ever we would see good dayes we must joyne our prayers and all our powers against our sins and the sins of others When the Philistins saw that the Arke was the cause of the punishments that befell them then they never rested till they had sent it away so let us ship and packe away our sins if ever we would have our punishments removed from us Say O mine enemie have I found thee thou art the enemies of King and Countrey and Parliament and Gospel and thou art he that brake the last Parliament thou art he that lost the day at the Isle of Ree thou art he that sent so many poor Rochellers to the grave with famine and thou art he that makes division between Kings and commons The Lord give us power and courage for if ever we had need now we have and let us bestir our selves and pray that God would be pleased to stirre up the heart of the King and other Magistrates against these sinnes Oh that Magaistrates in their places would set their hearts and hands against all these sinnes but light execution is done and most Magistrates stand for ciphers in their places and onely take up a room and do nothing We cannot draw them with all the arguments we can use to punish these sinnes We have cause to mourne for they stand like scrare-crowes with a peice in their hands but never shoote and the birds may pick the strawes from their heads so that Magistrates do nothing But to you I speake that are chiefe in Towns and chief Officers you should all joyne hand in hand and heart in heart to pull down these ale houses hel-houses and nurseries of the devil and to supplant wicked nesse We must not be one for them and another against them for in so doing we shall never see good dayes And you Gentlemen when are your hearts and hands against them when did you ever speak or write against them when did you ever set foot in striving to have them supprest men stand with their fingers in their mouthes and their hands in their pockets and dare not stand for God and good causes The Lord be merciful unto us we doe not joyne our forces prayers and powers that we can make for Gods glory Oh that the Lord would be pleased to put his Spirit into our hearts that we may be all of one mind So you Gentlemen in your places and we Ministers in our places and all of us we are with all the strength and courage and mettle that the Lord hath put into us to cry and pray and preach down sinne And all you Masters and Dames you are to reforme your Families for these sinnes bring down punishments upon the Land Therefore labour to find out the wickednsse of your Families and admonish them and reprove them plainly and shew them from Gods word the punishments that are due to them If you would doe these things then there might be something done and if reproof and admonishment will not serve the turne then expell them and banish them as Abraham did Hagar and Ismael You Christians mourne for your sins and joyne your hearts and prayers against the sins of the place where you live If any house be on fire others will come with water to quench it as if it were their own so here is a flame of fire kindled in this Kingdome of England and the wrath of God is like wild-fire coming down upon us from heaven therefore let every one of us bring some water or other to quench this fire that is round about us in every place and almost upon all hearts Let every man sweep his own doore and the streets will be cleane so if every one would purge his own heart what reformation would there be in every place then God and Christ and gospel might be here still and the enemies might be kept out still which if we doe not who knows how soon the enemie may rush in upon us but alas we harbour these traytors in our bosomes I protest against every man that habours sin in his own house or soul that he is a traytor to the Kingdom whatsoever he be if I knew the man I would fasten mine eyes on him and tell him Oh thou vile Achan doest thou harbour these sins and traytors and keep these sins and then cry out of the dangerousnesse of the times If a man did know certainly that the dogge that he keepes in his house would one day pull out his throate would he keep him fatte that he might the better doe it no sure he would rather hang him Or if a man did know that the fire that burnes upon the hearth would burne him would he blow it or if a man did know that the knife which he hath would one day cutte his throate would he sharpen it no surely Beloved this is the case of all us poor wretches that live in sinne they will be the cause of all the punishments that God sends upon us all Now therefore I charge you all men and women and every one of you to make a Covenant and enter into an oath and a curse to search out every sin and find them out in your families wife and children and servants and do what you can to quench them These Townes and Countreys are on fire O that the Lord would be pleased to send his word home to every one of your hearts you I meane that I love as well as mine own soule my deare people I would spend and be spent for you if God would give me strength and though I speak plaine it is for your everlasting good What are those punishments that he threatned to poure upon them in the furie of his wrath He poureth full battails and the strength of battails all this was upon his own deare people Israel even those people the Lord so severely threatens Hence observe this Doctrine That the Lord oftentimes brings fearful and unavoydable judgements and punishments even upon his own professing people even they that offer sacrifice and that pray and call him Father and fast and pray even upon these people he doth often times bring these punissiments Amos 3. 2. You onely have I known among all the Nations of the earth therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities See the whole currant of Gods word did not the Lord punish the Children of Israel in the time of their Judges they had many sore enemies as Eglon and Sisera The ten Tribes they sinned and were carried into captivity and these were Gods professing people And afterward the other two Tribes Judah and Benjamine were carried away captive into Babylon and there they were seventy years Forty yeares after Christs time the Romans came against them and burnt all their Cities And these were Gods own professing people The Churches of Asia were famous Churches but now they are overthrowne with Turkes Now our sins give God just cause to make him come against us with punishments and
to beg mercy 4. He is as it were dumb and speechlesse before God And now our God what shall we say after all this for we haue forsaken thy commandements verse 10. Shall I excuse the matter alas it is inexcusable What shall we say after all this Shall we call for thy patience Wee had it and yet were little the better Shall we call for mercy Why we had it and yet our stubborn hearts would not come down I know not what to say for our selves for we have sinned against thee 5. He declares Gods truth that he had warned them by his Prophets vers 11 12. but no warning can better us 6. He shews how God had punished them yet they would not be humbled for all that God had brought upon them lesse evils than they deserved and wrought deliverance for them wich they could not have expected What shall we say should we for all this break thy commandements verse 13 14. What can we expect but hell and confusion 7. He is sensible of Gods Judgements and righteousnesse O Lord thou art righteous as if he should say How canst thou spare us for this sinne How can it stand with thy righteousnesse How is it that such hell-hounds as we are should live above ground when thou art so righteous a God It is a wonder that the earth opens not her mouth for to swallow us up quick for O Lord thou art righteous 8. He layes down his soul and all the peoples souls at Gods feet as if he should say here we be thou maist damn us if thou wilt Behold we are all here before thee in our trespasses for we cannot stand before thee because of this verse 15. Behold here are we rebels we are here are our heads and our throats before thee if now thou shouldst take us from our knees unto hell and from our prayers unto damnation we cannot ask thee why thou doest so Oh it 's mercy it 's mercy indeed that we have been spared Thus Meditation must bring our hearts before God and there complain against them before heaven Meditation should deal with the heart as the Father did with his possessed child who carried him to Christ saying Master my child is possessed THE DANGER Of Deferring REPENTANCE DISCOVERED In a SERMON preached at Maidstone in Kent By that Reverend and Faithfull Minister of the Word WILLIAM FENNER B. D. Sometimes Fellow of ` Pembroke Hall in Cambridge and late Pastor of Rochford in Essex London Printed by E. T. for John Stafford A SERMON OF M. WILLIAM FENNERS at Maidstone PROVERBS 1. 28. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me THere is a good English Proverb among us that he that neglects the occasion the occasion will neglect him Solomon wisely begins his Proverbs with it for he bringeth in the wisdome of his Father in these five particulars First making a generall Proclamation in the 20. verse Wisdome crieth without she uttereth her voice in the streets He compareth God unto a Cryer going up and down the City from street to street and from door to door crying his commodity even the richest that ever was which is a Christ a Christ for redemption a Christ for sanctification a Christ to enlighten those that walk in darknesse and in the shadow of death Ho every one that thirsteth here is a Christ for you Secondly here is a mercifull reprehension in the 22 verse O ye foolish how long will ye love foolishnesse and ye scorners take pleasure in scorning Foolish indeed to be without Christ foolish to be without grace foolish to chafer away our souls for sin How long ye scorners will ye take pleasure in scorning will you still persist in your wickednesse and never have done with your sins will you never turn back again but damn your souls for ever O ye foolish how long will ye love foolishnesse Thirdly here is a gracious exhortation in the 23. verse turn you at my correction lo I will pour out my mind unto you and make you to understand my words As if he should say Do you not see how you are going a pace to confusion and that the way you take leadeth unto destruction turn ye therefore turn ye back again for there is a Christ behind you O turn ye for if ye go on in your sins you perish for ever Fourthly here is a yearning promise made unto the world in the end of the 23. verse Lo I will pour out my spirit unto you and cause you to understand my words As if he should say Return back again with me and you shall have better welcome than you can possibly have if you go on in your sins the Devil will never let you gain so much by your living in your lusts as you shall do by repentance for them and forsaking of them For behold I will prour out my spirit upon you whereby you shall be farr greater gainers than you shall be by your sins Fifthly here is a gratious threatning against the world even all those that have loytered out the day of grace As time and tyde will stay for no man no more doth the day of grace Because I have called and you refused I have exhorted but you have not regarded I have denounced judgements against you for your sins but you have hardened your hearts now a day of woe and misery shall come upon you a time of vengeance and desolation shall over take you there will a day come wherein there will be weeping and crying Mercy Lord mercy but I tell you beforehand what you shall trust to let this be your lesson now I call and you will not hear now I stretch out my hands but you will not regard you shall seek me early but you shall not find me and shall cry but you shall not be heard The words are underclapt against all those that procrastinate their repentance and returning home unto God wherein note first the parties them selves that do prolong this day of grace they that is they who when God cals on them will not hear when God invites them by his mercies patience and forbearance by his Ministers and servants by his corrections and judgement by all fair means and foul means yet withstand the means of grace they are the men they shall call but God will not answer Secondly here is their seeking after God they shall call upon me Thirdly here is their earnest and diligent seeking after God they shall not only call but seek too and not only seek but seek as to labour to find nay they shall seek me early even strive to go about it with all haste and flye to repentance but they shall not find me Fourthly here is the unseasonablenesse of the time of their seeking then that is a demonstrative then even a time which the Lord appoints at as if he should say you shall see then these men will be of another mind
nothing therefore that mans end must needs be destruction that loves not God Fourthly that mans end must needs be destruction that never gives over his sinne and so long as thy thoughts run after the world thou canst never forsake sin thou maist resolve and think on the contrary yet so long as thy thoughts run habitually on the things of the world thou dost not forsake sin Wicked and carnall men may have the eyes of their consciences opened and their hearts awakened whereby they may see their sins and the hellish evill and danger of them whereupon they may resolve and purpose to forsake them and then they will make a covenant with God that they will not do thus and thus I have been touchy and cholerick but I will be so no more I have been a prophane swearer and blasphemer of the name of God but I will be so no more I have been a drunkard and an unclean person but Lord thou shalt see a reformation in me Nay it may be he will tell his minister of it and his father and his mother his wife his children and all his friends too of it but when he comes to his cold blood again and these cold graces which flattered so come to be cold in him so that his heart comes to it selfe again then vain thoughts rest in his heart and he returns to his old sins again as the dog to his vomit and the sow being washed to the wallowing in the mire The Apostle excellently describes a man that can never depart from his sins They have eyes full of adultery which cannot cease from sin 2. Pet. 2. 14. where the Apostle speaks not only of that adultery which is a breach of the seventh Commandement but of such an adultery which is a perfect breach of every commandement when the heart runneth a whoring after every sin and vanitie when the eye of the soul is full of adultery the heart cannot cease from sin when the eye cannot see an object of gain or profit but the mind is presently engaged and runs after it when it cannot see an object of delight and pleasure but it is straightway caught by it when he cannot see any wrong or injury done unto him but presently he is inflamed with revenge and his heart runs after it I say that if thy eye be thus full of adulterie that thou canst not see the occasions and hints of sin but presently thou art insnared and thy soul is taken by it thou art the man that canst not cease to sin therefore untill thou turn the eye of thy soul which is the thoughts and affections of thy heart another way thou wilt never cease to sin For wheresoever thou lookest thou wilt be insnared so long as thy thoughts are evil and vitious either upon pride or covetousnesse or ambition or envy or delights thy soul will look asquint on God and untill these vain thoughts of thine be crucified thou wilt only look upon the satisfying of these vain lusts of thine Prov. 3. 6. In all thy way wayes acknowledge God and he shall direct thy paths In all thy waies think on God or else thou maiest go to many duties in Religion but never be direct in thy going thou maiest pray a thousand times but never be established in thy prayer thou mayest go from Lecture to Lecture and yet never be established in thy service thou mayest go about many things and never be established in any thing unlesse God be in all thy thoughts a man may go on in a course of Religion but it is a hap hazard he is inconstant and unsteady in his his course unlesse in his heart he think upon God and therefore his end must needs be destruction This then may serve first for humiliation to the godly secondly for matter of condemnation to the wicked First for humiliation Are vain thoughts thus damnable that when they bear sway in the heart they make that mans end to be destruction How then ought this to fill the faces of them that have the Spirit of Christ with shame and confusion and to make them in a holy manner to be confounded in themselves and to think of the emptinesse naughtinesse and vanities of their hearts Beloved thou canst not go to prayers but abundance of vain thoughts will be about thee like wasps to assault thee thou canst not go to the Word but these vain thoughts will be a humming in thy ears thou canst not go about the works of thy calling but vain thoughts will haunt thee and creep into thy meditations and take away the main burthen of the work all the day long Beloved this should make a godly man ashamed and confounded in himself in the consideration hereof The Prophet David was so confounded and ashamed hereat that had not God poured in mercy and comfort into his soul he had been distracted and should have despaired considering the company of vain thoughts that lodged within him Psal 94. 19. where he shews what abundance of distracting thoughts he had that if God had not sustained him with comfort after comfort he had been overwhelmed in despair by them Augustine saith a mans thoughts are not in his own power the heart of man is like tinder and if the Devill cast a spark into it thou canst not hinder it from taking fire but thou mayest hinder it from burning further A ship may have leakes in her and thou canst not hinder the coming in of water into her but by thy pumping and industry thon mayest save her from drowning in the water even so evill thoughts though they be rooted out yet they will come in again a mans heart is like to to the fig-tree that grew out of the stone wall which Epiphanius speaketh of the branches were lopt off and it grew again the boughs were lopt off and it grew again they cut down the body of it yet it grew again they pluckt up the roots of it yet it grew again till at last the stone wall and all was fain to be pulled down Even so it is with vain thoughts in the heart a man may lop them off by godly sorrow he may cut them down and root them up by mortification and yet they will be sprouting up and rising up again till the whole body of sin be pulled down and destroyed in a man Gregory speaks of them and saith man may pluck them up but yet not so but that they will rise again The consideration hereof should humble us and make us low in our own eyes Oh then think with thy self and say Oh that my thoughts should be so base eartlâ—y and vain what have I not a God a Christ a heaven to think upon have I not excellent Commandements of God and thousands of sweet and precious promises in Scripture to think upon and must I be thinking on every bable of every straw not worth the thinking on Take the Apostles exhortation Whatsoever things be true whatsoever things are honest
