man is fit to have the plaister taken off his sore on whom it hath had a kindly influence answerable to the end whereunto God sent it namely to shew his Sin humble him for and turn him from it Two things on the By only I shall hint from these words 1. That we may very well turn this Prayer of Solomon's into a Promise and conclude that what he beg'd of God and that with a particular Reference to the Children of Israel shall be granted to every man in any place performing the Conditions here described 2. Note that under the work Know is compriz'd the whole performance of all that is required in other places of Scripture in order to the obtaining of the pardon of Sin and the removal of those Judgments which it had procured There is nothing more common in holy Writ than the making words of Knowledge inclusive of the affections and practice also To know God frequently comprehends our whole duty to him for our knowledge of him being the beginning and ground-work of all other Duties and producing them where it is in clearnesse and power may very well be put for all According to this is our English Phrase I 'le make you know your Superiours that is perform your duty to them So here to know the Plague of our own heart by which is meant Sin the disease of the Soul is as much as to be convinc't of it to see its Odiousnesse to be lively humbled for and sincerely resolved to forsake it That it must be a working practical Knowledge not resting in meer conviction is evident from the foregoing words which mention the Prayer proceeding from those who know the Plague of their own Hearts the same also follows and spread forth their hands to this House that is make their addresses to God with some kind of particular Reference to the Temple where he did in a more special manner reside and manifest himself and thus Daniel in captivity opened his window toward Jerusalem Dan. 6. 10. Now he that should thus come to God what is it for Not only for deliverance but also to confesse sin the cause of his misery and if so then must he be truly grieved for his provocations of the most holy God and this could not be without promises and purposes of a Reformation Now I need not stand to prove what I before mentioned that whoever is thus affected shall if not be freed from the temporal Affliction he lies under yet be secured from the hurt of it and have greater blessings bestowed this I say I need not stand to prove the Scripture being everywhere so full of Examples and Promises that demonstrate it And indeed it is fully evidenc't in the very tenour of the Covenant of Grace which assures Pardon and Salvation and all things truly good for us upon the Condition of our coming to and receiving Christ which none can do but they who are sensible of their need of him who have seen the evil of sin both as to its nature and effects and are desirous to be delivered from the guilt and pollution and this sense of sin and aversion from it in heart and life is true Repentance and upon condition of this it was that Soloman pray'd for and God frequehtly Promiseth Mercy and particularly see his answer to this very Prayer and the Promise he made to grant it 2 Chron. 7. 13 14. Wherever then the Judgments of God are more Eminently Inflicted on a People it is a sign there are some hainous transgressions which have deserved them If the Plague or any such Calamity seize a Nation it speaks this much that there is a Plague in the hearts of that People some such wickednesse which provok'd God to pour out his Wrath upon them Sin is as the body suffering usually as the shadow that attends it the one is as fire the other as smoak that proceeds from it Wherefore by the putting away of sin only can we escape the threatned wrath or rescue our selves out of that we feel This is very plain if the knowledge and removal of the Plague of our hearts conduce to our Recovery then our being seiz'd with it was our misery and therefore the Cause being removed the Effect will follow If the entertainment of Sheba into Abel bring Joab and an Army against it then to deliver him to them is the only way to procure their departure 2 Sam. 20. These several Truths then are plain and the words we have taken notice of naturally afford them 1. That God is the Supream efficient cause of all the Sufferings we lie under Is there Evil in a City of Affliction that is and hath not he done it 2. It is for the Sin of a People that God lays these sufferings upon them 3. It is a most proper seasonable Duty in times of such Calamity to make enquiry into our wayes that we may discover what is most likely to be the Cause What is that Achan that trouble us This is the great thing whereof we are call'd in the day of adversity to consider and accordingly the most of my business in my following Discourse shall be the practice of this Direction for I shall not particularly handle any of these Observations 4. If we finding out oursin bewail and abhor it put it far from us and betake our selves to God for mercy and pardon then will he hear in heaven and forgive remove from us our Miseries and restore his Loving-kindness I shall only answer one Objection by the way and so pass on to what I chiefly design Some may say they have been sensible of and in some measure humbled for sin and yet notwithstanding have been held under as sharp and as long sufferings as others Here we must distinguish 1 betwixt National and Personal Judgments 2 betwixt the Ends and Reasons why they are inflicted 3 betwixt the Cross and the Curse of it And so I answer 1. If the Judgment be National as Sword Famine Captivity some great Mortality and this sent for a National common Sin it cannot here be expected that the Humiliation of some few particular Persons should always serve for the averting such Calamities Nay the Righteous themselves may be involved in them as we find there were many good Men carried captive with the rest into Babylon amongst which were Daniel and the three Children Indeed sometimes we read of one or more standing in the gap and preventing a deluge of wrath as Moses oft did but there was then also some kind of general Humiliation for of the people it s said When God slew then they sought him Psal 78. 