to Posterity that no Man hereafter shall dare to think other wise of thy Majesty then becometh him and my Ministry shall be approved to proceed from thy Direction But if those Crimes be truly urged which are Inforced against me then let the Curses Return and light on my own Head and let those whom I have Cursed live in safety and thus exacting a Punishment from those that disturb thy People keep the rest of the Multitude in Peace Concord and Observation of thy Commandments secure and void of that Punishment which is due unto wicked Men for that it is contrary to thy Justice that the Innocent Multitude of the Israelites should answer their misdeeds and suffer their Punishments Whilest he spake these Words and intermixed them with Tears the Earth instantly trembled and shaking began to remove after such a manner as when by the Violence of the Wind a great Billow of the Sea floteth and Waltereth hereat were all the People amazed but after that a horrible and shattering noise was made about their Tents and the Earth opened and swallowed them up both them and all that which they esteemed dear which was after a manner so exterminated as nothing remained of theirs to be beheld where upon in a Moment the Earth closed again and the vast gaping was fast shut so as there appeared not any sight of that which had happened Thus perished they all leaving behind them an example of Gods Power and Judgments And this Accident was the more miserable in that there was not any one of their Kinsfolk and Allies that had Compassion on them so that all the People whatsoever forgetting these things that were past did allow Gods Justice with Joyful Acclamations esteeming them unworthy to be bemoaned but to be beheld as the Plague and Perverters of the People After that Dathan with his Family was extinguished Moses Assembled all those that contended for the Priest-Hood committing again the Election of the Priest-Hood unto God that the Estate thereof should be Confirmed to him whose Sacrifice should be most acceptable in God's sight for which cause the Two Hundred and Fifty Men Assembled themselves who were both Honoured for the Vertue of their Ancesters and for their own Abilities far greater than theirs with those also stood Aaron and Chore and all of them Offered with their Censers before the Tabernacle with Perfumes such as they brought with them when so great a Fire shone as neither the like was ever kindled by Mans Hand nor usually breaketh from the Bowels of the burning Earth nor was ever quickned in the Woods in the Summer-time by a Southern Breeze But such a one as seemed to be kind in Heaven most brightsom and flaming By force and Power whereof those Two Hundred and Fifty Men together with Chore were so Consumed that there scarce appeared any Relicks of their Carcases only Aaron remained untouched to the end it might appear that this Fire came from Heaven These things thus brought to pass Moses intending to leave a perpetual Memory to Posterity of that Punishment to the end they should not be igorant of it Commanded Eleazer the Son of Aaron to Consecrate their Censers affixed to the Brazen Altar that by Reason of this Monument all Men might be terrified who think that the Divine Power can be Circumvented by Humane Policy THE BANNER OF Corah Dathan and Abiram Display'd and their SIN Discover'd In several SERMONS Preach'd at BRISTOLL Numbers xvi xxiii xxiv xxv xxvi And the Lord Spake unto Moses saying Speak unto the Congregation of Israel saying Get you up from about the Tabernacle of Corah Dathan and Abiram And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram and the Elders of Israel followed him And he spake unto the Congregation saying Depart I pray you from the Tents of â—hese wicked Men and touch nothing of theirs least ye be Consumed in all their Sins ISrael was once Gods choicest Jewel snatch'd forth of the Fire of sore Affliction A People wonderfully Redeemed with a Mighty Hand and Stretched out Arm of Heavenly Power from cruel and bitter Bondage A People thorowly Taught and Instructed in the Sacred Oracles of God and purest of his ways A People fed with Bread from Heaven for Man did eat Angels Food A People that had God and Christ for their Guide and Conduct and Angels and the best of Men for their Guards and Governors A People that wanted no Mercy nor Blessing that either Heaven or Earth could aford And yet from amongst this People did such a Root of Bitterness spring up and such a deadly Sin a deadly Sin appear'd which did more highly provoke the Lord to Anger and more hotly kindle the Fire of his Jealousie and wrathfull Indignation than either the Sin of Sodom or the Wickedness of Egypt For when the Lord sent his Angels to destroy Sâ—â—om for their Sins of Pride and fulness of Bread Idleness and hard Heartedness to the Poor he meekly heard Abrahams Petition for them and patiently suffered him to Pray and Interceed for them as long a sin reason he could desire O Let not the Lord be Angery saith he and I will speak but this once Peradventure there shall be Ten that is Ten Righteous Persons found there and the Lord said I will not destâ—oy it for Ten sake Gen. 18. 