ONE HUNDRED SELECT SERMONS UPON SEVERAL TEXTS FIFTY upon the OLD TESTAMENT And FIFTY on the NEW By the Reverend and Learned THO. HORTON D.D. late Minister of Great St. Hellens London Left perfected for the press under his own hand Hebr. 11.4 He being dead yet speaks 2 Thes 2.5 Remember ye not when I was yet with you I told you of these things Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them LONDON Printed for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel MDCLXXIX To the Reader Chirstian Reader OF the Author of these Sermons I may truly say though not in so eminent a degree what St. Paul intimates of himself 2 Cor. 3.1 That he needeth not as some others Epistles of Commendation at leastwise not to those who had the Happiness to Hear or will take the pains to Read his Sermons The person being so well known and his manner of Preaching that they are not likely to receive much advantage by my Recommendation His Birth and first Education was in the City of London He was Son to Mr. Laurence Horton Merchant one of the Company of Mercers The first time I had the opportunity of knowing Him was about the year 1632 when he was fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridg in which Colledg I had the Honour and Happiness of receiving the first of my Academical Education and for some part of it under his Tuition which Colledg had at that time as great a reputation for serious Piety solid Learning and sober Conversation as any House in the University and had as little either of Duncery or Debauchery considering the number of Students in it wherein it was at that time scarce inferior to any as any Colledg there In the year 1637 he was made University-Preacher About the year 1638 he was called back to the City of London to Exercise his Ministry there in St. Mary Cole-Church where I remember to have observed the Reverend and Learned Bishop Brownrigg when in London to be a very frequent if not his Constant Auditor even though he did not lodg in those parts of the Town He was Preacher to the Honorable Society of Grays-Inn admitted also a Member of that Society He removed from the Parish of St. Mary Cole-Church to Great St. Hellens in the same City of London where in the year 1672 3 he finisht his life in the work of the Ministry But what most concerns the present business he was a pious and learned man a hard Student a sound Divine a good Textuary very well skill'd in the Original Languages very well accomplished for the work of a Minister and very conscientious in the discharge of it He made the Ministry his whole Business and as David said of himself on another occasion he did not serve God with that which Cost him nothing being very industrious in his preparations ver sedulous diligent and constant in the Exercise of it and did very rarely unless upon urgent occasions or by some eminent person supply his place by a Deputy He wanted not variety of Learning to embelish and trim up a Sermon if he had so pleased But he contented himself with sound Doctrine Scripture-language and such as might be understood by his Auditory rather than admired as best conducing to perswade men to the practice of those duties he did recommend For matters of Wit though at the first hearing they may please the Ear and tickle the Fancy yet have not that awe upon the Conscience nor make those lasting impressions which sound Doctrine plainly delivered with clear evidence from the word of God is known to do And Sermons so Composed are like to be of more lasting use than others accommodated to what the present Age calls Wit For witty expressions pass for such but while that way of Wit is in fashion but upon a second hearing or when that fashion of Wit alters which alters like that of clothes that which is now thought witty will then seem flat if not unsavory But sound Reason will be sound reason in all Ages and as cogent at the Second and Third reading as at the First And sure that 's the best Rhetorick and perswades most which moves by strength of Argument and plain evidence rather than what depends only on what they call Ornament and a pleasing sound of words and that Langnage is most fit for business which is not either slovenly so as to make it unsavory or affectedly Trimmed so as to divert the mind from the sense of what is said and make it dwell on the words only Two Volumes of his Sermons have already seen the light and been received with good approbation the one upon the whole Eight Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans the other upon some of the Psalms the fourth the two and fortieth the one and fiftieth and the sixty third and we have no cause to think but those of this third Volume being Select Sermons preached on special occasions were penned with as great care as those in his ordinary course of Preaching And there is yet a fourth Volume which I should be glad to see abroad also on the whole Seventeenth Chapter of St. John's Gospel which were Preach'd not long since and by himself revised a little before his death and two other Volumes One Sacramental Sermons and another Funeral In the mean time what is here prepared for thy use if thou read with the same seriousness and consideration with which it was written thou wilt receive the benefit of his labours and of thine own Thine in the Lord JOHN WALLIS Oxon. Sept. 28. 1678. The various Texts and Subjects contained in this Volume of Sermons with the Page directed to The Texts of the Old Testament-Sermons Sermons I. GEn. 28.12 13. Jacobs Ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven Page 1 Sermons II. Deut. 8.18 To remember God is the way to get wealth Page 9 Sermons III. Deut. 11.12 Gods care for his Church and People in all Ages Page 17 Sermons IV. 2 King 5.26 God sees and knows what is in the heart of man Page 24 Sermons V. 2 Chron. 