hath to do with a hard Heart he will not steal out of the Field but go away with Honour and Triumph This was to be a publick Instance and for Intimation to the World 1 Sam. 6.6 Wherefore then do ye harden your Hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardned their Hearts when he had wrought wonderfully among them did they not let the People go and they departed The Philistines took warning by it and it will be our Condemnation if we do not 7. In all these Plagues I observe that Pharaoh now and then had his devout Pangs In an hard Heart there may be some Relentings but no true Repentance We have him confessing Exod. 9.27 I have sinned this time the Lord is righteous and I and my People are wicked And chap. 10.16 17. I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you Now therefore forgive I pray thee my Sin only this once and intreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this Death only So chap. 12.32 Be gone and bless me also Hardned Sinners may have their Gripes and sensible Touches and so some faint Purposes of Reformation But that which was defective and sheweth it was not true Repentance was 1. Because it was only extorted by present Horror Job 27.10 Will he always call upon God A Still will send forth Water as well as a Fountain but it is by Drops and by Force Prov. 5.11 12 13. And thou mourn at last when thy Flesh and thy Body are consumed and say How have I hated Instruction and my Heart despised Reproof and have not obeyed the Voice of my Teachers nor inclined mine Ear to them that instructed me The Leacher hath his penitent Moods A Malefactor on the Rack will confess freely Vows of Men are very frequent O that Men would be such when they are well as they promised to be when they were sick 2. Because the Aim of all was Ease and Safety Pharaoh's Cry is not Take away Iniquity but Take away this Plague Offers of Nature after Ease are found in Hypocrites Esau sought the Privileges of the Birth-right with Tears quia perdiderat non quia vendiderat not because he sold it but because he had lost it Nature may be sensible of present Evil. 3. Because it was vanishing The good Motions of an hard Heart are of no long continuance they pass through and are gone like a Flash of Lightning Pharaoh his Remorse for the Frogs and Grashoppers was as a Cloud soon blown over Till there be sound Repentance Remorse must needs be short for it is an unpleasing Penance Water heated is the colder afterwards because it is rarified after it hath thawed a little it will freeze the harder Pharaoh after every Respite was hardned anew it is the Temper of those that are doomed to Destruction 4. Because his Purposes came so short and lame of what God expected An hard Heart when it cannot prevail against God would fain compound with him First he gave leave Exod. 8.25 Go ye sacrifice to God in the Land Then ver 28. I will let ye go that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the Wilderness only ye shall not go very far away Then chap. 10.11 Go now ye that are Men and serve the Lord. Their Children were to remain for Hostages Then ver 24. Go ye serve the Lord only let your Flocks and your Herds be stayed let your little ones also go with you Their Cattle were to remain for a Pawn and their Flocks and their Herds for a Forfeiture if they returned not and a Recompence for the Damage of Egypt But God would not abate him a Hoof. An hard Heart yieldeth to God by halves Pharaoh hucketh with him first they might sacrifice in the Land then go a little way three Days Journey then he would keep their Children then their Flocks and Herds An hard Heart never yieldeth to God his whole Demand the Devil is loth to let go his hold How do Men huck with God in Duties contrary to their Affections or prejudicial to their Interests 2 Kings 5.18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy Servant that when my Master goeth into the House of Rimmon to worship there and he leaneth on my Hand and I bow my self in the House of Rimmon when I bow my self in the House of Rimmon the Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing They have their Reservations and in this and that thing they will be excused These are but deceitful Pangs Pharaoh doth often eat his Words and retract every Grant 8. In process of Time his Hardness is improved into Rage and downright Malice Exod. 10.28 Get thee from me take heed to thy self see my Face no more for in the Day thou seest my Face thou shalt die Vessels when they come to the Lees they grow sowre and tart so Pharaoh began to run Dregs Or as Beasts by long baiting grow mad and furious so it was with Pharaoh Men first slight the Truth and then are hardned against it and then come to persecute it A River when it hath been long kept up swelleth and beareth down the Bank and Rampire so do wicked Men rage when their Consciences cannot withstand the Light and their Hearts will