deep and wide and dark and out of which the Prisoners could never get and therefore it was called by them Lethe Forgetfulness this Prison was a Paradice to Hell Mark every thing that is conducible to the torments of the damned is eternal 1. God that damns them is eternal Isa 33. 14. Rom. 16. 26. 2. The fire that torments them is eternal Isa 30. 33. Cap. 66. 24. Jude 7. 3. The Prison and Chains that holds them are eternal Jude 6 7 13. 2 Pet. 2. 17. 4. The Worm that 1 Pet. 3. 19. Lâ—cian saith that it was the common opinion among them that the wiâ—ked were held in chains by Pluto so thâ—y call the Prince of Devils in chainâ— which cannot be loosed gnaws them is eternal Mark 9. 44. Melancthon calls it a Hellish fury 5. The sentence that shall be passed upon them shall be eternal Matth. 25. 41 42. The fire of Hell is called a Burning Lake Râ—v 20. 15. Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire You shall know that fire is the most tormenting Element Oh the most dreadful impressions that it makes upon the flesh The Schoolmen distingish thus of fire they say there is ignis ardoris foetoris terroris fire of heat of stench and of terror of heat as in Mount Aetna of stench as in Mount Heda of terror and fear as ignis fulguris the fire of lightning in America All these fires they say are in Hell But to let the Schoolmen pass It is disputed among many of the learned Whether there be material fire in Hell or no. That 't is very probable that there is material fire in Hell or that which is full as terrible or more terrible may I suppose be thus evidenced First The fire of Hell is frequently mentioned in the blessed Scripture Who shall say to his Brother thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell fire At the day of Judgement the tares are Matth. 5. 22. Chap. 13. 40. burnt in the fire Into this fire offending members are cast Matth. 18. 18 19. To this everlasting fire the Goats are adjudged Matth. 25. 41. In this fire those that worship the Beast are tormented Rev. 14. 10. And the Sodomites at this very day suffer the vengeance of eternal fire Jude 7. Into this fire shall all barren and unfruitful Christians be cast Matth. 3. 10. And now also the Ax is laid unto the root of the trees therefore every tree which bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire Negative goodness will never secure a man either from the Ax or from the fire Yea every man and woman under Heaven that keeps off from Christ and that lives and dies out of Christ and that are never entered into a marriage union with Christ they shall all be cast into this fire John 15. 6. If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch that is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned Thus you see how the Scripture runs Now you know that ' t ist safest for us to adhere to the very letter of the Scripture unless evident and necessary occasion draw us from a literal interpretation of it But Secondly To this fire is ascribed Sulphur flames wood Isa 30. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old that iâ— Hell those 2 King 23. 18. terrible allusions to Tophet to the shrieks and yellings of those children that were sacrificed there are but dark representations of the pain and miseries of the damned yea for the King it is prepared If Princes be wicked 't is neither their Power nor their Policy their dignity or worldly glory that can secure them from Tophet he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Now he shall be an Apollo to me that can shew me where the Lord in his Word gives such properties to immaterial fire that are here given in the Text. But yet remember this that that God that makes the damned live without food is able to maintain this fire without wood But Thirdly Fire is the most furious of all Elements and therefore the bodies of men can't be more exquisitely tormented than with fire The bodies that sinned on earth Water doth only kill but fire doth vex terrifie and torment in killing Act. Mon. shall be punished and tormented in Hell Now what can be more grievous and vexatious more afflicting and tormenting to the bodies of men than material fire Bilney the Martyr could not endure to hold his finger in the flame of a Candle for a little while for a quarter of an hour though he tryed to do it before he burnt at the stake O then how will the bodies of men endure to dwell in unquenchable fire to dwell in everlasting burnings The Brick-kilns of Aegypt the Furnace of Babel are but as the glowing sparkle or as the blaze of a Brush-faggot to this tormenting Tophet that has been prepared of old to punish the bodies of sinners with But Fourthly Several of the Fathers Schools generally agree that the fire which shall torment the wicked in Hell shall be material fire but yet they say that this material fire shall wonderfully Zaach Austia Peter Lumbard Tho. Aqu. Gregory c. exceed ours both in degree of heat and fierceness of burning Our Elementary or Culinary fire is no more to be compared with the fire of Hell than fire painted upon the Wall is to be compared with fire burning in our Chimneys Si igne damnabit reprobos quare non in igne cruciabit damnatos sayes one of the Antients If he will judge the reprobates in fire why not condemn them to fire But if it be material fire then it may be quencht besides we Object see by common experience that material fire in a short time will consume and spend it self Neither can we see how material fire can make impressions upon Spirits as the Devils and souls of men are First Don't we find that the Bush burned and was not consumed Answ Though all cloaths by daily experience wax old Exod. 3. 2 3. yet when the Israelites were in their wilderness condition their clothes did not wax old Deut. 8. 4. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy foot swell these forty years Neh. 9. 41. Yea forty years didst thou sustain them in the Wilderness so that they lacked nothing their clothes waxed not old and their feet swelled not Their clothes were never the worse for wearing God by his Allmighty Power kept their clothes from waxing old and so God by his Allmighty Power can keep the fire of Hell unquenchable But Secondly Such as thus object draw things to the scantling of their own Reason which may be many wayes of a dangerous consequence both to themselves and others Certainly such