4.10 Jabez Prayer to God for his Blessing Page 30 Sermons VI. 2 Chron. 4.10 Second Sermon on Jabez's Prayer Page 38 Sermons VII Deut. 4.20 Gods Deliverance of Israel out of the Iron Furnace A fifth of November Sermon Page 45 Sermons VIII 1 Sam. 2.9 The Custody of God over his People Page 54 Sermons IX Job 20.11 Sins of Youth cause great sorrows in old Age. Page 64 Sermons X. Job 20.12 13 14. The seeming sweetness and real bitterness of Sin Page 71 Sermons XI Job 1.5 Job 's Care for his Childrens welfare lest they should sin against God Page 77 Sermons XII Job 34.29 When God gives Quietness to a person or people none can give trouble Page 83 Sermons XIII Job 34.29 A second Sermon Page 89 Sermons VIV 2 King 7.2 A peremptory Answer to a
as these seriously think and consider with themselves what we have hitherto treated of and be admonished and advised by it The simple pass on and are punished It is only the Prudent which foresees the evil and hides himself who does escape the Judgment And when we speak here of the Prudent and Simple we may if we please take it here a little narrower than hitherto we have taken it Not only hereby understanding Godly and Ungodly Men the Righteous and the Wicked who do differ toto genere but also as well Christians and Professors of Religion in a different frame and temper of Spirit which is considerable in them There are some Christians which are more watchful and vigilant and circumspect of themselves These are the Wise and Prudent Again There are others which though perhaps they may have some truth of Grace in them and good Principles at the bottom yet are a little more careless and remiss and negligent not so careful as they should be to stir up that good which is in them These may also be called Simple and Foolish And we see here what belongs unto them as the Doom which is past upon them They pass on and are punished That Christian that walks carelesly and securely and does not look to his Watch he does thereby ensnare himself It is not only the lot of those which are absolutely wicked and profane but even of the Servants of God themselves now and then which are not more careful of themselves for their simplicity and security to be punished So I have done with both parts of the Text and with the whole Verse it self SERMON XXXV Esaiah 9.14 Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and Rush in one day Though God considered in himself in his own Blessed Majesty be altogether absolute and unaccomptable and need to give no reason at all of any thing which is done by him his own Will being the best and highest Reason that can possibly be given Yet he is pleased out of his Grace and Goodness so far oftentimes to condescend to the Sons of men as to give them some account of those Actions which are done by him Especially which do any thing more than ordinarily concern themselves as to their suffering from him And this is that which we may observe him to do in this Scripture which we have now before us where intending a great desolution of this People which he had to deal withal the People of Israel and the sending of a sweeping Judgement amongst them He here gives them a reason of so much sharpness and severity to them as proceeding not so much from himself but rather from them not from himself so much as unmercifully disposed towards them or set against them But from themselves rather who had neglected his mercy and goodness to them IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First The Ground or Occasion of the Judgment that 's in the Particle Therefore which relates to that which went before in the 13th Verse the Judgment it self that 's exprest in these words The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail c. We begin with the First of these Parts viz. The Ground or Occasion of the Judgment in the particle Therefore Therefore Wherefore Why namely because this People did not turn unto him that had smitten them neither did seek the Lord of hosts as is exprest in the Verse immediately preceeding Therefore will the Lord do thus and thus with them where the Cause which is here exprest may be conceived to proceed in the way of a threefold Gradation First Of their simple Impiety Secondly Of their Additional Impenitency Thirdly Of their continued Obstinacy There was their Simple Impiety in provoking of God by their sin and miscarriage at first There was their additional Impenitency in that they did not turn from their sin to him that smote them There was their continued Obstinacy in that they would not in all this so much as seek to the Lord of hosts First Here was their Simple Impiety and sinning of theirs against God at first as a Ground and occasion of Gods Judgment to be inflicted upon them This was that which was in the bottom of it Israel had sinned and therefore now Israel was to be punished in reference to their sin This is that which is pertinently to be observed in all proceedings of this nature sin it is the meritorious cause of all punishment and that which lays a ground for it Where ever there is sin there will be Punishment sooner or later And where once there is Punishment there has been sin greater or smaller and so the Scripture still intimates and declares unto us as 1 Cor. 11.30 For this cause many are weak c. There is always a cause and a particular cause of Judgment and his proceeding to Punishment Sin and Punishment they are relatives and have a mutual dependance upon each other And that especially in regard of the Justice which is in God He