dwells in me that I cannot think the Lord has been effectually at work upon my Soul That the work of the Gospel is to purifie the heart is plain from Joh. 17.17 Sanctifie them through thy Truth thy Word is truth so 1 Pet. 1.22 Seeing ye have purified your hearts in obeying the Truth thorow the Spirit unto unfained love to the Brethren The Gospel if it works it works to the purifying of the heart Answer As it is a work of the Gospel to cleanse and purifie the heart so it is not all the work it does nor is it the first work it doth nor the work that is first manifest upon the Soul The Law it humbles the sinner and makes him see his need of Christ the first work of the Gospel is to give the sinner hope that he may be delivered out of his undone condition and the next is to make him willing to subject to and accept of the Grace of God in the Gospel Psal 110.3 Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power Therefore Soul if thou dost make this Objection this I would say to thee Consider whether thou canst find that the Gospel hath done its first work upon thy heart hath made thee willing to accept of Grace in the Gospel-way and to bow and fall at the foot of Jesus Christ As to thy Holiness the holiness of thy heart will at first discover it self hardly by any other ways then by thy love to Holiness then by thy hatred of Sin and thy fighting against the Corruptions that be in thy Soul thy Conquest and Victory over Sin must be the work of time the fruit of much pains and long waiting many excellent Souls have not attained unto this Paul himself found impurity remaining and Corruption like to bear him down and therefore cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death But then Objection 3. The Soul objects and says But I have been but a little time under any Soul-Work and therefore I may soon be mistaken I may reckon I am an Israelite and may be but an Edomite still for it is but a little while that I have had any workings upon my heart I have gone indeed from Duty to Duty for a long time together but I have sat in and under them like a Stock or a Stone and moved not and therefore whether the Workings that are upon me are genuine or whether they be spurious and not of the right kind I know not Answer I answer therefore The work of Grace upon the heart is wrought in a little time a little time doth it there are indeed many preparations to it the Soul may fall under many convictions and many struglings may be in the heart of a poor creature before the new Creature is formed but Grace is infused into the heart in a moment at once It is the Devils design to oppose young Converts and puzzle them with endless questions about their state I would therefore that thou shouldst consult for thy satisfaction which way is the bent of thy Soul Canst thou say thy desire is for Communion with God for fellowship with Father Son and Spirit Thou wouldst fain see him who is invisible and fain wouldst know him whom to know is Eternal Life If the bent of thy heart be really for God it is bent and bowed though it hath not been long with God thou mayest conclude I think with some comfort the Lord hath been at work upon thy Soul and thou art one of the Israel of God though thou art but a little one of that Tribe But then Objection 4. Says the Soul Many of much longer standing and of much more raised confidence have afterwards miscarried and it has appeared that their Souls have not been right with God and therefore my heart trembles lest I should not be an Israelite indeed Answer To this I would answer That indeed it is so and it may be thought of with sorrow of heart that many Souls after long profession have been but empty Vines bringing forth fruit onely to themselves And happy is he that by other mens harms learns to beware A holy fear and jealousie over thy heart is very good and there is great cause for it considering the many and great miscarriages that are among Professors They say of Trees that are well rooted being shaken with the Wind they are made to root the better It may be thus may thy Temptations touching thy state be if thou art rooted in Christ thy Temptations may be for thy further setling in thy state But yet to be always perplexing thy self with questions about thy state may not onely marre thy comfort but may spoil thee in thy growth also and may prove a great hindrance to thee My poor thoughts are therefore these Be sure to make use enough of Christ see thy All in him that he is thy Righteousness for Justification and that from him is the work of thy Sanctification he must begin it and it is he also that must carry it on lie at his foot live upon him and let all thy expectations be from him and whoever may fall I think thou wilt stand and wilt be found one of the Israel of God that shall be made glorious in the day of Christs Glory I am perswaded if thou canst do as is hinted in Isa 45. ult see thy Righteousness in him and thy Strength in him and canst glory in Christ it is a good ground to thee to hope that thou art of the Israel of God with whom it is like for ever to go well Objection 5. The Soul may object and say further But alas I have had few Visions of God and that makes me fear Israel of old had many and he had sometimes very glorious Visions that did greatly comfort and strengthen and bear up his Soul Answer I answer That visions of God indeed are exceeding sweet very sweet but the dispensing and giving them forth