nor ears never heard of before nor tongues never discoursed of before nor Pens never writ of before Beloved you know that 't is our duty to take serious notice of the hand of the Lord in the least Judgement and in every particular Judgement Oh how much more then dos it highly concern us to take serious notice of the hand of the Lord that has been lifted up against us in that late dreadful impartial universal fire that has burnt us all out of our habitations and laid our City desolate But Seventhly Consider the greatness of it the destructiveness of it Oh the many thousand families that were destroyed and impoverished in four dayes time Of many it might have been said the day before the fire who so rich as London was the Lady-City where the Riches of many Nations were laid up I would rather be bound to weep over London than be bound to summ up the losses of London by this dreadful fire these and the very next day it might have been said of the same persons who so poor as these as poor as Job yea poor to a Proverb Jer. 21. 13 14. Behold I am against thee O inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plain saith the Lord which say who shall come down against us or who shall enter into our habitations But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings saith the Lord. And I will kindle a fire in the forrest thereof and it shall devour all things round about it Some by the Forrest understand the fair and sumptuous buildings in Jerusalem that were built with wood that was hewen out of the Forrest of Libanon and stood as thick as Trees in the Forrest Others by the Forrest understand the whole City of Jerusalem with the Countrey round about it that was as full of people as a Forrest is full of Trees Others by Forrest understand the house of the Lord and the Kings house and the houses of the great Princes which were built with excellent matter from the Wood of Lebanon Jerusalem was 2 Sam. 5. 6. so strongly dâ—fended by nature that they thought themselves invincible as once the Jebusites did they were so confident of the strength of their City that they scorned the proudest and the strongest enemies about them But sin had brought them low in the eye of God so that he could see nothing eminent or excellent among them and therefore the Lord resolves by the Chaldees to fire their magnificent buildings in which they gloried and to turn their strong and stately City into a ruinous heap Though Jerusalem Psalm 125. 2. stood in a Vale and was environed with Mountains yet the upper part of it stood high as it were upon a rocky rising hill Now the Citizens of Jerusalem trusted very much in the scituation of their City they did not fear their being besieged straitned conquered or fired and therefore they say Who shall come down against us Who shall enter into our habitation Where is the enemy that has courage or confidence enough to assault our City or to enter into our habitations but God tells them that they were as barren of good fruit as the Trees of the Forrest were barren of good fruit and therefore he was resolved by the hand of the Chaldeans to hew them down and to fire their most stately Structures and to turn their glorious City in which they greatly trusted and gloried into a ruinous heap All which accordingly was done not long after by Nebuzaradan and his Army as you may see in Jer. 52. 12 13 14 15. How often hath the Citizens of London been alarm'd with the cry of fire which hath been as often extinguished before they could well know where it was and how it began but all former fires were but small fires but Bon-fires to this dreadful fire that has been lately amongst us In the twentieth year of the Reign of William the first so Sir Richard Bakers Chronicle p. 31. 47. great a fire happened in London that from the West-gate to the East-gate it consumed houses and Churches all the way This was the most grievous fire that ever happened in that City saith my Author And in the Reign of King Henry the first a long tract of buildings from West-cheap in London to Aldgate was consumed with fire And in King Stephens Reign there was a fire that began at London Stone and consumed all unto Aldgate These have been the most remarkable fires in London But what were any of these or all these to that late dreadful fire that has been amongst us London in those former times was but a little City and had Eccles 9. 14. but a few men in it in comparison of what it was now London was then but as a great Banqueting-house to what it was now Nor the consumption of London by fire then was Can. 2. 4. nothing proportionable to the consumption of it by fire now For this late lamentable devouring fire hath laid waste the greatest part of the City of London within the walls by far and some part of the Suburbs also More than fourscore Parishes and all the Houses Churches Chappels Hospitals and other the great and magnificent buildings of Pious or Publick use which were within that circuit are now brought into ashes and become one ruinous heap This furious raging fire burnt many stately Monuments to powder it melted the Bells in the Steeples it much weakned and shattered the strongest Vaults under ground O what Age or Nation hath ever seen or felt such a dreadful visitation as this hath been Nebuzaradan General to the King of Babylon first sets the Temple of Jerusalem on fire and then the Jos Aâ—t p. 255. A. M. 3356. Kings Royal Palace on fire and then by fire he levells all the houses of the great men yea and all the houses of Jerusalem are by fire turned into a ruinous heap according to Jer. 52. 12 13 14. what the Lord had before foretold by his Prophet Jeremiah Now this was a lamentable fire Some hundred years after the Roman Souldiers sackt the City and set it on fire and Jos Aâ—t p. 741. A. M. 4034. laid it desolate with their Temple and all their stately buildings and glorious monuments Three or four Towers and the Wall that was on the West side they left standing as monuments of the Romans valour who had surpized a City so Jos Aâ—t p. 745. strongly fortified All the rest of the City they so plained that they who had not seen it before would not believe that it had ever been inhabited Thus was Jerusalem one of the worlds wonders and a City famous amongst all Nations Luke 19. 41 42 43 44. Tacit. Aâ— 15. made desolate by fire according to the prediction of Christ some years before There was a great fire in Rome in Nero's time it spread it self with that speed and burnt with that violence till of fourteen