cannot indure to behold sin and iniquity and therefore must needs punish it and be avenged upon it The wages of sin is Death and God is a true Paymaster who will not withhold their wages from such Persons to whom it is due nor yet on the other side will he give such wages to such Persons to whom it is not due Therefore we should justifie God in all his dealings with us to this purpose when his hand does at any time lye more than ordinarily heavy upon us it is good for us to search our hearts and ways in this particular and to consider how it is with us Gods quarrel is not against our Persons but against our Sins and therefore let us reflect upon them and lay the cause where it is to be laid indeed Why doth a living man complain or man for the Punishment of his Sin Let us search and try our hearts and turn unto the Lord our God as the Prophet Jeremy advises Lam. 3.31 We should for the most part suspect our sins as the causes of any Judgment which is upon us And accordingly look to find out that particular sin which may have more especial influence hereupon But Secondly As here was their Simple Impiety so also their Additional Impenitency as a further Cause of this Judgment Those that sin perhaps at first and so throughly provoke God's anger against themselves yet by Repentance and turning from their sins may happily divert it and appease it But those People here in the Text they did not so they turned not to him that smote them And this made their Judgment to be so much the furer to them than otherwise it would have been Where men repent of sinning God repents of punishing and of that Evil which he thought to bring upon them as we may see in the Ninevites But where they do not he does not neither That Punishment which is slow of it self Impenitence hastens it
begin in order with the first viz. the Persons mentioned those that sigh and cry c. from whence we may observe thus much That such persons there are that do so and it is their duty so to do even to sigh and cry for the abominations all of them that are done in the midst of the City We read of divers in Scripture which have been noted for this disposition in them Thus it is said of just Lot that he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked For that righteous man dwelling amongst them in seeing and hearing vext his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds as it is in 2 Pet. 2.7 8. David he beheld the transgressors and was grieved because they kept not Gods word Psal 119.158 and rivers of water ran down his eyes because they kept not his law in verse 136. of the same Psalm Jeremy his soul wept in secret places for their pride c. Jer. 13.17 And Paul his spirit was stirred in him at Athens when he saw the City to be wholly given to idolatry Acts 17.16 Thus have the Servants of God been still affected with the abominations of the places and people whom they have lived withall and amongst whom they have at any time converst And this it hath proceeded thus in them upon divers and sundry considerations First out of their inward hatred and antipathy even to sin it self The children of God being born again and become new creatures and having grace in their hearts they cannot but abhor any thing which is opposite and contrary hereunto from that new nature and spirit which is in them Look as on the other side wicked men they are troubled at the slourishing of Religion where they see any to improve in goodness and to be any thing more forward in piety their hearts and spirits rise as it were against them and boil in them from the devilish disposition which is in them and hatred even of goodness it self So here those that fear the Lord they are as much troubled at the improvements of sin from that work of Regeneration which is in their hearts Secondly Out of love to God and a tenderness of his honour and glory Where abominations are at any time committed there God is exceedingly dishonour'd his Laws are slighted his Attributes are question'd his Name is blasphem'd Now those that are good themselves they have a great regard hereunto Those that are Gods children they are very jealous of Gods honour as any other children besides are of the honour of their earthly Parents and so accordingly they cannot but grieve when there is any trespass at any time upon it Those that areotherwise they shew but little love and affection which they bear unto him Thirdly Out of respect to themselves and their own advantage The more sin there is abroad the more are all men concerned in it not evil men but good who are from hence in so much the greater danger and that in a twofold respect both as to matter of defilement and of punishment They are more in danger from hence to be polluted and they are more in danger from hence to be afflicted and this makes them to be so much troubled at it First In order to Defilement they are more in danger from hence to be polluted Great and reigning sins and abominations are usually great temptations which do hazard the souls of many persons that converse amongst them and therefore there is cause to be grieved for them What is it that which makes men now so troubled to hear of the spreading of certain sicknesses and diseases Why it is because they think that themselves may haply come to feel them and to be infected with them that which befalls others they think at last it may light upon them And so is it likewise with gracious persons as to spiritual distempers when they hear of such corruptions and wickedness which are abroad in the world they are therefore much afflicted with them because they fear lest they themselves should be any thing defiled from them they are jealous of