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Published by a Lover of Peace and Truth and one that desireth that all would though the Lords hand seems to be withdrawn as to the late universally raging Pestilential Disease forsake those Provoking Sins which call for Vengeance and Judgements on the Sons of Men.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
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
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
Your mother shall be sore confounded she that bare you shall be ashamed behold the hindermost of the Nations shall be a wilderness a dry land and a desert because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited but it shall be wholly desolate every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues So in Jer. 51.34 35. The Church complains there that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had devoured her and crushed her and made her an empty vessel and had swallowed her up like a Dragon and filled his belly with her delicates and cast her out What then is the Churches dreadful imprecation hereupon but that which was mentioned before 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 c. And Babylon shall become heaps a dwelling place for Dragons an astonishment a hissing without an inhabitant And in the 33. Verse The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor it is time to thresh her yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come So Rev. 18.4 God calls his people there to come out of Babylon and wherefore that ye be not partakers of her sins saith the voice from Heaven and that ye receive not of her Plagues So in the 8th Verse Therefore shall her Plagues come in one day death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with Fire for strong is the Lord who judgeth her And what was Babylons great sin They have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets and thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy said the Angel of the waters Rev. 16.6 So Rev. 17.6 And I saw said John in a Vision the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus And in her was found the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the earth Rev. 18.24 And what follows Allelujah salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments for he hath judged the great Whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand And again they said Allelujah and her smoke rose up for ever For the speedy execution of which righteous judgements of God upon this insatiable and blood-thirsty Whore it is that the souls under the Altar that have been slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held are said to cry with a loud voice saying How long Lord holy and true dost not thou judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth To which answer is made That they should rest yet for a little season until their Fellow-Servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled Rev. 6.9 10 11. That is slain by Antichrist and his Ministers who having Apostatized from the faith should arise in the Church of Christ soon after this and by their spiritual pride and tyranny oppress the Church and persecute and kill the Lords faithful Witnesses in like manner as the Gentiles the Jews and other false Christians had formerly done Rev. 11.7 and 12.15 17. Yet this is very observable as that which may minister matter of strong consolation to the Saints suffering under Antichrists bloody persecutions that there is the determinate time of Gods appointed Judgments and that however for a while the Lord defers his punishments yet he certainly hears the Prayers of his faithful servants and at last will be fully avenged on their Adversaries And though Antichrists rage and tyranny is very great yet it is limited according to the purpose and decree of God who hath determined the number of Martyrs which number being once accomplished not one drop of blood shall be more spilt by that man of sin that Son of perdition who Satan like worketh with all his power compelling men by Fines confiscation of Goods Imprisonments Banishments and the like to submit unto his ways and laws 2 Thes 2.3 9. and that under fair and glorious pretences too for the suppressing of Errors and Heresies for the beating down of sin for the working of men to conformity and uniformity and the bringing of them into obedience unto the Church which to do if the Ecclesiastical power is not sufficient the Magisterial power must be made use of But it is very evident that the Antichristian religion consisting for the most part in Will-worship and in humane traditions and inventions could never have subsisted to this day had it not been supported by an Arm of flesh when as our Lord Jesus with his Apostles and Disciples never sought to the Civil Magistrate or Powers of the World upon that accompt nor is the Kingdom of Christ to be erected and established in this way of humane force and power The weapons of our warfare saith the Apostle are not carnal 2 Cor. 10.4 It is the powers of the world that shall destroy the holy people Dan. 8.24 It is the Little Horn the Romish Antichrist that shall make War with the Saints and prevail against them until the Ancient of days come and that judgment be given to the Saints of the most high and that the time come that the Saints shall possess the Kingdom Dan. 7.21.22 It is he that shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the Saints of the most high c. Vntil the Judgment shall sit and then they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end Dan. 7.25 26. And in one day shall Babylons Plagues come death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her Rev. 18.8 The severity of the Lord against this sin of bloodshed and cruelty that is exercised on the Saints of God is further set forth in that of the Prophet Amos Chap. 1. Vers 11. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof and why Because he did pursue his Brother with the Sword and did cast off all pity and his anger did tear perpetually and kept his wrath for ever For this also hath the Lord a controversie with the Land because by killing and stealing c. they break out and blood toucheth blood Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish Hosea 4.1 2 3. So in the Psal 94.5 6. They break in pieces thy people O Lord and afflict thine heritage they slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless yet they say the Lord shall not see And what then O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth shew thy self Lift up thy self thou Judge of
such like possessions they will have it and force it away from the owners thereof As Ahab in the case of Naboths Vineyard 1 King 21. And thus they oppress or practise violence upon a man and his house even a man and his heritage or his inheritance that is they make him poor and sad dispossessing and bereaving the Proprietor thereof which God would in no wise allow to be taken away or alienated from the heir Therefore saith the Lord Behold I devise an evil against this Family or against this generation Even as they wickedly devise contrive and practise the evil of sin so do I now devise the evil of punishment that shall be executed upon them from which ye shall not remove your necks the yoke of bondage which ye shall be made to undergo shall be so close and strong upon you And from whence proceeds all these evil incroachments these violent oppressions and practises but from this evil and bitter root of covetousness Against which the Prophet Habakkuk comes forth with the like woe and denunciation of judgment Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house that he may set his nest on high that he may be delivered from the power of evil And mark what follows Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people and hast sinned against thy soul For the stone shall cry out of the Wall and the beam out of the Timber shall answer it Woe to him that buildeth a Town with blood and establisheth a City by iniquity Behold is it not of the Lord of Hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity Hab. 2.9 10 11 12 13. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness that he may set his nest on high that is that seeks and practices by all manner of base unworthy and unwarrantable ways to inrich himself his wife children and posterity that he and his family may rise and become great and famous in the world and live secure and safe A similitude taken from the Eagle and such Birds as love to build their Nests in high places Obad. 4. Well but consider a little what thou art doing all this while in contriving to be so great Thou hast but consulted shame to thy house saith the Lord as if he had said Thou hast setting all honour and honesty aside raked much riches together and raised great and stately Palaces and Places and filled and adorned the same with all manner of rich and sumptuous furniture yet all this speaks but thy own shame and infamy because thou hast accumulated and heaped all this together by thy covetous and unworthy practises And thou hast sinned against thy own soul in all that thou hast done And therefore the stone out of the Wall shall cry The very Stones wherewith thy Palaces are built shall testifie against thee namely that thou hast built them unrighteously by wronging and injuring of others which call aloud to God for vengeance against thee And therefore woe to him that buildeth a City with blood or bloods as it is in the Original that is with murder or with the goods of him or them that are slain or murdered or with the sweat and blood of the people Ezekiel calls it the bloody City Woe to the bloody City I will even make the pile for fire great Ezek. 24.9 So the Prophet Nahum Woe to the bloody City or City of bloods it is full of lies and robberies the prey departeth not And therefore Behold it is not of the Lord that the people shall labour in the very fire and weary themselves for vanity It is of the Lord surely it comes to pass by the secret counsel of God that these Houses and Cities which they build shall either come to be consumed by fire And what dreadful fires hath hapned amongst us of late days or else the people shall weary themselves in vain for vanity and to no purpose seeing it comes so soon to be destroyed and ruinated what they build Therefore saith the Lord Behold I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee Ezek. 22.13 intimating an abhorring of their wickedness and a purpose to proceed against them in fury as is expounded in Ezek. 21.17 I will smite my hands together and I will cause my fury to rest I the Lord have said it All holding forth the Lords great displeasure against this sore evil which is more evidently manifested by consulting some few Verses more in that 22. of Ezekiel beginning at the 24th Verse Son of man say unto her Thou art the land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation As if the Lord had said Thou art the Land that is not amended or reformed by my Judgements and punishments that hath not had her showers of rain to cleanse thee my judgements will not cleanse thee As a great showre of rain you know is wont to cleanse and wash away the filth and dirt of the streets Thy filthiness remains still unwashed away But how comes this to pass There is a conspiracy of her Prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring Lyon ravening the prey they have devoured souls And what else They have taken the Treasure and precious things they have made her many Widows in the midst thereof They did devour the godly mens estates and bereaved the Women of their Husbands by their false accusations and evil practises causing them to be put to death This was that devouring of Widows houses which our blessed Saviour so sharply reproved the Scribes and Pharises and Hypocrites of those days and all under a pretence of making long Prayers Therefore said he ye shall receive the greater damnation Mat. 23.14 Much like to what the Prophet Micha spake of in his day Micha 3.10 11 12. They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity The heads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for money Observe that Yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evil can come upon us The Priests taught for hire that is out of a covetous disposition they suffered themselves to be drawn for money to Teach and Preach according to mens Pallates like to those which Paul spake to Titus of who subverted whole houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucres sake Tit. 1.11 Whereas they should have been content with Gods allowance and held forth the pure Word of God without regard to men In whose mouths the Law of truth should be and in whose lips iniquity should not be found Mal. 2.6 Thus for the Priests Then for the Prophets they did divine for money meaning the false Prophets The Lord implying here that both in the Civil and Ecclesiastical State among his people all was corrupted and to be bought 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
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
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
himself Before the day pass as the chaff that is very swiftly suddenly like chaff the day is passing away therefore whiles ye have time yet before the day that runs and wears away so fast does bring forth the Decree produce and make appear what God hath decreed against you O Nation undesirable search your selves yea search your selves very narrowly whiles the heat of the Lords wrath doth not yet come upon you whiles the day of the Lords wrath doth not yet take hold of you This is further inculcated and prest by the Lord in the Prophesie of the Prophet Haggai chap. 1.5 7. Is it a time for you O ye to dwell in your ceiled houses that is in your stately and sumptuous houses for pleasure and delight and this house lye waste or desolate meaning the Lords house Now therefore thus saith the Lord of of Hosts Consider your ways Or which is more agreeable to the Original Set your heart upon your ways Observe and consider well how it fares with you by reason of your sins Had they considered or set their hearts aright upon their ways this might have prevented the execution of Gods judgements mentioned the 9 10 and 11 verses thereof For want of this the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah ch 1. takes up a bitter lamentation and complaint Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me The Ox knoweth his ower and the Ass his masters scrib but Israel doth not know my people saith he doth not consider They were more brutish and void of understanding then the beasts or brute creatures For want of this consideration it was that every one turned to his course of sin as the horse rusheth into the battel breaking and running through like a water flood as the word is properly used And why Because no man said What have I done And the Lord complaineth further That the Stork in the Heaven knew her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow did observe the time of their coming but his people knew not the judgement of the Lord Jer. 8.6 7. This is that consideration which we ought to have of our selves But what strangers are most men and women to their own hearts who enters into such a serious thought as to say What have I done Seneca reporteth of Sexius how every night before he slept he asked his own heart What evil this day hast thou amended what vice hast thou resisted in what part art thou bettered Surely such a course as this would prevent the fearless and heedless running into many gross enormities and sins and so prevent the ruine and destruction of many a poor sinful soul This course the Church took in the Lamentations Wherefore doth the living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Let us search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord Lam. 3.39 40. Fall then in good earnest upon this work of self-examination and think it better to know thine own infirmites and thy soul-sicknesses