiue COVNTREY IT is now many yeares Christian Reader since by reading those holy Prophets which liued next before the Captiuitie of Iudah who denounced the same to be ready to come vpon Gods people for their sinnes and by considering and comparing the same with the times wherein we liue I haue euer feared the life plague or a heauier to be hanging ouer this our sinfull Nation Neither haue I feared without iust cause for how neere indeed such a iudgement hath bin vnto vs and how the same threatnings haue bin ready to be verified vpon vs the world is witnesse euen all they who haue but onely heard the report of our dangers and of our wonderfull and euen miraculous deliuerances And euer the later perils and preseruations haue bin the more wonderfull as that one of the Powder furnace was aboue all that euer former age heard of In the due meditation and regard whereof I haue taken it to be my dutie and of all the faithfull Ministers of Christ to follow the example of Noah and of all those faithfull Prophets in giuing warning aforehand keeping within the limits and compasse of our calling to helpe to open the eyes of all to foresee and to cause all to tremble for the anger of the Lord also to contend with all our power to turne euery soule from his euill way that so his wrath may be appeased and we deliuered from the dreadfull execution of his heauiest vengeance Herevpon in my former feare amongst other causes I was chiefly emboldned and that not long before the time of that bloudie Powder-treason as the Lord had so directed it to endeuour to set downe truly and after to publish to all the first part of this watch viz The rule of life contayning the couenant which we haue all entred into with our God To the end to helpe to keepe all his people from the generall declining from that his blessed couenant to profanesse and iniquitie and from the outragious wickednes of the rest that we also might all learne to watch to be preserued in the euill day And since then likewise the second part of the same watch viz The rule of prayer to awaken vs the better and to stirre vp all the Lords faithfull seruants the more speedily and instantly to betake our selues wholly to watching and prayer not onely to be
accounted worthy to escape the euills approching but also that ech of vs may still helpe to preserue the Island like as our most compassionate Father hath in the riches of his mercy vouchsafed to accept vs vntill this day And this likewise he in his wisdome directed to come forth at the very instant yea in the midst of the last apparant danger which we in our parts were in for the insurrection about inclosures which howsoeuer it might seeme nothing or small to them who dwelt far from it yet to vs who expected the approching of the rebells euery houre and heard how the hearts of the people were generally bent it was no lesse terrible than any of the former but so much more fearefull the neerer it was Now therefore in the third place forasmuch as all men may behold all kinde of wickednesse and impietie still increasing fearefully without hope of redresse so that vnlesse we will put out our owne eyes we must see the iudgement of God hasting faster vpon vs and being at the very dore I haue taken it my bounden dutie and my best seruice that I could doe and possibly performe to his heauenly Maiestie his Church and my Country to adde this third part to the end to set before the faces of euery one of vs the heynousnesse of our sinnes in euery degree and so the equitie of the Lords proceeding against vs that we may all be inforced to iustifie his Maiestie though he come to execute whatsoeuer he hath so often threatned when no kinde of forewarning can doe vs any good And also to try if yet at length he will vouchsafe to recall vs againe to his couenant and put new life into vs to meet him falling vpon our faces in fasting and prayer to pacifie his wrath and that ech of vs may begin to put that in practise which was intended and sought in the two former parts that is to watch and pray continually not in words any longer but in deed and truth for the preseruation and lasting welfare of vs and our posteritie That the heauiest iudgement must needs be feared to be so much the neerer as the anger of the most High is more kindled against vs no man can doubt and that his wrath is incensed to the vttermost is most apparent to all whose eyes he hath opened or who doe but beleeue his heauenly word for that in stead of hauing any of our greeuous abhominations which we may behold set before our faces in the Treatise following euen by the Prophets themselues and forwhich he hath so often threatned us yet vnfeignedly repented of we haue indeed increased them many times more The couenant of our God which the whole land professeth and ech of vs in our Baptisme haue solemnely entred into we haue most grieuously transgressed And this many of vs haue done with so high a hand as that we haue caused that his heauenly Gospell to be blasphemed inforcing him to threaten to take his couenant with all his blessings from vs yea to leaue vs to be made a prey and a spoyle vnto our enemies which thirst after our bloud continually This all confessed when they so despightfully and proudly came against vs as being ready to swallow vs vp quicke and ech of vs then acknowledged that his wrath was most iustly kindled against vs for the same so as if he should then haue cast vs off vtterly for euer being his people or a nation any more that yet we had most righteously deserued it This we haue in like manner many a time since acknowledged in all our dangers and plagues which we haue had vpon vs plague after plague as those ten plagues of Aegypt More especially in the grieuous dearths and chiefly in that most poysoned plague of pestilence as the sundry confessions of sinnes then made and still extant doe and shall euer beare witnesse But aboue all other times when we were all ready to be consumed in the hot fierie furnace at once yea this we ordinarily and daily euery one confessed whilst we liued in imminent danger euery houre before the Lord so miraculâ—â—sly and graciously set vp his Anointed ouer vs. Euery one then could say Our sinnes are so â—heynous as that we must needes haue some terrible vengeance without speedie repentance This wrath therâ—fore we must needs acknowledge to be farre greater now than euer heretofore not onely for that in stead of repenting our sinnes are so growne vp in euery kinde but also because we are now so generally and so much further off from repentance or any purpose of amendment yea of so much as of any sense of our sinnes or feare of any iudgement to be toward vs for the same than euer we were in former time notwithstanding all the meanes which he hath so long vsed to awaken vs and to bring vs to repentance How then can this fire of the Lords anger be euer quenched we deliuered from the violence thereof that we should not be consumed of it but onely by seeking out the principall causes of it to wit our maine transgressions against the couenant of our God by which he hath bin so prouoked and also by confessing and acknowledging them and turning backe ioyntly to the humble obedience of that his most holy Couenant againe Israel cannot stand before their enemies vntill Achans sacriledge be found out and punished neither can the dearth be stayed in the dayes of Dauid vntill the causes of it be found out and the Lord pacified by taking away the iniquitie Nor yet can the storme vpon the Seas be quieted so long as Ionah lyeth asleepe in his sinne How much losse now when so many Achanâ— be in euery corner and Ionah asleepe euery where in the eyes of all As it is with a particular man so is it with a whole Nation That like as there must be first a searching out of his sinne with confession of it and turning againe vnto the Lord before his anger can be appeased so must it be for a whole Nation so far as we can iustly conceiue before any sound assurance can be giuen that his wrath is turned away This seemes euery where most euident thorow all the booke of God How Poperie is growne vp againe the late proclamation for preuenting it and the furie of that bloudie Religion and for the preseruation of his Royall Maiestie and his Seede set forth vpon the occasion of the cruell murther of the French King doth sufficiently witnesse And likewise the generall vrging the Oath of Allegeance inforced therevpon besides so many lamentable experiments and our ouer-iust feares for their trecheries expected ech howre How Atheisme also with all kinde of outragious iniquitie and scorning at all true pietie doe ouerflow in euery place aboue all former times no man can denie Indeed some sinnes haue bin odious heretofore and especially when they began first to spring vp
other meanes might reclaime vs will euidently appeare to euery one who with any conscience or due consideration shall read that which followeth in this vision And for that other maine point That nothing else can truly secure vs from the execution so as to giue vs true comfort but our turning to the Lords Couenant aske of all the booke of God of all the places conteyning promises and theeatnings to whole Nations whether all the promises be not made vnto our turning and obedient walking in his Couenant and all the threatnings after this manner That if we walke more stubbornely against him he will increase his vengeance accordingly and plague vs yet seuen times more So that all holy meanes are to be vsed to helpe to recall vs to the true obedience of that his holy Couenant that ech may renew the oath of our obedience to Iesus Christ for the happinesse of the whole and of euery soule For God will haue vs all to know That whatsoeuer soule will not returne to his Couenant must dye it must die eternally Yea though we liue not in a wilfull reiecting of all the Couenant but in any one abomination wittingly on rary to the same and much more doing it presumptuously that is both wittingly and willingly being warned and convinced thereof as the word is most direct Yea if we doe not turne and seeke to cause others to turne chiefly all those committed to our charge we must dye Onely that man is a iust man who doth iustice and endeuours to walke in all Gods statutes and to deale truly turning and seeking to cause others to turne that man onely shall liue Neuer any soule shall haue any assurance to escape Gods vengeance or haue true boldnesse to appeare before the Lord but only such a man Aske of the holy Scriptures whether this be not the tenour of them all whether any other be a liuing member of Christ or haue any part in his bloud or in that redemption wrought by him But aboue all this is yet more dreadfull that whosoeuer they be that liue in a wilfull breach of any part of the Couenant of God and chiefly those who wallow in any one of those abominations which brought this captiuitie of Iudah doe not onely destroy their owne soules without vnfeyned repentance but also doe helpe so much as one mans sinne can doe to draw downe the vengeance of God vpon the whole Land to the ruinating both of Church and Common-wealth that bred them Euery of our blasphemers drunkards whoremongers Idolaters profane Sabaoth-breakers despisers of the word of the Lord with all other notorious sinners haue their hands therein Therefore the Lord from heauen speaks vnto vs all and cryes loud vnto vs to turne â—nto him that we may escape his vengeance He hath here in this vision set such a glasse before our faces as wherein we may behold our selues most liuely both our present and future estate what he threatneth to doe vnto vs. Oh thoâ— the vineyard of the Lord he shewes vnto thee that for thy vnfruitfulnes he is about to make thee waste You who are the fruitlesse branches behold your condition either you must bring forth fruit speedily or else be cut downe and throwne into the euerlasting fire You who draw neere vnto God with your lips in an outward profession but your hearts are so far from him that by your lines you giue occâ—â— to his enemies to blaspheme his name he shewes you here thâ— iâ—dgement that he hath prepared for you Open your eyes you cruell oppressors you that flea the poore and needie and behold here what the Lord is prouiding for you and what a destruction you are pulling vpon your owne heads You who spend all your time in pride belly cheere and all excesse of ryot with abundance of idlenesse neuer regarding to strengthen the hands of the poore and needie but still to weaken them by plucking from them violently see whether you are rushing forward bethinke your selues before it be too late You who cast away the word of the Lord scorning and hating to be reformed by it here the Lord forewarnes you what he is bringing vpon you You that pollute his Sabaoths after the manner of the Gentiles to you he himselfe speakes that if you will not obserue his rest he will make the land to rest when it lyeth desolate and no man to passe thorow it Or that at the least your selues shall be thrust forth from his eternall rest into the place of horrour and crying where you shall neuer haue rest day nor night All you who are outragious in your courses and make the euill fashions of all Countries about you euen of the enemies of Christs Gospell and murtherers of his Saints to be your glory you may here behold how you call in continually these wicked enemies to auenge the Lords quarrell and to be the executioners of his most righteous iudgements vpon you Oh you that are turning backe or hastning apace to the vile Idolatrie of former dayes which sometimes very children abhorred in seeing the abomination of it and all you who would so faine be in Babel againe you may here take a view of the terrible vengeance of God vpon your selues in such extreme blindnesse and how you are drawing in the bloudy Babylonian vpon your selues and posteritie and euen the whole Land so far as you are able with as ill or a worse captiuitie than euer came vpon Iudah which how neerely you had effected your owne hearts are witnesses Here you may see how that one day alone of Babels crueltie one of their powder furnace dayes shall be inough for you at least when you shall nish to stand a far off for feare of her torment whereof you are sure to haue your parts if you will needs be partakers of her sinnes And you that by your intolerable profanenesse and Atheisme doe seeme after a sort to challenge the Lord to his face to darè him if he be a God to shew himselfe and to hasten his vengeance and so make your selues merry with scoffing at all who feare his name you may in this heare the Lord himselfe telling you as from heauen that you are the men for whose cause he cannot spare for whom he can haue no more pittie and that he will make you especially to feele whether he be a God a iust and terrible God or no. Here finally we may all see the Lord himselfe setting before vs both our generall and particular estate with the meanes which he hath vsed to reclaime and spare vs the terrour of his anger and plagues when no other meanes will serue And lastly the way how yet we may be deliuered and not onely be set free out of the danger but also remaine a glorious Nation vntill his second comming and how euery one may escape his
