it 's an excellent thing to be able to understand the reach of God in his Word as I may so say and it 's a fruit of love It 's a fruit of the love of Jesus Christ to his Saints that we should know his mind more than other men do And certainly if the people of Israel had but known this when they first went into Egypt and returned back again that the Lord did aim at Jesus Christ in it Would it not have been a comfort to them if they had known that God intended to make them conformable to his Son Would it have been a comfort to them to have known it Then certainly it must needs be a comfort to the Saints to know now that in all their sufferings they have a conformity to Jesus Christ we know it now and that 's the reason why we do suffer it is to make us conformable to Jesus Christ the Jews did not know this that which was the reason why God would have them suffer but we know it and therefore in all our sufferings we should exercise our faith in the sufferings of Jesus Christ Do we suffer thus and thus he did so to take away the sting of our sufferings and in a special manner you that have been driven from house home if there be any here that have been driven to fly for their lives and perhaps you have been driven to go among strangers Oh! but your suffering is not so great as the suffering of Jesus Christ was he fled for his life when he was but an infant and did not only fly to strangers but to his enemies to the Egyptians you are driven but from one part of England to another Oh! exercise your faith in this it was a very strange work of Gods providence that presently after he was born he must fly for his life you that are fain to carry your children with you Oh! remember how Joseph and Mary was fain to do it was fain to fly for the life of Jesus Christ and carry him and this flight was a great deal more than your flight for they were fain to fly to Egypt Now supposing it was by land as that many reasons may be given they were fain to fly a matter of an hundred miles through the desert wilderness where there was no habitations you fly from one town to another and find relief they were fain to fly above an hundred miles it 's fifty leagues which your Marriners accompt three miles to a league and was in the very desert between the Land of Canaan and Egypt Now though it 's true the people of Israel was fourty yeers in the Wilderness but it was not through the length of the place three daies journey might have carried them into the Land of Canaan but it was fourty years that they were about it God prolonged it and they did intangle themselves and were stubborn and Rebellions and so it was prolonged though the way was but in its self short but yet certainly this flight of Joseph with Christ to Egypt must needs be sad and miserable it cannot be conceived that any of your flights should be so said and miserable as that was for they could not carry any provision with them but were fain to fly in a private way to save the life of Jesus Christ Oh! how often do you think did Joseph and Mary look upon this Babe when they were flying through the desert Wildernes think What is this the Son of God Is this the Savior of the World Is this he that should be the redeemer of Israel Is this he that is God and Man Is this he that is the second person in Trinity that presently after he is born we must fly for his life through a desert wilderness Oh! the strange work of God in the very work of Mans Redemption Things were so low and poor and seemed to go on in such a contrary way as it would have put any ones faith to it to have thought that Jesus Christ should have done such great things as he did Oh my brethren this is the way of God to put the faith of men to it especially at first So it was with Christs flight into Egypt It follows VERS 2. As they called them so they went from them c. AS they That is Moses and Aaron and other Prophets and Ministers of God sent unto them they called them to serve the Lord and to worship him according to his own way And especially they called them from Idolaters and false worship As they called them so some turn it that is Though they were so called so called yet they went from them When the means of God is so powerful to resist then is a very great evil If our Gospel that is our Gospel preached with so much plainess and power is hid it is hid to those that are lost But take it here As they called them that is Look what earn 〈…〉 ess there was in Moses and Aaron and other Ministers of God to call them from their evil waies so much stubornness and stoutness was it for them to go against it Calvin thinks it is Because they called them THEREFORE they went from them Because they called them that is They went from them for the very nonce as we use to say Because Moses would have us do thus and thus we will do the quite contrary for the very nonce They went from them that is Turned their backs upon them like stuborn Children and Servants when they are called they will not hear but turn their backs upon you so did they to Moses From whence observe First It is a mercy of God to have Gods Ministers calling us to obedience Who are we that God should send his Messengers after us What need hath God of us Suppose we go on in the waies of death and perish what shal God lose by it But this is Gods mercy that he will cal after us God may say If you will go go on and perish everlastingly Oh! but he doth not so Secondly When God hath called us out of affliction it is a great addition of mercy to call us out of sin unto duty and we should account one as great as another We think it a great mercy if the Lord will call us out of an affliction but when God calls us out of a misery and calls us to a duty Do you think that that 's as great a mercy That 's a sign of a sanctified heart indeed You are in sickness and under great extremity if God should say I wil give out my Word to deliver you that would be a sweet word you would say I but when God gives out his Word to call thee out of thy sin to a duty thou shouldest as joyfully take an hint of that Word of God too Oh! do you prize Gods call unto you from sin to duty as much as from misery to prosperity
should find your hearts to be very stuborn yet for all that do not have your hearts sink with despair for Gods Grace is free to overcome even stubornness as it did here You have a most remarkable place for that for the overcoming of stubornness in Exod. 34. 9. Let my Lord I pray thee go amongst us for it is a stiff-necked people This was no argument of despair that God should not go among them for it is a stiff-necked people But Moses makes such an argument with God Lord they are a stiff-necked people yet I pray thee let my Lord go amongst us and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for thine heritage Where by the way we may note how the Chaldae paraphrase renders this viz. Let the Majesty of the Lord go with us the Majesty or Divine Presence the Hebrews call it Shecinah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they usually distinguish this from God the father and say there is no coming before the blessed high King without Shecinah So our Savior more plainly John 14. 16. But to return God holds forth by this example that he would have none sink with despair but be brought in by his free Grace notwithstanding their stuborn hearts that they have had against him Now as for the latter part of this second verse of their sacrificing to Baalim and burning incense to graven Images I shall not need to speak to that as having spoken of that heretofore VER 3. I taught Ephraim also to go taking them by their Arms But they knew not that I healed them HEre we have the third degree of Gods goodness towards Ephraim the fruit of his love he call'd them out of Egypt and he call'd upon them by his Prophets and he taught them to go God here compares himself to a Nurse or to a tender Mother or loving Father that carries along the child and guides the hand of it and the feet of it and as they are leading the children if there be any rugged foul way the Nurse or the Parent takes them up in their Arms such was my dealings towards Ephraim said God In Psal 77. 20. God there is said to lead them by the hand of Moses and Aaron like a flock of Sheep But here he is said to lead them like a Nurse or a Parent and this expression seems to have reference unto that we have in Deut. 1. 31. In the Wilderness the Lord thy God did bear thee as a man doth bear his son in all the way that ye went Look as a man leads his son by his hand and when he comes to hard way doth bear him up and take him in his arms so did the Lord thy God deal towards thee as a man to his son for so he call'd Ephraim in the former verse his Son he loved him when he was a child so he is compared to to a child and God to the parent that teaches him how to go God taught them how to go in their way out of Egypt all along in the Wilderness until they came to Canaan When they came first out of Egypt they knew not which way to go no more than a child and if God had left them when they were brought out of Egypt certainly they had perished in their way the way was very full of difficulty in which they were to go and God did seem to leade them about but the Scripture saith He led them in the right way in Psal 107. 7. though they were fourty years in the Wilderness whereas they might have gone through within a few daies yet still they were led in the right way God taught them to go From whence there are these Notes of Observation First When God calls his people out of afflictions yet they know no more how to go to guide themselves in their way than a little child doth We think if we be delivered from such and such an evil we are well but when God doth grant deliverance if he should leave us there we should quickly spoil our selves we should quickly turn the mercies that we have into misery if we be left but a while It is the pride of mens hearts that makes them venturous of them selves hence they get many a knock and bruise Oh! many stumble in their way and split themselves and perish because they will be going themselves and not depend upon Gods hand We find by experience now God hath brought us out of Egypt here in great measure we are called out of Egypt and we hope that God intends a Canaan to us yet what children are we we do not know how to step a step in our way Oh! how often have we been at a stand in our way since God hath been pleased to call us out of Egypt we have been at a maze not knowing which way to take this way or that way Oh! how often have we fallen in our way and gone astray If ever people had need to have God to teach them how to go then have we at this day our path is an untroden path and there are many stumbling blocks in our way we often stumble and fall in them Poor children have not more need to have the hand of the Parent or Nurse when they go upon the Ice in slippery waies then we have need of the hand of God upon us to leade us in our way and to guide us That 's the first Note Secondly The way that God leads people in many times may be a way of much difficulty he said he taught Ephraim to go and led him in the way If we enquire what that way is it was the way through the wilderness yea before they came into the wilderness before they came at the Sea in Exod. 14. 9. The Egyptians pursued after them all the Horses and Chariots of Pharaoh and his Horsemen and his Army and overtook them encamping by the Sea befides Pi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon Pharaoh and all his host pursued them they were in a very straight way The Sea was before them Pharaoh and all his Army was behind them and they were encamping by the Sea before Pi-hahiroth at the mouth of those Mountains that the Mountains did compass them round about and they were before Baal-zephon that is the god of watching the Egyptians God that they made accompt was the God that did watch those that went out of their Country without any leave they came before that God that was the God for their watching those that went out of their their Country and to keep them from going out and between the Mountains and the Sea before them and a great Army behind them and yet God taught them to go what a way doth God teach them to go in And then when they go further they must go through the Sea or no other way God taught them to go through the Sea and when they have gone through the Sea Is all the evil over No
any wild Beasts whatsoever there is that in my wrath if you escape one wild beast another shall tear you and that 's the reason that the Bear is added to the Lyon and the Leopard because the Bear runs up a tree so much which the others do not and now he comes to all wild Beasts put them all together and my wrath is as fierce as them And this is one excellent meditation from hence That put all the dreadfulness of all creatures in the world together and all that it is in the wrath of God As put all the good things that are in all creatures together all this is in the Love and Mercy of God so put al things that any way may bring any torments or tortor to us and the quintessence of all this is in Gods wrath The wild Beasts shall tear them Lyra thinks that this Prophesie was fulfill'd when they were carried captive and in their journey many died and so they were cast into fields and devoured by wild Beasts and it 's likely it may be fulfill'd in part so as usually when Soldiers carry an Enemy captive Why if they be sick let them die and if they die throw them into a ditch there 's all they care for them and so it was with this people that the Lord though he knew them in the wilderness and his protection was over them yet now to forget them and lets them be carried into captivity and cast to wild beasts and so their carkasses was torn And some think that the expression of Gods wrath by these Beasts hath reference to the four Monarchies which God would make use of to be very terrible to his Saints In Dan. 7. you shall find the four Monarchies of the world the Babylonian the Persian the Grecian and Roman Monarchies set forth in the same manner as here the holy Ghost sets out the wrath of God against Israel for the truth is Those things that we have here in Hosea were to set forth Gods waies to his people in after-times not only when they were to be carried captive In Dan. 7. 3. there appeared four great Beasts the first li 〈…〉 Lyon by which was signified the Babylonish Empire the second like a Bear by that the Persian the third like a Leopard and that 's the Graecian for Alexander was as a Leopard exceeding swift all his exploits he did in twelve yeers he was but thirty three yeers old when he died And moreover they observe of the Leopard which hath the name from a Panther that it smels exceedingly the very body of it smels sweet above all Beasts and so it doth invite the Beasts to it and so it was said of Alexanders body that it had a sweet smell with it And then the fourth being the Roman Empire mark how that 's set out just as Gods sets out his wrath he doth not name any particular Beast but the wild Beast this is dreadful terrible and strong exceedingly and it had great iron teeth it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it and it was diverse from al the beasts that was before it and it had ten horns you know now that that was divided into ten Kingdoms or ten sorts of Civil Governments at several times This is the Roman Empire the power of whom Antichrist was to have by both whom the Lord would exercise his people and be very terrible to his people especially those people of his that were Apostatizing people that would worship him according to their own waies God would be thus terrible to them where ever they lived under any of the former Empires they should have God either as a Lyon a Leopard a Bear or like this dreadful Creature at the last unto them Oh but you will say Why do you speak thus Or it may be people would speak thus to the Prophet Oh why do you speak of God in this terrible manner Is not our God a gracious God and a merciful God why then will you render God thus terrible Why saith the Prophet then comes in VER 9. O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help OH do not find fault with the dreadfulness of God that God appears thus dreadful to you and do not you blame the Ministers of God that they do render God in this dreadful manner before you though it 's true that God appears in a way ready to destroy you bu 〈…〉 the Lord yet is infinite holy and blessed and a God of mercy and goodness in himself O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self thou maiest thank thy self for all this 〈◊〉 many of you when you hear the terrors of God set before you perhaps your hearts rise against them and your spirits do exceedingly distast such things as those are and why do Ministers make God appear to be so terrible to people when as he is such a merciful and gracious God Oh! rather lay thine hand upon thine own heart and say God indeed is thus gracious and merciful but it 's through my wickedness that makes God appear so terrible the judgments of God are call'd strange things it 's because that God hath not such delight in the execution of wrath in appearing like a Lyon a Leopard and a Bear It 's that that pleases the heart of God to appear as a Father to do good to his people Oh! but thou hast destroyed thy self And this is a main point indeed that sinful people should charge themselves with all the evil that doth befall them they destroy themselves Oh! this it is that will be the aggravation of mens judgments another day that they are the cause of all the evils they suffer You may think to put it off to God and say Oh how dreadful is Gods Justice but God knows how to put off all upon your selves and the destruction of sinners will appear to be from themselves and God will cleer it up to all the World before Men and Angels and will cleer it up unto their Consciences The damn'd in Hell shall not be able to speak against Gods Justice at all but they shall be forced to charge themselves with all the evil that is upon them Oh! it was through this wretched and vile wicked heart of mine God was not wanting to me in any means of good but I had a rebellious heart and I have brought all this evil upon my self I have destroyed my self O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self Destroyed himself did not God in the words imme 〈…〉 〈◊〉 before say that he would meet him as a Bear that is bereaved of her Whelps and would rend the Caul of their hearts and would be as a Lyon to them and a Leopard and yet O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self Though God execute severe wrath and makes use of instruments of wrath against a people yet their destruction is to be attributed to themselves
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations CONTINUED Upon the Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Chapters of the PROPHESY OF HOSEA Being First delivered in several LECTURES at Michaels Cornhil LONDON By Jeremiah Burroughs Being the Seventh Book published by Thomas Goodwin William Greenhil Sydrach Simpson William Bridge John Yates Will. Adderly LONDON â—â—inted by Peter Cole at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil near the Royal Exchange 1651. To the READER GOD who alone is perfect in Himself hath reteined this Prerogative to Himself That His Work should be perfect as Moses speaks And as another Holy One hath it doth al his pleasure Paul though in what-ever he was to commit to writing in matters sacred had infalibility of assistance yet perfected not all be intended These things we will do if God permit said he to the Hebrews But we no where find extant any evidence that he accomplished what he there intended Namely A full Methodical Discourse upon those first Principles and Foundations of Religion which that speech had reference unto It is no wonder then that if such a kind of Imperfection accompanied the Works of so great a Master-builder if it attend those who build on this Foundation and are not priviledged as yet he was from building Hay and stubble This sort of Incompleatness hath befallen the Works of this worthy Author in respect to the finishing of this Prophesie which he intended and had performed wherein yet to the Church of God there shal be no loss there being no thoughts nor Notions suggested to any man which though for the present they die with him But the same Spirit that is the inspirer of all doth bring to light in some one or other servant of God in his own time What a Treasury of Thoughts seemed to be lost and to die with the Savior of the World which he had not could not then utter which yet the Spirit that fil'd him without measure distributed amongst the Apostles that came after him according to the measure of the gift of Christ in each There is no beam of Divine Light hath shone into any mans heart that shal finaly and for ever be put under a Bushel but in the end shall be set up to give light to the whol House The purpose of this Preface is To consign the Pasport thorough the World of these last Notes of the Author upon this Prophesie Namely The Eleventh Twelfth and Thirteenth Chapters and to assure the Reader That they are the best and most genuine that can be expected being collected out of those under his hand al along and the best Copies of those that took them from his mouth And to subjoyn this hearty prayr for a blessing from Heaven on these the rest of these our Brothers Labors that are published that his Works may follow him and he receive at latter day a full reward even according to the fruit of his doings Thomas Goodwyn William Greenhil Sydrach Simpson William Bridge John Yates Will. Adderly THE CONTENTS CHAP. XI VERS I. COhaerence Page 2 Observation 1 God stands much upon the cleering of himself to be a God of Love and Mercy Ibid. Obs 2 It is the Priviledg of the Saints to be beloved of God 4 Obs 3. It is a great aggravation of sin to sin against Love 5 Obs 4 It 's very useful to call to mind Gods old Love 6 Obs 5 All Gods old mercies remain engagements to duty and aggrations of sin 7 Obs 6 Let not our hearts sink though we are able to do but little for God 8 Obs 7 If God love us so soon our love to God ought not to be deferred 9 Obs 8 The Church is in the same relation to God as a Son is to a Father 11 Obs 9. Let wicked men take heed how they use the Saints for they are Gods Sons 12 Obs 10 The Saints are not only Sons in relation but in community ib. Obs 11. Gods Sons are not free from sore and grievous evils in this world 13 Obs 12 It 's a great mercie to be called out of Egypt 14 Obs 13. God hath an eye to Christ in all he doth 19 VER II. Exposition 22 Obs 1 It 's a mercie of God to have Gods Ministers calling us to obedience 23 Obs 2 When God hath called us out of affliction it 's a great addition of mercie to call us out of son unto duty ib. Obs 3 It 's a great aggravation of mens sins if they be called to duty after God hath called them out of misery and they do not obey it ib. Obs 4 For men not only to disobey Gods call but to turn away themselves from it and from those that speak to them in his name is very micked and a high degree of sinfulness 24 Obs 5 It is yet a higher wickedness to have our corruptions irritated by the Word and provoked ib. Obs 6 That Gods free grace is very great and very strong 25 Use Comfort against a stubborn heart 26 VER III. Exposition 27 Obs 1 When God calls his people out of afflictions yet they know no more how to guide themselves in their way than a little child doth 28 Vse for England 29 Obs 2 The way that God leades people in many times may be a way of much difficultie ib. Use We have cause to bless God that we are in his way 30 Obs 3 Though we meet with difficultys in our way yet God loves to teach his people how to go in their way and the more difficult their way is the more care hath God of them to teach them how to go ib. Use Be not discouraged at your difficulties but look up to God for guidance ib. Obs 4 Seeing God makes it a fruit of his love to teach them how to go when you see others slip and stumble in the way of profession of Religion Bless God then for his mercie towards you that he helps and teaches you in your way 33 Obs 5 Take heed you that have need of teaching that you be not wayward foolish wanton and unruly and that you do not wilfully run into rugged and slippery waies 34 Obs 6 Gods Ministers and all others should labor to follow God in this way of his that is To have a tender care of others ib. Obs 7 Gods Ministers must not be discouraged though they meet with those that are very froward 35 Obs 8 It is a great aggravation of sin when children requite not their parents for their education 36 Obs 9 God will not cast off his children though they get hurt 37 Use Be not discouraged when you have gone out of Gods way because the Lord will heal his people 38 Obs 10. God doth us much good we knew not of 39 Use Not to abuse our strength in the waies of sin and so manifest that you know not that God hath healed you 41 VER IV. Exposition 42 Obs 1 That the waies of God are very rational so that they may draw any man of understanding to love
I remember the kindness of thy youth saith God For yong people to love God Oh! God loves that God loves the love of yong ones the love of children how sweet will old age be to thee if thou canst say thus Lord through thy mercy I have loved thee from a child and that 's an evidence that thou didest love me when I was a child How many are there now that are old whom God loved when they were yong that would give ten thousand worlds if they had them that they had known and loved God sooner than they have done Though it 's true I lived in wickedness almost all my daies and yet at length God manifested himself to me and by that I know God hath loved me from eternity but Oh! that I had loved God from a child I say those whose eyes God enlightens and hearts God converts to himself would give ten thousand thousand worlds that they could but say this Oh that I had but loved God from a child You who are children and yong ones do you begin betimes to love God that if you live to be old you may say that God loved you from a child It was an excellent speech of Austin when God pleased to work upon his heart Lord I loved thee too late And so it will be with any that do begin to love God they will say that they loved God too late and it will be the great burden to their souls that they loved God so late as they did And called my Son out of Egypt I call'd him that is by Moses and Aaron I sent them to call them out of Egypt and bring them from thence and this seems to have reference to that Scripture in Exod. 4. 22. where the Lord saith Israel is my Son even my first born Moses comes to Pharaoh in the Name of God to have Israel out of Egypt and he coms to Pharaoh after this manner and Tell him that God saith Israel is my son even my first born so in Jer. 31. 9. I am a Father to Israel and Ephraim is my first born My son The Seventy have it in the plural My sons his sons out of Egypt but in the Hebrew it is in the singular I called my son out of Egypt and although the holy-Ghost speaks of al the people in general yet he puts them in the singular number and in their very community they are cal'd the son of God The Church that 's the Note from hence is related to God as a son to the father yea the very first-born what God speaks of the people of Israel is especially intended towards his Saints which are the true Israel of God they have the priviledg to be sons unto God to be children Is it a light matter saith David to be the son in Law to to a King but then what do you think it is to be the son to the King of Heaven and Earth and the Heir of Heaven and Earth Is Ephraim my dear son Jer. 31. 20. Ephraim my dear son This is the priviledg therfore of the Saints that God deals with them as sons I 'le spare them as a Father spareth his own son that serveth him in the third Chapter of Malachy the 17. verse And the special priviledg that they have from this is that they are not under that Law that slaves are under in reference to God those that are in the state of slaverie they are under this Law Do or Die if thou doest offend but in the least thou shalt perish for ever the curse of the Law is upon thee But the Sons of God are brought into another condition not to be under that Law they indeed if they do offend may be corrected and chastized but they are never under the Law of the sentence of eternal death for their offence there 's a great deal of difference between the administration of God towards Slaves and towards Sons This is the great priviledg of Son-ship That thou art not under the Law thou art brought under another Law under the Law of Jesus Christ that though thy sin indeed of its own nature if God should deal with thee in Justice would be enough to put thee under an eternal Curse yet being a Son God puts thee under another Law and doth not deal with thee by that Law that pronounces a Curse against every sin They are Sons Secondly Let wicked men who have to deal with Gods people when any of the Saints of God are under their power let them take heed how they use them For they are Sons they are not Slaves they are the Sons of the eternal God in Jer. 2. 14. Is Israel a Servant is he a home-born Slave why is he spoiled How comes it to pass that Israel is dealt withall so as he is What is not Israel a Son When as any of the people of God are under the power of any men God looks upon them as Sons and if they deal hardly with them God will enquire and will say thus Is such a one a slave had he been a slave I would not so much have car'd for your dealings thus with him but he is a Son You find in the Acts that they were afraid when they heard that Paul was a Roman When thou knowest thou hast to deal with a Son of God know that thou hast not so much liberty to misuse him as thou hast to misuse another man though no liberty to misuse any Thirdly The Saints are not only Sons in their particular relation but in their Community they are sons too Take them joyn'd together as the members of the Church and so the whole Community of the Church now is but as one Son I called my Son out of Egypt He speaks of the whole Body of Israel Now the Lord looks upon the Community of his Church as one Son in the singular number There are many priviledges that do belong to the Church of God in their Community as well as in their particular relation And they should labor to unite themselves much together seeing God puts them altogether in the singular number Oh! the Lord loves unity in his Church Though a Son yet in Egipt That 's the Note further from thence That Gods Sons are not free from sore and grievous evils in this world though they be Sons yet they may go into Egipt In Jer. 12. 7. I have for saken mine house I have left mine heritage I have given the dearly beloved of my Soul into the hands of her enemies Though the dearly beloved of Gods Soul yet given into the hands of enemies Though Gods Son yet goes into Egypt So the Church under Antichrist for above twelve hundred years God gave up his Sons into that spiritual Egypt We must not think therefore as soon as we come under greivous afflictions that God hath cast us off from being Sons though they were in
Egypt yet stil they were my Sons Now we are ready to think that if God bring us into sore afflictions then we are no more sons No thou mayest be delivered up to the power of the enemy and yet a son of God still and no slave for all that and no enemy There 's a notable Scripture in Deut. 32. 10. where it is said of the people of Israel That they were in the waste howling wilderness and yet they were as the apple of Gods eye so thou maest be delivered up to the wast howling wilderness to suffer sore things to be banished from thy house and home and to wander up and down in the wilderness and yet remain as the apple of Gods eye It is a strange sight indeed to see a child of God an Heir of Heaven a Co heir with Jesus Christ one dearer unto God than Heaven and Earth to be under the power the humors the lusts of wicked men of base ungodly ones yet it is so yea for a time they may be slaves to Satan I say those that God hath an eternal love to even are for a season oft times slaves to Satan But then they have not the comfort of this Son-ship nor do not know it But now they may know themselves to be Sons and yet slaves to the humors of wicked and ungodly men there is not a stranger sight in the world I beleeve the Angels in Heaven do not see a stranger sight that they more admire at when they see a godly man to be under the lusts of wicked men but this is Gods work for the present God intends to manifest himself in another way hereafter but for the present he fetches about the glory of his own ends this way to let even his own dear sons to be in Egypt But God calls them out of Egypt God hath his time to deliver his people and call them out of Egypt and 't is but a Call and it 's done it is as easily done as a man that gives a call for such a one out of such a place let our bondage be never so great 't is but a word from God to deliver us Again It is a great mercy to be cal'd out of Egypt This the Lord here brings as a great testimony of his love to them that he calls them out of Egypt In Exod. 12. 42. It is a night to be much observed of all the Children of Israel in their Generations To be called from that Egypt was a fruit of Love and so to be called from spiritual Egypt for mans natural estate is a spiritual Egypt to be cal'd from Antichristian Egypt is a great fruit of Love and as 't is a fruit of love so it is an aggravation of sin for so it is brought I called my Son out of Egypt and yet they did thus and thus If God remembred this mercy of calling them out of Egypt so many years before as an aggravation of their sin how much more may the Lord make that an aggravation of our sin that called us of late out of that Egypt that we were in Many waies I might shew you that we were under a great if not a greater bondage than the Israelites were under in Egypt And there hath been as out stretched an arm though not so obvious to sence in calling of us out as in calling of them out of Egypt now let not this be an aggravation of our sin the sound of our cries under the yoke of our bondage is not yet out of our ears and the very sores of our shoulders through their yokes are not yet throughly healed and therefore if we now before the sound be out of our ears and our sores be healed yet grow to be wanton foolish vain proud cruel oppressing one another and abusing of our liberty Oh! our sin must needs be accounted exceeding great before God Well but yet we see not all the mind of God in this expression nor the chief part of his mind for we find in in Matth. 2. 15. that there the holy Ghost cites this Scripture that now I am opening to you and interprets it of Jesus Christ When Jesus Christ was fain to fly into Egypt to save his life the holy Ghost saith That it was to fulfil that Scripture I called my Son out of Egypt It is a very strange Interpretation as we have divers other such in the new Testament and Hierom upon the place saith That Julian takes advantage upon this and some of the Jews with others that hated Christian Religion did take much advantage upon this quotation of Matthew against the Authority of the Gospel and said surely it argued Matthew very unskilful in Scripture that he should make such a quotation as this when it is apparant that it is spoken of the calling of the people of Israel out of Egypt And truly we should never have thought that there had been such a meaning in this place of Hosea had we not found it so interpreted by the holy Ghost And by the way before we come to open that and shew how that was a right quotation of this Scripture I 'le but observe this one Note from it that we may see that by the interpretation both of Matthew and divers other places we find in the new Testament that there is much more of the mind of God in the old Testament than was ordinarily known to them that lived in those times Which of the Jews could have made such an Interpretation I have called my Son out of Egypt That is Jesus Christ after he is born he shall be persecuted and forced to fly for his life and that into Egypt and he shall come again out of Egypt who could have thought the holy Ghost could have intended such a thing as this is Things were not understood til they came to be fulfilled and then they were understood And the truth is as in the old Testament so in the new there are a great many Scriptures that we understand yet but little of And the time of our knowing the meaning of them is reserved to the time when they are to be fulfilled many Prophesies we have in the Revelations and other places that are I am confident as dark to us as this place of Hosea was dark to the Jews and there is as excellent a spiritual meaning in many places of the new Testament hidden from us that will hereafter to the Church of God be revealed cleerly as there were in the old Testament many places I know not whether I may say as many as those but are as much hidden from us Jesus Christ that was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world in Rev. 5. 〈◊〉 he that shall open the Book that is seal'd and it is a fruit of the death of Christ it is the Lamb as he is a Lamb slain from the beginning of the world that shall open the Book that is sealed there are many