not yield to it 9. At length Pharaoh is willing to let them go After much ado God may get something from a hard Heart but it is no sooner given but retracted like Fire struck out of a Flint it is hardly got and quickly gone Hosea 6.4 Your Goodness is as a Morning Cloud and as the early Dew it goeth away Many may have some shew of Goodness at least at some times who yet are little the better and their Condition nothing the better it proveth a great Snare and Neckâ—break to them its Unfoundness is presently seen in its Unconstancy 10. The last News that we hear of hardning Pharaoh's Heart was a little before his Destruction Exod. 14.8 And the Lord hardned the Heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt and he pursued after the Children of Israel Pharaoh begrudgeth his own Grant as if he had yielded too far Hardness of Heart will not leave us till it hath wrought our full and final Destruction God always besotteth when he meaneth to destroy Never any were hardned but to their own Ruine As God that loveth his own loveth them to the end so God that hateth those that are hardned hateth them to the end Pharaoh is first plagued and then destroyed This is the upshot of all Iob 9.4 Who hath hardned himself against him and prospered The Beginning is Imposture and Delusion the Middle Obstinacy and the End Ruine II. How God hardneth It is a Point that needeth Explication God is not and cannot be the Author of Sin if God should cause it Man should sin of necessity and then his Punishment would not be just he being under Force God hath not brought upon any a necessity of sinning and God that is Good cannot be the cause of Evil
should be broken off Alas whosoever readeth the carriage of this people in the Wilderness towards God he shall still find Grace striving with sin and the goodness of God overcoming the evil of Man and his fidelity prevailing above their unthankfulness and unfaithfulness And the character of this people in the Wilderness is just our own in travelling to Heaven how often do we forfeit the blessing of God's presence but he is not severe upon every failing and upon repentance he is willing to renew covenant with us and set us in joint again nothing hurteth us more than the sinful provocations of God's people have no hand in them or if you have been accessory to publick guilt bemoan it and humble your selves before God and be more awful and tender for the future and you will find God to be a merciful God III. Why such kind of Mercies should not be forgotten Here I will prove First That Man is apt to forget the great mercies of God especially national Mercies Secondly That yet these Mercies should not be forgotten both because of God's command and the profit of remembring them First That Man is marvellous apt to forget these benefits Therefore there are so many cautions that we forget them not In private mercies Psal. 103.2 Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Deut. 8.11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day and verse 14. That thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt from the House of Bondage So we have many Precepts Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years 1 Chron. 16.12 Remember his marvellous works which he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his Mouth And so many charges and complaints Jud. 8.34 The Children of Israel remembred not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hands of their Enemies on every side Psal. 78.11 they forgot his works and his wonders that he had shewed them and Psal. 106.13 They soon forgot his works And all this is no more than needeth for Man's memory is a bad friend to benefits Injuries are written in Marble but benefits in the Water Now as these cautions charges and accusations do respect all Mercies so especially more eminent Mercies for it is said He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred Psal. 111.4 The great miraculous works of his Providence should make such impression upon Men as never to be forgotten but recorded and reported for ever As for great deliverances God hath appointed Ordinances for a memorial such as the Passover or the Lord's Supper to remember our Redemption by Christ for by these works God maketh himself a name by doing great things for his people 2 Sam. 7.23 Redemption from the tyranny of Antichrist is not to be forgotten 2. That yet these mercies should not be forgotten partly because God hath commanded the contrary as we have seen It is not only a sin to forget his Word but his Works and partly also because of the profit 1. That we may be more deeply possessed of the goodness of God The Ear doth not affect the Heart so much as the Eye and what is felt leaveth a greater impression upon us than what is talked of for experience giveth us a more intimate perception of things The King of Syria said We have heard that the Kings of