unmortified corruptions Ephes 6.18 By it Crosses are prevented removed or sanctified yea all things are sanctified unto us and we are so kept and preserved that we fall not into temptation 1 Tim. 4.5 Mat. 26.41 Yea often times we obtain much more good then we desire or expect Solomon begged onely of the Lord an understanding heart and God gave him both riches and honour which he asked not 1 King 3.13 So able is the Lord to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think Ephes 3.20 So that of Prayer we may say it is a Key to open the door of Gods treasure house a present remedy for an oppressed mind a giver of strengh to the weak and an especial means to make a man fit to live knowingly fruitfully and serviceably to God in every state and condition Col. 1.9 10. What shall I say of it but as one saith well and truly It is Consolatio flentium cura dolentium sanitas aegrotoraem A Comfort for them that mourn the joy of the sorrowful and health for those that 〈…〉 force and efficacy what will 〈…〉 hath it not done It goes through the 〈◊〉 and ceaseth not until it come unto the Lord and if entreaties will not do it will with reverence be it spoken lay commands upon him Isa 45.11 Yea it doth as it were bind up the hands of the Lord and hinder him from executing his judgements overcoming him that overcometh all things Let me alone saith the Lord to Moses or suffer me that my wrath may wax hot against them to wit the Israelites that I may consume them Exod. 32.10 Abrahams prayer had saved Sodom from being destroyed had there been found ten righteous persons therein Gen. 18. Yea it is very observable that the Lord did not leave granting till Abraham left off petitioning By prayer Jacob was delivered from the wrath and fury of his Brother Esau Gen. 32.11 Jonah out of the Fishes belly Jonah 2.10 The three Children from the fiery Furnace Daniel from the Lions Den Dan. 3.6 Jonahs and Pauls Mariners from the danger of the Seas and Joseph and Paul and Silas and Peter and others out of Prison Act. 5.16 By Prayer Eliah stayed the Rain three years and six months and again obtained Rain so that the earth yeilded her fruit James 5.17 By Prayer Elisha had the spirit of Eliah doubled upon him and procured Bears to destroy the mocking Children 2 King 2. raised from death to life the Shunamites Son So Chap. 4. Had the eyes of his Servant opened so that he saw Mountains full of Horses and Chariots of fire round about him and smote the Syrians with blindness which came to take him Chap. 6. By Prayer Joshua commanded the Sun to stand still in the midst of Heaven until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies Josh 10.12 13. By Prayer Isaiah brought back the Sun ten degrees in the Dial of Ahaz 2 King 20 11. By Prayer David frustrated the wicked counsel of Achitophel and often put his enemies to flight 2 Sam. 15.31 and 16.23 and Psa 56.9 by Prayer Hezekiah was delivered from the King of Assyria and his health restored unto him again Isa 37. and 2 King 18. The Ninevites were delivered from the judgements threatned against them Jonah 2. Peter raised Tabitha and Paul Eutichus that had fallen down by sleeping Act. 9.40 and 20.10 The Centâ—rians Servant the Cananites Daughter and Lunatick persons were healed men blind received their sight the stammering and deaf were made to hear and speak Lepers were clensed and certain persons being dead were restored to life again So much availeth Prayer with the Lord if it be servent But to bring it a little more close as to the present visitation of the Lord See of what force and efficacy it hath been with the Lord to appease his wrath and stay the execution of his judgments When the Children of Israel fell a murmuring and had greatly provoked the Lord by their unbelief insomuch that the Lord threatned to smite them with Pestilence and disinherit them Moses falls a pleading and interceeding with the Lord for them Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now And the Lord said I have pardoned according to thy word Numb 14.12 19 20. So that only those men who brought up the evil report upon the land dyed by the Plague before the Lord vers 37. So in the case of Korah Dathan and Abiram when the Congregation of the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron saying they killed the people of the Lord This so greatly incensed the Lord that he bad them go up from the congregation that he might consume them in a moment Hereupon the Text saies they fell upon their faces and Aaron according to the command of Moses takes his Censer and puts fire therein from off the Alter and put on Incense and made an attonement for the people for there was wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague was begun And Aaron stood between the dead and the living and the Plague was staid Numb 16 45 46 47. This sheweth how greatly the Prayers and actions of Gods Servants do prevail with him when they are faithful fervent and according to his will Jam. 5.16 1 John 5.14 and foreshewed also the power and efficacy of Christs meditation for poor sinners who is represented by the Angels standing at the Altar having a golden Censer and much Incense given unto him to offer it with the prayers of all Saints Rev. 8.3 For God heareth him always John 11.40 And he it is that makes intercession for the transgressors Isa 53.12 and is the attonement or propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.1 and for his sake God before whom the Pestilence goeth in wrath remembreth mercy Hab. 3.2 5. And as the blood of the Paschal Lamb figuring the blood of Christ 1 Cor. 5.7 stayed the Angel which destroyed the Egyptians from touching the Israelites Exod. 12.23 Heb. 11.28 So the smoke of Aarons incense figuring the meditation of Christ Psa 141.2 Rev. 8.4 Stayed the Plague here from the Israelites which survived That as it is written of the Pestilence in Davids time The Lord repented him of the evil and said to the Angel that destroyed the people It is enough stay now thy hand 2 Sam. 24.16 So in this verse the further efficacy and effect of faithful fervent prayer for the removal of this sore visitation of the Lord is clearly held forth in that Prayer of Solomon at the Temples dedication If there be in the Land Famine if there be Pestilence whatsoever Plague whatsoever Sickness there be what Prayer and Supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel which shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands towards this house Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and
the Lords lawful Governours and Government whether Civil or Ecclestastical in Church or Commonwealth This was the sin of Corah Dathan and Abyram and their copartners mentioned in Num. 16. God had chosen Moses and Aaron to be the cheif Leaders and Governors of his people and placed the Government in their hands both as to the Civil and Religious administration thereof Korah and his companions gather themselves together against them and told them they took too much upon them seeing all the Congregation was holy every one of them and that the Lord was among them wherefore then should they lift up themselves above the Congregation of the Lord But see how highly incensing and provoking was this unto the Lord Separate your selves saith he to Moses and Aaron from among the congregation that I may consume them in a moment and now the Lord he will shew who are his and who are holy and a strange work will he do these men must not dye the common death of all men nor be visited after the visitation of all men but a new thing will the Lord make The earth must open her mouth and swallow them up with all that appertain unto them and they must go down quick into the pit and so they did and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the Congregation Nor did the punishment of this Insurrection end here but the Lord causes a grievous Plague to break in upon the Congregation And Moses said to Aaron in the 46. verse Take a censer and put fire therein from off the Altar and put on Incense and go quickly unto the Congregation and make an attonement for them and why all this haste For there is wrath gone out from the Lord the Plague is begun And Aaron did so and stood between the dead and the living and the plague was staied Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred besides them that died in the matter of Corah So highly displeasing is it unto the Lord for persons to oppose his lawful Authority and Government which he hath put into the hands of his faithful Ministers and Servants Under which consideration undoubtedly must those Scriptures be comprehended that enjoyn subjection and obedience whether to the Lords Civil or Ecclesiastical Rulers and Governors Rom. 13.1 Tit. 3.1 1 Pet. 2.13 14 15. 