they must come into the wast howling wilderness and there be led along for fourty years together and yet God doth reckon up his guidance of them here in this way as a fruit of his love So long as we are in Gods way though the way be difficult yet we have cause to bless God that we are in his way and let not us be troubled at the difficulty of our way when we see God before us and leading us in our way Thirdly Though we meet with difficulties in our way yet God loves to teach his people how to go in their way and the more difficult their way is the more care hath God of them to teach them how to go We do not find such an expression of Gods care of them to teach them in any other way but this of theirs when they went first out of Egypt because that way was the most difficult therfore God takes upon him in a special manner to teach them in that way Be not discouraged at your difficulties but when you are in your way and your conscience tels you that it is not a way that you have chosen to your selves look up to God for guidance cry to him as you find in Psal 107. 6. They cryed to the Lord in their trouble and then vers 7. he led them forth in a right way Mark how these two are joyned together They cryed to the Lord in their trouble and he led them forth in a right way When you are in straights cry to God in your trouble the Lord will lead you forth in a right way When we have been in the greatest straits and have had the hardest way to go how hath God taken us up in his arms Through Gods mercy though we be very weak yet we are gone on a great way even from Egypt from our spiritual Egypt and bondage It is unthankfulness in people to say We are in as bad a condition as ever we were VVhat God may bring us to through the unthankfulness of men we know not but certainly through Gods mercy we have been led along a great way in our journey God hath taught us to go it hath not been the wisdom nor providence of men that hath carried us on in our way so far as we have been no we have found apparantly we are not much beholden to the wisdom of men for that way that we have been carried on in but 't is God that hath come in in our straits we see by what hath fallen out how we should have perished in our way we should have returned into Egypt how often have we been ready to think Would things were with us as heretofore they have been Oh! this hath been the peevishness of our spirits to be thinking of turning into Egypt as it was with this people though God was with them in their way yet often they thought of returning back again We have been ready to be thinking of by-waies for our selves and every one to be shifting his own way and what cross paths have we walked in first one way and then another way undoing what we have done First engaging men and then discouraging the same men that we have encoraged though they have continued the same yet our spirits have not continued the same towards them VVe may apply that that you have in Jer. 31. 22. which is spoken in reference to their way coming out of their captivity How long wilt thou go about O thou backsliding daughter It may be well applied to England at this day Oh! how long wil we go about that is shifting this way and that and not daring to trust God in his way we are afraid that if we should go on in the right path that God guids us in that we should miscarry and therefore we go about and that 's the reason it is so long before we have our deliverance because we go about and do not follow Gods guidance in our way There 's an excellent promise that God makes to his people in Jer. 31. 9. in reference to the guiding of them in their way from their Captivity They shal come with weeping and with supplications wil I lead them I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble for I am a father to Israel aud Ephraim is my first born This is a Scripture very sutable to that Scripture we are now opening It 's a fruit of fatherly love to guide us in a straight way and keep us from stumbling But mark how this shall be done They shall come with weeping and with supplications will I lead them There must be weeping and supplication to cry to God for guidance in our way As a poor child if it be left a little by the Mother or Nurse it stands crying to be guided in its way and this should be our care in all our straights not to fly upon this Instrument or the other but to cry to God to guide us in our way We may apply this to Gods guidance of the soul from spiritual Egypt when God brings the soul out of the spiritual bondage he guides it in the way to heavenly Canaan you whom the Lord are bringing out of your Spiritual Bondage look up to God to teach you how to go why For your way is a hard way it is a straight way it is a narrow way that you are going now it hath many stumbling blocks in it it hath many by-paths near it that are very like to it Your way is a very slippery way and you had need be taught how to go you may slip and fall and break your selves quickly if you be not taught how to go you that are yong beginners in the way of Religion be not too confident in your own understanding and your own strength many poor children for want of the care of their Nurses have gotten such fals when they were children that have lam'd them and made them go crooked all their daies and so it hath been with yong Professors of Religion many yong ones in the profession of Religion because they have been too bold and confident in their own understanding the Lord hath left them to such fals that they prove but crooked all the daies of their profession but though they do go on in a way of profession of Religion they are but maim'd Professors crooked Professors because of the falls that they have gotten when they were yong ones And truly we have very great cause to fear that who lives but a few years to see those that are yong Professors of Religion now live to be something old I say we have cause to fear that those that live to see it will see a great many maim'd and crooked Professors of Religion for there are a many yong ones in these slippery times gets fals that venture so much upon the Ice upon doubtful things
remember I have read of the Pisidians a certain Heathen people that when they were a Feasting at any time the first fruit of all their Feast they would offer to their Parents as thinking it unseemly for them to rejoyce in the use of the Creature without shewing due honor to their Parents from whom they had their being and education Heathens have ever condemned undutifulness in children to be unnatural and liable to punishment and they have punished undutifulness and the Law of God we know doth punish a stuborn child with death But they knew not that I healed them Many times children though there be a great care to teach them how to go yet they will venture themselves and by their venturousness and wantoness they get many a knock and bruise So it was with this people indeed my care was towards them but they would go their own way and they often bruised themselves Well did God therefore reject them and say It is through your own fault that you have gotten these bruises and maims No I healed them saith God Though he were never so froward and he got by that many bruises yet my pity was so great that I healed those very bruises and maims that he got by his wilfulness Though in the reading of this we may pass it easily by yet it is as notable a Scripture as most we have in the Book of God What 's the reason our consciences do so misgive us and that we are so afraid that the Lord will leave us to our selves when our consciences accuse us of this Oh! we may thank our selves for it the Lord shewed us another way but we through our sinfulness and frowardness would go in our own way Can we think that the Lord should have care of us in our sores that we got our selves by our wilfulness yes saith God such was my compassion towards Ephraim that I taught him how to go and yet they got bruises But I healed them afterwards That 's the Note from it God will not cast off his children though they get hurt yea though they get hurt by their own sin yet the Lord is so gracious as to heal thm You have a notable Scripture for this in Isa 57. 17 18. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wrath and smote him I hid me and was wrath and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart He went on frowardly when I smote him what then in the 18. verse I have seen his waies One would have thought that should have followed I have seen his waies and I 'le smite him and plague him and make him to know what it is to deal so frowardly and perversely with me but behold the goodness of the Lord Gods waies are not the waies of men his thoughts are not our thoughts for he saith I have seen his waies and will heal him and restore comforts to him I will not say I will never leade him more because he would not regard my teaching but goes his own waies and gets many bruises No I have seen his waies and will heal him and lead him notwithstanding Oh! be not discouraged when you have gone out of Gods way but be troubled and ashamed make use of this promise the Lord sees the frowardness of his people and yet will heal them and lead them and restore comfort to them And my brethren thus hath the Lord dealt graciously with us in our inconsiderate foolish sinful courses how often we in this Land have been brought low by our inconsiderate foolish waies we have been sore wounded we have been in danger to bleed to death by the falls that we have got we have often given all for gone as it were mens waies have been so perverse and cross as there hath been little hope of any good that sometimes when we have met together we have even said al is gone we are but betraied and therefore there is little hope of any good Have not we oftentimes said thus but the Lord hath come in and healed us and that Scripture in Isa 57. hath been made good unto us the Lord hath beheld the frowardness of our waies and yet hath healed us and yet hath led us You have gone one in such and such waies saith God and you have even undone your selves in them and you were made but fools and others squandered away your estates and nothing came of it well you knew not what to do I 'le leade you in waies that you do not think of in such waies as you have the least hopes of good by I wil lead you on in those waies and restore comfort to you My Brethren the waies that the Lord hath this last Summer restored comfort to England by were they waies that any of you did think of this time twelve month Certainly it was never in the imaginations and thoughts of men to be brought in such waies as the Lord hath lead us in and restored comforts to us by the Lord did see that the way of the old Soldery was not the way to restore comforts to England but the Lord hath led us in other waies well let Gods healing of our bruises that we get in walking in our own waies make us thankful and careful that we run not wilfully into any such waies any more that we be not still more ventrous and more careless if we be God may suffer us to break our bones for though God be patient and loving and merciful yet he hath times to leave men in the perversness of their waies it may cost us dear before we are healed if God doth leave us though God may not take away his love to cast us wholly off I but we may be forced to cry again and again with David in Psal 51. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce David would go out of his way and he got such a fal as he broke his bones Oh! that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce When God heals us he expects that we should take notice of his work that we should acknowledg him But mark what follows But they knew not that I healed them I healed them saith God but they knew not that I healed them My Brethren that 's the Note from it God doth us much good that we know not of I say God doth us much good that we know not of not only in preventing mercies in a day that we know not of but in healing mercies we attribute our healing to this and the other cause but it is God that comes in in the use of means somtimes comes in beyond means though means oftentimes hath been used and no good hath been done by them at last God by a secret and invisible blessing he comes and heals us we must not envie at the honor that is due to Instruments But certainly by the healing that we have had
better than thy waies they are so rational The Second Observation is this The way to prevail with men it is to deal with them in a rational way the way that I took with this people to prevail with them it was to draw them with the cords of men Certainly the way that God takes to prevail with people is the best way Therfore those men that would prevail with any people to bring them to any thing that they desire t is to deal with them in a rational way and so seek to prevail with them the Spirit of God doth so in Joh. 16. 8. And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin it is shall come with DEMONSTRATION for so the word Logically signifies it 's a word that signifies to convince in a way of demonstration that one cannot deny possibly and so the Apostle saith We came in the demonstration of the spirit and of power Mark Demonstration of the Spirit so it came to be in power and it concerns Ministers more especially If you that are Ministers would speak powerfully to people speak in demonstration the demonstration of the Spirit indeed it must be there is a spiritual Reason in the Scripture Ministers must not think to scare men into the waies of Godliness though I know some times God makes use of the bare terrors of the Law but the main thing whereby Ministers must have hope to do good to their people must be by preaching convincingly to overcome their very reason as much as possibly can be and to set the Law of God so before them as if they will but judg between God and their own souls they shall condemn themselves and approve of God That Ministry is like to be the best Soul-saving Ministry that meets with every objection of their hearts and at every turn the secrets of their hearts comes to be opened Oh! remember you preach to men and therefore you make use of that reason that you find in Scripture I know reason alone will never do it I but God when he works to the salvation of souls he works upon them after the manner of men and therefore the Ministers of God that are Co-workers with God they should work in such a sutable way And not only Ministers but Majestrates too they must labor to draw them with the Cords of men also that is not by violence in thing that men cannot be convinc'd of to think to force them in a way of violence I say in things that they cannot be convinc'd of in such things as they are not wilfully ignorant of they must not make prisons and fines to be arguments these are not the Cords of men indeed in things that have the light of common Equitie and Justice as Civil things that carry in the very face of them a light of common Equitie and Justice there Majestrates need not stay for any further convincement and there I say they need go no further but they may deal with them in a violent way if they break those but in all things that are of a more dubious nature and that are from connexions and consequences and more difficult to be understood and that are controversal even among godly men and wise men there they must look to it and people must have waies of instruction first and to be informed first and likewise if they do not oppose them in a wilful way but if they see that they do desire to understand what they are able and cannot they must not think to go on in a way of violence there that is not to deal with men like men in that thing to force them unto such waies that they do not see reason for and let them labor to the uttermost they can they are not able to understand then certainly there must be forbearance in such things and especially the rather because that Christ hath given us charge not to yeeld to any thing in matter of Religion till we do understand the rule of it Whatsoever is not of faith is sin when Chist gives that charge that we must not yeeld to it because such and such men do so till we do examine it and be able to understand the rule now then surely the uttermost that the power of violence and force can do is this To make men examin things but no further And so for you that have any under you your servants and children instruct them shew them the evil of their waies do not fly upon them with your rage and passion but deal with them like men in way of instruction The third Note is this It 's a great aggravation of mens sin not to be drawn by these Cords of men for a man to stand out against reason is a great aggravation so men stand out against many waies of God and yet their consciences fly in their faces and condemn them Oh! thou art a wretch that though the Lord hath sought to draw thee with the Cords of a man with Reason and hath convinc'd thee he hath gotten the cords into thy conscience and God pulls and thou pullest and wilt not be drawn with those Cords Oh! this is a wickedness for men to go on in waies that their own consciences do condemn them in Some vain reasonings can draw men to sin as a Cart-rope that 's the meaning of that place They draw iniquity as it were with a Cart rope that is their vain reasnings that they have for their sin twisted together make a strong Cart-rope to draw iniquity Oh! shall not Gods Cords be as strong as the Devils Cords or Mans Cords Manie there are though God seems to draw them with these Cords of a man yet their lusts are so strong like pamperd horses in a Team they will break the Cart-ropes break all their harness to peeces and so do manie unruly Spirits even say like those in Psal 2. Let us break his bonds and cast away his Cords from us Well thou shalt one day be held by the Cords of thine own sin as the Scripture speaks and thy conscience shall lash thee with those Cords of Conviction that did not draw thee Shall not the Cords of Conviction draw thee from thy sin they shall serve to be as whips to lash thy soul even to all eternity know that the Rules of Right-reason and Scripture-reason shall stand when thou and thousands of such wilful fools as thou art shall perish eternally And these are the Notes for Gods dealing in a Rational way And then the second was in a Gentle way First Mans Nature if it be not degenerated is of a loving gentle disposition 't is the nature of man to be of a gentle disposition that 's the Note from hence and I raise it thus I dealt with them with the Cords of a man that is Gently which is mans Nature such a gentleness as fair means will work upon it rather than ridged waies
Covenants to God and then sin again and God comes upon them again and they fall a crying out of their sin again Well they are raised and the hearing of the Word that never prevails with them but in their afflictions then they will repent and cry out Oh! cry out of their companie Oh! that we had spent our time in praying and in lamenting for our sin that we spent in such and such company Yea this is when Gods hand is upon you But what do you do upon the hearing of Gods Word that 's to be like a man to be drawn by the Word and not to be mov'd only by blows Oh! thou hast a beastial heart and brutish heart and charge your selves with that brutish heart I fear some of you have cause to say That in all the course or my life my heart hath never yeelded to God but just when blows hath been upon me I beseech you brethren deal with God like men God deals with you like men And that might have been another Note in windâ—â—g up all I drew them with the Cords of a man and with the bonds of Love The Lord deals with us sutable to our Nature Oh let us deal with God as far as we are able sutable to his nature Why doth God regard us as men let us regard him as God then let us glorifie God as a God when the Lord hath to deal with us he considers we are men when we have to deal with God let us consider he is God and as the Lord is pleased to condescend to us as men Oh! let us labor to ascend up to him as God With Bonds of Love The word here translated Bonds it is Thick Cords not only with Cords as you have it before but with Thick Cords so the word that is translated Bonds signifies for it comes of a word that signifies to Wreath and to thicken with wrea hing that as you see those that make Cords and Lines they take their Hemp and wreath one Wreath and then they take another and wreath that and so another and wind many Wreaths together and so make a strong Cord that 's the propriety of this word With the Bonds of Love That is with such Bonds as have many Wreaths in them have many things joyned together to make it to be a strong Cord a Cord as strong as a Cart rope for so I find the same word is used in Isa 5. 18. where it is said They draw iniquity with the Cords of vanity and sin as it were with a Cart rope The word that is trranslated there Cords it is the same that is in the former part of our verse The Cords of a man But now the other And sin as it were with a Cart rope that 's the same word that here you have in the text translated The Bonds of Love With a thick Rope of a Cart with a Rope that hath many Wreaths in it so that though the former word in your English CORDS seems to have as much as the latter BONDS yet according to the Hebrew this latter hath more in it and signifies such Cords as have many twisted and wreathed together As indeed we shall find when we come now to open the Bonds of Love that God did draw this people withal we shall find many Cords wreathed and twisted together to bind this people fast to God you have a sutable expression somewhat paralel to this in Jer. 31. 3. With loving kindness have I drawn thee saith God I have drawn them with the Bonds of Love that is thus I have used them in a loving way If love would have gained them if love would have overcome them if love would have bound them to me they have wanted no love saith God whereas they had deserved the bonus of iron to be upon them instead of those iron bonds that their sins deserved they have had the bonds of love If you ask me what were those Bonds of Love that God drew this people of Israel unto Himself by The first was this God did wonderfully separate this people from all the Nations in the world unto Himself to be a people unto himself and that out of love and this was a great fruit of love and a strong Wreath this was had there been nothing else That God should set his heart upon this people above all other people in the earth to be his people in Exod. 33. 16. Wherein saith Moses shall it be known that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight if thou goest not with us for thereby saith he shall ne be separated from all Nations of the Earth it is in your books only shall be separated but the Hebrew word signifies wonderfully separated we shall wonderfully be separated from all the Nations of the earth Indeed the Lord he did wonderfully separate the people from all the Nations of the earth and this was only out of love it was not from any excellencie he saw in this people In Deut. 7 6. The Lord did not chuse thee c. but in the 7. verse He did not set his love upon you nor chuse you because you were more in number than other people for you were the least of all people Observe my brethren by the way That the Lord doth not alwaies stand upon number upon the greatest this indeed is our argument that so many go in such a way and so few in another way and so surely God is most like to approve of that that the most go on in No God doth not alwaies stand upon number saith he I did not chuse you because you were most in number for I knew that you were the least therefore it was only love that made the Lord chuse this people at first and separate them from other Nations And then the second Bond of Love is I chose you and your seed also And this was a great mercie If I had but only set my heart upon your selves it had been somwhat but it was upon you and your seed so as to bring you and your seed into Covenant with me There 's two twists as I may so say in this Bond of Love that he should chuse them and their seed and bring them both into Covenant for thus you have it in Deut. 4. 37. Because he loved thy fathers therfore he chose their seed after them and in Ezek. 16. 8. there the text saith It was a time of love and I took you and entered into Covenant with you It was a time of Love and that made the Lord to enter into Covenant with this people God shewed it was a time of love indeed that he would take such a people as this was and enter into Covenant with them And then the third Twist I set my heart upon them to delight in them too I made them my portion my inheritance my Treasure the Deerly
is called by the Name Love it shews that Love is very amiable and very beautiful Secondly Love it hath much sweetness in it much power to insinuate its self into the heart As we know base love adultrous love it hath a great deal of power to insinuate into the heart in Eccles 7. 26. the hands of the whorish woman are called bonds If whorish love hath such power so to insinuate and to be bonds much more then hath True Love Cracious Love Thirdly Love it is generative Love hath a great generative power to beged Love Augustin saith There is no greater provocation to Love than to begin to love Love can draw iron hearts Love it is the Loadstone of Love it will draw Love and beget Love where ever it is Fourthly Where Love is got into the soul it cōmands all it commands all the Faculties and Understanding where Love is got Look what a man loves so accordingly his understanding will work It a man loves his sin his understanding will be working for his sin Oh what subtil Arguments will men have for their sin when they love it any way that a mans heart is engaged in Love he will be very subtil to argue for it So on the contrary when once the Lord hath taken the heart with Love this Love commands the understanding and then all reasonings are for God and the soul it hearkens after no reasonings that are against God or against his waies when once the heart is taken with Love If a mans heart be taken with love to a Woman he will hear nothing against her but if his love be taken off from her then every report that he hears against her he will aggravate to the uttermost he can and will soon beleeve it So it is when a mans heart is taken with the things of God and of Religion it will hear nothing against them but if a mans heart be off and do not love the waies of God then they are glad if they can hear any thing that makes against them Love commands all the Faculties of the Soul the Understanding and the Thoughts it commands the Will and Affections it commands the Body it commands the Estate it commands the Liberties it commands all that a man hath or is or can do Love hath the absolute commanding power of all Oh! Love hath strong Bonds And again Love it makes every thing that is done for the beloved to be delightful It doth not only command to do a thing but it makes it delightful I will rest in my love and rejoyce over them with singing saith God When the heart is once taken with love I say it doth not only do that which is good for that which it doth love but doth it with delight And then Love knows not any bounds it never sets its self any bounds at all but would do and do and do and do even infinitly for that it doth love so far as love prevails no bounds are set Yea and when it doth much it will not be wearie neither So far as the Soul is acted with Love it will never be wearie with what it doth Men that love their pastime all night they will sit up at it and never be tired so those that love the waies of God though the flesh may be weak yet not the spirit And then Love it is strong so as it stands out against all oppositions nothing that doth oppose can prevail against love in Cant. 8. 6 7. Love is as strong as death and many waters cannot quench the fire of love And then in the next place Love it rejoyces in suffering not only delights in doing but delights in suffering If one that loves another shall suffer for him that he doth love he will rejoyce in those sufferings And lastly Love it suffers not its self to be its self as it were to be at his own dispose Love doth wholly give its self into the possession of him that it doth love it is not his own no longer The heart that is once taken with love is no more its own but gives its self into the possession of that that it doth love so that put all these together and you may see that love it hath strong Bonds I drew them with the Bonds of Love And then a Second Note of Observation is this Let us do as God doth then that is Labor to cast the Bonds of Love upon those we have to deal with it 's Gods way to his people to bind them to himself to throw upon them Bonds of Love And then saith God I have enough I have them strong enough if I get them with the bonds of Love Oh let us do as God doth labor to draw people with bonds of Love If you would draw any to you let it be by Love do you desire to draw any to you you that are Ministers especially you are appointed to draw others to God it 's your work what should you do open the Love of God to them present the Grace of the Gospel to souls labor to work upon their hearts by all the mercies of God By the mercy of God tendered to them by the mercy of God received by them bestowed upon them There 's no such way to draw souls to God as this Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand that 's the preaching of the Gospel The first preaching of all Christs Sermons and of his Disciples was Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand As if he should say Oh! Sirs look about you Consider your waies there 's a glorious Kingdom now at hand a Kingdom of righteousness and mercy wherein the glory of the Grace of God comes to be revealed to the children of men in another way than ever formerly This is the way to bring men to repentance It 's true it 's good to use all means to shew the greatness and the justness and the holiness of God and the like But the prevailing argument above all to bring men to repentance it is That the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and indeed we would do so if we did consider that repentance it is a Gospel Grace it is not that that comes by the Law the Law takes no notice of repentance but the Gospel and therefore to present the Love of God as it is in the Gospel so there God manifests his love to the children of men and that 's the way to draw to repentance there 's a notable story that we have in the book of Martyrs not far from the beginning as also in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius speaking of John the Apostle that did commit a yong man which was very hopeful unto a Bishop to take care of him but afterwards proved to be very wicked and got among a company of theeves and so came to be the Captain of a company of theeves and robbers
and was wholly bent to slaughter and murder and extream cruelty and lived in the mountains Afterwards John comes to this Bishop to whom he had committed the yong man and bid him restore unto him the charge which he and Christ had committed into his Custody then the elder looking down with a heavy countenance sobbing and sighing said He is dead John enquiring how and what kind of death he answered he is dead to God for he is become the Captain of a company of theeves in such a place The Apostle then rending his garments in great sorrow said Prepare me a Horse and let me have a guide and so rode in post being come unto the place he is taken by the theevish watch he neither flieth nor resisteth but saith for this purpose came I hither bring me unto your Captain who being armed beheld him coming but when he knew that it was John he was strucken with shame and fled away The old man forgetful of his yeers pursueth him flying and crieth My son why fliest thou from me thy father unarmed and old O son tender my case be not afraid as yet there remaineth hope of salvation I will undertake for thee with Christ And thus he runs after him crying that yet there was hope of mercie and pardon and that he would die for him He hearing this first stood still turning his countenance to the ground next shoke off his Armor then trembled for fear and wept bitterly so that this broke his heart and he returns back and falls a weeping upon the neck of John and became an eminent Christian afterwards Whatsoever is to be thought of this story yet certainly there 's no such bonds as the bonds of Love to draw the hearts of people unto God Have you to deal with stony hearts the way it is to lay them upon the soft pillow of the Gospel and so you may break them lay a stone upon a stone and so it goes from you and doth not break but if you lay it upon a pillow you may presently break it with a hammer The Word is compared to a hammer yea but we must labor to lay the hearts of people upon the pillow as it were of Love upon the Grace of God in the Gospel and that 's the way to break their hearts there are none so bound to God as those that are bound to him by Love those that are bound to God by fear that hath not Love mixt withal their bonds will not hold they will seek quickly to break the bonds of fear there 's no men I say that are held to God by the bonds of fear but they will seek after any occasions to break those bonds and if they can but get any opportunity to get themselves out of those bonds they will and commonly at last they do break them and get themselves out of the bonds of fear but now those that are held by bonds of Love they are held for ever unto God I beseech you observe this Note When men cast off the sweet of their sin by the sweet of the Love of God then they will never return to their sin again Oh! but if it be only the bitterness of the Law of punishment that makes them cast off sin they will be ready to turn to their sin again as a dog will return to the vomit as a dog casts out the vomit meerly in regard of the pain he doth feel but when it is cast out by the sweet of Love when one sweet enters for another such hold on their way Austin hath a notable expression for that in the 9. Book of his Confessions about the beginning speaking of a sweeâ— of sin Thou Lord saith he didest cast out those sweetnesses and thou didest enter in thy self instead of them who art more sweet than any pleasure whatsoever And it was from hence that he held on so in his way because God casting out the sweet of sin instead of that sweet he had by sin before did himself I say enter into the soul that was more sweet to Austin's soul than all other sweetnesses whatsoever Oh! saith he afterwards The sweet it is to want those sweetnesses when he had the Love of God come in instead of whatsoever sweetness he had before No mervail though Grace be so persevering and we reade so much of perseverance especially in the times of the Gospel because that there 's none truly converted unto God but they have that sweet come into their souls through Love that is more delightful to them than all the sweet they had by sin before Never be afraid you that God is beginning to turn to himself never be loth to part with any sweetness you had in the waies of sin for by turning to God you shall find that sweetness in God and his waies that will be a thousand times more Oh they are things that they love and they are loth to part with them Yea but when you are turned to God God will be as lovely to you as ever any thing in the world was If the Ice be but broken over night by the Husbandman he comes the next day and it is frozen up again but let the Sun come with his warm beams and then it runs down with flakes then it breaks throughout many Countries together it breaks all at once by the beams of the Sun And so the beaking of the heart by the terrors of the Law it is but liâ— the breaking of the Ice with a pole by the Husbandmâ—â— to give the Cattel drink but when the Love of God co 〈…〉 to the heart then the corruptions of the heart dissolve even as the Ice dissolves when the warm Sun comes upon 〈◊〉 Th 〈…〉 ay therefore to gain the hearts of men it is by love And we should the rather do it because it is the great design of God in the Gospel To manifest his love to the Children of men he hath opened his heart and the treasures of love in the Gospel What is the Gospel but the treasures of the love of God opened those eternal loving kindnesse of God towards mankind they are opened in the Gospel and no Minister can be a faithful Minister of the Gospel but those that shall endeavor to open the heart love of God to the children of men in Jesus Christ and go to gain souls unto himself Oh! 't is a pleasant work to be a Minister of the Gospel in this respect to be alwaies searching into the treasures of Love and to make them known to souls for the gaining of them unto God And then likewise If you have to deal with men you must labor to draw them with the bonds of love in Phil. 2. 1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of Love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my Joy that ye be like minded saith the Apostle Oh! let it be
