People may be frustrated Jer. 8.15 We looked for peace but no good came and for a time of health but behold trouble they did look for it but such an expectation must not be called by the name of Faith Let me tell you That nothing is Faith but that that is grounded upon a Word Psal 119.49 Remember thy Word unto thy Servant on the which thou hast caused me to hope It is very hard to find any word in Scripture where God doth absolutely assure unto his People exemption in a slaughtering-Calamity especially until Christ shall come forth to execute Judgement upon the Earth Therefore there not being a word for such Faith there cannot be a Faith of such a distinction Though men may call their vain expectations by the name of Faith they shall never find it to have Faiths Efficacy Obj. 5. If it be further said That by the falling of Gods Israel the Lord crosses and hinders his own design he hinders the effect of the Judgement upon the Hearts of sinners their hearts come by this means to be the more hardned and they thence conclude it is not intended and directed specially against them for say they The Good fall as well as the Bad and we are not intended more then others Answ To that I answer What if God will for the hardning the hearts of Sinners let some of his own fall What if that shall be one part of Gods design in it that their hearts may be hardened and thereby they may be the more ripened for their utter ruine and destruction If God have this design in his heart and will therefore be content to let some of his fall in a Calamity who are we that we should reply against God Obj. 6. If in the sixth place you should ask me But what shall we say concerning those of Gods Israel that are fallen must we conclude them all fallen in their trespasses and cut off because of some notable provocation that they stood guilty of Answ I answer No in no wise notwithstanding all that hath been said But my poor thoughts are these That some of the Lords own Israel may have had too great a hand in and may have stood under too much guilt with respect to some of the provocations of this day and so may be fallen in their trespasses God may have cut them off from the Earth in some displeasure for some Abominations in which they have been found though he may receive them to himself in glory but I must say concerning others of the Lord's People this day fallen and some of them have this witness in my soul that surely the hand of God went not out against them for any speciall provocation upon them but upon account of the accomplishing and bringing about some notable things that are in the heart of God which time must manifest therefore though the falling of many Saints may speak that the Lord is displeased with his People yet I would even say concerning many of them and it may be a caution unto us as Christ Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish or those eighteen upon whom the Tower in Shiloe fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all others that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish though many of the Saints may possibly have fallen through great provocations yet surely for others we must not reckon them sinners above the rest of the Saints that remain Obj. 7. If it be asked May we conclude that all the Israel of God that have escaped and may escape through Grace that they do therefore escape because they have been found walking uprightly with God in a constant exercise of Grace do they therefore escape because they are found in right and good frames of soul To that I answer Let us not be high-minded but fear Though possibly some of the Saints that stand God hath found them in a right Spirit and is therefore pleased to spare yet for many of us we must put our preservation upon some other score I would rather place it where the Spirit of God doth sometimes place the preservation of Israel Psal 78. But he being full of compassion forgave their iniquities yea many a time turned away his Anger and did not stir up all his Wrath. I do rather suppose that most of us that live live through the grace and indulgence of a tender-hearted God because he doth not stir up all his Wrath rather than because we have been found in this right and excellent Spirit which this day calls for and which of right should have been found upon us And thus I have shewed that in dayes of slaughter all of Israel may not escape and why I proceed now to the second Branch for prosecution of this Doctrine to shew that whoever stand or fall Christ will lose none of his glory that all slaughtering-providences shall end in the making Christ glorious In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious that is in that day when some great and dreadful Slaughters are brought to a conclusion as is evident if you consider and compare it with what goes before in the third chapter Certainly a little light into Scripture is enough to satisfie us that God hath brought forth many great things for his own glory and the good of his People by slaughters it were easie to observe unto you that most of the great things that God hath done for his Name and People have been effected and brought about by great distresses Israel were set free from their oppression which