weake meanes as might seeme but by a woman to wit Huldah the Prophetesse because he knew it to be the word and message of the Lord. And that not onely to so much as shall be pleasing unto us but even to that part of it that shall most directly touch us As indeed it shall be most happy for that man who shall so receive it and shall so humble himselfe before his divine Majestie Therefore we are every one to be so affected the Lords High Priest as was old Ely who disdeyned not to receive a most grievous and dredfull message by the hand of yong Samuel a boy brought up under him but chargetâ— him in the name of the Lord to tell him every word which the Lord had spoke unto him not to hide a word from him And afterwards having heard it in stead of being offended he saith It is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good Yea we shall most truely declare our homage and obedience to the word of the Lord by submitting our selves wholly unto him and ech acknowledging our particular sinnes as David did at the admonition of Nathan That thereupon we may ech receive that comfortable answer The Lord hath put away thy sinne And that we may all thus helpe to pacifie him that he may not proceed to his heavy resolution howsoever he shall humble us for the manifold dishonours which we have done to him by all our sins and for causing his enemies to blaspheme his great name Gospell which he hath vouchsafed us the profession and libertie of above most other people of the earth 5. Ech of us are to apply every part as spoken to us by the Lord particularly and as making one bodie for even the sinne of the Atheist Idolater Drunkard and so of every wicked man may be said in some sort to be the sinne of ech of us and we are all lyable to the punishments thereof even those of us that thinke our selves most innocent and free from them As the sinne of Achan is counted the sinne of all Israel for so doth the Lord tell Iosua plainely when he punished them all That Israel had sinned they had taken of the excommunicate thing they had done that which Achan did Even so the sinnes of all the notoriously wicked are the sins of us all chiefly their open abominations All of us are guiltie and endangered by the same if at the hearing and seeing them we have not mourned as we should for the dishonour done to the Lord and his anger kindled thereby Or if we have not cryed for pardon sought to turne away the vengeance yea and done our vtmost endevour ech of us in our places and callings to stop them and the course of sinne reigning amongst us None of us can justifie our selves but God might for this very sin depart from us as he threatneth Ioshuah for Achans sacriledge and might leave vs to be wrapped in the same judgement 6. We are to consider that ech of our particular grievous sinnes doe not onely hinder the power of our prayers whereby we should help to pacifie the Lords wrath but also in steed thereof helpe to draw downe the anger of God not onely vpon our selves but vpon the whole Land more specially and principally the notorious and outragious sinnes of our most horrible transgressors as of blasphemers scorners of God and of his truth oppressors drunkards filthy persons and all impudent sinners who hale on the vengeance of God as it were with cart ropes That it is his infinite mercy that it hath bin kept off hitherto And therefore howsoever such men may imagine and boast of themselves to be friends to their country yet in truth they will be found the principall enemies first to Iesus Christ doing as much as lyeth in them thereby to drive him out and to set vp Sathan in his roome and doe not onely murther their owne soules without repentance but also as much as such sins can to betray the Lords Anointed his Church their native Country with all our happinesse into the hands of the bloudie enemie Because for the sinnes of these principally Gods vengeance comes upon his people as here in this lamentable captivitie may plainely be seene And therefore ech of us are to finde out our owne particular sinnes and in the reading and hearing hereof to say This is my sinne which the Lord reproves threatneth us all for and me especially by name So ech of us are to begin to reforme our selves or else we shall never be able to judge of the sinnes of others much lesse have a right feeling of them so as to be helpers to pacifie the wrath by our prayers and to turne away the like plague from our selves 7. Every one of us are to resolve with our selves that whatsoever the Lord shall say unto us we will doe it as the people made profession to the Prophet Ieremie to doe if they had had hearts to haue performed it accordingly and ech to cast away our deerest sins rather than they shall beat backe our prayers and much more helpe to pull downe vengeance upon us Because of that which God threatneth that every soule who turnes not to all his Covenant so far as he shall manifest it to his conscience to be his Covenant and that seeks not also with all his power to cause others to turne shall perish That same sinne wherein any one continueth shall be his destruction and the endangering of all so far as lyeth in him And this may serue for the generall directions in reading this vision to make right use of it to our selves for pacifying the wrath Now to the Vision CHAP. III. The Lord is not wont to bring any terrible judgement upon his Church but usually ever aforehand to give warning thereof neither at any time to waâ—ne in vaine And what cause we have for our manifold forewarnings to give our selves to watching and praier HEe cried in mine eares with a loud voice saying Cause them that have charge over the City to draw neere or the visitations of the City draw neere c. To come to the words of the vision The Lord so plainely foreshewing this dreadfull captivitie not only heere in this Vision but also so many other wayes and denouncing it by his Prophets so long before it came declaring also the causes of it sheweth in the first place That he hath not beene wont to bring any notable judgements upon a people especially upon his Church or where his Church hath beene but he hath ever used to make the same manifestly knowne before at least to his owne faithfull servants amongst them and after as he foreshewed it so to bring it to passe unlesse his anger hath beene some way pacified This we may see in sundry of the most fearefull destructions that ever he
and partly at the instant intreatie of the dressers of his Vineyard who have obteyned of him to spare us yet one yeere longer to see if we will bring forth meete fruit in any time and if no time nor warning will serve then to cut us downe Now we in steed of amending by all these fore-warnings with all the admirable deliverances and blessings which this Land doth injoy waxing every day much worse and the cry of our sinnes with the malice and number of our bloodie enemies being daily increased how can we thinke but that his vengeance must needs be at the doores either that any peace can possibly be so much as hoped for from him so long as our heynous sinnes still remayne heaped up euery day more more What heart therefore having any feare of the Lord considering how his anger must needs be kindled and remembring that implacable hatred of the blood-thirstie enemies but wayting their day doth not tremble in a certaine expectation of some imminent and farre more dreadfull vengeance than ever we felt in former times unlesse our hearts be some way stirred up to pacifie his heavenly Majestie by turning unto him to prevent the same And therefore to conclude this point All these things being laid togither and set as it were in one view before our faces principally that above all other signes the Lord hath given us that our third so terrible and infallible an admonition in the hellish powder-furnace sith none of his warnings shall be in vaine who can denie but that he daily cryeth in the eares of every one of us with a loude voyce as he cryed to Ezechiel Thy visitation oh England draweth neere Therefore repent watch and pray lest I come upon thee of a sodaine and make thee as Ierusalem because no warning will serve neither wilt thou know the time of thy visitation nor be awaked out of thy deepe securitie But of this more fully hereafter when we shall come to see the sinnes of our Land written by the Lord himselfe in the abominations of Iuda before her Captivitie and that in such capitall letters that he that runns by may read them And how we doe iustifie rebellious Iudah living in these dayes of the shining light of the glorious Gospell of Iesus Christ under such a shelter as the Lords Annoynted and also under so good lawes commanding obedience thereunto whereby our sinnes must needes be farre more heynous and inexcusable than theirs or than ever they were in former time And this may serve for a first cause which we have to watch and pray because the Lord cryes so loud unto us all That our visitation draweth neere and that he will come on us suddenly unlesse we repent speedily CHAP. IIII. The withdrawing of the Lords glorious presence from his Church is both an euident signe of his displeasure and amanifest threatning of his departure And what cause we have thereupon to watch and to pray to pacifie his Maiestie and to hold him still amongst us Verse 3. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the Cherub whereupon he was to the threshold of the house A Second principall point which the Lord would have us all to obserue to this purpose is out of this third verse In which he revealed to the Prophet how the visitation of the City or the executioners of the vengeance determined upon it did draw neere this is given as an evident token thereof That the glorious presence of the Lord named the glory of God the God of Israel was gone from the Cherub that is from that place in the Temple where the Lord had promised to dwell for ever and from whence he was wont to shew his presence most sensibly for from thence he used to give answers and now it stood on the threshold of the Temple as ready to depart and utterly to leave that house and his people for their sinnes In this therefore God would have all men to take notice That it is a most certaine signe of his purpose to leave a people and of his vengeance hard at hand when he begins to withdraw the most lively and sensible tokens of his presence from those places where he was wont to dwell and shew himselfe most familiarly As heere for example Although the Temple remaine with the Arke and mercy feate from whence he was wont to speake immediatly from betweene the Cherubims yet the glory is removed the signes are there still but not the lively presence as had beene in former time which was indeed the true glory For further confirmation of this point This we may observe in the booke of God That when he hath beene well pleased with his people and purposed to remaine with them he then hath beene wont ordinarily to shew his presence and that under the law by some such visible or audible signes as whereby al might behold and heare him or at least perceive him some way As in all the iourny towards Canaan he went uisibly before them in the pillar of fire and the piller of the cloude But when they had angred him by the golden calfe he threatneth that he would not goe with them that is he would not goe before them in that visible manner as he had beene wont to bring them to the land flowing with milke and hony because they were a stiffenecked people He would send his Angell with them but in his owne glorious presence he would not goe before them as in former time whereupon Moses is importunate with him that he would never carry them thence if his presence went not with them And that it could not be knowne otherwise that he and his people had found favour in his sight but when he went visibly with them Thus Moses never leaves him vntill he hath prevailed that he will go with them as he was wont The same we may see in the dayes of Iosua where the Lord having withdrawne his lively preâ—ence and suffered his people to be overthrowne before the men of Ai Iosua falleth upon his face before the Arke fasting and mourning and after a sort expostulating with his Majestie for that he would suffer his great name to be dishonored Whereupon God telleth him plainely that he had indeede withdrawne himselfe from them because they were execrable for Achans sinne neither would he be with them any more unlesse they destroyed the excommunicate from amongst them So likewise when he was angry with Saul that he would cast him off he doth not only take his good spirit of wisdome and government from him and sends an evill spirit upon him to disquiet and to vex him but moreover when he asked councell of him in his extremity he answeres him not neither by dreames nor by Vrim nor yet by the Prophets Saul had the Priests with the Vrim before the Arke from whence the Glory was wont to appeare from the Cherubims