saith That Love bears all things I am loth to mention any further lest there should be any occasion of stirring up any spirits and so hindering the fruit of Love Let me say on the other side there may be too eager censure the other way that is to censure such as are of a different way and judgment that they do it altogether out of their self-ends and self-aims I verily beleeve that on the other side those brethren that do differ they may be consciencious in their way and do it out of zeal to God and to what they apprehend to be truth We should apprehend one another so if we see there be nothing else wherein they do manifest corruption of heart but meerly in their waies of difference in their judgments and opinions Now if both could but thus judg each of other that they both are upright in what they do pursue One side imagins that our part is Gods mind and the other side judges that that party is Gods mind let us judg now that they do it in uprightness except it apperrs some other way then we should quickly come to close and joyn hearts together if we had such upright opinions one of another therefore the more it is the design of the Devil to break those Bonds of Brotherhood and of Love the more should we labor to unight together And you who are Superiors labor you to gain your Inferiors by love Oh let those tie together do not say of your inferiors they are of untoward dispositions and how can my heart be towards them to love them Oh! none of your inferiors are more untoward unto you than you are unto Christ and Christ if he should not love you because of your untowardness what would become of you Now consider of this when your servants and children are untoward Why should that hinder love when as my untowardness doth not hinder the love of Christ to me I remember I have read of Monica Austins Mother her husband being an Heathen and that some of her neighbors that had Christian husbands wondred how they came to live so lovingly together saith other Christian women that were neighbors Our husbands are Christians and yours an Heathen and yet you live more lovingly with him than we do with our husbands She answered them It may be when your husbands do any thing that provokes you you are presently froward with them but I labor to overcome my husband by love so to gain his heart to me and upon that we live so lovingly together Christianity teaches me to perform the duties of a wife to my husband though my husband be an Heathen I verily beleeve there are many godly men and women that sometimes when the one is godly and the other is wicked You will say How can that be Yes though there be godliness yet there may be such frowardness and passion as may cause wonderful disturbance but on the other side where there is godliness and love there is such an overcoming with Love that though the man be wicked and never so harsh yet he hath the nature of a man in him and so long as he hath the nature of a man in him he will be overcome by Love and therefore that 's the way to bind men and women together Would you be united more than ever yet you have been labor to cast the Bonds of Love one upon another let the husband study how to overcome his wife with love and so the wife the husband and then there will be a sweet union indeed and so for Masters and servants there should be Love there to unite one to another though the master be above the servant yet the master should account it a happiness to him in that his servant doth love him there is not such a distance between you and your servants as there is between God and you Oh! it 's a sweet thing when a man can say in his family I bless God all my familie loves me And whatsoever they do they do it out of love to me It may be you are harsh towards your servants and you will make them do what you command them to do and they dare not do otherwise yea but what 's that but do your servants love you do they do all for you out of Love you might have as much obedience from your servants as you have and have it a great deal better than you have if you have it out of love and so likewise in a family when one servant loves another as it was said of David in 1 Sam. 18. 22. All his servants love thee all Sauls servants did love David so those that are servants should labor to live so in families as all the other servants should love them But you will say They are so wicked that how can I hope to have love from them Yes Though they cannot love thee as thou art godly yet godliness hath something in it that is common to the excellency of mans nature Yea and those that are in place of power in the Magestracie they should labor to gain those that are under them by love as the greatest in a family if he be a Lord or an Earl should not think it too much to gain a servant by Love so those that have the greatest power in Government they should not think it too much to gain their meanest Subjects in a way of Love we see it was thus with David 1 Chron. 28. 2. Then David the King stood up and said Hear me my Brethren and my People See what a sweet expression is here of a great Prince Then David the King stood up and he said Hear me my Brethren and my People he did not sit down Majesterially and say My People and you that are my Subjects and that are under me I command you to do thus and thus but he stands up unto them and saith Hear me my Brethren my People This was a way to gain the hearts of people unto him You know Absolom he sought in a false way to steal away the hearts of people by a gentle carriage I remember I have read of John the Second a King of Portugal he chose his Emblem to be a Pelican that he might express his love to his Subjects upon this ground for the Pelican when her yong ones have been bitten with Serpents she feeds her yong ones with her own blood and thereby cures them now upon this this King of Portugal chuses the Pelican to be his Emblem thereby he would testifie his readiness to let out his blood for the good of his Subjects for the healing of his Subjects He would not feed upon his Subjects blood but he would rather let out his own blood for their good This is the commendations of a Prince not to seek to feed upon Subjects blood and to raise up his Honor and Prerogative by his sheding of
As a man that goes from the Sun yet he hath the warm beams of the Sun that follows him and doth warm him so the hearts of the Saints do many times go from God decline from him yet they have the warm beams of Love that follows after them to draw their hearts again to him Oh! return return into this bosom of infinite Love here thy soul may have everlasting imbracings And I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws and I laid meat unto them Here 's a fruit of Love in delivering them from their bondage as a Husband-man who is merciful to his beast he will not tire it too much with hard labor but takes off the yoke lifts up the yoke with his hands and gives it food so did I saith God I did not tire Epbraim with labor and servitude When you were in Egypt and often afterwards when under your enemies yokes I freed you from your bondage as the Husband-man when the beast hath been plowing and begins to be hot lists the yoke up to cool the neck that the beast may refresh its self From their jaws Because of some Instruments some bridle that was fastened to the yoke that was on their neck and put into their jaws Therefore there 's this phrase Lifting up the yoke from their jaws Luther upon the place understands this of that spiritual ease that there is in the yoke of Jesus Christ so saith he The Lord by his Spirit doth help us to obey he doth not only command and tel us what to obey but assists us with his Spirit and gives us power and lifts up the yoke and bears it together himself with us and hence Christ tells us that his yoke is easie and his burden is light Indeed it 's an easie yoke in comparison of the Law the Law saith Do this and live do not and die the Law takes advantage upon every infirmity It admits not of endeavors without performances It gives no strength to what it commands Oh! but the yoke of Christ is easie Christ continues strength there 's never a Command without a promise to give strength As an artery that runs together with the veins And Christ accepts of endeavors Oh! the yoke of the Gospel is far easier than the yoke of the Law So I have taken off the yoke We must not think this too far fetcht because we find that the holy Ghost in the new Testament interprets the beginning of this chapter concerning Christ that we would never have thought to have been meant of Christ I called my Son out of Egypt I opened there how this was to be understood of Christ Now if so be that God had an eye to Christ when he said I have called my Son out of Egypt why should we not think that there might be an eye to Christ in this when he saith I took the yoke from off their Jaws I delivered them from the yoke that neither they nor their fathers could bear and I brought a more easie yoke of the Gospel upon them But though the holy Ghost had an eye to this yet that that is firstly and litterally meant it is the deliverance from oppression I delivered them from the oppressions that were upon them From whence then the Observation is this First That deliverance from oppression is a great mercy Oh! what ease is there in it Oh! how doth it cool our necks In Levit. 26. 13. I have broken the bonds of your yoke and made you go upright There was a time that we had heavie yokes upon us that made us stoop we stoop'd under them but through Gods mercy these bonds of our yokes are in a good measure broken that we may go upright and wo to us if we go not upright now In Ezek. 34. 27. They shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bonds of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them My brethren If ever God manifested himself to be the Lord towards us it hath been in breaking the bonds of our yoke of the yokes that were upon us and in delivering us from those who served themselves of us we were under a proud and cruel generation of men that minded themselves and car'd not what became of the Consciences of the Estates Liberties and Lives of men so be it that they could have their humors their lusts served upon us and what means could we see for the deliverance of our selves from their yoke But the Lord hath appeared and then saith the text They shall know that I am the Lord If we did not know that God was the Lord before yet now we may know him and the truth is such hath been the wonderful works of God towards us in the breaking of our yokes that it were enough to convince an Atheist me thinks those of you that have been heretofore troubled with temptations of Atheism The strange waies of God towards this Nation in freeing of us from those yokes that have been upon us may convince you of a God may make you say Surely there is a God in Heaven that beholds the waies of the children of men the Lord is God Then shall you know that I am the Lord. Oh! that upon the manifestation of God in this way of mercy we may come to know that God is the Lord the Lord might have forced us to have known that he was the Lord by laying more grievous yokes upon us by bringing us under more dreadful evils than ever yet we were but the Lord hath rather been pleased to chuse a way to make us to know that he is the Lord by taking our yokes off from us This God hath done The Second Observation is from the Scope that the Prophet brings this for which is to aggravate their sin so much the more as if he should say I have taken off the yoke from your jaws and yet now you are wanton and kick and spurn with the heel against me From whence Note That to grow wanton to abuse our ease when God is pleased to deliver us from yokes is very sinful a very great evil What now when we come to have a little libertie more than we had before to be freed from that yoke and bondage that we were in and begin to feel our necks freed of those yokes that were before upon them What! now to begin to frisk and spurn and kick and against God Himself that hath taken the yoke from off us Oh! this is very dreadful What to abuse our libertie that we have from our bondage to all manner of licentiousness in horrid and wanton Opinions in wicked and abominable practises certainly this is an ill requittal of this fruit of Love in lifting up the yoke from off our jaws This is a very great evil which we are this day guilty of if ever there were a people guilty of this
evil of kicking and spurning against God so soon as he hath taken off the yoke from their jaws than we are at this day Could any have beleeved that if it had been revealed from Heaven but Six years since That within six years this People of England should be delivered from those sore yokes that they cried to Heaven because of the burden of them and the Lord would work in a miraculous way to deliver them but upon their deliverance there shal be such wantonness such horrid blasphemous opinions and wicked licentious waies yea that those that make profession of Religion shall be guilty of presently upon the taking off of their yoke Could it have been beleev'd Certainly if our forefathers that were under the yoke that were godly and cried to God for deliverance if they should rise out of their graves now and assoon as ever they were risen out ye should make a full Narration of all that Libertie that God hath granted to his people in England in the breaking of all that yoke of Tyrannie in the Civil State and the yoke of Tyrannie in the Ecclesiastical State they would presently think that they should see wonderful glorious effects of this in England but if within a month or two after they should have conversed with men they should hear of such monstrous opinions they should see the extream licentiousness and wantonness in the hearts of men expressed in their waies Oh! they would be ready to spit in the very faces of their children of those that now live in such times as these are The wantonness and licentiousness of men hearts in abusing of our freedom from our yokes it 's very evil in these Respects First Because this hardens the hearts of former Oppressors Our former Oppressors our Prelats and others will not they say or do not you give them occasion to say Now you see what is the fruit of casting of us out Was there such wantonness before were there such horrid Opinions before when we had power We kept down all such things we could easily curb these when we had power but you see what extravegancies there are how men run wild assoon as our power is taken from us By this means they are hardened And others that are of Prelatical spirits they are hardoned and begin to think surely the other way is the better way and indeed if this be a good argument That the keeping men in union and the keeping down errors by violence shall prove the truth of any way or of any Government it may as well prove Prelatical as any other for we know that they kept men from venting of such notorious errors by violence but shall we because there is not this violence upon us shall be more erronious and more wanton in our spirits Secondly This wantonness and abuse of our Liberty and licentiousness it darkens the glory of this great work of God in our deliverance the Lord hath been pleased to magnifie his Name in the deliverance of these Kingdoms from the yoke Now what should be the care of all the people of God but to seek to magnifie the great work of God to make it beautiful and glorious before the eyes of all But now by this wantonness and licentiousness men do darken the Glory of God they take off the lustre and beauty of it Psal 149. 4. the Lord there promises to beautifie the meek with salvation He will beautifie them with salvation now the Lord hath wrought so towards us as to beautifie us with salvation and indeed there is a great beautie upon the work of salvation that he hath wrought but this doth I say darken the Glory of God and it takes away the beauty of the work of God in our salvation What hath God done all this for us that men might turn wanton and run wâ—ld into monsterous opinions and blasphemies Oh! wo to thee that thou shouldest live in such a generation as this is how unfit art thou to live in such a time as this is to darken the glory of such a glorious work as God hath wrought for us here in England Thirdly By abusing our liberties from our yokes you do wrong others wrong those who are wise and holy and peaceable and you make them to be denied that liberty that otherwise they might have It is for your sakes who are so wanton and run so wild in opinions and in the loosness of your lives that I say those that are otherwise discreet wise and holy and peaceable and that would make use of what liberty Christ would have given to his people they must be denied it for your sakes it will be upon your account one day what ever denial they have of that liberty that they would use in a gracious and peaceable way for the honor of God I say you must answer for it one day for 't is your wildness that is the cause of it Yea Fourthly This wildness and loosness and abuse of deliverance from bondage it will be the means to bring others to be under greater yokes again it were just with God at least that it should be so Yea It might make any that have but any Civility or Morality in them to think that they shall do God good service in yoking these men in another way than ever they were yok'd I say it might make them to think that they do God good service when they see the Name of God dishonored and Religion so abused I say by this means they may come to think it would be a good service to God to lay yokes upon such kind of men as these are If ever instead of the great strings that have tide yokes upon you you should have lesser strings if you should have them multiplied to tie yokes upon you yet thank your selves you are the cause of it in Lament 1. 14. The yoke of my transgression is bound by his hand The Lord may justly bind the yoke of your transgressions upon you Oh! that God would humble us for the abuse of our libertie of the freedom from our yokes Oh let us take heed of this and say with our selves Surely this is not the use that we should make of our deliverance from our yokes no but rather this use we will rather so much the more willingly take the yoke of Jesus Christ upon us In Exod. 12. 25. after the people of Israel were delivered from the yoke of Egyptian bondage presently upon it Thou shalt keep this service speaking of the passeover that was to be kept upon their deliverance from Egypt Thou shalt keep this service The word that is there Service it is the same that is used somtimes for their Service and Bondage under the Egyptians as if the Lord should say You were once in Service indeed there was a Service that the Egyptians requir'd of you a servile Service it was and your necks were under it
blasphemy whatsoever but when I see that such and such things are no other but that may stand with Godliness and godlie and peaceable men may have many doubts among them and especially seeing I hold this now of late and did not see it heretofore as now I do I will do possibly what I can with a good conscience that my brethren may enjoy thy Ordinances in what liberty thou wilt afford unto them this savours like the Spirit of a Christian indeed And likewise you that are Governors seeing God account it his Glory to take off the yoke from his people Oh! be you tender towards them that are under you as Majestrates so all Governors Parents and Brethren and Neighbors not to lay too heavie yokes upon Children and Servants Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath and Masters they should be gentle towards them that are under them knowing they have also a Master and therefore give them what libertie may be without sin even outward libertie not to keep them continually at work but some times of recreation some times of refreshment it 's true your Holy-daies are taken aken away but surely there was no such way and means to bury them in Oblivion that they should never be thought of again then to have some set times for Servants and Children to have their recreation It were the only way to keep the Sabbath pure for if they have it not in the week day they will have it on the Sabbath or otherwise they will keep up that which they were wont to have in their former Holy daies The beast must not alwaies be plowing sometimes the yoke must be lifted up and must have some refreshing It follows I laid meat unto them Luther I so wrought for them as they should eat their meat quietly as if he should say You did not provide for your selves your meat I prepared it for you and came and laid it before you thus God laid meat before them when he rained Manna from Heaven when the Quails were he provided it Whence observe Mercies prepared and provided for laid before us are to be prized When we come to have a mercy I say that did not cost us much when it is prepared and set before us this is to be prized How many of you have all your mercies prepared for you When you go abroad about business now you take no care for provision at home in your families you do but dress you and go abroad it may be to a Sermon or other company and return home again you have your Tables spread and find full Dishes upon your Tables without any care of yours it 's all prepared for you Oh! consider of the mercies of God towards you in this thing Whenas many poor people they are fain before they can get bread to be working hard to prepare food for their families their wives and children but the Lord laiet meat before you God is to be acknowledged in this The propriety of the word is I made it to descend it came down from Heaven it was neither too high nor too low but it came just to you fitted for you which teaches us thus much In the receiving of our food we must look up to Heaven we are more beholden to the Heavens than to the Earth for our bread God is to be acknowledged in that he satisfies the poor with bread yea and that he satisfies the rich with bread you that are the richest of all you are to see how it comes from Heaven I made it to descend I say our very food we should look from whence it doth descend it doth descend from Heaven lift up thine eyes to Heaven when as thou art eating meat be not as the Swine under the Tree that looks downward to the Achorns but never upwards towards the branches of the Tree from whence the Achorns fall but look up to Heaven from whence thy meat and provision did descend I took off their yoke and I laid meat unto them I made their service easie and I made their provision comfortable It 's quite otherwise with many ridged and cruel Governors they make the service of those that are under them hard but their provision to be very scant quite contrary The service of Gods people is easie and their provision is bountiful Now the service of your servants is hard and your provision is very penurious you would have your servants to do your hard labor and yet provide little food for them Oh this is a baser cruelty than any to put their servants to hard labor and yet not to provide comfortably for them for their food But my brethren the main thing that I would note from hence is How great the Mercies of God is to us who hath eased our yoke this day and laid meat before us too my brethren who would have thought four years since that there should be Civil Wars for almost four years together in our Land and such cruel bloudy Wars and so overspreading the Kingdom as they have and that yet we should at this day have provision so plentiful as we have Did not all say even at the first year when the Wars began Surely things would be very scarce many began to lay in Corn and other provision and we had cause enough to have feared it but behold the bountifulness of the love of God that hath eased our yokes and hath laid meat before us that the poor is satisfied with bread there is no complainings in our streets we have not only our bread but our Tables fi'ld What difference do you see upon the Tables of men now from that they were in former times If a stranger should come into this Kingdom hearing what miserable Wars there hath been as bloody and cruel as in any Kingdom and yet come to see every mans Table so fill'd he could not but stand and wonder Certainly strangers think our condition to be far more sad in respect of provision than it is let 's not be wanton with our plenty we were wont to say if we might have but Bread and Cheese and the Gospel it were good cheer Now my brethren we have outward food and the Bread of life too What Is this sweet to be freed from outward bondage and to have meat laid before us how sweet is it then to be freed from spiritual bondage and to have the food of life laid before us yet this is our condition Our blessing is specially in having our spiritual yokes taken off from us and having the Bread of Life laid before us in a more plentiful measure then ever we had Was there ever a time that this City had so much meat laid before it for the soul as at this day the misery of other parts of the Kingdom is your mercie the Lord grant that you do not loath your Manna and despise it God hath waies enough to cut you short VER
cruelty to reign over them how sad and dreadful condition are those in This is that the Lord threatens here and why Because they refused to return I beseech you observe this saith he They shall not return to Egypt but the King of Assyria shall reign over them because they refused to return From whence the Observation is this If we will not do Gods will God will cross us of our own They would have their will they would return but they shall not saith God for they will not return to me therefore they shall not return whither they will themselves God can cross us in our own wills at every turn Foolish men who will presume to cross God in his will when God hath them at such infinite advantages to cross them every way in every thing If you cross God in that he delights in you may expect God will cross you in that you most delight in Oh! when you are crost in your minds in any thing that you have set your thoughts and heart most upon reflect upon your own hearts and think thus Have not I crost God in his mind in that which God hath set his heart and mind upon It 's a good way my Brethren to take a holy revenge upon our selves if we cannot get our hearts to work for God as they ought not to suffer them to work for our selves as they would Again For they would not return saith God God is not so much displeased at our sins as at our not returning He doth not say that the Assyrian should rule over them because they had sinned but because they refused to return It is too much that thou hast sinned but as soon as ever thou hast sinned it concerns thee to think of returning God expects presently as soon as ever the sin is taken notice of that thou shouldest begin to return it is dangerous to continue in sin in the least this aggravates thy sin dreadfully and endangers thy sealing up to wrath everlasting And then Thirdly He refuses to return after all means used after all mercies tendered after all callings after thee yet to stand out this is yet worse Not to return is evil but to refuse to return notwithstanding means used mercies tendered Oh this is fearful indeed Oh! lay this to heart thou convicted sinner what offers of mercie hath God made to thee what calling unto mercie hast thou heard outward calls inward calls of the the Spirit of God Oh! how hath God called after thee Return return thou Shulamite Return return return thou wretched wilful sinner Oh come in and return what means of all sorts hast thou had to cause thy heart to return to God and yet standest out think of that Scripture in Job 9. 4. Who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered What doest thou think to harden thy self against God and yet think to prosper Who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered and mark what follows Which removeth the Mountains and they know not which overturneth them in his anger which shaketh the Earth out of her place and the Pillars thereof tremble And yet cannot thy heart be overturned nor tremble In this that thou refusest to return thy sin is aggravated above the sin of the Devils themselves for we do not know that ever the Devils refused to return for they were never offered mercie God did never offer the Devils mercie God never sent to preach to them either by his Ministers or Spirit and to call them to return and you shall have mercie here 's a price paid here 's a salvation for you your sins may be pardoned the Devil had never such an offer Who knows what the Devil might do if such an offer were made to him But now these offers are made to thee and thou refusest to return Oh! return therefore O thou sinful soul who art wandering from God in the waies of death and destruction give in thine answer as we reade in Jer. 3. 22. where the Lord there calls his back-sliding children Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back slidings Mark the answer that they give to God Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Oh! that there might be such an answer given this day from some back-sliding soul that is turned from God! Oh poor soul whither art thou gone God calls this day to thy soul Return return and professes that he is willing to heal thy backslidings Oh! give in this answer Oh Lord behold we come for thou art the Lord our God Oh! that some soul might return and might refuse no longer to return Why wilt not thou return God is content to return to thee thou art turned from God and God in the waies of his Administrations is turned away from thee but mark the Promise in Jer. 8. 4 5. Thus saith the Lord Shall they fall and not arise shall he turn away and not return by then is this people of Jerusalem sliden back by a perpetual back-sliding they hold fast deceit they refuse to return Shall he turn away Some interpret this of God The Lord is not so turned back but he is ready to return Oh! why shouldâ—â— thou backslide with a perpetual back-sliding And then the last Note is They refuse to return The word that is translated they refused may signifie they scorned What talk to him of returning tell him of his sin against God the greatness of his sin and the greatness of the danger and the threatnings of God against his sin he despises all these things these are poor things to scare children withal Tell him of the mercies of God in pardoning his sin he slights all this humiliation now for sin this breaking off of sinful courses they deride the motions of them they scorn to return Scornful spirits when they are called upon in the bowels of mercy to return from their evil waies they do not only deny returning but they scorn and slight what is said to them Wel know there are some who admire at Gods mercies calling of them to return who admire at mercy tendred to them and prize it more than all things in the world they turn unto the Lord with all their souls nothing in all the world can stop them they bless God that ever their ears heard the call of God calling them to return and they would not for ten thousand thousand worlds but they had heard Gods call and felt the Spirit of God working their hearts to him to return howsoever thou dost scorn and contemn it Thus much for the 5th Verse It follows VER 6. And the Sword shall abide on his Cities c. THey relied upon their Cities and therefore refused to return but saith the Lord here The Sword shall abide on his Cities The old Latin hath it The Sword hath begun and Hierom in his Translation takes it so If we should take it
deliver them still And so they hang in expectation of Gods coming to them So they make the word that is here translated Backsliding to be a returning a returning of God They would have me to return first And so I confess the word hath something in it that signifies Returning But those that are skilful in the tongues say It is not used in a good sense but in an evil it 's rather a going from than a returning But yet as the old Latin hath it The hope for Gods returning and that things may be well is the cause of the hardening of many hearts in the waies of sin they hang as it were in the Air thinking that it may be well with them and that things may not prove so bad as they hear But cursed is that hope of comfort that hath nothing else to ground upon but only that it may be things are not so bad as they hear out of the Word But it follows Though they called them to the most High yet none at all would exalt him Though they called them That is The Prophets and Messengers of God called them unto the most High they wanted not means in the Ministry of the Word they were called to the Most High that is to God Now that God is The Most High we have spoken to in Chap. 7. Vers 16. there he hath the title of THE MOST HIGH You who are highest look upon God as above you know that God looks upon you and all men that are lifted up in the pride of their own hearts as infinitly below him God is the most high Well but They called them out unto the most high that is They called them in the Ministry of the Word First That they might know him that is the most high that they might know him to be the Infinit Supream High Glorious Majestie that they might know the infinite distance that there is between God and the Creature and that they might know him to be the Highest end of all things so as to work after him as the most high Then Secondly That they might acknowledge him that they might thus fear him that they might worship him that they might love him and trust in him as the most high God That they might submit their wills to him whose will is supream above all and especially in matters of worship They called them to the most high that they might come to have this high God to be theirs to enjoy him to be their portion thus the Prophets call'd them to the most high Whereas their hearts were dâ—ossie and low and base they minded only the satisfying of their flesh and having their wills one upon another their hearts hung down to their devised worship though the thing it was sutable to their publick ends and it was great wisdom for them so to do yet God would not own that but did dispise that worship of theirs that they thought to honor him withal and the Prophets therefore called them from these base drossie things called them to the most high God The Note of Observation First Mens hearts they sink down to low and mean things naturally unworthy of their souls unworthy of that excellent nature that they are indued withal men indeed have swelling hearts in their base sinful way but this is their disease this swelling I say the heart of man wants a true elevating principle the knowledg of the most high would raise them up higher than their pride can do the pride of man raises mans heart yea but that 's their disease but the knowledg of the most high would raise them up higher than their pride but sin wheresoever it is it doth debase mans nature Secondly It 's the end of the Ministry of the Word to call men to the most high God to call after men that have their hearts groveling after low and base things that they might come up to the most high God to know him to fear him to worship him and to enjoy the most high God to be their portion Have not you found this fruit of the Ministry of the Word in your hearts calling you many a time to the most high God Have not those things sounded in your ears that have called you from vain things that your hearts were upon telling you of the high God that you have to deal withal in all your waies who will have to deal with you to all eternity I make no question but many of your consciences have found this have found a word darted into your hearts that hath called you from low base things to the high and blessed God And then Thirdly It is a great and a sore evil to stop our ears against the calls to the most high God against the calls of the word that calls you to the most high God I say to stop our ears against this is a sore and a dreadful evil What not answer to Gods call Doth God call you and you not answer to him We say to a child Your father calls you or to a servant your master calls you will you not answer Oh! to shut our ears against the call to the most high God is a dreadful thing it will lie heavie upon thee one day those calls thou hadest in thine ears will prove to be terrors in thine heart Certainly though thou lettest go the calls of the Word to the most high God remember this one Note The calls that thou hadest to the high God being neglected by thee will prove terrors in thine heart poor creature what is it that thou listens to what invitations doth take thy heart that the calling to the most high cannot overcome thee And then Fourthly Their hearts are in suspence though they called them to the most high From the connexion of these two we have this Note That the calling to the most high God is a special means to cause those that are in a suspence to come in to a full resolution In Psal 97. 9. Thou Lord art high above all the earth thou art exalted far above all Gods What follows in the 10. verse Ye that love the Lord hate evil God is a high God above all Gods hate evil then set your selves against evil be resolved in the waies of God for when you are called to the most high by this you come to see how infinitely worthy God is of all glory from you you may see by this what infinite good there is in this God and that there is infinite power in this God to avenge himself of you if you neglect his call therefore there is a mighty deal of force to cause resolution In the 7. of Acts we have a notable speech of Stephen concerning Abraham Abraham was called from his fathers house and it cannot be imagined but that Abraham had many thoughts to keep his heart in suspence when he was called from his kindred and al the contentment and comfort he