the Lord has made in the midst of them 'T is true the length of those heavy Judgments under which they groan to this very day hath often puzled the Intellectuals of their Rabbies and hath many times put them to a stand and sometimes to break out into a kind of confession That surely their Judgments could not last so long but for crucifying of one that was more then a man There was one Rabbi Samuel who six hundred years since writ a Tract in form of an Epistle to Rabbi Isaac Master of the Synagogue of the Jews wherein he doth excellently discuss the cause of heir long captivity and extream misery And after that he had proved it was inflicted for some grievous sin he sheweth that sin to be the same which Amos speaks of For three transgressions Amos 2 6. of Israel and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for silver The selling of Joseph he makes the fiâ—st sin the worshipping of the Calf in Horeb the second sin the abusing and killing of Gods Prophets the third sin and the selling of Jesus Christ the fourth sin For the first they served four hundred years in Egypt for the second they wandred forty years in the wilderness for the third they were Captives seventy years â—n Babylon and for the fourth they are held in pitiful Captivity even till this day 'T is certain that the body of that people are under woful blindness and hardness to this very day And thus much for the opening of the words The 25. verse is the Scripture that I do intend to speak something to as the Lord shall assist Now the Proposition which I only intend to insist upon is this Viz. That God is the Author or Efficient cause of all the great Doct. Calamities and dreadful Judgments that are inflicted upon Cities and Countries and in particular of that of fire Now that God is the Author or Efficient cause of all the great Calamities and dreadful Judgments that are inflicted upon Cities and Countries will evidently appear to every mans understanding that will but take the pains to read over the 26. Chapter of Leviticus and the 28. Chapter of Deuteronomy with that 14. of Ezekiel from vers 13. to vers 22. That God is the Author or Efficient cause of this dreadful Judgment of Fire that is at any time inflicted upon Cities and Countries will sufficiently appear in these following Scriptures Amos 3. 6. Shall a Trumpet be blown in the City and the people not be afraid shall there be evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it This is to be understood of the evil of punishment and not of the evil of sin Amos 4. 11. I have overthrown some of you as God overthrâ—w Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a fire-brand pluckt out of the burnings yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. Here I is emphatical and exclusive as if he should say I and I alone Amos 1. 14. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah that is in the Metropolis or chief City of the Ammonites and it shall devour the Palaces thereof Rabbah their head-City was a cruel bloody covetous and ambitious City vers 13. And therefore rather than it should escape divine vengeance God will kindle a fire in the wall of it and burn it with his own hands Ezek. 20. 47. And say to the forrest of the South that is to Jerusalem that did lye South-wards from Chaldea hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the You will find this Scripture fully opened in the following Discourse Lord God Behold I will kindle a fire in thee and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree the flaming flames shall not be quenched and all fuel from the South to the North shall be burnt therein verse 48. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched Men shall see that 't was God that kindled the fire and not man and therefore 't was beyond mans skill or power to quench it or to over-master it Jer. 7. 20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place upon man and upon beast and upon the trees of the field and upon the fruit of the ground and it shall burn and shall not be quenched The Point being thus proved for the further opening of it premise with me these things 1. First That great afflictions dreadful Judgments are likened unto fire in the blessed Scriptures Psal 66. 12. We went through fire and water Jer. 4. 4. Circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the fore-skins of your heart ye men of Judah and Inhabitants of Jerusalem lest my fury come forth like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings Jer. 21. 12. O house of David thus saith the Lord execute Judgment in the morning and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor lest my fury go out like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings Lam. 2. 3 4. He hath cut off in his anger all the horn of Israel he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy and burned against Jacob like a flaming fire which devoureth round about he hath bent his bow like an enemy he stood with his right hand as an adversary and slew all that was pleasant to the eye in the Tabernacle of the Daughter of Zion he poured out his fury like fire Ezek. 15. 7. And I will set my face against them they shall go out from one fire and another fire shall devour them and ye shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them Ezek. 22. 20 21 22. As they gather Silver and Brass and Iron and Lead and Tin into the midst of the furnace to blow the fire upon it to melt it so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury and I will leave you there and melt you yea I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you Thus you see that great afflictions great Judgments are likened unto fire But in what respects are great Afflictions great Judgments Quest like unto fire In these seven respects they are like unto fire Answ First Fire is very dreadful and terrible to mens thoughts spirits and apprehensions how dreadful was the fire of Sodom and the fire of London to all that were near it or spectators of it 'T is observable that some are set out in the blessed Scriptures as Monuments of most terrible and dreadful Vengeance whom the Kings of