their own hearts in case of the prevailing of such sins and so do grieve and mourn for and under them And this they do it in order to defilement as being in danger to be polluted Secondly In order also to Punishment as being in danger to be afflicted Common and publick abominations they beget common and publick plagues and judgments which follow thereupon This those that are wise and prudent Christians know and discern well enough Evil men understand not judgment but they that seek the Lord understand all things says Solomon Prov. 28.5 Fools make a mock of sin and those that are wicked and ungodly they are commonly hardned and secure in the midst of the greatest wickednesses that are commited Because they do not suffer for them presently therefore they think they shall not suffer at all Yea but the children of God they are otherwise perswaded they know that sin will sooner or later come to a reckoning and when they see it to increase in the world they foresee the judgments that attend it and therefore tremble at the sight of it as knowing that God is so much the more provoked by it and so will at length proceed to the punishment of it There are two things in the increase of sin and the spreading of more nauseous abominations which to this purpose do very much affect the children and servants of God the one is they are conscious of Gods anger and displeasure in the cause of them And the other is as they are prognosticks of Gods wrath and judgment in the effects First I say as they ar consequents of his anger and displeasure for so they are There is nothing which is more redious to Gods children than the anger and displeasure of God Now reigning abominations they are a symptom and discovery of that they are a sign that God is very much offended with those places and persons where he suffers them and permits them to be in them and gives them up to them We many times make light of it but believe it for any people to be given up to more notorious wickedness is the greatest argument of Gods anger that can be and in that regard a special ground for mercy to those that are good As it is a sign of God's anger against a person to be given up to strong and strange lusts An whore is a deep ditch and he that is abhorred of God shall fall into it so it is a sign of Gods anger against a Nation when he gives them up to more eminent sins and abominations in any kind whatsoever And so there is very great cause to grieve at it But secondly As those raging abominations they are the consequents of Gods anger in the causes of them so they are the Prognosticks of Gods wrath in the effects they do as good as foretell some judgment ere long to be brought upon
with thee to know it and how durst thou then to deny it There 's each of thesein it First This Question of Elisha it is an expostulation with him as to his Fact went not mine Heart with thee And how durst thou to do it whilst thou couldst not but know that I my self looked upon thee and was observing of thee As Joseph sometime to his Brethren Did ye not know that such a man as I could certainly Divine Gen. 44.15 So Elisha here to his servant Didst thou not know that such a man as I could certainly discern that I could understand what thou wert doing and going about And could'st thou then think to lie hid whil'st thou servest such a master Who was it that healed the waters of Jericho was it not I Who was it that commanded the Bears out of the Forest for the slaughter of the scoffing children was it not I Who was it that rais'd the Shunamites child wa st not thou with me then And could I do all these things and thou know and understand that I could do them and yet couldest thou think or imagine that I could be Ignorant of thy wicked Haunt or durst thou venture upon such an Attempt even under mine Eye This is the force of these words here before us Now there are divers points which are here observable from them First of all we see here that a great cause of many men's Sinning and allowing themselves in evil Courses is because they conceit they lie hid and are unknown and undiscern'd in them by those Especially who have the Goverment of them Their Parents and Masters and Ministers and such as these This is here supposed and taken for granted in this Question of Elisha to Gehazi Went not my Heart with thee as who should say if thou hadst beheld this thou wouldest never have done that which thou didst thy hope of Secresy gave occasion to thy Presumptious Attempt and so it does to many others besides abroad in the World They never durst do what they do if they thought they were observ'd in doing it They durst not Theive nor Cheat nor Whore nor mispend their time in Lude and Villanous company as by Experience too often they do if they thought that others knew of them or that the Heart of those which are their Governours went along with them Therefore it is good for men in such cases to suppose such as are present before them As the Heathen Oracle gives that Rule whereby to keep men in order by considering that such men as Cato and Scipio looked upon them Where all Modesty and Ingenuity is not lost there is a great restraint upon some mens ways from such and such Persons beholding them That 's the first Observation Secondly Observe also this That the Presence of Man does commonly more affect men in Sinning then the presence of God This we gather from the Nature of the Prophet Elisha's Argument to his Servant Gehazi Where he does not say to him did not God see thee was not the Eye of the Lord upon thee But did not I my self see thee And did not mine Heart go along with thee Not but that the other Argument was more Effectual consider'd in