season then to be acting faith in the mighty power and providence of God Surely it is an easie matter to trust God when we have Meal in the Barrel and Oyl in the Cruse and Money in our Purse but wilt thou trust God and rely upon his power in the want and absence of all As the Prophet Habakkuk when the Fig-tree did not blossom nor fruit could be found in the Vines when the labour of the Olive did fail and the Field did yeild no meat when the Flocks were cut off from the fold and there were no Herd in the stall when there was an utter consumption and deprivation of all things then to be rejoycing in the Lord and joying in the God of our salvation Then to say the Lord is my strength and he will make me to walk on my high places Then to say the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want as David and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Psal 22. then to live beleivingly trustingly and dependingly upon God This is a high Act of Faith in the Power of God And O that I could minister a word of support unto thy soul in such a condition Well be not faithless but beleiving live still in the faith of the all-sufficiency of God That his hand is not shortned that it cannot help neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear there 's no diminution of his power or is there any unwillingness in God to hear and help in a time of need Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil saith the Psalmist when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about Psal 49.5 So say thou thou poor doubting and disponding soul Why should I fear in this evil day why should I distrust that God and doubt of his power and all-sufficiency to help me now who hath fed me and cloathed me and sustained me all the days of my life Why should I not be casting my care upon him who hath not only promised but is able also to take care of me 1 Pet. 5.7 Why do I not cast my burden upon the Lord who hath graciously promised and he is able also to sustain me and will never suffer the righteous to be moved Psal 55.22 This was a great stay and support to Abrahams faith when God promised to make him a Father of may Nations He considered not the deadness of his own body being about 100. years old nor the deadness of Sarai's womb He staggered not at the promise of God through unbeleif but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform Mark I pray you he did not only beleive the promise but the ability of God also he fixt his faith in the power and all-sufficiency of God Rom. 4.19 20 21. He was assured that God was as able as he was faithful in the performance of his promise God had said unto him but a little before Abram I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect and now Abram would not question it in the least he knew his grace was all-sufficient for him and that his strength could be perfected in his weakness As the Lord told Paul in another case 2 Cor. 12.9 And has left it for ever upon record as a most precious cordial of comfort to refresh and support the most fainty distressed and disconsolate soul To wit When the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them And that they may not think he wants power to perform what he hath promised saith he I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the values I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water Isa 41.17 18 19. Surely this promise is very applicable to poor needy thirsty hungry souls upon the accompt of temporal or spiritual refreshment And the Saints have beleived it Though I walk saith David in the midst of trouble thou wilt revive me thou wilt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies and thy right hand shall save me Psal 138.7 Yea though I walk through the valley of the shaddow of death though I should be in the most dark dismal and uncomfortable condition yet I will fear no evil thou art with me thy presence shall support me thy rod and thy staffe they shall comfort me Psal 23.4 Though he slay me saith Job yet will I trust in him I will maintain mine own ways before him He also shall be my salvation Job 13.15 So when the enemies of God are high and the Church of Christ very low O this acting of faith in the power of God is of great use O God how long shall the adversary reproach shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever Why withdrawest thou thy hand even thy right hand and that 's the hand of power and strength surely pluck it out of thy bosome For God is my King of old consider it I pray you working salvation in the midst of the earth Thou didst divide the Sea by thy strength thou breakest the heads of the Dragons in the waters Thou brakest the heads of Leviathan in peices and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness Thou didst clean the fountain and the floud thou driedst up mighty rivers Psal 74.10 11 12 13 14 15. What cannot the Lord do when he hath a purpose to save his people and to destroy his enemies Thy way O God is in the sanctuary who is so great a god as our God Thou art the God that dost wonders thou hast declared thy strength among the people Thou hast with thine own redeemed thy people the Sons of Jacob and Joseph Psal 77.13 14 15. Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoyce in thee Psal 85.6 This raised up the Churches hopes in the stormy and tempestuous times of persecution and why The Lord reigneth he is cloathed with majesty the Lord is cloathed with strength wherewith he hath girded himself c. The flouds have lifted up O Lord the flouds have lifted up their voice the flouds lift up their waves What then The Lord on high is mightier then the noise of many waters yea then the mighty waves of the Sea And so said Jethro when Moses had told him what the Lord had done unto Pharoah and to the Egyptians for Israels sake and all the travel that had come upon them by the way and how the Lord delivered them Now I know saith he that the Lord is greater then all gods for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them This is the Churches comfort that though their enemies are high and proud and imperious yet the Lord is above them
furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King They served God and they knew that God was able and of power sufficient to protect them in the service of him Dan. 3.1 11 16 17. To this purpose when our dear Lord would encourage his Apostles and the subsequent Ministers of the Gospel to be faithful in the execution of his commands and the trust committed unto them He tells them that all power was committed unto him in Heaven and in Earth And therefore go teach all Nations and Baptise them c And teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and loe I am with you allway even unto the end of the World Mat. 28.18 19 20. As if he had said Do you faithfully and couragiously execute the Commission I have given you and be assured you shall never want my all-sufficient power and presence to support you I will make all the power I have in heaven and earth concurring in a way of serviceableness unto you O come let us sing unto the Lord saith the Psalmist let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation Shall we fear to serve that God who is the Rock of our Salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving c. Why For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods in his hand are the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is his also the sea is his and he made it and his hands formed the dry land If the Lord whom we serve is so great a God so great a King above all Gods above all Angels Princes and Potentates of the World and above all that is called God O then with what thankfulness and chearfulness of spirit should we come into his presence O come let us Worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Why for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands whom he makes to lye down in green Pastures and leadeth besides the still waters Psa 95.1 to 7. So in Psa 96.6 it is said Honour and Majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary Where is the beauty of Gods face seen and his power and strength displayed as in his Sanctuary to wit his Tabernacle his Temple the Congregations and Assemblies of his Saints God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence by all them that are about him and why why who in Heaven can be compared unto the Lord Who among the Sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord Psa 89.6 7. And therefore it is that the Lord hath spoken saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me Lev. 10.3 When a fire went out from the Lord and destroyed Nadab and Abihu the Sons of Aaron for offering strange fire before the Lord Lev. 10.1 2 3. To which I suppose that place in the Hebrews hath a special reference where the Saints being exhorted to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear urges this as a strong motive thereunto for our God saith he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. Thus you see how requisite it is to be acting Faith in the power and soveraignty of God when we draw nigh to him in the solemn duties of his Worship and service and what an encouragement it is to be fearing the Lord and serving of him in sincerity and truth with all our hearts considering what great things he hath done for us 1 Sam. 12.24 5. Act faith in the mighty power of God in times of suffering So the Apostle James speaking of the cruelties that were exercised against the Saints in those days how they had condemned and killed the just and they could not resist them He exhorts them to be patient to the coming of the Lord and why to the coming of the Lord Because when he comes he will come with power and great glory Mat. 24.30 When he comes hee 'l take to him his great power and reign Rev. 11.17 When he comes he will come with ten thousand of his Saints What to do To execute Judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed c. Jude vers 14 15. When he comes he will come with fire and with his chariots like a Whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire Isa 66.15 When he comes he will come with vengeance even God with a recompence he will come and save you Isa 35.4 And then the hand of the Lord the power of God shall be known towards his servants and his indignation towards his enemies Isa 66.14 So the Author to the Hebrews when he exhorts the Saints to a patient suffering and undergoing of the Cross of Christ what Argument does he use even this For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 The Apostle would have all the suffering Saints to be acting faith in a powerful Redeemer even in him who is mighty to save That will tread down the people in his anger and make them drunk in his fury and will bring down their strength to the earth Isa 63.6 So the Apostles when the Priests and Rulers of the people had laid hands on them and put them in hold for teaching the People and Preaching through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and had further threatned them for speaking any more in the name of Jesus and had let them go what Arguments in Prayer do they use Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said why did the Heathen rage and the people imagine vain things The Kings of the Earth stood up and the Rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ For of a truth against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done And now Lord behold their threatnings Act. 4. Though they had to deal with great and potent Adversaries yet they well knew that God was above them and that their rage and fury was not so much against them as against the Lord Jehovah himself and against his Christ whom he had anointed to be the chief Priest and Prophet and King of his Church who could easily break them with his rod of Iron and dash them in peices like a Potters Vessel They knew that the Lord whom they served was able to deliver them as Daniel out of the Lions mouths So it is said of Moses and laid down as a singular act of Faith in him that he forsook Egypt and feared not the wrath of the King for
he endured as seeing him who is invisible Heb. 11.27 Now this was an act of Faith in the power of God He knew that though he might incur the wrath of an enraged King by refusing the honours and dignities of his Court yet his eye being fixt upon a most powerful invisible Lord God that was sufficient to uphold him under all the sufferings he might undergo for his sake And that this Lord was able to strike through Kings in the day of his wrath Psa 110.5 In which spirit of faith and confidence David brake forth when he said Though I walk in the midst of trouble thou wilt revive me thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies and thy right hand shall save me Psa 138.7 So Paul that tried Apostle and courageous sufferer for Christ For which cause saith he I also suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom I have beleived and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day He acts faith in the ability and all-sufficiency of God to carry him through all difficulties and hardship for Christ 2 Tim 1.12 And upon this score it was he so much incouraged his Son Timothy in the faith as to a suffering state for Christ Be not therefore ashamed of the Testimony of our Lord nor of me his Prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God as in the 8. vers of that Chap. Whether he meant Christ the