the House of Israel are merciful Kings 1 Kings 20.31 A rumour and report giveth incouragement but actual experience silenceth all contradiction when I can say I know God is not unmindful of his people but relieveth them in their great streights and watcheth over their welfare As the Apostle Acts. 10.34 Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons Psal. 140.12 I know that the Lord will maintain the right of the poor and the cause of the afflicted Unquestionably God will undertake the patronage of his distressed Servants when all other hopes fail them meaning when God did signally defend them and watch over them 2. To incourage us to walk in his ways It is our forgetfulness of God's goodness that maketh us so disobedient and unthankful to him Psal. 78.7 That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments Nothing breedeth a careful uniform obedience to his commands so much as a grateful remembrance of his Mercies Alass as our thankfulness is abated so is our obedience God's authority sways the Conscience but God's love inclines the Heart Therefore mercies should be remembred 3. To fortifie us against all oppositions and temptations Deut. 7.18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt It is a great comfort to Faith to look back upon the former manifestations of God's power and good will towards his People We have manifold fears and infirmities upon us when we see the power or suspect the craft of our Enemies but let us remember former experiences and that will be an allay to them When we see the continuance of his judgments so many years and in so many forms frequently varied but still lying upon us we are filled with many sad thoughts and reasonings of unbelief but we may soon suppress and silence them by the thoughts of God's power and love heretofore and the evidences of his love and good will and fidelity to all that depend upon him Former dealings raise our hearts to the expectation of future mercies Vse is to press us to this remembrance 1. Of the great Christian Mercies that concern the whole common-wealth of Believers such as the Birth Death Resurrection and Ascension and Intercession of the Lord Jesus these are the standing Dishes at a Believer's Table the constant food for our Faith Mercies never out of season these are mercies so general and beneficial that they should never be forgotten but remembred before God we should always bless God for Jesus Christ and desire that the knowledge of these things may be perpetuated to after Ages Eph. 3.21 Vnto him be glory in the Church by Iesus Christ throughout all Ages World without end Amen 2. For National Mercies so far as they concern either the first planting or the restoring of Christs Religion or the maintenance of it against the eminent open attempts or secret plots of Antichristian Adversaries These should be remembred by us partly to awaken our zeal that religion thus owned may not die upon our hands partly to shew our esteem both of the Religion and the mercy of God in owning it partly that we may beg the continuance of it for every thanksgiving is an implicite prayer partly that we may embolden our selves against all the difficulties we may be exposed unto in owning the true profession
into the Depth of the Sea They see an All-sufficient Mercy and Power and they wait till God manifests himself 3. It worketh by Reflection and so stirs up Love Gal. 5.6 Faith worketh by Love It sets Love on work and by little and little drieth up the Fountain of Sin Shall I love that which God hateth Ier. 44.4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my Servants the Prophets rising early and sending them saying O do not this abominable thing that I hate Faith representeth God pleading with us and beseeching us by all his Bowels in Christ. Is this thy Kindness to thy Friend Do I thus requite the Lord for all his Kindness to me There is an Exasperation against Lusts the Soul saith Get ye hence Hosea 14.8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with Idols The Soul hath its expulsive Faculty it is at the beck of Love and Love is stirred up by Faith and when it cannot expel Sin it mourneth and groaneth under it as its Burden Vse 1. Are you thus purified Have you passed this Laver The Priests under the Law before they went to the Altar they first washed in the great Laver. You are not his People till you are sanctified Esther was purified before she was brought to Ahasuerus Esther 2. Christ telleth Peter John 13.8 If I wash thee not thou hast no Part in me Though he took humane Nature yet he owneth no Relation to any but the Sanctified Heb. 2.11 For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one for which Cause he is not ashamed to call them Brethren The Devils cannot say He is Bone of our Bone But what though he took your Natures this is not enough he will disclaim you if you be not sanctified I took Flesh