Comforts on Earth God had made with him an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure This is all his desire and all his Salvation although he should not make his House to grow Who can see Him rising early to whet the Sacrificing knife that must cut the Throat of his beloved Isaac and giving orders for the cleaving the Wood that must afterwards Burn his dearest Body into Ashes and hastening his Son and Servants to the Journey The Lord hath a Sacrifice to be Offered on the Mount of Moriah how is This Righteous Soul straitned untill it be fullfiled Who can see him thus busie in the Annihilation of his own Flesh without believing that his Affections were all ravished away into Heaven and that Divine Grace had absorp'd him to that degree that he seems to have little of Man or Father appearing in him As Levi he knows not his own Children but packs away the one into Banishment at the Command of God and the other into Death So wholly eaten up by divine Zeal that for three whole days together Travelling towards the fatal Mount he hath both his Eyes so intentively sixt on the holy Commandment that he doth not so much as glance on his Isaac whoâ— he Devotes unto Good and looks on him as nothing but Ashes already The Law of his God that by this Command had dispensed with the very Law of Nature was so strong upon his Heart that he becomes obediently Vnnatural and Cruel not in the least repining as Jacob against God Me hast â—hou bereaved of my Children Ishmael is not and â—ilt thou take Isaac also all these things are against me Not so much as pouring out one Prayer to revoke the dreadful Injunction Father if it be possible let this Cup pass away But totally resigning Himself with his Blessed Heir Let thy will and not mine be done O Holy Abraham how Illustriously do the Graces of Him shine forth upon thee that would be Nothing else than what he was unto God! Thou art that Righteous Man of the East that hath learned to fall down and lye thus Submissively at the Foot of God Whither shall we go in Pilgrimage to find out the least Track of thine Obedient Steps there is scarce a little Line of thy Miraculous Devotion left upon the Face of the Earth Though St. Austin and some few more are pleased to give Sarah the Honour of consenting to the Death of her Son at the Will of God yet others more generally deny it and that Abraham afraid that her Faith might be drown'd in the Flood of her Passion very prudently conceal'd the Divine Mandate from her till after the Execution and that possibly he might bring her back a Son preternaturally raised out of his own Ashes for his God was Almighty In vain should he occasion a Precipitation of her Sorrows the woful Tidings would fall too soon as a Talent of Lead to crush and break her miserable Heart 'T is Abraham alone hath that Masculine Spirit to bear up under so sinking an Affliction as this Nor doth the Appearance of the fiery Mountain upon which his Son must be Offered dismay him David piteously lamenting the Fall but of a Friend bitterly execrated the Gilboâ— that had suckt in the Blood of his Jonathan devoting it to the Curse of Heaven for ever But Abraham can view the place where the Fire must consume his dearest Child and yet with Aaron hold his peace And now what his Faith assures him will be acceptable to God his Fear tells him may not be so very Grateful to Men. He prudently dismisses the Servants whose Eyes and Hearts he thinks would not serve them to view what his own unhappy Hands must Act He desires no Witnesses of so Tragical a Sacrifice 'T is enough that he who had set him on the Work and could not but See him should Sign the Certificate of his Faithful Obedience and Service While he Approves himself to God he values not the Testimony of Men He cries not as Jehu to Jonadab Come see my zeal for the Lord. Some fancy that he left them behind least when they should see him doing what he must do they might think that he had left his Wits behind him and so might hinder him of his Duty as once the Good Meaning Friends of Jesus did him on pretence of Distraction and Want of Senses It was not improbable but these young Men might have obstructed his Offering from as Ardent Zeal to their young Master as those afterwards who rescued Jonathan Sworn to Death from the Hands and Oath of his Violent Father But Abraham will not be interrupted by Men in a Duty which is commanded him by God. If he himself will cut the Cords of the Sacrifice and his Isaac's Redemption be wrought by the same Authority from Heaven that his Death was imposed most happy should he think himself but no other Hand shall take him from the Altar than the Divine one that laid him on Whence then is His Authority who pretends a Power to Dispense against the Positive and Absolute Commands of God The Servants and Beasts are disburthened while the whole Load is laid upon Isaac the Son is oppressed and the very Slaves go free yet he Murmurs not Who Sees not here those Innocent Shoulders that once bore our Griefs and carried our Sorrows The Iniquity of us all was laid upon him yet he opened not his Mouth Can we view Isaac bowing under the Wood that is design'd to devour him and not behold our dearest Saviour Fainting under the weight of his own Cross both ascending by weary Steps the very same Mount Abraham and Isaac the Holy and the Spiritual these tug with difficulties and attain to Mount Sion the City of God while the Carnal and the Brutish lag below and perish in the Valley of Darkness and Death where no Sacrifice is offered by them none is accepted for them their Iniquity is not purged by any offering for ever Nor is there any true Son of Abraham but who in this Life divides Himself the Brutish Part is left behind here below while the Aspiring Soul climbs the Hill to meet with God and doth so effectually prevail with him there that hereafter the poor Dust shall be called up too and participate of those Divine Qualities that will fit it for so Glorious a Communion The Ascent to the Mount was the most difficult part of the whole Journey and strong is the Body that bears up it Self against its Proclivity and Steepness Yet must not Isaac be pitied but instead of ease hath an heavy Burthen heaped upon him by a Father that tenderly loves him with design it may be to make him weary of the World and more willing to dye and pass out of it while the Slaves and Brutes are at ease and free from All below If the Cares of Life that are common to all are sound too light to humble the dearest Children of God and keep them low behold God