is in the hand of God and he must do it how and when he pleaseth and it is good in his sight sometimes to let his own People sit in darkness and see no light Hast thou seen the face of God at any time If thou hast had but some Visions of him though not so many as thou wouldst yet it is ground of rejoycing to thee and thou oughtest from thence to conclude much to thy own comfort A little hint of Good Will is given in to be lived upon in after times However which way is it thy Soul does press Art thou waiting for the manifestation of the love of God in Christ Are these the things which thou art seeking of together with a Conformity to the mind and will of God If so thou hast cause of Thankfulness and Joy Briefly Watch against those devices of Satan whereby he labours to do thee hurt and put thee besides thy present proper work Thou art one of them that are escaped this day and God
EBEN-EZER OR Profitable Truths after Pestilential Times Being some MEDITATIONS Upon ISAIAH 4.2 SHEWING The MERCY and the DUTY Of Those that have Escap'd the Slaughtering Pestilence As also That all Slaughter shall end in the Exaltation of CHRIST and the setting up of HIS KINGDOM Together with An Epistolary Preface To the Citizens of London Westminster By THOMAS BLAKE London Printed in the Year 1666. To the Citizens of LONDON and WESTMINSTER A few Things are humbly offered needful to be considered SIRS IN this day of the Lords Controversie a Cup of trembling hath been put into your hands and you have drank deep of it Such Slaughters rarely if ever have been within your Walls since their Foundations were first laid The memorable year of Twenty Five must not be compar'd with Sixty Five either for the number of the Slain the continuance of the Visitation or such unwonted reiterated Increases and Decreases And O that suitable to the dread of the Dispensation Effects might be wrought upon all your Hearts that the Lord may be pacified towards you and may not add to this Plague seven other and worse Plagues You are now comforting your Hearts with thoughts that the bitterness of Death is past your Trade will return and the Cloud that hath darkened your glory and splendor will vanish To which I heartily say Amen the Lord do so But if I thought it would be born and kindly received I would take leave to tell you I have my fears fears not bottom'd upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostles expression is 1 Tim. 4.7 profane and old Wives fables but upon Considerations as I judge more solid An account of which be pleased to take in a few words First Cities every way famous have had their Periods all worldly glory carrieth decaying Principles in its bowels It may as the Sun go forth in its beauty and strength until it climb to its Meridian and thenceforward it will decline until its lustre set in obscurity As they say of the World so of Cities they have their Youth and Manhood in which they are in their strength and vigour and after that Old Age until they return to the dust out of which they were raised Tyre a City of strength called the strong City Josh 19.29 an ancient and enriching City yet from the Lord went forth a Commandment to destroy it Isa 23.11 Babylon once the Metropolis of a mighty Empire and consequently stood upon suitable advantage-ground for its security yet could not bear up it self against that Sentence Isa 14.4 Thou shalt take up this Proverb against the King of Babylon and say How hath the Oppressor ceased the golden City ceased Ceased to be as well as to oppress It is the destiny of some that when they cease to oppress they must cease to be also Jerusalem the beloved City honour'd by the King of Heaven that Fountain of all true Honour against her cries the Prophet Isa 3.8 Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen God commands and threatneth concerning Tyrus Ezek. 26.4 Break down her Towers I will also scrape her dust from her and leave her like the top of a Rock not so much as any Monument should remain Jamseges est ubi Troja fuit Others their memory is perished Psal 9.6 Thou hast destroyed Cities their memorial is perished with them Secondly Sins great Provocations have been precedaneous unto and the procuring Causes of the ruine of Cities God is known to be long-suffering to all among whom he is known he doth not strike much less destroy without a cause nor yet for every cause God can bear long yet will he not bear always Wickedness may in places of eminency as Diseases in the Body lurk up and down for a season till by continuance they grow strong seiz the Vitals and down goes the House of Clay Sin drowned the old World and burnt Sodom and Gomorrha and they are left upon record as Examples of Divine Vengeance to put a restraint upon the exorbitancies of sinful Cities Every publick sin of Cities as they are a Body and Community or the sin of them that are the visible owned authority in them acting as such is a stroke at their Foundations and many such may soon level them with the ground There are Prognosticks of decaies approaching Death not onely in the Natural but in Bodies Politick also The Death-Marks upon Cities of old have been such as these 1. Pride God resisteth the Proud is true concerning a Nation City or Man It it was Moabs height that laid him low We have heard of the pride of Moab he is exceeding proud therefore shall Moab howl for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn Isa 16.6 Tyrus said I am of