to Die Because I have newly fallen into a Sin and the Lord I see is offended at it and it is worse than Death to me to be taken away in the Lords Displeasure Jacob had newly fallen into the Sin of Distrust upon his Fear of Esau and his Faith was shaken And for this he saw God was come forth against him in Anger And how terrible was it to him to be cut off by God in Anger He wept So did David Psal. xxxix 12 Hold not thy Peace at my Tears And he made Supplication And his Supplication was much to the like Tenor with that of David in the Verse after O spare me a little that I may recover Strength i. e. That I may recover the Strength of my Faith and the Assurance of God's Favour X. An Inquiry into the Reason of Hezekiah's Tears upon God's Message to him that he must Die EZEKIAH is Sick of the Plague and hath Tidings from God that he must Die of it He receives the Tidings with much Bitterness and Passion He turns his Face to the Wall he Prays he weeps he weeps sore And though it be not exprest yet it may very well be conceived out of his Carriage and the Issue upon it that the Tenour of his Prayers and Tears was that God would spare his Life Esa. xxxviii 2 3. Then Hezekiah turned his Face to the Wall and Prayed unto the Lord and said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy Sight And Hezekiah wept sore Why Hezekiah why weepest thou Art thou so unwilling to part with the World No his Mind hath never been upon the World but upon Religion and God Art thou not fitted to Die and meet the Lord Why He was never unprepared Was he afraid of Judgment and that his Lot in the other World would not be good He was secure against that for he fears not to Appeal to God Remember Lord how I have walked before thee Why What ailes the Man that he Weeps so sadly Many and many a Thousand Men of a less gracious Temper than Ezekiah have taken the Tidings of Death with a great deal more Patience and less Passion And what ails him to take it so bitterly Certainly no bare Concernment of his own either in fear of his Soul or of his Body In truth the main Concernment that moved him was the Concernment of God Our Saviour once said Weep not for me but Weep for your selves Ezekiah weeps not for himself but as I may say he weeps for Christ he weeps for God for the Cause Interest and Concernment of God For I. It was sad for him to think that he must Die of the Plague a dreadful Disease that destroys suddenly and fearfully that separates from the Comforts of Friends and that seems to carry with it Tokens of the Anger of God And it might very well be bitter to him to think of being taken away with a stroke that sounded somewhat of God's Anger But this was not all Wicked and Profane Ones would be ready to scoff at his Piety and Reformation if he were taken away by so fatal a Stroke See this is he that hath kept such a Coil in pulling down Altars purging the Temple and setting up of Religion and now behold what is become of him He has God's Tokens upon him Signs of his Anger and dies not the Common Death of all Men but by the fearful Stroke of the Plague It is no wonder if the horror of such Blasphemy as this against Religion set very sadly upon the Heart of the good Man And he was afraid ungodly VVretches would take occasion of such Blasphemings from the fatal manner of his Death And thus it is the Concern of God and his true Religion and not fear of his own Carcase that did stick so much upon this Holy Man's Thoughts under his dangerous condition A very pertinent and needful Desire for every Christian to beg of God that his Death may not be such as to open the Mouths of Wicked Men to Blaspheme God and Religion II It was sad to Hezekiah to Die before he could see Jerusalem and the People of God intirely delivered from their Danger If you well compute the Times of this King you will find that that very Year that Senacherib was so busie and cruel against the Cities of Judah and Jerusalem was the Year of Ezekiah's Sickness And observe that Passage of Esay to him foretelling him of his Recovery and of Fifteen Years added to his Life Esa. xxxviii 6 I will deliver thee and this City out of the Hand of the King of Assyria It appears there was danger abroad and it grieved the good Man to the Soul to be taken away before he saw any Deliverance A very just Cause to beg of God to spare Life And it shews that a Man does it not out of bare love of Life or of the World if he Pray to God with Submission to his Will to prolong his Life that he may See the Good of his Afflicted Chosen and may rejoice with the Gladness of his Nation and Glory with his Inheritance as is the Psalmist's Petition Psal. cvi 5 III. Ezekiah was now but Nine and Thirty Years Old in his Strength and Prime Young in Comparison of the Ages at which divers then Died. And certainly you can hardly fancy a more probable Reason of his Unwillingness to Die that related to him than this that he thought he had not done enough for God He desired to be yet spared that he might Reform more set up Religion more do more for God and his People A Holy and Blessed desire that aimed at God and his Honour and his Peoples Good regarding nothing the bare Life of this World or his own Carcase in comparison of this Much like is that Psal. lxxi 18 Now Lord when I am Old forsake me not until I have shewed thy Strength to this Generation That I may more Praise thee more impart the Knowledge of thee and thy Power to this Generation and those to come DECAD II. I. An Inquiry what Strength that was David requested when he prayed to God to spare him that he might recover STRENGTH Psal. xxxix 13 WHAT David's present Affliction was we cannot tell whether Sickness of Body some Dejection of Spirit or some sore Trouble from his Enemies It seems most likely to be some sore Sickness of Body at which his Enemies would rejoice and so add to his Trouble Imagine it his deadly Palsie in his old Age when he could feel no Warmth either from his wearing Cloaths or Bed-Cloaths Be it which it will do we think he prays heartily for the Recovery and Strength of his Body Doubtless more especially for refreshing and strengthning in Soul before God should take him That which is rendred Recover Strength in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Word is translated by
