as well in Deede as in Thought He was afflicted if it were possible more in the evils which ominously attended these Occurrences then in these Occurrences which confusedly perplexed his Obedience 1. Abraham was comparatively a feeble person a person aged an hundred twenty five yeeres Isaac was a sturdie lad a lad aged about twenty five yeeres Isaac was f better able to carrie all the Wood requisite for a burnt offering then his Father was to bring with him the Fire and the Knife How therefore could the Patriarch singly by himselfe alone over power bind and slay the robustious youth Isaac Should the boy find his own strength should he deeme his case desperate turn again snatch the Knife out of his Parents hand and of the two evils chuse rather to Kill then to be Killed Which way could the heartlesse wearish old man be enabled to help himselfe Alas alas for his young and strong Son Isaac Abraham the aged is no match no match at all 2. On the other side Grant that Isaac will not resist unto blood Let him beyond all expectation most humbly suffer both his hands and his feete to be tied and bound Imagine him so made up of selfe-denials that he becometh obedient even unto the death If what life the Father the weake Father can not take from the Son that life the son the obedient son most chearfully layeth down Surely Sirs the Scene is now changed the unexspected submissiveness of the child charmeth and tieth up the hands and intention of the Father Had the boy bin stout hearted he might by resisting and strugling have warmed a constancy in the resolution of the parent but seeing the meek child doth more quietly then any Lamb give up his throat unto his Fathers Knife Slay him that can for Abraham If cause so requireth Abraham can die in the stead of his child but slay him he cannot How shall I give thee up Isaac How shall I offer thee up my Son My bowels are turned within me and my repentings are Kindled together O that I might dye for thee my son my son 3. Let Father and Son too religiously determine that Jehovah shall fullfill his whole pleasure upon them both Let the burnt offering by God required be both by the sacrificer and by the sacrificed a free-will offering Let Isaac be slain and being slain let him be burnt to ashes An Hour hence when the beat of zeal is insensibly cooled and when Fatherly affections do as insensibly Kindle View then the Patriarch weeping for his only Isaac because he is not 4. Let him wipe all teares from his eyes and let him wipe them all away by Faith the blood upon his hands he cannot so soon wash off Loe a little distance hence two young men e wait as wel the Sons as the Fathers return Let Abraham see to it Should their blood arise at blood-guiltiness Should they in a furie avenge upon their old Master the death of their young Master the aged father I wisse is but one against two Escape for his life he cannot 5. Suppose that these two young men will keep counsel if they can yet will not Sarah be so said As for Ishmael he will suspect His turn to be the next Hardly will any Subject deem himself safe within the jurisdiction of such a Prince as hath by vertue of his arbitrarie power in a mercilesse frenzie sacrificed even his own child 6. Give Abraham his life for a prey yet if the foundations be cast down what can the righteous do In Abraham his seed which seed is Christ shall all the world be blessed Although Isaac remaineth childless in Isaac shall Abraham his seed be called Sacrifice Him and out of whose loins shall come the appointed Saviour of all mankind Verily the Faith of Abraham the hope of Gods elect the Expectation of the Gentiles are all three of them in vain if for a burnt offering Isaac be offered up childless 7. Accompt that God is able to raise him from the dead Let this Father of the Faithful believe hope and rest assured that out of the dead ashes of his Son not another but the self same Isaac whom he offered up shall be raised unto life upon earth Grant all this and more Nevertheless except his own family and with them his other relations believe the certainty of this as truly as He himself believeth it Into what a strait is Abraham now brought yea 8. Let sound believers and with them all other well-wishers make the best interpretation which they rationally can make of this Patriarch his Obedience yet for an un-provoked Father under a pretence of Religion to embrue his own hands in the blood of his own child is a Fact so inhumane so barbarous and in this age of the world so unheard of that the bruit of it will spread farr and near It will unavoidably open the mouths of evil surmisers to speak all manner of Falshoods against Him both at home and abroad 1. It will hence forward be charged against Him how 1. It was for no goodness that of old he fled his Country and hath ever since bin shifting places from one people to another Kingdom like a meer fugitive and vagabond Neither 2. had he as fifty years since he did so carelesly forsaken his own kindred and his Fathers house if he had not then bin as he now is devoid even of natural affections 3. Hagar had a taste of his kindness when he turned her packing out of doors 4 It did not over much consist with a conjugal love while his wife Sarah continued alive to take Hagar into his bed and 5. there was in him as little honesty as good nature when to humour his morose wife He contrary to the law of nations disinherited his first born son Ishmael In brief the Wisdom the sobriety the gravity the integrity c. of Abraham his whole life past will by this one dead flie in his Ointment be for ever hereafter utterly discredited to say no Worse He who most justly valued his good name above spoiles by him taken in warr must now live to be a scorn and a derision and a monster amonst Men. Wherefore if Jonah will rather flie from the presence of the Lord then adventure to be reputed a false Prophet Consider I pray you how un-supportable a temptation will then crush this reverend and venerable Patriarch when He hitherto a mighty Prince shall be had in no reputation rather when he shall be an abject and offscouring among men even the gazing stock and Spectacle of the World Might Abraham be suffered to cutt as well his own throat as the throat of Isaac might he give his body to be burnt upon his sons and with his sons ashes intermix his own this would not be unto him so great a death as that Contempt will be which the death of his Isaac will every where bring upon Him That mark which was set upon Cain will not equal the brand which