the world Fourthly from the strangenesse of it Dare any of you He speaks interrogatively verse 1. It is a strang thing that you should come to that impudency against the Gospel of Christ one would think that you would tremble and quake at such a thing as this is What is there never a wise Christian amongst you never an understanding Professor that is able to take up a controversie or decide and judge between his brethren what a strange thing is this Then he backs it with four Arguments 1. Because they were brethren verse 6. Brother go to Law with brother 2. Because it was about things of this life What hath God made you Judges of heavenly things of Angels and are you unfit to judge of the things of this life 3. It was about smal matters verse 2. whereas you shall sit upon men and Angels and the weightiest matters in the world the greatest things of Gods Law judging them to the greatest penalty and punishment even to eternal damnation and are ye unworthy then to judge even of the smallest matters 4. And lastly Because it was about such things as the meanest Christian in the town might have taken up and have ended Set up them that are least esteemed Do you not know that the Saints shall Judge the world I need not go far for a point the word affords it The Doctrine is That the Saints shall judge the world It is an old truth yea as old as the World it self you may read it in the fourth verse of Judes Epistle That Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied saying Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints God will not only come to judgement himself but he will come attended with all his Saints even with all the godly to execute vengeance upon all the world So our Saviour told Saint Peter and not only him but all that follow him in the regeneration They shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Matth. 9. 18. They shall judge the Nations and have dominion over the people Wis 38. And now because doubt is the best way to attain unto knowledge let me answer a doubt that may creep in by the way How shall the Saints judge the world Ans Not by pronouncing of judgement upon the world for that Christ only shall doe Then shall the King say to them on his left hand Depart ye cursed Matthew 25. But the Saints shall judge the World these four wayes 1. They shall judge the world by their consent unto Christs judgement God trains up his children in this world and educates them and teacheth them how they may judge the world hereafter he teacheth them in this life how to assent with his proceedings in the world to that they are able to say Righteous art thou O Lord and just are thy judgements Psal 119. 137. Now if the Saints be trained in this life to assent unto Gods proceedings with the world much more then will they be able to know and consent unto Cstrists judgement when he shall come with his Saints to judge the world Now the Law saith that consenters are agents and therefore because the Saints shall consent to the judgement of Christ therefore they are said to judge the world 2. The Saints shall judge the world by their applause of Christs judgement they shall not only give consent unto the judgement of Christ but they shall also applaud it and commend it when God shall say to all drunkards swearers lyers Sabbath-breakers and to all unbeleeving impenitent and gracelesse sinners Depart ye cursed into hell fire then though it was his own father that begat him or his mother that bare him though it were his own brother or sister wife or child that hath been as dear as his own life and soul to him yet they shall clap their hands for joy and applaud the most righteous sentence of God upon them and they shall sing Hallelujah salvation and honour and power be to the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgements Rev. 19. 1 2. Let them go accursed as they are for it is a righteous sentence passed on them 3. They shall Judge the world by their Majesty they shall not only stand against the wicked and consent to and applaud that sentence that Christ shall passe against the wicked but they shall be invested with robes of majesty and with a diademe of glory then shall the righteous shine as the stars in the firmament and the wicked shall be amazed and astonished at the sight of them as you may read in the platform of judgement Matthew 25. where Christ sets his Saints over against the world that so the world may look upon them and be confounded at their sight 4 They shall judge the world by their lives and conversation as Ambrose saith rightly then is the world judged by them when as the courses and manners of the world are not found upon them Therefore it is a pretty observation of Hilary if it be the meaning of the Text I will not say it is upon the 2 Ps Be wise ye judges God hath appointed you to be Judges to sit on his bench with his Sonne learn then to be wise get to be indued with spirituall wisdome and understanding and to shine in all integritie and righteousnesse and then turning his speech to the wicked he says Kisse the sonne leâ—t he be angry However it be yet this is a truth that by the lives of his Saints he wil judge the world their faith shall judge the worlds infidelity their repentance shall judge the worlds impenitency their accepting of and taking the Lord Jesus shal judge their rejection and neglect of Christ Jesus their zeal shall judge the worlds luke-warmnesse and their holiness shal judge the worlds prophanenesse 1. Because of the mysticall union that is betwixt Christ and his Saints He is the head and they are his members now that which the head doth we ascribe it to the whole body when the head speaks the whole body speaks when the head sees the whole body sees so when Christ judgeth the world the whole body of Christ may truly be said to judge the world In as much as you did it unto one of these saith Christ you did it unto me so in as much as Chhist passeth sentence even all the members of the mysticall body of Christ judge with him Secondly in regard of compassion I speak not of the word compassion as it signifies pity but of compassion of suffering with Christ seeing that Christ was reproached contemned hated misused and condemned by the world the Saints are likewise with him seeing they partake of the afflictions humiliations and debasements of Christ here they shall also be made partakers with Christ in his glory Here the wicked judge the Saints and call them hypocrites and dissemblers and laugh and scoff at them and wonder at them as the Prophet brings in Christ speaking Isaiah 8.
father or a mother God having converted any of thine owne children that childe shall bee thy Judge and condemne thee if thou repent not It may be God hath converted thy brother and sister and thou art not not converted thy own brother and sister shal condemn thee ifthou do not repent and come out of thy sins Thirdly we may learn that it concerns all the world to take notice of every grace in Gods children There is never a grace of God in any of his Saints but it shall condemn the world if it be voyd of it The wayes of the Lord are all judgements because they judge them that will not walk in them Every grace yea the very thoughts of the righteous are called Judgements by Solomon Prov. 12. You may know a crooked thing by laying it to a straight line and by that it is judged to be crooked so the thoughts of the righteous which are right holy and pure shall judge the impure unholy and crooked thoughts of wicked men Is the child of God humble His humility shall judge thy pride Is the child of God meek and patient in suffering wrong and injuries His meeknesse and patience shall judge thy choler and revenge Hath the child of God faith given him to beleeve in the Lord Jesus his faith shall judge thy infidelity Hath the child of God the Spirit of prayer given him it shal condemn thee that prayest only with thine own spirit Hath he zeal His zeal shall judge thy lukewarmnesse Doth his speech and communication administer grace to the hearers It shall condemn thee that speakest of vain and idle things Yea all the actions of thegodly shall judge the wicked and hence the Saints are said to do Gods judgements Zep. 2. 3. that is they do according to Gods judgements whereby he wil judge the world Thus they that do mourn do judge them that do not mourn they that bewayl their wickednesse and the sins of the times judge them that do not they that fast weep pray and humble themselves for the miseries of the Church in these dreadful daies they judge them that make no good conscience of their duties Fourthly learn hence that all the texts of Scripture all the whole word of God that is it that begets these Saints and therefore they must needs judge the world the word of God begets mens hearts unto sanctification and holinesse whereby they become Saints and therefore if they then much more shall the word it self judge the world and hence it is that all the words of God in the Scripture are called Judgements Psal 105. 5. And our Saviour saith The word that I have spoken the same shall judge you in the last day John 12. 48 The word that I have spoken where mark he doth not say The word which you have heard No there are many swearers and drunkards and prophane ungodly wretches that will not come to Church to hear the word there are many wicked men and dead-hearted worldlings and rotten livers that will not be brought to heare Gods word it may be at this present there are many whore-mongers drunkards and wicked persons that wallow in their filthinesse in the Ale-house Game-house or Drab-house or in the fields or beds or at their sports Well this word that is now a preaching whether they will hear it or no shall judge them at the last day Now all the wicked in Ashford that hear the word of God calling upon them to repent and to come out of their sinnes but will not or out of contempt of Gods word will absent themselves from it this word shall judge and condemn them There is never a drunkard swearer or prophane person though his pew be empty but this word of God that denounceth the eternal wrath and vengeance of God upon them if they come not out of their sins this word shall rise up in judgement against them and condem them eternally Oh that they could but hear it but the word that I have spoken shall judge you whether you hear it or not Fifthly and lastly hence it followes that all the ministers of the word of God shall also judge the world Son of man saith God to the Prophet Ezekiel wilt thou judge the bloody City Yea thou shalt shew her all her abominations Ezek. 22 2. as if he should have said Sonne of man they are drunkards wilt thou not tell them of it They are whoremasters wilt thou not tell them of it They are filthy idolaters wilt thou not tell them of it They live in their sins and in their abominations and wilt thou not tell them of it Son of man tell them of all their abominations and tell them that they shall goe to hell if they repent not tell them that they are damned men if they go on and come not out of their sinnes Wilt thou judge them son of man Beloved there is never a Minister in England nor ever a Sermon that is preached by them but it judgeth every Parish and every man and woman in the congregation that do not labour to do what is commanded them and leave undone what is forbidden them I say it judgeth them or else it is a judgement unto them This then serves to condemn three sorts of men in the world First All those that despise the Saints and that see not amiablenesse in their faces All the Countrey doth reverence the face of the Judge when he rides his circuit Let the Judge come into the Countrey and all the Knights Justices and Gentlemen in the Countrey will go out to meet him and bow unto him yet these Judges are but Judges of a few rogues malefactors and peasants in the Country Alas they are far from the dignitie of the Saints for the Saints shall judge Saints and Angels All the world Kings and Queens Lords and Nobles and Captains of the Earth the poorest Saint in Christendome shall judge them The Apostle or rather our Saviour saith To him that overcometh and keepeth my words unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations Rev. 2. 26. Whatsoever he be if he do the works of Christ and walke in the ordinances of Christ he shall have power over the Nations not only to condemn their pomps and vanities their lusts and corruptions but also to convince their consciences and to condemn their souls for ever 2. Shall the Saints judge the world Then what fools are the wicked that prepare not for these Judges When the Judge comes to an Assise all men prepare for him the Constables make ready their Presentments the Juries are warned and the Clerks make ready their Bills c. lest the Judge should clap a fine upon them and shall the Saints be Judges and dost thou not prepare thy heart by grace Dost thou not get purity and holinesse against that day Surely if thou dost not the very Saints will judge thee unmeet for heaven and fit only to have thy portion in hell When Christ
rise up in judgement against thee if thou perform it not Doth the Scripture say Be not drunk with wine wherein is excesse Ephe. 5. 18. It shall judge and condemn the drunkard that drinks excessively Doth the Scripture say Mortifie the members which are upon the earth fornication uncleannesse inordinate affection evill concupiscence and covetousnesse which is Idolatry Col. 3. 5. If notwithstanding these sinnes live in thee this Text shall rise up and condemn thee to hell Doth the Text say That the father to the children shall make known Gods truth Esay 28. 9. Eph. 6. 4. Parents bring up your children in the nurture and information of the Lord It shall rise up in judgement and condemn those parents that have not instructed their children to fear God Doth the Text say Thou shalt teach the word of God unto thy children and that thou shalt talk of it when thou sittest in thy house and when thou goest by the way when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Deut. 6. 7. It shall judge thee because thou makest no conscience of holy conference All these and the like Texts of Scripture shall rise up and stand in rank to condemn thee that hast not swayed thy heart and framed thy life according to the Scriptures 5. All the Ministers of God shall sit as Justices in common from the first preacher of righteousnesse unto the last Moses shall judge thee Joshuah David Esay Jeremy Hosea Daniel Paul Peter c. they shall all judge you just as Gods Ministers judge you here so will God he will take all his Sermons and clap them upon the heads of all rebellious hearers and so damn them for ever Lastly The Saints shall judge you yea all the Saints from one end of the world to the other they shall assist the just Judge of heaven and earth and they shall be interpretative Judges Beloved how can the wicked escape condemnation that have so many thousands of judges so many thousand exhortations and reproofs so many thousand admonitions and invitations so many thousand mercies and proffers of Christ When God the Father Sonne and holy Ghost shal judge them when heaven and all the Angels in heaven and all the Saints on earth shal judge them and condemn them How canst thou escape Is there never a drunkard in this congregation is there never a swearer never a prophane person never a mocker never a railer in this town that refuseth to hearken to the word the men of Niniveh shall rise up in judgement against them and condemn them because they still live in their sinnes notwithstanding they have had not three daies preaching nor forty dayes space only for repentance but many years of grace calling upon them The Queen of Sheba shall condemn many that live in their sinnes who went many hundred miles to hear the wisedom of Solomon for going and coming it was well-nigh two thousand miles but you have the word of Christ preached in your ears and saying The Kingdome of God is come among you but you will scarce step out of your doors to receive it or take any pains for it This one woman shall judge them There will be no way for the wicked to put off their judgement then the sonnes of Eli shall have none to advocate between God and them none to cloak or cover their wickednesse they shall then have no excuses for themselves for would they excuse themselves the Saints shall judge them would they send out excuses the Saints shall cut them off Would they in the first place say Alas I was ignorant I knew not how to pray or to read or to meditate on the Scriptures nor to catechize my family I was dull and blockish to conceive such points as were taught me and if I did live in sinne it was ignorance that taught it me I was never book-learned Saith Augustine this Ignoramus that was as ignorant and as little book-learned as thou he eschewed those sins that thou livest in got the anointing of Gods Spirit to anoint his eys to see and know the things of God which thou hast neglected to get he shall condemn thee A second excuse is poverty I have no means to live on if I should run after Sermons I should beg my bread I have a great charge to keep and nothing but my labour to maintain them and therefore I cannot spare time for meditation I have no while to study the Scripture to pray and to mourn for my sins and to get grace Well the poor Cobler that liveth next door to Saint Anthony shall rise up and condemn thee he was as poor as thou and had as great a charge to keep as thou yet he mourned and wept he got grace and he set time apart for prayer reading meditation holy conference he shall judge and condemn thee Thirdly they shall have no excuse by imployment I am a servant I am commanded to doe this or that I find so much businesse to follow that I cannot find any time for such things Another saith I have great imployment I have many Irons in the fire and therefore God I hope will be mercifull unto me Well then Cornelius that had as many and as great imployments as thou and Eleazar Abrahams servant who was a servant as well as thou yet in as much as they walked with God and waited upon him in his ordinances they shall judge thee Fourthly they shall have no excuse from their callings and trades I am an Inne-keeper and if I should not suffer drinking and swearing and gaming I should not live Another saith I am a tradesman and if I should ask at first just so much as I could take I should never bring customers to my price and so I should not live of my trade Well Rahab was an Inne-keeper as well as thou and yet she lived by faith and did not suffer such wickednesse in her house So many a tradesman that had the same trade and the same imployment with thee and as great a trade as thou and yet have avoyded these sins and evils that thou fallest into they shal judge thee Fifthly they shall have no excuse from the times they live in Alas saith one I live in wretched times all the world is given to sin Therefore if I should be so strict and precise in my wayes if I should run after sermons pray sing Psalms c. all the world would be against me There are no professors of religion but are reproached and miscalled I should lose all my friends I should be hated and opposed yea it may be the time being such I should be accused to Councils and have my life questioned there is nothing but disgrace and reproach and persecution wherefore I was afraid and did dispense with my conscience Ah wretch that man that lived in those wicked times in the same town with thee that had the same hatred and reproach that thou wast afraid of that hath endured all the rebukes of