but the glory was remooved the Lord gave him no answere any more from thence The like might be shewed still in the story further as we shall see after in the particulars but this may suffice for the present to manifest this point To returne therefore to our selves we are first to inquire what are the most evident signes of Gods glorious presence in his Church especially in the daies of the Gospell and heereby we are to judge of our estate and whether in regard heereof we have not just cause to feare the Lords departure without speedy repentance and all to give our selves to watch and pray Like as the word sincerely preached and the Sacraments administred according to our Saviours institution are the most infallible marks of the true visible Churches of Christ amongst which he hath promised his presence so long as these are duly observed maintained and reverenced so we may marke also thorow the booke of God fowre most lively evidences of his glorious presence in his Church amongst his people One whereof is more inward felt chiefly in the soules and consciences of men to wit the Spirit of the Lord accompanying the word and the powerfull operation thereof in mens hearts in and by the same word to cause all men to acknowledge the Lord to be there The other three are more outward and apparant to the view of the world although they be nothing but the fruits and effects of the same spirit The first of which three is when the Lord gives to his people abundance of saving and sanctifying knowledge of his heavenly word The second when together with this knowledge he worketh in them true holinesse of life and conversation and obedience to the same word and withall peace and unitie among his people arising from the same The third is in protection when he declares himselfe to be present amongst his people in shielding and protecting them and overthrowing all the plots of the enemies or casting a feare upon the enemie that they dare not rise up against his Church and chosen flocke For the first of these which is more inward viz The Spirit of the Lord speaking and working powerfully in the word It is not the word alone nor the Spirit alone but the word and Spirit going together The Spirit accompanying the word and speaking to the hearts and consciences of men out of the mouthes of his servants This is the Tenor and the very substance of Gods covenant with his Church for the infallible demonstration of his presence in it and with it And I will make this my covenant with them saith the Lord to his Church My spirit which is upon thee my word which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seede nor out of the mouth of the seed of thy seede from henceforth for ever To make this more plaine As in the time of the law not the Arke alone nor the mercie seate covered with the Cherubims but the answeres from the Arke given immediatly from God were were the undoubted evidences of his most glorious presence amongst them so this must needs be acknowledged of all That not the Gospell alone nor the bare ministry thereof but the powerfull working of the spirit thereby speaking to every mans soule and conscience is the most evident demonstration of the same glorious presence in the dayes of the Gospell As for example when the word is lively and mighty in operation powerfull in converting mens soules and drawing the people of God after it This is the true presence and arme of the Lord. As it was when the Holy Ghost was sent downe appearing in forme of cloven tongues like fire to shew the heavenly fire that should accompany the word and inflame the hearts of the elect like as it then wrought wonderfully upon the consciences of the hearers and that very worke was an infallible witnesse of the presence of the Lord so is it now according to the manner of the working and measure thereof When by the same spirit some are pricked at their hearts with remorse for their sinnes and made to cry out Men and brethren what shall we doe as those who were so pricked at the hearts at Peters sermon When other have their hearts burning within them as the two Disciples going toward Emaus at the opening applying of the Scriptures unto them When as others are smitten downe to the earth in the sense of their own vilenesse and the Majestie of Iesus Christ as persecuting Saul who was made thereby a preaching Paul And when others are compelled to confesse That they neuer heard men speake so as those who came of purpose being sent by the Pharises to catch our Saviour Or as the poore simple man who comming in and hearing the word so Preached is made thereby to fall upon his face and enforced to acknowledge That God is in these men of a truth when others also shall receive such a strong assurance of the truth of God taught unto them being indeed his very word as they cannot be drawne away from it by any violence or feare no nor yet by any perswasions though an Angell should come from heaven and teach them otherwise And to conclude this point This must needs be confessed of all to be the most cleere and invincible testimony of his most gratious and glorious presence and of his spirit powred plentifully upon his Church when by the power of the word the blinde eyes are opened the deafe heare the stonie hearts are bruised the dead in sinne are raised to a new and holy life for this is not a a worke of flesh and blood but of the Spirit of the Lord onely This was a principall part of that lively presence whereby he was so wonderfull and after a sort visible in the primitive Church when the same day were added to the Church about three thousand soules by the preaching of Peter and the other Apostles and after when the Church increased so admirably And by this he hath promised to be with his faithfull ones teaching his truth sincerely unto the end of the world This finally is the full accomplishment of that promise To powre downe his Spirit upon his people in the dayes of the Gospell when he would gather his Church in any place as we may see thorow all the Historie of the Acts. And even as it was then so is it now according to the measure of grace whereby he sends downe his holy Spirit upon any Congregation And in some Congregations under faithfull Ministeries all these blessed be God are apparent thus graciously manifesting his presence thereby And therefore the more generally that this operation appeares in Preachers and people the more visibly doth the glory of the Lord shew it selfe and the more
we shall finde it thus That these and all other signes mentioned are in great measure come upon us let us answer unfaynedly whether the Lord doth not sensibly threaten and proclaime to depart and leave us altogither unlesse we repent having thus far already withdrawne himselfe from us And to conclude this point whether it be not full time to seeke to pacifie and stay him amongst us if we be not weary of his abode with us and of our happinesse thereby But of this more in the next Chapter where we shall have cause to inquire of the outward tokens of the Lords glorious presence and what a removall he hath made thereof as likewise we see that he hath of this inward Thus much therefore shall suffice to have spoken of this second cause which we have all to watch pray yea even to weepe and cry after him to returne unto us againe in shewing amongst us the power of his Spirit as ever in former time and to abide with us for ever that he never leave us to our bloodie enemies CHAP. V. How the Lord is most unwilling to depart from his Church so long as there is any other remedie which he manifesteth in his oft threatning to take his leave before he goe indeed And of the outward tokens both of his glorious presence in his Church and of his departure from it And what cause we have thereupon to watch and pray continually ANd the Glory of the God of Israel was removed c. A third point specially to be observed is this That the Glory of God removed not once onely but five severall times in this vision before it departed and that it removed not all at once but so oft going away by degrees and that most sensibly By which he would cause the Prophet most clearely to behold his holinesse and justice that he must needs depart from them for their iniquities wherewith they grieved him and that he was now taking his farewell and yet withall also to see his mercy and tender compassion and how he was as we may so speake most unwilling to depart and leave his people to so many miseries even Ierusalem his owne Citie to such a desolation if any remedie would have bin found This he makes knowne unto them to see if it would worke to stir them up to seeke to retaine his presence amongst them For the evident manifestation hereof First the Glory removes from the Cherub and stands upon the threshold as ready to depart Secondly it removes higher and stands over the dore of the house Thirdly it removing from above the dore and standing againe upon the Cherubims the Cherubims mounted upward from the earth towards heaven as ready to take their flight and leave the Temple altogither Fourthly after this the Glory removes to the midst of the Citie thereby seeming to warne the Citie of the Lords departure Lastly from thence it removes out of the Citie unto the Mount of Olives as utterly taking leave of them and giving them a last farewell untill their Captivitie was accomplished and his anger appeased These were the removes Here we are all againe to inquire yet more carefully whether he hath not made as many and as sensible removes of his glory amongst us of this our Nation and thereby given us as many plaine evidences of his departure not now in a vision but so as all men must needs see and confesse it and also whether withall he hath not as clearely and tenderly manifested as I may so say his unwillingnesse to depart from us if any thing can serve to reforme us This is a point of most serious consideration and such a one as it were an exceeding mercy of the Lord and a token of his gratious purpose toward us if he would but vouchsafe us hearts generally to consider of aright as in his presence and as we must all know it one day To the end we may conceive it the better we are first to consider wherein the glory of the Lord appeareth outwardly in his Church so as it may be beholden of all round about it even of the very enemies As for the former evidence it being more inward is to be perceived chiefly of the inward man the soule and conscience when God so speaks unto them This outward Glory consists in three things principally as was said whereby not only the Lord himselfe is magnified amongst his owne people yea to be seene acknowledged of others but also by which he makes his people to be glorious in the eies of others and to be honoured and feared of their enemies The first is when he bestoweth upon his people such aboundance of heavenly and sanctified knowledge of his worde with an hungring after the same as that the earth seemeth to be filled with the knowledg of the Lord like the waters that cover the Sea as the Prophet Esay speaketh This he promiseth to doe in his Church when he will shew his glory in it in the dayes of the Gospell At what time the Church being exalted as upon the topps of the mountaines there shal be such a hungring and thirsting after the word of the Lord that men shal incite and provoke one another saying Come let us goe up to the house of the Lord for he will teach us his waies and we will walke in his pathes Where he thus puts his lawes into the mindes of his people at least in a vehement desire of it That they all seeme to know him from the least to the greatest of them this is a visible token of Gods covenant with such a people and the pardon of their sinnes that he is their God and this is his glory upon them A second visible token is this when this knowledge is accompanied with obedience and holinesse of life when he thus writes his law in their hearts creating in them new hearts and new spirits Thus the Lord promiseth to be sanctified in his owne people before the eyes of their enemies when he shall clense them from all their filthy sinnes as with pure water when he puts his spirit so upon them as to cause them to walke in his statutes to keepe his judgments and to do them when he puts his feare so generally into their hearts as to cause them not to depart from him Then he makes this covenant for himselfe that he wil not depart from them And chiefly when togither heerewith he gives peace unity amongst them that they have one heart and one way That the Lambe may lodge with the Wolfe without danger the poore harmelesse Christian with them who have beene by nature as bloudy as Wolues when the little child may lead the Lion even a child bringing the word of the Lord may perswade and lead them who were otherwise as proude and fierce as Lyons And when the sucking childe may play upon the hole of the Aspe when the poore seruants of