had there it 's impossible but flesh and blood would suggest many thoughts to Abraham to keep his heart in suspence But what took Abrahams heart off from suspence to resolve fully what to do in such a case the text saith The God of Glory appeared to him it was not only God but the God of Glory My Brethren when God is calling you off from all Creature comforts from all things that may quiet your hearts in the world and you have strong temptations to keep you in the waies of sin let but the God of Glory appear to you and this will take up your hearts this will bring your hearts to a full resolution Oh! blessed blessed are those souls though they have continued long in suspence yet at length the God of Glory appears to them in the midst of their doubts and temptations and hangings off And if there be such a force in this then learn to present before thy soul that is in such a suspence the Glorie of the great God look up to this great God 't is the infinite high God that I am called to Oh! thou suspending thou wavering soul look up to this most high and answer this call of God unto himself answer it thus Oh Lord Thou art an Infinite Blessed Glorious Being the Supream Being of all I am a poor vile worm that lie under thy feet it 's mercie that thou wilt vouchsafe to look towards me thou mightest have let me gone on in base waies and perished to all eternity without giving me any call to thy self but now that thou shouldest give me a call to thy self the high and glorious blessed Lord this is mercy Lord I come and with fear and trembling fall down before thee saying Lord what wilt thou have me to do Those who have been wavering and afterwards setled they have found that this hath been the thing that hath setled them some dreadful authoritie of the high God that hath come to their hearts in some truth beyond what formerly he hath done and this hath fully taken off their souls to him And then Fifthly The true Worship of God is an elevating thing Then are they called to the most high when they are called to the true Worship of God for it raises the soul to the most high Mens inventions are low things are base and unworthy things Oh consider whether thou findest this in the Worship of God doest thou find thy soul raised up to the most high in his Worship thou doest never worship God aright except thou findest in some measure thy soul raised up to the most high in his Worship let no man look upon the Worship of God as a low mean thing know when thou art to come to worship God thou hast now to deal with the high God whom Angels worship and adore 't is that God who is far above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth thus thou art to look upon the Worship of God Oh! how far are most men from this when they are worshiping of God! very few there are that lift up their hearts to the most high even in the duties of Worship And so it follows in the words None at all would exalt him Why If God be the most high God how can he be exalted I answer He is so high as he cannot be more high than Himself God cannot be more excellent than he is in Himself God cannot make Himself better than He is nor more glorious in Himself than He is Therefore no creature can make him more than he is all that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth can do for God can ad nothing to him In Nehem. 9. 5. He is exalted saith the text above all blessing and praise Yet then God accounts Himself to be exalted First When he is known and acknowledged for the High Supream First being of all things when we fear Him as a God when we humble our selves before him as before a God when we are sensible of the infinite distance there is between him and us when we are willing to lay down what we are or have or can do for the furtherance of his praise when his Will is made the Rule of all our waies and especially of his Worship when we make him the last end of all when 't is the great care of our souls and work of our lives to do what possibly we can that he might be magnified lifted up in the world and when we account the least sin a greater evil than can be recompenced by all the good that Heaven and Earth can afford unto us and now God accounts Himself exalted by us And this is the Work that all of us have to do to give up our selves to the exalting of the Name of this blessed God He is worthy so worthy of honor from us creatures that though ten thousand millions of Men and Angels should perish eternally for the furtherance of the least degree of his honor he is worthy of it all so high is this God and therefore know it to be our work to endeavor in our places to exalt him and blessed is that man or woman that when they are to die are able to say Oh Lord thou hast been high in my heart thy Wisdom I have adored and submitted mine unto it thy Will I have honored and yeelded mine likewise to it and it hath been the great care of my soul that I might do somthing in my place to lift up thy Name according as I have been able I say thou maiest go out of the world in peace as having done in some measure that thou camest into the world for Oh! you whom God hath exalted let it be your care to exalt this God and especially the Saints of the Lord know God hath exalted you on high and expects that you should lift up his Name he hath lifted up you out of the depth of miserie from the nethermost Hell he hath joyned you to his Son he hath made you one with his Son He hath loved you with the same love wherewith he loveth his Son he hath made you Heirs Co-heirs with his own Son he hath given his Angels to be ministring Spirits to you he hath made it his great design to honor himself in your eternal good the greatest work that God hath to do in the world it is the honoring himself in your Glory he hath prepared a Crown of glory for you Oh then do you joyn together to exalt the Name of this God who hath lifted up you who were such poor vile worms let the high praises of this God be in your hearts and mouths for ever in Psal 108. 4. Thy mercy is great above the Heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the Clouds mark what follows in the 5. verse Be thou exalted O God above the Heavens and thy Glory above all the Earth Oh Lord we see thy mercy is exalted above the Heavens and thy truth
to the Clouds then Lord be thou exalted above the Heavens that is in our hearts and in our lives Oh! that God may be exalted in an answerable way above the Heavens in what we do for Him as He hath been exalted above the Heavens in what he hath done for us let 's all exalt Gods Name he will be exalted in spight of your hearts My brethren God hath exalted Himself of late in our eyes in a glorious manner in Psal 21. 13. Be thou exalted O Lord in thine own strength Oh the Lord hath exalted Himself in His own strength but mark what follows So will we sing and praise thy Power Oh! let us sing and praise the power of God who hath exalted Himself in his own strength and for the good of his own people so of late But none would exalt him saith the text God hath little honor in the world men seek to exalt themselves but none to exalt God every man follows his own way his own lusts but the blessed and glorious God is exalted by few or none Men will appear to lift up Antichrist to exalt him the Kings of the Earth they will give their power to the Beast but none will exalt the Lord. Oh! let this grieve the hearts of the Saints to see that the blessed God so blessed in their eyes should be exalted by so few And consider every one of you how little he hath been exalted by you in all your waies And why should you vex and fret that you have not honor and respect when as the blessed God who is so infinitely worthy of honor and glory yet none almost respects Him Well let this be the Meditation from it The less glory I see God have from the children of men the more let me labor to honor him None would exalt him So the words are read in your Books and I think that is the most proper sense Yet I find Luther hath another reading and so others and that might likewise stand with the Original for if you observe the words him is not there But it may be saith Luther there is none that lifts up himself he and others turns it thus That 's thus Men are in a sleepy sullen mood that when God calls them they will not stir up themselves to listen to Gods Call and so Luther makes use of this similitude As a stuborn servant or child when the master cals him he will not stir and lift up himself to his call There 's none will lift up themselves drossie base drousie spirits that are sleepy and sink down to base low things they will not lift up themselves when they are called to the most high God It 's a great evil to give way to a dead dull and sullen heart not to lift up our selves when God calls When you come to the Ministry of the Word you come with hearts dead and sinking down with discouragements Now when God cals you should stir and lift up your hearts to close with those Truths of God that do concern you and it 's a great evil in many when they hear excellent Truths that might do them good yet they do not lift up their hearts to close with those Truths And now we come to the Eighth Verse which is a Verse very full and if in any you will give me liberty a little to enlarge in that Verse VER 8. How shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together HEre according to Luther ends the Eleventh Chapter and the Twelfth begins at the next Verse For the words themselves we have not a more full expression of pathetical Affections of Mercy and Compassion in God in all the Book of 〈◊〉 than here How shall I give thee up I beseech you observe God was in the midst of his threatnings of Judgment charging of them with their sin saith he The Sword shall abide upon their Cities and consume their branches because of their own Counsels And when they were called to the most high God yet none would exalt him How not one would com in What would follow One would think Now let wrath pursue them let the curse of the Almighty overtake them one would wonder that it did not but mark a greater wonder that after the charging of them for this wickedness and in the midst of Gods threatnings of the most dreadful judgments to consume them by the Sword How shall I give thee up Ephraim c The Lord here takes upon Him as it were the person of a loving Father towards a stubborn and rebellious child the child hath gone away from the Father and hath continued in slout waies It may be the Father sends after it it will not come it will not return but goes on stubornly the Father hath many workings in his heart to cast it off he shall never be a peny the better for me let him beg his bread from door to door he is unnatural to me yea but when he is in the midst of these resolutions and hath these sad thoughts towards the child yet there comes a turning of his bowels on a sudden Oh! but how shall I give it up how shall I disinherit it how shall I do it It is my child though stuborn why may it not return why may not yet God work good upon it It 's very evil but how shall I give it up I know not how in the world to bring my heart to it Thus the Lord breaks out here Here we have in your books four How 's How shall I give thee up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim I confess in the Hebrew there are but two but yet for the sense of it the Interpreters put in the other and they have the sense of four How How How How shall I do it there are four Interogations here and four Answers Four Pathetical Interogations that God asks as it were Himself First How shall I give thee up Ephraim Secondly How shall I deliver thee Israel Thirdly How shall I make thee as Admah Fourthly How shall I sâ—t thee as Zeboim God is here Interogating Himself in these four Interogatories that come from his own bowels And here are four Answers to these As thus First Mine heart is turned within me Secondly My repentings are kindled together Thirdly I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger Fourthly I will not return to destroy Ephraim These are the Four Answers and the Last Answer hath Two Arguments First I am God and not Man Secondly The holy One in the midst of thee Now what the force of the Arguments are we shall see when we come to them But first to give you the brief opening of the words in a way of paraphrase and
this is that now I am naming that thou shouldest have such mercie as an infinite God should therefore manifest to that end that he might shew to Men and Angels to all eternitie what the power of his infinite Mercy can do would not this mercie serve thy turn such a mercie as this is I 'le name it again abuse it at your peril Suppose thy condition so low yet would not this serve thy turn such mercy as an infinit God should shew to that end that he might appear to men and Angels to all eternity what he is able to do in the infinitness of his mercy Would not this serve thee and help thee and heal thee Now this is tendred to thee in the Gospel even this mercy is tendred to thee in Christ to be an object of thy faith and the very presenting of this is a work of the Ministry of the Gospel that it might draw acts of faith for it hath a power to draw forth faith yea to beget faith the very presenting such a thing as this is hath a quickness in it It 's true if you look upon God only as a merciful man this is no such glory as the shining of it upon the soul will ad life As now the shining of the Moon or a hundred Torches wil never beget life in a Garden but the shining of the Sun wil do it so the apprehending of the mercy of God any other way but as a God as a God in Christ will never beget life in the soul but look upon him in the infinitness of his mercy whose thoughts of mercy are beyond ours as high as the Heavens are above the Earth this is the way to beget faith And therefore those that cannot beleeve they take very il courses for themselves only to have their thoughts upon such things as may discourage them and they think that this is as pleasing to God but certainly the way to beget or raise faith in thy heart is to look upon God as a God in the waies of his mercy Yea but you will say The truth is this that you speak of that God is a God and not a man is rather a discouragement to my heart 't is a God that I have sinned against and not a man as one way it may encourage me so another way it may discourage me Against thee against thee only have I sinned saith David Psal 51. And indeed this is the most piercing thought in a true penitent heart My sin is against God I have lived so long a time without a God in the course of my life and I have struck at God himself in my sinful waies Oh wretch that I have been I have been guilty of the darkening of the glory of the great God in the world Now I 'le answer thee this in a word And is this that which doth aggravate thy sin in thy heart does this work upon thy heart most that thou canst appeal to God that of all the considerations of sin that ever thou hadest in thy life there is nothing grieves thee so much as that it is against God Because God is so glorious so infinitely worthy of honor from all his creatures be of good comfort and take encouragement from this point and mark what I am saying and with that I shall close all If the confideration of the glory of God above a man doth thus aggravate thy sin to thy humiliation then it will aggravate the mercy of God to thy consolation as well If thou workest this thought upon thy heart Oh my sin is against a God and not a man and therefore my heart is humbled then the Lord would have thee to make use of the consideration of his glory as a God for thy comfort God is a God and not a man in the way of mercy The Holy one in the midst of thee God glories much in his Holiness and that in the midest of his people Gods Holiness is He is here said to be the Holy One. 1. To shew that the anger He would let out should be such as should have no mixture of evil But what considerations might be to order and guide it should not be wanting Mens angers are very unclean there is much smoke and fil thy stuff together in their fire But here in Exod. 15. 11. God is said to be Glorious in Holiness Gods vials of wrath are golden Revel 15. 7. Let us labor to be holy in our anger This is a rare thing if there be any corruption in mans heart it usualappears in his anger 2. Because of his gracious carriage toward them in regard of his Covenant to make that good to them he would remember his faithfulness to Abraham Obs 1. God delights to shew the glory of his Holiness in mercy and in pardoning of sin rather than in revenging for sin Obs 2. Gods faithfulness is a special part of the glory of his Holiness Use 1. Hence see how Holiness will help our faith Use 2. Let us manifest our holiness in our faithfulness I am holy to make them holy to sanctifie them to my self In the midst of thee Casting the beams of his Glory on every fide of him But how in the midst when they so vile and cast off from being his people a sink of Idolatry and wickedness In respect of some of his Elect Saints Obs God continues among a people for his Saints his Elects sake The Saints should consider of God a holy God in the midst of them and accordingly behave themselves Levit. 26. 12. I will walk among you and I will be your God But 2 Cor. 16. 16. I will dwell among them and walk in them Obs Men of Place and Government should be in the midst of those that are under them carrying themselves holily though they should be froward pettish sinful yet they should carry themselves according to rule in all holiness gravity wisdom moderation c. Rivit Tarnovius with some others thinks that here is Enallage Numeri a change of the number Sanctus for Sancti Holy for Holy Ones or Saints and so hath reference to the destruction of Sodom because there were no righteons here are Obs The Saints are of great use in the places where they live They are the cause of mitigation of Judgments I will not enter into the City Luther thus God would signifie himself to be merciful to scattered Israeh among the Gentiles Vt tamen non redeant ad Politiam Mosaicam but so that they should not return to the Mosaical Law But rather it is to be taken in reference to the manner of Gods proceedings in the destruction of Sodom after he had done conferring with Abraham he entred into the City and destroyed it by fire and brimstone Obs God many times stands at the gates of a City ready to enter in and destroy it but humiliation in prayer and reformation keeps him out God
hath not entred in here thus yet Oh! let not our sin cause a meroiful God to go out and a provoked God to enter in VER 10. They shall walk after the Lord He shall roar like a Liyon THey shall not walk after their own inventions any more nor after the lusts of their own hearts nor after the examples or the counsels of men but after the Lord they shall see God before them their hearts shall be drawn after him as they shall see God in his various administrations so they shall turn this way or that way which way soever God leads them though in paths they have not known before yet now they shall walk after him though in paths that few others walk in yet Through fire and water though in difficult paths never so dangerous to outward appearance though God should lead them from their dearest comforts sweetest contents though it did not appear to them whither the way tended what God meant to do with them yet seeing God before them they shall be willing to walk after him they shall account that way God is in the best way the safest way the most comfortable way Revel 14. 4. These shall follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth these were redeemed from among men being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. They shall walk in a constant steady course of obedience after the Lord. It is the Lord the blessed glorious God whom their souls love whom they desire to honor to whom they have given up souls bodies lives liberties names estates whatsoever they are have or are able to do When Peter heard it was the Lord he threw himself into the Sea that he might walk after him there Thus the soul converted to God loves to walk after him But this is spoken of the Church as walking after the Lord in times of Reformation especially that famous time of the restitution of all things when God shall call home his people the ten Tribes who yet are scattered up and down wandring and groping in darkness They shall walk after the Lord the Lord shall be a Captain to them leading them along as his redeemed ones working by them glorious things in the earth and bringing them through all opposition to places of rest and fulness of all good God shall appear in such visible administrations of his so as they shall say Lo this is our God this is the Captain of the host of the Lord yea it is even the Lord himself we will joyn together and follow him whose wisdom faithfulness and courage is infinite we will follow no other but him and in subordination to him The sight of such a Captain going before them shall put life courage and magnanimity into them whatsoever they were before Hence note Obs It is the infinite goodness of the Lord to be the Captain of his people Obs It is the honor safety happiness of the Saints to have God before them to be walking after him He shall roar like a Lyon If God appears thus it will make them fly from him No they shal notwithstanding this walk after him Obs That the majesty and terribleness of God in his wonderful and dreadful works causes the wicked guilty conscience to fly from him But the Saints shall follow after him and cling unto him Isa 33. 14. The sinners in Syon are afraid fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites Who amongst us shall dwell with devouring fire who amongst us shall dwel with everlasting burnings He that worketh righteously and speaketh uprightly Act. 5. 13 14. Of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them And Beleevers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women Psa 46. Luthers Psalm 2. We will not fear though the Earth be moved though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea though the waves thereof roar though the Mountains shake Vers 6. The Heathen raged the Kingdoms were moved be uttered his voice the Earth melted The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our Refuge Nahum 1. 2. The Lord revengeth the Lord revengeth and is furious the Lord will take vengeance of his adversaries Vers 3. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm Vers 5. The Mountains quake at him the Hills melt and the Earth is burnt at his presence Who can stand before his indignation who can abide the fierceness of his anger his fury is powred out like fire and the Rocks are thrown down by him Vers 7. The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him Joel 3. 15 16. The Sun and the Moon shall be darkened and the Stars shal withdraw their shining the Lord shall roar out of Syon and utter his voice from Jerusalem The Heavens and the Earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel Hab. 3. 17 18. Although the Figtree shall not blossem c. yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Oh! the blessing of a clean Conscience it looks on th 〈…〉 Terror of the Law and of God with comfort Where there is neighing of Horses beating of Drums ratling of Pikes foaring of Cannons yet if a friend be the General we fear not Al the terror there is in God is comfort to the Saints the wicked have the dark side of the Cloud the Saints the bright Deut. 33. 2. From his right hand went a fiery Law Vers 4. Moses commanded us a Law even the inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob. Nehem. 9. 32. The great mighty and terrible God will keep Covenant and Mercy Psal 47. 1 2. Shout unto God with the voice of Triumph for the most high is Terrible Be godly and keep Conscience clean in these latter times train up your Children in waies of godliness Shall roar like a Lyon The roaring of the Lyon invites the rest of the beasts there is something for them Quest But when was this Answ Many think when the Babylonian Monarchy was broken by Cyrus then Belshazzars knees beat together and then the Captivity returned and that divers of the ten Tribes joyned in the return But this is spoken of the Body of them and if any such remarkable return had been Ezra would not have left out their Genealogyes Others refer it to the times of the Gospel Heb. 12. 26. Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven The voice of the Gospel Repent and he that beleeves shall be saved but he that beleeves not shall be damned was a Terrible voice When secure minds saith Luther hear that salvation belongs to none but those that are baptized and that beleeve in the Name of Christ they indeéd tremble and are solicitous concerning their salvation Junius when he read the first Chapter of the
Gospel of John was terrified But I take this rather to be meant of some notable work of Reformation and calling in these ten Tribes to joyn with the Church The Lord will roar to terrifâ— the hearts of their Adversaries that they shall not be abâ—â— to hinder their return Hence note That when Gods time is come for a through Reformation and bringing in his people he will roar terribly in the world he will appear in such Majesty Glory and Justice that he will make the earth tremble Psal 102. 16. When the Lord shall build up Sion he will appear in his Glory It hath been his way in his appearing for his Church Psal 76. 1. Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry Thou didest cause Judgment to be heard from Heaven the Earth feared and was still 〈…〉 God arose to Judgment to save the meek of the Earth 〈…〉 12. He shall cut off the spirit of Princes he is 〈…〉 Kings of the Earth Isa 34. 4. All the host of 〈…〉 be dissolved and the Heavens shall be rolled together as 〈…〉 and all the host shall fall down as a leaf for my Sword shall be bathed in Heaven Ver. 6. The Sword of the Lord is filled with blood it is made fat with fatness Ver. 7. The Land shall be soaked with blood Ver. 8. For it is the day of the Lords vengance and the yeer of the recompences for the controversie of Sion Ezek 17. 10. Shall it not wither when the East wind toucheth it At the raising of Christs Kingdom Psal 45. 4. Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things Revel 6. 15. The Kings of the earth and the great Men the rich men the chief Captains the Mighty men hid themselves in the dens the rocks of the Mountains and said to the Mountains and Rocks Fâ—lâ— on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Thron and from the wrath of the Lamb. Dan. 12. 1. There shall 〈◊〉 a time of trouble such as was never since there was a Nation all that time thy people shall be delivered Lactantius Lib. Cap. 15. as then Egypt imitten so now all places as then signs and prodiges so now admirable wonders in all the Elements of the World Earth Sea Air. 1. Because the ungodly have been cruel against the Saints Psal 74. 4. Thine Enemies roar in the midst of the Congregation 2. The wicked will be secure yea his own people and will stand in need of roaring to awaken them 3. The Adversary will be stout and proud Consundetur omne jus Leges perilunt All right will be overturned and Laws perish 4. The difficulties will be great so as when Christ comes shall he find saith on the earth namely that ever his work shall be brought about Luke 18. 8. There will 〈…〉 ighty changes of things Hence observe 〈…〉 ir not though wicked men strengthen themselves 〈…〉 uch God can soon make mighty alterations 〈…〉 14. Be not afraid remember the Lord which is ve 〈…〉 and terrible Deut. 7. 21. Thoushalt not be afrighted at them for the Lord thy God is amongst you a mighty God and a terrible Again Hence learn to prepare for thosetimes When he shall roar the children shall tremble from the west Amos 3. 8. The Lyon hath roared who will not tremble There shal be mighty stirrings of heart Mens hearts shal shake within them so as there shall be way made for people whose hearts are awakened to come into the Church There is a trembling of the Enemies they shall be struck with such astonishment that they shall not hinder Their violence and rage shall be abated They shall say 〈◊〉 once the Egyptians Let us take heed what we do the Lord 〈…〉 t s for them And the hearts of those that God intends to call shall 〈…〉 wakened the slightness and vanity of their spirits shall be taken off The fear upon their hearts shall make them fear they shall be roused from their sluggishness they shall make hast to come in to joyn with the people of God Fear causes hast so the word here signifies and is rendered by some Men delay and trifle till God strikes their hearts with fear Spiritus sanctus nescit tarda molimma The holy Ghost likes not lazy laboring Isa 49. 17. Thy children shall make hast The children shall tremble from the west Those afar off which were most unlikely Isa 42. 4. Legem expect abunt Insulae The Isles shall wait for my Law The Mediterranean the Mid land Sea is in the west Isa 49. 1. 12. Hence note that There are like to be great stirrings in the Western parts VER 11. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt and as 〈…〉 out of the Land of Assyria BEing strucken with fear they shall hasten so the word advolabunt they shall fly This some think to be fulfilled when divers of the ten Tribes joyned with Judah in the return of their captivity for the Monarcy of the Assyrians was subdued by the Persians whose King was Cyrus Therefore it is thought that the fame liberty was given in Assyria for the ten Tribes as in Babylon for Judah And not long after Cambyses the son of Cyrus overcame the Egyptians as Herodotus Lib. 8. Justinae Lib. 〈◊〉 saies And it 's like he would be favorable to the ten Tribes as his father had been to Judah But Ezra as was noted above in likelihood would not then have omitted their Genealogies Howso 〈…〉 in the great Restauration of things this will be fulfill 〈…〉 The Jews were strongly set to go to Egypt now they shall as strongly desire to get out to joyn with the Churches Fly as a bird not come as a snail get over all difficulties having their spirits elevated raising them from earthly drossie things they have no consideration of them Now all their desire is to joyn with the Saints that they together with them may follow after the Lord. And as a Dove out of the Land of Assyria 1. Doves are sacred there Euseb Preparat Evang. Lib. 8. 5. 2. They are terrified with the least noise Terretur minimo penae stridore Columba 3. Doves fly swiftly Oh! that I had the wings of a Dove saith the Psalmist Psal 55. 6. 4. They fly by flocks Isa 60. 8. Who are those that fly as a cloud and as the Doves to their windows 5. It may be from those Countries Doves come at certain times of the yeer as several sorts of Fowls do to to us in their seasons And I will place them in their houses saith the Lord. i. e. I will provide lockers for them he followeth the the former metaphor of Doves Gods people have been tossed up and down they have had no abiding in their houses But God hath his time to place them in their houses in rest quietness and safety to
deliver them from violence and wrong 2 Sam. 7. 10. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and I will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more It 's a good work to be instrumental in this that those who live godlily and are peaceable may abide quietly in their houses and not be tossed up and down because they cannot beleeve or practice what others do This tossing such up down though it may be from a zeal for Christ yet Christ will never own it Those who walk after the Lord shall be placed in their houses They were willing to leave their houses that they might follow him and now God places them in them Trust God with your houses Resolve to follow the Lord whithersoever he goes he hath time to place his people in their houses when others who dared not trust God shal wander in darkness Saith the Lord. This must be the work of the Lord it 's only He can do it That mercy that comes beyond all means it 's the sweetest mercy No matter what the means be whether any or no so be it you have a Word of God for the thing VER 12. Ephraim compasseth me about with lyes and the house of Israel with deceit THe Lord having manifested the bowele of his tender compassion towards Ephraim the ten Tribes he comes further to shew what was that that stopt the way and course of his grace of the grace that otherwise might have been let out unto them Ephraim compasseth me about with lyes Besets me with lyes that 's the word be besets me round I am in respect of the sin of Ephraim that is of the Governors and of the house of Israel that is the People I am as it were a man beset round As a men that would have a passage such a way he goes one way and there he is stopt and another way and there he is stopt so God compares himself to such a man as if he would be going on in the waies of mercy there he is stop◠in one co 〈…〉 of sin or another and going on in another way there 〈◊〉 is stopt again Ephraim hath beset me with lyes that is with false wor ship for that 's a lye with Pretences they put fair Glosses upon things but all are but lyes he hath beset me with politick shifts of his own These did beset God yea and beset the Prophet too for so I find some turn it they think it 's spoken as in the person of the Prophet the Prophet complaining that he was beset with lies that they might prejudice his Ministry that they might do what they could to take off the power of his Ministry in their hearts they beset him with lyes with false reports of this and the other thing Upon which one hath that Note A faithful Divine a Preacher is nothing else but as it were a Center to which all lyes of falsehood do tend they all go that way 't is a great plot of the Devil to draw his lines and to let them make the Ministers of God that God uses as any Instruments of good unto his people to be as the Center of them all Thus Meisnerus in his Comment upon the place But I rather take it as spoken in the Name and Person of God Beset me with lyes i. e. They do not only seek to blind men but they would do what they could if it were possible to deceive me saith God And indeed when men seek to blind their own consciences what do they but seek what they can if it were possible to deceive God In the very act of Worship saith God they are false they do profess honor and service to God but they lye unto him even when they are worshiping of Him Many in their prayers in the solemn act of Worship they beset God with lyes Oh! how do many come into the presence of God when they are worshiping of him and there profess to God the acknowledgment of his Greatness his Glory his Majesty his Power his Sovereignity his Dominion over them and profess a great deal of the fear of the Name of God! and yet God knows it is not in their hearts it is but as a lye to God when they are worshiping God there they acknowledg their sin and judg themselves for their sin as if they were very much humbled and troubled for their sin but God knows that this is but a lye to him there is no such humiliation of their hearts before him as seems to be in their expressions before God especially when they are in company they cry to God for grace and would fain above all things in the world have his Grace but God knows 't is but a lye all their prayers are even besetting God with lyes Oh! Consider how far any of you have been guilty of this especially in praying with others according to that Scripture Psal 78. 36. They flattered him with their mouth and lyed unto him with their tongue The word that is translated flattered it signifies deceived They deceived him with their mouth Why Can God be deceived No But they did what lay in them to deceive him if it were possible that he should be deceived they would deceive God No mervail though men do deceive men so much as they do many that are of upright hearts they wonder when they hear of the falsness of mens spirits that they can be so No mervail I say when as God himself complains of being deceived by them that is They are so false and do so beset God with lyes that if it were possible he himself should be deceived That 's the first Note And then Secondly As it was here with this people besetting God with lyes Thus many do compass and beset businesses the businesses and affairs that they mannage they beset them with lyes that 's thus They plot with themselves how they may handsomly contrive a company of lyes together by a handsom putting of them together that so they may beset mens unsterstandings there is such a cunning abroad in the world I say to seek to beset the understandings of men so as men shall not know what to say to things and yet they cannot tel how to beleeve them neither do they know what to say things are so contriv'd and so set they think with themselves If such a thing shall be questioned then I have such a shift to put it off and if another thing shal be doubted of then I have such a report to make it good some fair pretence or other And thus they beset businesses with lyes and beset mens understandings But Judah yet ruleth with God and is faithful with the Saints This of Judahs ruling with God Luther Meisnerus and others do think that it hath reference unto the story that you find in 2 King 18. the