Night The Play is over and the Musick is ended 'T was all but a Frolick and Frolicks are grown so Natural and Customary to thee that even in Death thou canst not leave them thou wilt Act one more and thy Last upon the very Ladder and that shall shut up all for ever The Executioners of Justice drawing near to the Gates the Genteel Lot who had learned from his Vnkle the generous Duty of Hospitality and Kindness perceiving them entring was there sitting ready to offer them a free and courteous Invitation to his House little thinking they brought with them the Writ for the Burning it and the whole City together He is Cordial in his Civility that no pretence of excuse shall prevail upon him to be denied He knew the Streets of Sodom were too dangerous for Strangers to lodge in when the strongest Bolts could hardly secure them from the Insolencies of the Place In their passage from the Gate to his House the Fair Guests are observed by every Eye to be Persons of lovely and delicate Presence as Angels ever delight to bind themselves up in handsom Covers such Beauties as these must not think to depart the Town where Pride and Luxury kept a Court without paying Homage to their abominable Orders The Word is given by the Pimping Officers about all the City and scarcely had these Strangers unknown received the Courtesies of the House and Lot's unhappy Wife dress'd the last Supper before she condens'd into Salt but their Lodging is beset with the General Assembly of the Rioters Old and Young all the People from every quarter as well such as Age had rendred Impotent as those whom yet Time had not maturated into Sufficiency demanding out the very Harbingers of their Death as if the pure Spirits had assumed Bodies to become the base Succubusses of their Lust giving them by this too clear an Evidence that the loud Cry of their Villanies had not made a false Alarm to Heaven and that the bitter Clusters of this unnatural Vine of Sodom were fully Ripe and ready to be press'd into the Fat 's of Eternal Vengeance There is yet hope when the poor Slave of Concupiscence veils his Guilty Head and Muffles himself up while he slily creeps through the back Door into the Brothel of Impurity trembling in every Joynt lest discovery be made of his shameful Adventure to his eternal Ignominy and Reproach But for Lust to beat up the Drum and make her Proclamations till the Roll of her Levies swell into so formidable a Bigness as shall create in her a proud Confidence of beating down all the possible resistance that Virtue and Modesty can Rally against her 'T is high time then for the Hierarchy of Heaven to fly to their Arms and alas a small Powder-charge shot into the Eyes of the Rebels shall secure them well enough for the present till on the morrow the Ammunition arrive that shall dispatch them all at a Blow The Sun made hast from the Antipodes that Night and was gotten up very early into the visible Horizon to appear in Triumph over Sodom's Tragedy Many fair Courses had he made while his glittering Eyes in a full Prospect had been steddily fixt on their profligate Actions and blush'd when themselves could not at their abominable Impudencies repining to yield them Light to so many Deeds of Darkness But this Morning he appears to bid them Adieu for ever and e'er He or They return to Bed again they shall find themselves scorch'd in more sensible Heats than His However he would be kind still to visit their Ruines in his passage which done he wrapt himself up in a Cloud and gives notice to the Ministers below that the dreadful Hour was come and Heaven was ready to give fire How little apprehensive the Town was of a Storm of Brimstone and Flakes of Fire ready to consume them we may judge by last Nights Attack made with such Vigour and Force upon the Angels They hold up their Courage to the last Moment and Magnanimously pass down into Everlasting Burnings To little purpose did Lot make his Harangue to his Sons in Law who repay his Kindness with Jears and Mocks and believe him as little as the Old World did Noah when he Prophesied to them of a Deluge Or as the Men of this Generation do those who talk to them of a Day of Judgment they therefore Meritoriously reap the Fruits of their Incredulity and Contempt of Admonition and leave us the true Prospective to discover which is the most condemning Sin Even Vnbelief And surely there is a Faith in the World Lazy and Idle that makes as little haste to escape the General Ruine as Lot did out of Sodom who though himself believes and perswades others to secure their Safety yet is not very Expeditious to further his own and appears to be saved rather by the meer Mercy of God and the Power of Abraham's Intercession than its own care Very happy are we in a better Advocate who delivers us from the Drowsiness of our own Faith and keeps us by his own power to Salvation The Pleasures of Sodom that brought him hither detains him here and though the Angels hasten and urge him to dispatch by the affrighting Arguments of Destruction with the Sinners yet he lingers still till they