Almighty God that he of his great Goodness and for the sake of our dear Lord and Saviour would be pleased freely to pardon and forgive us our great Wickedness that makes such a great separation and distance between us and our God That we may call for and seek to procure a supernatural Assistance from above to keep us from being born away with such a black Stream and Tide of Wickedness as is now ready to break in upon us That we may all be awakened out of our carnal and vain Security and prepare for such an extraordinary coming of Almighty God among us That every one may make clean his own Door against this signal Approach that no Wickedness which is so loathsom to God may be found thereat That Warning may be given and such a Preparation made do I purpose by God's help to say something upon these words of the Prophet wherein this Warning was to be given to the Jews of the Day of the Lord being at hand to them Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in my holy Mountain Let all the Inhabitants of the Land Tremble for the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand In these words we may observe these three Particulars First That the Trumpet was to be blown and an Alarm to be sounded in God's Church and among his People Blow ye the Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in my holy Mountain Secondly That all were to hearken to and regard the sound thereof and to be moved to fear and trembling upon it Let all the Inhabitants of the Land Tremble And Thirdly The Reason of it because a great Visit and Judgment of God upon them was then at hand for the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand I purpose to say something to every one of these Particulars but to begin with the last first I. For the Day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand I intend not to trouble my self nor you with any deep Inquiry what Day of the Lord this was which the Prophet here declared to be coming and nigh at hand The Day of the Lord as it is a day and season of Terror and to be prepared for doth signifie several Days and Times 1. The Day of the Lord doth point at the great and final Day of Judgment when our Lord and Saviour shall come in a most glorious manner to judge the whole World and to reward every one according to his works when the Heavens shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat when the Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 3.10 And when all sinners that repent not of their wickedness shall be given up to that everlasting Fire that was prepared for the Devil and his Angels Matt. 25.41 This is the most eminent and dreadful Day of the Lord of all 2. The Day of the Lord in the Scriptures doth often respect some Temporal Judgment and Calamity that God doth bring or is bringing upon a Land or Nation for the great sin and wickedness thereof And such doth this Day of the Lord here seem to be 3. The Day of the Lord may be referred to particular Men tho' the Scripture doth not seem often to use the Day of the Lord with respect to single Persons only When God doth send some great Judgment and Calamity upon single Persons it may be looked upon as a Day of the Lord's wrath to them And the day of their Death may well be accounted as such And indeed a terrible day of the wrath of God will it be to them if they be surprised and snatch'd away in their sins without Repentance We may see what a miserable case the Fool in the Parable was in who was snatch'd away in the midst of his Jollity when he was singing Requiems to his Soul and promising himself great joy and happiness to come Luke 12.20 But God said unto him Thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Like a Dream and a Vapor will all such Worldly confidence and trust leave Men and into this Fool 's Paradise will such be brought The things wherein they trust like the Morning Cloud will soon vanish away and they from their high confidence will drop into the Pit of Destruction We read of the Rich Man Luke 16.22 That he died and was buried and immediately after it follows That in Hell he lift up his eyes being in Torments We may see that the day of Death especially to sinners that die without Repentance may well be looked upon as a day of the Lord and a dreadful one too to them But here the words of the Prophet do seem to respect some temporal and publick Judgment and Calamity of God upon the Jewish Land and Nation and are to be ranked in the second place But what kind of Judgment and Calamity this was which the Prophet here gives this Warning of is not agreed Some do conceive that this day of the Lord here in the Text was a sore and grievous Famine and Calamity brought upon the Jews by Locusts Catterpillers and the like Creatures And some places in this Prophecy of Joel do seem to give testimony this way Joel 1.4 saith the Prophet That which the Palmer-worm hath left hath the Locust eaten and that which the Locust hath left hath the Canker-worm eaten and that which the Canker-worm hath left hath the Catterpiller eaten And v. 18. How do the Beasts groan The Herds of Cattel are perplexed because they have no Pasture And Joel 2.25 And I will restore to you the years that the Locust hath eaten the Canker-worm and the Catterpiller and the Palmer-worm my great Army which I sent among you These and such places do give countenance to this Interpretation that this day of the Lord was a sore judgment of Famine upon the Land of the Jews occasioned by Locusts Catterpillers and such Creatures and that by Famine and other ways they were sorely afflicted by them And we may see in the Book of Exodus chap. 10. That Locusts were one of the great Plagues and Judgments that God sent upon the Egyptians And with a plague of Locusts doth God threaten to scourge his People the Jews if they should revolt and fall from him to Idolatry Deut. 28.38 42. Again some do conceive that this day of the Lord might be some great Destruction and Waste that was to be brought upon them by the Armies of the Assyrians and Chaldeans c. that they were to be plagued and scourged by them And some places in this Prophecy do agree herewith Joel 1.6 For a Nation is come up upon my land strong and without number whose teeth are as the teeth of a lion and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion And Joel 2.2 A great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like