neck Joseph shall please himself in weeping the bowels of Abraham yern upon Isaac's neck he may not weep 4. Abraham was tempted in the No time b given The daughter of Jephthah so God will order it shall go childless among Women a joyful mother of children a happy mother in Israel she shall not be nevertheless this indulgence her tender father may grant he may safely give unto her fâ—ll two months space and therein to bewail and celebrate her Virgin life before she be finally consecrated a Nunn a Vestal a Votarie to her God But as for the Father of Isaac He must seize he must apprehend he must take his Isaac not two months hence but presently Where it is said unto him b Take thy son there it is said unto him b Take thy son now 5. Whither must he take Him 1. Answ Not unto the tent of his abode for there he might have rushed upon have gulped down and irrevocably have executed the unnatural Duty ere ever his more considerate heart had given place unto the recoilings of his fatherly compassions Loving-Kindnesses and affections 2. Answ Neither might that neighbouring grove be the shadow of his sons death for there he might have called in aid But 3. Answ He was to take his son unto a place d afarr off which place mount Moriah by name was above forty miles distant from Beersheba which forty miles were in this winterly season unto the feeble Knees and languishing Spirits of heavie hearted Abraham little less d then three daies journey During a great part of which three daies to speake was to betray his grief to be silent was to breed suspicion to stand still was disobedience to return back was rebellion and to go forward was death 4 Answ Get thee into the land of Moriah unto one of the mountains which b I will tell thee of How shall he get thither The same Vision which a disturbed his first nights rest will these next two nights hold his eyes wakeing or if slumber he doth his very shuntings will affright him How can a dejected crasie aged person travail if he wanteth both sleep and sustenance He can eat no food except bread of affliction and he more heartily feedeth upon his griefes then upon that I dare not say he mingleth his drink with teares for these he suppresseth In the stead of weeping openly he bleedeth inwardly and no marveil seeing every step between Beer-sheba and mount Moriah presseth so heavily upon his drooping Spirits Father said the g secure lad Where is a Lamb for the burnt offering Nigh at hand thought the Father but he durst not say so He was glad to pluck up his Spirits when with a sorrowful heart I wisse he happily replied h God will provide himself a lamb my son Hungry and thirsty his soul fainting in him upon naked mountains in bleak weather slowly and mournfully he laggeth on glad if he might be priviledged to sprinkle the ground with teares and his head with Ashes but he may not thus mitigate his afflictions When after many and many a wearisom step he long at the last d saw the place afarr off much more when he i came quite to it then more then ever he fixed his farewel eye upon his now short-liv'd Isaac And the more he now fixed his eye upon his Isaac the more did his eye now affect his heart But more by many degrees more was his sad and mournfull heart pittifully greived then when he k stretched forth his hand and took the Knife For 6 Abraham was tempted as in the place appropriated to this sacrifice so in the sacrifice to be offered up The sacrifice to be offered up was b a burnt offering and this ye know required f as well fire as a Knife This burnt offering was k first to be slain and then i to be consumed with fire I say again Isaac was 1 as first to be bound and then to be layed over the altar upon the wood so first to be slain with a Knife and then to be burnt A crueltie it will be to cutt the throat of Isaac but the inhumanitie ceaseth not here for when his throat is cutt then must his body his whole body be burned wholy burned to ashes Sirs if this be that death which Isaac is to suffer say I Let me not see the death of the Lad. But to make the catastrophe yet more tragical His Father must see it And yet is this sigh this prodigious Sight but the least of his trialls For 7. Abraham was tempted as in the sacrifice b assigned so in the sacrificer b ordained Isaac the Son He is to be the sacrifice Abraham the father He is to be the sacrificer 1. If Isaac must indeed be offered up for a burnt offering let some un-concerned stranger or other be hired to be the sacrificing Priest 2. If by a strange hand the Son of Abraham may not die Order some meane out Servant to give the deaths wound 3. If no inferiour Servant may let Eleazar the Steward undergoe this servitude 4. If Eleazar may not O let Ishmael be forced upon the Dutie 5 Let any hand whatsoever rather then the hand of Abraham himselfe binde and slay the Son of Abraham But Who may say unto God What doest thou Abraham must b apprehend Abraham must c conduct Abraham must f burden Abraham must i binde Abraham can not k refuse to slay Abraham can not refuse to burn to ashes his Son his onely Son his onely Isaac his onely Isaac whom he loveth Even so much that From v. 2. unto v. 11. of Gen. 22. Abraham was tempted IN the multitude of thoughts within Him 1. While he 1. ariseth so early 2. Sadleth the Asse 3. cleaveth the Wood 4. calleth aside two and but two young men and 5. with them draweth his Isaac out of doores 2. While he c consulteth hast and privacie for why else did he himselfe both Saddle the Asse and cleave the Wood 3. While indisposed and enfeebled as he was he c began and continued his Winterly that I may not say his fatal journey 4. When by some undoubted signall I mean by some cloud testifying Gods presence or rather by some pillar of fire or rather by some new appearing Starr he was c told of and therefore d saw the place afar off 5. While for reasons but too two well know unto himselfe he left his two young men e behind him 6. All the while that his Son was f carrying the Wood and that he himselfe was f carrying the Fire and the Knife 7. While he i 1. built the altar 2. upon it laied the Wood in order 3. bound his Son 4 laied his Son over the altar upon the Wood 5. When he took the Knife and 6. Sretched forth his hand his trembling hand to slay his Isaac his onely Isaac In all which trans-actions unto the unwillingly-willing Father of Isaac every new occurrence could be no lesse then a new conflict 2. Abraham was tempted
