is more miserable still but then to be in a Famine too that the Soul can turn no whither for bread the Nobles come to the pit and there is no water the poore and needy seek water and there is none c. This is a wonderfull hard case indeed 4. Another misery of these Lepers was They were encamped round about with the host of the Syrians their enemies were all about them on every side and though they were such sorry worthless things so full of woes and miseries that it might scarce seem worth the while to kill them yet they stand in great fear of their Lives too lest their enemies should fall upon them and slay them for an Host was now come forth a sworn company of profest enemies against all that belong to Israel and have entred a League to cut off and destroy both root and branch and though the Soul be but as a dry leaf a Partridge upon the mountains a thing of no worth as David pleads with Saul Alas against whom is the King of Israel come forth against a flea such a sorry thing as I am So the Soul sometimes pleads alas what a wretched creature am I I am destitute of God and truth shut out from his people all overspread with a loathsome Leprosie ready to dye for hunger dryed up to nothing with want and famine and is not this misery enough Is there need of other force and violence an Host to come against me the Soul sometimes seriously debates the Case What is the meaning that all should thus conspire against a poor desolate creature a thing of nothing a few sorry Lepers that will soon dye of themselves though all should let them alone are you come out against me with Swords and staves saith Christ alas they might have spared that labour he was now in a most painfull agony in a bloody sweat his Soul was sorrowfull unto death under the sense and burthen of sin no need of a Sword against him The Soul that is indeed sensible knows and feels it is miserable enough though no enemy from without should ever strike a blow against it to be void of God a stranger to the Common-wealth of Israel to be a Leper full of sores to be ready to starve for hunger is not here load enough But to all these to be in continuall fears of death from an Host of enemies who can utter the miserie of this condition Surely if the Lord remove us not hence we cannot long live and continue here But 5. Another thing considerable in their present condition is The lively sense and feeling of their misery they were not asleep then the woe had been lesse but they feel where the shoe pinches As for our iniquities we know them the misery and fears lie hard upon their Souls If we sit here we dye and if we go into the City we dye the famine is there if we fall to the Army of our enemies in all appearance we dye they will surely kill us a great Strait it is truly if your Souls were sensible of it to lie still in a barren wilderness is to dye surely and if you stir a foot to get out there are pits to fall into and wilde beasts ready to devour and it is a thousand to one if one mischief or other do not destroy But all spoke in the general I told you had no force nor power in it if it come not home to us in our own conditions therefore I shewed you how the Case was ours we were the men we are the Lepers La. 3.1 I am the man that have seen affliction saith Jeremy by the rod of his wrath I told you 1. How we were out-casts cut off cast out from the common blessings which belong to Israel the word takes no effect hearing speaking and praying together they take no place touch not the heart but all we get is put into a bag of holes It comes in at one ear and goes out at another nothing abides to be blest unto us we said in our prosperity in the day of our flourishing we should never be moved nor see sorrow I but now how desolate are we voyd and destitute of all good how do we sit many a day not one good and sober thought doth passe through us because we sit as outcasts 2. An evill disease hath taken hold of us we are all overspred with the leprosie so that we cannot speak nor have any dealings with one another but we are in danger of being infected and tainted whatever we do or say or designe a selfish taint getâ— in and spoils all Let all your words be seasoned saith the Apostle but how unsavoury a breath runs in all ours unsavoury to our selves and unprofitable if not infecting to all that hear us 3. The famine is sorely upon us also and like to that which was in Samaria a Famine that puts us to it so hardly that we are made to eat our own children the fruit of our own thoughts and wisdom and reason we have no Bread from Heaven now rained upon us but Bread from the earth that is from beneath our own fleshly thoughts and counsells we have nothing else in a Strait to refresh our weary Souls withall all is spent and the Prodigall seeks to fill his belly with the Husks that the Swine eat and they fail him also 4. There is an Host of enemies hath beset us Troops that continually seek our lives and wait for our halting both from within and from without and they threaten like Goliah never to give over till they have given our flesh to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air till they have undone us when the poor soul sits sadly bemoaning it self alas I am an outcast shut out from the favour of God and of his people and am made to sit alone in my chains Alas I am a Leper and unclean My wounds stink and are corrupt a loathsome disease hath all over-run me there is no sound part from head to foot Alas I am ready to dye of the famine the word takes no place hearing is not blest to me that which was once dearer then thousands of Gold and Silver sweeter then the Hony and Hony comb more sought for then necessary food yet now all is gone the Soul is empty and dry and heartless the famine hath consumed all and yet must an Host too come against the Soul in this case this adds to all our misery greatly Here new fears perplex the Soul lest the enemy come unawares and slay it The Lepers know not what shall befall them and they are sensible of all these miseries now upon them Alas you that go and come and sit here as pictures and are no more sensible then the stones in the wall all this is nothing to you and I am wondering sometimes how it is possible you should thus sleep away your time and never consider you are going apace to Hell and