32. And before he Executed his Judgments upon Egypt for their unjust Dealings and exercise of Cruelty upon this very self same People in my Text he treated with Pharaoh from day to day by Moses and Aaron with Signs and Wonders to try if he would soften his hard Heart towards them But for the Sin of these his lately and for a long time beloved People he was so deeply incensed against them that he hastily and suddenly commanded Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from them that he might Consume them in a Moment ver 21. The first thing then before I come to the Words of my Text must be to enquire what their Sin was that so we may the more readily and easily understand the Doctrine we are to learn from thence Their Sin and Wickedness under the cloak and colour of Holiness is drawn up in a brief Remonstrance in ver 3 in these Words They gathered themselves togather against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them ye take too much upon you seeing all the Congregation are Holy every one of them and the Lord is amongst them wherefore then lift ye up your selues above the Congregation of the Lord. In which bold Remonstrance of theirs there are four Articles which they xehibited in foro in open Court two directly against Moses and Aaron one pretendedly for God and the other point blank for themselves 1. In the First they draw up a charge against Moses and Aaron for exceeding the Bounds of their Commission Ye take too much upon you ye do more than you can justifie more than ye have Warrant from God to do This Lordliness of yours is not
flourish and spread it self in the sight of all the Redeemed Tribes of Israel that they could not see nor perceive the Serpent at the Root Israel was Gods chosen People above all Nations upon the face of the Earth and these Men the choisest of all Israel Psal 78. 31. Having now considered them in their Generations and Qualifications it remains that we consider them in their Estimation in what Esteem they were both with God and the People And 1. That they were once in high Esteem with God Moses himself acknowledgeth it in ver 8 9. And Moses said unto Corah Hear I pray you ye Sons of Levi Seemeth it a small thing to you that the God of Israel hath separated you from all Israel to bring you near to himself to do the Service of the Tabernacle and to stand before the Congregation to Minister unto them And that they werein great Credit and Esteem with the People we have their own words for it in ver 41. But on the Morrow all the Congregation of Israel Murmured against Moses and against Aaron Saying ye have Killed the People of the Lord. How strong were the delusions of these Men When notwithstanding the visible and unheard of Judgments which the Lord Plagued them with In causing the Earth to open her Mouth and swallow up some of them and Fire from Heaven to consume the rest Yet on the Morrow whilest these things were fresh in their sight and memory they could tell Moses and Aaroâ— with murmuring Words that they were guilty of Murder in the the Death of these Men Ye have Killed the People of the Lord. Ye have not only lifted up you selves and made your selves Lords over Gods Heritage but Treacherously and Cruely Murdered the Saints and People of God Thus did they by way of Recrimination charge the Meekest and Faithfullest Man upon the face of the Earth with the Guilt of the greatest Wickedness that could possibly be Committed And doubtless had they had an Armed Power answerable to their Envious and Arrogant Hearts they would have Erected a Sanedrim of their own and Arraigned him as Guilty of the Death of all the Israelites that dyed for their Wickedness in the Wilderness since the Day that they came up out of the Land of Egypt till then Just so the worst of Hellish Villanes except Judas and Julian the Apostates Araigned the best of Kings Jesus Christ excepted King Charles the First I mean as Guilty of all that Blood that had been shed in the three Kingdoms of England Ireland and Scotland in the time of those unnatural and Bloody Wars continued for so many dreadful Years of that Pious Prince's Raign And here I could willingly make a Digression from my matter in hand by saying That I could wish that my Head were Waters and mine Eyes Fountains of Tears that I might Weep Day and Night not only for the Sins of mine own unstable Heart but for the ensuing Miseries which without speedy and unfeigned Repentance will certainly fall upon the Church of God in these Kingdoms the Lord hath shak'd his Rod at us for several Years past nor hath he yet laid it aside for the noise of it is still in our Ears and we seem to take little or no notice of it as if we did either stop our Ears at it and so refuse to hear it or by a careless