for the burning and heat of it And the vulgar Latin likewise renders it Heat Now you will say What doth the holy Ghost mean here It 's to hold out a very excellent Truth to us That those men that seek to satisfie themselves with creature comforts the thoughts of their own counsels and plots their own inventions their own waies they do not only deceive themselves and will be disappointed at last of what they expect but they will find these waies of theirs to be very pestilentious very hurtful very dangerous they will find that such waies as these will undo them will bring them to misery Oh! how many have undone themselves with their own counsels were it indeed that men were but meerly disappointed of their vain hopes there were a great evil in that but if that were all it were not so much if so be that men at last should meet with no other evil but disappointment it were not so much but you must not escape so you that will feed upon the wind and bless your selves in your own waies you must expect to meet with wrath and misery those waies that you may think to shift from danger will bring you into danger Oh! how many upon their sick beds and death beds have cried out in the bitterness and trouble of their souls for following of their own conceits and counsels and waies and the waies of other men they see how that they are undone undone by those waies Oh! we have fed upon the wind and we find evil waies that pleased us then to torment us now to bring anguish sorrow and trouble upon us And one Note further Follows the East wind They met with storms observe for the East wind was very hurtful and tempestuous in those parts Now to meet with storms and tempests and have nothing within us to bear us out but the wind but emptiness this is grievous when they shall meet with the East wind and have nothing within them I say to bear them out but meerly emptiness this is very sad and grievous Suppose men meet with the rough East wind or there 's such storms and tempests yet if they have had solid food whereby they come to get good blood and marrow and spirits they may be able to bear it but when the body is empty and meets with tempests Oh! this is very grievous to the body so it is with many when they meet with afflictions but the Saints they have such solidity within them that bears them out but other men that are empty that have fed upon the wind all their daies they have nothing to bear them out in great afflictions but their hearts sink down in horror and despair But it follows He daily encreaseth lyes and desolation Ephraim together with the ten Tribes with them all all the day long he encreaseth lyes that is he hath new plots and new devises and new shifts for himself he encreaseth lyes new opinions and new reports so we are to understand the word in the latitude encreaseth lyes First In matters of Doctrine there he encreaseth lyes having forsaken once the Truth if the truth be once forsaken men do not know whither they shall go Grant but one error we use to say a thousand will follow and they will multiply abundantly especially some errors there are some such breeding lyes as if they be granted there must be a great many others to maintain them Never was there such an encrease of false Doctrine of lyes in that sense as there is at this day in Revel 12. 15. the text saith that when the Dragon could not prevail against the Church against the woman by bloody persecutions for that 's the meaning of it then saith the text the Dragon cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the floo 〈…〉 this was the policie of the Devil first laboring by violence to prevail against the Church but that he could not do and when he could not do that then he cast wâ—ter out of his mouth like a flood that it as Interpre 〈…〉 observe he did labor by a deluge of error and her 〈…〉 undo the Church when he could not do it by open violence Truly this Scripture is even fulfilled concerning us this very day the Lord hath been pleased to curb the Dragon in this sense and those that were instruments of the Dragon in open and violent perse 〈…〉 cution so that they cannot persecute the Truths as they were wont to do now this is the way of the Devil this Dragon he sends out of his mouth a flood of Errors and Heresies after the Truth after the Church laboring to swallow up all by this flood and certainly we are in a great deal of danger at this day in this respect there is a flood and deluge of such things of all sorts almost of old errors that ever were and many of them extream dangerous and men are serviceable to the Dragon in this thing more than they are aware of Oh! that we could but see the subtilty of Satan in this in the continual encreasing of lyes for these four or five yeers there hath been such an encrease as it could never have been thought Certainly if some of our forefathers that were holy and gracious should rise out of their graves and come to see and hear such things as may be seen and heard in our daies they would stand amazed at it and they would wonder how it were possible that ever England should be fill'd with such horrible opinions and waies as they have been in these latter times so that now there lies the hope of the Devil by encrease of such lies to eat out Godliness and Religion thereby and this indeed seems to be the most hopeful design that the Devil hath in these latter times mens hearts are carnal loose and sensual and therefore they are prepared to receive these lyes and hence they multiply apace because they are prepared to receive them but yet let none multiply them more than they are by putting among those lyes some truths By shutting in truths in the midst of them to make them appear likewise to be lyes and to be taken as honest men are when they are gotten by any accident in the company of lude people they are apprehended upon suspition meerly because they are in their company and it is a way of the Devil to multiply and encrease these falshoods and lyes by shuffling in some truths among them and because he could not have them suspected otherwaies they must be taken upon suspition because they are there among them let not men gather these lyeâ— together to the end that they may oppose some truths thereby but as the Prophet speaks What is the chaff to the wheat If men will speak of lyes let them enveigh against them and
yea but did you hear all or do you report all It 's a great matter when a man will take one piece of a thing and make a report of it and not all another man may come and report the quite contrary whereas if all were brought together there might appear some agreement and perhaps they would be both of the same mind if the whol series of the thing were laid before them bring things to the Original and then you see how they agree as now sometimes in Scripture there are divers readings yea but now by the bringing divers Translations to the Original we come to see what an agreement there is And so it is with reports bring them to the Original and so you may come to help your selves and see what agreement may be made And then further Reports may be are cross but the crosness of things may be in mens memories rather than in the things themselves I say meerly in the memory and people do not in all things that they speak say why I remember thus or I remember this is not expressed but sometimes the very nature of the thing carries it so My Brethren therefore take heed of spreading reports to the dishonor of Religion And Secondly If you hear any false things that you think surely this must be a lye rather go to the party or get some that are acquainted with them to go to them to see whether they can satisfie you in the thing there 's many men that stand and wonder at such a report whereas if they or any friend for them would but search out the thing they might have such a plain history of the things related to them as should fully satisfie them as they should say there would be no such matter at all so that their apprehensione would be changed presently But so much concerning encreasing of lyes in regard of reports But then there 's a Third thing here That is Encreasing lyes in regard of Practice still following after new vanities if they find not satisfaction in one they are not mov'd thereby to seek the true God that they may have satisfaction but seek to have satisfaction in other things Oh! let 's consider thus I find no satisfaction in this yea but is it not because I forsake the Lord God in whom there is all satisfaction let me repair to God and in him I shall find satisfaction No but they take another course I have not satisfaction in this thing then I 'le seek to have satisfaction in another thing and so they go from one false way to another and encrease lyes in this sense I will have new devises to shift off Truth the consciences of men will not be put off with old shifts they have satisfied their consciences a while with one shift yea but conscience will not be put off long with that but they must have another and when conscience comes to apprehend the weakness of that then it must have another Oh take heed of being inventive for the satisfying of conscience It follows They have encreased lyes and desolation Men when they imbrace their own vain conceits and hopes and false waies they think they have gotten a great catch but the truth is they imbrace their own ruin Mark how they are put together Encrease lyes and desolation is the fruit of lyes and secondly desolation is encreased by lyes the more sin the more desolation you will perish the more dreadfully in Prov. 19. 8. A false witness saith the text shall not be unpunished and be that speaketh lyes shall perish He that walks uprightly he walks surely Prov. 12. 19. The lip of Truth shall be established for ever but a lying tongue is but for a moment it may bluster a while and keep ado and deceive many yea but it is but for a moment It follows And they do make a Covenant with the Assyrians and Oyl is carried into Egypt That is That they might have power to crush their Brethren of Judah they think to strengthen themselves and so seek to make a Covenant with the Assyrians you have found this charged upon them many times here in this Prophesie of Hosea 13. 7. 11. and in Hosea 10. you have this sin of making a Covenant with wicked men and it is repeated again and again to shew the hainousness of this sin in forsaking God to joyn with ungodly men And to teach us this lesson That when people are guilty of a sin the Prophets of God should beat upon it again and again I shall not need to speak any further of this but only so And Oyl is carried into Egypt That is They carry Oyl for gifts and merchandize the Land of Canaan abounded much in Oyl but there was little or no Oyl in the Land of Egypt and therefore it was a great merchandize to carry Oyl from the Land of Cannan into Egypt in Ezek. 27. 17. Judah and the Land of Israel were thy Merchants they traded in thy Market Wheat of Minnich and Pannag and Honey and Oyl and Balm But this was as it were the staple Commodity Now my Brethren Egypt you know is a type of Antichrist and Canaan a type of the Church Egypt hath no Oyl there 's no Oyl grows there no there 's Gall and Wormwood there 's no Oyl but Oyl is in the Land of Canaan My Brethren What are we but almost like Egypt this day We would be loth to return into Egypt to our former bondage but we even turn our selves to be as Egypt we have little Oyl among us What is God bringing us to Canaan how comes it to pass there is no more Oyl then Oh! the Oyl that is among us if there be any it's rather the Oyl of Scorpions than any thing els mens Spirits and mens Pens and mens Tongues are even full of this Oyl as if the Ink that were made in these daies were made of the Oyl of Scorpions Israel the ten Tribes would send Oyl to Egypt to gain the favour of Egypt that they might have their wils over their brethren they would be at a great deal of cost and part with their Oyl Oh! my brethren shall it be so with us to apply it spiritually that we might have our wils over our brethren shall we part with our Oyl Why do not we say as the Figtree Shall we leave our sweetness to come and reign over you So shall we leave our Oyl that is The suppleness the gentleness the tenderness of our spirits shall we lose these that we may prevail over our Brethren Oh! how many were of supple tender spirits and loving one towards another yet out of a desire to prevail against their Brethren they have parted with their Oyl even with the tenderness and suppleness of their spirits Remember Egypt hath no Oyl but Oyl is in Canaan it grows there VER 2. The Lord also hath a Controversie with Judah and
will punish Jacob according to his waies according to his doings will he recompence him THis Verse I shal presently pass over But the first part is very observable Calvin saith of it It 's a wonderful thing Did not God say That Judah rules with God and is faithful with the Saints and now saith He hath a Controversie with Judah I find some therefore would reconcile it thus and say The Lord hath a Controversie FOR Judah but that 's a little strain'd But the Lord hath a Controversie WITH Judah And there may be Four Reasons why after God had said That Judah rules with God and is faithful with the Saints that he saith He hath a Controversie with Judah The First Reason is this To shew that God doth not so look at the good of his People but he sees the evil in them too You know those passages in the 2d of Revelations where God commends such and such Churches for doing thus and thus but yet notwithsthnding I have a few things against thee I do not so observe your good but I observe your evil too My Brethren some there are that if there be any evil in men they can see no good in them this is wicked But others there are that if there be any good in them can see no evil this is too much indulgence too it is two extremities in both Secondly Yet God hath a controversie with Judah Judah hath no cause to bless her self in her waies that are good because she retain'd the true Worship of God Men are very apt to bless themselves in some waies that are not good because they did chuse some other waies that are good I mean thus That such men as imbrace the true Worship of God are right there they will have pure Ordinances and the way of God right according to the Word and because of that though there be some loosness and negligence in their waies otherwaies yet they put off conscience with this and think they are the true Worshipers of God and have the Ordinances of God in the purity and power of them and so think to swallow down all much loosness much carnality much pride much sensualness much hypocrisie and yet because they are in the way of the true Worship of God they seek to satisfie conscience with this Oh! take heed of this God may have a Controversie against you Thirdly The Lord hath a Controversie with Judah he doth express himself thus that Israel might neither think God or the Prophet partial The ten Tribes might say Doth God threaten us Is not Judah as bad as we are there not evils among Judah as well as us are we only the sinful people No saith the Prophet I acknowledg there 's much evil in Judah and therefore the Lord hath a Controversie against Judah too and Judah is not like to escape and let not this satisfie you that because others are bad therefore you may escape no they are bad and God hath a Controversie against them And this may be an useful Note to us men are very ready to put off the evils that they are guilty of with this I am not worse than others I do such a thing amiss and others do such a thing amiss as well as I and so they think to escape that way Oh! thou weak man thou vain man why wilt thou deceive thy soul with this Doest thou think that another mans evil may be an excuse to thy evil Thou art a vain man and knowest not the way of God The Fourth Note is this Therefore doth God say he hath a Controversie against Judah here to shew them how much more must the ten Tribes expect the displeasure of God If Judah who retains the true Worship of God yet for some other evils God hath a Controversie against them then what will become of Israel who have those evils and reject the true Worship of God too As if the Prophet should say your condition is far worse therefore doth the Lord say he hath a Controversie against Judah that he might aggravate the evils of Israel like that of Peter If Judgment begin at the House of God where shall the wicked and the sinner appear If so be that the Church which have the Ordinances in the purity of them yet God is displeased with them for their sin how much more will he be displeased with them who are corrupt in the Worship of God Therefore men should not bless themselves with such discourse as this Why others have evils as well as we yea but if God will punish them for their evils that have sewer and a great deal more good than thou how much more will he punish thee Oh! if those that are the dear Saints of God that worship him in truth and sincerity and they have evils among them but yet they shall not escape scot-free Oh! then what will become of thee who art a wicked and vile wretch and hast no good at all If a Moses that had done God so much service yet for one sin of passion for so it was was shut out of the Land of Cannan it was but one time that he spake unadvisedly with his lips that God shut him out and bid him speak no more to him of that matter what will become of thee that hast a passionate froward spirit and thou that never hast nor wilt do God the service that such a Servant of his hath done what will become of t 〈…〉 Oh! how â—ayest thou look to be shut out This use you must make of the sins of others and Gods dealings with them And saith he I will punish Jacob according to his waies c. There is Two Questions necessarie for the opening of this First Why the ten Tribes are call'd by the name of Jacob we never reade that they are call'd by the name of Isaac and of Abraham Now for the Answer to that it 's given thus which is a very satisfying Answer That therefore the People of God are call'd in Scripture by the name of Jacob and by the name of Israel his other name rather than by the name of Abraham and Isaac because they though godly and were the Father and Grand-father yet in Abrahams family there was wicked aswel as good likewise from Isaac's loins there came Esau aswel as Jacob but now from Jacobs loyns there came none but were of Gods Church all Jacobs Sons they are the twelve Patriarchs and therefore they are call'd by the name of Jacob rather than Abraham or Isaac and therefore when he speaks of the People of God he calls them the seed of Jacob I said not to the seed of Jacob seek ye me in vain But then Secondly Why is Jacob mentioned in this place Because the Prophet intends presently in the words that follow to bring the example of Jacob to them before he was Israel to aggravate their sin for the work of humiliation and
been wrastling a great while and I can get nothing from God but that it 's likely here I must die and perish yea and that God should leave me thus as he doth that God should appear a greater enemy to me than my Brother Esau and lame me Oh! now might not this be a sign that God intends to destroy me yea God would be gone too when I am in such a strait as this is Oh! this makes him weep As a poor child when it is in straits and is crying to the mother the mother beats it and strikes it yea the mother will be gone and leave it in those straits Can you blame the child though it cry So it was here Jacob was in straits and was seeking God and God beats him and makes him cry and would be gon Oh! this doth press tears out of the eyes of Jacob Oh! what will become of me now As if Jacob should have said Were it that I should perish alone it were not so much but my Wives perish and how can mine eyes be able to see their destruction yea it may be they will be ravished before mine eyes by these rude Soldiers These kind of workings in Jacob's spirit you cannot but conceive that it must draw tears he wept before the Angel considering this his sore distressed condition And on the other side there were thoughts would make him weep too The thoughts of his Misery and the reasoning of his Faith when he considered I but surely I am in the way of God though I be in a great deal of danger I have the Promise of God I have his Covenant with me I have to deal with the Holy Blessed and Gracious God in all my waies Who knows but that my extremity may be Gods opportunity The heart of my brother it is certainly in the hand of God and all Creatures are in Gods hands too Now the actings of Faith would make one to weep aswel as of Fear and Trouble and it were well if we could weep on both sides Sometimes you roul in your thoughts all the aggravations of your afflictions and they make you weep Now can you roul in your thoughts the aggravations of Gods Goodness and Mercy and can that make you weep The end why God brought Jacob into this condition to fal a weeping before the Angel it was That he might humble him and break his heart before he gives him deliverance for it was one of the greatest honors as we intimated before that God did for Jacob that ever he did to man therfore God would bring him very low before he would raise him so high and make him fall a weeping aswel as praying before he should have the Mercy Oh! this is Gods way He will bring men very low to humble them before they shall have mercy therefore when mens hearts are high and lofty stout and hard they are not in a way of Mercy from God but when mens hearts begin to break thaw and melt and are tender then they are in a way of mercy as here So we find it often in Scripture that God intending mercy first breaks the heart and melts it by mourning and sorrowing as Josiah you know that was his condition his heart melted when he heard the Law and God sends presently a Promise of Mercy to him and in Ieremiah there the Lord promises his People That he will bring them with weeping and with supplications that shall be the way One Note or two more It becomes the most generous and magnanimous spirit to have his heart breaking and to express his heart breaking with tears before God It is an excellent thing to see a man of a brave spirit strong and ful of courage in any service of God and yet when he comes to have to deal with God to have a melting tender and soft spirit in his dealings with God If you should see now a great Captain or General that were brave and magnanimous when he was abroad in the field about any difficult work but when he comes before God in Prayer there he can weep like a child there he can mourn and lament and his heart break assoon as a child this is an excellent spirit now spirits that can turn according to what God cals them to this way or that way can be stout and hardy in a work that requires stoutness and can be soft tender and yeelding in such a work that requires such things Thus was our father Jacob Oh! to have tender hearted Captains and Generals to have couragious spirits yet broken hearted spirits to mix the work of Grace thus it is most excellent and it becomes the most bravest spirit in the world not only to fall down to prayer but to weep before the Lord some men think it 's too low a thing to fall a weeping in prayer as if it were a womanish and a childish thing Oh! it 's an argument that thy heart is carnal and base to think that it 's for want of understanding I say this is evil and it comes from much corruption in the heart for to think it either beneath a brave spirit or beneath a prudent spirit I 'le give you one example that weeping is not beneath a brave spirit this is enough and also that of David no man did shed more tears in the presence of God than David that brave Captain but to put both together I 'le set before you the example of Jesus Christ in Heb. 5. 7. the text saith That in the daies of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications how with strong cries and tears even Jesus Christ the Son of God God blessed for ever he that was equal with the Father the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah he that had all strength and power and had all the treasures of wisdom hid in him and the fulness of the God head dwelt bodily in him and yet when he had to deal with the Father he offers up prayers with strong cries and tears Doth it become the Captain of our salvation in his seeking of God to weep know then it is not unbecoming any man or woman Are you of the seed of Jacob then when you would prevail with God labor to work your hearts even so as you may express your affections outwardly labor to do it in prayer it will help to break thy heart As a broken heart will cause outward expressions so outward expressions will be a further cause to break the heart And work thy heart by all arguments thou canst to come to that tenderness and softness that thou mayest be like the Captain of thy Salvation when thou art crying to God to cry even with tears before him and when thy heart is so broken with tears then exercise thy faith upon the prayer of Jesus Christ Now it is through the Spirit of Jesus Christ that my heart doth thus break but I do not rest upon these God forbid that I should rest upon my enlargements
upon my breakings No but I will rest upon the breakings of Jesus Christ who in the daies of his flesh did send up mighty cries with tears to God and was heard he prevail'd He made supplication Supplieation or prayer it is the great prevailing Ordinance with God that 's the Note It hath been the great Engin that hath carried things on in the world Prayer in Revel 8. 4. The prayers of the Saints were offered up and voices of Thunder and Lightening and Earthquakes followed when they were offered Prayers of the Saints can move Heaven and Earth they can prevail with the God of Heaven and Earth The Praying Legion was called the Thundering Legion And Luther saith of prayers they are our Guns our Cannons our Prayers can prevail more than Cannons The Saints have alwaies put their great strength upon Prayer It 's a very observable Scripture Psal 109. 4. For my love they are my adversaries but what then But I pray it is in your books But I give my self to prayer but the words Give my self you may observe printed in another distinct Character which is to note that those words are not in the Original but added by the Translators and in that they dealt faithfully but if you reade it as it is in the Hebrew it is For my love they are my adversaries but I pray as if he should say that 's my refuge I account prayer to be the great help that I have when they are my adversaries and rail upon me I will not rail upon them again when they oppose me I will not oppose them again but I pray I 'le pray to my God and I make account I have help enough there to resist my enemies that I have Jacob prevailed over the Angel by suppication It 's a good sign of a gracious heart to lay the weight of business upon pra 〈…〉 But I will not enter into this common place of the excellency or power of Prayer and Supplication but only this It 's not every prayer that will prevail so with God What prayer will then Such a prayer as Jacob's was in Gen. 32. 9. there 〈◊〉 shall find how your Father Jacob prayed and there 〈◊〉 excellent Ingredients saith the text And Jacob said O God of my Father Abraham and God of my Father Isaac c. That 's the First Ingredient to Prayer Faith in the Covenant of God upon that the strength of any prayr most depends Indeed to have strong Expressions and Affections in prayer are good but Strength of Faith in the Covenant of God is the greatest strength of prayer and it was with this strength that Jacob did prevail Oh! God of my Father Abraham and God of my Father Isaac as if he should say Oh! thou God that hast entred into Covenant with my Father Abraham and Isaac O God remember thy COVENANT O God I rest upon 〈◊〉 COVENANT the COVENANT of Grace that 〈◊〉 hast made with them for so certainly that with 〈◊〉 hans and Isaac was the same for it 's said That Circum 〈…〉 sion was the sign and seal of the righteousness that he had 〈◊〉 Faith And in Thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be bl 〈…〉 There was the Covenant of Grace Now O Lord 〈◊〉 it is the Covenant of Grace that I rest upon in the 〈◊〉 straits When you are in any strait and go to Go 〈…〉 prayer if you can have recourse to the Covenant 〈◊〉 Grace and act your saith upon Gods Covenant with you Oh! that will be a strong prayer When there are but words in prayer they vanish as the wind but when there is much saith in prayer that makes it to prevail the prayer of faith that 's prevalent saith the Apostle James that 's the first ingredient in his prayer he made supplication and exercises faith in the Covenant And then the second was His appeal to God that he was 〈◊〉 the way that he had set him He could appeal thus to God which saidst unto me Return unto thy Country and to thy Kindred Why Lord am I out of my way am I not in the way that thou hast set me I met with difficul 〈…〉 in my way but Lord thou saidest to me Return 〈…〉 to thy Country thou bidest me return so that 's an excellent ingredient in prayer and ads much strength when the soul in prayer can come to God and say O Lord there is this and this difficulty befallen me but Lord I am in the way that thou hast set me I am doing thy work I am not out of my way For any man or woman to be out of their way that God hath set them in will mightily damp their hearts in prayer And it 's a mighty encouragement to prayer and carries it on with mighty strength when the soul can appeal to God Lord whatsoever straits I meet withal yet I am in thy way Then the Third thing in prayer It is the pleading of â—particular Promise And I will deal well with thee God 〈…〉 de a Promise to Jacob in particular that he would deal 〈◊〉 with him in his journy that he went And the 〈◊〉 faith we have to take hold upon particular promises that concerns the particular business we pray about 〈◊〉 we pray about any business though it 's true the 〈◊〉 strength is in the great Promise the Covenant of 〈…〉 But then it ads much strength likewise to have 〈…〉 f particular Promises that concerns the very business we are about and it 's a very good thing when we go about a business that hath difficulty in it to search the Word and to see what Promises there are that doth more particularly concern the business we go about The Fourth Ingredient it was his Acknowledgment and Sence of his own unworthiness and vileness in ver 10. I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewn unto thy Servant When the soul comes with humility before God in Prayer and is truly sensible of its unworthiness of any mercy Lord I am not worthy of the least crum of bread but rather worthy to be cast out from thy presence for ever it 's an easie matter for men and women to have such words in their mouths but to have this indeed in their hearts in prayer ads very much strength to prayer The Fifth Ingredient in his prayer it was The acknowledgment of the mercy that he had received and of the truth of God in fulfilling Promises and both ads much strength to prayer to take notice of what God hath done for us to take notice how God hath fulfil'd his Word in great measure for us when we are praying we many times are sensible only of what we would have but not of what we receive and the vehemencie of our desires after what we would have doth take away our apprehensions and hinders our acknowledgment of the
mercies we have had already but when thou comest to prayer whatsoever thy condition be though in never such great straits yet acknowledg what thou hast already be willing to praise God in the lowest condition that thou art in And then he doth proceed further and looks back to his former meanness that once he was in For with my staff passed I over this Jordan and now I am become two band 〈…〉 that 's a further expression of his humility and God 〈◊〉 ther mercy And then the next thing is the great sence of what he praies for Deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my Brother from the hand of Esau for I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children Lord I do not speak words that have expressions in them without sence of my heart for Lord as I am crying to thee for help against my Brother I do apprehend my great extremity Lord I fear him lest he come and smite me with the mother and the children When we come to prayer we must not have words that are puft-up words and have little in them but there must be as much sence of the thing that we pray for as the words that we speak do seem to import carry with them many times we have great words and little sence and that makes our prayers to be so empty And then the next thing in his prayer it was The strong arguments that he did use with God though it 's true That what we can say to God cannot move God yet it may move our own hearts and God would have us to use strong arguments in prayer And thou saidest in ver 12. I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand on the Sea which cannot be numbred for multitude As if he should say Lord how will thy promise be fulfill'd didest thou not say that my seed should be as the sand of the Sea now if the mother and children be cut off what will become of thy Promise God is so indulgent as to suffer us to plead our cause with him And these pleading prayers are strong prayers he wept and made supplication so he prevail'd with God Now labor you if you be of the seed of Jacob to pray as your Father Jacob did But so much shall suffice for that Second History about Jacob's prevailing with the Angel Now the Third History follows He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us The words in the Hebrew are He will find us in Bethel and there he spake with us As if it were an encouraging word of the Angel to Jacob that God would find him in Bethel and indeed the Gramatical sense of the words would carry such a sense but rather because the Learned know that the word is often used for the Preter tense in the Hebrew and it 's more according to the scope of the place to reade them as you have them in your books He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us That is He found Jacob in Bethel and spake to Jacob and in speaking to Jacob he spake unto us all Now for the opening of this History and the shewing how it sutes with the scope of the Prophet in this place We reade in Scripture of two Meetings that God and Jacob had together at Bethel and this Text in Hosea doth refer to them both God finds him in Bethel two times and spake with Jacob and spake to us both those times The First time for fear of danger he fled from his brother when his brother had mischievous thoughts against him after he got the blessing from him And the Second time again after his wrastling with the Angel God meets him in Bethel The First of these you have in Gen 28. 10. and the Second in Gen. 35. 1. and so on And it 's necessary to refer to those two Scriptures for the interpretation of this Scripture you will not know what it means else 1. He finds him in Bethel Gen. 28. 10. yea indeed for Jacob he lay asleep with a stone under his head he saw a vision of Angels ascending and descending from Heaven and God speak excellent things unto him But the Note is That God finds his People many times when they little think of him He comes unto his People in waies of mercy when they scarce dream of it Jacob was but in a dream at this time and yet God came in very wonderful waies of mercy towards him Oh! how often hath God found us in this way how often may many of you say that the Lord hath come unexpectedly to you in waies of mercy that you never made account of such mercies as you have met withal Oh! when unexpected mercies come we should consider that God found us whereas our sins might have found us but the mercies of God have found us out And the other time that God found Jacob it was when he was in great distress after his daughter Dinah had been defloured and his sons Simeon and Levi had committed that great outrage against the Shechemites so great an outrage as to kill the City and upon that Jacob and all his family was in great danger of being destroyed for the act was so foul that it could not but make all the people as Jacob thought to abhor him and would be a cause that they should all rise against him and utterly to cut him off therfore in Gen. 34 30. Jacob tels his sons that they had made him to stink among the inhabitants of the Land so that he was afraid they would gather together and destroy him and his house no question the distress that Jacob was in was very great that his daughter should be defloured by the uncircumcised ones and that his two sons should commit such an outrage and should endanger him to be destroyed utterly by them For who would have thought but that all the Inhabitants of the Land should have risen against him and have cut him off Now the next thing that we hear of God meets with him at Bethel and speaks very gracious things to him there and he did not only speak to him but there he spake with us That is God meeting with Jacob in Bethel that which he spake to him there concern'd us aswel as it concern'd Jacob. An expression to the same purpose we have in Psal 66. 6. He turned the Sea into dry land they went through the Floud on foot there We did rejoyce in him For indeed the mercy of God towards the Isralites at that time that did rejoyce them was a matter of Rejoycing for us Whatsoever is written is written for our learning 't is as if God spake to us That which God spake to Abraham I am God Alsufficient walk before me and be upright he spake that to us he spake that to thee and me That that God spake to Joshua
