scandalous sinnes but the first rise of it was his unconscionable walking with God in secret as the Apostle Paul sayes of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 20. to 24. That because when they knew God they glorified him not as God God gave them up to vile affections So Psal. 80. 11 12. But my people would not bearken and Israel would none of mee So I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts and they walked in their owne counsels As if he had said I used all the meanes they still refused and would none of me and therefore I gave them up Seest thou a man given up to a lust his heart so cemented to it as hee cannot live without it know this is in judgment to him for some unconscionable walking before and not practising according to his knowledge 3 There is yet a judgement beyond these when the Lord forsaketh the creature and withdrawes himselfe from a man which though men doe little account of is the fearefullest of all others The losse of Gods presence is a losse unvaluable Take a man that makes wealth or honour his God take that prop from him and how doth his heart sinke within him how much more when the true God shall bee departed from a man that God that is the God of all comfort if hee bee withdrawne the heart sinks into a bottomlesse pit of horrour as when the Sun is gone all things run into darknesse All comfort is from some measure or degree of Gods presence though men doe not take notice of it which when it is taken away there remaines nothing but horrour and despaire when God was departed from Saul 1 Sam. 16. hee from that day ranne into one errour after another in his government till hee was destroyed and the cause of this was sinne he had cast off the Lord and therefore the Lord rejected him The like was Caines case Gen. 4. His judgement was to bee banish'd from the presence of the Lord which hee acknowledgeth to be an insupportable punishment which hee was not able to beare When any trouble is upon thee sticke not in the rind and baâ—ke of it but looke through it and beyond it to the inward root of it looke to sinne as the cause and thou shalt finde it so it may bee the immediate cause and instrument may bee some outward thing some enemy of thy disgrace some sicknesse c. but who hath permitted them to worke is it not the Lord and what is the motive of his permission but sinne men may have many severall motives to doe this or that but nothing moves the Lord but sinne and grace When an enemy comes upon thee say not this man is the cause of this evill but the Lord hath suffered him to worke and sinne hath occasion'd this suffering 2 Chron. 12. 5 7. Shishak was but the violl through whose hands God powred out his wrath so I may say sicknesse is but the violl it is the Lords wrath that is powred out in it Amend this common errour that men are ready to seeke out the naturall causes of the evils that befall them if it bee sickenesse they looke to such a distemper in diet or cold c. as the cause of it so if they miscarry in any enterprize what folly and oversight hath beene the cause of it These are but the naturall and immediate causes but Christians should looke to and seeke out to the supernaturall When there came a famine upon the land of Iudah for three yeares 2 Sam. 21. 1. the naturall cause was evident which was a great drought for that famine was healed by raine afterwards and so in those hot countries famine came by drought alone but David rests not here but went to the Lord and enquired out the reason the sinne that should bee the cause of it And God told him it was for the sinne of Saul and his bloudy house in slaying the Gibeonites as wise statesmen when they find a meane person in a treason they rest not there but seeke further what deepe heads was in the businesse and who was the contriver of the plot When Iacob saw the Angels descend and ascend he lookes to the top of the ladder and saw the Lord there sending them to and fro Looke not to the stayres of the ladder one or two that are next to thee but to the top of the ladder and there thou shalt see the Lord sending one Angell to do thee a mischief another to be a Saviour to thee If you say how shall I know for what sinne it is Pray earnestly and enquire as David did and as Ioshua did when he saw the people flie before their enemies that God would reveale to thee the particular sinne and if thou canst not find out the particular sin for it may bee some sin long ago committed or some secret sinne yet be sure that sin is the cause of it for as in the works of nature we know the vapours arise out of the earth and ascend invisibly but come downe againe in stormes and showers which we are able to see and are sensible of so the judgements may be open and manifest enough but not the sins but some secret sin that past by thee without notice taken is the cause of it Learne hence to see sinne in its owne colours sinne is a secret and invisible evill and in it selfe as abstractly considered is hard to be seene of the best therefore looke upon it as it is cloathed with calamities and when you view it under the cloathing you will have another opinion of it than you had before If you should know a man who whersoever he comes doth nothing but mischiefe poysons one stabs another c. and leaves every where some prints of his villany how hatefull and terrible would he be unto you it is sin that playes all these reaks among us if sin come upon a man cloathed and armed with Gods wrath as it often doth at death then it is terrible Why do we not look upon it thus at other times but because we doe not behold it in the fearefull effects of it as then in the wrath due to it we doe Sin is the same at all times else but our fancy is not alwaies the same as the body is alwayes the same though the shadow bee greater or lesser that which we now count a small sinne as swearing and petty oaths will one day bee terrible such a sinne as was committed by Ananias and Sapphira would seeme small it may be to you in it selfe alone but see it cloathed with that judgement that befell them dying at the Apostles feete so see the sinne of Ahabs oppressing Naboth which you may looke at but as doing a little wrong to a poore man by a great man but see it cloathed with Ahabs death and the dogs licking his bloud and it will appeare to be most hainous so the prophanenesse of Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire Learne