34. And though Moses prevailed thus far that they might not utterly be destroyed yet very sore Judgments were frequently laid upon them Noah deliver'd himself and Family only not the old World Lot himself and Children but not Sodom and Gomorrah though then God graciously condescended to have spared them all for the sake of Ten righteous Persons could
and make them their pattern whom they complain of and condemn And had it been as it was not those persons who injured them whom now they cause to suffer I wonder where Revenge is made their duty but this in a Church-man must sometimes pass for zeal for the Church It was easie to instance in more effects of this their Ejection which have been injurious to Religion and the Souls of men Hence it 's come to pass that their endeavours in a private way by personal discourses or writings to reclaim sinners are much frustrated for they are looked upon as a kind of distinct Party and so let them be never so careful to insist only on the most uncontroverted Truths of Religion yet will many through prejudice misunderstand all they say as if they were pleading their own cause and endeavouring to gain Proselytes to themselves whil'st they are only striving to win Souls to Christ When they are pressing men upon holiness and diligence for their Salvation some are prone to flatter themselves with a conceit That this only is their strict and singular Opinion and all that they say or do in Religion is put upon the score of a Party as if in these things they differed from others and therefore are they disregarded And thus it is also as to the People who are known to love and adhere to them for their exact walking is look't on but as the following a Sect and which need not therefore be imitated And it can hardly be thought how many Souls miscarry through these mistakes which might have been much prevented by that concord and mutual Love which might have made all have been esteemed as Brethren Moreover hence it is that these being now counted disaffected and discontented persons many who bore them a Spleen for their Love 't is not impossible meet with pretences to vent it for they narrowly watch them in all their wayes and a little Love to the Commonwealth with a Dose of Revenge and Malice how vigilant will it make men and are still ready to accuse them of something or other they know not what to bring them into trouble And if they do but with all peaceableness meet together with their Neighbours and Friends to quicken comfort and build up one another in their most holy Faith yea if they do but continue those Meetings they were wont to have in times of greatest Liberty presently they are liable to disturbance and punishment as men holding unlawful Assemblies whereas had no such terms been put upon them as necessarily put a difference betwixt them and others they might have been esteemed as Loyal Subjects as they indeed are and their actions had not been so obnoxious to groundless censures and accusations nor they ever hurried to Prison or forc't some other way to suffer for nothing but the meer Surmises of the malicious But I shall not give in more particulars And whether these things I have mentioned are well-pleasing to God or whether they may not rather have help't on his Indignation against us let all that are unbyas't determine As to the Truth of what I have spoke I think it cannot be gain-sayed and what can be answered I cannot devise except what I before hinted any should say That by their removal the Peace of Church and State is secured which otherwise had been hazarded To which I answer 1. Might not this Peace have been procured better by laying it upon those things whereon Christ hath laid the peace of his Church And not to make new Laws to which whil'st men in Conscience cannot give obedience they must be judged obstinate as the Courtiers served Daniel Surely this is hard measure when the things required are in the judgment of the Imposers not necessary till they have commanded them and so might have been left as indifferent as they are in their own natures and then how little contention had there been about them 2. Might these persons be excused from those kind of Subscriptions and Declarations which are commanded them They are ready to give in all that Security that can in reason he demanded That they will be careful to preserve and promote the Publick Peace If their Oaths and Promises may not be thought sufficient to oblige them to this what hold could be taken of those other Subscriptions and Professions But if these were intended as a distinguishing Shibboleth that they might know whom to fall upon as a partition wall to keep off those that may in some punctilio's differ from them as a Test of a Party which