he did to Jacob if you forsake him not Oh! wretches that you should forsake this God whom you might have to be the Lord of Hosts and Jehovah to you Oh! Let 's learn this That when we reade in Scripture or hear from our forefathers how God hath appeared heretofore for his Saints for our Forefathers let us make this use of it God is the same God still and we may come to have as much good from this God as ever any had since the world began there 's no shortning of his Power there 's no darkning of his Glory but whatsoever Power hath wrought whatsoever Glory of God hath appeared in former times we may come to have it appear to us now it 's a mighty argument for people to keep close to God and be faithful with him even because of this Fourthly There 's no need of Images to keep Gods remembrance the glorious Titles of God and his Attributes and the Manifestation of Himself in his Works is the best Memorial of God that 's our way the way of man to make to himself Memorials God hath made himself a Memorial When you reade in the Word this glorious Title of God Jehovah it 's a better Memorial of God than all the Images in the world are and we may better Sanctifie Gods Name and have our hearts better wrought upon by such Titles of God than by all kind of Images whatsoever The Fifth Note When God manifests himself in his Glory it 's not only for the present that men now might see his Glory but it is that he may be remembred from Generation to Generation from one to another from one time of our life to another and so from one Age to another so here the Lord of Hosts Jehovah is his memorial as if he should say the Lord manifests himself Jehovah thus and thus and he would be remembred in other Ages to be so what God doth to his people in one Age he doth not expect only to have his Name sanctified for that present but he would have it laid up from Age to Age and would be honored in all Generations from those great manifestations of himself in some one Age. My Brethren Oh! that we had hearts to do this Oh! that we could make this God his Memorial that we could lay up what God hath manifested of himself in this Age for the benefit of another Age I hope God wil one way or other provide means for the recording of the famous things that God hath done in this Age that it may be a Memorial to the posterity afterwards for certainly our Age cannot give God the glory that is due unto his Name for what he hath done we had need labor to continue it to posterity that the Ages to come may remember what God hath done to give glory to him it is his Memorial And then the last Note is this When we would have a holy Memorial of God the meditation of the Name JEHOVAH is very useful for us You that say you cannot meditate your meditations are barren Would you help your selves in meditation to have a holy Memorial of God think much of the Name Jehovah remember what hath been hinted to you from that Name and what is contained in it And thus much for the Fifth Verse VER 6. Therefore turn thou to thy God keep Mercy and Judgment and wait on thy God continually THerefore Here comes the Use now all the other seem'd to be the Doctrine and this is the Use therefore turn unto thy God so that this Therefore it hath reference unto all that the Prophet had said concerning Jacob and to these Titles of God as if he should say thus 1. You had such a gracious Father that did thus prevail with God to whom God did so appear therefore turn to God 2. It is the Lord of Hosts therefore turn to him 3. Iehovah is his Memorial therefore turn to him For the First The reference it hath to their father Jacob affords us this Note That the consideration of our gracious Predecessors of our Forefathers that were godly to whom God appear'd in Mercy is a great argument to turn us to God Oh! you that are Children that have had Parents that were wrastlers with God Are you wicked now Consider what Parents you had and turn you therefore unto God In. 2 Tim. 1. 3. I thank God saith St Paul whom I serve with a pure conscience from my forefathers Oh! 't is a great comfort unto a man or woman if they can be able to say thus I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience from my Forefathers my Forefathers served God my Grandfather or Grandmother or Father or Mother they were godly and I thank God even from them that I serve God God is my God and my Fathers God Exod. 15. 2. The Second is this That the consideration of God to be the LORD of Hosts is a mighty motive to cause us to turn to God Wilt thou go on in waies of enmity against the Lord of Hosts the Lord of Hosts who hath Angels and all Creatures to fight for him Wilt thou a poor worm stand out against this God thou that goest on in a way of wickedness know thou fightest against the great LORD of Hosts What were it for a drunken fellow to come and think to oppose but such an Army as we have that goes out of the City at this time but for a poor wretched worm to think to stand against the Infinit GOD the Lord of Hosts Oh! 't is infinit boldness and presumption and desperate madness in that man therefore turn to the Lord All the while thou art going on in waies of wickedness thou art fighting against the Lord of Hosts And on the other side If thou hadst but an heart to turn unto the Lord Oh how joyful would this Title be to thee that that God which is thy God is the Lord of Hosts is the Lord of all the Hosts in the World We are not afraid now to see Soldiers and hear the beating of Drums and shooting of Guns when we know that all are our Friends but if we should have heard the beating of Drums and neigbing of Horses and shooting of Guns of our Enemies that would have struck fear So one that hath turned to God need not fear any Army any Creatures Why for all is commanded by God their Father and Oh! the joy peace and security that a heart may have that is turned to God I 'le give you one notable Scripture in Act. 27. 23. saith Paul There stood by me this night the Angel of God whose I am and whom I serve saying Fear not Paul Mark There stood before me the Angel of God Did not that terrifie him The Angel that is but one of the Members of the Hosts of God any one Angel hath a great deal of terror in him sometimes for there is much of the glory
of God in Angels and we know that the appearing of Angels hath struck terror into many men But now saith Paul The Angel said Fear not If it be the Angel of God whose I am and whom I serve then I need not fear yea let God muster up all his Hosts and appear to one that hath turned to him if he can say thus Whose I am and whom I serve these Hosts will say Fear not Therefore turn unto the Lord because he is the Lord of Hosts Thirdly Because God is JEHOVAH therefore turn unto the Lord. There 's a great deal of force in this Name to cause sinners to turn to him because he is Jehovah for this Name JEHOVAH hath as much terror in it to a guilty ungodly soul as we reade of in all the Book of God I say put all together that we reade in the Book of God yet if we did but throughly understand the Name Jehovah we should see as much terror in it to a guilty conscience and a sinful soul that goes on in the waies of wickedness as almost all that is mentioned of God that might be terrible As thus JEHOVAH If he be Jehovah he hath power over every thing that hath a being to torment thee with it for he hath all being in Himself al being is from him and the dispose of all therefore whatsoever thing hath any being in it this God hath the power over it to make use of it to torment thee withal Do but consider how some little creature if it be in some part of a mans body what power it hath to bring torment a little gravel in the kidneys or stone in the bladder that 's but a poor weak creature in its self but being in that place what tortor doth it bring now if a little gravel or stone hath that power to torment thee then what power hath all things in the Earth and the infinite God that hath all essence and all being and can dispose of all things as he pleases to bring pain misery and torment to a sinner It 's a very humbling consideration to a sinner And on the other side If there be any power in any thing that hath a being to bring any comfort to a man or woman it 's all in God for God hath all in him eminently As now one Creature hath power to torment in one way another in another way and so one Creature hath power to comfort us one way another another but all this is eminently in God the gravel torments one way the humor in the veins in the gout that torments another way and fire torments another way and the Sword torments after another manner and burning feaver torments in the body fire without and burning feaver within the stinging of Serpents torments after another way now all power of all things is in God Eminently the quintessence of all things is in God and therefore the power of God is able to bring all sorts of torments at one time in one thing As now suppose several herbs that have several vertues one hath a vertue in one kind another in another but if these herbs were all distill'd into one water then a drop of that water hath the same vertue and efficacy that it may be forty several herbs hath so now all creatures that have their several kind of efficacies and vertues distilled into one If I may compare this distillation unto God he hath all kind of power in himself and is able to put it forth in one instant all the power and efficacie that there is in all creatures in Heaven and Earth either to torment or to comfort us If one herb hath one sweetness and a second another and the third another the distillation of them all together how sweet will that be Now all these being in God eminently Oh what comfort is there in God than to the soul So that look either way to the Name Jehovah we may see an argument to humble us for sin the dreadfulness of the wrath of God appears in this more than in any one meditation that I know of Neither do I know any meditation that may stick upon the heart to comfort and encourage the heart to turn to God and to rejoyce in God so much as this That there 's all being in God eminently and all depending absolutely upon him therefore turn to God because he is Jehovah Thus you see the connexion of these two Further When the excellency of the Saints or glory of God is set before us we should make it an argument to turn to the Lord when both together the Exccellency of Jacob and the Excellency of God this is set as an argument to turn to the Lord Turn to me But they might say Do not we turn to God we do serve God That may be another Note That whatsoever Services men do perform to God yet if they be not in Gods way they do in the midest of them all depart from God and do not turn to him They did worship God after a fashion but God did not account that worshiping of him but departing from him therefore turn to God But turn Thou to God That is Every one of you do not stand objecting and cavelling against what I say but turn to God every one of you turn Thou to God Thou art Israel Thou art the posterity of that great prevailer with God therefore turn Thou to God That 's the Note of Observation from hence and if you lay it to heart you will find it of very great use Every one should consider what peculier arguments there are that concern him in particular to turn to God Therefore Turn thou to God O Israel There 's a great deal more reason why thou shouldest turn to God than others Oh that every one of us here in this place would but in our meditations labor to recal all those particular arguments that concern our selves that might turn us to God do not take it in the general Turn to God because he is your Creator turn to God that you may be saved this concerns all but consider what special arguments thou hast as thus Consider what special manifestations of God there hath been to thee Consider what special offers of Grace there hath been to thee Consider what special workings of the holy Ghost there hath been upon thy heart Consider what special illuminations of Gods Spirit there hath been in thee Consider of what special dangers thou hast been in Consider what special Vows and Covenants thou hast made to God and yet hast departed from him afterwards Consider what special engagements thou hast had These are but the hints that men and women may lay to heart all the arguments that may concern them especially to turn to God Turn Thou to God therefore Do not thou look upon others and think thus I do as others do yea but thou hast more reason to
ever thy heart shall be raised by the work of Faith to beleeve in him and to be enabled to triumph in him and say Lo this is our God we have waited on him and this is the God of my salvation And therefore you that are turning to God wait upon him continually But besides The Use of Exhortation he hath a Use of Reprehension and that 's in the 7. and 8. Verses Notwith standing all this as if the Prophet should say Oh! your hearts are set upon your Covetousness upon the pelf of this world these vanities that are here below You are not saith he as your Father Jacob I exhort you thus to turn unto the Lord and to keep Merey and Judgment but it 's otherwise with you VER 7. He is a Merchant the ballances of deceipt are in his hand he loveth to oppress THis Scripture though it seems to be somwhat a harsh one and hard to reade yet it may be a good providence of God that did bring it to hand at such a time as this is That 's the scope of the Prophet We may exhort long enough saith he yet so long as their hearts are covetous and set upon their way of getting gain they will never regard what I say they will not turn to God they will not hear of turning to God but will turn a deaf ear rather This indeed is the guize of men that have great dealings in the world and their hearts are set upon their riches let there be the most glorious Truths set before them that ever were yet they are as nothing to them we reade in Luke 16. of Christ himself preaching before a company of men and some of them being very covetous mark what the Text saith vers 14. The Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things and they derided him they blew their noses at him so the word signifies they scorn'd him Christ he spake of Excellent and Divine Misteries and there were some of his Auditors that had dealings in the world and great estates and they scorn'd at whatsoever he spake Tel us of such things as these are tell us of waies of gain how we may come to enrich our selves This seem'd to be the disposition of some of the Auditors of Hosea at this time therefore saith he He is a Merchant The word that is here translated a Merchant it signifieth a Cananite and may be translated if you would translate it according to the very letter of the word He is a Cananite for the same word that signifies a Cananite signifies a Merchant in the Hebrew tongue You have the like in other places of Scripture Job 41. 6. Shall they part him among the Merchants among the Cananites so is the word in the Hebrew and in Prov. 31. 24. She delivereth Girdles to the Merchants the word is to the Cananites Now the reason why that a Merchant and a Cananite hath the same name in Scripture it is because the Country of Canaan was much given to Merchandize and indeed much to deceipt As the Mathematicions were cal'd Caldeans from the Country because the Country was so full of Mathematicions so Arabia Robbers and Theeves were call'd by the name of Arabians because that it was so full of them and so because Canaan had so many Merchants therefore it hath the denomination A Cananite and a Merchant But here the holy Ghost calls them not Israelites mark God he doth not say you are an Israelite but a Cananite and that is by way of upbraiding of them because they had degenerated so much from Israel that was spoken of before so he would not call them Israelite but calls them Cananite Observe that Men by their sin may lose the honor of their Progenitors And further Though it 's true that the calling of a Merchant is not only Lawful but a very honorable imployment yet the abuse of it may make it very contemptible if it be abused and corrup ed it may grow to be very contemptible for so here the holy Ghost doth cast such a word upon them to shew how through their corruption they had made a calling that was honorable to become contemptible and they had brought contempt upon their own persons for though Merchants that are subtil may in the pride of their hearts rejoyce in their subtilty and cunning and think that they can circumvent others by their deceipt and get money that way in going beyond them they may glory in this as if it were a great excellency in them but the holy Ghost casts contempt upon those he is a Merchant a Cananite and the ballances of deceipt are in his hand The ballances of Deceipt are in his hand The Lord abhor'd their ballances of deceipt yea and professed that they are an abomination to him if you reade Levit. 19. 35 36. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in Judgment in Metyard in Weight or in Measure Just Ballances just Weights a just Ephah and a just Hin shall ye have I am the Lord I am Jehovah This lies upon it if you will acknowledg me to be the Lord to be Jehovah be just in your dealing have no unjust ballances let there be no injustice in your trading And in Deut. 25. 13. and so on to the 16. Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights a great and a smal thou shalt not have in thy house divers measures a great and a smal But thou shalt have a perfect and a just weight a perfect and a just measure shalt thou have c. For all that do such things and all that do unrighteously mark are an abomination to the Lord thy God There 's much laid upon it you think you may take liberty in such things no saith the text all that do such things they are an abomination to the Lord thy God 't is not only a thing that God forbids but a thing that God abominates to be deceiptful in trading Doest thou profess any interest in God hast thou any hope that God should be merciful to thy soul to do thee any good doest thou think that God is thy God know this is an abomination then to thy God to that God that thou professest to have any interest in nay in Prov. 11. 1. there 's likewise a Scripture to the same purpose A false ballance is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight God takes pleasure in that Now saith the Prophet here The ballances of Deceipt are in his hand as if he should say let him have riches any way he doth not mind turning to God but he regards the ballances of deceit We are to understand this for all kind of deceit in trading though only ballances are here mentioned yet here 's a synechdoche one special thing is mentioned in a business to set out all of that nature not only Deceitful Ballances but Measures and Tale and Lights and Mixtures when they shall
you in this mark those two Scriptures Micah 6. 11. the Lord having shewn what he did require that men should be just in their waies now saith the text in ver 11. Shall I account them pure with the wicked ballances and with the bag of deceiptful weights for the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lyes and their tongue is deceip ful in their mouth therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee Oh! when God comes to smite thee he will make thee sick to purpose sickness to such men as have defiled consciences in their trading is dreadful sickness indeed as if God should say You shal have not great content in what you have I will be avenged on you for what you do either you or your heirs shall no enjoy it But that place concerns Christians very much a place that it 's impossible for you that are exercised in Scripture but you must needs take notice of it 1 Thes 4. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother In any matter you must not go beyond your brother your brother is weak you will say Let the weaker look to it as well as he can No you must not take advantage of his weakness he is your brother you must not defraud him no not in any matter why because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified And know this day the Lord forewarns you once more by the Ministry of his Word and the Lord by his Word doth testifie against you in this one thing and if you go on in anie way of deceipt you go on against the verie strength of the Word and strength of Conscience this day and this Word that is preached this day to you shall certainlie testifie against you another day Yea further When you come to die Oh! how terrible will death be to such men when they shall leave the sweet of all their estates and carrie nothing but the guilt of all with them In Job 27. 8. What hope shall an hypocrite have though be hath gained when God takes away his soul Sometimes men they seek to deceive and they are discovered and so they are rendered base and contemptible to all the world yea but sometimes again they may carrie it so cunninglie as they shall never be discovered perhaps in this world but they shall gain as Ephraim saith here I am become rich and have gotten substance but what hope hath this hypocrite though he hath gained what profit shal it be though thou hast gained the whol world and shalt lose thy own soul See also James 5. 3. The rust of your Gold and Silver shall eat your flesh as it were fire Yea Know further That thou must restore if thou hast any estate now or if thou ever comest to have any estate it must be restor'd or thou canst not expect to find mercy from God with all the sorrow cries and prayers that can be without restitution there cannot be expectation of pardon and forgiveness The ancient speech that all Divines in all Ages of the Church have closed withal was There must be Restitution of that that is falslie gotten if it be in thy power to do it thou must restore it or else thou canst not have anie hope of mercie those sweet morsels that you have swallowed must be vomited up again And therefore you that are Apprentices take heed of pleasing your Masters to be deceiptful for if you have a hand in it you must restore I 'le give you Scripture and Reason for it The Reason is this That 't is impossible that any kind of repentance can be accepted of God without restitution the reason is because That if I have power to restore all the while I do not restore I do continue in the sin I do not only wrong the man just the verie hour I have deceived him but all the while I keep that which is his in my hand this is the argument that repentance can never be accepted of God that may stand or doth stand with a wilful continuance in the sin that a man seems to repent of Do I repent of my sin and yet wilfully continue in the sin I say Wilful for I have it in my hand to restore Oh but I shall undo my self I but that 's wilful still Is it better for thee to keep an estate or to keep a sin Now certainly any man that hath anie light must needs acknowledg thus much That if I truly repent me of my sin I must do what possibly I can to undo my sin Can I say I am heartilie sorrie for a sin when I do not what I can for to undo that sin again if I can And for the Scriptures for Restitution there are divers I 'le give you two or three Ezek. 33. 14 15. And when I say unto the wicked Thou shalt surely die If he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right if the wicked restore the pledg give again that he hath robbed c. he shall surely live he shall not die He doth not walk in the Statutes of life except he give again that which he hath robbed And so in Numb 5. 6 7. there you have the Law about restitution when a man or woman shall commit anie sin that men commit to do a trespass against the Lord and that person be guilty then they shall confess their sin which they have done is this al and he shall recompence his trespass with the princial thereof and ad unto it the fifth part thereof and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed He must confess his sin yea but that 's not enough but he must recompence the partie This is a most excellent Scripture Mark it 's said here If a man shall trespass against the Lord it 's not only against Man but against the Lord against the rule of Justice that the Lord hath so set for the maintaining of order and humane Societie in the world And then observe it further if a man or woman commit a sin that men commit and do a trespass you wil say I do no other than all trades-men do mark saith the text If a man or woman commit any sin that men commit as if the holy Ghost should say I confess it is a sin that is ordinarie but though it be ordinarilie committed by men though there should be confession of that sin yet if there be not restitution it will do you little good I remember Latimer in one of his Sermons that he preach'd before King Edward speaking of this verie point of Restitution he saith that the first day that he preached about it there comes one and gives him twenty pounds to restore the next time he preached there comes in another and brings thirtie pounds and another time he preached and there comes another and
to their Masters much more then will the Masters themselves leap and rejoyce in the having their hearts desires fill'd They glorie in it And then Sixthly and that 's especially to be observed here That carnal hearts that get estates in sinful waies they seek to relieve their consciences that are full of guilt with the consideration of the outward comforts they do enjoy The Prophet charges them with their sin charges the guilt of their sin upon them But we are rich say they and we inherit substance Wicked men will seek to relieve their consciences their guiltie consciences in the rejoycing in their riches and in their estates and in what they have got in Isa 57. 10. you have a Scripture somewhat sutable to this Thou hast found the life of thine hand therefore thou wast not grieved It may be if a man goes on in an evil way and doth not prosper in it if God crosses him in it then he begins to bethink himself Is not this a finful way doth not God oppose me in it and then he begins to be griev'd But if he can find the life of his hand go on and he prosper and have what he desires then he will not be griev'd then his heart is hardened Wicked men will set their riches and estates against all their guiltiness and think it will countervail it I beseech you consider this Note There is no more full and sure sign of a man of the world of a worldlie man than this That he can think to relieve his conscience in the guilt of the least sin by the enjoyment of all the things of the world that he can set the good of the things of the world against the guilt of sin that he can put any thing in the world in the ballance to down weigh the least guilt of any sins here is a worldly heart here 's a man of the world a wretched heart thou doest bless thy self in a great estate thou g 〈…〉 test but hath there been no guilt at all that thou hast contracted by that estate which thou hast got Thou canst not say but some guiltiness hath been contracted yea but this contents thee there is so much gain comes by it Oh! thou art a wretched man that canst set the gain in the world to the least guilt that thou hast contracted Oh! it hath been an ill bargain riches got by guilt thou hast made I say an ill bargain for thy self thou knowest not God knowest not with whom thou hast to deal that canst set any gain by sin for to countervail the evil of that guilt that thou hast committed for the getting of that gain of thine And further Wicked men labor to satisfie their consciences with the prosperitie they are in and what they have got by their sin as they set it against their guilt so in the Seventh place They perswade themselves that God is not at least so much displeased with them as many would bear them in hand Surely if my condition were so dangerous as you would perswade me to I should not prosper so much in my way as I do I should not get riches so as I do upon this they begin to think that God is of their mind as in Psal 50. 21. Thou thoughtest I was like unto thy self we find it by experience that when men are under affliction when Gods hand is upon men then they begin to think that God doth not like of their waies but when they go on and prosper they are readie to think that God approves of their waies that they walk in There 's a notable storie concerning the Mother of Lumbard Gratian and Comestor The first the Master of the Sentences as they call them The Second the compiler of a great part of the Popes Law the Decretal Epistles the third the Author of the Scholastical Historie the best man and book of the three All famous men and all three of them were Bastards Now the Mother of them being a Whore when she came to make her confession to the Priest she could not acknowledg much evil in it and she profest she could not find her heart griev'd or troubled much about it when the Priest urged her penance and repentance for it because though it 's true that the thing was evil that she did yet that she did prosper so wel that they were three such eminent men of such great use as those were Thus it 's ordinarilie men think that it may lessen the-greatness of their sin if they get any thing by it if they prosper in their sinful way there is no such cause of trouble and grief for it The people they may laugh at me saith a covetous man but I applaud my self at home when I behold the money in the Chest so long as I see comings-in let men talk what they will I cannot beleeve that things are so bad as they report that God is so much against me but I hope God loves me These are the reasonings of a carnal heart and all because he prospers in his sin I remember it 's reported of Dionisius that when he had committed Sacriledg and had a good voyage after it saith he See what a good Navigation the Gods hath granted me you tell me of Sacriledg but I am sure I have had a good Voyage after it Oh! these are Heathenish reasonings and yet I fear they are not altogether rooted out of such as profess themselves Christians You that have good Voiages abroad observe it it may be if you meet with an ill Voiage then you begin to recollect your self What sin have I been guiltie of but now if you have a good Voiage though you have contracted much guiltiness upon your spirits while you were at Land yet prospering in your Voiage you never think of anie danger but all is well because you have a good Voiage Oh no a good Voiage is no sign that there is not guiltiness As sometimes I have told you that a painted face is no sign of a good complexion it may be it is the Curse of God upon thee that doth let thee so to prosper and if God had anie love unto thee he would not let thee to prosper so as he doth he would cross thee in thy waies that so thou mightest bethink thy self There 's another man perhaps that was as wicked as thou and yet the Lord had a love to him and he crost him in his waies so that he hath begun to bethink himself and not to be at rest till he gets the guilt of his sin done away but for thee Gods heart it seems is not yet towards thee he hath no love to thee and if he lets thee go on and still prosper in a sinful way this is from the fruit of Reprobation and certainlie there cannot be scarce a greater note of a Reprobate than for a man to prosper in a sinful way This is that we should all pray to
God to deliver us from Lord let us never prosper in a sinful way if thou feest our way be naught that we contract guiltiness upon our spirits in our way Lord let us not thrive and prosper if we do a thousand to one but we are undone for ever He said he was rich and he had found substance So he put off all that the Prophte spake I remember in Luke 12. when Christ was preaching to the Pharisees the text saith Those that were rich derided him rich covetous men they slight any thing that is said against them for they have where withal they think to relieve their consciences against all their guilt Well though thou maiest think to relieve thy conscience for the present it will not alwaies be so there is a time that conscience will speak and will not be put off with those conceits that now thou puttest it off withal The Saints they beleeve the Ward against sence and carnal hearts beleeve sence against the Word here 's the difference between a Godly man and a wicked I say one that 's Godlie and hath Faith he beleeves the Word against sence let me go on in a way that I know is Gods way though I do not prosper yet I have peace in it I do not repent me of it but a wicked man he will beleeve sence against the Word let the Word say my way is never so dangerous yet if I have experience by sence that I prosper in it that shall suffice me Yet I am rich and have got substance In all my labors they shall find no iniquity in me that were sin In all my labors That is In all that I get by my labors They shall not find in me that that is sin That is Let them search they shal not find in me that that is No as if they should say Labhor what you say To oppress cheat and cozen Who can prove it let any man prove it if he can that I do cheat or get any thing in a false way let any man dare to come and say it Is there any Law that can take hold of me They shall not find iniquity in me though there be some little matter yet there 's not any great matter not any thing that the Law of the Land can take hold of me and if my way be such as no man can take advantage against me by the Law why should I be thus condemned and cried out of as I am That 's the meaning of these words In all my labors From thence the First Note is this That evil things many times have good names The truth is That which is meant here is that which they had got by Oppression and Deceipt and they call it by the name of their Labors so Covetousness is call'd by the name of good-husbandry and following their Callings and the Art and Mystery of their Callings Many men think to put off their consciences with good words It 's but the Art of my Calling and good-husbandry and the like in all my labors Further observe It 's very hard to convince any covetous men of their iniquity Rich covetous men are much conceipred in themselves in Prov. 28. 11. The rich man is wise in his own conceipt You shall sometimes see a men that gets riches and as we say of some when we look upon their wit we wonder at their wealth and others when we look upon their wealth we wonder at their wit to get an estate they have wit only to get money but for any thing else they are ignorant poor weak men especially in matters of Religion as weak as children and yet they are wise in their own conceipts for they have got that that they see all the world runs after It 's very hard to convince covetous men of their falsness that they get any thing in a sinful way Again There is no fin that is more hard to convince a man of than the sin of Covetousness and yet the Apostle speaks in 1 Cor. 5. 11. That it 's a sin for which a man is to be cast out of the Church When almost did you ever hear of a covetous man convinc'd What example can you almost ever bring of one that hath been covetous and rich and got his estate in a false way that shal come and give glory to God and acknowledg his sin and cast up his sweet morsels again Covetousness it is a beforting sin it is a blinding sin Who shall find any iniquity in me what do I do but that I may Then Thirdly That covetous men as it 's hard to convince them so they do not love to be charged with their sin For so according to some it is Who dares charge me It is a very dangerous thing to charge a rich man of any evil for he hath his Purse by his side and can tell how to revenge himself upon you Yea Fourthly Men notoriously guilty may yet in words at least profess what they are guilty of to be an abominable thing Who shall find iniquity in me that were sin If I should be false that were a very horrible and vile thing Come to all trades-men one after another and tel them of cheating and cozening and deceiving they will scorn your words it were a wicked thing one were unworthy to live How often Trades men when they have a mind to cheat will profess That if they should cozen and cheat they were unworthy to trade any more Oh! what cauterized Consciences have many men that give up themselves to gain that make all their Godliness to consist in gain that make Mamon their God that will go so directly against their consciences Luther renders it God forbid that I should be found wicked in my actions Oh! manie that have much guiliness upon them will clap their hands upon their breasts and when you charge them you have cheated and cozened us Oh! God forbid that I should do so and yet their consciences will tell them that they have done so and will be ready to take their oaths and swear and use such curses that they never did such a thing or never had such a thing and when their Books are false wil sware that they are true Again If wicked men cannot be accused by other men then they care not If they can carry it so closely that men shall not see it then they bless themselves all is well and fair if they have cunningly contrived their wickedness that men cannot charge them Who shall find iniquity in me that were sin Well though you think your selves wel enough because men cannot accuse you and find out your sin yet God can find it out Deut. 32. 33. be sure your iniquitie will find you out God hath his time to find out iniquitie that will be sin to you and there is much between God and your consciences though men cannot charge you Oh! but if so be that