warning of this Judgment I doubt not but that he should have had warning that he might have been saved and preserved from this Judgment But such are the ways of those that are hardened in their wickedness and have sold themselves to work evil that no warning of Judgment will work upon them as we see it would not upon Lot's Sons in law And saith Abraham in the Parable concerning the Rich Man's Brethren Luke 16.31 If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And if the contemners of God's Word will not be persuaded to repent by one rising from the dead and warning them of the fearful Judgments of God in another World which he hath been an eye witness of we may be sure that the temporal Judgments of this Life though dreadful enough will not be able to work upon them but that they will be surprized still with them after they have had fair warning as Lot's Sons in law were When God destroyed the Inhabitants of the Land of Canaan they seem to have had warning of it by the Armies of the Israelites approaching towards them and abiding near them and by that fear that God sent upon them And we may see that Rahab the Harlot that feared God took warning hereat and made preparation that she might escape this Judgment of God upon them Joshua 2.9 And she said unto the men I know that the Lord hath given you the Land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the Inhabitants of the Land faint because of you for we have heard how the Lord dryed up the water of the Red Sea when ye came out of Egypt and what you did unto the two Kings of the Amorites And upon her hiding of the Spies saith she v. 12. Now therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I have shewed you kindness that ye will also shew kindness unto my Father's house and give me a true token And that ye will save alive my Father and my Mother and my Brethren And saith the Apostle Heb. 11.31 By faith the Harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the Spies with peace The Harlot Rahab sheweth that they had warning of this Judgment of God upon them and she took warning and escaped When God was determined to destroy the Ninevites if they had not repented he sends the Prophet Jonah to warn them that the Judgment of God was coming upon them that they might repent and amend and so prevent their ruin and destruction Jonah 3.1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying Arise go unto Nineveh that great City and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. And v. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the City a days journey and he cryed and said Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown This warning did God give them of their approaching ruin and destruction that they might prepare against it and by a general Repentance and Reformation prevent it And here we may see that the Ninevites took warning and repented and turned from their evil ways and so prevented this Judgment of God from coming upon them after it was denounced against them Jonah 3.5 And if the old World and the Inhabitants of Sodom would have done so there is no doubt but that they might have prevented the heavy Judgments of God that befell them God sufficiently declared his proneness to Mercy in the matter of Sodom when he told Abraham Gen. 18.32 That if he found but ten righteous Men in Sodom he would spare the whole City for their sakes Again we may see that the Jews had warning of that Judgment and Destruction that came upon them after our Saviour's death by the Romans Our Saviour warned them of it when he was with them Luk. 13.1 and told them that they should perish as the Galileans had done if they repented not And in several places we may see that he warned his Disciples of it Matth. 24-32 Now learn a Parable of the Fig-tree when his branch is tender and putteth forth leaves ye know that Summer is nigh so likewise ye when ye shall see all these things know that it is near even at the doors Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled And the fiery Sword that hung over them some time before and such signal Acts of Providence did warn them that what our Saviour had foretold was coming upon them And by these and some Divine Admonition which the Christians had as some conceive at the withdrawing of the Roman Armies from Jerusalem the Christians took warning and fled all from thence beyond Jordan and were preserved and there were no Christians in Jerusalem when Titus came against it and besieged it as is reported By these and such Examples we may see that God doth give notice and warning to his People and Servants and such as will take warning and usually to all others when he is bringing any Judgment and Destruction upon a place that they may repent and provide for their Security at such a dreadful time And righteous Men do take Warning and are preserved using the Means that God ordereth for their preservation and some do repent at such a time and so avoid the Judgment that is coming upon them But some will take no warning but still proceed on in Wickedness and after all the Warning that is given them will still through their unbelief be surprized with Destruction before they are well sensible that it is coming upon them And as for our selves besides what I have said before Archbishop Usher that Reverend Prelate hath long since told us what a dreadful Time is coming upon us and the great preparations that are made for War and the Noises of Guns that are heard and the several Attempts that have been made and other Occurrences wherein there seems to me to be something of the Finger of God do admonish and warn us that Misery and Destruction are ready to come upon us and call us all to a speedy and deep Repentance And by all these let us be awaked out of our Carnal Security and Vain Confidence that we may not be surprized like blind Fools but may be wise betimes and provide for our own Preservation and Salvation that we perish not And III. We have here the Duty which the Prophet exhorted them to upon the coming of this Day of the Lord upon them briefly in these Words Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble And this Duty he more largely insisteth on in this Chapter And here we see that the Exhortation is general and all are to be concerned and moved to fear and trembling at the coming of this Day From hence I shall endeavour to shew something of the Duty which we
have been destroyed because they were not Righteous but Wicked And this will farther shew that it is our Duty and will be a great Encouragement to us to set then earnestly upon all the works of Righteousness at the apprehension of a dreadful Day coming upon us that we may then escape and find Mercy This God shews to be the Reason why Noah was to be saved from perishing with the Inhabitants of the Old World because he was righteous before God Gen. 7.1 And the Lord said unto Noah come thou and all thy house into the ark for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation This was the Reason why he was to be saved by the Ark when the rest of the World were to be destroyed by a Flood of Waters because God saw him to be righteous When God destroyed Sodom all the righteous Men were to be preserved and if there had been fifty Righteous yea if there had been but ten righteous Men therein they and the whole City too had been spared for their Righteousness sake Gen. 18.23 And we may see that righteous Lot was delivered at that time and that he was delivered because he was a just and righteous Man S. Peter sheweth 2 Pet. 2.6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly And delivered just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished Here we may see that Lot was delivered because he was a just and righteous Man and that pious and godly Men from this Example and that of Noah are to be encouraged that God will deliver them from Temptations and Trials and Dangers But that the Unjust must expect to be reserved to the Day of Judgment to be punished for their Unrighteousness When the Israelites were to be consumed and to have their Carkases fall in the Wilderness and not to come into the Land of Canaan because they murmured and sinned against God Joshua and Caleb were then delivered from this Sentence because they were righteous and wholly followed God Num 14.20 and Num. 32.10 And the Lord's anger was kindled the same time saith Moses and he sware saying Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upwards shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob because they have not wholly followed me save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite and Joshua the son of Nun for they have wholly followed the Lord. By the Works of Righteousness did the Harlot Rahab escape Destruction and perished not when Jericho was taken and destroyed when she concealed the Spies and sent them away in peace because she believed them to be the Servants of God By faith saith the Apostle Heb. 11 31 the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace And saith S. James 2.25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way By Works was she justified and by her works of Piety and Mercy was she saved from this Destruction and perished not with the Inhabitants of Jericho By these and such Examples we may see that righteous Men have been delivered in the Days of Vengeance for their Righteousness sake when others have perished and this may serve as a farther Argument to shew that it then behoves us especially to set earnestly upon the works of Righteousness whensoever we apprehend such a terrible Day of the Lord to be coming upon us And what it is that is Good and God requires the Prophet sheweth Micah 6.8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God These are the things that are Good and which God requires of us at all times but especially at such a time That we should be just and upright in all our dealings with others and do as we would be done by and rather wrong our selves than over-reach and deceive another That we should be so far from grudging at charitable Works like the Miser that we should love them and take delight in all acts of Mercy and Goodness and chearfully communicate to all the Needs and Necessities of others and be joyful and glad when we can relieve and succour them in their Miseries and Wants That we should be prone and forward to forgive all others that have done any Harm or Hurt to us and contentedly to pass by all the Injuries and Wrongs that have been done to us by others without seeking any Revenge and with Good to overcome all the Evil and Malice that is offered to us by any That we should walk humbly before God in a deep Sense of our own Unworthiness and Vileness and of God's great Goodness and Mercy to us and the continual Dependance that we have upon him and of his dreadful and glorious Majesty These are the things which God requires of us and such works of Righteousness and Mercy and Kindness are we especially to set upon when a dark Day is apprehended to be near at hand And then are we to be more frequent and zealous at all our Services and Devotions to Almighty God But Fourthly Then are we also more particularly to cry mightily to Almighty God upon this very account of his Day of Wrath being coming upon us Then are we to make our earnest addresses to Almighty God in this very Respect and to make Supplications to him that he would have mercy upon us and deal with us according to his great Love and Goodness and not according to our Sins and Iniquities That for his own Name sake and for his dear Son Christ Jesus sake he would be pleased to avert and turn away his Judgments and Wrath from us if it may consist with his Divine Will and Pleasure and if not that we may be covered and preserved in the Day of Wrath and sheltered under the Wings of his good Providence and find Mercy and Salvation in that day And 1. That we are to cry and make great Supplications to Almighty God and to seek to attone him and turn away his Wrath from us at such a time by earnest Prayers we may see by several places of Scripture Our own Nature and Reason will dictate this to us and so do the sacred Scriptures This the Prophet Joel prescribes here 1.14 Sanctify a fast call a solemn assembly gather the elders and all the Inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord. And Joel
And v. 17. Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them And v. 20. But I will remove far off from you the northern Army and will drive him into a land barren and desolate These places make it probable that this Day of the Lord was a Judgment and Destruction upon their Land by the Assyrians and Chaldeans And it seems probable to me that both the Captivity of the ten Tribes and also of the Kingdom of Judah were hereby threatned if they were not the chief things here intended by this day of the Lord the Prophet Joel as most affirm living before them both And this was a very sore and terrible day of the Lord to them indeed when they were invaded and domineer'd over by foreign Armies when they were driven from their own Habitations and rooted out of their own Land and their whole Polity and Government was destroyed when they were driven from Jerusalem their beloved City and the City of the great King the Lord of Hosts and their magnificent Worship at the Temple was quite extinguished and the Temple it self burnt down and destroyed when they were carried away like Slaves into a strange Land from whence the greater Part of them never returned again and the other Part underwent a Servitude of seventy Years before they returned and came back into their own Land again This was a very sore and terrible day of the Lord to them indeed And some do refer this Prophecy of Joel to all the Miseries and Destructions that were brought upon them by the Chaldeans Persians Grecians Syrians and Romans And it seems clear to me that the Prophet's great and terrible Day of the Lord Joel 2.31 is to be understood of that dreadful destruction of the Jewish Nation by the Romans about 38 or 39 years after the Death of our Saviour when they were most miserably destroyed when Sword and Famine both raged horribly among them The great effusion of the Spirit was to be before this day as we may see here in Joel 2.28 And this S. Peter tells us was fulfilled upon the day of Pentecost and afterwards Acts 2.16 which makes it more than probable that by this terrrible day was meant that heavy destruction by the Romans From hence then I shall farther shew that God doth often threaten and inflict very sore and terrible Judgments and Calamities upon Cities and Nations for the great Wickedness of them when it is grown ripe for such a temporal Punishment