offer himself a living Sacrifice acceptable to God which is his reasonable Service In other things a Man may deceive himself He may think he prays well enough when it may be his Prayers are Sin That he confesses his Sins well enough when it may be he adds to his Sin by his Slightness of Confession But in offering a Man's self to God there can be no Deceit if he do but do it In the other he may offer but Words let him offer himself and there is Substance This is the Sacrifice that God requires Psal. xl 6 Burnt-Offering and Sin-Offering hast thou not required Then said I Lo I come to do thy Will Do but observe the Apostle's Allegation of this Scripture Heb. x. 5 Sacrifice and Offering thou would'st not but a Body hast thou prepared me That is the Sacrifice thou requirest viz. My Body my self to be offered to thee to do thy Will He frequently urged the Obligation of keeping God's Commandments against the Antinomians and others and that from the apparent Agreeableness of so doing to our Reason and that since we are reasonable Creatures we should live as such The very Equity and Justice of the Duties of the Moral Law is not only a Bond upon us to keep them but an apparent and plain Reason why they were given What more reasonable thing in the World tâ—an that we should love God and our Neighbour that we should do Mercy Justice Piety Honesty and the like Do not these things of themselves speak all the Equity and Reason in the World Is it not most agreeable to Reason that reasonable Creatures should live after another manner than unreasonable brute Beasts do God hath made us Men and must there be no Distinction 'twixt us and Beasts What is that that must difference us What meerly this that we have Reason and Understanding and Speech which Beasts have not The Scripture you know calls Men that have these by the Names of Beasts however Herod is a Fox in the terming of our Saviour and Nebuchadnezzar a Lion in the Speech of Jeremy False Teachers are Wolves in the Language of the Apostle and the Scribes and Pharisees Serpents and a Generation of Vipers in the Denomination of our Saviour and the Baptist. These Men had Reason and Understanding and Speech and Knowledge as well as other Men and they would have scorned to have been thought short of other Men in these things But it is living like reasonable Creatures and not like unreasonable brute Beasts that must distinguish us from brute Beasts If a Man live like a Dog a Swine a Fox a Wolf tho' he can talk never so much Sense and Reason does his having the use of Reason do him any Good when he is neither good towards God nor himself nor other Men but lives and dies as the Apostle speaks As natural brute Beasts made to be taken and destroyed 2 Pet. ii 12 He would at other times press upon Men Sobriety and Obedience to God's Laws out of Interest to themselves as tending to their own real Safety and Welfare so to do and excellent Argument to perswade if well managed To this Purpose he spake once God's Laws are the Cords of a Man and his Commands are the Bonds of Love laid upon Men by God for their own Good and without which it could not be well with them Let me ask any one that desires to be lawless this Question Wouldst thou that God should have nothing at all to do with thee That God should leave thee in this Wilderness thou art walking in to thy self and say I know thee not I will have nothing to do with thee Nay leave not all Care of me would'st thou say Withdraw not all Providence from me For then I shall have neither Food nor Rayment I shall have neither Comfort nor Support I shall have neither Health nor Life if God disclaim me and Providence will have nothing to do with me Why Friend I may say in some Sense his Commandments are his Providence in which and under which only thou mayest have Prosperity and Safety As Solomon once to Shimei Stay in Jerusalem and thou shalt be well but know that if e'er thou go over the Brook Kidron thou art but a dead Man Sinner keep within the Bounds of God's Commandments and it will be well with thee and God will be with thee But transgress those Bounds and thou art got where good Providence dwells not God and his good Providence dwell as I may say within the Verge and Compass of his Commandments As in Rev. iv 3 He and his Throne are encompassed with a Rainbow the Sign of his Covenant Keep thou within the Bounds and Compass of his Commandments and and thou art where God is where Mercy is where good Providence is But get out of these Bounds transgress his Commandments thou art then where God is not and where good Providence and Mercy have no Habitation Shimei is gone over the Brook Kidron and he is under Solomon's Protection no more but under the Doom of Death and Danger He mightily preached up a Conformity to the Will of God shewing how this fitted qualified and disposed to the highest Perfection of Man's Nature Thus speaking once of the Saints in Glory he turned his Speech to them after this manner O happy Souls you have attained now to that Perfection for which God created reasonable Creatures viz. To