1 Thess 5.12 13. Heb. 13.7 17. O that this were seriously and timously considered and laid to heart by all such who flye in the face of Christ and carry themselves contemptuously against his lawful Governours and Government which he hath set in his Churches I mean the Churches of Christ making unjustifiable and dishonorable rents schisms and divisions in the body whereof they are members which should be as the seamless coat of Christ woven from top throughout Joh. 19.23 Of such who despise the Lords Government or Dominion I may say without wronging or injuring of them as Peter of some scandalous backsliding Professors in his time who were spots and blemishes in their feasts of Charity Presumptuous are they and self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities 2 Pet. 2.10 13. And while they promise themselves liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption vers 19. They despise Dominion The word it seems signifieth a removing of a thing from its place with some scorn and indignation They would remove the Lords Governors or Rulers over them with scorn and indignation And whereas they are said to despise dominion that is more then to despise their Rulers for they despise not only the Lords Governors but the Government it self And to speak evil of Dignities or to reproach Dignities is in the Original it see us to blaspheme Glories to speak reproachfully of Dominions which are placed in glory amongst men or which are set over them by the Lord in eminency power honour and authority Hence it is that lawful Magistrates ruling in the fear of the Lord are said to be Gods Psal 82.6 And the Lords Ministers and Messengers of Churches are said to be the Glory of Christ 2 Cor. 8.23 And as stars in his right hand are the Angels of the seven Churches Rev. 1.20 All holding forth that Glory and Dignity which the Lord hath conferred upon them And for any persons to rise up as Korah and his complices did against Moses and Aaron though it be in a presumption of their own holiness Numb 16.3 Such are like to perish in the gainsaying of Core as Jude expresseth vers 11. of his Epistle It being very observable how the Psalmist does express this act of Korah's Insurrection or rising up against Moses and Aaron to be no less then an envying of them They envied Moses also in the camp and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram And a fire was kindled in their company the flame burnt up the wicked Psa 106.16 17 18. That example also of Miriam and Aarons speaking against Moses is not to pass without its due observation neither Numb 12.1 7 8 9 10. The Lord giving that testimony of Moses his servant that he was faithful in all his house Wherefore then saith he were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and Miriam became leprous as white as snow Let such therefore who are guilty in this matter consider how provoking a sin this is unto the Lord and whether they may not have a hand in pulling down this sore visitation among us 14. A Fourteenth Pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Prophanation of Gods holy things and an Over-curious presumptuous speculation and prying unwarrantably into the Secrets of God This was the sin of the men of Ashdod for which the hand of the Lord was so heavy upon them visiting them with greivous plagues when they took the Ark and brought it into the house of Dagon the Temple of their Idol-god and set it by Dagon so sore was the hand of God on them that he smote them with Emrods and destroyed them and such a deadly destruction there was throughout all the City insomuch that the cry of the City went up to heaven 1 Sam. 5. The Ark was a Chest or Coffer which was made of Shittim or Cedar wood overlaid round about with gold whose cover called the Mercy-seat was also of pure gold on which was two glorious Cherubs of gold from whence God gave his oracle Numb 7.89 These Cherubims were placed at the the two ends of the Mercy-seat and they spread out their wings on high which covered over the Mercy-seat with their face one to another Exod. 37.1 2 6 7 8 9. In this were the two Tables of the Law or Testimony put written with the finger of God Exod. 25.16 21. Deut. 10.3 4 10. Between the Cherubims God was said to sit Psal 80.2 There will I meet with thee saith the Lord and
will commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the Testimony verse 22. Now this Mercy-seat on which God did thus sit between the wings of the Cherubims was a figure of Christ by whom our transgressions of the law are forgiven and covered who is the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 2.2 And therefore called the Propitiatory Rom. 3.15 To this glorious seat where Gods presence with his Church was manifested the Throne of God is answerable in the Christian Church in the presence of which Throne his people are and serve him day and night in his Temple Rev. 7.15 17.8.3.21.3 5. Now this Ark being thus a type or figure of Christ and of his Church and of his glorious presence with the same it s no wonder if the Lord shall so severely punish the prophanation of it when men shall set it in the Temple of Dagon Surely if the Ark stand there Dagon must fall yea and it shall fall before the Ark of the Lord which is called the Ark of his strength Psal 132.8 And when the Ark set forward then Moses said Rise up Lord and let thine enemies be scattered and let them that hate thee flee before thee God cannot endure to have his holy things prophaned that the abomination of desolation shall stand in his holy place that men shall set their thresholds by Gods thresholds and their posts by Gods posts by defiling his holy name with their abominations Wherefore saith the Lord I have consumed them in mine anger No surely the place of the soles of his feet where he will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever and his holy name he will not suffer to be defiled but he will beautifie the place of his sanctuary and make the place of his feet glorious Isa 60.13 comp with Ezek. 43.7 8. Let men take heed then of offering strange fire before the Lord which he commandeth them not lest there comes out fire from the Lord and devoureth them as in the case of Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron who for this cause died before the Lord. And what said Moses to Aaron thereupon This is that that the Lord spake saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Lev. 10.1 2 3. So likewise when men will be presumptuously and unwarrantably prying into the secrets of God see how severely the Lord hath punished this evil as in the case of the men of Beth-shemesh said whom the Lord sorely smote because they looked into the Ark of the Lord even he smote of the people Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men and the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter And the men of Beth-shemeth said Who is able to stand before the holy Lord God 1 Sam. 6.19 20. So dangerous a thing it is to be over-curiously presumptuous in looking into the Areana Dei the secret and hidden things of God which he hath not revealed Therefore it was that the Lord had commanded that Aaron and his sons even they and not others should take down the covering vail and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it And thus do unto them saith the Lord that they may live and not die when they approach unto the most holy things Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered lest they dye Numb 4.19 20. See also Levit. 