slighting of it make a puff at it or were wholly void of Sence and Reason not to understand the meaning of it like those whom the Prophet Isaiah exclaim'd against chap. 1. ver 3. The Ox knoweth his owner and the Ass his Masters Crib but Israel doth not know my People doth not consider I must confess it is very sad to think that when God condescends to speak to poor Mortal Creatures in so many different ways as he hath done to the People of these Kingdoms and so few of us understand his meaning in any of them That we should be so destitute of Evangelical Wisdom that we should neither Hear nor See nor Tast nor Feel God in the various Dispensations of his Providences but continue in a senceless stupid dull frame of Spirit as if we resolved to walk contrary to his Providences be they what they will But least a larger Digression should divert your Thoughts from the Subject I am discoursing of I will immediately return to them where I left them and shew you more of their Sin and Wickedness for so strangly and so strongly were these Israelites ensnared and bound with the Cords and Chains of this spiritual Delusion and so cheated by the seeming Holyness of these eminent and famous Men that they adventur'd to Canonize them for Saints after they were dead altho' they died Impenitent Rebels And a probable Reason why they had such an esteem for them after they were dead was either because the Two Hundred and Fifty Men Confederates with Corah Justified their doings to the Face of Moses in the Tabernacle of the Lord and in the presence of God and died with Censors in their Hands and Incense burning thereon Or else it was because they intended to play over again the same Game that their Brethren had lost and so prove a second Brood of Religious Rebels That this is more then probable the words in ver 42. do plainly demonstrate for do but mark the Words And it came to pass when the Congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaroâ— that they looked toward the Tabereacle of the Congregation and behold the Cloud covered it and the Glory of the Lord appeared Hence it is very evident that these Chips of the old Block were resolved to revive the good old Cause of their deceased Friends and had not the Lord again Graciously preserved his Church this last Seditious Commotion might have been worie than the former For Corah and his Company did but charge Moses and Aaron with the Sin of self-promotion But these Off-spring of theirs charge them with the shedding of Innocent Blood even the Blood of the People of the Lord and so might pretend that God had put into their Hand the Sword of Vengeance for Innocent Blood These things being well weighed and considered without doubt this was the Root and Rise of their Sin The high conceit which they had of their own Knowledge and Holyness together with the Applause and Estimation which they had with the People had so lifted them up with Pride that they thought themselves so full of Knowledge and so Holy and in both so perfect that their Consciences would not suffer them to live any longer in obedience to a written Law that is to such a Law or to such Rules and Orders as should be delivered to them by any other hand then their own And this is clear if we consider the time of their publick discovering of it and we shall find that it was immediately upon Moses's pressing them to a strickt Observation of an harmless Ceremony for Decency and Order to
not content him to chide them within Doors the shame of their Fault had been lesser in a private Rebuke but the Scandal of it required open Reproof From these seven Considerations I have Collected these Observations 1. That God is the God of Order Rule and Government their Repining was publick and where the Sin is not affraid of the Light God loves not the Reproof should be smothered 2. That it is a greater Sin than Men are aware of to speak against the Rule and Order of Government either in Church or State 3. That in the end God will severely punish all such Dispisers of such Rule Order and Government There are two Evangelical Witnesses to these three Points Peter and Jude both of them Apostles to Christ Peters Testimony is Recorded in his first Epistle 2 Chap. 13 14. Ver. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supreme Or unto Governours as unto them that are sent of him for the Punishment of Evil Doers and for the praise of them that do well And to this he adds 2. Epistle 2. to assure us that Such there are and have been as do speak Evil of Government and shall not go unpunished Ver. 9 10. The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of Temptation and to reserve the Vnjust unto the Day of Judgment to be Punished But chiefly them that walk after the Flesh and dispise Government Presumptious are they Self-will'd they are not afraid to speak Evil of Dignities The Apostle Jude Harps on the same String and particularizeth these Men in my Text at ver 11. Wo unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the Error of Balaam for Reward and Perish in the gain-saying of Corah And then at ver 19. gives a Mark how to know them saying These are they which separate tbemselves sensual not having the Spirit tho' they said they had 3. They were of a self confident Spirit they were confident in themselves that God would own them in their design For when Moses Summoned them to Appear before the Lord to answer to their Seditious Words they accepted the Challenge and undertook to dispute it before the Lord in a Religious Duty too manifest in ver 19 17 18 19. in these Words And Moses said unto Corah be thou and all thy Company before the Lord thou and they and Aaron to Morrow And take every Man his Censer and put Incense thereon and bring ye before the Lord every Man his Censer two Hundred and Fifty Censers thou also and Aaron each one his Censer And they took every Man his Censer and put Fire in them and laid Incense thereon and stood in the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron Cheek by Jole with them And Corah gathered all the Congregation against them either by some Solemn League and Covenant or some Engagement or other unto the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the Glory of the Lord appeared There never was such a Challenge made in the Church of God upon Earth before or since never such apparent Confidence in a Seditious Party to accept of and answer it known or heard of altho' some People of our times have shreudly immitated them Nor did ever such a Stickler appear in a Quarrel for God himself appeared on Moses and Aarons side and at his first enterance on the Stage which was the Tabernacle he gave the Spectators a glimps of his Glory and made bare his Arm and uttered with his Lips these dreadful Words ver 21. Separate your selves from among this Congregation that I may consume them in a Moment As if God had said Moses and Aaron stand ye by and let me alone to deal with these Seditious Rebels they will be to hard for you let me lift up my Hand against them the Quarrel is mine as well as yours For I have whet my glittering Sword and my Hand shall take hold on Vengeance and I will abate their Pride asswage their Envy discover their Design and overthrow their Devices That all the Earth may know that I hate and abhor all Pretences to Religion that are acted and done in Disobedience and Rebellion to my Commands and contrary to the Rule and Order of Government that I have Established in my Church And at the first Blow he made at Corah and his Two Hundred and Fifty Confidents he struck their Censers out of their Hands and with a flash of Fire Consumed them to Ashes As if the Lord had said What have you to do to handle Censers to meddle with Publick Matters of Religion seeing ye do it in Spite and Contempt of the Government Established by Law for Strife and Debate and in Disobedience and Rebellion against the Governours that I have set over you For in very deed Envy at the Established Government in the Church was the seed Plot of Corah's Sin and Dathan and Abirams Conspiracy And therefore it was high time for God to put to his helping Hand to Vindicate Moses and Aaron for they were but God's Servants employed by him to lead them in the right way to Happiness and to Govern them therein by a Sacred Platform of good and wholsome Laws and Ordinances As it is written Psal 77. 20. Thou leadest thy People like a Flock by the Hand of Moses and Aaron i. e. Magistracy and Ministry 'T is true Christ Jesus is the Supream Governour and Lord of all things in Heaven and in Earth but he doth not Govern in either place by his own and immediate Power But by Angels and Men Deligated by him to bear Rule for him over their fellow Creatures and from them expects an Account of their Steward-ship in such their places of Trust The Sacred Text is my Voucher for this Assertion Prov. 8 15 16. By me Kings Reign and Princes Decree Justice By me Princes Rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the Earth And elsewhere in Psal 78. 70 71 72. He chose David also his Servant and took him from the Sheep-fold From following the Ews great with Young he brought him to feed Jacob his People and Israel his Inheritance So he fed them according to the Integrity of his Heart and guided them by the skilfulness of his Hands Our Church Translation of the Psalms reads it thus So he fed them with a Faithful and a true Heart and Ruled them Prudently with all his Power This of the Psalmist is an Extract of that Message which God sent by the Prophet Nathan to King David 2 Sam. 7 8 9. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my Servant David Thus saith the Lord of Hosts I took thee from the Sheep-fould from following the Sheep to be Ruler over my People Israel And I was with thee whither soever thou wentest and have cut off all thine Enemies out of thy sight and have made thee a great name like unto the name of the great Men