sure we are beyond them and honester then They There is something that judges and gets above them do what they can and however they envy hate and oppose and will not stoop under it yet such a glory there is in the Truth such a lustre and shining as will manifest it self and therefore the promise is The Righteous shal shine as the Sun in the firmament 4. The fourth great and precious Promise is to be Partakers of Vertue Now Vertue is either taken for a quick and lively fresh power in any thing as when we say such an herb is full of vertue to smell on or such meat is full of vertue to taste on or else Vertue is some secret hidden power which can neither be smelt nor tasted but yet is perceived As in the Loadstone there is a hidden vertue to draw Iron c. So there is a lively Vertuous Power in the Word of Life it will take some effect or other and not return in vain for either it meets with its own kind in us and that relishes and tastes and finds a sweetness in it as David says Thy Word is sweeter unto me then the honey and the honey-comb It is a sweet smelling savour to that a savour of life unto life but if it meet with the enemy that evil principle in us that curses and rages and rends and teers the child at the sight of Jesus it is a savour of death unto death to That Who ever they are that neither taste a sweetness in Truth nor smell a savour of rest from it yet there is a secret vertue that will cut them to the heart Nabal's heart dyes and faints in him do what he can It strikes a secret blow and gets in between the joynts of the armour There is a living vertue in it and like a potion of Physick it will work one way or other either make better or worse And thus the first thing is opened to you What are these great and precious Promises And before I come to the next thing to open what it is to partake of the Divine Nature I would have this I have said well looked over by you For who of you is yet fit to be marryed to Christ He will not take another mans wife whilest we have a husband living any created thing in whose bosom we lie and take delight and pleasure so long we are not a wife for Christ and if our hearts be pulled off by force only and the way hedged up that we cannot find our Lovers this is not that which pleaseth him neither He will not marry a divorced woman but only a chaste Virgin a Heart that stands loose and clean from all corruptible things such a heart only is a fit Spouse for Christ to be Partaker of this divine Nature But 1. It concerns some of you to enquire what â—it is you seek Life or Death None of you I know will say Death you would all have Life But what then mean the bleatings the cryings and huntings after perishing Things where Death is in the pot Why are you living in the creatures in your own wills and counsels Why are you not at a strait to cry out to be saved if Life be the Thing you seek There are many Seekers in the World the Greeks seek after wisdom and the Jews they seek a sign some seek ease and quiet and rest from their torment some seek wisdom and knowledg and parts to be great and honoured but Death is in all this See then what would you have Is Life the thing you seek for or have you it already If you are partakers of Life indeed then the rest will follow Godliness will then come in a God-like mind to be just single merciful h ly like to the Pattern and then Glory will follow your good works will shine before men and then a vertue will go forth which may be savored and relished in all your words and actions But now do these things appear in us what is it we seek what would we have is Life the Thing would we have Christ to dwell in us No we would not all come so near we would have Christ a great way off at the right hand of God to save us at the last gasp when we come to dye but not live the life of the Righteous But be not deceived it is in vain to come hither if we seek not Life But then 2. Suppose a stress be upon you that indeed you would reach out to the Tree of Life because you are smit to the ground and cannot escape the hand but it will bring you to Death do what you can But now enquire upon what grounds wouldst thou have Life upon what account why dost thou hope or expect it is it promised to thee is the word gone forth from Christ that He will raise thee up at the last day what ground have you to hope more then all the world though you may seek it yet that will not do it neither Esau sought the blessing with tears And Christ saith Many shall seek to enter and shall not be able And Paul saith That Israel obtained not what they sought after but the Election obtained it There is a People which shall surely be Partakers of Life to whom the Promise is made but no other The Promise is sure to all the Seed therefore see how standest thou in all thy seeking and hoping for Life Hadst thou ever a Promise of Life given thee either to thy self witnessed to thy own Soul or given to any of his People for thee that Thou shalt Live c. For a vain thing it is to go and take Promises up out of the Scripture and make them our own Promises made to Abraham and David and the rest what are these to thee unless God make them over and give them to thee as He did to them And then 3. Enquire what would you have Life for would you have it to please your selves to live to your wills to be at ease and be freed from troubles Alas this is not a right seeking of it As Jehu answered the Kings messenger concerning Peace What hast thou to do with Peace So what hast thou to do with Life it belongs not to thee unless there be that end in it to live for anothers service and not thy own Therefore it is of great concernment to know what we are about I wonder sometimes on what uncertain bottoms you stand you know not whither you go nor what you would have in all your hearings but like the picture of a rampant Lyon on the wall come seven years hence and that is still in the same place So I have known some of you these many years to be Seekers and Professors and Talkers but you are still where you were seven years ago as carnal sensual as blind ignorant in the ways of God as much glued to the world and seeking your selves not removed a step nearer God then you were c.