confirm it with an oath that they should never enter into his rest And Saint Cyprian saith that the Lord hath shewed many miracles and declared many fearfull judgements upon the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament Judas who Ambrose thought received the Sacrament though Hilary and others that he did not but only that he did eat the Passeover and was coming to the Sacrament also but see his doom John 13. as soon as ever he received the sop the Devil entred into him and so it is with all such as come to the Communion in their sins without repentance and unfeigned resolution of walking ever after worthy the Sacrament I say unto all and every one of them that as soon as ever thou receivest the Bread and Wine into thy mouth thou receivest the devil together with it as soon as ever it goeth down into thy bodie the Devill goeth after it and taketh more full possession of thy heart and soul Now the reason why the Lord doth so severely punish both with temporall judgements and with spirituall curses the unworthy receivers of the Sacrament is in regard of the author of the Sacrament who is Christ and that not only as he was man as the Papists would make us beleeve but Christ as he was God did institute the same So saith the Apostle in the 23. verse The Lord Jesus Christ in the same night that he was betray'd took bread and brake it when he had given thanks and said Take ye and eat ye for this is my body which is broken for you Now if the Lord Jesus did institute it what an accursed thing is it for any to defile it and so sin against Christ it is a damnable thing to sin against God but to sin against God as he is God in Christ is damnably damnable The holy Ghost in the second Psalm exhorts to kisse the Son lest he be angry and so thou perish as if he should say Adore the Son Adore the Loâ—d Jesus Christ and so come and eat of this bread and drink of this Cup for if he be angry thou wilt surely perish If thou sin against God and so go out of the way Christ upon thy repentance will set thee in again but if thou sinnest against God in Christ who is the Way the Life and the Truth thou shalt surely perish from the right way for there is no other way to bring thee in again Acts 4. 12. Therefore wofull is thy case and miserable is thy condition if thou sinnest against Christ prophaning his holy Ordinances which he himselfe hath instituted and abusest and despisest that blessed Spirit of his that comes to seal unto thee the redemption that he hath purchased by his bloud Better had it been for thee that thou hadst never been born for if he be wroth blessed only are all they that put their trust in him and come preparedly unto his holy Ordinance and that by faith imbrace the Lord Jesus Christ but woe unto all prophane persons that live in their sins if his wrath be but a little kindled then woe to all drunkards swearers and unclean persons but blessed is that man that is come out of his sins For if his wrath be so terrible when it is but a little kindled O how much more fearfull will it be when it is deeply incensed Therefore if thou comest unto this holy Sacrament in thy sins without due preparation and examination what doest thou but even set the wrath of God burning upon thy soul and body from the very bottom of hell When the Lord delivered the Law upon Mount Sinai he commanded the people to sanctifie themselves yea if a beast did but touch the mountain he must dye for the same even be stoned to death or thrust through with a dart Heb. 12. Much more then now when the Lord doth deliver the Gospel especially the ground-work and master-peece thereof the Lord Jesus Christ and that in the most blessed manner that ever God exhibited himselfe unto man how much more doth God require purity and holinesse that all such as come to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in the blessed Sacrament should be sanctified purging their hearts and cleansing their souls from all their sin and uncleannesse Should not a beast touch the mountain where God did appear and darest thou touch the body of Christ and drink his blessed bloud in thy sinnes The very angels of heaven will curse thee and the clouds of heaven will pour down showers of vengeance upon thee for God hath more severe punishments to inflict upon sinners under the Gospell than he used under the Law though then he struck them with more visible and sensible plagues and judgements than ordinarily he bringeth upon men now as Gehazi for his covetousnesse was strucken with leprosie Corah Dathan and Abiram the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up quick for their rebellion against the Lord Er and Onan were strucken dead for their wickednesse Jeroboam had his hand withered for stretching of it forth to strike the Lords Prophet And though the Lord bring not such sensible punishments now as he did then yet he knows how to punish the world a thousand times more than he did then at this time As a father hath other kinds of punishments for his son when he is growâ— up than he had when he was in coats and but a child then a twig or two would serve the turn but if he come to mans estate and then rebell against his father it may be that he will disinherit him and cast him out of his family So in former time God did scourge and whip his people when they sinned against him but now he hath drawn out his Church to this age even to the age of the Gospel he hath severer strokes of plagues and curses wherewith to confound all prophane and impenitent sinners that dare to abuse that blessed Sacrament of the Lord Jesus Christ The second Reason is in regard of the matter of the Sacrament which is Christ also who as he was the efficient cause so in regard of Sacramental relation he is the matter of the Cummunion 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the Communion of the bloud of Christ and the bread which we break is it not thâ— Communion of the body of Christ Now the better matter any thing is of the more heynous is the defilement of it A master will not be so angry for casting his earthen vessels into the mire as he will be for casting his rich jewels The Bread and Wine in the Sacrament are the blessed Communion of the precious body and bloud of Christ and darest thou defile them knowest thou not that thou dost greatly encrease the wrath of the Lord against thy soul thereby That soul whatever it was from Dan to Beersheba that came in his uncleannesse to partake of any of those holy things which the children of Israel hallowed to the Lord whether he were
it here translated He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy I desire to speak of both these expositions for fear I should misse the true sense of this Text. For the first it is a truth of God every where confirmed in the Sciriptures that he that reproves another and yet hardeneth his own heart he doth but make a rod for his own back he puls sudden destruction upon his own self Then Secondly there is no hinderance from the context but that this may be the meaning of the text you know the Proverbs have little or no coherence except two or three chapters Indeed there is a coherence in them but generally through the Proverbs there is none so that if the text it self will bear one exposition as well as another indifferently the meaning none can tell but only as it is hâ—t Thirdly and lastly the Text it self favours this exposition for so the word in the Hebrew is A man of reproofs that hardens his own neck shal suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy Now the Question is Whether the wise mans meaning here be of the actuall reproof the reproving of another or of passive reproof this is undetermined which of these is meant A man can have no light from the coherence none in the world and from the text it self there is as much reason why we should expound it one way even almost as the other So that I say for fear I should let go the true meaning of the wise man I desire to speak a little of the active sense He that often reproves another and yet hardeneth his own neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy From hence I may observe that A reprover whether a master or a Minister or a Magistrate or a Father or a private Christian be he what he will be that reproveth another and yet is guilty himself either in the same kind or else in another or in any kind and hardneth his own heart in it that man shall suddenly be destroyed without remedy Take a Preacher that preacheth strict doctrine to the people that is very zealous against their sinnes he is up with hell and damnation against their filthy courses he preacheth for quickning but himself is not quickned be threatneth â—udgement against hardnesse of heart and yet he hath a hard heart himself this man puls destruction upon his own pate He is like the Pharisees that imposed upon others grievous burdens and heavy to be born but would not touch them with one of their fingers themselves Matth. 23. 4. The Reason of this is because First such a reprover of sin does it against his office the office of a reprover binds him to be blamelesse as the Apostle speaks A Bishop must be blamelesse 1 Tim. 3. 2. Every Christian should be blamelesse how much more Ministers that bear the office of reprovers they should be blamelesse Nay if a man though he take not the office of a reprover yet if he bear the person of a reprover as every private Christian must when God calls him to it for every man may be called to reprove though he have no authority over another though he be a private man he may bear the person though not the office of a reprover Now a man must be unculpable and unblameable himself or else he sins against his person If a man reprove another for being carnall himself must be spirituall Gal. 6. 1. If any man be overtaken with a fault ye that are spirituall restore him The reprover the exhorter and admonisher must be spiritual if he would draw another to be spirituall Secondly such a reprover as is guilty himself in that kind or in any other kind he can never reprove to a right end Why seest thou a moat in thy brothers eye and considerest not the beam in thine own eye Matthew 7. verse 3. Why saith he to what end what is that thou lookest at thou art severe to espye faults in thy brothers eye To what end doest thou reprove him What is the reason What is the thing thou wouldest have that thou findest fault with him Why seest thou a moat in thy brothers eye As if he should say thy end can never be good it cannot be to doe thy brother good for then thou wouldest do thy selfe good first It is not because thou hatest sin for then thou wouldest detest thine own sinne It cannot be out of a good principle or to a good end It is either because thou art a busie body in other mens matters or thou art censorious thou lovest to be medling or because thou hatest thy brother and wouldest wreak thy malice on him thou wouldest fain shame and disgrace him and by beating him down get thy self up or thou wouldest get a cover to thine owne conscience it must be some such end it cannot be a good end Christ puts it to a mans conscience why he reproves his brother when he is faulty himselfe Thirdly another Reason is such a reprover can never do it in a right manner as Christ saith Matthew 7. 4 How wilt thou say to thy brother let me pull the moat out of thine eye when behold a beam is in thine own eye How wilt thou do it in what fashion or sort How wilt thou be able to bring this about A man that is a reprover had need to have a very clear sight of his own that sees another mans faults and will set another to rights he had need to have a good judgement to see all the circumstances of reproof and rebuke that deals with another As long as a man hath a beam in his own eye as long as he hath lusts in his own heart that will blind his judgement and darken and cover his eyes and make him that he shall not be able to see to goe about it How canst thou possibly say to thy brother let me pull the moat out of thine eye when there is a beam in thine own eye A man that is to reprove another a Master that will reprove his servant or a Father his children or a Minister that will reprove his people or a Magistrate that will reprove those that are committed to his charge or any brother that will reprove another he must do it with a spirit of compassion with bowels of pity with a sense and feeling there is a great deal of wisedome and discretion to be observed in this act Now when a man hath a beam in his own eye how shall he be able to doe it That man that is faulty and guilty himselfe either he must reprove too harshly and rigorously or too sparingly or too insultingly he must doe it in a wrong manner it can never be sincerely and truly done as long as a man hath a lust in his own heart and he himselfe is guilty and faulty that is a reprover of his brother Nay the party reproved is holpen to retort
on him How dost thou tell me of pride and worldlinesse and covetousnesse Who is proud and covetous as thou Thus a man shall be ready to be hit in the teeth Fourthly such a reprover is an hypocrite It is no Christian reproof for a man to do so Wilt thou goe and find fault with thy servant for his lazinesse of thy service when thou art lazie in Gods service Wilt thou find fault with thy brother for his pride and thou art full of fashions Wilt thou condemn the sinnes of the times and thou livest in some lust This is nothing but hypocrisie Thou makest as if thou didst stand so much for obedience to God and oh there is this and that sin against God when thy selfe art a sinner in that or in another kind this is hypocrisie as Christ saith here Thou hypocrite first cast the beam out of thine own eye and then thou shalt see clearly to cast the moat out of thy brothers eye Thou hypocrite Mark it is an act of hypocrisie when a man goes to find fault with another before he has gone to redresse his own soul to purge his own conscience and have shook hands with the wages of iniquity his own selfe before a man hath done this it is hypocrisie to deal with another For when a man reproves another he takes a form upon himselfe of one that is zealous against sin and an enemy to all sinfull practises Now what is this but hypocrisie when a man hath not this in him that he pretends when a man finds fault with anothers pride as if he were humble forsooth with anothers worldlinesse as if he were liberall when a man doth so he incurres the guilt of hypocrisie in reproving another Fifthly another reason is because such a reprover is inexcusable his reproving another mans sin makes himself inexcusable if his own as the Apostle speaks Romans 2. 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgest for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy selfe for thou doest the same thing Mark thy own mouth shall condemne thee thou findest fault with another mans pride it seems he is to be condemned for it then God condemnes thee for thy pride Thy pride is a fair mark for Gods justice because thou condemnest another Dost thou find fault with anothers hardnesse of haart and ill will and backwardnesse to any thing hat was good and yet thou art backward Thou exposest thine own soul to the judgement of God thou hast taught as it were Almighty God how to condemn thee for thy own lusts and corruptions Again sixthly another Reason is this because such a reprover is an absurd person It is absurd to reprove another and be faulty ones self as it is Rom. 2. 21. Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy selfe Thou that preachest another should not steal dost thou steal This is a strange absurd thing this reproof doth not sound well in thy mouth thou stealest and forbiddest stealing thou preachest against adultery and committest it thou speakest against such and such sinnes thou findest fault with them in the children of God and art guilty thy self or in thy children or servants or neighbours and art obnoxious to them in thine own practice this is an absurd thing these rebukes and reproofs sound not well in thy mouth Lastly it is a sign of impudency Psalm 50. What hast thou to do to take my covenant into thy mouth when thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my covenant behind thy back And to the wicked God saith What hast thou to do to take my statutes or covenant into thy mouth since thou hatest instruction What hast thou to doe to reprove thy brother If he be proud what is that to thee as long as thou art proud thy selfe thou goest and flingest stones at him fling them at thine own heart first It is a sign of impudency But it may be objected Shall not a wicked Magistrate punish sinne and a wicked minister preach against the corruptions of the times and a wicked Master rebuke his servants and a wicked Father correct his Children Because he is wicked himself shall he make himselfe more wicked and contract more guilt upon his soul I answer that such a man is in a dilemma for the man is bound to reprove in regard of his office and yet he is bound in conscience to go and amend himself first I say he is bound to reprove all those that God calls him to reprove in regard of his office but in regard of conscience he is bound to go and amend his own fault first Therefore if he be a Magistrate such as sit upon life and death Nifi prius or any action between man and man if he condemn a malefactor and there remember himself guilty he is bound in conscience to arise from the Bench and go and amend his own sin And we that are Ministers when we preach to the people and remember our selves guilty let us lay our hands upon our mouths at least in votis before ever we have the face to go and find fault with the people it is necessary it should be so Therefore I say a man is in a dilemma if he do not reprove sinne it is against his office and the person he bears when God calls him to it and if he be reproved then he sinnes against the command of God that binds him to be blamelesse this is to bear the place of a reprover The Use of this is first to let us see that a man that reproves I speak not of Ministers only or of Magistrates or Fathers but of every man that reproves either by tongue in word or in thought if he find fault in his thought with another man for his sinnes and his strange doings Let him take heed he doth but pull a judgement upon his own head he makes himselfe inexcusble as in Rom. 2. 3. the Apostle there speaing of this very point Thinkest thou O man that judgest him that doth these things and doest them that thou shalt escape the judgement of God A man that judgeth another and doth the same things that man certainly shall not escape the judgement of God as his brother doth not escape his judgement Secondly another Use shall be for councell to every man and woman for it is every ones case God hath called every one of us to reprove one another Ministers to reprove the people and Magistrates to judge between man and man and every neighbour is to reprove when he is called thereto Now let us mark and observe this rule let every one of us labour with all care and conscience to be unblameable unoffensive to humble our own souls to cleanse our own consciences that we may be able to perform this duty Beloved we wrong our own souls if we find fault with others and suffer our selves to be faulty When Paul was to preach to the people knowing that his office of preaching
the reason of it wich is threefold First Christs own example verse 22. the son of man must suffer must be rejected Christ himself denies himself he might have commanded himself he might have demanded credit honour or riches c. he might have done thus yet though he had no wicked self but good self yet he denyed himself and therefore if we will goe after Christ we must do so too Secondly here is Christs merit he hath merited this duty Christ did not humble himself for himself but he did it for us and therefore we may well deny our selves for him This is included in this word And. And if I have done this for you I would have you do the like for me Thirdly here is Christs command too Let him deny himself Christ enjoynes this to all that will come after him Let him deny himself Now follows the occasion and that is threefold First Peters offence when Christ had told Peter and the rest of his Apostles how that he must suffer Peter was offended saying Master favour thy self even like a servant that out of love to himself would be loth his Master should be troubled because then he thinks himself shall be troubled also oh saith Christ art thou offended at this I tell thee neither thou nor any other can come after me unlesse you deny your selves If any man will come after me c. Secondly as Peter was offended so also were the rest of the Apostles They were very sorrie Matth. 17. 22. they thought to have gotten credit in the world and riches and worldly preferment and it grieved them to hear that they must have a suffering kind of trade of it ergo Christ said not only to Peter but to them all If any man c. Thirdly like as his Apostles so likewise he did foresee that all the world will be offended at this for manâ— would faine have Christ and their selfwill too but Christ gives a watch-word before-hand If any manwill c. Fourthly The parts of it The whole duty is this Let him deny himself Chrysostome on the text saith not onely deny himself but in the original deny away himself nor onely deny credit c. but abhorre it if it cannot be had but with the losse of Christ we must not only barely deny self-respects but abhorre them and trample them under our feet The parts of this duty are two First let him take up his crosse Secondly let him deny himself and follow me The first is opposed to self-favouring the second to self-doing First let him take up his crosse let him not favour himself he must be content to part with selfe-means and maintenance and selfe-ends too he must be content to part with all these he that will come after me must lose many good friends and many a good bit and sweet morsell to the flesh he that will come after me must not stand upon these termes suppose a crosse of disgrace come take it up and wear it as thy crowne nay thou must be willing to take a crosse before it is offered and when thou hast it thou must be willing to bear it Secondly he must follow me too ones selfe will do as ones selfe would have him that is true but you must follow me not your selfe look to me and frame your selves to walk in my steps take up my crosse c. Lastly here is the necessity of it It is absolute true a man may go to hell if he be so minded he may follow himself to hell but if a man tender his salvation then here is an hypotheticall necessity a necessity with an if First if he mean to come after me he must take up his crosse and deny himselfe Secondly if a man would save his life he must lose it if he will lose it he shall save it If a man will keep his old relation he may but if he will find credit and life in heaven he must deny all selfe-respects Thirdly if a man will gain himselfe let him deny himselfe But what say some how shall we live then how then shall I hold up my head These men would faine have the gaine of the world but what is a man profited if he win the world and lose his soule c. verse 25. If you stand upon these termes if you can baulke a commandement for selfe-respects you may lose your soules but if you will save your souls thus you must doe Again the text saith if a man be ashamed of me and of my word of him shall the Son of man be ashamed ergo if ever you look that the Son of man should not be ashamed of you deny your selves Now for the Exposition Deny himselfe there is the difficulty A man cannot deny himselfe 2. Tim. 2. 13. so affirmare negare are contradictions ergo somewhat must be meant by ones selfe yet by ones self is not meant the Devill as Macarius would have it for since man hath sinued saith he the Devill is got into him and is as neer unto him as himself he is another selfe within his own self another heart within his own heart ergo if he will come after Christ he must forsake the Devil though this be true yet this is not the meaning of the text But first a mans corrupt will wit reason and all a mans corrupt selfe must be put off Put off concerning the former conversation the old man c. Ephes 4. 22. which is a mans self Viz. thou must lay aside the man that thou art thou must not be the same man if thou wilt follow Christ thou must be a new selfe in Christ 2. Here is not onely meant a mans corrupt will wit reason and affections but also all mens lusts and corruptions all sinnes that cleave so close as if they were himselfe as fornication uncleannesse evill concupiscence c. mortify therefore your earthly members Colos 3. â—â— The Apostle accounts a mans lusts as close to him as his members for untill a man be brought home to Christ he and his sins are all one he must deny himself viz all his lusts Thirdly By selfe is not onely meant a mans corrupt selfe as sinne and iniquity but also a mans good selfe in some respects not only sinâ— but also Father Mother Children Friends c. yea life it selfe all if they be hinderances to him from Christ so farre he must deny all these nay grace it self for a man may make a God of grace or of prayer c. a man I say must deny all these so farre as they are stumblings and offences in his way to hinder him from Christ But oh sayes one my father will disinherit me I must humour him he cannot endure a Puritan If I must live as you would have me I shall never have foot of his land so the servant sayes I have a prophane master and he will turne me out of doors if I be so precise yea but what sayes Christ If you will come
me A man must have a pure conscience 2 Tim. 1. 3. else let him not look God in the face beg he may but he shall never speed as long as he goes on with a conscience that can tell him he regards iniquitie There be many pray for indeed their conscience wil make them pray but they may pray till they come to hell yet they shal never be delivered if there be but one sin unrepented of I remember a story of a poor woman being troubled in conscience and many Ministers using to visit her at last came one which after much talking and praying hit upon one sin which she was guilty of and loth to part with Then the woman cried out till now you have spoken to the post but now you have hit the mark my conscience tels me I have been loth to part with this sin but I must leave it or else I cannot be saved Mala conscientia bene sperare non potest The Pagans had so much divinitie as to say The gods must be honoured with purity therefore they wrote on the doors of their temples Let none having a guilty conscience enter this place Thirdly Importunate prayer is evermore a prayer that is full of strong arguments And hence it is that Job saith I will fill my mouth with arguments Job 23. 4. like an importunate man who will bring all reasons and arguments to effect his cause even so an importunate man at the throne of grace will bring all argu ents to perswade God If a man be to pray for any particular grace he will bring all the arguments he can devise to get it as Lord it is a grace of the Covenant for the want whereof I endure many temptations thou hast made me a Minister I cannot worke on mens consciences untill I have it he presseth all arguments he can devise A good orator before God must be a good logician It was noted of the High-Priests that were to pray before God they were to have Urim and Thummim and that was two parts of Logick viz. knowledge and perfection such an one should a Minister be he must be a good Logitian at the throne of groce Fourthly importunate prayer is a stout prayer Continue in praier saith the Apostle Col. 4. 2. a weak-hearted praier is a cold prayer a prayer without a spirit yet these men that have weak spirits to pray have strong enough to sin and wit enough to sin and knowledge enough to sin but bring them to grace then they have no strength Thou canst not strive to prevail with God unlesse thou stand to it How came Jacob to prevail with God but by wrestling Prayer is called fighting it is a holy kind of violence Thou canst not obtain a mercie at Gods hand unlesse thou lay all thy force on it Even as a Father who hath an apple in his hand and his child would fain have it he first opens one finger then another till the aple drop out So is it with a poor soul at the throne of grace the Lord opens his hands and fills all things living with plenteousnesse What is the means that is used why the praiers of his children they by their prayers open Gods hand and so make the blessings to descend Go for grace why the Lord will say unto thee Thou art proud thou must be humble and so open that finger Thou art carelesse thou must go quicken thy self and so open that finger God saies thou wilt not make much of this grace when thou hast it but thou wilt turn it into wantonnesse then thy soul must learn to mortifie its members and so open that finger thou canst not get grace at Gods hand unlesse thou do open all his fingers and then it will fall down There is a severall power in all Gods children some have more some have lesse yet all must be powerfull else none can prevail with God Fifthly if thou pray importunately thou prayest wakefully he must be deeply awake that praies his soul his heart his understanding must be awake that man that praies drowsily praies not powerfully Watch therefore saith Christ and pray Luke 21. 36. Watch to pray q. d. for as there is a sleepy head so there is a sleepy heart As a Begger who is begging is all awake head feet hands c. all is awake to beg so must that soul be that means to speed in praier Sixthly importunate prayer is an assurance getting prayer a prayer that will not be quiet till it have got assurance that God hath heard it Wicked men pray and presume that God hears them but God hears them not nay many of Gods dear children pray many times and are not heard How long wilt thou be angry with thy people that praieth Ps 80. 4. Not only with their persons but with their prayers also How then think you is the prayer of such as live in their sins taken who pray but their praiers vanish away in the air like clouds these may pray and pray but they get nothing Behold he praies saith the voice to Saul Acts 9. 22. What did he not pray before Yes he had made many a long praier else he could not have been a Pharisee but now he did not only pray but he praied unto God as David did who did lift up his heart to God Psal 25. 1. or else his heart could not have praied and then in the next verse David begins his praier Our hearts are just like a bell which so long as it lies on the ground will make no musick till it be lifted up Our hearts are not like the bell of Rochea which they say will ring of its own accord but our hearts must be lifted up else they will make no delightfull musick in the eares of God Wherefore if you pray and labour not to bring your hearts home to God that so he may hear them in mercy he will it may be hear them but it will be to your condemnation as he hears the praiers of wicked men therefore if thou praiest pray fervently There be six or seven marks of Prayer that is not importunate and he that praies so may go to hell for ought I know The first is a lazy prayer An importunate man works hard to bring up hiâ— suit his understanding his counsell and all his poâ—icie works so if the soul he importunate then it is a working prayer Prayer is a labour 2 Cor. 1. Labour with me in prayer That man that plowes his field and digâ— his vineyard that man praies for a good harvest if a man pray to God never so much yet if he do not use the means he cannot obtain the thing he prayes for Even so it is with grace A man may pray for all the graces of Gods spirit and yet never get any unless he labour for them in the use of the means God cannot abide lazy beggers that cannot abide to follow their calling but if they can get any thing by begging they
his providence from them why stayest thou but for a night verse the 8. as if they should have said it is marveilous strange that thou behavest thy self so like a stranger thou seest our sorrowes and dost not help us thou perceivest our troubles and thou regardest us not It is strange it is strange that the God of Israel stands as a man astonished that thou that hast heretofore received us should'st now stand as a man amazed and astonished as if thou wert weary of this thy work and couldst do no more as if thou should'st say Jerusalem cannot be saved and Judah cannot be succoured Secondly they desire that God would not take away his presence from them leave us not to our selves say they let us see thy face though we die yet let it be in thy presence yea though thou help us not yet it doth us good to look upon our Saviour and thou canst help us and thus you see the arguments where with they presse the Lord how sweet they are viz. First thou art the hope of Israel Alas if thou forsake us we are all lost our hope is not in the meanes only but our hope is in thee leave us not for thou art the hope of Israel it is the task that thou hast taken upon thee leave us not therefore Secondly thou hast made thy self a Saviour and now is the time of trouble therefore now performe what thou hast undertaken Thirdly thou art in the midst of us that is thou art a great Commander amongst us always ready to succour us and wilt thou now see us perish thou art more neer to us than the Ark in the midst of the Campe 1 Sam. 4. 6. As if they should say he lives in the midst of us and will he not save us Fourthly we are called by thy name and therefore we have interest in thee to whom should wives go but to their husbands to whom should children go but to their fathers to whom should servants go but to their Masters to whom then should we go but to thee our God and Saviour leave us not therefore and we will meddle with none but thee Secondly though God might leave them yet they beg that he would not that is the Amen to their praiers though thou stand and wilt not help us yet let us die in thy presence and this is the great request of the Saints they desire not to be left of God although God might leave them whence learn that God might cast off a people Israel did fear it and it is that which they prayed against God might leave them I doe not say that God will cast off his elect ones eternally but those in outward covenant see Isaiah 1. verse 2. c. Heare O Heavens Hearken O Earth I have nourished and brought up children but they have rebelled against mee The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters Crib but Israel hath not known my People have not understood c. and verse the seventh see the judgement your cities are burnt with fire strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate like the overthrow of strangers There is an out ward Calling as well as an effectuall Calling God may reject for many are called but few chosen saith our Saviour My brethren cast your thoughts afar off and see what is become of those famous Churches of Pergamus and Thyatira and the rest mentioned Rev. 1. verse 11. And who would have thought that Jerusalem should have been made an heap of stones and a vagabond people and yet we see God hath forsaken them shewing us thereby that although God wil never forsake his own electones yet he may forsake such as are in outward covenant with him The Lord is said to dis-church or discharge a people Hosea 1. 