pains of a woman in travel are sharp exquisit and extream sorrows the bitterness whereof that sex can witness Such pangs the Scripture oft makes the emblems of extream anguish and distress Psal 48. 6. Esay 26. 17 18. and 37. 3. Ier. 6. 28. and 22. 23. and 49. 24. Micai 4. 9 10. Gal. 4. 19. So the calamities which were coming upon this people were not slight sorrows but such as brought desolation with them 2. The longer a dead birth is concealed and carried in the womb the more dangerous and difficult is the travel Ephraim had for a long time concealed his sin and therefore now his pangs are like to be so much the more grievous 3. If the birth be living the greater the birth and the longer they go with it the sharper are the pangs so the longer God bears with a people and the more his Patience is a bused the more terrible will his wrath be 3. Inevitable and irresistible There 's no escaping when once the time of travelling is come Cum adest hora non datur mora So the set time of Ephraims calamities was now at hand which they should in no wise be able to avert or avoyd 2. Here is a Reason of this Commination taken from the folly of Ephraim he is and for ought I see for ever will be an unwise son which appears in his stupidity and obstinate persisting in his sins without any striving to get out of them by Repentance Ephraim is an unwise son for had he been wise he had not staid so long in the birth Object Lest Ephraim should reply that a travelling woman is soon delivered her pain may be sharp but 't is but short she hath hope not only of an end but also of a birth the joy whereof maketh her remember her anguish no more Iohn 16. 27. Answ. The Prophet replyes that 't is not so with Ephraim for he 's an unwise son that sticks long in the birth and so will be the death both of himself and mother also He useth no means to facilitate the birth or to help himself by passing through the straight gate of Repentance God stands over him stretching forth his hands all the day long to do a Midwifes office and take him from the womb to cut his navel and wash off his filth Ezek. 16. 4 9. but he had no mind to come out of his filth or to be washt from his wickedness Rather than endure the pangs of regeneration he 'l venture to stay a while at least in the very mouth of the matrix though he be stifled for his pains q. d. 'T is Ephraims sin and misery that he sticks so long in the birth were Ephraim wise he would humble himself and make his peace with God that hee might by his mercy bee delivered fully from those miserable straights where in hoe is if there were but one drop of true wisdom in him yea if hee were not utterly stupified or rather mad he would take notice of Gods judgements impendent over him and would imitate little infants who coming into the world do help themselves and strive to free themselves out of the straights and dangers of the birth so would Ephraim have endeavoured to free himself out of those calamities that have be set him by true repentance But alas so besotted and hardned is hee in his sins that hee rests content with his carnal condition never once striving or desiring to come out of this darkness into light or to be brought from under the power of Satan unto God So that in these words the Prophet doth notably inveigh against the stupidity and folly of Gods people in that they had rather stick and bee stifled in the filth of their sins lye in the mouth of death and under the pressures of Gods wrath to the destruction both of themselves and the Church which hee had before compared to a mother Hos. 2. 2 rather than extricate themselves out of this sin and misery by true repentance OBSERVATIONS 1. Where sin goeth before there sudden Certain sharp inevitable sorrows alwayes follow In the former part of the Chapter wee read of Ephraims Idolatry Pride Impenitency c. now follows The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon him flagitium flagellum sin and punishment are inseparable companions Gen. 4. 7 14. and 19. 15. Numb 32. 23. Deut. 28. 15. to 68. hence the word that wee render Iniquity signifieth pain and sorrow because the workers of iniquity bring pain and sorrow upon their own heads Iob 21. 19. Psalm 32. 10. How then should wee hare sin with a pure and perfect hatred not only odio inimicitiae but also odio aversationis hate it so as to turn from it This is the cause of all our sorrows wee may thank our sins for all our sickness pains plagues Lam. 3. 39. wee should therefore do by our sins as the Jews did by Paul whom they lookt upon as their enemy Acts 21. 