forget you for you are called by my Name you are mine though I thus punish you Thirdly that the Lords Name is called upon his people For the first the Scripture is frequent in examples of this kind so as I shall not need to stand to name any places to you they are so well knowne already I come to reasons of it why it is so First he sends sharpe afflictions on them because he loves them they are such as belong to him and the ground of this reason is because Ira est tam ex amore quam ex odio Anger is as much out of love as hatred it is a true rule though it may seeme a paradox because when one loves another hee desires much from the party beloved and expects much from him and therefore a crosse and stubborne action from such a one provokes more to anger than from any other man as from a Son from a Friend from a Wife it woundeth more and therefore God saith of himselfe that he is a jealous God Iealousie is a mixt affection of love and anger the meaning is if I find my peoples affection stealing out from me I am presently affected as a jealous husband useth to be in such a case and there is no anger to that nor none sooner stirred God will indure ten times as much from another but when one that he hath taken into covenant with him offends him he is angry and will therefore be sure to send some sharpe affliction on him which is the fruit of his anger for his anger is not in vaine Secondly hee doth it that his Name might not bee blasphemed that was the reason he gives why hee punished David when he committed adultery for the Lord must of necessity doe it for their sakes that stand by and looke on to shew to them that he cannot indure such things no not in his owne people Thirdly because he hath said that he will be sanctified of all that draw neere to him he will have them know that he is an holy God hating iniquity and that none should draw nigh to him but such as have holy hearts and pure hands and this was the reason why he did send fire upon Corah Dathan and Abiram The Lord hath separated you and you draw neare to himselfe saith Moses to them and that in the nearest manner to doe service as Priests to offer Sacrifice and you are among the heads of the people and therefore he will not forbeare you others that are afarre off it may bee God will long and farre forbeare but others that are sanctified to the Lord and draw neare to him in profession and in the opinion of others and also so indeed of those God will either bee sanctified by their bringing holy hearts before him or else he will vindicate his holinesse by punishing them and will not suffer them to go on with prophane hearts Fourthly because they are his people among whom hee walkes and with whom he dwels 2 Cor. 6. and the three last verses and the beginning of the seventh Chapter he is conversant among them But you will say is he not every where else yes but he is there as a man is in his owne house among his sons and daughters observing every thing looking narrowly to them and because he is still with them therefore hee will endure no uncleannesse among them thence it was that in the Campe he commanded every man to carry his paddle with him when he went aside to bury it that no outward filthinesse might appeare for I walke among you hee did it to shew by that which is odious to us that wee should hide what is odious to him namely sin and filthinesse which caused him to loath his house to loath Israel when Israel was so unswept and so filthy God loathed it and so departed from it and so Asahel came upon them God will bee sure to plow his owne ground whatsoever becomes of the wast to weede his owne Garden though the rest of the world should be let alone to grow wild But you will object and say that the Saints wee see often sin and afflictions doe not follow I answer it may be and doth fall out often and the reason is because God findes his worke done to his hand If they plow themselves up God will not but if we do it by halves as that is our fault we leave many balkes behinde us then God alwaies comes with afflictions yet then the lesse that you leave behind unplowed the lesse will God afflict you if you humble your selves throughly you shall escape except only in the case of scandall and then God must needs do it for their sakes that looke on as in David God would have all the world see his punishment on him as well as they knew of his sinne but this comfort you may have though you have greatly sinned if not scandalously that humble your selves throughly and you shall escape Learne from hence to feare the Lord to tremble at his words and seeing he will endure no uncleannesse in his owne people stand in aw and sin not labour to bring your hearts to such a constitution to such an awfull respect as to feare to omit any good duty or commit the least sinne and this had need to be urged upon you for it is the cause of all that laxiture and loosenesse in our profession that we doe not feare the Lord as we should If we had the feare of the Lòrd before our eyes as the Apostles speakes Rom. 3. that is if we saw the Lord so as to feare him we should walke warily and look how and where wee set every step and the reason why you are so uneven and not like your selves is from want of the feare of the Lord Now the reason of that phrase of the Apostle that the feare of God is said to bee before your eyes is from the nature of feare Timor figit oculum as if a man bee busie about any thing if there be any thing that he feares he wil still have an eye to that and he watcheth least it should come with some by blow when he thinks not of it and so doth the feare of the Lord worke where it is it fastneth our eyes on him And if the Lord were thus before our eyes to feare him it would make us walke more evenly and more constantly with him And therefore when the holy Ghost in Scripture would chuse to commend a man he singles out this propertie especially of fearing God as that Iob was an upright man fearing God and so speaking of Cornelius it is said that hee was a just man fearing God and so Abraham when hee would expresse the wickednesse of the Court of Abimelech he sayes the feare of the Lord is not in this place that is there is no religion nor good men God is not regarded there and the more feare the lesse sin stand in awe and