was an eminent mercy and how Slaughters were made to bring that about Exod. 14.13 Moses said unto the People Fear ye not stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord which he will shew unto you to day for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day ye shall see them again no more for ever And you shall finde they were possessed of Canaan setled in that good Land but which way it was by and through great slaughters the Canaanite was dispersed and driven out and it was by cutting them off yea I do suppose that one of the means and wayes by which God made way for Israel to set them in Canaan was by the Pestilence I gather it from that Exod. 23.23 My Angel shall go before thee and bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perrisites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will cut them off God saith he would send his Angel to do it The Angels of God work many wayes but that that is eminently called in Scripture the stroke of the Angel it is that stroke by the Pestilence as many instances might make it good and I the rather judge it to be the intent of the expression because it
and thus to do will be a proof of your love to and esteem of this Branch of the Lord as more excellent to you then he was wont to be Saith David Psal 116. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications that is I will love him better then ever I did if he had but a little he shall now have more and what proof doth he give of it vers 14. I will pay my Vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his People here was a proof it The Lord help us that have the Vows of God upon us to evidence that Christ is become glorious unto us by performing our Covenant God is known to be a Covenant-keeping-God and his People should be like their heavenly Father But again 3. A third thing required from them that escape a day of Calamity is this That Christ be owned in the Escape that he have the glory of it put it not upon your natural Fortitude and Courage your natural hardiness and boldness as some vaunting spirits are apt to do and to conclude thence was their preservation God doth not fear to strike the most fearless and sometimes the most fearless are in the greatest danger Put not thy escape upon the score of thy own Wisdom that thou hast acted thus and thus prudently for thy preservation if the Lord would he could easily have out-witted thee and if he had not been with thee in the acting the best of thy Wisdom would not have been useful take heed of boasting in Means if Means have been successful look up to that God that hath been pleased to bless them unto that end Psal 116.8 David puts the matter upon its proper Basis Thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Gracious hearts desire to cry as Moses and the Children of Israel did when they saw Pharoah and his Host sunk as Lead in the Sea and themselves preserved to their great amazement Exod. 15.2 The Lord is my Strength and my Song and He is become my Salvation He is my God and I will prepare him a Habitation my Fathers God and I will exalt him According to this time it shall be said said Balaam in his Prophecy What hath the Lord wrought This must you and I say What hath the Lord wrought The truth is Christ suffers much in the World and suffers much from his own People they rob him of his glory we are apt to give that honour that is due to him unto some one else but it should be our care to be found in the frame with them Jer. 50.28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of Babylon to declare in Sion the vengeance of the Lord our God the vengeance of his temple it is the work of escaping Ones to praise the Lord and declare his works Would you all have some token for good that the interest of Christ is promoted in you see whether it be your care to give Christ the glory of this Salvation of which you have been partakers 4. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped That the sence of this Mercy should long rest upon our Spirits our goodness in every respect is apt to be like the morning-cloud and the early dew that soon passeth away and in this respect more then in many other things the sence of our deliverance is very apt to wear off the Soul but it is a frame that Christ much mislikes where he findes it an instance or two may serve to convince us of it Psal 78.10 11. They kept not the Covenant of God possibly by this may be intended the Covenants they made with God in distress they did not keep them why not it was because they forgot his Works and Wonders that he had shewed them and one sin draws many more after it oft times they forgot the Works of God and so their Covenant with God both are taken ill and the latter as ill as any that God should shew abundance of kindness to a People whilst they slight and dis-esteem and let the sence of that kindness slip out of their minds and therefore he complains of the same thing Psal 106.13 They soon forgat his Works they waited not for his Counsel They were the delivering-Works of God and all the wonders he had shewed them they soon forgot the sence thereof was crept out of their hearts in a little time All of us alive may say we have seen much of the goodness of God to us but