27 28. when they saw him they stirred up all the people and laid hands on him saying Men of Israel help this is hee that is agaist the people against the Law and against this place So should wee encourage each other against sin and lay violent hands upon it saying Men and Brethren help this is it that destroyeth our people layeth waste our Cities opâ—poseth the Law defiles our duties and incenseth the most high against us Let us therefore purge it out of our understandings and mortifie it in our affections Considering 1. What sin is in its own nature 't is poyson dung vomit filth folly madness darkness sickness destruction death It turned Angels into Devils men into beasts light into darkness life into death and order into confusion 2. Considering what sin is in respect of God 't is a reproach and a contempt of him 2 Sam. 12. 9. 't is blasphemy rebellion enmitie Rom. 8. 7. 2. Obs. Scripture language is modest The mouth of the matrix is called the place of the breaking forth of children So the vessel wherein nature doth ease it self is called a vessel wherein there is no pleasure Jer. 22. 28. Hos. 8. 8. Thus Adam is said to know Eve and David went in to Bathshebâ— Ehud covered his feer i. e. he eased nature Iudg. 3. 24. I Sam. 24. 3. Deut. 23. 13. Adultery is called stollen waters Prov. 9. 17. and grinding to another Iob 31. 10. See Matth. 1. 18 25. and 1 Cor. 7. 3 5. The holy Ghost knowing the power of our corruption and how apt wee are to bee fired with filthy speeches therefore by an Euphâ—mismus hee putteth seemly titles upon unseemly things The Scripture doth not only command chaste and modest things but it also speaks chastly and modestly of those things Abominable then is the sin of the Popish Casuists which speak so grossely of the secrets of women in their Cases on the seventh Commandment that they become foulely guilty of the breach of it By
with the Prophets to intermingle comforts with their threatnings to keep Gods people from despaire So Hos. 1. and 2. and 11. Amos 9. 8 to 15. Before he had threatned destruction to the wicked now he comforts the Penitent In the words we have 1. The deep distress that Gods people were in they were in the hand of the grave and in the jaws of death i. e. they were as 't were dead and buried in captivity The word Sheol signifies both the grave and hell 1. 'T is taken for the grave so Gen. 37. 35. â—rov 30. 16. 2. For hell Metaphorical i. e. some deep distress Psal. 86. 13. 3. For the local hell Prov. 15. 11. Wee may take in all these for Christ hath Redeemed us from them all and triumphed over them on the Cross Colos. 2. 14. 2. Here is a Promise of their Redemption from this their misery I will ransom them from the power of the grave What is that why exegetically 't is added I will redeem them from death i. e. I will bring my Elect out of their captivity where they lay for dead as 't were and this deliverance shall bee to them a pledge of their Resurrection to eternal life 3. Here is the manner how this shall bee done set forth by a Prosopopeical Apostrophe to death and the grave whom he brings in as some living enemy and therefore calls to him saying O death I will bee thy death O grave I will bee thy destruction q. d. O death thou seemest to be mighty and powerful but I will disarm thee of it all I will not only bite thee but destroy thee 't is not morsus as the Vulgar but exitium an utter destruction of these enemies of our salvation 4. Here is the certainty of this deliverance drawn from the constancy of God in keeping his Promise and from the immutability of his decree Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes q. d. I will never repent of the mercy which I have promised them but my goodness to them shall be firm and unalterable This sense suits best with the Original and with the context wherein God promiseth a choice mercy to his people The Vulgar and the seventy render it consolation is hid from mine eyes 't is true the word in the Original signifies consolation as well as repentance but to render it as a threatning here as if God should say I am fully determined to destroy my people for consolation is hid from mine eyes This is very improper here for it confounds the context and the scope of the Verse which is to comfort and not to disquiet Gods people In it the Prophet the better to strengthen the faith of Gods people doth highly extol Gods Almighty power for when wee are in straights wee are very apt to question that Num. 11. 13 21 22 23. Psal. 78. 