in the Church but if you would know for no better end then this only to satisfie your reaching heart if you employ not your Masters goods to the best advantage better had you never had the Truth then to make an evil use of it as Christ declares in the next Chapter a Parable of a Steward that wasted his Masters goods and inrich'd himself by it Ephraim is a fruitful Vine to himself But as Solomon saith Riches are given to some for their hurts And here you may see that if riches and honor c. shall be the way to bring a man down God will give him them Eve shall eat of the Apple though forbidden because said she its good to make one wise c. that so she might be brought under the curse Though all shall not have their hearts brought down that way for some shall have their hearts discovered by their foolishness they shall have no knowledg but be ignorant and brutish as a beast What strange ways does God take to bring down mans heart before he can know that he standeth by grace that he is not able to think a good thought of himself As the Prodigal here as soon as ever he can get all together he is gone he thinks he is well now As soon as God gives understanding knowledg discerning then comes Pride then we think we are something because we have something But alas may we cry out as the man did to Elijah it was but borrowed and he that lent it may call for it when it pleases him Therefore let him that thinks he standeth take heed lest he fall How proud is this Peacock how does she spread out her tail but when she sees her black feet then she hangs down her head 4ly The Prodigal having gathered all together he has then he goes forth gallantly adorned Now I can give Reproof Instruction and Counsel saith he and thus he looks upon his plume of Feathers but by and by his portion is gone his Feathers are pluckt and then how naked and ashamed is he If you be made wise to see and be warned then happy are you We never come to our losses but by this prying upon our selves as the Apostle saith We measure our selves by our selves saying I am better then I was and amongst our selves when we look upon others we say I am better then this and th' other but in this you are not wise c. But who of us desires the Truth as David did O deal kindly with me saith he that I may keep thy Commandments We say Let me have the Truth but for what end to be proud of it We often enquire and enquire as the Pharises did of the blind man But how came thine eyes open as if we would be his Disciples But is it indeed for that end I beseech you enquire why would you know the hidden Mysteries of God and be of his Counsel c. If you have no mind to be his Disciples there 's great danger in it there 's great need to enquire wherefore you would know God Would you know him to fear him fear him to serve him serve him to love him to love him not your selves is this in all your hearings desirings and prayings c. What would you have him for is it to get honour to your selves or is it for the honour of him That in all your desirings this may be set before you to say thus Did the Prodigal desire and did the father give him his desire But what did he with it He gathered all together and ran from his father We never undertake to be desperately evil but we first plot how to carry it out As a thief that is resolved to steal he plots how to carry away what he intends to steal When you look over how you are wiser and have more discerning then others how good is prophesied concerning you c. then you gather up your portions and arm your selves against the Truth to fight with it All you that have gone far from God have not gone naked we have made use of what God had given us to carry us out from him We could never have gone into a Land of wasting of hunger and famine had we not once been in a Land of plenty You have not gone out hood-wink'd How have you promised your selves when you have gone into evil company you would only go to learn experience and return again presently But whither have you carried your riches even as the Prodigal to a Citizen of that Country where self-love pride envy c. dwells where the Ishmaelites dwell the Tabernacles of Edom of Moab and the Hagarens Gebal and Ammon and Amlaeck c. Psal 83.6 7. All the kindred that are against Truth Pride Self-love Envy c. are the Country-men whither the Prodigal carries his riches And what doth he now do does he go to God in this loss No he joyns himself to this Citizen one of the same kind for such as a mans heart is such is his society he joyns himself to If the heart is let out to Envy then to the envious if to Self-love Pride unmercifulness it seeks for such and therefore must our high thoughts come down And whosoever of you shall be so wise to take warning by this might be afraid to ask of God riches any more since we have spent them upon our lusts We have gone from Jerusalem to that cursed Jericho and as the Prodigal spent all our substance And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the Land and he began to be in want c. And so it will be all the vertue strength power wisdom fear love c. what ever we have enjoyed that sprung from Truth will be spent and the famine will arise But for what Cause 1. As a just Judgment When David had numbered the people God sent unto him three Judgments bidding him choose which he would Shall seven years of famine come unto thy Land saith God or wilt thou fly three moneths before thine enemies or shall three days Pestilence be in thy Land c. 2 Sam. 24.13 This was to come as a Judgment upon him Therefore now in this strait what great need have you of one to make an attonement for you When you have had the exercise of Truth lively upon you how have you babbled it to every one You have thought Sure I have riches enough and so have run it out as long as ever you had breath as a drunken man that has money he spends all never considering how hardly he came by it and how soon he may want Not like that wise man Christ speaks of who when he hath found the treasure hid in a field presently goes and hideth it again Mat. 13.44 But as soon as we are a little brought out but to see our way c. how do we tell it abroad to every one we meet My heart shall never reproach my mouth saith Job I but