ment and so in the Rev. 3. because Laodicea was neither hot nor cold therefore will I spue them out of my mouth God would endure them no longer and therefore you that thinke your estates the best even you have had a hand in this plague you thinke that other mens sinnes the sinnes of wicked men are the cause of it but God he knoweth that they cannot pray and have no life in them as you have and though-their sinnes also be a cause and a maine cause as appeares by the Amorites whose sinnes when full God punished yet I say they are yours also And therefore when there is an evident signe that God hath a controversie with a Kingdome and the Churches and a signe of his wrath is proclamed from heaven then every man must doe something now feare the Lord be zealous repent and doe your first workes begin now to mend your pace to heaven and yet would onely there were a want of zeale among you yea is it not in disgrace is not a zealous man hooted at as an Owle among us this place the excellency of it is exceedingly abated and eclipsed the zeale of it is withered the Lord is departed from us learne to bee more zealous and God will returne and cause you to flourish againe for when God lookes upon a people it is with them as with the earth in spring time and when hee departs from them they are as withered trees in winter and where now is the zeale of former times the Communion of Saints the heating and whetting of one another by mutuall exhortations where is the boldnesse for the Lord Those holy prayers those former times are gone the light of those times remaine but not the heate as also if wee looke backe upon that Generation of Queene Elizabeth how are we changed they were zealous but here is another generation come in their roome that is dead and cold and yet we have their light but ignis qui in illis calidus in nobis lucidus tantum But I beseech you that you would now begin to stirre up your selves especially in these times of fasting when there must bee an extraordinary renewing of a mans covenant with God that you would not now be so cold and so dilute as you have beene and seeing you have that you would have and have desired long publike dayes of humiliation that you would labour to spend them with all care and diligence and quicknesse of spirit and to consider that the maine is to bee done at home with your selves for the end of these dayes is that you may be humbled which you will never bee till you consider your particular sinnes get up early in the morning for then your spirits are quicke and so you will have a long time before you come to the congregation and get you all that while alone and consider your particular sinnes and the holy duties you neglect and renew your repentance and enter into covenant and then when you come hither you shall finde the word to have another manner of working upon you than it hath ordinarily If God be thus ready to punish his own children and that thus sharpely it shewes the sinne of those that are fearelesse and carelesse which provoketh God exceedingly Zach. 4. 15. I am very sore displeased with the carelesse heathen the heathens had sinnes enow besides to anger the Lord yet this sinne did it above other sinnes and it is not to bee wondred at that it should for it is a rule in Philosophy and most true that of all things that which provoketh a man most is contempt in so much that Aristotle maketh it the onely cause of anger though therein he is deceived yet it is the maine we use to say non respondere pro convitio est it is a signe of contempt not to answer againe as when a man is chidden and stricken non respondere to goe by as if hee tooke no notice of it at Gods hand this is contempt And thus a Father when he is angry with his son or a Master with his servant how hainously doth hee take it And so God who now hath discovered his wrath to the whole Land and to every particular man in it this neglect of him will cause his wrath to wax hot against us but yet for the land in generall wee have cause to hope that his wrath doth not so but that God takes it well at our hands that we are thus publickly assembled but let mee say this though to every particular man though God spare the Kingdome yet if thou neglect him and bee carelesse it will goe the worse with thee however In the 50. Psalme when hee had expressed great threatnings in the former verses hee concludes with this Consider this O all yee that forget God! you that minde him not least hee teare you in peeces and there bee none to deliver you and so in the Prophet Ieremy 5 12 13 14. verses because you say that his words are but winde they shall be as fire and you as drie wood and they shall devoure you This is the great fault of men that they are ready to feare things which they should not feare the creatures poverty and discredit but are backward to feare the Lord. God sayes of the Church Rev. 2. 12. Feare not the things thou shalt suffer what all the world feares that doe not you feare feare not the things you shall suffer those things you ought not to feare but feare those things you should doe and who is afraid of them least hee should provoke God in them And so Christ saith feare not men no not those that have power of life and death if wee should feare any it should be them remember that was the commendation of Moses hee feared not the wrath of Pharaoh when you place your feare thus amisse it becomes a snare to you for it makes your hearts busie upon the creatures when they ought to be set upon the Lord but when your feare is placed upon God it doth exceedingly helpe you nothing more to give you an instance or two you shall finde David exceedingly strucke with the feare of the Lord when Ziglag was burnt no accident ever so amazed him when hee fled before Absolon hee bore it much better yet that feare helped al for it set him a worke to pray so Iehoshaphats feare did also helpe him when he heard of a great Army comming against him it set him on worke to pray and so turned away the Iudgement and therefore things that you so feare when your feare is placed on God seldome come to passe for that sets men on worke to prevent them whereas evill feare brings the thing with it Saul feared the Armies of the Philistines exceedingly that made him seeke to the Witch and this wrought his overthrow which hee feared so Ieroboam feared the losse of his Kingdome and that feare made him set up the Calves which lost him his Kingdome indeed