power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 Or whether he would have him bear those afflictions patiently as God afforded him power and strength yet surely it cannot exclude but take in the exercise of his faith in the power of God in all his sufferings for Christ whose power will ever be manifested in weakness And therefore it is that we are exhorted to be looking up unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God at the right hand of Gods power For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds Now this looking up unto Jesus is not only a looking up unto him as a pattern and example of patience in our sufferings and persecutions for his and the Gospels sake but we must look upon him also as made perfect by suffering who for the suffering of death is now crowned with glory and honor as him whom God hath highly exalted and set at the right hand of the throne of God where he must sit and reign till all his enemies be made his foot-stool or as the Apostle expresseth it Till he hath put all his enemies under his feet 1 Cor. 15.25 Thus you see how necessary it is to be Acting faith as in the blood of Christ so in the power of God And that First In times of great difficulties and straights 2. In times of sore sicknesses and deaths 3. In times of great sinning 4. In times of serving and worshipping of God 5. In times of suffering for God Thirdly We are to Act Faith in the faithfulness of God Know therefore saith Moses that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations Deut. 7.9 The consideration whereof made the Psalmist break forth into this pious interrogation or expostulation rather Psal 89.8 O Lord God of Hosts who is a strong Lord like unto thee or to thy faithfulness round about thee Consider then that this Faith in the faithfulness of God is to be acted upon several accounts First Upon the account of the unchangableness of Gods love and the immutability of the Covenant of Grace which he hath made with us in his Son and which he hath ratified and confirmed unto us in his most precious blood See the 89. Psalm speaking of David as a Type of Christ The Lord promiseth there That the enemy shall not exact upon him nor the son of wickedness afflict him And that he will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him But my faithfulness saith he and my mercies shall be with him Ver. 22 23 24. So in the 30 31 32 33 and 34. Vers of that Psalm If his Children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments If they break my statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes But what follows Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips So David in the 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure Now that Gods love in Christ is unchangable as it is founded upon the immutability of the New-covenant of Grace appears 1. Because it is dearer then a Mothers love to her sweetest and most tender Babe Isa 49.15 Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet I will not forget thee 2. It is stronger then the Mountains Isa 54.10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee 3. It is as constant as the courses of the Sun Moon and Sars of the Day and of the Night Jer. 31.35 36. Thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his name If those ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever 4. It is as sure as God himself Psal 89.35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lye unto David His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithful witness in heaven We give much credit to the word of an honest man much more when we have his oath for it This the Author to the Hebrews makes the ground or foundation of a Beleivers strong consolation Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
forgive and do c. 1 King 8.37 38 39. And the Lord gave approbation to this prayer of his as you have heard Thus you see in what way the Lord hath usually been found for the diverting of his judgments and in which he hath ingaged himself to hear and to be entreated Shall we consider a little then what is the general spirit of the Nation at this time now that the hand of God lies so heavy upon it Is there any preparation now of meeting God in this way of humble and faithful supplication O England where are thy tears where are thy strong crys unto unto the Lord Will not the King of Nineveh rise up in judgment against thee and condemn thee He commanded that Man and Beast should be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God and turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that was in their hand and God was entreated and turned away from his fierce anger that they perished not What thinkest thou O England of thy sins Have they not been crying sins May not the Lord speak unto thee and say as unto Cain Who slew his Brother what hast thou done The voice of thy Brothers blood cryeth unto me from the ground Gen. 4.10 Or as James in his time to the rich ungodly men of that generation Behold the hire of the Labourers which have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud cryeth and the cries of them which have reaped are entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabboth Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter Ye have condemned and killed the just and be doth not resist you James 5.4 5 6. May it not be said of thy sins as is said of the sins of Babylon That her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembred her iniquities Rev. 18.5 Surely thy sins have been crying sins they have entred into the ears of the Lord they have reached unto heaven God hath heard thy hideous Oaths thy new hellish invented Oaths thy horrid execrations and cursings thy revilings and blaspemings But whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high may it not be said of thee as of railing Rabshekah Even against the holy one of Israel And if thy sins have cryed so loud mayst thou not think that thy tears and crys for pardon should found as loud in the ears of God But where are thy repentings and mournings where are thy weepings and supplications Surely I tremble to think what still mine ears do hear and mine eyes see how few of those sins are left which cause the Land to mourn and the Lord to have a controversie with the inhabitants thereof May it not be laid to thy charge even now when thousands are swept away by this destroying judgement that when God calls to weeping and mourning to fasting and praying behold joy and gladness slaying oxen and killing sheep eating flesh and drinking wine playing and gaming ranting and roaring cursing and swearing pride and voluptuous living And what said the Lord Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye dye Isa 22.12 