be resolved wholly into the Likeness of God by having your Wills resolved into his And could this ever be done unless the Work were begun here These blessed Souls while here made it their Work to do the Will of God and still were striving that their Will might be agreeable to his Will And now they find that what they did was worth all their Labour And the more they did of his Will the more they were sâ—â—ting for this happy Condition For do but consider how keeping the Commandments and doing the Will of God does dress and prepare for the Enjoyment of God I might observe here how the more a Man keeps the Commandments of God the less Guilt he contracts to himself and the less Barr there is between him and Heaven I might observe that the more he keeps the Commandments the more Comfort of Conscience he gets to himself and the more Hope of Reward in Glory Every good thing he does in doing the Wiâ—l of God lays on a Brick towards the building up his own Hope and Comfort of a blessed Reward But consider we only the thing under this Notion that the more a Man keeps the Commandments the more he purifies himself refines and fits himself for the Embraces of God and his Enjoyment No gross corrupt muddy fleshly thing can unite to God Flesh and Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For that is too gross and muddy to come into that Place of Purity and Holiness No unclean thing must come into the New Jerusalem but what is refined purified and holy
not a small Punishment to the Soul that sinneth Not to speak of the Punishment that follows Sin hereafter II. SIN as it exposeth to Punishment hereafter so it is a present Punishment in the Act. FOR it deprives of God and brings under a Curse First It deprives of God It loses God it sets at a distance from God The Scripture stiles sinning a Departing from the Living God Heb. iii. 12 Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of Unbelief in DEPARTING from the Living God That is in sinning against God And it stiles sinning also a Coming short of the Glory of God Rom. iii. 23 which means not only coming short of the Glory of Heaven but short of the Glory of God that rested upon Man before he Sinned It was God's Threatning Gen. ii 17 In the Day thou Eatest thereof thou shalt surely Die. And yet when they had Eaten they did not Die Nay they did not so much as Swoon were not so much as Sick toward Dying So that the Devil might vaunt and perswade them You see I told you true when I told you you should not Die Lo you see it is no danger to follow my Counsel For you see no sign of Death at all upon you I but Adam look into thy Soul and there God which was the Life of thy Soul is departed from thee So the Secure Profane Wretched Heart may reason with it self There is talk of Sentence against Sin of Punishment of Sin and I know not what I feel no such thing though I take mine own Courses But I am Fat and Flourish and grow Rich and Prosper and to Day is as Yesterday and to Morrow shall be as to Day and much more abundant But look O wretched Man at thy State within Is God there Is the Presence of the Life of God in thy Soul No Every Sin committed sets thee and him still at more and more Distance looseth him and Interest in him more and more And if this be nothing with thee to lose God what will be any thing This is the very Preface and Porch of Hell the Loosing of God here as the Preface and Porch of Heaven to the Saints of God here is their enjoying and partaking of God here Does any ask or question about the State and Torment of the Damned in Hell This may be a full and adequate Answer They have lost God What is their Damnation They have lost God What their Torment They have lost God Whence their Howling Because they have lost God Whence their Hopelesness Because they have lost God Alas How did they lose him Ask them and they may tell you that their Sins have separated betwixt God and them As Esa. lix 2 That every Sin they committed set God and them further and further asunder and deprived them more and more of God Some Intimation of this you have in Ezekiel Ch. x. 18 The Glory and Presence of God departing from the Temple and flitting away And where is Israel when God is gone from them It is Saul's sad Complaint 1 Sam. xxviii 15 God is departed from me And you see what became of Saul God and Sin cannot dwell together in one Soul As the Bondwoman and her Son must have no abiding with the Freewoman and hers in the same House Now if it be a Punishment a sad Thing to lose God to have God depart away from the Soul then the very Sinning of a Sinner is a Punishment to him because it strips him of God and deprives him of that that should be the very Life of his Soul Secondly Sin is a Punishment because it brings the Sinner under a Curse It is not only a Privative mischief depriving him of God though that is enough but it is a Positive Mischief bringing a Curse upon the Sinner Read Deut. xxvii ult And Chap. xxviii from ver 15. and forward and it needeth not more Proof He saith not only as before in Chap. xxvii Cursed is he that maketh an Idol and setteth light by Father and Mother that removeth his Neighbours Land-mark c. But Cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law And Chap. xxviii 15 If thou wilt not hearken unto the Voice of the Lord thy God to do all his Commandments and his Statutes Then Cursed shalt thou be in the City and in the Field c. He that did not all the Commandments was Cursed and all the People must say Amen And was not that a hard Task to say Amen to their own Cursing For who of them had observed all God's Commandments to do them Durst we do the like And yet God requires the same thing from us in