the fruit of Sanctification which is meant here and unto which the promise is made These goe both together in the godly and hee that hath the second never wants the first in some measure more or lesse though many have the first that have not the second Now the first is nothing else but a sence of sin and Gods wrath for it expressed to us in those former examples by being prickt in the heart it being a wounding of the heart and spirit Vnto which is joyned trembling feare with considering and comming to a mans selfe aswee have it in the Parable And this passive Legal humiliation stands in these particulars A sensiblenesse of sinne before a man is as one that is in a dead sleep what is done to him he feeles not nor what is said he heares not is sensible of nothing But this is the awakening of a man to be sensible of sinne so as now hee is wounded now he is smitten with it now he feeles it So the Goaler as the foundation of the prison was shaken so was his heart also and had an earth-quake within as well as one without and his awaking out of sleepe was a resemblance of his awakened heart This humiliation makes a man fearefull of his estate whereas before he was bold and others that are not humbled goe on boldly and are punisht as it is said of the foole in the Proverbs It makes a man consider his estate which he never did before as the Prodigall came to himselfe that is entered into a serious consideration of his estate before a man thought himselfe in a good estate little imagined hee was in the gall of bitternesse but this worke shewes him his poverty and that he is altogether naked and that hee hath nothing to sustaine him as the Prodigall saw he had not no worth at all in him And this first worke of humiliation is wrought by the Law and the curse thereof which sayes in his hearing Cursed be he that abides not in all things to doe them By the Law I say which is the rule of righteousnesse whereof all particular rules are branches and by the threatnings thereof which are all branches of that great curse The one being as the lightning to discover sinne the other like the thunder-bolt that strikes the heart with feare of Gods Iudgements the one is like the Inditement the other as the Sentence of the Judge I put both these together because both goe to humble a man The Law is like the Task-masters of Egypt that commanded the Israelites to do the worke but gave them no straw so the Law tells us this and this is to bee done and binds us to doe it but gives us no strength and so thereby discovers our sinfulnesse and unability to any good and then as the task-masters did beate them that failed of their tale so comes the curse and strikes them dead that continue not in all things to do the Law and these two put together worke this Legall humiliation neither by the Law is meant only those ten words spoken in Horeb but together with the explanation of them as wee finde them expounded in the Prophets and the whole Scriptures so that by the Law is meant that rectitude which the whole Scripture doth require Now therefore when the Scriptures are laid to our hearts the rectitude of the Scriptures is compared with the crookednes of our hearts and lives and thereby we come to see how that the least sinne is forbidden and that the least dutie must not be omitted and that we must give an account for every idle word and every lustfull thought and motion in the heart as S. Paul when humbled saw lust to be sinne and then we come to see withall the curse due to the lease This humbleth a man And unto this is further required the help of the Spirit joyning therewith without which the Law doth not humble a man who is therefore called the spirit of bondage because he enlightneth a man to see his bondage and slavery to sin and Sathan and his subjection to Gods wrath not that hee makes him such or brings bondage with it but discovers it and this not onely by shewing a man his bondage but he makes him believe it For there must be a faith to humble as well as to comfort whereas wee set light by the threatnings and believe them not for would the swearer sweare if he believed that threatning the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine When therefore the Spirit enlighteneth a man to see his sinnes and makes him believe the threatnings denounced against them then a man is humbled and not before And yet though these threatnings are propounded by the Word and made effectuall by the Spirit yet usually some affliction puts life into them as wee see in Manasses and also in S. Paul who was first struck off his horse to the ground and in the laylor who thought verily all his prisoners gone for whom his owne life must have beene answerable so as hee would have killed himselfe sometimes a reall affliction sometimes an imaginary one an apprehension of Judgement shame poverty misery doth God use to put life into the threatnings and they put life into the Law and then the Law is brought home to the conscience and so sinne is brought to light for when men are sensible of miseries then they are often brought to to inquiry into the Law of God to find what should bee the cause of it and when the Law is brought home to the conscience then sinne is made alive Saint Paul saies Romans 7. Sinne appeares to bee sin which before was as colours in the darke and sin being made alive then I dyed saies Paul there that is he apprehended himselfe a dead man in which is a discovery of sinne and our subjection to death for it wherein doe consist those two parts of this former humiliation which makes way for the second humiliation Thus you see what to be humbled is Now wee come to the second what it is to humble a mans selfe which begins when the other ends for then a man lookes out for the remedy as those who cryed out what shall we doe to be saved which is the second thing to be observed in those examples after the wounding of their hearts they made an enquiry what to doe to be saved For those that belong to Gods Election goe yet further there is another kinde of Evangelicall humiliation wrought in them which is a fruit of sanctification for in one whom GOD meanes to save when hee is come to this the LORD sends the spirit of adoption into his heart the spirit of grace as Zaâ—hary calls him which gives him some secret hope hee shall bee received to mercy if hee will come in which is a worke of faith in some degree begun and then says the soule with it selfe I will