breath for his blamelesse and dearest Son he intercedeth not Qu Why this Answ Holy Abraham loved one righteous Isaac more then all the sinners of Sodom but so it was God had revealed concerning Sodom onely a conditional pleasure saying I will go down and see Concerning Isaac he had revealed his absolute pleasure saying Take now Wherefore so absolute is the Patriarch his resignation that notwithstanding his God had yeelded unto him seven times together in all that he had spoken in the behalf of Sodom he doth not at all open his lips unto God in behalf of his Isaac Go thou and do likewise When God saith Offer up with-hold not thou Being called unto self-denials Let Duty teach thee not to argue but to submitt not to dispute but to obey not to request but to resigne Let thy meek thine humble thy modest thought be I am dumb I open not my mouth because thou doest it Nay 5. Since thou owest not onely whatsoever is in thy custodie but even thy selfe also unto Him that is Lord of all Araunah like meete thou thy King in His Desires Make friends of unrighteous Mammon What thou mayest not detaine that give and give chearefully unto Him who loveth a chearefull Giver What thy God calleth for that present dedicate and consecrate first love thy Relations as dearly as Abraham loved Isaac and then esteem Father Mother Wife Children and with them whatsoever else is precious esteem all of them together too small too mean a present to testifie the readinesse of thy devotion or the sinceritie of thy gratitude unto the Father and Giver of thy Lord Jesus Christ especially seeing so many as he loveth them he chastneth and so many as he chastneth them he chastneth for the spiritual and eternal good of themselves or of others or of both whether 1. For the benefit of others Accompt upon it that wherein the God of all comfort doth comfort us in all our tribulation therein he prepareth and bespeaketh us to comfort them who are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God Are the consolations of God small with thee I hope not Or 2. By casting down thine old and outward man thy God preventeth thy new thine inward man from falling Jesurum when he waxed fatt Kicked and Solomon when he was full denied God So is it with thee and with other Saints Alas the more holy mens lives are the more advantage Satan seeketh to gett over them that old Serpent well knowing by his own woful experience that there is no pride like unto Spiritual pride Wherefore that even the Fall of his children may bruise this Serpents head when the right hand of God exalteth them most usually his left hand doth humble them It is indeed unto their humiliation but it is so unto their humiliation that it conduceth unto their honour that God doth so often place them in the forlorn hope When no man upon earth was so upright as Job then was the roaring Lion let lose against him After Hezekiah had pleaded sinceritie God gave him a taste of his unprosperous vain gloriousness David was confessedly a man after Gods own heart and as confessedly Adulterie Murder and Pride it self brought him very Low Jacob prevailed when he wrastled with God but God sent him halting away Who more stout hearted then Peter and who more cowheartedly denied his Jesus Satan had not bin permitted to buffet Paul had not Paul bin exalted by abundant Revelations Moses was a meek man but he spake so unadvisedly with his lips that there was for him no Entrance into Canaan Abraham so excelled in Faith that he was exemplarily and eminently the Father of the Faithful but where was the Faith of Abraham when more then once he dissembled that Sarah was only his Sister And as that he who thinketh he standeth may take heed lest he fall the wisest of men was made a mere fool by the Vilest of Women so that we may not be ignorant of the devices of Satan Christ himself when he was first baptized next endued with the Spirit and then declared mightily declared to be the Son of God was afterwards led into the Wilderness and in the Wilderness forty daies together tempted of the Devil 3. To rouse a Soul from drowsiness to pursue some unrepented Crime to dislodge some bosom Sin c. It was when Saul failed of his expectation that Jonathan was questioned for eating honey and when Israel was repelled then was the Sacriledge of Acham discoved Before he was troubled David himself went wrong and until he was cast into a troubled Sea Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord. Many times there is in our calamities a Spirit of discerning while like that Angel which met Baalam they give us to understand our present misadventures Search me O Lord and know my heart trie me and know my thoughts See if there be in me any way of pain A daily praier this and this praier almost every day before we call God answereth 4. To satisfie our selves or others of the truth or groweth of our Graces it is the furnace that as well approveth as trieth Silver The same trial which inviteth worldlings to esteem Preachers no better then earthen Pitchers the self same trial occasioneth every one that appeareth before God to look upon those Preachers as upon the precious Sons of Zion and to value those precious Sons of Zion comparable unto fine gold the which the more it is tried the better it is refined and the more it is refined the brighter it shineth The sufferings which all these holy Martyrs in this whole context endured were not only the trials but the vindications not only the vindications but the approbations not only the approbations but the publications and recommendations of their Faith Such was their Faith that to their praise be it spoken their names are Registred by the Holy Ghost himself That poor widow was made rich by the applauses of Christ Jesus when he vouchsafed to attribute a greater munificence unto her small mite then unto the largest gifts that were cast unto the Treasurie The like was the successe of that true hearted Mary unto whom the same blessed Jesus gave this felicitie that where soever His Holy Gospel shall be preached there her Name shall be as ointment powred forth In every deed neither the deare-heartedness of that penitent nor the plain dealing of Jeremiah nor the meekenesse of Moses nor the Spirit of Elijah had ever bin one half so famous as they now are had not malicious tongues given occasion to have the excellencie of their graces brought to the test Said that envious Eliab unto his brother David I know the pride and the naughtinesse of thy heart but where was David his pride when he refused the costly armour of King Saul and contented himself with a sling and a stone Or where was the naughtiness of his heart when in love toward his nation and in Zeal toward his
THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFULL TEMPTED As was more concisely shewed August 31. 1674 At a SOLEMNE FUNERAL in the CHVRCH AT WOTTON under EDGE in the Countie of Gloucester S. Aug. Tota vita humana est tentatio By GILES OLDISWORTH A. M. and Rector of Burton on the Hill in the same Countie OXFORD Printed by HENRY HALL 1676. Imprimatur HEN CLERKE Vice Cancel OXON Jan. 30. 1676. To the Lady Crofts the vertuous Consort of my very good Lord Herbert by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Hereford Anno Regni 1 Edw. 16. Anno Domini 1288 SR Lancelot Oldisworth of Halifax in York-shire Kt. took to wife Bridget daughter of VVilliam Ramsey of the same Countie Esq Their son was Maurice Anno Regni 2 Edw. 13. Anno Domini 1320 Maurice Oldisworth Husband of VVinifred daughter to Steven the brother of VValter Stapleton L. Bp. of Excester had issue Lancelot Anno Regni 3 Edw. 18. Anno Domini 1344 Lancelot Oldisworth married Alice daughter of Thomas Frie of Devon-shire Gent. he begat Maurice Anno Regni 2 Rich 1. Anno Domini 1377 Maurice Oldisworth took to wife Gennet daughter of Iohn Philpot L. Mayor of London His son was Lancelot Anno Regni 4 Hen. 3. Anno Domini 1402 Lancelot Oldisworth was Husband to Margaret daughter of Andrew Foord of Cornwall Esq He begat VVilliam Anno Regni 4 Edw. 4. Anno Domini 1464 VVilliam Oldisworth married the daughter of Nicholas Read of Devon-shire Esq By whom he had Maurice Anno Regni 3 Rich. 1. Anno Domini 1483 Maurice Oldisworth his wife was Iane daughter and Heiress unto Iohn Sydenham of Somerset-shire Esq Their son was Thomas Anno Regni 8 Hen. 22. Anno Domini 1531 Thomas Oldisworth married a daughter of Morgan of Pennicoyd Castle in Monmouth-shire by whom he was Father of Nicholas Nicholas Oldisworth having married Marjorie daughter of Davis of the city of Glouc. had by her Edward Edward Oldisworth was in Q. Maries daies a Colonel in Flanders In Q. Elizabeths daies he married Tace daughter to Arthur Porter of Newark in the County of Glouc. Esq Their son was Arnold Arnold Oldisworth Clerk of the Hanniper married Lucie daughter and Co-heiress of Francis Baxtu Treasurer to Mary Quen of Scotland By Lucie he had Edward Edward Oldisworth of Bradley in the Parish of Wotten under Edge in the County of Glouc. Esq married Elizabeth the eldest daughter of George Masters of Ciren-Cester in the County afore said Esquire Their only son was Robert Robert Oldisworth of the said Bradley in the said Parish of VVotton under Edge Esq took to wife Elizabeth daughter of William Clotterbook of Kingsstanely in the County of Glouc. Gent. and had issue VVilliam William Oldisworth the only child that ever the said Robert Oldisworth or Elizabeth his wife had was buried Aug. 31. 1674 both before he was married and before he was full 21 yeares old Good Madam The more inferiour this slender Stemm is unto the generous Croft of Crofts Castle the more numerous those weeping eyes were which I then beheld when the last Branch of this Stock was untimely cutt off And above all this the more narrowly I search into the multitude of sorrows which I am apt to imagine Abraham the Friend of God wrestled with The greater Impression abideth engraven upon my heart while with true joy and much pleasure I frequently ruminate how tender a mercy the Preserver of men dayly vouchsafeth both unto my Lord Bishop of Hereford and unto your Ladiship in continuing the Life and in prospering the daies of Sr Herbert Crofts your Isaac To bury that Heir which is an only Son to mourn for such an only Son as is an only child is I see A two-edged Woe Nevertheless by Faith the Father of the Faithful duelled the Father of the Faithfull vanquished even this Triall Madam If either my conjectures concerning Abraham his temptations or any Descant of mine upon his exemplarie faith can assist your Ladiships growing in grace and in the knowledg of our Lord and Saviour IESVS CHRIST I shall willingly sacrifice this Sermon to censure yea I shall bless God for granting the request of Your Good Ladiships humbly devoted GILES OLDISWORTH To the Vertuous Mrs. BRDGET THORP VVidow BRing her forth that she may be burnt When What paper I now expose Gen. 38.24 I two years since rashly condemned unto the Presse such another unjust Judge sa Judah was was I. Dear Cousin I will not say that a Gift in your Bosom did corrupt my Judgment Sept. 2. 1674. for then your Purse would pay for it The truth is to have me at that time passe that sentence you were not to have me now execute that sentence you are the importunate widow Let me cease to honour such as are Widows indeede if I do not from my heart reverence and highly esteeme you for You glorifie God Whom I should dishonour should I conceal that it is for His sake and onely for His sake that you require this Sermon from Your most obliged Servant and ever thankful Kins-man GILES OLDISWORTH Gen. XXII a 1. ANd it came to passe after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him Abraham And he said Behold here I am b 2 And he said Take now thy Son thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the Mountains which I will tell thee of c 3 And Abraham rose up early in the Morning and sadled his Asse and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his Son and clave the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him d 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afarr off e 5 And Abraham said unto his young men Abide you here with the Asse and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you f 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his Son and he took the fire in his hand and a Knife and they went both of them together g 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said My father and he said Here am I my Son And he said Behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering h 8 And Abraham said My Son God will provide himselfe a lamb for a burnt offering So they went both of them together i 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his Son and laid him on the altar upon the wood k 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the Knife to slay his Son l 11 And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of Heaven and said Abraham Abraham And he said Here am I. m 12 And he said Lay not thy hand