serves to rank men under several divisions If any in their Impositions had such like designs as these it is not all their Power and Policy combin'd that can make such actings pass for current with that God who is a Lover of Peace And all at length shall be convinc't That they who break the Peace of the Church to promote the peace of a Party are not those Peace-makers upon whom a blessing is pronounced 3. I would fain know what disturbance of the Peace there was whil'st the Liberty granted by His MAJESTIES Declaration was enjoyed and upon what account it was likely to have been more violated had that Liberty been secured and perpetuated 4. I am yet to learn how this Restraint that is laid upon them doth any whit the more incapacitate them for interruption of the Peace if a sense of their duty laid not a stronger obligation on them It 's evident enough that many of them have that influence upon their people that it was no way difficult for them to lead them into Sects and Separations if they had a mind to 't and to lay such provoking pressures upon them was not the way to prevent such miscarriages But blessed be God! their patience and moderation hath prevail'd over the smarting sense of those Sufferings which might have vex't them into extreams If any have discovered too much impatience and bitterness of spirit as I excuse it not so neither are those proceedings which caus'd it any more justifiable But for many it hath been their care according to their capacities to heal the distempers of their peoples spirits to remove the too great prejudices many have conceived and to reduce all whom they perceived inclined to a Party So that I dare confidently say They have done more to preserve the Peace of the Church than those who Censure them and cast them out of the Ministry as Factious and Vnpeaceable And as for raising any Seditions or Commotions in the State not their most quick-sighted Adversaries have that I can hear or know discovered them in the least guilty And did His MAJESTY but over-hear or know their daily privat'st prayers to God on His behalf I am confident He would easily be convinc't That His Kingdom holds not more Loyal Faithful Subjects than they however they may be misrepresented as deserving all that Severity with which they are Treated By this time I hope I may on good grounds
Day that deserves to be wrote in Black Letters in England's Calendar Grant this Oh my God for thy Son Christ Jesus sake I beseech thee and let all that seek thy Glory and the Prosperity of thy Church say Amen If any upon the reading of this should argue me either of too great confidence in making such an attempt or want of judgment to conceive there was any probability of the success when much more likely endeavours have been uneffectual Let such know That when I had designed to do my utmost towards a discovery of those Sins which have provoked Gods anger against us I should have thought my self unfaithful to the Cause I undertook had any fear or pretence of Reason prevailed with me to pass silently over a miscarriage of such a nature as I have manifested this to be so fruitful of and complicate with many others And if any thing unequal to be framed by a Law I hope that alters not the nature of it so far as to make it above a Subject to call things by their own names Had an Act pass'd for the toleration of Drunkenness or any the like Sin I should have taken the boldness to represent the ill nature and consequences of it And though it is not impossible but prejudice may spy out very great faults yet I hope both as to the matter and manner of Discourse I have not transgress't the bounds of sobriety modesty nor that duty which I owe my Superiours Moreover I conceived That now God calls us all to search our hearts and review our ways they who themselves put us upon this work and exhort us to Repentance and Prayer will not be unwilling to reflect upon themselves and their own actions as remembring they are men subject to the same mistakes and frailties that the rest of the sons of lapst Adam are And if indeed it be made evident That amongst other Errands one voice of the Rod now upon us is Let my people go that they may serve me Let my faithful Ministers have liberty to advance my Gospel I hope those who are particularly called to from Heaven will not be disobedient Again I was willing so far as was consistent with my main Design to represent to the World if any yet be ignorant of it the nature of the difference betwixt us however to manifest thus much how willing yea how earnestly desirous some if not all of those suspended from their Ministerial Employments are to be re-admitted to the same and what reasonable terms they beg and readily offer a submission to if they might be heard that so they who are so forward to condemn them all as obstinate and perverse may be more wary of their censures and confine them to those only whom they know so guilty And I hop't I might do something to quicken all those whose hearts are affected with the Concernments of the Church to more earnestness in their Addresses to God That he in whose hands the heart of Kings and all men are would incline our Superious to hearken to the Requests and graciously to regard the Cause of so many of the Servants of Christ who when his Church so much needs their labours and they would so willingly spend themselves in the service of souls are to the sadning of their hearts in a great measure rendered unserviceable in their