God would but discover unto the world unto all your neighbors what he is able to charge you of how loathsom would many of you appear to your neighbors how unfit would you be to trade with men or who would meddle with you if I say God should open to the world all that he is able to charge you of Now certainly your condition is not the better because it is kept so secretly that men cannot charge you but perhaps it would be better if they could for it might bring you sooner to be humbled for it you think now because you have only to deal with God you can do well enough with him Do you think it such a matter to deal with the infinite holy and glorious God! Indeed Servants would be troubled if their Masters should know their deceipt and cozening but if a little child knew it they care not for that so men think it is no matter for the knowledge of God but they are loth that men should know it that will bring shame and disgrace unto them Oh! carnal wicked Athiestical heart that canst not be satisfied if men know the evil but can be satisfied well enough though God knows it A Sixth Note is A carnal heart lessens his sins that he commits Indeed the words may carry it Who shall find iniquity in me If they could find it I would acknowledg it to be a great sin But I rather take it thus Who shall find iniquity in me that were any great matter Both these waies I find Interpreters carry it It is but a little over-reaching a little craft and cunning the matter is not great Well that which thou accountest little the Lord will account great another day the over reaching thy brother the defrauding thy borther though it be but a slight of hand God will find it to be a great matter one day if God were but humbling thy heart and doing good to thy soul Thou wouldest rather aggravate thy sin that 's in the way of a true Convert he labors rather to aggravate his sin to bring all the circumstances he can to make his sin heavie upon his soul Oh! I find I cannot get my heart to break for my sin I cannot apprehend the evil of my sin as I would in the greatness of it and therefore Oh! that God would help me to see the greatness of it he studies all the circumstances that he can to make his sin great in his own eyes but now a heart that is not wrought upon to a work of Repentance all that he labors for it is to lessen his sin and to have all the reasonings that he can in a way of deminution of his sin Oh! this is an ill sign It is a very ill sign That a man stands it out as long as he can 2. When he can stand out no longer than he falls a lessening It is no more than others do and how should I maintain my family and I hope men may make the best of what they have Oh! If the Lord once shew thee the evil of sin all these reasonings will vanish before thee and thou wilt fall down and humble thy self before God as one worthy for ever to be cast out from the presence of God for in this that thou darest not trust in him thou seekest to Hell to provide for thy self and family rather than thou wilt depend upon God And then the last Note is this That if men can but scape the danger of Law that they cannot be sued there 's all that they care for Who shall find iniquity in me that were sin That is by the Law Oh how many are there that you may easily convince them that they have been very false you speak to their consciences yea but what 's that can you take your advantage Take your advantage if you can say they Now if it were not for Atheism in mens hearts it would be the greatest advantage of all that a man is able to charge his conscience What witness have you for such a thing I have your conscience Oh they are glad of that if they hear that you have no other witness then they think they can do well enough Now that 's an argument of Atheism in mens hearts that they think they are well enough whatsoever they do when Law cannot take hold on them Well there is a Court of Conscience to sue thee in and Justice will sue thee in that Court and cast thee one day though mans Law cannot It follows VER 9. And I that am the Lord thy God from the Land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in Tabernacles as in the daies of the solemn feast THe dependance is this You say you are grown rich by those sinful waies of yours I am grown rich I have found substance You think now you have no need of me you have found substance other waies and I am forgotten by you but you should remember that I am the Lord your God and that God that brought you out from the Land of Egypt there was a time when you had need of me there was a time when you knew not what to do without my help when you were in great affliction then I delivered you with a mighty hand you should remember those old mercies of mine Oh! but you are ungrateful you do not think what I have done for you in bringing you out of the Land of Egypt If I be the same God still why might not you live upon me and receive as much good from me as others You wil go and seek to shift for your selves by false waies and forsake me Aâ—â— not I the Lord that God that brought you out of the Land of Egypt Have not I by what I have done for you shown plainly to you that you might aswel provide for your selves by me as by any other God by my waies aswel as by any other waies that you take Can any God work for you so as I have done Is there that good to be got in those waies of sin as there is in mine I am the Lord thy God from the Land of Egypt not only at that time delivering of you but ever since providing for you graclously preserving of you doing you good many waies from the time that I have been a God to you and yet you do thus wretchedly forsake me In all your straits I have helped you in all your necessities I have supplied you in all your difficulties I have relieved you in all your distresses I have delivered you in all you burdens I have eased you everie way of my providence hath been gracious to you from the verie time of your coming out of the Land of Egypt how did I provide for you in the wilderness after by Judges raising you up Kings And I am the Lord thy God from the Land of Egypt The Observation is First When men prosper in a sinful way they forget what God
magnificence then the Conduits will run Wine sometimes Now when Christ ascended up to be crowned on high What was the great thing that he gave in the world He gave gifts to men Some to be Prophets and Apostles and some Pastors and Teachers that 's the great gift of Jesus Christ upon his Ascention into Heaven and taking the Crown of Glorie as if Christ should say Shall I give a magnificent gift to the world like a Prince like the King of Heaven I 'le give gifts to men I 'le give them Apostles Prophets Pastors Teachers that 's the great magnificent gift that Jesus Christ hath given to the world Oh! that we could learn to prize it I remember I have read in Chrysostoms time that the godlie men when he was silenc'd they were so affected with it that they had rather the Sun did withdraw his beams and not shine in the world than that the mouth of Jo. Chrysostem should be stopt They did so prize the Word of God by his mouth Oh that men could learn to prize it more at a higher rate And you that are Citizens shew your prizing of it in this one thing Many of you here have your City and your Country Houses But what little care is there for men to seat themselves in places where they shall have faithful Ministers of God to reveal the mind of God to them If they come to seat themselves any where they scarce take it into consideration to give a peny the more because of a faithful Minister or a peny the less if it hath none Oh! this shews the extream neglect of God and of his Ordinances How few Country Villages about the City were supplied with faithful Preachers It 's a great blessing of God to the world to have faithful Prophets Thirdly God will take account of what becomes of the Word Labor and Pains of his Prophets for so he speaks in a way of upbraiding of them God will take account of all the Spirits that his Ministers spend of every drop of their sweat and of all their watchings in the night I sent my Prophets rising early and going to bed late God will take account of all and you shall know that there hath been a Prophet among you the Ministers shall be brought out to say and testifie Lord I was in such a place and I reveal'd thy mind thus and thus unto them in these and these waies that they could not but be convinc'd of and yet still they continued thus and thus wicked Fourthly It is a great mercy for God to declare his mind to men again and again I have multiplied visions saith God It were a mercie for God but once to tell us of his mind and if we will not come in at first for ever to cast us off but I have multiplied visions in Jer. 18. At what instant I shall speak c. God may justly expect that at what instant Christ is preached that people should come in for indeed their Commission seems to run very quick Go and teach all Nations he that beleeves shall be saved he that beleeveth not shall be damned As if Christ should say There shall be quick work made with men but yet the Lord is gracious to men to multiply visions one after another to reveal his mind at one time and at another time the Lord is long-suffering though our hearts be not mov'd at one time yet still he would try and he would have his Ministers to do so too 2 Tim. 2. 25. Instruct with meekness those that oppose themselves if God per adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth It was a great aggravation of Solomons sin that he departed from God after the Lord had appeared to him twice 1 King 11. 9. Oh! God took this ill I have appeared twice to him and yet he departed from me Oh! how may God upbraid us with this thing that not twice but twenty yea an hundred times God hath appeared to us we have had even the Visions of the Almighty some of you at least May not your Consciences tell you that at such and such a time you have had the Visions of the Almighty and yet you have stood out against them yea and at another time and another time Oh my brethren the multiplying of Visions is a great aggravation of our sin in standing out It was the comfort of Paul at his Conversion in Act. 26. 19. saith he O King Agrippa I was not disobedient to the heavenly Vision Oh how happie were it for you if upon the first vision your hearts would come in Oh that you could but say so Though it 's true I lived at such a time in such a place in ignorance and darkness I knew little of God but the first time I came to hear the Word wherein the Mysteries of the Gospel were reveal'd I bless God my heart came off then so the Aposile he blesses God for the effect that the Word had upon the Thessalonians from the first day even until that time I multiplied visions And then it follows I used Similitudes Now for that I will not trouble you with divers readings or divers interpretations of those words I used similitudes It is a very strange expression we have it not that I know of in the Book of God but here to shew the aggravations of mens sins that they hearkened not to the Word though the Word was brought to them in way of similitude You may see here That the Lord takes account of the manner of mens preaching as well as the things they preach and men may have their sins aggravated not only for standing out against the Word but against the Word so and so delivered The main necessary Truths of God are made known to you all yea but some of you have them made known to you in a more sweet woing and winning way and a more convincing way than others have and God takes account not only of the things you hear but of the manner of it And Secondly The revealing the Word by similitudes is a very useful and profitable way for it makes much for the setling of Truth and the making Truth go to a mans heart before he is aware the Truth conveyed in a way of similitude takes impression upon the memory sometimes speak a Truth and express it in the way of a Simile and many will go away and remembring the Simile so come to remember the Truth I remember it 's reported of that Noble Marques Marques Galeacias that had a great Estate and was of Kin to the Pope and yet coming upon a time but to hear Peter Martyr preach and upon a meer Simile that he had God stroke his heart and it was the means of his Conversion the Simile was thus Peter Martyr was preaching and he had occasion to speak of this Men may think very hardly of God and his People
you afterwards Yea but now did not you behaue your selves proudly and stubbornly and so make your service so much the more hard by provoking your Governors Oh! look back to these things and consider how far you are from being of the disposition of Iacob that you proâ—â—ss to be your father Many Apprentises in their hard services have don that that they have cause to repent of afterwards He served for a Wife First the Note is That Love will carry through long service Love is ashamed to complain of difficulties Oh! so it wouid be if we loved God do not complain of the service of God to be difficult The Second is this That a good Wife is a great blessing of God though she hath no portion though a man serve for her yet it is a great blessing of God there is a more special mercy of God there than there is in giving men an Estate he served long and long even for a Wife Luther upon the place speaks much about the blessing in Marriage and of a good Wife Saith he Certainly Iacob did not serve so long that he might have a Companion of his life with whom there should be nothing but railing scolding and wrangling no but he look'd upon an estate of Marriage at the School of all Vertue for so should a married estate indeed be And then further another Note that is very observable He served these two seven years This may be one ground why Iacob served so long for a Wife and a special ground why Because that he had a charge from his father Isaac to take a Wife in La 〈…〉 's family and therefore he would rather serve seven years and seven years after that to have a Wife from him than to go to seek a Wife any other where in obedience to the charge of his Father Luther in his Comment upon this very Scripture he doth much urge that very Note That Children should be obedient to their Parents in their matches and take heed of matching against their Parents consent If you profess your selves to be of the seed of Jacob for so the godly are set out in Scripture be like unto your Father Jacob in this In being obedient to your parents in your matches there is no greater disobedience in the world than the disobedience of a Child in the case of marriage in the flinging off of the yoke of subjection to your Parents in this kind Luther urges this exceeding much from hence Civil Laws require the consent of Parents in all Lawful marriages and so the Authority of sacred Scripture declares to us that those marriages have been ever happy that have been with the consent of their Parents And again saith he experience doth testifie that those marriages have been for the most part unhappy that have been without consent of Parents certainly the blessing of God is not upon them you may to satisfie your lusts think to please your selves for a week or two but it 's just with God that you should live miserably all your daies that make no more conscience of disobedience to your Parents in your matches And any of you that are here present if you be guilty this way know that the Lord rebukes you this day and you are taught to go alone and humble your selves and to bewail that sin of yours which is certainly a very great sin and you had need both Husband and Wife together both fast and pray to get away the guilt of that sin that so you may have a blessing upon your married estate and upon your posterity without which you cannot expect it therefore did Jacob serve thus that he might be obedient to his Father Isaac which did charge him to go and take a Wife in that place And thus much for that Twelfth Verse It follows VER 13. And by a Prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a Prophet was he preserved STILL the Prophet goes on in shewing their meanness in their Ancestors your Father Jacob was thus mean a poor exile he was fain to serve thus for his Wife It 's true Joseph was a while in prosperity but when Joseph was dead all your Ancestors then they were in Egypt as miserable bondslaves they were there as bondslaves and how should they get out there was no way in the world Pharaoh a mighty King they had no friends abroad nor no Armies to help themselves only a Prophet God sent them a Prophet Moses and what was this Prophet one that had been a poor Shepheard for forty yeers together in the Wilderness and when this Prophet was to go into Egypt to be a deliverer of them was it ever like that he should be the man in Exod. 4. 20. the text saith He took his Wife and his Sons and set them upon an Ass we reade but of one Beast that he had and so he went into Egypt in a mean and low condition and when he came there he was not owned and we never read that Moses did declare who he was and the children of Israel would not own him and Pharaoh begun to buslâ— and would not let Israel go how should this one Moses deliver them nay their bondage did encrease when Moses came unto them Yet by a Prophet the text saith the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a Prophet was he preserved This was a mighty work of God to bring Israel out of Egypt by a Prophet and to preserve them in the Wilderness and be the way there is on useful Note you reade in Exod. 38. 26. There was six hundred thousand and three thousand five hundred and fifty males from twenty yeers old and upwards And in Numb 1. 46. that was the second yeer after they went out from Egypt and there you shall find that there was just so many besides Levi after God had taken Levi for himself to be his portion thereby God would shew that none should lose any thing that they did for him How often when men have been willing to give any thing to God God hath made it up in one yeer but that by the way This that I bring this for it is To shew the great work of God that by a Prophet he brings such a number out of Egypt and he preserves them in the Wilderness uses no means for their preservation for the guiding of them which way they should go but a mean Prophet for the providing water for them for the providing meat for them for the providing of cloathes for them for the defending of them against their Enemies that they should not come and destroy them when they were in any danger to help them when they were stung by the Serpents to shew them what they should do to heal them and to keep them all in peace that they should not mutiny one against another To compose all their differences this Prophet had the great stroke in all these
from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech As if he should have said God will avenge this What did God make my Father an Instrument of so great good to you and do you so ill requite all his kindness and service that he did for you The Lord judg and if it be so indeed as now I charge you let this be a manifestation of Gods displeasure That fire come from Abimelech c. As if he should say Do not think that you can have peace and quiet in such kind of waies as you are in you think you have provided well for your selves in setting up of Abimelech and now you bless your selves We shal have peace and go on and be quiet Oh no the displeasure of God will go on and pursue you and there wil be a fire among your selves and it 's just with God that it should be so for this ingratitude of yours towards those that have bin so instrumental for your good The Scripture holds out this that this is one way for God to avenge himself upon a People that shall be ungrateful to such as have been instrumental for good to them that they shall have a perverse spirit mingled among themselves that when they think to provide for their own ease and peace they shall have a fire mingled among themselves so as in the conclusion to devour themselves These people were very zealous for Gideon in Judg. 8 22. when God had delivered them they came to Gideon and said unto him Rule thou over us both thou and thy son and thy son's son also they made great promises Oh how were the people affected Come Rule over us thou and thy son and thy son's son c. Oh! we were in a dangerous condition and were like to have been in a perpetual bondage under our enemies but God hath stirred up thee and blest thee and therefore thou and thy son and thy son's son shall rule over us they were mightily affectd with this mercy of God when it was fresh but presently after you shall find they were off and forgot what an Instrument of God Gideon had been unto them and required the posterity of Gideon as ill as if he had been one of their greatest enemies Oh my brethren this is a sore and grievous evil the Lord cannot endure ingratitude And thus much for the 13. Verse It follows VER 14. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly IT 's true saith God by the Prophet I loved your Father Jacob and I have magnified my self towards his posterity in great and wonderful things which I have done for them But you have been a wretched people and provok'd me most bitterly as if he should say I have a spirit of gentleness sweetness and love as indeed there is nothing else in God if he be not provok'd If there be any anger it is from mens provoking him You have provok'd me bitterly in bitterness You have provok'd you have imbittered my Spirit against you by your sins that are bitter you make my Spirit that is so sweet of it self you have made it to be bitter The word signifies sometimes to Exalt and make high And I find Tremelius Vatablus Calvin and others translate it High places You have provoked me with the High Places so it 's true And indeed that was a special sin the sin of Idolatry that did provoke God most bitterly against them and he will come to one in the main if we take it so But it is more full to translate it according to that that the word doth signifie more properly You have provok'd me in bitternesses you have been very bitter against my Saints that would go from Samaria to worship at Ierusalem I have shewn in this story of the Prophet how bitter the ten Tribes were against any that would separate from them and go worship at the Temple you have provok'd me in that kind of bitterness you have provok'd me in that bitter sin of abusing my Prophets you have provok'd me in that ingratitude of yours towards those that I have made Instrumental for your good you have provok'd me in finning against such great mercies Oh! you have provok'd me bitterly you have for saken the living God the fountain of all good and have turned your selves to vanity you have provok'd me to anger most bitterly From whence the Notes are First That God is not angry but when he is provok'd neither should we be let us be as our Heavenly Father is saith God You have provok'd me to anger And then Secondly It is sin that provokes God it puts God to stir up his anger it puts it to tryal to see whether there be any anger in God or no in Heb. 3. 9. Your Fathers provok'd me they tryed me they would put it to tryal whether there was such anger in me yea or no. Wicked men indeed do so they hear much of the anger of God against sin and they put it to tryal they will see whether it be so or no they dare not say so in words but their actions do so Oh! it 's a dreadful evil to provoke God 1 Cor. 10. 22. Do ye provoke the Lord to jealousie are you stronger than he Can you stand it out with God Is it not folly to provoke a man that is a Superior that hath power over you and can crush you Oh wretched bold heart that darest stand it out to provoke the eyes of his Glory to provoke the holy one of Israel What to provoke him that can stamp you into Hell presently to provoke him that hath the point of the Sword of Justice at your hearts but yet this is the boldness of ungodly men a man that dares not provoke his Landlord yet will dare to provoke God My brethren it 's a great evil to provoke one another to wrath but a greater evil to provoke God to wrath in Ephes 6. 4. Parents are charged not so much as to provoke their Children to wrath And wilt thou provoke God then If we will be provoking one another let us be provoking to love and to good works as in Hebr. 10. 24. unto a kind of Acrimony of love If there be a kind of sharpness let it be that which puts us on with an eagerness of spirit to love and so provoke one another as much at you will provoke one another to love and to good works In Gal. 5. 26. Be not desirous of vain glory provoking one another Calling forth one anothers corruptions that 's the meaning of it Let there not be a desire of vain glory provoking one another calling sorth one anothers corruptions Oh! 't is an evil thing that we do call forth the corruptions of one another so Was there ever times of provoking so as there are now every man provoking one another and stirring up one another to envy wrath and malice Oh take heed
blood upon him When God comes to bring the guilt of sin and the punishment of sin on a mans own head and there leaves it upon him that 's sad indeed We reade in 2 Sam. 12. 13. there it is said when Nathan came and rebuk'd David for his sin David confest his sin and saith Nathan to him The Lord hath put away thy sin the word is translated by some thus The Lord hath made thy sin to pass away Oh that 's a happiness indeed when it may be said of God he doth make the sin and the guilt to pass away from the sinner that 's a happiness But on the other side when God shall leave the sin upon the sinner leave the guilt of the sin upon him as if God should say here 's the guilt of sin upon the head of such a man and let it abide and lie he shall leave his blood upon him as in Ezek. 22. 20. the Lord saith He will bring them into the fire and leave them there the Lord many times brings his Saints into the fire of afflictions Oh but he will not leave them there but when he brings the wicked into the fire he leaves them there And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him His reproach That 's thus They do what lies in them to bring a reproach upon me the living God as if there were not an Alsufficiency in me but I 'le make the reproach to turn upon their own heads yea they reproach my Saints too but I 'le make this to return upon their own heads Oh take heed of doing any thing to bring a reproach upon God You will say Can the Creature bring a reproach upon God I might shew you divers waies I 'le instance but in this one thing Apostatizing from God when professors of Religion that have been very forward and seem'd to rejoyce in the waies of God and to relie upon God and they shall forsake God to follow after their vain lusts I say these do bring a reproach upon God himself in Heb. 10. 29. they did despite to the Spirit of Grace they wrong and bring a reproach upon the Spirit of Grace And then Heb. 6. 6. They put the Son of God to an open shame saith the text they make him a reproach before all As when you cart people up and down the City you hold them out as a scorn so they put the Son of God to open shame they do as it were hold forth the Son of God to open shame so what thou professest There is more good to be had in a Whore than in Jesus Christ and God and the blessed Spirit that 's the language of a Whoremaster Well you that are Apostates and think to bring a reproach upon Religion and upon the Saints and they all suffer for you from whence is it that the people of God are reproach'd but because of Apostates Well do you bring a reproach upon God upon his Name upon Profession upon his Saints the Lord hath waies to turn the reproach upon your selves and usually such men as these before they die God doth put to open shame he leaves them to such vile courses as they come to be a shame a by-word a scorn and cast out as dung and filth not only to the Churches but from such as have any kind of civility or morality at all Oh! take heed of bringing a reproach upon God and so by bringing reproaches upon his Saints Oh! let the Saints go on in a constant way of holiness and faithfulness God will wipe away their reproach the Lord will return the reproach upon the heads of such as seek to reproach them And when there comes a reproach upon the wicked it shall be another manner of reproach than upon the Saints it 's call'd a perpetual reproach the reproach of the Saints is not a perpetual reproach but when it 's upon the ungodly it shall be a perpetual reproach and in Jer. 41. 18. those two things are joyned together a Curse and a Reproach Nehem. 4. 4. Hear O God for we are despised and turn their reproach upon their own heads saith Nehemiah Sanballat and Tobiah did reproach the Servants of God that did seek in the uprightness of their hearts to honor God but Lord return their reproach upon themselves saith Nehemiah And truly this is the best way when the Servants of God are reproached though they may by lawful means seek to vindicate their names yet their chief way is to pray Lord turn the reproach upon the heads or bosoms of our adversaries And then the last Note is this And his reproach shall His LORD return unto him His Lord What is God the Lord of this people his Lord shall turn it yes saith he 't is as if the Prophet should say thus you reject God and will not be in subjection to him you will not own him to be your Lord but he will be your Lord in spite of your heart God will be God and he will be Lord let wicked men do what they can and what they will he will be their Lord Christ hath purchased to be Lord over the world and he will be Lord over all over all Apostates Hypocrits wicked men let them do what they can against Jesus Christ Jesus Christ will be Lord over them in spite of their hearts Oh it s a blessed thing to give up our selves willingly to the subjection of Jesus Christ If we say we will not have thiâ— man to rule over us Christ will say but I will rule over you the Lord hath sworn by Himself and the word hath proceeded out of his mouth in righteousness that every knee shall bow unto him and every tongue confess his Name be still saith God and know that I am the Lord So I say to the most troublesome and tumultuous spirit that would cast off the yoke of God Oh! be still thou wretched thou proud spirit and know that God is the Lord he will prevail against you God made Julian to know this that when a dart was struck into him he cast his heart blood into the Air with an O than Galilean thou hast overcome me And so all wicked men shall be forced to say one day Well though I would cast off the Commands of God behind my back and break his Cords yet the Lord hath overcome me and though I perish to all eternity yet God will be God blessed for ever and Lord of the whol Earth And thus through Gods mercy we have gon through this Twelfth Chapter CHAP. XIII VER 1. When Ephraim spake trembling he exalted himself in Israel but when he offended in Baal he died THis Chapter is partly Legal and partly Evangelical Legal charging this people with their fin of Idolatry and of Ingratitude shewing them Gods wrath partly already inflicted and further threatned them to the 14. Verse and again in the
of him and did much regard what they spake yet they falling to sin and wickedness it 's just with God to bring their honor and esteem down to bring it into the dust and to make them vile and contemptible in the eyes of those that ere while did reverence them we find this threatned both to those in the place of Magistracy and in the place of Ministry For Magistracy in Job 12 21. He powreth contempt upon Princes God powers contempt though they had very great honor and esteem yet through their sin contempt is thrown upon them And then for those in the Ministry in Mal. 2. 9. Therefore also have I made you contemptible and base before all the people The Priests lips should preserve knowledg and they were very honorable those that were faithful but when they come to be partial in the Law that is when they come to turn the Word of God to their own ends it 's a remarkable Scripture that the Lord made them vile in the eyes of the people It was that they were partial in the Law that was a main thing that is they would handle the Word of God partially what they could get to drive on their own waies by they would improve that to the uttermost and turn the Word which way they pleased upon this though they thought to prevail that way and to get esteem of the people by this means yeâ— this was the thing that God threatens to make them to be vile and contemptible in the eyes of the people because of this When people come to discover this that men do indeed drive on their own designs and their own ends in the waies of God there 's nothing will take away their repute and their honor more Oh the great change that there is in the honors and esteem of men God for their sin casts them out and their names as vile men and women who have out-liv'd their honors even in the very hearts of the Saints Indeed when there is a change in an outward condition from prosperity to afflictions then wicked and carnal men will not regard those that they did honor before As in Job's case in Job 29. Job tells us how he was honored and regarded and reverenced where he liv'd in prosperity but when he was in affliction in Job 30. 1. Now those who are yonger than I have me in derision that 's a wickedness to change our minds of the esteem of men because of their prosperity or adversity it shews a great vanity of spirit and where the heart is right if one that hath been godly and in publick place heretofore and now God by his providence hath brought him down in regard of his outward estate yet he is to be honored still continuing in his integrity and holiness But now this is that which I speak of as a Judgment of God upon men when God casts out their names from the very hearts of the Saints and that worthily too when they shall be worthy to be look'd upon as dead carcasses though heretofore much honored and respected heretofore they were as Gardens that had many sweet Flowers excellent common gifts they had for which they were respected but now like Gardens over-grown with Weeds that no body doth regard As Houses that were hung with costly Hangings but afterwards pull'd down and nothing left but the bare walls so their gifts were very precious but now as those Houses having their Lord and Prince gone away there 's nothing but bare walls and it may be Mice and Vermine run up and down in those rooms that were hung so bravely So it is with many that had excellent gifts which were highly honored and esteemed of by people that knew them but now the hangings are gone now there 's nothing but Vermine running up and down in their spirits Oh! what a mighty havock sin will make in the honor and esteem of men Let men therefore take heed of trusting in their former repute for let them have done what they will heretofore yet if they depart from God their honor will be gone Men that are in place of Authority or in place of Ministry had need consider this point well for it 's a matter of great moment for men in place of Authority to keep up their repute and esteem that they may be the more useful and do service not only for themselves but that they may be of the greater use to do service for God And it is one of the great designs of the Devil to seek to cast dirt upon those that God doth use as Instruments for good Oh! it concerns them to look to it that there be nothing justly cast upon them It 's very observable how God remembers Ephraim a long time after to put dishonor upon him You shall reade in the Book of the Revelations where the Tribes are reckoned up in chap. 7. there 's only two Tribes left out Dan Ephraim Ephraim is not mentioned there by his own name but by the name of Joseph and the reason that is given is because those two Tribes were Ring-leaders in waies of Idolatry as Dan if you reade Judg. 18. you shall find him there a Ring-leader and you know the great change of things that Ephraim made in the Worship of God by Jeroboam's setting up of Calves and so afterwards sinnâ—ng in Baal and so the great dishonor that God put upon him afterwards When Ephraim spake Spake what What did Ephraim speak when he caused trembling All this hath been only from the general but what did he speak referring it to Jeroboam that was of Ephraim and so to the Courtiers that were with him these spake these two things and so caused trembling in the hearts of the people First When Jeroboam spake about the altering of the way of Government about the taking off of the ten Tribes from the house of David What portion have we in David and in the house of Jesse When this was mentioned then there was trembling it did certainly at first cause the peoples hearts to shake they thought it was a very great matter they knew not what would come of it What for to forsake the house of David and to have a change of Government in another way this caused many thoughts of heart and much trembling fearing that there might come very ill consequence of it When he spake there was trembling But he exalted himself Notwithstanding such concussions of spirit as there was yet Jeroboam went on in his way and would venture the worst let come of it what would he would on He exalted himself But then afterwards he sins in the way of his Idolatry and so his successors sin in Baal and then he died God struck him and his Familie and so the ten Tribes From whence our Notes of Observation are First That alteration in the matter of Government is a matter of very great hazard and difficulty men
