Mourners Si cognovisses if thou hadst known or ô si cognovisse would to God thou hadst knowen the things that belong to thy peace methinks I heare him lamenting over Hierusalem as David over his friend Jonathan 2 Sam. 1.26 I am distressed for thee my brother Ionathan very pleasant hast thou been unto me or as the same David lamented over Absalom oh Absolom my Son would God I had died for thee c. O Hierusalem Herusalem would God I had died for thee as afterwards you know he did dye for her and in her and by her when he came neare he beheld the City and wept over it saying c. Secondly we have here the malady or cause of Hierusalems death blindnes security If thou hadst knowen even thou in this thy day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things that belong to thy peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but now they are did from thine Eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou knewest not the time of thy visitation Thirdly we have here the kind or manner of Death 't is a strong death a terrible death by the Sword which David so earnestly prayed against Let me fall into the hands of God for his mercies are great but let me not fall into the hands of men whose tender mercies are cruell For the dayes shall come wherein thine Enemies shall cast a trench about thee and lay thee even with the ground A love principium we are to begin with Christ the Mourner in my Text when he came neare he beheld the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he wept It was not without a cause that Christ was stiled by the Prophet Vir Dolorum Es 53.3 A man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefe survey his whole pilgrimage from the Cratch to the Crosse from the Womb to the Tombe and you shall find it like Ezechiels rowle written upon within and without lamentation and mourning and woe in the dayes of his flesh he offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and Teares Heb. 5.7 At Lazarus his grave he groaned in the Spirit and wept Ioh. 11.35 Here when he came neare he beheld the City and wept All his joy was inward Luc. 10.21 At that time Iesus rejoyced in Spirit and said I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth c. Some inward joy he rejoyced in the spirit in the love and complacency of his Father I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth I am sure he had little matter of outward joy of re joycing in the world many times he complaines of the hatred of the world if the world hate you ye know it hated me before it hated you Ioh. 14.18 How did the unthankfull world slight and neglect him The Foxes have holes and the Fowles of the Ayre have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head how was he scorned and derided in the world Is not this the Carpenters son Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth few acknowledged him to be the Messias the Lord of glory the Prince of life the Saviour of the world the King of the Iewes the Son of God the brightnes of his Fathers glory the expresse image of his person as he was indeed how was he slandered and scandalized by his malignant adversaries none of them could convince him of the least sin yet they traduce him up and down as if he were as St. Paul sometimes confessed of himself Peccatorum maximus the chiefest of sinners a gluttonous person a Wine-hibber a friend a companion of Publicans and sinners a Sabbath-breaker a Blasphemer a deceiver of the people a conjurer casting out Devils through Belzebub a Traytor forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar and what not and surely had he not been more then a man such usage was able not only to set open the floudgates of his Eyes but even to break his heart woe is me my Mother saith the Prophet Jeremy that thou hast born me I have neither lent upon usury nor borrowed upon usury yet all the people curse me Jer. 15.10 They cannot justly tax me with any unjust action and yet are continually reviling me yet here is not all neither to the persecution of the Tongue they ad the persecution of the hand no sooner were tidings of his birth spread in Herods Court but presently he seeks to destroy him and with him a number of young innocents that knew not their right hand from their left there began the weeping Mat. 2.18 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Prophet Jeremy saving In Ramah was there a voyce heard Lamentation and weeping and great mourning Rachel weeping for her children because they were not as soon as he began to preach the Scribes and Pharises consult how they may destroy him one time they were going to throw him headlong from the top of a high hill Luke 4.29 As the Devill sometime would have had him throwen himselfe down rom the Pinacle of the Temple another time they had like to have stoned him Joh. 10.31 Many good works have I shewen you from my Father for which of these do ye stone me another time