and sores then to know the whole world and all the wonders thereof It is one of the best parts of wisdom to know thy self This will beat down thy pride and keep the humble and lead thee to the true knowledge of God It will cast out and keep out sin and preserve thee from many temptations It is the beginning and foundation of grace and repentance Lam. 3.40 And will prevent the severe stroak of Gods judgements as in that of Zephany 2.1 2. And saith the Apostle If we will judge our selves we shall not be judged of the Lord Surely did we but know what the heart of man is while unregenerate and in its natural estate what a sink a sea of sin and filthiness it is how deceitful above all things and desperately wicked as Jeremy hath it Jer. 17.9 what infinite intricate windings and turnings there are in the dark laborinths of mans heart what a multitude of vain thoughts do lodge within it Jer. 4 14. What swarms of lusts and uncleaness issue out from this corrupt and putrified fountain Mat. 12.34 comp with chap. 15.18 19 verses What a deal of self-sophistry and imposture is wrapt up there by which millions of souls are inwraped in the snares and shackels of Satan I say did we rightly know and were not strangers to these things it might put us on with all seriousness and readiness this so weighty and profitable a work But O where is the man almost that knows or sets himself in good earnest for to know and find out the Plague of his own heart O what a many of Plague-sores and running issues are in the hearts of men and women at this day and yet they are insensible of them Every one almost is sensible of the Plague-tokens or sores when they seize upon the body and most people fear and dread this contagious disease because of the loathsomness of it but for the Plague of the Heart the Soul-sickness and sores O where is there any knowledge or discerning of it where is there any sense of the loathsomness and infectiousness of it And yet without this how can we expect a healing and the removal of this severe stroke of the Lord according to Solomons prayer at 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 or by all the people Israel and mark what follows 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 forgive and do and give to every man according to his ways whose heart thou knowest for thou even thou onely knowest the hearts of the children of men Now this prayer of Solomon had its confirmation from the Lord 1 King 9.3 So that this knowledge of the Plague of the heart is a necessary qualification or ingredient to go along with that prayer which shall be prevailing with the Lord for the removal of the Pestilence out of the land or Nation wherein it is But if the men of this generaration are still unacquainted with the plagues or sores of their own heart if they be still as vain as proud as oppressing as Superstitious as Idolatrous as Adulterous as Murderous as Blasphemous as Rebellious and Disobedient against the Lord and his commands as reviling and persecuting the way of truth and holiness as ever can it be expected that the hand of the Lord should be removed or the fire of his his indignation which now burns so very hot among us should be quenched Set thy self then in good earnest upon this heart-searching work whoever thou art that would escape this severe stroke of the Lord. And if thou knowest not how to deal with thy heart it is so
righteous and just Lot that he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked meaning the Sodomites among whom he lived For that righteous man dwelling among them saith the Text in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds 2 Pet. 2.7 8. He lived among abominable men that cared neither for right nor reason and this greived and tormented his righteous soul as if it had been upon a rack as the word implies So it is said of our dear Lord that he was greived for the hardness of their hearts Mark 3.5 But to bring it more close to the present visitation of the Lord and what a special preservative and antidote this gratious qualification of soul is for the keeping off of this severe stroke of the Lord Look into Ezek. 9. even the whole Chapter there you shall find that the Man who was cloathed with linnen which had the Writers Inckhorn by his side was commissionated from the Lord to go through the midst of the City through the midst of Jerusalem and set a Mark upon the Foreheads of the men that did sigh and cry for all the abominations that were done in the midst thereof And after him follows the men who had the slaughter weapons in their hands and they were to go through the City and smite and slay utterly old and young both Maids and little Children and Women but not to come near any man upon whom was the Mark. God had a remnant among this wicked and backsliding generation and they must be first marked and these are described to be such as did sigh and cry for all the abominations of the times and all that time the iniquity of the House of Israel and Judah was exceeding great the Land was full of blood and the City full of perversness and what other their abominations were the Chapter before doth evidently declare it In like manner when the Passover was to be instituted was the blood of the Lamb to be a token to the children of Israel upon the houses were they were So that the Lord seeing the blood that was struck upon the door-posts did pass over them and suffered not the Destroyer to come in and smite them when he smote the land of Egypt The Plague was not to come upon the Israelites to destroy them Exod. 12.12 13 22 23. Well then wilt thou be of the number of Gods marked ones that the Destroying Angel may pass over thee and the plague come not upon thee when God is smiting the land as now he is by the destroying Pestilence O see then that thy heart is brought into this holy frame to sigh and mourn not only for thine own personal evils but also for the crying sins and abominations of the times But surely if thou canst swim down with the stream of the times and hear the holy and precious name of God dishonoured and blasphemed daily his Spirit derided his Saints and Ordinances villified and defamed his Messengers abused and the way of Holiness reproached Or if thou canst behold wickedness walking up and down with a bold impudent forehead and men and women of a filthy impure spotted conversation and not shed one tear nor sigh and mourn under such National abominations surely it argues that the grace of saving and sound Conversion and Repentance was never yet effectually wrought in thy soul if so thou canst not but mourn under the sence of sin whether in thy self or in any other The want of which temper and spirit in the case of the Incestuons person made the Apostle Paul to reprehend the Church of Corinth telling them that they were puffed up and had not rather mourned that be that had done that deed might be taken away from among them 1 Cor. 5.1 2. Well then if you would be Gods marked ones see that you be Sions mourning ones remembring what our dear Lord hath left on record for the abundant satisfaction and refreshment of such sorrowful souls Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Mat. 5.4 It is taken generally for a mourning or sorrowing for sin as it stands in opposition with a spirit of jollity and voluptuous living Luk. 16.19 25. Such shall be comforted they shall never miss of outward and inward comforts They that sow in tears shall reap in joy Psal 126.5 Their sorrow shall be recompensed with gladness For to this end was Christ anointed to his Office of Mediatorship That he might comfort all that mourn whether upon the account of sin on the miseries of Sion To appoint unto them that mourn in Sion to give unto them beauty for ashes beautiful garments goodly apparel instead of ashes which they were wont to strew upon their heads and sit in them when they mourned as a testification of their excessive sorrow and greif Job 1.8 Jonah 3.6 Mat. 11.21 The oyle of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness by which we are to understand the beautiful resplendent refreshing gifts and graces of the spirit of God Heb. 1.9 That they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Isa 61.2 3. Oak-trees of righteousness trees of the greatest strength and duration by which is meant that those that are ingrafted into Christ by faith and such are all true mourners in Sion they shall not only bring forth fruits of righteousness but they shall also have firme durable and permanent consolation and strength in Christ Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Isa 51.11 Secondly If thy repentance be sincere and sound and such as will stand thee in stead in a calamitous day It will then work in thee a true hatred and abhorrency of all manner of evil Job abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes Job 42.6 â—o in the 40. of Job and the 4. verse Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth Wo is me saith the Prophet Isaiah for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips Isa 6.5 But to come more close as to the present dispensation and visitation of the Lord. In the 6th of Ezekiel The Lord having threatned the Pestilence among other his sore destroying Judgments and how the slain should fall in the midst of them He promiseth nevertheless that he will leave a remnant that should escape the Sword among the Nations And how must this remnant be qualified What thoughts and apprehensions shall they have of themselves by reason of their abominable sins See the 9. verse of that Chapter And they that escape of you saith the Lord shall remember me among the Nations whither they shall be carried Captives because I am broken with their whorish heart which hath departed from me and with their eyes which go a whoring after their Idols And what follows They shall
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
was there a more prophanation of Gods holy things a greater pollution of his Sanctuary more violence done to his law a greater contempt of Godliness under the form and outward appearance of it when was their more scoffing at Holiness and deriding the Spirit of God and a more open opposition of the pure way and Worship of God then now in our days And was there ever a greater Apostacy and falling away from the Faith even by such who once did shine as stars in the firmament of the Churches Heaven making shipwrack of faith and a good conscience to preserve a little airy honour and a temporary perishing estate And how hath the treacherous dealers dealt treacherously and the Brother betrayed and delivered up the brother to death the Fathers the Children and the children risen up against their Parents and causing them to be put to death according as was foretold by our dear Lord Matth. 10.21 And surely we may take up the same doleful lamentation and complaint with the Prophet Isaiah namely That truth is fallen in our streets and equity cannot enter yea truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey Isa 59.14 15. Yea hath not wickedness been established by a law and will not that woe be the portion of some who have decreed unrighteous decrees and write grievousness which they have prescribed To turn aside the needy from judgement and to take away the right from the poor of Gods people that widows may be their prey and that they may rob the fatherless Isa 10.1 2. And what shall I say to the generality of the late professing people of this generation when Religion was in fashion and the ready way and step to preferment was it not made even a stalking Horse by many to obtain their base sinister most vile and unworthy ends How furiously did many drive on Jehu-like under the most specious and plausible pretences of piety and doing great exploits for God Come see my zeal for the Lord breaking down the Images and destroying the Worshippers of Baal 2 King 9.20 and 10.16 19 26. And all this but to accomplish and bring about their own ambitious and vainglorious designes the better to get up into the saddle and that the Crown of all earthly glory might be set the faster and firmer upon their own heads And when they had obtained that which their covetous and ambitious hearts so eagerly hunted after inriching themselves by the spoiling and impoverishing of others what a requiem did they then sing unto their souls what a lullaby to their earthly satisfactions and contentments How did they hug themselves in their great and large territories and new obtained possessions And now farewel Profession Religion and Conscience but as it may be made serviceable to promote and maintain a carnal selfish interest and end And it is lamentable to consider what a vain secure proud formal fashionable temporizing self-seeking self-admiring self-exalting spirit did most Professors then grow into O the hatred variance emulations seditions the debates envyings wraths strifes backbitings whisperings swellings tumults grudgings evil speakings rash and uncharitable censurings and most unchristian condemnings of one another that was then found among them O the breakings and rendings the separatings and dividings that sprang up from these roots of bitterness whereby many sincere souls were troubled and others thereby became greatly defiled Surely upon a serious and sad reflection hereon it may be said as concerning the Divisions of Reuben Judg. 5.15 that for these things there were great thoughts of heart great impressions upon the spirits of many that did truly and sincerely fear the Lord. Nay what shall we say to those furious blind zealous pharisaical spirits of those times who did breath out threatnings persecutions and slaughters even against the Disciples and servants of the Lord because they could not conscienciously and not factiously as they termed it conform to a publick Directory for worship or submit to some unwarrantable and unscriptural impositions and injunctions whereby many were cast into Prisons their goods violently taken away and themselves and families exposed to great misery necessity and want So little did appear and much to be lamented it is so little does still appear of that wisdom that is from above that is pure and peaceable and gentle and easie to be entreated Jam. 3.17 So little of that spirit whose fruit is demonstrable by its meekness gentleness and goodness Gal. 5.22 So little of that charity that suffereth long and is kind that envieth not that vaunteth not it self or is not rash and puffed up 1 Cor. 13.4 And O that I could say there was not the same spirit still under several forms of profession that is lusting to pride envy censoriousness separation domination and persecution How violently do most men seek to advance and set up their own opinion still What a Babel and confusion of languages are there still among us Some crying Lo here others Lo there What force and compulsion is there still exercised upon Conscience to beat men as it were into Religion the certain Mark and Character of Antichrist that Man of sin who Satan-like works with all powers signs and lying wonders 2 Thess 2.9 Whereas Religio docenda non coercenda Religion is to be taught and not to be forcedly thrust and imposed upon the Conscience When the Scripture tells us that fervent Charity should cover a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4.8 But alass it is not large and long enough to cover one sin or slip or perhaps but an infirmity or weakness in a Brother When the Scripture tells us We ought to bear one anothers burthens and so fulfil the law of Christ Gal. 6.2 And that nothing should be done through strife or vain-glory but that in lowliness of mind each should esteem others better then themselves Philip. 2.3 When the Scripture tells us That as the Elect of God c. we should put on bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another Col. 3.12 13. And that with all lowliness and meekness c. we should endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Eph. 4.2 3. When the Scripture tells us That it is a Diotrephes spirit to love to have the preheminence in the Church 3 Epist Joh. of 9. vers that is who out of ambition shall exalt himself above his fellow brethren seeking to Lord it over them and to draw all the respect to himself alone Contrary to that of Peter who forbids the Elders to be Lords over Gods heritage but to be Example to the flock 2 Pet. 5.3 And most disagreeable to the pattern and example of that blessed Apostle Paul himself and other the faithful Ministers of Christ who in his Epistle to the Church of Corinths declareth That thee had not a dominion over their faith but were helpers of their joy 2 Cor. 1.24 And that the weapons of their warfare