First We may see that God doth often threaten to send very terrible and grievous Judgments and Destructions upon Cities and Nations for the great Wickedness and Provocations of the Inhabitants of them when they are guilty of such With Sword Famine and Pestilence evil and noisome Beasts and the removing of his Word and Gospel and other such Plagues and Judgments doth God threaten those that abuse his Mercies and rebel against him and the light of his Word and wax bold and presumptuous in Sin and Wickedness Moses hath spent the greatest part of Deut. 28. in telling the Jews what plagues and judgments of God should light upon them if they should forsake God and fall to Idolatry and such grievous Wickedness how they should be cursed every way till they were consumed Deut. 28.20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee until he have consumed thee from off the land whether thou goest to possess it The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with an extream burning and with the sword and with blasting and with mildew and they shall pursue thee until thou perish And much more to this purpose as you may see there The Prophet Samuel tells them after that if they went on in Wickedness they should be consumed 1 Sam. 12.23 But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King And the Prophets do often warn the Jews and others that a day of the Lord's Vengeance was coming upon them in their days Isa 13.6 saith the Prophet concerning the Burthen of Babylon Howl ye for the day of the Lord is at hand it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty And saith God to the Prophet Ezekiel 14.13 Son of man when a land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out my hand upon it and will break the staff of the bread thereof and will send famine upon it and will cut off man and Beast from it And Sword and Pestilence are threatned too as we may see in the following Verses And Ezek. 30.2 Son of man prophesie and say thus saith the Lord Howl ye wo worth the day For the day is near even the day of the Lord is near a cloudy day it shall be the time of the beathen And the sword shall come upon Egypt and great pain shall be in Ethiopia when the slain shall fall in Egypt and they shall take away her multitude and her foundations shall be broken down And saith the Prophet Zephaniah 1.7 8. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God for the day of the Lord is at hand for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice he hath bid his guests And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the Princes and the Kings children and all such as are cloathed with strange apparel And v. 14. The great day of the Lord is near it is near and hasteth greatly even the voice of the day of the Lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly And saith the Prophet Zechariah 14.1 Behold the day of the Lord cometh and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee For I will gather all Nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the Women ravished Then shall the Lord go forth and sight against those Nations as when he fought in the day of battel By these and such places we may see that God hath oft threatned to bring a Day of Vengeance and Wrath upon the Jews and others and to visit them with some Judgment or other for their Wickedness when it was grown great We may see that such Judgments and Plagues and Calamities are not meerly casual and come not upon Men by blind Chance that they are not the Effects of an inevitable Fate farther than Men make them so themselves and that they are not to be ascribed to such Causes as worldly and carnal Men are too ready to ascribe them But that they are the Orderings and Disposals of divine Providence and the Rods and Scourges of the Just and Righteous Governour of all the World who
Reason offereth and make Men's hearts to fail them and recoil back upon them and turn all into confusion and disorder without and within too These fill Men's minds full of horror and amazement and make their Faces to gather blackness and set their Limbs a tottering and quaking And this farther shews how dreadful and astonishing these Judgments of God will be when they surprize Men in this manner when they are careless and secure and do not prepare themselves against them by clearing their hands of all wickedness and by calling upon God for pardon and mercy and help Secondly We may see as for matter of Fact that God hath often sent great and dreadful Judgments upon the Inhabitants of the World for their great Sin and Wickedness when they have been ripe for Judgment We may see that God hath often brought the days of Vengeance upon them when they have in a manner totally revolted from him and become rebellious against the Light And we may see that the Wicked and Unrighteous have been surprized with such Judgments when they thought not of them or believed them not and have been swept away with the Beesom of Destruction when they expected it not For the great wickedness thereof did God destroy the old World and swept them away with a prodigious Flood of Water Gen. 6.5 And God saw that the wickedness of Man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually And it repented the Lord that he had made Man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth And Gen. 7.21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth both of fowl and of cattel and of beast and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth and every man This heavy judgment did God send upon them for their Wickedness when they were so wholly given up to it and made this total riddance of all Mankind but Noah and his Family And with this Deluge of Water were they all surprized when they expected it not as our Lord sheweth Matt. 24.37 But as the days of Noe were so shall also the coming of the Son of man be For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noe entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away so shall also the coming of the Son of man be In this unexpected manner were they all wrapt up in destruction before they were well sensible of it In a prodigious manner with Fire and Brimstone from Heaven did God destroy the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the grievous Sin and Wickedness of them Gen. 28.20 And the Lord said because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous And Gen. 19.13 For we will destroy this place because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it And v. 24 25. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground In this astonishing manner did God destroy these Cities for their egregious Wickedness and consume them with the Fire of his Wrath And the very Ground where these Cities stood is turned into that Lake which is called the Dead-Sea or the Sea of the Plain And in this terrible Destruction were all these Sinners surprized and thought not of it till the Flame was all about them and had seized upon them Luke 17.28 29. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all Here our Lord doth shew how they were surprized with this Fire from Heaven when they thought not of such a thing but were busie in pursuing their Sins and worldly Concerns For their wickedness did God send sundry Judgments and Plagues upon the Egyptians as we may see in the Book of Exodus And at the last in a surprising manner overwhelmed them in the Red Sea Exod. 14.23 And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the Red Sea even all Pharaoh 's Horses and his Chariots and his Horsemen And v. 27. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the Sea and the Sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared and the Egyptians fled against it and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the Sea This surprising destruction swallowed them up at the last For the great wickedness and high provocations of the Inhabitants of the Land of Canaan did God bring a heavy Judgment upon them to destroy and root them out of their own Land by the Children of Israel God delivered the Kingdoms of Sihon and Og to Moses and he Destroyed the Inhabitants thereof Numb 21. And Joshua destroyed 31 Kings on the other side Jordan Joshua 6 And we may see that this heavy judgment of the Sword came upon them to their utter ruin for their great wickedness and abominations Gen. 15.16 saith God to Abraham concerning his Posterity But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Hereby intimating that when their Iniquity was full ripe for Judgment they were to but cut off for it And saith Moses Deut. 18.12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee It is clear that they were driven out and destroyed for their great wickedness and abominable practices And we may see that God's own People the Jews were often scourged by other Nations and sold into their hands for their own wickedness and for revolting from God Judges 2.13 14. And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the hands of their Enemis round about so that they could not any longer stand before their Enemies And we may read that God did often punish and afflict them with the neighbouring Nations for their wickedness towards him With the Mesópotamians and Moabites and others Judges 3. with the Canaanites Judg. 4. with the Midianites and others Judg. 6. with the Philistines and Ammonites Judg. 10. With these and others did God often scourge them and afterwards let the Assyrians and Chaldeans carry them away Captive out of their own Land for their Rebellion towards God and backsliding from him and one part of them returned
to persuade them to repent and be saved Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked should turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel So unwilling is he that any should perish and so earnestly and passionately as it were does he desire that all should be saved And as God is unwilling that any should perish at other times so is he also unwilling that any should perish when he comes to sweep with the Beesom of Destruction and brings some dreadful day of darkness upon Men which he is forced to do by their great wickedness If any sinner will repent and return from the error of his ways at the proclaiming and denouncing of such Judgments as God is determined to bring upon that place such is the love of God to Mankind he shall have Warning that he may repent and be saved and not be swallowed up with destruction but that his Soul may be wrapt up in the bundle of Life God does bear long with sinners before he comes in wrath to avenge himself upon them and gives them space to repent before he comes to cut them off He deals with all Nations as he saith he did with mysterious Jezebel Rev. 2.21 And I gave her space to repent of her Fornication and she repented not And that Men may repent and turn at last to God when he is coming in Judgment upon them he does usually give Warning of his coming and does send his Heralds before to declare and denounce his open War against them that they may come to terms of Peace at the last and accept of his Overtures of Mercy before he draws his Sword and makes ready his Arrows against them That his Proceedings may appear to be just and equal and merciful to all the World and that such as will may then take Warning and provide for their escape and Salvation This I have in part shewed already That God doth usually give Warning before he comes in Judgment and brings a dark and gloomy Day upon a Land and Nation All those threatnings of such dreadful Days of the Lord by the Prophets which I have mentioned do prove this that God doth usually give Warning before he strikes in wrath and stretcheth out his direful Hand upon us And this also we may see in many remarkable Instances that the People and Servants of God have notice and warning at such a time and such to whom Warning will do good and usually all others When God destroyed the old World with that dreadful Flood of Water Noah had Warning hereof and was instructed how to provide for his escape from this Judgment by preparing an Ark for himself and his Family Gen. 6.13 14. And God said unto Noah the end of all flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the earth Make thee an Ark of Gopher Wood Rooms shalt thou make in the Ark and shalt pitch it within and without with Pitch This warning and direction did God give Noah for his escape And Warning was given of this dismal Day 120 Years before it came as we may gather from Gen. 6.3 And the Lord said my Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years These Years were to be allowed him before he was to be cut off with the Waters of a Flood as seems most probable And in this time there is no question but Noah and other good Men perhaps too did preach Repentance to the old World and warn them of this Judgment that was coming upon them And by his Preaching and making an Ark before them were they warned to repent and prepare for their escape that they might not perish And as much as this we may gather from the sacred Scriptures Noah was a preacher of Righteousness as St. Peter sheweth 2 Pet. 2.5 And saith he of Christ 1 Pet. 3.19 20. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison which some time were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing Christ by his Spirit in Noah and other ways did preach Repentance to them and warn them as we may conclude when God's Long-suffering waited for their Conversion in the days of Noah And saith the Apostle Heb. 11.7 By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark for the saving of his House by the which he condemned the World Noah had warning of this Destruction and took warning and prepared against it And by his preaching and building an Ark were others warned of it but being hardened in their wickedness they believed it not and did not prepare against it but were still surprized therein When God was about to destroy Sodom he sent his Angels to warn Lot of this dreadful Judgment of Fire from Heaven that he might provide for his escape that he might not be consumed in it Gen. 19.12 13. And the men said unto Lot hast thou here any besides Son in law and thy Sons and thy Daughters and whatsoever thou hast in the City bring them out of this place For we will destroy this place because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it And v. 15. And when the morning arose then the Angels hastened Lot saying arise take thy Wife and thy two Daughters which are here lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the City Here we see that the Angels of God give Lot warning of this terrible Judgment that God was bringing upon them that he might provide for his escape and not perish therein And Lot seems to be sent as a preacher of Righteousness and Repentance among them before this heavy destruction came upon them and it is probable that he let them know that their sinful deeds were like to bring the curse of God upon them For he as St. Peter saith 2 Pet. 2.7 was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked And he warned his Sons in law of this Judgment but they heeded not his warning but looked upon it as vain and idle talk Gen. 19.14 And Lot went out and spake unto his Sons in law which married his Daughters and said up get ye out of this place for the Lord will destroy this City but he seemed as one that mocked unto his Sons in law We may see that the Servants of God and others had warning of this most dreadful Judgment upon Sodom that they might prepare against it and righteous Lot we see took warning and provided for his escape And if there had been any other Person in Sodom that would have repented and have turned from his wickedness to God upon
King Nebuchadnezzar when he told him that this Judgment should come upon him That he should be driven from Men and have his dwelling with the Beasts of the Field Dan. 4.27 Wherefore O King let my counsel be acceptable unto thee and break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity This Counsel doth the Prophet give him to avert the Judgment as much as might be and to prolong his own Tranquillity and Happiness viz. To set upon a righteous course of Life and to shew himself merciful and kind to the Poor And this is the direction of the Prophet Zephaniah which he giveth for a preparation against the day of the Lord's Anger Zeph. 2.3 Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth which have wrought his judgments seek righteousness seek meekness it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger And our blessed Saviour in Matth. 24. where he forewarns his Disciples of that judgment and destruction that was to come upon the Jews tells them that those should be blessed and happy that should then be found imployed in their Master's service and in the works of Righteousness Matth. 24.45 Who then is a faithful and wise Servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his houshold to give them meat in due season Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods The Servant that is well imployed in his Master's Charge shall be blessed when his Lord cometh But the wicked Servant is then to be cut off and to have his portion with the Hypocrites as it there follows And saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 4.7 But the end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer And above all things have fervent Charity among your selves for Charity shall cover the multitude of sins This Advice doth he give upon the apprehension of the end of all things being at hand that is the Day of the Lord being near at hand That upon this consideration they were to be more sober and temperate and diligent in their Prayers and Services to Almighty God and above all to have fervent Charity and Love among themselves because this would cover a multitude of Sins and qualifie them most and make them fit for Mercy at such a time By these and such places we may see that it is our duty to set earnestly upon the works of Righteousness when we apprehend a dreadful Day of the Lord to be drawing near because such a course is then prescribed upon such occasions That we are then to grow more Temperate and Holy to be more frequent and fervent in our Devotions and Services to Almighty God and are then more strictly to mind all the Rules of Justice and Uprightness and are then to be more liberal and bountiful to our poor and needy Brethren and prone and forward to forgive all the injuries and wrongs that have been done to us by any others This is highly requisite that we should at such a time be full of mercy and kindness to others because we are then in an extraordinary manner seeking for mercy and pardon at God's hand and we can have no ground to hope to find mercy at his hand if we are cruel and hard hearted and will shew none our selves to others Matth. 6.14 15. saith our Lord For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses 2. We may see that the Righteous shall never be forsaken and that it is Righteousness that doth deliver Men at all times of difficulty and danger and this doth farther shew that it is our duty and our wisdom too to set earnestly upon all the works of righteousness that we may be delivered at such a time of danger when a dreadful Day is apprehended to be coming upon us This we may see by several places of Scripture that Righteousness will avail much at such a time and that the Righteous may then expect to be delivered Remember I pray thee saith Eliphaz to Job 4.7 who ever perished being innocent or where were the righteous cut off Hereby shewing that it was very observable how they were delivered and not cut off like the wicked And saith the Psalmist Psal 37.25 I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken And v. 27 Depart from evil and do good and dwell for evermore For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his Saints they are preserved for ever And Solomon sheweth in several places that Righteousness will deliver the Righteous from death when the riches of the Rich will not profit them Prov. 10.2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivereth from death And Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivereth from death And Prov. 11.6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness By these and such like places doth the Wise Man shew that the Righteous shall be delivered in the time of anguish and distress upon the account of his righteousness And God doth shew by the Prophet Ezekiel that Men shall deliver themselves by their righteousness when a day of wrath and destruction is coming upon Men. Ezek. 14.13 And saith the Prophet Isaiah 33.15 He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the gain of oppressions that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil He shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munition of rocks bread shall be given him his waters shall be sure So securely is such a Righteous Man like to live and to be set out of the reach of danger and in the fiery day of Vengeance he is like to be safe and secure And saith our Lord Matth. 5.7 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy And in the gloomy Day and in time of danger there is no question but that they shall find Mercy By these and such places we may see That righteous Men shall be delivered at such times of need and danger and in such Days of vengeance upon the account of their righteousness and this farther shews it to be our duty and our wisdom at such a time to set more earnestly upon a pious and righteous course of Life and especially then to abound more in the works of Charity and Mercy when we are in a more extraordinary way and manner to sue for mercy at God's hand 3. We may see that righteous Men have been delivered when God hath brought a dark and dreadful Day upon Men and that they have been saved and delivered for their Righteousness sake when others
