Aegypt so we at the administration of the other might remember Christ by whom we are saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us This Supper is not onely a representing a sealing and a conveying signe but a commemorative signe Do this in remembrance of me saith Christ There is no Gospell-ordinance whether prayer reading or hearing of the Word but there is such mention made of Christ as we ought to remember him But this ordinance of the Supper hath this signall note of excellency stamped upon it above all a speciall charge from Christ to remember him when that is administred Do this in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye shew that is ye make a commenoration of the Lords death till he come Sometimes that we may come to the subject matter intended God appointed Records and Registers of his mercies Histories and Journalls of the noble acts and loving kindnesses of the Lord to his people to be kept and conveyed to posterity that the generations to come might know them even the children that should be born who should arise and declare them to their children Thus the Lord commanded that the History of Amalek should be written in a Book their malice and Gods mercy their war and overthrow and it must be rehearsed to posterity that it might never be forgotten What this Book was we shall not much enquire Some say it was the Book of Jasher mentioned Josh chap. 10. which was a Chronicle of the acts of the people of the Lord which is lost Some say it was the Book of the Judges Some say it was a Book of the Battails of the Lord mentioned Numb 21. 14. Others and that most probably that it was no other but this Book of Exodus Junius and Calvin But why this History must be written in a Book is more worthy of our inquiry and more sutable to our purpose And the reasons may be these two 1. That a thankfull remembrance of so great a deliverance from so malicious an enemy might be continued in the generations following 2. That the people of God knowing what sentence was denounced against Amalek which should be executed in due time as it was in the Reign of Saul might be the better encouraged to fight against them and through faith expect the victory over them And thus in this Chapter God would have the Journals of the people of Israel from Aegypt to the Land of Canaan recorded that the great things God had done for them by the way might not be forgotten for so it is said in the Text. Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandement of the Lord. In this Chapter two parts are observable 1. An Israelitish Journall is recorded from vers 1 to v. 50. 2. A direction is given them concerning their proceedings in and with the Land of Canaan Which is threefold 1. That they should cast out the inhabitants v. 52 53. 2. That they should destroy their idols v. 52. 3. That they should divide the Land amongst them by lot v. 54. The two former whereof are seconded with a most sharp threatning that if they did not punctually observe Gods command therein 1. For the present that people should prove a continuall snare unto them 2. For the future what God had intended to these their enemies should fall upon their own heads all this to the end of the ch In the Israelitish Journall two things are to be considered 1. The duty is in generall propounded v. 1 2. 2. You have an Historicall enumeration of their severall Journeys in v. 2. In which three things are to be noted 1. The matter that stands upon record and that is their journeys according to their goings out 2. The Scribe that recorded them and that was Moses Moses wrote c. 3. The authority by which he did it and that was the commandement of the Lord he had very good warrant for what he did The first of these namely the matter that stands upon record their journeys is that which I shall principally take notice of In which Journall this is observable That there is not onely a particular relation of the place from which and the place to which they journeyed as from Rameses to Succoth c. but also a singular mention is made of all the great passages of Gods good hand of providence over them together with their murmurings and rebellions by which they provoked him All which are in this ch implyed and some particulars are expressed as you may finde v. 9 14 38 40. This ch being but a short Epitome or abridgement of the whole History So that in the Israelitish Journall you shall finde how here God gave them bread from heaven there water out of the rock in one place he delivered them from the violence of the mighty waters in another from the fury of their potent enemies Now he saved them from the cruelty of the Aegyptians at another time from the malice of the Amalekites and soon after from the sting of the fiery Serpents To day he gives them Manna and Quails good food for their hungry bodies to morrow he delivers them his Law with many divine ordinances and statutes for the good of their souls In all their goings out he afforded them plentifull pledges of his care of them bounty to them and patience towards them Who notwithstanding the many grievous sins by which they provoked him being full of compassion forgave their iniquities and destroyed them not yea many a time he turned away his anger and did not stir up all his wrath for he remembred that they were but flesh c. By this time we are come to the Observation that is intended and may hence be collected and that is this To keep a Journall or Diary by us especially of all Gods gracious dealings with us is a work for a Christian of singular use I say of Gods gracious dealings with us in a more especiall manner because it is good also to observe and keep a good account of the severall occurrences of the Times we meet with as they have reference to the Countrey and Nation we live in It is good to keep an History a Register a Diary an Annales not onely of the places in which we have lived but of the mercies that have been bestowed on us continued to us all our dayes This was the practice of David the Servant of the Lord who made a Psalm and Song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul Moses writes his Book called Deuteronomy which is nothing else but a repetition of the Journeys of the people of Israel and the great things God had done for them in their goings out to that day There was scarce any thing in Israel but was typicall their Meats their Drinks their Mannâ— their water out of