9 there God saith call his name Loammi for ye are not my people and therefore I will not be your God And as I may so say he sues out a bill of divorcement as it was in the old Law they that had any thing against their wives they sued out a bill of divorcement against them and so doth God see Hosea 2. 2. Plead with thy Mother tel her she is not my Spouse nor my beloved but let her cast away her fornications out of her sight and her adulteries from between her beasts lest I make her as at the first that is as she was in Egypt poore and miserable As if God should now say to England plead plead with England all ye that are my Ministers in the way of my truth and say unto her let her cast away her rebellions least I leave her as I found her in the day of Captivity and bondage under the blindnesse of popery and superstition Ob. But how doth God cast off a people Sol. I answer first when he takes away his love and respect from a people and as his love so the token of his love which in his word and Sacraments the means of salvation Secondly when he takes away his providence I mean when he takes down his walls that is his Magistracy and Ministery Thirdly when in stead of Councelling there comes in Bribing and in stead of true teaching there comes in daubing with untempered mortar when God takes away the hedge thereof Isaiah 5. 5. or the stakes grow rotten and are not renewed then is God going away Fourthly when God takes away the benefit of both these helps they are signes of Gods departure Use May God un chu ch or discharge a People and cast a Nation off Oh then let this teach us to cast off all security for miseries are night at hand in all probability when we observe what God hath done for us all things are ripe to destruction and yet we feare it not but we promise to our selves safety and consider not that England is ready to be harrowed and yet we cannot entertaine a thought of Englands desolation when there are so many prophesies in it of its destruction yet we cannot be perswaded of it but in our Judgements it must not be it must not be as yet as if it were unpossible that God should leave England as if God were a cockering Father over lewd children God may leave a Nation and his elect may suffer and why may not England Englands sins are very great and the greater because the meanes are great and our warnings are and have been great but yet our mercies are farre greater England hath been a mirrour of mercies yet now God may leave 〈…〉 make it the mirrour of his justice Look how God spake to the people that did brag of their temple Jer. 7. 4. saith God Trust not in 〈…〉 words saying the Temple of the Lord this is the Temple of the Lord but 〈…〉 saith the Lord by the Prophet in the twelfth and fourteenth verse 〈…〉 now to my place which was in Shiloh where I set my name at the beginnâ—â—â— and behold what I did unto it for the wickednesse of my
people Israel 〈…〉 Even so England thou hast the Temple and the Priests and yet 〈…〉 not God that destroyed Shiloh destroy thee Goe to Bohemia 〈…〉 from thence to the Palatinate and from thence to other parts of Gerâ—â—â—â— Doe but imagine that you were there or do but mark what traveâ—â—â—â— say Gods Churches are made heaps of stones and those Bethels wâ—â—â—â— in Gods name was called upon are now defiled Temples for 〈…〉 and superstition to raigne in you cannot goe three steps but you 〈…〉 see the head of a dead man And go a little further and you shal 〈…〉 the heart pickt out by the fowls of the ayre or some other sad spectaâ—â—â— and then surely you will say Tydy hath been here or there now are 〈…〉 Churches become desolate and may not England Doe but goe 〈…〉 their Cities and Towns and there you may see many compâ—â—â—â— about with chains of Captivity and every man bemoaning himâ—â—â—â— Doe but look under a tree and there you may see a poor fathe◠〈…〉 child sending out his breath and crying unto his helplesse Mother 〈…〉 but a little further and you shall see the helplesse Wife the sad 〈…〉 bemoaning her husband and this is her misery she cannot dye 〈…〉 enough but she shall see greater misery for either she shall 〈…〉 thinks see her little ones dasht against the stones or tossed upon 〈…〉 Pikes or if they live that then they shall be brought up in Popery 〈…〉 then she weep again and thinks that if her Husband be dead it is 〈…〉 But it may be he is upon the rack or put to some other torment 〈…〉 then she dies an hundred times before she can die Thus if yo◠〈…〉 set your soules in their soules stead and imagine you were in thei◠〈…〉 dition and say may not this be the condition of England and 〈…〉 knowes but it may O my beloved be not high-minded but 〈…〉 as we have Gods bounty on the one side so for ought I know 〈…〉 may have his severity on the other side Pranck not then your 〈…〉 with foolish imaginations saying who dare come to hurt 〈…〉 the Spaniard hath his hands full and the French are too weak 〈…〉 beloved be not deluded who would have thought that Jerusale◠〈…〉 Lady City of all Nations whither the tribes went up to 〈…〉 should become a heap of stones and a vagabond people but ye◠〈…〉 see it was and is to this day And I pray why may it not be 〈…〉 case Learne therefore hear and fear God for assuredly God 〈…〉 God without Englands prosperity Doe not say here are many 〈…〉 Christians doe you think that God is beholding to you for yo◠〈…〉 oâ— surely not For rather then he will preserve such as 〈…〉 name and yet hate to be reformed he will raise up of these 〈…〉 Abraham he will rather go into Turky and say unto 〈…〉 are my people and I wil be your God But will 〈…〉 God goe England are you so 〈…〉 Christ 〈…〉 no 〈…〉 as they did upon Paul every one of you lay hold on him and say thou thou shalt not go from us for we are called by thy name therefore leave us not And for my part I will pray that he doth not take his leave of us Do you think that Rome will forsake or part with her Gods no they will rather lose their lives and wilt thou let thy God goe O England plead with thy God and let him not depart but part rather with thy rebellions We are called by thy Name leave us not You see the Church is very importunate to keep God with them they lay hold on God with Coards of arguments O thou hope of Israel do not leave us they beset God with their prayers and as it were they watch him at the townes end that he should not go away and they say Thou shalt still abide with us they are importunate that he do not leave them whence observe Doct. That it is the importunate desire of the Saints of God still to keepe God present with them They cared not so much for sword or famine as they did for the losse of Gods presence O Lord leave us not say they this was their prayer and blame them not for consider what a greif it is that God should stand by and not help them Good Lord say they leave us not wee cannot abide to thinke that God should leave us much lesse can we endure to feele it or taste it thus they did and thus the Saints of God should do Exod. 33. 14 15. Moses saith if thy presence goe not with us carry us not hence alas Moses might have gone upon fair termes ye shall saith God possesse the land in peace with prosperity But what saith Moses though wee might have Ganaan and all the delights there yet carry us noâ— hence unlesse thy presence goe with us this is the stay and the strength that he stickes too So Psal 80. 18 19. Turne us again O Lord of hosts make thy face to shine upon us here is a man a David a heart worth gold hee makes not many suits but hee comes home he sues to the purpose make thy face saith he to shine upon us as if he should have said that is prosperity enough for it endureth for ever But what is the presence of God In a word it is the particular favour of God which he expresseth in his ordinances it is all the good and sweetnesse that flowes from the purity of Gods worship whereby God reveals himself unto us It is not gold wealth nor prosperity that makes God to be our God for there is more gold in the West Indies than in all Christendome but it is Gods ordinances purely administred that brings Gods presence to a people God forsooke Shiloh because his ordinances were not purely kept there when the people left the Arke viz his pure worship then God left the people when the Arke of Gods presence was among them the word in the purity of it then his face was there and there God was principally present hence it was that â—aiâ— is said to be cast out of Gods presence because he was cast out from the Church he was cast out from Gods ordinances if a people do outwardly reforme and sincerely worship God they may remain If Sodom and Gomorrah had qut legally repented they had remained they had not been destroyed And hence it is that the Saints are so urgent for Gods Ordinances in the purity of them But the wicked say once a Sabbath is enough and once a week is too much by this we may see that England is ripe and is she not weary of God nay she is fat fed to the slaughter But it was not so with the Saints and people of God in former times it was Davids grand request that he might dwel in the house of the Lord Psal 27. 4. And Psalme the 42. and the first verse he said his soul did pant for Gods ordinances
but as he is a man corrupt by nature with sinne but Christ begets as he is God and therefore as he is without sinne in himselfe so he never begets any but by an eternall spirit and therefore they cannot but be like him Be ye followers of God as dear children Ephes 5. 1. The Apostle grounds his exhortation upon a necessity in grace Consider if you be the children of God it can be no otherwise but you must be followers of Christ as dear children The begetter communicates himselfe to the begotten if the begetter be flesh he begetteth flesh so Adam begot a sonne after his own likenesse That that is born of the flesh is flesh John 3. and is of a fleshly nature That that is borne of the spirit is spirit If we are begotten again by the Spirit of God then are we spiritualized of God so that a man cannot be in Christ unlesse he be the child of Christ and walke as Christ walked Christ was perfect Christ was mercifull be you so saith Christ Matth. 5. Be you perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect as if he should say you cannot be the children of your Heavenly Father unlesse you be perfect as he is perfect mercifull as he is mercifull holy as he is holy righteous as he is righteous walke as he walked Is it so that all that are in Christ walke as Christ walked then all wicked men blaspheme the name of Christ that do not live the life of the Lord Jesus These blaspheme the holy and sacred name of Christ Oh saith one I hope I am a Christian yet the man is a drunkard or a whoremaster or a gamester or a worldling a proud man a covetous man What was Christ a drunkard was Christ a whoremaster was Christ a gamester a worldling proud covetous it were blasphemy for any to say so of Christ and it is also blasphemy for thee who walkest not after the Gospell to say thou art a Christian As I am a Christian saith another yet the man is a filthy speaker Was Christ such a one a swearer c. Thou blasphemest the name of Christ I hope we are all Christians saith a third and yet they are men that live in security and prophanesse What was there security in Christ was prophanesse in Christ Oh what blasphemie is it for thee to stile thy self by the Name of Christ to say thou art in Christ Revel 2. 9. saith Christ I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not that say they are the children of Abraham but doe not the workes of Abraham If a man did blaspheme God to stile himselfe a Jew or a child of Abraham that did not the workes of Abraham what blasphemy then is it for thee to say thou art a Christian and yet dost not the workes of Christ could not a man take the name of Abraham but he did blaspheme unlesse he did the workes of Abraham how then durst thou take the name of Christ upon thee and not doe the workes of Christ not walk as Christ walked Beloved is any man a Christian he hath holinesse engraven in his forehead to the Lord in his heart in his thoughts in his words and in all his wayes he is one that gaspeth after holinesse Art thou a Christian of all sinnes under Heaven God cannot endure the sinnes of a Christian that hath the name of Christ put upon him When Gods materiall temple was defiled by buyers and sellers Christ whippes them out and after told them that the dayes would come wherein there should not be left of it one stone upon another God would not endure the Temple because it was dedicated to his name called his house when it was made a den of theeves Doth God care so much for stocks and stones that are dedicated to his Name will he not endure an unholy stone and will he endure an unholy Christian Thou that art dedicated unto God and unto his service thou that art dedicated to prayer to hearing thou that art dedicated to an holy conversation thou that art called the Temple of God and the House of God wilt thou make it a den of theeves a denne of vain thoughts a denne of wicked words of dead and ungodly workes wilt thou defile the Temple of the Lord then know the Lord will not let one stone lie upon another but will cast thee down and damne thee body and soule in hell for ever Thou sayest thou art a Christian how so thou saiest thou wast christened thy condemnation is the heavier if thou saiest thou hast been baptized into the Name of Christ and hast not put on Christ Examine thy self hast thou put on Christ otherwise it is no matter for thy baptism Can I say that man hath put on his cloths that hath not a ragge on his back nor a shooe on his foote nor a hatte to his head nor a ring on his finger so when there is never a Christ in thy thoughts never a Christ in thy speech and conference never a Christ in thy walke never a Christ in thy calling in thy buying and selling never a Christ shining forth in thy life and conversation canst thou say thou hast put on the Lord Christ Can any man say that a beggar hath put on Royall robes when he hath nothing but ragges and patches upon him so if I see a man with ragged thoughts of the world with ragged speeches of the flesh and a ragged course and conversation according to the course and conversation of the world I can never say that such an one hath put on the Lord Jesus Christ Dost thou say thou hast put on Christ why then shew me the signs of Christ in thee Shall I see it by thine apparell it may be that is garish Shall I see it by thy speech and conference it may be that is earthly and carnall Shall I see it by thy thoughts it may be they are vaine sinfull and worldly Shall I see it by thy company it may be they are wicked and gracelesse Shall I see it in thy course and conversation it may be that is loose and prophane How canst thou then demonstrate that thou art a Christian it may be now and then thou wilt give a praier unto Christ turne up the white of thine eye to Christ it may be thou wilt look into the Church and lend an eare to Christ in his word Is this to be in Christ if thou be in Christ then thou must live the life of Christ in all thy wayes The life of a man is a continued thing A man is not alive at his dinner and dead when he hath done alive at his work and dead when his work is done so it is not enough for thee to prove that thou art in Christ that thou art alive at prayer or at preaching life is a continued thing thou must be alive after prayer as well as before alive after Sermon as whilest thou art at it if thou hast