iniquity and by tin glittering hypocrisie For as tin is very like unto silver so is hypocrisie very like unto piety Others by dross understand persons that are openly prophane and by tin such as are inwardly unsound The words are a Metaphor taken from them that try metals in the fire purging from precious silver all drosâ— and tin The Jews who were once silver were now turned into dross and tin but God by fiery tryals would burn up their dross and tin their enormities and wickednesses and make them as shining Christians in grace and holiness as ever they were So Isa 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin God by the Babylonish Captivity would as by fire purge away the iniquity of Jacob and to shew the certainty of it he instanceth in their darling-sin viz. Idolatry when he maketh all the stones of the Altar as chalk-stones that are beaten in sunder the Groves and the Images shall not stand up Idolatry was the great sin for which God sent them into Captivity Now how they were purged from this sin after their return out of Captivity appears by their History take one instance for all Pilate being by Tiberius to be Josephus pag. 617. The Jews hated and feared Idolatry as much as the burnt child dreadâ— the fire Governor over the Jews caused in the night-time the Statue of Caesar to be brought into Jerusalem covered which thing within three days after caused a great tumult among the Jews for they who beheld it were astonished and moved as though now the Law of their Country were prophaned For they hold it not lawful for any Picture or Image to be brought into the City At their lamentation who were in the City there was gathered together a great multitude out of the fields adjoyning and they went presently to Pilate then at Caesarea beseeching him earnestly that the Images might be taken away out of Jerusalem and that the Laws of their Country might remain inviolated When Pilate denied their Suit they prostrated themselves before his house and there remained lying upon their faces for sive days and nights never moving Afterwards Pilaâ—e sitting in his Tribunal-seat was very careful to call all the Jews together before him as though there he would have given them an Answer when upon the sudden a Company of armed Souldiers for so it was provided compassed the Jews about with a triple rank the Jews were hereat amazed seeing that which they expected not then Pilate told them that except they would receive the Images of Caesar he would kill them all and to that end made a sign to the Souldiers to draw their Swords The Jews as though they had agreed thereto fell all down at once and offered their necks to the stroke of the Sword crying out that they would rather lose their lives then suffer their Religion to be prophaned Then Pilate admiring the constancy of the people in their Religion presently commanded the Statues to be taken out of the City of Jerusalem All the hurt the fire did the three Children or Dan. 3. 23 24. rather Champions was to burn off their cords Our lusts are cords of vanity but by fiery tryals God will burn them up Zecha 13. 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tryed The best of men are but men at the best they have much corruption and dross in them and they need â—efining and therefore God by fiery tryals will refine them â—ut not as dross or chaff which are burnt up in the fire but â—s silver and gold which are purified in the fire he will so â—efine them as that they shall leave their dregs and dross behind them Look what the fire is to the gold the file to the Iron the fan to the wheat the sope to the cloaths the salt to the flesh that shall fiery tryals be to the Saints But what shall be the fruit of their refining Answ They shall call on my Name and I will hear them I will say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God By fiery tryals God will purge out our dross and make vertue shine All the fiery tryals that befal the Saints shall be as a potion to carry away ill humors and as cold frosts to destroy the vermine and as a tempestuous Sea to purge the wine from its lees and as the North wind that dryeth up the vapours that purges the blood and that quickens the spirits and as a sharp Corrosive to eat out the dead flesh The great thing that should be most in every burnt Citizens eye and heart and prayers and desires is that the Fire of London may be so sanctified as to issue in the burning up of their lusts and in the purging away of the filth of the Daughter of Zion Isa 4. 4. Jerom reports of Plato how he left that famous City of Hieronym contra Jovinian lib. 2. Athens and chose to live in a little ancient Village almost overturned with tempests and earth-quakes that being often minded therein of his approaching desolation he might get more power over his strong lusts and learn to live a more vertuous life then ever he had lived before O Sirs if God by this fiery Dispensation shall make you more victorious over your strong lusts and help you to live more vertuous lives you will have cause to bless him all your days though he has turned you out of house and home and burnt up all your comforts round about you But Fourthly By severe Providences and fiery Tryals God designs these four things in respect of his Childrens Graces First He designs the reviving quickning and recovering of their decayed graces By fiery tryals he will inflame that love that was even key cold and raise that faith that was Rev. 2. 4. Jam. 1. 2-12 2 Cor. 12. 10. fallen asleep and quicken up those hopes that were languishing and put life and spirits into those joys and comforts that were withering and dying God under fiery tryals lets his poor children see how that by their spiritual decays he has been dishonoured his Spirit grieved Religion shamed the mouths of the wicked opened weak Saints staggered strong Saints troubled Conscience wounded and their Souls and Graces impaired and by these discoveries he engages them to the use of all those holy and heavenly helps whereby their decayed graces may be revived and recovered Many creatures that have been frozen and even dead with cold have been revived and recovered by being brought to the fire God by fiery tryals will unfreeze the frozen graces of his people and put new life and spirits into them As the Air is sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy and as the Sea is sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing and as the tree of the field are somtimes flowering green and growing and