pluck him as a Brand out of the fire 'T is not our own Free Will but Gods Free Grace that preventeth our Ruine We should ever be attentive to the Angel of the Covenant who is always crying out to us Arise and depart for here is not your Rest Make haste least ye be consumed in the Iniquity of the World. Lot and his Wife and two Daughters are brought without the City and commanded to escape for their Lives and look not behind them but Eight Persons out of the whole Old World and but Four are preserved out of Sodom Follow not a Multitude to do evil To walk with God is a securing Grace though none but thy self do it To walk with the World is sure Destruction though Millions together do it Peter knew what he said when he advised Men to Save themselves And now in the very Moment to let us see that Mercy can Triumph over Judgment He that would have saved all for Tens sake will yet save One of the Cities for Ones sake Zoar shall escape at the Entreaty of a Lot. 'T was Sodom that had driven the Whole-sale Trade of Abominations and was the Head Quarters of Pride This was unpardonable that Pride was in her Zoar dealt but by Retail and Pedled in her Merchandizes of Fornication Hither the Old Man flies as to a City of Refuge from the Storm God hath his Rella's still for his hidden ones till the Indignation be over-past Well might they afford him Lodgings there whose Prayers prevented all their going to Bed in Hell. I perceive there is a Time when Complements and Courtship will be quite out of Fashion Lot hath not an Hand
or an Arm for his Wife when his own whole Body is in danger he presses forward and shifts for himself leaving her to Trudge after as she could 't were well if so many were not over-courtly together handing one another into Death The hour is coming when the Dearest Relations shall be all swallowed up in that nearest Interest of Self-preservation Lot's Wife was a Native of Sodom her Body was out of but her Affections were in it still So little doth God value the Carcass service of Hypocrites that he will make them the more lasting Monuments of his Wrath While she disobeys the Command and her Eyes turn back to look after her Heart her whole Body is Petrified and the Eyes of the whole World commanded to look upon her now become a standing Pillar that yet hath a Voice and loudly preaches the Dangers of Disobedience Ingratidude and Backsliding and least Time should wear ouâ— the Memorial of so strange a Prodigy the Son of God comes from Heaven to proclaim it afresh and sets up a Buoy to prevent our Splitting upon the Rock against which that unhappy Creature broke her self And whenever thy deceitful Heart starts back from God Terrifie it with three words as three Darts shot by Joab into Absalom's Heart to end that Rebellion against so great a King and Father Remember Lots Wife God had sent his Angel to deliver her out of the Flame that Angel had given her fair warning by no means to Look back Zoar was but a little way whither she had Orders to escape She had the company of her Husband and Children with her yet she alone insensible of these Mercies despises them all and will Sin and she alone that Sins doth Suffer No Means nor Mercies can prevail with the Obstinate and Wilful while others believe to the saving of the Soul They draw back to Perdition and turn from the Holy Commandement delivered unto them Whose end therefore is Destruction Naked and Bare passes Lot out of Sodom leaving all his Riches and Goods behind him as Fuel to the Flames His Life only is given to him for a Prey to let Him see how little he had advantaged himself by an Intermixture with the Wicked and to teach us how low and mean our Gains will be in this Evil World when at the last we shall carry nothing out of it but a Shroud to lap the Poor Carkass in And very happy shall we be if in the loss of every thing else we make our escape with a Soul to God washed from the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust by the precious Blood of Jesus Art thou gotten up Reader and with Abraham early viewing the dismal Obsequies upon the Hill of Contemplation Look out yonder and see how Wrath and Justice are burying the filthy Cities into their fiery Graves in a miserable new and unheard of Manner Here is no Earth to Earth Dust to Dust Alas they had acted as Devils and overturned all the Laws of Humane Nature Therefore as Infernal Spirits shall receive their Interrment Fire to Fire Flame to Flame Burning to Burning in sure and certain Desperation of any other Resurrection than to everlasting Damnation from Jesus Christ who shall raise their vile bodies to make them yet more vile according to his mighty Power whereby he subdues all things to himself Come lend thine Ears a while to the sad Screeks and Yellings of the miserable Wretches thorough every Street in Sodom and the same answered by those of Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim Ecchoing to both Lord into what Confusion hath Pride and her Idle Gluttonous Drunken Beastly Filthy Vnnatural Counsels betrayed them When there was but one dead in the several Families of Egypt what an Outcry and Noise what a fearful Distraction was there at Midnight what a Tossing and Tumbling to hasten away Israel when there was no other Fright but of one quietly Dead in his Bed in each House But here the Lord thundered in the Heavens the most high gave his voice Hail-stones and Coals of Fire he sent out his Arrows and scattered them he shot out his Thunderbolts and discomfited him Their cursed Eyes behold the Shower of Fire and Brimstone falling down on them all whole Flakes and Rolls of Fire first burning down their Houses to make the more haste to seize on their more combustible Carkasses which had been so long baking in the Oven of their flaming Lusts into a perfect Crust of