And this man would never chuse to have these contrary beings live so near together If the soul be once in the Ministry of circumcision with Peter then it would by no means touch any thing common or unclean But the Promise is That the Lion and the Lamb and the Ox and the Bear shall lie down together and yet do no hurt in all the holy Mountain Yet observe there is a difference made but two of a sort of all the unclean were to be kept but of all the clean seven couple which had this in it to shew That however here sin and righteousness dwell together in the Ark yet there are more for us then against us Seven couple of the clean sort a compleat number of the righteous seed and but some few reliques of sin yet a spawn lives to keep the Soul in awe always lest it should increase and multiply and that there might ever be a crying out against this Body of Death for 't is a wearisom condition at best and full of snares These unclean Beasts cannot but be ill companions for the clean having always a devouring mind if it were possible to destroy them Then in this Ark Noah had a Dove to send out to bring tydings to him how it went abroad which had this meaning in it That who ever have indeed built this Ark attained to a certain estate of Salvation the Holy Ghost is given them to go to God for them in all straits We know not how to pray but the Spirit it self helpeth our infirmities This is the Messenger between God and the Soul in all straits and distresses What time as I am afflicted saith David I will pray unto thee O Lord if you had but a heart to consider it When your house is on fire and the Enemies at hand when you are compassed about with fears and miseries and distresses as you will be and yet no Messenger is at hand to send to enquire of God and know his meaning and what he intends and what the end shall be O how miserable is it to be left alone without this Comforter There are many that set themselves to pray and speak words but alas he hears not any for their much babbling if there be not this Holy Ghost that proceeded from him to go to him He hears not other cries and noyses Though they howl on their beds and abase themselves to Hell he matters not The Father will hear none but his own Spirit and that knows how to get nigh him to hold him fast and plead with him I will not let thee go unless thou bless me And if this Dove return once without the Olive branch yet it hath no rest but goes out again till it obtain a blessing and bring tydings of Peace Now can any of you answer that question of Peters Have you received this Holy Ghost after you believed You have believed indeed I know and it lives in your Consciences that Truth is here and God is amongst us that here are the words of eternal life But now hast thou received the Holy Ghost after this believing Else what a miserable plunge must thou needs be at when straits and Tryals come as thick as Hail and thou hast none to send to God to enquire the meaning none to intercede for thee and plead thy Cause but art left as the whole world to live in darkness and judg all things like beasts which know no farther then they feel in all that befalls them Now I would proceed to speak of the Consequents or Effects which follow this building of the Ark and they are layd down in the words to be these three 1. Noah did it to the saving of his house 2. He condemned the world by it 3. He became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith 1. He saved his house by it it is worth noting It is not said He did it to the saving himself though that was included in it yet a farther thing was in it to save his house The servants of God in all times have had that reward of their labor to save a People That hath been their care and work to seek up the lost sheep to turn others to Righteousness And in this saving of his houshold three Things are considerable How Noah did it 1. He saved his house that great work by being a Hearer first himself He was first warned of God himself and had an ear open to receive and learn the lesson before he can teach his house What I received of the Lord saith Paul that I delivered to you Many go to teach others and were never taught themselves Alas how can their work stand They preach they know not what nor to whom They would be Teachers of the Law not knowing the things whereof they affirm They never heard his voyce at any time nor saw his shape as Christ said to the Jews and how can they save a People They are blind Leaders of the blind and therefore wo to the Preachers that have not first learn'd of the Lord themselves and woe to the People that are left to such Guides for both the wall and the Dawber shall fall together But Noah was first warned of God himself 2. He saves his house by taking charge of them and standing engaged for them as for his own Soul Take heed saith Paul of the flock of whom the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers The Holy Ghost lays the charge upon Gods Ministers and they are made to receive it and wait and tend and look after their People as their own Souls As Judah saith of Benjamin If I bring him not back again to thee let me bear the blame for ever Such a weighty charge they take upon them But where is now in our days such a Noah such a Preacher of Righteousness Many Preach indeed and they take the charge of a People as they say but how long Till another hundred pound a year comes and then they are gone or till some suffering and hardship or inconvenience come and then they are gone They fly at the sight of the Wolf O wicked generation God will find them out But Noah takes charge of his People they are his house his family his life and therefore sticks to the saving of them 3. That is the third thing He sticks close to them and follows on till the thing be done till he hath indeed saved them till brought them into the same condition with himself He will lay down his life for his sheep and this is a true Shepherd indeed that cries out with Moses Nay rather blot my name out of the Book of Life then that this People should be destroyed And Paul he is at a strait and could wish himself accurst from Christ for his Brethrens sake Now to have such a Saviour to stand in the gap to travel for a People and never leave till Christ be formed in them this is the great Mercy and after this sort do the Noahs