19. To an eye of sense Gods people lying in captiviy were as dead men and past all hope of recovery I but saith the Prophet though ye were dead yet God can raise you again for hee 's Lord of death and hell and hath a sovereign power over them all though death conquers all yet hee conquers death though it be mighty yet God is Almighty and there 's nothing too hard for him he will be the death of death and if none will redeem you thence yet he will Quest. The Question is of what Redemption and deliverance doth the Prophet here speak whether of a corporal or spiritual Redemption Ans. Of both 1. Literally the Lord promiseth to free his Elect and penitent people from the grave of their captivity Banisht men are counted as dead men especially in a civil sense and the place of their banishment is as the grave Now many of the remainders of Israel after the destruction of their Kingdom joyned themselves to the Jews and with them came out of Babylon Though for their Idolatry and ingratitude hee threatned perpetual banishment to them yet for the comfort of his people that then were and after should arise hee promiseth a Redemption for them Hos. 1. 10. which was fulfilled about two hundred years after that Samaria was taken when Cyrus proclaimed liberty to the Jews to go build the Temple Ezra 1. 2. Typically it alludes to our Spiritual and eternal Redemption by Christ and our conquest over death and hell by him By Adams sin death came upon all men Rom. 512. but Christ by his Resurrection hath freed us from the power of death and hath led it captive which formerly led us captive Ps. 68. 18. Eph. 4. 8. This is the Redemption saith Zanchy which is principally and properly here meant for though the people of Iudah after seventy years captivity in Babylon did return again out of it yet the people of Israel after that Samaria was taken never returned again to their own land for it was laid waste and inhabited by strangers 'T is usual with the Prophets to use such Metabases sudden digressions and passings from their history to Christ who was their scope delight and love so that every hint and shadow in the Old Testament brought him to their remembrance and then from Christ they fell to the continuance of their history again Thus 't is here and so Esay prophecying of Câ—rus who should deliver Israel out of Bâ—bylon in the same Chapter prophesieth of Christ the Redeemer of his Church Esay 45. So Ezekiel having enveyed against Idle and Idol Shepherds presently turns his speech to Christ who is the true Shepherd of his people Ezek. 34. 2 16. so Zach. 9. 9. and 13. â— 7. In this Verse the Prophet brings in death and the grave as it were two tyrannical enemies to whom he speaks in the Name of the Lord Christ as the Apostle expounds it 1 Cor. 15. 55. as a Conquerour saying O death I will be thy death Or as the Apostle from the Septuagint though in this Text the Apostle in some things varies from the present Septuagint and so do the allegations in the New Testament which shews the folly of those who do equalize it with the Original Hebrew O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The first Adam brought death into the world but the second Adam hath abolish'd it There is some difficulty in the words and therefore I shall open them particularly and break every clod that I may finde out the golden Oar. In these words we have a glorious triumph over death and a notable Enconâ—ium of the Resurrection of the dead Piscator and others read the words Interrogatively thus O death where are thy plagues O grave where is thy destruction 'T is an insulting and triumphing Interrogation q. d. They are no where to be found for Christ hath removed them and taken them out of the way of his people so that now there is no hurt in death This various reading comes from the ambiguous signification of the word Ehi which is rendred truly ero I
view of all 2 Sam. 12. 12. the onely way to have our sins hid indeed is plainly and sincerely to confess them psalm 32. 5. 2. Whereas thou gloriest that thou hast escaped so long unpunisht know that t is a sore punishment to go unpunisht for sin When the Lord was angry with Ephraim hee bids let him alone and tells him that he will not punish him for his sin Hos. 4. 14 17. q. d. Since Ephraim will go after Idols after Idols he shall go I will not by any punishment restrain him but I will let him go on and prosper in his abominations to his utter confusion and thus to be given up to ones own hearts lust is a signe of Gods highest displeasure Psalm 87. 11 12. in this sense not be stricken is the sorest stroke Isay 1. 5. and for God not to bee angry is the greatest anger as to bee stopt and corrected for sin is the greatest mercy Psalm 89. 32 33 34. and 94. 12 13. 