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
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
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
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
life of fellowship and communion with God as the Apostle John expresseth it 1 Joh. 1.3 Again To make God our habitation includes these four or five particulars 1. A mans habitation is the place of his constant residence and abode 2. It is the place of his safety security and strength 3. It is the place of his secrecy 4. It is the place of his recreation delectation or delight 5. It is the chief place of his negotiation commerce and converse Under these five heads or several sences may we understand our dwelling in God or making God our habitation 1. Then the place of a mans dwelling is the place of his constant residence or abode When we would speak with a man we enquire where he dwells where his habitation is for there we suppose he is resident So then if thou dwellest in God if God is thy habitation thou wilt have thy constant abode with him thy residence with him this holds forth a fixed station or habitation in and with God Thou wilt not be as a stranger in a forreign Land and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night as Jeremiah expresseth it Chap. 14.8 Thou wilt not take up a nights lodging with him and then away and be gone as Travellers and wayfaring men use to do but thou wilt abide with him set up thy dwelling with him many will out of a complement now and then go and give a Friend or an Acquaintance a visit or for diversions sake being tired it may be in their Shops through multiplicity of business and their worldly negotiations they are willing to take a little recreation when they can best dispence with it Even so do many deal with God they will give him it may be a complemental visit now and then Some they will go to Church now and then and hear Divine Service as they call it or it may be if they hear where an able powerful man Preacheth they will perhaps out of a humour or some itching desire go and hear him And others they will give God a visit now and then if it be but to stop the mouth of conscience they will pray now and then and hear now and then when their worldly occasions will give them leave they will be serving God when they know not how to serve themselves Nay it may be they will go a strain higher and express some kind of delight in what they do it shall be some kind of recreation unto them now and then to come among the assemblies of Gods Saints like those whom the Lord reproves in the Prophet Ezekiels time forward hearers they were they spake one to another every one to his Brother saying Come I pray you and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord And saies the Lord they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee 〈…〉 as my people and they bear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness And lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear thy words but they do them not Ezek. 33.30 31 32. O he 's a gallant man a learned man say they how excellently did he speak even like a lovely song that soundeth pleasantly So is it said of Herod that he heard John the Baptist and observed him yea did many things and heard him gladly yet rather then he will part with his Herodias his darling sin off must go his head Mark 6.20 But this is not to dwell with God Some people they have their fits in Religion they will be seemingly devout now and then and especially if their religion swims along with the times and is in fashion and a step to worldly preferment so long they will follow Christ but these not having root in themselves endure but for a while for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by they are offended Mat. 13.21 See then that thou hast thy dwelling in God thy fixt habitation and abode in God So had the Church in Psa 90.1 2. Lord Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God This Psalm is said to be a Prayer of Moses the man of God in which Moses does acknowledge the Lord to be their dwelling place their habitation or mansion-house or place of retreat in all generations in all their travails through the terrible Wilderness wherein God lead them God was a refuge unto them in their greatest streights and troubles at all times He had promised that his presence should go with him and that he would give him rest Exod. 33.14 and Moses did experience the truth of it And therefore in Deut. 33.26 27. It is said There is none like unto the God of Jesuran who rideth upon the heavens for thy help and in his excellency on the skie The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting armes So in the 29. verse Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord the shield of thy help and who is the Sword of thy excellency and thine enemies shall be found liers unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places And then indeed mayst thou be said to dwell in God to have a constant abode with him 1. When as David thou art continually with him Psa 73.23 and set'st the Lord allways before thee Psa 16.8 This will awe us when we have opportunities and temptations to secret sins Gen. 39.9 This will possess us with more reverence and godly fear in duties of his worship and service 1 Cor. 11.10 This will provoke us to diligence in every good work The eye of the Master makes a diligent Servant Col. 3.22 This will comfort us in our afflictions and encourage us against fears If we walk through the Valley of the shadow of death we shall fear no evil if the Lord is with us Psa 23.4 And he will be with us while we be with him 2 Chron. 15.2 If we set the Lord always before us we shall not be moved Psa 16.8 Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible Hebr. 11.27 2. Then mayst thou be said to dwell in God and make him thy habitation and constant place of abode when thou makest him thy chiefest good when thou chosest him as thy portion and chief happiness and livest wholly upon him as thy All in all Rom. 11.36 When his name and glory is first inscribed on thy heart chiefly in thine eye and principally as thine end and aim in all thy actions and undertakings 1 Cor. 10.31 When thou canst say with the Psalmist Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee My flesh and my