Generations And lastly Thus much however I shall attain viz the satisfaction of my Conscience in the discharge of my Duty that I can herein approve my self to God and my own soul that I have done what in me lies toward the procuring of my own and others Liberty that if it shall still be denied I may have nothing to charge my self with in this respect and may comfort my self in this that the improvement of such a Liberty shall no more be required of me by the righteous Judge of Heaven and Earth than the improvement of a great Estate or a place of Honour or some such Talent with which I was never entrusted And if I obtain but thus much though I strongly hope for more I shall be far from repenting of my undertaken labour for I must confess that seems not to me a small thing which any way conduceth to my having of boldness before my Lord at the day of his appearing A word or two more I shall take Liberty to add upon this Head before I relinquish it If the removal of so many Labourers out of the Lords Harvest is so grievous a Sin both in its self and the sad consequences of it then all others and even they themselves so far as they have contributed to this their removal or have not since endeavoured to prevent those consequences have cause to be greatly humbled And first Even all the People who have sinned their Teachers into corners by their Pride Wantonness and Unfruitfulness under the Means of Grace But especially those private Persons who by their malice either did or at least endeavoured to contribute to their ejection or to the hastning of it What Volumns might be composed even another Book of Martyrs or Confessors rather of the Sufferings many of these Servants of Christ have met with from the Arbitrary violence of unreasonable men For I speak not of what the Law hath imposed on them How have some been toss't from place to place their Houses searched and they confined and all this either upon groundless suspition or false accusations for where was the man of them that hath yet been proved guilty of Treason or Sedition Oh the notorious gross Lyes and Perjuries that some of their People have been guilty of both before and since their ejection And yet how readily accepted by many And what 's the ground of all Why alas they had got many Hearers the Great-ones especially who were scandalized at the strictness of their Doctrines and Lives and angry that they might not go to Hell quietly who studied to be Revenged on them for the disturbance they had received from them in their Sins Thus I dare confidently say it hath been with many And though such may have thought they have been doing God good service whilest they have been persecuting his Ministers yet believe it they shall have small thanks from him that sent them upon that Errand the delivery whereof may have brought them so much trouble and that they shall find to their smart without true repentance if many of them have not already What could not men be content to reject the Embassy God sent them but they must injure and abuse his Embassadors too Shal not God proclaim war against that people that have thus violated the Law of Nations They would scarce have done thus to an Embassadour sent from the Turk to perswade us to exchange Christ for Mahomet and the Gospel for the Alcoran But Oh let let them alone they are safe enough 'T is the Factious Non-conformist not the Christian Minister they have medled with Not the Holy Jesus that came from
had gone by this Rule where had the Gospel been or where is it excepted That you must have such and such provisions or else not to Preach For my own part I acknowledge my self a verie mean Casuist and ignorant of Twentie subtle distinctions which here might be needful And I am verie confident I am speaking to few but are more knowing and better studied in this point than my self and great difficulties there are to me concerning the relation betwixt a Pastor and a people as matters now stand with us how far it holds and how far men are engaged to perform all the duties of that relation wherefore to that I shall say little or nothing onlie so far as concerns my self and verie manie more yea all in part I use thus plainlie to resolve the case to my self when my understanding is most help't by a powerful apprehension of death and judgment near at hand I take it for the indispensable duty of every man to employ himself to the utmost in his place and calling in answering the ends of his Creation and Redemption the glorifying of God in doing his best to save his own and others Souls And if I have been Solemnly Consecrated to this work to make it my verie particular Calling no Command of the highest Emperor iu the World can disoblige me from it God must be honoured the Gospel proclaimed Souls saved my Vows performed storm and rage forbid and hinder it who will or can But if there happen such terms to be put upon me as the condition of my more open exercise of the Function I am devoted to which terms after the use of all due means for Information I judge I cannot lawfully submit to but yet others will whose apprehensions vary from mine who will in some competent measure carry on the Publick work I was employed in which I am forbid to meddle with Then in such a case which if I mistake not is ours I will cast about which way I may do most for those ends I am obliged to carry on And since Christianity it self is not forbid to be Preach't only I must not do it viz. not Publickly but yet others will