2.17 Let the priests the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar and let them say spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people where is their God The Prophet here doth give command to cry and pray to God upon this very account and doth here give direction in what form and manner the Priests were to address themselves to God wherein the People also were to join viz. To intreat Almighty God to spare them who were his peculiar People and not to suffer them to be made a Reproach by the Heathen and to be domineer'd over by them and to have them to ask others in scorn and derision where their God and Saviour was in whom they trusted And this divine Direction of the Prophet seems to me to be no less adapted and fitted for us at this day than it was for the Jews in the Prophet Joel's time And this was David's Resolution to have Recourse to God and to call upon him in all Distress and Danger 2 Sam. 22.4 I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved from mine enemies And Psal 55.16 As for me I will call upon God and the Lord shall save me Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice And Psal 86.7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee for thou wilt answer me This is the Psalmist's Resolution to make his earnest addresses to Almighty God and hereby he hoped for Mercy and Help in the needful time of Trouble and Distress And this is God's Command by the Psalmist that we should call upon him at such a time and if we do it as we ought he hath promised that he will hear us and deliver us Psal 50.15 And call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me We are humbly to sue for mercy at such a time before we are to expect it and after we have received it not to forget to return Almighty God his due laud and praise for the same And Solomon in his prayer in 1 Kings 8. doth shew that it is our Duty in all Distresses to make Supplications to God in an extraordinary manner when he there requesteth that he would hear such prayers and supplications that are made to him by his people in their afflictions and distresses and doth shew that they are like to be heard and relieved when they seek and cry to God with all their Hearts And saith God by his Prophet Jeremiah 29.12 Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart And I will be found of you saith the Lord and I will turn away your captivity And it is our blessed Lord's Command to his Disciples when he foretold them of that Judgment and Destruction that was coming upon the Jewish Nation to be constant and fervent at their prayers to Almighty God that they might obtain Mercy then and be saved and not perish with the Wicked Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man By Watchfulness and Constancy and Earnestness at Prayer to Almighty God are we to prepare our selves that we may be accounted worthy of Mercy and to escape the Judgments of God and to stand before the Son of God whensoever he shall come in an extraordinary and eminent manner to Judge and Punish the Inhabitants of the World for their great Wickedness By these and such places we may see that it is our Duty whensoever we apprehend a Day of the Lord's Wrath to be coming upon us to cry mightily to Almighty God and to make Supplications to him for Pardon and Mercy and Help and Protection at such a Time when a Day of Wrath and Revenge is coming upon Men. 2. We may see that this hath been the practice of several Persons at such times of anguish and distress to cry to Almighty God and to supplicate his Divine Majesty for mercy and succour and that they have often prevailed hereby and this will farther shew it to be our duty at such a time and a perswasive to it to call upon God in a more earnest and extraordinary manner for the averting of such Judgments as we have just cause to believe do hang over us and are ready to fall upon us and for the procuring of Mercy for our selves When the Fire of the Lord consumed the People Moses prayed unto the Lord and the Fire was stopt Numb 11.1 And when the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the Camp And the people cryed unto Moses and when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire was quenched When the Children of Israel were sold into the hand of the Mesopotamians for their sin and wickedness which they did in the sight of God in forgetting him and serving other Gods in their misery they cryed to God and he sent them a deliverer Judes 3.9 And when the Children of Israel cryed unto the Lord the Lord raised up a deliverer to the Children of Israel who delivered them even Othniel the Son of Kenaz Caleb 's younger Brother In their distress did God hear them notwithstanding their former backsliding and had respect to their Prayer and this may be an encouragement to us sinners to do the like When the Children of Israel cried unto the Lord when they were oppressed and afflicted by Eglon King of Moab he heard their cry and shewed them mercy and delivered them out of his hand Judg. 3.15 But when the Children of Israel cried unto the Lord the Lord raised them up a deliverer Ehud the Son of Gera a Benjamite When the Children of Israel were sold into the hand of Jabin the Canaanite for the evil which they did in the sight of the Lord they cried unto the Lord in their distress and he delivered them Judg. 4.3 And the Children of Israel cried unto the Lord for he had nine hundred Chariots of Iron and twenty years he mightily oppressed the Children of Israel And God did then deliver them out of his hand by Deborah and Barak as we may there see afterward And several other times did God deliver them when they returned and sought him and cried and made Supplications to him notwitstanding they had often revolted from him When King Abijah and Judah were beset on both sides with their Enemies the Israelites they cried unto the Lord in their distress and he heard their cry and delivered them 2 Chron. 1.14
