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Published by a Lover of Peace and Truth and one that desireth that all would though the Lords hand seems to be withdrawn as to the late universally raging Pestilential Disease forsake those Provoking Sins which call for Vengeance and Judgements on the Sons of Men.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
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
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
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
Lord to anger and did cast the Lord behind his back See 1 King 14.9 comp with Chap. 15.29 and 30. c. Add to this that in the 44. of Jeremiah the 7. and 8. Vers Thus saith the Lord the God of Hosts the God of Israel Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls to cut off from you man and woman child and suckling out of Judah to leave you none to remain In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands burning incense unto other gods c. that ye might cut your selves off and that ye might be a curse and reproach among all the Nations of the earth So highly provoking is this sin of Idolatry unto God as you many see further Exod. 20.4 5. Deut. 6.14 15. and 32.21 which I say that we may not be mistaken concerning it doth consist not only in the worshiping of Idols and false gods but of the true God in a false manner It may be thou wilt not be so gross to fall down and give divine Adoration to an Image yet if thou dost worship God before and by an Image thou art an Idolater The Image which the Jews made of the true God is condemned of God himself Exod. 32.8 and they that made it were punished as Idolaters 1 Cor. 10.5 7. It 〈…〉 a dotage in Popery to distinguish between Idol and Image and to make the Picture of a false god onely to be an Idol not considering that the making of an Image or the likeness of God or of any Creature in Heaven or Earth for a religions end to give it divine adoration and worship or to worship God by it is Idolatry forbidden by the Scriptures even by the Lord himself Deut. 5.8 9. Thou shalt not make thee any graven Image or any likeness of any thing c. Thou shalt not bow down thy self unto them nor serve them 2ly Idolatry may be said to be all humane inventions and traditions of men thrust into the divine worship and service of God Deut. 12.32 Whatsoever I command you saith the Lord that observe and do thou shalt not add thereto c. So said our blessed Saviour In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men And you transgress or reject frustrate and make void the commandments of God by your traditions Matth. 15.3 9. Mark 7.9 Therefore all traditions and superstitions contrary to the Word of God are to be avoided and abhorred by all who will be found worshipping of God in spirit and in truth according to his own institution and prescription 3ly The setting the heart inordinately upon any creature by fearing loving and trusting in it more then in God and above God is Idolatry in Gods account Phil. 3.19 The Apostle complains of some whose God was there belly and the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of setting up of Idols in the heart Ezek. 14.2 4. 4ly The Immoderate love unto and the distrustful care for the things of this life falls under this denomination of Idolatry Hence it is that the Apostle saith That no unclean person or covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God Eph. 5.5 the one makes his lust the other his mony his God And the Apostle in Col. 3.5 among other the sins and lusts of the flesh calls Covetousness Idolatry For which things sake saith he the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience All these kinds of Idolatries by the Apostle Peter are exprest I conceive under the name and title of abominable Idolatries 1 Pet. 4.3 Hence it is I suppose that John in the conclusion of his Epistle hath this exhortation to the beleivers of his time Little children keep your selves from Idols Now all Idols being vanities and the work of errors which in the time of their visitation shall perish Jer 10.15 Then it must needs follow That they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy Jon. 2.8 And this is the fourth Pestilential sin so highly provoking the Lord 5. The fifth pestilential destroying sin is the sin of Covetousness consisting in a greedy inordinate desire after gain unto which evill whosoever is subject is the servant and slave of all other sins So insatiable and unsatisfied he is that like the man that hath the Dropsie the more he drinketh the more he thirsteth This sin of Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 and Ephes 5.5 Because the covetous person not only prefers his treasure before God but doth place the happiness and felicity of his life in his substance like the fool in the Gospel Luk. 12.15 16. And what sin is there that is more provoking unto the Lord or that pulls down more the wrath of God upon a Nation or Kingdom as I instanced before then the sin of Idolatry For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience Col. 3.6 So abhorring a sin it is unto the Lord Psal 10.3 The wicked blesseth the Covetous whom the Lord abhorreth And therefore I finde it rankt with those other aforementioned so highly provoking sins of Bloodshed Oppression and Persecution Jer. 22.17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness and for to shed innocent blood and for oppression and for violence to do it And what before Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong Shalt thou reign because thou closest thy self in cedar Did not thy father eat and drink and do judgement and justice and then it was well with him c. Jer. 22.13 15. The like woe or denunciation of judgement against this vile provoking sin you have in Isa 5.8 9. Woe unto them that joyn house to house that lay field to field till there be no place that is for the poor to dwell that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth And mark what follows In mine ears said the Lord of Hosts of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without inhabitants O that our great Builders and Inclosers of our times would seriously lay this Scripture to heart How many houses now hath God made desolate in City and Suburbs how many great and fair dwellings now stand empty without an inhabitant You have the like woe denounced in Micha 2.1 2 3. Wo to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds c. and they covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppress a man and his house even a man and his heritage And what follows hereupon Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold against this Family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not remove your necks neither shall ye go haughtily for this time is evil Mark I pray you it s said they covet fields and houses and take them by violence If they do but fancy or get a mind to such and such a piece of Land to such a House or