time when he reigns after he hath bound the strong man and put down all rule and authority 4. A time of Gods reigning when the Kingdom shall be delivered up to the Father and God be all in all II. About the Devils time of reigning which was chiefly aymed at from the words these several woes observed 1. He is a strong man David and our Fathers complain of their strong Enemy who was too strong for them 2. He is throughout malignant maliciously bent against the root and branch of Truth that the name of Israel may be no more 3. Woe in that he hath a time and power given him to afflict God allows it This is your hour and power of darkness c. 4. He is in possession he keeps the house he is got into the heart out of the heart adulteries murthers c. This is a great woe 5. He hath goods in us finds of his own kinde Pride Envy Deceit Lustings that he can challenge his own goods by right 6. Besides all this he is armed he hath armor His Armor exprest under these three notions 1. A coat of mail to cover him over that nothing can touch or finde him guilty his scales so thick nothing can enter 2. A helmet of brass He can dispute and reason and plead for himself and will never yeeld nor give over 3. A spear like a weavers beam He 'l seem to be for God and Truth and by this spear keeps off all from coming nigh 7. The last woe He is desperate will venture on any desperate designes being thus armed he is safe made without fear III. A time when a stronger then he comes and overcomes him And Christ doth it by these means 1. He takes away all his armor That is first done else no entrance 2. He divides the spoyl sends all to their place as Jer. 15. 1. That which for death to death something utterly destroyed That malignant disposition which is ever bent against the Truth that must dye 2. That which for the sword to sword The sword of the Spirit the Word of God must cut through sloth and lingerings c. 3. Something to famine the ill tempers are starved by degrees 4. Something to captivity the Devil is bound and in prison though not quite destroyed but some Canaanites live c. All brought home in these four Uses 1. To examine how 't is with us whether we feel this reign of the Devil this strong malicious Enemy what goods and possession he hath 2. If we feel it then to inform what a vain thing it is for us to stir to help our selves alass man hath no might 3. To shew our way is to lie down and let all go over till Christ come 4. To encourage that a stronger then he will come Hope against Hope LUK. 11.21 When a strong man armed keeps his Palace his goods are in peace but when a stronger then he comes and overcomes him he takes away from him all the Armour in which he trusted and divideth the spoile I Have sâ—oke to you this last week from those words in Deut 5. where God cries out Oh that there were such a heart in then c. I told you what Heart it was that God requires and longs for to have grown up in them a Heart that will hear and do all that the Lord shall speak A heart always to feare before him and only such a heart I told you would be first suitable to God and the heavenly life secondly profitable and usefull to our brethren and thirdly peaceable to our selves and therefore ouâ— great happiness lyes in this in being brought up to such a heart But now to day if God wilâ— I shall open to you what hinders that such a heart is not risen nor can rise in us though there be longings in God and longings in the soul yet that which doth let will let till it be taken out of the way For this I would have you note that where-ever there is a longing and breathing in God after any of his People to cry Oh that there were such a heart in then there is a certain eccho lyes in the bottome of such a soule that answers this call and longs and pants also Oh that my heart were so direct to keep thy Commandments the longings and cryes are on both hands and why do they not prevaile why is not such a heart presently given no there is a block lyes in the way which will ever hinder till it be removed the strong man armed keeps the Palace and till a stronger then he come till Christ shall rise in the soul and cast him out this heart cannot get up nor arise in us the strong man rules I would in generall observe to you a fourfold time of raigning which succeed and follow one the other 2. A time of the mans raigning 2. A time of the Devils raign 3. A time of Christs raign 4. A time of Gods raign when Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom to the Father and so God become all â—n all I. There is a time of Mans reign when the man hath a great liberty and swinge to turn himself about hither and thither as he please and meets with no let nor cross nor trouble in his way When Peter is young he girds himself and walks whither he lists but when he grows old the case is altered another girds and leads him whither he would not but the man hath his day of liberty when the grass is in its prime and the flower in its full beauty the man can turn him to his ease and parts and inlargments and injoyments of truth and injoyments of creatures and suck sweet every where Thus was Iob in his day when his steps were washed in Butter and the rocke poured out rivers of oil his beauty was fresh in him and he sate as a king in the army under the flourishings and inlargments of truth he could walk and speak and act and choose and refuse exhort and incourage others and all takes and prospers and finds acceptance and here he thinks he is sure Then I said I shall dye in my nest c. And this time of greenness in the truth is yet upon some of you affords the man sweetness and liberty and how long did many of us walk in this posture coming forth delicately with Agag and saying Surely the bitternesse of death is past So have we secretly promised our selves I have forsaken the world and am come off from all the false wayes of worship and have left friends and preferments and am set down to the truth and sure now the worst is over now I am safe and in a good way and here the man sits down on a high seat above all creatures and bonds and snares takes ease and content and reigns with truth as Paul writes to the Corinthians Ye are free and reign as Kings they thought all was sure and the liberty of man would last alwayes I
