unmortified corruptions Ephes 6.18 By it Crosses are prevented removed or sanctified yea all things are sanctified unto us and we are so kept and preserved that we fall not into temptation 1 Tim. 4.5 Mat. 26.41 Yea often times we obtain much more good then we desire or expect Solomon begged onely of the Lord an understanding heart and God gave him both riches and honour which he asked not 1 King 3.13 So able is the Lord to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think Ephes 3.20 So that of Prayer we may say it is a Key to open the door of Gods treasure house a present remedy for an oppressed mind a giver of strengh to the weak and an especial means to make a man fit to live knowingly fruitfully and serviceably to God in every state and condition Col. 1.9 10. What shall I say of it but as one saith well and truly It is Consolatio flentium cura dolentium sanitas aegrotoraem A Comfort for them that mourn the joy of the sorrowful and health for those that 〈…〉 force and efficacy what will 〈…〉 hath it not done It goes through the 〈◊〉 and ceaseth not until it come unto the Lord and if entreaties will not do it will with reverence be it spoken lay commands upon him Isa 45.11 Yea it doth as it were bind up the hands of the Lord and hinder him from executing his judgements overcoming him that overcometh all things Let me alone saith the Lord to Moses or suffer me that my wrath may wax hot against them to wit the Israelites that I may consume them Exod. 32.10 Abrahams prayer had saved Sodom from being destroyed had there been found ten righteous persons therein Gen. 18. Yea it is very observable that the Lord did not leave granting till Abraham left off petitioning By prayer Jacob was delivered from the wrath and fury of his Brother Esau Gen. 32.11 Jonah out of the Fishes belly Jonah 2.10 The three Children from the fiery Furnace Daniel from the Lions Den Dan. 3.6 Jonahs and Pauls Mariners from the danger of the Seas and Joseph and Paul and Silas and Peter and others out of Prison Act. 5.16 By Prayer Eliah stayed the Rain three years and six months and again obtained Rain so that the earth yeilded her fruit James 5.17 By Prayer Elisha had the spirit of Eliah doubled upon him and procured Bears to destroy the mocking Children 2 King 2. raised from death to life the Shunamites Son So Chap. 4. Had the eyes of his Servant opened so that he saw Mountains full of Horses and Chariots of fire round about him and smote the Syrians with blindness which came to take him Chap. 6. By Prayer Joshua commanded the Sun to stand still in the midst of Heaven until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies Josh 10.12 13. By Prayer Isaiah brought back the Sun ten degrees in the Dial of Ahaz 2 King 20 11. By Prayer David frustrated the wicked counsel of Achitophel and often put his enemies to flight 2 Sam. 15.31 and 16.23 and Psa 56.9 by Prayer Hezekiah was delivered from the King of Assyria and his health restored unto him again Isa 37. and 2 King 18. The Ninevites were delivered from the judgements threatned against them Jonah 2. Peter raised Tabitha and Paul Eutichus that had fallen down by sleeping Act. 9.40 and 20.10 The Centâ—rians Servant the Cananites Daughter and Lunatick persons were healed men blind received their sight the stammering and deaf were made to hear and speak Lepers were clensed and certain persons being dead were restored to life again So much availeth Prayer with the Lord if it be servent But to bring it a little more close as to the present visitation of the Lord See of what force and efficacy it hath been with the Lord to appease his wrath and stay the execution of his judgments When the Children of Israel fell a murmuring and had greatly provoked the Lord by their unbelief insomuch that the Lord threatned to smite them with Pestilence and disinherit them Moses falls a pleading and interceeding with the Lord for them Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word Numb 14.12 19 20. So that only those men who brought up the evil report upon the land dyed by the Plague before the Lord vers 37. So in the case of Korah Dathan and Abiram when the Congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron saying they killed the people of the Lord This so greatly incensed the Lord that he bad them go up from the congregation that he might consume them in a moment Hereupon the Text saies they fell upon their faces and Aaron according to the command of Moses takes his Censer and puts fire therein from off the Alter and put on Incense and made an attonement for the people for there was wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague was begun And Aaron stood between the dead and the living and the Plague was staid Numb 16 45 46 47. This sheweth how greatly the Prayers and actions of Gods Servants do prevail with him when they are faithful fervent and according to his will Jam. 5.16 1 John 5.14 and foreshewed also the power and efficacy of Christs meditation for poor sinners who is represented by the Angels standing at the Altar having a golden Censer and much Incense given unto him to offer it with the prayers of all Saints Rev. 8.3 For God heareth him always John 11.40 And he it is that makes intercession for the transgressors Isa 53.12 and is the attonement or propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.1 and for his sake God before whom the Pestilence goeth in wrath remembreth mercy Hab. 3.2 5. And as the blood of the Paschal Lamb figuring the blood of Christ 1 Cor. 5.7 stayed the Angel which destroyed the Egyptians from touching the Israelites Exod. 12.23 Heb. 11.28 So the smoke of Aarons incense figuring the meditation of Christ Psa 141.2 Rev. 8.4 Stayed the Plague here from the Israelites which survived That as it is written of the Pestilence in Davids time The Lord repented him of the evil and said to the Angel that destroyed the people It is enough stay now thy hand 2 Sam. 24.16 So in this verse the further efficacy and effect of faithful fervent prayer for the removal of this sore visitation of the Lord is clearly held forth in that Prayer of Solomon at the Temples dedication If there be in the Land Famine if there be Pestilence whatsoever Plague whatsoever Sickness there be what Prayer and Supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel which shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands towards this house Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and
THE Best of Remedies FOR THE VVorst of Maladies OR Spiritual Receipts and Antidotes for the Preservation of a Plague-sick Sinfull Soul Wherein is shown Sin is the Cause and Repentance the Cure of the Pestilence Seasonably Published by a Lover of Peace and Truth and one that desireth that all would though the Lords hand seems to be withdrawn as to the late universally raging Pestilential Disease forsake those Provoking Sins which call for Vengeance and Judgements on the Sons of Men. R. A. LONDON Printed Anno 1667. THE CAUSES CURE OF THE Pestilence THe first Sin which I shall insist upon so highly provoking unto the Lord to send the destroying Pestilence among a people is the sin of Oppression When the Supream Powers and Authorities of a Nation do exercise a Usurpation or Oppession over the Bodies and Consciences of the people of God This was the sin of Pharoah who tyrannized not onely over the Bodies but over the Consciences also of the Children of Israel He sets Task-masters over them to afflict them with their burdens And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour and made their lives bitter with hard bondage in Morter and in Brick and in all manner of service in the field all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigour By reason of which bondage the Children of Israel sighed and cryed and their cry came up unto God Exod. 1.11 13 14. comp with Chap. 2.23 So Chap. 3.7 The Lord said I have surely seen the afflictien of my people which are it Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters for I know their sorrows And in the 9th Verse Behold the cry of the Children of Israel is come up unto me and I have also seen the Oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them This was an oppression that Pharoah and his cruel Task-masters did exercise over their bodies The oppression that he exercised over their souls and consciences did evidently appear in this The Lord he called and commissionated Moses to go unto Pharoah and he with the Elders of Israel were to say unto him The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us and now let us go we beseech thee three days journey into the Wilderness that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God Exod. 3.18 This they often prest upon him And the reason wherefore they so much urged it is very observable in the 3d. Vers of the 5th Chap. Let us go we pray thee three days journey into the Desart and sacrifice unto the Lord our God lest he fall upon us with Pestilence or with the Sword That is Lest he slay us and destroy us with Pestilence and with the Sword as in Judges 8.21 Pharoah he hardens his heart and is disobedient unto the word of the Lord. And Pharoah said who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go They be idle saith he therefore they cry saying Let us go and Sacrifice unto our God Exod. 5.2 8 17. But the Judgments of God pursuing him at the very heels and the greivous swarm of Flies coming into his house and into his servants houses and into all the Land of Egypt so that the Land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of Flies then he calls for Moses and Aaron that they might go and Sacrifice to God but where in the Land that is in his own Land the Land of Egypt But what said Moses It is not meet so to do for we shall sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God Lo shall we Sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians before their eyes and will they not stone us We will go three days journey into the Wilderness and Sacrifice unto the Lord our God as he shall command us It is not meet or it is not right so to do as being not so appointed of God who called into the Wilderness to Sacrifice Exod. 3.18 Shall we Sacrifice the abominations of the Egyptians That is The Beasts which the Egyptians do worship and do abhor to kill or to see killed for Sacrifice And the Sentence twice repeated may imply two senses 1. Shall we Sacrifice to our God such things as the Egyptians Sacrifice that would be an abomination to the Lord Or 2. Shall we Sacrifice such things as God requireth that would be an abomination to the Egyptians The Scripture often calling the Gods and Services of the Heathens Abominations As Deut. 7.25 and 12.30 31. 2 King 23.13 Ezra 9.1 Isa 44.19 Now the principal Sacrifices of the Hebrews were Oxen and Sheep Gen. 15.9 And all Shepherds or Sheep-keepers were an abomination to the Egyptians Gen. 46.34 For the Egyptians abstained from Sheep and Sacrificed Goats By all which it is very evident that Pharoah denying the Israelites to Worship as God had appointed them did oppress them not only in their bodies but in their Consciences likewise which drew down the dreadful Judgments of God upon him and his Land among which this of the destroying Pestilence For proof whereof see Exod. 3.19 20. I am sure saith the Lord that the King of Egypt will not let you go no not by a mighty hand And what follows I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders c. So Exod 9.13 14 15. Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me for I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart c. and especially in the 15. Vers For now will I stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with Pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the Earth And in the 12. Chap. and 29. Vers See what a dreadful slaughter the Lord made accordingly in the Land of Egypt And it came to pass that at Mid-night the Lord smote all the first-born in the Land of Egypt from the first-born of Pharoah that sat on his Throne unto the first-born of the Captive that was in the Dungeon and all the first-born of Cattel and there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not a House where there was not one dead See further the severity of God in punishing this sin of Oppression Jer. 34.17 Therefore thus saith the Lord ye have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother and every man to his neighbour Behold I proclaim a liberty for you saith the Lord to the Sword to the Pestilence and to the Famine and I will make you to be removed into all the Kingdoms of the earth So highly displeasing it is unto the Lord for a people to be oppressed either in their civil or spiritual liberties and enjoyments according to that in Psa 12.5 For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord I will set him at safety from him that puffeth at him And
the Lords lawful Governours and Government whether Civil or Ecclestastical in Church or Commonwealth This was the sin of Corah Dathan and Abyram and their copartners mentioned in Num. 16. God had chosen Moses and Aaron to be the cheif Leaders and Governors of his people and placed the Government in their hands both as to the Civil and Religious administration thereof Korah and his companions gather themselves together against them and told them they took too much upon them seeing all the Congregation was holy every one of them and that the Lord was among them wherefore then should they lift up themselves above the Congregation of the Lord But see how highly incensing and provoking was this unto the Lord Separate your selves saith he to Moses and Aaron from among the congregation that I may consume them in a moment and now the Lord he will shew who are his and who are holy and a strange work will he do these men must not dye the common death of all men nor be visited after the visitation of all men but a new thing will the Lord make The earth must open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them and they must go down quick into the pit and so they did and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the Congregation Nor did the punishment of this Insurrection end here but the Lord causes a grievous Plague to break in upon the Congregation And Moses said to Aaron in the 46. verse 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 and why all this haste For there is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun And Aaron did so and stood between the dead and the living and the plague was staied Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred besides them that died in the matter of Corah So highly displeasing is it unto the Lord for persons to oppose his lawful Authority and Government which he hath put into the hands of his faithful Ministers and Servants Under which consideration undoubtedly must those Scriptures be comprehended that enjoyn subjection and obedience whether to the Lords Civil or Ecclesiastical Rulers and Governors Rom. 13.1 Tit. 3.1 1 Pet. 2.13 14 15. 1 Thess 5.12 13. Heb. 13.7 17. O that this were seriously and timously considered and laid to heart by all such who flye in the face of Christ and carry themselves contemptuously against his lawful Governours and Government which he hath set in his Churches I mean the Churches of Christ making unjustifiable and dishonorable rents schisms and divisions in the body whereof they are members which should be as the seamless coat of Christ woven from top throughout Joh. 19.23 Of such who despise the Lords Government or Dominion I may say without wronging or injuring of them as Peter of some scandalous backsliding Professors in his time who were spots and blemishes in their feasts of Charity Presumptuous are they and self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities 2 Pet. 2.10 13. And while they promise themselves liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption vers 19. They despise Dominion The word it seems signifieth a removing of a thing from its place with some scorn and indignation They would remove the Lords Governors or Rulers over them with scorn and indignation And whereas they are said to despise dominion that is more then to despise their Rulers for they despise not only the Lords Governors but the Government it self And to speak evil of Dignities or to reproach Dignities is in the Original it see us to blaspheme Glories to speak reproachfully of Dominions which are placed in glory amongst men or which are set over them by the Lord in eminency power honour and authority Hence it is that lawful Magistrates ruling in the fear of the Lord are said to be Gods Psal 82.6 And the Lords Ministers and Messengers of Churches are said to be the Glory of Christ 2 Cor. 8.23 And as stars in his right hand are the Angels of the seven Churches Rev. 1.20 All holding forth that Glory and Dignity which the Lord hath conferred upon them And for any persons to rise up as Korah and his complices did against Moses and Aaron though it be in a presumption of their own holiness Numb 16.3 Such are like to perish in the gainsaying of Core as Jude expresseth vers 11. of his Epistle It being very observable how the Psalmist does express this act of Korah's Insurrection or rising up against Moses and Aaron to be no less then an envying of them They envied Moses also in the camp and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram And a fire was kindled in their company the flame burnt up the wicked Psa 106.16 17 18. That example also of Miriam and Aarons speaking against Moses is not to pass without its due observation neither Numb 12.1 7 8 9 10. The Lord giving that testimony of Moses his servant that he was faithful in all his house Wherefore then saith he were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and Miriam became leprous as white as snow Let such therefore who are guilty in this matter consider how provoking a sin this is unto the Lord and whether they may not have a hand in pulling down this sore visitation among us 14. A Fourteenth Pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Prophanation of Gods holy things and an Over-curious presumptuous speculation and prying unwarrantably into the Secrets of God This was the sin of the men of Ashdod for which the hand of the Lord was so heavy upon them visiting them with greivous plagues when they took the Ark and brought it into the house of Dagon the Temple of their Idol-god and set it by Dagon so sore was the hand of God on them that he smote them with Emrods and destroyed them and such a deadly destruction there was throughout all the City insomuch that the cry of the City went up to heaven 1 Sam. 5. The Ark was a Chest or Coffer which was made of Shittim or Cedar wood overlaid round about with gold whose cover called the Mercy-seat was also of pure gold on which was two glorious Cherubs of gold from whence God gave his oracle Numb 7.89 These Cherubims were placed at the the two ends of the Mercy-seat and they spread out their wings on high which covered over the Mercy-seat with their face one to another Exod. 37.1 2 6 7 8 9. In this were the two Tables of the Law or Testimony put written with the finger of God Exod. 25.16 21. Deut. 10.3 4 10. Between the Cherubims God was said to sit Psal 80.2 There will I meet with thee saith the Lord and
will commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the Testimony verse 22. Now this Mercy-seat on which God did thus sit between the wings of the Cherubims was a figure of Christ by whom our transgressions of the law are forgiven and covered who is the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 2.2 And therefore called the Propitiatory Rom. 3.15 To this glorious seat where Gods presence with his Church was manifested the Throne of God is answerable in the Christian Church in the presence of which Throne his people are and serve him day and night in his Temple Rev. 7.15 17.8.3.21.3 5. Now this Ark being thus a type or figure of Christ and of his Church and of his glorious presence with the same it s no wonder if the Lord shall so severely punish the prophanation of it when men shall set it in the Temple of Dagon Surely if the Ark stand there Dagon must fall yea and it shall fall before the Ark of the Lord which is called the Ark of his strength Psal 132.8 And when the Ark set forward then Moses said Rise up Lord and let thine enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee God cannot endure to have his holy things prophaned that the abomination of desolation shall stand in his holy place that men shall set their thresholds by Gods thresholds and their posts by Gods posts by defiling his holy name with their abominations Wherefore saith the Lord I have consumed them in mine anger No surely the place of the soles of his feet where he will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever and his holy name he will not suffer to be defiled but he will beautifie the place of his sanctuary and make the place of his feet glorious Isa 60.13 comp with Ezek. 43.7 8. Let men take heed then of offering strange fire before the Lord which he commandeth them not lest there comes out fire from the Lord and devoureth them as in the case of Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron who for this cause died before the Lord. And what said Moses to Aaron thereupon This is that that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Lev. 10.1 2 3. So likewise when men will be presumptuously and unwarrantably prying into the secrets of God see how severely the Lord hath punished this evil as in the case of the men of Beth-shemesh said whom the Lord sorely smote because they looked into the Ark of the Lord even he smote of the people Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men and the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter And the men of Beth-shemeth said Who is able to stand before the holy Lord God 1 Sam. 6.19 20. So dangerous a thing it is to be over-curiously presumptuous in looking into the Areana Dei the secret and hidden things of God which he hath not revealed Therefore it was that the Lord had commanded that Aaron and his sons even they and not others should take down the covering vail and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it And thus do unto them saith the Lord that they may live and not die when they approach unto the most holy things Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered lest they dye Numb 4.19 20. See also Levit. 8.35 So exact was the Lord for the keeping of his charge It is sad to consider how wise some men have seemed to be above that which is written calculating persons and things and times for the meridian of their own brain like those lying Prophets which the Lord sent not nor spake unto wherefore he complained that they prophesied unto the people a false vision and divination even a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart Jer. 14.14 So in Ezek. 13.6 7 8 9. They have seen vanity and lying divination and they made others to hope that they would confirm the word See now the severe punishment of the Lord against such Behold I am against you saith the Lord God and mine hand shall be upon the Prophets that see vanity and that divine lies they shall not be in the Assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel neither shall they enter into the land of Israel But setting aside such gross lying Prophets it is sad to think how many professing the fear and knowledge of God have been over-curiously prying into Gods secret counsels and the hidden purposes of his minde limiting and prescribing the holy one of Israel advancing and extolling the idle phantasies and enthusiasmes of their own brains more then the declarative mind and will of God contained in the Scriptures of truth But whatever may be mens pretensions to high inward unscriptural revelations of God let us not be believing every such spirit but trying the spirits whether they are of God or no and for this reason Because many false Prophets are gone out into the world 1 Joh. 4.1 And what saith Peter We have also a more sure word of prophesie more sure then the voice which they heard to come from Heaven when they were in the Holy Mount whereunto ye do well saith he that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 Ever remembring that in Deut. 29.29 That secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever 15. The fifteenth and last thing that I shall briefly speak of as a Pestilential destroying sin is that of Adding or Diminishing from the Word of God for which the Lord Jesus hath threatned such dreadful plagues and punishments For I testifie saith he unto every man that heareth the words of the Prophesie of this Book If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this Prophesie What solloweth then God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy City and from the things which are written in this book That man may be said to add that shall mix other things besides what the Lord Jesus hath revealed by his Angel He addeth that adjoyneth a lye For whatsoever is patched to the Scriptures of mens inventions that it might be accounted as divinely revealed or the pure Oracles of God is a lye Such are the Papal unwritten traditions or other writings of men whatsoever which are made with them of like Authority with the written word of God and which added
furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King They served God and they knew that God was able and of power sufficient to protect them in the service of him Dan. 3.1 11 16 17. To this purpose when our dear Lord would encourage his Apostles and the subsequent Ministers of the Gospel to be faithful in the execution of his commands and the trust committed unto them He tells them that all power was committed unto him in Heaven and in Earth And therefore go teach all Nations and Baptise them c And teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and loe I am with you allway even unto the end of the World Mat. 28.18 19 20. As if he had said Do you faithfully and couragiously execute the Commission I have given you and be assured you shall never want my all-sufficient power and presence to support you I will make all the power I have in heaven and earth concurring in a way of serviceableness unto you O come let us sing unto the Lord saith the Psalmist let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation Shall we fear to serve that God who is the Rock of our Salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving c. Why For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods in his hand are the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is his also the sea is his and he made it and his hands formed the dry land If the Lord whom we serve is so great a God so great a King above all Gods above all Angels Princes and Potentates of the World and above all that is called God O then with what thankfulness and chearfulness of spirit should we come into his presence O come let us Worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Why for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands whom he makes to lye down in green Pastures and leadeth besides the still waters Psa 95.1 to 7. So in Psa 96.6 it is said Honour and Majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary Where is the beauty of Gods face seen and his power and strength displayed as in his Sanctuary to wit his Tabernacle his Temple the Congregations and Assemblies of his Saints God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence by all them that are about him and why why who in Heaven can be compared unto the Lord Who among the Sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord Psa 89.6 7. And therefore it is that the Lord hath spoken saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me Lev. 10.3 When a fire went out from the Lord and destroyed Nadab and Abihu the Sons of Aaron for offering strange fire before the Lord Lev. 10.1 2 3. To which I suppose that place in the Hebrews hath a special reference where the Saints being exhorted to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear urges this as a strong motive thereunto for our God saith he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. Thus you see how requisite it is to be acting Faith in the power and soveraignty of God when we draw nigh to him in the solemn duties of his Worship and service and what an encouragement it is to be fearing the Lord and serving of him in sincerity and truth with all our hearts considering what great things he hath done for us 1 Sam. 12.24 5. Act faith in the mighty power of God in times of suffering So the Apostle James speaking of the cruelties that were exercised against the Saints in those days how they had condemned and killed the just and they could not resist them He exhorts them to be patient to the coming of the Lord and why to the coming of the Lord Because when he comes he will come with power and great glory Mat. 24.30 When he comes hee 'l take to him his great power and reign Rev. 11.17 When he comes he will come with ten thousand of his Saints What to do To execute Judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed c. Jude vers 14 15. When he comes he will come with fire and with his chariots like a Whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire Isa 66.15 When he comes he will come with vengeance even God with a recompence he will come and save you Isa 35.4 And then the hand of the Lord the power of God shall be known towards his servants and his indignation towards his enemies Isa 66.14 So the Author to the Hebrews when he exhorts the Saints to a patient suffering and undergoing of the Cross of Christ what Argument does he use even this For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 The Apostle would have all the suffering Saints to be acting faith in a powerful Redeemer even in him who is mighty to save That will tread down the people in his anger and make them drunk in his fury and will bring down their strength to the earth Isa 63.6 So the Apostles when the Priests and Rulers of the people had laid hands on them and put them in hold for teaching the People and Preaching through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and had further threatned them for speaking any more in the name of Jesus and had let them go what Arguments in Prayer do they use Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said why did the Heathen rage and the people imagine vain things The Kings of the Earth stood up and the Rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ For of a truth against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done And now Lord behold their threatnings Act. 4. Though they had to deal with great and potent Adversaries yet they well knew that God was above them and that their rage and fury was not so much against them as against the Lord Jehovah himself and against his Christ whom he had anointed to be the chief Priest and Prophet and King of his Church who could easily break them with his rod of Iron and dash them in peices like a Potters Vessel They knew that the Lord whom they served was able to deliver them as Daniel out of the Lions mouths So it is said of Moses and laid down as a singular act of Faith in him that he forsook Egypt and feared not the wrath of the King for
further in Isa 49.25 26. A dreadful place to all cruel Oppressors of Gods people saith the Lord there I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and I will save thy Children And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine And Amos 2.6 Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof Why Because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes So Isa 52.4 5 6. Thus saith the Lord my people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause Now therefore what have I here saith the Lord that my people is taken away for nought they that rule over them make them to bowl saith the Lord and my name continually every day is blasphemed Therefore my people shall know my name therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak behold it is I. By which it is very evident that the Lord does not onely intimate unto us how sorely he plagued the Egyptians because they had grievously afflicted and oppressed his people which voluntarily and of their own accord went down into Egypt but also that he will much more grievously plague the Assyrians that carried them away out of their own Land the Land of Canaan which he had given them for an Inheritance and there dealt so cruelly and unmercifully with them So sorely displeasing is it unto the Lord when those that rule over his people shall make them to howl that is to cry bitterly to mourn and lament so ely as it is rendred Jer. 4.8 and Ezek. 21.12 To this agrees that in the 50th Chap. of Jeremiah and the 33 and 34. Verses Thus saith the Lord of Hosts The Children of Israel and the Children of Judah were oppressed together and all that took them Captives held them fast they refused to let them go Their Redeemer is strong the Lord of Hosts is his name he shall throughly plead their cause that he may give rest unto the Land and disquiet the Inhabitants of Babylon What we may understand by the Lords pleading of the cause of his people here and disquieting the inhabitants of Babylon that oppressed them that of Jerem. 51.35 36. doth evidently declare The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon shall the Inhabitants of Sion say and my blood upon the Inhabitants of Chaldea shall Jerusalem say Therefore thus saith the Lord behold I will plead thy cause and take vengeance for thee and I will dry up her Sea and make her Springs dry When the Lord shall plead the cause of Sion then will he take vengeance for her that is he will avenge himself of his and her cruel oppressing enemies According to that which the Lord of Hosts the mighty one of Israel speaks in Isa 1.24 Ah I will ease me of mine Adversaries and avenge me of mine Enemies This is the time when he will make his Arrows drunk with blood and his Sword to devour flesh And then what follows Rejoyce O ye Nations with his people for he will avenge the blood of his Servants and will render vengeance unto his Adversaries and will be merciful unto his Land and to his people As it is in Deut. 32.42 43. This is that time which is called by the Prophet Isaiah The day of the Lords vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversies of Sion Isa 34.8 called by Jeremiah the vengeance of the Lord our God the vengeance of his Temple Jer. 50.28 And take notice then how severe the Lord will be He tells us that his Sword shall be bathed in Heaven and it shall come down upon Idumea and upon the people of his curse to Judgement By Idumea we are to understand Edom or the Edomites who were the highest Kindred of the Israelites but notwithstanding they were their greatest enemies and oppressors And therefore said the Lord by the Prophet Obadiah Vers 10. For thy violence meaning the Edomites against thy Brother Jacob shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever And these are a Type and Figure of all the enemies of the Church of God who indeed do boast and brag that they are descended and born of the Church crying up the Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord setting up a Worship of their own devising and are in the practise of Sacraments and Ordinances as the true Church and Spouse of Christ yet indeed and in truth do hate persecute and oppress the true spiritual and sincere worshippers of Jesus Whereby it is very evident what dreadful plagues and punishments the sin of oppression doth bring upon a Land and Nation 2. The second Pestilential sin is the sin of Persecution and hatred against God and his people As God hath his Arrows of his deliverance for the preservation of his people against their enemies 2 King 13.17 So he hath the Arrows of his Indignation and wrath which Job being under a spirit of desertion and temptation apprehended were within him the poison whereof he said did drink up his spirit Job 6.4 So David in the like condition That the arrows of the Lord did stick fast in him and his hand pressed him sore Psal 38.2 And the Prophet Jeremy in his Lamentations He hath bent his bow saith he and set me as a mark for the Arrow He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins Lam. 3.12 13. I say whatever might be the apprehensions of these holy and righteous men yet surely the Lord has his arrows of his sore displeasure and wrath which as the instruments of death he hath prepared and ordained against the Persecutors Psal 7.13 And this of the destroying Pestilence is one of the sorest and sharpest of them as reckoned amongst his four sore judgements Ezek. 14.21 And as the wicked do bend their bow and make ready their arrows upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart Psal 11.2 So the Lord he has his bow and arrows and his Bow is bent also and his arrows he hath ready Psa 7.12 which he sends out and scatters his enemies with Psal 18.14 With these he breaks their bones and pierces them through Num. 24.8 yea makes them drunk with their blood Deut. 32.42 These are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies Psal 45.5 The Instruments and means that the Lord makes use of against his enemies are piercing yea so piercing that the heart the closest and strongest part even that wherein life consisteth shall be peirced thereby The arrows of the Lord are like the swords of Saul and Jonathan which did execution and returned not empty 2 Sam. 1.22 You think by flying away and hiding your selves in the thickets of the forrest you shall be secured from the stroke of these arrows of Gods vengeance but know if