not the greatest joy that discovers it selfe in laughter that is not the greatest sorrow which workes the most violent commotion in the heart there is a sad silent quiet sorrow that sinketh deeper and wets more slowly and sokes into the heart and makes the heart more fruitful in the issue which ariseth out of a more spirituall conviction of Judgement of the evill of sin though lesse passion accompanies it yet a stronger and deeper affection of sorrow is wrought I call it deeper because it is more constant and lasting more to purpose the one being as a land-floud the other as a spring Put the case such a violent sorrow should bee greater yet it is not alwayes alike necessary neither on Gods part nor mans Not on mans part as some disease doth not need so sharpe and quick a medicine as an other as some mens flesh is harder to heale than others so some mens hearts have more stubbornnes in them than others some have made themselves children of the Divell by their wicked courses worse then they were at first others in comparison are but as the children of Adam still as they were borne and therefore the same work may be wrought in them with much lesse adoe On Gods part it is not alwayes so necessary but is proportioned to Gods ends and God differs and is various in his ends concerning men He meanes to bestow a greater measure of grace upon one then upon an other and where he meanes to set a greater building there he digges a lower foundation hee meanes to use some as a meanes to comfort others and therefore letteth them see and feele more the bitternesse of sinne that they may be able to comfort others with the same comfort wherwith they have beene comforted Hee differs in the meanes to attaine his ends if hee meanes to bring them to the same measure of grace yet hee will not goe alwayes the same way to worke as hee often doth that without affliction which sometimes hee doth with it as a man is brought to the same Haven divers wayes some in a calme is tided in others are driven in with a storme but it is no matter how they come so they come in the promise is made to those that come A third consideration is that it is not for want of this greatnesse of humiliation that divers have not so violent a sorrow but from some circumstance in the worke it selfe as First because the light of comfort comes in sooner to some than to others they have the salve presently after the wound is given God having broken the heart bindeth it up presently againe a man may have as deepe a wound which a mitigated medicine comming neare to the bottome of the disease and soone applyed may sooner heale than another lesse deepe to which the remedie is not applyed a long time after which therefore askes longer So also it is in joy suddainnesse increaseth it for a fit for example put case a man is condemned for high treason and brought to the blocke and verily expects death and his pardon on the suddaine comes there is such a great sensible change wrought in him and our natures are sensible of great changes and therefore how excessively doth hee rejoyce but take one who is guilty of the same fault who knows that if he have not his pardon hee should lose his life but hath his pardon presently after the sentence passed hee will prize his pardon as much as the other though happily hee is not so turbulently affected as the other It falls out thus by reason of the ignorance some have lived in before who therefore are enlightened to know their estates all on the suddaine whereas an other hath beene brought up in knowledge and the knowledg of his misery being let in by degrees then the case doth also differ as betweene two men who were to goe through a wood whereof one is set upon by theeves not suspecting any and is put into a feare of his life and knowes not how to escape but one comes on the suddaine and rescues him and gives him his life but another is warned before knowes hee must goe through such a passage and that unlesse hee hath a strong guard to goe along with him hee shall certainely perish this man apprehends the danger as great as the other and the benefit as great and the love of him that should goe with him as great onely his passion either of feare or joy is not so violent as the others though hee truly rejoyceth in the deliverance as much as the other and thinkes himselfe as much bound to the man that delivered him I have spoken these things because some are scrupulous in the point and thinke they may not safely apply the Promise because they have not had that measure of sorrow that others have had But let no man suffer his assurance to hee weakned for want of this for a man may have as high an esteeme of CHRIST and bee as throughly convinced of sinne though hee want that violent worke which GOD workes in some even a great sence of his wrath and letting them lie there and then speakes peace so as these are wrought by distinct acts and causes in a great distance one from the other so that as their sorrow was evident so their joy was evident in another he workes so that as soone as hee sees sinne hee sees God also pardoning And in those that have that violent shyning of affection in their first Humiliation looke how much of it is violent will vanish and what is substantiall will hold so that even they in the end come to this solid conviction of Judgement at last which onely is constant and abideth with them And therefore let not thy assurance bee weakend for the want of this for faith unites to Christ and establisheth us in well doing But you will say is it not good to get that sensible stirring sence and sight of sinne I answer yes for to that end GOD leades through crosses and suffers thee to fall into sinnes that thou mayest see the vanity of the creature and the sinfulnesse of thy nature that when thou commest to heaven thou mayest say by thine own experience it was not by my owne righteousnesse that I came hither And therefore though it be good to get it yet let GOD goe his owne way and use his owne manner of working whether by Legal terror or otherwise what he sees good for thee he will do to humble thee but doe thou use meanes to understand the Law thy owne heart and actions and as thou art fallen into new sinnes labour to see what a case thou shouldest be in if Christ had not delivered thee But let not thy assurance bee weakened for you must know there are but two maine ends of humiliation which if they bee attained in thee thou needest not call in question thy estate Now first
