In the Day of your Fast ye find Pleasure or Desire i. e. Your sinful Lusts and Pleasures are still indulged by you notwithstanding all your fasting And how justly may this too be charged upon us Have we abated any thing of our Wickedness since we began our Fasts Are we not the same sinful People that we were before What Lusts have we mortified what wicked Customs have we abolished what sinful Practices have we reformed notwithstanding all our Confessions of Sin and pretended Humiliations for it notwithstanding so many solemn Professions of Sorrow and Repentance How highly provoking is such Mockery and Hypocrisie What a mean Opinion doth it argue we have of God As if we thought him capable of being imposed upon by false Pretences and hypocritical Shews and meer outward Ceremonies of Respect or of being bribed by these to dispense with the most abominable Impurities and Lusts Thus we have turned our Fasting and Prayer into Sin and made our Iniquities the more provoking by these our solemn meetings If we consider all these things together certainly we cannot but confess that we of this Nation have wrought very great Provocations that our Iniquities are increased over our Heads and our Trespasses grown up unto the Heavens And will not God visit for these things will not his Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Will not so loud a Cry of Sin awaken the divine Justice to a speedy Execution of the Judgment we have deserved to withdraw his Protection and to leave us to the Will of our merciless Enemies That we may be possest with due Apprehensions of our Danger I shall shew Secondly That we have great Reason to fear that our great Provocations may be punished by God as those of the Jews were that he may therefore give us up into the Hand of our Enemies For First We have no such particular Promises of Preservation from and Conquest over our Enemies as the Jewish Nation had God had expresly told them that he would drive out the Nations before them and give them a quiet and peaceable Possession of the Land of Canaan But notwithstanding for their great Provocations he did often deliver them into their Enemies Hands How then can we hope still to escape this Punishment who have no such particular Promises when our Provocations are as great as theirs God did often deliver the Jews for the sake of his Promise to Abraham Isaac and Jacob 2 King 13. 23. And the Lord was gracious unto them and had Compassion on them and had respect unto them he delivered them from the Oppression of the King of Syria because of his Covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them neither cast he them from his Presence as yet But we have no such Promise made to any of our Fathers and therefore have much less Reason to hope for that Defence and Protection from God which the provoking Israelites did sometimes find against their Enemies The Example of the Text then is a strong Argument against us if God punished their great Provocations with the Sword of their Enemies we have great Reason to fear that he will much rather punish ours in like manner Secondly The Honour of God was more concerned in defending and preserving the Jewish Nation than it is in defending and preserving ours For they were the only Worshippers of the Lord Jehovah and whilst they were so it was in a manner necessary for the asserting of his Divinity and the Preservation of the Knowledge and Worship of him sometimes to appear on their Behalf and not to suffer their Enemies utterly to prevail against them And therefore when the Provocations of Israel were great he is often said to have wrought for his Name 's Sake that it should not be polluted amongst the Heathen that they might not triumph and insult over the God of Israel as Rabshakeh did over the Gods of those Nations his Master had conquered Isa 36. 18 19. Where are the Gods of Hamath and Arphad Where are the Gods of Sepharvaim Who are they among all the Gods of these Nations that have delivered their Land out of my Hand And God did not give them up to be destroyed utterly by their Enemies till he had planted a Church among the Gentiles and had made them his People who were not his People But there can be no such Reason given for God's defending and preserving us notwithstanding our great Provocations The Honour of his Name cannot be so much interested in our Safety who are only a Part of his Church The Christian Faith and the true Worship of God would still be maintained and preserved though we should be so given up into the Hands of our Enemies that we should be no more a People and the Name of our English Church no more in Remembrance How justly then may we fear this Punishment if we still continue our great Provocations Thirdly We have still greater Reason to fear this particular Judgment for our great Provocations because it seems to be nearest at Hand It is a Rod which God hath been for some Years shaking over us and threatning to punish us with The Sword is already drawn we are