you are Gods Enemies and persecutors his hand will find you out yea his right hand will finde out those that hate him and he will make you as a fiery oven in the time of his anger Psal 21.8 9. For wickedness burneth as fire and it shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forrest and they shall mount up as the lifting up of smoke for through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts the land shall be darkned and the people shall be as the fewel of the fire no man shall spare his brother Isa 9.18 19. I say if you be the Lords Adversaries then if the Scriptures be true and cannot be broken you shall assuredly be broken in peices yea out of heaven will the Lord thunder upon you 1 Sam. 2.10 And if that will not do he will throw you into the deeps as a stone into the mighty waters as he dealt with the persecutors of his people Neh. 9.12 I cannot let pass those dreadful imprecations which the Prophet David thundereth out against his and the Lords Adversaries under the person of Judas Set a wicked man over him saith he Let Satan stand at his right hand let him be condemned and his prayer become sin and his days few and his children fatherless and vagabonds begging their bread and such like prophetical direful wishes And why all this Because that he remembred not to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man that he might even slay the broken in heart Psa 109. to ver 17. so Psa 69. verse 22. and onward Let their table become a snare before them and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap Let their eyes be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Let their habitations be desolate and let none dwell in their tents Add iniquity to their iniquity and let them not come unto thy righteousness Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous Now what 's the reason that David devoteth his and the Lords enemies to such dreadful destructions why even for this cause For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded By all which he meaneth that the wicked laid grievous afflictions and punishments upon such whom the Lord in his fatherly love had chastised whether you understand it of Christ or of his afflicted and persecuted members This is a sin that is highly provoking unto the Lord drawing down the wrath of God to a Kingdoms inevitable desolation and destruction as upon Judah and Jerusalem 2 Chron. 36.15 16. where it is said That the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers or prophets rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets untill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy or no healing because on the one side the people repented not and on the other side Gods Justice required that their impenitency should be most severely punished It s a similitude taken from sick bodies that are incurable For as Stephen said truly whom they stoned which of the Prophets have not your fathers persecuted and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just one meaning Christ of whom saith he ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Acts 7.52 And therefore it was that our blessed Saviour took up that sad lamentation and complaint O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not And what follows Behold your house is left unto you desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Persecution is the certain fore-runner of a Nations desolation and destruction And God does usually retaliate the sin of persecuting and destroying men upon their own heads Let their way be dark and slippery and let the Angel of the Lord persecute them Psal 35.6 As the fire burneth the wood and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire so persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm Fill their faces with shame that they may seek thy name O Lord let them be confounded and troubled for ever yea let them be put to shame and perish That men may know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah art the most high over all the earth Psal 83.15 16 17 18. And who are they whom the Psalmist imprecates these dreadful judgments to fall upon but Gods Enemies and Persecutors For lo thine enemies make a tumult and they that hate thee have lift up the head they have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones They have said Come let us cut them off from being a Nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance God has his hidden ones such whose life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 whom the Lord esteems as his jewels keeping them in faithful and safe custody hiding them in the secret of his presence from the pride of man which betake themselves to the Lord for refuge to be hid and secure under his tuition and protection Psal 27.5 and 31.20 And these are they that the enemies of God did consult and conspire against even to extirpate them and to root them out of the land But see how just the Lord is in the exeution of his righteous and terrible judgements upon such Thou shalt take up this proverb saith the Lord against the King of Babylon and say How hath the Oppressor ceased the golden City ceased the Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the Scepter of the Rulers He that smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke mark that he that ruled the Nations in anger is persecuted and none hindereth Isa 14.4 5 6. O that this were seriously laid to heart by the persecuting spirits of this generation whether Gods controversie with the Kingdom at this time in this sore visitation of the Plague among us doth not in a great measure spring from this evil and bitter root so heinous and provoking sin it is unto the Lord. 3. The third pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Murder and Blood-shed that is exercised upon the people of God See Jer. 50.11 12 13. the dreadful threatnings of the Lord against Babylon for this very sin Because ye were glad saith the Lord because ye rejoyced O ye destroyers of mine heritage because ye aro grown fat as the heifer at grass and bellow as bulls Mark they were the destroyers of Gods heritage that was their sin and now what must be their punishment
sold for money According to what the Prophet Isaiah complained in his time Isa 1.23 Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of Thieves every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards they Judge not the Fatherless neither doth the cause of the Widow come unto them Or as he proceeds further in Ezek. 22.26 27. Her Priests have violated my law and have prophaned my holy things they have put no difference between the holy and prophane nor between the unclean and the clean Her Princes in the midst thereof are like roaring wolves ravening the prey to shed blood and to destroy souls and to get dishonest gain And yet says the Prophet Micah They did lean upon the Lord. How lean upon the Lord not with a holy trust and confidence which is ever accompanied with godliness but in hypocrisie out of an impudent arrogancy and a vain bold and carnal presumption as if God was engaged to protect them let them live and do what they pleased Like those that the Prophet Isay speaks of That swore by the name of the Lord and made mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousness And yet they called themselves of the holy City and staied themselves upon the God of Israel Isa 48.1 2. Or like unto them in the Prophet Jeremies time that cried The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord and yet in the mean time they oppressed the stranger the fatherless and the widow and shed innocent blood and did steal and murder and commit adultery and swore falsely Jer. 7.4 6 9. But how intollerable this was with God the sequel makes it evident Therefore shall Sion for your sakes be ploughed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps that is shall be utterly destroyed and laid waste So little care and regard had God of Sion and Jerusalem and of his holy Temple it self being thus polluted and defiled And therefore saith the Lord in Ezekiel 3 2. ult have I poured out mine indignation upon them I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads saith the Lord. So again for this doth the Lord threaten That their houses shall be turned unto others with their fields and wives together And he will stretch out his hand upon the inhabitants of the land For saith he from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to Covetousness and from the Prophet even unto the Priest every one dealeth falsly Jer. 6.12 13. Which avaricious or covetous disposition was so predominant in them in the Prophet Isaiah's time Isa 56.10 11. That he termed the Watchmen then which were the Priest and Rulers of the people as Jer. 8.10 and Eze◠〈…〉 not only blind and ignorant and dumb doâ—â— that could not bark c. but greedy dogs also th t could never have enough Like dogs strong in desire in lust in appetite greedy and unsatiable that could not be satisfied with money or large revenues And what follows in the next chapter v. 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth said the Lord and smote him and whether this might not be a smiting with the pestilence Deut. 28.22 27. comp with Ezek. 33.27 and 31. verses I shall leave it to the wise to judge How did he smite Gehazi with the Plague of Leprosie for this thing 2 King 5.27 so highly provoking a sin is this sin of Covetousness unto the Lord. And oh that this were wisely considered and applied by the men of this Generation yea by the carnal and earthly minded Professions of our times For sure it is That the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6.10 6. The sixth Pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Cursing and Swearing and False-swearing This was the sin of Shemei that cursed David mentioned in the 2 Sam. 16.5 And see how the Lord did return his wickedness upon his own head being slain by the Command of King Solomon 1 King 2.44 46. This the Psalmist lays down as the certain Character of a wicked man that his mouth is full of Cursing and deceite And what imprecations does he use in his Prayer against him Break thou the Armes of the wicked and the evil man Seek out his wickedness till thou find none Psal 10.7 15. Rom. 3â— 14. So in the 109. Psal Let Satan stand at his righthand and when he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his prayer become sin let his days be few his Children Fatherless his Wife a Widow his Children Vagabonds and beg their bread Let their be none to extend mercy unto him let his Posterity be cut off and in the generation following let their name be blotted out let the iniquity of his Fathers be remembred with the Lord and let not the sin of his Mother be blotted out and let the Lord cut off the memory of them from the earth And mark what follows As he loved cursing so let it come unto him as he delighted not in blessing so let it be far from him As he cloathed himself with cursing like as with a Garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyle into his bones Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually It is true the Apostle Peter doth apply something of this to Judas who betrayed our Lord Christ Act. 1.20 But it cannot exclude all other the cursed enemies of Christ who love cursing and cloath themselves with it as with a garment So Jer. 23.9 10. Mine heart within me saith he is broken because of the Prophete all my bones shake c. because of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness For the Land is full of Adulterers for because of Swearing the Land mourneth To this agreeth that of the Prophet Hosea Chapter 4.1 2 3. verses Where it is said That the Lord hath a Controversie with the Inhabitants of the Land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the Land By swearing and lying c. they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the Land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish The dreadfulness of this sin is further set forth by Zacharies flying roll Zach. 5.3 4. This is the Curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth for every one that stealeth shall be cut off and every one that sweareth shall be cut off c. I will bring it forth saith the Lord of Hosts and it shall enter into the house of the Theif and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof And in the 3. of Malachy and the 5. I will
come near to you to Judgement and I will be a swift witness against the Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against False-swearers O that these things were seriously laid to heart by the prophane Cursers and Swearers and False-swearers and the Damme-creatures of our times O that they would consider how their cursed hellish hideous new-invented unheard of Diabolical oaths do now make the Land mourn and those that dwell therein to languish and how near the Lord is come unto them in the terribleness of his judgment Is it not very evident that the Lord for these things hath a controversie with the Inhabitants of the Land 7. The seventh Pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Adultery Fornication and such like corporal uncleanness See this in that 25. of Num. 1 6 7 8. verses When Israel abode in Shittim it is said the people began to commit Whoredome with the daughters of Moab And Zimri and Cosbi being taken in the very act of uncleanness Phinehas the Son of Eleazar the Son of Aaron the Priest when he saw it he rose up from amongst the Congregation and took a Javelin in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the Tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly So the Plague was stayed thereupon from the Children of Israel yet those that died in the Plague as was mentioned before was no less then Twenty and four Thousand So in the 12. of Gen. 14 15 17. When Abraham came into Egypt with Sarai his wife a fair woman to look upon and she was no sooner beheld by the Egyptians and the Princes of Pharaoh but they commended her before Pharaoh and saith the Text the woman was taken into Pharaohs house that is she was taken away from Abraham into the Royal Seraglio or Palace to be fitted and prepared there according to the Custome of those Countries that the King might take her to Wife as Hest 2.9 In the mean time God provided for Abrahams entertainment and his Wives chastity together for Pharaoh entreated Abram well for her sake And in the 17. verse is is said The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his House with great Plagues because of Sarai Abrams wife What kind of plagues those were is uncertain but doubtless they served as well to hinder and obstruct the abusing of Sarai's body as to punish the King and his Domesticks and Courtiers trespass This great deliverance David celebrateth in Psal 105.14 When they went from one Nation to another from one Kingdom to another People He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed and do my Prophets no harm But this is observable that if the Lord was so severe to punish this filthy sin of Adultery or Uncleanness when it was but designedly or intentionally committed and Pharaoh knew not that Sarai was Abrams wife with what severity may we think will he proceed against such who deliberately knowingly delightfully and impudently live in the perpetration and commission of it and when did this sin of Whoredom Adultery and Fornication ever walk upon down so brazen-faced with such an imperious worish forehead as in the men and women of our generation so unsatiable they are in their filthiness and uncleanness Upon which account may not the Lord say to this City of London yea to the Land and Nation in general as he did to Jerusalem in the Prophet Jeremy's time How shall I pardon thee for this thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods When I had fed them to the full they then committed Adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots houses They were as fed horses in the morning every one neighed after his neighbours wife Through lustfulness like wanton horses And mark what follows Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord and shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Go ye up upon her walls and destroy but make not a full end take away her battlements for they are not the Lords c. Jer. 5.7 8 9 10. And may we not think the Lord may justly have a controversie with the inhabitants of this Land as he had with the children of Israel in the Prophet Hosea's time And wherefore Because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land But by swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing Adultery they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish c. Hos 4.1 2 3. So that good Prophet Jeremy Mine heart saith he within me is broken because of the Prophets all my bones shake I am like a drunken man and like a man whom wine hath overcome because of the Lord and because of the words of his holiness For the Land is full of Adulteries Jer. 23.9 10. And in Jer. 13.27 I have seen thine Adulteries and thy neighings the lewdness of thy Whoredoms c. What then Wo unto thee O Jerusalem This though it may have reference to their sin of Idolatry as before which may be called spiritual Adultery yet it cannot exclude that which is corporeal which God will severely punish For Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge as such who shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God Heb. 13.4 and Eph. 5.5 Thus we see how highly provoking this sin of uncleaness is for the bringing down of National judgements even this of the Pestilence among a people 8. The Eighth Sin that provokes the Lord to send the Pestilence among a people is the sin of Infidelity distrust and murmuring against God notwithstanding the great and marvellous works which the Lord hath wrought for the salvation and deliverance of his people See to this purpose the 13 and 14. chapters of Numbers There were certain men the heads of the children of Israel who by the commandment of the Lord was sent to search and spie out the land of Canaan and being returned they made a rehearsal thereof to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation and brought an evil report upon the land which they had searched saying The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature And there we saw the giants the sons of Anak which come of the giants and we were in our own sight as Grashoppers and so were we in their sight This evil report caused all the congregation to lift up their voyce and cry and to murmure against Moses and Aaron saying Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey were it not better