3. Know that punishment is never neerer than when 't is least feared A great calm many times is a force-runner of a storm When men cry Peace Peace then comes sudden and swift destruction 1 Thes. 5. 3. When the old world was eating drinking buying building marrying and snorting in security then comes the flood When Agag thought the bitterness of death was past now saith Samuel hew him in peeces When men bee at ease in Sion there 's a woe hang over their heads Amos 6. 1. to 8. When men look upon judgements as a far off then God will defer no longer Ezek. 12. 27 28. Secure Laish becomes a booty to its enemies Iudg 18. 7 27. The Amalakites when they had taken Ziglag and were drunken fearing no danger they were suddenly surprised and slain 1 Sam. 30. 16 17. When the Philistims met to be merry and sport themselves with Sampson he brings the house upon their heads Iudg. 16. 25 29. Darius in the midst of his cups was â—lain by the Persians Dan. 5. 30. and Babylon that boasted shee 〈◊〉 as a Queen and should see no sorrow had sudden plagues 〈◊〉 on her Rev. 18. 7 8. Let no man then delude himself with the thoughts of impunity for though conscience may sleep for a time yet at last it will bee awakned and then the longer thy sins have been hid the more will it rage against thee especially at the day of judgement that day of revealing the hidden work of darkness God will then bring every work to judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or evil Eccles. 12. ulâ— God will then unlock his Treasury and those sins which are now sealed and bundled up shall then be brought to open light and those secret Villanies which men would not have known for all the world shall then be written as with a beam of the Sun upon their foreheads to their everlasting shame Sinners shall then have no cause to say where is the God of Iudgement Mal. 2. 17. Let us therefore make a right use and improvement of the Patience of God let it melt and humble us and lead us to repentance Let us in this our day know the things that belong to our everlasting peace whil'st the Patience of God yet waits upon us and hee stands knocking at the door of our hearts Rev. 3. 20. before the door of grace be shut against us for then 't will be too late To quicken you know that God in the end will reckon with you for all his Patience and forbearance the longer he hath borne with you the greater will your sin be He takes an exact account of every day and year that he hath borne with us Psal. 95. 10. fourty years long was I grieved with this generation He takes notice of every provocation Numb 14. 22. These ten times have they provoked me though you forget your provocations yet God doth not Yea hee records every Sermon that wee hear and the day and year that it was preached to us Hag. 1. 1. Lastly let us imitate God and be followers of him as dear children be Patient as he is Patient though wee cannot bee so by way of Equality yet by way of Analogy and resemblance in our degree and measure wee may and must if hee bear with us wee may well bear with our brethren if hee hath forgiven us Pounds wee may well forgive them Pence We should forbear one another and forgive one another even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us Ephes. 4. 31. Colos. 3. 13. Let your moderation and quietness of minde be made known to all Phil. 4. 5. and if any man wrong us let us melt them with our kindnesses Rom. 12. 20. as David â—elted Saul and made him weep and confess that hee was more righteous than himself Even Nature could say it becomes a noble spirit to pass by injuries When one told King Iohn that his deadly enemie was buried there and advised him to deface his Monument no said the King but I wish all the rest of mine enemies were as honourably buried 'T was an excellent answer of Chrysostom to the Empress Eudoxa and savored of a sweet mortified frame of spirit If the Queen said he will banish me let her banish me The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof If she will saw me asunder let her do it the Prophet Isay suffered as much If she will let her cast me into the sea and there will I remember Jonah VERSE 13. The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon him he is an unwise son for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children IN this Verse the Prophet goeth on to denounce judgements against an obstinate and rebellious people if by any means he might awaken them out of their security By the sorrows of a woman in travel he sets forth the sudden sure and sore destruction which was even now coming upon the heads of those carnally-confident sinners They promised themselves Peace and Prosperity they had made a league with death and had put the evil day far from their souls and therefore drew near to iniquity Amos 6. 