temptations or other lay upon the Patriareh to with-hold him And what sort of temptations this might be cometh next to be dis-cussed Abraham was tempted AMong the Heathens classical Poets have from hence raised fictions treading close upon the heeles of truth it selfe Among the Jewes noted Rabbies have upon this stage introduced the tempter Satan and Him too in a visible shape among us Christians this one Historie hath tasked if not over-tasked the elegant quills the curious fancies the working imaginations yea and the profoundest Judgments too not only of humane writers but even of professed Divines Among the inspired pen-men of sacred Witt S. James expostulateth When he offered Isaac his Son upon the altar was not Abraham justified by works Answ Verily he was and by such as equalled his first works and more To forsake his native soil his own Kindred and his Fathers house that he might wander hither and thither whither he himself neither did nor might foreknow these were great self denials these Yet of these the phrase is * Heb. 11.8 when he was called so †Gen. 1◠1 The Lord had said unto him But now that he is to slay his Son the word in my Text is not When he was called but When he was tried so a not God did say to Abraham but God did tempt Abraham Wherefore of these remarkes of these asterismes which so many sorts of writers have hereunto affixed of those Annotations which the Holy Ghost himself hath so graciously contributed let every one of us reap some profit some seasonable advantage some Spiritual benefit for our present consolation If Moses * Exod. 3.3 turn'd aside to see that burning bush let us with Him a contemplate the greater miracle of the two this c thicket of thorns this fierce law b which e troubling the Patriarch on h every side within i his bowells within i his heart k kindleth though not a consuming yet a melting fire For. In GEN. XXII Abraham was Tempted Verse 1. By all circumstances v. 2. In very deed And in truth from v. 2. unto v. eleventh In the manner v. 1. recorded In the matter v. 2. joyned In the Duty from v. 2 unto v. 11 performed In such points as v. 1. sharpned his trial In a trial v. 2 made up of afflictions From v. 2. to v. 11. in afflictions big with temptation Oh my brethren Why say we that our wound is incurable and that never was sorrow like unto our sorrow Whereas In v. 1. of Gen. 22. Abraham was tempted 1 After these things Qu After what things 1. Answ After he was aged almost an hundred and thirty yeares Alas he hath more need to keep his bed then c to rise before the day dawn His shriveled Limbs require succour rest and retirednesse rather then terrour toyle and travaile O forsake him not in his old Age Spare him a little before he goeth hence 2. Answ After fresh prosperities What he had heard in Vr of the Chaldees that he had found true in Canaan Unto Him the land of promise was a land of performances For his sake God had reproved Kings had put to flight the Armie of aliens had preserved Lot and blessed Isaac He was rich in cattle and in men And what sweetned his wealth he abounded in honour for he was and was esteemed a Prince a mighty Prince and that which sweetned both was he enjoyed both his wealth and his honour in quietnesse and in assurance The Philistines in whose borders he now quartered had sought and ratified a confederacie with Him and His What Well they had violently taken away was upon his first complaint restored Out of it now sprang not waters of stife but the issues of peace In all that he did in all that he had he was blessed so blessed that for the publick worship of his God he had planted a Grove In this Grove his God Alsufficient he now adored as his Everlasting God And as if this God of his praise had therefore lifted him up that he might cast him down it a came to passe sodainly as a whirle wind it came to passe that a after these things God did tempt God did trie God did afflict Abraham He looked for good but behold evil 3. Answ After new hopes It was not now Lord God What wilt thou give me seeing I go childlesse Neither was it O that Ismael might live before thee God had said Sarah shall beare a Son A Son she bare him at the set time of which God had spoken A Son she bare unto him in his old Age God had said Thou shalt call his name Isaac Out of dutie rather out of pure joy Isaac he is called that God may delight to blesse the babe the babe is upon the eight day circumcised The childe groweth the childe is weaned Abraham maketh a feast a great feast By the care of his Mother by the wisdome of his Father yea by authoritie had from God himselfe the Youth before he is of full age is made and declared heir Sole heir And now upon whom are the eyes of the whole hous-hold of faith but upon Isaac In whom shall all Nations be blessed In whom shall be the seed of Abraham be called but in Isaac Above twentie five yeeres had the life of this Patriarch bin bound up in the life of this lad And it came to passe after these things What Answ Abraham rueth the day of the year and the hour of the day wherein Isaac was born To conclude 4. Answ After that he was known of God He that inhabiteth the highest heavens had wonderfully condescended to an acquaintance with this Patriarch He had entred into a covenant into a familiaritie into a friendship with this Father of the Faithfull Bow the Heavens O Lord and come down Of late the Lord did not stay for any such invitation from his friend Abraham It was at Abraham his Dwellings that the Lord God did marsquerade in the likenesse of men made himselfe no stranger washed his feete rested in the cool of the arbour eat well and drank well Abraham was the onely favourite whom the Lord God in his way toward sodom had made his companion So very a friend was Abraham that from Abraham God would not hide the thing which he was there doing And after these things for a gracious Lord and Master to trie conclusions upon his poor Servant this is harsh Love unfaind filial feare and cordiall friendship would be not tried but trusted Peter will be greived if Jesus shall a third time aske Lovest thou me To question the obedience of this Patriarch is not to trie but to break his heart 2. Abraham was tempted in the revelation a made made unto Him unto Him in the night in the night by God by God speaking by God saying Abraham 1. Be it that the death of Isaac is predestinated the more will the mercy that I may not say the glory of the most high God shew it self in