blood-thirstie religion in the cheife professors thereof against his own heavenly Majestie his true religion glory against his Annoynted all his liege people professing his name to destroy all at once though with the inevitable hazarding of themselves both soules and bodies their owne native Countrie their children and houses And also after that he had caused us to beare such evidence against that Romish iniquitie in those so good lawes then enacted against it and as it were to give sentence upon it having delivered it into our hands May he not justly say unto us all even unto our whole Nation for this very sin as he said to the King of Israel for letting Benadad goe when he spake thus unto him Because thou hast let goe out of thine hand a man whom I appointed to dye thy life shall goe for his life and thy people for his people So may he not speake and threaten us much more especially all of us both Magistrates Ministers and people into whose hands he hath committed the holy meanes to restraine and withdraw men from that murthering religion so many wayes convicted and condemned and to bring them to Christ and principally the spirituall meanes of the word of the Lord Yea above all other may he not speake so to those to whom he hath committed the charge of providing a holy learned and faithfull Ministerie which may tenderly seeke the winning and saving of every soule and also of causing all sorts to submit themselves thereunto as unto the Lords ordinance to that end for these meanes are first and principally to be used in tender compassion when as he hath so manifested the power thereof by so much gracious experience in sundry worthy Congregations where under such painfull and conscionable Ministers the people have bin brought from Poperie and profanenesse to embrace and obey the Gospell so as hardly one Papist or notoriously profane or disordered person have bin to be found there but all cheerefully submitting themselves to the Gospell of Christ. May he not most righteously speake thus unto us therefore Because through they negligence and carelesnesse thou hast suffered to grow up and spread in the midst of thee that execrable bloudie and Antichristian religion whereby my glory is so desperately oppugned whereby I my selfe am so openly sought to be driven out and with so high a hand the soules and bodies of all my people so endangered every houre yea that which I put into thy power and commanded thee to seeke by all holy meanes utterly to destroy out of thy land that against which thou hast so voluntarily made so good lawes for the sure ratifying of the speedie execution of my Commandement thy religion therefore shall goe for it and all thy glory shall be trampled under foote by them untill thou know whom thou hast dishonoured and provoked hereby And to conclude this point Hath not the Lord as good cause to complaine of us and to plead against us for the small account which we make of him for grieving his Spirit and driving him from amongst us by this and all other our fearefull sinnes as ever he had to complaine of the unkindnesse of Iudah and even to take up the same complaint against us which he did against them when he spake thus unto them by the Prophet Micha before their Captivitie Oh my people what have I done unto thee or wherewith have I grieved thee come testifie against me Surely I brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants I sent before thee also Moses Aaron and Miriam O my people remember now what Balak King of Moab had devised and what Balaam the sonne of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal that yee may know the righteousnes of the Lord. This is the Lords plea and complaint against Israel for their unkindnesse calling the hills and mountaines to witnesse the equitie of it before that he would depart from them and bring upon them that strange and terrible judgement which he so long before threatned by his Prophets But we will defer this complaint against us untill we shall have seene of our iniquities to provoke and anger the Lord thereby to be above the abominations of Iudah considering that we live in this glorious light of the Gospell with our extraordinarie mercies and meanes of all sorts Because that then if God shall give us hearts in reading to consider of these things aright we shall justifie the like complaint of the Lord against our selves and shall admire his patient stay and his abiding still amongst us Thus much therefore shall suffice in like manner for this third cause wherein yet let ech of us aske of our owne soules whether in such a decay both of the love of the truth and also of holinesse peace and unitie in the Church yea in such danger of our protection to be utterly taken away to passe over that it is so far departed That he that absteineth from evill makes himself a prey and in steed thereof in such an increase of Poperie of licentiousnesse and of all profanenesse such an enmitie against all true pietie with the insolencie of the enemie the Lord doe not call loude upon us all to watch and to pray for the severall removes of the glory amongst us and the evident tokens of the Lords threatned departure which he sheweth in the same CHAP. VI. No priviledges can doe a people any good if they increase in their iniquitie but the moe their mercies have bin the greater is their sinne and the heavier shall their iudgement be when it commeth of what sort soever And what causes we have hence to watch and to pray Vers. 4. And the Lord said unto him Goe through the midst of the Citie even through the midst of Ierusalem and set a marke upon the foreheads of them that sigh and cry for all the abominations which are done in the midst thereof IN the doubling of the speech Goe thorough the midst of the Citie even through the midst of Ierusalem where the Lord adds Ierusalem to make the speech more significant not content to say Goe thorow the Citie but even thorow Ierusalem He would have all to take notice That though Ierusalem was the deerest unto him of all the Cities of the world yet having broken the Covenant on her part and also cast him off and defiled his Sanctuarie he will spare her no longer he will have no more pitie of any save onely of his faithfull ones in her But contrarily he will forsake her cast her off leave her to be destroyed untill the remnant left of her learne to seeke him and to be reconciled to him againe For the Lords speech is thus much in effect Goe through the midst of the city even through Ierusalem which though it be unto me the deerest of all the places in the world the Citie which I had chosen to
dayes of Iosiah even since their comming out of Egypt and more specially for their provocations wherewith Manasses the grave father of Iosiah had provoked him by all his Idolatrie and by the bloud of his seruants which he shed whereof the land was not yet purged though that bloud had beene shed threescore yeeres before besides his sinne wherewith he made Iudah to sinn and to doe euill in his sight And yet more also for that in Iosiahs dayes the peoples heart did not so melt for those and the like iniquities as Iosiahs heart did but they rather still approved generally of their former evill waies and practised them secretly And lastly because of these abominations following whereby they filled up the measure of their iniquities and against which the Prophets so cried out ever threatning this judgement for the same untill it came upon them But heere it may be said howsoever these prerogatives of theirs were indeed exceeding great and may astonish us all both in regard of our former heinous sinnes and the judgements that have beene upon us both formerly and of late with the unplacable rage of our adversaries yet we have many things which may seeme to assure us of Gods favour and secure us from any such judgement or the like As first which was shortly touched for that we have so many worthy preachers and good people unfeignedly fearing the Lord. Secondly that we have the Lords true religion so soundly maintained Thirdly all open Idolatrie is banished Fourthly such good lawes so religiously established Fiftly for that more then all these we have the Lords annointed so graciously and miraculously set over us in peace with such a happy unity concluded withall neighbour nations and also so blessed an issue Sixtly Above all these The Lord hath so often testified his fatherly love and care for us in such tender and marvellous preservations both of our Princes and of our whole nation and in so bringing his and our enemies to shame as he hath heereby made this Iland the wonder of the world And lastly for that never nation did injoy the Gospell so long in that flourishing prosperity and peace which we have done All these and the like are such evident tokens of the Lords favour love towards us as that we can have no such cause of feare as this forewarning many of our Preachers would beare us in hand To answer all these and whatsoever else can be said to secure us Let us but consider what King reigned in Ierusalem and how many yeeres togither before this Captivitie even when these judgements were so threatned and hastned on and when many of these abominations following were committed and how he continued till within three moneths of these miseries begun as we heard before and it will appeare most like that this people could not be then inferiour to us in any of these signes of Gods favour except this that we live in the dayes of the Gospell to which we shall answer after For first immediately before this vengeance began they had that most holy King Iosiah whose praises and worthy example shall remaine unto the end of the world and him they injoyed reigning in peace over them for one and thirtie yeeres togither And secondly for puritie of religion we know that never King went beyond Iosiah in his reformation and care compelling all strictly to serve the Lord according to his word and in taking away so far as he was able the very monuments of Idolatrie with all things that might either revive it openly or secretly or that might be any way a snare unto the people And also how he reformed all other abominations that could be spied in all the land of Iudah or in Ierusalem So as the Holy Ghost beares this witnesse of him that like unto Iosiah was no King before him that turned unto the Lord with all his heart nor rose up after him That for puritie of religion and a holy reformation we can make no doubt but they were equall to us And for worthy Teachers according to that time I take it that we can make no question but that they had many of the Priests and Levites both learned and godly when the King himself was so forward to incourage and provoke them thereunto Besides those famous Prophets stirred up by the Lord extraordinarily as Ieremie Zâ—phanie Habakuk and others with Esay and Micha but a litle before for many yeeres togither and Ezechiel presently after All these and sundry others they had howsoever they dealt most unkindly with them as Ieremies example doth fully witnesse For good people in like manner it cannot be imagined but that where such a worthy head example was with such excellent Teachers there must needs be also many of the children which God had given to them and those of all sorts even of the chiefe Magistrates as well as others Such were these which mourned in Ierusalem for the abominations who are commanded to be marked who lived when they were at the very worst and sundry Worthies as those which spake for Ieremie and others which were caried away in the Captivitie yea even children of the Kings seede and of the Princes as Daniel and his companions to wit Hananiah Mishael Azariah with others as we shall see hereafter Though these were and had long time bin made as signes and wonders unto the rest and the off-scowring of all other like as those Prophets were whose doctrine they obeyed As for Idolatrie It is most evident that they had none openly in all Iosiahs dayes after the reformation nor so much as the prints suffred to remaine nor any thing that might revive it as we saw but onely that they had not repented of that which had bin before And for peace It seemeth to be manifest That Iosiah had peace with all about him for although he was slaine in warre by Pharaoh Necho King of Egypt it was his owne seeking and a just punishment for attempting it and not consulting with the Lord nor hearkning to the words of Necho which were from the mouth of God For the King of Egypt sent messengers unto him to tell him that he came not against him but against the house of his enemie which was the King of Assyria and therefore he would not in any case have foughten with him If the Assyrian had bin Iosiahs enemie it is not like that Iosiah would have hindered the King of Egypt from fighting against him And finally for their securitie through their Prince and princely progenie if ever Nation could glory therein it was surely they having as was shewed as worthy a King as ever was by the Lords owne record whom they therefore accounted the breath of their nostrils and such a goodly tree as under whose shadow they were safe in the midst of the Heathen as they mourne after in the