3. No words nor warnings no mercies nor judgements could work upon them therefore the Lord resolves to bear no longer with them but speedily to surprize them with his judgements The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon them In this Verse we have 1. A commination or a judgement threatned set forth by the similitude of the sorrows of a Travelling woman a Metaphor very frequent in Scripture Wherein is set forth 1. Sudden 2. Sharp 3. Inevitable Sorrows 1. Pangs upon a woman in travel come suddenly and unexpectedly Sometime whil'st they are eating drinking sleeping playing and think not of the pains of travel So the Lord threatens to bring upon this stupid people such calamities which should be like the sorrows of a travelling woman sudden and uneâ—pected 2. The
will be others render it ubi where So the Septuagint render it by 〈◊〉 ubi and the Apostle following the Septuagint speaking to Greeks and that in Greece alledgeth a Greek text as being most familiar and best known to them The Apostle gives the sense and meaning but not the words which is frequent in Scripture the Pen-men being intent on the matter were not curious in the words but did adde and alter what might explain and clear them yet the Prophet and the Apostle are easily reconciled thus O death I will be thy Plagues i. e. I will pull out thy Pestilent sting O grave I will be thy destruction i. e. I will get the victory over thee q. d. I the Lord Christ for to him the Apostle applies this text will redeem them from death by paying a valuable price for their Redemption this none could do but I yea I will bee the death of death I will bee its plagues and destruction it shall never prevail against my people for I will restore them to life again 1 Cor. 15. 26 54 55. 'T is not I am or I have been but 't is Ehi I will bee thy destruction Now in Hebrew the Future Tense doth oft express both the Present Tense and the Preterperfect Tense it implies not only the time to come but also the time present and the time past q. d. I am I have been and shall bee for ever deaths destroyer Christ was Virtually the Lamb â—lain from the beginning of the world and so was deaths destroyer but actually he conquered death and the grave by lying dead in the grave and by his Almighty power raising himself thence again so that death hath now no more dominion over him and his Act. 2. 24. O death I will bee thy plagues not one or two but many plagues even so many as shall destroy thee Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee thou didst triumph over them but now I will triumph over thee and lead thee and all the enemies of my people in triumph at my Chariot wheeles Psal. 68. 18. Ephes. 4. 8. for under death and the grave is Synecdâ—chically comprehended the conquest of all the enemies of our salvation as sin death heâ—â— Satan banishment prisonment poverty sickness tribulation persecution famine sword c. over all these wee are more then conquerours even triumphers through Christ that loved us Rom. 8. 35 37. Hee names only death because death is the last enemy that shall bee destroyed 1 Cor. 15. 26. yet by an Argument a Majore ad minus from the greater to the less he comforts his people thus If I can deliver you from death and the grave then much more from banishment and captivity O grave I will bee thy destruction or I le bee thy rooting out and cutting off The same word is used Deut. 32. 24. Psal. 91. 6. I say 28. 2. q. d. Thou didst destroy my people but now I will destroy thee so that they may now sing triumphantly O death where is thy pestilent sting wherewith thou wast wont to torture and torment us 't is gone 't is destroyed by Christ who is thy death O death and thy utter destruction As a man that drinks a cup of poyson drinks that which will bee his ruine so the grave by swallowing and devouring Christ was conquered and killed by him Of old they did celebrate the Victories and Triumphs of Achilles Hercules Alexander Iulius Caesar and the rest of the great conquerours of the world but alas alâ— those dyed and were conquered by death Only Christ the King and Saviour of his Church and people by his death hath conquered sin Satan and death and hath made full satisfaction for us to the Law and Justice of God So that what the Prophet speaks here of the restauration of the Jews in particular the Apostle applies to the general Resurrection of the dead when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptioâ— and this mortality shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O death where is thy sting c. 