8.35 So exact was the Lord for the keeping of his charge It is sad to consider how wise some men have seemed to be above that which is written calculating persons and things and times for the meridian of their own brain like those lying Prophets which the Lord sent not nor spake unto wherefore he complained that they prophesied unto the people a false vision and divination even a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart Jer. 14.14 So in Ezek. 13.6 7 8 9. They have seen vanity and lying divination and they made others to hope that they would confirm the word See now the severe punishment of the Lord against such Behold I am against you saith the Lord God and mine hand shall be upon the Prophets that see vanity and that divine lies they shall not be in the Assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel neither shall they enter into the land of Israel But setting aside such gross lying Prophets it is sad to think how many professing the fear and knowledge of God have been over-curiously prying into Gods secret counsels and the hidden purposes of his minde limiting and prescribing the holy one of Israel advancing and extolling the idle phantasies and enthusiasmes of their own brains more then the declarative mind and will of God contained in the Scriptures of truth But whatever may be mens pretensions to high inward unscriptural revelations of God let us not be believing every such spirit but trying the spirits whether they are of God or no and for this reason Because many false Prophets are gone out into the world 1 Joh. 4.1 And what saith Peter We have also a more sure word of prophesie more sure then the voice which they heard to come from Heaven when they were in the Holy Mount whereunto ye do well saith he that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 Ever remembring that in Deut. 29.29 That secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever 15. The fifteenth and last thing that I shall briefly speak of as a Pestilential destroying sin is that of Adding or Diminishing from the Word of God for which the Lord Jesus hath threatned such dreadful plagues and punishments For I testifie saith he unto every man that heareth the words of the Prophesie of this Book If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this Prophesie What solloweth then God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy City and from the things which are written in this book That man may be said to add that shall mix other things besides what the Lord Jesus hath revealed by his Angel He addeth that adjoyneth a lye For whatsoever is patched to the Scriptures of mens inventions that it might be accounted as divinely revealed or the pure Oracles of God is a lye Such are the Papal unwritten traditions or other writings of men whatsoever which are made with them of like Authority with the written word of God and which added
furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King They served God and they knew that God was able and of power sufficient to protect them in the service of him Dan. 3.1 11 16 17. To this purpose when our dear Lord would encourage his Apostles and the subsequent Ministers of the Gospel to be faithful in the execution of his commands and the trust committed unto them He tells them that all power was committed unto him in Heaven and in Earth And therefore go teach all Nations and Baptise them c And teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and loe I am with you allway even unto the end of the World Mat. 28.18 19 20. As if he had said Do you faithfully and couragiously execute the Commission I have given you and be assured you shall never want my all-sufficient power and presence to support you I will make all the power I have in heaven and earth concurring in a way of serviceableness unto you O come let us sing unto the Lord saith the Psalmist let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation Shall we fear to serve that God who is the Rock of our Salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving c. Why For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods in his hand are the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is his also the sea is his and he made it and his hands formed the dry land If the Lord whom we serve is so great a God so great a King above all Gods above all Angels Princes and Potentates of the World and above all that is called God O then with what thankfulness and chearfulness of spirit should we come into his presence O come let us Worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Why for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands whom he makes to lye down in green Pastures and leadeth besides the still waters Psa 95.1 to 7. So in Psa 96.6 it is said Honour and Majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary Where is the beauty of Gods face seen and his power and strength displayed as in his Sanctuary to wit his Tabernacle his Temple the Congregations and Assemblies of his Saints God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence by all them that are about him and why why who in Heaven can be compared unto the Lord Who among the Sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord Psa 89.6 7. And therefore it is that the Lord hath spoken saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me Lev. 10.3 When a fire went out from the Lord and destroyed Nadab and Abihu the Sons of Aaron for offering strange fire before the Lord Lev. 10.1 2 3. To which I suppose that place in the Hebrews hath a special reference where the Saints being exhorted to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear urges this as a strong motive thereunto for our God saith he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. Thus you see how requisite it is to be acting Faith in the power and soveraignty of God when we draw nigh to him in the solemn duties of his Worship and service and what an encouragement it is to be fearing the Lord and serving of him in sincerity and truth with all our hearts considering what great things he hath done for us 1 Sam. 12.24 5. Act faith in the mighty power of God in times of suffering So the Apostle James speaking of the cruelties that were exercised against the Saints in those days how they had condemned and killed the just and they could not resist them He exhorts them to be patient to the coming of the Lord and why to the coming of the Lord Because when he comes he will come with power and great glory Mat. 24.30 When he comes hee 'l take to him his great power and reign Rev. 11.17 When he comes he will come with ten thousand of his Saints What to do To execute Judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed c. Jude vers 14 15. When he comes he will come with fire and with his chariots like a Whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire Isa 66.15 When he comes he will come with vengeance even God with a recompence he will come and save you Isa 35.4 And then the hand of the Lord the power of God shall be known towards his servants and his indignation