the Sence he did it from them And that was in a twofold Regard 1. To acknowledge their own Guilt and Deserving of a Curse for what was past in that they had not observed God's Commandments And 2. An engaging of their Hearts for the Time to come to Obedience of his Commandments or let them be Accursed And so the Word Amen signifies in a twofold Sense Both an Assertion of a Thing or Averring that it is true And so they and we are to acknowledge that he that continues not in God's Commandments deserves a Curse And Secondly An Imprecation upon themselves if they willingly did so transgress again Now what was this Curse Or what is the Curse that Hangs over the Head of Sinners 'T is true sometimes the Curse falls upon ungodly Men in Visible and Temporal Judgments as upon the Old World Sodom the Egyptians and Ten Thousand more such Direful Monuments But this is not the Curse that he intends for the Ungodly For many and many a Thousand live and die in Prosperity and such horrid apparent Judgments never come nigh them The Jews for their Rebellion had all these Curses against them Deut. xxviii and yet Thousands of them Prospered in the World grew Rich and Great and yet the Curse of God remained upon them for all that Therefore the Curse of God is twofold either to be inflicted in Temporal Judgments or to be inflicted by turning all Things that seem Mercies to a Curse The former lights not on all wicked Men the latter does III. A Meditation explanatory on the Book of Ecclesiastes IN this Book methinks we may see Solomon setting down in deep Study After all the Contents and Delights that he had or could find in Earthly Things he is here set down with his Pen in Hand casting up what all came to And the Summa Totalis â—f all at the Foot of all comes but to thâ—s All is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit Brave Buildings Ortyards Gardens Pomp Wealth Pleasure Enjoying One's self in this World in the fullest Delight possible Solomon what comes all to in the Total Sum Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity Care to provide great Matters here Rule Dominion Maintaining a brave Port and Retinue Study and Prying into the Things of Nature and Men's Actions What comes this
no more Sacrifice for Sins but a fearful looking for of Judgment and Fiery Indignation which shall Devour the Adversaries THE Sin the Apostle speaks of here is not every Sin knowingly committed For then how would David and Peter have escaped with their Falls But it is an Apostacy from Truth once received that is the Gospel once professed and an Enmity and Fighting against it A Sin that at ver 29. he calls a Treading under Foot the Son of God And the Apostle John speaking of the very same Sin calls it a Sin unto Death 1 Joh. v. 16 The Apostle in this dreadful Passage hath two Allusions to some Passages in the Old Testament One to VVords another to Things VVhen he speaks of Sinning past Sacrifice he alludes to those Words Numb xv 27 28 c. If any Soul Sin through Ignorance he shall bring a She-Goat of the first Year for a Sin-offering and the Priest c. But the Soul that doth ought presumptuously whether Born in the Land or a Stranger the same hath reproached the Lord and that Soul shall be cut off from his People No Sacrifice for the wilful Sinner but he was to be cut off by Divine Vengeance And when he speaks of Fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries he alludes to those fearful Examples in the Old Testament when ungodly Ones which have been Enemies to the VVays and Ministers of God have been dreadfully devoured by Fire as in Num. xvi and 2 Kings i. The Adversaries OUR English hath well rendred the VVord Adversaries But there is a peculiar Phrase in the Greek which is not easie to express in English It is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which had been enough to signifie Adversaries but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which makes it to speak Suâ—â—â—versarii Unâ—eraâ—versaries that is Adversaries under an Hood as I may say Adversaries under a Pretence As the Pharisees under a Pretence of long Prayers devoured VVidows Houses so these under a Pretence of Religion were Adversaries to Religion Under Pretence of Piety were Enemies to â—ieâ—y Under Pretence of doing God good Service they Persecuted God's Servants Under Pretence of 〈◊〉 for the Law they sought to Destroy the Gospel And they were underâ—â—ood Adversaâ—ies The Greek Word is used again Col. ii 24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contrary to us The VVord precisely signifies Subcontrary or Closely contrary to us The Apostle speaks of Christs having cancelled the Ceremonial Law which open faced seemed to be for them that used it Sacrifices to make their Peace Purifications to cleanse them from their Uncleanness But closely also they pleaded against them Sacrifices Slain shewed that they deserved Death Purifications spake that they were unclean And so other of the Rites of the Law Thousands in the VVorld pretend to Love God to walk Fair to be Religious yet underhand are God's Adversaries and Enemies as those Under-adversaries spoken of in the Text before us None will own that he is any Enemy of God but he will speak well of God praise God will be for God whereas there is not one of a Thousand but underhand is God's Enemy These Adversaries then of whom the Apostle here more particularly speaks were Apostates that had professed the Gospel and had backslidden from it and were become bitter Enemies and Persecutors of it Fiery Indignation THE Greek is something Emphatical but something Difficult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verbatim thus Zeal