of Egypt And mark what follows Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion Which caused the Lord to take up that bitter complaint Jer. 2.12 13. Be astonished O ye heavens at this and be horribly afraid Why what 's the matter My peo have committed two evils They have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Water and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that can hold no water All other things to relye upon besides God will prove but as broken Cisterns Therefore said David at another time when his faith and confidence was strong in God I will not trust in my bow neither shall my sword save me Through thee will we push down our enemies through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us Psal 44.5 6. Yea we have the Lord himself declaring that the salvation of his people must proceed from himself and not from any secondary causes Hos 1.7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow nor by sword nor by battel by horses nor by horsemen Take we heed then of any presumptuous relying on our own strength or of strengthening our selves in the strength of any creatures whether Armies or Parliaments or Navies or any sinful confederacies or Associations of men whatsoever Isa 8.9 Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme and whose heart departeth from the Lord Jer. 17.5 But let us say with the Church Hos 12.3 Ashur shall not save us we will not ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands ye are our Gods As if they had said We will not put our trust any more in men we will confide no more in any humane means nor send abroad for help and confederacies all besides thee being vanity and the relying on it apparent ruine Therefore we will trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength For he bringeth down them that dwell on high the lofty City he layeth it low he layeth it low even to the ground he bringeth it even to the dust The foot shall tread it down even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy Isa 26.4 5 6. So dangerous and destructive a thing it is to have a heart lifted up putting confidence in an arme of flesh and not relying on the Lord our God For it is he that sheweth strength with his arme and that scattereth the proud in the imagination of their hearts Luk. 1.51 11. The eleventh provoking Pestilential destroying Sin is the sin of Apostacy Back-sliding and Revolting from God Jer 2.18 19. And now what hast thou to do saith the Lord in the way of Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the river Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy back-sliding shall reprove thee Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my fear is not in thee saith the Lord of Hosts So in the 36. verse Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt And now behold how the Lord for this did threaten that his judgement even this of the Pestilence should overtake them Jer. 42.13 14 15 16 17. We will not dwell in this land say they nor obey the voice of the Lord your God No but we will go into the land of Egypt where we shall see no war nor hear the sound of the trumpet nor have hunger of bread and there will we dwell And now therefore hear the Word of the Lord ye remnant of Judah thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt and go to sojourn there What then Then it shall come to pass that the Sword which ye feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt and the Famine whereof you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt and there ye shall dye so shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there they shall dye by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them And says further that as his anger and fury had been poured forth upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem so should his fury be poured forth upon them when they should enter into Egypt and they shall be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach and should see the place meaning the land of Judea no more So in the 19. verse O ye remnant of Judah go ye not into Egypt and now I have this day declared it unto you but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God c. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall dye by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn So in the 44. Chap. of Jer. 13. ver For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence To which I shall add that in the 14. of Jer. 10. and 12. vers Thus saith the Lord unto the people Thus have they loved to wander they have not refrained their feet therefore the Lord doth not accept them he will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins Then said the Lord unto me Pray not for this people for their good When they fast I will not hear their cry and when they offer burnt-offering and an oblation I will not accept them but I will consume them by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence So dreadful and dangerous a thing it is for a people brought out of Egyptian bondage and darkness to long after the Flesh-pots the Leeks and the Onions and the Garlick of Egypt again For if any man draw back saith the Lord my soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 And as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity but peace shall be upon Israel Psal 125.5 O that this were well considered by all such who have Apostatized and Revolted from the Lord and his ways in this sinful and back-sliding generation Who as the Prophet Hosea says Are profound to make slaughter though the Lord is a Rebuker of them all Hos 5.2 Who once did appear to be forward Assertors of the Cause of righteousness and truth but now say a Confederacy with all such as say a Confederacy Isa 8.12 Who once did seem to escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
and frame of spirit was David in when he could not perform the fervent desire he had to serve God among the faithful How bitterly does he bemoan his being deprived of the comfort of the publick worship of God during his exile and the blasphemies of his enemies which caused his spirit even to be overwhelmed As the Hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Meaning in the House of the Lord the Tabernacle where the solemn worship of God was celebrated and the Ark of the Covenant was where God dwelled 2 Sam. 6.2 or where the Lord gave visible signs of his presence And mark what follows My tears saith he have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto me Where is thy God His tears were as his bread he fed and fillid himself with tears as if they were his onely food and sustenance according to that in the 80. Psal 5. Thou feedest them with the bread of tears and givest them tears to drink in great measure Meaning his own people oftentimes who are at his very foot praying and supplicating at the throne of grace And such a frame of spirit shall be found also in them as shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward They shall be going and weeping and in this spirit of mourning they shall go and seek the Lord their God All which doth evidently shews forth what will be the temper and spirit of all right-repenting souls and what a frame of spirit the Lord expects his people to be found in when his hand is lifted up even in this time when he sends the destroying Pestilence among us Now consider in what frame of spirit art thou before the Lord this day Hast thou found thy heart broken as it were into shivers for thy sins Has the sight of thy sins made thee to sigh for thy sins and to mourn kindly before the Lord for thine iniquities Hast thou ever shed a tear before the Lord for thy secret sins or thy more open and notorious abominations Surely if in such a day as this when the Arrows of the Lords Indignation are flying abroad if thou shalt be found in a Carnal Light Frothly Frolick Voluptuous Vain-spirit a lover of thy pleasures more then a lover of God putting far away from thee the evil day and causing the seat of violence to come near like those the Prophet Amos complains of Who were at ease in Sion and trusted in the Mountain of Samaria That lay upon Beds of Ivory and stretcht themselves upon their Couches and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall That did chaunt to the sound of the viol and invent to themselves instruments of Musick like David That drank wine in bowls and anointed themselves with the chief oyntment but were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph I say if in such a day as this under such a severe and sore visitation as this thou shalt be found in such a spirit and temper as this sad and deplorable will thy condition be For mark what the Lord threatned those carnal fleshly sensual rejoycing ones Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed Amos 6.1 to the 8. vers So dangerous and highly provoking a sin when the present dispensations of God together with thine own personal evils do call for a mournful frame of spirit that then thou shouldst be found in a spirit of carnal merriment and rejoycing As the Lord complained by the Prophet Isa Chap. 22.12 In that day did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping and mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth and behold joy and gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating flesh and drinking wine Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye This they spake in a scoffing manner as if they had said our Prophet tells us that we shall soon be destroyed and slain or carried into captivity let us then be jovial and merry as long as we may But mark how hainously did the Lord take it at their hands And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of Hosts Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye dye saith the Lord of Hosts Meaning that it should never be forgiven unto them unless they did cease from sinning For so the word till or untill in Scripture phrase does usually hold forth Gen. 28.15 2 Sam. 6.23 Matth. 1.25 I shall add hereunto that in the Prophet Joel Chap. 2d where the Prophet setting forth the terribleness of Gods approaching Judgements in the 12th vers he exhorteth them to this repenting and relenting frame of spirit as the only means to pacifie the Lords wrath and indignation from breaking out against them or for the removal of it Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gratious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth him of the evil So in the 15. vers Blow the Trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemn assembly gather the people sanctifie the Congregation c. 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 thy heritage to reproach And mark what follows Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people This was that spirit also that was found in the people of Nineveh when destruction was threatned upon Jonahs preaching Jonah 3.5 6 7 8. It is said they believed God and proclaimed a Fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least yea the King himself arose from his throne and laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes and caused it to be proclaimed that man and beast should be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God and turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that was in their hands and saith he who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not See what signal demonstrations were there here of the inward sorrow and compunction of their hearts O how will this Example of Nineveh repenting and sorrowing for their sins rise up in judgement against the men of this generation Luk. 11 32. Where is the covering of sackcloth to be seen Any outward demonstrations of a relenting spirit to be discerned Where
that like as great fishes are pull'd and drawn up out of the Sea with hooks so he would cause them to be pulled out of their Land by the enemy how loath and unwilling soever they were to quit it To prevent which the Lord exhorts them that they would prepare to meet him with true conversion as a special means to appease his wrath and prevent their ruine When Ephrahim was turned and had repented how was the heart of the Lord taken with it Jer. 31 18 19 20. Hos 11.8 9. O then what shall I say what arguments shall I make use of to excite thee O England to a speedy return unto the Lord surely thou hast had many gracious invitations in the day of thy prosperity and peace but thou wouldst not hearken thereunto Many premonitions and forewarnings of this day that is now come upon thee by the mouthes of the Lords faithful Messengers and Servants And upon this account may it not be said of thee as is recorded and declared concerning the Lords merciful dealings with his own people and City of Jerusalem where he had placed his name and worship notwithstanding their great and manifold provocations Yet the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But now how did they requite the Lord for all his kindness and long sufferance towards them they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy 2 Chron. 36.15 16. no healing no help their sores were so putrified and festred that they grew incurable As the Lord by his Prophet Isaiah complained chap. 1. verse 4 6. The whole head became sick and the whole heart faint From the sole of the foot even unto the head from the lowest to the highest from the Beggar upon the dunghil to the King upon the throne there was no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores which could not be bound up nor mollified with ointment The whole body of the State and Nation was so universally corrupted and depraved that the Lord calls them A sinful Nation a people laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that were corrupters and such as had forsaken the Lord and provoked the holy one of Israel unto anger and had gone backward And tells them further that the was even weary with smiting and punishing of them Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more Yet see for all their great and greivous provoking sins and that general depravation and corruption that was among all sorts from the highest to the lowest of them as the 21 22 and 23 verses of that Chapter do clearly demonstrate the truth of it How does the Lord notwithstanding invite them again to repentance by gracious promises of pardon and the bestowing of all good things upon them Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgement releive the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow intimating wherein they should manifest the sincerity of their repentance and returning unto the Lord And then mark what follows Come now let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be like crimson they shall be as wool If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land But if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the sword O the great indulgence and forbearance of the Lord towards this so generally depraved corrupted and unreformed a people Which is further notably set forth in that of the third of Zephany Wo to her that is filthy and polluted to the oppressing City she obeyed not the voyce she received not correction she trusted not in the Lord She drew not near to her God Her Princes within are roaring lions her Judges are evening wolves they gnaw not the bones till the morrow Her Prophets are light and treacherous persons Her Priests have polluted the sanctuary they have done violence to the law And what follows I have cut off the Nations their towers are desolate I made their streets waste that none passeth by their Cities are destroyed so that there is no man that there is no inhabitant I said Surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive instruction thou wilt now be warned by my judgements upon the Nations round about thee so their dwelling should not be cut off howsoever I punished them but they rose early and corrupted all their doings The filthy leprosie and contagion of sin had so overspread and infested the whole Nation whereby she became now ripe for destruction And therefore did the Lord wound her with the wound of an enemy with the chastisement of a cruel one for the multitude of her iniquity because her sins were increased Jer. 30.14 And now the wrath of the Lord breaks out and it could not he appeased For he brought upon them the King of the Chaldees who slew their youngmen with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion upon young man or maiden old man or him that stooped for age he gave them all into his hand 2 Chron. 36.16 17. They would not take example by the judgements of God which he executed upon the heathen round about them and now God will make them the examples of his fierce indignation and wrath Patientia loesa fit furor His abused and worn out patience is now turned into implacable anger His Spirit will not always strive Gen. 6.3 Jerusalem had her day Luk. 19.42 God would have gathered her but she would not and now her house is left unto her desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Wilt thou then O England take a view of thy sins and see whether they do not equal if not overpass the sins of that Nation Are not thy sins grown epidemical and spread through the whole body may it not be said of thee as of that Nation that the whole Head is sick and the whole Heart faint Can the Throne plead an exemption from this universal contagion Can the Prince or Peasant the Nobility or Gentry the Laick or Ecclesiastick Have not all sorts and degrees of men and women deeply corrupted themselves and turned aside from following the Lord When did sin and transgression more abound then in this our age and generation when did it walk up and down with a more impudent and brasen face when did you ever see Pride to be prouder Oppression more oppressive Adultery more adulterous Luxury more luxurious Cruelty more cruel Unrighteousness more unrighteous and all manner of disobedience to God and his commands more disobedient When was Drunkeness and Prodigality Swearing Cursing and Blaspheming Ranting and Roaring Atheism and Epicurism more abounding When