be bowed to as well as to be kissed in taking an Oath The lifting up the hand to the High God in an Oath we find in Scripture therefore that is safe VER 3. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew it passeth away as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor and as the smoke out of the chimny HERE are four Elegant similitudes to fet forth Ephraims weak vanishing condition Gods power over them the swiftness of the punishment the violence of it and his utter desolation so that his place shall not be found 1. A cloud Ephraim was risen seemed to threaten great things overcast the leaves like a cloud but upon the brightness of Gods Justice appearing all was dispelled Their righteousness chap. 6. was as a cloud and dew now they shall be so themselves 2. Dew The dew it seems to bespangle the grass but the Sun rising it is soon dried up Ephraims estate was beautiful but the heat of Gods wrath consumes all presently 3. The Chaff The word signifies the smallest of the chaff the dust of the chaff-heap and that abroad where their floors were and a whirlwind coming upon it Psal 35 5. Let them be as chaff before the wind and let the Angel of the Lord chase them Oh! Many when they begin to be unsetled to be going the Angel of God as a messenger of wrath drives them on apace to misery 4. Smoke The smoke out of the chimney it seems to darken the Heavens but presently it is scattered The words signifies a chink or hole Because in Judea there were not such chimnies as we now adaies use but as it were windows or open places in the upper part of the house or in the wall as it is this day in Norway and Swethland saith a Learned Interpreter upon the place We may note hence The vanity of proud men Here God compares them to such mean vile things persons that heretofore were so lofty So 1 King 14. 10. Jeroboam's house is threatned to be destroyed as a man takes away dung till it be gone Why should wicked men be feared who are thus before the Lord. Do not bless you selves in any prosperity never think your selves setled for when you are in the most prosperous setled way yet are ye but as the cloud yea as the dew the chaff the smoke VER 4. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the Land of Egypt and thou shalt have no gods but Me there is no other Savior besides me THIS is spoken first by way of aggravation of their sin as if he should say you have thus provoked me notwithstanding I am the Lord thy God I have done very great things for you and for your forefathers Yet It 's very evil to sin against great works of mercy wherein the hand of God hath appeared plainly When we do any thing for another wherein we think we might gain him to our selves for ever and he yet this is very grievous 2. It is spoken by way of encouragement Yet I continue to be the Lord thy God I am ready to shew thee the like mercy still This is to break their hearts and to provoke them to come in to the Lord. He speaks to an Apostate people as if he should say Were you yet what you sometimes seemed to be Oh how gracious should I be to you I am yet what ever I seemed to be to you why are you so perverse and untoward towards me Jer. 2. 2. I remember the kindness of thy youth the love of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a Land that was not sowen I am the Lord thy God This should have been a strong argument to obedience When the will of God is once known saith Luther we are no further to dispose of Rights because neither Parents neither Lords and Masters have this Title I am the Lord thy God From the Land of Egypt As if he should have said what a case had you been in if I had not delivered you out of Egypt from the Iron furnace a low base imployment ye had been bond-slaves there you might have spent your daies in sorrow and trouble Consider first your low estate 2. How your strength might have been spent 3 When this anguish was upon you what crying to me and my delivering of you Hence note that Deliverance from Egypt is a great note of Gods being our God Q But how doth this concern us A. Yes There is a spiritual Egypt from which we have been delivered as the Apostle makes use 1 Cor. 57. c of the paschal Lamb in a spiritual sense The power severity and holiness of God appears in the delivery of his people from Egypt so also of us from Antichrist as Revel 15. 2 3. the Church is brought in singing the song of Moses which the children of Israel sung for their deliverance from Pharaob for its deliverance from Antichrist Pharaoh was the Dragon in the waters Psal 74. 13 14. so is Antichrist The City of Zurick engraved the yeer of their deliverance from Antichrist upon Pillars in letters of Gold Thou shall know no God but me That is Effectually acknowledg worship serve love God as a God and no other Hence note That the end of Gods great work is That he may be known to be a God A sincere gracious holy One. The knowing God to be a God is a special part of that Worship that is due to God To acknowledg God to be God is to know him in his Excellency Majesty Glory above what is known of him by the light of Nature This cannot but have a mighty operation upon the heart For To know God to be a God is 1. To know him to be the First being of all 2. The Infinit Al sufficient God 3 The Fountain of all good to his Saints 1 This must needs gain the heart to him 2 There is no worship of God where this is not 3 Where this is all follows 4 The right knowledg of God keeps from false worship Gal. 4. 9. Since you know God or rather are known of God how turn ye to the weak and beggerly elements of the world See the Jewish way of Ceremonial worship Thou shalt know no God but me This is the first Commandement of which Luther saith All flows from that great Ocean of the first Commandement and again return thither We see the Prophets to be most exercised in the use of the first Commandement Hence note It is not good to know Idolaters worship at all for this is spoken in the Text by way of opposition Thou shalt know no God but me that is Thou shalt be acquainted with no other worship according to that in Deut. 12. 30. Thou shalt not enquire how these Nations worshiped their gods Therefore for those that are not grounded And who
as the story of this last six yeers will be if it be faithfully recorded and yet though the Lord be going on in his waies and hath not yet finish'd it we have forgotten Oh doth it not appear so what do men look after everie man his own advantage and own ends and seeks to fill themselves minding nothing else And what mighty haughtiness of spirit there is in many men within this six yeers Oh how have we forgotten the Lord and forgotten those Instruments that God hath made use of for good unto us God had more honor from us when there was not the hundredth part done for us as now there is now we as it were shake our ears and let God do as he will we hope we can do prettie well to shift for our selves Oh! the Lord deliver this Citie out of this and from this evil of forgetting the Lord when we are fill'd You begin to have more full trading now than formerlie now the Countrie begins to be open and they repare to the Citie for all Oh the Lord deliver this Citie from surfetting by their fulness and from this of forgetting the Lord Oh that we could but say that the Lord having restored the trading to the City having such ful trading as now they are like to have Oh to sanctifie the Name of God more than ever they did Oh how do you remember God everie time you see Customers come into your Shops everie time you see the Waggons come out of the Countrie into your Streets how do you bless God and how is God honored among you Oh that it were so it 's a sore and grievous evil to forget the Lord after the Lord hath granted us fulness it 's a horrible ingratitude as if there were nothing to be regarded but our selves First It 's against many charges that God gives beforehand to forwarn us of it If you reade the 6th of Deuteronomy 11. Vers and the 8. Chap. 12. Vers you shall find there how the Lord charges this people When you come into the Land and your houses are full of good things and you eat of the good of the Land beware you forget not the Lord beware and forget not beware and forget not again and again this is inculcated shewing how prone we are to forget the Lord in our fulness Oh! that those of you that providence hath brought this morning would consider of these Scriptures now God is beginning to come in with more fulness than before Oh beware that you forget not the Lord God in the midst of your fulness Oh! let there be as much or more prayer in your familie than there was in former times that you may have a sanctified use of the fulness that now you enjoy yea it 's worse than beastlie The Ox knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters crib but Israel hath forgotten me If the Ox be but fed he knows his Owner Who is it that feeds you is it not the Lord and will you forget him Oh! this will lose the blessing of all you do enjoy and your hearts will grow very wicked beyond what you can imagine you cannot imagine the evil that your hearts will grow to if you forget God in the enjoyment of that estate that God sets you in And it is a sin that God knows not how to pardon for so he expresses himself Ier. 5. 7. How shall I pardon thee for this Why is it that God should say so as if he should say Though I be a God of infinite mercy yet here 's a sin I know not how to pardon why saith he when I had fed them to the full they committed a dultry and they abused that fulness Oh! how shall I pardon thee And if ever you have need of God again how will conscience be stop'd With what face can you go to God again to seek for help if God should bring you low Conscience will presently say You were once emptie and God fill'd you and what honor had God from you no your hearts were exalted and you forgot God And 't is a most foolish thing for you to do so you depend upon God in the midst of all your fulness as much as before everie moment you lie at Gods mercie though perhaps you are not sensible of it yet certainly it is so A foolish thing it is then to forget the Lord Your forgetting God will make you forget your selves and just it may be with God to forget you and to change the waies of his administration towards you Oh take heed then of being exalted and of forgetting the Lord in your fulness Truly Brethren God had rather have his people fall into any sin almost than into the sin of pride and forgetfulness of him and specially that of pride Therefore you find in Scripture That God will rather set the Devil upon his people than to have their hearts exalted as Paul lest he should be lifted up above measure he had a prick in the flesh the buffeting of Satan God had rather see the Devil buffeting of his people than to see the hearts of them to be exalted Yea he had rather suffer them to fall into any other sin Charge your souls then against this as David in Psal 103. at the beginning Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits See what a charge he puts upon his soul Oh my soul thōu hast received many benefits from the Lord and there is this deadness in thee if thou beest but left to thy self thou wilt forget the Lord and this will be a sore evil in thee Oh my soul forget not all his benefits Oh that you would go home and charge your souls not to forget the Lord and all his benefits let Husband put Wife in mind with this charge and Wife the Husband but especially your selves in secret between God and your selves to charge your souls not to forget his benefits The more we remember God in the blessings we have the more sweet will our blessings be to us You have a great many mercies but when you forget God you lose the verie sweetness of all your mercies Oh! when you can see a mercie and see the God of that mercie then it 's sweet when I can see a mercie and the Fountain from whence it comes and whither it tends then the mercie is sweet Oh! therefore you deal foolishlie in forgetting the Lord. And the more safe you will be And the more eminent you will be in grace Oh what a lovely object is it to behold a man or woman in the midest of all outward enjoyments to be Heavenlie and Spiritual I say the Graces of such Oh! they glister like Diamonds like most precious Pearls indeed and therefore remember the Lord in al the good things that you do enjoy It follows VER 7. Therefore I
will be unto them as a Lyon as a Leopard by the way will I observe them THere 's most dreadful expressions that here follows God is exceedingly provok'd with the exaltation of mens hearts and their forgetfulness of him in time of their prosperitie Is this the same God that spake so of Ephraim heretofore Is Ephraim my dear Son Ephraim my pleasant Child How shall I give thee up Ephraim my bowels are turned within me ever since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him and my bowels are troubled within me Is this the Lord that now will be a Lyon a Leopard a Bear a tearing Lyon a wild beast unto Ephraim What is this the God that heretofore carried them as Eagles do their yong upon their wings and nourished them as the Eagle nourisheth her yong ones Is this the God that was as a Hen to the Chickin that was as a gracious Father unto them to whom this people were as the dearly beloved of Gods Soul and now God a Lyon a Leopard a Bear a wild Beast to come and tear them Is this the merciful God is this that God that is love and mercie it self thus to appear Oh my Brethren how dreadful doth sin render God unto his creature But all this while there 's no change in Gods heart God is the same in himself as before the change is in the Creature The Sun that softens the Wax the same Sun hardens the Clay the same Infinite blessed Being that doth good to his Creature in one condition the same Blessed Infinite Glorious Being is dreadful to the Creature in another condition With the froward he will shew himself froward and with the upright upright Therefore above all doth God set himself out in a most terrible manner here against those men that were in prosperity whose hearts were exalted and forgot him My Brethren The Lord pities men yea sinful men in the time of their adversity but when they are at the height and forget him Oh the anger of God is against them now above any men I 'le give you one Scripture to shew how God hath regard to men in low conditions but to tho 〈…〉 that are fatted up in prosperity Gods anger is most against them Ezek 34. 16. 20. I will seek that which was lost I will bring again that which was driven away and will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick but I will destroy the sat and the strong I will feed them with judgment saith he Those that are lost I 'le seek them those that are broken I 'le bind them up those that are sick I 'le heal but I 'le destroy the fat and the strong I will feed them with Judgment Oh here 's an excellent Scripture for the comforting of the hearts of those that are in an afflicted condition See how God regards such but God hath not such regard to fat ones and strong ones he will feed them with judgment and destroy them The care and protection of God is more over the lost ones and the broken ones and the sick ones than the fat ones and the strong ones they are to be fed with Judgment I 'le be to them as a Lyon and the reason of this is First Because their hearts are very much hardened in their sin their sin is grown to a height Secondly Because there are so many creatures that they have use of more than others that do cry against them Poor people have not so many creatures to cry against them as the rich have Further They can make friends to avoid the stroke of Justice from men but the poor people they are more punished therefore God takes them into his hands and deals with them more severely And when Judgment comes upon them it 's more observed and therefore God to them will be as a Lyon As a Lyon You have a paralel Scripture in Psal 50. 22. I held my tongue and ye thought I was like unto you but consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver their hearts were exalted they forgot God therefore will I be to them as a Lyon First A Lyon is the most terrible creature Amos 3. If the Lyon roar the Beasts tremble Oh my Brethren the threats of God should be to us as the roaring of a Lyon and our hearts should tremble at them Secondly None can take away the prey from a Lyon Mich. 5. 8. as a yong Lyon among the flocks of Sheep who if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces and none can deliver none can deliver out of Gods hand Thirdly A Lyon is strong and crushes the whol compages of a mans bones at one crush Alas man what is he In Job 4. 19. he is crushed before the Moth much more before a Lyon then Oh then much more before the Lord God when he comes to be as a Lyon Fourthly It is observed of the Lyon that she will narrowly mark any one that wounds her if there were hundreds of men together and one did but wound it or shoot at it or do any thing to it she will be sure to mark that man Oh! the Lord mark out those that sin against him and that wounds his Name they must not think to escape among others The Lords eye is upon them particularly And it is observed of the Lyon that she sleeps but little and with her eyes open so the Lord As he that keeps Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth so he that destroies his enemies doth not slumber nor sleep Further The Lyon will fall upon no creature except it be in hunger or be provok'd the Lord though his wrath be terrible as a Lyon yet he is not so ready to fall upon his creature it must be from some special end that he hath or some provocation that he hath but then he falls terribly indeed Again It is observed of the Lyon that if you do but fall down on the ground and submit and yeeld the Lyon doth use to pass by and will not tear and rend where there is an humble submission to him whereas other creatures will Oh thus God is a Lyon terrible but yet only to those that stand out against him And the Naturalists observe of the Lyon that it cannot endure to be look'd asquint upon by any thus it is with the Lord the Lord loves no squint-eyed Christians I mean none that have by ends of their own the Lord loves uprightness in our waies and dealings And lastly They say of the Lyon that it is a great enemy to Apes and Welves so is God to Flatterers and Tyrants Thus God is compared a Lyon Secondly To a Leopard And as a Leopard by the way will I observe them The Seventy reade the words otherwise By the way of the Assyrian say they And indeed the Hebrew word
that is here translated observing is very neer to that which is Assyrian The she Leopard it all one with that they call Panther And First They say it is so fierce that presently it flies in the eyes of a man I 'le be a Leopard I 'le fly in the very faces of such Oh! such manifest much pride in their faces and I 'le fly in their very faces saith God Secondly The Leopard is a very swift creature Hab. 1. 8. so the Lord will swiftly come against wicked and ungodly men as a Leopard swiftly and overtake them Thirdly A Leopard to watch his prey is very subtil to observe his fit times and opportunities to fall upon the prey so you have it in the text As a Leopard will I watch them Oh this set out much of the fearful wrath of God against wicked men you have the discription in Jer. 5. 6. A Leopard shall watch over their Cities I say there 's much of Gods wrath in this it 's very terrible the Lord sets his infinite wisdom on work to watch fit times and opportunities for to let out his wrath upon ungodly men I 'le watch over them for evil that we have in another Scripture threatned Oh those are in a sad condition that the Lord watches over them to do them evil God watches over his people for good But such as when they are fled exalt themselves and forget the Lord God watches over them for evil they should be destroyed soon but saith God I have a fitter time than now wherein I 'le get my self a greater Name wherein it shall be worse for them In due time shall their feet slide this is the reason why men live so long in their prosperity and go on and satisfie their wills Because God is watching over them and his time is not yet come Further It is observed of the Leopard that when it comes upon its prey it leaps upon it suddenly and so doth the Lord to ungodly men he comes in a sudden way and leaps upon them and therefore you must not think that you are as wel because you are in as safe a condition as you were a year since or seven years since It is as wel with me saith one as it hath been with me in all my life-time what then you may be never a whit the further off from dangers for the way of God in bringing his wrath it is sudden many times Lastly It is observed of the Leopard that sometimes it will sleep a very long time together it is said to sleep three daies together but after it awakes it is more fierce than before And so the Lord though sometimes he may be patient towards sinners yet when he comes to awake out of his sleep as he speaks of himself Psal 78. 65. he is more terrible VER 8. I will meet with them as a Bear bereaved of her whelps and will rent the caul of their heart and there will I devour them like a Lyon the wildbeast shall tear them THE Third Creature is the Bear I will meet with them as a Bear bereaved of her whelps c. This Creature you know is very fierce and terrible too therefore we reade in the 2d of Kings that there were two she Bears came out of the wood and tore in pieces forty two Children Prov. 17. 12. Let a Bear robbed of her whelps meat a man rather than a fool in his folly She is fierce at all times but above all if she be robbed of her whelps As it is observed that there 's no Creature loves her yong ones more than the Bear and yet the mo 〈…〉 deformed of any and an emblem it may be of a man that loves his own deformed fancies it 's a Note that one Interpreter hath upon it Oh how will the Lord be in an holy rage if his Children be wronged if you do any hurt to his own Children that hath his Image in them when the instinct of Nature is so in this Creature the Bear to be in such a rage when she is robbed of such ugly things as her whelps are 2 Sam. 17. 8. saith Hushai to Absalom Thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men and they be chafed in their fury as a Bear robbed of her whelps in the field Thus the Scripture often discribes exceeding fierceness and rage to the fierceness of a Bear bereaved of her whelps therefore saith he here I will rend the very caul of their bearts and there will I devour them like a Lyon Here he mentions the Lyon the second time The word in your Books is the same but in the Original it is somewhat different It is observed of the Lyon when he comes upon the prey because it 's named here the second time that it rends the body asunder and loves to suck the blood and the fat that is about the heart and as for other parts of the body except it be in very great hunger it leaves them for other beasts to prey upon but the heart and the blood and the fat that is about the heart that the Lyon loves to suck and therefore saith God here I will rent the caul of their heart and there will I devour like a Lyon Luther hath an excellent Note upon this saith he The Lord here will do as a Lyon doth he more immediately will strike out their hearts and punish them with spiritual Plagues and Judgments and as for their estates and bodies he will leave them to other beasts and they shall plague them and punish them that way they had a film upon their hearts saith he and instructions could not get to their hearts but God will tear that caul will tear that film from off their hearts that kept off instructions Oh! let us take heed of this film of our hearts that keeps out the Word of God take heed of that for ever for God hath waies to tear this film from off thy heart As I remember Bernard saith concerning his Brother when he gave him many good instructions and admonitions and his brother was a Soldier and did not mind them he puts his fingers to his sides and saith he Oh! one day a speer shall make way to this heart for instructions and admonitions to enter So I may say to such whose hearts have a film upon them that whatsoever the Preacher saith it cannot get in God may justly come and tear the film from off thy heart that keeps out the Instructions of God And Arias Montanus hath a Note further upon this of sending the Plague upon their hearts and to leave their estates and comforts to the Assyrians And the wild Beasts shall tear them Why Did he not name wild beasts enough before There was the Lyon and the Leopard and the Bear and the Lyon again and yet he comes over again with wild Beasts as if he should say if there by any terror any dreadfulness in
he doth not say here Your King shall not save you nor your Cities shal not save you nor your Princes and Nobles shall not save you but where are they in a kind of Irony God loves to insult over the carnal confidences of men And we find in Scripture many such kind of Insultings over men in Deut. 32. 37. Where are your Gods that should deliver you And in Is 19. 12. Where are thy Wise-men What we have got States-men men known in State Affairs we have them with us But where are they saith God Thus the Lord insults over men that put their confidence in the flesh and especially when they have been confident in their own waies forsaking God and so bringing themselves to misery when they have brought themselves to misery by forsaking the waies of God now God insults now where are these things that you put such confidence in And truly even the Saints so be it they do it in an holy humble way they may have some kind of insulting over ungodly men only because they have so much flesh in them there 's danger therefore they had need keep their hearts very low But if they do it in the strength of God we have it in Scripture That the Virgin Daughter of Zion shall laugh at them and laugh them to scorn Only keep your hearts I say low and you may come to see the Glory of God even insult in this That God hath heard your Prayer and hath been with his People and that the Enemy hath had so much power and strength in the flesh and yet how the Lord hath disappointed them And then further This is the great confusion to carnal hearts when they shall be asked Where 's their Confidence and their Boasting and they shall be found speechless when this shall be ask'd them Where 's your bravery and pride and stoutness of your hearts and they shal be able to say nothing Oh! this wil be a great confusion and shame upon them Certainly ere long it will be so to all carnal hearts that make their boast in the pomp and glory of the world there shall be a confounding Where Asked them Where 's all your Bravery and Pride and Rage I say this confounding Where will be asked to every wicked and ungodly man What will they be able to say then In Judg. 9. 28. we reade of one Gaal the son of Ebed who said Who is Abimelech but in vers 38. when Abimelech came with strength against him Zebal said to him Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidest Who is Abimelech that we should serve him When men are in their pride bravery then they scorn at God and men they little regard any thing that is said to them but when God brings them down low then wheretis that mouth of thine that did so boast and speak so proudly as heretofore it did My brethren let us learn from hence therfore To seek after and rest upon those things which we may be able alwaies to give an accompt of where they are if it should be ask'd us the Saints if it should be ask'd them Where is their God they can give an accompt It 's the God of Heaven that we have trusted in it 's the God that is in the highest Heavens and in the hearts of the Saints we can tell where our God is It is just with God that wicked men should be insulted over because they insult over the Saints so if God do but seem to absent himself from his People they will presently insult over them yea where 's your God where 's your Prayers and Fastings Have not some of you heard such language many times in this Kingdom There 's no such time but the Saints of God can give an Answer to this Where they can tell where their Fastings and Prayers are but the wicked are not able to tell what is become of their Confidences and boastings Therfore O you Saints of God never be afraid of evil men for ere long it will be demanded of them where their Pomp and Glory and Pride is but they cannot answer And it follows Thy Judges of whom thou saidst Give me a King and Princes By Judges though sometimes Kings are meant as Amos 2. 3. I will cut off the Judg out of the midst of thee he speaks saith Drusius of the King of Moab we are to understand here their Nobles and Great men upon whom they relied for so they are call'd in Scripture Judges they had indeed Judges before that time when they said Give us a King and Princes they had Judges but they were of meaner rank in comparison of those they had after they had Judges that by Gods appointment govern'd them but they were too mean for them no they must have a KING they must have PRINCES they must have such JUDGES that are Kings and Princes Great men for these that they had to rule over them they were but of their own rank and this would not satisfie them but they must have such as were great ones above them those were but ordinary men what were they but the Commons of the same ranke with other men and raised up but a little while ago from the ordinary way and rank of men and why should not we be rul'd and govern'd by them No we must have a King and Nobles and they must govern us Give us a King and Princes God had been much with these Judges reade but the story of the Judges and you shall find that God had ever more appeared with them I do not remember any one of the Judge but ever prevail'd when God raised him up but now this people they regard them not why because they were but meaner men they were but men of their own rank though God did assist them so exceedingly Oh my Brethren this is the ordinary guize of carnal hearts Though God be much with men yet if they be but of a low rank carnal hearts regards them not let them do never so great services and be never so instrumental for the Kingdom even those men that have had their estates preserved by them that have had their Liberties and all kept by them and by a mighty Spirit that God hath put into them yet when the work is over they look upon them but as mean ordinarie men men of a common rank and so let them go they after all the great things that God hath done by them still their thoughts and minds are upon others that are above them and Princes and Nobles such men they rely more upon men in whom they see outward pomp and glory then upon those that have the presence of God never so much with them and they regard them more and they do think that they shall receive more good by them and their hearts are more towards them if they have outward pomp and glory than towards such men that are in a meaner condition though there be never
that let us have a King let become of Samuel what wil come and of his house what care they And so when men are greedy in their desires Let us have such and such a thing but care not what becomes of others That 's another N 〈…〉 of desires not granted in love Twelfthly When God satisfying of our desires makes way for some judgment Now indeed the thing is comfortable that we have but stay a while and you shall see there is some judgment making way by that very thing that you have and when the judgment is come afterwards you will see how it made way for it there are very great judgments many times upon men that are made way for by the satisfying of their own desires God hath many waies to prepare a path for his anger by giving you your desires many times there 's nothing more ordinary in experience than this and therefore we need not stand upon it If you wil but examin the course of your lives sometimes you may see that if God had satisfied your desires in such and such things it would have made way for the greatest misery that ever you had in al your lives and when God denies sometimes to his People they can confess O Lord I see that had I had my mind in such a thing which I would have had I had been undone And on the other side You wil find that those things which you accompt the greatest mercies to you do make way for the greatest evils surely they were not given in love then Thirteenthly When men are greedy of things and never consider the inconvenients when they would have their desires satisfied in a foolish way never minding what inconveniences may follow in this thing more than in the other thing meerly looking upon that which is for the present sutable to them but never think what inconveniences may follow Thus it was here they would have a King but Samuel came and told them all the inconveniences that would follow upon it how that they should have this affliction and the other You that are so desirous of him if he comes among you he will bring you into slavetie your Estates and your Children shall be under his power you wil be in slaverie to everie Courtier Nay but we will have a King for al this they would needs change the way of Government O that we might have a king And they would be brought more under Law than before for indeed in the time of the Judges if you reade that storie you shal find that the People of Israel were in a great deal of Libertie then and they obeyed the Judges in a great measure in a voluntary way if you raade the storie you shal find but Two Tribes that followed Barach and Deborah and so of Jepihthah and Sampson those that were willing freely to offer themselves they followed them and those of Ephraim they did chide with the other and ask'd them Why did you not call us to it as noting that there was a great deal of freedom in the time of the Judges Yea but we will have a King and we wil all then be tied to the same thing and be under the same power and so there will be a great deal of union that way when this man shall not be in this way and the other shal not be in another way and men to have their freedom thus thus but al shal come in and joyn under the same Law and so we shall go on in one Certainly this was their reasoning in their desire of having a King Now this kind of union no question was verie good among the People but to have it in this way That whereas the People were governed in such a way before as stood with a great deal of Libertie It 's true they shall have a kind of union but they do not consider what inconveniences there will be in their being thus chain'd together Prisoners that are chained at a Post they are altogether all the day long But would you have such a kind of union to be united with such chains Consider that with the union there may come a slavery upon you But they did not consider of any such things no matter say they Come let us be all joyn'd in one and let the same Law be upon every one But now how this would bring them under bondage and slavery in those things they would be loth to be brought under in in that they considered not at all Fourteenthly When men seek to have their desires sarisfied meerly because they love change We cannot have any comfort that God doth it out of love when it is out of a foolish spirit that loves novelty They though they had bin long enough under that kind of Government and in a meer kind of novelty not knowing what might come of such a change but a change they would have And so people though there be never so much good in a way yet out of a novelty they would fain have a change And if God grant them a change when they have no other ground but that for it it is a sign that there is wrath in it and not love Further When it is through impatiency and want of heart to submit to God in a former condition It 's ill when it is through a meer novelty but when it 's through impatiency then it 's like to be in wrath and not in mercy if your condition be changed God hath put you in a lower and mean condition it 's true it 's lawful for you to desire a change yea but if you desire it because you cannot submit to Gods hand then it 's a sign that it is in wrath but when you have brought your hearts to this Lord here I am dispose of me as thou pleasest I am content to lie under thy hand but Lord I look up to thee for mercy Consider I am a poor weak Creature and it is fit that thou shouldest have thy will and not I mine then if God make a change you may have comfort that it is in mercy but if you have it through impatiencie you can have no comfort at all in it It was just so here they could not bear the hand of God that was upon them any present trouble that they had upon them and so thought to help themselves by having a King and God gave them one but it was in his anger Further When our desires of further mercies makes us forget the former mercies and makes us unthankful for former mercies they would have a King that might go before them and fight for them Fight for them Did not God fight for them before Oh wonderful and glorious Battels they had when they were under their Judges when they had Samuel to direct them they never had more glorious Victories afterwards than then Nay you shall find in the whol Story of the Judges that they did alwaies prevail and