Idols nor false Gods to our selves lest we have this return to our Prayers when we cry to God in the needful time of Trouble And we are to make no Idol of our Wealth nor to place our trust and confidence therein we are are not to confide in and to rely upon an Arm of Flesh and make mortal Man our hope and confidence and so to rob God of his Glory in not making him as we ought the only Rock of our defence These things seem to be branches of our duty and highly necessary for us to set upon and practise whensoever we apprehend a dark and dismal Day of Wrath and Vengeance to be coming upon us And now to draw to a Conclusion Seeing we have no reason to expect that we should be exempted from the Judgments of God if we do wickedly but must look to be dealt with as others have been if we are as sinful as they were and are to look upon the threatnings of Judgments in the word of God as Threatnings and Menaces against our selves when our case is the same with theirs against whom they were threatned And seeing our Sins and Iniquities do appear to be very great and we are now actually warned that the Judgments of God do now hang over our heads and are ready to come upon us let us lay these things to heart and mind the things that belong to our Peace before it be too late Let us not be like Solomon's Fool Prov. 17.16 that had a price in his hand to get Wisdom but no heart to it But let us make a good use of our time while we have it while the long-suffering of God waiteth for our repentance and amendment Let the great Terror and dreadfulness of the Judgments of God awake us out of our careless and vain security That we may take such a course for our Peace and Safety as is prescribed in the Word of God while his great Goodness doth yet afford us some time for it and let us speedily and seriously set our selves to the practice of these things that I have shewed to be enjoined by that sacred Word at such a time Let us turn to God with Fasting and Weeping and Mourning and call to mind and repent of all the sinful deeds that we have done and resolve through Divine help never to commit such any more and make satisfaction for all the injuries and wrongs that we have done to others Let us cease to do evil and learn to do well and set more strictly upon a righteous and pious course of Life and take pleasure and delight in the works of Mercy and Goodness and shew our selves merciful to others when we are in a more extraordinary manner seeking for Mercy at God's hand Let us be constant and earnest at our Prayers to Almighty God for pardon and mercy for help and succour in all our necessities and distresses and that we may be accounted worthy to escape the things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of God whensoever he shall come to punish the Inhabitants of the World for their great Sin and Iniquity Let us seek the Lord while he may be found as saith the Prophet Isaiah 55.6 and call upon him while he is near before he shuts up his Mercy in displeasure and stops his Ears at our Cry Let us put to our helping hand to keep off all publick Judgments from our Land and Nation by the innocency and uprightness of our Lives by begging pardon for our own and the transgressions of the whole Nation and by our earnest Prayers for the Peace and Prosperity of our Church and Kingdom Pray for the peace of Jerusalem saith the Psalmist Psal 122.6 they shall prosper that love thee And so let us pray for the peace and good of our Church and Nation that they may not become a prey to our Enemies and be totally swallowed up by them If we could all-amend and a general repentance were effected our Peace and Happiness would then I hope be secure and we need not fear the evil Machinations of Men against us nor any Judgment of God coming upon us For we may see that the Ninevites obtained Mercy by Repentance after the Judgment was denounced against them And the Prophet Joel here sheweth that if the course were taken that he prescribeth there was hope to obtain Mercy at God's hand Joel 2.18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pity his People And so we may conclude that he would deal with us if we would take such a course But so long as our Sins cry to Heaven against us and we persist in them we can have no security of Peace and Prosperity And therefore let us set earnestly upon a Righteous and Holy Life and live like those that expect shortly to die and to be called to Judgment that we may do what we can to prepare for our own safety and security against such a dreadful Day of Darkness and may endeavour to keep off all publick Judgments that we may be instrumental in procuring a Blessing and not a Curse upon our Land and Nation Such as are not better instructed may exercise themselves in reading these Chapters and meditating upon them and learning what good Instructions they can from them Isaiah LVIII Jeremiah IV. Joel II. Jonah III. Matthew X and XXIV Mark XIII Luke XII and XVII and XXI 2 Peter III. Revelation II and III. And in the Book of Common Prayer they may find a great deal of good Matter for their Prayers even against such a great Day of Judgment to which they may add these two Prayers that follow For Repentance ALmighty God and most merciful Father we miserable Sinners do here humbly acknowledge before Thee That we are unworthy of the least of all thy Mercies We confess O Lord in the bitterness of our Souls that we have grievously sinned against Thee that all Orders of Men amongst us have transgressed thy Righteous Laws that we have hitherto rendred both thy Mercies and thy Judgments ineffectual to our Amendment It is of thy meer Mercy O Lord that we are not consumed for which our Souls do magnifie and bless thy Name O God who hast hitherto spar'd us to the end that thy Goodness might lead us to Repentance let it be thy good pleasure to give unto us all that Godly Sorrow which worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of that thou mayest turn from thy heavy displeasure against us and mayest rejoice over us to do us good through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Amen For Peace and Vnity O Lord God our only hope in time of need Save and deliver us we humbly beseech thee from all those Dangers that threaten us Give Peace in our days O Lord if it be thy will and prevent the effusion of Christian blood in our Land Reconcile all our Dissentions and heal all our Breaches Preserve that Holy Religion we profess together with our Laws and Antient Government Unite us all in unfeigned and universal Charity one towards another and in one and the same Holy Worship and Communion That with one heart and one mouth we may glorifie thy Holy Name and shew forth thy Praise from generation to generation And this we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Beloved in whom thou art well pleased to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and evermore Amen In these Papers I come as a Messenger of Peace among all my dear Country-men and therefore I request that I may find a kind reception among them and that they would seriously lay to heart what I have here written that I may do them some good Service at this great juncture of time for the Preservation of their Lives and Souls when they are in so great Danger FINIS