towards his enemies Isa 66.14 So the Author to the Hebrews when he exhorts the Saints to a patient suffering and undergoing of the Cross of Christ what Argument does he use even this For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 The Apostle would have all the suffering Saints to be acting faith in a powerful Redeemer even in him who is mighty to save That will tread down the people in his anger and make them drunk in his fury and will bring down their strength to the earth Isa 63.6 So the Apostles when the Priests and Rulers of the people had laid hands on them and put them in hold for teaching the People and Preaching through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and had further threatned them for speaking any more in the name of Jesus and had let them go what Arguments in Prayer do they use Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said why did the Heathen rage and the people imagine vain things The Kings of the Earth stood up and the Rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ For of a truth against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done And now Lord behold their threatnings Act. 4. Though they had to deal with great and potent Adversaries yet they well knew that God was above them and that their rage and fury was not so much against them as against the Lord Jehovah himself and against his Christ whom he had anointed to be the chief Priest and Prophet and King of his Church who could easily break them with his rod of Iron and dash them in peices like a Potters Vessel They knew that the Lord whom they served was able to deliver them as Daniel out of the Lions mouths So it is said of Moses and laid down as a singular act of Faith in him that he forsook Egypt and feared not the wrath of the King for
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
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
the earth render a reward to the proud So highly provoking is it unto the Lord for any to have a hand in the destroying of Gods heritage As the Psalmist saith When the Lord shall make inquisition for blood he will remember them and not forget the cry of the humble or of the afflicted 4. The fourth pestilential and highly provoking sin is the sin of Idolatry which is the worshipping of false Gods or the true God in a false manner This is that sin that hath greatly incensed the Lord to send this sore Judgement of the Plague or Pestilence and the Sword among a people Judg. 5.8 It is said they chose new gods then was war in the gates When Israel forsook the Lord and his true worship and fell to the worshipping of the Idol-Gods of the Heathen then the Lord ever and anon punished them with war And as the Sword so the Pestilence brake in among them for this very sin Psal 106.28 29. They joyned themselves also to Baal-Peor and eat the sacrifices of the dead Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions and the Plague brake in upon them See Num. 25.2 to which this in the Psalmes doth referre It is said they called the people to the Sacrifice of their Gods and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods And Israel joyned himself to Baal-peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel so that there died in the Plague no less then four and twenty thousand and many more had been destroyed had not Phinehas stood up and executed judgement and turned away the wrath of the Lord and so the Plague was stayed as in the 30. verse of that 106. Psalm comp with Num. 25.11 Baal-peor was the Idol-god of the Moabites and the Daughters of the Moabites they called or invited the people to the sacrifices or offerings of their gods they allured the people by fleshly baites to defile their bodies and souls with whoredom and idolatry and the people they participated or communicated with them in their idolatry which sin God in a special manner had forewarned them of Exod. 34.12 13 14 15 16. Take heed to thy self lest thou make a Covenant with the Inhabitants of the Land whither thou goest lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee But ye shall destroy their Altars break their Images and cut down their Groves For thou shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God Lest thou make a Covenant with the Inhabitants of the Land and they go a whoring after their gods and do sacrifice to their gods and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice and thou take of their Daughters unto thy Sons and their Daughters go a whoring after their gods and make thy Sons go a whoring after their gods And hence it was that the Apostle Paul dehorted the Corinthians lest they should be guilty of the like sin and so incurre the like punishment 1 Cor. 10.8 Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed meaning spiritual as well as corporal uncleanness and fell in one day three and twenty thousand though there was four and twenty thousand fell in all but three and twenty thousand of them fell or perished in one day So when Moses was in the Mount with God and the People had made them a Molden Calf and gave it Divine Adoration saying These be thy gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt How did the wrath of the Lord begin to wax hot against them for to consume them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach to turn away his wrath lest he should destroy them yet saith the Lord Nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them And the Lord plagued the people because they made the Calf which Aaron made See Psal 1◠23 comp with Exod. 32.4 and 35. verses 〈◊〉 whence was that dehortation of the Apostle likewise in that 1 Cor. 10.7 Neither saith he be ye Idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people sate down to eat and drink and rose up to play The word is used for laughing or rejoycing Gen. 21.6 here it is meant of their singing and dancing about the Golden Calf they had made as in the 18. and 19. verses of Exod. 32. as aforesaid So Jer. 19.3 4 5. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel Behold I will bring evil upon this place the which whosoever heareth his ears shall tingle And wherefore will the Lord be so severe Because they have forsaken me saith the Lord and have estranged this place and have burnt incense in it unto other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known nor the Kings of Judah and have filled this place with the blood of Innocents they have built also the high places of Baal to burn their Sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal which I commanded not nor spake it neither came it into my mind Therefore behold the days come saith the Lord that I will cause them to fall by the Sword before their enemies c. and their Carkases will I give to be meat for the fowles of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth and I will make this City desolate and an hissing every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the Plagues thereof So Ezek. 33.25 26 27. Wherefore thus saith the Lord ye eat with the blood and lift up your eyes towards your Idols and shed blood and shall ye possess the land c. Thus saith the Lord God As I live surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the Sword c. and they that be in the Forts and in the Caves shall dye of the Pestilence For I will lay the Land most desolate and the pomp of her strength shall cease Hence it is said that in Horeh they provoked the Lord to wrath so that the Lord was angry with them to have destroyed them Deut. 9.8 And Deut. 32.16 to 21. They provoked him to jealousie with strange gods with abominations provoked they him to anger They sacrificed to Devils not to God to gods whom they knew not to new gods that came newly up whom their Fathers feared not Of the Rock that begat them they were unmindful and had forgotten God that formed them What then And when the Lord saw it he abhorred them because of the provoking of his Sons and of his Daughters And he said I will hide my face from them I will see what their end shall be For this sin of Idolatry it was that the Lord brought evil upon the house of Jeroboam smiting all his house in so much that he left not to him any that breathed but took them away as a man taketh away dung till it be all gone for saith the Text He made him other gods and molten Images to provoke the