Obduration and Sencelesness they were become now fit for nothing but the Fire The Plague is proportionably suited to the Sin they flame in Lust God flames in Wrath and because their Heats were Vnnatural so shall these also and the aspiring Element shall act Retrogade and descend to consume them They Universally Suffer as they Universally Sin Old and Young environ the House Old and Young are environed in their own The young Vrchins of Villany are put into the Fry to prevent the cursed Succession of their Breed Their Fruit is rooted out of the Earth and their Seed from among the Children of Men. O tremendous Spectacle to see them altogether Houses and Bodies of Men Women and Children Cattel and whatsoever was found within their Bounds all roaring together in one Raging Furnace heated seven times and blown up by the furious Breath of an incensed God whose Smoak passed up in thick and black Clouds and Pillars darkening the very Air and benighting Heaven it self Upon what Hill wert thou gotten thou most accursed Sorceress Piping and Dancing with Nero to the Flames of thine own kindling while it is Sport and Recreation to thee to see them all burning in a Flame together Where will be the end of thy bloody Tragedies Sixteen times in Holy Record hath God lighted up the Fire of Sodom to affright if possible the whole World from the Execrable Provocations that enkindled them His Holy Spirit hath held up the Tapers in whose Light we see them in Hell as if our very Eyes beheld them there They are Suffering the Vengeance of eternal fire and their Damnation set forth for a fearful Example to those that hereafter should live ungodly But Alas Man's Wickedness hath made Gods Examples as void and uneffectual as his Counsels To find Sodoms Vices surviving among the poor Heathen is horrible but to see them translated into the Church of God is Insufferable whose Eyes runs not down with Tears to hear of the Daughters of Sion exceeding the Daughters of Sodom in Pride and Wantonness But to find the Brothel-houses erected for the very Trade of Sodomy so impudently out-facing the Temple of God This might call for Tears of Blood. And I could wish History had fail'd of Truth when it tells us of a Dispensation granted to the Family of a Cardinal for the same Villany with a Fiat ut petitur 'T is a strange Power that can rake up Vices out of Hell to bring them up and make them in Fashion again upon Earth It were well too
that others dispens'd not with themselves in Practices as Vitious as theirs in Sodom God grant they be not found in our own Streets and the Daughters of England as Idly passing away their precious Time and Souls together as those that so long ago were sent into Torment for the same Sin. What were the Incentives that enkindled the Flames upon our own Houses and reduced them all into Ashes Would Men think there is a Sin lurking in their own Bosoms which far exceedeth the Sin of Sodom and which will one day meet with Judgment more Scorching and Intolerable 't is but believing the Oracle of Truth who hath convincingly forewarned us of the dangerous Consequences of that Fatal Contempt of his Person and Gospel that every where Reigns and whose Plagues are legible enough in Capernaum's Woe that are sentenc'd by the Judge himself to an hotter place in Torments than the Sodomites and surely very deservedly too it being nothing less than the Trampling under foot the Blood of a God and doing despite to the Spirit of Grace This is That Condemnation which will double Their Sorrows upon our Own Heads And our Vnbelief shall not make the Word of God of none effect Let us Repent and prepare for his second Coming who once for ever hath cautioned us by Them not to be surprized in the like Security Since in the very day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained Fire and Brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all Heaven showers down Hell on Guilty Wights Vile as were those Infernal Sp'rits Flaming in Lusts unnatural Ripe for Destruction down they fall To their own Places Scorched there In Everlasting Heats when here The dreaful Judgment Awes us not Ah me the Tragedies of Sin forgot Nor Waves nor Fires of Vengeance can Melt the Hard and Obdurate Man Yet what nor Flames can do nor Flood May easily be wrought by Blood. Come Lord the Work 's thine own and save A perishing World from the Grave FINIS ERRATA in the Life of Abraham PAg. 31. l. 11. r. Lustre p. 35. l. 1. r. rigour p. 66. l. 6. for other Sacrifices r. their Sacrifice p. 78. l. 7. for their r. thine p. 86. l. 4. r. charges p. 215. l. 26. r. she was p. 183. l. ult r. refreshed into p. 192. l. 22. dele that before possibly p. 221. l. 5. Chap. 12. Contents after Marriage add and Abraham's Death p. 232. l. ult r. inoffensive Ceremonies p. 70. l. 7. for Now r. No. Remarques ON THE LIFE Of the GREAT Abraham THE FATHER of the Faithful AND THE FRIEND of GOD. By S. JAY Rector of Chinner in the County of Oxon. Isaiah 51. v. 2. Look unto Abraham your Father LONDON Printed for Iohn Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey over against the Compter 1689. TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD GILBERT Lord Bishop of SARVM My Lord THat I presume to devote these Papers to your great Name when so perfect a Stranger to your Person may savour a little of Rudeness and Irreverence Yet your Lordship very well knows that a more refined Acquaintance is attainable with Spirits at a distance where the divine Idea's of the great Soul have Drawn themselves out to the very Life in the visible Characters of their own Excellency which have not fail'd to dragg after them as into an easie and pleasing Captivity the entire Affections and absolute Obedience of others as the natural Fruit of their Victory Thus we pay Homage to the very Saints in Heaven