were not carnal but mighty through God 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons which they used by the Gospel of Christ to convert men and to bring them under the Kingdome and obedience of Christ were not carnal that is such as natural and worldly men are wont to make use of either by eloquence or deceit or by force to bring others in subjection under them but mighty or powerful through God in moving and convincing of the hearts of men by his Spirit Act. 16.14 Surely if these things were seriously laid to heart we must needs acknowledge that the sins of professing people as well as others have been highly provoking unto the Lord as to the drawing down of this sore visitation of the Plague among us And this may put us to silence that we murmur not and will justifie the righteousness of God in the way of his severity as he now comes forth against many of his own people For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3.23 And what says the Lord by the Prophet Amos. All the sinners of my people shall dye by the sword which say The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us Amos 9.10 So the Lord by the Prophet Jeremy complains For among my people are found wicked men they lay waite as he that setteth snares they set a trap they catch men As a Cage is full of birds so are their houses full of deceit therefore they are become great and waxen rich They are waxen fat they shine they overpass the deeds of the wicked they judge not the cause the cause of the fatherless yet they prosper and the right of the needy do they not judge And mark what follows Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Jer. 25.26 27 28 29. And who gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient unto his law And consider well what follows Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Jsa 42.24 25. So Jeremy the 12.7 I have forsaken mine house I have left mine heritage I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies And what may we gather from all this Surely thus much That no near relations as to God or any external priviledges can yeild a protection from a sin-deserved correction Remember Lots wife Luk. 17.32 Vengeance closely waits on disobedience Punishment doth dog impiety For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep saith Paul to the Church of Corinths speaking of eating and drinking unworthily at the Lords Table 1 Cor. 11.29 30. God is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity with any approbation or tolleration as to his own peculiar people If his children forsake my law speaking of David and his seed as a Type of Christ and the true spiritual seed and walk not in my judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments What then says the Lord Then will I visit their transgression with a rod and their iniquity with stripes Psal 89.30 The Lord hath laid righteousness to the rule and waighed his justice in a ballance and his judgments are right and in faithfulness he doth afflict Psal 119.75 His sentence is past forth and stands irrevocable Tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doth evil Rom. 2.9 If we sin we shall suffer How Aut a Deo vindicante aut ab ipso homine penitente as one says excellent well Either from God revenging or themselves repenting For he that repenteth himself of his sins doth punish himself for his sins And now O England if thou repent not let me say unto thee as the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 10.2 to the men of that generation What wilt thou do now in the day of thy visitation and in the desolation that shall come from far To whom wilt thou flee for help and where will ye leave your glory O then bethink thy self yet before it be too late before the wrath of the Lord break out so that their will be no remedy O gather thy self together O Nation not desirous before the Decree bring forth before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon thee before the whole Land be devoured by the fire of his jealousie before he make a speedy riddance of all that dwell in the land As the Lord by the Prophet Zephaniah exhorts Chap. 1.18 Chap. 2.1 2. O then return unto the Lord thy God for hou hast fallen by thine iniquity Take unto you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Hosea 14.1 Suitable to which is the Churches exhortation Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up Hosea 6.1 This is the way the Lord himself propounds for the removal of his sweeping devouring Judgments Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him Joel 2.12 13. Let the King lay his robe from him and cover him with sackcloth and sit in ashes let man and beast be covered with sackcloath let there be some demonstrative tokens of a more then ordinary sorrow and humiliation for each and every ones so highly provoking sins Let all cry mightily to God yea let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not This will move Gods repentings towards us this will divert his wrath Jonah 3. and the latter end Jer. 31.20 And that you may not question the truth and certainty of it in the least will you consider that the Lord stands engaged by his unalterable word and promise to make it good If I shut up heaven saith he that there be no rain c. Or if I send Pestilence among my people if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways What then will he do Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land 2 Chron. 7.13 14. Wherefore let that counsel be acceptable to all which Daniel gave to King Nabuchadnezzar O King break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility Dan. 4.27 As if he had said If thou wilt follow the
hunted troubled ond afflicted soul The life of Faith in reference to thy Salvation Sanctification and Preservation As to thy Salvation Let the truly-humbled soul grieved and graoning under the heavy weight and burden of sin throw itself into the meritorious and merciful arms of Jesus Christ wounded broken and bleeding upon the Cross and there let it hold and hide it self for ever in full assurance of eternal life by vertue of that promise Joh. 3.36 He that beleiveth on the Son hath everlasting life 2. As to thy Sanctification If thou keep thy Faith the fountain root and heart as it were from which all thine other Graces spring in life and vigour thou wilt pray more comfortably be more couragiously patient hear the Word more faithfully receive Christs Ordinance of Breaking bread more joyfully spend the Lords day more delightfully confer more chearfully meditate more heavenly and walk in all the ways of new obedience with more strength and conquest over corruptions For ordinarily every one shall find the exercise of other graces to be comfortable or cold according to the liveliness or languishing of his faith 3. As to thy Preservation both temporal and spiritual in crosses afflictions and all Gods outward angry visitation let thy Faith be exercised in the power of such Promises as the Psa 89.33 and 50.15 Heb. 12.6 7 8 11. 1 Thes 3.3 1 Tim. 2.11 Act. 14.22 Luk. 9.23 Isa 63.9 Secondly Act Faith in the power ability all-sufficiency and omnipotency of God Power can do much but omnipotency can do all and is above all He is able to do whatsoever he pleaseth Psa 115.3 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered Job 9.4 The Angels which excel in strength are at his command Psa 104.4 and subject unto Christ 1 Pet. 3.22 The Devils apprehending the power of God do tremble Jam. 2.19 All the power that men and devils have it is given them from above Joh. 19.11 And for other creatures he saith to the deep be dry Isa 44.27 He commands the earth and it opens her mouth Num. 16.30 31. The consideration of whose mighty power made the Psalmist thus to break forth O Lord God of Hosts who is a strong Lord like unto thee or to thy faithfulness round about thee Thou rulest the raging of the Sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them thou hast broken Rahab in peices as one that is slain thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm Thou hast a mighty arm strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand Psa 89.8 9 10 13. At his wrath the earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation Jer. 10.10 Beware then how we call into question the power and all-sufficiency of God How we speak against God This was the sin of the Israelites and it was highly provoking unto the Lord. It s said they spake against God and said Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed can he give bread also can he provide flesh for his people therefore the Lord heard this and was wrath Psa 88.19 20 21. Moses also he falls expostulating the case with God The people amongst whom I am saith he are six hundred thousand footmen and thou hast said I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole moneth Shall the Flocks and the Heards be slain for them to suffice them or shall all the Fish of the Sea be gathered together for them to suffice them And what Argument does the Lord use to convince Moses of his carnal if not incredulous reasonings But this Is the Lords hand waxed short thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not Numb 11.21 22 23. And the Lord rained flesh upon them as dust and feathered Fowles like as the sand of the Sea though it was given as a great judgement unto them Psa 88.27 The same Argument does the Lord make use of when he falls a reasoning with his people the Jews upon the account of their dereliction or rejection and that they might yet have sound ground of hope still of their restauration though they had sold themselves for their iniquities and could not produce any Bill of Divorcement of the Lords putting of them away in Isa 50.2 Is my hand shortned at all that it cannot redeem or have I no power to deliver Behold at my rebuke I dry up the Sea I make the Rivers a Wilderness their Fish stincketh because there is no water and dieth for thirst I cloath the Heavens with blackness and I make sack-cloth their covering So Isa 59.1 Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear Which may be an excellent support to our faith Let thy Faith then be exercised in the mighty power of God in these following particular cases and seasons 1. In times of great difficulties and streights 2. In times of sore sicknesses 3. In times of great sinning 4. In times of Worshipping and Serving the Lord. 5. In times of great suffering for the Lord. 1. In times of great difficulties and streights Know that the same Almighty power who could smite the Rock and cause the waters to gush out and the streams to overflow can furnish a table in the Wilderness can give bread and provide flesh for his people Take heed now of such irrational absurd and preposterous reasonings The Lord smote the Rock and gave water in abundance but can he now furnish a table in the Wilderness I remember the time when I was in great streights for bodily and soul refreshments and the Lord smote the Rock in a strange miraculous and unexpected way and the Waters gushed out and the streams over-flowed I had comfortable supplies for soul and body and that in a plentiful manner But can he now help me in my streights and supply my necessities now all conduit pipes are cut off and all visible means of supplies and supports are taken away Taxes are multiplied and increased our Trade is gone the Gentry gone and such as gave life and being thereunto have laid aside and betook themselves to a retired life many gone beyond the Seas because they could not follow their callings and be suffered to enjoy the freedom of their consciences too God hath smitten some of my dear friends or relations who were instruments in his hand of my comfortable sustentation and supportation and now my Wife and Children begin to stare me in the face to sob and sigh and I have not wherewith to releive them The sight and thoughts of these things do even break my heart and wound my very bowels within me what shall I do what course shall I take for a livelihood Methinks I hear such doleful complaints among thousands destressed Families in the City at this time Is it not a time and
Ezod 18.8 11. This was the Argument that good King Jehosophat used in prayer with the Lord when a great multitude of enemies came against him O Lord God of our fathers art not thou God in heaven and rulest not thou over all the Kingdomes of the Heathen and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee Art not thou our God who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy freind for ever O our God wilt not thou judge them for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee And the Lord did thereupon shew forth his mighty power and that this great multitude was not able to withstand him For he set ambushments against the Children of Ammon Moab and Mount Seir that came against Judah and they were smitten and every one afterwards helped to destroy another 2 Chron. 20. O then be acting faith in this great and powerful Jehovah that he would make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the Nations that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God Isa 52.10 Fear and tremble before him whose mighty power hath limited and bounded the proud and imperious waves of the Sea that hitherto shall they come and no further and here shall its proud waves be stayed Jeremiah 5.22 comp with Job 37.11 Fear him that can cast both body and soul into hell Matth. 10.28 It is he that makes the pillars of heaven to tremble and to be astonished at his reproof Job 26.11 And learn to depend on this Almighty being for preservation in all streights and exigents whatsoever who can preserve without means as Elijah forty days and forty nights 1 King 19.8 by strange and miraculous means even by the help of Ravens that fed him 1 King 17.4 by the ministery of Angels vers the 5. and the 6. of that 1 King 19. Chap. By small means as the widows meal in the barrel and her little oyle in her cruse 2 King 17.14 Against means as Daniel in the Lions den Dan. 6.22 By ordinary means wherein his powerful blessing is to be desired else we may eat and not be satisfied Hag. 1.6 And let us praise him withal our strength for his almighty power Rev. 4.11 Worthy art thou O Lord to receive glory and honour and power Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory 1 Chron. 29.11 And let us be speaking of his power to make known to the Sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and whose dominion endureth throughout all generations And for the adversaries of the Lord let them know that they shall be broken to peices and that out of heaven God shall thunder upon them 1 Sam. 2.10 And that his power and his wrath is against all them that do evil Ezra 8.22 And let it be matter of consolation and encouragement in our prayers that we call on that God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think Eph. 3.20 In our perseverance That the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth who fainteth not neither is weary will renew our strength that we shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint Isa 40.31 Because he upholds us in our integrity Psal 41.12 The Garrison that keeps us is the power of God 1 Pet. 1.5 And none can take us out of his hand because he is greater then all Joh. 10.29 In times of Temptation For our strength is in the Lord and in the power of his might Eph. 6.10 't is he that strengthens us in the inward man And when God shall help us with a little help Dan. 11.34 then our strongest temptations shall not prevail but we shall be more then conquerors through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 In times of Affliction Know that he that is Almighty orders them for the kind whether on our souls or bodies names or estates Amos 3.6 For the measure whether great or small Jer. 30.11 The time sometimes but an evening heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the mourning Psal 30.6 Sometimes ten days The Devil shall cast some of you into prison and ye shall have tribulation ten days Rev. 2.10 Sometimes our sorrows shall be for years Psal 90.15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil He orders the Deliverance there is an appointed time for that also Josephs feet must be hurt with fetters and lye in irons until the time that the word of the Lord came and tried him and then the King sends and looseth him and makes him Lord of his house and Ruler of all his substance Psal 105.19 20 21. There is a time when the Prisoners shall be loosed out of their pit and turn to their strong hold even the Prisoners of hope Zach. 9.10 11. Lastly what great consolation doth this minister in respect of death our bodies shall not always rot and consume we must awake and sing though we dwell in the dust Isa 26.19 And our vile bodies shall be chaanged and fashioned like unto his glorious body even by the mighty and absolute power of Christ according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.21 All created powers being derived from him and subordinate unto him 1 Chron. 29.12 and 2 Chron. 14.11 2. Act faith in the mighty power of God and that in times of sickness and of this sore visitation of the Lord. Know that this is the Lords prerogative royal to kill and to make alive to bring down to the grave and to bring up again 1 Sam. 2.6 This the Lord challengeth as his own sovereign peculiar right I even I am he and there is no God with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand Deut. 32.39 In Psal 90.1 2 3 Saith the Church there Lord thou hast bin our dwelling place in all generations Before the mountains were brought forth c. even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God And what follows Thou turnest man to destruction and sayst Return ye children of men The consideration of this mighty power and the Churches acting faith in the same did put her upon pious thoughts of returning unto the Lord Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up And what follows After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight Hos 6.1 2. Consider then in the first place whoever thou art that art thus under the chastising hand of