such in the Scriptures Few men went to the grave in peace that by their monstrous impietiâ— made war against heaven and his Church As what became of Pharaoh the bloody and Achitophel the crafty of Balaam the covetous and Corah the rebell of Haman the proud and Herod the fox As their live were wicked so their ends were fearful Iâ— like manner what became of Absalom the disobedient and Ela the drunkard 〈◊〉 Zimri and Cosbi the unclean of Ananiâ— and Saphira those lyars Were not all these taken away with a stroke in their sin Whaâ— became of those Romane Nimrods as Maxentius the Tyrant and Julian the Apostate with others who hunted the Saints of God to death in those ten persecutions mentioned in Ecclesiasticall Histories How few oâ— their hoary heads went to the grave in peace To come neerer to our owne times What became of wily Winchester and bloody Bonner with many others that ruled the roste in those Dog-dayes of Q Mary's reign Few of those bloody and deceitfull men lived out half their dayes But when the scumme was at the highest it fell into the fire for though God did bear them up for some time in their essence yet he would not bear them out at all in their malice God hath leaden feet but iron hands though he comes slowly yet he strikes surely It is good to mark the ends of men Mark the perfect man saith the Psalmist and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Balaam did so as wicked as he was which made him wish that he might dye the death of the righteous and that his latter end might be like his In like manner mark the end of the transgressors for they shall be destroyed together the end of the wicked shall be cut off that is they shall not dye the common death of all men but shall be cut off in the midst of their dayes If their lives be tragical their deaths are seldome comicall Zoroastes the inventer of Magick as some Historians affirm of him laught at his birth but dyed a wofull and a lamentable death being banished from his Countrey Alphonsus Dyazius a Spaniard a rigid Papist procured a notorious cut-throat to murâ—her his Brother John Dyazius a sincere Protestant because he could by no means turn him from the truth but the righteous Lord would not suffer such an unnaturall villany to go unpunished for not long after he was haunted by the terrors of his owne conscience that being at Trent when the Councel sate there for he was one of the Popes Lawyers he hanged himself about the neck of his owne Mule How have some godly Divines taken good pains in writing the stories of Godâ— judgements upon notorious malefactors aâ— Drunkards Swearers Sabbath-breakers and such like Would others be perswaded in their generation to take speciall notice and keep some account of such memorable accidents the benefit would be singular The righteous shall see and fear saith the Psalmist What shal they see That God destroyed the mighty man that boasts himself in mischief that God takes him away and plucks him out of his dwelling place and roots him out of the land of the living A Serviâ—g-man being at a Tavern in Essex and threatning to swear the Constable out of the Town if he came there in a drunken fit running after one to make him pledge him a pinte of sack at a draught fell down the stairs and dyed instantly Novemb. 1. 1626. A Fisher-man that I knew bringing Mackerell to a Port-town in Suffolk where the people because they were new and the first that came that yeer to Town pressing eagerly to buy them and some against his will being entred into his boat he took up a stone and sware by the name of God he would make them stand further off instantly sunk down and soon after dyed How many in my time have I noted Would others do the like how would men consider such things and understand the righteous judgements of the Lord 5. Finally consider seriously and observe very strictly what the Nationall Epidemicall sin of the time and present generation may be Where iniquity abounds it is hard to determine but questionlesse every age hath a peculiar distemper In times of commotion when the bands of love are broken into severall parties and factions as they have been lately amongst us it is more easily discerned A noble Gentleman of singular abilities and one much employed in affairs of State in his time whom I knew well advised his friends at such a time to buy up all the Pamphlets that were printed if of any considerable worth for when people fall out they commonly speak out and if they be once drunk with passion and their distempers boyl to any height the most secret venome will swim on the top By which means you may easily seel the pulse of the present time and discover what is the Nationall and most predominant sinne and it will be worth our praise to know it Which that we may the better doe let us look back a little to the generations behinde us 1. Some times have been more notorious for drunkennesse Scaliger in his Book de Lingua Latina observes this of the Germans in his time that their vivere was bibere not only in their pronunciation as he noted but in their practice as other well observed who lived that they might drink Seneca foretold so much of some times that men should be so drowned with this sin of drunkennesse that plurimum meri sumpsisse virtus esset it should be esteemed a virtue to strive with the Brewers horse who should carry more liquor and with some it hath been of that esteem that not as drunk as a Begger but as drunk as a Prince hath been a kind of proverbial commendation of some When Aeschines commended Philip King of Macedon for a Joviall man who would drink freely Demosthenes being by told him that this was a good quality in a Spunge but not in a Prince Drunkennesse is a sin that layes men open to all iniquity more then any sin Ebrietas in se culpas complectitur omnes What sin is not a Drunkard subject to Their eyes shall behold strange women saith Solomon and their hearts shall utter perverse things And a sin it is that God hath more frequently and suddenly plagued with death in the very act then any other sin Edgar a King of England observing in his time that excessive drinking abounded in the Land through the example of the Danes that dwelt in divers parts of the Kingdome to prevent that evill ordained that their cups they drank in should have certain pins or nails put in them beyond which if any drank at one draught he should pay so much money 2. Some generation hath been more infamous for that sin of Swearing and that by the name of God even at every word here in England Insomuch that a family in this Land and that no mean one