it self but it was not so Effectual with this Person Elisha he framed Himself to Gehazi's temper and dealt with him according to that he knew that Gehazi if he could but hide his Wickedness from his Master he never cared for Gods knowing of it therefore he shews him how he was discovered in them And so it is with many more else If they can but keep their Evil practices and Courses from the Knowledg and Acquaintance of men their Friends and Neighbours and Governours and those whom they depend on that 's all they care for whether God know it or no. The Ground hereof is that exceeding Atheisme and Infidelity which abounds in the Heart Because men have not due thoughts and Apprehensions of God himself but think meanly and Scantily of him Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self as God speaks there to that Atheist in Psalmes Psal 50.22 Nay they think him not so much as one of themselves may be in this particular First They do not think him Omniscient and Omni-present That he is one who is privy to all the things which are done by them Thus Job 22.13 How doth God know Can he judge through the dark Clouds So Psal 64.7 They say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it So Ezek. 9.9 The Lord hath forsaken the Earth and seeth not Secondly They do not think him to be Just that he is one who will call them to a Reckoning and Account of what is done by them For men they are sometimes restrain'd by that Authority which is upon them but for God they seem to deny it Thirdly They doe not believe him in his Power and that ability which he hath in him to destroy them and to make a sudden end of them and hence it is they are more in awe of men than they are of Himself The consideration of this point should serve to humble men in this particular and to affect them with grief and amazement What art thou affraid of men and art not thou affraid of God himself Art thou ashamed that thy master should see thee or thy Minister should be acquainted with thy miscarriages and art thou not much more ashamed that the Lord takes notice of thee and beholds thee in all thy ways what a madness and folly is this and how much Atheism at the bottom of it But yet again further Thirdly There is here inclusively an assistance from God c. whiles Elisha sayes Went not mine heart with thee Because as I have formerly shewn in the opening and explaining of the words His heart did no otherwise know it then by Revelation and Instruction from God So that Did not my heart know it is in effect Did not God know it first and so there is this in it That this is enough to confound men in all their secret and hidden abominations That their Practises and Contrivances are discern'd by God himself That His Eye is upon them and that His Heart 's with them and that He sees them and observes them in all I have set the Lord alwayes before me therefore I shall not fall sayes David Psal 16.8 Thus should we doe likewise upon all occasions and make Him present to our Faith and Fear who is alwayes present in His own infinite nature and regardfull of what we doe Lastly There is this also in it That sin is so much the more hainous as it is at any time the more Impudent this we gather from the scope of the words where the Prophet would shew the greatness of Gehazi's sin that he should sin in such circumstances when he could not but know that his Master understood what he did and was all this while acquainted with it Went not mine Heart with
omission whereof is the Argument of a prophane Spirit yet such as whereof there are too many who are guilty in the World which take the Creatures of God and never so much as lift up their Hearts to Him for them Either to desire his blessing of them to them or to acknowledge his Goodness to them in them Our Blessed Saviour gives us an example to the Contrary who still upon all such occasions lifted up his Eyes to Heaven and craved a Blessing from God upon the Creatures And the Apostle Paul has told us that every Creature of God is good being received with thanksgiving for it is Sanctifyed by the word of God and Prayer It is Sanctifyed by the word of God as giving a blessing unto it and it is Sanctifyed by Prayer as fetching that word of Blessing upon it There 's no Vngodly meat but there are Vngodly Eaters of meat and to them their meat is Vngodly so far forth as they are Ungodly themselves and in an ungodly manner that partake of it To the Pure all things are pure but unto them that are Defiled and Vnbelieving is nothing pure But even their Minde and Conscience is Defiled Tit. 1.15 Surely The Neglect of this Performance is the cause of very much Evils of Intemperance of Distemper of Thraldom and Slavery to some kind of Meats and Refreshments which are used because God is not usually blest for them And this for the Negative They have Sinned and not blessed God Secondly For the Diminutive They have Sinned and little blessed God Some of our own English Translations carry it not excepting so much against the simple and absolute Neglect as against Perfunctories in the performance which too many are guilty of likewise That their Hearts are very little affected with the goodness of God towards them answerable to the Greatness of it Some faint Expressions now and then come from them God be thanked but their Hearts are not raised in them And this is the Second sense of the words by retaining the Expression of Blessing Thirdly It may be my Sons have sinned and blest God in their Hearts That is they have blest God for the opportunities of sinning Vouchsafed unto them As if a Thief should bless God for his Booty or an Whoremaster for the injoyment of his Lust or a Cheater and