God that affliction commeth not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks flye upward Job 5.6 7. But if sores and sickness comes not forth of the dust from whence come they then Surely from the powerful immediate overruling hand of God So said Eliphaz Job 17. Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole So Job himself acknowledged ch 19.21 Have pity upon me have pity upon me O my friends for the hand of God hath touched me So David Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore Psal 38.2 And consider that as a sparrow falls not to the ground without Gods providence so the Plagve and Pestilence and all other Sicknesses and diseases are guided by his own immediate hand and he onely doth smite when and whom he pleaseth and know that the same Powerful hand that took away thy health can in a moment take away thy breath and then thou diest aad returnest unto thy dust Psal 104.29 This should make thee lye down patiently at the foot of God and with all willing and chearful resignation of spirit with good old Ely say It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 And with Job Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil Job 2.10 But whatever affliction he layeth upon thy loins or what strokes soever upon any of thy dearest relations see that thou murmur not nor charge the Lord foolishly or unjustly say not with the King of Israel Behold this evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer 2 King 6. ult 2ly Let the sence of the mighty hand of God which is upon thee humble thee deeply So says Peter Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time 1 Pet. 5.6 This will evidence it self inwardly in a sight and sence of thine own great unworthiness in an abhorring thy self in dust and ashes and loathing thy self for all thy abominations in a tender sense of temptations either in thy self or others in a hatred of Hypocrisie a willingness to suffer affliction and a contentation in some measure to the will of God in what estate soever it shall please God to bring thee to Outwardly towards God it will keep thee lowly in the use of means and in a continual fear and awfulness of Gods presence not caring to be counted vile for the service of God And in carriage towards men it is such a grace as is not affected in words or gestures nor is it censorious arrogant or contentious but makes a man go before in giving honour and not to think much to equal himself with them of the lower sort This is the time now to be narrowly searching into thine own heart and mourn under it and bewailing now thy want of love unto the Lord and thy abounding love to sin do thou cover with sorrowing what breach thou hast made with sinning and remember That had thy sin never been so sweet then thy sorrow had never been so bitter And know that God is now awaking thee from all thy secure sleeps that every minutes breathing he lends thee more may be spent in preparing to meet Jesus Christ at the Judgement of the great Day which that thou mayst effectually do with all thy might with fear and trembling as before the Lord remember that the next step from this life thou takest is into eternity 3ly Thus waiting till thy change come Be further in the exercise of Faith in the power of thy mighty Redeemer as to a glorious resurrection of thy body when laid asleep in the grave Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up thee also by Jesus 2 Cor. 4.14 and then this corruptible shall put on incorruption and then this mortal shall put on immortality and death shall be swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15.53 54. 3. Act Faith in the mighty power of God in times of great sinning and prophanation of the name of God So Jeremy speaking of the customs of the people that they are vain and of their Idol-gods that they are altogether bruitish and foolish and the stock is a doctrine of vanities he sets the great and mighty Jehovah against all their Heathenish gods Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might Who would not fear thee O King of Nations Jer. 10.6 7. So in the 10. verse But the Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King At his wrath the earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation So the Prophet Habakkuk he sets Faith on work in the mighty power of God in a time of great sinning and of treacherous and cruel dealing Art thou not from everlasting O Lord my God mine Holy One we shall not dye O Lord thou hast ordained them for judgement and O mighty God thou hast established them for correction Thou art of purer eyes then to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous then he Think upon the mighty power of God when men grow bold and impudent in sinning do they oppress the poor and crush the needy Amos 4.1 Know that this mighty God can soon crush them under his feet Lament 3.34 and feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh and then they shall know the Lord to be the mighty one of Israel Isa 49.26 Does the horrible impieties and wickdness of men greive and wound thy heart Know that he that is thy God is the God of salvation and he shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespass Psalm 68.20 21 verses And what says Solomon If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of Judgement and Justice in a Province Marvaile not at the matter For he that is higher then the highest regardeth and there be higher then they Eccles 5.8 4. Act faith in the mighty power of God as in times of great sinning so in times of serving and worshipping of God So did Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar the King had made an Image of gold and set it up to be worshipped and that whoso fell not down and worshipped the said Image should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery surnace And who is that God saith he most blasphemously that shall deliver out of my hand What said Sadrach Meshaoh and Abednego O Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
hefore us which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast c. Heb. 6.17 18 19. And this was it without all question that made the Apostle break out with that holy boldness and exultation of spirit Who shall seperate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more then Conquerors through him that loved us For I am perswaded saith he that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 8.35 to the end Now this stability and firmness of Gods love grounded upon the faithfulness of God may be a great support to the poor doubting soul that is apt to question the Love of God and the certainty of its eternal estate in Christ 2ly This Faith in Gods faithfulness is to be acted upon the account of our Vocation or Calling to and confirmation or establishment in the Grace of God God is faithful saith Paul by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord And therefore will he confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1.8 9. That God who hath called you unto the communion or fellowship of his Son not externally only in point of Ordinances Church-fellowship and Publique-worship whereby we profess to have communion with Christ and his benefits but internally in a special manner whereby we are really united to him by faith and by the spirit of Christ and so are made partakers indeed of all the glorious benefits priviledges and advantages of his death resurrection ascension intercession Rom. 8.32 Eph. 3.17 1 Joh. 1.3 This God who hath so called you is the faithful God faithful in the performance of all his promises he hath made to confirm you unto the end not to leave you nor forsake you Heb. 13.5 as many freinds do in time of adversity not to cast you off Rom. 11.1 2. as many Parents do their Children not to forget you as many cruel and unnatural Women do their sucking children Isa 49.15 No surely he will not do it his faithfulness is engaged to stand by you fear not he will be with thee be not dismayed he is thy God he will strengthen thee yea he will help thee yea He will uphold thee with the right hand of his righteousness Isa 41.10 And make an everlasting Covenant with thee that he will not turn away from thee to do thee good but will put his fear into thy heart that thou shalt not depart from him Jer. 32.40 So the Apostle Paul praying for the Thessalonians that the very God of peace migh sanctifie them wholly and that their whole spirit and soul and body might be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ He makes this the ground of his confidence Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it 1 Thess 5.23 24. So 2 Thess 3.3 But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil Why shouldst thou then fear of falling away or of thy persevering in the grace of God when Gods faithfulness is engaged forthy establishment 3ly This faith in Gods faithfulness is to be acted upon the accompt of a Christians temptations and conflictings with sin and Satan 1 Cor. 10 13. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful observe that I pray you who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Thou poor tempted soul thou thinkest perhaps that no temptations are like unto thine but thou art mistaken thy temptations are not singular but in common with others other men have been exercised with the like And thou art apt to think thou shalt sink under thy temptations thou findest so little strength to undergo them but what saith the Apostle God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength but will proportion suitable strength according to your trials Gods Faithfulness is engaged to help you and to support you under all your temptations and trials Would Satan then make thee beleive that thy sins are of that nature and magnitude that they shall not be forgiven think upon Gods faithfulness then who is engaged to pardon thee So saith John 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confest our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness It would be an act of unfaithfulness and injustice in God if he should not pardon and forgive poor penitent sinners who confess and forsake their sins But God is faithful and just and cannot falsifie his word If we beleive not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2.13 4. This acting of faith in Gods faithfulness is of excellent use in order to our standing fast in the faith and continuing in our publique faithful testimony for the Lord Heb. 10.23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering and why for he is faithful that hath promised faithful in performing what he hath promised Josh 23.14 And what hath he promised Surely as hath been declared before to establish and keep us from evil and confirm us unto the end 1 Cor. 1.8 According to that also in 2 Thess 3.3 But the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil Stablish you in the faith lest you fall from it and keep you from evil to wit the Devil lest he subvert your faith by evil men as the instruments of his art or it may be taken more generally for any evil as the Apostle declares in the 2 Tim. 4.18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom And therefore we may upon this consideration be much encouraged to hold fast our profession and not to be staggaring or wavering in our honourable and faithful testimony for the Lord. 5. This acting of faith in Gods faithfulness is of excellent use to encourage us as to a suffering state for Christ and to Christian contentation under the Cross It is a faithful saying saith the Apostle that if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him 2 Tim. 2.11 12. Rule or reign as Kings so the word it seems imports if we endure all manner of tribulations with patience and stedfastness in the faith And it is a faithful saying saith he a certain sure firm credible irrevocable word not to be questioned or doubted Or we shall be glorified together with him as the Apostle expresseth it Rom. 8.17 and
and supplication that he had made 1 King 9.3 So Psa 41. Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the Earth and thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his enemies The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness So Psa 91.3 6 7 10. Surely he shall deliver thee from the noysom Pestilence Thou shalt not be afraid of the â—estilence that walketh in darkness nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee Art thou sick then apply The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing Tbou wilt make all his bed in his sickness Art thou there where the sick are apply I will take away all sickness from the midst of thee Fearest thou the Pestilence I will deliver thee saith the Lord from the noysome Pestilence So that of Eliphaz to Job He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee in Famine he shall redeem thee from death and in War from the power of the Sword Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the Tongue neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh c. And thou shalt know that thy Tabernacle shall be in peace Job 5.19.20 21 24. So in Isa 43.2 The Lord promiseth he will be with us in the fire and in the water the waters shall not overflow us nor the fire devour us And in Heb. 13.5 he hath promised likewise that he will never leave thee nor forsake thee The labour of the Olive may fail as Habakkuk speaks our nearest and dearest friends and relations may fail our eyes may fail our tongue may fail our strength may fail our flesh and heart may fail our spirits may fail yet saith the Lord I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee When the poor and the needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them Isa 41.17 What can be more refreshing and supporting to the poor languishing fainting sinking soul Thus in any trouble of soul body good name outward state present or to come thou maist by the soveraign power of saith working upon the word of his promise not only draw out the sting and expell the poison of it but also procure a great deal of comfort to thy truly humbled soul and maintain it in despight of all mortal or infernal opposition in a constant spiritual gladness Considering that all those Promises whereupon thy heavy and disconsolate heart in such cases may repose and refresh it self have their being and confirmation from the blessed name Jehovah it self see Exod. 6.3 and therefore as sure as God himself they are sealed with the bloody sufferrings of his only Son and therefore as true as Truth it self and if thou art in Christ are all as certainly thine as the heart in thy body or blood that runs in thy veins Nay and a little more for thy comfort the glory of Gods Truth is mightily advanced and himself extraordinarily pleased by thy more resolute stedfast and triumphant cleaving unto them What a blessed sweet and heavenly life then is the Life of Faith as it is exercised in the Promises of God O then be encouraged to be acting Faith in the Promises and to be storing up a good stock of Promises every day They are of excellent use in all estates in all conditions in all kind of distresses whatsoever By beleiving the Promises we shall prosper by beleiving and applying of them we shall come to participate of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 And therefore they are called exceeding great and precious promises That by these saith the Apostle you might be partakers of the Divine Nature not of the substance but of the quality Non transformatione naturae humanae in divinam sed participatione donorum quibus conformes efficimur divinae naturae as one distinguisheth very well not by the transformation of the humane nature into the divine but by the participation of gifts whereby we are made conformable to the Divine Nature And so it notes a fellowship with God in his holiness and a fellowship with God in his blessedness that is in the beatifical vision and brightness of glory upon which account as to the excellent use and nature of them one terms them a Christians Catholicon a general purging Medicine a Salve for every sore being a help to all duties a quickner of all graces and a comfort in all distresses And like a well-fill'd Apothacaries shop there is contained in them heavenly receipts of all sorts wholesome physick of every kind for expelling and curing all sorts of diseases and sicknesses incident to Saints and for the corroborating and strengthening of the new nature and keeping the spiritual man in a good healthful constitution lusty and strong able for Gods Service and for working out his own salvation with fear and trembling Wouldst thou then have thy faith like the Light in the Lords Sanctuary never to go out then acquaint thy self with Gods Promises know them well meditate on them confer about them let them be continually in thy mind memory heart and tongue Satan laboureth in nothing more then to keep us in unbeleif especially of particular promises for he knows if we beleive them we shall in all things have the victory Come before God with boldness carry peace in our own bosomes to our graves and do and suffer any thing for God Oh the abundance of sweet cordial comfort which all humble beleiving souls draw by faith out of every promise And these precious promises our breasts of consolation whereupon our comfort and happiness so much depend lye hid in the holy Scriptures as veins of gold in the earth How then should we be searching into those rich mines that bring to light such heavenly treasures and how should it stir us up to go to God in prayer for the accomplishment of them unto us and waiting in the diligent use of all means for the gaining of them you shall find God not only making you heirs of Promises but you shall be comfortable possessors of those many good things which God hath promised to beleivers And the more you meditate and the oftner you pray upon them the more good will you see in them and find to flow from them And this leads me to the next Spiritual Receipt and Soveraign Antidote and that is Prayer The Fourth Spiritual Receit 4ly The fourth special Receit and preservative against this contagious disease or which may be of excellent force and efficacy for the removal of it is faithful and fervent Prayer This is a tried receipt an approved remedy of which
I may say as David said to Abimelech the Preist concerning the Sword of Goliah There is none like to it 1 Sam. 21.9 A most incomparable weapon if we have skill to use it Let us consider a little then what Prayer is as to the derivation and definition of it I find that Prayer comes of a word in the Hebrew which signifieth Appeal whereby we refer the Cause of our selves or others unto God as unto the Supream Judge calling upon him appealing unto him for right presenting our selves and our cause unto him as to one who hath power to determine Causes and to whom appeals may be made And if you would have a breif description of it it is the pouring out of the humble penitent beleiving soul before the Lord 1 Sam 1.15 Or as one very pithily defines it It is Devotae animae cum Deo colloquium that is It is the talk or conference of the devout soul with God For a man barely to speak in the air and his heart have no approaches unto God in it this is no Prayer in Gods account I cannot therefore let pass that excellent saying of Bernard Cum oramus cum Deo loquimur cum legimus Deus nobiscum loquitur Si vis cum Deo semper esse semper ora semper lege that is When we pray we speak with God when we read God speaketh with us If thou wilt always be with God then always pray and always read More plainly and fully It is a work of the spirit of Christ in the beleiving soul by which we desire of God alone things lawful and needful with confidence to obtain them through the alone mediation and intercession of Christ to the praise and glory of his name So then if thou wilt pray aright and find acceptance with God therein thou must pray to him and to him alone in the name and through the alone mediation and intercession of Christ by the powerful and immediate help and assistance of his own spirit and that beleivingly from the heart with understanding and feeling of our wants in fervency of spirit forgivingly reverently and perseveringly Without which ingredients never think of putting up an acceptable Prayer unto God with any confidence or assurance to be heard at the throne of grace I shall touch a little upon the particulars for the help of such poor souls whose desires are to grow into a more spiritual acquaintance with God First then If thou wilt pray aright thou must pray to God and to him only and that in the name of Christ God alone is to be invocated and prayed unto not Saints nor Angels Christ in his prayer which he taught his Disciples would have us direct our Petitions unto God our Father which is in Heaven Luk. 11.2 Mat. 6.9 And why to God alone 1. Because God onley is Omni present every where present in all places and at all times But this is inconsistent to any creature to be ubiquitary or present in all places But that God is so see Jer. 23.23 24. Am I a God at hand saith the Lord and not a God a far off Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord Do not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord see Psal 139.7 8. God is not only the God of the hills but of the valleys also 1 King 20.28 2. Because God as he is Omni-present so he is Omniscient he knoweth all things all the hearts of the Sons of men So said Solomon in the prayer he made at the Dedication of the Temple For thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men 1 King 8.39 So Jer. 17.9 I the Lord search the heart and try the reins Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we have to do Heb. 4.13 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Prov. 5.21 Doth he not see my ways and count all my steps saith Job Chap. 31.4 There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Job 24.21 22. So Psal 94.9 10 11. He that planted the ear shall he not hear he that formed the eye shall he not see he that teacheth man knowledge shall not he know the Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity 3. God is stiled a God hearing prayers Psal 65.2 and this David could speak experimentally Verily God hath heard me he hath attended to the voice of my prayer blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me Psal 66.19 20. 4. As he is a God hearing prayer so he is most able to help Psal 52.2 I will cry unto God most high unto God that performeth all things for me He shall send from heaven and save me Eph. 3.20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us Vnto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen So Asa when a mighty host came against him in his prayer lays hold on Gods power and ability to help Lord saith he it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power help us O Lord God for we rest on thee and in thy name we go against this multitude 2 Chron. 14.11 So Jehosaphat when a great multitude of the Moabites and Amonites came against him he sets himself to seek the Lord as able and all-sufficient to help him And said O Lord God of our Fathers art not thou God in heaven and rulest not thou over all the kingdomes of the Heathen and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee O our God wilt not thou judge them for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon the 2 Chron. 20.6 12. 5. Prayer is a Divine Worship and a Spiritual Sacrifice God would have us to call upon him in the day of trouble Psal 50.15 And if we should be seeking help from any other he will take it very ill at our hands If we have forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god saith the Church shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of our hearts Psal 44.20 21. In every place Incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering saith the Lord. Mal. 1.11 So Psal 141.2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of mine hands as an evening sacrifice There was given to the Angel that stood at the Altar having a golden censer much incense That he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was