Lamentations This their good King had also sundry sonnes and sonnes sonnes as may appeare in the historie alledged before As for Gods tender love and care shewed for us in our continuall preservations and in all our former deliverances the abuse of them cannot but increase the wrath against us considering our grievous unthankfulnesse Besides that they had also then as just cause to boast hereof as we have now or much more both in that continuall preservation of their Land through a feare cast on their enemies that none durst invade them so long as they obeyed the Lord in any good sort of which we spake and by their great deliverances as that in the dayes of Ezechiah and others mentioned Whereas this may be yet further imagined for our vaine securing our selves that we live in the dayes of the Gospell wherein the judgements of God are more spirituall and therefore having received so many strange deliverances it is more like that he intends to punish us more spiritually which is indeed the heaviest judgement of all other We answer That true it is That we may as yet certainely expect an increase of the spirituall judgement of blindnesse of minde and hardnesse of heart to fill up the measure of our iniquities and to make the condemnation of all the reprobate and our plagues the more just thereby yet these things following thought of and well weighed with the former may cause us to dread some temporall plague and that heavier than all which have gone before As first the outward and temporall judgements which God hath been wont to bring for the contempt of the Gospell like as in the last finall destruction and scattering of this Nation of the Iewes over the face of the earth after the preaching of Christ and his Apostles and sundry other where the Gospell hath come as the judgements accomplished in removing those seven golden Candlesticks of Asia and in many other famous Churches with the afflictions upon them which must needs be very grievous in all reason before the Gospell could be utterly taken away And secondly if we call to minde how many forewarnings we have had of such a sharpe scourge and withall how often it hath bin so neere to our backs Thirdly that we have had as I take it all the fore-runners of the greatest temporall calamitie which is the very sword it selfe That we have felt both dearths and pestilences and also heard the cryes of the poore for mercilesse oppressors ravening and devouring almost in every part of our Land Besides the taking from us so many of the Royall issue and principally Him upon whom all the eyes of our Land were bent for continuance of our shelter yea of our life and all our blessings to cause all the godly to droope in fearing continually some greater judgement and giving all the enemies such cause to lift up their heads afresh as now expecting their day againe Fourthly the implacable malice of our bloudie enemies against us either to destroy us utterly or to bring our Nation by strong hand under that Babylonish yoke againe which cruell rage of theirs doth threaten such a plague every houre but that the Lord in mercie stayeth it This fiftly may terrifie us all so oft as we thinke of it for that as I take it under submission to better judgements we cannot be any more assured that our Land is as yet purged more of the abominable Idolatrie committed in former times and of the bloud of Gods servants the faithfull Martyrs of Iesus Christ in the dayes of Queene Marie with innumerable moe abominations committed both before and since and increased also to this day to anger the Lord than Ierusalem was in the dayes of Iosiah If God remembred against Iudah all the Idolatrie bloodshed and other like abominations of former dayes and in the day of his visitation visited them for all what can we looke for or how can we secure our selves And yet above all these That if the Lord doe love us and purpose to continue his religion and presence with us as we have great cause of hope that he doth then he will deale with us as kinde and wise fathers are wont to doe with their disobedient children he will double and treble his fatherly strokes upon us untill he amends us and makes us stoope to him He hath already corrected us very sharply with all his other rods over and over and continually one or other upon our backs and most thicke of late time whence we must needs expect a more sharpe scourge to awaken and amend us than any of the former or than all of them togither And what can that be we take not upon us to divine But let every one bethinke himselfe and looke into the booke of God and he will easily see by the course of Gods former proceedings what cause we have to feare especially if the same abominations be found amongst us or rather greater than these for which the Lord threatned and brought this wofull judgement for if he spared not the naturall branches then neither will he spare us now being but wilde Olives and having so far greater light than they and other meanes to reclaime us And therefore this is our lesson in this our day and left to admonish us now as it was given first for them For other prerogatives If any can be found wherein we doe excell them they will but rather serve to increase and hasten our judgement As the Gospell for example offring more grace and power of obedience must needs more kindle the Lords wrath Because so many of us making profession of it doe yet denie the power thereof so far as that we make the very enemies to blaspheme and doe moreover proceede not onely to hate but also to scorne all who labour to bring forth the fruit of it by a holy conversation For as it is with the most gracious and munificent Princes that they will shew most severitie to such of their Subjects whom no patience nor benefits can winne but that they rather waxe more rebellious by the mercy and bountie of their Prince so we must know certainely that it is with the Lord that his mercies so abused must needs provoke him to the heaviest indignation which if it be but the removing of our candlesticke how dreadfull it is yea whether it be not far worse than any bodily plague let all the wise-hearted judge Thus much likewise for this point That no favour or priviledges can give any securitie to a sinfull people professing Gods religion if they begin to cast off his yoke and to waxe worse and worse to make his name to be blasphemed but the moe their priviledges are the greater is their sin and the more grievous their punishments shall be And secondly what causes we have hereupon to give our selves more instantly to watching and
others And to omit all other examples At the last and finall desolation of this Citie and Nation by the Romanes Histories doe report that presently before the taking of Ierusalem a voyce was heard among the Christians Goe forth to Pella Goe forth to Pella which so soone as ever the Christians had done and that they were safe there the Citie was sacked and all that desolation fully accomplished as was declared before God thus providing to set them safe before the destroyers came Whereby we may see evidently both by the testimonies and charge of the Lord himselfe and the continuall examples that the faithfull servants of God cleaving firmely unto him in the backsliding of the rest have the onely immunitie and priviledge above all others to be preserved at such times so far as shall be any way good for them and shall be withall for the Lords owne glory and the salvation of his people To confirme us yet further in the assurance hereof and to stir up our hearts so to walke with our God before that time doe come we have the Lords most gratious direction and promise made to the Prophet Esay and to the godly of his time teaching them how they should carie themselves in such outrage of iniquitie and in such signes of the approaching of his vengeance he hath caused it to be written for a most comfortable president to all succeeding ages and for a sure preservative against all feare of every such danger It is therefore carefully to be marked of all his servants The Prophet saith That the Lord spake unto him in taking him by the hand as it were incouraging and strengthening him and thus he taught him That they should not walke in the way of that people nor have a confederacy with them nor feare their feare no nor yet be afraid of them that is He would be a place of refuge and comfort unto them against all terrors as the Sanctuary was And by the Prophet Ezekiel he adds That he would be thus unto them in all the places wheresoever they should come Lastly besides this gratious promise we are to observe how in the most terrible denuntiation of vengeance against this people that God would not spare them for the greatnesse of their iniquitie no though Noah Iob and Daniel were amongst them yet alwaies this exception is added and carefully recorded by the Spirit of God That they to wit Noah Iob and Daniel being amongst them Should yet deliver their owne soules by their right eousnesse And againe They only shal be delivered themselves but the land shall be wast So the point is most cleere from the Lords owne warrant Let us now consider the reasons of it to strengthen us yet further against the time of temptation A principall cause hereof is The Lords most fatherly and tender love towards these That howsoever they are unto the world men most odious and monstrous for that they will not run with the rest to the same excesse as the Apostle Peter speakes and because they by their holy profession and carriage condemne the world as Noah did in his age by his preaching and living and making of the Arke yet are they unto the Lord as deere as the apple of his owne eye That he cannot possibly forget them wheresoever they be dispersed and howsoever No though it were possible for the mother to beâ—so unnaturall as to forget the childe of her wombe yet he cannot forget these They are graven on the palmes of his hands and are ever in his sight His mercy is about them in the greatest distresses as a wall of fire to fence them and to consume all contrary violence so farre as he seeth best And as chariots of fire to carry them safe out of all such dangers yea to save and deliver them in the midst of the fire and in the midst of the water And therefore when the day of the Lords vengeance commeth those who formerly thought on his name and spake to keep others from the wickednes of the times are taught to comfort themselves herein because they are written in the booke of his remembrances as Malachi speaketh They are indeed the Lords true flock then will he declare it openly sparing tendering theÌ„ as a father doth his own son in whoÌ„ he is delighted that men may oftentimes plainly discerne betweene the righteous and betweene the wicked betweene him that serveth God and him that serveth him not as we saw in all the former destructions And finally for their sakes It is why he spares a sinfull nation so long But if they be once forth the rest can looke for nothing but fearefull execution of vengeance for then he bids Smite and spare none as followeth But heere It will be said If this be so How commeth it to passe that many of the godly doe so oft feele the smart of such calamities as well as the rest As it is very cleare That many of the deare servants of God were caried away in this and the former captivity as well as others even many of those who were marked as we heard before That the Prophet himselfe was carried away in the former captivitie as also Daniel and his companions with many other and so were partakers of the common miseries of the captivitie with the rest It is likewise very probable that sundry of them died by the sword of the enemie and some by other calamities And on the other side It is certaine that many of the wicked escaped amongst the godly It may be therefore demanded what this marking did then stand the godly insteed or what they were better for it To this it may be answered First That this is very true that many of the godly doe often feele the smart of such generall judgements And that most justly for sundry causes for which God threatneth his wont to correct his deerest seruants As either for their former securitie or else for seeking their peace carnally by fashioning themselves unto the evill times as the greatest part is wont to doe ever so far as possibly they may not falling utterly from God Or for that they have not mourned for the abominations of the rest Or in that they have not bene so instant with the Lord for pacifying his wrath and turning away the judgment as they ought Or for neglecting their duties of Magistracie ministrie government in their families or at least of admonition exhortation or example for saving the rest and staying the course of sinne Or finally for that they have not beene so faithfull in all things in their places callings as they should or for some other their scandalous sins or sinnes against conscience whereby they have provoked the Lord against them for he useth to correct such and other sinnes like to these in his owne servants by heavy and sharpe temporall scourges and sometimes by death it selfe
