wilt never act Faith upon him But this was the Fruit that this escaping Remnant should bring forth and is that which God expects from preserved ones in a day of slaughter All this confirms the Truth I have been driving at and in the prosecution of it I shall propose two things to be spoken to 1. To show what Engagement there lieth upon them that escape in a day of slaughter to be thereby led unto an esteem of Christ why it should render this Branch of the Lord and Fruit of the Earth beautiful and glorious in their eyes 2. When those that do escape may conclude their escaping hath this issue and effect upon their Souls And 3. Try what Improvement we may make of this Truth First How doth our escaping in a time of Calamity lay an engagement upon the heart to prize and value Christ the more I suppose it is very natural I would evidence it in four or five things 1. Christ hath the management of all Providences and surely then of such as these a Sword goeth not thorow a Land nor a Plague thorow a City Country or Town but Christ hath a great hand in it Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand the Father out of his great love unto his Son and confidence he hath in him that he will do nothing but what is well hath committed the management of all Providences into his hands he hath given him the power of life and death in the World and where he will he spares and where he will he slayes the People of God represented under the notion of the two Witnesses it is said of them that they have a kinde of power to kill People as they will Rev. 11.6 These meaning the two Witnesses have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy and have power over Waters to turn them into Blood and to smite the Earth with Plagues as often as they will but their power is but in a way of Prayer through the great interest they have in the Lord and his Christ they can do much and carry a great stroke for or against a People But now the power of Christ is absolute he can do and govern in this matter as he pleaseth and why hath he this power look Joh. 5.22 23. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all Judgement unto the Son by judging here I humbly conceive Ruling and Government ordering and disposing of things in the World is intended which the Father doth not do without but by the Son the matter is left unto him and why That all men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father therefore is this Government committed unto the Branch of the Lord that it might gain him the more esteem We that have seen so much of Christ in these his Dispensations ought it not to have this effect upon our hearts to teach us to honour the Son as we honour the Father Especially 2. Considering That that Escape which you and I have in a day of Calamity it is through the Son if thou do'st escape this Branch of the Lord hath a great hand in it however we may rob Christ of his honour and attribute it unto second Causes yet indeed and in truth the matter is in Christs hand You read of a Retiring-Chamber for the People of God in days of Calamity Isa 26.20 Come my People enter into your Chamber and shut the doors about you hide your selves for a little moment until my indignation be over-past Are there Retiring-Chambers in the day of Gods Controversie when he comes to contend and smite down unto the Earth I might ask the question Where are they and say as David Psal 139.7 c. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence if I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me where may a man be hid in the day of Gods anger I would say Retire into Christ he is a Rock of shelter he is the Munition of Rocks where the Soul shall be hid it is the man Christ Jesus shall be a Covert from the storm a hiding place in the day of distress suitable unto which the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 32.7 Thou art my hiding-place thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with Songs of Deliverance Soul art thou preserved it is Christ hath been thy hiding place There were some in the days of David's Calamity scoffed at him and bid him flee as a Bird unto his Mountain but see what he saith Psal 11.1 In the Lord I put my trust how say ye to my Soul Flee as a Bird to your Mountain It was a Psalm penn'd in the time when he fled from Saul as I conceive and it is as if he should say It is true I have recourse sometimes unto this and that Mountain and I do go up and down from place to place to be hid from the hand of Saul but I go as God leads me as Christ goes before me and where-ever I am and which way so ever I look it is the Lord is my Refuge from him I expect my security You read Ezek. 1.26 of a Throne and upon the Throne there was one like unto a man that Man was the Man Christ Jesus the Throne upon which he sat is the Throne of his Providential Kingdom where he sits and governs all things in the World and where he sits to order all the matters in the following part of this Prophecy Now see what he doth upon this Throne of his And the Lord said unto him that is the Man cloathed with Linen that had the Writers Inkhorn by his side Go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the Abominations that be done in the midst thereof and to the others he said Go ye after him through the City and smite let not your eye spare neither have ye pity slay utterly old and young both maids and little children and women but come not near any upon whom is the mark c. I gather hence that it is Christ hath the marking men for destruction or preservation he upon the Throne of his Providential Kingdom governs and orders for preserving or destroying in a day of slaughter therefore if thou art kept know who hath been thy Keeper This was typified in the Case of Aaron in that sore Plague Numb 16.46 c. And Moses said unto Aaron Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on Incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an attonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun
slaughter to have Christ become glorious and excellent unto them And 2. That the issue of all those dreadful destroying Judgements that shall break forth in the world shall be the putting of glory upon the head of Christ and that glory upon Christ shall be to the good and benefit of those of Israel that shall escape the slaughter I shall begin with the first namely That it is a good issue of Slaughtering-Judgements upon them that out-live such calamities that Christ is become glorious and excellent in their accounts The Words do certainly relate to a Time of great slaughter such a slaughter that Jerusalem which was once a very populous City and the places of the greatest concourse in it which were the Gates for in the Gates Justice was executed and thither was a confluence of persons from all parts but such should be the slaughter that her Gates should lament and mourn and become desolate at this time there were some should escape God useth to have a remaining Remnant when his displeasure is at highest and what should this sad Judgement work upon them that should remain The Branch of the Lord should become glorious among them You read in the 78 Psalm vers 34 35. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God and they remembred that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer When he slew them that is when he came forth with slaughtering Judgements as he did sometimes against Israel and particularly God smote them with Plagues more then once now what did they that remained and were left alive do they began to have more high and awful thoughts of the Lord then before the esteem of him was a little raised in their hearts they remembred he was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer thus far they went well onely that which followeth spoiled all in vers 36 37. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant if really the esteem of the Lord had been raised in their hearts they had been an excellent People and the Lords Judgements had wrought kindly You shall find the Lord complains for the want of such a spirit in Hos 11.7 God called there to the People and how He called by mercy I drew them with the cords of a man with the bands of love vers 4. that is I treated them kindly he called them by Judgements as you see in vers 6. The Sword shall abide on his Cities and shall consume his Branches and devour them what did God expect should be the answer unto his Call and the fruit of all his Dispensations it was that they should have exalted him honoured him and admired him at a greater rate then before but because they did not God took it ill and reckoned that his Providences had not a kindly reception among them Psal 2.6 Yet says he have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion which words are not onely a Prophecy concerning that Kingdom Christ shall have but declarative of that Kingdom he hath viz. his Providential Kingdom by which he manages and governs affairs in the World now in the management of it what doth he do sometimes as in vers 9. he rules them with a Rod of Iron and dashes in pieces like a Potters Vessel but what should they do that should out-live such Providences you shall see the Fruit that should grow upon this Root Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way Christ expects when he is abroad with his Iron Rod and dashing Earthen Vessels to pieces as he hath this day they that stand on their feet not dashed to pieces as others of the same mould he expects higher thoughts of himself and to be more esteemed by them and if he fail of his expectation let them remember that they are but Clay and therefore in the way not out of danger Jer. 51.50 Ye that have escaped the Sword go away stand not still remember the Lord afar off and let Jerusalem come into your mind God was abroad with the Sword it may be the material Sword and it may be with such a Sword of the Angel as he hath lately been cutting withall what should the Escaped do Remember the Lord Remember him you will say what is that Give me leave to open it unto you a little because I shall use the term again anon To remember the Lord implies two things among others 1. To have the heart wrought up into the fear of the Lord to sanctifie his Name Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy that is sanctifie the Sabbath so remember the Lord that is fear him let his Name be great his honour be dear unto thee Remember thy Creator what is that it is Give up thy self unto the Lord remember who he is and what he is and what he calls for from thee when a People sin against the Lord they are said to forget him many times so suitably to remember him is to fear him to honour him and lift up his Name 2. To remember the Lord is to love and delight in him to have a great esteem of him as the Lord saith Jer. 31.20 Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him Gods remembring Ephraim was his love to and delight in Ephraim so our remembring the Lord is our loving of and delighting in him and this is the frame that should be found upon the hearts of them that escape sore Calamities To fear and magnifie to love and delight in him This indeed is a right Spirit and it is called for elsewhere Ezek. 6.9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the Nations whither they shall be carried Captives Time was when Israel had few and slight thoughts of God their Redeemer but when GOD had been at work among them by severe strokes those that did escape of them their Spirits should be much amended much altered for the better they should come and love him and fear him so as they did not before So Isa 10.20 And it shall come to pass in that day what day was that a day of great slaughter for vers 19. The rest of the Trees of his Forrest shall be few that a Child may write them a Child that is but a bad Arithmetician should be able to number them that should remain the smallness of them should be such It shall come to pass that the Remnant of Israel and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob shall no more again stay upon him that smote them but shall stay upon the Lord the holy One of Israel in truth staying upon the Lord is an Act of Faith and Acts of Faith do greatly glorifie Christ and speak the Heart much delighted in him if thou be'st not taken with him thou