sometimes naked withered and as it were even dead So 't is sometimes with the graces of the Saints but the Lord by one fiery tryal or another will revive and recover and raise their graces again Epiphanius makes mention of those that Lib. de Anchorat travel by the Desarts of Syria where are nothing but miserable Marshes and Sands destitute of all Commodities nothing to be had for love or money Now if it so happen that their fire go out by the way then they light it again at the heat of the Sun by the means of a Burning-glass and thus if the fire of zeal if the sparks of divine grace by the prevalency of some strong corruption or by the violence of some dreadful temptation should be put out or dye as to its lively operations by a Burning-glass or by one fiery Dispensation or another God will inflame the zeal and enliven the dying graces of his poor people I know the saving graces of the Spirit viz. such as Faith Love Hope c. cannot 1 Joh. 3. 9. 11. Rom. 29. 13. Heb. 8. 1 Pet. 1. 5. Joh 10. 28 29 30 31. be finally and totally extinguished in the Souls when they are once wrought there by the Spirit yet their lustre their radiancy their activity their shine and flame may be clouded and covered whilst the season of temptation lasteth as living coals may be so covered with ashes that neithâ—r light nor smoak nor heat may appear and yet when the embers the ashes are stirred to the bottom then live coals appear and by a little blowing a flame breaks forth There are several cases wherein grace in a Christians breast may seem to be hid cold dead and covered over as sap in the winter is hid in the roots of trees or as flowers and fruits are hid in the seeds or roots in the earth or as sparks of fire are hid in the ashes or as bits of gold are hid in a dust heap or as pearls may be hid in the mire I but God by one severe providence or another by one fiery tryal or another will blow that heavenly grace that divine fire into a perfect flame he will cause their hid graces to revive as the Corn and grow as the Vine and blossom as the Lilly and smell as the Wine of Lebanon Hos 14 5 6 7. O Sirs how many Christians were there amongst us who were much decayed and withered in their graces in their duties in there converses in their comforts in their spiritual enjoyments in their As a man may take infection or get some inward bruise or spring a vein and yet not know of it communions with God and with one another and yet were not sensible of their decays nor humbled under their decays nor industrious to recover themselves out of their withering and dying condition and therefore no wonder if the Lord to recover them and raise them hath brought fiery tryals upon them But Secondly God by severe Providences and by fiery Tryals designs a further exercise of his Childrens graces sleepy habits bring him no glory nor do us no good All the honour he has and all the advantage we have in this world is from the active part of grace consult the Scriptures in the Job 15. 3. 2 Chron. 20. 12 13. Jam. 1. 4. Chap. 5. 11. Hab. 2. 3 4. Mich. 7. 7 8 9. Rev. 13. 10. compared with Chap. 14. 12. Margine There is little difference as to the comfort and sweet of grace between grace out of exercise and no grace at all A man that has millions but has no heart to use what he has wherein is he better as to the comfort and sweetness of his life then a man that hath but a few mites in the world Eccle. 6. 1 2-4 Mark 40. How is it that you have no faith saith Christ to his Disciples when they were in a dreadful storm and in danger of drowning and so stood in most need of their faith yet they had then their faith to seek they had faith in the habit but not in the exercise and therefore Christ looks upon their faith as no faith How is it that you have no faith what is the sheath without the knife the scabbard without the sword the Musket without the match the Cannon without the bullet the Granado without powder no more are all your graces when not in exercise The strongest Creature the Lyon and the subtlest Creature the Serpent if they are dormant are as easily surprised and destroyed as the weakest worm So the strongest Saints if grace be not in exercise are as easily surprised and captivated by Sin Satan and the World as the weakest Saints are O Sirs if Christians will not stir up the grace of God that is in them if they will not look to the daily exercise of grace God by some severe providence or other by some fiery Dispensation or other will stir up their graces for them Ah Jonah 1. 6. ult sluggish slumbering Christians who are careless as to the exercise of your graces how sadly how sorely do you provoke the Lord to let Satan loose to tempt you and corruptions grow strong to weary you and the world grow cross to vex you and friends turn enemies to plague you and the Lam. 1. 16. spirit withdraw to discomfit you and fiery tryals to break in to awaken you And all this to bring you to live in a daily exercise of grace God was fain to be a Moth a Worm a â—yon yea a young Lyon to Ephraim and Judah before he Hos 5. 12. 14. could bring them up to an exercise of grace but when he was all this to them then they fall roundly upon a lively exâ—rcise of grace Hos 6. 1 2 3. Come let us return unto thâ— Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten â—nd he will bind us up After two days he will revive us in the â—hird day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord his going forth is prepared as the morning and he shall come unto us as the rain as the latter and former rain unto the earth Here you see â—hâ—ir faith their repentance their love their hope all in eâ—ercise When a Souldiers courage metal and gallantry lyes as it were hid his Captain will put him upon such haâ—dâ—hips hâ—zards and dangers as shall rouse up his courage metal and gallantry If a Scholar has excellent acquired parts and abilities and will not use them nor improve them his Master will put him upon such Tasks as shall draw out all his parts and abilities to the height So when the Lord has laid into the souls of his people a stock of grace and they grow idle and careless and will not improve that stock for his glory and their own good he will then exercise them with such severe providences and fiery tryals as