or Jealousie or Anger of Fire shall eat up the Adversaries Our English hath well rendred it Fiery Indignation shall devour And so the Apostle calls God himself in reference to his consuming of VVicked Men. Heb. xii ult our God is a Consuming Fire As we may distinguish between the Anger of God that he is sometimes provoked to by the Sinning of his own People and the Anger he is provoked to by his Enemies So may we distinguish upon the Firiness of this Anger God's Anger when he is displeased with the Sins of his own People is a Fire indeed but it is not a Consuming Fire as it is towards the VVicked That Expression Esay xxvi 11 The FIRE of thine Enemies shall Consume them is an intimation that there is a Fire which is not the Fire of God's Enemies or such a Fire as devours them His Anger indeed many a time scorched his own People very sore sometimes in their own Conscience sometimes by outward Affliction But it is to Refine them not to Consume them But to the Enemies of the Lord his Indignation is a Fire that consumes them But to review this Fire more particularly let us first consider upon some Places that speak to the same purpose Job xv 34 The Congregation of Hypocrites shall be desolate and FIRE shall consume the Tabernacles of Bribery VVhat Does it mean their Houses shall be burnt down Oh! what Fires would then be seen abroad in England if all that take Bribes should have their Houses burnt down But in Ch. xx 26 There is mention of a Fire not blown that shall consume such wicked Ones All Darkness shall be hid in his secret Places a Fire NOT BLOWN shall consume him It shall go ill with him that is left in his Tabernacle A Fire not blown that is not such a Fire as those we blow a Fire that needs no blowing but when God kindles it is Hot enough and Flaming enough even the Fiery Indignation of the Lord. Esay ix 5 For every Battel of the Warriour is with confused Noise and Garments rolled in Blood but this shall be with BURNING and Fuel of FIRE The Prophecy is concerning the Destruction and Overthrow of the great Army of Senacherib of which the Story is so Famous That whereas other Armies are not routed and overthrown without a great deal of Fighting Confused Noise and Garments rolled in Blood this Army should be consumed with the Burning and Fire of the Lord's Indignation And it was Fiery Indignation that devoured 185000 Soldiers in one Night Our God saith Moses and Paul is a Consuming Fire And Esay's Question is Who among us shall dwell with the Devouring Fire Who among us shall dwell with everlasting Burnings Ch. xxxiii 14 Yes in the next Verse He that walketh Righteously and speaketh Uprightly and despiseth the Gain of Oppressions that shaketh his Hands from holding of Bribes c. such an one shall dwell with the Devouring Fire and it shall not touch him as the Fiery Furnace did not touch an Hair of the three Children But look at the beginning of Verse 14. The Sinners in Zion are afraid Fearfulness hath surprized the Hypocrites who shall dwell with the devouring Fire c. Not they but they shall be destroyed and devoured by that Consuming Fire as those that cast the three Children into the Furnace were consumed by the Fire though they came not into it The Fire and Burning that St. Peter speaks of that should consume the Jewish Church and State and Religion 2 Pet. iii. means not
so much the Fire that the Romans burnt their City and Temple with as that dreadful Fire and Fury of God's Indignation that consumed all But the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great Noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent Heat the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up Ver. 10. And in that dreadful Passage concerning the Damned Their Worm never dieth and their FIRE never goeth out We need not dispute what kind of Fire the Fire of Hell is whether Material Fire whether it gives Light whether it is of our Fire-colour With such Disputes some needlesly trouble themselves and others God's Indignation is Fire enough and Hot enough to devour those wretched Souls and we need look no further VI. Some Description of the Death and Doom of an Ungodly Man I. IF any ask what it is an Ungodly Man Dies of it may very well be answered of the Lord's Indignation It was the Threatning of God to Adam Moriendo morieris Thou shalt Die the Death The Ungodly Dies and Dies the Death Natural and Eternal And in his Natural Death he Pays two Debts a Debt to Nature because of the Sin of Adam and a Debt to God's Anger because of his own Sins The Chaldee Paraphrast renders those Words Deut. xxxiv 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 At the Kiss of the Lord which we read At the Word of the Lord And the Jews speak much of Dying at the Kiss of God thereby not only expressing a Person 's Dying in his Favour but to shew how sweet the Death of God's Saints are to them They are at the Kisses in the Embraces of God as they are Dying They reap Sweetness Comfort Happiness from him even in Dying But where are the Ungodly at that Time Under the Flaming of his Fire and the Scorching of his Wrath. As it is Psal. lxxxviii 31. The Wrath of God comes upon them and slays the Fattest of them It is the Wrath of God that tears the Soul from the Body and devours the Life like a Lion and there is none to deliver It is Wrath that cuts him off to make an end of his Sinning You oft meet with Cutting off threatned to such as commit such and such Sins as that in Numb xv 30 That Soul shall be Cut off from among the People Some conceive it means nothing but Cutting off from the Congregation by Excommunication but it means God's Cutting them off by his Wrath and Vengeance And the