thy selfe Hos. 7. 16. They returned but not to the most High c. There is a turning made mention of and one would thinke in a speciall manner for they fasted they prayed but this was no turning to God and why because yee have turned but from misery and sought your owne happinesse and ye have forgotten me saith the Lord who am the most High and only able to deliver and save you and therefore their turning was counterfeit not true this will not hold such will start aside like a broken bow Thirdly for the manner of turning as it is exprest in Scripture you must turne to the Lord with all your heart and all your soule though it be not exprest here yet it is to be understood If my people turne from their evill waies with their whole hearts But what is this turning with a mans whole heart A man is then said to turne with his whole heart when hee is fully enlightned and convinced in his understanding of the evill of a thing and thereupon doth take a full resolution to forsake it As if a man bee going out of the way and another man come and tell him he is not in the right way which will leade him to his journeys end if he be fully perswaded of this he will returne and that with all his heart as we use to say when we doe a thing willingly So it is here if a man be fully perswaded that sinne is the cause of all misery and God of happinesse hee turnes to GOD with his whole heart Now unlesse it be with the whole heart this turning is but fained as appeares by that in Ier. 3. 10. And yet for all this her trecherous sister Iudah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but fainedly saith the Lord which falls out when men have some motives to move them but not enow they are not fully convinced and so they turne but by halves When therefore the illumination is perfect and full that these wayes wherein he walkes will bring him to misery and the contrary to happines then a man perfectly turnes and with his whole heart and because turning thus with the whole heart followes full conviction therefore the Apostle doth expresse this turning by the phrase of opening the eyes Acts 26. 18. To open their eyes and to turne them c. that is every man goes on in his wayes of sinning till his eyes be opened to see the thing which he saw not before and GOD many times meetes men in the midst of their wayes and gives them some light and meanes as some exhortations and motions to good some checks for their evill wayes and if those admonitions be so farre effectuall as to open their eyes that is to convince and perswade them that the way they goe in leades to eternall misery then doe they turne and are willing to do it And therefore also on the contrary when GOD will not heale and convert a people hee suffers not their eyes to be opened as in Esay 16 10. Make the heart of this people fatt and make their eares heavie and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and heare with their cares and understand with their hearts and convert to be healed Where we see that the first chaine of our conversion is the opening of the eyes the second chaine is the opening of the heart the third is to be converted and healed and the two former will draw on the last and because the Lord is resolved not to heale them therfore their eyes must be shut up But at conversion mens eyes are opened to see sin comming against them even as an enemy with a sword in his hand and to see the riches of the inheritance of the Saints which neither the eys of natural men have seene nor their eares heard nor their hearts understood And then is a man turned from his evill wayes and not before A man goes on in a course of sinning as Balaam did in his way he met an Angell with a drawne sword but saw him not at the first so soone as his eyes were opened there needed no more perswasions to move him to turne So a wicked man goes on in a way wherein hee runnes upon the swords point and he sees it not but when his eyes are opened to see it then hee turnes backe and when they are thus turning back like Gehazi 2 Kings 6. 15 16 17. who seeing an army comming against him and his master Elisha he cries out Alas what shall we doe if we goe on and Elisha answered feare not for they are more that be with us then they that be with them and so Gehazi saw when God opened his eyes So do men when they set upon a new course they meete with many oppositions and dangers in the way which makes them cry alas what shall wee doe then God openeth their eyes and they see also more with them then against them they see the glorious priviledges that they have and the strength that they received from God these things encourage them that they goe on resolutely because that the latter are farre greater than the former Lastly to finde out what this true turning unto God is we must consider the effects of it Now a man is then turned when he finds these three effects wrought in him First he findeth that those evill wayes of sinne and those corruptions which before did dwell in his heart and had the rule there are now put out of possession and the contrary grace is made master of the house so that he can say with the Apostle Rom. 7. It is not I but sinne in mee that is sinne sometimes was the master of the house and that which I now call my selfe as then was not had no existence in mee but now the case is altered the regenerate part that is in me is master and though sinne thrusts in and dwells there also yet it is but an intruder no lust but is thrust out and if it creepes in it is by one of these wayes First either stealing in as a thiefe by night when they doe not watch and see it or secondly it breakes in by violence as rebells taking the advantage of some strange passion so as they are not able to resist it yet sinne dwells not there as master for it is expeld as soone as the rebell is found as soone as strength is recovered so as possession is still kept by grace that as it is said of peace Let the peace of God rule in your hearts that is though you be ready to fall out with your brethren yet let not malice rule but peace Now what is said of one grace is true of all so then examine thy selfe how comes sinne in into thee comes it in by stealth or by violence onely and when it is come in does it continue master then thou art not turned to GOD for