and in many places do And I foresee that by rushing upon the Publick Preaching more hurt would come of my disobedience than good and I should be more out of a capacity for future Service either by Imprisonment Banishment or the like which are not so much to be shun'd as Sufferings but as they hinder the attainment of my ends I will then see what private opportunities are afforded me for those ends and these with all readiness I will accept and diligently improve as in which all circumstances considered I may do most for the advancement of the Gospel And therefore is not to be thought an effect of Cowardice a baseness unworthy him that remembers what it sounds to be a CHRISTIAN but as my taking that way which most conduceth to Gods glory and the Interest of Religion And this is no other than the course Paul himself took Gal. 2. 2. when he communicated the Gospel privately to them that were of Reputation and why for fear or shame no but lest he should run in vain But if Circumstances should so alter the case that I see venturing upon Publick Preaching be the most probable way for the accomplishment of my just designs then I will embrace that Or if I should be forbid privately to endeavour the Salvation of Souls then I must and will disobey let what will be the event because such commands directly contradict those ends I must promote and leave me no way for the attaining of them Yea though I dye for it I must tell those within my reach who gave us our Being and keeps us alive and to what end who shed his blood for us and why and what we must do to be made partakers of the benefits he hath purchased I must tell them of the evil and danger of sin whither it leads and what an Heaven holiness will end in These are matters that the World must know though a thousand deaths attend upon the Publishers And I would no longer care for a tongue or hand than whil'st I might speak or write of them One word more and I shall conclude this But it so happening since the loss of my Liberty that my self and those that depend on me may be reduc't to such pressing necessities that I must be taken up much more than I was wont some way or other for the procuring of a Livelihood the sad case at present of many precious eminent Ministers then I will betake my self to such care and pains as is requisite hereto in the mean time not relinquishing my great Work but regarding the World as all ought to do and indeed the most of what I have said is appliable to private Christians onlie with a subserriencie to it And this again we may find justified by Paul himself whom if you had found busie at work in making his Tents yet you could not have charged him with neglect of the Gospel for even then he was contriving how to render it most acceptable And thus I have given in my brief thoughts of this Case which though it may seem a digression from the matter in hand yet is it not so from my main design if it may do the least to quicken any to a sense of their dutie and the neglects of it and to put them upon more carefulness for the future And hence many may see how guilty they have been in not laying out themselves for the good of souls so far as they might without breaking any Law or running any hazard Oh Sirs you are men sure somewhat sensible of what worth a soul is and what weighty things Salvation and Damnation are which careless Wretches do but jest with as words of course Why have you not then laboured more in these matters Let none misunderstand me I speak to the negligent only Could we have done no more for God and mens souls to inform the ignorant convince the obstinate quicken the godly than we have done Might there not have been through the blessing of God even upon our private labours fewer to provoke and more to please him more to strive with him by their prayers to turn away his wrath than there are And upon the same account I would beg all private Christians to lay to heart their lamentable dulness aud uselessness in the Places and Towns where they dwell Oh how little are their Neighbours and Acquaintance I wish I might not say their Families better for many of them So little do they make Religion their business but in all their converse are even like other men only plodding on in a life-less Profession and track of Duties and appearing a little zealous for some By-opinions of their own It was time for them to be raised out of their heavy luke-warm temper and to be made to mind and relish a little more
the weighty Truths and Matters of Religion Reader Art thou an Honourer of Christ and a Lover of Mankind Why tell me then is it not a most lamentable thing to consider That almost all the World yea almost all the Christian and Reformed Christian World is drowned in wickedness and that there is so little Savoury Salt in it so few that study and labour to make the Gospel obtain amongst men in the life and power of it How do the most seek their own things how few the things of Jesus Christ Oh that men were once throughly perswaded that his things were theirs Some are too busie about Puppet-plays the petty trifles of the World which yet to those who are swallowed upin them seem weighty and important to mind much what becomes of mens immortal souls Let the poor Curate that must live by it see to such low affairs Others have so much to do to keep up their own Parties Opinions and Customs That Christ may look to his Gospel himself for them except as it lies in the way to the things they account most