shall be fixed upon Abraham 2. Great was this trial but greater is that which attendeth it seeing what reproaches soever asperse Him sully the undefiled worship of his God Look how much you disavow Him and so much you disesteem his exemplary godliness Blemish his good name and ye blast his holy profession Every slander against himself doth thorough His side wound that Religion which He defendeth For example His former zeal will be by the blood of his Son discouloured as if it had bin dissimulation hypocrisie or what not By the ashes of his Isaac his late Devotions will seeme pale-faced they will appeare like so much singularitie humour or affectation Yea the puritie of that true Religion which He countenanceth will now be censured a worship of his own invention Alas that every altar by Him erected in a thankful remembrance of that God whom He serveth should henceforward be looked upon not as the perpetual monuments of the onely true God but as certain arguments of this Patriarch his ostentation and madnesse Woe will it be with the Hous-hold of faith when the life of this parent and the Death of this Child shall be taken up for a scoffe a taunt for a reproach and by-word for a ridicule and a proverb amongst all the insulting adversaries of Godlinesse Review a little how powerfully this last trial tempteth Abraham to desist from offering up his Isaac viz. To sacrifice his just and most deserved Dignitie and Esteem in the fate of his Son to let his own Name perish with his childes Life by this one stroke to make himselfe of no reputation the Patriarch in duty toward his God refuseth not could it stand with the reputation of Divine Worship But so it is that if the one suffereth the other suffereth also The pure the Holy the unspotted Worship of the most High God Will by this one sacrifice once offered up be even unto persons honest sober and quiet an offence and scandall The scandal that will be given the Prejudice that will be taken against the Holy Worship of the glorious Lord God this this is that which casteth down the heart of this Patriarch while in the hand of this Patriarch the slaughter-Knife is lifted up There yet remaineth one triall unspoken of the which in humane probabilitie will bring upon the Father of the Faithfull a greater temptation unto disobedience then this and some former circumstances could doe were all of them blended together into one complicated evil The remaining triall is this The obloquies of them who will revile Him and his religion will fall not so maliciously upon Himselfe as upon the God whom He serveth It is against His will that his Isaac is slain and therefore the world will cease to asperse Him as if He delighted in cruelties neither is it of his own head that he beginneth this sacrifice so that he shall not long be branded with an act of will worship The burnt-offering which he bringeth he offereth up not of choice but in Duty and the truth hereof will in due time come to light But herein as I conceive herein is the consternation of Abraham his Spirit So long as the commandement of his God might abide concealed so long there was not given unto the enemies of the Lord so great an occasion to Blaspheme On the other side to the deepe anguish of his Soul the Patriarch calleth to mind that so soon as ever it shall be understood that the Lord had said unto him Offer up thy Son forthwith all people will open their mouths against that Jehovah who laid upon the Father of Isaac a command so unmerciful so ungodly so pernicious Behold all other conflicts are now over and all things are now readie The alter is built the Wood is orderly laid upon the altar By his own Father Isaac is bound and is for the ease of his Father by his own selfe placed over the altar upon the Wood At the Fathers feete and in the Fathers bosome the fire kindleth His Arm is stretched forth and in his hand the Knife but the suspence is If unto the God of Abraham the Son of Abraham must be offered up What will the God of Abraham do unto his great Name Answ Who so will atheists say Who so would be bound by covenant to Live and Die a stranger amongst his Enemies Who so in Obedience unto his God would shift in tents from region to region not having upon earth any Citie or dwelling place to abide in He who would be ever separated from all his Kins-folke and Relations He who would Worship a strange God a God whom the eye of man never yet beheld a God invisible a God of the Hebrews if any such a handfull of people there be a new-found God a God unknown unto the most prosperous Kingdomes and unto the most spreading Dominions of the World Such a one as would ridiculously and obscenely mangle and curtail the foreskin of his flesh He that can call it a point of high devotion to be the prodigious executiner of his dearest childe Let him forsake the Gods of the Philistines and of the Egyptians let him renounce the Gods of the Chaldeans and of the Canaanites and let him cleave unto the God of Abraham So then If unto his offering up his Isaac unto his Jehovah we add his not with-holding his Jehovah from the contempt of blasphemers If unto the self-denials on which of necessity he was to force His whole man we annexe the evil consequences which his self denials most ominously presaged It is as clear as His obedience that when Abraham offered up his Isaac Abraham was tempted OBJECTION Better it had bin had neither God tempted Abraham nor Abraham obeyed his God for hereby an Entrance was afterwards ministred first unto the Heathens next unto the Kingdom of Israel and then unto the Kingdom of Judah to offer up both Sons and Daughters first unto Devils next unto insensible Creatures and soon after to make the affront complete unto God Himself REPLY It is yet to be proved that if God had never thus tempted Abraham then folk would never have offered up their Sons and their Daughters in Sacrifice Or suppose they would not c. O man who art thou that disputest against God Seeing as the Extent of Gods Commandements is exceeding broad so the Designs of them are exceeding deep From the beginning of the world was is and will be foreknown unto God what success so ever did doth or will attend every mans obedience unto every of His precepts By ways unto us unsearchable he is ever fulfilling his hidden pleasure ever fetching about his hidden Glory as for us Who hath known the mind of the Lord Or Who hath bin His Counseller Leave unto the infinitely wise God things secret Our concern is in things revealed 1. It may be the Lord hath said unto Shimei curse David It may be the just God had said unto Satan Let the brats of Adam see what