and to all Meritorious and Eminent Persons on Earth dignifying our selves by frequent and familiar Converses with them though perhaps exalted into mighty Stations far above the low Sphere of our meanness and humble Estate 'T is this Prospect My Lord made into the sublimer Forms of your spiritual Part that hath fix'd me your perfect Captive and given birth to this bold Intrusion But if sometimes the inferiouâ— Dependants on the Court Ensure themselves of a gracious Reception when thâ—â— come charg'd but with a Message from the Sovereign to you I am certain you will not shut your Gates against me when I come laden with Expresses from Heaven and recommended too by the Father of the Faithful and the very Friend of God. And thô it be little to your Lordship to hear of any New Pretender yet 't is Complacency enough to me when I make the World know how much I honour you for your Self and with what Pleasure and Satisfaction I received the good News of the Presidency of that Church to be lodged in your Lordship where my Ancestors with my unworthy self for four Generations successively paid the Tribute of Reverence to its Mitre now Priding â—t self in so rich an Head as yours unâ—ess perchance it be deprived of that Feâ—icity by the Ambition of another which â—ay emulate its Honour and think it no â—obbery to succeed in the same Happiâ—ess May your Lordship long live the true Heir of Abraham's eximious Faith and Piety the pleasing Object of your Princes Favour the Peoples Love and the Desire of all the Churches so Prays Your Lordships Most Obsequious Servant Steph. Jay REMARQUES ON THE LIFE Of the GREAT Abraham CHAP. I. Abraham's first Call from Idolatry to the Knowledge of the true God. The Encouragements God gives him to follow him His Obedience to the Call in leaving his Countrey He takes his Father and Family with him Their Arrival and Stay in Haran Their Business there Terah his Father dyes in Haran I Shall not reflect on this great Prince as a rough Stone lying unhewn in the Quarry of the Earth but as a sparkling Diamond polish'd by the Divine hand and made fit to be set in the Bosom of a God. The Chaldeans if any were famous and expert in Astrology Abraham's ambition aspired no higher than to get an acquaintance with the Heavens whose Power and Influences he thought had a great hand in governing the World he terminates his desires in the Zenith of these pleasing Studies being yet a perfect Stranger (a) (a) (a) Writers differ about Abraham's Idolatry some averring that he was never guilty though God seems to humble his Children with the consideration that their first Father had sinned which A Lapide confesseth to be meant not of Adam only but Abraham And that of Joshua can hardly be answered Cap. 24. v. 3. Philo positively concludes him so before the Divine Call. Neque eos audire possum qui cum magno conatu Abrahamum ab â—oc scelere vindicare nescio quibus argutiis student quasi non tanâ—â— illustrior sit Dei Gratia quâ illum est complexus quanto ipse suit sceleratior Masius In juventute Idololatra erat Tyrinus to the Omnipotent Power that had fixed those Luminaries in their several Orbs. Though the Book of the Creature discovers an infinite treasure of Wisdom and Power and clearly convince of a God yet is not the Eye so kind a Tutor to the Heart as to impose
its speculations with so great Authority or Success to work any powerful Impression upon it but rather taking up with the senses by the way it finds so pleasing Entertainment there that Man minds nothing more than what he sees and the glory of the invisible God becomes perfectly lost in the dazle and crowd of his visible Creatures The Mind of this Great Man was wholly immers'd in them he admires no Deity but that of his Countrey 'till by a Miracle of Mercy the Clouds of his Natural Darkness are dispell'd by an extraordinary light of Divine Revelation that makes Day in his Soul. Illumination from the Father of lights is so bright and influential upon the Faculties as fully secure from the danger of Delusion There is not only light but Assurance attending all the manifestations of God to the Mind Abraham was no Fanatick to be led by false Fires from his dearest Interests From this time the flames of VR burn darkly in his Eye he loaths to sacrifice any longer to the Fire when himself is enkindled by a diviner Spark Tradition tells us how true I know not that being now turned from their Religion his Countrey-men in rage threw him into the Fire for refusing to own their god but by miraculous escape he baffled the impotent Deity and discovered to its Votaries a greater that had bridled up his natural fury from singeing one Hair of his Head. This poor Element had the good fortune to be promoted to Honour from the gross mistake of some who had either heard or seen it fall from Heaven to consume the Sacrifices of the true Church these pass home and Vote it into (b) (b) (b) Chaldaei Persae cum vidissent Olim igne caelitùs delapso Patriarcharum sacrificia consumi putarunt esse Deum Godship perhaps on less improbable Errour than others since who contrary to all reason have promoted Meal to the same Worship and Deifie Bread instead of a Saviour Indeed the true God hath since fallen from Heaven in immaterial Fire on those holy Tapers who being first illuminated themselves were to pass over all the World to enkindle others baptizing them into Refinedness and Purity These Flames feed on nothing but Corruption and Ignorance they burn invisibly and this was the holy Fire which now God himself had kindled on the Alter of Abraham's Heart See from what mighty grounds of Reason and Truth our kind Mother the Church hath faithfully instructed us into the Necessity of God's preventing Grace which puts an effectual stop to the course of Sin even while with Saul we are posting on in a full career towards Death and Ruine Artic. 