make the fall of his Servants of greater use then their standing on Earth could have been be confident God resolveth to make the most of every one of his People they are precious unto him and shall not lightly fall to the Earth but if they do fall it shall be because he knows how to make their fall promote his glory as in Martyrdom the death of a Saint furthers the interest of Christ more then his living could do and so it is here God by this means vindicates his own Holiness when he lets a Saint fall in a Calamity he doth abundantly evidence his own Holiness to the World and let men see that if sin be found in his own he will punish it and that sharply even to a temporal death which is a high testimony of Gods purity and contrariety unto all sin A notable word you have Exod. 23.20 21. Behold I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions for my Name is in him Observe the Angel here is the Lord Jesus who hath the command of Life and Death he sometimes cuts off some of his own People because sin is found upon them he will not pardon but he will cut off and why The Name of the Lord is upon him he must vindicate Gods Honour his Holiness and for this end lets some of his People fall And truly this is use enough that God makes of his People if he pleaseth thus to deal with them This in answer to my first Objection Obj. 2. But how is the fall of Gods People in a common Calamity consistent with his Promise of special Preservation One such Promise you have in that famous place Psal 91.9 10. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy habitation there shall no evil befall thee nor shall any Plague come nigh thy dwelling and another such-like Promise you have Deut. 7.15 And the Lord will take away from thee all Sickness and will put none of the evil Diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee but will lay them upon all them that hate thee How doth the Lords cutting off some of his People consist with these Promises Answ To that I answer These Promises are conditional as is evident and if we keep not the condition annexed to those Promises God is not bound to fulfil them in the Letter for that word in the 91st Psalm No Plague shall come nigh their dwelling I have hinted already that it may be taken otherwise then just according to the letter and where he saith No Plague it may be taken thus The Plague of the Plague shall not come nigh thy dwelling the Cause of it and wrath it shall not come into thy dwelling but take it as a Promise of special particular preservation and it is a Promise with a Condition the Condition is in the 9th vers Because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the most High thy habitation The Condition is abundance of Faith living in and living upon God and a little Unbelief one step awry in a way of Unbelief may forfeit thy interest in and good by this Promise and that is soon done It is a rare thing for a man to live in and upon the Lord to make him our Habitation at all times The Soul that doth not live up to the Condition may forfeit the Mercy promised As for that word Deut. 7. it is a Promise on Condition also the Condition of the Promise you find vers 12. Wherefore it shall come to pass if you hearken unto these Judgements and keep and do them that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the Covenant and the Mercy which he sware unto thy Fathers but now if any of the Lords People be found turning aside to crooked paths the Lord may lead them forth with the Workers of Iniquity to fall by the same stroke with them Obj. 3. If it be objected But these Dealings are not suitable unto the ancient Dealings of God with his own People for God hath sometimes been wont to cut down Sinners but spare his Saints Abraham hints so much in his pleading with God Gen. 18.23 24 25. Wilt thou also destroy the Righteous with the Wicked peradventure there be fifty Righteous within the City wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty Righteous that are therein that be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the Righteous with the Wicked and that the Righteous should be as the Wicked that be far from thee should not the Judge of all the Earth do right and also that Exod. 12.29 30. where God cuts off the first-born of Egypt from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his Throne unto the first-born of the Captive that was in the Dungeon but not a hair of the head fell from any in Israel and he cuts them off by the Plague Answ For answer to this plainly thus Let the Scriptures and Cases be rightly considered and you shall find the answer easie In that case Gen. 18. where Abraham pleads for Mercy for Sodom because of the Righteous he doth suppose though Sodom was a wicked place there might be many found in Sodom that did not fall in with the abominations of that place for which God was coming to destroy them and by Righteous Ones he may mean those that were free in agreat measure from the crying Abominations for which God was coming to punish Now if the People of God do stand clear from all those Abominations for which he contends with a People then truly God will hardly cut them off but if he find them committing the sins for which he punisheth he may then suffer them to fall among them that fall This was the case in Egypt God comes forth to execute Judgements upon the Oppressors of his People the guilt was not in them they were onely the Sufferers therefore being free from the Sin God exempts them from any part in the suffering Which may be enough for answer to that Objection Obj. 4. If it be said But Israels Fall hath disappointed the Faith of many of the Lords People have not many of the Saints verily believed that the Lords People should not have been touched but God would distinguish between them and others Answ To that I answer That the confidence and expectation of some may be made void but God will not fail the Faith of any God fails no mans Faith if his Faith do not fail There is a vast difference between Confidence Expectation and Faith Faith is a rare thing a choice Plant and I believe it doth not spring forth into act even in the Garden of the Saints themselves as we are apt to imagine we many times think a groundless Confidence real Faith You shall find the expectation of a