their Concern But all you the Ministers of Christ if indeed you take his Work it self for your Honour Pleasure and Wages though many of you may want those encouragements which are so requisite and desirable for your success yet be awakened to do all the service you can to your Lord and Master Let us not stand accusing any for the removal of our opportunities whilest we have so many before us if we had the hearts and skill to use them How glad would the Primitive Christians or our Protestant Martyrs have been of those Priviledges we enjoy though they might earnestly have desired more What Sirs are there no poor souls near you that cry aloud for your help to save them from the burning lake to rescue them out of the jaws of Death and snares of the Devil by whom they are led captive at his will These these are they upon whom especially you ought to employ all your skill and pains and from him that died for them you shall have your reward I know the Godly also call for strengthning direction comfort and quickning but surely your principal much less your only work is not with them the miserable creatures that are just at the Graves mouth and yet know not what they came into the World for require speedie and seasonable help Oh how many Thousands may now be out of your reach whom you once might have spoken to but did not Who hinders you from going to such and discoursing to them the matters that concern their everlasting Peace Cannot you watch opportunities when they can best have while to hear you and are most likelie to regard you You that live amongst your former people cannot you go to their Houses and take all occasion of converse with them and be inculcating on them the great Truths and Duties of the Gospel If you never formerly took this course of private dealing with your people set upon it now and you know not but it may be more effectual than all your former labours were Some that have tried have had good success However you will have comfort in doing your dutie Oh go often as you have time amongst you poor Neighbours and see in what a state their souls are and be not so uncharitable and hard-hearted as to see them dropping into Hell and yet do nothing to prevent it Though 't is amongst Strangers you are cast yet acquaint your selves with them and do them all the good you can as knowing every man 's your Neighbour that needs your help Put then upon reading good Books and take account of them and learn what their knowledge in Religion is and accordingly instruct and advise them But far be it from me to presume to give Directions for the Work others have done it fully and you know it well enough if you would but set to it with all your might oh follow then the example of Paul who went about from house to house night and day warning and beseething every one with tears What do you think this is not preaching the Gospel Do you think that 's only whilst you stand on a high place in the midst of an Assemby Did not Christ preach the Gospel to a Woman alone and Philip to the Eunuch In some respects 't is evident personal discourse hath much the advantage of publick Preaching and why may we not expect Gods blessing hereupon as well as on the other Now Sirs we have an happy opportunity of discovering what pure love to the Gospel will do with us without any hopes of a Temporal Reward What moved you to Preach to your people before I know you will not joyn with the Quakers in accusing your selves and say it was for your Tythes What then was it a desire to save the Souls of your people Why I hope their Salvation is as precious in your eyes now as then and do not they as much need your assistance Why then do not you continue it Say not the people will not bear it for many will Try them once again and where any are obstinate let your love and courtesie do its utmost to overcome them Oh let us but work out own hearts into lively affectionate apprehensions of the great concernments of Souls and study more what God is and why he made us what the Death of Christ imports what it is for a Soul to be saved or damned for ever and we shall scarce be able to refrain speaking to all we can light upon but we shall rather ask every man we meet whether he hath yet done his best to make sure his everlasting happiness whether hee 's yet got from under the wrath of God and out of danger of Hell These things will be ready to burst from us in the very streets or open Congregations Oh had we but that zeal and those affections which these matters deserve and will very well warrant what work might we make in the world yet keeping in all due bounds of sobriety and prudence Though perhaps we might be counted mad-men for our pains as Christ himself and the Apostle Paul were But remember then I would have you spend your zeal upon the things that are worth it proportion it to the weight of the truths you insist on I would not have you take this pains to make men of your opinion in controverted matters Beware of that designing a party will spoil all your work Labour you to make them Members of Christ what need you care then what particular Church they are members of or wherein they differ from you in matters that concern not their Salvation Do the best you can to heal all breaches make none widen none Let men censure us as long as they will for Schismatical and Turbulent and if all our professions to the contrary may not be heard yet let our practises witness to God to the world and to our own Consciences that we