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
to the Scriptures are lies So he takes away that not onely derogates from the Divine Authority of Gods book but he also that any ways changeth or maliciously perverteth or contradicteth any thing therein written Christ will have the integrity sincerity and sacred Authority of this Prophesie to be faithfully preserved in the Churches and that the contemners falsifiers and corrupters thereof be no way suffered under the pain of Anathema or dreadful curse For if falsifyers of Coin are lyable unto the civil curse of the law much more shall the Anathema of eternal damnation be inflicted upon the corrupters of the Scriptures which are the words of God These with the Beast and the false Prophet shall the Lord cast into the Lake of fire burning with brimstone Rev. 19.20 This is a dreadful sin drawing down the Lords severest plagues and punishments Therefore take we heed that we add not unto the word which God commands us nor diminish ought from it but that we keep the Commandments of the Lord our God which he commandeth us Deut. 4.2 And mark well the reason that Solomon giveth Every word of God saith he is pure he is a shield to them that put their trust in him And consider what follows Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a lier Prov. 30.5 6. Having now spoken of the several Sins which so highly provoke the Lord to pour down his sore Judgements even this of the Plague or Pestilence among a people I shall now come to speak of some special spiritual Remedies which may be fitly applied and made use of as Soveraign Antidotes and Preservatives to prevent the further spreading of this pestilential contagious disease among us 1. THe first spiritual Receipt that I shall then prescribe unto thee who ever thou art that gettest in thy hand and readest this little tract Consider seriously and let thy thoughrs dwell long upon those Sins that I have insisted on as such which are the procuring Cause of this so sore a visitation from the Lord and entring into a diligent scrutiny and examination of thine own heart and ways Consider how far thou hast been or art a partaker of those sins which have so highly provoked the Lord to send down this National Judgement of the Plague and Pestilence among us For if we stand guilty of the same Sins how then shall we think to escape the like punishment This was the way and course the Apostle took when speaking of Gods displeasure against the Israelites whereby many of them were overthrown in the Wilderness how does he bring it home by way of special application Now these things saith he were our Examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted Neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them c. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one Day three and twenty thousand Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of Serpents Neither murmure ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the Destroyer Now all things happened unto them for enamples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come 1 Cor. 10.5 6 to the 11 and 12. ver So say I as from the Lord. As to the first Pestilentiall sin of Oppression Did the Lord plague Pharaoh and his Land with sore and dreadful plagues even this of the destroying Pestilence for his cruel oppressions which he exercised over the bodies and consciences of Gods people Take heed then that thou art not found an Oppressor of the true worshippers of Jesus the spiritual Israel of God Take heed of exalting thy self against God in seeking still to hold the spiritual Seed under Egyptian captivity and bondage See that thou lets them go to sacrifice to the Lord God as he has commanded them Take heed of ruling over them with rigour and making their lives bitter with hard bondage Take heed ye rich men that ye do not oppress the poor Know that the Lord surely looks upon the afflictions of his people and hears their cry by reason of their Task-masters and will come down to deliver them Exod. 3.7 8. So to those that are the Bishops Elders and Overseers the Spiritual Rulers and Leaders of the flocks of Christ Take heed that ye be not Lords over Gods heritage but examples to the flocks See that ye feed the flocks of God taking the oversight of them not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind 1 Pet. 5.2 3. Take heed that ye do not exercise a dominion over their faith but are helpers of their joy 2 Cor. 1.24 Take heed that ye do not eat the fat and cloath you with the wool and kill them that are fed Take heed that with force and cruelty ye rule not over them So then to all that oppress whether in one kind or another see that ye undo heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free and break every yoke else surely the Lord will visit for these things and his soul will be avenged on such a Nation as this 2. So for the Sin of Persecution and Hatred against God and his people Hath the Lord ordained the Arrows of his Indignation even the Instruments of Death against the Persecutors and will he strike them into the hearts of his Enemies O then take heed that thou art not found a hater of God and a Persecutor of the people of God lest the Arrow of the destroying Pestilence that flyeth at noon day do light upon thee and the Angel of the Lord persecute thee 3. So for the Sin of Murder and Bloodshed Hath the Lord threatned his sore plagues against the Destroyers of his heritage and will he avenge the blood of his Servants at the great whore of Babylons hands and is there a time when the Lord will make inquisition for blood Then beware that thou hast not a hand in killing and destroying the Saints of the most high God And take heed that thou partake not of Babylons sins lest thou receive of her plagues For the Lord will avenge the blood of his Servants and will render vengeance to his Adversaries and will be merciful unto his land and to his people Deut. 32.43 4. So for the fourth Pestilential and highly provoking Sin of Idolatry Was the anger of the Lord so kindled against Israel when Israel had joyned himself to Baal-peor that no less then four and twenty thousand died in the plague And did the Lord plague the people because of the Calf they had made Then beware that ye be not Idolaters as were some of them and provoke the Lord to anger with your inventions For surely the Lord our God is a jealous God his glory he will not give to another neither his praise to Graven Images Isa 42.8 5. So for the Sin of Covetousness and a greedy desire after gain Is