union with his heart it is like a Plaister that will never sticke A mercifull Sermon can never sticke on a prophane heart it is likened to a greasie paper that will never fasten so mercifull Sermons they will never fasten on his heart they cannot take away his sinnes from him Ahab he loved his foure hundred meale-mouthed mercifull Preachers well enough but when Micaiah came to him O I hate him for he never Prophesieth good unto me but evill he is alwayes upon hell-strings he is alwayes preaching judgement unto me I cannot claw off one of his Sermons in a moneth scarce I cannot catch hold on any of his Points to comfort my heart there is not one sentence in all his Sermons to refresh my conscience he never prophesieth good unto me but evill I hate him When a Minister comes to the conscience of a man and tells him this is the truth of God and this is thy sinne and damnation and makes his Sermons sticke as a burre on his conscience and as an arrow shot into his bowells his heart riseth against it and he cannot endure it Thirdly in opposition to preaching when the Minister is dead A wicked man loves the word when he that preacheth it is dead Why then there is none to urge a union of the word with his conscience A wicked man loves to read Saint Paul Saint Peter and Saint Iohn c. why these men are not alive to urge a union of the word with their consciences but if Saint Paul or Saint Peter c. were alive to tell them if this be the word of God then thou art a damned man if thou doest not obey it if this be a grace then thou art a cursed man if thou have it not if these men were alive now their Sermons would cut to the quicke So when the Ministers are dead men love to buy their bookes and to read their Sermons Now Master Perkins is dead all the world honours him and men buy up his bookes but when he was alive the drunkards made ballads of him and profane Belials would make songs of him why they could not endure this union of the word If the Minister be by he cannot be drunk but the Minister will preach condemnation to him for it if he repent not he cannot swear or lie or deceive but the Minister will tell him that this will be a core to his conscience another day Men cannot endure this Saint Paul and Saint Peter c. being dead they like well enough but if they were alive they would hate them why they cannot endure an union with the word This was the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees Matth. 23. 29 30. they built the â—ombes of the Prophets and garnished the Sepulchres of the righteous and said if they had lived in the daies of their fathers they would not have been partakers with them in the bloud of the Prophets You are the children of those men that killed the Prophets saith Christ ver 31. Are not you the children of those men doe not you do those sins which the Prophets cried out against and for which the Prophets denounced such fearfull judgements upon them I tell you if the Prophets were now alive they would â—â—ie hell and damnation to you if the Prophets were now alive and did see those sinnes you commit they would denounce woe and vengeance to you as they did to their fathers Oh saith one if I had lived in the Jews time I would never have opposed Christ and his Apostles I would have kissed the very ground that they trod on then wretch why doest thou not doe that which these men preached look in the writings of these holy men of Paul of Peter c. Dost thou do that which Paul and Peter have wrote thou shouldest doe dost thou look in their writings and not obey what they have wrote I tell thee if Peter and Paul were alive they would tell thee thou shouldest be damned if thou repentest not if John and Iames were alive they would tell thee that the wrath of God will take hold on thee if thou yeeld not obedience to that word they preached to thee If Paul were alive he should have many a Tertullus to oppose him if Iohn were alive he should have many a Herod to imprison him if Amos were alive hee should have many an Amaziah to banish him and to silence him but now they are dead men can like them well enough A righteous man in the way is an abomination to the wicked Prov. 29. 27. he doth not say an upright man when he is dead is an abomination to the wicked for when he is dead they may praise him and love him and love to have his picture amongst them then they will speake well of him and commend him I speake that because I would not be misconstrued Let a man be a godly man indeed a Saint indeed as long as he lives the men of the world will hate him I have chosen you out of the world faith Christ and therefore the world hates you c. It hath been an old haunt and custome of the world to hate and maligne the righteous to reproach them to call them Puritans c though very heathens have acknowledged that there is no religion without purity Cicero Horate and others describing a man that is religious say that he is an intire man a man pure from sin If any man will not beleeve it let him trie it let him be holy and gratious and shew forth the power of religion in his life let him contemne the world c. and see whether wicked men will not hate him reproach and disgrace him what they can not as if a godly man could not be godly and religious unlesse he be hated and reproached by the world for it may be First when a man that is truly religious and godly is a great man and all the countrey are loth to lose his favour or to purchase his ill will then he may be free from hate and reproach Secondly when he is a man of admirable wit and knowledge that the world admires him for his learning and for his understanding and for his parts such a one men will rather admire then revile Thirdly it may so be that God may give a godly man favour in the eyes of the world howsoever the world would hate and reproach them yet God may so strike their consciences that they cannot doe it Otherwise a godly man especially if he be such a one by whose godlinesse and purity a wicked man is judged and condemned in his conscience for his ungodlinesse and prophanenesse the wicked will hate him Lastly I put it in opposition to now and then preaching a wicked man loves preaching though never so sharp and terrible so it come but now and then if the Minister preach never so powerfully never so terribly if it give him a reproof and away so it doth not stand digging in his conscience and
have they besought you to be zealous and meek and holy and you will not thou art techie and revengefull in speeches how often hast thou been sought to leave it thou art proude and stout-hearted how oft hast thou been fought for to be humble thou art carnall and worldly how often hast thou been besought to be spirituall and heavenly Thou hast no assurance of Christ in thy soule how oft hast thou been besought for to get him Ministers beseech thee every Sabbath Ministers intreate thee every week They breake their braines and breake their sleepe and spend their lung and all to invent and speake acceptable words to prevaile with your â—oules with heart-cutting intreaties they beseech you if not withstanding all this you will not be intreated to part with your sinnes then it is evident you hate reformation If we did not hate a thing we would doe it though we were never besought to doe it if thou didst not hate a reformation of thy sinnes thou wouldest have been reformed without these beseeches but if beseeches and intreaties cannot wooe thee thou hatest it indeed which beseeches cannot reconcile The Lord Jesus sent his Ministers in his Name we are Gods Embassadours in Christ his stead we pray you to be reconciled to God We have besought you by the bloud of Christ we have intreated you by the Bowel of Gods mercies to become new men we beseech you in the Bowels of the Lord Jesus Christ to give over your sins We beseech you as you love your soules give over your sins we beseech you as you are men as you know what is what give over your sinnes we beseech you let the drunkard give over his drunkennesse the swearer his oathes and blasphemies the Idolater his Idolatry and wilworship let the idle talker give over his fruitlesse communication the covetous person give over his covetousnesse the secure Christian and luke warme professor and deadharted server of God come out of his security and dead-heartednesse c. I beseech you by the mercies of God saith Saint Paul present your bodies a living sacrifice holy c. Rom. 12. 1. Sacrifice your tongues unto God we beseech you and speake holy conference sacrifice your hearts we beseech you and use holy meditations sacrifice your eares unto God and suffer not idle language to be spoken in your hearing we beseech you doe this yea by all the mercies of Christ we beseech as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ his stead and will you not yet Certainly you hate the light if all these beseeches cannot reconcile you we have besought you that there be no disorders in any of your families and yet there are we have besought you that there be no losse of time in your meetings that there be no root of bitternesse in your hearts and yet there is we have besought you to mend your repentance and to better your obedience and to repent of your rotten formality and to come out of your sandy and quagmire bottoms and not to consent your selves with this beggerly form of religion onely but as ever you love your soules and would be loved to get the power of grace and a thousand more things have we besought you Is it done no God knows all the beseeches and intreaties under heaven have not yet done it Now therefore you must needs stand convinced in your consciences that you hate the light if all these beseeches cannot bring you to it They must needs be saide to hate one another when neither money nor price nor any thing can make friends That is inveterate cankerous hatred which can never be out-bought which can never be hired to â—ease I make no question but that the Dâ—mosels Master at the first did hate that his Maide should be possessed with a divell but when he saw that it brought him in great gaine he took off his hatred he could then be content that the divell might have stayed in his house so he might have gained by it and therefore we read that he was angry at the Apostle for dispossessing the devill out of her Act. 16. 19. It must be a grievous haâ—red that profit cannot mollifie Brethren you know that God offereth you pardon of your sins he offers you mercy he offers you a Kingdom if you wil come out of your sins If thou wouldst rather lose father mother wife and children houses and lands goods and livings rather then shake hands with such a one as thou art fallen out with I am sure thou hatest him with a witnesse and if thou wouldest rather hazard thy owne mercy hazard the love and favour of God hazard the Kingdom of heaven let Christ goe and mercy goe and heaven go rather then let thy sinnes goe surely thou hatest to be reformed I will give you a kingdome saith God if you will be new men I will give thee a Kingdome if thou wilt take up Christ his Cross and be pure I will give thee a kingdome If thou wilt walk precisely and circumspectly But you will not though you might have a kingdome for it Repent saith Christ for the Kingdome of heaven is at hand Matth. 3. 2. Repent and here is a Kingdome at hand for thee Down with thine old lust thou knowest what I mean and here is a Kingdome at hand for thee Repent of your formall repentance repent of your fashionary prayers repent of your overly performances of holy duties and behold here is a Kingdome for you Wilt thou hazard the very Kingdome of grace and of glory rather then thou wilt steppe out of thy old wont thou hatest repentance if a Kingdome cannot hire thee to love it They must be said to hate one another whom all the dearest love in the world can never unite and soder together Love is able to burst all the hatred in the world if the divell be not in it love is more forcible then hatred and therefore that hatred is most cankerous that love cannot overcome What is so pleasing or delightfull to the flesh of a man but love may command it the love of God hath given thee the bloud of his own Sonne if thou wilt part with thy corrpptions thou mayest have it That is hatred indeed which the bloud of thy owne Sauiour cannot disswade thee from The Apostle Peter thought he had used an excellent argument to perswade men to holinesse when he setteth forth the love of God to us 1. Pet. 1. 18. 19. For asmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb undefiled and without spotte What doth Christ give his bloud to thee to redeem thee from thy vain conversation hath he given his bloud for thee that thou shouldest part with thy sinnes with thy drunkkennesse with thy oathes thy pride security luke warmnesse earthlinese prophanenesse from thy vain
13. Now Gods people are worthy persons and that in these respects First in respect of the worthy names they have Doe they not saith the Apostle blaspheme the worthy name by the which ye are called Iames 2. 7. viz. the name of Christ Secondly they are worthy because there was a great price paid for them it adds much to the worth of a thing when there is a great price paide for it so this adds to the worth of all true beleevers that the price was great that was paid for them they were not bought with corruptible things not with two hundred fore skinnes of the Phylistines as David bought Michal nor with thirty change of garment the reward of those that unfolded Sampsons Riddle they were not bought with a great summe of Money as the Romane Burgesse shippe was I say not with corruptible things but with the precious bloud of Jesus Christ for in him wee have redemption through his bloud Colossians 1. 14. Thirdly they are worthy in respect of the Consciences of the wicked for it is for their worth that they beare them malice it is goodnesse that is persecuted in good men I appeale to the Consciences of wicked men whether their Consciences tell them not that there is worth in the godly for which they beare them a secret grudge but if their Consciences be sleepy and tell them not so much yet I am sure their practises proclaime it The grace that is in the godly is the eye-sore of the wicked Fourthly Gods people are personages of great worth in respect of their Priviledges which God hath been pleased to dignifie them withall which are infinite if I should name them all wherefore as out of a Garden where are diverse sorts of flowers I will gather some few The first Priviledge wherein their worth is manifest is their Royall descent they are not basely borne No they have Kings for their nursing Fathers and Queenes for their nursing Mothers they are sonnes and daughters of the King of Heaven and it is usuall in the Scripture to call them the Children of God Secondly as they are Royally descended so they are Royally attended To speak reverendly God attends them he keeps them as the apple of his eye and Christ is their Captain he goes before them to conduct them and under God and Christ we have Angels they pitch round about them that fear the Lord Psal 34. 7. Thirdly they are worthy in respect of their places They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion Psal 125. 1. which cannot bee removed Fourthly in respect of their fare they have Benjamin's Messe which is five times more then his brethren's so the portion of Gods children is five thousand times more then the wicked's Heaven is their inheritance Fifthly they are worthy in respect of their Royall apparell as a worthy man is richly apparelled so a godly man is clothed with the righteousnesse of Christ Rev. 3. 9 Sixthly in this respect also because they are out of debt they need not feare any Sergeant to arrest them no not death for Christ hath cancelled the hand-writing Col. 2. 14. Seventhly in respect they may goe boldly to the throne of grace with confidence that they shal be heard in prayer For whatsoever we aske we receive c. 1 John 3. 22. Eightly all things worke together still for them to the best Romans 8. 28. Ninthly they are Gods beloved ones his favourites they have an interest in Gods peculiar providence True it is he shews a generall providence to all but Gods people have a right in a more peculiar manner for God will dwell with them John 14. 23. and he will keep the feet of his Saints 1 Sam. 2. 9. Tenthly they have the free use of all Gods creatures the Charter that was given by the great Lord of all was forfeited to him by the fall of our first parents They are the sowre grape and we their children our teeth are set on edge But Christ hath renewed this charter for his all others are but usurpers though a wicked man have never so much and never so good a title in regard of the Law of man yet in Christ he shall be condemned for an intruder Oh what a happy thing is this then for the godly for whatsoever they have they are the right owners of it all things are theirs and they are Christs and Christ is Gods Eleventhly they are persons of great worth in respect of their presence where they live the places fare the better for them Laban fared the better for Jacob and Potiphar sared the better for Joseph While Lot was in Sodome the Lord could do nothing against the Sodomites they keepe the judgements from the places where they live they are the pillars of the Land Twelfthly in respect of their actions a true beleever in his praier praies for himselfe and for others Abraham prayed for Abimelech and God heard him Gen. 20. 17. and Moses prayed for Pharaoh and God removed the plagues as you may see in Exodus Thirteenthly in respect of the great things which are laid up and reserved of God for them in the world to come such as no eye hath seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive But are they such men of worth why they are not esteemed at all neither are they at all well spoken of First know this you that are godly be not discouraged this takes nothing from your worth For who are they that say thus none but a company of mad men and fools and who regards such Secondly If all should speak well of you then woe be unto you Thirdly Envie is evermore the companion of vertue Learne then the more you are reviled the more to make your light to shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven No man yet ever lived though never so worthy but of some he hath been despised Fourthly Know this in conclusion that you that are thus despised it is a part of your worth For when all men speake evill of you then blessed are you This speakes terrour to the wicked who wrong the children of God either with tongue or hands either by themselves or by others either by nicknaming them or by circumventing them this I say speakes terrible things against them Will you offer to speake against personages of great worth against the children of a King will the King endure that thou shouldest speak against the bloud royall no no he will be revenged on them that doe so dost thou now wrong a godly man thou shalt one day smart for it for God is able to punish thee yea and he will doe it unlesse thou speedily repent When Saul Acts 8. persecuted the Church of Christ Christ called from heaven and said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me I speake to those that are wicked men and I speake in the bowels of Christ if you did