refuge Dost thou flye unto him in all thy streights and to him only or hast thou recourse to some other rock to some other refuse Take heed of trusting in man and making flesh thine arm There 's a curse denounced against such Jer. 17.5 Dost thou go down into Egypt to strengthen thy self in the strength of Pharaoh know then that thou trustest but upon a broken staff and a bruised reed as Rabshekeh said to Hezekiah 2 King 18.21 even in a shadow And that the strength of Pharaoh shall be thy shame and the trust in the shadow of Egypt thy confusion Isa 30.2 3. Dost thou put thy trust in Princes or in the Sons of Men know that thou trusts but in a shadow likewise Judg. 9.15 and that there is no help in them their breath goeth forth they return to their earth in that very day their thoughts perish Psal 46.3 4. And that its better to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in man yea then to put confidence in Princes Psal 118.8 9. Dost thou trust in graven Images and say to the molten Imares ye are our gods know thou shalt be turned back and be greatly ashamed yea confounded Isa 42.17 Psal 97.7 Is thy trust such as is the hope of hypocrites know that the hypocrites hope shall perish and be cut off and his trust shall be as a spiders web Job 8.14 Dost thou make gold thy hope and say to the fine gold thou art my confidence trusting in the abundance of thy wealth and strengthening thy self in thy wickedness know that this is an iniquity to be punished by the Judge for that thou deniest God that is above Job 31.24 28. Yea further know That God shall destroy thee for ever and take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living And the righteous shall see and fear and laugh at thee and say Lo this is the Man that made not God his strength Psal 52.5 6 7. Dost thou trust in thine own beauty and play the harlot and pour out thy fornications know that God will judge thee as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged and will give thee blood in fury and jealousie and throw down thine eminent places and break down thy high places and strip thee of thy cloaths and take thy fair jewels and leave thee naked and bare and execute judgments upon thee Ezek 16.15 36 38 41. Dost thou trust in lying words saying The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these and notwithstanding Steal Murder and Commit Adultery and Swear falsly and Burn Incense unto Baal and Walk after other gods and stand before the Lord and say thou art delivered to do all these abominations know that these are lying words that will not profit but consider rather what the Lord did to Shiloh where he set his name at the first for the wickedness of his people Israel Jer. 7.4 8 12. Dost thou trust to thine own righteousness and commit iniquity know that all thy righteousness shall not be remembred but for thine iniquity which thou committest thou shalt dye for it Ezek. 33.13 Dost thou trust in thy way in the multitude of thy mighty men know that therefore a tumult shall arise among the people and all the fortresses shall be spoiled Hos 10.13 14. Dost thou trust in thine own purity and say stand by thy self come not near to me for I am holier then thou know that thou art but a smok in Gods Nose and a fire that burneth all the day Isa 65.5 and that the Lord hath put no trust in his Servants and his Angels he charged with folly How much less on them that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust which are crushed before the moth Job 4.18 19. But after all this perhaps thou wilt say Thou wilt trust in thine own heart for that will not deceive thee wilt thou do so know then thou art but a fool for thy labour in Gods account Prov. 28.26 Thy heart will deceive thee for it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Jer. 17.9 Thus you see that God alone is to be trusted in and to trust in any thing else will be but as an Egyptian Reed to lean unto And as God alone is to be our rock and our refuge so are we to make him our rock and our trust at all times So is the Exhortation Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your hearts before him God is a refuge for us Psal 62.8 So Isa 26.4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength At what time I am afraid saith David I will trust in thee when his enemies were ready to swallow-him up In God I have put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me Psal 56.3 4. And what said Job Though be slay me yet will I trust in him I will maintain mine own ways before him Job 13.15 Is it a time of evil tidings thou wilt not be afraid if thy heart is fixed trusting in the Lord Psal 112.7 Dost thou fear the Lord and yet walk in a dark disconsolate estate even then art thou to trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon thy God Isa 50.10 And as thou art to make God alone thy rock and thy refuge and trust in him at all times so with all thy heart Not leaning to thine own understanding but in all thy ways acknowledging him and he shall direct thy paths Prov. 3.5 6. Yea the Lord shall help thee and deliver thee he shall deliver thee from the wicked and save thee because thou trustest in him Psal 37.40 This David acknowledged Psal 22.4 5. Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them They cryed unto thee and were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded Well then wouldst thou have God to be a help and defence unto thee Trust in him He is a Buckler or a sheild to all those that trust in him Psal 18.30 Prov. 30.5 For who is God save the Lord or who is a rock save our God Psal 18.30 31. 1 Sam. 2.2 He is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he Deut. 32.4 Wouldst thou be stedfast and unmovable as the rock whereupon the Church is builded against which no storms nor tempests no nor the gates of hell shall ever prevail Trust in God They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever Psal 125.1 Wouldst thou possess the land and inherite Gods holy Mountain see that thou trust in him Isa 57.13 Wouldst thou be fat and flourishing and not cease from bearing of fruit and that blessedness shall be thy portion Trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man that
therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus a right and freedom to enter in with our persons hereafter and now by our Prayers let us draw neer with a true heart with full assurance of faith He hath given us two great friends of his for our Advocates the one at his own right hand in heaven moving and negotiating and always appearing for us the other seated in our breasts his holy spirit making intercession for us Yea the Fathers own heart is full of love brim full and running over and he loves to hear his children reason it out with him and he doth of set purpose delay to grant their requests sometimes because he loves to hear often from them to hear their voices and see their faces Cant. 2.14 to hear what they can say for themselves and so he dealt with the woman of Canaan in those several repulses he gave her Mat. 15.22 23. Acquaint thy self then with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee Job 22.21 O the secret intimate and heavenly familiarity that is betwixt God and the gratious beleiving soul It is said of Moses that the Lord spake unto him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend Exod. 33.11 That is plainly familiarly The like phrase is used of speaking mouth to mouth My servant Moses saith the Lord is not so who is faithful in all mine house With him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently and not in dark speeches Numb 12.7 8. Well then if thou makest God thy habitation thou wilt not thou canst not be a stranger to God thou wilt have some intimacy with him some secret talk and communion with him thou wilt ever and anon be opening thy heart unto him and be pleading and expostulating the case with him Daniel could not be restrained from this though he knew the decree or writing was signed that whosoever should ask any petition of any God or Man for thirty days save of the King Darius he should be cast into the Den of Lyons But he goes into his House and kneels upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime Dan. 6.10 he would rather dye then omit his wonted Worship and that close intimate communion he had with the Lord in prayer And it must needs be so for howsoever natural men and worldlings out of their obnoxiousness and secret terror do slavishly retire and do not willingly neither dare they draw near to that God which to them is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 Yet all these who have truly tasted how gracious the Lord is shall find their hearts out of a secret sence of Gods love unto them first kindly inflamed with infinite desire to live under the comfortable influence of his pleased countenance to enjoy his holy Majesty with constant peace and an humble spiritual access and acquaintance continually His spirit of Prayer infinite love yea all his loving kindness protections preservations bounty patience divine illuminations spiritual blessings exercise of