Thus he shewred his displeasure against good Iosiah for thrusting himselfe into battell without warrant And against Moses for not sanctifying the Lord at the waters of strife Among the Corinthians also for their unreverent receiving the Lords supper And thus may he suffer his owne deerest servants to endure the common calamities with the rest at such times either for a just correction of their former sinnes as hath beene shewed or only for the tryall of their faith and constancy or for an exercise of their faith and repentance and to make them more fervent in praier or to further their sanctification to conforme them more more to Christ or it may be to increase the vengeance against the enemies through their cruelty against them or some other like cause as we shall see more after Yet neverthelesse The marking teacheth us thus much That though such goe into Captivity yet there the Lord will be with them his holy hand will there be over them as a buckler There he will so protect them that he will turne all the evils that come unto them still to doe them good He will thereby further their salvation and increase their glory in the heavens And when they are killed all the day long and accounted as sheepe for the slaughter yet in all that which they indure they are more then conquerours thorough him who hath loved them He chastiseth them thereby to make them to walke more holily and more humbly in his presence and so teacheth them more sound obedience by the things which they suffer then ever they learned in all their lives before that they shall in time acknowledge that to have beene the best schoole that ever they came into By this fire he fineth them from much of the drosse of their sinnes and corruptions and specially of their unbeleife to make them to come forth more pure then the gold For First he at such times taking from them the meanes and staies that they were wont to leane upon in their prosperitie maketh them to see their carnall and vaine confidence upon what propts they formerly relied and what unbeleife is in their hearts And then raysing up for them such meanes as they never knew as he did for his people Israel in the wildernesse and in other their distresses he teacheth them to looke up higher then to earthly meanes even to his owne heavenly hand to depend upon him for all and to give him all the glory making him their only stay and comfort At such times in the very greatest extremities he hath ever beene wont to reveale himselfe far more familiarly to his in the gratious works of his fatherly providence and extraordinary favours then ever in former time and that even outwardly in things belonging to the necessity comforts of this life But above all for the inward comforts of his Spirit supporting and chearing up the hearts of all his elect they ordinarily finde them more true and heavenly joy with certaine assurance of Gods favour and love in Christ then ever they felt before And heereby doth he most fully manifest to the very enimies their faith in his promises their patiēce hope obedience love to his Majestie and what they are ready to suffer for his name Heereby he is wont also to kindle in his people a greater fervency in prayer smitting them to the end to prepare their hearts thereby that he may incline his eare unto their cries To make them able in all things to give thanks and to rejoyce in their most grievous afflictions and so to be able to sing with a holy melody when the fetters are about their feet He waines them from the earth and makes them long after the heavens to be ever in his presence where all teares being wiped away is fulnesse of joy for ever more He then also useth these his poore servants as a special meanes of the conversion saving of the rest of his elect and in these to reserve a holy seed by which to renew and in large his Church againe And which is well worthy our carefull observation Some who could never attaine to any grace at all under the best meanes in the daies of their prosperity but did run riot as the prodigall sonne being most rebellious against the Lord and his word yet when he hath brought them into the fetters and chaines of afflictions then have they set themselves to seeke him and then the word which before they despised hath begun to worke in them to life A notable president of his mercy herein he hath caused to be registred in his Booke for all posteritie even in Manasseh who though he had so good a father as that worthy Ezechiah and was so vertuously brought up yea and had seene his fathers reformation yet as the Holy Ghost saith he went backe and builded up that iniquitie which his father had destroyed He never had grace to bethinke himselfe nor to hearken to the word of the Lord untill he brought upon him the Captaines of the hoast of the King of Asshur who put him in fetters bound him in chaines and caried him to Babel But when he was in tribulation he began to seeke unto the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his fathers and so God was intreated of him heard his prayer and brought him againe into Ierusalem into his Kingdome Then saith the Holy Ghost Manasseh knew that the Lord was God and then he destroyed all the Idolatry and abhominations which he had bin the cause of and restored that religion which he had before defaced And to shut up all By these the Lord doth exceedingly advance his owne glory in the midst of his enemies as here he did by Daniel and his companions and makes himselfe and his truth evidently knowne by their constancie and leaves the wicked enemies the more without excuse As for those whom he takes away by death in such times their death is unto them but as the gate of life It is a finall deliverance from all their sinnes and from all feare of every kinde of enemie and miserie It is unto them a more speedie entrance into the full possession of their fathers joy and of their glorious inheritance than otherwise nature would have afforded them And thus much for the godly which goe into Captivitie or fall by the sword or endure any calamitie with the rest what the marking avayleth them how happy their estate is whatsoever come to passe But on the other side for the wicked who in such generall calamities escape the sword or the like cruell death it is cleane contrary with them For the Lords anger revenging hand ever followeth them whithersoever they goe untill they be destroyed from off the face of the earth All these miseries are but the beginnings of the powring out of the viols of Gods wrath upon them to the increase
of their torment and their fearefull expectation of further vengeance Their calamities which they endure are nothing else but preparatives and fore-runners of the damnation of hell Hereby they also become more senselesse and impenitent they waxe more hardned and enraged to murmure and blaspheme against the Lord. And ordinarily they are alwaies chased in their owne consciences as Cain having a sound of feare in their eares the worme beginning to gnaw and their sinne to sting them to the very hearts and consequently to become runnegates to the grave and to eternall confusion Or let the best be supposed that ever can befall any of them they are but in a lethargie or sleepie sicknesse without sense untill the vengeance of God light wholly upon them to send them to the place of their destruction where they shall never finde any rest after But for their wretched estate we shall see it further in another place And thus we may behold the estate of all both good and bad in such generall calamities Now who is there that beleeves the word of the Lord whom the due consideration of this one point alone must not needs drive to watching and prayer and to cause him to seeke to be prepared aforehand in these dayes of our peace that he may be thus undoubtedly marked and under this protection yea that he may be thus hid in the evill day and finde all the comforts belonging to the godly and that he may be sure to escape those certaine and dreadfull miseries of the wicked what judgements soever it shall please him to exercise us withall for A wise man as Salomon saith foreseeth the plague and hideth himselfe but a foole goeth on still and is punished This therefore may serve as a first cause to enforce us all to betake our selves more instantly to watching and prayer then ever we have done if we would be so marked as to finde the Lord to be a Sanctuarie and a hiding place unto us in the evill day how soone soever he shall bring it upon us for all our sinnes and provocations and in the meane time to get boldnesse thereby and peace of conscience against all assaults whatsoever And more also unlesse we will strip our selves wilfully of his most gratious providence and protection and desperately expose our selves and all ours to all kinde of miserie and unhappinesse both in this life present and that which is to come If any shall demand further what this marke was we must remember That this Vision was given according to the capacitie of man to shew this unto the Prophet that he might make it knowne to all sorts what care the Lord hath for his faithfull ones in the greatest confusions and when they seeme to be utterly neglected and forgotten and to this end he hath caused it to be written for us This moreover seemeth evidently to be an allusion to the custome of men who use to set a marke on such things as they have a speciall care to preserve heedfully Or rather an alluding to the marking of the houses of his owne people in Egypt with the bloud of the Lambe that the destroying Angell might not touch any of them when he destroyed the Egyptians Or else at least to the marking of Rahabs house in the Citie of Iericho before the destruction came for the saving her selfe and hers But if it be demanded whether they had not indeed some speciall marke of difference to be discerned from the rest we may answer truly That there is no question but they were marked indeed both inwardly and outwardly Inwardly by the bloud of Christ sprinkling them and by the Spirit sanctifying them making them to cry Abba oh Father Outwardly by a bold and constant outward profession of the truth of God in word and deed and more specially by mourning and crying out for all the abominations which were practised daily to anger the Lord as followeth after But this is not that marking here spoken of much lesse is it any marking with any outward marke or signe as some doe vainely and very fondly conceit but only to make them sure that they might be preserved from the destroyer The words signifying nothing else but marke them with a marke or signe them with a signe That is marke them surely and carefully doubling the word according to the manner of the Hebrew phrase And thus much also shortly for answering those doubts Now to our next cause which every soule hath to watch and to pray CHAP. VIII The propertie of the godly living amongst the wicked in a sinfull age is To sigh and cry for the abominations and tokens of Gods anger So what cause all Gods servants have to watch and pray for the fewnesse of such and to labour to be of that litle number TO proceed to a sixt cause which yet more neerely concerns ech of us cals on us all to watchfulnes and prayer We are all who desire to finde true assurance and comfort to consider who and what ones these servants of God are which are thus marked They are described in these words which sigh and cry for all the abominations They were those who were so far off from framing themselves to the wickednesse of that evill time as that they contrarily abhorred with a vehement indignation all those sinnes whereby Gods anger was so kindled and their destruction hastned so fast Insomuch as that thereby they did not onely mourne in themselves in secret but being inforced with a zeale of Gods glory and indignation against all the abominations cryed out against them according to their places and callings and sighed in secret for mercy and redresse Here we must observe The Lord setting before our eyes the condition of the true children of God living in evill times and amongst a people voyde of the sense of sinne and of the feare of Gods judgements That their manner is not to approve of the wicked wayes of the ungodly much lesse to sooth and flatter them in their evill courses nor to give over themselves to any jollitie or carnall delights as others doe but they use to have continually much heavinesse in themselves sighing for the grievous sinnes which are committed An example hereof the Lord hath set forth to all posteritie in holy Lot who living amongst the filthy Sodomites was thus grieved with their ungodly conversation for so saith the holy Apostle Peter That he being righteous and dwelling among them in hearing and seeing vexed his righteous soule from day to day with their unrighteous deeds He was so disquieted with their beastly manners provoking the Lords most holy eyes that his whole life for the time that he dwelt amongst them was but wearinesse and a continuall mourning This holy man the Lord would have set forth as an example to all succeeding ages to shew the condition of all his true and faithfull servants living amongst wicked and ungodly men To