perfect Beauty Ezek. 27.3 thence was she defaced and brought to nothing Foelicissima Dicta foret si non sibi visa fuisset 2. Oppression especially oppression and cruelty towards the Lords own People Wo to the oppressing City Zeph. 3.1 Rev. 18.21 With violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all and why so that follows vers 24. In her was found the Blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the Earth God will make inquisition for Blood especially for the Bloood of his Abels that will cry all that have had their hands in it call themselves by what name of distinction they will will be found to be Brats of Babylon and they and their Cities may fall thereby One of the great Sins that came up into remembrance against Tyre and Zidon was this The Children of Judah and the Children of Jerusalem have ye sold to the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border Joel 3.6 3. Treachery and Unfaithfulness Amos 1.9 For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they dilivered up the whole Captivity of Edom and remembred not the Brotherly Covenant 4. False-Worship Jer. 19.11 I will break this City as one breaketh a Potters Vessel that cannot be made whole again and they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place In Tophet they sinned in their corrupt Worship and there they must fall by this their iniquity Certainly wo to them who after Light received and solemn Covenants made dare to corrupt the Worship of God and defile the Sanctuary with their detestable things wo to them whether Persons or Places 5. The baseness of pretended spiritual men There is a wo against Jerusalem Zeph. 3.1 and why Her Prophets are light and treacherous Persons her Priests have polluted the Sanctuary they have done violence to the Law HER Prophets and Priests saith God not MINE some of their own making they do wickedly and would wrest the the Word and labor to make it speak for their abominations 6. Contempt of the Gospel This evidently was Jerusalems undoing They killed the Prophets and stoned them that were sent unto them and upon
and thus to do will be a proof of your love to and esteem of this Branch of the Lord as more excellent to you then he was wont to be Saith David Psal 116. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications that is I will love him better then ever I did if he had but a little he shall now have more and what proof doth he give of it vers 14. I will pay my Vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his People here was a proof it The Lord help us that have the Vows of God upon us to evidence that Christ is become glorious unto us by performing our Covenant God is known to be a Covenant-keeping-God and his People should be like their heavenly Father But again 3. A third thing required from them that escape a day of Calamity is this That Christ be owned in the Escape that he have the glory of it put it not upon your natural Fortitude and Courage your natural hardiness and boldness as some vaunting spirits are apt to do and to conclude thence was their preservation God doth not fear to strike the most fearless and sometimes the most fearless are in the greatest danger Put not thy escape upon the score of thy own Wisdom that thou hast acted thus and thus prudently for thy preservation if the Lord would he could easily have out-witted thee and if he had not been with thee in the acting the best of thy Wisdom would not have been useful take heed of boasting in Means if Means have been successful look up to that God that hath been pleased to bless them unto that end Psal 116.8 David puts the matter upon its proper Basis Thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Gracious hearts desire to cry as Moses and the Children of Israel did when they saw Pharoah and his Host sunk as Lead in the Sea and themselves preserved to their great amazement Exod. 15.2 The Lord is my Strength and my Song and He is become my Salvation He is my God and I will prepare him a Habitation my Fathers God and I will exalt him According to this time it shall be said said Balaam in his Prophecy What hath the Lord wrought This must you and I say What hath the Lord wrought The truth is Christ suffers much in the World and suffers much from his own People they rob him of his glory we are apt to give that honour that is due to him unto some one else but it should be our care to be found in the frame with them Jer. 50.28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of Babylon to declare in Sion the vengeance of the Lord our God the vengeance of his temple it is the work of escaping Ones to praise the Lord and declare his works Would you all have some token for good that the interest of Christ is promoted in you see whether it be your care to give Christ the glory of this Salvation of which you have been partakers 4. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped That the sence of this Mercy should long rest upon our Spirits our goodness in every respect is apt to be like the morning-cloud and the early dew that soon passeth away and in this respect more then in many other things the sence of our deliverance is very apt to wear off the Soul but it is a frame that Christ much mislikes where he findes it an instance or two may serve to convince us of it Psal 78.10 11. They kept not the Covenant of God possibly by this may be intended the Covenants they made with God in distress they did not keep them why not it was because they forgot his Works and Wonders that he had shewed them and one sin draws many more after it oft times they forgot the Works of God and so their Covenant with God both are taken ill and the latter as ill as any that God should shew abundance of kindness to a People whilst they slight and dis-esteem and let the sence of that kindness slip out of their minds and therefore he complains of the same thing Psal 106.13 They soon forgat his Works they waited not for his Counsel They were the delivering-Works of God and all the wonders he had shewed them they soon forgot the sence thereof was crept out of their hearts in a little time All of us alive may say we have seen much of the goodness of God to us but if we should be of the number of them that soon forget his goodness we do very evilly requite the Lord. 5. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped in the day of Calamity That we should be dedicated consecrated and given up to his Use and Service in our whole Course This is the obligation that Christ hath laid on our Souls by carrying us through the distresses of this day That the rest of the time we spend in the flesh should not be spent according to the will of the flesh but according to the will of God that the rest of the time of our sojourning here might be spent in fear It is a kind of a new life that every one of us have received and this new Life should have Newness of Life going along with it saith the Apostle I beseech you by the mercies of God that you give up your selves Body and Soul as a Sacrifice to God which is but your reasonable service and such a mercy as this doth call for it that your Souls should be for God and your Bodies for God the Body hath received a great deal of mercy at this time that is preserved and kept the Clay-Cottage kept from tumbling to dust and ashes now all the members of the Body as well as the powers of the Soul ought to be for the Lord this the Lord expects and it is but your reasonable service which in common Justice should be given unto Christ Psal 116.8 9. For thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine Eyes from tears and my Feet from falling I will walk before the Lord in the land of the Living that is I will walk as in his sight and presence I will look to maintain a good frame of Life and Conversation in the rest of the time I have to spend in the World And thus may you testifie unto your selves and others that Christ gains on you by your Escape this day if you be found in the discharge of those Duties which are expected from you And thus I have dispatched the Doctrinal part VSE I. If this be a proper effect of your Escaping in a day of slaughter to have the Branch of the Lord become lovely know this kindness hath been shewed us therefore it concerns us narrowly to see how this effect is wrought out Every Soul should turn his Eyes inward I would hope your Souls have been a little thus
engaged I have not long since met with a People that would eagerly make it their business to compare themselves and a Word together and see where their guilt was and get what light they could into their hearts this be confident of the God of Heaven is considering diligently Jesus Christ this Branch of which we are speaking is observing what is the Fruit of every Mercy as Deut. 32.15 But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked thou art grown thick thou art covered with fatness then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation when God had done much for him he considers how he had carried it but he found sad effects of all Jesurun waxed fat and kicked I would the goodness of God to us should have some more kindly reception and entertainment Now that which I shall do for the present shall not be to clear it up to you that Christ hath gotten ground upon you for as to that I shall refer you to what is spoken already but to lay some few things before you that may convince you if really you are short and wanting in this blessed issue af your Escape If really this effect be not wrought upon your hearts it will appear by these four or five things and I beg you to consider them seriously 1. If in the day when the Rod of God hung more eminently over your heads you were not considering and pondering what effect it should work and if the Spirit of God were not teaching and instructing your Souls that it was to produce a greater esteem of Christ in your hearts then I fear it is not done I fear Christ hath no more of you then he was wont to have You know this that God with his Correction is wont to give Instruction therefore saith the Psalmist Psal 94.12 Blessed is the man whom thou Chastenest and Teachest out of thy Law God is wont to tell the Soul where it is wanting what he calls for and what he would have wrought in the heart So Job 36 9 10. Then he sheweth them their Work and their Transgressions that they have exceeded he openeth also their Ears unto Discipline and commandeth that they return from iniquity He speaks here about a Day of Affliction and truly if the Lord hath not been teaching you and shewing you that you were wanting in your esteem of Christ it is much to be questioned he is not become glorious David Psal 119.67 said Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy Word how came he to be brought in unto God to walk with him and keep his Word and his Way better then he was wont to do God had been shewing