that if you would remove the crosse you must remove the sinne first You may observe it in diseases that twenty medicines may bee used and yet if you hit not right upon the cause of the disease the patient is never the better but if that be removed the symptomes presently vanish so when some crosse is upon us wee set our heads and hands and friends aworke to remove it but all in vaine whilst wee hit not the cause and that is sinne which whilst it continues the crosse will continue The reason why our peace and prosperity is entertained with so many crosses and troubles is because our lives are interwoven with so many sinnes The cause of Gods unevennesse in his dispensations of his mercy towards thee is the unevennesse of thy carriage towards him Hast thou a healthfull body a sure estate many friends Thinke not that these shall secure thee see Adam in paradise Salomon in his glory David on his mountaine which hee thought made strong and you shall see Adam when sinne had made a breach upon him once quickly made miserable and sinne bringing in upon Salomon an army of troubles after it and upon David in the height sin bringing in upon him the hazzard of his kingdome the rebellion of his sonne sinne in a mans best estate makes him miserable and grace in the worst estate makes a man happy Saint Paul with a good conscience was happy in prison David through faith was happy at Ziglag But you will say how is it that calamities thus follow upon sinne wee feele no such thing and thus because it is deferred the hearts of men are set to doe evill All this is to bee understood with this caution that sinne when it is perfected brings forth death and not till then God stayed till Ahab had oppressed Naboth and gotten possession and then when he was seene God sends the message of death to him What hast thou killed and also taken possession Thus Iudas he was a thiefe whilst he kept the bag and went on in many sinnes in Christs family and Chri stlets him alone and he goes on till hee had betrayed his Master and then when his sinne was perfected and come to its full ripenesse then at last CHRIST comes with judgement upon him There is a certaine period of judgement and if the Lord stay execution till then thou hast little cause to comfort thy selfe Eccles. 8. 11 12. Because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of men are set to doe evill As if the wise man should have said Goe to you you that have peace and comfort your selves in this that whatsoever the Word and the Ministers threatten yet you feel nothing yet remember that as soon as the sin is committed the sentence goeth forth therefore he useth the word sentence to expresse this though it bee not so speedily executed yet it goes forth at the same time with the commission of the sinne The sentence you know is one thing the execution another and many times there is and so may be here a long distance betwixt the sentence of the Iudge and the execution of it So as his meaning is that execution is deferred Therefore flatter not your selves sentence is gone forth and execution will follow For the amplification of this that vision of Zachary seemes to make it good Zach. 5. When swearing and theft had beene committed Verse 3. Hee saw a flying roule Verse 2. Which Verse the 3. is interpreted to be the curse that goeth over all the earth for him that stealeth and sweareth Verse 3. which curse may bee upon the wing long ere it seizeth on the prey but it goes forth as soone as those sinnes were committed that is the execution may be deferred which is there further shewed in the parable of the Ephah which sets out as there the measure of the peoples iniquities for so Verse 8. he sayes this is wickednesse which untill it be filled hath not the weight of leade laid upon the mouth of it it being a long while ere God comes to execution and not till their sinnes are full the plummet of leade being laid as it signifies that then their sins are sealed up with the waight of leade rolled upon them that none might be lost or forgotten but God remembers them all and then hee saw two women come and the wind was in their wings Verse 9. that is when their sinnes are thus full and their measure sealed up their judgement comes swiftly like the winde and carries it into Shinar and there this wickednesse is set upon its owne base that is in its proper place a place of misery as hell is said to bee Iudas his owne place Sinne may sleepe a long time like a sleeping debt which is not call'd for and demanded for many yeares but if a man hath not an acquaintance the creditor may call for it in the end and lay the debtor in prison It was forty yeares after Sauls slaying of the Gibeonites ere execution went forth and vengeance was call'd for it So Ioabs sin which he committed in slaying Abner which was slaying innocent bloud slept all Davids time til Salomon came to the crowne Doe not therefore as ill husbands in debt that suffer the suite to runne on from tearme to tearme till they bee out-law'd and pay both debts and charges and all Thy sinnes are a bringing swift damnation and it slumbers not it is on foote already and will overtake thee and meete at thy journeyes end the end of thy dayes Let it therefore be thy wisedome to take up the suite and compound the matter with God betimes else thou shalt not onely pay the debt and smart for the sin it selfe but for all the time of Gods patience towards thee the riches of Gods patience spent and beare all the arrerages Rev. 2. I gave her space to repent but shee repented not God meant to make her pay for all the time he gave her to repent in The next point from these words is That if the calamity bee removed and the sinne bee not healed it is never removed in mercy but in judgement Hee doth here promise first to forgive the sinne and then to heale the Land so as if hee should have healed the Land without forgivenesse it had beene no mercy Because sinne is worse than any crosse whatsoever If therefore hee takes away the crosse and leaves the sinne behinde it is a signe thou art a man whom the Lord hates When a Physician takes away the medicine and leaves the disease uncured it is a signe the parties case is desperate or that the Physician meanes to let him perish Because the Lord doth nothing in vaine if therfore an affliction doth a man no good it must needes doe him hurt for that which doth neither good nor hurt must needes be in vaine That was a property of the Idols of the Heathens which are