they sent their Disciples to intangle him in his Talk Mat. 22 â—6 Another time their Officers to apprehend him Joh. 7.32 And at last they find Iudas to betray him and sent a multitude with swords and slaves to take him as a Thiefe or a Malefactour who hurry him from the Garden to the high Priests Pallace from thence to Pilate from Pilat to Herod from Herod after a deale of scornfull usage back again to Pilat where they maliciously arraigne him falsely accuse him unjustly condemn him buffet him scourge him make long furrowes upon his back besmeare that face of which the Psalmist Thou art fayrer then the children of men with their filthy spittle environ his sacred Head with a Crown of Thornes lead him foorth to be crucified load him with his Crosse fasten him to the Crosse peirce his Hands and his Feet insult over him in his sufferings Fixuris clavorum addentes tela â—nâ—â—â—rum saith Leo to the piercing of the Nayles adding the rankling arrowes of their venemous tongues Ah thou that destroy'st the Temple and buildest it again in three dayes save thy selfe If he be the King of Israel let him come down from the Crosse c. Behold now see if ever sorrow were like unto this sorrow the women could not forbeare weeping who had only a compassionate fellow feeling of it I. u. 23 27. No marvaile if Christ himselfe wept that felt it Well if Christ be a Mourner then woe to them that are at ease in Sion that spend their days in mirth and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ and the Tabret and the Harp go not out of their Feasts Christ did not so Christians have no warrant to expect it the members must be in some measure conformaâ—le to their head Ioh. 16.20 Our blessed Saviour tels his Diciples you shall weep and
great unthankfulnes and disobedience in the midst of so many binding mercies and you may justly wonder that Hierusalem was not long before this time made a heap of stones read over the Prophets and you shall find complaints in this kind without number doe ye thus requite the Lord Oh foolish people and unwise The faithfull City is become a harlot she was full of judgment righteousnesse lodged in her but now murderers Heare O Heavens and give eare O Earth I have nourished and brought up children but they have rebelled against me when I fed them to the fall then they assembled themselves by troupes in the harlots houses how shall I pardon thee for this As I live saith the Lord Sodom and her daughters have not done as thou hast done thou and thy daughters thou wast corrupted more then they in all thy wayes Ezech. 16.47 And when Christ came among them in person how did they entertaine him St. Iohn will tell you he came to his own but his own received him not Ioh. 1.11 Nolumus hunc regnare we will not have this man to raigne over us we have no King but Caesar nay not this man but Barabbas they preferre a publique notorious malefactour before him himself also will tell you Mat. 13.37 O Hierusalem Ierusalem howoften would I have gathered thy children together as a Hen doth her chickens under her wings but ye would not thus all the day long he stretched out his hand but it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a gainesaying people veluj noluistis how often would I but ye would not And yet how unwilling was God to unsheath his sword to powre out the full Vials of his fierce anger upon this rebellious Nation though their sins were so provoking that he knew not well how to pardon them How shall I pardon thee for this thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods and shall I allow this shall I give my glory to another how shall I pardon thee for this yet so infinite on the other side was his mercy that he was unwilling to punish them Why will ye dye Oye house of Israel As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner run thorough the streets of Hierusalem and seek for a man that executeth judgment that I may pardon iâ— and most pathetically in the 11. of Hos ver 8. How shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel how shall I make thee as Admah and set thee as Zeboim my heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together see what a conflict there seemes to be in God between his mercy and his justice how shall I pardon thee for this and yet how shall I give thee up how shall I make thee as Admah c. faine would I spare thee but thy sins cry to Heaven for vengeance thou art incorrigible in thy wayes and therefore thy sin is unpardonable I am forced to give sentence against thee though it be with teares in my eyes when he came neare be beheld the City and wept over it c. Christ might have insulted over Herusalem when he foresaw the cup of trembling that she was to drink of as wisdom threatens her contemners Pro. 1.24 Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded therfore I will laugh at your calamity and mock when your feare commeth when your feare commeth as