but saith Paul I would to God you did reign viz. that it were such a reigne as would last and hold Now who spake he to not to the rude world nor to the ignorant but such as he had in his heart to live and dye with such as he had espoused to Christ the match was made but not the thing done they were not wrought off from all things nor wrought up to that one husband into the minde of Christ though out of a light instruction and choice the thing was owned and approved And here the man gets peace and ease and liberty is free from guilt and torments and perplexities the man can goe on either hand if a mind to God and Truth thither he can turn if a mind to the Creatures he can turn thither the door is open and he can suck sweet from every thing his wayes are all washt in butter smooth soft and easie And here saith David my mountain was so strong I said I shall never be moved here the man sits as a King this is his day of reigning But II. There is another dispensation follows a time of the Devils reign this is a sad and wofull change Another king arises which knows not Joseph the man when he was King he knew God and owned truth and joyned it with him in his Kingdom though yet in the throne Pharaoh will sit above the man was uppermost in all But now another king rises that will not know Joseph and he deals cruelly with Israel then the hard Task-masters and cruel burdens come he will know nothing but his own will and lust and cruelty And Wo to the inhabitants of the world when the devil comes down to reign amongst them when Jeroboam reigns that makes Israel sin And how often have our fathers been at sore pinches and cried out in bitterness of soul when this time of the devils reign was upon them It is a woful kingdom indeed a cruel reign And these seven Woes lie up in it 1. One Wo is that he is a strong man How have our fathers owned his might and cried out under it Thou hast delivered me saith David from my STRONG enemy for he was too strong for me And again My enemies live and they are MIGHTY And Hezekiah cries out Lord I am opprest undertake for me And again We have no might against this GREAT HOST Alas when the man compares but himself to him what a Nothing is he to this great Goliah but as a fly a worm a gnat a stripling and he a man of war from his youth And here the heart sinks and dies at the very thoughts of dealing with him Was he but an ordinary enemy that might be matched any ways and the thing but feasible to fight with him then Man would have some hope but alas he carries all before him Shall not one be cast down at the very sight of him as 't is said of the Leviathan who was a type of the devil Iron is counted as rotten wood to him he laughs at the shaking of a spear Who is able to deal with this monstrous Leviathan If ever you but begin to reason and tamper the matter with him you are certainly foiled and worsted he will surely get beyond you 't is in vain to contend with him But let him vaunt and boast and rail on the Kings commandment is not to answer a word that 's the way Truth points us to to be still and lie under and say with Christ This is your hour and the power of darkness Until we can go out against him as David did in the Name of the Lord let us never stir though he come and vaunt himself and reproach Israel fourty days yet there is no other way but with Hezekiah to spread the Letter before the Lord and cry under the misery 2. He is not onely strong but a thorowout malignant enemy maliciously set and bent to destroy all truth exalts himself above all that is called God root and branch he strikes at all he deals as Herod who killed all the children from two yeers old and upward that he might be sure to meet with the childe Jesus and not let him escape So this malicious enemy kills every budding and springing of God in the soul he kills all the light kills the single love kills all the good desires that not so much as a right word or desire or groan may live and in all this his aim is utterly to destroy the Truth the principle of God sown in the soul Alas he cares not else if he can but kill the little spark of the Spirit of life he cares not what else passes by and lives Let us hear and meet together and eat and trade and take ease and content this is not the thing he is set against so but to smite the king of Israel onely that is his plot that was the wicked counsel of Ahithophel to kill David onely and bring all the people back to Absalom Neither small nor great doth he strike at but the King onely he cares not what lives so the Lord Christ the Truth the Seed of life the Heart and Minde of God may die in us Such a height of wickedness is in him that nothing else will content him but the death of all that would be a Lord over him a controuler a King this Herod cannot bear That which sits in the kings gate and will not bow to him that resolved Truth that will not fall down and worship the Idol nothing will content Haman but the death of this though he get Decrees against all the Jews though invited to the Queens banquet and sit next the King yet nothing will content him whilst this Mordecai lives that Seed of God that root of the matter that which will not stoop and buckle to him that he aims at and his fingers itch to cut off this name of Israel for ever And Oh what a Wo is this to be under such a cruel malicious enemy that would not give a moments respite not so much as a little breathing-time for the Truth not a little hope not a little desire not the least stirring of an inclination but he 's upon it presently if it were possible to stop every chink that the smoaking flax might not have the least vent but be utterly extinct and quenched 3. A third great Wo lies in this that he hath a time and power given him of God to afflict and try God allows it and gives him leave to strike Job This is YOVR HOVR saith Christ an hour was given them And God saith I will cause them to pass under the rod. And 't is said in the Psalms He TVRNED the hearts of their enemies to hate them He gives him his time and commission to rend and tear waste spoil and imprison and none can call him to account for it his Commission will bear him out Alas what a day is this In the time when the Man reigned he promised himself