13 14. Nay is it not most sad and lamentable to consider as it is very credibly reported that some under the hand of Gods visitation do dye swearing and cursing in a most dreadful and desperate manner Well then consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in peices and there be none to deliver before the whole land be devoured by the fire of his jealousie and that he make a speedy riddance of all such as dwell in the land But for you who have received an anointing from the holy one and are acquainted with the divine art of prayer and holy conference and familiarity with God be much in the exercise of this heavenly skill be now improving to the utmost your interest in God lift up your voice with strength stir up your selves and take hold of him And if your consciences tell you you have fallen by your iniquities even in the late Apostacy Take with you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Say unto him Ashur shall not save us we will not ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands ye are our gods Hosea 14.1 2 3. Say unto him O Lord though our iniquities testifie against us do thou it for thy names sake for our back-slidings are many we have sinned against thee O the hope of Israel the Saviour thereof in time of trouble why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night Why shouldst thou be as a man astonished as a mighty man that cannot save yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not Jer. 14.7 8 9. Say We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy raggs and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away But yet O Lord thou art our Father we are the clay and thou our potter and we all are the work of thy hand Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are thy people Isa 64.6 8 9. Thine enemies roar in the midst of the Congregation they set up their ensigns for signs They have east fire into thy Sanctuary they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground They said in their hearts let us destroy them together O God how long shall the Adversary reproach shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever Why withdrawest thou thy hand even thy right hand pluck it out of thy bosome Wilt thou refrain thy self for these things O Lord wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore Psal 74. And let the Preists the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thy heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people Where is their God Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people Joel 2.17 18. Yea let the Lords Watchmen whom God hath set upon the Walls of Jerusalem never hold their peace day nor night even those who make mention of the Lord and are the Lords remembrancers let them not keep silence And give him no rest till he establish and make his Jerusalem a praise in the earth Isa 62.6 7. Till the heavens drop down from above and the skies pour down righteousness and the earth open and bring forth salvation and righteousness spring up together Isa 45.8 Till the Lord of Hosts be exalted in judgement and God
self with the overflowing torrents of all pleasures and glory through all eternity But to bring it a little nearer to the thing in hand Consider a few of the Promises of God as a further provocation to this so pious and profitable a work and service for the Lord. Wouldst thou be in a thriving and prosperous state in this world whether as to the outward or inward man Surely to be compassionate this way is the very ready way If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry saith the Prophet and satisfie the afflicted soul then shall thy light rise in obscurity and break forth as the morning and thy darkness be as the noon-day and thy health shall spring forth speedily Mark that The Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfie thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered Garden and like a sping of water whose waters fail not Isa 58.10 and 8.11 Thine horn shall be exalted with honour and thou shalt not want Psa 112.9 Prov. 28.27 Yea for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto Deut. 15.10 It will be then a profitable inquisition amongst others when a man finds himself to go backward in his estate whether upon the temporal or spiritual account and Gods secret displeasure to blow upon his wealth or afflict his body with painful diseases to examine well whether he was not ordinarily wont to shut up his bowels of compassion then to pour out his soul to the poor For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 But with the merciful God will shew himself merciful Psa 18.25 Yea saith our Saviour Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Mat. 5.7 Which brings to my remembrance that pious and most affectionate wish of Paul in 2 Tim. 1.16 18. The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus Why for he oft refreshed me said he and was not ashamed of my chain The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day and in how many things he ministred unto me at Ephesus thou knowost very well It seems he was a very charitable soul He did not as many professours of our times do talk much and do little have their mouths open but the bowels of their compassions shut fast enough his readiness to distribute and willingness to communicate did clearly and plainly demonstrate his care to lay up in store for himself a good foundation against the time to come that he might lay hold on eternal life According to the counsel that Paul gives to the worldly rich men of his time 1 Tim. 6.17 18 19. To which concurs that of Solomon Prov. 11.17 The merciful man doth good to his own soul but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh The merciful man the Hebrew it seems renders it a man of mercifulness of bounty liberality So a man of knowledge that is a knowing and understanding man a man of truth or faithfulness that is a true or faithful man Neh. 7.2 A man of peace that is one that is peaceable Men of holiness that is holy men Exod. 22.31 This man that is merciful to others that are necessitous and in distress or as James expresseth it that visiteth the Fatherless and Widows in their affliction and hides not himself from his own flesh Isa 58.7 For what is mercy but a pittying of others that are in misery Mercy and misery being relatives were there no want nor trespass there needed no mercy This man saith Solomon doth good to his own soul or as other translations have it he rewardeth his own soul he doth good unto himself as well as unto others for it pleaseth God to reward the good works of his poor Servants according to that of Solomon Prov. 11.25 The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself And of that of our blessed Lord in Mat. 10.42 who brings it down to a cup of cold water onely that this merciful man shall give to drink to one of his little ones which Mark expounds to such as belong to him Mark 9.41 Verily I say unto you saith our dear Lord he shall in no wise loose his reward which gives us some light into that expression of Paul to Timothy in his advice as before to rich men Of laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come Some reads for in store laying up for a Treasure a good foundation that is a foundation of hope Not that the liberality of the rich does merit it but because it is a fruit of faith and God hath promised to reward the same grace for Christs sake It being a sacrifice with which he is well pleased Heb. 13.16 Or as Paul expresseth it in Phil. 4.18 An odour of a sweet and fragrant smell a sacrifice acceptable well-pleasing to God For as sweet odours are a refreshing of the senses so our refreshing of the Saints bowels is in a manner a refreshing of Gods own sense and Spirit A term borrowed from the perfumes which were made upon the Altar of Incense I shall add further but that in Psa 41.1 2 3. which I judge very pertinent to the thing in hand Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the earth And thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his enemies The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing thou wilt make his bed in his sickness David being now fallen into a heavy sickness or some other great distemper or streight he describeth here the happiness or blessing which they shall obtain at Gods hands that carry themselves piously and compassionately towards the afflicted Blessed is he that considereth the poor that judgeth wisely of the poor and will not rashly condemn him as a Malefactor whom God doth visit The poor here is taken for a miserable one one that is thinn exhausted of his abilities whither of the body and so a sick one or of goods and means and so a poor one The Lord saith he shall deliver him in time of trouble The Lord shall preserve him and keep him alive the Lord shall revive quicken heal him or make him whole and make him happy on the earth and will not deliver him or give him over into the desire or will of his enemies The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing or the bed of sorrow others read it The Lord shall under-prop him upon his sick bed upon his bed of faintness weakness feebleness yea make his bed in his sickness or change his bed which may admit of this two-fold sence As if he had said speaking in a prophetical manner Thou O God shalt as surely turn his sickness to the best as if I saw
Lord smote the people with a very great plague And the name of that place was called Kibroch-hattanah that is the graves of lust because there they buried the people that lusted Hence it was that the Apostle treating of the bountiful dealings of God with the children of Israel said That with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness Now these things saith he were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted 1 Cor. 10.5 6. This is a sore evil an intestine evil a sickness indeed that gnaws and torments the very heart called therefore the Plague of Discontent which many of the people of God themselves as well as the men of the world are too too often infected with when not contenting our selves I say with the mercies and blessings which God affords us we fall a lusting after evil things as the Israelites hereafter flesh to satisfie their lusts loathing the heavenly Manna which God gave them And our desires oftentimes are so inordinate after them that like unto Rachel in the case of her barrenness though otherwise blest with many comfortable enjoyments we are crying out Give me children or else I die Gen. 30.1 I cannot live my life will be a burden unto me if I have not this or that I must have it whatever it cost me though I part with half of my estate nay with Herod it may be to the half of the Kingdom for his Herodias sake because she pleased him and to satisfie this lust Off must go John Baptists head Mark 6.22 23 24. Or like unto Haman who though he was so highly promoted in King Ahasuerus Court Yet saith he all this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings gate Hest 5.13 Mordecai could not bow the knee nor do him that reverence as his proud ambitious heart panted after and this sowres all other his great advancements and enjoyments and now nothing will satisfie him less then his destruction and the total destruction of all the Jews Hest 3.9 So violent are persons set upon the satisfying of their lusts oftentimes though it be to their own hurt This was the sin of the Israelites they could not content themselves that God was their King and that he should reign over them but they must have a King to reign over them like unto other Nations rejecting the Lord and his Government who himself had saved them out of all their adversities and tribulations 1 Sam. 8.5 6 7. and chap. 10.19 And how great this wickedness of theirs was in the fight of the Lord the signal testimonies of his displeasure did evidently declare it 1 Sam. 12.17 So is it not just with God when a people falls a loathing of the heavenly Manna of Gods Word and where hath the Gospel been more powerfully preached and more obstinately contemned then in England that the Lord should send a famine in the Land if not a famine of bread and a thirst for water yet a famine of hearing the Words of the Lord Amos 8.11 O that this was seriously laid to heart and fruitfully applyed both by Professors as by the propbane persons of this Nation So dangerous and destructive a thing it is to cherish a carnal dissatisfied and discontented spirit against the Lord. 10. A tenth Pestilential and God-provoking Sin is the sin of Pride and Ambition and a trusting in an Arme of flesh not relying on the mighty power and faithfulness of God This was Davids sin in of numbring the people which was followed with a sore Prstilence among them See the second of Samuel 24. Chap. comp with 1 Chron. 