desolation and your destruction as a whirle-wind when distresse ang ish commeth upoÌ„ you so seeing Herusalem would not take warning by all former invitations admonitions judgments mercies Christ might justly have laughed at her calamity when he saw her feare comming as desolation and her destruction as a whirl-wind but our blessed Saviour came not to destroy mens lives but to save them and therefore when he came neare he beheld the City and wept over it In the words we have Christ melting into teares for hardhearted Hierusalem Nihil miserius misero non misâ—rante seipsum there is not a more sad lamentable spectacle in the world then to see a man or a City or a Nation like Simon Magus in the gall of bitternesse in the depth of misery in regard of a wilfull persisting in heynous and crying sins yet themselves insensible of their own misery sleeping securely in their sins with Balaam driving o still in their wonted course of sinning and never take notice of the Sword that is drawen against them hugging and embracing sporting and delighting themselves with those Delilahs those lusts and corruptions which will prove their bane and destruction Quis talta fando temperâ—t a â—lachrymis who can behold all this with dry-Eyes The Poet hath a conceit that Heaven it selfe weeps for such Creatures Dic rogo cur toties descendit ab aethere nimbus Grandoque de coeso sic fine fine ruit What may be the reason why there fals such store of Rayne one shower after another Mortales quoniam nolum sua crimina flere Calum pro nobis solvitur in lachrymas Because hard hearted sinners will not bewayle their own faults H aven it selfe is dissolved into teares for them it is so in my Text Heaven it selfe or the heire of Heaven sals a weeping for Hierusalem and is not here a strange alteration when Hierusalem sometime the joy of the whole Earth Ps 48.2 shall not only make the Earth sad but even darken the Heavens cause him that was anoynted with the oyle of gladnes above his Fellowes to melt into teares And when he came neate he beheld the City and wept over it c. The parts are two the mourner and the causes of his mourning the Mourner is Christ and that in the middest of his jollity too as I may so speake as he was riding in state in triumph towards Hierusalem To shew that even in laughter the heart is sorrowfull that there is no worldly happinesse without a mixture of discontent when he came neare he beheld the City and wept over it The causes of his mourning are two two heavy spectacles for eaâ—h Eye one and either of them able to command a fountain of teares as the Propher speakes the one seen namely malum culpe the evill of sin If thou hadst knowen even thou in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes thou knewest not the time of thy visitation the other foreseen namely malum poenae the evill of punishment For the dayes shal come that thy Enemies shall cast a trench abour thee and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee c. Or if you please we have heer Hierusalems funerall where we have first the chiefe Mourner Christ he beâ—eld the City and wept over it saying if thou hadst knowen even thou in this thy day a broken speech a passionate expression the right Dialect of
and looked upon Peter and Peter remembred the words of the Lord and he went out and wept bitterly here he looked a long time upon Hierusalem he beheld the City and wept over it but Hierusalem is so setled upon her Lees. Zeph. 1.12 so grounded in security and hardnesse of heart that she cannot that she will not repent and therefore no marvell if her goods become a booty and her houses a desolation as it followes there at the 13. verse or as t is in the Text the dayes shall come that thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and keepe thee in on every side c. Here you see the kind of her misery Hierusalem is exposed to the fury of her mercilesse enemies to the Sword the sharpest of Gods 3. Airewes shee hath not liberty to take her choyce as David had 2. Sam. 24.13 Wilt thou have 7. yeares famine come upon the land or wilt thou flee 3. moneths before thy enemies while they pursue thee or wilt thou that there be 3. dayes pestilence in the land but she is peremptorily designed to the Sword to be compassed about with armies that should batter downe her lofty Turrets her princely palaces lay them all even with the ground For the dayes shall come that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee c. It was a heavy sight to see Hierusalem blocked up in this manner so streightly and strongly beseiged that they were neither able to beat off their enemies nor could expect succour from their friends it had beene an uncomfortable fight to see some houses shut up in Hierusalem by the destroying Angell but to see Hierusalem it selfe shut up was both a strange and a sad spectacle where is the noble valour the heroick Spirit that was wont to be in this people time