forgive and do c. 1 King 8.37 38 39. And the Lord gave approbation to this prayer of his as you have heard Thus you see in what way the Lord hath usually been found for the diverting of his judgments and in which he hath ingaged himself to hear and to be entreated Shall we consider a little then what is the general spirit of the Nation at this time now that the hand of God lies so heavy upon it Is there any preparation now of meeting God in this way of humble and faithful supplication O England where are thy tears where are thy strong crys unto unto the Lord Will not the King of Nineveh rise up in judgment against thee and condemn thee He commanded that Man and Beast should be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God and turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that was in their hand and God was entreated and turned away from his fierce anger that they perished not What thinkest thou O England of thy sins Have they not been crying sins May not the Lord speak unto thee and say as unto Cain Who slew his Brother what hast thou done The voice of thy Brothers blood cryeth unto me from the ground Gen. 4.10 Or as James in his time to the rich ungodly men of that generation Behold the hire of the Labourers which have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud cryeth and the cries of them which have reaped are entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabboth Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter Ye have condemned and killed the just and be doth not resist you James 5.4 5 6. May it not be said of thy sins as is said of the sins of Babylon That her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembred her iniquities Rev. 18.5 Surely thy sins have been crying sins they have entred into the ears of the Lord they have reached unto heaven God hath heard thy hideous Oaths thy new hellish invented Oaths thy horrid execrations and cursings thy revilings and blaspemings But whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high may it not be said of thee as of railing Rabshekah Even against the holy one of Israel And if thy sins have cryed so loud mayst thou not think that thy tears and crys for pardon should found as loud in the ears of God But where are thy repentings and mournings where are thy weepings and supplications Surely I tremble to think what still mine ears do hear and mine eyes see how few of those sins are left which cause the Land to mourn and the Lord to have a controversie with the inhabitants thereof May it not be laid to thy charge even now when thousands are swept away by this destroying judgement that when God calls to weeping and mourning to fasting and praying behold joy and gladness slaying oxen and killing sheep eating flesh and drinking wine playing and gaming ranting and roaring cursing and swearing pride and voluptuous living And what said the Lord Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye dye Isa 22.12 13 14. Nay is it not most sad and lamentable to consider as it is very credibly reported that some under the hand of Gods visitation do dye swearing and cursing in a most dreadful and desperate manner Well then consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in peices and there be none to deliver before the whole land be devoured by the fire of his jealousie and that he make a speedy riddance of all such as dwell in the land But for you who have received an anointing from the holy one and are acquainted with the divine art of prayer and holy conference and familiarity with God be much in the exercise of this heavenly skill be now improving to the utmost your interest in God lift up your voice with strength stir up your selves and take hold of him And if your consciences tell you you have fallen by your iniquities even in the late Apostacy Take with you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously Say unto him Ashur shall not save us we will not ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands ye are our gods Hosea 14.1 2 3. Say unto him O Lord though our iniquities testifie against us do thou it for thy names sake for our back-slidings are many we have sinned against thee O the hope of Israel the Saviour thereof in time of trouble why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night Why shouldst thou be as a man astonished as a mighty man that cannot save yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not Jer. 14.7 8 9. Say We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy raggs and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away But yet O Lord thou art our Father we are the clay and thou our potter and we all are the work of thy hand Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are thy people Isa 64.6 8 9. Thine enemies roar in the midst of the Congregation they set up their ensigns for signs They have east fire into thy Sanctuary they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground They said in their hearts let us destroy them together O God how long shall the Adversary reproach shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever Why withdrawest thou thy hand even thy right hand pluck it out of thy bosome Wilt thou refrain thy self for these things O Lord wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore Psal 74. And let the Preists the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thy heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people Where is their God Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people Joel 2.17 18. Yea let the Lords Watchmen whom God hath set upon the Walls of Jerusalem never hold their peace day nor night even those who make mention of the Lord and are the Lords remembrancers let them not keep silence And give him no rest till he establish and make his Jerusalem a praise in the earth Isa 62.6 7. Till the heavens drop down from above and the skies pour down righteousness and the earth open and bring forth salvation and righteousness spring up together Isa 45.8 Till the Lord of Hosts be exalted in judgement and God
heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Psa 73.26 Then wilt thou not know nor desire nor love any creature but purely as subordinate to God If this were but setled in our hearts how would it ballast them and keep them steddy that they would not be tossed up and down with the various occurrences of this life neither lift up with Prosperity nor cast down with adversity for whether we have more of these things they make no considerable addition to us God is our happiness and not the creature or whether we have less of these things it is no diminution to our happiness we still have our portion We are but as a man that hath turned his estate into money though he hath not houses nor lands nor flocks nor herds yet he hath that which answers all things Eccles 10.19 So it is with one that hath God for his portion whose is the earth and the fulness thereof He can with Habakkuk rejoyce in God in the deprevation and absence of all other things Hab. 3.17 18. And say with Paul As sorrowful yet alway rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6.10 Give twenty pounds to a poor man and you make him take so much from him and you undoe him but it is nothing in a rich mans Purse that hath thousands coming in yearly Let an unbeleiver loose the World and he looseth all he complains with Laban that his gods are gone let him have these things in abundance and he is transported like Haman but these are small things with him whose portion is the Lord And therefore call nothing prosperity or pleasure but his love and nothing adversity or misery but his displeasure When any thing would seem lovely and desireable which is against him call it Dung And hear that man as Satan or the Serpent that would entise thee from him and count him but vanity a worm and dust that would affright thee from thy duty to him 3. Then mayst thou be said to dwell in God to have thy constant abode with him When thou shalt prize all opportunities of communion with God in his Ordinances as Prayer Reading and Hearing the Word of God So David As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God Psa 42.1 O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is To see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary Psa 63.1 2. and 84.1 2. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts my soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God So Psal 122.1 I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the House of the Lord. This to do is our Duty and our Priviledge 1. It is our Duty and part of that homage which we owe to God as our Lord and Lawgiver by prayer to acknowledge our dependance on him Psal 65.2 and our subjection to him by sitting down at his feet to receive the Law from his mouth to take our instructions from him Deut. 33.3 2. It is our Priviledge which cost two of the greatest gifts which heaven could afford Eph. 2.17 the Son of God that we might have acceptance The Spirit of God that we might have assistance What greater priviledge are we capable of then at any time to go and reveal our cause to God and to pour out our complaints before him Jer. 20.12 To have leave to beg any thing of him Luk. 11.13 To ask Counsel of him Psal 119.24 There being in our communion with God a transfusion of spirits the Lord communicating his Spirit or Divine Nature to us therein 2 Cor. 3.18 Besides our own pressing necessities which should daily provoke us hereto And the oftner we come to God the more welcome shall we be Cant. 2.14 and the more boldness and liberty of access we shall have dis-use and in-frequency breeding a strangness betwixt God and the Soul and deading the heart to communion with him 2. A Mans House is the place of his safety security and strength We use to say a mans House is his Castle then we make God our habitation when we make him our refuge and our strength So did David I will love thee O Lord my strength The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler the horn of my salvation and my high tower Psal 18.2 God was his strength his defender in all adversities God was his rock where he fled for refuge when hunted and pursued by his enemies his fortress or strong hold wherein he was safely kept and preserved his sheild to overshadow and defend him The horn of his salvation that is the strength of his deliverance and the high tower or strong tower of his protection wherein to his righteous soul did run and was safe Prov. 18.10 In the 61. Psal 2. and 3. David prayeth That God would lead him to the rock that was higher then he For thou hast been a shelter for me saith he and a strong tower from the enemy So in the Psal 71.3 Be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort Be thou to me for a rock of habitation where I may continually fly unto in all my difficulties and distresses See also Psal 31.2 With what confidence in God was the Chuch carried forth upon this account God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble Therefore will not we fear though the earth he removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof Psal 46.1 2 3. By the changing of the earth and removing of mountains are often meant the alteration of States and Polities Hagg. 2.21 22. Jerem. 51.25 Rev. 6.14 By which we are given to understand That in the time of the greatest mutations and revolutions in time of the greatest toffings and tumblings turnings and over-turnings the Church would not be dismayed but confidently expect deliverance from God Well then if thou wilt make God thy habitation thy place of security and strength thy rock and thy fortress Thou wilt make him thy only rock thy only stay and trust thou wilt seek help and deliverance in all thy streights and trouble from him and from him only He only saith the Psalmist is my rock and my salvation he is my defence I shall not be moved And from hence it is that he encourages his soul To waite only upon God telling us that his expectation was from him Psal 62.6 7. Nor would he trust in his Bow nor on his Sword to save him Psal 44.6 Now then dost thou make God thy only rock thy only
trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her roots by the river whose leaf shall be green and shall not cease from yeilding fruit Jerem. 17.7 8. Pro. 28.25 And as David Psal 40.4 Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies 3. A mans House or Habitation is the place of his Secresie Where does the Husband and the Wife or a man and his freind unbosome themselves communicate their thoughts and the very secrets of their hearts each to other but usually and for the most part in their Houses in their private Chambers and Closets So it is with the Man or Woman that makes God their habitation They 'l go to God and in their Closet and close retirements with the Lord how will they unbosome themselves and lay open their very hearts and most secrets thoughts and spread them before the Lord. So did Hanna in the bitterness of her soul she prayed and wept sore and in her secret retirements she poured out her soul before the Lord 1 Sam. 1.10 15. meaning the trouble and anguish of her heart So David when his spirit was overwhelmed within him then he cried unto the Lord and poured out his complaint before him and shewed him all his trouble Psal 142.1 2 3. So Jeremiah 20.10 11 12. when he lay under evil reports and defamation and his familiars watched for his halting what course does he take He goes to God and opens his cause unto him or discovers his cause unto him as to an Advocate or Patron O Lord of Hosts saith he that triest the righteous and seest the reins and the heart let me see thy vengeance on them for unto thee have I opened my Cause So is it said of Hezekiah when he had received the Letter of railing Rabshekah and read it he goes up into the House of the Lord and spreads it before the Lord in this manner O Lord God of Israel which dwellest between the Cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth Lord bow down thine ear and hear open Lord thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacharib which hath sent him to reproach the living God This hath been the manner of the Servants of the Lord who have made God their habitation they go to God in secret and pour out their souls before him O saith Job that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his seat I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments Job 23.3 4. Holy Job even now a Proverb or a Prodigy rather perceiving his freinds discourses were fuller of reproaches then consolations neglects to answer them and resolves to get him to God the onely support and refuge of the miserable The soarest strokes cannot drive away gracious souls from God but rather draw them nearer unto him they seldome or never think themselves near enough unto God its Sun and Sheild and Center O that I knew where to find him that I might come even to his Seat And Gods Judgment-seat where he sits to hear and determine Causes is not terrible or unapproachable to a Beleiver who knows it to be a Throne of Mercy as Job did here And happy are all that can say so For we must all appear defore the Judgment-seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 11. and it will be terrible to all those that do not often resort thither before hand And it is good to have our hearts and mouths fill'd with Arguments when we come to plead and expostulate and reason out our great concernments with our God who hath all good things lying ready by him and waits only for Prayer to come and fetch them away Not that God stands in need of our informing him concerning our necessities which he knows better then we but because hereby we give some proof that we are not altogether strangers at home as many careless ones are but know something of our selves and our own cases and of him and his dealings towards us If our mouths then be fill'd with arguments we may be sure of an Answer God will not sit still and say nothing he will not sit like an Image like a dumb Idol as the Abominations of the Heathens their Dii Stercorei their Dunghil Gods as they are called Deut. 29.17 must of necessity do they can do no otherwise though men fill their mouths with Arguments and empty their veins of their blood before them 1 King 18.28 Go boldly then to the Throne of grace plead with God and fill your mouthes with arguments spread thy complaints before him and open thy cause unto him for when ever you do so beyond all peradventure God will answer There 's no fear that he will interpret this sawciness and presumption in thee and so answer thee with his fists about thine ears or with his foot to kick thee out of his presence there is no fear that he will smother thee under the waight of his greatness or dazle thee with his beams or burn thee with his flames or drive thee from the judgement seat as Gallio did the Jews Act. 18.16 No he never beats his people lower then their knees and thence suffers them yea helps them to rise again nay he will lay his hand upon thy head yea under thy feet to do thee good he will stroke rather then strike a pleading soul He will strengthen thee and put mettle into thee He will not plead against thee with his great and absolute power So he dealt with Daniel a man that had great intimate acquaintance with God Chap. 10.19 How was he strengthened when the Angel touched him The Righteous may plead and dispute with him even at the bar of Equity and Justice and the Judge cannot but pronounce and pass sentence in their favour Thus righteous Jeremiah pleaded with him Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee Jer. 12.1 And he invites his people to come and plead freely Isa 43.26 Put me in remembrance saith the Lord let us plead together declare that thou mayst be justified if thou haste any thing to say for thy self say on Yea Idolaters shall have this permission to plead for themselves and their dumb Idols if they have any thing to say for them Isa 41.21 Produce your cause saith the Lord bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob Shall Idolaters have this liberty and not the true Worshippers that worship him in Spirit and in truth The wicked shall they have it and not the righteous Yes doubtless this is that boldness of speech 2 Cor. 7.4 mentioned as the great priviledge of the Saints especially now under the new Testament Heb. 4.16 Accedamus cum loquendi ubertate ad thronum gratiae Letus come boldly unto the throne of grace Heb. 10.19 Having