bring That if you humble your selves and turne from your evill wayes God will be mercifull to you and heale you FINIS Horat. 1. 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 Doct. 2 Doct. 3 Doct. Reas. 1. 2. 3. Num. 16. 9 4 Vse 1. Psal. 4. Vse 2. Ier. 40. 2 Observe Gods dealing Psalm 30. 5 verse 7. Vse 3. God will be more severe to wicked men Psalm 50. 1 Cor. 10. 22 1 Prophane 2. Civil men Revel 2. Exod. 23. 21. Vse 4. Not to think strange that God afflicts his Doct. 2. God pitties his people in affliction Reas. 1. He is slow to afflict Psal. 78. 38. Simile 2 He sustaines them in afflictions Dan. 11. 33. 34. Zach. 13. 9. 〈◊〉 By moderating them To be afflicted in measure what Psal. 125. 3. Psalm 129. 3 4. 2 Fashioning their hearts to beare it 1 To Pray Rom. 8. 26. 2 To Repent 3 To Patience Psalme 3. Reas. 3. In bringing them through Esay 27. 8. 2 Kings 6. 33. 2 Chron. 28 22. Quest. Answ. Afflictions of Gods people worke good in the end Iames 1 2. God deales thus 1 Because they are his people Hose 11. 8. 1 Sam. 12. 22. Micah 7. 18. 2 They are called by his name Numb 14. Object Answ. Mistake in afflictions 2 Cor. 6. Object Answ. Afflictions needfull 2 God afflicts no more then needs Esay 28. 24. Object Answ. Difference in afflictions Ier. 24 Object Answ. Why God sends many and great afflictions Dan. 11. Vse 1. Not to bee discouraged in afflictions Psalme 31. Psalme 30. Mica 7. 8. Object Answ. No avoyding afflictions sent God in due time removes affliction Marks 5. Mar. 4. 40 41. Vse 2. To come to God when we have offended him 1 Sam. 12 20. What keeps men from comming to God Ieremy 3. Vse 3. To leade us to repentance Rom. 2. 4. Double performaÌ„ce of Fasts 1 Publike 2 Private Zach. 12. 1 By confession of sinnes 2 Seeking reconciliation 3 Renewing covenants 4 To bee willing to leave fin 5. Labour to keepe our hearts in a good temper Dan. 11. Iames 4. Vse 4. To chuse the Lord for our God Heb. 11. 25. Psal. 119. 30 Happinesse in chusing God Motives to chuse God Ioy what Isay 26. 12. Psal. 31. 7. Vse 5. To confirm this choyce Doct. 3. The Lords Name called upon his People 2 1 Cor. 3. ult Reas. Because of Gods choyce Isa. 57. 15. Vse 1. To learne Obe dience We are not to serve our selves Luk. 14. 26. The nearenesse of our relation to God Ephes. 5. 31 32. verse 24. Iames 4. Exod. 23. 21 1 Cor. 7. 11. The wife the glory of the husband how 1 Pet. 2. 9 Vse 2. To humble our selves having sinned Humiliation double Love humbleth Ier. 2. 2 3. 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. Psalme 51. Two things in sinne Way to humiliation Cause of hardnesse of heart Levit. 23. 29 Object Answ. 1 God accepteth endeavours 2 Hel pes them Promises of Gods helpe Luk 11. 13. Zach. 12. 1â— The Spirit workes humiliation Iob 42. Iob. 42. Vse 3. Not to pollute Gods Name Simile Vse 4. Not to be ashamed to professe Gods name Object Answ. 1 Men ashamed of the power of re ligion Simile 2 Before wicked men Mark 8. 38. Rom. 10. 10. Outward profession is required Why men are asham'd of profession 2 Sam. 6. 24 Deut. 4. 6. Vse 5. Comfort concerning our selves and the Church Esa. 4. 5 6. Object Answ. c 1 2 Doct. 4. Without hu miliation no mercy What meant by humiliation 1 2 1 Necessity of humiliation Humiliation required 1 By God the Father 2 God the Sonne Luk. 4. 4. 3 God the Holy Ghost Ioh. 16. 8. 〈◊〉 1 2 Reas. 1. From the necessity of it 1 The relation it hath to the other conditions 1 Seeking for Christ. 2 Seeking merâ—cy Mat. 22. 5 6 Christs righteousnesse not esteemed by men unhumbled Reas. 3. No turning else from our evill wayes Simile Act â— Pride the cause of disobedience 2 Cor. 5. 10. Esay 66. 2. Reas. 4. Else there would not be constancy 2 Cor. 7. 10 Reas. 5. God should not have the praise of his mercy Why humiliation required first Reas. 1. No sacrifice accepted without it Psal. 51. 16 17. Reas. 2. It makes us Priests â— Cor. 8. 5. Reas. 3. Else the Spirit of God dwells not in us Esay 57. 15. Reas. 4. It makes us obedient in all things 2 Humiliation what Examples of men hum bled 2. Chron. 33. 12. Manasses The converts Acts 2. 37. The Goaler Acts 16. Prodigall Luk. 15. 〈◊〉 Humiliation of two parts Passive humiliation 〈◊〉 Sensiblenesse of sin 2 Feare of his estate 3 It workes consideration 1 It is wrought by the Law Simile The Law what 2 The Spirit workes humiliation 3 By afflictions Rom. 7. 2 Active humiliation Examples of this humiliation Luke 15. Foure payâ—s of ingredients in it 1 Hope of 〈◊〉 mercy and sence of mi sery 2 Our owne emptinesse and Gods alsufficiency 3 Sence of our sinnes and Christs righteousnesse 4 A sence of Gods love and our unkindnesse Difference betweene active and passive humiliation 1 In the matter 2 In the ground 3 In the instrumentall causes 4 In their ef fects 1 2 3 4 5 Properties of this humiliation 1 Prayer 1 2 Seeke Gods face 3 Turne from sinne 2 Chron. 33. 23. Simile 2 To cleave fast to Christ. 1 2 Two things accompany this humiliation Falling away the ground of it 3 Moderates the affections 4 To love God much 5 To be content with any condition 1 In want of outward things 2 Bearing crosses Lev. 26. 41. Ezech. 36. Case Whether such a measure of Legall sorrow be necessary Answ. Sorrow dou ble Violent sorrow not alwayes necessary 1 It 〈◊〉 not alwayes the greatest 2 1 Not necessary on mans part 2 Nor on Gods part 1 2 Simile 3 Greatnesse of sorrow 1 Comfort comes late Simile 2 From ignorance Simile Object Answ. Sence of sin necessary Two ends of humiliation To take Christ. 2 For Sanctification Simile Vse 1. 1 Exhortation to those that are humbled Degrees of grace from degrees of humiliation 2 Faith â—aith what Simile 2 Love 2 To those that are not humbled 1 To see the greatnesse of sinne 1 Single out some great sinne Acts 2. 〈◊〉 Iohn 4. Simile Sins great how 5 To make past sinnes present 3 Let sorrow abide Psalme 51. 2 Cor. 12. Simile Ioel 2. 4 Take heed of false reasonings Other excuses are in those Sermons upon Rom. 1. 17 18. 2 The sight of our misery and vanity to that end 1 See the greatnesse of God 2 Our owne weaknesse 3 Labour for the Spirit Object Answ. God gives the Spirit in our indeavours Doct. The Lord is mercifull to the humble Levit. 23. 27 Lev. 16. 20. Iames 4. 6. Psalme 25. Esay 57. 15. Esay 62. 2. 2 Chron. 12 Reas. 1. They give God the glory Acts 3. Iohn 17. 4. Reas. 2. It keepes a man in com passe Simile Reas. 3. Makes a man usefull 〈◊〉 others