if we should be of the number of them that soon forget his goodness we do very evilly requite the Lord. 5. This is the requirement of Christ from them that are escaped in the day of Calamity That we should be dedicated consecrated and given up to his Use and Service in our whole Course This is the obligation that Christ hath laid on our Souls by carrying us through the distresses of this day That the rest of the time we spend in the flesh should not be spent according to the will of the flesh but according to the will of God that the rest of the time of our sojourning here might be spent in fear It is a kind of a new life that every one of us have received and this new Life should have Newness of Life going along with it saith the Apostle I beseech you by the mercies of God that you give up your selves Body and Soul as a Sacrifice to God which is but your reasonable service and such a mercy as this doth call for it that your Souls should be for God and your Bodies for God the Body hath received a great deal of mercy at this time that is preserved and kept the Clay-Cottage kept from tumbling to dust and ashes now all the members of the Body as well as the powers of the Soul ought to be for the Lord this the Lord expects and it is but your reasonable service which in common Justice should be given unto Christ Psal 116.8 9. For thou hast delivered my Soul from death mine Eyes from tears and my Feet from falling I will walk before the Lord in the land of the Living that is I will walk as in his sight and presence I will look to maintain a good frame of Life and Conversation in the rest of the time I have to spend in the World And thus may you testifie unto your selves and others that Christ gains on you by your Escape this day if you be found in the discharge of those Duties which are expected from you And thus I have dispatched the Doctrinal part VSE I. If this be a proper effect of your Escaping in a day of slaughter to have the Branch of the Lord become lovely know this kindness hath been shewed us therefore it concerns us narrowly to see how this effect is wrought out Every Soul should turn his Eyes inward I would hope your Souls have been a little thus
sojourn in Mesech and dwell in the tents of Kedar that is among a people where God is dishonoured When thou lookest abroad in the World and seest how little sin is born down and how little the Interest of Christ is advanced among any that are escaped if thy Escape hath furthered Christ's Interest in thee this will grieve thy heart be careful and watchfull in the making a right use of this matter But to come to a second Use VSE II. Should the escaping dreadful Calamity work the heart to a prizing this Branch of the Lord then if any of you have a witness coming in against you that it hath not had this effect I must say the Lord will say unto you as unto them Deut. 32.6 Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish and unwise I would a little set before you the evil of this and the misery that may follow upon it 1. There is much sin in it your sin lyeth in this that you have hitherto crossed the design of God by what means you can the Designs of the Lord are very much for the advancement of Christ God saith his Son shall be exalted and extolled and made high and he works to this end by all means Word and Rod are both intended to this end he giveth you the Word to make way for Christ into the heart he comes with the Rod and why with that Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me He knocks by the Word and he knocks by the Rod and it is all that the Door may be opened for the exalting of Christ If he do deliver and save you in times of trouble it is that he may be exalted Is he not made glorious If not you cross God's design Hos 11.4 I drew them with the cords of a man with the lands of love and I was as one that took off the yoke from their jaws and layed meat before them All this was that they might exalt the Lord. Now if it have not this issue upon you you are guilty of the great sin of thwarting Gods designs Further there is sin in this respect you pretend that you are for the exaltation of Christ this is that you pray for how oft have you prayed Thy Kingdom come how oft have you begged that Christ might become amiable and lovely to you and is not Christ yet made glorious not yet exalted If not your sin is this it is doubtful your Profession is much of it Hypocrisy and your praying mocking of God sins enow you need not be guilty of greater evils 2. It will endanger the intailing of punishment upon you if Christ be not become glorious to you To speak of two or three things briefly 1. It will be doubtful it will lay thee under the plague of an hard heart which is the forest of all plagues if the Lord's dealings do not soften thee and promote Christ's Interest in thee it is to be doubted it will set thee further from Christ and will leave thee under very great rockiness and stoniness of heart Not onely Pharoah's heart was hardned when the dealings of God in removing the Plague did not work kindly upon him but Israel had their hearts hardned also as you may see Heb. 3.8 9. Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the Wilderness when your Fathers tempted me proved me and saw my works forty years c. This was the sin of Israel of old and possibly the like evil may befall thy soul And 2dly if thy Escape have not produced this effect to render Christ more glorious possibly thou shalt not yet escape for all this thou settest up thy Eben-ezer and sayest Hitherto the Lord hath preserved but it is but hitherto thou knowest not what a day may bring forth God can return this very Judgement and cause it to cut off thee and many more the face of things look something sad for the present * The Plague increasing at this time God is coming back some degrees in his displeasure and whose turn among us it may be to fall we know not it may be any of our conditions if God find us under hardness of heart do not say the bitterness of death is past remember that when the Caldeans had besieged Jerusalem and by the coming of Pharoah's Army the Siege was broken up presently the people were confident the Caldeans should come no more but see a little what God saith and also what he doth Jer. 37.7 8 9. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel thus shall ye say unto the King of Judah that sent you unto me to enquire of me Behold Pharoahs Army which is come forth to help you shall return to Egypt into their own Land and the Caldeans shall come again and fight against this City and take it and burn it with fire Thus saith the Lord Deceive not your selves saying The Caldeans shall surely depart from us for they shall not depart And so it came to passe for in the 39th of Jeremy first verse it is said that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came and all his Army against Jerusalem and besieged it and in the next verse it is said the City was broken up These poor people were confident because the Caldeans were withdrawn and the Siege raised they should be in danger no more It may be we say the storm is over the Bill is much decreased but alas it may increase again and be yet more sore than it hath been Thus I say if Christ be not advanced in thee possibly thou mayest not yet escape this Judgment Or 3dly if not by this Judgment God can meet with thee by others he hath reserves of Judgments of divers kinds and can easily and quickly meet with them that are not in the frames they should be as God saith of Moab Isa 15.8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab the howling thereof unto Eglaim and the howling thereof unto Beer-Elim For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood for I will bring more upon Dimon lyons upon him that escapeth of Moab and upon the remnant of the Land God had been dealing with the Moabites in some way of Judgement and there was some of them remaining but though they had been emptyed from vessel to vessel their scent still remained and now God saith he will come forth with another stroke God hath every thing at his command and he can commission another Dispensation but let me tell you it is sad if after thus long being under the hand of God Christ be not advanced more in your hearts And this leads me to the third Use of the Point VSE III. If it be a blessed effect of Slaughtering-Judgements upon them that have escaped to have Christ become more glorious what shall we think of those who though they
out-live a day of sad Calamity yet Christ is become more contemptible in their eyes who instead of being brought near unto Christ are at a greater distance from Christ It is verily a sad consideration that such should be the conclusion of such a Providence upon the hearts and spirits of any but yet I fear thus it is with more then a few Paul 2 Tim. 3.13 tells us that evil men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse It is the doom that passeth oft times upon evil men that let the dealings of God with them be what they will they are the worse under them wanting the help of the Spirit of Grace to manage and improve them for good they grow into a worse and more evil frame by them All the goodness the gracious dealings of God they are peculiarly directed to win upon the heart to bring Christ and Souls nearer together this is hinted in Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance We are to interpret the end of Gods kindness to be for the bringing the heart to bow and stoop and fall at the Foot of Jesus Christ in case it have not this issue what issue else it produces will certainly be very sad namely the setting Souls at a greater distance from Christ and plunging them into a condition worse then they were in before and so it is added vers 5. Thou treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath thou by this means raisest up greater displeasure between him and thy Soul If you say Are there any that really have lower thoughts of Christ after they have escaped a day of Distress then before I answer it is to be feared too many and where you find one or more of these marks I shall lay down you may conclude that such persons though Christ hath dealt very tenderly with them and not swept them away in a day of destruction as he might have done yet Christ is become more contemptible in their accounts then he was before 1. Where you find a spirit more senceless and stupid more sottish and secure then before such a one is really set