10. Divine Wisdom knows with what Heifer Man's Heart is best plowed 't is a selfish thing and plods on little else but its own Interests God pitying his Infirmities gratifies his weakness and falls in with him upon the terms that he sees best please him He knew this would make good Musick in the Ears of Abraham I will bless thee and I will make thee great Man will not serve God for nought though he owes all that he hath and is to Him for his Being Abraham though pretty well stricken in Years was yet but a Child in Experience of spiritual Grace therefore God dandles him on the Knee and allures him with the tickling Arguments of a Great Name and Estate We arrive to the Knowledge of Him by degrees and from a taste of his Goodness in the Creatures are afterwards brought to live upon Himself in the greatest abundance or want of them He knows by what Methods to train us up to perfection Abraham was no vulgar Person he stood already under very considerable Circumstances in the World But he that had much should yet have more and he that held his Estate but by the uncertain Tenure of general Providence shall now have his Copy enlarged to hold all in Fee-simple from a special donation of Grace God will hereafter add Sauce to his Meat and sweeten all his Messes with the Honey of Canaan 'T is a small thing to be Great if we hold that Greatness from our selves and derive it not from the great God who can make even Death it self that would else unstrip us into nothing to be the Porter to convey the Robes of a finite Honour into the next World with us where himself will overlay them with the Embroideries of an Infinite Glory But Abraham lived among his own People in all the delights of Security and Peace therefore God forestalls his Objection of Danger and offers him Articles (c) (c) (c) Mira Dei benignitas quod tam familiariter paciscitur cum Abrahamo haec enim solennis est foederum inter Reges alios formula ut communes habeant Amicos Hostes Vatabl. of Alliance wherein he makes over to him the whole Militia of Heaven for a Life-guard which we shall shortly find him making use of when he charged the Camp of the four Kings as Lightning and routed them these were to be commanded by his Faith at any time and that not for himself only but his Allies too Abraham should have the Aid of a God to lend at his pleasure to his Friends I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee In what desperate Estate then are the Enemies of the Church with all their Confederates of Hell who unite together unto certain Ruine and band themselvess unto Death Thus shall it be done unto Abraham whom God delighteth to Honour Tho' Reputation Riches and Long life be all that humane Nature can well wish for that Ignorantly closes her desires in the supposed felicity of them yet Abraham whose Soul should relish a greater Sweetness in God would not think himself sufficiently happy unless to all these there be superadded a blessing of that quality which might secure to him the lasting fruition of that Spiritual pleasure We bitterly part from Creature Joys but who that is Wise would want a God Temporal things grow Thredbare in the wearing and wither as Flowers in our Hands they abate of their Fragrancy and put us to the Blush for our too great confidence in them We are obliged to others for our Honour and Melt away our Treasures to purchase the Aire of their Mouths Life wasts away its self and grows ungrateful with long keeping If Abraham will be truly happy he must have something more than these There were Princes already in the World that glittered in all the Grandeurs of State it were a poor thing if a God should put off his Favourite with the fading Flowers of a Crown No an Honour shall be contrived for him brighter than the Sun which shall display its Beams as far as He and shed his influences over all the Universe to make it a fruitful Seminary for Heaven For in thee Abraham shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed As if God had said There shall arise a Glorious Person into the World compleated
of Him who bore so great a Character 'T was a Representative of his God whom he therefore thinks himself obliged to Honour He embraces Him as Such and mixes a Carriage full of Reverence and Sweetness towards him His late Prosperity had not in the last swelled him into Neglect or Forgetfulness of his Duty Minds that are truly Great cannot act beneath themselves He is surprized to find in that Idolatrous Kingdom so great a Person that owns the God He Professes to Worship and questionless promised to himself Happiness in the after Enjoyment of so Divine Acquaintance tho' we find not any further converse they maintained Abraham cannot receive so many rich Effusions of his Piety and Bounty without finding a thankful Remuneration Grateful Hearts are in Pain till they ease themselves from the burden of those Obligations that others Courtesie have heaped upon them And now is he glad that the baffled Kings haveleft him in some Capacity to make an Acknowledgment of his Gratitude both to God and his Priest upon the Spot And therefore he very humbly Devotes a Tenth Part of all the Spoils he had taken If Christians were all the true Heirs of Abraham's Holy and Generous Heart there had little needed those multiplied Laws to constrain the People and secure to the Priests their Maintenance by Tythes Melchisedeck having performed his Duty receives without scruple the Sacred Dues of his Office which the Patriark so chearfully paid him and with all the Reciprocations of mutual Affection to each other and solemn Praises to God he departs away to his Salem His Discession makes way to another Prince of a very far different Temper and Spirit 'T is Piety makes the only Discrimination