Lord howsoever it shall please him to visit us Give me leave therefore if it were to digresse a little to turne my speech to speake to your soules and consciences for the confirming and strengthening of all our hearts who are such The Lord heere sets before your faces the care which he hath for you You are surely sealed whatsoever plagues he shall smite the earth withall whether you be rulers from the greatest to the meanest to begin with you If your consciences beare you witnesse that your hearts are set to advance Gods true religion and all prety and by all holy meanes to suppresse iniquity and so to turne away the judgements threatned And much more also if to this end you study to procure what good you can to the Church of Christ. If you mourne with Ezra for the grievous transgressions of the people for defiling themselves with the abominations of other nations and especially with Popery Atheisme and all irreligious licenciousnes Of if that your hearts do melt with holy Iosiah for the former and present provocations and to see how the word of the Lord is despised If you use to lament and sigh in beholding the intollerable frowardnesse of men against the Lord that they cannot be brought to submit themselues to his glorious Gospell and in observing such a strange turning backe of many of our people in their hearts as who will needs returne into Egypt and Sodome againe and so strive to provoke the Lord yet more therby and by all other their sinnes And if moreover in seeing that you cannot doe that good that you would in reforming the evils you are not only daily humbled before the Lord upon your faces privately but doe also shew your griefe openly in your places as occasion is offered as this is an euident demonstration of your unfeigned religion before the world so it is a most strong bulwark to your own soules against all feare of the miseries that can any way come upon us Or secondly If you be those that succeed in the place of the Prophets being set to watch over and to warne the people committed to you thereby to turne away the plagues which are tiying upon them and doe finde in your selves the affections of Ieremie in heavinesse and lamentation when you see your paines to doe so litle good that you people generally grow rather worse and worse that you labour in vaine spend you strength in vaine and for nothing as Esay complaineth that although the bellowes be burnt yet you melt but in vaine the wickednesse is not taken away so that you may seeme to have just cause to deeme them to be but reprobate silver and such as the Lord hath weighed as Ieremie bewayleth them in his time this may comfort you that you are of this number that are marked And if furthermore for this cause you find your life to be a wearines that with Paul you have a continual sorrow in your hearts for your people and that you could be content to indure any miserie for them to save them from the Lords wrath this is a demonstration that the same spirit of Paul resteth upon you And yet further also to comfort you If you be such as are so far off from serving the time or flattering them to whom you are sent in crying peace peace That you have set your selves in all faithfulnesse to discover their iniquities and to cry out against all their sinnes and that no feare can stop your mouth from doing your duties in your places this testimonie of your consciences shall be as a strong brazen wall unto you whatsoever shall come to passe And to speake generally If you be private Christians as Lot and these mourners here marked and in steed of having a confederacie with the wicked in their evill wayes you finde your selves vexed every day for the evils which you heare and see it may minister unto you much assurance and heavenly consolation And more specially if your hearts be troubled for these dreadfull sinnes As first for our monstrous unthankfulnesse for the Gospell with all our blessings accompanying it and for that we are most of us so weary in living in obedience unto it and so many on the other side ready to live rather under that slaverie of Antichrist or service of sinne and Sathan Or secondly If you feele your soules continually grieved in beholding how many of us there are which make a profession of the Gospell in word yet denie utterly all power of it in our lives And withall how ready many amongst us who have heretofore made conscience of our wayes are now to joyne hands and run to all excesse with the Atheist and with every profane and filthy person And if aboue all this your hearts beare you witnesse that you strive to keepe your selves unspotted in this last and sinfull generation and neither by Schisme run forth of the Church and communion of the Saints so condemning the generation of his children on the one hand nor leave your places and callings so long as with a good conscience you can enjoy them to cast your selves upon the rocks of innumerable evils neither yet on the other hand to decline to the coldnesse hypocrisie and loosenesse of the time this shall be your comfort perpetually And yet to proceed a litle further If you thus staying your selves from these extremes doe use to speake every one to his neighbour as the godly did in Malachies dayes to incourage one another to walke more heedfully and cheerefully in the wayes of the Lord ech in his ranke and within the bounds of his calling this shall be your witnesse before the Lord. Or finally If yet now at least at the view of our transgressions which follow the Lords threatnings against us you can feele your hearts so affected as those mourners and set to continue so to walke with your God then this shall be unto you a gratious assurance that you are indeed the Lords owne servants as these mourners were The same Spirit of the Lord resteth upon you you are surely sealed therewith and singled out for his Majestie His care is as well for you as ever it was for Noah Lot Eliah or any of these mourners for he is still the same to all who tread in their steps his compassions faile not This is written now to comfort you Heaven and earth shall passe but not one jot or title of his word untill every thing be accomplished He may sooner breake his covenant concerning the day and the night than he can with you The hills may sooner remove out of their places than his mercy can from you Let none of your hearts therefore faint who have this witnesse that you indevour hereunto But come whatsoever will God will provide such a deliverance for you if he see it good Or if he send you into Captivitie yet he
will there lead you his Angels shall conduct you his Spirit shall support you with joy unspeakable even in the midst of all your tryals untill that your testimonie be fulfilled your warfare accomplished and the crowne of glory set upon your heads you are written upon the palmes of his hands that you shall be ever in his sight And if he let you be taken away by death among the rest yet even death shall be unto you the greatest advantage It shall make an end of all your miseries that you shall not so much as see the evils to come Then will the Lord turne all your sorrowes and feares into abundant joyes and securitie giving you the reward of all your labours and whatsoever else you have hoped and longed after Then shall you finde the fulnesse of those joyes which never eye saw nor ever eare heard nor yet entred into mans heart to consider of And this shall you injoy in his glorious presence with all his blessed Angels and Saints with whom yee shall reigne for evermore But as for all the rest of wicked scoffers and profane contemners of the Lord and of all his mercifull fore-warnings if he in his justice should leave us up to such a judgement to be executed on us through the hellish devices of that bloudie Antichrist whose rage and furie still increaseth as our deliverances and prosperitie have done then must you all know from him be you Atheists Papists belly-gods worldlings that you must looke for your portion to be all alike that shift or flie whither soever you will yee shall never be able to flie from his vengeance Though you could dig to hell as the Prophet Amos speaketh yet his hand should fetch you thence although you could climbe up to heau'n yet thence also he would bring you downe yea though you could hide your selves in the most secret caves among the rocks yet even there should his vengeance finde you out and flying to the uttermost parts of the earth he will still there command the sword the pestilence and famine to pursue you with terrour of heart trembling of conscience untill you be destroyed from the face of the earth The Lord will ever set his face against you for evill and not for good and this is that that you must certainely expect And even for you likewise that thinke you shall doe well enough because you have beene knowne to be so devoted to the Catholike religion as you terme it and to suffer for it doe not imagine your cause shall be any thing the better for this If you beare false hearts to the Lords annointed and to your native country how can you looke that vengeance shall suffer you to live Or can you perswade your selves that a forreine enemie prevailing which evill the Lord still deliver us from should ever trust you whom they found so false to your Prince and countrey Be it so yet if you be knowne to be such as have any wealth if the Lord should for all our provocations permit such a day as they have long looked for have we not just cause to conceive that Papist and Protestant should be all alike and that tho all such should proclaime at each market crosse that they are Catholiques yet that there goods would be the goods of Hugonotes as it was at the French massacre in Paris would not then all such be made Puritanes of the Parliament house the desperatest ding-thrifts and sharpest swords slashing downe and carying all away And although the Lord shall still at the intercession of his most faithful and deere servants as sometimes of Abraham Moses Samuel these mourners preserve us from the bloudy hands of our deadly and most cruell enemies and from ever comming under the Babilonish yoake againe which we ever beg and cry for yet the estate of all you that are the provokers of his Majestie and grievers of his people by your horrible sinnes shall be nothing the better At death a heavier captivitie shall fall upon you when you shall be bound in everlasting chaines of darknesse and reserved unto the judgement of the great day to be tormented for evermore And thus if your sleepie hearts come once to be throughly awaked you shall be sure to live in continuall expectation of vengeance being chased of your owne wicked consciences as 〈◊〉 untill the Lords most just decree be accomplished upon you Then you that could not once sigh or cry to God at all for the abominations and dishonors done unto his Majestie or in fearing his anger but thought this foolishnesse shall have cause inough to call and cry continually in feeling and fearing his most just and heavie indignation with all his fierce plagues due unto you everlastingly But of this we shall speake yet more when we come to the severall miseries which they indured in the Captivitie And thus much may serve for the estate both of the godly mourning for all the abominations and for the rest It may suffice likewise for another most just cause to drive us to watching and prayer with continuall mourning seeing onely the mourners are commanded to be marked to be preserved from the vengeance to come and these are they principally that stay the judgement from rushing upon us at least untill they be so marked and made safe But alas have we not here a new cause to take up a dolefull complaint for the want hereof Where are they who lament for the abominations which we have received from all forreine Nations and wherewith we have so polluted our profession as after will appeare Where are those whose hearts melt to thinke how the law of God is troden under foote and his judgements hastned daily by all our provocations What is become of Moses Samuel Ieremie Paul and of that continuall heavinesse which they were in for the obstinacie of the people Where are the two Prophets prophesiâ—ng after the manner of mourners for the prevayling of that Antichrist and the delusions of Gods people That zeale of Lot for all our unlawfull deeds Are we not come very generally to cry Peace peace and all is well desiring to be at ease as they who trusted in the mountaine of Samaria of whom Amos speaketh and those who cryed the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord Are we not become I meane exceeding 〈◊〉 of us as they who said The Lord will neither doe good nor evill Doe not our lives proclaime it Or as those that spake against Ieremie to â—ull themselves and all others still asleepe saying we shall neither see sword nor famine In a word Is it not with us for the most part as with them that lived immediately before the floud and before the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha Doe we not eat and drinke marrie and give in marriage as they every man giving up himselfe to follow his owne way and for his owne advantage never regarding