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
as Snow And he calls to back sliding Israel to return and promises to heal their back-slidings and love them freely Jerem. 3.14 comp with Hosea 14.4 So in pangs of the New-birth spiritual infancy weakness of Faith Prayer Godly sorrow and other graces let such cordial refreshing Promises as these dwell upon thy heart Rev. 21.6 Mat. 5.6 Isa 42.3 and 57.15 and 40.11 which import How God will satisfie the hungry soul tender the weak and feeble soul dwel with the humble soul yea the exercise of faith also in the promises is of singular use in all kinds and varieties of temptations spiritual desertions deep almost despairing apprehensions of thine extreme vileness and nothingness in grace in which dark dismal and disconsolate estate let thy faith be exercised on such precious soul-supporting promises as these 1 Cor. 10.13 Jam. 1.2 Isa 30.18 and Isa 43.25 Which speaks to this effect That God is faithful and will not suffer us to be tempted above our strength That we should count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations That all they are blessed that wait for the Lord. So that if thou eiest in this waiting state thou shalt be certainly saved for the holy spirit pronounceth thee blessed And further for the exceeding great comfort and support of thy soul that it is the Lord and he onely that blotteth out thy transgressions for his own sake and will not remember thy sins So in the Hail-storms of slanderous Arrows and empoysoned Darts of disgrace how should thy Faith be fixt upon such pretious Promises as these 1 Pet. 4.18 Mat. 5.11 Yea in the valley of the shadow of death by an assurance of Gods merciful omnipotent presence Psa 23.4 And in the extremity and depth of such desperate distresses and perplexities wherein in thy present feeling thou canst see and find no possibility of help from Heaven or Earth God or man but art both helpless and hopeless as the Church complains Lam. 3.18 Let thy meditations dwell upon such like precious promises as these Isa 33.9 10. 2 Chron. 20.12 Exod. 14.13 Psal 78.65 66. Gen. 22.14 All which import that in the Mount of the greatest difficulties God will be seen Well in every thing or any thing that shall or can possibly befall thee prosperity or poverty cross or comfort calmness of conscience or tempests of terror life or death thou maist by Faith extract abundance of unconquerable patience and peace of soul from those three heavenly golden conduits of sweetest comfort Rom. 8.18 and 28.32 to wit That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us 2. That all things shall work together for good to them that love God 3. That he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Object But may I act faith in the Promises for things temporal as for spiritual Yea for godliness hath the Promise of the life that now is as of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Yet consider withal that temporal things are not promised absolutely but conditionally 1. With limitation to expediency 2. By way of commutation and compensation with spiritual If he gives thee not peace he will give thee patience if not wealth yet contentment which may be far better 3. With exception of the Cross Houses and Brethren and Sisters and Lands with persecution Mark 10.30 So then we may believe we shall have temporal blessings which God hath promised conditionally so far forth as will stand with these conditions his own glory our spiritual good and everlasting salvation This life is but via advitam the way to life and whatsoever God promiseth us in the way is but to help us to the end of our journey There is no temporal thing of this life falls within the compass of Gods promise but so far forth as it shall be a help and furtherance unto us as to our eternal life I shall therefore present unto thy view a few of those Promises which are of a temporal concernment as having reference to long Life Children Lands Riches Honour and external Peace and Plenty See to this purpose Gen. 22.17 and 49.15 Leâ— 25.18 19 21. and 26.4 5 6 c. Deut. 5.16 and 28.4 11 13. Psa 112.3 and 128.2 3 4. and many such like which are propounded upon the diligent and exact observation of Gods Law and the fear of the Lord. So for the duties and works of thy particular calling which if by prayer thou dost conscienciously and diligently discharge thou mayest go on with comfort contentment and freedom from carking cares and racking torturing thoughtfulness and leave the success issue and event of all thy labours and undertakings unto the Lord whatsoever it may be resting sweetly and ever relying upon this gratious promise Heb. 13.5 I will not fail thee nor forsake thee The like in ordering and guiding the affairs of thy Family depend by faith upon Gods blessing the strength and sinew of all sound comfort and true contentation that way Psa 127. So in the loss of outward things for thy love and service unto God by beleiving that Man of God 2 Chron. 25.9 The Lord is able to give thee much more then this yea in the loss of all earthly things in every kind by applying that promise in Hab. 3.17 18. And that of Jobs patient blessing of God upon the surprise of all his substance and the concurrence of an universal misery should not pass without a serious consideration if God should exercise thee with the like condition Job 1.21 But I shall forbear to enlarge further and recommend to thy consideration some of those promises for thy faith to be exercised in which have a special relation as to the present visitation of the Lord as Exod. 23.5 Ye shall serve the Lord your God c. And I will take sickness away from the midst of thee So Deut. 7.12 15. If ye hearken to these judgements and keep and do them the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the Covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy Fathers And he will love thee and bless thee and multiply thee And in the 15. vers 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 So in the Prayer that Solomon made at the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple 1 King 8.37 38 39. If there be in the Land Famine if there be Pestilence c. Whatsoever Plague whatsoever sickness there be what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man which shall know the plague of his own heart Then hear thou in Heaven thy dwelling place and forgive and do and give to every man according to his ways whose heart thou knowest And the Lord graciously promised that he would do according to his prayer