Expression is Emphatical to shew their Thread is cut which they would have drawn out in Sinning ever if they might have been let alone Thus every Ungodly Man even in his Death carries God Tokens Dies of God's Anger II. As we have considered the Wretch Dying and having given up the Ghost now let us consider the Soul Departed out of the Body Ah! VVretched Soul where art thou Come into another VVorld into a strange VVorld and such an one as he never Dreamed of and is now confoundded to see Into what a World he is fallen A World where there is neither VVine nor VVomen nor Sport nor Pleasure nor use of any Creature And what a case is that Carnal and Voluptuous Soul in then A worse Place than that that Israel complains of Numb xx 5 How are we come into this evil Place It is no Place of Seed nor Figs nor Olives nor Pomgranates nor any Water to Drink Nay this is a Place where is no Sun nor Moon nor Light a Place where there is no Friend to Comfort no Creature to Refresh no use of any Thing that is Earthly and Bodily This must needs be a sad Change to that Soul that never took any Delight that never thought it lived but in the use of such But this is the least part of Indignation that such a wretched Soul meets withal The Holy Souls of the Saints of God meet with the like Deprivation of the Use of Earthly Creatures and if they had always made them their Life and Delight and had nothing else to feed upon but Meat and Drink and Money and Pleasure the Case would be much the same But there is the Indignation from the Creator meets the Cursed Soul as well as the Deprivation of the Creature and that we shall consider in these several Particulars First Think of that Luke xvi 22 And it came to pass that the Beggar Died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom the Rich Man also Died and was Buried And do you not think the Devils carried the Soul of the Rich Man to Hell In the Text indeed is not exprest so much but that left it to be gathered by the Rule of Contrary if Angels carry good Souls to Heaven Devils carry bad Ones to Hell Acts i. 18 Falling headlong he burst asunder and all his Bowels gushed out The Devil had been two or three Days Bodily in Judas and when he burst in sunder the Devil broke out of him having torn him And do you not think he carried his Soul with him as well as took away his Life It is true indeed that the Devil is not in the Ungodly so Bodily as he was in Judas yet he is said Eph. ii 2 To work in the Children of Disobedience Their Souls are under his Acting and Power to carry them into all Evil. He is the Mover and Actor of their Souls to do his Will VVell when they are Dying is not the Devil busie there waiting for his Prey and for what he hath looked for all along Is he not busie to keep that Soul for his own and that it be not taken out of his Hand Psal. xlviii 14 For God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide unto Death He that hath made God his God for ever he may be sure to have God his Guide even to and in his Dying And on the contrary he that hath made the Devil his God and Ruler and Guide all his Time he must expect that he will be with him at his Death As the terrible Apparition to Brutus in Italy told him he would be sure to meet him at Philippi where he was to Die VVell the Ungodly VVretch Dies The Devil hath Led and Ruled and Acted him to the last Gasp And now the last Gasp hath slipt the Soul out of the Body is not the Devil there still looking after his Prey Do you think the Devil hath done and looks after that Soul no more No then is the time that he hath got his Prey and now is seized on the Game that he had been ever hunting after The Dragon Rev. xii 4 stood waiting before the VVoman to devour her Child as soon as it was Born And when the Child was delivered he was frustrate of his Prey because God took care of the Child and Mother for both Child and Mother were his Beloved But in this Case this great Red
thing the more Our English in the Text calls him A Noble Man in the Margin A Courtier ver 46. And the Original Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies that he was one that belonged to the King one of Herod's Courtiers Now in that Court time was when John Baptist was heard reverenced and followed Mark vi 17 But John did no Miracles shewed no Signs John x. 41 therefore at last John's Head goes to the Block Now the reason why the Jews were so requiring of Signs and Wonders besides their Hardness of Heart that would not believe without a Miracle was because they had not had a Prophet among them of so long a time It was full Four Hundred Years since the Spirit of Prophecy departed from the Nation For since the Death of Zachary and Malachi there had been no Prophet among them till these times no nor any that had taken upon him to be a Prophet therefore it is no wonder if when Christ came among them in the Evidence of a Prophet they require him to shew some Wonders that they might thereby be confirmed that he was a true Prophet and not a false Here now at his first coming into his Temple after his entring into his Publick Ministry by his Baptism he reforms and refines as the last of the Prophets before Prophecy ceased had foretold Mal. iii. 1 3. The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple And he shall sit as a Purifier and Refiner of Silver and he shall purifie the Sons of Levi. He overthrows the Tables of the Money-Changers and whips the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple in the Authority of a Prophet or Messias I say the Jews Dost thou these things so authoritatively I pray thee what Sign shewest thou to prove that thou art either Messias or Prophet Nay Secondly they were so urgent in requiring Signs from him that they require a Wonder when they had newly seen a Wonder nay Wonder after Wonder like him in the Poet's Fiction that stood Chin deep in Water and was still thirsty and seeking after Water Observe but two Passages 1. In Mat. xii 22 there is a Man blind and dumb and possessed with a Devil and Christ heals him Three Miracles in one And to have done any one of them either to have given Sight to the Blind or Speech to the Dumb or to dispossess one possessed had been enough and enough again to have convinced any much more when he wrought all these things at once And yet at ver 38. Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees say to him Master We would see a Sign from thee 2. In John vi at the beginning of the Chapter he feeds Five Thousand Persons with Five Loaves and Two Fishes Who that had seen such a Sign and Miracle but would have said as they do ver 14. This is of a Truth that Prophet that should come into the World And yet some of those very Men that had seen that Miracle eaten of that Miracle and confessed him that of a Truth he was that Prophet c. yet are at it ver 30. What Sign shewest thou then that we may see and believe thee c. Why What would these Men have Can they tell themselves Yes and I will tell you Their foolish and blind Traditions had taught them to look for these two Signs and Wonders from the Messias when he came First That he should raise the old Prophets and the old Holy famous Men from the Dead Secondly That he should bring down Manna from Heaven for them In their old Writings and Records they speak much of these two things of their Expectation And I might shew some Hint in the Gospel that they expected such things Therefore let Christ do never so many Miracles yet they will not be satisfied unless they see him do one or both these things but are still urging and requiring What Sign shewest thou Now they are not so urgent to ask a Sign as our Saviour is backward to satisfie their Curiosity in such a thing And to observe what Return he made to their Demand of a Sign which was a second thing I mentioned to speak to let us consider these two things First That he never did nor never could be brought to shew them a Sign as a meer Sign You remember his own Words A Wicked and Adulterous Generation require a Sign but no Sign shall be given them Mat. xii 39 I call that a meer Sign which is barely a Sign and nothing else A Wonder shewed â—owaâ—d confirming the Doctrine or Authority of him that shews it and it proves no moâ—â— The â—urning of Moses Rod into a Serpent and thâ— Serpent into a Râ—d again was a bare Sign or Wonder to confirm Mâ—seâ— Authority and it was no more Bâ—t the Signs and Wonders that he wrought after in turning Water into Blood bringing Frogs c. were more than Signs for they were also Plagues on 〈◊〉 as well as Miracles So the Miracles and Wonders which our Saviour did healing the Sick cleansing Lepers casting out Devils were more thâ—n meer Signs for they were for the Bodily Benefit of those upon whom they were wrought But meer Sign which was barely a Sign and no more he never shewed never could be brought to shew among them And I remember not more than one meer Sign spoken of in all the New Testament and that was Paul's shaking the Viper off his Hand into the Fire and feeling no Hurt by her Which the Church of Rome might have done well to have considered of before they had made Miracles so great a Sign of their Church as they do Secondly To their requiring of a Sign our Saviour once and again returns an Answer about his own Resurrâ—ction Mat. xii 39 There shall no Sign be given unto it but the Sign of the Prophet Jonas Meaning as Jonas was Three Days and Three Nights in the Whale's Belly and at last cast out of his Belly on the Shoar again so Christ should be Three Days and Three Nights in the Grave and then should be restored to Life again And John ii when they require a Sign he returns a like Answer Destroy this Temple and in Three Days I will raise it up That is this shall be an undeniable Sign to you that I am he that is to come that when you have destroyed this Temple of my Body and put me to Death in Three Days I will raise it up again Which was to be the great Proof and Sign whereby he evidenced himself to be the Son of God or the Messias namely by his Resurrection from the Dead Rom. i. 4 X. An Explanatory Discourse of the Fall and Punishment of Angels WE look not now upon these Creatures in their Brightness and Lustre in the Perfection of their Nature and Nobleness of their Creation Angels Morning Stars Courtiers of Heaven Attendants in God's own Chamber of Presence But are to see them in a clear contrary dismal and dreery Condition
Dead shall hear c. and he speaks distinctly of the General Resurrection at ver 28. But the raising of the Dead that he means here is the raising of the Heathen from the Death of Sin to the Life of Righteousness The Heathen that had lyen 2200 Years in Darkness and the Shadow of Death that had been dead in Trespasses and Sins Eph. ii 1 Buried in all Idolatry Ignorance Darkness Wickedness and Abhomination from the Confusion at Babel When Christ came and sent his Voice among them by the Gospel these dead Souls lived as it were come out of Death and the Graves to the Life of Grace Holiness and the Obedience of the Gospel And this is that first Resurrection mentioned Rev. xx 5 when the old Serpent the Devil was bound up by the Chain of the Gospel So that he could no more deceive the Nations as ver 3. That he should no more delude the poor Heathen with Idols and Oracles and Miracles and such Delusions as he had done This is the first