him that he was out of the way and where he should be and so brought him in again Commune with your own hearts my Friends faithfully have you sat like Stocks and Stones under the Visitations of God when his Rod was upon others and threatned you Had you any of the Visits of God Were your Souls exercising themselves at a spiritual rate Did God make any approaches unto you Or did you live in that time without God If you did I fear you are without him still 2. If your souls have not been pressing after Christ and longing for a better frame towards him longing for an higher esteem of him it is doubtful the esteem of him is not raised in your souls such an esteem of Christ is not a frame that useth to steal upon the heart it knows not how It is for the most part the issue of much care and pains and great diligence and if thy soul hath been wanting herein it is to be feared that the interest of Christ is not to any great degree promoted in thee Some souls find sin very apt to creep in do they what they can and that it is a work a hard work to keep it down nor is it less difficult to encrease in our esteem of Christ Phil. 3. Paul would know more of Christ and the power of his Resurrection what course did he take in order to it saith he I go forward and I press on to the mark for the price of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus He set himself unto the work with great diligence How have you been exercising your selves have you been crying unto the Lord in secret wrestling and pleading with him that he would carry on the Love of his Son in you What was it you asked of the Lord was it meerly to be kept from the evil of the day or that the work of Christ might be promoted in you by your escape If your hearts have not been exercised this way I fear the Branch of the Lord is not become glorious unto you though you are escaped 3. If in your Escape your great care is how to repair and piece up those outward dammages that you have sustained by this Visitation the Interest of Christ I fear hath not much gained in you possibly many of you may be sensible you have sustained outward dammages by this day if your hearts are only contriving how you may make up those breaches made upon your outward concerns you are not where you should be I fear many this day will be like to the Seamen and Mariners who after a storm when a calm comes they are busie in patching up their tackling and repairing the dammages the Vessel hath sustained by the storm but not so carefull to consider who hath preserved them in the storm and brought them to a calm but this is a bad frame if thou beest gained upon by Christ thou wilt say What shall I render unto the Lord for all his kindness To which add 4. If thy heart in this time of thy Escape be not affected w th that unkind usage which Christ meets with from many escaping-ones I shall fear that thou thy self also dost not use him kindly nor prize him much the more though thou hast an Escape from his goodness doubtless Christ meets with much unkindness from some that have escaped How many in an Atheistical spirit this day live as if there were no after-state nor eternal judgment as they 1 Cor. 15. cry Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye they have learned to know that Death hangs over their heads therefore what will they do why serve their lusts as much as they can make use of their time as they call it though it be to abuse time and turn the grace of God into wantonness Now when thou hast heard things how is it with thee If Christ hath gotten ground within thee these things will pierce thine heart The evil of wicked men is a great grief unto the Saints therefore it is said 2 Pet. 2. Righteous Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked his righteous soul was vexed in hearing and seeing the dishonour that was done unto the Lord it was a burthen to him And so David saith Wo is me that I
gotten within their Walls This hath been the case of many if of any here it should strike deep upon the heart and make us sensible how much we owe unto Christ how glorious should He become unto us what defence was the security of a poor Creature in such a time it was not Walls it was not distance of place but the hand of Christ doubtless it hath been unto many something according to that word Luk. 7.34 c. There shall be two in one Bed the one shall be taken and the other left Two in one Family there have been it may be the one taken the other left yea possibly two in one Bed the one taken the other untouched this hath been a Case of rich Mercy and certainly should engage the Soul much to prize him Psal 107.14 15. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness for his wonderful works to the children of men Doubtless such a Soul must say as David It was compassed about with the shadow of Death it was in a state of darkness an uncomfortable time to them whose Persons were possibly untouched and a wonderful work of God it was to keep one while others were cut down Now this should work up the heart to admire the Lord. VSE VIII But then in the eighth place If every escaping-One should see that Christ is become glorious unto him How should it be with those whose Houses were compassed possibly round about and Death very near them but yet the hand of God entered not into their Walls My Brethren it is promised as a peculiar favour Psal 91.10 No Plague shall come nigh thy dwelling It is something not to have it come unto thy person and not to have it come into thy dwelling that neither thy self nor any within thy Wall have a hair of their heads touched nay possibly thou hast been within the hearing of the cryings and groans of dying ones doubtless many have and when They have cried for a little longer time to be intrusted with a little more liberty in this World for Eternity and everlasting Concernments it hath been denied Them but granted unto Thee and Me and when the hand of God hath been round about it hath not come within thy Door Oh who hath been the Keeper of thy door and mine When many have been in the bitterness of their Souls bemoaning the loss of this and that Relation Parents of Children Children of Parents some Husbands and Wives wailing and lamenting for one another What mercy is it that a Soul can say It is well with me and mine that no evil hath come nigh them I tell thee Soul these are things that should exceedingly engage thy heart to Christ and should prevail much to the setting him up in thy Soul This should be the resolution of every one partaking in this mercy To use it for the exalting of Christ VSE IX A Use to those that Christ hath carried from place to place and so have been preserved Think not thy self the less indebted unto Christ for his kindness towards thee He is to be as glorious unto such as to any let it not lessen the mercy that thou hast not seen the dismal sight and heard the doleful cries of them into whose Windows Death hath entred I know we are apt not to be affected or at least very little with things that our eyes do not see and our ears hear but that is an evil frame and certainly though our abode may not have been in the time of this Distress in the heat of it in the midst of it yet we owe our preservation unto Christ as much as any and ought to see that it have influence upon us as much as any and that 1. Considering it doth not lessen but heighten the mercy that thou art not onely preserved from falling but from partaking in that bitterness and trouble of spirit that hath certainly born down many who have lived in the heat of this Distress Days of Slaughter and Calamity are days of heart-trouble to them that are preserved in the midst of them Jer. 30.5 6. For thus saith the Lord We have heard a voice of trembling of fear and not of peace ask ye now and see whether a man doth travel with Child wherefore now do I see every man with his hands on his loyns as a woman in travel and all faces are turned into paleness It is spoken with respect to some that lived in times and places when and where slaughtering-Judgements were abroad and they that were alive what was the horror perplexity of their spirits Do not think Soul but thou art the more engaged to Christ that he hath graciously carried thee out of the sight and noise of those direful out-cries Many can say We could hardly pass the Streets but meet with Coffins and hear the cries and complaints of Friends bereft of their Relations bless the Lord that he kept thee from the hearing of this Not but that Christ can make the hearing and seeing such things turn greatly to advantage but yet it is a piece of tenderness if Christ will do the Soul good at some cheaper rate 2. Consider thou couldst not have found shelter any where had not Christ led thee thither as it is not good to go without Christs leading us nor could we have gone any where if the Lord had not made our way for us Prov. 6.9 A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps Many were considering whither to go and what to do and laid their designs but if the Lord did not order their steps they could do nothing You have a notable word Job 3.23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid and whom God hath hedged in Job was incompassed with sad distresses and he would fain have gotten out of them but saith he My way is hid he knew not whither to fly I am hedged in I must stay by it This hath been the case of many their ways have been hedged in and he could have hedged in thee and me if so it had pleased him and therefore if you and I have been carried unto places where we have been preserved let us admire the goodness of the Lord Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord but he could not the Lord hindred him To which adde also 3. Christ could have found thee with the Sword wheresoever thou hadst gone therefore let not thy preservation at a distance rob Christ of his honour but see his hand in it and know that it hath been his work and see that he be thereby rendered more beautiful and comely in thine Eyes VSE X. A tenth Use may be to Sinners that are escaped You are preserved it 's true and Christ this Branch of the Lord should be glorious unto you If thou art yet in a state of sin I would say unto thee four or five things 1. Though thou art escap'd Christ is not become glorious unto