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. Where the Apostle alledgeth two Texts and 't is usual with the Pen-men of the New Testament to alledge divers Texts out of the Old Testament and compose them into one in the New So doth Peter speaking against Iudas Act. 1. 20. 't is written in the book of the Psalms let his habitation be desolate and his Bishoprick let another take the former part is taken out of Psal. 69. 26. and the latter part out of Psal. 109. 7. So Mark 1. 2 3. the former part is taken out of Mal. 3. 1. the latter part from Esay 28. 16. So Christ himself Mat. 21. 13. alludes to Esay 56. 7. and Ier. 7. 11. So here the Apostle cites one text out of Esay 25. 8. he will swallow up death in Victory The other is Hos. 14. 13. The seventy render it thus devorabit mors praevalens Death devours all but this is contrary both to the sense of the Prophet and the Apostle who speak not of the prevailing power of death but of the power of Christ over death Death is swallowed up in Victory and that great devourer of all is by Christ devoured This promile is now fulfilled in the death of Christ who hath already destroyed the power of death for his people and shall bee compleatly fulfilled at the Resurrection of the dead when all corruption and mortality shall bee totally taken away and death shall bee swallowed up in Victory for ever In the sense of this mercy the Apostle breaks forth ravished as it were with the contemplation of this conquest over death into a triumphant song which all the Saints shall sing at the last day when they shall bee totally freed from the captivity of death and the grave then shall they insult over subdued death and say O death where is thy sting wherewith thou hadst wont to wound all creatures O grave where is thy victory by which thou hast hitherto kept the dead under by force which now thou must render again as not being able any longer to hold them under thy power Rev. 20. 13 14. It is onely sin by which death hath power over us and it is the just rigor of the Law which inflicts death upon us for sin But thanks bee to God who hath given us the victory over sin which is the cause of death and over death which is inflicted for sin through Jesus Christ our Lord by whom wee obtain an immortal and incorruptible life Thus the Apostle hath faithfully given us the sense of the Prophet though not his very words The summe and substance of all is this Though Ephraim hath been an unwise Son and hath delayed his returning unto mee yet his impenitency and security shall not retard or disanul my faithfulness and truth unto my people I
Sacraments good books corrections and all other rich means which God hath afforded us in these latter daies Oh what Gyants might wee have been in waies of grace and goodness if every Ordinance had been effectual upon our hearts hee that is weak amongst us might have been as strong as David and hee that is strong as David might have been as an Angel of the Lord for wisdome and purity Zach. 12. 8. Like Saul we might have been taller by the head and shoulders in the waies of Grace than other men Our leanness and our lewdness our barrenness and unfruitfulness our unanswerable walking to the rich means of Grace that wee enjoy doth certainly fore-tell a storm approaching 10 Ingratitude and abuse of Gods mercies to the promoting of Idolatry The more God did for them the less they did for him their fulness bred forgetfulness and the more they were increased the more they sinned Hence the Lord so oft complains of this sin as provoking him more than all the rest Hos. 2. 8. 4. 7. 10. 1. 11. 3 4. 13. 5 6. It was this sin especially that brought the sword upon them Hos. 2. 9. 13. 7. The Prophet Amos also who was contemporary with Hosea doth notably set forth the great Ingratitude of this people in abusing Gods mercies Amos 2. 9 10 11. And is not this that crying sin of England Do wee notâ—fight against God with his own blessings abusing our health wealth wit peace plenty corn wine gold silver Scriptures Ordinances yea all our comforts and creatures to the dishonour of the giver of them His mercies make us proud his riches covetous his peace secure his food intemperate and all his benefits serve us but as weapons to rebel against him And do wee thus require the Lord O foolish and unwise is this the thanks wee give him for all his patience preservations success and deliverances Will not the Lord visit for these things and shall not his soul bee avenged on such a Nation as this Had England no more sins to answer for but this even this were sufficient to make it a desolation as it did Samaria 11 Covenant-breaking God had betrothed them to himself and chosen them from the rest of the world to become his people But they like men transgressed the Covenant there did they deal treacherously against him Hos. 6. 