Oppressor for the Getting of his goods by Fraud and Violence and Spoyle according to that of the Prophet Zach. 11.5 Whose Possessors slay them and say blessed be the Lord for I am rich c. This is a very grievous Miscarriage when any shall proceed hereunto so as to bless God for success in Evil. And it is grievous in this regard so far forth as it is an implicit making of God to be an Author of Sin and an intitling of him to their wicked Practises which is so much different from him and contrary to him There is no greater Evil in the World then to be prosper'd in a Course of Sin But so much of this Phrase in the first and next proper sense of it It may be my Sons have Sinned and blest God in their Hearts Now Secondly We may look upon it in its Contrary and improper sense as it is rendred in our own last Translation It may be my Sons have Sinned and Cursed God c. Where an ill thing is by an Euphemismus exprest under a Good word Cursing from the abhorrency of it exprest by blessing And thus in other places as in the 11th vers of this Chapter Put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will Curse thee to thy face Jebarheha the word in the Text and so of Naboth 1 King 21 10. Thou didest Blaspheme God and the King Berahta the same to ask This is frequent not onely in sacred Writers but in prophane And not onely in Hebrew but also in Latin As Morbus sacer i. e. Execrabilis Aurisacra fammes The Holy Thirst of Gold i. e. Impious and unsatiable And so here at this present Blasphemy and Cursing of God it was a thing so odious and abominable as that when Job intended to signify the thing he declined to use the Expression Yet when it is said here they have Cursed God we must not take it still neither in the proper and gravating sense but rather in the Qualifyed and Interpretative Job could not think his Children to be so profane as absolutely to Curse God but rather not to be so piously affected towards him as it becomes us to be which is a kind of Cursing in Gods account It was Cursing Consequentially and Preparatorily c. While there is mention here made of a Cursing or Blaspheming of God in the Heart there are two things implyed in this Expression First That there is a Blaspheming of God in the Heart where it is not always in the mouth A man may Blaspheme God though he speaks never a word against him A man's mind and Heart is Himself yea the Great Sin and Blasphemy of all which is the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost it is the Blasphemy of the Heart Secondly There is hereby implyed also that there is a kind of Blasphemy which does not reach so far as we may so call it and that is a Blasphemous Apprehension or a thought of Blasphemy which is injected and forceably cast into the mind by Satan This is abstracted from Sin because not in the Heart They have sinned and Cursed God in their Hearts It is Heart-Cursing that makes it a Sin And so much of these words according to each Interpretation of them either by taking them in their proper sense for Blessing or in their Improper sense for Cursing Now upon the whole matter which we have delivered and to Sum up all which has been hitherto spoken in some Conclusions and consequent Meditations which I can but name unto you There are divers points which are from hence observable as First It is a thing very Commendable in a Christian to repent of Sin even unknown and upon an adventure not onely where he is sure of it but also there where he does no more then suspect it It may c. As in Mercies to bless God for those which are unknown so c. Secondly It is the care of a Cracious Person not onely to take heed of such Sins as are Confest and Notorious but also as well of the shaddows and Resemblances of it Abstain from all appearance of Evil. Thirdly A good Christian he will have regard not onely to his words and Actions but likewise to his thoughts Sins of the Heart they are Sins which doe much affect him as of the outward man Fourthly A Godly man he is tender of passing hard censure upon the persons or actions of other men It may be but he does not peremptorily assert it He is Jealous but he is not Censorious Jealous out of Love but not Censorious out of Malice And so much of the first General of the Text viz.
And that Punishment which is light of it self Impenitency aggravates it And that Punishment which is passive of it self Impentence stays it Impenitency is the Cause and Ground and Occasion of the greatest and heaviest Judgments that are And the reason of it is this Because it does seem in a manner to own and justifie sin and stand in the Commission of it Where People sin of Infirmity but yet repent they do thereby in a sort and interpretatively undo what has been done by them And though the Acts of it cannot be recalled by them yet the Guilt of it is in some manner quallified by a contrary frame and temper of spirit and consequent departing from it But Impenitency does as it were repeat and renew the former miscarriage even there where for a time there may be an Actual Abstinency from it He that does not repent of Sin he commits it even then when he refrains it as to the Actual Condition of it Again further Thus is this also in Impenitency that it does in a manner trespass upon all the Attributes of God which it either questions or else vilifies and makes nothing at all of them The Omniscience of God as to the deserts of Sin Psal 94.7 Tush the Lord doth not see neither doth the God of Jacob regard it The Truth of God as to the Threats of Sin 2 Pet. 3.4 Where is the promise of his coming for since the father fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation The Justice of God as to the