it a sin so abhorring unto the Lord does the wrath of the Lord come upon the Children of disobedience because of it Has the Lord denounced so many woes against it and threatned to smite with his plagues and punishments for it O then beware of Covetousness and being greedy of gain lest thou be a troubler of thine house Prov. 15.27 6. So for the Sin of Cursing and Swearing and False-swearing Is it that because of Swearing the Land mourns and the Lord had a Controversie with the Land because of it And that the Curser shall be cloathed with his Cursing as with a Garment and it shall come into his bowels like water and the Curse shall enter into the house of the False-swearer O then beware that thou art not found in these sins lest these dreadful Judgments of God fall upon thee 7. So for the seventh Pestilential destroying Sin namely the sin of Adultery Fornication and such like corporeal filthiness and uncleanness Did the Lord so severely punish the sin of Zimbri and Cosby who were taken in the act of uncleanness that no less then twenty four thousand died in the plague And did the Lord plague Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abrams wife Then beware thou beastly Adulterer thou filthy Fornicator and unclean Liver lest the like severity of God take hold of thee Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to Fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jud. 7. 8. So for the Sin of Infidelity Distrust and Murmuring against God the eighth provoking Pestilential sin Did those men that brought up an evil report upon the good Land distrusting God for all the Signs that he had shewed among them dye by the plague before the Lord And did the Carcasses of those who murmured against the Lord fall in the Wilderness so that that they could not see the promised Land O then take heed how thou cherish a murmuring distrusting and unbeleiving heart against God Take heed of rasing up an evil report upon the good land thereby weakening the hands and discouraging the hearts of those who would be found walking in the beautiful paths of the Lord and be faithful in their generation 9. So for the Sin of Discontent loathing Gods blessings and his provisions and lusting after evil things to satisfie their inordinate desires the ninth provoking Pestilential sin Did the Lord smite the people with a very great Plague for this very evil Then take we heed that we lust not after evil things as they also lusted 10. So for the Sin of Pride Ambition and Vain-glory trusting in an arm of flesh and not relying on the mighty power and faithfulness of God Did the Lord for this sin of David send a Pestilence among the Children of Israel so that there dyed of the people Seventy thousand men O then take we heed of a proud vain-glorious spirit and that we trust not in an arm of flesh 11. So for the Sin of Apostacy Back-sliding and Revolting from God Did the Lord often threaten that for this sin he would consume them by the Sword the Famine and the Pestilence O then take we heed that we do not Apostasie and Back-slide in our spirits from the Lord. 12. So for the Sin of Rebellion and Obstinate Disobedience against God and his Commandments Did the Lord for this sin threaten that he would send the Pestilence among them and make it cleave unto them until he had consumed them O then beware that thou sin not against God and his Commands with an Obstinate Rebellious and disobedient heart 13. So for the Sin of Insurrection and rising up against the Lords lawful Governours and Government Did the Lord so severely deal with Corah Dathan and Abiram and their Complices and Co-partners for this evil not visiting them after the common visitation of men causing also the Plague to break in among them so that there died thereof Fourteen thousand and seven hundred O then take we heed of this so highly provoking Pestilential sin 14. So for the Sin of Prophanation of Gods holy things and an Over-curious Presumptuous speculation and prying unwarrantably into the secrets of God Was the hand of the Lord so heavy upon the men of Ashdod and also upon the men of Beth-shemish for this sin so that he smote them with a deadly destruction even of the people Fifty thousand and threescore and ten O then see that we are not guilty of this so highly provoking Pestilential sin 15. So for the last Pestilential destroying Sin of Adding or Diminishing from the word of God for which the Lord hath threatned such dreadful plagues and punishments O take thou heed of this so highly provoking sin lest the Lord add unto thee his plagues and take away thy part out of the Book of Life Having now seriously considered what those sins are that so highly provoked the Lord to send down this sore visitation of the Plague or Pestilence among a people see I say that thou enter then into a diligent search and examination of thine own heart and ways to find out the sin or sins which thy Conscience shall tell thee thou standest guilty of before the Lord Whether it be the sin of Oppression Persecution Murder Idolatry Adultery Covetousness Cursing or Swearing Infidelity Discontent Pride Apostacy Disobedience or any other of the forementioned provoking evils And see that thou art very exact and not slight and superficial in this manner of self-examination This is the exhortation of the Lord by his Prophet Zephaniah Chap. 2.1 2. Gather your selves together yea gather together O Nation not desired thus is it rendred in our Translation but other Traslations read it thus Search your selves narrowly yea search your selves narrowly O people not worthy to be desired Before the Decree bring forth before the day pass as the chaff before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you I finde the Hebrew word signifies thus much First To gather your wits together that was before dispersed upon vanity Secondly To frame your selves to purge away your spiritual chaff Thirdly To search narrowly as for a lost jewel or hid mine The true sence is Enter into your selves search try and examine all your ways and doings that ye may rightly understand how heavily and greivously God must needs be offended with your great and manifold sins And mark the reason why they should be so diligent and industrious in this work Before the Decree bring forth That is before that doth come to pass which is decreed by God against you Gods Decree is then said to bring forth when it cometh to be executed As the bringing forth of a woman doth not follow presently after the conception but in the appointed due time So also is the Decree of God not brought to light by the execution of it until the time determined and appoined by
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
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
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
sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil Offer it unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person Mal. 1.8 God requires to be served with the mind Matth. 22.37 We must therefore know the will of God as he hath revealed it unto us by his commandments promises threatnings the approved practices of the Saints and that we must desire and pray for and onely so as we know Gods word doth warrant us This is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us 1 Joh. 5.14 And whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight 1 John 3.22 So said the blind man that had his sight restored to him again Now we know that God heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of God and doth his will him he heareth Joh. 9.31 Again We must pray with a feeling of our wants Christs invitation to come unto him is to all that labour and are heavy laden Matth. 