at a greater distance from Christ then before Some there are it is much to be feared that having survived this day of distress begin now to look upon themselves as out of reach as if no future danger could possibly attend them growing hard hearted and exceeding secure after those dealings of the Lord under which they have fallen such Souls and Christ are farther apart then they were wont to be Isa 57.15 the Spirit of God tells you Christ dwells in the humble heart and with a broken Spirit Now according as you find a heart melted and broken and said low put into a tender frame so far Christ makes his approaches towards the Soul and comes to be esteemed by it but according as you find the spirits of men grow into a hardness insensibility and security by so much you may conclude Christ is set at a distance from and dis-esteemed by such Souls and O that there were not many sensible proofs of a very insensible Spirit in many poor Creatures who yet are allowed a being upon the Earth If that be allowed to be a sign of security which Christ himself tells us was a sign of it Mat. 24.38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the Ark and knew not till the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the Son of man be observe it Noah was in his days a Preacher of Righteousness he warned the People of Judgement to come the People were exceeding stupid not in the least prevailed upon and what was a proof of it They were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage then at a more then ordinary rate therefore it was an argument what ever was said unto them or whatever God intended they were not much awakened If that were a sign of stupidity then so it is now surely and gives a great deal of reason to conclude that Christ hath not gotten but rather lost upon many of the hearts of those that have escaped 2. Where persons are more desperately and eagerly set upon their lusts there you may conclude Christ is become more contemptible then he was There is such a direct contrariety between sin and Christ that by how much the more a man grows in love with sin by so much the more he must grow out of love with Christ Rom. 8.7 The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject unto the Law of God neither indeed can be Now by how much the more men grow more carnal by so much their enmity against Christ is increased and improved Sinne doth not onely harden mens hearts but it also blinds and shuts mens eyes and by how much the more a man plungeth himself in sin and gives up himself to the service of it by so much you may conclude his mind is blinded and his eyes shut from seeing that glory and beauty that is eminently found in the Lord Jesus Christ The more a man sets himself in the way of sin the more he is under the power of Satan and where Satan rules as a Prince what doth he 2 Cor. 4.4 the Apostle saith The God of this World he blinds the minds of men And from this you may gather if you can observe that men that are preserved this day their hearts are not in the least taken out of those ways of sin in which they did walk but are rather set with greater eagerness to fulfil the desires of the flesh and of the mind you may without breach of Charity conclude those persons are more blinded and less able to see any beauty and excellency in this Branch of the Lord then before Onely we will hope if this spirit be found upon any that it is but as the Apostle saith sometimes concerning the Jews Rom. 11.7 What then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the Election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded We will hope that if there be any that are the more hardened and blinded by this gracious Dispensation of Preservation it is not the Elect that are blinded but those that are given up which the Lord intends not to look after in any gracious way We will hope for any that have any interest in the Lord Jesus that he hath not nor will leave them to such a spirit 3. If you find any more at enmity with the People of Christ then before you may conclude Christ is more contemptible in their eyes then he was before Mind not what men talk do not heed mens grasping after the name of Christians and talking of Christ as a Saviour but know that men may speak of Christ as the whole Nation
are the glorious Perfections of this Branch of the Lord should we measure and guess at him according to the excellency found in any created being alas it would be infinitely short there is in Christ that Excellency that doth exceed and much out-do whatever glory is found upon any thing our eyes behold Shall I say As Solomon in his glory did out-shine the glory of all the Princes that were on earth in his time so and infinitely more doth the glory of Christ out-do whatever our eyes behold or whatever our hearts can conceive of and in our searching into his perfections we may come to do as the Queen of Sheba did when she beheld the glory of Solomon she gave this testimony What she had heard was true So may we give this testimony of Christ That what we have heard of his Perfections there is all in him nay the one half was not told us and if the Queen of Sheba was amazed at standing before Solomons glory how much more may we at Christs