sudden death and of Haman who slandering Mordecai and the Jews and by his lyes plotting their ruine was taken in the same snare that he had laid for them and both he and his Sons hanged upon the same Gallows which he had made for innocent Mordecai The same Chap. 7. 9. And Chap. 9. 13 14. Lyar that was feasting with the King one day was made a feast for Crows the next day Dreadful are the threatnings that the great God has given out against lyars Psal 5. 6. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing Such as lye in jest will without repentance go to Hell in earnest Psal 12. 3. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things God by one Judgment or another in one way or another will cut off all flattering lying lips as a rotten member is cut off from the body or as a barren tree that is stocked up that it may cumber the ground no more Psal 120. 2 3 4. Deliver my soul O Lord from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue What shall be given unto thee or what shall be done unto thee thou false tongue sharp arrows of the Mighty God will retaliate sharp for sharp with coals of juniper The coals of Juniper burn hot and last long some say a month and more and smell sweet Now upon these coals will God broil lying lips and a deceitful tongue pleasing himself and others in the execution of his wrath upon a lying tongue Prov. 19. 5. A false witness shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lyes shall not escape Though men sometimes by lying may escape the displeasure of men yet they shall never by lying escape the wrath and displeasure of God Wrath is for that man and that man is for wrath who hath taught his tongue the trade of lying Hos 12. 1. Ephraim daily increaseth lyes and desolation Desolation is the fruit and consequent of lying sin and punishment are inseparable companions they who heap up lyes hasten desolation both upon themselves and the places where they live Now if lying be a sin so hateful and odious to God no wonder if God appears in flaming fire against it But Fourthly and lastly Lying is a sin against the Light and Law of Nature it is a sin against natural Conscience and therefore 't is that a little child will blush many times when he tells a lye It was observed of Pomponius Atticus Ciceroes great Friend that he never used lying neither could he with patience lend his ear to a Lyar. Tennes the Son of Cyrnus who was worshipped as a God was so strict in judgment that he caused an Ax to be held over the witnesses head to execute them out of hand if they were taken with faâ—shood or a lye Among the Scythians when their Priests foretold an untruth they were carried along upon hurdles full of heath and dry wood drawn by oxen and manacled hand and foot and burnt to death Aristotle saith by the Arist Ethic. lib. 4. cap. 7. light of natural Reason that a lye is evil in in self and cannot be dispensed withal it being contrary to the Order of Nature For saith he we have tongues given us to express our minds and meanings one to another by Now if our tongues tell more or less then our minds conceive it is against Nature It is said of Epaminondas a Heathen that he abhorred mendacium jocosum a jefting lye Plutarch calls Lying a Tinkerly sin a sin that is both hateful and shameful Euripedes saith that he is unhappy who rather useth lyes though seemingly good then truths when he judgeth them evil To think the truth saith Plato is honest but a filthy and dishonest thing to lye I could saith my Author both sigh and smile at the simplicity of some Pagan people in America who having told a lye used to let their tongues blood in expiation thereof A good cure for the Squinancy but no satisfaction for lying These Heathens will one day rise in Judgment against such amongst us as make no conscience of lying To bring things close those that lived within and without the Walls of London that were given up to a trade a course of lying those persons sinned with a high hand not only against the Light of Nature but also against as clear as glorious a Gospel-light as ever shined round a people since Christ was upon the Earth and therefore no wonder if God hath laid their City in ashes He that sâ—all seriously dwell upon these four things viz. 1. That lying is a very great sin 2. That Lyes and Lyars are very destructive to all humane Societies Kingdoms and Common-wealths 3. That Lying is a sin most hateful and odious to God 4. That Lying is a sin against the Light and Law of Nature he will see cause enough to justifie the Lord in that late dreadful Fire that has thus been amongst us But before I close up this Particular give me leave to say That this trade this course of Lying that brings that sore Judgment of Fire upon Cities and Countries I cannot charge with any clear evidence upon those that did truly fear the Lord whose habitations were once within or without the Walls of London before it was turned into a ruinous heap and that upon these grounds First Because a trade a course of Lying is not consistent with the truth or state of Grace A trade a course of drunkennesâ— Psal 139. 23 24. 1 Joh. 3. 6 7 8 9 10. of whoring of swearing of cursing is as inconsistent with a state of Grace as a trade a course of Lying is I know Jacob lyed and David lyed and Peter lyed but none of these were ever given up to a trade of lying to a course of lying The best Saints have had their extravagant motions and have sadly miscarried as to particular actions but he Vna actio noâ— denominat that shall judge of a Christians estate by particular acts though notorious bad will certainly condemn where God â—cquits We must always distinguish between some single evil actions and a serious course of evil actions It is not this or that particular evil action but a continued course of evil actions that denominates a man wicked As it is not this or that particular good act but a continued course of holy actions that denominates a man holy Every man is as his course is if his course be holy the man is holy if his course be wicked the man is wicked There is a Maxime in Logick viz. That no general Rule can be established upon a particular Instance And there is another Maxime in Logick viz. That no particular Instance can overthrow a general Rule So here look as no man can safely and groundedly conclude from no better premises then from some few particular actions though in themselves materially and substantially good that this or that mans spiritual estate is good so on the other hand no man ought