between Persons All men have not Faith. This is the sparkling Diamond that enriches the Crowns of Kings Where that is wanting Honour is but a Jewel in a Swines Snout If private Men are illustrated by it for since thou wast precious in mine Eyes thou hast been Honourable what Glory might it add unto Monarchs The King of Heaven shines in the Majesty of his Holiness Abraham knew well enough that the Sodomitish King wore no such Pearl in his Crown therefore he puts on a Behaviour towards him agreeable to the Baseness of his Spirit He had dishonourably turned his back from the Kings that Himself had Charged and made Havock of He cannot therefore think him worthy of that Reception that a Gallant Prince might have merited from him Men are to be treated by the Rules of Discretion according to the Nature of the Designs and Ends they have upon us Melchisedeck came to bless God for that Excellent Person whom his Goodness had raised up to be an happy Instrument of delivering the Country from the mischiefs of the War and to bless Himself in the Sight and Acquaintance of him But this King is so far from any the least Resentment of the good Providence and Means by which his Subjects were redeemed that he looks down with a plodding Eye and projects how to make Abraham's Victory an Advantage to himself He appears here rather as a Merchant to Truck and Barter than as a gallant Prince to throw his grateful Soul into the Embraces of the Brave Conquerour with Ten thousand Thanks for so vast a blessing as the Overthrow of the Enemies by his Victorious Arms. He could not be Ignorant that by the Laws of War Abraham was indisputably entitled to whatsoever his Sword had Won in the Field Himself had lost all by his Cowardise what Abraham had recovered by his Courage And yet hath he the Confidence to Challenge a share in the Benefit of his Noble Adventure And mistaking the brave Patriarch for a Man of as Sordid a Soul as Himself thinks that he Bids him Fair in the proffer of the Booty provided he might have the Persons to himself This is the main Errand that brings the King of Sodom as his own Ambassador to the Camp of Abraham How perfectly Strangers are the Men of this World to the Princely Greatness of Mind that directs and ennobles all the Actions of the Righteous and the Holy Now shall this King of Sodom see the difference of a Star from a Clod and a Spirit enkindled by the true Celestial Fire from his own that glared in the contemptible Light of a Glow-worm Would he have Abraham to go One Mile with him in Courtesie behold he will go Two Would he have his Coat from him let him take his Cloak also Does he make suit to have the Persons Let him take them yea and the Goods also the Spirit of an Abraham can grant more than The Sodomite hath confidence to Crave The Noble Patriarch opens Heaven to him and darts out a Beam of the Divine Nature that strikes him into perfect Extasie there is no more Life in him while he beholds the Majesty of the great Soul of Abraham His own Dunghil Gods shed no such Insluences on their Votaries He looks on him as on some Sacred Shrine fallen from Heaven and sent for him to Worship and be enrich'd by So impossible is it for the true Race of the Heavenly Progeny to degenerate from the Royal Nature of their Mighty and Bountiful Father who scatters Scepters and Kingdoms and freely gives Grace and Glory Avaritious Minds in every Lincament of their Actions plainly betray their Sordid Extractions and let them wear the Philactaries of their profession never so broad yet these Fig-leaves dropping away very visibly discovers the Shame of their Nakedness and want of those Holy Garments that God himself wears and which should Dress them up to Salvation The long Robes of the Pharisees were too curtile and thin to hide from the Holy Jesus their Hypocrisie and Covetousness Nor is there surely a greater Affront unto Heaven than for these Sons of the Earth to pretend themselves Married to the Daughters of God. I will confidently a verr that the Coveâ—ous Soul hath not the least Spark of the Sacred Fire in it An Earthly Saint is a Monster in the Church with six Fingers and Toes on his Hands and Feet scraping and raking in the Muck-heaps of the Creation Let not such dare to say We have Abraham to our Father since of the very Stones of the streets God is every day polishing up brighter Children unto Abraham while themselves lie wallowing in the Dirt. Now the brave Abraham heaps the Goods of this World upon the Head of a Sodomite whose very Heart was upon them and scorns to afford them a Lodging in his Thoughts Let him cripple his Shoulders with the burden of them himself would keep his affections free Abraham piles up Earth upon Earth and buries him into the Dust Should but a little Mote of that Mould hang on his own Foot he would shake it from him into his Lap and disdains to wear but a Buckle in his Shoe that ever came out of Sodom He might have sav'd himself the trouble of this Journey hence long before he