21.1 Satan he provoked David to number the people that he might know how many valiant men there were in Israel that could draw the sword And questionless Davids heart was lifted up hereby when Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto him there being in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand And what should move David to such a thing but a proud ambitious desire to know the strength and number of his men of war accompanied with a distrustfulness of the mighty power of God and his All-sufficient arme which had so often saved and delivered him out of the hands of Saul and from the hand of all his enemies As in the 18th Psal wherein he praiseth God for his manifold and marvellous deliverances For this Davids heart smote him acknowledging that he had sinned greatly in what he had done and prayeth that the Lord would take away his iniquity for he had done very foolishly Yet the Lord would shew his justice make all the world to see and know that he will not indulge sin no not in his dearest Servants and most beloved Saints but if they sin they must expect to suffer and smart for it As Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities And therefore he puts David upon his choise of three things whether the Famine the Sword or Pestilence he would make choise of and this did put him into a great streight but he chose rather to fall into the hands of God then into the hands of men for that the mercies of the Lord are great So the Lord sent a Pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba Seventy thousand men And when the Angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem ready to destroy it it is said the Lord repented him of the evil and said to the Angel that destroyed the people It is enough stay now thy hand This also was Edoms sin Jer. 49.16 17 18. Thy terribleness hath deceived thee the pride of thine heart O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock That holdest the height of the hill though thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the Eagle I will bring thee down from thence saith the Lord. Also Edom shall be a desolation every one that goeth by it shall be astonished and shall hiss all at the plagues thereof As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour Cities thereof saith the Lord No man shall abide there neither shall a Son of Man dwell in it This was King Asa's sin before mentioned in the 2 Chron. 16.7 8 and 9. vers so sharply reproved and punished by the Lord. For this was a dreadful wo denouned against the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Isa 30.1 2 3. Wo to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that cover with a covering but not of my spirit that they may adde sin to sin That walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow
Christ but are now again intangled therein and overcome turning with the Dog to his own vomit again and with the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire Let such know That their latter end will be worse with them then the beginning 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. 12. The twelfth Pestilential and highly provoking Sin is the sin of Rebellion and Obstinate Disobedience against God and his Commandments Levit. 26.23 24 25. And if ye will not be reformed by these things saith the Lord but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my Covenant and when ye are gathered together within your Cities I will send the Pestilence among you and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy So Deut. 28.15 16 20 21. If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandments and his Statutes c. These curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee Cursed shalt thou be in the City and cursed shalt thou be in the field c. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thy hand for to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly And wherefore Because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me The Lord shall make the Pestilence cleave unto thee until he hath consumed thee and the Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Feaver and with an Inflammation and with an extream Burning and with the Sword and with Blasting and with Mildew and they shall pursue thee until thou perish So in the 58 and 59. vers If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this Book that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful name The Lord thy God Then the Lord will make thy Plagues wonderful and the Plagues of thy seed even great plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance So Deut. 29.22 23 24 25. The Generations to come when they shall see the Plagues of the Land and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it and that the whole Land is Brimstone and Salt and Burning c. like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah c. with the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his wrath Even all Nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done this What meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers c. To this agrees that of the Prophet Jerom. 29.17 18 19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Behold I will send upon them the Sword the Famine and the Pestilence and will make them like vile figgs that cannot be eaten they are so vile And I will persecute them with the Sword with the Famine and with the Pestilence and will deliver them to be removed to all the Kingdomes of the Earth to be a Curse and an Astonishment and a Hissing and a Reproach among all the Nations whither I have driven them And wherefore will the Lord be so severe against them Because they have not hearkened to my words saith the Lord which I sent unto them by my servants the Prophets rising up early and sending them but ye would not hear saith the Lord. So Ezek. 6.11 Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel for they shall fall by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence He that is far off shall die of the Pestilence and he that is near shall fall by the Sword and he that remaineth and is besieged shall dye by the Famine Thus will I accomplish saith the Lord my fury upon them Ezek. 7 11. The Sword is without and the Pestilence and the Famine within he that is in the Field shall dye with the Sword and he that is in the City Famine and Pestilence shall devour him And why Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness v. 11. The rod hath blossomed pride hath budded So Ezek. 14.19 21. If I send a Pestilence into that Land and pour out my fury upon it in bloud to cut from it Man and Beast though Noah Daniel and Job were in it As I live saith the Lord they shall deliver neither Son nor Daughter they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness For thus saith the Lord God How much more when I sent my four sore Judgements upon Jerusalem the Sword and the Famine and the noysome Beast and the Pestilence to cut off from it Man and Beast And when will the Lord execute this great severity and be so inexorable the 13. vers declares it When the land sinneth against me saith the Lord by trespassing grievously I shall conclude with that in the Prophet Amos Chap. 2. ver 4 5. Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof Because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his Commandements c. And what follows I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem So Amos 4.10 c. I have sent among you the Pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the Sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stinck of your Camps to come up into your Nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. So incorrigible hard-hearted and un-reformed were they under all the sore Judgements that the Lord had inflicted upon them Yet before he will make an utter destruction he invites them once again to repentance Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Thus you see what a high provoking sin it is to rebel against God and his Commandments As Samuel said to Saul when he disobeyed the Word of the Lord. Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft and Stubornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry 1 Sam. 15.23 And if God was so severe to punish the transgressions of the law with what severity will Christ proceed against the willful contemners and disobeyers of his Gospel according to that of the 2d of the Heb. 2 and 3. vers If every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward that is of punishments inflicted on them How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation that is the Gospel which is called a Ministry of the spirit and of life whereas the law is a killing letter or the ministration of death and condemnation 2 Cor. 3.6 7 9. And the wrath of God cometh upon the children of Gospel disobedience Ephes 5.6 13. The thirteenth pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Insurrection and rising up against
were not carnal but mighty through God 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons which they used by the Gospel of Christ to convert men and to bring them under the Kingdome and obedience of Christ were not carnal that is such as natural and worldly men are wont to make use of either by eloquence or deceit or by force to bring others in subjection under them but mighty or powerful through God in moving and convincing of the hearts of men by his Spirit Act. 16.14 Surely if these things were seriously laid to heart we must needs acknowledge that the sins of professing people as well as others have been highly provoking unto the Lord as to the drawing down of this sore visitation of the Plague among us And this may put us to silence that we murmur not and will justifie the righteousness of God in the way of his severity as he now comes forth against many of his own people For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3.23 And what says the Lord by the Prophet Amos. All the sinners of my people shall dye by the sword which say The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us Amos 9.10 So the Lord by the Prophet Jeremy complains For among my people are found wicked men they lay waite as he that setteth snares they set a trap they catch men As a Cage is full of birds so are their houses full of deceit therefore they are become great and waxen rich They are waxen fat they shine they overpass the deeds of the wicked they judge not the cause the cause of the fatherless yet they prosper and the right of the needy do they not judge And mark what follows Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Jer. 25.26 27 28 29. And who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient unto his law And consider well what follows Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Jsa 42.24 25. So Jeremy the 12.7 I have forsaken mine house I have left mine heritage I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies And what may we gather from all this Surely thus much That no near relations as to God or any external priviledges can yeild a protection from a sin-deserved correction Remember Lots wife Luk. 17.32 Vengeance closely waits on disobedience Punishment doth dog impiety For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep saith Paul to the Church of Corinths speaking of eating and drinking unworthily at the Lords Table 1 Cor. 11.29 30. God is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity with any approbation or tolleration as to his own peculiar people If his children forsake my law speaking of David and his seed as a Type of Christ and the true spiritual seed and walk not in my judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments What then says the Lord Then will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity with stripes Psal 89.30 The Lord hath laid righteousness to the rule and waighed his justice in a ballance and his judgments are right and in faithfulness he doth afflict Psal 119.75 His sentence is past forth and stands irrevocable Tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doth evil Rom. 2.9 If we sin we shall suffer How Aut a Deo vindicante aut ab ipso homine penitente as one says excellent well Either from God revenging or themselves repenting For he that repenteth himself of his sins doth punish himself for his sins And now O England if thou repent not let me say unto thee as the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 10.2 to the men of that generation What wilt thou do now in the day of thy visitation and in the desolation that shall come from far To whom wilt thou flee for help and where will ye leave your glory O then bethink thy self yet before it be too late before the wrath of the Lord break out so that their will be no remedy O gather thy self together O Nation not desirous before the Decree bring forth before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon thee before the whole Land be devoured by the fire of his jealousie before he make a speedy riddance of all that dwell in the land As the Lord by the Prophet Zephaniah exhorts Chap. 1.18 Chap. 2.1 2. O then return unto the Lord thy God for hou hast fallen by thine iniquity Take unto you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Hosea 14.1 Suitable to which is the Churches exhortation Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up Hosea 6.1 This is the way the Lord himself propounds for the removal of his sweeping devouring Judgments Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him Joel 2.12 13. Let the King lay his robe from him and cover him with sackcloth and sit in ashes let man and beast be covered with sackcloath let there be some demonstrative tokens of a more then ordinary sorrow and humiliation for each and every ones so highly provoking sins Let all cry mightily to God yea let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not This will move Gods repentings towards us this will divert his wrath Jonah 3. and the latter end Jer. 31.20 And that you may not question the truth and certainty of it in the least will you consider that the Lord stands engaged by his unalterable word and promise to make it good If I shut up heaven saith he that there be no rain c. Or if I send Pestilence among my people if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways What then will he do Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land 2 Chron. 7.13 14. Wherefore let that counsel be acceptable to all which Daniel gave to King Nabuchadnezzar O King break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility Dan. 4.27 As if he had said If thou wilt follow the