actually ingaged in War with a subtil and potent Enemy and if God but withdraw himself and resolve to go out no more with our Hosts there needs nothing more to bring this heavy Judgment upon us And can we hope that God will always be active on behalf of so provoking a People that he will not at length be weary of interposing and fighting for us This is a Judgment then so ready and so easie to be inflicted on us that we have great Reason to fear that God may thus punish our great Provocations Fourthly This is a Judgment that many amongst us seem to be fond of some are wishing and praying for it and others have ingaged in the most horrid Villanies that they might let it in upon themselves and us And will it not be very just with God and very agreeable to his Method of punishing to cause them to inherit their own Choice and to be filled with their own Devices and to obtain the Miseries they so eagerly pursue especially when we have all so highly deserved to partake with them by our great Provocations When so many of us are weary of God's Mercies and impatient under the Deliverances he hath wrought for us and complain of the Oppression of his Blessings may we not reasonably fear that he will take up a Resolution of delivering us no more and saving us no longer against our Wills that he will make us sensible of the Value of those Blessings we despise and murmur at by forbearing to prolong our Enjoyment of them If this be our Case then if we have so much Cause to fear that for our great Provocations God may deliver us up into the Hand of our Enemies that we may be awakened to use our utmost Endeavours to prevent this Punishment
it will be very seasonable for us to consider Thirdly What a dreadful Judgment this would be which our Sins threaten us with What a wretched Condition should we be in if God should give us up into the Hand of the Enemy we are contending with Who can express the Violence and Cruelty the Rapes and Outrages the Wasting and Barbarities the Burnings and Bloodshed that have attended all his Successes How much do these things transcend the most tragical Descriptions with what barbarous Cruelty hath he persecuted his own most faithful Subjects only for professing the same Religion with us What Slavery and Tyranny are those very Persons subjected to that support his Greatness and sight for him What a dreadful Protector then of Life and Liberty of Property and Religion must he be especially for us who have so highly provoked him and been the chief Bar to the Progress of his Success and Victories Methinks the Thoughs of this terrible Judgment our Sins so loudly threaten us with should make our Hearts tremble and our Knees smite one against another But is there no Hope in Israel concerning this thing Is there no Remedy or escaping God forbid that our Case should be thus desperate We cannot tell but God may yet be prevailed upon to turn and repent and to leave a Blessing behind him I shall therefore shew Fourthly What is the most effectual means to prevent that dreadful Punishment our great Provocations threaten us with It is in one Word Repentance a deep Humiliation and Sorrow for all our great Provocations and a sincere Amendment of our Lives for the time to come This we have great reason to hope might yet turn away the Wrath of God and prevail for us against our Enemies For First This is a Means God hath always prescribed for the rescuing his People out of their Enemies Hand When at any time he threatned his People for their great Provocations to give them over to the Sword he still invited them to repent as a certain Means to escape it The Prophet Joel describes the Enemies of Judah in a very lofty and terrible manner Chap. 2. A great People and a strong there hath not been ever the like neither shall there be any more after it A Fire devours before them and behind them a Fire burneth Nevertheless he tells them if they would but turn and repent God would remove this great Army from them Verse 20. and drive them into a Land barren and desolate And for our farther Encouragement let us consider Secondly The Repentance and Reformation of his People were generally followed with most remarkable Victories over their Enemies The Reformation in the Days of Asa was followed with a Victory over a thousand thousand Ethiopians and that in the Days of Jehosaphat with so signal a Victory over the Children of Moab and Ammon that we read 2 Chron. 20. 29. That the Fear of God was on all those Countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the Enemies of Israel and that in the Days of Hezekiah with a wonderful Defeat of the victorious and insulting Army of Sennacherib These things happened unto them for Examples and are written for our Encouragement And if we could but be perswaded to make the Experiment I doubt not but we might yet reap the like happy Fruits of a great Reformation For Thirdly When those that are God's People by Profession and Covenant repent and turn to him then those Ends and Reasons cease for which God is wont to give them up into the Hand of their Enemies Then God may defend and fight for them without any Prejudice to the Honour of his Holiness and Justice and Providence Nay then the Glory of them is more fully manifested when he sheweth himself strong on the Behalf of them that are upright towards him When the Righteous wash their Feet in the Blood of their Enemies then saith David Psal 58. 