greater triall then any of these even the triall of cruell mockings of scoffs which fetched blood like a Sword in the bones Within my Text Isaac a type of the suffering Jesus saw Death although he felt it not And Abraham the Father of the Faithful was more tempted then Isaac himselfe was Unto you I applie this O yee of little faith If as unto these Saints whose Names are here written in this booke of Martyrs it was so unto you it is (r) Phil. 1.29 given to beleeve Is it a marvel unto You if as it likewise was unto them so it is unto You given to suffer It is your comfort that ye are Sons and not Bastards And would ye be treated like Bastards and not like Sons If ye would 2. Since at this instant your chastisement seemeth not joyous but greivous Blesse ye your God for that your afflictions equall not Abrahams They (s) Zech. 12.10 shall mourn as for an onely Son To part with a child and He a child growing tall as well in expectation as in stature One who might hereafter have bin the staff of our old age and was for the present the Desire of our eyes to lose the enjoyment of a Son and Heir then when that onely Son began to rejoyce onely in the Lord this is indeed no ordinarie triall Yet Give God the Glorie as smart as our present chastisement is it is not so greivous as the temptation of Abraham was Who have bin unto God the truer friends We or the Patriarch Whose temptations have bin the greater the Patriarchs or Ours Weigh we in the same ballance the burden the number the sharpenesse of Abraham his trialls with our own we shall then feele our own to be as the Apostle justly esteemeth them light afflictions 3. Since he was a Friend of God who was thus tempted Blesse thou thy God so often as he bestoweth upon thee the favour of a correction They who were fortie yeares humbled in the wildernesse were not Moabites or Amonites but the chosen people of God and when upon their back the plowers plowed long furrows it was that out of that heart which was once fallow ground they might bring forth a plentiful harvect It is not the chaff but the wheate which men take paines to winnow and the better the wheat the more throughly it is sifted We give no such diligence to melt lead or tinn as is used in refineing either Silver or Gold and of Gold the larger the Wedge or ingott the more fierie the trial It is the Vine branch that beareth Fruite which the Husband-man pruneth and the choicer the grape the more industrious is the Hus-bandman When the Lord maketh up his jewells he first fileth and then polisheth them and the dearer his children are unto Him the stricter is their education Cast Daniel into a furnace of fire and you make him the companion of an Angel While God giveth unto you a priviledge to endure temptations he giveth unto you a fellow-ship in the sufferings of Christ. But then 4. See that ye lose not the benefit of your temptations If thou wilt thank thy God for giving thee warning while the warning is hott let not the season of grace coole Thy bitter herbes are physical use them afore they be withered God intendeth our spiritual health as ever we would receive no hurt by this physick let our endeavours second His intentions There are Psalms of Degrees yea and crosses of Degrees too if we be not wanting unto our selves we may by these as upon the rounds of Jacobs ladder climbe the Heavens It was by a whirl-wind that Elijah was taken up If thou art smitten to the ground and astonished as He Act. IX was tremble as He did and with Him say Lord What wilt thou have mee to do That our Sorrow may be turned into Joy let the temptation wherein we are fallen have its perfect work God tried gracelesse Saul and God tempted Faithfull Abraham when Saul was tried Saul spared Agag but when Abraham was tempted Abraham offered up Isaac BE afraid therefore ye sinners who trample under foote the Blood of Jesus and be ye horribly afraid ye Atheists who crucifie unto your selves the Lord of Glorie I * p. 45. line 24. was saying If Faithfull Abraham was tempted and afflicted persons that are ungodly could not in this life expect to continue un-afflicted long Let mee now add 1. If the iniquitie of your heeles do not overtake you and compasse you about before ye Die If there be no Death in your hands If you come not into troubles like other men it is that your prosperitie may destroy you If the patience of the all-seeing God suffer you to fill up the measure of your offences it is that ye may not be able to abide the day of his coming If He that cometh to judg terribly the earth letteth you alone to feede the evil imaginations of your heart in quiet it is that like the Deere in your Parks of pleasure and like the Oxon in your pasture-ground ye may be fatted against the day of slaughter One especiall reason why whole burnt offerings were at the first instituted was to signifie unto us that (t) Hebr. 12.29 our God is a consuming fire viz. everie man that is not seasoned with the Salt of grace shall (u) Mark 9.49 be salted with the fire of Tophet Such as are sanctified by the fire of the Holy Ghost shall like Isaac be unto God (x) Rom. 15.16 an acceptable burnt offering Such as do not by faith purifie their heart and their whole man from dead works to serve the living God shall be not like Isaac but like that Ram which in the stead of Isaac Abraham offered up they shall be (y) Psal 37.20 as the fatt of Lambs they shall everlastingly consume into smoke shall they consume away for ever Neverthelesse 2. How desperately wicked soever thou hast bin in times past for the time to come here is opened unto thee a door of hope for 1. He who spared Isaac and accepted the Ram testifieth even unto thee that His Delight is not in sacrifices but in mercies 2. When this only son was offered upon the Altar he was then a type of that son of God who is made a Propitiation for thy Sins 3. Although Isaac was bound His God released him and although thou art tyed and bound in the cords of thy Sins the same God would release even thee 4. After Isaac was released the Lord blessed Isaac wouldest thou rise and walk God hath for thee store of blessings O taste and see that the LORD is good But 5. What sort of Darling is this Dalilah which thou preferrest before the possessiour of heaven and of earth Answ A seeming and but a seeming pleasure of Sin In this age there is in some Sins no sort of Delight except they be infamous as well as Wicked There is no pleasure in diceing except the Patrimonie