works and the Ships were broken that they were not able to go to Tarshish Bâ—â—stâ—roâ—s winds at Sea or a shore are the arrows of God shâ—t out of the bended bow of his displeasure they are one of the lower tier of his indignation that is fired upon the â—â—ildren of men Nahum 1. 3. The Lord hath his way in the whirle wind and in the storm and in the clouds are the dust of â—is feet The great Spanish Armado that came to invade our Land in 88. were broken and scattered by the winds So that their dice games were frastrated and they sent into the bottom of the Sea if not into a worse bottom And when Charles the V. had besieged Algier that Pen of Thieves both by Sea and by Val. Max. Christiae page 132. Land and had almost taken it by two terrible Tempests the greatest part of his great Fleet were destroyed as they did lye in the Harbour at Anchor Ships Houses Trees Steeples Rocks Mountains Monuments can't stand before a tempestâ—ous wind 1 Kings 19. 11. A great strong wind rent the Mountains and brake in pieces the rocks What more strong than Rocks and Mountains and yet they were too weak to stand before the strength of a tempestious wind Oh the terrible execution that God doth many times by the winds both at Sea and ashore Psal 18. 7. The earth shook and trembled the foundations of the Hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth ver 8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured coals were kindled by it ver 10. He rode upon a Cherub and did flie yea he did flie upon the wings of the wind ver 12. His thick Clouds passed hailstones and coals of fire verse 13. The Lord also thundred in the Heavens and the highest gave his voice hail stones and coals of fire c. The fire in London carried the noise of a whirle-wind in it and that made it so formidable and terrible to all that beheld it especially those that lookt upon it as a fruit of Gods displeasure The wind was commissionated by God to joyn issue with the raging fire to lay the City desolate I think the like dreadful instance can't be given in any age of the world We can't say of the wind that blew when London was in flames that God was not in the wind as 't is said in that 1 Kings 19. 11. For assuredly if ever God was in any wind he was remarkably in this wind witness the dismals effects of it amongst us to this very day Had God been pleased to have hindered the conjunction of these two Elements much of London might havâ— beâ—n standing which now lyes buried in its own ruines I grant that 't is probable enough that those that did so long before prophesie and predict the barning of London before it was laid in ashes were the prime contrivers and furtherers of the firing of it but yet when they had kindled the fire that God by the bellows of Heaven should so blow upon it as to make it spread and turn like the flaming Sword in Paradise Gen. 3. ult every way till by its force and fury it had destroyed above two third parts in the midst of the City as the phrase â—s Ezek. 5. 2. This is and this must be for a sore lamentation God wbo holds the winds in his fist who is the true Aeâ—lus Psalm 13. 5. Mark 4. 39. could either have lockt them up in his treasures or have commanded them to be still or else have turned them to have been a dâ—fence to the City God who holds the bottles of Heaven in his hand could easily have unstopt them Gen. 7. 11. he could with a word of his mouth have opened the windows of Heaven and have poured down such an abundance of rain upon the City as would quickly have quencht the violence of the flames and so have made the conquest of the fire more easie But the Lord was angry and the Decree was gone out that London should be burnt and who could prevent it To close up this particular consider much of the Wisdom Power and Justice of God shines in the variety of the motions of the wind Eccles 1. 6. The wind goeth toward the South and turneth about unto the North it whirleth about continually and the wind returneth again according to his circuits The wind hath its various circuits appointed by God when the wind blows Southward Northward Westward or Eastward it blows according to the Orders that are issued out from the Court of Heaven Sometimes the wind begins to blow at one point of the Compass and in a short time whirles about to every point of the Compass till it comes again to the same point where it blew at the first yet in all this they observe their circuits and run their compass according to the Divine appointment As the Sun so the winds have their courses ordered out by the wise Providence of God Divine Wisdom much sparkles and shines in the circuits of the winds which the Lord brings out of his treasure and makes them serviceable sometimes to one part of the world and at other times to other parts of the world Exod. 14. 24. Jonah 1. 4 Chap. 4. 8. 'T is the great God that appoints where the winds shall blow and when the winds shall blow and how long the winds shall blow and with what force and violence thâ— winds shall blow The winds in some parts of the world have a very regular and uniform motion in some moneths of the year blowing constantly out of one quarter and in others out of another In some places of the world where I have been the motions of the wind are steady and constant which Marriners call their Trade-wind Now by these stated or setled winds Divine Providence dos very greatly serve the interest of the children of men But now in other parts of the world the winds are as chaâ—geable as mens minds The Laws that God layes â—pâ—n thâ— winds in most parts of the world are not like the Laws of the Medes and Persians which alter not One day God layes Dan. 6. 8. a Law upon the winds to blow full East the next day to blow full West the third to blow full South the fourth to blow full North yea in several parts of the world I have known the winds to change their motions several times in a day Now in all these various motions of the winds the Providence of God is at work for the good of mankind That there is a dreadful storm in one place and at the same time a sweet calm in another that a temâ—â—â—tuous storm should destroy and dash in pieces one fleet and that at the same instant and in one and the same Sea a prosperous gale should blow another fleet into a safe harbour That some at Sea should have a stiff gale of wind and others within sight of them