although we cannot see him in all his Perfections Thou canst not know him at present in this life according to all that Glory with which he is cloathed 2. If thou that art escaped art jealous that Christ is not become beautiful enough unto thee Remember that the highest pitch unto which the Soul can come in this life is to desire to see more of that beauty that is in him The highest pitch in any thing that is good in this life is to desire to be better The Desires of the Soul do out-go in this life any Acts that it is able to put forth David in the case of Holiness the highest pitch of his Holiness is expressed in his desire Psalm 119.5 O that my Ways were directed to keep thy Statutes he did keep them in some measure but the highest pitch unto which he got was to desire to keep them better so also Psal 68.11 Teach me thy ways O Lord I will walk in thy truth unite my heart to fear thy Name he was sensible that his heart did in some things wander from God he did not fear him as he should but the highest of his attainment lay in his desires Paul was a man very excellent in his day and doubtless did know and enjoy much of Christ yet the highest pitch he attained was largeness of heart and workings of desire exprest in Phil. 3.13 This one thing I do forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus the desires of his heart were large And so the Spouse hath an high esteem of Christ she expresses the value she hath of him at a great rate Cant. 2.3 4. As the Apple-Tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons I sat down under his shaddow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste stay me with Flaggons comfort me with Apples for I am sick of love her heart was much taken with Christ seeing a great deal of Beauty in him but you shall see her desires did out-do any act she could put forth and therefore Cant. 4.16 she says Awake O North Wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out she would have her heart enlarged her Graces acted more strongly Now Soul take in this for thy comfort it is a good frame that thou desirest to prize Christ more and have this Branch of the Lord more glorious in thy account though thou canst not put forth such acts as thou wouldest Remember thou art in that frame that the best of Saints have been in 3. Consider this thou that art escaped and fearest that the Branch of the Lord is not become so glorious as it should be Remember that jealousie over thy heart is a good sign and gives some hope that Christ hath gotten some ground upon thee The wise man Prov. 14.15 saith The simple believeth every word but the prudent man looks well to his going Some are so simple to believe every good word their hearts speak if they find any thing that looks like good they are apt to conclude that all is right therefore the wise man Prov. 28.14 saith Happy is the man that feareth always I apply it unto this It is a good thing sometimes to bear a jealousie a constant jealousie over the heart lest it should not be wrought up to that pitch it ought The Author to the Hebrews gives us a warrant for holy jealousies and fears lest we should fall short They that have been most confident of the goodness of the frame of their spirits have sometimes been in none of the best Jehu cries Come see my Zeal for the Lord of Hosts when he had not one grain of true Zeal for the Lord of Hosts in him 4. Thou that wouldest have this Branch of the Lord glorious if thy heart work really this way Know this thou art accepted in this thy desire It will pass for a good improvement of this mercy of thy Escape I confess some things there are which I find the Lord is angry at He loves not to see souls sit down satisfied and pleased in ways of sin therefore he doth reflect upon them Psal 1.1 that sit in the seat of the scornful he is much angry with them that can contentedly take up in ways of sin and therefore you find him falling foul upon them that harden their hearts in ways of sin and also with those that content themselves with little measures of Grace when they have means to rise up unto greater He rebukes the Disciples Mat. 8.26 for the littleness of their Faith O ye of little Faith he upbraids them with the littleness of their Faith because he had long been with them himself as he doth hint unto them afterwards Have I been so long with thee and yet thou hast not known me But this observe also That where there is but a lesser measure of Grace if the heart be really working after more it is accepted and Christ receives it with good will The best instance I know in the whole Bible is that in Mark 9.23 24. where the Father of a Child possessed with a dumb Spirit comes unto Christ for cure Christ tells him All things are possible unto him that believeth and straightway he cried out and said with tears Lord I believe help my unbelief he had a little Faith and desired more therefore you find Christ doth not reject his little but hears him and calls unto the dumb Devil to come forth of his Child So if thou complainest that Christ is not exalted in thy heart to any great degree but thou longest he should be more believe it it shall be accepted as it is said in another case 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he