our Noahs building the Arke and calling all to enter nor our Lots mourning crying to all Good brethren deale not so wickedly Doe we not daily increase in our senselesnesse and still more harden our selves against all warnings signes and tokens untill the floud-gates of heaven be open and the vengeance of God come powring downe And to goe yet one step higher and to adde this one demand more Are not very many amongst us come to that height of impietie to scorne and to abuse by all meanes all those that mourne for the evils and who will not run with us to all excesse of ungodlinesse And if any doe ever reprove such though in the griefe of their hearts with the greatest love and reverence are they not ready to say as those unto Lot Hence who made thee a Ruler and a Iudge so to thrust them away with all disgrace Or which is yet worse if worse may be Is not this too common in very many places to use them as Ieremie was used to load such with all opprobrious slanders as tho they were the vilest men that could live upon the earth and those that seeke not the good of the Land but the hurt and as if indeed there were none to be hated but they be they never so peaceable and obedient And finally are they not made such in many places as Ieremie saith of himselfe whom every bodie curseth though they have neither given nor taken upon usurie but lived without ofâ—ence or intermedling in the world Nay although they be such persons whom all the world cannot touch except for such infirmities as are incident to all the sonnes of Adam or the matters of their God as Daniâ—l was Doe we not thus adde to the increase of their sorrowes to kindle more the Lords anger for the injuries done unto them and by seeking to drive them out from amongst us or at least to cause them to cease crying to the Lord for us Which unkindnesse he can no way indure sith these I meane who make conscience of all his commandements are the deerest unto him of all the people of the earth and the onely preservers of the rest so long as they remaine amongst us And thus much shall serve for this in like manner what cause we have to watch and pray yea to tremble and cry for the small remainder of our mourners and also to the end that we our selves may be found to be of the number of them so to helpe to appease the wrath or so to escape in the evill day CHAP. IX The enemies by which the Lord threatneth or afflicteth his Church are his souldiers and what cause we have to give our selves to watching and prayer for the increase of them in number pride and malice IT remaineth now that we shall come to shew the abominations for the which the godly so sighed cryed what and how great they were But the handling thereof may be more profitably reserved unto the sixt verse where the Holy Ghost sets downe how fierce his wrath was and how grievous the plagues were which the Lord threatneth to inflict upon them that by the greatnes of the vengeance we may better consider the heynousnesse of the abominations Having therefore thus finished this first Commission which was to the marking Angell for the preservation of all the godly we will come to the second commission given to the destroying Angels how they should deale with all the rest conteyned in these words following Vers. 5. And to the other he said in my hearing Goe yee after him thorow the Citie and smite Let not your eye spare neither have pitie sâ—ay utterly olde and young c. Here the Lord delivering this Commission aloud and bidding these destroying Angels to goe and smite to spare none will have us all to consider this well That the enemies by which his Church is afflicted as the Babylonian here meant to whom he said Goe yee after him thorough the Citie and smite are the Lords soldiers They come not nor fight of themselves alone but at his comand they fight also his battels though they know not so much nor purpose any such matter but doe it in the pride and malice of their hearts No point is more necessarie for us to know becasue in the plots and conspiracies of wicked enemies and in all the rage against the Church of God it is so rare a thing for any man to looke at the Lord and how he sends and orders all but every man almost useth still to looke onely at the hand of the enemie Neither is any truth more cleerely set forth in the booke of God We will content our selves with two or three places which are past all exception in which he hath of purpose taught this point most fully First we may begin with the former great Captivitie of Israel of the Ten Tribes caried captive into Assyria by Salmanazar which was a good space before this captivitie of Iudah The Holy Ghost saith that the Lord in his wrath sent upon them the King of Asshur to destroy them Whom the Prophet â—say in speaking of both the Captivities joyntly and the like instruments and reasons of both calleth the rod of Gods wrath because he had in his wrath prepared the Assyrian as his rod to whip both Israel and Iudah for their rebellion He termes also their staffe meaning the weapons in their hands his indignation because all their weapons were cheifly prepared to execute his most fierce indignation He calls them moreover the Lords axe whereby he cut downe the Nations All were the Lords instruments He sent these Assyrians and gave them the charge to spoile and trample under foote the rebellious Israelites as the mire in the streets But did the proud Assyrian know thus much how God used him as his soldier or did he purpose in it to execute Gods wrath and his terrible judgement No saith the Lord he thinketh not so neither doth his heart esteeme it so as to avenge my quarrell but he imagineth to destroy not a few nations that is All that he doth he doth in pride and malice of his owne wicked heart and by his owne strength as he foolishly thinketh Therefore the Lord saith plainely That when he had used him as his rod to correct his people first Samaria and then Ierusalem first Israel and after Iudah that he would surely burne the rod in the fire He would visit the proud heart of the King of Asshur and bring downe his proud lookes and as a fire in his vengeance consume him utterly And secondly for Manasseh the sonne of that worthy Hezechiah when he went backe from the good wayes of his father and set up againe all the abominations that his father had taken away and had also destroyed that pietie and religion which his good father had so laboured to build up and finally when he caused his people to doe worse
the glory was theirs 2 Sam 4. 22. The covenant The giving of the law The worship theirs The promises The Father 's theirs Acts 3. 25. Of them Christ came The Lord had so miraculously preserved them as all thought Ierusalem coulâ— never have beene invaded â—aâ— 4. 12. The Iewes if ever any had causes to secure themselues in regard of their prerogatiues Yet comming to a height of impiety Deut 28. 58. 63. There is no further remedy but destroyers must come 2 King 23 31. 32. 33. Their miseries begin within three moneths after Iosiahs death 2 King 23. 35. Bâ—t ceased not tiâ—l the desolaâ—on accomplished 2 King 14. 26. 2 Chron. 36. 10. 2 Chr. 36. 12. 13. The causes of the captivitie not the sinnes of a few yeeres but many of them committed long before 2 King 21. 15. 16. 2 King 24 3. 4. 21 1â— 20. 2 King 23 26. 2 King 21 17. 2 Cro 34. 27. Our principall prerogatives whereupon we secure our selues And are made unthankfull Answer to our securing upon our prerogatives Iudah in the beginning of her miseries nothing inferiour to us in such prerogatives They had that holy King Iosiah Puritie of Religion 2 King 23. 3 4 5 6. 12. 24 25. All abominations reformed Worthy Teachers according to that time Many good people Isai 8. 18. Dan 1. 3 4 5. Isai 8. 18. All open Idolatry and the monuments thereof taken away 2 Chron 34. 33. 2 King 23. 1 2 3. 25. Iâ—siah had peace with all about him 2 Chron 35. 20 21 22. Iudahs security then in regard of their Prince and princely progenie 2 King 23. 25. Lament 4. 20. 2 King 23. 24. Miraculous preservation The Gospell contemned can be no freedome from a temporall scourge Witnesse temporall judgements on sundry Churches and Nations Apoc 2. 5 10 12 13 2. 10 16. 2. Our neerenesse to such scourges besides what we have felt 3. That we have had all the fore-runners of it 4. The implacable malice of enemies with all the subâ—leties of hell 5. We cannot be more secured that our land is as yet purged of the Idolatry and blood of his servants than Ierusalem in Iosiahs dayes 2 King 21. 15 16. God purposing to remaine with us must needes deale as a kind father to bring us to obedience Rom 1â— 21. 1 Cor 10. 11. This our lesson now Other prerogatives more increaseth the wrath as the Gospell for our denying the power of it Tit. 1. 16. 2 Sam 12. 14. Isai 52. 5. 59. 15. Ier 15. 10. 20. 7 8. As the grace of a Prince abused Rom 2. 24. The removing of our Candlesticke the heaviest judgment Conclusion Maâ— 11. 21 22 23. The Lord hath ever a speciall care of his in the greatest coÌ„fusions 1. At the stood Gâ—n 11. 16. Hebr 11. 7. 2. At Sodomes destruction Gen 19. 16. 17. 22. 2 Pet 2. 7 8. 3. Before this destruction Ieremie sundry of those who favoured him Ier 40. 2 3 4. as Ebedmelech Ier 38. 8. to 13. Ier 39. 16 17 18. Gedaliah Ier 39. 24. 48. 5. 26. 24. Baruch Ierem. 45. 5. Daniel and his companions Dan 1. 3 4. 6. 7. â— 5 6 9. 13 15 17. Dan 3 27. Dan 1. 8. 6. 22. So to Ezekiel sundry others The Christians before the last destruction of Ierusalem For assurance hereof we have the Lords promise direction Isai 8. 11 12 13. How to behave our selves in such times as that we may be sure to have the Lord a Sanctuary to us in all places Iâ—zech 11. 14. 16. Obserue how the godly are excepted in the greatest denunciation of vengeance Ezek 24. 14. 16. 18 20. Isa 8. 18. 1 Pet. 4. 4. Zach. 2. 8. Isay. 44. 14 15 16. Isa 43. 1. 3. Mal 3. 16 17 18. Iob 22. 30. Objection The godly oft feele the smart of such calamities aswell as the rest Answ Why the Lord oft lets his feele the smart with the rest Apoc 1 2. 4 5. 15 16 20 3. 19. 2 Chro 35. 21 22. Num 20. 12. 1 Cor 11. 30. Apoc 3. 14. What the marking profits Gods â—eâ—uants suffering with the rest Isay 4â— 12 3. 41. 8. 9 10. Rom 8. 28. Rom 8. 36 37. Heb 5 8. Psal. 10. 1â— Psal. 107. â— 6. 11 12 13. 17 18. 19. 1 Thes 5. 16. 17 18. Acts 16 24. 25. 26. 19. Esai 6. end God hereby workes grace in some who could never be moved by other meanes 2 Chro 33. 1. 2. 3. ver 20. 11. 12. The state of the godly whom God takes away at such times State of the wicked in such calamities Amâ—s 9. 4. Conclusion Prov. 22. 3. What the mark was wherewith the godly were marked Exo. 12. 22 23. Iosh. 2. 18. Quest. They were marked both inwardly and outwardly What yâ— words signifie Ezech 9. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who are they yâ— are marked viz. the mourners The condition of Gods children living amongst the wicked to mourne cry for all the abominations As Lot 2 Pet 2. 7. Ieremie Ier 9. 1 2 3. Moses Ezra Ezra 9. 1 10. 6. 9. 2. 10. 9. Iosiah 2 King 22. 11. vâ—rs 19. 13. 2 King 22. 19 20. Our Saviour 〈◊〉 19. 41 42 43. Paul Rom 9. 3. The two Prophets in the dayes of Antichrist Apoc. 11. 3. The godly wont not only to sigh but to cry out for the abominations of the wicked according to their calling as Esay Ieremie Ezekiel Esa. 58. 1. Iohn Baptist. Matth. 3. 7. Our Saviour Matth. 23. Mat. 21. 45 46. Ioh. 7. 7. Lot a private man Gen. 19. 6 7. The Martyrs Confessors The godly have bin wont also to cry to God in such times Ier. 7. 16. 11. 11. 14. 11. Psal. 106. 23. 1 Sam. 7. 8 9 10. Reasons why the godly so sigh and cry for all the abominations Hating that with God hateth That they cannot indure the dishonours done to him The spirit of zeale in them Ioh 2. 17. Because of Sathan set up in Christs throne For that they are otherwise guiltie of the same sins 1 Cor 5. 2. 2 Cor 7. 11. For that for one notorious sinner unpunished all yâ— place is in danger of Gods wrath Evident in the law of inquisition for murder Dew 21 1 2 3 4 c. vers 8. vers 9. Num 35. 33 3â— God is more severe with his Church than any other Numb 35. 34. Exod 32 33. Leâ—â—â— 10. 3. Lev 18. 24 25 27 28. Lev 20 22 23 26. Every notorious sin defileth the Land to make it spue out the inhabitaÌ„ts as Canaaâ— The sinne of some few may indanger all As for the golden calfe The feare of Israel at the erecting the Altar of witnesse Ios 22. 18. vâ—r 28. The vengeance on Gibea and all the Tribes of Benjamin Iudg 19. 25. 20. 13 14. On Iabesh Gilead for not helping to avenge the vvickednesse Iudg 21. 4. The very sinne of one alone may indanger all as Achans Iâ—sh