and they provoked to avoid them and secure themselves against them Doubtless the serious thoughts of hellish pain while men live is one blessâ—d way to keep them from those torments when they come to die Another gives this pious counsel Let us earnestly importune the Lord that this knowledge whether the fire of Hell be material or not be never manifested to us by experience 'T is infinitely better to endeavour the avoiding Hell fire than curiously to dispute about it Look as there is nothing more grievous than Hell So there is nothing more profitable than the fear of it But what difference is there between our common fire and Hell Obj. fire I answer a mighty difference a vast difference Take it Answ in these six particulars First They differ in their heat no heart can conceive nor no tongue can express the exquisite heat of infernal fire were all the fires under Heaven contracted into one fire yea were all the Coles Wood Oyle Hemp Flax Pitch Tarr Brimstone and all other combustibles in the world contracted into one flame into one fire yet one spark of infernal fire would be more hot violent dreadful amazing astonishing raging and tormenting than all that fire that is supposedly made up of all the combustibles the earth affords To mans sense there is nothing more terrible and afflictive than fire and of all fires there is none so scalding and tormenting as that of brimstone Now into that lake Rev. 14. 10. Chap. 21. 8. The fire in a Lantskip is but ignis pictus a painted fire and the fire of Purgatory is but ignis fictus feigned fire Now what are these to Hell fire which burns with fire and brimstone for ever and ever shall the wicked of the earth be cast Infernal fire far exceeds ours that are on our Hearths and in our Chimneyes in degree of heat and fierceness of burning Our fire hath not that terrible power to scorch burn torment as the fire of Hell hath Our fire as Polycarpus and others say compared to Hell fire is but like painted fire upon the Wall Now you know a painted fire upon the Wall will not hurt you nor burn nor affright you not torment you but the fire of Hell will beyond all your conception and expression hurt burn affright and torment you The fire of Hell for degrees of heat and fierceness of burning must wonderfully surpass our most furious fires because it is purposely created by God to torment the creature whereas our ordinary fire was created by God only for the comfort of the creature The greatest and the hottest fires that ever were on earth are Alsted but Ice in comparison of the fire of Hell Secondly There are unexpressible torments in Hell as well as unspeakable joyes in Heaven Some who write of Purgatory tell us that the pains thereof are more exquisite though of shorter continuance than the united torments Bâ—llarm de Parg. l. 2. c. 14 Bâ—llâ—rm de Aeâ—â—r Faeli Saâ—â—â— l. 1. c. 11. that the earth can invent though of longer duration If the Popes Kitchin be so warm how hot is the Devils Furnace A Poetical Fiction is but a Meiosis when brought to shew the nature of these real torments the lashes of Furies are but petty scourgings when compared to the stripes of a wounded conscience Tytius his Vulture though feeding on his Liver is but a Flea-biting to that Worm whick gnaweth their hearts and dieth not Ixion his Wheel is a place of rest if compared with those Billows of Wrath and thaâ— Wheel of Justice which is in Hâ—ll brought over the ungodly the task of Danaus his Daughter is but a sport compared to the tortures of those whose souls are filled with bitterness and within whom are the arrows of the Alâ—ighry the poison whereof doth drink up their spirits Hell is called a Furnace of fire which speaketh intolerable heat a Matth. 13. 42. Luke 16. 28. Matth. 5. 25. 5. 22. place of torment which speaketh a total privation of ease A Prison which speaketh restraint Gehenna from the valley of Hinnom where the unnatural Parents did sacrifice the fruit oâ— their bodies for the sin of their souls to their merciless Idols the which word by a neighbour Nation is retained to signifie a Rock than the torture of which what more exquisite It is called a Lake of Fire and Brimstone than the torment of the former what more acute than the smell of the latter what more noisome But Secondly Our fire is made by the hand of man and must be maintained by continual supplies of fuel take away the Coals the Wood the combustible matter and the fire goes out but the infernal fire is created and tempered and blown by the hand of an angry sin revenging God Isa 30. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is A River of Brimstone is never consumed by burning fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it and therefore the breath of all the Reprobates in Hell shall never be able to blow it out Our fire is blown by an aiery breath but the infernal fire is blown by the angry breath of the great God which burns far hotter than ten thousand thousand Rivers of Brimstone The breath of Gods mouth shall be both Bellows and fuel to the infernal fire and therefore Oh how terrible and torturing how fierce and raging will that fire be If but three drops of Brimstone should fall upon any part of the flesh of a man it would fill him so full of torment that he would not be able to forbear roaring out for pain and anguish Oh how dreadful and painful will it be then for damned sinners to swimm up and down in a Lake or River of Fire and Brimstone for ever and ever There is no proportion between the heat of our breath and the fire that it blows O then what a dreadful what an amazing what an astonishing fire must that needs be which is blown by a breath dissolved into brimstone Gods wrath and indignation shall be an everlasting supply to Hells conflagration Ah Sinners how fearful how formidable how unconceivable will this infernal fire prove Surely there is no misery no torment to that of lying in a torrent of burning Brimstone for ever and ever Mark this infernal fire is a fire prepared by God himself to punish and torment all impenitent persons and reprobate rebels who scorned to submit to the Scepter of Christ Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared Matth. 25. 41. for the Devil and his Angels The wisdom of God hath been much exercised in preparing and devising the most tormenting temper for that formidable fire in which the Devil and his Angels shall be punished for ever and ever Not as if it were not prepared also for wicked and ungodly men but it