place the high place at Gibeon where the Plague was he knew that he had deserved death and therefore he could not go to Gibeon for he was afraid because of the Sword of the Angel of the Lord as you may see 1 Chron. 21.28 I may allude to that Ezek. 18.24 I know the words have another sense than that that is before me but I allude to them only and as he saith When the Righteous turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned shall he die So I may say when the Saints of God turn into wayes of sinners and act in like provocations with them in the sins they sin and the trespasses that they commit they may die and the hand of the Lord may break out against them to the slaughtering of them and cutting them down Obj. 1. If any shall object here and say If the Saints may be slaughtered by and fall in common Calamity what profit hath the Jew then and what advantage is there by Circumcision what advantage hath the Saint above and beyond the Sinner Answ To that I answer He hath advantage many wayes to name a few particulars 1. Though one of God's Israel may fall by a slaughtering Judgment yet he is in the least danger of any one he may fall as sinners do but he is in the least danger there is greater hope of his security than of those that know not God The Saints have the Spirit of God to lead them into his way and work and therefore are not so easily left to run into those sins that may provoke God to cut them off by such Judgments all the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.14 As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God è contra a blessed Promise the Lord doth make in that 25th Psalm unto his own People touching the guidance they shall have ver 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse God here engageth himself not to leave his People to themselves to the ways and workings of their own hearts but to direct them into his way and when he hath them in his way what then ver 13. his soul shall dwell at ease or as Junius translates his soul shall dwell in good as if he should say when I guide my People into my ways than evil shall not easily overtake them but they shall dwel and rest in good and mercy shall compass them about if they step out of Gods way the Lord knows how to call them back again Isa 30.21 Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it If the Saints have provoked God there is a possibility for them to make their peace that the difference may not grow to any great height they may compound the difference and make up the breach by a spirit of mourning and humiliation they may lye at the foot of the Lord and abhor themselves in dust and ashes and so make up the breach and to this work they are fitted in some measure through Grace nay they have a Friend in Heaven that intercedeth for them and though they have provoked God the difference may be by him so mediated that God may be stopped from coming forth in his hot Displeasure I make no doubt but the Lord may say concerning many of his People as he doth of Israel of old in Psal 106.23 Therefore he said he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach Doubtless our Lord Jesus Christ that Moses he of whom Moses was a type and in this a great type doth oftentimes step in between the Lord and his People and make up the Breach and divert that Wrath that otherwise would come down in dreadful Judgments to the cutting them off the Earth 2. Though a Saint may fall into a calamity yet it is advantagious to be a Saint in such a day for such a one though he fall he shall be supported in his fall and the curse of the Judgment shall be taken off God may chasten his People with a Rod let loose the severest Judgments upon them He may cut them down but yet he must hold them by the hand by Covenant he stands bound to give them strength for every tryal and blessed Experiences there have been of this kind this day of those Servants of God that have gone to their eternity by thousands There are them that have left this Testimony That God was with them in that hour and though the Judgement in it self considered had much of bitterness in it yet God was pleased to sweeten it to them by an abundant sence of Divine Love it is said Psal 149.5 Let the Saints be joyful in glory let them sing aloud upon their bed Some Saints are not only joyfull in Glory now they are with God but have sung aloud upon their sick and death-beds on which they have been cast by this present Judgment of God and declared to the praise of his Grace that he did support and chear their inward man by the enjoyment of his blessed refreshing Presence in that needful hour and truly the curse and sting of such a Dispensation is taken away from the Saints Thus some interprâ—â— that word Psal 91.10 there shall no 〈◊〉 come nigh their dwelling that is say 〈◊〉 the Plague of the Plague shall not come nigh their dwelling the curse of it shall not come though the thing it self come God will take off the curse and that is the bitterness and sting of any affliction Death comes upon every man Saint and Sinner on the Wicked it comes with a sting in its tayl a curse with it it is an inlet for them into eternal misery falling under the everlasting Displeasure of the glorious God the Saint dyeth too but the curse is taken off from him in his Death his grave is his bed where he rests in peace and that stroke only opens a door unto him into his Father's presence Isa 57.2 They shall enter into peace they shall rest in their beds each one walking in his uprightness So 1 Cor. 15.55 saith the Apostle O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory The curse of Death is taken away from the Saint So though the Saint fall in and under such a calamity the sting of it is so taken out that it is but a blessed passage unto him into Abraham's bosom 3. It is yet worth while to be of Gods Israel in a time of Slaughter though one should not escape the Slaughter for this reason That if a Soul go unto its Eternity by such a Slaughter God will yet thereby glorifie himself â—ore and