punishing of Sin Considering God to be all Mercy and Pitty and Indulgence c. The Power of God as to the executing of Judgment As thinking that his hands cannot reach them nor that he is able especially in some cases to be avenged upon it or to do what he threatens against it Yea the Mercy and Goodness of God which it abuses to a further Continuance and Persistency in Evil. Thus trespassing upon all God's Attributes it must needs especially draw down God's Judgments The Third and Last thing observeable in this Passage for the ground and occasion of Judgment whereupon it proceeds is their Continued Obstinacy This was that which was the unhappiness of this People here in the Text as it is also sometimes of divers others besides not only that they did not repent but moreover that they would not there was not only their Negative Remorselesness but also their Positive Perverseness Far as they did not turn to him that smote them so neither did they seek the Lord of hosts They were now so settled upon their Lees and confirmed in their wicked and sinful Courses as that they were wholly and absolutely incorrigible And this must needs now introduce and hasten and hale and pull the Judgments of God down upon our heads Therefore and therefore with a witness will God now proceed to the punishing of them The Consideration of these things should makes us so much the more wary of our selves in this Particular As we desire to avoid Punishment so to be careful to abstain from sin and to take heed of that And especially to take heed of Impenitency and persistence and abiding in sin If by chance we should fall into it not to stay and rest in it Shall we continue in sin saith the Apostle God forbid And so long as we do not repent of it God makes account that we do continue in it which we should be heedful and wary of And more especially above all of Obstinacy and Perverseness of Spirit It is bad enough to sin at first and after that to forbear to repent but to sin and to refuse to repent that is a great deal worse by far and so most of all to be declined by us And so near I have done with the First General Part of the Text which is the Ground or Occasion of God's Judgments threatned against this People included in the Particle Therefore as relating to what went before Therefore because of their impiety and Therefore because of the impenitency and Therefore because of their obstinacy The Second is The Judgment it self in these words The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in one day Wherein again we have three Branches more First The Denuntiation of the Judgment Secondly The Extent of it And Thirdly The Time The Denuntiation of it The Lord will cut off from Israel The Extent of it Head and tail The Time or Season of it In one day First To speak of the former viz. The Denuntiation of the Judgment The Lord will cut off from Israel Wherein again take notice of three things further First The Author of it and that is the Lord. Secondly The Matter of it and that is Cutting off Thirdly The Subject of it or the Persons and People which are more particularly involved in it and that is Israel For the First The Author of this Judgment which is here mentioned it is expressed to be the Lord. The Expression of it is to be referred to such as themselves who took Samaria and led Israel Captive to Assyria 2 King 17.23 But the Infliction of it is to be referred to the Lord as sole in it Whoever may be the Instrument it is God alone who is the Author of Judgment The Lord will cut off take notice of that This is that which the Scripture does every where declare unto us as Isa 42.24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the Robbers did not I the Lord He against whom ye have sinned And so Isa 45.7 Saith the Lord of himself I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things And so Isa 10.5 6. O Assyrian the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is my indignation I will send him against an hypocritical Nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the streets There is no evil in the City that is of punishment and the Lord hath not done it This holds good especially upon a twofold Consideration First Of the Sovereignty and Power of God It is he only that is able to punish It is he alone that hath all Men and Creatures under his Command Men are sometimes out of the reach one of another And though they have now and then a mind to punish yet they have not always an Ability or Opportunity But as for the Lord he is able and powerful As he is mighty to save where he will deliver so he is mighty to punish where he will destroy And then Secondly Upon the Account of the Holiness and Purity which is in God There are none which are so fit to punish others as those who are innocent Persons Guilty and Obnoxious Persons although sometimes they are prevailed to punish in regard of others miscarriages And although