maist say The Lord knowes what a deale adoe he hath had with me this heart was as hard as the neaher mil-stone but the Lord in some measure hath mollified it this heart was as proud as the devill but blessed be Gods name he would let me see it at the last goe home and say Who am I and what is my fathers house that the Lord hath brought me hither Oh that God should thus stoope to man the Lord hath stood and knockt thus many yeares and he might have given over but blessed be his name I have received mercie I lived under the means but that prevailed not with me the Lord sent such and such sicknesse but that wrought not on me at the last I went to hear a Minister and methought that Minister spake nothing but what he spake to me and then the Lord set conscience on worke and that affrighted mee Looke to it the Lord will either breake thy necke or thy heart doe not thinke to goe to heaven by good meanings no it will cost thee somewhat more before thou come there Another time the Lord set on me and then I set on good duties I would have Christ to justifie and sanctifie me and blessed be his name he was not wanting unto me in any meanes the Lord make me thankfull c. I tell thee thou wilt be in deede and God shall have all let the voluptuous man have his pleasures c. what is that to thee so thou have Christ For the just reproofe of all such as are yet in the gall of bitternesse and in the bonds of iniquity there will come a time when God will strive with thee no more the old man thinks he hath time enough to repent in and the young man thinks he needs not so much as enter into a Parley with godlinesse Esau went away when he had eat and drunk he esteemed not his birth-right I have heard some goe away with this resolution when they are married then they will live thus and thus c. Suffer me first to go bury my Father c. Master Minister you speak well I like your counsell but I have a rich Uncle and he hath no childe and I am likely to be his heire but he cannot abide a Puritan of all the men in the world and if I do not humour him I shall never have a Foot of his Land let me bury him first when Father and Friends are dead then the children must provide for themselves and then they will seek after God and repent and by this time they grow old and though they cannot make so good a shew as others yet their hearts are as good as the best But stay a while all is not gold that glisters alas poor souls they were given over many years ago this is also the sin of young men and women for the most part and this is the great sin of England the sin of many Gentlemen and Gentlewomen God must pardon when they call and that must not be till they be old and then in all post-haste send they to and for master Priest and he must bring God to them or them to God but the God of Heaven and earth cannot endure this mockerie For terrour to all wicked and ungodly men woe woe woe that ever they were borne that are thus given over and of these there are two sorts Some are insensible and some sensible The insensible are they who die like stones as did Nabal We have many King Harry Protestants Others are sensible God hath opened the eye of their soules and hath let them read the red letters of the Gospell It is a heavie thing for old friends to part so Acts 20. 38. They grieved most in that he said you shall see my face no more so when soule and body part it is heavie but when the soul and God part it is lamentable when God takes his leave never to be seen more then whether thou look upward or downward there is nothing but amazement and astonishment If thou look upward there is the anger of God if downward there is the bottomlesse pit if on the right hand thou shalt see all his mercies which could not allure thee if on the left hand all his Judgements which could not terrifie thee if before thee the black day if behind thee the Devils this will be fearfull I remember a Story of an adulterate woman her Conscience pricking her she determined to repent but God in the mean time did visit her so sore that she lay crying out oh my time my time Another time a covetous woman her House being on fire she to save her goods left her child in the Cradle but a neighbour of hers hearing it crie tooke it away she afterwards remembring her child ran about crying Oh my childe my childe and would not be comforted So when the fire and indignation of the Lord breaks out if not now yet at the last day it will then the parties against whom it breakes will crie Oh my soul my soul what will become of thee my soul It had been better I had never been born for neither Mercies Judgements nor the Word could allure me oh woe is me Now the condition of such is miseracle in three respects First because if God forsake thee all forsakes thee when thou liest a dying thou sendest for the Minister and thou wouldest faine have a word of comfort from him but alas if thou dost not receive comfort from Heaven how can the Minister comfort thee If thy outward Estate faile Friends may help but if they faile there is a God in Heaven and he will help but if he go away then all help is gone Secondly when God goes restraining grace goes this was Sauls case and you may observe that such as have been enlightened and fall away fall into one of these three sinnes either into the hands of the world and that is their Master or else into the sinnes of uncleannesse or into the spirit of malice to persecute them that are holy Thirdly if God leave us then common protection leaves us we are left to the clutches of all things both in Heaven and earth your houses are left unto you desolate Matth. 23. 38. All the creatures are up in armes against us the stiles we goe over look up to Heaven and say Master shall we break his neck the Horse we ride on says Master shall I throw him down to destruction thou knowest that he hates thee and thine So the aire we breath in and all Creatures are readie when the Lord gives the watchword to lay us in the goal Conscience will witness against us oh what will become of such men I will tell you either the world heales them up or else some carnall companion saith you have been a good neighbour you have kept a good house amongst us c. tush tush man it may prove a lye for all this I but the Minister tells me so pish pish as
particulars I will bring two or three arguments to prove it that it is so 1. You shall find that Hypocrisie in these Ordinances doth spoile all upon these two or three grounds The first is this Because all this falsenesse and hypocrisie is directly against the nature of God you have a strange passage to this purpose Mat. 6. 5. And when thou prayest be not as the Hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the Sinagoues c. verily I say they have their reward what is that what is the reward of a false hypocritical praier he hath his praier that is all his work for his work a day of fasting for a day of fasting that is all a poor reward It too often falls out that amongst your children you have one that is a spend-all a riotous person Now when the father comes to make his will he gives to each of his obedient children such a portion as he is able but when this his leud sonne comes to be named what saith he to him I have given thee so much and so much time after time thou hast spent all I have now only a shilling for thee and that not out of any love neither but to stop thy mouth from troubling thy brethren for any more so we come to fasting and praier well saith God you shall have your reward I will give you twelve pence you have bin false and vile with that mercy that you have had therefore look for no more And thus when the Hypocrite comes to see what he hath got by all his duties it will be just nothing this is the point that I meane I will prove it in three perticulers that falseness and hypocrisie in duty takes away the life of the duty First because hypocrisy here is directly in opposition to the nature of God and therefore the Lord cannot possibly accept of it I doe not care for them saith the Lord I will none of their services they are directly against my Name Jehovah is Gods nature which hath a being hypocrisie hath no being nothing in it therefore no being In your praier you tell God you sin you meane not to leave it and what tell you me of such a kinde of prayer it is a picture of a prayer and no prayer a picture of a man as we say and no man I beseech you to consider it all praiers that are made in this way they are nothing see a passage Mat. 15. 8. saith God this people draw neere to me with their lips but their heart is far from me therefore he saith 9. verse But in vaine they worship me it is all to no purpose there is an emptinesse in all this a poor ignorant creature may run to Church with the Pharisee and fall down upon his knees and babble over his prayers and all this coms to nothing for I say all traditionall worship is against the nature of God hence nothing so all Idoll worship is nothing God is a being Jehovah Idoll worship hath no being therefore nothing you shall not see more cost and bodily labour more ceremonies and specious shew in any religion under the sun then in Rome yet all this nothing because outside seruice a little fire wil quickly consume all this Now if you come before God this day and doe not bring your heart in a fit temper according to the rule of Gods word if you mean not to be in earnest with the Minister in sealing up your soules in the Covenant of grace all will prove to be nothing you shall have breath for breath you will doe no good to distressed England reformation shall not be one inch furthered by this dayes work of your fastings and prayer Secondly Hypocrisy takes away the life of the duty upon a second ground because from hence the Ordinance of God this very Ordinance we are now about gaines an heavy blow therefore certainly it will lose the life and comfort of it by hypocrisie as thus First from hence it comes to passe that Ordinances used or rather abused give occasion to the enemies of God to open their mouthes and speake basely of these Ordinances as if they had nothing in them the Ordinances themselves suffer much in this they can say they are frequent in these duties such and such keep whole dayes of fasting and prayer day after day and yet returne again to their sinfull courses as bad drunkards and thiefes the next day as ever hence say the Papists and prophane persons these are the fasters what amendment see you in them and hence they conclude what should weeping fasting and prayer doe God regards them not they have nothing in them noe benefit comes by them people are not converted that use them they are as ignorant as they were no change wrought upon their spirits Thus the Ordinance is sleighted Secondly Hypocrites doe pervert the Ordinance for they use it to a wrong end They take up fasting and prayer to get further leave to sin to grow stronger in their corruptions to morrow hypocrites are strengthened in sin by the Ordinances Thirdly because the heart of a man in the duty is the heart of the duty your hearts are the heart of the duty therefore the Lord requires such a kinde of heart of his servants at the time of duty as is agreeable to the duty now hypocrisy takes the heart off from the duty therefore the duty cannot be accepted Now I doubt there is many a poor unprepared heart before God this day you doe not mean to bring your sinne to the duty but the duty to your sinne you doe not meane to leave your uncle an practises and evill courses if it be so marke what I say the duty is gone the day is lost for the very heart and spirit of the duty lyeth here the Minister he labours prayes and preaches you may weepe mourne and lament yet if the heart be not in the duty all is nothing but as a dead carkasse without a Spirit The Use will be a word of reproofe for I say falsenesse and hypocricy takes away the life of the duty 3. Arguments you have had to prove it Now for reprehension it wil reprove us for all those ayrie duties and outside services we doe performe many come to a duty and leave their hearts in their Chests amongst their Treasure many come in discontent and strife they resolve for all this I will when conveniently I may give my brother a private wound This now lets out the very heart bloud of the duty I doe confidently beleeve if all the people of the Nation could but keep this day of fasting and praier sincerely from the heart you should quickly see the Angel stopped the sword sheathed and the Nation healed Now to reprove you of your hypocrisie I wil shew you the saplessenesse of such duties in these particulars First remember this and consider in the name of God in what a lamentable case that man will be that looseth all the
done iniquity I will doe it no more Secondly In reformation under the rodde you must be sure to have your worke guided by God himselfe as Isa 2. 3. He will teach us his ways and we will walke in his paths so Psal 86. 11. Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walke in thy truth knit my heart unto thee that I may feare thy Name Thirdly in the worke of reformation under the rodde you must be carefull to reforme in one particular as well as another you must go through stich with this businesse that which I doe know and may know to be blame-worthy and have borne chastisements for in that I will offend noe more and if any thing further shall be made knowne unto me I will stop in my course and if it can be found out that therein I have sinned I will doe so no more For know assuredly he hath not reformed in anie thing aright that doth not reforme in every thing blame-worthy as Hosea 14. 2. saith the Prophet Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity what followes then saith he ver 3. Take unto you words and turne to the Lord and say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us gratiously Take away all spare none every eye that offends every hand that sins every lust that provokes though never soe deare unto thee foregoe all manner of profit and credit in regard of thy temporall calling if it prove to be a sinne beare with one and in Gods sight thou bearest withall live in the breach of one of Gods commandments and thou art guilty of the breach of all Fourthly in reformation under the rodde you must not onely reforme in what you your selves doe or may understand to be amisse but you must take direction to know what is blame-worthy be eager and earnest to understand wherein you doe amisse say Good Lord if I doe amisse in relation to others as a husband as a wife as a Father as a child as a Minister as a hearer as a servant as a Master as a doer as a sufferer Lord shew it me Lord shew me my fault that I may reforme Make an earnest desire to God and say Good Lord if any thing be blameable let it have no shelter in me search me if any way of sinne try me if any way of wickednesse be in me and lead me in thy way for ever as it is Psal 139. 23 24. Thus make your requests to God this practice will prove the sincerity of your hearts thus praying you may know what is out of order when you compare your life and the word which is the rule together Mark what he Prophet Jeremy saith Lament 3. 39 40. Wherefore is a living man sorrowfull Man suffereth for his sin let us search and try our wayes and turne again to the Lord Let us looke to our wayes this hath been my opinion my practise my way are they answerable to scripture consonant to the rule the word of God this we 〈…〉 labour to know when we would reforme our wayes Fifthly a Christian under the rodde should be so wrought upon with a Resolution to reforme that he should by solemne covenant binde himselfe to God for the future even all his life long marke the text Surely it is meet to be said to whom to our selves no to be said to God I have borne chastisements c. say Lord thou that hatest every evill way heare me what I have to say that have run out of the way Thou that art privy to all my sinfull affections help me to be reformed I resolve by thy help for the time to come to be more exact in my obedience to thy law that knowest my trouble and affliction make me reformed under the crosse This was Davids care Psal 66 13 14 I will goe into thine house with burnt offerings and will pay thee my vowes which my lippes have promised and my mouth hath spoken in mine affliction When he was in trouble and under the rod he promised something to God and now he resolves to be carefull to pay it Sixthly and lastly Christians under the rod must severally and personally not only joyntly in companie and assemblies reforme what is amisse according to the forementioned rules He doth not speak in the plurall number It is meet for Cities Countries and Kingdomes or Nations but It is meet for me that is for every particular man and woman of what degree estate or condition soever this must be my work my task my care husband apart wife apart child apart servant apart Minister apart people apart For usually that is done to best purpose which is done single in a way of secrecy The souldiers come to John and say What shall we doe the Publicans and sinners What shall we doe every one of them in particular desired to know what belonged to them in reforming this lieth plainly in the text Seventhly There is something else that I meant as a seventh help it is that Christians should not only looke upon their reformation under the rodde as a taske necessary and as a duty commanded but they should looke upon it as an imployment comely and lovely meet saith the text what a beautifull and beseemingthing is it in a Christian resolving to be reformed under the rudde And thus we have done with the first thinge propounded viz. what kinde of reformation it is we should resolve upon under the rod. The second thing propounded is what arguments may prevaile with Christians according to the latitude of this Text thus to reforme under the rodde There are arguments of two kindes that I shall suggest First some in relation to God Secondly some in relation to our selves First in relation to God I shall name six or seven whereof five I shall finde in this chapter First because God that calleth for Reformation under Correction is the author of every blow of every scourge he it is that breaketh the bones that teareth the skin that bruiseth the flesh this you may see in the 13 14 15. v. Who hath given him a charge over the earth or who hath placed him over the whole world If he set his heart upon man speaking of God and gather unto himselfe his spirit and his breath All flesh shall perish together and man shall returne unto dust he doth not say if they will breake themselves to pieces or if infectious aire or unseasonable times will produce a pestilence to sweepe them away but if he shall doe it that is God he is the author of it Consider that place Jer. 5. 3. where the Prophet speakes thus by way of complaint O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth thou hast stricken them but they have not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder then a stone and have refused to returne should not the childs care under the smarting rod be to give content to the angry father know the Lord is the