10 11. Men will say Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous Verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth When the Inhabitants of a Land have learned Righteousness the great Design of God's Judgments is accomplished Then there is no need of giving them up into the Hand of their Enemies that they may return and seek God or be a Warning and Example to others that afterwards should live ungodly And Fourthly As it doth very well consist with and answer the Ends of his Wisdom so it cannot but be very agreeable to his Inclinations to defend and protect a holy Nation a peculiar People purifyed to himself and zealous of good Works He delights in the Prosperity of good Men and rejoyceth over them to do them good There is nothing more pleasing or agreeable to his Nature than to exercise loving Kindness and Mercy How forward then must he be to exercise these upon a Church and Nation reformed in Faith and Practice If but a single righteous Man cry the Lord is ready to hear and deliver him how ready then would he be to hear succour and defend a righteous Society of Men Such an Opportunity of subduing the Enemies of a reformed People he seems to lament the Loss of Psal 81. 13 14. O that my People had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my Ways I should soon have subdued their Enemies and turned my Hand against their Adversaries Fifthly We have great Reason to hope that God is thus graciously inclined to our Nation in particular to give us yet most happy Success against our Enemies if we would but yet repent from his favourable Dealing with us notwithstanding the Continuance of our great Provocations He hath often stretched out his Hand against us but presently taken it in again as if he did not know how to give the fatal Blow He hath suffered us to be encompassed with almost unavoidable Dangers but still at length his Arm hath wrought Salvation for us He hath saved us out of the Hand of our Enemies when they have been ready to triumph in their almost accomplish'd Designs against us as if he were thus affectionately contesting with himself concerning us as we read he once was concerning Ephraim Hos 11. 8. How shall I give thee up England How shall I deliver thee into the Hand of thine Enemies My Heart is turned within me my Repentings within me are kindled What can be the Reason of all this Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering towards us but his great Desire that we should not perish but rather come to Repentance If now we seriously consider on the one Hand the imminent Danger we have brought our selves into by our great Provocations and on the other Hand the comfortable Hopes we may yet entertain of Safety and Deliverance of Success and Victory if we did but repent and amend our Doings methinks we should be all ready to do the utmost we can for the accomplishing of that which is so necessary and prevailing a Means to preserve us from the greatest Calamities and
to make us a flourishing and a happy People Which leads me to shew Fifthly What Particulars are required of us in order to the Discharge of that general Duty of Repentance to prevent our being delivered into the Hand of our Enemies To this End First Let us humble our selves before God with Shame and Sorrow for all our great Provocations Let us search and try our Ways and set our Iniquities in order before us Let us know every Man the Plague of his own Heart and reflect upon all those prevailing Sins and Impieties which overspread the Nation let us be afflicted mourn and weep for all our Abominations and in the Anguish of our Spirits bewail the Folly and Ingratitude of them This is the proper Work of this Day Let us try then what we can do what Impression we can make upon our Hearts by reflecting upon God's Mercy and our Ingratitude Let us imploy our Minds in such Thoughts and Reasonings as these Oh! How kind how compassionate how bountiful a Father have we offended and provoked What could God have done for us that he hath not done And yet what could we have done against him that we have forborn O the Riches of that Forbearance and Long-suffering we have despised O the Height and Depth of that Love we have abused We have been obstinately sighting against God whilst he hath been caring and watching and fighting for us We have been taking part with his Enemies the Devil and Sin whilst he hath been defeating the malicious and cruel Attempts of ours Thus have we requited the Lord the Lord that made and bought us our most liberal Benefactour our most gracious Protector the God of our