was when one of them could chase a thousand and two of them put ten thousand to slight when Israel lay downe like a Lion and couched like a great Lion and none durst rouze him up when other nations were glad to betake themselves to their fenced Cities because of them and there to fortifie their walles Barrocadoe their Gates against them as Hiericho and other Cities did or if they did venture to sally out against them one way they were forced to flee before them seven ways but what shall we say now when Israel turnes their backs before their enemies when they are forced to retreat into Hierusalem for shelter when the enemy pursues them to the very Gaâ—es intrench themselves round about the City and threaten to cut them all off eyther by the Sword or by the Famine which is sharper then a two edged Sword The dayes shall come that thine enemies c. It was strange that Hierusalem should be thus surrounded but more strange that it should bee taken that it should bee battered downe and laid even with the ground as it followes in the next words They shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee this wâ—s strange indeed whether wee consider the scituation of the City or the protectour of the City for the scituation of it t' was feared uppon such high craggy inaccessible rocks or mountaines that it was even by nature made almost impregnable the Iebusites that held it till Davids time thought it so strong of it selfe that the blind and the lame were able to defend it against David and all his men of valour 2 Sam. 5.6 And to this strength of nature was added an artificiall strength of Forts and Bulwarks Psal 48.12 Walke about Sion and goe round about her and tell the Towers thereof marke well her Bulwarks consider her Palaces that you may tell them that come after now to see these strong Bulwarks these stately Palaces laid even with the ground was a sight no lesse wonderfull then lamentable The Kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not have beleeved that the enemy should have entred into the Gates of Hierusalem Lam. 4.12 Againe consider the Protector of the City it 's true except the Lord keepes the City the watchman waketh but in vaine but Hierusalem was the City of the great King God was well knowne in her Palaces as a sure refuge hee had his Temple there for thy Temples sake at Hierusalem nay and Hierusalem had experience of his protection formerly when it was beseiged by the Forces of Senacherib an Army supposed invincible yet the Lord being their Protectour raised the seige as you may read Esay 37.35 I will defend this City for my owne sake and for my servant Davids sake And that night the Angell of the Lord went out and slew in the Camp of the Assyrians 185000. But where is the God of Hierusalem now as Elishah spake when he came to the bank of Jordan where is the Lord God of Eliiah now 2. Reg. 2.14 surely the Glory is departed from Israel Israel hath rejected the Lord and gone a whoring after strange Gods they have walked extreame contrary to him in all their wayes and therefore the Lord hath at length justly with-drawne himselfe from them and left them as a prey to their enemies Climbe upon her walles and destroy downe with her battlements for they are not the Lords Ier. 5.10 And now our blossed Saviour as if he saw the wall not of Hiericho but of Hierusalem tumbling downe the Souldiers on every side entring the City beating all downe before them dashing the young infants against the stones torturing the aged and honourable deflouring the modest Virgins and chaste Matrons ransaking their houses with fire and Sword laying Hierusalem even with the ground and her children within her hee falls a weeping he beheld the City and weptover it As indeed it was a lamentable sight the Lord in mercy grant wee never see such a Spectacle in our Hierusalem no doubt Abraham was affected with sorrow when he saw the smoake of Sodome ascend like the smoke of a furnace though Sodom was a nest of infidels children of Belial whose sins câ—ied up to heaven for vengeance Gen. 13 13. young and old from every quartet were gathered together about Lots doore crouding and striving who should hee the foremost in that unnaturall and prodigious sin it cannot appeare that there was a Family or a Soule after Lot was gone which were not all most notorious sinners and yet it was a sad spectacle to see Sodom said even with the ground so in the 18. chap. of the revelation vers 9 10. and so forward t is prophecyed that the Kings of the earth and the Merchants and the Ship-masters shall weepe bitterly for the destruction of Babylon when they they shall see the smoak of her burning alas alas that great City Babylon that mighty City for in one houre is her judgement come in one houre is so great riches come to nothing alas alas that great City well then might our blessed Saviour weepe for Hierusalem where there was yet a Remnant according to the