but not for you I died but not for you There is a double Notion of Purification in this Place it noteth Cleansing and Dedication there is a Difference between them and others and between them and themselves Whereas I was blind now I see I could before discourse and hear Sermons for Notions but now my Conscience is more serious I am more freed from Bondage I have a more distinct Hope towards God in Christ my Will is not obstinate and unpliable to the Counsels and Motions of the Holy Ghost my Affections are reduced to a better temper as to earthly things Thus examine your selves Is any thing washed off Vse 2. Information It informeth us that we are all polluted by Nature for we need to be purified e're we are Christ's People Nay it sticketh to us we change our Skin our outward Conversation but no other Laver will wash our Hearts but Christ's Blood If we had Eyes to see our natural Filth we should loath our selves more than we do We are all infected with Self-love and fleshly Natures Tit. 3.3 For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers Lusts and Pleasures living in Malice and Envy hateful and hating one another But we are partial to our selves we have no spiritual Eye-sight Sin is of a defiling Nature You abhor dirty nasty Creatures all of us are polluted with Sin God that is a Spirit hath other Affections he doth not abhor a Creature because of his Sores but because of his Sins We judg by the Senses Psal. 14.3 They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one So we are in the Eyes of God who is a pure Spirit Sin maketh us odious and loathsome to him but we that have Bodies abominate things that are sensibly unclean Vse 3. Let it stir us up to purify our selves yet more and more 1. See your selves in the Glass of the Word They that have most Light do most complain of the Filthiness and Impurity of their Hearts not because there is more Defilement but more Light Sluttish Corners are not seen in the dark Carnal Men are loth to see their own Faces they will not come to the Light We love a flattering Glass but a searching Ministry is hated You have not looked in the Glass enough till it hath stirred up Shame Sorrow and Self-abhorrence Raging against Conviction argueth the Heart is bad When Men cannot endure to see themselves but think all is clean and well it is a Sign of a secure careless Spirit If we keep our selves from foul Sins we do not think of our odious Natures 2. Desire Cleansing as Peter John 13.9 Simon Peter saith unto him Lord not my Feet only but also my Hands and my Head Or David Psal. 51.2 Wash me throughly from my Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin Sin is a deep Stain hardly got out let it keep us humble God carrieth on his Work by Degrees 3. Use God's Means Zech. 13.1 In that Day there shall be a Fountain opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for Sin and for Vncleanness Rev. 7.14 These are they which come out of great Tribulation which have washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. The Church knoweth no other Laver and the Effect of it you receive in the Ordinances 4. Keep your selves clean by a constant Watchfulness Iames 1.27 Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Affliction and to keep your selves unspotted from the World The World is a dirty Place you will soil your Garments therefore you must avoid all Appearance of Evil hate the Garment spotted with the Flesh. We cannot keep at too great a Distance from Sin a bold Use of our Liberty sheweth the Heart hankereth after Sin as a Raven hovereth within the Sent of the Carrion Doct. II. Those that are purified are reckoned to be God's Treasure and peculiar People The Word in the Original which we translate Peculiar People is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Vulgar renders it Populus acceptabilis an acceptable People but not emphatical enough 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Wealth Plenty Treasure that which we have above our necessary Substance Yea not only Treasure but the principal Part of it that which is locked up in the Cabinet and takes up but a little Room as Jewels The Expression is taken out of the Septuagint and alludes to those Places in the Old Testament where God calls his People his Jewels or special Treasure Exod. 19.5 Ye shall be a peculiar Treasure to me above all People which is rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And you have another Expression 1 Pet. 2.9 Ye are a chosen Generation a royal Priesthood a holy Nation a peculiar or purchased People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Populus Acquisitionis or Possessionis a People of Possession such as God counts his Heritage his Jewels Mal. 3.17 They shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in that Day when I make up my Iewels The Word imports any choice and precious thing that God loves those that are