repentance temptations and troubles from Satan pressures and oppressions from the world loss of inward peace faintness of faith want of spiritual strength assault of some special sin sweetness of meditation daily favours showred down without number and above measure the forethought of the great and last account motions of the blessed spirit spiritual desertion c. but above all the unutterable and inexpressible blessedness goodness and excellency of that highest Majesty it self are and should be quickening and powerful motives to drive us frequently and incessantly unto God Object But perhaps thou wilt say It is true the righteous may be thus familiar with him plead with him and not be cast in their suit But where are those righteous ones And who are they for it is not so with me God be merciful to me a greivous sinner I dare not be so bold with him Mine iniquity stops my mouth Answ I answer Every one that hath a share in yea a sincere desire after the righteousness of Christ is righteous before him and may in that righteousness plead and prevail and as a Prince have power with God For this is his own righteousness of his own contrivance and appointment The righteousness which is of God by faith Phil. 3.8 9. A righteousness spun and woven out of his own bowels and the obedience of his dear Son a better then ever came upon the back of Angels for which the personal and legal righteousness of a Paul of an Angel is to be abandoned Evangelical being far better then Angelical righteousness Thou canst not miss a blessing in his garments who is not ashamed to be called thine Elder Brother who came to change cloaths and places with thee and to take all upon himself that thou mightest escape The Father cannot but be well pleased with the smell of his Sons raiment and he sits too upon a Seat of Judgement and must do thee right and Justice it self which will not be twice paid is as much for thee as much thy freind as Mercy Rom. 3.26 He is just and yet nay therefore a justifier of him that beleiveth in Jesus So that if thou art not utterly shut up in unbeleif if there be but the least spark of true faith alive in thy heart thou mayst go boldly and plead and prosper Object 2. But I have nothing to say for my self my heart is dryed up like a Potsheard and withered like grass I have sin'd away all arguments and must never open my mouth any more before him Answ True not to boast but to plead thou mayst And hast thou nothing to offer not a sigh nor the groanings of thy soul Let the sighings of the Prisoner come before thee saith David Psal 79.11 And for the oppression of the poor and for the sighing of the needy now will I arise saith the Lord himself Psal 12.5 I will set him at safety from him that puffeth at him We own help from the spirit when we are enlarged He helps us even when we are straightned Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought no not Paul and the Apostle but the spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Rom. 8.26 with unutterable straightnings Our enlargements may be but the flowings of the Gifts of the Spirit but our inward pinchings and coarctations may be the Intercession of the Spirit it self the more immediate operations of the Spirit And we forget that there is such a Prompter behind the Hangings such an Interpreter as his Title signifies as well as a Comforter Ille suggerit vobis omnia He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance Joh. 14.26 such an Interpreter I say to make known the mind of God to us and ours to him and as he betrayes the secrets of God to the Saints so he rips up their hearts before God
and fills there mouths not only with windy words but weighty arguments Hast thou nothing then to complain off before thy Maker No Sin no Devil no Diabolical Temptations no stronge unmortified corruptions no Spiritual Plunderers no Egyptian Task-masters no Cruel Bondage that maketh thy life bitter to thee no Enemy coming in as a flood to oppress and do the wrong No Iron-yoke that galls thy shoulders no violence and spoil to cry out and complain of Sure thou hast not studied thine own case thou hast not ordered thy cause aright if this fountain fail thee Object But all Complaints are troublesome men cannot endure them I Answer God will Out of the abundance of my complaint and greif have I spoken hitherto says Hanna 1 Sam. 1.16 and you know how she sped 4ly A Mans House is the place of his Recreation Delectation or delight Where do men recreate and delight themselves so much I speak as to ordinary and daily recreations and delights as in their own Habitations and Dwellings Where are those intercourses of delights between Man Wife but in their Domestick habitation where are those reciprocal actions of Conjugal affections demonstrated so much as at home in their own houses they eat and drink together they commune and converse together they sleep and solace themselves together they joy and rejoyce together yea where true conjugal love is they would not onely live but they would dye together Even so it is with the Soul that makes God his habitation O the intercourse of delights that is betwixt God Christ his Spirit and the gracious beleiving soul What else doth the Book of the Canticles or Song of Solomon hold forth What does it contain as the cheif matter thereof but a most excellent Marriage Song by way of Dialogue between Christ and his Church Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church as his Spouse or Bride under the Type or Figure of Solomon and his Spouse or Bride In which Song in flourishing Allegorical and Rhetorical words the true hearty love and the most excellent benefits and favours of the Lord Jesus Christ the Bridegrome unto the Christian Church his Spouse or Bride And on the other side the earnest and hearty longings of the Spouse his Church after her beloved Bridegroom the Lord Jesus Christ is singularly demonstrated and held forth In it the Bridegroom and his Bride do highly extol and praise each other The Bride to set forth his excellent dignity his riches and glory with all those sweet things that flow unto her from him she doth bring in all the stateliest the richest the goodliest and the sweetest things under heaven The like doth He in praising her beauty and her delectable sweetness From hence doth spring the great delight and pleasure which the one taketh in the other where they do as it were unfold the vehement passions of their Love with that fervent desire which she hath to be most nearly joyned unto him and to dwell with him for ever Also there do many goodly tokens pass between them For he bestoweth upon her very rich jewels and heavenly ornaments to deck and to beautifie her withal and she again rendreth unto him the sweet fruits of her love Let him kiss me saith the Spouse with the kisses of his mouth for thy love is bteter then wine Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth therefore do the virgins love thee Draw me we will run after thee the King hatb brought me into his Chambers we will be glad and rejoyce in thee we will remember thy love more then wine the upright love thee Tell me O thou whom my soul loveth where thou feedest Then in the 8th vers Christ highly commends her beauty terming her the fairest among women and under several comparisons he doth highly praise and extol her Chap. 1. So Chap. 4. even the whole thereof save a verse or two is the speech of the Bridegroom consisting in praises and commendations of the Bride in declaration of his love towards her Behold thou art fair my Love behold thou art fair thou hast Doves eyes within thy locks vers 1. Thou art all fair my Love there is no spot in thee vers 7. Thou hast ravished my heart my sister my spouse thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one chain of thy neck vers 9. How fair is thy love my sister my spouse how much better is thy love then wine and the smell of thine ointments then all spices Thy lips O my spouse drop as the hony-comb hony and milk are under thy tongue and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon vers 10 11. So Chap. 6 7. How does the Lord Jesus give forth very great and singular commendations of his spouse testifying his great love and hearty affection towards her Thou art beautiful O my Love as Tirzah comely as Jerusalem c. My Dove my undefiled is but one she is the only one of her Mother she is the choise one off her that bare her c. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes O Princes daughter the joynts of thy thighs are like jewels and so goes on in a description of the Churches graces And in Chap. 7.6 How fair and how pleasant art thou O Love for delights And having praised the beauty and comeliness of his Spouse by several parts he breaks forth into an admiration and great wonderment of her beauty in the whole or in all laid together They be rare things that Princes upon earth do wonder at most rare which the Kings of Kings hath in admiration I instance this to let you see the mutual solace and delight that is betwixt Christ and the gratious soul And surely if thou hast tasted that the Lord is gratious thou canst not but take sweet delight contentation and delectation in him Cant. 2.3 I sate down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste The shadow of a tree as all men know is very comfortable and doth refresh those that are parched with the scorching heat of the Sun When the Church is under hot persecutions and fiery temptations of Satan and the burning heat of Gods wrath for sins guilt in the conscience what but Christ can be as a shadow to refresh Mat. 11.20 There shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat Isa 4.6 Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall Isa 25 4. And this was not all but saith the Souse His fruit was sweet to my taste or to my pallate She doth not only receive comfortable refreshing shadow from this fruitful tree but she eateth of the Apples also which it beareth and the same are sweet and pleasant to her taste Which is another benefit the
habitation 5. A mans house is the chief place of his negotiation and commerce where does a man drive his trade and utter his commodities but at home in his house or in his shop So it is with the soul that makes God his habitation he drives a special trade and commerce with God makes Religion his business Christ invites all to come and buy of his Commodities and he exposes rich commodities to sale and there are souls that do trade and traffick with him Isa 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not hearken diligently unto me and eat that which is good c. Christ excites and stirs up all that do thirst and greatly long after righteousness being sensible of their own sins their nothingness and unworthiness to come unto him as to the fountain of living waters that is by faith to beleive on him and then out of his belly saith he shall flow rivers of living water but this spake he of the spirit Joh. 7.37 He invites all I say that are money-less and poor worthless helpless and meritless creatures to come unto him and buy those heavenly goods which he offers unto us by the Gospel namely wine and milk that is all things requisite and necessary for our spiritual life the graces and fruits of the spirit which are sweet and delightful as wine and which are as necessary to a heavenly life as milk is to this natural life and may take in also forgiveness of sins and the pure and unspotted righteousness of Christ which are given us of God in him and that freely for nought and without any merits and deserts of ours together with life eternal And wherefore saith he do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not or waigh out your money for that which is not bread Wherefore are ye at so great cost and charges in vain and take pains and toil to no purpose for dry empty husky unsatisfying unfruitful and unprofitable things which when you have them and enjoy them will minister no true comfort nor satisfaction unto your soul How vain and profuse was the Prodigal to waste his substance with riotous living to purchase to himself a few husks unsatisfying food which the swine did eat which when he had them was ready to perish with hunger Luk. 15.13 17. Of such the Lord complain'd by the Prophet Haggai Ye have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye cloth you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag of holes Hag. 1.6 A sore judgment to bestow ones labour and pains for that which satisfieth not Wilt thou set thine eyes saith Solomon upon that which is not Prov. 23.5 what is that which is not the vers before tells us He exhorts that we labour not to be rich and that we cease from our own wisdom What are riches nothing nor a mans own wisdom nothing which the world so highly esteems of and so eagerly pursueth after No they are nothing that is as it were nothing they are not matters or things of any great importance for thee to set thine eyes upon and therefore thou shouldst not so greedily gape after them or set thine eyes or heart upon them because when thou hast attained them thou hast got as much as a thing of nothing And adds another reason taken from the uncertainty of riches For riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an Eagle towards heaven that is they fly swiftly away The Eagle flyeth so swiftly on high towards heaven as that he is soon vanished away out of a mans sight so do riches suddenly perish and vanish away being subject to fire and water evil debters and many other casualties And therefore cease from thine own wisdom which may rather be called distrust in God and covetousness then wisdom when it shall violently carry thee away with a desire after riches which are so transitory and vain And therefore it is that Jesus Christ does invite these foolish traders to come and buy of his wares of his commodities that are not fading and perishing Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live As much as if Christ did say if you will come and trade with me you shall be sure to have good substantial commodities no braided wares you shall have that which will stand by you and be of special use and advantage unto you Hear and your souls shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David 2 Sâ—m 23.5 And these commodities of mine you may have for the fetching I don't expect ready money for them I 'le let you have them upon trust and see how well you will improve them but be assured they are lasting commodities sound wares that will not fail you Riches and honours are with me yea durable riches and righteousness my fruit is better then gold yea then fine gold and my revenue then choise silver I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance and I will fill their treasures Prov. 8.18 19 20 21. Mark I pray you Riches and honours are with me saith Christ that is true riches and honour such as will not fade and flye away and they are with me in my power to give and bestow them when and upon whom I lift even durable riches such as shall continue when other mens shall melt away as wax before the Sun And those that love me that is those that do unfainedly love me shall inherit substance that which is durable meaning such wealth or substance as is such really and indeed and bringeth to man the greatest happiness and prosperity even eternal life that endureth for ever Thus you see there is a trade that Christ and the beleiving soul does drive together and all Christs commodities they are rich substantial commodities whoever have them shall inherit substance not shadows but substance like unto the Merchandise of Tyre whose Merchandise and hire shall be holiness to the Lord and shall be for them that dwell before the Lord whose habitation the Lord is mark that to eat sufficiently and for durable cloathing Isa 23.18 What can be better then satisfying food and lasting cloathing like the Israelites cloaths in the Wilderness which waxed not old Deut. 29.5 The necessity and excellency of which the Lord Jesus sets forth in that exhortation of his to the Church of