God can make him Yet e'er they possess it they must pass down into Egypt and suffer a tedious Affliction there under the Tyranny and Oppression of a Cruel Pharaoh and thence into an Howling Wilderness to live by Faith in the want of all things but what an immediate hand from Providence should reach out to them Thus we pass still from the Slaveries of the World to the Inheritance in Glory from hard Labours to an Eternal Sabbath from crying to God because of Oppression to rejoycing in God because of Exaltation from a Valley of Tears to a Mountain of Joy from a State of Bondage to Everlasting Liberty Through Flames of Persecution into Endless Delectation from a Wearisome Pilgrimage to an Everlasting Rest Patiently must we tread the Steps that all others have passed before us God himself had his Work before he Rested The Blessed Jesus had His which he must bring to Perfection e'er ever he hath Confidence to go to his Father I have finished the work thou hast given me to do and now I come to thee He walks first to the Cross e'er ever he receives the Crown and drinks of the brook in the way e'er his Glorious Head is Exalted The Apostles and Martyrs swim to Heaven thorough the Red Sea of their own Blood and through many Tribulations must we all enter into the Kingdom of God. Ridiculously do we hope for an easier way than which all the Holy Pilgrims have gone before us and God in his Wisdom hath chalked out to us by his Eternal Decrees to walk in Let us Glance for a Moment on the People of these Kingdoms at whose Doors God hath lately sealed Leases of Ejectment by his Irrevocable Oath unto Abraham They merrily pass their years away they laugh at Fear not a Melancholly Thought dares approach their Hearts They Correct the Insolency of those Groundless Dreads that suggest but the least Jealousie of any future Danger Every day is an Holiday with them They keep a perpetual Carnival and distill all the Luxurious Issues of their Country into Spirits which serve them to exhilerate their Own into Mirth and Jollity They Sacrifice to their Idols in profuse Libations and pay them the liberal Tributes of their grateful Affections under all the Peace and Prosperity they enjoy While now the Fatal Sentence had passed out from Heaven against them and the Hand-writing of Ruine stuck on the Walls of every House in Canaan and there shall rest till they undermine themselves and an heavy hand of Judgment gives Fire to those Trains which shall surprizingly blow them up for ever Take heed Reader the case be not thine own Sin is an Engineer in the Dark that is ever contriving the means of our utter Desolation There is a Faux in thine own Bosom with a Match ready lighted to do Execution while thou dreamest not in the least of a Danger upon thee and art all the while heaping up Wrath against the day of Wrath and Piling up those Faggots with thine own Hands which shall shortly be enkindled to burn thee out of all thine Earthly Comforts and send thee yet into hotter Flames than these And whilst thou lyest in the Lap of these Dalilah's God knows how soon the Philistines may be upon thee And what knowest thou but the Decree may be gone forth against thee already and thou hast nothing that secures thy Stay but the pure Patience of that God whom daily thou abusest that doth yet wait and Reprieves thee from the Writ of Execution 'T is well known that Those in the Wilderness in the midst of their security had an Oath clapt upon them because of their Provocations which they could never get off 'till their Carkases fell they were so fettered by it that it was impossible for them to get into Canaan And yet had they a few sun-shine Summers granted them as these condemned Amorites they ran about a while with God's Curse upon them as the manacled Prisoners of his Wrath. To small ends of true Comfort and Safety is it to be thrown upon a Couch of Ease and Pleasure wrapt in soft and silken Wreaths of Security and Peace and there to slumber 'till Death and Judgment dragg thee thence and tumble thee down into a Bed of Flames for ever CHAP. VI. Abraham by Sarah's Perswasions goeth in unto Hagar she conceiveth and grows proud being afflicted of her Mistress she fleeth into the Wilderness where an Angel meets her and turns her back The Birth of Ishmael WHile Abraham walks on in Confidence of this Covenant with full Vigour and Strength of Soul Sarah's Hopes decline with her Years and comes limping after him with a weary foot The Promise of a Seed had been made to her Lord but it was not yet revealed by what Venter he should enjoy it most probably from any other than her own Barren one And rather than this Tree of Righteousness should want Branches and Fruit she is content that he Inoculate on a Crab-stock No wonder then the Production prove but wild and sowre participating more of the Juice of the degenerous Root than the sweeter Nature of the true Plant but rather than to be no Mother she is satisfied with being one at second Hand and is willing to rock her Maids Cradle and doubtless she had great Kindness for Hagar who was most happy in such a Mistress that would gratifie her faithful Service with that unusual Civility of sending her Husband to Bed to her This is not the ordinary manner of Womens Kindness who will part with every thing sooner than the Monopoly of their Husbands Love. But Sarah's Case began to be desperate who notwithstanding the repeated Promises of Children made to her Abraham was yet never the less Barren than before and it being never yet said that the Heir should be born of her Body she knew not but that God himself might inspire her to make the Motion and speak the good Word to her Lord for Hagar therefore she contrives to lend away a piece of his Heart to her Maid and to admit her as the secondary Object of his Affections and should not much repent it if she still contain her self within her Limits and pay her the dutiful Respect owing to so kind a Mistress 'T is disputed whether Abraham or Sarah either or neither of them sinn'd against God in this Action For Him 't is argued that he did it not from any Motion of Lust who notwithstanding his Wive's Barrenness had never been tempted to wander in his Affections from her but humbly waited upon God to effect his Promises by those means which himself had decreed to produce them and had never upbraided his dearest Wife of her Sterility the only Impediment to his Happiness in a Son. Nor was it contrary to the Custom of Nations and that as yet there was no Law expressed against Polygamy Nor was he himself first in the Motion but was led to it by the Desire Approbation and Consent of his Sarah