11.28 In prayer we should feel sin as a burden and mourn under the sensibility of our want of grace So Ephraim bemoued himself Jer. 31.18 And the Church Isa 63.17 O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy ways and hardned our heart from thy fear return for thy servants sake the Tribes of thine inheritance So David being made very sensible of his great fall after what manner is his spirit led forth in prayer Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit Psal 51.10 11 12. Now this ariseth from the consideration of Gods judgements due to sin and of the necessity of saving grace So Ezra O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for our iniquities are encreased over our heads and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens Ez. 9.6 And the Apostles being sensible of the imbicility and weakness of their faith pray unto the Lord for the increase of it And for this thing said Paul I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me So sensible was he of the thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan that buffeted him 2 Cor. 12.7 8. Again our Prayer must be accompanied with a spirit of love and forgiveness Mark 11.25 And when ye stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any man that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses Mat. 6.14 15. And as we must forgive our enemies and such as have offended us so must we bear a hearty affection to the Children of God Ephes 4.32 and Collos 3.12 13. Again our Prayer must be accompanied with fear and reverence in respect of the purity and Majesty of that presence we come into So saith Solomon Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few Eccles 5.2 And we are to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 Surely did we seriously consider Gods most excellent Majesty we should not rashly conceive or utter any thing before him but with reverence So Abraham Behold said he I have now taken upon me to speak unto the Lord which am but dust and ashes Gen. 18.27 This reverential fear is an unfeigned abasement of the mind proceeding from a consideration of Gods divine Majesty and our own indignity So the Prodigal Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Luk. 15.21 So Jacob I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Gen. 32.10 Job abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes Job 42.6 The Prophet Isaiah cries out he is undone woe unto him for his eyes had seen the King the Lord of Hosts Isa 6.5 and Ezra also he did blush and was ashamed to lift up his face to God for that their iniquities were encreased and their trespasse grown up unto the heavens Ezra 9.6 Lastly our Prayer must be with perseverance without ceasing 1 Thes 5.17 The Parable concerning the importunate Widow was to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint Luk. 18.1 That is that we should be constant and earnest in prayer use all importunity with the Lord and not to faint this is that which will distinguish us from being Hypocrites and false-hearted before the Lord For what is the hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained when God taketh away his soul will God hear his cry when trouble commeth upon him Will he delight himself in the Almighty will he always call upon God No he will not Job 27.8 9 10. But the gracious soul loves to draw nigh to God and takes delight always in his approaching to him Thus having spoken of the several ingredients that will make up an acceptable Prayer unto the Lord I shall speak a little as to the singular worth excellency and efficacy of it and the worth and excellency of it appears in this Because it is a sweet priviledge which Christ hath purchased of the Father for us Ephes 2.18 It is through him that we have an access unto the Father so as to come with boldness unto the throne of his grace Heb. 4.16 Hereby we do and may continually commune with the Lord after a familiar manner and lay open our griefs into his bosome As David Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto And is this the manner of man O Lord God 2 Sam. 7.18 So again From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher then I for thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong Tower from the enemy Psa 61.2 3. Hereby we testifie our dutiful affection to him as the Prodigal to his Father Luk. 15.18 And become helpers to others Rom. 15.30 Phil. 1.19 Col. 4.12 2 Thes 3.1 This adds strength to our faith and gives life to the graces of God that are in us By it we obtain at the hand of God whatever good we stand in need of Mat. 7.7 Isa 65.24 And do grow into a better acquaintance with God As Abraham Gen. 18.23 27. For such is the Promise that if we draw nigh to God he will draw nigh to us Jam. 4.8 By it we fight manfully against our in bred
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
forward their villanous and mischievous designes As Balaam and Balaack did Numb 23. Will ye steal murder and commit adultery and swear falsly and burn incense unto Baal and walk after other Gods whom ye know not saith the Lord And come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say we are delivered to do all these abominations Jer. 7.9 10. As if the Lord had said are ye not ashamed to deal so hypocritically and wickedly I do as much esteem of such services and sacrifices as the cutting off of a Dogs neck or the offering of Swinesblood as his expression is in Isa 66.3 I accept not of such offerings Take away from me the noyse of thy songs for I will not hear the melady of thy Violls But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream Amos 5.22 23 24. Their vocal and instrumental musick was at that time a part of Gods instituted outward worship but by them corrupted together with the rest through their hipocrisie and wickedness and especially through their heinous Idolatry whereunto they abused their Musick Amos 8.3 The songs of the Temple shall be howling in that day I wish these things might be rightly considered and applyed in this day I am afraid there is such kind of service and worship performed now adays which will come under the sharp rebuke and reprehension of the Lord such as God will abominate and especially if the same be offered with a wicked mind To cry up the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Church of God the House of God c. Will be but a trusting in lying words if the men of this generation do not throughly amend their ways and their doings This will not priviledge them nor deliver them to do all those dreadful abominations as are perpetrated and acted in these times God will say take from me the noyse of your Songs or Singing-men I will not hear the melady of your Organs They are to me but as the howling of a Dog So on the other hand for such as are in a congregational way have seperated from the publique national worship Let them take heed that they rest not in the external part of Gods worship in outward ordinances and Church-fellowships and so grow secure and formal and carnal heartless and spiritless and think they have a dispensation hereby for any close hypocrisie or iniquity I would let such know that if they are not in the life and spirit of ordinances in the spirit of faith and prayer and a holy communion of Saints beautified with a practical holy humble heavenly fruitful Gospel conversation that they sin against the Lord and be sure their sin will find them out as Moses said to the Reubenites and Gadites Numb 32.23 I say it is Gospel Obedience that is so acceptable unto him As obedient children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.14 15. And that it is so well pleasing a thing unto the Lord and of such special efficacy and force to stay or divert the Judgments of God from falling upon a Nation or people that pathetical or rather paternal wish of the Lord seems to imply so much Psa 81.13 to the end O that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my ways What then I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him but their time should have endured for ever He should have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee What an ardent desire of the Lord was here as to his peoples hearkening unto him and walking in his ways and see what the Lord would have done for them thereupon He would have subdued their enemies and so consequently procured their peace As Nathan told David that they should dwell in a place of their own and move no more and that the children of wickedness should not afflict them any more as before time 2 Sam. 7.10 He would have turned his hand