friend to the Mariners who was content to be thrown into the Sea that the waves might be stilled and their lives might be secured But Christ was the best friend of all who was willing to be cast into the Ocean of his Fathers fury that we might be â—et on shore and so passe from death to life Now certainly he that is joyned unto the Lord is one spirit Ask your owne 〈◊〉 therefore often this question What good do I for others for whom God hath done so much It is reported of Mr. Fox who wrote the Book of Martyrs that he never denyed any man that asked an alms for Jesus sake and that he never refused anything that was given him not that he might enrich himself but might relieve others for he gave it all away to the poor A Student that was in want asking Luther some money he bad his Wife give him some she pleading her owne necessities he took up a silver bowle and gave it him When you have an opportunity of doing good never plead you have many children Gyprian had wont to say The more children the more charity And our Savioure counsell was to sell what we have rather then neglect this duty of doing good Let him that stole steal no more saith the Apostle but rather let him labour with his hands the thing that is good But for what end That he may have to supply his own wants only No but rather that he may have to give to him that needeth So that there is no man under heaven from the highest Prince to the lowest Pesant that may plead an immunity from this duty of giving The omission whereof hath been as prejudiciall to some as the performance of it hath been profitable to others Mauritius the Emperor refusing to redeem a few captive slaves from Saladine the Aegyptian Sultan which he might have done for a small matter upon which they were all slain was afterward punished by Phocas who in a sedition being proclaimed Emperor by the Souldiers caused his wife and children to be put to death before his face himself all the while crying out Justus es Domine recta judicia tua But on the other side memorable is the story of Pyrhias a Merchant of Ithaca who at Sea espying an aged man a captive in a Pirates ship took compassion of him and redeemed him and with his person bought his commodities which the Pirate had taken from him which were certain barrels of pitch The old man perceiving that not for any good service he could do him nor for the gain of that commodity but meerly out of charity he had done this discovered a great masse of treasure hidden in the pitch Whereby the Merchant in a very short time became very rich At which time that Scripture was fulfilled He that giveth to the poor shall not lack And that other Scripture He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally Such giving is like the pouring of a pale of water into a dry pump that will fetch abundance Let us give that which we cannot keep that we may have that in a time of need that we cannot lose 3. Ask your own hearts often what good you your selves get by all that God hath done for you If thou be wise saith Soloâ—â—â— thou shalt be wise for thy self As a wicked fool hath no foe like himself so a wise Christian hath no friend like himselfe who will be a gainer by every losse and a saver by every comfort Physitians and Chirurgions make much of their probatum's and so should every Christian of his experiments Let every man therefore ask his owne heart upon a serious survey of his Journall thus much Am I bettered by all this health and wealth and good dayes this Gospel of peace and this peace of the Gospel that I have enjoyed so long It is with these things as with the physick or dyet of the body they will leave you better or worse then they finde you But by all these good dayes rich mercies or sharp afflictions do I grow into more acquaintance with God the world and mine own heart with God and his holinesse with the world and its vanity with mine owne heart and its deceitfulnesse that I may trust him more and the world and my heart lesse All grace in truth hath growth Vlterius was Charls the fifth his Motto by which he signified that greater periections more noble enterprises were yet daily to be endevoured after by Princes Christians must not stand at a stay but with the Apostle forgetting those things that are behind reach forth unto those things that are before This being a cleer difference betwixt the first Adam and the second The old creature in the beginning and the new under the Gospel The first Adam was made a man and a holy man all at once but the Lord Christ was conceived in the wombe and at the fulnesse of time was born of the Virgin Mary and increased in wisdome and in stature and in favour both with God and man In the beginning all the creatures were made in their full growth and strength which made some to be of opinion that Mundus condituâ— suit in Autumno That the creation of the world was in Harvest when all things are in their full beauty But now we must have an egge before a bird a seed before a plant a birth and then a growth So now every Christian must in time grow in grace and the knowledge of the Jesus Christ and proceed by degrees from saith to saith from babes to grown men in Christ and therefore where there is no growth we may fear there is no grace Ask your hearts then Do I grow At such a time I had a great affliction a long sicknesse Am I more humble since Where there is a rod of correction there should be a word of correction God teacheth by his rods as Gideon taught the men of Succoth with briars and thorns and blessed is that man whom God correcteth and teacheth out of his law Oh that I could hear the rod as well as feel it A man of wisdome shall see Gods Name hear the rod and who hath appointed it At such a time God vouchsafed me great prosperity much successe in my calling a long time of health with comfort in my relations Am I more holy more humble more heavenly more meek more mercifull more faithfull more fruitfull in my place Or am I not rather worse more rich and more covetous more honorable and more proud more healthfull and more wanton But if you finde that the house of David growes stronger and stronger and the house of Saul weaker and weaker that your corruptions are abated and your graces encreased happy are you And indeed the higher the Sun riseth the shorter are the shadows as in a Pyramide the higher you go the lesse compasse you finde like a flame of fire the higher it ascends the purer and thinner