Resurrection Here is a Resurrection the great Work of Christ and a great End of his Coming But it is a Resurrection of Souls vile Souls to make them Glorious like his Soul Souls changed with a great and blessed Change from Death to Life This is the mighty Work of a Resurrection Observe how the Apostle sets it out Eph. i. 19 What is the exceeding Greatness of his Power to usward that believe according to the working of his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the Dead God's bringing Men to believe his changing them from the State of Nature and Unbelief into the State of Grace and Faith is the great exceeding great Work of God's Power Such a mighty Working as that was when God raised Christ from the Dead A first Resurrection And take that withal Rev. xx 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection On such the Second Death hath no Power Either we must have a Part in the First Resurrection the raising of the Soul from the Death of Sin and Unbelief or never Blessed never Holy never escape the Power of the Second Death VII An Examination into the Reason of that Eruption of the Apostle O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! Rom. xi 33 THE Cause of which Admiration lyes in the Verse before For God hath concluded them all in Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all A strange Conclusion Doth it not almost speak to this Sense they all became Unbelievers that they might become Believers He hath concluded all under Darkness that he might bring them to Light Like Elias pouring Water where he meant to fetch out Fire The 25th Verse of that Chapter will help to clear this Matter very pregnantly Brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant of this Mystery that Blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the Fulness of the Gentiles be come in Blindness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Parts is happened unto Israel for that is his meaning And for the Observation of it take notice of these two Things I. That the Apostle throughout the whole Chapter never names the Jews but Israel Because he is treating of the whole Seed of Israel Not the Jews only of the two Tribes but the Israelites of the ten Tribes also II. The Seed of Israel then considered in general had Blindness happened to them In Parts First The ten Tribes were blinded by Jeroboam's Idolatry and that was their Ruin and Casting off Then the two Tribes were blinded by their Traditions And that was their Ruin also and Casting off Now this is the Mystery which he would not have them ignorant of that whereas the Gentiles were blinded also as well as Israel and before and longer than Israel and that there were many Prophesies and Predictions that they should be at last unblinded and come to the Light it pleased God to conclude Israel under Blindness too first the ten Tribes and then the two till the Gentiles should be unblinded by the coming in of the Light of the Gospel and then Israel is unblinded also Viz. That Remnant of them that belonged to the Election of Grace as he speaks ver 5. Thus God concluded all under Blindness all under Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all the Gentiles under Unbelief the ten Tribes under Unbelief and the two Tribes under Unbelief that at length he might as he did at the bringing in of the Gospel shew Mercy unto all in bringing Jew Gentile and Israelite to believe And observe what he saith in the next Verses before As ye O Romans who are Gentiles in time past have not believed yet now have obtained Mercy through their Unbelief So these Israelites also now have not believed that through your Mercy they might obtain Mercy Their Unbelief hath caused God to hearken unto you O Gentiles for his Church and to bring you to believe hereby was great Mercy to you And through this Mercy to you the Gospel rising and shining to you thus bringing you to believe Mercy also ariseth to them in the same shining of the Gospel that they also may believe Here is Mercy to Gentile Mercy to Jew Mercy to Israelite God hath concluded all under Unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all And therefore O! the Depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God VIII Asa's perfect Heart how reconcileable with his Sufferance of the High Places IT is said concerning Asa King of Judah Nevertheless Asa his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his Days 1 Kin. xv 14 A Humane Chronicler is not able to say Such an one's HEART was perfect 〈…〉 because he is not able to discern what the Heart 〈◊〉 He writes the Story of a Man's Actions he cannot write the Story of his Heart because he cannot know it But he that held the Pen and wrote these sacred Chronicles the Holy Ghost saw the Carriage of all Actions saw the secret Frame and Temper of all Hearts and he was able to give Judgment of them whether they were good or evil and he could not but give right Judgment How happy then is this good Man of whom he gives this true and most noble Testimony Asa his Heart was perfect with the Lord all his Days A more renowned Memorial than what all your Chroniclers can say concerning Alexander the Great Julius Cesar Tamerlane or the great Conquerors of the World Their Story is like that Appearance of Elias at Mount Horeb a dreadful Earthquake a tearing Wind a devouring Fire In their Story nothing but blustering in the World and blundering of Nations Sword and Blood and Fire and Plunder This is all the Noise and Sound of their Fame But happy is he that comes off with such a soft sweet still Voice as this Nevertheless Asa 's Heart c. The first Word Nevertheless doth bring in an Excuse or Pleading for Asa in