against their Adversaries What 's that the hand of his Plagues and punishments he would have taken off his Plagues and Punishments from them and laid them upon his adversaries so said Job Withdraw thine hand from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Job 13.21 that is put thy Plague and visitation far from me So Judges 2.15 It is thus rendred Whither-soever they went out the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said and as the Lord had sworn unto them and they were greatly distressed and what hand was this but his sore judgments and among the rest this of the destroying Pestilence Lev. 26.25 which he threatned should cleave unto them until he had consumed them Deut. 28.21 So in 1 Sam. 5.6 11. It is said the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the men of Ashdod and he destroyed them and smote them with Emerods See also Ruth 1.13 Lam. 2.8 9. and Act. 13.11 The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves those that oppressed them should have subjected unto them either willingly or constrainedly choose them whether But their time should have endured for ever his peoples time the time of their prosperity and flourishing estate should have endured for ever The meaning is they should have had and enjoyed a long blessed and happy life He would have fed them also with the finest of the Wheat with the fat of the Wheat the Flower of it or the best and chiefest Corn they should have had whatever was best for the maintenance of their life as Numb 18.12 Deut. 32.14 and Psa 147.14 He maketh peace in thy borders and fillest thee with the finest of the wheat And what more With honey out of the Rock should I have satisfied thee Deut. 32.13 The Bees in the Land of Canaan used much to harbour in the rocks But spiritually this rock doth signifie Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 and the honey that sweetness of speech and those savoury and gracious words which did issue from his mouth being sweetness to the soul and health to the bones Psa 19.10 Prov. 16.24 Cant. 4.11 Noting by this manner of speech that they should have had all things both pleasant and profitable for the maintenance of their life if their wickedness and disobedience had not stopped the course of his goodness and mercy Take that concurrent place also in Isa 48.18 19. O that thou hadst hearkened to my Commandements then had thy peace been as a River and thy righteousness as the waves of the Sea thy seed also had been as the sand and the off-spring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me What
a promise was here also upon the account of their obedience their peace or prosperity rather should have been as a River that is abounding and always lasting as a River floweth continually and stoppeth not And their righteousness as the waves of the Sea that is the blessed and happy estate of their Government as the fruit of their righteousness should as the Waves of the Sea been exceeding abundant flowing and flourishing and their seed should have been as the Sand of the Sea for multitude So Isa 1.12 If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land But if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the sword If ye obey my commandements ye shall eat the best things of the Land Job 21.25 So Elihu in his speech to Job If they obey and serve him they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures But if they obey not they shall perish by the sword and they shall dye without knowledge Job 36.11 12. See also Lev. 26.13 Deut. 6.3 and 11.22 and 26.27 and 28.15 What promises the Lord made upon the account of their obedience More particularly to the thing in hand that in Deut. 7.12 13 14 15. Is worthy of our best observation where among many other things which the Lord promised as great and singular blessings upon that score this is not the least nor meanest The Lord will take away from thee all sickness and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon thee but will lay them upon all them that hate thee What the evil diseases of Egypt were is well known to most This of the noysom destroying Pestilence being one Amos 4.10 Let me add two or three places more in the New Testament and then I shall draw to a Conciusion John 8.12 I am the light of the World saith Christ he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life He that embraceth my Doctrine with a true faith and obeyeth the same shall not walk in the darkness of error and sin but shall have the light of life to bring him to everlasting life So John 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will my Father honour Can that man be in a miserable or uncomfortable condition to be where Christ shall be and what honour can be comparable to that which God the Father shall confer upon those who serve the Lord Christ I shall only add Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his commandements that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the City to wit of the new and Heavenly Jerusalem which descendeth out of Heaven from God and commeth down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Rev. 21.2 Whereof see the description vers 10. And what this Tree of life is See Rev. 22.2 By this Tree of life is meant the Lord Jesus Christ Fitly called the Tree of life in respect of his vivifying conferring and preserving life unto them that eat thereof which is but one though he is said to stand in the midst of the street and of either side of the River that is his leaves and roots is on both sides of the River so that there is no want on either side Hence Christ said to him that overcometh I will give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God This I say is Christ himself the Fountain and Author of our life The Bread of Life Joh. 6.51 The Water of Life Joh. 4.7 The Resurrection and Life it self Joh. 11.25 And he stands by the River because he never withereth or is fruitless A Tree planted by the Rivers of waters is always green and fruitful Christ alone is sufficient for life unto all and to quicken all his elect for ever and ever This Tree hath twelve manner of fruits and yeildeth her fruit every moneth and the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the Nations What does this hold forth but the quickening vertue of Christs merits and spirit which is vigorous and efficatious throughout the whole year that is for ever and ever to preserve always this spiritual life and this blessed refreshing for the Israel of God without any weakening or enseebling Joh. 15.16 And mark in the close of this discourse that the leaves of this Tree have a medicinal use for to preserve the health of the Nations Not that there shall be any infirmities any more in the New Jerusalem but that the healing of all infirmities which was wrought here by the merits and spirit of Christ shall be thereby the same power for ever kept and preserved inviolate for all beleivers See Ezek. 47.12 Now blessed are they that do his commandements as touching the not worshipping of the Beast and his Image the forsaking of Babylon and the faithful following of the Lamb subjecting and submitting to all his holy heavenly pure evangelical institutions appointments and commands patiently and chearfully suffering for his sake in bearing witness unto the truth if called thereunto persevering in the grace of Christ doing justly loving mercy and walking humbly with God such shall have right to this Tree of Life and enter in through the gates into the City They shall have a right of enjoying Christ and his unspeakable benefits and be perpetual and most happy Inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes Rev. 7.15 16 17. I shall add no more but that of Paul to Timothy Consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7 FINIS