Salvation And can we forbear to add The Remembrance of these things is grievous unto us the Burden of them is intolerable We abhor our selves for them and bitterly bewail the Iniquity of these our Abominations If we are not thus affected with Shame and Sorrow for our personal and national Sins we have been mocking God this Day by an hypocritical Fast and have made our Provocations and our Danger still greater But neither is this all that God requires in the Fast that he hath chosen or for the procuring his Help against our Enemies a Day for a Man to afflict his Soul but to our Sorrow for what is past Secondly We must add sincere and hearty Resolutions to forsake and turn from all our Transgressions and to walk before God in Holiness and Righteousness all our Days Let us resolve then every Man of us by the Grace of God to reform our Lives in every particular wherein we have offended to sacrifice our dearest Lusts to the common Safety of our Church and Nation that there shall no longer cleave to us any of those accursed things which may trouble our Hosts or strengthen the Hands of our Enemies against us With what Face can we complain of any Miscarriages whilst we obstinately persist in those Transgressions which so justly provoke God to infatuate our Counsels and to prevent the Success of the wisest and the most sincere Endeavours for the publick Good Every impenitent Sinner amongst us is a Traytor to his Country and hath a Hand in all our Mismanagements and Misfortunes and opposeth the establishing and perfecting of that Deliverance God hath wrought for us and warreth against that Safety at home which our Fleets and Armies are sent abroad to fight for If then we have any Affection for the Country wherein we were born and have enjoyed so great a Plenty of the richest Blessings if we have any Value for those Laws by which our Liberties and Properties are maintained if we have any Love for that Church wherein we were baptized and enjoy such excellent Helps for the promoting our eternal Happiness if we have any Regard to that Purity of Doctrine and Worship which by so many Wonders of Providence God hath continued to us if we have any Concern for our Persons Estates and Families if we dread the Thoughts of having all given up to the Ravage and Fury of the most barbarous Insolence and Cruelty that many Ages have produced let us no longer delay the Time to keep the Commandments of God let us not lose the present Opportunity of securing all the dearest Interests we have Let it not be as a Price in the Hand of Fools that have not a Heart to use it Let us not refuse those Offers of Aid and Assistance which the Lord of Hosts doth this Day call upon us to dispose our selves for by a true Repentance Thirdly Let us endeavour to make this Reformation as general as we can For if it were but in any good Measure so we might then be confident of the divine Protection that God would stir up his Strength and come and help us that he would make our dwelling on high and our Place of Defence the Munition of Rocks inaccessible to all the Attempts of our strongest Enemies If then by our Example or Authority our Exhortations or Reproofs our Friendship or Advice or by any other proper Means we can diminish that Heap of Transgressions which is already grown up unto the Heavens and loudly calls for the Vengeance of God upon us let us not be wanting to do our utmost This is the most noble and blessed Design we can possibly ingage in to recover Men from those Snares of the Devil they are taken captive by to check the Insolence of triumphant Wickedness and to restore the Practice of true Christian Piety to its primitive Glory For this purpose the Son of God came down from Heaven and humbled himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works And can we be more honourably imployed than in joyning with the Saviour and Redeemer of Men in working together with him for the reclaiming a crooked and perverse Nation We can do nothing more highly conducing to the Honour of our God and Saviour to the Interest of our Church and Nation to the subduing the Enemies we are at Strise with to the Benefit of our Protestant Brethren abroad to the procuring a safe and honourable a lasting and happy Peace to our own present Comfort here and our everlasting Happiness hereafter O let us not then be backward and unwilling to that which we have all the Motives and Arguments in the World to persuade us to prosecute with all our Might We have been forward enough in making Parties for those private Causes we have espoused let us try now with the same Zeal and Industry to make a Party at least for God and the publick Good Let us unite our hearty and vigorous Endeavours to shame and discountenace Sin to retrieve the Honour of despised Religion and to increase the Number of the Friends and Votaries of abandoned Virtue Such an Association as this would indeed be the Honour and Interest of us all This would give us Ground to hope that God himself would