feel how utterly malignant he is and contrary to all good Do you finde it is his hour to be let loose to rend and rear and perplex and torment Do you feel indeed the pains of hell and do the sorrows of death take fast hold as David cries out they did upon him If you finde it not so now nor have ever found it yet certainly a time will come when the enemy will shew himself when the wicked one will get up into the throne and exalt himself above all that is called God a time will come of being hurried and torn and perplexed under his wicked and tyrannous reign when ye shall be made sensible where you are once for whilst you stand sensless as images and posts nothing seizes on you and you never think to see such a Day but whether you feel or believe to see it yea or not yet the Day will surely come and try all that dwell upon the whole earth 2. You that finde and feel this Day it may inform you what a vain thing it is for man to stir or move hand or foot to rescue himself or oppose this adversary Alas what is man to lift up a hand against him one that is so strong and so malignantly bent to destroy one that hath a commission and power given one that is in full possession of the house and furnished with all store of armour and goods in us Alas it is in vain to stir against him Man is too weak 't is all one as if a poor lonesome woman should have twenty or an hundred plunderers in her house ransacking and breaking up here and there alas 't is in vain for her to stand against them they may do what they will unless some other help come and rescue her so vain and impossible is it for any of you to winde out of the hands of this enemy and save your selves if another Saviour one mightier then he deliver you not 3. Therefore in the next place this might perswade you to lie down and submit to your bonds till deliverance come Answer him not a word that is the Kings command the charge of Truth but bear all his threats and vauntings and upbraidings Let all run over as God saith of Zion And thou layedst thy body to the earth for them to pass over Lie in the condition how miserable soever it be till a stronger then thou or he shall come to deal with him This is the peaceablest and most sutable way for our present conditions 4. Yet this must give some hint of hope and encouragement and cause the soul to put in and wait for a lot in this matter since there is for certain such a thing as deliverance to be for some there is a rest for the people of God Our God will come say they and will not tarry A stronger then he is spoke of that is able to deal with him and twist him about at his pleasure and this might give a little encouragement to hope But as for our parts we can do nothing in it we cannot stand against the enemy nor can we hasten the rising of Christ to deal with him Who shall say unto God What dost thou Who shall stir him up before his time May he not do what he will Is he not Lord of all Therefore no way is for us but to lie under and endure and let all the waves go over our backs till he shall command a calm and he uses to come in an unexpected time when all hope of life is gone when but meal and oyl enough is left to make one cake and then the widow concludes to die then comes the word The barrel of meal and the cruse of oyl shall not fail c. Therefore Oh that it was in your hearts to cry with one consent for this Saviour to arise this Deliverer that might turn ungodliness from Jacob All difficulties and impossibilities are nothing to him that which is impossible with Man with God is easie and possible And this might raise up a little springing of hope against all rubs and bars that lie in our way When he comes he is able to deal with this mighty enemy He comes provided His works before him and his rewards with him He will divide the spoyl and take away his armor and send that which is for death to death that which is for the sword to the sword that which is for famine to famine and that which is for captivity to captivity He keeps sure records of all and will surely visit in his appointed time O therefore that we had a heart raised and stirred to cry with one consent for this Coming of his and to give no rest night nor day but cry O come Lord Jesus come quickly till we have an answer and be delivered THE Woful Case of the Lepers OR The Soul at an exceeding Strait SERM. XIV June 22. 1651. 2 KING 7.3 4. And there were four leprous men at the entering iâ— of the gate and they said one to another Why sit we here until we dye If we say We will enter into the City the famine is in the City and we shal dye there and if we sit stil here we dye also Now therefore come and let us fall into the hoast of the Syrians and if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but dye c. The Analysis THree things in general observed I. The present condition the Lepers are in And that was opened in five Particulars suitable to the misery of our present state 1. They were without the City out-casts no enjoyment of the Society Ordinances Blessings of the Commonweal of Israel 2. They were all overspred with leprosie might not talk with any lest infect them and how do we taint one another with our selves 3. Farther a miserable famine was upon them women eat their own children so we forced to eat what is born of the flesh our own Reason 4. They are beset with an hoast of Enemies too and this is our case at present the world are up against us 5. The light and sense of all this misery was upon them If we sit here we dye They knew and felt the heavy case they are in All this was brought home to our particular conditions II. Consider their hopeless and helpless Case to use any means to escape If we go back into the City we shall surely dye c. This applyed to our conditions in three things we are brought to something and if we go back Death will surely be in it 1. We are brought to a clear information of the vanity of all the worlds worship and the shortness of our conversation in all points 2. Made to see that all hopes and conclusions without a certain witness from God himself are short and nothing to eternal Life 3. We have professed to all and chose in our Souls a self-denying way to take up the Cross dayly and if now suffered to reason