counsel that I give thee then there is hope that God will have mercy upon thee and lengthen thy peace rest and prosperity And if thou wilt break off thy sins by righteousness then thou must not onely loose the bands of wickedness but thou must undo the heavy burdens also and let the oppressed go free and break every yoke Thou must deal thy bread to the hungry and bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked thou must cover him and not hide thy self from thy own flesh Isa 58.6 7. And surely if this counsel be timously accepted O people of England O City of London though thou hast trespassed greivously against the Lord and broken the Covenant of thy God and the hand of the Lord is gone out against thee and death is come up into thy Windows yea even entred into thy Palaces Jer. 9.21 Yet know that if thou humblest thy self and repentest there is hope in Israel concerning this thing Ezra 10.2 And O that thou mayst know even in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace before they are hid from thine eyes And think not that your flying away can secure you his hand knows how to find you out Whether canst thou go from his spirit or whether canst thou flee from his presence Psal 139.7 And know assuredly that if thou art still an enemy and a hater of God and goodness his hand will find thee out Psal 21.8 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee Thou shalt make them as a fiery Oven in the time of thine anger the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath and the fire shall devour them And as Job saith His eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Job 34.21 22. And though thou exalt thy self as the Eagle and though thou set thy nest among the stars thence will I bring thee down saith the Lord Obad. vers 4. And know whosoever thou art though thou rufflest it in thy gallantry and pride if yet thou puts far away from thee the evil day and causest the seat of violence to come near that liest upon thy bed of Ivory and stretches thy self upon thy Couch and chaunts to the sound of the viol and drinks wine in bowls and anoint thy self with the cheif oyntments but greivest not for the afflictions of Joseph that the judgment of God will pursue thee at thy very heels And if thou repentest not but shalt still bless thy self in thy heart saying Thou shalt have peace though thou walkest in the imaginations of thy own heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in the Book of God shall lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy name from under heaven Deut. 29.19 20. The Third spiritual Receit When in the conscionable use of the former means thou findest that this bitter pill or potion of Repentance hath begun to operate upon thy heart so as to cause it to melt and mourn kindly before the Lord then in the next place take a good draught of Faith in the blood of Christ and put therein also a good quantity of Beleif in the power faithfulness and promises of God in Christ This through the blessing of God will make this bitter pill to work strongly and effectually to the expelling of all those virulent obnoxious and malignant humours that are such great enemies to a healthful and sound constitution of soul and body which if unexpelled that they grow to some head and strength they will have a very strong influence upon thy spirits to contract this sore Pestilential distemper to the endangering oftentimes of the loss and ruine of the whole man soul and body to all eternity First Then this Faith in the blood of Christ rightly applyed unto thy soul is and hath been always a very soveraign Receit and a precious Antidote to expell 1. All the fiery assaults of Satan 2. The venome and malignity of sin And therefore among all the several choise peices of our spiritual Armory laid down in the 6th of the Ephesians This is recommended as the most choise and principal peice among them all Above all taking the sheild of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked Some translate it in all as if he had said in all things whatsoever you do see that you use the sheild of faith to all as if he had said to all other Graces add this above all which is more emphatical for hereby all the imperfections of the rest of the Armes are covered and we are best defended against all the fiery darts and assaults of Satan that is his poysonous darts which by their venome inflame the soul The Apostle alludes to the custome of old in times of war who by their darts shot fire or else when they dipped the heads of their arrows in poison and shot them at their enemies they even fired their flesh To prevent which it is said that the Souldiers made them large sheilds of raw Neats-leather which might cover the whole body so that when the fiery venemous darts lighted upon them they were presently quenched All which agrees well with the nature of Satans temptations which as poison and fire do wound and pierce the soul if they be not stopped and quenched by the sheild of faith when they hit upon it So in the 1 Pet. 5.8 The Apostle directs to the making use of this most excellent peice of a Christians armour of proof speaking of our adversary the Devil who as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour This counsel he gives That we resist him stedfastly in the faith Resist the Devil saith James and he will flee from you Jam. 4.7 Resist him when he tempteth and enticeth thee to fullfil thy fleshly lusts and to seek after the freindship of the world And he will flee from thee he will run away if thou withstand him oppose him and set thy self as it were in battle array against him thou wilt find him as very a coward as ever any that handled a weapon thou wilt make him run away presently But that you may resist him and foil him you must be sure to resist him and that stedfastly in the faith if you make use of this weapon he will never be able to encounter with you Faith will foil him By this weapon the Saints always overcame him Rev. 12.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And how by the blood of the Lamb Satan will tell thee thou art a vile filthy polluted and abominable wretch a great and hainous sinner but faith in the blood of Christ will tell him that