author of thy chastisement Is there any evil in the City meaning the evill of punishment and the Lord hath not done it saith the Prophet Is there any breach in the Kingdom any plagues amongst us any famine or want that the Lord hath not done it is his hand that layes on that is one argument The second reason why we should reforme under the rod is because God afflicts us because we are blame worthy because we have sinned therefore his Majesty is pleased to smite us verse 26. 27. He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of all men because they have turned back from him and would not consider all his wayes Doth God lay on them why is it only because he hath a delight to rend and teare them bruise and breake no nothing lesse for he doth not afflict willingly It is alienum opus it goes against the heart and minde of God God is provoked unto it by mens sins Lam. 39. in that place before quoted wherefore doth the living man complaine he gives a reason Man suffereth for his sins and in the 40. verse shewes what use we should make of this Let us search and try our wayes and turne unto the Lord say I was proud God hath met with me therefore now I will be more humble I was peevish God hath crossed me now I will be more tractable I was sensual in the use of the creature God hath given me a bitter pill therefore I will be more moderate that I may not provoke his Majesty any more Thirdly Consider this which will follow from the former he is exceeding just and gracious in every rod he useth in every stroke that he giveth in every affliction that he sendeth as in verse 10. 11 12. Therefore hearken to me ye men of understanding far be it from God that he should doe wickednesse and from the almighty that he should commit iniquity for he will render unto every man according to his works and cause every one to find according to his way and 23. for he will not lay upon man more then is right that he should enter into judgement with God God will not make the staffe too heavy the rod too bigge God doth noe more then justly he may if he teare the skin if that will not doe he will breake the veines if that will not doe he will deal more rigorously and shall not this move us to reforme under the rod Fourthly The Lord well knows and considers the frame of every mans spirit the carriage of every soule under his correcting hand when God layes on with his hammer upon the anvile of our hearts he considers what force it hath inward in our spirits outward in our lives consider this in the 21. 22. verse His eyes are upon the wayes of man and be seeth all his goings there is no darknesse nor shadow of death that the workers of iniquity might be hid therein Mark it can a man run away from God as a child many times from his father and hides himself untill his anger is over no he knows every fault that we reforme not in and knows every course that we take for the causing of offence submitting and stooping to him will not serve the turne we must reforme when under the rod. I could give you that passage Amos 4. 6. to 12. I have given you cleannesse of teeth scarsenesse of bread I have withholden the raine from you I have smitten you with blasting and mildew pestilence have I sent among you your young men have I slaine with the sword I have overthrown you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as firebrands pluckt out of the burning yet in all these you have not returned to me saith the Lord therefore thus will I do unto thee be reformed under all these crosses and prepare thy self to meet thy God O Israel Fifthly Know the Lord is no respector of persons God is not like many fond parents that will indulge cocker and make much of one child and lay upon the bones of another many times they know not for what but only as affection carries them nor like some misguided authority where poor ragged thieves have the halter when silken ones are spared no no there is no such affection in God consider it there is more in the proof then I speak of verse 19 20. How much lesse to him that accepteth not the persons of princes and regardeth not the rich more then the poor for they be all the work of his hands and verse 24. he shall break the mighty without seeking and shall set up others in their stead God noe more regards a man worth thousands then him that is worth not a farthing God no more esteems in regard of personall respect the governers then the governed This should move people under the rod to trust in God and labour to be reformed these are the five Arguments that I finde in this Chapter There are two more remaining in the sixth place know for certaine that this is the very end that God aimes at that by his rodde people might be reformed as Isa 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit the taking away of his sinne If a childe should aske the father why did you beate me so exceedingly And he and he answer I would have thee to reforme to take heede of sinfull courses of sinfull company it might be a good argument to worke upon the child This is the end of God in afflictions that he exerciseth his withall to have them be reformed thereby Seventhly and Lastly consider his majesty will account himselfe highly honoured by the reformation of his people under the rodde in sort we may make God amends but doe not mistake my expression it doth not make amends by way of requitall not adding any thing to his worth but by way of manifestation but to let that passe Consider that concerning Paul God laid upon him struck him of his horse and presently after you shall read 1 Gal. 23. that they glorified God because of him What a change is here he that destroyed and persecuted now preacheth that gospel for which he persecuted them he that endeavoured to disperse and scatter poor Christians now is zealous in incouraging them God-ward so that the godly glory greatly because of him and what an extraordinary honour is this to God! suppose a man hath a stubborne Colt to break that will stand upon no ground that seems to be very untractable now if this man can in a short space bring him to the Saddle and make him tame and gentle what a credit will it be unto him So here when God puts us one way another way comes to worke us and winde us according to his will he thinks himselfe honoured if we will become tractable and yield to his commands when we that once had Christ and his government shall come in and say with Elihu Surely it
is meet to be said unto God I have borne chastisements I will not offend any more This is pleasing unto God in this he thinks himselfe much honoured This shall serv to have spoken to these seven arguments in relation to God Now for those arguments of the second sort in relation to our selves of these I will speake under a two fold head Some are drawing some are driving some are forcing some alluring my meaning is some suggest sadness to them that will not reforme under the rodde these I call driving or forcing again some hold forth sweetnesse pretious prerogatives to them that will amend and reforme when the Lord smites and these I call alluring and drawing arguments You see I am in a large field but I doubt I shall have time to goe over but a little ground First for driving arguments Not to reforme under the rod it fastens a blacke marke of shamefull ignominie and reproach upon the heart of a sinner how is Jeroboam markt in this regard with a black coale what reproach is cast upon the back of that man though he was a King and woare a Crowne and the main reason of this was because he reformed not under Gods hand Kings 1. 13. 4. he stretched out his hand against the Prophet his hand dried up so that he could not pluck it in again yet for all this saith the Text verse 33. Yet for all this Jeroboam turned not from his wicked way Here is a Monster of nature a hopelesse wretch God smites him with one rodde after another takes away a limbe a hand and yet he will not be reformed Here consider two things by way of argumentation First not to be reformed under the rodde is a signe of unspeakable foolishnesse as it is Jeremy 5. 3 4. Thou hast stricken them but they have not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction therefore I said surely they are poore they are foolish for they know not the way of the Lord. It is a strange thing that men should be no more sensible of the rodde then the Iron of the hammer Like some sturdy villains that will not stirre at their Masters bidding he strikes with one hand after another till he hath wearied himselfe yet he is dogged and will not goe soe God is upon men in estate in name in Children inwardly and outwardly Oh the rockishnesse of mens hearts when all these roddes will not move them to bee reformed herein they shew egregious folly Secondly not to be reformed under the rodde is a signe of extraordinary bruitishnesse Pro. 27. 22. Though thou shouldest bray a foole in a morter amongst wheat brayed with a pestle yet will not his foolishnesse depart from him Marke he is like a bruit beate him strike him he amends not like a foole he will not be reformed We use to say Children shew themselves foolish for they might save many a blow the father calls he regards not againe come he comes not goe he goes not untill he comes himselfe beates him and makes him goe Oh foolish Child might not this have been saved So God calls from the world from our pleasure we will not hear him he pulls away blessing after blessing and gives us blow after blow yet we will not regard him oh foolish people and unwise marke it those people that will not reforme under the rod of the Lord they do expose themselves poore soules themselves know not to what an encrease and augmentation of misery Doe but observe it in Pharaoh let my people go saith God no not he therefore God is upon him with one plague after another one judgement after another yet not reformed then the first borne in every family dyeth yet when he had let the Israelites goe he pursues after them and will not leave till he sinke as the text saith like a stone in the mighty waters You know what God threatens Levit 26. If ye will not hearken and be obedient unto me yet seaven times more yet seven times more will I plague you so Amos 4. yet have ye not returned I have afflicted you time after time yet have you not returned therefore I will doe thus unto you How is that I will bring some unexpected and miserable-making judgement If I should say that incorrigiblenesse under the rodde causeth God in wrath to give up people as in a condition hopelesse I could easily prove it know for certaine that God will say why should I smite any more the more I smite they more they sinne therefore I will take no more paines with them just as many a father will say of his incorrigible childe I will spend no more stripes upon him no more time about him I will packe him out of dores let him be gone and trouble my selfe no more with him so will God say to those that will not be reformed under the rodde this is a sad thing to be considered Hosea also will prove this Further consider this is that that provokes the Lord what shall I say for to remove his ordinances from amongst us Isa 13. bring no more vaine oblations incense is an abomination unto me I cannot suffer your new-moones nor sabbaths nor solemne assemblies All this was because ye reformed not for saith the Lord ver 15. Your hands are full of bloud remember what Christ saide Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish These are the driving considerations and why should we not all from hence learne to be reformed under the rod Now followes those that are drawne from the gaine that you and I may get by labouring for to attaine unto this frame of soule when the Lord shall be pleased to accept of us What shall I say this is the way for to gaine the comfort of the Lord the tender bowels of his compassion when wee are under the bitterest calamity that can befall us Oh beloved doe but suppose a father had torne the flesh of his child or broke a vein and the child should sobbe and sigh oh would I had not done so or so to provoke my father I will be better as long as I live how would the father and mother sorrow and even weepe to heare him So it is with God Jer. 31. 18 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himselfe Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoake you know offer to yoak a Bullock and she strikes one with her horn another with her foot so it was with me saith Ephraim yet then the Lord loves him see v. 20. Is Ephraim my deare sonne is he a pleasant child for since I spake unto him I doe earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord. Again know that if you endeavour thus to reforme under the rodde of the Lord you may be confident that the worst things you may or can suffer for God and his cause they shall according
to the riches of his grace turne to your joy and everlasting comfort When the Lord threatned the Captivity Jerem. 24. he compares them to two baskets ef figges whereof one one was good the other naught by the good figges he sets out those that should be reformed by their captivity verse 6. I will set mine eyes upon them for good and I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God They shall be happy though under the power of them that hate both them and their profession they shall enjoy me for good saith the Lord because they have turned to me with all their hearts Will you see what heapes of comfort heape upon heape the Lord hath provided for them in reading that place Job 22. 22. to the end You know in what a case Job was his estate was wasted his Children killed his wife become a cold comforter Now mark 22. Receive I pray thee the Law of his mouth and lay up his words in thine heart 23. If thou returne to the Almighty thou shalt be built up and thou shalt put iniquity from thy tabernacle See further the restauration of his estate and the supply of his want so far as abundance may be for thy good thou shalt have it if under the rod thou returne 25. The Almighty shall be thy defence yea thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty The reason why we have so little communion with God is because lusts ly unsubdued in our bosome we take delight in our riches and pleasure and this hinders us of the sweet joy we might have in Christ He goes on Thou shalt lift up thy face to God what is the reason a man runs and hides his head it is because he hath sinned he goes on Thou shalt make thy prayer to him and he shall heare thee he will so heare that he will grant thee thy requests and thou shalt have to pay thy vowes that thou hast promised thou shall decree a thing and he shall establish it unto thee thou shalt alway speed and prosper in thine undertakings and the light shall shine in thy wayes God himself shall direct thee when others are cast down then shalt thou say I am lifted up See what a company of comforts is here for them that will be reformed under the rod. What need I name particulars when as Jesus Christ in whom is all the promises of this life a better is made over to them that are careful to reforme both in their spirit and wayes in reference to that God that casts them down the redeemer shall come unto Zion and unto them that turne from iniquity in Jacob saith the Lord Isaiah 59. 20. Is not here strong arguments to move you therefore take the Place of the text and say we will beare chastisements we will not offend any more that which we see not teach thou us and if we have done iniquity we will doe it no more The third thing was what course we should take to be wrought upon to attain unto this frame of Spirit First Throuhly from scipture light informe your selves concerning the sinfulness and the uglinesse of this course in regard wherof you must reforme saith the Prophet After I was instructed I repented and smote upon my thigh and said what a thing is this that I have done that which I see not teach thou me may be I doe not see it if I doe see it may be not so ugly base and abominable as it is therefore oh teach me If men did but think what it is to be a naturall man for a man that hath an immortall soule to lye stinking in a puddle to goe to the trough with the Swine and under the table with the dogge there is noe man but would think this to be a very deformed and unseemly sight how much more to have your soules your immortall soules rooting in the dirt this is the condition of a naturall man Consider is it not a horrible thing to resist God to pluck God out of the chaire of state to pull him out of the throne of majesty to wring the Scepter out of Gods hand this is horrible treason indeed A proud man doth it he resists God he sets himself against God God against him if you did but consider this you would down with your proud hearts Again consider what it is to be an unbeliever to give God the lye as every unbeliever doth to let the greatest meities of God to fall into the channel rather then I will put out my hand to reach them this every unbeliever doth Now we should consider the danger of these sins and labour to avoyd them and we should strive to see the latitude and utmost extent of the bloudinesse and basenesse of our own hearts that so we may keep the better watch against them Sometimes when a Father would have his child ashamed of himself he fetcheth a glasse and shews him what a deformed face he makes himself Oh that you did but see the sinfulnesse and deformity of this course whereof God would have you to reforme you could not but be ashamed of it Secondly you must be deeply humbled for what ever it is that under the rod you doe discover to be out of order both in your heart your minde and actions the way of reformation is by weeping crosse I smote upon my thigh and was ashamed Rich Manasses who was a King humbled himself greatly before the Lord God of his fathers this indeed is repentance not to be repented of what feare what indignation what zeale have the saints of God shewed in their reforming under the rod saith God my people that are called by my name shall humble themselves and turne from their evill wayes noe turning aright without humiliation when a child once sees wherin he hath offended and the haynousnesse of his offence he falls down upon his knees and cryes out pardon pardon So must we labour to see the greatnesse of our sins and the hainousnesse of them that so we may be the deeper humbled for them and then the soule at the apprehension of sin growing upon the heart in regard of the root of originall sin that feeds it and in regard of the weaknesse of his own nature to withstand the world the flesh and the divill will seek after Christ get Christ hugge Christ then he will know the worth of a Saviour and will esteem of a Saviour for he knows that God hath set him apart that he may give repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sins Acts 5. 31. To blesse you in turning every one of you from your iniquities as Acts 3. 26. he knhws that Christ hath power to bind the strong man cast out devils if he speak but the word the waves and winds shall all be quiet It was foretold Isa 11. 6. 7. that in gospel time the Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leapard