one that eat of his bread and was his familiar friend as 't is expressed in the Psalmist We took sweet counsel together and walked in the House of God as friends And this is a wonderful misery to take up Had it been an enemy I could have born it but thou my friend my familiar c. This cuts to the heart This very case befalls the Soul in which Truth is There is something that sticks near to it a friend that lies in its bosom and is nursed and favoured by it something that walks in the House of God with it and pretends to be for God and Truth and pleads hard as if all were intended for the Souls good and this will be a sad day when this very thing shall be found to be the Betrayer and yet this Christ submits to when he consents Thy Will be done 2. Fâ—rther He submits to be betrayed into the hand of Sinners And here are seven great Aggravations of misery 1. They are a multitude into whose hands he is betrayed This flattering and smooth-mouth'd Betrayer this Judas that comes with a kiss and salutes Hail Master a great multitude is at his heels he brings in a whole Troop after him Oh that you could read the thing in your selves in the work upon your own Souls For there is all this to be fulfilled if you go in the same way with Christ and tread in his steps if you drink of the same Cup as all the saved ones must for there is no other way to life but to be planted into the likeness of his death the likeness in all cases though not the very same particular Tryals that he had And now this you shall find true that when ever this Judas that betrays the Soul gets in when by his counsel or wisdom or flatterings and fair promises that cursed Betrayer gets in his foot and deceives the Soul with a kiss then he lets in a multitude of enemies against us then come in the swarmings of wickedness They compassed me about like Bees saith David Then come in all the floods of ungodliness and make the Soul afraid Then all the fountains of the great deep are broke up and come with violence ready to sweep away all before them Then the Sea brings forth abundantly all manner of creeping things Then a night presently overtakes the Soul and all the beasts of the Forrest creep forth Strange monsters and things we never saw before mire and dirt and strange wickednesses appear that we never thought had been in us This Betrayer brings out all against us We had thought we had been knowing and well seen into the ways of God but now ignorance and mists and confusion beset that the Soul cannot see nor know one distinct Truth We had thought we had been good-natured and tender-hearted and friendly however but now rage and madness and desperateness get up We had thought sure we had a will and desire towards God and were willing to be ruled and ordered by him but now the punctual fightings and opposings and resistings shew themselves that the Soul is made clearly to see it chooseth Death rather then Life All monstrous wickedness gets up when this son of perdition is to be revealed in the Soul and hath once betrayed it I would you might read these things as we go for all this a written for our learning and if this was done to the green tree then what shall be done to the dry This is no other condition then what hath befallen our fathers in their day When God hath brought them to Judgment and this work of bringing them through death to life was in hand they ever had a Betrayer that lay close and did them all the mischief and brought these Troops of Enemies against them and it cannot be prevented This son of perdition will thus act he will betray and bring the Soul to death and he lies close he is in all the saved ones and there is no other way to life but by having him cast out But he will first surely spit his poyson and play all his pranks if it were possible to undo the very Elect Such an Host such a multitude he brings with him that sometimes it agasters and amazes the man to see how he is beset what swarms of iniquities strange unthought of lusts appear And we shall all surely find this true in our selves when God shall have that work in hand of bringing us down to death the house appointed for all the living which all the saved ones must pass 2. This multitude come armed and provided against him with swords and staves and herein lies a great mystery if you were able to read it Thy rod and thy staff sustain me saith David The Enemy also he hath swords and staves to destroy and mind there are staves as well as swords Now staves are dull weapons and though they may bruise and batter yet they kill not and this is a great aggravation of the misery that the sword may not come alone suddenly to cut off and make an end but there are staves too that bruise and batter the Soul and yet touch not its life but it must hang in death And this Job cries out against O that I could find the grave then should I be at rest I but in those dayes it is said men shall seek death and it shall fly from them They cannot dye and this wonderfully adds to the misery that the Soul is wounded and cut and pierced and yet cannot reach to dye the staves keep off the sharpness of the Sword that it doth not quite kill The Sword of the spirit is the Word of God the true Light that the enemy makes use of that searches and cuts and judges and finds guilty every where and leaves no thought unjudged and this Sword would soon cut off where it let loose Thou writest bitter things against me saith Job and this though it be cruell yet it would seem easier to the Soul in that day and under that anguish if it might but go on to make an end then should I yet have comfort c. saith Job Iob 69 10. But there are staves too that keep off the blow from coming to the heart There are secret hopes from the Devil steal in and get up do the Soul what it can that so it cannot dye but lies thus miserably hattered to and fro and can get no wayes as David cries out Thou hast beset me behind and before that the Soul can neither get to God nor from God nor to death nor from death O Lord who can read the Riddle 3. This multitude lay hold on Christ and lead him away they are too potent and strong and he hath no might nor strength to withstand them This is your hour and the Power of darkness but it is the day of his weakness his wings are cut that he cannot get away He cries out I am a worm and no man a scorn and reproach