before the throne of God And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand Rev. 8.3 4. By this Angel we are to understand Christ our Mediator called the Angel or Messenger of the Covenant or the Angel of Gods presence Mal. 3.1 and Isa 63.9 who alone is the High Preist of Heaven and offereth and presenteth our prayars with the incense of his merits and intercession upon the golden Altar that is upon himself unto God for a sweet smelling savour as is testified Rom. 8.34 Eph. 5.2 Heb. 14.14 See also Rev. 5 8. 6. In God onely we ought to beleive therefore he onely is to be called upon He that commeth to God must beleive that he is c. Heb. 11.6 The same Lord who is ever all is rich unto all that call upon him For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved Rom. 10.12 13. Again we are to pray unto God in the name of Christ which is not rudely and customarily to say these words Through Jesus Christ our Lord c. but in confidence of the merits and intercession of Christ to call on God our heavenly Father For since the fall of man none are called to come to God or have promise to speed but in the name of a Mediator I am the way the truth and the life saith Christ no man commeth to the Father but by me Joh. 14.6 And there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.15 John calls him the Advocate he who pleads our cause with the Father 1 Joh. 2.1 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 In Christ alone we have access to the throne of grace Or as the Apostle expresseth it Through him we haue an access by one spirit unto the Father Ephes 2.18 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him Eph. 3.12 And what saith Christ himself Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you Joh. 16.23 So Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word and deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him Angels or Saints departed do not nor cannot present our prayers before God Abraham is ignorant of us Isa 63.16 Christ onely is our Mediator and High Priest who getteth an acceptatation of our prayers before God Heb. 4.14 Rev. 8.3 Again We are to pray in the name of Christ through the spirit Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God Rom. 8.26 27. But ye beloved building up your selves in your most holy faith praying in the Holy ghost Jude ver 20. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit Ephes 6.18 No praying aright but in and by the Spirit God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Joh. 4.14 And prayer surely is a principal part of his spiritual worship Is it not sad then to consider how carnal and formal worshippers do deride and make a mock at the Spirit of God! O say they you cannot pray but by the spirit So for Faith that also is a necessary ingredient in prayer James speaks of the prayer of faith that shall save the sick Jam 5.15 So also 1 Tim. 2.8 and Matth. 21.22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer beleiving ye shall receive Now this faith will work to the purifying of the heart For if we regard iniquity in our hearts God will not hear us Psa 66.18 We haveing therefore gracious promises from God that he will grant our requests that he will be very gracious unto us at the voyce of our cry Isa 30.19 That when we call he will answer Isa 58.9 and deliver us out of all our afflictions Psal 34.19 We must come unto God beleiving his word for that he is true and faithful as Sarah who received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised Heb. 11.11 But if hope to speed does not accompany our prayers they are vain Let not the doubting and wavering man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord Jam. 1.6 7. Yet know withal that this hope sometimes is very weak and feeble and many times seems to be overwhelmed in the godly Ps 13.1 2.31.22 and 77.7 8 9. Again As it must be a prayer of Faith so it must be from the heart with fervency of spirit Prayer is not a lip labour nor a formal devotion but it is the sighs and groans of a broken and penitent heart Hanna spake in her heart when her voyce was not heard 1 Sam. 1.13 Moses is said to cry unto the Lord when we find not one word that he uttered with his mouth Exod. 14.15 Hence is the exhortation that we be fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 And it is said that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Jam. 5.16 As the things we beg are of more excellent use for us so must we be more eager and importunate with the Lord for the obtaining of them I cried unto the Lord with my voice with my voyce unto the Lord did I make my supplication I poured out my complaint before him I shewed before him my trouble Psal 142.1 2. This shewed the earnestness and ferventness of his spirit in prayer So Ps 80.1 Give ear O shepherd of Israel thou that dwellest between the cherubims shine forth Before Ephraim Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength and come and save us This ariseth from the consideration of the necessity and excellency of what we desire as also from a burning zeal of Gods glory and hearty love of our brethren in opposition to a spirit of hypocrisie formality sluggishness and vain-babling Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion For the time to favour her yea the set time is come And what then For Sions sake I will not hold my peace and for Jerusalem sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth Ps 102.13 com with Isa 62.1 Again when we pray we must pray with understanding 1 Cor. 14.15 Blind devotion is no way pleasing to God The soul without knowledge is not good Prov. 19.2 God will not be superstitiously and ignorantly worshipped Acts 17.22 23. The blind and the lame was not to come into the house of God If ye offer the blind for