of seducers and of Satan 3. Seditious conventicles rebel against man profane atheists rebel against God but the Holy conformist rebelleth against neither yea he is therefore loyal to his Soveraign because he is obedient to his God 4. Is not the body more then raiment and is not the Soul more then the Body What shall his dread Majesties native Subjects give in exchange for their Souls 5. It is the people laden with iniquity that is the people of Gods wrath but a righteous people is a prosperous people then shall his Majesties Subjects flourish when their Soules prosper 6. While upon Lords daies and other daies sett a part for religious assemblies and duties some gadd about to change their way and others sit idle at home God loseth the glory of his full and publick congregations worship and Ordinances During the tyrannie of Oliver the Rebel orthodox Ministers were sequestred from their parochial congregations Under the Clemencie of King Charles the Second let not parochial congregations be sequestred from their orthodox Ministers In short so many as despise him shall be lightly esteemed but such as honour God them God will honour 4. Whereas I convinced you that the burden sharpness number of our trials are light afflictions in comparison of the temptations of Abraham behold a greater then Abraham is here Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners Consider Jesus by Isaac tipified and you will learn of him to possess your Souls in patience Faith instructeth us how to take pleasure in afflictions and to taste a joy even in tribulations Remove your eyes from the dead body of our departed friend unto the body of Christ crucified you will then in lieu of mourning for an onely Son even aspire a fellowship in Christs sufferings 5. Behold I shew you a mysterie The same faith which teacheth us to seek righteousness not by works but by grace doth also stirr us up to live just toward our neighbour our selves and our God When by faith Abraham offered up his Isaac he lived just to his Son true to himself upright toward his God 1. Vpright toward Jehovah for Jehovah had a greater right in Isaac then the Father of Isaac ever either had or could have 2. True to Himselfe for had he lifted up his Soul he had ceased to be upright 3. Just to his Son for it was the Duty of Isaac not onely to live but to die unto the Lord Blessed is that man which endureth temptation Would ye endure to the end Would ye have present victorie over your present conflict Fight the good fight of faith Who so would be justified must be justified not by works but by faith and he that would order his conversation aright must use his knowledge aright he must make the best use which he can not onely of his reason but of his faith 6. Faith fixeth one eye upon the Duty set before us and the other eye upon the promise annexed to that Duty Faith verily beleeveth that there is a reward for the righteous In the mount of the Lord was Jehovah seen By laying that Body which his father could not lift over the altar upon the Wood Isaac his mouth was filled with laughter 1. He saw heard an Angel sent from Heaven to find a way for his escape 2. He did not die but live 3. He lived and lived a type a figure a pledge of Christs and in Christ of our resurrection Life By not with-holding his Son Abraham received praise from his God yea and with praises blessings Abraham saw Christs day and was glad From the faith both of Abraham of Isaac Jehovah Himself received present yea and in all ages future Glory They who know His name will trust in it And yet shew I unto you more excellent things then these For 7. The same faith which enureth us to be ever at once just to our neighbour our selves and our God worketh upon our good nature it worketh in us a disposition to be like Christ harmeless and blameless 2. An emulation to put on the Lord ' Jesus To them that beleeve it is meate drink to studie Christ to learn Christ and to live Christ yea 3. Faith heightneth us to imitate with Jesus Christ the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ it cherisheth in us a filial delight of being followers of his Father and of our Father as dear Children Abba Father thou art long-suffering patient good merciful righteous liberal pure holy loving c. Oh make us make us like thy self long-suffering c. 4. By faith we rest assured that our fore-runner hath in Heaven prepared mansions and princely Lodgings for us who believe in Him To conclude by faith we reckon our selves therefore coheires with Christ because as he is by Nature so we are by a spirit of adoption priviledged to be the Sons of God all things are ours because we are Christs and Christ is Gods Gods in whom God is well pleased God is the Lord not of the dead but of the living and therefore the Dust shall give up her dead True the Soul of our dear friend is separated from his body nevertheless by faith we eye our Mediator as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh Faith giveth us to understand that since Christ and we are one body together with his dead body shall our dead bodies arise and shall therefore arise as his dead body did arise partly because they that are joyned unto the Lord are one spirit and partly because witness Enoch Elias the blessed Jesus there is one flesh of man another flesh of beasts The flesh of beasts like their mortal Soules perisheth for ever The flesh of man the dead body of our dear friend like leafe Gold naturally ascendeth unto the same fingers unto the same Creatour who curiously wrought it upon earth that he might exalt it unto glory in Heaven To which Heaven and glory he bring us by his spirit and by his Son To whom with Himself the Father of all things be dominion and salvation ever ascribed Amen FINIS Psal 116.10 I beleeved therefore have I spoken