7. 10. 4. Like Sons of Adam they walkt in his steps though they were abundantly blest by God yet they revolted from him and transgrest the Covenant there even thâ—re it is put emphatically where they should have been most faithful viz. in the Covenant there they dealt most falsly and perfidiously with him And is not this one of the crying sins of England Never was there a wiser and better composed Covenant in the Nation and never any worse performed wee have lifted up our hands to the most High that wee will in our places and callings extirpate heresies and yet many walk as if they had taken a Covenant to propagate them many amongst us make no more of their Covenants than an Ape doth of his coller which hee can put off or on at his own pleasure Let any man but read all the branches of the Covenant and then compare our contrary walking to it and hee cannot but admire the infinite patience of the Lord that hee hath not long since sent a sword to avenge the quarrel of his Covenant upon us Levit. 26. 25. wee must not think to do such things and escape or to break our Covenants with God and then bee delivered Ezek. 17. 15 to 20. If the Lord so sadly avenged the breach of Covenant with a man yea with a Heathen and Idolater what shall bee done to him who breaks his Covenant made with the great God of Heaven and Earth and if a good man will perform the Covenant which hee made though it bee to his disadvantage how great is their sin then who perform not the conditions of such Covenants as tend to their everlasting welfare Psal. 15. 4. The Jews have a saying That there is no punishment that befalls them but there is a dram of the golden Calf in it so there is no misery that befalls England but there it a dram of Covenant-breaking in it 12 Security Though strangers had devoured his strength yet hee knew it not the Syrian and Assyrian had consumed him and made a prey of him yet such was his stupidity that hee knew it not viz. with a practical saving knowledge so as to repent and make a right use of it Yea gray hairs were sprinkled here and there upon him which were a sign of weakness and old age and death approaching yet they laid it not to heart Hos. 7. 9. but they were at ease in Sion and trusted in the Mountain of Samaria putting the evil day far from them and therefore a woe is denounced against them Amos 6. 1 3. 9. 10. And was there ever more security and sensless stupidity in England than at this day Do not the Ministers of Christ generally complain that they see not that life zeal activity tenderness compunction c. in their people as formerly Many applaud and flatter themselves with their gifts and external profession of sanctity but the power of it is very much wanting amongst us A great calm oft times is a fore-runner of a storm and great security is a great fore-runner of some great judgement When the old world was eating drinking buying building marrying and thought not of a flood then it came and swept them all away when men cry peace peace then comes sudden and swift destruction 1 Thes. 5. 3. 13 Anarchy They devoured all their Iudges all their Kings were fallen Hos. 7. 7. They discovered their rage in their seditious and frequent conspiracies to the devouring and destroying of their Judges and Magistrates as appears in the frequent murders of their Kings What Anarchy and confusion is amongst us hee is a great stranger in our English Israel that knows not 14 Lukewarmness This is another sin that helpt to ruine Ephraim Hos. 7. 8. Ephraim is a cake not turned and so but half-baked or dough-baked neque crudus neque coctus neither hot nor cold neither fish nor flesh but of a middle mongrel Religion halting between two partly for God and partly for the Devil partly for Christ and partly for Baal but God hates such halting 〈◊〉 doings and therefore spues them out of his mouth and sends them packing into captivity And is not this the sin of England Are wee not a luke-warm generation neither hot nor cold that halt not between two but two hundred opinions Wee have a knee for God and a knee for Baal a tongue for Christ and a tongue for Antichrist a tongue for Truth and a tongue for Falshood Like the harlot wee are all for dividing But God will bee served truly and totally without halting or halving hee hath made our whole