a promise was here also upon the account of their obedience their peace or prosperity rather should have been as a River that is abounding and always lasting as a River floweth continually and stoppeth not And their righteousness as the waves of the Sea that is the blessed and happy estate of their Government as the fruit of their righteousness should as the Waves of the Sea been exceeding abundant flowing and flourishing and their seed should have been as the Sand of the Sea for multitude So Isa 1.12 If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land But if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the sword If ye obey my commandements ye shall eat the best things of the Land Job 21.25 So Elihu in his speech to Job If they obey and serve him they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures But if they obey not they shall perish by the sword and they shall dye without knowledge Job 36.11 12. See also Lev. 26.13 Deut. 6.3 and 11.22 and 26.27 and 28.15 What promises the Lord made upon the account of their obedience More particularly to the thing in hand that in Deut. 7.12 13 14 15. Is worthy of our best observation where among many other things which the Lord promised as great and singular blessings upon that score this is not the least nor meanest The Lord will take away from thee all sickness and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon thee but will lay them upon all them that hate thee What the evil diseases of Egypt were is well known to most This of the noysom destroying Pestilence being one Amos 4.10 Let me add two or three places more in the New Testament and then I shall draw to a Conciusion John 8.12 I am the light of the World saith Christ he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life He that embraceth my Doctrine with a true faith and obeyeth the same shall not walk in the darkness of error and sin but shall have the light of life to bring him to everlasting life So John 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my Father honour Can that man be in a miserable or uncomfortable condition to be where Christ shall be and what honour can be comparable to that which God the Father shall confer upon those who serve the Lord Christ I shall only add Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his commandements that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the City to wit of the new and Heavenly Jerusalem which descendeth out of Heaven from God and commeth down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Rev. 21.2 Whereof see the description vers 10. And what this Tree of life is See Rev. 22.2 By this Tree of life is meant the Lord Jesus Christ Fitly called the Tree of life in respect of his vivifying conferring and preserving life unto them that eat thereof which is but one though he is said to stand in the midst of the street and of either side of the River that is his leaves and roots is on both sides of the River so that there is no want on either side Hence Christ said to him that overcometh I will give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God This I say is Christ himself the Fountain and Author of our life The Bread of Life Joh. 6.51 The Water of Life Joh. 4.7 The Resurrection and Life it self Joh. 11.25 And he stands by the River because he never withereth or is fruitless A Tree planted by the Rivers of waters is always green and fruitful Christ alone is sufficient for life unto all and to quicken all his elect for ever and ever This Tree hath twelve manner of fruits and yeildeth her fruit every moneth and the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the Nations What does this hold forth but the quickening vertue of Christs merits and spirit which is vigorous and efficatious throughout the whole year that is for ever and ever to preserve always this spiritual life and this blessed refreshing for the Israel of God without any weakening or enseebling Joh. 15.16 And mark in the close of this discourse that the leaves of this Tree have a medicinal use for to preserve the health of the Nations Not that there shall be any infirmities any more in the New Jerusalem but that the healing of all infirmities which was wrought here by the merits and spirit of Christ shall be thereby the same power for ever kept and preserved inviolate for all beleivers See Ezek. 47.12 Now blessed are they that do his commandements as touching the not worshipping of the Beast and his Image the forsaking of Babylon and the faithful following of the Lamb subjecting and submitting to all his holy heavenly pure evangelical institutions appointments and commands patiently and chearfully suffering for his sake in bearing witness unto the truth if called thereunto persevering in the grace of Christ doing justly loving mercy and walking humbly with God such shall have right to this Tree of Life and enter in through the gates into the City They shall have a right of enjoying Christ and his unspeakable benefits and be perpetual and most happy Inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes Rev. 7.15 16 17. I shall add no more but that of Paul to Timothy Consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7 FINIS
for us to return into Egypt and they said one to another Let us make a Captain let us return into Egypt But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneth which were of them that searched the land rent their cloaths and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel saying The land which we passed through to search it is an exceeding good land if the Lord delight in us then he will bring us into this land and give it us a land which floweth with milk and honey Only rebell not ye against the Lord neither fear ye the people of the land for they are bread for us Their defence is departed from them the Lord is with us fear them not this so greatly incensed the congregation that they badestone them with stones But see how highly provoking was this unto the Lord And the Lord said unto Moses How long will this people provoke me and how long will it be ere they beleive me for all the signs that I have shewed among them And mark what follows I will smite them with the Pestilence and dis-inherit them verse 12. I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness they shall be consumed and there they shall die And further it is said That the men which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the congregation to murmure against him by bringing up a slander upon the land even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died of the Plague before the Lord vers 35 36 37 of the 14. of Numb And the Lord renders the reason why their carkasses should fall in the Wilderness v. 22. Because all those men which have seen my glory saith he and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkned to my voyce surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers neither shall any of them that provoked me see it So greatly displeasing it is unto the Lord for a people who have seen the wonderful works of the Lord and his miraculous preservations to cherish a murmuring distrusting and unbeleiving spirit against the Lord not beleiving his promises nor relying on his mighty power and outstretched arm to defend them And therefore saith the Psalmist was the Lord wroth and a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel Because they beleived not in God and trusted not in his salvation Ps 78.21 22. So in Heb. 3.17 18 19. With whom was he grieved forty years was it not with them that had sinned whose carkasses fell in the wilderness And to whom swore he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that beleived not So we see that they could not enter in because of unbeleif For this cause it was that the Lords wrath was kindled against them so that he excluded them out of the good land Because they beleived not in God nor hearkned unto his voyce but murmured against him after they had seen his glory to wit his glorious works and the miracles that he did in Egypt and in the wilderness See Exod. 16.2 3. comp with Nehem. 9. from the 10th to the 18th verse O then that this might be seriously laid to heart by all such who having seen the wonderful outgoings and appearances of God in this latter age of the world and had a deep share in the glorious deliverances which God had wrought have yet through a heart of infidelity and distrust departed from God thereby brought up an evil report upon the good land even the good and honourable ways of the Lord shaking hands again with a carnal corrupt interest and longing after the flesh-pots the Onyons and Garlick of Egypt have turned again to the weak and beggarly elements or rudiments of the world whereunto they are as in Egyptian bandage again captivated and enslaved For I intend not here by this spirit of Infidelity and Unbeleif such carnal unbeleiving and regenerate persons to whom as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 4.3 4. the Gospel is hid and are lost and whose minds the God of this world hath blinded that the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ cannot shine into them but such rather who with open face having beheld as in a glass the glory of the Lord even the glory of his grace in the Gospel and the glory of his great and wonderful works in the world do yet through base fear and distrust of his power and promises suffer their hearts to depart and turn aside from the Lord. And this was the sin of Asa who when the Lord had delivered into his hand a huge host of the Ethiopians and Lubims because they relied on him did afterwards rely on the Kings of Syria and not on the Lord his God For which he received so sharp a rebuke from the Lord 2 Chron. 16.7 8 9. 9. The ninth Pestilential sin is the sin of Discontent accompanied also with a spirit of distrustfulness and unbeleif When a people will not be content with Gods allowance but will loath his blessings and his provisions and fall a lusting after evil things to satisfie their inordinate desires This was Israels provoking sin Numb 11.4 The multitude that was among them fell a lusting and they wept and said Who shall give us flesh to eat We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely the Cucumbers and the Melons and the Leeks and the Onyons and the Garlick but now our souls is dried away there is nothing at all besides this Manna before our eyes Though it was the corn of heaven and Angels food that they eat and such as did prefigure Christ himself his word and grace Joh. 6.31 32 33. and 1 Cor. 10.3 yet now they look upon it and count it but as a despicable thing and nothing noâ— would satisfie them but flesh and this to satisfie their lust And therefore it is said in the 78 Psalm and the 18th verse They tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust yea they spake against God and said Can God furnish a table in the Wilderness Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed Can be give bread also Can be provide flesh for his people Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel c. Well nothing would satisfie their lusts but flesh and flesh they shall have with a witness till it come out at their very nostrils and was loathsom unto them so they did eat and were filled for he gave them their own desire they were not estranged from their lust but while the flesh was yet between their teeth ere it was chewed The wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people and the
Christ but are now again intangled therein and overcome turning with the Dog to his own vomit again and with the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire Let such know That their latter end will be worse with them then the beginning 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. 12. The twelfth Pestilential and highly provoking Sin is the sin of Rebellion and Obstinate Disobedience against God and his Commandments Levit. 26.23 24 25. And if ye will not be reformed by these things saith the Lord but will walk contrary unto me then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my Covenant and when ye are gathered together within your Cities I will send the Pestilence among you and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy So Deut. 28.15 16 20 21. If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his Commandments and his Statutes c. These curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee Cursed shalt thou be in the City and cursed shalt thou be in the field c. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thy hand for to do until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly And wherefore Because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me The Lord shall make the Pestilence cleave unto thee until he hath consumed thee and the Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Feaver 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 So in the 58 and 59. vers If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this Book that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful name The Lord thy God Then the Lord will make thy Plagues wonderful and the Plagues of thy seed even great plagues and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance So Deut. 29.22 23 24 25. The Generations to come when they shall see the Plagues of the Land and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it and that the whole Land is Brimstone and Salt and Burning c. like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah c. with the Lord overthrew in his anger and in his wrath Even all Nations shall say Wherefore hath the Lord done this What meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers c. To this agrees that of the Prophet Jerom. 29.17 18 19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Behold I will send upon them the Sword the Famine and the Pestilence and will make them like vile figgs that cannot be eaten they are so vile And I will persecute them with the Sword with the Famine and with the Pestilence and will deliver them to be removed to all the Kingdomes of the Earth to be a Curse and an Astonishment and a Hissing and a Reproach among all the Nations whither I have driven them And wherefore will the Lord be so severe against them Because they have not hearkened to my words saith the Lord which I sent unto them by my servants the Prophets rising up early and sending them but ye would not hear saith the Lord. So Ezek. 6.11 Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel for they shall fall by the Sword by the Famine and by the Pestilence He that is far off shall die of the Pestilence and he that is near shall fall by the Sword and he that remaineth and is besieged shall dye by the Famine Thus will I accomplish saith the Lord my fury upon them Ezek. 7 11. The Sword is without and the Pestilence and the Famine within he that is in the Field shall dye with the Sword and he that is in the City Famine and Pestilence shall devour him And why Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness v. 11. The rod hath blossomed pride hath budded So Ezek. 14.19 21. If I send a Pestilence into that Land and pour out my fury upon it in bloud to cut from it Man and Beast though Noah Daniel and Job were in it As I live saith the Lord they shall deliver neither Son nor Daughter they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness For thus saith the Lord God How much more when I sent my four sore Judgements upon Jerusalem the Sword and the Famine and the noysome Beast and the Pestilence to cut off from it Man and Beast And when will the Lord execute this great severity and be so inexorable the 13. vers declares it When the land sinneth against me saith the Lord by trespassing grievously I shall conclude with that in the Prophet Amos Chap. 2. ver 4 5. Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof Because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept his Commandements c. And what follows I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem So Amos 4.10 c. I have sent among you the Pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the Sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stinck of your Camps to come up into your Nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. So incorrigible hard-hearted and un-reformed were they under all the sore Judgements that the Lord had inflicted upon them Yet before he will make an utter destruction he invites them once again to repentance Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel Thus you see what a high provoking sin it is to rebel against God and his Commandments As Samuel said to Saul when he disobeyed the Word of the Lord. Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft and Stubornness is as Iniquity and Idolatry 1 Sam. 15.23 And if God was so severe to punish the transgressions of the law with what severity will Christ proceed against the willful contemners and disobeyers of his Gospel according to that of the 2d of the Heb. 2 and 3. vers If every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward that is of punishments inflicted on them How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation that is the Gospel which is called a Ministry of the spirit and of life whereas the law is a killing letter or the ministration of death and condemnation 2 Cor. 3.6 7 9. And the wrath of God cometh upon the children of Gospel disobedience Ephes 5.6 13. The thirteenth pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Insurrection and rising up against