that horrible Dungeon which in Scripture is represented by utter darkness blackness of darkness everlasting darkness weeping and and wailing gnashing of Teeth the worm that never dyeth and the fire that never goes out That such a thing as this indeed is very clear from sundry places of Scripture which we must deny if we do not grant we cannot acknowledge the Scriptures and not acknowledge such a thing as Hell which is so abundantly declared in it Thus in Matth. 5.22 we read of Hell fire in Matth. 10.28 of the Destroying of Body and Soul 〈◊〉 Hell In Matth. 23.33 of the Damnation of Hell c. Thus to speak distinctly of it does consist of two Branches which do constitute it and make it up The one is that which we call the Punishment of Loss and the other is that which we call the Punishment of Sense The Punishment of Loss First of all to take notice of that Now that is an Eternal privation of the Blessed and glorious presence of God and of all the Joy and Comfort and happiness that is attending thereupon Look how much sweetness and incomparable contentment there is in the constant vision and fruition of God whom to know is Life Eternal so much answerable misery there must needs be in the Exclusion and Exemption from it Every thing being so much grievous in the disappointment as it is comfortable in the injoyment We see how it is here in the World and in the affairs of this present Life where people are crost of any thing which is amiable or desirable of them it proves a very great trouble and vexation to them It consumes them and eats them up with greif And how much more has it cause thus to do in such a thing as this is whereof we now speak to be for ever deprived of the choicest and highest good which is to be found in God himself and in the injoyment of him To be deprived of God and to be deprived of Christ and of Glorious Fellowship and Communion with him Thus we find it exprest 2 Thes 1.9 who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power where these words from the presence of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they may be taken two manner of ways either Effective or Terminative Either as denoting the cause of their punishment from whence it is produced or as denoting the matter of their punishment wherein it does consist If we take it Effective that is as the cause of their Punishment from whence it is produced so they are punished from the presence of the Lord that is his Presence who shall then appear in Glory and Soveraign power for the condemning of them shall be a Terror and Astonishment to them The very beholding of a Christ as their Judge and perfect Enemy shall be an horror and amazement to them as the inletter of all Misery upon them But then again if we take it Terminative or Objective as the matter whereof there Punishment does consist so they are punished from the presence of the Lord that is they are punished in a banishment from this prescence which being duly considered is a very great punishment indeed And so as for the presence of God himself and the Glorious fellowship of Christ so the Fellowship and Communion of all the Blessed and Glorious Angels and Saints to be deprived of this likewise This pertains to this punishment of Loss and has a great deal of misery in it If People are so much affected as they commonly are here below with the loss of natural and secular friends here Parents of their Children Children of their Parents c. What will it be for them to be deprived of their Blessed Company and Society in Heaven whose company will then be so much sweeter and free from those infirmities and disparagements which it is here sometimes mingled with all Certainly the loss of them in such a case as this is must needs be very great and unvaluable The Punishment of loss here mentioned is farther aggravated from a Threefold Consideration First From the Possibility of preventing it if there had been care taken about it Every Loss is so much the more punishing as it proceeds from a mans own default Where men have Losses fall upon them inevitably and unavoidably and which they could not help they do bear them so much the more patiently and with the greater ease and satisfaction But where they shall think thus with themselves I have deprived my self of such an advantage through mine own carelesness and neglect yea perhaps by my own wilfullness and perverseness here it must needs very much cut them and go to their very heart Why thus t is now here in the Loss of Heaven and the Deprivation of Gods Glorious presence and eternal injoyment of him It is that which men have brought upon themselves by their own miscarriage Light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light in Joh. 3.19 And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life said Christ Joh. 5.46 How often would I have gathered thy Children as an hen gathereth her Chickens and ye would not Luk. 13.34 Secondly The Occasion of this Loss and the way of falling into it there 's a special aggravation from that also If a man chance to sustain some loss but have somewhat by it which is equivalent to it and which may make it up it is not commonly so greivous or burthensome to him but for a man to lose a Pearl for a Pebble or a Kingdom for a meer trifle this is very sad and lamentable indeed Why thus now is the case in this particular which is People depriving themselves of Heaven for the injoyment of their base Lusts excludes themselves from the injoyment of God for the pursute of the vanities of this World and the pleasures of Sin which are but for a season What a poor and sorry thing is this Especially then when they shall come seriously to consider it and in good earnest to reflect upon it Oh what an anguish of soul and perplexity must this needs prove unto them 3. The beholding of others to injoy that happiness which themselves are deprived of There 's a vexation likewise in that as we have it exprest unto us in Luk. 13.28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out To see themselves thrust out whiles those were put in this it tormented them especially such as these might be according to such and such circumstances considerable in it It may be such who were meaner than themselves here in this World such whom they had scorned and despised and trampled on and abused and wronged To see such as these now to be exalted and advanced above them this is that which must needs eat into them And